Microsoft gives cops COFEE: Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor
Cops doing computer forensic work already have a ton of tools to choose from, but Microsoft is doing its part to help out as well — the company just revealed that it’s been distributing a special thumb drive to cops in 15 countries to help them identify and extract information from suspects’ computers.
Sarasota Sheriff’s web site offers more inmate info
Is somebody you know in jail? The Sheriff’s Office just made it easier to find out.
The agency has unveiled today a new system to track inmates on the Web. A list of inmates, their charges, case numbers and mug shots are available on the site.
Users can search the database by last name.
Columbus police stand by taser use
from the Columbus Dispatch
The death of a 24-year-old man who was subdued with a stun gun last week by police in Oxford won’t deter Columbus officers from continuing to use the weapon.
“The division is absolutely interested in making sure the weapon is considered safe,” said Cmdr. Kim Jacobs of the police-training bureau. “We’ve got medical examiners and doctors saying that it’s generally safe.”
The safety of Tasers, the brand of stun gun used by Columbus police, was an issue April 14, when City Council members approved additional funding for the weapons. Councilwoman Charleta B. Tavares voted against the funding, saying there isn’t enough research into the long-term health effects on those stunned by police.
Dr. David Keseg, medical director for the Columbus Fire Division, told council members that an organization of medical directors from the nation’s 25 largest cities is preparing to release a position paper on the issue.
Taser use “appears relatively safe, particularly when compared to other law-enforcement weapons,” he said, quoting from a draft of the group’s position.
Keseg cited a national study, funded by a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, that reviewed 1,000 cases and found 99.7 percent of individuals subjected to a Taser received minor injuries such as scrapes and bruises, or no injuries.
The medical directors are encouraging additional research, he said.
Citizen complaints, along with injuries to officers and suspects, have declined in Columbus since officers began using Tasers in 2003, according to a 2006 study by Sgt. Brian Bruce of the division’s defensive-tactics unit.
Serious injuries to suspects fell from 79 in 2004 to 65 in 2006, the study found.
“Twenty years ago, we were taking people to the hospital with lacerations on the head from getting hit with a baton or a flashlight,” Jacobs said. “That’s not happening anymore, or very rarely.”
With Tasers, “there’s pain for five seconds, and that’s about it,” she said.
A Taser fires barbs that deliver an electric shock designed to incapacitate briefly a dangerous or uncooperative suspect. Officers also can use the Taser in “drive” mode by pressing it directly against a suspect.
Keseg said there is some evidence to suggest that suspects with heart disease or who are having psychotic episodes related to drug use or psychological problems could face an increased risk of harm from Tasers, “but that has not been proven scientifically.”
Two men have died during the past two years in Franklin County after struggles with officers using Tasers:
Patrick D. Hagans, 42, died May 14 last year, three days after a Franklin County deputy shocked him during a confrontation that also involved officers from Valleyview and Franklin Township.
Briant Parks, 39, died Dec. 3, 2006, after Columbus officers used Tasers in “drive” mode while wrestling with him in the lobby of a Downtown hotel.
In both cases, Franklin County Coroner Brad Lewis said autopsies were unable to determine whether the Tasers played a role in the deaths. Both men had heart disease, he found.
Hagans also had cocaine in his system and pneumonia. Lewis said schizophrenia and heart disease contributed to Parks’ death.
Investigators are awaiting autopsy results in the case of Kevin Piskura, who died Thursday, five days after being shocked by an Oxford police officer outside a bar. Police said the officer used the Taser when Piskura fought with him and bouncers.
Piskura began having breathing problems at the scene and was taken to a Cincinnati hospital in critical condition.
In Columbus, anyone shocked by police must be checked by Fire Division paramedics. Of the 386 people shocked by police in 2007, 8 percent were taken to a hospital for “Taser-related injuries,” Keseg said.
In some cases, a Taser barb was stuck in a “precarious spot,” such as a suspect’s eye, and required removal by a doctor, he said.
Others “might have experienced chest pain or fell and hit their head.”
A representative for Taser International did not return a phone message seeking comment.
Iowa officer rescues 3 from rampaging house fire
VINTON, Iowa
The Gazette
A young man was hanging from a window, trapped between the ground and flames that had engulfed a home’s second floor, when Vinton police Officer Roger Roseberry arrived.
Roseberry, who was first on the scene, helped pluck the man and two others, whose names have not been released, from the burning home at 512 W. Sixth St. on Monday morning.
“I just reacted,” said Roseberry, 28, of Vinton. “You don’t really think about it. You try to make it as safe as possible for everybody involved.”
The fire started in an unoccupied second-floor bedroom at about 4:30 a.m. Monday, Vinton Fire Chief Gary McKenna said. The cause is under investigation, but McKenna said the extent of damages may prevent fire marshals from determining it.
Two women and one man were taken to Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton. One woman was later airlifted to University Hospitals for smoke inhalation and burns.
Roseberry, who was working alone when the 911 call came in, got to the house several minutes before firefighters and paramedics.
“We always get (to fires) quick, but there’s never been anybody inside,” Roseberry said last night.
He tried coaxing the man stuck in the window to jump to the ground, then to a couch he had pushed under the window, and later guided his feet to a ladder supplied by a neighbor.
When he discovered two women were inside looking for a pet dog, he knew they were in more immediate danger, so he ventured in and found them reaching the bottom of the stairs. He helped them out with the sound of his voice.
Roseberry, who has been with the police department six years, said he had to keep one of the women from going back inside for the dog, which was later found alive in a closet.
“I know what I did was something I don’t do everyday, but at the same time, I was just doing my job,” Roseberry said.
Words of thanks from the man he helped down from the window have been the most rewarding part of the experience, he said.
Vinton police Chief Jeff Tilson said the man told fire marshals he would not have made it out alive if Roseberry hadn’t been there.
“I think we were pretty lucky,” Roseberry said. “It worked as well as we could ask for under the circumstances.”
NY officer catches baby dropped from burning building
Fox News
A police officer is credited with saving lives after catching a baby dropped from a second-floor window during an early morning fire that destroyed a Binghamton house.
Police Chief Joe Zituski says officers were on patrol when they smelled smoke around 3:30 a.m. and found a four-family home on fire.
One woman dropped her 15-month-old child out of a second-floor window before she jumped herself. Zituski says the drop was probably 20 or 30 feet.
Patrolman Connor Heslin caught the child and he and other officers rescued several other residents before the fire department arrived. A 12-year-old boy was pulled from the house by firefighters and taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Zituski says it took more than 90 minutes to put out the fire.
Black belt schools OH cops
LEXINGTON — It’s dangerous on the streets for cops.
“Every year, we try to update any new methods of self-defense,” Mansfield police Lt. Allen Vandayburg said. “Our goal is to overcome resistance without injury to the officer or the offender. Anytime we can use something less lethal is always a positive step.”
WV Lr. Recounts 2006 shooting
When Lt. Eric Johnson tells police about getting shot and then killing the man who shot him, he doesn’t mind if his voice cracks, if he shows emotion.
On Monday, Johnson stood in front of a room of mostly 20-something West Virginia State Police cadets and county and city police basic trainees to tell his tale, as he has several times before.
Deptford officer welcomed home after crash
Hundreds gathered in Gloucester County to welcome home an area police officer seriously injured in a car accident.
Wall of Heroes to include police officers
New York City’s 9/11 “Wall Of Heroes” will now include names of police officers who died well after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Aiken County sex offender alerts
More than 280 sex offenders live in Aiken County and now the sheriff’s office is making it easier for you to find them.
