Archive
Woman shoplifters arrested after fighting officers www.privateofficer.com
GRAND CHUTE Oct 31 2010 — Two Milwaukee women were jailed on eight charges of retail theft each, plus resisting an officer, after being caught with a carload of stolen clothing Friday at Fox River Mall.
Jewal Thomas and Heather Wiley, both 30, were both being held in the Outagamie County Jail on bonds of $1,900 for the theft and resisting charges.
Wiley has another $100 bond for possession of THC.
Sgt Randy Reifsteck said police were called about 3:30 p.m. when mall public safety officers located a vehicle used by the women.
He said public safety had been alerted by a store operator the women were shoplifting, and had been at the mall previously.
Reifsteck said the two are suspects in incidents at the mall about three weeks ago when about $3,500 worth of clothing was taken.
He said officers found clothing valued at more than $2,000 from multiple stores in the vehicle Friday.
Reifsteck said other people apparently were working at the mall with the women, but they were not apprehended.
He said the women did not admit to taking and reselling the clothes.
“That is what happens typically,” he said. “They will have an outlet for it, either if they are selling it out of their house or they are in cahoots with another small merchant.”
He said the two would probably get about $400 or $500 for $2,000 worth of clothes.
Police say baby died in 135 degree daycare van www.privateofficer.com
DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Oct. 31 2010 — A day-care van where a 2-year-old died in August reached 135 degrees inside, police in Florida said.
The police report on Haile Brockington’s death was released Friday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
Haile died Aug. 5, strapped into a car seat in a van of the Katie’s Kids Learning Center in Delray Beach. Days later, Delray Beach police reconstructed the incident by creating the same conditions in the van.
Around 4 p.m., the time of day the girl was found, 6 hours after being left in the vehicle, temperatures reached 135, rising from 115 an hour after the air conditioning in the van was shut off at 10 a.m.
Police said the driver, Amanda Lee Inman, 31, of Boynton Beach, accidentally left Haile in the back of the van but still checked her name off among the children she transported.
She was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and has pleaded not guilty. The day-care center has since shut down.
Source:UPI
Church leader-teacher arrested for sexual assault of teenager www.privateofficer.com
AUSTIN MN OCT 31 2010
A Cambridge Young Life leader accused of sexually assaulting a teenager also worked as a substitute teacher.
Fifty-four-year-old Mark Holm was arrested Wednesday and is charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Holm is the director of Minnesota’s East Central Chapter of Young Life, an international Christian ministry group aimed at teenagers.
The Cambridge-Isanti School District confirmed Friday that Holm is also currently working as a K-12 substitute teacher at the school. School leaders issued a statement saying, “The safety and security for our students at Cambridge-Isanti is our main concern. Our thoughts go out to those involved.”
School leaders say Holm will remain an employee until the investigation is complete.
Holm is accused of assaulting a young person who attended Young Life. 5 EYEWITNESS News has learned the alleged victim is a 17-year-old girl from Cambridge-Isanti High School. Police have not said whether they believe other people may have been victimized.
Court documents allege Holm and the teen had been text messaging back and forth, often sending naked pictures of each other. The documents also allege the two had talked about running away together, getting married, even creating a suicide pact.
The teen’s parents called police after discovering some of those text messages. The girl claims she tried to end her relationship with Holm at one point, but says he wouldn’t let her.
Young Life issued a statement Friday morning saying, “We are deeply saddened to learn of allegations against Mark Holm, a Young Life staff member in Cambridge, MN. Mr. Holm has been placed on immediate administrative leave. Young Life expects to cooperate fully with authorities in their investigation of the case.”
Holm was held on $500,000 bail with no conditions, or $100,000 bail with conditions.
The case remains under investigation.
Source:KAAL.com
NC detention officer charged with theft of credit card info to buy pizzas www.privateofficer.com
Greenville, N.C.Oct 31 2010 — A detention officer at the Pitt County Detention Center was arrested Thursday on charges of stealing credit card numbers to buy pizza.
Benjamin Mathew Whaley, 25, of 2203 Old New Bern Road in Chocowinity, was charged with six counts each of financial card fraud and obtaining property by false pretenses.
Greenville police said that a two-month-long investigation determined that Whaley used two credit card numbers to make purchases totaling $183.66 at a Domino’s Pizza store.
Police identified the victims as a 27-year-old fellow detention officer and 66-year-old Georgia man. It wasn’t clear how Whaley knew the Georgia man.
Whaley was released from the Pitt County Detention Center after posting an $85,000 secured bond
Source:WRAL.com
Manassas teacher jailed for sexting student www.privateofficer.com
MANASSAS, Va. Oct 31 2010 – A high school teacher and football coach was arrested Friday after police say he sent inappropriate text messages to a 16-year-old girl.
Prince William County Police charged William Hayes Dignan, 42, with indecent liberties by a custodian and use of a communication device to facilitate an offense with a minor.
Police says Dignan, a teacher and coach at Stonewall Jackson High School, has sent numerous messages to a student since early October.
A second coach, Nicholas Brandon Rosser, was arrested at Dignan’s home when police executed a search warrant.
Rosser, 31, was charged with marijuana possession.
Dignan is being held on $15,000 bond
Source:WTOP.com
KY deputy sheriff charged with assisting wife’s suicide www.privateofficer.com
HARRISON COUNTY, Ky. Oct 31 2010 — A Harrison County Sheriff’s deputy facing charges has turned himself in to police.
A grand jury indicted John Britton on criminal charges of assisting a suicide in the death of his wife.
Christine Britton was a former jail commander in Harrison County.
She was found dead from a gunshot wound in her home in March of 2009.
In a police interview, Britton said they were arguing moments before the shooting.
He said he tried to stop her from committing suicide but then told officers he left his handgun on the bed and walked out.
Moments later, he said he heard the gunshot.
Lafayette teacher charged after underage releationship www.privateofficer.com
Police have arrested a Lafayette middle school teacher on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student and sending her as many as 140 text messages of a sexual nature per day.
Michael Merrick was being held Thursday in county jail on $3.05 million bail.
Police Chief Mike Hubbard said the 47-year-old teacher was arrested Wednesday, two days after the female student made the allegations.
Merrick is accused of having sexual contact with the student during private tutoring sessions at Stanley Middle School. Lafayette School District Superintendent Fred Brill said Merrick is a wood shop teacher and a youth sports coach who has worked for the district for at least a decade.
It’s not known whether he has retained an attorney.
