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Nashville police searching for violent shoplifter www.privateofficer.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn.Aug 5 2012- Metro Police are searching for a brazen shoplifter who was accused of stealing merchandise and threatening employees at several local CVS stores.
Police have released surveillance video of the suspect. Store security agents said they’re worried this professional shoplifter is going to hurt someone.
CVS says employees said that man walks in as if he’s talking on a cell phone and then starts pulling items off of shelves then shoves them into his pants. CVS says he wears two pairs of pants, which lets him stick merchandise into pockets without anyone noticing.
Metro Police say the man has hit at least six CVS stores in the Nashville area since May. According to CVS security he threatens to hurt or kill anyone who gets in his way.
In one case he told the employee he shoplifted for a living.
A Metro Police officer chased him once, but he got away. As he was running he reached into his pants and threw away $250 in merchandise.
CVS security says he’s been spotted in several other stores including ones on Charlotte Pike, Nolensville Road, Murfreesboro Road and Gallatin Road. Hermitage and South Precinct detectives have been investigating the cases. They’re hoping someone can identify the man and call police. CVS worries he may become violent and someone will get hurt.
CVS says if police catch the man they will press charges that will include assault, evading arrest and trespassing. This same man is not only accused of shoplifting in CVS stores, but he has hit several Walgreens stores as well.
Anyone with information about the crime was asked to call Crime Stoppers at 74-CRIME.
Source:newschannel5.com
Debit card scam nets vehicle in Georgia www.privateofficer.com
CARTERSVILLE, Ga Aug 5 2012– Cartersville Police are warning businesses about an elaborate scam that may be part of an organized ring. They are also trying to identify two suspects who pulled off the scam at a local business.
Lt. Mark Camp said police are investigating three separate cases that seem to be connected. “It’s not necessarily the same people, but it’s the same mode of operation,” he said.
One of the cases happened at Extreme Propulsion, a recreational dealership on Joe Fran Harris Parkway in Cartersville. Two people who identified themselves as Natasha Stanley and Marc Sims tried to purchase a utility vehicle worth over $15,000.
Stanley gave store owner Sharon Sinnott a driver’s license and credit card to pay for the vehicle. Sinnott told Stanley she couldn’t run the charge as credit because the fees would be too high. When she ran it as a debit card, it didn’t go through.
But Sinnott said that’s not too unusual because of the high dollar amount. Stanley called her bank on her cell phone and put Sinnott on the line. “We did what’s called a forced sale,” Sinnott said. “The person on the phone provided me with an authorization number and the sale went through.”
Sinnott received a printed out receipt but would later learn no money was ever transferred. Natasha Stanley and Marc Sims, or whatever their names are, were gone with Sinnott utility vehicle. “It’s important to me to get their face out there,” said Sinnott, who is offering a $1,000 reward.
She also wants to warn other businesses to be aware of the scam. “We put our heart and soul into this business, this is ours,” she said. “We work night and day and for someone to come in and feel that they’re entitled, I don’t want anyone else to go through it.”
Anyone who recognizes the suspects from surveillance photos is asked to call Cartersville Police at 770-382-2526.
Source-11Alive
Springfield security officer fires shot at suspicious car www.privateofficer.com
Springfield MO Aug 5 2012 City police are looking into a case where a security guard at the John B. Hughes Apartment Complex in Springfield fired a shot at a car.
The guard says he fired one round at the fleeing car, but did not know if he hit it.
An initial investigation at the scene did not turn up any place where the slug could have struck Lt. Shawn Williams tells KTTS Nwes.
Source:KTTS
Huge security shakeup at Y-12; Energy Secretary Chu says ‘no tolerance’ for breaches www.privateofficer.com
Oak Ridge TN Aug 5 2012 A huge security shake-up is under way at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, underscored Friday evening with a statement from Energy Secretary Steven Chu regarding the “unacceptable and deeply troubling breach” that occurred last weekend when antiwar protesters infiltrated the Oak Ridge plant’s high-security core.
Chu said security guards involved in the incident have been suspended and three members of the leadership team at the government’s security contractor — WSI-Oak Ridge — have been removed from their positions, including General Manager Lee Brooks.
