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Ind. man shoots 4, 1 fatally, before shooting self www.privateofficer.com
INDIANAPOLIS IN May 31 2012 (AP) — A gunman opened fire at an Indianapolis apartment complex Wednesday, fatally shooting a woman and critically wounding three other people before turning the gun on himself as officers confronted him, police said.
The woman who died in the Villa Paree’s leasing office was an employee of the apartment complex in the city’s northeast side, Indianapolis police spokesman Officer Kendale Adams said. Two other women and a maintenance man also were shot. All were in critical condition at local hospitals, Adams said.
Police have no information about a possible motive but believe the gunman lived at the complex.
Adams said officers confronted the gunman near the apartment complex’s pool before the man shot himself.
“Officers had encountered him, and they were actually getting ready to engage in trying to get that suspect to surrender that weapon he was holding. He did not, and he shot himself,” Adams said.
The man later died at an Indianapolis hospital. His name hasn’t been released.
The shootings occurred around 4:30 p.m. at different locations at the complex, including the apartment leasing office and the outdoor pool area, Adams said.
The maintenance worker who was shot was able to flee to a nearby strip mall, where medical personnel tended to him. Police were still at the strip mall two hours after the shooting.
Apartment complex resident Mark Taylor told WTHR-TV that his sister was among the injured. He said she was shot once in the arm and once in the thigh. Taylor said his sister didn’t know the gunman and lived near the leasing office.
“She don’t bother nobody. She don’t bother nobody at all,” he said.
Maurice Carter, a 54-year-old who’s lived at the apartment complex for four years, told The Indianapolis Star he was inside his apartment when he heard shots. Carter said he ran outside and heard more shots. He also said he knew the maintenance worker who was shot.
“He was a good guy. He was a real good maintenance worker. He talks to you with respect,” he said.
Villa Paree resident Cheryl F. Williams, 56, told The Associated Press that nothing like the shootings had ever happened in the eight years she has lived at the complex, which she said is normally quiet.
“It’s very sad and unfortunate,” Williams said.
Huntsville Police lead state with most DUI arrests 15 years in a row www.privateofficer.com
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama May 31 2012 – It’s 11:35 p.m. on a Friday, and while many people have gone home for the night, a half-mile stretch along Pulaski Pike near Oakwood Avenue is buzzing.
About 16 police cars line the middle of Pulaski Pike in the turn lane along with a vehicle Huntsville Police affectionately refer to as the Bat Van. It’s not what you would call your traditional roadblock to catch criminals on the loose, but in a sense the officers are looking for citizens who could become bad guys — with the use of excess alcohol or drugs.
The officers are part of the Huntsville Police Department’s seven-man Driving Under the Influence unit, a group that’s achieved something not even Alabama’s football team can claim — a No. 1 ranking for 15 straight years in terms of DUI arrests.
It’s not even close — Huntsville led Alabama in the 2010 Drager rankings (named for the breath-analyzing equipment) with 989 arrests. Auburn police were second with 473 arrests. Huntsville roughly tripled the DUI arrest rates in Birmingham, Mobile and Montgomery.
Huntsville’s unit also has had the state’s busiest DUI officer. Officer Mitch Chappell recorded more individual DUI arrests than any other officer in Alabama for five years in a row. Number two and three are also Huntsville officers. A Foley officer shows up as number four.
On this Friday night, most of the citizens who drive through the orange cones — one of three DUI checkpoints for Memorial Day weekend — are waved through after a quick swipe of the driver’s license through a car-mounted laptop computer. There’s a check of registration, check for proof of insurance and a “drive safely” comment from the men in blue.
But a small percentage of drivers raise a red flag, whether it’s no driver’s license, no proof of insurance, a missing headlight, or even worse, alcohol on their breath. Driving with a blood alcohol content higher than .08 is against state law.
And sometimes there’s a hint of marijuana wafting from the car.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that that the state interest in guarding against the hazards of drunk driving outweighs the “slight” intrusion of a suspicionless stop at a sobriety checkpoint.
But the court said there should be guidelines. The National Highway Safety Transportation Authority issues guidelines in 1990 to make the checkpoints safe, visible, less intrusive and more effective as a deterrent. So Huntsville announces the possible locations for checkpoints ahead of time. The sites are picked based on past accidents, and details are approved by a local judge.
But, as long-time DUI officer Hank Perry says, “We don’t have to go find them. They find us.”
That was the case Friday night. In the first few minutes after the officers had set up, there was a loud crash at the intersection of Pulaski Pike and Oakwood Avenue. That led Sgt. Kevin O’Connell, in charge of the DUI unit, to speculate drugs were probably involved in the two-car crash.
“When they first see the checkpoints some of them spaz out and slam on the brakes,” O’Connell said. “And there’s probably a reason for that.” O’Connell checked and indeed the driver did have drugs.
Many other drivers, probably 15 or 20, try another strategy. Upon seeing the checkpoints, they do a U-turn in the middle of road. But Huntsville officers lay in wait. They gun the accelerator and overtake drivers who attempt to flee.
‘It’s a special op (operations) group,” O’Connell said. “It’s more detailed than a regular uniform. These are highly motivated officers. When they come to work they want to work. They don’t sit back. They enjoy getting the bad guys.”
Perry, the veteran of the group with 26 years on the force and 23 years on the DUI unit, puts it this way: “It’s all about the freedom. It’s the freedom to run all over town and work traffic. People look at me and say you’re crazy for staying on third shift. But I still have fun coming to work every day.”
When this night is all over — it started at 11:30 p.m. and ended about 2:30 a.m. — there will be six DUI arrests, one arrest on a felony warrant and 146 citations, including 73 for lack of insurance, 17 for tag violations and 14 for license violations. Police will have impounded five vehicles.
The officers also work other days of the week on a solo basis around town, often utilizing the Bat Van. (It’s actually used to measure blood alcohol content, but Bat Van sounds cooler than the BAC Van, O’Connell says.)
“We have a group that works primarily at night trained in DUI enforcement and they do an outstanding job,” said Huntsville Police Chief Lewis Morris. “In fact, they’ve done such a wonderful job they’ve been the top unit the last 15 years. That equates to safer streets in the city.”
Morris said the city receives state grants to help fund the checkpoints and pay the necessary overtime. “They know we have a very good program and a good program to reduce the crashes,” Morris said.
O’Connell and others on the DUI force insist there’s no arrest quota or “We’ve got to stay No. 1″ speech given to make sure the unit continues it’s DUI dynasty.
“The numbers come to you,” O’Connell said. “I’ve never told my guys to go out and get 50 more arrest this year. We want quality arrests, and my guys know that. They’re so good as recognizing signs and signals, it’s second nature.”
Phil Price, one of the leading DUI lawyers in the city who has written “The Alabama DUI Handbook,” said DUI arrests are actually down. He said the use of video cameras on the dashboards of police cars has helped both sides in DUI enforcement.
“As a general rule, they’re well trained and most of them have professional attitudes,” Price said of the Huntsville DUI unit. “They give field sobriety tests as close to … well, they’re trained by the book and try to be pursuant to the book.
“If you’re asking me why they’re so many arrests in Huntsville, I think Huntsville is one of the few places where the DUI task force is dedicated to our DUI law.”
Price says there’s actually been a drop in DUI arrests in Huntsville and “those orders come from the top, orders from the mayor or the police chief to stop arresting so many people.”
