“Guardian of the Badge and Keeper of the Pride” Vol. 33, No. 11 * November 2015

“Justice will only be achieved when those who are not injured by crime feel as indignant as those who are” King Solomon, 10th century B.C.

The BLUES Police Newspaper

AUSTIN, Texas -- Gov. Greg Abbott

is voicing his support for a Texas police

department displaying "In God We Trust"

on its patrol vehicles.

Abbott wrote to Texas Attorney Gen-

eral Ken Paxton saying "there can be no

doubt" courts would side with the Chil-

dress Police Department.

Its officers have placed "In God We

Trust" on vehicles amid nationally publi-

cized tensions between law enforcement

and some of the communities they serve.

The nonprofit Freedom From Relig-

ion Foundation asked Childress police to

remove the mottos, citing separation-of-

church-and-state standards.

Abbott was attorney general before

becoming governor in January. His letter

cited legal opinions backing protections

for religious freedom.

Conservative state lawmakers have

asked Paxton, who has been indicted on

securities fraud charges, for an attorney

general's opinion providing legal guid-

ance on the matter.

On his Facebook page, Paxton posted:

"'In God We Trust' represents a his-

torical premise on which our great nation

was founded. It is imperative we safe-

guard the constitutional principles for

which our Founding Fathers fought.

"I support Chief Adrian Garcia's decision

to display our national motto on the Chil-

dress Police Department patrol vehicles." Ft. Worth Star Telegram

Perry in a statement. "We live in a coun-

try with a rich history of celebrating faith

and honouring religious liberty. It is un-

American to suggest a police department

should not be allowed to display our na-

tional motto."

Springer, according to Eyewitness

News 3, said "Our law enforcement offi-

cers work hard to keep our communities

safe and deserve our support, not de-

mands like this."

"We are in the middle of a spiritual

battle in America right now, with the

issue of religious liberty front and centre.

I am proud of Childress Police Depart-

ment for standing strong," he said. christiantoday.com

The police chief of Childress, Texas,

has refused to remove the "In God We

Trust" decals from police patrol cars,

telling the atheist Freedom From Religion

Foundation (FFRF) to "go fly a kite."

In a letter addressed to FFRF co-

president Annie Laurie Gaylor, Childress

Police Chief Adrian Garcia said, "After

carefully reading your letter, I must deny

your request in the removal of our Na-

tion's motto from our patrol units, and ask

that you and the Freedom From Religion

Foundation go fly a kite."

FFRF earlier asked the Childress Po-

lice to remove the decals as it violated the

Establishment Clause of the Constitution.

On "Fox and Friends", Garcia said the

decals were put after the death of Texas

law enforcer Darren Goforth, who was

shot 15 times at a gas station last month,

according to Fox News Latino.

"With all the assaults that are happen-

ing across America on law enforcement, I

just felt that it was time to have some-

what of a rally cry. And what better thing

to say it than have our national motto on

our patrol units," said Garcia.

The FFRF has sent at least 30 letters

to police departments in the US that have

the "In God We Trust" stickers on their

patrol cars.

Texas Sen. Charles Perry and Rep.

Drew Springer have expressed their sup-

port to Garcia.

"I stand firmly with Chief Adrian

Garcia and the Childress Police Depart-

ment as they protect their right to display

'In God We Trust' on patrol cars," said

Texas police chief tells atheists

who dislike 'In God We Trust' car decals: 'Go fly a kite'

GOV. ABBOTT WRITES TO TEXAS AG PAXTON, BACKS POLICE RELIGIOUS MOTTOS

The BLUES Newspaper Page 2

A Texas man already being sought for

a neighbor's slaying when he killed a Dal-

las police officer outside a club was exe-

cuted last month.

Licho Escamilla was put to death for

the November 2001 death of Christopher

Kevin James who was trying to break up

a brawl involving Escamilla. The 33-year

-old prisoner was pronounced dead at

6:31 p.m. CDT — 18 minutes after the

lethal injection began.

Escamilla became the 24th convicted

killer executed this year in the United

States. Texas has accounted for 12 of the

executions.

Before dying, Escamilla looked at the

slain officer's daughter, who was seated a

few feet away watching through a win-

dow, and told her: "God bless your

heart."

He turned to his relatives watching

through another window and said he

loved them and everyone who supported

him.

"Pope Francis, God's children has

asked the state of Texas to switch my

death sentence to life in prison," he said.

"But the state of Texas has refused to

listen to God's children.

"They will have to take that up with

God," he added.

He took two breaths as the sedative

pentobarbital took effect, then became

still. His sister cried and screamed for

God not to take him.

The rumbling of motorcycles could be

heard outside the prison where bikers

supporting the punishment had gathered.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to

review his case and no additional appeals

were filed as his execution neared. The

Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles de-

cided against a reprieve and clemency.

James and three other uniformed offi-

cers were working off-duty when the

brawl started. Escamilla pulled out a gun

and opened fire on the officers as they

tried to end the fight.

The bullets from his 9 mm semi-

automatic handgun struck James twice,

knocking him to the ground. Escamilla

then calmly walked up to the officer and

fired three more shots into the back of his

head before running and exchanging

shots with other officers, witnesses said.

A second officer wounded in the shootout

survived.

A wounded Escamilla was arrested as

he tried to carjack a truck.

About a half-dozen Dallas police offi-

cers stood at attention and saluted as rela-

tives of the slain officer entered the

prison in Huntsville ahead of the execu-

tion.

"It's taken longer than we would have

liked," Frederick Frazier, first vice presi-

dent of the Dallas Police Association,

said.

He said he and others showed up to

support James and make sure he's remem-

bered for the work he did. While officers

know they're risking their lives every day,

James' death has been difficult for them

because of how it happened, Frazier

added.

James, 34, had earned dozens of com-

mendations during his nearly seven years

on the Dallas police force after graduat-

ing at the top of his cadet class. He was

working the off-duty security job to earn

extra money so he and his new wife could

buy a house.

Escamilla was 19 at the time of the

officer's killing and a warrant had been

issued for him in the shooting death of a

West Dallas neighbor nearly three weeks

earlier.

Escamilla's trial attorneys told jurors

he was responsible for James' slaying but

argued it didn't merit a death sentence

because James wasn't officially on duty,

meaning the crime didn't qualify as a

capital murder. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Texas Executes Inmate for Killing Dallas Police Officer

The BLUES Newspaper Page 3

Sgt. Buddy Williams, HPD, Ret……..Contributor Shaun Harpstrite ............. …………….Publisher Deputy Bill Wolfe, Llano SO…………..Chaplain

THE STAFF

If your department has over 10 officers and would like to receive copies of The BLUES, send

us your request on department letterhead and we will be happy to add your agency to our

growing readership...FREE!

E-Mail: info@thebluesnews.com

BLUES The BLUES is published monthly by Sharp

Publishing, LLC, 5230 Woodleaf Drive Cumming, GA 30040. Subscriptions are available at $29.95 to cover printing and handling for twelve monthly issues. The opinions expressed in The BLUES do not necessarily reflect the opinion of this publication or its staff.

The BLUES neither endorses nor accepts liability concerning any advertisements within this publication. No material becomes the property of The BLUES unless prior arrangements have been made in writing. The BLUES reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication.

The BLUES is copyrighted and nothing appearing in it may be reprinted wholly or in part without permission of the publisher.

