We Are the Police

On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always uphold the Constitution, the community and the agency I serve, so help me God. ~Oath of Honor

[tonystarketernal3000]

Someone in my agency gets shot and killed while on duty….

I - it’s hard to comprehend that, to be honest. From the time we start, they train us on what to do if you have an active shooter, but in the twelve (12) years that this agency’s been around, we’ve never had that happen. 

We’ve never had someone injured or killed. 

So when you have someone who dons the same uniform as you get shot and killed while doing the same thing they do everyday, it’s a hard hit. 

That blue uniform stained red. 

That’s not something we thought to see. Yeah, sure. We talk about “what-ifs” and possibilities, but for it to finally happen? And we know that this won’t be the last shooting. Because now that some asshole decided to start it, it will have a Domino Effect. It will happen again. 

They’re gonna be training us for more things, now. And there’s talk about having us armed. 

By this time next year, there will be armed TSOs on checkpoint. There’s no doubt about that. Not everyone, but some. 

I keep expecting to see my friends discussing it, but, to them, it’s just some TSA agent. To me, it’s a co-worker. Maybe not one I knew personally, but we all work under the same agency. Someone like the same people I see everyday. 

And we have people at JFK that transferred from LAX. And you have to wonder: did they know Gerardo Hernandez? Did they work with him? 

What were Gerardo’s last thoughts? To go into work like everyday, not knowing that you’re not going to go home to your wife and two kids? Did he die instantly? Did he die on impact? Did he bleed out and lay there thinking as this crazy fuck went on to shoot more of his co-workers?

With all of this, we do know one thing: this isn’t the last time this will happen in TSA to my fellow officers. But we can only hope that next time we can take them down before they can take us down.

"No words can explain the horror that we experience today." - John Pistole

[wearethepolice]

Police Receive "Extra Backup" from Unlikely Source

Police could soon be getting some extra backup — from their cars.

Ford Motor Co. has a new surveillance system for police cars that automatically sounds a chime, locks the doors and puts up the windows if it detects someone approaching the car from behind. The system — which Ford is patenting — is the first of its kind.

“It’s like insurance. You hope you never need it. But if you do, it gives the officer a few extra seconds of warning,” says Marc Ellison, vice president of operations at Auburn, Calif.-based InterMotive Inc., which helped Ford develop it.

The new system, “Surveillance Mode,” allows an officer to use them while the car is parked. An image from the backup camera is beamed onto the rearview mirror, so the officer can keep an eye on the rear of the car. If someone comes too close, four sensors on the rear bumper will detect them. The system works during the day and at night, when officers are often the most vulnerable. It can be turned off if officers are in high traffic areas with a lot of pedestrians.

Randy Freiburger got the idea last August while accompanying Yoon Nam, a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Nam was asked to respond to a report of a possible drug offense in a gritty area of Compton, Calif. She told Freiburger to stay in the car and radio for help if he needed it while she went to talk to the suspect. When the suspect took off running and Nam followed him, Freiburger found himself alone, with another suspect approaching him.

Nam tried not to lose sight of Freiburger, and she radioed for help. Both suspects were eventually caught and convicted of drug crimes. But a shaken Freiburger wanted to help make police feel less vulnerable when they’re on patrol.

No one keeps track of the number of police officers killed each year in their cars, but it’s not uncommon for criminals to target officers there. In 2011, Virginia Tech police officer Deriek Crouse was fatally shot in his parked patrol car at close range while conducting a traffic stop on campus. Earlier this year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology officer Sean Collier was also killed in his cruiser, allegedly by the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings.

No cars with the new system had been sold as of mid-July, but Ford hopes it will give police departments another reason to consider its cars.

(SOURCE)

[wearethepolice]

LAS VEGAS –  A Las Vegas police officer who was rescuing a hiker stranded in an off-limits area of a mountain northwest of the city died after falling from a helicopter hoist line Monday night.

