‘Santa Cops’ program to provide gifts for kids
Las Vegas police are teaming up with Target to provide holiday gifts for underprivileged children.
This year’s “Santa Cops” event will be held Saturday at a local Target.
More than 100 police department employees will shop with 112 children from the Las Vegas area.
Most of the more than $15,000 going toward the program was raised and donated by police department employees during the year. Target also made a donation.
Before the shopping starts a SWAT vehicle will bring Santa to the Target to visit with the children and take photos.
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Humane Society award for brave policeman
A policeman who risked his life saving a woman at the Whangarei Falls has been awarded a Royal Humane Society certificate of merit.
When Constable Greg Betham was presented with the award by Whangarei Mayor Stan Semenoff last week, he made sure everyone knew Jonathan Kerr, 18, and his 12-year-old sister April had a major role in the rescue.
At the ceremony in the Whangarei District Council chambers where Mr Betham received his award, council secretary Michael Ronan read a Royal Humane Society citation saying police had been told a woman was lying motionless beyond the safety fence near the edge of the waterfall about 4pm on November 20 last year.
“When Constable Betham arrived and began talking to her she started crawling toward the cliff face,” the citation said.
“He climbed the rail and tried to restrain her. There was a struggle and they both ended up in very loose soil on the edge of the drop.”
Mr Betham got hold of a tree, pulling the woman back and preventing them from falling down the 25m cliff.
When Jonathan and April Kerr, of Kensington, first saw the woman, Jonathan told the Northern Advocate he had thought she was dead and immediately called police on his cellphone.
By Mike Barrington
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21 police officers receive Medal of Valor
It was befitting that St. Louis Police Chief Dan Isom would get the honor of presenting medals to the men in blue at this year’s 40th Medal of Valor luncheon: Of the 21 who received medals, nearly half represented his department.
Isom said the events each of the police officers faced proved they deserved the award, events that ranged from seizing weapons after witnessing a gunbattle, to overpowering a suspect who tried to steal an officer’s car, to chasing down a gunman who tossed his weapons off the Eads Bridge.
“We truly have some dedicated officers who are extremely brave and courageous,” Isom said after the ceremony. “It’s just incredible what they accomplish on a daily basis.”
Officers arrived dressed in their department’s blues and browns, with some in dress suits, for the 2009 Medal of Valor luncheon at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark.
The gala was sponsored by the Crusade Against Crime of America and the St. Louis Area Police Chiefs’ Association. It is the highest award given by the community at large to a law enforcement officer.
Honored with the Medal of Valor were:
From the St. Louis Police Department: Officers Dwaine Hollinshed, Matthew Simpson, David Calcaterra, Craig Robertson, Ishmael Tyson and Edgar Stegall; Detectives Soloman Thurman and Frank Williams; Sgts. Harvey Burnett and Scott Boyher.
From the St. Louis County Police Department: Officers Daniel Brinkman and Jacob Maechling and Detective Kurt Hauser.
Also honored were: Florissant police Officer Kirk Lawless; Missouri Highway Patrol Trooper Timothy Craig; Missouri Department of Conservation agent Robert Sulkowski; Moline Acres police Officers Charles Dawson Sr. and Derrick Sutton and Detective Sgt. David Bobo; and O’Fallon police Officers Michael Doerge Sr. and Charles Niel.
Each recipient’s heroic efforts either saved a life or prevented a senseless death, said event host Karen Foss, senior vice president at AmerenUE.
Consider the case of Officers Hollinshed and Simpson. On Oct. 1, 2007, the officers spotted a gunman chasing another one, while firing shots at him. As they ran across Kingshighway, Simpson distracted the gunman, who turned his gun toward the officers and began firing at them.
Simpson returned fire and struck the man — several times — ending the gunfight.
“The officers ran to where the man had fallen, recovered his weapon and handcuffed him,” Foss told the attendees. “After handcuffing him, they realized he had stopped breathing and lost his pulse.”
She said the officers were soon surrounded by a group of the assailant’s neighborhood friends.
“Realizing the dangers of the situation, but knowing they could not let the man die, the officers removed the handcuffs, and Officer Simpson turned his back to the crowd and began CPR.”
Foss said Simpson revived the assailant. He later died.
“The officer’s selfless acts gave the man a second chance at life and saved the life of another,” Foss said.
The Medal of Valor is awarded in recognition of a conspicuous act of bravery that exceeds the normal demands of police service. It expresses the community’s gratitude for the sound judgment demonstrated by an officer in the performance of his or her duty.
