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Sorry Exel,
Not interested in getting stoned. : )
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SEVU is working hard to land some major commercial contracts.
I have spoken to George personally at the ASIS show in San Antonio and also Mike, the COO. The VIC "Vehicle Inspection Cam" came out at the right time and appears to be an excellent security tool for law enforcement. What I particularly liked about this is the eye piece. As a cop, you need one eye free to see what is happening around you while the other eye can view what the camera sees.
Judging from the SEVU web site, I noticed that you cannot buy anything directly from SEVU, but instead go through retailers. By going through retailers the price and availability have remained consistent. The color advertizements have been consistent with each web site and of excellent quality. I have visited the supercircuits headquarters here in Texas (Leander) and have asked about the "light bulb camera". It is described as "a popular item", was on display, and the Popular science ad was framed on the wall. I like the retailer outlet philosophy. This way you don't have to deal with bad checks, non-payment etc. Just send the products to retailers and let the retailers deal with the hastles associated with bad customers.
I am glad to see that SEVU is working on the commercial aspects of the parking lot system and not putting all the eggs in the secureview basket. secureview is a great product but will not get the commercial sales. Commercial sales is where SEVU needs to go and this is where they are concentrating their efforts.
Undoubtedly some mistakes have been made in the past and some here continue to DWELL on the PAST. When I need answers, I call or write the company directly. Some here trash the compay publically, then expect to gets answers when they call SEVU. This week SEVU is scheduled to release the Q report. I don't expect to see a very good Q report until the commercial deals go through with contracts. I am a long with expectations that a commercial contract with Target's, Wal-mart, and others will bring this company up to expectations.
Wal-mart and Target are BIG companies. If SEVU can land contracts for parking lot systems with either of these, others will follow. This is my hope and why I am still here. I also use SEVU products with underwater recovery so let's not forget the UW cams. They work and work well. Keep in mind, the parking lot systems are not "light bulbs". They are using the secureview technology by transmitting video over existing electrical wiring and utilizing different cameras, different housings.
See for yourself at the corner of Tyrone and Park Street. While you are there, look across the street at Targets. The next logical questions is how long to wait until you give up on SEVU. As long as SEVU is plugging the commercial contracts and has active testing going on with major companies, I will stay in. It would be foolish to pull out now with so much pending.
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POLICE- Cop sentenced to 24 years
R.I. cop gets 24 years for tipping off drug dealer
Copyright 2002 Boston Herald Inc.
The Boston Herald...02/09/2002
As his family wept, a veteran Rhode Island police officer was taken out of federal court yesterday in Boston to serve 24 years for protecting drug dealers in a scheme netting him $ 25 per pound of their marijuana.
William Sedoma, a former Tiverton police detective, mouthed the words, "I love you," to his daughter as he was led away in handcuffs.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Keeton called Sedoma's crimes an "extraordinarily serious corruption of public trust" and gave him the maximum sentence.
The judge was unmoved by a stack of letters from Tiverton area residents who cited the ex-cop's help in their lives.
Sedoma's wife and ex-wife both attended the sentencing hearing to show their support.
Sedoma's turn to crime "doesn't throw away all the years of good service he gave the town of Tiverton," his attorney, Leslie Feldman-Rumpler, told the court. "The person who he was accounts for something."
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily R. Schulman argued Sedoma's police career was not distinguished.
"The defendant is one who violated his oath as a police officer, violated the safety of officers . . . not in a single incidence, but day after day, year after year," she told the court.
Sedoma used his position to run criminal record checks and registration checks for convicted drug dealer Alan Theberge of Somerset, prosecutors said.
One of the license checks linked a car to a state trooper's undercover vehicle.
Keeton yesterday said the trooper's "life was threatened as a result of Sedoma's conduct."
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Sedoma had tipped off Theberge when his cocaine customers were cooperating with federal investigators.
He also let Theberge know when inspectors intercepted a drug package that Theberge's Arizona supplier had sent.
Six other men who were part of the drug conspiracy protected by Sedoma have yet to face sentencing.
All six opted to cooperate.
Even Sedoma's attorney yesterday seemed baffled to explain why the cop would cross the line to crook. "It's hard to understand how someone goes from being an exceptional police officer to a crime like this," Feldman-Rumpler told the court.
Investigators said ego and money seemed to drive Sedoma's choices.
Those who worked the case noted Sedoma's sentence shows the high standard expected for law enforcement.
"It's a solemn moment," one investigator said.
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POLICE - Search for 50 missing women
Copyright 2002 Sun Media Corporation
The Ottawa Sun...02/09/2002
The fate of 50 women who disappeared from Vancouver without a trace over the past 20 years remained a mystery yesterday as police searched for a third day a ramshackle pig farm feared to hold at least some of the bodies.
Police refused to say what, if any, evidence has been found at the farm in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam, and declined comment on a published report the search was prompted Tuesday when investigators looking for illegal firearms found two of the missing women's IDs.
The search is the most extensive conducted by the task force probing the fate of the missing women, mostly prostitutes and drug addicts, and raised hopes among the victims' families that a resolution to the mystery could soon be at hand
"Of the 50 women who are on the list of missing women, none of those women have been confirmed dead," RCMP Const. Catherine Galliford told reporters yesterday. He also said the property search may continue for "weeks or months."
WORKING NEAR BARN
Inside the 10-acre property, investigators, some wearing white hazardous material protection suits, could be seen working in and around a barn near the back of the property. Animal control personnel were also on site to deal with the livestock, mostly hogs and goats.
No arrests have been made in connection with the missing women, although one of the farm's three registered owners, Robert Pickton, has been charged with several weapons-related offences. He was detained on Tuesday when police went to the farm but was later released.
Police have refused to describe the 52-year-old farmer as a suspect in the case, but said they are not actively searching for any of the property's other owners.
PROSTITUTES, ADDICTS
The 50 missing women at the centre of the probe were all either prostitutes or addicts living and working on Vancouver's drug-infested downtown east side.
The oldest of the cases dates from 1984, the most recent occurred in November 2001, according to police.
The probe has been marked with controversy. It was launched by the Vancouver Police Department, but reorganized last year as a joint effort with the RCMP -- which has jurisdiction over most of Vancouver's suburbs.
Ernie Crey, whose sister Dawn is among the missing, said the women's relatives simply want to know what happened to their loved ones.
"I'm afraid of what may be found here. It fills me full of anxiety, but those feelings aside, I am anxious to learn what it is they'll discover here," Crey told reporters waiting outside the farm's entrance.
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POLICE- Man shot after ramming police car
Cruiser-ramming in Fitchburg leads to jail time
Copyright 2002 Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Inc.
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE...02/09/2002
- A man shot in the neck by Fitchburg police after ramming two cruisers with his own car pleaded guilty to all the charges against him and was sentenced to four years in state prison yesterday.
Charles E. Thore, 23, also must undergo five years' probation after his prison sentence is complete, according to the plea bargain accepted in Worcester Superior Court by Judge James P. Donohue.
Mr. Thore was arrested Oct. 17 after a dramatic confrontation with police on John Fitch Highway that began when off-duty Sgt. Glenn Fossa spotted Mr. Thore driving erratically, Assistant District Attorney Joseph T. Moriarty Jr. said in court yesterday afternoon.
Sgt. Fossa called police and was there when Sgt. John M. Kelly and Officer Matthew M. DiBara arrived on John Fitch Highway. They saw Mr. Thore arguing with his girlfriend, who was pregnant with his child, in a parked Volkswagen Golf.
Police said they saw him hold her in a headlock, choke and slap her because she was breaking up with him.
Officer DiBara tried to stop Mr. Thore by reaching into the car window, but Mr. Thore threw the car into reverse and hit the gas, dragging the officer, who let go after about 25 feet.
Officer Jeffrey J. Howe and Sgt. Kelly moved their cruisers to keep Mr. Thore from leaving the scene, after which Mr. Thore began ramming the police cars with his own vehicle, continuing even after Officer DiBara drew his service weapon.
