I attended a DUI check lane on June 15, 2012. In order to volunteer for the Johnson County Sheriffs Office at check lanes you must be a CA graduate and must first observe one to see what it entails.
The June 15 check lane was run by Shawnee Police Department in the City of Shawnee. JCSO provided support in the form of equipment, deputies and volunteers. JCSO provided 7 deputies, 1 civilian employee, 4 volunteers and 2 CA graduates who observed (I was one of the 2 observers). I have not requested the statistics on how many officers, staff and volunteers Shawnee Police Department utilized during this check lane and therefore those stats are not included here.
SPD utilized volunteers for this check lane. I'm not 100% certain but I believe you must complete their citizens academy in order to volunteer for the SPD. They hold their citizens academy in the fall. If interested in attending, visit their web page at: http://gsh.cityofshawnee.org/.
Since JCSO was not the primary at this check lane the only role JCSO volunteers played was that of driver. After an officer makes contact with an individual who has entered the check lane and has determined the individual needs to be tested they will yell for a driver. The volunteer will enter the individuals vehicle and move it to a pre-designated area. The volunteer will then hand the keys off to an officer for safe keeping until the individual is either released (passed the field sobriety testing) or processed by the booking officer (if failed testing).
The check lane on June 15, 2012 ran from 11pm-2am. I don't see the location publicized anywhere so I'll leave it out for now. Results: 88 cars stopped. 3 arrests for DUI. 1 arrest for drugs (possession of marijuana and paraphernalia). 1 citation for open container. 1 citation for minor in possession. This was noted as a low impact lane, meaning it would not see a lot of traffic but statistics indicate it's an area of high incidence for DUI and/or drugs and that's why the location was chosen.
What happens when you drive in to a check lane? If you haven't been through a check lane before you will first notice a sign indicating you are entering a check lane or an officer blocking the road redirecting you in to the check lane. This is noted as "advanced warning to driver" and is mandatory for check lanes. Advanced warning must remain in place for the duration of the check lane. Don't try to illegally avoid the lane. Officers assigned to observe and pursue will intercept and personally escort violators in to the check lane (one individual tried to avoid this check lane and ended up wearing hand cuffs at the lane while waiting to be processed).
Once in the lane an officer will introduce themselves and explain that they are conducting a DUI check lane that evening. Other officers will likely be shining a flashlight in your car looking for open containers, drugs, etc,. You will be asked for your drivers license and if you have been drinking or if you have consumed any controlled substances that evening. If you have a valid drivers license on you and don't exhibit any signs of impairment you should be on your way with brochure in hand (educational brochure about drinking & driving provided by NHTSA) in about 45 seconds. If you show signs of impairment you will be asked to step out of your vehicle for additional questions and testing. (Your vehicle will be moved to a pre-determined area and kept secure until you are either released or processed. If processed your vehicle will be towed.) An officer will escort you over to a pre-designated testing area to allow for videotaping of the field sobriety testing and preliminary breath alcohol testing (if applicable). If you pass the testing and are determined safe to drive you will be on your way in about 10-15 minutes. If you fail the FST the next step is to take a preliminary breath alcohol test. If you take the preliminary breath alcohol test and fail you will remain with an officer until a 20 minute deprivation period elapses at which time you will perform a confirmation breath alcohol test. Fail the confirmation test and you will be processed through booking.
If you decline to take the preliminary breath alcohol test you will then be asked to submit to a blood test or may be transported to jail for processing depending on the agency running the check lane. Be aware that some agencies are now getting a warrant for the blood draw if an individual refuses the preliminary breath alcohol test and the blood draw. The blood draw may or may not be done in the field again depending on the agency. Expect to be delayed for several hours if you are refusing to perform the testing.
Drug Recognition Officers and K-9 officers are also generally on hand if an individual is suspected of being under the influence of a substance other than alcohol. Passengers who are not minors in possesion, transporting open container or otherwise detained for other reasons will be escorted to a designated area until released.
