OTTUMWA, IOWA -- For Thursday's Facebook Story of the Day, you wanted to know if there are any circumstances in which Ottumwa police can operate outside of the Ottumwa city limits.
There are actually quite a few. It doesn't happen often, but if police are in hot pursuit of a suspect, they can take matters outside of the city.
More common circumstances include if the department is working on a specific drug or alcohol project with other law enforcement agencies, need to travel outside the city for a case-related interview and they can also get involved if a warrant needs to be served for an Ottumwa citizen.
The OPD also has a memorandum of understanding with the Wapello County Sheriff's Department to allow them to practice law enforcement in the county, if necessary.
"If they need assistance for some large operation or a large incident, they can come to help each other," said Ottumwa Police Chief Jim Clark. "Nowadays, particularly, with fewer staff, that's what most agencies are doing. And it's unfortunately one of those things that's necessary, just in case something big happens."
Clark said it should be noted that oftentimes cars from other law agencies or other cities look similar to and get mistaken for Ottumwa Police Department cars, so it's not always an OPD officer that you are seeing outside of city limits.
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