Record Low Support for Gun Control Found In Gallup Survey ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A record-low 26 percent of Americans favor a ban on the possession of handguns in the U.S. other than by police and other authorized people, reports a new Gallup survey. When Gallup first asked in 1959, 60 percent favored banning handguns. Since 1975, the majority of Americans have opposed such a measure, with opposition around 70% in recent years. This year's annual Gallup crime poll found support for a variety of gun-control measures at historical lows.or the first time, Gallup found greater opposition to than support for a ban on semiautomatic guns or assault rifles, 53 percent to 43 percent. In the initial asking of this question in 1996, the numbers were nearly reversed, with 57 percent for and 42 percent against an assault rifle ban. Congress passed such a ban in 1994, but the law expired when Congress did not act to renew it in 2004. When the law expired, Americans were about evenly divided in their views. Support for the broader concept of making gun laws "more strict" is at its lowest by one percentage point (43 percent). Forty-four percent prefer that gun laws be kept as they are now, while 11 percent favor less strict laws. As recently as 2007, a majority of Americans still favored stricter laws, which had been the dominant view since Gallup first asked the question in 1990. |
How Traffickers Exploit the Patchwork of State Gun Laws ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new report from Brown University illustrates how varying state laws regulating firearms impact interstate gun trafficking patterns. Using data on guns recovered in crimes, economist Brian White created a gun flow analysis for the 50 states, showing that guns tend to move from states with weak regulation to those with stricter laws, particularly when the states are in close proximity. |
Patriot Act 10 Years Old--Success or Civil-Liberties Violation? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The USA Patriot Act is 10 years old today, passed overwhelmingly by Congress weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, NPR reports. It's designed to give the FBI more power to collect information in cases that involve national security. In the last decade, civil liberties groups have raised concerns about whether the Patriot Act goes too far by scooping up too much data and violating people's rights to privacy. The American Civil Liberties union also is bothered by another part of the law, the sneak and peek provision. It lets FBI agents search a person's home or business with a judge's blessing, but without telling the person they're doing it. "We're now finding from public reports that less than 1 percent of these sneak and peek searches are happening for terrorism investigations," says the ACLU's Michelle Richardson. "They're instead being used primarily in drug cases, in immigration cases, and some fraud." Richardson says the Justice Department doesn't usually point to specific terrorism cases it built thanks to the Patriot Act, raising questions about whether the powerful law really works. "I think a number of provisions have been very useful," says Pat Rowan, who led the Justice Department's national security unit during the Bush administration. "But it's not so much that they can be isolated and pointed to and said, 'oh well this particular provision caused the government to discover a plot it otherwise wouldn't have discovered.'" Viet Dinh, the former Justice Department lawyer who wrote the Patriot Act, tells NPR that despite all the criticism from civil liberties groups, most people couldn't tell you what's in the law. "There's no question that the USA Patriot Act has become a brand if you will, a symbol of all the counter-terrorism activities after 9-11," he says. |
Mayors, Police Losing Patience With "Occupy" Demonstrations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few days after seeming to accept the idea of Occupy Oakland protesters camping outside city hall by saying "democracy is messy," Mayor Jean Quan ordered riot police to move in yesterday and scatter two city protest camps in the pre-dawn hours, says the Christian Science Monitor. In Atlanta, after originally giving protesters until Nov. 7 to clear out from a downtown park, Mayor Kasim Reed threatened to revoke that order on Monday. He said the relationship between the city and protesters had changed and campers are "on a clear path to escalation." While the original Occupy Wall Street protesters have won standoffs with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, other mayors are quickly losing patience with the protest movement, which drew inspiration from Middle East revolutions and anti-austerity protests in Europe as it spread to dozens of U.S. cities in recent weeks. Framing the confrontation as police overreach, protesters charged Atlanta's Reed with "malfeasance." One protest supporter, former City Councilor Derrick Boazman, called Atlanta police chief George Turner, who is black, a "Bull Connor" character in reference to the Birmingham, Al, police commissioner who cracked down on civil rights protesters. |
Bart Johnson Succeeds Dan Rosenblatt as IACP Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bart Johnson has been named executive director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the nation's largest police organization. He succeeds Dan Rosenblatt, who has stepped down after serving as IACP director for more than two decades. Johnson has been Principal Deputy Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He came to that department from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), where he was Director of Homeland Security and Law Enforcement. Johnson had spent 25 years in the New York State Police, where he served in narcotics-enforcement and counterterrorism leadership positions. He also has served as Vice Chair of the advisory committee to the U.S. Justice Department's Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative. Johnson's appointment was announced at this week's annual convention of the IACP in Chicago |