Huntsville’s police chief scoffs at that notion. O’Connell admits DUI arrests did drop to an estimated 650 to 750 last year, but Morris cites the stiff penalties and expensive fines as reasons for the decrease.
For convicted first-offenders, it’s a $2,100 fine, year in jail and loss of license for 90 days. And in a military/high tech community like Huntsville, employees can lose security clearance.
That works out to more than $2 million a year for the city in DUI fines, which all go to Huntsville’s general fund, according to Lisa Shockley, title clerk of the courts. The city gets also gets $17 in court costs from each fine.
Price readily admits it’s cutting into his pocket book when the arrests go down. “I may have to go into elder law if this keeps up,” Price said. “Even though, there’s nothing wrong with elder law.”
Perry laughs when he hears Price bemoaning his loss in income. “We’ve helped put Phil’s kids through college,” Perry says. “So, we don’t feel too sorry for him.”
Who Perry does feel sorry for are the victims of the DUI-related crashes. And that’s one of the reasons he’s manned the graveyard shift for 23 years.
O’Connell says Huntsville’s DUI unit is No. 1 in the state because they’ve seen the damage that drunk drivers can do.
As a member of the traffic homicide unit, Perry has seen the results of DUI wrecks. He recalls one when the driver smashed into another car, killing those inside, and emerging from his totaled car with just a scratch, wondering what was going on.
He remembers an accident involving a man and woman on a motorcycle who were hit from behind by a DUI driver. The man on the motorcycle was sent flying into the bed of a truck in front of him while the woman was thrown several feet down the road, dying when she hit the pavement head on.
“I had to carry him down to the station to get him tested,” Perry said. “He said, “Why? What did I do? Why do I have to go down there?’ They have no idea what they’ve done.”
2010 Drager rankings
Top police departments and arrests
Huntsville 989
Auburn 473
Mobile 453
Decatur 421
Birmingham 327
Foley 305
Tuscaloosa 302
Montgomery 288
Anniston 247
Athens 237
Source:al.com
Nashville apartment security guard charged with aggravated kidnapping www.privateofficer.com
Nashville TN May 31 2012 A security guard was arrested after he allegedly threw a woman to the ground at an apartment complex in the Donelson area and then handcuffed her for 30-to-45 minutes.
Jason A. Childers, is charged with assault and aggravated kidnapping according to police reports. The aggravated kidnapping charge came after consultation with the district attorney’s office becaue of the length the woman was handcuffed.
The affidavit states that the woman was sitting on her vehicle waiting for her laundry to finish at the complex located at 830 Glastonbury Road, between Briley Parkway and Massman Drive.
The security guard ordered the woman to leave the area or go into her apartment. The victim refused, stating she wasn’t causing any problems according to the report.
Childers then is accused of grabbing the victim after she asked what she was doing wrong. The woman received injuries that required treatment at the scene by the Nashville Fire Department.
Source:Tennessean
Woman robbed in New Haven, despite security guard’s presence www.privateofficer.com
The victim told police she was being walked to her car by the security guard from the Department of Social Services, when they were confronted by three men, according to a police statement.
The victim said one of the men grabbed her hand, in which she had her phone, and twisted it until she released her grip. The security guard went back to his post, while the victim tried chasing down the robber, according to the police report.
Officers located one of the three men described by the victim. When the man spotted the officers, he said, “I did not take that phone from that lady. You can ask her,” police said.
Criscoulo apprehended a second man, running on Goodyear Street, who police said had the victim’s phone. He is under the age of 18 and cannot be named, but police said he has been charged as an adult with robbery and larceny.
Source:new haven register
RCMP shoot and kill former security guard suspected in brutal B.C. double murder www.privateofficer.com
On Wednesday afternoon, RCMP were at the scene in Ridge Meadows east of Vancouver where Angus David Mitchell, 26, was shot and airlifted to hospital shortly before noon. He was later pronounced dead at hospital.
Police tracked down Mitchell after someone called 911 to say they saw a 1994 green Ford Aerostar van, which police had earlier said Mitchell was living in.
More than a dozen RCMP officers approached the green van on the isolated road around 11:50 a.m. and tried to talk Mitchell out of the van. He did exit the van but there was an exchange of gunfire with police.
Supt. Dave Walsh said the suspect was shot shortly before noon; he would not release more details about the shooting, which is now under investigation by Vancouver police.
No RCMP officers were injured.
Earlier, Insp. Tim Shields said Mitchell was believed to be armed with a rifle with a scope and was believed to be “emotionally unstable and unpredictable.” He sent out an urgent alert on Wednesday morning, saying anyone who knows Mitchell and has had a conflict with him in the past needed to be “extremely cautious about their personal safety,” including former co-workers, employers, landlords and roommates.
Mitchell is wanted in connection with the attempted murder of a 51-year-old Burnaby man who was shot Tuesday night in front of his home in Burnaby.
Mitchell was also a person of interest in the double homicide that occurred Sunday inside a sushi restaurant in Burnaby.
Police do not yet have a motive for those homicides.
At a news conference in Burnaby earlier Wednesday, Shields said people throughout the Lower Mainland should be on the lookout for Mitchell. Shields warned the public not to approach him if he was spotted and instead call 911.
Shields also said Mitchell was the legal owner of the hunting rifle he had with him and it appears to have been purchased in B.C. within the last six months.
Sgt. Jennifer Pound of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said it was too early to say if Mitchell’s rifle was the weapon used in Tuesday’s shooting.
The man injured was shot at close range, rather than from a distance, she said.
On his Facebook page, Mitchell posted a disturbing rant about colleagues at the Victoria-based Themis Security Services, calling one an “insignificant lowly little punk who masquerades as a successful person.”
He complains of not being paid on time and lashes out at someone for being “a little f—ing bastard who pushes around his weight applying pressure points on people.”
He goes on to write that the person, who he identifies as “Mirko,” does not deserve his attention and ends the rant with “f— you bastard.”
Mirko Filipovic, CEO and president of Victoria’s Themis Security Services said Wednesday morning he was on route to meet with the Victoria Police.
“We’ve been told we should take certain safety and security precautions for ourselves and our family,” he said in a phone interview.
Filipovic said Mitchell worked for his company as a contractor about three times. He said the most recent job was about four weeks ago.
Filipovic added he had not read Mitchell’s comments on Facebook and was not aware of any issue between Mitchell and the company.
“We’re kind of surprised and caught off guard by the whole thing,” he said.
At the crime scene in Burnaby Wednesday, a witness to Tuesday’s shooting described hearing what sounded like a car backfiring as he was trimming the lawn in the late afternoon.
Howard Wong, who lives across the street from the victim on Gilpin Crescent, ran across the quiet residential street and found his neighbour — a man who speaks Mandarin — covered in blood and lying under a tree in his front yard.
“I heard two sounds, like ‘bang, bang.’ Two big noises,” the man recalled.
“I saw the guy lying down under the tree there. I came over there and said, ‘You got hurt?’ He said, ‘Somebody shot me. A double shot.’”
He said he did not see anyone running or driving away from his neighbour’s house after the shooting.
The witness said he saw a young white man resembling Mitchell’s photo coming and going from the red split-level home every day for the past several weeks.
Residents on Vancouver Island were also warned about the accused shooter on Wednesday.
