Ala. state trooper reunites Alzheimer’s patient with worried family
An Alabama state trooper reunited a missing 82-year-old Alzeheimer’s patient with his family after he spotted him at a truck stop in Falkville.
Trooper Robert Pettit spotted Joseph Ellis Havens early Thursday and noticed he was wandering around the parking lot and not dressed appropriately. Havens told the trooper he had stopped to get gas and then realized his truck was missing.
Pettit, whose grandfather had Alzheimer’s, spotted the signs of the disease. He contacted his relative, located his car and took him to a local hospital.
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A Cop’s Christmas
For reviving the spirit, there is little in life that can rival standing among a thousand people singing “Adeste Fidelis” in church on Christmas morning. And while I don’t presume to know the minds of my fellow worshipers, I feel safe in saying there was no one in church that morning whose spirit was more in need of reviving than my own, for few professions can rival mine for glimpses into the darkness that sometimes dwells in the souls of men. In the days and indeed the very hours leading up to Christmas, I waded through the anguished aftermaths of two murders, two suicides, an attempted suicide, and a variety of other lesser tragedies, the accumulated sadness of which left me reeling and in doubt as to the wisdom in my choice of careers.
To get one’s intellectual arms around the meaning of that song and the event it commemorates is a challenge even under the best of circumstances, but as I dressed for church Christmas morning I couldn’t rid my mind’s eye of those haunting images: the faces of people who, only moments before I came upon them, were calmly going about their lives unaware of the horror about to befall them, or, as with the suicides, were all too aware of it. I was tempted to go back to bed. Christmas, it seemed to me in that moment, was for the birds.
There have been many such moments in my years as a policeman, but even in the bleakest of them I’ve tried to remember that it has been the blessed combination of faith, family, and friends that has sustained me. So, albeit reluctantly, off to church I went.
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Prescott Valley students celebrate newest K-9′s certification
Prescott Valley Police Department/Courtesy photo Prescott Valley Police Officer Paul Hines accepts a gift from Margaux Sarno, who named the department’s newest K9, “Kio.”
Prescott Valley Police Officer Paul Hines and Sgt. Art Askew brought their newest K9 officer Kio to Pam Hendricks’ fifth-grade class at Coyote Springs Elementary School in Prescott Valley on Dec. 16 to celebrate their newest K9 being fully trained and certified.
Margaux Sarno, a student in Hendricks’ class, won a contest in September to name Kio, a 17-month-old German shepherd, and Hines had said they would return and host a party when Kio was certified.
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Newberry Township police gain dog trained in tracking people, finding drugs
The Newberry Twp. Police Department’s new K-9 officer, Tazer, has reported for duty. In fact, within a week of beginning his new job, Tazer had his first successful drug find.
“Another police agency contacted us to see if we could search a vehicle for them. Sure enough [Tazer] hit on several different locations on the vehicle, one being the passenger side door. When the other officer searched the car he found a … bag of marijuana,” officer Christopher Martinez said.
Tracking drugs and working as a general patrol dog have kept the 14-month-old German shepherd, who arrived from the Czech Republic for training in the fall, busy since he started work on Nov. 22.
Tazer also is trained to track individuals and suspects, among other skills.
According to officer Martinez, his 24-year-old handler, although Tazer has been trained to be an effective officer, he is a sociable dog and friendly with adults and children, so the department also plans to include him in school visits and in public events, such as National Night Out.
Martinez and Tazer have become great friends and partners since meeting in September.
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Oakland police give gift baskets to 75 families
Dozens of Oakland families are having a happier holiday thanks to the Oakland Police Officer’s Association.
As part of a tradition going back more than 30 years, Oakland officers were busy delivering gift baskets with toys and food to 75 families Friday.
The president of the association, Sgt. Dom Arotzarena, told The Oakland Tribune that filling the baskets cost thousands of dollars, with the money coming from union dues and individual donations by officers.
Arotzarena says auto repair business Quality Tech also donated money and toys.
The families receiving the baskets were identified by officers across the city as being in the most need of help.
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Capitol Police officer wins national award
A U.S. Capitol Police officer is being honored by a national law-enforcement nonprofit for risking his life to protect his mother and others during a shootout in a day care center parking lot.
Officer Eddie R. Thornton received the December officer of the month award from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. He is the first Capitol Police officer to receive the award.
Thornton went to visit his mother at the day care center she owned on the 8500 block of Greenbelt Road on July 16, 2009. She was waiting for him in the parking lot.
After Thornton arrived at the lot, a man opened fire.
Thornton told his mother and others to take cover, and he engaged in a shootout with the man.
Thornton was struck in the lower back, and a 12-year-old girl inside an area apartment building was hit by a stray bullet.
The gunman, Badara Samb, was also hit in the upper body.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/crime-punishment/2010/12/capitol-police-officer-wins-national-award#ixzz19ic9ttYP
San Diego sheriff sniffs out fire, saves family
A sheriff’s deputy saved a family of five in the early morning hours after following the smell of smoke to their burning garage in the La Presa neighborhood in east San Diego County.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Deputy Mike Cruz discovered the burning garage just after 4:30 a.m., and banged on the door to rouse the family of five sleeping in side.
The family got out safety, but their small dog and several pet birds could not be saved.
About 30 firefighters were able to put out the fire within 20 minutes, but the home suffered extensive smoke damage.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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Sunrise police officers collect gifts for needy kids
In between patrolling neighborhoods and catching bad guys, Sunrise police officers hustled this holiday season to collect more than 200 Christmas gifts for needy children.
The department’s police union, which represents the city’s 136 officers, has been busy since Halloween doing its part for charity, said Roger Krege, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 80.
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El Cerrito K-9 officer easing into new beat
He might drink from the toilet if left unsupervised, but El Cerrito’s newest cop displays uncommon manners for company.
King, a German shepherd, stretched leisurely across the rear compartment of Officer Aaron Leone’s patrol car on a rainy night shift, offering only perfunctory barks at a stranger’s approach.
Given the temperament and training of local police dogs, the 2-year-old pup already ranks among the most polite of his kind in western Contra Costa County.
“He’s a super-sweet dog,” said Leone, whose other German shepherd, a pet, may beg to differ. “He’s calm, obedient — a really good dog.”
The department expects similar excellence soon in other parts of the job from King, who started in November after an early life of specialized training in Germany.
El Cerrito’s first police dog gives the city patrol an advantage already enjoyed by police in neighboring cities. They don’t always need a K-9 officer, but when they do, they need one quickly.
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Newtown Police Has New K-9 Officer, and Other Assignments
Two patrol officers and a sergeant have received new assignments in the Police Department in tribute to their expertise and dedication, officials said.
Officer Felicia Figol is the department’s new K-9 officer, Officer Jeffrey Silver will be a traffic officer and Sgt. Aaron Bahamonde will perform added administrative duties, Police Chief Michael Kehoe announced on Wednesday.
Kehoe said Figol has taken possession of the department’s dog Baro, a German Shepherd trained to sniff out narcotics and track suspects.
“She will begin four weeks of training with the dog in January,” he said, adding she and the dog will learn to interact and work together.
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