Avoiding the Dangers in a Chemical Suicide Response

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Randall

Low Threat Tactical Clearing Exercise, Normally Run with SCBA’s

On Monday in Boston, a BU pharmacology grad student committed suicide by lethal chemical.  Police and Fire department personnel responding to the apartment at 676 Massachusetts Ave. were in danger from highly toxic sodium azide, which has effects similar to cyanide.  Four police officers and two EMT’s were taken to the hospital for exposure to the chemical.

I had just written an article on April 2 about a dangerous malathion suicide attempt, where first responders needed medical attention.  Last June, I wrote an article for BlueSheepdog called Chemical Suicides–A Safe Response.  I thought it very important to post that article on ThinBlueFlorida for obvious officer safety reasons.

Police officers respond to thousands of cases a day of a person unconscious in a vehicle.  In most cases, the officer will find the driver has a medical issue, is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or is just plain sleep deprived.  Unfortunately, there is another scenario lurking out there that can be very dangerous.

Chemical suicides have been on the rise.  According to a New York State fire official, of the 72 chemical suicides in the U.S. since 2008, 80% have resulted in injuries to first responders.  These incidents are on the increase, with more than 25 chemical suicides having been reported in the early months of 2011.

A thorough officer safety assessment at the approach of a “person down” can prevent a secondary exposure to toxic chemicals that may be present.  There are potential warning Continue reading →

Posted in Medical, Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics–Now Running

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Randall

The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Florida came through my county today.  The Torch Run is in its 31st year of raising awareness and funds for the Special Olympics.  Each year in Florida over 5,000 law enforcement officers from more than 300 agencies will carry the Flame of Hope on a 1,500 mile relay through 66 counties.

The Flame of Hope’s journey began March 26 in Escambia County and will finish on May 9 in Osceola County, in time for Opening Ceremonies to the Special Olympics Summer Games in Lake Buena Vista, FL on May 18.

For the last ten years or so, Bill has been my agency’s Special Olympics representative athlete.  Each year, he greets us and thanks us for our participation.  He is right up front at the photo ops and assists in handing off the torch to our department from the previous relay department.  This morning, Bill told me how excited he is to be cycling at the Special Olympics Summer Games in May.   Events hosted at the Summer Games include track and field, soccer, bocce, tennis, volleyball, cycling, and other special competitions.

It was a hot, humid, 85 degrees during our run.  Our route travels about four miles from a Continue reading →

Posted in Misc., Off Duty | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Alternative Drugs Causing Aggression

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Randall

Psilocybin Mushrooms

On several calls in the last few months, our officers have had to fight people who were out of control on hallucinogenic substances.  These drugs are a serious cause for concern for law enforcement.

In one instance, an officer rolled up on an unknown situation in the middle of a large intersection.  A Good Samaritan was trying to hold down an out-of-control girl who was screaming “Kill me!” over and over again at the top of her lungs.

The officer and citizen managed to keep the 90 lbs. girl on the ground.  Another officer arrived to replace the citizen.  Now with two officers trying to handcuff her, the girl began to fight and actually began pushing up off the pavement with them on her back.

The first officer unloaded a can of OC into the girl’s face.  It had no effect and she pretty much drank it like a Slurpee.  Whirling around, she kicked the female officer in the groin.  The crazed girl was finally subdued and taken for medical treatment.

At the hospital, she became lucid and told officers she had ingested three “mushrooms.”  She asked what had happened to her.  She did not recall the fight in the intersection.

The next night officers responded to a local McDonald’s for a man running around the parking lot shouting that people were chasing him and trying to kill him.  In his paranoid Continue reading →

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Officer Safety Assumptions and the Dispatch Center

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Randall

I was bright and shiny and a little scared on my first shift in a real police car during field training.  After loading up, my FTO and I were buckled up in the cruiser in the PD parking lot.  He leaned over and prepared to say something.  I thought, Remember this, it could save my life!  Dryly, he said, “ And don’t take any sh*t from the dispatchers…”

I think cops expect too much from the information provided them by the radio.  Have you ever heard a frustrated officer interrogate a telecommunicator for more details the operator obviously does not have?   It is a waste of radio time.  Just go to the call.

