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ational expert saysepartments needandatory classes

y JOHN PECKimesStaff Writer

ohn.peck@htimes.comGiving police officers morepursuit

raining is needed, but it comes at a

rice.“ You have to realize whenever weull that officer out of the field, it’s ataffing issue for us. We’re impactingur numbers on the street,” saiduntsvillePublicSafetyDirectorRex

Reynolds. A driving session, unlike regular

firearms training, poses hugestaffingdemands because it’s more of a one-on-oneexercise,Reynoldssaid.Hesaidthe department has applied for a $1million grant for driving simulatorsthat could improve driver training while saving time.

Many departments offer pursuit

training intheir policeacademiesbutnofollow-upclasses,saysa nationalpo-lice precision-driving expert, Capt.Travis Yates.

Yates, a 15-year veteran with theTulsa Police Department, said that

lapseleavesofficersfrustratedbyarm-chairquarterbackingwhenpursuitsgo wrong.

“I wouldhopethat progressivepo-lice departments do not wait for aSupremeCourtcaseor atragedytodo what’s right,” Yates told The Times.“ What is right is a clear, soundpolicy and mandatory training.”

Speedsinsomechasesdemandabil-

ities fewcadetscan bringto academy classes. The maximum speed in aHuntsvillepolicechase inthelastfive years was 130 mph, and the average was just over 70 mph from 2003 to2006.

Yates said driving is viewed as aneverydayskill,unlike firearmsandar-restprocedures,which arespecifictothe profession. “Byfar the most dan-gerousthingwedo inlawenforcementis thethings wedo inside the vehicle.

“ In 2007, 49 percent of officerdeaths were vehicle-related. Vehicle-relatedincidents have beenthe high-estform of litigation,” he said.

Thetrainingshouldincludelessonsthatcanhelpofficersmakegoodsplit-seconddecisions onwhetherto begina chase,he said.

Afteraninitialcourseonemergency driving at the police academy, the

Huntsville Police Department con-ducts driver retraining everythree orfour years. The academy session is aone-weekcoursetohelptheofficerbet-terunderstanda patrol car’s capabil-itiesandlearnsafedrivingthroughin-tersections.

Supervisors also scrutinize the

drivingrecordandincidentfilesofeachofficerto lookforpatterns.PoliceChief HenryReyessaidthereviewsrevealbe-haviorpatterns that suggest theneedfor intervention.

ation between the two couldavebeen better.OnFriday,Redstonereleased

etails ofa report thatsays thearsenalwantstobeinformedof anypolice pursuits inMadison

ounty.ReynoldssaidHuntsvillepo-

icehavedonatedsomeof their800-megahertzradiosto thear-enalsoits911centerwillknowhenHuntsvillepoliceofficers

areapproachingtheir gates. Atthetimeofthecrash,whenuntsville police needed to

alkto Redstoneofficialsduringa pursuit,dispatcherswiththe

untsville/MadisonCounty911enter had to call dispatchersith the911Redstone center. A mutual-aidagreementbe-

ween local law enforcementagencies and the Army allowshemtoenter federalproperty,

ut Redstone authorities havearefullyscrutinizedthepoliceepartment’s actionsandhaveincemadechangesintheirse-urity.

The Army has added con-rete barriers at each gate andill install tire shredders until

cheduled security upgradesare completed, Maj. Gen. Jim

ylessaidFriday.The upgrades include forti-

ied booths, improved trafficanes and net barrier systems,alongwiththe removalof treesand other obstacles that blockhe guards’ vision at the gate.

ost of these improvementsadbeenintheworksbeforetherash.Inan effortto improvecom-unication with the arsenal

and each other, all the publicafety agencies in Madisonounty have agreed to spend

$25 million on a system thatouldallowthemtooperateon

he sameradio frequency.The move would allow the

agenciestospeakdirectlywith-ut an intermediary.

• • • • •

The Huntsville Police De-artment’s pursuit policy callsoronlytwoparticipatingvehi-

cles, a primary unit and a sec-ondary unit, whose responsi-bilityis torelaylocations,speedsand suspect information.

More than two units may pursuewitha supervisor’s per-mission,accordingtopolicy. In

theMay30pursuit,atleasttwounmarkedunitsandseveralpa-trol units joined thechase, thetapesindicate.AnunidentifiedSTAC supervisor monitoredthe pursuitbut is not heardonthe audio authorizing addi-tionalunits.

The audio recordings showonly one speed – 55 mph onDrakeAvenue – wasrelayedto

dispatchersand thesupervisormonitoring thechase.“ You take that supervisor

and youseparate himfrom allthe adrenaline, and he makesthedecisionbasedonpolicyand whathe knowsaboutthe pur-suit,” Reynoldssaid.