Const. Mike Russell of the Victoria Police Department said Mitchell used to live on Vancouver Island, and that officers were warning “several” people about him.
“We’re looking at anybody that may have had conflict with this man and just assisting them in any way that we can,” he said, not giving details about what protective measures police might be taking.
Meanwhile, police are still investigating last week’s double homicides at the sushi restaurant in Burnaby.
The owner of the tiny restaurant was gunned down Sunday night, along with a female employee inside the business at the time. Huong (Andy) Tran and the woman were found by police shortly after 9:30 p.m. inside Tran’s Royal Oak Sushi House restaurant.
Neither Tran nor the woman have any criminal record or were known to police.
It is too early to say whether Mitchell is a suspect in the double homicide at the sushi restaurant, said Pound, who would only say that Mitchell was a person of interest in connection with that case.
“We need to have forensic evidence to identify anyone as a suspect,” she said, adding that such information is not typically available two days after a shooting.
She was not able to identify the female victim of that shooting.
Pound said the two victims appear to have been targeted, though the murder is not believed to be gang-related.
Source:national post
Send In the Homeland Police Drones, Says Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell www.privateofficer.com
Richmond VA May 31 2012 Conservatives jeered at Barack Obama for advocating “nation building at home.” Now, one of the GOP’s leading governors wants to bring drones to the home front — and not for military purposes, either.
“Police drones flying over Virginia would be “great” and “the right thing to do” for the same reasons they are so effective in a battlefield environment, the state’s chief executive said Tuesday.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, says he is open to any technology that makes law enforcement more productive. The use of drones, which was recently endorsed by the police chiefs of Fairfax County and D.C., would make better use of valuable police resources.
Increased safety and reduced manpower are among the reasons the U.S. military and intelligence community use drones on the battlefield, which is why it should be considered in Virginia, he says.
The endorsement follows new drone use in Texas, where civil liberties advocates are already clashing with local police. “Local,” of course, is beginning to lose its meaning. The state’s Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, for instance, acquired one drone from Vanguard Defense Industries for a cool $300,000 in federal homeland security grant funds. No wonder Washington loves the idea. The federal government has a host of incentives to gradually nationalize police forces, and drones are the perfect vehicle. That’s unsettling enough, but activists with a liberty agenda worry primarily that drones will technologically outstrip constitutional safeguards against unreasonable search and seizure.
Perhaps most disconcerting, however, is that the most valuable purpose of drones is to inflict harm on targets without putting the human who’s operating them at any risk whatsoever. That’s the crucial point that Bob McDonnell’s comfortable claims obscure by casually conflating safety and efficiency. Here’s the logical breakdown: nobody wants to see more police officers getting hurt or killed in the line of duty; yet that doesn’t mean we all ought to do whatever can make police safer. The legitimacy of policing hinges on the moral authority of our shared humanity. If locals can’t meet and interact with their police on a face-to-face level — whether peaceably or in the midst of crimes — then citizens are put into a relationship with the law and the citizens who uphold it that’s too unequal to sustain in a free society. (Option two: stop sustaining a free society.)
Nowadays, however, our love of efficiency and safety causes us to think of the two very different things as two sides of the same coin. We presume that nothing truly more efficient would increase peril. (It’s taking us a while longer to accept the idea that anything made safer is made more efficient.) So the logic twists again: we will be told to give police drones because it increases their efficiency, but we will be told that if we take drones away from police we are decreasing their safety.
Intentionally or not, that’s a dangerous bait and switch. It’s not just dangerous because it nibbles away at an important part of our tacit agreement about the scope of police activity. It’s dangerous because it reinforces sloppy thinking about what minimum of humanity needs to be present in our civic and legal relationships in order for them to remain not just authoritative but legitimately so. It’s also a bit alarming from the perspective of human relationships with technological entities. Drones are not the best robots to first introduce into society on a mass, nationwide scale. They will set the tone for our subsequent relationships with robots, and starting off with drones is a bit like choosing for your first long-term love interest an emotionally unavailable assassin who secretly reads your diary.
Source: Forbes
Two Albany men charged with shooting at security officers www.privateofficer.com
ALBANY NY May 31 2012 — Two Pine Hills men were arrested Tuesday morning after they got onto a roof near the College of Saint Rose and shot at students, college security officers and office and car windows with a pellet gun, police said.
The incident unfolded around 5 a.m., when Benjamin Zima and Max Wolff first shot at two Saint Rose students sitting on a porch on Hudson Avenue from the rooftop of Zima’s home at 326 Western Ave., said Officer Steve Smith, a police spokesman.
A Saint Rose security guard reported the incident after he spotted Zima and Wolff on the roof. Two of the students who were shot at also told security about the incident. Zima and Wolff then shot at security personnel who were dispatched to investigate, Smith said. Zima and Wolff also shot out windows to the St. Rose security office at 340 Western Ave. and nearby car windows as well, the police spokesman said.
Zima, 21, and Wolff, 24, of 111 North Pine Ave., were both arrested at the second floor of Zima’s apartment. They were both charged with felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor reckless endangerment. They were each arraigned in Albany County Criminal Court and briefly sent to Albany County jail before posting bail.
Source:www.timesunion.com
SC teen steals school bus, hospitalized after crashing into building during police chase www.privateofficer.com
ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SC May 31 2012 - A teenager is in the hospital after crashing a school bus into a building during a police chase across two counties early Tuesday morning.
According to Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers, deputies noticed a school bus from Orangeburg Preparatory Schools, Inc. traveling on Highway 21 near Murph Mill Rd. around 2:30 a.m.
Because school buses aren’t normally on the roads at that hour, deputies attempted to pull it over to investigate. The bus didn’t stop and sped away as deputies began pursuit.
The sheriff said the driver was driving erratically and into opposite lanes while deputies followed. The bus made its way into Orangeburg County and onto the campus of South Carolina State University.
As the pursuit continued, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, and Orangeburg Department of Public Safety joined Calhoun County deputies.
After knocking over several iron gates and fences on campus, the driver of the bus lost control while trying to make a turn and slammed into the Zeus Industrial Products building on Mill St.
As deputies approached the mangled bus and looked through the dust and debris, they found a 15-year-old boy trapped inside. They spotted another person running away from the scene, but were unable to catch him.
The boy who was trapped in the bus was eventually extricated and taken by helicopter to Palmetto Health Richland Hospital where he had to have one foot removed.
Calhoun Co. deputies are questioning the injured juvenile, but no charges have been filed. Summers said investigators are still trying to determine who was driving the bus and the identity of the individual who fled the scene.
“It was extremely dangerous they stole the school bus,” Summers said. “You have to remember that. They made a conscious decision to not stop for law enforcement, and that was the end result.”
After the crash, Orangeburg deputies found another bus that had been damaged at Orangeburg Preparatory School. According to an incident report, a fire extinguisher has been discharged inside that bus.
Source:WIS
Seattle cafe shooting leaves 4 dead, two critically wounded www.privateofficer.com
Seattle Police Asst. Chief Nick Metz said detectives were very confident that this suspect is the same as the one who committed the crimes at both locations.
“We feel very confident that we have the suspect in both incidents,” he said.
As a precaution, however, Seattle police will continue to search the West Seattle neighborhood just in case there is, in fact, another suspect.
