Archive
Coast Guard to crack down on green lasers in Myrtle Beach www.privateofficer.com
It’s part of the reason why U.S. Coast Guard Officials say they are cracking down on the novelty lasers. Commander Brian Lefebvre of U.S. Coast Guard in Charleston says the lasers, when pointed at search and rescue helicopters, can cause blindness and potentially force pilots to land.“When a Coast Guard helicopter crew is hit by a laser, they are required to ground the aircraft so that the pilots can undergo a medical evaluation before they get airborne again,” Lefebvre explains.
Coast Guard officials say two search and rescue choppers have been grounded in two weeks in the Myrtle Beach area, including an incident on July 26 that hampered efforts to find two missing boaters near the Apache Pier.
The incident compelled Coast Guard officials to send out a letter detailing their intentions to pursue new ways to enforce the South Carolina state law against shining a laser light at an aircraft. The possible penalties for breaking that law include $11,000 in fines, and five years in jail.
Myrtle Beach Police Lieutenant Doug Furlong says they’re doing everything they can to keep the green laser problem in check, but the sheer number of calls the department is forced to respond to takes away valuable time officers could be making use of elsewhere.
“We’ve had 198 [green laser] calls since the first of May,” Furlong says. “That means officers respond to 198 calls regarding this type of situation, which brings them away from doing their job.”
The City of Myrtle Beach has an ordinance against green lasers, preventing minors from purchasing or owning them without parental supervision. The law also allows police to charge anyone caught shining the lasers at people or planes with a misdemeanor. Furlong says even with the law on their side, police have a tough time making sure vacationers know the rules.
“I think one of the issues is it’s hard to get the info out,” Furlong says. “[It's hard to] get the information to people visiting, possibly looking at purchasing these lasers.”
US Coast Guard Officials were unable to elaborate on what their new enforcement actions could entail.
By Capt. Michael White and Cmdr. Gregory Fuller
The widespread use of green laser toys by party-goers along Myrtle Beach piers and beaches is disrupting Coast Guard rescue efforts and endangering helicopter crews. If the Coast Guard is going to continue rescue operations along Myrtle Beach shores, the reckless behavior of shining green lasers at our helicopters must stop.
Twice in the last two weeks, our Coast Guard helicopters were grounded in the middle of rescue missions when the flash of green lasers hit pilots searching for people in distress. The popular green laser toys, sold widely at beachfront shops, may seem fun or cool but create a serious hazard for our crews and force them to abandon their rescue missions.
When Coast Guard helicopters are airborne the crews are simultaneously flying the aircraft and visually searching out the windows. Once a laser hits an aircrew it can cause temporary blindness making it impossible to do both.
To ensure their safety, our aircrews affected by laser lights must land immediately and can only return to the mission after being cleared by a physician. Depending on the severity of the exposure they may be grounded, leaving a distressed or injured boater to wait for a rescue helicopter that is no longer coming to their aid.
After six such laser groundings over the last 18 months, not including the two most recent incidents, we can no longer passively absorb the risks. The possibility of not saving people in distress or losing a Coast Guard aircrew is now too great. So, we are aggressively pursuing landside enforcement action and risk management policies that would limit rescue efforts until the safety of our crews can be assured.
As of February 2012 people caught shining a laser light directly at or in the path of an aircraft face up to five years in prison and an $11,000 fine. Locally, Myrtle Beach prohibits the possession of laser pointers by minors.
Our rescue crews are devoted to saving people on the sea, often at great risk to themselves. But the reckless behavior with green lasers frequently occurring along Myrtle Beach compels us to act. We need community leaders, businessmen, law enforcement officers and parents to spread the word. Stop using green laser pointers improperly so we can focus on rescuing people who need our help. A party trick or prank could one day cost the lives of an aircrew or the mariner they seek to find and rescue.
White is the commander of Coast Guard Sector Charleston. Commander Gregory Fuller is the commanding officer of Coast Guard Air Station Savanna.
Source:wmbf
Police shoot man who aims soda can in an effort to commit suicide by cop www.privateofficer.com
Ogden Detective Tyler Ziegler said in a probable cause statement that Kenneth Mobley, 46, made the admission following his July 24 arrest.
“Mobley said he wanted to die, so he emerged from his hiding spot and pointed a can of soda at one of the officers,” Ziegler said. “He wanted the officer to believe the can was a weapon so the officer would shoot him.”
Ogden police have declined to identify the officer who fired at Mobley and missed following a chase. The officer remains on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated by the Weber County Attorney’s Office and the police department.
Mobley was booked into Weber County Jail on suspicion of theft, felony criminal mischief, evading, interfering with an arrest, two counts of aggravated assault and three counts of assault on a police officer.
He is being held without bail.
Mobley is suspected of stealing a 2001 Ford F-150 pickup truck on July 21 from his parents with whom he lives in Clinton, police say.
Ogden officers tried pulling Mobley over on 12th Street, but Mobley rammed the truck into a police car, according to the probable cause statement.
“He (Mobley) claims the officer activated his emergency lights, but he did not want to stop,” the statement reads.
“In an attempt to evade the officer, he slammed on his brakes. He said he knew his truck’s Stinger hitch would disable the police vehicle. He admitted knowing his actions could potentially cause serious injury.”
After the collision, Mobley abandoned his truck and hid in a field near the train tracks on West 17th Street. He was soon confronted by police, according to the probable cause statement.
Mobley injured three officers while fighting with them in an effort to escape, police say.
