A Cops Life

What It’s Really Like For Cops

Here's some ugly truth, every 53-hours a cop dies in the line of duty.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Progressive Liberal Politics Must Die Today
So That Freedom Can Be Sure Tomorrow!!!

'Remarkable' Officer Laboy Is Alive Following Shooting

Alexandria Police Officer Peter Laboy remains in critical condition, according to the chief medical officer attending him. He suffered a 'catastrophic gunshot wound to the head.'

By Sharon McLoone

February 28, 2013




Peter Laboy was shot in the temple Wednesday morning and it’s “remarkable” he’s alive, according to the chief medical officer of Medstar Washington Hospital Center, Janis Orlowski.

Laboy suffered a catastrophic gunshot wound to the head,” she said in a news conference in front of the trauma center in Northwest Washington, DC. “It’s remarkable he’s alive today.”

Orlowski told reporters that she remained “cautious and concerned” about Laboy’s condition, explaining that after a brain injury of this type there is significant swelling around the injury about 24 to 72 hours later.

“This is a difficult time to manage,” she said, adding, “We’re very experienced in this kind of injury.”

Orlowski said Laboy has not regained consciousness, but he has moved his arms and legs and “that remains remarkable.”

She explained that survivors of this type of injury typically require months of recovery and rehabilitation as well as physical and speech therapy.

The bullet did not exit his head, she told reporters. “This kind of bullet breaks into fragments and some of the fragments were removed…It’s obvious he’s a fit gentleman and most people would not have survived this injury.

http://oldtownalexandria.patch.com/articles/officer-suffered-wounds-to-the-temple#photo-13504400

=================================================================

No such thing as a 'routine' traffic stop ... regardless of what the media might call 'em.

A cab driver is accused of shooting the officer. He has some past traffic tickets, and 'other charges' (unspecified).

The charged cab driver is of middle-eastern descent.

Police Report: Chicken Plucked from Crock Pot

How did the chicken get out of the pot?

By Rachel Hatzipanagos
February 25, 2013

A chicken cooking in a crock pot was plucked from an Arlington home.

Arlington Police report that the chicken was nabbed from the cooker sometime between 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 from the home on the 600 block of South Carlin Springs road.

There is no subject description available.

http://clarendon.patch.com/articles/police-report-cooking-chicken-plucked-from-crock-pot
=============================================================

Guess the thief was hungry ..?? LOL

Line of Duty Deaths Down 23 Percent

Report: Line of Duty Deaths Down 23 Percent

Officer.com News
Created: December 27, 2012

The number of LODDs is on track to see a year-to-year decrease for the first time since 2009.

The number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty is on track to see a year-to-year decrease for the first time since 2009.

With only a few days remaining in 2012, 127 federal, state and local officers have paid the ultimate sacrifice, which is a 23 percent decrease from 2011, according to preliminary data released today by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

There were 165 officer fatalities last year, 154 in 2010, 122 in 2009 and 141 in 2008.

"The loss of any officer is unacceptable and devastating to their family, their community and our nation. However, I am encouraged to see a significant decrease in the number of law enforcement officers killed in 2012 after two years of alarming increases in the number of fatalities." NLEOMF Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Craig W. Floyd said in a statement.

"The law enforcement community has banded together with laser-like focus on peace officer safety at the federal, state and local levels and I believe these numbers are reflective of those combined efforts."

The top cause of officer fatalities in 2012 was traffic-related incidents, which claimed 50 lives.

Forty-nine officers are killed by gunfire while 28 others died due to other causes.

This year saw significant decreases compared to 2011 in several areas following two years of alarming increases.

Traffic-related fatalities declined by 17 percent while firearms-related fatalities decline by 32 percent.

Of the 50 officers killed in traffic-related incidents, 30 were killed in automobile crashes, 14 were struck outside their vehicle, and six were killed in motorcycle crashes.

Of the 49 officers killed in firearms-related incidents, 15 were killed in ambushes, nine were killed during traffic stops or while in pursuit, five were killed in drug-related incidents, five were killed responding to a robbery, four were killed while investigating suspicious persons or circumstances, three were killed responding to domestic disturbance calls and two each were killed while attempting an arrest, responding to a disturbance call or from accidental shootings.

One officer was killed responding to a burglary in progress and one was killed during an investigative activity.

Of the 28 officers who died due to other causes, 14 were caused by job-related illnesses, five were stabbed, three fell to their death, two each were killed in helicopter crashes and beatings, one was killed in an aircraft crash and one was killed in a boating incident.

The state that had the most officer fatalities was Texas (10), followed by Georgia (8), Maryland (6).

Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania all saw five officer died in the line of duty.

Nine officers killed in 2012 served with federal law enforcement agencies and seven served with correctional agencies.

Thirteen of the 127 officers who died were female and the average age of all of the officer was 41 with an average time served of 12 years.

"We are closer to being below 100 peace officer fatalities than we have been for many years. But I am still painfully aware that 127 families will celebrate the New Year without their officer," National President of Concerns of Police Survivors Madeline Neumann said in a statement.

"I find comfort knowing that these families will be embraced by the law enforcement community and given the support and love they will need as they embark on their journey through grief."

http://www.officer.com/news/10846422/report-line-of-duty-deaths-down-23-percent



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Liberal Progressive Politics Must Die Today
So That Freedom Can Be Sure Tomorrow!!!

Thank you sir and you too (a bit late, yep, but hey, I'm old!)

Happy Independence Day!




****************
Progressiveness Must Die Today,
In Order That We May Be Free Tomorrow

OMG/OBAMA MUST GO - NOBAMA IN 2012!!!

It must have just been that one post. iHub has been mucking around a lot lately.


****************
Progressiveness Must Die Today,
In Order That We May Be Free Tomorrow

OMG/OBAMA MUST GO - NOBAMA IN 2012!!!

Test edit window access ...

No problems with this one!

Is anybody else having trouble accessing the edit window?

In Remembrance Of Memorial (Decoration) Day



How To Observe Memorial Day

This information is from the USMemorialDay Web site from their page on How To Observe Memorial Day at: www.usmemorialday.org. We share some of observance guidelines so more citizens will become familiar with the proper way to observe this holiday when we remember and honor "our ancestors, our family members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice". Please visit www.USMemorialDay.com for a wealth of information about this important day of remembrance.
~~~~~

Memorial Day should be observed:
· by visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.
· by visiting memorials.
· by flying the US Flag at half-staff until noon.
· by flying the 'POW/MIA Flag' as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).
· by participating in a "National Moment of Remembrance": at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day, and for Taps to be played.
· by renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our fallen dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.
~~~~~

History of Memorial Day

Historic New York - Memorial Day

On May 5, 1866, the residents of Waterloo held the first complete, community-wide observance of Memorial Day. They dedicated the entire day to honoring the Civil War dead in a solemn and patriotic manner. Throughout the village, flags, draped in mourning, flew at half mast. Ladies prepared wreaths and bouquets for each veteran's grave. Businesses closed, and veterans, civic organizations and townspeople marched to the strains of martial music to the village cemeteries. There, with reverent prayers and patriotic ceremonies, the tradition of Memorial Day was born.

Henry C. Welles, a prominent citizen, first proposed the idea for a day completely devoted to honoring the Civil War dead. General John B. Murray, the Seneca County Clerk, who had commanded the 148th New York Infantry Regiment in the war, quickly advanced the thought and marshaled community support. Since that year, Waterloo has annually observed Memorial Day. New York, in 1873, became the first state to proclaim Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, as it was originally called, a public holiday.

In May, 1966, a joint resolution by the United States Congress and a proclamation by President Lyndon B. Johnson officially recognized Waterloo as the birthplace of Memorial Day.
~~~~~

More History of Memorial Day

Memorial Day was originally known as "Decoration Day" because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was instituted in 1868 to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers and has since grown to honor all those who have given their lives in services to their country.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states.
~~~~~

Quotes For Memorial Day

"Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
~~~~~

"A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself; and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth."

Henry Ward Beecher, from " The American Flag"
~~~~~

"Yesterday, the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that those United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."

John Adams - Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 3, 1776
~~~~~

"Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o'er,
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Dream of battled fields no more.
Days of danger, nights of waking."

Sir Walter Scott
~~~~~

Memorial Day Poems

Eulogy for a Veteran
Author Unknown

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the mornings hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.
******************************************

Freedom Is Not Free
By LCDR Kelly Strong, USCG

I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Service man saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil
How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.
******************************************

I Stand Before You
Written by Roger J. Robicheau - The Poetic Plumber

I stand before you all today
But not one eye can see my way

My time arrived, to leave this earth
A fact so planned, to every birth

It happened where I had to go
My torch for life was so aglow

I transferred while in uniform
Protecting freedom, through a storm

Should I resent I died for you
Not on my life, red white and blue

Please help my family through each day
Tell all my friends, try not to stray

And of the country I did love
Do think of me, through God above

Your memories, brought forth this day
Send love to us, who could not stay
******************************************

