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TSA screener leaves note after finding sex toy in luggage www.privateofficer.com
Newark NJ Oct 25 2011 An alert Transportation Security Administration screener at New Jersey’s Newark Airport apparently spotted a “sex toy” stuffed inside a passenger’s luggage Saturday and offered the traveler some encouragement.
“Get your freak on girl” was found written in black ink on the back of a TSA notice, passenger Jill Filipovic revealed on her Twitter page.
“Just unpacked my suitcase and found this note from TSA,” she tweeted. “Guess they discovered a ‘personal item’ in my bag. Wow.”
Jill Filipovic says she received an unexpected note from a TSA agent on a recent trip.
She identified the item in an email to New York Magazine:
“It was a $15 bullet vibe from Babeland, about the most basic sex toy you can imagine. It has now been officially retired, since I have no idea if the TSA agents manhandled it.”
She discovered the note on Sunday after she landed in Dublin, she said. She wrote on her blog, Feministe, that the message was “wildly inappropriate” but she “died laughing” about it in her hotel room.
But she told FoxNews.com in an email Monday evening that she’s transitioning to being “pretty disturbed” by the note. She said these agents are given a lot of authority with little oversight.
She wrote that she suspects “whoever left the note felt comfortable doing so (I also suspect that they believed most women would be embarrassed to be “caught” with personal items and wouldn’t file a complaint),” she wrote in the email. “That is certainly cause for concern.”
TSA said in a statement to FoxNews.com that there is no evidence to suggest one of its agents was behind the note.
Greg Soule, a TSA spokesman, said Filipovic has not filed a complaint about the incident, but the TSA “takes all allegations of inappropriate conduct seriously and is investigating this claim.”
Filipovic said she is not looking to get anyone fired over the incident, but she received a lot of feedback from others with other stories of public humiliation at the hands of TSA. She said she hopes the TSA addresses the larger issue, not just this one case.
Filipovic reportedly will file a complaint with the TSA when she returns to the U.S.
Source:www.foxnews.com
Former University of Michigan police officer sues over discrimination www.privateofficer.com
According to court documents, Brian Daniels is claiming he was discriminated against because of his gender by his superiors.
Daniels joined the U of M Public Safety Office in 1993 and became a sworn police officer in 1994. He was promoted to the K-9 unit in 2001.
On April 18, 2008, he injured his right knee on a training assignment. He had surgery May 1, 2008, and was off work until Aug. 18, 2008.
When Daniels returned, he discovered that he couldn’t resume his duties because he walked with a limp, and couldn’t run or pivot.
He was placed on restricted duty, according to the lawsuit. The university sent him for more tests and it was determined he would be unable to return to full duty.
He was assigned to restricted duty for the next 18 months, court documents show.
At that time, he alleges he was given three choices: to find another job, take a $20,000 to $30,000 a year pay cut or take a civilian post, which was later withdrawn.
Daniels said he had a second surgery on his knee in February 2009 and by September had his pay cut from $65,000 a year to $33,000 by his supervisor.
Daniels says in the lawsuit that the new police chief preferred female officers and cited several instances of preference, including, the chief let an injured female officer go on light duty and she was latetr promotion; bypassed Daniels for a female officer regarding an administrative post, though he was qualified; and a female officer who couldn’t pass the test was given a non-sworn police dispatching job
Daniels is seeking compensatory damages above $25,000 if he is found to have been entitled. He is seeking exemplary damages above $25,000 and lost wages and value of fringe benefits, interest, costs and attorney fees.
Daniels wants the university ordered to stop discriminating or retaliating, according to the lawsuit.
Source:Ann Arbor Journal
South Bend police officer accused of sexual assaults www.privateofficer.com
Right now, A local minister is shocked and outraged after his daughter became a victim of a horrible crime. The woman says a police officer, who took an oath to protect and serve, violated and sexually assaulted her.
The South Bend police officer, 26-year-old Jeffrey Chester is accused of inappropriately touching two women during traffic stops last month.
Today, the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office has charged 26-year-old Jeffery Chester with two felony counts of Official Misconduct and two misdemeanor Battery charges.
ABC 57 News spoke to the first woman who came forward, as well as her family, and tonight they say they will do anything to make sure justice is served.
Chester was only charged with a misdemeanor, but the woman, who does not want to be identified, said she was sexually assault and he should be facing felony charges.
That is why her family says they are now taking legal action.
