Northern AZ Law Enforcement Agencies wish everyone a happy and safe Holiday Season. We want to remind you, as always our Officers, Deputies and Troopers will be patrolling 24 hours a day 7 days a week to keep our communities safe.
As New Year’s approaches, we know there will be many parties and festivities. We will have increased enforcement patrols during this busy time of the year. In addition, Law Enforcement in Northern Arizona will conduct a multi-agency DUI Task Force on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, Flagstaff Police Department, AZ Department of Public Safety and Northern Arizona University Police will be participating. We will be posting several DUI trailers throughout the area where officers can take possible violators to gather samples of breath and blood draws if driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is suspected.
It is our hope that by publicizing this task force and advising the public of this event, people will be encouraged to not drive while under the influence. A taxi, Uber, LYFT, Shuttle or Designated Driver is a much cheaper and safer option than taking a chance of driving while intoxicated. In addition, NAIPTA will be offering free bus service on New Year’s Eve until 1:15 am.
Don’t take a chance of ruining your life or the life of someone else by driving intoxicated or recklessly. Being arrested for DUI is very a costly life event. If you are arrested and convicted of DUI, you can face a low-end cost of around $5000. That does not include missed time at work or with family. DUI results in mandatory jail time if convicted, with a minimum of one night in jail, and incarceration increases with severity of the crime.
Please take this time to prepare for your travel and other festivities. Help us keep everyone safe on the roads this New Year’s Eve.
MARICOPA – While Lt. Mike Campbell hopes Maricopa Police Department officers never need to enter a home to remove a barricaded suspect, a partnership with the Arizona Department of Transportation has helped them prepare, just in case.
With ADOT preparing to build a bridge carrying State Route 347 over the Union Pacific Railroad, officers have been able to train twice in a house acquired on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. The home eventually will be demolished to make way for a new alignment of Plainview Street that will connect Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway to Honeycutt Road and SR 347.
Campbell said the partnership ensures that the department’s Special Response Team has the opportunity to train for potentially life-or-death situations. That included practicing how to enter a home with a dangerous suspect inside, breaking down doors and methodically working their way through the building.
“There are very few opportunities for us to train for these rare but dangerous situations,” Campbell said. “Every time our officers can experience the challenges that come with entering a building in a hostile situation means we can do a better job if this kind of situation arises. This makes our officers better at their jobs and it makes Maricopa a safer place for our residents.”
ADOT has a 25-year tradition of working with first responders to provide real-world training opportunities in the controlled environment of vacant buildings. Training collaborations like the one that took place this month in Maricopa date back to construction of State Route 51 in the early 1990s.
Just last summer, ADOT-acquired properties along the route of the South Mountain Freeway were used to train fire and law enforcement officers from more than a dozen agencies. That included SWAT teams using homes to practice responding to hostage situations and the Phoenix Fire Department, which trained 48 ladder companies and scores of new recruits.
ADOT works side-by-side with emergency responders every day, said Brian Rockwell, ADOT assistant chief right of way agent.
“Police officers willingly put themselves in harm’s way to protect all of us in dangerous situations,” Rockwell said. “When we have the opportunity to help them train, as we did here, we’re not only happy to do that but we consider it part of our service to the community.”
Construction of the SR 347 bridge begins this fall. The two-year, $55 million project will carry traffic over the railroad tracks on a path just east of the current SR 347. It will alleviate congestion on a road that is expected to see traffic double to more than 60,000 vehicles a day by 2040 and save drivers the time of waiting for trains to cross the highway. The area now sees 40-60 trains a day, a number that is expected to reach 100 daily in the next 20 years.
McKinney, TEXAS — Last Friday, June 5 the police department of McKinney, Texas responded to a call about a disturbance at a pool party. On their Facebook page they posted:
Pool Party Incident:
On June 5, 2015 at approximately 7:15 p.m., officers from the McKinney Police Department responded to a disturbance at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool. The initial call came in as a disturbance involving multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave. McKinney Police received several additional calls related to this incident advising that juveniles were now actively fighting.
