CCJA Quickfire Recap: Third Week of July

July 20, 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 11-13)

A Jersey City, N.J. police officer died Sunday after he was shot in the head during an ambush.

Officials say that Officer Melvin Santiago and his partner were responding to a report of an armed robbery at a drugstore when the gunman opened fire on their cruiser while they were still inside.

The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department released an internal report on the response to the Washington Navy Yard shooting.

The 83-page After Action Report on the September 2013 rampage released on Friday found that officers were hindered because they couldn't access live surveillance-camera footage of the shooter.

New York City police were searching Sunday for a man who severely injured an off-duty detective.

Officials say detective was placed in a medically induced coma after a man punched him in the face on a Manhattan subway platform Saturday evening.

In a city with about 30,000 Chinese residents and just four sworn officers who can speak Chinese, the Alhambra Police Department hope that Weibo, the world's largest social network, will help bridge the cultural divide.

Late last year, the police department became the first police agency in the U.S. to launch a full-time Weibo account.

Monday (July 14)

Experts say that many of the more than 3,000 jails across the country have become treatment centers of last resort for people with serious mental illnesses.

Last year, jails booked 11.7 million people, making the task of screening for mental illness, managing medications, providing care and ensuring inmate safety.

Pasadena, Calif. police praised a dispatcher and crisis negotiator for persuading a gunman to surrender after he allegedly shot and killed three people Saturday.

Officials say that John Izeal Smith surrendered after a 20-minute phone call to the dispatcher who was assisted by a crisis negotiator.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown says he wants the city to have one union representing all of its officers.

The city currently has four major police associations, some of which also represent officers in other area jurisdictions.

The residents of Latta, S.C. recently rallied behind a fired police chief who is openly gay and helped her get reinstated.

Members of the community stripped the mayor of his powers, allowing the town to rehire Police Chief Crystal Moore.

Tuesday (July 15)

The Chicago Police Department is moving to publicly release information about completed investigations of police misconduct.

The decision ends a legal fight over the city's long-standing policy of exempting police misconduct incidents from Freedom of Information Act laws.

Outrage grew in Jersey City, N.J. after mourners gathered at a makeshift memorial to pay their respects to a man who allegedly took the life of a police officer.

City officials lashed out, saying that some residents were grieving for the suspect,Lawrence Campbell, instead of fallen Officer Melvin Santiago.

DUI fatalities in Virginia have dropped sharply over the past decade thanks in part to stiffer penalties.

The number of fatalities is down 21 percent since 2005 and Crashes related to drinking and driving have fallen about 30 percent.

Wednesday (July 16)

A street gang threatened to kill more cops in Jersey City, N.J. following an incident that left an officer and a suspected gunman dead on Sunday.

An internal New Jersey State Police advisory warned officers that gang members of the Bloods may be traveling from out of state to target law enforcement.

Police agencies across the country have realized the growing threat posed by replica firearms.

The proliferation of airsoft gun that shoot pellets but appear genuine has put extra pressure on law enforcement officers to determine a weapons authenticity.

Miami Beach's police chief has put a stop to off-duty assignments for officers at the city's nightclubs.

Police Chief Dan Oates made the decision amid an investigation into whether one of his sergeants was drunk while on detail.

The city of Cleveland settled a federal lawsuit in the deaths of two unarmed people killed in by police after a pursuit two years ago.

Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams died on Nov. 29, 2012 after officers fired 137 shots following a 20-mile pursuit that involved 62 police cruisers and more than 100 officers.

Thursday (July 17)

A Waldwick, N.J. police officer checking for speeders in an unmarked car was killed after being rear-ended by a tractor-trailer.

Officer Christopher Goodell was operating radar on Route 17 at about 1:30 a.m. when a truck went onto the shoulder of the road and struck his parked police crusier.

Mourners paid their respects to a rookie Jersey City police officer slain in the line of duty over the weekend.

Hundreds of officers filed in and out of a funeral home to honor Officer Melvin Santiago a day before he was set to be buried.

Police in Stockton, Calif. said that officers were forced to open fire during a pursuit of three bank robbery suspect who were holding a woman hostage.

Officials said that the lone suspect who survived the gun battle used the woman, who died along with the other two suspects, as a human shield.

A report released by a government watchdog found that the FBI and the Justice Department didn't move quickly enough to identify the cases handled by FBI crime lab examiners whose work was found to be flawed.

The report from the department's inspector general said it took the FBI nearly five years to identify the more than 60 death-row defendants whose cases involved analysis or testimony from one or more of the 13 examiners.

Friday (July 18)

The deaths this week of two New Jersey police officers in different parts of the state underscored the peril faced by officers everywhere -- in both the city and the suburbs.

Waldwick Officer Christopher Goodell was killed in a crash Thursday, while Jersey City Officer Melvin Santiago was slain in an ambush on Sunday.

U.S. Border Patrol officials said that the agency has detained fewer unaccompanied children entering South Texas illegally in the past 10 days.

In recent months, the Border Patrol's facilities in South Texas have been overwhelmed by a surge in the number of children entering the country without their parents.

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