The statement provided to the News Sentinel also said a “relevant” federal official at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s oversight office at Y-12 had been temporarily reassigned, pending outcome of an investigation launched by the department’s health, safety and security chief Glenn Podonsky.
“The department has no tolerance for security breaches at any of our sites, and I am committed to ensure that those responsible will be held accountable,” Chu said.
NNSA Administrator Tom D’Agostino was at Y-12 Friday to review the situation. Also, Gen. Rodney Johnson, deputy manager at the Pantex warhead assembly plant in Texas, has been brought to Y-12 to help strengthen the security operations.
The actions revealed Friday night are part of the response to the embarrassing intrusion by activists — who spray-painted the plant’s storehouse for bomb-grade uranium and poured human blood on the site — and an effort to restore confidence in the national security installation that heretofore had been considered almost impenetrable.
“Safety and security at the sites where nuclear materials are stored is of the utmost importance,” Chu’s statement said.
The Y-12 incident, Chu said, “was not consistent with the level of professionalism and expertise we expect from our guard force and all of those federal employees and contractors responsible for security across the DOE complex.”
Lessons learned from Y-12 will be shared with other sites,” he said.
Source:knoxnews.com
Police: County inmate sent death threats to Kohl’s secuity agent www.privateofficer.com
WESTAMPTON NJ Aug 5 2012 — A Morris County man was charged with sending death threats to a store security guard whom he assaulted last month during a strong-arm robbery, township police said Friday.
Terence Hickmond, 40, of Morristown, allegedly sent a letter to the guard from the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly, where Hickmond is being held on charges stemming from a July 12 robbery at the Kohl’s department store on Burlington-Mount Holly Road.
The letter contained several threats to kill or injure the guard, as well as a threat to blow up the store, police said. It was sent to intimidate the guard in the wake of the July robbery, they said.
Hickmond was charged with robbery and other offenses for allegedly punching the guard in the face after he tried to stop the suspect from shoplifting $396 in store merchandise. Hickmond escaped but was arrested at a Willingboro home shortly after the incident.
He is being held on $50,000 bail for the robbery charges.
The guard notified authorities about the letter Thursday afternoon. Hickmond was served at the jail with complaints charging him with witness tampering and terroristic threats.
His bail on the new charges was set at $100,000.
Hickmond was previously convicted of making death threats in June 2003 in Mercer County. He served about 19 months in state prison before being released, according to New Jersey Department of Corrections records. Details of that incident were not available.
Source:phillyburbs.com
NYC major crimes spike after stop-and-frisks drop www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY Aug 5 2012 Major crimes spiked by more than 12 percent after the number of stop-and-frisks conducted by the NYPD dropped dramatically earlier this year, The Post has learned.
Figures show there were 24,751 major crimes committed between Jan. 1 and March 31, a period when cops stopped 203,500 individuals and recovered 881 guns, according to sources.
In the following three months — between April 1 and June 30 — the number of stop-and-frisks cops conducted fell to 133,934 and the crime figures shot up to 27,832. The number of guns seized fell to 732.
There was no further analysis of the crime data immediately available.
But on the face of it, the statistics seem to provide the NYPD with evidence that — at least in this one period — more stop-and-frisks resulted in fewer crimes and more gun seizures.
The relationship between the latest stop-and-frisk numbers and crime statistics could provide critical ammunition in the battle over the policing tactic, which has come under fire from activists like the New York Civil Liberties Union and a chorus of elected officials.
Mayor Bloomberg has steadfastly defended the program as a life-saver and slammed the NYCLU for pushing to dismantle it.
“If the NYCLU is allowed to determine policing strategies in our city, many more children will grow up fatherless and many more children will not grow up at all,” he said last month at a Queens church.
“Let’s be clear. The NYCLU’s priority is not protecting our safety, it is protecting their ideology. And in that regard, they are no better than the NRA.”
Unrelenting critics of the controversial practice kept piling it on yesterday, even after Police Commissioner Ray Kelly confirmed that 34 percent fewer people were stopped in the latest period measured.
“It is encouraging to see the numbers begin to come back to Earth,” declared Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.
“But we need to look beyond this one statistic to know if City Hall has truly heeded the voice of communities across the five boroughs. Reform does not end here.”
The message was virtually the same from the NYCLU, which called the latest stop-and-frisk numbers “encouraging” before unleashing another attack.
