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Weekly Briefing: February 2, 2015

By Calibre Press | Feb 2, 2015

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Officer Down:

Sergeant Kerry Mitchum was en route to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office firing range when his department vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree. He was flown the University of South Alabama Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries.

Patrolman Roger O’Dell suffered a fatal heart attack after taking two juveniles into custody who had escaped from a juvenile detention facility in a neighboring county earlier in the day.

Detective Mike Starrett succumbed to injuries sustained one week earlier when he was involved in a head-on crash while responding to a fatal accident in which a father and young son were killed.

Superbowl celebration:

Crowds took to the streets in Boston. Police Commissioner Evans praised Boston PD for doing a great job monitoring the crowds.

#BPD reporting no arrests made as it relates to fans celebrating tonight’s @Patriots Super Bowl win. Way to make your team & city proud.
— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) February 2, 2015

Gunman in attempted murder of police officer sentenced:

The gunman from this officer involved shooting gets a 40 year sentence.

Officer Stratman was struck in the hand and can no longer work as a police officer.

Stratman, now 55, began working as a dispatcher when he was 19. He became an officer a few years later. Working in a police department is the only job he’s ever had. Now, he’s trying to make a different plan, to as he says, reinvent his life. A lifetime of training, school and experience thrown away, Stratman said.

But that’s the downside, Stratman said.

“I’m still here. That’s the upside.”

Officer fired and arrested:

A Valdosta police officer has been fired and arrested after stolen property was not turned in as evidence, said Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress Friday.

Trey Gandy, 24, is charged with theft by taking, violation of oath of office and tampering with evidence, Childress said. Gandy had been with the police department for about two years.

Officers Shot and Wounded:

Officer Frank Hartuniewicz of the Wyoming Department of Public Safety is recovering from a gunshot wound.

The suspect, Al James, exited the home and opened fire on officers, wounding Hartuniewicz.

“It started out as a domestic, and we know that both the suspect and his wife had been drinking,” Chief Carmody said. “Alcohol was certainly involved.”

Fort Worth Sgt. S. Drake was shot in the abdomen as he was responding to a domestic disturbance call.

When the bedroom door opened, a man fired a handgun, and the officers returned fire. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sgt. S. Drake is out of surgery and in stable condition.

Arrest made is under scrutiny

A San Francisco deputy public defender was handcuffed and arrested at the Hall of Justice after she objected to city police officers questioning her client outside a courtroom, an incident that her office called outrageous and police officials defended as appropriate.

Public defense attorneys appear in anti-police video

Attorneys at a New York City public defenders’ office participated in an online video that advocated the killing of police officers, featuring the lyrics “time to start killing these coppers,” a city investigation disclosed on Thursday.