Cops hailed for valor

Boston Police officer John Conway holds his son, John Jr., at a State House ceremony yesterday.

Their upper lips as stiff as the Queen’s Guard, their mothers’ lowers lips trembling with pride, 10 state troopers and seven Boston police officers were saluted at the State House yesterday for their extraordinary courage.

“The service and the sacrifice that we acknowledge today is exceptional by any measure,” Gov. Deval Patrick said as he addressed the sea of blue before assisting State Police Col. Mark Delaney in the presentation of awards.

Medals of Valor were bestowed on Trooper Shawn Riley – who broke his wrist Feb. 23 tackling a gunman who’d opened fire on the crowd during a “Girls Gone Wild Tour” promotion in Boston’s Aria nightclub – and Boston Police Youth Violence Strike Force officers Dean Bickerton, James Clark, John Conway, Daran Edwards, Lynwood Jenkins, Joel Resil and Anthony Williams.

Two clubgoers were shot in the melee, but the eight officers working as a team prevented a chaotic scene from turning catastrophic.

Also feted with Medals of Valor were state police Lt. Michael Domnarski and Sgt. James Nanof, who on Jan. 28 in freezing temperatures and fading light captured a man who’d allegedly just killed his ex-girlfriend and shot one of her co-workers in Webster, and then proceeded to fire atstate police helicopter.

Trooper James O’Leary received the Medal of Merit for single-handedly holding four shooting suspects at gunpoint Feb. 10 in Brockton.

Medals of Lifesaving went to Trooper Gene Baker, who on March 27 saved an elderly man from choking to death on steak in a restaurant, and Troopers Stephen Burgess, Sean Barry and Stephen Gregorczyk, who last October saved a Springfield pedestrian run down and critically injured by a motorist.

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Some officers serve, protect for free

They are perhaps the best bargain in Tulsa.

Despite receiving no salary, they are willing to carry guns and put on uniforms equipped with bulletproof vests to serve and protect the public.

They are reserve police officers, whose duties range from providing security at special events to backing up full-time officers on violent crimes.

“It’s a hobby, but to me it’s so much more than that, because with most hobbies, you don’t put yourself in harm’s way,” said Gary Gleason, an infrastructure manager who has been a reserve officer about four years.

More than 40 people serve as reserve officers in the Tulsa Police Department, which is seeking applicants for new reserves. A state-certified reserve academy will be offered two nights a week for five months starting in January.

Three years ago, John Fitzpatrick, the president and CEO of a company in the health-care industry, decided to become a reserve officer because he got tired of hearing people gripe about “all the crime” in Tulsa.

“Instead of talking about it, I wanted to do something about it,” he said.

Early in his field training, Fitzpatrick learned that he has what it takes to be a cop.

Fitzpatrick was responding as a backup officer to a robbery attempt at an apartment complex, he said.

He was assisting with the investigation when the robbers came back to “finish the job” by opening fire on the victims.

“They shot at us, and then the shooter jumped into a car and drove at the police car,” Fitzpatrick said.

His quick response in protecting the victims not only helped save their lives, but it convinced him he was qualified to wear a badge.

“I always wondered what I would do in a situation like that — whether I would cut and run,” Fitzpatrick said. “But all the training kicked in, and all of a sudden a gun appeared in my hand.”

Jay Ketron, a salesman in the oil and gas industry, has been a reserve officer for 20 years. During that time, he has drawn his gun many times.

He also has been assaulted about a dozen times, he said.

Call it a hobby, but “the threat of injury and death for a reserve officer is exactly the same as a full-time officer,” Ketron said.

At first, Ketron joined the police reserves because of the thrill of playing “cops and robbers.”

But through the years, he said, his reasons for staying have changed.

“In the beginning, it may be the excitement — the adrenaline — but as you put more time in, you see as a reserve officer you can truly help, in a very large way, the police department and the city of Tulsa,” he said.

Reserve officers often have other jobs that pay the bills, with occupations ranging from stock broker to professor to small-business owner.

Joe Hidy, a bank president, became a reserve officer shortly after doing a police ride-along with an officer.

“Police officers are honest people,” Hidy said. “They don’t lie to you, and, most of all, they’re willing to take a bullet for you.”

Because many reserve officers have successful careers and earn good salaries in their fields, they find it difficult to quit their regular jobs to work as full-time officers.

But that was not the case for Maj. Julie Harris, who is now the Tulsa Police Department’s highest-ranking female officer.

