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Texas teacher arrested for student relationship www.privateofficer.com
January 8, 2009
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Texas teacher arrested for student relationship http://www.privateofficer.com
McCAMEY, TX Jan 8 2009 — A Texas teacher is jailed charged with having an improper relationship with a student.
Police said that 34-year-old Vanessa Zuniga is accused of having a relationship with an 18-year-old male high school student in McCamey, Texas.
Zuniga is charged with the second degree felony charge of improper relationship between an educator and student.
If convicted, she could face a two to 20 year prison sentence and up to a $10,000 fine.
Zuniga has since resigned her teaching position and turned herself into authorities.
Police said that 34-year-old Vanessa Zuniga is accused of having a relationship with an 18-year-old male high school student in McCamey, Texas.
Zuniga is charged with the second degree felony charge of improper relationship between an educator and student.
If convicted, she could face a two to 20 year prison sentence and up to a $10,000 fine.
Zuniga has since resigned her teaching position and turned herself into authorities.
================================================
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Categories: police
loss prevention agent, loss prevention association, mccamey texas, national association of private officers, School Employee Arrested, security association, security guard, security guard association, security guard training, security officer, security officer assaociation, security police association, security training, vanessa zuniga, www.privateofficer.com
A different kind of newspaper, The Slammer! www.privateofficer.com
January 8, 2009
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A different kind of newspaper, The Slammer! http://www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta GA. Jan 8 2009
Patrons grab copies. Some chuckle, some hunch over newsprint, and some simply gawk as they scan rows upon rows of mug shots and rap sheets in a frenzy that would spark envy in the hearts of newspaper publishers nationwide.
If “Jerry Springer” came in newsprint, The Slammer could be it – a garish compilation of the week’s local crimes and their alleged perpetrators. The men and women, with their dour mugs, bloodied noses, and booze-induced grins, have been arrested for everything from skipping a court date to robbing a food mart. It is, in essence, the local police blotter writ large.
To devoted readers, The Slammer and similar publications – like Cellmates in Florida’s Tampa Bay area and Jail in Orlando – perform a valuable public service, putting the gritty side of life on display and even protecting the community from predatory criminals.
“It really lets you know what’s going on around you,” says Omar Williams, a Raleigh bail bondsman who advertises every week in The Slammer and – no surprise – reaches a lot of clients through its pages. “You could see your best friend in there for forging checks or selling cocaine, and he’s driving around in the car with you, and you don’t know this stuff.”
Critics, on the other hand, see the papers as sensational, tawdry, and ethically dubious – a modern form of the “crime rags” that flourished in the heyday of early 20th-century yellow journalism. “This is a sad commentary on the state of American journalism,” says Bob Steele, a journalism ethics expert at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. “It’s really painful to know that so many publications are struggling terribly and something as schlocky as this is succeeding.”
And succeeding it is. At a time when dozens of US newspapers are searching for buyers and for cash, The Slammer’s newsstand profit margin is four times that of most local dailies, and its circulation has grown to 29,000 – up nearly 50 percent from 20,000 just last year. At more than 500 convenience stores across North Carolina, it’s selling at a buck a pop.
In fact, the chief complaints the weekly paper gets come from perps complaining that their photos didn’t get printed. In February, the paper will expand its operations from three major North Carolina counties – including the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham – to add Columbus, Ohio.
* * *
Mr. Cornetti – “Dash Dangerfield” on the masthead – is a 30-something publisher with a thick shock of hair and a Philip Marlowe fascination with America’s “simmering undercurrent of low-level crime.” To him, The Slammer offers entertainment and, yes, social value as well, tracing the thin line many Americans tread between upstanding behavior and the occasional lapse into lawlessness.
“You look at this paper, and you’re amazed by the amount of illegal stuff going on in what you thought was a sleepy little city,” he says, referring to Raleigh. “The appeal is voyeurism and schadenfreude, and it has some redeeming qualities, too, like helping people protect themselves, their families, and their businesses.”
Cornetti, the son of a well-to-do Smithfield, N.C., family, spent a lot of time in courtrooms as a kid: His mother worked at the courthouse, and during Cornetti’s middle-school summers, he spent days watching lawyers and judges, then went home to watch “Law and Order,” “Perry Mason,” and “Matlock.”
In his late teens and early 20s, he ran afoul of the law himself, and spent a year serving time for drug and larceny charges involving marijuana and a stolen TV. After that, he says, he grew interested in practicing law, and took the LSAT in 2004 in hopes of becoming a criminal attorney.
Instead, he took a series of entrepreneurial jobs in sales and software, then read about Jail (the Orlando-based publication) on a business trip and was inspired. He hopes The Slammer can become “the kind of wake-up call that I wish I’d had when I was younger.”
To some extent, that may be happening: Some readers claim they’ve thought twice about drinking and driving, for fear of ending up in The Slammer. And Slammer readers have helped Charlotte police locate several felons with major warrants, Cornetti says.
