Out this year . Officer Wakefield works a regular night patrol shift .
Officer Emilie Vaske is the third police officer of the department and is a “ hometown employee ”. Officer Vaske grew up in Lester Prairie and graduated from Lester Prairie High School in 2018 . She received her law enforcement degree from Alexandria Technical and Community College in 2020 . She was employed as a Corrections Officer with the McLeod County Sheriff ’ s Office prior to coming to work for Lester Prairie . Officer Vaske oversees the Safe and Sober Challenge Program , Bicycle Safety Program and is now a DARE Instructor . Officer Vaske had her first DARE class this last Spring in Lester Prairie Public School . Officer Vaske works a regular night patrol shift .
Officer Mark Anderson is a half time employee ( part time police officer ) who has been with the Lester Prairie Police Department the longest of any employee ( 24 years ). He started out as a reserve police officer and obtained his part time peace officer license in 2002 . Officer Anderson is a decorated police officer having received the lifesaving award in 2020 and the KDUZ Hometown Hero award in 2003 . He grew up in rural Lester Prairie and graduated from Lester Prairie High School . Officer Anderson fills in for vacation , training , sick leave and works night and day shifts when needed .
We continue to receive many phone calls and complaints in regards to Tax Scams , Fake Check Scams , Reloadable Card Scams , Craig ’ s List Scams , Computer Scams , Lottery Scams and Phishing Scams . Lester Prairie residents combined have had thousands worth of their hard-earned money taken by these scams . These types of crimes are very difficult for local law enforcement to investigate and if the money is sent out of the United States it is impossible for us to prosecute . If it is too good to be true than it is . You should never need to send money to get money from the lottery . Protect your social security number like you would your new baby and change your passwords on your computer or related devices frequently . First Community Bank President Dean Perry and I have made it a point to communicate suspicious financial activity with each other to protect our residents from these crimes . The Minnesota Attorney General also has some very useful information on its website : https :// www . ag . state . mn . us / Consumer / Scams /
We are very proud of our proactive policing efforts as we presented programs to the community that are designed to protect our citizens from crime and educate them in the activities of the police department . We have continued with our proactive police activities to include 5th grade and Junior High DARE , Crime Stoppers of Minnesota , Bicycle Safety , Use of 911 and Cub Scout presentations . This will also be our twenty third year of participating in the “ cards for kids ’ program ”. The Minnesota Crime Prevention Association distributes Minnesota sports cards to member law enforcement agencies that have crime prevention tips on the back of the card . We use these cards as a positive contact with children in our community . We also gave out Dairy Queen “ Free Ice Cream Cone ” certificates to the children that were wearing their bicycle helmets and driving safely .
We are continuing our work with our partners in the community , Lester Prairie Public School , McLeod County Social Services , McLeod County Public Health and the established coalitions . The Lester Prairie Community Youth Task Force and the McLeod County Methamphetamine Education and Drug Awareness ( MEADA ) Coalition . MEADA was developed to educate youth , families , and citizens on the dangers of drugs with a focus on illegal drug use . The MEADA Coalition of McLeod County brings together families , neighbors , school personnel , law enforcement , county agencies , faith communities and municipalities to help develop a county mindset of zero tolerance for chemical use with a special focus on methamphetamine . As a member of the Lester Prairie Community Youth Task Force , we have been working with community members to develop programs and initiatives to focus on underage drug and alcohol use and how to deal with the issues related to drug and alcohol use and abuse .
I am very proud of the work we have done and enjoy the community I work for .
If you have any questions , concerns or comments please contact me at the number listed above or email me at chief @ lesterprairiemn . us .
Respectfully Submitted , Robert N . Carlson , CEM
Chief of Police / Emergency Management Director
City of Lester Prairie
LesterPrairieHeraldJournal . com
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