Chief: Heat can overwhelm people, pets

Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck urged residents to make sure that elderly neighbors and pets are protected from soaring temperatures as summer heat sets in. In his weekly briefing, Chief Birbeck instructed residents who fear that neighbors or outside dogs are in danger of heat-related illness or death to inform the Olney Police Department.

“Through emergency management, through churches, through all different types of resources we can probably get some help and mitigate those circumstances before there is some kind of tragedy,” he said. “So make sure you are watching those elderly vulnerable populations. A lot of times they may not turn on the air conditioner to save on the utility budget.”

He also warned pet owners to make sure that outdoor dogs have shade and access to water, and to avoid walking them in the heat of the day. “Even if you are a great pet owner and you are taking your dog for a walk, on 100-degree pavement their paw pads can get burned.”

He then provided an update on the OPD’s policy on family violence prosecutions, which dictates that police will not accept non prosecution affidavits from victims who don’t want to press charges.

OPD will instead refer victims to the District Attorney’s Office, he said.

“We see in police work this victimology of victims wanting to drop charges and feel that [the abusers] are going to change and it’s not going to happen again or it wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be or whatever the case is,” he said. “The state picks up the charge even if the victim doesn’t want to prosecute that – the goal of that is to protect the victim and even in some cases to protect them from themselves and the decisions they are making … in a lot of these cases self esteem has been broken down, livelihood has been threatened.”