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Category Archives: Street
U. S. Supreme Court Addresses Anonymous Tips
This week, the United States Supreme Court decided upon the validity of an anonymous tip precipitating a vehicle stop. Prado Navarette v. California was a 2008 case which involved an anonymous tipster calling in a 911 complaint to the California Highway Patrol of a pickup truck that had run her off of the road. CHP officers pulled over a truck matching the vehicle’s description and subsequently arrested the occupants for possessing 30 pounds of marijuana in the truck’s bed. In a 5-4 decision, the majority opinion concluded that an anonymous tip can constitute reasonable suspicion for police to effect an investigative traffic stop under the Fourth Amendment. Citing United States … Continue reading
ELSA Mobile Language Translation
ELSA is a mobile language translation system designed for first responders, government agencies, health care, and financial services among the end users. Live translators interact with the user and client. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. My department recently received two test and evaluation devices from RTT Mobile Interpretation, the developer. An ELSA device is a simple black box that is made to be clipped to the belt of the user. With the push of a button, live translators are available over a wireless network to assist with translating a mind boggling 180 different languages and dialects. Four small microphones on the top of … Continue reading
Posted in Street, Technology
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FBI Publishes Report on Active Shooter Events–2000-2012
Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation published the findings of a study of Active Shooter Events (ASE’s) that occurred from 2000 to 2012. One thing is clear from the data, and you can probably guess what it is. Active shootings, injuries, and deaths have all increased during in years examined. The FBI studied a total of 110 active shooter events during this period. Complete data was not available for every instance, but there was enough information for an examination of the trends in several areas of concern. While you might think most of the incidents occurred on school campuses, 40% of ASE’s occurred in businesses, while 29% were in … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Street, SWAT
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New Celox RAPID Hemostatic Gauzes
As I was finishing a half lap of SWAT Round-Up International’s vendor area, I had spied my old friend, an Orange County Sheriff’s Office Master Deputy. My friend introduced me to Dr. William Brooks at the Advanced Trauma Specialties display. Dr. Brooks was demonstrating some new Celox RAPID hemostatic gauzes. The Celox RAPID gauzes come in Z-folded 3″ X 5′ and 1″ X 5′ lengths, the latter of which is called Celox RAPID Ribbon gauze. Celox granules are laminated to the high density gauze material to provide easy packing into a wound for quick bleeding control. Celox is made with Chito-R™ (chitosan from shrimp shells) that binds to red blood … Continue reading
Posted in Medical, Officer Safety, Street, Technology
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Venture Ballistics Introduces New Active Shooter Shields
In addition to watching last Tuesday’s event at SWAT Round-Up International 2013, I trolled the vendors’ show looking for new things. I ran across Todd Garrett at the Venture Ballistic Composites booth. Mr. Garrett chose to introduce their new line of Active Shooter shields at this year’s SRI. Named an AS-3 or AS-3A, Venture Ballistics’ new models are either NIJ Level III or IIIa. They come in 16″ X 20″ (short) or 16″ X 28″ (regular). These shields are very mobile and afford good coverage to the user’s torso. The AS-3A short is specifically designed to give protection in or out of a vehicle.
Posted in Street, SWAT
Tagged SWAT Round-Up International, Venture Ballistic Composites
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Video Captures Daytona Beach Police OIS
Daytona Beach Police Department released this video of their officers engaging a hostage taker on September 25, 2013. The officer involved shooting was captured on a body camera worn by one of the officers. Former New York Giants player Jermaine Lanier Green, 32, was holding his girlfriend at knife point when the officers entered the home. In reviewing the video of the Daytona Beach OIS, I noted a few things. At the outset, the officers assess the situation from witnesses on scene. The first responders take immediate action based on there being an armed, mentally ill (“Signal 0 with a knife, Signal 20.”) person holding a hostage inside the residence. … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Street
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New Morphix Technologies TraceX Explosives Detector Kits
Morphix Technologies is releasing a new explosives detector kit, which is made to test for home made explosives (HME) and improvised explosive devices (IED). I received a Morphix Chameleon Chemical Detector kit, which I reviewed in April of 2012. It is good basic technology for the rank and file. The Morphix TraceX HME kit tests for nine different explosive families in under three minutes with a single swabbing. The results are clearly indicated in the window of the test box. The kit is rugged and sealed in its own protective plastic case, which fits in a cargo pocket. No word on pricing for the TraceX, but the Chameleon was running … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Street, Technology
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Drug Deaths Decline in Florida
In September, the Florida Medical Examiners and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement disseminated the Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons Report for 2012. The report identified 8,330 drug-caused and/or drug-related deaths in the 178,000 Floridians who died in 2012, as reported to the Office of Vital Statistics. The report cited 17.7% fewer drug-caused deaths in 2012 verses 2011, a decrease of 2,090 persons. Drug-related deaths, where at least one legal or illegal drug was present in the decedent’s body but was not necessarily the cause of death, dropped 9.9% to 4,944. Oxycodone killed 41.1% fewer Floridians in 2012. Deaths attributed to alprazolam, diazepam, hydrocodone, and methadone decreased as well. Said … Continue reading
Zebra F-701 Pen Review
Since moving to a plainclothes job, I started to re-examine my daily load out. Seems it no longer qualifies as such. The utility of a duty belt and cargo pockets has given way to the functionally spartan nature of dress shirts and slacks. In both Patrol and CID, a writing instrument is required. I decided I needed something less than a full blown “tactical pen,” but more than a plastic clicky pen. Thus, I bought a Zebra F-701. An Internet darling, the Zebra F-701 is a stainless steel barreled retractable ballpoint pen with a 0.7mm fine writing tip. The pen’s overall length is 5 3/8″ and its weight is 1.1 … Continue reading
Posted in Detectives, Misc., Officer Safety, Street
Tagged Officer Safety, Zebra F-701 Pen Review
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They Stole my Crown Vic!
