ASPCA team up with community police program www.privateofficer.com

ASPCA teams up with community police program www.privateofficer.com

December 7, 2007 — The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) is pleased to announce its partnership with The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to develop a resource packet that will support police and community efforts to combat dogfighting. This packet will provide law enforcement with the necessary tools and training resources to recognize dogfighting, evidence collection and processing, teaching techniques for handling victimized animals, establish partnerships with prosecutors for prosecution, and to build animal task forces within the communities they serve.

Dogfighting is a violent crime that has been practiced and grown in popularity in many urban and rural areas over the last decade. In communities where dogfighting is prevalent, it is considered a significant safety concern for both the public and law enforcement, and it often co-occurs with other illicit activity such as illegal gambling, drugs, illegal weapons possession, parole and probation violations, child endangerment and brings about other violent behaviors.
“The ASPCA is honored to have partnered with COPS on this extremely important initiative,” said ASPCA President & CEO Ed Sayres. “Our organization was founded almost a century and a half ago as a law enforcement agency to fight animal cruelty, and we have seen time and time again that the best way to tackle it is by involving the community—and that’s exactly what this partnership will do.”
“Ask anyone who lives in a community where dogfighting occurs and they will tell you that they want this illegal activity and all of the problems associated with it gone,” said COPS Director Carl R. Peed. “COPS is pleased to support the development of resources that help citizens work with law enforcement to make their community safer, and together with the ASPCA we believe that we can have a significant impact on dogfighting.”
These resources will be available in the form of a COPS Toolkit in the summer of 2008. The Toolkit will be downloadable from the COPS website, produced as a CD-ROM, and in hardcopy.
Partnerships and education are critical components in combating the crimes of dogfighting. This toolkit will provide additional resources that will help to build and sustain collaborative efforts between law enforcement, animal control agencies, humane groups, prosecutors and the community.
The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide and supporting state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. Since 1995, COPS has invested $12.4 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring of more than 117,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training, technical assistance, conferences and webcasts.
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) was the first humane organization established in the Americas, and today has more than one million supporters throughout North America. A 501 [c [3 not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA’s mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA provides local and national leadership in animal-assisted therapy, animal behavior, animal poison control, anti-cruelty, humane education, legislative services, and shelter outreach. The New York City headquarters houses a full-service, accredited, animal hospital, adoption center, and mobile clinic outreach program. The Humane Law Enforcement department enforces New York’s animal cruelty laws and is featured on the reality television series “Animal Precinct” on Animal Planet. For more information, please visit http://www.aspca.org/.

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Shoplifters steal to sell on EBAY www.privateofficer.com

Washington Mo. DEc. 8, 2007

Washington police said two people accused of shoplifting about $1,000 in merchandise from the Wal-Mart SuperCenter here Tuesday night may have been involved in selling stolen items over the Internet.
A third suspect ran from the scene and eluded searching officers for more than three hours. He remained at-large as of Friday, police said.
Detective Sgt. Brad Erisman said the third suspect is from the Springfield area and is on probation in a previous criminal case. Police have identified the 24-year-old man and expect to arrest him in the near future. The man reported to his probation officer the next day, police said.The two people arrested have been charged in Franklin County with felony stealing.Bond was set at $15,000 each for Brent L. Daniels, 37, Marshfield, and Brande L. Spradling, 20, Springfield. The felony stealing complaints allege the two were involved in the theft of computers and cameras, valued at least $500, from Wal-Mart. Loss prevention officers at the store became suspicious after watching Daniels allegedly cut tabs off of three Bushnell trail cameras which were secured to a peg on a wall in the sporting goods section, according to a probable cause statement filed in court. The suspect placed the items in his cart and walked to a different area of the store where he transferred the cameras to an empty merchandise box, the statement notes. Spradling, the third suspect and another girl were standing by the cart. The four then walked around the store about 15 minutes before paying for a DVD and the box containing the concealed merchandise at a checkout in the tire and lube department, according to the statement. After they left the store, a security officer approached them and asked to see a receipt, at which point they ran. Daniels, Spradling and the other girl were taken into custody, police said. Police said the cameras and a laptop computer were found inside the box. Another laptop computer also was found in a pickup truck that was registered to the suspect who escaped from police, according to reports. The cameras were priced at $149.98 each, while the computer had a value of $548, police said. Police called in a tracking dog from the Warren County Sheriff’s Department and a helicopter but were unable to locate the suspect.Erisman said documents and paperwork found in the truck indicated that the suspects “possibly” were selling shoplifted merchandise on e-Bay.He said a security video photographed two of the suspects in the store Monday, Dec. 2, removing a laptop computer from a glass case. It’s suspected that they concealed it somewhere in the store and returned for it Tuesday. Initially, police did not think the second girl was involved, but on closer examination of videotapes have identified her as a suspect in the thefts as well, Erisman said.Police plan to apply for charges against her and the other man still at-large, he said.
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Security officer hit by car; dies www.privateofficer.com