It was just before midnight, in September, when one traffic stop would soon change one woman’s life forever.
She says she was driving down Northside Boulevard, near Howard Park in South Bend, when she saw flashing lights in her rear view mirror.
She says South Bend police officer, 26-year-old Jeffrey Chester, pulled her over because her license plate light was not bright enough for him to see her plate.
After she was pulled over, she says Chester then asked her to drive to a near by parking lot.
She says she was then asked to get out of the car and she says that is when the officer groped her.
According to documents obtained by ABC 57 News, Chester is accused of fondled her “breast, skin to skin, with his hand”.
Accusations the police department says it took very seriously from the start.
“These are criminal accusations and very serious criminal accusations, so we took action immediately and handed it over to an outside agency for immediate investigation,” says South Bend Police Department spokesperson Phil Trent.
After the woman filed an official complaint with the department, another woman came forward saying she too was touched inappropriately by Chester.
The 19-month rookie was immediately taking off the street and stripped of his police powers.
Tonight the family of the woman says that is not good enough and they have hired a lawyer to see to it Chester’s punishment fits the crime.
They say they want him to be charged with sexual battery, a Class B felony, not the misdemeanor battery charge brought against him today.
The family says Chester did not only violate their daughter, he violated all of South Bend when he used his authority to commit the crime.
The victim says she has lost trust in law enforcement and is scared to pull over for another officer. That is why she says she came forward, as painful as for her to do.
Police arrested Chester this morning. He was booked into the St. Joseph County Jail. His bond is set at $10,000 Corporate surety or $1,000 cash.
Chester is now currently out on bail and has been relieved of duty, with pay, pending the review of his employment status by the Board of Public Safety.
Source:ABC News
Man trapped in portable toilet goes for a ride www.privateofficer.com
Hanford WA Oct 25 2011 A forklift operator learned the value of knocking first after he moved a Hanford portable toilet with a Teamster still in it.
On Oct. 5, a forklift operator near Hanford’s D and DR reactors picked up the chemical toilet to move it to a new location, unaware that it was occupied, according to an occurrence report filed with the Department of Energy.
The driver lifted the outhouse 12 to 18 inches off the ground and backed it up about 15 feet across a gravel haul road. The door was against the loading rack of the forklift, trapping the Teamster inside.
The driver set the chemical toilet down to secure it to the loading rack, and when he got out of the forklift cab, he heard the Teamster inside. The report didn’t indicate what the Teamster was saying.
The operator immediately backed up the forklift so the Teamster could open the door.
“It was one of those situations where it’s hard not to laugh,” said Todd Nelson, spokesman for Washington Closure Hanford. But Hanford officials are taking the incident seriously because of the potential for harm to the worker.
Fortunately, he was not hurt, Nelson said.
“We used it as an opportunity to reinforce with employees the need to follow procedures, check and double check surroundings and work areas for safety hazards, and clear work areas of nonessential personnel before starting work,” Nelson said.
Before the forks had been moved underneath the chemical toilet, the fork lift operator had looked at the door and thought the occupancy indicator was green, showing that no one was using it.
“However, the faded colors of the indicator caused by weathering may have contributed to the event,” the report said.
A stop-work order was issued on the transportation of chemical toilets and lifted later the same day.
Source:www.tri-cityherald.com
Colorado guard’s gun discharges hitting friend www.privateofficer.com
AURORA, Colo. Oct 25 2011- Police in Aurora are investigating a shooting involving a security guard.
It happened at about 5 p.m. Saturday at the Fairways at Lowry apartment complex.
Police said the security guard from the complex was sitting in a car with a friend when the gun fired.
The friend was hit and rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. Police have not commented on whether charges will be filed
Source:CBS Denver
Miamisburg’s police chief’s son killed in train accident www.privateofficer.com
WEST CARROLLTON OH Oct 25 2011 — A man struck and killed by a Norfolk Southern Railway train early Friday was the son of Miamisburg’s chief of police.
The victim Nicholas Sedlak, 23, of West Carrollton, was the son of Miamisburg police Chief John Sedlak, Miamisburg police Capt. Ron Hess said Sunday.
West Carrollton police on Friday said they believed it was an accidental death. The collision occurred while it was still dark, shortly before 7 a.m., not far from the 100 block of Alex-Bell Road.
Police are still trying to determine what Nicholas Sedlak was doing at the railroad tracks. He died of multiple trauma, authorities said.
