The suspect reportedly entered the bank, approached a teller, displayed a firearm and demanded money. Once the suspect received an amount of currency he fled on foot from the bank. No injuries were reported.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to call the SBPD Detective Bureau at 574-235-9263 or Crime Stoppers at 574-288-STOP.

The suspect is described as:

Male black; 20′s, 5’9″-6’0″ Medium Build;
Black or blue jacket with a numeral on the sleeve possibly a “32″ on the left shoulder;
Black or dark blue knit style hat;
Sunglasses.

Everyone should have a winter emergency kit in their car. That consists of blankets, non-perishable food (that won’t freeze solid), hand and foot warmers and an extra layer of clothing. Also, don’t let yourself or your young driver leave the house in bad weather without a fully charged cell phone and plenty of gas in the tank.

Missing South Bend Resident

60 year old Jeanne Marie Wear last resided in an apartment the 1300 block of N. Michigan St. in South Bend, however she moved out when her lease was terminated in early June. At that point, Ms. Wear reportedly walked to Bremen, Indiana for unknown reasons but was returned to South Bend and dropped off at a local homeless center. From that point, relatives have lost contact with the missing woman. There is another report that states Ms. Wear may have returned to Bremen and spent the night of June 16th in a motel at that location and may have been spotted walking in the town the following morning. She also suffers from schizophrenia and needs medication to treat the illness. Additionally, Ms. Wear may use the last name “Humphrey” at times.

She is described as: Female White, 5′-06″; 195#; Graying-brown hair, with green eyes.

Anyone with information on this missing person’s whereabouts is asked to call the SBPD at 574-235-9201, or Detective Sgt. Michael Critchlow at 574-235-7502.

Q: I just got home from a 4-day weekend. I noticed that when I opened my screen door that a straw fell on the ground. It was bent as though it had been in there for some time. My house was robbed about 3-4 months ago and I fear that we are being targeted again. Should I report this so a police report can be filled out, or wait and see if it appears again?

A: As there was no damage or otherwise attempt with force being used, we would not take an official report in this case. If a burglary attempt is made (door kick, smashed window, etc>) we encourage reporting for documenting crime trends and tracking purposes, even if no actual loss occurred.

Q: Are South Bend police officers allowed to have well groomed beards, goatees, or any other facial hair?

A: The only facial hair officers are permitted is a neatly groomed mustache.

Q: I was medically separated from the U.S. Army. The reason for the separation is that I was experiencing knee pain, mostly from constant running and carrying lots of heavy gear, and because my job was combat arms they could not keep me. I do still occasionally experience stiff or sore knees but not like I did in the military. My question is if I can run, do pushups, do situps, and pass the agility test for the academy do you think I would have any problems going through the hiring process? I think an x-ray I had done some time ago did show that I have some onset osteoarthritis in one ore both of my knees. Would this disqualify me? Thanks.

A: Our physical fitness standards for hiring are the same as Indiana Law Enforcement Academy standards. If you can pass the physical agility testing process you should be able to go through the hiring process otherwise. Prior to final conditional offer there is a physical which must be taken, and a final determination can be made, but it sounds like you should be able to compete in the process. Good luck!

Q: If you are arrested but the charges are dismissed, why does the arrest still show up on your background checks? This is from an incident about 3 years ago and i have had several employers ask about it and have been denied employment.

A: If no charges were made in an arrest as an adult, that does not negate the actual incident that led to the arrest. As such, even if no criminal charges were filed, that does not mean the incident for which you were arrested is no longer counted as an actual arrest on your criminal history, and it will stay a part of your permanent record.

Q: In this past Sunday’s newspaper it showed a home burglary on our street on the map that is in every week. Wondered how I could find out the particulars of that incident, so that we could be more alert. Thank you.

A: You may want to call and find out about Neighborhood Watch program in your area. These are available in most areas of the city. You can receive alerts via phone, and also information pertaining to your neighborhood area is disseminated at monthly meetings for your area. Link is here.

