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2 Shot at Bally’s Casino Atlantic City www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. July 6 2011- Two men were shot outside the Bally’s Atlantic City Casino early Tuesday morning, police said.
A 22-year-old from Bridgeton was shot in the upper chest and a 17-year-old from Vineland was wounded in the left leg, police said. Both were conscious when they were transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.
Officers were initially called to the 1900 block of Boardwalk for a fight around 1 a.m. A police officer working an off-duty detail at Bally’s reported a crowd of about 100 people with about 15 of them were involved in a fight on the beach block of Michigan Avenue.
Bally Park Place and Bally Wild West security were also at the scene, police said. Supervisors requested the assistance of a K-9 team to assist with crowd control. Additional officers were also stationed on the boardwalk at Arkansas Avenue and Dr. Martin L. King Boulevard.
While the officers were breaking up the fight and dispersing the crowd near Bally’s, police heard several gunshots. Two victims were located. Investigation revealed that the shooting occurred at the bottom of the ramp at Michigan Avenue and the victims ran up onto the boardwalk.
Police said the teen was treated and released, while the 22 year old male was still bring examined. The injuries are not considered life threatening.
The description of the shooter was a black male wearing a dark-colored, V-neck, short-sleeve shirt, khaki shorts and dark shoes with a handgun, police said. He ran away northbound on Michigan avenue.
Police said they located a handgun at Bally’s bus terminal, and it was collected by the department’s forensics unit.
The Bally Security and Surveillance Departments assisted Police in their investigation.
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact the Atlantic City Police Department Criminal Investigation Unit at 609-347-5766. Information can also be called in anonymously to Crimestoppers at 609-652-1234.
Source:myfoxphilly.com
Club security detain men involved in shooting www.privateofficer.com
Authorities responded to a call Sunday morning around 1:30 a.m. at El Tucanazo on Edgefield Highway.
Club security detained 30-year-old Alfred Ricardo Bush and 19-year-old Alan Nathaniel Black Jr.
Witnesses said they saw both men shoot at Billy Chardale Brown. Brown was shot in the left arm. Jermaine White was also shot in the lower left leg.
Bush and Black Jr. are in the Aiken County Detention Center and are facing charges of attempted murder, assault and battery and weapons charges
BART police kill man armed with knife-broken bottle www.privateofficer.com
San Francisco CA July 6 2011 A BART police officer shot and killed a man on the platform of the Civic Center Station in San Francisco late Sunday after the man used a bottle as a weapon and drew a knife, transit agency officials said.
What started as a common police call – a report of a man with an open bottle of alcohol – escalated into a fatal shooting within one minute of officers arriving, BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey said Monday.
“There’s no such thing as a routine situation,” Rainey said. “It’s very fluid.”
One of the two officers who first arrived on scene had a Taser stun gun but did not use it. When asked why not, Rainey replied: “At this point, I can’t answer that question, but a Taser is a tool. When you’re confronted with deadly force … it’s a tool an officer can choose to use.”
The man on the platform became belligerent when he first saw the officers, hurled a nearly full bottle of liquor at them, which smashed, then advanced with a knife, said Harry Stern, an attorney representing the two officers. One officer suffered a minor cut to his arm in the incident, officials said.
“This is a completely justified use of force in response to an attack,” Stern said. “It would have been foolhardy, risky and not in keeping with police training practices to use a Taser against a knife. That’s not what they’re for.”
Rainey said he was “comfortable” with how officers handled the encounter “from what I know at this point.”
BART Director Lynette Sweet was more cautious.
“That one-minute interval really stood out for me,” Sweet said. “Then I realized a lot of things can happen in a minute. I don’t want to rush to judgment on our officers.”
BART police disclosed only some details about the shooting, which was partially captured on the station’s security cameras. Rainey said he would not release the video unless required to under disclosure laws.
There are now parallel criminal investigations into the shooting, with San Francisco police conducting the lead inquiry, officials said. A San Francisco police spokesman declined to discuss the investigation Monday.
Report of alcohol
The deadly encounter began after BART police dispatch received a call from their operations communication center at 9:34 p.m. of a man in a tie-dye T-shirt with military-style fatigue pants walking around with an open bottle of alcohol, Rainey said.