She started as a reserve officer, but within two years she quit her regular job to become a full-time officer, even though it meant earning less money.

Harris, who is just 5 feet tall, initially questioned whether she was big enough for a career in law enforcement, but her experience as a reserve officer convinced her that she was qualified.

“It’s not your size but how you can talk to people, and with the (reserve) academy, they give you the skills to do the work,” Harris said. “The training that you get from the department exceeds the training that you get in many agencies in the state.”

David Schulte 581-8367

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Fresno Police Officers Honored for Heroic Duty

For Fresno Police Officer Junus Perry, getting to this point hasn’t been easy.

“It’s nice to see everything we’ve gone through hasn’t been in vain. So we feel very good about it, very good,” Officer Perry said.

It was April 16th of this year. Perry was working as the school resource officer at Roosevelt High School when he was suddenly attacked by a student and forced to make one of the toughest decisions of his life.

“Officer Perry fired a single round at the subject striking his left-shoulder area,” the announcer said at Thursday’s ceremony.

That subject, 17-year-old Jesus Carizzales, died. After nearly seven-months of questions surrounding Perry’s decision, the officer says this award is re-affirming.

“It means there are numerous individuals wearing uniforms exactly like this one that are standing beside me. It means there are family members standing beside me. And it also means there are friends standing beside me,” Officer Perry said.

“The job of a police officer today is the most dangerous and most difficult job known to mankind,” Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

All-together 23 police officers received awards Thursday. But Dyer says the impact they made extends far beyond that.

“There are countless people that are alive today, all the way from infants to the elderly, and each and every one of those individuals that are alive today is because of these heroic efforts of these officers,” Dyer said.

“The award was for basically, what I would like to consider, doing my job,” Perry said.

But as Officer Perry knows all too well, sometimes that job isn’t so easy.

Perry received the Harry Van Meter Medal of Honor, which was named after the first Fresno police officer killed in the line of duty back in 1907.

Chief Dyer says the department likes to recognize its officers as much as possible with ceremonies like this because they put their lives on the line every day.

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Bay City Trooper has longest tenure- 36 years – in statewide force

He’s dealt with tragedy and debauchery in his profession of 36 years, and during off-hours, Michigan State Police Trooper David Wagner roots for the Detroit Lions and the University of Michigan football teams.

Yet Wagner – the trooper with the most seniority in the entire statewide force of 1,051 troopers – remains an upbeat and often jovial man. His boss describes him as an ”unsung hero” whose broad knowledge, high competence and true dedication make him a credit to the force.

”He has the initiative to do whatever needs to be done to keep the ship sailing smoothly,” said Lt. John Card, commander of the Bay City Post. ”He never worries about whether it’s his job or not, or whether he has been told to do it. He has an outstanding personality and is well liked by so many people that he is a goodwill ambassador for the Michigan State Police.”

Wagner was presented a legislative tribute from State Sen. James A. Barcia on Wednesday during a staff meeting, held at the Alice and Jack Wirt Library in downtown Bay City.

”That plaque wasn’t big enough,” Barcia said.

Wagner, whose current position is that of community services officer, said it’s necessary to keep a sunny outlook, especially in bleak situations.

”In law enforcement, you see so much sadness in society, so much of the bad things in life – serious traffic crashes, sexual assaults, child abuse. After a while, it wears on you and you could get burned out. But you have to be positive. You have to look for the best in human nature. With the state of the economy and everything else, you just have to choose a positive attitude.”

Wagner has no plans to retire anytime soon.

”I really enjoy my work,” said Wagner, 59, of Linwood. ”After you’ve done this so long, you’d retire to what? It’s in your blood and you can’t get it out.”

For 36 years – 31 of them at the Bay City Post – Wagner’s put on the blue uniform of a Michigan State Trooper. His current duties include serving as the court officer, presenting requests for charges and warrants to the Bay County Prosecutor, for example, and otherwise handling the mountains of paperwork that modern law enforcement yields.

‘I don’t miss chasing the taillights and dealing with the angry drunks,” he said. ”I don’t miss the traffic crashes. But every once in a while I’ll get out and take a call of a crime in progress. I’m not a tiger without teeth.”

Wagner’s first post assignment was in Ionia, where he had the unique pleasure of chasing down a stolen MSP patrol car. The call came over the radio that a woman had stolen a police car from the Lansing Post. Wagner and his partner were assisting a motorist, who was waiting in the back seat of their cruiser for a tow truck.

