New Decatur City School SRO has a nose for her job
Maddie is a two-year-old tail wagging, slurpie kissing bundle of love who never meets a stranger.
She’s the new k-9 partner of school resource officer Mike Landrum.
“Maddie is what we would refer to as a detector dog,” Landrum said
And like other dogs, she had a big price tag, “Decatur Police Department spent over 7 thousand dollars for Maddie and mine training,” added Landrum.
Some of that money was raised by the citizens police academy, and a private security company.
Landrum said the school system will foot the bill for food and vet bills.
Supervisor of school system safety, Phil Hastings, says Maddie is the first full time k-9 SRO in Alabama, with a nose for drugs and more.
“Contraband certainly would include illegal drugs, alcohol, black powder, which could be used in weapons or fireworks,” Hastings said.
He said she can also detect items legal, but against school rules, “For example certain medications, our students can’t just carry their medications with them, whether it’s Tylenol or some medication a doctor gives them.”
He adds that Maddie will be able to educate younger students in the classroom.
And she has the right combination of a friendly personality, temperament and intelligence for her job.
By Bobby Shuttleworth
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Yappy Hour in Vero Beach to benefit K-9 Officers
Blue Ribbon Boarding and Grooming is holding “Yappy Hour 2” to benefit the K-9 units of Indian River County.
The money raised will provide the dogs with the bulletproof vests needed to protect their lives while in the line of duty.
The event is Feb. 21 at Ti Amo Sempre from 3-6 p.m.
There will be grand raffle prizes. There will be a menu sampling available and a cash bar with a percentage of proceeds going to the cause. Entertainment includes the presentation ceremony of the K-9s receiving their new vests, a K-9 demonstration as well as an evening of music by DJ Elton.
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Wayne Co. Sheriff, churches offer free gun locks
Sheriff officials and Detroit-area churches are offering an “unlimited supply” of free gun locks.
Sheriff Benny Napoleon said Tuesday the effort is spurred by the county’s skyrocketing number of concealed weapons requests and recent cases involving children caught with firearms.
Napoleon tells The Detroit News that the county received 13,843 permit applications in 2009, up from 9,300 in 2008, and has received an average of 61 requests per day in 2010. There are currently 41,687 active concealed pistol license holders in Wayne County.
The gun locks are being supplied by Project Child Safe, an organization that distributes them to police departments nationwide. They can be obtained at the sheriff’s office in downtown Detroit or at several churches.
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Officer, credit union employee praised
Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg said a veteran police officer and a TwinStar Credit Union employee are heroes after a harrowing ordeal at the Centralia business Monday.
No one knows how the day would have played out had the employee not mouthed “he has a gun” to Officer Neil Hoium as he responded to a report of suspicious activity at the bank, Berg said.
The woman twice mouthed the words, police said, after a man held a semi-automatic handgun to her head and a short-blade knife to her throat.
She met Hoium at the credit union’s front door. Hoium, who worked for the Chehalis Police Department for more than 20 years before being hired in Centralia about four months ago, grabbed the woman and pulled her away from the building. “Had she not told him that, I do not know what action the suspect would have taken,” Berg said.
Hoium fired two shots at the suspect, who fled. Officers responded at 6:42 p.m. after the woman’s co- worker called police from the parking lot when the woman inside screamed and dropped her phone.
Hoium will be placed on administrative leave, per department policy, while an outside law enforcement agency reviews the incident.
Berg said it appears Hoium was justified in firing his weapon.
By Eric Schwartz
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Passaic County S.W.A.T. team gets new armored wheels
Passaic County’s now ready to meet the War on Terror — or a more routine domestic hostage case — with 17,000 pounds of rolling steel, bullet-proof glass, and a machine gun turret.
Built more like a tank than a police car, the $400,000 BearCat is the latest addition to the county Sheriff’s Department S.W.A.T team.
Sheriff Jerry Speziale said the new BearCat replaces an old converted bread truck that the S.W.A.T team had been using in hostage situations. Speziale said there’s really no comparison between the two: The bread truck was customized slapdash, its thin metal walls easily pierced by a bullet and its windshield easily shattered.
Not so with the BearCat. Encased in steel and shatter-proof glass, the vehicle is strong enough to withstand a bomb blast and keep going.
The 1999 massacre at Columbine High School forever changed the idea of “readiness” among law enforcement. The BearCat is manufactured by Lenco Armored Vehicles of Pittsfield, Mass., and the county’s model was delivered to the Sheriff’s Department in mid-December. It was paid for with a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and $195,000 in money seized by the county Prosecutor’s Office during drug raids, Speziale said.
The vehicle’s link to national security aside, Speziale said the BearCat could be most useful in domestic hostage situations, which occur fairly frequently in Passaic County. In December, before the BearCat arrived, a Wanaque man barricaded himself in his home and threatened to start shooting. The S.W.A.T team responded in the converted — and vulnerable — bread truck. The man eventually surrendered without incident.
Speziale said the BearCat would have given the S.W.A.T. members many more options at the scene. With the vehicle, the S.W.A.T team can get inside a building quickly — which could make it easier to get at a gunman and free hostages. Capt. Scott Hockwitt, commander of the county S.W.A.T team, said the BearCat is powerful enough to plow through brick walls. “You’re not going to stop us,” he said.
Besides the strength of its hull and chassis, the vehicle’s compartment is airtight with its own oxygen supply that can last for up to 10 hours. That makes it useful for chemical, biological and nuclear events.
There’s a throw-phone inside the vehicle attached to a steel cable that can be launched inside a building to establish communications. The intercom system has “ears” that can amplify a conversation that is happening many yards away, Speziale said.
And although Passaic County isn’t exactly a war zone, Speziale said the nation’s War on Terror and rash of high school massacres require worst-case-scenario kinds of preparations — “In today’s world, training, preparedness and equipment like the Bearcat is essential in avoiding a catastrophe.” he said.
- The BearCat is diesel-powered and can go up to 70 mph.
- It gets about 7 miles to the gallon of diesel fuel.
- It carries up to 12 S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) team members.
By Richard Cowen
Fort Hood Police Officers to Join First Lady At State of the Union Address
Fox News has learned that two Ft. Hood police officers will be the First Lady’s guests will be at Wednesday night’s State of the Union address.
Sgts. Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd will join Mrs. Obama in her box overlooking the House floor. It is a long standing tradition for the First Lady to invite special guests to sit with her during a State of the Union address.
The two police officers were responsible for stopping the November 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, for which Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of killing 13 people.
In addition to Munley and Todd, there will be four other military related guests seated with the First Lady. They will include a a recently retired Iraq veteran who was shot in the face, recovered and is now working at the Department of Transportation in Colorado; an Army soldier recently back from Iraq; and two National Guard spouses (one of whom is a Marine veteran herself and is finishing her education under the Montgomery GI Bill.)
Stay tuned to Fox News and Row 2, Seat 4 for more details. We’ll be getting Mrs. Obama’s full guest list Wednesday morning.
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Deputy Saves Suicidal Man From Oncoming Train
A man narrowly escaped death as a Kern County sheriff’s deputy pulled him off the train tracks while a train was approaching.
On Monday around 1 a.m., deputies responded to the area of Roberts Lane and Olive Drive for a call about a man walking on the train tracks.With the assistance of a sheriff’s office helicopter, deputies located Gregory McKay, 46, walking on tracks with his back towards an oncoming train.
McKay was pulled off of the tracks by Deputy Paul Duncan just moments before the train was going to strike him, deputies said.
The incident was captured on video by the helicopter.
McKay was found to be drunk in public and arrested.
Deputies determined that McKay was walking on the tracks with the intent to commit suicide.McKay was booked into the Kern County Jail and placed on suicide watch.
McKay was cited and released from the jail regarding the public intoxication charge.
McKay is currently being evaluated by Kern County Mental Health personnel.
By Crosby Shaterian
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Young girl raises money to protect Eau Claire Police Dept.’s K-9
The Eau Claire Police Department K-9 is protected now, thanks to a generous young girl.
In her short 12 years of life, Kaitlyn Simpson has been through a lot, which makes moments like these even more heartfelt.
“I think he’s a great dog. He’s really nice,” she said.
Kaitlyn has a soft spot for dogs like Franko.
“A German Shephard used to visit me named Beta. He used to visit me when I was a little kid in the hospital and I really remembered that,” Kaitlyn said.
She was born without the right side of her heart. By the time she was five she’d gone through two heart transplants. On Monday she was honored for her a heart of gold.
She raised $840 to get the Eau Claire K-9 Franko a protective vest.
“I took photos at the fall festival going on in our town,” she said.
Kaitlyn lives four hours away from Eau Claire. She made the trip on Monday to “pay it forward” as she says to Franko and the Eau Claire Police Department who work to keep the people of Eau Claire safe.
“Very good thing. Special girl. I mean the whole story from health issues all the way through and then she’s taking time off to do this for police dogs.
In his 19 years as Eau Claire Police K-9 Officer, Bill Wisener’s K-9 has never had a protective vest.
