I consider myself a bit of a “weather geek” and enjoy tracking the weather and storms as they roll through the area from time to time.  This week our nation’s attention has turned to the people of Moore, Oklahoma and the tragedies they have suffered as a result of the tornado.  My thoughts and prayers are with those families who lost loved ones and for many of them young children as a result of this storm.  I can not imagine what those families are going through.

It does make us pause for a moment and consider what things we can prepare for in the event of severe weather.  If you haven’t thought about it, now is a good time to consider what measures you can take at home or at work to be prepared.  Do you know the safest location in your home to go to in the event of a tornado?  What if you are driving, what would you do?  Are you prepared for prolonged power outages or damage to your home?  Have you discussed these things with your family or children?  It is always better to have a plan in place now than to try to deal with things after they happen.

Here in the City of Auburn Hills we continue to update and practice our emergency operation plans.  We recently conducted training exercises with all departments in the city for a severe weather incident.  All of the departments work very well together as a team and will be prepared to deliver the best possible service in the event of a major emergency or disaster.

An important part of your personal preparedness is to not always depend on someone else for immediate assistance.  Depending on the scope of the problem, assistance will be prioritized by saving and preserving life first and then assisting others as more resources are put into place.  In the event of a disaster, FEMA recommends that people should be prepared to sustain themselves for up to 72 hours.  This includes enough food, water, and temporary shelter.  The following links provide some additional information for all of us to stay prepared and “be a force of nature” to assist others in time of need.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/force.html

http://www.ready.gov/

Please take a moment to seriously discuss and consider a plan of action for family.  Reach out to your neighbors and those around who may not be able to provide for themselves.

Stay Safe

Our department values integrity, employees, service, and work environment.  A big part of our value statement has to do with the men and women of the Auburn Hills Police Department.  We have a great group of employees with diverse educational backgrounds and life experiences that really makes this a great place to work.  Our value statement states, “We value all who demonstrate self motivation, pride in work, performance, patience and willingness to cooperate with others,”

On May 15th we had the privilege of honoring our employees at our annual awards banquet.  We recognized numerous employees for the excellent work they have done over the last year.  Some of the highlights of the night included Sergeant Jeremy Stubbs and Officer Ivette Brown being awarded the “Chief’s Award” for their innovation and dedication on the successful use of the department’s social media program.

Detective Brian Martin was recognized as the 2013 recipient of the Auburn Hills Morning Optimist Club “Officer of the Year”.  Detective Martin’s commitment to the mission of the department through his thorough investigations and attention to detail make him a deserving recipient this year.

Sergeant Rick Leonard was awarded a Department Citation for the actions he took while off duty in July 2012.  Sgt. Leonard was up north at a family cottage when he observed a commotion on the lake.  He immediately drove his boat over to the area and realized that a man had fallen under water and could not be located.  Sgt. Leonard immediately jumped into the lake and retrieved the man from the bottom, in about 15 feet of water.  Attempts were made to save the man’s life, but unfortunately he did not make it.  Sgt. Leonard demonstrated courage and selflessness by trying to rescue this man and for his actions was awarded a department citation.

Ms. Kelley Fortuna received a standing ovation from the audience when she was awarded a “Citizen’s Award” for her actions in December 2012.  Ms. Fortuna was stopped to report an accident on South Blvd. and I-75.  An Auburn Hills police officer arrived at the scene and was in the process of getting out of his car when he was struck on the driver’s door by another vehicle traveling the opposite direction.  The officer sustained serious injuries from the impact.  Ms. Fortuna remained calm and called 911 to report the crash.  She retrieved the officer’s medical bag from the trunk and provided medical aid until EMS arrived.  Ms. Fortuna stayed with the officer and helped him to also remain calm until help arrived.  We are grateful for her actions that day and honored to recognize her with this award.

Numerous awards were handed out this night to other members of the department.  Overall it was a successful event and is always a privilege to recognize our staff for all of the hard work they do.  It is an honor to serve alongside the great men and women of the Auburn Hills Police Department.

“Honor earned, never given.”

We come into possession of many kinds and types of property for a variety of reasons.  We seize evidence of crimes–items that give information about the guilt or innocence of a person accused of a crime.  We get all types of things: money, guns, drugs, TVs, clothing—all kinds of things.  We seize contraband items, things that are against the law to possess.  Illegal drugs for example.  Sometimes people give us guns for safekeeping if a family member has expressed suicidal thoughts, as another example.

We take thousands of items every year and we must catalogue and manage these items until they can be returned to their rightful owner or be disposed of by one of the ways permitted under statute.  Michigan law is quite specific about how police handle and dispose of property.  Some items, like evidence in murder cases, must be kept forever–provisions must be  made for that type of long-term storage.

In our department, access to the evidence room is highly controlled.  It is under video surveillance all the time and only a select number of people have access to the room–I am not one of them.  I must go to the evidence custodian to gain access to the room.  It is all about limiting who has access.