Security officer hit by car; dies By; Rick McCann www.privateofficer.com

Emeryville CA. Dec. 8, 2007

A vehicle driven by Emeryville’s new mayor struck and killed a security guard crossing the street after the veteran city official left a community meeting about a proposed pedestrian and bicycle bridge nearby, police said Friday.
Mayor Ken Bukowski, 56, was driving his SUV in the rain about 9 p.m. Thursday on the 5300 block of Hollis Street when he hit Michael Smela, 56, of Oakley, a retired police officer working as a security guard for drugmaker Novartis, authorities said. Novartis has a plant nearby and was host of the meeting.
Bukowski, who had been traveling north on Hollis, stopped and was not cited pending the results of an investigation, said Ferdinand Suba, Emeryville police spokesman. Suba said the mayor had been traveling below the 35 mph speed limit.
No one else was in the SUV with the mayor. Bukowski was cooperative with police, said Suba, who did not know whether officers had tested the mayor for drugs or alcohol.
Smela was not in a crosswalk when he was trying to cross the street, Suba said. The guard, who was employed by AlliedBarton Security Services, was pronounced dead at Highland Hospital in Oakland.
“It’s a tragic incident for every party involved,” Suba said.
The mayor said Friday that the crash happened after he left the meeting to get public input about designs for a proposed pedestrian-bike bridge over the railroad tracks at 53rd Street that would lead to the Bay Street Emeryville shopping center. The bridge would be located several blocks from where the accident happened, city officials said.
Bukowski said his insurance company had told him not to discuss details of the crash. But he said, “I don’t feel the accident will impair my ability to serve as the city’s new mayor.”
Smela was on duty when he was killed and had been working at Novartis for about a month, said his wife, Lynda Lopez-Smela. He retired last year from the San Francisco Community College District Police Department, which patrols City College of San Francisco.
Lopez-Smela was stunned to learn that it was the Emeryville mayor who had struck and killed her husband of nearly 10 years.
“I’m so numb that you could run me over with a Mack truck and I wouldn’t feel it,” she said.
Bukowski, a retired small businessman, was sworn in as mayor Tuesday after being selected for the post by fellow members of the City Council. Bukowski, a councilman since 1987, considers himself an advocate for bicyclists and pedestrians and often rides his bike to get around the city of 8,600 people.
Bukowski was convicted of a red-light violation last year and failed to appear in court for a second red-light violation in August, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. He was involved in a crash in San Francisco in January, DMV records show.
City officials were notified of Thursday night’s crash in an e-mail sent by City Manager Patrick O’Keeffe. The other four council members also attended the meeting about the bridge.
Councilwoman Nora Davis said she had had left the community meeting a few minutes before the mayor and noted that “the visibility conditions were very poor.”
“My concern and sympathy are with the survivors,” she said.
Smela’s wife said he enjoyed playing golf and loved history and his 11-year-old black Labrador, C.J.
“He’d give you the shirt off his back,” she said of her husband. “He’d help you in any way.” Policing was “in his blood,” she said.
Timothy Zuniga, a former co-worker with the San Francisco community college police, said Smela had previously been a police officer and sheriff’s deputy in San Francisco.
“He had a heart of gold,” Zuniga said. “He was the kind of guy you could count on. You needed backup, he’d be there. He always had your back.”

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Security officer killed in crash www.privateofficer.com

TAMARAC, Fla. Dec. 8, 2007 — A security guard was killed on Friday morning when his car crashed into a plumbing truck as it was making a U-turn in Tamarac.
Reports said Marco Brown was heading east bound on Commercial Boulevard when he decided to make a U-turn. But when he turned into the westbound lanes, he pulled out in front of Thomas Costello’s car.
Seventy-year-old Costello was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was trapped inside the car.
Broward Sheriff’s Office said Costello was returning home from working the overnight shift as a security guard in the Boca Raton area.
Police said Brown could face serious charges.

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Major Atlanta drug raids nets millions in cash and drugs www.privateofficer.com

Major drug raids in Atlanta net millions in cash and drugs www.privateofficer.com

ATLANTA GA. DEC. 8, 2007 – Federal agents showed off millions of dollars in cash and drugs they said were seized during multiple raids on homes in Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties Thursday.Federal agents teamed up with local law enforcement to carry out search warrants on 17 different homes.Investigators said the arrests and seizures reinforce that the Atlanta area has become a hub for drug trafficking because of its transportation and telecommunications systems and its proximity to large U.S. population areas.
We’ll make them pay by taking away their money, and we’ll try to make them pay by taking away their freedom,” U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said at a news conference where millions of dollars in seized cash and drugs were displayed.Agents seized $12 million dollars, 33 guns, 17 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 111 kilograms of cocaine and in all, 68 people were arrested.Investigators said two major international drug organizations were taken down in the raids, which were called Operation Shooting Star and Operation Latitude Adjustment.The raids involved agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Atlanta Police Department, the Gwinnett County Police Department, the Fulton County Police Department and the Fayette County Police Department.Charges against them include conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance. Nahmias said more charges were expected, and he added that the suspects would face significant prison time if convicted. Lawyers would be appointed to them if they didn’t have their own, he said.Nahmias said investigators had not yet determined how many, if any, of the suspects were illegal immigrants. While most of their full names were provided Friday, in many cases their hometowns and addresses were not.

Armed man poses a student on bus by; Rick McCann www.privateofficer.com

Armed man poses as student on bus by; Rick McCann www.privateofficer.com

Harford County MD. Dec. 9 2007

A Harford County man wearing black leather clothing and a black wig and carrying a bag containing a kitchen knife boarded a school bus yesterday morning and rode with students to Joppatowne High, authorities said.
Jeffrey Cerrone, 26, of the 1500 block of Harford Square Drive in Edgewood was arrested upon arrival at the school, said Sgt. Christina Presberry, spokeswoman for the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. No one was injured, she said, adding that the suspect took a seat and did not interact with any of the nearly 30 students on the bus during the trip.
Cerrone was charged with possession of a knife and trespassing, and taken to the Harford County Detention Center, where he was being held yesterday in lieu of $15,000 bond.
About 7 a.m., a man boarded the bus along with several students at a bus stop on Harford Square Drive, Presberry said. Realizing the man was not a student, the driver decided to proceed to the school rather than confront the man and risk an altercation, said Don Morrison, Harford County schools spokesman. She called school authorities en route.
When the bus arrived, the students got off without incident. A school resource officer searched the suspect and found the knife protruding from one of the two grocery bags in his possession.
Joppatowne High officials said they planned to send a letter home with students yesterday informing parents about the incident.
Morrison said protocol dictates that a school bus driver’s reaction to an unauthorized boarding should be handled on a “case by case basis.” He said the driver, who was not identified, acted properly in yesterday’s incident.

