War Story Wednesday - A Cold Winter's Night

One freezing winter's night during a midnight tour in the late 80s, I was checking the churches in my sector, as there had been a spate of break-ins. Near the entrance of a church on Vernon Valley Road, I noticed a figure tugging on a locked door. I was surprised to see it was an elderly woman.

I lowered the passenger side window and summoned her. "Hop in ~ it's five degrees outside!"

She got in, and I asked her what she was doing, and if she had any ID. She was trying to find someplace warm, she said. She opened a small purse, which contained three unusual items: a checkbook register from 1969, a knee-hi stocking, and a spoon, but no ID. I requested her name and date of birth (DOB). I imagined some family worrying about their missing loved one, yet I hadn't heard any local notifications recently. I asked where she lived. She cryptically replied, "Near the water." I assumed that meant Northport. I found her in East Northport, which is actually south of Northport (that's another story). I asked if she knew the name of the street or her house number, but she did not.

I drove to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts (24 hour places were limited at the time), so I could use a pay phone (no cell phones, or computers in the patrol cars). I brought her to the counter, gave the clerk money to buy a warm drink and a snack for the lady while I used the phone. I called the precinct and asked a desk officer to run a missing person's check. She was not an active missing person, but her name appeared in the computer -- with a DOB 20 years older than what she provided. He supplied her address on Vernon Valley Road, not far from the church where I found her. We returned to the car. After mentioning her address, she seemed to recognize it. As I drove along Vernon Valley Road, I asked her if she could point out her house; she could not. I tried looking for house numbers where you'd expect them ~ on mailboxes, curbs, houses or garages ~ and several in a row displayed no house numbers (one of my pet peeves in patrol work).

I had delivered mail in the Northport area one summer while waiting to join the police academy, and I learned that strange house numbering is the norm on Long Island. (House number image: L.A. Times blogs.)

I chose a house that I estimated to be near the woman's address. It was still dark out when I woke an occupant at some ungodly hour.

"Who is it?" the groggy voice answered, without opening the door.

"It's the police. What's the number of your house?"

"Oh, yeah, we don't have our number on our house."

"I know. Sorry to wake you. I'm trying to locate the home of a woman who wandered away." I mentioned her name, but the resident didn't know her. I apologized and tried the next unnumbered home.

It was the wrong house, too. This woman knew her, though. "You know what it is, right?" she asked. I nodded as she said, "Alzheimer's." She explained that when the wandering woman and her husband, now deceased, had moved in 30 years ago, their house was facing a side road that didn't exist yet. That's why I had such difficulty finding the house. The lack of numbers on the surrounding houses didn't help.

She said that her wandering neighbor, who had no family except one relative in Europe, lived alone. A social services worker visited weekly, and the house was boarded up from the inside to prevent her from wandering. Sounded like a fire hazard to me.
She offered to take the woman home. When I said that she had claimed to live near the water, the neighbor said she was referring to Battery Park in New York City ~ where she lived as a young girl. (photo: www.common/wikimedia.org.)

When I retrieved the woman from my patrol car, the wanderer said to her neighbor, "How's Charlie?"

The neighbor gently replied, "Oh, he died ~ twelve years ago."

It was heartbreaking.
**********

According to ProjectLifesaver.org, experts estimate the people age 65 and older in the U.S. is projected to double by the year 2030. By age 72, 1 in 8 Americans will have Alzheimer's Disease. Project Lifesaver International was established in 1999, to help families find missing loved ones who wander because of Alzheimer's, Downs Syndrome, dementia, and autism. It's headquartered in Chesapeake, VA., and they work with law enforcement agencies in 1000 communities in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.

A reminder for the new year: if your house number (or the house number of your loved one) isn't prominently displayed, make sure that it is. When emergency responders are trying to locate a sick or injured party, seconds count. It's frustrating when a house is difficult to find because it isn't numbered. At the very least, if you are in a home occupied with several people, and are awaiting an ambulance or cop to respond, have someone be on the lookout for the responders ~ and wave them on.

I'm impressed with the Fire Department of Franklin Township in Erie County, PA. They distribute free, highly reflective numbers for the mailboxes or driveways for residences and businesses. Cool idea!

If you notice your street sign has been stolen or knocked down, contact your local village or town to have it replaced. According to the Cape Cod Times, a missing street sign delayed the rescue response for a woman who was choking, and it resulted in tragic consequences.