Taps:
Day is done
Gone the sun
From the Lakes
From the hills
From the sky.
All is well,
Safely rest.
God is nigh.
Fading light
Dims the sight
And a star
Gems the sky,
Gleaming bright
From afar,
Drawing nigh,
Falls the night.
Thanks and praise,
For our days,
Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.
~~~~~

NOTE: The above information was gathered and slightly edited by me from a site with more to offer:

http://www.butlerwebs.com/holidays/memorialday.htm#Links%20for%20Other%20Memorial%20Day%20Web%20Sites

It Is With True Appreciation I Say To All Who Have, Will and Do Serve, As Well As To All of Their Loved Ones, For They Too Serve and Have Served, Thank You! ~ Gary


****************
Progressiveness Must Die Today,
In Order That We May Be Free Tomorrow!

Oh yes, plenty of time!

I'm putting max effort into this shoulder rehab, for sure. While I doubt I'll be shooting my 308 anytime soon, I can still enjoy my 22s and 223s! Lots of therapy, and going every day since they put me on 'independent study'!

Working on it, gp. I have a few trial loads ready to test, but will probably put off doing any shooting until the shoulder is healed. No hurry. I intended to use the new rifle on my trip to South Carolina in October so there is plenty of time.

Well, I know he wouldn't do anything intentionally, but I'm just wondering how the heck it happened .. It was crazy .... my signature just changing like that, and the I-box of the safety board ..

Oh well, I never understood these blasted things anyway!

No worry, I think I got it pretty well fixed.

Worked up any loads for that new rifle yet?

How's your shoulder?

The big guy do something wrong? Be still my heart. Not possible is it?

Something happened to my signature ... had a "Shop Wiki.com" logo in it .... no idea where it came from, unless Gary has changed something .. I had a couple things linked to pics he had stored on his web site, and maybe he did something???

Yep. Still works, gp.

Down here in Arizona, everyone needs an AK 47 because the feds gave them to the Mexicans and our 357M ain't enough firepower.

Brian Terry could tell you that as the agents fired "beenbags" at the smugglers. He lost!

Special Report: Bloomberg reloads in push for gun control

By Emily Flitter | Reuters – 11 hrs ago.


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Among the slick, million-dollar ads for the likes of Pepsi and Honda during the Super Bowl this Sunday, viewers in Washington will see a far more modest spot. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will be sitting on a couch touting an issue most politicians avoid like the plague: gun control.

The two mayors, whose local teams face off in the big game, are making the pitch for Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), the organization they co-founded in 2006.

Murder has been on the decline in New York and other major American cities for years, but the mayors say they still see too many dead cops and teens. On Tuesday night, Bloomberg was at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan visiting a New York police officer who had just been shot in the face in Brooklyn.

"We have someone who's dedicated his life to protecting all of us, who has had a much too close brush with death tonight because of what appears to be an illegal gun," Bloomberg told a news conference. He added that more Americans have been killed by illegal guns since 1968 than were killed in World War II.

Candidates for local and national office in the U.S. have faced sharp backlashes for advocating restraints on gun ownership, such as assault weapons or guns on campus. Such pushes draw fire from the well-funded National Rifle Association (NRA) and its allies. For many defenders of the Constitution's Second Amendment - the right to bear arms - guns are the single issue on which they vote.

"We have to face the fact that both Democrats and Republicans have for a while viewed this as the third rail of American politics," said John Feinblatt, who helps run MAIG as Bloomberg's chief advisor for policy and strategic planning. (Bloomberg is an independent; Menino is a Democrat.)

Democrats, who are more likely than Republicans to favor some restrictions on gun ownership, made a conscious decision to stay away from the gun issue in the 2010 midterm congressional elections. The aim: protect the so-called Blue Dog conservative Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, who didn't toe the party line on gun control. Most were defeated anyway.

If the Democratic Party hoped to keep the gun issue off center stage in the 2012 presidential race, MAIG's campaign makes that unlikely. So does the fact that the NRA and the gun industry's trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), have announced they will have a combined war chest of $225 million.

"We are anticipating having a voter-education effort that will be our largest effort ever," said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel at the NSSF.

NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre echoed the sentiment.

"I don't think this is going to be an apathetic year for American gun owners."

NO MORE CANDLES

New York's activist mayor cannot simply restrict handguns in his city - as he has done with smoking and transfats. Two Supreme Court decisions - District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago - have declared such local initiatives unconstitutional. Instead, Bloomberg launched MAIG, which now has 600 members nationwide. Although it has a handful of private donors, the bulk of MAIG's $4 million budget comes out of the mayor's own pocket.

"He's putting his money where his mouth is," said Carolyn McCarthy, a Democratic congresswoman from Long Island. She entered politics after a 1993 shooting spree on the Long Island Rail Road left her husband dead and her son severely injured.

Bloomberg, in his third and last term, is free from concerns about electability and can tap a personal fortune of $19.5 billion, according to a November estimate by Forbes. As for speculation that he might mount a presidential bid this round or next, his leadership on such a divisive issue makes that look less likely.

"There was a lot of political capital that was poured into this," one person who worked closely with MAIG said.

In the past, advocates for stricter gun controls held marches, rallies and candlelight vigils. MAIG has taken a far more activist approach, conducting undercover investigations and sting operations that are then dramatically revealed to the press.

In 2009, New York City contracted the security firm Kroll Inc. to send undercover agents to gun shows in Ohio, Tennessee and Nevada to show how people who could not pass a background check easily bought guns.

MAIG also used undercover investigators to expose gun dealers who sold to "straw purchasers," buyers intending to quickly resell the guns on the black market. Another investigation identified online gun sellers who did not require background checks.

Bloomberg launched another probe after the January 2011 shooting in Arizona that killed six people and wounded 13, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Using city money, he sent undercover investigators to Arizona to repeat the gun show sting and prove how easy it was for someone like Jared Lee Loughner, the shooter, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, to get a gun.

That move enraged supporters of unfettered gun rights.

"The 'sting' was a waste of money that misleads Americans and did nothing to reduce crime," wrote John Lott Jr., an economist who writes about guns, in a column on FoxNews.com. "Talk about an aggressive publicity stunt."

The NSSF's Keane said there are serious problems with many MAIG actions. He cited another investigation in which MAIG used gun data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to sue dealers found to be selling guns to straw buyers.

"The New York City police department went to the ATF, traced data, turned that traced data over to private investigators, violated federal law, and interfered in 18 ongoing criminal investigations," he said. "The ATF had to pull agents out of the field because they were placed at risk."

Marc Lavorgna, a spokesman for the New York City mayor's office, said in response: "They can't argue the substance, so they continue to make a false, tired claim that has been directly refuted by the ATF. And the courts have validated that our investigations were legal."

The ATF did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Opponents of the mayors' efforts have also seized on a Department of Justice program codenamed "Fast and Furious" to discredit sting operations. Beginning in 2009, the ATF, investigating a gun-trafficking network in Arizona and Mexico, supplied 2,000 illegal guns they hoped to trace through the system so they could catch the leaders. Instead, they lost track of hundreds of the guns - two of which were found near the murder scene of Brian Terry, a border patrol agent, in 2010.

Last Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder was called before a congressional committee for a second time to explain how the program went bad. He repeated that senior Justice Department and ATF officials had not known about the operation until it was over.

REAL CHANGE

Members of the MAIG say they are not trying to take guns away from their legal owners, just to close loopholes that allow criminals to get guns and move them around undetected.

"It's a serious safety issue," said Margaret Stock, the Democratic mayor of Butler, Pennsylvania, the town of 13,000 where Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum spent part of his childhood. "If an officer gets shot with an illegal gun I'm responsible."

Butler is in a sparsely populated area of western Pennsylvania where the first day of deer hunting season is often a school holiday.

"We're a big hunting community, but this is illegal handguns, it's a totally different issue," Stock said. "I had a little bit of backlash from local members of the NRA that I was somehow anti-gun. That was not the intent of the coalition."

MAIG's efforts have spurred some change. In 2008, Wal-Mart signed the voluntary 10-point code of conduct MAIG developed for gun sellers. It includes videotaping the area of a store where guns are sold, setting up a computerized gun tracing and alert system, and performing background checks on its employees.

An Ohio gun show operator identified in MAIG's 2009 sting began offering police and federal firearms agents a free booth at his shows to strengthen background checks and help dealers recognize straw buyers, according to the Dayton Daily News.

MAIG claims on its website that "four out of the seven gun shows and venues" fingered in the 2009 investigation "have changed their practices."

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

No one thinks gun control is going to be the most important issue in 2012, but there are specific races and constituencies where it certainly will matter.

One such race is northwestern Arkansas, where a 33-year-old Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran named Ken Aden is challenging his former battalion commander for a Congressional seat. Aden is running as a progressive Democrat; his Republican opponent, Steve Womack, is a freshman incumbent, part of the Tea Party sweep of the 2010 midterm elections.

Aden, who has already met with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and other party officials in Washington, has strong views on guns. He collects them, and say he knows what damage they can do. When Aden was 16 his father was shot and killed by his stepmother in a domestic dispute, using his dad's own 357 magnum and his shotgun. The shooting was ruled a justifiable homicide, Aden says; his stepmother has since died."

"We've got to keep guns out of the wrong hands," Aden said.

He supports the background checks mandated by the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and has pledged in his platform to "fight to make sure that dangerous assault rifles and ammunition with no practical purpose in hunting, self-protection, or sport shooting ... stay off our streets."