Source:www.sfgate.com
DUI dentist kills two Marriott Hotel workers www.privateofficer.com
TAMPA Fla Oct 31 2010— Doug Kozar was working toward a career in law enforcement. Kate Kohlier was about to graduate from college.
Kozar, 23, and Kohlier, 24, both died early Saturday after leaving work at the Marriott Waterside Hotel. A car veered off the road and hit them as they walked across the Harbour Island bridge. Police say a drunken driver is to blame.
Matthew R. Moye, 34, a south Hillsborough dentist, was speeding on the bridge in a black 2001 Cadillac coupe at about 2 a.m. when he hit a curb and spun out of control, according to Tampa police. The southbound car crossed into the bridge’s northbound lane and onto the sidewalk. It slid down a guardrail and over several planters while hitting Kozar and Kohlier, police said.
Kohlier was killed instantly. Kozar was pushed over a guardrail and into a planter. He was pronounced dead in an ambulance at the scene.
A third Marriott employee, Joao Armando Fonseca Barbosa, 47, suffered a broken ankle after jumping out of the way of the vehicle. He was treated at Tampa General Hospital.
Police later arrested Moye on two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of DUI manslaughter and one count of driving under the influence with injury.
Moye, his wife Kelly, and another female passenger were temporarily trapped inside the vehicle before a Tampa Fire Rescue crew freed them, police said. No one in the vehicle was injured.
Officers noted the odor of alcohol on Moye’s breath, slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. Moye refused a breath test, but police took a sample of his blood for testing, records show.
His arrest report says he became combative when police pulled him out of his car. He hit an officer’s hand, resulting in an additional charge of battery on a law enforcement officer.
Moye practices at Big Bend Dental on Vail Ridge Drive in Riverview, according to jail records. He was being held Saturday without bond.
A woman who answered the door Saturday morning at Moye’s home on S Ferdinand Avenue in Tampa declined to comment.
Moye pleaded no contest on Oct. 21 to a charge of driving 90 mph in a 55 mph zone after being cited by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in August, according to court records. A judge withheld adjudication and ordered Moye to attend advanced defensive driving school by Dec. 20.
Court records also show Moye’s driving history includes charges of driving without a seat belt and speeding in two 2005 incidents, speeding in Polk County in 2007, driving without proof of insurance in 2008, and two speeding cases in 2009. The seat belt, insurance, 2005 and March 2009 speeding cases were dismissed. Adjudication was withheld in the August 2009 speeding case, with Moye paying a fine and court costs, records show. He also paid a fine in the Polk County case.
His wife, Kelly, was arrested on a DUI charge in 2009, according to sheriff’s records.
Friends and relatives of the victims expressed shock Saturday at the news of their deaths.
“All I can say is she was a great person,” said Jose Comparini, a co-worker of Kohlier’s. “I lost a good friend and a partner at work.”
Kohlier’s Facebook page indicates that she graduated from Largo High School in 2004. She was scheduled to graduate from USF in December with a degree in psychology.
Kozar was a graduate of the University of Tampa who came to Florida from Upstate New York to study business, but liked criminal justice better after taking some criminology classes.
After graduating in December 2009, he looked for jobs in security as a first step toward a career in law enforcement, his family said. He found work in the catering department at the Marriott, hoping he could eventually switch to hotel security.
Kozar’s girlfriend, Ashley LeBlanc, said he usually parked his car in lots or on the street downtown to avoid having to pay to park in a Harbour Island garage.
“He was a real personable kid,” said his father, Russ Kozar, of Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. “We were very happy he was working and making his own way.”
When he wasn’t working, Kozar enjoyed fishing. His father recently mailed him a fishing reel that belonged to Doug’s grandfather.
“My wife and I are heartbroken that his life was taken by a drunk driver,” Kozar said. “We’re also upset he had to walk over the bridge to get there anyway. We wish there had been a shuttle that could have taken them there. That would have saved two lives. But it’s easy to be a Monday-morning quarterback.”
Source:TampaBay.com
Fla. teacher fired for watching porn on school computer www.privateofficer.com
MELBOURNE, Fla.Oct 31 2010 — Authorities said a teacher at a Brevard County school was fired for watching porn on his district-issued computer.
No crime was committed, so the teacher was not arrested or charged, officials said Friday.
School officials accused Gregory Azcueta of watching porn on his district issued computer, but said that no children were present or involved at the time of the incident.
The 42-year-old fifth-grade teacher has 15 days to request a hearing to appeal his termination.
Azcueta taught at Harbor City Elementary School in Melbourne.
It is not clear whether the teacher watched the pornography at the school.
Source:WESH.com
Former Prince George County teacher charged with rape of student www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC Oct 31 2010 A former Prince George’s County private school teacher was arrested early Thursday and charged with second-degree rape of an underage female student after the victim approached police last month to report the crimes, which allegedly occurred between 1999 and 2001.
Fernando Antonio Asturizaga, 44, of the unit block of School Street in Montpelier, Vt., was arrested early Thursday morning in Montgomery County after county police, working with the victim, set up a sting operation to arrest him, said county police spokesman Cpl. Dan Friz.
“It was part of the investigation; it was a sting,” he said. “[The victim] assisted in the investigation, but I don’t know anything more about the arrest.”
The abuse, which police say included everything from vaginal intercourse to digital penetration and oral sex, began around 1999 while Asturizaga was the victim’s teacher at an as-yet-undisclosed private school in Prince George’s County, Friz said. At some point, Asturizaga began to babysit the victim at her Silver Spring home and at a second residence in Bethesda where the abuse took place, police said.
The victim, who was born in 1988, was anywhere from 10 to 12 years old during the period of abuse, Friz said, adding that the victim approached police on her own last month to report the crimes.
“That was the first that we were made aware of the situation,” Friz said. “From there, Det. [Katie] Leggett initiated an investigation into the case, and … in the statement of charges she had gathered quite a bit of evidence to secure an arrest warrant for Asturizaga.”
Many details and precise information regarding the nature of the investigation are not available, largely due to the fact that Family Crimes investigators intentionally wrote a vague and general statement of charges in the case so as not to risk revealing the identity of the victim or jeopardizing the case, Friz said.
Further details of Asturizaga’s past are also unavailable, but an online search of court records reveals he was previously arrested and charged with three counts each of third-degree sexual offense and fourth-degree sexual offense, as well as one count each of second-degree assault and child abuse in Prince George’s County stemming from an incident that occurred in March 2003.
Asturizaga was found not guilty of each of the charges in Prince George’s County Circuit Court in July 2003, the documents state. Asturizaga was listed as living at a College Park address in the 2003 court documents, but his name and date of birth match the current case.