A marked intersection of the street and railroad tracks where the collision occurred had functioning gates and flashing lights, police said.
The victim should have been aware that a train was approaching, said Bill Smith, a neighbor who lives near the tracks.
“You know it’s coming, from a mile away,” Smith said Sunday. “You hear it coming, you can feel it. There’s no reason a 23-year-old male can’t get out of the way of a train.”
Norfolk Southern Railway is cooperating with police in the investigation of Sedlak’s death, railroad spokeswoman Susan Terpay said Sunday.
Miamisburg police have themselves been investigating the death of a woman whose body was found Sept. 25 along railroad tracks. Investigators concluded that Lisa Spinks, 20, a 2010 graduate of Miamisburg High School, had been stabbed to death and beaten with a rock before her body was dumped on the tracks. Two men, including Spinks’ former boyfriend, have been charged with her death and are awaiting trial.
Source:DaytonDailyNews.com.
Staten Island’s horse-mounted patrols to be cut www.privateofficer.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Oct 25 2011 — Staten Island’s horse-mounted patrols may be riding off into the sunset, as the Parks Department plans to pull officers and their four-legged partners for reassignment to other boroughs.
The borough renowned for its parks will soon be down to three patrol officers and two horses if volunteers interested in keeping the patrols cannot find a way to raise $35,000 — the annual fee to feed and house the beasts — by Nov. 1, said John Mancuso, a volunteer patrol officer for the Parks Department.
“We recently informed the Staten Island Zoo that we will not continue to board our Parks Enforcement Patrol horses at their facility,” said a Parks Department spokesman. “Parks that were patrolled by mounted officers will continue to be patrolled by Staten Island PEP officers.”
The horses will be moved to the Bronx, and the expected savings of $24,000 annually will be realized by the department as it will no longer have to pay the boarding costs of the animals to the Zoo, the spokesman said.
“The Parks Department wants to pull them from Staten Island and put them in Central Park or the Bronx,” Mancuso said. “The $35,000 in New York City’s budget is like a grain of sand on South Beach.”
Although the deadline to move the horses is Nov. 1, Mancuso said the Parks Department is trying to step up the move, relocating the animals “as soon as possible.”
Mancuso contends the savings would be negligible compared to the service provided by the mounted patrols, which have been a fixture in Staten Island parks for about 30 years.
Not only are officers on horseback more approachable, said Mancuso, but the patrols add to the safety of parks visitors.
“I guess $35,000 a year is not worth the public’s safety,” he added. “People are more inclined to talk to us when we’re on a horse rather than just someone walking around in a uniform.”
Mounted patrols are highly visible and they educate the public on the rules and regulations in the city’s parks, Mancuso said.
The cost to board the horses at the Zoo is $2,000 a month, but Mancuso contends that it should only cost about $700 a month to care for the horses.
Mancuso said he has reached out to City Council members for the additional funding to keep the mounted patrols on the Island for at least another year until a more permanent solution can be found to keep them here, only to hear that budgets are already set.
With the loss of the two horses and any accompanying patrol officers, there will be just a total of six enforcement officers to patrol all of the Island’s parkland, Mancuso said.
“It’s just an example of Staten Island getting shortchanged again,” Mancuso added.
The Parks Department could not provide an exact number of patrol officers for the Island, but a spokesman said the department would do its best to “maintain” the current level of patrol officers and replace the mounted patrol with officers on foot in light of budget constraints.
The NYPD mainly patrols Staten Island’s parks and will continue to do so, the spokesman added.
Police kill of-duty armed security officer www.privateofficer.com
Alberto Pagan, 21, of Dracut was shot and killed by police when he advanced on officers from Lowell, Mass., Dracut, Mass and Pelham following a chase that began in Lowell. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said Pagan had a handgun and refused to surrender.
Pagan’s family did not respond to attempts to talk with them on Sunday.
In his Facebook profile, Pagan describes himself as Officer Pagan, a Lowell General Hospital security guard with “a lot of responsibilities and not enough pay.” The hospital confirmed that he was employed there as an unarmed security officer.
In his profile, Pagan also states that he was a student at Middlesex Community College and an avid New England sports team fan. He wrote “I luv to have a good time, you know, juss livin’ life to the fullest.”
Now police and family members are left to determine what motivated him to become involved in a police incident at 3:30 Saturday morning that ended with his death two hours later.
