NJ Police Departments Squaring Off On Ice To Aid Recovering Officer

NJ Police Departments Squaring Off On Ice To Aid Recovering Officer

 

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) — Five weeks ago Atlantic City police officer Josh Vadell gave a smile and thumbs up as he left the Atlantic City Medical Center letting everyone know he was down but not out.
 
Vadell was shot in the head responding to an armed robbery Labor Day Weekend.

After successful brain surgery he’s been in full-time rehabilitation learning how to walk again and recover from paralysis on his left side.

“Josh has actually healed the entire department just by his positive attitude and his no quit attitude. And his wife is unbelievable, she’s exactly like Josh”,” says Lt. Harry Brubaker, officer Vadell’s supervisor.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Most Syrian refugees arriving in US are kids; schools adapt

Most Syrian refugees arriving in US are kids; schools adapt
 

This Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 photo Ahad Al Haj Ali, 10, a sits in a class for refugee students at Cajon Valley Middle School in El Cajon, Calif. According to the U.S. State Department, nearly 80 percent of the more than 11,000 Syrian arrivals over the past year were children. Many of those children are enrolling in public schools around the country, including Chicago; Austin, Texas; New Haven, Connecticut; and El Cajon, which received 76 new Syrian students the first week of school.

EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) -- Seated at his desk at a suburban San Diego middle school, 12-year-old Abdulhamid Ashehneh tries not to let his mind wander to the painful memories of his life in civil war-torn Syria.

His father disappeared suddenly four years ago and, the family believes, was killed. Months later, Abdulhamid's mother boarded a bus with her six children, the youngest 2, and fled to Jordan, the sound of bombs ringing in the distance.

"I think about my Dad a lot," Abdulhamid said recently after practicing English at Cajon Valley Middle School, which has received an influx of Syrian children. "I wish he would come back."

Abdulhamid is like many of the Syrian refugees arriving today in the U.S. Nearly 60 percent of the more than 11,000 Syrian arrivals over the past year were children, according to the U.S. State Department.

That's a larger percentage than some refugee groups, in part because Syrians tend to have larger families and many have managed to stay together despite displacement, according to resettlement agencies helping the families acclimate to the U.S.

Many of those children are enrolling in public schools around the country, including Chicago; Austin, Texas; 

New Haven, Connecticut; and El Cajon, which received 76 new Syrian students the first week of school.

Syrian children face many of the same challenges as other young refugees - limited English, an interrupted education - but they are somewhat distinct in the level of trauma they have experienced, school leaders and resettlement workers said.

"The truth is, a lot of them have seen some pretty nasty stuff," said Eyal Bergman, a family and community 

engagement officer for the Cajon Valley Union School District. "But I also see incredible resilience."

In response to the influx, school districts are beefing up English instruction and making extra efforts to reach out to parents unfamiliar with the U.S. school system. In El Cajon, one-on-one orientations introduce families to the school's teachers and staff and show them basics like how to read the district's academic-year calendar.

Some refugee students are enrolled in "newcomer" classes where they are provided intense English instruction before being placed in mainstream classrooms. Others go directly into classes with English-fluent peers but are assigned to smaller groups for individual instruction. Teachers are trained in identifying trauma, and on-site counselors help students who need extra attention.

"I've had students tell me that maybe some of their family members passed away," said Juanita Chavez, a second-grade teacher. "But I think a lot of them just want to focus on here, on learning. A lot of them don't focus on the negative things that have happened to them."

At night, Arabic-speaking staff and teachers hold a "parent academy" where newly arrived moms and dads are given bilingual children's books in English and Arabic and guided on how to help improve literacy at home.

The rising number of Syrian refugee students comes amid a heated presidential campaign. During the second debate, Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton's plan to expand the Obama administration's refugee program and accept 65,000 Syrian refugees the "great Trojan horse of all time."

Last November, in response to the deadly Paris attack believed carried out by operatives who fought and trained in Syria, nearly 30 states vowed to deny entry to Syrian refugees.

Resettlement agencies and school staff worry inflamed rhetoric about Muslims and Syrian refugees will trickle into the classroom. A report last year by the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations found 50 percent of Muslim students surveyed were subjected to mean comments or rumors because of their religion.

"This is a concern of ours, to be watching that they do not feel shunned or stigmatized because of their national origin," said Ellen Beattie, a senior director with the International Rescue Committee.

El Cajon, a city of roughly 104,000 people 15 miles east of San Diego, has become a melting pot of refugees from Uganda to Afghanistan. The first Middle Eastern immigrants were Chaldean Christians fleeing persecution in Iraq in the 1970s. Those earlier, now established waves of migrants are playing a role in helping settle the new arrivals from Syria.

