Eye in the sky...

On Friday February 1 Detective J.A. Baxter of the Greenville Police Major Crimes Unit developed information that  identified Alton Antonio Evely and Dontavius Cox as the two suspects who robbed a man as he was walking on E. Fifth Street on the morning of January 29.

Patrol Officers from B-Platoon located and arrested Evely without incident on Friday afternoon.   Officers from the Warrant Squad located Cox on Saturday February 2 near Myrtle Street in Greenville.  He was arrested without incident.

 

Both suspects are charged with 1 count each of robbery with a dangerous weapon.  They are being held under a $100,000 secured bond each.

Alton Evely has prior arrests for felony larceny, possession of stolen goods, misdemeanor larceny, and probation violations.

Dontavius Cox has one prior arrest for disorderly conduct. 

These guys were identified and captured in many ways due to the installation of our Downtown Safety Cameras.   Patrol Officer Ritchie Pearce viewed the surveillance pictures and was able to provide the detectives with suspect names, which in turn led to the identification and arrest of these 2 predators.

Square pizza...

This week officers from the Greenville Police Department C-PLATOON implemented an "Adopt-A-School" program for elementary schools around the City. 

These schools don't have full time School Resource Officers assigned to them, so the C-PLATOON officers thought it would be a good idea if each patrol officer could spend a little time each day or two getting to know the kids and staff at the different schools.

The officers plan to try, as calls for service permit, to be around the schools during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times.  They will plan to spend meal breaks with the kids, in the cafeteria,  and the officers want to be visible at extra-curricular events such as assemblies, and sporting meets.

The idea behind this effort is to give the children and staff at our elementary schools a continuing sense of security, as well as to provide them with personal service and a personal point of contact for anything they might need as it relates to policing.

The Adopt-A-School program is an officer-initiated idea.  C-PLATOON is excited about  being the first platoon in the Department to get this started.  They have challenged other platoons to join with them.

Square Pizza and a carton of milk--nothing better!

 The following officers and schools are paired up so far:

• Officer E. Robinson --  S. Greenville Elementary
• Officer F. Harris -- Oakwood School
• Officer C. Rodriquez -- Lake Forrest Elementary
• Officer A. Uvalle -- Wahl Coates Elementary
• Officer M. Grady -- Eastern Elementary
• Officer C. Church -- Wintergreen Elementary
• Officer R. Kurtz -- Elmhurst Elementary 

No csi...

Congratulations are in order to Corporal Ralph Mendenhall on completing 29 years of service to the Greenville Police Department.  Ralph will be officially retiring from the Police Department effective February 1.

Ralph has spent the bulk of his career working in the Forensics Unit,  concentrating on the meticulous and often unheralded task of crime-scene evidence analysis and processing.   

Unlike the way it is popularized on television shows such as CSI,  the forensics unit  and evidence processing involves weeks and weeks of detailed minutia,  paperwork, and tedium.  A good forensics person spends hours in the lab or at a desk, evaluating items of evidence to try and find the truth.   Each day, the forensics personnel sift through dozens of fingerprint cards, latent evidence cards, and fingerprint lift samples to classify fingerprints and possibly identify suspects in various criminal cases.  They read and study documents.  They perform tests on pieces of physical evidence. And they write a lot of reports. 

Whenever the Police respond to a major crime scene,  one of the first people through the door in the investigation is a Forensics Technician.  The responsibilities are immense.   The best analogy I can find to processing a crime scene is that to being an archaeologist in King Tut's tomb, sifting through items trying to determine which ones are significant and what stories they tell.

The Forensics Unit relies on many aspects of science, physics, and chemistry to help it find and explain the story behind a crime scene.  Whether it be a blood spatter pattern, gunshot residue, DNA, or simply a footprint in the sand,  the evidence that is preserved and identified, cataloged, analysed, and documented properly is the responsibility of the Forensics Unit.  It can make or break a criminal case in court.

Ralph has been one of the best, and the Department has benefited from his dedication.   

Congratulations, and Best wishes.

GPD Forensics Unit 2013:   front row:  Cpl. Ralph Mendenhall, APO Wyatt Coltrain.  back row: Ofc. Dan Wilkins, APO Earl Lavoie, Ofc. Charles Farrar

On the internet...

The Greenville Police Department is pleased to announce that beginning on February 1, motor vehicle crash reports will be made available to the public as a link on the Greenville Police Department webpage.

There will be no fee for access to this online service, and citizens will no longer need to come to the Police Department to obtain and view copies of crash reports.   