What's the purpose of DUI check lanes? A study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that drivers who drink & drive do not believe the chances of being caught are great enough to deter them from drinking & driving. The principal reason for conducting sobriety check lanes is to make sure drivers (that drink & drive) believe the chances of getting caught are greatly increased. DUI check lanes are funded by grants. Literature to educate drivers is provided to each driver that passes through a check lane.
Summer is the most common time of year for law enforcement agencies to conduct DUI check lanes. Look for more to be conducted this summer throughout Johnson County as well as neighboring counties. Missouri runs their fare share of check lanes too.
Showing posts with label k-9 unit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label k-9 unit. Show all posts
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Week 10 Continued... K-9 Officers - JCSO Citizen's Academy
Week 10 Continued... K-9 Officers
Sgt Dan Fretz's K-9 partner is Figo, Master Deputy Mark Burn's K-9 partner is Ace and Deputy Travis Turner's K-9 partner is Nora. Pictured below is Nora doing a brief demonstration.
JCSO uses German Shepherds as their K-9 partners.
I was curious as to what other breeds are used in law enforcement so I did a little research: Here is a list of breeds and the tasks they commonly perform:
Argentine Dogo (protect the officer, attack dog, sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs, sniff out food)
German Shepherd (protect the officer, attack dog, ground based tracking and air based tracking, locating human remains, locating drugs, locating EODs, locating evidence)
Dutch Shepherd (protect the officer, attack dog)
Belgian Malinois (protect the officer, attack dog, locating EODs)
Boxer (protect the officer, attack dog)
Labrador Retriever (sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs)
Doberman Pinscher (protect the officer, attack dog)
Springer Spaniel (sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs)
Bloodhound (Odor Specific ID, trackings, sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs, locating evidence)
Beagle (sniff out bombs, sniff out drugs, sniff out food)
Rottweiler (protect the officer, attack dog)
Giant Schnauzer (protect the officer, attack dog)
Bernese Mountain Dog (finds missing people)
JCSO deputies and their K-9 partners engage in training 6-8 hours weekly to keep up their skills. Activities K-9 partners are used for include: Obedience, Article Search, Building Search, Tracking, Aggression Control, and Narcotics Detection. JCSO mainly uses dogs for narcotics detection and specificly for marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. Most drug dogs aren't trained to detect ecstasy. JCSO is unique in that they have included this training with their K-9 partners.
Why use dogs in law enforcement? Dogs sense of smell is 100 times greater than humans. Dogs can run up to 32mph compared to humans that top out around 18mph. Dogs hear 8 times better than humans.
German commands are used mainly because of tradition but also because it's less likely a suspect can confuse the dog by trying to provide a command. The dogs are trained on one syllable commands that are easy for the trainers to enunciate.
K-9s and their partners certify as a team (handler/dog). Average work life of a K-9 partner is 7 years. JCSO purchased their partners using drug forfeiture $. K-9s can cost $10K or more depending on their training. It's not a good idea to cross train the dogs for different tasks or try to use them as pets. The dogs do go home with their trainers but are kept separate from any pets in the home. Laws prohibit teasing of or harming K-9 partners.
K-9s have many different deployment opportunities: Detention Centers, Community Corrections, Court House, School Searches, Dept of Revenue, DEA, Neighboring Sheriff's Offices and City Agencies.
JCSO gets their K-9s from either Kansas Highway Patrol or Iron Heart. When a K-9 partner retires they can either go home with the handler and become part of the handlers family or can be adopted out.
Sgt Dan Fretz's K-9 partner is Figo, Master Deputy Mark Burn's K-9 partner is Ace and Deputy Travis Turner's K-9 partner is Nora. Pictured below is Nora doing a brief demonstration.
JCSO uses German Shepherds as their K-9 partners.
I was curious as to what other breeds are used in law enforcement so I did a little research: Here is a list of breeds and the tasks they commonly perform:
JCSO deputies and their K-9 partners engage in training 6-8 hours weekly to keep up their skills. Activities K-9 partners are used for include: Obedience, Article Search, Building Search, Tracking, Aggression Control, and Narcotics Detection. JCSO mainly uses dogs for narcotics detection and specificly for marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. Most drug dogs aren't trained to detect ecstasy. JCSO is unique in that they have included this training with their K-9 partners.
Why use dogs in law enforcement? Dogs sense of smell is 100 times greater than humans. Dogs can run up to 32mph compared to humans that top out around 18mph. Dogs hear 8 times better than humans.
German commands are used mainly because of tradition but also because it's less likely a suspect can confuse the dog by trying to provide a command. The dogs are trained on one syllable commands that are easy for the trainers to enunciate.
K-9s and their partners certify as a team (handler/dog). Average work life of a K-9 partner is 7 years. JCSO purchased their partners using drug forfeiture $. K-9s can cost $10K or more depending on their training. It's not a good idea to cross train the dogs for different tasks or try to use them as pets. The dogs do go home with their trainers but are kept separate from any pets in the home. Laws prohibit teasing of or harming K-9 partners.
K-9s have many different deployment opportunities: Detention Centers, Community Corrections, Court House, School Searches, Dept of Revenue, DEA, Neighboring Sheriff's Offices and City Agencies.
JCSO gets their K-9s from either Kansas Highway Patrol or Iron Heart. When a K-9 partner retires they can either go home with the handler and become part of the handlers family or can be adopted out.
Week 10 - Directed Patrol/Canine Officers; Basic Gang Identification - JCSO Citizen's Academy
Week 10 - Directed Patrol/Canine Officers; Basic Gang Identification.
As in previous posts, I am going to break the entries up so as not to be so cluttered. First topic covered in Week 10 is Directed Patrol Unit. A separate entry will be for Canine (K-9) Officers and finally an entry will be specific to Gang Identification.
Captain Baker kicked off the class with a brief introduction and then handed off to Sergeant Tom Reddin who put the new guy (Deputy Andy Blake) on the spot to give the presentation. Assisting with the presentation were Master Deputy Mark Burns and Sergeant Dan Fretz. (It was nice to finally meet you Mark! Guess I can't call you figment anymore... :))
The primary goal of the Directed Patrol Unit is conducting criminal interdiction, investigations and arrests of those responsible for the use, possession, sale, manufacture, and distribution of illegal narcotics. In addition, the Directed Patrol Unit provides Deputies to the Kansas City Drug Enforcement Administration High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and to the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force.
DPU consists of:
Responsibilities of DPU include Patrol, Education, County Wide Assistance with Narcotics (Interviews, Surveillance, Search Warrants, Knock & Talks, etc) and Vice Operations (Prostitution, Alcohol/Tobacco - sale, possession and distribution of).
Johnson County sees approximately 3% of the illegal drugs coming in to the US. Don't be deceived by that percentage! Here's a snapshot of what was seized in 2010 by the DEA and assisting agencies:
Do the math and you will see that even just 3% of the above is a lot of drugs! Interstate 35 is a main corridor of drug trafficking because of it's span North/South across the US. The reason why DPU focuses much of their effort on drug/criminal interdiction is because criminals are most vulnerable in transit and they are human so that means that even they have to sleep! What better opportunity to catch a criminal than when they are most vulnerable?
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is what governs law enforcements ability to search and seize drugs. Officers must have Reasonable Suspicion or Probable Cause. Exceptions to the search warrant requirement include: Consent to Search; Plain View; Search Incident to Arrest; Auto Search; Stop and Frisk; Emergency; Inventory Search. Many people will allow a Consent to Search either because they believe they are already caught or that they have hidden the drugs so well the officers won't find it.
JCSO works with DEA and the HIDTA task forces to try and identify narcotics and $ couriers through roadside investigations. Communication is a key factor in cooperation between different agencies and communities in the effort to win the war against drugs.