At an emotional news conference Tuesday, police offered new details about the accident that killed search and rescue officer David Vanbuskirk, 36, at Mount Charleston.

Rescuers responded shortly before 9 p.m. to reports that a hiker was disoriented and stranded on a rocky ledge just above Mary Jane Falls. The area was marked with signs warning hikers to stay out or face fines, according to Jay Nichols, spokesman for Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.

After landing, Vanbuskirk attached a safety harness to the stranded man, who was hiking alone. He signaled to the four rescue workers in the helicopter above to hoist them both up from the craggy ledge, but then somehow detached from the line in midair and fell a "non-survivable" distance to the ground below, officials said.

The hiker was safely rescued and is being interviewed, police said.

The mood was somber among officers, who have not lost one of their own in the line of duty since 2009. Officers Tuesday wore black bands over their badges in honor of their fallen comrade.

"We're a big family, a close family, and this is going to be trying on us for quite a while," Las Vegas police Assistant Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters shortly after the accident. "We will survive it. We'll come back together, and hopefully in my lifetime, it will never happen again."

Vanbuskirk grew up in the Las Vegas area, was married and lived in Henderson. He had worked for the department since 1999, and had served on the search and rescue team since 2007.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie said Vanbuskirk had performed "dozens" of rescues like the one that killed him Monday. Las Vegas rescue workers have completed 130 helicopter rescues in the past 12 months.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said Vanbuskirk's death was "a tragic reminder of the dangers our first responders are exposed to on a daily basis."

"His service to his community, state, and country will not be forgotten," Sandoval said in a statement.

On Twitter, U.S. Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada called Vanbuskirk a hero.

Others in the police department also praised him.

"He was an exceptionally fine officer," police spokesman Bill Cassell said.

(FULL STORY)

[wearethepolice]

Off-duty NYPD officer Joseph Pritchard killed in early-morning accident on the Long Island Expressway

The crash occurred at 2:24 a.m. on Monday in the Dix Hills-East Half Hollow Hills area. 

Authorities are investigating a fatal, early morning accident involving two trucks on the Long Island Expressway.

An off-duty NYPD officer was killed when a commercial vehicle plowed into his pickup truck on the Long Island Expressway early Monday, cops said.

Joseph Pritchard, an eight-year veteran assigned to the Midtown South Precinct, had stopped his 2008 Dodge truck while driving westbound between exits 51 and 52 near Dix Hills around 2:20 a.m., police sources said.

A box truck heading in the same direction then smashed into Prichard's parked pickup, Suffolk County police said. The horrific collision caused both vehicles to burst into flames. 

Prichard, 30, of North Babylon, died at the scene, cops said. The driver of the box truck, Eduardo Garcia, 34, of the Bronx, was taken to Huntington Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, cops said.

The box truck was owned by Barakat Trucking of New Jersey, sources said.

Investigators are trying to determine why Pritchard stopped his vehicle on the expressway.

SOURCE

[wearethepolice]

1 police officer fatally shot, 2 wounded near Louisiana casino

CHARENTON, La. --Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies who were responding to a mobile home fire near a south Louisiana casino, authorities said.

A Chitimacha tribal officer was pronounced dead at the scene of the shootings near Charenton, while two St. Mary's Parish sheriff's deputies were critically wounded and taken to local hospitals, said Louisiana State Police Trooper Stephen Hammons.

Hammons said the officers were responding to a fire at a mobile home near the Cypress Bayou Casino when the unidentified man allegedly shot them.

The casino is run by the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana and is less than a quarter-mile from the scene of the shootings. Hammons said the shootings occurred near but not on tribal land.

"Everybody is just in shock. It's small-town America," said Jacqueline Junca, the tribe's secretary and treasurer.

Police didn't immediately release the names of the suspect and the officers.

Tribe councilman Toby Darden said the slain officer was married and had two grown children, but he declined to give his name.

"He's a real great guy. Extremely dedicated to his job. Very brave," Darden said.