“If past is prologue, we can expect that NYPD officers subjected at least 1,000 innocent New Yorkers a day to humiliating and unjustified street stops,” said NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman.
“That is nothing to brag about. This reduction is a good start, but much more needs to be done to rebuild community trust.”
Critics had been demanding that the NYPD bring down the numbers, which is just what it did in rather dramatic fashion.
If the lower pace achieved from April to June continues through the remainder of the year, it will be only the second time during the Bloomberg administration that year-to-year figures would show a decline. The last time that happened was in 2007, when there were 472,096 stop-and-frisks, compared to 506,491 in 2006.
About half of those stopped get patted down.
Kelly attributed the latest reduction to two developments first spotlighted by The Post: restoring about half the 2,000 rookie cops to precincts who had flooded high-crime neighborhoods early in the year and new training.
“We are now training more specialized units in a more focused way of conducting stop and questions and sometimes frisk practices,” he said. “We are hopeful that the training is improving the quality of stops.”
Man commits suicide during police chase in Pennsylvania www.privateofficer.com
CRANBERRY TWP.PA. Aug 5 2012– Police are investigating after a man took his own life following a police chase in Butler County early Saturday morning.
According to police, the incident began in Adams Township around 3:15 a.m.
Officers attempted to stop a speeding vehicle on Route 228 near the Mars High School, but the driver refused to pull over and continued driving toward Cranberry Township.
The man pulled into the Cranberry Commons shopping center, where he fatally shot himself.
However, the vehicle was still in motion when he fired the gun and it rolled into the Lane Bryant store, which sparked a small fire.
An estimate on the damage caused is not known at this time.
The man’s identity has not been released and it is unknown what prompted the chase at this time.
Source: KDKA
Birmingham police using online investigative tool to solve metal thefts www.privateofficer.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Aug 5 2012– When Birmingham police burglary detectives got a report recently of a man selling thousands of dollars worth of locomotive batteries to a scrapyard, it automatically raised a red flag.
In years past, that curiosity might not have gone much farther than a few frustrating phone calls and a dead-end probe.
But police say a new online investigative tool has changed all that. With a few clicks of a computer mouse, detectives are solving more metal theft cases than ever before.
LeadsOnline, a nationwide program, lets officers search a database with millions of sales transactions from scrap metal recyclers each day to locate stolen metals.
The result, said Birmingham burglary Lt. Allen Treadaway, is a dramatic drop in property crimes that have long plagued the city. From January through June of this year, there has been a 17 percent decline in burglaries compared to the same time last year, and a 12 percent reduction in vehicle break-ins.
Police say would-be thieves are increasingly aware of the changes in enforcement, so the crimes are often deterred. Those who do bring in goods to scrap yards and pawn shops that are identified as stolen are often arrested and charged, police said.
“It’s an incredible tool for law enforcement,” Treadaway said.
Though crime has been on a decline nationwide and in Birmingham in recent years, property thefts — including burglaries and car break-ins — haven’t really budged. Authorities say the poor economy has kept thieves hard at work.
About a year ago, Birmingham police officials stepped up their efforts in those areas, assigning a full-time detective to monitor pawns shops, and one to do the same at the city’s vast number of scrapyards. To help them, they began to subscribe to LeadsOnline, which keeps a nationwide database of items sold to scrap metal recyclers, pawn shops and other places across all 50 states.
Brokers are required by state law or city ordinances to report their sales. When someone drops off items for sale, they must show their personal information.
The records are uploaded every day, and automatically available to law enforcement officers whose agencies subscribe to the service for a fee.
As a result, police officers can search the database by name, license plate, telephone number and other identifying information.
The locomotive battery sales in May caught the attention of detectives. They entered the name of the man who had sold the batteries in LeadsOnline, and were amazed at what they found.
“He had been selling an enormous amount of batteries over a short period of time,” Treadaway said.
Further investigation showed he was employed by a Birmingham-based battery company. Detectives determined he and another employee worked in tandem to sell more than 10,000 pounds of locomotive batteries worth an estimated $150,000.
Darius Driver, 35, and Phillip Harris, 39, have been charged with first-degree theft. They are awaiting trial.