Periodicals postage paid at US Post Office, 525 Tribble Gap Road, Cumming, GA 30040.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Blues Police Newspaper at 5230 Woodleaf Drive Cumming, GA 30040

Police Newspaper

(USPS PE 16618) 5230 Woodleaf Dr. Cumming, GA 30040 Office 1-936-827-4828

The

http://www.thebluesnews.com

Visit our website at

Interested in advertising with The Blues?

Contact us at info@thebluesnews.com to grow

your business with the largest independent

police newspaper in Texas!

Ads rates starting as low as $60

plus inclusion in our digital edition for FREE!

The Blues Police Newspaper

criminals, including low-level drug of-

fenders, Felman said.

Five years ago, rules and laws were

changed that had made the sentence for

possessing crack cocaine higher than the

punishment for powder cocaine posses-

sion. Last year, President Obama said he

would increase the use of clemency to

reduce sentences, and the administration

recently introduced legislation in both the

House and the Senate to reduce manda-

tory minimums for some crimes.

Studies have shown that people who

are released sooner have a lower rate of

recidivism, Obama said.

“These were people who were going

to get out soon anyway, it’s just a little

sooner than they otherwise would have,

and I think it’s an acceptance of the fact

that a lot of these sentences were widely

recognized as being excessive,” Felman

said.” It’s a good thing from a resource

standpoint and from a justice standpoint.” San Antonio Express News

When the federal government next

month begins the early release of thou-

sands of drug offenders, nearly 600 will

be from Texas, the most of any state.

The releases stem from a decision last

summer by the U.S. Sentencing Commis-

sion to retroactively reduce prison terms

for drug offenders.

An estimated 6,000 inmates will be

released starting Nov. 1, according to the

Justice Department, but nearly a third are

immigrants who will be handed over to

immigration authorities for deportation.

According to the Bureau of Prisons,

4,131 offenders are scheduled for early

release within the U.S.

The government estimates that more

prisoners sentenced by judges in the

Western District of Texas, which includes

San Antonio, will be eligible for release

than any other region in the country.

The Sentencing Commission sets the

advisory guidelines federal judges are

expected to consider when deciding pun-

ishment. Taking into account myriad fac-

tors including criminal history and coop-

eration with the government, the guide-

lines were created to make sure that sen-

tences are uniform across the country.

In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that

the guidelines are not mandatory, but

judges have to consider them and are

bound by statutory sentences set by Con-

gress.

Last year, the commission determined

that the guidelines were recommending

unnecessarily harsh sentences for drug

crimes and allowed convicts to ask judges

for new sentences. They set new guide-

lines for drug sentences, and the releases

next month will be the first wave of drug

offenders whose reduced prison terms

have expired.

It’s up to the defendants, usually rep-

resented by the Federal Public Defender’s

Office, to ask a judge for a sentence re-

duction under the new rules.

“The reason these people are being

released is not because the Department of

Justice decided to let them out early,”

said James Felman, a Florida defense

attorney who testified before the Sentenc-

ing Commission last year in favor of the

change. “The reason they’re being re-

leased is because the Sentencing Com-

mission lowered the guideline, and a

judge granted a motion made by the de-

fendant to have their sentence lowered

under that guideline.”

More than 50,000 people sentenced

between 1991 and October 2014 will

likely be eligible for some sort of sen-

tence reduction, with the average change

being 23 months, according to the Sen-

tencing Commission. The average sen-

tence under the new guidelines will be

8.5 years in prison.

Nearly 4,000 offenders sentenced by

judges in the Western District of Texas,

which is headquartered in San Antonio

and stretches west to El Paso and north to

Waco, are likely eligible for reduced sen-

tences.

Judges in the Southern District of

Texas, which includes Houston, Laredo

and the Rio Grande Valley, have granted

the most reductions, 870.

Most will be released over the next

five years as their new prison terms ex-

pire.

When it announced the reductions last

year, the Sentencing Commission said it

delayed releases until November to give

the Justice Department, which oversees

the Bureau of Prisons, time to prepare for

the influx. Many of those being released

next month are likely already in halfway

houses, Felman said.

The Bureau of Prisons wouldn’t say

what steps have been taken to prepare for

the releases.

The two Texas judicial districts likely

have so many offenders affected by the

new guidelines because of the large num-

ber of low-level drug smugglers caught at

the border, said John Convery, a San An-

tonio defense attorney and former federal

prosecutor.

The changes don’t apply to leaders

and organizers of smuggling rings and

criminal groups or violent offenders,

Convery said. He called the change

“overdue.”

“It’s a general recognition that the

guidelines were inviting judges to sen-

tence people too harshly,” Convery said.

The releases follow growing national

pressure to reduce sentences for some

Texas has most drug offenders

scheduled for release

The BLUES Newspaper Page 4

The BLUES Newspaper Page 5

A North Texas community's tribute to

law enforcement wasn't received like the

residents had planned.

KXAS TV reported that members of a

Dallas neighborhood watch spent a week-

end tying commemorative blue ribbons

onto trees and street signs in a show of

support to local police.

One resident told KXAS they were post-

ing the ribbons to show law enforcement

they "appreciate everything they do."

It comes at a time when activist groups

are staging rallies both in support of law

enforcement and against police violence,

prompted largely by a string of nationally

high-profile police killings and the re-

cent execution-style killing of Harris

County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth.

However, the ribbons were removed from

the Dallas neighborhood by city officials.

The department of code compliance re-

ceived complaints about the ribbons. Ac-

cording to the Dallas City Code, any

"notice, paper or device, which is calcu-

lated to attract the attention of the pub-

lic," may not be attached to public infra-

structure within view of the road.

The city couldn't divulge who made the

complaint, or why it was filed.

"It's a petty, petty person," resident Karen

Simmons, who helped hang the rib-

bons, told KXAS. "There're greater things

to be displeased with in the world than

some blue flapping ribbons which were

really, really pretty."

cut: Blue ribbons are a common symbol

of support for law enforcement. The rib-

bon pictured above was hung in com-

memoration of an Illinois police officer

who died in August. In Dallas, residents

were surprised to find their ribbons re-

moved from local street signs and trees

by officials with the city's code compli-

ance department. Houston Chronicle

After a year of growing calls for

transparency in law enforcement, Texas

has debuted a public statewide data-

base of officer-involved shootings.

The effort remains imperfect — many

Texas agencies likely don't know they are

required to notify the attorney general

every time an officer fires a weapon —

but experts called it a huge step toward

understanding how often and why offi-

cers use deadly force.

"This is a remarkable development,"

said Samuel Walker, a police account-

ability expert and retired professor of

criminal justice at the University of Ne-

braska. "This is the fallout of all the ma-

jor events from last year."

National attention turned to policing

after the fatal shooting of unarmed 18-

year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson,

Missouri, police officer in August 2014.

Nationally televised protests followed.

Major media outlets soon discovered

there were no comprehensive records of

police killings or shootings kept by local,

state or federal agencies.

That spurred a wave of reforms in law

enforcement agencies, such as body cam-

eras, independent investigations and more

thorough collection of data.

Texas law enforcement agencies are

now required to report all shootings to the

AG under legislation approved last ses-

sion,House Bill 1036, which took ef-

fect on Sept. 1 and stipulated the data-

base must go public by Oct. 1. It requires

agencies to report the ages, genders and

races of officers and suspects involved, as

well as whether or not the suspect was

armed and whether they were injured or

killed. It also requires reporting of offi-

cers shot by suspects.

