Shot cop’s miracle

The Brooklyn cop nearly killed in a bloody gun battle with a teen shooter walked out of a Manhattan hospital yesterday to the deafening applause of his brothers in blue.

“Thank you,” a teary-eyed Officer Richard Ramirez whispered as he hobbled on crutches through the two columns of more than 150 shouting cops in dress uniforms that lined NYU Hospital’s entrance on East 34th Street. Many were Ramirez’s pals from the 75th Precinct station house.

“I’m going to be with my family. That’s it,” said Ramirez, 29, flanked by his loved ones and wearing a jersey from his beloved NFL JetsRamirez had been hospitalized since being hit twice in the right leg during an Oct. 17 firefight in Brooklyn.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/shot_cop_miracle_uEng164GWH3phHaLCt0z4L#ixzz19px5yaDR

Praise, scorn heaped on women who helped cops

Three women heard gunshots.

What they did next made them heroes to many people but outcasts to others – including some of their neighbors.

Rose Dodson was awakened by gunfire and tires squealing that night, June 29.

Moments later, her roommate, Delores Keen, watched a man leap over a fence near her apartment. In the distance, at 50th Street and 23rd Avenue in east Tampa, she saw the emergency lights of a police cruiser twirling in the dark, but no officer was in sight.

Both knew something was wrong and stepped outside the safety of the apartment to investigate. A friend, Renee Roundtree, who had been walking to a nearby store, joined them.

Lying on the ground beside the police cruiser, the women found two officers, David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab.

Keen called a 911 dispatcher. The women tried to give comfort to the mortally wounded officers and waited for the massive police response that followed.

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Hurt trooper: ‘It was so quick … the car was just there’

A state trooper who was hit while helping someone on the side of the road is speaking out about the incident just as a new law takes effect to get people to slow down when they see emergency crews.

“I’m a lot better than what it could’ve been,” says Trooper Brandon Lee of the Washington State Patrol, calling the roadside crash a “scary” situation.

Lee says he is still hurting from his near-miss on the highway.

“I flew back in the seat then flew forward and hit the driver side window,” he says.

Trooper Lee has a sore back and neck, and he couldn’t work for a week.

He had pulled over to help a driver stuck on the side of the road when another car smashed into his patrol car just as he was getting out.

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Accident is a lesson for Las Vegas police officer

He lost his partner.

He endured a year of physical and mental rehab.

JASON BEAN/REVIEW-JOURNAL Las Vegas police officer David Nesheiwat talks about his recovery after last year's patrol car wreck that killed his partner, Milburn "Millie" Beitel.

He faced the chance he could never be a cop again.

And when he walked back into a police substation Nov. 2 to work a patrol shift again, it was like starting all over again.

“It felt like my first day on the street,” Las Vegas police officer David Nesheiwat said .

The 26-year-old is back at work patrolling downtown, continuing the job he said he never considered quitting even after the October 2009 wreck that killed his partner, Milburn “Millie” Beitel.

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Caddo sheriff’s office holds gun safety course for kids

Every fan of “A Christmas Story” knows what happens when a kid gets a firearm for Christmas — he’s liable to shoot his eye out. Unless, of course, he’s been trained in firearm safety and handling.

Saturday morning, the Caddo sheriff’s office held it’s First Gun Class for kids at the Sheriff’s Regional Law Enforcement Training Academy.

More than a dozen children and their parents showed up to learn about operating a weapon and firing on the range.

The class was designed for parents and children who may have a new firearm underneath the tree this year.

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Hamilton PD SWAT places first in national contest

Hamilton Police Department’s 25-member SWAT Team was named the top national team at the 2010 International SWAT Round-Up competition held in November in Orlando, officials announced this week.

More than 50 teams were tested on tactical skill, judgment and fitness level.

This is the fifth year Hamilton’s team has competed, and the second time since 2008 it has been named the winner, officials said.

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Massachusetts State Police: Outpouring has far exceeded theft of Christmas toys

Four days after a thief or thieves made off with 1,500 toys from a Toys for Tots storage container in Burlington, a flurry of donations have “far surpassed” the amount stolen, State Police announced today.

State Police have collected about $114,000 in donations and hundreds of toys as of this morning. Workers will continue sorting and distributing the toys to children throughout the day, officials said.

The Toys ‘R’ Us tractor-trailer brought $15,000 worth of toys to the Toys for Tots warehouse in Burlington today.

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Toys keep U.S. Capitol Police dogs working

U.S. Capitol Police K9 Technician Timothy Cullen with his dog Oakley. (Courtesy, U.S. Capitol Police - )

The Capitol Police are changing the look of their police cars. One of the things I liked a lot about their old K9 cars was that the name of the dog was painted on the rear passenger door. I haven’t seen this on the new cars. Can you find out more about the Capitol Police dogs? How many of them are there? How do they get their names? Do they live with the officers?

- Melanie Dann, Washington

 

 

Never fear, the dogs’ names will soon be gracing the vehicles. The names are decals and will be stuck on the rear doors as soon as they arrive.

It isn’t just the paint job that’s new, said Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, public information officer. The Ford Crown Victoria K9 vehicles have several nifty features. There are state-of-the-art cages inside to transport the dogs safely, and each vehicle comes with the Hotdog safety system, made by a company called Criminalistics Inc. During the summer, the vehicle’s air-conditioning system keeps the canine occupant comfortable. If the AC fails and the mercury rises, the Hotdog system rolls down the electric windows and sounds the vehicle horn.

Exactly 50 dogs work for the U.S. Capitol Police. They are trained, along with their handlers, at a facility near Blue Plains.

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K-9 course fulfills dream

Ever since Indiana State Trooper Mike Carroll entered law enforcement eight years ago, he wanted to be a K-9 officer.

Those dreams turned to reality Friday morning when he graduated from a 14-week K-9 training course with his new partner, Deezle, an 18-month-old German shepherd.

“I’ve looked forward to it since starting my law enforcement career,” Carroll said.

Getting there wasn’t easy.

Carroll’s career started with four years at the Kendallville Police Department, where there were no openings for the K-9 program.

As a state trooper, he spent more than three months raising money for the program, but he wasn’t selected as the next trooper to be a K-9 officer.

But without the fundraising, he never would have become the department’s 31st K-9 officer.

“This is not tax-funded. It’s funded all by donations; … we don’t start off in the red,” Carroll said.

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