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Police, Canine Partners Have Cool System To Beat The Heat
Local law enforcement are taking extra steps to make sure their K-9 partners are cool in the extreme heat.
Canines typically stay in the car most of the day, unless they’re on a call, training or exercising. As with most departments, the Greensboro Police K-9 handlers leave their cars running all the time. Plus, they have an elaborate system inside each of the cars, called Hot N Pop, that alerts them if their cars get to hot.
Officer Anthony Price said his partner, Jesse, gives 110 percent all of the time.
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State Police Troop L gets 10 new troopers to patrol the north shore
State Police will have a more visible presence on the roads of St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington and St. Helena parishes as 10 new troopers take to the highways that cross the north shore.
The troopers, assigned to Troop L in Mandeville, are among 74 new recruits who will patrol roads across the state after graduating from the State Police Training Academy on Friday.
“We have never had this type of manpower,” said Capt. Oleander Smith, commander of Troop L. “We’re truly lucky. Our local legislators have been good to us.”
Troop L, with the support of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and other local agencies, has been pushing for more troopers since the north shore population swelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Studies done in the aftermath of the storm showed, based on population and the number of miles traveled by motorists, Troop L’s 50 troopers were covering an area that needed about 70 units on the road, Smith said.
When staffing was thin troopers were forced to be reactive, rushing from one accident scene to another with the assistance of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, Smith said. As the troop has grown, these troopers have been able to step up their presence on the highways to potentially deter those who would speed or drive unsafely, he said.
The new recruits, combined with others who joined over the past year, have swelled Troop L’s ranks to 67 troopers, Smith said. By putting more troopers on the road, particularly in trouble spots, Smith said he hopes to cut down on accidents, drunken driving and speeding. “People got to the point where they didn’t see us and they did their own thing,” Smith said. “Now we’ve got to get people back into the groove and realize the speed limit is not 80, it’s 70.”
The money for the new troopers was included in this year’s budget.
The new recruits will spend at least 45 days training with veteran troopers before being sent out on patrol alone, Smith said.
The new troopers are: Kevin M. Barnes Jr., Jeremiah V. Bell, Brett M. Dupre, Matthew S. Graham, Denis J. Indest III, Marlena A. Lee, Jeremy J. Price, Eric K. Thaxton, Ernest C. Wilkes and Nicholas Yatcilla.
Police get an earful of unusual excuses for speeding
Grab the Imodium, folks.
If you’re being honest with the police, it sounds as if you’ve got digestive problems.
Whether you’ve got “explosive diarrhea” or just really have to go — both actual excuses given to police officers — bathroom emergencies are among the most common excuses Lincoln police hear when stopping leadfoots.
But apparently, not everyone is asked why he or she is speeding. One man sent the police chief an e-mail, upset the officer didn’t ask for an excuse.
“I find it unfair that an officer gives a person a ticket for speeding without asking the reason why they were going above the speed limit, or even having a conversation about it,” he wrote.
Chief Tom Casady blogged about the note, saying he thought his officers could come up with an interesting list of excuses they’ve heard.
We asked them to do just that, and here’s a list of their best:
1. It’s the shoes
“I once stopped a guy for going 11-16 (mph) over, and he told me he had just purchased some new steel toe boots for work, and he was speeding because he didn’t realize his boots were weighing down his gas pedal.” – Officer Joshua White, Southeast Team
2. Preempt the strike
“I know there are the standard excuses, but I once had a girl tell me she was speeding becahse she had terrible diarrhea and she was rushing home before it struck again. After looking at her face I believed her and let her go.” – Officer Jon Rennerfeldt, Center Team
3. I always do this
“One driver didn’t even try, saying ‘I always drive this speed down the street.’” – Sgt. Craig Price, Northeast Team
4. Road raged
“It was road rage, and I was trying to get away from the other vehicle.” – Sgt. Craig Price, Northeast Team
5. Doc said I could
“I stopped someone for speeding. He immediately stated he was in a hurry to get to the ‘doctor.’ I went back to my cruiser to scratch out an Official (ticket) and came back, and he told me there was someone on the telephone that wanted to speak to me. He had the phone on speaker and had his ‘doctor’ on the phone, telling me he had an appointment and he was late. He still received the Official.” – Officer Brytten Kraft, Northwest Team
6. Tell it like it is
“A general contractor was stopped in the morning for driving mroe than 20 mph over the speed limit in a construction zone, then again that afternoon by the same officer on the other side of town for going more than 20 mph over the speed limit again. So what did he say? ‘I know I shouldn’t be speeding, but I’m really in a hurry.’” – Officer Conan Schafer, Center Team
7. For a good cause
“Stopped Christmas Eve going 20 mph over the speed limit, one driver said: ‘We’re delivering food to needy people.’” – Officer Conan Schafer, Center Team
8. She’s having my baby
“I haven’t heard it a lot, but I had a very young guy tell me that his girlfriend was having a baby. (There was no one in the car with him.)” – Officer Erin Spilker, Family Crimes investigator
9. Shopping emergency
“My favorite was a few days prior to Christmas. A woman told me she was speeding because she was in a hurry to get all of her Christmas shopping done before Christmas. I had a little gift of my own for her!” – Officer Robert Brenner, Northwest Team
10. In the same ‘vein’
“Another driver said: ‘I need to give blood at the blood bank.’” – Officer Bryon Pachunka, Northwest Team
Pawnee adds K-9 to police force
PAWNEE — Pawnee police officer Shawn Burnley felt strongly that he wanted to name his partner and the department’s newest member — a 76-pound, 18-month-old, Belgian Malinois dog — in honor of the late Earl Price, a Pawnee police officer who died in November 1989 after being struck by a drunk driver.