Agencies must report shootings 30

days after they happen, and the AG has

five days to post reports online.

Franklin Zimring, director of criminal

justice studies at the University of Cali-

fornia at Berkeley, called the Texas effort

a major step in a national trend toward

better tracking of police data.

"We're at the very beginning of this,"

he said. "For some reason 2014 was year

one."

So far, the Texas website shows nine

officer-involved shootings in Texas;

armed suspects died in three, and un-

armed suspects were injured in three oth-

ers. One person was injured in an off-

duty officer's shooting range accident.

At least one officer-involved shoot-

ing, reported by North Texas media, does

not appear on the website more than 30

days after it occurred. Gretchen Grigsby,

spokeswoman for the Texas Commission

on Law Enforcement, said some of the

state's almost 2,600 law enforcement

agencies and 76,000 active officers might

still not know they must report shootings

to the state.

"It's a relatively new requirement and

will take continued efforts (to make all

agencies aware)," she said.

In an effort to help spread the word

about the new law, TCOLE has posted

information about the requirements on its

Facebook and Twitter pages and will

announce the new requirements in a state-

wide law enforcement newsletter,

Grigsby said. Officers will also receive

additional information about the reporting

required in biannually-required trainings

that follow after every legislative session,

she said.

HB 1036 was authored by state Rep.

Eric Johnson (D-Dallas). A representative

for his office said Johnson was inspired

by the recent national conversation on

policing, and that he realized "we can't

even confidently say how many officer-

involved shootings occur each year."

"Once we have more data available,

we will have a better picture of what is

happening and how we can address any

issues through effective policy," John-

son's office said.

Brian Burghart, a Nevada newspaper

reporter who started the website Fatal

Encounters to track deadly police shoot-

ings in the United States, said the Texas

effort was a major step toward standardi-

zation that could pave the way for federal

records on police shootings.

Six other states require law enforce-

ment to report officer-involved shootings,

according to data compiled by Johnson's

officeand verified by experts. Four (plus

Texas) created the requirement since

(Continued on page 14)

Blue police support ribbons removed in Dallas due to code violation

Blue ribbons are a common symbol of support for law enforcement. The rib-bon pictured above was hung in com-memoration of an Illinois police officer who died in August. In Dallas, residents were surprised to find their ribbons re-moved from local street signs and trees by officials with the city's code compli-ance department.

Texas debuts public database of police shootings

The BLUES Newspaper Page 6

Chaplain’s Corner

By Chaplain Bill Wolfe Llano County Sheriff’s Dept.

Thanksgiving 2015

Hi, and thanks for joining me one

more time in this November’s edition of

The Chaplain’s Corner. I’ve come to the

conclusion that D-I-Y doesn’t equal F-U-

N. Took care of a little water damage

repair today (took almost all the daylight

hours) and now I hurt. But once I get

some primer and paint on the new wood,

I’ll be better prepared should the El Nino

rains arrive.

Where DID the year go? No… the

question I should be asking myself is

“Will the Christmas tree get put up this

year?” We had a new dog in the house

last year and we didn’t know what he

would do to/with a Christmas Tree.

<grin> Moving on…

I doubt the politically correct text-

books still tell our children that the

Thanksgiving holiday was established as

a time when our nation was to pause to

give thanks to God for His blessings to

us, so let me share a little history.

Thanksgiving was first celebrated by

the settlers at Plymouth in the Massachu-

setts colony in 1621 under the leadership

of Governor William Bradford to give

thanks for a bountiful harvest in the new

land they had colonized. Over 150 years

later, Washington and Madison each is-

sued a Thanksgiving proclamation once

during their Presidencies. It was not until

the middle of the Civil War (1863), how-

ever, when Abraham Lincoln issued his

Thanksgiving Day Proclamation estab-

lishing Thanksgiving Day as an annual

national event, occurring on the last

Thursday of November.

I found Lincoln’s proclamation on the

internet. I don’t know that I had ever

read it before. In our current climate of

political correctness I don’t know if he

could have said it today, but here it is:

By the President of the United States

of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its

close, has been filled with the blessings

of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To

these bounties, which are so constantly

enjoyed that we are prone to forget the

source from which they come, others

have been added, which are of so extraor-

dinary a nature, that they cannot fail to

penetrate and soften even the heart which

is habitually insensible to the ever watch-

ful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of un-

equaled magnitude and severity, which

has sometimes seemed to foreign States

to invite and to provoke their aggression,

peace has been preserved with all nations,

order has been maintained, the laws have

been respected and obeyed, and harmony

has prevailed everywhere except in the

theatre of military conflict; while that

theatre has been greatly contracted by the

advancing armies and navies of the Un-

ion.

Needful diversions of wealth and of

strength from the fields of peaceful indus-

try to the national defense, have not ar-

rested the plough, the shuttle or the ship;

the axe has enlarged the borders of our

settlements, and the mines, as well of iron

and coal as of the precious metals, have

yielded even more abundantly than here-

tofore. Population has steadily increased,

notwithstanding the waste that has been

made in the camp, the siege and the battle

-field; and the country, rejoicing in the

consciousness of augmented strength and

vigor, is permitted to expect continuance

of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor

hath any mortal hand worked out these

great things. They are the gracious gifts

of the Most High God, who, while deal-

ing with us in anger for our sins, hath

nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that

they should be solemnly, reverently and

gratefully acknowledged as with one

heart and one voice by the whole Ameri-

can People. I do therefore invite my fel-

low citizens in every part of the United

States, and also those who are at sea and

those who are sojourning in foreign

lands, to set apart and observe the last

(Continued on page 7)

Sgt. A.D. Paul had just finished a 40-

hour course on how to respond to a men-

tal health crisis when he was thrust into

one.

A teen had a breakdown at the Guinn

Special Programs Center in Plano, ran out

to the parking lot and started a Cadillac.

Three police officers yelled at him to

get out. Paul instead walked up to the

driver-side window and addressed the

student by name, telling him to park the

car when he was ready so police could

help.

Minutes later, the teen stepped out

and put his hands behind his back. Police

took him to a hospital.

It’s been seven years or so since that

call, but Paul said he still tells the story to

show other officers that crisis interven-

tion training works.

Now Collin County officers will have

more options to access the 40-hour train-

ing that would get them certified by the

state as officers specialized in mental

health.

Collin College is planning to expand

its crisis intervention training from two

courses a year to six. LifePath Systems,

the nonprofit poised to become Collin

County’s local mental health authority,

plans to give scholarships to most offi-

cers.

“It’s just going to enhance our ability

to get guys trained more quickly,” said

Paul, crisis intervention coordinator at the

Plano Police Department.

Many police departments in North

Texas, including Plano’s, send officers to

get this training through the Dallas Police

Academy, which leads several courses

throughout the year.

First line of help

Even when there is no crime, police

often become the first line of help in

mental health crises. Distraught families

will report sons and daughters who are

acting erratically or won’t take their

medication. They’ll call about parents

with dementia who left home and didn’t

come back or loved ones threatening sui-

cide.

In the U.S., about 43.8 million adults

experience a mental illness in a given

year, according to a 2013 government

study. That’s nearly a fifth of the adult

population.

