Weekend update- Thanks goes out to Sgt. Sears and Sgt. Linders shifts for keeping us safe over the weekend. We had a relatively quiet weekend. The Bulldog B&B only received six persons. Friday night arrests were the result of some traffic stops, and one intoxicated person at the Family Dollar. We will highlight one of those arrest for educational purposes. An Officer was making a traffic stop for a minor traffic violation,but the driver failed to yield to the Officer, and continued to drive. The driver drove to his residence, and was uncooperative with the Officer when he exited his vehicle. Then he attempted to walk into his residence. This occurs every now and then, and is a phenomenon police refer to as the Home Base Theory. Drivers, for what ever reason, believe if they make it to their own driveway off of public streets they have made to Home Base, which nullifies the officers authority. Its very unsafe for the Officers because they dont know the drives intentions. Experience has shown us the driver is usually wanted, holding something illegal, down right defiant, or knows he/she is going to jail and doesnt want the car towed, so they want to make sure the car gets home. Problem is, we dont have a clue as to their intentions and its very dangerous for all. Too often, those in the house empty into the yard and the Officer is faced with several emotional persons to deal with over a simple traffic stop. These rarely end well. This weekends driver found out the Home Base Theory is just a myth and he was arrested for several charges. All could have been avoided had he just pulled over when the Officer initiated the traffic stop. The original reason for the charge was minor, and the most that he would have faced was the possibility of receiving a citation. He might have even received a warning, but either way he would have been allowed to drive away. The law requires you to pull over if an Officer gets behind you, and we recommend the nearest and safest location (i.e,not on a bridge nor within an intersection). The drivers poor judgement and emotion got in the way, and he is in jail this morning facing 100s of dollars of fines. There are no such things as routine traffic stops. This is taught to us beginning in the police academy, and continues throughout our careers. Case in point, one of our cousins at the Longview Police Department was involved in a shootout with a person he stopped for a minor traffic violation. The media has reported this driver had a previously been charged with a crime against police. This LPD Officer makes one of a dozens stops he will make during his week, and has no idea the driver will be defiant and will try and kill him. We are saddened about this event, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the Officer involved, LPD Family, and the family of the driver. This drivers actions will impact many forever. Officers took a report in the lobby of the PD for a stolen lawnmower, which had been pawned. Not long after the initial report was made, Officers respond to a Major disturbance call in which the victim of the theft had gone to the suspects residence, and became involved in an altercation with whom he believed was the suspect. The crime had already occurred, and its our advice to never confront the suspect, but let police do this for you. The victim sustained major injuries and was transported to Longview GS. We hope he fully recovers from his injuries. Throughout the weekend Officers responded to the following types of calls: Family violence, Hit and Run (Two incidents, but one suspect was located and arrested!), animal control calls, noise complaints, suspicious persons/circumstances, alarms,traffic crashes, and a man with a gun. One major crash out on I-20 turned into a second crash. The speeds on I-20 are posted at 75, but often people push 80 or more. That makes it hard to stop, and avoid accidents which occur in front of you. Youve got to give your full attention while traveling at those speeds, since you have a diminished reaction time at that speed. The higher rate of speed you travel, the less time you have react. Officers of both shifts spent a lot of time involved with Community Policing activities, which included the following: business walk throughs, placing crime prevention cards on vehicles, community contacts, and home and business checks. A special thanks to Ofc. James McDowell for assisting a driver with a flat tire. I understand they didnt have the proper equipment. James is a Can do kind of Officer and got it changed. We are happy to report there was only one arrest for DWI (although one is too many). Officers obtained a search warrant to obtain a sample of this impaired drivers blood, and arrested the passenger for possession of cocaine. Burglaries of vehicles continues to decrease, but we still have a lot of work to do. Please remember to take your valuables from your vehicle or at least remove them from the eyes of would be thieves. We in Kilgore enjoy a low crime rate an want to keep thieves from targeting us. We hope your Sunday will be a day of rest. Have a great week Kilgore!
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 17:40:38 +0000
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