Views
2 years ago

MARCH 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 3

  • Text
  • Volodymyr zelenskyy
  • Volodymyr zelensky
  • Police jobs
  • Sheriff
  • Dj daniel
  • Police newspaper
  • Police news
  • Police magazine
  • Police
  • Law enforcement
  • Wwwbluespdmagcom
  • Hpoa
  • Galveston
  • Enforcement
  • Wagoneer
  • Blues
FEATURES 42 Vote Their Ass Out 46 Remembering Those We’ve Lost to COVID 50 Remembering Those We’ve Lost to LOD Deaths 56 10-Year Olds Dream Becomes a Reality DEPARTMENTS 8 Publisher’s Thoughts 12 Editor’s Thoughts 14 Your Thoughts 16 News Around the US 32 Where to Eat - El Mercadito 34 Where to Shop - Central Police Supply 38 Defending Your Rights - James Wood 75 War Stories 84 Aftermath 88 Open Road 92 Healing Our Heroes 94 Daryl’s Deliberations 98 HPOU - From the President, Douglas Griffith 100 Light Bulb Award - Judge Dora & Her Posse 102 Running 4 Heroes 104 Blue Mental Health with Tina Jaeckle 106 Off Duty with Rusty Barron 108 Ads Back in the Day 112 Parting Shots 114 Now Hiring - L.E.O. Positions Open in Texas 138 Back Page

AROUND THE COUNTRY

AROUND THE COUNTRY HELICOPTER CRASH Huntington Beach Police are mourning the loss of one of their when one of their helicopters crashed in Newport Harbor, killing Officer Nicholas Vella. NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a Huntington Beach Police helicopter crash in Newport Harbor that killed one officer and injured another. The officer who died in the Saturday, February 19th crash, was identified as 44-year-old veteran Officer Nicholas Vella, according to the Huntington Beach Police Department. Vella was the observer at the time of the crash. The pilot, who has not yet been identified, was released from the hospital the day after the crash. Jennifer Carey, the Huntington Beach spokeswoman, said the wreckage was pulled from the water late Sunday afternoon. The National Transportation Safety Board is the lead agency investigating the accident, and the Orange County Sheriff ‘s Department ‘s Major Accident Reconstruction Team will be conducting its own investigation, Carey said. The pilot made a brief call to report that the helicopter was experiencing mechanical issues, before calling again to say that they were going to crash, said NTSB spokesperson Elliott Simpson during a Sunday news conference. “Right now, it appears to be a nose-down descent into the water, “ Simpson said. The cause of the crash will be determined at the end of the NTSB’s investigation, which could take 12 to 18 months, NTSB spokesperson Eric Weiss said. “We look at not only what happened, but we try to figure out why it happened, “ Weiss said, explaining that the agency’s investigative process looks at human, machine and environmental factors. “By figuring out why it happened, you can maybe prevent future accidents.” A Huntington Beach Police helicopter is lifted out of the water in Newport Beach, Calif. Huntington Beach Police Chief Eric Parra described Vella as “an officer that was truly dedicated to the job and was doing what he loved doing.” Vella was a 16- year veteran of the force and had previously worked as a police officer in Laguna Beach, Parra said. One witness described the craft as clearly in distress and at least partly out of control just before landing in the water about 10 to 20 feet offshore. The helicopter, called HB1, went down in the vicinity of the Lido Peninsula, according to the flight- tracker website adsbexchange.com. The helicopter had been dispatched from Huntington Beach, Parra said, on a “disturbance fight call “ from Newport Beach, which contracts for aerial assistance as needed with the neighboring city. The call about the crash came in about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Carey said. Newport Beach police were monitoring the radio broadcast and had help at the scene “instantaneously, “ said Newport Beach Police Chief Jon T. Lewis, who also was at the news conference. A witness described the minutes leading up to the crash. “We were driving over here, and we heard the pitch of the helicopter, “ the unidentified witness told KCAL-TV Channel 9 news. “And it sounded like a helicopter was in distress. And then when we looked at the helicopter, it was out of control. And it was obvious that the helicopter was going to go down. And it did go down and almost immediately sunk.” Video recorded at the scene shows the craft lying on its side, mostly submerged, as rescuers worked frantically to free the officers. One officer was able to emerge quickly and walk away with assistance onto the beach. Getting to the second took longer. Both were transported to local hospitals. The Huntington Beach Police Department has three helicopters and typically keeps one in operation 24 hours a day. The two other aircraft will be grounded pending an inspection and the preliminary investigation, Parra said. “This is truly a really heartbreaking time for all of us here in Huntington Beach, “ Mayor Barbara Delgleize said. “Our community values our police department, and the loss of an officer hits us all really hard.” The Huntington Beach Police Department Air Support Unit was formed in 1968. Huntington Beach was the first city in Orange County and the fifth in the nation to use helicopters for public safety service, according to the city. 18 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 19

The BLUES - Digital Issues 2020-2023

Volodymyr zelenskyy Volodymyr zelensky Police jobs Sheriff Dj daniel Police newspaper Police news Police magazine Police Law enforcement Wwwbluespdmagcom Hpoa Galveston Enforcement Wagoneer Blues

Blog

© 2023 by YUMPU