Nowadays, all officers in Texas are

supposed to have some level of crisis

intervention training. A decade ago,

Texas began mandating 16 hours of train-

ing for all officers. Recruits get 24 hours.

Before that, the required training for

recruits was six hours.

But the basic training is not enough,

according to Todd Eubanks, director of

law enforcement at Collin College, and

Richard Rossman, a retired Dallas cop

and LifePath’s law enforcement liaison.

“Especially with mandated training

from the Legislature, sometimes things

get lost, and the officers, they get over-

whelmed,” said Eubanks, a former cop in

Carrollton.

In the past, officers enrolled in the

Collin College course spent most of their

time in the classroom. Rossman and

Eubanks want to change that.

They plan more hands-on learning:

trips to mental health facilities, visits with

people who have a mental illness or de-

velopmental disorder, and extra de-

escalation scenarios.

Rossman said the Collin College

courses will focus on scenarios more fa-

miliar to suburban police. For example,

instead of role-playing a scenario set at

an airport, officers might react to a man

talking to a trash bin in a neighborhood

alley.

The expansion of this kind of police

training in Collin County reflects a desire

to rely less on Dallas County for mental

health resources. Both counties belong to

a regional privatized system called North-

STAR.

But Collin County is breaking away.

That’s where LifePath comes in. If the

state signs off on the county’s plan, the

nonprofit could start managing Collin

County’s public mental health system by

January 2017.

(Continued on page 15)

Collin College to expand mental crisis intervention

training for police

The BLUES Newspaper Page 7

Thursday of November next, as a day of

Thanksgiving and Praise to our benefi-

cent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

And I recommend to them that while

offering up the ascriptions justly due to

Him for such singular deliverances and

blessings, they do also, with humble

penitence for our national perverseness

and disobedience, commend to His ten-

der care all those who have become wid-

ows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in

the lamentable civil strife in which we

are unavoidably engaged, and fervently

implore the interposition of the Almighty

Hand to heal the wounds of the nation

and to restore it as soon as may be con-

sistent with the Divine purposes to the

full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tran-

quility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto

set my hand and caused the Seal of the

United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this

Third day of October, in the year of our

Lord one thousand eight hundred and

sixty-three, and of the Independence of

the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,

Secretary of State

Sadly, I think that “we” have largely

lost the intent of Thanksgiving just as

“we” have lost the meaning of Christmas.

It’s not about eating until it hurts and

then sleeping until the football game

comes on while someone else does the

dishes. It’s about giving God (who gets

all the blame for bad things that happen)

some thanks for the good that He brings

our way. Even in the midst of current

events, there are things for which to be

thankful if we but look for them.

I gotta close this out. Enjoy your

family and the food, by all means. Just

take a little time to tell Him you appreci-

ate the good things He brings your way.

Blessings to you and yours. See you

again next month.

Chaplain Bill

chaplain.bill.lcso@gmail.com

(Continued from page 6)

CHAPLAIN

Officials from the recent “Police

Lives Matter” march on donated

$10,500 to the 100 Club of Central

Texas, one of the largest recent gifts to

the nonprofit that helps families of

fallen police officers, firefighters and

medics.

Williamson County Precinct 1 Con-

stable Robert Chody, who helped or-

ganize the Sept. 19 event, said the do-

nation is from money officials raised

through the sale of T-shirts for the

march.

“Knowing the 100 Club well and

what they do, we thought it was com-

pletely appropriate,” he said.

Sheryl O’Briant, a 100 Club board

member, said the gift was “an unex-

pected surprise” and will go into an

account that provides direct benefits to

officers, firefighters and medics killed

or injured in the line of duty.

“We want to make sure we have

plenty of money available when trag-

edy strikes,” she said. Austin American Statesman

‘Police Lives Matter’ officials donate

$10,502 to 100 Club of Central TX

Williamson County Constable Robert Chody presented a check for over $10,000 to The 100 Club to support first responders

The BLUES Newspaper Page 8

Advertising space in this section is offered at a discount and strictly limited to bona fide law enforcement agencies.

Pearland Police Department

The City of Pearland is one of the fastest growing communities within the region. Pearland is located approximately 20 minutes south of Downtown Houston and the current population is more than 108,000 residents.

Certified Police Officers and Police Cadets $5,000 Hiring Incentive for T.C.0.L.E. Certified Police Officers who qualify.

Civil Service Exam Date: Saturday, December 5, 2015

Police Officer/Cadet Qualifications: High School Diploma or G.E.D. Applicants must have 30 semester hours of college with a cumulative G.P.A. of 2.0 or higher, or 15 semester hours of college with a cumulative G.P.A. of 2.0 or higher with a Basic Peace Officer Certification by

T.C.O.LE., or An Intermediate Peace Officer Certification from T.C.O.L.E., or An Honorable Discharge after two years of Military Service

Starting Police Officer salary begins at $52,320.11 yearly* (cadets receive a competitive salary while in the academy). *Based on proposed 2016 budget fiscal year

*Competitive Salary * Exceptional Benefits * Outstanding Training * Career Advancement

For additional information and to register for the upcoming Civil Service Exam, visit pearlandtx.gov/pdrecruit or contact Human Resources at 281.652.1618.

Pearland Police Department, 2555 Cullen Pkwy, Pear1and, TX 77581

The BLUES Newspaper Page 9

Advertising space in this section is offered at a discount and strictly limited to bona fide law enforcement agencies.

CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS POLICE DEPARTMENT

NOW HIRING OFFICERS!

(30 new positions available)

Salary Range: $46,425 - $66,000

EXCELLENT BENEFITS! Great fast growing community!

Competitive salary

Generous overtime opportunities

Extra job authorization

Annual equipment allowance

Field Training Officer pay

Bilingual pay $1,200

Master TCOLE pay $4,800

Advanced Education pay $2,400

Previous experience pay

Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District is an equal opportunity employer and operates all educational programs without discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, national origin, gender or disability. The

district complies with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educations Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act

and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Cypress-Fairbanks Police

Department

Alan Bragg, Chief of Police 11200 Telge Road

Cypress, Texas 77429

281-897-6495

Questions or additional

information contact:

Mike Baker Assistant Chief of Police

281-517-2656

Watch our video!

Apply Online!

tinyurl.com/Work4CFPD

WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

is accepting applications for

Deputy, Jailers & Med Aide

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is a progressive

agency located in Brenham and is currently seeking career

minded men and women for these positions.

Benefits include:

●Employee Health Insurance

●Sick Pay ●Holiday Pay

●Longevity Pay ●Retirement Plan

●Vacation Days

Application and TCOLE Personal History statement

(both required) are available online at

washingtoncountysheriff.org

(click Employment Opportunities)

Open until positions are filled.

Mail or deliver applications to:

Washington County Sheriff’s Office

Attn: Recruiting Division

1206 Old Independence Road

Brenham, TX 77833

Office: (979) 277-6251

EOE

The BLUES Newspaper Page 10

River Oaks

Chrysler Jeep

Dodge

Call Alan Helfman

713-524-3801

www.riveroakscars.com

Alan

Helfman

Speaker systems pipe screams and

gunshots.

A school has new lockers, a princi-

pal’s office and classrooms filled with

chairs donated by the Fort Worth school

district. The setting is used to train offi-

cers how to handle reports of a gun or

bomb at a school, Trinidad said.

