24 Jan 2012

January 24, 2012 Today's Stories

Audit Produces Sweeping Changes at Cincinnati's Police Department ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Residents will get a new police department, said Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig, with more police patrolling the streets, more deference to crime victims and community input, and a less "quasi-military" atmosphere within its ranks, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. The sweeping changes are based on a top-to-bottom, 144-page review of the police department by an independent consultant. Craig, who took over in August, already ordered some of the changes, like transferring 50 officers back to street patrols beginning Sunday. A committee of officers will set a timeline for implementing other ideas in the report, though not all ideas will be applied. The reforms drew praise Monday from those affected by crime, community and city leaders, and union officials. Kathy Harrell, president of the Fraternal Order of Police applauded the shift of more officers to patrol and said for the first time in a long time, officers feel like their opinions count. "I think this has been very long overdue," she said of the two-month long audit completed by Massachusetts-based Strategic Policy Partnership. Cincinnati Enquirer

Can Melodee Hanes Save The Federal Juvenile Justice Agency? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Melodee Hanes could be in for a long haul as acting administrator of the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, says the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. The Obama administration appears in no hurry to fill the position permanently, and legislation to remove Senate approval for the OJJDP administrator passed the Senate but is stalled in the House. The agency has had its budget slashed nearly $150 million by Congress in recent years. Former colleagues say Hanes, a one-time prosecutor and law professor, is uniquely qualified to make the most of a job hamstrung by its lack of permanence. Still, "a permanent administrator has more power and clout," said Marion Mattingly, Washington editor of the Juvenile Justice Update. "It makes a huge difference." Mattingly worries that OJJDP's budget cuts and lack of permanent leadership signal the beginning of the end for the federal agency that promotes best practices in the states' juvenile justice systems. "The program has not been reauthorized for years," Mattingly said. "There are those who think it could be dead." Juvenile Justice Information Exchange

Los Angeles Seeks Ways to Cut Costly Police Traffic Accidents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Despite the training Los Angeles police get in how to speed safely through traffic, they are an accident-prone bunch, says the Los Angeles Times. Police were involved in traffic accidents more than 1,250 times in the last three years - an average of about one a day. Some resulted in life-threatening injuries or totaled police cars, or were the result of the officer violating traffic laws. In at least two incidents, the driver of another car was killed. Traffic accidents represent nearly one out of every four lawsuits filed against the department. The city has paid nearly $24 million in settlements or verdicts in about 400 police traffic-related lawsuits over the last nine years. In all but a few of the closed cases, city officials opted to pay a negotiated settlement instead of taking their chances at a trial - a strong indication that the officers were in the wrong. "It is a top priority for us to get a comprehensive risk management plan in place, and addressing traffic accidents has to be a big part of that," said Richard Drooyan, president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, the board that sets police policy. "We need to look at what kind of training, supervision and policies could be implemented to prevent these accidents." Los Angeles Times

Sex Offender Count Rises, But How Many of Them Are Dangerous? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says the number of registered sex offenders in the U.S. has risen by nearly a quarter in the last five years, says Jacob Sullum of Reason magazine. The total is 747,408, up from 606,816 in 2006. That was the year when Congress enacted the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (currently up for reauthorization), which imposed new requirements for state sex offender registries and created a national database incorporating information from those registries. Ernie Allen of the missing children center says registration "is a reasonable measure designed to provide important information to authorities and to help protect the public, particularly children." His group does not say how many of the 747,408 people listed on sex offender registries are predatory criminals who actually pose a threat to public safety, probably because it does not know, says Sullum, who adds that, "the usefulness even of properly focused registries is debatable, since Justice Department data indicate that almost nine out of 10 sex crimes are committed by people with no records for that kind of offense." Reason

Feds Did OK In GPS Case, Warrant May Not be Needed: Analysis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The federal government did far better in the Supreme Court's GPS tracking case than has been generally recognized, says attorney Tom Goldstein of Scotusblog.com. Goldstein believes federal investigators are "more likely than not to prevail in a later case in which [they install] a GPS monitor without a warrant and tracks the individual for only a couple of days." The alignment of justices importantly leaves two questions unanswered, Goldstein says: First, does the "search" caused by installing a GPS device require a warrant? The answer may be no, given that no member of the court squarely concludes it does and four Justices who join the Samuel Alito concurrence do not believe it constitutes a search at all. If no warrant is required for installation, is a warrant required for short-term monitoring of the GPS device? Again, the answer may be no, as the majority conspicuously avoids addressing this issue and four members of the Court squarely say that the answer is "no." Justice Sonia Sotomayor alone says that this scenario "will require particular attention." Scotusblog.com

The Imprisonment vs. Crime Debate: Roman vs. Murray ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Criminologist John Roman of the Urban Institute takes issue which Charles Murray, who writes in an American Enterprise Institute blog post that "higher imprisonment was the necessary condition for 100 percent of the reduction in violent crime" over the past 20 years. Roman says that, "Murray's analysis is a textbook example of how to mislead with statistics." Roman says the fact that the imprisonment rate has risen since 1980 "is not a good thing, as Murray would have you believe, but a very bad thing-it's what economists refer to as diminishing marginal returns to imprisonment. Every year since 1980 we have had to lock up a lot more people to maintain the same amount of violence, which means prison is getting less and less cost effective." Roman also contends that "with some mathematical sleight of hand, Murray claims to compare prison and violence, when what he actually compares is violent offenses to prisoners per violent offense. Roman says that overstates the relationship between crime and the prison population. Urban Institute

