Nonfatal Workplace Violence In 2009 Was 1/4 Of 1993 Total ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The level of nonfatal violent crime in U.S. workplaces in 2009 was about a quarter of the total in 1993, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics said today. More than 572,000 nonfatal violent crimes-rape, robbery, or assault-occurred against persons age 16 or older while they were at work or on duty in 2009. Workplace homicides fell 51 percent from 1,068 in 1993 to 521 in 2009. Law enforcement personnel, security guards, and bartenders had the highest rates of nonfatal workplace violence. About one-fifth of workplace violence from 2005 through 2009 consisted of serious violent crime, compared to almost two-fifths of nonworkplace violence and violence against persons not employed. Strangers committed about 53 percent of nonfatal workplace violence against males and about 41 percent against females. Data on nonfatal violence in the workplace are from the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey. Findings on fatal violence in the workplace are based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries |
Boston Antviolence Program Yet To Cut Homicide Total ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Next week, experts from six cities will gather at a Washington, D.C., 'summit' to discuss tackling the national epidemic of youth violence. An approach used by one of those cities-Boston-is already sparking debate, says The Crime Report. When deadly gun violence happens in Boston, the killing zone is mostly concentrated along a four-mile North-South route in the city named Blue Hill Avenue. And it affects for the most part one segment of the population who are either perpetrators or victims-young men between the ages of 16 and 24. Those two facts have focused the minds of people determined to find a way to curb an epidemic of death by guns that has plagued Boston for nearly a decade. The solution seemed logical: develop an intervention program that targeted both the Blue Hill Avenue neighborhoods where most of Boston's gun homicides were occurring, and the youthful population that was responsible. With help from the Boston Foundation, StreetSafe Boston was launched in the summer of 2009 to do exactly thatĪ²€•but with a controversial added feature. Twenty former gang members were hired to work in so-called "hot-zone" neighborhoods where young men tend to meet insults with gunfire, and gunfire with revenge. The short-term results were not promising. By the end of 2010, the number of Boston homicides not only failed to dropĪ²€•it increased to a worrying new high of 72. That continued an upward trend from the year ending in December 2008, when 63 homicide victims were recorded-more than half of them under the age of 30. |
Some Texas Private Jails Struggle To Fill Their Cells ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. is supporting a $3 billion private prison industry, says NPR in the second in a series. In Texas, there are more for-profit prisons than any other state. because of a growing inmate shortage, some private jails cannot fill empty cells, leaving some towns wishing they'd never gotten in the prison business. The west Texas farming town of Littlefield borrowed $10 million and built the Bill Clayton Detention Center in a cotton field in 2000. For eight years, the prison was a good employer. Then the for-profit operator, GEO Group, left. One hundred prison jobs disappeared. The facility has been empty ever since. Still, Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest private prison operator, says the demand for its facilities remains strong, particularly for federal immigration detainees |
New FL Corrections Chief Buss Seeks Big Prison Overhaul ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed Buss, a low-key Midwesterner, has taken the Florida Department of Corrections by storm as he sets about reforming and revitalizing the nation's third-largest prison system, a place long hostile to change and where outsiders are viewed with suspicion, reports the St. Petersburg Times. Gov. Rick Scott promised to shake things up, and nobody on his new team is pushing more change more quickly than Buss, a 45-year-old Army veteran who ran Indiana's prisons. In just six weeks, Buss has called for a major financial commitment to helping prison inmates re-enter society so they will be less likely to return to prison; fired more than a dozen highly paid administrators, proposed a 5 percent pay cut for all wardens and the privatization of prison health care programs; banned smoking by an estimated 60,000 inmates, urged the legislature to abolish mandatory minimum prison sentences in some cases, proposed that corrections officers switch from eight-hour days to 12-hour shifts to cut down on commuting costs and give more officers more weekends off, and suggested closing three prisons to cut costs and improve efficiency |
CO Probation Reviewed After Much Violence During Supervision ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the past nine months, 10 Colorado felons were charged with murder or attempted murder for crimes that authorities said were committed while they were supposed to be under the supervision of state probation officers, the Denver Post reports. The crimes include the March 18 fatal shooting of a college football player, the killing of a sheriff's deputy, and the death of a 16-year-old girl who was mutilated. Three felons, none of whom were allowed to possess firearms as a condition of their probation, shot at police officers, wounding two of them. As legislators discuss ways to reduce expensive prison populations, perhaps putting more people on probation, the rash of probationers charged with new crimes raises questions about whether the state is effectively balancing the responsibility of rehabilitating offenders with public safety. "I know how serious and upsetting it is to us - especially the officers in the field - when cases end tragically like this," said Tom Quinn, director of the state's Division of Probation Services. The department will consider conducting formal reviews of cases in which probationers commit new violent crimes, something it currently does not do. |
After Murder, Parents Sue Facebook Over Photo, Seek Victim Cooperation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The parents of an aspiring teacher who was strangled on New York City's Staten Island are suing Facebook over a gruesome photo of their murdered daughter that an EMT posted on the site, reports the New York Daily News. Ronald and Marti Wimmer filed suit over a photo taken by EMT Mark Musarella after the 2009 murder of their daughter, Caroline, 26, in her apartment. A man is serving a 25 years-to-life sentence for the murder. Musarella, 46, leaded guilty to official misconduct and was stripped of his EMT certification and sentenced to 200 hours of community service. The suit wants Facebook to turn over the picture, identify those who viewed or downloaded it and destroy images in its possession. The lawsuit is also seeking a court mandate that Facebook cooperate with victims in the future. Facebook said it would fight the lawsuit. |
