TPD Blog

Ropes Course, Week 12 of Police Academy

Monday we spent the entire day at a brand new ropes course. The ropes course teaches your group team building exercises and problem solving. They also have an individual course in which you must overcome mental and physical obstacles with minimal assistance from your team or group. Our class is very team oriented so we did a great job on the all the exercises. We even broke a few of the records on the team building exercises. After lunch we did the high ropes course, which focused more on individual confidence building. We had to climb a 50-ft. wall, maneuver around and through different obstacles, and zip down a line to finish. Most of us were scared but we all completed the task. The ropes course is so much fun and beneficial to any team or group to enhance or even teach them teamwork.

Tuesday was our last regular day at the Range. We continued shooting all the different course that we have been since we started at the Range about 2 months ago. They include the aim fire course, the C.L.E.E.T. course, magazine exchanges, and competition shooting with our shotguns and handguns. We ended our Range day by having 2 of our class mates shoot a pepper popper laying down on the berm at 136 yards away. Our Fire Marshall prevailed once again hitting the target center mass on the 1st shot. Although it will be nice not cleaning our guns on Tuesday and Thursday nights, our range days will be missed.

Wednesday was our 1st day of Defensive Tactics. We started off with the basic offensive and defensive moves. We learned how to jab, punch, cross, elbow strikes, kicks, blocking kicks, and blocking punches. We finished the day doing a circuit incorporating all of those techniques. And let me tell you we were wore out and slept like babies that night.

We ended the week learning about the mentally ill. I would like to thank the IMPACT and COPES teams who came out to the Training Center to assist in teaching us. They did great in their skits and it helped us to understand the different types of mentally ill and how best to talk with them.

APO Kelli Braitsch

Keep Kids Alive 25 Day

"Stop the speeding on my street—now!" is one of the most urgent phone calls fielded by the Tulsa Police Department, the City of Tulsa, and officials nationwide. With warmer weather ahead, such complaints will only increase as anxious parents and neighbors fear for the safety of children at play. That’s why dozens of communities across the country are proclaiming May 1, 2007 "Keep Kids Alive 25 Day," and raising awareness of the serious problem of speeding and distracted driving on neighborhood streets.

Most people speeding through neighborhoods are residents themselves. By sounding a May Day alert, a call for help in the battle against residential speeding, people will recognize their role in the problem and become a part of solution instead of relying on police and speed bumps alone.

The Tulsa Police Department is concerned with this nationwide need and will always remain on alert to assist with the public’s request for assistance.

The City of Tulsa can help provide signage for neighborhoods on promoting the KEEP KIDS ALIVE Drive 25 program. For more information on the this and traffic calming for neighborhoods, log on to www.cityoftulsa.org and click on the Community Programs and scroll down to Drive 25.

New Story from Officer Jay

Officer Jay Chiarito-Mazzarella recorded a new story for us. Listen here:

http://www.tpdpodcast.com/2007/04/26/im-at-a-loss-street-stories-6/

Handling Civil Disobedience

KOTV - 4/25/2007 5:45 PM

When faced with 200 people throwing bottles and rocks, officers have to remember their riot training from their rookie days in the academy. Now, Tulsa Police are creating a new training video to teach the correct way to respond to a riot, like the one that happened at a north Tulsa apartment complex two weeks ago. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright was the only reporter invited to the video shoot. She reports that although Tulsa officers handled that riot just fine, the top brass thought it would be a good idea to give all officers a refresher course.

The training video will go through the basics, like the correct way to hold the baton at port arms, jab ready and roundhouse. Officers don't have to use these skills very often so department leadership thought added training would be helpful.

"We're going to make a short video and show it at squad meetings as a refresher to officers," Crocker said.

The video even demonstrates the correct way for officers to put on their gas masks, just in case a situation requires them to shoot cannons of pepper spray or tear gas into a crowd.

The idea behind handling civil disobedience is to push the crowd back and to break it up, before anyone on either side gets hurt. But the training is all designed to be hands-off.

"That's what we want. We don't want to have to lay hands on anybody," said Crocker.

Creating a training video is the most efficient way to educate the department's 700 officers. This way, they can see the proper way to form a column of officers, before spreading out into a skirmish line with helmets on for protection and riot batons ready.

"It has a psychological effect on the crowd, yes and we want to arrive in an orderly fashion so we know what we're doing, the crowd knows what we're doing and it's a show of force and don't have to escalate force more than that," said Tulsa Police Captain Tracie Crocker. "Just showing up, moving the crowd with no hands on, no force, that's what we want to do."

The department hopes to have the video showing in squad meetings by next week. Police have also changed how they house their riot gear. The helmets and batons will no longer be kept in closets at the police stations; instead, they'll be stored in vehicles that can be driven to scenes in a hurry.

Copyright KOTV Tulsa 2007.

Related Links:

http://kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=125196

http://tpdblog.typepad.com/tpdblog/2007/04/angry_mob.html

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/15/tulsa.standoff.ap/index.html

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070415_1_A15_NGTON24808

Basketball: Police Square Off with Local School Athletes

TULSA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES

VS.

CITY OF TULSA POLICE OFFICERS

 

"Saving Our Kids" Basketball SHOWDOWN!

Members of area Tulsa high schools and City of Tulsa representatives will square off on the basketball court to raise money for a Youth Center. The center will serve the community in a broad range of hands on programs including childcare, mentoring, after school tutoring, food & utility bill assistance, teenage pregnancy classes, resume writing courses, and clothes for the needy.

WHEN:

Saturday afternoon, April 28^th at 2 PM

.

WHERE: Rogers High School

, 3909 E. 5^th Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma

HOW MUCH

: $5 per person, $20 per family of five

(Tickets sold at the door)

HALFTIME FEATURE: Free Throw Contest with Elementary & Jr. High School

Concession stand will be OPEN!

There will be plenty of music, food, and fun at the game. This is an excellent event for the whole family to come out and enjoy.

All proceeds will go toward the development of the Youth Center.

Contact: Sergeant Stephanie Jackson at 918-596-1305

Stolen cars in South Tulsa

(EAST TULSA, Okla.) April 25 - Tulsa police need your help to bust some car thieves.They've noticed a cluster of car thefts happening in South Tulsa. Police are concerned about the area near 71st and Riverside to 81st and Riverside.