He was one of seven full-time officers who patrol a 260-acre reservation that has roughly 150 homes, a grocery store, a small school and government offices.

"Everybody knows the officers personally," Darden said. "It's devastating."

Darden and Junca said they didn't know the identity of the suspect, but Junca doubted he was one of the tribe's 1,200 members, roughly half of whom live on the reservation.

"We're a small tribe," she said. "If it was somebody from here, we would know that already."

Access to and from the casino was restricted for roughly 90 minutes as a precautionary measure while police responded to the shooting, said casino spokeswoman Nancy Herrington. Charenton is located about 45 miles southeast of Lafayette.

"We are very much in business and have been," Herrington said later Saturday. "We have events tonight. All of those are taking place."

A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office and a tribal police dispatcher referred questions about the shootings to the State Police.

"We've got a lot of unanswered questions," State Police Capt. Doug Cain said.

According to Hammons, one of the injured deputies was taken to a hospital in New Orleans and the other was taken to a Lafayette hospital.

SOURCE

[wearethepolice]

Police officer fatally shot near Sacramento

A police officer was fatally shot Tuesday morning in the town of Galt near Sacramento.

The incident began as a burglary investigation after police received a report of someone leaving an apartment building with property.

A Galt police officer responding to the scene near F and 2nd streets saw a person fitting the description of the robber.

According to a preliminary investigation, the suspect shot the officer, then turned the gun on himself.

The officer was taken to a local hospital, but both the officer and suspect are now confirmed to be dead.

SOURCE

[wearethepolice]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Moviegoers at a San Diego theater ducked for cover as police stormed in during a movie and shot and wounded an armed domestic violence suspect pretending to be a patron.

The lights came on suddenly during a Saturday matinee screening of "Les Miserables" at Reading Cinemas Carmel Mountain in northern San Diego and two officers who had been going theater-to-theater spotted their suspect among the approximately 15 moviegoers, most of whom quickly hit the floor and started inching toward exits, police and witnesses said.

The suspect,Tom Billodeaux of Escondido, 20, at first obeyed the officer who approached him and put his empty hands up, but then "lowered them into his lap. . .raised a handgun, and turned it toward the officer," police said in a statement.

The officer, who has been with the department for about 18 months, shot Billodeaux in the chest and arm, police said.

Billodeaux became the target of an intense police search after witnesses reported seeing him get into a fight with his girlfriend at her workplace. Co-workers and witnesses helped the woman get away safely, but Billodeaux threatened them with a gun and ran to the shopping plaza, police said.

"There were 20 police cars blocking the entrance, then the fire truck and the ambulance rushed in," the owner of the Nickel City arcade, said. "Then we saw seven cops with what looked like rifles, then paramedics went into the theater."

"The officers thought their lives were threatened," Captain Terry McManus said, "and more importantly, they thought the lives of others were in jeopardy."

McManus said the gunman never made any threats to others in the theater. He said the man had left a suicide note at his Escondido home before going to his girlfriend's workplace to confront her.

FULL STORY

[wearethepolice]

Driver Attempts to Run Over Dallas Officer in Parking Lot

A driver attempted to run over a Dallas police officer who was patrolling an apartment building on early Sunday morning.

Dallas police say that Officer Deleon was working in an off-duty capacity, but was in full uniform at the time of the incident. He approached two men who were trying to break into a car in the apartment’s parking lot around 12:15 a.m. The address of the apartment is withheld on the police report.

Officer Deleon drew his weapon, told the men he was a police officer and commanded them to surrender, according to police. The two suspects jumped into a red or maroon Monte Carlo parked next to the car they were attempting to burglarize. The driver accelerated and drove directly toward Deleon. Deleon pushed himself off the car and jumped to safety.

Police say the suspects, who have not been identified, fled the location.