Just last month, Det. Justin Howard said detectives were interviewing a suspect about stolen car batteries taken from a local business. They ran the suspect’s name through LeadsOnline, which showed evidence that he had sold the batteries the morning after they were stolen.
When confronted with the evidence they got from the computer search, he confessed to multiple counts of theft.
Because of the additional manpower and because of LeadsOnline, Birmingham police say they have cleared more than 100 metal theft cases that might have otherwise gone unsolved. Treadaway said they have seen a dramatic drop in the copper thefts from area businesses and churches, as well as utility companies.
“In our first two months of using LeadsOnline, we found more than 75 metal theft suspects who were victimizing the community with their crimes,” Treadaway said.
Without the investigative power of the computer program, he said, “these criminals would have continued their destruction in Birmingham and across the state of Alabama.”
Birmingham began using LeadsOnline about a year ago, and police Chief A.C. Roper said he knew the skill-set would benefit the department in fighting the issue of property crime.
“Implementing this program along with reallocating more personnel has made a tremendous difference across the entire city,” Roper said. “We always see good results when our business owners and citizens work with us.”
Source:AL.com
Fairfax County police charge man with impersonating a police officer during robbery www.privateofficer.com
Rudolph Victor Curtis, of Arlington, was charged with robbery, malicious wounding and impersonating a law enforcement officer.
Police said that around 10:20 a.m. Wednesday a 93-year-old man was assaulted and robbed as he got out of his vehicle in the 5700 block of Leesburg Pike in the Baileys Crossroads area. The robber approached the man, identified himself as a police officer and showed what appeared to be credentials, police said. The robber then demanded the man’s license, struck him several times and took his wallet before fleeing.
Several witnesses came to the victim’s aid and provided police with information that they said led to Curtis’s arrest.
Detectives have connected the case to two other similar cases, police said. On June 9, a robber stole cash from an 85-year-old man’s wallet but did not strike the victim, police said. On July 24, cash was stolen from an 81-year-old man, they said.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-8477 or email at http://www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org.
Source:Washington Post
Portales NM police officer arrested for alleged sexual misconduct with underage girls www.privateofficer.com
New Mexico State Police say 45-year-old Victor Castillo was taken into custody Friday. He’s being held on a $100,000 cash or surety bond on suspicion of 31 felony charges.
Authorities say Castillo was assigned as the Portales Public School Resource Officer from Jan. 8 to May 25.
During that span, Castillo allegedly manufactured, possessed and/or distributed sexually explicit photos and videos of at least two female Portales High School students who are under 18.
Authorities say Castillo allegedly provided alcohol to female students and engaged in sexual misconduct with a 16-year-old student he met while working at Portales High.
Portales police say Castillo was fired on July 13. It’s unclear if Castillo has a lawyer.
Source:www.sfgate.com
Brinks armored car crashes avoiding horse www.privateofficer.com
The truck was driving east in the 2200 block of Lucas Valley Road near Westgate Drive around 9:40 a.m., CHP Officer Eric Hohmeister said.
At a bend in the road, the westbound truck hauling and trailer drove about two feet over the double-yellow lines and into the eastbound lane, Hohmeister said.
The Brinks truck driver took evasive action by steering to the right and lost control of the truck which drove across the road and struck a cement drainage culvert on the left side of the road, Hohmeister said.
The truck then went down a 50-foot embankment and overturned, landing on its roof, Hohmeister said.
The driver suffered pain in the neck and back and was taken to Marin General Hospital. The guard suffered back and shoulder pain and was treated at the scene and released.
The driver of the truck and trailer did not stop and might not have been aware the Brinks truck crashed off the road, Hohmeister said.
Another Brinks truck responded to the crash to recover the money from the overturned truck, Hohmeister said.
Two tow trucks also responded to remove the overturned Brinks truck, Hohmeister said.
The crash closed Lucas Valley Road between Nicasio Valley Road and Westgate Drive until 4 p.m.
It’s not certain where the Brinks truck was coming from before the crash, but there are banks and businesses in Point Reyes and the Brinks driver might have selected an alternate route, Hohmeister said.
Source:CBS SF
Santa Cruz security company partner with city to patrol library, city hall, Civic Center www.privateofficer.com
SANTA CRUZ CA Aug 5 2012 - Security guards recently started patrolling the downtown library, bringing relief to library staff who at times had to act as part-time bouncers to control disruptive patrons.