Every now and then you read about police departments that mishandled evidence –or about departments that have members charged with crimes for stealing things that they got by virtue of being police.  We never want to be one of them.

Our mission statement says:

Integrity

We value, and are dedicated to, honest, loyal, and truthful behavior.  We believe in the basic human right of all people to be treated equally, with dignity, courtesy, and respect under all circumstances.

Because we value integrity and take our ethics seriously, we submit ourselves to an outside audit every 5 years.  The audit has been done by Robert Doran five times over the time I have been the chief.  Doran is the foremost authority on police evidence management in the nation.

I am happy to report to you that we passed with flying colors.  Congratulations to Lieutenant Ryan Gagnon, Technical Services Division Commander and Property Clerk, Gloria Guy for a successful audit.

Please remember those who gave their lives for their communities on this important day.

The IACP is a tremendous leadership organization for police and police leadership –they mentor and are thought leaders of police around the world–it is truly an international organization.  And effective police leadership means effective police agencies and as we know, democracy is made possible by the actions of police who respect and uphold the rule of law.

I am proud to be a member in an organization that rises to meet the challenges of law enforcement.  They have high quality initiatives in such important issues as violence against women, immigration, gun violence, less than lethal force use, officer wellness and suicide prevention and many, many others.  They publish model policies to help chiefs direct their departments through the complex and ever-changing world of policing.

Officer Mikolajczak

Back in December one of our officers, Martin Mikolajczak was hit by a car while investigating a crash on icy roads.  He was struck by a car that went out of control on the icy bridge on South Boulevard over I-75.  He said he had the door open and was partially out of the vehicle when he was hit by the careening car.  The driver later said it was not his fault, he was traveling the speed limit.  I don’t think he took into account the icy nature of the roads that day to adjust his speed and driving accordingly.   As a result of the crash he was charged with committing a civil infraction causing serious injury.  Martin was seriously injured.  I responded to the hospital as did many of our officers and command officers.  It is difficult to see one of our own so seriously injured.  We know this is a dangerous job and we are again reminded when something like this happens.  One of the leading causes of injury and death among police officers is roadway crashes and we know it.  We train around that topic and we enforce the rules and laws on ourselves in our efforts to reduce the chance of injury or worse.  The next few months were difficult for he and his family but police are a group that helps their own.  Officers set up a schedule of who was driving him to his appointments, who was providing meal service, who was doing household chores, who was plowing his driveway.  Being a newer officer, Martin wasn’t sure about accepting that much help.  Now he realizes that it is part of police culture and when this happens to someone else I know he’ll be first in line to pay it forward.  He had some surgery and therapy and I’m happy to report that he is back in a light duty capacity working inside the building.  He is expecting (hoping) to be back on full duty at the end of the month.  He looks great and is back to his friendly and capable police officer self.  I saw him the other day taking a report in the lobby.  As a Polish immigrant he speaks a couple of languages.  The person giving the report was very animated and seemed very pleased to be able to talk with him in her native language.  I think it must be reassuring to people for whom English is not their native language to be able to express themselves to a police officer more completely in a language with which they are familiar.  Martin can do that. Every now and then someone asks me how he is doing and so now you can see for yourselves.Officer Hit By Car

Reblogged from IACP Blog:

By Bart R. Johnson, IACP Executive Director.

I received an email yesterday from Colonel Tim Alben of the Massachusetts State Police about the Boston bombings. His email to me read, in part:

Since 9/11, we've understood that the only way to defeat this terrorist threat is through collaborative efforts and partnerships between local, state and federal law enforcement. These partnerships are critical to any hope of success but talking about issues like this can often be easier than actual implementation.

Read more… 700 more words

So count me as alongside the Governor on this one.

LARA – Governor Snyder Proclaims May 2013 as Building Safety Month; “Code Officials Keep You Safe”.

Firefighter Gary Chapman

Annual State Convention on June 28, 2013 in Sault Ste Marie. In March of 2013 Chapman was selected as the Firefighter of the Year for Auburn Hills by the Auburn Hills American Legion Post 143. Chapman was then submitted to the state level with other firefighters from around the state from which he was chosen for the top honor.

Firefighter Chapman is a lifelong resident of Auburn Hills. His fire career expands more than 33 years.  Chapman started as a paid on call firefighter in 1980 and was hired as a fulltime firefighter in February of 2002. During his career Chapman has earned many state certifications including Emergency Medical Technician, technical rescue and state certified fire instructor.  Chapman currently serves as the fire training coordinator for the fire department.  He is also a member of the Michigan Task Force and MABAS 3201 Technical Rescue teams.  These teams perform advanced rescue operations during building collapse, trench collapse and high angle rescues. 

Auburn Hills fire department Deputy Director James Manning said, “Based on his dedication to the community and fire service, it is not a surprise that Firefighter Chapman was selected as the American Legion’s Firefighter of the Year at the state level. We are very fortunate to have him within our organization.”

Online technology leads to home invasion arrest > Oakland County Legal News.