MAY 2023 - Blues Vol 39 No. 5

AROUND THE COUNTRY She

AROUND THE COUNTRY She said that when she discussed concerns with constituents, the vast majority involved issues that could be helped with a fully staffed police department. “APD is working incredibly hard and stretched dangerously thin,” she said. According to a staff report, there are currently 19 officers in the department. The department is budgeted for 27 officers. While the city is currently training cadets, they will not be independent officers until April 2024. The bonus is targeted toward fully trained, employed police officers. New officers would receive ,000 within the first nine months of employment, for a total of ,000 two and half years after being hired. A yearly retention bonus of ,500 is included for current officers, for three years. The previous hiring bonus offered by the city was ,000. Tabatha Miller, finance director, said at the meeting the department is relying heavily on overtime to deal with the staffing issue, which is expensive. She also confirmed a comment by Kimberly White was partially true, that the city had not had to pay the vacant salaries and thus had some flexibility in the budget to pay for the bonuses. KIM POTTER, EX-COP WHO SHOT DAUNTE WRIGHT, TO BE RELEASED FROM PRISON. By Bill Carey , Police1 MINNEAPOLIS — Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center police officer who was sentenced to two years for the fatal shooting of Duante Wright, is expected to be released from prison on Monday. Potter fatally shot Wright during a traffic stop in April 2021 after firing her service weapon instead of her TASER. After being shot, Wright drove away from the scene and crashed his vehicle a short distance away, where he was pronounced dead, Fox 9 reported. Potter was sentenced to two years after being convicted of second-degree manslaughter. She served 16 months in prison and will serve the remaining months of her sentence on supervised release. Hennepin County District Judge Regina Chu said it was “the saddest case in my 20 years on the bench.” “I recognize there will be those who disagree with the sentence. That I granted a significant downward departure does not in any way diminish Daunte Wright’s life. His life mattered,” Chu told the Star Tribune. “To those who disagree and feel a longer prison sentence is appropriate, as difficult as it may be, please try to empathize with Ms. Potter’s situation. Officer Potter made a mistake that ended tragically. She never intended to hurt anyone.” yrs. 2 INDIANAPOLIS OFFICERS SHOT IN GUN BATTLE; SUSPECT KILLED. Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS — Two Indianapolis police officers wounded in a Thursday gun battle that left the suspect dead are expected to survive, a deputy chief said. The shooting involved officers who were members of the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force, a joint effort among central Indiana police agencies charged with identifying and removing illegal weapons from the community, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief Christopher Bailey said during a news briefing. Following a brief pursuit around 12:40 p.m., the officers were shot by a 46-year-old suspect armed with an AR-15-style rifle who also “riddled” a police patrol vehicle with bullets, Bailey said. They were among four officers who shot at the suspect, he said. The injured officers were brought to a hospital by other officers and are expected to survive, Bailey said. Their names and that of the suspect were not immediately released. “We are fed up. The community should be fed up with it. We have two officers who are lucky to be alive today,’’ Bailey said, his voice rising in anger. A passenger from the suspect vehicle fled but was apprehended for questioning, he said. NYPD ROBOT DOG, DRONES ASSIST FIRST RESPONDERS IN NYC PARKING GARAGE COL- LAPSE RESPONSE. NEW YORK — When areas of a collapsed parking structure proved to be unsafe for first responders, a robotic dog and drones were deployed to help with the response. On Tuesday, a parking garage collapsed in New York City, killing one worker and injuring five people. The robotic dog was able to enter the collapsed structure and go into areas where it was unsafe for first responders, WBAL reported. As the robot dog made its way into the rubble, it provided information to first responders about the condition of the structure. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the body of the man killed in the collapse was discovered by the robotic dog, which was deployed by the New York City Fire Department. “We did not want to send people inside there. We couldn’t even send a cadaver dog in there, because that cadaver dog would have gone in there and could have potentially had a collapse and harmed someone,” Adams said during a news conference. Just last week, New York City officials unveiled three new hightech policing devices, including a robotic dog that was first leased in 2020. The city’s contract for the device was cut short after critics ridiculed it as creepy and dystopian, the Associated Press reported. “If we didn’t have that robotic dog, we would have placed those firefighters in jeopardy,” Adams said. The robotic dog wasn’t the only new technology used to aid in the rescue — drones provided a birds-eye view of the collapsed structure. “They’re able to stream the video directly to our phones, to our command center and this is the first time we’ve been able to fly inside in a collapse to do this and get the information,” FDNY Chief of Fire Operations John Esposito said to WBAL. NYPD OFFICER STRUCK IN THE HEAD IN BRAZEN DAYTIME ATTACK By Thomas Tracy and Janon Fisher New York Daily News NEW YORK — An NYPD cop was bashed in the head with a bottle and then pummeled in an unprovoked attack from a stranger on a Bronx Street, wild surveillance video shows. The victim and her NYPD partner were standing in front of All Car Service on 231st St. in Kingsbridge when the attacker, wearing blue jeans and a hoodie, approached just before 2 p.m. Monday, the video obtained by the Daily News shows. Police sources say the pair of cops were conducting inspections of illegal smoke shops. Suddenly the attacker pulled a bottle out of his pocket and unprovoked whacked the female officer in the back of her head, the video shows. The assailant continued his attack, grabbing the victim’s long black hair and then delivering a few roundhouse punches to her face and body. Her partner absorbed some of the blows as he started to wrestle with the assailant. Two other men, who sources say are New York City Sheriff’s officers working with the NYPD, joined in and tried to ward off the attacker, the recording shows. As the three men were busy trying to subdue the assailant, the battered victim ran between two parked cars and then turned back to watch her partner wrestling with the man. She is assigned to the 114th Precinct in Queens but was detailed to a special unit for investigating smoke shops, sources said. The assailant, Jose Garcia, 45, was arrested and charged with assault, obstruction of government administration, resisting arrest, menacing, weapon possession and harassment. The attacked officer was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where she was expected to recover. Garcia’s arraignment was pending In Bronx Criminal Court Tuesday. MASS. PD RETURNS TO 24- HOUR COVERAGE AFTER NIGHT PATROLS WERE PREVIOUSLY ELIMINATED. By Luis Fieldman 52 The BLUES The BLUES 53