nixle alerts now available - Okaloosa County Sheriff`s Office

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