SmashTech

Took a while to figure this one out, but in hindsight, it’s painfully obvious. I switched from XP 32-bit to Win7 64-bit last week, and just got Visual Studio loaded back up. I opened up one of my projects, hit run, and started getting COM exceptions about a class not being registered.

After a while, I finally found that the default compile options will compile for ‘Any CPU’, which will compile your project for the CPU you are on currently. You can change this by going into your project properties, Compile tab, and clicking Advanced Compile Options. Setting the Target CPU to x86 solved the problem for me.

Not all COM components will require this. It just so happened that one I was using was designed for 32-bit development environments only.

Week 7 covered gangs and crisis negotiation, and was the last class in the academy (the 8th week was a graduation ceremony). It was also 2 weeks ago, so this is a bit overdue. Unfortunately, no slides were handed out for either one of these topics, so I am running off memory.

Gangs are an issue in the Wyoming area. There are over 30 gangs currently active in the Wyoming area, ranging from east coast & west coast gangs, to local, independent gangs. Gangs are not tied to any one race or ethnicity, and in fact, some gangs will include members from another race in the local ‘branch’ of the gang, and then run into problems when members from larger cities arrive and aren’t used to a racially homogeneous group.

Wyoming has a crisis negotiation team, which was formed in 1992 (I think) after an incident involving a hostage situation, in which the police had to rely on a news reporter who could act as a translator (Bulgarian of all languages) to defuse the situation. The majority of the CNT’s calls however, are not hostage situations, but domestic issues or suicide threats. Contrary to what you see in movies, you will not get a chopper in 20 minutes if you demand it, and they will not trade another person for the release of a hostage. CNT works closely with TACT during an incident, and both provide input to the site commander, who eventually decides to keep negotiating, or to send in TACT.

Just got a report of some computer herpes showing up after the LAN. Make sure to scan your machines and run anti-virus if you aren’t already. Microsoft Security Essentials does a good job, and is free as long as you’re running a legit version of Windows (which you all are, aren’t you?)

Just FYI, neither of my machines (Win7 and Server 2K8) showed any viruses, and the only report so far has been from an XP machine.

Week 6 covered the K-9 unit and TACT (SWAT) unit.

The K-9 unit currently has 4 dogs – Chico, Zeke, Arras, and Baron. All 4 are German Shepards, except for Arras, who is 1/2 Malinois. The dogs range in age from 3 to 5 1/2, and in price from $4500 to $9000. Dogs primarily come from European countries, since the bloodline of German Shepards in the US isn’t pure enough in most cases. The K-9 unit has been in service with Wyoming since 1989. In 2008, the unit was activated 193 times, primarily to track people or search for drugs.

TACT (Tactical Arrest & Confrontation Team) is Wyoming’s version of SWAT. It was established in 1974 to assist in serving high-risk arrest warrants, and dealing with hostage situations. Weapons vary by officer, currently offered are the M-4, the MP-5, and the Remington 700 rifle. They also have a wide variety of non-lethal options, such as rubber & bean bag rounds, tear gas, and the Taser.

TACT’s first armored vehicle was a re purposed Brinks security truck, purchased used for $10. The team currently uses a non-armored, customized deployment vehicle (customized by a Grand Rapids area RV garage). For more dangerous situations, a Bearcat is shared by all Kent County offices, and housed in the GRPD garage.