Arizona Police Agencies Are Hiring Despite Sluggish Economy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police departments across Arizona once again are hiring new officers despite the continued sluggish economy, reports the Arizona Republic. When the economy began to tank three years ago and agencies faced shrinking budgets, police hiring plummeted. Now small and medium-size police agencies are starting to hire more officers, though not nearly at the same level as in 2005. There are 40 recruits from 13 agencies in the current class at the Arizona Law Enforcement Academy in Phoenix, the state's largest police academy. Fifteen agencies have reserved all of the maximum 56 spots in the class that begins Nov. 28, and one more recruit is on a waiting list. Police officials haven't added any new positions. The vacancies came through attrition, or officers leaving a police department by retiring, resigning, or being terminated. The number of recruits who started training at the academy each year plummeted from 725 in 2005 to 79 in 2010. The numbers now are on the rise. So far this year, 121 recruits have started at the academy, and an estimated 55 more will start next month in the academy's final class of the year. |
Ex-FBI Profiler's Book May Make You Buy a Deadbolt Lock ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole wrote a book, "Dangerous Instincts," whose premise goes against everything humans want to believe about their hunches. Your gut instinct? It is wrong, says the Washington Post. The book takes anecdotes from O'Toole's serial killer investigations and exports them to suburbia, reading like a mash-up between a self-help manual and a Thomas Harris novel. What can O'Toole's experiences with the Baton Rouge Serial Killer teach you about analyzing the effectiveness of your decision-making? What can Phillip Garrido, the man who held Jaycee Dugard captive for nearly two decades, teach you about which sleepover invites your children should accept? O'Toole believes that that the most dangerous criminals often are the ones who come across as the most harmless. That's how they are able to continue harming people. "If there's a strange, dark figure in your yard, that's an easy one," O'Toole says. "You're calling the police." Boogeymen are rarely so neatly packaged. People put themselves in physical or emotional danger in dozens of less obvious ways every day, from sussing out an online dating profile to hiring a financial planner. Reading the book is likely to do one of two things, says the Post. If you tend to be lackadaisical about things such as door-locking, then the book will introduce you to the deadbolt. If you're already vigilant, then it will make you purchase a Navy SEAL dog with bionic teeth. O'Toole, who retired in 2009, and who lives in Stafford, Va., is the opposite of what one would expect a serial killer expert to look like, which, if you have read her book, means she's probably exactly what one should expect. |
Washington Post to Congress: Don't Cut Juvenile Justice Funding ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congress is threatening to cut federal grants to states and localities for effective programs in preventing juvenile delinquency or in dealing with youths who run into trouble with the law, says the Washington Post in an editorial. The fed have been spending $54 million on delinquency-prevention programs on the state and local level and $62 million to offset the costs of keeping incarcerated youths away from adults or to house them in youth-only facilities. These separation policies have helped to reduce the number of physical and sexual attacks on minors and shield youths from older and more hardened criminals. U.S. House appropriators would eliminate funding altogether for the delinquency-prevention component and cut the latter program by roughly one-third. The Post calls the Senate approach only slightly more palatable, with cuts of 27 percent and 38 percent, respectively, on top of significant reductions over the past decade. The Obama administration is asking for an $18 million increase for the first program and an $8 million boost for the latter. Delinquency prevention or diversion programs are significantly cheaper than incarceration. States spent between $66,000 and $88,000 in 2008 to incarcerate each juvenile offender, says the American Correctional Association. The incidence of such counterproductive punishment for nonviolent offenses "will almost certainly rise if these federal funds are cut further," the Post says. |
8 Current, Former NYC Cops Charged In Gun Running Case ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eight current and former New York City police officers were arrested yesterday and charged in federal court with accepting thousands of dollars in cash to drive a caravan of firearms into the state, which they New York Times called "an act of corruption that brazenly defied the city's strenuous efforts to get illegal guns off the streets." The officers - five are still on the force, and three are retired - and four other men were accused of transporting M-16 rifles and handguns, as well as what they believed to be stolen merchandise across state lines. The officers, most of whom worked in the same Brooklyn station house, were arrested by FBI agents and New York police investigators. The gun-trafficking accusations strike at the heart of one of the police department's most hard-fought and robust initiatives, and one that has been a central theme of the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg: getting guns off the city's streets. Bloomberg heads Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of 600 municipal chief executives. The arrests come at a difficult time for a department, the nation's largest municipal police force, already besieged by corruption accusations. |
