New, Fast FBI ID System to Replace 1999 Fingerprint Checks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For two years, some Houston street cops have been carrying a handheld device that instantly scans fingerprints and sends them to an FBI database in Clarksburg, W.Va., that contains 2 million prints belonging to terrorists, sex offenders, and criminals with outstanding warrants, says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "The worst of the worst," said John Traxler of the FBI's Next Generation Identification System, a $1 billion upgrade of the old fingerprint system, police from Houston and four other places have been testing as part of a pilot program. It seems to be working. Instead of booking someone and then waiting hours for a fingerprint match, the Houston cops can do it at the scene in about 3 1/2 minutes using a handheld scanner called Blue Check. Police arrested 176 people in 2009 by matching their prints with the FBI's Repository for Individuals of Special Concern. Under the old system, many of those 176 might still be out there committing crimes -- or preparing to. "Unless we had probable cause, if they refused to tell us who they are, it's quite likely that they would have been let go," said assistant Houston chief Vicki King. The RISC is just one facet of Next Generation. It will eventually replace the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS, that police have relied on since 1999. |
CA Wants Inmate Phone Service Provider To Block Cellphone Calls ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Frustrated by California's inability to prevent thousands of illicit cellphone calls made by inmates, state corrections chief Matt Cate is seeking help from an industry that has a big financial interest in his cause, the Los Angeles Times reports. Cate will offer a deal to companies that bid for the next contract to provide phone service for inmates: Install costly equipment that will block cellphone calls and see profits surge as prisoners use authorized services to connect with the outside world. "If cellphones are inoperable, the company will make more money," Cate said. Prisoners are supposed to use pay phones in their housing units to call people outside. They are charged collect call rates, and the conversations are recorded and monitored by prison staff. The proliferation of smuggled cellphones has reduced use of the authorized phones and the ability to monitor them; officials cannot afford the technology to block cellular signals. The contract for inmate phone service is up for renewal. Cate wants the winning bidder to pay the estimated $16.5 million to $33 million that it would cost to install "managed access" systems in all 33 state prisons. Prisoners' rights advocates say the plan would lead to financial exploitation of inmates and their families. A typical 15-minute call from an inmate costs about $2. "When the prison system gives the phone company a monopoly, they jack up the price," said Margaret Winter of the American Civil Liberties Union's national prison project. |
High Black Homicide Rate in Nashville Called "Crisis" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 2008, Tennessee had the nation's fifth-highest rate of black homicides, says a Violence Policy Center report quoted by The Tennessean. Nashville, with 42 black murder victims, had a rate higher than the state overall. In Nashville if you are African-American, you are four to five times more likely to be murdered than if you are white. While the rate of white homicides has declined over the past several years, black homicides have increased. The victims range in age from a newborn who was beaten to death to a 54-year-old man fatally shot in his car on his drive home from work. Motives vary: abuse, domestic problems, drugs, gang activity, robberies. Some were students, parents. Others were gang members and drug dealers. "We cannot wait until some prominent person gets killed or is the victim of a crime to wake up and say let's do something about it," said Councilman Jerry Maynard. "This is a crisis, and we have to have ownership by the entire community." |
Prominent OH Businessman, Wife Jailed in Mistaken ID ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A prominent Cleveland businessman and former school board member and his wife spent 20 hours in jail in a case of mistaken identity for which they have received no apology from authorities, says the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Charles and Patricia Geiger say Cleveland police conducted little to no investigation before arresting them at their home on charges of striking an off-duty police sergeant directing traffic outside a parking garage. They say the phalanx of officers that descended upon them refused to investigate their explanations before hauling them to jail. Police have all but admitted they had the wrong guy. Prosecutors filed a motion dismiss felonious assault and other charges against Geiger on a police investigator's recommendation more than two weeks after the arrest. Police have declined to comment on the misidentification. The Geigers wonder what happens to people wrongly accused of crimes -- and unlike them don't have the support system or resources to clear their name |
Another Casualty of Budget Cuts: Ohio Prison Watchtowers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Watchtowers at the only two Ohio state prisons that have them are targeted for shift changes or closing as part of the state budget cuts, says the Middletown (Oh.) Journal. A recent plan by Gov. John Kasich would change the number of shifts at one watchtower at the Lebanon Correctional Institution, a close-security prison, and close six watchtowers at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, a maximum-security prison. Kasich said the state could save more than $2.1 million by closing the watchtowers. A prison system spokeswoman said staffed perimeter towers are an obsolete means of maintaining security. "All of our close- and high-security prisons have state-of-the-art security systems and protocols," she said. "Both Lucasville and Lebanon facilities have redundant fence-alarm systems, in addition to an armed, roving vehicle that patrols the perimeters of the prisons." Kasich has made other proposals on where cuts could be made in the correction department's budget to help close the state's estimated $8 billion shortfall. |