Expert: Curb "Irresponsible" Homeland Security Spending Without Risk Checks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a new book, John Mueller of Ohio State University and Mark Stewart of the University of Newcastle in Australia urge a better cost-benefit analysis of rising U.S. homeland security costs. Mueller tells The Crime Report: "The question is not 'Are we safer' but 'How safe are we?' If the chances are actually one in 3.5 million per year of being killed by a terrorist, then the question is how much safer do you want to be, and how much money do you want to spend?" A two-year National Academy of Sciences study couldn't find any good risk analyses of U.S. homeland security spending that passed muster, says Mueller. "And that's pretty shocking.Just on domestic expenditures, [the increase] has been over a $1 trillion since 9/11. That doesn't include the wars overseas. Spending that money without knowing what you're doing is pretty irresponsible." The Crime Report

Sen. Paul Detained by TSA; Ron Paul Denounces "Police State" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he was detained by the Transportation Security Administration in Nashville when he refused to submit to a pat-down after setting off a body scanner, reports Politico.com. He missed a flight and a speech at an anti-abortion rally as a result. The TSA denied detaining Paul, but the senator said, "I was told not to leave a cubicle and when I did step outside the cubicle I was sort of surrounded and put back in the cubicle. Seems a little bit like I was being detained." Paul said he went through the same screener once his flight was rebooked and did not set it off. Paul's father, Ron, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, said he would eliminate the TSA if elected. "The police state in this country is growing out of control," Ron Paul said. "One of the ultimate embodiments of this is the TSA that gropes and grabs our children, our seniors, and our loved ones and neighbors with disabilities. The TSA does all of this while doing nothing to keep us safe." Politico.com

Nearly 1,500 NYC Cops Were Shown "Wacky" Anti-Muslim Terrorist Film ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nearly 1,500 New York City police officers were shown "The Third Jihad," a film warning of Muslim terrorists, says the New York Times. The police department offers no apology for aggressively spying on Muslim groups and says it has ferreted out terror plots. City Council members, civil rights advocates, and Muslim leaders say the department has trampled on civil rights, blurred lines between foreign and domestic spying ,and sown fear among Muslims. Said Faiza Patel of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, which learned of the extensive showings through a Freedom of Information request, "The police have shown an explosive documentary to its officers and simply stonewalled us." A film clip of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly appears in the film, but a Kelly spokesman, who had called the film "wacky," said the commissioner has not asked the filmmakers to remove him from its Web site or to clarify that he had not cooperated with them New York Times

"We Have a Cultural Blind Spot" About Male Rape Problem--Expert ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Even years after the disclosure of the still-unfolding child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and the arrest of a former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach accused of sexually abusing boys, male rape victimization it is rarely discussed - virtually taboo, experts say, because of societal notions about masculinity and the idea that men are invulnerable and can take care of themselves, says the New York Times. "We have a cultural blind spot about this," said David Lisak, a clinical psychologist who has done research on interpersonal violence and sexual abuse and is a founder of 1in6, an organization that offers information and services to men who had unwanted or abusive sexual experiences as children. Until just a few weeks ago, national crime statistics on rape included only assaults against women and girls committed by men under a narrow set of circumstances. Now they will also include male victims. One Justice Department report found that 3 percent of men, or one in 33, had been raped. Some experts believe that one in six men have experienced unwanted sexual contact of some kind as minors. Male rape victims "have high rates of P.T.S.D. and depression - but the majority don't get help," said Dr. Saba Masho, the lead author of a Virginia study on the subject and an associate professor of epidemiology and community health at Virginia Commonwealth University. New York Times

Why WA Sex Offender Costs Are So High: Continued Case Delays ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Washington State sex offenders routinely postpone their trials for years, driving up costs, and wasting money, the Seattle Times says in the second in a series. Their defense lawyers seek multiple continuances and file challenges to Washington's civil-commitment law, which allows the state to lock up the most dangerous sex offenders after they complete their prison sentences. Scheduling conflicts among lawyers, forensic experts, and judges also contribute to delays. Taxpayers foot the bill, paying for both sides of the case, including state attorneys, defense lawyers, paralegals, investigators and psychologists. Last year, the Special Commitment Center spent $12 million - almost a quarter of its budget - on legal bills. Kenneth Chang, a lawyer at The Defender Association who represents sex offenders, said on paper it looks like the defense is asking for all the continuances, but the state typically agrees with the delays. "The state will suggest, 'We're not going to ask for a continuance, but if you ask for it we won't object' - wink wink," he said. "There is a public interest of trying to get these resolved, and I believe that needs to happen sooner than later." Seattle Times

Pre-2006 Sex Offenders Don't Have to Register Under U.S. Law: High Court ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sex offenders do not need to register if they were convicted before enactment of a 2006 federal law, unless the attorney general makes that specific finding, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday, says Courthouse News Service. The ruling offers relief to Billy Joe Reynolds who pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly failing to register and update a registration, in violation of the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Reynolds had spent four years in prison years earlier stemming from his 2001 conviction of a Missouri sex offense. Though Reynolds registered as a Missouri sex offender when he got out of prison, he moved to Pennsylvania in 2007 without updating his Missouri registration information or registering in Pennsylvania. SORNA became law in July 2006, but it was not for another seven months that the attorney general issued interim rules applying the registration requirements to "all sex offenders, including sex offenders convicted of the offense for which registration is required prior to the enactment of that act." Courthouse News Service