Womack, for his part has co-sponsored several pieces of legislation to reinforce Second Amendment rights, including a bill that would force states to honor other states' concealed carry permits.

"New, more stringent gun laws will not keep guns out of the hands of criminals," Womack told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette in January 2011, after the Tucson shootings. "Rather, proper enforcement of our current laws will provide the necessary mechanisms to ensure the well-being of the American people."

The NRA is telling supporters that President Obama will outlaw guns in a second term by appointing Supreme Court justices to reverse the gains made in the Heller and McDonald decisions. The White House denies that it has any such aim.

"The real threat to the Second Amendment is the reelection of President Obama," said LaPierre.

He believes that other Democratic candidates will stay away from gun issues so as not to draw attention to Obama's ultimate game plan.

"Their strategy is to fog the issue through the 2012 election, because they don't want the Second Amendment or guns to prevent the reelection of President Obama," LaPierre said of the Democrats.

SWING VOTERS

Democratic strategist Celinda Lake, who has spent many years polling on gun issues, said her data suggest two audiences will be open to gun-control measures in the 2012 elections: Latinos and suburban women.

Her firm, Lake Research Partners, conducted a poll in late October for MAIG that found 76 percent of Latinos supported a new program requiring gun dealers in border states to report when someone attempts to buy more than one semi-automatic rifle within a five-day period.

Suburban women, Lake said, who are known to be swing voters, want guns kept out of their neighborhoods.

In addition to his work with MAIG, Mayor Bloomberg is keeping a close eye on elections all around the country. He has already backed six candidates for Virginia's state senate with contributions of $25,000 each, and may give to more candidates.

MAIG's Feinblatt said the group had not yet identified congressional races it wanted to support, but, he added, "We're always watching."

http://news.yahoo.com/special-report-bloomberg-reloads-push-gun-control-075206659.html

Man Dies After Eating Ounce of Cocaine Out Of Brother's Butt

By JULIA JACOBO

December 20, 2011
SOUTH CAROLINA (PIX11)— After eating an ounce of cocaine hidden in his brother's buttocks, a South Carolina man died soon after.

Deangelo Mitchell, 23, and his brother Wayne, 20, were in the back of a North Charleston Police Department cruiser on Nov. 30. The duo was being transported to jail when they began whispering about narcotics hidden inside the older sibling.



The Mitchells were arrested when a police officer found three small bags of cocaine underneath a rear seat of their 2001 Chrysler. It is evident in video footage that Deangelo Mitchell encouraged his younger brother to ingest the cocaine. The older Mitchell has a lengthy record and was concerned that he could face life in prison if convicted of a narcotics charge. "I can't get no more strikes," he told his brother.

He further directed his brother to "Eat that s***" and "Chew that s***."

In the footage, Wayne Mitchell can be seen, in handcuffs, reaching back to retrieve the cocaine from his brother. He then drops his head while he eats the cocaine.

Wayne Mitchell soon after began convulsing and bleeding from his mouth. "White powder residue" was found on the rear seat of the police cruiser, cops noted. Deangelo later said "he believed his brother swallowed an ounce of cocaine."

Wayne Mitchell died within an hour of ingesting the cocaine.

Deangelo Mitchell was initially charged with narcotics trafficking and was released from custody after posting $50,000 bond. But after a review of the police footage, authorities rearrested him Tuesday, charging him with involuntary manslaughter in connection with his brother's death.


http://www.ky3.com/news/wpix-man-dies-eating-ounce-cocaine,0,6503301.story

A friend sent me a copy of a rather interesting article a couple of days ago. It covers the results of one man's study of 'stopping power' of individual calibers - that age-old subject of zillions of arguments. I thought it was extraordinarily well done, and most of all, the author has (or disclaims anyway) no sort of financial or proprietary interest in any certain ammo company. Go read it when you get time. You'll either agree with it (as I largely do) or disagree ... and the author has a good answer to those who disagree .....

Go read it when you have a few minutes. Let me know what you think. At the very least, it will get you to thinking a bit.

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7866

North Carolina Death Row Inmate Writes Letter About Life of 'Leisure'

By CHRISTINA NG | ABC News – 9 hrs ago...


A convicted murderer on death row in North Carolina wrote a taunting letter to his hometown newspaper about his life of "leisure" in prison and making a mockery of the legal system.

Danny Robbie Hembree Jr. was found guilty of murdering 17-year-old Heather Catterton in 2009 and was sentenced to death on Nov. 18, 2011.

Hembree, 50, is on death row at Central Prison in Raleigh, N.C., but he's not looking for any pity in the letter he sent to The Gaston Gazette.

"Is the public aware that I am a gentleman of leisure, watching color TV in the A.C., reading, taking naps at will, eating three well balanced hot meals a day," Hembree asked in the letter. "I'm housed in a building that connects to the new 55 million dollar hospital with round the clock free medical care 24/7."

He also asks if the public knows that the chances of his "lawful murder" taking place in the next 20 years, if ever, are "very slim."

Hembree has also been accused of killing two other women. One was 30-year-old Randi Dean Saldana, whose burnt remains were found near Blacksburg, S.C. in 2009. The other was 30-year-old Deborah Ratchford, whose body was found in 1992.

He admitted to taking drugs and having sex with Catterton and Saldana on the days they died, but told jurors he did not kill them or dispose of their bodies, according to ABC News' Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD. He is scheduled to go on trial for Saldana's killing in March.

Hembree confessed to killing the three women during recorded police interviews, but later said the confessions were an attempt to cover up a string of armed robberies, according to the Gaston Gazette.

In the letter, Hembree also mocks the judicial system.

"I laugh at you self righteous clowns and I spit in the face of your so called justice system. The state of North Carolina has sentenced me to death but it's not real," he wrote.

North Carolina State Representative Paul Stam told WTVD that the letter is a travesty of justice. He said that it is more likely that Hembree will die of natural causes than of the death penalty.

"His punishment does not fit his crime at all," Stam said.

Hembree tells the citizens of Gaston County, N.C., that they should petition that state and force them to carry out his "murder sentence."

The Gaston County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

"I am a man who is ready to except [sic] his unjustful punishment and face God almighty with a clean conscience unlike you cowards and your cowardly system," Hembree wrote. "Kill me if you can suckers. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

The letter is signed, "Sincerely, Danny Hembree."


http://news.yahoo.com/north-carolina-death-row-inmate-writes-letter-life-152637993--abc-news.html
=================================================================
Yet another 'accomplishment' of liberals in this country.

Anyone actually believe this guy could be innocent, and needs a 20 year appellate process?

YW, I thought it a piece.


****************
Progressiveness Must Die Today,
In Order That We May Be Free Tomorrow

OMG/OBAMA MUST GO - NOBAMA IN 2012!!!

Thank you sir - good post/information.

When Stopped By Police & Carrying

Tips When Stopped By Police

by Personal Defense TV
May 27, 2011

Lethal Force Institute’s Massad Ayoob gives Host Tom Gresham some essential tips for safely interacting with police when carrying a firearm while driving your vehicle:

http://www.gunsandammo.com/2011/05/27/tips-when-stopped-by-police/


****************
Progressiveness Must Die Today,
In Order That We May Be Free Tomorrow

OMG/OBAMA MUST GO - NOBAMA IN 2012!!!

Oklahoma Mother, 18, Kills Intruder Breaking Into Her Home While on Phone With 911

11 hours ago - ABC News 2:11 | 4,115,421 views

911 operator told young mother she could not shoot until man entered her home.

Watch it here:


http://gma.yahoo.com/video/news-26797925/oklahoma-mother-18-kills-intruder-breaking-into-her-home-while-on-phone-with-911-27777235.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fnews-26797925%252Foklahoma-mother-18-kills-intruder-breaking-into-her-home-while-on-phone-with-911-27777235.html

Sorry about the ad .........

This little gal doesn't take any crap!

Lost homework leads to NY boy's burglary arrest
AP – 4 hrs ago...



LIBERTY, N.Y. (AP) — A 12-year-old upstate New York boy may be wishing that his dog ate his homework.

Police in the village of Liberty tell the Times Herald-Record of Middletown that officers used math homework to track down a boy suspected of breaking into an auction house Saturday night.

The owner said he arrived Sunday morning and discovered that a window had been removed and jewelry, cellphones, video games and other items had been stolen from his business.

Police say homework with the suspect's name on it was found in the woods behind the auction house.

The youth has been charged with burglary. His case is being handled in Sullivan County Family Court.

___

Information from: http://news.yahoo.com/lost-homework-leads-ny-boys-burglary-arrest-134517671.html
..

Just everyone who wants one.

Just like everyoen who wants a religion can have it.

Actually, I am out of the AK business ...

More into the AR 10/LR 308 business these days .. (American made, you know!)

You got yours but nobody else needs theirs.

Oh gosh ......... What if I just say "OK"?

I am just wondering.....why does everybody need a gun.

Let's play......No one needs an AK 47......,,too much fire power.

How the Recent Debt Ceiling Law Affects Gun Owners

Friday, 05 August 2011 11:26

Well, the hot debate which dominated the nation for several weeks has finally simmered down. The debt ceiling deal is now law, and both sides of the political aisle are arguing over who won and who lost.

But one thing you won’t hear about -- in fact, we may not fully know the answer for several months -- is how much gun owners lost in this recent deal.

To quote Kentucky Senator Rand Paul from earlier this week:


The Super Committee [created by the new law] limits the constitutional check of the filibuster by expediting passage of bills with a simple majority. The Super Committee is not precluded from any issue [including gun control], therefore the filibuster could be rendered moot.

Get that? The law raising the debt ceiling creates a Super Committee (in other words, a Super Congress) which will give its recommendations for balancing the budget. This Super Congress can include ANYTHING in its legislation, including gun control.

And none of it can be filibustered or amended!!

Well, you might think, the Super Congress’ recommendations still have to be voted on by each house of Congress. Surely, we can find enough congressmen to shoot down any anti-gun recommendations.

Maybe, maybe not ... because here’s the problem. Whatever this super-committee reports in November, including gun control, will HAVE to be passed -- or the Pentagon loses a total of $800 billion (effectively shutting it down).

How many pro-gun congressmen will feel they have to “hold their noses” and vote for the Super Congress’ legislation to prevent a total of $800 billion from being cut from the Department of Defense?

