Patricia Schofield, Mayor |
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|Top of Page| Monthly Police Report August 2010 Activity Report |Top of Page| Recent
Police Activity Local police are cracking down on drivers who cross the street to park on the opposite side of their direction of travel. Out of town drivers will be warned and locals will more than likely be fined $93.00 for their error. This ordinance has been on the books for many years and is still in force. School will be starting soon and the school speed limits will be strictly enforced. Just for information a large portion of the public think they have the right of way while walking on the roadway surface. Contrary to popular belief, the only time pedestrians have the right of way is in a crosswalk. State statutes say while walking on the roadway surface one must walk with the traffic, not against it. Statutes also say one should walk along side the roadway as far off the roadway as necessary to walk safely. I have noticed that most pedestrians walk toward the traffic sometimes two and three abreast and erroneously assume the traffic must yield to them. Don’t bet your life you have the right of way just because you are on foot. You can actually be fined $75.00 for your shortsightedness. This is a law not heavily enforced, especially here in Palestine, but it may be good for one to know what the law requires. There is a petition and Email being circulated about trapping stray cats. In that issue it is said the Village is dumping stray cats east of the White bridge. Let me tell you the Village employees have never released trapped cats outside of town or anywhere else except the Humane Shelter. Where the confusion is, during the time we had no place to take unwanted animals, it was discussed about what to do with them if they were caught. During that discussion it was talked about taking the stray animals out of town and releasing them, however that was as far as it went. I don’t know if the Mayor left that discussion before it was over and assumed we were going to go ahead with that plan, but it never materialized. The Mayor did erroneously tell the lady causing the petition to be circulated that we were releasing trapped animals east of town, but I questioned each employee and that method was never used. The deer burial ground on state property was never used by anyone but myself to dispose of sick wild animals that had to be destroyed. Nobody’s pet, or stray animals, ever ended up there by Village employees. We don’t know what happened to the lady’s three cats and are sorry for her loss. As far as trapping is concerned, we were not aware one could not lawfully trap nuisance animals. There are many thousands of laws and it is impossible to stay abreast of all of them. We have discontinued the practice of trapping anything but feral cats, which I understand is still legal. Even if those type cats are trapped, they will be taken to the Humane Shelter. There are a lot of factual misstatements in the petition and Email and Village Officials wanted the record to be cleared up. Jim Clark |Top of Page| Recent
Police Activity There has been a slight increase in thefts and criminal property damage this month. There is also a problem with tobacco possession among minors under the age of 18. Several tickets have been issued for unlawful tobacco possession. As reported by Jim Clark, Chief of Police, at the April board meeting. |Top of Page| Abandoned & Inoperable
Vehicles Dear Citizens, Re:
There is a popular misconception that if you own a vehicle, as long as you buy current license plates, the vehicle can not be considered abandoned or inoperable. The ordinance makes no distinction about the status of registration. Vehicle in violation must be out of public view from any direction. In other words it must be inside a garage or a privacy fence completely surrounding the vehicle. “Out of public view” is up to the discretion of the Palestine Police. Also a vehicle being parked in your front yard, or any other areas for sale, are still subject to section 12.08. While Village police will try to give you an opportunity to sell your vehicle, after what we consider a reasonable length of time, you will be asked to remove the vehicle. Parking vehicles for sale on Village sidewalks or property will not be permitted. Jim Clark Road Sign Stolen The 'No Jake Brake' sign, which had been placed on Route 33 just south of Palestine, was stolen on Monday night by pulling it out of the Right of Way and removing it from the ROW. The investigation has determined that the vehicle that pulled out the sign incurred several hundred dollars damage when the sign hit the right front area of the vehicle. The police officers are looking for either a 2005 or 2006
F500 Ford truck,
possibly white or black, with a missing right front head light assembly
and a damaged grill. If anyone has any knowledge of such a vehicle,
please notify the Palestine Police Department. A
New
(Old) Credit Card Scam This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want. Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & Master Card Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself. Long story - made short: What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of their conversation. Remember REAL credit card companies will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you'll se e charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report. Check out the full story at Crimes
of Opportunity Crimes of opportunity are still the most popular way to become a crime victim locally. If you would just learn to lock your house and vehicle when you leave it, policing would be much more simple…….and ladies, please take your purses in with you when you get out of your vehicle. Internet
& Mail
Scam Warnings Recently Palestine police have received the most complaints about Internet and mail scams. Most prevalent are the 3 to 5 thousand dollar checks sent to residents. Their claims are that they are unable to cash these checks because it’s hard for their company to keep up with the changing American banking system or some other ridiculous excuse. If you receive a check in the mail for something you never solicited, asked for or joined, beware, a scam is at work! Another popular scam is someone calls, usually an elderly person, and pretends to be a relative. They are having a difficult time in Canada or some other country, because they either caught too many oversize fish and have huge fines to pay, or they hit someone’s car and damaged it, and they are being held in a Canadian jail for usually 3 to 5 thousand dollars. They don’t want you to notify anyone else, because they don’t want to bother anyone else in their family and they will pay you back as soon as they get back to the states. They want you to wire the money electronically through a Wal Mart assisted account by MoneyGram. MoneyGram does not have a sophisticated system that recognizes scams like Western Union does, so go figure who they want you to use for the money transfer. Once the transaction is made, it’s a done deal and there is no retrieving your cash. You should also be advised that neither the FBI or any other Federal Agency will assist you or local police to get your money back. FBI personnel told me that it would take a police agency with many thousand employees to track these scams down and even then it would be near impossible to get money back from someone in a foreign country. One either has to wise up or get taken. The old adage, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” should be your theme. Arrest for
Criminal Damage On 4/25/08 Palestine Police
assisted by Crawford County Sheriff’s Dept.
