Fists swinging, Ohio woman comes to cop’s rescue

When she saw a Dayton, Ohio, police officer tangled up with a man, Angela Pierce could have kept on driving. Instead, she got out of the car to team up with the officer and join the fight.

While the danger was real — especially with the suspect in arm’s reach of the officer’s gun — Pierce told HLN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell that her thought process Saturday night was simple: The police officer needed help, and she was in a position to give it.

“I didn’t even think about what (the suspect) could have had, I didn’t think about what he could have done to me,” Pierce said Thursday. “I just went and tried to help.”

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE/VIDEO HERE

‘Just doing my job’: Mobile police officers save senior from burning home

A Mobile police officer and an officer in training are credited with saving the life of senior citizen by carrying him downstairs and out of his burning northwest Mobile home.

“I was just helping a guy out, you know, just doing my job,” said Officer Ronald Hannah Jr.

Hannah and Michael Motykiewicz, an officer in training, were on their way to a report of suspicious activity near Cody and Howells Ferry roads Tuesday morning when they noticed heavy smoke coming from a house on Gentilly Drive.

They called to alert the fire department. But as the first to arrive on the scene, the 2 acted quickly.

“We pulled up and started knocking on the door, trying to make contact,” said Hannah, 27, who has been a Mobile police officer for about a year.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Issaquah Police Department plays Santa Claus for needy families

Issaquah police officers and department employees spread some holiday cheer to local families Dec. 17.

The department has a tradition of adopting a needy family and gathering items from a Christmas wish list.

Then, Santa Claus receives a little help from officers to present the gifts to the family.

Issaquah Police Chief Paul Ayers (center) and Santa Claus carry gifts from the police department to deliver to needy families Dec. 17. Contributed

The agency started the tradition four years ago.

For Christmas, the department picked a pair of families in need — a total of six children and five adults — and employees snapped up items from the wish list.

The holiday haul included big-ticket items, like bikes and helmets, Barbie dolls, Razor scooters and other toys, plus bedding, kitchenware and other household essentials. Red Robin also donated a $50 gift card for a family.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Maryland National Guard to honor Pennsylvania state trooper

The Maryland Army National Guard soldiers had been training during the weekend at Ft. Indiantown Gap and were returning home by convoy on Oct. 24 on Interstate 83.

In Shrewsbury, the vehicles — about 30 of them — took Exit 4 off the interstate to reassemble, said convoy participant Sgt. Dennis Thompson.

“It was just an unplanned stop,” he said. “The convoy was getting too spread out,” so they pulled off and parked in the Tom’s convenience store parking lot on Route 851, “to allow the convoy to get together.”

But then they found they couldn’t return to the interstate.

The traffic around the interchange was too congested, there were too many traffic lights, and with the hulking vehicles they were driving, there was a concern they might get separated again.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

New canine joins Coon Rapids PD

The Coon Rapids Police Department did not have to look far to find its newest police dog, Buddy.

The department was left without a canine unit when Logan was found dead in his kennel by his handler Officer Mark McDonough Nov. 17 at the age of eight.

Logan’s death in his sleep was a shock and a surprise because McDonough said the dog was very healthy.

But the department soon had a new dog on the streets – thanks to McDonough.

According to Coon Rapids Police Chief Tim Snell, McDonough approached him about bringing on board a new dog that he had been training.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE/PIC HERE

As K-9 retires, another joins Millville Police Department

Millville K-9 officer John Butschky is training Tyson, a Belgian Malinois, to start work tentatively in the spring. (Staff photos/Craig Matthews)

After eight years of protecting the people of Cumberland County, a veteran police dog will retire to the good life.

Cooper, a 9-year-old German Shepherd currently serving as a patrol dog with the Millville Police Department, will retire late next spring pending the instruction of a new dog, police said.

This will be the third round of training for Millville K-9 officer John Butschky, who will soon begin working with Tyson, who is slated for narcotics and patrol duties.

The pair will begin training together at the Atlantic County Canine Training Center in early January, entering a 16-week program teaching obedience, criminal apprehension, scent work and other drills.

On Monday, Butschky took Tyson out for some early practice.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Holbrook police raising money for K-9

The Holbrook Police Department will have a young, furry, strong, and well-trained addition to its roster if fundraising continues to be successful.

The Holbrook Patrolmen’s Association, N.E.P.B.A. Local# 88, in conjunction with Norfolk County Sheriff Michael Bellotti and Police Chief William Marble, Jr., has established a Police K-9 Program for the town.

In order to fund the program, Holbrook Police Union President Officer John P. Kearney started the H.P.D. K-9 Fund to be able to purchase a German Shepherd as well as provide funding for veterinary care, provisions, equipment, and training gear for the dog.

For the past couple of years, Kearney has discussed getting a K-9 for the department but knew that the town’s fiscal budget would not be able to accommodate such a request.

He mentioned how he wanted a K-9 for Holbrook to Bellotti, who offered a police cruiser suited for a K-9.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE/PICS HERE

Santa Clara sheriff secures new tactical armored vehicle

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office now owns a BearCat. And no, it’s not a pet.

It’s a tactical armored vehicle, a cross between a military tank and a Hummer, used by SWAT teams, the Army and hostage negotiators, and good for “just about anything,” sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Rick Sung said.

The sheriff’s office has a refurbished armored vehicle similar to the BearCat. But this vehicle, made by Lenco, is the first of its kind that was purchased through a federal Department of Homeland Security grant called the Urban Area Security Initiative.

The purchase of this newest model of the BearCat, the G3, was spearheaded by Assistant Sheriff Lindley Zink, 56, who retires next week after 32 years on the job. It cost $285,000.

In describing the vehicle to his peers, Zink wrote that he was just “speechless” about the BearCat’s capabilities including the self-contained breathing apparatus system and the ability to detect explosives and traces of radiation from inside the vehicle.

The BearCat can also withstand bullets fired from .50 caliber weapons.

Sung estimated the vehicle would be used about a dozen times a year.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Santa, state troopers deliver gifts to children at Saint Peter’s hospital

Santa, assisted by a dozen New Jersey State Police troopers, delivered presents Friday to children in the pediatric sections of Saint Peter’s University Hospital, bringing joy to the ward.

Before the troopers rolled up, Officer Alex Dinicola and Cpl. Mike MacInnes of the Police Benevolent Association Local 166 of the Englishtown Police Department delivered a separate truck filed with toys to the hospital.

Their toys had been donated, and they said one 9-year-old boy was responsible for about 100 of the toys after he had distributed leaflets through some neighborhoods. The officers did not reveal his name, saying he was a minor and they lacked permission from the family.

As for the state police, Santa’s trooper “helpers” came off with a hint of a military bearing in their visit.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Citrus Heights policeman is back from Iraq for Christmas

The story of a soldier making his long way home from battle is as old as Odysseus coming home from the Trojan wars.

But it’s always a good story.

On Christmas Eve, U.S. Navy Reserve Master at Arms Darryl Olesen stepped off a plane at Sacramento International Airport, into the arms of his happy, weeping family.

After a tour in Iraq, he had flown from Kuwait, to Germany, to Baltimore, to Missouri, to San Diego, where he finally got to clean up.

And then home.

It took Odysseus 10 years to get home after 10 years of battle.

Olesen was gone less than a year, but if you ask his wife, the span was longer.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/25/3280429/citrus-heights-policeman-is-back.html#ixzz19jAowiVv