Police prepare for Operation Safe Summer

It’s a focus on safety and security for our city as well as community outreach.”

— Captain Derek Spicer

The Siloam Springs Police Department is preparing for Operation Safe Summer, which will begin in June after school lets out and end in August before the start of the 2022-23 school year.

Operation Safe Summer is a program where the police department enhances patrol and launches its Street Crime Unit (SCU) to focus on narcotics and other crimes like burglary, according to Capt. Derek Spicer. The program is now in its third year, according to Police Chief Allan Gilbert.

Gilbert said he helped to coordinate a similar program when he was a part of the Tupelo (Miss.) Police Department, he said. The process involves having the entire department working together, Gilbert said.

One of the ways the program is conducted is by moving School Resource Officers (SRO) back to the patrol division to allow other officers to participate in the SCU, Spicer said.

“School is out and it is a heightened time for us,” Gilbert said. “Each of them will have different duties.”

Some of those duties will also include manning the Siloam Springs Police and Fire Camps held during the summer, Spicer said. Camp is tentatively set from June 20-24 and tentatively July 11, Gilbert said.

Policing will be the main focus of the program and that will be done through communication, Spicer said. If there is a rash of burglaries in a particular portion of the city, the detective assigned to the SCU can pull some officers to intentionally police those areas, Spicer said.

The police department’s motorcycle unit will also have an increased presence and the police department will partner with the state highway patrol to form a coalition to help double the department’s resources and help to deter speeding, Spicer said.

“Every facet will be involved,” Spicer said. “It’s a focus on safety and security for our city as well as community outreach.”

Gilbert said the SCU is intended to be a full-time program but manpower is an issue. Five officers are graduating from the police academy on April 7 and will then go through the police

department’s FTO program to learn the policies and procedures specific to Siloam Springs before they are released to the patrol division, Gilbert said.

While the SCU is presently just a summer program, Gilbert said he wanted to bring it back around the holidays for when kids are out of school, he said.

Community feedback for Operation Safe Summer has been positive, Gilbert said. The intent is to ensure that not only residents but visitors who visit Siloam Springs, Gilbert said.

In the three years since the program started several criminals, including some with homicide warrants, have been apprehended, Spicer said.

“We are the third largest point of entry into the state,” Gilbert said of the Arkansas/Oklahoma state line. “That’s a lot of activity, more than 35,000 to 40,000 people. People come here to shop and we make sure they are safe.”

When asked if there was anything the public can do, Spicer said for people to have situational awareness and to let the police know if they have any concerns.

If anyone sees something unlawful they can submit tips anonymously at tips@siloamsprings.com and message through the department’s Facebook page, said Spicer.

Gilbert gave a shout out to the city and board for their support. Along with the new officers, city directors approved a part-time police officer position in the 2022 budget, Gilbert said.

“They give us the tools to succeed and they give us the tools to support us,” Gilbert said.