Mr. Thore rammed Officer Howe's cruiser, lodging it under a tractor-trailer truck stopped in the road. Officer Howe, hearing the Volkswagen's engine revving higher, pulled his own weapon and fired three shots. One bullet struck Mr. Thore in the neck.
Mr. Thore recovered from his injuries and, after an investigation, the Police Department found Officer Howe was justified in using his weapon.
Mr. Thore was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison for two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, one for each of the officers whose cruisers he rammed with his car. The five years' probation, to start as soon as Mr. Thore is released from prison, stem from dragging Officer DiBara.
Mr. Thore also pleaded guilty to drunken driving, driving with a suspended license, driving to endanger, and assault and battery. The jail terms for those offenses will be served concurrently with his state prison sentence, according to the terms of the plea bargain.
During his probation, Mr. Thore will have to undergo drug and alcohol evaluation, undergo psychological evaluation and treatment, and attend and complete a batterers' program.
Mr. Moriarty said Mr. Thore's girlfriend, who did not attend yesterday's hearing, told prosecutors she would have preferred less jail time, but agreed with the recommended treatment during his probation.
Acting Police Chief Charles M. Tasca called the plea bargain a fair and expeditious resolution to the case.
''We're delighted with the outcome,'' he said.
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POLICE - Failure to properly search?
Routine arrest halted by suspect's 9mm gun
Copyright 2002 Times Publishing Company
St. Petersburg Times...02/10/2002
A sheriff's deputy is "scared and shocked" when a handcuffed 18-year-old in the back of a patrol car produces a gun. No one was hurt.
LAND O'LAKES - Pasco County sheriff's deputy Marc Petrucelli thought he was about to be shot, he said.
"(I) was scared and shocked," the 25-year-old deputy wrote Saturday morning in an official report.
He arrested an 18-year-old early Saturday morning during a routine roadside stop at Carpenter's Run and State Road 54, according to the report. He put the teenager in the back of his patrol car and headed for the county jail on U.S. 41 near Gowers Corner.
He didn't know the teen had a gun.
On the way to jail, Petrucelli looked to his back seat. Jarrod Charles Bergeron had wiggled his cuffed hands from behind his back onto his lap, pulled a loaded handgun from his underwear and pointed it at Petrucelli.
"That's when he stopped his vehicle and pulled his weapon on the suspect," said a sheriff's spokesman.
Doll said that "in a matter of seconds" Bergeron dropped his gun and back up patrols arrived to assist Petrucelli.
Bergeron, of 19033 Dove Road in Land O'Lakes, was booked into county jail Saturday at 10:15 a.m. Doll would not comment on whether the Sheriff's Office was going to investigate the incident.
Petrucelli was hired in July 2000.
He and Bergeron first crossed paths about 4:50 a.m. The deputy's report describes the incident as follows:
Bergeron was driving his red 1995 Pontiac Firebird erratically as he headed east on SR 54. A 14-year-old girl was sitting in the front seat.
When Petrucelli stopped the car, he found at Bergeron's feet an open bottle of Smirnoff Ice, a tangy alcoholic drink. He also found a bag of marijuana in Bergeron's left pants pocket.
He talked to Bergeron and the girl and learned that they had sex on two separate occasions in Pasco County.
He arrested Bergeron and searched him. He twiced asked the teen if he had any weapons. Both times Bergeron said no.
Petrucelli didn't find the 9mm Makarov handgun tucked inside the 18-year-old's underwear. The first time Petrucelli saw the gun, it was pointed at him.
No one was injured in the incident, Doll said.
Petrucelli determined the gun was recently stolen from a Pasco home.
The 14-year-old's mother said she supports prosecuting Bergeron after deputies told her that Bergeron had consensual sex with her daughter, the report states.
Bergeron faces charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, carrying a concealed weapon, performing lewd and lascivious acts, having a firearm during a criminal offense, evidence of theft/possession of stolen property, possession of marijuana and underage possession of an alcoholic beverage, deputies said.
He was being held at the jail in lieu of $ 211,000 bail.
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POLICE-FIRE Police Rescue 2 In House Blaze
Copyright 2002 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York, NY)...02/10/2002
New York police officers helped evacuate an elderly couple from a burning Belle Harbor two-family house early yesterday morning, police said.
Officers Dennis Darcy and James Lavin of the 100th Precinct kicked in the sleeping couple's bedroom door about 5 a.m., as a small fire sparked by a night-light smoldered in the apartment below.
The couple had not heard the officers knocking.
"'You have to get out right away, sir,'" police said, according to Roy, the husband, who declined to give his last name.
Darcy sustained a minor injury to his arm while breaking down the door. There were no other injuries.
The blaze began in the home of Vladimir Vasilets, when a night-light in his 10-year-old son Elijah's bedroom sparked a fire on his mattress. The family put out most of the fire with an extinguisher and water before the Fire Department arrived.
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FIRE-California Fire Destroys 16 Homes
Mon Feb 11,12:08 AM ET
By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer
FALLBROOK, Calif. (AP) - A wind-whipped fire burned 16 homes and threatened others Sunday, forcing dozens of residents to flee into streets choked with smoke.
Six people suffered hypothermia and smoke inhalation after they sought safety in a swimming pool while flames raged over them, said North County fire Capt. Rick Mann.
Pete Jespersen grabbed an American flag and held it up to his face as he ran through heavy smoke to escape his in-laws' home.
"I tried to save the house, but it was no use," said Jespersen, who sprayed water on the structure. Soot covered his face and arms. The 16 homes were damaged or destroyed shortly after the fire was reported Sunday morning, said Mann.
Mann said many of the homes were valued at $500,000 to $1 million. He said the area had not burned in decades, and that 15-foot-high brush was fueling the blaze.
Eleven people were hospitalized for minor injuries or smoke inhalation, including the six who were also treated for hypothermia. Red Cross officials, who were setting up a shelter at a nearby high school, said about 100 people had been displaced.
The 2,000-acre fire pumped smoke over the avocado groves and ranch homes in Fallbrook, about 60 miles north of San Diego. Many residents led horses away from the homes as they evacuated.
Fed by winds of 25 to 30 mph, it quickly swept westward. It came within 500 yards of an officers' housing area at the Naval Weapons Station in Fallbrook, and the housing area was evacuated, station spokesman Gregg Smith said. Fewer than 20 people live in the quarters, he said.
Ammunition and other weapons stores on the base are protected inside structures that can withstand fire, said Smith.
Officials at Camp Pendleton, west of the Navy station, said units of the base fire department were sent to help with the fire, which was moving toward the camp. There was no threat to any structures or people on the Marine base Sunday, said Lt. Greg Scott, a spokesman.
The blaze was driven by erratic winds that gusted up to 100 mph in other parts of Southern California over the weekend. They overturned two big-rigs, whipped brush fires into massive blazes and knocked over a tree that killed a tennis player.
In a fire near Anaheim Hills, about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles, roughly 1,400 acres of brush were burning. Winds gusted at speeds as high as 80 mph.
More than 1,000 firefighters were tackling the blaze, which was about 20 percent contained by Sunday afternoon, said Kymbra Fleming, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Authority.
The fire broke out Saturday night. No homes were immediately threatened, although some residents became worried when smoke blew over their neighborhood, Fleming said.
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Some Sept. 11 Heroes Feel Forgotten
Mon Feb 11, 3:38 AM ET
By TARA BURGHART, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Thirty-seven Port Authority police officers died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a loss of uniformed personnel second only to the Fire Department of New York.
But as John McAusland solicits donations for the officers' families, he finds people unaware of the massive loss or barely aware of the Port Authority police at all.
McAusland has even been to dinners honoring the heroes of Sept. 11 where the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey isn't even mentioned. He's driven by billboards thanking the New York Police Department and Fire Department — but not his agency.
So far, McAusland, counsel for the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association, has raised less than $7 million for its Survivors' Fund. The amount, McAusland acknowledges, seems discouraging at times.
A firefighters' union collected $132 million for the families of the 343 firefighters killed at the World Trade Center; another fund for families of city firefighters and police has raised more than $82 million.