Milwaukee Cops Not Penalized Heavily for Drunk Driving ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At least 35 members of Milwaukee's police force have been disciplined after being arrested for driving drunk off-duty since they were hired, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found. Wisconsin is the only state in which first-offense drunken driving is usually a traffic violation rather than a crime. Numerous attempts to change that in the legislature have never gotten off the ground in a state where so many people drink socially. Even so, one drunken-driving conviction is enough to get someone fired from Milwaukee's largest cab company. A second offense - which rises to the level of a misdemeanor - results in a lifetime ban from the commercial driver's license needed to work as a truck driver. Milwaukee cops caught drunk behind the wheel continue to be responsible for stopping drunken drivers and enforcing other laws, even if they've been convicted more than once. That's not the case in many departments around the U.S. It tells the community the police don't take drunken driving seriously, advocates say. "It puts people's lives and livelihoods at risk," said John Vose of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "When someone in law enforcement drives drunk, that just makes it all the more difficult for us to send the message that drinking and driving is wrong." |
How Police Officers Are Trained To Deliver Bad News ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last year, 32,788 people died in U.S. motor vehicle crashes. The way that family and friends are told about such deaths plays a crucial role in determining how soon they begin to recover from their loss, says a death notification expert and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which trains police officers on how to notify relatives of crash fatalities, says USA Today. "Nobody's ready to hear the news of a sudden, violent, untimely death," says Alan Stewart of the University of Georgia, who has studied death notifications for 14 years. "It makes it all the more important that the way a person is told the news itself doesn't traumatize them." MADD President Jan Withers, who spent nearly a decade training police on death notifications, says, "When someone is delivering this information, if they're kind of curt, if they're not available, not giving complete information, doing it over the phone or if they give misinformation, all of these cause more trauma to the person who's just received this information." MADD has trained police officers in death notification since 1988. In 1995, the organization got a U.S. Justice Department grant to develop a standardized notification training program. The group trains 700-1,400 police officers a year. |
Iowa Sex Offender Population, Monitoring Costs Increase ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The number of people convicted in Iowa for sex crimes has grown for each of the last five years, driving up the growing cost to taxpayers of monitoring and imprisonment, reports the Des Moines Register. A state report shows prisons are housing sex offenders for longer periods and parole caseloads are growing significantly. By 2021, some 2,600 sex offenders are expected to be serving "special sentences" under a stringent state law passed in 2005, meaning they will be supervised after their prison release for 10 years or life depending on the seriousness of their crimes. "The special sentence, particularly lifetime supervision, will increase the parole caseload by 78 percent in 10 years," says a draft report from Iowa's Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning found. The additional cost of monitoring the offenders will total at least $34.54 million during that span. The Iowa Sex Offender Research Council has urged state leaders to explore more effective and less expensive ways of monitoring sex offenders. "We're trying to figure out policy-wise what makes the most sense to do now," said Sally Kreamer, who heads the 5th Judicial District correctional services. "Caseloads are only going to get larger and larger. If we don't figure out some strategy soon, I'll have to come back to my board and say, 'What is it that you don't want us to do anymore?' " |
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Thursday, October 27, 2011
26 Oct 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
24 Oct 2011
| Poor Legal Work Behind Problems In Scores of PA Death-Penalty Cases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Appeals courts have reversed or sent back for new hearings 125 death-penalty cases in Pennsylvania because mistakes by defense lawyers deprived the accused of a fair trial, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. That is nearly one-third of the state's 391 capital convictions since the modern death penalty took effect in 1978. An Inquirer review of appeals over three decades found that lawyers in these high-stakes cases failed clients in ways large and small. Lawyers often spend little time preparing cases and put on only the barest defense. They neglect basic steps, such as interviewing defendants, seeking out witnesses, and investigating a defendant's background. Court-appointed lawyers get $2,000 for preparation and $400 a day in court to handle cases that a veteran attorney said required a minimum outlay of $35,000 to $40,000. "The number of reversals on these cases is staggering," said Ronald Greenblatt of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "The attorneys who are doing this work, because of the low pay, are not doing it the right way. We really need it to stop." |
