The city of Rogers' approval of a memorandum of understanding is a sign of increased cooperation between Siloam Springs and other cities in the area, Siloam Springs Police Chief Jim Wilmeth said.
The agreement, which was approved by the Rogers city council on Aug. 9, outlines procedures for jurisdiction and resource sharing between the Siloam Springs Police Department, Rogers police and Benton County Sheriff's Office.
It comes as the cities in the area are moving toward better communication and cooperation.
"We recognized we had a need for resource sharing," Wilmeth said. "It speaks well of all municipalities in the county."
Wilmeth praised the initiative last week, saying that he hoped it was the start of a trend toward more sharing between area police departments.
The stage was set for such an agreement by the efforts of Bentonville Police Chief John Simpson and the enhanced communication brought by a year's worth of meetings between all of the police chiefs of area departments. Wilmeth said the meetings once per month and hosting duties rotate between departments to emphasize that everyone is on equal footing.
Interim Sheriff Meyer Gilbert also played a role in opening up communication. Gilbert attends the monthly meetings as well.
Wilmeth said police officers have a certain level of jurisdiction throughout the state, but when they cross city lines, there are questions that pop up, such as whether or not they should call an officer from that city or who is responsible for paying an officer who is helping another department.
Memorandums like this help answer those questions ahead of time so officers and department staffs know what to do in emergency situations.
"It's kind of a way of making sure our best practices stay where they should," Wilmeth said.
The memorandum would come into play most in the case of an emergency that is too big for one department to handle on its own. Wilmeth gave the examples of a child abduction that necessitated a large search party and a shooting with multiple locations.
"We want to have a mechanism in place to ask for that help," Wilmeth said. "It's part of being a proactive department."
This may not be the last of these agreements to be approved. Wilmeth said his department has reached out to all other police departments in the county with similar memorandum or understanding proposals. But if none are followed up on, Wilmeth said he wouldn't take it as a slight.
"We are just so far away that geographically, it may not make sense for some of these departments," Wilmeth said.
While it would make sense for Cave Springs and Bentonville to have a resource-sharing agreement, sheer distance may make the proposal not worth it between Cave Springs and Siloam Springs.
But Wilmeth likes the direction area departments are headed.
"It's just better when municipalities can cooperate with each other."
General News on 08/31/2016