SOURCE

[wearethepolice]

OFF-DUTY OFFICER SHOOTS GUN-WIELDING MAN - FAILS TO MAKE HEADLINES

On Sunday, December 17, 2012, 2 days after the CT shooting, a man went to a restaurant in San Antonio to kill his ex-girlfriend. After he shot her, most of the people in the restaurant fled next door to the local movie theatre. The gunman followed and entered the theatre to build his victim tally. He began shooting and the people began screaming.

Why wasn't this a lead story in the national news, as well?

There was an off-duty deputy at the theatre. She pulled out her weapon and shot the man four times before he had the chance to build on that tally. Since the story made the point that the best thing to stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun, the media treated it as though it never happened.

The city is giving this deputy a medal next week.

[wearethepolice]

Gunshots killed Penn Hills police Officer Crawshaw instantly, pathologist testifies

A gunshot wound just below the left eye of Penn Hills police Officer Michael Crawshaw killed him instantly, a forensic pathologist testified Wednesday.

The wound, which lacerated Crawshaw‘s brain stem and fractured his skull, caused “instant, immediate, incapacitating death,” said Todd Luckasevic, a forensic pathologist at the Allegheny County Medical Examiner‘s Office.

Luckasevic‘s testimony highlighted the fifth day of Ronald Robinson‘s capital murder trial, but forced Crawshaw‘s family from Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski‘s courtroom because of the graphic photographs prosecutors displayed to the jury.

Police say Robinson, 35, of Homewood killed Crawshaw about 8:25 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2009 moments after he killed Danyal Morton, 40, of Penn Hills inside a nearby house over a $500 drug debt.

Prosecutors say Robinson sprayed Crawshaw‘s white and gold police car with 13 rounds from an AK-47 military-style assault rifle, striking the officer twice — once in the head and once in the upper arm.

Earlier Wednesday, Luckasevic testified that Morton was shot four times in the chest and abdomen. Any of the wounds were potentially fatal, Luckasevic said.

Robinson‘s defense attorney Veronica Brestensky has not disputed most of the facts in the case, and Robinson does not deny his role in the shootings. Brestensky, however, believes her client should be convicted of second-degree murder rather than first-degree because Robinson killed Crawshaw while attempting to flee the scene of a felony.

The trial will continue Wednesday afternoon with additional forensic experts expected to testify.

[wearethepolice]

NYPD officers shot in separate incidents

NEW YORK -- Three (3) New York City police officers were recovering Friday, hours after being shot in separate incidents that left one suspect dead and four under arrest. 

The shootings occurred in a one hour span Thursday night. 

"In recent weeks, we've heard some people say that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. But sometimes the good guys get shot — and sometimes, they are killed," Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters Thursday. "Tonight, thank God, three good guys — three New York City police officers, who acted heroically — are going to make it."

Pichardo was working off-duty at the car dealership when two men, one armed with a handgun, entered while two other men waited outside in a getaway car.

After the two feigned interest in buying a car, one of them pulled out a handgun and ordered Pichardo and an employee onto the floor in a back office and started to ransack the place. "A few minutes after the robbery, Officer Pichardo stood up and grabbed the gunman, who fired, striking the officer in the right thigh," Kelly said.

Although wounded, Pichardo and the other employee wrestled the gunman to the ground and disarmed him. His accomplice fled in the getaway car with the two others, but they were stopped a short distance away and arrested.

Pichardo was in stable condition at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.

The Brooklyn shooting, which left a suspect dead, took place at about 7:30 p.m. at the Fort Hamilton Parkway subway station at 62nd Street, according to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Two plainclothes officers assigned to Transit District 34, Michael Levay and Lukasz Kozicki, were on patrol when they observed a man moving between subway cars, a violation of transit regulations, Kelly said.

As the train approached the station, Kelly said the officers approached the man, who was sitting down, and asked him for identification. The man stood up and appeared to reach for his wallet, but instead "pulled a 9-millimeter Taurus handgun from his waistband and opened fire," Kelly said.