In a partnership with the city, guards early last month began patrolling the library, City Hall and Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium.
Homeless people and others have long hung out at the library, a safe place to go inside, sit down and use the computer or read or rest a while. It also has one of the few unlocked and free rest rooms in the downtown area. City Hall has also been a popular place for people to hang out.
Janis O’Driscoll, a division manager for Santa Cruz Public Libraries, said a guard has been a need at least since the recession began a few years ago. But a tight budget made it impossible for the libraries to hire their own guards, she said.
“The majority of people use the library respectfully,” O’Driscoll said. “But there was enough of an element of a group that was just making it hard for everyone else and we reached critical mass and had to do something.”
“First Alarm has been fabulous. It’s making such a difference for us.”
The guards are on duty from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, at a cost of about $5,500 per month, said Scott Collins, assistant to the Santa Cruz city manager. The city’s portion is paid from several city departments and from the general fund, he said. The police department was consulted, he added.
“We’re still evaluating at this point, but from what employees and area businesses have said, it’s been really effective,” Collins said. “There were enough illegal and troubling behaviors going on that some employees felt threatened.”
First Alarm guard Guy Woodward was on duty Friday, walking the area, armed with a police radio.
Woodward, a 26-year-old Santa Cruz resident, said the violations he addresses are usually pretty tame – smoking, drinking, sleeping on benches and an occasional incident of theft or fighting.
He said that he goes inside the library too, and that library staff call him if they need him.
And while has been called a Nazi, Woodward said most people are pretty good about stopping the offensive behavior.
“A lot of it is people skills; I can’t be on some kind of power trip,” he said. “But even if it seems like overkill, it’s not. The presence of someone in a uniform really helps. It’s really calmed down a lot.”
People are allowed to sleep on the lawn at City Hall, but not to camp out with a sleeping bag and other items, he said.
At one point, Woodward talked to an older homeless man who was smoking a cigarette outside the front door, in a nonsmoking area. The man quickly put it out.
That man, Jimmie Rodgers, said he has been traveling through Santa Cruz each year for many years. He said the guards are OK.
“They’re pretty nice,” he said. “They seem to be good judges of character.”
O’Driscoll, the library division manager, said the guards have “inspired more thoughtful behavior from everyone who uses the library,” creating a more relaxed environment.
“We’ve been thanked by patrons who say they feel like it’s safe for them to use the benches again,” she said.
Kelly Newman, a library user who lives in the downtown area, said something was needed to quell the crowd.
“People were hanging out like it was a party and I’d complain and the librarians would come and out and shoo them away,” Newman said. “It’s good they have some help, but I don’t know where they all go.”
In the past several years, dealing with budget cuts and large amounts of transients, the city has employed First Alarm officers downtown, on the Municipal Wharf and in the Harvey West area.
The guards cannot write tickets, but can detain troublemakers as any citizen can when it is appropriate, police said.
Police have called the program successful and said the lower-cost guards can free up police to work on more serious crimes.
Two prominent doctors arrested for secretly filming women www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY Aug 5 2012 Two doctors, including a prominent plastic surgeon, were busted in Los Angeles and New York in separate incidents this week for filming unsuspecting women.
Dr. Lance Everett Wyatt, a Los Angeles-based plastic surgeon, was arrested Thursday after a patient allegedly noticed a hidden camera in his office while she was disrobing. The woman ran from the office with the camera and turned it over to police, said Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen A. Trutanich.
Wyatt faces four counts of surreptitious filming, one count of batter and one count for inappropriately touching a patient, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office.
“Patients deserve to feel safe and secure while in the care of their physician,” Trutanich said. “Our charges allege that Dr. Wyatt violated that sacred trust and he should be held accountable.”
The Harvard-educated doctor, who has appeared on “The Doctors” and was featured on an episode of ABC News’ “20/20″ discussing butt augmentations for African-American women, may have more victims, police said.
“There might be additional victims, so anyone who has any information needs to call the California Medical Board,” said a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department.
In New York City, Dr. Adam Levinson, a respected urologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly used a pen camera to film up the skirts of two women during rush hour on the subway.
