Safe Street of the Week!

This week's safe street of the week is 48th Street East from 70th Avenue East to Freeman Road East.  The posted speed limit is 25MPH. Drive safe!

Protect Yourself Against Email Scams

Four of the most common email scams are:

• The Imitator – Many scams imitate legitimate companies in an effort to fool consumers. The simplest way to avoid these fakes is to never click on a link sent in an unsolicited e-mail. (For example, if “Comcast or Bank of America” sends you an email about your account and asks for your information.) Find the company link on your own using a search engine, or, if you know the company address, type it in yourself.
• The Urgent Offer – These scams are the “if it sounds too good to be true” - it probably is, partnered with a time factor wanting you to rush to get the deal.
• The Official Notice – These are very similar to the Imitator, but are trying to convince you to take action to solve an issue. A common one we have seen is that “your email is full” and you have to enter your information to enlarge your inbox. Another example is an email that states your account is overdue and asks you to send money to pay the balance.
• The Lottery - Foreign lottery scams are rampant. If you did not enter a lottery, you did not win a lottery. (We know, we know – we wish we could win the lottery, too.) If you did enter the lottery, you still are very unlikely to win, and you would not be notified via e-mail. (You’ve seen prize winners. They get HUGE checks that couldn’t possibly fit into an email.) This is a straightforward scam to get your information.

So what can you do? Here are some ways to spot the scam:

• Threats - The scam goes from apologizing for any inconvenience to threatening the recipient in an effort to scare you into responding. Companies are not going to threaten you and certainly won’t send threats in an e-mail that randomly selected you for maintenance.
• The offer is from a company you’ve never heard of - This is really the only identifier needed to know that this is fake. The second clue is that their e-mail address does not match the company. Look after the  @ symbol.  If the email is from TMNT it should show @TMNT and not anything else.  Hackers like to steal people email accounts and send out thousands of emails so frequently you will see a person’s personal email account.  Again this is a scam and just delete.
• The name of recipient isn't yours - If the name on the To: line isn't yours, then you’re one of the thousands (maybe millions) of names hidden on the Bcc: line.
• The email is urging you to make a financial transaction under time pressure - If you feel you have to act quickly, you are more likely to react without thoroughly investigating. Take the time and investigate!
• You are singled out for an ‘exclusive’ opportunity - Ask yourself: why would a company you don’t know single you out?
• You are asked to enter financial information - They want you to enter financial information so they can instantly show you your adjusted mortgage rate. In fact, entering personal financial information on sites you aren’t absolutely sure are safe is almost sure to result in someone stealing from you.
• Increased urgency, more time pressure is applied - Notice that they can only guarantee this great rate ‘for three more days’, but no actual dates are given.
• The sender is a person - No organization is going to send a notice from a personal e-mail, and they will use their organization’s e-mail, not a free e-mail service.

Halloween Carnival

Friday, October 31st 2014 - Halloween Carnival
     Boo! The Fife Police Department is pleased to announce its annual Halloween Carnival at Columbia Junior High School. The event will have numerous different games for the kids, treats and best of all, prizes! Kids will get a Halloween goodie bag filled with candy and receive a pumpkin flashlight. The event will be held on Friday, October 31st from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The cost to attend is one nonperishable food item to support our local food bank!

•     Date: Friday, October 31st 
•     Time: 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
•     Location: Columbia Junior High, Fife
•                   2901 54th Avenue East
•                    Fife, WA 98424
•     Cost: One nonperishable food item

Safe Street of the Week

This week's safe street of the week is 61st Ave E from 38th St E to N Levee Road. The posted speed limit is 25 MPH. Drive Safe!

K9 Slyder

We are sad to announce the passing of former narcotics K9 Slyder. Slyder was the Fife Police Departments first K9 and was assigned to Officer Travis Kenyon in 2006. Officer Kenyon and Slyder were certified as a Master Narcotic Detection Team by the Washington State Canine Association and served on Pierce County’s Metro K-9 group. Officer Kenyon and Slyder were responsible for numerous seizures of narcotics, vehicles and currency.     Slyder retired from duty in 2012 and enjoyed retirement with the Kenyon family.      

Fife Police Truck Pull Success!

The Fife Police Department would like to thank everyone who participated and donated to our Truck Pull benefiting Special Olympics Washington. The event raised over $1,000! Congratulations to the Fife High School Football team with their victory over five other teams for the second year in a row!

Truck Pull for Special Olympics

It's not too late to register for our Truck Pull!  Come down to Fife to have some fun with your family and friends while competing for first place. The team with the fastest time gets a trophy. All the proceedings benefit Special Olympics! Sign up now!

Fife Police Department Activity

Fife Police Department activity September 19 to September 26:

On September 19^th, Fife Officers responded to the 4400 block of Pacific Hwy E for a report of an assault that had occurred in a nearby business.  The reporting person said a female had punched a male, then attempted to choke him.  Officers contacted a female in the area who matched the description provided of the suspect.  She denied any knowledge of an assault but she did have a warrant for her arrest for being in possession of a stolen bicycle.  The female, who was six months pregnant, was arrested on the warrant and found to be in possession methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.  She claimed the drugs were not hers and she was asked by a friend to throw them away.  She was booked into Pierce County Jail for possession of a controlled substance. 

On September 21^st, a Fife Officer was on patrol when he saw a vehicle leave the parking lot of a motel in the 3100 block of Pacific Hwy E.  The vehicle began to accelerate away at a speed that was in excess of the posted 35 MPH speed limit and the vehicle crossed over the center lane.  The officer conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and contacted the driver.  While speaking with the driver, the officer noticed what he recognized as heroin in the center ash tray.  The driver was arrested and detectives applied for a search warrant for the vehicle.  Detectives located over 200 grams of heroin, 29 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and over $11,000 in currency.  The driver was booked into Pierce County Jail. 

On September 21^st, a Fife Officer was on patrol in the 4800 block of Freeman Rd at approximately 0245 AM, when she came upon a female walking and stumbling in the roadway.  The officer contacted the female who was obviously intoxicated despite only being 17 years old.  The female told the officer she only had a “few beers” and was “only buzzed.”  She was arrested and transported to Remann Hall but was refused admittance because of her extreme intoxication.  Officers transported her to the hospital for treatment and she was finally booked into Remann Hall after several hours.     

On September 22^nd, Fife Officers responded to the 1500 block of Port of Tacoma Rd for a report of a fight between a male and female.  Witnesses reported that a male and female got into a heated argument about drugs and the female began “hammer fist punching” the male in the back of the head.  Officers located the female a short distance away.  She initially denied knowing about a fight, but later acknowledged she had assaulted her boyfriend after he took something from her.  She refused to say what he took.  The couple were found to have a protection order in place and the female was arrested.  The male was not located and charges on him were forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.