Website and automated forms processes, Copyright
2007, Matthew August LeFande.
All
rights reserved. No claim to original government forms
Website and automated forms processes, Copyright
2007, Matthew August LeFande.
All
rights reserved. No claim to original government forms
Sgt. John Ashley dies assisting citizen
A 37-year-old D.C. police sergeant died yesterday after collapsing while chasing a dog in Georgetown, police said.
Sgt. John S. Ashley of the 2nd Police District was trying to help a woman who was trying to catch her dog about 5 p.m. in the 1600 block of 30th Street NW, police said. They said Ashley, who had been on routine patrol, ran a short way and fell unconscious.
Other officers were summoned and began CPR. Rescue workers continued resuscitation efforts while taking the officer to George Washington University Hospital. He was pronounced dead there at 5:36 p.m.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3526-2004May30.html
http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?id=13368&siteSection=2
Hi Res copy of the photo above
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:42 AM
matt@lefande.com
Security Zone: Potomac River around DC, but don't tell the press
The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary security zone, May
27 through May 30, 2004, encompassing the waters of the Potomac River
in order to safeguard a large number of high-ranking officials and
spectators attending the dedication of the National World War II
Memorial from terrorist acts and incidents. This action is necessary to
ensure the safety of persons and property, and prevent terrorist acts
or incidents. This rule prohibits vessels and people from entering the
security zone and requires vessels and persons in the security zone to
depart the security zone, unless specifically exempt under the
provisions in this rule or granted specific permission from the Coast
Guard Captain of the Port Baltimore.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-12009.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:40 AM
matt@lefande.com
Terrorists Planning Summer Attack
U.S. officials have obtained new intelligence deemed highly credible indicating al-Qaida or other terrorists are in the United States and preparing to launch a major attack this summer.
The intelligence does not include a time, place or method of attack but is among the most disturbing received by the government since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a senior federal counterterrorism official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday.
Of most concern, the official said, is that terrorists may possess and use a chemical, biological or radiological weapon that could cause much more damage and casualties than a conventional bomb.
"There is clearly a steady drumbeat of information that they are going to attack and hit us hard," said the official, who described the intelligence as highly credible.
The official declined to provide any specifics about the sources of the information but said there was an unusually high level of corroboration.
Despite that, the official said there was no immediate plan to raise the nation's terrorism threat level from yellow, or elevated, to orange, or high. The threat level has been at yellow — midpoint on the five-color scale — since January.
Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) and FBI (news - web sites) Director Robert Mueller plan a news conference Wednesday to outline an intensive effort by law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security officials to detect and disrupt any potential plots. And the FBI plans to dispatch a bulletin to some 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies warning of the threat.
The FBI also has already created a special task force that is focused solely on dealing with this summer's threat. The task force, whose existence until recently was classified, is intended to ensure that no valuable bits of information or intelligence fall through the cracks — as happened repeatedly before the Sept. 11 attacks.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040526/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/terror_threat_7
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:08 AM
matt@lefande.com
Supreme Court upholds Belton searches on cars recently parked.
Before Officer Nichols could pull over petitioner, petitioner parked and got out of his car. Nichols then parked, accosted petitioner, and arrested him after finding drugs in his pocket. Incident to the arrest, Nichols searched petitioner's car and found a handgun under the driver's seat.
Petitioner was charged with federal drug and firearms violations. In denying his motion to suppress the firearm as the fruit of an unconstitutional search, the District Court found, inter alia, the automobile search valid under New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, in which this Court held that, when a police officer makes a lawful custodial arrest of an automobile's occupant, the Fourth Amendment allows the officer to search the vehicle's passenger compartment as a contemporaneous incident of arrest, id., at 460. Petitioner appealed his conviction, arguing that Belton was limited to situations where the officer initiated contact with an arrestee while he was still in the car. The Fourth Circuit affirmed.
The Supreme Court held Belton governs even when an officer does not make contact until the person arrested has left the vehicle.
THORNTON V. UNITED STATES (03-5165) 325 F.3d 189, affirmed.