SW Border Antidrug Enforcement Thwarted by High U.S. Demand ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The southwest border has become the nucleus of the U.S. and Mexican war on drugs, says the San Diego Union-Tribune. Thousands of law-enforcement agents are focused on traffickers' northward push of narcotics and the southbound flow of American guns and cash to fund and arm organized crime. Despite sophisticated intelligence, unprecedented cooperation between the U. S. and Mexico, and billions of U.S. dollars to pay for law-enforcement operations along the border and within Mexico, leaders of both countries are bedeviled by another part of the equation. Tremendous U.S. drug use is the fuel that drives the trafficking trade - and with it the murders of more than 35,000 Mexicans since 2007. Experts agree the cycle of crime and violence will continue as long as high consumption persists. "The U.S. government is acknowledging that the demand for drugs in the U.S. is driving instability and violence in Mexico," said Rafael Lemaitre of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "While you are enforcing the law and taking down violent drug organizations, at the same time you also have to educate every new generation of young people that drug use is harmful." |
Straw Buyers Fuel Illegal Gun Traffic From Texas to Mexico ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Illegal traffickers are using a sophisticated system of "straw buyers" at North Texas gun shows and gun shops to fuel the escalating drug wars in Mexico, reports the Dallas Morning News in an article available only to paid subscribers.. Federal statistics show that about 90 percent of guns seized by Mexican authorities in recent years were initially purchased in the U.S. |
Colombian Drug Lords Shifting Base to Central America ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Narcotics agents in Honduras discovered a major cocaine-processing complex last month in mountainous triple-canopy jungle near the border with Guatemala, McClatchy Newspapers report. It is a worrisome sign that Colombian drug lords are shifting their operations to the weaker countries of Central America. The jungle complex, the first large drug-processing laboratory found north of South America's Andean region, signals a major change in the cocaine business. Traditionally, the industry has processed leaves from coca plant in hidden labs in Colombia, then shipped the cocaine to North America and Europe. Now, some traffickers are shipping semi-refined coca paste to Honduras, where it goes through the final processing into white powder. The seized jungle lab almost certainly wasn't a one-time experiment by a major cartel. There probably are more such labs in Honduras and maybe Central America, said Honduras Security Minister Oscar Alvarez. |
Judge Says Baltimore Gun Registry Unconstitutionally Vague ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A judge ruled Baltimore's gun offender registry unconstitutional, calling into question one of the city's signature programs against gun violence, reports the Baltimore Sun. Judge Alfred Nance said the police department had "failed or refused to comply" with establishing clear regulations for the registry, which required people convicted of gun crimes to provide addresses and other information with the city every six months for three years. The judge also called the program, created in 2007, "unconstitutionally vague and overly broad." Registrants must provide "any other information required by the rules and regulations adopted by the Police Commissioner," language that Nance said appeared to give police "limitless discretion." The law was modeled after a registry in New York City, and supported by data showing that half of those charged with homicides in Baltimore had previous gun convictions. |
Most States Still Not Complying with Adam Walsh Sex Offender Law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The federal plan to track sex offenders more effectively is hitting resistance from states concerned about costs and reliability, reports the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act after the son of "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh, seeks to create a uniform national system out of a hodgepodge of sex-offender-registration laws in states. Proponents of the 2006 law say it will close loopholes that allow criminals to move from state to state undetected. States have until July 27 to comply or risk losing federal funds. Ohio, Delaware, South Dakota, and Florida have complied. Texas officials say their local laws are tougher than the new standards. The federal act "contradicts what our research over 30 years indicates," said Allison Taylor of Texas's Council on Sex Offender Treatment. "Public safety would not be enhanced." Linda Baldwin, director of a U.S. Justice Department office that helps states implement the act, said that while some states would have to track more offenders under U.S. rules, the law is often misunderstood and its burdens overstated. |
Could New York Killer of Prostitutes Be a Cop? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whoever killed four prostitutes and possibly four other people, duping their bodies in underbrush along a beachfront causeway on Long Island appears to have a sophisticated understanding of police investigative techniques, says the New York Times. Taunting phone calls to the teenage sister of one victim, possibly from the killer, came from crowded locations in New York City. The sites allowed the caller to blend into crowds so investigators would be unable to pick him out using nearby surveillance cameras. This, as well as the killer's use of disposable cellphones to contact the four victims who have been identified, suggested to some investigators that the killer was well versed in criminal investigative techniques and could even be in law enforcement himself. |
Feds Requiring Police Wearing of Body Armor to Get Vest-Buying Aid ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Justice Department is threatening to withhold federal aid to local police departments unless they adopt policies that require uniformed officers to wear body armor, reports USA Today. The requirement, as local agencies apply for as much as $37 million in federal aid to purchase bullet-resistant vests, comes amid a surge in fatal shootings of police officers. Jim Burch, acting director of the department's Bureau of Justice Assistance, said the new federal policy is in response to the spike in violence - a 44 percent jump in fatal police shootings over the same time last year - and research showing that 41 percent of police agencies do not require their officers to wear body armor. "What struck us is the number of agencies that don't have a mandatory policy, [ ] a potential huge vulnerability," Burch said. "If we're investing federal dollars, we should require agencies to have policies." Last year, the Justice Department distributed $37 million to reimburse 4,127 agencies large and small for the purchase of 193,259 vests. |
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Monday, April 11, 2011
11 April 2011
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