Lobbying Push On Reagan Shooting Anniversary Not Going Far ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wednesday is the 30th anniversary of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. Gun-control advocates, including wounded press secretary Jim Brady, will launch a renewed push for curbs on guns. Once again, chances are they won't get very far, McClatchy Newspapers report. The public remains sharply divided over gun rights vs. gun control. Gun-rights groups, led by the National Rifle Association, dramatically outspend gun-control organizations on campaign donations and lobbying. "People are sensitive to the issue of gun violence because of the Giffords shooting [ ] but the gun issue is down on Congress' list of priorities, given high unemployment and two and a half wars," said Darrell West of the Brookings Institution. Brady and his wife Sarah will visit the White House today and Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby for tighter curbs on firearms. Other than the 1993 "Brady Bill," which requires background checks for purchasers from federally licensed gun dealers, "not much has been done in the last 30 years," says Brady campaign chief Paul Helmke |
NY Times Publishes "Deeper Portrait" of TX Gang-Rape Victim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times, which received criticism over its coverage of a Cleveland, Tx., girl, 11, who was repeatedly gang-raped last year, has published a front-page follow-up story on the case. Police say the girl was raped at least six times. Nineteen boys and men, ages 14 to 27, have been charged. The Times says that court documents and dozens of interviews with the girl's family, her friends and neighbors, as well as those who know the defendants, "provide a more complete picture of what occurred as well as a deeper portrait of the victim." The case have raises questions about how a girl might have been repeatedly abused by many men and boys in a tightly knit community without any adult intervening until sexually explicit videos of the victim began circulating in local schools. A local pastor says, "You can be awake and see things and still not do anything." |
More States Mull Decongestant-RX Rules to Fight Meth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several states faced with surging methamphetamine problems are weighing contentious bills that would require a doctor's prescription for popular decongestants like Sudafed, reports the New York Times. The drugs contain pseudoephedrine, the crucial ingredient in methamphetamine. Police say efforts to keep them out of the hands of meth cooks have failed. Tennessee police seized nearly 2,100 meth labs last year, 45 percent higher than 2009 and more than any other state. The proposals are meeting stiff resistance from drug makers and pharmacy groups, who say they would place an undue burden on cold and allergy sufferers. They are promoting other bills that would help the police monitor pseudoephedrine sales with interstate electronic tracking. "We can't change lives just to stop these weirdo people," said Joy Krieger of the St. Louis chapter of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, who is fighting a prescription-only bill in Missouri. |
Georgia TV Surrender Highlights Police-Criminal Tensions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The death of Jamie Hood's brother to a police bullet in 2001 and Hood's dramatic surrender Friday in Athens, Ga., after a four-hour hostage standoff offers a provocative timeline of rising tensions between police and street criminals in the last decade, leading to more bloodshed on the beat even as violent crime has decreased, says the Christian Science Monitor. After being approached by two police officers investigating a carjacking, Hood allegedly opened fire and escaped, leaving one officer dead and another seriously injured. Police tracked Hood to an apartment. As he held eight women and children hostage, Hood demanded that TV cameras cover the surrender because he was afraid he'd be gunned down by police. The drama in Athens unfolded at a time when many experts believe that there's a brewing "war on cops," given a spike in the number of police officers killed in shootouts over the past 18 months |
Feds Could File Manslaughter Charges in BP Oil Spill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Federal prosecutors are considering whether to file manslaughter charges against BP managers for decisions made before the Gulf of Mexico oil well explosion last year that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history, reports Bloomberg News. Investigators are examining statements made by leaders of companies involved in the spill - including former BP CEO Tony Hayward - during congressional hearings last year to determine whether their testimony was at odds with what they knew. Charging individuals would be significant to environmental-safety cases because it might change behavior, said University of Maryland law Prof. Jane Barrett. "They typically don't prosecute employees of large corporations," said Barrett, who spent 20 years prosecuting environmental crimes at the federal and state levels. "You've got to prosecute the individuals in order to maximize, and not lose, the deterrent effect." The Justice Department has opened criminal and civil investigations into the spill, which began after an April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig |
After International Attention, High Court Rejects Troy Davis Case ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, whose persistent claims of innocence attracted the support of death penalty opponents around the world and forced a series of extra hearings to investigate his case, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Davis was sentenced to die for the 1989 shooting death of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. He has avoided execution dates three times by persuading a new court to examine his case. In 2009, Davis persuaded the high court to take the unusual step of ordering a federal judge to reexamine Davis' case from top to bottom. The conclusion: "new evidence casts some additional, minimal doubt on his conviction, it is largely smoke and mirrors," federal judge William Moore said. |
This project is set up to let users post and discuss articles that are involved with Criminal Justice. Everyone is free to post their ideas or opinions.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Articles for 29 March 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment