Houston News Chopper Crashes, 2 Dead www.privateofficer.com

Houston News Chopper Crashes, 2 Dead http://www.privateofficer.com

HOUSTON TX OCT 13 2008—A news helicopter belonging to Houston ABC affiliate KTRK crashed in Montgomery County Monday morning, 11 News has confirmed.
Two people were killed. Authorities have now identified them as pilot John Downhower and photographer Dave Garrett.
The chopper went down in a heavily-wooded area after responding to a triple shooting call near 1488 and Peoples Road.
Harold Robinson, who lives near the crash site, told 11 News that he heard the helicopter and then an explosion. He said he called 911.
It was unclear what caused the crash.
Thick smoke could be seen rising from the site, and debris and flames were scattered among the trees.
Part of the tail of the aircraft, bearing its logo, was visible on the ground near the scene of the crash.
Rescue quickly extinguished the flames, leaving a large charred area in the woods.
The National Transportation and Safety Board will conduct an investigation into the cause of the crash. There’s no immediate word on what went wrong. Communications between the chopper and the TV station stopped right at the time of the crash. Witnesses in the area reported hearing the crash and explosion.
“It’s a terrible loss for our community and our industry. Our hearts go out to our colleagues at KTRK,” KHOU-TV/DT’s Executive News Director Keith Connors said.
On their Web site, KTRK confirmed the identities of those on board and said that there was no other victims.

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Security officer aids in capture of robbery suspects www.privateofficer.com

Security officer aids in capture of robbery suspects http://www.privateofficer.com

LOS ANGELES CA OCT 13 2008
BY: Rick McCann
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/

Los Angeles police said that at approx. 12:20 a.m. the security officer from X-Zero nightclub approached Martel Ave. and Waring Street after being advised of a robbery and observed a man held at gunpoint was being robbed by three men and a woman.

The officer approached the scene without being observed and confronted the robbers’ look out man.

The officer contacted a Melrose police patrol unit in the vicinity of the crime.
While officers made their way to the scene, police said the men quickly fled the area.
The X-Zero officer aided the victim and was able to give valuable descriptions of the suspects to the responding police units.

Police quickly arrived at the scene including a helicopter and K-9 units and began their search.
Officer found a sawed-off shotgun and clothing used for the robbery, and three suspects were apprehended after a dozen residential blocks were blocked off and searched for several hours. The suspects, described as Hispanic males with shaved heads, in their mid 20′s, were arrested on the scene.

The officers transported all suspects to the LAPD station for processing.

All of the victim’s valuables were recovered and there have been no reports of injury.

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Loss Prevention agents arrest 700,000 shoplifters in 2007 www.privateofficer.com

Loss Prevention agents arrest 700,000 shoplifters in 2007 http://www.privateofficer.com

Atlanta GA OCT 13 2008
Retailers set a new record in 2007, as they apprehended more than 700,000 shoplifters and dishonest employees, according to the results of the 20th Annual Retail Theft Survey conducted by loss prevention consulting firm Jack L. Hayes International.
The firm recently announced the results of the survey, which also found that criminals stole over $6.7 billion worth of merchandise from only 24 retailers in 2007.
In a prepared statement, Jack L. Hayes International President Mark R. Doyle said that the apprehensions of both shoplifters and dishonest employees were up by 9.16 percent and 17.57 percent respectively.
Retailers were also able to recover more than $150 million from caught thieves, according to the survey.

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Teenager arrested for shooting at security officers www.privateofficer.com

Teenager arrested for shooting at security officers http://www.privateofficer.com

MUSCATINE, Iowa OCT 13 2008

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com — The Muscatine Police Department said Friday a 12-year-old Muscatine boy has been charged with a simple misdemeanor for firing a BB gun last month at Grain Processing Corp. security guards.

The boy, whose identity was not released, was charged, under Muscatine City Code, with launching missiles, Assistant Police Chief Michael Scott said in a statement.

He said the case has been referred to the Muscatine County Juvenile Probation Office.

Police responded at about 8 p.m. on Sept. 29 to a call of someone firing a BB gun at the GPC security guard gate at 1600 Oregon St.About 360 workers, including 300 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 86D, have been locked out by the company since their five-year contract with GPC expired on Aug. 22.