The man was being sought for a shooting that happened about 11 a.m. at Café Racer in the 5800 block of Roosevelt Way NE, just north of the University District.
Police say two male victims were killed at the scene. Two more men and a woman were taken to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition. The woman died at the hospital.
The shooter was seen running away from the scene northbound, armed with a gun. The suspect was described as white, approximately 30-years-old with well-groomed dark hair and a full beard. He was wearing a light blue jacket and short, dark cap. Seattle police released these surveillance images.
Roosevelt High School, Eckstein Middle School and Green Lake Elementary School were placed in either modified or full lockdown, but school was dismissed on time. Greenlake Community Center and Ravenna/Eckstein Community Center were also temporarily in lockdown.
The public was advised to stay out of the area. Residents were told to stay inside and lock their doors and windows. Police continue to search homes in the area.
Evan Hill, who lives above the building were the cafe shooting happened, said the cafe was an artists’ collective and performance space.
“It’s the strangest place to think of a shooting,” Hill said.
The First Hill shooting happened around 11:30 a.m. in a Diamond parking lot near 8th and Seneca streets. Police say according to initial witness reports, a man and a woman were arguing when the man pulled out a handgun and shot the woman in the head. The suspect jumped into a black Mercedes SUV and fled the scene.
“I heard a gunshot, I looked in the vincinty. The woman was already down,” said Thom Merklin, a chauffer across the street who rushed to the woman’s aid. He found her lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds in her back.
Officers arrived quickly and began CPR on the victim until medics arrived and transported her to Harborview Medical Center. She was later pronounced dead.
“We don’t know the connection between the man and the woman, but we’re working on it,” said Mike Sanford, Seattle Assistant Police Chief.
Within a half hour, police found the black Mercedes SUV, abandoned and with a handgun on the passenger seat, in West Seattle in the 4100 block of Delridge Way SW. Police set up a containment area and scoured the Delridge neighborhood for hours for the suspect.
Police spent the afternoon shutting down streets and searching various West Seattle locations for a suspect in the downtown shootings.
At about 4 p.m. officers moved in on a location at 37th and Raymond. When we got there, a man was on the ground with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police say he matched the description of the suspect in the Roosevelt shooting.
This is just the latest in a very deadly week – as gun violence escalates in Seattle.
It began last Thursday with the shooting death of an innocent father.
Someone fired a shot and it struck Justin Ferrari as he drove his family in the Central District. The killer has not been found.
On Saturday evening a shooting at the Folklife Festival left another innocent man with a gunshot wound.
In the early hours of Sunday police responded to four drive-by shootings in South Seattle where more than 60 shots were fired. No was seriously hurt or killed.
And later that same morning in north Seattle, a robber with a gun broke into a home with a marijuana grow operation. He shot and killed a man inside
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Mike McGinn said it’s a priority to identify the strategies that are needed to employ to try to bring an end to the wave of gun violence that the city is seeing.
“It’s going to take our political leaders coming together to give our police officers the support and the tools they need to do their job, and I’m committed to doing that,” said McGinn. “And we will be working with our police to give them the tools they need to focus on violent offenders with access to guns.”
“It’s also going to take a focus on the laws that make it too easy for people to acquire guns and it’s also going to take full partnership with the community to end the culture of violence where young men believe it’s OK to attempt to resolve disputes through violence, including guns.”
Source:king5
Foyil Public Schools employee arrested for alleged sex crime www.privateofficer.com
FOYIL, Oklahoma May 31 2012 - A Foyil Public Schools employee was arrested for an alleged sex crime against a minor, according to the Rogers County Sheriff’s Department.
Jeffery Loveless Harris, 34, of Chelsea, was booked into the Rogers County Jail last Thursday under three complaints of lewd or indecent proposal/acts to a child. He has since bonded out.
Harris is employed in the alternative education department of Foyil schools.
No other information was immediately available.
source-newson6.com
Fla teacher arrested for breaking into school www.privateofficer.com
Arlene Saper was arrested around 3 a.m. at the school on Kildaire Road in Chapel Hill.
Further details about the incident have not been released.
Police release identity of shooting suspect, victimMary Scroggs Elementary has recently been in the news after a woman was shot several times while waiting outside the school last Friday afternoon. Forty-year-old Chahnaz Kebaier later died at the hospital.
Police said the shooting was believed to be related to an ongoing domestic dispute between Kebaier and 49-year-old Ali Cherfaoui, of Carrboro.
Former Bluffton SC police officer settles age-discrimination suit for $150K www.privateofficer.com
Blufton SC May 31 2012 A former Bluffton police lieutenant who claimed she was unfairly demoted and laid off received $150,000 to settle her federal age-discrimination lawsuit against the town of Bluffton, according to documents released by the town Wednesday.
Katherine Sours, now 56, filed her complaint with the S.C. Human Affairs Commission and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2009, alleging that numerous comments made by Police Chief David McAllister showed her age was a factor in her termination.
Sours, who joined the force in 2006, was demoted from a supervisory position to a patrol job in February 2009, then laid off the following June, according to the lawsuit.
The settlement is to be paid by the town’s insurance provider, the S.C. Insurance Reserve Fund, according to the settlement document. Town manager Anthony Barrett wrote in an email that the town paid $75,000 to the reserve fund as a result of the settlement.
Sours also was paid $86,000 to settle a separate wrongful-termination lawsuit against the town filed in state court. That settlement also was paid by the S.C. Insurance Reserve Fund, with the town contributing $15,000.
In federal court, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act allowed Sours to seek damages unavailable in her wrongful-termination suit, including compensation for back wages and emotional distress.
In February, a magistrate ruled the suit could go to trial, denying the town’s motion to dismiss the case. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce H. Hendricks cited statements in depositions from former town manager Bill Workman as compelling evidence that Workman and McAllister were “illegally motivated” when Sours was terminated.
McAllister denied the claims, and town officials stood by him, saying budget cuts forced him to lay off Sours. McAllister has since declined to comment on the suit.
Sours submitted evidence to the court that McAllister “uninvitedly” referred to her as “Nana” and “Nana Sours.” The chief also allegedly overemphasized Sours’ “years” of experience to other employees, commented on her “granny pants” and referred to her as one of the “old folks” and “past her prime,” according the judge’s report.
However, the settlement, reached April 18, is not an admission of liability and is called “the compromise of a doubtful and disputed claim” in the document.
Attempts to reach Beaufort attorney David Black, who is representing the town, were unsuccessful. Attempts to reach Sours and her attorney, Nancy Bloodgood of Charleston, were also unsuccessful.
McAllister submitted his resignation to the town May 24, effective Aug. 1, to take a position with a security firm in Atlanta. He said Tuesday his resignation was “absolutely not” related to the Sours case. He said he wanted to retire from law enforcement and pursue other career opportunities.
Source:www.islandpacket.com
Off-duty reserve sheriff’s deputy stop jewelry store robbery www.privateofficer.com
The botched robbery happened in downtown L.A.’s jewelry district at a store near Broadway and 6th Street.
Three men armed with guns hit two downtown jewelry stores at the same time.
The first man, wearing a red hoodie, could be seen on security video, as it was viewed by a detective. The young man jumped the counter, grabbed some gold chains and left.
Next door at 601 Broadway, two men entered a story and one of them allegedly put a .38-caliber revolver to the security guard’s chest, while the other suspect jumped over the counter.
