UPD gets first female SWAT officer

In the history of the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Unified Police Department, there has never been a woman on the SWAT team, until now.

The UPD announced this week that officer Librada “Trina” Chacon was recently selected to the specialized team after completing a rigorous tryout with high marks.

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Policeman recognized for heroic action; Coates awarded Life Saving Award for quick action in emergency

A man “on the floor bleeding to death” was the sight Streetsboro Police Officer Aaron Coates encountered when he responded to an April 11 EMS call that was close to his location near Route 14.

Coates said the man in his 30s was lying on the floor of his garage, bleeding profusely from a severe neck wound he received when a piece of his truck engine’s fan blade broke off and struck him while he was working on it.

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State trooper clocks $378,000 Fantasy 5 prize

Good for him!

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A Georgia Lottery prize is on the radar for a lucky Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper. James Bates, 55, is one of five players to win $378,090 each from matching all five winning numbers in the May 31 Fantasy 5 drawing.

With a $1.89 million total prize payout, it is the highest Fantasy 5 jackpot in Georgia Lottery history.

“I brought a couple of my friends down, and we all bought tickets that day,” said Bates, a resident of Benton, Tennessee.

Winning numbers from the May 31 Fantasy 5 drawing were: 3-14-17-23-28. Sunrise Grocery, 2110 Highway 2 E. in Crandall, sold the winning Quik Pik ticket. The other jackpot prize winning tickets were purchased in Toccoa, Macon, Tallapoosa and Jackson.

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Waynesville K-9 officer, dog receive excellence award

-Waynesville Police Department’s K-9, Levi, deserves a pat on the back.

Levi and his handler, Waynesville Officer Heath Plemmons, were recently presented the Criminalistic Excellence Award “in recognition of outstanding performance in the detection and prevention of crime” by the United States Police Canine Association.

The case of the quarter award was presented to Plemmons and Levi May 28 at the Waynesville Police Department based on an April 2009 case that involved an elderly man who had been missing from his Waynesville apartment for more than 12 hours when Levi found him.

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Bridge honors slain trooper

Two years from the day, and only a few miles from the location where N.C. State Trooper Shawn Blanton was killed while conducting a traffic stop, friends, family, town and county leaders and fellow law enforcement officers gathered Thursday to dedicate a bridge in memory of his service.

At the request of Canton town leaders and Haywood County Commissioners, the North Carolina Board of Transportation named the bridge at Exit 31 on Interstate 40 — mere feet from the spot where Blanton was slain — The Trooper Shawn Blanton Bridge.

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Springfield Officers honored for DUI arrests

Police officer Ryan Maddox, left, made 137 DUI arrests in 2009, while fellow officer Robert Jones made 129.Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register

Two Springfield police officers rank among the top 15 statewide for the number of DUI arrests made in 2009, according to the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.

However, the city’s drunken driving arrest numbers overall are on the decline.

AAIM, a citizen activist group founded in 1982 by victims of drunken drivers, asked 700 law enforcement agencies across Illinois to participate in the survey. Sixty-eight percent of them responded, including the Springfield Police Department.

Officer Ryan Maddox made 137 DUI arrests last year and ranked No. 11 in the state. Fellow officer Robert Jones netted 129 arrests, ranking No. 15.

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Dust off those resumes….Deputy sheriff sought

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department is looking for a deputy sheriff.

The job: The deputy sheriff would work on preventive patrol, assist traffic enforcement and investigations, enforce local and state laws, and perform court duties, civil process and all other duties assigned by Sheriff Jeff Jaeger.

Requirements: Applicants must be eligible for Wisconsin Law Enforcement Standards Board certification; minimum 60 college credits; vision correctable to 20/20; no felony convictions; no domestic-related convictions, free from any condition which might limit ability to perform essential functions of a deputy sheriff; ability to drive safely and to use all police-related equipment; strong written skills.

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Sadly, Elvis has left the building…and the PD

Awww, one of the canines from our city…

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Johnstown police Sgt. Jeff Janciga poses with his K-9 partner, Elvis, in this undated photo.

Jeff Janciga and Elvis were more than co-workers.

For nearly 10 years, the Johnstown police sergeant and the Belgian malinois were partners and friends who teamed to fight the local drug trade.

But for Elvis and his handler, the world crashed June 10 during a veterinarian visit that revealed the faithful canine was dying from a mass of tumors.

“I wasn’t going to let him suffer,” Janciga said. “I made the decision right then to have him put down.”

Trained to sniff out narcotics, Elvis was tasked with finding drugs in vehicles, schools, prisons and post offices.

“You name it, we were there,” Janciga said.

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Local cops stake out doughnut shop

Local police staked out a doughnut shop all weekend.  They were on the lookout for dough of the green kind.

“Thank you,” said Officer Andrew Boggess.

He and other cops are armed with a bucket, looking for a few big tips from the public at the Krispy Kreme on Bardstown Road near the Watterson Expressway.

“People throwing in maybe a couple of quarters or they may be throwing in $20 or $30,” said Boggess.

The donations have been rolling in since 6 O’clock Friday morning, that’s when the “Cops on Doughnut Shops” fundraiser began.

“Our goal is to raise $7,000,” said former Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Bray.

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Former state trooper, 84, says 1957 Ford Fairlane is ‘best Father’s Day gift ever’

Robin Wise remembers an old picture from his childhood home in northern Illinois that epitomized his father.

The photograph showed Robert Wise standing in front of his first Illinois State Police squad car. The year was 1957. The black and white Ford Fairlane was made the same year.

“I always thought, if I could go back in time for that day,” said Robin Wise, 53.

He’s done the next-best thing — and just in time for Father’s Day.

As an early gift last month, the younger Wise presented Robert Wise, 84, with a refurbished 1957 Ford Fairlane. The car is equipped with the same markings and emblems of his first patrol car. It has the same type of radio and bulb flasher on the top.

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