| Anonymous Hacking Group Takes Down IACP Website ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The hactivist collective Anonymous, which had a hand in starting the Occupy Wall Street protest, has hacked many police websites, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which is holding its annual convention in Chicago, reports Gawker.com. The IACP's website was down on Saturday and Sunday but was back up as of Monday morning. Anonymous said the hack was timed to the IACP meeting as part of a "Day of Action Against Police Brutality." The group said it leaked more than 600 MB of private information, including internal documents, membership rosters, addresses, Social Security numbers, and other confidential data. Another document appears to be about 1,000 user names and passwords belonging to the Boston Patrolmans' Association. |
| 93 Milwaukee Cops Break The Law, Aren't Fired or Prosecuted ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At least 93 Milwaukee police officers - ranking from street cop to captain - have been disciplined for violating the laws and ordinances they were sworn to uphold, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found. The offenses range from sexual assault and domestic violence to drunken driving and shoplifting. All still work for the police department, where they have the authority to make arrests, testify in court, and patrol neighborhoods. Officers who run afoul of the law often aren't fired or prosecuted, the newspaper found. The police department, district attorney, and Fire and Police Commission share responsibility for keeping officers in line. All three fall short. The department tolerates misconduct. Prosecutors give cops career-saving deals. The commission reduces punishments when officers break rules. Police who cross to the other side of the law keep the power that comes with the badge. Citizens have no way of knowing whether the officers responsible for protecting them have tarnished records. |
| New York City Police Morale "As Bad As I've Ever Seen It" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the New York Police Department facing a blizzard of damning incidents, cops and police brass say morale is perilously low, reports the New York Daily News. A veteran Bronx officer said anonymously, "You're a robot. You're under the microscope. You're under video surveillance. We feel like the perpetrators now, the way we're being displayed." A ticket-fixing scandal has hung over the department like a black cloud for the past two years. The negative press has intensified in recent months with the emergence of several new scandals. A spate of false drug busts - known as "flaking," cop talk for planting cocaine on innocent victims - led to the arrests of eight cops and a sweeping shakeup. This month, an officer was hit with federal civil rights charges for falsely arresting a black man on Staten Island because of his race. A series of apparently strongarm police tactics in dealing with Occupy Wall Street protesters - most notably, a deputy inspector's use of pepper spray on two women - has left the department with a very public black eye. Pat Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said, "Morale is as bad as I've ever seen it." |
| Is Locking Up Elderly Inmates An Unnecessary Public Expense? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yohannes Johnson, 55, serving 75 years to life in an upstate New York prison, heads the Lifer's and Long-Termer's Organization, part of a growing club of inmates locked up for life nationwide, reports the Associated Press. Corrections officials are considering different options for older inmates while some research suggests keeping them locked up until they die might be an expensive and unnecessary price for the public to pay. Nationally, nearly 10 percent of more than 2.3 million inmates were serving life sentences in 2008, including 41,095 people doing life without parole, up 22 percent in five years, says The Sentencing Project, which advocates alternatives to prison. "The theme is we're protecting society, then the question is: From what?" said Soffiyah Elijah of the Correctional Association of New York, a watchdog group. She said with the cost of keeping a state inmate $55,000 a year - a cost that grows as they age and their medical needs increase - a financial analysis shows that parole and probation are far cheaper punishments that can also satisfy the public need for retribution. Data show new crimes by convicted felons steadily declining from their teens through their dotage. "What kind of treatment programs should we be considering for the offenders who have a sentence of life without parole, or enter the system with sentences of 50 years to life?" New York Corrections Commissioner Brian Fischer asked on the 40th anniversary of the deadly riots at Attica, a maximum-security prison in New York State. |
