Cops run for Special Olympics
Police from all across the Show-me State are lacing up their running shoes for a good cause.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run takes place this week. It benefits the Special Olympics. Wednesday, our local police agencies, along with Special Olympians, ran from Columbia to Jefferson City, where they were greeted by the governor.
About two dozen cops hustled up the hill toward the capitol, but they weren’t chasing any bad guys. Instead they were sweating for the Special Olympics. Olympian Lori Woodfin took the torch to the top.
“It’s just a lot of fun,” said Woodfin.
This race was for fun, but starting Thursday, Woodfin will be racing for real in the Special Olympics summer games.
The Torch Run raises money and awareness for the games. This year, participants hope to raise $1 million.
“It’s a great event,” said Jefferson City resident Jana Salmons, who came to support the athletes. “Everyone should support their Special Olympics both local and statewide, and get out and support all the athletes.”
Salmons is a caregiver for one of the Special Olympians.
“That’s where they meet their friends, they meet lifelong friends and they just love going to practice and all of the events,” said Salmons.
More than 15,000 Missourians take part in the games.
The Special Olympics summer games begin Thursday in Springfield.
The culmination of the Torch Run, the lighting of the Flame of Hope, happens during the games opening ceremonies.
Evidence is key in putting drunk drivers behind bars after a fatal crash, and a new team in Pennington County will make gathering that evidence more efficient and ultimately make roads there safer.
When fatal crashes involve the use of alcohol or drugs in Pennington County, the scene is usually investigated by several law enforcement agencies. From now on, filing charges in those accidents will become easier, thanks to a Fatal Alcohol Crash Team that bridges the gap between multiple jurisdictions.
“We have the combination of all three agencies, the Highway Patrol, Sheriff’s Department and the Police office. We’ve created a team to respond to situations such as a crash where there might be criminal charges pending,” State Trooper Desmond Watson said.
A crash reconstruction trailer will follow the FACT investigators to accident scenes. Inside is all the equipment necessary for law enforcement officers to determine the cause of the crash.
“It’ll be much more organized and structured, having one trailer to respond instead of having each agency respond with different equipment,” Watson said.
The team is the first of its kind in South Dakota, and officials say there’s a reason it’s being launched in Pennington County.
“The Highway Patrol along with the Police and Sheriff’s office have worked very well together in Pennington County, so we thought what better place to get it started with to see how it goes because there’s got to be a lot of communication a lot of understanding and a lot of cooperation between the agencies to make it be successful,” Watson said.
Success that’s vital to protect other drivers.
Five people died in alcohol-related crashes on Pennington County roads last year, one of the highest death tolls in the state.
Fallen S.L. police officers honored
Lives that were lived with valor and freely given for others were honored at the Pioneer Precinct on Thursday.
Salt Lake City Police officers, family and friends gathered at Memorial Plaza on 1040 W. 700 South to honor those officers who have fallen while in action.
Salt Lake City police officers salute the flag during the national anthem as they and others gather at the annual Fallen Officers memorial services in Salt Lake City, Utah, Thursday. (August Miller, Deseret News)
“This is a day of reflection for those by whom we have been so well-served,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker.
Becker, along with U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, were in attendance to honor those who have given their lives for the safety of others.
“The loss of lives is a reminder to us of the debt we owe to those who protect,” Matheson said.
He noted how this day reminded him of a banner he once saw that said, ” In valor there is hope.” Matheson said the lives of those lost won’t be forgotten. “We truly celebrate their lives and their contributions.”
Police honored 24 officers who have fallen in the line of duty since 1858. Family members and loved ones took turns placing flowers on a display as names were read of those who have died. A stone memorial engraved with the names and dates the officers died stood as a focal point next to the floral display.
A small girl and her grandmother walked toward the memorial and placed a red flower in honor of the woman’s husband, Sgt. James Faraone, who was hit by a car just off Interstate 80 in 2001.