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-5165.ZS.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 1:52 PM
matt@lefande.com
'Deliberately Targeted'
Buried in a New York Times dispatch on a battle in Karbala, Iraq, is this jaw-dropping paragraph:
"Iraq has become one of the most dangerous places in the world from which to report, with enormous potential for journalists to be deliberately targeted by either side or caught in the crossfire."
We guess the weasel word potential makes this something less than a direct accusation, but the Times certainly seems to be implying that coalition troops are trying to kill journalists in Iraq. Is there any evidence for such a thing, or is the Times simply becoming more brazen in its anti-American slanting of the news?
http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110005113
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:33 AM
matt@lefande.com
FBI Issues Suicide Bomber Warning
The FBI is warning law enforcement agencies to be on the alert for the possibility that suicide bombers may attempt to strike inside the United States. A lightly classified intelligence bulletin circulated Thursday to 18,000 U.S. law enforcement bodies is headlined "Possible suicide bomber indicators," and was distributed via the Bureau’s secure Law Enforcement Online (LEO) Intranet. It warns local badge-carriers to look for obvious signs of trouble — people wearing heavy, bulky jackets on warm days, smelling of chemicals, trailing wires from their jackets — as well, more subtle ones, such as tightly clenched fists. Someone who never shows his palms could be gripping a detonator rigged to go off when a button is released. "If you shoot him, you ' re still not safe because his hands relax and the bomb explodes," says a counter-terrorism official.
The FBI bulletin also notes that suicide bombers may disguise themselves in stolen military, police or firefighter's garb, or even as pregnant women.
FBI sources say there's no hard intelligence warning of specific plans by terrorists to launch suicide attacks here like those wreaking havoc in Israel and Iraq. But, says one official, the circular was prompted by "a renewed concern" that fury at the U.S. for its occupation of Iraq or its support of Israel could move some extremists to attempt to bring the war to the American homeland. "At the end the day, it's probably one of the simplest forms of attack, and it's one of the hardest to detect," says one counter-terror veteran.
In fact, U.S. analysts are at a loss to explain why the homeland has thus far escaped such attacks, since a number of extremist groups, particularly Hamas, have a sizeable presence here. One factor, officials say, is that terror leaders still regard America as a cash cow, and don't want to antagonize moderate Muslim donors. Another reason, says one specialist, may simply be that while there seems to be an endless supply of fanatical youths willing to die for the cause in the Middle East, most of them simply can't get visas to the U.S.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,640684,00.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:19 AM
matt@lefande.com
Armed Citizen of the Week
A would-be robber attempting to hold up Western Jewelry and Coin in West Seattle yesterday was confronted with the owner's own handgun and fled the store, shot in the chest.
Gilbert Dorland, 42, had seen shoplifters swipe his antique watches and custom jewelry before, but he had never confronted armed robbers. At 4:19 p.m., two men wearing bandanas over their mouths walked into the store in the 4200 block of Southwest Alaska Street, guns drawn.
"Nobody move," they said before Dorland drew his own handgun and fired, said Matt Tomlinson, a friend who had left the store only minutes before and spoke with the shaken store owner afterward.
"He was definitely broken up," Tomlinson said. "He called me and said he'd just shot somebody. He was being robbed and he shot. He was scared to death."
Police interviewed Dorland and said no charges would be filed.
"It appears to be a completely legitimate use of force," police spokeswoman Deanna Nollette said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/161597_robber21.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=83
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:08 AM
matt@lefande.com
Community comes out in support of 84 year old woman facing felony charge for carrying a gun in her purse
An outpouring of support grew Thursday for an 84-year-old north Houston woman arrested after she was caught with a gun in her purse while at City Hall.
Houston City Councilwoman Carol Mims Galloway said she would try and help Leveria Sherman clean up her home after she bailed her out of jail Tuesday for allegedly carrying a gun into city hall.
Several members of the community gave their time to clean Sherman's property after she made headlines Tuesday for carrying a gun without a license at City Hall.
