Archive
Five people found dead at Tennessee biker event www.privateofficer.com
CLARKSVILLE, TN Sept 19 2011 – Clarksville police said five people were found dead Sunday at a biker event in Clarksville.
According to Jim Knoll, police spokesman, the five were at the annual Leslie W. Watson Toy Run at the Clarksville Speedway on Needmore Road. The run is part of an annual event sponsored by the group Bikers Who Care.
Bikers Who Care spokesman Bill Lankford told Channel 4 that it appears the five had rented a trailer and had some kind of issue with a generator.
Lankford said three men and two women were found dead.
Police are checking into the possibility it was carbon monoxide poisoning that claimed the lives of the victims.
Autopsies are underway to determine the cause of death.
The names of the victims have not yet been released.
Police do not suspect foul play.
“This was a celebration of what they do for our community was this toy run benefit party,” said city councilwoman Deanna McLaughlin. “To lose five people, it’s very sad. It’s very sad.”
“It’s such a tragic circumstance,” added Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan. “I found it important to go out and console the families and offer our condolences and let them know how sorry we were for their loss. The community is very much behind this organization and those individuals who were so tragically killed at the site.”
Source:WSMV.com
Serial bank robber captured in Maryland www.privateofficer.com
Prince George County MD Sept 19 2011 Police have arrested a man suspected of committing at least seven armed bank robberies — and possibly several more in Maryland and Virginia.
Samuel Lewis, 44, of Beltsville, Md. has been charged with committing seven armed bank robberies between October 14, 2010 and September 2, 2011, according to Montgomery County Police.
Detectives continue to investigate whether the suspect is responsible for additional bank robberies in the county and across the D.C. area.
He is also suspected of committing additional bank robberies in Arlington and Alexandria.
Lewis was arrested on Sept. 16 in Prince George’s County.
During the investigation, police released bank surveillance photographs to the media. Many tips were received and one led to the identity of Lewis. The anonymous tipster in this case, who received a unique, identifying number when he/she called police, is eligible for an award of up
Lewis is being held on $1,000,000 bond. He is slated for a bond hearing on Monday, Sept. 19 in Rockville District Court.
The anonymous tipster, who received a unique, identifying number when he/she called police, is eligible for an award of as much as $2,500 offered though Crime Solvers of Montgomery County. Police urge the anonymous tipster to call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or 240-773-TIPS (8477) and provide his/her unique number to receive information on how to obtain the reward.
Fort Drum soldier fugitive and suicidal on the run www.privateofficer.com
Jefferson County NY Sept 19 2011 A fugitive Fort Drum soldier who is alleged to have been involved in a recent crime spree from Pulaski to Gouverneur remained on the run Friday, the subject of a statewide and interstate manhunt.
Pfc. Russell C. Marcum, 20, is considered to be armed and dangerous, as well as suicidal, state police said. His last known whereabouts Thursday night was on Route 20 in Richfield Springs, Otsego County.
The soldier, a native of Worfield, Ky., with his hometown listed as Morgantown, W.Va., had a small stash of guns before an arrest Monday by state police, according to an admitted accomplice, Kevin R. Umphred, who was jailed Friday. Pfc. Marcum told Mr. Umphred he knew where he could sell 10 to 15 handguns for $5,000 in West Virginia.
He and his alleged accomplices are assigned to the 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, Fort Drum.
Pfc. Marcum, who was wearing camouflage and was armed with a handgun, drove his parents’ 2003 white Chevy Avalanche from Fort Drum. After an all-points bulletin was issued about 8 p.m. Thursday, he led police patrols on a chase in Onondaga, Madison, Oneida, Herkimer and Otsego counties. He crashed the vehicle at Route 20 and Cole Hill Road, Richfield Springs, then fled, running and crawling through cornfields, wooded areas and a swamp, state police said.
“We’re still looking for him,” Oneida Troop D public information officer Jack Keller said from the scene about 9:15 a.m. Friday. “Nothing has changed.”
State police were using canines and a helicopter in the search, Trooper Christine Tucker said. At least 40 state police and officers from other police agencies are involved in the search.
