Los Santos Roleplay UCP • LSPD Public Newsletter #1, July 2012

Issue Number 1 - Released 18th July 2012
Written by Senior Lead Officer Zachary Wilson, Senior Lead Officer Noah Wagner and Police Officer III Wade Tucker

This is the first of what is planning to be many newsletters, brought to you by the Public Relations Division, within the Los Santos Police Department. In the middle of this month, we decided that the people of Los Santos need to be made more aware of us, what we do, how we do it, and what our plans are. In this month's issue, you will read about the rising battle of graffiti in Los Santos, which often leads onto bigger, more dangerous crimes. We shall also be informing you of the prostitution problem, around the Idlewood area and what we're doing to enforce the law. On top of this gift of information, you will be taken on a tension filled roller coaster when you read through the high speed pursuit section. Finally, you will have a chance to win a cash prize, when you participate in our ultimate crossword challenge of the month.

Graffiti has always been a major problem in the city of Los Santos. Over the past few months the Los Santos Police Department has seen a great rise in the number of tags being sprayed in gang infested neighbourhoods. Removing the illegal artwork costs the city council thousands of dollars each year and the graffiti is an unsightly reminder of the gang crime in Los Santos. The Los Santos Police Department deals with thousands of complaints each year from residents complaining of the tags surrounding their homes. The drawings are usually found in gang infested neighbourhoods such as Ganton, Idlewood, Willowfield and Crenshaw. We surveyed people living in the affected

neighbourhoods and one person replied with “I think the graffiti allows people to express themselves and let out their creative sides, however I don’t like the idea of them tagging buildings and houses that people live in and make their livings out of. I think a grafitti wall should be set up where anyone can go and legally spray their tag. This way the city council will not have to spend thousands cleaning it up. Also, a grafitti wall will also allow people from different neighbourhoods to come together and socialize.” Many gangs use graffiti tags as a way to mark their territory and ‘labels’ are often used to warn rival gangs not to invade their territory. Opposing gangs often spray abusive writing over their tags as a sign of disrespect. Behaviour like this often leads to numerous shootings and gang related homicides every month, taking innocent lives and putting offenders, as young as fifteen, behind bars.

To combat against the rise of graffiti the Los Santos Police Department has stepped up proactive patrols in gang neighbourhoods and is cracking down on those who have previously been convicted of vandalism. As a department we are also discussing ideas to keep young offenders out of graffiti related crimes which could include graffiti walls and such in the future. As a department we aim to work with young people to keep them out of trouble and teach them how to be a good citizen in Los Santos.

Within the past six months, prostitution within Los Santos has become a major battle within the streets, and the department has been pulling out all the stocks to stop this ongoing explicit behaviour. The main area that appears to be affected by is around Idlewood, due to it’s “often large population of suitable clients”, said one anonymous female informant within the work trade. Statistics shows us that an average female worker can earn anywhere between six hundred to fifteen hundred dollars in one night. When we think about where this sort of money could be spent elsewhere, it becomes clear why Los Santos has economic difficulties around the city.

As this crime has escalated, the Los Santos Police Department have been looking at ways to combat it. One way that appears to work, on a short-term basis, was suggested by Assistant Chief Rashid Jamal. His idea was to issue out loitering tickets to known offenders, who refuse to move, due to their stubborn attitude. The criminals soon move on, before their citations build up to a point that it seriously affects them. However, they soon come back several days later for more work. So, the Office of Criminal Intelligence also set up an operation, utilising the divisions of VICE and the Uniformed Intelligence Division. The plan was to gather intelligence on known prostitutes to create a database of offenders. Therefore, it will allow the department to crack down on these individuals in the future. As time has past, we have already seen a large improvement to the area of Idlewood, in regards to the illicit behaviour and the department will not stop until Los Santos is completely clear of this monstrosity.

During the hot summer’s day of July 12th, the downtown area of Los Santos was disrupted by the loud sound of sirens, as a felony stop took place on a yellow cabbie next to the SAN Tower. Officers flooded the scene and immediately took control, ordering the driver out of the vehicle. He cautiously stepped out; side arms were focused upon him. An officer shouted for the suspect to walk backwards eventually getting down flat onto his stomach. Officers swarmed the suspect, instantly getting him in handcuffs. Simultaneously, one officer kept his aim locked down onto the remaining passenger. He was very right to do so, as that same passenger sprung into the driver's seat, hitting the gas. In a swift reaction, the officer took a precise shot at the back right tyre, with his Remington 870 Shotgun, successfully disabling the wheel. Units quickly began to pursue the vehicle as he dangerously swerved all over the road, endangering the lives of others.

