Officer’s quick thinking saves baby’s life
Stories like these NEVER get as much world wide attention as the stories in which officers do something wrong. Why is that?
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It was at the La Joya Police Department where a younger officer came to the rescue and performed CPR on a week old baby. Little Eduardo Flores started breathing again.
Mom and baby are currently at Rio Grande Regional Hospital. They were taken there last night. The mother says her baby is still in a fragile state and is undergoing more tests. She tells NEWSCHANNEL 5 that if it wasn’t for the officer’s help, she thinks the situation could have been much worse.
A La Joya Police Department spokesperson says that this situation is not a common one they come across on a daily basis, but this is the second time a La Joya officer has helped out a mother in need.
Just a few months ago, we told you about a La Joya Officer who helped deliver a baby outside of the police department.
The officer who helped the mother in distress this time around was Reymundo Vigil. We’re told he has only been with the department for a couple of months.
Police reach out to youth with program, K-9 demonstration
Mark Boris, an officer with the Shelby Police Department, wants the community to trust him.
And to stress that message, Boris spoke to the youth group at Putnam Baptist Church this week.
Boris gave a slideshow presentation to more than 60 kids on topics ranging from drugs to how the police department works.
“Marijuana is the biggest things for kids your age,” he told them. “You will see it a lot. Just say no.”
The group laughed and listened as Boris presented the information in an enjoyable way. He read street names of common drugs and even showed them a slide of what meth did to two people after only seven months.
“The teenage years are important,” Boris said. “You have to hit them now while you can.”
The Shelby Police Department K-9 Unit was also there and gave a full demonstration on how their dogs find drugs in concealed places.
“The most important part is their noses,” said Howard Young, K-9 trainer. “These dogs are full of energy with a lot of drive.”
As part of the presentation, Max and Siko found drugs the officers had planted in different areas along the side of the church building to demonstrate how they do their jobs.
Police Chief Jeff Ledford said Boris did this project on his own and wanted to share with kids that they can trust the police in their community.
“Our kids are going to be our leaders for tomorrow,” Ledford said. “The best way is to open up and let them know what we do.”
At the end of the presentation, Boris gave each kid a water bottle and his business card.
“Police aren’t always the bad guys,” he said. “It’s important that they know the officers in their area. I want them to know who I am.”
Police union names Westhill alum ‘Officer of the Year’
Officer Robert Somody has been patrolling the streets of his hometown for past 20 years, his entire career at the Stamford Police Department. During the evening tour Friday, the 43-year-old officer went from call to call to call, stopping for old friends along the way.
Stamford Police Officer Robert Somody works on his afternoon shift Friday on the East Side. (Kerry Sherck/For the Advocate)
A Westhill High School graduate, Somody saw a former classmate in the parking lot of a Shippan gas station. In Glenbrook, he stopped in front of a convenience store, and the owner came out to ask about Somody’s family. His superiors call him the “unofficial mayor” of Stamford.
This past week, the police officers’ union, the Stamford Police Association, named Somody the 2008 Officer of the Year for the experience and maturity he displays while working patrol, as well as his gregarious and personable nature. Somody is also head of the local Police Athletic League.
“Bob is someone the bosses can rely on to be a street supervisor,” Police union President Sgt. Joseph Kennedy said. “When he’s on the call you don’t need a boss there. He knows what to do and how to
do it.”
Somody began his tour Friday with a trip to Cummings Park, checking on a group of regular alcoholics he found passed out, often before 10 a.m. They seemed sober enough, so Somody let them be.
“On weekends, kids come down to the field,” he said. “Do they really want to see this?”
For the past six years, Somody has covered city’s eastern-most district, which stretches from Springdale to Shippan
and includes the East Side, a increasingly busy neighborhood for officers.It’s a melting pot full of several sets of immigrant groups such as Hispanics and the Polish. Friction often follows, and Somody and his fellow officers then are called upon to resolve the small-scale cultural clashes, he said.
He got his start in the West Side, though, patrolling the since-demolished Southwood Village housing project.
“I don’t miss climbing those eight stories,” Somody said.
He said he was first exposed to police work as a 10-year-old playing on a basketball team in the Police Athletic League. His coaches were a veteran Stamford police officer and Judge Richard Comerford, he recalled.
“I had two heavy hitters coaching me as 10-year-old,” he joked.
His supervisor, Sgt. Bill Hnatuk, graduated with Somody from police academy. He said working with Somody makes the high-stress job seem fun.
“I’ve been his supervisor for the last three years, but I learn from him every day,” Hnatuk said.
Somody will receive the award June 5 at the Stamford Police Association gala at the Holiday Inn on East Main Street. Chris Hansen, the NBC news reporter and Stamford resident, best known for the “To Catch a Predator” series, will be the keynote speaker.
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