Tips
Tip #72
Q&A, Real World Lesson, Local Events & Darwin Awards
Good evening Folks. Jane and I cannot wait for the elections to be over. I must
admit that we are absolutely over these dadgum political advertisements. The
pundits refer to Florida as a 'Battleground State' and I agree. I feel that we
are under siege and being constantly bombarded with political ad after political
ad followed by political ad! Enough is enough for crying out loud. Jane and I
strongly believe that it is the duty of all Americans to vote particularly in
this critical election. I am like all others and have my personal choice, for
whom I have already voted, but I do have one comment and that is 'Leadership,
consistency, clear goals, moral conviction and steadfast beliefs are essential
components of combat power'! Tnx Norm & Jane
Student Q&A
Evenin' - Don't quite know how to apply our safety training course info to the situation we found ourselves in this afternoon. Shopping at Sam's Club in Pinellas Park - saw a woman repeatedly slinging her 18-month-old (maybe 2 years old) boy in front of her cart by one of his arms and then ramming him with the shopping cart. She managed to knock him to the ground face first, before I could get across the aisle, and then tried to run completely over him with the cart skinning his leg. All I did was scream at her what the hell was she doing and told her how horribly cruel she was being.
St. Petersburg Times Parade & IACP Officer of the Year "Officer Down... But Not Out" October 31, 2004
The story of SGT Marcus Young of the Ukiah, California Police department is a
tremendous story of a dedicated and committed police officer. Sgt. Young was on
duty March 7, 2003, and was dispatched to the local Walmart to arrest an
18-year-old female shoplifter. He had a 17-year-old, now 18-year-old, police
cadet named Julian Covella as a ridealong. As SGT Young was arresting the
female, a 35-year-old felon named Neal Beckman, the female's boyfriend,
approached with his hands in his pockets. SGT Young told the scumbag to remove
his hands from his pockets and when he did so, he had a knife in his hand. SGT
Young grabbed the knife hand and suffered a two-inch gash between his index and
middle fingers of his left hand during the struggle for the knife. The scumbag
then pulled a . 38 caliber pistol from a jacket pocket and shot the sergeant
five times at point blank range. Two shots were stopped by his vest but SGT
Young was shot in the cheek, back and upper right arm thereby paralyzing his
primary gun hand. An unarmed store security guard, Brett Schott, jumped on the
felon and knocked him off the sergeant. Beckman stabbed the security guard in
the upper chest and started running for the unlocked cruiser where SGT Young had
a loaded rifle and shotgun. The police cadet was on the police radio calling for
assistance while these events were taking place -- a matter of a minute or two
at most. SGT Young could not draw his firearm due to his arm and hand injuries
so he had the cadet pull his firearm from his holster and place the firearm in
his left hand, his weak hand. SGT Young then fired four rounds with his 'weak'
hand and stopped the would be murderer cold before he could kill or wound anyone
else. Beckman died (what a shame)! and the security guard recovered from his
wounds. SGT Young also survived but still has major physical problems with his
wounds. Other than a great story about a true American Hero, there are several
lessons here for all of us. First Lesson -- never, never give up and continue
the fight! If SGT Young had surrendered to his wounds, the outcome may have
been much different. Second Lesson -- Don't be a "one trick pony" my friends. If
SGT Young had not been able to shoot with his left hand only, there could have
been three dead good guys rather than one dead scumbag! We have discussed this
in class and here is the reason that I insist that you learn to shoot right and
left hand only!
We also have a local hero my friends! Officer Timothy Virden of St. Petersburg
Police Department was listed as an "Honorable Mention" for his extraordinary
effort in arresting four scumbags who had committed a drive-by shooting. During
the pursuit, Officer Virden suffered a grazing wound from an AK47 to the right
side of his head. He continued the pursuit for several miles with the end result
that the four scumbags were arrested at the scene. Great job Officer Virden.
Proud to have you as a police officer in Pinellas County!
St. Petersburg Times -- October 2004 Local Events
"Owner opens store after intruders steal items" October 4, 2004
Approximately 9:30AM on October 3, 2004, a Tampa store owner
opened for business. He was surprised by two scumbags who were wearing ski
masks, dressed in black and had handguns. The burglars, about to become big time
felons according to the "10-20-Life" law; i.e., 10 years if you display a
firearm during another crime, 20 years if you fire the gun and life if you
either wound or kill someone with that gun, fired several times at the shop
owner and then fled with phone cards, cash & jewelry. The shop owner attempted
to return fire but his gun jammed. The burglars had punched a hole in the roof
to make their entry. The high tech alarm that I feature in class would have
alerted the owner to their presence before he was caught by surprise. In
addition, training and maintenance may have allowed his gun to work when he
needed it the most. On the other hand, it may be just as well that his gun
malfunctioned. It may not have been appropriate for him to have returned fire as
they fled into the street!