Even when arrests turn out not to be justified, Cornetti insists, The Slammer can do some good. A Charlotte lawyer who is in the process of trying to settle a case with the police department for what he says was a wrongful arrest recently contacted him. The client had appeared in The Slammer.
“Obviously we won’t run a correction,” says Cornetti of cases like these. “But we’d be happy to tell a client’s story…. If people are being arrested unlawfully, The Slammer is going to be a barometer for that.”
A die-hard reader of the Sunday New York Times, Cornetti is modest in his assessment of his own publication, which is produced by a staff of 12. “I don’t think [The Slammer] deserves the “˜journalism’ title,” he says. “But we do try to present research and we hope that when [readers are] finished with the newspapers, they’ve learned something.”
* * *
More colorful and more professionally produced than its counterparts, The Slammer’s eclectic spread includes features such as the “Slammer Salon” of crazy arrest-night hairdos; a “mug shot extravanganza [sic]” of the bleary-eyed; the “Kiddie Korner” of busted young adults; and “Mature Menaces,” featuring senior alleged larcenists and check forgers. A Wendell, N.C., woman was singled out for repeated driving violations, becoming a recent edition’s “featured impaired driver.”
“Oh, Monique,” the text goes, “Aren’t you feeling weak? So upset you can hardly speak? Knightdale Police done punched your card. Now from walking you’ll be “˜tard’ [tired]. Left-right-left-right.”
Shakespeare it’s not. But to fans of such tabloids, like St. Petersburg, Fla., resident Courtney Doerr, a regular reader of Cellmates, they’re “street poetry.” And The Slammer runs more sober pieces, too: A recent editorial came down against the death penalty.
Even some police officials see little difference between the role of The Slammer and those of more prestigious media outlets. These modern crime rags “may well be reaching some readers that the daily circulation papers don’t on a regular basis,” says Jim Sughrue, a spokesman for the Raleigh Police Department. “I would say there’s a value to these publications.”
But critics say ridiculing people who remain innocent in the eyes of the Constitution is the definition of unethical. “They’re basically creating a miniature billboard in which these individuals are named and visually identified, often pejoratively, in a way that does not give them a fair hearing,” says Mr. Steele at Poynter.
Indeed, Mike Hoyt, editor of the Columbia Journalism Review in New York, calls the publications barely a “step up from the stocks.”
But Randall Brown has a different take. An avid reader of Cellmates, Mr. Brown is also a regular feature: He claims he’s been in Cellmates 10 times, all for misdemeanor alcohol violations, and he doesn’t mind the publicity. In his view, all of us are just a banana peel-slip away from arrest. “Everybody makes mistakes – the Bible says so,” he says. “People love to gossip.”
That love of gossip and the longing to know – drives older than newsprint itself – may be Cornetti’s most reliable sales force. Philip Isley, a lawyer and Raleigh city councilor, likens The Slammer to “our own little “˜Entertainment Tonight’ weekly.”
“Clearly, there’s a morbid desire for people to know exactly what’s going on criminally in the community,” he says, suggesting that awareness “can have a great deterrent effect, notwithstanding the thrillseekers who enjoy seeing their mug shot in print.”
Back at the Raleigh Times restaurant, where Cornetti is a minor celebrity, one group of barstool readers is trying to determine if a friend’s boyfriend, who supposedly got arrested recently, is in the paper. Cornetti gets up for a few minutes and returns to the table. He nods back toward the server, who had eagerly grabbed The Slammer when he came in. “She just told me she was in it in May,” he says.
Apparently, she harbored no hard feelings.
Patrons grab copies. Some chuckle, some hunch over newsprint, and some simply gawk as they scan rows upon rows of mug shots and rap sheets in a frenzy that would spark envy in the hearts of newspaper publishers nationwide.
If “Jerry Springer” came in newsprint, The Slammer could be it – a garish compilation of the week’s local crimes and their alleged perpetrators. The men and women, with their dour mugs, bloodied noses, and booze-induced grins, have been arrested for everything from skipping a court date to robbing a food mart. It is, in essence, the local police blotter writ large.
To devoted readers, The Slammer and similar publications – like Cellmates in Florida’s Tampa Bay area and Jail in Orlando – perform a valuable public service, putting the gritty side of life on display and even protecting the community from predatory criminals.
“It really lets you know what’s going on around you,” says Omar Williams, a Raleigh bail bondsman who advertises every week in The Slammer and – no surprise – reaches a lot of clients through its pages. “You could see your best friend in there for forging checks or selling cocaine, and he’s driving around in the car with you, and you don’t know this stuff.”
Critics, on the other hand, see the papers as sensational, tawdry, and ethically dubious – a modern form of the “crime rags” that flourished in the heyday of early 20th-century yellow journalism. “This is a sad commentary on the state of American journalism,” says Bob Steele, a journalism ethics expert at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. “It’s really painful to know that so many publications are struggling terribly and something as schlocky as this is succeeding.”