Police were not certain at this point if the cases were related, but police are urging anyone who may have any information about the abuse or who may have themselves been abused by Asturizaga to step forward and contact Det. Leggett in the Family Crimes Division at 240-773-5426.
“We are looking for additional victims,” Friz said, adding that police usually expect additional victims to step forward once the initial charges have been made in a sexual abuse case because abusers often relocate frequently and can target victims in different areas.
Asturizaga has been charged with two counts of second-degree rape, six counts of second-degree sex offense, and two counts of child abuse by a lawful custodian in this case so far, according to police and court documents. He is being held on a $100,000 bond in Montgomery County Detention Center at 1307 Seven Locks Road in Rockville, Friz said.
No attorney information has been listed for Asturizaga at this time.
Source:The Gazette
Missing elderly security guard found in Canada www.privateofficer.com
By all accounts, Pete Severt of Detroit is not your average 88-year-old. The security guard still works full time patrolling the Fairlane North parking lots from 4:00 p.m. to midnight.
“My dad is old fashioned, old school,” said Diana Richards. “He believes in hard work. He’s worked all his life.”
However, Thursday night, Severt failed to show up and the end of his shift and his security vehicle was nowhere to be found. His worried family called police. Little did they know Severt was apparently disoriented and driving in the Windsor Tunnel over to Canada. They think he was trying to get to the hospital, and when he made it to the Canadian border, that’s exactly where agents sent him.
“They (were) saying that something was wrong with him and they rushed him to the hospital,” Richards said.
Doctors at Hotel-Dieu Grace tell the family it appears Severt suffered a mild heart attack. They plan to have him transferred to a hospital in the United States until he’s well enough to go home.
Friday, family members grabbed their passports and headed to Canada to check on Severt. They’re not even sure if he knows he left the country, his whereabouts or that he caused such a scare.
“God was watching him because he didn’t get into (an) accident,” said Richards.
While the search for this missing man ended in an unlikely place, his family is relieved he’s safe and they were able to find him.
Jackson Ms. battles with AMR ambulance to enter crime scenes alone www.privateofficer.com
JACKSON, Miss. Oct 31 2010
There’s a debate raging in Jackson about the role paramedics and emergency responders play in responding to a crime scene.
City Councilman Kenneth Stokes has threatened to reverse the contract American Medical Response has to serve in the area if the company doesn’t send its workers into violent crime scenes, even before police arrive.
On any given night, police will respond to a crime scene and an AMR ambulance will be found nearby — waiting for an all-clear to respond and provide medical attention. It is a practice and a policy that has irked some city of Jackson leaders who now argue that AMR shouldn’t wait for anything.
Ken Walters is an AMR paramedic who said he’s seen enough dangerous situations, just waiting to go into them in Jackson. He provided 16 WAPT News with an example.
Ward 3 City Councilman Kenneth Stokes
“We’re just standing there. Two guys came up and robbed us at gunpoint and shot at us. One of the bullets hit right here,” Walters said.
“Isn’t there implied risk as an EMT that you are supposed to assume some forms of risk?” WAPT’s Scott Simmons asked Walters.
“Yes, but not where your life is in danger, because we are there to provide aid, comfort and aid, and take someone to the hospital. You know, this isn’t the military,” Walters said.
Stokes has been the loudest critic. He said if AMR is going to take taxpayer money to provide service, that service should not come with restraints.
“If you are concerned about safety, put on a bullet proof vest,” Stokes said. “I think the contract is what we’re going to get because you can’t sit up here in the capital city of Jackson, Miss. and say, ‘We’re going to let people die.’”
Stokes may have a problem with AMR, but there is little city leaders can do about its contract for service in this area. That is something the city of Jackson gave up to Hinds County in 1990.
AMR spokesman Jim Pollard defended the company’s policy.
“We have letters from two national organizations,” Pollard said.
Nowhere does it say that paramedics are supposed to go into crime scenes before police do, Pollard said.
“In the national standard material, it says very simply, regarding violent scenes, scenes should always been secured by law enforcement before EMTs provide patient care,” Pollard said.
“We’re there as part of the solution,” Walters said. “We go in there and we get hurt, we get injured, then we become part of the problem.”
Stokes said the argument is not over.
“I think we have got a fight. That is just round one of a heavyweight bout,” Stokes said.
Walters and others at AMR are hoping they can continue the policy of letting police go into a violent crime scene before they do.
Philly museum security join local union www.privateofficer.com
Philadelphia PA Oct 30 2010 A year ago, the largest group of private security guards stationed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art won what seemed to be an improbable victory.
Fighting against their employer, a Conshohocken company that is one of the largest security firms in the nation, the guards managed to win representation by a union that they had started themselves – the Philadelphia Security Officers Union.
A year later, the guards, who work for AlliedBarton Security Services, still don’t have a contract. Each side blames the other for the delay.
On Thursday, another group of museum guards working for a different company, Roman Sentry Security Systems, voted 9-3 to join the union.
The vote came two weeks after four union leaders were fired – they say because of their union activism.
“We’re supposed to be security officers, yet we are afraid,” said Juanita Love, who was a museum guard for five years. She said Roman fired her a few days after she spoke at a union rally Oct. 8.
Roman Sentry, of Philadelphia, would not comment on Love or the election.
AlliedBarton spokesman Larry Rubin said he couldn’t comment on personnel matters. Some of the four who were fired were AlliedBarton employees.
Union advocates say it is typical – and the National Labor Relations Act says it is illegal – for companies to try to erode support for a union by firing activists and leaders. Companies usually say they have a legitimate reason, such as tardiness.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art, a city-related institution, has contracted out its security work since 1992. Formerly city employees who earned about $18 an hour, the guards now bring home $10.03 an hour.
Most of the guards, about 130, according to the union, work for AlliedBarton.
Local financier Ronald O. Perelman serves on the AlliedBarton board. The museum’s new annex, the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman building, is named after his parents.
Love said she had been dismissed for abandoning her post on the day of the rally. She said that a supervisor had given permission for her to leave because the museum was overstaffed.
Source:www.philly.com
Security officer interrupts burglary in progress www.privateofficer.com
By: Brett Davis/Staff
PRIVATE OFFICER NEWS
http://www.privateofficer.com/
A security officer on patrol of a shopping center discovered an active burglary and notified police.
Police were immediately dispatched and responded to the burglary on the 4900 block of Stevenson Boulevard on Thursday at about 12:30 a.m.
