keeping people safe

Steve...

I can't tell you how many times I've read in the paper or hear from another officer how some one's car was stolen...because the owner seems to live in their car leaving expensive items such as cell phones, laptops, cash, and other stuff laying in plain view around in the car. It's a 2-in-1 deal...steal the car - keep the goodies - send the car to a chop shop to capitalize on the car itself. Oh...now-a-days, siphon the gas out of the stolen car first to save money on their own. Many citizens just don't believe that it will happen to them, and when it does...they are stunned.

I think school resource officers should teach common sense safety to students. That way they can go home and teach their parents. Or post common sense safety in the local newspaper's "From the Chief of Police" column. Crimes of opportunity should not

be as plentiful as some citizens make them.

"Is your number still 911?" - Ofc. Rachel T.

RE: February 2008 - Patrol Response to Thefts from Cars

Rachel and Steve,
Cops can be the perpetrators of this stuff as well. A friend of mine who is a retired deputy observed a female bailiff from one of the courts walk out to her car, in uniform, remove her Sam Browne and place it into the trunk of her vehicle. She then walked back into the court building where she spent nearly 15 minutes. She then returned to her vehicle, removed her uniform shirt got into her car and left the area. Not only did she set up circumstances to have the weapon stolen, she jeopardized her own safety. She could have been watched and followed home by someone wanting to do harm to a cop. She jeopardized the safety of her family as well. And worst of all, her duty weapon was rendered worthless, being locked in the trunk of her car.

???

Irishone...

You say you work in the private security profession? Active or retired? What you are saying in your post above is very difficult to believe. I highly doubt this story you spout is true. Most cops carry 2 guns...one duty, one back up. The Dep is probably not all the idiot she seems if the story is true.

"Is your number still 911?" - Ofc. Rachel T.

RE: February 2008 - Patrol Response to Thefts from Cars

Not only that, but putting your weapon in the trunk of the car does not make you a perpetrator of car theft. She may have been setting herself up to become a victim, but in doing this she was just showing everyone she was a normal human being. Most of us do not think we will be victims of crime and do things like this.

RE: February 2008 - Patrol Response to Thefts from Cars

It is true Steve, I don't know why you find it so hard to believe that a deputy would do something so hairbrained. Yes, I was in security, and I was also a reserve police officer. i ALSO HOLD DEGREES IN SECURITY ADMINISTRATION AS WELL AS ADMIN JUSTICE. Steve read my post again, I don't know where you saw what you THINK you read.

As I stated, a retired deputy sitting in the parking lot of the court saw her do this. I will have him sign up so he can post his observations. The same holds true for a deputy flashing his flat badge in a retail store. Most deputies do not carry a backup weapon when they work in court services. As for her being normal and human? She was being lazy, and complacent and when you mix these two things, you get killed. She was technically out of uniform when she removed her weapon and appeared in public without it. There was a female deputy working the business desk in uniform, not weapon her duty weapon. Spoke to the Captain of the station, and he corrected this faux pas.

LASD policy is to NOT PUT YOUR MONEY OR CREDIT CARDS IN WITH YOUR FLAT BADGE. CARRY TWO WALLETS. A DEPUTY WAS MURDERED IN A ROBBERY NOT TOO MANY YEARS AGO. THE ROBBERS WANTED HIS CASH, HE WENT FOR HIS FLAT BADGE WHERE THE CASH WAS, AND THE ROBBERS SAW THAT BADGE AND SHOT HIM, HIS NAME WAS SHANE YORK. HE WAS IN A BEAUTY SHOP WITH HIS FIANCEE, WHO WAS ALSO A DEPUTY.

Because you two apparently work in places other than Southern California you are not cognizant of how downhill the LASD has gone. Tell me why you couldn't believe the LASD academy has been shut down for a month because of a state audit. Bad things are being taught in the academy, and this business with the female deputy is just part of it. In roleplay, this same retired deputy who was iunvolved in the role play saw DI's instructing recruits to place unhandcuffed 5150's in the back seat of their units. This is dangerous and unsafe! So, while I am a civilian, I have more training, education and experience than most people who post on these boards. Things are not what they appear to be, and be careful about ass-umptions you make about people.

Command staff heard about this incident, hopefully they will do something about it.

Steve, I did NOT say a thing about the deputy being a car thief, you misread and then misconstrued what I wrote. I said she set herself up by storing her weapon in her trunk, in plain sight of the public passing through the area. THIS IS AN OFFICER SAFETY AND COMMON SENSE ISSUE!

What was said and how I feel

First, I do not find it hard to believe the deputy did exactly as you said she did. As I said, this is normal human behavior. We do not think we will be the victims of crime and many people put their packages and valuables in their car. She actually did better than many by leaving it in the trunk instead of on one of the seats.