State police confirmed Pfc. Marcum indicated that he was suicidal and that he would force police to shoot him to end his life.
A school district in the search area implemented security measures and canceled after-school activities Friday. Police warned residents to avoid approaching the 6-foot-3-inch, 180-pound man if he is seen, and to call 911 immediately.
During the Labor Day weekend, Mr. Marcum was charged with third-degree burglary in connection with the theft of a $700 plasma TV from a storage locker at U-Lockit, 23315 Route 342. He was sent to the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building on $10,000 bail. He was bailed out by his unit about 10 a.m. Thursday and was confined, under supervision, to his barracks room before he escaped, according to police. Trooper Keller said he assaulted a soldier who was escorting him at the post, then drove off in his parents’ Avalanche, apparently the same vehicle he had used in his recent crime, according to Mr. Umphred’s statement to police.
His parents were visiting him at Fort Drum when the incident began Thursday night, Trooper Keller said. He surmised the private’s parents were in town because of his legal difficulties.
“He was quite despondent because of his recent arrest,” Trooper Keller said.
Fort Drum spokeswoman Julie Cupernall said she could not provide any details of how Pfc. Marcum escaped, saying those questions should be directed to state police.
The soldier was a cavalry scout assigned to Fort Drum in January and joined the unit for the final two months of its Afghan deployment.
Mr. Umphred, 21, Fort Drum, was arrested by Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies Friday morning on a charge of second-degree burglary and was taken to the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building under $10,000 bail, set by town of Watertown Justice James P. McClusky. He is accused of assisting Pfc. Marcum in a break-in at 1:20 a.m. last Saturday at Yamaha Power Sports, 19310 Route 11, town of Watertown. They drove away after activating a burglar alarm, stealing a pair of racing boots and $130 in cash, according to the Umphred statement, filed in town of Watertown Court.
In his statement, given to state police early Friday, Mr. Umphred revealed he became associated in the crime spree after Pfc. Marcum told him in August he had “a new source of income … stealing stuff.”
He admitted being with Pfc. Marcum when the latter used bolt cutters to open lockers at U-Lockit, on a date before Sept. 5, when Pfc. Marcum was confronted by the property owner, Walter H. VanTassel.
Mr. Umphred also revealed that when his new friend discussed crime with him, he was driven to a side road off Route 11, north of Watertown, and was shown a hiding place next to a rock wall and a utility pole. There in a long silver gun case were an assault rifle and three pistols, one of which had the stamp of a military emblem. He said he was not told where the guns came from.
They took the guns to U-Lockit, where Pfc. Marcum was renting a locker.
Mr. Umphred disclosed more incidents. Early Sunday, they drove to the Pulaski area, where he said Pfc. Marcum initially raided some storage lockers at Brennan’s Beach, failing to find anything to steal. They then entered a Polaris bike and snowmobile shop and took two helmets and $390 in cash. Items were spray-painted in the shop, he said.
Sunday night, they drove in Mr. Umphred’s vehicle to Gouverneur. En route, a Jefferson County sheriff’s patrol halted them, with Pfc. Marcum being cited with speeding at 84 mph in a 55-mph zone. Resuming their drive, they pulled onto County Route 58 and found a used car dealership. Pfc. Marcum and another accomplice entered the building through a window, but quickly exited upon being greeted by a guard dog.
When Mr. Umphred, Pfc. Marcum and the other accomplice returned to their barracks at Fort Drum, a state trooper was waiting to make an arrest in the Sept. 5 incident at U-Lockit.
“I am going to jail, I know it,” Mr. Umphred quoted Pfc. Marcum. “He said this over and over again.”
In the U-Lockit investigation, state police charged Vyncil R. Irving, 20, Fort Drum, with making a false written statement. Mr. Irving is not mentioned in the Umphred statement.
Assisting state police in the search are state park police, state Department of Environmental Conservation police, state forest rangers, Onondaga County sheriff’s helicopter and Oneida and Otsego counties sheriff deputies
Source:Watertown News
“Suspicious vehicle” shuts down Atlantic City casino area www.privateofficer.com
ATLANTIC CITY NJ Sept 19 2011 — The discovery of a “suspicious vehicle” near an Atlantic City casino caused several street closures and the temporary shutdown of a parking garage earlier tonight, but authorities determined the vehicle to be harmless, according to a casino spokesman and witnesses at the scene.
