New York

NYPD cop who killed unarmed teen Ramarley Graham quits before he's fired; victim's outraged mom slams Mayor de Blasio

by Rocco Parsacandola, John Annese and Leonard Greene

The cop who killed Ramarley Graham in the unarmed teen's Bronx home in 2012 resigned Sunday night to avoid being fired — and the victim's mom is livid.

After learning that Officer Richard Haste got to resign like any other cop has the opportunity to do, Constance Malcolm lashed out at the city's mayor and police commissioner, saying “they should be ashamed of themselves.”

“Mayor de Blasio has once again shown his unwillingness to hold police accountable to our communities with his administration giving deference to Richard Haste in allowing him to resign,” Malcolm said in a statement.

“This is not accountability after de Blasio and the NYPD dragged their feet for years, especially while all the other officers involved in the killing of my son continue to be employed by the department, enjoying pay raises every year.”

Graham, 18, was unarmed when he was shot and killed Feb. 2, 2012, in front of his grandmother and little brother after Officer Richard Haste chased him into his Wakefield home on the belief that he had a gun.

No weapon was ever found.

Cops said Sunday night that Haste had resigned ahead of Police Commissioner James O'Neill's intention to to fire him. Haste was found guilty Friday of departmental charges he “exercised poor tactical judgment leading up to the discharge of his firearm” and “acted with intent to cause serious physical injury leading to the death” of Graham.

A high-ranking source said Haste forfeited his pension.

Haste walked into the NYPD's fleet services building in Queens on Sunday, his day off, to resign, according to the source.

“He can walk in, say I quit, and walk out the door. It's as simple as that. We can't do anything to him,” the source said. “We take his ID, we ask him to sign his resignation exit interview form, and that's it.”

Haste, 35, told a supervisor he was resigning, and as of 7:30 p.m., he was no longer an NYPD member.

De Blasio, in a statement, said the department trial recommending his termination Friday ended with “the right decision.”

“Nothing can take away the profound pain left after his loss,” de Blasio said, “but I hope the conclusion of this difficult process brings some measure of justice to those who loved him.”

It didn't.

“Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner O'Neill should be ashamed of themselves, and must immediately fire all of the officers responsible for my son's killing, not more schemes like this allowing them to resign,” Malcolm said.

While a Bronx grand jury initially indicted Haste in Graham's death, a judge tossed the June 2012 indictment on a technicality. A second grand jury then declined to indict Haste.

At the department trial, Haste stood by his decision to shoot Graham.

Five years later, after a rally last month marking Graham's tragic death, Malcolm said she wanted Haste and the other cops fired, or else she'd campaign against de Blasio.

“Election time is coming, and I'll be one of the people campaigning to make sure he doesn't win.,” Malcolm said.

Haste's lawyer, Stuart London, called his client's resignation “unfortunate.”

“He wanted to leave on his own terms, which is to resign instead of being fired,” London said.

Haste, who joined the force in 2008, could have taken a plea deal back when Bill Bratton was NYPD commissioner, which would have allowed him to resign in good standing and earn a small pension, sources said.

Graham's family settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the city for $3.9 million.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-killed-ramarley-graham-quits-avoid-firing-article-1.3009945

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Nevada

Police: 'No apparent reason' for shooting on Vegas Strip bus

by the Associated Press

LAS VEGAS – A man sitting at the back of a public bus on the Las Vegas Strip opened fire "for no apparent reason" as passengers got off at a stop in the heart of the tourism corridor, police said.

Gary Breitling, 57, of Sidney, Montana, was shot and killed Saturday before the gunman barricaded himself in the vehicle, shutting down the Strip for hours, the Clark County coroner's office said. He died at a hospital.

Rolando Cardenas, 55, has been accused in the shooting, and he surrendered peacefully after a standoff inside the double-decker bus that lasted more than four hours, police said Sunday.

He was booked into jail on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, burglary and opening fire on the bus. An attorney for him could not immediately be found. Attempts to reach his family were unsuccessful.

The bus had stopped on the Strip near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino and passengers were leaving when Cardenas stood up and fired several rounds from a handgun, police said. The man didn't fire all of his bullets, but he did shoot at police during the barricade. Police said they didn't fire any shots. Assistant Sheriff Tom Roberts also said that authorities believe Cardenas may have had "mental issues."

Another victim was shot in the stomach and was hospitalized but is expected to live. Both victims were seated in the back with Cardenas, police said.

It was not known how many people were on the bus at the time of the shooting, but the bystanders and the victims had fled. Police have started a hotline seeking to hear what those passengers witnessed.

Because authorities did not know if more victims were inside, crisis negotiators, robots and armored vehicles surrounded the bus. Officers swept into casinos to warn tourists to hunker down until further notice, leaving the normally bustling pedestrian areas and a road notorious for taxi-to-taxi traffic completely empty.

Visitors also hid out inside some of the other prominent hotel-casino properties nearby, including the Bellagio, Paris, Planet Hollywood and Bally's, which also hold restaurants, shops and attractions.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/27/police-no-apparent-reason-for-shooting-on-vegas-strip-bus.html

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New York

White supremacist killed black man for a ‘rush'

by Tina Moore and Chris Perez

The Baltimore white supremacist who came to the Big Apple to kill black people told police he thought he would get a thrill by slaughtering a young person — but was instead left in a confused “daze” after realizing he took the life of an old can collector , law-enforcement sources said Sunday.

“He said he wished he had did it to somebody younger,” a source told The Post. “Once he did it, he expected a rush but he didn't get it. Then he was just walking around in a daze.”

After Army veteran James Harris Jackson was done plunging his 18-inch sword into the chest and back of 66-year-old Timothy Caughman — a beloved autograph collector and trash recycler — he apparently made a pit stop.

“He stopped at the library,” the source said, though it's unclear which one specifically.

Jackson, who is charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, traveled from his home city of Baltimore to New York to kill as many black men as he could, according to prosecutors.

The attack has since been dubbed an act of “domestic, racist terrorism” by Mayor de Blasio after the self-described bigot told authorities he was planning on taking out more victims in an attempt to spread fear.

Jackson was eyeing at least one other victim on West 39th Street and Ninth Avenue on the night of the killing, but got spooked when a couple emerged from a nearby restaurant, sources said.

“That guy is absolutely lucky,” a source explained. “He was obviously going after him and he acknowledged that.”

After his arrest, investigators said Jackson admitted to taking a bus from Baltimore to the Big Apple on St. Patrick's Day with the sole intent to “target male blacks.”

He claimed to have picked New York because he wanted to garner as much media attention as possible. The only reason he turned himself in, Jackson said, was because he spotted a mixed-race couple and was afraid he would also attack them, as well.

Jackson's attorney has told prosecutors that he has “obvious psychological issues.”

http://nypost.com/2017/03/27/white-supremacist-killed-black-man-for-a-rush/

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Massachusetts

Opinion

Building trust between police and the community

by Stanley Pollack

Simmering beneath White House tweetstorms and federal budget proposals are longstanding tensions between youth and police — tensions that can boil over at any time in cities around the nation. In attempting to forestall violent clashes and deadly incidents, many city officials have chosen to apply a law-and-order, stop-and-frisk approach to policing. Leaders in these cities need to realize that such policies only serve to inflame racial animosity, erode trust, and rip apart the fabric of community that is essential to establishing peace on the streets. They need to understand that there is a better way: to recognize the assets that the youth in the community possess, to nurture their youthful hope for a better life, and to invest the time, effort, and money needed to develop their leadership potential to help solve the problems they face.

Over the last 25 years, the Center for Teen Empowerment has developed a model program that hires and trains urban youth to lead movements among their peers toward peace and reconciliation between youth, police, and the community. In 1992, when Teen Empowerment started our first site in Boston's South End, the city was awash in violence among young people. The courageous work of the youth we employed to confront the bloodshed played a pivotal role in creating the period that's been dubbed “the Boston Miracle”— 29 months when no one under the age of 19 died as a consequence of violence. Today in Boston, with the full support of Police Commissioner William Evans, Teen Empowerment continues its efforts — organizing dialogues, community meetings, and social and recreational activities involving thousands of youth and hundreds of police officers.

In 2003, TE began serving the youth of Rochester, N.Y. We helped lower violence in that city, and we created a robust partnership with the Rochester Police Department to provide training to all new police recruits and to build relationships of trust and respect between police officers and the communities where they work. In 2004, the newly elected mayor of Somerville, Joseph Curtatone, asked Teen Empowerment to help him deal with a crisis among that city's youth. There had been 21 recent teen suicides and drug overdoses, and there was serious gang violence in the city and a very troubled relationship between youth and the police. In response, Teen Empowerment hired and trained youth to organize meetings, conferences, and dialogues between youth, police, and the community, with an emphasis on human connection and common ground rather than confrontation. Since 2005, crime in that city has gone down more than 70 percent and relationships between youth and police have improved dramatically.

At times of crisis in each of these cities, leaders could have turned to policies that would have made a bad situation worse. Instead, rather than turn on their youth with military-style policing tactics, these cities asked young people to join them as partners in solving the communities' problems. Many hundreds of police officers working today in Boston, Somerville, and Rochester will attest to the power of direct, personal youth-led dialogue to enrich their understanding of young people, challenge their stereotypes, and create productive relationships that enhance their ability to enforce the law and prevent crimes.

This approach requires a transformation in the culture of police departments: to recognize that all policing needs to be community policing. Departments that are ready to undertake this commitment need to budget the time for all police officers to participate in dialogues and other youth-led activities. In addition, while the City of Somerville presently supports Teen Empowerment at a level that enables us to engage 100 percent of their officers in these efforts, bringing our work to scale in Boston and Rochester will require significant increases in Teen Empowerment's present capacity.

On March 31, Chief William Gross will welcome the chiefs of Somerville and Rochester to Boston Police headquarters to meet with Teen Empowerment. We will explore how the work can be expanded in Boston and Rochester and how to get national attention for this approach. We will take the next step in developing these effective community building initiatives and bringing a message of hope to the nation that the relationship between youth, police, and community can be healed — if we have the will and the courage to strike out on this new path.

Stanley Pollack is founder and executive director of the Center for Teen Empowerment.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/03/26/building-trust-between-police-and-community/CgxcbptRsCu0fjGs2jtPLL/story.html

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United Kingdom

UK terror attack: Perpetrator used WhatsApp, firm must help police get access

British press reports suggest Khalid Masood used the messaging service owned by Facebook just minutes before the Wednesday rampage

by Gregory Katz

LONDON — Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood sent a WhatsApp message that cannot be accessed because it was encrypted by the popular messaging service, a top British security official said Sunday.

British press reports suggest Masood used the messaging service owned by Facebook just minutes before the Wednesday rampage that left three pedestrians and one police officer dead and dozens more wounded.

As controversy swirled over the encrypted messages, police made another arrest in Birmingham, England, where Masood had lived. The 30-year-old is one of two men now in custody over possible links to the attack. Neither has been charged or publicly named.

Masood was shot dead on the grounds of Parliament.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd used appearances on BBC and Sky News to urge WhatsApp and other encrypted services to make their platforms accessible to intelligence services and police trying to carrying out lawful eavesdropping.

"We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp — and there are plenty of others like that — don't provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other," she said.

Rudd did not provide any details about Masood's use of WhatsApp, saying only "this terrorist sent a WhatsApp message and it can't be accessed."

But her call for a "back door" system to allow authorities to retrieve information is likely to meet resistance from the tech industry, which has faced previous law enforcement demands for access to data after major attacks.

In the United States, Apple fought the FBI's request for the passcodes needed to unlock an iPhone that had been used by one of the perpetrators in the 2015 extremist attack in San Bernardino, California.

The FBI initially claimed it could obtain the data only with Apple's help, but ultimately found another way to hack into the locked phone.

Masood drove a rented SUV into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before smashing it into Parliament's gates and rushing onto the grounds, where he fatally stabbed a policeman and was shot by other officers. A detailed police reconstruction has found the entire attack lasted 82 seconds.

Police are trying to pinpoint his motive and identify any possible accomplices, making the WhatsApp message a potential clue to his state of mind and his social media contacts.

Rudd said attacks like Masood's would be easier to prevent if authorities could penetrate encrypted services after obtaining warrants similar to the ones used to listen in on telephone calls or — in snail mail days — to steam open letters and read their contents.

Without a change in the system, she said terrorists would be able to communicate with each other without fear of being overheard even in cases where a legal warrant has been obtained.

Rudd also urged technology companies to do a better job at preventing the publication of material that promotes extremism. She plans to meet with firms Thursday about setting up an industry board that would take steps to make the web less useful to extremists.

British police investigating the attack say they still believe Masood, a 52-year-old Briton, acted alone and say they have no indications that further attacks are planned.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said it may never be possible to fully determine Masood's motives.

"That understanding may have died with him," Basu said Saturday night as police appealed for people who knew Masood or saw him to contact investigators. "Even if he acted alone in the preparation, we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts, to bring reassurance to Londoners."

The Islamic State group, which is losing territory in Iraq and Syria but still has radical followers in other parts of the world, has claimed Masood was a "soldier" carrying out its wishes to attack Western countries.

