Roll Call - April

Sergeant James (Tim) Timothy Chapin
Chattanooga Police Department, Tennessee
EOW: Saturday, April 2, 2011
Cause of Death: Gunfire

K9 Kane
Clark County Sheriff's Department, Washington
EOW: Saturday, April 2, 2011
Cause of Death: Stabbing

Deputy Sheriff Eric Stein
Keokuk County Sheriff's Office, Iowa
EOW: Monday, April 4, 2011
Cause of Death: Gunfire

Trooper Jeffrey Werda
Michigan State Police, Michigan
EOW: Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Cause of Death: Automobile accident

Senior Officer Specialist Christopher Cooper
United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Prisons - U.S. Government
EOW: Thursday, April 7, 2011
Cause of Death: Heart Attack

K9 Spike
Anderson County Sheriff's Office, South Carolina
EOW: Thursday, April 7, 2011
Cause of Death: unknown

K9 Grando
Miami Springs Police Department, Florida
EOW: Friday, April 8, 2011
Cause of Death: Cancer (ruptured tumor)

K9 King
Abilene Police Department, Texas
EOW: Friday, April 8, 2011
Cause of Death: Health complications (canine version of Multiple Sclerosis)

Correctional Officer Ronald E. (RJ) Johnson
South Dakota Department of Corrections, South Dakota
EOW: Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Cause of Death: Assault

Patrolman Jonathan Schmidt
Trumann Police Department, Arizona
EOW: Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Cause of Death: Gunfire

K9 Drika
Bryant Police Department, AR
EOW: Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Cause of Death: undetermined

K9 Chico
Delaware County Sheriff's Office, Oklahoma
EOW: Thursday, April 14, 2011
Cause of Death: Cancer

K9 Axon
Hartsville Police Department, South Carolina
EOW: Saturday, April 16, 2011
Cause of Death:

K9 Oldo
Corona Police Department, California
EOW: Saturday, April 16, 2011
Cause of Death: Cancer

K9 Ike
Palm Springs Police Department, California
EOW: Sunday, April 17, 2011
Cause of Death: Gunfire
(I'm unsure if ODMP recognizes canines as officers, so I went ahead and put this up. Ike was with the department for 2 years. You can find the story here: Police K9, Wanted Parolee Killed in Shootout)


Deputy Sheriff Sherri Jones
Bowie County Sheriff's Department, Texas
EOW: Monday, April 18, 2011
Cause of Death: Gunfire

Public Safety Officer Eric Zapata
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, Michigan
EOW: Monday, April 18, 2011
Cause of Death: Gunfire

K9 Vinni
Tunnel Hill Police Department, Georgia
EOW: Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Cause of Death: Automobile accident

K9 Baron
South Portland Police Department, Maine
EOW: Thursday, April 21, 2011
Cause of Death: Unspecified natural causes

K9 Ilox
Philomath Police Department, Oregon
EOW: Thursday, April 21, 2011
Cause of Death: Natural causes

K9 Sabre
Galloway Township Police Department, New Jersey
EOW: Thursday, April 21, 2011
Cause of Death: Cancer

Police Officer J. Christopher Kilcullen
Eugene Police Department, Oregon
EOW: Friday, April 22, 2011
Cause of Death: Gunfire

K9 Memphis
Hazlet Police Department, New Jersey
EOW: Friday, April 22, 2011
Cause of Death: Cancer

Deputy Sheriff Clifton Taylor
Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Texas
EOW: Saturday, April 23, 2011
Cause of Death: Gunfire

K9 Quando
Mercer County Sheriff's Department, (state)
EOW: possibly Saturday, April 23, 2011
Cause of Death: Cancer

Police Officer Daryl Hall
St. Louis Police Department, Missouri
EOW: Sunday, April 24, 2011
Cause of Death: Gunfire

Lieutenant Wade Sharp
Covington Police Department, Louisiana
EOW: Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Cause of Death: Weather/Natural disaster, off-duty heroic act

K9 Conan
Austintown Police Department, Ohio
EOW: Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Cause of Death: Cancer

K9 Boomer
Manchester Police Department, Connecticut
EOW: Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Cause of Death: unknown

K9 Scooby
New York Police Department, New York
EOW: Saturday, April 30, 2011
Cause of Death: Unknown health complications
(12/18)

Update: Where to next?