Q: I have a girlfriend who is 16- she is having problems with her parents.They tell her to leave the house and I believe mistreat her. She cant take it anymore she wants to runaway can you help us please?

A: A great resource she can look into is the Youth Service Bureau here in South Bend. They offer family services for at risk teens, runaways, or for mediating between teens who are facing a choice of running away, and work with teens and parents to encourage a resolution to the conflict in the home. Also their Street Outreach provides education and prevention services to runaway, homeless and street youth who are subjected to or at risk of sexual exploitation. For youth in need of support and services, Street Outreach workers are available to assess needs, assist with accessing referral services, provide shelter through Safe Station or elsewhere, and support their efforts to reconnect to the community.

Also, The Youth and Family Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to offer support to youth and families in need. Professionally trained counselors provide assistance during difficult times, including crisis management and referral services to other community resources. (574) 235-9396 or (866) 460-4616.

(574) 235-9396 ~ (866) 460-4616

“Santa Maria PD Officer Damon Badnell was responding to a call for help from another officer on foot chasing a burglary suspect in the north end of town.

“It had just rained, the roads were slick and for unknown reasons he lost control of the car at Main and Broadway”, Macagni says.

Officer Badnell is being treated for broken bones at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital where doctors are optimistic about his recovery.

A three year veteran of the Santa Maria Police Department, Damon Badnell is a husband and father who grew up in the area and was just awarded by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for making the most DUI arrests in the city.

“It’s unbelievable he’s alive and survived this crash”, adds Chief Macagni.”

source

There is a perception amongst the civilian public that just because police officers are driving ‘fast’ without our lights and or sirens in emergency mode operation that we are driving that way because we want to. Truth is, driving that way is dangerous to everyone, us included, and for the most part, we are not just driving that way because I have nothing better to do when working…. or off duty.

The calls that police officers get are dynamic, and many times officers respond with a minimum of information. Most often police are responding to back one another up. Officers make dozens of traffic stops in a day in this city, and while most stops do not require us to back one another up by running lights and siren, it is critical that we are able to arrive quickly and safely. As an example, rpr. Randy Vetter of the Texas DPS was murdered on a traffic stop August 7th 2000 after stopping a man for a seatbelt violation.. The dash cam video is on the internet. If you take the time to watch, from the time of stop until the man brandishes and fires shots with his rifle is TWELVE seconds.

Other times, we are responding to burglar alarms at residences, or businesses. If someone was breaking into your home do you want the police to arrive in 2 minutes or in 10? Telegraphing “police are coming” from several blocks away with sirens blaring and lights blazing can have a detrimental effect to the criminal deciding to stay inside and be captured on the scene.

There are many many more situations that I can go on about, but the point is that if people see officers driving fast, please consider the circumstances. When someone calls 911 and states that someone is physically hurting or trying to kill them (usually in a very frantic manner), those calls have to be taken very seriously. Admittedly, and unfortunately, many times it is not as bad as what the caller had stated initially in the phone call to 911, but on the other hand sometimes it is.

So help arriving 30 seconds to a minute earlier could mean the difference between life and death. Every second counts when it comes to emergencies whether it be medical or criminal.

As a further P.S. to the post, please remember to yield the right of way to police/fire/EMS vehicles any time you see lights or hear sirens. It’s the law. Do so by immediately pulling over to the right side of the curb as possible. including one way streets.

As a department that has lost way too many good officers to needless acts of violence, this is worth sharing for its insight on what we all know and deal with everyday. Here’s the letter:

I am a Chicago police officer about to hit 20 years next month and also a Vietnam veteran, which often times seemed to be the same thing while on the job.

When we get up in the morning and put the uniform on, we don’t plan to encounter trouble, we don’t plan to run for blocks through gangways and streets in the dark after offenders.

