Police Homeless Outreach Team wins international award

The Colorado Springs Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team was awarded the prestigious Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing today at an international conference in Arlington, Texas.

The award, given by the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, recognizes “innovative and effective problem-oriented policing projects that have achieved measurable success in resolving recurring specific crime, disorder or public safety problems faced by police and the community.”

“We’re on cloud nine right now,” said one of the three HOT officers, M.J. Thomson. “It’s probably the biggest police award that you can get. It’s pretty huge.”

Thomson said there were 46 entries from around the world. Judges narrowed the list to 14 semifinalists, then six finalists, including a team from the United Kingdom. Each finalist made a presentation, and a team of judges and the audience voted on the winner.

CSPD has entered the contest before, Thomson said, but never made it to the finals.

“We’re just kind of overwhelmed,” Thomson said. “Our phones are going nuts.”

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2 winners of 2010 Artz award

Two local officers receive an award Thursday for their heroic actions.

The awards were handed out at a Breakfast Optimist Club meeting in Terre Haute.

The 2010 Kevin Artz Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award was given to two officers, Indiana State Police Sergeant Joe Watts and Terre Haute Police Corporal Larry Manley.

The two received the honor for their quick responses to a stabbing and attempted child abduction in Prairie Creek, Indiana in June.

They were the first officers on the scene and helped keep a bad situation from getting much worse.

“We were able to make entry into the house and get the woman taken into custody, and get some help for the family members that got stabbed,” Cpl. Larry Manley with the Terre Haute Police Department said.

“I’m forever grateful that the Speer family has been put back to tact and everything can move forward in a positive way,” Sgt. Joe Watts with the Indiana State Police said.

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Girl honors Whitehall officers who saved her

Five Whitehall police officers last week earned certificates and medallions for saving the life of a girl who nearly drowned — but the girl’s smile was the best gift they could have received.

“The award I feel in my heart is getting to see your smile,” Whitehall Sgt. Randy Snider said to 10-year-old Brianna Davis, who presented Snider and four other officers with certificates and medallions recognizing their heroic efforts of Aug. 24.

Brianna, her parents and the five officers were among those who gathered Sept. 22 at the Whitehall Division of Police for the recognition ceremony.

Other than Snider, who had briefly visited Brianna at Nationwide Children’s Hospital the day of the incident, none of the other officers had since seen the girl or met her parents.

“Each of these officers will tell you it was all in a day’s work, but we couldn’t be more proud to present these awards,” Whitehall Police Chief Richard Zitzke said. “The quick and decisive action of these officers saved her life.”

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K-9 unit seeks young recruits

As the first class of Glendale police K-9 dogs nears retirement, officials are ramping up fundraising efforts for a donor-supported program to buy replacements.

The K-9s have started to show their age and will need to retire and be replaced with pups within the next two or three years, Glendale Police Officer Shawn Sholtis said.

“You can definitely see them starting to slow down,” he said. “The job puts wear and tear on their bodies, just like ours.”

To replace the highly-skilled dogs, Sholtis and fellow police handlers must raise funds to purchase and train new K-9s. Sam, Yudy, Marlin and Quwai currently make up the K-9 unit.

The dogs are trained for basic patrol, tracking suspects and missing persons and sniffing out narcotics and explosives.

The current class of dogs will show off their best tactical skills at the 2nd Annual K-9s in the Park event, which is aimed at raising funds for new pups.

Police dog handlers created Glendale K-9s in the Park last year in an effort to raise funds for their unit, which is supported through public donations and profits from T-shirt sales, Sholtis said.

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Meet the new nose, sniffing out crime in Chillicothe

I'm purdy!

Probably no one is more excited than Chillicothe Police Officer Nick Bridges about the department’s newest K-9 addition.

Bridges, now a three-year officer, said he went into police work to someday become a K-9 officer.

“I wasn’t thinking it was coming this soon,” he said.

His new partner, Gosh (pronounced Go ssshhh), means ghost in Dutch.

While Chillicothe is the home of the IVC Grey Ghosts, it is coincidental that Gosh ended up in Chillicothe, officials say.

While Bridges will call him Gosh, the community probably will call him Ghost, he said.

Gosh, a 3 1/2-year-old German shepherd, hails from a town near Antwerp, Belgium. He is full of energy and also friendly.

“I’ve always had German shepherds since I was born,” said Bridges, whose dad trained the dogs.

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Officers make rescues at burning Revere homes

A three-alarm fire broke out in a multi-family home in Revere, Mass. on Thursday afternoon.

Witnesses said the fire produced a large amount of smoke.

“It went up like kindling,” said one onlooker. “As fast as lightening.”

The fire started at a home on Dana Street and quickly spread to another home on North Shore Road.

“We seen a younger girl running towards the house,” said Officer Gerard Salvati of the Revere Police Department. “Smoke was coming out, so Mike and I ran I was saying ‘police, stop, stop, stop!’ Not realizing that her father was in the house.”

The officers ran into the burning building to help save the people inside.

“We noticed a gentleman on the floor so Mike and I grabbed him, tried to get him out with the heavy smoke and the heat. We got him out safely thank God,” Officer Salvati.

Meanwhile, the fire was spreading to a nearby home.

“We didn’t have time to grab the cats or nothing, just ran out the door,” said Shannon Bottari.

As they were running out, two MBTA police officers and a state trooper were running in.

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Annual inspection recognizes Watsonville officers devotion to duty

Pressed and polished and surrounded by family and friends, Watsonville police officers stood for inspection Wednesday morning.

The department also recognized many of its members and a few civilians for duty “above and beyond” during a ceremony that’s been a tradition for more than two decades.

“(Watsonville residents) can take pride in the department and in those they have chosen to protect them,” said Marina Police Chief Eddie Rodriguez, addressing the crowd that filled the sanctuary at Green Valley Christian Center after the inspection.

Rodriguez, a leader in the Watsonville department for many years before moving to Marina, said budget cuts have put police departments in “survival mode,” a situation that can’t be sustained.

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