28 April 2011

After TX Cop Killed, Chief Sends Two Officers on Domestic Violence Calls ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An investigation into the fatal shooting of a rookie Arlington, Tx., police officer has led to the firing of a dispatcher, the resignation of a 911 call taker, and a temporary change in how police officers will respond to domestic assault calls, reports the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. While authorities say the errors made by the dispatcher and call taker did not contribute to officer Jillian Michelle Smith's death -- reporting that "there was nothing officers or dispatchers could have done to change the tragic outcome of this incident" -- they say communication failures and policy violations at the 911 Dispatch Center jeopardized other officers' lives. The 24-year-old officer was shot in the head on Dec. 28 by Barnes Samuel Nettles, a registered sex offender with a long criminal history, who also killed his ex-girlfriend Kimberly Deshay Carter before turning a gun on himself. Carter's 11-year-old daughter, who was at the apartment, escaped unharmed. Fire Chief Don Crowson found serious missteps that meant that police checking on Smith's welfare were not warned that she had been shot and that the gunman could still be at the apartment. Police Chief Theron Bowman said that for the time being, at least two police officers will respond to all domestic assault calls, even ones where the assailant has reportedly left the scene. Previously the policy was to dispatch one officer to low-priority calls, but Bowman said the department would review its policies and procedures to "see what lessons there are to be learned." Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

2,515 Human Trafficking Probes Reported In 2 1/2 Years ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most suspected incidents of human trafficking investigated between January 2008 and June 2010 involved allegations of adult prostitution (48 percent) or the prostitution or sexual exploitation of a child (40 percent), the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reported today. More than 90 percent of the victims were female and most of the confirmed suspects were male. The study involved 2,515 incidents of suspected human trafficking investigated by federally funded task forces, led primarily by local law enforcement agencies. Although most incidents involved allegations of sex trafficking, 350 involved allegations of labor trafficking in unregulated industries such as drug sales, forced begging, or roadside sales or more commercial businesses such as hair salons, hotels, and bars. U.S. Justice Department

With Gasoline Prices Rising, Thefts Are Increasing, Too ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the price of regular gasoline averages $3.88 a gallon, up $1.02 from last year and likely to climb higher, people increasingly are pumping gas and driving off without paying, stealing from other motorists, and ripping off large quantities from municipalities and businesses, reports USA Today. Gasoline thefts cost convenience store operators, which sell 80 percent of the fuel in the U.S., more than $90 million in 2009. "No question that's up," says National Association of Convenience Stores spokesman Jeff Lenard. "Any business that still allows you to pump gas first and then pay can be taken advantage of." Pump-first, pay-later gas outlets are mainly in the Midwest and West, where some chains, such as Maverik, are seeing increases in gas "drive-offs." The firm's Nancy Couch says drive-offs total about 1 percent of sales and typically increase as gas prices rise. In Moorhead, Mn., Police Chief David Ebinger is stepping up patrols to combat rising thefts at Stop-N-Go outlets. In Conover, N.C., 280 gallons of fuel were stolen from eight trucks at Penske truck rental USA Today

First U.S. Grants to Get Men Involved in Preventing Intimate Violence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women is awarding $6.9 million to 23 projects in the Engaging Men in Preventing Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking grant program. It is the first time in the agency's history that a grant program directly encourages men to be part of such prevention efforts. The funding recipients include non-profit non-governmental victim services agencies; non-profit community based agencies; state domestic violence or sexual assault coalitions; an institution of higher education; a unit of local government; a tribal coalition; and a tribal non-profit victim services agency. The agency said it has an "ongoing commitment to support gender and culturally specific education on healthy relationships and strengthen existing community outreach efforts to men and boys." U.S. Department of Justice

