SCOTT CITY MAN CRITICAL OF CITY'S RESERVE POLICE

SCOTT CITY -- The conduct of Scott City reserve police officers was scrutinized Monday at a Scott City Council meeting, mostly by a citizen who called the officers "little monsters."

"You give them a gun and a badge and they turn into little monsters," said Randy Newell, referring to the six-member reserve force. The force is made up mostly of college students qualified to act as police officers, but who work on a volunteer basis to gain experience in the field.

City officials, including Mayor Shirley Young, Police Chief David Beck and Reserve Police Chief Lloyd Young, defended the force. They said the reserve officers help combat crime in the city and are subject to the same standards of conduct as regular officers.

But Newell said the reserve officers routinely harass citizens, a charge with which Councilmen Jerry Cummins and John Rogers agreed.

"The whole town feels that way," Cummins told council members and citizens who attended the meeting.

But Councilwoman Brenda Moyers said after the meeting: "Most of the citizens do not feel that way."

The police chief praised the officers, and said they work hundreds of hours of volunteer work per month.

Beck said: "It reminds me of that quote from Kennedy, `Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.'"

Mayor Young said there have been no complaints against reserve officers filed recently with the Police Personnel Board.

Controversy over the reserve force stems from an accident early Sunday when a reserve officer's patrol car became stuck on railroad tracks, where it was struck by a train.

The police chief said the incident was unfortunate, but that the officer, John Blakely, wasn't at fault.

"If we would have had 10 or 15 minutes before the train was coming we could have prevented this," he said.

A train was just four minutes away when the car became stuck. The city council agreed Monday to replace the patrol car using insurance money and funds from the city's emergency fund.

How much will be needed from the emergency fund isn't yet known, because the insurance claim hasn't been settled.

Mayor Young accused Councilman Ron Oller who did not attend the meeting of stirring up controversy by "talking in the coffee shops," and discrediting the police department and reserve force.

"We've had enough of this," the mayor said. "The police department has a hard enough time operating without getting a knife in the back by a councilman."

Councilman Rogers objected to the mayor's accusations, and said, "I disagree with you bringing up people's names when they aren't here to defend themselves."

Contacted after the meeting, Oller said complaints about his conduct should be directed to him personally. "What I say to other people is between me and the other councilmen," he said.

Oller said he was at a work-related meeting Monday and couldn't attend the council meeting.