Ogden Officer J. Nelson injured his arm and required an X-ray, while Weber County Deputy Matt Nelson injured his wrist and Deputy Mike McDonald hurt his elbow and shoulder, according to the statement.
Source:Standard-Examiner
Buffalo NY woman shot to death by police after killing grandson www.privateofficer.com
BUFFALO, NY Aug 3 2012- A 38-year-old woman was shot and killed by Buffalo Police officers late Wednesday afternoon after she “lunged towards the officers … with two large knives,” a department spokesman said.
Officers were called to a duplex at 193-195 Esser Avenue in the city’s Riverside neighborhood just after 4 p.m.
When they arrived, they found the woman’s four-year-old grandson bleeding profusely on the porch. The boy was rushed to Women and Children’s Hospital where he later died.
Sources said investigators believe the woman stabbed her grandson before police arrived.
Two officers responded to the home. It is still unclear if one or both fired their weapons. They were on routine patrol in the neighborhood and were flagged down.
A simultaneous 911 call was made around the same time reporting a child had been assaulted.
The officer or officers involved in the shooting will be suspended with pay, which is normal procedure in an officer-involved shooting.
The Buffalo Police Department’s Professional Standards Division is investigating the incident, as is the city’s Homicide Squad.
An Erie County Grand Jury will eventually hear the case, which is standard operating procedure when a member of law enforcement uses deadly force.
Source:WKBW
State Police release report on Bob Carlson sex abuse investigation www.privateofficer.com
AUGUSTA, Maine Aug 3 2012 – Maine State Police have been investigating Rev. Bob Carlson for sexual abuse allegations since November 2011, and kept the investigation open after his suicide off the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.
Police have released a 100-page document detailing at least 18 interviews and several accounts of abuse.
Police began investigating Carlson after an anonymous letter sent to the District Attorney, Maine State Police, and other agencies alleged he had abused a boy in the 1970s, and suggested Carlson had abused more people.
Carlson, who was a minister, chaplain, and founder of the Penobscot Community Health Care, committed suicide by jumping off of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge the day after he learned of the investigation in mid-November.
The Maine State Police Report does not include the names of the alleged victims and some of the interviewees, but does describe a number of sexual abuse allegations against the late pastor.
One source told police there were at least a half a dozen people that described sexual abuse at the hands of Carlson.
The source said at least two of the victims were Husson University student who were younger than 18 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.
The source said one of the victims reported the abuse to then Husson University President Bill Beardsley, who is now the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation.
The source said a third party reported the abuse of another student to Beardsley.
Beardsley told police he “at no time…had any information to suggest that anything unlawful or inappropriate” had happened.
Beardsley told police he received two phone calls around 2005 from people concerned about Carlson’s behavior.
He said he met with Carlson about the phone calls, and Carlson resigned as Chaplain of Husson University in 2006.
Beardsley was not available for comment on Wednesday.
Husson University spokesperson Julie Green said, “As I understand it from what I’ve read, Commissioner Beardsley was contacted about some behaviors that occured years ago, he with Carlson and then Carlson resigned.
“We cannot speculate about what went on during a phone conversation between Commissioner Beardsley and an unnamed person. Beardsley made it clear he did not share that conversation with anyone else on the Husson campus.
“There have never been any allegations, let me repeat, there have never been any allegations that any abuse occurred here at Husson during Carlson’s time at the University.”
Other sources in the police report describe Carlson parking in dark areas of parking lots for 30 to 40 minutes at a time. On two occasions, sources told police there was a young child in the car with Carlson.
One person told police the alleged victims described a “grooming process that occurred…that monetary control or influence was part of Bob’s control over some of the victims…that Bob would look over less fortunate in the community.”
Police said they continued to investigate Rev. Carlson after his death because they wanted to give other potential victims to come forward and receive help.
Source:WCSH
Arkansas police say handcuffed man shot himself in the head www.privateofficer.com
Jonesboro Ark Aug 3 2012 – Police in Jonesboro, Arkansas are responding to cries of foul-play in the case of the death of 21-year-old Chavis Carter by launching an investigation.
Carter, who died at the hospital, was a passenger in a pickup truck that was pulled over by police late Saturday night,reports WREG.
The thumping noise, according to the cops, was Carter shooting himself in the head.
Arresting officers in the official police report allege that Carer’s death was the result o f a self-inflicted gunshot. These allegations do not square with other assertions made by the officers in the same report, namely that two officers opened the squad car door and found that Carter’s hands were still cuffed behind his back after the shot was heard. The officers account for the sudden appearance of a gun in Carter’s possession, alleging, that it was somehow missed in both searches.
“Any given officer has missed something on a search, be it drugs, knife, razor blades, this instance it happened to be a gun,” Jonesboro Police Sergeant Lyle Waterworth said after the bizarre incident. The police believe that Chavez managed to pull out a hidden gun and shot himself in spite of the handcuffs.
Carter’s mother, Teresa, however, suspects foul play: “I think they killed him, my son wasn’t suicidal.”
According to Teresa, Carter called his girlfriend while he was pulled over to tell her he’d call her from jail. She also said her son was shot in his right temple, when he was left-handed.
The two officers involved are now on administrative leave until the investigation concludes
Harris County deputy constable fired amid accusations of sexual abuse www.privateofficer.com
Gerardo Hernandez, 41, was taken into custody Tuesday, charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child in an incident that allegedly took place in 2002, Precinct 4 Constable’s Office authorities said.
The girl, about 6 at the time of the alleged incident, did not report it until Dec. 27, 2011, San Antonio Police Department authorities said.
On that day, officers responded to a report of lewd conduct at a home in San Antonio, where they were told by an unidentified person that the girl, now a teenager, was seen sneaking out of the house by a neighbor, authorities said.
When confronted about sneaking out, the girl made an outcry about an incident that she said occurred nearly a decade earlier, authorities said.
“Her baby sitter’s husband, the suspect (Hernandez), was taking care of her while the babysitter went to the store,” said officer Matthew Porter, an SAPD spokesman. “During that time, he took her to a bedroom, pulled out his penis and told her to touch it. Then he forced her to give him oral sex.”
Precinct 4 Constable’s Office authorities learned of the charges against Hernandez, who has been with the agency since 2008, on Tuesday after receiving a phone call from San Antonio police. Hernandez was fired and taken into custody shortly before starting his shift.
Hernandez, who’s been with the agency since 2008, was aware of the investigation and had been interviewed by investigators, authorities said. Precinct 4 Constable Ron Hickman said Hernandez was indicted July 20.
Deputy Chief Jim Sumner said Hernandez received only one disciplinary action, the nature of which was not released, in the past three years.
He also received two or three commendations, one for helping find a missing elderly person and the other for helping out with shoplifters at a Target, Sumner said.
Before becoming a deputy constable, Hernandez worked as a Harris County jailer. He also was employed as a deputy and jailer by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office from December 2003 to May 2008, when he resigned, authorities said.
Hickman and Sumner said their officers handled Hernandez as if he were any other defendant.
“It’s not something you look forward to doing,” Sumner said of the arrest. “But you have to police your own just as you would police others.”
Source:www.mysanantonio.com
Gainesville security officer practices, teaches extreme couponing www.privateofficer.com
Gainesville Fla Aug 3 2012 Angelia Gant spends her nights guarding the elderly and going through their trash.
“Every night I go up into their recycling bins and get all the coupons out,” she said. “They don’t go grocery shopping. They get fed three meals a day.”
The 46-year-old security guard at the Atrium at Gainesville said she has collected more than 2,000 coupons.
She gets most of her coupons from discarded newspapers at work, and she mastered a few methods for getting the best savings out of them.
On July 21, Gant shared some of her secrets at the Alachua County Headquarters Library. About 12 people joined Gant in a small room upstairs as she presented “Couponing: Tips, Tricks & Tactics.”
She gave the audience handouts equipped with the latest coupon lingo describing everything from Blinkies, machines that spit out coupons at the store, to Peelies, coupons that peel off the actual product.
Gant said some stores take manufacturers’ coupons up to two weeks after the expiration date, and some honor coupons from their competitors.
Most sales run in six-week cycles, she said. If you miss a sale on an item, you’ll probably find it on sale again.
Carrie Roberts, a 30-year-old mother of two, asked Gant the most questions.
“Saving money is always something I’ve been interested in,” Roberts said. “Take a little time to get the coupons and you can actually save a lot.”
Gant started her extreme coupon clipping as a way to save money.
“Basically, when my husband lost his job, it got to be real tight,” she said. “He was complaining that there wasn’t enough food in the house.”
She took a class and began saving. Gant estimated she saved about $1,000 over the past year or so from coupons.
Gant and her husband have no children, and she said she doesn’t know how her friends with kids put food on the table.
“It’s like feeding a family of four,” she said. “My husband, he eats like three kids.”
Gant has used so many coupons, at checkout some stores give her cash back. She said she received about $100 back in the past two years.
Gant arranges her thousands of coupons by month and store, and said it’s not hard to keep them organized.
“Give it about a couple of months and you’ll get the hang of it,” she said. “It’ll flow real easy.”
Source-The Alligator
Gerald Ford Elementary School teacher arrested for sexually assaulting a 4th grade female student www.privateofficer.com
PALM DESERT, Calif. Aug 3 2012- The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has arrested a valley teacher on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 4th grade female student.
According to a Sheriff’s Department news release sent out late Wednesday, in July 2012 the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department began conducting an investigation into allegations of sexual assault on a fourth grade female student at Gerald Ford Elementary School located in Indian Wells.
The investigation revealed additional victims and culminated in the arrest of 59 year old teacher Robert Keith Bryan. Bryan was arrested at his home in Palm Desert Wednesday morning and will be booked on charges of Lewd acts with a minor, and annoy or molest a child. He’s being held on $220,000 bail. Bryan’s next scheduled court date is August 3rd.
Sheriff’s Investigators were supported by officers from the Riverside County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force, and the Sexual Predator Internet Decoy Enforcement for Riverside (SPIDER) unit.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Sergeant Tom Brewster from the Palm Desert Station Investigations Bureau at 760-836-1600. Those with information may also reach us anonymously through Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-STOP.
Source:kesq.com
Man pleads guilty in Bellagio casino botched robbery www.privateofficer.com
Michael Belton pleaded guilty to the charges last week before District Court Hearing Master Melisa De La Garza, who set a sentencing hearing for Sept. 26.
Belton faces two to 21 years in prison. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop one count of burglary against Belton, who remained jailed at the Clark County Detention Center on $60,000 bail.
Belton was one of three men in a conspiracy to try and rob the Bellagio of high-value gaming chips. But the attempt was foiled by quick-thinking casino employees.
The two other suspects are still at large, court and jail records show.
According to a police report, Belton and a second man, known only as “Carlos,” were wearing black wigs and sunglasses and wielding a can of pepper spray when they entered the high-stakes blackjack area about 10:45 p.m. May 19.
“Carlos” sprayed the table as Belton snatched 23 $5,000 chips, worth $115,000, according to the report.
