MikeMooreMedia

Madison Police Chief Richard Hester 11.19.24

Seat Belt Compliance Campaign November 26 with Mayodan Police and NCSHP, Downtown Chirstmas Stroll and Tree Lighting December 7, Annual MM Christmas Parade December 14, department rebranding soon with new vehicles, now recruiting for officers. 336.548.6097

Duration:: 11m
Broadcast on:: 19 Nov 2024
Audio Format:: other

Mike Moore media. Hello, I'm talking to the chief of the Madison Police Department, Richard Hester. He's in our studio today. Hey, chief. Welcome back. Hey, Mike. Thanks for having me. It's been about a month since we were here together. We're trying to do this on a monthly basis. I know kind of catching up on things. And so we've got several holiday things to talk about and then a couple of other items as well. So want to get to the holidays for words here right here. They are, believe it or not. Yeah. Okay. What's coming up in downtown Madison? Well, in Madison, for Thanksgiving week, we're going to partner the Madison Police Department's going to partner with Matt Allen and the state Highway Patrol and do a seatbelt project the week of Thanksgiving. We're trying to raise awareness for seatbelt usage and safe driving altogether. But I would encourage everybody, if you're not in the habit of wearing that seatbelt, please put it on. You never know when you could get in a wreck and a minor wreck could be life changing if you don't have a bell tone and are tossed around in the car. It really could change your entire life over something that should be an on issue. That's exactly right. And it happened so fast. It does. It does. So when will that be? Tells date and everything? The 26th of November, which is a Tuesday. It'll be pretty much the morning, eight to noon. Okay. And like I say, we're going to partner with Matt and and also the North Carolina Highway Patrol. All right. But we just want to raise awareness about this. So please buckle up. So you'll be having different checkpoints around the area? Correct. Correct. There'll be mobile roaming checkpoints. So anywhere in the city limits, Madison, Medan, and the Highway Patrol will cover the county. Okay. So mobile roaming checkpoints. Yes, sir. So nobody can tip somebody off and say, Hey, they're over there on Wall Street. That's right. Because you may be there then and then gone. That's right. That's right. And this is not trying to be sneaky. We're actually trying to raise awareness Yeah. And by doing this on the podcast, you know, voluntary compliance is always what you want at law enforcement. Sure. Oh, always. Yeah. Okay. So so that's coming up next week November 26. Yes, sir. Madison and Medan Police Department was working on that and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Correct. Yes, sir. Of which you are a former member. That's right. Yeah. That's right. How many years in the Highway Patrol just 25? 25 years. Yes, sir. Time flies. But I saw firsthand on a lot of occasions that, you know, the impacts that not wearing a seatback will have on someone. Yeah. There were a lot of wrecks. Unfortunately, statewide that I saw people thrown out of vehicles, you know, in a rollover and unfortunately they were killed when they were rolled under the car. Sure. So just, you know, it's worth the two seconds that it takes to buckle up to be safe. Yeah, that's exactly right. You know, I see those videos to chief from time to time. You find a different state. So there's a there's a trooper out, you know, on the side of the road to stop the vehicle or whatever and then somebody else runs runs into that whole scene there, you know, and it's a bad situation. It is. People can become distracted by the blue lights. Yeah. Kind of like a bug into a bug light. You go right to it. But yeah, if you do see blue lights, let me put a plug in for this, slow down and move over if possible. Move over always if you can. Definitely slow down. I tell my kids, I've got four kids and the third one's now, I got his permit. I tell Marty, if you don't understand what's going on, slow down. If nothing else, slow down so you can proceed with caution. Yeah, yeah. And being the son of a highway patrol man, he's probably getting some extra caution. The kids hate me by the time they get their license. They're tired of riding around with dad. Well, they're lucky. Fortunately, you're there to guide them. Thank you. All right. Well, chief, some other things that we want to talk about. Yes. The holidays. But first, I've got to got some parade to got a parade coming up. That's always a big deal between made in Madison. Yes, that'll be December the 14th. It'll kick off at 12 30 and made in. It always ends in Madison near the clock. Mm hmm. We're looking forward to that. Hopefully we'll have good weather that day. Yeah, please come out and enjoy the parade. The longest parade in Rockingham County. It is. It sure is. So it goes from made in North Highway Street to the town of clock in Madison. Yes, sir. Okay. Speaking of parades, let's get your take on the veterans parade that we just recently had. It was a huge success. Yeah, it was. Had a good time. The feedback I got from the citizens, the crowd was all positive. We had a fireworks show at the end. Yeah. It was well received. I think that's going to be a annual thing. We're hoping. Yeah. I'm not 100% sure with a fireworks, but the parade's definitely going to become an annual thing. Right. So we're looking forward to that. We hope it grows, you know, next year. A lot of. We had some people that say they didn't know so much about it. So we're hoping to get the word out a little more for next year. I know you think you do your best in everything like that, but some people just don't know. It's hard to connect with everybody. It is. It is. It is. It was a great success. And I know the town donated $5,000, I think, to that. Yes. And I noted the mayor at the meeting last week, and this was a quote. I wrote it down. And Howie from, Howie Terry from Ray Funerholm was, you were up front and I was in the next row, and he was behind me. Yes. And I turned to him. I said, I've written this down as a reminder because the mayor said, next year, let's take it to the next level. So I don't know what the next level is. We'll see. But yeah, I'm anxious to find a whole them do that. That's right. That's what we're trying to do in Madison, take it to the next level. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. And you're certainly doing that. I was just talking to someone this morning, a mutual friend about what you're doing with the Madison Police Department and you and Captain Jones, and just putting that team together. Well, thank you. That's, that's not an individual effort. It's a, it's a team effort. But I appreciate what you're saying. Yeah. So yeah, we're, thank you. Yeah. Speaking of your team, I've still got a couple of openings. We do. We still have two openings. If you're interested, please give us a call. The PD's main phone number is 336-548-6097. Again, 548-6097. But we have two officer openings. There's a BLAT class that will start in January at rock, rock tech. So if you're interested, please give us a call. Okay. B36548-6097. Yeah, be a good thing to be a part of the Madison Police Department team. We need them. We need some good ones. Yeah. Okay. And, and you're doing a lot with really setting the pace here with paying benefits and things like that too. We're really pushing the envelope. We're really trying to think outside of the box and do some different things. And on that note, we're actually kind of rebranding the department. We're changing the patches on our uniform and the stripe design on our patrol cars. I'm really excited about that. We're hoping to have that unleashed, so to speak, very soon. Yeah. Okay. So the color is now yellow and brown. Yes. So those colors are going to go away. They will. They will. We'll go back to more of a traditional black and blue and silver patrol cars. Okay. But it'll, it'll be more of a classic police look. Okay. Good. With kind of a new age twist. Why? Why? And the tax fair may say, well, I have more money there, but what's the idea behind it? Well, number one, we, we just had four new patrol cars. So we've got to get those cars straight. It is. We've got to get those car strapped anyway. So that's expense we were going to have altogether. We decided to go in a new direction with a new color just to kind of basically rebrand, kind of give a new, a new beginning. And it really is. It really is. It really is. The officers, I think the citizens will, will be, will receive to it as well. But it's not anything that we're just going above and beyond that we wouldn't have had to spend to begin with. Unfortunately, we're going to have some of the old cars with the old stripe pattern and as well as these new ones. There's no point with a car with a hundred thousand miles to restripe that car. You know, we'll, we'll fill that through attrition as we cycle that one out and get a new one. We'll go with the new scheme going forward. So it'll take a few years to kind of get through that. Is there a mileage point when you say, we can't use this car anymore? I just want it just finally wears out. I mean, it's different schools of thoughts. You know, Madison, currently we've got several cars with well over a hundred thousand miles. We've got one with 200,000. Wow. And unfortunately, that one was just involved in a deer egg. So I don't know if that one's going to be salvageable or not. We'll see what the insurance company says. But we're trying to use them as long as we can get the most, you know, bang for the buck for the taxpayers. Sure. Nickel out of it. Yeah, of course. Yeah. What about the wreck? Everything okay? Oh, he was fine. Yeah. It's this time of year, the deer are moving. I know. And on that note, is a public safety message. If you see a deer run out in front of you slow as much as possible, but stay in the road, don't swerve off to miss the deer because I've seen a lot of people run off and hit an oak tree or a drain culvert. Make it worse. Make it a lot worse and really get hurt from what should have been an honest and just a deer wreck. But well, thanks to you, Hunter Perdue, a Rockingham County game warden, was here with the Wildlife Commission this morning. And we were talking a little bit about deer and other things. And yeah, it's the time of the season. And I was telling him they're running right through our yard here in the city. Yeah, they are. They are. Be aware of that. If I've told people for years with the Highway Patrol, if you drive around in this county enough at night, this time of year, you're going to hit one. It's just a matter of time. There's so many of them out now. Well, I've hit three through the years. Yeah, you see what I mean. Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah. Boy. Okay. So be aware of that. Be alert as best you can. Those deer are quick. Yes. We jump right to the parade and I did that. But let's go back to the Christmas stroll. And that's something that downtown the merchant's guild is doing. They do. That'll be Saturday, the 7th of December from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. At the conclusion, there'll be a tree lighting and a raffle giveaway. There'll be hot chocolate and cookies throughout the day. But that's put on by the merchants in town, like you say, just kind of promoting the downtown area. But it's a good time. Oh, it is. Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, I think those are some of the highlights we had planned for today's broadcast. Anything else? We need to mention cheese. No, I appreciate your help getting some word out on some public safety issues. And I hope you have a great holiday. I think you've got a vacation coming up. Well deserved. Taking a little, little time away. Yeah, that'll be fine. Sure. Good. Well, if you have a good trip. Well, thank you. But for everyone else, please, please have a safe holiday. Slow down. Don't drink and drive. Yeah. Take a little extra time to get there, but get there safely. And buckle up. Yes, please buckle up. Remember that seat belt awareness project with Madison and Madam Police Department next week, November 26th. Yes. So we on the lookout for that. And if anyone needs more information, maybe about those openings as you're recruiting there for more officers or chief, give us that number again. It is 336-548-1697. Okay. Very good. All right. Happy Thanksgiving. You as well. We'll see you again before Christmas. Yes, sir. All right. Thanks again. Thank you. All right. That's our chief of police in Madison, Richard Hester. And our monthly program with him. And we'll be back again. We'll let you know when that's coming up next month.