25 March 2011

Brown's Tax Plan to Shift CA Juvenile Rehab to Counties Stalls ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A decade and a half ago, the California Youth Authority (now the Division of Juvenile Justice) incarcerated 10,000 young offenders, says The California Watch. A lawsuit by the Prison Law Office and other advocates forced dramatic changes in the treatment of teenagers who've run afoul of the law. At the same time, state leaders with scarce funds have become eager to trim their tight budgets. County governments have taken on an increasingly large role in rehabilitating teenage offenders. California's five facilities now house just 1,200 inmates, referred to as wards in the juvenile justice system. This year, Gov. Jerry Brown suggested that California become the first state in the nation to shut its youth correctional system completely and turn over the remaining wards to the custody of counties. Local officials pushed back, and Brown responded with a compromise plan. His goal remains to slash tens of millions of dollars from the state's general fund obligations by turning over juvenile justice to California's 58 counties. Brown aims to find new revenue for counties to handle the state's most difficult young offenders in a package of tax extensions he hopes to put before voters in June. The tax plan is stalled in the legislature, lacking the two-thirds vote needed to put the measure on a special election ballot. The California Watch

How Chicago's CeaseFire Intervenes to Curb Youth Violence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amid a decrease in youth violence, violent crimes are still most concentrated in poorer, urban neighborhoods. Experts say kids who grow up in dangerous areas are more likely to become targets, NPR reports. In Chicago, a program called CeaseFire is working to curb violence by helping at-risk youth find employment and patrolling the streets to stop crimes before they happen. University of Chicago researcher Dexter Voisin says teens growing up in dangerous neighborhoods have a range of coping strategies. They seek out non-violent friends, some become resigned, others strive to do well in school, and some cope by fighting. Part of the "code of survival on the streets" is to retaliate. He says youth begin to think, "'if I don't retaliate, it's just a matter of time before I'm dead.'" Voisin thinks "the coping mechanisms for some boys are the same coping mechanisms that are also putting them in harm's way in terms of homicide trends." The U.S. Justice Department calls CeaseFire's strategy effective. It found that the group's interventions in risky neighborhoods and its work with gang members has helped decrease shootings and killings. NPR

Critics: Proposed OR Juvenile Justice Cuts Would Hurt Rehab ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oregon's youth offenders would get less help and less hope of escaping future trouble under reductions facing state and county operations, The Oregonian reports. The system is intended to keep the 15,600 kids a year referred to juvenile departments from ever seeing the inside of an adult prison. Gov. John Kitzhaber wants to take millions of dollars from youth programs to keep the adult prisons running. That, executives at state and county juvenile agencies say, would hurt kids in the short term and be self-defeating in the long run. Under the cuts, the state juvenile justice system would lose hundreds of beds housing the most at-risk kids. Some youths would be shifted to less secure community programs. Kids in those programs, in turn, would be bumped out the door just when they are most open to the changes that can set them straight for life, juvenile authorities say. "These cuts will cause a major shift in how we handle juvenile justice in Oregon," said Scott Taylor, director of the Multnomah County Community Justice Department. Those who tend young offenders appreciate the terrible budget chore facing the governor. But they say they have worked years to make their systems smarter and more focused, catching kids earlier and turning around even the seemingly most incorrigible. The number of criminal referrals to juvenile authorities has dropped by one-third in 10 years The Oregonian

Thirteen States Maintain Crack-Powder Sentencing Disparities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now that Congress has reduced the disparity in mandatory federal sentences for crack and powder cocaine offenses, the Washington, D.C.,-based advocacy group The Sentencing Project reports that 13 states maintain sentencing disparities in their own drug laws. In Missouri, a defendant convicted of selling six grams of crack faces the same prison term -a ten-year mandatory minimum - as someone who sells 450 grams of powder cocaine, or 75 times that amount. In Oklahoma, with a 6-to-1 quantity-based sentencing disparity, a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence is triggered for five grams of crack cocaine and 28 grams of powder cocaine. In Arizona, with a 12-to-1 disparity, nine grams of powder cocaine or less than a gram of crack cocaine trigger five-year prison terms for trafficking offenses. Penalties like these contribute to overcrowding in state prisons, says the organization. It says that fiscal pressure to tighten state corrections budgets, along with evidence that the crack-powder disparity is "unfair and unwarranted," suggests that lawmakers should reexamine the sentencing differentials, the project contends. The Sentencing Project