Bill Sauls volunteered his time Thursday to help clean up Sherman's lawn.
"I can lay down and rest. My conscience won't bother me because someone was in need and I was able to lend a hand," Sauls said.
A landscaping crew donated their time Thursday morning to cut grass at a neighboring vacant lot to Sherman's home. Another landscaper will cut the woman's yard Friday.
Members of the Harris County Sheriff's Department have plans to help the woman clean up the inside of her home.
Galloway said she is still trying to find a doctor to look at Sherman's foot problems.
Sherman spent Tuesday afternoon behind bars after she showed up at City Hall with a weapon in her purse.
The woman said she was headed to a city council meeting to ask for help cleaning up her north Houston home.
However, she was not allowed to enter the meeting, and ended up being arrested after a security X-ray machine detected a .22 revolver with four live rounds in her purse.
"In her condition, I think that the law will be lenient with her," Galloway said.
The woman told officials she carried a gun for protection, but forgot that it was in her purse.
"I'm hardly ever without it because it is so dangerous for me around here for me," Sherman said. "Even though you know that other people are such sharp shooters, you know, and they could get you first. But yes, it makes me feel better to know you got something."
No charges have been filed against Sherman yet; however, she faces a felony charge for a carrying a concealed weapon without a license.
http://www.click2houston.com/family/3328162/detail.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 4:54 PM
matt@lefande.com
KILL FASTER!
A great deal about the future of combat can be learned by watching TV.
During the initial fighting in Fallujah two different battles were seen, what was on al-Jazeera and the BBC, and what was on the battlefield.
The media weren't reporting. They were taking sides. With our enemies. And our enemies won. Because, under media assault, we lost our will to fight on.
During the combat operations, al-Jazeera constantly aired trumped-up footage and insisted that U.S. Marines were destroying Fallujah and purposely targeting women and children, causing hundreds of innocent casualties as part of an American crusade against Arabs.
It was entirely untrue. But the truth didn't matter. Al-Jazeera told a receptive audience what it wanted to believe. Oh, and the "Arab CNN" immediately followed the Fallujah clips with video of Israeli "atrocities." Connecting the dots was easy for those nurtured on hatred.
The Marines in Fallujah weren't beaten by the terrorists and insurgents, who were being eliminated effectively and accurately. They were beaten by al-Jazeera. By lies.
Get used to it.
This is the new reality of combat. Not only in Iraq. But in every broken country, plague pit and terrorist refuge to which our troops will have to go in the future. And we can't change it. So we had better roll up our camouflage sleeves and deal with it.
The media is often referred to off-handedly as a strategic factor. But we still don't fully appreciate its fatal power. Conditioned by the relative objectivity and ultimate respect for facts of the U.S. media, we fail to understand that, even in Europe, the media has become little more than a tool of propaganda.
That propaganda is increasingly, viciously, mindlessly anti-American. When our forces engage in tactical combat, dishonest media reporting immediately creates drag on the chain of command all the way up to the president.
Real atrocities aren't required. Everything American soldiers do is portrayed as an atrocity. World opinion is outraged, no matter how judiciously we fight.
With each passing day — sometimes with each hour — the pressure builds on our government to halt combat operations, to offer the enemy a pause, to negotiate . . . in essence, to give up.
We saw it in Fallujah, where slow-paced tactical success led only to cease-fires that comforted the enemy and gave the global media time to pound us even harder. Those cease-fires were worrisomely reminiscent of the bombing halts during the Vietnam War — except that everything happens faster now.
Even in Operation Desert Storm, the effect of images trumped reality and purpose. The exaggerated carnage of the "highway of death" north from Kuwait City led us to stop the war before we had sufficiently punished the truly guilty — Saddam's Republican Guard and the regime's leadership. We're still paying for that mistake.
In Fallujah, we allowed a bonanza of hundreds of terrorists and insurgents to escape us — despite promising that we would bring them to justice. We stopped because we were worried about what already hostile populations might think of us.
The global media disrupted the U.S. and Coalition chains of command. Foreign media reporting even sparked bureaucratic infighting within our own government.
