AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: SEPTEMBER 2017 7 Cops, cookies & kids connecting: In California, Stockton police officers got a special treat when Girl Scout Troops 795 and 1489 from Linden, CA showed up to give cops cookies and show their support for law enforcement. The girls were armed with a ton of “Thanks- A-Lot” cookies. The agency posted photos of the girls posing with officers on their Twitter page. (Picture above is of Troop 795) “We appreciate your support!” the police department tweeted, thanking the girls for the cookies. Brotherly love: tree house done I n upstate New York, about three dozen law enforcement officers worked together to finish a tree house that a New York state trooper was building for his daughter when he was killed in the line of duty. Some 35 active and re- tired troopers, sheriff’s deputies and officers got together for a day and finished the work on the impressive tree house. Fallen Trooper Joel Da- vis had started building the tree house for his daughter, now 13, when he was killed by an armed assailant. The 36-year-old trooper was fatally shot on July 9 by a soldier in the U.S. military after responding to reports of gunfire at the soldier’s home. Officials say the sus- pect killed his wife and wounded another woman before he eventually sur- rendered. Davis was a sheriff’s deputy before he became a state trooper in 2013. His brother is a local police officer as well. Pretty soon, the robots will be doing all the driv- ing and the humans can just sit back and enjoy the ride – right up to the point where the wires get crossed and the car lands upside down in a swampy marsh. According to CBS News, police in central Minnesota say five people were hurt recently after the autopilot feature on a Tesla electric car suddenly accelerated, causing it to flip into a marsh. Deputies with the Kan- diyohi County Sheriff’s Office told reporters that the rollover crash hap- pened around 7:30 PM. Deputies found 58-year-old David Clark of Eden Prai- rie behind the wheel of the upside down vehicle. He says he was approach- ing the intersection when he turned the autopilot on and the car suddenly ac- celerated off the road and eventually flipped over. The sheriff’s office says Clark and his four pas- sengers suffered minor injuries. It’s unclear if this yet another robot suicide. (See page 20 for details about a different security robot suicide.) What can I tell ya, dude? I wasn’t even driving it! In the ads for these self-driving cars, they never seem to show the downside of trusting AI to operate the vehicle you’re in. Some of us old timers would even prefer taking the train to handing over the wheel to R2D2. Dept #AP97 desantisholster.com Doubles as Pocket Holster Tuckable™ 360 Adjusts to any position TUCKABLE IWB CONVERTIBLE TO POCKET HOLSTER Pocket-Tuk™ MSRP Style 111 2999 $