As of February 18, 2013 the Police Department will no longer maintain paper copies of crash reports for general public review.   Persons named on a crash report as a driver, car owner, or passenger, can still obtain a paper copy of the report.  Copies of crash reports for those people will still be available for free at the Records Section in the front lobby of the Police Department between 9am -- 5pm,  Monday – Friday.    

Other citizens will still be able to obtain a paper copy for a charge of $5.00, or they will be referred to the website to avoid any charges.

Citizens already have web access to the following GPD public records:

• Daily Calls for Service – a summary of all calls taken by the GPD Communications Center

• Daily Case Reports – a summary of all case investigations reported each day

• Daily Arrest Reports – a summary of each arrest daily

• Daily Drug Arrest Reports – a summary of all persons arrested for the sale and distribution of illegal substances

To access GPD records information online, go to the following web link:

• http://www.greenvillenc.gov/departments/police_dept/information/default.aspx?id=8010

Words with friends...

The field interview is an important method of contact and communication for officers to meet and speak with citizens, used in preventing and investigating criminal activity.    Field interviews are simple conversations on the one hand, and can be vital investigative and intelligence tools on the other, keeping in mind that 95% of people the police officers meet  and speak with are not involved in criminal activity.

Typically, a police officer may stop and speak with a person and conduct a field interview when the officer has established a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity may be taking place, or when conditions exist that cause the officer to question why a person is in a given location or conducting a given activity.  

Conditions such as time of day or night,  weather, location, proximity to known or recent criminal actions, or  obvious behavior of an person are just a few of the factors involved that when put together in their totality, leads an officer to develop reasonable suspicion.

Any officer who conducts a field interview must demonstrate respect for the persons involved.  A field interview is sometimes perceived by some as a means of police harassment or intimidation conducted in a discriminatory manner against  groups or individuals.  But a field interview is a legitimate police function necessary to the mission of the Department.  It is expected by the public that officers will stop and speak with people in order to prevent and investigate crimes and to maintain public safety.

A field interview may lead to that much needed break in an ongoing criminal investigation.   Or, it may just be a conversation between the officer and citizen...nothing more than a few words with friends.

The plain view doctrine...

On Wednesday January 16 at about 9:00 p.m. Greenville Police Officer J.W. Wooten was patrolling on E. Fifth Street near Summit Street when he saw from his patrol car several street signs hanging on the walls inside the front room of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house. 

Further investigation by the Officer Wooten led to the recovery of 12 stolen street signs.   While conducting that investigation, Officer Wooten developed probable cause to apply for a search warrant of the house.  

Service of the search warrant by police officers resulted in the seizure of 49 grams of marijuana packaged for resale; a digital scale; 3 Adderall pills; and $80 cash.

Officers arrested Levi Coleman, James Mead, and Collin King.

Coleman is charged with Possession with Intent to Sell & Deliver (PWISD) Marijuana, Maintain a Dwelling for the purpose of selling controlled substances, & Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Mead is charged with Possession of Schedule II Controlled Substances (Adderall),  Maintain a Dwelling for purpose of selling controlled substances, & Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

King is charged with PWISD Marijauna, Maintain a Dwelling for the purpose of selling controlled substances, & Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.                         

All 3 were jailed under $25,000 secured bonds.

Kermit says...

The Police Department continues to expand its green footprint.  While we have already been using a 2-wheeled Segway for at least a couple of years, and have employed bicycle patrols since the early 1990s, the Department continues the move to be more efficient and "green" this past month by the trial acquisition of an electric motorcycle.

Officers will soon be patrolling the parks and greenway as they test the use of this electric motorcycle, built by an Oregon manufacturing company called, "BRAMMO".  

The motorcycle runs on battery power, and is as quiet as a golf cart.   It can travel for more than 60 miles on a single charge, and can be driven on roadways the same as any other motorcycle.  It has a top end speed of more than 60 mph, which is more than sufficient for patrolling in the City.  

Police officers who use this electric motorcycle for Greenway patrol will be required to have a NC Motorcycle endorsement on their driver's license.   

For the time being, this is just a loaner model that is being used for evaluation.  But, who knows, if this proves to be effective and cost efficient, maybe we'll see more of the electric motorcycle...

Maybe Kermit was wrong.  Maybe it is easy to be green, after all.

GPD's Electric Motorcycle:   This is a test model on loan to the GPD.  It will be used to patrol the  Greenway, along with bicycles and Segway, in the background.