Headlines from around the web regarding hiring, assessment and other human resource issues in public safety.

Maine firefighters head south to help responders to Mass. explosions

Bangor Daily News | A crew from the York Village Fire Department may have been the most welcome people in Lawrence and North Andover, Massachusetts, Thursday night, as they worked to feed upward of 500 firefighters, police officers, ambulance workers and other first responders battling multiple fires in a three-town area.

Hero Thrill Show returns to raise funds for fallen heroes’ kids

metro.us | On Sept. 12, 75 members of the elite Police Highway Patrol Motorcycle Drill Team displayed their finery during a pep rally to raise awareness of the upcoming Hero Thrill Show, to be held on Sept. 22 in South Philadelphia. Sixty-four years running, the Hero Thrill Show helps raise funds to educate the children of fallen heroes.

Dissolution of NY Fire District Sparks Outcry

Firehouse | Town of Oneonta Fire District commissioners voted Thursday night 3 to 2 for dissolution, turning the job of negotiating a fire protection contract over to the Oneonta Town Board, which objects to the step.

Former Bears star Matt Forte goes on ride-along with Chicago police

ABC 7 News | Former Chicago Bears star running back Matt Forte says he has a whole new respect for police officers after going for a ride-along on the South Side in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood. “The narrative, even to the young kids is that, all police officers are bad, and that’s not the case, so we gotta find some common ground,” Forte said.

PTC cops send hurricane relief to North Carolina

The Citizen | The Peachtree City (PTC) Police Department and members of the community lent a hand to those impacted by Hurricane Florence by collecting 21.5 tons of needed goods that were shipped to North Carolina on Sept. 19.

Federal court orders Dallas County to change its bail system

CorrectionsOne | In a major victory for civil rights groups, a federal judge has banned Dallas County from using a predetermined schedule to set bail without considering other amounts or alternatives that would allow the suspects’ release from jail. Though U.S. District Judge David Godbey’s order is temporary, his ruling Thursday indicated that the groups that sued the county earlier this year “are substantially likely to prevail on the merits” of their arguments.

Could Riverside County cities leave the Sheriff’s Department over a rate dispute?

The Press-Enterprise | Seventeen of the 28 cities located in Riverside County have a contract with the Riverside Sheriff’s Department. All are happy with the services they receive, but none are happy with the cost. But county officials say if anything, it’s the county that’s been getting a raw deal. County government, they say, isn’t getting enough to cover the cost of sheriff’s services to cities.

Text-to-911 Program Showing Early Benefits, Palm Beach County Says

Emergency Management | Since the program’s launch on June 25, 299 text messages had been sent to dispatchers across the county as of Aug. 21, although Koenig noted that figure includes test messages that were used in training. The sheriff’s office said that as of Aug. 21, it had received 23 emergency calls that originated as texts since the program’s launch.

HERO HIGHLIGHT

Police officer runs free boxing class for lower income and at-risk kids

WFLA | One police officer is watching out for the kids he serves, most of them Hispanic and Spanish speakers, by getting them off the streets and into the ring. He has the community saying Vamos Tampa Bay. He’s training kids to fight. In the ring and in life.

In his dying moments, Sheriff’s Deputy Kunze saved at least two lives

The Wichita Eagle | After a convict on a crime spree shot Deputy Robert Kunze above his protective vest and before the mortally wounded deputy collapsed, the lawman managed to kill his attacker. If Kunze had not kept fighting in his dying moments, Sheriff Jeff Easter says, at least two other people could have been murdered.