Seven minutes later, BART police received an updated report that the man was a “wobbly drunk,” raising concern that he could fall onto the tracks, Rainey said.
Two officers – one a six-year veteran of the force, the other a BART officer for 18 months – arrived on the platform aboard a train at 9:45 p.m., Rainey said.
Within one minute, the man had been shot in the “front torso area,” Rainey said. He was pronounced dead about an hour later at San Francisco General Hospital, police said.
Rainey refused to disclose exactly what transpired after officers arrived, including which officer was cut in the altercation, which officer fired his weapon, or how many shots were fired. A report to BART directors, though, said three shell casings were recovered.
“There were a number of people on that platform” during the shooting, and BART investigators are hoping more witnesses will come forward, Rainey said. “We want their independent recollection.”
Both officers have been placed on routine administrative leave. Neither was identified, but the chief said he knew them both and described them as “just average, ordinary guys.”
Neither BART nor San Francisco police would identify the victim, referring questions to the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office, which did not return calls.
The shooting was the second to involve a BART officer since a video-recorded shooting on New Year’s Day 2009, in which Officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed unarmed train rider Oscar Grant at Oakland’s Fruitvale Station, prompting a murder charge.
Mehserle, who shot Grant in the back after police tried to handcuff him, testified at trial that he meant to subdue Grant with a Taser and accidentally fired his gun. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and recently released after serving half of a two-year sentence.
Sensitive to claims that the Grant shooting had a racial element – Mehserle is white, Grant was black – BART said that the man shot at the Civic Center Station was white, and that the two officers who responded were white and Asian.
Last July, BART and Oakland police officers reported shooting and killing a man who had charged officers with a knife in each hand after a chase. The officers had tried, unsuccessfully, to subdue the man with Tasers, officials said. BART officers got involved because the chase began near the Fruitvale Station.
Rainey defended his officers’ policing methods, saying improvements had been made since Grant’s shooting, including training to de-escalate confrontational situations.
“BART police officers are not overly aggressive. … They’re out there trying to keep the system safe,” Rainey said. “Anybody who thinks that officers wake up in the morning and want to be in these type of situations is just dead wrong.”
San Francisco police ask anyone with information about the shooting to call 415 575-4444. Callers can remain anonymous. BART police ask anyone with information to call 510 464-7040.
Source:San Francisco Chronicle
Austin man charged with impersonating police found with gun, ticket books www.privateofficer.com
Austin TX July 6 2011 Police in Sunset Valley arrested a man Friday who they say was impersonating a law enforcement officer.
According to an arrest affidavit, 31-year-old Crag Redhawk was arrested and charged with two counts of tampering with a government record after police found him to be carrying ticket books from area police and sheriff’s departments. The affidavit said Austin police are working more than 20 counts of impersonating a police officer on Redhawk as well.
The affidavit said that on Friday afternoon, Sunset Valley police stopped Redhawk in a Crown Victoria sedan with Home Depot-bought stickers on the side that said “Choctaw Police.” Redhawk claimed to be a member of the Choctaw Tribal Police Department, but that agency told the officers they had no record of Redhawk working for them. In addition, the car belonged to the Williamson County sheriff’s office and had a fake inspection sticker.
Redhawk was found to be carrying an antique handgun, a badge and a handcuff case, the affidavit said. He also had several traffic ticket books belonging to the Austin Police Department and the Travis County sheriff’s office, the affidavit said.
Redhawk was arrested and taken to the Travis County Jail, where he remains in custody. His bail has been set at $100,000 on each charge.
Man wearing “shoplifting girdle” nabbed in NY thefts www.privateofficer.com
Nicholas Evans, 26, was seen entering a changing room at Lord & Taylor with a polo shirt Friday, police said. Store security reported that they later saw him leave without the shirt.
When they tried to stop him, he struggled with a security officer and tried to run out of the store. The guard caught him and held him until police got there.
Clarkstown police said that Evans was wearing an abdominal girdle that was lined with tin foil and a pair of wire cutters to cut off security tags.
He was charged with robbery, a felony, and misdemeanor charges of petty larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of an anti-security device, criminal possession of burglar tools and harassment.
Evans was arraigned by Clarkstown Justice Craig Johns, who set $5,000 bail. Evans is being held in the Rockland County jail.
