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 4010 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JUNE 2016 NATIONWIDE What’s up in law enforcement across the U.S.A. THETOPTEN I’m guessing she said yes... Palestine, Illinois High School Senior John Sheil asked for as- sistance from Palestine Officer Brandon Carpenter in asking his girlfriend (Palestine Junior Shaelyn Wilber) to go to this year’s High School prom. John made arrangements with Officer Carpenter to initiate a vehicle stop on John’s vehicle on LaMotte Street while Shaelyn was in the vehicle. When Officer Carpenter stopped the vehicle, he asked John to step to the rear Carpenter gave John a “pre-arranged” traffic citation. Officer Carpenter then had Shaelyn step to the rear of the vehicle where John presented her with the traffic citation which stated; “Will you go to prom with me?” According to Officer Carpenter, the look on Shaelyn’s face was “priceless” and upon her reading the citation, she gladly accepted the invitation. 1. Chicago police boss calls weekend gun violence ‘completely unacceptable’ 2. Police union says morale low, announces no-confidence vote 3. Community activists outraged over police shooting (within policy, entirely justified, saved lives) 4. Four-man police department to close its doors for good. 5. Audit uncovers “issues” in evidence room 6. Mayor disrespects cops, says police association president 7. Serious crimes down again for eighth consecutive year 8. Police struggle with suspects with mental illness 9. Face eater strikes again! (Florida only) 10. Sheriff’s campaign signs stolen/ vandalized most common police headlines 1033 Expands to DHS Despite public criticism and questions about account- ability, the controversial program that allows the US military to give weapons and equipment to local law enforcement is expanding. Not only will police departments and sheriff’s offices be getting bigger and better stuff from the Dept. of Defense (and more of it), the program has been quietly expanded to include the new cops on the block at the Department of Homeland Security. According to multiple reports, amendments to a controversial Pentagon program to sell military gear to domestic police forces have broadened the program to include DHS. In addition to getting military gear for free from DoD, DHS also provides multimillion-dollar grants to law-enforcement agencies to purchase military equipment. Lawsuit In New Haven, Connecticut, the first black female police captain in the department’s history is suing the agency. Police Capt. Patricia Helliger is suing the police department less than three months after she was promoted to the position. According to the New Haven Register News, Capt. Patricia Helliger claims that promo- tion or no promotion, she continues to be the victim of racial and sexual discrimination. Helliger says that even though her promotion was long overdue, it hasn’t had an impact on what she claims is the hostile treatment she receives at work. Bad idea Like many other law enforcement officials, Okla- homa City Police Chief Bill Citty is struggling with new open carry legislation. He recently told legislators that it would be “huge mistake” for lawmakers to allow citizens to openly carry guns without being required to undergo any training whatsoever or even to get a per- mit. “‘Man with a gun’ takes on a whole new meaning,” Citty said. “It’s a huge enforcement problem.” House Bill 3098 would allow non-felons over age 21 to carry guns openly without meeting requirements currently in place for those who want to carry a concealed gun. “I’ve got gang members out there who haven’t been arrested, I’ve got gang members that are real gang members and are out there causing problems, but haven’t been arrested or convicted,” Citty said. Jumped the gun If you’re an agency that is looking into purchasing technology that would allow officers to test impaired drivers for marijuana or THC levels, you might want to hold off on the purchase. Six states that allow marijuana use have legal tests to determine if someone is driving while impaired by the drug, but these tests have no ba- sis in science. At least that’s what a study commissioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA) says. The scientific study determined that it’s not possible to set a blood-test threshold for THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes people high. The problem is that in at least six states, authorities automatically presume a driver guilty of impaired driving if that person tests higher than the limit. The AAA is calling for the current THC tests to be scrapped. I n Alabama, a police department recently used social media to thank the drug dealers whose funds that police seize bought them a whole bunch of new stuff. The Vestavia Hills po- lice department used cash from something called the “confiscation’s fund” to buy 100 new .45ACP caliber pistols. Traditionally of- ficers have had to buy their own service weapons but the agency has confiscated so much money that’s appar- ently no longer necessary. “The confiscation fund built up to have enough to buy 100 Glock pistols as well as pistol lights and holsters and issue them to our officers,” Captain Kevin York recently told the Yellow Hammer News. Patrol officers got Glock 41s and detectives and ad- ministrative personnel re- ceived the Glock 30S. All told the weapons and holsters cost about $80,000. The agency then took to its Facebook page to thank the anonymous drug dealers who paid for the weapons. “The Vestavia Hills Police Department would like to thank all of the local Metro Area Illegal Drug Dealers who contributed to our con- fiscation’s fund. Thanks to your efforts and those of our Narcotics Unit and SW.A.T. Team serving Search/Arrest warrants on you, we were able to equip our Officers with Glock Handguns.” Thanks for the Glocks, you guys!