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Kidnapped attorney found alive www.privateofficer.com

Kidnapped attorney found in Atlanta www.privateofficer.com

Atlanta GA. Dec . 9, 2007 A pregnant Ohio attorney who had been missing since Wednesday was found alive Saturday behind a suburban Atlanta amusement park, and police said she reported having been abducted. Hours later, her car was found within walking distance of the park.
Karyn McConnell Hancock, 35, who is six months pregnant, told Cobb County, Ga., police that two men and a woman abducted her. She was last seen outside a juvenile court building in Toledo, Ohio, around 9 a.m. Wednesday, police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said.
The suspects reportedly dumped her out of a vehicle in Georgia on Saturday morning, and she wandered to a back gate to the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park, Pierce said. The woman flagged down a security officer, who called police at about 6:45 a.m. The park is located in Austell, 15 miles northwest of Atlanta.
She appeared to be in good health. The motorist she flagged down described her as disoriented, according to Toledo police spokeswoman Capt. Diana Ruiz-Krause.
Details on where she was between Wednesday and Saturday, descriptions of her alleged abductors and the vehicle they were driving were unclear. Cobb County police said in a statement that Hancock’s car was found on Interstate 20 at 2 p.m. about a mile or so from the amusement park. It was being held for police processing.
Ruiz-Krause said Hancock called her husband Thursday afternoon to say she had been kidnapped. Police were unable to trace the call, which was brief.
By midday Saturday, the FBI had been called in to assist, Pierce said. An FBI spokesman in Atlanta, Stephen Emmett, declined to comment, referring questions to his counterpart in Ohio. The FBI office there declined to make a spokesman available for comment.
Hancock had been having trouble with a client and had received suspicious phone calls, her husband told police in Ohio.
Hancock’s father, C. Allen McConnell, a Municipal Court judge in Ohio, had pleaded for his daughter’s safe return.

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Off-duty constable shoots, kills robbery suspect by; Rick McCann www.privateofficer.com

HOUSTON TX. DEC. 9, 2007
An off-duty Harris County reserve deputy constable shot and killed a 19-year-old man who allegedly tried to rob him in a parking lot behind the Toyota Center on Saturday afternoon, Houston police said.
Richard Jue, 49, was parking cars about 2:15 p.m. in a lot his family owns in the 1400 block of Bell when two men approached him, asking for change for a $100 bill, Houston Police Department spokesman John Cannon said.
Feeling that their request was suspicious, Jue refused. The men returned shortly afterward in a late 1990s model silver Ford Taurus.
They paid cash to park in the lot, but returned a few minutes later, saying they were leaving and asked for their money back, police said.
Jue “said ‘I can’t do that,’ ” Cannon said. The men didn’t hand him the correct parking receipt, he said. While Jue was on his phone, “the suspects sucker-punched him and pulled his vest up over his face. At that point, he was fearful he was going to be stabbed or shot,” Cannon said.
Jue pushed the men away, pulled a gun from his waistband and fired at the men at close range, striking the 19-year-old in the upper chest, Cannon said. The teen’s identity has not been released.
When the wounded teenager took off running and tried to hide between vehicles, Jue identified himself as an officer, Cannon said. He demanded that the teen come forward and when he did not, Jue fired two more shots in his direction, Cannon said, adding that authorities don’t think those bullets hit him.
Meanwhile, the wounded teen ran across the street, where he collapsed.
An ambulance arrived to take the teenager to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. At the same time, Jue saw the other man fleeing in the Ford Taurus, which police said had a license plate ending with “890.”
Jue fired again, possibly hitting the vehicle, Cannon said.
The men took all the money Jue was carrying and also left him with a few scratches and bumps on the head, Precinct 1 Assistant Chief Deputy J.C. Mosier said.
“You can tell he was beaten up pretty good,” he said.
Jue, who works as a manager for his family’s nearby Chinese restaurant, has been a reserve deputy with the Precinct 1 for 27 years, Mosier said. Reserve deputies are volunteers who are certified and licensed as peace officers.
“His status with us will not change,” Mosier said, who added that he thinks Jue handled the situation properly.
The area was filled with fans attending two preseason high school basketball games at Toyota Center. Because of the incident, many had to wait hours to retrieve their vehicles from the parking lot. They watched as detectives investigated the scene.
Bobby Robinson was about to park in a nearby garage when he heard two shots fired and saw a wounded man running across the street.
“I knew he had been hurt because the whole side of his shirt was red,” Robinson said. “In this type of environment, that was the last thing I would expect.”
The case is being investigated by HPD’s Homicide Division and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Anyone with information about the man who fled the scene in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

