Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 486 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: OCTOBER 2016 D ue to the fact that very few needed structural reforms were undertaken after the Crash of 2008, many Americans still find themselves struggling to make ends meet and keep up on mortgage payments. So the evictions continue. From a law enforcement perspective, these actions are incredibly dangerous, emotionally exhausting and pretty much unpleasant all around. But no matter how appall- ing the behavior of a bank or a mortgage company might be, when the eviction no- tice is served, it’s cops who have to remove people and belongings from a residence and it’s critical that police officers are aware of the dangers. It’s even more important for those calling the shots. According to a recent ar- ticle from KUSA News, an injured Park County deputy, along with the family of Nate Carrigan, who was killed while serving an eviction notice last February, are su- ing the Park County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado and Sheriff Fred Wegener. The lawsuit alleges that Sheriff Wegener made the final decision to have officers follow Martin Wirth into the home he was being evicted from, despite the fact that he “threatened to harm any individual trying to evict him,” and that decision ran counter to department policy. The suit claims that Park County Sheriff’s Office Pol- icy and Procedures required Wirth be treated as a bar- ricaded subject. The suit further alleges that non- SWAT officers like Carrigan and Kol- by Martin should not have been sent into the home. The suit claims the death of Dep- uty Carrigan and the injuries to Kolby Martin are “due to the grossly negligent conduct of command staff at the Park Coun- ty Sheriff’s Office, failure to properly train and super- vise, failure to ad- here and follow the basic National Standards as it concerns the treatment of a barricaded suspect and a high risk evic- tion.” When deputies arrived to evict Wirth from a residence, they found him waiting for them and threatening of- ficers. “The basic laws of law en- forcement is that once they go back in, you surround it and you have the person come out,” Grant Whitus, a former SWAT team leader for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, told report- ers. “That could go on for Desperate and dangerous Evictions will likely increase, as will the danger they pose to officers The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose. – James A. Baldwin hours and you may need to use gas to force the person to come out. You certainly have the SWAT teams in- volved with it when some- thing goes that wrong. And that’s what should have been done that day.” “This isn’t about money,” said John Carrigan, Nathan’s father. “We are not looking for money. We’re looking to remove Fred Wegener as the sheriff and his command staff from their jobs. What we’re hoping is to get the information out on what ac- tually happened concerning the murder of Martin Wirth and the killing of our son.” What on Earth was she thinking? T here are people that have good intentions but just aren’t very smart. There are also smart peo- ple with bad intentions. It’s unclear if the young lady that set loose dozens of chirping crickets in a crowded New York City subway car recently is the former or the latter, but one thing’s for sure – she had a really bad idea that led to a really bad day. TheNYPDWarrantSquad was on the lookout for ac- tress Zaida Pugh, 21, and was able to arrest her on reckless endangerment charges after the bizarre stunt. “The media is trying to frame this in the wrong way, and I don’t want to speak anything about the police. Everything just is not turning out the way I intended.” In a wild video, Pugh posed as a crazed home- less woman trying to sell a bucket of bugs. Then another actor who Pugh was working with smacks the container out of her hand, sending the critters flying all over the place. People freaked the hell out. Pugh was hurt in the melee and needed medical attention. “I wanted to show how the homeless are treated and how people react to things like this — they take out their phones and start to record when they should be helping,” she told reporters. “I’m sorry how it went, but I was trying to put a message across.” Hey, lady – the freakin D train’s bad enough as it is.