A car is stolen every 26 seconds in our country. First on the list of stolen cars is the 1991 Honda Accord, followed by the 1995 Honda Civic and 1989 Toyota Camry.

Tulsa police officers say the best way to avoid being a victim is to use common sense. Corporal Steve Wood said, "A lot of the things that I talk to my own neighbors about is, would you like to be able to leave your lawnmower and your bike out in the front yard, but if you do that don’t be surprised if it gets stolen. It’s just common sense that you put those things away so you don’t become a victim."

Here are the top three things you can do to keep your car from getting stolen:

-Never leave your keys in the ignition, even when pumping gas.

-Always lock your doors. Police say plenty of people forget to do that.

-Think parking, a garage is the best, but if that's not possible try to park under a bright light.

If you would like to see where car thefts or other crimes are happening near you, use the Tulsa Police Department's Crime Mapper. http://www.tulsapolice.org/mapcentral.html

Copyright KOKI Tulsa 2007.

Tulsa Police Grateful to Brave Citizen

This morning, Michael Kannard was awarded the Police Citizen Appreciation Award for his bravery. He intervened as a violent suspect was attempting to beat an officer. Everytime a police officer is involved in such a fight, it is considered a deadly encounter. When Kannard interceded, he may have saved Officer Carl Small's life.

As Deputy Chief Bill Wells stated, "it is our chance to show our appreciation for the extraordinary acts of one of the citizens we serve."

Related Links:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070426_1_A18_hTher41888

http://tpdblog.typepad.com/tpd_news/2007/04/citizens_apprec.html

Podcast Exclusive Content

Community Education Sgt. Stephanie Jackson shares some helpful tips about Personal Safety. Stephanie presents various topics at civic meetings, about 35 so far this year, and coordinates other presentations.

Listen here: http://www.tpdpodcast.com/2007/04/23/personal-safety-tpd-talks-2/

Week 11 with APO Kelli

We started off our week with the 2nd academy test and the 2nd Cooper's Test. The Cooper's Test is a physical assessment test for flexibility, vertical jump, body fat, sit-ups, push-ups, bench press, 1.5 mile run, and 300 meter sprint. We all passed the 2nd academy test with flying colors and all of us greatly improved on the Cooper's Test.

Wednesday afternoon we were asked to assist the K-9 Unit with training. Maybe I should say we got volunteered to assist the K-9 unit. They asked for 6 people that weren't afraid of dogs. This is the part where I didn't raise my hand. No, I'm not scared of dogs but I thought to myself "Hhhmmm...APO's and the K-9 Unit, this can't be good for us." I know we have all seen the Fear Factor show where they dress the contestants in the padded outfit and let the K-9's attack them. So, I was not volunteering myself to that fun. However, it ended up they only needed our scent in the boxes and for one of us to stay there until the K-9 figured out the box we were hiding in.

We had our last full week at the Range. We are ending the Range by shooting all different types of courses. We did some aim-fire courses with our shotguns and handguns. We practiced a new walking and shooting drill, then did the drill with water bottles. We would hold a water bottle upside down and walk. The idea of the drill is to walk with little movement in your water bottle. Then we did the course again and actually improved our shots. Later in the day we split off into 2 groups, one group did more of the walking course, and the other did a shotgun/handgun course that involved driving the police car with lights and sirens. And let me just tell you our class ranges in age from 23-38 but at that moment we were all 12 years old. We were so excited to drive the police car with lights and sirens, and I don't think we will ever not be excited to do that!

On Friday morning we did some more geography ride-alongs. Those are always beneficial and it is always nice to get out of the classroom. Friday afternoon we got the Officer's Memorial ready for the yearly ceremony that will take place May 4th and 5th.

Next week is the midway point in the academy! YAY!

Kelli Braitsch

Sex Offender Residency Restrictions Getting Another Look

Some Lawmakers Call Residency Restrictions Too Strict

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Concerns about a decline in registration and a system that treats all sex offenders the same have some Oklahoma lawmakers revisiting legislation that placed additional residency restrictions on those offenders.

Police and corrections officials said a law passed last year that bars sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a playground, park or day-care center has kept offenders from registering because it leaves them with few places to live legally. They already were forbidden to live near schools.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections reported that 860 sex offenders had fallen off the registry as of April, an increase from 800 in 2006.

"Residency restrictions don't make sense," Corrections Department parole officer Mark Pursley said. "There is no study out there that says proximity increases recidivism. The true predators -- if they want a child, they will go get a child."

The definition of a sex offender also has caused problems. They range from child rapists to drunken college students caught urinating in public, but all sex offenders are treated the same under state law. None can live near schools, playgrounds, parks or day-care centers, and all must register on a public sex offender list for the rest of their lives.

Lawmakers are working to put in place a tiered system that would evaluate each case individually to determine the level of risk a sex offender poses to the community. The change would allow law enforcement to focus their efforts and resources on those who are the biggest threat, supporters say.

"The key component is supervision," said Rep. Gus Blackwell, R-Goodwell. "When you hear the word `sex offender,' you immediately think of a child rapist. There are so many other people caught within that; this makes the system more fair."

House Bill 1760 would set up a risk assessment review committee at the Corrections Department. The committee would look at each case before a sex offender's release from prison and give each person a risk level ranking.

That ranking would be tied to how long offenders must register and eventually could determine where they can live. The tiered system will be mandatory in all states by 2009 as part of the federal Adam Walsh legislation, which requires all convicted sex offenders be placed in a risk category, including those in the system now.

The bill does not tie the rankings to the living restrictions, but Blackwell said he plans to add that language. A level-one offender may not need any living restrictions, Blackwell said.

The rank also determines how long a sex offender must register with the state. Level-three sex offenders would remain registered for life, but level-one offenders would be removed after 15 years, and level-two offenders after 25 years, if the bill becomes law.

Eighteen-year-olds who have sex with younger teen schoolmates should not have to register as a sex offender for the rest of their lives if that is their only conviction, Blackwell said.