The Port Authority owns the site on which the trade center was located, and had offices in the twin towers. It manages the bulk of the transportation system between New York and New Jersey, including a network of tunnels and bridges, a bus terminal, a shuttle train, and Newark, LaGuardia and Kennedy airports.
To be sure, the families of the Port Authority employees will be taken care of — they are receiving gifts from other charities, including the $145 million Twin Towers Fund. But McAusland's struggle indicates how the agency's officers have been forgotten in the coverage of Sept. 11.
"It bothers me," said Authority Police Chief Joseph Morris. "We all lost a lot, but no police department in the history of this country ever lost that many people in one day. When our guys aren't recognized, it does hurt."
The Fire Department of New York, which has more than 11,000 firefighters, lost 343 on Sept. 11. Twenty-three officers from the 40,000-strong New York Police Department were killed.
Morris was appointed both chief and acting superintendent after James Romito and Fred Morrone were killed Sept. 11. In addition to two of its top brass, the Port Authority lost police officers from every rank, from rookies to 30-year veterans, and from 11 of its 13 precincts.
Thirty-eight non-uniformed employees of the Port Authority also were killed in the attack.
Over the weekend, the bodies of five Port Authority police officers were pulled from the trade center site. The remains of 16 authority officers killed on Sept. 11 have now been found.
Morris, McAusland and Port Authority police officers say they do not want to detract from the tributes paid to city firefighters and police.
But they say Port Authority police also helped save trade center workers. With 1,300 officers, it's a close-knit department, and almost every officer has either an academy classmate, a former partner or a close buddy who died.
"You want to be recognized, not for the notoriety. You want it for the family members," said officer Anthony Croce, 32, whose badge was torn from his uniform in the scramble to lead people out of the trade center. "We lost 37 people, 37 great cops. We just want their families to feel they aren't forgotten."
Part of the problem is the lack of knowledge. There's never been a "NYPD Blue (news - Y! TV)" about the Port Authority. Even many New York-area residents do not understand what it does.
Police officer Ed Finnegan, 38, had ligaments and an artery in his arm cut by flying debris. He lost his partner, Uhuru Houston. He never minded working in relative obscurity — until now.
"I feel slighted because everybody uses our airports, they cross our bridges, our tunnels," he said. "They don't realize that on that day we lost 37 people."
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EMS- Lawsuit filed against Paramedics
Lawsuit Filed in Waste-Bag Baby Case
Fri Feb 8, 5:31 PM ET
PLAINFIELD, N.J. - New documents in a lawsuit filed by a woman whose premature baby was placed in a medical waste bag claim paramedics knew the baby was alive when they disposed of him.
The documents filed Wednesday include a transcript of a conversation between an emergency 911 dispatcher and a paramedic. The dispatcher asks whether the baby was alive when paramedics arrived at the woman's home. When a paramedic says yes, the dispatcher questions the decision to place the baby in the bag. The paramedic then says the infant was 4 months premature.
The three volunteer EMTs, who went to the Plainfield home in June 1999, told the teen-age mother that it was stillborn and could not be revived, according to a police report.
Several hours later at a hospital, doctors discovered that the infant was alive. He weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces, and died two days later.
The lawsuit against the rescue squad, hospital and the paramedics was filed in November 2000 by the mother, Phylteea Davis, who was 16 when she gave birth. It seeks damages and the creation of new protocols on newborn care.
"The baby had no care for 10 hours," Davis' attorney, Linda Kenney, said Friday. "You don't know if the baby could have been saved because they didn't do anything that makes babies savable"
The EMTs were stripped of their credentials, and the Plainfield Rescue Squad was fined $3,750 for oversight and patient care failures in the case. A spokesman for the squad said Friday he had no comment.
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EMS- OOOpsss...Dead Wrong: She's Alive
By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY and ALICE McQUILLAN
A Brooklyn great-grandmother was mistakenly declared dead by paramedics — a blunder that went undiscovered for hours, authorities said yesterday.
Instead of being rushed to the hospital, 77-year-old Frances Foster was left unconscious on the bathroom floor of her Park Slope apartment Saturday as loved ones grieved what they thought was the retired nurse's death.
"I called everyone and had to tell them my mother was dead, then only to call back and say she's alive," said Kim Foster Littlejohn, 40, of Queens. "She could have been at the hospital getting taken care of. What a costly mistake."
She said a medical examiner's official didn't discover her mother was alive until he started to put her into a body bag: "He told me ... she suddenly moved and opened her eyes and he jumped back, startled."
Two paramedics were placed on desk duty and Foster lay in a coma with a stroke yesterday as her daughter and authorities clashed over exactly how long the error went undetected.
Littlejohn said she hadn't heard from her mother for about 10 days. She became worried when she couldn't reach her by phone Saturday and finally called police after the superintendent wouldn't let her into Foster's 10th St. apartment.
Apparent Rigor Mortis
Police had to climb into the seventh-floor apartment through the terrace, and found Foster sprawled on the bathroom floor. Littlejohn said a police sergeant told her "my mother was decomposing and he didn't want me to see her that way."
Authorities said two city Emergency Medical Service technicians later arrived and declared Foster dead at 2:21 p.m.
Donald Faeth, vice president of Local 2507, which represents the city's 2,600 EMTs and paramedics, said Foster was "cold to the touch."
One of her legs was bent and wouldn't straighten, leading the EMTs to assume rigor mortis had set in, Faeth said. There also was a stench in the air, he said.
Faeth said one of the EMTs has 16 years' experience while the other was "brand new."
After declaring Foster dead, the EMTs left her apartment while police remained to await the arrival of someone from the city medical examiner's office — standard procedure in such cases.
Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, said her office was notified of the presumed death at 3:41 p.m. A physician's assistant was dispatched to Foster's home and at 5:35 p.m. reported that Foster was alive, Borakove said.
But Foster's daughter and a neighbor said the mistake wasn't discovered until 7 p.m. — seven hours, they said, after police arrived at the scene.
'Unfortunate Mistake'
Foster was taken to the intensive care unit of New York Methodist Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition yesterday, said hospital spokeswoman Susan LaRosa.
Faeth said the ambulance crew that rushed Foster to New York Methodist said the hospital had a hard time finding her pulse. Her blood pressure was apparently only 60, while her body temperature was just 87 degrees.
"It looks like this is an unfortunate mistake," Faeth said.
The EMTs, whose names were not released, will remain on desk duty pending an investigation by a physician. Possible penalties range from a reprimand to termination.
Littlejohn said that her mother, who had worked as a pediatric nurse at Coney Island Hospital for 40 years, hadn't any specific health problems. But she had been in decline after losing her two sons to illness in less than two years.
"After the death of my brothers, she became very sad and very stressed," Littlejohn said. "She stopped paying attention to her diet and started getting frail. It took a real toll."
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POLICE - 6 NYPD bodies found at WTC
Bodies of 6 NYC Officers Found in Trade Center Pit
Mon Feb 11, 7:54 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The bodies of six Port Authority police officers were found early on Saturday in the World Trade Center ruins near the remains of a woman they apparently were trying to rescue, the Port Authority said on Monday.
The bodies of the officers were found in what had been the lobby of 1 World Trade Center, the second tower to collapse, suggesting they probably already had been ordered to evacuate. Next to the officers, recovery crews found an obese woman still strapped into a rescue chair.
The six officers were Capt. Kathy Mazza of South Farmingdale, New York; Lt. Robert Cirri of Nutley, New Jersey; Chief James Romito of Westwood, New Jersey; and officers James Parham of Jackson Heights, Queens, Stephen Huczko of Hampton, New Jersey, and Paul Laszczynski of Paramus, New Jersey.
Five of the officers were uncovered shortly after 4 a.m. on Saturday, after an earth-moving machine exposed part of one of their blue uniforms. Laszczynski was found a couple hours later, a Port Authority spokesman said.
The woman in the chair has not yet been unidentified.
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Phil,
Keep in mind you are only hearing ONE side of the story. I suggest you get a copy of the full report. I know it is hard NOT be believe your son but I bet you will find out that more happened than just what you heard.