The result was a disintegraton of our will — first from decisive commitment to worsening hestitation, then to a "compromise" that returned Sunni-Arab Ba'athist officers to power. That deal not only horrifed Iraq's Kurds and Shi'a Arabs, it inspired expanded attacks by Muqtada al-Sadr's Shi'a thugs hoping to rival the success of the Sunni-Arab murderers in Fallujah.
We could have won militarily. Instead, we surrendered politically and called it a success. Our enemies won the information war. We literally didn't know what hit us.
The implication for tactical combat — war at the bayonet level — is clear: We must direct our doctrine, training, equipment, organization and plans toward winning low-level fights much faster. Before the global media can do what enemy forces cannot do and stop us short. We can still win the big campaigns. But we're apt to lose thereafter, in the dirty end-game fights.
We have to speed the kill.
For two decades, our military has concentrated on deploying forces swiftly around the world, as well as on fighting fast-paced conventional wars — with the positive results we saw during Operation Iraqi Freedom. But at the infantry level, we've lagged behind — despite the unrivaled quality of our troops.
We've concentrated on critical soldier skills, but ignored the emerging requirements of battle. We've worked on almost everything except accelerating urban combat — because increasing the pace is dangerous and very hard to do.
Now we have no choice. We must learn to strike much faster at the ground-truth level, to accomplish the tough tactical missions at speeds an order of magnitude faster than in past conflicts. If we can't win the Fallujahs of the future swiftly, we will lose them.
Our military must rise to its responsibility to reduce the pressure on the National Command Authority — in essence, the president — by rapidly and effectively executing orders to root out enemy resistance or nests of terrorists.
To do so, we must develop the capabilities to fight within the "media cycle," before journalists sympathetic to terrorists and murderers can twist the facts and portray us as the villains. Before the combat encounter is politicized globally. Before allied leaders panic. And before such reporting exacerbates bureaucratic rivalries within our own system.
Time is the new enemy.
Fighting faster at the dirty-boots level is going to be tough. As we develop new techniques, we'll initially see higher casualties in the short term, perhaps on both sides.
But as we should have learned long ago, if we are not willing to face up to casualties sooner, the cumulative tally will be much, much higher later. We're bleeding in Iraq now because a year ago we were unwilling even to shed the blood of our enemies.
The Global War on Terror is going to be a decades-long struggle. The military will not always be the appropriate tool to apply. But when a situation demands a military response, our forces must bring to bear such focused, hyper-fast power that our enemies are overwhelmed and destroyed before hostile cameras can defeat us.
If we do not learn to kill very, very swiftly, we will continue to lose slowly.
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/21201.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:44 AM
matt@lefande.com
What Went Wrong
In the news cycle that preceded the Iraq atrocities, the administration was being arraigned from dawn until dusk for the offense of failing to take timely measures against the Taliban and al-Qaida. We had our chance to see it coming, and to see where it was coming from, and the administration comprehensively blew all these chances, from the first warnings of suicide-hijacking to the cosseting of Saudi visa applicants.
But there is no serious way of having this cake and scarfing it. Michael Moore—the newly crowned king of the Cannes Film Festival—ridiculing the Bush administration's policy, shouted that it had gone into Afghanistan to get Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar. "Mission NOT accomplished!" he added, to roars of easy applause. Would the antiwar camp have approved the measures necessary to ensure those goals? If they will the end, will they will the means? Would they taunt the military lawyer in Tampa who did not approve the missile strike that could have taken out Omar, as they taunt the supporters of regime change, with living a quiet life at home while others die in the field? Isn't the refusal to take out the leaders of al-Qaida a bit of a distraction from the struggle against al-Qaida?
