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Friday, May 24, 2019

[AL] On-Duty Domestic Suicide Of Officer Bobby Hancock Leads To VHPD Training

Vestavia Hills Police Officer Bobby Hancock
Mar 11, 1970 – Nov 1, 2017 (Age 47)

VESTAVIA HILLS PD HOLDS TRAINING FOR COPING WITH DEPRESSION - Vestavia Hills police officers getting suicide prevention training
March 29, 2019
[Excerpts] First Responders in Vestavia Hills learned more about coping with depression and possible suicide on Friday. In 2017, 47-year-old Vestavia Hills officer Robert Hancock took his own life while on duty... “It really brought to life to a lot of us that this is something that happens we hear about but you don’t see it until you have to deal with it,” Capt. Johnny Evans said... “The research shows they are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty,” said Annette Rowland with the Alabama Dept. of Rehabilitation Services. The main message was to watch for sudden differences in themselves or colleagues. “A change in behavior. If you notice someone is acting differently they have in the past they are showing signs of depression,” said Andrea Carroll with the Alabama Dept. of Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. Experts said one of the biggest problems for officers or firefighters is admitting there is a problem. “They don’t want to be seen as weak. They don’t want to be seen as needing help so sometimes it’s difficult for them to ask for help,” Carroll said. A lesson many hope to learn after the loss of Hancock. “Since we have started this training we have become aware of some things looking back on it we probably should have,” Evans said... [Full article here]

(Why did he come to his wife's job to kill himself?
It definitely makes this domestic.)

Every suicide is so tragic, thinking on the darkness that must precede it. 

What manifestations warned that harm was near? What, if anything could really have changed the outcome? Only those who know the context, history, and the man - the family and department know the dynamics.

His death served at least to lift the conversation in his department. Maybe it will help someone else to get help before they contemplate the same.


This blog, tragically packed with officer involved murder-suicides, is an extensive testament to how dangerous an officer's suicide can be to anyone they are close to or angry with. THAT is not mentioned in the training article above, and also needs to be stressed. Teach safety of all.

2017 NEWS:

VESTAVIA HILLS ON-DUTY POLICE OFFICER DIES FROM SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND TO THE HEAD
Nov 1, 2017
[Excerpts] A Vestavia Hills police officer was rushed to UAB Hospital with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He died a short time after he arrived at the hospital.
Police officials said they are asking for prayers for the family and fellow officers... Officers could be heard screaming "step it up" to the medics... The self-inflicted shooting took place while the officer was in uniform and on duty. He was behind his wife's business. [Full article here]

VESTAVIA HILLS POLICE OFFICER DIES FROM SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND
Nov 2, 2017
[Excerpts] Sources tell WVTM 13 that Vestavia Hills Police Officer Robert "Bobby" Hancock died at the hospital after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head Wednesday... The entrance to the [REDACTED] Barber Shop was taped off by police... [Full article here]

VESTAVIA HILLS SIBYL TEMPLE LIT BLUE IN HONOR OF OFFICER
Nov 3, 2017
[Excerpt] Following the death of a Vestavia Hills police officer, the Sibyl Temple that serves as Vestavia Hills' welcome sign will be lit in blue lights for the next week to honor the officer's memory. The officer, who was identified Thursday as Robert "Bobby" Hancock, died Wednesday as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The incident occurred in the Shoppes at City Hall off of U.S. 31 behind a strip of a businesses, including the barber shop Hancock's wife owns... [Full article here]


VESTAVIA HILLS POLICE IDENTIFY OFFICER WHO FATALLY SHOT HIMSELF
Nov 2, 2017
[Excerpts] Vestavia Hills police have released the name of one of their own who died Wednesday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound... Hancock, 47, previously worked for the Tuscaloosa Police Department and the Bessemer Police Department. He left Bessemer in 2013 to join the Vestavia Hills Police Department... Hancock took his own life about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday behind a strip of shops on U.S. 31 where his wife owns a barber shop. The barber shop remains closed today... [Full article here]t