By Denise Hollinshed
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4 Officers Murdered in Washington Coffeehouse
UPDATE: The names of the four officers who were gunned down are:
Sergeant Mark Renninger, 39. He had 13 years of law enforcement experience and leaves a wife and three children.
Officer Ronald Owens, 37. He had 12 years of law enforcement experience and leaves a former wife and a daughter.
Officer Tina Griswold, 40. She had 14 years of law enforcement experience. She leaves her husband and two children.
Officer Greg Richards, 42. He had eight years of law enforcement experience and leaves his wife and three children.
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UPDATE: One of the officers killed today was Officer Mark Renninger, a Lehigh Valley (PA) native.
In a statement issued Sunday, the family said:
Although we like to focus on the positive in law enforcement, we were saddened to learn of the four Lakewood police officers who were mercilessly gunned down today in Washington state.
Four officers–three males and one female–were doing paperwork at the start of their shift in a coffee shop near McChord Air Force Base when a gunman entered the establishment and shot them all. No one else in the business was injured or targeted.
We extend our sincerest condolences to the families of these brave officers. We will keep you and your loved one in our prayers.
Cops and Kids Motorcycle Run
Santa is cruising Panama City Beach on aH with his biker helpers not far behind today. The Panama City Beach Police Department held its 15th annual motorcycle run to benefit families in the Panama City Beach area this morning. The fundraiser is working again this year to provide Christmas to needy families.
Toys and bikers don’t usually go hand in hand, but they do during Christmas, and you see tough bikers carrying around fluffy toys on the day of the Panama City Beach Police Department’s Cops and Kids motorcycle run. Diana Woods says it’s a successful benefit: “We’ve done exceptionally well this year. This is one of our best years, probably because the weather this year has really helped us out. We don’t have any wind or any inclement weather so that’s been exceptionally well …lotta bikes. We probably have about 200 people here today.”
The bikers gather for the run, bringing toys and donations with them. After taking a run of the entire beach area, they return to help Santa load the police van with goodies for Panama City Beach children that, for a change, will wake up to a Christmas with toys and food.
Last year the project provided Christmas for over 300 families. This year they hope to surpass that number. Woods said that “ Last year was probably the largest year we’ve ever had and I think there were something like 300 families last year, which exceeded any other year so I’m not sure and we never really know until we start delivering.”
The bikers, and especially Santa, say they do it all to help children in the community during a special time of year.
If you’d like to donate, just take any unwrapped gift or donation to the Panama City Beach Police Department. The number is 233-5010 if you’d like to inquire about volunteering to wrap or distribute the gifts.
By Allyson Walker
K9: Four-legged officers helping keep region safe from crime
When a criminal suspect meets Officer Jeff Stork’s partner, they often surrender quickly and some can show a scar from a previous encounter when they didn’t.
Stork is a K9 officer and his partner is K9 Storm, 4-year-old Belgian Malinois. With a speed of 38 miles per hour and the ability to clear a football field in 6 seconds, Stormy — as Stork affectionately calls him — isn’t easily outrun.
Storm can be very lovable at times, evidenced by his friendly lean on your leg when he first meets a friend to his master, but when it’s time to work he gets serious about what Stork tells him to do.
It’s that way with all the K9 officers at Johnson City PD, the Jonesborough Public Safety Department and Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
In Rio’s two years with Jonesborough Public Safety, he’s found more than 20 pounds of marijuana, significant amounts of cocaine and thousands in drug money while on patrol.
All K9 Officer Scottie Greene had to do was get Rio, his 4-year-old Belgian Malinois patrol partner, in the right situation to smell out the drugs. He’s all business when Greene tells him to work.
But if Greene pulls out the ball Rio loves to chew, he’s ready to play. Actually, Greene said it’s all play to Rio. He works to get his reward — his ball to chew on. And when he alerts on the smell of drugs, he’s promptly rewarded.
Both department’s programs and the one at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office have been in place a number of years. Johnson City has four dogs and Jonesborough and Washington County each had two until last month.
One of Washington County’s dogs recently retired after being diagnosed with cancer.
But until she began having trouble with her leg, K9 Scout was instrumental in numerous drug arrests, according to Deputy Lee Cross, her handler.
When a deputy called for assistance on a traffic stop in October 2008, Cross and Scout responded. Scout alerted on the vehicle and officers found $20,000 inside and with other evidence were able to make an arrest.
That led to another location where officers found $100,000 and a kilo of cocaine — all because of Scout’s sensitive nose.