The actor-officers pretend to be stu-

dents while recruits size up the situation

and act fast. One classroom has windows

that are designed to be smashed in.

“Everything is not just ‘come in and

shoot at a bad guy,’ ” Trinidad said. “You

have to look and size up the situation.

You can’t ignore it, but you don’t send in

the cavalry.”

The Police Department just wrapped

up joint training with MedStar and the

Fire Department, Trinidad said.

“Officers said it was about time we

did joint training,” he says.

MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky,

in a later phone interview, agreed. “Joint

training does not happen enough,” he

said.

“Active threats are happening more

and more in our nation, and we need to be

prepared here in Fort Worth.”

Zavadsky said the village’s school,

restaurant and store are all places where

one might encounter what these first re-

sponders call “an active shooter situa-

tion.”

Fire Department Battalion Chief

Richard Harrison helped coordinate the

training.

“I think everybody’s roles are well

defined,” Harrison said. “Police are used

to going in and going after the bad guys.

MedStar has mass casualty under control,

but what we weren’t used to, what we

were trying to get our heads around, was

a situation where we’d have to enter a

building with an active shooter.”

Firefighters might not be able to wait

for police to give them the all-clear in the

instance of an active shooter, Harrison

said, or know how they get into a scene

that has 30 police cars surrounding the

building.

The feedback on joint training was

positive, Harrison said, and now firefight-

ers want to see the scenarios expanded

and become more complex.

‘He slept with my wife’

Recruits walk up the steps to find a

village apartment with knocked-over

chairs and lamps, and an officer pretend-

ing to be a resident who was accosted.

“My neighbor Bill is accusing me of

having sex with his wife. He rips my

screen door off, breaks my mom’s vase,

punches me in the lip,” the actor says.

The apartment has a living room,

kitchen, bedroom and full bathroom.

Wooden doors have sections by the door-

(Continued on page 11)

A police officer drunkenly stumbles

across the bar, shouting that another took

his money, another officer punches his

neighbor in the mouth, and one officer

admits to being in a gang.

Not really. Today, the officers are

actors — quite good ones — in training

scenarios for Fort Worth police recruits at

the new $97 million Bob Bolen Public

Safety Complex in south Fort Worth.

The complex provides joint training

for the Fort Worth police and fire depart-

ments. A big section in the Police Depart-

ment’s part is a 30,000-square-foot simu-

lated village with a bank, convenience

store and gas station, restaurant, apart-

ments and a school.

Thirty-three recruits nervously clutch

notepads as they “interview” the actors.

They know that their superiors are watch-

ing, waiting to critique them and question

their knowledge of the Texas Penal Code.

“I’m guessing how drunk he is — he

has been here for days!” one actor-officer

shouts, stumbling across the village’s

restaurant, which for this exercise is a

pretend bar.

He and another actor-officer are

dressed in ball caps, T-shirts and jeans.

One plays drunk while the other, who is

accused by the drunkard of stealing $20,

sits and looks on as two police recruits

interview the men separately with note-

pads.

“He’s here for thirsty Thursday,” the

“drunk” shouts, pointing his finger at the

other.

Sgt. Eddie Trinidad, a 30-plus-year

veteran of the department, is known as

the “Mayor” at the tactical village — “but

don’t tell Mayor Price,” he jokes.

Trinidad said the reality-based train-

ing is so new that he is still developing

curriculum for it.

After the bar scene plays out, an in-

structor takes the recruits to the side and

talks to them about how they handled the

situation.

Should they have made any arrests?

Trinidad said the belligerent man

should have been arrested for public in-

toxication because he was at the bar alone

and unfit to drive.

“A lot of times, we have disturbances

in restaurants,” Trinidad said. “How

should the officer approach the situation

with other people around?”

Active shooter scenarios

Fort Worth police keep it real in new training village

Sgt. Eddie Trinidad, unofficial "mayor" of the FWPD police practice village at the new, $97-million Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex on Wednesday, October 7, 2015, on the street that includes a bank. The indoor tactical training village, simu-lates a city streetscape complete with a school, bank, residential building, gas station, an office and an apartment.

The BLUES Newspaper Page 11

FARMERS OFFERS DISCOUNTED RATES FOR POLICE OFFICERS!

Hi, I am Karen Wylie, a local Farmers insurance agent. Please call us to see how we can save your family on personal and business insurance. Also ask us about our life insurance policy that continues after retirement. You can reach us anytime via phone, email, fax or text.

Karen Wylie

Insurance Agency 12215 Heatherwick Cypress, TX 77429 (281)379-4820(work) (888)616-0476(fax) Auto Home Flood

Life Health Commercial

knob that are reinforced with steel and 2-

by-4s so recruits can practice breaking

down doors at drug houses and in domes-

tic violence situations.

The recruits ask the actor a few ques-

tions before going to the “neighbor’s”

door, where they bang loudly.

“I got into it with my wife this morn-

ing and found out she’d been sleeping

with him,” he tells them.

His knuckles are cut.

“Did you punch your neighbor?” they

ask. He says he punched his bathroom

wall.

One of the officers looks confused as

if he’s not sure what to ask next. The

instructor calls him to the side and tells

him, “People are always going to tell you

they didn’t do it.”

The instructor asks the recruits if they

would arrest the man.

“Yes,” they say.

“On what charge?” the instructor

asks.

“Assault?”

This is a tricky scenario, Trinidad

said. The charge turns out to be burglary

because the officers have evidence that

the neighbor forced his way into the

man’s apartment with the intent to com-

mit a felony or assault.

They are trying to gauge the young

officers’ understanding of the penal code.

‘I’m a documented gang member’

In another training scenario, two ac-

tors sit in a gray car outside an apartment.

A concerned woman has called 911 to

say the men had been sitting there for a

while and she was growing suspicious.

The recruits approach the car where a

red bandanna hangs over the rear-view

mirror.

“If this is about us flying our flag, we

can take it down,” one man tells the re-

cruit.

He goes on to say that he and his

buddy are waiting on a friend, and he

acknowledges that Fort Worth police

have their photos and names on record as

gang members.

There’s not much police can do at this

point if they are not violating any laws,

Trinidad said.

But one actor acknowledges having a

gun in the glove box.

“A documented gang member is not

allowed to have a gun,” Trinidad whis-

pers. The recruits discuss what to do next.

Smoke and smells

Before they had the village, which is

made of steel, plywood and Sheetrock,

officers were taught in classrooms where

they had to use their imaginations to put

themselves at the scene.

The village is equipped with 15 cam-

eras that let the instructors watch the offi-

cers training. The cameras also record

video that is shown later in class.

Lt. Bryan Jamison sits in the control

room, where he points to the camera

monitor. Jamison got furniture together

for the village and found many of the

sound effects.

This month, the administrators will

start furnishing the village with phones,

desks, computers and other supplies.

The smoke generators can be mixed

with oils to make the room smell like

gasoline or decomposing bodies, Jamison

said. Three smoke generators fill the

building with smoke in 10 minutes.

“This is really about disorienting” the

recruits, he said.

Jamison says that using an iPad, offi-

cers can dim the lighting from dusk to

dawn. The mock restaurant can be used

as a bar, its lights shining bright against

the dark streets wide enough to fit patrol

cars inside the building.

Training for use of force

When the recruits near graduation in

six months, they will face a different kind

of training at the village: The actor-

officers will start firing with fake bullets,

Trinidad says.

