[ Update: Conductor Bobby was on the train at the time and files this report on Derailed (scroll down a little to '11/16'). ]

MTA has released surveillance photos of the three women wanted for questioning in the Monday attack of a 61-year-old female Metro-North conductor who tried to collect their fare.

The conductor suffered 2 broken fingers and a cut under her right eye.

I will try to get more details, but from reports its likely these photos were taken at the StamfordSouth Norwalk Metro-North station around 4 PM Monday.

Anyone who recognizes these women or has information about the incident should contact the MTA police at 203-337-3708

via WTNH.com

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: MTA Releases Surveillance Photos of Suspects in Metro-North Conductor Attack

Curiously, the event seemed completely unrelated to financial malfeasance, backcountry spouse disposal, school cupcakes, drug-addled plastic surgeons or any other of the short list of Greenwich policing duties.

Read more at the Stamford Advocate

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Housing Complex Erupts In Riot With Police – In…Greenwich?

The body in the suitcase was that of a drug mule, believed to have traveled from the Dominican Republic.

Inside the man’s body were numerous packets of Heroin, two of which were found broken open, which was the likely cause of death.

Investigators are perplexed about why the man’s body was not cut open for the remaining drugs before it was dumped.

via CNN.com

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Body of Drug Mule Discovered In Suitcase Dumped at White Plains Park

Witnesses said the husband had been lambasting the wife for her behavior at a block party they had attended earlier, and that Madison had made a thrusting motion towards her husbands buttocks. A 2-inch knife was found in her purse by police.

Upon arriving at the scene, police found Madison’s husband with a big, growing, bloody stain on his pants, which he attempted to blame on an unknown assailant.

via Stamford Advocate

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Wife Stabs Husband In The Butt At SoNo Metro-North Station

When I originally got it, very few people had aftermarket GPS systems – now I see them stuck on windshields all over Fairfield County. Starting with the Nuvi, GPS systems got a hell of a lot easier to use, and are now about half the price I paid for mine.

Know who else likes GPS units? Thieves! According to the Stamford Police, over 50 units a month are now being reported stolen in Stamford alone.

This week, my wife found this stuck under her wiper at the Metro-North station:

Police are advising that people not only remove or hide their GPS units when parked, but also wipe tell-tale suction cup marks from the windshield. All it takes is a few seconds for a burglar to smash in your windshield and grab your GPS – its just about the easiest crime going right now.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: GPS Thefts Out Of Control In Stamford, Greenwich

One Greenwich Plaza, part of an 2-building office complex adjacent to the Greenwich Metro-North Train Station, was evacuated yesterday when a package broke open in a mail room and a suspicious powder came out, contaminating a mail room worker’s hands.

The Stamford Bomb Squad and FBI were called in to remove the package and investigate. Test results on the substance are expected back today.

The package was delivered by a known source which regularly delivers packages to the location.

BTW, when packages delivered to billion-dollar hedge fund executives in Greenwich contain a white powder, Anthrax isn’t exactly the first suspect on my list.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Greenwich Anthrax Scare Evacuates Building, FBI Investigates

The fallout from this incident has tempers flaring amongst students, teachers, parents, and law enforcement throughout the community, as reflected in the comments on the Stamford Advocate’s coverage of the story.

Of course, this incident can not be thoroughly evaluated without the reader first considering my personal opinion My opinion is important because a) I have no background in law enforcement or student at GHS and b) because I wasn’t there. Now that I have fully qualified myself…

1. Greenwich High School created a disciplinary atmosphere where the officer had to arrest the subject to save face and not damage his respect from other student witnesses, even if de-escalating the situation or even allowing the student to leave campus and cool off was probably the long-term better outcome.

If students have precedent that they can just walk away when an SRO gives them direction, then that SRO cant do his job effectively moving forward.

Sans a School Resource Officer, the incident would have had to been handled by a faculty member, who would have neither had the desire nor authority to subdue and arrest the subject. They would have had to talk them down, or let him leave campus. THIS IS THE TRADITIONAL AND DESIRABLE OUTCOME.

2. When a subject fails to obey a police officer, at a certain point the officer can no longer be passive about the failure to comply. I agree, when Londono started kicking chairs and swearing at the SRO, as a police officer he could not allow that to continue and needed to proceed with handcuffing him.

Londono resisted arrest, and now we are in a situation where we have a suspect resisting arrest of a police officer, and the fact that he is a high school student and they are in a school is no longer relevant to anything.

All that is relevant at this point is that there is a police officer who must subdue a physically aggressive, physically fit 18-year-old man in a manner which is safest to himself, the subject, and bystanders. Period.

If the SRO made the decision in that case that the use of the low-power option on his taser resulted in the safest outcome for all involved, then so be it. The fact that he had to use it three times before Londono succumbed makes it clear that its use was not excessive – if it were, Londono would have submitted to the officer on the first application.

So, the problem here is why do we have cops in schools? – because when a cop is in a school, certain procedures have to be followed that escalate a situation beyond reason.

When faculty is responsible for discipline, there is far more resolution latitude and possibility for de-escalation, and personally I think even kids who act up have some respect for the fact that getting physical with a teacher is not an option.

Whats more, you don’t want presence of a police officer *increasing* the possibility of students getting arrested and having a police record before graduating. The goal of a school is to *prevent* kids from getting arrested. This often involves dealing internally with stuff like drugs and other misbehavior that police officers are legally obligated to handle much differently.

So, why do we have cops in schools?
Thats easy – liability.

With the increase in school violence, if a shooting happens at a school, the fact that the school had a full time police officer, whether he was effective in handling the incident or not, goes a long way in getting the school off the hook for basic prevention. And in terms of *preventing* a school shooting, keep in mind that Columbine High School had an SRO Sheriff on site and on duty at the time of the attack.

However, discipline in a school on a day to day basis has absolutely nothing to do with school shootings. School shootings, while *alarmingly* common to us, are the statistical equivalent of a double lightning strike on the head, while incidents like Londono’s are common.

Finally, there is the question I don’t know the answer to at all, and that is – do the students of Greenwich High enjoy the security of an SRO? Do they prefer it? If so, than that is important to the issue as well. If having an SRO makes the general population feel better and allows them to focus on their schoolwork and not worry about the bad seeds, than thats great.

Were you looking for me to go all polar on this issue and say the SRO was Nazi or the student was a punk who deserved a beating? Sorry, this story is more complicated than that. It might just be the case that the occasional tasering is a necessary evil in the new landscape of how school discipline is handled in the Greenwich, and we might all have to be reflective and objective about how we created this atmosphere – and if its worth it – as a community and on a case by case basis as well.

I wish it was easier than that, but its not.

Update: I spoke to a Greenwich High student today and asked him how he felt about the situation. From the look on his face, it has obviously been a big topic of discussion within the school.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Greenwich High School Student Tasered: The Community Responds