Endangered Person Advisory - Independence Police Department

Michael Davis

Mahogany L Washington

MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL 
a division of the 
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY 

ENDANGERED PERSON ADVISORY

For further information please contact:        Independence Police Department 
(816) 325-7300 
November 10, 2014 

EMPHASIS:  Endangered Person Advisory 

State of Missouri Endangered Person Advisory 

The Independence Police Department has issued an Endangered Person Advisory for a missing person incident that occurred at 1441 S Baker Dr, Independence at 4:00 A.M. on November 2, 2014. 

Missing Is: 
Mahogany L Washington a black, female, age 15 

Possible suspects or associates are believed to be: 
Michael Davis, a white, male, age 17. 

The endangered missing person: 
Mahogany L Washington, is a black, female, age 15, hgt 5'03", 130 lbs, blonde shoulder length hair, hazel eyes, with heart tattoo on right rear hip and camel tattoo on toe. 

Brief circumstances regarding the Endangered Missing Person incident   
Mahogany Washington is on unknown medication for past history of mental illness, it is unknown if Washington has taken her medication.  Washington suffers from depression and prior suicide attempts.  Washington may be in the company of her boyfriend, Michael Davis, 17 year old white male, from St Joseph, Missouri. 

Anyone seeing the missing person, suspect, or associate, or anyone having any information related to the endangered missing person should immediately dial 911 to contact the nearest law enforcement agency or call the Independence Police Department at (816) 325-7300. 

Henry County Accident Injuries two

Two persons were injured in a one-vehicle accident on Nov. 10 in Henry County on Highway 7 at County Road NW 401.

Isadore H. Gross, 87, Lenexa, KS, wearing a seat belt, southbound in a 2001 Dodge Durango, fell asleep. The vehicle traveled off the roadway and struck a delineator post. Subsequently, the vehicle crossed over NW 401 Rd., and struck a stop sign and the ground before it came to a rest in a field.

Isadore H. Gross experienced minor injuries and was transported by Golden Valley EMS to Golden Valley Hospital. His vehicle had moderate damage and was removed from the scene by Golden Valley Wrecker.

A passenger was injured. James A. Guthrie, 45, Kansas City, wearing a seat belt, had minor injuries and was transported by Golden Valley EMS to Golden Valley Hospital.

Missouri Highway Patrol Corporal R.C. West investigated the accident and was assisted by Trooper M.S. Richardson.

Courtesy of The Clinton Daily Demorcrat

Cass County Sheriff Diehl would like to share an article with everyone:

Cass County Sheriff Dwight Diehl

Picture the following hypothetical scenario: A chief at a press conference states, “Ladies and gentlemen I have gathered you here today, because police use of force cases are routinely mishandled by journalists and community leaders. It is my belief that journalists and community leaders may do a better job in this area if they have at least a basic understanding of what a justified use of force looks like.”


There are three things the public needs to know about contacts with police;

1. Be courteous
2. Be cooperative
3. Be compliant

Criminality, Not Color = It is important for you to convey to the public that police officers pursue criminality, not color. Officers must have a reason to make contact with an individual. They must be able to explain later in court that they had either a reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe the individual had committed or was about to commit an offense.

The fact is that more than 95 percent of police contacts are handled without rising above the level of dialog. This is because most people are cooperative and compliant. This is the way it should be, because it is unlawful to resist and or obstruct an officer, while in the performance of his/her duty.

If a person disagrees with a stop or an arrest, the place to argue the case vigorously is in a court of law, not on the street.

Force Options = When an officer meets resistance, officers are trained to use a level of force justified by the specific threat, or resistance they are presented with. For example, if a person pulls away from an officer making an arrest and snaps, “Don’t you touch me,” the officer can choose to apply a compliance hold to that person.

These holds are designed to convince the person to comply.

When a suspect is actively resisting, the officer can also choose to disengage and deploy a TASER or utilize pepper spray to overcome that resistance.

