A Special Memorial Day

Memorial Day has always been special to my family.  Many relatives have served in the U.S. military.  This tradition continues today.  My sister, who is career Army, just returned from another overseas deployment.  She’s been serving for almost 30 years and is a Chief Warrant Officer 5.  Not having served in the military myself, I understand that rank is a pretty big deal.  Her soldiers call her “Chief.”  Her son, a Marine, received the Purple Heart for injuries received in Afghanistan.  Another nephew, also a Marine, returned safely from Afghanistan last year.  I could go on and on.  That’s the life of a military family.

Ryan Fitch with his Afghani interpreter

So, why is this Memorial Day special?  It’s because my own son returned to U.S. soil last week from a six month deployment to Afghanistan.  My wife and I still haven’t been able to see him.  He’s in Arizona at his base.  His wife (and dog) stayed with us while he was deployed.  It was a rough time for her.  All the missed holidays, birthdays, etc.  He knew what he was getting into, but that doesn’t make it any easier.  We’re just glad he’s home safely.  That’s the life of a military family. 

While working a shift at the Lambert USO this past Friday night, I spoke with a Marine who missed his connecting flight on the way to his home in Florida.  It wasn’t just any missed flight.  It was a flight to get married the next day.  He had to call his fiancé to break the bad news.  He wouldn’t be there in time to greet the 250 invited guests.  That’s the life of a military family.

The men and women of our military would tell you that they’re just doing their job.  I think it’s much more than that.  One only needs to visit Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery for proof.

Fake Uplands Park Officer Acquitted

In 2009, Uplands Park “Officer” Lamont Aikens was driving a police car at high speed in a pursuit that ended tragically when the car he was chasing crashed and killed an innocent motorist – a mother of four.  Aikens was wearing a police uniform and carrying a weapon, according to the St. Louis City detective who investigated the crash.  The report filed by Aikens referred to himself as a “police officer.”  A fellow Uplands Park officer said that Aikens drove a police car by himself and made arrests.  Aikens wrote traffic tickets, but would sign another officer’s name to the tickets.

So, what’s the problem? 

The problem is that Aikens never attended a police academy.  By law, he couldn't function or act as a police officer.  He probably could have attended the police academy, but presumably because of his 18 arrests (including two felonies), he didn’t. 

This didn’t stop officials in Uplands Park from putting him to work in a police car.  His pursuit that night cost the 450 residents of Uplands Park $3.1 million, which was awarded in a lawsuit.  That’s about $7,000 for every man, woman and child living in the tiny cash-strapped village.  They don’t even have enough insurance to cover the damages.

On Friday, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Dennis Smith acquitted Aikens of acting as a police officer without a valid peace officer license.  I do not know Judge Smith and I will not question his authority.  But, really, what would it take to convict someone of this type of crime?  Aikens defense was that he was following city policy that allowed him to act as a police officer, so long as he had a “real” police officer seated next to him.  I’ll have to remember that one next time I find an unlicensed driver operating a motor vehicle with a licensed driver next to him.  But I digress.

A few months ago, the Uplands Park Village Board voted to disband their police department for financial reasons (imagine that).  All Uplands Park police personnel were dismissed and Velda City was hired to provide police services. 

Now, here’s the next tragedy about to happen:  The newly elected Uplands Park Village Board is working hard to bring back their police department.  It might happen in the next few weeks.

That’s great news for “Officer” Lamont Aikens.

Honor, Duty & Dedication

Today, at our Annual Police Memorial Service in Clayton, we recognized the sacrifice of the nine St. Louis County police officers who have died in the line of duty.  This is the start of National Police Week, which was proclaimed by President John F. Kennedy.  I knew six of the officers who died.  I’ve gotten to know their families very well over the years. 

Each year, I see the children of Sgt. Rick Weinhold (Killed in the Line of Duty on October 31, 2000) growing into young adults.  Rick’s widow, Julie, said that both of her sons want to be county police officers when they finish college.  Imagine the courage of a woman who lost her husband in a vicious shooting allowing her children to become police officers.  She is one of the strongest women I know.   

After today’s Memorial Service, we had our monthly Police Board meeting.  At the meeting, I was honored to present awards to several of our officers.  One of the officers was recognized with a “Lifesaving Award.”   The officer performed CPR and saved the life of a man at the South County Mall.  Just two hours after receiving his award, this same officer was in a life or death shootout in Eureka.  Thankfully, he wasn't seriously injured.  This is the life of a police officer.  Things can and will change in a heartbeat.

The dedication of our officers never ceases to amaze me.  They have every right to question their commitment to the profession, after going four years without a pay raise, higher insurance rates and constant public scrutiny.  But they keep on going.  When the call for help goes out, they respond.  Thank God. 

Here’s hoping for a safe Police Week.  We had another close call today.  Keep our officers in your thoughts and prayers.