Get a full copy of the police report and write back.
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Joe Wrote:
"Does the Duluth Police really drive a sporty car like that?"
Yes, I took it from their web site. DPS in Texas ran Mustangs and camaro's for a few years also.
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Some of it I agree with.
Regarding the gun debate in general, I do agree with this statement.
"Actually, good and evil have little to do with it. The debate over guns is a clash of cultures, a confrontation of different kinds of character, a disagreement over social philosophy, and even--though few notice this--over free will and determinism. The contending factions don't need guns to detest each other. They would anyway."
The two opposing forces came be summarizied as this:
1. Those that were born and raised around guns, have been taught how to shoot, the characteristics and functions of the weapon, gun safety, don't need gun control.
2. Those that grew up watching guns on TV, have little or no experience with guns other than having them pointed at them, or maybe another similar bad experience. These people believe in more gun laws and more gun control.
Once again, education is the key.
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Here is an example of the typical FD
in Central NY. This is the New Hartford Fire Department and was in the ajoining district next to the FD I belonged to, NY MIlls. Unfortunately I could not find a web site for NYM.
This department responds to 900 calls a year, has the jaws, 3 engines, 4 rescue trucks and a tower. It covers 25 square miles and IS ALL VOLUNTEER.
http://www.borg.com/~nhfd/
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I was a fireman in NY Mills, NY
for 3 years before going into the service. This is in central NY where there are over over 40 departments in the surrounding Oneida County suburban areas. This department was one of them although I didn't work with them. I must say, most FD's were very well trained and were also very competitive regarding equipment. One FD would get a 75 foot ladder truck, so the next FD would have to better that and with a 100 foot ladder truck. The next would get a 100 foot platform etc.
Some of the FD's seen here only a few.
http://vfd.freeservers.com/nyfd.html
It is hard for me to believe that one was killed and two injured in this training incident. Lack of supervision? Lack of training? Failure to plan or predict? I don't know all the facts but find it hard to believe it rose to a criminal level.
I would like to see the final report of failure analysis.
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Gun Control Advocates Push to Close Loophole
02/08/2002
by Paul Queary, Associated Press
OLYMPIA (AP) - Gun control advocates, prosecutors and police groups pushed lawmakers Thursday to close a loophole that allows the unregulated sale of handguns at gun shows.
Federally licensed firearms dealers - including those who operate at gun shows - must perform background checks on anyone who purchases a firearm and keep records of buyers' names and addresses. For handgun buyers, state law also requires a five-day waiting period.
But people who only make occasional sales at gun shows aren't considered dealers, and can sell handguns with neither a background check nor a waiting period. That category of sellers often includes collectors who offer a large range of guns for sale.
Gun control advocates call that exemption a dangerous opportunity for criminals to evade the background checks required for commercial sales.
"This is a dangerous loophole in the law," Bill Hanson, executive director of the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate Bill 6689, sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, would require background checks on all buyers of firearms at gun shows. Also, all sales would have to be handled through a licensed dealer so the transaction could be recorded.
Transferring a gun at a gun show without a background check would become a gross misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum year in jail and $5,000 fine.
Gun show promoters and the National Rifle Association attacked the bill as an attack on the constitutionally protected right to bear arms.
"There is no gun-show loophole," said Brian Judy, the NRA's state liaison for Washington. He said all existing laws governing gun sales apply at gun shows. Judy characterized the bill as an attempt to regulate private sales of guns and create a registry of citizens who own firearms.
"They want to know who has what firearms," he said.
Joe Waldron of Washington Arms Collectors, which promotes about a third of the gun shows held in Washington each year, said gun control advocates are attacking the wrong target.
A 1997 Justice Department study of prison inmates found that less than 1 percent obtained their guns from gun shows. Nearly 40 percent got firearms from friends or family, while 39 percent obtained guns on the street or from an illegal source.
"Why don't they go after those people?" Waldron asked.
The proposed bill wouldn't change laws on private sales between individuals.
But Washington CeaseFire, the state's largest gun control group, cited recent examples of criminals using weapons from gun shows.
One example was Larry Shandola, who was convicted of murder in Pierce County years after an execution-style killing with a shotgun bought at a gun show. The gun was recovered from bushes near the crime scene and police were only able to follow a paper trail of ownership as far as a gun show, where Shandola bought it from someone without a dealer's license, said Gerald Costello, a Pierce County prosecutor.
"It was a cash transaction, there were no records of it," Costello said.
Waldron countered that the gun show's promoter, Washington Arms Collectors, and the seller of the gun helped link the gun to Shandola. He also said Shandola had no criminal record and had passed a background check to join the organization.
"He was perfectly qualified to buy that gun," Waldron said.
Waldron and other opponents also protested the bill's broad definition of gun show, which includes flea markets and auctions at which three or more people assemble to deal in firearms.
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FIRE- Colleagues back arrested firefighter
By KEN LITTLE
Observer-Dispatch, Utica NY
LAIRDSVILLE — Gary Spaven says he could not believe the news that former Lairdsville First Assist ant Fire Chief Alan G. Baird III was indicted on a manslaughter charge for the training accident death Sept. 25 of 19-year-old recruit Bradley Golden.
Spaven and other members of the former Lairdsville Fire Department will speak to the media today at the newly designated Westmoreland Station No. 2 on Norton Avenue.
Meanwhile, the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office stands behind the grand jury indictment of Baird, 30, of Westmoreland. Baird is charged with second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault charges in the death of Golden and for serious injuries suffered by firefighter Benjamin Morris, 19.
“It’s incredibly wrong. They’re making an example of it and I really think the District Attorney’s Office got carried away with it,” Spaven, 20, said Thursday.
Spaven said he and four supervisory firefighters were on the scene Sept. 25 when a “live fire” training exercise was conducted in a vacant building on Route 5 in Westmoreland.
Spaven was suspended after the fire and reinstated as a lieutenant, a position he currently holds.
“They’re convicting one guy for something four guys were in charge of,” Spaven said. “It was a group decision.”
Baird resigned from the fire department Tuesday night. He is accused of “recklessly” igniting a sleeper sofa and mattress in the wooden building, causing fire and smoke to envelop the second floor, his indictment states. Golden, a trainee with one month on the force, suffocated.
Morris and Adam Croman, son of Lairdsville fire Chief Lance Croman, suffered burns and continue their recuperation.
Prosecuting First Assistant District Attorney Michael Coluzza said the Oneida County grand jury indicted Baird after reviewing investigation results.
“Our evidence shows that he’s clearly the person who set the fire and he was clearly the ranking person with Lairdsville at the time who made the decisions,” Coluzza said.
Baird is free on $10,000 bail. If convicted on the manslaughter count, he faces a maximum prison term of 5 to 15 years.
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Here is another article with the TRUTH
This is obviously someone who lacked some basic gun knowledge AND common sense.
1. EVEN WITH THE MAGAZINE OUT, THE GLOCK WILL FIRE.
2. KEEP YOUR FINGER OUT OF THE TRIGGER GUARD UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO FIRE.
3. YOU DON'T GIVE GUNS TO CHILDREN
Officer's gun goes off during show-and-tell
By Barbara Boyer and Thomas J. Gibbons Jr.
Inquirer Staff Writers
Shortly after a Philadelphia policewoman passed around a loaded handgun among students during show-and-tell at a Germantown charter school, the weapon accidentally discharged yesterday afternoon, grazing a 10-year-old boy in the face.
The student, fourth grader James Reeves, received five stitches at Temple University Children's Hospital and returned home last night in good condition, while police and school officials continued their investigation into the incident at Imani Education Circle Charter School in Germantown.
The officer, Vanessa Carter-Moragne, 39, a five-year veteran assigned to the Ninth Police District in Center City, was removed from street duty and is now the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation, police said.
Acting Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson called the officer's actions "unheard of and inexcusable."
"We're grateful that the injuries were not more serious. . . . It's fortunate that no one got killed today," Johnson said. "I cannot give you a logical explanation for Officer Vanessa Carter-Moragne's poor judgment."