The key will be who gets appointed to this Super Committee. Senator Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi will pick six members -- as will House Speaker John Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell, for a total of 12 members.

But if the six Pelosi/Reid Democrats can cower a single Republican into going along with their radical agenda -– using the threat of a massive defense cut totaling hundreds of billions of dollars -– then we could be stuck with additional gun control.

We already know that the six Pelosi/Reid Democrats are going to vote in lockstep. What if the only Republican vote they need is a RINO like John McCain or Lamar Alexander?

The question answers itself.

By the way, this debt ceiling deal was not a compromise. A real compromise would have repealed the anti-gun ObamaCare law which (in addition to being a trillion dollar boondoggle) will compile everyone’s health-related medical records into a massive computer database. This centralized information could allow the FBI to determine whether any American has a medical condition justifying a gun ban.

Please check and see how your Representative and Senators voted, and make a point to speak to them during the summer recess.

ACTION: Your representative and senators will be holding town hall meetings in August. Attend them. Speak at them.

Tell your representative and senators, politely but firmly, that you are disgusted by Congress’ debt limit “compromise.”

TALKING POINTS:

1. There is NOTHING in the debt ceiling deal which prevents the Super Committee from including other issues like gun control in its legislation. (The Super Committee has virtually unlimited authority under subparagraph 401(b)(3)(A)(i).)

2. Whatever the Super Committee puts in the bill is unamendable and non-filibusterable. In other words, the House and Senate must conduct an up-or-down vote on the Super Committee’s legislation.

3. You have put a gun to the head of every congressman by forcing them to choose between devastating Defense Department cuts ($800 billion in total) or blindly adopting the Super Committee’s legislation, which could include gun control, tax increases, etc.

4. This debt ceiling deal was not a compromise. A real compromise would have repealed the anti-gun ObamaCare law which (in addition to being a trillion dollar boondoggle) will compile everyone’s health-related medical records into a massive computer database. This centralized information could allow the FBI to determine whether any American has a medical condition justifying a gun ban.

5. IF YOUR REP. OR SENATOR VOTED “YES” ON THE DEBT CEILING, THEN ASK HIM THIS: Considering the fact that two-thirds of the American people support a “cut, cap and balance” approach, why would you vote for a debt ceiling bill that could, ultimately, strap me with additional gun control proposals?


http://gunowners.org/a08052011.htm
---------------------------------------------

Evidently, I am not the only one who foresees real problems with this 'super committee/supercongress" bullshit ... I have a very bad feeling about this whole thing.

ATF agents denounce rogue guns transfers

Not told of ‘insane’ operation of arms allowed to go south to Mexico cartels

ATF field agents working in Mexico broke ranks with their supervisors Tuesday during a rancorous five-hour House committee hearing, saying they were kept in the dark about a controversial undercover operation in which hundreds of guns ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Carlos Canino, the ATF acting attache to Mexico; Darren Gil, former attache; and Jose Wall, senior agent in Tijuana, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee they had serious concerns about the alarming rate of guns found in violent crimes in Mexico whose source was “Operation Fast and Furious” in Arizona.

“I would like to apologize to my former Mexican law enforcement counterparts and to the Mexican people for Operation Fast and Furious,” said Mr. Gil. “I hope they understand that this was kept secret from most of ATF, including me and my colleagues in Mexico.”

Mr. Gil said he found it “inconceivable” that any competent ATF agent would allow “firearms to disappear at all,” especially on an international border. As a result, he said, the Mexican people will continue to suffer the consequences of narcotics-related firearms violence.

In emotional and often angry comments, Mr. Canino said “walking guns” was not a recognized investigative technique, adding that hundreds of weapons ultimately went to ruthless criminals in Mexico.

“It infuriates me that people, including my law enforcement, diplomatic and military colleagues, may be killed or injured with these weapons,” he said, describing the Fast and Furious program as “insane” and adding that he was unable to defend it to government officials in Mexico who already think the U.S. is indifferent to Mexican violence and death.

“I have reason to believe we were kept in the dark because the ATF leadership in Phoenix feared we would tell our Mexican partners,” he said, adding that “never in my wildest dreams” would he have thought that ATF agents would allow guns to be walked to Mexican criminals.

Mr. Wall testified that he was skeptical when critical stories about the operation first appeared earlier this year, saying he “could not believe that someone in ATF would so callously let firearms wind up in the hands of criminals … But it appears I was wrong, that hundreds and quite possibly thousands of guns have been allowed to reach the hands of organized crime.”

William McMahon, ATF deputy assistant director for field operations in Phoenix and Mexico, and William Newell, former ATF special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division, steadfastly defended the program, denying a growing body of evidence showing that as many as 2,000 weapons were allowed to be walked or taken into Mexico.

Sitting next to the ATF field agents and subjected to testy exchanges with members of the committee, Mr. McMahon, the highest-ranking ATF official to testify publicly about the operation, accepted responsibility for what he described as “mistakes” in carrying out the program, but said ATF had good intentions when it began the operation in 2009.

“It was not the purpose of the investigation to permit the transportation of firearms into Mexico,” Mr. Newell added. “To the best of my knowledge, none of the suspects in this case was ever witnessed by our agents crossing the border with firearms.”

Mr. Newell said he would do such an investigation again with some changes.

The operation has drawn widespread criticism, sparking questions on who outside the agency knew that weapons were being taken from “straw buyers” in this country to Mexico. President Obama has said he did not authorize the program, and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., also has pleaded ignorance, calling for an investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General.

At the Tuesday hearing, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who heads the department’s Criminal Division, was described as being aware of the Fast and Furious operation, even touting it during a visit to Mexico.

Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican and committee chairman, said the consequences of arming Mexican drug cartels seemed obvious, but as the weapons kept turning up at crime scenes in Mexico, there “wasn’t enough for Justice Department officials to arrest straw purchasers and shut down their trafficking operations.”

“Tragically, it wasn’t until Fast and Furious guns were found at the murder scene of a Border Patrol agent that Justice officials finally ended this reckless and arrogant effort,” Mr. Issa said, referring to the two ATF supervisors as the “paid non-answerers” as he unsuccessfully tried to get them to admit that ATF allowed the guns to be walked over the border.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the committee’s ranking Democrat, told Mr. Newell his testimony was “a frustration” to members of both parties.

When asked by Mr. Cummings to define how guns would be deemed as having been “walked” into Mexico, Mr. Newell responded they would have had to be handed by a law enforcement agent to the straw buyers and not by a gun shop owner, as they were, to meet his definition.

At least 122 weapons linked to Operation Fast and Furious have been recovered at crime scenes in Mexico, according to a report released Tuesday by Mr. Issa and Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. More than 1,000 weapons are still unaccounted for, the report said.

The report also said there was “little to no information sharing” from the Phoenix field division, ATF headquarters and the Justice Department to colleagues in Mexico on the Fast and Furious program. It described the operation as “reckless,” saying it made unprecedented use of a dangerous investigative technique known as gun walking, rather than intervening and seizing the illegally purchased firearms.

The weapons, the report said, included AK-47 assault rifles, Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifles, .38-caliber revolvers and FN-57 semiautomatic pistols.

According to the report, Mr. Gil and Mr. Canino called the agency’s Washington headquarters and the Phoenix field office to express their concerns about the flood of weapons “only to be brushed aside.” The report also said ATF personnel in Arizona denied ATF officials in Mexico access to crucial information about the operation.

“Rather than share information, senior leadership within both ATF and the Department of Justice (DOJ) assured their representatives in Mexico that everything was ‘under control.’ The growing number of weapons recovered in Mexico, however, indicated otherwise,” the report said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/26/atf-agents-denounce-rogue-guns-transfers/
---------------------------------------------------------------

So, President Obama thinks it 'dangerous' to allow the re-importation of surplus mlitary rifles from Korea back to the US (for sale to Americans who would have to undergo background NCIS checks before buying them)... but evidently it is not dangerous to allow 50 caliber sniper rifles to be illegally transferred to Mexican Drug Cartels ... WTF?

Open Carry & Good Cop,

Three minute video:

http://www.wimp.com/goodcop

Hernando Deputy Dies After Crashing During Four-County Chase
By From staff reports
Published: July 04, 2011

A Hernando County sheriff's deputy is dead after a high-speed chase through four counties early Sunday morning.

Deputy John C. Mecklenburg, 35, died after his patrol car crashed into a tree and burst into flames while he was trying to stop a driver police spotted heading the wrong way on U.S. 41 in Brooksville.

Mecklenburg, a U.S. Army veteran, had been with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office since January 2009. The Green Bay, Wis., native graduated from Springstead High School in Spring Hill and leaves behind a wife, Penny, and two children, 4-year-old Andrew and 18-month-old Jessica.

"Whatever call he was on, he wanted to right the wrong," said Deputy Sandra Wilfong, who had worked with Mecklenburg the past two years. "He wanted to prove or disprove the situation. He wanted to make sure if there was a victim they were protected. If there was a predator, they were stopped.

"He was amazing with his people skills and his investigative skills."

A sergeant with the sheriff's office sustained minor injuries in a separate wreck during the chase, which started at 4:40 a.m. when Brooksville police spotted a driver heading the wrong way on U.S. 41.

Officers tried to stop Michael James Anthony, 35, of Silver Springs, but he sped off in his 1991 Honda Accord, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Officers chased the car, and deputies from the sheriff's office soon joined the pursuit.

A deputy forced Anthony's car to a stop by performing what's known as a "precision immobilization technique," hitting it in a way that stops it without causing significant damage to either vehicle.

Deputies moved in to arrest Anthony, but he took off, again heading south on U.S. 41.

