BADGE 149 NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2018

Captain Gary P. Jones [retired] FORT LAUDERDALE POLICE DEPARTMENT 1967 - 1993 FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE, DIVISION OF INSURANCE FRAUD 1993 - 2003 Author of: Badge 149 - "Shots Fired!" and "Saints, Sinners, Survivors"

We Were Blessed And We Came Through Hurricane Michael Okay!

We were definitely blessed, or lucky, if you prefer that term instead. We had lots of trees down and a few, like the big one in these photos, even came close to the back of our house. If you look really close you can even see the twisted remains of a trampoline that was totally destroyed when that big tree fell on it. Even though we lost power, the internet and phones for a couple of days, our struggles were nothing compared to the victims who actually had to face the brunt of this monstrous storm. They continue to be in our thoughts and our prayers. 

Who is Bill Mason? If you worked at Fort Lauderdale P.D. in the 1970s, especially in T.I.U. (Tactical Impact Unit), I'm pretty sure you remember who he was. Bill Mason was a professional burglar and jewel thief. During this career criminal's life of crime he may have stolen as much as $35 million dollars in jewelry.

Early in 1976 I was one of the original members of FLPD's prestigious T.I.U. I also had the honor of being among the first FLPD officers who initially spotted Bill Mason and identified him as a burglar/career criminal. I wrote about Bill Mason and FLPD's involvement with him in my 1st book ( Badge 149 - "Shots Fired!" ). How we first identified him, and then eventually caught him, is detailed in Chapters 16 & 17. Bill Mason wrote his own book ( "Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief" ). His book was published in 2005, and mine in 2006. It is ironic that he didn't know about my book, and I didn't know about his. I've read his book and parts of it are very interesting, especially when he talks about the rich and famous people he stole from. However, when he talks about how FLPD eventually became aware of him, his version of events is not true. He says FLPD had an informant who told us about him, and this just is not true. Bill Mason became predictable and that's how we eventually caught him. There was no informant . I recently came across a youtube video that I had never seen before. It's only 41 minutes long and it is very interesting, too. I must admit, after watching Bill Mason talk about himself and his life of crime in this video, I like him even less now, than I did back when T.I.U. was following him around. If you want to see the video you can just click on the "Police Archive" logo above, or you can go to the following site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX85EXAejj4 

National Law Enforcement Museum

Congratulations to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund ! After years of planning and construction the new National Law Enforcement Museum had its grand opening on October 13, 2018. If you would like to visit the home page for the new National Law Enforcement Museum , just click on the fireworks logo above. Or, you can also just go to: https://lawenforcementmuseum.org/

It is a fact that suicides involving retired military personnel, and law enforcement professionals, occur at a much higher rate than that of the general population. In my book I discuss suicide and the law enforcement profession.

In my book I also described my volunteer work with my local 2-1-1 crisis hotline, which also handled the Suicide Prevention Lifeline calls for the Tallahassee area. If you would like to help and make a difference you might want to volunteer with your local 2-1-1.

QUOTES WORTH REMEMBERING

Martin Luther King Jr (Civil rights leader and activist)

I started doing these Badge 149 Newsletters in January, but not everyone began receiving them right away. I've added new people to my e-mail list each month, so some of you may have missed one, two or more of my first few Newsletters. A link has now been added to my web site so you can go back and read all of my original Newsletters that I have mailed out. So far, and including this one in October, there have been eight (8).

Click to visit my website

 If you have already purchased one of my two books, thank you! If you enjoyed the book(s) I would ask you to consider writing a short review of the book, either on Amazon or at my publisher's online bookstore. My publisher's online bookstore is at: www.buybooksontheweb.com (You can also just click on the "Book Review" Logo above) Go to the "True Crime" section to read the book reviews already there, or to make a new one. 

Gary P. Jones, Captain [retired] | Jones313@aol.com | www.badge149.com