The peacekeepers quickly had to bring this pursuit to an end as it was very dangerous for all those involved. The vehicle was pursued out into the county; a perfect place for a PIT from the lead unit to occur. Officers put their life on the line as they performed the technique on the Palomino Creek highway. The cabbie was instantly immobilized, the PIT was a success and officers quickly swarmed the suspect, detaining him. The dangerous suspect who endangered the lives of many civilians had finally been brought to justice and sentenced to four years in Los Santos Prison. For all officers involved that night, they were extremely lucky that the suspect was caught before he caused injury to either themselves or a member of the public.
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Around the midway point of this month, officers risked their lives carelessly in order to preserve and save the lives of others. They were faced with this horrifying situation when a standard pursuit was called in by a basic unit who had a vehicle take off from them in a traffic stop. The chase went on for miles, reaching drastic speeds of up to one hundred and twenty kilometres per hour. Due to this, officers were unable to conduct the well known procedure of a PIT(Pursuit Immobilization Technique), as it would almost certainly cause death. In most high speed pursuits, no longer it goes on, the more dangerous it becomes as the driver of the evading vehicle becomes more and more desperate. In this case, it was no different. As the felon’s vehicle sped down the main road of Los Santos Prison, he clipped a curb and lost control.

This dangerous mistake brought a conclusion to the high speed pursuit, but only unfolded a situation just as high risk. The criminal exited his vehicle and made off on foot, with a small handgun visible in his hand. He then turned to shoot at officers, in an attempt to take them down. The brave hearted peace keepers returned fire, whilst remaining in the cover of their patrol vehicles. Therefore, the suspect was swiftly took down, with three gunshot wounds to the chest. The Los Santos Fire Department was immediately called on scene and officers began treating him with their Basic Life Support Kits. Despite the hardest efforts of everyone, he unfortunately passed away on scene. Although a life was lost on this day, many others were saved due to the sheer bravery and professionalism of the officers involved.

The Los Santos Police Department recognizes the fact that our relationship with the communities within Los Santos is paramount. In this past month, a few things have been done in order to try and improve these relationships to show the public that we are to be trusted. At the end of the day, the department is here to "protect and serve" and that is what we will always try our best to do. Recently, numerous officers have been making more of an effort to go out and speak to the citizens of the city, and be of a general help. One person we spoke to informed us that they "very much appreciate officers coming to talk to them, as it shows that the LSPD is here to help and will be friendly when doing so, so thanks a lot."

One big thing that the Public Relations Division's Events Team has organised for this month is the Los Santos Community Meeting. The idea of this is to allow the public to come and speak to our officers, and raise issues they have with the department, find out about the department's different roles and much more. You are free to come along and ask the questions you feel need answering. With this, our relationship with the Los Santos Community can unfold into a trust-worthy unbreakable bond, so that we can work together in tackling crime within the city. The chosen date for this is the 21st July 2012, taking place at 6pm and shall be held right outside our very own headquarters, in Pershing Square. Everyone is invited to come along, so see you there!

In the newsletter, we feature the divisional highlight. This section goes over a specific division and explains what they do, the people in charge and much more. This time, we have the Advanced Medical Unit featured.

The Advanced Medical Unit was implemented into the Emergency Services Division, under the Office of Metropolitan, so that medical attention can be issued to be people quicker and at a more advanced level than the Basic Life Support trained officers. The unit currently has no commanding officer, as it is being deliberated, however rumours speculate that the position is likely to be filled in the near future.

The main task that the Advanced Medical Unit is there for is to issue medical attention during situations that go on for a period of time. For example, whilst in the battlefield of a shoot out, they will be issuing medical attention to anyone injured, preparing them for the Los Santos Fire Department. They are trained to issue certain drugs to assist them in their role, as well as use other equipment, such as an automated external defibrillator, or AED. On top of this, they are obviously able to issue medical attention when not in such large scale situations. By introducing the Advanced Medical Unit, many lives have already been saved and this will definitely continue throughout the years.

This month, to give the department an idea on people's general views of the LSPD, we have gone out and surveyed ten randomly picked people, from a variety of different neighborhoods all over Los Santos. Below shows our results, that we are reasonably pleased with, but will still be working to improve them further.

Do you think the response times from the LSPD are acceptable?
Yes: 9
No: 1

Would you rely on the LSPD?
Yes: 7
No: 3

Do you trust the LSPD?
Yes:7
No:3

Have you ever confidentially reported a crime to the LSPD? If no, have you heard of the new LSPD crimeline?
Yes: 6
No: 4

Do you think the LSPD’s best interest is public safety?
Yes: 8
No: 2

Based off these results, the Los Santos Police Department will be working closely with its officers to make changes for the better. This includes community events and making sure all officers follow the CPR code (Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect). The Public relations division would like to thank all those who participated in the survey and we hope you realise that you can trust us, you can rely on us and we are here to serve and protect.

