I haven’t been in a fire drill for quite time, so it was a surprise — but not that large of a surprise because I heard a staffer give a clerk a three minute warning of the impending drill — when a fire drill was held at the Daley Center in Chicago. The 11th floor occupants took emergency stairwells to the 10th floor where clerk’s offices are located, as per loud speaker instructions that were clear and concise. After everyone was gathered, an all clear was given by security staff and everyone went back to their original rooms on the 11th floor. Our room was in the middle of a court call, so everything started back up as soon as attorneys, defendants, court staff and the judge were in place.

A fire drill is certainly a better situation than what happened in January 2004 when I was at the City-County building in Indianapolis. A co-worker and I had driven down to Indy from South Bend and had just exited an elevator on the 5th floor near the circuit court. The alarm sounded and a sheriff’s deputy came running by to announce that the alarm wasn’t a drill. My co-worker and I found a stairwell with an emergency alarm bar that immediately sounded as soon as we opened the door. As we entered the stairwell, we could see police officers running up the stairs as streams of people were traveling down to the first level to evacuate. We could smell smoke — never a good thing. It turned out there was a trash fire in the basement. The evacuation was orderly and we were given the “all-clear” after watching firemen enter and exit the building after about a half-hour.

Technorati Tags: fire drill, urban peril

Captured and tasered after a wild car chase through Miami suburban streets!

That’s the headline after a wild police chase through the streets of Hialeah, Florida — a Miami suburb –endangered innocent citizens and responding police officers.

Why was the suspect — who remains innocent until proven guilty in a court of law — captured after expending so much effort to escape from law enforcement?  Saggy pants prevented him from sprinting quickly across a busy Miami street after bailing out from his moving car.

Next time you’re running from the police after bailing from a moving car, make sure that you’ve fastened your belt. Otherwise, you’re going to feel the 50,000 volts of the taser gun. Better yet, don’t run from the police. They have radios and helicopters and they’re going to catch you sooner or later.

Video: Saggy pants foil escape after wild Florida police chase

Video: Car chase suspect tasered after wild chase through Miami area streets

Note that the raw video tells the story fairly quickly, but isn’t the packaged new story aired on the Miami television more exciting with the addition of the high energy sound track? It almost makes the raw video of the police chase and subsequent tasering a little boring.

Technorati Tags: helicopter, Hialeah Florida, Miami, police chase, taser, urban peril

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