At U.S. 41 and Ayers Road, Sgt. Brandon Ross lost control of his car, hitting a pickup and a power pole. Ross sustained minor injuries. He was treated at a local hospital and released Sunday, the sheriff's office said.

The chase continued into Pasco County, the Florida Highway Patrol said. Just south of the intersection of U.S. 41 and Painter Place, Mecklenburg lost control of his car, veering onto the shoulder and hitting a tree. His car caught fire, which was put out by other law enforcement officers chasing Anthony.

The crash woke Carol Schaub, who lives across the street and went outside with her son to see what happened.

"It sounded like a major explosion," she said.

"When we came out, all we seen was a bunch of metal wrapped around a tree, and the engine was on fire and a piece of the car was on fire. We couldn't see what kind of car it was. It was that badly mangled."

Deputes showed up immediately, followed by firefighters and an ambulance. Rescue workers kept talking to Mecklenburg and encouraging him, Schaub said.

"We knew he was alive because they kept screaming his name," Schaub said. "(The deputies said), 'Talk to us. Stay with us, buddy. Stay with us!' "

Mecklenburg was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, where he died at 9:21 a.m.

Anthony kept driving south on U.S. 41 through Pasco and Hillsborough counties, prompting several other drivers to report his reckless driving.

At 5:09 a.m., a state trooper found Anthony's car sitting on the side of Fourth Street North, south of Interstate 275 in Pinellas County. It had three flat tires. As the trooper approached the car, Anthony came out from some trees near the road and surrendered.

He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center and was booked into the Pinellas County Jail Sunday night on a probation violation charge. He will face multiple charges in several counties, according to the patrol.

Anthony has served time in state prison for stealing cars and fleeing and eluding police, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.

In 2008, the Punta Gorda Police Department arrested Anthony for larceny grand theft. He was convicted in 2010 and placed on three years' probation, records show.

At a news conference Sunday, Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said the entire sheriff's office was hurting over Mecklenburg's death.

"Deputies know everyday when they put the uniform on that they may have to give their life in the pursuit of justice," Nienhuis said.

"Deputy Mecklenburg was doing just that this morning trying to keep our citizens safe from a very reckless driver," he said. "He gave the supreme sacrifice."

The sheriff's office will take care of the Mecklenburg family in its time of need, along with helping to plan funeral arrangements, Nienhuis said.

The sheriff's office will also review its policy on high-speed chases to see if changes are needed, the sheriff said.

"Not intervening would obviously put lives at risk," Nienhuis said. "So the deputies on the scene obviously made a decision and went with it."


http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2011/jul/04/MENEWSO1-hernando-deputy-dies-after-crashing-durin-ar-241691/

Memphis police officer Timothy Warren felt danger closing in, wife says

By Beth Warren

A few days before he was fatally shot in a Downtown hotel, Memphis police officer Timothy Warren sensed he was in danger.

He warned his wife, Betsy: "I have a feeling something really big is going to happen. It's going to happen Downtown. It's going to happen really fast," she recalled.

"Betsy, I have a feeling I'm going to be right in the middle of it. It might cost me my life."

She tried to reassure him: "Surely not. God has other plans for you." But when Warren and other police officers stormed the DoubleTree Hotel, Warren took a bullet in the head. "Now I realize God did have other plans," his widow said. "He wanted him in heaven."

Today is the Warrens' ninth wedding anniversary, but Betsy Warren will be making funeral arrangements and filling out police department paperwork.

Their son, James, 8, is trying to come to terms with his anger toward the bad guy. Daughter Jewel, 4, doesn't understand that her dad is gone. Monday night she sang a tune her dad made up for her.

"Jewel is completely innocent and doesn't grasp it," Betsy Warren said. "I have a feeling in a couple of days she is going to miss him and wonder why he hasn't come to see her."

Timothy Warren cherished time with his kids, chasing them around the house and crawling on the floor while they rode his back. He would take his son to play with remote control cars. He and Jewel would have ice cream dates, which often left her with a chocolate mustache.

In order to spend more time with his kids, Warren left an assignment he enjoyed -- 11 a.m.-8 p.m. with buddies at the Airways Precinct -- to a more hectic shift, 7 p.m.-3 a.m. in the Downtown entertainment district.

This way, he could walk his son to and from the bus stop and play with Jewel during the day while his wife taught kindergarten at Idlewild Elementary.

But something didn't feel right about his new assignment. Hours before Warren went to work for the last time, he expressed dread.

"I really don't want to go in, but I got to," he told his best friend, Jerome Gray. "He kind of felt like something was going to happen," Gray said.

Warren was exhausted after his Saturday night shift dealing with holiday revelers who were drinking and cruising Memphis' entertainment district. Gray said Warren told him he expected more of the same as the weekend continued.

Hours before Warren was shot, Gray urged him to leave the police force.

"He felt that's where God wanted him," Gray said.

Working Downtown allowed Warren to see many of the city's needy.

The night before he was killed, he handed out bottles of water to officers and any homeless who passed by.

Some officers scowled, but Warren didn't flinch, his widow said.

Before finishing college, Warren briefly ended up homeless, his widow said.

It was winter and he would sleep on the floor curled up in a ball inside unheated, abandoned houses. So as an adult, he and his wife often passed out food to the homeless.

And when he recently encountered -- at 2 a.m. -- a woman at the bus station who had fled Texas with her young daughter to escape an abusive husband, he gave them money for a motel.

Warren often urged Gray to join Memphis' police force, while Gray said Warren should leave law enforcement to start a church.

This made Warren chuckle. "Well, police work is all I know," he had told Gray. "I enjoy it. It also gives me the chance to minister to people because I'm right there."

Warren wasn't always religious. He was struggling with his faith when he met Gray, an ordained minister, in 2000, while both trained to become deputy jailers.

Warren talked about how his mother had died of cancer on Mother's Day after he finished high school. "He kind of had a resentment: 'God took my mother.'"

But over time, Gray said he helped Warren find his Christian faith in 2002.

Warren became devout, ministering to Memphis' downtrodden. He bought a big grill, hauled it to Overton Park and fed the homeless. Betsy and the children helped, along with Gray and his son, Jeremiah, 7.

The men sometimes teased each other about their differences. Warren, who was white, grew up in a largely segregated area of Cleveland, Miss., while Gray, who is black, was raised in Detroit.

Hours before Warren's death, the two had a long talk at Warren's home. Gray left so Warren could take a nap before work. The two made plans to catch up over coffee at Starbucks when Warren finished his shift.

Instead, when Gray's phone rang a few hours later, it was Betsy.

At the hospital, the Grays' son tried to comfort them, saying; "Mommy, you've got to stop crying now. Uncle Tim is in heaven and he's an angel."

The two families, who say they feel like relatives, gathered around the slain officer in his hospital room.

"I held his hand," Gray said. "I prayed for him and told him bye."

-- Beth Warren: (901) 529-2383


http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/jul/05/warren-felt-danger-closing-in-wife-says/

------------------------------------------------------------------

When you feel that hair on the back of your neck 'standing up' .. pay attention to it. It's your sixth sense. I've experienced it and have always heeded that warning. Always better to listen and come back another day.

Officer and civilian dead after shooting at Downtown Memphis DoubleTree
By Jody Callahan, Kristina Goetz

Posted July 3, 2011 at 8:12 p.m., updated July 4, 2011 at 9:49 a.m.


Officer Timothy Warren

Two people — including a Memphis Police officer — were shot and killed in Downtown’s DoubleTree Hotel Sunday evening, victims of a domestic dispute that exploded into an armed confrontation.

Officer Timothy Warren was on duty and responding to a call when he was shot and killed at the hotel at 185 Union, at the intersection of Third Street, around 7 p.m., shortly after thousands of spectators had filed into AutoZone Park across the street for the Class AAA Memphis Redbirds game.

Warren was in the stairwell when the suspect stepped out from a doorway connecting to a floor and shot him in the head.

Warren, who joined the force in July 2003, was rushed to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis but was later pronounced dead.

“This is a very tragic situation. Any time an officer is ... harmed, it’s tragic,” Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said from The Med. “We want the officers and their families to know we understand the harm they face everyday.”

Said MPD Director Toney Armstrong, who began his tenure April 15: “Even if you have been the director 20 years, this is the one phone call that you hope you never have to get. It’s the one ... you hope you never have to handle. ... We’re grieving. This is like losing a family member. We’ll pull together and we’ll pull each other through.”

Warren’s wife was escorted by law enforcement personnel from Mississippi to The Med late Sunday. The officer also had two small children.

It appears that the armed suspect went to the hotel in search of a woman.

MPD sources report that the suspect was either married to the woman, or had been married to her. The second fatality, identified as a male, appears to have been involved with the domestic situation somehow.

An MPD release sent at 12:45 a.m. Monday reads: "The preliminary investigation revealed officers arrived on the scene, and located one male suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Officer Warren encountered the suspect and was also shot."

The man and Warren were taken by ambulance to The Med, where both were pronounced dead. The suspect was subdued and taken to The Med. A woman overheard the suspect ranting as he was brought in.

“It was crazy. He was shouting, ‘I shot the officer. I shot the officer,’ ” Sharese Smit said.

Police cars swarmed the hotel, and officers roamed outside with shotguns and automatic weapons.

The hotel, across from The Peabody, was filled to capacity and rooms run about $130 per weekend night; guests were not allowed to return to their rooms until after 11.

Redbirds fans across the street filed out to the courtyard, peering through the gate at the commotion. The Redbirds continued with the game and postgame fireworks.

Joel Miller, a Maryland resident attending a family reunion, got in an elevator with the suspect, he said. The man, who was white and wearing shorts and a plaid shirt, “seemed off,” Miller said, “like he was out of it.”

Miller said hello to the man, who nodded in return. Then, as the man got off on the third floor, Miller saw him pull a gun from his pocket.

Then the man did something chilling, as Miller and his family watched from the glass elevator.

“He looked at us and pointed his finger and did like this,” Miller said, miming firing a weapon.

Added Markus Stringer, also in the elevator: “He was running through the third level. When he was running, he would duck down because we were watching him.”

Gina and Jimmy Halfacre of Jackson, Miss., were at the DoubleTree, celebrating their one-year anniversary. Some kids ran up to them, saying a man with a gun was on the elevator.