Now you're in for a real treat. Each month, we will be trying to bring you an interview from an employee of the Los Santos Police Department who plays a very important role. This month the featuring person is Sergeant II Carla Hurst.

The Sergeant was a dedicated, hard working member of the New York Police Department up until November 2011, when she successfully transferred to the Los Santos Police Department under the rank of Staff Sergeant. However, Carla Hurst is now a Sergeant II, due to the rank name changes several months back. Her hardest efforts are conducted under the Office of Metropolitan, where the Sergeant leads Platoon B, The Crime Suppression Division, and takes a heavy role within Platoon D, SWAT, as a Command Member. Sergeant II Carla Hurst is especially known for her professional driving and exceptional leadership skills. Above this, there's also one role in which she takes that people often forget about.

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1. What makes a good leader?
There are many qualities that someone needs to have in order to be a leader. The first most important one in my opinion is courage. The leader needs to have the guts to make the decisions and call the shots, even when others may disagree with it. A leader who doesn’t have courage simply isn’t a leader, there a team member.
Second of all a leader needs to have respect from his peers, they should be a role model and the team looks up to them. This is important because it lowers the chances of team members questioning the leader’s decisions.
Thirdly the leader needs to be able to handle pressure, in the LSPD when we’re handling situations they do not always go as planned. New factors can pop up at any time and change the entire plan, leaders need to be able to quickly think on their feet and formulate a new plan and execute it without cracking under pressure.

2. From your understanding and point of views, what do the public think of the LSPD?
I think the public have mixed views on the department. Some may think we’re all corrupt officers who enjoy going around arresting random people and generally harassing innocent people. I think this is the main view on the department unfortunately; however this is not the case from my view. The department has lots of regulations and policies on enforcing the law and interacting with civilians. The public will mostly see us in action when we’re involved in dangerous tasks, and we don’t always have time to explain fully what’s going on which leads the public to question our motives.

3. Do you think that officers keep a good level of 'CPR' when talking to the public?
The majority of officers represent the department excellently by their usage of CPR when interacting with the public and other officers. However the department is not perfect, there are a small minority of officers who do not use CPR properly, and are swiftly dealt with.

4. How about yourself, do you feel that you hold a good level of 'CPR'?
I believe I do, I’m not perfect but I always ensure that I’m enforcing CPR when interacting with the public. It can be very hard at times when we’re dealing with heated situations and officers are under stress, and being provoked by members of the public. But it really comes down to professionalism and the amount of self-control you have.

5. What's your highlight of your career within the Los Santos Police Department?
No doubt it would be Metropolitan. Ever since I joined ETF new doors have been constantly opening for me, and my time in Metropolitan has taught me so many new things which have helped me progress not just in Metropolitan but the department.

6. What would you say to someone who is thinking about joining the LSPD, but isn't sure?
Take a ride along, see what it’s like. The LSPD is a very rewarding, but challenging and a dangerous career. You will never know what’s around the corner, and need to be prepared for anything. Many people have joined the department and resigned or transferred because this career just doesn’t suit them. Try to get a ride along, speak to officers about their experiences, read up on the department’s public press releases and see what we’ve dealt with in the past. But ultimately it comes down to you, ask yourself this; could I see myself in this department?

Here at the Los Santos Police Department, we recognize the fact that members of the public need to be rewarded from time to time. So, for your chance to win $20,000 please fill out the crossword below, in an e-mail to PublicRelationsDivision@pd.lsgov.us, with the title "[Firstname_Secondname] - Crossword Challenge July". Out of all the correct answers, one name will be drawn from a hat, and that lucky person will be the winner and free to claim the prize. Good luck!

Across
2. Accepting money to participate in sexual acts
4. A utility used by police to secure a suspects hands
5. Another word used for a high speed police chase
6. A name that is given to someone who has committed a crime
9. A regular LSPD Patrol Vehicle

Down
1. A tag often painted by gang members to mark
their territory
3. This is the first one made of an ongoing series released
every month to the public
7. A less lethal weapon used to stop suspects that are running
away on foot, or not complying
8. The month this newsletter was released

Below is the format to e-mail us at PublicRelationsDivision@pd.lsgov.us with. Once again, good luck!

Name:
E-mail:
Number:

Answer 1:
Answer 2:
Answer 3:
Answer 4:
Answer 5:
Answer 6:
Answer 7:
Answer 8:
Answer 9:

This Public Press Release was brought to you by the Publications Team of the Public Relations Division, operating under the Office of
the Chief of Police for the Los Santos Police Department. All content in this Public Press Release has been signed and approved by
the Chief of Police prior to publication. Any comments of a positive or negative nature can be forwarded to the Officer-in-Charge of
Publications Zachary Wilson, or alternatively, the Chief of Police, Michael Houston, himself, who will take feedback appreciatively.

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