Law enforcement agencies report 'quiet' holiday weekend

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

It was a fairly calm Thanksgiving holiday period for local law enforcement and city fire personnel.

Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou said his department received seven calls between Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and Sunday, and most of those were responses to emergency medical assists. He was not aware of any fires that took place.

"For a four-day period, it was pretty quiet," he said.

Other than the medical runs, there was one vehicle accident that occurred at the intersection of Eighth Street and National Avenue, and a report of an overheated freezer at a residence at 23 S. Main St.

"On Thanksgiving, we had one run at 10:48 a.m.; it was a medical call," Ballou said.

Ballou said the four-day period was fairly typical when compared to the same period in recent years.

"We've seen the last few years that it's been pretty slow about like this," he said. "Everybody does good through the holidays. There have been a few years that have been fairly busy the last several years. Everybody watches what they're doing."

Ballou said he had the normal four firefighters working shifts on Thanksgiving.

Fort Scott Police Department Lt. Travis Shelton said the four-day period "was like a typical year" for his officers; he supervises the patrolmen for the department. There are about 20 officers on staff.

"It wasn't dead, but there was nothing out of the ordinary," he said. "There were a couple of accidents, some theft reports, a few arrests. There were no problems on Black Friday."

Shelton said both the car accidents involved vehicles being "rear-ended." There were a couple of cases involving juveniles who were not minding adults.

"There was not an influx of calls for service over the holiday," he said. "There was no influx, but there was about the average number of calls for service as we would have on an average weekend."

Shelton added that "pleasingly," there was no spike in reports over the holiday period.

"With the influx of traffic and shoppers, you almost expect more fender-benders and parking accidents."

Bourbon County Undersheriff Bill Martin said the sheriff's office only received a handful of calls on Thanksgiving and it was a "very calm holiday."

"We had about four or five calls in the morning," he said. "Friday was no different."

Martin said the calls were "basically seeking advice" and ranged from civil issues and child custody matters to eviction notices.

Martin said he worked Thanksgiving morning for about four hours.

Three deputies worked that day, he said.

He added that there were no major accidents or incidents "that came to his attention."