A security officer told police that he found the front door to the old Albertson’s supermarket open and a white utility truck parked to the rear of the business near an open roll up door, police said.
Arriving officers found copper piping in the back of the truck and more copper pipes stacked near the rollup door.
The shopping center was surrounded and an extensive search using police dogs was conducted, but yielded no suspects, police said.
The truck, a 1986 Chevrolet, was towed for evidence.
The case is being investigated, police said.
Elderly security guard goes missing www.privateofficer.com
Dearborn MI Oct 30 2010 Police said an elderly security guard reporting missing early this morning has been located.
Lt. Patricia Penman said Pete Severt, 88, is a security guard at the Fairlane North shopping center.
He and the white 2008 Ford Escape security truck with a flashing yellow light he drove for Allied Barton Security were reported missing after he failed to meet a coworker at a midnight shift change.
The company patrols the shopping center at 5851 Mercury Drive near Ford Road and the Southfield Freeway.
Penman said Severt was located at an area hospital, but no other information was released.
His family asked for privacy, police said.
freep.com
Walmart employees shot by co-worker
RENO, Nev. — A gunman who police said was about to be fired surrendered to police Friday after three employees were wounded in a possible retaliation attack in the Walmart store where the suspect worked, police said.
The move came after police negotiators spoke for two hours by telephone with the man identified as 45-year-old John Dennis Gillane.
Reno police Lt. Mohammad Rafqat said Gillane was taken into custody and will be charged with three counts of attempted murder. No shots were fired after the three victims were wounded shortly after 8:30 a.m., Rafqat said.
“I’m very happy he is out and the situation didn’t escalate,” he said. “We convinced him the best move was to surrender.” Rafqat said he did not know how many shots were fired or whether Gillane said anything at the time of the shootings.
“Today was going to be the day he was going to address his employment situation,” he said.
One of the wounded employees was a manager, police said. Police had not established a motive for the shooting but suspect it was related to the termination, Reno Deputy Police Chief Mike Whan said.
US Federal Agents arrest counterfeit document ring in Chicago www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL Oct 30 2010 Special agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Thursday arrested seven alleged members of a counterfeit document ring in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.
Jorge Castillo, 48, and Jorge Castillo-Arroyo, 24, father and son, were two of seven defendants who were arrested early Oct. 28. ICE HSI agents executed arrest warrants to dismantle the “Avers Crew,” which is comprised of several Castillo family members and allegedly made and sold fake identification documents in and around the area of 26th Street and Avers Avenue.
“Counterfeit identity documents, like the ones allegedly produced by this ring, can be used by criminals, enabling them to mask their identities and operate with ease in the United States,” said Gary Hartwig, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Chicago. “Given the public security implications, ICE aggressively targets these kinds of document fraud schemes and shuts them down.” Hartwig announced the charges, which were unsealed today, with Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. The Chicago and Elgin police departments and the Drug Enforcement Administration also assisted in the investigation
$2.1 million settlement reached in death of man by security www.privateofficer.com
Security guards chased the man into the parking lot where they tackled him and piled on top of his back, rendering him unable to breathe.
One security guard also placed him in a choke hold.
The local coroner described the death as a heart attack brought on by prolonged struggle and methamphetamine intoxication.
Plaintiffs retained renowned forensic pathologist, Michael Baden, M.D., who determined that he died from restraint associated asphixia caused by the security guards’ grossly improper conduct.
Montgomery Al police officer injured off duty fights for benefits www.privateofficer.com
Montgomery AL Oct 30 2010 Mayor Todd Strange said Wednesday that the city simply is not able to grant workers’ compensation benefits to the family of injured police Cpl. David Brown.
The family filed a lawsuit against the city Tuesday seeking the benefits for the officer, who was critically injured when his motorcycle was hit by a car while he was escorting a funeral procession Sept. 11. Afterward, the ambulance carrying him turned over on the way to the hospital.
The lawsuit states that Brown’s duties that day were done “with permission, knowledge and approval of the City of Montgomery Police Department and were performed for the benefit of the department and citizens of Montgomery.”
Brown’s brother, Todd Brown, said Tuesday that the family wants the city to declare the police officer on-duty that day.
“We are hoping to get him the compensation he’s entitled to,” Todd Brown said.
Strange said that declaration is not possible because Brown was not working for the Police Department that day and had a private contract with the funeral home in which the city received no compensation. He said he would love to provide Brown and his family with workers’ compensation, but the city has to follow the law.
“I’d love to be able to say ‘yes’ (to the claim), but I don’t have that prerogative,” he said.
The lawsuit states that at the time of the accident Brown was earning $925 per week. It seeks “compensation and medical expenses and any other relief to which he is entitled under the workers’ compensation laws of the state of Alabama.”
Brown was using city equipment when the accident occurred, but Strange said that would not have an impact on the family’s claim. He said police officers take their equipment home with them in Montgomery, and state law allows for the use of police equipment while officers are working private, off-duty jobs.
The family’s attorney sent a letter to the city Sept. 30, asking for a review of its position regarding Brown’s workers’ compensation eligibility. The letter gave the city 10 days to respond. Brown’s brother said Tuesday that they had not heard back from the city since that time.
Strange said Wednesday he had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit, which was filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
Joey Ammons, assistant general counsel with the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, specializes in workers’ compensation cases. He said the circuit judge has the exclusive discretion on whether to grant the workers’ compensation.
The lawsuit states Brown has suffered permanent disability, including “a broken jaw, cracked pallet, shaken baby syndrome, bleeding on the brain and multiple infections in his amputated limbs.” Since the accidents, he has undergone numerous operations, including the amputation of his right leg above the knee and his left arm above the elbow.
Brown was placed on medical disability retirement as of last week and will receive retirement benefits for the rest of his life, Strange said. The city also has paid for his additional leave time and all other available benefits are being extended to Brown, he said.
“We want to do everything conceivable under the law to help him,” Strange said.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Mail bombs show vulerability of air shipping www.privateofficer.com
LONDON Oct 30 2010 – The discovery of U.S.-bound mail bombs on cargo planes in England and Dubai reveals the vulnerability of air shipping, which is governed by a patchwork of inconsistent controls that make packages a potential threat even to passenger jets, experts said Saturday.
Most countries require parcels placed on passenger flights by international shipping companies to go through at least one security check. Methods include hand checks, sniffer dogs, X-ray machines and high-tech devices that can find traces of explosives on paper or cloth swabs.