As it happens you know the answers to those questions. And that is partly why the Abu Ghraib nightmare is such a source of demoralization and despair. Thugs and torturers, who are always on tap in limitless supply, do their work in the dark and, when caught, plead exceptional circumstances. It's as if they are on an urgent self-appointed mission. But the battle against Islamic jihad will be going on for a very long time, against a foe that is both ruthless and irrational. This means that infinite patience and scruple and intelligence are required, as well as decisiveness and bravery. Given this necessary assumption, all short-cut artists, let alone rec-room sadists, are to be treated, not as bad apples alone, but as traitors and enemies. If Rumsfeld could bring himself to say that, he could perhaps undo some of the shame, and some of the harm as well.
******
So a Sarin-infected device is exploded in Iraq, and across the border in Jordan the authorities say that nerve and gas weapons have been discovered for use against them by the followers of Zarqawi, who was in Baghdad well before the invasion. Where, one idly inquires, did these toys come from? No, it couldn't be.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2100717/
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:39 AM
matt@lefande.com
Al-Qaida Seeks Chemical Strike
The top intelligence official at the Homeland Security Department, worried about an increased risk of attack in coming months, says al-Qaida wants to strike on U.S. soil with something other than a conventional explosive — perhaps with a chemical or biological weapon.
Retired Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes said in an Associated Press interview that America has gotten better at predicting and safeguarding itself against attacks since Sept. 11, 2001. But Hughes said he fears that new terrorists "are being made every single day on the streets of the Middle East."
Hughes said he believes al-Qaida wants to strike with something other than a conventional explosive device.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040519/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/terror_threats
posted by Matthew LeFande 6:50 AM
matt@lefande.com
Bomb containing sarin nerve agent explodes in Iraq
U.S. soldiers found a roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent in Baghdad, the military said Monday. The device, which partially detonated, was apparently a leftover from Saddam Hussein's arsenals. It was unclear whether more such weapons were in the hands of insurgents.
Soldiers who removed the bomb experienced symptoms consistent with low-level nerve agent exposure, U.S. officials said. No one was wounded in the partial blast Saturday, and the dispersal of sarin from the bomb was very limited, the military said.
Earlier this month, some trace residue of mustard agent, an older type of chemical weapon, was detected in an artillery shell found in a Baghdad street, a U.S. official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The shell was believed to be from one of Saddam's old stockpiles and was not regarded as evidence of recent weapons of mass destruction production in Iraq.
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/138/world/Bomb_containing_sarin_nerve_ag:.shtml
posted by Matthew LeFande 9:31 PM
matt@lefande.com
Armed Citizen of the Week
Police said James E. Reed Jr., Kansas City, entered the store on 9013 East U.S. 40 just before 5 p.m. with his hand in his pocket over what appeared to be a gun and said to the clerk, "Hold it; don't move."
The man picked up two 20-can packs of beer and walked outside to meet his two accomplices, but Michael Vincent didn't obey, police said.
Grabbing his gun, he followed the man outside, held him by gunpoint and waited for police.
Three other men tried to rob the store on Jan. 8, but employee Stephen Eads returned the gunman's fire, barely missing his head.
The men got away with no money.
Police later caught the suspects identified as James Paden III, 42, William Blair, 30, and Anthony R. Johnson, 33, all of Kansas City,
The robbery was part of a string of bar and liquor store robberies earlier in the year.
http://www.examiner.net/stories/050104/new_050104033.shtml
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:01 AM
matt@lefande.com
Police revise rules after 97-year-old woman handcuffed
Police guidelines calling for anyone wanted on a warrant to be arrested have been revamped following the public outcry over an officer's arrest of a 97-year-old woman.
The woman was handcuffed and taken to jail for an outstanding traffic warrant.
Officers in the Dallas suburb of Highland Park now can use discretion in arrest cases if they have a supervisor's approval. Several factors will be weighed when making that decision, including physical disabilities or old age. The same criteria will be used in determining if the person needs to be handcuffed.
The department was inundated with e-mails and calls from around the country after the April 22 arrest of Dolly Kelton.
The revisions clarify the options officers have in arresting offenders, said Detective Randy Millican, public information officer for the Highland Park Department of Public Safety.
