Sep. 5 - Aug Sept Newsletter - Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office
Sep. 5 - Aug Sept Newsletter - Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office
Sep. 5 - Aug Sept Newsletter - Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>Aug</strong>./<strong>Sep</strong>t.<br />
2012<br />
A Message From Your<br />
Sheriff<br />
NIXLE ALERTS<br />
NOW AVAILABLE<br />
.<br />
One of my top priorities as<br />
Sheriff is to optimize opportunities<br />
to share information with our<br />
residents and visitors, and to be<br />
able to do that very quickly when it<br />
involves important public safety<br />
concerns.<br />
We’ve made our web site at<br />
sheriff-okaloosa.org more user<br />
friendly and more interactive.<br />
We’ve capitalized on social<br />
media like Facebook to interact<br />
with you and share information.<br />
And now we’ve added the NIXLE<br />
service to our communication tools.<br />
If you’ve already signed up,<br />
you’ve been alerted to traffic<br />
crashes that cause road closures,<br />
and tornado warnings. If not,<br />
now’s the time!<br />
“Stay out of area”- “Mid-bay Bridge closed”<br />
- “Child missing in Holt”<br />
In a critical situation, the <strong>Okaloosa</strong> <strong>County</strong> Sheriff’s <strong>Office</strong><br />
can now send out free, secure text or email emergency alerts or<br />
advisories instantly to citizens’ cell phones.<br />
Nixle is an on-line service that allows the Sheriff’s <strong>Office</strong> to<br />
communicate directly with citizens in situations involving significant<br />
public safety incidents.<br />
“It provides multiple benefits to our residents or visitors at no<br />
cost,” said Sheriff Larry Ashley. “Alerts are typically directly from our<br />
communications officers. It is fast and secure and there’s no spam or<br />
advertising.”<br />
Nixle does not track users and no information is sold to third<br />
parties.<br />
Signing up is simple:<br />
To register – go to www.Nixle.com<br />
Click “Sign Up Now”<br />
Pick a User Name and Password<br />
Enter an email address or cell phone number<br />
Enter an address or nearby intersection<br />
Click “Sign Me Up Now”.<br />
The Nixle logo with automatic link to the OCSO Nixle page is<br />
also available on the OCSO website at sheriff-okaloosa.org.
NICEVILLE<br />
COLD CASE<br />
MURDER SOLVED!<br />
The rape and murder of a Niceville woman 37 years ago has been solved through the work of<br />
<strong>Okaloosa</strong> Sheriff’s <strong>Office</strong> Investigator Travis Robinson and the Florida Department of Law<br />
Enforcement Crime Lab.<br />
37-year old Catherine Ainsworth had been sexually assaulted and strangled on <strong>Aug</strong>ust 30 th , 1975 in<br />
her Hopper Street apartment.<br />
In 2010, Robinson submitted several items of evidence from the cold case to the FDLE Crime Lab,<br />
including an orange rug the victim’s body was found on. In April 2011, testing turned up DNA<br />
evidence from sperm found on the rug. The DNA profile was entered into a national law enforcement<br />
data base, but never received a hit.<br />
Investigator Robinson focused on the old files and found the name of someone who seemed to be of<br />
special interest to <strong>Okaloosa</strong> investigators back in 1975, 27-year old Staff Sgt. William P. Rouse. Rouse<br />
had been assigned to Eglin Air Force Base. Rouse and was a neighbor of Ainsworth. He had given<br />
conflicting stories to investigators who questioned him after the murder.<br />
Robinson tracked Rouse to a location in Sloatsburg New York, north of New York City. He was<br />
able to contact some family members and learned that Rouse had died in 2006.<br />
Family members however sent Robinson two of William Rouse’s hats they’d kept after his death.<br />
Robinson submitted the hats to the FDLE Crime Lab for DNA analysis. A DNA profile, developed<br />
through this testing, revealed a match with the DNA found on the rug underneath the victim’s body<br />
back in 1975. Comparison of these profiles determined that the possibility of anyone other than<br />
William Rouse being the contributor of the sperm at the crime scene were over two-quadrillion to one.<br />
On July 27, 2012, Robinson was able to provide long awaited closure to the Ainsworth family.<br />
“It’s a good feeling to be able to close a 37-year old local murder,” said Robinson, “not just for<br />
the investigator, but for the remaining family members of the victim.”
