Ohio Officer's Pursuit Ends In Gunfire

Yesterday in Blue Ash, Ohio an officer encountered a black car driving erratically in circles and on the wrong side of the roadway. He initiated a stop to investigate and the vehicle fled.

Now this is where departments differ the most and the first of several Decision Points for supervisors. Some would authorize a pursuit at this point while others will not. Those that will pursue say the vehicle is being driven in such a manner as to constitute an immediate hazard to the safety of other drivers and must be stopped. Those who would not pursue want more information before authorizing a pursuit and justifying the increased threat to innocent citizens. Neither is wrong.

The officer reported on his radio that the suspect vehicle tried to ram him before fleeing. Decision Point 2: More agencies would allow the pursuit to begin since ramming or attempted ramming of another vehicle is an Aggravated Assault and a "Forcible Felony". While still other agencies would not count acts toward officers rather than civilians as reason to justify the pursuit. Others may want traffic conditions, weather, and several other factors to be known before giving supervisory approval to pursue.

Within two minutes of the pursuit beginning the fleeing vehicle is confirmed as a stolen vehicle. Decision Point 3: Those already pursuing would say they now have two felony crimes and the pursuit is full on. Some would now authorize the pursuit if their policy allows for the chasing of stolen vehicles. And still other agencies would say the risk is too great and tell the officer to disengage and go the other way.

No matter where you fall on the Decision Point matrix, the real pursuit ensued and the suspect finally was stopped when he was hit by a patrol car as he tried to avoid stop sticks. However, as the initial stop officers exited their cars to take the driver into custody, "the suspect accelerated towards one of them. Both officers fired at the suspects vehicle. The suspect then attempted to take off again and collided with another cruiser. A third officer approached the vehicle and was struck as the suspect accelerated. That officer fired shots as well." (FOX19 WXIX) The suspect driver was killed.

On the surface of this one it looks like a good pursuit with a tragic but avoidable ending. AVOIDABLE? Yes! At any point along this trail of decisions the most critical ones were made not by the police but by the suspect driver. IF at any point in this melee he had stopped, he would be alive today.

I have always held that Deputies and Officers don't DECIDE to shoot someone. Someone decides for us by their decisions and actions and we have to react to those decisions and actions.

The local FOX affiliate WXIX has a very good multimedia packet on the story with radio communications, dash cams, and news reports. Oh Yeah, and don't forget to feel bad for the passenger who thinks the cops shouldn't have shot at the car even though it rammed cars and the driver deliberately tried to run over officers. WAAAH!

I have attched the link below:
http://www.fox19.com/global/story.asp?s=6991408

Took Some Family Time

My apologies for the delay in blogs of late but I took a short time off writing to spend it where it counts most...with my family.

Schools are back in session here in Florida so I took some leave time and me, The Princess and Mom took a family break to Disney. We had a great time and The Princess got to ride her first "Big Kid" rides since she is now over the magical 40 inch tall mark. The highlight of this new found Big Kid access was when we rode "DINOSAUR" at the Animal Kingdom Park. This is a large motion control vehicle that bounces, spins, sways and shakes you through a dark and rapid fire trip back in time to the era of dinosaurs. Of course you end up trying to flee from a T-Rex looking beast that jumps out at you in full animatronic splendour to the shrieks and scream of all concerned.

When we disembarked the ride and made it back outside into the blazing sun we found a shady spot and sat down. The Princess stands herself before us, hands on her hips, and announces, "I Know I'm not supposed to say "stupid", BUT THAT RIDE WAS STUPID!!!!"

You gotta love kids!

Oh the favorite ride of the day - Kali River Rapids - We ALL got SOAKED!

The Mouse and The Elephants

Okay, This is just weird!

We recently joined this Disney Email system called "Mouse Mail" that is a kind of "insider info" Email system. This is supposed to give you updates and other info on changes and deals at their parks as well as important or interesting things Disney is doing as a company.

Well, I opened my Email today and found this little nugget tucked in the middle of about fourteen stories. Apparently, Disney vets from the Animal Kingdom park have been helping to control elephant overpopulation in Africa by doing, what have to be, the worlds biggest vasectomies on wild bull elephants.

They even put together a quick little video piece for it!
http://www.wdwpress.com/mousemail/images/Elephant-Vas-2007.html


Any way you slice it - it's a ballsy move by Disney.
(yeah, I went there, Sorry)

And So, It Begins!!! Where's My Raincoat?

After a relaxing if scorching hot summer the wheels of tropical development are finally beginning to churn in the Eastern Atlantic to the excited shrieks of meteorologists from Miami to Houston. Here is the "Breaking News" for our region tonight:

http://www.local6.com/weather/13882662/detail.html

It comes with my fave - "The Cone Of Uncertainty"

Cops Don't Make Good Bloggers!

I just checked over one hundred blogs of people who listed their jobs as "Deputy Sheriff" and found THREE that were actively blogging and had made a post in the last two months. Most of them were two years old or more with only a couple of posts.

