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Any department, in any city in the United States, either has experienced or may experience a situation when otherwise law-abiding citizens become lawless, out-of-control fans. Such a circumstance, if not properly prepared for, can be a nightmare for local law enforcement.
Recently, several deputies and I responded to a "man with a gun" call. Based on the rapidly escalating nature of the situation, we made an aggressive approach to the location. Angry that we'd frustrated his attempt to kill his girlfriend and family, the suspect turned his aggressions on us. Soon, we were the ones under fire.
Florida has taken a leading role in combating insurance fraud and is only one of 14 states to devote a specific agency to dealing with this problem. The Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF), originally formed in 1976, investigates all types of insurance fraud and related crimes, as well as criminal violations of the Florida Insurance Code.
To my horror, the first sergeant told me that my son, who is active-duty enlisted with the 43rd Engineers in the United States Army, had been shot in the head and was not expected to survive.
We cops can be masters of circumlocution: If we can't dazzle them with brilliance- we'll baffle 'em with "b.s." Sometimes it seems that we can be notoriously inventive in just about everything, short of public relations. However, in doing so are we doing ourselves a disservice?
Graffiti continues to be used as a written form of communication between street ganges. An observant patrol officer, police investigator, probation/parole officer, school teacher and gang member can read graffiti and collect valuable information about past, current and future gang activities.
Whether you work for a metropolitan police department with thousands of officers or small-town agency with only a handful of personel, an incident requiring the response of a special weapons team can happen in your town. How prepared are you and your agency?
No police department would ever consider sending police officers onto the street without proper training or equipment to handle routine calls. Without hesitation, police department send their officers to state-of-the-art equipment. This is equally true when it comes to training and equipping high-risk or specialty units such as SWAT teams, gang units, repeat offender units and emergency response teams.
Most police officers and police employers know that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime pay at "time and one-half' for FLSA overtime hours worked. Less well known, however, are some of the FLSA rules governing how time and a half must be calculated. This has sometimes resulted in arithmetic mistakes which have deprived officers of wages to which they are entitled under the law.
Today, tagging has become an international issue and taggers can be found worldwide. From a law enforcement perspective, it is difficult, at best, to monitor and track all of the individual taggers and tag crews.