Saturday’s Free Adoption Event sponsored by People Assisting Animal Control (PAAC) at the City Animal Care Shelter was a tremendous success, according to officials close to the event. On Saturday between 1:00 and 3:00 pm, PAAC paid the adoption fee for all dogs and cats housed in the Adoption Kennels at the City Animal Care Shelter. As a result of the event, 40 dogs and 16 cats found new homes with caring owners.

A line of over 50 people wrapped around the sidewalk of the Animal Care Shelter before the facility opened at 1:00 PM, and city officials estimated well over 200 attended the event before the doors to the Shelter closed at 6:00 PM. Animal Control employees and PAAC volunteers struggled to keep up with the long lines of people submitting applications to adopt, but the excitement of adopting a new pet seemed to make the wait worthwhile for most. “I can’t thank PAAC and their dedicated volunteers enough for making this event an incredible success,” said Commander Todd Green, whose duties include supervision of Animal Care and Control Services. “Our Veterinarian, Dr. Draper and our staff worked very hard alongside PAAC to make this event successful, and based on the turnout, it certainly was. I certainly commend everyone who came out and adopted a pet, and thank them for their patience while we processed the paperwork.” Commander Green added that he looked forward to continuing to work closely with PAAC and other local volunteer groups and shelters to make events like this a regular occurrence. Animal Care officials remind the public that for every pet adopted, two strays are saved: the pet that is taken home and the stray that then takes its place at the shelter.

The Corpus Christi Police Department has concluded an internal investigation of a city animal control officer who allegedly euthanized a dog prior to a municipal court hearing to determine whether it should be returned to its owner.

On July 30th, 2012 a CCPD Patrol Officer and Animal Control Officer responded to an address on the 3600 block of Wright Street to investigate an allegation of animal neglect. Upon their arrival officers discovered the carcass of a dog that appeared to have died due to neglect, ie-lack of adequate water, shade, etc. The Animal Control Officer impounded a second dog that also appeared to be neglected, while the Patrol Officer generated an incident report for animal cruelty against the dogs’ owner. A necropsy was later conducted upon the deceased dog and the veterinarian determined it had died due to dehydration and excessive body heat.

The animal cruelty case was forwarded to the District Attorney’s office Misdemeanor section for prosecution on July 31^st.

On August 17^th, the Animal Control Officer and the dog’s owner appeared in Municipal Court for a hearing to determine whether the impounded dog should be returned to the owner. A Municipal Court Judge ruled to release the impounded animal back to the owner, assessing impound fees and associated costs. The Animal Control Officer returned to the Animal Control Facility, where he discovered that the impounded dog had been inadvertently euthanized on August 16th, 2012 by another Animal Control employee. Paperwork associated with the impounded dog clearly indicated that it was being held pending the August 17th Municipal Court hearing and could not be euthanized prior to August 28, 2012. The incident was brought to the attention of Animal Control Supervisors, who referred the incident to the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit for investigation. That investigation has been concluded and the employee will serve a one day suspension without pay.

“This incident, although extremely unfortunate, identified a weakness in our existing procedures,” stated Commander Todd Green, whose duties include the supervision of Animal Care and Control Services. “The employee responsible has been disciplined, but more importantly we have implemented a system to prevent this from occurring again.”

The new procedure includes more active participation in the process by the Animal Care Services Veterinarian, and a review/sign-off by at least two Animal Care and Control employees before any dog or cat may be euthanized.

Animal Care and Control Services intakes between 8,000 and 11,000 animals each year.  Animal Control Employees are forced to euthanize between sixty and seventy percent of these unwanted animals.  This can be a heavy emotional burden on employees, who must euthanize hundreds of dogs and cats every month.  As a result, the Department is in the process of securing counseling services for those employees who must perform this needed, but unpleasant, task.

Have you ever thought about joining your Corpus Christi Police Department, but are unable to become a fulltime officer or employee? We invite anyone interested to visit the Police Department on September 18, 2012 at 6:00pm to explore other ways to serve our community through the Police Department.

    Law Enforcement Explorer Post 133 is for young men and women ages 15 to 21 who are interested in learning about law enforcement careers and serving their community. Police Explorers participate in various community and police-related projects throughout the year. Explorer teams also compete all over the state and nationwide. Categories for competition include all areas of law enforcement, such as searches and seizures, crime scene investigation, hostage negotiation, bomb search, first aid, misdemeanor and felony traffic stops, and domestic violence. There are also competitions like obstacle courses, physical challenges and competitive shooting.

The program is subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America and provides young men and women with the opportunity to develop a working knowledge of law enforcement procedures, duties and concepts; and enhance participants’ sense of responsibility through knowledge, teamwork, and community involvement. For more information about the Explorer program, visit the city website at http://www.cctexas.com/?fuseaction=main.view&page=2133.