No, we are not in California. I work in Texas. Being a Texan, posting on an international bulletin board, I do not think California is the be all and end all of anything, especially law enforcement. It is people who are the same as people all over the world. Some are good, some are bad, and some do stupid things occasionally. I don't know how many cops California has but Texas has about 80,000 on its rolls statewide. Take 80,000 people of any group and you can safely assume some are criminals. I think it is much lower percentage of cops than in the general population and I work hard to make it even a smaller percentage. But I freely acknowledge that there are corrupt cops we need to get rid of. As for LASD having their academy shut down, the only part that really surprises me is that the state actually did it. In every state, there are large departments that do things their own way. Many times that is not the way I would do it, which does not necessarily mean the department is wrong. Many times, it is not the state way, which also does not mean the department is necessarily wrong. But it does mean the academy is not following the rules. Most states rarely take action against the large departments and I am glad to see that California's post is taking this seriously. That is the only part that surprises me.

And finally, as to where you said the cops were car burglars (the term we use in Texas for stealing from cars), it was in the first sentence of your previoous post in this thread, which I quote below:

Things AREN'T what the seem...

Irishone...

Let me make a suggestion as politely as I can...this is an international forum, as Steve has kindly pointed out, for law enforcement officers. As a courtesy, private security professionals are invited because the two professions are closely related.

However, coming on deck and posting a lot of long articles relating to Police Officer/Deputy misconduct, incompetence, and screw-ups will catch the attention of the cops that do frequent this forum and make them go hmmmmm.... Please understand that I do realize the United States exercises freedom of expression and speech.

Usually those of sound mind and judgement in the private security or law enforcement field will not rip apart each other (either directly or implied) constantly on a police forum against their own kind. We do however, as family, argue from time to time, but not constantly. So now taking that and using a little detective reasoning...you are coming across not exactly as you say you are.

My warning is... be careful. Law enforcement is a family. Pick on one, pick on all of them whether directly or implied.

Steve has made an excellent point that the deputy is not stupid or posing a serious safety risk to herself as you suggest. She did not place her Sam Browne belt on the back seat or in the front seat of her car....she placed it in the trunk...out of plain view. Many cops do wear a back up weapon, and that is usually HIDDEN. The retired Deputy would not know if she had another weapon. Also, many cops do not undress out of their uniform before going home. It's not unusual for officers to hop into their car and take off their uniform shirt. I do realize that things may be done differently in California than elsewhere, but the female Deputy's conduct is not by any means out of line as you suggest. Yes...she could become a victim...any law enforcement officer can just because they are a law enforcement officer, but then again, any person, whether law enforcement or not, can be a victim whether they are armed or not.

You are very well read Irishone.

"Is your number still 911?" - Ofc. Rachel T.

My take.

Irishone, I'd like to make an observation that it is not wise to accuse someone of not reading your post, and then attributing comments they (in this case Steve) did not make (Rachel made them). Sort of brings to mind the phrase, "Physician, heal thyself"... And Rachel has a point inre your constant posting of other people's articles. I, for one, don't even bother clicking on your posts anymore. I log on here to discuss issues with the people who are actually on the forum, NOT to read long articles by people who aren't even aware that someone is cutting/pasting said article onto a third party forum and will never respond to anything I say.

Digression over, now to the topic. Over the holiday season 3 cars on my site were broken into, purses stolen. After the first incident we emailed the members (I'm SecDir for a private Country Club) alerting them to the incident and advising that women keep their purses in the trunk or with them, as well as posting numerous flyers on the property. We did the same after the second incident. And again after the third. People don't like to think of bad things happening to them; it's always the other guy. As Steve said, it's human nature. And yes, women are still leaving their purses in their cars in that parking lot.

Funnily enough, I did catch a different thief trying to break into a car in another one of my parking lots one night. It's funny because there was only one car there...MINE. <LOL> Ahhh, if only I had a picture of his face when I broke the news to him....<snicker>.

RE: February 2008 - Patrol Response to Thefts from Cars

Wolfva, I addressed that post to both Rachel and Steve since they both made comments.  Perhaps you need to re-read my post as well! I DID NOT APPRECIATE YOUR TONE,when in fact you were wrong.

It was not soley addressed to Steve. It is too sad that you don't click on my posts anymore, you might miss out on something that would save you some pain and misery. I love the way the messenger is attacked when that message is too unpleasant to read.

The articles posted on the forum are no different than what gets posted on the home page of this forum. They are posted as things to learn from, nothing else.  I also hope that by posting these articles, we can get people to discuss them on here, so EVERYONE LEARNS SOMETHING FROM THEM.

From what I can tell, there are other people who click on things I post, perhaps they have a desire to learn and think outside of the box.  I did not know, according to what you stated, that articles from other sources were to be censored.  I would think that would be up to the webmaster.  THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX< NOT EVERYTHING IS BLACK AND WHITE!

Last edited @ 5/19/2008 11:40 AM

RE: February 2008 - Patrol Response to Thefts from Cars

You attributed comments to Steve which he did not make, you then lambasted him about said comments. Then, when called upon that faux pas you proceed to 'attack the messenger' while lamenting about being 'attacked'. Common internet troll behavior.

I'm not here to engage in an 'epeen waving contest'. You, apparently, are. Really couldn't care less. What I AM here for is to debate and discuss, in a rational and intelligent manner, with others who are in the business and can speak from PERSONAL experience their OWN points of views. Something which you do not do.