CHP In The News - Negatively

[SgtCHP]

It appears the Sacramento area media is having a field day:

CHP Captain Arrested
Additional on the Captain

Officer Arrested For 459PC

[squad51]

Well every big agency gets their turn to take the heat off of others..sorry that your agency is going through that believe me I know it is no fun.

[LAschoolCop]

Drive him home

[Kieth M.]

Wow, BTDT in regards to watching my department getting tons of bad press.

This, too, shall pass.

[SCV-Sop]

And here's your oral board answer:

******
Hill told News10 the investigating officers gave Patrick no special courtesy because of his position.

"I can assure you we handled it the way we would with any citizen. There was no preferential treatment," Hill said.
******

[FJDave]

It really hurt me to see the pics of that Harley banged up like that. As Kieth said, this too shall pass.

[AzLaw_E]

Got to love how we eat our own

[sgttom]

right in my backyard too... wow.



CHP officer arrested in Target store thefts

(05-11) 16:27 PDT VACAVILLE -- A California Highway Patrol officer has been arrested for allegedly stealing an Xbox gaming system and other merchandise on four separate occasions from a Target store in Vacaville, police said today.

Officer Shawn Hammonds, 36, of Vacaville stole the gaming system and other electronic items from the Target at 3000 Hardison Drive at about 4 p.m. Monday, when he was off-duty, police said.

Store employees told police that he had stolen from the same store on at least three previous occasions, with thefts totaling $1,359, authorities said. One of the thefts occurred several hours before he was arrested at the store on four counts of commercial burglary, said Vacaville police Sgt. Jeff King.

The officer has been released on $30,000 bail.

Investigators believe Hammonds sold some of the stolen merchandise on the Internet, police said.

Target officials declined to comment.

Hammonds has been with the CHP for five years. He is assigned to the capitol protection section, which provides security for 400 state buildings in Sacramento, said Mike Nivens, the chief of the CHP's protective service division.

Hammonds had been out on injury leave for several months at the time of his arrest, Nivens said. The injury was not work-related, said Nivens, who declined to elaborate.

Nivens declined to discuss specifics of the case. But he said, "We hold our folks, obviously, to extremely high standards. If the allegations are proven, as an organization we'd be very disappointed, and we're not going to tolerate it. Serious sanctions exist for that."

[FreeAgent]

http://www.news10.net/news/article/1...-theft-charges

This crap just boggles my mind... I'm guessing he must have been hurting for money. Never the less, a stupid crime like this is not even worth a career loss!

[DAL]

In general, the CHP gets more positive publicity than other LE agencies. It has better PR.

As for the theft, I have heard of a couple other cases that sounded similar -- the officers were on extended leave because of off-duty injuries and started stealing from stores. Perhaps pain medications and/or medications for anxiety or depression induced character changes and could have something to do with the irrational thefts.

I'm sure this will blow over.

[phillydog07]

Well every big agency gets their turn to take the heat off of others..sorry that your agency is going through that believe me I know it is no fun.

It seems like yours is in that position more than it deserves.

[nobodyjr]

In general, the CHP gets more positive publicity than other LE agencies. It has better PR.
.

I agree CHP has the best PR of any agency I have ever seen. On all levels. From the local PAO at every office to Sacramento easily approving toys and TV programs about the patrol.

[jw1984]

I always see the CHP mentioned in the news in a positive light. There are plenty of great officers who work hard to build a solid reputation.