In the United States, about 900,000 law enforcement officers put their lives on the line for the safety and protection of others. Protection comes at a price. There are approximately 16,000 assaults on law enforcement officers, resulting in nearly 60,000 injuries each year. Over the last decade, an average of 160 officers a year have been killed in the line of duty. In 2011, 163 officers were killed in the line of duty.

On average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 53 hours. Since the first known line-of-duty death in 1791, more than 19,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty.

Deputy Sheriff Suzanne Hopper, 40, of Clark County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio, was the first officer killed in the line of duty in 2011 on January 1. She was responding to a call and during her preliminary investigation, she observed a footprint and took out her camera to photograph it. As she was doing so, a man opened the door to his trailer and shot and killed her. She is survived by her husband, two children, and two stepchildren.

Chief Ralph Painter, 55, of the Rainier Police Department in Oregon was the third officer slain in 2011. He was shot and killed after responding to a local car stereo shop. A man was attempting to take a car that did not belong to him. When Chief Painter contacted the man, a struggle ensued. The subject disarmed Chief Painter and fatally shot him. Chief Painter is survived by his wife and seven children.

Mesa County’s history holds its own line of duty deaths, as two law enforcement officers have died while trying to protect their communities. Jailer Edward Innes died in 1906 after an inmate hit him in the head while trying to escape. More recently, in 2001, acting Fruita Police Chief Dan Dalley was killed in a traffic accident.

All law enforcement officers know the potential dangers of their jobs. Many family members of officers fear that horrible phone call informing them that their loved has been killed. Last year hundreds of family members lost an important person in their lives. Within the first week of 2011 there were 13 children were left without either a father or mother due to the deaths of Chief Painter , Deputy Hopper, and one other fallen officer.

Join us as we remember the fallen on May 13-19 in Mesa County:

• Monday, May 14– Flag Ceremony at Mesa County Sheriff’s Office– 8am

• Monday, May 14– Mesa County Commissioners Proclamations- 9am

• Tuesday, May 15– Memorial Vigil at the County Building– 7:30pm

• Tuesday, May 15- City of Fruita Proclamation– Fruita City Hall- 7pm

• Please wear a blue ribbon throughout the week and shine a blue light on your homes and businesses as we honor those killed in the line of duty.

For more information about the men and women of law enforcement who have been killed in the line of duty visit:

www.odmp.org

www.nleomf.org

One of the main reasons local law enforcement is participating in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is because of the major rise in prescription drug abuse. By participating in this event you can save lives by helping decrease the amount of prescription drugs that fall into the wrong hands.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in 2008 more than 36,000 people died from drug overdoses, and 20,044 of those deaths were due to prescription medications. Of those, 14,800 were from narcotic painkillers. That amount is nearly four times higher than it was a decade ago.   In fact, more people die in America a year from prescription drug abuse than cocaine and heroin combined. And, it’s sometimes harder to find prescription drugs being used illegally because it can be harder to determine if they are in fact being abused.

“Prescription overdoses are an epidemic in the U.S.,” says Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC. Most people who die from prescription drug overdose are taking someone else’s medicines, he says. “Medicines that were left in the medicine cabinet. Medicines that were given to a friend or a relative. Maybe innocently, maybe maliciously.”

Grand Junction isn’t immune to these problems.  The Western Colorado Drug Task Force, which the Grand Junction Police Department is a part of, comes across people abusing prescription drugs just as often as they do illegal drugs.  And, although prescription drug abuse is most often seen in younger generations, we do come across older people abusing them too.   

Common Prescription Drugs Abused include:

• Pain Killers ( Examples: OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin)
• Anti Depressants (Examples: Xanax, Klonopen)
• Muscle Relaxers

Recently area school resource officers have also seen a spike in the number of cases of younger people abusing over-the-counter cold medications, commonly called Triple C’s and Robo-ing, too.

Perhaps what’s even more alarming is that the Drug Task Force has been noticing poly-drug use, which means using more than one drug at a time.  Prescription drugs, illegal drugs, even alcohol and caffeine, are often used together in various combinations.  Poly-drug use can be extremely dangerous because people do it to counteract the different effects of the drugs they are taking, or to enhance the high they get from them.  However, the combinations can be extremely destructive to your body and sometimes even make your heart stop beating.

People often think that prescription medication can’t be bad for you because a doctor has prescribed it, but when people are abusing the drugs they aren’t being used as prescribed, and that’s where the danger is. If you are someone who has been prescribed medication, you need to do your best to prevent abusers from getting their hands on it. Abusers are willing to steal from family and friends, even go through the trash to find medicine. Kids will go through their parents’ medicine cabinets, or go to friends houses and go through their medicine cabinets. You need to do everything possible deny access to your medication.

