| From the Police Chief
Our Emergency Response organizations are AMAZING!!
Recently, as you are aware, both
Grangeville and Cottonwood schools held their 2020 Graduation
ceremonies. First, a huge congratulations to the
kids!! Great work to all and looking forward to seeing all that
you will accomplish as you move to the next phase of your lives.
Remember from where you come, and make us proud !!Speaking of proud, I am sure no one missed the MULTITUDE of emergency vehicles at each graduation. Chief Drew and I worked with our surrounding agencies, and can say that they EAGERLY wanted to join in and recognize the accomplishment of the area youth, and to support each other's community. Grangeville had 20 vehicles including Grangeville and Cottonwood Police, Idaho County Sheriff, Grangeville and Cottonwood Fire Departments, US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Law Enforcement Officers, Syringa and St. Marys Ambulance, Clearwater QRU, and Grangeville Public Works. Cottonwood had 19 vehicles including Cottonwood and Grangeville Police and Fire Departments, St. Marys and Syringa ambulance, Bureau of Land Management Law Enforcement Officer, Idaho State Police, Idaho County Sheriff Deputies, Fred's Towing. To me, this speaks volumes! Your responders want to be involved and recognize the accomplishments of your youth. Your responders are proud of what they do, and are proud of their communities. What this also shows in a growing desire to for responders to work together, outside the normal box in order to accomplish what is needed. Cottonwood going to Grangeville to assist, and Grangeville coming to Cottonwood to assist. We all like to believe that the worst case events will never happen, but they can, and do, often times in rural areas. This desire shown by our responders is what will make the difference in a worse case scenario. The desire to help, the desire to support each respective agency, to travel to help out in a community event, to me, shows that when bad stuff happens, we all, our REGION, will step up and support each other as well as our respective jurisdictional citizens. Again, a tremendous Congratulations go to the graduates, many years of work have gotten you to this point. And, I would add a huge thank you to the responders, most of which are volunteer, for being there when you are needed, for taking the time to work with other agencies, and for supporting our youth. Watch out for these (and other) scams
By Terry Cochran, Cottonwood Chief of Police
1,800...When I contacted the Idaho
Department of Labor last week, that was the number of complaints
regarding Unemployment scams that they had gotten so far.I was notified by a local citizen regarding a letter they had received, stating their unemployment benefits and such that they had filed for; problem was, they had NOT filed for unemployment. They contacted the Idaho State Department of Labor to ask questions, as did I as well. Seems perhaps too many folks with nefarious thoughts have been sitting at home during COVID times, trying to find ways to get other folks' money. They have been filing for unemployment benefits in anyone and everyone's name. Per my conversation with the State, the FBI and Secret Service are assisting in the investigations, and seems that these claims are coming from outside the U.S. So, my advice to the victims in this case? Make sure your checking and savings accounts are secure, report suspected fraud situations to the assorted credit reporting bureaus and your bank, and check your credit report often to see if there are any new attempts where someone else is using your information to get money, loans, etc. Quickly report anything that you may find to the respective credit agencies. Folks, unfortunately we are seeing a LOT more of these scams. Our region has been blessed with good people who will shake your hand and face to face agree on a deal. We tend to trust each other and our neighbors. These scammers take advantage of that trust. I, nor anyone else in Law Enforcement in our area, can begin to count the number of times we've heard folks ask 'how can anyone DO that?' I don't have that answer, but please...be aware of your credit, watch it closely and take action when you see something odd because, to be honest, that is the only way to protect yourself. These guys are from around the world and while I can tie in with Federal agencies to assist me, it is next to impossible to catch the guy that just took $5,000 or even $50,000 from you. |
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