Another change Blackwell said is needed is a clear definition of which day-care centers fall under the living restrictions. Some have interpreted the law to include home day cares, limiting even further where a sex offender can live. Blackwell says he intends to change the law to apply only to commercial day-care centers.

State Rep. Lucky Lamons, a former Tulsa police officer, said the living restrictions in place now are too tight, especially for nonviolent offenders.

"This issue is a political football ... because there is nobody that wants a sex offender living in their neighborhood," said Lamons, D-Tulsa. "But the rules are so restrictive, that now the system is failing because they aren't registering and living wherever they want to live and hoping they don't get caught." 

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Fire official wants Tulsans to know the facts about smoke alarms

By ALTHEA PETERSON World Staff Writer

4/20/2007

Capt. Ray Evins, assistant fire marshal, said he wants Tulsans to have smoke detectors.

After all, he said, he can't remember any local fire deaths in houses with working smoke detectors.

"They give you a 50 percent greater chance of surviving a fire," Evins said.

Here are key things you need to know about your smoke detectors:

Numbers count: At a minimum, a home should have one smoke detector outside sleeping areas and at least one on each level of the house. Ideally, a home should have one in each bedroom.

It's the law: Landlords are required by law to provide working smoke detectors in rental homes.

Testing: Smoke detectors should be tested every month. Batteries should be replaced twice a year.

Placement: Smoke detectors should be mounted on a wall four to 12 inches from the ceiling. Or, they can be mounted on the ceiling, but should be four inches away from corners.

Carbon monoxide detectors: Carbon monoxide detectors are different and need to be handled differently. Evins recommends following manufacturer's instructions for placing and testing carbon monoxide detectors.

Cost is not an issue: For homeowners within the Tulsa city limits, the Tulsa Fire Department will install smoke alarms free of charge.

For more information: Call 669-6186 or go online to

www.cityoftulsa.org/PublicSafety/Fire/publiceducation.

Althea Peterson 581-8361

althea.peterson@tulsaworld.com

Copyright 2007 The Tulsa World. All rights reserved. Format differs from original publication.

Off. Jay Releases Another Podcast

A new podcast from Officer Jay Chiarito-Mazzarella has been posted.

You can listen to or download the audiofile here:

http://www.tpdpodcast.com/

Protect your local Nazis

Recently, a local church sponsored a sermon by a minister who was advocating the support of Israel. This apparently didn’t set well with the American National Socialist Workers Party, who sent four of their representatives to protest. Several co-workers and I were sent to monitor the event.

These four members wore nazi-style swastika armbands and at least one of them carried a sign which said, "What would Hitler do?" The motorists traveling by didn’t seem to care for these displays and some voiced their displeasure.

I thought the protest, and an impromptu counter-protest were not only evidence of our constitution at work, but good entertainment, so I called my wife and had her bring our 14-year-old daughter out to watch. My daughter particularly hates when I do things like that, but she’s grown used to it.

After the event was over and I returned home, she asked me what my role was at the scene. I asked her what she thought my role was. She said, "Making sure the Nazis didn’t attack anyone?" I said, "Yes, what else?" She said, "Making sure they didn’t go out in the street?" I said, "Yes, what else?" She thought for a few minutes and then her eyes got really big. She said, "You were protecting the Nazis??!!" It was obvious she thought her father was some sort of secret Nazi sympathizer.

After explaining that I was indeed not a Nazi sympathizer, I admitted that part of my duties as a police officer was to protect the protestors. I told her that as Americans, we have the right to speak out, or protest in public arenas (with very few exceptions), no matter what our views are. If we didn’t protect the protestors, and they were run off by an angry mob, then it would be the mob who decided what they got to say. So what good is our freedom of speech if someone else decides what we are allowed to say. What sort of rights to speech would we have if a mob could threaten you or physically remove you if they didn’t like what you had to say.

What did impress me, though, was that a woman passerby thought enough of the situation to return with her two children and signs of their own, protesting the protestors. And yes, my duties were to protect them also.

Sgt. Rick Bondy

"Routine" Angry Mob

We had a riot the other night. Literally. What started as a routine check on a person matching the description of a known murder suspect turned into chaos. Once the suspect’s friends and family knew the police were closing in on him, they tried to distract the police (to probably make it easier for the suspect to escape). In so doing, they agitated a few more people, who agitated even more…yeah, and so on, and so on, and so on. When I first heard my former sergeant say that rocks were being thrown and police cars were being damaged, I couldn’t get to the scene fast enough. Then there were reports of shots fired. Everything that was previously "routine" about that night changed in an instant. And in many ways, so did the consciousness of Tulsa.

Admittedly, it’s tough to articulate what runs through your mind as you standing beside your friends and fellow officers staring down an angry crowd of more than a hundred. They were so angry they even began fighting among themselves. But it was euphoric to watch the collective group stop dead in their tracks as a long line of dozens of police cars arrived lights flashing and sirens blaring. As police car after police car swarmed on the scene, you could hear the collective mind of mob stop and think to itself…"We better get the @#$* outta here…" And luckily, the crowd more or less dispersed without much incident.

I was then assigned by a supervisor to check on a group of people near a fence, who seemingly appeared to be trying to get back inside the complex and around the police perimeter. We checked on one group. And as I approached another, I could hear someone talking on a cell phone. It seemed they were telling someone (the suspect) what the police were doing and where they were. I caused some disruptions of my own to frustrate their plans. Luckily, the group included members of the suspect’s family. So we brought them to the Special Operations command post. They were enraged, furious, and even more angry that they met me outside the fence. But luckily, the negotiation team prevailed and ultimately persuaded the family to help make contact with the suspect. He ultimately surrendered to own up to his consequences.

Although a lot of things happened—rocks hurled, news reporters jostled, shots fired, a mob dispersed—there was a lot that didn’t happen. Every one there in a uniform knew it, but much wasn’t said about it: we were all glad to see each other. We were all glad to be on the same side looking after each other. And we were all glad that everyone went home safe that night. At the least, I certainly was…

Off. Jay Chiarito-Mazzarella

Related information

http://209.200.89.94/blog/readblog.cfm?blogid=155

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070416_1_A12_hPoli50405

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070415_1_A15_NGTON24808

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/15/tulsa.standoff.ap/index.html

http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=125138

http://www.kotv.com/e-clips/?id=5661

Police Review Riot Gear Policy

KOTV - 4/16/2007

A weekend riot has Tulsa police taking another look at their equipment policies; they want to make sure they get riot gear to officers in the fastest way possible. About 200 people threw bottles and rocks at police Saturday night while officers were trying to arrest a murder suspect. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports that even though this type of thing doesn't happen very often, police do have the training and equipment necessary to handle it.