Philadelphia Police Capt. Edward Chiodetti said that about 3 p.m., the officer went to the school to pick up her son and was interacting with the students in the boy's classroom. Chiodetti said the children first wanted to see her badge, which she displayed, and then asked to see her weapon, a 9 mm Glock semiautomatic.
Johnson said the officer removed the clip from the weapon and then passed the gun among the children.
Carter-Moragne "allowed the children to handle it," Johnson said. "When she attempted to place the magazine back into the Glock, her gun accidentally discharged."
Even if a clip, which contains the bullets, is removed, a round can remain in the chamber unless it is taken out separately.
"You never know. You can pull the clip out and there's one in the chamber," Johnson said.
A girl who was among the 23 children in the classroom at the time of the incident, 9-year-old Aatiqah Johnson, said: "Everybody was passing it around."
The weapon eventually was returned to the officer.
Aatiqah said there was a bang, and then she saw blood.
"She accidentally pulled the trigger," Aatiqah said as she was leaving school holding hands with her mother, Melita Johnson.
Authorities said the officer most likely pulled the trigger as she attempted to insert the clip back into the grip.
Johnson said the bullet hit the floor and a fragment ricocheted and grazed James Reeves' right cheek.
Other students said they were told to return to their rooms after the gun went off as police descended on the campus on the 5600 block of Greene Street.
Johnson said officers are trained to never take their weapons to a school or use a gun during a demonstration. Instead, Johnson said, the department advises to use pictures or videos.
Imani principal Francine Fulton said that the school encouraged parents to participate in such activities and that the school was aware of the demonstration. Fulton declined to discuss the matter further.
Johnson said the demonstration was not coordinated through the Police Department. Officials said arrangements had been made for counselors to speak with children at the school today.
Throughout the afternoon yesterday, concerned parents arrived at the school to pick up their children. Many of the parents had heard of the incident from news reports or from friends and already knew that their own children were fine.
Tim Williams, whose son Armani is in kindergarten, said he wanted to know more about what happened.
"I was relieved to find out that it was an off-duty officer and not another student," Williams said. Still, he was concerned about a gun being brought into a classroom. The whole situation, he said, "was too close for comfort."
Another parent who rushed to the school, Rhoshanna Morgan, picked up her first grader, Nadirah, 6.
Morgan said that she learned of the discharge from relatives who work at the school and that she hoped future show-and-tell programs would be safer.
"I just hope all the children would be safe," Morgan said.
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Photo of San Antonio cop killer
Jurors took less than two hours to find Frank Garcia Jr. (pictured above), guilty for the shooting death of Officer Hector Garza in March 2001.
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POLICE- Two Killed in Collision with Police Car
2002-02-08 00:00:00
by Ken Kosky, Times
PORTAGE -- A man and his girlfriend were killed Thursday morning when their compact car collided with a police squad car that was responding to a disturbance call.
The crash, which occurred shortly before 3 a.m. at U.S. 6 and Swanson Road, left the officer with only minor injuries. The officer, Dennis Bailey, 29, was taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart, where he was treated for a shoulder injury and released.
The driver of the other car, a Ford Escort, was Timothy W. Munchenburg, 24, of Hobart. He was taken to Porter Memorial Hospital, but died of internal chest injuries. His passenger, Toni Paxson, 23, of Portage, was airlifted to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., but she also died of massive internal injuries.
Police said they did not know if Munchenburg and Paxson were wearing their seat belts.The fatal accident has shocked the families of both victims, said Munchenburg's sister, Jennifer. She said Munchenburg, an employee of U.S. Steel, and Paxson, an intensive care nurse at Portage Community Hospital, had been dating for about six years. She said they enjoyed hanging out at the house and activities like shopping or going to the beach and riding Jet skis in the summer.
The crash that killed the couple occurred while they were eastbound on U.S. 6 and the officer was westbound on U.S. 6, heading to a report of a man causing a disturbance and trying to get into a home in the 1300 block of Camelot Manor.
The suspect in the disturbance was later arrested by another officer.Bailey was in a fully marked squad car, but did not have his emergency lights or siren activated while en route to the call. While the officer was westbound, Munchenburg turned in front of him to go from eastbound U.S. 6 onto northbound Swanson Road, according to Indiana State Police.
Both drivers had the green light, but Munchenburg should have yielded to the officer before turning, police said. In addition, tests showed Munchenburg's blood alcohol level was over legal limit, police said."We believe the primary factor is him (Munchenburg) failing to yield," said Indiana State Police Sgt. Ann Wojas."But a contributing factor is going to be alcohol , and we believe speed may be a factor with the officer.
"The intersection was closed for several hours while officers took measurements and arranged for the cars to be removed. Since a Portage officer was involved in the crash, state police are investigating. Wojas said the accident reconstruction may take several weeks or months to complete.
Cpl. John Ryan, Portage police spokesman, said the officer involved in the crash will be required to meet with a counselor, as is required by department policy. He will also be given time off if he requests it. Ryan added that the officer, a two-year veteran, had no prior crashes.
He said officers are supposed to activate their lights and sirens when responding to an emergency, but officers have discretion about what constitutes an emergency.
Funeral arrangements for Munchenburg are pending at Rees Funeral Home in Hobart. Paxson's family said her funeral arrangements are also pending.Porter County Coroner Roger Kleist said Thursday's crash was the first fatal accident in Porter County in 2002. Ken Kosky can be reached at kkosky@howpubs.com or (219) 462-5151, Ext. 354.
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Read the last few sentences of this article
This is total BS. Glocks are no more "touchy" than any other weapon. Typical liberals blame the gun instead of the handler. It was sheer stupidity to pull a gun out in a classroom in the first place. How typical to next blame the gun for an officer's stupidity and lack of training.
_________________________________________________
Friday February 8 10:10 AM ET
Cop Accidentally Shoots Boy at Son's School
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - An off-duty Philadelphia police officer attending a career day at her son's school fired an accidental round from her semi-automatic handgun and it grazed a 10-year-old boy's head, police said.
The child, who was not named, was treated at Temple University Hospital for a slight wound, said police spokesman Sgt. Roland Lee.
Wednesday's incident at Imani Charter School in northwest Philadelphia is under investigation and the officer, who also was not named, has been reassigned to desk duty in the meantime, Lee said.
The boy should be released from the hospital later on Wednesday, he added.
``What happened is that during a demonstration for her son's class, a child asked to see her weapon. She pulled it from her holster and it discharged, grazing the child,' Lee said.
He identified the firearm as a Glock 9 mm semi-automatic, which many police departments have abandoned because of problems with the safety catch.
``They're touchy weapons,' he said.
________________________________________________
PS- Glock has NOT had any safety recalls due to problems with a safety catch. THERE IS NO part called a "Safety catch" on the weapon. This is an officer that propably lacked training, or at bare minimum lacked common sense. In another article about this same incident, the officer IS named. Hopefully she will gracefully resign from the PD and avoid further embarrassment to all officers who have to take the rap because of the stupidity of a few.
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FIRE- Fire Equipment is "Unsafe"
Agency rules fire suits unsafe
By Ron Maloney
The Herald-Zeitung
Published February 07, 2002
The state agency that regulates fire departments found that more than 50 sets of the protective clothing New Braunfels firefighters wear do not meet state standards and are considered unsafe.
A two-member inspection team of the Texas Commission on Fire Protection inspected the New Braunfels Fire Department this past week in response to a written complaint about the department’s “bunker” or “turn-out” gear.
Bunker gear is the fireproof and waterproof, bright-yellow protective clothing worn by firefighters. It is a firefighter’s basic, first line of protection against injury.
New Braunfels Fire Chief Jack Collier will go to city council Monday night seeking authorization to spend between $80,000 and $95,000 to replace all 79 sets of the NBFD’s bunker gear.
The money Collier will seek from council Monday night would be a line item transfer within the department’s budget — and not a request for additional money from the city’s general fund, Collier said.