Little did they know that also in that store was an off-duty reserve sheriff deputy working security as well and he was armed.
“Here in a very busy intersection, that’s correct. We’re very lucky that nobody was hit,” said LAPD Lt. Walt Teague.
A 22-year old out on parole for burglary was hit by the off-duty deputy’s bullet and treated at the scene.
The other suspect got away, firing some shots off along the way, according to investigators.
Across the street, jewelry store owner Omid Rabee said he had seen the three men in the area the previous day.
“I’d seen the guys laying on the street for the past couple of days. You know, they looked suspicious. I knew they were up to something,” Rabee said.
Rabee and other jewelry store owners said that they do the best they can to provide security, but feel the area lacks a more visible police presence.
“This is very dangerous. Police, police we need help, more police here on the Broadway,” said store owner Mahvash Zendedel.
The owner of 603 Broadway said that it was the first time in 27 years that he had been robbed. But next door, he recalled the place being robbed at least five times.
Tuesday night the steel security gates were down, while police continued to search for the two men, who got away.
Investigators said that they interviewed witnesses and other business owners in the area and were also following up on some pretty good leads.
They said that they believed with one man in custody, it would not be long before he gave up the other two.
Source:cbs los angeles
KY town looks to hire private security to patrol www.privateofficer.com
Middletown KY May 31 2012 To save money, the Middletown City Commission is considering hiring a private security company to patrol the city.
The city currently contracts with Louisville Metro Police, which provides off-duty officers at $50 an hour, for up to 45 hours a month, Mayor Byron Chapman said.
The city pays for the extra service to make Middletown as safe as possible, he said. The off-duty officers typically run radar and keep an eye on homes during their shifts.
Chapman said the Louisville Metro officers have adequately enforced laws in Middletown, but their services could be provided at a lower rate.
At the request of the City Commission, city attorney John Singler compiled a list of three companies used by other small cities in Louisville. He said the companies charge less — $35 an hour — and also employ off-duty police officers, but not necessarily from the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Chapman will speak with representatives from from the three companies — Five-O Enterprises, Off-Duty Police Services and Neighborhood Security and Asset Protection — before addressing the issue at the June 14 commission meeting.
Chapman said he is unsure if Louisville Metro Police will negotiate its current price for patrols and has yet to approach the department to talk about rates.
Middletown will allocate $45,000 of next fiscal year’s budget to security. It had appropriated $35,000 for security in this year’s budget.
With more money budgeted for security, Chapman said the city would use a less expensive service more.
Chapman said he and the four members of the commission are not sure they want to switch to one of the security companies.
Because the Louisville Metro Police Division 8 headquarters is in Middletown and officers work their regular beats out of there, it has been easier for police to recognize crime patterns in the area.
“They know the trends of break-ins and other crimes,” Chapman said. “With the new agencies, it’s not like they’ve been here all the time.”
Chapman said he would like the three companies and Louisville Metro Police to send representatives to a commission meeting to make a pitch for Middletown’s business.
“Money is always an issue,” Chapman said. “But let’s find out more information before we move forward.”
Source:courier-journal
Researchers at UCF analyzed nearly 14,000 incidents www.privateofficer.com
ORLANDO, Fla., May 31 2012– Use of stun guns by police increases the risk of injuries for those they’re used against but tends to increase officer safety, a U.S. study found.
Researchers at the University of Central Florida analyzed nearly 14,000 incidents from seven law enforcement agencies, of which 2,600 incidents involved the use of stun guns, the university reported Tuesday.
Also known as conducted energy devices or CEDs, stun guns produce an electrical charge up to 50,000 volts when deployed by pressing the device against a person or by shooting two probed darts at a person from a distance, resulting in the temporary immobilization of the individual.
“The bottom line is there in an increased risk to citizens,” Gene Paoline, a UCF associate professor of criminal justice, said.
“On the other hand, the devices increase the safety of officers when used as the sole method of restraint. In essence, we have to consider the costs of citizen harm versus benefits of officer safety.”
Citizens were injured 41 percent of the time when CEDs were used as the only type of force and 47 percent of the time when CEDs were used in conjunction with another form of force, the researchers said.
“It is something for police agencies to weigh when setting up policies on their use, or whether or not to even use them at all,” Paoline said. “CEDs may not be the silver bullet some make them out to be.”
Source:www.upi.com
Santa Fe Railyard to hire private security to patrol area www.privateofficer.com
In February, the City Council approved a conceptual plan to spend about $95,500 to patrol public spaces on the city-owned land from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.
A contract approved Tuesday night by the city Public Works Committee would give the funds and the responsibility to hire and oversee the private security effort to the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corp.
The nonprofit leases the Railyard from the city and manages developments and events there. The contract requires approval by the full City Council before it becomes final.
The idea to hire security guards for the property stems from a 2011 council order for city staff to consider such a plan in light of reports of violence and public drunkenness at the Railyard. People who live nearby and users of the Railyard Park complained about questionable behaviors, including drug use and lewd acts.
If everything moves along as expected, private security would be in place by the third week of June, said Richard Czoski, the nonprofit’s executive director.
Having private security doesn’t mean city police will stop patrolling the Railyard Park, according to a memo from Police Chief Ray Rael. He wrote that the city plans to provide a new patrol there from noon through midnight on weekends between May and August.
In addition to the plans to put more enforcers on the ground, a city working group this year also recommended changes to city ordinances that could help combat the public drunkenness issue, including an amendment that councilors already adopted that stiffened rules about carrying an open container of alcohol in a public place not licensed to serve or sell alcohol. Other suggestions from the group include limiting sales of on-the-go alcoholic beverages such as “minis” and cold single beers, and hiking the city tax on alcohol to use the money for drug and alcohol treatment.
The committee rejected a proposal to give the Railyard Corp. $7,000 to pay electrical and mechanical engineers to design a snowmelt system under the historic brick platform outside the Santa Fe Depot. The committee instead advised city staff to find a “low-tech” solution such as a shelter structure or hiring temporary workers to shovel snow.
Meanwhile, the city this month closed on its real-estate deal to become the official owner of part of the Market Station building.
The purchase of a condominium interest in the top floor of the partly empty commercial building was approved by the City Council in late April as part of a settlement that ended a threat of litigation from the private owners of the rest of the building.
Consummation of the transaction also means that a partner in the development, Railyard Co. LLC, no longer is leasing an adjoining parcel of land slated for development of a movie theater.
The community corporation has been talking with two potential movie theater developers in recent weeks and will conduct a formal appraisal of the theater parcel to establish what it might be able to charge for a ground lease under current market conditions. Czoski said the nonprofit hopes to have a deal in place by September.
The city plans to move offices to the Railyard from a rented space on Federal Place, across from City Hall, but first has to finish the interior of the new space. City Manager Robert Romero said the move isn’t expected to happen for about a year.
Source:sfnewmexican.com
Off duty US Coast Guard officer shot-killed in Chicago www.privateofficer.com
Family members say Malcolm Dowdy, 33, was at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was hit by gunfire Monday night in the 1700-block of East 68th Street.
“I’m very distraught,” said Michele Dowdy, mother. “I do not want to make the arrangements.”
Dowdy’s mother said her son — her only child — had second thoughts about being at the party. As he was leaving with friends, a gunman opened fire at the group, she said. Dowdy was killed and a 22-year-old man was injured with a gunshot wound to the back.
