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 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JANUARY 2017 23 What raid? What the hell are you talking about? It’s usually a good idea to give colleagues a heads up on operations on their territory Communication is key. Sure that’s the kind of thing you see on dumb mo- tivational posters or hear at management seminars, but there is something to it. For instance, after we learned that cops, firefight- ers and EMTs couldn’t talk to each other on radios during the 9/11 attacks, we decided to spend a lot of money to make “interoper- ability” a reality. Now the police and other first responders can com- municate flawlessly during emergencies on the D-block of the digital broadcast spec- trum, right? But maybe it might be smart to start smaller – like looking at how neighboring law enforcement agencies communicate, or not com- municate in the real world. In Texas, Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace says that the Lufkin Police De- partment violated the law when they conducted an undercover investigation of a nightclub located in the Sheriff’s jurisdiction without proper notification. “They called dispatch to tell us they were coming, we said we have an officer in Apple Springs that could meet you,” Wallace said. “He never said where they were going exactly or what they were doing.” Wallace said he learned of this undercover investi- gation when KTRE News called him for a comment after the Lufkin P.D. an- nounced the seizure and arrests to the media. “What brought this to my attention was when the news agency contacted me and said, ‘Hey do you have any comment at the raid at the Steelhorse,’ and I’m like what are you talking about?’” Wallace said. “I don’t need surprises from other agencies coming in here and not telling me what they are doing. It’s not legal; the law is very clear about doing investigations outside your jurisdiction, and this is not Lufkin’s jurisdiction.” A spokesman for the Lufkin P.D. told KTRE that they have agreed to speak with the Sheriff and other county officials “in the near future.” Thankfully, a lot of the knuckleheads that think that Trump is a license for law- lessness aren’t very bright. They’re also very easy to find on social media because they require so much atten- tion. That said, a lot of these yahoos are a royal pain. In Florida, a man has been charged with battery after he was accused of punching an Hispanic man repeatedly in the back of the head. According to reports, the victim was cleaning the parking lot at a Gate Food Post store in Gainesville when he was attacked. According to a police re- port, one Caleb Joseph Illig arrived at the parking lot at around 1:10 AM and just started hitting the victim. The report states that Il- lig shouted, “Let’s Trump down,” as he punched Eche- varria. Echevarria asked his at- tacker why he was doing it and Illig reportedly re- plied, “This is for Donald Trump.” Authorities say that secu- rity footage “clearly shows Illig striking Echevarria in the back of the head, and completely corroborates the victim and witness’ accounts of the incident,” according to a report from Raw Story. Illig told officers that he had “no recollection of the incident whatsoever,” and blamed alcohol and mental health issues. It’s the kind of thing cops have been dealing with a lot recently. “Just looking at election results, the community is divided almost 50/50,” Of- ficer Ben Tobias told The Gainesville Sun. “It’s not just here in Gainesville. I’d like to think we’re doing better, but we’re having our own problems crop up.” Tobias also said politics is politics and public safety is public safety. “It’s easy to say, but folks can’t just go around being scared to be a victim of a crime,” the officer added. “If they think they’re being targeted, definitely contact us.” Sore winners on the war path nationwide There’s a lot of fake news out there these days. Sadly, the uptick in these kinds of incidents is all too real. www.digitalallyinc.com | 800.440.4947 HD Video Evidence Now Available In Your Car! DVM-800HD