Stand in your Communications Center some time and listen to a call taker trying to extract useful information from a person on the other end of the line who is either (Pick one. Hell, pick two):  drunk, hysterical, delusional, confrontational, over-medicated, disinterested, self-righteous, or just plain stupid.  The exchange would be comical if the things that Continue reading →

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Diamondback DB9 Long Term Test and Review

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Randall

In January of 2011, I was walking through the static vendor booths at SHOT Show’s Media Day at the Range and saw a familiar pistol that somehow looked off-kilter. It was a stretched Diamondback Firearms DB380 pistol.  No.  It was something new.

Diamondback Firearms makes striker-fired polymer framed pistols and (soon) shotguns AR -15’s in Cocoa, Florida.  After successfully marketing a micro-compact .380 ACP pistol, the company began producing a 9mm version.  This was the gun I saw on the table.

I handled the unloaded gun in the booth.  It looked very promising, however, for its diminutive size, I worried about how it would actually handle in the hand when touching off 9mm primers.   I would find out six months later.

I took delivery of a Diamondback DB9 in July 2011.  It arrived in a black plastic case with an owner’s manual, one six-round magazine, and a padlock and trigger block. After perusing the manual, I fieldstripped the DB9.  It easily disassembled, without tools, much Continue reading →

Posted in Concealed Carry, Firearms, Florida Companies, Off Duty, Officer Safety, SHOT Show, Street | Tagged , , , , , | 25 Comments

Reminder in Margate of the Danger of Suicide and Chemicals

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Randall

An incident in Margate, FL yesterday is a good reminder for first responders to be wary of the presence of chemicals in suicide attempts.  A Coconut Creek man apparently attempted suicide by drinking the commercially available pesticide Malathion.  EMS workers arrived his home at about 0130 am to find him in his yard.

When the man was transported to Northwest Medical Center in nearby Margate, he vomited up the chemical in the rescue unit and cause three paramedics to suffer dizziness, nausea, and headaches.

At the Northwest ER, toxic fumes could still be smelled on the man.  He was isolated and the ER was shut down.  The Broward County Sheriff’s Office Haz-Mat team responded and the ER and rescue unit were subsequently decontaminated by a commercial cleaning company.  The sickened paramedics were treated and released.

Malathion is a common chemical for mosquito control and is for sale over the counter.  It is low in toxicity until metabolized by the body into malaoxon, which is 61% more Continue reading →

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Debrief That Patrol Incident

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Randall

Courtesy: LAPD

We went on quite a few hot calls in the last couple of shifts.  One in particular had some valuable lessons that deserved time in a debriefing.  A “Shots Fired” came in to our Dispatch Center.  Units were sent to the general area.  Nothing was found at first.

When one of the officers went to speak with a complainant, he heard gunfire from several houses to the west.  More officers arrived.  Just prior to my pulling on scene, the troops had focused in on a particular house on the block.  Officers were sent to surround it.  There was no valid phone number to the home.  We cautiously made contact with the homeowner and it was ascertained he was suicidal, homicidal, and in need of commitment and services.

After he was in custody, we found he had cranked off over twenty rounds in his backyard because he was depressed over his unraveling family situation.   He threatened us with future gun play and was taken to a mental health facility. Case closed?  Not quite.

At the next night’s Read Off, we debriefed the call in a constructive manner.  The squad did a lot of things right.  Decisive action.  Adequate manpower.  Good investigation.  Something we could have done better was communicate.  Officers at the front of the house Continue reading →

Posted in Officer Safety, Street | 1 Comment

New Charter Arms Pitbull .40 S&W Revolver Review

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Randall

…Updated below…

BlueSheepdog Richard and I went to the range a couple of months ago to get some trigger time with a mixed bag of pistols and revolvers.  One of the wheelguns he brought was the unique Charter Arms Pitbull.  The Pitbull is a .40 S&W cal. revolver, which was formerly called the CARR, for Charter Arms Rimless Revolver.

The Pitbull was made to fire a rimless auto-pistol cartridge without the use of full or half moon clips.  Integral to their design is a dual coil spring loaded extractor, which engages the case rim and ejects the spent rounds.

Originally, Charter Arms’ idea was to provide a revolver that was chambered in rimless auto-pistol cartridges that are popular with law enforcement, such as 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.  Charter said the 9mm version, which would be the last evolution of the production line, would also load, fire, and extract .380 ACP (9mm short).

The CARR, later Pitbull, was envisioned as a handy back up for the police officer since his back-up revolver could be stoked with the same ammo that his or her duty gun would Continue reading →

Posted in Concealed Carry, Firearms, Off Duty, SHOT Show, Street | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Affordable Maratac LED Flashlight from County Comm

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Randall

County Comm Government Products Group, a California tactical retailer, sells some interesting and unique items.   One of their signature lines of product is Maratac.  The Maratac brand includes tactical nylon gear and flashlights.