One more thing ~ if you have an elderly neighbor who lives alone, if you don't already know him or her, why not introduce yourself sometime? Check out these suggestions.

"Keep A Cop Bored" video

Check out this light-hearted video "Keep a Cop Bored" to encourage drivers to stay home to drink.

Thanks to videographer Frank Vespe, the East Hampton Police Department, and all the parties involved who supported this project. Check out Erin Geismar's story of the video in Newsday. The video stars East Hampton Police Officer Matt Rodriguez, and the voice over is provided by WKJY "KJOY" radio DJ Steve Harper.

Twitter fans: Don't forget, Thursdays are "Thank-a-Cop-Thursday," using the hashtag #tacop.

May everyone have a safe New Year's!

Keeping Kids Safe in Cars

Did you know that on the average, five children a day are killed in car crashes? That's a tragic statistic, and one that could be reduced through the proper use of child safety seats.

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for children, ages 3-14, in the U.S. Statistics show that nearly 80 percent were unrestrained or were in adult seat belts.

Child Passenger Safety is addressed today at NPR.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold a forum today and is open to all, and is free to attend ~ no registration required. The forum, "Child Passenger Safety in the Air and Automobile" will take place at NTSB's Board Room and Conference Center, 439 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington D.C. (On Twitter, follow #NTSB today).

The event will be webcast live.

One of my former partners in the police department is a certified technician who assists motoring parents to ensure the safety seat for their infant or child is positioned properly.

For today's #TACOP (Thank-a-Cop-Thursday), I'd like to thank him and all certified technicians ~ law enforcement officers, health officials, and other concerned parties ~ who spend their time making sure our future citizens are prevented from becoming one of those five unfortunate losses on the roadways.

For a safety seat check in your area, visit http://www.seatcheck.org or call 1-866-SEAT-CHECK.

Here are ten tips to keep a child safe while riding in a vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also offers information on keeping children safe in vehicles. Don't forget to register your car seat so you can be notified in the event of a recall.

On Twitter: @NHTSAgov, @childseatsafety @NTSB

On Facebook: Child Seat Safety NHTSA

For those on Twitter, don't forget to #TACOP!

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

Did you know that prescription drug abuse in the U.S. is on the rise, and that accidental poisonings and overdoses are due to drugs languishing in home medicine cabinets? The majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, and from the home medicine cabinet. Many Americans do not know how to safely dispose of them. Throwing them out or flushing them down a toilet can create potential safety and health hazards.

Saturday, September 25, 2010 is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. You can turn in your unused, unneeded, or expired medication for safe disposal, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at various locations. The service is free and anonymous; no questions asked.

For a collection site near you, enter your zip code on this page. More than 3,400 sites, mainly fire, police, and medical facilities, have been designated as drop-off points for this program.

Pedigree's "Write a Post, Help a Dog" Project

I just learned on Women of Mystery (thanks to Laura and Clare) that Pedigree will donate a 20-lb. bag of their brand new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to a shelter for every blog post mentioning the Pedigree Adoption Drive through BlogPals West, up until Sunday, September 19. Read more about it at ILoveRescueAnimals.org.

In addition, if you're on Facebook and "like" the Pedigree page, they'll donate a bowl of food to a shelter.

Spread the word, and get a blog post in by tomorrow ~ and if you're on Facebook ~ "like" their page. Let's feed some hungry dogs!

You can find Pedigree on Twitter: @PedigreeUS.

If you write a post and let them know, you'll be in the running for a "Dogs Rule" T-shirt.

Here is some helpful info if you're considering a dog adoption.

Cyber Creeps

Via: The Steel Method

I think this is a great poster. I wish it could be posted in every school.

For more information on Internet Crimes Against Children, check here.

Walmart Trampling Case

The New York Times recently reported that WalMart has spent millions to avoid paying a $7,000 fine in the tragic trampling death of one its employees on "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving in 2008, on Long Island.

It has also been widely reported that the frenzied crowd, estimated at 2,000, was anxious to shop for their bargains.

I have a different view on what might have happened that day.

