LEOs Behaving Well

Cop Buys Groceries for Mom Caught Shoplifting
Miami officer uses own money to help out family
By John Johnson, Newser Staff

(Newser) – The routine part of this shoplifting story out of Miami is that police stopped a woman trying to leave a supermarket with $300 worth of unpaid-for food. The not-so-routine part: Upon hearing that the accused was a mother of three in dire straits, the arresting officer went back in the store and shelled out $100 from her own pocket to buy the woman groceries, reports WSVN. "I made the decision to buy her some groceries because arresting her wasn't going to solve the problem with her children being hungry," says officer Vicki Thomas.

She still charged Jessica Robles with a misdemeanor, but she also educated her about local food banks and other sources of help. "She asked, 'Do you even have food at the house?' And I looked at her in her face, and I told her, 'Not at all,'" recalls Robles. For the record, the Miami-Dade department has no problem with Thomas' actions. "Police officers do have discretion, and what Thomas did was completely in bounds," a spokesperson tells AOL.

 

A long overdue thread. Not every cop is a villain, and such that are good, ought be given their due.

 

Agreed chell, but they should also do more to police their own. Not well enough and that's why they all get lumped together so often.

 

Bravo and good point @chelloveck. I have to admit I just stay out of the "Cops gone bad" thread. I don't need the additional negativity in my life and I'm already PLENTY suspicious...

When there is a true need, this is how it needs to be taken care of. Not necessarily with the Police buying you food, but with the community, family, churches and individuals taking the lead. I hope the officer doesn't suffer because of her charity and finds that her fridge is full enough and the $100 didn't hurt.

 

I am from those good old days when police were called police and not cops. I cringe a little when I hear news casters calling a policeman a cop or seeing the word cop in a headline. It goes against my grain because cop was always a derogatory term for police. Gone are the days of letting the local drunk sleep it off in a cell and giving a prankster a firm warning and a threat to tell their parents. I have one very special memory of one policeman who gave me a don't let it happen again after a smoky burn out from a stop sign. It is indeed good to hear a story where the police don't throw the perp to the ground and get a few licks in while they are at it. There are still quite a few good police out there we just rarely hear about them.

 

What people don't realize is that the APPEARANCE of more negative incidents in recent years is as much a result of better self-policing as it is an actual indication of more bad officers.

 

Officer Buys Shoes for Girl in Need
Florida cop plays Good Samaritan
(Newser) – It's another story of a nice gesture by a Florida cop: An officer visiting an elementary school in Melbourne noticed a young girl whose shoes were split down the front and "flapping in the breeze," a school bookkeeper tells Florida Today. Her socks weren't much better.

After asking what size she wore, the officer returned later with two new pairs, along with matching socks. "She was just in heaven," says the bookkeeper.

The cop got a hug from the girl as his reward, but staffers didn't catch his name, so the Good Samaritan will remain an anonymous one. It was a classy move by him and a lesson in generosity for the girl.

Officer Buys Shoes for Girl in Need - Florida cop plays Good Samaritan

 

Local PD Sargent's SUV was parked nose to nose in front of beat up Honda Civic last week with jumper cables connecting both vehicles.

I don't think the Civic owner was helping the Sgt.

That's life in a small town.

 

On Wednesday my Sheriff called me at home and said I know it's your off day but you think you could help me a couple hours this eve? I said yes and he told me to meet him at the local Magic Mart so around 1500hrs I pulled in to the parking lot and there was my Sheriff and a group of kids and adults standing around him. I walked up and several of the kids called me by name and started playing and joking with me. I knew the children from my patrols I carry a bag of candy in the cruiser and sneak them a little bit when they are out playing. Anyway I ask the Sheriff what was going on and he said we going to take these babies Christmas shopping. So I took 2 kids, Sheriff took 2 another Deputy took 2 and a city officer took 2. We filled the buggies up with toys get to check I had over $200.00 in my buggies Sheriff still won’t tell a total. He had went to the schools and DHHR and ask they people who work with these kids which ones would not have a Christmas got the names of 10 children and we took them shopping. My Sheriff paid for this out of his pocket and told me if I called the news or newspaper he would have me walking the projects for the next month. lol He just wanted these kids to have Christmas no strings attached

 

Good post Alpha, I also don't want our strings seen. Best is what WE feel only.


Not safe for all !!!
Flatbook posting :

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=511107388962621

 

I must say I do enjoy the stories of good LEO actions over those that show them behaving poorly.. However I do have ill feelings when there is a story of a police officer acting badly to citizens, especially to the troops..

 

Deputy Dangles From Chopper to Rescue Dog
Rescuer, dog both fine
By Newsy, a Newser Video Partner

Posted Mar 17, 2014 10:12 AM CDT

(Newser) – "Hang in there" became a message for both rescuer and rescuee in this video: Oreo, a black-and-white Labrador, got stuck on a two-foot ledge, 40 feet down a 90-foot cliff in Northern California—she couldn't move at all without falling. Oreo's owner called 911 for help Saturday afternoon, and a sheriff's deputy ended up hanging from a helicopter to rescue the dog. Newsy reports:

Portugese Beach dog rescue - YouTube

 

Some might disagree, but I'm including this in LEOs Behaving Well. I say, "Good Job. One less Thug in the world."
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Gang defendant shot, killed at new Salt Lake City federal courthouse
The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Apr 21 2014 09:53 am

Perry Cardwell took his daughter to the new federal courthouse Monday morning to watch his mother testify in a decade-old robbery in a racketeering trial for an alleged Tongan Crip Gang member.

"It was a normal court case," daughter Sara Jacobson said Monday. "You don’t expect anything to happen."