I purchased two of County Comm’s Maratac AA Extreme flashlights on-line.  My intent was to put one in both my wife’s and my personal cars.  I thought a sale price of $35.95 for each was excellent, given the many features of the light. The MSRP is still good at $41.95.

The AA Extreme is an aluminum-bodied light finished in black or OD green Type 3 military grade anodizing.  The R2 light-emitting diode (LED) generates either 120 lumens on high or 1.5 lumens on the low setting.  Runtime for the single AA battery is 2 hours (high) and 225 hours (low). This makes the light versatile in the field or around the house.

The flashlight has a tail cap switch that clicks on and off, and is soft-touched when on to cycle to the low setting.  The light has knurling for good purchase.  There is a small hole in Continue reading →

Posted in Flashlights | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

St. Petersburg Officer’s Killer Gets Life Sentence

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Randall

Lindsey on Facebook

Yesterday, Nicholas Lindsey was found guilty of first degree murder in the killing of St. Petersburg Police Officer David Crawford.  At 17 years of age, Lindsey was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The defense attempted to portray Lindsey, who was tried as an adult for the February 21, 2011 murder, as a “scared child” who accidentally shot Crawford.  Five times.  Jurors did not believe the rhetoric.

Ofc. David Crawford’s widow, who was harassed in the 6th Judicial Circuit Criminal Courts Complex by Lindsey supporters, had no sympathy as she read her statement to the Court:

“My name is Donna Crawford. I am the wife of Officer David Crawford.

To you the animal that sits before me, and I use this term very loosely, you claim to be this scared little boy who comes from the rough streets of south St. Pete and a community that failed you. But let me tell you, I come from the same streets of south St. Pete, a low income family and without many opportunities available to others. But unlike you I didn’t carry a gun, shoot and kill another human being nor blame anyone else for my choices and actions.

You sit in this courtroom that is supposed to deliver justice, but to me justice would be for me to do to you physically what you did to my husband.

So the more you complain, scared little boy, be very afraid, because you’re going to prison where people are tortured, raped and yes, lose their life and this time mommy and daddy cannot run to your aid and help you. So I want you to know when these things happen to you it will still fall very short of the pain I feel every day for what you have taken from me.

You are not worth remembering anymore after I walk out of this courtroom today, except the day I get to read your obituary and then maybe, maybe I will find peace within this nightmare I relive every day. Thank you.”

Lindsey’s defense team conceded in opening statements that Lindsey shot and killed Ofc. Crawford when he stopped Lindsey on a burglary call, but they argued that Lindsey’s .380 caliber pistol accidentally went off and shot Crawford once.  Further, when Lindsey saw Ofc. Crawford drawing his gun, Lindsey panicked and shot four more times in self Continue reading →

Posted in Legal, Off Duty, Officer Down | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Another Victim in the Trayvon Martin Case: Objectivity

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Randall

George Zimmerman

I have thus far avoided weighing in on the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman shooting out of Sanford, FL.   I did not want to speak prematurely, however…

The controversial incident happened nearly a month ago in the small city outside Orlando.  In the ensuing weeks, public outrage over the shooting, the investigation, the chief of police, and the charge of racism has simmered over.

Each day, the mainstream media has brought us a fistful of “breaking news,” fresh protests, and the latest in politicians and celebrities vying for the spotlight in the wake of this case.  In society’s current zeal for instant gratification, it seems no one has patience for the prudence and determination of our legal system.

If criminal charges are filed, this case should be tried objectively in the 18th Judicial Circuit of Florida for Brevard and Seminole Counties, not by a Media Circus.  Now because of all the hoopla and hype, the 4th Judicial Circuit State Attorney has been brought in to replace the State Attorney in Seminole County!  And a Task Force has been commissioned to study Stand Your Ground!  Would everyone just please calm down.

Problematic for police in this shooting has been the assertion by Zimmerman that he was defending himself and the implications that it has for determining probable cause when viewed under the lens of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.