Masood had convictions for violent crimes in the U.K. and spent time in prison. He also worked in Saudi Arabia teaching English for two years and traveled there again in 2015 on a visa designed for religious pilgrimages.

Along with the man arrested Sunday, a 58-year-old man detained in Birmingham several days ago remains in custody in the case. Nine others arrested after the attack have been freed without charges, while one person was released on bail.

The family of slain police officer Keith Palmer, meanwhile, released a statement thanking those who tried to save his life.

"There was nothing more you could have done. You did your best and we are just grateful he was not alone," the statement said.

https://www.policeone.com/international/articles/321377006-UK-terror-attack-Perpetrator-used-WhatsApp-firm-must-help-police-get-access/

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Pennsylvania

With upcoming events, Pa. city up for challenge of keeping visitors safe

To prepare, officials research trends and gather intelligence to try to predict — and prevent — outbreaks of violence

by Andrew Goldstein

PITTSBURGH — In his 25 years with the FBI, Wendell Hissrich had to concern himself with security of large crowds while working at command posts of major national and international events, from the first Obama inauguration in 2009 to Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia in 2015.

Those events drew crowds of a million or more and were peaceful, but Mr. Hissrich's first exposure to a mass gathering while working for the FBI was anything but. At the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference in Seattle in 1999, mass protests that turned violent caused the Washington governor to declare a state of emergency and brought widespread criticism upon the city for its lack of preparation.

“There were a lot of things done wrong there,” Mr. Hissrich said.

Although nothing has reached that level in Pittsburgh since Mr. Hissrich took over as the city's public safety director in January 2016, he said he was concerned by some of the violence he saw at special events — largely in Downtown — over the summer.

High-profile crime incidents made headlines seemingly after every big event: a shooting on Liberty Avenue following Fourth of July Fireworks; juveniles fighting and causing disturbances throughout the Golden Triangle during the Regatta; a car crash critically injuring two people just outside Pride Fest in the Cultural District.

As a result, Mr. Hissrich said he and other city officials have “fine-tuned” event planning, starting the preparation earlier and bringing the various components in the public safety department together.

As the weather turns warmer and millions of people are expected to attend events in Downtown, the public safety department faces the challenge of keeping visitors safe as business owners and event planners try to attract as many people as they can.

“Downtown's a showcase, and it's under a microscope for public safety,” Mr. Hissrich said in a recent interview at the City-County Building. “Anything that happens there is going to be well publicized, but crime is not really excessive down there.”

Event Planning

When then-candidate Donald Trump visited Pittsburgh in April for the first time on his campaign trail, thousands of supporters and protesters came together in the streets near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The rally was mostly peaceful, but a clash between protesters and police resulted in several arrests and injuries.

Officials decided changes were needed after reviewing that event.

“There has to be a clear-cut chain of command,” Mr. Hissrich said. “Who is in charge? And that person needs to be in charge of the entire event.”

Since then, Mr. Hissrich said, preparation has become more consistent between the city's police, fire and EMS departments. An entity comprised of a police commander, an assistant chief or the chief of fire and an assistant chief from EMS make their plan together.

“Before, the planning was done separately by police, fire and EMS, and two weeks before they'd all come into a room like this and all try to put their plan together,” Mr. Hissrich said. “A lot of times it was cohesive. Many times it wasn't.”

Mr. Hissrich said one of the first things he noticed when he took over the public safety department was that planning for special events didn't start as early as it could have. Planning for events now begins the day the permit for the event is issued.

Officials can plan all they want, but it's still hard to know what's going to happen the day of an event.

To prepare, officials research trends and gather intelligence to try to predict — and prevent — outbreaks of violence. Mr. Hissrich said authorities will look at what happens in other cities and plan accordingly.

The reaction to some violence has been as simple as checking bags and using metal-detecting wands. Portable lights have been brought in to illuminate dark areas. Extra security cameras from elsewhere in the city have been moved to high-traffic locations during events.

Other responses are more complex. Attempting to thwart an attack such as the one that happened in July in Nice, France, when a terrorist killed dozens as he drove a truck through a crowd, the city started moving public works trucks and Port Authority buses into positions that block vehicles from entering areas where a large number of people might be during events.

Intelligence and presence

The EQT Three Rivers Regatta in August was considered by most to be successful, with events on the rivers returning after a year's hiatus. But outside of the confines of Point State Park on the final night of the Regatta, a wave of trouble was washing over the rest of Downtown.

Groups of juveniles were running amok, getting into altercations with civilians, police officers and each other. Several minor injuries were reported, and more than a half-dozen arrests were made.

“The night of the Regatta I came across two probably 20-year-old girls who were in tears because they were scared, and I made sure they got to their car,” Mr. Hissrich said. “I don't blame them.”

Mr. Hissrich said authorities had information that problems might occur on the Saturday night of the Regatta. Extra resources were brought into town that night, and in the end nothing happened.

“But it did occur on Sunday night, and we probably did not bring enough resources into town,” Mr. Hissrich said.

The takeaway: Bring in more resources earlier and continue to bring more as problems persist.

Mr. Hissrich said officials appeared to avert issues at Light Up Night festivities in November doing just that.

When authorities learned through monitoring social media that juveniles were planning to come Downtown to cause problems, plainclothes officers were dispersed throughout the crowd.

“They blend in and they listen to what's being said,” Mr. Hissrich said. “If there's any intel which hints that there's going to be problems, we start moving uniformed police officers and resources to that problem area.”

City officials and Downtown community members agree that police presence is the keystone to public safety, not only at special events but on a daily basis.

Along with putting more officers on the street, the plan is to have a police substation in the Cultural District that will be staffed 12 to 16 hours a day and can function as a command post during events.

“I've heard the saying ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,' ” said John Valentine, executive director of the Pittsburgh Downtown Community Development Corp. “I think having a satellite station, more police presence at these big events just make a world of difference.”

Day to day

Only a small amount of the crime that occurs in Downtown happens during big events. For those who live and work in the Central Business District, public safety is an essential issue.

Drug dealing and abuse in Market Square once again became problematic in the past year. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership recently decided to remove tables and chairs from the square after lunchtime to deter troublemakers from loitering there.

Several violent incidents have occurred in the last few years at the Wood Street T station, including a shooting in September that left a 17-year-old boy critically injured. Police have increased their presence in the area, particularly around 3 p.m. when teenagers from rival neighborhoods cross paths on their way home from school.

Officials believe police presence can increase public safety day to day, just as it does at big events.

Mr. Hissrich said the police substation will be in operation by the end of the year. He said he was hoping to have it open earlier, but there's been “some minor hang-ups” on negotiations with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, which may lease a space to the city.

He said that the regular work for mounted police units — which the city recently announced it would bring back after 14 years — will be in Market Square. Officers on horses would fill the absence of a beat cop in the square, which has been without one for over a year.

“We [support] any action that is being taken because we're happy to see that there is an action taken,” said Brian Gorder, manager of Diamond Market in Market Square.

“It's a positive sign that people are working together,” said Jordan Nicholas, owner of Nicholas Coffee. “It may not be the right solution the first time, but I'm confident we'll get it right eventually.”

Mr. Gorder and Mr. Nicholas said programming, such as outdoor movies, concerts and sports-watch parties are in the works to give the square a more family-friendly vibe this summer.

But no matter what happens, and even if safety cannot be guaranteed at all times, stakeholders still believe people will flock to Downtown for big events or a night on the town.

“You can talk about high-profile incidents anywhere in the world,” Mr. Valentine said. “I can show you high-profile incidents in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. ... But that can't stop you from living.”

https://www.policeone.com/Crowd-Control/articles/321447006-With-upcoming-events-Pa-city-up-for-challenge-of-keeping-visitors-safe/

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Illinois

Study: Chicago stop-and-frisk numbers drop, more work needed

The study revealed a dramatic decrease in the number of stops since an ACLU of Illinois lawsuit, but found that officers were still targeting racial minorities

by Don Babwin and Sophia Tareen

CHICAGO — A study of the Chicago Police Department's stop-and-frisk procedures released Friday revealed a dramatic decrease in the number of stops since an American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois lawsuit, but found that officers were still targeting racial minorities.

The report by former U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys, the first one issued under an agreement the city reached with the ACLU in 2015, was not surprising to ACLU officials. The organization expected the decrease because of changes in the law and a deal the organization reached with the department that requires officers to fill out more detailed reports of stops than they once did.

According to the report, the number of investigatory stops fell from more than 1.3 million in 2014 and 2015 to just over 54,000 in the first six months of 2016.

"We needed something to change, those numbers just could not continue," said Karen Sheley, director of Police Practices Project at the ACLU of Illinois. She said the rate of stops in Chicago on a per capita basis was more than four times than it was in New York. The number of stops has dropped dramatically in New York as well.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the department would "carefully review the recommendations" and work on implementing reforms while "protecting civil rights of the public." And Chicago's city attorney, Edward Siskel, said the report documents the city's "dedication to fully adopting the new policies and procedures."

But Sheley said more work needs to be done, pointing out that while the number of stops has dropped, blacks still make up more than 70 percent of those who are stopped even though they account for about a third of Chicago's population.

During the presidential campaign last fall, then-nominee Donald Trump endorsed the stop-and-frisk policing method for Chicago when calling the city out for its high number of homicides and shootings. But a federal judge earlier ruled that New York City's practice was unconstitutional because of its overwhelming impact on minority residents.

The new report comes as Chicago police are trying to regain public trust in the wake of a video that shows a white officer fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014. An ensuing Justice Department report this year found the Police Department had a long history of civil rights violations and excessive force.

The report also included a statistic that might surprise those who criticized the department, both on and off the force, when the 2015 agreement with the ACLU was reached. At the time, critics wondered if reducing the number of stops might decrease the number of illegal guns taken off the street. But the report found that of the 18,364 stops involving a pat-down search, frequently called stop-and-frisk, 465 weapons were recovered — a fraction of the thousands of guns the department takes off the street every year.

"They don't get a lot of guns from those stops anyway," Sheley said.

Ohio

Police: At least 15 shot, 1 fatally, at Cincinnati nightclub

Shooting happened inside Cameo, police say

by WLWT 5

CINCINNATI — At least 15 people were shot -- one fatally -- at a Cincinnati nightclub early Sunday.

The shooting was reported just after 1 a.m. at Cameo Night Club on Kellogg Avenue in Cincinnati's East End.

At least one person is still at large, Cincinnati police said.

Officials said that one person was killed, and at least 14 others were injured. Some of the victims were taken to area hospitals via ambulance, and others arrived via their own conveyance, police said.

Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said that several of the victims have life-threatening injuries.

“We are in the middle of a very horrific situation that occurred at the nightclub with multiple victims,” Neudigate said. “It's going to be a long night for our homicide units to investigate.”

Neudigate said that police do not suspect that this was an act of terror.

Neudigate added that hundreds of people were inside of the nightclub at the time of the shooting, and called it a “chaotic crime scene.” Police initially said multiple shooters fired shots inside of the nightclub. However, Neudigate has said there is "only one reported shooter at this time."

“Many of them fled, unfortunately. Many of the witnesses fled, but everyone that we can identify is being interviewed,” he said.

One witness told WLWT News 5 that he heard the club's DJ call for security about 10 minutes before the shooting.

Surveillance cameras were inside the club at the time of the shooting, police said.

Of eight victims taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, police said one person is in critical condition, three people are in serious condition and four people are in stable condition.

Two people were treated and released from Bethesda North Hospital, and two more are at Christ Hospital in stable condition. One person was treated and released at Mercy Anderson and another was treated and released at Mercy West.

Neudigate added that Sunday morning's shooting was one of the largest shooting cases that he has worked in his 27-plus years with the department.

Cameo nightclub has had several issues in the past, authorities said. The club allows admission to anyone over the age of 18.

“We are aware of it. It has had some challenges in the past,” Neudigate said.

There were two shootings at the nightclub in 2015: one on New Year's Day, when someone was shot in the foot, and another in September, when a shooting victim was found in the parking lot.

Police have not said whether anyone is in custody, and the investigation is ongoing. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is helping Cincinnati police with this investigation.

Cincinnati restaurateur Jeff Ruby is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the shooting death, he tweeted Sunday.

WLWT has a crew on the scene and will update this story as new information is released.

http://www.wlwt.com/article/police-at-least-15-shot-1-fatally-at-cincinnati-nightclub/9186538

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Wisconsin

US police officer calls tax scammer

by James Gorman

(Video on site)

A US police officer has recorded a phone exchange with a fake tax revenue agent in a bid to educate the public about scammers.

Officer Kyle Roder posted the video of the conversation to the Eau Claire Police Department's Facebook page on March 22 showing him calling back a number after he received a voicemail on his phone from someone claiming to be from the IRS.

The message was urgent and insisted if he did not resolve the matter immediately he would be arrested.

Officer Roder called the number while a colleague filmed. He managed to keep a straight face as he calmly discussed his impending arrest with the scammer.

"Hello, is this the IRS? It said to call this number, you said I had committed a fraud or something?” Roder asked before the man asked for his address.