Mississippi State University police work significant fraud case www.privateofficer.com
MSUPD detective Brad Massey said the case began in 2009 when a wallet was taken from a locker at the university’s Sanderson Center.
In Colorado recently, officers of the U.S. Marshals Service captured the suspect, identified as a transient named Roger Kornegay. Now in federal custody, he is facing a federal parole violation, as well as other charges in Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and Nebraska.
Massey said MSU investigators tracked the suspect and linked him with similar crimes at the University of Mississippi and other college campuses around the South.
According to the detective, the suspect twice broke into Sanderson lockers to steal wallets containing personal credit cards. When the theft victims reported the crimes, police tracked transactions made or attempted with the stolen credit cards, he added.
Police obtained video footage of the suspect at store locations and matched the identity to footage of him entering and leaving the Sanderson Center–the student recreation facility and home of the recreational sports department–as well as other locations.
“Law enforcement agencies from several states pulled together,” Massey said. “We pooled resources to identify this suspect in a pretty significant credit card scam that entailed many jurisdictions across the country.”
MSU Police Chief Georgia Lindley said the closure of the case is a success for her department.
“I am extremely proud of the MSU Detective Division for bringing this complicated case together. This criminal has preyed on campus communities all over the United States for several years,” Lindley said.
Massey said the local case is considered closed, pending a court hearing.
NJ police department relying on cameras- not manpower to fight crime www.privateofficer.com
HARRISON, N.J. July 6 2011—Relying on technology is increasingly important for the Harrison Police Department here, especially as tightening budgets mean fewer officers on the streets. The city is down to 40 sworn officers, said Sergeant Ed Markowski, but the southern part of the city is booming as the result of a major redevelopment effort. The city completed the Red Bull Arena in 2010, a 25,000-seat, soccer-specific stadium that is home to the Major League Soccer team the New York Red Bulls. “We’re drawing 17,000 people per event, so we’re trying to beef things up down there,” he said.
“We need to supplement,” he said. The city installed 15 cameras around the arena to enhance security. “A camera can’t replace a police officer in any way, shape or form, but now we can have a camera hanging and provide security to an area 24/7/365 for a fixed price,” he said.
But Markowski recognizes the police department has been slow to realize the benefits of technology. The transformation began when police were given a directive by the Attorney General that police interviews and interrogations had to be video- and audio recorded. They installed one camera by IndigoVision in their interrogation room and then decided to expand the system to eight cameras, posted on main thoroughfares in the town. “It’s incredible that with only eight cameras, how much more we were able to do,” he said.
Police have been able to solve a larger number of crimes, in less time. “What we realized coming out of this, is that technology is there for a reason and you’ve got to reach out and grasp it,” he said. “What use to take a detective hours or days to get information gathered through extensive interviews and canvassing, is all of a sudden at our fingertips. It’s now a matter of pressing a button.”
Markowski said the city isn’t looking to stream the video into police cars. While the IndigoVision platform is capable of this feature, he said there is a bandwidth concern and he doesn’t consider it instrumental to increasing officer awareness. “Our dispatchers give us a heads up before we arrive,” he said. During a crime in progress, dispatchers monitor what’s happening on camera while officers respond.
Previously, the police department was relying mostly on COMPSTAT, which is a management tool that allows law enforcement to map and analyze crime data to help officers allocate resources to the highest crime areas. In addition to have more information about where to send officers, the department also knows the areas in most need of surveillance.
Moving forward, Markowski said he would like the department to invest in license plate reader cameras. Because Harrison is bordered on two sides by the city of Newark, he said it would be beneficial for the community to have more information about what and who is moving through the city. The city is currently in the process of obtaining the necessary funding to expand the project.
Source:SDN
Florida woman-husband charged with stealing $2000 worth of flea control www.privateofficer.com
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla.July 6 2011- Charlotte County Sheriff’s detectives arrested a woman who stole $1,961 in Frontline Plus flea control packages from the Punta Gorda Wal-Mart; her husband has since fled and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
On June 29, CCSO sent out security photos to the media of the man and woman who stole 47 boxes of the expensive flea control. Detectives went to the home of Richard Kenneth Marshall and Stacie Marie Marshall, both 38, of 3289 East Street in Port Charlotte. Detectives said Stacie Marshall was there but her husband was not; they arrested her for Grand Theft and transported her to the Charlotte County Jail. She posted a $1,500 bond Saturday. Her husband Richard Marshall has not been located at this time. On Feb. 10 of this year, Richard Marshall registered as a convicted felon.
Punta Gorda Wal-Mart security called CCSO June 24 to report the entire stock of Frontline Plus was missing and an inventory showed none had been sold. Surveillance video showed two suspects stealing the packages June 18, and made a couple trips to the car to put the stolen items in the trunk. Outside video shows the couple in the parking lot with a car later identified as a silver 1993 Chrysler.
Detectives say Frontline Plus flea control and other expensive items like this are not uncommon to being stolen and sold on various websites. The Marshall’s were using E-bay to sell these stolen items. If anyone has information about the whereabouts of Richard Marshall, please call CCSO detective Richard Nix at 941-639-2101, or Crime Stoppers at 800-780-TIPS (8477).
Source:WINK.com
“Trusted Traveler” program would speed up security process at airports www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC July 6 2011 Travelers fed up with long security lines at the airport may soon be offered a way to avoid them.
The Transportation Security Administration has announced it will launch a trusted traveler pilot program this fall. The government agency said it will be working with U.S. airline carriers to find some travel volunteers willing to share personal information which will help structure the pilot program. It will mirror similar trusted traveler programs operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and is expected to be offered at a handful of airports while in its testing stages.
The creation of such a program was one of the recommendations the U.S. Travel Association suggested in March, when it launched its own plan to reform the TSA air security experience. Director of Domestic Policy at the U.S. Travel Association Erik Hansen said recent data found that frequent business and leisure travelers would be willing to pay up to $150 to enroll in such a program.
The survey asked more than 1,000 adults how likely they would be to enroll in such a program, if it had an annual fee of between $100 and $150. Of that group, 61% of leisure travelers and 75% of business travelers said they would be willing to pay the fee if it meant less security hassle at the airport.
Source:FOX NEWS
Two small children die in Elkhart house fire www.privateofficer.com
Elkhart IN July 6 2011 Alexis Anderson, 4, and Alex Anderson, 6, have both died after a fire tore through their Elkhart home.
Alex Anderson died on Monday after being in critical condition at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo.
The blaze broke out just before 11:00 p.m. at 313 W. Washington Street, just west of downtown Elkhart. Firefighters say three children, a teenager and an adult were in the home at the time of the fire.
Firefighters arrived and witnessed heavy smoke and flames coming from second floor windows. They say the fire was contained to an upstairs bedroom, where the young children were sleeping.
“I couldn’t sleep last night. All I saw were these babies being taken out with no life to them. That’s all that keeps going through my head,” neighbor Dawn Roberts said.
Lexington Anderson, 2, was rescued by the adult inside, Jermaine Ford. He was taken by helicopter to St. Joseph Hospital’s Burn Center in Fort Wayne where he was released Monday.
Neighbors tell NewsCenter 16 that the adult in the home was an uncle of the children who was in town visiting. The parents of the children were not home at the time of the fire.
Rescue crews say Alexis died from smoke inhalation. Crews found her in her bedroom.
“It’s something I don’t ever want to see again in my life. It was horrible, absolutely horrible,” eyewitness Brooke Teague said.
Battalion Chief David Cushwa with the Elkhart Fire Department says investigators are not sure what caused the fire. Family members say it may have been sparked by a fan with a faulty cord.
Several neighbors complained that fire crews weren’t moving quickly enough to rescue the children once on scene. Battalion Chief Cushwa says firefighters are trained not to run or appear panicked during structure fires. He says to the civilian eye it may appear that firefighters are moving slowly, especially when those witnessing the fire are so upset.
Neighbors say the Anderson’s are a very happy, church-going family and that the children often played with other neighborhood kids.
Late Sunday morning, several people placed a few stuffed animals beside a makeshift memorial for Alexis. By Sunday evening, the memorial had grown to dozens of stuffed animals, flowers and candles.
Firefighters say it is still unclear if there were working smoke detectors in the house. Damage is estimated at $45,000.
This marks the second Elkhart child taken by fire this year.
In April, Tristan Guffey, 15, a special needs student at Elkhart Central High School, died from severe burns after his house caught fire. Investigators later discovered Guffey had been playing with matches.
Source:WDNU
17 year old Massachussetts man shot by police during armed stand-off www.privateofficer.com
PALMER MA July 6 2011 – A 17-year-old man, shot twice by a police officer late Monday night during a 20 minute armed stand-off at Pinney Street home, is recuperating from his injuries at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.
The incident began shortly 11 p.m. when a female resident of 22 Pinney St., called police and said she feared for her safety, and that of her family, because a male, known to her, was banging on her door and demanding entry, according to a release issued by Palmer police.
The female told police that the suspect had recently threatened her, that he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest and was armed with a handgun.
When police arrived at the home two minutes after the female’s initial call, the suspect pointed a handgun at them. The officers took cover and the stand-off ensued.
The suspect was agitated and continually pointed his handgun at police, according to the release. Meanwhile, other officers went around to the rear of the home in an effort to get the six occupants, three adults and three children, out of harm’s way.
The suspect refused repeated commands by police to drop his weapon and towards the end of the stand-off, approached a police officer who had taken cover behind a cruiser.
When the suspect, still refusing to stop and threatening to shoot, advanced to within 10 feet of the cruiser, the officer fired twice and the suspect fell to the ground, the release states.
Police then disarmed the suspect and discovered that the handgun was a carbon dioxide powered pellet gun.
Personnel from Palmer Ambulance Service treated the man at the scene and took him to Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer. He was later taken to the medical center in Worcester where he remains under police guard.
The suspect is expected to survive and criminal charges are pending. The officer who shot the suspect is on administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation by Palmer police, Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni’s office and state police detectives.
Police have yet to release names of the suspect and the officer.
“The situation is tragic,” said Police Chief Robert Frydryk. “But, appears to have been unavoidable given the suspect’s actions and demeanor.”
Source:MASSlive.com
Orange County Fla church member charged with molesting children www.privateofficer.com
Orange County Fla July 6 2011 An Ocoee man was being held without bail early Tuesday in the Orange County Jail on charges of molesting children at an Apopka church he attends.
Scott Bohl, 40, was arrested late Saturday on three charges of lewd or lascivious molestation.
The pastor of Apopka Church of God of Prophecy, another church employee and two church members told police that Bohl was suspected of fondling 12- and 6-year-old girls and a 4-year-old boy, a police report shows.
The father of one of the girls told officers he saw Bohl touch his daughter on her clothed buttocks, the report states. The church employee said he saw Bohl hug one of the girls, spank her and tickle her and that the girl tried to get away from him, she told police.
The 6-year-old told an investigator that Bohl had pulled up her skirt, the report shows.
Bohl denied fondling the children, but said he playfully spanked them, the investigator wrote.
Source:orlando sentinel
Atlanta man charged with Ponzi scheme www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA July 6 2011 – An Atlanta man is facing federal charges in connection with a $7 million Ponzi scheme.
Charles Michael Vaughn is accused of recruiting at least 25 people in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida and Michigan to invest in a purported hedge fund by falsely guaranteeing returns of up to 50 percent each year.
Prosecutors said instead of investing the money, he used it to pay personal expenses and to repay earlier investors.
He faces five counts of wire fraud and nine counts of mail fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Murder suspect commits suicide at Richmond Greyhound bus station www.privateofficer.com
Richmond VA July 6 2011 A man pointed a gun at a federal marshal before the suspect shot and killed himself outside the Greyhound Lines Inc. bus station in Richmond this morning, authorities said.
Members of the Richmond area’s Fugitive Task Force went to the Richmond bus station this morning looking for a man accused of killing a woman in a domestic matter in Newark, N.J., said Kevin Connolly, a supervisory inspector for the U.S. Marshals Service who oversees the local task force.
A deputy marshal with the task force saw a man he believed was the suspect sitting outside the bus terminal, and when he tried to get a better look at the man, the suspect pointed a gun at the marshal before he shot himself, Connolly said.
Richmond police spokesman Gene Lepley said the gunman shot himself once with a handgun, killing himself, and that there was no exchange of gunfire and no indication the man fired at anyone else before killing himself.