Security personnel at the Trump Taj Mahal casino hotel discovered a “suspicious vehicle” earlier tonight and contacted Atlantic City authorities, according to Brian Cahill, a spokesman for the casino.
While he couldn’t provide specifics, Cahill said the casino did not need to be evacuated and police were clearing the scene around 9:30 p.m.
“Authorities responded immediately and did a great job,” Cahill said. “All is fine and we are open for business.”
The incident caused a temporary shutdown of the Trump Taj Mahal parking garage, and police in the area blocked off several streets, according to witnesses. A crowd of roughly 50 people was being kept out of the entrance to the garage around 9:15 p.m., but was allowed in roughly 15 minutes later.
Source:nj.com
78-year-old man kills 21 year old wife www.privateofficer.com
PORT ST. LUCIE FLA Sept 19 2011 — A 78-year-old man shot and killed his 21-year-old wife, then set their home on fire, before turning a pistol on himself early Saturday morning, according to Port St. Lucie police.
Police received two 911 calls shortly after 1 a.m. and went to the 1400 block of Southwest Kamchatka Avenue, said police spokesman Officer Tom Nichols. Officers arrived to find the front door ajar and the man dead inside the home, behind the door.
Nichols said officers also found the woman dead in a back bedroom the home, which had interior smoke damage from a fire set with gasoline.
“Police suspect this is another murder/suicide here in Port St. Lucie,” Nichols said. He was referring to a Sept. 9 incident in the 500 block of Northwest Kilpatrick Avenue, in which police said Robert Fein, 54, shot and killed his 44-year-old wife, Sharon, before critically wounding himself. The Feins reportedly had been going through a divorce.
Police would not identify the couple Saturday, pending notification of next of kin.
Nor would they confirm that a 4-year-old daughter of the deceased woman was taken from the home by a neighbor.
However, Steve Tango, a neighbor two doors away, said his wife, Shannon, woke him about 1 a.m. to say that their neighbor had phoned and asked that she remove the girl from his home. Tango said his wife took the girl to their house and also phoned police.
Nichols confirmed that 911 received two calls about the incident, one from a neighbor and the other from the male victim and suspect himself.
“A white male called 911 and said he had just killed his wife and was going to kill himself,” Nichols said. “Before he turned the gun on himself, he set the house on fire.”
Nichols said the woman had been shot in the head and the man, whose body was partly burned, appeared to have shot himself in the mouth.
A revolver was found at the scene.
The shootings were still being investigated Saturday, and the bodies had been removed from the residence, Nichols said.
“We’re looking at this as a domestic violence incident,” he added.
Saturday, Tango said he had no indication that the couple was having problems. The man and his 4-year-old stepdaughter were among guests at the Tangos’ home Friday night for grilled hamburgers, he said.
“We had three couples over, with kids playing,” Tango said. “Something went wrong between 10 o’clock and 1 o’clock.”
Saturday, the single-story house was surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. Three police cars, two crime scene vans, a police mobile operations center and a St. Lucie County Fire District pickup truck were parked in front.
There was no fire damage visible from outside the home, where dozens of ceramic elf figurines and artificial flowers lined the driveway and front of the residence.
Source:TCPalm
North Carolina police unveil new inter -agency computer system www.privateofficer.com
Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services, or CJLEADS, merges four main law enforcement databases and 41 million files, according to WNCT. Police can go online to access the data, which includes information about outstanding warrants, arrest history, and gang activity.
Additionally, CJLEADS can also locate offenders monitored with ankle bracelets, issuing an “offender alert” when the legal status of a criminal changes. It warns a police officer who is approaching a dangerous person, telling them to take caution.
Michelle Amerson, senior crime analyst with the New Bern Police Department, said the program is long overdue.
“Normally, we’re having to go to all the different sites, so this cuts it all down,” Amerson said. “It’s going to be great.”
