Jersey City Police want to increase K-9 unit

Froto, the celebrity police dog, could soon have four new furry friends.

The Jersey City Police Department wants to increase its K-9 force from five to nine dogs.

The City Council is expected to vote on purchasing the new dogs at tomorrow’s meeting.

Police Chief Tom Comey said the cost of the dogs, new vehicles to accommodate the dogs and equipment is all covered by a Homeland Security grant.

Comey said the dogs would be trained for free through a partnership with the Holmdel Police Department.

Comey said the dogs could help reduce crime.

“Their mere presence alone has the affect of deterring activity,” he said.

Comey said having nine dogs would also give the department the necessary animal-power to search some of the city’s larger buildings during bomb scares.

He said the dogs are on standby, he’s just waiting for the council’s approval to purchase them.

“If this is voted on, they’ll go to the police officers no later than Thursday,” he said.

By Melissa Hayes

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Sheriff Creates Plan To Alleviate Jail Overcrowding

The sheriff’s department says that it’s crucial that something should be done about the overcrowding of Nueces County Jail.

Currently, there are 1,020 beds in the facility and there are 997 inmates being housed there at this time, which means there are only 23 beds available for incoming inmates. The situation could put the sheriff’s department in a bind if there’s a large raid or drug bust. Currently, the sheriff’s department is proposing a plan to reduce the overcrowding by 10 percent.

It might cost taxpayers more money, but the sheriff’s office says they’re already doing things now to help keep the population down.

“The judges are placing people in the alternative incarceration program, which is inclusive to community service,” Capt. Stan Repka with the sheriff’s department said.

So, instead of placing offenders in jail, some judges are placing them in alternative programs which require them to do some form of community service.  The county is also transferring inmates to Texas prisons early.

“We’ve done a courtesy drop-off, so to speak, where instead of waiting for those agencies to come pick them up, we just when we need to make a run to pick someone up. We just do a courtesy drop-off,” said Repka.

They’ve already transported eight inmates in the past 10 days.The sheriff’s office is proposing options, such as placing low-risk inmates on house arrest and giving them GPS monitors. The monitors can restrict the inmates to their home and workplace based on GPS tracking.

Another idea is to convert areas in the Mckenzie Annex into rooms by adding beds; that would house an additional 96 inmates. That plan would reduce the jail population by 10 percent. All the sheriff’s office needs now is approval from the commissioners court to put this plan into action.

Online Reporter: Rashi Vats

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Rookie officers look toward day they’ll be called back to TPD

All 21 Tulsa police officers who were laid off Tuesday knew what was coming when they were summoned to police headquarters.

But even after they were laid off from the jobs that they love, the officers still pledged their dedication to the department and expressed hope that funds will be available soon to hire them back.

“I am not going to be put off by this. I am going to take it professionally,” said Adam Yerton, who graduated from the police academy in December. “I am going to wait to come back, because this is what I want to do.

“If I wanted money, I had other options. But I don’t want money. I was raised that public service is one of the most fulfilling things you can do with your life.”

Yerton is a third generation Tulsa police officer. His great uncle was killed in the line of duty on Christmas Day in 1959.

“We all knew what to expect,” Darin Ehrenrich said about the meeting at headquarters Tuesday afternoon. “I guess we are all just waiting for the good news about when we do get to come back.”

Ehrenrich, who also graduated from the academy in December, said his desire to be an officer is strong and that he has known he wanted to be a police officer since he was 5 years old.

“This is all I ever wanted to do,” he said.

Many other officers and family members were at the Police Department’s CompStat Center to support the laid-off officers. Ehrenrich said the support was “overwhelming, something that you can’t even put into words.”

Police Chief Ron Palmer said the department hopes to retain 18 of the officers through the federal stimulus grant that originally was intended to hire new officers. Mayor Kathy Taylor said she hopes to retain the other officers by negotiating cost savings with the police union.

“We did everything we could collectively and individually at the executive level to avoid touching sworn personnel, and we just could not get there with the money that needed to be generated,” Palmer said.

The officers were notified during the meeting that it would be seven days before they were terminated from the city’s payroll.

On Tuesday morning, department heads made contingency plans to deal with the vacant shifts created by the layoffs. Many of the rookie officers had been assigned to the same shifts and division.

“It almost wiped out a whole squad of third-watch officers at Gilcrease (Division)” Palmer said.

They are also dealing with the logistics of reassigning officers from the Helicopter Unit, which was grounded, and the Mounted Patrol, which will be dissolved.

“We never shut down any of those units (before). We don’t know how to do that exactly,” Palmer said. “All that is new to us. This whole day is new to us. There is a lot of anger. There is a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear of the unknown of what will happen in the future.”

But more changes are still to come, and more restructuring will be coordinated in the future, Palmer said.

There are strong rumors that as many as 30 to 35 officers will retire before June to get the most out of their retirement benefits. Department heads also have to take normal attrition into account, and the upcoming March academy class was cancelled.

“Our core service is in the field,” Palmer said, “so the restructuring issue comes later on when the attrition starts to hit us harder in the field and we just can’t make it up from the uniforms that are already out there.”

Projected savings from Police Department cuts

$760,000: Reduce the work force by 21 sworn officer positions. 18 of these positions could potentially be hired back under the COPS grant.

$460,000: Cancel the academy scheduled to start in March.

$195,223: Ground both police helicopter units. The helicopters will be maintained for future use. Helicopter Unit personnel will be redeployed to other areas.

$51,218: Eliminate the Mounted Patrol Unit. The horses will be sold at auction, and sworn personnel will be redeployed. One civilian position will be eliminated.

$32,321: Eliminate the civilian Volunteers in Police Services coordinator position.

$166,000: Defer the hiring of two civilian positions in the forensics lab until further notice.

$11,000: Cancel certain cell phone and pager services. 169 pagers and 10 cell phones will be eliminated.

$115,000: Defer replacements of body armor. The Department is ahead of schedule in replacing vests, so future replacements can be deferred without risking safety to officers.

$15,000: Eliminate the Crime Commission grant.

$210,000: Further operational changes, including implementing a bureau-wide staffing level for Uniform Operations.

By Nicole Marshall

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Police plan for armed officers on motorbikes is scrapped in dramatic U-turn

Sir Paul Stephenson, who was unaware armed officers were joining regular patrols, said the move would be a significant change in policing style Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223500/Police-plan-armed-officers-motorbikes-scrapped-dramatic-U-turn.html#ixzz0VGNeOCUj

Plans for routine armed police street patrols have been scrapped by Britain’s top police officer.

Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson made the announcement just days after officers from Scotland Yard’s specialist CO19 firearms unit revealed they had joined neighbourhood officers on the beat in London.

Sir Paul and his deputy Tim Godwin were not informed about the move and members of watchdog the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) were also unaware it was taking place.

The MPA is due to discuss the plans tomorrow and is expected to criticise them. Chairman, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, was also not consulted about the move.

The plans would have seen police marksman on motorbikes and on foot carrying Heckler & Koch MP5 single-fire carbine guns and Glock semi-automatic pistols and joining other officers on regular patrols in three crime hotspots in Brixton, Haringey and Tottenham.

They would have carried out ‘weapon sweeps’ on the capital’s most dangerous streets and housing estates to prevent shootings, stabbings and gang-related crime.

British police officers are routinely unarmed, with officers only carrying weapons in public in special circumstances.

Sir Paul said: ‘This tactic was put together by officers for the best of reasons, to support and protect the local community and local unarmed officers.

‘However, I believe that unfortunately there has been a failure to appreciate that this could look like a significant change of policing style.

‘The way in which we have communicated this has led to the mistaken impression that we have created regular armed uniform foot patrols.

‘That is not the case and it is not going to happen. I am very proud of the unarmed civilian service tradition of the Metropolitan Police Service and am determined to uphold it.’

Armed patrols have been sent to estates, including Tottenham’s Broadwater Farm, on eight occasions since June on ‘intelligence-led’ operations.

In the last year, gun crime in the capital has soared by 17 per cent, with 1,736 incidents reported between April and September. That marks an increase of 252 on the same period last year.

Police are also dealing with a dramatic rise in ‘respect shootings’ as young criminals increasingly use guns to settle petty rows over perceived slights to their reputation.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223500/Police-plan-armed-officers-motorbikes-scrapped-dramatic-U-turn.html#ixzz0VGNYP7Sk

Oakland: SWAT Team Wins Big Award Seven Months After Tragedy

The Oakland Police Department’s SWAT team has won a prestigious competition, seven months after two team members, as well as two other officers, were shot and killed in confrontation with a wanted parolee.

“We’re very happy after what we all went through earlier this year,” Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason said Tuesday, referring to the March 21 incident in which the four officers were killed.

Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern announced Monday night that the Oakland Police Department is the 2009 winner of the Urban Shield SWAT competition, which was held over the weekend and drew 27 tactical teams from all over the world, including Boston and France.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. J.D. Nelson said the announcement was met with a standing ovation by more than 1,500 people who attended the awards ceremony at the U.S.S. Hornet in Alameda.

He said the crowd chanted “OPD” as a show of support for the Oakland Police Department.

Nelson said the tactical teams were judged on 25 tactical situations at locations throughout the Bay Area over the course of 48 hours in what many consider to be the toughest tactical training exercise in the country.

In a statement, Ahern, whose department hosted the competition and also competed in it, said of the Oakland police tactical team, “It was obvious by the way they competed they were on a mission to win this for their fallen brothers. Everyone in the crowd was very proud and emotional at their well-deserved victory.”

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts said he’s “very proud” of the tactical team and “this is truly a great accomplishment despite facing much adversity this year.”

The members of Oakland’s winning team are Sgts. Pat Gonzales and Roland Holmgren and Officers Frank Uu, Chris Saunders, Casey Johnson, Anwawn Jones, Shane Tarum and Marty Ziebarth.

According to Oakland police, in the March 21 incident parolee Lovelle Mixon shot and killed Sgt. Mark Dunakin and Officer John Hege when they made a traffic stop on him at 74th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard.

Police said Mixon then fled to his sister’s apartment about a block away at 2755 74th Ave. and killed Sgts. Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai when they and other members of the SWAT team entered the apartment.

One bullet grazed Gonzales’s protective helmet and a second bullet entered and exited his shoulder. He was treated and released after the incident.

Mixon was eventually shot and killed by other officers.

Oakland’s SWAT team was temporarily removed from action after the incident because Romans and Sakai were unit leaders and new leaders had to be trained.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s detail handled Oakland’s SWAT calls for more than two months, but Oakland’s SWAT team went back into operation in late May.

Thomason said Sakai’s widow, Jennifer Sakai, and Gonzales accepted the award on behalf of Oakland’s SWAT team.

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