Blue Springs Police Department

History

The Blue Springs Missouri Police Department was formed by the City of Blue Springs, Missouri in December 1966 and started with just two employees serving under 5,000 residents. Prior to the formation of the police department the City of Blue Springs had an elected City Marshall for minor law enforcement duties. The Marshall would patrol during the day, and if his services were needed at night a resident would need to call him at his home. During this period there was a one room, small block building, known as the "city jail", which was built in the early 1920s. The old "city jail" was located near today's 12th and Smith Streets, between 12th Street and the railroad tracks. It is unclear if the "city jail" was ever used but was for sure never used past the 1950s and was razed in the mid-1980s.

Howard L. Brown was elected as City Marshall of Blue Springs in 1965 and was appointed as the first Chief of Police in December 1966. Brown started his law enforcement career in 1955 as a member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and served as the Chief of Police from December 1966 to November 2001 when he retired after serving the community for 35 years.

From the formation of the BSPD in 1966 to 1968, the police department was located in the Old Blue Springs City Hall, which was a metal building located in the 200 block of NW 11th Street. This building was razed many years ago. From 1968 to 1988 BSPD was located on the lower level of the Blue Springs Municipal Building, known today as the Blue Springs City Hall, located at 903 W. Main Street. BSPD out grew its space on the lower level of City Hall by the 1980s and in 1988 BSPD moved to a brand new facility, the Howard L. Brown Public Safety Building, located at 1100 SW Smith Street.

BSPD was the first agency in the State of Missouri to have a 911 emergency communications center serving as a pilot program in 1975.

BSPD formed the Community Youth Outreach Unit, "CYOU" in the mid-1990s.

BSPD once required all police officers to be licensed EMTs. Police officers would often drive the ambulance as an EMT to or from an EMS call. The City of Blue Springs had Paramedics on duty but they were assisted by the on duty Police Officer's/EMT's. This practice stopped in 1992 when the City of Blue Springs turned over the operation of the ambulance service to the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District.

In April 2011, voters passed the 1/2 cent dedicated Public Safety Sales Tax to address needs found in the Public Safety Citizen's Advisory Board analysis. Revenues produced from the public safety sales tax will only be used for public safety purposes. The tax cannot be used for other General Fund programs or services. As part of the P.S.S.T. tax a renovation and massive expansion of Blue Springs Police Department building was completed in late 2015. The renovation and expansion doubled the size of the old building. Today BSPD has 100 sworn officers and 40 civilian support staff, totalling 140 employees.

Past City Marshalls

Past and present Chiefs of Police

Structure

Chief of Police

Deputy Chief of Police

Operations Bureau, 1-Captain

Staff Services Bureau, 1-Captain

Community Youth Outreach Unit, CYOU Bureau, 1-Captain

Vehicles and patrol districts

The BSPD utilizes a variety of vehicles, the following are used for uniform patrol division: the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (CVPI), the Ford Interceptor, "Taurus" and the Ford Utility, "Explorer". Animal Control uses the Ford F-250 trucks. Command staff, non uniform supervisors and detectives drive a vast array of unmarked vehicles. The Blue Springs Missouri Police Department has four patrol districts.

Weapons

Officers are issued the Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm