Simulator helps Neb. cops train for real-life scenarios
Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner points his gun at the suspect in the warehouse and tells him to show his hands.
“I work here,” says the man, keeping one hand behind a box.
Wagner repeats the command several times before the man steps forward, hands in the air.
“It’s cool,” the suspect says before cursing at the sheriff.
“That’s how people talk to us,” the sheriff says, laughing.
Wagner isn’t actually in a warehouse this Thursday morning. He’s in front of a video screen, helping demonstrate his office’s new firearms simulator, a high-tech training program that teaches cops how to make better decisions in dangerous scenarios.
“That decision may be simply negotiating with the suspect, or going for cover, or maybe escalating to … a TASER or pepper spray,” Sgt. Andy Stebbing said. “Or even in some of the videos you might use deadly force.”
Stow police dog Nero to be recognized as hero
Normally, the American Red Cross Acts of Courage Awards go to people.
This year, though, a dog will be recognized, too.
Nero, a Stow police dog who helped capture a suspect in a gas station robbery, will be honored at the 14th annual ceremony scheduled for March 2.
The German Shepherd will be singled out in the new “animal hero” category along with 14 people at the event.
The American Red Cross of Summit and Portage counties annually recognizes residents who have acted courageously in emergencies.
Nero’s handler is Officer Ted Bell, who has worked with Nero, 7, since 2004 — the year his first police dog, Bruno, retired.
“I’m proud to be his handler,” Bell said.
“This should bring some good public relations for what police service dogs do for the citizens they serve,” Bell added.
Bell said Nero “has a strong drive and desire to work. Like all working dogs, they serve selflessly, never ask why, and only want love and praise in return.”
How will Nero celebrate his award?
“He’s just happy to be out and about,” Bell said.
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Pulaski Co Hires First K9 Officer Since 2005
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department has its K-9 Unit back.
It’s the first time they have had one since 2005 when budget cuts forced officials to eliminate the unit. The newest officer, Bailey, is a two-year-old German Shepherd given to the force by the Pinnacle Valley Animal Hospital.
Pinnacle Valley Hospital has also donated the training and vet needs for Bailey for the rest of his life.
(Doc Holladay, Pulaski County Sheriff)
“The dog is, of course, trained in narcotics detection and searching for individuals and we are anxious to put him to work.”
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Two first-responders receive award
Maricopa paramedic Chazz Dupree and Maricopa firefighter Dusty Jenkins were moonlighting for an ambulance company in Tempe nearly four months ago when their natural instincts took over, resulting in the pair saving a man’s life.
“We were just driving around and saw a plume of smoke and decided to find its source,” Dupree said.
The source was a Tempe home, and the two were the first to arrive on scene. “When we got there, we saw a woman running around outside and heavy black smoke coming from the structure,” Dupree said. “We could not enter through the door of the home so we looked into the windows and saw a man walking in the hallway.”
The pair opened a window and were able to guide the man with their voices out of the home; they also rescued the man’s dog. They didn’t know if the man would have made it out on his own as he appeared to be disoriented and more concerned with finding his dog than getting out himself.
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Sheriff’s deputy credited with saving drowning children in Port Charlotte
A Charlotte County sheriff’s deputy, with help from two witnesses, is credited with saving two babies after deputies say their mother tried to kill them by drowning them in a pond Friday night.
The sheriff’s office received a call at 8:48 p.m. about a single vehicle car crash in the area of The Lakes of Tuscana apartments on Veterans Boulevard in Port Charlotte, a report said.
K-9 Cpl. Emmitt Merritt was the first to arrive. He located a red 2008 Dodge Caliber in the road, and the driver was seen walking away from her car. She was located by Merritt and a man and a woman who live in that community.
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On Patrol and Almost Undercover
What a SLICK idea! You can’t even tell that’s a police cruiser.
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POLICE car No. 1453 drifted along with the afternoon rush, unnoticed and unhurried. Even, perhaps, unfinished.
Car 1453 looks as if it rolled off the assembly line a few minutes too soon, before arriving at the machine that puts the siren on the roof and the colors on the door decals. But this look is the whole point of No. 1453, which is known throughout the Westchester County police department by its catchier nickname: the ghost car.
“Can you see it?” an officer joked, standing in front of the car in the department’s parking lot.
The police hope that the answer among drivers texting or chatting on cellphones, or speeding or driving drunk, is no.
The car, a 2009 Crown Victoria, joined the fleet two months ago. It is not an unmarked police car, but rather a barely visibly marked police car. It bears all the same decals as a regular police car, but they are white, colorless, like the car itself. The markings really are noticeable only upon close inspection — and hardly noticeable at all, the thinking goes, to a driver who is calling in his pizza order.
“You’re seeing more of what the common man sees,” Officer Brian Tierney, 32, said about the advantage the car bestows. “Everyone’s on their best behavior when the teacher’s in the room.”
Across the country, states are stepping up their efforts to curb distracted driving. Lawmakers have proposed more than 200 bills; Kansas is considering a ban on texting while driving, and in Alaska, a bill was proposed to ban all cellphone use behind the wheel.
Several states have banned texting, but not talking, behind the wheel. New York is among the states, including Connecticut and New Jersey, that have banned hand-held cellphone use while driving. But proving that someone is breaking those laws is tougher than writing them.
“It’s really, really, really difficult to enforce that,” said Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association. “You can’t have a law that the public doesn’t support.
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Houston Police Officers Training in Blood Draws
A new step is being taken to get as many drunken drivers off the street as possible, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday.
Seven Houston police officers are sitting in class at Lone Star College in north Harris County this week. They are learning to become phlebotomists to take blood from drunk driving suspects.
“Time is our enemy,” said traffic enforcement officer Don Egdorf.
He is taking the 40-hour course.
He said, “Instead of us having to go through the process of either with a mandatory draw or getting a search warrant ,and you’ve got to go to a medical facility, have a nurse, may have to get checked out with a doctor. We can actually do that blood draw ourselves once we complete this course.”
First, the students practiced with an artificial arm. Then, they move on to the real thing — drawing blood from their classmates.
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