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 404 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: NOVEMBER 2016 Editor’s note: Believe it or not, a lot of the so-called “news” stories out there that we cover in American Police Beat are written by robots as opposed to people. That being the case, there’s usually very little in the way of details. For instance, are officers that have been ordered to sit in their cars to save gas allowed to pursue suspects if the need arises? Who knows? I n the movies and on television, policing is all about cops and robbers or homicide detectives chasing down murderers. In real life, though, there are a lot of boring details when it comes to law en- forcement. But some of the stuff that might seem boring or incon- sequential at first glance can actually be pretty significant if you read past the head- lines. Facing fuel shortages and budget cuts, law enforce- ment agencies in Alamance County, North Carolina are now taking steps to save on gas. In Burlington, officers have been required to re- duce engine idling time by turning their patrol vehicles off while sitting in their cars – so long as the temperature is between 60 and 85 de- grees. A m e m o sent to sworn personnel from Capt. Chad Slaughter also says that officers work- ing off-duty details are to park their patrol vehicles upon arriving at their as- signment location and not to patrol the property in their department vehicles. In addition, officers have been advised to limit the number of trips going back and forth from the police department headquarters. The idea is for the cops to use the fire station, pub- lic works offices and even local park benches if that means saving gas to work on reports and upload video captured on patrol. The message is crystal clear – drive less because there’s no money for gas. Capt. Slaughter also told officers to be vigilant about “tire pressure and fluid lev- els.” Officers have also been told to accelerate gradually and avoid rapid starts and to use cruise control for high- way driving. All of the city agencies in Burlington have been asked to conserve fuel until a shortage resulting from a Colonial Pipeline gas leak in Alabama has been stopped and local supply levels re- turned to normal. In nearby Graham it’s the same song. “We’re trying to handle as much as we can by phone,” said Capt. Steve McGilvray. Deputies with the Ala- mance County Sheriff’s Office have been asked to conserve fuel as well. Depu- ties were told to remain in a stationary position with the motor off for one hour per shift. Cops no longer work the ballgame Off-duty cops will no longer be patrolling inside sports stadiums and other high-risk public venues after the NYPD failed to reach an agreement over liability issues during recent negotia- tions. The Yankees and Madison Square Garden will use pri- vate security guards instead of uniformed NYPD officers going forward. There are several reasons for the move but the main one is the fact that NYPD officials wanted owners and companies that employ the off-duty cops to pay for li- ability insurance to cover lawsuits in the event their officers get sued. The NYPD also wanted the owners and companies to pay for the insurance costs of cops getting hurt while working the off-duty details. It’s a bummer for the officers who were making $45 an hour or more with a guarantee of at least four hours. Also, hanging out in the dugout seems kind of cool. At any rate, it’s truly re- markable that there’s so much revolving around police and sports right now. See the rest of this issue. For at least an hour, just sit in the vehicle With attention elsewhere, budgets shrink and training becomes much harder to afford