CCJA Quickfire Recap: Fourth Week of July

July 27, 2014
Officer.com and the Commonwealth Criminal Justice Academy present the top stories from this week.

It can be hard to keep up with all of the news that occurs on a daily basis.

Because of this, Officer.com and the Commonwealth Criminal Justice Academy present the "Quickfire Weekly Recap."

Here are some of the stories you may have missed that ran on our site this week:

Weekend (July 18-20)

A rookie Jersey City, N.J. police officer slain in an ambush on July 13 was laid to rest on Friday.

Hundreds of mourners filled the church and more than a thousand more uniformed officers lined the surrounding streets in honor of Officer Melvin Santiago.

Jurors found a suspect guilty of capital murder in the slaying of a Bellaire police officer two years ago.

Harlem Harold Lewis III killed Officer Jimmie Norman on Christmas Eve of 2012.

A roof collapse at a privately run Texas prison complex left 19 inmates injured Saturday.

The collapse occurred at the Diboll Correctional Center and police officers, S.W.A.T. team members and firefighters were able to quickly rescue the prisoners from the debris while making sure no one escaped.

A New York City police officer involved in the arrest of a man who died in custody was stripped of his gun and badge and placed on desk duty.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo was taken off the street after the death Thursday of 43-year-old Eric Garner on Staten Island.

Monday (July 21)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's plans to deploy as many as 1,000 National Guard troops to the Mexico border became public.

The governor has questioned President Barack Obama's commitment to securing the border and said his state would do so if the federal government did not.

Albuquerque police investigated attacks on homeless people after the arrest of three teens in the fatal beatings of two men.

One of the teens told police the trio had attacked more than 50 people over the last year.

Leavenworth, Kan. police arrested a man in the abduction, police chase and fatal shooting of a 5-year-old girl three days earlier.

Officials say that the girl was found dead in Marcus McGowan's car after he was shot following the high-speed chase.

The sheriff in Saginaw County, Mich. is trading his inmates' orange jumpsuits for black-and-white stripes.

Sheriff William Federspiel says that the all-orange jumpsuits are increasingly viewed as fashionable following the success of the show "Orange is the New Black" and that he doesn't want there to be confusion when inmates are out in public.

Tuesday (July 22)

A mid-year report released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows an overall spike in line of duty deaths so far in 2014.

During the first half of the year, 67 officers have been killed on the job, a 31 percent increase over the same period in 2013.

A man suspected of shooting two South Texas police officers was found dead following an hours-long standoff.

The man opened fire on officers who were outside the house in the Rio Grande Valley town of La Joya and was silenced after officers rammed the front door, inserted tear gas and exchanged fire.

Leaders along the Texas border with Mexico slammed Gov. Rick Perry's move to send 1,000 National Guard troops to South Texas.

The group of sheriffs contended that overwhelmed counties need law enforcement and charitable aid, not militarization.

Recently released surveillance video captured the brazen theft of a Philadelphia Police bicycle earlier this month.

Officials say the man took off with the bike on July 9 and it was recovered after it was abandoned by the thief who attempted unsuccessfully to sell it to a man.

Wednesday (July 23)

The NYPD's top cop said that the custody death of man last week highlighted a need for improved training.

Police Commissioner William J. Bratton plans to send a contingent of officers to Los Angeles to develop new training regimens.

The death of the man, who died after he was put in an apparent chokehold by an officer, was suspected of committing a minor crime and has brought some criticism to the "Broken Windows" policing tactic.

The New York Police Department has embraced the tactic based on the idea that going after smaller crimes such as public drinking or graffiti helps stop greater ones such as assault and murder.

The Pittsburgh police union contends that an officer was justified for punching a woman at the city's gay pride parade last month.

Union officials say that images show Ariel Lawther pushing a preacher protesting the event before she grabbed, pushed and struck the officer she accuses of striking her.

A Justice Department report concluded that the Newark, N.J. Police Department engaged in the excessive use of force, routinely stopped people on the street for no legitimate reason and regularly stole property from civilians.

The report is the culmination of a three-year investigation that has set the stage for federal monitoring of the police department.

Thursday (July 24)

A patient at a suburban Philadelphia hospital complex fatally shot a caseworker before he was wounded by a psychiatrist.

Police say that Dr. Lee Silverman was grazed during the shootout in his office with Richard Plotts at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital.

The family of a Chicago police officer who was killed in crash on his way to work says that he loved being a cop.

Officer Tito Rodriguez's father said that he wants people to know about his son's charisma and ambition and his loyalty to his family.

Police in St. Petersburg, Fla. are hoping the arrests of 20 will send a clear message to those looking to buy, sell, distribute or smoke synthetic marijuana.

The result of the sting, dubbed "Operation POT-pourri," was a culmination of months of effort by both undercover and in uniformed officer targeting those who use the drug and profit from it.

An audit found that he Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has failed to meet goals for reducing violent crime on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's bus and rail system.

The report, written by an outside firm and commissioned by Metro officials, found the department was also unable to adequately track emergency response times and fare evasion rates.

Friday (July 25)

A Jefferson County, Colo. deputy is being hailed for his actions after he took down an armed suspect in the middle of a highway a day earlier.

News chopper video shows the deputy wrestle the suspect to the pavement, ripping his shirt as he took him down.

The city of Albuquerque has agreed to let both a court and an independent monitor oversee reform of its embattled police department.

The Department of Justice and Mayor Richard Berry signed off on a framework for addressing the eight problem areas DOJ officials identified in a report on police practices earlier this year.

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