How to Prevent Prescription Drug Abuse:

• Lock your medicine cabinets
• Sit down and talk to your kids about the dangers of prescription drug abuse
• Get involved in the lives of your loved ones
• Properly get rid of unused or expired medications by taking advantage of Prescription Drug Take Back Days

For the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 28, there will be four locations for the public to drop off their unused and unwanted prescription drugs in Mesa County. Those locations are:

• Grand Junction Police Department (625 Ute Ave.)
• Mesa County Sheriff’s Office (215 Rice St.)
• Fruita Community Center (324 N Coulson St.)
• Palisade Police Department (175 E 3^rd St.)

Help make our wonderful community a safer place.

Additional information can be found on the following websites:
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/VitalSigns/PainkillerOverdoses/

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/01/prescription-drug-deaths-skyrocket/#ixzz1rwbF8tpM

 This national event seeks to prevent pill abuse and theft. On this day, local law enforcement and the DEA will be collecting potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction. The service is free and anonymous.  Simply stop by one of the listed locations and put your medication into the collection box, no questions asked.

During the first ever National Take Back Day, which was held on September 25, 2010, a combined total of 204.6 pounds of prescription drugs were collected by the agencies in Mesa County. Since then, area residents have disposed of hundreds more pounds of unused medications through this popular program.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. The DEA states many Americans are not aware that medicines in their home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends.

I was worried that I was going to have to break the bad news to Walter, but quickly realized he’s one sharp guy. Throughout our brief conversation he made several comments that let me know I didn’t have to worry about someone fooling him, such as, “I know I didn’t win anything, I never bought a ticket,” or “I’ve been around long enough to know you don’t get anything for free,” or “I’ve worked too hard for my money to be falling for something like this.”

Unfortunately, for all too many people, these types of scams do work, which is why there are so many of them going around.  If the scammers weren’t getting people’s money, then they wouldn’t be wasting their time sending these scams around.  We get multiple reports a week from people letting us know they received “a strange phone call,” or “something suspicious in the mail.”  That’s why each and every one of us needs to be alert to possible attempts to steal our hard-earned money. 

 I’ve included a copy of the “Award Notification” Walter brought in. He said if it helped keep even one person from becoming a victim then his trip down to the police department was well worth it. Walter also said he’d spread the word with family and neighbors, in hopes of making sure they don’t become victims either.  That’s very helpful too. 

We also have an array of information on our website about scams we see in our area and what to do if you do become a victim: http://www.gjcity.org/Financial_Crimes_Investigations.aspx

Like Walter, we hope that you too will share this information with family and neighbors.  If you do receive something similar to this in the mail, simply tear it up and throw it away.  Or, if you get that phone call that just doesn’t seem right and it sounds like someone is fishing for information, simply hang up.  You don’t have to report it to us unless you actually give out your personal information or do have your money stolen.  We’re just hoping that by spreading the word we can help prevent that from happening in the first place.

GJPD Traffic Unit- Motorcycle Team

Grand Junction Police Traffic Officers have heard a lot of reasons: “I was turning up a song on the radio”, or “I dropped my burger and wasn’t watching.”  The problem is the number of rear end crashes in our city is becoming a big problem, and officers responding to crashes are hearing these very things from drivers on the streets of Grand Junction all too often. 

In 2011 there were 483 rear end crashes, which is about 50% of all crashes.  Traffic Unit Sergeant David Stassen has heard many excuses as to why rear end accidents happen.

“Cell phones, playing with the radio, dropping a CD, spilling drinks or food, and talking to the person in the passenger seat are excuses we hear the most,” Sgt. Stassen says.  “Texting is a main cause for a lot of these crashes, but people know better than to tell us that.”

To bring down the total amount of rear end crashes, which happen when drivers are following other vehicles too closely or they are not paying attention while driving, the GJPD is stepping up our enforcement in the high crash areas. The three major enforcement areas are the entire length of North Avenue, the entire length of F road, and Highway 6&50 from Mesa Mall to 1^st Street. The majority of crashes happen in these three corridors.

“We are going to be writing tickets for following too closely,” Sgt. Stassen said. “Our lasers can measure the distance between vehicles. The rule of thumb for being too close to the car in front of you is one car length for every 10 miles per hour.”