Three people tackled Belton, spilling the chips onto the floor. “Carlos” escaped.
Belton later told investigators he planned the caper with two other men: “Carlos” and Carlos Rodriguez.
Belton, of Nuevo, Calif., told detectives he came to Las Vegas after learning of a job opportunity repossessing cars.
Rodriguez told him of a plan to rob the Bellagio, and Belton agreed because he was broke and his grandparents were sick, the report showed.
The plan called for Belton and the other “Carlos” to pepper spray a dealer and steal as many chips as they could.
Once they left the casino, they would discard their disguises, rendezvous at a Mandalay Bay hotel room and hand off the chips to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, who claimed to be a high roller, then would exchange the stolen chips for cash and split it three ways, the report said.
With Belton’s help, police discovered the room that was comped to Carlos Rodriguez of North Hollywood, Calif., according to the report.
Source:Las Vegas Jornal
Former Rim High history teacher admits sex crimes www.privateofficer.com
Eugene Ballantyne, 29, of Running Springs, affixed his signature to a 23-page plea agreement on July 3, consenting to a long list of conditions that will include his registering as a sex offender in whatever state he may live or work.
This newspaper obtained a copy of that agreement on Tuesday.
Jerry Yang, the assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting Ballantyne, said the former teacher will be sentenced Oct. 29 by Los Angeles Federal Judge George King.
MAXIMUM PENALTIES
The agreement notes that though the maximum penalty for violating Section 2422(b) of Title 18 of the United States Code can include life imprisonment, lifetime supervised probation, a $250,000 fine, Yang will recommend that Ballantyne get the statutory minimum, which is 10 years in prison.
On the final page of the agreement, titled “Certification of Defendant,” Ballantyne acknowledges that “no one has threatened or forced me in any way to enter into this agreement,” adding that “I am pleading guilty because I am guilty of the charges and wish to take advantage of the promises set forth in this agreement, and not for any other reason.”
Under terms of the plea agreement, Ballantyne will be required to participate in psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment or a sex-offender treatment program and pay all or part of the costs.
NO CHILD PORN
The conditions of his probation, which will take effect after his prison term ends, will also include a prohibition on the possession of child pornography. He may also not have a post office box without his probation officer’s approval.
Ballantyne will also be forbidden to contact his victims—who include, according to the agreement, 13-year-old girls in New Jersey and Blythe, Calif.—and must come no closer than 100 yards to them.
He is also forbidden from frequenting places where minors are likely to be found, like school yards, parks, public swimming pools, playgrounds and video arcades.
In addition, he is barred from owning or working for a business that sells materials depicting sexual contact and may not possess computers, computer equipment, passwords or e-mail addresses not approved by his probation officer.
MONITORING COSTS
Ballantyne will also be required to pay up to $32 a month for federal monitoring of his computer and, should he gain monetarily from the images he obtained on the Internet, he must submit the funds to the government and turn over ownership of those images to authorities.
According to the plea agreement, Ballantyne will also give up basic rights of citizenship, including the rights to vote, own a firearm, hold public office and serve on a jury.
Ballantyne taught at Rim High beginning in 2007 until his release as part of a 2010 budget cut. He subsequently found a teaching job at Arrowview Middle School in San Bernardino.
At that school, Yang said following his arrest, Ballantyne continued sexually preying on teenage girls, including one in his own class. He allegedly contacted the girl online, posing as a 15-year-old boy, and cultivated a relationship with her over two years.
Ballantyne persuaded that girl to send him nude photos by e-mail, Yang said.
NO NEW CHARGES
But Ballantyne was not charged with any of the alleged violations at Arrowview. Instead, the charges against him included those uncovered in a two-state investigation. Outlined in an FBI special agent’s affidavit, they resulted from the New Jersey girl’s disclosure of her Internet relationship with a man called John Baldwin.
That man was later found to be Ballantyne, who, the affidavit said, told the girl he loved her, got her to masturbate during phone conversations and persuaded her to e-mail him sexually explicit images of herself.
The plea agreement also notes that Ballantyne knowingly induced the New Jersey teen to engage in activities for which he could have been charged, under California law, with lewd acts with a child.
The complaint against Ballantyne says he had also obtained sexual images from a 15-year-old girl he’d met online, while the plea agreement outlined how, at age 29, he had traveled about 180 miles to have sex with a 13-year-old girl who lives in Blythe.
Asked Tuesday about the length of Ballantyne’s post-prison probation, Yang said, “supervised release can be up to life.”
RISK POTENTIAL
For Ballantyne there could be an element of chance in signing the agreement, which he said in his declaration he had done after conferring with his attorney.
In its first paragraph, the document says the agreement is limited to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) and “cannot bind any other federal, state, local or foreign prosecuting, enforcement, administrative or regulatory authorities.”
In another section it states the defendant understands that the court and the United States Probation Office are not parties to this agreement and need not accept any of the USAO’s sentencing recommendations.
The agreement is signed by Yang, Ballantyne and Stephen D. Demik, Ballantyne’s attorney.
Source:MountainNews
Charlotte Police say they are ready for the DNC www.privateofficer.com
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| Chief Rodney Monroe |
CHARLOTTE, N.C.Aug 3 2012 — For this summer’s Democratic National Convention, Charlotte will add thousands of police from outside departments and spend millions on training, equipment and temporary barriers. But their biggest aid in crowd control will be one they didn’t have to purchase, build or teach: The layout of the city itself.