And succeeding it is. At a time when dozens of US newspapers are searching for buyers and for cash, The Slammer’s newsstand profit margin is four times that of most local dailies, and its circulation has grown to 29,000 – up nearly 50 percent from 20,000 just last year. At more than 500 convenience stores across North Carolina, it’s selling at a buck a pop.
In fact, the chief complaints the weekly paper gets come from perps complaining that their photos didn’t get printed. In February, the paper will expand its operations from three major North Carolina counties – including the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham – to add Columbus, Ohio.
* * *
Mr. Cornetti – “Dash Dangerfield” on the masthead – is a 30-something publisher with a thick shock of hair and a Philip Marlowe fascination with America’s “simmering undercurrent of low-level crime.” To him, The Slammer offers entertainment and, yes, social value as well, tracing the thin line many Americans tread between upstanding behavior and the occasional lapse into lawlessness.
“You look at this paper, and you’re amazed by the amount of illegal stuff going on in what you thought was a sleepy little city,” he says, referring to Raleigh. “The appeal is voyeurism and schadenfreude, and it has some redeeming qualities, too, like helping people protect themselves, their families, and their businesses.”
Cornetti, the son of a well-to-do Smithfield, N.C., family, spent a lot of time in courtrooms as a kid: His mother worked at the courthouse, and during Cornetti’s middle-school summers, he spent days watching lawyers and judges, then went home to watch “Law and Order,” “Perry Mason,” and “Matlock.”
In his late teens and early 20s, he ran afoul of the law himself, and spent a year serving time for drug and larceny charges involving marijuana and a stolen TV. After that, he says, he grew interested in practicing law, and took the LSAT in 2004 in hopes of becoming a criminal attorney.
Instead, he took a series of entrepreneurial jobs in sales and software, then read about Jail (the Orlando-based publication) on a business trip and was inspired. He hopes The Slammer can become “the kind of wake-up call that I wish I’d had when I was younger.”
To some extent, that may be happening: Some readers claim they’ve thought twice about drinking and driving, for fear of ending up in The Slammer. And Slammer readers have helped Charlotte police locate several felons with major warrants, Cornetti says.
Even when arrests turn out not to be justified, Cornetti insists, The Slammer can do some good. A Charlotte lawyer who is in the process of trying to settle a case with the police department for what he says was a wrongful arrest recently contacted him. The client had appeared in The Slammer.
“Obviously we won’t run a correction,” says Cornetti of cases like these. “But we’d be happy to tell a client’s story…. If people are being arrested unlawfully, The Slammer is going to be a barometer for that.”
A die-hard reader of the Sunday New York Times, Cornetti is modest in his assessment of his own publication, which is produced by a staff of 12. “I don’t think [The Slammer] deserves the “˜journalism’ title,” he says. “But we do try to present research and we hope that when [readers are] finished with the newspapers, they’ve learned something.”
* * *
More colorful and more professionally produced than its counterparts, The Slammer’s eclectic spread includes features such as the “Slammer Salon” of crazy arrest-night hairdos; a “mug shot extravanganza [sic]” of the bleary-eyed; the “Kiddie Korner” of busted young adults; and “Mature Menaces,” featuring senior alleged larcenists and check forgers. A Wendell, N.C., woman was singled out for repeated driving violations, becoming a recent edition’s “featured impaired driver.”
“Oh, Monique,” the text goes, “Aren’t you feeling weak? So upset you can hardly speak? Knightdale Police done punched your card. Now from walking you’ll be “˜tard’ [tired]. Left-right-left-right.”
Shakespeare it’s not. But to fans of such tabloids, like St. Petersburg, Fla., resident Courtney Doerr, a regular reader of Cellmates, they’re “street poetry.” And The Slammer runs more sober pieces, too: A recent editorial came down against the death penalty.
Even some police officials see little difference between the role of The Slammer and those of more prestigious media outlets. These modern crime rags “may well be reaching some readers that the daily circulation papers don’t on a regular basis,” says Jim Sughrue, a spokesman for the Raleigh Police Department. “I would say there’s a value to these publications.”
But critics say ridiculing people who remain innocent in the eyes of the Constitution is the definition of unethical. “They’re basically creating a miniature billboard in which these individuals are named and visually identified, often pejoratively, in a way that does not give them a fair hearing,” says Mr. Steele at Poynter.
Indeed, Mike Hoyt, editor of the Columbia Journalism Review in New York, calls the publications barely a “step up from the stocks.”
But Randall Brown has a different take. An avid reader of Cellmates, Mr. Brown is also a regular feature: He claims he’s been in Cellmates 10 times, all for misdemeanor alcohol violations, and he doesn’t mind the publicity. In his view, all of us are just a banana peel-slip away from arrest. “Everybody makes mistakes – the Bible says so,” he says. “People love to gossip.”