Cross and Scout worked together about two years, but her career went back several more years and she had two other handlers in the department.
Deputy Kurt Sells and K9 Udo is the other K9 team for Washington County.
Udo, 9-year-old German Shepherd, is Sells’ personal dog.
“I own this dog. I bought him when I worked at Jonesborough,” he said.
Sells wanted to work as a K9 officer and began training Udo and received approval when he worked for the Jonesborough department to work toward certification.
Johnson City Officer Jeff Jenkins said his partner, K9 Marko is “like a 70-pound lap dog for me,” but the dog doesn’t warm up to others so quickly.
At home, Marko keeps his distance from Jenkins’ wife and children — and other animals, including Tigger, Jenkins’ last K9 partner who’s now retired.
Jonesborough Officer Mike McPeak is the newest K9 officer in the area — he just received his certification a few weeks ago and paired up with K9 Gregor, a 19-month-old Dutch Shepherd with six months of patrol under his collar.
JPS Major Matt Rice said the K9 program in Jonesborough is very community oriented, and it shows in the type of dogs they have.
“We focus a lot more on community relations type projects. I’m not saying that Johnson City and Washington County don’t,” he said.
But it’s obvious when you meet Rio and Gregor, then encounter the Johnson City K9s that there is a significant difference in their personalities and how they interact with the public.
Rice said Rio has “done an outstanding job in drug searches and tracking.”
He said the dogs really support and help pay for the program. Funds that come back to the town from drug seizures goes back into the K9 program.
“This type of program is not cheap,” he said.
One malinois ready to start patrol work can cost $9,000 or more.
But when the cost of the dog and its training, and the potential loss if the dog is hurt or killed is compared to the potential loss of an officer, Johnson City Police Chief John Lowry said there is no comparison.
“Even though those dogs become their partner, they all understand that dog is a tool. We’ve had a dog shot. Heaven forbid we didn’t utilize that K9 and end up getting an officer shot,” Lowry said.
“I have a great respect for the program and a great respect for the officers,” Lowry said. “Because of a dog’s extraordinary sense of smell, they can search a building in a lot less time than it would take a group of officers to do … they’ve found a lot of narcotics over the years,” he said.
Johnson City’s K9 program took a turn in the last year or so and all four dogs are pretty young, said Sgt. Eric Dougherty, who supervises the team.
Dougherty’s own partner, K9 Rex, another Belgian Malinois, is 3 years old, and during their year together Rex has detected a kilo of cocaine.
“We’ve had two surrenders where the suspect gave up” before Dougherty had to give the command to bite, he said.
Officer Rob Edwards has the most seasoned partner with 5-year-old K9 Cliff, still relatively young for a police K9.
But the two have had their share of exciting calls.
“He’s found about eight people on tracks and he’s had about 10 surrenders before I had to send him in,” Edwards said.
On one track, Cliff found a burglary suspect after sniffing him out through 200 yards of creek — and then having to bite him to get him to surrender.
In his two years with Edwards, Cliff has also been responsible for the seizure of a total of around $180,000 in drug money, Edwards said.
“He’s done a pretty good job,” Edwards said.
He agreed with Lowry that the dogs are tools for the officers.
“They’re not pets. Because of their training, it’ll cause them to do things that pets don’t do,” he said.
At the same time, Cliff is good with children, but not overly friendly.
Undue circumstances pushed Cliff quickly to senior status at the department.
“We just had some retire due to age and because of an injury we had to retire (another) one,” Dougerty said. Tigger, Jenkins’ former partner, was shot while working last year, but recovered from that and went back to work.
But earlier this year, his stomach flipped — a deadly situation for a dog if not treated immediately. Jenkins recognized his partner was in trouble and got him to the emergency pet hospital in time.
“He’d had a long career and had been through a lot so we retired him,” Dougherty said.
Normally, dog replacement would be spaced out further, so there would always be seasoned dogs on the road, but with the retirements and injuries, “all of a sudden, within a two to three year period we had to replace them all,” he said.
But it’s worked out well. All four dogs are working and doing their jobs.
Dougherty said the department uses Belgian Malinois because they are more readily available and they’re a good breed for the job.
These eight officers consider themselves luckier than their coworkers because they go to work every day with their best friend, who adores them and does everything they say — a friend that would lay their life on the line for the officer, but only on the officer’s command.
For these officers, it can be a blessing and a burden.