So Sam is pretty serious about switching over to corrections. His argument was good. He wouldn't have a gun inside the facility. His benefits would be better than what his department is giving him right now. His pay check would be a little bigger. He said he was tired of the road. Tired of the criticism of his judgements. That working in corrections is safer than the roads. He argued that I worked in a jail, only I was in a room all day with files and I had no contact with prisoners. He would have direct contact with inmates under totally different circumstances.

He won't be applying just yet since they're under a hiring freeze but with his CIT certification he'll be more marketable when it does come to hiring. And he's not going out for swat because his knee that he injured in November has started bothering him when he runs. It also means he probably won't go for detective either.

It looks like it'll still be a while until he'll be putting in his application.

That's about it for now, I've got to start getting serious about a job change here within the next few weeks. I'm getting a little fed up with their incompetence.

Son, are you just stupid?

Well I think that about sums it up!

Vero Beach High School student charged with impersonating officer

I mean really? I don't think these kids were thinking...which is much different from knowing what they were doing. I don't care if they were looking to have fun. There are ways to have fun and how not to have fun. And this isn't how its done.

The individuals who moved out of the way were lucky that all these teens did was pass them. There are so many instances when people impersonate officers in order to take advantage of others and bring them harm.

Sometimes I worry about that when driving on stretches of road in rural sections of town. They're one lane each way, no street lamps for miles, and house are few and far between. Just the woodlands and road. And at night, forget it. It gets hard to see who is behind you when their headlamps are so bright its all you can see.

I asked Sam a couple of months ago what I should do in a situation like that when I'm by myself. I'm fairly petite and not the strongest, and I'm alone. What would be the best route to take: pull over immediately or keep driving at a slow pace until I reached a well-lit area with some type of population? The typical cop response: "Why wouldn't you pull over?" I wouldn't for those above reasons and what if he wasn't a really cop, because there are plenty out there. He replied he hadn't thought about that and it was a good question to ask. I felt proud. I think he told me if I thought it was suspicious or felt uneasy that I could call dispatch to let them know of the situation and to alert the officers of what I was doing and to take it from there.

Hopefully I will never find myself in such a situation but if so that's what I plan to do. It's kind of frightening to think, and again on the topic of accessibility, how easy it is for the public to gain law enforcement accessories even light bars aren't hard to come by. Patches are sold left and right between ebay, other such sites and even through departments themselves, and your homegrown flea markets and surplus stores. Its easy to say in the selling description that these items are collectibles only and bear no authority and that the owner will not use them in any other way. I know that most, like myself are sole collectors but there are the few whack jobs who say one thing in order to gain another. How can you traffic something like that? Some of these people have perfected the art of manipulation or their two-facedness. To stop them you have to stop everyone.

Though there are times I must admit while driving through traffic that I wish in that moment they did some infraction like blatantly driving through a red light, busted tail-lights or weaving through highway traffic like a bat out of hell that I had that light bar and siren because I would love to pull their asses over. And yes even write tickets to the people who park next to fire hydrants or in the fire zones at churches because they're too old to park in that space so far from the entrance or just too lazy and want to be the first ones out of the lot right after communion. I tell you I would have an absolute field day on the weekends at the church down the street. I wonder if I could do a citizen's arrest?

Where to next?

Sam is bored with CIT class. The binder of material they're learning in a week's 40hr course is choc-full of information and it doesn't seem to me that a week is enough to learn it and retain it all. Paging through some of the first sections got me nostalgic about the psychology classes I had taken throughout college. 4years and I can't retain all of it. It is pretty obvious he doesn't want to sit through any more of the class but he really does want that pin to wear on his uniform at the end. Ah the simple things that make him happy.

He didn't delve into it much, but I'll drag it out of him more on Thursday, but he commented on making a career change. He's thinking about becoming a corrections officer, because they get paid more and he won't be shot at. I had a horrible thought. It doesn't matter if he's working in a jail or prison or on the street, he could still be shot at. I shouldn't think those kinds of things but isn't it just reality? Any inmate could turn on him and take his gun. If not shot he could be stabbed with a shiv or pencil. Ugh, I don't want to think of these things but in truth I would rather him be on the road instead of the jails. I don't know why. Is this a rational way to think about this?

Regardless, I want him to have my support because I love him and I know he loves what he does as a police officer. In the same breath, I want him to know my concerns, my fears, my worries. I want him to be happy but safe overall.

