At roll call: DUI saturation patrol

Unlike most other area police departments, Overland Park doesn't allow citizen ride-alongs. That is, you can request and receive a ride with an on-duty police officer in most cities, and see law enforcement in your city first-hand. Not in OP.
Recently I've ridden with Kansas City and Kansas City, KS officers, and attended an 11 p.m. - 3 a.m. sobriety checkpoint in Independence.
Overland Park declined my request to ride with one of the "saturation" patrols tomorrow night, on New Year's Eve. But OPPD PIO Jim Weaver invited me to attend the roll-call briefing before that event at 10 p.m.
I'll be there, and will post whatever I can tell you.

Another vicious Chihuahua attack

If I posted  Was pit bull attack child abuse? and Guilty: Another pit bull owner, I'm duty-bound to post this:

• FREMONT, Calif. (AP) — A pack of angry Chihuahuas attacked a police officer who was escorting a teenager home after a traffic stop, authorities said. Story

I'm also duty-bound to show the nicer side of Chihuahuas. So, from the library of the Kansas City Star, here's a pic that shows how appealing these little pets can be:

Happy New Year, everyone!

Shop til you drop: 15+ years for meth

Too late to get into the meth business by scurrying around convenience stores and buying pseudoephedrine - Eddie R. Staggs has already thought of that; now, like him, it's locked up.
From U.S. Attorney Todd Graves' office:

• Kansas City man sentenced in meth conspiracy (PDF)

 

KC homicide #19: Brittany, 15

She was 15. She was shot in a car in an apartment complex parking lot Feb. 22, and died five days later.
The shooting didn't make the paper until two days later; it was a metro brief. Her death didn't make the paper until three days after she died - another metro brief, which named her publicly for the first time - Brittany McDaniel.
Star cop reporter John Shultz wrote a story the next day about a vigil by Brittany's family and friends. And Brittany's name came up in a  September story about the city's homicides - she was #19 for 2005.
I mention all this because I got an email yesterday from a cousin of the suspect. Kevin Jordan, Jr., 24, is charged with murder II and armed criminal action in the attack on Brittany and her father, who survived.
Jordan's cousin, Eric Thurston, a financial reconciliation clerk in Dallas, told me by phone he didn't know Brittany. He just wants to find out what happened.
I referred him to CaseNet, where he can check the status of the case against his cousin in Jackson County Circuit Court. I also told him I'd post The Star's coverage of the case. Here it is:

05-02-24 Man, daughter shot
05-03-02 Wounded girl dies
05-03-02 Obituary, Brittany McDaniel
05-03-03 Vigil recalls slain teenager
05-04-17 Suspect arrested
05-04-20 Accused killer caught
05-09-30 Charges have been filed in 47 murders

From the vigil story:

• They remembered Brittany as a sweet, friendly girl who loved stuffed animals. Classmates gave the toys to Brittany's mother.

KCPD wagon drivers: Unheralded

It occurred to me that when the two Kansas City police paddy wagon drivers ran into each other on a call the other night, that was the only time I could remember them making the news.
So I looked at the last five years of KCPD annual reports to see if the department promoted wagon drivers as well as it did other units. Lookie here:

Yes, bagpipe players get more picture time than wagon drivers in the department's annual publication. And wheelmen (motorcycle cops)? There's everything but their kids' pictures in there. Here's the closest picture I found to a police wagon:

Conclusion:

• The wagon driver, like other police officers, is your friend. Even if he/she is putting you in the back of the vehicle.
• Snaps to the KCPD for posting 15 years of annual reports (with tons of stats) online - something no other area police department comes close to.

KC homicide #127: Self-defense?

From KCPD PIO Darin Snapp 1:46 p.m.:

• On December 29th, 2005 at approximately 9:15pm, KCMO Police were called to a residence in the 11300 block of Orchard in regard to a shooting.  Upon arrival officers located the victim inside the residence suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.  He was transported to a local hospital by Mast and died early this morning. 
• Witnesses say the shooting victim forced his way into the residence and threatened the residents with a knife.  After a brief struggle with one of the residents a second resident shot the victim after observing him swinging the knife in a threatening manner.  The residents are familiar with the victim from past disturbances and one of the residents has an Order Of Protection (Jackson County) against him. 
• Detectives have questioned and released all residents of the house (including the shooter).  Early investigation reveals the shooting to be in self-defense.  It will be presented to the prosecutor for review.   
• This is homicide #127 for 2005, compared to 90 at this time last year.

Identity theft, online and off

This person is worried about credit-card fraud and identity theft. It's been a busy holiday shopping season, and those issues are in the news. The message seems to be:

• Check your credit-card accounts online, don't wait for the statement to arrive. Time is money in these scams.
• It's not enough to rip those junk-mail credit-card come-ons in two and toss 'em. Get a shredder ($20-$30) and shred 'em!

The threat of online fraud and identity theft may be scarier, but victims more often say it happened the old-fashioned way - their wallet, purse or mail was stolen, or their trash dumpster-dived.

Some stories today and this week:
Safeguarding your identity - McClatchy News Service
Many companies advocate rules on identity theft - LA Times - data companies losing consumers' personal data, what to do?
Feds charge man with identity theft - Seattle Times
Identity theft: Report it quickly - Indianapolis Star
The upside of credit card theft - Motley Fool
Fake 'Fresh Prince' back in jail - eonline

The Federal Trade Commission - logo: "Protecting America's Consumers" - contracted out a telephone survey of 4,057 adults in 2003 that resulted in this fascinating 93-page Identity Theft Report, which has been widely quoted.

Other resources:

FTC Dot Cons Jukebox - well-presented info on a wide array of modern frauds, scams, schemes and rip-offs.

FTC credit-card do's and don'ts

FTC Congressional testimony on identity theft and Social Security numbers - subcommittee discussion of FTC-sponsored telephone survey.

Good MSNBC story about this from early this year

Census: Life, death and population change

Per-capita crime stats depend on population*, and here's an interesting population tally by the U.S. Census Bureau today:

U.S. population

• New Year's Day 2005: 295,107,657
• New Year's Day 2006: 297,821,175
• Change: 2,713,518 or 0.9  percent

Components of change:

• 1 birth every 8 seconds
• 1 death every 12 seconds
• 1 migrant** every 31 seconds

Result:
U.S. population grows by one every 14 seconds

*That's my excuse. I'm a census wonk.
**Net migration - immigrants minus emigrants

All The Star's crime stories today

This blog is meant to be your one-stop resource for crime-related stories from The Star. Today's links:

Independence man pleads guilty to meth charge
Expect patrols for drunken drivers this weekend
Woman charged with fleeing police
Open garages tempt criminals
Last two plead guilty in killing
Man sentenced in meth case
At least one person wounded in shooting
The holiday is no time to fire guns, group says
Star appeals ruling that conceals names
Homer’s holding a holiday benefit for KC’s homeless
Murder-for-hire alleged in Poplar Bluff slaying
Woman’s slaying is called justifiable
Three Kansans killed when plane crashes
METROPOLITAN DIGEST

Overland Park daily offenses

Daily offenses from Overland Park police, now in PDF format as well as in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format.

Open Overland Park offenses for 12-29-05: PDF XLS

Data also available at www.opkansas.org

Also see:
Interactive map of Overland Park crime data by local programmer Brett Rickman

Crime mapping by Overland Park police
Past Overland Park crime reports in this blog