“They pointed him out on the second floor,” Jimmy Halfacre said. “They looked at me and said, ‘Do you think we should tell anyone?’ ”

DoubleTree guest Carolyn Scarbrough, visiting from Meridian, Miss., was in the lobby when everything erupted.

“We heard four shots, loud shots like a shotgun. It sounded like it was in an elevator,” she said. “I came outside and police officers just ran in. They got some shotguns out of the car. It was raining policemen.”

Antonio Webster, a DoubleTree employee, was about to serve food in the hotel’s banquet room when cops burst in with a warning.

“Next thing we know, police officers came back and told us there was a guy running around with a gun.”

Warren is the first MPD officer to die in the line of duty since Officer Marlon Titus died in a car accident March 30, 2004, while answering a call.

The last MPD officer shot and killed in the line of duty, patrolman Anthony Woods in 2003, was also responding to a domestic call.

After Titus was killed, an MPD officer identifying himself as “Tim Warren” and listing his badge ID number wrote on a website memorializing Titus.

It reads: “Titus was the first Ofc. I met that wasn’t a trainer. Just one of the guys. I was pretty nervous being one of a small handful of white officers in a nearly all black precinct. Titus gave me unconditional acceptance and a warm handshake from the first introduction to the last day. He taught me the only race in Police is blue. He made me feel like a member of his family.”

When the Halfacres heard some guests of the DoubleTree had asked for refunds, Gina teared up: "I understand their frustration, I do, but a man died today defending and protecting his city. I'm staying there (at the DoubleTree) too, and I came from here (Memphis). Today is our first anniversary (July 4) but we're not angry. We stopped and prayed."

Memphis Police officers killed in the line of duty since 1991:

Officer Marlon Titus: Died on March 30, 2004 in car accident while answering call.

Patrolman Anthony Woods: shot and killed on Aug. 27, 2003 while responding to a domestic violence call in Orange Mound.

Patrolman John Robinson: died in car accident on Dec. 1, 1999 while attempting to capture two robbery suspects.

Patrolman Don Overton: killed in car accident on Oct. 14, 1999 after being broadsided by four suspects in a car fleeing a scene.

Patrolman Dannael Weekes: killed in car accident on March 7, 1997 after responding to an officer in need of backup.

Major Rufus Gates: mistakenly shot and killed by a uniformed officer while undercover on Nov. 7, 1994.

Patrolman John Reeve: died after his squad car crashed into a telephone pole on Sept. 9, 1991 while responding to an alarm call.

-- Jody Callahan: (901) 529-6531

Staff members Megan Harris, Victoria Wright, Samantha Bryson and Rosemary Nelms contributed.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/jul/03/officer-critical-civilian-dead-after-shooting-doub/
-------------------------------------------
I have a good friend here who is former Memphis PD - He told me his buddies there said the TACT unit had been called and was on the way to the scene when Officer Warren was shot.

Re: None Post # of 19867
What will happen even more when only Outlaws have guns
and the outlaws will be law enforcement
are you prepared to die?
to give your life and the lives of your family over to this kind of so called friendly fire?

The British are Coming!

Oath Keepers to honor Marine Killed by SWAT

Oath Keepers to Rally in Tucson on Memorial Day Over Death of Young Marine Veteran at Hands of Pima County SWAT

Tucson, Arizona
May 30, 2011

March and rally from 9am to 3pm, followed by formal indoor meeting with speeches and additional memorial ceremonies
into evening.

Further details to be posted at www.oathkeepers.org

CALLING ALL OATH KEEPERS, ALL VETERANS, ALL PATRIOTIC POLICE OFFICERS, ALL GUN OWNERS, AND ALL LIBERTY LOVING AMERICANS.

This is an urgent call-out to all Oath Keepers, all veterans, all patriotic police officers, all Americans who cherish our liberty and our Constitution, and to all liberty leaders and patriotic organizations to join us in Tucson, Arizona this Memorial Day, May 30, 2011 to take a stand in defense of our Constitution, which our war dead fought to defend, and to take a stand against the egregious policy of using SWAT teams to serve search warrants on veterans and gun owners with no violent criminal history.


As you may know, on May 5, 2011, a young 26 year old Marine veteran who had survived two tours in Iraq, and father of two, Jose Guereña, was killed in a SWAT raid in Tucson, Arizona (see below news articles for details). At approximately 9:30 am, two hours after he hit the rack after working a twelve hour graveyard shift at an Arizona mine, his wife woke him by yelling that there were men with guns outside (she had seen a man outside the window pointing a gun at her). He told her to take their four year old son and hide in a closet, grabbed his AR-15, and stepped out into the hallway of his home just as his front door was battered in.

He died with his safety still on. He didn't fire a shot. The Pima County, Arizona (Sheriff Dupnik's department), SWAT Team fired 71 rounds at him, hitting him with approximately 60 rounds. He had no criminal record. The only justification given by the Sheriff's spokesman for using SWAT to serve the warrant was that it was a search warrant in a narcotics conspiracy investigation (with three other homes searched in the same neighborhood), and that this is their policy when the home-owner may be armed .

This policy of using SWAT to serve mere search warrants on people with no violent criminal history will lead to more deaths of veterans and other trained American gun owners because a trained man will react precisely the same way this young Marine did.

We must take a stand on this use of SWAT against gun owners and veterans who have no violent crime history, and that stand needs to be a firm one.


Therefore, we are going to rally in Tucson this coming Memorial Day, May 30, 2011 to honor this young Marine's service and to express our opposition to the destruction of our liberty, and our opposition to this policy of using SWAT Teams to serve mere search warrants on gun owners and veterans who have no violent criminal record.

We don't yet know the exact details of where precisely we will meet for a rally point in Tucson. We are still working out the details, which will depend on Jose's family's wishes, and other variables, but at a minimum we will conduct a solemn march and memorial for this Marine, Jose Guereña, to be followed by a formal gathering of remembrance for all of our war dead, with patriotic speeches by liberty leaders, patriotic police officers,and veterans.

We are seeking permission of the family to hold a memorial ceremony at Jose Guereña's grave, present his wife with an award for valor for him, from us, for his service to his country, and to his family for doing exactly what any warrior should do. If we get permission from his widow and family, we will march to his grave, hold the ceremony, and march back to a rally point, and then we will go to a meeting hall (VFW, Marine Corps League, American Legion, or a local church - still to be determined) and have speeches and further fellowship and remembrance of him and of all our fallen. We will invite ALL who cherish our Constitution and want to honor him and all our fallen. We will see who shows up and who does not. We will let that speak for itself.


We will also issue a formal statement and press release condemning the policy that lead to his death. that statement will be signed by our current serving and retired police officer leadership who oppose this misuse of SWAT, and also by our Marine combat veteran leadership who are outraged at what was done to this young Marine, as well as other veterans within our leadership, on behalf of all 12,000 official members of oath keepers who are current or retired military and police, and on behalf of all American veterans, retired police, and gun owners who are placed at risk by this dangerous policy precisely because they would react the same way this Marine did.

And we will petition the Governor, Attorney General, and Legislature of Arizona to conduct independent investigations into this Marine's death. We will present those petitions in person the next day, Tuesday May 31 in Phoenix, and we invite you to go with us to the Capitol of Arizona. We may also present a formal letter of grievances directly to Pima County Sheriff Dupnik. We are still sorting out the details of exactly what we will do in that regard.

What better way to honor our war dead and veterans this Memorial Day than to defend our Constitution and our God given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which is what they all fought, bled, and died for?

And yet those are the very freedoms that are now being taken away, and the Constitution they all swore to defend and gave their lives defending is now being trampled all over by corrupt oath breakers. Our Constitution truly hangs by a thread. If we don't step up and defend it, there won't be many more Memorial Days, and our Republic will fall.


We must stand against this policy that puts all veterans at risk of being shot by SWAT if their homes are searched, and we must honor the service and courage of this young Marine who simply did as any of us would have done by defending his family. And while there, we will also honor all other American warriors who have given their lives in defense of their homes, our way of life, and our Constitution. Let's honor the oath keepers of the past by standing as oath keepers now.

So, if you can at all make it to Tucson, please join us there to stand with us this Memorial Day, May 30, in Tucson.

This will be but the first salvo in a long campaign to fight this flawed policy, by placing the blame where it belongs - on the militarization of the police, on the trend to consider gun ownership the equivalent of a violent criminal record as justification for such SWAT raids to serve mere search warrants on gun owners who have no violent criminal history, and also at the feet of DHS and the Southern Poverty Law Center which have demonized both returning veterans and gun owners in general with their rhetoric of hate (labeling them "extremists' and potential terrorists) that lead to this killing and will lead to many more. We will make sure that this young man will not have died in vain.

Why This Rally Must Be Done in Reaction to the Killing of this Marine

I want you to imagine yourself in the same situation this young Marine veteran, Jose Guereña faced. What would you do if your wife woke you up by screaming that there are armed men outside. I think you would do as this young Marine did - you would grab your gun to defend your family. And then a few seconds later your door is busted in, and you come face to face with unknown armed intruders (not knowing if they are street criminal home invaders or police). You would be in the same situation this young Marine was in. And if it turned out to be a SWAT team, it is likely you too would be shot dead while you are trying to sort out whether those armed men are police - as Jose was likely doing, which would explain why his safety was still on.



Those of us who are trained know and understand that the only way your family is going to be safe from a criminal home invasion is if you step up and defend them, but if you do that, if you dare to arm yourself and defend your family against home invasion, if it turns out to be the police conducting a dynamic SWAT raid, you will be at risk of being shot on sight every time. You will die for simply defending your family.