REPLACE ALL
“If we have to replace 55, we should replace them all,” Collier said. That way, he said, all firefighters will have the newest gear — and there will be a few spares on hand to allow for repairs when needed.
“We’re going to do whatever is necessary to provide for the safety of our personnel,” Collier said.
Some of the NBFD’s gear didn’t pass safety inspections, and some did, Collier said.
He said he would see if some of the gear the NBFD would discard could be donated to another department, perhaps in Mexico.
Collier said it could take two weeks to replace the bunker gear — depending upon which vendor is chosen to provide it.
Bunker gear costs between $1,000 and $1,100 a set.
The bunker gear in question uses a textile in its inner liner called Breathe-Tex®. Officials determined that the Breathe-Tex® is unsafe as a vapor barrier because it can allow steam or blood-borne pathogens to wick through to a firefighter’s skin.
This past March, amid safety concerns, the state ordered that the product be taken out of service by Jan. 1, 2002.
No New Braunfels firefighter has been burned or injured, and state officials contacted by the Herald-Zeitung could recount no incident in which a Texas firefighter had been burned through a Breathe-Tex® failure.
But K.R. Etheridge, compliance program manager for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, said the situation in New Braunfels is serious.
FORMAL COMPLAINT
Etheridge said a formal complaint triggered the inspection. He would not say who made the complaint.
Collier said he’d been told it was made by a firefighter.
Collier said he wasn’t pleased by that, and wished the issue had been handled within the department.
“Guys, work with us. Don’t work against us,” Collier said.
Etheridge said the picture was not a good one at the NBFD.
“We found widespread violation of the state law and commission rules pertaining to safety clothing,” Etheridge said. “The situation frankly boggles my mind that a department could let its protective clothing get in that condition. And it has been in that condition for quite some while.”
Etheridge said the city was being officially informed this week of the results of the inspection. Next he will have an informal meeting with city officials to discuss what he said will be his commission’s “formal position.”
Possible actions range up to thousands of dollars worth of fines. But the commission also could choose to take no further action, as long as the issue is resolved, Etheridge said.
“We don’t think it’s in the public interest to shut the fire department down. What we have done is inform the department that the gear is not suitable for use. They realize they’re taking full responsibility and liability for that,” Etheridge said.
TOO SLOW
“It’s my understanding that the city is moving as rapidly as they think they can to resolve this. That’s appreciated, but this is something they should have addressed before this point,” Etheridge said. “Whatever they do now is too slow and takes too much time.”
New Braunfels isn’t the only city that has a Breathe-Tex® problem, Etheridge said. His office is investigating others.
Collier acknowledged his department should have been on top of the issue before now. He said he did not know until Jan. 2 that the equipment had to be removed from service.
The NBFD officer in charge of the equipment was aware there was a problem with Breathe-Tex®, Collier said, and informed him. Neither was aware of the Jan. 1 deadline, Collier said.
The NBFD sought to contact the vendor of the product as well as its manufacturer in hopes of getting some consideration such as a partial reimbursement but neither got back to the department, Collier said.
In a similar inspection this past July, Collier said his department passed with no safety problems noted related to Breathe-Tex®.
“There was no mention then of this rule that we would have to replace this gear,” he said.
Etheridge said he was surprised that the NBFD would say it was unaware of the rule.
Collier couldn’t recall being notified, although he has since been told, he said, that the information was published in the commission’s newsletter and on its Web site.
“I will shoulder the responsibility here because I’m captain of the ship. But something this important should have prompted letters, e-mails and phone calls to fire departments if it was this crucial,” Collier said.
SERVICES
© 2002 Herald-Zeitung. All rights reserved
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POLICE - Family gets $1.25 mil in police shooting
Settlement in Miami Police Shooting
Fri Feb 8,10:30 AM ET
MIAMI - The family of a mentally ill man fatally shot by police in 1999 would get $1.25 million under a proposed settlement to be reviewed by city commissioners next week.
Officer Alejandro Macias said he shot Jesse Runnels, 25, after the psychiatric patient brandished a gun. Police later found a toy gun in the grass.
But there were conflicting reports about the gun, and federal officials are investigating whether it may have been planted at the scene by police to justify the shooting.
In a previous run-in with police, Runnels had threatened to commit "suicide by cop," a phrase learned from news reports about people who attack police, knowing they'll be shot.
On the day he died, Runnels allegedly had threatened to kill himself and threw a butcher knife at officers, who first shot him with rubber bullets.
City commissioners will consider the $1.25 million settlement, to be paid over three years, for final approval Thursday.
"The explanation of the city attorney is that we will get burned in a jury trial. There are very conflicted reports about the toy gun," said City Commissioner Tomas Regalado.
Macias maintains that the shooting was justified, said his lawyer, William Matthewman.
In September, 13 Miami police officers, including Macias, were charged in an FBI investigation into guns planted at crime scenes and lies to cover wrongful police actions in four questionable shootings.
And the Justice Department opened an investigation into the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a police officer on Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 21.
Just days later, a man was shot in the back by Miami police after a struggle in which his gun was also fired, authorities said. It wasn't clear if the man fired or if the gun discharged accidentally. He survived.
The shootings sparked protest and criticism of law enforcement in Miami and the surrounding county.
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POLICE- Cop Killer Found Guilty of Capital Murder
Friday February 08 02:22 PM EST
San Antonio, Texas
Jury Finds Cop-Slaying Suspect Guilty
A Bexar County jury Friday convicted a man for the capital murder of a San Antonio police officer.
Jurors took less than two hours to find Frank Garcia Jr. (pictured, left), guilty for the shooting death of Officer Hector Garza in March 2001.
The punishment phase of the trial is scheduled to begin Friday afternoon. Garcia faces life in prison or the death penalty.
The jury received the case at 10:45 a.m. following final arguments.
Defense attorneys presented no witnesses in their case. The prosecution rested its case Thursday after it presented the police confession of Garcia.
San Antonio Police Detective Thomas Matjecka, who took Garcia's statement following the shooting death, read the defendant's confession during testimony presented in the 290th District Court.
"I just turned and went 'Pow! Pow!' Matjecka said as he read from the statement. "I shot the officer. I saw I hit the officer in the head. I know officers wear bulletproof vests, but when I shot, I aimed for his head and that's where I hit him."
Garza responded to a domestic dispute involving the defendant and his wife, Jessica Garcia, who was trying to move out of the couple's home. Jessica Garcia was also fatally wounded. Frank Garcia also faces charges for his wife's death.
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Russ, here is the link to "The Club"
http://newsday.com/news/printedition/newyork/ny-nyclub052576341feb05.story
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CAVA12, I reposted your message #204 because
for some reason the title is not displaying.
Posted on Thu, Feb. 07, 2002
Officer's gun goes off during show-and-tell
By Barbara Boyer and Thomas J. Gibbons Jr.
Inquirer Staff Writers
Shortly after a Philadelphia policewoman passed around a loaded handgun among students during show-and-tell at a Germantown charter school, the weapon accidentally discharged yesterday afternoon, grazing a 10-year-old boy in the face.
The student, fourth grader James Reeves, received five stitches at Temple University Children's Hospital and returned home last night in good condition, while police and school officials continued their investigation into the incident at Imani Education Circle Charter School in Germantown.
The officer, Vanessa Carter-Moragne, 39, a five-year veteran assigned to the Ninth Police District in Center City, was removed from street duty and is now the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation, police said.
Acting Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson called the officer's actions "unheard of and inexcusable."
"We're grateful that the injuries were not more serious. . . . It's fortunate that no one got killed today," Johnson said. "I cannot give you a logical explanation for Officer Vanessa Carter-Moragne's poor judgment."
Philadelphia Police Capt. Edward Chiodetti said that about 3 p.m., the officer went to the school to pick up her son and was interacting with the students in the boy's classroom. Chiodetti said the children first wanted to see her badge, which she displayed, and then asked to see her weapon, a 9 mm Glock semiautomatic.
Johnson said the officer removed the clip from the weapon and then passed the gun among the children.