Kozicki, 32, was struck three times, once in each of his upper thighs and once in the groin. Levay, 27, was shot in the lower back, but his vest stopped the bullet. Kelly said he managed to return fire, killing the suspect. A passenger in the same car was grazed in the leg. No one else was injured.

"A witness said that the gunman appeared to notice the officer's bullet-resistant vest, and, as a result, aimed low before he fired," Kelly said.

Both officers were listed in stable condition at Lutheran Hospital.

[wearethepolice]

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC -- Some Lowcountry residents are criticizing the decision to add police officers to North Charleston elementary schools, but the city’s mayor said he won’t apologize for taking action to keep students safe.

Citizens United for Public Schools said Wednesday that it was a “hasty, ill-advised and possibly injurious” initiative to add officers to the city’s 21 public elementary schools.

CUPS supporters cited a number of potential issues associated with the increased police presence, such as officers rather than educators enforcing discipline.

“An increased police presence may aggravate the situation in some schools and make our schools look and operate more like detention facilities than like places of learning,” said Dot Scott, president of the Charleston NAACP.

CUPS specifically took issue with North Charleston police, citing a history of racial profiling(*). “The chance of parents being ‘profiled’ simply for going to their children’s schools is frighteningly possible,” Scott said.

Summey, along with the Police Chief, was also out of the office but released a statement saying police were in schools so students can focus on learning and so parents will know their children are in a safe environment.

He said he would not be dissuaded by the voices of a few, nor would he risk students’ safety.

“Finger-pointing and name-calling never solves problems, and it is a sad day when we are criticized for taking action to protect the most vulnerable among us, our young children. How could we live with ourselves if a child was harmed and nothing was done to try to prevent it?”

Summey proposed the $2 million plan to hire and equip police officers for the city’s public elementary schools. He did so in response to the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six adults were killed. City Council approved that plan.

FULL STORY

[wearethepolice]

Off-Duty Officer Run Over by Suspect

This story has received two follow-ups since its initial occurrence on January 1st. 

CHARLESTON, WV -- A State Police trooper, who received a head injury Monday after he tried to stop a shoplifter in St. Albans, is responsive and can recognize faces, authorities said.

Police are searching for the woman who struck the trooper with her carat the mall in St. Albans. The trooper had been shopping off-duty and was in plain clothes when he became involved in apprehending the suspect, 35-year-old Garretson. The trooper followed Garretson to her car and got behind it attempting to prevent her from leaving. 

Garretson got inside her car, reversed over the trooper and fled.

Baylous said doctors gave the trooper and his wife encouraging news on Tuesday. He is heavily sedated and is breathing with the aid of a ventilator.

The trooper's injury hasn't required surgery, but doctors will continue to monitor him in the coming days watching for any complications.

The trooper's wife thanked everyone for thoughts and prayers. "She said she could feel those prayers," Baylous said. "She's very excited about the possibility of a full recovery."

The trooper has worked for the State Police around 20 years, and most recently, out of the State Police Headquarters in Institute. They previously worked in several different detachments as a criminal investigator.

FULL STORY

FOLLOW-UP A. (2013.01.01)

CHARLESTON, WV -- A woman accused of injuring an off-duty State Police trooper when she backed her car into him and fled in St. Albans turned herself in on Wednesday State Police arrested Jennifer Elaine Garretson, 35, and charged her with felony malicious wounding.

Sgt. Aaron Nichols remains on a ventilator in the neurological intensive care unit at CAMC General Hospital. He is responsive and can open his eyes, his younger brother, Jake Nichols, told reporters outside the hospital Wednesday.

FULL STORY

FOLLOW-UP B. (2013.01.03)

CHARLESTON, WV -- A State Police trooper with severe head trauma was breathing without a ventilator in the hospital Thursday, authorities said.

Doctors at CAMC General Hospital removed Sgt. Aaron Nichols from a neurological ventilator for the first time since he received blunt force trauma to the head while trying to apprehend an alleged shoplifter in St. Albans on Monday.

