A Day In The Life Of A New Orleans Police Officer
One thing about New Orleans that hasn’t changed in the five years since Hurricane Katrina is the blistered reputation of the city’s police department.
In the days after Hurricane Katrina, the NOPD became infamous for officers who deserted their posts or were caught looting. Sixteen officers now face allegations of federal crimes, from murder to corruption to cover-ups.
Back in 2008, NPR’s Audie Cornish met Officer Sherife Davis on his first day of training. Back then, the cocky Air Force veteran wasn’t worried about the NOPD’s reputation or the city’s criminals. He’d already served in combat missions overseas.
“This city is no worse than Afghanistan or Pakistan, Iraq,” Davis said then.
Cornish caught up with Davis earlier this month. He took her along in his squad car.
Patrolling The Neighborhood
Davis drives by the Iberville Housing Development — a regular stop on his patrol and where he spent much of his training time.
“You get to know the people back here,” Davis says. “So even the ones you put in jail, they eventually get out, and they come back, and there’s a respect built.”
But even this veteran of Afghanistan is surprised by the level of violence. Davis remembers one victim who was shot 48 times, then run over by a car.
“In New Orleans, there’s a culture where they actually sit and wait to commit a murder,” he says. “They actually hunt down their victims, literally.”
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Cheers to top NJ cop
CHEERS: To New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes.
On Aug. 13, Fuentes was pulled over by a state trooper for speeding on the Garden State Parkway in Paramus. When the veteran trooper approached the unmarked, black SUV that was clocked going 75 mph in a 65-mph zone, he recognized Fuentes and shook his hand. The two talked for about two minutes, video from the trooper’s in-car camera shows, and then Fuentes drove off — without a ticket.
That’s not what we’re cheering.
But what is commendable is that Fuentes, later that afternoon reported the stop to the state police Office of Professional Standards and asked for a speeding ticket. He received a ticket a few days later that cost him $160 when he paid it Monday. Fuentes also received a two-point penalty against his license.
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Springettsbury officer, K9 dog receive $600 gift card
Springettsbury Township Police Officer Bill Polizzotto and his new dog, Petro, received a $600 gift card for police K9 supplies Thursday from the promoter of the Musclecar Madness at the York Reunion event.
The police department’s previous dog, Ike, was put down in June, about six months after retiring, following seven years of service.
“We felt it would be a good community gesture for us to raise funds to assist with the new dog,” said Darwin Doll, promoter of the show. “We have raised over $40,000 for the York County SPCA since the inception of the show and we felt it important to add this support to the local Springettsbury Township Police K9 Unit.”
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Brecksville K-9 officer Sunny retires after nine years on force
Due to his age, a critical member of the Brecksville Police Department has retired from duty.
Sunny, the city’s 10½-year-old Czech Republic born German Shepherd, was sold to Brecksville Sgt. Bill Goodrich for $1 following City Council’s approval at its Aug. 17 meeting.
“He’s still a puppy at heart, but his body is catching up to him,” Goodrich said of his four-legged partner.
Based on his age and the ailments that go along with it, Sunny needed to retire. He has been with the department for nine years and partnered with Goodrich since 2007. The average life of a K-9 officer is eight to 10 years.
Because of Goodrich’s duties as the department school resource officer, Sunny served two duties on the force. He helped with narcotics and other criminal searches as well as searches for missing persons but beyond that, he helped in the classroom as well.
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Palmetto Police pull ‘sweet’ K-9 off the beat
Kanin the K-9 officer was willing to serve and protect the citizens of Palmetto.
There was just one problem: He didn’t like biting the bad guys.
The Palmetto Police Department removed the 15-month-old German shepherd from the beat a month ago because he couldn’t develop the mean streak necessary to apprehend the city’s most wanted.
His handler, Officer Jeff Lewis, has been riding solo since a pair of certified trainers agreed Kanin’s bite would never match his bark.
“To him, it was like, ‘I’m going to do this, but I don’t really want to,’ ” Lewis, 28, said of Kanin’s reluctance to bite on command. “We couldn’t get that corrected. … It’s like if somebody tells you to do something you don’t want to do, you’re going to do it, but you’re probably not going to be very good at it.”