I can only wait and see what Thursday will bring.

21 Guns

Talking with Jim at work the other day and I'm not sure how we ended up on the topic of guns. I remember saying that Sam wanted me to have a gun. He wants me to be safe and everything like that, but I'm not sure if I would like having a gun. If I did, it would be kept at his house because I'm pretty sure my mom wouldn't let me in the house. She's not a fan of the idea. I'm pretty happy too with the baseball bat or my khukri sword I keep by the side of my bed anyways. But Jim was a little surprised that Sam wants me to have a gun. He said if you have a gun you have to be ready to kill someone if you were in the position to defend yourself. Not to wound, but to kill. There is a whole psychology behind it he started to talk about and he didn't know how cops could do it. And that you don't become a police officer in order to kill someone.

He also knew an officer down in Miami, where he lived for a good part of his life, who was on the force for I want to say over 20 years...any ways it was a long time. And in all that time, this officer never once had to draw his gun on duty. I thought that was pretty impressive and Jim reminded me that that was Miami before it became this place ridden with crime. Even still, very impressive. I know Sam has been in situations where he has pulled his weapon  in his career already but didn't discharge.

Guns, while they have always been a hot topic, are making news well in the news. There have been 30 officer related deaths this year already (31 if you include K9 Ike). But there have also been fatalities involving civilians including this horrible story of a toddler that shot and killed his mother. While it was accidental its still horrible to come across this. I'm not sure how this child who is 2years old was able to access the gun, his father's who has a concealed weapon permit. Who knows if we will ever know.

I think guns are being severely misused and their use glorified by TV, games and gang-related ideologies. Not only that, it would seem they are more accessible to the public than ever whether by legal or illegal means. In light of the outbreaks of campus shootings, earlier this year Texas is considering allowing concealed weapons on university campuses. I understand that they are looking to put protocols in place that would deter just anyone from carrying weapons but I still don't know if this decision is best. I know that weapons are discussed in just about every campus nationwide, this is an excerpt from my Alma mater catalog:

The possession or use of firearms, fireworks of any description, explosive devices, or any weapon is restricted on college property or at any college-sponsored function.Fireworks/explosives are dangerous and are prohibited under Florida law. They may not be brought on campus under any circumstances. Violators of this regulation will be subject to suspension or expulsion...

I'm sure that even if you were a citizen with a concealed weapon permit you still wouldn't be able to posses the weapon on campus. You'd only be able to have the weapon if living off campus. The only way anyone would be able to carry is if they were law enforcement, we did have a few officers that would attend class...but not on duty, though they did have some night courses that I think the officers did attend while on duty, but I'm not sure.

I am hoping that I'll be able to get to the firing range with Sam before this year is through. He's been trying to get me out there since we started dated last year, but every time he and his family were going I was busy with work and its a whole day thing according to him. One of these days I'll go. I want to go and shoot, he thinks I don't because of all the chances I've had to go with him. However, it has made my mom happy that I haven't gone. Like I said before, she's pretty much against it.

9/11

The 10th anniversary is coming up in just about 142 days. I know my self, I'm always looking for a new project to work on. Sam's patch project is just about done, just one more frame and I'll always be on the look out for a few of the older department patches. I just purchased (a horrible habit now that I know my way around ebay) a 9-11 memorial patch of Sirius K9 of the New York Port Authority. Apparently, he was the only police K9 to have lost his life during the World Trade Center Ordeal. This site here: K9 Monuments showcases memorials and statues to service animals. Sirius has a plaque that was erected in 2002. This got me thinking on my next big patch project: collect various 9-11 memorial and department related patches and of course get them framed. I'm not sure on the whole look of it and if I'll include anniversary patches, which apparently as I'm finding out there has been one released for every year past that date...so 10 in all. I'd like to include patches of all the departments that were lost in the WTC, Pennsylvania and Pentagon attacks inclusive of police, fire, and other government officials.

I'm still scrolling through the K9 Monument/Memorial site and I'm just amazed at the number of monuments that have been erected all over the world to service dogs.

Not sure when I'll have this all done, it'll probably take a few years at best with just collecting the different patches. I think I'll stick to it being a 10year showcase. I started researching which companies of the fire department were involved, so I'm going and cataloging all 347 firefighters to find which engine/ladder/battalion/squad/rescue company they were with and then going on ebay and a few other sites to find their department patch. I'll be doing the same for the police department and port authority and any other department I can find within that research.