VESTAVIA OFFICER WHO SHOT HIMSELF BEHIND WIFE’S BUSINESS IDENTIFIED
November 02, 2017
[Excerpts] ...A post on the department’s Facebook page reads, “Officer Robert “Bobby” Hancock’s tour of duty ended yesterday. Bobby loved serving as a police officer and was loved by each of us at VHPD. He will forever be missed by all who knew him. We ask for community’s continued prayers for Bobby’s family, friends and colleagues. We also ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time”... [Full article here]

VESTAVIA HILLS POLICE OFFICER DIES AFTER SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND

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Thursday, May 23, 2019

[AL] Stephanie Keller charged with murder of her cop husband, VHPD Officer Kimbrel.

Stephanie Nicole Keller has been charged with the murder of her husband, Vestavia Hills Alabama Police Officer Andrew "Andy" Wade Kimbrel. Gardendale Police Chief Mike Walker said that Thursday night, a 911 call was received and police were on the scene within 5 minutes. Stephanie also called 911 to report the shooting.

...“The incident was domestic in nature,” Gardendale Police Chief Mike Walker said... Some are alleging that Kimbrel had previously “hit her”...

Andrew "Andy" Wade Kimbrel
March 29, 1977 – May 3, 2019

...Andy Kimbrel had been trained in Advanced Rapid Response to Terrorism/Active Shooter incidents, Tactical Combat Casualty Care, Crisis/Hostage Negotiations, a Certified Crime Scene investigator and studied Incident Response to Terrorist Bombing...

VESTAVIA HILLS POLICE OFFICER KILLED IN DOMESTIC INCIDENT THURSDAY NIGHT; WIFE CHARGED
May 3, 2019
[Excerpts] Police have charged the wife of a Vestavia Hills police officer in his shooting death... Gardendale Police Chief Mike Walker gave few details. Vestavia Hills later identified the officer as Andrew Wade Kimbrel, 42. He went by Andy. He left behind two children...Stephanie Nicole Keller, 43, was charged Friday with murder... Before coming to Vestavia Hills, Kimbrel worked at the Fairfield Police Department. "Andy was loved by his fellow officers and the community which he chose to protect. The Vestavia Hills Police Department extends our gratitude to the community for their outpouring of support during this difficult time," Capt. Johnny Evans said... This is the second Vestavia Hills police officer to die in the past two years. In November 2017, a Vestavia Hills officer died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head while on-duty. That officer was Robert “Bobby” Hancock... Kimbrel was shot and taken to UAB Hospital where he died early this morning... “The incident was domestic in nature,” Walker said... [Full article here]


ANDY KIMBREL: ALABAMA POLICE OFFICER KILLED IN DOMESTIC INCIDENT
May 3, 2019
[Excerpts] An Alabama police officer was shot and killed in his home in what investigators said was a domestic incident. Andrew Wade ‘Andy’ Kimbrel, 42, has been a police officer for nearly two decades. Gardendale police found the officer suffering from a gunshot wound when they arrived at his apartment in response to a 911 call just before 11 p.m. Thursday. He was rushed to a local emergency room but died not long after... Gardendale Police Chief Mike Walker said that at 10:57 p.m. Thursday night, a 911 call was received and police were on the scene within 5 minutes. They responded to a home at the Woodbrook Apartments complex and there discovered a 42-year old white male with a gunshot wound. He was transported to the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital’s emergency room. In the early hours of Friday morning, he was pronounced dead... On a police Facebook page, Kimbrel’s mother said the nature of the domestic doesn’t matter. “I am his mother,” wrote Renda Otis Kimbrel. “It doesn’t matter what type of domestic. My son is dead and that is all that matters.” Kimbrel, a Crisis & Hostage Negotiator, Among Myriad Other Law Enforcement Specialized Training, Had Been a Police Officer Since 2001. According to his LinkedIn, Kimbrel had been with the Vestavia Hills Police Department since 2002. Previously he’d been an officer with the Fairfield Police Department and the Blocton Police Department as a reserve officer. Kimbrel had been trained in Advanced Rapid Response to Terrorism/Active Shooter incidents, Tactical Combat Casualty Care, Crisis/Hostage Negotiations, a Certified Crime Scene investigator and studied Incident Response to Terrorist Bombing. He was a Fire Investigator and graduated from the Law Enforcement Academy in Tuscaloosa in 2001... [Full article here]


