SCOTT COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE FIVE POINTS OF THE STAR Kevin Studnicka - Sheriff VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3 JULY, 2010 FROM THE SHERIFF By Sheriff Kevin Studnicka INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Public Safety Forms for standings when it comes to Parents this……….so far, so Patrol 2 Whoever came up with the good!!! Support Staff 3 old saying “you learn some- But, did you know that a thing new every day” cer- parent has the right to sus- Chaplain Services 3 tainly had the law enforce- pend their child‟s driving Crime Prevention 4 ment profession in mind. privileges? You can go to Each month the Scott the Minnesota Department Investigations 4 that you might want to County chiefs of police and of Public Safety Website, strongly consider! Jail 5 myself meet to discuss is- click on Drivers License sues going on inside Scott Services Division and you The goal for all of us is to Civil Process and 6 County and within our will find a number of forms get our children home safely Warrants agencies. At the last meet- that can be downloaded. every night. Not to mention ing, I was notified about a There is a form called that no one wants to pay Recreational Safety 7 form that can be utilized by PS33061, which allows par- higher premiums on their From the Chief 7 parents regarding their teen ents to withdraw their con- already increased insurance Deputy drivers. The reason I bring sent for a driver under the rates for young drivers. this up is because we have age of 18 to maintain a li- Homeland Security 8 So, the next time you have lost a number of young cense or permit. You can to threaten to take away the Captain’s Corner 9 drivers in the state on Min- also use this form to rescind car, know that you have the nesota due to fatal crashes. their withdrawal of parental power to take away the AMBIEN DWIs 10 I haven't reviewed these consent. Drivers age 18 license too! state accident reports but I years or over can also use 9-1-1 Dispatch 11 know a few of the crashes this form to voluntarily Stay Safe and have a great Little Known Laws 11 involved driver distrac- cancel their own driving summer! tions. privileges. Scott County Meth 14 tAsk Force Like many parents, I also If you chose to have a con- have a young driver in my tract in place with your Regards, household. I have spent young driver or just have a many hours talking with her verbal understanding of Kevin Studnicka about the responsibilities what the expectations are, that go along with having you are taking the correct the privilege to drive a mo- steps to help them come tor vehicle. I have made it home safe every night. But very clear about the sanc- if you are having difficulties tions that will follow if she with this in your home, violates our verbal under- then this form is something PAGE 2 FIVE POINTS OF THE STAR PATROL By Deputy Jeff Wickham How’s My Driving? between vehicles is the norm. cause another driver to call That means, if the vehicle in 911 and report me?” or “Can I Many traffic accidents are front of you passes a land- get arrested or receive a caused from people speeding, mark, it should take you and ticket for how I am driving?” texting while driving, talking your vehicle about 3 seconds on the phone while driving, before you pass the same Finally, consider speeding for drinking while driving, tail- landmark. In heavy traffic, at a moment. As I patrol the gating, and just being un- night, or when weather con- streets of Scott County, I aware of what‟s going ditions are not ideal (rain, encounter many vehicles go- on around them. Let‟s fog, and snow) you should ing at least 5 to 10 miles over think about reaction double or triple the three time for a moment. It second rule for added safety. the posted speed limit. Al- takes a normal human though some drivers consider being approximately ¾ Following a vehicle too this to be acceptable behav- closely is called 'tailgating'. of a second to perceive ior, they are still exceeding Tailgating is an aggressive a problem. Now add another the speed limit. There are ¾ of a second for your brain driving behavior that is easily many different speed limits in to tell your body how to react mistaken for road rage. Most accordingly. Now throw rear end collisions are caused Scott County ranging from 30 some of the above scenarios by the vehicle in back follow- to 65 MPH. If you are driving on top of that and you have a ing too closely. If someone is and you get caught going over tailgating you, move to an- recipe for disaster. the posted speed limit you other lane or turn off the road The easiest way to avoid an as soon as possible and allow should expect to get pulled accident or a speeding ticket the tailgating vehicle to pass. over and issued a citation. is to drive safely. Always be Tailgating is illegal and you aware of your surroundings, can be issued a citation for it. Drive safely. don‟t make risky maneuvers, and drive within the speed You‟ve seen those bumper limit. However, sometimes it stickers that say “how‟s my is easy to lose track of your driving-call 1-555-555-5555”. driving behavior. Maybe a Think about this, every vehi- good song came on the radio cle on the road in Minnesota or you have a lot on your has to have two license plates. mind at the moment. Now Most driving complaints are that there are cell phones, it is called in very easy to get caught up with the with talking or texting while vehicle‟s driving. It‟s a daunting task as conduct it is just to drive on today‟s and its li- roads, but adding all these cense plate. other distractions just makes So when- it that much more dangerous. ever you are driving, Most speed limits are set so ask yourself you will be able to react in these ques- enough time to avoid a colli- tions: “Is sion. That‟s taking into con- my driving sideration you are not follow- conduct ing the vehicle in front of you going to too closely. About 3 seconds VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3 PAGE 3 SUPPORT STAFF By Support Staff Supervisor Ron Holbeck Records Management their tasks. By frequently computer desktops System sharing our best practices, the rather than in boxes in Records Management Group dark rooms, and Every month, representatives now uses less paper, less stor- from the records department paperwork which once age space, and has the ability of the Scott County Sheriff‟s needed to be mailed or to share crime data between Office meet with the records walked to other depart- agencies. We can find data managers of the local Scott ments, can now be e much faster than before, and County police departments to -mailed in a second. can collectively respond to discuss best practices when it requests with greater confi- In the next few months, comes to records collection, dence and success. the Records Management storage, data retrieval, and Group is planning on specific software issues we Just a few of the items which overhauling our incident may have in common. We can be attributed to these codes to make data re- share ideas with each other in meetings are: trieval easier, improving hopes of making our proc- going from paper tickets our web pages to im- esses more cost effective and to the use of e-ticketing prove upon the availabil- efficient. which saves time on date ity of public data to our As a result of these meetings, entry and records stor- customers, and providing all the records departments age, better „real time‟ data to our for the local law enforcement dispatchers and first respond- documents related to agencies have made huge ers in Scott County. strides in how they perform case files are now scanned in and stored on CHAPLAIN SERVICES By Chaplain Bob Raleigh Freedom is not Free - A troops shirt, and go to insurgents and terrorists. Little Perspective. meet up with your friends. He still fights Your alarm goes off, you You complain about how for your right to wear hit the snooze and sleep hot it is. He wears his that shirt. for another 10 minutes. heavy gear, not daring to He stays up for days on You make sure your cell take off his helmet to end. phone is in your pocket. wipe his brow. He clutches the cross You take a warm shower hanging on the chain next to help you wake up. He You go out to lunch and to his dog tags. goes days or weeks with- complain because the out running water. restaurant got your order You talk trash on your wrong. He does not get “buddies” that aren‟t with to eat today. You complain of a you. He knows he may “headache,” and call in not see some of his bud- sick. He gets shot at, as Your maid makes your dies again. others are hit, and keeps bed and washes your moving forward. You walk down the clothes. He wears the beach, staring at all the same things for months, You put on your anti pretty girls. He walks war/don‟t support the (Continued on page 10) the streets, searching for PAGE 4 FIVE POINTS OF THE STAR CRIME PREVENTION By Deputy Mary Hensel Minnesota’s Night to back.