Nightclub security slashed in San Rafael www.privateofficer.com
John Sabo, 41, of San Rafael, was detained by another bouncer at the door until police officers arrived.
Sabo was arrested for aggrevated assault without a firearm with great bodily injury likely. He is being held in county jail on $50,000 bail.
The doorman who was cut experienced only minor injuries.
Warehouse security officer assaulted during robbery www.privateofficer.com
Edmonton Canada Sept 19 2011 Police are investigating after two suspects beat a security guard during a robbery in Edmonton’s north side.
At about 2 a.m. Saturday, officers surrounded the north side warehouse owned by Clarke Transport near Yellowhead Trail and 62 Street.
Police told CTV News a security guard had been severely beaten by two assailants as they attempted to rob the facility.
The guard suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries in the assault.
Investigators wouldn’t confirm if a weapon was used in the robbery and assault, or what was stolen from the site.
Police have not released a description of the suspects, and no arrests have been made.
1 in 5 Seattle employees make six figures www.privateofficer.com
But it’s not bureaucrats behind desks driving the surge.
Of the 2,309 city employees in the six-figure club last year, 79 percent worked in three departments: police, fire and City Light. The vast majority were rank-and-file union employees — police officers, firefighters and power-line workers — not management types.
You can trace significant increases in $100,000 employees to recent contracts for those workers.
“I’ve got to believe that’s what happened,” said David Bracilano, the city’s labor-relations chief, of the link between $100,000 pay and contractual raises for police, fire and City Light workers.
Overall, as the city continues to contend with a dreary economy, it is looking for ways to contain expenses. Total payroll last year, for example, dropped by $38 million.
But even as the belt-tightening occurs and some wages are frozen, the city is paying out for what was negotiated before the recession — salaries that make Seattle more competitive with other jurisdictions.
The police department saw a big jump in six-figure employees in 2008 — from 265 to 684 employees. That year, officers agreed to a new contract hailed by former Mayor Greg Nickels as a “major milestone” for police pay.
Officers received 12 percent raises, including an 8 percent retroactive raise for 2007. A veteran officer at the top pay grade would have made about $80,000 before the new contract, Bracilano said. Add raises provided for in the new contract and some overtime and that officer could well have topped $100,000 in pay.
The trend continued at the fire department and City Light.
At the fire department, the biggest increase in six-figure employees came in 2009, when firefighters won a 6.2 percent raise.
The size of City Light’s six-figure club more than tripled in 2006. That year, members of City Light’s largest union received an 8.3 percent increase in salaries, with most of that retroactive pay for 2005. Overtime at the municipal utility also exploded that year, from $10 million to $24 million.
Outside of police, fire and City Light, where workers with dangerous jobs commanded high pay, most of the city’s $100,000- workers wore white collars. They were executives, managers, strategic advisers, information-technology specialists, engineers and lawyers.
Their ranks actually declined last year from 724 to 492 — a drop of 32 percent.
But don’t be misled. The reduction in six-figure white-collar staff appears temporary.
Most employees who dipped below the $100,000 threshold did so because they took 10 unpaid furlough days last year, the equivalent of a 4 percent pay cut.
Most of those same workers will not be required to take furloughs this year and could expect to rejoin the club.
Still, the city last year had a significantly higher percentage of $100,000 employees (21 percent) than King County (11 percent).
Price of accountability
Police accounted for the biggest share, by department, of employees making $100,000 — one-third of the city total.
“I don’t make any excuses for our wages,” says Rich O’Neill, president of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, the union that represents about 1,200 officers and sergeants.
Seattle police officers were relatively underpaid before 2008, O’Neill says. Until then, their annual starting pay ranked behind seven West Coast cities used as comparables in bargaining. (The “West Coast Seven” are Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, Long Beach, Oakland, San Jose and San Diego.)
Seattle was having well-documented problems hiring new officers back when the economy was roaring. And it was losing its own to nearby cities that paid more. The 2008 contract aimed “to stop the exodus,” O’Neill said, “and attract the best and brightest.”
It committed to a 25.6 percent increase in wages over four years.
The milestone pact sought to do even more.
After high-profile incidents of alleged officer misconduct, Nickels convened a panel in 2007 to recommend improvements in police accountability.
The group, which included former Gov. Gary Locke and former U.S. Attorney Mike McKay, came up with 29 recommendations. They included strengthening the role of the police department’s civilian auditor and civilian accountability director.
In 2008, a year from his campaign for a third term, Nickels pushed to implement all 29 suggestions — which came at a price.
“We had to pay money because the Guild considers 1/8the changes 3/8 an erosion of their rights,” Bracilano said.
After raises that year, Seattle moved into the middle of the West Coast Seven pack for starting salaries; Seattle cops with 10 years on the force did the same, according to union statistics.
Within Washington state, Seattle officers became the highest paid, for both new hires and 10-year veterans, after the 2008 raises. Nickels even touted that fact in a news release.
That’s where Seattle officers should rank, O’Neill says. “We have the most dangerous jobs.”
Overtime is key
Kenny Stuart, president of Seattle Firefighters Local 27, makes a similar argument.
“We’re infected by people, exposed to carcinogens, it’s all this invisible stuff, not just collapsing buildings,” he says.
One big difference, though, between pay for police and firefighters is overtime.
While overtime amounted to just 6 percent of city payroll last year, it was a decisive factor for a majority of the city employees who made six figures last year — particularly firefighters.
Firefighters led the city in median overtime per employee last year, with $10,949 — more than twice as much as police. Unlike other city departments, fire-department overtime has steadily climbed over the last decade.
That’s because it essentially has been built into the firefighters’ work. Their 2008 contract calls for four firefighters to work on all trucks at all times. If one crew member is out sick or on vacation, another firefighter is brought in on overtime to fill the requirement.
By contrast, if a police officer patrolling Ballard calls in sick, O’Neill says, there’s just one fewer cop on the streets.
Overtime for police is driven more by special events, such as parades and big games, or high-profile crimes that involve intensive investigations.
The city could easily reduce firefighters’ overtime, Stuart says: Just hire more firefighters. But the city finds it more economical, he says, to pay a certain amount of overtime. A City Council analysis this year confirmed that was true for police officers “due to the cost of benefits and paid time off” and officers on disability and extended leave.
The real measure of firefighter pay in Seattle, Stuart says, isn’t whether it crosses a kind of random “round number” such as $100,000. Rather, it’s how it stacks up against the West Coast Seven cities, he says, where Seattle usually ranks in the middle of the pack.
According to Bracilano, the labor-relations director, “the city has taken a position that it’s OK for Seattle to rank in the middle” of the seven.
City Light’s been on an overtime roller coaster in recent years.
When the Hanukkah Eve Storm of 2006 clobbered the region with downed trees and power outages, City Light had 30 vacant lineman positions because of tight budgets and a labor shortage.
City Light tried to call in contractors. But it couldn’t find enough quickly. Snohomish County Public Utility District had a similar problem. The region needed more linemen; City Light’s overtime bill was staggering.
It was further inflated that year by the city’s building boom and work on Sound Transit’s new light-rail line and new Seattle Housing Authority projects, said Suzanne Hartman, City Light communications director.
City Light brought overtime costs down in each of the next three years, in part, because the big transit and housing projects were completed. But the utility also hired line workers and revived its apprentice program.
Overtime shot back up last year. Major outages, unforeseen regulatory tests, downtown network upgrades, which had to occur at night, all played a part, Hartman says. Then a dog on Queen Anne was killed by “touch voltage” from a metal plate next to a light pole, leading to citywide testing.
“This is a balancing act,” says Hartman. “If we can predict our workloads and can foresee work continuing, it makes sense to hire. However, in our world we can’t predict some of the things that may happen that drive the need for overtime.”
Austerity measures
Some city employees ask: Why draw the line at $100,000? It’s just an arbitrary number that salaries will eventually cross; only 8 percent of city workers outside police, fire and City Light hit that mark last year.
Why not focus on the city’s recent cost savings? Firefighters, for instance, went without cost-of-living increases last year and this one. Executives and managers did the same. Other city union members agreed to trim their cost-of-living raises.
The city is also restructuring some workers’ schedules as a way to reduce overtime.
