St. Paul Takes New Approach To New Gang Members: Invite Them In ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ St. Paul police gang investigators had been tracking violence involving a group called the 18th Street gang for more than a year when new information deepened their resolve: 11 girls were to be "jumped in" to the gang April 18. They executed 17 search warrants on homes of people associated with the gang, but police decided to take a different approach from arresting them all, Paul Iovino, who heads the gang unit, tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Instead, police invited the teens and young adults, along with their families, to an informational meeting at the Neighborhood House, a West Side social services agency. "The message was, 'Parents, your kids are involved in gang activity, and it's not acceptable and won't be condoned in the city of St. Paul,' " Iovino said. Various community organizations were on hand to talk about resources for getting the young people out of gang life, he said. As for the girls who were supposed to be initiated into the gang, Iovino said, "To the best of our knowledge, we think we did thwart it. |
Michigan Reports Heroin Use Surge; A Quick, Easy High ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michigan is reporting a surge in heroin use, says the Detroit News. The number of people seeking treatment in state-sponsored programs has nearly doubled since 2003. The number of uninsured people treated for heroin at Genesee County Community Mental Health ages 18-29 increased sixfold to 28 percent since 2003. The state-funded agency for substance abuse services refers uninsured, underinsured and Medicaid recipients to facilities and programs for treatment. "It's a pretty huge increase," said Kristie Schmiege, director of substance abuse services for the agency. It may come down to economics: It's a quick, easy high at $10-$20 a hit. A boy, 19, died from a heroin overdose recently; a boy, 22, died after taking Opana, a drug similar to morphine. The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health said that 180,000 people used heroin for the first time in the previous year - "significantly more" than the average annual number reported from 2002-08. The spike is due partly to higher opiate production in places like Afghanistan and Mexico, Schmiege said. "It's very available." |
Did P. Diddy, New York Rangers Also Get Cheap Police Escorts? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After Charlie Sheen's 80-mph Washington, D.C., police escort downtown from Dulles Airport, New York City officials are investigating reports that P. Diddy left a Manhattan concert Friday surrounded by New York police cars with flashing lights. Last weekend, the Washington, D.C., escorted the New York Rangers to and from the playoff game at the Verizon Center, reports the Washington Post. The three incidents run counter to official policies that reserve motorcades for security purposes. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said police escorts are only for the president, vice-president or others who require "extra-ordinary protective measures." New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the New York Post: "The bottom line is the police department should treat everybody exactly the same. If you don't get a police escort, P. Diddy shouldn't." Turns out police escorts come cheap: Sheen's promoter paid $445.68 for his escort, and the hockey team ponied up $840. |
Greg Suhr Appointed San Francisco Police Chief ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ San Francisco Police Capt. Greg Suhr, a 30-year police veteran whose roller-coaster career has included command of two of the city's toughest station houses and an indictment for allegedly conspiring to obstruct justice, is Mayor Ed Lee pick to be police chief, says the San Francisco Chronicle. Suhr, 52, replaces Jeff Godown, who has been acting chief since early January when George Gascon moved over to become district attorney in the final hours of former Mayor Gavin Newsom's administration. Suhr's most recent command was in the high-crime Bayview district, where homicides have dropped nearly 50 percent since he took over as station-house commander in October 2009. "I feel very good about this. It's the best choice. We definitely have a leader," said Lee, who repeatedly interviewed each of the three finalists sent to him by the Police Commission before making the call over the weekend. The other finalists were Cmdr. Daniel Mahoney, who had no experience running station houses, and an outsider whose name has not been revealed. |
Cincinnati Whittles Police Chief Candidates to 10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A list of 45 candidates who applied to be Cincinnati's top cop has been winnowed to 10 - four internal candidates and six external - including one who retired from his rank as chief just weeks ago, amid scrutiny over how he handled the death of a police recruit during a training exercise, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Bruce Marquis retired as chief in Norfolk, Va., on April 1 after police recruit John Kohn died during a training exercise. Marquis' acting replacement alleged Marquis lied about how the department handled the case. Other finalists include Reading, Pa., chief William Heim, Brian Jordan, a retired police captain from Washington, D.C., John King, who resigned as Gaithersburg, Md., police chief, Louis Vega, a former assistant chief in Miami, and James Craig, police chief of Portland, Me. The remaining four candidates are internal, including Lt. Col James Whalen, son of the former Police Chief Lawrence Whalen. |
Reported Florida Crime At Lowest Level In 40 Years ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reported crime in Orange County, Fl., tumbled by double digits last year, the largest decrease in Central Florida, says the Orlando Sentinel. "We have accomplished this by focusing our efforts on community policing initiatives that reduce the prevalence of street drugs by arresting repeat offenders and by taking over 1,000 firearms off the streets," said Sheriff Jerry Demings. Statewide, overall crime decreased by 6.6 percent, reaching a 40-year low and prompting Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey to declare public safety a "Florida priority." University of Central Florida sociology department chair Jay Corzine is not surprised by the local decrease. He said husband-and-wife pair Jerry Demings and Orlando Police Chief Val Demings have been "proactive" leaders of the two largest law-enforcement agencies in Orange County. "They work to take illegal guns and drugs off the street," Corzine said. Crime has steadily decreased since it peaked in 1988, when Florida was in the midst of a crack-cocaine epidemic and violence soared. |