I have now come to realize why I can't buy people to look at this site - "Oh its just another cop blog, it'll be abandoned next week, yawn!!!!!"

GEEZ, People! Why can't we get our S*^# together like we do at work and get these blogs done? Some of you had great beginnings and I wanted more but there was none to be had. I know what we do doesn't resonate easily with "the civilians" out there but for Pete's sake let's try harder, HUH?

Well, I for one will try to keep current, keep looking for what's out there and giving you my county budget sized 1/2 cent of an opinion. Incidentally, the THREE count of active bloggers - included THIS SITE!!!!!

PS: I'm not afraid to venture into untrodden ground so if you have something you think I would like to share - let me know.

Adoption - One "Kid's" Questions Answered

This is an incredible story of an adopted child who grew up to be a Deputy Sheriff but always yearned to know the truth about his adoption and his roots. As the Father of an adopted child, this story touched me and I think it will touch you too:

http://pokercop.blogspot.com/2006/12/codys-life-changing-moment-long-read.html

Return of the Russian Bear or is it?

According to Reuters news agency, and reported today on CNN.com, the Russian Air Force has now resumed flights of their strategic bomber fleet. The article shrieked that on Wednesday a TU-95 "Bear" bomber overflew the USAF base on Guam which scrambled fighters to intercept the overflight.

The story was written with a thick tone of foreboding that oozed dread and fear mongering. BEWARE! the Russian giant has awakened and we are all headed for a new and more dangerous Cold War with Russia. However, as I am SUCH a "fan" (not!) of the accuracy and objectivity of Reuters I did some fact checking.

Reuters: "Russia's strategic bombers have resumed the Soviet Union's Cold War practice of flying long-haul missions to areas patrolled by NATO and the United States"

FACT: Yes they did - in SEPTEMBER 2006!!!!! ELEVEN MONTHS AGO!!
According to a September 30, 2006 report from INTERFAX, the Russian News Agency........ "Russian strategic bombers conduct test flights". The article included quotes by Russian Air Force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky and outlined that, "During the flights, part of a test of long-range aircraft, the bombers' crews saw NATO fighters, which were flying parallel to them in their airspace, but there were also segments of flights, including close to Alaska, where our planes were flying unaccompanied."

In fact, Mr. Drobyshevsky reported that Russian and foreign journalists had been invited to monitor the test flights to show off the new Russian Air Force and its abilities, yet NO FOREIGN PRESS applied for accreditation to cover this event. Additionally, I found the test flights were also announced on the Defense Ministry's official website.

Finally, way back on January 4, 2007 Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Gen. Vladimir Mikhail told Interfax reporters, "In 2006 strategic aviation flew over 100 missions, namely strategic bombers resumed active flights to areas above the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans," which means it's been formally announced and reported on at least twice in the past ELEVEN MONTHS, so why all the hype from Reuters now?


Reuters: "President Vladimir Putin has sought to make Russia more assertive in the world."
"The bombers give Russia the capability of launching a devastating nuclear strike even if the nuclear arsenals on its own territory are wiped out."

FACT: DUH! President Vlad has made no secret of his desire for a strong and respected Russia. I could fill page after page with examples, including from Reuters. These statements were added simply to keep up the dread factor high throughout the story. They're just selling FEAR!

Perhaps, Reuters can't find a conflict so they figure they should try to create one. Or maybe, they just need a good story to go with some newly "photo shopped" pictures!?!?

The worst part is that this story by Reuters is the #10 most popular story on CNN.com. This is another great example of "repeat the story" mainstream reporting instead of true journalism and honest, unbiased, factual news. Reuters writes it so CNN reports it - no questions asked. It's not CNN's fault if Reuters gets it wrong - Or is it????

Bridge Over The River WHY

Once more, the politicians and media are wading deeply into the "Blame Game" long before the last of the unfortunate victims from the Minneapolis bridge collapse have been recovered from their watery graves. WHY?

I'll tell you why. It's not OUR fault, that's why!

• It's not OUR fault that government officials have failed to provide for infrastructure maintenance!
• It's not OUR fault that no-one in Washington DC, Albany, New York, or any other state capitol has done anything to keep their citizens safe on the roadways, rails, or air routes of this country.
• It's not OUR fault that politicians spend Billions of dollars to make sure you can't get a steak knife onto a cruise ship or (until recently) a Bic lighter on an airplane.
• It's not OUR fault these same politicians are allowed to posture and pontificate to the media about "Protecting the Homeland" while doing absolutely nothing to MAINTAIN the homeland.
• It's not OUR fault that a long succession of Presidents, Cabinet Secretaries, Governors, Mayors, Council members, and Directors of numerous agencies have been totally UNACCOUNTABLE to the voters, the citizens of this great nation.

Wait a minute! IT IS OUR OWN DAMN FAULT!!!!!!!