First responding officers encountered a large crowd that refused to comply with police commands. Nine additional units responded to the scene. Officers were eventually able to gain control of the situation.
McKinney Police later learned of a video that was taken at the scene by an unknown party. This video has raised concerns that are being investigated by the McKinney Police Department. At this time, one of the responding officers has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation.
One of the “responding officers” was Eric Casebolt, the patrol supervisor of concern shown in the video.
According to videos that we shared on our Facebook page, there appears to be a fight that was started by alleged racial slurs. This prompted the call to the McKinney Police Department.
The response by the media has focused, of course, on the race and fact that Officer Casebolt drew his gun on “unarmed” teens. We try to report only facts, but this situation calls for some personal opinion. This paragraph contains our observation, not facts in evidence. It appears by any measure that the officer was out of control by the cursing of the teens. We also understand that a mob situation, no matter how small, is a stressful situation. It appears, by the video, that the officer handled the female teen in a manner uncalled for. As for the officer drawing his gun, however, two teen were coming around in what could be described aggressive manner. It is also shown on the video that at least one of the officer was respectful toward a group of teens and were acting calmly until the incident with the female teen. They seemed to be responding only to prevent a major incident.
WILLIAMS — All of the law enforcement agencies of the State represented themselves, yesterday, in gathering to celebrate Law Day.
Law Day is May 1. Justice Robert Krombeen explained that several events were being held in Flagstaff, so he decided to hold the Williams event yesterday.
Representatives were available for questions from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Coconino County Sheriff’s Department, Arizona Game and Fish, and Williams Police Department.
The Coconino County Sheriff set up a display for the Coconino Emergency Response Team. The Law Enforcement agencies also brought in a few of the vehicles they use in the performance of their duties including the DPS helicopter.
The idea of Law Day was originally proposed by the American Bar Association in 1957. In 1958 on May 1, President Dwight D. Eisenhower made a proclamation declaring May 1 of that year as Law Day to honor the role of law in the creation of the United States. Congress created the the observance of the date annually in 1961.
Officers of Arizona Game and Fish and Department of Public Safety at the Game and Fish display.
El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini has stripped the power of the forest service law enforcement to enforce State laws in his county according to CBS Sacramento.
In a letter they obtained, Sheriff D’Agostini wrote:
“I take the service that we provide to the citizens of El Dorado County and the visitors to El Dorado County very seriously, and the style and manner of service we provide. The U.S. Forest Service, after many attempts and given many opportunities, has failed to meet that standard.”
The Sheriff said that he took the action after numerous complaints.
Sheriff D’Agostini is also known for a January 2013 letter to Vice-President Biden over the proposed gun ban according to KRNV in Nevada. In the letter he wrote:
“The purpose of this letter is to go on record of re-affirming my oath of office and making it clear that I and my staff will never violate [our oath of office] by being pressured into enforcing any unconstitutional provision, law or executive order.”
He noted that disarming law-abiding citizens would not prevent guns from falling into the hands of criminals.
The Atlanta Journal-Consitution is reporting that Bounkham “Bou Bou” Phonesavanh will receive not justice from the Habersham County grand jury. It is reported that Habersham County officials have withdrawn an offer to pay the $800,000 hospital bills for the child.
The toddler was severely injured in May when a SWAT team through a stun grenade into the room which landed in the playpen where the nineteen-month-old toddler was located.
An incident report indicated that a suspect, Wanis Thonetheva, lived in the house and that deputies could expect a cache of weapons and armed guards at the house.
A search turned up NO guns or drugs. The suspect that they were after did not even live there. Thonetheva was arrested later without incident and only charged with possession of Methamphetamine.
Mawuli Davis issued a statement that the Phonesavanh family is devastated to learn no criminal charges would be brought.