Since then the union and the company, which makes and sells corn-based products around the world, have been unable to agree on a new contract.
Scott said the police investigation found no relationship between GPC and its employees or the boy who was charged.

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Myrtle Beach Shoplifting News www.privateofficer.com

Myrtle Beach Shoplifting News http://www.privateofficer.com

Myrtle Beach SC OCT 13 2008

Kyle T. Greene
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/

An off-duty Myrtle Beach police officer hurt his hand when he detained a shoplifting suspect at a local auto parts store, according to a police report.
The officer was at Advance Auto Store at 1380 Third Ave. S. when a store employee said the man put two bottles of tire cleaner worth about $30 in his pants, the report said. The officer stopped the man outside and the man began to fight with the officer.
The officer detained the man and sprained two of his fingers, the report said

Police charged James Myers, 48, of 836 Canal St., with shoplifting less than $1,000, according to the report.

A 26-year-old Conway man was arrested early Wednesday on shoplifting charges after he returned to the store where the incident occurred, according to a police report.
Steven Wesley Bryant was charged after he went back to the Scotchman at 3410 U.S. 501 about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, the report showed.
A store employee called police about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday to report a man took a case of Miller Lite without paying for it, the report showed. The man had been in the store with a woman when he took the beer.
The man returned while the clerk was talking with police and the clerk identified him as the suspect, the report showed. When an officer spoke to Bryant, he told police he thought the woman paid for the beer, the report showed.
When the officer arrested Bryant, he also found an alcoholic beverage in Bryant’s front pocket, the report showed.

Myrtle Beach police arrested a woman for shoplifting at a Myrtle Beach Wal-Mart store on Seaboard Street, but when they searched her for the stolen merchandise, they found more than they had bargained for.
According to the police report, officers warned Krystall Cox, 22, that if she did not stop resisting a property search after she was taken into custody about 11:30 p.m. Monday night, she would be charged with resisting arrest. According to the report, she finally let police check her pockets where they found nine pills that were believed to be ecstasy of some kind, and three shotgun shells.
Cox was placed under arrest for stealing a work shirt, work pants and a face mask. According to the report, the officer entered Cox into the National Crime database, and found that she was prohibited from carrying a weapon or ammunition due to past convictions for violent crime.

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Florida “Party Police” on patrol www.privateofficer.com

Florida “Party Police” on patrol http://www.privateofficer.com

Tallahassee FLA OCT 13 2008

It’s 12:40 a.m. Sunday and Officer Jeff Caplan is pulling into The Commons apartment complex, 1325 W. Tharpe St. Dozens of people stand in the parking lot outside Building No. 9, in the hallways and in the staircases leading to a party on the third floor.
Caplan, who is a member of Tallahassee Police Department’s “Party Patrol,” has been ordered to shut down the overpopulated party because of complaints.
“We’ve been told by security, ‘these people must go,’” Caplan said.Caplan, with two other TPD officers and five Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco agents, escorted more than 100 partygoers out of the complex.It was one of 25 calls the unit responded to that night. Last Friday and Saturday, units responded to 74 loud-music calls.The Party Patrol is a group of Tallahassee officers designated on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to respond to party-related problems, including loud noise, overcrowding and underage drinking.The unit was formed in 1995 because of growing house-party complaints.Over the past five years party complaints have decreased dramatically, from 1,395 in 2002 to 576 in 2007.“If you’re having a party we could care less,” said Officer Chris Papy, “unless you’re disturbing your neighbors.”Papy worked the patrol on Thursday night.According to Sgt. Woody Kerce, TPD can’t shut down a party because of an anonymous complaint. “We don’t have any teeth behind us for that specific charge,” Kerce said, unless they notice underage drinking or other offenses, which officers check on scene.And although officers are just responding to complaints, some party-goes could care less.“They make it hard for us to have fun,” said Kendrick Williams, who was attending the party at The Commons. He said people have no other options.The two women hosting the party, Candice Crawford and Mellissa Cox, had mixed feelings.
“When cops come around, I do get upset,” Crawford said.But she said Caplan was considerate in explaining why the party had to end and “I can tolerate that.”Cox said, ‘When residents promise to be respectful and follow the rules, then they shouldn’t shut us down.”Caplan said parties of that magnitude require more than one officer for safety reasons. He said serious calls take priority over parties.“Anywhere they need me to go,” he said, “I go.”

