10 April 2012

April 10, 2012   Today's Stories

Tulsa Murder Suspects Confess; Clergy Calmed Potential Racial Strife ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The two Tulsa men arrested after a 17-hour manhunt over the weekend confessed to a series of Good Friday shootings, three of which were fatal, reports the Tulsa World. Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 33, were arrested Sunday. They told police they each committed two shootings. A judge set each man's bail at $9.16 million. As word spread Friday that a white gunman had killed three black residents, fear also spread that the shootings could spark racial unrest and retaliation. Those fears were addressed Friday night at a meeting of about 20 lay and clergy church leaders called by Warren Blakney, the minister of the North Peoria Church of Christ. Blakney said he thinks the actions of the faith community had a calming effect on what could have been an explosive situation. "I feel that had we not addressed it and gotten on top of it quickly, the situation could have gotten out of control, and it could have become a very difficult time for the city of Tulsa," said Blakney, who is president of the local NAACP chapter. Tulsa World

No Grand Jury, No First Degree Murder Charge in Martin Killing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Critics who have demanded that George Zimmerman be arrested for killing Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, waited another day yesterday as a special prosecutor said she would not take the case to a grand jury, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The move means that prosecutor Angela Corey will not charge Zimmerman with first-degree murder, which requires a grand jury indictment. A manslaughter case would carry a maximum sentence of 30 years. Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said Trayvon's parents remain "hopeful that a decision will be reached very soon to arrest George Zimmerman and give Trayvon Martin's family the simple justice they have been seeking all along." Zimmerman shot Martin on Feb. 26, telling police he acted in self-defense. He had called police, identifying Trayvon as suspicious, then got out of his SUV and followed him on foot. Orlando Sentinel

Georgia Lawsuit Challenges "Stand Your Ground" Law ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A federal lawsuit asks that Georgia's "stand your ground" law be struck down because it's vague and could result in a disproportionate number of minorities being shot, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Markel Hutchins said in his suit that Georgia's law does not specify what circumstances justify deadly force being used in cases of self defense. "It is not clear what actions would create 'reasonable belief' that deadly force is necessary," said the suit. "An individual seeking to stand their ground and assert self-defense has no way of knowing if their 'reasonable belief' comports with the standards protected by the law and [they] want to ensure that they do not subject themselves to criminal penalties." The suit says that some courts have "accepted the race of a victim as evidence to establish the reasonableness of an individual's fear in cases of justifiable homicide." Hutchins said in those circumstances the law does not equally protect him and other African Americans. For more than a century, courts nationwide have said people have a right to "stand their ground" and use deadly force in certain circumstances. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

2011 Police Officer Killing Toll Highest in Nearly Two Decades ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As violent crime has decreased, rising numbers of police officers are being killed, says the New York Times. The FBI says 72 officers were killed by perpetrators last year, a 25 percent increase from 2010 and a 75 percent rise from 2008. Last year was the first time that more officers were killed by suspects than car accidents, says the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The number was the highest in nearly two decades, excluding those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. While a majority of officers were killed in smaller cities, 13 were killed in cities of 250,000 or more. New York City lost two officers last year. On Sunday four were wounded by a gunman in Brooklyn. "In this law enforcement job, when you pin this badge on and go out on calls, when you leave home, you ain't got a promise that you will come back," said Sheriff Ray Foster of Buchanan County, Va. Two of his deputies were killed in March 2011 and two wounded - one of them paralyzed - by a man with a high-powered rifle. "That was 80 percent of my day shift," he said. New York Times

NRA Meets in St. Louis; Romney, Santorum, Gingrich to Speak ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About 70,000 National Rifle Association members are gathering this week in St. Louis, five years after the group's last meeting in that city, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Republican candidates Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich all plan to pump their Second Amendment pedigrees during a forum Friday. Other speakers include NRA favorites Oliver North and Glenn Beck. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam says the group is back so soon for three big reasons: St. Louis is centrally located, has enough hotel rooms and attractions, and hosted a successful event in 2007. The NRA won't meet in some cities. "Chicago is a notoriously anti-gun city," Arulanandam said. "We refuse to spend our tens of millions of dollars in places like that." The NRA must contend with St. Louis' prohibition against carrying concealed weapons into public buildings, including America's Center, where the convention is being held. Gun-control advocates will hold a rally outside the convention on Saturday. St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Study Analyzes Police Officer Memory After High-Stress Incidents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Moments after completing a traffic-stop training, Hillsboro, Or., police officer Dave Morse remembered clearly that the "suspect" suddenly pulled out a semi-automatic pistol. What he didn't remember is a key component of a national study in Hillsboro that drew more than 90 police officers from 22 agencies in Oregon and Washington, The Oregonian reports. Morse didn't remember flinching or hearing shots, or dashing behind a vehicle for cover, or jumping out to fire shots. It wasn't until he watched a video of his performance that he realized the discrepancy between his memory and what actually occurred. The way high-stress incidents affect an officer's memory is part of the study funded by the Force Science Institute of Mankato, Mn. and documented by the Canadian Discovery Channel. After traumatic incidents, some officers remember things that didn't happen. Some don't remember things that did happen. Others confuse the sequence of events. "What we find is that officers will have a lot of memory gaps," said Alexis Artwohl, a retired police psychologist and national expert on police stress. The Oregonian