Another way you can tell if you are too close to the car in front of you is by picking a point on the roadway in front of you. When the car in front of you goes over that point begin counting for two seconds (one-one-thousand, two- one-thousand). If you cross the point before you get to two-one-thousand, then you are too close.

So, who’s getting into these types of crashes?  The majority, by far, involve younger drivers, ages of 16-20. People 25-34 are the next highest age group, followed by people 55-74.

The good news is it’s fairly simple to prevent rear end crashes, and crashes overall.  All you have to do is pay attention to your driving. Don’t talk or text on your cell phone, don’t eat while driving, don’t mess with your radio or iPod. Just pay attention and leave plenty of space between your car and the car in front of you.

If you don’t, and you do end up crashing into the car in front of you, you could face a fine of $177, and even worse, you run the risk of injuring yourself, your passengers, or someone in another vehicle.

“When you think about it, it’s just common sense,” adds Sgt. Stassen.  “Unfortunately, too many drivers are in too big of a hurry, are thinking about too many things, or just have some very bad habits.  So, you have to ask yourself, is crashing your car worth all of that?

Learn more about the GJPD Traffic Unit and the monthly “Traffic Law Highlight” by visiting http://www.gjcity.org/Traffic_Unit.aspx.

GJPD criminalists and investigators at a crime scene

You’re probably seen it on television- a crime scene investigator in a white coat, bending over a lab table with only a desk lamp lighting the room, pulling fingerprints out of thin air. It makes for some great TV, as evidenced by a number of very popular television shows on the air right now. If only reality allowed us to do half the things CSIs can do on TV.

That’s not to say there aren’t some very interesting and hi-tech jobs being done by our real life CSIs. For example, Trent Rundquist, a Grand Junction Police Department employee since 2007, is now certified by the International Association for Identification (IAI) as a Crime Scene Investigator. He passed the written test and recently received his “official” letter and certificate.

GJPD Criminalist Trent Rundquist looking for evidence

This was a personal goal of his that he started working on last year. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) only requires Rundquist to be certified by the IAI as a Latent Print Examiner, which according to the IAI website there is a 63% pass rate for Latent Print Examiners and only 870 in the world that are certified.  But Rundquist didn’t want to stop there, which is why he took on this extra challenge for a job that he says he absolutely loves.

“It’s fun. No day is the same and it’s challenging. I love challenges. I want to be the best I can be at what I do,” he says

There are three criminalists who work for the Grand Junction Police Department. Rundquist works as the Latent Print Examiner and the other two deal with chemistry, biology, and controlled substances.

Thanks to a partnership with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, our criminalists have state of the art equipment to help them in their work. This partnership began during the summer of 2008 when the GJPD criminalists moved in with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after that agency built a new facility in Grand Junction.

GJPD Laboratory Sergeant Dave Oswalt said, “We decided to team up with CBI because they were bringing a lab to Junction. The lab we had wasn’t the best.”

Our criminalists handle GJPD cases first and then they branch out to the other agencies. Because of the partnership, it’s not uncommon to find GJPD criminalists working alongside CBI investigators at their crime scenes.

“It is a good opportunity for our criminalists to gain some good experience and knowledge,” adds Sgt. Oswalt.

“The move helped the police department out money wise and helped CBI by giving them more man power,” Rundquist said. “We now have the opportunity to get with people who are in the same field as us, which is really nice.”

So, how do these guys jobs compare to what we all see on television? Rundquist said it’s common to be at a scene for at least 12 hours, not solving the entire case in one hour. He also wishes that the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) worked like it did on TV- where you put the fingerprint in the system and it brings up the person’s drivers license.

The AFIS does bring up a list of possible matches, and then Rundquist has to go through each person and pick out the correct match. His work is then checked out by another person. This process can be as short as couple of days or it can take a couple of weeks.

“No one rolls up to a scene in a humvee wearing stilettos. You also have to have a lot of knowledge in small things, like photography and math skills. We are always measuring blood spatter and bullet trajectories,” Rundquist said. “Never will I be at a scene for 10 minutes and find one piece of evidence that’s going to solve the case. It’s nothing like you see on CSI and all of those other shows.”

Rundquist adds he also gets a laugh at how dark the labs are on the TV shows. In this profession you need as much light as possible. But hey, we can’t all work in Hollywood.

The first incident happened on the night of Sunday, December 4 near Whitman Park.  In that incident a man riding his bicycle through the park was attacked by two dogs, resulting in multiple bites.  The man was able to use his bicycle as a partial shield until someone eventually called the dogs off and the animals left the area.  The man was treated and released at the hospital.