Sheldon Birthwright, who used to be a screener for the Transportation Security Administration, said he spotted Levinson on the subway and noticed he had something that looked like a pen hidden in a rolled-up newspaper as the doctor stood up near a woman in a miniskirt.
“Pen is directly inside [the newspaper], just on the thigh, calmly just moving it around…I guess he was getting different angle shots of whatever he was getting,” Birthwright told WABC.
Once he realized what Levinson was allegedly doing, Birthwright alerted officers, who arrested Levinson.
“It could have been anybody. It could have been my sisters, my pastor’s wife, my aunts,” Birthwright said. “I’m just thankful that he was caught.”
Levinson has been suspended from his position at Mt. Sinai during the pending investigation, the hospital said in a statement.
Neither doctor has had any complaints filed against them, according to online records.
They also appeared to be popular with patients. Both scored high marks in the trust category on HealthGrades.com, a site that allows patients to review their doctors.
Source:abc news
Interest due to Louisville firefighters piling up at $2,300 a day www.privateofficer.com
Louisville KY Aug 5 2012 Interest on decades of underpaid pensions for a group of more than 100 retired firefighters will cost Louisville taxpayers $7 million as of July 31 — and is accruing at $2,300 per day, according to calculations made by the firefighters’ attorney, Ann Oldfather.
Oldfather shared her calculations with Louisville metro government officials Thursday, saying they were based on a rate of 12 percent, set by Jefferson Circuit Judge Mary Shaw.
Rick Evans, an attorney working for Oldfather, said the firm is waiting for a handful of its clients to give final approval of the calculations before they enter a request for judgment with Shaw, who ruled June 29 that the city owed the money and set parameters for how the interest would be calculated.
Evans said the motion should be filed by the end of September. “We’re just trying at this point to let the city know about our calculations and be open about it,” he said.
Bill Patteson, a spokesman for the Jefferson County attorney’s office, confirmed that Mayor Greg Fischer’s administration has decided to appeal Shaw’s ruling — a decision that will delay the final outcome and could end up costing taxpayers more money.
Fischer spokesman Chris Poynter said the city carefully considered several issues in deciding to appeal, including that losing the case will cost taxpayers substantially more money in accruing interest; that the city has lost every major ruling in the firefighters’ lawsuits; and that it has already paid out more than $71 million — a total that doesn’t include Oldfather’s latest calculation.
“We think the judge was wrong in the ruling,” Poynter said. “Our legal team weighed this appeal very carefully, because we know we have not been successful in the past. But we believe we have a pretty strong case.”
Poynter wouldn’t say whether the city agrees with Oldfather’s calculation, but he has acknowledged in the past that the sum for which the city could be liable is “significant.”
A $3 million surplus is built into this year’s city budget, but this judgment would wipe that out. And the surplus is important because Fischer has twice dipped into the city reserves — for a combined $11.3 million, all of which was needed to pay firefighter judgments.
The dispute arose in 2000 when firefighters filed a complaint with the Kentucky Labor Cabinet challenging the way the city calculated overtime. They claimed they were underpaid because money for longevity, training and clothing was not figured in as part of their base pay, upon which overtime is calculated.
The firefighters have won at every stage in two separate court cases. A group of 834 firefighters, represented by a Washington, D.C., law firm, entered into a $45 million settlement with the city in November 2009. That settlement covered all attorney fees, interest and pension shortages; the city borrowed the money to pay it.
Then the group represented by Oldfather won a judgment of $14.2 million to cover back pay. The city borrowed $10 million from the Louisville Water Co. and paid the rest from its reserves. Months later, the city had to pay Oldfather $1.2 million to cover her fee. That money came from the city’s Vehicle Replacement Fund.
Earlier this year, the Fischer administration entered into a $10.8 million settlement with the Kentucky Retirement Systems over interest income it lost because the city had underpaid into the system for the 123 firefighters.
KRS interim Executive Director Bill Thielen made it clear to council members that none of that money would go to firefighters, saying the system needed the money to cover future benefits to the retired firefighters. Then Shaw ruled that firefighters are also owed interest on their underfunded pensions.
Oldfather also represents another group of about 100 retired firefighters who are just starting to litigate over the same issue.