And that's the problem with this policy of using a SWAT team just to serve a search warrant. Jose had a clean record - no criminal history. It wasn't like he had a long rap sheet of violent crime convictions. So, what was the reasoning for going in like a military counter-terrorism unit? The sheriff's spokesman, Lt. Michael O'Connor, said they do this when a suspect may be armed. So, they are telling us that whenever they serve a search warrant on any gun owner, this is how they are going to come in - with a dynamic entry by a heavily armed SWAT team a mere 15 seconds after pounding on the front door. Fifteen seconds is not enough time for you to get out of bed, figure out who it is, and then go answer the door, especially after your wife is screaming that there are armed men outside - are you really going to just stick your face in a window to see what's outside? Or are you going to react in a tactical manner, arming yourself and being careful about taking a peek outside? By that time, your door will be battered in and you will be face to face with unknown gunmen (and don't forget that many street criminals now impersonate police when they do home invasions). This is a recipe for disaster and death every time. Our New Mexico Chapter President, retired police officer Juli Adcock, wrote me to say:



"My utter sorrow simply cannot be expressed. It could just as easily have been my 26 year old son, a Marine Vet, with 2 babies and a wife."



She's right. It could have been her young Marine son, it could have been her, it could have been me, it could have been you - it could happen to any of us since we would all do the same thing he did in response to an apparent home invasion.



Oath Keepers Board member Rand Cardwell, a Marine Scout-Sniper combat veteran, agrees. He told me that the same thing would happen to him or to his son, who is a current serving Marine Scout-Sniper, or to his Marine son-in-law. All of them would react in the same way under those same circumstances. And he agrees that it is most likely this young Marine still had his safety on because he was trying to ID the threat before he fired, as he had been trained to do.



And Arizona Oath Keepers Chapter President Ray Epps, also a Marine infantry veteran, agrees that he would react the same way under those circumstances. And indeed, the same response was voiced by retired Las Vegas Metro Police Officer Dave Freeman, my Western US Vice President and National Peace Officer Liaison. Indeed, every current or former police officer (several with SWAT experience) or military service member I have asked has had the same opinion.



If the Pima County Sheriff's office were really concerned about avoiding this kind of near guaranteed firefight against a well trained gun owning veteran, they could have stopped him on the road on his way home from work. How hard would that have been? Just pull him over in a traffic stop, tell him they have a search warrant to search his home, and then conduct the search. But instead, they went in exactly as they would against a barricaded suspect with a long history of violence.




This policy is going to lead to more deaths, and especially among veterans, among retired police, and among any Americans who have had some training in defensive weaponcraft. Perversely, the better trained you are, the more likely you are to be shot by a SWAT team because you will not just curl up in a fetal position when your door is kicked in and armed men enter your home screaming obscenities. That only works on the untrained. It doesn't work on Marines, all of whom are riflemen first, or on any other veteran who has had combat arms training. Nor will it work on retired police officers, or on well trained citizens who have been to any high quality civilian shooting school such as Suarez International, Thunder Ranch, Gunsite, Front Sight, etc. The better trained you are, the more likely you are to be shot dead by a SWAT team because you won't freeze, and because you will react in a competent, effective manner to defend your family.



And such use of SWAT is not confined to search warrants in drug investigations. Tea Party founder Walter Reddy recently had a SWAT raid conducted on him by his local police department, based in part upon an unsubstantiated FBI statement that Reddy was a "person of interest" in a domestic terrorism investigation. The local SWAT Team executed a search and seizure warrant, seizing all of his guns. He was never charged with a crime, and yet his guns were taken for a year. You can read the details here:


As egregious as has been the lack of due process in Reddy's case, the most dangerous aspect was the use of a SWAT team on him to merely serve a search warrant. Reddy is fortunate that he did not end up like this young Marine in Tucson. What was the basis for using SWAT on Reddy to serve this warrant? It wasn't drugs. Aside from the mere fact that he is a gun owner, it could only be his political activities. Reddy is the founder of Committees of Safety and a known "patriot" leader who helped orchestrate the first modern Tea Party event in Boston, on December 17, 2007, and is now working on an alternative money system, with his "Sovereign State Depository, Inc." which was recently incorporated in Delaware and is being designed to help the dozen or so state legislatures that have passed gold and silver resolutions in the past year to find a way to make commercial transactions in units of gold and silver. Such a dangerous man!



As I have said many times before, that is precisely the kind of heavy handed, dangerous use of SWAT that Southern Poverty Law Center and others of their ilk would like to see done to all of us, for merely defending the Constitution and advocating for constitutional government.



This policy of using SWAT to serve search warrants on gun owners simply because they are armed, and where there is no long history of violent crime, has got to stop. I think taking a stand over the use of SWAT against this young Marine in Tucson is a good place to start. And we also need to demand some answers from Pima County Sheriff Dupnik about exactly why this young Marine was left to bleed out while paramedics were prevented from treating him

for an hour and fifteen minutes. Jose would have had a better chance if he had been shot in Iraq, where a corpsman would have braved enemy fire to treat him.



As we head toward Memorial Day, I find it disgusting that this young Marine survived two tours in Iraq and returned home to a family who was no doubt relieved and grateful to God that he had survived war, only to be gunned down in his own home, by his own government. As a veteran, I am just plain ticked off. But also as the Founder of this organization, I am convinced that we Oath Keepers veterans need to step up with as much resolve as we expect the current serving to do. We ask them to "steel their resolve" to do what's right by their oath. We veterans need to do the same, and we Oath Keepers need to take the lead on encouraging other veterans and veterans organizations to step up.



And as for any concerns about not knowing all the facts in this case, what is at issue is the policy of using SWAT to serve a search warrant on a veteran with no criminal history that is at issue here. The facts related to that decision are clear. And it is that practice that is being used across this nation, in direct conflict with our right to bear arms and our right to defend our homes. And that policy will lead to more deaths, and it must be stopped. That is the point, not any ultimate outcome in this particular case - and since the Sheriff's office has sealed all documentation and is now refusing to answer any further questions, it will be months or perhaps even years before all facts are known in this particular case. By then, people may have forgotten all about it. So now is the time to step up.


At this Memorial Day rally, we will conduct ourselves in a professional manner that does due honor to the dead, due honor to our Republic, and due honor to this young Marine's service. Just like during the 912 March in DC, where there was not a scrap of paper on the ground after a million people were done speaking their minds, we will conduct ourselves in such a manner as to not give the domestic enemies of the Constitution a leg to stand on. Liberty is preserved by four boxes of freedom. Let's use the first box, the soap box, by exercising our right to freedom of speech, assembly, and our right to petition government for a redress of grievances. Conduct yourselves with honor and due respect for Memorial Day, but let's do send a firm, resolute message that we will not let our Constitution be destroyed, and we will not let our children's heritage and birthright of liberty be stolen. Not on our watch!

For the Republic,

Stewart Rhodes
Army Airborne veteran and Founder of Oath Keepers

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2011/05/...-walter-reddy/

http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2011/05/21/oath-keepers-to-rally-in-tucson-on-memorial-day-over-death-of-young-marine-veteran/

PA Police Over-Reaction To Open Carry

Philadelphia Police Threaten To Kill Open Carrier

Audio Only =

Take A Gun To A Knife Fight?

Always Carry A Pistol To A Knife Fight

November 29th, 2010

- GRAFIC PHOTOS BELOW!!!


























ALWAYS Carry a pistol to a knife fight!
Ever wonder why cops shoot people armed with knives, broken bottles, glass shards, etc.?
If an experienced knife fighter gets in close, you may not have the opportunity to use the handgun before he can do damage.
Remember the 21 foot rule?

Well, don’t forget the “Ego Rule”…….
These photos are of an officer trained in hand-to-hand combat.

The officer figured that due to his size and fighting skills, he could disarm a knife wielding aggressor.







Here is why I am forwarding these on.

To all the idiots out there who always say, “Why did the cops have to shoot him? He only had a (insert your choice of weapons here, i.e. knife, bat, club, whatever). He didn’t have to be shot.

To that, I respond, “tough crap … shoot ‘em”.

If an officer tells you to drop your weapon, just drop it.

If you’re a retard, stupid, on crack, mental or just “scared”… too bad. No one deserves what this cop got for just doing his job. If you got a knife, then you should go down… period.

This is vivid proof of how deadly people who are “only armed with a knife” can be. Some of the public think that officers should try to disarm someone armed with a knife but anyone who has had training in knife fighting will tell you – even if you win you are going to get cut. Keep this in the back of your mind when confronting someone armed with an edged weapon.

HAVE I MADE MY POINT? A picture is worth 1000 words so let this sink in. If a cop tells you to stop or put down your weapon and you don’t, I say he should be able to shoot. I know damn well that if a cop tells me to stop what I am doing, I am going to stop right away. The only people who don’t have something to hide and I say shoot the idiots.

http://rollinsd.com/dont-carry-a-knife-to-a-gun-fight/

2010 Most Deadly Year For Cops

“Cop Killer” 2010 Proves to Be Most Deadly Year For Police Officers

If you remember the uproar that Ice-T’s rock group, Body Count, caused with their incendiary track “Cop Killer” then you can be sure that somehow, someway, the significant rise of police deaths will be tracked back the urban community.

Two officers in a remote Alaska town were ambushed as they chatted on a street. A California officer and deputy were killed by an arson suspect with a high-powered rifle as they tried to serve a warrant. Two other officers doing anti-drug work were gunned down by men along a busy Arkansas highway.

These so-called cluster killings of more than one officer helped make 2010 a particularly deadly year for law enforcement. Deaths in the line of duty jumped 37 percent to about 160 from 117 the year before, according to numbers as of Tuesday compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a nonprofit that tracks police deaths.

There also was a spike in shooting deaths. Fifty-nine federal, state and local officers were killed by gunfire in 2010, a 20 percent jump from last year’s figures, when 49 were killed. The total does not include the death of a Georgia State Patrol trooper shot twice in the face Monday night in Atlanta as he tried to make a traffic stop.

And 73 officers died in traffic incidents, a rise from the 51 killed in 2009, according to the data.