But security protocols vary widely around the world. Experts cautioned that cargo, even when loaded onto passenger planes, is sometimes lightly inspected or completely unexamined, particularly when it comes from countries without well-developed aviation security systems.
The fact that at least two parcels containing explosives could be placed on cargo-only flights to England and Dubai, one in a FedEx shipment from Yemen, was a dramatic example of the risks posed by the system, but the dangers have been obvious for years, analysts said.
One particular vulnerability: trusted companies that regularly do business with freight shippers are allowed to ship parcels as “secure” cargo that is not automatically subjected to further checks.
Even where rules are tight on paper, enforcement can be lax. A U.S. government team that visited cargo sites around the world last year found a wide range of glaring defects, said John Shingleton, managing director of Handy Shipping Guide, an industry information service.
“They walked into a warehouse where supposedly secure cargo was,” he said, declining to say where the site was. “Generally security is high, but if you think it’s perfect you’re kidding yourself.”
Cargo companies have long shipped on passengers airlines, for whom cargo provides extra income.
Mike Boyd, who heads an aviation industry consulting firm in Colorado, said cargo is often put onboard passenger flights at the last minute, similar to passengers flying on standby.
Britain’s Home Secretary Theresa May said the device discovered early Friday morning at England’s East Midlands Airport was viable — and could have been used to bring down a plane.
Cargo that travels through airports in countries with high threat levels and advanced security systems is often safer. The system at London’s busy Heathrow Airport is relatively effective because cargo is held for 24 hours, giving authorities time to check it properly, according to Shingleton.
Still, since August U.S. aviation officials have been pressing the European Union to require the X-raying of every package placed on passenger planes, but they have met resistance because of the cost and logistics involved in screening such a huge amount of material, aviation safety consultant Chris Yates said.
“Is it possible one of these devices could get on passenger jets?” Yates said. “I’m not convinced it could on flights between London and the States, but it could get on from less secure parts of the world, including the Middle East. If you talk to anybody senior at airports, they will tell you freight is the weak link in the chain.”
X-Ray machines are not an effective tool to screen bulk cargo because of the large size and number of the items that need to be inspected, said Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, while more sophisticated technology, like gamma-ray machines, are extremely expensive.
“Security in the UK is pretty good, the U.S. is not bad, but aviation is a global business and we need effective regimes around the globe,” he said. “Cargo travels on both cargo-only and on combi-aircraft, which have passengers and cargo, and cargo is not subject to the same screening requirements as passengers’ baggage.”
Baum also warned that it is foolhardy to downplay the threat posed by cargo-only planes since those could be loaded with an explosive device that could be detonated when the plane is on its final approach over a major city.
Source:AP
Off-duty Norfolk police officer shot to death www.privateofficer.com
Norfolk VA Oct 29 2010 Norfolk police are now assisting Virginia Beach detectives investigating the shooting death of off-duty Norfolk Officer Victor Decker, whose body was found Tuesday morning off Oceana Boulevard.
Norfolk is providing assistance and investigating specific questions at the request of Virginia Beach, Norfolk police Lt. Joseph Baron said at a news conference Thursday with Chief Bruce P. Marquis.
Marquis said Beach detectives have recovered a piece of evidence, and it may be Decker’s wallet. The chief said his understanding is that Decker’s service pistol was in his home when he was killed. Marquis had said Wednesday that personal items were taken from Decker.
A motorist found Decker about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday when he stopped to check a pickup in the 400 block of Oceana Blvd., near a go-go club called Atlantis. Two people who were at Atlantis on Monday night said they saw Decker there, but that nothing seemed amiss. The motorist found Decker lying on the side of the road near the truck.
Baron, who is supervising Norfolk’s end of the investigation, said no other Norfolk police officers were there with Decker.
Beach police are leaving no stone unturned, Marquis and Baron said.
“They’re receiving a lot of phone calls with information,” Marquis said.
“They are hot and heavy on this investigation and their investigators are working diligently to track down every single lead,” Baron said. “We are currently helping them in reference to specific information that they would like us to research our database, to see if we can come up with anything.”
One aspect of the investigation involves a March 2009 shooting in downtown Norfolk that Decker was involved in. When he heard gunfire while patrolling on his bicycle, he responded and came upon a robbery and shooting that had just happened. Decker shot and killed one suspect, Marlon D. Sanders, 19, after Sanders fired his gun at Decker. The second suspect, Brighton Evlon Alderman, 18, surrendered to Decker.
Alderman is scheduled to go on trial Dec. 13 on a charge of first-degree murder and attempted robbery in the death of the victim, Brian Carter, 24, of Suffolk.
Decker, a beloved officer known for developing friendships with business owners and downtown workers, was given commendations for his response.
Virginia Beach detectives asked Norfolk for their file on the robbery and shooting. Norfolk police, however, said it is one of many aspects being investigated as police “leave no stone unturned.” Beach police said Thursday that they had no new information to report to the public.
Also Thursday, Decker’s widow, Dawn Decker, met with reporters, saying she wanted to ask that anyone with information report it to authorities. She was in Georgia visiting family when her husband was killed.
She said she and her husband went to middle school and high school together, when they were friends, and had been married for about a year and a half.
“If Victor saw somebody that he thought needed to handle, he would have stepped in,” she said. “He was the type of person that if someone had a flat tire, he would pull over and help them. … All he did was try to help as much as he could.”
She said Decker planned to work for Norfolk police “as long as he possibly could.”
They have an 8-month-old baby girl named Charlotte. Their daughter’s birth, she said, was “a very precious experience. One we hoped to repeat.”
Decker’s funeral will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at The Rock Church on Kempsville Road in Virginia Beach.
Police ask that anyone with information on the shooting call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP
Source:Pilotonline
Alarm Company employee sues after being spanked at work www.privateofficer.com
Fresno CA Oct 29 2010 AP A saleswoman from California who won a substantial settlement for enduring being spanked during a company team-building exercise, finally has the right to collect her money.
Janet Orlando, 57, was a saleswoman for an Anaheim-based security company when she claims she was sexually harassed four years ago.
She sued and a jury awarded her $1.7 million against Alarm One Inc., in April 2006, but she has yet to see a penny.
Healing the pain: Janet Orlando, 57, from Fresno, California has been awarded $1.4million after she sued for sexual harassment for being spanked in the work place
A Fresno County Superior Court jury ruled on Tuesday that the million settlement stands and she is entitled to receive the payout.
Jurors had awarded Orlando $10,000 for economic loss, $40,000 for future medical costs, $450,000 for emotional distress, pain and suffering, and $1.2million in punitive damages.
The company and its insurance carries agreed to a settlement figure of $1.4million but later declined to pay saying the deal with dependent on finding a bank willing to finance it.
They said they didn’t find a bank to fund the payout.
Alarm One Inc., appealed but jurors hearing the retrial deliberated for less than an hour and found Alarm One, Carolina Casualty Insurance and Monitor Liability Managers Inc. in breach of their contract with Orlando and have ordered them to pay her the million dollar sum.
‘They made a middle-aged woman go in front of mostly male co-workers between the ages of 18 and 24, bend over, put her hands on the wall and spanked her with a metal sign’ The unpaid fund has already drawn $600,000 in interest and if the case is prolonged further the damages will grow at least $200,000 each year.
Orlando cried as the verdict was announced in Judge Donald Black’s courtroom in Fresno, California. Outside court she described the case as being like a sexual assault.
‘You feel like they just keep raping you and raping you,’ she said. ‘It’s almost like they are doing it on purpose.’
Orlando’s lawyer Nicholas Wagner said that because Alarm One has now gone bankrupt, Carolina Casualty might be left paying most of the bill.
The Fresno County resident had only worked at the home security company for five months between late 2002 and early 2003.
She quit her job claiming to have been humiliated by being spanked in front of her co-workers with a competitor’s yard sign.
Her employer claimed it was just a camaraderie-building exercise.
Orlando said she was embarrassed, permanently scarred and mentally anguished by the fraternity-like atmosphere and sales-building exercises at Alarm One Inc.
Employees were also paddled if they were late for a sales meeting.
Mr Wagner said at the first trial: ‘The most compelling evidence is that they made a middle-aged woman go in front of mostly male co-workers between the ages of 18 and 24, bend over, put her hands on the wall and spanked her with a metal sign’.
‘I have the best attorneys in town. We’re never going to give up’, Orlando said.
UNC security officer popular as cartoonist www.privateofficer.com
Raleigh NC Oct 29 2010 Fred Moore is a popular man on the UNC campus, but few know his last name.
“They don’t call me Mr. Moore or Fred,” he said. “They call me Mr. Fred.”
Moore has been a security guard for many of the University’s athletic facilities, but has gained a reputation as an amateur cartoonist.
“He has been around since I was an undergraduate,” said 2007 UNC graduate and Campus Recreation employee Tori Hooker. “He has always taken care of people around here.”
Moore’s cartoons often center on iconic UNC scenery, such as the Bell Tower or the Old Well.
His specialty, however, is ACC mascots partaking in comical and, usually, basketball-oriented action.
“My personal favorite is the yellow jacket stinging the Blue Devil in the butt,” Moore said.
The large-framed and big-smiling 62 year old said he has been drawing since grade school.
“I used to get in trouble for scribbling in school,” Moore said.
While in the Air Force, Moore’s matured artistic talents were discovered by a senior officer. He was then frequently asked to create to-scale battle sketches.
Since his incorporation into UNC’s security force in 1991, word of his gift has circulated campus.
“People started asking, ‘Can you draw? Can you draw? Can you draw?’” Moore said.
Patrolling between Fetzer Field, the Student Recreation Center and both Fetzer and Woollen gyms, he is constantly greeted by friendly hollers and requests for a drawing.
“He makes a point to meet everyone — all the student employees that work for Campus Rec and a lot of the students involved with Campus Rec,” said intramural sports director Justin Ford.
An ever-growing waiting list currently has fifteen people anticipating a personalized “Mr. Fred” work.
He works from his house, averaging three or four drawings a week. His process of creation is simple and effective. Starting with thin graphite wisps, he transfers his imagined image to the page with a number two pencil, darkens his lines with Sharpie, and brightens the finished product with colored pencils.
“We choose what we want and he usually adds a little something of his own,” senior Natalie Malikyan said. “Usually a Blue Devil is being crushed somewhere.”
Certain motifs such as baby rams, a basketball-playing Rameses and giggling squirrels in Polk Place are prevalent throughout his works, and Moore’s content often crosses into the fantastical.
“People ask for all kinds of things,” he said.
Sophomore Kiva Moore said she is on the waiting list, hoping to receive a representation of “Princess Jasmine dunking on Rameses.”
There are few requests Moore will deny.
But when a UNC swimmer asked for Rameses to be portrayed drowning the Blue Devil, Moore had to say no.
“She was such a sweet girl, you wouldn’t have thought she’d ask for that,” Moore said. “I drew her something else.”
Moore has accumulated more than just a fan base at UNC — he has built friendships.
On his breaks, Moore is often spotted with students enjoying a shared crossword puzzle — another widely known skill of his, Ford said.
“Mr. Fred is one of the nicest people I know and is very loyal,” he said.
“If a student asks him to come to a game, he will make the effort to be there.”
source:dailytarheel.com
Choir teacher seduced teen www.privateofficer.com
DEARBORN COUNTY, Ind.Oct 29 2010 – A choir teacher at a southeast Indiana school has been arrested and charged with four counts of child seduction.
The prosecutor for Dearborn County confirmed to WLWT that Stacey Lee Johnson was arrested on felony charges. He was being held at the Dearborn County Jail.
According to the indictment, Johnson had sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old student. The student told investigators that the pair had sex between 10 and 15 times beginning in July.
The juvenile told investigators that the encounters happened at Lawrenceburg High School and Greendale Middle School.
Johnson was a choir teacher at Greendale Middle School, said Prosecutor Aaron Negangard.
Lake Havasu teacher charged with sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
Police in Lake Havasu City took Darrell Rupple, 65, into custody on Oct. 21 on a $1.25 million warrant issued by the San Bernardino County Superior Court, according to a sheriff’s press release.
Sgt. Roberto Lomeli of the sheriff’s department’s Crimes Against Children Detail said Monday his department received a report on Aug. 25 from a law-enforcement agency in Orange County.
That agency, he said, had been contacted by one of the alleged victims, identified only as a 35-year-old man, who told officers Rupple had molested him on an unspecified number of occasions during the 1987-88 school year.
Lomeli said the alleged victim provided the name of another student Rupple allegedly molested during the 1990-91 school year. Sheriff’s deputies contacted the victims and developed information leading to the warrant.
INVESTIGATION WIDENS
Sheriff’s Detective Rodney Gardner said Wednesday those reports have led to a broadening of the investigation. Gardner said he searched through sheriff’s department reports and, with a search warrant, obtained Rupple’s personnel file from the school district.