This is where they will be confronted

with situations involving deadly use of

force and will have to think fast about

survival.

Don’t pay enough attention to your

partner?

He gets shot.

Let your guard down?

You get shot.

Officers playing criminals will shoot

at recruits with training ammunition —

small plastic pellets with powder inside.

Trinidad says the training is supposed

to teach the officers to de-escalate force.

“If someone comes up to you with a

stick, do you shoot them? No. You Mace

them or maybe you taze them,” he says.

“We want to see what their appropri-

ate use-of-force responses are,” he said. Ft. Worth Star Telegram

(Continued from page 10)

VILLAGE

Valley police department struggling

to keep officers

HARLINGEN—Rio Grande Valley

police departments are feeling the need to

increase recruitment. They’re battling it

out as out of state and federal agencies

are looking for the same recruits.

There is a huge push this year to find

more qualified people. Local law enforce-

ment are having trouble keeping officers.

They’re using different tactics to engage

potential employees.

Fernando Cardenas is a University of

Texas Rio Grande Valley business major.

He is seeking a job at the university’s

career fair. He said he’s considering Bor-

der Patrol.

“I heard it’s a pretty good paying

job,” Cardenas said.

Border Patrol agents have a lot of

positions to fill. “Our mission right now

is to find 30,000 quality applicants in the

Rio Grande Valley and up through Hous-

ton,” Border Patrol agent Chris Wiest

said.

Cardenas is considering the Border

Patrol because of their benefits. “I know

that couple of the academies doesn’t pay

you while you’re working, like while

you’re training. But they say they actu-

ally do pay you,” he said.

The Harlingen Police Department is

struggling to keep their police force num-

bers. “We have lost several officers to

DPS, losing some to Border Patrol, U.S.

Marshals. They’re looking for these fed-

eral opportunities out there, so we have a

need for officers here,” Harlingen Police

Sgt. David Osborne said.

Osborne said the department has cre-

ated a new recruitment video that’s gain-

ing national attention. “Basically went

viral and now we’re getting applicants

calling us from New York, Boston,

Ohio,” he said.

The Harlingen Police Department has

15 open positions and 160 applicants.

Osborne said their recruiting video

will be in theaters in the Harlingen,

McAllen, Brownsville and Corpus Christi

area in November. krgv.com

Different Tactics Used

for Police Recruitment

The BLUES Newspaper Page 12

Got News? The Blues newspaper is always looking for reader submissions, law enforcement events, and department press releases! Please send any

news you’d like us to share to info@thebluesnews.com and we’ll include it for all to see!

Texas Police News Briefs From you - For you - About you

ing that time, she initiated the “Real Cops

wear Pink” campaign in which during the

month of October, patrol officers are au-

thorized to wear a pink t-shirt under the

GPD uniform in order to promote breast

cancer awareness. Sergeant Rojas will be

assigned to supervise Night Watch patrol.

Sergeant Sean Migues is a 5-year vet-

eran and holds an Advanced Peace Offi-

cer License. Sergeant Migues worked in

the Special Operations-Seawall Division

prior to being promoted. Sergeant Migues

is also a member of the Galveston Marine

Division. Sergeant Migues will be as-

signed to supervise Evening Watch pa-

trol.

BCSO deputies

injured while saving

women from burning

home

Two Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies

are back on duty after suffering injuries

while rescuing two people from a house

fire. The fire happened just before 1 a.m.

on September 24, 2015 in the 9500 block

of Dunstable in west Bexar County.

BCSO Deputy Cindy Hernandez ar-

rived and found the house on fire with

two wheelchair bound women inside the

home. Deputy Hernandez forced entry

and began carrying them out of the

smoke filled house. Deputy Hernandez

called for help and Deputy Michele Avila

arrived and assisted getting both females

out of the house.

Both residents and both officers were

overcome by smoke and suffered smoke

inhalation. Deputy Hernandez also suf-

fered burns to her arm. Both deputies

were taken to Northeast Methodist Hospi-

tal where they were treated and later re-

leased. One of the rescued women, Elva

Campos, 4/17/32, was taken to Northeast

Methodist Hospital for treatment. The

other rescued woman, Elvira Azer,

1/4/52, was taken to Northeast Baptist

Hospital. Both are expected to survive.

At least two others in the home made it

out safely.

Southside Place

Police Department

Recognized by Harris

County

The Southside Place Police Depart-

ment was recognized on Wednesday Sep-

tember 30, 2015 by the Harris County

Office of Homeland Security and Emer-

gency Management.

The city of Southside Place Police

Department was awarded a plaque that

reads ”in recognition of your Partnership

and Leadership in Emergency Prepared-

ness and Planning”.

The presentation was made to Chief

Don McCall of the Southside Place Po-

lice Department by Ms. Kristina Clark of

the Harris County Office of Homeland

Security and Emergency Management.

Under the Emergency Management

Plan, the city of Southside Place Police

Department, as well as many other area

jurisdictions, cooperates with Harris

County in planning for situations such as

disasters, catastrophic incidents, hazard-

ous material spills and a variety of other

possibilities.

Galveston Police

Department

Promotion

On September 22, 2015, a promotion

ceremony was held in the lobby of the

Joe Max Taylor Criminal Justice Center

where 3 officers were promoted to the

rank of Sergeant. The officers were pro-

moted by acting Chief of Police, David

Smith

Sergeant Joseph Millo is a 12-year

veteran and holds an Advanced Peace

Officer License. Sergeant Millo began his

career with the Galveston Police Depart-

ment as a jailer and has worked all (3)

shifts within the Operations Bureau. Ser-

geant Millo will be assigned to supervise

Evening Watch patrol.

Sergeant Angela Rojas is a 12-year

veteran and hold an Advanced Peace Of-

ficer License. Sergeant Rojas has served

the citizens of Galveston on Patrol. Dur-

Steven Wolf

713-533-6100

7720 Katy Frwy @ Silber

Rd. next to IKEA

*Ask about our low price

guarantee!

Alan

Helfman

713-524-3801

HELFMAN

RIVER OAKS

CHRYSLER

JEEP DODGE

Jeff

Smith

281-240-3673

HELFMAN

FORD

SALUTING TEXAS

PEACE OFFICERS

HELFMAN

DODGE

CHRYSLER

JEEP

FIAT

Helfman Fiat

The Helfman Family

of Fine Automobiles

The BLUES Newspaper Page 13

Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences

Online Degree for Law Enforcement Personnel

For a Degree Plan Evaluation

contact the BAAS office:

940-397-4400 or email:

baas@mwsu.edu

visit our web page: http://www.mwsu.edu/academics/

education/baas/

Advance Your CareerAdvance Your CareerAdvance Your Career

Flexible learning experienceFlexible learning experienceFlexible learning experience Achieve your goalsAchieve your goalsAchieve your goals Global connectionsGlobal connectionsGlobal connections

● Transfer credit from workforce or technical courses taken at

a community or technical college

● Transfer college hours from accredited colleges and

universities

● Credit for military training and experience

● 6 credits for work experience

● 12 credits for Basic Law Enforcement Certification

● 6 credits for Advanced Law Enforcement Certification

● University of Virginia Course Credit for the FBI Academy

● Sam Houston State University Credit for LEMIT

● Credit for training conducted by business or industry if

recognized by the American Council on Education

(ACE)

● Personally tailored degree plan for academic & career goals

BAAS is an Adult Degree

Completion Program

SAN ANTONIO — The New Braun-

fels Police Department is rolling out the

sleekest member of its vehicle fleet: a

seized 2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06

named "Coptimus Prime" that previously

belonged to a San Antonio-based drug

trafficker with Mexican cartel ties.

