On Evansville police officer dies

Posted on September 30 at 8:25 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

My sincere sympathies to his family, the department, and the community.

On Lawmaker sees need for law on 'puppy mills'

Posted on September 28 at 11:40 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Any pet store selling puppies is wrong. They're not socialized, they're taken from their mothers too young,and they are kept in ridiculously small cages. But don't let independent breeders fool you, either. There are plenty of puppy mills run by people on farm land. You should always visit the home of your puppy, and ideally see the parents.

On Local police wait hours with people in mental health crisis

Posted on July 20 at 3:06 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

And why is everyone equating a hold with jail time or related criminal offense? That's extremely rare.

On Local police wait hours with people in mental health crisis

Posted on July 20 at 3:05 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

The hospital floor is one of the most depressing places I've ever been. There is little one on one interaction during treatment. The Crisis Center refuses to communicate with patients and there is no follow up. The lawyers they appoint are useless. There are a lot of costs involved for someone on a mandatory legal hold while there is not for someone who is in jail (you pay for your useless lawyer AND for crisis stabilization - why aren't we charging criminals for police time?), and people aren't treated like they're human or like they have treatment options. Before and after court appearances individuals are locked into general booking at the jail. Those are things that are issues due to lack of money; they're issues because people in the mental health field have huge egos and don't treat patients like they are human beings. Not everyone on a psychiatric hold is in detox or an extreme schizophrenic.

On Local police wait hours with people in mental health crisis

Posted on July 20 at 11:39 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

I can tell you from personal experience only 1 out of 10 patients is having an AODA issues. The rest of them are in crisis stabilization.

The Crisis Center, the RCSO, the court system, and Mercy Hospital have serious issues beyond wait times.

On City settles with former police officer

Posted on January 19 at 11:40 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

What part of "settlement" don't some of you understand? The whole point was that the probationary period was in discrepency (if the training hours counted or not); it was cheaper to "settle" than to drag it out in court. It also allows the department to resume searching for a qualified applicant, which they can now afford rather than risking paying Grooms leave pay during a drag out with this issue. Nowhere does it state it was a "forced" resignation. The "settlement" should replace any further benefits with the department, as the article states: "settle any and all claims".

Also, my understanding of pigbrain's comment of "victim" was a comparison: "as they would drive anyone home who was drunk" rather than calling Grooms a victim.

On City settles with former police officer

Posted on January 17 at 7:39 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

That round of hiring required a psychological exam. It's in the meeting notes available online (and they require the same standards for part time officers as full time officers, btw. Their most recent hiring for a fulltime officer required a retesting phase to determine the best candidate). Wisconsin requires a "thorough psych. evaluation" for hiring, but it's nonspecific. It's arbitrary anyway; anyone actually in the field of psychology will tell you that the tests used in other states (typically the MMPI) are outdated and invalid.

I agree with pigbrain. The probationary period did its job, and weeded out a bad candidate.

On Evansville officer cited in bar fight

Posted on December 16 at 4:23 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

There are good officers and bad officers, like in any profession. To judge the entire department or profession by the actions of one officer is ridiculous.

I, in fact, do know the officer in question. I also know that much of the press for EPD and other surrounding departments in the past year is inaccurate when you compare it to the actual police reports or speak with the officers involved; the public, in general, does not have working knowledge of the law, and believes much of what it reads, regardless of the truth.

And now you have a police officer, for better or for worse, with his home address printed in the newspaper. I think the Gazette should be ashamed for creating another possibly dangerous situation.