‘Teen Killers’ conference
Bakersfield third grade teacher Lori Sisney examines one of the items with hidden compartments Chalmers displayed at the event. The ordinary-looking soda bottle comes apart to reveal a space for illicit drugs or other contraband.
Several dozen law enforcement officers and school personnel attended a training program Friday at Bakersfield School presented by Phil Chalmers, whose 30 years of research and experience as a true-crime writer and interviewer of serial killers led him to develop informative sessions that address the causes, warning signs and triggers of teen killers, school shooters, mass murders and serial killers. Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed said he saw Chalmers’ program at a meeting of the Missouri Sheriffs Association and wanted to bring it to Ozark County. Bakersfield Schools superintendent agreed to host the event and paid two-thirds of the cost using professional development funds. The rest of the cost was covered by the Gainesville Lions Club, the Ozark County Times and by Reed. Law enforcement officers from Ozark County, Douglas County, Taney County, Howell County and Baxter County, Arkansas, attended the program, along with officers from the Mountain Home (Arkansas) Police Department. Three of Ozark County’s five school districts were also represented.