Craig Floyd, director of the Washington-based fund, said the rise in fatalities could be an aftershock of the nation’s economic troubles as officers in some communities cope with slashed budgets.

We salute all the men and women who work tirelessly, and for little pay, to make sure that our streets are as safe as possible. Clearly all cops aren’t good cops and to those crooked, racist, a**holes, we say…protect your neck, Karma is a b*tch!

http://thestatechamp.com/index.php/2010/12/%E2%80%9Ccop-killer-2010-proves-to-be-most-deadly-year-for-police-officers/

Police Shooting Deaths Spike Nationwide

"Cops are not going to be pigeons, they're not going to be waiting to be picked off."

By Andrew Maykuth and Barbara Boyer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
November 13, 2007

PHILADELPHIA — There are no moratoriums on shooting at police officers.

Just three days after the city buried Officer Chuck Cassidy in an emotional civic funeral, the bullets were flying at police again in Grays Ferry on Saturday when officers tried to break up a fight.

No officer was injured, though one gunman was wounded when police returned fire. But the latest shooting is an example of what experts say is an alarming reversal of a long decline in law-enforcement officers' being targeted and killed.

Not only have more police officers been shot at or threatened with guns this year, but experts say more are being targeted in a deliberate fashion, as Cassidy was -- with close shots to the head.

"Something has transformed the mentality of these inner-city kids that killing a police officer is just the price to be paid for doing business of dealing drugs or robbing a store," said Hubert Williams, president of the Police Foundation in Washington.

"We're seeing more and more of this kind of thing," said Williams, a former police director in Newark, N.J. "They're deliberately shooting for the head — they know the police wear body armor."

So far this year across the country, 63 officers have died from gunshots, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a total up 40 percent over the same time last year.

Including the Saturday night shooting, there have been 72 incidents so far this year in Philadelphia in which people pointed guns at, fired at, or shot police officers, surpassing the entire-year totals of the three previous years.

The rise in police shootings prompted Gov. Rendell and House Speaker Dennis O'Brien to call for legislation that would mandate a minimum 20-year sentence for anyone who shoots at a police officer, whether the bullet hits or misses.

As the shock from Cassidy's death subsides, Philadelphia police are closely analyzing the events leading up to his killing, along with other recent shootings of officers that have put the force on high alert.

"We have to Monday-morning quarterback any time something like this happens," said Chief Inspector William Colarulo of the Internal Affairs Unit. "That's the only way we learn."

With an increasing number of police officers shot locally and nationally, and Mayor-elect Michael Nutter promising more aggressive police action to quash violent crime, Philadelphia may face more wrenching weeks like the one that passed with Cassidy being buried the day after the alleged killer, John Lewis, 21, was arrested.

Could Cassidy's shooting and others have been prevented with more training or different policies? Or has gun violence become so prevalent, and criminals so cavalier, that more police casualties are simply the inevitable price to be paid?

"There's really not much more we can do," said John J. McNesby, president of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police. He said training is excellent and police are acting aggressively but responsibly. The problem, he said, is a tolerance of guns.

"What we need to change is the people out there carrying guns," he said. "If there's any pattern, change that pattern, and it would be a lot safer for the officers and the community."

Officers are trained to expect the unexpected.

"We teach the recruits how to handle themselves in a number of situations, but you can never prepare for something like this," said Chief Inspector Jose M. Melendez, head of the department's training bureau.

Going into this year, police deaths nationwide were at modern lows -- far below 1973, when 134 officers were killed feloniously in the line of duty, according to the FBI. Last year, the FBI said, 48 officers were killed, including Gary Skerski, the Philadelphia officer who was shot in the face when he interrupted a robbery in progress.

Before Skerski's killing last year, the Philadelphia Police Department had gone 10 years without losing an officer to gunfire in the line of duty. The last decade was relatively peaceful compared to historic numbers of attacks on police -- in six separate cases in 1919, assailants shot and killed seven Philadelphia police officers, including one whose body lay at Ninth and Christian Streets for nearly a half-hour until a tipster finally called the station house.

This year's violence bears a disturbing resemblance to the past. Cassidy was the fourth Philadelphia officer shot in two months. One of the other officers shot, Brian Decoatsworth, received a close-range blast from a sawed-off shotgun. He lived because the gunman used birdshot rather than more lethal ammunition.

There was also the ambush killing last month of two retired Philadelphia police officers, Joseph Alullo and William Widmaier, who were working as armored-truck guards.

Law enforcement believes it is under fire.

"What happens is that cops are not going to be pigeons, they're not going to be waiting to be picked off," said Williams, the Police Foundation president. "It's going to influence the force mentality, and they end up ratcheting up the force."

A more aggressive police response, he said, can undermine community support.

Williams called for the federal government to step in to get more guns and violent gang members off the streets.

"The federal government has been so totally focused on international terrorism, they're not watching urban violence," Williams said.

Philadelphia police are analyzing the most recent shootings to determine whether a new approach is needed.

Officers receive annual in-service training — including one day on the firing range — and are retrained in officer safety every several years.

During in-service training, Colarulo said, officers view videotapes of police who are wounded or killed in the line of duty, usually from cameras mounted on squad cars. Although difficult to watch, Colarulo said, the tapes provide valuable lessons.

It's too early to know whether the dramatic surveillance tape from Cassidy's killing on Oct. 31 will be used as a training tool, but it has been analyzed closely by commanders.

Those who reviewed the video said Cassidy appeared to follow procedures, but never had a chance.

A bystander told Cassidy that "something" was happening in the doughnut shop on North Broad Street — it could have been a disturbance. Cassidy believed it was enough of a threat to unholster his Glock semiautomatic, which he was pointing at the ground when he entered.

As Cassidy, 54, entered the store, the stocky robber wearing a hooded sweatshirt, alerted by a ringing door bell, fired a shot at the veteran officer. Cassidy was beginning to raise his gun when he was hit.

It's a "cop's worst nightmare" to interrupt a robbery, said Capt. Charlie Bloom, a 30-year member of the force.

It was over in an instant. Cassidy died the next day.

By training, officers can use deadly force only if they believe they must protect themselves or another "from imminent death or serious bodily injury." They may not fire if it will "unnecessarily endanger innocent people."

They must also consider retreating: "It is often a tactically superior police procedure rather than the immediate use of force," the department instructs officers.

Colarulo said that most disputes end abruptly with the arrival of a uniformed officer. But a robbery in progress is the biggest threat -- the assailant may size up an officer before the officer is able to assess the situation.

Chief Inspector Anthony DiLacqua of the Patrol Bureau said policy and safety are also addressed daily during roll call, when officers are reminded to keep alert even during the routine motor-vehicle checks or when checking businesses, as Cassidy was doing.

Officers need to be particularly alert when making routine pedestrian stops, he said.

"Any one of those," DiLacqua said, "could turn bad. Any one of them."

Read the P1 News Report: Police nationwide seeing more violent attacks

http://www.policeone.com/patrol-issues/articles/1627695-Police-shooting-deaths-spike-nationwide/

Thank God, there aren't too many Rhodes' Scholars involved in cirme these days!

what an idiot....

Tenn. Driver Passes Out - Meth Lab in Back Seat

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) -- Police say a driver passed out in his car at a Tennessee gas station while a batch of methamphetamine was cooking in the back seat.

An employee at the gas station in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville, called police because the car was sitting at the pump for about an hour on New Year's Day.

Police say a chemical process to make the drug was in progress. Some meth-making ingredients can be explosive.

Murfreesboro Assistant Fire Chief Allen Swader told The Daily News Journal that gas pumps were shut off as a precaution.

Thirty-one-year-old Nathan E. Beasley is being held on a $15,000 bond on charges of driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license, reckless endangerment and manufacturing meth. No attorney was listed in police records.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/03/tenn-driver-passes-out-meth-lab-back-seat/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_more_news_carousel

Good for her, We The People need top start taking care of ourselves; it's the only thing these assholes understand. They sure as hell are not afraid of the cops, the courts, or doing time; but a possible gun, knife, club or good old self-defense physical retaliation will get their attention; these people are usually chicken-hearted bullies that count on passiveness. I'm sure his pals will think about his stabbing before their next attempted assault; we have become way too passive, and way to dependent on the man for protection. It’s up to us to protect and defend us; that’s the bottom line. When we lost tract of this fact the bullies became bolder and bolder. JMO

Woman kills harasser: cops
By C.J. Sullivan and Matthew Nestel

Last Updated: 11:11 AM, December 25, 2009

Posted: 2:48 AM, December 25, 2009

A woman fatally stabbed one of a group of men hassling her in Queens last night, authorities said.

After the men confronted her on a Long Island City street, she ran down to the 21st Queensbridge F-train station to get away. But they caught up with her on the mezzanine level, cops said.

When they continued to harass her, she stabbed one of them, police said.

His friends chased her down to the platform, where she escaped into a train whose doors were closing. Meanwhile, the 29-year-old man she had stabbed crawled back up to the street, where he died.

"I cried when they told me he was dead," said a relative who asked to remain anonymous. "Killed on Christmas Eve. It's such a shame."

Police said the man had a long police record, most of it for drug offenses.

A woman, who said she was the man's aunt, said she's raising his daughter because he lived in a shelter.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/woman_kills_harasser_cops_kpShoTEf51izpU5rE5loKP

Cool magazine and website:

American Cop & its website - http://www.americancopmagazine.com

The man's business card had printed on it SoA on it, meaning Servant Of Allah:



He was proselytizing to our returning service personal, he made 20-phone calls to a Al Qaeda recruiter, who used to be the leader of his Mosque, and we knew this! Why in the hell are these people getting being overlooked? What the muck is all this PC crap doing for us?