Lowell police first approached Pagan early Saturday morning when they responded to a reported domestic dispute. Pagan fled in his car toward New Hampshire, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Officers from Massachusetts and New Hampshire pursued him, at one point stopping his car on Route 38 in Pelham with spike strips.
Pagan allegedly got out of his four-door sedan with a handgun. Police could not convince him to surrender and he returned to his car, leaving Route 38. He was eventually stopped on Hobbs Road in Pelham where a second standoff ended with police opening fire as Pagan advanced on them. It does not appear that Pagan fired his weapon but the investigation is ongoing, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
The Pelham Police Department referred all questions to the Attorney General’s Office, which is investigating the incident.
Ohio nightclub security officer stabbed www.privateofficer.com
DOVER OH Oct 25 2011 — Police were still searching Sunday night for a suspect in a stabbing incident at LaRumba, a restaurant and nightclub at 120 N. Tuscarawas Ave. The stabbing was reported at 1:44 a.m. Sunday.
The suspect, a Hispanic male known to police as Francisco Chico Vesquel, no age or address available, was taken to the police station a short time after the incident.
The man, however, had been left alone, handcuffed to a wall in a holding room, where he slipped off the handcuffs and went out the back door, according to Capt. Detective Paul Bantum.
Bantum said the victim, a 43-year-old New Philadelphia man who is employed as a security officer by LaRumba, was taken to Aultman Hospital in Canton where he remained Sunday morning.
Bantum said the incident began as an altercation involving Hispanic males inside LaRumba. He noted that one of the security employees inside the bar area attempted to escort one of the men involved outside the bar.
“He got him to the door where the suspect’s half brother tried to calm him down,” Bantum said. The security employee then got both men out of the door, but the suspect, who was described as “rowdy and upset,” lunged at the employee and stabbed him in the chest area.
At the time, the employee didn’t know he had been stabbed and both men went to the ground. The employee, when he got up, was told by another employee that he had been stabbed, and the other employee detained the suspect until police arrived.
In process, Bantum said the half brother was cut on the arm, but the wound was not believed to have been intentional. That man, a 20-year-old Dover resident, was treated in Union Hospital.
The folding knife, with a 3-inch blade, was recovered at the scene.
Bantum noted that Dover officers were assisted by Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s deputies, New Philadelphia police and Ohio Liquor Control agents in searching the downtown area for the suspect, but as of Sunday night he had not been located.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Bantum, or Patrolman Jason Peters by calling 330-364-5533.
Source:times-reporter.com
Florida barbers sue sheriff’s office over raid-arrests www.privateofficer.com
Orlando Fla Oct 25 2011 Several barbers who were handcuffed in front of customers at their shop said today they will file a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office and a state licensing agency.
The barbers at the Strictly Skillz barbershop on North Pine Hills Road said Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies working with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation handcuffed the barbers in front of their customers. The arrests were part of a sting operation that targeted barbershops in areas populated primarily by black and Hispanic people.
Barbers at Strictly Skillz and another targeted shop, Just Blaze, said in December 2010 that they would sue about the incidents.
Orlando attorney Natalie Jackson, who is representing the barbers, said during a news conference today that the suit will be filed in federal court.
She said the suit will seek compensatory damages and will attempt to prevent the sheriff’s office from conducting similar joint operations in the future.
The sheriff’s office released a report in June that cleared deputies of any wrongdoing in connection with the raids in August, September and October 2010.
During the raids, about 35 people were arrested on a charge of barbering without a license, a charge that had rarely resulted in physical arrests in the past.
Source:orlando sentinel
Universal Protection Service aquires Security Forces Inc. www.privateofficer.com
According to a statement, the acquisition of SFI and SFIE makes Universal the sixth largest security company in the U.S. and the fourth largest U.S.-owned security firm.
“SFI and SFIE have an unblemished reputation and are one of the strongest regional security providers in the U.S. I am extremely excited to have Larry and Heather O’Brien and all of the Security Forces team members part of Universal Protection Service,” said Steve Jones, co-CEO and COO of Universal Services of America. “This acquisition is truly transformational and grants us the ability to provide true coast to coast service to our clients.”
