Feed Editor 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST The National Sheriffs Association Weekly Update provides industry-specific news and information to law enforcement professionals. Delivered weekly, the publication keeps sheriffs, their deputies, chiefs of police, and others in the field of criminal justice informed of topics that impact law enforcement. http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nsa/nsaupdate.xml en As a deputy or other law enforcement officer, you understand the importance of being informed, knowledgeable, and up-to-date on the latest technologies and trends relating to law enforcement. The National Sheriffs' Association has recently released a publication dedicated to deputy and law enforcement officers who are on the street, called Deputy and Court Officer. Deputy and Court Officer focuses on: presenting deputies in their many faceted roles, as street patrol, court officers, corrections officers, civil process, and warrant officers to name a few providing product reviews to support the deputy to better do his/her job providing employment opportunities providing scholarship opportunities and educational opportunities Receive a free copy by contacting Susan Crow at scrow@sheriffs.org. 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af2fee6c4a1e 1 A pickup truck in Mexico pulls up to the 5-foot vehicle barriers that make up part of the multibillion-dollar border fence. A retractable ramp is extended from the truck, forming a bridge up and over the barriers. Then, a second pickup -- this one loaded with a ton of marijuana -- rolls over the bridge and into the U.S. With gadgetry such as custom-built ramps as well as ultralight planes, false doors and good old-fashioned duct tape, smugglers have demonstrated unbounded creativity when it comes to sneaking drugs across the Mexican border. And the U.S. government acknowledges there is only so much it can do to stop the flow. 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1e61cc74d8 2 A Hillsborough County Detention Deputy was nearly killed in a jail house attack that was caught on tape in Florida. Deputy Ken Moon was the only guard in a pod at the Orient Road Jail with 62 inmates when the attack occurred. Video of the incident shows inmate Douglas Burden charging the deputy and putting him in a strangle hold. All of a sudden, the video shows a second inmate enter the picture, slamming the attacker and the deputy to the ground. Jail Commander Jim Previtera said "I am certain he would have been killed if the inmates hadn't come to help." 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1e934ccbaf 3 It radiates off sweaty suspects hiding in sheds or beneath bridges, exhausted hikers who have been missing for days in the desert and simmering brush in the aftermath of a wildfire. Appearing in hazy white forms on a monitor inside the San Bernardino County Sheriff's helicopters, the pilot and flight officer can pinpoint the exact location of all living things, or heating, thousands of feet below. "It saves thousands of man hours," said aviation Sgt. Mitch Dattilo. "It's our bread and butter because we can search an area effectively and quickly, which saves what would take a team of guys on the ground doing a grid search." 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1eb9593b31 4 Clandestine laboratories present huge hazards for all responders who encounter them. Police risk injury and illness responding to the crime scene or investigating suspicious activities. Arthur Musselman, a hazardous materials specialist for the Georgia Police Academy, Drug Training Section, gave a presentation on clandestine laboratory safety and awareness for first responders at the 2009 EMS Expo/Firehouse Central/Enforcement Expo Southeast in Atlanta, Ga. Mr. Musselman's thoughts on the subject are outlined in the linked article. 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1e53b3e507 5 Car owners buy glass-etching paste to burn their VIN permanently onto every window. Rural sheriffs plant GPS tracking devices on farm tractors or four-wheelers left out as bait for machinery thieves. Metro Denver cops drive cars with computerized license-plate readers that can sweep an entire grocery-store parking lot for stolen vehicles in a matter of seconds. And it's all working. 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1ec3d0ddda 6 The San Jose Police Department will be the first law enforcement agency in the country to use new ear-mounted video and audio recorders on the job in November, and police say they will provide a new window into arrests and other situations. The portable AXON cameras, made by Taser International, are expected to be given to 72 San Jose officers in late November or early December, police said. The cameras can record an officer's point of view for up to 10 1/2 hours, and police say the devices will help officers write more accurate reports and aid officers if their actions are called in to question. 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af0936463446 7 Though the economy is showing signs of rebounding, unemployment in St. Louis topped 10 percent in September. So the job outlook for those eligible to become police officers may be just as tough as in other industries, said Anne Winkler, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. "You're going to have a lot of people competing for a limited number of spots," Winkler said. Last year, Missouri licensed 1,355 academy graduates to become police officers, a 46 percent increase from 2004. Through last week, the state already has issued 1,311 licenses this year. 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1e448b2c7f 8 The latest weapon carried by Sanford police officers doesn't fire bullets and wouldn't do much damage if they hit you with it. But the device they now carry in their shirt pocket sprays a mist that might protect the officers in the event they are exposed to harmful bacteria or viral germs. The agency spent a little more than $2,400 to equip all of its police and communityservice officers with MyClyns First Response Personal Protection devices after Chief Brian Tooley learned about them at a Florida police chiefs conference. 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1e40868bcb 9 More than 300 people were arrested and 200 more targeted in a crackdown on a multi-state prescription pill pipeline, a bust that Kentucky officials said was the largest in the state's history. Police officers fanning out across mostly eastern Kentucky this week had arrested 322 people by midafternoon on Oct. 29 in pursuit of about 500 suspects who face charges related to illegal trafficking of prescription drugs, officials said at a news conference. 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1e484d074d 10 For jail inmates, going through an eight-week re-entry program before being released can make a big difference in whether they wind up back in jail. The efficacy of the New Beginnings Transitional Re-entry program was confirmed in a newly released study, conducted by The University of Virginia's Ann Loper and Kathryn Scheffel Fraser. "It shows that intervention in jail has some effect," says Loper. "There is some advantage to giving intervention and attention to inmates during that time they’re in jail." 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1ef843bbfa 11 Safety efforts can -- and do -- work. They’re not just "feel good" efforts. They can show real results. Consider the "Toward Zero Deaths" (TZD) initiative -- a Minnesota partnership led by the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Health, in cooperation with the Minnesota State Patrol, the Federal Highway Administration, Minnesota county engineers, and the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota. Their mission is a lofty one: to create a culture for which traffic fatalities and serious injuries are no longer acceptable. To do this, several methods are being employed, from coordination between departments, media efforts, and a $6,000 "radar speed trailer." Already there are signs the effort is paying off. 5 Nov 2009 10:59:05 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4af1f110e076d 12