Officers share coffee, mingle with residents

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Bella Vista police chief James Graves talks with an estimated 100 Coffee With a Cop attendees at the Village Bible Church last Thursday, Feb. 22.
Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Bella Vista police chief James Graves talks with an estimated 100 Coffee With a Cop attendees at the Village Bible Church last Thursday, Feb. 22.

Bella Vista police, in conjunction with the Seniors and Law Enforcement Together -- or SALT -- Council sat down with Bella Vistans over a cup of coffee at the Village Bible Church on Thursday.

Mayor Peter Christie addressed the crowd and explained that, after talking with veteran police at a recent conference, he's learned more about how police work has changed over the years.

Many officers, he said, fill a second roll as social workers, while EMTs and paramedics have taken on the roll of the doctor making house calls.

"It's really very important that you understand the whole scope of policing as it exists today," he said.

Former police chief Ken Farmer said he was pleased with the turnout -- estimated at 100 people -- and that the new police chief, James Graves, did well with the crowd.

Farmer spoke ahead of Graves and, among other things, introduced residents to Smart911, a service that the Bella Vista Police Department utilizes, as well as many others across the nation. People can sign up, he said, at smart911.com, where they input whatever information about themselves they choose, and that information is available to dispatchers taking a 911 call from them.

It's a good way, he said, to give emergency workers information about households, pets they may wish to steer clear of, and potential medical issues and complications, like allergies.

"You can give as much or as little information as you want," he said.

Graves followed Farmer and addressed the crowd. He's been in the city since March of last year, he said, after moving from Arizona. He came in with 25 years with the Tucson Police Department under his belt.

When he started looking for a smaller town to settle down in, Graves said his wife chose Bella Vista.

"So if you like me, you can thank her," he said. "If you don't, it's her fault."

The city has been designated as among the safest in the country, he said, and he attributes that to the work done by former chief Farmer. But Graves said he intends to build on that.

"Let's work to keep it like that," he said.

The city is generally safe, he said, but bad things still happen. With more people moving into the area, he said, it's important that the department keeps up.

The department, he said, has 34 total officers, but that includes the chief and other command staff. It also has a dozen dispatchers and three civilian employees. Currently, he said, this department is handling a city estimated at 31-33,000 people.

Graves said he intends to do his best to keep the peace, in part because he currently lives in the city and intends to stay once he's retired.

"I live here," he said. "This is my home."

Bill and Ellen Henning showed up to listen and learn a thing or two.

Ellen Henning said that, even after living in Bella Vista for 25 years, they learned a lot that morning about services the police department offers.

Now that she's learned about it, she said, she fully intends to sign up for Smart911.

Bill Henning said the whole thing piqued his interest.

"That was really good," he said. "Nice to see what people are doing for us."

General News on 02/28/2018