"I think it's appropriate to say we have defined some discretionary areas without placing at risk our officers," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/05/14/handcuff.rules.ap/index.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:32 AM
matt@lefande.com
Man risks life and limb to nab robbery suspect
Bruce Brutschy, a citizen crime fighter in a BMW, helped capture a fugitive and solve three crimes Saturday.
Police said Brutschy, a strapping 51-year-old, risked his well-being — and his wife’s newly purchased SUV — to corner a man suspected of holding up a Shandon business.
He learned Tuesday that the suspect, Philip Babb, 43, also was charged in two other robberies in the vicinity.
As Brutschy and his wife pulled up to Just the Thing boutique on Devine Street, they noticed two frantic women making phone calls as a beat-up Plymouth Voyager van sped away.
Bruce Brutschy sensed a crime. He asked his wife to go check inside the store while he took off after the man in her recently purchased 2001 X5 sport utility vehicle.
Brutschy spotted the van in the Whitney Hotel’s lot and blocked it with the Beemer.
“He immediately started ramming me,” Brutschy said. “I thought, ‘My wife’s going to kill me.’”
Brutschy saw the man reach under the seat and assumed he was going for a gun, though one never turned up.
He rushed to the van and punched his fist through the driver’s side window to try to stop him. “It’s all I had,” he said.
The two exchanged a flurry of punches as the driver fought from inside the van and Brutschy stood fighting at the window. “He got me a couple of good licks.”
The man decided to get out and that’s when the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Brutschy realized what he was up against.
The man who emerged was 6-foot-5.
“He’s about 260 (pounds),” Brutschy said. “He’s a big ol’ boy. I kind of had to reach up so high to hit him, I didn’t feel like I had the power I wanted to.”
But Brutschy landed a solid blow to his head.
It stunned the man long enough for Brutschy to wrestle him to the ground. Ten years of karate training in his youth and his continued workout regimen had paid off.
Almost immediately, he said, he could hear the sirens.
“Brother, you hear that,” Brutschy told the wriggling suspect under him. “They’re playing your song."
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/8645083.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 9:58 PM
matt@lefande.com
FBI: Agents Urged Berg to Leave Iraq
U.S. authorities said a young American who was beheaded by militants had been warned by the FBI to leave Iraq and was offered a plane ride to safety at a time when a new wave of violence spread across the country, making road travel extremely dangerous.
The FBI warned Nicholas Berg shortly before his disappearance that Iraq was too volatile a place for unprotected American civilians but he turned down a State Department offer to fly him home, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Michael Berg said his son refused a U.S. offer in early April to board an outbound charter jet because he believed travel to the airport was too dangerous. American soldiers refer to the airport highway as "RPG Alley" because of frequent attacks by insurgents firing rocket-propelled grenades.
According to the State Department, Berg told an American diplomat in Baghdad that he preferred to travel on his own to Kuwait.
"At that time, the U.S. consular officer extended an offer to assist Mr. Berg to depart Iraq by plane to Jordan," said State Department spokeswoman Kelly Shannon. "We'd already discussed that possibility with his family, and we mentioned that to him, obviously, when we talked to him on the 10th."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,119734,00.html
Unadulterated Evil
The video of Nicholas Berg's brutal murder. The true nature of those we are fighting.
http://www.lefande.com/weblog/nickberg.wmv
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:09 AM
matt@lefande.com
Police response to 911s slowing
Metropolitan Police officers took more than a minute longer to respond to emergency calls last year than they did in 2002, according to recent police department statistics.
The statistics, contained in the department's fiscal 2005 budget performance report, show that the average response time for the highest-priority calls — Priority 1 — was 8 minutes, 25 seconds in fiscal 2003, up from 7 minutes, 19 seconds in fiscal 2002 and 7 minutes, 47 seconds in fiscal 2001.
Priority 1 calls are for life-threatening situations, such as armed robberies, assaults and shootings in progress.
Although there is no national standard for police-response times to priority calls, the Metropolitan Police Department's average response time puts it among the slowest in the metropolitan region and among a sampling of major cities.