That love of gossip and the longing to know – drives older than newsprint itself – may be Cornetti’s most reliable sales force. Philip Isley, a lawyer and Raleigh city councilor, likens The Slammer to “our own little “˜Entertainment Tonight’ weekly.”
“Clearly, there’s a morbid desire for people to know exactly what’s going on criminally in the community,” he says, suggesting that awareness “can have a great deterrent effect, notwithstanding the thrillseekers who enjoy seeing their mug shot in print.”
Back at the Raleigh Times restaurant, where Cornetti is a minor celebrity, one group of barstool readers is trying to determine if a friend’s boyfriend, who supposedly got arrested recently, is in the paper. Cornetti gets up for a few minutes and returns to the table. He nods back toward the server, who had eagerly grabbed The Slammer when he came in. “She just told me she was in it in May,” he says.
Apparently, she harbored no hard feelings.
===============================================
JOIN THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE OFFICERS
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Sign up;adminassist@privateofficer.com
Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews
Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
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Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
Categories: police
crime news, loss prevention agent, loss prevention association, national association of private officers, security association, security guard, security guard association, security guard training, security officer, security officer assaociation, security police association, security training, the slammer, the slammer newspaper, www.privateofficer.com
Security officer assaulted during burglary www.privateofficer.com
January 8, 2009
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Security officer assaulted during burglary http://www.privateofficer.com
Laredo TX. January 8 2009
BY: Rick McCann
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/
BY: Rick McCann
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/
Police said that at around 10:15 last night at the intersection of Guadalupe and Marcella several burglary suspects tried to break a beer warehouse
According to a security guard at the scene suspects tried to break into the Southern Distributing warehouse through the front door.
According to a security guard at the scene suspects tried to break into the Southern Distributing warehouse through the front door.
Witnesses say when that a security officer approached one of the suspects, and the suspect immediately began assaulting the guard.
Laredo police were notified and officers responded to the scene and were able to take one of the suspects into custody. “We received a call from one of our guards asking for assistance four subjects were involved one was trying to break into the building another was trying to break into his vehicle”, a police spokesperson said.
Three suspects managed to get away but the one that is in custody has been identified as 22-year-old Mike Guajardo JR.
Police say that he will be charged with aggravated robbery.
Police say that he will be charged with aggravated robbery.
The security officer received minor injuries during the assault.
===============================================
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Come be part of our social network! http://www.privateofficer.com
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Categories: police, security, security made app/arrest, security officer injured
burglary, laredo texas, loss prevention agent, loss prevention association, mike guajardo jr, national association of private officers, security association, security guard, security guard association, security guard training, security officer, security officer assaociation, security police association, security training, southern distributing, www.privateofficer.com
Baltimore police will no longer release officer’s names www.privateofficer.com
January 8, 2009
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Baltimore police will no longer release officer’s names http://www.privateofficer.com
BALTIMORE MD Jan 9 2009
baltimore sun — Baltimore police will no longer release the names of officers who kill or injure people, changing a long-standing practice that the department believes put officers at risk.
The decision is prompting criticism from several Baltimore leaders, who said withholding officers’ names will only endanger an already tenuous relationship between the police and the community. Baltimore police shot 21 people last year, 13 of them fatally – the same number killed by police in 2007, when 31 people were shot. Those numbers are up from 2006, when 15 were shot and five killed.
The Police Department is asking residents to become more engaged in their neighborhoods and to work with police to solve crimes and overcome a “Stop Snitching” culture. Marvin L. “Doc” Cheatham Sr., president of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, said he wouldn’t want police to give out information that endangers officers, but he said the new policy “doesn’t help” improve community relations.
“We’ve got to find more and better ways to bring the community and police together,” he said. “This may not sit too well with many of us.”
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III declined to comment on the change, saying he left the decision to new department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. The new policy mirrors those of some other departments and is designed to protect officers from retaliation, Guglielmi said.
A spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon said she will not interfere with the department’s decision.
Regionally and across the country, police agencies differ in their disclosure of police-involved shootings; some release the names within hours and others withhold the information altogether.
The police union applauded the policy change. Robert F. Cherry, president of the Baltimore police union and a former homicide detective, said the department vigorously investigates shootings that involve officers.
“If anything, the investigation is more intensive than for the average citizen,” Cherry said. “The only thing the department is doing differently is choosing not to release their name. … I’m surprised we haven’t gone to this earlier.”
Talk of the change surfaced nearly a year ago in February, but officials in the mayor’s office said they had not been briefed and promised the issue would be thoroughly vetted. Over the summer, police informally stopped releasing names of officers involved in shootings.
Six people were shot by officers during that span, and only one officer was identified. Four victims were identified.
Among the last officers whose names were released was Officer Tommy Sanders, who has since been indicted on manslaughter charges in connection with the death of Edward Lamont Hunt at a Northeast Baltimore shopping center. Hunt was shot several times in the back after he attempted to flee. Sanders, 38, is scheduled to go to trial next month.
