Newark's Garry McCarthy To Lead Chicago Police ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chicago mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel today will introduce Newark, N.J. , police chief Garry McCarthy as Chicago's new police superintendent, gambling that McCarthy's big city experience will overcome the fact that he is another outsider, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. McCarthy replaces Jody Weis, a career FBI agent who rank and file police officers never accepted because they viewed him as an outsider who didn't have their backs. McCarthy, who will celebrate his 52nd birthday later this week, demonstrated that he is keenly aware of the morale problems he is inheriting. He told the Sun-Times that he would not put on the Chicago Police Department's uniform without first earning the right to do so by being certified as an Illinois law enforcement officer. Police Board President Demetrius Carney said McCarthy walked a beat and commanded three separate New York City precincts before becoming the chief architect of the Big Apple's crime control strategy. "He is an outsider. But this time, that outsider is not from the FBI. This is an outsider who understands policing and understands the plight of beat patrol," Carney said. |
Text Messages Can Help Solve Crimes, But They Disappear Quickly ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With an estimated 5 trillion text messages being sent around the globe this year, phone companies no longer store the messages or do so for only a few hours or a few days. This can be a problem for law-enforcement officers trying to track down missing people or criminals, reports the Columbus Dispatch. "Anytime I can't get enough information to solve a case, that's an issue for me," said Brance Johnson of the computer-crimes unit of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation. Sometimes, by the time authorities realize that they need to see text messages and try to get subpoenas or court orders seeking them, the messages are gone. Cellphone technology can aid investigators in some instances. In the recent case of triple-murderer Sammy Littleton II in Ohio, when Tiffany Brown, 26, the daughter of Littleton's live-in girlfriend disappeared, police asked Verizon to find her phone. Using signals from tower locations, the company got a hit. Police were able to get some of Brown's text messages, showing that Littleton had lured her to his home on the day she was last seen. When police found Brown's body hidden in Littleton's basement, he was on the run. He killed two more before he was arrested. |
Despite NRA Warnings, Guns Not Likely A Big 2012 Issue ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National Rifle Association will try to remain relevant in the 2012 presidential election, with a Democratic president who has not made gun control a priority and many NRA members expecting gun issues to take a back seat to the economy, health care, and foreign policy, the Washington Post reports. At the group's annual meeting in Pittsburgh this weekend, NRA leaders and potential Republican candidates warned members again and again from the stage that a second term would give President Obama free rein to restrict gun rights. "What do you lose if President Obama wins?" asked NRA chief lobbyist Chris Cox. "You tell me. What if he appoints just one more anti-gun justice to the U.S. Supreme Court, and we go from one-vote victories to one-vote defeats for generations to come. What's that going to cost?" On the convention floor, amid dozens of stalls exhibiting hunting gear, high-powered binoculars, and guns of every size and shape, NRA members said they think issues other than guns are likely to drive the vote. "I'd be surprised if they're an issue at all," said Steve Miller, 61, a photographer and competitive pistol shooter from Harrisburg, Pa. "The Democrats spent all their fire on health care, and now, nobody will touch guns. If they do, it's a death knell." |
At NRA Convention, Gingrich Warns of "Anti-Gun Judges" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While polling and legislative action suggest that the clout of gun control advocates has reached a modern nadir, speakers at the national convention of the National Rifle Association portrayed themselves as besieged patriots under continuing assault from media and liberal elites, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Virtually no left-wing politician is left who thinks he can pass legislation that affects the right to bear arms," said former House Speaker and potential presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. But he sounded an alarm against "a stealth strategy in which they combine anti-gun judges with anti-gun international treaties [in an attempt] to strip us of our rights by judicial fiat." Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the highest profile Democrat who spoke to the gathering. He urged the group to work toward a bipartisan approach to firearms issues. |
NRA Won't Talk To Gun-Control Protest Group ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About 150 advocates of tighter gun laws called up the National Rifle Association, holding its convention in Pittsburgh over this weekend, to open a dialogue about ways to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and the mentally ill, says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Let's Talk," was the theme of the protest, "Nobody is protesting against guns, nobody is saying the NRA doesn't have a right to exist," said Max Nacheman of CeaseFirePA. "We're talking about finding a way to make it harder for criminals to get guns. It's a simple message." In a letter sent to the NRA, published in local newspapers and printed on a mobile billboard, anti-violence groups called on the NRA to meet with them while in Pittsburgh to discuss the removal of what they consider flaws in the national instant criminal background check system and the plugging of loopholes in the law. The NRA did not respond, sparking the protest. "It's not about the Second Amendment, it's about common sense," said Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper. "We're the best country in the world, but we don't act like it when it comes to guns |
Did Chicago Public Housing Tenants Spread Crime? Data Don't Show It ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It has been asserted so widely for so long that it is accepted as fact: When Chicago's public housing projects came down, many of their former residents moved into middle-class South Side neighborhoods and brought crime with them, says the Chicago News Cooperative. Whether it is true remains the subject of an intense and sensitive debate more than a decade after city officials began razing high-crime public housing properties, forcing 25,000 households to relocate as part of a vast redevelopment effort dubbed the Plan for Transformation. Long-time residents and leaders in some historically stable neighborhoods on the South Side say an influx of former Chicago Housing Authority tenants has brought economic decline and a rise in violence to those areas. But available city statistics don't support that claim. In fact, they show that the rate of violent crime is dropping across the South Side. Still, there are anecdotal reports of frequent gunfire. "Last Saturday night I could hear the shooting from my house," said Tony Washington, a 35-year resident who works in Internet marketing and sales. "It's gotten so I start to dread when the weather gets warm." |
