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K-Mart burglar commits suicide www.privateofficer.com
One man is dead after a burglary in Cumberland County.
Police say the suspect fired a shot at officers then shot himself.
It started around 2:00 Sunday morning when an East Pennsboro Police officer noticed the K-mart on North Enola Road was broken into.
Police say the burglar brought special equipment, and broke in without ever setting off the store’s alarm.
Two officers and one police dog entered the K-mart. That’s when police say the burglar fired one shot at police.
The SWAT team was called in. When the burglar wouldn’t talk to a police negotiator, officers used tear gas to get him to come out from behind two locked doors.
Lt. Mark Green told News 8, “It was over pretty quickly. We didn’t know if there was one perpetrator or not. It took a lot of investigation to make sure we could do it as safely as possible.”
Police also sent a special robot into the store, equipped with a camera, to make sure it was safe.
Ultimately, the burglar fired another shot, taking his own life. Police did not return fire.
The coroner has not yet released the man’s name.
GPS used to catch cop goofing off www.privateofficer.com
Police Chief William Mulligan ordered a global positioning system installed in Goulet’s cruiser in early December, following a complaint. Deputy Police Chief Richard Burrows wrote Mulligan that neighbors “stated that some mornings Officer Goulet has to scrape his windshield because it had been parked there so long (overnight).”
Data retrieved from the GPS showed that in eight days Goulet’s cruiser was parked for a total of 39 hours and 15 minutes, on average slightly less than five hours per eight-hour overnight shift.
During these same hours “the daily log indicated Officer Goulet had been checking buildings throughout the shift,” Mulligan wrote.
Confronted with the data, Goulet was placed on paid administrative leave on Dec. 26, then agreed to resign in mid-January.
The town initially refused to hand over the investigation report; such investigations are considered public documents under a 2004 court ruling. The Sun protested to the Secretary of State’s office, which forced the town to release the report.
The 47-page report includes a two-page summary from Mulligan outlining the probe and its results; radio transmission logs; daily reports monitoring where Goulet’s cruiser started and stopped, plus mileage driven each day; and a cross-reference of Goulet’s position via GPS and his radio logs.
Mulligan wrote that the inquiry began after the anonymous call received Dec. 1. The next day, Mulligan said he phoned retired Tewksbury Police Chief Al Donovan, the lead investigator for the NEMLEC Internal Affairs unit, to discuss the complaint against Goulet, who was the Tyngsboro Police Patrolman’s Union representative.
“Chief Donovan agreed that I had the right as the police chief to place a GPS unit in Officer Goulet’s cruiser in order to monitor activity during his shift,” Mulligan wrote.
The GPS device was installed by Lawrence, Mass.-based Steve’s Security & Stereo, the documents show. Goulet’s on-duty driving habits were monitored starting Dec. 9, at the beginning of his 11 p.m.-to-7 a.m. shift.
Twenty pages of the Goulet file contain detailed “stop and start activity” data produced by the GPS tracking device hidden in his cruiser. The times and addresses recorded by the GPS unit on the dates of Dec. 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22 and 23, while Goulet was on duty, show his cruiser was stationary during times when Goulet wrote in his log that he was checking businesses around town, Mulligan found.
On the first night, the GPS data showed that Goulet parked his cruiser at the end of a cul de sac on Bridle Path Way at 1:04 a.m., remaining there for 5 hours and 32 minutes. On subsequent days, data showed that Goulet parked the cruiser outside or near his home on Marla Circle for several hours.
The reports also show Goulet logged few driving miles, from 8.9 to 35.5 miles during his eight-hour shifts.
On Christmas Day, Mulligan, department managers and selectmen received a second complaint, via e-mail, that Goulet was spending extended work hours at home. Mulligan suspended Goulet with pay the next day. On Dec. 28, Goulet indicated through his lawyer that he was willing to resign as a Tyngsboro police officer, the chief reported.
In a Jan. 7 letter to the chief, Goulet wrote, “After careful consideration and discussion with my family, I have come to the decision to tender my resignation as a police officer with the town of Tyngsboro, effective Jan. 27.”
“I appreciate the opportunity to have served the people in town and the members of this department,” Goulet concluded the letter.
The investigation into those eight shifts raised several issues:
* The investigation focused solely on Goulet. This was decided by Mulligan and Donovan before the GPS was installed. The final report questions no activity by any other department employee.
* A cross-referencing of calls from dispatch showed 68 times in which Goulet was logged as “no radio,” for periods of up to five hours.
* On Dec. 10, Goulet was logged as “no phone” 11 times, and keyed his microphone three times but did not transmit.
* Six times, Tyngsboro officers are listed as responding to calls alone, including one domestic disturbance.
The Sun posed the following questions to Burrows:
* Do the “no radio/no phone” listings mean calls were placed specifically to Officer Goulet, or were they general calls to which he did not respond?
* Do Tyngsboro officers routinely respond to calls alone, or do they automatically receive backup?
* Did the actions of Officer Goulet put his fellow officers in danger?
* Do officers typically work for hours without responding to a single radio call?
* Do dispatchers/shift supervisors regularly record such instances?
* Has anyone else been disciplined in connection with this case?
* Has the department changed any policies or procedures following this case?
In response to the above list of questions, Burrows replied by e-mail: “The Tyngsboro Police department conducted a prompt and thorough investigation into this matter. As a result of the investigation, the improper conduct has been eliminated and no other employees were disciplined,” the deputy chief replied. “We have put new policies and procedures in place to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.”
Burrows responses to The Sun, however, raise concerns as to why Goulet’s shift commander(s) never questioned the officer’s whereabouts during the long stretches of silence, or referred their own concerns to department leaders.
The town agreed to pay Goulet his salary through Jan. 27, plus any money owed him for unused vacation and holiday pay and work details. Goulet was issued a final paycheck on Feb. 2 for $5,111.88, according to town Treasurer Kerry Coburn-Dion. That was the sum of Goulet’s regular paycheck, minus customary tax withholding, $1,955.40; vacation pay, $1,752.24; holiday pay, $500.64; and “other assignments” (work details), $903.60.
Goulet promised not to take any future legal action against the town. He also agreed that he “shall not make disparaging remarks about the town or its agents.” Goulet was permitted to remain a member of the town’s health-insurance group in accordance with the provisions of COBRA. His resignation “will not affect Goulet’s ability to apply for retirement” benefits, the agreement stated.
In an executive session Jan. 11, the selectmen voted unanimously to accept Goulet’s resignation and signed the separation agreement.
Selectmen Chairman Rich Lemoine told The Sun that the board opted not to fire Goulet outright in order to avoid a potentially protracted and costly legal battle with the patrolman’s union. “The sensitivity to protect the town and its residents from potential adverse litigation by adhering to signed agreements was strictly observed through this process,” said Lemoine, reading a brief statement.
Also on Jan. 11, the selectmen authorized Mulligan to hire another officer to take Goulet’s place on the department’s 21-member roster.
The town hired Robert Cote, a graduate of Dracut High School and UMass Lowell with six years of police experience, as the department’s newest full-time officer.
Almost 300 arrested in San Diego gang sweeps www.privateofficer.com
Source: North County Times
But only a few of the people arrested in the sweep were actual gang members. And it was unclear if any of them were arrested on charges related to international crimes.
Of the 282 people arrested, only 32 of them were documented gang members or gang associates, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the lead agency in the operation. Officials said they were still sifting through the information and could not provide specific information, such as the names of those arrested or the charges filed against them.
The operation, dubbed Operation Allied Shield, was conducted between 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday and was funded through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The money is supposed to be used to address border-related crimes, such as drug and human smuggling.
Sheriff Bill Gore said that gangs in San Diego County are known to work with Mexican drug cartels helping to smuggle and distribute drugs. He acknowledged that no one arrested in the operation was specifically linked to Mexican cartels.
“It’s a given in law enforcement that there is a known nexus between the gangs in San Diego County and the drug activity and even some of the human smuggling activity in Mexico,” Gore said. “So to the extent that we can identify more gang members in San Diego County and disrupt their activities, the safer we make San Diego County.”
Through the operation, Gore said officers identified 61 new gang members and 54 gang associates.
About 480 officers from 13 organizations, including the Sheriff’s Department, the Escondido Police Department, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol, fanned out in neighborhoods where gangs are known to operate, Gore said.