Suddenly, they saw what matched the description of the stolen car and its driver, and began pursuit.

”We didn’t even have a chance to let the guy out of the back of the car,” Wagner said.

The chase reached high speeds and gunshots were used to take out the stolen car’s tires, ”and the poor guy in the back seat, we could literally hear him scratching on the back of the seat. After it was all over, we offered him a ride back to his car, and he said ‘Thanks, but I think I’ll walk.”’

His wife, Nancy Wagner, 45, works in the Bay County District Court records office. The two try to leave the world of crime at the office when they’re home with their children, Jacob, 11, and Sarah, 8.

Wagner, who turns 60 next week, was born in San Antonio, Texas. He moved to Bay County in 1959, attending Linwood Elementary School, Pinconning Junior High School and graduating in 1969 from Bay City Central High School. He also attended Lansing Community College and Delta College.

He spent a year and a half in the U.S. Army as a member of the military police, stationed in Vietnam.

Wednesday was not the first time Wagner’s garnered high honors. In 1999, he was presented the Crime Stoppers of Bay County Community Service Award for spending his personal time to promote crime prevention and volunteer in community organizations. In 2003, it was an off-duty endeavor – helping administer CPR to a man who had a heart attack at the old Central Library – that earned him a Michigan State Police Lifesaving Award.

When he doe retire, he’s kicking around some ideas for a second career.

”Whatever it is, it will have nothing to do with police work,” he said. ”Maybe I’ll sell boats, or used cars. I’ve even thought about getting into politics.”

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Breakfast with the San Diego K9 officers

Sounds like fun! Mark your calendars:)

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Please join the San Diego Police Foundation and officers from the San Diego Police Department as we host Breakfast with K-9 where you’ll learn about some of these innovative training techniques, and the amazing services provided by police service dogs.

Date/Time:	Thurs., Nov. 13, 2008
Program:	8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Location:	Qualcomm Stadium Training Field
Cost:	FREE!!
RSVP:	(858) 453-5060, email, online, or by mail via the flyer.

Location and parking details will be forwarded to you upon receipt of your registration. In the meantime, feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

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Good boy, Eric!

Eric the police dog has been on the job for less than a week, and he already has two impressive busts to his name.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office police dog, who hit the streets Wednesday after graduating from a state training academy on Oct. 17, sniffed out more than 50 pounds of marijuana hidden in a van that was stopped Monday night by State Police on the Northway, officials said.

That arrest came just days after he found a bottle of painkillers hidden in the grill of a car that was also stopped by a trooper for a traffic violation, said State Police Senior Investigator Steve Ortiz. Further information on that arrest was not available Tuesday.

Monday’s arrest came after an off-duty state trooper spotted a van and car being driven recklessly southbound on the Northway in Essex County.

“They were goofing around,” Ortiz said.

The trooper notified on-duty officers who began looking for the vehicles and pulled over one near Exit 23, with the second stopped near Exit 21, at around 7:30 p.m. Police concluded the drivers knew each other, and troopers smelled marijuana in the van, which was pulled over near Exit 21, Ortiz said.

A State Police search dog was not available, so Eric and his handler, sheriff’s Patrol Officer Terry Combs, were called to the scene. The dog quickly “hit” on the rear of the vehicle and alerted police to the presence of the drugs, and police found a duffel bag loaded with packages of marijuana in the cargo area, police said.

The drugs weighed a little more than 50 pounds, landing Lawrence Baker, 45, of Hogansburg, in jail on a charge of first-degree criminal possession of marijuana.

The dog also “hit” on the other vehicle when checking it, but nothing was found inside.

“Based on the dog’s reaction, we believe there had been something in that car, too,” Ortiz said.

The other driver was not charged.

Baker would not tell police where he was headed with the marijuana, but police believe it had been brought across the Canadian border.

Baker has dual citizenship in the United States and Canada, Ortiz said. That resulted in bail being set at $250,000 cash or $500,000 bail bond.

Troopers Jim West, Terry LeBarron and Brian Duncan handled the case, assisted by troopers from Troop B in Essex County.

Warren County Sheriff Bud York, who restored the Sheriff’s Office’s dog patrol program when he took office this year, said the dog — which is named for Eric Loiselle, an Essex County sheriff’s officer who died in the line of duty in 2005 — is off to a great start.

“He’s a great dog,” York said. “The best is yet to come.”

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Related Story

Pound puppy becomes narcotics dog in Florida

When his chief told him there was no money for a new narcotics dog, Polk County Sheriff’s Deputy John Maney went to the pound, adopted and trained a dog himself.

Maney, who has previously worked as a handler for five canines, turned down several dogs. He focused on ones that showed alertness, lack of fear and an eagerness to learn. He adopted an eleven-month-old black lab mix in March and named him Rezadu.

They trained in abandoned phosphate mine property and open fields for 12 weeks, detecting illegal narcotics.

Rezadu did so well that he was nationally certified in August.

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K-9 Officers Show Off Skills Before Retirement

Sullivan County law enforcement officers “found” a bag of marijuana in Sheriff Wayne Anderson’s car Tuesday morning while it was parked in front of the North Eastman Road Food City. The drugs were planted there by one of Anderson’s fellow officers as part of a demonstration marking the retirement of two of the county’s K-9 unit dogs – and a grant to help replace them.

Sullivan County K-9 officer CJ relaxes as he is petted by students from Tri-Cities Christian School’s Bristol campus Tuesday morning at Food City in Kingsport. CJ had just completed his part of a demonstraion for the students.

“This is the most high-tech piece of equipment that we have,” Anderson said of the dogs, which are trained by their handlers to detect explosives, marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine.

The dogs also are used to track missing children and fleeing suspects. They can place someone under arrest by biting the person’s wrist and not letting go.

“This is a game to them,” said Deputy Melissa Marlowe, who handles K-9 C.J., one of the dogs set to retire this month.

“They find what they need,” she said, bouncing a tennis ball into C.J.’s mouth to reward him for finding some fake bomb materials at the demonstration. “They alert us and they get a treat.”

C.J. has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 1999. K-9 Serge, a tracking dog that also will retire this month, has been there since 2002. Both animals will finish out their lives with the officers who handled them, said Deputy Mark Baird.

“We often spend more time with these dogs than we do our families,” said Baird, who has handled two dogs in the 10 years he has been with the K-9 Unit.

Baird said the unit’s dogs are technically owned by the Sheriff’s Office but live at their handlers’ homes. The county supplies each handler with the equipment needed to care for the animals, he said.
Officers in the K-9 Unit will start training the two dogs that will replace C.J. and Serge on Nov. 1. The process takes 12 to 14 weeks, Anderson said.

The two new dogs will cost the county $9,000, said county Purchasing Director Nelda Fleenor. More than half this cost will be paid through a $5,000 grant from Food City and the Milk-Bone Canine Heroes Program.

Mark Berlacher, a representative from Milk-Bone’s parent company Del Monte Foods, said the Canine Heroes Program has helped law enforcement agencies across the United States buy more than 450 dogs in the past 10 years.

“We understand the importance of the K-9 group in law enforcement,” said Jerry Lewis, who is with Food City’s parent company K-VAT Food Stores.

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Working toward a safer community

Eeros, Webster County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Robinson’s canine partner, tries to give him a kiss Tuesday afternoon during a demonstration of the Belgian Malinois’ abilities at Phillips Middle School. Eeros is trained in a number of skills including tracking, drug detection, suspect apprehension and apparently, getting kisses from his handler.

Phillips Middle School students got to see a Webster County Sheriff’s Department K9 unit go into action Tuesday.

Eeros, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, chewed on the assistant principal’s arm for a while at the command of his handler Darren Robinson, deputy for the Webster County Sheriff’s Department. The assistant principal, Mark Johnson, wasn’t hurt though; he was wearing a bite sleeve.

”That dog is strong,” Johnson said after the dog let go and returned to Robinson’s side. ”I’m glad he didn’t have more traction.”

Johnson said he volunteered to let Eeros ”play” with him as part of a presentation given by the Fort Dodge Police Department and the Webster County Sheriff’s Department for the Community Safety Initiative Safety Week.

CSI is a committee developed for the Envision 2030 program designed to help make Fort Dodge a safer place for its residents.

This week, several activities will be held throughout Fort Dodge that are meant to educate people about what they can do to help fight crime in their community.

More presentations will be given Thursday at Phillips Middle School, with 100 students present for each talk.

Robinson taught students about his partner, Eeros, and why K9 units are important to law enforcement.

”Most people don’t like it when we use a K9,” he said. ”He’s no kitten. He’s 70 pounds, but he can take down a 300-pound man.”

Law enforcement dogs are trained to protect the officers, track and find lost children and adults, and find criminals and drugs.

