Ga. governor wants to allow guns at nations busiest airport www.privateofficer.com

Georgia governor wants to allow guns at nation’s busiest airport www.privateofficer.com

ATLANTA GA July 17 2008

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said Monday that guns should be allowed in public areas of the nation’s busiest airport.
And he suggested his own wife might want to pack a firearm for long walks between the parking lot and the terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International.
“If my wife wanted to carry a gun, if she was going from the parking lot, walking from one of those far parking lots to pick up a grandchild or something like that, I think that’s a good idea, yes,” he said Monday.
Earlier this year, Perdue, a Republican, signed legislation that allows Georgians who have passed criminal background checks to carry concealed weapons onto mass transit, as well as into state parks and restaurants that serve alcohol. The new law took effect July 1 2008.

A legal battle quickly erupted over whether the law applies to public areas of Hartsfield-Jackson before travelers pass through security checkpoints.
On the day the new law took effect, Atlanta officials who oversee the airport declared it a “gun-free zone” and said anyone carrying a gun there could be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin argued that allowing guns could endanger people because airports remain attractive targets for terrorism.
Gun rights supporters filed a federal lawsuit challenging the designation, saying the airport qualifies as mass transportation and has restaurants that should be accessible under the new law.
Perdue said Monday he hasn’t asked his legal counsel for guidance and was simply offering his own “lay opinion.”
An airport official referred calls to the office of Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, where a message was left seeking comment.
The law’s sponsor, state Rep. Tim Bearden, called Perdue’s comments “right on the money.”
“People have a right to defend themselves. That is what this law is about,” said Bearden, a Republican and former police officer.
A spokesman for Perdue said the governor has a gun permit but his wife does not.
A hearing is scheduled Aug. 11 in U.S. District Court for the lawsuit filed by GeorgiaCarry.org, which wants a restraining order to keep the airport from enforcing the gun ban.

Brawl erupts at hospital, 4 arrested www.privateofficer.com

Brawl erupts at hospital, 4 arrested, 2 officers injured www.privateofficer.com

EAST PATCHOGUE NY July 17 2008

By: Bryan Hill

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

http://www.privateofficer.com/ – Suffolk County Police have arrested three people who assaulted two police officers after an altercation with hospital security guards at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center Monday night.
Officers responded to the hospital emergency room on an unrelated incident and while there officers said that they saw an altercation between a number of people and hospital security officers.
One police officer went to assist security and tried to control the situation and was assaulted by three individuals according to the police report.
Additional police units were called in and police arrested all three people on various charges. Those arrested included – Audra Talbert, 22, Jonathan Poyner, 21, and Dasean Poyner, all of North Bellport. They were charged with second-degree assault, second degree riot, obstructing governmental administration and harassment in the second degree.
A fourth person, Roland Durham, 19, of East Patchogue, was charged with riot and harassment, both in the second degree, for assaulting a bystander in the waiting room.
Officers John Valente and Eric Bowen, sustained injuries. Valente suffer the most serious with a broken hand.
All four were taken to jail and booked in un an unknown amount of bond.

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Courthouse upgrades to airport-style security www.privateofficer.com

Courthouse upgraded to airport style security www.privateofficer.com

The Lompoc Report
By Glenn Wallace/Staff Writer
Santa Barbra CA. July 17 2008
Visitors to the Lompoc branch of the Santa Barbara County Superior Court are being confronted by a new main entrance, with airport-style security.
The changes may inconvenience some people, but they’re necessary, according to court administrators, who are using the Lompoc site as a test run before installing metal detectors at most court sites in the county.

The juvenile courts in Santa Maria and Santa Barbara are scheduled to have the updated metal detectors installed by the end of the year, and most of the county’s other court locations by 2009.

Anyone attending a court hearing in one of Lompoc’s two Superior Courts, 115 Civic Center Plaza, will now be required to enter through the building’s southwest entrance, off West Cypress Avenue and South E Street.

Once through the doors, people attending court will pass through a metal detector before being allowed inside. The change began Monday.“It’s long overdue,” said Superior Court Executive Officer Gary M. Blair, adding that Santa Barbara’s superior court system was the largest in the state to still lack any type of perimeter security.San Luis Obispo courts installed a similar system in March 2007.

Court Assistant Executive Officer Darrel Parker said violent conflicts in the courts have been rare. “We don’t want to wait for some incident though,” he said.