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CSI OFFICER ARRESTED FOR GRAND THEFT www.privateofficer.com

PALM BEACH FL. DEC 9 2007

Police department employee Annette Badger, 43, was arrested Friday on third-degree felony charges of grand theft and official misconduct.
Badger, a civilian crime scene evidence technician, is accused of taking $4,835.48 from the evidence unit and altering official police records to hide the crime, police said.
According to the police report, Badger admitted taking the money in a series of improper cataloging of cash taken in as evidence.
Badger admitted to taking the money within the last month on four or five occasions, the police report says. Police first noticed discrepancies on Nov. 30 when a co-worker cleaned up the work area they share and found an open package of evidence.
Badger, who lives in Jensen Beach, took the money because of personal financial difficulties, including having her car repossessed and having her wages garnished, according to police.
“She stated she took the money because in addition to the car repossession and the garnishing of her wages, she is being evicted due to not paying her rent,” the report says.
“She has been using the money to pay part of her rent to postpone the eviction. Badger stated that she co-owns a house that is currently for sale and was hoping that once the house sold she could use the profit to pay off her debts and put the money back into the crime scene unit,” according to the police report.
Police gathered cash and evidence receipts and packaging from Badger’s work station and from her home.
Badger has been with the police department since August 1998.
She was placed on paid administrative leave while police conduct both criminal and professional investigations.
She was taken to the Palm Beach County Jail late Friday afternoon. No booking information was available at press time

Casino worker, friends arrested in thefts www.privateofficer.com

Casino worker and friends arrested for theft www.privateofficer.com

BILOXI, Miss. Dec. 9, 2007 –A third suspect has been arrested on grand larceny charges in the theft of $70,000 from a Beau Rivage cashier’s cage Aug. 31.
Biloxi police arrested 31-year-old Anthony Keil of Mobile on Wednesday, said police Capt. Darrin Peterson.
Peterson said police had already arrested Tekela Campbell, 25, who Peterson said was a cashier at the casino, and Terrance Lindsey, 19, in the robbery.
Peterson said investigators believe the cashiers helped by setting the money in a reachable place while they were emptying the drawers, and the robbers were able to walk away with the cash, a stack of $100 bills, which stands only about six to eight inches high. Peterson said about $7,500 in cash has been recovered from the suspects.
Peterson declined to say whether the theft was caught on the casino’s security cameras.
Justice Court Judge Albert Fountain set Keil’s bond at $250,000. Keil was being held in the Harrison County jail on Thursday

Men arrested for taunting mall security with knife by; Rick McCann www.privateofficer.com