”All he thinks he’s doing is playing,” Robinson said. “He’s up at 3 a.m. and he’s just go, go, go.”

Fort Dodge police officers taught the seventh- and eighth-grade students about the importance of following the curfew, the dangers of driving drunk and how shoplifting can lead to a lot of trouble.

”Look around this room,” said Detective Jody Chansler. ”There are about as many people in this room as there were who died in alcohol-related collisions last year in Iowa.”

Chansler said when someone becomes a driver they aren’t just taking their own lives into their hands when they drink and drive, but everyone around them as well.

“Just because it’s not your fault doesn’t make you any less dead,” said Cory Husske, detective for the Fort Dodge Police Department.

Operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated could lead to jail time and the loss of a driver’s license.

Hopefully the eighth-graders working to obtain a license won’t be on the list of those who lose it, said Chansler.

Legion auxiliary donates to K-9 Unit

The K-9s that make our streets safer will now be safer, thanks to a generous donation by the Women’s Auxiliary of North Fort Myers American Legion Post #336.

On Wednesday, Oct. 22, the auxiliary presented a check to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit for $6,300, to purchase ballistic vests for the patrol dogs.

Over the past year, the K-9 Unit received donations from individuals, businesses and schools to purchase vests for the majority of the unit. With this final donation, the unit will be able to purchase the last three remaining vests for the squad.

“They’ve made our goal,” said Sgt. Fred Jenke of the Lee County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit. He and Dept. Robert Ewell, along with their canine partners Kaos and Nero, accepted the donation.

“This whole thing started with a little boy in elementary school who found a $100 bill at school,” said Jenke. “He did the right thing, turned it in, no one claimed the money so it ended up going back to him. He wanted it to go to towards ‘dogs in the vest.’”

The media picked up the story, he said.

“It culminated in individuals like Dee Simms of this legion, who started collecting money for bullet-proof vets for the dogs. With this money, we’ve met our goal for all 13 of the dogs that was needed.”

“The reason this caught my attention is that I’m a retired law enforcement officer,” said Simms. “I’ve worked with the dogs and know how precious they are and how useful they are, and I know they need protection.”

She brought up the cause to legion members.

“They were wonderful. Besides the local legion, it was all private contributions from residents of Lee County. We had donations from North Fort Myers, Lehigh, Sanibel and Bonita,” she said.

Barbara Kadee, treasurer, helped present the check. She noted other activities the legion is doing concerning charitable contributions.

“We’re doing Thanksgiving baskets for needy families and a Giving Tree for Christmas for local children,” she said. “We buy gifts for children whose families can’t supply gifts for them, and when the time comes around, we do Easter baskets for needy children as well. We also do things for veterans who are down and out. We give contributions to help them with their expenses. We do fund-raisers all year round.”

“This is wonderful,” said Sheriff Mike Scott, who stopped by to thank the auxiliary for the K-9 donation. “The American Legion is very involved in the community, and for this Post 336 to get together and assist us with such a noble cause, we can’t thank them enough on behalf of the whole Sheriff’s office.”

About the K-9 Unit

“The vests have saved dogs lives,” said Jenke. “These dogs are out 15 to 20 feet ahead of me, so they’re in more danger than I am sometimes. They go out into the woods and find people who are armed and find people who have done really heinous crimes. These dogs are out ahead of the officers and put out into danger.”

He’s been in the K-9 Unit for eight years, having his partner Kaos for the last two years. He and Kaos visited the auxiliary recently.

“I brought him in here the other night and everyone loved him,” he said.

“These dogs go home with the officers and become a very loved member of the family, not only to the officer. These dogs go to work with you every day and the bond that is formed is amazing. Your significant other tends to worry about the dog as much as they do about you.”

Last month, together they did catch several men breaking into an area business.

“All of the patrol dogs do an outstanding job at what they do,” he said. “They find violent offenders, they go in and take them off the street.”

The dogs get 400 hours of basic patrol training and an additional 200 hours of detector work, and maintain a minimum of 16 training hours per month.

Ewell talked about his experiences with the K-9 Unit.

“Being in the K-9 Unit itself is a wonderful experience,” he said. “I enjoy doing it every day, working with the handlers in the unit, and the dogs side by side every day. We’re catching bad guys, looking for missing adults, all kinds of work.”

The North Fort Myers American Legion Post #336 is located at 5770 Bayshore Rd. For information, call 543-1919.

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