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| More than skin deep
An order issued in 1998 by Fort Worth’s former chief of police continued to take its toll this summer on an officer whose extensively tattooed arms and legs, according to policy, have to be kept under wraps because body art does not go with the job.
Officer Michael Todd Riggs, 34, was hospitalized in July for two days with symptoms of heat exhaustion brought on by wearing long sleeves. He was taken to the emergency room and kept through the following day while doctors replenished four liters of fluids. It was the second time in two years that Riggs has suffered from heat exhaustion...
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| FOP banks on Ohio
The Fraternal Order of Police obviously sees something it likes in Ohio law enforcement: For the second time in the past six years, a police officer from the Buckeye State is the 298,000-member organization’s national president, following the election of Lieut. Steve Young, a 25-year veteran of the Marion Police Department.
Or maybe it’s just that they like Young, who ran unopposed for the top spot. He also ran unopposed for national vice president in 1997, and was re-elected to that office in 1999...
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| Leaps and Bounds
Mary Bounds took the oath of office last month to become Cleveland’s first female police chief, and the second African American to lead the force.
A 21-year veteran, she had served as deputy chief of administrative operations since April 1999 and as commander of the department’s 5th District. Bounds, 54, also served as executive assistant to Chief Patrick Oliver, the city’s first black chief. She succeeds Martin Flask, who left after about two and a half years to become chief of security for Cleveland’s airports...
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| From the outside in
n the grand tradition of hiring an outsider who is also an insider, officials in Lafayette, La., last month appointed U.S. Marshal Ronald Boudreaux as the city’s new police chief.
Boudreaux, who worked in federal law enforcement for 24 years in Baton Rouge before his retirement in August as marshal for the Middle District of Louisiana, was a detective with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office prior to that. Boudreaux already lives in Lafayette, where his wife, a recent law school graduate, has joined a firm...
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| Call her “sue”
Former Mount Vernon, N.Y., police commissioner Gertrude LaForgia has filed a lawsuit charging that the city’s mayor fired her in July because she spoke out about problems within the department.
The 64-year-old LaForgia, who took the Mount Vernon job in December 1998, is a former New York City borough commander who was the highest-ranking female police official in Westchester County. According to the suit she filed on Aug. 15, Mayor Ernest Davis misused federal drug forfeiture money and blocked investigations targeting his friends...
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| No benefits of doubt
Despite a 10-year relationship, Tampa Police Officer Mickie Mashburn is not entitled to death benefits from her life partner, a slain fellow officer, because the two women were not legally spouses, according to the city police and firefighter pension board, which handed down the closely-watched decision last month.
Gay-rights advocates and Mashburn’s attorney vowed to continue fighting for the officer’s right to collect half of Officer Lois Marrero’s salary, which under the city’s present pension contract would amount to $28,000 a year for life. The eight-member board also denied Mashburn’s application for $50,000 in funds paid into Marrero’s pension. The refund will go to the officer’s parents...
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| Groomed to succeed
For the Delray Beach, Fla., Police Department last month, the transition from outgoing police chief Richard Overman to its new leader, Maj. Larry Schroeder, was as smooth as any agency could hope for.
“How does a community feel about its police department? Their assessment will tell you how likely they are to appoint someone from inside,” said Hal Robbins, executive director of the Florida Police Chiefs Association. “The fact they did in Delray Beach is a sign that people are satisfied and not looking for a change”...
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