Montgomery and Fairfax counties measure responses using the higher standard of how long it takes from the time the 911 operator answers the call for help to the time the officer arrives on the scene.
The response time in Montgomery County was 5 minutes, 20 seconds in the first half of 2003, despite the county's employing a third fewer officers than the District to patrol an area eight times larger and with a population more than 50 percent larger.
The response time in Fairfax County, which is roughly comparable to Montgomery County in size and population, was 6 minutes, 6 seconds during 2003.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20040510-122711-8996r.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:20 AM
matt@lefande.com
Trooper Hit, Killed At Rt. 50 Crash Site
A Maryland state trooper was struck by an alleged drunk driver and killed early yesterday as he tried to get a tire out of the eastbound far left lane of Route 50 in Prince George's County.
Trooper 1st Class Anthony Jones, 50, was on patrol when he stopped shortly after 2 a.m. to assist another trooper working at the scene of a single-vehicle crash near Freeway Airport.
Investigators said Jones crossed the four-lane highway on foot to remove a tire that was part of the accident debris and was making his way back across the road -- using a flashlight to warn oncoming traffic -- when a 1986 Volkswagen van driven by Darryl C. Harris, 42, of Laurel struck him.
Investigators said Jones's body was carried several hundred yards down the road. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police charged Harris yesterday with three alcohol-related offenses, including driving under the influence of alcohol.
Jones, a Maryland state trooper since 1998, is the 39th Maryland trooper to die in the line of duty. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, ages 13 and 16.
Jones joined the state police after retiring from the Air Force. He spent his entire police career working as a road patrol trooper.
Officials said Jones received a valor award in 2000 after he and other police officers ran into a burning convenience store in College Park to rescue people inside.
He was to be presented the College Park barracks' "Top Cop" award this week for outstanding performance for the month of April.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13328-2004May9.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:05 AM
matt@lefande.com
Military Personnel: Don't Read This!
It's not exactly every day that the Pentagon warns military personnel to stay away from Fox News. But that's exactly what some hopeful soul at the Department of Defense instructed, in a memo intended to forbid Pentagon staff reading a copy of the Taguba report detailing abuse of detainees at prisons in Iraq that had been posted at the Fox News web site.
An email to Pentagon staff marked "URGENT IT (Information Technology) BULLETIN: Taguba Report" orders employees not to read or download the Taguba report at Fox News, on the grounds that the document is classified. It also orders them not to discuss the matter with friends or family members. The emailed memo was leaked to TIME by a senior U.S. civilian official in Baghdad, who did not hide his disdain for the "factotums" in the Pentagon. "I do wonder how incredibly stupid some people in the Pentagon are," he emailed TIME. "Not only are they drawing everyone's attention to the report — and where it can be seen — but attempting to muzzle people never works."
Perhaps realizing that, the email's author in "Information Services Customer Liaison" said: "This leakage will be investigated for criminal prosecution. If you don't have the document and have never had legitimate access, please do not complicate the investigative processes by seeking information." As the type-face switched to high-alarm red, the 180-word email continues: "THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT IS CLASSIFIED; DO NOT GO TO FOX NEWS TO READ OR OBTAIN A COPY."
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,634638,00.html?cnn=yes
They didn't say you couldn't go to www.lefande.com and read it.
taguba.pdf
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:02 AM
matt@lefande.com
Policeman arrested driving in fishnet tights
A French policeman faces trial in a police court for driving under the influence after he was stopped at the wheel of his car drunk and wearing only a pair of fishnet tights, a prosecutor says.
The man admitted he was a part-time prostitute after fellow police chased him through the Bois de Boulogne, a wooded area on the outskirts of Paris reputed as a nighttime hangout of transsexual prostitutes, in the early hours of Thursday.
The policeman said he needed the extra income. If convicted, he could lose his driver's licence and be fined.
Prosecutors said on Friday there was not enough evidence to try him for passive soliciting, which is punishable by prison in France.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=5078089§ion=news
posted by Matthew LeFande 6:34 PM
matt@lefande.com
Armed (acquired weapon) citizen of the week
A man suspected of trying to rob a man outside a Jacksonville, FL pawn shop remains in critical condition after police said he was shot with his own gun by his intended victim.