“That opened the door,” he said. Rupple, who taught sixth and seventh grades at Mary Putnam Henck Intermediate School from 1982 through 1998, also taught language-arts at Mountain High, a district spokesperson said.
Gardner said Rupple and the school district “worked out an early retirement” for the teacher. He said a joint investigation of Rupple was done by the school district and sheriff’s deputies in 1996, but would not comment on what triggered it or what it concluded.
Asked how many students Rupple may have victimized, Gardner said he thinks there were at least five boys and one girl. But since his department issued its press release on Oct. 21, he said, another possible case has arisen.
In it, he said, a woman contacted him to say she had witnessed an incident of “inappropriate touching” between Rupple and a male student in a classroom.
Gardner said his investigation so far indicates there were instances of sexual contact between Rupple and students both inside the classroom and at a carpet-cleaning business he ran on the side.
‘TOUCHY, FEELY’
“The classroom stuff seems to be touchy, feely, grabby, with some penis exposure,” Gardner said. But Rupple’s alleged activities off campus were allegedly more daring.
Rupple reportedly offered students who needed money a chance to work for him. “During those events there was substantial sexual contact,” Gardner said, including “oral copulation, masturbation and at least one case of sodomy.
“I clearly see a pattern here,” Gardner said. Asked whether he believes the allegations against Rupple have substance, he replied, “I would never have taken this to the district attorney if I weren’t sure there was substance.”
Gardner said that, because of statute-of-limitations issues, Rupple can only be prosecuted for offenses occurring between 1988 and 1991. But he is searching for victims from other years, he said, for corroboration, to help prosecutors build a stronger case.
He added that, after a check with police in Lake Havasu City, Rupple’s home town, he sees no indications of similar violations attributable to Rupple in Arizona.
Sgt. Lomeli, who supervises the unit in which Gardner works, said he believes the department’s press release “might cause other victims to come forward.” The release says deputies are following up “on information regarding allegations of the molestation of other students spanning from the 1983-84 school year to the 1995-96 school year.”
According to Rim district records, Rupple was hired on July 13, 1976, as a substitute teacher and substituted until being hired as a contract teacher on Sept. 22, 1982. He retired on June 30, 1998.
EXTRADITION SOUGHT
Lomeli said the sheriff’s department will seek to extradite Rupple to stand trial. If Rupple requests a hearing on the extradition effort, he said, it could take a month to bring him back to San Bernardino County. If he doesn’t, Lomeli said, “it would just be a few days.”
Gardner said he believes Rupple will not fight extradition, because it would be costly and could deny him funds he would need later for his legal defense.
Darrell Parks, who taught math at MPH before his retirement in 1999, shared with this newspaper his recollections of Rupple.
“He was a tall man, about 6-4,” said Parks, who taught in the Rim district for 41 years. “He was an old hippie. He was a fascinating individual. You can see how kids would be drawn to him. Some guys are just cool.” Parks described Rupple as having an outgoing personality and someone who “seemed to have an interest in people.”
Parks recalled that Rupple “was active in teacher politics. We’ve only had one strike in the school district. It was over the capping of medical benefits. We were both on the negotiating committee that called the strike. It lasted one day,” he said.
Parks also recalled that Rupple had business interests beyond carpet cleaning during his teaching years. They included operating a Blue Jay restaurant called “Teachers” and the promotion of a low-flow toilet.
Investigators are asking anyone with additional information about the case to contact the Crimes Against Children Detail at (909) 387-3615.
San Diego police officer killed during probation check www.privateofficer.com
SKYLINE, Calif. Oct 29 2010 — A veteran San Diego police officer who was shot while doing a probation check at a Skyline-area apartment died Thursday, and after a nearly eight-hour standoff, police found the bodies of two other people inside the unit.
The officer was identified as Christopher Wilson. Wilson was a 17-year veteran who was well-known and respected by his peers.
Shortly before 7 a.m., the standoff at the Canyon View Apartments at 479 S. Meadowbrook Drive ended with the discovery of a man and woman dead inside the second-floor unit, according to San Diego police. The pair were found dead in a back bedroom with several guns in the room. It was not immediately clear whether the man and woman died from self-inflicted wounds or gunfire that was exchanged earlier in the standoff.
San Diego police accompanied U.S. Marshals to the address at about 11 p.m. Wednesday to do a probation compliance check on a man who lives there, SDPD Acting Assistant Chief Jim Collins told reporters.
They knocked and someone inside opened the front door, then slammed it shut in the officers’ faces, prompting law enforcement to kick in the door, he said, adding that after kicking in the door, law enforcement was able to take one man into custody.
Gunfire ensued after officers secured the prisoner and then apparently went back to kick-in an interior door in the apartment, leading to someone behind it to fire several rounds. An officer and a police dog named Monty were shot. Later, a man and woman emerged but the standoff continued because authorities believed up to two armed suspects remained inside, Collins said.
A neighbor described seeing the mortally wounded officer being rushed out of the residence, en route to the hospital, following the barrage of shots.
“They carried him down the stairs, and there was just a trail of blood behind him,” Ryan Davis told 10News.
Wilson died at Scripps Mercy Hospital at about 3 a.m., and the German shepherd, Monty, underwent surgery for a wound to his snout and was expected to recover.
During the standoff, authorities used chemical agents and flash bangs in an attempt to clear the apartment. That prompted the man and woman to exit the apartment, Collins said.
One woman is being held as a witness and two men are in custody, one of them is the parolee, authorities told 10News.
More than 50 residents of the apartment complex were evacuated, and the Red Cross was on scene providing assistance. Some of the residents will be allowed to return to their apartments, but the building where the shootings occurred was blocked as police continued their investigation.
Davis said the residents of the apartment did not seem to be troublemakers.
“I don’t really know much of anything about them,” the neighbor said. “I mean, they were just normal people like the rest of us. And this whole thing kind of just happened by, you know, by surprise.”
During a midday briefing at downtown SDPD headquarters, a visibly shaken Mayor Jerry Sanders called the slaying of Wilson “an extraordinary tragedy.”
“This horrible event is a reminder that our police officers put their lives on the line every time they put on their uniform,” the mayor said, his voice choked with emotion.
Police Chief William Lansdowne said Wilson “represents what’s best about the police department.”
“It is Officer Wilson that we dedicate today to,” Lansdowne said. “It is Officer Wilson that we strive to be. It is Officer Wilson that we all look towards and say, ‘He was America’s finest.’”
Wilson is the first law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty in San Diego County in nearly four years.
In December 2006, Oceanside police Officer Dan Bessant was killed by a sniper while assisting another officer on a traffic stop.