The second incident happened on Monday, December 5 at about 8am in the area of 5^th St. near Duck Pond Park.  In that incident a man walking on 5^th St. was attacked by four dogs.  He received multiple severe bites before some people nearby scared off the animals.  It is unknown if those people were associated with the dogs.  The man then walked to a nearby business and called a taxi, which took him to the hospital.

Neither victim was able to provide a good description of the animals, however the victims believe they were pit bulls.

This information is being provided to the public for two reasons:

1. To prevent future attacks.
2. To help law enforcement identify and track down the animals, their owners, and potential witnesses.

“Because of the severity of these attacks, our department is aggressively investigating these cases in order to mitigate any potential danger, and to track down the responsible dogs and their owners,” said Grand Junction Police Chief John Camper.  “Animal Services advises us that these types of attacks are extremely rare.  While we don’t want to be alarmists, we do want people to be informed of the potential danger.”

Residents who see dogs exhibiting aggressive or pack-like behavior in the Downtown area or near the river should call 911 immediately so we can dispatch officers and Animal Services to that location for further investigation.  In the meantime, officers have increased patrols in the areas where these attacks have occurred and are jointly planning operations with the County to further identify and capture aggressive dogs.

If anyone has information about these incidents they can call the Grand Junction Police Department at 242-6707, call Crime Stoppers at 241-STOP, send the information via the web at www.241stop.com, or text CRIMES to 241STOP and include your tip information. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The City of Grand Junction and Mesa County require all dogs to be on leashes when they are not confined to a home or kennel.  They also require all dogs to be properly licensed.

Mesa County Animal Control has provided the following tips for how to prevent dog attacks:

• Be aware of your surroundings to help avoid getting into a dangerous situation.
• Never run.
• Assume a non-threatening position and do not make eye contact.
• Stay upright and move toward a safe location when possible.
• More information can be found at http://animalservices.mesacounty.us/template.aspx?id=2358.

The businesses that are out of compliance must go before the City of Grand Junction’s Liquor Hearing Officer or State Liquor Hearing Board, which will determine how the business will be sanctioned.  Penalties could range from a fine to a suspension.  A liquor license revocation would only happen if a business was determined to be a chronic violator.

The businesses that were not in compliance are:

This joint agency operation was funded by the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws grant that was given to the Grand Junction Police Department.

The City of Grand Junction is offering FREE training for liquor license owners, their managers and employees. 

More information about the training can be found at http://www.gjcity.org/Administration.aspx?id=2147527212

Scammers Are Shopping For Potential Victims

 Between tough economic conditions and people trying to afford everything on their holiday shopping lists, scammers are looking for people who might let their guard down and fall victim to the promise of easy money.  We’ve seen a slight uptick in the number of people reporting potential scams they’ve received in their mailboxes or computer inboxes.  All of the scams make exciting promises that will never come true, and could end up costing the victim thousands of dollars in losses.

 The types scams we are seeing lately aren’t new, however the scammers are coming up with new names and official sounding writing that try to make them look and sound legitimate.  It’s common for scammers to mail realistic looking checks to you, complete with your name and address.  The scammers usually say the checks are sent to cover the costs of claiming prizes, and that all that you need to do is cash the checks and send the money back, and millions of dollars will be sent to you.  The problem, however, is the checks are from fake accounts, and when you cash them and send the money, you end up having to cover the cost once your bank is eventually notified that the accounts don’t exist.

 If you receive any of these scams in your mailbox or you email inbox, do not respond to them- simply throw them away.  You do not need to notify the police department, as we are already aware they exist.

 Check out the examples of scams area residents have received by mail and email below.

Mailed Scam example

Emailed Scam example

With the start of cold weather in the Grand Valley, drivers need to remember that icy road conditions may exist, even if it’s not snowing.  In just a couple of hours this morning Grand Junction Police Officers and Grand Junction Fire Fighters responded to more than a half dozen crashes throughout the city.  Four of those crashes happened on the 5^th St. bridge, and drivers going too fast for the icy conditions and sliding into each other played a big role in causing those accidents.  Luckily, there were no major injuries in any of the crashes.

 Drivers need to remember that bridges often become icy even when the rest of the roads around town are clear and dry.  Shady areas are also places where we frequently see crashes due to ice.  Remember to slow down and leave plenty of space between you and the vehicles in front of you, so that you can avoid sliding into other cars or objects.  Drivers also need to make sure to scrape ice and frost from their vehicle windows before they begin driving.  Drivers can be ticketed for having their view obstructed by windows that they can’t see out of.