MASSACHUSETTS – Police militarization has reached an all-time low in Massachusetts. Not only are they armored and armed as well as any military unit in Afghanistan, they apparently now are not held accountable for their actions. The ACLU of Massachusetts claims a weakness in the Massachusetts public record laws.
Recent tweet by ALCUM
According to articles from the Boston Globe and Washington Post, various police forces are combining into groups called law enforcement councils, or LECs.
According to Boston.Com, the ACLU requested certain records concerning the police organizations:
As part of an effort to document regional policing operations, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Massachusetts (“ACLUM”) requested documents concerning NEMLEC’s SWAT Team and RRT in July 2012. The request sought NEMLEC’s training materials, incident reports, deployment statistics, guidelines, procurement records, budgets, agreements with other agencies and documents relating to the structure of the SWAT team and RRT.
The North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, or NEMLEC, refused on the grounds that they are a private, non-profit 501(c)3 group that is not required to produce records for the public.
The Washington Post article stated:
Let’s be clear. These agencies oversee police activities. They employ cops who carry guns, wear badges, collect paychecks provided by taxpayers and have the power to detain, arrest, injure and kill. They operate SWAT teams, which conduct raids on private residences. And yet they say that because they’ve incorporated, they’re immune to Massachusetts open records laws. The state’s residents aren’t permitted to know how often the SWAT teams are used, what they’re used for, what sort of training they get or who they’re primarily used against.
In the 2005 ruling of Gonzales v. Castle Rock, the Supreme Court ruled that police are not Constitutionally obligated to protect you even to enforce a restraining order.
A follow-up tweet by the ACLUM concerning the militarization of Mass. police.
Tucson’s NBC affiliate is reporting Carmen Figueroa, who once served as the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s spokeswoman, likely didn’t even know she was an illegal alien until this summer.
Bart Graves, DPS spokesperson tells the News 4 Tucson Investigators “We believe the affidavit and information she gave us at the time. And, she was under the impression that she herself was an American citizen.”
DPS officials wouldn’t say if Figueroa would be charged with a crime, but Graves told the Associated Press she would have been fired if she didn’t step down because state law requires all sworn officers to be US citizens.
The company Law Enforcement Targets has apologized on their Facebook page for a new series of targets they were selling for law enforcement.
The targets, apparently based on the requirements of the Department of Homeland Security and other Federal law enforcement agencies, depict such “targets” as a seven-year old boy with a gun and a pregnant woman with guns pointed at the Federal shooter.
The advertisement reads, “Designed to prepare officers for the worst possible situation. Background is faded further highlighting and highlighting the threat.” The product description of the little boy reads, “…dipicting a very young boy holding a real gun.”
The targets are apparently intended to desensitize law enforcement to shooting citizens of the United States no matter what the circumstance.
The apology reads:
We apologize for the offensive nature of our “No More Hesitation” products. These products have been taken offline due to the opinions expressed by so many, including members of the law enforcement community.
This product line was originally requested and designed by the law enforcement community to train police officers for unusually complex situations where split-second decisions could lead to unnecessary loss of life.
Consistent with our company mission as a training supplier (not a training methods company), we will continue to seek input from law enforcement professionals to better serve their training objectives and qualification needs. We sincerely appreciate law enforcement professionals for the risks they take in providing safety and defending freedom.
The comments on the Facebook page show that the people are less than pleased with the apology. Some are charging that the company may have withdrawn the targets from the web site, but are still selling them to the Federal government and local law enforcement.
Marilyn Zimmermann This is surreal… but so is the reality of sharia law, and our own government and culture being slowly and stealthily infiltrated by a theocratic spirit of antichrist. enter the burka clad gorilla in the room.
Michael Ballou All the pictures that I have seen of the “No More Hesitation” targets are all White people. Do you have targets of Asian, Black, Pacific Islander, Native American, and Hispanic pregnant women, children, and old men too? I want to ensure that you are an Equal Opportunity Target Supplier. Post some pix of your products.
NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST You people are truly sick, and I sincerely hope you go bankrupt, and soon. You are a small, but apparent cog in the growing machine of totalitarianism in this country.