Source:journal-courier
Vigilant security officer ends robbery spree www.privateofficer.com
ONTARIO CA Aug 5 2012 – A Rancho Cucamonga man wanted for a string of robberies throughout the Inland Empire, was arrested moments after he allegedly robbed an Ontario gas station Thursday afternoon, Ontario Police Department officials said.
A vigilant security guard spotted the fleeing man and gave Ontario Police officers information which led them to the alleged robber, officials said.
Gregory Allen Watts, 39, was booked on suspicion of robbery as well kidnapping with the intent to commit robbery.
At about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, police officers responded to a robbery which had just occurred at the Mobil gas station in the 3000 block of South Archibald Avenue, according to a release.
With the information provided by the security guard, officers spotted the suspect’s vehicle and attempted to perform a traffic stop.
Watts reportedly led officers on a short pursuit before he jumped out of the vehicle and ran into a nearby neighborhood, officials said.
The Ontario Police helicopter helped locate Watts and he was taken into custody.
Investigators later learned Watts is wanted for a string of robberies in the cities of Upland, Fontana and La Verne, officials said in a release.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Ontario station at (909)986-6711 or Detective Roger Planas at (909) 395-2918.
Source-www.sbsun.com
Washington state’s highest court rules school resource officers must have probable cause to search www.privateofficer.com
Bellevue WA Aug 5 2012 A school resource officer did not have probable cause to search a student’s backpack and, thus, an air pistol that turned up had to be suppressed in a criminal proceeding, Washington state’s highest court has ruled.
The Washington Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the school resource officer was not a school official and thus the more lenient standard of “reasonable suspicion” applied to searches by school personnel did not apply.
The Aug. 2 ruling in Washington v. Meneese stems from a February 2009 incident at Robinswood High School in Bellevue, Wash. School Resource Officer Michael Fry, of the Bellevue police department, spotted a student in a school restroom holding a bag of marijuana. Fry took the student, Jamar B.D. Meneese, to a school office where he placed him under arrest and handcuffed him. Fry then opened and searched the student’s locked backpack, which contained an air pistol.
Meneese, who was evidently an adult at the time, was convicted in a state trial court of possession of less than 40 grams of marijuana and unlawfully carrying a dangerous weapon at school. The student challenged the weapons charge based on the officer’s alleged lack of probable cause to search his backpack. Under relevant case law, the officer would have had to have a warrant to open the locked bag absent the “school exception,” or reasonable suspicion standard.
Lower courts rejected the argument, but in its decision this week, the Washington Supreme Court sided with the student. The majority said there where overwhelming indications that Fry was acting as a law enforcement officer, not a school official, in conducting the search.
“Fry’s job … concern[s] the discovery and prevention of crime, and he has no authority to discipline students,” said the majority opinion by Justice Susan Owens. “He is a uniformed police officer who responds to, and addresses, incidents occurring on school grounds. Moreover, his role as SRO does not exempt him from other police duties as he can still be called upon to answer police matters unrelated to the school.”
This is in contrast to searches conducted by school administrators. The underlying rationale for applying the lesser standard of reasonable suspicion is that “teachers and administrators have a substantial interest ‘in maintaining discipline in the classroom and on school grounds’ that often requires swift action,” the state high court said, quoting the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1985 decision in New Jersey v. T.L.O.
The Washington Supreme Court majority noted that its decision ran counter to rulings in several other states that have treated school resource officers as school officials and have not required probable cause for their searches.
But the Washington court said several factors required its own ruling, including language in the Washington state constitution that provides stronger protections from illegal searches than that of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment. And the specific facts of this case supported the probable cause requirement, as Officer Fry was not trying to further school discipline because he had already placed Meneese under arrest when he conducted the backpack search.
“There was no chance for swift and informal school discipline and further searching primarily promoted criminal prosecution, not education,” the majority said.
Writing for the dissenters, Justice Debra L. Stephens said the school search exception should apply to a search by a school resource officer “so long as it is related to school policy and not merely a subterfuge for unrelated law enforcement activities. This is the view of the overwhelming majority of jurisdictions to have considered the issue.”
