When small town officials try to imitate the bozos of the big city political machines…
…this guy just may be the biggest dope serving as a police chief in America…
From Joplin Globe
ORONOGO, Mo. — Members of the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving criticized the Oronogo police chief during a City Council meeting Monday night, saying it was “morally wrong” for him to ride in the same car with the METS director the night the latter man was arrested and charged with DWI.
Their criticism comes two weeks after members of the group went to a City Council meeting as “observers” after learning that the Oronogo mayor had been charged with driving while intoxicated earlier this spring. The group also has been publicly critical of the Metro Emergency Transport System director, who is the former Oronogo fire chief.
Kerry Freeman, president of the Newton and Jasper County Chapter of MADD, and her husband, Gregg Freeman, said they witnessed
police Chief Jeff Fries on June 30 in a vehicle driven by Jason Smith, of Oronogo, after the vehicle was pulled over early that morning at a sobriety checkpoint by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Fries, who is a member of the Jasper County Emergency Services Board and is on the DWI task force ….MORE
From MODOT.org
August 23, 2010 —Oronogo – The Oronogo Police Department’s “You Drink & Drive. You Lose” campaign resulted in fewer impaired drivers on Oronogo’s roads during its enforcement efforts Aug. 13. Officers checked 229 vehicles and removed one drunk driver from the streets, wrote several citations and seized 12 pounds of marijuana.
“Typically we’ll find open containers, small quantities of drugs and people with outstanding warrants,” said Oronogo Police Chief Jeff Fries. “When we found 12 pounds of marijuana, I was shocked. Our goal with these checkpoints is making our streets safer and avoiding deadly crashes, and finding this much marijuana was an added bonus.”
Driving while intoxicated remains one of the top causes of fatal car crashes in Missouri. In 2009, 268 people were killed and 1,134 were seriously injured in Missouri traffic crashes involving an impaired driver.