It might surprise some people to discover that when a suspect strikes an officer, or even acts as if he or she is about to strike an officer, that officer can legally deliver impacts with what we call personal body weapons.

Officers can punch, kick, or strike with elbows and/or knees to defend themselves and/or make an arrest.

Officers can also choose to deliver baton impacts to targeted areas on the body. Officers can even strike a suspect more than once if once does not stop the suspect’s threat. If a suspect tries to hit an officer, don’t be surprised when that officer hits back.

Use of Deadly Force = I’ve never heard an officer say at the beginning of a shift, “I hope I get to shoot someone today.”

While the vast majority of officers never fire their weapons in the line of duty, some have to. When an officer is faced with the threat of death or great bodily injury — or someone they are sworn to protect is faced with that same imminent threat — an officer is justified in using deadly force.

There are three generally held misconceptions about deadly force that continually arise and need to be addressed:

1. An officer can shoot an unarmed man under certain conditions.

An officer may have to use deadly force on an unarmed man who is larger, stronger, and/or attempting to disarm the officer, for example. In the case of a suspect, who is battering an officer to the point that he or she may suffer death or great bodily harm, the use of deadly force is defensible. Police officers do not have to sustain a severe beating in the line of duty.

Other factors that could justify an officer’s choice to utilize deadly force are the extent of that officer’s injury, exhaustion, or the number of assaultive adversaries the officer is confronted with.

2. An officer can, in certain conditions, shoot someone in the back.
You see if a suspect is fleeing and their escape presents an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to the community at large, the use of deadly force can be justified. On some occasions a round might enter through the back, because of the dynamics of the circumstance.

3. Officers are not — and never will be — trained to shoot to wound or shoot weapons out of subjects’ hands.

These are not realistic options. Handguns are not accurate enough to deliberately attempt such things when lives are on the line.

The Bottom Line = From 2003 to 2012, 535 officers were killed in the line of duty in this country. Another 580,000 were injured in the line of duty.

I’m afraid that policing — which is already a dangerous profession — is becoming even more so, because of anti-police rhetoric and inaccurate reporting in use of force cases.

If every person contacted by officers were to remain courteous, cooperative, and compliant, there would never be a need to employ force. The reality is, however, that although most people will cooperate, some people will resist arrest.

It is not easy for a lone police officer to get a resistive suspect into handcuffs. If it looks rough, that’s because it is rough.

Police work is a contact sport, but for cops there is no second place. If someone in the public sees a cop struggling with a suspect and decides not to give him/her a hand, they should at least give them the benefit of the doubt.

Cops are not asking for citizens to get into the arena with them — they would just like the audience to stop cheering for the other team.

The only way to get these three extremely simple ideas out to our communities is for you to take this information and share it, with both your fellow officers and with your community members.

The above article was originally released in Volume 68 of the Law Enforcement Magazine.

Vernon County Sheriff’s Office: Burglar caught red handed

A Vernon County resident is in jail after being arrested for burglary at a county address just West of Nevada Monday morning. According to a press release from the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office, dispatch received a 911 call of a burglary in progress early Monday morning. Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the call and arrested a male subject they found still in the home during a security sweep of the residence. 

According to Vernon County Sheriff Jason Mosher, Investigators believe there may have been a second person involved in the burglary. “We are still investigating the possibility that there was someone else involved in this crime, but we did find one person still in the residence when we got there.” 

The Sheriff also said methamphetamines were found on the subject when he was arrested. The name of the subject arrested has not been released pending the filing of formal charges.

Family Fun Day coming this Saturday

Fall Family Fun Day Hosted by University of Missouri Student Volunteers November 15

University of Missouri students are teaming up with Extension and Healthy Nevada to facilitate a Fall Family Fun Day on Saturday, November 15th. Events for all ages will be held at the Crawford House Community Room from 10 a.m to 2:30 p.m. Games will begin at 10 a.m, followed by a make-your-own taco lunch at 11 a.m. Afterwards adults are invited to join a life-planning discussion called “Jot it Down.” Events for kids only will be held at the Nevada Community Center from 3 p.m to 4:30 p.m in the large gymnasium. Snacks will be provided. At 7 p.m the student volunteers will be hosting a showing of Food Stamped in the Cottey College Raney Dining Room. For more information the University of Missouri Extension office at (417) 448-2560.