STEPHANIE NICOLE KELLER: 5 FAST FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW
May 6, 2019
[Excerpts] Police in Gardendale, Alabama have charged Stephanie Nicole Keller with the murder of her husband, [Vestavia Hills] police officer Andy Kimbrel... At a press conference Friday morning, Gardendale Police Chief Mike Walker said that at 10:57 p.m. Thursday night, a 911 call was received and police were on the scene within 5 minutes... In the early hours of Friday morning, he was pronounced dead... Keller had posted recently that she was prepared for a court battle, though it’s not clear to what she was referring. The couple had not posted images of each other on their respective Facebook pages lately though did in 2018... Keller’s Facebook page was temporarily shuttered. Kimbrel’s remains up for now. People have begun posting on Keller’s page. Vata Woods wrote, "Stephanie, don’t know what happened but l love you and praying for you"... Meanwhile, as Keller is being held on $100,000 bail and charged with murder, a number of people are coming to her defense and some have claimed that in the mugshot, she appears to have an injury to her mouth. Some are alleging that Kimbrel had previously “hit her.” In particular, a post from local media, includes many comments suggesting she was a victim of domestic violence. Charity Spearman wrote, “Prayers and Justice for Stephanie. There are two sides to every story and the media is definitely not getting her side. If he wasn’t a cop, she would have been put on a pedestal and most of y’all would have been singing her praises for defending herself against a wife beater. But he was a cop so… I just hope and pray the justice system ignores his career choice and looks into the facts. From a personal standpoint of the families, I’m on HER side.” Keller’s cousin Tammy Diveto posted this on Facebook. “For me….for now..I am going to believe that she had just cause, for her actions. SOME people who wear a uniform, will hide behind it. I am not speculating on anything. We don’t know, I do not know…. Until we do, she and her sweet boys will be in my prayers. *Prayers for Stephanie Keller. I mean NO disrespect for our men in blue as a whole.” [Full article here]

FUNERAL SET FOR VESTAVIA HILLS POLICE OFFICER SLAIN IN DOMESTIC DISPUTE
May 6, 2019
A Vestavia Hills police officer will be laid to rest Thursday, a week after he was shot to death in his Gardendale apartment. Andrew Wade “Andy” Kimbrel, 42, died early Friday... Authorities have not released any details about what led up to the deadly shooting, except to say it happened during an argument. Keller called 911 to report the shooting... Visitation for Kimbrel will be held on Wednesday, May 8, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Southern Heritage Funeral Home on Cahaba Valley Road in Pelham. The funeral will be held Thursday, May 9, at Mountain Top Community Church on Centerview Drive in Vestavia Hills. There will be a police procession from Mountain Top back to Southern Heritage Thursday for a brief graveside service. Kimbrel’s family is asking that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Vestavia Hills Police Foundation in his memory. [Full article here]

VHPD statement:
“On May 3, 2019 the Vestavia Hills Police Department lost one of our own. ANDREW WADE KIMBREL, 42 of Gardendale, Alabama lost his life during a domestic incident at his residence. ANDY has served the City of Vestavia Hills since October of 2002 and he previously served with the Fairfield Police Department. During his service with Vestavia Hills Police Department Andy served as a patrol officer, school resource officer and evidence technician. ANDY was loved by his fellow officers and the community in which he chose to protect. The Vestavia Police Department extends our gratitude to the community for their outpouring of support during this difficult time. We would also like to extend our appreciation to the Gardendale Police Department for their professional courtesy. We extend our deepest sympathies to Andy’s family and friends. Funeral arrangements are still pending.”
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Tuesday, May 21, 2019

[NYPD] Officer Valerie Cincinelli arrested for planning 2 domestic hits

New York City Police Officer Valerie Cincinelli is accused of paying for a hit on her estranged husband and her boyfriend's 15 year old daughter. She had priors:

...Chillingly, in March 2018, Cincinelli allegedly threatened DiRubba, telling him: “I hope your daughter dies”... Cincinelli was accused of calling DiRubba on the phone in violation of an order of protection from Queens Family Court, and was arrested for second degree aggravated harassment and criminal contempt in the first degree...