"But you said you're going to issue a warrant for me and come to my house. If you don't have my address, how are you going to do that?"

The scammer told the officer he had a fiduciary responsibility to pay back money owed over the phone because his local office wouldn't have the paperwork.

When the officer asked for the man's name he replied "James Maxwell".

After a brief exchange he asked for the name again but this time the scammer replied "James Johnson".

Fake tax agents have overtaken identity thieves to become American's most prolific scammers.

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2017/03/25/15/46/us-police-officer-calls-tax-scammer

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Oklahoma

Here are some ways the Tulsa Police Department wants to better interact with you and your neighbors

by Corey Jones

The Tulsa Commission on Community Policing outlines numerous ways among its 77 recommendations for how the Police Department should continue or enhance outreach to better engage residents.

Perhaps the cornerstone of such engagement is to establish “civilian oversight of law enforcement” via community advisory panels within each of the Police Department's three patrol divisions. The report also recommends regularly scheduling public forums, which would allow many more citizens to “interact with police and help influence programs and policy.”

Other concrete engagement initiatives include:

• A condensed eight-hour citizens academy designed to introduce community members to police operations.

• A community policing calendar of town hall meetings and any other police events of public interest.

• The addition of a separate question and complaint line for Spanish speakers.

Police Chief Chuck Jordan said in an interview last week that “every cop wants to have a better relationship with their community,” so there is excitement to use the report as a road map to guide the department through the next several years.

“Community engagement is probably one of those areas we need to improve the most,” Jordan said. He wasn't referencing public relations with that statement. He was referring to beat cops developing relationships with people.

He said his officers are “still running from call to call” during 80 percent of their shifts, which doesn't lend itself to proactive policing. That percentage is expected to decrease as about 160 officers are added to the force in the next few years, funded through the Vision Tulsa sales tax.

“We do what we can while engaged in those calls,” Jordan said. “But that's not the same as an officer stopping to talk to someone watering their lawn or walking into a business and saying, ‘Hey, how's it going?'?”

Jordan said that within the next three months his department will begin forming a community advisory board and community action groups.

The advisory board will work with Jordan and his command staff, holding a “50,000-foot view” of overall impacts on the community that also go beyond policing.

”How can we assist the rest of the community in business development and education?” Jordan asked.

Each of the three action groups will be assigned to a patrol division — Gilcrease, Riverside or Mingo Valley — and will be involved in shorter-term problems, such as a rash of crime or traffic issues in a neighborhood.

The department's current Citizens Police Academy is a 12-week course, which Jordan called “very successful.” However, a few hours once a week for three months might be too much of a commitment for some people to make.

Creating a condensed curriculum that fits into eight hours in a single day will let more people quickly learn the high points of police operations, from automobile wrecks to tactics to use of force, Jordan said. He said he would like to have a one-day program in place within six months.

“Everyone I've seen go through it comes out with a different perspective on police,” Jordan said of the existing Citizens Police Academy.

Establishing a distinct line of communication for Spanish-language users is a goal that Jordan said might be accomplished within a 12-month range. He said some monetary and technological hangups must be hurdled first.

People who currently call Internal Affairs can leave a message and receive a response within 24 hours, Jordan said.

Moises Echeverria, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice, lauded the “comprehensive way” the committee evaluated community policing initiatives, specifically with regard to technology and outreach.

“I especially appreciated youth engagement and the wellness of officers,” he said.

However, Echeverria is disappointed that hate crimes and protected status for LGBTQ people aren't addressed. He said he appreciates the recommendations to continue the emphasis on unbiased policing, to maintain search and seizure procedures for the LGBTQ community and to add LGBTQ interactions into basic academy curriculum.

But Echeverria explained that another recommendation centers on working to encourage local, state and federal legislative bodies “to update public record laws.”

He said he would like to see Tulsa police advocate in favor of status protection for gender identity and sexuality at higher levels of government.

“I think that it would behoove the Police Department to advocate for those protections to the LGBTQ community,” Echeverria said, noting that the recent verbal attacks and gunshots fired at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa weren't considered hate crimes.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/here-are-some-ways-the-tulsa-police-department-wants-to/article_f81abce9-79ee-5bee-af80-6dd807f60571.html

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Florida

Clermont police make effort to improve community relations through program

by Millard Ives

CLERMONT – Police in Clermont will be taking on an additional duty — delivering pizza.

The Clermont Police Department is teaming up with Flippers Pizzeria in an effort to bridge the gap between them and the community.

Officers will deliver some of the business's carry-out orders as part of a plan to have more positive interactions with the residents they are delivering the pizzas to.

Chief Charles Broadway said the deliveries will allow them to spread crime prevention tips and just chat with residents.

Officer David Colon, of the agency's community policing and problem solving units, said it's a great way to get through recent times in which law enforcement has been shown in a negative light.

"With our visit, the families will be able to see a couple of police officers come to their door and after a short greeting, hand them a crime prevention flyer and wish them a good dinner as a family ... ," Colon said.

The program, Hero Deliveries, is slated to kick off in a couple weeks.

Broadway said the idea was Flippers' and they hope to make about 10 deliveries in some months.

"We are hoping to build a rapport with the residents," Broadway said.

The chief added they already have a similar relationship with Little Caesars Pizza, where the restaurant would deliver food alongside officers.

Broadway said Hero Deliveries stems directly from former President Barack Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing that came after a tumultuous 2014 with several high-profile incidents involving deaths of unarmed black men. The Task Force called for, among a number of things, an aim to improve community relations.

It is not clear what would happen if Clermont police, while on deliveries, surprise residents who are engaging in illegal activity. But Broadway said they aren't going to homes looking to make arrests.

"We aren't asking to go inside, unless they invite us in," Broadway said.

http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/20170325/clermont-police-make-effort-to-improve-community-relations-through-program

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New Jersey

Denville Police dealing officer trading cards

by Michael Izzo

The Denville Police Department is taking a new approach with community outreach, issuing trading cards for each officer and encouraging kids to collect them all.

Denville Rotary officers first approached Denville Chief Christopher Wagner about the police trading cards idea last fall and began collaborating on the idea. Officers have since submitted their biographies for the cards and Jody Johnson of Glide by JJ took photos for the cards.

“This was actually a project I wanted to do many years ago, but I didn't have the funding at the time. And it also can be a difficult thing to get police officers fired up about,” Wagner said. “But when the Rotary came to me with this community relations project idea, I thought it was great considering how the topic of community policing is affecting our nation. We're very fortunate to have overwhelming support from the community, but there's nothing wrong with strengthening that support.”

Wagner said he liked the idea of the trading cards because it allows kids to meet officers at an early age.

“It's good for our officers to interact with our young kids,” Wagner said. “With this, kids from Denville will be able to stop a police officer while driving, or walk into the station to get a card. And officers will have to interact with them, shaking their hands and having a conversation with parents at the very least. It's a great opportunity for everyone to meet one another.”

Each police officer will be issued 1,000 trading cards and Denville students in kindergarten through eighth grade are tasked with collecting all 31. All cards will feature the officers' photo, badge number, and biography.

A kickoff event is planned on May 16 at Gardner Field during National Police Week, which runs May 14 through 20. Wagner said he has several activities planned for the kickoff event at police headquarters, located next to Gardner Field, including tours and an equipment demonstration.

“The trading card program is designed to promote a long lasting, positive relationship between our local police officers and the youth of our community,” the Denville Rotary said in a press release announcing the program. “The primary goal of the trading card program is to help our children understand that police officers are friendly, approachable and are always ready to be of help when needed.”

All children who participate in the event will receive a “Thin Blue Line” wristband. Prizes will be awarded to the first three students in each elementary school and the middle school to complete a full set of 31 cards.

The first place prizes will be bicycles from Cycle Craft in Parsippany. Second place will be an Amazon Kindle Fire, and third place will be a tour of the police station and lunch with Chief Wagner. First place prizes will be awarded at the Junior Police Academy graduation ceremony on July 14.

Wagner expects it will take a little time to collect all 31, as only the officer can issue their own card and not all of them will be on duty during the May 16 event.

“Some cards will be harder to get than others,” Wagner said. “My card will probably be harder because I'm not out and about as much as other officers. But people can come to headquarters and I'll be happy to walk out and meet them to give them a card.”

The program is still accepting sponsors and anyone interested in sponsoring an officer's card should call Rotary officers Mary Radisch at 973-476-1639 or Betsy Roberts at 973-945-9799 for details.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/local/morris-county/2017/03/25/denville-police-dealing-officer-trading-cards/99417848/

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New Hampshire

NH leads effort to view overdoses as crime scenes

The training teaches police how to gather evidence such as cell phone records that could be traced back to the dealer and how to safely handle fentanyl

by Kathleen Ronayne

CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire training program that teaches police officers and prosecutors how to treat drug overdoses as crime scenes is emerging as a model for other states grappling with the opioid crisis.

Outgoing Attorney General Joe Foster launched the training last summer so that officers could learn how to trace bad batches of drugs to the source, with the goal of charging dealers — particularly large suppliers — who cause overdoses with "death resulting," a previously little-used charge that carries up to life in prison.

That training now serves as a blueprint for other attorneys general nationwide. The National Association of Attorneys General brought several New Hampshire officials to Washington in early March to draft training materials for wider use, and Foster himself has become a go-to person on the issue. He has spoken about New Hampshire's approach at a conference in Rhode Island, and Alabama officials have asked for more information. In Florida, Attorney General Pam Bondi says she frequently talks to Foster for ideas on fighting the drug crisis.

"The New Hampshire program just absolutely, in my mind, was the catalyst or the cha-ching moment of, 'Hey, this would be a wonderful training to take nationally," said Mark Neil, counsel for the National Association of Attorneys General's training division.

Officials from Ohio, Massachusetts and Florida have also been involved in drafting the national training materials, but Neil said New Hampshire has driven the process.

New Hampshire is one of many states, including Ohio, Maine, West Virginia and New Jersey, where authorities are filing homicide, involuntary manslaughter or related charges against dealers. They argue that overdose deaths should be treated as crimes leading to stiff sentences, and can serve as a deterrent to others.

Officials say New Hampshire stands out because its training was the first that brought local, state and federal officers and prosecutors together to share information and to make sure everyone is approaching overdose scenes in the same way — as a crime scene rather than an accidental death. The training teaches police how to gather evidence such as cell phone records that could be traced back to the dealer and how to safely handle fentanyl, the potent drug now responsible for the majority of New Hampshire's overdoses.

"Before this was happening, officers would walk into a scene where an individual had passed away and it was dealt with as almost a matter of routine," said Ben Agati, a senior assistant attorney general in New Hampshire. "It wasn't seen as an opening or an opportunity to investigate the end of the drug distribution network."

But critics say this tough new approach doesn't work.

"We've tried to arrest and prosecute our way out of drug problems before to no avail," said Mark Sisti, a criminal defense attorney who has represented several people facing "death resulting" charges. "We're not getting drug overdose death prosecutions against the big guys; we're getting them against the small guys."

Others argue that resources could be better spent on getting people help instead of prosecuting lower level dealers, such as someone who is using drugs themselves and shares with a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Law enforcement officials admit it may be too soon to know whether the approach is effective and they didn't provide data on what amount of drugs has been taken off the streets. Since the training, New Hampshire's justice department has charged 11 people with "death resulting," up from just one the year before. Local departments have sent the AG's office 114 cases for more investigation, and county attorneys also pursue death resulting charges on their own.

For Foster, who pushed the training, prosecution is just one piece of tackling New Hampshire's addiction crisis. But he said people who knowingly cause deaths must face some culpability.

"I'm told by law enforcement that there's chatter about the fact that if you cause a death you may well be looking at some significant jail time, so hopefully there'll be some deterrence," Foster said.

https://www.policeone.com/legal-issues/articles/321089006-NH-leads-effort-to-view-overdoses-as-crime-scenes/

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Switzerland

Vehicle attacks: easy success for IS, challenge for police

This simple but effective method has been laid out repeatedly and in detail in IS propaganda material which continues to circulate online

by Dominique Soguel

BASEL, Switzerland — In the battlefields of Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State group became infamous for its spectacular variations on explosive vehicles. For attacks in the West, it has advocated the use of the same tool but suggested a simpler method, encouraging its followers to use regular vehicles to achieve bloodshed.

Experts say that vehicle attacks — whether IS-inspired or coordinated — present a unique challenge for law enforcement officials as they are nearly impossible to predict and easy to pull off. They require no advanced training, no specialized materials. Almost anyone can own or rent a vehicle.

Some feel that these low-tech, lone wolf operations can have the same psychological impact as larger, more sensational attacks. Four people were killed in London on Wednesday with this tactic in what was the worst attack on British soil since the transport network bombings on July 7, 2005.

Charlie Winter, a senior research fellow at the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, says what makes such attacks so frightening is the relatively low barriers to entry. The method was embraced by al-Qaida before being revitalized by IS.

"It makes for a very effective unsophisticated high impact, very frightening form of an operation," he said. "You don't need to know someone who can make you a bomb or buy you a gun in order to carry out an attack. It's a very difficult thing to fight against. There is no quick fix."

