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: DECEMBER 2016 3 Order your own MONTHLY subscription today. Call 1-800-234-0056 or go to www.APBweb.com American Police Beat (ISSN 1082-653X; USPS #24948), also hereafter referred to as “APB,” is published twelve times a year for $12 per year, $20 for two years or $26 for three years. APB is published by First Strike Media, LLC, 505 8th Avenue, Ste 1004, New York, NY 10018. Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY and Additional Mailing Offices. Telephone: 800-234-0056. Subscriptions: info@apbweb.com. Website: www.apbweb.com. POSTMASTER: send address changes to American Police Beat, 505 8th Avenue, Ste 1004, New York, NY 10018. A police officer inspects the interior of an SUV at a crime scene on West 47th Street in Chicago, Ill. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images) The boss is a good egg. What else can you say about a police chief that goes out of his way to look out for the safety of special needs kids? Before dawn each school day, Ralls, Texas, Police Chief Steven Longoria gets into his vehicle to follow a school bus as it picks up sev- en special-needs students. Unlike many cities, kids that live in more rural areas have to travel greater dis- tances by bus to get to school and many kids get picked up before the sun comes up. Longoria said he got sev- eral complaints from con- cerned parents that people were blowing past the buses as kids were boarding in the dark – a recipe for disaster and tragedy. “It started probably mid to last school year,” Longoria told KLBK News about the time when he decided to get involved personally. “Safety is a top priority, especially for special-needs kids,” Longoria said. “It’s just something we have to do. It’s hard enough to keep a lot of them on the bus. You don’t want one getting off and getting hit by a car that doesn’t want to stop.” It’s a public safety thing but it’s also personal for the chief too. Longoria lives in a small town and knows almost all the kids on the school bus. He’s got kids too and his children often play with them at his house. He said he’s happy to get up early and make sure the kids get to school safely. “We have pretty good citizen support here,” Chief Longoria said. “But to know the kids appreciate it as well as the adults – it makes us feel like we are doing the right thing here.” Looking out for the kids Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them. — Lady Bird Johnson