The relevant portion of Florida State Statute 776.013(3) reads:

“A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony”

If Zimmerman’s articulation of self-defense is plausible, and there are no credible eyewitnesses or physical evidence to refute it, the police will not be able to develop Continue reading →

Posted in Legal, Media, Politics | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

New COAST Products Rapid Response Knife Video Review

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Randall

This is a video review of the COAST Products Rapid Response Folding Knife.  The knife makes me smile for several reasons.  First, it is very well made.  The production values are high and the knife has a quality feel.  It is inexpensive.  Not cheap, inexpensive.  The knife in the video, which is the 3.9″ 5Cr15MoV satin-finished blade can be purchased for only $41.49 (three dollars more for a black coated blade).  Lastly, the knife performs well.

COAST Products, which began as COAST Cutlery, has been a family-owned Oregon business since 1919.  Although the company began making knives, the current product line includes LED lights and multi-tools.  I have a COAST HP7 LED light that is also of high quality.  The Rapid Response Knife was designed by world-renowned custom knife maker Ron Lake, so I was not surprised that I liked it so much.

I savaged a cardboard box and chopped at a 2 X 4 with the Rapid Response Knife and found the blade to have good edge retention qualities.  Because some steel can be inferior for a knife blade if not Continue reading →

Posted in Knives, Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Florida Department of Corrections Sergeant Stabbed to Death

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Randall

Sgt. Ruben Thomas

Sgt. Ruben Thomas, of the Florida Department of Corrections, was murdered in the line of duty on 3/18/2012 at the Columbia Correctional Institute Annex, which is near Lake City, FL.  Sgt. Thomas was checking on an inmate in one of the dormitory wings at approximately 2200 hrs last night when he was attacked by Inmate Richard Franklin.

Thomas was stabbed in the neck with an improvised weapon by Franklin, who also injured Corrections Officer William Brewer with a loaded sock.  Brewer’s injuries are non life-threatening.  Franklin was sentenced to life in prison in 1995 for first degree murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, battery on a law enforcement officer, and escape.

Franklin (photo: DOC)

Franklin (photo: DOC)

Sgt. Thomas, 24, was a six year veteran of the Florida Department of Corrections.  He is survived by his young daughter and his fiancee.

Funeral arrangements will be announced by the Department of Corrections.

Randall

Posted in Officer Down | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

They Gave My Cruiser a Trespass Warning!

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Randall

…Updated below…

The other night there was a knock at my front door and I saw a guy in plainclothes wearing a badge.  It was a command officer from the small city in which I live (but do not work).  He apologetically told me I could not park a marked police car in my driveway!

I recently received a new slicktop CVPI that is striped and lettered.  My old cruiser, old as in a 2001 Crown Vic, was an unmarked unit.  The command officer said my new marked car is a “commercial vehicle” and violates the city code banning the parking of commercial vehicles on residential property.  He said they received a citizen complaint.  Seriously?  It’s a POLICE CAR!

He was polite, and I respectfully responded in kind, but I told him my understanding was that police cars are government vehicles and not commercial vehicles by state law.  He said he did not agree.  Meh.  I said I would handle the problem and we parted company with a handshake.

My solution was to do what I do every day.  Research.  I looked up the city ordinance he was referencing.  Yep, commercial vehicle…parking…residential lots…prohibited.  Not a problem.  I consulted my legal advisor, a fellow officer who is Florida Bar certified, to whom I owe a cup of coffee as retainer for each nugget of advice.  He said this Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Legal, Off Duty, Politics | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Florida Attorney General’s Efforts Curbing Pill Mills

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Randall

AG Pam Bondi

Florida has been a major player in the prescription drug abuse epidemic in this country, but efforts by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi have reduced the flow of addictive pain pills onto the streets.

It is no secret that Bondi made pill mills and prescription drug abuse a priority when she made the move to Tallahassee in January of 2011.  Initially, her ideas were met with a cool reception in the governor’s office, but over the last year things have thawed and new enforcement strategies are paying off.

At a press conference Wednesday, Bondi, Governor Rick Scott, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey, and Department of Health Interim Surgeon General Dr. Steven Harris announced the positive results achieved by the collaboration of local, state, and federal agencies.

Florida-licensed pain clinics have declined from 854 to 508 since March 2011.  Sadly, in 2010, Florida was the workplace of 98 of the top 100 prescribers of Oxycodone in the nation.  Now that number is just 11.  Nationally, fifty-three of the top 100 Oxycodone purchasing pharmacies were in Florida last year.  Only 19 of those pharmacies are still in operation today.

A year ago, the Governor’s Office created the FDLE-coordinated Statewide Drug Enforcement Strike Force.  Over 2,100 arrests have been made since this time last year, Continue reading →

Posted in Legal, Misc., Street | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment