City police department gains accreditation

McCOOK, Neb. — Joel Smith, City of McCook Police Chief, told the McCook City Council Monday night that the department has received additional accreditation by the state, enabling the department to qualify for loans and other funding.

Smith said certain benefits come with the accreditation, such as grants and hiring/retention bonuses for officers.

Due to recently passed state legislation, increased certification and training standards for Nebraska law enforcement officers are required. This includes the requirement that or before Jan. 1, 2023, each law enforcement agency shall be accredited in a manner approved by the commission. A law enforcement agency will not be accredited unless it has adopted written policies as determined by the commission and meets other requirements as determined by the commission. One of those requirements is that the current 20 hours of annual continuing education required of all officers be increased to 28 hours in 2022 and 32 hours in 2023 and subsequent years.

In other business Monday night, the council:

- Adopted a resolution that provides for a $27,742 levy as a special assessment for the costs the city incurred when it demolished a property owned by William Todd Baker on 406 E. First Street and to file a lien against the property. Councilman Gene Weedin pulled the item from the consent agenda and the spouse of the late owner, present at the meeting, told the council she couldn’t afford the costs. City Attorney Nathanial Mustion explained that since cleaning up the property couldn’t be resolved with the property owner and due to an unclear title, the property will go into foreclosure and costs the city incurred in cleaning up the property will be assessed against the property. Foreclosure of the property will clear up the title, Mustion said, which will take up to two years. The situation is similar to property on West Fourth when the city used general funds (property taxes) to clean up a nuisance property and assess those costs against the property. The property was auctioned at a sheriff’s auction, with the city’s assessment costs being the winning bid. After the title is cleared, the city can sell or lease the property.

- A meeting of potential members of the Southwest Nebraska Land Bank is set for Wednesday, July 27, at 6 p.m., on the second floor of the city municipal building. Communities that have shown an interest in becoming members include North Platte, Curtis, Cambridge and Oxford. Other communities can join later if they wish, said Mustion. At the meeting, an interlocal agreement will be discussed, that must be approved by a city council or village board of potential member cities.