Connolly identified the fugitive who was being sought by the task force as Allen Barron, who was wanted in the slaying early today of an off-duty corrections officer in Newark.
Authorities have not positively identified the dead man, but Connolly said, “We’ve concluded our fugitive investigation.”
The shooting occurred just outside the main terminal building, and roughly one hour later, passengers continued to mill about inside the terminal, which is in the 2900 block of North Boulevard, across from The Diamond. The scene where the shooting occurred was secured with yellow police tape.
Witnesses said shortly after the shooting that they heard one or more gunshots and saw people inside the terminal running toward the front exit.
The commotion woke up Edward Porter as he was sleeping inside the terminal. He saw people running and thought they were hurrying to catch a bus. Porter said a law enforcement officer pointed a gun at him and told him to “back up, back up.”
Greyhound spokesman Timothy Stokes said the suicide did not interrupt bus service. “The incident has not affected any of our service at this time,” he added.
Stokes had no specific information about the dead man. “We’re not sure if this is a passenger or a customer or an individual that was waiting to pick someone up,” he said.
The shooting came hours after authorities in the Richmond area were asked to be on the lookout for a silver or gray Nissan Armada sport utility vehicle that may have been used by the suspect in a fatal domestic shooting early this morning in Newark, N.J.
The suspect was described in Richmond-area broadcasts as Allen Barron, 21, who was said to be 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighed 180 pounds and had brown eyes, a goatee and black hair with twists.
Police in Newark said a woman who served as a corrections officer but was off-duty at the time was fatally wounded and another person was injured in a 12:30 a.m. shooting.
Source:Richmond Dispatch News
Seattle becomes latest city to use “Parking Boot” to collect outstanding fees www.privateofficer.com
Seattle WA July 6 2011 Be warned: The dreaded parking boot arrives Tuesday on the streets of Seattle.
Two city vans each carry a load of the U-shaped yellow devices. A scanning camera on the roof reads license-plate numbers of parked cars. Any vehicle with at least four overdue parking tickets may be booted.
When a plate number matches the city’s “scofflaw” database of more than 20,000 vehicles, parking-enforcement officers will fasten the boot to a wheel — an estimated 40 to 50 times a day.
To free their cars, drivers can call a service center in New Jersey to pay overdue fines plus a $145 boot fee by credit card, then receive a temporary code unlocking the boot. Or, they can go to an office to pay by cash, check or installment plans. Afterward, the 16-pound device must be returned to a city drop-off site.
Seattle is extending its “collection reduction event” two weeks, to July 15, for so-called scofflaws to pay their bills without collection fees and interest.
The city website is:
Casino security rescues man in Missouri River www.privateofficer.com
Alton IL July 6 2011 This afternoon an intoxicated man had to be rescued from the fast–flowing waters of the flooded Missouri River.
Around 2:30 p.m. the man was riding his bicycle towards the river near the Norm Waitt Senior “Y” in South Sioux City when he apparently lost control and fell into the river. Security at the Argosy Casino quickly launched a rescue boat and picked him up in just minutes. It’s a scene people weren’t expecting to see.
“We knew it was a person. My wife is a nurse and we were very concerned you know. It’s a dangerous river,” said Mark Perttula.
The man was taken away in an ambulance but he appeared to be okay.
178 Georgia teachers-principals cheated on CRCT www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTA GA July 6 2011 — Gov. Nathan Deal on Tuesday was given the go ahead by Attorney General Sam Olens to release the full 800-page report into the CRCT cheating scandal.
Earlier Tuesday, Deal released a summary of the cheating report prepared by investigators appointed by former Gov. Sonny Perdue. The scathing new report confirms the worst suspicions over the CRCT cheating scandal.
Investigators found cheating in 44 of 56 schools they examined.
The governor also said investigators found 178 teachers and principals cheated and 82 of those confessed to misconduct.
The full report was expected to be released Tuesday, but the governor only released an executive summary of the investigation.
The governor’s office said it’s worried about liability issues if the whole report is released.
“We cannot allow adult behavior to compromise the very tools which we use statewide to gauge a child’s proficiency and whether or not he or she is prepared to succeed in the next grade,” Deal said.
The report uncovered cheating in 78.6 percent of the Atlanta city schools that were examined.