But Cardwell’s mother never had the chance to take the witness stand. At about 9:25 a.m., the defendant charged a witness, who was reportedly testifying about life in the Tongan Crip Gang (TCG), and was shot several times by a U.S. marshal.

The defendant, identified as 25-year-old Siale Angilau, died at a hospital hours later.

Cardwell and Jacobson witnessed the violent attack unfold. After emerging from the courthouse several hours after the shooting, they told reporters that Angilau jumped up from the defense table and lunged toward the witness stand, where it appeared he tried to punch the witness.

Authorities said the defendant charged the witness stand while holding a pen or pencil. At that point, the defendant was shot by a marshal several times in the chest.

"Everything was so fast," Cardwell said, adding that he thought he heard eight shots fired.

Angilau then fell to the floor, and Cardwell said the marshal kept firing.

"I thought, when is he going to stop shooting?" Cardwell recalled.

Cardwell said courtroom spectators were ordered to get down, and everyone crawled beneath the benches.

Angilau’s trial was being heard in U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell’s courtroom before a jury. Angilau was among 17 TCG members and associates indicted on racketeering charges in May 2010.

Federal prosecutors allege the gang committed murders, robberies and assaults to expand its operations in the Salt Lake Valley over two decades. Court documents allege Angilau was involved in an incident where two deputy U.S. marshals were shot at, but not injured, in August 2007. The racketeering case also linked Angilau to several violent convenience store robberies between 2002 and 2007.

Angilau’s trial was the first in the new courthouse at 400 South and West Temple, which opened for business April 14, and the last of a slew of TCG trials stemming from the 2010 indictment, said Melodie Rydalch, with the U.S. attorney’s office.

Cardwell and Johnson said the witness, who appeared to be a jail or prison inmate, was testifying about the inner workings of the gang — such as how it operated, how members were inducted and other specific details — before Angilau, who was not restrained or in handcuffs, lunged toward him.

When Cardwell was asked about how he felt after the shooting, he said he had mixed emotions.

"Half of me is sad," he said. "You know, [Angilau’s] mom had to see that. [But I wonder] what could he do to other people? Obviously, he has no heart."

Angilau was reportedly breathing when he was carried out of the courthouse on a stretcher, FBI assistant special agent in charge Mark Dressen said, but he died at about 2 p.m.

The witness, who was identified by defense attorney Steven Killpack as 31-year-old Vaiola Mataele Tenifa, was not injured.

Tenifa is currently serving up to 30 years at the Utah State Prison on 2001 convictions for robbery and aggravated assault. He has been paroled four times through the years, most recently in May 2012, according to parole authorities.

He faces a new charge of object rape, filed in September 2013 in Cache County’s 1st District Court, and was charged last year in federal court with being a felon in possession of ammunition.

Because Tenifa was a cooperating witness, his identity was kept under wraps until about two weeks ago. Tenifa was not charged as part of the TCG indictments.

Angilau’s attorney filed a motion last week objecting to the inclusion of Tenifa’s testimony on the basis that it was too short of notice and Tenifa hadn’t been properly vetted.

According to the motion, Tenifa was pulled into the case to implicate Angilau as an active member of the TCG. But defense attorney Michael Langford questioned Tenifa’s "credibility, associations, crimes, possible conflicts of interests and purpose at trial."

Langford argued that "to properly defend himself against a potentially devastating witness with highly suspect integrity, credibility and firsthand knowledge," Angilau and his defense team needed time they were not given to prepare.

Langford declined to comment Monday on what had happened inside the courtroom as he left the federal courthouse Monday just after noon.

Cardwell’s mother, Sandra Keyser, said she was the next witness expected to take the stand in the trial when the attack occurred. The woman, who now lives in Florida, said Angilau was 14 years old when he allegedly robbed her in December 2002, while she was working at a 7-Eleven near Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.

She said Angilau and some others entered the store after 10 p.m.

The defendant hopped over the counter, punched her in the face, then ran out of the store with cigarettes and beer.

"He didn’t have to hit me, but he did that," Keyser said, adding that her interaction with Angilau was the beginning of his criminal "career."

Another woman, who asked not to be identified, told reporters gathered outside the building that she was also a clerk at a 7-Eleven store that was robbed in 2007. She had been subpoenaed to testify later that morning.

"I’m scared," she said, clutching her subpoena. "I’m just a little nervous right now."

Recalling the convenience store holdup, the woman said Angilau did not act alone.

"They were very, very violent," the woman said. "Very scary guys."

Angilau was indicted on robbery charges connected to that 2007 robbery, to which he eventually pleaded guilty. In exchange, federal prosecutors dropped additional firearm and assault charges.

Angilau has been serving time at the Utah State Prison for 2008 convictions for obstructing justice and failure to stop at the command of an officer, according to the Corrections Department.

Before the news that Angilau had died, Judge Campbell declared a mistrial.

The judge noted in an order that the jurors, who witnessed Monday’s shooting from just feet away, were "visibly shaken and upset," and would be prejudiced by the incident and unable to objectively rule in Angilau’s trial.

"Defendant Siale Angilau apparently rushed and attacked a cooperating witness and was shot several times by law enforcement in front of the court and the jury," the order states. "After the shooting, a group of marshals continued to hold Mr. Angilau at gunpoint near the jury box while the jurors were still present in the courtroom."

Defendants are usually not restrained during jury trials, on the presumption that seeing a defendant in shackles would prejudice the jury.

After the shooting, the courthouse was locked down until about 12:30 p.m. All criminal cases were canceled, but security officers said that five civil cases that were on the Monday docket would resume.

Prison officials said Monday afternoon that the facilities in Draper and Gunnison will be on lockdown for the rest of the day as a security precaution, and no visitation will be allowed.

 

When the POS stops breathing...?