Agents with the U.S. Drug Enforce-

ment Administration and the Comal

County Metro Narcotics Task Force,

which includes the police department,

seized the Corvette during a 2011 raid on

a methamphetamine trafficking cell

linked to the Mexican drug cartel La Fa-

milia Michoacana.

The cell was responsible for moving

25 pounds of nearly 100-percent pure

meth each month that sold for a maxi-

m u m o f $ 2 0 , 0 0 0 p e r

pound, mySA.comarchives show.

Law enforcement agents estimated

that the cell brought in $4.5 million a

month for the cartel.

At the time, agents seized 10 pounds

of meth, high-caliber weapons, cars and

assets valued at $500,000, including more

than $140,000 in cash and $31,000 in

jewelry, according to news archives.

Among the 15 people arrested during

the nationwide sting was Tony Chase

Freeman of San Antonio, the Corvette's

previous owner.

Freeman pleaded guilty in January

2013 to one count of conspiracy to dis-

tribute methamphetamine in a federal

court in San Antonio. He was sentenced

in May 2013 to 120 months in federal

prison and five years of supervised re-

lease.

Following Freeman's conviction, New

Braunfels Police Department was

awarded the sports car under a federal

program that allows police departments

(Continued on page 14)

TEXAS POLICE DEPARTMENT DRIVING SEIZED CORVETTE Z06 NAMED 'COPTIMUS PRIME' WITH TIES TO CARTEL

The New Braunfels Police Department's 2007 Corvette — named "Coptimus Prime" — will be used as a community outreach tool for two or three years before the department puts it up for auction.

Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences

The BLUES Newspaper Page 14

Text ‘BLUES’ to 42828 to get your FREE

digital copy of The Blues delivered to your inbox every month!

In the past year, Brett Sanders has

made a name for himself by fixing his

camera on Texas law enforcement and

posting the videos online. He usually

feeds content to activist groups, but re-

cently he's gotten surprising attention:

multiple requests from law enforcement

asking to use his videos for officer train-

ing.

Citizens with smart phones have rat-

tled policing, especially in the last year,

as filming the police became standard

activist practice. Videos of testy law en-

forcement encounters have incited na-

tional reactions and uncomfortable atten-

tion for local agencies.

"Some of the videos you see on You-

Tube are kind of embarrassing for law

enforcement," said Sgt. Clive Milligan,

an instructor with the Vancouver Police

Department who emailed Sanders in Sep-

tember, asking to use his videos for train-

ing. "Sometimes officer lose their cool."

Video of an officer unhinged spreads

quickly, but not footage of a peaceful

encounter, because, Milligan notes, "good

news doesn't sell."

It's no surprise then that Sanders' big-

gest hits have captured conflict; he

was featured on TV news when his video

showed officials with the Dallas-area

Drug Enforcement Agency reacting ag-

gressively to his filming their facility, and

he got headlines across the state for a

video that showed a police officer in Ad-

dison handcuffing him for filming the

police department and legally refusing to

present identification.

"More times than not I would get an

abrasive reaction from either security or

police when I film," said Sanders, who

lives in Frisco, Texas.

But it wasn't the tense viral videos

that sparked Milligan idea to train offi-

cers for camera-armed citizens—it was

Sanders'video of police in White Settle-

ment, Texas, politely inquiring about his

filming, making small talk and leaving

without ever escalating the situation.

"It just ends up being a complete

nothing," Milligan said. "We're using that

video as an example of how to do it right

when there is no reason to get ID or de-

tain someone."

His one-time training for new Van-

couver officers begins with a morning

PowerPoint show called "cops on cam-

era," then moves to scenario training in

the afternoon. Officers attempt a simu-

lated arrest while role-players come in as

the "iPhone paparazzi." The goal,

Milligan said, is to remain relaxed, recog-

nize citizens' right to film, de-escalate the

situation and save energy for important

issues like crime.

Milligan wasn't the only to ask for

Sanders' videos; also in September, a

retired Texas police officer who teaches

law enforcement for the Frisco Independ-

ent School District emailed Sanders.

"My goal is to help [students] get into

law enforcement careers and survive

those careers without becoming YouTube

stars," Officer C. Turner wrote in an

email posted on Sanders' blog. "I'm look-

ing for videos where the officers were

rude and/or very abrasive so I can teach

these kids how to do it more profession-

ally."

For Sanders, filming the police be-

came satisfying activism after his experi-

ence volunteering on political campaigns

left him disappointed and disillusioned.

He felt he was making an impact when

his videos went viral, but he never imag-

ined police themselves would use his

work for training.

Citizen videographers are here to stay,

he said, and he hopes he can help law

enforcement learn to adapt. Houston Chronicle

to repurpose assets seized in criminal

investigations.

Despite the vehicle's ability to reach

top speeds of more than 190

mph according to TopSpeed.com, the

Corvette won't be used as a patrol car,

department spokesperson David Fergu-

son told mySA.com during a phone inter-

view. The sports car is too high profile

for patrol use or undercover work, he

said.

That doesn't mean the department

won't show it off: the Corvette has been

wrapped to look like a police patrol unit

and will be used as a community out-

reach tool at school functions and local

parades as a means to drum up youth

interest in law enforcement.

The department decided to name the

car "Coptimus Prime" — a play on the

name Optimus Prime, the "Transformers"

character — after taking suggestions on

Facebook.

"I think it acts as sort of a driving

billboard that says 'crime does not pay,'"

Ferguson said.

"Coptimus Prime" made its debut in

the Comal County Fair Parade.

The department plans to auction the

vehicle, which maintains its original or-

ange paint job underneath the wrap, after

two or three years of use, Ferguson said.

Funds from that sale will be put to-

ward community outreach programs,

professional training and equipment pur-

chases, according to a department Face-

book post. mysanantonio.com

(Continued from page 13)

COPTIMUS PRIME

2014. No other state requires public ac-

cess to incident reports for every shoot-

ing.

Yet experts were mostly unaware of

the states' efforts to track officer-involved

shootings.

"The best explanation, which I think

is very plausible, would be that because

no one-no organization, no scholar, no

reporter--has focused on this issue, these

independent efforts have gone essentially

unnoticed," Walker said. "If often takes a

national controversy--Ferguson and eve-

rything that followed--to bring attention

to an issue."

In September, California also

launched a website that tracked civilian

deaths in police custody, but only offered

holistic stats, not individual incident re-

ports.

And in June, the Houston Police De-

partment also published a public data-

base of officer-involved shootings, be-

coming one of the first big-city police

departments to do so. Police Chief

Charles McClelland called it "a big deal."

Ezekiel Edwards, a law enforcement ex-

pert at the national ACLU, called it "quite

unusual."

The state law doesn't include any

measures to enforce police reporting of

officer-involved shootings. Johnson's

office said it hopes to study the imple-

mentation, how thoroughly local agencies

report and how to improve the new law. Houston Chronicle

(Continued from page 5)

DATABASE

Texas 'cop blocker' helps law

enforcement stay off YouTube

As part of the Collin College training,

officers will learn more about local ser-

vices where they can refer families in

crisis, Rossman said.