The Corpus Christi Police Department Volunteers In Police Service (VIPS) program provides police service and promotes community partnership. Our volunteers perform a wide variety of duties throughout the department, enabling our paid personnel to concentrate on specialized tasks and better manage their workflow. Volunteers serve in non uniformed positions such as office assistant, receptionist, disabled parking enforcement, or assisting with special events to name just a few.  We value our volunteers’ diversity of skills, abilities, education, and life experiences which they nobly donate to our community. The most effective law enforcement efforts are collaborative partnerships between police and community members. http://www.cctexas.com/?fuseaction=main.view&page=4166

           Reserve Police Officers are state licensed law enforcement officers who serve at the discretion of the Chief of Police. They are empowered with the same authority as our full time officers. Members of the Corpus Christi Police Reserves Organization assist the regular sworn officers of the department in the enforcement of laws and maintenance of the peace. Reserve Officers are also called upon to assist at special events or during emergencies. Reserve officers volunteer their time without financial compensation. Uniforms and equipment are provided by the department. All Reserve Police Officers are required to contribute 192 hours annually, with a minimum of 16 hours per month.

Please join us for a presentation about the Corpus Christi Police Reserve Officer Program, the Police Explores Post 133 and our Volunteers in Police Services Program (VIPS) Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 6:00 pm at the Main Police Station at 321 John Sartain Street in the 5^th floor auditorium.

Six Corpus Christi Police Officers will receive the Star of Texas Award from Governor Rick Perry in the Texas House of Representatives Friday morning the 14^th of September. Office of the Governor staff will escort recipients and their families to a private reception at the conclusion of the ceremony.

The Star of Texas Award began in 2003 with House Bill 1937 to honor peace officers, firefighters, and emergency medical responders who are seriously injured or killed in the line of duty. The award is given annually. Award nominations are reviewed by three advisory committees each year to ensure they meet statutory criteria.

The Corpus Christi Police Officers to receive the Star of Texas Award for 2012 are Senior Officers Doug Rush, Enrique Roman, Israel Carasco, Jose Smith, Phillip Bintliff, and Daryl Anderson. Senior Officer Jose Smith will unable to attend. Chief Floyd Simpson will be honored to personally accept this award on Officer Smith’s behalf.

While the events that earned these officers their awards occurred prior to his arrival as the chief of police for the city of Corpus Christi, Chief Simpson is proud to accompany these officers to Austin and take this opportunity to spend some time with these dedicated public servants to share in their recognition.

Keely Hill keely.hill@gov.texas.gov  (512) 463–1919 is the point of contact for the Texas Governor’s Office in reference to this event.

The Corpus Christi Police Department will host a business summit Wednesday, September 19, 2012 from 8:00am to noon at the Del Mar College Center for Economic Development located across from Ray high School at 3209 Staples Street.

The purpose of the summit is to build a partnership to protect local businesses. The topics in the summit will include: Protecting your business against scams and social media; Personal safety at home and work; and Counterfeit money and money orders.

Anyone interested to attend this event at no fee should contact Sandra Cantu at (361) 886-2615 or Canyce Hedrick at (361) 886-2844 to reserve a place.

Nine Corpus Christi Police Officers were promoted to the rank of Senior Officer Thursday, September 06, 2012 in a ceremony with Chief of Police Floyd Simpson at the Corpus Christi Police Headquarters.

The officers successfully completed a proficiency exam on August 14, 2012. The test covered material from publications such as the Corpus Christi Police General Rules Manual, the Texas Criminal and Traffic Laws Manual, The Texas Penal Code, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Texas Family Code, Texas Transportation Code, and the text-book Leadership, Ethics, and Policing for the 21^st Century by P.J. Ortmeier and Edwin Meese.

The officers must have attained 60 months of service as a commissioned officer in the Corpus Christi Police Department to be eligible to take the exam. Other requirements to take the exam are that they possess an Intermediate Peace Officer license issued by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education or at least have 60 hours college credit from an accredited college or university.

The Senior Officer exam was graded as an individual pass or fail examination with a minimum score of 70% required to pass the exam.

The Corpus Christi Police Department celebrates the newly promoted Senior Officers: Armando Cruz; Lonnie Humitz; Adam Thurman; Alberto Salinas; David Saldana; Curtis Volling; Jose Flores; Armando Vasquez; and Corey Casey.

Corpus Christi Police would like help from the public to find a missing disabled person from Harlingen, 52-year-old David Mark Garcia. He was last seen in Corpus Christi the weekend of August 25, 2012 at the Exxon Station at Morgan and Crosstown. Garcia has medical problems and stumbles while he walks. Garcia may hang around the bus station.

If anyone sees David Mark Garcia, call Corpus Christi Police at 886-2600. Garcia’s family are worried and would like to find him soon.

Benjamin Gomez has been captured. Please help locate the nine other fugitives in our community.

Lisa Cabrera- Motion to revoke probation for driving while intoxicated

Guadalupe Bazaldua- Burglary of a habitation

Casandra Dunn- Motion to revoke probation for possession of a controlled substance

Roland Rios- Contempt of Child Support

David Theodore- Possession of a controlled substance

Robert Rader- Credit card abuse

Luis Suarez- Endangering a child

Louis Papakostas- Evading arrest with a vehicle

Terrell Fontenot- Assault

If you know where we can locate any of these individuals call Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS, or log on at www.888tips.com. We want your information, not your name. The information you provide could earn you a cash reward.