Carter-Moragne "allowed the children to handle it," Johnson said. "When she attempted to place the magazine back into the Glock, her gun accidentally discharged."
Even if a clip, which contains the bullets, is removed, a round can remain in the chamber unless it is taken out separately.
"You never know. You can pull the clip out and there's one in the chamber," Johnson said.
A girl who was among the 23 children in the classroom at the time of the incident, 9-year-old Aatiqah Johnson, said: "Everybody was passing it around."
The weapon eventually was returned to the officer.
Aatiqah said there was a bang, and then she saw blood.
"She accidentally pulled the trigger," Aatiqah said as she was leaving school holding hands with her mother, Melita Johnson.
Authorities said the officer most likely pulled the trigger as she attempted to insert the clip back into the grip.
Johnson said the bullet hit the floor and a fragment ricocheted and grazed James Reeves' right cheek.
Other students said they were told to return to their rooms after the gun went off as police descended on the campus on the 5600 block of Greene Street.
Johnson said officers are trained to never take their weapons to a school or use a gun during a demonstration. Instead, Johnson said, the department advises to use pictures or videos.
Imani principal Francine Fulton said that the school encouraged parents to participate in such activities and that the school was aware of the demonstration. Fulton declined to discuss the matter further.
Johnson said the demonstration was not coordinated through the Police Department. Officials said arrangements had been made for counselors to speak with children at the school today.
Throughout the afternoon yesterday, concerned parents arrived at the school to pick up their children. Many of the parents had heard of the incident from news reports or from friends and already knew that their own children were fine.
Tim Williams, whose son Armani is in kindergarten, said he wanted to know more about what happened.
"I was relieved to find out that it was an off-duty officer and not another student," Williams said. Still, he was concerned about a gun being brought into a classroom. The whole situation, he said, "was too close for comfort."
Another parent who rushed to the school, Rhoshanna Morgan, picked up her first grader, Nadirah, 6.
Morgan said that she learned of the discharge from relatives who work at the school and that she hoped future show-and-tell programs would be safer.
"I just hope all the children would be safe," Morgan said.
The incident came five days after an off-duty school district police officer who was working as a part-time school-bus driver came under investigation when students from Imani and another charter school told their parents he threatened them with a gun.
Police said that officer, who at the time was driving a school bus, stopped on the route after school to calm unruly children. The officer, whose name was not released, hollered at the kids to sit down and be quiet and made reference to his gun. He was not charged, but the matter remained under investigation.
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Anything to get a vote.
Regardless if it is true or not, if it causes a stir and can get a vote, it can be the platform for a campaign.
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Dumb Crook Story #3
Jail Visit Could Turn Into Extended Stay
When you're wanted for armed robbery, it's probably not a good idea to visit your alleged accomplice in jail.
York police admit catching David Ruppert, 21, was relatively easy when the suspect went to York County Prison to see Robert Haley, 18, who is also accused of holding up a woman making a night deposit at First Union Bank in York last October.
"I would assume that he found out that [Haley] was locked up and probably wanted to know if he told the cops about the robbery," Snell said. "Instead [Ruppert] got a ticket to the house also."
"We received a tip that, 'Oh by the way, he's down at your county prison making a visit to Robert Haley,'" said Snell. Police knew Ruppert was a suspect because they found his fingerprint on the getaway vehicle, and Haley had admitted that Ruppert was involved in the heist, Snell said.
Detectives notified police at the jail that their visitor was wanted for armed robbery, and they held him until investigators arrived.
"He was pretty surprised," Snell said.
Both men have been charged with robbery.
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POLICE- Austin PD says OK to expose breast
Friday February 08 09:00 AM EST
KEYE NEWS
APD Lifts Ban On Women Lifting Their Shirts At Mardi Gras
Yesterday, Austin police dropped plans to charge women who bare their breasts with disorderly conduct. Assistant Chief of Police Jim Fealy says the city attorney's office determined that a woman exposing her breasts did not qualify as disorderly conduct. Fealy says police had initiated the no-breasts policy to protect the women. He says anyone who grabs a woman will be arrested. Estes says she agreed to stage her event from 11-11:30 p-m at a designated intersection.
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Dumb Crook Story #2
Mon Feb 4, 5:01 PM ET
Suspect Breaks Gun, Gets Asthma, Locks Keys in Getaway Car
M E S A, Ariz. — Even Michael Anthone Jacobs admits he's no master thief.
"I'm not cut out to be a criminal," Jacobs said to reporters last week after his arrest on robbery charges. "For everybody that knows me, I'm just a nice, cool guy."
Jacobs allegedly managed to grab some cash in the first of three robbery tries, but police say it all went downhill from there.
In one heist attempt earlier this month, Jacobs dropped and broke his fake gun at a Walgreens' drugstore, said Det. Tim Gaffney.
"He stopped, picked up the pieces, and ran out," said Gaffney.
The next day, Jacobs and an accomplice walked into an Albertson's supermarket, and went up to the register with three candy bars, Gaffney said. Jacobs handed the cashier a $20 bill to pay for the snacks, and when she opened the register, he allegedly sprayed her with pepper spray.
But the woman slammed slammed the register shut before he could reach in and grab any money, Gaffney said. And things only got worse for the hapless robber.
"Unfortunately he is asthmatic, and had an asthma attack," Gaffney said. As Jacobs stopped to use his inhaler, his accomplice ran off. Jacobs then ran to his rented getaway car, only to find he had locked the keys inside, Gaffney added.
He broke the window with a rock, and drove off, but his problems still weren't over.
"He forgot to turn on his lights," said Gaffney.
He drove past a police cruiser, got pulled over and arrested.
The 18-year-old was booked for one count of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated robbery.
He told police he'd committed the crimes because he had lost his job and had a child to support.
"Confusion, anger and hunger just collided with me and made me go on this spree," he told the Arizona Republic .
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POLICE- Officer Injured during traffic stop
SAN ANONTIO, TEXAS
Friday February 08 09:39 AM EST
Police Officer Injured While Writing Ticket
A San Antonio police officer was injured Thursday while he was writing a traffic ticket.
The patrol car was parked on the shoulder of Highway 281 near Basse Rd at 8 a.m. when a pickup truck slammed into the cruiser.
The officer, who was in the process of issuing a speeding violation, was injured.
The driver of the pickup truck was also hurt.
The officer and the driver were transported to a local hospital in undetermined condition.
The impact sent the patrol car into the vehicle the officer had stopped.
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Dumb Crook Story #1
Robber Loses Artificial Leg in Shop Scuffle
Fri Jan 25, 5:33 PM ET
ABCNEWS.com
Unarmed Bandits' Caper Costs Them a Leg
K A N S A S C I T Y, Mo. — The man who robbed the O'Reilly Auto Parts store last Saturday may have escaped, but police already have a leg up on him.
The bandit and his accomplice grabbed $50 in cash from a manager in the back of the south Kansas City shop, police say. But in the ensuing scuffle with the manager and a store mechanic, the robber lost his prosthetic leg.
"The mechanic grabbed hold of the guy's leg and it just popped off," said Officer Bob Murphy, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department.
The device — which attached below the knee — came loose and, witnesses said, it took the thief's pants with it.
Wearing only his boxers, the man hopped through the snow to his partner's waiting getaway car.
"The one-legged bandit hopped to the parking lot and into the car and off they went," said Murphy.
The two men had entered the shop around 9:30 a.m., and while one talked to a store employee, the other went back and grabbed the cash from the manager. The two men began to wrestle, and a store mechanic joined the melee. When the man's leg came off, the store victims said they were too stunned to pursue him, especially considering he had only taken $50.
"They were just kind of so shocked holding this guy's leg that they just laughed," said Murphy. "They said the entire time he was hopping back to his car he had this look on his face like 'Oh, what should I do?'"
The robbery apparently was a net loss for the thief, however. The prosthetic device seems to be worth several thousand dollars, authorities said.
"It was a titanium, bendable, high-tech deal," said Murphy.
Authorities are searching for the men. In addition to having the leg as evidence, they have the entire event on videotape.