Each of the three police divisions has a closet filled with about 60 riot helmets, batons and 30 shields. The equipment is too expensive and used too infrequently to outfit every officer, so if there's an incident someone grabs the gear and takes it to the scene, which is what happened Saturday night.

"In this instance, from talking to a supervisor on the scene, he said there was a 15 minute timeframe from the time they got it from here to the scene and I consider that pretty good," said Tulsa Police Major Paul Williams. "Of course, the officers at the scene thought that was way too slow and we're looking at other options on that."

The look of the riot gear is supposed to be a deterrent. All the gear is defensive, the shield and helmet protect the officers while longer batons give them additional reach to move the crowds back. And dispersing the crowd is key. Officers believe Saturday’s case started with a core group of people trying to create a distraction so murder suspect Rico Starks could escape, then the crowd turned ugly.

"When one person throws a rock or bottle or fires a round and other people have guns, if we can just disperse the crowd, even into smaller groups, they lose their courage and confidence from being in a huge group and it deescalates very quickly," Williams said.

The original arrest team of eight to 10 officers called for help, and the bullet trap officers responded first, another 10 to 12 officers, then they called for help and the SWAT team showed up, for a total of 70 officers. Police say the show of force and training are the reasons no one on either side was seriously hurt.

There was a bit of a communication glitch when the police department asked the fire department for help Saturday night. The fire department thought police requested them to spray water on the crowd and declined to help, since their policy prevents that. That's not what the officers wanted; they wanted them to spray water into the air, to create a rain situation to help break up the crowd. The fire department says it is always willing to help protect the city's officers.

Copyright KOTV, 2007.

Tulsa Police Podcast Site

  I am proud to announce our new Podcast website. For those unitiated to the Podcast concept, I would like to welcome you...take a look and a listen. Podcasts are simply audio files posted to the site for you to listen to or download, sort-of like on demand radio or music.

Our Podcasts are yet another avenue to learn about what the Tulsa Police Department is doing, our programs, and some entertaining content you may already be familiar with from the TPD blog, "Street Stories."

We decided it was best to package this content all together....We just posted a new one so please listen and/or subscribe:

http://www.tpdpodcast.com/

Off. Will Dalsing

Attack of the Pec Deck Machine

It was a brisk Monday afternoon on April 9th. We had started our typical physical training activities around 1600hrs (4:00pm). My running/lifting partner and I had just finished running our 8 laps around the track and proceeded into the weight room to lift.

We were finishing our lifting circuit and were excited to head home for the day. I joyfully sat down to do my last set on the pec deck machine. I set the weight to 40lbs and pulled the right arm of the machine inward to start my set. As it got closer to my face the tension increased, as it should, however nothing could've ever prepare me for what was about to happen. The cable in the machine snapped and, being the tall 5"5" that I am, it puts the arms of the machine around face level.

Yes you can giggle and imagine what happened next.

The machine struck me on the right side of my forehead. I immediately collapsed to the ground but somehow remained conscious. My running/lifting partner quickly established I wasn't bleeding, but I did have an enormous growth forming on my forehead.

I decide not to look at the protruding bump because the reactions of my classmates let me know it was huge and growing by the minute.

I eventually elected to be brave and view the new addition to my body. And that was a bad mistake because it only made me sick.

I allowed some time to pass before I decided that it would be in my best interest, and in the best interest of the City of Tulsa, not to drive home.

After a lot of icing and laying down the growth finally minimized. It also helped that my mother is a nurse. You got to love the TLC of your mother at those moments in your life.

APO Kelli Braitsch

Grant improves city's safety

(TULSA, Okla.) April 11 - New funding is paying for extra police officers to target some specific areas in Tulsa.

It's possible through the $100,000 Justice Assistance Grant. The grant pays to put extra officers downtown on Friday and Saturday nights around bars and hot spots.But the money also puts extra officers in areas where neighbors or business owners have seen their share of crime or problems that need extra police enforcement.

Kimberly Morgan says criminals had taken over her once quiet and basically crime free neighborhood. "Two major problems, one prostitution, other is drugs. Pull up in middle of street and buy anything you want." Kimberly says those problems are slowly becoming a thing of the past thanks to the Justice Assistance Grant. "It has made a tremendous difference to the neighborhood. We have seen a drastic reduction in the activity that's been going on."

Tulsa Police Major Paul Williams says with the grant money, "More officers are available, specifically targeting areas where there are problems or the potential for problems." So far Major Williams says the funding has helped the Tulsa downtown entertainment and business district, the business district along 51st and Memorial, the neighborhood near 21st and Garnet, East 11th, 5000 N. Peoria, and 12th and Rockford.

The grant pays overtime hours for 4 to 6 extra officers on Tulsa streets.Officers say they're already preparing to apply for the Justice Assistance Grant again. The application process will begin in October.

Of course, if there is a problem that needs police assistance immediately don't hesitate to dial 911. But if you're experiencing a problem and you think the Justice Assistance Grant may help out, call officers in your divisions.The number for the north division is 591-4100, the east division is 669-6000 and the southwest division is 596-1100.

Copyright KOKI Fox 23, 2007.

Car burglaries rise in spring

(TULSA, Okla.) April 10 - With warmer weather right around the corner, you may want to be extra cautious when you park your car.

Police say a rise in temperatures means more criminals are on the streets looking for opportunities to commit crimes.

They say car burglaries can spike this time of year.

    Police say items like purses, wallets and laptops in plain sight in your vehicle is like an open invitation for thieves to smash your window, grab the items and leave.

But police say the most frightening item a thief can take is your garage door opener, because it’s just like having the keys to your house.

Burglary victim Kevan Seal says, "It’s like you walked in on a crime scene, and that’s exactly what you have.  It’s a really horrible feeling."

