Greenville County Sheriff Creates Crimes Against Children Unit
Seems odd that any government agency is expanding in this economy but this sounds like a good enough cause. I’d m afraid the focus of the unit will be too scattered but maybe they have a plan to keep that from happening:
From WSPA:
The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office is creating a “Crimes Against Children” Unit.
The unit will combine cases involving children into one group.
The Sheriff’s Office says skills and training required to work these cases are similar and it will allow investigators to be more effective and efficient.
The types of crimes that will be investigated include sexual assaults, child abuse and child neglect.
The idea for the unit came from a Sheriff’s Office investigator.
The unit will be made of four full-time investigators, and it will be housed at Greenville County Square.
NYPD Forming Special Social Media Unit
Which makes sense given the new trend of morons bragging about their crimes on Facebook. But the real concern here is cracking down on flash mobs before they do too much damage, which is laudable but frankly impossible as the London riots proved.
From the Daily News:
The NYPD has formed a new unit to track troublemakers who announce plans or brag about their crimes on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook.
Newly named Assistant Commissioner Kevin O’Connor, one of the department’s online and gang gurus, has been put in charge of the new juvenile justice unit. He and his staff will mine social media, looking for info about troublesome house parties, gang showdowns and other potential mayhem, sources said.
The power of social media to empower both criminals and cops has been on full display in London this week, where riots and looting have been spreading dramatically.
The rioters have been using Twitter and BlackBerry messages to choose targets for looting or burning – and to alert one another about police positions.
The very same social media have been a source for those trying to help cops by posting photos of rioters.
O’Connor’s new unit will operate under the Community Affairs Bureau; it will also handle outreach programs, with its mandate going beyond the Net.
Still, the 23-year veteran is known for his success in online policing, including stings to catch predator pervs looking for sex with underage victims.
Sounds like a great idea until you realize how impossible it is. I myself how four different Twitter accounts I use to promote my various sites – kids have dozens of online hang-outs and the cops plan is basically just surfing around hoping they run into a plot? Good luck with that.
Police Spin Greenville Neighborhood Warning About Crime
Can you spot the spin here? I’ll highlight what I think is important:
GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) – “Be on watch for thefts and break-ins,” is what some Greenville County neighborhoods are telling their residents.
Greenville Police and the Sheriff’s Office said there aren’t more break-ins than usual, but they may be in unexpected areas and officials want everyone to be aware.
A Greenville County subdivision has begun warning each other to keep watch after a man was seen entering or attempting to enter homes and cars.
“I was sitting in my chair and I saw a guy walk into my garage, and I thought it was my son, expecting to come over here for my birthday dinner, and it was somebody else,” said Mike Albrecht. “He waved to me, so I came out and looked, and he walked between my two cars looking at my generator, and I asked what he was doing.”
The man left, but Greenville County deputies have since arrested a suspect, Calvin Wilson. He’s accused of breaking in and stealing from cars and houses in Albrecht’s neighborhood, and other areas.
Yeah. You know where I expect break ins to occur? Houses. But the police here are trying to say there’s nothing to worry about – there’s just a change in the types of houses that are being targeted?
It so happens that I was talking to a guy the other day who said there were a lot of newcomers in his area and many are a little unsavory. I also have noticed, on my more and more infrequent trips to downtown Greenville, that drug users are multiplying at an alarming rate. Call me a cynic but I’m betting that the drug using dependents of the people moving to Greenville County are not going to be sticking to the traditional bad neighborhoods when they need to score.
So really there are more break ins than usual, at least for people used to living in nicer areas. The cops are splitting hairs on this one by claiming that since we’re not experiencing more theft reports than average nothing has changed. Why the spin? Who knows. But it’s still a load of malarkey and tax payers deserve the truth.
Greenville Cop Ambushed with Fireworks
If you peruse the national news headlines you’ll see that this actually happened lots of places. There was an unseemly amount of mayhem on our nation’s birthday which should tell you something about where we are as a people. From The Republic:
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Authorities say a police officer was lured into a Greenville neighborhood and then intentionally shot with fireworks.
WYFF-TV reports that the Greenville officer was OK after being hit in the chest with fireworks Monday night.
Sgt. Jason Rampey said the officer was sent to an apartment complex after reports people were shooting each other with fireworks. Authorities say the officer was attacked with fireworks and called for backup.
The officer also arrested and charged a 15-year-old with unlawful discharge of a firework into a moving vehicle. During that arrest, Rampey says someone else fired another firework into the officer’s chest.
The officer was wearing body armor and wasn’t hurt. Rampey says investigators think kids at the complex called 911 to get the officer to come so they could attack him.
This was a bold attack that signals a breakdown in law and order in our city. Be careful out there.
Florida Police Officer Under Investigation for Warning Someone About a Bad Area
Silly me I kind of thought it was a part of cops jobs to tell people where the bad areas are. In Florida a squeaky clean cop named That Cristo – who just lost a partner – is under investigation for telling the father of a robbery victim that a high crime area wasn’t the place to let his teen daughter hang out.
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – A veteran officer with a clean record is being investigated by the St. Petersburg Police Department (SPPD) after he warned the father of a robbery victim about a dangerous part of town.
Officer Thad “Stu” Crisco, who was recently in headlines for honoring his fallen partner David Crawford, allegedly warned St. Petersburg father Bob Esposito about letting his 16-year-old daughter hang around the Northshore Pool at night. Esposito’s daughter was one of five teens robbed by a group of armed men there about 10:30 p.m. on a recent weeknight.
“I wouldn’t come down here at night,” Esposito said of the Northshore Pool area and Downtown, where he admits he used to loiter as a teen.”And I was told by one of the police officers not to come down here either.”
That comment, made by Crisco the night of the robbery, was inadvertently relayed to his superior when Esposito was following up with SPPD. The department then launched an investigation into “disparaging comments against the city.”
“I’m shocked,” Esposito said. “His job is to serve and protect, and as far as I’m concerned, he gave me information. I think he did his job. I think he did it very well.”
Esposito said Crisco cited the city’s violent crime stats – the worst in the state. He faces a possible suspension, even if his comments were true, although his exemplary record with SPPD could help him avoid serious discipline.
Mayor Bill Foster acknowledged the incident and said he holds SPPD to the highest standard.
“I always want to know my officers are representing this city in a very positive light,” Foster said.
If I were Mayor I’d want my cops to clean up the bad areas and help citizens not get mugged, raped and murdered. I guess I’d have different priorities than Bill Foster.
So this cop is going to be disciplined for telling the truth to a concerned citizen and trying to prevent crime. Makes sense.