To be fair, 8,500 of the city’s 10,600 workers took some kind of hit in pay this year — either a freeze, or a reduced cost-of-living increase, according to Mayor Mike McGinn.
Still, $100,000 is well above Seattle’s estimated median household income of $60,000.
And it’s illustrative of the city’s steady, though unspectacular payroll increase, which over the last decade has averaged 4.5 percent a year.
“We had a number of good years in the economy, which was reflected in compensation increases,” McGinn said. “That’s the situation I took office in, and now have to work with.”
McGinn said he couldn’t yet detail his 2012 budget — to be released late this month — or preview any austerity measures. But he noted that 93 management positions have been cut since he took office last year.
Police and firefighter unions are negotiating new contracts. Key players are mum about specifics but say they’re mindful of the sagging economy’s effect on taxpayers.
“These are different times. I think the city and union recognize that,” O’Neill says.
FACTS
How we did the analysis
To report this story, The Seattle Times analyzed nine years (2002-10) of payroll data provided by the city of Seattle. The data included regular, overtime and gross pay, as well as department and job title for part-time and full-time employees.
The Times calculated the number of employees making at least $100,000 in each department using the gross pay, which typically equals regular pay plus overtime pay. However, for some employees, gross pay might also include additional compensation such as vacation cash-outs, workers’ compensation, standby and/or premium pay. In some cases, employee benefits such as a retirement match or health care for domestic partners are counted as gross pay.
Source:www.thenewstribune.com
Fairfax County’s Auxiliary Police mark milestone www.privateofficer.com
Fairfax County VA Sept 19 2011 Fairfax County’s Auxiliary Police Officer program marked a milestone recently by reaching 1 million hours of volunteer service.
The program has more than doubled in size since it was founded in 1983, growing from 52 men and women to 115 active officers.
Auxiliary police officers are volunteers who are trained to assist paid officers as well as perform other duties such as traffic control, manning sobriety checkpoints and working in crime prevention. Many auxiliary officers also hold full-time jobs, ranging from lawyers to technology specialists.
“All the tasks that the APOs do are a force multiplier,” said 2nd Lt. Alan Hanson of the Fairfax County Police Department. Hanson estimated that, taking into account the salary and health benefits of paid officers, the APO program has saved the county $30 million since its inception.
The value of an APO goes far beyond dollars saved. APOs ease the work of paid officers by laying the groundwork or assisting on the scene, Hanson said. They’re trained in duties as wide-ranging as handcuffing, report writing and even assisting with an emergency childbirth.
“The training that APOs receive is basically a curtailed version of the paid officer’s training,” Hanson said.
An entry-level, or level 3, APO must have completed 400 hours of training at the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy in Chantilly. After graduation, officers must put in 200 hours with a field training instructor. That allows officers to respond to larger crimes such as larceny, burglaries and traffic hazards.
Officer Richard Majauskas, who works out of the Franconia District station, is nearing the end of his field training to become a level 4. Though his full-time job is assistant sergeant at arms for the U.S. Senate, he relishes in his role as an APO.
“I spent 30 years in the Army as a Military Police officer,” Majauskas said. “Like most of us, I was trying to do some volunteer work. I had done the Boy Scouts with my son and church volunteering. Then I came across the APO website.”
Source:Washington Examiner:
University of Oregon stepping up police presence www.privateofficer.com
Eugene OR Sept 19 2011 Last September, on the Friday before classes began at the University of Oregon, Eugene police had no extra officers on duty to control the parties in the neighborhoods around campus.
That won’t happen this year.
On the evening of Sept. 24, 2010, dozens of students and other young people who had been drinking gathered on the streets near East 14th Avenue and Mill Street.
Emboldened by a lack of police, the revelers began lighting fires, tearing out street signs and breaking car windows.
“It was one of those perfect storms,” said Sgt. Larry Crompton, who supervises teams of officers who handle noise and other complaints in the campus area neighborhoods. “You had a party going on that corner, and another one on another corner. The yards were just full. It was standing room only. Then they (young people) started moving into the street, and an officer (on his radio) said ‘I have flame,’ and it just goes from there. It can get really ugly.”
Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds. They issued tickets to or arrested nine people, five of them UO students. They were cited for illegal drinking, disorderly conduct and minor in possession of alcohol.
During the past 13 years, police have quelled six other large alcohol-fueled disturbances in the West University area.
Eugene police will be out in force next weekend to forestall a repeat. They will be helped by Oregon State Police troopers and investigators from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
During the patrols, Eugene police will “aggressively” enforce laws on open containers of alcohol, noise, providing alcohol to minors, harassment, assault, disorderly conduct and interfering with a police officer, police said.
Typically, police issue citations to minors in possession of alcohol, disorderly conduct and violating the city’s noise ordinance.
But next weekend, people arrested for disorderly conduct or interfering with a police officer will be placed in Springfield’s municipal jail, which normally houses misdemeanor level offenders, police said.
Eugene police Lt. Sam Kamkar, who supervises officers in the evening, said underage drinking around campus is a serious problem.
“Every September, when the new students come in, we have to go through this process to educate the freshmen,” he said.
Police warn students and other young people that intoxication can lead to burglaries, car break-ins, assaults — including rape — identify theft and other crime.
Fifteen percent of all crimes in Eugene occur in the student-heavy West University area, making it the city’s most crime-ridden neighborhood, Eugene Police Department data show.
“When young people are involved in binge drinking, they are more susceptible to become victims of crime and more susceptible to become aggressive and commit crimes themselves,” Kamkar said.
Large parties also provide opportunities for thieves who prey on students, Kamkar said.
The city for years has deployed patrols to try to keep order in the campus area.
But it’s expensive. With its relatively small police department, Eugene pays officers overtime to staff the patrols, which range from two to eight officers.
The special patrols don’t work every weekend, just those when police fear major disturbances, such as certain home football games and Halloween.
Kamkar said he’d like to dedicate a team of officers to work in the university area neighborhoods, instead of having to pull officers in from other areas of town to work the party patrols.
“That would allow me to have officers who want to build some relationships with neighborhood residents,” Kamkar said. “They could focus on underage drinking and property crimes.”
That would require the city to hire more officers.
It would cost $630,000 a year for five officers and sergeant to work the area, police estimate, money that the city doesn’t have available.
Source:registerguard.com
Consumer Federation of America launches new website for ID theft www.privateofficer.com
Washington DC Sept 19 2011 Are you concerned about having your name and credit history hijacked? Or are you trying to recover from identity theft?
The Consumer Federation of America, an advocacy group made up of more than 300 consumer organizations, has launched a website that pulls together information and resources from a range of government agencies and nonprofits.
The site, http://www.idtheft
info.org, aims to be a one-stop shop for ID theft issues.
Consumer help
The website features information for consumers who are trying to protect their identities and victims trying to clean up the resulting mess.
It offers access to a range of resources, including consumer hotlines and guidance on how to obtain free counseling, advice and assistance for victims.
Also useful are links to form letters from the Identity Theft Resource Center, which can be helpful as victims set about trying to resolve problems.
Hot topics, such as child identity theft, data breaches, medical privacy and guidance on how to avoid scams, also are addressed.
There also are links directed specifically toward military families. A range of quizzes from federal government agencies, like the Federal Trade Commission’s “ID Theft Face-off” and the University of Oklahoma Police Department’s identity theft and fraud quiz, can test your knowledge.
Business resources
The site also contains links for businesses to information on how to safeguard customer privacy, check employee backgrounds and safeguard workers’ information.
And it includes the CFA’s “Best Practices for Identity Theft Services,” a series of recommendations for companies that sell protection services to consumers.
These were developed after a 2009 survey of websites by the CFA, as well news reports and lawsuits, demonstrated that ID theft-protection companies frequently describe their services or make claims that are confusing, unclear and ambiguous.
Such services also don’t always offer the protection consumers expect based on their marketing.
What’s unique
Most of the information on the ID Theft Info site is found on other websites.
But the CFA has made it easy for consumers and businesses to access the available information by linking it to one site.
It also offers some content created by the CFA, including a checklist of nine things to consider when shopping for identity-theft services.
Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego-based organization, said that up until now such information has been hard for consumers to find.
OFFICER DOWN DEPUTY Derrick Whittle
Union County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia
End of Watch: Sunday, September 18, 2011
Biographical Info
Age: 39
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: 221
Incident DetailsCause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: September 15, 2011
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Deputy Sheriff Derrick Whittle succumbed to injuries sustained three days earlier in an automobile accident at approximately 3:30 pm.
He was responding to a domestic disturbance involving weapons when his patrol car left the roadway and struck a tree. He was transported to a local hospital before being flown to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he remained until succumbing to his injuries.
Deputy Whittle had served with the Union County Sheriff’s Office for less than one year. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Agency Contact Info
Sheriff Scott Stephens
Union County Sheriff’s Office
378 Beasley Street
Blairsville, GA 30512
Phone: (706) 439-6066
Gunman kills wife -shoots two pastors at area church www.privateofficer.com
The suspect, 57-year-old Jeremiah Fogle, killed one person at a home about a block away from the church before shooting the pastors, the Polk County Sheriff’s office said. The two men, pastor William Boss and associate pastor Carl Stewart, were in critical condition. No other church members were hurt.
Maria Beauford said the slain woman was her sister, 56-year-old Theresa Fogle. The Fogles married in 2002 and ran a transportation business together. They had been members of Greater Faith Christian Center Church, where the shootings happened, but had started their own ministry out of their house and regularly hosted Sunday services, Beauford said.
Beauford said she had never known Jeremiah Fogle to be violent toward her sister. He had been sick over the past year and had back surgery, and Theresa Fogle nursed him back to health, Beauford said. She said her brother-in-law was always smiling at family gatherings.
“We have no idea what his motive was,” she said. “We just have no idea.”
Jeremiah Fogle’s older brother, Collis Fogle Jr., said that the couple never had a big wedding celebration and that they seemed to have gotten along well.
“It’s so sad,” Collis Fogle said. “I’ve been trying to call to figure out what went wrong.”
Authorities said Jeremiah Fogle ran through the doors of the Greater Faith Christian Church after a morning service had wrapped up and just before another daily service. The red-brick building also serves as a school and sits across from a mobile home park.
It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.
Several police cars and police tape blocked off the church and the street in front. Ambulances and police cars rushed down the street when the shooting happened, neighbors said.
Neighbors said they often saw Fogle outside with his wife, mowing the lawn and pulling weeds.
“They would cut up and laugh,” Doreen Carroll, who lives a couple of blocks away, told The Ledger of Lakeland.
A friend of Boss told the newspaper he is a unique pastor who is caring and works to help the community.
“He had a gift from God to speak,” said Reese King, sports director at a local radio station.
Drug distributor faces life in priosn in Virginia www.privateofficer.com
Norfolk VA Sept 19 2011 On Wednesday, Earl R. Fuller Jr., 49, along with two accomplices was found guilty of multiple drug distribution charges in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. He faces a mandatory life sentence.
Fuller’s co-defendants, Samuel Lloyd, 48, of Stone Mountain, Ga., and David A. Wheeler, 45, of Houston could also face up to life in prison when they are sentenced in January.
A press release from U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride, states the trio “brought into this and other areas thousands of pounds of marijuana and dozens of kilos of cocaine via tractor trailers and personal vehicles with secret compartments. Millions of dollars connected to the enterprise have been seized by various law enforcement agencies.”
In all, the ring brought-in an estimated 227 pounds, of cocaine with a value of $2.1 million and 2,200 pounds of marijuana worth about $2.2 million.
According to the indictment, the large-scale operation continuously brought drugs here from both Texas and Atlanta between 2004 and 2010, except for a brief period in 2009 when the violence between the cartels in Mexico interrupted the shipments.
In recent years, Atlanta has become a kind of hub for loads of Mexican cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine. The drugs go to so-called ‘stash houses’ before being distributed to locations along the east coast. http://www.examiner.com/drug-cartel-in-national/will-atlanta-become-the-next-juarez
In this case, most of the drugs were distributed from a stash house on Barkleaf Drive in Virginia Beach.
Source:www.examiner.com