NYC First: Caseworker Charged With Contributing to Child's Death ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the first time, a New York City caseworker has been charged with contributing to the death of a child, says the New York Times. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes announced the indictment of a former caseworker and a supervisor on charges of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a 4-year-old girl. Agency workers, officials, and some child welfare advocates expressed fears that the charges would make a tough job - attracting smart, qualified people - even tougher, and might even make things worse for vulnerable families too. Marchella Brett-Pierce died after being repeatedly beaten and bound. Her mother has been charged with murder and now former caseworker Damon Adams and his former supervisor Chereece Bell have been charged with criminally negligent homicide. Adams also was charged with falsifying records, was accused of lying about visits to Marchella's home that he had not made; Bell was accused of failing to monitor him properly. Both have resigned. Hynes is convening a special grand jury to look at "evidence of alleged systemic failures" at the agency. The agency has attempted an overhaul since another prominent death of a girl named Nixzmary Brown in 2006. New York Times

Texas Judges Send Many First Time Youth Offenders to State Prison ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Texas judges, particularly in Houston's Harris County, are sending hundreds of adolescent, first-time violent offenders to state prison, a punishment lawmakers intended for youths considered the worst of the worst, says a report quoted by the Texas Tribune. "Adult jails and adult prisons are simply the wrong place to hold these kids," says report author Michele Deitch of the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs. Texas law allows judges to certify as adults youths between the ages of 14 and 17 who have committed felony offenses. Young, violent offenders can be given determinate sentences of up to 40 years that begin in a youth facility and continue to adult prisons if the judge determines that is necessary. Over a recent 5-year period, Texas courts certified nearly 1,300 youths as adults, and about 860 got determinate sentences. The report said there was little difference in the criminality among youths sentenced to the adult system and those who were sent to youth facilities. In both cases, the majority committed a violent crime like aggravated robbery or sexual assault, and had one or no previous juvenile court cases Texas Tribune

Why The Police Solution Rate to Home Burglaries is Slipping ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Abraham waited three hours for a police officer to show up after someone broke into his home in 2009. He filled out a report and never heard anything, says the Austin American-Statesman. "It's not cool to feel like police don't even care," he says. Last year, there were more than 8,000 reported burglaries in Austin, and typically only 5 percent of them will end in arrest, with the victim's items being returned. The national average is 10 percent. Critics say there's more that could be done by the department to track down or follow up with burglaries, but police say a lack of staffing is keeping them from solving more. With 14 crime scene technicians on staff, police can only respond to about 45 percent of reported burglaries. Officers are trained to collect some evidence, however it's common for the more experienced crime scene technician to be called out, said Tim O'Brien, a property crime technician for the police department. He said he works on three to four burglaries a day. Because the clearance rate, or percentage of burglaries solved, is slipping, police should allocate more resources toward solving burglaries, said Kim Rossmo, who researches geographical patterns in crime at Texas State University in San Marcos. He said police in other jurisdictions have technology installed in pawn shops so that when a stolen item is sold, they are automatically alerted. Rossmo said burglars move from one neighborhood to another quickly , making them even more difficult to track down. "(Police) are responding mostly to data, and that's already too late," Rossmo said. "If you want to catch a burglar, you have to understand how they work." Austin American-Statesman

Are DUI Checkpoints a Good Idea? Depends On Who You Ask ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Are police DUI checkpoints worthwhile/ USA Today raises that question. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says they reduce alcohol-related crashes, and the Supreme Court has ruled that they are constitutional. Still, a dozen states don't allow them. "DUI checkpoints are proven to be effective at deterring drunk drivers," says Barbara Harsha of the Governors Highway Safety Association. "The goal is not to write tickets or make arrests but rather to remind the public that they should drive sober or face serious consequences." Some experts say checkpoints are less cost-effective than rolling patrols, in which officers drive around and look for people driving drunk. "They freeze up a certain amount of resources standing out there on the side of the road. They tend to tie up traffic," says Prof. Dennis Kenney of John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "That said, they do catch some drunk drivers, especially if they set them up in places where they're difficult to avoid." Riverside County (Ca.) Sheriff Stanley Sniff, whose office made 491 DUI arrests at 83 checkpoints in 16 cities last year, says: "Random patrols are still the most effective. We make light-years more arrests on random patrols than at checkpoints." USA Today

Child Pornographers Using Social Media to Evade Probers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When federal investigators raided Brian Rubenaker's Seattle home, they found he was trading in child pornography. The Washington Post says that just as disquieting as the photos of sexual abuse was the computer program that Rubenaker, 45, was using. Federal investigators said this was the first time they had come across the Google Hello program, a now-defunct instant messaging system for photos, in a child-pornography case. Links from Rubenaker's computer produced hundreds of leads that spanned continents. The years-long investigation into shadowy groups on Google Hello and the Multiply social network showed that pedophiles are using powerful encryption tools in social media and other programs to share child pornography illegally. Child-porn rings are using a simple - but highly effective - tool to keep prying investigators at bay. Would-be ring members are asked to share photographs and videos of children being sexually abused in order to gain entry. Because sharing child pornography is a crime - it re-victimizes abused children - law enforcement officers are prohibited from offering images and videos in sting operations. As a result it is becoming more difficult to monitor child-porn rings. Washington Post

Criminologists Brief Congress Staff on Importance of Police Research ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Criminology associations brought an academic police expert and two police officials to Capitol Hill yesterday to brief congressional staff members on the importance of criminal justice research in developing effective policing strategies. Criminologist Geoff Alpert of the University of South Carolina described studies on the causes of a dramatic increase in driving-related officer fatalities. Deputy Seattle Police Chief Clark Kimerer spoke on police partnering with researchers to develop a better understanding of crime "hot spots." Lt. Michael Spochart of the U.S. Capitol Police said partnerships between researchers and police departments "bring nothing but good to the community." The event was organized by the Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy Coalition of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) and the American Society of Criminology (ASC). Panelists, including Dean Todd Clear of the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice and Melissa Barlow, president of ACJS and a professor at Fayetteville State University, stressed what they called the critical role grant-making and data-gathering roles of the U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Bureau of Justice Assistance.

TN Police Motoryclists in 100th Year: a "Full-Contact Sport" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Memphis' police motorcycle patrol unit is celebrating its 100th anniversary, says the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Its members "are a special breed," said Memphis police Col. Mary Newsom, who oversees it. "It's a very dangerous job. They do it because they love it." Maj. Greg Quinn, who commands two shifts of motorcycle officers, each with seven patrolmen and one lieutenant, calls the job "a full-contact sport." The motors unit also performs dignitary and other escorts. They provide security at movie sets. The unit is also used for traffic control and enforcement, accident investigations and sometimes to bolster the city's precinct patrols. Perhaps most importantly, they aim radar at speeders in school zones. The officers have to complete a two-week intensive training school, and have to be able to perform a set of difficult maneuvers on the cycle. Only about one quarter of those who want to be motor officers make it through training. Memphis Commercial Appeal

"Green Rush" Prompts WA Battles Over Medical Pot Dispensaries ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As Washington's state legislature appears poised to legalize and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, cities in the Seattle region are not waiting for state action, says the Seattle Times. At least four have moved to shut down a combined 35 dispensaries since February. Three other cities have passed or debated outright moratoriums on dispensaries. Those actions aim to rein in an uncontrolled boom - a "green rush" - in medical-marijuana dispensaries. Dozens of dispensaries have emerged from the shadows since early 2010 to apply for business licenses and insurance and to form lobbying groups. The crackdown is driven in part by a little-noticed memo from a municipal-insurance risk pool, which emphatically stated that dispensaries are illegal and not entitled to business licenses. It is not a universal opinion. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg in Seattle believes dispensaries are legal and necessary to help patients. He pointed to charges his office filed yesterday against three people for an armed takeover-style robbery at a dispensary last Saturday as evidence that dispensaries need regulation, including security requirements. Seattle Times