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Professional shoplifters nabbed after 2 state chase www.privateofficer.com

Professional shoplifters nabbed after 2 state chase http://www.privateofficer.com

NORTH ATTLEBORO MA OCT 13 2008

Kyle T. Greene
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/- Four alleged professional shoplifters apprehended after a two-state chase were ordered held in jail on high bail Monday after a district court judge voiced concern about their criminal history and doubts about their identities.

Attleboro District Court Judge Richard A. Savignano set bail at $150,000 cash for each of the defendants following a bail hearing in which he was told the suspects have committed similar crimes in a half-dozen other states and have numerous aliases.

“I’m trying to keep track of the countless aliases they have in these records,” Savignano said, looking through the paperwork filed by police.

The suspects, all from New Jersey, were arrested Friday night after a chase that started in East Providence, R.I., where the men allegedly stole $5,500 worth of clothing from Marshall’s department store, and ended after a foot chase off Interstate 95 near Toner Boulevard.A state police helicopter and police dog assisted Attleboro, North Attleboro and Seekonk police searching for two of the suspects, who were not immediately apprehended when they abandoned a car police had disabled with “stop sticks” on Route 152.

The suspects, identified as Eric Burgos, 35, of Newark, N.J., and Johan Valdivia, 25, and Jorge Espinozo, 27, both of Elizabeth, N.J., pleaded innocent to numerous charges, including receiving stolen property and being fugitives in Rhode Island where the clothing thefts occurred.Alberto Rojas, 37, of Elizabeth, N.J., faces arraignment today because a Spanish interpreter was not available Monday for the court proceeding.

North Attleboro police court prosecutor Christopher Ciccio said the store has surveillance videotape of the men stealing racks of clothing, stuffing them in “booster bags” and fleeing with a carriage.Booster bags are shopping bags taped with material that foils security equipment and are used by professional shoplifters to commit their crimes, according to law enforcement officials.Police said they had difficulty identifying the four men immediately after their arrest because three of them gave false names.

Police were only able to make positive identifications after sending their fingerprints to federal authorities.They are due back in court Oct. 28 for a pretrial conference.

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Atlanta Police Hire Criminals www.privateofficer.com