We don’t plan on being told by a victim they don’t want an offender arrested while holding their hand over a swollen eye, and we don’t plan on having to stare down the barrel of our gun at someone who is staring down theirs.

We do what we did yesterday and today and will do tomorrow even in the light of another officer being murdered. We put on the uniform, go to roll call and into the street to serve and protect. We will think of Soderberg and other officers who have passed on but won’t lose our focus because we still have to serve and protect.

Some of us will think about getting home to take our little girls or boys to practice, pick up our wives or just sit in the yard and barbecue, but we won’t lose focus because we still have to serve and protect.

Our minds will be occupied with when, how and if we will ever get promoted, we will worry about working alone in a squad car at midnight, we will wonder if we will be able to pay a tuition by working overtime, but we won’t lose focus because we still have to serve and protect. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers will remain undaunted as we walk out the door in the morning, away from our families not knowing what we will face, but know this . . . there are those of us that will still go forward and serve and protect. We know the dangers, but we still go.

We are just men and women, with families like you, that only want to do what we do and be good at it. Sometimes it feels as if the city doesn’t really want us here, but until things change we are here for the duration. Sometimes with broken spirits, sometimes with broken limbs, sometimes with brothers or sisters that will go no further.

I love Chicago, I have loved this job though it has never loved me. To the brothers and sisters of CPD, God bless you all, walk tall and be safe.

Well put. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Soderberg’s family and the Chicago PD family in your time of needless loss.

These are tentatively slated to be assigned to the newly formed Street Crimes unit, so look for them soon!

What do you think?

Q: I have a License to carry handgun permit and I do carry quite often. Many people have stated to me that open carry is illegal and all handguns must be registered. I have found no evidence of these things online and while asking questions to local firearms dealers who either state they “cannot interpret the law for me,” or they tell me, “Indiana is mute and has no law on the subject of open carry thus making it legal.” And I’ve been told Indiana does not require registration and it’s actually illegal to register a handgun in Indiana. It seems I do know the answer here but can you back it up for me? Open carry is not illegal and firearms need not be registered? Thank you.

A: You are correct. Indiana laws do not require “registration” of firearms owned by an individual. A weapons carry permit is required to possess weapons outside an individual’s residence, and IN law does not prohibit “open carry” of weapons by statue, however, common sense and discretion of weapons carrying is strongly recommended for everyone’s safety.

Q: My street has no curb and people are parking on the grass down the street from our front door. Is this okay, or should they stop? I understand the the business nearby has limited parking area, but we have been trying to get our yard to look nice.

A: There is no specific reference I could find by city code, but Indiana Code on parking states: ” a vehicle stopped or parked upon a roadway where there is an adjacent curb must be stopped or parked with the right-hand wheels of the vehicle parallel with and within twelve (12) inches of the right-hand curb.” Where there is no actual curb, a general guideline should be to use the road edge/grass line as the “curb line”. If parking is coming from employees of the business you mention, I would suggest speaking to the management to help alleviate the issue.

NOTE: I initially was not going to publish this following question, however upon further thought I feel it is important for others who may be in this situation to receive the answer to the question.
Q: I filed a complaint against my husband for slapping me. I don’t want it to go to the prosecutors office because he is an amazing father and I feel like I pushed his buttons this morning. How do I stop the report from going anywhere?

A: As a victim you do have the right to not choose to seek prosecution of your suspect husband. I would advise to speak to victim counselors from our Family Violence Unit or from the YWCa before making this kind of a decision, to fully understand your rights, the cycle of domestic abuse, and for safety reasons for you and your family as a whole, so you can make an informed decision and understand repercussions first. In many cases, if charges are filed, this may not result in incarceration, but certainly would benefit the abuser to be able to get court ordered counseling. Even if you are separated , “dropping your case” changes nothing and a next victim could be harmed more seriously or even killed. Think: if the abuser gets no help how will he get over his tendencies towards violence? Also please see our domestic violence information in detail here.