That horrible feeling came a year and a half ago for Kevin, when he discovered a burglar broke into his car in the driveway, found the garage door opener, and gained access to a second car.

Kevan says, "In the garage, in that car, I had all my personal belongings, a briefcase with all of my personal information, a check book, credit cards, drivers license, and that thief took all of that."

And that's when the thieves started using Kevan's identity to write multiple checks, use credit cards, even get a driver's license with his information.

Police say, this time of year, burglars are ready to pounce on cars that are easy targets.

Sergeant Bill Goree with the Tulsa (Police) Department says, “The warmer weather, people are out more, which means the burglars are out a little bit more. Typical thieves, if they see a little opportunity to make money easily, they’ll do it."

A lesson Kevan Seal hopes others don't learn the hard way.  "So many of us take for granted that so many of us in our cars, leave so much personal material.  And they really don’t realize how risky that is."

Police say to avoid this from happening to you, if you can, park in a locked garage, remove all personal items, and keep those items out of plain sight.

Tulsa police say some hot spots for car burglaries are the River Parks, LaFortune Park and any shopping center parking lot.

Copyright KOKI Fox 23, 2007.

Police Academy Week 9 APO Braitsch

Monday and Wednesday the class was divided up into 2 groups again. This week we did geography ride-alongs and more report writing. In our geography ride-along we were given addresses and told to take our officer to that address by the quickest route we knew. In our report writing class, we practiced filling out different types of crime reports. We watched videos of crimes or we were given a scenario and had to write reports over it. This is a great learning tool for future officers. However, I think it was harder because its not a real incident and/or crime. Overall, the class did well on the reports.

Tuesday the class learned the importance of lights and illumination in our profession. Its scary how the initial appearance of something can drastically change within seconds due to light and/or illumination. We learned with proper illumination the percentage of mistake of facts shootings can be lowered greatly.

We changed things up at the Range this week. We went from shooting the aim fire course to the C.L.E.E.T. (Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training) course. We have almost everyone qualified on the courses. When we are done with qualifications, we will move on to more tactical shooting courses. We got to host another fun shooting event with the class. We had to shoot and knock over 5 targets as fast as we could. Congratulations go out to our Fire Marshall for winning that event.

It was a four-day week for us because of Good Friday. So our week went by fast and the academy is moving right along. Next week starts the 10th week in the academy, which means only 15 more weeks left.

APO Kelli Braitsch

Where to hide?

Any experienced police officer will tell you that if a bad guy is trying to hide from you, they will hide almost anywhere, whether it’s a good spot or not. A common place is under a pile of dirty clothes. Now many of you use what is commonly referred to as a "hamper" to store your dirty clothing. Others choose the "make a pile in the corner" method, or the "make a lot of piles everywhere" method. Bad guys will often hide underneath these piles of rank-smelling clothing in an effort to avoid arrest.

Other hiding places have their pros and cons. Standing in a closet behind your coats doesn’t smell as bad, but your legs can be seen. Hiding under a bed is reserved mostly for novices or children playing hide and seek. And there are other places to hide each with their own dangers.

Shortly after midnight we were called to the scene of a disturbance involving a car break-in. The resident said she knew who the suspect was and gave us his name. She said he only lived a few blocks over. With that information, we headed to his house.

At the house we knocked. A 40-something woman answered and confirmed that our suspect was inside. She also identified herself as his mother. We asked if we could talk to our suspect. She not so politely refused and went back in the house. Another dilemma.

We returned to our cars and did a little research. We discovered our suspect had misdemeanor warrants. But misdemeanor warrants can only be served at night if the person is out and about. Otherwise you have to wait until daylight. Daylight was a few hours away, so we posted an officer to watch the back and I went back to the front door to talk to Momma.

I explained to her why we were there and the fact that her ne’er-do-well son had broken into a car and had warrants for his arrest. Her not-so-polite attitude then changed. Not in a good way, however, as she started shrieking at me using language that would make sailors blush. "This is &$^&* Harassment….Get the (&^% off my property…My son’s not even here!"

Once in a great while lady justice removes her blindfold and tilts her scales in our direction, because as this lady melted my eardrums with her tirade, we all heard a loud crash coming from inside her house. Knowing exactly what had just happened, I calmly said to her, "You might want to check that because your son just fell through the ceiling."

Shortly after, the sun came up, we took the warrants to the house and knocked. Momma answered the door and let us in. Sitting on the couch, still covered in fiberglass insulation, was our suspect. In his attempt to hide from us, he had crawled into the attic, stepped off the wood rafters and crashed through the ceiling into the kitchen below. So instead of keeping her son out of police custody, her son got to go to jail and she got a giant hole in her kitchen ceiling.

Sgt. Rick Bondy

Tulsa Captain wants officers to have spiritual armor

Tulsa captain wants officers to have spiritual armor, too
The lawman believes his colleagues across Oklahoma need ‘Take Up The Shield.'

By Carla Hinton
Religion Editor

TULSA — Tulsa police Capt. Travis Yates knows what it's like to face off against criminals, and he knows what it means to head toward trouble while others are running away from it.

While officers have protective vests, firearms and training as measures of protection, Yates says there's also a need for spiritual security.

That's why Yates is leading the "Take Up The Shield” project with hopes of putting a faith book for police officers in the hands of law enforcement across Oklahoma. The book, "Take Up The Shield,” was written by pastor Tony Miano, a veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, who now serves as the department's chaplain and is founder and director of Ten-Four Ministries.

Yates agrees wholeheartedly with Miano's appeal for peace officers to "put on the whole armor of God,” as the Apostle Paul asserts in Ephesians 6. Yates said the "shield of faith” and "helmet of salvation,” along with other spiritual "armor,” can sustain officers as they do their difficult and often dangerous jobs.

"We are responding to things that people are fleeing from,” Yates said.

"I remember times where we've driven as fast as we can to get to a place where someone is being as destructive and deadly as they can be. It can be very frustrating, very tedious, very taxing. I have to believe if you don't have Christ, it's going to feel even worse.”

It came via Internet

Yates said he found out about Miano's ministry while surfing the Internet several years ago. Impressed at the depth of Miano's Christian witness to other officers, Yates invited him to visit the Tulsa area to speak to law enforcement officers. Yates said Miano visited Oklahoma for a week, going on ride-alongs with several Tulsa police officers and speaking at a Broken Arrow church one Sunday.

