Ottawa County Sheriff - Ottawa County Deputy Sheriff Association

I do PC repair for Deputy's around here for free because I enjoy it and because most of you understand that it will get done when I get to it which might be 2 days or 2 months depending on what is going on. The one overriding principle of PC repair that I have learned from this experience is this: KIDS DESTROY COMPUTERS!

Actually, that is a bit of an overstatement. They really only destroy data by letting in viruses and spyware. Although this can also leave you with a potentially dangerous situation if hackers are able to retrieve sensitive data from your computer. But before you go berating little Billy for letting in all those viruses you should know that kids and the websites they frequent are often specifically targeted because hackers know they are:

1. Impatient
2. Just knowledgeable enough about computers to get themselves in trouble

Most of the time it is not even worth it to try and get rid of the viruses and spyware your little ones let in. It is much faster and easier to just wipe the hard drive and start over. Most of the time I recommend to people to have a seperate older computer that their kids can use, but now there is a better choice provided by Microsoft.

SteadyState from Microsoft is a free download for Windows XP and Windows Vista that allows you to create users on your computer that are kept at arms length from the rest of the system (and sensitive data), and any damage done while they are using you computer can be undone by simply rebooting they system.

Download SteadyState from Microsoft today and save yourself an expensive GeekSquad bill!

On July 1st, 2008 Michigan's new booster seat law took effect. The law is a long overdue protection for Michigan's young children who are too small to fit safely in just the cars seat and safety belt and too big for a traditional car seat.

Children under the age of 4 are still required to be in an approved child safety seat under michigan law. The change in law is that Michigan children, 4 years old or older, are now required to be in a booster seat until they are at least 8 years old or 4' 9" tall.

Children must be in a seat until they reach the age requirement or the height requirement, whichever comes first. For example:

• If your child is 8 years or older, but under 4'9" tall, the law does not apply.
• If your child is under 8 years old, but over 4'9" tall, the law does not apply.

Remember: In both of these cases, your child may be safer in a booster seat but it is not required by law.

Download the flyer on the new law from Michigan.gov
En espanol

For more information on the law and on Child Safety Seats go to the Michigan Safe Kids website

Columbine and other recent active shooter incidents have certainly changed the way Deputies and Officers respond to these types of incidents, but a recent transmission from the Force Science Research Center makes the case that we should be even more aggressive in our approach to the active shooter.

Ron Borsch, a 30-year law enforcement veteran who manages the small SEALE (South East Area Law Enforcement) Regional Training Academy in Bedford, Ohio, argues based on his on-going research of active-shooter realities, that single-officer entries can potentially lessen the toll of casualties while exposing the responders involved to little additional risk.

Borsch, who logged 17 years as a part-time SWAT team member before retiring from street work, has analyzed more than 90 active-shooter incidents on the basis of data largely ferreted out from Internet reports. Most involved schools and colleges, but workplaces, shopping malls, churches and other public places are also represented. Among his findings that have helped shape his tactical thinking:

• 98% of active killers act alone.

• 80% have long guns, 75% have multiple weapons (about 3 per incident), and they sometimes bring hundreds of extra rounds of ammunition to the shooting site.

• Despite such heavy armaments and an obsession with murder at close range, they have an average hit rate of less than 50%.

• They strike “stunned, defenseless innocents via surprise ambush. On a level playing field, the typical active killer would be a no-contest against anyone reasonably capable of defending themselves.”

• “They absolutely control life and death until they stop at their leisure or are stopped.” They do not take hostages, do not negotiate.

• They generally try to avoid police, do not hide or lie in wait for officers and “typically fold quickly upon armed confrontation.”

• 90% commit suicide on-site. “Surrender or escape attempts are unlikely.”

To read the entire article go to PoliceOne.com

Of course this is a controversial (to say the least) approach and many PoliceOne.com readers responded in disagreement. Editors there compiled the best arguments and they are available by clicking here.

From The Force Science Institute's Force Science News
Click here for a free subscription

A first-of-its-kind, case-by-case study of in-custody deaths associated with TASER use has confirmed that the popular electronic control devices are by no means the dangerous and often deadly weapons that Amnesty International, the ACLU and media reports frequently suggest.

Self-described as "kind of a nerd" who approaches tedious research as recreation, Chief Howard Williams of the San Marcos (TX) PD patiently tracked down and analyzed 213 cases in which suspects in the U.S. died after being TASERed. The search took more than a year and cost thousands from his own pocket, but in the end Williams has documented what TASER supporters have long believed:

These devices are "safe weapons. At least they are as safe as weapons can be."

During the scope of his investigation, which covered cases from 1983 through 2005, Williams concluded that a TASER can be confirmed as the direct cause of or a significant contributing factor in only 2 deaths, he told Force Science News. "That's less than 1% of the deaths that critics of TASER technology attribute to it."