“As hard as it is to come here, it is good to have him and the family remembered,” said Kelly Faraone. As Faraone watched her granddaughter play, she recalled, “I have a picture of my husband hanging up at home, and (my granddaughter) always sees it and says, ‘There’s Poppa.’ ”
Faraone expressed how sometimes it is hard for her to be a grandma by herself, but she knows her husband left a great legacy for which his granddaughter will remember him.
While the program was emotional, it was also a time long awaited for family members like Lori Cawley, who said she thought it was “pretty cool” when Salt Lake police decided to honor her brother, James Cawley, who was killed in active duty as a Marine in Iraq in 2003.
“I love this day. I look forward to it every May,” Cawley said.
James Cawley was called to Iraq as a Marine reservist while serving as a Salt Lake police officer.
An American flag could be heard waving in the wind as silence fell on the crowd, and a police SWAT team fired a 21-gun salute in honor of the officers.
“This day helps us know how fragile life is and how important it is for us to stick together,” said Salt Lake City Council Chairman Carlton Christensen.
Part of the Salt Lake police mission statement is to maintain human rights and promote individual responsibility and community commitment. Becker said, “We need days like this to remind us we are in a society that is secured, unlike many others overseas.”
Becker noted he was surprised at how many citizens have mentioned to him that they are afraid of law enforcement.
To the many citizens who feel detached from officers, Chief Chris Burbank said, “We work best when we are a part of the community, not apart from the community.”
Orlando officer recognized for valor as Central Florida cops honor their own
An Orlando cop received Central Florida law enforcement’s highest honor Thursday for surviving a struggle with a pregnant woman’s killer, one who tried to shoot him with the same pistol last year.
An account of Orlando police Officer Kevin Geschke’s valor capped a list of awards for the best work in 2008 by local, state and federal police agencies.
“Remember who we work for — the victims who demand and need justice every day,” U.S. Marshals Service Director John F. Clark told about 500 officers gathered for the American Society of Industrial Security’s 12th annual award luncheon at the Rosen’s Shingle Creek Resort. “You are really the true heroes of our time.”
Among those honored was Lake County Deputy Sheriff Kimberley Holtzclaw, who saved the life of a crash victim on County Road 452, near Eustis, by using a shirt to keep the victim’s organs from spilling onto the ground.
A nine-month investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and local agencies into decades of crack dealing in Kissimmee‘s McLaren Circle won recognition for DEA agents Dominick Braccio, Brian Conlin and David Gallo. Their work helped produce 56 arrests, evidence in three murders and the confiscation of more than six pounds of crack, 18 guns and four bullet-proof vests.
Also honored was U.S. Secret Service Agent Roy Dotson who investigated a Florida-based investment Ponzi scheme and recovered more than $80 million, the largest seizure in Secret Service history, according to Clark.
A new Investigations Award was given to Seminole County sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Pergola who headed up an effort that stopped soaring car thefts and produced a 21-percent drop over the last two years.
Others honored included Osceola County sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Fisher and a tourist crimes squad that solved more than 250 burglaries of vacation homes near West U.S. Highway 192 and more than 100 similar burglaries in Polk County. Such burglaries plummeted 60 percent since the six-member squad arrested two suspects and confiscated $73,000 worth of stolen property connected to the break-ins.
Orange County Deputy Anna Connelly also received a tourist policing award for solving a series of car burglaries in five counties by working closely with private security staffs at hotels and resorts along International Drive.
The annual Peers Award went to Orange County Master Deputy Noel Beary for her work supervising funerals for deputies and officers killed in the line of duty and staying in touch with their families. Over the past year, 10 Florida law enforcement officers died in the line of duty. Those included Orange County sheriff’s Corrections Officer Mark Parker who died in March from gunshot injuries suffered 25 years earlier.
Two vacationing San Jose cops subdue violent airline passenger
At 40,000 feet over the Pacific, the only thing vacationing San Josepolice officers Luan Nguyen and Manny Vasquez wanted was to catch some Z’s, maybe see an action movie and finally hear the announcement: “Welcome to San Francisco International Airport.”
What they heard instead was the captain: “I have a situation on board. If there are any law enforcement officers on board, please identify yourselves to a flight attendant.”
Imagining pipe bombs, Vasquez nudged his drowsy sergeant. Nguyen had popped an Ambien and thought he was dreaming what he had just heard.
“Sarge,” Vasquez said. “It’s time to go to work.”
The unarmed officers were soon battling a violent and possibly mentally ill man and holding him down for hours using seat belts, coffee cart straps and Vasquez’s black cowhide belt he got for a birthday.
“I equate it to a doctor being on board and having a passenger having a heart attack,” Vasquez, 46, said. “We don’t have a Taser. We don’t have restraints. We don’t have vests. We don’t have radios. What we are left with is what we started out with back in the day.”
San Jose Police Department's Officer Manny Vasquez, left, and Sergeant Luan Nguyen outside of the police department in San Jose, Calif. on Thursday, May 28, 2009. On May 17th, while returnning to the U.S. on a flight from Taipei, San Jose police officers Luan Nguyen and Manny Vasquez were pressed into action to subdue another passenger who had gone berserk in the back of the plane, attacking passengers and the flight crew. (Nhat V. Meyer/Mercury News) ( Nhat V. Meyer )
The officers on Thursday described their harrowing, high-altitude bust during a May 17 EVA Air flight somewhere between Taipei and San Francisco.
Nguyen and Vasquez, veteran street partners in the Foothill district on the city’s East Side, were vacationing in Vietnam for two weeks. Nguyen, 44, was born there and still had some family in the country. Vasquez had a brother who had served in the country during the war. They both figured it would be a fun way to get some exotic R&R away from the daily stress of being a street cop.They upgraded to Deluxe class and were ready for a long flight home.
Woman attacked
Hours later, they went up to the cockpit as the captain apprised them that a male passenger had attacked a sleeping woman, choking her until other passengers managed to wrestle her to safety. There were no air marshals or any other security officers on board. So attendants had cleared the last rows of 30 passengers. He was back there, alone.
What else is back there, the officers asked.
The kitchen, the captain said. Knives, both officers thought at the same time.
And two exits, the captain added.
As they walked down the aisle — the officer in jeans and the sergeant in shorts — they saw him sitting in seat 71A.
He was staring, just staring.
The officers identified themselves.
What’s your name, man? Nguyen said. What’s going on?
The man just stared.
Nguyen looked at Vasquez and nodded.
They had worked together on the streets so long, Vasquez knew exactly what that gesture meant. This guy was on drugs, mentally ill — or both.
Vasquez leaned over to strap the man into his seat with the seat belt and the fight was on.
The man shrieked curses and death threats. He punched them and kicked out violently, his feet smashing the interior pane of the plane’s window.
The watching passengers screamed.
“This wasn’t good,” Vasquez said. “The next thing I thought was of my daughter and my son and “… uh-uh, I’m not going home.”
Finally, the officers wrestled the man under control. They held him face down in the aisle, trussed him with whatever the officers could grab. Two passengers took turns sitting on his legs.
Vasquez tied his belt around the suspect’s hands and held it with tension for the rest of the flight, 41/2 hours, switching hands when one went numb.
“If I let someone else take over, and this guy breaks loose, it would be horrible,” Vasquez said.
The officers strapped a surgical mask on his face to stop him from spitting.
No to Alaska
At one point the captain asked the sergeant whether he should divert the plane.
Vasquez figured maybe they were near Hawaii. Not a bad idea. The pilot said the nearest airport was Anchorage, Alaska. Both officers agreed they would try to hold the passenger down until they got to San Francisco.
And they did. All the while the man stared at Nguyen saying, “I will remember you. I will get you.”
At the end of the flight, airport police were waiting.
He turned out to be Jemi Lie, who had passports for Singapore and the United States. Lie was taken to Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame for a psychiatric evaluation and was charged with assaulting a passenger, according to federal officials.
Afterward, the passengers gave the two San Jose officers a round of applause. The pilot said he would one day buy them a couple of beers. The flight attendants gave them two decks of cards each and a toothbrush.
And then they got off the flight to be interviewed by the FBI. They both had to go back to patrol the next morning.
When he got home, Vasquez gave his 13-year-old son a model EVA Air plane. His son asked him, “Daddy, when the captain called, why didn’t you just stay seated?”
Vasquez laughed at the idea, “They call you and ask for your assistance and it’s, ‘Let’s go!’ “
Nguyen shrugged the whole thing off as no big deal, something any San Jose officer would have done. He didn’t even tell his parents about his airline adventure. He told them he was at the Grand Canyon.
City of Columbia planning to hire overtime policeman
Hmmm, wonder if the overtime policeman will be permitted to work………overtime;)
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The City of Columbia plans to hire an overtime policeman for police and fire personnel. Officials say the idea is to keep overtime at bay, but how much is the position costing taxpayers?
The top pick for the position is the city’s current 911 director, if he just gets a raise, we are talking about $8,000 extra. However if down the road, the city decides to hire someone to fill his 911 position, both jobs combined would cost taxpayers nearly $200,000.
Coral Springs policeman recovers from shooting
Best wishes for a full recovery!!!
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The Coral Springs officer shot several times by an assault rifle-wielding robber during a police chase Saturday night should make a full recovery and be home by the weekend, his family said during a press conference.
Officer Paul Kempinsky IV continued Wednesday to recover at North Broward Medical Center, undergoing yet another surgery, this time to repair a bullet wound in his arm, said his father, Paul Kempinsky III.
Kempinsky’s parents, fiancé, siblings and grandparents talked about their horror Saturday night and the relief they now feel as he regains his strength.
”All kinds of things run through your head,” Kempinsky III said about hearing the news Saturday night that his 27-year-old son had been shot.
It was only after arriving at the hospital that he learned his son had been shot multiple times. One bullet had ripped through his protective vest and struck his spleen.
But as Officer Kempinsky recovers and regains his strength, both he and his family remain optimistic. Kempinsky’s fiancé, Lisa, said they still plan to wed next month and are moving into a new Coral Springs home. ‘The first thing he said to me was `I’m so sorry,’ ” said Lisa, who would not give her last name.
According to police, the three-year police veteran was shot during a foot chase with Jeremiah Derico, 20, and Yancy Polk, 24, after the duo robbed an Advance Auto Parts store at 300 University Drive.
Polk, who broke into a Maplewood Isle home and took a family hostage for hours before giving himself up, is accused of being the shooter. He is being held at Broward County’s main jail without bond and faces a slew of charges, including several counts of attempted murder.
Faces in the News: Mark E. Talbot Sr., Reading deputy police chief
Position: Deputy chief, Reading police department.
Why he’s in the news: Talbot often takes a lead role in high-profile criminal cases.
Personal: Born in 1970 in West Chester; grew up in the Chester County town of Lincoln University. Wife, Brenda; children, Michael, Mark Jr., Jasmine, Christopher and Jada.
Resume: Correctional officer at Chester County Prison, 1990-94; hired by the Reading police department as a patrol officer in 1994, position he held until 2002; patrol sergeant, 2002-03; investigations sergeant, 2003-05; vice section lieutenant, 2005-07; deputy chief, 2007-to present. Currently pursuing a degree in organizational leadership at Penn State.
Interests away from work: Avid weight lifter who loves to read.
What have you learned from your job?: “I’ve been doing consulting work for the Penn State Justice and Safety Institute for a couple of years. That has given me the opportunity to work with police officers and supervisors from all over the country. Based on those experiences, I’m confident that Reading has some of the most talented and committed police officers anywhere.”
What is the most difficult part of your job?: “Police work is all-consuming. Your entire life doesn’t revolve around the job. Your entire life becomes the job. To commit yourself to this profession means that everything else takes a back seat.”