North County gang member Meki Gaono was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 61 years, for shooting Bessant. Gaono was just 17 at the time. Another gang member, Penifoti Taeotui, was with Gaono. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, though he did not fire the fatal shot.
A third acquaintance with Gaono and Taeotui that day was also arrested but charges were dismissed for lack of evidence.
Wilson leaves behind two teenage children, a son and daughter, from a previous marriage.
The San Diego Police Officers Association has set up a trust fund to benefit Wilson’s family. Donors are asked to make checks payable to the SDPOA Charity Fund — with Officer Wilson written on the memo line — and send them to the association’s offices at 8388 Vickers St., San Diego, 92111.
Source10news.com
Austin firefighter fired for posting sexual pictures on internet www.privateofficer.com
The memo said Garza posted nude pictures of himself, including some showing him having intercourse, on numerous adult dating sites. Garza identified himself as a firefighter on at least two, the memo said.
In the memo, Kerr said Garza “took deliberate steps in some of these postings to connect his sexual proclivities with the firefighting profession, which shows a blatant disregard for the ethics of our chosen profession.”
The memo said a man whose wife had an affair with Garza told the department about the photos in July. The department was not able to find any of the photos at the time and notified Garza of the complaint, the document said.
Garza told the department, “That’s old news, and I don’t do that anymore,” the memo said. Garza told the department he last posted photos in 2006 and had taken them down.
But in August, the man who had complained sent an e-mail to the department that included links to websites where the photos could be found, the memo said.
Because of this, the memo said, it was clear Garza had lied to the department when initially asked about the photos.
Fire union President Bob Nicks, who represented Garza in the investigation, said he plans to appeal the decision to fire Garza.
“He didn’t lie in our recollection of the events,” Nicks said. “We will appeal it, and we do plan on getting the firefighter’s job back.”
The memo said Garza violated Fire Department rules by conducting “acts showing a lack of good moral character.”
Nicks said that rule was written a long time ago and is too far-reaching.
“It basically says your conduct off duty can be brought into judgment and punishment,” Nicks said. “It calls into question at what point can the chief impose her morality on a firefighter conducting off-duty activities not associated with the Fire Department.”
Source:statesman.com
Security shoots at armed robber in Washington www.privateofficer.com
Lakewood police Lt. Chris Lawler said employees at a Subway sandwich shop in the 7700 block of Steilacoom Boulevard called 911 to report an armed robbery at about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Before police arrived, the security guard, who was making rounds in the shopping center where the Subway is located, spotted a man with what appeared to be a gun and wearing a bandanna over his face. Lawler said instead of notifying police, the security guard ran after the man and chased him from the shopping center to the nearby Custer Elementary School.
According to Lawler, at some point, the robber turned and appeared to point a weapon at the security guard. The guard then drew his weapon and fired a single shot, Lawler said.
The robber ran away, apparently unhurt. Detectives said they were unable to locate any blood or evidence that the robber was hit.
An investigation into the incident is still under way.
Source:Kirotv.com
Police reach out to private security firms www.privateofficer.com
Long Beach Ca. Oct 29 2010 During a press conference Friday, Oct. 22, Police Chief Jim McDonnell said that private security firms and law enforcement agencies haven’t always had the most amicable relationship — but at least in Long Beach, the relationship between the two entities is poised to become more mutually beneficial.
The conference, titled “Public Safety and The Importance of Private Security Sponsorships,” was hosted by the Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) and sponsored by several private security firms. Kraig Kojian, president and CEO of the DLBA, said the goal of the event was to strengthen relationships through education and information sharing among private security companies/personnel, downtown stakeholders, and the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD).
McDonnell’s speech emphasized the need for a major metro city such as Long Beach to have a public/private cooperative featuring cross-training sessions and effeective information sharing among agencies. McDonnell said that the private sector is more advanced than many police departments in terms of specialized technology and how to deal with loss prevention and computer crimes.
“Law enforcement and private security need each other, especially now as we face the (impacts) of the worst economic downturn in recent history,” McDonnell said. “The two fields possess the same strengths, but they have different goals. With the police department, it used to be the mindset that 98% of what we do is confidential, but that’s not so — so much more can be shared. And private security guards give us the ability to have more eyes and ears out there, and that’s an asset… There are about 900 police officers in Long Beach and maybe 5,000 to 10,000 private security employees.”
McDonnell said budget cuts have hindered the city’s need for establishing its own bomb squad and caused a reduction of approximately 40 LBPD officers.
However, McDonnell shared uplifting news with the attendees.
“We’re down 12.5% in murders from last year, and we’re about half of what we were eight years ago in all our (crime statistics),” McDonnell said. “So many of our crimes are crimes of opportunity… If we finish where we are now at the end of the year, (our statistics) will be where we were at in 1972.”
Another of McDonnell’s goals is to have the closed-circuit television cameras that are installed throughout the city wired to “talk” with each other. Business owners are supposed to install cameras at the front and rear of their stores, and McDonnell said more cameras are going to be placed in high crime areas.
“Security personnel know this area like the back of their hand and they haven’t been invited to the table,” McDonnell said. “We’re all going to have to become more responsible as it relates to community policing… I’d like training for each group… We need each other as resources.”
Mary Coburn, DLBA operations manager, said the DLBA has a Downtown Security Alliance that meets at 10 a.m. every third Thursday of the month at the Landmark Square building. The meetings focuses on topics such as workplace violence, financial crimes and phishing scams in Long Beach, local crime statistics and trends, and the regional public private information collaboration system.
As of Oct. 1, the DLBA’s Downtown Guides became part of Service Group Inc. (SGI), instead of Block By Block, the program’s former security firm. Shane Hillard, director of corporate support services for SGI, said the company has employees in 25 business improvement districts across the country. Hillard said SGI employees undergo rigorous training and have an extensive knowledge of their areas.
“We’re looking forward to working with (the LBPD), and we’d love to jump on whatever training is planned in the future,” Hillard said.
Source:Gazettes.com
Blufton teacher charged with being drunk at school www.privateofficer.com
Bluffton SC Oct 29 2010 Police arrested a Bluffton Middle School teacher at about 8 a.m. today when school officials noticed she arrived at school smelling of alcohol, according to a police department news release.
School officials removed Marie Urbin, 47, of Hilton Head Island from her classroom immediately and contacted the school resource officer.
She was arrested for public disorderly conduct and disturbing school, according to the release.
Urbin was transported to the Beaufort County Detention Center to await a bond hearing.
Source:www.islandpacket.com
