S’mores, apple cider, shelves ready for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The first snowfall, adjusting the thermostat for chilly mornings, and finding all those sweaters that were stored away just a few months ago. Between raking leaves and finding a creative Halloween costume, your local police department is ready for the season as well.
October greeted first responders with a one-two punch of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. While politicians wrangled over the FEMA response, workers worked to restore utilities and roadways and police, fire, and EMS personnel worked tirelessly on response, rescue, and recovery. Disasters often bring stories about the heroics of ordinary citizens and test the heroics of first responders.
Reports include the rescue of a child floating on debris in the floodwaters of Florida by officers of the Hillsboro County Sheriff’s Office. HCSO deputies were also lauded for using a bucket to rescue a bulldog from a flooded home chest deep in water. Bradenton Police responded to a flooded home where a tree had crashed into a home trapping four family members and their two dogs. Arriving with chainsaws, the officers were able to get the occupants to safety.
Tampa police are credited with rescuing over 100 people during the arrival of Milton, many of those dramatic efforts shown on body-worn camera footage.
Officers and responders from all over the country were deployed to assist in rescue and recovery in the aftermath of the storms. Although not deployed, the Arnold Air Force Police in Tennessee worked with other agencies to gather supplies at their own expense to send to first responders in the affected areas.
On a lighter note, an oversized inflated pumpkin yard decoration became untethered and was swept into the street in Bay Village, Ohio. Body camera footage shows one officer attacking the obstreperous 15-foot pumpkin as it blocks both lanes of a residential street. The flexible beast swallows one officer who was able to eventually escort the orange globe to a safe space.
On a somber note, police deaths and assaults continue to make the news, even if only fleetingly getting the public’s attention. New York City Police report a 41% increase in assaults on their cops since 2023 as part of a five-year increase. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, sixteen officers have died in the line of duty from September 1st to this writing.
At an October Trump rally, after 2 known assassination attempts on the former President, California deputies stopped a man in possession of weapons and multiple identification cards. “If you’re asking me right now, I probably did have deputies that prevented the third assassination attempt,” Riverside County sheriff Chad Bianco said.
A California State Patrol Officer got to the meat of the matter during a vehicle contact in Fresno County. After a K-9 alert on a cooler in the vehicle, the officer found an estimated $500,000 worth of fentanyl hidden inside packages of carne asada, a savory favorite of Mexican cuisine.
Missouri officers in Webb City, near Joplin, rescued a four-year-old boy from the deadly grasp of an armed man who had already assaulted a female. Officers charged into the house to find blood on the walls and floor, a knife on the floor, and the suspect on top of the young child attempting to strangle him. The officers wrested the boy from the suspect to find him unresponsive with a large laceration on his neck. Officers revived the boy with CPR, who survived and was able to talk to paramedics.
Officers will continue to prepare for the hijinks and lowjinks of Halloween. Categories of violent and property crime typically increase for the season, from pranks gone wrong to alcohol-fueled assaults. While kids like to play police officer in costume on Halloween, the real badge carriers are ready for anything every day.
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