Houston Spends $27 Million Per Year On Mental Care in Jail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In Houston's Harris County Jail, where a quarter of the 10,000 inmates receive constitutionally required mental health services for their diagnosable psychiatric conditions, Sheriff Adrian Garcia expects the numbers to grow, says the Houston Chronicle. "The cuts that we're hearing about are incredible," he said. "It's almost as if these people were invisible, as if there were no awareness of the problem within communities across the state of Texas, and particularly in Harris County." The jail already has more than 1,000 inmates housed in jails outside the county because of space problems. An influx of the mentally ill would exacerbate the problem. The jail has a special unit with 108 beds for the severely mentally ill. Nurses and doctors are on duty 24 hours a day. Taking care of the mentally ill behind bars instead of in the community, Garcia said, costs Harris County taxpayers about $27 million a year. In Bexar County, where Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz runs one of the most successful jail diversion programs in the nation, some 4,000 people with mental illnesses ended up in treatment last year instead of behind bars. Those diversions are credited with saving the county more than $15 million in 2009-10. San Antonio is the only police department in the country where the police chief has mandated an intensive 40-hour crisis-intervention training program for all officers. Despite those efforts, "our jail is still packed with inappropriate people," said Leon Evans of the county's Center for Mental Health Services. Houston Chronicle

L.A. Eliminates Big Backlog Of Untested Rape Kits ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After 2 1/2 years chipping away at a backlog of DNA evidence that had been collected in thousands of rape cases and then was ignored, Los Angeles officials announced that all of the potentially crucial material had been analyzed, says the Los Angeles Times. In late 2008, then-police chief William Bratton acknowledged that more than 6,000 pieces of DNA evidence had sat untouched in LAPD storage freezers - some for longer than a decade - as the department's badly understaffed lab fell far behind on the workload. Police officials cobbled together several million dollars in federal grants, public funds. and private donations to cover the costs of outsourcing the testing to private labs. The mayor and police officials also pressed the City Council for permission to set aside funds to add more analysts to the LAPD's lab despite a citywide hiring freeze. Current Chief Charlie Beck he did not know how many new identifications and arrests have been made because of the backlog testing, but put the total in the "dozens." Los Angeles Times

NJ High Court Says Police Must Retain Investigative Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New Jersey Supreme Court has barred law enforcement officers from destroying notes they take while interviewing witnesses, victims, and suspects, saying defense attorneys should be allowed to view them so they can challenge official police reports, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. The decision, by a divided court, addresses the decades-old struggle of defense attorneys looking for possible errors, omissions, or inconsistencies that could help their clients. When asked for their notes, officers often say it's their department's policy to destroy them once the official report is written. The ruling is the latest of a number of decisions critical of cops' note-taking procedures. For the first time, the court imposed sanctions and includes notes about officers' observations at a crime scene as part of the list of documents that can't be destroyed. "We need not take much time to state, once more, that law enforcement officers may not destroy contemporaneous notes of interviews and observations at the scene of a crime after producing their final reports," temporary justice Edwin Stern wrote for the majority. "Logically, because an officer's notes may be of aid to the defense, the time has come to join other states that require the imposition of 'an appropriate sanction' whenever an officer's written notes are not preserved." Said Jon Shane of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, "What you're talking about is accountability. That's what the Supreme Court is imposing on policing. It's saying you can't have policing in a half-hearted manner. It has to be in a systematic manner." Newark Star-Ledger

Charges in Phoebe Prince Bullying Death Case Being Reduced ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a case that made international headlines, five of the six defendants charged in connection with the bullying last year of a teenage Massachusetts girl who later committed suicide have agreed to admit to a misdemeanor, and in exchange prosecutors will drop more serious charges against them, the Boston Globe reports. The teen accused of bullying 15-year-old Phoebe Prince will be allowed to admit to the lesser crime of harassment. Prosecutors say three teens were angry with Prince because of her relationship with a teen boy, and said they relentlessly taunted her in person and on Facebook. Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox said, "The district attorney wanted to make a strong statement and draw a line in the said, which she did. But for so long, we ignored and tolerated bullying. And to say at this point, 'OK, we're going to throw the book at you' is the wrong approach. This is the better outcome." Boston Globe