Officials said they made 51 felony arrests, most of which, 35, were parole or probation violations, according to information provided on the operation. The other 16 arrests were related to outstanding warrants or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
A full list of the 282 arrests and the charges filed against each individual was not provided.
Sheriff’s Lt. Dave Myers, who led the operation, said some of the arrests were made in North County, including Fallbrook, San Marcos, Escondido and Oceanside. However, officials were still sifting through the information and could not immediately provide specific arrest numbers for each community, Myers said.
The county has received about $14 million this year in funding through the Department of Homeland Security’s Stonegarden program, which helps local law enforcement agencies pay for enforcement operations that target border-related crime.
The program helps pay officers over time so that they can participate in special details, such as Operation Allied Shield.
Other details about the operation:
Vehicle stops: 919
Field interviews: 303
Citations issued: 221
Narcotics seizures: 45
Non-drug seizures: 5
Drugs seized:
Marijuana 165 grams
Cocaine 6.42 grams
Heroine 1.16 grams
Crystal Meth 21 grams
Ecstasy .35 grams
Security officer assaulted by trio www.privateofficer.com
A little after 2 a.m. Saturday, a 42-year-old security guard approached three drunken men in the 300 block of Carlsbad Boulevard and asked them to leave, Lt. Matt Magro said. One of the men jumped on his back, choked him and dragged him to the ground, where the three kicked, choked and punched him, Magro said. Two bystanders intervened, one disabling the attackers with pepper spray, the lieutenant said.
The guard was not hospitalized. Phillip Lare, 21; Justin Stambaugh, 22 and Drew Oldfield, 22, were all arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
Security, bouncers may get police powers www.privateofficer.com
Tens of thousands of nightclub bouncers and private security guards could be given sweeping police-style powers.
Senior police officers have ordered a dramatic expansion of a controversial scheme that allows authorised civilians to issue fines for littering and other minor offences.
They may also stop members of the public in the street, take their photograph and ask for their name and address.
Critics have called for a halt to the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme, saystablesing it amounts to ‘state-sanctioned vigilantism’.
There are already 1,667 people, including town hall workers and car park attendants, as well as bouncers and security guards, with powers under the scheme.
Nicknamed ‘Jacqui Smith’s Irregulars’ after the former Home Secretary, their numbers have rocketed by a fifth in only a year.
But new guidance issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers, or Acpo, instructs Chief Conto target the country’s 100,000 guards and 50,000 door supervisors as it seeks to expand the scheme.
The move is particularly controversial because Acpo is directly involved in approving private firms which want to join the CSAS.
Security companies pay between £450 and £600 for an assessment by a private company owned by Acpo, and between £32 and £132 for each accredited employee.
Councils and other public sector organisations pay between £300 and £315 to be accredited, and £35 to £90 per employee.
The guidance document says: ‘Forces should make plans fully to exploit the opportunities presented by the regulatory regime for closer working relationships with the private security industry, with CSAS as an appropriate vehicle for doing so.
‘Numerically, the security industry presents the most significant opportunities for closer working relations.’
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: ‘It seems there are profitable reasons behind the recent explosion in bouncers being given police-like powers.
‘Instead of relying on club doormen to fight crime and anti-social behaviour, we should be putting 3,000 more police out on the beat.’
Tory home affairs spokesman Chris Grayling called for an immediate end to the scheme.
‘People expect policing powers to be held by police, and not by other groups like nightclub bouncers,’ he said.
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Davies, speaking for Acpo, defended the scheme.
He said: ‘Accredited persons play a part in building safe and secure neighbourhoods.
‘However, their role must remain distinct from that of police officers whose task is to uphold and enforce the law, tackling all forms of harm to the public and communities
Gunman kills 1, injures two others at Knoxville hospital www.privateofficer.com
All the victims were female and current or former employees of Parkwest Medical Center, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen IV said. The attack happened about 4:30 p.m. outside the hospital’s discharge area.
Police are still trying to determine a motive, but it did not appear that any of the victims were related to the suspect or that there was any connection between them, spokesman Darrell DeBusk said.
Police also didn’t think the suspect was ever employed at the hospital.