SFI has been a provider of guard services since 1949 and employs over 3,500 security professionals supported by 31 offices throughout the southeastern U.S. The acquisition expands Universal’s presence to Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
“Our entire organization is excited to be part of Universal Protection Service. The combined resources of Universal and SFI/SFIE create an unmatched customer service delivery capability and allows both organizations to continue working directly with clients in defined geographic areas,” said Larry O’Brien, chairman and CEO of SFI. “By coming together, we have created the best possible platform for further developing our innovative processes.”
South Florida apartment security face gunfire www.privateofficer.com
It was around 6:30 p.m. Sunday when police responded to reports of gunfire at the Mariners Point Apartments off Pinellas Point Dr. South. When they arrived, CIS security guard Joel Turner told them that he had just confronted a suspect armed with a handgun near the rear gate of the complex.
Turner, 46, told police that he had heard gunshots and when he went to investigate, the gunman fired two shots towards him, then fled.
Investigators say several witnesses identified the suspect as a 17-year-old. Police later arrested him at his home on 62nd Avenue South, when he allegedly admitted firing towards the security guard, though he claimed he was firing at someone else with the intention of scaring them.
Apparently, police say, the teen had gotten into a fight with some residents of the complex and later returned with the gun.
He faces several charges, including aggravated assault with a firearm.
Source:FOX TAMPA
Memphis security officer gunned down www.privateofficer.com
A 41-year-old security guard at a Whitehaven apartment complex was fatally wounded Sunday night while attempting to stop two men from entering the property, according to Memphis police.
Officers, called about 9:25 p.m., found the security guard shot and in extremely critical condition lying at the entrance of the Bent Tree apartments, 3395 Brier Park, near Winchester west of Airways, according to a police department media release.
The name of the security guard, who was pronounced dead at a hospital later, was not released.
Police issued a description of two men, one of whom investigators believe shot the guard as he attempted to stop them.
Both were described as 6-foot-tall black men. One wore blue jeans and had a dreadlock hairstyle; the other had a fade hairstyle and wore a red jacket with a cardinal on the back.
The pair ran south across Winchester toward Boeingshire, police said.
Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 528-CASH or on the Internet at 528cash.org. Crime Stoppers offers awards of up to $1,000.
Surfside NC man arrested for stealing church money www.privateofficer.com
Surfside Beach NC Oct 25 2011 William Henry Tompkins, 25, of Surfside Beach, is charged with larceny after police said he stole money from a festival at Surfside Beach United Methodist Church.
Surfside Beach police did not disclose the amount of money taken or the name of the church it was taken from. We have requested that information.
Police did say in a news release that Tompkins grabbed a cash box from a table at the festival being held at the church Friday afternoon and left on a moped.
Police canvassed neighborhoods nearby where mopeds were parked and observed a man leaving through an apartment backdoor. They concentrated their investigation on that apartment and obtained a search warrant.
Inside the apartment, they say they found a moped hidden in a walk-in closet as well as a jacket that fit the description given by witnesses.
Police attempted to contact the suspect on his cell phone, and late Saturday night Tompkins agreed to turn himself in.
Tompkins met officers Sunday morning and was arrested. Police say the stolen cashbox had been dumped inside a gated resort near Surfside Beach. Officers recovered the box and returned it to the victim, although most of the cash had been removed.
SBPD Chief of Police Mike Frederick said that investigators have reason to believe that the theft was drug-related. “We do our best to prevent crimes like these, but we can’t be everywhere,” Frederick said. “Sometimes the best we can do is give it our all to catch the suspect after the fact, and the guys did fantastic work over the entire weekend to chase this guy down and arrest him.”
Frederick added that the effort officers exerted in this case sends a clear message.
“It tells the citizens of this town that our guys take these things personally, and it should tell the folks who would come here to steal that even if you get away that day, we will come after you.”
87-year-old Indiana man arrested with 228 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $2.9 million www.privateofficer.com
A state trooper patrolling Interstate 94 near Ann Arbor pulled over Leo Earl Sharp on Friday for following too closely and executing an improper lane change, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
When the trooper asked Sharp if he could search the truck, the octogenarian refused. So the trooper requested a backup unit with a dog trained to detect bombs and illegal drugs.
As the animal walked around the rear of Sharp’s truck, it alerted to the possible presence of narcotics, the complaint said. During a subsequent search of the truck bed, troopers found 104 bricks of cocaine stashed in five bags.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Randon released Sharp, of Michigan City, Indiana, on $10,000 bond on Monday and scheduled a next hearing in the case for November.
Sharp was charged with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. If convicted, he faces at least 10 years in prison.