By Becky Campbell
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Bronze policeman statue had a long trek before arriving at new home in Police Memorial Lobby
Zalcman for News Lt. Matthew Spano holds his son Matthew Jr. in front of the bronze policeman statue which was created in 1939 to honor NYPD officers killed in the line of duty.
Just inside the front entrance of NYPD headquarters in Manhattan stands a large bronze statue of a barrel-chested cop holding the hand of a young boy.
The uniformed cop stands ramrod-straight as the boy clings to his side, as if seeking comfort. The boy clutches the cop’s arm, seeming more vulnerable than scared.
In a moment of photographic symmetry, Lt. Matthew Spano, 33, held his 2-year-old son, Matthew Jr., in his arms as he posed for a picture in front of the Police Memorial Statue at a promotion ceremony last month.
“It represents what the Police Department does – we protect the innocent,” Lt. Spano, 33, now assigned to the Brooklyn court system, said of the statue’s significance.
The statue was created in 1939 by noted Italian sculptor Attilio Piccirilli after Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia advocated for a monument honoring NYPD officers killed in the line of duty.
Despite the statue’s Rockwell-esque appeal, it made a long and unheralded journey following its completion until finally arriving at Police Headquarters in 1983.
That journey should have included one more stop, said LaGuardia’s son, Eric, who was 9 years old when he served as Piccirilli’s model for the boy, who represents the child of a slain cop.
“It’s a fine piece of work and it needs to be properly displayed,” said Eric LaGuardia, who now lives in Seattle. “It needs a more monumental setting.”
Eric LaGuardia, who fondly recalls his trips to Piccirilli’s Bronx studio, said he visited Police Headquarters a few years ago after learning the statue had finally found a home.
The statue is the centerpiece of the Police Memorial Lobby, where the walls are covered by plaques bearing the names of police officers who have given their lives for the city.
Yet as Eric LaGuardia sees things, the statue’s importance requires that it be placed atop a pedestal and displayed in a city park, similar to the Firemen’s Monument on Riverside Drive in Manhattan.
“That’s up to the police,” LaGuardia added, sensitive to the chain of command.
Interestingly, the idea for the statue was born when LaGuardia’s famous father formed a committee “to erect a monument to the Police Department corresponding to the Firemen’s Memorial,” according to the New York City Police Museum.
But World War II broke out shortly thereafter, and Mayor LaGuardia’s plan was ignored and virtually forgotten.
The completed statue was stored for some 15 years in a garage at the NYPD’s 42nd Precinct stationhouse in the Bronx.
Then it was shipped to upstate New York where it was displayed at a camp for police officers and their families in the Catskill mountains. It was not moved to Police Headquarters until the camp was sold in 1983, according to the museum.
The NYPD says the statue is not going anywhere.
“There is no place more prominent or hallowed than the hall where those who have been killed in the line of duty are memorialized,” said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne.
The current placement in the Police Memorial Lobby has made Piccirilli’s creation a popular photographic backdrop following promotion ceremonies.
Newly promoted officers, like Spano, stream past the statue as they exit headquarters, and many stop to pose for a quick picture arm-in-arm with family, just like in the statue.
“It looks perfect,” Dana Weber, 31, said as she reviewed a picture she had taken of her husband, Lt. Kurt Weber, 35, in front of the statue following his promotion last month.
The lieutenant’s proud mother, Barbara Weber, 68, said she cherishes a picture of him standing in front of the statue when he made sergeant in 2005.
“This is part of what the promotion is all about,” she said. “To have your picture taken in front of the bronze statue is almost as important as being up on the stage.
“This way, you are up close and personal.”
By J Lauinger
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Cops play prominent role in surgeon’s world
His team was already dressing for battle, and Andrew Dennis was trying to catch up.
With the trunk of his car open, he secured his rifle. Helmet. Headset. Pistol. Taser. He was then quickly briefed about the night’s target: a small home on a dark Harvey street with someone inside rumored to carry a gun on his hip.
Cook County sheriff’s police believed there also were drugs inside, and the hostage barricade and terrorist team was going in to find them.
About 30 minutes earlier, Dennis had raced out of Stroger Hospital from his other job, where he treated one last patient who came in from a car crash on State Street.
The emergency was left in the care of a co-worker. Now, Dennis would help provide cover to a fellow team member who would toss the flash-bangs that sound exactly like their name. If things went wrong and someone got hurt, a message on the headset would signal Dennis and other medics to come inside.
Standing at the back of his car, Dennis quickly took in the information from a colleague and nodded. He was ready — he’d switched from scrubs to fatigues, and had a new purpose.