Atlanta Police Hire Criminals http://www.privateofficer.com

from AJC.com
Atlanta GA OCT 13 2008
Keovongsa Siharath was arrested in Henry County on charges he punched his stepfather.
Jeffrey Churchill was charged with assault in an altercation with a woman in a mall parking lot.
Calvin Thomas was taken into custody in DeKalb County on a concealed weapons charge.
All three are now officers with the Atlanta Police Department.
More than one-third of recent Atlanta Police Academy graduates have been arrested or cited for a crime, according to a review of their job applications. The arrests ranged from minor offenses such as shoplifting to violent charges including assault. More than one-third of the officers had been rejected by other law enforcement agencies, and more than half of the recruits admitted using marijuana.
“On its face, it’s troubling and disturbing,” said Vincent Fort, a state senator from Atlanta. “It would be very troubling that people might be hitting the streets to serve and protect and they have histories that have made them unqualified to serve on other departments.”
But Atlanta police say it’s not so simple. Officials have been trying without success for more than a decade to grow the department
to 2,000 officers, an effort hurt by this year’s budget crisis. With competition for recruits intense among law enforcement agencies, Atlanta has had to make concessions.
“We would like, in an ideal world, to see every applicant with a clean record, but obviously that’s not reality,” said Atlanta police Lt. Elder Dancy, who runs the department’s recruitment unit. “I don’t think you’ll find any departments who hire only applicants with squeaky-clean records.”
Three decades ago, a police officer with a criminal record was much less common than it is now, said Robert Friedmann, a criminal justice professor at Georgia State University. But times have changed and many agencies have had to relax their hiring policies, Friedmann said.
Other local police agencies have hiring guidelines similar to Atlanta’s. Police departments for Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties don’t hire recruits with felony convictions but do hire those with misdemeanor arrests, on a case-by-case basis.
Dancy would not divulge all of Atlanta’s restrictions but said the department won’t hire anyone with felony convictions, or those with convictions for obstruction of justice, sex or domestic crimes.
Even so, police documents show that many of their recruits have blemishes on their records.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, through an Open Records Act request, asked in mid-August for the job applications of the Atlanta Police Department’s two most recent graduating classes. The department provided 36 applications for police recruits who graduated June 10 and Aug. 4. All the graduates are currently Atlanta police officers.
The most revealing portion of the application is a questionnaire that includes some probing questions:
Have you ever used marijuana?
Have you ever been with a prostitute?
Have you ever driven under the influence of alcohol or drugs?
And: Have you ever been physically arrested or cited with criminal charges?
Twelve out of 33 officers — 36 percent — said they have been arrested or cited with a criminal offense.
“It does not mean they’re not a quality candidate,” Dancy said, adding that the department runs criminal background checks on all recruits. “It just means they made a mistake in their past.”
Officer Siharath was taken to the Henry County Jail in December 2005 after an altercation with his stepfather at his family’s home in Stockbridge, according to a police report.
Siharath, then 24, returned home to find his stepfather moving his belongings back into his mother’s house. He told his stepfather to leave, but the older man refused, the report said.
They argued, then Siharath pushed the man onto the floor and punched him in the head, the stepfather and Siharath’s mother told police. The battery charge against Siharath was later dropped in court.
Siharath could not be reached for comment on the incident, and Atlanta police would not make him available for an interview.
A decade earlier, Officer Thomas was arrested during a traffic stop in DeKalb County on charges of having a concealed weapon, he wrote in his job application.
The officer asked Thomas “if I had any weapons in the car, [and] I stated yes,” he wrote. “The officer asked where, and I told him under the seat. I was arrested for a misdemeanor — carrying a concealed weapon.”
Thomas, who paid a fine and spent a year on probation, declined to comment for this article.
Officer Churchill wrote that he was arrested in December 1995 on a charge of fourth-degree assault. Without getting into much detail, he wrote that he got into an argument with a woman in a mall parking lot, received two years of probation and an order to pay a $71 fine. Churchill could not be reached for comment on the incident, and Atlanta police would not make him available for an interview.
Friedmann, the criminal justice professor, said he “would have hoped the number [of recruits with prior arrests or criminal citations] would be lower.”
He and another criminal justice professor, Peter Fenton of Kennesaw State University, say the arrest numbers are not as significant when three factors are considered: the severity of the incident, how long ago it happened and whether it resulted in conviction.
With those factors considered, “your numbers will probably drop to about half of that,” Friedmann said.
The AJC could not analyze all those factors because recruits sometimes gave incomplete answers on the application.
Fenton, a former Cobb County police officer, said he was more concerned with the AJC’s next finding: Twelve out of 33 graduates — 36 percent — acknowledged that they had been rejected by other law enforcement agencies, including some in metro Atlanta.
“That, frankly, is more troubling to me — especially when these people have been rejected by multiple agencies,” he said.
Three officers’ rejections stemmed from failing the psychiatric or psychological portion of police agencies’ screening processes. Others were turned away because they failed lie-detector tests or offered conflicting statements about issues such as drug use.
Dancy said those issues raise red flags, but what matters most is whether recruits can pass the Atlanta Police Department’s tests and interviews.
When asked whether the department was getting top-shelf candidates, Dancy said, “as long as those applicants meet the guidelines, then we feel like we are hiring the type of officers who are [fit to be] Atlanta police officers.”
Officer Mark Moore applied for jobs with other police agencies before graduating from the Atlanta Police Academy. He tried to get a job with Atlanta police in 2004 but was rejected. He also failed a written test for the Knoxville police.
When he applied to another police department in 2002, “their psychologist deemed me to be ‘psychologicaly incompatable’ [sic] for the L.A.P.D.,” he wrote in his Atlanta job application.
Moore declined to comment when reached by phone.
More than half the graduates admitted using marijuana, though many said they did it only a few times during their high school or college years.
News researchers Nisa Asokan and Sharon Gaus and former data analyst Megan Clarke contributed to this report.

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