Frequent flyers....

Detectives this week arrested a man and charged him with 62 counts of car break-ins, credit card frauds, and related thefts. 

Here in this case is an excellent example of the damage 1 person can inflict on a community.  Multiply that 1 person many times over and you have a snapshot of the repeat offenders who many in the criminal justice system refer to as 'frequent flyers.'

It's a sad fact that a very small percentage of the population causes a large percent of the crime-related problems in any given community.   It is true in Greenville as well. 

These same people, over and over again,  commit crimes, are arrested, convicted, and sent to jail, and then released from jail to offend again.   The many different re-entry and self-help programs offered by government and by private charities cannot reach them and cannot change them.

Any experienced police officer, prosecutor, defense attorney, court clerk, or judge, can name a dozen or more people they see in the court house time and time again, being arrested and charged with the same crimes over and over.

What can be done to stop this cycle?  How do we combat these people who never seem to stop hurting our community?

The Greenville Police Department  developed a strategy whereby known repeat offenders are identified and given the attention they need to keep them from offending again.   Detectives and patrol officers contact these people at their homes several times each week.  When they are seen on the streets, police officers stop to speak with them and document that contact.  Probation Officers and Court officials are informed of these contacts.  If the person is in violation of any pre-trial release or probation conditions, or even commits a minor offense, they are immediately arrested in order to get back into compliance.  Its a no-tolerance, tough-love program that works.

Under current manpower, the department can identify and attend to between 6 - 10 people at one time using this strategy.  Detectives and officers work with one  or two offenders in a given area at a time for about 3 months, and then move to other ones.

This strategy seems to be working.  Known repeat offenders identified through this prevention and enforcement strategy have been slowed down from offending.    A few of them have even moved away from Greenville, citing a lack of opportunity to commit crimes.

On behalf of the victims of these repeat offenders we say, good-bye and good riddance.   We'll keep doing our job to make our community a safer place.

 

potpourri...

On Saturday night May 12 Greenville Police Officers responded to Sunchase Apartments for a report of suspicious activity.  When they arrived Police Officers located three males in the parking lot.  One of the males had a bulge in his waistband and gave indications that he was concealing something in his pants.  Officers challenged the suspects and located a car's CD player in his pants.  A nearby vehicle was found which had just been broken into.   Arthur Goddard, Michael Mills, and Cortez Smith were all arrested for the vehicle B&E’s. 

On Monday May 14 it was reported that someone had entered a construction site near Arlington Blvd over the weekend and stole a toilet and 2 sinks, which were still in their boxes.

Rapid Deployment training for Greenville police officers is scheduled for July 9-27 at Sadie Saulter School.  This training is intended to prepare and train police officers to respond to active shooter situations.  This is part of the department's annual in-service training calendar.

As bold as a lion...

About every 2 days, a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in America.

National Police Week, which occurs each year during the week of May 15, recognizes the service and sacrifice of U.S. law enforcement.   Established by the US Congress in 1962,  National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others.

The Memorial features two curving, 304-foot-long blue-gray marble walls. Carved on these walls are the names of more than 19,000 officers who have been killed in the line of duty throughout U.S. history.

Unlike many other memorials in Washington, DC, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is ever-changing: new names of fallen officers are added to the monument each spring, in conjunction with National Police Week.

Each year, many police officers from Greenville PD travel to Washington, DC and participate in the National Memorial Ceremony.   The memorial monument has the names of 3 police officers from Greenville enshrined in the marble walls:

• Jesse E. Mills
• Joseph L. Nobles
• Jason C. Campbell

In 2012, there will be 362 additional names of law enforcement officers added to the Memorial.

There are 4 quotes inscribed on the monument walls, including the quote seen on this page, above.  Over top of each inscribed quote are Lion statues.  Many people who visit this memorial leave small items in tribute to the fallen officers, such as photos, letters, service medals, and other memorabilia.  Some of these items are kept by the Memorial's organizing committee for exhibit later at the memorial's museum.

Like many other agencies across the nation,  the Greenville Police Department participates in an annual observance of Police Memorial Week. 

To Mother...

On May 4, 2012 the National PAL program, in partnership with Dress Barn Stores, announced the award of ten $50 gift cards to the Greenville Police Department PAL chapter  as part of Dress Barn’s  nation-wide  “To Mother, With Love” campaign. 

This campaign is intended to provide underprivileged children the opportunity to shop for a Mother’s Day gift.  10 children will participate in the event.  Each child will be paired with a Greenville Police mentor officer to shop at the Greenville Dress Barn for a gift for the child’s mother.  

