message from the chief's office... - Spokane Police Department

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Just before the Spokane City Council meeting on February 9, 2009, Chief Kirkpatrick recognized Spokane citizens for their bravery. On October 10, 2008 Airman David Scarlett pulled two men out of the Spokane River before patrol officers arrived on scene. www.spokanepolice.org CITIZEN’S RECOGNIZED On July 28, 2008, Sara Murphy was instrumental in saving the life of another citizen who was attempting to jump off the Monroe Street Bridge. Chief Kirkpatrick stands with Airman David Scarlett, On January 6, 2009, Josh Meyers ran to the Sara Murphy, Josh Meyers and Mayor Verner aid of a man who crashed his car into a snow bank. The car then caught on fire. Meyers pulled this man to safety. All three citizens received a letter and a plaque containing the Chief’s Coin. CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY TEAM Many of you know the Spokane By: Officer Teresa Fuller Police Department has a number of officers on the Spokane County Child Passenger Safety Team. We are all dedicated to making the children of our community safer by ensuring they are buckled correctly. What many of you don’t know is that SPD’s involvement on the team was spearheaded by Ofc. Jennifer DeRuwe. Eight years ago Jennifer was certified under the Safe Kids national curriculum to become a car seat technician. After that, she went on to become a “senior” checker, one that helps double check other technicians’ work, and then she became an instructor. I had the privilege of being in the first class that Jenn taught. Her passion definitely influenced me as well as other officers that have chosen to make the commitment to our team. Sadly, Jennifer’s time had to come to an end, so she attended her last car seat check on January 24 th . Although she doesn’t have time attend car seat checks, Jenn will always be an integral part of our team. Unbeknownst to her, we wouldn’t let her leave without a proper farewell, so she was presented with a certificate of appreciation for her dedication to the team. Thank you Jenn for the time and effort you put into making our team what it is today! PAGE 6
www.spokanepolice.org K-9 Beny K-9 DOGS RETIRE K-9 Beny retired in October of 2008 due to age-related health issues. Beny was a patrol dog partnered with Officer Craig Hamilton when he was first assigned to the K-9 Unit in February of 2004. Beny was a sport-trained German Shepherd imported from the Czech Republic. They were immediately successful when they hit the street. Beny retired with 157 criminal captures and 36 evidence finds. Two examples of Beny’s captures are tracking a suspect that fled from a stolen vehicle to the Spokane River near Downriver Golf Course. They located the suspect who was quite a ways out in the river concealed in the darkness and overgrowth. The river was still very cold, and if not located, the suspect might certainly have died there in his efforts to escape arrest. In another instance, Beny also tracked and located a male suspect that tried to burn down his own house with his wife and kids still inside. Beny will spend retirement on Craig’s property with his other dogs. K-9 Var retired just last month, also due to age related health issues at 10 years of age. Var, also a patrol dog, was partnered with Officer Dan Lesser in January 2001. Var too was a German Shepherd imported from the Czech Republic. Officer Lesser, a SWAT team member, then became the primary SWAT K-9 with Var, who quickly became an essential part of the team. Var had 237 criminal captures and 8 evidence finds in his career. One example of Var’s many captures was locating a suspect who killed a 3 year old girl. The suspect was aware the police were searching for him and hid himself in a house. Var located the suspect who had actually concealed himself behind a false wall in the basement. Without Var, this suspect would most likely have escaped detection. On Var’s last night of service last month, he captured another homicide suspect from a stabbing, also hiding in a basement. The story of Var’s significant capture on his last night was actually picked up by the Associated Press and made newspapers all over the country. Var will spend his retirement with Ofc Lesser’s family. K-9 Var ** K-9 Jasmine, a drug dog, recently passed away last month. Jasmine was a Rottweiler and Golden Retriever mix that was donated to Spokane Police Department. Jasmine was trained in drug detection by the K-9 Unit. She was partnered with Officer Ernie Wuthrich for a short while in 1996, and then partnered with Officer Eric Olsen when he needed a new K-9. When Eric was promoted to Detective in 1997, Officer Tracie Meidl was selected as his replacement and partnered with Jasmine. Tracie and Jasmine worked as a team until the Drug Dog program was disbanded due to budget cuts in 2004. (Chief Kirkpatrick brought the program back in early 2007.) For those who had the opportunity to watch Tracie and Jasmine at work, they would agree that they were truly an impressive team. In one instance, instead of going inside to search a car after an arrest as directed, Jasmine immediately dove under the car and alerted on a substantial quantity of methamphetamine. The driver had dropped the drugs to the ground K-9 Jasmine through a hole near the car’s gear shift, knowing that officers would not think to look on the ground. It did not fool Jasmine’s nose however, and the driver was arrested. In another case, Jasmine alerted to a package that had been sent through the mail. After obtaining a search warrant, the package was opened. The box was completely sealed in tape. Inside the box was a zip-lock bag full of laundry detergent. Inside this bag was a spice jar that had been sealed with hot glue. Instead of spice, the jar was full of methamphetamine. These are just a couple of examples of Jasmine’s thousands of drug finds over her years of service. These dogs are responsible for the arrest of hundreds of criminal suspects that would have otherwise escaped, and they did it only for the praise of their handlers. Besides capturing criminals, they showed off their skills in hundreds of demonstrations, creating plenty of goodwill for the Spokane Police Department. The Spokane Police Department K-9 Unit is renown throughout the northwest United States because of our quality K-9 teams like these. PAGE 7
Page 1 and 2: MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF’S OFFICE..
Page 3 and 4: EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH Congratulatio
Page 5: www.spokanepolice.org 2008 VOLUNTEE
Page 9 and 10: www.spokanepolice.org YEARS OF SERV
Page 11 and 12: www.spokanepolice.org CITIZENS APPL

message from the chief's office... - Spokane Police Department

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