Why did you become a policeman?: “Being a police officer was a childhood dream. Like most cops, I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Accomplishments: “Later this year I will be one of a handful of police executives that will be training leaders from the Camden, N.J., police department in the style of police operations and management that we practice in Reading.
Something people might be surprised to know about you: “I would rather read a book than watch a professional sporting event.”
Your guiding principles: “In the book ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins, he describes what he calls the ‘Stockdale Paradox.’ The Stockdale Paradox is a mind-set that says to be successful you must always be willing to accept the brutal facts of reality, while at the same time have an unwavering faith that you will prevail in the end. I try to live my personal and professional life with that in mind.”
What have you learned in your job as deputy police chief: “One of the biggest challenges in law enforcement is responsibly policing an urban environment. The social, economic and structural issues that many cities struggle with seem to be aligned perfectly against helping to create a safe and prosperous community. Despite those brutal facts, we will continue to work to make the city of Reading a great place to live. At my current rank it is clear to me that the police must take a leadership role in public safety, but our success will be uncertain at best without the support and confidence of the citizens.”
Who has been the most influential person in your career?: “Chief (William M.) Heim has been a tremendous friend and mentor for the past several years. He’s influenced my thinking about policing more than anyone.”
Officer’s action exemplifies devotion to duty
Put yourself in this situation.
You’re in a line of traffic waiting for a freight train to pass a crossing and notice that a passenger van is trapped on the tracks between the warning gates.
As the train approaches it is apparent that the van cannot get out of the path of the train. It is obvious that a tragedy is unfolding before your eyes.
Most, if not all of us, would like to think we would act courageously and attempt to rescue the passengers without concern for our own safety. In reality, would we?
That situation unfolded Monday in Elm Grove. With a freight train bearing down on the van, police officer John Krahn ignored his personal safety and did what he was trained to do. He put himself in harm’s way to protect the public.
In this case, Krahn rushed to the scene and helped the driver, Monica Ensley-Partenfelder, 40, escape, and turned back to remove a child from the van just as the train plowed into it.
Scott Partenfelder, the driver’s husband, was in another vehicle behind the van with two other children. He and Krahn pulled the wife out, but their 2-year-old son was still inside when the train struck the van, and careened into the two men. Remarkably the child was not injured. Krahn, 41, was in satisfactory condition Monday following surgery. Scott Partenfelder, 47, underwent five hours of surgery for his injuries and is in critical condition.
According to the Associated Press, witness Tim Weiner said that he saw a police officer come “out of nowhere to help out.” After the officer helped the woman, he tried to save the boy, Weiner said.
“He was reaching in the back when the train hit the car,” he said. “He was trying to get the child out. It was unbelievable. This guy is a hero …. He didn’t have to risk his life.”
Krahn’s story, while dramatic, is not unlike other selfless acts of police officers, firefighters and first responders who are willing to put themselves in dangerous situations to protect citizens.
And we have no doubt that police officers, sheriff’s deputies and firefighters in our communities are no different, trained and ready to put their lives on the line when necessary. They go work daily with the potential of facing dangerous, live threatening situations.
Yet it is human nature to take them for granted. It is more common to complain about the traffic ticket or the fire code violation than respect their commitment to keep our community safe.
Most of us will never find ourselves trapped inside a van with a child with a freight train bearing down. But if in a similar situation, we’d all like a John Krahn nearby.
New police dog, officer bond through training
When Georgetown Police K-9 Officer Teresa Hollon first saw Boss she knew he would be a perfect fit for the department.
Boss, a black German Shepherd, is GPD’s new police dog after having to retire its former dogs, Sammy and Presto.
“The department wanted a black German Shepherd and it was between Boss and his brother,” Hollon said. “Boss is a little bit smaller dog and he came to the fence right away. His personality drew me to him and we bonded from the beginning.”
Hollon began training with Boss who came from Poland but was trained and purchased at Faus K-9 in Elkhart, Ind. Boss is a utility dog specializing in article search, tracking, narcotics search and apprehension.
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