It found 67.8 percent of APS principals probed were directly involved or responsible for cheating.
Before a news conference Tuesday, Deal met with several local leaders including Interim APS Superintendent Errol Davis and new board President Brenda Muhammed.
“We’re going to have to wait to have an opportunity to review it and we need at least 24 to 48 hours,” Muhammed said.
The Atlanta Public School Board held a news conference Tuesday afternoon to talk about the investigation.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed issued a statement regarding the report.
“Today is a dark day for the Atlanta Public School system,” said Reed in a written statement. “The state of Georgia’s investigation into allegations of widespread cheating on the CRCT test confirms our worst fears. There is no doubt that systemic cheating occurred on a widespread basis in the school system.”
Reed has worked closely with Deal and other state leaders to get to the bottom of the APS cheating scandal. He criticized former school superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall and her staff for the problem.
“There is no question that a complete failure of leadership in the Atlanta Public School system hurt thousands of children who were promoted to the next grade without meeting basic academic standards,” said Reed.
The governor said the investigation will bring closure to the problems in Atlanta Public Schools, restoring the focus on students and the classroom.
Channel 2’s Jeff Dore talked with mothers who live on opposite sides of the city about Tuesday’s findings.
Marsha Sims said when it was time to find a neighborhood with a good school for her triplets, she jumped through all the hoops, including poring over the test scores, before settling on Morris Brandon in northwest Atlanta.
Many families buy homes near Morris Brandon just so they can send their children to the school.
“I was comparing them. And to find out now that those test scores were possibly not correct, then how can you choose what school your child attends if they’re not correct?” Sims said.
When Sims saw the news that the long-awaited investigation of alleged cheating in Atlanta Public Schools was out, Sims said it was sickening.
“I was extremely upset. I mean extremely,” she said.
Valerie Irvin, whose son attends Best Academy, told Dore, “a lot of people need to be arrested.” “Not fines. I think people need to go to jail. I think people need some pain for what they’ve done to these poor kids and parents who think they’ve done well on their test scores,” said Irvin.
Sims also had harsh words for those involved.
“If they knew about it, or if they covered it up, they need to be held accountable,” Sims said. “They clearly did not do their job and they abused their power.”
Soon after the results of the investigation were released, Democratic State Sen. Vincent Fort questioned the business community’s ties to former Superintendent Beverly Hall.
Business and community leaders were part of a blue-ribbon commission that investigated reports of cheating in city schools last year, but they came up with fewer offenders than the state’s new report, and found no organized cheating.
“That’s why the business community really needs to re-think their involvement,” said Fort, who does not believe the panel could should have been called ‘independent’ when many members may have had an interest in protecting the reputation of the city and its schools.
Boynton Beach Officer of the Year arrested for drugs www.privateofficer.com
Boynton Beach Fla July 6 2011 A Boynton Beach police officer honored only last year as an Officer of the Year and an instructor at his department’s Teen Police Academy now stands accused of selling drugs for the last two years.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and DEA officials announced Tuesday the indictment of David Britto, 28, who they allege had and intended to sell more than 500 grams of methamphetamines between June 2009 and March 2011.
Boynton Beach Police department hired Britto in 2007. The Palm Beach County Association of Chiefs of Police and the Boynton Beach police selected him as 2010 Officer of the Year.
At the time, the department reported that Britto was an instructor at the department’s Teen Police Academy and volunteered as a mentor at the Florida Community Alliance.
“The decision to deal drugs while carrying a badge is not only a breach of the law enforcement oath, but a community tragedy as well,” DEA special agent n charge Mark R. Trouville said in a press release issued Tuesday afternoon.
Britto’s indictment was a result of an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force led by the DEA, which was assisted by various police departments including Boynton Beach Police Department’s Internal Affairs, the statement said.
Boynton’s Police Chief Matthew Immler issued this statement:
“The alleged corruption of a police officer, especially one that by all accounts performed his duties admirably and with dedication, affects all of us in the Boynton Beach Police Department. We realize that when an officer stands accused of a violation of the public trust, all of law enforcement pays the price in eroded citizen confidence and the perception of diminished integrity,” he wrote.
Immler noted, however, that this is an example of how his department vigorously polices itself. A department internal investigation of this matter is ongoing, he said.
Source:AP