Guglielmi, who joined the department last month after a stint with the federal Office of the Special Counsel, said the change is not a departmentwide rule but a policy of the public affairs office, which disseminates information.
Guglielmi said the department will release the names of officers only if they are found through an internal investigation to have erred – though that could require a policy change as well, since the department currently does not notify the public about the results of internal investigations.
“After doing a couple ride-alongs [with officers], I sincerely believe there are some security implications for identifying officers unless they were found in the wrong,” he said.
Guglielmi cited backlash against Officer Salvatore Rivieri, the Inner Harbor patrol officer who was videotaped berating a teenage skateboader. The video was posted on YouTube and appeared on national television, and police said Rivieri has received death threats at his home.
But Doug Ward, director of the division of public safety leadership for the Johns Hopkins University and a former state trooper, said the Rivieri case is a perfect example of the public’s right to know about a potential problem officer. He said police must provide a certain amount of transparency for the public to trust that their internal investigative process is responsible.
“I understand that they’re trying to protect their own and that kind of thing, but I’m not sure that’s good public policy,” Ward said.
A spokeswoman for Baltimore State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said last year that she had concerns about the prospect of withholding officers’ names and “would not do anything to jeopardize the progress that we have made with our relationship with the community.” The spokeswoman, Margaret T. Burns, said yesterday that Jessamy’s position had not changed.
Alvin O. Gillard, director of the city community relations commission, said he hopes police will look more closely at the community impact.
“Unless there’s some compelling reason, I don’t know if it’s going to be helpful in rebuilding that [trust],” Gillard said.
Many Baltimore-area law enforcement agencies report names of officers involved in shootings. Anne Arundel County releases the information within 12 to 24 hours. Baltimore County police release information on the judgment of its media relations office. Maryland State Police and the Harford County Sheriff’s Office decide case-by-case, typically taking the officer’s assignment into consideration.
Maj. Andrew Ellis, commander of the Prince George’s County police public affairs office, said his department waits 24 hours after a shooting, then publishes information on the department’s Web site.
“We believe it is in the public interest for our residents to know when our officers use deadly force,” Ellis said. “Our officers are public agents. One thing the chief has promised is that there will be transparency with our agency.”
In other big cities, policies are split on the issue. Washington Metropolitan police release officers’ names depending on the circumstances; Los Angeles police are under orders from the city’s police commission to release the names of officers, even if they were working undercover.
Boston police do not release names until an internal investigation is complete. Police in Detroit, Philadelphia and New York do not divulge names at all, officials said. The FBI also withholds names.
“That’s basically for the safety of the agent in question, as there may be individuals who may try to retaliate against that agent,” said FBI spokesman Bill Carter. “The names do get out, in many instances, [when] the [local field offices] will look at it to determine if it was a rightful shooting. But we do not as a policy.”
Many critics of Baltimore’s policy change noted that officers involved with shootings are often taken off the streets while a review is conducted, reducing the danger of retaliation.
Moreover, critics said, knowing the identity of police officers is crucial to public accountability.
“In the aftermath of a shooting, citizens would be interested in whether there’s been any other incidents related to that officer,” said David Rocah, a staff attorney with the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “That would seem like extremely important information, and there would be no way to know that unless you have the name.”
baltimore sun — Baltimore police will no longer release the names of officers who kill or injure people, changing a long-standing practice that the department believes put officers at risk.
The decision is prompting criticism from several Baltimore leaders, who said withholding officers’ names will only endanger an already tenuous relationship between the police and the community. Baltimore police shot 21 people last year, 13 of them fatally – the same number killed by police in 2007, when 31 people were shot. Those numbers are up from 2006, when 15 were shot and five killed.
The Police Department is asking residents to become more engaged in their neighborhoods and to work with police to solve crimes and overcome a “Stop Snitching” culture. Marvin L. “Doc” Cheatham Sr., president of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, said he wouldn’t want police to give out information that endangers officers, but he said the new policy “doesn’t help” improve community relations.
“We’ve got to find more and better ways to bring the community and police together,” he said. “This may not sit too well with many of us.”
Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III declined to comment on the change, saying he left the decision to new department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. The new policy mirrors those of some other departments and is designed to protect officers from retaliation, Guglielmi said.
A spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon said she will not interfere with the department’s decision.
Regionally and across the country, police agencies differ in their disclosure of police-involved shootings; some release the names within hours and others withhold the information altogether.
The police union applauded the policy change. Robert F. Cherry, president of the Baltimore police union and a former homicide detective, said the department vigorously investigates shootings that involve officers.
“If anything, the investigation is more intensive than for the average citizen,” Cherry said. “The only thing the department is doing differently is choosing not to release their name. … I’m surprised we haven’t gone to this earlier.”