arrested 32 year old Andrew J. Stephens for criminal damage to property over
$300.00, to the Palestine Food Bank. Stephens remains in Crawford County Jail
in lieu of $1,000.00 cash bond. Arrest
in Thanksgiving Burglaries Case The arrest of 29 year old Matthew Jones from Gibson City, Illinois brings to close a lengthy investigation of six burglaries in Palestine’s business district last Thanksgiving night. Jones has been the only suspect for quite some time. Palestine Police acknowledge the efforts and assistance from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Dept., the Illinois State Police Crime Lab, and the Gibson City Police. As a result a long awaited successful outcome has been completed. Palestine Police wants to acknowledge these crimes might never have been solved if it had not been for the Sheriff Department’s K-9 unit that played a key role in the apprehension and arrest of Jones. Jones is presently being held in the Crawford County Jail in lieu of $3500.00 cash bond. Jones is charged with four counts of Burglary (Class 2 Felonies) and one count of Residential Burglary. (Class 1 Felony) I want to thank all the victims of these crimes for their patience. I know it took a long time to bring this to fruition, but dotting all the 'I's and crossing the 'T's are so important in today’s investigations. Property
Damage In the past ten days there has been several incidents of criminal damage to property, both in Palestine and the immediate surrounding area. Police would like for anyone with knowledge of someone owning or possessing a paint pellet gun that would likely use it for vandalism, please contact Palestine Police or CrimeStoppers. On Friday the 29th of February a person or persons with relatively small shoe prints broke all the windows out of the cab on a backhoe owned by the Indiana Railroad. It was parked about 150 yards east of the yard office behind a pile of rocks. Rocks were inside the cab and on the ground in the immediate area where the backhoe was parked. Youths have been seen playing in that area by railroad personnel. Any help with this crime would be greatly appreciated. Check Scam Alert BEWARE Click on this image for a larger view of an actual 'check' used to steal from a local resident recently.
Email Scam Warning I received an Email this morning from a person who claimed to be Mr. Kennedy Taylor wanting me to be his business partner as soon as I cooperated with his instructions. Mr. Taylor just happened to be telling me his tale of woe and how he desperately needed my help from the country of Nigeria. Anytime you get contacted by anyone from Nigeria, it is 100% false and it will be to your detriment to answer these idiots. Nigeria is famous for being the country most associated with scams. |Top of Page| Electronic Crimes For those of you who wonder why we are unable to take on electronic crimes like wire or Internet fraud, here are the problems. It is very seldom the victim and criminal are in close proximity of each other. The crime must be prosecuted where the victim was wronged. If police find the perpetrator in a faraway location, the criminal must still be transported to the court of venue for prosecution. If the criminal does not want to be extradited from another state or country, then someone has to pay an attorney to forward extradition proceedings. If that hurdle is cleared, transportation must be arranged and paid for by someone. That someone, without help from federal authorities, will be the jurisdiction in which the crime was committed. Say for instance a computer crime was committed against a person in our town from a criminal in Ohio. Ohio police would probably pick this person up for us on a warrant, but only if we agreed to extradite him to Crawford County. Now the alleged criminal does not want to be brought to Illinois to face his accusers, so he refuses extradition to our location. Now someone has to plead our case in Ohio to bring the criminal to Illinois. Someone has to pay for that proceeding and it probably won’t be the Ohio taxpayers. The bill for that service will be sent to, you guessed it, Palestine. Assume we won extradition, now someone from, you guessed it, Palestine, must send an officer to Ohio to pick up the bad guy and bring him or her to our court. Everyone is entitled to have bail posted, so we get the bad guy here, he or she has a bail hearing and then if they come up with the bail, do you think they are going to rent a local motel until their trial? No, they’re probably going back to Ohio, then the whole thing starts all over again. Do you think this getting expensive? Try all this if the criminal is from England or Japan. I can see tens of thousands of dollars being spent for this type of crime to recover maybe $300.00. It is not going to happen, so the next time you get a check in the mail offering you half the money if you will just cash it, tear up the check and throw it away. Be extremely careful when you are buying online that you are dealing with a reputable company and the method of payment is protected. Never give your personal information over the phone. Don’t throw away papers with your name and address. Shred them. My wife and I even pay $16.00 a month to a company called LifeLock to protect our identity. Their guarantee is for a million dollars if your identity is stolen. How will you afford that, you ask? If your identity is stolen the cost for protection will pale in comparison. The most common identity thefts are started by the credit card offers you get in the mail daily. Crimes are more sophisticated these days, so our response to these dangers needs also to change. Protect your identity, keep your doors locked and the keys taken out of your vehicles. Ladies, don’t leave your purses lying in your unattended vehicle or in the shopping cart while you just step over to the next aisle in the store to check something. Make every salesperson that comes to your door show you a permit to solicit. Use your phone for your business, not someone else’s. |Top of Page| Crime
