Ortonville Police Department

The Ortonville Police Department along with the Minnesota Crime Prevention Association (MCPA) in cooperation with the Minnesota Twins and Park Printing are proud to announce once again for 2013 that officers will be handing out Minnesota Twins crime prevention/safety trading cards to area youth!

The Ortonville Police Department has provided crime prevention/safety cards to area youth for the last 17 years when Chief Jason Mork first started the program here in Ortonville.  The MCPA has provided crime prevention/safety cards to its police department members for the last 27 years.  Chief Mork stated that we are thrilled to continue to provide this program to area youth and being able to meet kids in a much friendlier environment than in some other negative contact that we as law enforcement officers sometime encounter with youth.

For the ‘who’ & ‘when’ schedule – click on link below (pdf)
2013-06-13 Twins Crime Prevention Cards News Release

Motorists and passengers are reminded to buckle up this spring as extra Click It or Ticket seat belt patrols take to the roads statewide May 20 – June 2. Ortonville Police Department is among nearly 400 Minnesota agencies increasing patrols to encourage motorists to buckle up.

View Complete Notice (PDF):  Buckle-up May-June

On Friday, November 9th, 2012 the Ortonville Police Department took a report from an Ortonville parent whose child had found a needle in a piece of their Halloween candy while eating it.  The parent and child were all over town and are unsure as to all the houses they went to.

The Ortonville Police Department urges parents to check their child’s candy.  Anyone finding anything suspicious is asked to contact the police department.

The Ortonville Police Department is also asking anyone that has information to this incident to contact the police department at 320-839-6161.

Link to Official Release PDF:  2012_11_12 News Release – Halloween Candy

On Friday, 10-26-12, at approximately 0307 hours, the Ortonville Police & Fire Departments were called to the intersection of NW 2^nd Street and Jefferson Avenue for a reported fire coming of out the basement windows of the old Columbian Hotel building.

Upon arrival police and fire crews found the building totally engulfed by flames.
Complete News Release click here –

UPDATED RELEASE:  2012-10-26 = Columbian Hotel Fire – UPDATE

2012-10-26 = Columbian Hotel Fire

On Friday, 10-19-12, at approximately 0850 hours, the Ortonville Police Department was called to the Ortonville EDA Office for a possible attempted burglary.

View full News Release:   2012-10-19 = Attempted burglary at EDA Offices

INCREASED SEAT BELT PATROLS TAKE TO ORTONVILLE ROADS

Extra Click It or Ticket seat belt patrols take to the roads Oct. 12–26 statewide in Minnesota. Ortonville Police Department is among nearly 400 Minnesota agencies increasing patrols to encourage motorists to buckle up.

Complete News Release -
S&S Pre-Enforcement – 2012 – #4 -October Seatbelt News Relese

Ortonville Police Department officers ticketed seven motorists traveling at illegal and unsafe speeds during an stepped-up statewide July speed enforcement effort. The campaign was coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety.

Unsafe and illegal speed is the most commonly reported contributing factor in fatal crashes. During 2008–2011, speed was a contributing factor in zero fatalities in Big Stone County and 1,200 traffic deaths statewide.
In Big Stone County, an average speeding citation for 10 mph over the limit is $125.00. Motorists stopped at 20 mph over the speed limit face double the fine, and those ticketed traveling more than 100 mph can lose their license for six months.

Among those cited for speed, [INSERT DETAILS OF THE FASTEST DRIVER CLOCKED; HIGHLIGHT TOP SPEEDS; OR INSERT STORY OF CRASH CAUSED BY EXCESSIVE SPEEDS DURING ENFORCEMENT PERIOD].
“When we increase our speeds behind the wheel, we increase our chances of crashing,” says [SPOKESPERSON.] “This campaign was about educating motorists that speeding is a dangerous and potentially deadly habit.”
Consequences of Speeding
Ortonville Police Department cites these dangers of speeding:
• Greater potential for loss of vehicle control.
• Increased stopping distance.
• Less time available for driver response for crash avoidance.
• Increased crash severity leading to more numerous and severe injuries.
The speed enforcement and education effort is coordinated by the Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety. The campaign is a component of the state’s Toward Zero Death program (TZD). A primary vision of the TZD program is to create a safe driving culture in Minnesota in which motorists support a goal of zero road fatalities by practicing and promoting safe and smart driving behavior. TZD focuses on the application of four strategic areas to reduce crashes — education, enforcement, engineering and emergency trauma response.

Unsafe and illegal speed is the most commonly reported contributing factor in fatal crashes. During 2008–2011, speed was a contributing factor in zero fatalities in Big Stone County and 254 traffic deaths statewide.

S&S Pre-Enforcement – 2012 – #2 – July Speed Enforcement News Relese

More than 500 motorists were killed during June–September, 2008–2010 — 40 percent of the state’s total in the last three years.

S&S Post-Enforcement – 2012 – #1 – Memorial Day Seatbelt News Relese

The Ortonville Police Department would like to once again remind area residents that SCAM’s are out there and real and can happen to anyone.

Just recently another Ortonville resident received a call from who they thought was their grandson and was actually a SCAMMER.  The “grandson” SCAMMER said that he needed to have money wired to him because he had been involved in a car accident and arrested for a DUI and was currently in jail in New York.  The SCAMMER convinced the relative this was truly their grandson and to send the money.  The relative wired over $2,000.00 to the SCAMMER who then called back stating that more money was needed.  The relative asked some family information that the SCAMMER did not know the answers to and realized what was happening after she had already sent this money.

This same SCAM scenario happened to another Ortonville resident just over one year ago where they were scammed out of more than $3,000.00.

In most cases this money is hard to track and is never recovered and the victim is out the money.

Chief of Police Jason Mork would like to recommend to anyone needing to send money to a loved one, for any reason, to do some follow up with other family members to confirm the information is true and real.  Chief Mork also stated that if there seems to be red flags this might be a very good indication that this is a SCAM and to check out the information before becoming a victim of a SCAM.