British authorities on Thursday identified Khalid Masood as the man who mowed down pedestrians with an SUV and stabbed a policeman to death outside Parliament. The British national wasn't on a terrorism watch list although he was once investigated for extremism. IS claimed the attack.

Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence group, says it is almost impossible for law enforcement agencies to stop IS-inspired attacks, especially vehicular-style ones like the one in London. Since 2014, this simple but effective method has been laid out repeatedly and in detail in IS propaganda material which continues to circulate online.

"It's not a style of attack that you can monitor by increasing security and intel on who has weapons or other attention-grabbing variables," Katz told The Associated Press. "Every car suddenly turns into a possible weapon, so it's really very difficult to stop."

Vehicle attacks, like knife attacks, are aggressively promoted by IS and its online supporters. In its November issue of its online magazine Rumiyah, IS extolled the virtues of the car as a weapon of attack and offered guidance to its followers, suggesting the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as a possible target.

"Vehicles are like knives, as they are extremely easy to acquire," points out the online magazine issue. "But unlike knives, which if found in one's possession can be a cause for suspicion, vehicles arouse absolutely no doubts due to their widespread use throughout the world. "

Two weeks later, an Ohio State University student rammed his car into a group of pedestrians on campus and then got out and started stabbing people with a butcher knife before being gunned down by a police officer. IS claimed the attack, which left 11 people wounded.

The devastating potential of such violence was dramatically illustrated last summer in the French beach town of Nice when a cargo truck took to the crowds celebrating Bastille Day in an attack that left 86 people dead and hundreds of others wounded. A truck was also used in last year's Christmas market attack in Berlin that killed 12 people, including the driver of the truck that was commandeered.

In the London attack on Wednesday, the weapon of choice was an SUV. Katz sees the similarities between these attacks as evidence that IS propaganda is taking hold and that more needs to be done to counter it. Winter says that the impact of propaganda is overplayed and a copycat effect is also a factor.

Omar Ashour says these attacks are gaining traction precisely because authorities have their defenses up. The IS leadership began urging attacks on the West after the U.S-led coalition launched airstrikes on the group. The message then evolved to spell out the best ways to use a knife or inflict the most damage possible with a car.

IS may provide "very detailed tactical information that helps the attackers to create more damage but there is a ceiling to that. They could not do as much damage as firearms or bombs would do. The capacity to execute largish, more complex operations is extremely limited," says Ashour, a lecturer in security studies at the University of Exeter.

Anne Giudicelli, director of the security risk consultancy firm Terrorisc, says that such attacks are becoming a signature approach for IS in Europe. While not much more can be done to boost security on the ground, more can be done to fight the spread of IS ideology online, and cooperation between European countries confronting this threat can be tightened.

"At the level of strict security, the maximum is done," she told the AP. "The authorities are confronted to the fact that all the outward signs, what we call indicators, the criteria for surveillance, are today very volatile because individuals adapt, they know what will get them detected."

https://www.policeone.com/terrorism/articles/321091006-Vehicle-attacks-easy-success-for-IS-challenge-for-police/

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Texas

Dallas raised more than $500K for mentoring program that pairs cops, kids

"This is all about one-on-one relationships ... with the most vulnerable demographic within our community"

by Tasha Tsiaperas

DALLAS — Dallas police officials hope 300 of its officers will act as mentors in the Bigs in Blue program, a branch of the one-on-one mentoring organization Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

The effort was announced Thursday at Dallas Police Headquarters, and the Bigs in Blue program received $550,000 in grant funds and donations from Dallas residents, including $500,000 raised at the Crystal Charity Ball.

The mentoring organization has also partnered with law enforcement agencies in Chicago, Houston, Austin, Los Angeles and New York City through the Bigs in Blue program.

The Dallas officers who choose to volunteer will each be matched with one of the 1,000 kids on the waiting list in the local chapter. The pairing could help officers better understand minority and at-risk communities, said Pam Iorio, chief executive officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

"We cannot live in a country where there are strained relations and tensions between police and the communities they serve," she said.

Assistant Police Chief Paul Stokes said the program is an extension of the outreach the Dallas Police Department does with Dallas youth. The department hosts youth athletics programs and educational events that teach kids how to interact with cops.

"This is all about one-on-one relationships ... with the most vulnerable demographic within our community," Stokes said.

But, he said, the program will also teach the officers more about where the children come from.

"We need to learn from them. We need to grow with them," he said.

https://www.policeone.com/community-policing/articles/321095006-Dallas-raised-more-than-500K-for-mentoring-program-that-pairs-cops-kids/

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From the FBI

Seeking Special Agents with Diverse Backgrounds

Houston Recruiting Effort Part of National Campaign

When Special Agent Al Tribble joined the FBI 25 years ago, the organization wasn't exactly known for its recruiting efforts—especially when it came to hiring women and people of color.

Much has changed since then. Today, the FBI understands that to effectively protect the American people, its special agents must reflect the diverse communities they serve. That's why Tribble—who specializes in human trafficking and violent crimes against children investigations—participated in a recent recruiting event in Houston aimed at increasing diversity in the ranks of the FBI's special agent corps.

As a veteran investigator and an African-American, Tribble spoke to potential applicants about the satisfaction of being a special agent. “The variety of work that you find in the FBI is unlike corporate America or any other private entity,” he said. “There's so much you can do here, and you get to help people. When you take a victim of human trafficking and free her from her captors and reunite her with her family,” he explained, “there's no feeling that can beat that.”

The FBI's Diversity Agent Recruitment Program began in 2016 with an event in Washington, D.C., that attracted several hundred potential special agents from diverse backgrounds. The Houston event in January 2017 was attended by more than 200 people who heard from a panel of special agents about the varied paths that led them to the Bureau.

“I think a lot of people have in their mind what the FBI is and what the FBI does and what an FBI agent looks like,” said Special Agent Jenelle Janabajal, a presenter at the event, “and I think what we're trying to do is maybe change some of those ideas and let people know that the FBI might be different from what you think.”

Special Agent David Baker, who works with special agent job applicants in the Houston Division, put it another way: “It doesn't matter what walk of life you come from, what color you are, what race you are, what background you have,” he said, “there's a place for you in the FBI.”

“One of the things that make us very attractive as an organization is that our employees have such different backgrounds,” said Perrye K. Turner, special agent in charge of the Houston Division. Turner, who has served as one of the Bureau's national recruiters for nearly two decades, was instrumental in bringing the recent event to Houston. Such employee diversity means that “everybody brings something to the table,” he said. “That makes us stronger and more effective as an organization.”

The women, Latinos, Asians, and African-Americans in the audience heard from a variety of FBI agents about what it's like to do good for a living—to take violent criminals off the streets, to hold public officials accountable when they violate the public's trust, to thwart spies who would steal national secrets, and to stop terrorists. And after the official presentation, they were able to talk one-on-one with agents.

The event began with a video message from Director James Comey, who told the group that when he joined the Bureau in 2013, he inherited a special agent population that was 83 percent white. Comey made diversity one of the Bureau's core values and began to increase efforts at diversity hiring.

A career in the FBI is like no other, he said. “This in an incredible family where no matter what you look like—black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, whether you're a man or a woman, whether you're straight or gay—you feel welcome once you join this family.”

The statistics bear out that fact. The FBI's turnover rate among agents is less than 1 percent. “That's extraordinarily low,” Comey said, “and the reason it's so low is once people become part of this life and see what it's like to have as your mission protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution of the United States, nobody leaves.”

Comey cautioned that becoming a special agent is difficult. “We need people of integrity—non-negotiable. We need people of high intelligence—essential to be able to do the complicated work we do. And we need people of a certain physicality. If you're going to be a special agent in the FBI,” he said, “we're going to give you a gun on behalf of the United States of America, and you better be able to run, fight, and shoot.”

But if you possess those skills, he added, the FBI can be a career like no other. “So here is my challenge to you,” he said. “I dare you to take your ability and try to be a part of this organization.”

Illinois

Weigh In On Community Policing Push At 3 Town Hall Meetings

by Heather Cherone

CHICAGO — Three town hall-style meetings will give residents a chance to weigh in on the Chicago Police Department's renewed focus on community policing, officials said.

The meetings will give the city's Community Policing Advisory Panel a chance to hear from residents directly, officials said. The panel is charged by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Supt. Eddie Johnson with developing a "strategic plan" for collaborating with neighborhoods to fight crime and restore trust between police and residents.

That plan is expected to be completed by June.

The meetings will take place:

• 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 18 at George Westinghouse College Prep, 3223 W. Franklin Blvd.

• 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 25 at Sullivan High School, 6631 N. Bosworth Ave.

• 6:30-8:30 p.m. May 2 at Corliss Early College STEM High School, 821 E. 103rd St.

Residents can also submit their comments online at chicagopolice.org.

Johnson has said the department's renewed emphasis on community policing would "better embrace the critical role the community can and should play in addressing issues of crime."

Community policing efforts throughout the city have been stretched thin after years of budget cuts and a greater emphasis on arrests and violence suppression.

The department is set to grow by 970 positions: 516 police officers, 200 detectives, 112 sergeants, 50 lieutenants and 92 field training officers.

The department also will fill 500 vacant positions, Johnson said.

A 161-page report by the Department of Justice released Jan. 13 concluded that the department must embrace community policing as "a core philosophy" in order to end officers' routine violations of the civil rights of residents by using excessive force caused by poor training and nonexistent supervision.

READ THE FULL DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORT HERE

"We commend CPD for its renewed emphasis on community policing," federal investigators wrote. "This policing approach, when implemented with fidelity to all its tenets, has been shown to be effective at making communities safer while incentivizing a policing culture that builds confidence in law enforcement."

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170324/rogers-park/chicago-police-department-community-policing-advisory-panel-meetings-town-hall

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California

Stanford Community Police Academy teaches what it's like to be a cop

Every year since 2003, the Stanford Department of Public Safety has offered an academy for faculty, staff, students and others designed to demystify police work and build trust with the community.

by Kate Chesley

Caleb Smith, a coterminal student in public policy, had no idea that the man driving the SUV he pulled over for a routine traffic stop in his borrowed Stanford police vehicle was packing a gun.

Smith, who donned a sheriff's hat to get into the spirit of things, didn't really have to worry. The man he pulled over was actually Michael Bermudes, a logistics staff member in the Stanford Department of Public Safety (DPS). The “weapon” Bermudes was hiding was a blue squirt gun. And, after a few minutes of griping at Smith, Bermudes' gun was confiscated and he was easily subdued and placed in pretend handcuffs.

The “stop” was a scenario included in the curriculum of the Stanford Community Police Academy, which was first offered in 2003. Each Winter Quarter, DPS teaches about 40 faculty, staff, students and other members of the community what it's like to be a police officer. Participants attend a weekly, three-hour, interactive class for 10 weeks. They learn about everything from taking fingerprints to using a baton, from describing a face to a sketch artist to administering sobriety tests.

Potential dangers

Although the mild-mannered Bermudes was, in fact, no threat to Smith or his classmates, the point of the scenario was not lost. There's nothing routine about a traffic stop for the Stanford police – or for any police officer for that matter. It's fraught with potential danger. Officer Maria Gomez, for instance, taught Smith how to check a trunk before approaching a driver during a traffic stop to ensure that no one is hiding there.

Smith hopes the lessons he learned will help him when he returns to his hometown of Oakland to work in municipal government.

“Policing is a critical challenge in my hometown,” he said.

Demystifying police work and building trust with members of the community are two of the academy's objectives, according to Vince Bergado, the DPS program coordinator who organizes the class. Most of us, unfortunately, learn about police work through the skewed lens of television and movies, so there is much to demystify. Real police work is more about “person-to-person” contact than the shoot-outs that pass for entertainment, Bergado said.

After 10 weeks of interacting with and learning from members of the department, participants often leave the academy impressed, including Ross Shachter , associate professor of management science and engineering. Shachter had long wanted to enroll in the academy and finally made the time this year.

“I didn't appreciate the full scale and scope of the operations within public safety, even though I have witnessed many of those services over my years on campus,” said Shachter, a former long-time resident fellow in Serra House. “I have been impressed by the stress on training, planning, teamwork, communication and preparation that allows the individuals in the department, ranging from deputy sheriffs to parking enforcers to special-events staff, to de-escalate tense situations and confrontations to resolve most matters without the use of force.”

Mutual benefit

Shachter's reaction comes as no surprise to Bergado, who said most participants are also unaware of the many services DPS provides to the Stanford community.

“Our deputies are trained above and beyond California standards,” he said. “We provide the services that municipal agencies provide, as well as additional services like dignitary protection and the event security coordination for some 350 large and small events across campus each year.”

The academy also benefits members of the department, according to Chief Laura Wilson, who instituted the academy in her first years as chief. These types of programs are often called “citizen” academies, but Wilson opted for “community” in a nod to the university's culture.

Wilson says that officers get as much of an opportunity to learn as do academy participants. They get to hear from the people they serve about what matters most to them when dealing with the police.