Naples FLA. Dec. 10, 2007 An 18-year-old from Naples and two younger boys are facing charges after security guards said they were seen early Sunday with a gun at a closed Coastland Center mall.
According to Coastland Center mall security guards, one of three teenagers had a gun and threatened them when they were questioned shortly after midnight Sunday.
However, when Naples police arrested the three teens around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, they charged them with disorderly conduct, possession of a knife and possession of marijuana.
A police report said Naples officers didn’t find a gun when they located and searched the car.
Charged were Christopher V. Williams, 18, of 2613 Gulfview Drive; Mayo Donald Coates, 16, of 700 Binnacle Drive; and Samuel James Tuttle, 17, of 1060 Riordan Ave.
According to an arrest report:
Naples police were told by mall security that three young men were repeatedly driving around mall security guards Josh Bridges and Jonathan Moran, shouting and taunting them.
Mall guards said Tuttle threatened them with a handgun.
After meeting with security guards, Naples police officers tracked the car containing the teens, until they caught up with them in the 2300 block of 14th Street North.
One of the officers said they saw a pipe resting in the car’s ashtray, carrying the distinct aroma of marijuana.
After Naples police brought Bridges and Moran face-to-face with the teens, the suspects were positively identified and Williams, Coates and Tuttle were arrested.
A Naples officer who searched the car found a folding knife in the driver’s side door pocket, but no handgun.
Tuttle and Coates were taken to be held by the Collier County Department of Juvenile Justice. Tuttle was charged with assault, marijuana possession and disorderly conduct. Coates was charged with marijuana possession and disorderly conduct.
Williams was taken to jail and charged with assault, marijuana possession, disorderly conduct and possession of a concealed weapon.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Williams and Tuttle were charged with assault.
Naples officers who handled the case couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday.
The incident came less than a week after an Omaha, Neb., mall incident. Last week, Robert Hawkins, 19, from Bellevue, Neb., shot to death eight people in the Westroads Mall, before killing himself.

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Gunman kills 4, security kills him www.privateofficer.com

Colorado Springs, Co. Dec. 10, 2007

A gunman shot four staff members at a missionary training center near Denver early Sunday, killing two, after being told he couldn’t spend the night. About 12 hours later and 65 miles away in Colorado Springs, a gunman fatally shot a parishioner at a megachurch and wounded four other people before a guard killed him, police said.
The police chief in Arvada, a suburb about 15 miles west of Denver where the mission workers were shot, said the shootings may be related to those in Colorado Springs but declined to elaborate. No one had been captured in the Arvada shootings, authorities said.
Late Sunday, Arvada police helped Colorado Springs serve a search warrant at a home in suburban Englewood, about 15 miles south of Denver, that they said could be related to the Colorado Springs shooting case.
“Colorado Springs has identified its suspect, and we’re there to see whether their suspect and ours are the same,” said Arvada Deputy Police Chief Gary Creagor.
Witness descriptions differed in each incident. A handgun was used in the shootings at the Youth With a Mission center in Arvada, while a rifle was used at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, police said.
The gunman at the New Life Church was shot and killed by a church security guard after entering the church’s main foyer with high-powered rifle shortly before 1 p.m. and opening fire, Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard Myers said. Four others were wounded, Myers said.
The church’s 11 a.m. service had recently ended, and hundreds of people were milling about when the gunman opened fire. Nearby were parents picking up their children from the nursery.
Police arrived to find that the gunman had been killed by a member of the church’s armed security staff, Myers said.
“There was a courageous staff member who probably saved many lives here today,” Myers said.
Gov. Bill Ritter ordered state authorities to help investigate. The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting. Officers found several smoke-generating devices on the church campus, Myers said. Their intended purpose wasn’t clear.

Space Center officer shoots store robber www.privateofficer.com

TITUSVILLE, Fla. Dec. 10, 2007 — An off-duty Kennedy Space Center SWAT officer shot and injured a robbery suspect at Titusville Winn Dixie Saturday night.
Police began receiving 911 calls just before 9:30pm saying there was a man in the parking lot wearing a mask and holding a shotgun. Shortly thereafter, frantic customers inside the store began calling 911 saying a robbery was in progress.
Police say the off-duty SWAT member was going into the store, saw what was happening and ran back to his vehicle to get his gun.
Meantime, police say 34-year-old Barry Noetzel had fired a shot at the store’s office door in order to get inside and grab some money. They say Noetzel then ran out an emergency exit where he was confronted by the off-duty officer and was shot in the chest.
Noetzel was airlifted to Holmes Regional Medical Center in good condition.
“I was shopping and all of sudden I heard a gunshot. Then they told everybody to get on the ground and I just hid,” said an eyewitness. No customers were hurt during the incident.
Noetzel is being charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a short-barreled shotgun, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, wearing body armor and a mask while committing a felony and shooting within 1000 feet of people.

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