“I don’t think the black male life expectancy goes past 25 now,” she said. “He is 33. I thought I had got him past the hump.”
Dowdy is a veteran of the Coast Guard, with four years on active duty and four years as a reservist. He was the assistant director of security at a Chicago company, a straight A student at DeVry University, and the father of a 1-year-old daughter with his fiancee, who is an Army reservist. They bought a house and were planning on getting married this year.
“Now my daughter doesn’t have a father,” said Joi Cornelious, Dowdy’s fiancée. “That was never the plan. I came from a two-parent household, so did he, and so will she.”
“We need a mayor that’s going to say enough is enough,” said Denise Dixon, Corneilius’ mother. “We need somebody that’s going to take care of the community like they took care of the dignitaries and the foreigners that came here for NATO.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Superintendent Garry McCarthy rolled out a new gang violence reduction plan Tuesday after a violent weekend where shootings injured 40 people and killed 10, including Dowdy.
Source: WLS
Chicago security officers chase-corner bank robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
CHICAGO IL May 31 2012 – A man arrested shortly after he robbed a bank with a water pistol Sunday in the West Side’s Medical Village neighborhood was charged in a federal complaint Tuesday.
Jerry Campbell was charged with robbing the TCF Bank branch in the 1200 block of South Ashland Avenue, according to the criminal filed Tuesday in U.S. District court.
Campbell allegedly entered a TCF Bank branch in the 1200 block of South Ashland Avenue about 5:15 p.m. and told a teller he had a weapon, according to a release from the FBI.
The weapon turned out to be turquoise water pistol with an orange tip, the complaint said.
The man left the bank on foot with roughly $660, including $35 he withdrew legitimately from his own account at the same bank earlier that day, the complaint said.
Security officers chased the man across the parking lot, and Chicago police arrested him upon arrival, the complaint said.
Campbell later admitted to the robbery and identified himself in surveillance photos taken during the holdup, the complaint said.
Source:CBS Chicago
AWOL soldier shot while shoplifting www.privateofficer.com
LODI, CA May 31 2012 - A theft, a shooting, an arrest and a military AWOL investigation are elements in a single incident that happened Tuesday night at a Lodi liquor store.
According to Lodi Police, a 21-year-old man tried to steal a $12 case of Bud Light Platinum from Tokay Liquors on east Lockford around 9:45 p.m. The owner of the store, Gurminder Parmar, fired his Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun at the man; hitting him in the shoulder.
Lodi police arrested Parmar for assault with a deadly weapon, citing the unarmed shoplifter didn’t threaten Parmar and was fleeing the store when he was shot from behind.
“We don’t know exactly what happened last night, but he tried to protect himself,” Parmar’s friend Sukhjit Singh said. “He said at the door he saw him pulling something from his pocket.”
Singh said Parmar’s store was robbed several times before in the 10 years Tokay Liquors had been in operation. Last year, Parmar bought a handgun for protection.
“Couple months back they had robberies. They tried to rob him at gun point,” Singh said. “So he’s scared and bought the gun.”
Lodi police confiscated the store’s surveillance video. Parmar is being held in the Lodi jail.
Police caught up with the robbery suspect carrying the beer and bleeding from his shoulder on North Church Street, not far from his apartment.
The robbery suspect, Christopher Driggers, said he was an army veteran who served in Afghanistan last year. He said during his entire service in Afghanistan, he was never once fired upon. His first encounter with a bullet was Tuesday night for what he said was a stupid prank.
“I was trying to do a beer run,” Driggers said. “Go inside a store, grab beer and run out. I got half way out when I got shot in the back. I had the money. I don’t know why I did it.”
Driggers said police confiscated the beer and he went to Dameron Hospital for his shoulder wound, which was an entrance and exit bullet hole wound to his upper right shoulder.
Driggers said he feels badly that Parmar got arrested, but doesn’t think he deserved to be shot.
“He had to do what he had to do, but I was shoplifting, not threatening him,” Driggers said. “And he shot me in the back.”
After the interview with Driggers, Lodi police Cpl. Dale Eubanks said Driggers is classified AWOL by the U.S. Army and is facing military justice.
Source: News10/KXTV
Santa Cruz County Bank employee faces embezzlement charges www.privateofficer.com
The arraignment of Alexandria Gonzalez, 30, was postponed to June 12, to give her time to finalize an agreement with defense attorney George Gigarjian.
Gonzalez has strong family ties to the area and is a single, working mom who has no criminal record, he said.
She has paid back $20,600, and admitted to taking that amount, he said.
Authorities allege she stole an additional $65,000.
Prosecutor Sara Dabkowski argued for bail of $100,000, telling the judge that Gonzalez made several withdrawals over a period of time, violating the trust of her employer.
About 12 people came to court in support of Gonzalez and Symons said she received letters on her behalf as well.
Symons said she was concerned about an unconfirmed report that one of the bank clients was an elderly person.
“The court is concerned about an elderly victim,” she said. “That is a different level of responsibility.”
But Symons granted the release, warning that she could revise her ruling if given additional incriminating evidence. She asked Dabkowski to give her any information on any elderly victim.
Symons ordered Gonzalez to not work in any capacity granting her access to other people’s money, and to tell any current or future employers about the accusations.
She ordered her to stay away from the bank and the clients she is alleged to have stolen from.
Court records show the violations came to light in December, and that Gonzalez has been charged with grand theft.
Source: mercury news
Virginia State Police charge former Franklin County Sheriff www.privateofficer.com
“He certainly had a large volume of phone calls, and the volume of calls certainly interrupted his thinking and his abilities to do certain things. But at the same time he made the best decision that he could at the time,” saysStanley.
This was one of the first calls Sheriff Hunt made on the day of the shooting:
“Dispatcher:”SalemPolice, Henderson.”
Hunt: “Yeah, this is Sheriff Hunt over in Franklin Co. Do you have a shift supervisor in there that can give me a call?”
Dispatcher: “Um, sure I can have one give you a call. What was…”
Hunt:” This is Sheriff Hunt, Franklin Co. My number is 540-4***-****”
Dispatcher: “And what is your last name?”
Hunt: “Hunt, H-U-N-T. I’m the sheriff of Franklin Co.”
Dispatcher: “Okay I will have them call you.”
Hunt: “Thank you.”
And having heard all the tapes from that day,Stanley stands behind his client.
“I firmly believe and will stand proudly next to him to defend him as I do in my job everyday and that sheriff hunt is not guilty of this common law charge that they have dug up in order to try to finally do something that quite frankly I think is unnecessary,” says Stanley.
Source:wsls.com
Line of Duty Death Officer Jeremy Bitner
Line of Duty Death Officer Jeremy Bitner
Police Officer
Jeremy Bitner
Englewood Police Department, Colorado
End of Watch: Monday, May 28, 2012 Bio & Incident Details
Age: 39
Tour: 8 years, 6 months
Badge # Not available
Military veteran
Cause: Vehicular assault
Incident Date: 5/28/2012
Weapon: Automobile; Alcohol involved
Suspect: Arrested
Police Officer Jeremy Bitner was struck and killed by a drunk driver while making a traffic stop at the intersection of South Broadway Street and East Belleview Avenue at approximately 12:05 am.