Dr. Andrew Dennis, 39, a trauma surgeon with a special skill for reconstructing abdominal walls, was ready to help kick in a door.
For about eight years, Dennis has straddled two worlds brimming with violence, working as a surgeon in one of the busiest trauma units in the U.S. and as a sworn police officer and unpaid member of two area SWAT teams: Cook County’s and its north suburban counterpart.
“Anything can go wrong,” Dennis said, when asked about similarities of the work. “Police officers learn how to face-read and mind-read and are typically more hyper-aware of situations, especially SWAT cops. Trauma surgeons are not that much different. You learn how to read patients.”
Dennis’ primary focus as a member of the SWAT teams is to provide immediate care to anyone who gets hurt during a raid or a hostage-barricade situation. He did fellowships in trauma, burn and surgical critical care at Cook County Hospital. But he’s also described by colleagues as a good shot and quick on his feet.
The mission with Cook County took less than a minute. When it was over, Dennis waited in the front yard with his team as the house was cleared. Nearly four pounds of marijuana and a gun were seized. A 21-year-old man was charged with weapons and drug violations.
Dennis made a point to remind a reporter that he is not normally the one poised at the top of a gangway with an assault rifle ready to fire. He usually goes in as a “protected entity,” which puts him, pistol in hand, in the back of the stack of officers who line up and forcibly enter a building. He has never had to fire his gun in the line of duty.
Adding medics or doctors to SWAT teams is an idea that has grown. At a national SWAT conference in September, the sessions on tactical emergency services filled up before any other section — for the first time ever. Many SWAT teams train members as medics or embed other medical professionals. It is rare to have a trauma surgeon assigned to a SWAT team who is also a sworn officer.
He fell into the work in 2001 after police officers he met during his residency at St. James Hospital suggested he join a team. After a series of calls, he found himself in Glencoe meeting with Mike Volling, who was then commander of a cooperative SWAT team that is part of the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System, a mutual support system of departments.
“My first thought was, something is wrong with this guy,” Volling said. “Why does this physician want to come out and play with the police?”
Soon Volling recognized that Dennis was not merely interested in kicking in doors. Volling could tell he wanted to bring expertise to the team.
“He explained to me that on a busy night at Cook County he treats 10 to 15 victims,” Volling recalled. “I said this is the guy we’ve got to get.”
The Des Plaines police took Dennis on as an unpaid part-timer, which provided him a place where he could train and get certified as a police officer.
The worst-case scenario Dennis or other medics face is someone suffering a critical injury, most likely a gunshot, as happened in Dallas in 2007, when doctors assigned to that SWAT team saved an officer shot in the neck at a raid.
The more likely scenario is a twisted ankle or a heart attack.
“Should something like that happen — God forbid — if we can save one life or save someone from prolonged injury, we did a good thing,” said Bill Evans, the commander of Cook County’s hostage barricade and terrorist team.
Dennis regularly deals with other issues as a member of the teams, from training injuries to panicked calls about getting the HINI shot. He has taught them how to recognize heat exhaustion or what a sucking chest wound sounds like.
“The majority of issues we deal with on SWAT are not traumatic in nature,” Dennis said. “It’s is someone gonna have the big grabber today? … Officer survival is paramount — to empower and equip these individuals, who are putting their lives on the line for you and me, to be able to go home to their families.”
Back at Stroger Hospital — where Dennis sports pink scrubs — he is one of seven surgeons in the Cook County Trauma Unit. A typical day starts with rounds at 8 a.m., wearing his signature wooden clogs. He is on call to tend to any trauma injury that comes through the large swinging doors and also to shepherd patients through the recovery process with surgeries.
Dennis has brought his police colleagues to the hospital to learn the clinical side of gun violence and shootings. He also has asked them to give lectures to his residents on gang signs and trends because of the victims treated at Stroger.
Usually, the two worlds — hospital and law enforcement — are a natural fit, Dennis said. But at times they collide.
Last year, it was Dennis who pronounced Chicago police officer Nathaniel Taylor dead after he was shot in the head during a shootout. Minutes later, another patient came through the doors: Lamar Cooper, the man accused of killing Taylor, also wounded in the shootout.
In the following hours and days, Dennis was among the surgeons who saved Cooper’s life.
By A. Sweeney
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K-9 Valor hospitalized with ailment
A Redondo Beach Police Department officer is down.
K-9 officer Valor, who this year won the gold medal at the world K-9 competition in Vancouver, British, Columbia, last week was hospitalized with a mysterious kidney ailment that veterinarians can only hope is treatable.
