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If your agency has any Dodge Chargers in the fleet, you may want to know that Chrysler is recalling approximately 9,688 Charger police cars from the 2011 and 2012 model years.
The recall is to replace the headlamp jumper wire harnesses and to change and relocate an anti-lock brake/electronic stability control component. The problems identified in the recall could cause the low beams to fail and for some vehicles to lose their antilock brakes or stability control.
Chrysler says it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the problem, but who wants to lose the headlights or antilock brakes in police service?
The text of the Chrysler’s report to NTHSA reads in part, "Some police vehicles may have been built with headlamps that could experience a loss of low beam operation as a result of an overheated bulb harness connector while others may experience a loss of ABS/ESC system function as a result of an overheated power distribution center bus bar."
Apparently the failures have been observed under the severe-service conditions to which police vehicles are subjected. According to a Chrysler rep, extended periods of idling, and hard driving when used as training vehicles for police have exposed the problem.
The recall is said to affect certain Charger models built between January of 2010 and December of 2011.
The company plans to notify owners and dealers during March. Service centers will replace the headlight jumper harness and relocate the ABS/ESC system fuse free of charge.
You wouldn’t happen to have a car like this one, would you?
It’s a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air sedan, decked out as a police car, and the vice president of the Sarasota (Florida) County Lodge No. 45 of the Fraternal Order of Police is looking for one.
The lodge is spearheading a project to find and restore a car that will match the ones first used by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office nearly 60 years ago. Once the restoration is complete, the vehicle will be donated to the agency for various public uses.
Kevin Lynch, the VP of the lodge and a retired Sarasota County Sheriff’s lieutenant, is a dyed-in-the-wool "car guy" (we know the type!) and he is in charge of the project. The Sheriff’s first fleet of four vehicles consisted of 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air 150s, although they were two-door sedans, not four-doors like the car in the photo.
Not only was 1953 the first year that the Sheriff’s Office had cars, it was also the first year that its four officers had uniforms! The county was far more rural then than it is today. "Basically," said Lynch in a recent interview, "there were no humans south of Route 72, just cattle and fruit." That situation is very different today.
The lodge is seeking more than just a lead on a vehicle. It is seeking funding. Tax-deductible contributions to this project can be sent to The Community Foundation of Sarasota County, P. O. Box 49587, Sarasota, FL 34230-6587, marked for the antique patrol car project.
The FOP is also looking for in-kind services and donations such as labor and supplies needed for the project, and possibly the vehicle itself. Storage space will also be needed for the vehicle as well as initial transportation to Sarasota. If you can help, contact Lynch here.
You can learn more about this project by visiting the web site of the lodge here.
The news comes today of a veteran police officer in our area pleading guilty to charges that he stole cocaine from his department’s evidence room for his personal use while he was serving as the evidence officer.
For this the officer faces up to three years in prison and must serve two before he is eligible for parole. He will be banned from holding any public job in New Jersey and he will forfeit his pension.
The price of addiction.
There are those who argue that police officers should be "held to a higher standard." Well, if jail time plus being barred from employment in your field plus forfeiture of a pension earned over the course of a 22-year career isn’t a higher standard, we don’t know what is.
In this photo, taken in 2008, Police Chief Dan Pancoast of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, throws a Christmas tree. Why? Because that’s part of how he celebrates Christmas – by participating in the annual "Tree Toss" which raises money for charity.
Last year, Chief Pancoast won the contest over former Bethlehem Police Commissioner Stuart Bedics. This year, current Police Commissioner Jason Schiffer pitched a tree some 17 feet, defeating Pancoast’s throw of 15 feet 3 inches.
Lots of good-natured ribbing was taking place, as is predictable when any group of men enter into any sort of contest. Chief Pancoast noted that the mayor keeps changing police commissioners "faster than some hotels changes linens." The problem with that, said the Chief, is that "They keep getting younger and stronger."
A Christmas Tree Toss is a rather unusual event, but a worthwhile one since it benefits charitable organizations. This year the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Turning Point of Lehigh Valley were among the beneficiaries.
Photo by Bill Adams, courtesy of the Express-Times
In the photo is a rather uncommon car, a 1962 Dodge Lancer station wagon. This particular Lancer has an interesting story, a story about its theft and recovery.
A fellow named Stan Aiton bought this car only last year, but he’d been saving parts for the restoration and modification of just such a car for the last 41 years -- ever since a neighbor gave him some rare Lancer parts when he was 15 years old. So Stan was crushed when the Lancer, fitted with those parts, was stolen earlier this year. Thanks to the actions of some Good Samaritans and understanding police, however, the car is back in Stan’s possession.
Stan bought the Lancer last March when living in Virginia and almost immediately began stripping it down for restoration. He said the car was about 60 percent complete – including new paint, a new windshield and newly reupholstered seats – when he took a job in Texas in January of this year. Without a garage in which to keep the Lancer after his move, Stan stored it in a 24-foot enclosed trailer, and kept the trailer parked at a storage lot in Duncanville, Texas.
In late July, the trailer and everything in it disappeared. Stan filed a police report, but investigators had little to go on until the trailer was spotted in August wearing another set of stolen license plates. The police arrested the man hauling the trailer on multiple counts of grand theft auto, accusing him of using the trailer to steal other cars, but the trailer no longer contained the Lancer or any of the parts Stan had been collecting for years. It looked as if Stan wouldn’t see the contents of the trailer ever again, but as it turned out, the Lancer hadn’t gone very far.
Earlier this month, Stephen Ramsey and Adrian Britton at Ramsey’s Rods and Restoration in Fort Worth, Texas – less than two hours from Duncanville – were offered the Lancer for $1,500 by a couple looking to bail their nephew out of jail. "We get calls all the time from people who want to sell their cars, so I went out to take a look," Britton said. When the sellers began bringing out boxes upon boxes of parts, Britton began to suspect something was up, but brought it back to the shop anyway. "Steve just looked into my eyes and said, ‘That’s not right.’" The Lancer didn’t have its VIN (vehicle identification number), but after some digging online, Ramsey found message board posts from Stan asking people to keep an eye out for his car.
Within an hour, calls were placed to at least three different police agencies and an email was sent to Stan. The next morning Stan and the police all converged at Ramsey’s, and Stan positively identified the Lancer and all the parts as his. "We already work with the Fort Worth Auto Theft Task Force Unit, so we were able to convince them not to impound the car and let Stan take it directly home," Britton said. "We were also able to get the paperwork done on the spot to straighten out the missing VIN." Ramsey was also able to recover a portion of the money spent on the car, Britton said.
Stan, who was able to bring the Lancer home this past Saturday, said he found that the thief or somebody who had access to the car while it was missing had started installing some trim on the car, but scratched the paint in doing so and damaged some other parts. "It was like they were going to get it running," he said. "I guess the missing crankshaft made them decide they were over their head."
This story and the accompanying photo came to us from our friends at Hemmings Motor News. The selfless actions of the folks at Ramsey’s Rods and Restoration, who paid money for the car and then sought out its rightful owner, are noteworthy, as is the decision by the Fort Worth Auto Theft Task Force Unit to permit the car to go back to the rightful owner without impound.
The law enforcement community -- and the community as a whole -- suffered a sad and startling loss today with the news that Edmund Spinelli, Jr., Police Chief in Carneys Point, New Jersey, died at his home at the age of 45.
Far, far too young. As of this writing the cause of death has not yet been determined, but it has been reported to appear to be a heart attack.
Chief Spinelli served with both the NJ State Police and the Penns Grove Police Department prior to joining the Carneys Point Police Department. Those with whom he worked and those whom he served speak highly of the man, his professionalism, and his integrity.
On Tuesday of this week three corrections officers from the Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility were hospitalized after being attacked by inmates. Fortunately, no injuries were life-threatening.
The facility is located only a few miles from the home offices of the Badge Company of New Jersey, and a common misconception in the neighborhood is that it houses kids. After all, it is called the Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility.
However, inmates at this facility range in age up to 32. Not exactly children, and hardly a benign environment for corrections officers. No matter which facility in which they work, New Jersey corrections officers face persons and situations that few citizens would wish to face.