Talk of the change surfaced nearly a year ago in February, but officials in the mayor’s office said they had not been briefed and promised the issue would be thoroughly vetted. Over the summer, police informally stopped releasing names of officers involved in shootings.
Six people were shot by officers during that span, and only one officer was identified. Four victims were identified.
Among the last officers whose names were released was Officer Tommy Sanders, who has since been indicted on manslaughter charges in connection with the death of Edward Lamont Hunt at a Northeast Baltimore shopping center. Hunt was shot several times in the back after he attempted to flee. Sanders, 38, is scheduled to go to trial next month.
Guglielmi, who joined the department last month after a stint with the federal Office of the Special Counsel, said the change is not a departmentwide rule but a policy of the public affairs office, which disseminates information.
Guglielmi said the department will release the names of officers only if they are found through an internal investigation to have erred – though that could require a policy change as well, since the department currently does not notify the public about the results of internal investigations.
“After doing a couple ride-alongs [with officers], I sincerely believe there are some security implications for identifying officers unless they were found in the wrong,” he said.
Guglielmi cited backlash against Officer Salvatore Rivieri, the Inner Harbor patrol officer who was videotaped berating a teenage skateboader. The video was posted on YouTube and appeared on national television, and police said Rivieri has received death threats at his home.
But Doug Ward, director of the division of public safety leadership for the Johns Hopkins University and a former state trooper, said the Rivieri case is a perfect example of the public’s right to know about a potential problem officer. He said police must provide a certain amount of transparency for the public to trust that their internal investigative process is responsible.
“I understand that they’re trying to protect their own and that kind of thing, but I’m not sure that’s good public policy,” Ward said.
A spokeswoman for Baltimore State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said last year that she had concerns about the prospect of withholding officers’ names and “would not do anything to jeopardize the progress that we have made with our relationship with the community.” The spokeswoman, Margaret T. Burns, said yesterday that Jessamy’s position had not changed.
Alvin O. Gillard, director of the city community relations commission, said he hopes police will look more closely at the community impact.
“Unless there’s some compelling reason, I don’t know if it’s going to be helpful in rebuilding that [trust],” Gillard said.
Many Baltimore-area law enforcement agencies report names of officers involved in shootings. Anne Arundel County releases the information within 12 to 24 hours. Baltimore County police release information on the judgment of its media relations office. Maryland State Police and the Harford County Sheriff’s Office decide case-by-case, typically taking the officer’s assignment into consideration.
Maj. Andrew Ellis, commander of the Prince George’s County police public affairs office, said his department waits 24 hours after a shooting, then publishes information on the department’s Web site.
“We believe it is in the public interest for our residents to know when our officers use deadly force,” Ellis said. “Our officers are public agents. One thing the chief has promised is that there will be transparency with our agency.”
In other big cities, policies are split on the issue. Washington Metropolitan police release officers’ names depending on the circumstances; Los Angeles police are under orders from the city’s police commission to release the names of officers, even if they were working undercover.
Boston police do not release names until an internal investigation is complete. Police in Detroit, Philadelphia and New York do not divulge names at all, officials said. The FBI also withholds names.
“That’s basically for the safety of the agent in question, as there may be individuals who may try to retaliate against that agent,” said FBI spokesman Bill Carter. “The names do get out, in many instances, [when] the [local field offices] will look at it to determine if it was a rightful shooting. But we do not as a policy.”
Many critics of Baltimore’s policy change noted that officers involved with shootings are often taken off the streets while a review is conducted, reducing the danger of retaliation.
Moreover, critics said, knowing the identity of police officers is crucial to public accountability.
“In the aftermath of a shooting, citizens would be interested in whether there’s been any other incidents related to that officer,” said David Rocah, a staff attorney with the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “That would seem like extremely important information, and there would be no way to know that unless you have the name.”
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Categories: police
baltimore maryland, baltimore police, loss prevention agent, loss prevention association, national association of private officers, security association, security guard, security guard association, security guard training, security officer, security officer assaociation, security police association, security training, www.privateofficer.com
Atlanta restaurant employee shot 9 times during robbery www.privateofficer.com
January 8, 2009
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Atlanta restaurant employee shot 9 times during robbery http://www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA Jan 8 2009
wsbtv.com — A restaurant worker who was shot several times during a robbery has died.
The shooting happened at The Standard Food and Spirits on the 300 block of Memorial Drive early Wednesday morning.
Police said 27-year-old John Henderson was shot several times, even after he complied with the demands of the criminals.
VIDEO: Atlanta Restaurant Worker Fatally Shot During Robbery
Atlanta police said it was just after 4 a.m. when two employees closing down The Standard heard the crashing sound of four young men breaking in.
“One of the victims was taken back to the business office where an undisclosed amount of cash was taken. He was shot twice in the head and twice in both legs,” said Lt. Keith Meadows with the Atlanta Police Department.
Police said a female worker was able to hide in a cabinet when the robbers weren’t watching.
