05-10-2008, 02:56 PM
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 1640.story (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flppoliceattack0510pnmay10,0,6881640.story)
Bad guys beware: Cops are vigilant in Palm Beach County
Facing increased risks while on patrols, officers are taking more precautions
By Leon Fooksman | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
May 10, 2008
On the streets, a new generation of criminals is punching, slashing and shooting at Palm Beach County officers at rates not seen in years, police commanders said.
The attacks have changed the way many officers approach their jobs, and the public.
"When I go to calls now, I think of the worst," said sheriff's Deputy Trevor Watson, who was shot in June while checking on a man running behind an office building near Boynton Beach. "What will happen when I knock on someone's door? Will someone shoot me?"
Following an increase in violent crime in the past two years, more officers are requesting backup for routine traffic stops and domestic calls, police training officials said. Many are demanding high-powered rifles to defend themselves against assailants with assault weapons. Officers also are coming in on their own time for shooting practice and to brush up on hand-to-hand combat.
"You have to be up on your game these days," Delray Beach police Sgt. Fred Parker said.
Last week, about 30 deputies learned to fight off suspects wielding knives during one of the Sheriff's Office's newest courses aimed at improving self-defense skills. Knife attacks against deputies are up, sheriff's Capt. Ronald Mattino said.
Deputy Vance Harper practiced batting away knives and slashing criminals. Those are skills he said he needs patrolling high-crime neighborhoods west of Lake Worth and West Palm Beach.
Harper, 29, routinely shows up wearing a ballistics helmet and carrying a shield on calls involving assailants with guns — and he's not even a member of the agency's SWAT team. He said he doesn't stare at other drivers while waiting in his cruiser for the light to change at intersections, a step he takes to avoid confrontation. And no matter what call he responds to at night, he said he never turns away another deputy offering to back him up.
"I don't care if I am pulling over a 100-year-old lady. I won't put myself in danger," Harper said.
The danger is real.
The shootings of four Broward County sheriff's deputies in 2006 and 2007 — resulting in three deaths and severe injuries to the fourth — reflect a national trend in which more officers have been killed in the line of duty than at any time since the late 1970s, experts said. Among the reasons for the spike, police said, are the growing numbers of assault weapons on the street, crowded prisons hardening juveniles and adults, cutbacks in anti-crime programs and the rise of street gangs.
"Criminals have no fear of law enforcement anymore," Mattino said.
The most common attacks on police are assaults: shoving, kicking and swinging of fists that often leave officers injured, officials said.
Last year, 97 Palm Beach County deputies were injured while arresting suspects, up from 69 in 2006, records show. Boca Raton police saw a bigger rise in incidents that left officers injured: 20 in 2007, up from 11 the previous year.
In January, three deputies were hospitalized after arresting a belligerent 26-year-old man seen driving around suspiciously in a housing development west of Boynton Beach. Bronson Antao was accused of ramming his car into a deputy, bashing another deputy with a bullet magazine and hurting a third deputy. None of the deputies suffered major injuries.
Watson, the deputy shot last summer, survived the bullet fired into his stomach area because it did not penetrate his bullet-resistant jacket. The 26-year-old was knocked back and managed to return fire at the suspect, who ran off.
"I remember thinking, 'I can't believe he just fired at me.' I couldn't believe he had the audacity to shoot me," Watson said.
The shooting has changed the former Marine who served in Iraq, he said. He goes to the firing range more frequently and never hesitates to call for backup. He runs scenarios in his head more often about what can go wrong each time he arrives on a call.
He said the streets may be meaner, but he still makes the same pledge every time he puts on his uniform: "I am coming home. No matter what."
Leon Fooksman can be reached at lfooksman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6647.
Certain parts of this leave me at a loss for words....
Bad guys beware: Cops are vigilant in Palm Beach County
Facing increased risks while on patrols, officers are taking more precautions
By Leon Fooksman | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
May 10, 2008
On the streets, a new generation of criminals is punching, slashing and shooting at Palm Beach County officers at rates not seen in years, police commanders said.
The attacks have changed the way many officers approach their jobs, and the public.
"When I go to calls now, I think of the worst," said sheriff's Deputy Trevor Watson, who was shot in June while checking on a man running behind an office building near Boynton Beach. "What will happen when I knock on someone's door? Will someone shoot me?"
Following an increase in violent crime in the past two years, more officers are requesting backup for routine traffic stops and domestic calls, police training officials said. Many are demanding high-powered rifles to defend themselves against assailants with assault weapons. Officers also are coming in on their own time for shooting practice and to brush up on hand-to-hand combat.
"You have to be up on your game these days," Delray Beach police Sgt. Fred Parker said.
Last week, about 30 deputies learned to fight off suspects wielding knives during one of the Sheriff's Office's newest courses aimed at improving self-defense skills. Knife attacks against deputies are up, sheriff's Capt. Ronald Mattino said.
Deputy Vance Harper practiced batting away knives and slashing criminals. Those are skills he said he needs patrolling high-crime neighborhoods west of Lake Worth and West Palm Beach.
Harper, 29, routinely shows up wearing a ballistics helmet and carrying a shield on calls involving assailants with guns — and he's not even a member of the agency's SWAT team. He said he doesn't stare at other drivers while waiting in his cruiser for the light to change at intersections, a step he takes to avoid confrontation. And no matter what call he responds to at night, he said he never turns away another deputy offering to back him up.
"I don't care if I am pulling over a 100-year-old lady. I won't put myself in danger," Harper said.
The danger is real.
The shootings of four Broward County sheriff's deputies in 2006 and 2007 — resulting in three deaths and severe injuries to the fourth — reflect a national trend in which more officers have been killed in the line of duty than at any time since the late 1970s, experts said. Among the reasons for the spike, police said, are the growing numbers of assault weapons on the street, crowded prisons hardening juveniles and adults, cutbacks in anti-crime programs and the rise of street gangs.
"Criminals have no fear of law enforcement anymore," Mattino said.
The most common attacks on police are assaults: shoving, kicking and swinging of fists that often leave officers injured, officials said.
Last year, 97 Palm Beach County deputies were injured while arresting suspects, up from 69 in 2006, records show. Boca Raton police saw a bigger rise in incidents that left officers injured: 20 in 2007, up from 11 the previous year.
In January, three deputies were hospitalized after arresting a belligerent 26-year-old man seen driving around suspiciously in a housing development west of Boynton Beach. Bronson Antao was accused of ramming his car into a deputy, bashing another deputy with a bullet magazine and hurting a third deputy. None of the deputies suffered major injuries.
Watson, the deputy shot last summer, survived the bullet fired into his stomach area because it did not penetrate his bullet-resistant jacket. The 26-year-old was knocked back and managed to return fire at the suspect, who ran off.
"I remember thinking, 'I can't believe he just fired at me.' I couldn't believe he had the audacity to shoot me," Watson said.
The shooting has changed the former Marine who served in Iraq, he said. He goes to the firing range more frequently and never hesitates to call for backup. He runs scenarios in his head more often about what can go wrong each time he arrives on a call.
He said the streets may be meaner, but he still makes the same pledge every time he puts on his uniform: "I am coming home. No matter what."
Leon Fooksman can be reached at lfooksman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6647.
Certain parts of this leave me at a loss for words....