NYPD COP ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO HIRE HIT MAN TO KILL HER HUSBAND
May 17, 2019
[Excerpts] An NYPD cop was busted by the FBI on Friday in an alleged murder-for-hire plot that targeted her estranged husband... Officer Valerie Cincinelli, 34, is accused of using her boyfriend to hire a hit man in the failed scheme... Cincinelli, who was hired in 2007, was A DOMESTIC-VIOLENCE OFFICER assigned to the 106th Precinct in Queens when she became involved with a local man she met on the job... She was stripped of her badge and gun in 2017 after she ended the relationship and the man told the Internal Affairs Bureau that Cincinelli had spent time at his Howard Beach home while on duty... It’s unclear if that man — who was described as an older “sugar daddy” who paid for Cincinelli’s car and other bills — is the same one in the alleged murder-for-hire plot. Cincinelli’s husband, Isaiah Carvalho Jr., sued her for divorce in Nassau County Supreme Court last year, with a trial set for June... Cincinelli’s father, who lives in Virginia, called the allegations against her “bulls–t”... [Full article here]

INSIDE NYPD COP VALERIE CINCINELLI’S ALLEGED MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT
May 17, 2019
[Excerpts] An NYPD cop gave her boyfriend $7,000 to hire a hitman to kill her estranged husband — and the lover’s own teenage daughter... Officer Valerie Cincinelli was even fooled into thinking her hubby had been offed — thanks to a photo authorities staged... Cincinelli, a 34-year-year mom of two, hatched the scheme in February, when she asked her unidentified boyfriend to hire a hitman, court papers say. But the beau told the FBI and began working as a confidential source... she said he should be killed IN “THE HOOD” OR “THE GHETTO” so “it would not look suspicious”... The boyfriend also said the hitman had located his daughter in New Jersey but “did not want to carry out the murder near a school” court papers say. “Run her the f–k over, how about that,” Cincinelli allegedly responded... Cincinelli — who has a son with Carvalho and a daughter with an ex-husband — wanted her boyfriend’s 15-year-old daughter killed because “she was getting in the way”... [Full article here]

DAD OF NYPD COP IN ALLEGED MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT SPEAKS OUT: ‘IT’S NOT HER!’
May 18, 2019
[Excerpt] “It’s not her!” insists the father of the NYPD cop accused of hiring a hitman in a failed plot to kill her estranged husband and her lover’s own teen daughter. “It’s the boyfriend,” the father, who identified himself as Lou Cincinelli, told The Post after rushing from his Virginia home to the Oceanside, NY, home of his daughter, Valerie, on Friday night. “We’ve had trouble with him before,” the dad added, declining to name the boyfriend - whom the feds say wore a wire against his cop girlfriend after she tried to enlist him in her plot to pay a hitman $7,000 to for two contract murders... [Full article here]

THE TWISTED MOTIVE BEHIND THE ALLEGED MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT THAT’S ROCKED THE NYPD
May 18, 2019
[Excerpts] ...One of the men at the center of the murder-for-hire plot that has rocked the NYPD is a bald-headed, tracksuit-wearing accused felon whose Orange County bakery was a hangout for TV tough guys... Blue-eyed, Bronx-born John DiRubba, 54, last of Howard Beach, Queens, is the much older on-and-off lover of disgraced Officer Valerie Cincinelli, 34, a married mom of two who on Saturday spent her first full day behind bars, in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center... Chillingly, in March 2018, Cincinelli allegedly threatened DiRubba, telling him: “I hope your daughter dies”... Cincinelli was accused of calling DiRubba on the phone in violation of an order of protection from Queens Family Court, and was arrested for second degree aggravated harassment and criminal contempt in the first degree, the outlet reported at the time. “You ruined my life. You’ll see what happens to you... You better keep your mouth shut. I hope your daughter dies”... Cincinelli’s dad, Lou, insisted Saturday at his daughter’s Oceanside home that DiRubba was the real culprit. “He just about put the words in her mouth and recorded what he wanted when he wanted,” the angry dad said Saturday... [Full article here]

