Listen To This Story
The Nebraska State Patrol had another busy year. Nebraska Public Media’s Dale Johnson recently asked Patrol Superintendent Col. John Bolduc to characterize 2024.
John Bolduc: I would characterize 2024 as another year of continued excellence for the Nebraska State Patrol. We handled a lot of challenging circumstances and really continue to provide the great service that the state of Nebraska is used to from our troopers and dispatchers and our professional staff all across the state.
Dale Johnson: Far too many services to try to squeeze into a five-minute conversation with Colonel Bolduc. So we'll break it down and start with drugs. Methamphetamine, the most trafficked drug in this country in 2024, which means that Nebraska State Troopers stopped their fair share of vehicles with meth inside. How much in 2024?
Bolduc: We had 320 pounds of meth, 92 pounds of cocaine, 53 pounds of Fentanyl and over 1,000 units of oxycodone. Unfortunately, it just represents a fraction of the amount of drugs that are actually out there that bring harm to our communities.
Johnson: Do you consider that a successful year?
Bolduc: I do, because every one of those cases represents outstanding work by our troopers, investigators and our professional staff, everything from people who handle the evidence processing, getting it ready for court, all the way to our crime lab. It just takes an army of people to successfully prosecute these cases, and every one of those, that really represent some great work that's being done across our state.
Johnson: A disturbing, dangerous trend for law enforcement, sir, continued in 2024: people getting stopped for drunk driving at rates that haven't been seen for years. 2023 for example, 23% increase from 2022. What happened last year?
Bolduc: Well, unfortunately, we had another increase, 20% over the previous year, over 1,370 DUI arrests. You know, in today's day and age where I think our education around this topic is effective, there's just no excuse. Everybody knows the dangers of drunk driving, yet we still arrest this many impaired drivers, over 1,300 there's just no excuse for it.
Johnson: We're looking back at 2024 with Nebraska State Patrol superintendent, Col. John Bolduc. Drivers last year didn't just edge past the 75-mph interstate speed limit by five or 10 miles an hour. They blew right past it. More than 1,100 drivers were caught going 100 mph or faster. Colonel, that averages out to be about three, 100 mph or faster speeders caught by your troopers every single day last year across Nebraska.
Bolduc: Well, while that's really an appalling statistic, it also speaks to the good work, the diligent law enforcement that our troopers are doing across the state, and they're out there looking for those people who are driving in a dangerous manner. They're finding them, they're citing them, they're getting them into court. There are some pretty severe sanctions in many cases. I don't know what the solution is, but we're going to keep hammering them and getting them pulled over, getting them off the street, as long as they're out there.
Johnson: Again, 1,177 drivers caught going 100 mph or faster. Three 100 mph or faster speeders caught by troopers every single day last year across Nebraska. All right, when troopers aren't pulling over drunk drivers or stopping speeders, they're assisting motorists. Over 14,000 assists performed by troopers last year.
Bolduc: Yeah, this really, again, speaks to the notion in all of public safety, a certain percentage of our time is spent enforcing the law, but a lot of the time is spent just helping people, serving the public. Certainly, nobody wants to be stranded on the side of the road, and should you find yourself in that position, we’re here to help. We want to mitigate the dangers of being stuck on the side of the road. Certainly it can increase crashes. So what we need to do is help folks get on their way, minimizes the dangers, and it's an important service for the public.
Johnson: All right, let's pull off the road and talk about the Nebraska State Patrol Crime Lab out at Air Park in Lincoln. In September, ground was broken on a $26 million expansion for the crime lab. What happens inside that building?
Bolduc: Oh, that's a great question, Dale. Scientists and evidence technicians analyze evidence, whether it be blood, DNA, firearm, fingerprint, any crime that might happen anywhere in the state, and evidence is collected that is sent to the crime lab, where it is analyzed by our professional staff there and evaluated, you know, as to whether this evidence is going to be useful in prosecution or not. Technology has advanced a lot since that facility was built, so we need room for more instrumentation, newer instrumentation, newer techniques, and, of course, room to grow with the expanding caseload.
Johnson: About 5,000 cases received by the NSP crime lab on average every year that expansion project expected to be completed and up in operation by 2026. I want to thank Col. John Bolduc, the superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol, for joining me on Nebraska Public Media. I'm Dale Johnson.