Convention-related activities will take place in the heart of the city’s central business district, which is flat and ringed by expressways. There are no nearby neighborhoods where protesters could overflow and cause trouble if violence erupts. Unlike Tampa, which is hosting this summer’s Republican convention, there is no adjoining body of water to complicate efforts to control crowds. Simply put, the police will have the protesters surrounded in secured areas.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Rodney Monroe talks during an interview in his office in Charlotte, N.C. Monroe hasn’t been getting much sleep these days. With the Democratic National Convention just weeks away, he’s spending longer hours than usual, planning for the event that will bring thousands of delegates — and protesters — to North Carolina’s largest city. (AP Photo)
Still, with so many variables to manage, the police chief acknowledges he often wakes up in the middle of the night to write down things he still needs to do. The September convention is an event unlike any the city has seen, likely to draw thousands of demonstrators who range from the peaceful and politically minded to anarchists bent on disrupting the events.
“During those demonstrations, you’re going to constantly have people trying to stir things up. If they’re not making an impact, you keep moving things along. But if they start agitating people, you have to take action,” Police Chief Rodney Monroe said in an interview. “You want to treat people fairly. As long as you facilitate helping the greater number of people out there demonstrating, we want to keep them on our side. Hopefully they’ll help us identify some of the agitators.”
The city of 760,000 is spending $50 million in federal funds to buy new equipment, train officers and make other security adjustments for the convention being held from Sept. 4-6. The police force’s yearlong preparations also included sending 100 officers to help maintain order in Chicago during chaotic protests at a NATO conference in May.
For the first two days, the Time Warner Arena in the city’s downtown will be the main venue. On the last day, President Barack Obama will make his acceptance speech at the 74,000-seat outdoor Bank of America stadium where the city’s NFL team plays. While the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security will be responsible for security inside the convention hall and stadium, Charlotte police have to maintain order for the many gatherings surrounding the convention.
Police say they don’t know how many protesters will come, but massive rallies are already in the works. Two days before the convention, a coalition of 70 groups is planning to hold peaceful protests on economic inequality and other issues under the name Wall Street South. The national Occupy movement has also issued a loose call for protesters, as have anarchist groups.
The Charlotte area is home to Bank of America Corp. one of the nation’s largest banks by assets and other Fortune 500 companies, including Duke Energy and Lowe’s. With a number of companies in the financial industry, the city has fashioned itself as a banking hub.
The city has hosted large conventions and sporting events before, but nothing on the scale of the Democratic convention. Prominent events have included an NCAA Final Four, ACC Championship football game and the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in 2010, which drew 70,000 people over three days.
Monroe said he expects most demonstrators at the Democratic convention to be peaceful. But department leaders are prepared for the kind of disruptive protesters who have emerged in recent years.
Monroe brings crowd-control experience from previous posts. As a commander with the Washington, D.C., police department, he was responsible for coordinating security for then-President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997.
He and other department leaders have met with law enforcement commanders from St. Paul. Minn., where the GOP convention was held in 2008; and Denver, the site of the 2008 Democratic convention. They also consulted with Boston police, where the Democrats held the 2004 convention. The police chief said he speaks every day with the Secret Service and Homeland Security about the convention.
“We’ve done our best to educate ourselves in lessons of other major cities for mass protests,” Monroe said.
With the help of the federal funds, Charlotte plans to add 2,400 to 3,400 officers from outside departments to its force of more than 1,750.
Some of the money has also been used to buy about $61,000 in software to help officers identify and mitigate security threats, $303,596 for bicycles and other field equipment, $704,795 for a command center upgrade and $937,852 to lodge visiting police officers, according to documents released by Charlotte officials.
Temporary concrete barriers, 9-foot-high steel fences and portable vehicle barriers are also being erected at key sites.
But North Carolina’s largest city has refused to release many other details, citing national security concerns, despite public records requests by The Associated Press. Tampa also received $50 million in federal funds for security. The AP filed a similar request with the Tampa Police, but was rebuffed by officials there citing homeland security concerns.
With the convention in mind, Charlotte adopted an ordinance in January allowing it to create designated areas for people to gather for large-scale events and prevent them from carrying backpacks and other items in those areas. The protests are being held in designated areas in the business district, and the crowds can be easily moved between those areas, police said.
The city’s landscape and the close proximity of the major convention venues will help security, said J. Michael Bitzer, a history professor at Catawba College.
“Everything from Time Warner Arena to Bank of America Stadium is within fairly close proximity of everything. You’re going to have so many people concentrated in such a small area of the city that that’s a good thing,” Bitzer said. “The compactness should present a fairly clear delineation of protest space. It’s not like with the Olympics now where you’re all over England. Everybody is going to be in one kind of centralized location. The smaller the space you have to protect, the more you’re going to be able to keep a close eye on a lot going on.”
But one disadvantage: the area is close to major highways.
“You’ve got major thoroughfares _ I-77 and I-277 _ that are so close to these venues that the question is what’s going to be the spillover effect of maybe having to close those downs?” he said.
The major political conventions had been mostly peaceful for nearly four decades following disturbances at the Democratic gathering in Chicago 1968 and the 1972 Republican convention in Miami. But things changed in 2008 when the Republicans held their convention in St. Paul, attracting thousands of protesters. Some smashed cars, punctured tires and threw bottles in a confrontation with pepper-spray wielding police. Hundreds were arrested over a few days, including dozens of journalists.
Deputy Chief Harold Medlock said the Chicago trip showed Charlotte police were on the right track with security preparations, especially related to crowd control. He declined to elaborate on what tactics police would use.
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said the keys to policing a big event are “having a good plan that is agile and flexible.”
