CBP Port Director Aids Truck-Rollover Accident Victim

Sweetgrass, Mont.— U.S. Customs and Border Protection Port Director, Larry Overcast, was on his way home after work about 5:00 p.m. on November 22 when he spotted on overturned tractor-trailer lying on its side in the north-bound lanes of Interstate 15, about 3 miles south of the port of Sweetgrass.

The driver of the truck was still in the cab and emergency response personnel had not arrived, so Overcast stopped to assist the driver. Overcast was able to speak to the driver through the windshield. The driver said he wasn’t hurt, just shaken up. The truck was lying on the driver’s side, so Overcast helped the driver exit the cab of the truck through the window on the passenger side. Overcast telephoned the Customs Area Security Center at the port of Sweetgrass and asked a CBP officer to call for the assistance of local emergency responders.

Strong winds were blowing in the area, with gusts estimated to be between 60 and 80 m.p.h. at the time of the accident. The tractor-trailer, which was not hauling any cargo, was south-bound on I-15 when it was hit by a gust that pushed the vehicle into the median and then onto its side in the north-bound passing lane.

Overcast departed after the scene was secured with the arrival of the local fire department and a Toole County Sheriff’s deputy.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Traffic Collisions and Police Management

January 12, 2008 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com is a website that lists state and local police officers who have written books. The website added one international police author and two domestic police authors.

R. W. “Bob” Rivers (Inspector, Officer-in-charge, Traffic Branch, Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Retired) is the author of various internationally recognized and utilized traffic crash investigation and reconstruction textbooks published by Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, Ltd., Springfield, Illinois, and the Institute of Police Technology and Management (IPTM), University of North Florida.

As an Institute of Police Technology and Management faculty member, he acts as a technical advisor, directs IPTM's correspondence training programs and carries out various projects such as the development of traffic crash investigation courses and Traffic, Crime Scene, Marine and Aircraft crash investigation templates.

Bob Rivers travels internationally, carrying out research involving traffic crash investigation and reconstruction training programs. Upon request he will provide assistance, advice and/or suggestions on an international basis in terms of training programs and arrangements for lecturers/speakers for Accident Investigation and Accident Reconstruction related seminars and conferences.

Inspector R.W. “Bob” Rivers is the author of over eight books on traffic accidents such as Traffic Accident Investigator’s Manual: A Levels 1 and 2 Reference, Training and Investigation Manual and Identification, Interpretation And Analysis of Evidence.

According to the description of Traffic Accident Investigator’s manual: A Levels 1 and 2 Reference, Training and Investigation Manual, “It is the traffic accident investigator's role to determine, through the gathering of evidence and an analysis of circumstances, that which is an accident and that which is not. This manual launches the trainee on the road to the scientific approach to determining which incident falls into what category. The text clearly outlines the steps to be taken when the report of a traffic accident is received, travelling to the scene, the at-scene investigation, and any follow-up investigation that may be required.”

Chief Paul T. “Tim” Dickinson started his law enforcement career in 1977. He has served in several police agencies in the metropolitan Philadelphia, PA area. His past assignments have included patrol operations, patrol supervisor, criminal investigations, undercover narcotics investigation, and tactical operations command. He has served as a chief of police since 1992. Paul Dickinson is a graduate of Temple University and the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy in Quantico, VA.

Chief Paul Dickinson instructed recruits in the police academy for more than ten years and has also conducted various training programs for police supervisors and elected officials. He serves as a law enforcement consultant for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and numerous police agencies and communities throughout Pennsylvania. Currently, Paul Dickinson is the chief of police of the Towamencin Township Police Department (Pennsylvania). Chief Paul Dickinson and Chief William Heim are the co-authors of Police Management: Real World Scenarios.

Chief William M. Heim’s law enforcement career spans more than 25 years and service with six police agencies. He began his career with the Upper Moreland Police Department and is now the chief of the Reading City Police Department (Pennsylvania). Chief William Heim holds a Bachelor degree in English and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Senior Management Institute for Police conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum.

He has been an instructor at Montgomery County Community College and Augusta State University. He has also taught recruits in the police academy and provided in-service training to veteran police officers. In year 2000 he was selected by Governor Tom Ridge to serve on the Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission. Chief William Heim is currently a consultant on police management issues with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Chief William Heim has authored articles appearing in Police Chief, Law and Order, Emergency Medical Service, and The Pennsylvanian magazines.

According to the book description of Police Management: Real World Scenarios, “Even though police officers receive months of training in the police academy before they hit the streets, most learn to be good cops by responding to an endless variety of calls for assistance from the public. Becoming a proficient police manager is a challenging but rewarding journey. This book seeks to help in this journey by applying the principles of leadership to real-world situations. Each chapter consists of a dialogue or story involving police managers facing problems and issues regularly dealt with by police agencies. Each chapter concludes with a review of the lessons learned, ensuring that the reader achieves maximum benefit.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 828 police officers (representing 375 police departments) and their 1750 law enforcement books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.