When "Take Up the Shield” was published in 2005, Yates said he and several fellow officers started the project to get the book into the hands of as many law enforcement officers as possible.

To his delight, several churches and businesses have taken up the cause. The Rev. Kent Choate, pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Sand Springs, where Yates is a member, led the way by providing church funds to buy books for every Sand Springs police officer.

Broken Arrow program

Dan Miller, pastor of Family Harvest Fellowship in Broken Arrow, said his church bought books for each Broken Arrow police officer because its faith approach is in keeping with his ministry's ongoing efforts to support law enforcement.

He said his church prays for a specific member of the Broken Arrow department each day and gives the officer a police officer's Bible.

Yates said he was encouraged to see churches in the Tulsa area partnering to give police officers the faith tool. He thought it would take a long time to raise enough funds to purchase books for his fellow officers on the much larger Tulsa police force, but he was wrong.

Gave it to his son

Brad Tolliver, a member of First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa, saw a story about the project in the Sand Springs Leader, and it struck a nerve. Tolliver, of Sand Springs, said his son, William, joined the Tulsa Police Department several years ago.

"When he first joined, being a concerned dad like I was, I read the book and gave it to him,” said Tolliver. "I thought, ‘Wouldn't it be great to get that in the hands of all our officers?'”

Tolliver donated $5,000 to do just that.

And what about officers who are not Christians?

They are offered Miano's book as well, Yates said.

The book is unabashedly Christian, as Miano likens the battle police officers wage against crime with the spiritual battle that believers undertake each day.

"If you hand him (police officer) a (religious) tract or a Bible, he may not read it,” Yates said.

"Even if he doesn't read the Bible, he'll read this book because it's about being a police officer.”

Copyright 2007 Daily Oklahoman. All rights reserved. Format differs from original publication.

Additional Information:

See Video of Project Launch: 

Program teaches kids to stay safe

Tulsa, Okla. April 4 - 78% of the abductors are strangers, but a new nationwide program could help keep your kids safe.

The program is called "Safe Escape," and today was the very first day kids in Tulsa are learning about it.

"Safe Escape" teaches children safe ways to escape a dangerous situation.

The program teaches kids how to react smart, not just scared.

Kim Wiles with the Tulsa Crime Commission say its great to have a program like this in Tulsa, "We feel this program is unique because it teaches kids techniques and it focuses more on child abduction prevention."

Along with learning how to avoid strangers, the program also teaches kids what to do if they’re every attacked, and where they can go for help.

If you'd like to see the "Safe Escape" presentation at your church or perhaps at a neighborhood meeting, you can call the Crime Commission at 585-5209.

Copyright KOKI 2007.

Gator living in pond, apartment dwellers say

By CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer

4/4/2007

Authorities search high and low without success, but efforts will resume after daybreak.

It might have been "Born on the Bayou," but one pesky alligator is "Living on Tulsa Time" now.

A contingent animal control officers, police officers on the ground and in a helicopter, and firefighters attempted to find a 2- to 3-foot alligator in a small pond Tuesday night after the reptile reportedly tried to eat a puppy.

Rachel Meyer said she was walking her puppy around the pond behind the Memorial Creek Apartments southwest of Memorial Drive and the Creek Turnpike on Tuesday evening when the dog went into the water after some ducks.

Meyer said she noticed something floating about eight inches away from the puppy and realized that it was an alligator only when it lunged toward the dog.

Scared and shocked, she pulled the dog, which was on a leash, from the water and ran inside to call the police.

"I figure it was someone's pet and it got too big, and they turned it loose," she said.

At least two other Memorial Creek Apartments residents said they had seen the creature before.

Andrea Richards said she saw the alligator sunning itself on the far side of the pond this week, and Liz Reynolds said she saw it swimming in the pond earlier this month.

"I thought, 'Man, I must have drank too much,' " Reynolds said. "I saw it swimming across, and I threw a rock at it, and it went underwater. I was like, 'I'm not lying! It was an alligator. But how?' "

Police could not confirm that an alligator was in the pond -- Tuesday night's search turned up nothing. Early in the search, though, authorities did see something swimming in the pond.

"We couldn't tell what it was," Cpl. Mike Hanley said. "It was too dark to tell if it was an alligator or not."

Another officer added in an Australian accent, "Crikey, it was a big one."

The Dangers Of Not Using Child Safety Seats

KOTV - 4/3/2007

A two year old boy, who was ejected from a car after being hit by a drunk driver, is doing better despite devastating head injuries. The little boy is being transferred to a regular room; he's in speech and physical therapy and is eating and talking, said police. This is good news, since initial reports were that he wasn't expected to live. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports the boy was not in a child safety seat or seatbelt at the time of the crash.

Even a big Suburban wasn't enough to protect a little boy who wasn't belted in when a drunk driver slammed into the vehicle. Police say parents often think it won't happen to them.

"You can't predict when a wreck will take place," said Tulsa Police Detective Debra Dickens. "If you are involved in a collision your child is going to be a projectile."

Crash tests show just how dangerous it is for children during crashes, and if they're ejected, they often end up with traumatic brain injuries that change their entire lives.

"If we can do something to prevent head injuries, the least we can do is take five minutes out of the day to make sure they're buckled up safely," Dickens said.

Detective Dickens is a big believer in prevention, so she's worked for years to teach parents the right way to install child safety seats, and the right way to buckle in baby. Two big mistakes parents make are not getting the seat in tight enough, and not getting the baby's strap tight enough.

"You need to have one finger between the baby and the strap. If you can wiggle your finger, you need to tighten it up," said Dickens.

In the winter, police say parents should take off their child’s coat before buckling them in, because the seat is designed for baby only, not baby and coat.

"Sometimes, we just read instructions and it's a little harder than we think they are," Dickens said. "It just helps to have specialists to confirm what you're doing and if it's wrong, advise you on how to make sure your baby goes home safely every night."

EMSA has free car seat check the first Tuesday of every month; they also offer free car seats. SafeKids offers discounted seats and also does free car seat check ups. There is a car seat check up and booster seat giveaway on Saturday, April 7th, at Lacy Park from 10 a.m. until noon.

