America’s Police Officer Of the Year
Emily Bowman, a frail 72-year-old diabetic, was sleeping in her recliner at 4:30 a.m. onJan. 9 when a fire alarm sounded at Briarleigh Court, a 40-unit apartment complex for the elderly in Hillsville, Va. Instead of going out an exterior door that would have meant safety, the startled senior citizen opened an interior door and stepped into a burning, smoke-filled hallway.
State Trooper Matt Cochran on patrol in Hillsville, Va. In January, he demonstrated uncommon bravery in saving an elderly woman's life. [Photo by Kyle Green
Virginia State Trooper Matt Cochran, 28, was on patrol less than a minute away. He and two other police officers arrived at the scene even before firefighters. Together, they began banging on residents’ doors. Then Cochran heard screams. What he did next has led PARADE and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to name him their 2010 Police Officer of the Year.
“I had a flashlight,” Cochran recalls, “but it was absolutely worthless. The smoke was so thick you could feel it. One step in, and you couldn’t see the doorway. My uniform was starting to melt.” Crawling on his hands and knees, he made three attempts to reach the source of the cries. “I couldn’t find her the first time. The second time I had to come out for air. The third time I bumped into her. Then I stood up and walked her out. There were three explosions from residents’ oxygen tanks. The third one sounded like a bomb going off. It shook the whole building.”
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Every day a dog day for officer, and he’s loving it
Metropolitan Police Department officer DuWayne Layton’s patrol partner is pretty cool.
Except for all that shedding. And those fangs. And the panting. Oh, and the pooping in public. That’s really gotta stop.
But it won’t stop, because Layton’s patrol partner is a Belgian Malinois shepherd named Rico. Layton serves with Metro’s K9 unit, a corps of 21 patrolmen who partner with dogs to chase down criminals, uncover narcotics and pinpoint explosives.
Unlike any human patrol partners (we hope), Layton’s K9 patrol dogs go home with him at night, living with his family and other household pets. The 24-7 relationship creates strong bonds: Layton teared up as he discussed Rico’s retirement in November, when, after 10 years of service, he’ll make way for Layton’s next patrol dog, a Malinois named Boris. Another Malinois, Bonnie, works with Layton as a bomb-detection dog.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE
Hobart adds a fourth member to K-9 squad
The newest member of the city’s police department is adept at tracking down and cornering suspects and is trained to sniff out both prescription and illegal drugs.
His name is Fax, and he’s a 4-year-old Belgian Tervuren.
Fax’s handler, police officer Ryan Snedecor, and police officer Simon Gresser, who is in charge of the force’s K-9 team, introduced Fax to the Board of Works at its meeting Wednesday night.
Gresser said Fax’s cost was covered by donations received from city businesses through a fundraising effort. He said the dog — which originally was a sport dog — and Snedecor went through five weeks of in-house training instead of the usual outside training.
“Ryan is my first protege,” said Gresser, who wants to do all future training in-house as well.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE
Hills’ top dog retires
He’s sweet and mild-natured, yet he means business when it comes to tracking down suspects and drugs.
Kasper, the Farmington Hills Police Department’s K-9 dog, is retiring, as of today, after nine years of service and his handler couldn’t be more proud of the job he’s done.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Officer Jim Kase, a 25-year veteran with the department and Kasper’s only handler since being acquired in 2001. “He was a truly wonderful partner. We learned a lot together and he’s taught me a lot. I’ll miss working with him.”
But he won’t miss seeing Kasper, since the full-bred sable German shepherd is also his family pet. Kase said when Kasper isn’t working, he’s gentle, calm and good with kids. He said police dogs don’t normally work as long as nine years.
“He’s been fortunate to have lived a long and happy life,” he said.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE
Sniffing out crimes
It might have been the sound of his growls.
Perhaps it was the way he yipped in a giddy way when he spotted the bad guy.
More likely, it was the sight of a 30-pound German Shepherd hanging off the bad guy’s arm by his teeth that did it for me.
But something told me I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that dog if he truly meant business.
Thankfully, the scene behind Lockwood Mathews Mansion Tuesday morning was just practice, and the “bad guy” was a Stamford police officer who volunteered to dress up to help the Norwalk Police with their K-9 training.