POLICE OFFICER HIRED HIT MAN TO KILL HER HUSBAND AND A YOUNG GIRL, OFFICIALS SAY
May 19, 2019
[Excerpts] Isaiah Carvalho Jr. woke up on Friday hopeful that his life was about to turn a corner.
Instead, he was told that his estranged wife, a New York City police officer, had been plotting to kill him all winter... The complex scheme hatched by Officer Cincinelli - who once worked in a domestic violence unit in Queens - involved making the death of her husband, who sold fireworks, look like a robbery, and a suggestion that the killer run over the girl with a car near her school... Then on May 13, Officer Cincinelli met with her boyfriend to discuss the two hits, unaware that her boyfriend was wearing a wire. She offered a warped explanation of why the murders would not appear linked... She worked in the 106th Precinct in Queens as a domestic violence officer until 2017, when she was placed on modified duty and reassigned to a unit that monitors surveillance feeds in public housing developments. She was no longer permitted to carry a gun... Officer Cincinelli has also had a tumultuous romantic history. According to the detention memo, her first husband had obtained a restraining order against her; she and Mr. Carvalho, her second husband, had restraining orders against one another. And she had sought a restraining order against her current boyfriend... “There is very strong evidence of guilt of the crimes of trying to get these two individuals murdered,” said Judge Anne Y. Shields of federal court in the Eastern District... [Full article here]
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Saturday, May 4, 2019

[US] 2,307 CASES OF OFFICER INVOLVED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FOUND BY USA TODAY


WE FOUND 85,000 COPS WHO’VE BEEN INVESTIGATED FOR MISCONDUCT. NOW YOU CAN READ THEIR RECORDS - USA TODAY is leading a national effort to obtain and publish disciplinary and misconduct records for thousands of police officers.
[Excerpts] At least 85,000 law enforcement officers across the USA have been investigated or disciplined for misconduct over the past decade, an investigation by USA TODAY Network found... Reporters from USA TODAY, its 100-plus affiliated newsrooms and the nonprofit Invisible Institute in Chicago have spent more than a year creating the biggest collection of police misconduct records... SEARCH OUR EXCLUSIVE DATABASE BY OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OR STATE... They include 22,924 investigations of officers using excessive force, 3,145 allegations of rape, child molestation and other sexual misconduct and 2,307 cases of domestic violence by officers... The first set of records USA TODAY is releasing is an exclusive nationwide database of about 30,000 people whom state governments banned from the profession by revoking their certification to be law enforcement officers... The list is incomplete because of the absence of records from states such as California, which has the largest number of law enforcement officers in the USA... HELP US INVESTIGATE - The number of police agencies and officers in the USA is so large that the blind spots are vast. We need your help... SHARE YOUR STORIES OF POLICE MISCONDUCT WITH US - We want to hear from you if you believe you’ve encountered misconduct by a law enforcement officer or agency. EMAIL US - You can send tips and records about an officer or agency to policetips@usatoday.com - Need anonymity or security? Send records and tips to us via SecureDrop... Reporters need help getting documents – and other kinds of tips – from the public, watchdog groups, researchers and even officers and prosecutors themselves. If you have access to citizen complaints about police, internal affairs investigation records, secret settlement deals between agencies and departing officers or anything that sheds light on how agencies police their officers, we want to hear from you... [Full article here]
Contributing: James Pilcher and Eric Litke... Reporting and analysis: Mark Nichols, John Kelly, Eric Litke, James Pilcher, Aaron Hegarty, Andrew Ford, Brett Kelman, John Kelly, Matt Wynn, Steve Reilly, Megan Cassidy, Ryan Martin, Jonathan Anderson, Andrew Wolfson, Bethany Bruner, Benjamin Lanka, Gabriella Novello, Mark Hannan...
Updated 2:04 p.m. PDT May 1, 2019
Originally Published 6:15 p.m. PDT Apr. 24, 2019
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