During the initial stop he had the driver exit the vehicles. As the two stood in the roadway next to the car a drunk driver sideswiped Officer Bitner’s patrol car and then struck him and the other driver, throwing them both approximately 50 feet. A witness to the collision called 911 and followed the drunk driver as he fled the scene in his vehicle. Officers from the Littleton Police Department arrested him several minutes after the crash due to the witness’ actions.
Officer Bitner and the citizen who were struck were both transported to Swedish Medical Center in critical condition. Officer Bitner succumbed to his injuries approximately 11 hours later.
Officer Bitner was a U.S. Army veteran. He had served with the Englewood Police Department for eight years and had previously served with the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office for six months. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:
Police Chief John Collins
Englewood Police Department
3615 S Elati Street
Englewood, CO 80110
Phone: (303) 761-7410
Culpeper VA police officer charged with murder www.privateofficer.com
The indictment, handed up by a special grand jury, is highly unusual. There have been few cases in the United States in which an officer has faced so serious a charge in connection with actions taken on duty.
In addition to the murder charge, the special investigative grand jury indicted the officer on three other counts: malicious shooting into an occupied vehicle, malicious shooting into an occupied vehicle resulting in a death and use of a firearm in commission of a felony.
The woman was identified as Patricia A. Cook, 54, of Culpeper, and the officer as Daniel Harmon-Wright, 32, of Gainesville.
In an unusual twist, the officer’s mother was indicted Tuesday on three counts of forgery of public documents. Virginia State Police said evidence had come to light concerning efforts by the woman, Bethany P. Sullivan, 56, of Orange, Va., to purge negative information from her son’s personnel file. She had been a Culpeper police employee but left in 2010.
The charges against the officer stem from an encounter between him and Cook on Feb. 9 in Culpeper, a town of a little more than 16,000 about 70 miles southwest of Washington.
A statement issued Tuesday by state police said that during the incident, “the officer became engaged with” the driver of a Jeep Wrangler. “During the encounter,” police said, Cook was shot, and she died at the scene.
In an interview Monday night, Cook’s pastor, the Rev. Randy Orndorff of Culpeper United Methodist Church, said he had talked with family members about what happened and had seen reports in the news media.
For reasons that have not been determined, Orndorff said, Cook was apparently parked in the lot of a Catholic church. That apparently prompted a call about a suspicious vehicle. When she was asked to provide her license and registration, the pastor said, it was reported that Cook rolled up her window and began driving away.
“The story was [the police officer] got his arm caught” in the window “when she rolled it up,” Orndorff said. It has raised the question, he said, as to whether the officer was dragged by the moving vehicle, possibly causing him to believe that his life was in jeopardy.
A story this month in the Culpeper Star-Exponent quoted a lawyer as saying he would defend the officer in “whatever came up.” The newspaper said the lawyer denied in a blog post that the officer claimed to have been dragged. But he was also quoted as calling the matter “pretty much a clear case of self-defense.”
Neither the officer nor Cook’s husband could be reached Tuesday night.
Orndorff said Cook worked with children at his church, and volunteered with cooking and making quilts for the needy.
Calling the matter tragic, Town Manager Kimberly Alexander said the officer had been on paid leave but is now suspended without pay.
Noting that state police had done the investigation, she said town officials “really don’t” know what happened and are waiting to hear the evidence.
Jim Fisher, the Fauquier County commonwealth’s attorney, was special prosecutor in the case. Police quoted him as saying the grand jury heard from more than 45 witnesses and received a good deal of other evidence.
Source:Washington Post
Pittsburgh Housing Authority defends use of constables as officers www.privateofficer.com
The effort, though, has been beset by glitches, legal questions and concerns that some of the constables submitted questionable documentation of the hours they worked.
Some security industry professionals say the use of constables as beat cops is illegal. Others say the authority’s bidding process was improper. A constable who was central to organizing the effort, but who was fired shortly after it was fully implemented, said last week that his fellow constables may be working in a manner that runs afoul of the rules.
Authority Executive Director A. Fulton Meachem Jr. said the constables project was cost-effective, and that crime in the city’s public housing communities fell last year by 3 percent.
“We felt like it was imperative that we had a very trained workforce out there working for our residents,” he said.
He defended the process by which the authority awarded a $1.23 million-per-year constable management contract to Carnegie-based Victory Security, but skirted questions about the legality of the program. “If the law at this point allows [the constable program], then we should have the opportunity to do it.”
The authority long had its own police, but merged it into the Pittsburgh Police Bureau in 2007 to shave its $4 million-a-year cost. The authority agreed to pay the city $1 million a year for three years to provide enhanced police coverage of its communities, but that arrangement ended in 2010.
The city still polices the communities, but authority residents missed having more direct contact with officers, Mr. Meachem said. Believing that security guards wouldn’t have the necessary training, and police would cost $45 an hour, the authority settled on constables.
Constables are state-certified professionals, some elected and others appointed by district judges, who are trained in legal processes and use of firearms. They are independent contractors who are paid piecemeal for arrests, service of warrants and subpoenas, and other work they do for district judges.
Last year, the authority held a bidding process and hired Castle Shannon-based Specialized Security Response Inc. to provide and manage constables for $1.8 million a year. But there were “scheduling deficiencies,” said Clare Ann Fitzgerald, the authority’s general counsel, so SSR was dismissed.
The authority in February invited companies to submit proposals for “constable services” or “the equivalent in certification or current training.” Some said they were confused by that language, and weren’t sure whether the authority was demanding bona fide constables or would settle for something similar.
The authority picked Victory Security, which offered to provide constables for $30.44 an hour for 3,360 hours a year. The authority would not reveal the price quotes of losing bidders, saying only that it weighed the companies’ experience, capacity, fees, strategy, minority- and women-owned business participation and willingness to hire residents of low-income areas.
Victory Security’s contract is more than $500,000 a year cheaper than SSR’s was. It’s unclear if any other bidder had a lower price.
“You have to look at more than just simply price,” said Mr. Meachem, declining to detail the factors that led to Victory Security’s hire.
“I think [Victory Security's edge] was me and the bid,” said Constable Brian Van Dusen of the Hill District, who served as operations manager for the project until May 1. “Victory Security really had no idea what a constable was, what a constable did, how to find them. … I brought the expertise and the manpower and the ability to operate the contract.”
Mr. Van Dusen said he eventually realized some of the constables working under him were sending in their Daily Activity Reports hours before the ends of their shifts, making it impossible to verify they had worked the entire shift. He showed the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette electronic reports for eight-hour shifts that, according to the electronic file properties, were finalized two to four hours before shift’s end. He said he reported it to Victory Security president Kathleen Bowman. She then “told me they don’t need me anymore.”
Ms. Bowman could not be reached for comment.
On the day he was fired, Mr. Van Dusen texted the authority’s safety director, Joy Pekar-Miller, who oversees the contract. “Recently I have uncovered some very damaging information,” he wrote to her in texts shared with the Post-Gazette. “I discovered over 35-50 instances of individuals lying on the DAR’s & Sign in sheets.” She responded, asking whether that was the reason for his firing, and he suggested that she pull the recent sign-in sheets.
The text thread, said authority Chief Community Affairs Officer Michelle Jackson on Friday, “doesn’t give you any specifics. … It doesn’t give a time frame. And all of our invoices check out.”