Investigators said Marcel McGhee tried to rob a customer outside Cash America Pawn Shop on Beach Boulevard Saturday morning. Witnesses said the man fought with McGhee for his gun, then shot him in the head.
Police continue to investigate.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/3199668/detail.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:29 AM
matt@lefande.com
Drunk driver attacks rescuers
An unlicensed drunken driver followed up a horrific car-flipping crash on the FDR Drive in New York City yesterday by biting a cop and smacking an EMT, police said.
Dennis Velez, 20, was drunk behind the wheel of his girlfriend's 2002 Toyota driving south on the roadway at 2:20 a.m. when he lost control of the car near Delancey Street, cops said.
He slammed into a livery cab, sending both cars flipping down the highway, cops and family said.
The accident left Velez partially thrown from the car and tossed his passenger, a friend whom relatives identified as Juan Sanabria, 26, out of the car, leaving him about 40 feet from the wreck, police said.
He was in serious condition last night at Bellevue Hospital. The cab's driver was also thrown from his car, and was in stable condition at Bellevue.
When emergency responders arrived, Velez bit off more than he could chew - chomping his teeth into the left forearm of the police sergeant who was trying to pull him from the wrecked car, cops said.
Velez also allegedly slapped a female EMT after he was put into the ambulance.
"He started freaking out when he saw Juan on the ground and just wanted to get to him," said Velez's sister, Reina Lopez, 28. "He was so nervous about him."
Lopez said she and her hot-tempered brother got into a fight earlier in the evening, which led to his alcohol-fueled joyride.
She also said Velez didn't have a driver's license, but would frequently drive his girlfriend's car.
Velez was charged with DWI, assaulting a police officer and driving without a license.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/23485.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 9:15 AM
matt@lefande.com
Home Improvement: Hijacking the Intarweb.
There's an underground movement of people searching for free services at home and abroad. It isn't written in textbooks, printed on the Internet, or written on brick walls with anarchy symbols. One day you will wake up and realize you want the Internet, but you don't want to pay for it.
The basic premise of wireless Internet is nothing more than that of your common pirate radio. You must build an antenna, have line of site to an Internet source, then hot wire this into a wireless card.
THE CANTENNA!
http://www.site73.com/archives/345.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:05 AM
matt@lefande.com
Awesome Video of High Speed Pit Manuevers.
This is real pursuit driving!
An effective combination of training, equipment and policy leads to an apprehension without serious injuries.
http://www.kfor.com/global/video/popup/pop_index.asp?clipid1=200856&at1=News
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:49 AM
matt@lefande.com
UK torture photos faked
BBC defence correspondent Paul Adams says sources close to The Queen's Lancashire Regiment believe many aspects of the photographs apparently showing UK troops torturing an Iraqi captive are suspicious.
He says they believe the pictures may not have even been taken in Iraq.
- They believe the rifle is an SA80 mk 1 - which was not issued to troops in Iraq.
- They say soldiers in Iraq wore berets or hard hats - and not floppy hats as in the photos.
- They also believe the wrong type of Bedford truck is shown in the background - a type never deployed in Iraq.
Colonel Bob Stewart, who commanded British forces in the Balkans, told BBC News Online he could not be sure whether the photos were genuine or not.
As well as questions over the equipment shown, he said there were also discrepancies over clothing and the condition of the captive.
"The shirt looks like a football shirt. Is that the sort of shirt that a captive might be wearing, slightly silky with an Iraqi flag?
"Why is it not dirty and dishevelled, why is the man not showing some signs of damage after eight hours of beatings?
"Why would the soldiers be wearing webbing that is undone? Normally soldiers are very particular about that."
But Colonel Stewart said whether the photos were proven to be real or fake, the damage done to Iraqi and Arab opinion was "like a cork out of a bottle", acting as a recruiting sergeant for insurgents.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3678221.stm
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:21 AM
matt@lefande.com