OCSO CORPORAL<br />
NAMED FLORIDA<br />
S-R-O OF THE YEAR<br />
OCSO Corporal Gary Venuti has been<br />
named the top School Resource <strong>Office</strong>r in<br />
the State by the Florida Association of<br />
School Resource <strong>Office</strong>rs. Corporal Venuti<br />
has been a deputy with the <strong>Okaloosa</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Sheriff’ <strong>Office</strong> approximately<br />
twenty years and a supervisor with the<br />
Youth Services Division for more than<br />
fifteen. He’s currently assigned to Ruckel<br />
Middle School where he also coaches the<br />
girls’ softball team. In addition, he has<br />
been a member of the OCSO Honor<br />
Guard for fourteen years and is Team<br />
Leader.<br />
“You couldn’t find a more deserving<br />
officer,” said Sheriff Larry Ashley. “Anyone<br />
who knows Corporal Venuti and has seen<br />
him in action knows that he is as dedicated<br />
and compassionate an SRO as you can<br />
find.”<br />
To see a profile story on Corporal<br />
Venuti that was shown at the FASRO<br />
conference click here:<br />
http://www.youtube.com/watch?<br />
v=iTUQVcVojpg&feature=plcp
METH LAB EXPLOSION<br />
LEADS TO<br />
TWO ARRESTS<br />
The <strong>Okaloosa</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Multi Agency Drug Task<br />
Force arrested the<br />
following subjects as a<br />
result of the investigation<br />
into the “shake and<br />
bake” meth lab<br />
explosion <strong>Aug</strong>ust 3 rd at<br />
a condominium on<br />
<strong>Okaloosa</strong> Island:<br />
32-year old Candace Lynn Beck and 39-year old Ray Charles Callin<br />
were found at 423 NW Hollywood Blvd. in Fort Walton Beach Friday<br />
night and subsequently arrested for Trafficking in Methamphetamine<br />
over 200 grams in violation of F.S.S. 893.135.<br />
Both individuals were present at Unit 508 of Princess Island<br />
Condominiums on <strong>Okaloosa</strong> Island when the meth lab explosion<br />
occurred.<br />
The subjects were<br />
arrested after tips<br />
lead investigators<br />
to their location<br />
on Hollywood<br />
Blvd.
OLEBA<br />
FUNDRAISER<br />
AROUND THE CORNER
GETTING INVOLVED<br />
&<br />
GIVING BACK
AUG/SEPT.<br />
PHOTO COLLAGE
CHAPLAIN’S<br />
CORNER<br />
DECISIONS<br />
DECISIONS<br />
DECISIONS<br />
Dear Men and Women of the <strong>Okaloosa</strong> <strong>County</strong> Sheriff’s <strong>Office</strong>:<br />
When facing tough decisions, employ dogged and determined prayer and<br />
continue to think grounded in the Word.<br />
Do what is right, whatever it is, whatever comes down your path, whatever<br />
problems and dilemmas you face- just do what’s right. Maybe no one else<br />
is doing right, but you do what’s right. You be honest. You take a stand.<br />
You be true. After all, regardless of what you do, God does what is right as<br />
he saves you with his grace.<br />
Never let your decisions be made on the basis of the blowing of the<br />
winds of opinion and popularity.<br />
The majority is not always right. If the majority had ruled, the children of<br />
Israel never would have left Egypt. They would have voted to stay in<br />
bondage. If the majority had ruled, David would have never fought<br />
Goliath. His brothers would have voted for him to stay with the sheep.<br />
What’s the point? You must listen to your own heart.<br />
Do you ever wonder if everything will turn out right as long as you do<br />
everything right? Do you ever try to do something right and yet nothing<br />
seems to turn out like you planned? Take heart-when people do what is<br />
right, God remembers!<br />
Father, we invite you to be our guide through life. Lord, we don’t ask that<br />
you take from us the worries of life but that you surface the worries of this<br />
life so that we can share them with you and turn them over to you.<br />
Rev. Cecil B. Williams, Chaplain<br />
<strong>Okaloosa</strong> <strong>County</strong> Sheriff’s Department<br />
Pastor, Gregg Chapel A.M.E. Church