One day, that might include a crisis

clinic in Plano. LifePath has proposed a

clinic that would be open weekday nights

and Saturday afternoons. The goal is to

reduce trips to emergency rooms.

The next mental health certification

course at Collin College will tentatively

take place in March. Twenty-five stu-

dents can enroll.

Growing numbers

Plano has about 190 officers certified

in mental health, including most of its

patrol force, Paul said.

Allen police counted more than 40

officers who have finished the course.

Richardson has 11 certified officers,

though more than 30 have taken the

course.

Meanwhile, Frisco has a crisis inter-

vention team with 10 people.

McKinney has 22 certified officers. It

doesn’t have a team dedicated to mental

health calls — cops respond to calls in

their beats — but a crisis intervention

coordinator follows up with the callers.

Officer Terry Qualls, the coordinator,

also teaches crisis intervention. His 25-

year-old daughter, Alex, has autism and

volunteers in training scenarios.

Some officers know intimately what a

crisis feels like. Qualls recalls that one

question asked in the Dallas course is

how many of the participants have a fam-

ily member with mental illness or a de-

velopmental disability.

“I guarantee you, more than half of

them in the class have a close relative

that has one of those issues,” Qualls said.

Paul became a mental health instruc-

tor reluctantly. He said he wanted to

teach “something cool” instead. Then his

3-year-old wouldn’t make eye contact at

home. Paul later learned his son was au-

tistic.

Now the sergeant is dedicated to

teaching other cops how to treat people

with disabilities and mental illnesses.

“We are doing this for our brothers

and sisters that might handle them later,

too, so that the next time that police go

out to their residence … if they’ve had a

good experience with police, maybe

they’ll give us a chance to help them

again,” Paul said. Dallas Morning News

(Continued from page 6)

The BLUES Newspaper Page 15

COLLIN CO.

Law enforcement and county officials

are in the research and development

phase of implementing a body camera

program in Harris County in the wake of

a new state law.

Senate Bill 158, authored by state

Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, was signed

into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in June and

establishes guidelines and a funding

mechanism for police departments across

the state to implement or advance body-

worn camera programs.

The legislation sets aside $10 million

of the state’s general revenue for police

departments to apply for funding for body

-worn camera programs. As the first com-

prehensive body-worn camera legislation

in Texas, SB 158 gives police depart-

ments the discretion to adopt policies

tailored to their respective communities.

“Each community is different in the

state of Texas, and for me to try and dic-

tate to every community when they

should have cameras turned on or off is

not very feasible,” West said.

Harris County is developing a pro-

gram with the intention of equipping

sheriff’s deputies and deputy constables

with body cameras. Several of the eight

constable precincts in Harris County—

including Precinct 4—use body cameras

already, but the sheriff’s office is creating

policies that will decide where cameras

will be worn and when they will record.

“I think [SB 158] will provide guid-

ance on what the state expects from us

and gives us standards to follow,” said

Sgt. Tommy Diaz, who oversees strategic

planning with the sheriff’s office. “Just

several months ago, we were wondering

what other agencies were doing and what

the best practices were across the coun-

try. Trying to base our policies on other

states’ practices is difficult, so now we

have minimum standards that give us

something to lean on.”

Body cameras can be worn on various

places, such as a cap, glasses, chest, ep-

aulet or lapel. Cameras are not typically

turned on for the duration of an officer’s

shift but used during traffic stops, an ar-

rest or when suspicious behavior occurs.

“They capture crucial information,

whether it be evidence or the recording

itself,” said Mark Herman, Harris County

Precinct 4 constable. “It’s a management

and investigative tool. Anything recorded

on those is tagged as evidence.”

Herman—whose office began using

body cameras two years ago—said he is

in favor of the county purchasing addi-

tional body cameras since about 75 per-

cent of his more than 400 deputies do not

have cameras.

“They cut down on complaints, and at

the same time it keeps deputies in check

since they’re being recorded,” Herman

said.

Aside from Harris County law en-

forcement officials, Lone Star College

System police officers began using body

cameras in June. About 130 officers sys-

temwide use the cameras, which must be

placed on the body at the beginning of

each shift. The cameras only record dur-

ing certain incidents, such as a traffic

stop, contact with a possible suspect dur-

ing arrest or other suspicious behavior

that could turn into a criminal situation.

“In many cases, [body cameras] will

modify [a suspect’s] behavior because

they won’t act as inappropriately when

it’s their word against the officer’s

word,” LSCS Sgt. Troy Billings said. “It

also keeps the officer more on point be-

cause he knows he’s recording and must

act accordingly. It helps with documenta-

tion of reports because we have a replay

of what did happen on the scene versus

the officer’s memory.”

Body cameras do have limitations,

such as the lack of tactile evidence.

“If you’re arresting someone and they

start to pull away or their muscles tense

up, that would be a clue to the deputy that

the suspect might run or fight,” Diaz said.

“[Body cameras] are not a foolproof solu-

tion to knowing what the deputy knew at

the time or being in his or her shoes, but

[they] are one additional variable.” communityimpact.com

County to purchase body cameras for Harris Co.

law enforcement officers

The BLUES Newspaper Page 16

while the department covers things like

vet bills and specialized cars, having the

dogs and training donated takes a strain

off his budget and his deputies.

"I think that it gives the officer some

back-up confidence that they have some-

body there that's got their back," Rosen

says.

Taylor agrees.

"Those dogs would lay down their

lives at any point in time for us; it means

the world," he said.

"He saves lives just like we do. He's

just like us, he's a police officer. He's just

on four legs," says Stevenson. ktrk.com

For law enforcement officers at a

scene, having a partner can change the

entire situation and even the outcome.

Last month, some Houston-area officers

were protecting our streets with new part-

ners, ones they wouldn't have if it wasn't

for a local non-profit.

"It's changed my whole life actually,"

says Deputy Jason Stevenson with Harris

County Constable Pct. 1.

For the first time in his 10-year ca-

reer, he's patrolling the streets with a four

-legged partner.

"In today's society and the way things

are, having a partner there behind you

and having your back is, I can't even ex-

press the feeling it gives me. It's reassur-

ing," Stevenson says. A Houston non-

profit group is helping keep officers safe

by providing them with a K-9 partner.

Lethal graduated from the

"K9s4Cops" academy last month, along

with four classmates and their handlers.

Deputy Kenneth Taylor with Harris

County Constable Pct. 4 is one of them.

"The bond is nothing you can prepare

yourself for. When you get to the end of

your training, you and the dog are almost

inseparable," he says.

For this group, that training included

320 hours, 440 scenarios, 1,500 bites, and

600 pounds of dog food. It adds up to

$10,000-$15,000 per dog, not paid by the

departments, but by private donations.

Kristi Schiller created "K9s4Cops" in

2010 after hearing that a robbery suspect

killed a local constable's dog.

"It was right before Christmas and now

he has to go home and tell his children

that his dog's not coming home but it

saved daddy's life in the line of duty,"

Schiller recalls.

Today, her non-profit has given 105

dogs to departments in 29 states and

taken $90 million worth of contraband off

the streets.

"It is the most invaluable tool we can

have," says Harris County Precinct 1

Constable Alan Rosen.

He has seven dogs in his fleet, and

Non-profit group gives officers K-9 partners, invaluable sense of security