Okay, “they” meaning my Administration. I went to work last night and saw a set of keys and fobs on my desk to a brand new Chevrolet Tahoe. An email instructed me to vacate the CVPI posthaste. She had been reassigned. I had been given my first Crown Victoria in 1990, when I went off to K9 school. The previous handler had taken great care of the 1988 model and had even installed a cassette player! I was thrilled, since I had no real love for the anemic Dodge Diplomat that had been my daily cruiser. I have spent many an hour in Crown Vics over the years and I … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, Street
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Back on the Street with the K9’s
After a few weeks of getting reacquainted with the K9 Unit’s handlers and dogs, I am back in the swing. Cleaning up a year’s worth of administrative backlog, I un-assed myself from the desk and hit the street. Last night, I ran lights and siren to a foot chase involving one of the shift officers. He had interrupted a mobile check cashing scheme at a cash advance place. The felonious utterer took flight. The officer lost the bad guy in a…wait for it…mobile home park (Welcome to Florida). The K9 had just deployed and I had a visual, so I exited the CVPI and tagged along. Sometimes a near zero … Continue reading
Tiny Inconspicuous Handcuff Key
Let’s all keep a watch out for this crowdfunded officer safety hazard. The TIHK, tiny inconspicuous handcuff key, is made for a person to evade being “illegally restrained in handcuffs.” Here is their disclaimer: “The TIHK is to only be used to counter illegal detainment and in accordance with all local, state and federal laws by trained law enforcement, military and security professionals. Improper use by civilians is not endorsed or encouraged. Use of the product is at your own personal risk and discretion.” It is a felony for a civilian to carry a concealed handcuff key in Florida under FSS 843.021, but my agency has seen an increase in … Continue reading
Yesterday
Yesterday, my shift responded to what was dispatched as an attempted kidnapping. A small boy was in the restroom of a supermarket when a male grabbed the boy and made a lewd comment. The boy fled the restroom. Because no one in the store was immediately notified and police were told about the incident over 30 minutes later, the suspect was long gone. Yesterday, when I got home at 2300, I heard about the little girl abducted in Jacksonville. We found out this morning that Cherish Lilly Perrywinkle was murdered by sexual offender Donald James Smith. Heartbreaking. Yesterday’s events reminded me why I was a protective, paranoid parent when my … Continue reading
Posted in Street
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Zero Motorcycles 2013 Electric Police Models
Zero Motorcycles of Santa Cruz, CA has introduced police-specific 2013 electric motorcycles for street and on/off road patrol uses. This follows two years of testing with local California law enforcement agencies and the London, England police. I don’t know why I think these electric motorcycles are cool, but I do. I got to train on some of our big Kawasaki KZ1000’s back in the day, but I’m not a rider and I was never able to go to police motorcycle operator’s school. Something about not having sidecars for the dog. Still… Electric cars for policemen are not currently on my wish list. When a neighboring jurisdiction got Prius’s for their homicide … Continue reading
Posted in Street, Technology
Tagged police technology
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Search Incident to Arrest? Not for Cell Phones.
You may have heard yesterday that the Florida Supreme Court ruled a police search of a cell phone incident to arrest violates a person’s right to privacy and is therefore illegal. In Smallwood vs. State (No. SC-11-1130), justices decided 5-2 to eliminate the practice. In reference to Smallwood vs State, Cedric Tyrone Smallwood was arrested by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for a convenience store robbery. Ofc. Ike Brown looked in Smallwood’s cell phone in a search incident to Smallwood’s arrest. Seeing possibly incriminating photographs of Smallwood with a handgun and what looked like the stolen money, packaged as described by the victim clerk, JSO investigators applied for and received a … Continue reading
Posted in Legal, Street
Tagged Cell Phone Search, Florida Supreme Court, Smallwood vs State of Florida
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