His partner, RBPD officer Ken Greenleaf, said the 5-year-old German Shepherd has suffered from a kidney ailment for most of his career. But in the last week, the K-9 for the first time was unable to rouse himself to come to work. Last weekend, the dog was unable to even keep down medicine and ended up in a veterinarian’s emergency room.
“My dog is really hurting,” Greenleaf said. “He’s in intensive care.” 
Greenleaf has been a K-9 trainer for 24 years. Valor is his fourth dog, and quickly made a name for himself, both in the field and at K-9 competitions. In 2007, Valor was credited with saving the life of a man who was attempting “suicide by cop.” Valor jumped the man during a police standoff and received a knife wound to the neck but helped prevent the use of critical force by other officers.
Valor has won six of eight K-9 competitions he has entered, none more prestigious than the World Championships last June. He is also a popular visitor at local schools and children’s hospitals.
“That dog and Ken Greenleaf are probably the most famous two officers in the RBPD,” said Councilman Steve Aspel. “Greenleaf is probably the best dog handler in the world. He and his dogs do more for public relations than anybody else in the city.”
The question regarding Valor’s future is where the funding will come from for his medical treatment. Valor’s medical bills have already cost $3,000. Greenleaf said his hospitalization could cost another $2,000. Whether or not the kidney treatment will be effective is also up in the air, since veterinarians are uncertain exactly what the nature of the problem is.
Only time will tell. In the meanwhile, Greenleaf is riding solo. He finds himself talking to his car, “telling it to stay.”
“That’s the hard part,” Greenleaf said. “Especially since I’ve had a dog for over 24 years, and then not to know the outcome…I don’t know whether he can’t make it, or he can, one way or the other. It’s a crapshoot. You have to just kind of wait until the dust settles until you make a decision. Then it comes back to cost – who is going to pay for this dog? I’ll pay for it if I have to.”
The K-9 program has been in part funded by community donations for several years. The RBPD pays for training and upkeep of its three K-9 officers, but donations have established a special fund that pays for acquisitions of the animals and for their medical needs.
“That dog did save a life,” Aspel said. “He’s paid for himself many times over. I just hope finances don’t get in the way of maintaining his health….The dog is really sick, and we’ve got to do what it takes to keep him going. I don’t want to do it through a bake sale or fundraising.”
RBPD Chief Joe Leonardi said that the K-9 fund should cover costs unless it gets in the tens of thousands. He noted that the K-9 program has been heavily utilized not only within in the city but in frequent “mutual aid” calls to other cities. And he praised Greenleaf’s abilities as a dog handler and trainer.
“Every dog he has had has been fantastic,” Leonardi said. “They are great with personnel in the station, great with kids, and of course great in the field. I mean, through the years Greenleaf and I have not always gotten along, but I will tell you – he is unmatched.”
Donations to the K-9 fund can be made to the RBPD in care of the K-9 team.
By Mike McDermott
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Officer Ally Jacobs tells students to listen to their inner voice
The woman who has been hailed as the officer responsible for ending the captivity of Jaycee Dugard, spoke to students this week about her experiences and the importance of listening to inner feelings.
UC Berkeley Police Officer Ally Jacobs told the audience of young people at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, her alma mater “One day I woke up, went to work and did my job… This guy comes in to work, a little off, with two kids, and after interviewing him I just got this weird feeling, and I followed up on it.”
Jacobs was speaking of Phillip Garrido, a convicted sex offender who was at the Berkeley campus attempting to distribute religious material. With him were his two daughters, Starlet and Angel, who he fathered with his captive, Jaycee.
Garrido and his wife, Nancy, are accused of kidnapping Jaycee from a school bus stop in 1991 and holding her in a backyard compound for almost two decades. She and her daughters have now been safely reunited with her family.
In her speech Jacobs said “If you take anything away from today… just listen to your voice. It’s always right, it’s there for a reason. So, I listened to that voice, I followed up, went a little extra mile, and three lives were saved because of it.”
Students were inspired by Jacobs, and after her inspirational message Courtney Stoddard, 17, told the Los Angeles Times “…you might come across obstacles but to kind of push through them.”
Lindsey Mann, 17, noted “What she said about follow your dreams, follow your intuition. It’s interesting because in high school, you’re afraid to do certain things. High school is kind of like its own society, so people will judge you for doing things, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that society is right. So you have to listen to your own heart and follow what you believe.”
By Cindy Adams
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