Training gets grisly for Rural Major Case Squad

A woman’s body turned up in a car at a Warrensburg KFC parking lot Thursday, but authorities were pretty sure they’d have the case wrapped up by supper-time.

“That’s their practical problem,” said Capt. Dave Keller of the Pettis County Sheriff’s Department. “The old-timers are sitting here kibitzing, but not helping very much.”

The scenario was part of this week’s training session for the Missouri Rural Major Case Squad, of which Keller is a member. Officers from 13 law enforcement agencies — including two Pettis County deputies — gathered in Warrensburg for training needed to join the 37-year-old group.

It’s a squad with a single purpose.

“Basically, we investigate homicides,” said Keller, who was a non-member participant with the group on its first outing in the 1970s.

The squad heads out when a rural district has a slaying requiring large resources, lending a helping hand to smaller forces for whom such an investigation would be financially difficult.

It works for at least three days at no cost, as participating officers continue to be paid by their originating agencies. Both the Pettis County Sheriff’s Department and Sedalia Police Department are squad members.

This area’s squad numbers about 100 officers and agents, said Robert Kinder, Odessa police chief and original squad member. It covers Carroll, Pettis, Ray, Lafayette, Saline, Johnson and Henry counties.

The trainees heard from attorneys, current squad participants and experts from around the state as part of four days of squad preparation.

“We don’t try to teach these fellows to be investigators; they should be investigators when they walk in the door. We just teach them the squad way of doing it,” Keller said.

That method was evident in the practical problem training as 30 officers from numerous agencies buzzed in and out of the Johnson County Fire Protection District Station 1, checking in and dropping off information before being sent back out to follow up on new leads.

“It’s just like a hive of bees,” Keller said. “It all gets put together.”

Participants around Warrensburg read from scripts to better prepare the trainees for the field.

While the technology has changed, those in charge say the work is still pretty much the same as it was in the squad’s early days.

“You still use those techniques you used over 40 years ago,” Kinder said. “For the most part, the old-fashioned legwork is still vital today.”

Pettis County Deputy John Cline was enthusiastic about his training.

“It’s a challenge,” he said. “It’s been a really good opportunity to see things from a lot of people’s views. And when the real deal comes down, it’ll really be helpful.”

While Thursday’s case was on-track to be solved before the evening’s awards dinner, Keller was quick to point out that’s not often the case.
“In the real world, it doesn’t work out that way,” he said.