Great Job by Marion County Sheriff's Office
 

A friend of mine laid down her purse momentarily at the self-check out at Walmart. The purse was taken during her moment of inattention. She notified the Marion County Sheriff's Office. Investigators retrieved pictures from several surveillance cameras.

They immediately posted still photos of the person who took the purse on the Marion County Sheriff's Office Facebook page, and in the Villages Sun newspaper with a request that the public assist in identifying the person.

The next day the person, who apparently had seen her photo on Facebook, returned the purse, claiming it was taken by accident. The surveillance video apparently contradicts this story. Charges are pending.

Great Job by the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Great news. Thank you for reminding us how well we are protected by these fine men and women.

From staying in the background for over a year, reading all the posts there are and finally registering with TOTV, it's sad that when a law enforcement agency does something good, there is 1 reply, which is positive. However, when someone gets stopped or someone has an unfavorable meeting with a law enforcement officer, the damning begins. WHY?

Maybe because the original post wasn't even posted an hour ago and everyone is enjoying their Sautrday evening.

I'm not in TV but i always appreciate the police.

He just posted at 6:29pm.
The police did a great job. I like how there are cameras all over the place and how the police have a facebook presence that a lot of people must check.

I have found that the residents of The Villages are very pro law enforcement. Yes, you might get someone complaining about being stopped for speeding but they certainly wouldn't be accusing the officer of not doing their job. Thirty five years of working in law enforcement and I can say that people here are respectful and very proud of the job that our county sheriffs do everyday.

And thank you for your service.

Isn't it wonderful that a non-violent purse snatching is news worthy in The Villages as the crime that the Sheriff will investigate? I am visiting in the Washington DC area right now and there are shootings, armed robberies, and strongarm robberies that are fairly commonplace here.

Ah, it will be great to get back to The Villages in a couple more days.

[QUOTE=Sandtrap328;1103364]Isn't it wonderful that a non-violent purse snatching is news worthy in The Villages as the crime that the Sheriff will investigate? I am visiting in the Washington DC area right now and there are shootings, armed robberies, and strongarm robberies that are fairly commonplace here.

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Hats off to the "LEOs" everywhere

I might have shared that Facebook page. It is great how some law enforcement organizations are using Facebook as a tool for criminal apprehension as well as pro-actively to prevent crime. I also really like the Crisis Team on Marion County Sheriff's web-page. It helps educate about mental health problems and lessens the stigma attached. Crisis Intervention Specialists | Marion County Sheriff

https://www.nami.org/

Victim Services Directory

https://www.facebook.com/marioncosheriffs

:agree: wholeheartedly!!!!

:agree:

Volunteers Welcome
 

Two of the Marion County Sheriff's Office programs that I value highly are related to Emergency Response to severe weather situations.

The CERT (Citizen's Emergency Response Team) is comprised of volunteers who train in how to care for themselves and their immediate neighbors in the aftermath of disasters.

The MERT (Marion Emergency Radio Team) is comprised of licensed amateur (Ham) radio operators who are trained in passing emergency communications by short wave when normal communications facilities are disabled by disaster. You will find the Villages Amateur Radio Club has many members who are volunteers in this program.

More information on CERT and MERT at EM Volunteer Programs | Marion County Sheriff

More information on the Villages Amateur Radio Club at K4VRC - Villages Amateur Radio Club

The Villages has it's own CERT Organization

CERT of The Villages Home Page

Communicating
 

In the Tampa area the CERT teams rely heavily on communications by handheld radios in the VHF or UHF bands, which requires federal amateur radio licenses. There are also several VHF and/or UHF radio repeater stations which broadens their areas of communications coverage.

Is the Villages CERT team using communications of this sort? I would think that The Villages Amateur Radio Club would be a valuable resource in instruction for the taking of the test for licensing.

I am with TV CERT. We use radios in many of our operations. As a subset of The Villages Public Safety Department I believe our radio use falls under their authority. We routinely hold classes regarding the proper use of radios for anyone in the command structure of our 350 member organization. In addition numerous members of TV are also members of TV Amateur Radio Club. In September another 30 or so of us will start a course so we can become licensed so we can also operate on ham radio channels.

Your radio use under The Villages PSD is lawful only if you are using radios on the designated Public Safety portion of the radio spectrum. Anyone using a radio that operates in the Amateur Radio (ham) portion of the spectrum must have a federal ham license or the radio must be under the physical oversight of a licensed ham.

If you are using radios issued by the PSD then they are probably in PS frequencies.

Here in Tampa the CERT units are more likely to be using ham radios because of the extensive ham network directly connected with the County Emergency Operations Center under the national ARES (program of the American Radio Relay League) and RACES (governmental sponsored) programs. The CERT members also generally own their own radios. Use is not limited to the Command Structure. Every member is encouraged to have a radio.

In any event, you are to be commended for participating in a program that will be a service to your neighbors in the event of an emergency.

Since when do we have to praise and fall all over ourselves, thanking people for doing their job? I'm sure the person who got their purse back thanked the officer. As far as the negative comments on police, totally justified. They carry guns and have great power over all us "civilians". The police have become increasingly militarized and abusive of their power. They no longer serve and protect, not "peace" officers but enforcement officers who are looking at the bottom line. Tickets = money

John, not sure where you came from, where you now live, or what your personal experiences has been with the police to date but your picture of officers is substantially different than mine.

:agree:

In fact that is so far off base I'm wondering if it wasn't posted just to get a rise.

Perhaps.

Kick the Tires
 

As the initiator of this thread I am pointing out that I did not "fall all over" myself thanking the police for doing their job. I commented on the imaginative approach of the Marion County Sheriff's Office in using a Facebook page for identifying criminal suspects.

On the other hand, the resentful tone of your negative stereotype of police officers betrays both a possible failure to understand the police role in our society and in all likelihood that you have been the recipient of a traffic ticket which you were appropriately issued.

We live in a society of government ruled by laws. There are many levels to those laws; those who pass them, those who make decisions regarding the guilt or innocence of those charged with violating them, and those who most directly deal with those charged with violations - police officers. They are the primary interface between our government and its citizens.

People who break laws, even traffic laws, are usually resentful of the police officers who observe the violations and apprehend the violators. I suspect that you are in that category.

You remind me of the man who once complained to me about police abuse because he was ticketed for running a stop sign. After his lengthy harangue, which I listened to patiently, he ended up by saying, "I'll admit I didn't get out and kick all four tires at the stop sign....."