Reynoldsdidnotethatchas-esthatarewithin policyare re- viewed and lessons can belearned.Supervisorsreviewthe judgmentcallsmadeby officersand provide feedback on ma-neuversordecisionstheybelieve wereunwiseor inappropriate.

“ They could still take an of-ficerandsay,‘90milesperhour wasn’t a safe speedin thispur-suit,’ ” Reynoldssaid.

Less than two minutesafterthe Bonneville breached thegate, a south precinctsupervi-sortoldhisofficerstostayoffthe base.

“ They should have enoughfolksonthearsenalalready,”hesaid.

Thetimeit took the womento go from Gate 1 to RideoutRoad: about2 minutes46 sec-onds,accordingtotheaudiore-leasedbythe911center.Thedis-tancebetween the two points:4.4miles, according to GoogleMapsmeasurements.

Theaverage speed the Bon-

neville would have traveled tocover that distance so quickly:95mph.

• • • • •

1:10:40 p.m.Seconds before the crash

Pursuingofficerto Huntsvilledispatch: “Knownoffenders?”

Huntsville dispatch: “STAC11,are theyknown offenders?”

• • • • •

Officerssaidthepursuitstart-ed because of a possible drugdeal, butno drugcharges have beenfiled against thewomen.

Woodall was charged withpossession of drug parapher-nalia; Cox was charged withdrivingwitha suspendedlicenseand leavingthe sceneof anac-cident with injuries. She was

later indicted on a federal sec-ond-degree murdercharge.

A preliminaryhearingforthecharge of driving with a sus-pendedlicense is setfor 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Court records show thatHuntsvillepolicehave hadnu-merous run-ins with Cox and Woodall.

According to court docu-ments, Cox has pleaded guilty tothreeproperty-theftcharges,twoassaultcharges,andchargesofgivingafalsenametolaw-en-

forcement officers andposses-sionof marijuana.

ShehascourtdatesscheduledforAug.4andSept.22forpos-sessing and receiving a con-trolled substance and theft of property.

Woodall has appeared incourt just as often, pleadingguiltytonegotiatinga worthlessinstrumentandpossessionofaforged instrument. She has beenchargedwithseveralothercrimes,butthosechargesweredismissed on unspecified con-

ditions.She is set to appear incourt

Aug. 14 for the charge of pos-session of drug paraphernaliafiled after the arsenal crash.HEMSI paramedics found acrack pipe in her possession while treating her for injuriessustained during thewreck.

Coxpleadednotguiltyto themurderchargeThursdaybeforeMagistrate Judge Paul W.Greene. Her attorney, J. BriceCallaway, saidshe is “remorse-fulandsorry” forDarrenSpur-lock’s death.

“ Thelevelofhercriminalre-sponsibility is yet to be deter-mined,”CallawaysaidThursday.“ Thatwillhaveto besortedout by thecourts.”

ThefederalaffidavitsaidCoxmade “spontaneousstatementsonthesceneto policeofficers...that she had been smokingcrackall day.”

• • • • •

1:10:52 p.m.Bonneville crashes

Pursuingofficer: “10-50(traf-fic accident). Rideout ... Ride-out.”

Officer at the scene, threeminutes later: “ We’ll need aFrankunit(trafficfatalityunit). We’ll need everybodythere.”

• • • • •

Exactly8minutesand47sec-ondsafterthe firstdispatchcallon record, a STAC agent an-nounced the wreck that killedSpurlock, a Marshall SpaceFlightCenterengineer.

STAC agents never had theopportunity to tell the dis-patcherwhethertheyhadiden-tified the women before thecrash. Officers hada tag num- ber, but in the heatof the pur-suit, no names or other infor-mationthat would identifythe womenweredispatched totheofficers.

ThefleeingwhiteBonneville,driven by Cox, slammed intoSpurlock’sblack ToyotaCamry afterglancingoffanothervehi-cle, recordsshow.

An FBIagent’s affidavitsaysCoxwas going anestimated73mphwhenshe struckSpurlock’sCamry,whichwasgoing15mphthrough the intersection of MartinandRideout roads.

TheBonnevilleswervedandhitanothervehicleand injuredLeonandKathleenLundy,ages62 and 64. They were treatedand released from HuntsvilleHospital, HEMSI Chief Oper-ations Officer Don Webstersaid.

It took officers only threeminutestorealizethatSpurlock,39, was dead.

