By Steve Neavling

A Secret Service study concluded that school shootings are preventable if officials pay attention to warning signs. 

The agency’s National Threats Assessment Center analyzed 67 thwarted school attacks in the past 12 years and found that in a vast majority of the cases the plotters gave off warning signs. 

The report concludes that early intervention is the key to saving the lives of students. 

In 75% of the cases, school attacks were “detected” because the would-be shooters spoke publicly about their plans. Others had “histories of school discipline and contact with law enforcement” or exhibited suicidal thoughts, harassing behavior or an interest in past violent attacks. 

In many of the cases, the plots were planned for months. 

“The key findings of the study are clear and consistent: Individuals contemplating violence often exhibit observable behaviors, and when community members report these behaviors, the next tragedy can be averted,” Secret Service Director James M. Murray wrote. “The Secret Service encourages its educational, medical and public safety partners to review the information within, and use it to guide best practices for maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for all children.” 

By Steve Neavling

The Justice Department is investigating U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for a sexual relationship he allegedly had with a 17-year-old girl, The New York Times reports. 

The investigation is trying to determine whether Gaetz, a 38-year-old conservative firebrand and close ally of former President Trump, violated federal sex trafficking laws. The probe began under then-Attorney General William Barr. 

Gaetz denied the allegations on Twitter and in media interviews, saying he and his family “have been victims of an organized and criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name.”

“We have been cooperating with federal authorities in this matter and my father has even been wearing a wire at the FBI’s direction to catch these criminals,” Gaetz tweeted. The planted leak to the FBI tonight was intended to thwart the investigation.”

Gaetz repeated his denials on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program, which the host later called “one of the weirdest interviews I’ve ever conducted.”

The investigation is part of a broader probe of allegations against Joel Greenberg, a former county official in Florida who was arrested last year on charges of sex trafficking of a minor. 

Tuesday is the 40th anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan.

Reagan had just finished speaking to AFL-CIO leaders when he stepped out of the Washington D.C. Hilton and was struck by a bullet. 

John Hinkley Jr. said he opened fire to impress actress Jodie Foster. He shot press secretary James Brady, police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy. 

Secret Service Agent Jerry Carr whisked Reagan into the backseat of an armored limo and ordered the driver to a nearby hospital. 

Carr was credited with saving the president’s life. 

By Steve Neavling

Stanley M. Meador has been tapped to serve as special agent in charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office in Virginia. 

Meador, a native of Galax, Va., had been serving as chief of staff to the deputy director at FBI headquarters.

Meador’s career with the FBI began in 2002, when he was assigned to the Spokane Resident Agency in Washington, a satellite of the Seattle Field Office. He investigated violent crime, gangs, and Indian Country crimes, worked on intelligence matters, spearheaded the creation of the Safe Streets and Safe Trails task forces, and served as a firearms instructor and crisis negotiator.

In 2009, Meador joined the Las Vegas Field Office to investigate public corruption, violent gangs, and criminal enterprises.

In 2013, Meador was promoted to supervisory special agent and transferred to the International Operations Division (IOD) at headquarters. He was later promoted to chief of the IOD’s Asia Unit.

In 2015, Meador became supervisory senior resident agent of the Wilmington Resident Agency of the Charlotte Field Office, where he oversaw criminal and national security programs.

In 2019, Meador was named assistant special agent in charge in the Philadelphia Field Office, where he led administrative and special operation, overseeing 12 programs and all crisis management matters.

In 2020, he became chief of staff to the deputy director.

Before joining the FBI, Meador served as a special agent with the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Meador received a bachelor’s degree from Roanoke College in Salem, Va., and a master’s degree from The American University in Washington. 

Meador also received a Declaration of Valor for his response to the Pentagon during 9/11.

By Steve Neavling

President Biden on Friday nominated Ronald Davis to serve as director of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

Davis is a former police chief who served in the Obama administration as director of the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).  

Davis has a long career in law enforcement. He served for eight years as chief of the East Palo Alto Police Department and 20 years with the Oakland Police Department in California. 

In December 2014, President Obama appointed him to serve as executive director of the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. 

“Davis was recognized for his innovative community efforts and for working collaboratively with the community to dramatically reduce crime and violence in a city once named as the murder capital of the United States,” Biden’s administration said in a news release.

Davis is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Reducing Racial Inequalities in the Criminal Justices System Committee. 

Davis received a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University and completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

By Steve Neavling

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent sought medical attention after he was struck in the eye last week by a laser pointer while flying a helicopter in Washington state. 

The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ronald Gregory Boettcher, 34, on a charge of first-degree unlawful discharge of a laser on Wednesday, The Belligham Herald reports.

Two CBP agents were in the helicopter when they said a laser was aimed into the cockpit. The helicopter was performing training approaches at Bellingham International Airport. 

Deputies responded to a report of the incident and talked to a neighbor who said the laser had come from a backyard where Boettcher lives, sheriff’s spokeswoman Deb Slater said in an email. 

Boettcher denied involvement and said he didn’t possess a laser. Deputies later found one at the home, Slater said. 

Laser illumination incidents have been on the rise, with 6,852 reported in 2020, according to lasersafety.com. That’s up from 6,213 in 2019 and 5,663 in 2018. 

By Steve Neavling

Kirpy, a Belgian Malinois that has served with U.S. Customs and Border Protection since he was a puppy, has retired. 

Kirpy was born on Thanksgiving Day in 2012 at the CBP Canine Center in El Paso and at four moths old was reared and trained at the Yuma Sector in Arizona.

His final shift with his handler Agent Rolando Carbajal was Friday. 

Throughout his seven-year career, Kirpy has detected more than $85,000 worth of marijuana and hashish and more than $140,000 worth of methamphetamine. He also participated in public demonstrations at schools, RV parks and community events. 

“That dog was awesome,” Special Operations Supervisor Mark Sims said in a news release. “We used Kirpy whenever we had demos. He could do it all and his temperament was really good.”

Kirpy was named after fallen Nogales Border Patrol Agent Alexander Kirpnick, who was killed in the line of duty on June 3, 1998, while trying to arrest smuggling suspects.   

Kirpy is now enjoying retirement with Carbajal’s son, and he’s already gone on a fishing trip. 

“He’s loving retirement,” Carbajal said. “He’s able to come inside and hang out. Everything is new [for him].”