State Police Cpl. Jimmy Mitchell spoke with Nichols Thursday morning and the injured trooper nodded and understood him.

FULL STORY

[wearethepolice]

MOUNT PLEASANT — Police Chief Harry Sewell wiped away a tear as he spoke at a ceremony Friday marking his retirement after more than 20 years with the department.

“I love all of you. Godspeed,” he said.

Starting Tuesday, Sewell will become the new deputy senior chaplain at the Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy. Sewell, 52, said he would pray for Jesus and God to protect the town.

“It’s been a good ride. Thank you all so much,” he said.

Fire Chief Herb Williams fought back tears as he bid farewell to Sewell.

“This is a really tough time for me. Me and Harry came up through the ranks together,” he said.

Maj. Carl Ritchie, a 24-year veteran of the department, will take over as chief on Tuesday. He will oversee about 149 sworn officers and 43 civilian personnel.

Council members joined about 200 town employees gathered in the Town Hall gymnasium to honor Sewell. “We owe you a debt of gratitude and we thank you so much,” said Mayor Billy Swails.

Sewell became the town’s seventh police chief in 2007. He succeeded Roddy Perry, for whom the town law enforcement center is named. Perry died after a battle with cancer.

Speakers described Sewell as positive, personable, witty and a man of great integrity.

Town staffers said Sewell loved to tell bad jokes. Chief Financial Officer Charlie Potts kidded that at first he worried that the chief was retiring to become a comedian, which drew laughs from the crowd.

Town Administrator Eric DeMoura said Sewell exemplified service to others above self. Council members Linda Page and John Burn hugged Sewell after speaking about their relationship with him. Thomasena Stokes-Marshall, also a council member, described Sewell as a friend and a decent human being who exemplified leadership.

Noting Sewell’s new calling, Councilman Chris Nickels said, “Spread the gospel. It is a great commission.”

Ritchie became emotional as he recalled when he and Sewell were sergeants working 12-hour shifts. Sewell said he knows the department is in good hands.

Sewell and Ritchie saluted one another as part of the ceremony marking the transition. The outgoing chief pinned the department eagles on Ritchie’s uniform.

Sewell then left the gymnasium as he walked with family past a line of officers assembled in his honor.

FULL STORY HERE

[wearethepolice]

COLUMBIA POLICE CHIEF TO RETIRE, REAPPLY FOR JOB 

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Columbia’s top cop says he is retiring but plans to try to return to the job.

Police Chief Randy Scott said in a letter released Saturday that he would retire from the police department effective Jan. 1 but would reapply for the job.

Earlier this year, Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins retired and was reinstated.

Scott has been chief since 2010. He says the decision was based on changes to the South Carolina Police Retirement System that limit financial earnings for all retirees, starting in the new year.

Under legislative rules, Scott must take a minimum 15-day leave of absence from the police department before seeking to get his job back.

SOURCE

[wearethepolice]

NEW YORK — When revelers pack Times Square for the annual New Year’s eve celebration tonight, police will be giving them lots of company.

Each year, the New York Police Department assigns thousands of extra patrols to festivities to control the crowd and watch for any signs of trouble. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world are expected to pack into the bow-tie stretch of streets in Midtown Manhattan to see the crystal ball drop and ring in 2013.

Security in Times Square has become an obsession for the NYPD in the post-9/11 world, especially since the botched attempted car bombing there in the summer of 2010. More recently, details emerged in another case in Florida saying that one suspect considered Times Square a potential target.

“We think it’s the safest place in the world on New Year’s Eve,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told The Associated Press.

Believing that the so-called “Crossroads of the World” is always in the crosshairs of would-be terrorists, the nation’s largest police department has turned securing the event into a science.

FULL STORY HERE

[tonystarketernal3000]

[wearethepolice]

On my honor,

I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character or the public trust. 

I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. 

I will always uphold the Constitution, the community and the agency I serve, so help me God.

~Law Enforcement Oath of Honor