"Most of them tell us the only reason they accepted the whole immigration process is really for their kids," said Anas Kayal, who emigrated to the U.S. from Syria in 2001 and is a physician in San Diego. "They are OK with their own lives being disrupted by the war and crisis, but they are hoping their kids can have a better life."

Watching her children learn English and adapt to U.S. schools has been redeeming for Abdulhamid's mother after two years in Jordan, where she often struggled to feed them and at one point lived in a feeble tent that would blow apart in the wind.

"We're still trying to cope with this emotionally," said Amena Alshehneh, 37. "But it's the reality. We have to face the reality and get on our feet."

As Abdulhamid assimilates, he still pines for his homeland and the life he left behind.

He remembers the Damascus home where he wrestled and practiced reading with his father. He remembers playing soccer and hide-and-seek with his best friend, and wonders what happened to him.

He also thinks about his computer and a remote-control car - cherished toys his father gave him and that he had to abandon.

"I feel so sad I left Syria," said Abdulhamid, whose expression quickly shifts from joy to grief. "Because it's my country. My home."

Haitians await aid, help each other regain some normalcy

Haitians await aid, help each other regain some normalcy

A sign in French announcing a music concert sits among salvaged clothes drying on the remains of a home destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Port-a-Piment, Haiti, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Nearly a week after the storm smashed into southwestern Haiti, some communities along the southern coast have yet to receive any assistance, leaving residents who have lost their homes and virtually all of their belongings struggling to find shelter and potable water.

LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) -- People throughout Haiti's devastated southwest peninsula formed makeshift brigades Tuesday to clear debris and try to regain some semblance of their pre-hurricane lives as anger grew over the delay in aid for remote communities more than a week after the Category 4 storm hit.

A community group that formed in the southern seaside community of Les Anglais began clearing tree limbs from streets and placing them into piles while others gathered scraps of wood to start rebuilding homes destroyed by Hurricane Matthew.

Carpenter James Nassau donned a white construction helmet as he rebuilt a neighbor's wall with recycled wood, hoping to earn a little money to take care of 10 children, including those left behind by his brother, who died in the storm.

"My brother left five kids, and now I've got to take care of them," he said. "Nobody has come to help."

The scene repeated itself across small seaside and mountain villages dotting the peninsula, where people pointed out helicopters buzzing overhead and questioned why they haven't received any help.

Israel Banissa, a carpenter who lives near the small mountain town of Moron, said a Red Cross assessment team stopped outside his village to ask people questions but didn't leave any supplies.

"There's no aid that's come here," he said as he sawed wood to help rebuild his home and dozens of others.

"I don't think they care about the people up here."

The U.N. humanitarian agency in Geneva has made an emergency appeal for nearly $120 million in aid, saying about 750,000 people in southwest Haiti alone will need "life-saving assistance and protection" in the next three months. U.N. officials said earlier that at least 1.4 million people across the region need assistance and that 2.1 million overall have been affected by the hurricane. Some 175,500 people remain in shelters.

The National Civil Protection headquarters in Port-au-Prince raised the official nationwide death toll to 473, which included at least 244 deaths in Grand-Anse. But local officials have said the toll in Grand-Anse alone tops 500.

Those who survived the storm still faced great challenges, including going days without food.

Elancie Moise, an agronomist and director for the Department of Agriculture in southern Haiti, said between 80 to 100 percent of crops have been lost across the southern peninsula.

"Crisis is not the word to describe it," he said. "You need a stronger word. It is much worse. There is no food for people to eat."

Food was slowly reaching remote communities, but there was also a growing need for medical supplies.

In the western seaside village of Dame Marie, 300 patients with festering wounds lay silently on beds at the main hospital waiting for medicine a week after the storm hit.

Among them was Beauvoir Luckner, a cobbler and farmer who walked 12 kilometers (seven miles) in three days after a tree fell on his house, crushing his leg and killing his mother. The leg might have to be amputated, but all doctors can do is clean his wounds because the hospital has run out of everything, including painkillers.

"There's no water, no antibiotics," Dr. Herby Jean told The Associated Press. "Everything is depleted. ... We hear helicopters flying overhead, but we're not getting anything."

Meanwhile, Luckner lay on a mattress with no sheets, a bandage wrapped around his left leg.

"It took a lot of misery to get here and now that I'm here, there's still misery," he said.

Concern also was growing about an increase in cases of cholera, which has already killed roughly 10,000 people and sickened more than 800,000 since 2010.

Dr. Dominique Legros, a top cholera official at the World Health Organization, said Tuesday that the agency was sending 1 million doses of cholera vaccine to Haiti and that safe drinking water and treatment of those affected by the disease were top priorities.

Speaking to the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. envoy for Haiti, Sandra Honore, said the health impact of Hurricane Matthew "cannot be overestimated."