The Greenville, NC PAL chapter has chosen 10 children based on need from their afterschool program to participate in this event.

The “To Mother, With Love” shopping event will take place on May 11, 2012 from 4pm-6pm at the Dress Barn, 3040 Evans Street in Greenville.

You're gonna get fleas...

My Grandfather used to tell me, "Boy, when you lie down with the dogs, you wake up with the fleas."   That was his kind way of telling me to stay out of trouble.  

When people today associate with bad folks, or do bad things, or make bad descisions,  they shouldn't be surprised when bad things happen to them.  It's not that anyone deserves bad things happening, but the chances for bad things to happen are increased greatly when we hang around a drug dealer, or party late at night with a man known to steal things, or ride in a car with somebody who is drinking.   We shouldn't be surprised.

And, nobody deserves to a victim, but as Clint Eastwood's character, William Munny, says in the climax of the movie, Unforgiven,  "Deserve's Got Nothing to Do With It."

Part of Community Policing is getting the community involved in policing itself, and reducing at-risk behaviors can go a long way toward reducing the opportunities for crime and victimization.  

As police officers work to pick up the pieces of undeserved trauma,  it is imperative that victims who have contributed to their own troubles through at-risk behaviors, recognize the role they play and cooperate fully with the investigation, even when it means accepting responsibility for behaviors that might be embarrasing, and in some cases, even against the law.      

The hope is always there that these victims will not make the same mistakes again that lead them to be victimized in the first place. 

Stranger danger...

On Friday, April 27 at about 12:30 pm Greenville Police Officer B.J. High investigated 2 reports of a man exposing himself to women near the Rosemont apartment complex on County Home Road, and on Hyde Drive near Charles Blvd.

The victims in these cases each told the officer that a suspect had approached  them in a car and had asked for directions.  The suspect then exposed himself to the women when they approached his car.  The victims each provided similar descriptions of the suspect and of his car.

Following up on the reports, Patrol Officers located a car at a residence on County Home Road that matched the suspect car description provided by the victims.  Officer A. Santamaria contacted Harrison Boyd at that address to confirm ownership of the car.  Boyd matched the description of the suspect that had been provided in the police reports.

Officer High later developed a photo lineup and had it provided to each victim independently.   Both of the victims identified Boyd as the suspect who had exposed himself to them.

Officer High obtained arrest warrants for Harrison Boyd and arrested him on 2 counts of Misdemeanor Indecent Exposure.   Harrison Boyd was jailed under a $2,000 secured bond.

Detectives from the Greenville Police Special Victims Unit followed up on this preliminary report and identified 2 additional case reports of Indecent Exposure reportedly committed by Harrison Boyd.

Detectives on Thursday afternoon May 3 obtained 2 arrest warrants against Boyd for Indecent Exposure offenses; one that occurred on April 17, 2012 at York Road, and one that took place on January 18, 2012 near the intersection of Warren Street and First Street.

The incident at York Road involved a male victim.  The incident at Warren Street involved a female victim..

In both of the additional case reports, the victims told police that Boyd drove near them in his car and asked them for directions.  When the victims responded, they saw that Boyd had exposed his private parts and was touching himself, they said.

Boyd will be served with the 2 additional arrest warrants as soon as possible.

Change for a 20...

Detectives from the Greenville Police Department's Financial Crimes Unit recently investigated the report of a Flim-Flam from a local restaurant.  In this case, 2 con artists working together scammed a cashier out of several hundred dollars.

A Flim-Flam is a form of a con scheme, which involves confusing a store cashier by trying to change out large denomination notes and swapping money back and forth, until the cashier loses track of the transactions, and the con artist gets away with a bunch of money.

Very often, Flim-Flam artists work as a team.  One person may distract the cashier with questions while the other person is requesting change for a large denomination bill, usually a $100 bill.   The targeted cashier gets distracted and confused about how much money has been counted out and swapped.   An excellent example of a Flim-Flam was portrayed in the 1973 movie, "Paper Moon" with Ryan and Tatum O'Neal:  Flim-Flam

Sometimes a Flim-Flam begins with a customer claiming to have received the incorrect change or claiming to have paid with a higher denomination bill than they actually used.  Scammers like to operate during busy times to keep the cashier off balance and confused.

Cashiers should stay alert and not allow themselves to be distracted or confused by customers.  Avoid making change from large denomination bills for customers. 

The Greenville Police Department encourages you to be in control of your transactions and to not allow the customer to intimidate or rush you.  Complete one transaction at a time and always count your change back to the customer.  Don't allow 1 person to distract you while you are dealing with another customer.

If you suspect somebody is trying to Flim-Flam you, call the police immediately.