Chris Johnson, owner of the Standard, told WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News that Henderson was hit nine times.
Henderson later died at Grady Memorial Hospital. His friends and co-workers could be seen hugging soon after the crime, trying to console each other.
A sign on the door of the restaurant Wednesday said it was closed for the day. Patrons who stopped by said they were shocked by what happened.
SLIDESHOW: Scene Of Restaurant Shooting
“What I heard is that they gave the people what they wanted and they still shot him,” said patron Aaron Hall. “So I pray for the man who was shot and his family and I pray for the people who worked here. But more importantly, I pray for the people who did this because there’s something in their heart that doesn’t have (the knowledge) that we should love one another.”
No additional information on the suspects has been released. The other employee was not injured.
Police continue to investigate.
The Grant Park neighborhood association has set up a memorial fund to collect donations for the family of John Henderson. Anyone who would like to donate should Click Here.
The shooting happened at The Standard Food and Spirits on the 300 block of Memorial Drive early Wednesday morning.
Police said 27-year-old John Henderson was shot several times, even after he complied with the demands of the criminals.
VIDEO: Atlanta Restaurant Worker Fatally Shot During Robbery
Atlanta police said it was just after 4 a.m. when two employees closing down The Standard heard the crashing sound of four young men breaking in.
“One of the victims was taken back to the business office where an undisclosed amount of cash was taken. He was shot twice in the head and twice in both legs,” said Lt. Keith Meadows with the Atlanta Police Department.
Police said a female worker was able to hide in a cabinet when the robbers weren’t watching.
Chris Johnson, owner of the Standard, told WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News that Henderson was hit nine times.
Henderson later died at Grady Memorial Hospital. His friends and co-workers could be seen hugging soon after the crime, trying to console each other.
A sign on the door of the restaurant Wednesday said it was closed for the day. Patrons who stopped by said they were shocked by what happened.
SLIDESHOW: Scene Of Restaurant Shooting
“What I heard is that they gave the people what they wanted and they still shot him,” said patron Aaron Hall. “So I pray for the man who was shot and his family and I pray for the people who worked here. But more importantly, I pray for the people who did this because there’s something in their heart that doesn’t have (the knowledge) that we should love one another.”
No additional information on the suspects has been released. The other employee was not injured.
Police continue to investigate.
The Grant Park neighborhood association has set up a memorial fund to collect donations for the family of John Henderson. Anyone who would like to donate should Click Here.
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Alert security officer leads police to burglar www.privateofficer.com
January 8, 2009
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Alert security officer leads police to burglar http://www.privateofficer.com
Myrtle Beach SC Jan 8 2009
BY: Rick McCann
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
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An alert security officer did exactly what he was hired to do and helped crack a burglary case all at the same time.
Police said that the guard lead them to a man suspected of breaking into an Ocean Boulevard business.
Otis Alford, 40, of 3051 Faith Lane, Myrtle Beach, was charged with second-degree business burglary after police were called at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday to the 300 block of Eighth Avenue North, police said.
Police said that the security officer was working at the Sea Palms Hotel, when he heard glass break. He investigated and saw a man standing in front of the Red Hot Shop at 701 North Ocean Blvd. As he watched, he saw the man inside the business in front of a broken display case and putting something in his coat. He immediately called police while he watched where Alford was going.
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/
An alert security officer did exactly what he was hired to do and helped crack a burglary case all at the same time.
Police said that the guard lead them to a man suspected of breaking into an Ocean Boulevard business.
Otis Alford, 40, of 3051 Faith Lane, Myrtle Beach, was charged with second-degree business burglary after police were called at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday to the 300 block of Eighth Avenue North, police said.
Police said that the security officer was working at the Sea Palms Hotel, when he heard glass break. He investigated and saw a man standing in front of the Red Hot Shop at 701 North Ocean Blvd. As he watched, he saw the man inside the business in front of a broken display case and putting something in his coat. He immediately called police while he watched where Alford was going.
When officers arrived on scene, he directed them to where Alford was hiding and police were able to arrest him.
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Categories: police, security, security made app/arrest
loss prevention agent, loss prevention association, myrtle beach south carolina, national association of private officers, otis alford, security association, security guard, security guard association, security guard training, security officer, security officer assaociation, security police association, security training, www.privateofficer.com
Missing cop now accused of stealing $70,000 from police www.privateofficer.com
January 8, 2009
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Missing cop now accused of stealing $70,000 from police http://www.privateofficer.com
Decatur AL. Jan 8 2009
Kyle T. Greene
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/
The woman charged with helping Decatur Police Sgt. Faron White escape to Las Vegas knew White had stolen about $70,000 in cash from the narcotics office, according to a document filed Tuesday in Morgan County District Court
White, 48, who was found Monday in Las Vegas, is charged with first-degree theft of property. He is accused of stealing at least $5,000. Richardson, 29, is charged with felony hindering prosecution.