Already fragile water and sanitation infrastructure has been severely damaged, resulting in the absence of drinking water and "a very high level of infections from diarrheal disease, including, but not exclusively, cholera," Honore said.

She said hundreds of suspected cholera cases have been reported, and "we are already seeing the first deaths."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New York on Monday that a "massive response" was needed to help Haiti emerge from the storm's aftermath. He noted that crops and food reserves were destroyed and that at least 300 schools have been damaged.

"At least 1.4 million people need assistance at this time," he said. "These numbers and needs are growing as more affected areas are reached. Tensions are already mounting as people await help."

Family of black man shot 14 times by police wants charges

Family of black man shot 14 times by police wants charges

Attorney John Burris, center, comforts Robert and Deborah Mann, family members of Joseph Mann, who was killed by Sacramento Police in July, after a news conference Monday, Oct. 3, 2016, in Sacramento, Calif. The Mann family is demanding that the officers involved in shooting of Joseph Mann, 50, be charged with murder and that the U.S. Department of Justice open a civil rights investigation of the Sacramento Police Department.

  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The family of a man killed in July by Sacramento police after 911 callers reported he was waving a knife and acting erratically demanded Monday that two officers face murder charges after dash-cam video revealed they talked inside their police cruiser about running him down. He dodged the cruiser twice and was shot 14 times less than a minute later by the same two officers.

The officers "behaved like big game hunters closing in on an animal," said John Burris, a lawyer for the family of Joseph Mann, who was mentally unstable and homeless.

The demand for the murder charges came as Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck defended his officers in the fatal shootings of a black man Saturday who police say was armed with a loaded semi-automatic gun and a Hispanic man on Sunday who officers say was wielding replica handgun.

The latest police shootings happened amid heightened tensions over police actions involving black people and other minorities across the country, and followed two more police shootings by California police last week of black men in San Diego and Pasadena.

In the Sacramento case, police have said Mann was waving a knife in the air and doing karate moves in the streets just before police responded. But Burris told reporters he was not threatening anybody and that the two officers who shot him, John Tennis and Randy Lozoya, should face a U.S. Justice Department civil rights investigation in addition to murder charges.

The officers can be heard on the recording saying "I'm gonna hit him" and "OK, go for it" before appearing to drive their cruiser twice at Mann, who managed to scramble out of its way both times. The officers then stopped the cruiser, got out of it, pursued him on foot and opened fire.

"Mann was standing stationary on a sidewalk with no one in close proximity when the officers unloaded their guns," Burris wrote in a letter he said he sent U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Sacramento police spokesman Matthew McPhail said he could not immediately comment on whether officers are trained to use squad cars as weapons. He said the law and police protocol allow any person to use reasonable means to defend themselves under extreme circumstances.

"Our officers are encouraged to assess each circumstance and think critically about the tools at their disposal," McPhail said.

The Sacramento District Attorney's Office is reviewing the recordings and police reports, spokeswoman Shelly Orio said.

Tennis and Lozoya were put on a brief leave after the July 11 shooting and returned to work on desk duty instead of patrol the following week. An administrative review of their actions is underway.

"It doesn't service anybody's interest with the public or the city, even the officers themselves or the family of the deceased, to have any sort of determination to be made before the investigation is complete," McPhail said.

Surveillance videos show Mann doing the karate moves, zigzagging as he walked around a down-and-out commercial neighborhood in north Sacramento where many businesses are shuttered.

Police 911 recordings released previously included callers who said a man was waving a knife in the air, had a gun in his waistband and appeared to be mentally ill. Police found a knife but no gun after Man was killed.

Family members have described Mann as a college graduate who was smart, loved politics and economics, and succeeded in several careers before deteriorating into mental illness about five years ago. They said he had been living on the streets and struggled with drugs before his death.

Toxicology tests revealed Mann had methamphetamine in his system the day he died, according to Police Chief Sam Somers.

A special team of officers that can assist other officers in dealing with mentally ill people was not sent to the area where callers reported Mann was acting erratically.

The videos released showed a first police cruiser that arrived alongside Mann as he was walking down a street. Mann turned away from that vehicle when another cruiser with the two officers approached him, talking inside their cruiser about hitting Mann.

When Mann ran out of the cars way, the officer driving the cruiser backed it up and turned to aim in Mann's direction again. It accelerated toward Mann, who ran across a median. The cruiser stopped and the officers got out.

Mann is heard on audio from the video saying he did not have a gun.

About 15 seconds later, 18 shots were fired - 14 hit Mann.

It was extremely rare for audio to be captured describing what the officers were thinking as the events leading up to Mann's shooting unfolded, said Kevin LaHue, a private attorney in Los Angeles who has worked on numerous federal civil rights cases involving police tactics.

"Having this sort of real-time insight into the thought process of the officers and their use of force, I think that is very unique," LaHue said.