“Schools will now be dissuaded from using SROs to detect and intercept violations of school rules or the law,” Stephens said. “Instead, teachers and other school administrators who have reasonable suspicion, but lack probable cause, must conduct such searches themselves. The Constitution does not demand such foolhardiness, nor is it necessarily conducive to respect for student privacy.”
Arkansas State Police Sets New Policy for Troopers Providing College Football Security www.privateofficer.com
Little Rock ARK Aug 5 2012 State troopers who provide security for college athletic teams cannot accept free tickets or other gifts from the sports programs if their value would exceed limits set by state law, under an Arkansas State Police policy unveiled Friday.
The agency’s first-ever limitations on gifts come in response to a trooper’s assisting former Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino following a motorcycle crash last April and the subsequent revelation that the trooper accepted gifts from the Razorbacks athletic program. The Arkansas Ethics Commission recommended a letter of caution for Capt. Jeffrey Lance King after he asked it to review his actions.
The policy was distributed to officers Friday. Under it, troopers must follow state ethics laws regarding gifts and can provide security only when they are on duty. They may be paid only their regular state wage and any token of appreciation must not be excessive.
Arkansas law generally forbids public employees, officials and other state workers from accepting gifts valued at more than $100.
Petrino called King after crashing a motorcycle during an outing on the Pig Trail scenic route with a woman who worked in the athletic department. King took Petrino to a hospital and in the ensuing days revealed he had received $3,111 worth of gifts from the Razorbacks program, including game tickets and a Sugar Bowl ring worth $225. King reported himself to the state Ethics Commission, which proposed a letter of caution to the trooper.
State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said that, until Friday, the agency did not have a formal policy on how troopers should handle requests to provide security for university sports teams and coaches. According to the document, when a request comes in, troop commanders should ensure an officer can work a game without interfering with other police operations. On game days, the troopers can wear their uniforms and must provide security only, avoiding actions that would make it appear they were part of the team.
They also cannot use police cruisers to transport team members unless there is a need to provide extra security or emergency transport.
The state police director must authorize trips out of state. Department vehicles cannot travel out of state, and any travel expenses, including meals and lodging, must be paid by the school. When Arkansas is at a road game, any trooper accompanying the team cannot wear a team logo.
The University of Arkansas said it would comment on the policy later Friday.
The school fired Petrino after discovering he had given money to the woman on his motorcycle and helped her obtain a university job.
Source-AP
Armed Madison Alabama woman killed by police www.privateofficer.com
Deborah Jo Day, 55, of 111-A Michael Ave. was shot just before 4 a.m. when she raised a pistol at police officers on Michael Avenue, police said. Day was transported to Huntsville Hospital where she died.
Police said that they received several 911 calls at 3:49 a.m. about a woman with a pistol walking on Michael Avenue and threatening to shoot her neighbors.
Police found the woman walking on the 100 block of Michael Avenue. Officers repeatedly told her to drop the gun, police said. They said that she was shot when she raised the pistol toward an officer.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Department is investigating. The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave and the department is conducting an internal review.
According to court records, Day didn’t have any previous arrests in Madison County for violent crimes. She had been charged with fraudulent use of a credit card in 2002 and 2003, but the charges were dropped in both cases. She was also arrested and charged with writing bad checks to multiple stores in July 2003. Four charges were dismissed and she either pleaded guilty or was convicted in four other cases resulting from that arrest.
Source:AL.com
Seattle security officers assaulted during theft of hundreds of dollars in alcohol www.priovateofficer.com
Seattle WA Aug 5 2012 A man bit and punched two grocery store security guards after he was caught stealing hundreds of dollars in alcohol, said Seattle police.
Just after 10:00p.m. Friday, the two guards, working at the Safeway in the 2200 block of East Madison Street, noticed a man leave the store without paying the more than $500 he owed in alcohol sales.
The guards stopped the man as he started putting his alcohol filled bags inside a waiting car. When they identified themselves as security, police say the suspect became violent, punching and biting them. A woman waiting inside the car jumped out and began spraying the two security guards with pepper spray.
Several witnesses stepped in to help the guards. They were able to place the man in handcuffs while they waited for officers to arrive.
The woman and the man, both 22-years-old, were arrested on scene and booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery.
Medics treated both security guards for pepper spray exposure and bite marks.
Seattle Police continue to investigate this incident.
Source:KOMO