Copyright KOTV 2007

Teens possibly 'friendly fire' victims

By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer

4/3/2007

Police officers at a school safety forum provide more details of the recent violence at Crawford Park.

New details about the mid-March shootings of a dozen or so teenagers and young adults at Crawford Park emerged Tuesday at a student safety forum at Central High School.

School, city, and law enforcement officials asked parents and other concerned people to join them in combating gang culture and gang violence among teenagers.

"We want to come together as a group of concerned people to work together to come up with a safety plan for our students, whether they are at school or away from school," Central Principal Jean Keeton said.

Central, at 3101 W. Edison St., hosted the event because several of the teenagers who were shot attend the school.

Tulsa Police Department Gang Unit Sgt. Van Ellis released new information about the Crawford Park shootings.....

Snow Patrol, Street Stories Podcast

The latest podcast from the Tulsa Police Department, "Snow Patrol" as read by the author, Officer Jay Chiarito-Mazzarella.

Thanks for listening.

http://www.tpdpodcast.com/2007/04/05/snow-patrol-street-stories-podcast-3/

Shame-faced omelet

So the other day, I’m down at our Office of Integrity and Compliance (OIC) [think "Internal Affairs"]. It’s a place that no cop wants to frequent. In fact, if you get in the elevator at the main police station, press the button for the OIC floor, other cops certainly look at you funny, while not really looking at you at all trying to avoid any guilt by association.

As my investigation for two previous complaints is about to start, another OIC investigator walks in the room. He looks at me and says, "Oh hey, glad you’re here, hang on…"

Well, I’m not really happy to be there, and even less thrilled that an investigator recognizes me on sight. He returns with a paper in hand and says, "Good that you’re here, this way I don’t have to waste time serving you, here’s another complaint."

It was like getting scolded in the principal’s office and having your teacher walk in and give your test back with a big, red F-minus emblazoned across it. Oh well...I suppose that when cops arrest dope dealers, and dope doers, and other folks who are angry with the police, they’ll file complaints against you. And if they’ve got a defense lawyer itchin’ to deliver something that vaguely resembles "justice" to their otherwise incarcerated clients, getting complaints filed against arresting officers is good consolation (if not a good way to bilk more dinero for the law firm coffer).

There are some people who seem to think complaints "slow down" police officers and make them back off. Not a friggin’ chance. In fact, I’ve never been more inspired to make it my professional business to learn even more about criminal activities. I’ll be watching like a hawk. In fact, I’m taking up falconry (heck, I might even show up at the next Renaissance Fair).

So after being questioned at OIC, I start my shift. It’s a weird night, the kind where everybody seems a little off-kilter. I end up getting into a skirmish and have to use OC-Spray (similar to "mace") to subdue someone who just "ain’t going along with the program." I spray a blast or two into the face of the suspect, but my duty glove gets stuck in the cap of the OC-Spray. Well, when something goes wrong for us humans, we tend to look to figure out what it is. Well, as a dumb human, I take a look and nearly empty the rest of the OC can in my own face. [Lesson Learned: sometimes it’s not a good idea to look and see what’s wrong with something in your hand—especially if it’s a can of OC-spray pointed right at you].

So, if I had egg on my face from my OIC ordeal, the OC-Spray was definitely the Tabasco sauce for a shame-faced omelet. Okay, I guess "breakfast metaphors" and police work don’t really mix. Anyway, pass the salt and pepper...

Off. Jay Chiarito-Mazzarella

APO Braitsch, Police Academy Week 8

On Monday and Wednesday the class was divided up into two groups. One half of the class learned report writing and field notes, and the other half of the class learned our TRACIS system. The TRACIS system is our system to search people in Tulsa. We got to learn the ins and outs of how it operates. It is very beneficial to look up anything about anyone. The report writing and/or field notes was fun because we got to stage a crime and see how we did writing our own report. We learned the significance in taking detailed notes for reports and how it comes into play as a future reference in a trial.

Tuesday and Thursday were our normal range days. We started out the week with a shooting competition, that was our reward for having 12 people shoot over 500 hundred last week. Our Corporal made up a NCAA like bracket of shooters, 1 vs. 24, 2 vs. 23, etc etc. The outcome was much like that NCAA basketball tournament, fairly predictable. It came down to #1 and #2 shooter in our class, both times. However, they split the 2 matches so they are even for now. We also had 13 people shoot a 500 this time on the aim fire course.

Tuesday afternoon we had the pleasure of being fitted for our police uniforms. I never thought trying on a uniform would be such technical process. However, you have to fit your pant differently because of your duty belt and of course the vest has to fit under the shirt. It was a slow process but very exciting also.

Friday ended up being a relaxed day. Our instructor was ill and cancelled our morning class. So we got to fill it in with different training staff members sharing field stories. Some of the stories inform us of what we might encounter in the field and others are more tactical stories. In the afternoon, we learned about preventing crime in our community and then finished up the day with geography. Believe me when I say you can never know, learn, or be taught too much about geography!

Let me just share with you the five days of PT (physical training) for this week. Tues/Fri we did running and lifting on our own. When we have those days we usually run 15 to 30 minutes and do our own lifting workout. Mon/Thurs we did our normal circuit routine. Our circuit routine doesn't seem hard until you wake up the next day and your legs don't want to work.

On Wednesday we decided to revert back to being kids and playing in the mud. We did a Marine team building exercise by building a bridge over a small area of water. After we were done playing in the mud we hooked arms together and did sprints as a team. There is never a dull or clean moment during PT!

APO Kelli Braitsch

Suicidal Subject Shoots at Officers.

On March 29th at 2:00am. The SOT team was activated and responded to 3700 Block of E. 85th street for a suicidal subject with a gun. Negotiators attempted contact for several hours. When the subject finally did pick up the phone, He was very belligerent and no rapport was ever established. After several threats made by the subject, he shot approximately 6 rounds from inside the residence. These rounds came through the roof towards SOT officers. SOT officers maintained strict firearms discipline and did an excellent job of communicating what was occurring. Capt Crocker authorized several units of gas to be deployed into the house in order to get the subject to quit shooting at SOT team members. The subject came out of the house and surrendered to officers with out further incident.