In Test, Massachusetts Court Opens Its Doors To Social Media ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starting today, most of what happens in a bustling courtroom in Quincy, Ma., District Court, including murder arraignments, traffic, and drug cases, become fodder for a new experiment: how bloggers and other citizen journalists can cover courts using new media and social media. reports the Associated Press. The court proceedings will be streamed live over the Web for anyone to see. The courtroom, which in the past has not allowed reporters to even computers, will now welcome laptops, iPads, and smartphones, and will encourage live blogging, Tweeting, and Facebooking. The court's website is http://opencourt.us It's part of an experiment court officials hope will help establish guidelines for courts as they grapple with how to use digital technology and how to accommodate citizen journalists and bloggers. While many states allow cameras in courtrooms and some stream supreme court arguments online, the Quincy project is unusual because it will continuously stream live, unedited court proceedings all day. The courtroom will be unusually welcoming to bloggers and citizen journalists with a special seating section and Wi-Fi connection. "In the past, reporters were the connection to the nation's courts, but with the changes in the media landscape, there are just less and less journalists who are that bridge to the public," said John Davidow of the "OpenCourt" project. The Quincy project is funded by a $250,000 grant through Knight News Challenge to Boston's National Public Radio affiliate WBUR. |
NV Governor's Budget Shift Endangers Mental Health Courts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Las Vegas' mental health court has kept mentally ill people out of jails and emergency rooms after committing crimes ranging from petty larceny to assault, but it could vanish July 1, says the Las Vegas Sun. That's because Gov. Brian Sandoval's call for shared sacrifice to help solve the state's budget deficit would kill such courts in three counties. Advocates argue that Sandoval's proposal to make counties, rather than the state, fund mental health courts won't work because the counties are strapped for money. Among those leading the outcry is Judge Jackie Glass, who helped start Clark County's mental health court in 2003 after it received seed money through a federal grant. Since the court was established 107 participants have graduated from the program. "It's a shame that the governor didn't put that funding in the budget," Glass said. "The individuals who would be helped will have a very difficult time receiving treatment." That, she said, would lead to more recidivism |
Private Firms Pushing To Get Piece of TX Inmate Health Care ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Efforts by private companies to get a piece of Texas' nearly $1 billion prisoner health care system are continuing as companies make sales pitches to lawmakers and seek changes in state law to authorize privatization, reports the Austin American-Statesman. Some legislative leaders are chafing about the push, saying the idea has not been studied or vetted publicly - and is being advanced by outside interests even though neither the House nor the Senate has embraced it. "There is a push on to change the system we have, a system that is cost-effective and is a national model, even before we know whether there will be any real savings," said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden. Under current law, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center provide health care to Texas' 154,000 imprisoned felons. Skeptics say Texas could be embarking on the next privatization boondoggle. "Privatization usually means significantly higher costs and poorer care," said Tom Smith, Texas director of Public Citizen, a government watchdog group |
Improving Police-Community Relations a PERF Meeting Topic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Unfortunately, communities disproportionately affected by crime are those" with the most strained relationships with police, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told reporters during the Police Executive Research Forum annual meeting in Seattle, reports the Seattle Times. To improve those relationships, people need to see "us as legitimate in our ability to enforce laws fairly and impartially," he said. To that end, there's a growing movement now under way in policing, said Newark Chief Garry McCarthy. "The fact is, we're in the process of constructing the next iteration of police work," he said. "Initially, police were very reactive," responding to crimes after they'd been committed, he said. "Then proactive policing came in, and we talked about preventing crime. The next step is preventing crime in concert and with the blessings of the community. It's where we're going as a profession." |
Few Prosecutions In Fraudulent U.S. Tax Refund Cases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For thousands of taxpayers sorting out the mess left by identity thieves who filed for tax refunds in their names, chances are poor that the fraudsters will be punished or even pursued, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Prosecutions for identity theft-related tax fraud are rare. The Internal Revenue Service has pursued just 412 such cases nationwide since 2007. Each investigation may represent multiple victims, but the total is still a small fraction of all the taxpayers affected by the crimes.Since January 2010, the IRS has identified and stopped more than 166,000 fraudulent refunds using stolen identities. Two congressmen from South Florida last week called on the IRS to place a higher priority on the issue after reports in the Sun Sentinel. One victim, Debbie Nichols, called the Social Security Administration "to let them know someone was using my Social Security number and the guy said, 'Why are you calling us?' '' she said. "This is fraud. This is a felony, and nobody cares,'' Nichols said. |
Little Surprise, Outrage When MO Sheriff Arrested for Meth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The New York Times tells the story of Tommy Adams, who for two troubled years was sheriff of rural Carter County in southeastern Missouri until his arrest last month on charges of distributing methamphetamine. In a place where distrust of law enforcement has always run deep, the story of a sheriff enabling the scourge he was supposed to fight has not provoked outrage. Many local residents are accepting it, even sympathetically, as another disappointing chapter as a hopeless fight. "We all know who does what, how they do it and when they do it," said David Bowman, a school maintenance worker and mayor of Ellsinore. "You just turn your head and go on. |
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Monday, May 2, 2011
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