Sorry if any of this sounds repetitive, kind of typing out the thoughts as it comes to me. I'm trying to catch myself if it has been said already.

I'm thinking of contacting the WTC memorial to see if they can help as a last resort with anything and kind of explain what I'm doing and if they would be so kind to help. Not sure if I'll end up donating the finished product...but if the memorial museum does help, I would like to send them something as a thank you, possibly a little side framed patch project that they could put int he museum if they can do that sort of thing. I'll be keeping an update of everything I'll be doing.

Patches!

I've been collecting law enforcement patches since last year. I've been collecting patches though for years, usually they're my souvenirs of the places I've been on family vacations. My very first police patches were a FL Highway Patrol, New York City and a Puerto Rico FD patch. This is a glimpse at my very small collection so far but I'm hoping to expand it exponentially. So far I think I'm going to focus on Florida departments or defunct departments.

These last two I've recently put into frames and up on my wall. I really like how they look against the gray background with the white outlined flowers. I wish I had gotten more of them at Target when they were in the dollar bin. I also have six other patches that I haven't included because I'm going to be getting them framed for Sam's birthday that coming up. I'm hoping he likes the gesture. I know I would and I'm not even an officer. I got the idea because he said he wanted to collect the patches from the departments his academy classmates were now working. He has one, which I had made the initial inquiry about. Hopefully he won't find this blog before then. *smiles* I have another gift idea but I don't want to spoil it just yet.

A dog has one aim in life. To bestow his heart. - J.R. Ackerley

He is your friend , your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be ours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Unknown

Another great tragedy has befallen the law enforcement community. Ike, 2-year veteran K9 for the Palm Springs Police Department in California has died in the line of duty doing what he does best - chasing down criminals.

It all started slightly after 1am Sunday when two officers recognized and attempted to make contact with a wanted parolee. The man fled when the officers tried to stop him. One of the officers, a K9 handler released Ike for the chase through a residential area.

What probably should have been an easy take down erupted into chaos when the parolee began to fire his gun, hitting Ike's handler, a 5-year veteran in the right side of his body striking his vest. Ike sustained fatal injuries during the exchange and died at the scene. He is the first K9 to die in the line of duty in the history of the Palm Springs police K9 program. The suspect also died from sustained gunshot wounds.

Both officers were treated for their injuries and released on paid administrative leave while an investigation is conducted.
 
Further information regarding donations can be found at this site: Donations Accepted For Fallen Palm Springs Police Dog
 
I personally wanted to include Ike in the roll call post for the end of month as I feel he should be recognized and remembered alongside his human brothers and sisters in blue. Thus far, I haven't seen anything posted on the ODMP page. So I have place his name along with department, end of watch, cause of death and news article of what took place. My thoughts and prayers go out to his department, his handler and his handler's family. They have all suffered a great loss.

(photo courtesy of Palm Springs Police Dog "Ike" Remembered as a "Hero")

Hero of the week

I was just browsing the news while at work and I happened upon this story: Firefighter To Run In Uniform In Boston Marathon. At first, I'm thinking this guy has lost his mind. If you are familiar with the run, the distance is 26 miles long. If that isn't long enough, firefighter James Gefke is adding 30lbs of additional weight because of his gear. So far though, he's been trudging along strong as this will be his 4th marathon with the gear attire.

The scary part is that he states that "It doesn't allow my body to breathe really well, so I end up sweating quite a bit more than I probably normally otherwise would."

But the reason he's running is much more important. "I'm doing it in memory of a very close friend...John Harrington...He was riding into work that day and was actually my relief. Unfortunately, he was involved in an accident and passed away that day."

Harrington, 25, died after a truck hit his bicycle...Every year, a bike ride in his memory raises money for charity. And as the 7th anniversary of death approaches, Gefke will also be raising money for the Wisconsin Burn Survivor's Network.

Run strong and proud James Gefke. Good luck on Monday!

Why wouldn't I support you?

Men can be stupid, whether or not if they're joking about. *laughs*

With that being said, Sam starts his new shift on Sunday. Not only that, he told me last night that he probably won't be trying out for Swat. Please let me insert HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF here. He'd be putting himself in more dangerous situations, be called at any time, and the way he made it sound it wouldn't look like he'd get any kind of raise in pay. Instead, he's thinking about going the detective route. One of his good friends just made detective status earlier this month. I think it would be good because he does want to work in the line of traffic homicides. His big question to me:

Would you support me if I wanted to become a detective?