The big, rambunctious puppy raced around Lewis’ west Bradenton backyard Friday afternoon after being let out of his kennel.
It has been a while since his last obedience lesson, which might explain why he grabbed a plastic planter in his teeth, dropped it briefly when Lewis yelled a command, then picked it back up and ran away as soon as Lewis glanced in the opposite direction.
McCourt gives 40,000 Dodgers tickets to LAPD officers
The embattled owner, going through a multimillion-dollar divorce, makes the announcement while receiving an award from the Los Angeles Police Protective League’s charitable arm.
These are tough times for Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.
He’s embroiled in a multimillion-dollar divorce proceeding with his estranged wife, Jamie. He’s low on cash, according to one of his court filings. His stewardship of the team is constantly under scrutiny.
But when McCourt stepped to the stage at a gala this week to accept an award from the Los Angeles Police Protective League’s charitable arm, the Eagle & Badge Foundation, he decided to give away one of the few things he has a lot of these days: Dodgers tickets.
As a tribute to Los Angeles police officers, he promised to give the 10,000 men and women of the police force vouchers for four tickets apiece. That’s 40,000 tickets. On Wednesday, the Police Protective League e-mailed its members that McCourt had come through with his offer and that everyone was entitled to four tickets on the loge or reserve level for games on Sept. 17, 18, 19 or Oct. 1, 2 or 3.
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New Orleans Police Force Rebuilds From Within After Katrina Indictments
Still suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans police department has it anything but easy as it tries to regain order among its officers as much as out on the city’s streets.
The subject of nine U.S. Department of Justice investigations, 13 New Orleans police officers have been indicted for various crimes, ranging from shootings to civil rights violations that happened in the days after Katrina.
Lt. Mike Field vividly remembers driving down flooded roads, and watching as residents quickly became angry and desperate after having their livelihoods washed away.
“People started turning on the police, accusing them of all sorts of things. Police did this, police did that,” he said.
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SWAT teams unite for competition, comraderie
The sounds of gunfire pierced the morning last week as more than 400 policemen and women descended upon Nod Brook Road in Simsbury, many carrying weapons and wearing camouflage, helmets and bullet-proof vests.
Fortunately, they were not there to handle an emergency; rather, they were participating in the sixth annual CT SWAT Challenge.
Forty SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams from police departments around the Northeast — and a handful from as far as California — were on hand. More than a dozen were from across Connecticut; the local Northcentral Team, which included police from the Farmington Valley and surrounding communities, placed 11th overall.
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Tennessee Highway Patrol accepting applications for troopers
The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) announced today it is aggressively seeking men and women who are interested in careers in law enforcement for a new Trooper Cadet Class slated to begin in the spring of 2011, if funds become available. Applications will only be accepted from Thursday, August 26th through Friday, September 17th, 2010.
In an effort to recruit qualified candidates, the Tennessee Department of Safety invites interested individuals to visit an Informational Session, Friday, September 10th, and Saturday, September 11th, at the THP Training Center, located at 283 Stewarts Ferry Pike in Nashville. To attend, interested individuals must register online at www.appointment.com/trooper to schedule a two-hour appointment between 8:00am and 4:00pm.
THP Special Programs Lieutenants and other Department of Safety representatives will also visit events, festivals and job fairs across the state over the next few weeks actively seeking men and women interested in serving as Tennessee State Troopers.
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Hero cops save teen from burning building as other teen jumps
Two injured teens escaped from Malden house fire this morning, one with the help of cops who ran into the burning building and the other by jumping out a window, police said.
Around 9 a.m., police responded to 911 calls of a house fire on Burditt Terrace in Malden, where Officer Jack Delaney radioed that there was heavy smoke and the building was engulfed in flames, Lt. Marc Gatcomb said.
Delaney and another officer rushed inside, attempting to evacuate residents on the first floor apartment. One teenage girl had to be helped outside by officers. That girl suffered burns to her upper body and hair.
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