"Boy, 11, charged in teen's death" October 4, 2004
Another dadgum tragedy involving children and guns but with
a twist. The firearm was locked in a safe in the bedroom while the mother was
taking a nap in another room! An 11-year-old Crystal River boy and a
13-year-old boy were playing in the younger boy's home. The 11-year-old knew the
combination to the safe and retrieved a revolver from the safe. During their
'play,' the 11-year-old pointed the gun at the 13-year-old's chest, pulled the
trigger and killed him. Now this little scumbag told the police that he knew
there was at least one bullet in the gun! This was a major factor in the shooter
being charged with manslaughter. The fact that there was a gun and the younger
boy knew how to gain access was apparently no secret among the kids. The father
of the dead boy stated that the dead boy's sister had seen the firearm in the
shooter's home three days before the murder. This may seem harsh but the sister
should have immediately advised her parents that the 11-year-old had access to a
firearm and liked to display that firearm. There were also a number of other
children who stated to the father after the shooting that they had also observed
the 11-year-old with the gun! Lesson there is make sure your children understand
that other children with guns leads to preventable tragedy! FSS 790.174
requires that adults assure minors, 15 years of age and younger, do not have
unsupervised access to firearms. The state is investigating whether or not the
mother and/or her fiance knew that the 11-year-old had access to the firearm by
knowing the safe combination. In my opinion, if that can be established, the
mother and/or fiance should then be charged with gross negligence same same
Louis MevecSr., hopefully sentenced to an extended stay in the "Graybar Hotel."
The state did decide to charge the boy as a juvenile as reported in the October
14, 2004, edition of the St. Petersburg Times. You heard me say this in class
while discussing the need to prevent minors from having access to firearms. You
not only need to secure the firearms, you need to secure the safe, keys,
combinations, etc. In this case, how did an 11-year-old boy have knowledge of
the safe combination? Only three ways -- the combination was tied to a simple
code such as date of birth, ages, etc., or one of the adults gave it to him or
the dadgum thing was unlocked. Lock the guns up -- please!
"Attempts to buy vehicles raise suspicions" October 22,
2004
St. Petersburg College (SPC) became suspicious when four
men, described as 'Middle Eastern,' attempted to buy a surplus ambulance, two
retired police cruisers and an old truck. The suspects made two trips to SPC and
aroused concerns that were reported to the college president, Dr. Carl Kuttler,
who immediately directed that the event be reported to the FBI. The
investigating FBI agent, apparently off the record, indicated that the scumbags
had "some al-Qaida contacts" and were of interest due to "possible suspicious
behavior" in the Daytona area. The apparent leader of the group, who identified
himself as an Egyptian, did submit the winning bids on the vehicles but failed
to return after the FBI set up on the vehicles. Remember the old saying -- just
because you are paranoid, it doesn't mean that they aren't really out to get
you. Can you imagine the infiltration advantage posed by official vehicles
refurbished and repainted with official colors and markings? Take nothing for
granted my friends. The smallest tip may lead to prevention of a tragedy! By the
way, the "Egyptian" was arrested in Michigan for car theft on October 27, 2004,
and was described "as an affiliate of a terrorist organization."
"Bystander stabbed, killed in Ybor bar fight" October 25,
2004
A 36-year-old man became enraged about 1:15AM because a
31-year-old man was playing with a sound system and using a microphone in a
club. The older man pulled a knife and started fighting with the younger man. A
34-year-old bystander and others tried to break up the fight. During the course
of this effort, the 34-year-old was stabbed in the heart and died. The
31-year-old was stabbed in the arm and stomach. The scumbag with the knife was
charged with homicide and attempted homicide as well as possession of cocaine
and Xanax. Dadgum it -- over a sound system! It never fails to amaze me how many
violent, senseless crimes occur over "stupid stuff." Remember my rules -- it is
easier to avoid it than to extricate yourself from it! I am confident that
neither the man who died, the man who was stabbed in the stomach nor the
murderer himself planned the events of that evening. Don't put yourself and your
family in jeopardy over crap like this!
"Man driven into a fury by Sox cap" October 28, 2004
Here we go again with the stupid stuff! A man and his buddy
were watching the Red Sox beat the Yankees in a Largo bar. The fan was wearing a
Red Sox baseball cap. He noticed two guys in the bar staring at him and his hat.
He left the bar with his friend and was accosted by the same two men. The
scumbags asked if they were Sox fans and the victim advised no, it was just a
hat. One of the mutts told him to take off his hat, throw it on the ground and
then spit on the hat which was refused of course with a comment to the effect
that it was just sports. The scumbag became more angry, ran to his truck and
returned with a large hammer. The victim's buddy became involved and was chased
into his car by the thug with the hammer. This nimrod then shattered the
windshield with his hammer thereby spraying the man in the car with broken
glass. The victim dialed his cell phone and the two scumbags fled. The police
were able to obtain the man's ID from a credit card receipt but no arrest to
date. Boy, those Yankee fans sure are poor losers!
Darwin Awards
1996 -- A lawyer in Toronto decided to demonstrate the safety of
the 24th floor windows in a bank building. He ran into the window apparently
expecting to bounce off. Unfortunately, he ran through the window and fell to
his death. He was described as one of the best and brightest of 250 lawyers in
his firm! Perhaps he was but he sure couldn't fly!
1997 -- A La Paz, Bolivia, security guard was working in a fast food restaurant.
He decided to impress his female friends by playing Russian Roulette with his .
38 caliber revolver. He shot himself in the head and died. I really thought the
idea in Russian Roulette was to leave only one bullet in the gun -- not ALL
of them!
1998 -- A guy and his buddy went fishing but were apparently too impatient to
catch their fish the old fashioned way -- hook and line. Our hero decided to
throw a quarter stick of dynamite into the lake and then net the dead fish.
Unfortunately he missed the lake and dropped the dynamite in the boat which
immediately sank resulting in the drowning death of the dynamiter! I guess you
may as well go out with a bang! Is it safe to say that he 'sleeps with the
fishes'?