Is he dumb or what?! *laughs* Of course I would support him!! I was going to support his decision to go into Swat. I guess he just wanted that confirmation that I was on board with him. I don't know if I ever gave him that when he mentioned trying out for Swat back in November. It was short lived though because his leg injury came so soon afterwards. That should have showed him though. If I can put up with the shit he pulled while being injured, I could work my way through him being in Swat. Only now I'll have to refer to him as Detective instead of Officer...if he makes it. ...And I know he will. *smiles*

Crime happens in the quietest of places

I think a lot of people believe in the notion that because where you live is small and quiet there can't possibly be any type of criminal activity probably aside from internet piracy. Truth of the matter is that there is crime at every turn including the big stuff. I have to admit that its a little nerve wracking when such criminal events take place so close to home.

Late last night, two individuals were in my town looking for someone to rob...what they did was much worse. They started to fire at a correctional officer riding a motorcycle home from work who passed by them. Luckily this officer wasn't injured in the process. The officer was able to get away and alert 911, which leaded into a high-speed chase and crash. They caught the guys too which lets me have another big sigh of relief.

The funny part of this is I take the exact roads they went down on my way to and from work. I think I was able to pick out the spot where they crashed over by 95 on my way to work this afternoon.

Here's the news article from TCPalm: Two men shoot at corrections officer, lead Martin County deputies on high-speed chase before crashing, officials said

A possible change of pace

Sam may be changing over to the early shift 4pm-3am, which is the shift he was hoping for when the 6 month change-over occured. This just coming after saying they may move his patrol zone back to the Northend. Again where he was before the change-over. Not sure if I'll be happy about being woken at 2:30 to let me know he's home but lately I have been going to bed much later so it'd be okay.

Also he's working out more intensely and I'm loving the fruits of that labor. His upper body is getting back its definition and I love every minute of feeling those arms keeping me close and safe. Not only is working out to look fabulous, he's thinking of trying out for SWAT. Hopefully, no physical incidences with possible perps will happen just before he gets the chance.

I'm rooting for you love.

Poor Reception, please repeat

Communication is a large part of daily life whether its verbal or not. Humans are social creatures. On the days we don't see one another, Sam and mine communication is rather lacking resulting in a few and brief text messages back and forth. He asking if he should place the left or right magazine into his gun. Me telling him to have a good night at work. Occasionally, I may send a text asking how work is going. His reply is usually busy to very busy. Otherwise no details are to be had. Then I'll text him a little heart <3 , usually the indicator that I'm going to sleep and he'll text one back. The last text I'll get from him before this ritual repeats in the evening is a text between 6:30-7am saying he's gotten home safely.

This is not a complaint in any way. He works nights and needs to devote his attention to the job and I know it gets busy where he works. I usually read about it in the papers the next day. Its funny, I can sometimes tell what calls he may have been at depending on the incident time or where it took place. Now when I see him tonight, he'll tell me about work and the calls he was on. Some I don't like hearing but I know there are parts he's leaving out either because he's not supposed to say or to save me from worrying about it. I don't mind if he leaves some parts out. As long as I know he and his fellow officers were okay in the end and how they handled it is good in my book.

Although he did tell me that he got a little stuck climbing through the window on a call the other night. I guess his gun belt got caught since the window is about the size of his bathroom window and he's a little taller than 6 foot and a couple hundred pounds (nearly all muscle). I'll have to take a picture of his bathroom one for reference. It's funny picturing him stuck in a window. At least they didn't have to call the fire department to rescue him. No one would have let him live that down.

You are listening to...

I like listening to ambient music. It can be soft or loud, poetic and moving; almost like I should be watching a movie or drama based on its soundtrack.

I like listening to police radio traffic. It's dialogue cryptic with their codes and at times monotone, most of the time a constant conversation between officer and dispatch. I want to be watching COPS, the First 48 or even Law and Order: SVU. I think of him.

Now I have a little bit of both worlds with You Are Listening To New York. It pairs ambient music with police radio of different departments nationwide. You can listen to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, or Montreal. I'm not sure though if the broadcasts are a prerecording or if its real time.