Come on May 30th !!!

Now that the Kentucky Derby is over, it’s time to root for something else:  Come on May 30^th.  Come on May 30^th.

What’s the big deal about May 30^th?  It’s the Missouri General Assembly’s official adjournment.  They have to shut down by midnight.  Why should the St. Louis County police chief be concerned about the end of a legislative season?  It’s not the end of it that I’m worried about.  It’s what happens between now and then.

House Bill 46 has been perfected and sent to the Senate.  It was sponsored by Rep. Casey Guernsey, a farmer from western Missouri.  What will the bill do?  It will essentially shut down flight operations for Metro Air Support, which is made up of St. Louis City and County Police and the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department.  Many of you have seen the helicopters of Metro Air Support in the sky over crime scenes, vehicle pursuits and looking for lost children.

Why does a farmer from western Missouri care about airborne law enforcement in St. Louis?  He doesn’t.  He’s mostly afraid of unmanned drones roaming our skies.  However, the bill was tweaked to include “manned” law enforcement flights, unless officers have reasonable suspicion and believe they need to take to the air to prevent imminent danger to life.  That’s a pretty high hurdle in order to get into the air. 

The paranoia in Jefferson City this session has gotten silly.  Perhaps I’d be okay with the legislature banning manned law enforcement aircraft over Missouri under one circumstance:  They can only ban the black helicopters with the darked out windows circling overhead. 

Come on May 30^th !!

Violent Attack at Meramec College

First of all, let me say that I only know of accounts of the recent violent assault case on the Meramec campus of St. Louis Community College in Kirkwood via the media.  Everybody, including Chancellor Myrtle Dorsey, realizes that the incident should have been handled differently.  As you probably know, an 18 year-old male student was eventually charged with felony assault against a 19 year-old female student.  Campus police released the suspect before having the incident reviewed by prosecutors, according to press reports.  I’ve met Chancellor Dorsey on several occasions and I have no doubt that when this case came to light, she took the right corrective action.

As the father of a daughter who attends Meramec, my only question is how do you prevent this from happening again?  I don’t mean the actual crime – I mean how the next incident will be handled by the school and its campus police force.  And there will be more incidents.  There are a lot of students on that campus and bad things are bound to happen.  My guess is we still wouldn’t know about this particular incident if the victim’s family hadn’t gone to the media.

In any event, we’ve experienced the same issues with some schools in our patrol areas.  Many would rather handle crimes as “school violations” instead of notifying the police and having charges placed on the student.  This goes on more than you realize.  Schools, like most institutions that rely on public support for funding, do not want to look bad or admit they have problems for fear that their next bond issue or tax increase might not pass.  One only needs to look at my local district (Rockwood) for proof.

There was a time a few years ago when we had to threaten a local school superintendent and principal with prosecution under the Missouri Safe Schools Act for failing to report acts of violence in their school to police authorities.  They didn’t take us seriously until we brought a prosecutor to the school to let them know we (and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office) meant business.  Things have gotten much better in that district since then.  I saw the same resistance from some districts when we started our heroin initiative in 2010 and asked to hold Town Hall meetings in school auditoriums.  One local district chastised me for even suggesting that schools were in denial about their drug problems.

Serious crimes like the one at Meramec happen infrequently.  That’s a good thing.  The bad part of handling crimes infrequently is knowing what to do with them when they happen (see Ebony Jackson murder case).  My suggestion would be to turn over any felony crime that occurs on the Meramec campus to the Kirkwood Police.  They are effective, professional and investigate a lot of felony crimes.  They also are not beholden to image-conscious bosses at the campus.

Old Dog - New Tricks

Okay, it's time for change.  You CAN teach old dogs new tricks. 

After more than 30 years in this business, social media is changing how we communicate with each other.  When I first started in law enforcement (1980), we had two daily newspapers (the Post and the Globe) and about five television stations.  The police rarely admitted to crime happening, let alone initiate a news story. 

Today, we have one daily paper, but I counted over 600 cable stations on TV, with at least 20 dedicated to some sort of news or what they call news.  News sources on the Internet are too many to count.  Do we really need that many news organizations?  I digress. 

The bottomline is that people are no longer getting their news from just a few sources.  They get much of it from Internet and social media sites.  With that said, I've embraced "some" social media.  I have a Facebook account and Tweet quite often.  That's not enough.   

Many have asked why I haven't set up a blog like Chief Sam Dotson (St. Louis City PD).  I told them that I didn't know how to set up a blog and that Chief Dotson was (much) younger and more tech savvy than me.  I said I would try to learn.  Take my word for it - nobody at my offices in Clayton could help.

Here's my first attempt.  I'll do my best not to get myself in trouble by saying exactly what's on my mind.  However, if I do, it certainly won't be the first time.  Wish me luck.