Oh, and his arm? It’s fine, thanks to a thick pad he was wearing on his forearm. But if it were for real life, it wouldn’t be long before the subject was taken down to the ground.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE
Dallas Police SWAT, motorcycle cops to host Halloween toy drive
Tactical Section – S.W.A.T. & Motors Charity Motorcycle Run 2010 on Halloween!
Hello, everyone, once again we will be working with Dallas SWAT Officers Robert Cockerill, & Paul Junger to collect donations for the Terminally Ill Children of Medical Hospital in Dallas for a special Christmas celebration hosted by the Dallas SWAT Team.
The ride will start at Reno’s Chop Shop and will end at Stroker’s of Dallas as last year. You will be lead on a historical ride through Dallas and see world famous sites such as Bonnie & Clyde Memorial, Stevie Ray Vaughn grave site and more. You do not have to ride or own a motorcycle to participate. All donations are to benefit the Terminally Ill Children of Medical Center Dallas. Hope to see you there on 10/31/10.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact the following people by Facebook Message: Dori Horne, Marilee Kelleher, Dawn McDonald.
Police officers and detectives honored for courage on duty
Rankin police Officer Latisha Cassidy-McClelland was patrolling the sprawling Hawkins Village housing complex in May when a heated argument between two men marred the otherwise quiet Saturday morning.
Instead of leaving, she drove around a corner and came back, pretending to write reports in her idling squad car as she listened to the men through an open window.
At the time, she couldn’t tell what triggered their fight. Now she believes her decision to stop likely spared one man’s life and kept another out of prison.
She recalled her work in Hawkins Village on Friday, after she was recognized during the Amen Corner’s annual Senator John Heinz Law Enforcement Awards, a prestigious marker for officers’ “courage and accomplishment” in protecting their Western Pennsylvania communities.
Officer McClelland said she recognized one of the arguing men as a former Westinghouse High School student; she also works for Pittsburgh Public Schools police. He ran over to her.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10296/1097476-53.stm#ixzz13KR8gJIK
20th Annual Cops ‘n’ Kids Event Continues to Grow
I got a kick out of the girl in the video who said the cops were “…super nice, not too mean.” LOL!
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Bay County kids got to see what it’s like to be a cop.
No, they’re not playing a game of cops and robbers; they are taking part in the 20th Annual Cops ‘n’ Kids.
Law enforcement agencies and military personnel are trying to prove to kids they aren’t the bad guys.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Department’s showed off its helicopters, the U.S. Coast Guard brought its rescue boat and Florida Highway Patrol set-up its rolling car simulator. It was all brought to Arnold High School’s parking lot for the kids.
5-year old Kalie’s Willoughby’s favorite part was the killer K-9 demonstrations put on by Tyndall Air Force Police.
“I saw the dogs attacking people,” Willoughby said.
For this LAPD officer, a different type of quick draw
Police are armed with handguns, batons and Tasers when they go on night patrol in South Los Angeles and in downtown’s fashion district.
Officer Daniel Calderon also has a sketch pad — and, for backup, brushes, black-and-white acrylic paints and blank canvases.
The 25-year LAPD veteran is an artist who for nearly two decades has created expressionistic paintings of the lawbreakers, neighborhood characters and street scenes he encounters during the 7 p.m.-to-7 a.m. shift he works out of the Newton Division station.
Now Calderon is focusing on his most challenging subjects ever: his fellow officers.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE/PIC HERE
K-9 team makes award-winning trip
EAST GREENWICH TWP. Ptl. Phil Owens and his K-9 partner Deuce represented the department and township at the USPCA-sponsored Region #6 Police Dog 1 Field Trials and took second place overall.
“I’m very proud of them,” said Chief Barry Jenkins. “They did extremely well and it’s a great accomplishment for them. It obviously showed a lot of dedication and hard work on (Owens’) part with the dog. He’s been outstanding as a handler.”
“I’ve been on the street with the dog now for a while,” Owens said. “Aside from training down in Atlantic City and with other officers in Gloucester County, I’ve been working every day with him.”
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE
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