WI Law Expands Officials' Access to Juvenile Criminal Records ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Under a new Wisconsin law, police, prosecutors, and judges will get faster, electronic access to juvenile criminal records, which should result in more accountability for juvenile criminals, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill yesterday. State Sen. Alberta Darling said she sponsored the bill because law enforcement's lack of access to juvenile records meant young criminals often got a ticket and were released to the streets although they had a prior record in the juvenile system and should have received harsher penalties for escalating offenses. The law will provide judges, prosecutors, and others in the system access to juvenile records, giving them a more complete picture of a defendant. One unknown is how much it will cost to implement the law. Start-up costs of a website would be $100,000. If a system of user IDs and passwords were created, a full-time staffer would be needed to administer it. There would be an annual cost of $15,000 to maintain a new system. Darling saw the need for the law in the Journal Sentinel's investigation into the case of Markus Evans, who faced few consequences as his violent behavior escalated. He was arrested at age 7 when he stabbed a teacher with a pencil. At 14, he shot his cousin in the back and spent 14 months in a juvenile facility. Two years later, he killed a 17-year-old girl who was walking home from school. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

FBI Analyst Sues, Says He Unfairly Missed Agent's Job by One Pushup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An FBI intelligence analyst in Chicago who allegedly missed becoming an agent by a single pushup has filed a gender-discrimination lawsuit alleging that the FBI's fitness test is flawed and biased against men, reports the Chicago Tribune. Jay Bauer, a Northwestern University doctoral graduate, joined the FBI in 2009. He passed a fitness test before entering new-agent training at Quantico, Va., where he scored at or near the top of his class in everything from firearms training to academics, he says. Trainees must pass another fitness exam at the FBI Academy. Men must complete at least 38 situps in a minute and do 30 untimed pushups. Male candidates also must sprint 300 meters in 52.4 seconds and run 1.5 miles in 12 minutes and 24 seconds. Bauer allegedly fulfilled all the other requirements, but after managing to do only 29 pushups, he was forced to resign from agent training. He took an FBI analyst's job in Chicago, where he'd already relocated his wife and two young children. His attorneys argued that a female trainee who scored near the bottom of the class in firearms proficiency was given another attempt at the fitness test, but Bauer wasn't. They also argued that the FBI's fitness standards - which before 2003 required men to do 25 pushups - are comparatively harder for males. Chicago Tribune

Prosecutor Opposes Ex-OH Police Chief's Sex-Offense Expungement Plea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For 11 days in 2003, Jeremy Alley served as the top cop in the village of Elmwood Place, Oh. Then he was branded a sex criminal, says the Cincinnati Enquirer. Alley was busted for using his police department computer to proposition someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl - but Alley was actually online chatting with a police officer pretending to be a teen. Now Alley wants a judge to wipe away his five sex-related convictions. In a rare move, prosecutors are fighting Alley's expungement request. The situation is unusual, says prosecutor Scott Heenan: "It's not every day you have a police chief do this and then later try to erase it." Heenan sees 500 to 1,000 felony expungement applications each year. He allows at least 90 percent of them to pass without a challenge. Alley, now 35, told the court that he now is employed as a paralegal and in retail sales Cincinnati Enquirer

California Prescription-Drug Database Not Effective Because It's Optional ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ California's prescription-drug database has not put a dent in drug abuse because enrollment is optional, reports The Bay Citizen. Of more than 30,000 doctors and pharmacists in the San Francisco Bay area, only 86 are signed up to use the system. Doctors say the system is slow and cumbersome and lacks the ability to analyze data systematically. The program shut down in November because of state budget cuts; it's back online now. Mike Small, a former administrator from the Investigation and Intelligence Bureau at the Department of Justice who inherited the task of running the California system from a former staff of 13, said that in just its third year, the system is already "old and falling apart." He added, "Doctors don't want to spend 10 minutes waiting when they have a patient in front of them." Sixteen states use their prescription monitoring programs to send reports proactively send to pharmacists and prescribers about patients who appear to be doctor shopping, said a 2011 survey of state programs. Eight states send such reports to law enforcement agencies, and seven states send reports to licensing agencies. The Bay Citizen

Wireless Carriers to Help Police in Crackdown on Cellphone Thefts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The nation's largest wireless carriers agreed to help federal regulators and local law enforcement crack down on cellphone theft by creating a centralized database to identify stolen phones and render them useless, the Washington Post reports. Within six months, consumers will be able to call Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile if their devices are stolen and the carriers will block the phones from being used again. Cellphone theft has been rampant. More than 40 percent of robberies in New York involve smartphones. In Washington, D.C., 34 percent of all robberies are of cellphones, and cellphone theft increased 54 percent between 2007 and 2011. Some carriers shut down voice and data service of stolen phones on request. They will use unique identifiers to keep track of stolen phones on their network. Within 18 months, companies will combine those individual databases in an effort to contain the widespread and fast-growing trade of stolen wireless devices inside and outside the U.S..The Federal Communications Commission announced the industry effort with D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier and New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. Washington Post

Carbon Exits U.S. Office of Violence Against Women; Hanson Steps Up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beatrice (Bea) Hanson has been named acting director of the United States Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). Hanson replaces Susan Carbon, who has stepped down to move back to New Hampshire. Hanson serves as the liaison between the Department of Justice and federal, state, tribal, and international governments on crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. The office has an annual budget exceeding $400 million. Hanson had been serving as principal deputy director of the office. In a a message announcing her departure after two years, Carbon cited the agency's work on the reauthorization of the federal Violence Against Women Act as well as "our innovative homicide reduction initiative, elevating the discourse of sexual violence to a new level, the new [Uniform Crime Report] Summary Reporting System definition of rape, launching the Sexual Assault Demonstration Initiative (SADI), exploring reform for family courts wrestling with domestic violence, our expansion of work in the international arena." U.S. Department of Justice