“Every police officer in this department wears a vest and now Franko has one to wear too,” he said.
Now that she’s helped Franko in Eau Claire, Kaitlyn’s already thinking of ideas to raise more money and help another dog and another community.
“I have $450 toward another one,” she said.
“A lot of people donated money toward me when I was a little kid so I thought I would give it back and help something in the community,” Kaitlyn said.
Kaitlyn donated the money she raised through the Vest-a-Dogs program. Officer Wisener says that program is working to get every police K-9 in the state a protective vest.
By Megan Peterson
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Officer and K-9 honored
Tarboro Police Patrolman Michael Trevathan and his K-9 Tazer have worked together for three years. T.J. ROYAL / Staff Writer
Tarboro Police Patrolman Michael Trevathan and his K-9 Tazer have been honored by a national organization for two of their assignments this summer.
The pair were recognized for their work returning inmates after an escape as the Case of the Quarter for Region Four of the United States Police Canine Association between July and September.
On Aug. 23, six juvenile inmates escaped from the Edgecombe County Detention Center Annex inside the Edgecombe County Courthouse. Trevathan said that his K-9 and he helped apprehend five of those juveniles the night they escaped.
The department was also given honorable mentions from the association for the third quarter, both for Trevathan and Sgt. Jesse Webb, the Tarboro K-9 unit’s leader. Webb said the honorable mention came from an incident the night before the inmate escape, where the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office was looking for a weapon a suspect had used to fire shots within the town limits.
Webb noted that it was “about an acre-sized lot” where the K-9s were looking for the weapon, which was finally found. The suspect in that incident, he added, had been a convicted felon and had charges against him for the weapon possession.
The sergeant was effusive in his praise of the effort Trevathan and his K-9 made in order to earn the recognition from the national association.
“Looking at it, Mike clearly has the best tracking dog in the department (out of the four K-9 officers). He’s trained really hard on the tracking aspect, and it shows. … It’s no accident.”
Lt. Jay Boykin, himself a dog handler for several years with the department, said that between Trevathan, Webb, Sgt. Keith Morris and Cpl. Mike Browning, Tarboro’s K-9 unit logged more than 600 hours of training in 2009. “It speaks well of our program here” to receive the honor for the third quarter, Boykin added.
Trevathan, who has been a K-9 handler for three of his six years with Tarboro, said that he “enjoyed the experience of bringing (the inmates) in” along with his dog back in August. Although he would prefer if it didn’t happen again, Trevathan added that he “maybe” wouldn’t mind having to go out on a track for escaped inmates again.
During a work week, he said that his K-9 and he will perform “three or four” different searches in the area. “It could be anything,” Trevathan said, whether it is a vehicle search, a search of a school area for a suspicious substance, or even an event where Tazer is making an appearance for children.
He added that, along with his work with Tarboro’s K-9 officers, his work with Sheriff’s Cpl. Jason Dawes, and his K-9 Tigo, was appreciated back in August.
Webb and Morris both previously have been recognized as accomplishing the case of the quarter for Region Four of the Canine Association. Region Four consists of North Carolina and South Carolina, and is one of 25 within the United States and Canada.
By T. J. Royal
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Singing policeman honors law officers
About midway through “The “Star-Spangled Banner,” tenor Daniel Rodriguez abruptly stopped singing.
Rodriquez gave a well-received Community Concert at the Civic Center this month, but startled the crowd by muffing the national anthem.
One spectator thought Rodriguez flat-out forgot the words after “O’er the ramparts …,” while another thought the talented singer got messed up on his timing.
Either way, Rodriguez apologized to the crowd, then flawlessly sang the whole piece from the beginning.
Rodriguez retired from the New York City Police Department in 2004, after gaining national prominence as “the singing policeman” following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
A member of the New York City Police Department’s Ceremonial Unit, he later studied under singer Placido Domingo, and his career took off.
Many Great Falls spectators were impressed by his beautiful voice.
Rodriguez also took time to honor area law enforcement officers at the event.
The singer spiced up the concert with biographical items and anecdotes, including a dramatic story about his drive from Helena to Great Falls.
Rodriguez said he was admiring scenery on the beautiful drive to Great Falls when he got stopped by a Montana Highway Patrol officer for speeding. Rodriguez said he handed over his license, registration and his New York City cop credentials to the officer.
After a long wait, two other Highway Patrol cars showed up, and the officers got Rodriguez to sing for them. He left without a ticket.
That made a good story, except he told an almost identical tale to an audience in Helena the night before. It turns out the speeding story might be a running gag Rodriguez uses at concerts.
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