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POLICE - Officer Safety Alert
Turning 'The Club' Into a Gun;
Cops warn of sinister use for popular car lock
Copyright 2002 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York, NY)...02/05/2002
Police are accustomed to breaking up fights in which "The Club" is used to assault someone.
Now the NYPD has learned that the more enterprising criminals out there may have figured out a way to turn the
popular steering wheel lock into a "rudimentary shotgun," according to an internal memo.
"Specifically, the handle of the device has been hollowed out to serve as a shotgun barrel," the memo says, going on
to explain in detail how the modification is made.
"Uniformed members of the service should use extreme caution and remain alert for this and other lethal items that
may be fashioned from ordinary items."
The NYPD says it has not yet seized any Clubs that have been turned into shotguns. A call to Winner International
in Sharon, Pa., was not returned.
In 1996, a Club was used in the nearly fatal beating of Shane Daniels outside a nightclub in Westhampton Beach. A
city police officer was convicted of using his service revolver to keep a crowd at bay while a bodybuilder friend
crushed Daniel's skull with the device.
The device is the latest in a long line of seemingly everyday objects that have caught the NYPD's eye as potential
weapons or hiding places for contraband.
Other makeshift weapons include guns fashioned out of beepers and knives that look like lipstick containers and
combs.
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EMS-Paramedic suspended for refusing flu shot
TORONTO, Feb 06, 2002 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- North Bay paramedic Bill Kotsopoulos, who was suspended from his job on December 22 for refusing to comply with a mandatory flu shot, will be in court tomorrow when an injunction filed to have him return to work will be heard.
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POLICE- Body identified as PD Officer
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
February 8,2002
A body recovered Tuesday night at Ground Zero was identified yesterday as that of Police Officer James Leahy, 38, of Staten Island, who was assigned to the Sixth Precinct in Greenwich Village. Leahy, a married father of three sons, was one of 23 city police officers killed on Sept. 11.
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FIRE- Mayor FINALLY going to FD funerals
Friday February 08 06:37 AM EST
Mike Going to Funeral
By MICHELE McPHEE and DAVE SALTONSTALL
Mayor Bloomberg — a notable no-show at all five firefighters' services since taking office — will attend his first Fire Department funeral as mayor tomorrow.
His absence spurred complaints from firefighters unions — especially after Bloomberg missed one last Saturday, just hours after he attended a Groundhog Day celebration on Staten Island.
But Bloomberg, aides said, will join mourners tomorrow at St. Margaret's Church in Middle Village, Queens, for the 10 a.m. funeral of Lt. Kevin Pfeifer of Engine 33, who died in the World Trade Center attack.
Pfeifer's family said they hadn't personally invited Bloomberg, and that they had been too preoccupied with arrangements to follow the controversy surrounding his absence at other FDNY services.
"We welcome everyone who wants to come and help us get through this," said Joseph Pfeifer, the fallen firefighter's brother and an FDNY battalion chief. "Right now, we're just focusing on my brother. My concern is trying to help my parents get through the funeral."
The mayor had cited scheduling conflicts for his inability to attend any FDNY funerals or memorial services.
On Groundhog Day, for example, Bloomberg attended a memorial service for a friend at St. Patrick's Cathedral while the firefighter's service was held, Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler said.
While Bloomberg attends Pfeifer's funeral, he will send Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta to another FDNY service tomorrow — scheduled for the same time in another borough — in a clear effort to repair any strained relations with New York's Bravest.
Scoppetta will attend services for Firefighter John Tierney of Ladder 9 at St. Charles Church off Hylan Blvd. in Staten Island, also at 10 a.m.
"The mayor hopes to honor the memory of our fallen firefighters in as many ways as possible," Skyler said.
Union officials praised the mayor yesterday.
"It will be a nice gesture for the family to have the new mayor there," said Tom Manly, the Uniformed Firefighters Association sergeant-at-arms.
"I think he'll get a good reception from the firefighters for being there."
Tierney and Pfeifer were among 10 firefighters of Engine 33 and Ladder 9, which share a firehouse on Great Jones St. in lower Manhattan, to die in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Personal Invitation
Bloomberg's absence became such a sore point that he was recently approached by Firefighter Stan Trojanowski of Brooklyn's Engine 232, who offered his personal invitation to attend any memorial or funeral service.
He then said, "Mr. Mayor, I was at four out of the five funerals, and I didn't see you at any of them."
Bloomberg walked away.
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Panyotes, that was a good web site.
Very emotional pictures. http://www.vigiano.com/
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I heard of going postal, but going Paramedic?
Female Bomber Was Wounded Paramedic
Wed Jan 30,10:45 AM ET
By HADEEL WAHDAN, Associated Press Writer
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Wafa Idris, the woman who set off a bomb that killed an elderly Israeli man and wounded more than a dozen in downtown Jerusalem this week, was a paramedic who was hit three times herself by Israeli rubber bullets, relatives said WednesdayIdris did not tell her family she was a member of any militant group. But the Al Aqsa Brigades, which is part of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, issued a leaflet saying she carried out the bombing in response to Israeli military actions, including the encirclement of Arafat, who has been confined to Ramallah for the past two months.
Mourning family members said they were surprised to hear she had become the first-ever female Palestinian suicide bomber in Israel — but then one sister recalled hearing her say she wanted to die "a martyr."
The 27-year-old Idris lived with her mother and other relatives in a refugee camp in Ramallah. When she left home Sunday, relatives thought she was going to her job at the Red Crescent emergency medical service.
"She left as usual, with a smile on her face, running as if she were flying," Idris' elderly mother Wasfia Idris said, sitting on the floor beneath pictures of Arafat.
Hours later, a woman set off a powerful 22-pound bomb, killing herself and an 81-year-old Israeli man and wounding more than a dozen people near the entrance to a shoe shop on a crowded Jerusalem street.
Palestinian security forces arrived at the simple, two-room Idris home in Ramallah's Amari refugee camp Tuesday night to inform the family that Wafa was the bomber — news her relatives accepted as they went into mourning.
Palestinians have carried out dozens of bombings against Israel in the 16 months of fighting, but Sunday's was the first carried out by a woman.
Israeli police have not released the identity of the bomber and said Wednesday they do not know whether she intended to blow herself up or had planned to plant the bomb and leave the scene. The Al Aqsa leaflet called the attack a "martyr operation," suggesting it was planned as a suicide attack.
The bombing was the latest in a series of deadly attacks in Jerusalem, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is considering a plan to intensify security and make it more difficult for Palestinians from the West Bank to enter the city.
Idris was the daughter of poor parents who left the Israeli town of Ramle when the first Israeli-Arab war broke out in 1948. The family ended up in Amari, a refugee camp of narrow alleyways where anger at Israel is widespread.
At their cramped concrete home, Idris' family described her as a cheerful but sometimes hot-tempered woman who had no overt ties to any militant groups. She was divorced, with no children.
When Idris did not return from work Sunday afternoon, the family began to call her cellular phone but got no answer. They said they had no idea that she was headed to Jerusalem with a bomb.
"If I knew that she was going there, I would have prevented her," her mother said.
As a paramedic who treated the Palestinian wounded in clashes with Israel soldiers, Idris had been hit three times by Israeli rubber bullets, her family said. Her sister-in-law, Wisam Idris, noticed a transformation in Wafa after Palestinian-Israeli violence broke out in September 2000.
"Usually when she came back from work, she would tell us stories about the injured people she had treated and she looked affected," Wisam Idris said. "She used to say `If I die, I want to die as a martyr,'" a reference to those who die fighting Israel.
The Red Crescent did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the case.
In her wedding portrait, a pale Idris had long, chestnut curls of hair and a slight smile. After eight years, she and her husband divorced when it became clear she could not have children, relatives said.
A brothers run a taxi, supporting the extended family, but business has been extremely slow with the Palestinian economy in tatters.
On Wednesday, the family temporarily moved to a neighbor's house out of fear their home would be the target of an Israeli attack. Homes of suicide bombers are sometimes destroyed by Israeli forces
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