Chamber to hold active-shooter training event

The Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the police department to host an informational seminar about what to do in the event of an active shooter situation, according to an official from the chamber.

The event will be held at the Community Building on July 23 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public, non-profit organizations and businesses in the area, said Nathan Reed, director of economic development and finance. Officers that will be leading the course are certified to provide this type of training, and will attempt to help people learn to follow a specific plan that may help save their life if they were ever put into that situation.

Thus far, Reed said that the chamber has received a great deal of comments from members of the public expressing interest in the event and mentioned the reason for holding it.

"It is in our mission statement, we try to make sure the community is something we take care of," Reed said. "That is why we are here, to better the community and make it a better place, and so if this is something that we can provide for free for our community, it is definitely something that we want to take care of and make sure that we do."

The police department also has a couple of other upcoming programs or operations they will be engaged in, which are listed below.

• A week long speed enforcement operation will take place through July 22, according to a press release provided by the Siloam Springs Police Department. This development comes following a report from the National High Traffic Safety Administration, which revealed that in 2015, speeding contributed to 27 percent of all fatal motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. for that year, resulting in the deaths of more than 9,500 people. The goal of the operation is to make drivers aware that there is no excuse for speeding and to prevent unnecessary fatalities.

The slogan being used for the promotion of this operation is "Obey the Sign, or Pay the Fine," according to the press release. For more information, go to www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov.

• The department has joined alongside police agencies across the country to participate in a social media campaign intended to prevent people from becoming the victim of a crime, said community relations officer Deandra Strickland. The "9 p.m. routine," as it is referred to, is something that is being promoted largely through the use of social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. Support for the effort from the police department stems from a desire to remind citizens to remain vigilant while going about their day to day routines, and to take certain precautions that could ultimately prevent them from becoming the victims of various crimes such as burglaries or vehicular theft.

Since the police department does not have a Twitter account, it has opted to utilize Facebook to advocate for these things, an example of which can be seen in posts such as one that was uploaded on July 14.

"Just because it's the weekend, doesn't mean we can forget," according to the post. "Remember to lock your vehicle and residence doors, leave exterior residence lights on at night or utilize motion detecting lights, remove your valuables from your car, and report all crime and suspicious activity! #9PMROUTINE."

While there was no specific catalyst that prompted the department to have sufficient reason to believe that crime is on the rise, part of it has to do with the time of year, said public information officer Capt. Derek Spicer.

"You will always see an uptick of property crimes in particular during the warmer months," Spicer said. "I do not think that Siloam Springs is worse than anywhere else (in terms of property crimes), but there are just a lot more people out and about during the summer, and that tends to generate more property-related crimes. This is just a good opportunity to get the word out to people that they need to be careful."

General News on 07/18/2018