“Learning takes place both for the students in the class and the DPS employees who teach,” said Wilson. “I have run into people who took the class five years ago, and when they recognize my affiliation with the department, they will spontaneously start talking about how much they learned and how amazing the class was. That type of reaction makes me think that the investment is worth it.”

The next academy will be offered during Winter Quarter 2018 and applications for enrollment will be available in October.

http://news.stanford.edu/2017/03/23/stanford-community-police-academy-teaches-like-cop/

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Massachusetts

Police to bring “High Five Friday” to 38 communities

by Dylan McGuinness

Friday will be a “High Five” day in 38 communities in southeastern Massachusetts, where local police officers will greet students at local schools with an exuberant hand slap.

Police hope the familiar greeting will help build a rapport students of all ages in their respective communities.

“Getting involved with schools has become a basic part of community policing now-a-days,” said Yarmouth Police Chief Frank Frederickson, who first suggested the idea at a meeting of the Southeastern Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association, which includes chiefs from Bristol, Norfolk, and Barnstable counties, as well as the islands.

“It's community engagement starting with our youth, building a relationship with them at a young age,” he said by telephone Thursday night.

Bridgewater Police Chief Christopher Delmontesaid his department is happy to participate.

“To a lot of us, it made sense that we should be doing these kinds of things,” DelMonte said in an interview ”Obviously, you want to create positive interactions with kids in the community.”

“High Five Fridays” is a popular national community policing program that aims to build trust between police and students.

Frederickson said the idea to implement one across the region was in part inspired by former President Obama's “21st Century Policing,” guidelines, which emphasized the importance of getting involved with youths, Frederickson said.

The program burst into the spotlight last month, when police in Northampton stopped the program in its elementary schools out of a concern for kids possibly reacting negatively to seeing uniformed police officers at their school.

The Northampton decision was brought up at the meeting, Frederickson said, but was not the impetus behind the chiefs association's decision to start the program.

“We just wanted to show . . . that engaging the youth in schools is a vital part of community policing and building trust in the community, and understanding that every community is different,” Frederickson said.

He speaks from experience.

For three years following the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Frederickson said he greeted students in his Cape Cod town every day as they arrived at their schools.

“I high-fived every kid that walked into the building, and it was the best part of my day,” he said.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/03/23/police-bring-high-five-friday-communities/oQ9eKRrmb4ZtqBLqWw5JeM/story.html

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Utah

Utah getting toughest drunken driving limit in the US

The new law would take effect on Dec. 30, 2018, just before New Year's Eve

by Michelle L. Price

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's governor signed legislation Thursday giving the predominantly Mormon state the strictest drunken driving threshold in the country, a change that restaurant groups and representatives of the ski and snowboard industry say will hurt tourism.

Republican Gov. Gary Herbert said lowering the blood alcohol limit for most drivers to 0.05 percent from 0.08 percent will save lives.

The change means a 150-pound man would be over the 0.05 limit after two beers, while a 120-pound woman could exceed it after a single drink, though that can be affected by a number of factors, including how much food a person has eaten, according to the American Beverage Institute, a national restaurant group.

Opponents, including the group, had urged Herbert to veto the bill , saying it would punish responsible drinkers and burnish Utah's reputation as a Mormon-centric place unfriendly to those who drink alcohol.

"People are going to try to say this is a religious issue. And that is just absolutely false. This is a public safety issue," the governor, who is Mormon, said at a news conference.

Restaurant groups said they don't support drunken driving but a 0.05 percent limit won't catch drivers who are actually impaired. Plus, the law is "a total attack on the state's hospitality industry, customers and the tourism industry," American Beverage Institute executive director Sarah Longwell said.

The group took out full-page ads Thursday in Salt Lake City's two daily newspapers and USA Today, featuring a fake mugshot under a large headline reading, "Utah: Come for vacation, leave on probation."

But proponents say the law will send a resounding message that people should not drink and drive — no matter how little somebody has consumed. The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety applauded the change, saying it's a "sensible solution" to deter drunken driving.

If drivers are not impaired, they won't violate the law, said Rep. Norm Thurston, the bill's sponsor. The Republican says police won't measure someone's blood alcohol level until they have seen visible signs of impairment and the person fails a field sobriety test.

He also said Utah became the first state to lower its blood alcohol limit to 0.08 percent in 1983, and since then tourism has flourished.

Utah's Tourism Office said it's not concerned about the law discouraging visitors, noting that a number of foreign countries such as France, Australia and Italy have similar laws and don't have a problem attracting tourists.

"There's not many Mormons in Rome, and they're doing it there," Herbert quipped Thursday.

In the United States, the blood alcohol limit for most drivers is 0.08 percent, but limits vary among states for commercial drivers or motorists with a conviction of driving under the influence.

The National Transportation Safety Board has encouraged states to drop their blood alcohol levels to 0.05 percent or even lower, but it's met resistance from the hospitality industry.

Lawmakers in Washington and Hawaii had considered lowering their limits to 0.05 percent this year but both measures appear dead.

In Utah, the new law would take effect on Dec. 30, 2018, just before New Year's Eve.

In the meantime, Herbert said he plans to call lawmakers into a special legislative session this summer to improve the law. He said he wants legislators to consider a tiered punishment system with less stringent penalties for those convicted of driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.05 to 0.07 percent.

Utah has some of the lowest rates of fatal DUI accidents in the country, and though the population has boomed over the past decade, the DUI arrest rate has dropped.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving has taken a neutral position on the measure.

J.T. Griffin, a government affairs officer for the group, said in a statement that MADD is focusing on "countermeasures that work, such as ignition interlock laws for all drunk driving offenders and sobriety checkpoints."

Illinois

CPD wants your ideas on community police policing efforts

by WGN

Chicago- Chicagoans are getting the chance to share their idas on the future of community policing efforts in the city.

The Chicago Police Department and members of the community policing advisory panel will be hosting three open town hall listening session in April and May.

The police department is also launching a new online portal to receive direct in put from residents.

Residents can visit chicagopolice.org to share their thoughts.

http://wgntv.com/2017/03/22/cpd-wants-your-ideas-on-community-police-policing-efforts/

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Somebody, somewhere is recording: How police can obtain bystander videos

Videos shot by civilians can be a critical part of your investigation

by Jennifer Rouse Bremer and Jack Williams

If you are paying attention to the news, you will notice the massive amounts of personal (bystander) videos depicting chaotic scenes such as officer-involved shootings, use of force and full-scale civil unrest. Bystanders, and even the involved parties of these incidents, are using cell phones and other electronic devices to capture what's happening on the scene. There are two primary reasons individuals elect to record police activities: (1) because they want to catch an officer doing something wrong or (2) because they are seeking entertainment value and want something exciting to show all of their friends and family.

Due to this increasing trend of bystanders recording these events, many officers are developing the mentality to treat every citizen encounter as if everything that is happening or being said is, in fact, being recorded.

Expectations of privacy

With the pervasiveness of cell phones and other recording devices, it is increasingly common to see videos of crimes or suspects hit social media before a police officer can even arrive on scene. In these cases, the videos are considered public and there is no expectation of privacy. This is both a blessing and a curse.

Because there is no expectation of privacy, law enforcement may view or even copy the videos on a social media site without a warrant.

Alternatively, what happens when an officer notices a bystander recording an incident in which the officer reasonably believes the video contains valuable evidence relative to the incident that has just occurred? How does the officer go about obtaining that video directly from the bystander, especially if he or she is uncooperative or belligerent, while preserving their Fourth Amendment rights that protect them from illegal search and seizure?

Rights to record

If you are a police officer or attorney, you are probably already thinking of all the legal ways to obtain the bystander's video. So, let's start there. Citizens have the right to record video or take pictures of anything in plain view in outdoor public places where they are considered legally present. That includes pictures and videos of government officials, transportation facilities, federal or state buildings and even police officers.

Obtaining a search warrant

Typically, without consent, officers must obtain a search warrant to gain access or seize a person's electronic recording device. Any officer who has ever applied for a search warrant knows it is a lengthy and time consuming process. Going through the process creates several risks, such as the citizen deleting the video or the warrant not being approved.

Under certain conditions known as exigent circumstances, where an officer believes that a recording might contain evidence of a crime, he or she may seize the phone or other equipment in order to prevent recordings from being lost or destroyed. However, the devices may not be searched, viewed or copied without proper legal authority such as a search warrant or subpoena (a June 2014 US Supreme Court decision in Riley v. California held that police need a warrant to search a cell phone). Under no circumstances may an officer delete or modify those recordings or order someone to do so.

Additionally, laws differ relating to whether the owner of the cell phone was present when it was found or seized, if video or text was in plain view of an officer, if the cell phone was in plain view within a seized vehicle, and so on. The legal variables are endless.

Confused now? The bottom line for officers is that sometimes you can take the device with the recording and sometimes you legally can't take it.

Requesting the video

The question remains then, what is the best way to get it without having to jump through the confusing and ever-changing legal hoops? It's simple. All you have to do is ask for it. The legal hurdles are no longer an issue if the citizen simply gives you the video. So, how do you convince someone to give you that video in their cell phone? Employing the basic tenants of community policing may be the best answer.

One of the fundamental principles of community policing is getting to know people in the community - becoming a part of the community and not just a visitor in a uniform. Research repeatedly shows that when people in any community have a good rapport and trust with an officer, their view of police becomes more positive, and they are more likely to assist police with issues and investigations. If citizens trust you and believe you are there to help them, they will be more likely to simply hand over the video you need once you ask them for it.

Creating community trust

How do officers create that community rapport and trust? It's simple. All you have to do is get out of the patrol car and walk the neighborhood. Stop and talk to people you see while you're out walking. Introduce yourself to them and provide a business card and tell them to call you directly if they need anything. Make sure to visit with the local businesses, whether it's to grab a bite to eat, get your hair cut or buy your afternoon soda from the local corner store. If you show interest and commitment to the people in the community, they will reciprocate and help you when you ask for it.

Also, don't be afraid to talk to the gang members, prostitutes and drug dealers in your area. Although they may be frequent fliers in the criminal justice system, they are also a good source of information regarding the criminal activity in the area, and they also have cell phones and tend to record incidents. Another benefit to getting to know the criminal element is that when they trust and respect an officer, the likelihood of the officer getting hurt or killed during an encounter with them is significantly reduced. In some cases, they will even help and defend an officer who is being attacked because they view that officer as a person, not a uniform.

Even if the citizen in question is not a fan of police, they may be willing to provide the video to an officer they know and trust before they would an officer they don't know. When someone is detained by police or when they know the police are obtaining a search warrant to seize their property, they usually become more resistant to police efforts. If the person already has anti-police sentiments, those feelings can be enhanced, causing them to complain publicly and causing others to feel the same way they do about police. Using proven community policing strategies can not only make it much easier to gain consent when a video is needed, but can also help to negate the negative sentiments people have for police, which can ultimately save both citizens' and officers' lives.

Like it or not, social media, video and instant news are part of our culture. The best thing for officers to do is to accept and embrace this reality as part of your everyday policing. Citizen videos can be a critical part of your investigation, speed apprehension and aid in prosecution, which ultimately provides speed to justice for victims and their families.

About the Authors
Jennifer Rouse Bremer has been involved with government and education her entire career. She served on the IACP Community Policing Committee for six years and was an integral part of the team that created the Connected Justice solution at Cisco Systems, Inc. She has worked with law enforcement, DoD, DoJ, and other organizations to help integrate the use of technology and community policing strategies in order to enable community engagement that creates force multipliers in high-risk communities. She is also a founding Board Member for the Central Texas Positive Coaching Alliance and resides in Austin, TX.

Officer R.S. (Jack) Williams has been a police officer with the Raleigh, North Carolina Police Department for nine years. For the past four years, he has led the community policing efforts in the highest crime areas of Raleigh, realizing a 44 percent reduction in crime in one area and a 30 percent reduction in another area. His tactics, utilizing his previous military and sales experience have created an environment of trust and empowerment within the community that have been proven to dramatically reduce crime, enable citizens to aid in the protection of their own communities, and provide a platform for healthy dialogue between citizens and law enforcement.

https://www.policeone.com/policing-in-the-video-age/articles/320407006-Somebody-somewhere-is-recording-How-police-can-obtain-bystander-videos/

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Ohio

IDEAS & VOICES ROUNDTABLE: A closer look at gun crime, police solutions

by My Dayton Daily News Ideas and Voices staff

Our community board of Cox Media Group Ohio editors and news managers met recently to discuss crime and policing issues with three top local law-enforcement leaders — Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl, Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer, and Kettering Police Chief Christopher Protsman. Since this conversation, Biehl has announced the formation of a new Violent Crimes Bureau in his department, and Protsman has talked publicly about youth-gang activity in his city and how the police are pursuing it. Here is an edited, condensed version of our meeting. — Ron Rollins

Q: We've reported a lot in recent months on what seems to be a real increase in street-level and gun violence here.