“You can’t be static, standing in one spot and expecting to handle what is going on. You have to have a ton of training to give your officers an expertise in taking people out of the crowd if they are acting up and engaging in criminal behavior,” McCarthy said.
Ninety-five arrests were made during the NATO summit in May, about 50 of which were people removed from the crowd by extraction teams that included officers on horseback. He said many of those arrested were anarchists who attacked police. He said 65 of the arrestees were from outside Chicago.
“Throwing rocks and bottles and bags of urine at us is pretty aggressive behavior,” he said.
One key tactic was clustering uniformed officers at potential targets for vandalism to prevent property damage and using bicycles to make them more mobile. McCarthy also stressed using “the soft look” _officers dressed in their normal uniforms but ready to quickly change into “turtle suits,” tactical helmets and body armor, if necessary.
“The last resort is to go to the turtle suits and batons,” McCarthy said. “There’s a psychology to that. If you come out in a confrontational manner, you are going to receive confrontation in return.”
Source:AP
Va youth figure skating coach gets prison time for child pornography www.privateofficer.com
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says 47-year-old David Keith Loncar was sentenced Wednesday to 145 years in prison, with 141 ½ years suspended.
Loncar admitted to offering to send child pornography videos to an undercover police officer through a peer-to-peer file sharing network. A search of his home computer found more than 75 child pornography videos.
Cuccinelli called Loncar’s behavior “absolutely sickening” given that he works directly with children as a coach.
This case was investigated by the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Richmond Police Department
Source:AP
$525,000 bond for man accused of contaminating dialysis water www.privateofficer.com
LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC Aug 3 2012 - A Leesville man accused of contaminating the kidney dialysis water at his former workplace was given a $525,000 bond by a judge on Thursday.
Donald Albert Foster, III, 49, faces attempted murder and second-degree burglary charges in connection with the case.
Calling the charges against him a “big misunderstanding,” Foster asked the court to grant him bond so he could go home to his family.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Foster said. “I want to go home to my daughter and take care of my family and go to court.”
Prosecutors had asked the judge to not set any sort of bond.
Arrest warrants say Foster entered Fresenius Medical Services on Sum Mor Drive about 9 p.m. on July 7. Foster had just been suspended without pay from the clinic and was told to not trespass on the property.
Warrants go on to say Foster poured chlorine bleach into a water holding tank that is used to supply water for the dialysis machines. Deputies say Foster knew from his training at the facility that contaminated water would kill any patients receiving treatment.
Employees at the clinic were able to catch the contamination thanks to a regular test of the water.
David Geiger had direct contact with Foster at the clinic and described Foster as a nice guy.
“He like, cleaned up and stuff,” Geiger said. “I never thought he would do that.”
Lexington County Sheriff James Metts feels differently.
“Because of his training, he knew what would happen to this company, and he didn’t seem to care about life,” Metts said.
Twenty patients were scheduled for dialysis that Monday and could have been harmed.
“The chlorine bleach and the quantity that was put into the holding tank would have been fatal to anyone who would have been given that through the dialysis process,” Metts said.
Today the company told us, “Our facilities have safety protocols in place designed to detect the presence of impurities in our water. These checks occur prior to the first session of dialysis therapy each morning and multiple times throughout the day while the clinic is open.
A hearing for Foster has been scheduled for Nov. 15. Foster could face a maximum of 45 years in prison for the crime if convicted.
Source:WIS
Missouri priest to plead guilty in child porn case www.privateofficer.com
A lawyer for the Rev. Shawn Ratigan said the priest planned to plead guilty during a hearing Thursday afternoon. He was scheduled for trial later this month for production, possession and attempted production of child porn.
In December 2010 a technician found “troubling images” of children Ratigan’s laptop computer. The photos weren’t turned over to police until May 2011, after Ratigan violated orders from Bishop Robert Finn to stay away from children.
Finn and the diocese are charged in Jackson County with failing to report suspected child abuse to the state. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Jacksonville security officer will face no charges in shooting of 3 men www.privateofficer.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Aug 3 2012– An armed security guard who shot three men outside of an adult entertainment establishment on Emerson Street will not face charges.
Police were called to Wacko’s, located in the 3700 block of Emerson Street, at 1:40 Sunday morning in reference to a triple shooting, according to a news release from Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Melissa Bujeda.
Bujeda said three males had been shot by an armed security guard. The guard was working in the strip mall, providing security to both Wacko’s and Sweepstakes Internet Cafe.
According to police, the three men shot were involved in an altercation inside the gentlemen’s club before being asked to leave by security guards inside the club. When the men refused, the armed security guard was requested to assist with removing the men.
Bujeda said after a brief altercation in the parking lot with other Wacko’s patrons the three men drove off in a truck.
Roughly thirty minutes later the three men returned to the adult entertainment establishment. Wacko’s security again requested the armed security guard assist them in having the three men leave.
When the armed guard went outside, Bujeda said, one of the three men turned the truck towards the security guard and revved the engine at him, as if he were going to run the security guard over.
The security guard told police he was in fear of his life and fired multiple rounds into the truck.
Buejda said no charges will be filed against the security guard who shot the men.
The driver of the truck, David Cisneros-Orozco was charged with aggravated assault for attempting to run the security guard over. He does not have a mug shot available at this time.
Source: First Coast News
Decatur AL shoplifter charged with robbery at Belk store www.privateofficer.com
DECATUR, Alabama Aug 3 2012- Police charged a Huntsville man with robbery Tuesday after he hit a Belk employee after he was caught stealing items from the store, a Decatur police news release said.
Asa Cody Whisenant, 29, of Huntsville was arrested Tuesday on a third-degree robbery charge after the incident at Belk on Beltline Road, the release said.
A store security officer detained Whisenant after seeing him leave the store shortly before 4 p.m. with store items hidden on himself,, police said. Police said that Whisenant struck the security employee during a struggle in the parking lot.
Whisenant will be transferred to the Morgan County Jail with bond set at $2,500, police said.
Source:AL.com
Suspect in police shooting commits suicide before facing charges www.privateofficer.com
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety released the attorney’s statement along with findings based on a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigation into the 2011 death of officer Shawn Schneider.
The office would have forwarded charges of first-degree murder of a peace officer and premeditated first-degree murder to a Wabasha County grand jury.
Sylte shot Schneider Dec. 19 as two officers responded to a domestic call involving a handgun at 618 West Lyon Ave. After Schneider was shot, law enforcement from seven agencies surrounded the home. Inside, they found Alan J. Sylte Jr., 25, Hager City, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The weapon was the same one used to shoot Officer Schneider. Officer Schneider died December 30, 2011 as a result of his injuries.
Source:River Falls Jornal
Convicted murderer sues police for “physical, emotional and mental injuries” www.privateofficer.com
De Von Callicutt, 22, wants compensatory and punitive damages in U.S. District Court in Albany for the “physical, emotional and mental injuries” he contends he suffered following his arrest on Orange Street in Albany on Nov. 30, 2008. The arrest was unrelated to the murder of Bailey, a 22-year-old Nassau County man whom Callicutt shot in the head at South Lake Avenue and Yates Street about 11:20 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2008.
Callicutt was already serving a five-year stretch in prison for the Orange Street incident when police charged him with Bailey’s murder. Callicutt had pleaded guilty to attempted weapon possession for firing a gun while resisting arrest on Orange Street.
He is now serving life without parole at the ultra-maximum-security Southport Correctional Facility in Chemung County.
The killer is representing himself in the excessive force suit, which he filed against “Albany County Police,” a reference to city police officers.
Callicutt contends he was beaten after he admittedly tried to climb over an 8-foot fence to evade police on Orange Street.
In a handwritten federal complaint, Callicutt alleged an officer pushed him, which caused him to fall into a back yard and accidentally fire his gun. Callicutt contends he threw his gun away and surrendered, but that another officer continued to mistreat him after making the arrest.
“He acts as if (he) was going to walk (me) out of the yard,” Callicutt stated, “then threw (me) to the ground.”
Callicutt contends that while he was on the ground, police officers held his legs, pistol-whipped him, punched him and Taser-shocked him to make him lose consciousness. He claims one officer finally said, “That’s enough. Before he dies.”
Callicutt stated he awoke in an ambulance and hospital bed, where, according to him, he had Taser burn marks on his back and staples in his head from an officer “striking him in the head with his gun repeatedly.”
He seeks $100,000 for compensatory damages from the six police officers he alleges beat him and another $10,000 from each officer in punitive damages. Callicutt also has asked for “other relief as it may appear that plaintiff is entitled.”
Callicutt identified five of the officers; the sixth was listed as “John Doe.”
In court papers filed June 20, Assistant Corporation Counsel Eric Sugar noted that when Callicutt initially filed the lawsuit on Oct. 26, he identified all six police officers as “John Doe” defendants. Magistrate Judge Randolph Treece did not allow the suit to go forward as drafted, but allowed Callicutt time to add named defendants in an amended complaint he filed May 26.
The city is asking Treece to dismiss the lawsuit because Callicutt did not file it within the proper three-year statute of limitations, Deputy Corporation Counsel Tara Wells said Wednesday.
She said Treece could dismiss the lawsuit as soon as Friday when it is next on the judge’s schedule.
On June 20, Assistant Corporation Counsel Eric Sugar wrote Treece: “Although the court does have the discretion to grant plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint, the court does not have the discretion to extend the statute of limitations.”
Sugar also argued that Callicutt did not identify any of the officers in his initial complaint because he did not know their names. As such, he “failed to provide any notice to potential defendants of his intent to sue, and said potential defendants would be prejudiced in maintaining a defense,” the lawyer stated.
Bailey, who sought to follow his father’s footsteps as a New York City police officer, was shot in the head and killed after leaving a friend’s house where he had been watching Monday Night Football. Two former codefendants of Callicutt — Ricardo “Rico” Caldwell and King “Cokilla” Modest — cut plea deals to testify against him.
In December 2010, Callicutt was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and weapons charges in the death of Bailey. Jurors also convicted Callicutt of robbing 23-year-old Desmond Knauth at State and Ontario Streets — just seven minutes after the shooting. Callicutt was convicted on evidence that included jailhouse letters to a girlfriend in which he confessed to killing Bailey.
Source:www.timesunion.com
Two children found dead in car near Nashville www.privateofficer.com
SMYRNA, Tenn. Aug 3 2012- Two children have been found dead inside a car in a driveway at a home on Old Nashville Highway.
Officials were called out to the home just before 4 p.m. Thursday. Early reported indicated that the young children were left in the car and died of heat stroke.
“It doesn’t take a lot of time before it can become a deadly situation for someone trapped inside a car,” said Smyrna Police Sgt. Bobby Gibson.
The age and name of the children has not yet been released. Police detectives were on scene investigating. No other information was available.
Line of Duty Death- Firefighter Antonio Rodriques
Younkers NY Aug 3 2012 Yonkers firefighters are mourning the loss of one of their own.