The arrest affidavit for Sarah Elizabeth Richardson, dated Jan. 6 and sworn to by Decatur Police Sgt. Rick Archer, says she met with White about 11:30 p.m. Friday at the Decatur Police Training Center at 4119-A Old Highway 31 South and that “Richardson was aware that White had committed a theft of approximately $70,000 in cash from an evidence safe at the narcotics office.”
She agreed, according to the affidavit, to drive White to the Nashville airport about 6 a.m. Saturday so he could “evade apprehension.”
At the airport, she waited while White bought a ticket (for Nevada) and went to the check-in area, the record shows.
The affidavit also says “Richardson maintained telephone contact with White during the next few days, providing White with information concerning the investigation into his disappearance.”
White’s family reported him missing Saturday. Detectives found evidence of a struggle at White’s office and crews searched the Tennessee River and surrounding areas for days looking for White.
According to an Associated Press report Tuesday, Richardson was a volunteer who had been helping White’s unit and had apparently developed a romantic relationship with the officer, said Decatur Police Chief Ken Collier. Despite the search, the chief said detectives suspected it was all a ruse, according to the AP.
“The investigators involved didn’t fall off the pumpkin truck last week. They sensed something was wrong early on,” Collier said.
He also said White had been under a lot of pressure – an ill father, unexpected household debt and had been making trips to a casino in Tunica, Miss., according to the AP.
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
http://www.privateofficer.com/
The woman charged with helping Decatur Police Sgt. Faron White escape to Las Vegas knew White had stolen about $70,000 in cash from the narcotics office, according to a document filed Tuesday in Morgan County District Court
White, 48, who was found Monday in Las Vegas, is charged with first-degree theft of property. He is accused of stealing at least $5,000. Richardson, 29, is charged with felony hindering prosecution.
The arrest affidavit for Sarah Elizabeth Richardson, dated Jan. 6 and sworn to by Decatur Police Sgt. Rick Archer, says she met with White about 11:30 p.m. Friday at the Decatur Police Training Center at 4119-A Old Highway 31 South and that “Richardson was aware that White had committed a theft of approximately $70,000 in cash from an evidence safe at the narcotics office.”
She agreed, according to the affidavit, to drive White to the Nashville airport about 6 a.m. Saturday so he could “evade apprehension.”
At the airport, she waited while White bought a ticket (for Nevada) and went to the check-in area, the record shows.
The affidavit also says “Richardson maintained telephone contact with White during the next few days, providing White with information concerning the investigation into his disappearance.”
White’s family reported him missing Saturday. Detectives found evidence of a struggle at White’s office and crews searched the Tennessee River and surrounding areas for days looking for White.
According to an Associated Press report Tuesday, Richardson was a volunteer who had been helping White’s unit and had apparently developed a romantic relationship with the officer, said Decatur Police Chief Ken Collier. Despite the search, the chief said detectives suspected it was all a ruse, according to the AP.
“The investigators involved didn’t fall off the pumpkin truck last week. They sensed something was wrong early on,” Collier said.
He also said White had been under a lot of pressure – an ill father, unexpected household debt and had been making trips to a casino in Tunica, Miss., according to the AP.
=================================================
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Categories: cops, police
decatur alabama, faron white, loss prevention agent, loss prevention association, missing cop, national association of private officers, security association, security guard, security guard association, security guard training, security officer, security officer assaociation, security police association, security training, sgt white, www.privateofficer.com
Reward offered for information in Brink guard’s murder www.privateofficer.com
January 8, 2009
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Reward offered for information in Brink guard’s murder http://www.privateofficer.com
GREENSBORO NC Jan 8 2009 – Both Brinks Armored Car and the Guilford County Crimestoppers are offering a reward in the robbery at an Old Navy store in Greensboro that resulted in the murder of an armed guard.
The daylight heist took place on December 15th at the Old Navy store in Friendly Shopping Center in Greensboro.
The violent robbery during the height of the Christmas shopping season resulted in the shooting death of Juan Esteban Salado, a young armored car driver who was engaged to be married.
The Greensboro Police Department said this week that Brinks is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the capture and arrest of the suspect in the case.
In addition, Guilford County Crimestoppers is also offering up to $2,000 for information in the case.The Greensboro police say that the suspect is described as a black male, approximately 6’1”, muscular build, slight goatee, wearing sunglasses, a shoulder length wig, aqua colored scrub-type pants and a multi-colored top.
According to eyewitnesses and police, the suspect fled the store carrying the Brinks money bag in the direction of the Exxon Station located at the corner of Northline Avenue and Green Valley Road.
According to the police, the suspect then entered a dark colored vehicle and fled in an unknown direction.
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brink's robbery at old navy store, greensboro north carolina, juan esteban salado, loss prevention agent, loss prevention association, national association of private officers, security association, security guard, security guard association, security guard training, security officer, security officer assaociation, security police association, security training, www.privateofficer.com