Someone asked the question who to contact if we see or know of criminal activity and the response was to call the Sheriff's Office or 911. Here is a little more info directly from their web page:
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office welcomes any assistance by the public to aide in the investigation and disruption of criminal activity in the greater Johnson County area. If you have any knowledge of illegal activity involving narcotics, individuals, groups, or any information of interest you can contact the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office through our website, or call 913-715-5200 or through the tips hot line 1-816-474-TIPS (8477). All information will be treated as confidential and your identity will remain anonymous.
Additional phone numbers:
Next up is K-9 Officers......
As in previous posts, I am going to break the entries up so as not to be so cluttered. First topic covered in Week 10 is Directed Patrol Unit. A separate entry will be for Canine (K-9) Officers and finally an entry will be specific to Gang Identification.
Captain Baker kicked off the class with a brief introduction and then handed off to Sergeant Tom Reddin who put the new guy (Deputy Andy Blake) on the spot to give the presentation. Assisting with the presentation were Master Deputy Mark Burns and Sergeant Dan Fretz. (It was nice to finally meet you Mark! Guess I can't call you figment anymore... :))
The primary goal of the Directed Patrol Unit is conducting criminal interdiction, investigations and arrests of those responsible for the use, possession, sale, manufacture, and distribution of illegal narcotics. In addition, the Directed Patrol Unit provides Deputies to the Kansas City Drug Enforcement Administration High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and to the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force.
DPU consists of:
- A Captain
- A Lieutenant
- A Sergeant
- 9 Deputies, 2 are attached to a task force and 2 are attached to the canine teams
- Administrative Aide
Responsibilities of DPU include Patrol, Education, County Wide Assistance with Narcotics (Interviews, Surveillance, Search Warrants, Knock & Talks, etc) and Vice Operations (Prostitution, Alcohol/Tobacco - sale, possession and distribution of).
Johnson County sees approximately 3% of the illegal drugs coming in to the US. Don't be deceived by that percentage! Here's a snapshot of what was seized in 2010 by the DEA and assisting agencies:
Calendar Year
|
Cocaine (kgs)
|
Heroin (kgs)
|
Marijuana (kgs)
|
Methamphetamine (kgs)
|
Hallucinogens (dosage units)
|
2010
|
29,179
|
690
|
722,476
|
2,067
|
2,578,935
|
Do the math and you will see that even just 3% of the above is a lot of drugs! Interstate 35 is a main corridor of drug trafficking because of it's span North/South across the US. The reason why DPU focuses much of their effort on drug/criminal interdiction is because criminals are most vulnerable in transit and they are human so that means that even they have to sleep! What better opportunity to catch a criminal than when they are most vulnerable?
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is what governs law enforcements ability to search and seize drugs. Officers must have Reasonable Suspicion or Probable Cause. Exceptions to the search warrant requirement include: Consent to Search; Plain View; Search Incident to Arrest; Auto Search; Stop and Frisk; Emergency; Inventory Search. Many people will allow a Consent to Search either because they believe they are already caught or that they have hidden the drugs so well the officers won't find it.
JCSO works with DEA and the HIDTA task forces to try and identify narcotics and $ couriers through roadside investigations. Communication is a key factor in cooperation between different agencies and communities in the effort to win the war against drugs.
Someone asked the question who to contact if we see or know of criminal activity and the response was to call the Sheriff's Office or 911. Here is a little more info directly from their web page:
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office welcomes any assistance by the public to aide in the investigation and disruption of criminal activity in the greater Johnson County area. If you have any knowledge of illegal activity involving narcotics, individuals, groups, or any information of interest you can contact the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office through our website, or call 913-715-5200 or through the tips hot line 1-816-474-TIPS (8477). All information will be treated as confidential and your identity will remain anonymous.
Additional phone numbers:
- DPU Contact number (913) 715-5584 (M-F)
- On-call Officer (913) 715-5582 (24 hrs)
Next up is K-9 Officers......
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