On March 29th at 2:00am. The SOT team was activated and responded to 3700 Block of E. 85th street for a suicidal subject with a gun. Negotiators attempted contact for several hours. When the subject finally did pick up the phone, He was very belligerent and no rapport was ever established. After several threats made by the subject, he shot approximately 6 rounds from inside the residence. These rounds came through the roof towards SOT officers. SOT officers maintained strict firearms discipline and did an excellent job of communicating what was occurring. Capt Crocker authorized several units of gas to be deployed into the house in order to get the subject to quit shooting at SOT team members. The subject came out of the house and surrendered to officers with out further incident.

Child Safety Seat Check

The April Dates for Car Seat Checks:

April 7, 10-12:00 at Lacy Park, 2134 N. Madison Pl.

April 19, 2-4:00 at the Tulsa Fire Department Public Education Center, 616 S. 73rd East Ave.

April 26, 10-12:00 at Riverside Chevrolet, I44 and the Arkansas River

April 28th, 10-12:00 at the Tulsa Zoo, 5701 E. 36th St. North

The National SAFE KIDS Campaign recommends that whenever possible, children ages 2 and under ride in the back seat of a vehicle. And the safest position for a safety seat, if it can be properly secured, is the center of the back seat.

• A child should ride in a rear-facing seat until at least one year and 20 pounds, and a rear-facing safety seat should
  never be placed in a vehicle seat equipped with an air bag.
• At one year and 20 pounds, a child can ride in a forward-facing seat equipped with internal harnesses.
• When a child reaches the height and weight limit of his forward-facing seat (as prescribed by the manufacturer),
  he should ride in a belt-positioning booster seat, to be used in combination with an adult lap and shoulder belt.

A child is ready for an adult safety belt with no booster when:

• He can sit against the back of the seat and bend his knees over the edge.
• The lap belt makes good contact low over his hips.
• The shoulder belt makes good contact across his chest and collarbone.

For more information or further resources, call (918) 494-SAFE or visit www.safekidstulsa.com

Chief Been hangs up his badge

By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer

3/31/2007

His official last day is May 1, but he's using his remining vacation time until then.

Police Chief Dave Been spent his last day in office Friday with a full schedule, but he also took time to greet many well-wishers who came to offer their goodbyes.

He will officially retire May 1 but will be using his remaining vacation days until then.

Been named Deputy Chief Mark McCrory as acting chief in his absence.

Been has been a Tulsa police officer for more than 36 years and was named police chief in November 2002.

He said he became an officer to help people but that the desire to be a public servant and the excitement of the job also drew him to the career.

"I served in the military, and my dad served in the military," he said. "He was a postal carrier, so public service jobs kind of run in the family."

Been doesn't remember specifically setting his sights on the top cop spot, but he achieved it by being promoted through the ranks.

He said Friday that he hopes he is remembered as a good cop and a fair person -- "someone who cares about people, cares about the officers and the citizens."

Been has focused during his career on three main priorities: mental health issues, Special Olympics, and the advocacy of children, especially those who have been abused.

He said he has enjoyed being involved on boards and committees relating to these issues and plans to continue volunteering in these areas.

His first priority of retirement, though, is to relax.

"I am going to sit back and evaluate what I want to do and the areas that I want to be involved in," he said.

Been said he believes that attaining national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies was one of the Tulsa Police Department's greatest accomplishments while he was chief.

He said he first suggested that the department attain the CALEA accreditation 20 years ago when he was a police major.

He also feels a sense of accomplishment for managing the department through tough times in recent years, specifically when the police force was functioning with 100 fewer officers than normal when budgetary problems prevented the department from having police academies.

For the future of the department, he hopes for stability.

"Anytime the leadership is going to change, there is some disruption involved. We need to get a good leader in place," Been said.

"The good news is with our department, people carry on and do an excellent job, but they deserve to know their future," he said, adding that "it will be a little bit, and that will fall into place."

Been, who attended Tulsa Public Schools and graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in police science, said he plans to stay in the Tulsa area during his retirement.

Copyright 2007 The Tulsa World. All rights reserved. Format differs from original publication.

Motorcycle Officer Hangs Up His Helmet Following Traffic Accident

KOTV - 3/30/2007

A Tulsa Police Officer knows just how dangerous motorcycles can be. Motorcycle Officer Ross Ford is recovering Friday after a potentially deadly accident. Ford has been on the back of a bike for TPD for 13 years, but he's never been in an accident this bad. The News On 6’s Joshua Brakhage reports now, his career will take a different path.

It's hard to get comfortable when you have a snapped collarbone, three broken ribs, a smashed toe and a fractured tailbone, but Ford knows his accident could have been much worse.

"It made some marks on the helmet and scratched it up, but the helmet did its job from when I hit the pavement," said Ford.

His arm is covered in road rash and his T-shirt hides massive bruises. He was crushed under his motorcycle after he collided with a Mercedes. Ford was chasing down a red-light runner and couldn't stop in time.

"The vehicle stopped right out in the middle of the road and blocked all three lanes of traffic," Ford said. "I started looking for an escape route then, downshifting, braking as hard as I could. It ripped her bumper skin off of her vehicle, but it sent my bike into just a flip."

We always think of police, fire and paramedics as first responders, but Ford says the first folks to help him on the scene were just witnesses, ordinary citizens who stopped to lend a hand, including two teenage boys.

"They pulled their vehicle down and blocked the intersection, blocked that lane of traffic so at least no one could come over and run over me, and then they came up and checked on me," Ford said.

A dozen people stopped to help including two nurses and the driver who ran the red light.

"I know I was probably a difficult patient at the time, but they really did a good job to take care of me," said Ford.

This is his second accident since last April. Ford says he's giving up motorcycles, including his personal Harley parked in the garage, but he's not ready to give up police work.

"I'll either go back to patrol or look for another position in the police department, be it a detective or do something else," he said.

Ford says he just has too many things to live for including his first grandson, Reece, born just a few days ago. The wreck also cut Ford's campaign for school board short. His campaign signs are still all over the area, but Ford is stuck on bedrest for the next four months.

Copyright KOTV 2007