Minutes of the April 11, 2019, Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Ernest Ladd IV at 12:15 PM. Pat Edington offered the invocation and Larry Sindel led the club in song and the pledge. Bob Chapelle welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians.
Announcements Ernest Ladd made the following announcements:
• A board meeting is scheduled after the regular meeting on April 18.
• Credit cards may now be used to pay your statement. Contact Peg for further details.
• The club has made a contribution to Lee County Tornado Relief Fund but our website has a link should a member wish to also contribute.
Program: Steve Sorrells –FBI
Claire McCarron introduced Steve Sorrells, a Special Agent for the FBI and a member of the Evidence Response Team. Agent Sorrells discussed a relatively new concept in law enforcement: helping victims. Previously the focus had been merely solving the crime, he said.
He gave as an example the Somali pirate case in 2009 when 20 American sailors were kidnapped by pirates off the Somali coast. The final hostage was the captain and a victims specialist was assigned to be with his family in the U. S. as the situation played out. In the end the captain was rescued and 3 of the 4 pirates killed. The fourth, he added, is serving a 33 year stint in a federal prison.
Another case involving specially trained victims specialists occurred in the abduction and murder of a child in Prichard in 2014. The girl’s father was convicted but in the meantime the specialists worked with the large extended family of the child to help them get through the process.
After answering a number of questions, Ernest thanked him for speaking to the club and presented him with a certificate noting that the club has made a contribution in his honor to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
The meeting adjourned at 12:50 PM.
Tom McGehee