Biehl: No question we've seen it. For us in Dayton, it began in May 2015. It was stark. The violence shifted rather dramatically. Up to that point, May 2, the scale shifted from a year of decreasing gun violence to an increase by year's end – in that eight-month period we saw a 32 percent increase in gun crime and a 17 percent increase in crimes with injuries. I was stunned. We saw another another spike in 2016, with a significant jump in August. So in the short term of the last two years, there's no doubt it hasn't been going in a good direction. We've seen this to a similar degree with public safety in auto accidents, where we've seen a 40 percent increase and a doubling of fatalities. And then there's the situation that knows no bounds of suffering – the opiate epidemic. We've doubled our Narcan treatments for overdoses. We share the epidemic to varying degrees with other municipalities, of course – last year 47 percent of deaths were in Dayton, so 53 percent were in other communities – usually, Dayton has 50 percent, so we've seen an outmigration of the problem into other parts of the county.

So those are the three big things we're seeing. Now, you may think from the last two years that means we're far less safe, but the data shows a different picture – if you take the long-term view back to 2008, my first year as chief, we've had a significant decline overall in Part 1 Violent Crimes, which are aggravated murder, assault, the most serious. So the 10-year story is generally good in Dayton proper, even if the last two years are not.

Q: Sheriff Plummer, Chief Protsman – does that follow what you've seen?

Plummer: Harrison Twp. had two homicides in 2015, and last year had four. So there's definitely been an increase for everybody. Our numbers of auto crashes hasn't been as bad. The problem everywhere, though, is money and drugs on the streets.

Protsman: The opiate situation has been hitting outlying communities, but gun violence not as much. The Ronnie Bowers shooting last fall got a lot of attention, of course. Since I got here, we've been very proactive and so we've seen significant increase in drug arrests – those are up 119 percent, and we've finding more guns, too. It's because we're looking for them more now – making traffic stops, focusing on apartment complexes that we think are having an issue, working with apartment managers. Our Part 1 crimes dropped from 2015 to '16, but Part 2 crimes – simple assault, drug crimes, lesser offenses – are up. Also, an increase in traffic accidents.

Q: Chief Biehl, you focused on that particular date in May 2015 as significant. Do you know why?

Biehl: No. We really studied it, though, we looked at about 100 gun crimes during the uptick and there was no single simple explanation. The only thing that stood out was that more were related to drug trafficking and to robbery offenses. But we also had a number that were justifiable, under the Castle Doctrine – probably more than we'd seen previously.

Q: Is any of this due to a decrease in manpower?

Biehl: No. staffing has really been static the last few years. Each year we were at 345 officers; this year we had 350 and then in January lost three. But we've been at that level the last few years, so that's not really an explanation.

Protsman: We're staffed where we should be, at 83 sworn officers. That hasn't affected us.

Q: So, has the spike in numbers been happening in particular areas, or is it more widespread?

Biehl: Generally speaking, violent crime tends to happen in urban areas. In our case, it's highly concentrated in a small amount of geography. It's not broad-based. True of property crimes, too. That means you can concentrate resources toward it. If it was dispersed, where would you put your officers? Consider the power of place – we often pay attention to the what, but ignore the where. Place is important because it gives us the ability to focus resources, do environmental intervention, crime prevention through environmental design.

Q: Sheriff, you've talked previously about the amount and ferocity of some of the street violence your office has seen.

Plummer: Sure – there've been car-to-car battles down some streets, down Main and Salem. You had a rolling gun battle. There's been an increase. It's drug-related, gangs and crews with beefs against each other.

Biehl: Or shots at a habitation. There've been children shot at a house. Multiple incidents over the years.

Q: Over gang turf?

Biehl: Some of that, but I wish it was really as simple as that, and it's not. With the dozens of cases we looked at in 2015, we couldn't come up with an explantion that you could attribute the largest portion to. There was no consistent theme. Some robberies, some drug-related, some personal beefs, some friend and family disputes. But it was it was across the board. If there was as simple answer we could be a lot more efficient and know what strategy to use. We could spend time in the places were crimes occur, we could have officer do meaningful engagement, focused engagement – we know what works.

Q: Is there a difference in the sort of guns you're seeing?

Plummer: There are lot of assault weapons, they've got a lot of good stuff out there. But that's been true since I've been here, it's not a new phenomenon.

Q: Do any of the incidents involve concealed-carry license holders?

Biehl: No, this isn't CCW holders. We do see people on disability carrying a firearm as a problem, though – people who have a previous crime on their record. That's a red flag, when you've got a previous record that prohibits you having a gun, and then you have one. I see those as very serious. We should look at how those cases are addressed in our court system, how they're treated in the state hierarchy of crimes.

Protsman: We aren't looking for guns, per se – we're looking for drugs and finding guns. Our numbers are low, and I'm thankful for that. But in 2015, we arrested 14 people with concealed weapons, under disability or some combination – in 1026, we arrested 60. This year so far, 24. So we're getting better at looking for drugs, where to do it, who to stop, and those numbers will keep growing. People may get the impression that means crime in Kettering is getting worse, but it really was always there – we're getting better now at looking for it. We're ahead of the curve on violence now, our community is not as bad as some other areas – and we want to stay in front of it and stop it, if we can. Hot spots, crime mapping – the days are over when you just have a patrol car out for eight hours just driving a beat. Now you put the officers where they need to be, where the crime is occurring.

Plummer: If I had the officers, I could build specialty units. There are very few people on my drug task force.

Biehl: As I said before, the reason for the increase isn't because staffing is down – it's really about being focused on policing. That said, there is clearly a recognition that more staff are needed, and I think the commission has agreed and shown a commitment to it – the recent levy that was passed would add 20 officers, for instance.

Q: Is diversity of your officers an issue?

Biehl: We're still at about 10 percent minority staffing.

Q: What would the goal be?

Biehl: Well, it will be difficult for the Dayton Police Department to ever have diversity that is larger than the county, which is roughly 20 percent, any time soon. Our labor force comes from the surrounding eight- or 10-county area, and outside Montgomery County, you're no longer in double digits. In Cincinnati, it took a quarter of a century to get there, it took consent decrees to do it.

Q: What's the local gang situation?

Biehl: You'll see 14-, 15-year-olds get involved — it's often generational, their dads were in a gang. Youth gang stuff has slowed down somewhat. But we also lack personnel for that stuff, because we're not in the schools as much. In the 2000s, all our special units went away — community engagement, mounted patrol, DARE, crime prevention officers. I brought back crime prevention; there are functions you need to improve overall policing beyond patrol, to be effective.

Q: Is that deterrent function in an officer's power?

Biehl: Sure it is. There's an entire body of police science developed on preventive policing. Look at the evolution of policing in this nation, you see two trends — one is community policing, which was an epiphany from the riots of the 1960s, realizing police had lost legitimacy in the communities they served. The other is problem-oriented policing, trying to understand crime through specific processes — why here, and not there? The crime triangle — victim, offender, location. Say you have a child victimized at a bus stop — you need to put a guardian there. You need an adult. Not many, just one is enough. That's where the community comes in.

Q: Is there enough sharing between your departments?

Biehl: We share intelligence, and on the ground there are very close relationships on the boundaries of our jurisdictions.

Plummer: We work together on CIRGV (the Community Initiative to Reduce Gun Violence), and it's better than in the past.

Q: Why?

Plummer: Police departments are territorial. They think they can do it better.

Biehl: Street-leval policing has always been highly localized, and that won't change.

Q: Have you seen any changes in trends in domestic violence? Warren County, for one, has seen some recent high-profile cases.

Protsman: It's not on our radar as being something that's up.

Biehl: It seems concentrated in some areas more than others, but that's not necessarily a prevalence — it's often because of certain living arrangements. Thin apartment walls allow people to hear what's not heard in another kind of neighborhood. So you can't say it just happens in public housing, it's that we're often called because of close living proximity. And a lot of times, you can't get a can't get a case that's successfully pursued in the justice system. What can we do to change that?

Protsman: A lot of people are stuck in a bad situation, with no place to go, and so they end up back into a hostile situation, truly stuck. It's a sad situation.

Q: There's been a lot of recent publicity about the Montgomery County Jail. Thoughts?

Biehl: When did the jail become the default server for the detox population? For people with mental health problems? Broken people, broken lives – that's become Sheriff Plummer's population. Where are we in solving these issues? Where is that transparency? We clean up the streets, so what do you think happens at the jail? We take high-needs people with significant problems and aggregate in one intensive environment — what do you think will happen? Yet I don't hear any conversation in the community about how to deal with the problems that end up on the doorstep of the sheriff. We ask too much of cops, and too little of ourselves.

Protsman: The jail is obviously where officers are dealing with mental health situations, people that society has thrown to the police and sheriff's departments. We need to get better trained on dealing with the mentally ill. We'll be there to deal with it, but it can't just be our problem — there should be others involved.

Q: So, what do you think the media is missing in all these issues of crime, policing?

Biehl: Well, I honestly don't consume a lot of news because I'm going through it every day. But that said, I think we just lose the humanity of our shared experience. I think that human dimension is lost, another horrible story of pain, crime, suffering — not knowing we do a lot to generate a sense of hope, or gratitude for what is good about our community, our lives. And I think at the end of day, people may be attracted to “negative news,” if you will, or to harmful events, for an evolutional reason – namely, to be aware of the things that can hurt us. And good things aren't a threat, so we focus on what's harmful and threatening. But still, I just don't feel we do a lot to celebrate the deeply personal. To bring this down to earth, I was at a law enforcement conference in St. Louis and went through active shooter training based on actual events, and I felt like somebody had carved out my soul by the end of the day. I felt so depleted and demoralized by these real events that had caused so much pain to so many people who did not deserve it.

Then we had a workshop with an independent film producer I know personally, who did a story about the Oak Creek, Wisc., Sikh temple shooting in 2012, and I could've cried after that. It was the most horrible event but one of the most uplifting stories — how the Sikh community responded to the event and to the police officer who who was almost killed. They wanted to express their gratitude to him, how he shot the attacker and kept more people from dying. They said they forgave the shooter, too, and did not carry hatred in their hearts. But the officer's picture was in Sikh temples around the world; they considered him a saint. I thought, maybe there is hope, and humanity. We've seen an escalation of hate crimes — what is a more compassionate, thoughtful way to respond to them? Horrible things happen, but there are different ways to respond.

“We clean up the streets, so what do you think happens at the jail? We take high-needs people with significant problems and aggregate in one intensive environment — what do you think will happen? Yet I don't hear any conversation in the community about how to deal with the problems that end up on the doorstep of the sheriff. We ask too much of cops, and too little of ourselves.” — Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/opinion/ideas-voices-roundtable-closer-look-gun-crime-police-solutions/me7M3mZXt9f5q8krC1w2RP/

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Facebook rape stirs questions about witnessing crimes online

A major complicating factor is whether internet witnesses can accurately assess what they see on their screens

by Michael Tarm

CHICAGO — The case of a 15-year-old Chicago girl who authorities say was raped while around 40 people watched on Facebook raises questions that have come up before in other attacks: What's the obligation of bystanders who see a crime unfolding? And why do they not intervene?

None of those who watched the sexual assault involving five or six men or boys called police. The girl knows at least one of her attackers, and investigators reported making good progress toward identifying the others. A closer look at what laws in the United States say about people who witness crimes:

THE LAW IN GENERAL

There is no all-encompassing legal obligation in the United States that a bystander who sees an act of violence must intervene or call police. But there are exceptions to that idea, dubbed the no-duty rule. Many states have laws requiring intervention when the victim of an ongoing attack is a child. The relationship of the witness to the victim is also a factor in assessing criminal or civil liability: Bosses may have a duty to intervene on behalf of employees, teachers for students and spouses for spouses.

Other countries enshrine the principle that you must intervene into writing. The charter of human rights and freedoms in the Canadian province of Quebec says "every person must come to the aid of anyone whose life is in peril, either personally or calling for aid, by giving him the necessary and immediate physical assistance, unless it involves danger to himself or a third person, or he has another valid reason."

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A LONG HISTORY

The legal and ethical questions surrounding when and under what circumstances someone must help date back to ancient times.

The biblical parable of the good Samaritan tells of a man who is beaten and robbed, then left wounded by the roadside. A Levite and a priest walk by, offering no assistance. A Samaritan eventually stops to care for the man. Some state laws that spell out witness obligations and liabilities are called good Samaritan laws. They are also sometimes referred as duty-to-rescue laws and duty-to-report laws.

Among the best known recent instances of witness inaction happened in 1964, when Kitty Genovese was fatally stabbed outside her New York City apartment. Reports at the time alleged that dozens of witnesses saw the attack or heard the young woman scream but did nothing. While many researchers later concluded those accounts were exaggerated and even incorrect on key details, the slaying did focus a national spotlight on the obligations of witnesses to a crime.

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STATES WITH LAWS

Some states require some level of intervention, even if only a 911 call, including California and Wisconsin. In Texas, it is a Class A misdemeanor not to immediately report an offense in which someone could be seriously hurt or killed. Massachusetts law requires, among other things, that people who witness a crime have full knowledge that what they are seeing is a crime.

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THE INTERNET

Few if any states have amended their laws to incorporate the phenomena of witnessing crimes online, explained Eugene Volokh, a law professor at UCLA who has studied the issue. In theory, he says, laws that apply to in-person witnesses could be applied to social media witnesses.