The allegation of false reporting, she said, “is very vague. It’s like saying, ‘The constables didn’t show up.’ Where? When?”
Some of the companies that bid on the contract but lost said it was never clear to them whether they had to commit to providing constables, or could line up similarly trained security guards.
Some said they didn’t get due consideration from the authority. “We believe that our firm and management team had the ability to do this scope of work,” said Joseph Diven of St. Moritz Security Services. “But unfortunately we were not brought in for the interview process.”
Some security firms question whether the authority’s use of constables has crossed legal lines.
Mr. Meachem said he’s convinced the process and approach are valid. Constables, he said, are helping keep his tenants safe.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
NJ man arrested after abducting casino employee www.privateofficer.com
Atlantic City NJ May 30 2012 A Clementon man wanted for abducting his former girlfriend early Saturday morning from outside the casino where she works was arrested Monday in Buena.
Donald M. Nowell, 24, is accused of carjacking and kidnapping the woman from the self-park garage at Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City police Sgt. Monica McMenamin said. He was arrested by State Police during a motor vehicle stop. The woman — whose name is not being released due to the nature of the charges — is safe and was interviewed by detectives.
Nowell also faces charges related to assaulting a security guard at Harrah’s, McMenamin said. Casino security called in the incident at 12:16 a.m. Saturday.
Nowell was released from East Jersey State Prison in December after serving more than two months on theft, drug and trespassing charges, according to state Department of Corrections records.
source:pressofatlanticcity
Body of helicopter pilot recovered in Gulf of Mexico www.privateofficer.com
New Orleans LA May 30 2012 - The US Coast Guard confirmed the body of a pilot whose helicopter crashed into the Gulf of Mexico has been found.
Officials reported divers from a response vessel found the body inside the cockpit.
The pilot’s identity has not been released.
The chopper went down Monday afternoon about 35 miles off the coast of Grand Isle.
The helicopter, which is owned by PHI Inc., is used to ferry workers to and from oil rigs and platforms.
PHI is based out of Lafayette.
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Source: WAFB
Police charge man in Laughlin casino disturbance www.privateofficer.com
BULLHEAD CITY AZ May 30 2012 — A local transient was arrested Sunday afternoon for causing a disturbance in the parking lot of a Laughlin casino after he reportedly exposed himself to hotel guests and employees.
At about 5:50 p.m. Sunday, Bullhead City police responded to a parking lot on the Arizona side of the Colorado River in on Highway 95 in response to a disorderly conduct call. According to BHCPD Cpl. Shawn Brooks, Henry Eugene Drew, 44, a transient who has been staying at local hotels with his family, had been on the beach near the casino’s boat dock when he suddenly became agitated and began yelling at hotel guests. In later interviews with police, Drew’s family members, who had been present during the disturbance, said they did not understand what set him off.
Brooks said hotel security asked Drew to leave the area, which he did; but as he reached Highway 95, he reportedly turned back toward the security officers and pulled down his shorts, revealing his genitalia. He then crossed Highway 95 and began walking southbound, making obscene gestures to passing motorists, Brooks said, in an attempt to goad one into a fight.
When police arrived to intercept Drew, however, he ran back across Highway 95 and down toward the river. Police called boat units into action to search for him, and one eventually located Drew, wading in the Colorado River just across from another casino.
The boating officers pulled Drew from the river, but he continued to be combative, and was pepper sprayed before being brought back to the a fueling dock, where he was shackled and handcuffed before being transferred to dry land.
Brooks said Drew continued to be combative with officers and medics who attempted to treat him for the pepper spray, cursing and yelling and refusing to walk. After refusing medical treatment, Drew was processed at Bullhead police headquarters, then transported and booked into the Mohave County Jail in Kingman on two counts of disorderly conduct and two counts of indecent exposure.
Source:thedailynews
Chicago mother of the bride says police ruined wedding www.privateofficer.com
Loretta Murphy sued Chicago, police Officers A. Hladczuk, R. Torres and P. Mack, Marriott Hotel Services, and Michael Mader, a Marriott security guard, in Federal Court.
“On May 28, 2011, Loretta attended her daughter’s wedding,” the complaint states.
“Loretta’s daughter had contracted with Marriott Downtown Hotel for rental of a honeymoon suite and a hospitality suite.
“Loretta’s daughter informed Marriott Downtown Hotel that the wedding guests would be arriving at Marriott Downtown Hotel at or around midnight, following the daughter’s wedding reception.
“Loretta’s daughter also informed Marriott Downtown Hotel that the wedding guests would be bringing alcohol into the hospitality suite and that they would require additional seating in the hospitality suite.”
In response, “staff employed by Marriott Downtown Hotel brought several cases of beer and additional seating to the hospitality suite,” the complaint states.
Murphy says she went to sleep at about 2:30 a.m. in a closed bedroom of the hospitality suite.
“Other invited wedding guests remained in the hospitality suite.
“Loretta was subsequently awoken by one of the wedding guests telling her that security officers were at the door of the hospitality suite.
“Loretta came into the main part of the hospitality suite and observed several security officers employed by Marriott Downtown Hotel,” the complaint states.
“Loretta informed the Marriott Downtown Hotel security officers and the Chicago police officers that it was her daughter’s wedding night and that herself and the other guests in the room were permitted to be in the room.
“One of the wedding guests continued to drink from a champagne bottle while the Chicago police officers and the Marriott Downtown Hotel security officers were in the hospitality suite.
“The Chicago police officers became upset and demanded that the guest put the champagne bottle down.
“Loretta explained to the officers that they were guests in the hospitality suite and that the officers should be respectful of the right to be in the suite.
“The officers became upset with Loretta’s statement of the guests’ rights to be in the suite celebrating Loretta’s daughter’s wedding.
“At that time, the Chicago police officers arrested Loretta, restrained her, and defendant Michael Mader signed a criminal complaint against Loretta on behalf of Marriott Downtown Hotel for disorderly conduct.”
Loretta was taken to the police station and kept handcuffed in a cell for several hours. Criminal charges against her were dropped at the request of the Marriott.
“The arrest of Loretta was unlawful and in violation of the United States Constitution, the laws of the United States and the laws of the State of Illinois,” Murphy says.
She seeks damages for false arrest, excessive force, emotional distress, unreasonable seizure, malicious prosecution, conspiracy, assault, battery, and false imprisonment.
She is represented by Richard Duffin with Duffin & Dore.
NY women charged in shoplifting-assault incident www.privateofficer.com
Massapequa NY May 30 2012
Two Amityville women assaulted a pair of cops Saturday after one of them was placed under arrest for using children to shoplift, police said.
Clara Young, 23, was spotted by security at a Pathmark in Massapequa filling a shopping cart along with two kids, aged 9 and 10 at about 4:40 p.m.
Young exited the store with the 10-year-old, and got into a car parked outside, while the 9-year-old tried to push the cart out of the store wthout paying, cops said.
All three were stopped by store security, who called police and Young’s friend Shakeeta Legette, 29, the mother of the two boys.
When cops tried to arrest Young, she allegedly began to hit them. Legette then joined in and also assaulted the officers, cops said.
One officer sustained a shoulder injury while the other officer hurt his elbow. They were treated at a local hospital, police said.
Young was charged with petty larceny, assault 2nd and resisting arrest, while Legette was charged with assault 2nd, endangering the welfare of a child and obstruction of governmental administration.