Update on search for Dale Miller

Sheriff Keeler said volunteers and dogs from Missouri Search and Rescue K-9 Unit and the Missouri Region “C” Technical Rescue Team based out of St. Louis, searched the property near Dale Miller’s residence in rural Appleton City again on Saturday, Nov. 8, with negative results.

On Saturday, Oct. 25, Miller, 78, wandered into the woods near his home on NW 400 Road in St. Clair County and did not return. He had his black German shepherd dog, Lady, with him when he went missing. Family, friends and numerous volunteers immediately joined in the search and extensive ground checks of the property and the surrounding acres where Miller was last seen were conducted. Dogs and volunteers from Missouri Search and Rescue K-9 Unit joined in the search along with Bloodhounds from Arkansas Alliance of Bloodhound Search Specialists.

On Friday, Oct. 31, deputies from the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office canvassed the area again concentrating on areas search dogs had hit on in the past. In the afternoon hours, Miller’s black German shepherd dog, Lady, returned home with no sign of Miller.

“At this point search efforts have been exhausted and the investigation is ongoing with deputies following up on any leads that may come in,” said Sheriff Keeler.

Miller is a white male 5’ 10”, 158 lbs., gray hair, blue eyes and wears glasses. He was last seen wearing a hunter orange baseball cap, blue shirt, blue jeans and boots. Miller is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and has a fractured vertebra. He walks hunched forward, shuffles his feet and his speech is whispered and mumbled. Miller has missed doses of his medication since he went missing. He may have an altered mental status and motor skills.

Other agencies assisting in the search included Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri State Highway Patrol, American Red Cross, St. Clair County Rescue, and firefighters from Appleton City, Lowry City, Sac Osage, Taberville, Rockville, Collins, and Iconium. Those with any information related to the case are urged to contact the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office, 417-646-2565.

Massive USPS breach hits employees, customers

Massive USPS breach hits employees, customers

Personal data, including Social Security numbers, stolen

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Hackers recently broke into a U.S. Postal Service computer system and stole personal data, including social security numbers, for 750,000 employees and retirees, a U.S. official familiar with the breach told CNN on Monday. The breach also compromised the data of 2.9 million postal service customers, the official said.

The Postal Service acknowledged the breach in a statement Monday but didn't provide details.

A USPS statement said: "The Postal Service has recently learned of a cyber-security intrusion into some of our information systems. We began investigating this incident as soon as we learned of it, and we are cooperating with the investigation, which is ongoing. The investigation is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and joined by other federal and postal investigatory agencies. The intrusion is limited in scope and all operations of the Postal Service are functioning normally."

The personal identifying information of the 750,000 employees and retirees includes birthdates, addresses and employment codes used in the Postal Service's payroll systems, the official briefed on the matter said.

The USPS is notifying employees and retirees Monday and will pay for credit monitoring for those affected, the official said.

USPS customers' data affected includes names, home addresses, phone numbers and emails, the official said.

Rep. Elijah Cummins, (D-Md.), sent a letter Monday to the Postal Service seeking more information about the breach, raising concerns amid numerous other breaches affecting 500 million records in the financial industry this year.

"The increased frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks upon both public and private entities highlights the need for greater collaboration to improve data security," Cummings said.

The FBI, which is investigating the breach, also issued a statement Monday: "The FBI is working with the United States Postal Service to determine the nature and scope of this incident. Impacted individuals should take steps to monitor and safeguard their personally identifiable information, and report any suspected instances of identity theft to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov."

Copyright 2014 by CNN NewSource.

Public Service Announcement: Butler Elementary School Parents

Butler Elementary School:

Attention Parents - Cold weather is fast approaching and predicted for this entire week - so be sure and have your kiddo's hats, coats and gloves ready to go.