Current and retired Pawnee officers deemed the move appropriate, as did Price’s family members.
So on Sunday, Earl, the first police dog for the Pawnee force, was outfitted with a bullet and stab-resistant vest. On Nov. 7, Earl and Burnley will graduate from a 10-week canine training program offered by the Illinois State Police.
“Police dogs help in many ways,” Burnley said, such as finding mising persons and assisting with arrests, crowd control, drug searches and other efforts. Timed tests showed Earl can run 38 miles an hour and jump 5 feet high into the air.
The dog’s vest came from Illinois Vest-A-Dog, a non-profit organization based in Palos Heights. Money for the $825 protective gear was donated by Vicki and Hal Harrington of New Lenox. The Harringtons and Lee Harrison, Vest-a-Dog director, were among those attending a ceremony Sunday marking the donation of the vest.
Earl is the fourth dog in the state to be fitted with vests paid for by the Harringtons. Longtime dog owners, the couple said they want to support police officers and their canine partners.
A seventh-grade Sunday school class taught by Vicki Harrington raised money for one of the vests the Harringtons donated by collecting used ink cartridges for computers.
“The pastor allowed the vest to be presented during a Sunday church service. The officer and the dog walked down the aisle,” Vicki said. “The students helped the environment by collecting ink cartridges and helped law enforcement.”
Male Malinois weigh 65 to 75 pounds while females weigh between 55 and 65 pounds. They’re bred for personal protection, police work, search and rescue and sport work in the United States, Belgium and other countries.
Drug forfeiture money from a state task force helped buy Earl, Burnley said.
Earl’s name is on the squad car Burnley drives, and the dog rides in the back of the car, which has been converted to a mobile kennel.
Burnley said Earl Price was struck by a drunk driver while investigating a car accident.
“I didn’t know him but heard many good things about him and that he was a great guy,” Burnley said.
Harrison and her husband, Xavier, started Illinois Vest-a-Dog in June 2003, after 30 years each in law enforcement. She said bullet- and stab-resistant vests offer protection for human officers, too.
“Police dogs are more than just an investigative tool. They are their officer’s partner. They face the same danger at the same time. By protecting the canine, we protect the officer,” Harrison said.
Want to help?
Illlinois Vest-a-Dog and volunteers pay for administrative costs so that when an individual or group makes a donation, it goes directly to buying a vest for a police dog.
Individuals can make tax-deductible donations, or groups can hold fundraisers with proceeds going to Vest-a-Dog.
For information, call 708-250-3311 or visit www.ivestadog.org.
Agencies team up for traffic safety push
The Cincinnati Police Department and Ohio State Highway Patrol say a joint effort to reduce traffic accidents and save lives has been a huge success.
Nearly 4,000 traffic citations have been written over the past two months.
The patrols specifically targeted highways and state routes in the Cincinnati area, where speeding is common.
Cincinnati Police said the Ohio State Highway Patrol ended up being their secret weapon. OSP troopers were brought in to help catch those who were driving too fast.
A lot of drivers usually look out for a Cincinnati Police car when they’re speeding, but officials said they’re not necessarily trying to spot an OSP vehicle.
“Some of my officers will talk about that every once in a while,” said Lt. Wayne Price of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. “They’ll do a double take on the car or on the uniform, not really expecting to see a trooper walk up the car.”
Cincinnati Police Captain Dan Gerard was in agreement. “We’re in the City of Cincinnati all the time,” he said. “Sometimes we get taken for granted. You expect to see a Cincinnati Police car in the city. But when you see a State Trooper car, you kind of sit up a little straighter in your car, check to see if your belts are on.”
Captain Gerard said the two agencies have been working together to patrol highways and state routes in the Cincinnati metro area for the past two months.
Both agencies said their efforts have paid off by reducing traffic crashes by 67 percent compared to the same time period last year.
Officers and troopers issued 3,774 traffic citations and 1,581 warnings. They also arrested 199 people for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Another 25 people were arrested for drug violations.
“We made several weapon and drug arrests during the course of this. When you stop that many cars, you’re going to run across some people that are doing some things that they’re not supposed to,” Gerard explained.
The joint effort was not about ticketing drivers in order to get them to pay a fine.
Lt. Price said it’s ultimately about saving lives.
“We, or any other department, [do not] want to go knocking on the door at midnight to tell a loved one you’re gone because you made a bad decision,” Lt. Price said.
The two agencies will combine forces again in October.
The OSP is also launching a permanent plan to conduct what they’re calling a low-manpower OVI checkpoint in an effort to continue the push to keep our roads safe.