But a major complicating factor is whether internet witnesses can accurately assess what they see on their screens.

"It's even harder to determine if a crime is real or not," he said. Most internet users are used to seeing odd or surreal depictions and manipulated videos.

Some state laws that make witnesses liable require that they were actually at the scene of the crime. That could not apply to someone watching from miles away.

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THE CHICAGO CASE

Investigators in the Chicago sex assault know the number of Facebook viewers because the count was posted with the video. To find out who they were, though, investigators would have to subpoena Facebook and show proof of a direct link to the crime, police said. Jeffrey Urdangen, a professor at Northwestern University's law school, said it is not illegal to watch such a video or to fail to report it to police.

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THE 'GENOVESE SYNDROME'

Genovese's death gave rise to the "Genovese syndrome," which is now more widely known as "bystanders' effect." It's the phenomenon described by psychologists that the more people who are watching an attack or some perilous situation befall a victim, the less likely any one of them will intervene.

Multiple studies in the 1960s and since then made other observations, including that bystanders were even less likely to intervene if they were strangers than if they were friends. Some studies suggested crowds were less likely to act because each individual rationalizes that someone else in the crowd would act or already had.

https://www.policeone.com/legal-issues/articles/320319006-Facebook-rape-stirs-questions-about-witnessing-crimes-online/

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Ohio

Columbus police: 100,000 cruiser video files inadvertently deleted

Police Chief Kim Jacobs called the deletion a "significant loss," noting that all 2015 videos and an estimated 500 video files from last year were deleted

by Beth Burger

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An estimated 100,000 dash-camera videos stored from Columbus Police Division traffic stops and call responses were deleted after an officer apparently made a few errant keystrokes, officials announced Tuesday.

Police Chief Kim Jacobs called the deletion a "significant loss," noting that all 2015 videos and an estimated 500 video files from last year were deleted.

"While we don't think it's going to have a big impact on prosecutions, we did believe it was important to say this now rather than waiting for somebody else to discover it," Jacobs said at a news conference. "We believe that transparency means acknowledging our mistakes."

The deletion happened March 8 when a sworn officer working in the Technical Services Bureau attempted to reclassify thousands of video files. Police previously classified cruiser videos into one of 18 categories. For example, if the camera was triggered on because the officer accelerated in a patrol car, then it would be labeled under "Speed."

Police decided to go to a more simplified three-category system: evidence, not evidence and permanent. The officer working to relabel the files thought they were being transferred into the new classification system. Instead, the settings defaulted to a 90-day retention schedule and were purged from the server.

Officers realized the files were gone on March 13. An internal investigation is being conducted.

The city's Department of Technology is working with police to try to recover the files.

When video is valuable to criminal cases, it usually is requested by officers, detectives and prosecutors within days, Jacobs said.

Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron O'Brien said with the exception of fleeing and eluding cases, dash-camera video isn't used often in felony cases.

"I expect any pending cases where the video was deleted we should already have a copy of it if it's relevant," he said.

David Thomas, an attorney and partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister, said drug investigations sometimes take more than a year to piece together. Video from a traffic stop where drugs are seized could show an arrest was made without probable cause, he said.

"It highlights the degree to which all of us — law enforcement, lawyers and citizens — all depend on technology and how fragile that dependence is," he said. "There's these ones and zeroes that can just disappear with how they're maintained. It really doesn't instill confidence in the Division of Police."

Jacobs said the division will institute more checks and balances to prevent a similar mistake in the future, especially as more officers wear body cameras. So far, 32 officers are wearing body cameras. By the end of the year, an estimated 500 will be equipped, and by 2018, about 1,400 will be wired up. The video for body cameras is kept on a server separate from the cruiser video.

Per division policy, cruiser recordings are supposed to be kept for two years unless there is a pending criminal and/or civil case involved.

Police and technology officials don't plan to work to recover all of the lost video. Instead, they plan to identify which video they need to work to recover and whether a third-party vendor will be needed to try to rescue the files.

"We're not at a point where we'll be able to say who those vendors are and what the costs might be," said Sam Orth, Columbus Department of Technology director.

Thomas said he doesn't worry about his past or even current cases when it comes to the video. He's already pulled it. He worries about future ones.

"It is impossible today to know what's going to be important tomorrow," he said.

https://www.policeone.com/police-products/investigation/evidence-management/articles/320308006-Columbus-police-100-000-cruiser-video-files-inadvertently-deleted/

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New York

Sept. 11 families sue Saudi Arabia over 9/11 attacks

Hundreds of relatives of those killed on Sept. 11 have sued Saudi Arabia, joining many others who have tried to hold the kingdom responsible for the attacks

by the Associated Press

NEW YORK — Hundreds of relatives of those killed on Sept. 11 have sued Saudi Arabia, joining many others who have tried to hold the kingdom responsible for the attacks.

Like other recent actions, the lawsuit filed Monday capitalizes on last year's decision by Congress to let victims sue Saudi Arabia. It seeks unspecified damages.

Earlier attempts to hold Saudi Arabia responsible over the past 15 years have failed. Fifteen of the 19 attackers who hijacked planes to carry out the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania were Saudis.

The 9/11 Commission report found "no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded" the attacks. But the commission also said there's a "likelihood" that Saudi-government-sponsored charities did.

Lawyers for Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment.

United Kingdom

One killed, several injured in incident at Westminster - reports

by RTE

One woman has been killed, and several other people have sustained "catastrophic" injuries in an attack on the UK parliament in Westminster, according to media reports citing a junior doctor.

Eyewitnesses told reporters the attacker mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing his car into railings outside the Houses of Parliament then running out with a knife, stabbing a police officer and then being shot.

London's Metropolitan Police has said the attack in Westminster is being treated "as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise".

Police have said a full counter terrorism investigation is under way after London attack.

Commander BJ Harrington of the Metropolitan Police said there are a number of a casualties, including police officers, but he would not give any further details on the nature of the injuries.

Around three shots rang out outside the Palace of Westminster after a man ran through the gates into the front yard of the parliamentary compound apparently waving a knife.

Two people were seen being treated on the ground in New Palace Yard amid shouts and screams.

An air ambulance landed in Parliament Square and a regular ambulance came in through the front gates as medics rushed to help the injured people.

As the sitting in the House of Commons was suspended, Commons Leader David Lidington told MPs: "What I am able to say to the House is there has been a serious incident within the estate.

"It seems that a police officer has been stabbed, that the alleged assailant was shot by armed police.

"An air ambulance is currently attending the scene to remove the casualties.

"There are also reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster but I hope colleagues on all sides will appreciate that it'd be wrong of me to go into further details until we have confirmation from the police and from the House security authorities about what is going on."

A Downing Street source confirmed that Prime Minister Theresa May was "okay".

Mrs May was seen being ushered into a silver Jaguar car as what sounded like gunfire rang out at Parliament during the incident at around 2.45pm.

Mrs May's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister was brought back to Number 10 from Parliament. She is currently monitoring the situation."

Immediately before the incident a crowd of passers-by was seen running from the direction of Westminster Bridge and around the corner into Parliament Square.

Scotland Yard said it was called to a firearms incident on Westminster Bridge amid reports of several people injured.

Conservative MP Grant Schapps says he heard four gunshots and police urged MPs to crawl to cover.

Pictures have emerged of a car having crashed into the railings of Parliament at the end of Westminster Bridge.

Mr Lidington, in a later statement to MPs, confirmed the House of Commons would adjourn for the day.

He said: "There have been conversations through the usual channels.

"I hope the House would agree that in the current circumstances it would not be right to continue with today's business."

MPs shouted in favour of a motion to adjourn the sitting.

Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle suspended the sitting of the House and told MPs: "This House is now suspended but please wait here."

The main doors into the House of Commons were shut as MPs sat on the benches and checked their phones while others stood in groups and spoke to each other.

The tube station at Westminster has been shut at the request of police.

Witness Don Brind told the Press Association he heard shots being fired and saw two people apparently injured on the ground.

Mr Brind, a researcher for MPs, said: "I heard some shouting and saw some running out of the corner of my eye and then a short time after that there was a shot. I looked and I saw a civilian on the ground, with somebody standing over him with what I assumed to be a gun.

"Then I looked and about ten yards away, there was a yellow jacketed person on the ground, who appeared to be alive and talking."

He said he assumed the person in the high-visibility jacket was a police officer.

Press Association Political Editor Andrew Woodcock witnessed the scenes unfolding from his office window overlooking New Palace Yard.

"I heard shouts and screams from outside and looked out, and there was a group of maybe 40 or 50 people running round the corner from Bridge Street into Parliament Square," said Mr Woodcock.

"They appeared to be running away from something. As the group arrived at the Carriage Gates, where policemen are posted at the security entrance, a man suddenly ran out of the crowd and into the yard. He seemed to be holding up a long kitchen knife.

"I heard what sounded like shots - I think about three of them - and then the next thing I knew there were two people lying on the ground and others running to help them. Armed police were quickly on the scene and I heard them shouting to people to get out of the Yard."

Press Association reporter Laura Harding, who was in Westminster at the time of the incident, said: "Everyone has been evacuated into Central Lobby, including a group of schoolchildren and kitchen staff - around 15 schoolchildren aged around 10 - with armed police coming through the lobby now.

"The children are really calm, the teachers are comforting them.

"Everyone is standing around on their phones.

"There are also a bunch of young people from the Hammersmith Boxing Club in their tracksuits and the British Lionhearts boxing group."

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2017/0322/861766-westminster-parliament/

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California

Calif. deputy helps homeless find shelter, jobs

Deputy Chet Parker has helped 49 people get off the streets in two years

by Police One Staff

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — A deputy has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help over 49 homeless people find shelter and jobs.

Deputy Chet Parker is the homeless liaison for the Orange County Sheriff's Department and provides people with assistance to help them get back on their feet, NBC San Diego reported.

Armed with a binder of gift cards for free food, haircuts, washes at the laundromat and even beds to sleep in, Parker has made a major impact in just two years. He told the news station that “helping these guys is an obsession.”

Recently, he helped a Vietnam War veteran who is living out of his car claim disability benefits.

One of the many people Parker has helped said he was homeless for six months when Parker helped him get a job in construction.

"I'm working now because of him,” Ernie Soto said. “He's not just a sheriff with a badge, he's a good man."

Parker said he was initially unsure the job of homeless liaison was the right fit for him, but now he considers it his calling.

"When I hear back from someone I've helped get off the street," he said. "It's a good feeling."

https://www.policeone.com/quiet-warriors/articles/319901006-Calif-deputy-helps-homeless-find-shelter-jobs/

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Missouri

Actor's charity breaks ground on smart home for paralyzed Mo. cop

Officer Michael Flamion was ambushed in his vehicle on July 8

by PoliceOne Staff

(Video on site)

ST. LOUIS — A foundation is building a custom smart home for a paralyzed officer who was shot in the neck during a traffic stop ambush.

The Gary Sinise Foundation broke ground Tuesday on Officer Michael Flamion's new smart home that will be equipped with the latest technology and an open floor plan, KMOX reported. It will be built specifically to fit Flamion's needs.

“When you think of things that you and I take for granted on a daily basis, we take for granted getting out of bed, we take for granted going to the bathroom, or going down the hallway, or even turning off a light switch,” foundation spokesman Chris Kuban told KMOV. “This specially-adapted house will give him the ability to control everything off of an iPad.”

Flamion was shot in the neck on July 8 after stopping a man for speeding in Ballwin, the Associated Press reported. Police Chief Kevin Scott said Flamion is paralyzed from the neck down due to "catastrophic damage to his spinal cord."

Flamion's house will be the first house built for a police officer by the foundation. They normally build homes for paralyzed military veterans.

With the open space in the home, Flamion said he and his wife Sarah are excited to move in.

“I'm honored to have the Sinise Foundation step in and help us have a house that I'll be able to function in,” he said.

The house, located less than half a mile from the Ballwin Police Department is set to be completed by the end of the year.

Air travel: How will the new US electronics rules affect me?

by the BBC

The United States has announced that laptops, e-readers and almost any other electronic device that is not a phone will be banned from cabin luggage on some flights.

The rule only applies to 10 airports, but one of those is the world's busiest international airport - Dubai International.

The new rules come from the US's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

What items are affected?

The rule is broad and wide ranging, affecting almost anything that is not a phone.

It says: "Electronic devices larger than a cell phone/smart phone will not be allowed to be carried onboard the aircraft in carry-on luggage or other accessible property."

Anything larger will have to go in checked luggage in the hold.

But the advice does not define that size with any measurements, saying simply that "the approximate size of a commonly available smartphone is considered to be a guideline for passengers".

The department gave a list of examples, but said it was not exhaustive:

•  Laptops

•  Tablets

•  E-readers

•  Cameras

•  Portable DVD players

•  Electronic game units larger than a smartphone

•  Travel printers/scanners

It is not clear if the vague sizing could cause problems with interpretation, especially when it comes to larger phones or so-called "phablets" such as the iPhone 7 Plus.

In an accompanying document, the DHS said "their size is well understood by most passengers who fly internationally".