DeadlyContinued frompage A6

Officer pursuit training costly, time-cons

Michael Mercier/Huntsville Times

Redstone Arsenal’s Mack Wood moves part of a barrier systemat Gate 1 on Martin Road. Authorities added more concrete bar-riers after the gate was breached during a police chase.

Eric Schultz/Huntsville Times

Police and ambulance crews work the scene where a woman was sideswiped during a police chase May 30.

Only one in 10children everreports the crime y COLLEEN LONGhe Associated PressNEW YORK – Prosecutor

ill Starishevsky was workingn the case of a little girl whoadbeenconsistentlyrapedby erstepfatherwhenshegotan

ideaofhowshecouldhelpfam-iliespreventsuch

orrific acts.Thegirl,froma

midd le -c l a s some in the

Bronx, was mo-ested starting atage 6, and likemostchildrenshedidn’ttellanyone.Thenshe sawanepisodeof “ TheOprahWin-reyShow”thathappenedtobe

on children who were beaten.The message at the end of theshow was simple: If you’rebeingabused,tella parentor ateacher.

The girl, who by thenwas 9years old, told her teacher thenextday.

“ I thought, either Oprahneeds to end every show with‘Ifyou’re being hurt, youneed

to tell someone,’ or someoneneeds to do something,” Stari-shevskysaid. “ AllOprahhadtodo was say ‘Tella teacher,’ andthishorrible abuse stopped.”

Starishevsky,amotheroftwochildren herself, decided she was going to writea children’s book to help parents and kidsdealwithsexualabuse.There-sult, “MyBody,”isintheprocessofbeingpublishedandshould be in stores by the end of the

year.Starishevsky hasa waiting listalready on her Website.

Child sexabuse is a biggerproblem thanmost parents would like to

think.At least60 million peo-pleclaimtheyweremolestedaschildren,butonlyonein10chil-dreneverreportsthecrime,ac-cording to national statisticscompiled by the advocacy group Stop theSilence.

Starishevsky sees it first-hand.Asanassistantdistrictat-torneyin theBronx,sheworksin the Child Abuse and SexCrimes Bureau and says par-ents are usually shocked they didn’tknowwhatwasgoingon

in their homes.“ When children are sexual-

ly abused, they don’t tell any-one, and a lot of people don’tappreciate that. They think‘Oh, if it’s mychild, they wouldspeak up,’ ” Starishevsky said.

Butthere are fewoutletsforparents to help facilitate dis-cussion of the subject. Most booksaregearedtowardolderchildren and deal with a spe-cific example of abuse,or they are clinical texts.

“Pedophiles, childpredators,they arm themselves. They know what our kids like,” shesaid. “ We’re going out therefightingawarnaked.We’renoteven tellingourkidswhatthey need to hear. Of course the

problem is not going away; we’renoteventalkingaboutit.”Starishevsky’s book is a 22-

linerhymegearedtowardchil-dren ages 3 to 8 that tells thestoryof a child who is molest-edbyanuncle’s friendandtellsaparent.Illustrationsshow anandrogynouschild,soitwillap-peal tobothboys andgirls,shesaid.

Sheshoppedtheideaaroundand got a warm reception.Severalpublishinghouseswereinterested,buttheyallwanted

hertodroponelineinthebook– thelinewherethechildin thestory is actually abused. Thereason?Thebookwouldbe toohard to market to parents.

“ They wanted to just take itout. Take itout?If I takeit out, why am I writing it?” Stari-shevsky said.

She decided to publish the book as is,by herself. Advoca-cy groups around the country sayit will beanimportant tool

forparents,andoneorganiza-tion in Los Angeles is readingthe text to students. Othergroups offered to finance the book forher.

Pamela Pine, director of Stop the Silence, said “ My Body” fills a need because it’sgearedtowardyoungchildren,and on average abuse of chil-dren starts at age 7.

“Ifparentsarebraveenough,hopefullythiswill catalyzea re-

sponsetohavethisconversation with young kids,” Pine said.“ The challenge is going to bethat most adults have a prob-lemwith this issue.”

As for the 9-year-old, hercaseproceededquicklyaftershereported the abuse. Stari-shevskyprosecutedthestepfa-ther, thechildand her teachertook the stand, and the man was convictedand jailed.

On the Net• www.howsmynan-

ny.com/mybodybook/• www.stopthesi-

lence.org/ The Associated Press

Jill Starishevsky, a prosecutor with the Bronx District Attorney's office, poses on the steps of theBronx Supreme Court in New York on June 23.

DA’s book helps parentsdiscuss sex abuse with kids

The Huntsville Times, Sunday, July 27, 2008 A7