A year earlier, my sister and I set our alarm clocks very early on Thanksgiving day so that we could wait on line at a K-Mart on Long Island to try to buy certain items (my treasure hunt was for a Nintendo Wii, my sister wanted to buy a GPS unit on sale). We knew that we had a slim chance of even getting the items, but while we were there, we'd do other shopping anyway.

By the time we arrived, about an hour before the store opening, there was already a line of about 200 people lining the sidewalk of the strip mall, leading from doors on the northern side of the store front. The crowd was fairly quiet, and the bagel store was doing good business that morning.

When the time came to open all of the store doors, the crowd was calmly moving forward.

Then I saw it happen.

People emerged from their cars in the parking lot, just several feet from K-Mart, and walked right in the front doors (which faced east). The crowd began pushing and yelling. "Don't let them in!" "They're cutting!" It was quite terrifying, and it's amazing that no one was hurt.

That's where the problem existed; there was no one in the store or security to make sure that only one entrance remained open until the line disappeared. They simply unlocked all the doors, and it was every man (or woman) for himself. It made no difference if you waited in line for hours, or you just pulled up to the parking lot and walked in the east or south entrance.

I knew that morning that I would never attend a "Black Friday" early store opening ever again. I will shop during regular store operating hours or online.

My heart breaks for the family of Jdimytai Damour, and the tremendous loss they have suffered.

When Moments Count

While at Long Island's MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York, moments before boarding began on a Southwest flight, an elderly female passenger in a wheelchair lost consciousness. Her head slumped back. A man noticed and began shouting at her "Ma'am, what's your name?" to see if she would wake up. His repeated questions went unanswered. He wasted no time and others came to his aid. They lifted her up out of her wheelchair and placed her on the ground and checked for breathing and a pulse. The man began CPR. The airport personnel called for help, someone obtained a defibrillator, an off-duty nurse ran over to the woman, someone asked the people who were waiting to board to move back. An airport worker obtained a privacy screen. I was impressed by the group effort of total strangers and the professionalism of the airport personnel in an emergency situation.

My daughter and I realized we had just seen the woman in the ladies' room just moments earlier; she was pushing her wheelchair, walking slowly towards the gate. She seemed okay at the time. We learned she was traveling alone. They were checking her purse for ID and information on next of kin.

The boarding was delayed by about twenty minutes. Before we boarded, we could see that she was breathing, so hopefully she continued to improve.

When we found our seats on the plane, my kids and I held hands and said a prayer for the lady. We hope she is okay.

It was a harrowing start to our trip, but it reminds me how every moment counts in a situation like this, and how important it is to have identification and information on next of kin in your purse or wallet if you are traveling alone. Paramedics will usually check cell phones for an "ICE" listing (In Case of Emergency). Think about adding an ICE listing on your cell phone and the cell phones of your loved ones, especially children and teens who carry cell phones.

I found a great site that gives CPR instructions and includes mobile training apps for the iPhone and Android phones. The American Heart Association also offers Pocket First Aid and CPR Guide for the iPhone. They also offer information on where to find local CPR classes in your area by entering your zip code.

Avoiding Internet Fraud Schemes

"Looks Too Good To Be True.com" is a web site that educates consumers and helps prevent them from becoming victims of internet fraud schemes.

The funding for the site comes from the United States Postal Inspection Service and the FBI.

Their page on fraud types is comprehensive; it explains Auction Fraud; Financial Fraud; Identity Fraud; Sweepstakes/Lottery Fraud, and much more.

You can take a risk assessment test to see if you could potentially fall victim to one of these schemes.

Another site, Fraud.org, provides tips for avoiding internet fraud.

Click It or Ticket

The Memorial Day weekend is upon us, which means many motorists and passengers will be on our roadways.

The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates 45 million people are still not wearing their seatbelts when riding in motor vehicles. According to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) statistics, "on any given day about 38 people who are not buckled-up are killed in motor vehicle crashes."

According to the NHTSA, those least likely to buckle up are:

• teens
• young adults
• males
• nighttime riders
• motorists traveling on rural roads
• individuals traveling in pick-up trucks

The "Click It or Ticket" campaign is set to run nationally through June 6, 2010. The mobilization involves more than 10,000 police agencies. Congress funded $8 million for national advertising and the program is being coordinated by the NHTSA.

Do the right thing, folks, and click it ~ avoid the ticket, and save your own life or the lives of your loved ones riding in your vehicles. May all your journeys be safe ones.