Northern Nevada News
Friday, December 22, 2006
Officer Murdock Completes Negotiator Training
The Winnemucca Police Department is pleased to announce that Officer Jeff Murdock has successfully completed a course of study certifying him in Phase 1 and Phase 2 of hostage negotiation. Sponsored by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the course was instructed by veteran hostage negotiator Detective Dominick J. Misino of the New York Police Department. The 22 year veteran of the NYPD spent 18 years with their Special Operations Division. Detective Misino’s most noteworthy negotiation came from the negotiated release of 105 people aboard a hijacked Lufthansa aircraft at JFK International Airport . Under the tutelage of Detective Misino, Winnemucca Officer Jeff Murdock learned about the different types of negotiations including hostages, bank robbery/hostage situations, plane hijackings, barricaded subjects, kidnapping, suicidal subjects and emotionally disturbed people. The training included case studies of the Attica State Prison Riot and the infamous hostage situation in Munich , Germany. Officer Murdock will join Winnemucca Police Detective Sergeant Mike Pardovich, the agency’s lead negotiator, in this specialized career field. The Winnemucca Police Department congratulates Officer Jeff Murdock on this new accomplishment.
Grinches Hack Santa’s Website
The consumer advocacy group said it was approached by an Incline Village, man who has legally changed his name to Santa Claus, who asked them to help figure out why his Web site was being flagged by Google Inc.'s Web site filters. It turned out that Santa's Web site,
Santaslink.net had been hacked. Claus is a children's advocate who has traveled across the U.S. meeting with legislators, according to his Web site. He also makes seasonal appearances as Saint Nick. "He had consulted local experts, which we can only assume were elves, but they were unable to identify anything wrong with his site," wrote StopBadware.org Developer Jason Callina, in a blog posting yesterday. "Nestled all snug in the bottom of his homepage was a nice little bit of code containing a badware link," he added. The problem was soon resolved "and the workshop is once again a safe place," Callina said. Stopbadware.org was founded earlier this year, with funding from Google Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd. and Sun Microsystems Inc. as a community watchdog organization to help protect consumers from malicious software like spyware and viruses. Callina said he's learned something from the Santa Claus experience. "The moral of the story is that the Grinches who are looking to spread their unsafe software are willing to hack even Santa's Web site."
Sheriff’s Posse donates to GBC Foundation Scholarship Program
The Elko County Sheriff's Posse recently made a $1,500 donation to Great Basin College Foundation to fund three scholarships for Criminal Justice students at GBC. The Sheriff's Posse has funded their scholarship at GBC since 1998 and has helped dozens of students advance their educations.