The perimeter security system, including two private security guards and a sheriff’s deputy, is funded by $1.8 million annually from the State Judicial Council for the expressed purpose of court security.Lompoc, Parker said, was chosen as the first site to have security added due to the ease of adding it to the courthouse layout.

Most of the county’s court locations will have the new security by the end of 2009, officials said, but the Solvang court site, in session only once a week for minor offenses, will not have security added.“It’ll only be as invasive as necessary to keep people from bringing a weapon into the court area,” Parker said, adding that small amounts of jewelry and shoes would generally not set off detectors.

If the detectors do indicate something metal, the sheriff’s department officer may do a pat down. If the security personnel cannot locate the source of the alarm, the individual might be denied access to the court.

Parker said the courts do not anticipate the additional wait to enter the courtroom to be more than a few minutes even during peak traffic times, in the case of the Lompoc site.

For convenience, the court entryway doors off Civic Center Plaza, across from Lompoc’s City Hall, will give access to court transaction windows, allowing people who are not entering a court.

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Police seek bold robber hitting Publix stores www.privateofficer.com

KENNESAW, Ga (Metro Atlanta) July 17 2008 — A bold robber is targeting Publix stores in Cobb, Cherokee and Bartow Counties.
Police said Wednesday the robber strolls into the Publix stores during business hours, heads for the customer service desk and demands cash.
The robber seems unconcerned about security cameras in the stores and has been photographed several times during at least three hold-ups, the latest one Tuesday morning in Kennesaw. He’s also been caught on camera hitting Publix stores in Cartersville and Woodstock.
The security camera pictures show a 6′, 250 pound man wearing a black and maroon jacket, a baseball cap and sunglasses.

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OU basketball charged with theft www.privateofficer.com

OU basketball player charged with shoplifting www.privateofficer.com

Norman Ok. July 17 2008

University of Oklahoma women’s basketball player Jenna Plumley was arrested Monday and charged with attempting to steal makeup from a Wal-Mart in Norman.

Store security detained the junior point guard, and she was released after signing a signature bond.

Plumley was charged with petty larceny, a misdemeanor of merchandise valued at less than $500, according to the Norman Police Department. Captain J.D. Young said Plumley has five days to set up a court date.

The charge carries a fine of $50 to $750 and up to 60 days in jail. Jared Thompson, OU sports information director for women’s basketball, said head coach Sherri Coale was aware of the situation but had no comment.

Coale is out of town on a recruiting trip, but Thompson said the coach will address the issue upon her return.

Plumley started all 31 games last season and averaged 7.8 points.

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Woman tries to kill her baby at hospital www.privateofficer.com

Woman tries to kill her child at hospital www.privateofficer.com

PITTSBURGH PA July 16 2008 — A Hickman County, Tenn., woman tried to poison her 4-month-old son at a city hospital by injecting a salt water solution into his feeding tube and has been charged with attempted homicide, police said.
Police did not release the name of the boy, who remained in critical condition with sodium poisoning at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on Wednesday. The boy’s 21-year-old mother, Amber Brewington of Duck River, Tenn., was taken into custody late Tuesday following the alleged poisoning attempt, police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki said.
The boy became ill and earlier this month was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where he was diagnosed with sodium poisoning, Stangrecki said. The baby was transferred to the Pittsburgh hospital on July 9, he said.
During that time, the boy’s father traveled with him and his condition began to improve, Stangrecki said.
But the boy’s condition declined after his mother visited him on Sunday and again on Tuesday night, leading to Brewington’s arrest, Stangrecki said.
Brewington gave investigators a statement, which Stangrecki would not detail, and was found with a syringe, a container of salt and the children’s drink product Pedialyte. Stangrecki said police believe Brewington was using the syringe to inject the solution into the child’s feeding tube.
Investigators believe the boy had also been poisoned in Tennessee, Stangrecki said.
“We believe last night was another attempt to deliver more salt water or sodium to her child,” Stangrecki said Wednesday.
Brewington was also charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child. She was awaiting arraignment in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear if she would have an attorney representing her at the hearing.
The boy’s father was questioned, but is not suspected of wrongdoing and faces no charges, Stangrecki said.
Stangrecki said he’s not sure if Brewington is married to the child’s father. Brewington has two children with him and a third child by another man, Stangrecki said.
The custody status of Brewington’s other children was not immediately available .

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