Our members go above and beyond when serving and protecting the public. They are dedicated and humble and don't often share their own stories. We recently learned about two of our members, Officers Richter and Rath who helped out a shoplifting suspect. A woman was caught stealing shoes and the store asked to press charges as was their policy. While speaking with the woman the officers learned she was in desperate need as indicated by the fact she was barefoot. One of the officers went b...

This is OPOA member Detective Schneider. He was a 2019 Crime Stoppers Officer of the Year Nominee. In September 2019, Detective Schneider met with Alyssa who was hoping he could look back into her father’s murder from 19 years ago. Detective Schneider went over the case file, reinterviewed witnesses, and had additional ballistics and DNA testing done. Due to advancements in DNA technology, some DNA evidence was found. Detective Schneider’s thorough investigation allowed him ...

Drastic budget cuts to defund police departments in response to protesters and angry mobs will only hurt police/community relations and public safety. Many Seattle citizens had been requesting an increase in police staffing due to rising crime rates. Instead, staffing was reduced by 100 officers. Seattle City Council’s budget cut will eliminate the city’s most diverse recruit class ever and has led to the resignation of the city’s first Black police chief. If citizens want to see m...

Omaha POA has consistently warned that our current Juvenile Justice system is too inflexible to adequately address our community’s most challenged juvenile offenders. This tragic story is just the latest example. The judge made the right call. The “age 19 supervision cut off” in our current juvenile justice scheme not only inhibits supervision and public safety options but also is not conducive for true rehabilitation efforts and outcomes. Lawmakers would do well to give this issu...

This is OPOA member Detective Raders. He was a 2019 Crime Stoppers Officer of the Year nominee. Detective Raders was instrumental in actively investigating a violent criminal gang that was responsible for several felony assaults in 2018. In 2019 Detectives Raders partnered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to investigate the gang's criminal activity. Over a several month period Detective Raders and the ATF seized 41 firearms, 10 of which were stolen and co...

This is OPOA member Detective Brandt. He was a 2019 Crime Stoppers Officer of the Year Nominee. Detective Brandt was responsible for the arrest of multiple violent carjacking suspects during 2019, and the recovery of several vehicles. The most notable case was in May 2019. Detective Brandt responded to a carjacking report where the victim had been violently assaulted and her vehicle stolen. Detective Brandt learned the vehicle was equipped with GPS but needed to have an active se...