Homicides, Nonfatal Shootings Rise in Detroit During 1st Quarter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The number of homicides and nonfatal shootings in Detroit were up during the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2010, while several other crimes saw declines, reports the Detroit Free Press. Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. said he wants to be open about the city's crime statistics. An event yesterday was the first in a series of quarterly reports he plans to give to the community. "We have to get well beyond egos and how things look," Godbee said. Lt. Dwayne Blackmon, who heads the police homicide unit, said there had been 67 homicides during the first quarter, up from 60 last year. The department reported 91 homicides through April 17. Two dozen of those killings happened in just over two weeks this month. Through April 17, there were 306 fewer reported robberies, 874 fewer burglaries, 1,147 fewer assaults and 32 fewer rapes than in the same period last year. Godbee said that, as the department's manpower shrinks, calls will have to be prioritized. |
Inmates Still Use Typewriters, but Federal Prisons Introduce Email ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Debunking a report that the world's last typewriter factory is closing, The Daily Feed newsletter says the Moonachie, N.J.-based Swintec produces typewriters in China, Japan, and Indonesia, and one of its best markets is U.S. prisons. "We have contracts with correctional facilities in 43 states to supply clear typewriters for inmates so they can't hide contraband inside them," says the firm's general manager, Ed Michael. "We even make clear cassette ribbons for them." Swintec makes slightly different typewriters for different facilities, depending on an institution's specific regulations. New York State permits inmates 7K of memory, Washington State allows 64K, and Michigan lets prisoners have 128K machines. For the most restrictive institutions, Swintec manufactures typewriters with no memory. Even in prisons, typewriters may lose the battle to email. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has started an inmate computer system called TRULINCS. It lets inmates send and receive email (up to 13,000 characters) at dedicated kiosks without allowing them access to the Internet. It is expected to be fully up and running in all BOP facilities by June. On the state level, Washington -- one of Swintec's customers -- is also experimenting with email, which prisons director Dan Pacholke asserts "reduces smuggling threats and costs less to process and read than paper mail." |
Ex-Dallas Chief, Running for Mayor, Won't Take on Burglar Alarm Issue ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dallas mayoral candidate and former police chief David Kunkle opposes required police response to business burglar alarms, but won't take the issue on as a politician, fearing a tough-on-crime backlash, says Scott Henson in his Grits for Breakfast blog. While Kunkle was chief, he cited the 97 percent false burglary alarm rate and said that false alarm dispatches are the single greatest waste of U.S. law enforcement resources. Henson says "this is an instance where tuff-on-crime politics interferes with good public policy and common sense. The small minority being subsidized by police responses to alarms are extremely vocal and well-organized by alarm companies." As chief, Kunkle said that the 86 percent of Dallas citizens and businesses without burglar alarms were subsidizing alarm responses for the 14 per cent who have them. |
Resentencing Hearing Ordered for PA Death Row Inmate Abu-Jamal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams will appeal a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals yesterday awarding convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal a new sentencing, says the Philadelphia Daily News. Abu-Jamal, 57, was convicted in 1982 of killing police officer Daniel Faulkner and was sentenced to death. The appeals court says there should be a new sentencing hearing because death-penalty jury instructions were misleading. Judith Ritter, a Widener University law professor who represents Abu-Jamal, said the state had "long ago abandoned the confusing and misleading instructions and verdict slip" that were relied on at Abu-Jamal's trial in order to "prevent unfair and unjust death sentences." Williams said that the jury instructions were "fair and appropriate" when Abu-Jamal was sentenced and that he has "to apply the laws that were in place" in 1982. Yesterday's ruling was the latest in a 29-year legal drama that is likely to continue for years. Abu-Jamal has become a cause célèbre among foes of capital punishment |
Las Vegas Leads Urban Counties In Death Penalty Cases Per Capita ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Las Vegas's Clark County has more pending death penalty cases per capita than any other urban county in the U.S., according to Paola Armeni of Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Using her numbers, which District Attorney David Roger is not disputing, Clark County has 80 defendants facing pending trials in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, writes Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Jane Ann Morrison. Maricopa County, Az., is No. 1 with about 130 pending death penalty cases, but that county has twice the population of Clark County. Armeni believes that District Attorney Roger seeks the death penalty often as a negotiating tool. Public Defender Phil Kohn attributes the high number to Roger's refusal to negotiate with defense attorneys for life without parole in exchange for dropping the death penalty. Roger countered it's because the crimes warrant the death penalty under Nevada law, which spells out the aggravating circumstances where death is appropriate. What isn't disputed? Death penalty cases are more expensive because there are different standards when a life is at risk. The defendant gets two attorneys, and more research and investigation is required |
University Moves Russian Lit Class to VA Juvenile Prison ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Of all the names that have echoed off the walls of Virginia's Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center over the decades, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky are among the least likely, says the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Beaumont, since 1918 the home for some of the state's most dangerous youths, this year hosted a University of Virginia Russian literature class attended by 14 U.Va. students and 21 high- and medium-security offenders. The classic 19th-century stories served as vehicles for conversation about contemporary issues for two groups of students who at first glance appear to be peers in age only, said instructor Andrew Kaufman. "Even though the common ground here is the discussion about literature, what makes the conversation so interesting is that they're really conversations about life," he said. "I think they're discovering that great literature can be, and is, relevant, personally, to an unusually wide range of people." Every week, Kaufman and his students - most of them women - passed through chain-link gates and reinforced, electrically operated security doors to get to the classroom. The university funded the course, called Books Behind Bars: Life, Literature and Community Leadership. Bayly Buck, a senior from Chevy Chase, Md., said students were extremely curious about Beaumont. "These men genuinely wanted to take part in these discussions and they wanted to learn from us and I think they wanted us to learn from them," Buck said. |
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Articles for 27 April 2011
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