Firefighter Antonio Rodriques, 49, was taken off life support Tuesday night at Westchester Medical Center, according to The Journal News.
The mayor’s office released a statement attributing the 12-year veteran’s death to complications from a hemorrhagic stroke and a fire department memo states that the firefighter had been hospitalized since July 18 following injuries he sustained on May 9 while taking part in on-duty training.
The department is recognizing Rodriques’ death a line-of-duty death.
Officials said his organs are scheduled to be donated through the New York Organ Donor Network.
“Rodriques took part in many life-saving rescues during his career and, through his death, he saved still more,” Acting Fire Commissioner John Flynn wrote in the memo.
Rodriques was assigned to Ladder 74 and received six departmental commendations.
He is survived by his parents, Celeste and Celestino Rodriques; his brother, Lester C. Rodriques; and his girlfriend, Amy Krawczyk.
Funeral Arrangements
Visitation for Rodriques is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 3 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Flynn Memorial Home in Yonkers.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, Aug. 4 at 10 a.m. at Immaculate Concaption-St. Mary’s Church at 103 South Broadway.
Interment will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery at 114 Sprain Road.
Shoplifters tracked down by police K-9 after gun threats made www.privateofficer.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. Aug 3 2012- A police dog took a man into custody after he threatened that he had a gun and stole a laptop from Gateway Mall, then ran from police and across Interstate 5 and hid inside a home Sunday evening, according to police in Springfield.
Steven Allen Wheeler, 36, faces charges of robbery, burglary, menacing, trespassing and interfering with a 911 call.
The incident started with a report of robbery at Best Buy at Gateway Mall.
A man, later identified as Wheeler, tried to leave the store with a laptop computer without paying. When confronted by employees, he threatend them and said he had a gun, police said.
The employees called police, who responded to the scene.
Officer Mike Massey spotted a man and woman walking near the store and confronted them. He took the woman, Aerica Marie Kohler, 26, into custody on a warrant for theft.
But the man – Wheeler – took off running.
Wheeler ran across the interstate, dropping the laptop in the process, before jumping a fence into a Eugene neighborhood.
Police from Springfield and Eugene had started searching the Willakenzie Road area neighborhood when citizens started calling 911 to report seeing a man jumping fences. One of the callers saw the man enter a home on the 1700 block of Ridgley Boulevard.
A man in the home fled out the front door and called police to report the suspect was inside.
Police responded to the home, a police dog took Wheeler into custody. He was treated for dog bites at McKenzie Willamette Hospital before being booked into the Lane County jail.
Source:kval.com
Wife of Ga business man gunned down arrested www.privateofficer.com
DECATUR, Ga.Aug 3 2012 – The widow of a businessman gunned down outside a suburban Atlanta preschool was charged in the slaying Thursday, accused of conspiring with the gunman who was convicted four months ago.
Andrea Sneiderman was charged with malice murder, criminal attempt to commit murder, racketeering, perjury and other charges, DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James said.
The prosecutor declined to answer questions about the case, but the indictment alleged Sneiderman conspired with the gunman, Hemy Neuman, who was her boss at the time of the slaying. Much of Neuman’s trial centered on whether the two had been having an affair
She acted in concert with Hemy Neuman by giving Hemy Neuman the schedule for departure and return of Russell Sneiderman so that Neuman could kill Rusty Sneiderman,” the 19-page indictment says.
“Newman and Andrea Sneiderman conspired together to murder Rusty Sneiderman, so that they could enjoy a life together, eliminate Newman’s debt problems, and fully benefit from the assets the Sneiderman’s had acquired as well as the proceeds of Rusty Sneiderman’s life insurance policies,” the indictment read.
Prosecutors presented a case to a grand jury at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, and they returned the indictment less than two hours later.
When asked why prosecutors were pursuing the case now, the district attorney said: “Now is because we are ready now. If we were ready three months ago, it would have been three months ago. If it was last year when we charged Mr. Neuman, it would have been then.”
Sneiderman was arrested in Putnam County and was being held without bond. Details of a court appearance were not immediately available.
Earlier, WSB-TV aired footage of Sneiderman dressed in khaki shorts and a long-sleeve shirt surrounded by law enforcement officials as she left a house in Putnam County before being handcuffed and placed in a patrol car.
Her attorney was expected to speak with reporters soon.
During Neuman’s trial, prosecutors suggested that Andrea Sneiderman was a “co-conspirator” in the slaying, goading a love-struck Neuman into killing her husband, perhaps for a $2 million life insurance policy. Andrea Sneiderman has repeatedly denied an affair and denied knowing anything about the shooting.
After the trial, Neuman’s defense attorneys and Russell Sneiderman’s family said they hoped that prosecutors would investigate Andrea Sneiderman in the killing.
At the time, Russell Sneiderman’s brother, Steve, said the family long suspected Andrea was involved in his death, and the trial only confirmed their suspicions.
Attorneys for Steve Sneiderman and his parents declined comment Thursday.
Source:www.azcentral.com
Two Pennsylvania woman charged with thefts of $6,000 of Apple products www.privateofficer.com
On July 24, store security called police to report the women in the store again and said the women have hit other area Apple Store’s too. When police arrived, they stopped the women at the door and found stolen merchandise in their purses, the report said.
One woman also had stolen merchandise from Things Remembered and RadioShack.
Apple Store security saw the women enter the store on June 24 and steal $1,800 of merchandise. The women came back again on July 13 and stole $2,000 of products. Finally, they came back once more on July 19 and stole $2,461 in merchandise, the report said.
Police charged the women, both 31, with felony theft and took them to the Summit County Jail.