NRA Gifting Page I’d like to echo an earlier post: “By denying FULL responsibility for poor judgment and blaming LE and Homeland Security for the design you are confirming they asked you to produce targets of regular Americans defending themselves in their kitchens to specifically desensitize cops to the natural resistance they experience in shooting the innocent. — THAT won’t be soon forgotten.”
Donna Kaplan apparently did some research demanding that the company make a public disclosure of which agencies purchased the targets.
Donna Kaplan Law Enforcement Targets: I would like a list of all government entities who purchased, through contracts, any products from your company. To include, Agency Name, Quantity, Item Name, Item Cost and Purchase Order Number. Ten days is the legal amount of time you have to post that information in this public forum.
Since you receive government contracts (between 2000-2009, $42.3 million), according to the open records law item #3 below dictates that you are obligated to fulfill the request of a list of any and all agencies (federal, state or local) and their purchases:
Sec. 552.022. CATEGORIES OF PUBLIC INFORMATION; EXAMPLES. (a) Without limiting the amount or kind of information that is public information under this chapter, the following categories of information are public information and not excepted from required disclosure unless made confidential under this chapter or other law:
(1) a completed report, audit, evaluation, or investigation made of, for, or by a governmental body, except as provided by Section 552.108;
(2) the name, sex, ethnicity, salary, title, and dates of employment of each employee and officer of a governmental body;
(3) information in an account, voucher, or contract relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds by a governmental body;
(4) the name of each official and the final record of voting on all proceedings in a governmental body;
(5) all working papers, research material, and information used to estimate the need for or expenditure of public funds or taxes by a governmental body, on completion of the estimate;
(6) the name, place of business, and the name of the municipality to which local sales and use taxes are credited, if any, for the named person, of a person reporting or paying sales and use taxes under Chapter 151, Tax Code;
(7) a description of an agency’s central and field organizations, including:
(A) the established places at which the public may obtain information, submit information or requests, or obtain decisions;
(B) the employees from whom the public may obtain information, submit information or requests, or obtain decisions;
(C) in the case of a uniformed service, the members from whom the public may obtain information, submit information or requests, or obtain decisions; and
(D) the methods by which the public may obtain information, submit information or requests, or obtain decisions;
(8) a statement of the general course and method by which an agency’s functions are channeled and determined, including the nature and requirements of all formal and informal policies and procedures;
(9) a rule of procedure, a description of forms available or the places at which forms may be obtained, and instructions relating to the scope and content of all papers, reports, or examinations;
(10) a substantive rule of general applicability adopted or issued by an agency as authorized by law, and a statement of general policy or interpretation of general applicability formulated and adopted by an agency;
(11) each amendment, revision, or repeal of information described by Subdivisions (7)-(10);
(12) final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, and orders issued in the adjudication of cases;
(13) a policy statement or interpretation that has been adopted or issued by an agency;
(14) administrative staff manuals and instructions to staff that affect a member of the public;
(15) information regarded as open to the public under an agency’s policies;
(16) information that is in a bill for attorney’s fees and that is not privileged under the attorney-client privilege;
(17) information that is also contained in a public court record; and
(18) a settlement agreement to which a governmental body is a party.
(b) A court in this state may not order a governmental body or an officer for public information to withhold from public inspection any category of public information described by Subsection (a) or to not produce the category of public information for inspection or duplication, unless the category of information is confidential under this chapter or other law.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 268, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 1035, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1319, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1229, Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2011.
The targets are particularly eerie when considered in light of the massive amount of ammunition that the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies down to the Social Security Administration have been purchasing.
Although the company web site does not have an address, Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the company, founded in 1992, is at 8802 West 35W Service Drive NE, Saint Paul, MN 55114-1614.
MARICOPA – While Lt. Mike Campbell hopes Maricopa Police Department officers never need to enter a home to remove a barricaded suspect, a partnership with the Arizona Department of Transportation has helped them prepare, just in case.
