Grand Jury Indicts Jefferson County Sheriff

WHEELING, WV—A federal grand jury sitting in Wheeling, West Virginia, on June 5, 2012, returned a two-count Indictment against Jefferson County Sheriff Robert E. Shirley.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II announced that:

Robert E. Shirley, age 60, was charged in count one with deprivation of rights under color of law, on December 27, 2010, in Berkeley County, West Virginia. Count two charges Shirley with destruction, alteration, or falsification of record in a federal investigation, on September 18, 2011, in Jefferson County. The indictment alleges that Shirley, while acting under the color of law, kicked and assaulted an individual, thereby depriving the individual of his right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer, which offense resulted in bodily injury. The indictment further alleges that Shirley falsified an entry in his Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Use of force report with the intent to obstruct a Federal investigation into the assault.

If convicted, Shirley faces a maximum exposure of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 as to count one, and 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 as to count Two.

This case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul T. Camilletti, with assistance from the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division, and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the above-referenced indictment are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Jefferson County Bookkeeper Sentenced on Embezzlement Charges

ST. LOUIS—The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that Lisa Rae Price was sentenced to 18 months in prison involving the embezzlement of more than $168,000 from her employer. She was also ordered to pay restitution of $168,000. At the conclusion of the sentencing, Ms. Price was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals to begin serving her sentence.

Price was employed by Paradise Fiberglass Pools, Inc., located in Swansea, IL, and later Imperial, MO. Her job included general office work and involved conducting much of the business of the company. Price embezzled more than $168,000 by using her company ATM card to withdraw cash from company bank accounts for her personal use, between January 2005 and July 2010. She used the stolen money for gambling at regional casinos, purchasing personal items and paying personal bills. To hide her embezzlement, Price solicited people to commit arson by burning consigned fiberglass formed in-ground pools located at a lot in Imperial, Missouri. Those people she solicited refused to commit the arson. She planned on submitting a claim to the insurance companies, which would cover up the embezzlement; however, her scheme failed.

LISA RAE PRICE, Herculaneum, Missouri, pled guilty in April to one felony count of wire fraud and appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge Rodney W. Sippel.

This case was investigated by Herculaneum Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. First Assistant United States Attorney Michael W. Reap handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Over 700 Police Officers

Police-Writers.com is a website that lists over 700 state and local police officers who have written books. With the addition of Timothy A. Perry, Neil Moloney and Howard A. Monta, the website now lists 702 state and local law enforcement officials who have written books.

Timothy A. Perry is currently the undersheriff of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (Washington) and has more than 35 years of law enforcement experience. He served twenty-five years with the Seattle Police Department; working in patrol, investigations and training. After retiring from the Seattle Police Department, he was the Chief of Police for the Clyde Police Department (Washington). Tim Perry has a BS in Police Science and the Administration of Justice; and, is the author of two law enforcement books: Basic Patrol Procedures and The Practical Mock Scene Manual: A Complete Manual to Aid the Police Trainer

According to the book description of Basic Patrol Procedures, it “has been revised and updated throughout! It includes sections on community oriented policing, law enforcement ethics, vehicle pursuits and other timely subjects. Basic Patrol Procedures, 2/E is reader friendly, yet packed with important information for the law enforcement student or police department recruit. It is perfect for a foundation for the law enforcement student of as an effective guide for training recruits. It is widely used in community college police training courses, it works well in criminal justice courses as a policing supplement, and it was written by an experienced street officer for his fellow officers.”

Neil Moloney’s law enforcement career has included Chief of the Washington State Patrol, Director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Chief of Police of the Port of Seattle Police Department. Neil Moloney is the author of Renaissance Cop; Class of Twenty-Eight; and, Cops, Crooks and Politicians.

According to the book description of Renaissance Cop, it is “a story of political corruption and violence that Scott Allan Jackson and his city police colleagues encounter on the streets of a major city in the United States. While assigned to a beat in China Town, Jackson and Officer Pete Petersen are both shot. Officer Petersen dies from his wounds. Investigators identify the suspects as a group of renegade law enforcement officers. While assigned to the mayor’s security detail, Jackson is again injured in what the press describes as an attempt to assassinate the mayor. The officer kills the assailants. A newly elected reform mayor selects Jackson and his colleagues to root out the corruption that has existed in their hometown for more than a century. When the investigation is complete, a grand jury indicts the former mayor, the chief of police and the district attorney. However, three police officers die violent deaths before the case comes to trial.”

Howard A. Monta is a retired sergeant with the Seattle Police Department. He is the author of three law enforcement related books: How Police Officers Get Hired: The Key to Getting the Cop Job and Keeping It; Survive Low Morale, Stress and Burnout in Law Enforcement: (Identify & Manage the Eight Elements of Job Burnout); and, his autobiography, Like a Cat with Nine Lives

According to the book description of Like a Cat with Nine Lives, “This is the story of Howard A. Monta’s evolution from a picked-on, chubby kid, to a risk-taking adventurer who was drawn to a long career as an aggressive law enforcer. The saga spans his life from childhood in a poor Seattle neighborhood, to his retirement from the Seattle Police Department in 1997.The colorful narration of his infatuation for a New York girl whom he cajoled into marrying him, despite his outrageous behavior, will bring a smile to the face of even the most somber reader.”

Howard Monta said of How Police Officers Get Hired (Formerly entitled, Cops Who Succeed), the book “provides insight into the most exciting, most controversial, most scrutinized, and the most important occupation in our society. In addition to vividly describing the public expectations and actual duties of police officers, Chapters One through Four identify the personal qualities of those who are "cut out" to be cops. The application, testing, and training processes are meticulously described. Chapters Five through Eleven describe those elements of the law enforcement profession that cause stress, low morale, and eventual job burnout. Helpful methods of surviving the stress and trauma of police duties are offered. This information is not only directed toward prospective officers, it is also invaluable for experienced officers. The book will never be outdated. Similar requirements and problems that exist for cops today, existed in the 1960s, and will continue to be relevant for generations to come.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 702 police officers (representing 323 police departments) and their 1510 police books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.