The examples specifically mention both portable media players and game systems.

But "necessary medical devices" will be allowed on board flights - after a security check.

Which airports are affected?

The new rules apply to 10 airports:

•  Queen Alia International, Amman, Jordan

•  Cairo International Airport, Egypt

•  Ataturk Airport, Istanbul, Turkey

•  King Abdulaziz International, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

•  King Khalid International, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

•  Kuwait International Airport

•  Mohammed V International, Casablanca, Morocco

•  Hamad International, Doha, Qatar

•  Dubai International, United Arab Emirates

•  Abu Dhabi International, United Arab Emirates

The DHS said it chose the airports "based on the current threat picture", but did not provide any more details. It said it may add more airports in future.

There is also no time limit on the rules - they will stay in place "until the threat changes".

The rule change also requires no additional TSA agents, US authorities said - any increased security cost will be borne by the affected airports.

What about connecting flights?

If you are on a business trip from Asia to the United States, it is likely that a Middle Eastern airport like Dubai could be part of your itinerary.

But the document detailing the enhanced security refers to "last point of departure airports" - so if you change planes at one of the affected airports for the last leg of your trip, the rules still apply.

So, for example, going from Dubai to New York - a 14-hour flight - will leave you without a laptop or other device, no matter where you started your journey from.

"TSA recommends passengers transferring at one of the 10 affected airports place any large personal electronic devices in their checked bags upon check-in at their originating airport," the official advice says.

What's the logic behind the ban?

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said it was basing its decisions on "evaluated intelligence".

It said terrorists "continue to target commercial aviation" and are trying to find "innovative methods" to make such attacks - including hiding explosives in consumer electronics.

"We note that disseminated propaganda from various terrorist groups is encouraging attacks on aviation, to include tactics to circumvent aviation security."

"We have reason to be concerned," the agency said - but did not address any specific threat.

Instead, they cited three examples of attacks that caused concern: the 2015 downing of an aircraft in Egypt, the attempt to down an airliner in Somalia in 2016, and the 2016 armed attacks against airports in Brussels and Istanbul .

Some of the banned devices may not be much larger than a mobile phone, adding confusion. Homeland Security said they were allowing phones simply because the new rules aim "to balance risk with impacts to the travelling public".

Can an airline or airport refuse?

No. As part of the legal agreements that allow commercial airlines to enter US airspace, they must abide by TSA security rules.

They have just 96 hours to implement the new procedure. This means the new procedures must be in effect by Saturday morning, 25 March, at the latest.

The DHS is also keen to point out that the new rules will apply to a very small proportion of travellers - just 10 of the 250 or so airports which fly to the US.

"A small percentage of flights to the United States will be affected, and the exact number of flights will vary on a day to day basis," it said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39336518

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California

Gunman opens fire on Calif. police station; suspect dead

No officers were injured during the incident

by PoliceOne

TEMPLE CITY, Calif. — A gunman is dead after he opened fire on the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department station in Temple City.

Officials told NBC San Diego that the gunman, who was registering as a sex offender, opened fire on deputies Monday morning when they followed him back out to his car.

Officials deployed SWAT and two armored vehicles to “neutralize the threat,” Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez said in a statement.

Police deployed a flash-bang device at the SUV, KTLA 5 reported. No movement was apparent inside the vehicle.

Authorities exited the armored vehicle and determined the threat was eliminated. The gunman was pronounced dead at the scene, the Los Angeles Times reported . According to The San Gabriel Valley Tribune, it appears the suspect died of a probable self-inflicted wound.

No deputies were injured in the incident.

https://www.policeone.com/Officer-Safety/articles/319417006-Gunman-opens-fire-on-Calif-police-station-suspect-dead/

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Michigan

Man who saved Mich. state trooper: 'I decided to help'

One attacker tried to choke Trooper Garry Guild, while the other started punching the trooper in the face

by Ann Zaniewski

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. — Keith Pepple saw the flashing lights of a police car behind him and pulled over.

A motorcycle zoomed by, followed by a Michigan State Police trooper.

Moments later down the road, Pepple would risk his life — and quite possibly save another life — to help the trooper as he was being attacked by the motorcycle driver and that man's brother.

"I guess everything happened so fast, you don't really have time to think about it," said Pepple, 50, of Plainwell. "I just saw that he needed help. And I decided to help."

Pepple was participating in one of his favorite hobbies, geocaching, an outdoor treasure-hunting game that uses GPS coordinates, when he stumbled on the scene. It was Feb. 20 on U.S.-31 in Berrien County.

Further down the road from where the motorcycle and police car passed Pepple, the motorcycle crashed. The driver got up and began charging toward the trooper, police said, ignoring commands to stop. He then struggled with the trooper as he tried to arrest him.

Pepple was driving by when he saw the scene and decided to stop and help. Just then, a man jumped out of another vehicle that had also stopped. That man ran over and put the trooper in a headlock and yelled for the motorcycle driver to leave, according to police.

The motorcycle driver ran a short distance away, then returned. He reached for the trooper's holster, but it was empty because the gun had fallen out in the scuffle, police said. He started punching the trooper in the face.

The two men were motorcycle driver Michael Barber, 21, of Gobles, and Travis Wise, 19, of Middlebury, Ind.

Trooper Garry Guild thought he was going to die.

"I am gasping and struggling for air, to the point where I can't breathe," Guild told the Free Press.

Pepple sprang into action.

"I got up there, and I grabbed a hold of Barber and threw him off" the trooper, Pepple said. "Everybody went to the ground. I had Barber in a headlock. I looked back and Wise was still choking the officer. I grabbed Wise and put him in a headlock."

A second passerby, Jerry Burnham, 44, of Berrien Springs, also stopped to help.

Both suspects were arrested. They are facing multiple felony charges, including assault with intent to murder.

Investigators learned that the motorcycle had been stolen from a business in Van Buren County. Guild said he initially didn't know that; he tried to stop it because he clocked it as traveling at 92 m.p.h.

The incident left Guild, 51, with an acute neck injury and swollen jaw. He also had a minor hand injury from where he accidentally Tased himself during the struggle.

He was back at work the next day.

"I wanted to make sure I got the report in while most of the information in my head was fresh and get it in the prosecutors' hand so they could be arraigned as soon as possible," the 21-year State Police veteran said.

Barber's attorney, Scott Sanford, and Wise's attorney, Paul Jancha Jr., declined to comment.

Pepple, a married father of two, is a maintenance worker at the Coca-Cola plant in Paw Paw. Guild and Michigan State Police Lt. Melinda Logan, one of Guild's supervisors at the State Police post in Niles, visited the plant recently to publicly recognize and thank him for what he did.

"I can't thank him enough," Guild said.

Logan said: "These two guys came into this not knowing if they were going to be hurt and risked their own lives to help someone else. It's just amazing to me. We're really proud of them, and forever indebted to them."

https://www.policeone.com/Officer-Safety/articles/319534006-Man-who-saved-Mich-state-trooper-I-decided-to-help/

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20 golden principles for prevailing on the street

These principles will help you physically, legally and emotionally survive law enforcement

by Lt. Dan Marcou

As a longtime police officer and trainer, I've had the opportunity to apply a number of principles on the street with success, and then train those highly effective principles to others. I would now like to share with you 20 of these street-tested, golden principles that will help you physically, legally and emotionally survive law enforcement.

1. Treat everyone with dignity and respect. In today's world, doing so is like having a rarely possessed superpower, and it will pay great dividends.

2. Get acquainted with and deal with the people on your beat as if they are your slightly dysfunctional extended family. Your real family will eventually grow to discover that you treat people fairly and assimilate this trait from you. Your street family also will also notice and remember.

3. You need to become tough. Don't act tough, be tough.

4. Be physically fit; your fitness level will be tested regularly by the people you police. Make sure you are always in peak physical condition.

5. It's OK to care. Caring does not make you a weak cop, it makes you a better cop.

6. You don't have one or two people in a car, but two or four hands. Account for the hands and control the hands. As Dave ‘Buck Savage' Smith tells his students, the hands kill.

7. Don't take street insults personally. These individuals are insulting the uniform, not you. There is nothing anyone can say that police uniforms haven't already heard. Remember the words of George Thompson, “They can say what they want as long as they do what I say.” Consider insults part of the totality of circumstances, which are to be remembered and put into the report. Which leads us to lesson eight …

8. “The man who angers you, conquers you,” as stated by Eldon Mueller.

9. If you're pursuing someone because they are dangerous, consider continuing the pursuit (if your policy allows it). If the subject is dangerous only because you are pursuing him or her, consider discontinuing the pursuit (if policy allows it).

10. If a subject gets away, don't fret. You'll likely encounter him or her again. Officers don't catch everyone during every incident; however, we catch them all eventually. Remember a chase is short lived, but a pursuit — for the truly determined officer — can last until the statute of limitations runs out.

11. The odds are slim that a terrorist will kill someone on your beat, but statistics show that impaired drivers and abusive spouses will very likely kill someone on your beat. Therefore, pursue impaired drivers with a passion and investigate your domestics with extreme caution — view them as personal homicide prevention programs. If you do you these things, you will save lives — one of which might be your own. Just in case, watch out for terrorists too.

12. If you are looking for nothing while on patrol, in most cases, you will find nothing. Even if you are looking for something, you will often find nothing. But if you go out looking for everything, you will almost always find something. Bottom line, look for everything. Also, if you become a ROD (retired on duty) and you truly strive to look for absolutely nothing while on patrol, I have some bad news for you. Trouble will still find you, and you probably won't see it coming.

13. Train like your life depends on it, because it does.

14. Police work is a contact sport, except it's not a sport. They don't give a trophy for second place on the street. You must always prevail and never give up.

15. After winning a street confrontation, ask if the subject is alright. If he or she is OK, help them up and dust them off — you're returning their dignity. All good officers practice courtesy up to impact and beyond.

16. Communication is the tactic most often used by police. It behooves an officer to become a black belt in dialogue. Remember it's easier for you to talk someone into handcuffs than it is to fight them into handcuffs. Still, never forget that an officer needs to know how to do both expertly.

17. It is tactically better to expect and prepare for resistance on each contact and be pleasantly surprised when you receive compliance rather than to expect compliance and be alarmingly surprised by resistance. Never presume you will receive compliance.

18. Staying positive in law enforcement is not natural, it is a discipline. Becoming cynical is natural. Even while practicing the discipline of staying positive you will never be completely positive, but you can become completely cynical in this profession with no effort. Daily, choose to stay positive and you will come to enjoy your family, your career and your life to the fullest.

19. Remember how interesting you found law enforcement and how much you loved it when you first entered the life. Hold onto that thought for about thirty years and you will do fine.

20. You can sell your honor for a penny, but once sold, you can't buy it back for a million bucks. Honor can be won and lost in law enforcement. Frank Serpico once said, “Police work is an honorable profession; if you do it with honor.”

With all that said, let's hit the streets with the words of Hill Street Station's Sgt. Phil Esterhaus in mind, “Hey! Let's be careful out there.”

About the author

Lt. Dan Marcou is an internationally-recognized, police trainer, who was a highly-decorated police officer with 33 years of full time law enforcement experience. Marcou's awards include Police Officer of the Year, SWAT Officer of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year, and Domestic Violence Officer of the Year. Upon retiring, Lt. Marcou began writing. His Novels, “The Calling, the Making of a Veteran Cop,” “SWAT, Blue Knights in Black Armor,” “Nobody's Heroes,” and Destiny of Heroes,” as well as his latest Non-Fiction Offering, “Law Dogs, Great Cops in American History,” are all highly acclaimed and available at Amazon.

https://www.policeone.com/Officer-Safety/articles/319405006-20-golden-principles-for-prevailing-on-the-street/

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From the Department of Homeland Security

DHS Releases U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Declined Detainer Outcome Report

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security today issued the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Declined Detainer Outcome Report required by President Donald J. Trump's Executive Order, Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, signed on January 25. This report will be issued weekly to highlight jurisdictions that choose not to cooperate with ICE detainers or requests for notification, therefore potentially endangering Americans. ICE places detainers on aliens who have been arrested on local criminal charges or who are in local custody and for whom ICE possesses probable cause to believe that they are removable from the United States, so that ICE can take custody of the alien when he or she is released from local custody.

“When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders, it undermines ICE's ability to protect the public safety and carry out its mission,” said Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan. “Our goal is to build cooperative, respectful relationships with our law enforcement partners. We will continue collaborating with them to help ensure that illegal aliens who may pose a threat to our communities are not released onto the streets to potentially harm individuals living within our communities.”

The Declined Detainer Outcome Report is a weekly report that lists the jurisdictions that have declined to honor ICE detainers or requests for notification and includes examples of criminal charges associated with those released aliens. The report provides information on declined detainers and requests for notification for that reporting period. A jurisdiction's appearance on this report is not an exclusive factor in determining a jurisdiction's level of cooperation with ICE. This report is intended to provide the public with information regarding criminal actions committed by aliens and any jurisdiction that ignores or otherwise failed to honor any detainers or requests for notification with respect to such aliens.

Related Materials:

•  Fact Sheet: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Declines Detainer Outcome Report

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