In Wave of Portland Shootings, Gang Worker Urges Adult Action ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fed up by recent shootings in Portland, gang outreach worker John Canda put out this call for action on his Facebook page, The Oregonian reports: "I need 100 strong men who are not afraid to stand with me in the streets of Portland to speak with youth who are robbing, stealing, selling drugs and gang banging who are shooting up our neighborhoods and killing each other. This needs to end now!" Last night, he urged the 33 who attended his first meeting to help him walk the city streets at night and on weekends to talk to teenagers so they don't resolve their disputes with guns. Canda's efforts come amid a wave of shootings, and three teenagers killed since March 19. Gang violence response team officers have been called to crime scenes 27 times this year, compared to 20 by the end of April 2010. Last year, the team had 93 call outs for gang-related violence, up from 68 in 2009. Canda has been doing gang outreach for more than two decades. He said he is motivated by the desire to keep his family and community safe. Building relationships with the teenagers, he acknowledged, won't happen overnight but needs to be a sustained effort. The simple presence of adults in the city's hot spots could help deter the violence, he argued. "We have to be in the places they are," Canda said. "You're not going to be able to round up a group of kids and, take them up to the precinct and say, 'OK, tell us whatever you know.' " The Oregonian

Utah Failed to Supervise Parolee Committing $27 Million Fraud: Suit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A group of investors is suing Utah, alleging the state failed to supervise a convicted felon on parole who defrauded them out of $27 million, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. Richard Ames Higgins, 63, formed Madison Real Estate Group in 2005 after serving a prison sentence for fraud. Despite multiple convictions, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole failed to enforce conditions of his parole, which included having his employment approved by a parole officer and a prohibition on handling other people's money, charges the lawsuit. "We hear repeatedly from Utah officials decrying Utah's reputation as the nation's 'fraud capital,' " says the lawsuit by attorney Marcus Mumford. "This action seeks to hold the state responsible for its own acts and omissions in allowing one of the more notorious and recent Utah frauds." Mumford said the state was negligent in not supervising Higgins and also didn't respond to a letter demanding compensation, thereby waiving any immunity protections from lawsuits. The people who filed suit told the state in 2008 that Higgins may have violated his parole, and it was revoked. He was released again in March 2010. Salt Lake Tribune

Montana Maintains Maximum Life Penalty For Distributing Pot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Get caught passing marijuana to a friend in Montana and you could end up facing life in prison, in theory, at least. In reality, says The Missoulian, "Nobody is ever going to ask for life in prison, ever," said Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul, who prosecutes drug cases. Brant Light, who heads the Montana Department of Justice's Prosecution Services Bureau, said that while the while the state laws "do not differentiate between substances or amounts, the reality is judges by and large are not sentencing young, first-time offenders to prison for selling small amounts of marijuana. For first-time offenders, probation is typical, says the Public Defender's Office. The fact that the penalty remains on the books rattles marijuana proponents. Montana's law is among the toughest in the nation, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. In Oregon, California, and Ohio, for instance, "gifts" of small amounts of pot are violations or misdemeanors. And many states take the amount involved into consideration when it comes to the sale and distribution of marijuana. Alabama has a potential life sentence for marijuana offenses, but only for selling to minors, or trafficking more than 1,000 pounds. Montana's U.S. attorney, Michael Cotter, says he would prosecute businesses unlawfully marketing marijuana. The Missoulian

FBI Lacking In Expertise To Investigate Cyber Attacks on U.S. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many FBI agents assigned to an elite cyber investigative unit lack the skills needed to investigate cases of cyberespionage and other computerized attacks on the U.S. says a Justice Department inspector general's report quoted by the Christian Science Monitor. The U.S. is under increasing cyberattack, with 5,499 known intrusions into U.S. government computer systems in 2008 alone, a 40 percent jump from 2007. More than a third of agents in various FBI field offices told the inspector general "that they lacked the networking and counterintelligence expertise to investigate national security [computer] intrusion cases." "There are about 1,000 security people in the U.S. who have the specialized security skills to operate at world-class levels in cyberspace - we need 10,000 to 30,000," Jim Gosler, founding director of the CIA's Clandestine Information Technology Office, told the private Center for Strategic and International Studies. Christian Science Monitor