News The Night of Thanksgiving, November 22nd, 2007 was marred by at least six buildings being forcibly entered, some ransacked and items stolen, others just entered and left with only damage to the door. A residence on South Main and Brock’s Food Store were hardest hit. Palestine Police, Crawford County Sheriff’s Department and the Illinois State Police Crime Lab all joined together to solve these crimes. Currently police are waiting for the Illinois Crime Lab analysis to be completed, making an arrest eminent in these cases. The person to be arrested was from out of town and has since moved back to the perpetrator’s original location. He is associated with a lengthy criminal history. A couple of weeks after that in mid December, two more businesses had an attempted break in, but neither was successful. The suspect in both of these was successful in entering the rear door of a local residence and stealing several items . Thirty year old, Ronald L. Westbrook was sentenced to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on January 18, 2008. Westbrook had been living at a residence in Palestine for a couple of months prior to these break-ins. Palestine Police were able to get a search warrant for where Westbrook was residing and recovered nearly one hundred percent of the stolen merchandise. At the same time this was going on, Palestine Police were sent to a residence on Outer East Grand Prairie Street where a male subject about 30 years old was hawking a cleaning product in town without a permit. An elderly gentleman had his wallet stolen when he turned his back on the guy after laying his wallet beside him. A significant amount of cash and a couple credit cards, along with his personal identification papers and drivers license were contained in that wallet. Palestine Police caught up with the alleged perpetrator in Olney the following day. A search was made of the vehicle, his belongings and after questioning a case could not be made. No items from the wallet could be recovered and naturally he denied taking the wallet. Ironically, he was arrested for felony theft at the casino in Evansville that very evening. On November 30, 2007, a call was made to an elderly woman about her grandson needing $3,000.00 cash so he could be released by the Canadian Fish and Wildlife after he claimed he was caught with some illegal fish. As you know if you read the Daily News it was a very elaborate scheme and unfortunately was successful. Palestine Police obtained a search warrant from the MoneyGram International company for the transaction and that resulted in police finding out where the money went to and an address where the person lived in Canada. Then we were ready to go forward, we thought, with the FBI. Sadly we were wrong. It did not rise to the level of criterion to be accepted by the FBI for further investigation. Also in mid December another fraud was perpetrated on eBay to a local resident who attempted to buy a laptop computer from a computer company in Kent, Washington. Palestine Police were able to obtain the name and address of the perpetrator, who was able to bilk $450.00 from one of our residents. Fortunately the sale was paid through PayPal and he got back his money. This same scam was thought to have been repeated nearly forty times on other victims in the U.S. This brought the total of this crime to in the neighborhood of $18,000.00. Still it was not enough for the Feds to get involved. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office will not get involved unless the crime is perpetrated wholly in Illinois. In other words the victim and the criminal must both be within the confines of the State of Illinois. The bottom line is, we must be vigilante as citizens and aware there are people out there trying every hour to swindle somebody out of their money. There was never a time more than now that the cliche “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” is the most sage advice one can get. On the night of December 28, 2007, six unlocked vehicles were entered and things taken from petty change to several car and house keys being removed. Now some criminal not only has the keys to some of those vehicles, but the houses where they were parked as well. Please people, remove your keys from your vehicles and lock them. Lock your houses also when you leave. The days when it was thought safe to leave your vehicles and houses unlocked are over, if it ever was safe. Crimes of opportunity are still number one. Locks keep a lot of criminals at bay. Since no other crimes regarding vehicles happened on a regular basis before or since, one must assume it was done perhaps by a Holiday visitor, probably from a location where everyone kept things locked up. What a pleasant surprise we must have been for that criminal. At any rate, no leads were ever obtained on these crimes, but as always keep vigilant and report anonymously to Crime Stoppers or call local police with information you might have. |
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