| U.S. Gang Membership Believed Up 40% In 2 Years, FBI Reports ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The gang problem in the U.S. is growing and there are 1.4 million members in 33,000 gangs--a 40 percent increase from two years ago--says a new FBI study reported by Associated Press. Gangs are collaborating with transnational drug trafficking organizations to make more money and are expanding the range of their illicit activities, engaging in mortgage fraud and counterfeiting as well as trafficking in guns and drugs, says the 2011 national gang threat assessment. Gang membership "continues to flourish" and gang leaders are striking new alliances with other criminal organizations for profit, said FBI agent Jayne Challman. White-collar crime is an increasing gang focus. The report cited the arrest of a member in a Los Angeles gang called Florencia 13 for operating a lab that manufactured pirated video games. Gang membership is up most significantly in the Northeast and Southeast and many communities report an increase in ethnic-based gangs such as African, Asian, and Caribbean gangs. |
| Chicago Arrests 130 "Occupy" Protesters Who Refuse to Leave Park ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chicago police arrested about 130 Occupy Chicago protesters starting about 1 a.m. Sunday after the group returned to Grant Park for the second weekend Saturday night and tried to maintain a camp in the park after its official closing time, the Chicago Tribune reports. Police estimated that the crowd that showed up for a rally earlier in the evening peaked at around 3,000. As the 11 p.m. park closing approached, more than 100 people decided to stay in the park. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he consulted with Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy before arrests were made last weekend. Occupy Chicago has demanded that the city drop charges against protesters. "The 1st Amendment guarantees the American people the right to peaceably assemble," the group said. "Today we are going to use that right. Occupy Chicago calls on all local citizens to stand up and join us in this struggle." |
| 30 Arrested in NYC Stop-and-Frisk Protest; Bloomberg Defends Practice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About 30 people, including the civil rights campaigner and Princeton professor Cornel West, were arrested at a police station in New York City's Harlem neighborhood during a protest of police stop-and-frisks, the New York Times reports. Dozens of activists and people who described themselves as victims of stop-and-frisk began their demonstration on a corner that West, an organizer of the rally, said had been "consecrated by giants like Malcolm X." The practice of stop-and-frisk, in which the police stop people on the street and sometimes frisk them, has been criticized by minority and civil rights groups that complain that blacks and Hispanics are unfairly singled out. Last year the department made more than 600,000 of the warrantless stops, and it is on pace to exceed that number this year. While the police say there is a valid reason for the stops, including suspicious behavior, opponents of the practice note that very few stops result in arrests. Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the tactic, saying, "It's used in communities where we have lots of guns and lots of murder victims, and we've brought crime down 35 percent in the last 10 years." |
| Five-Ton IN Pot Seizure Will Have "Profound Impact" On Mexican Cartel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An investigation that started in March with money falling from a hidden compartment in a truck ended as apparently the largest drug bust in Indiana history, reports the Indianapolis Star. More than 5 tons of marijuana and more than $4.3 million are now in law enforcement hands, with four men in the Marion County Jail. The size of the bust has law enforcement confident that they have, at least for now, halted a large drug distribution operation in Indianapolis and probably affected a Mexican drug cartel. "This is going to have a profound impact," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler. "This is one of those rare cases where you get both the drug proceeds and the actual product, so this organization has obviously suffered a significant setback, if not been eliminated entirely by a seizure of this nature. U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett said the financial hit to the Mexican cartel, which authorities believe was the originator of the marijuana and the ultimate destination of the cash, is far more than the $4.3 million seized here. While the bulk value of the marijuana - 10,505 pounds, or 5.25 tons - is about $5 million, Hogsett said, the street value "could be upwards of 10 times that amount." |
| How Police Use Facebook, Myspace To Find "Spider Web of Connections" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It took a few keystrokes for police in Prince George's County, Md., to find a drug suspect's user profile on Facebook, where he had posted a photo of himself wearing a "very distinctive" purple and teal shirt, says the Washington Post. The arrest of the alleged dealer shows the increasing use of social networking sites by gangs to broadcast messages, boast of successes, and recruit new members. The sites offer a never-ending panoply of gang members' comments about drug dealing, weapons, and violence, as well as photographs of gang tattoos and of members flashing gang signs and standing under gang-related graffiti - an intelligence boon for law enforcement. Police and federal agents often turn first to Facebook and Myspace to gather information about gangs, their members, and their "friends." Officers in Washington, D.C., comb sites to produce a weekly "Social Media" report for detectives on the latest information and trends related to street gangs, an evolving universe of idiosyncratic neighborhood crews with assorted alliances and beefs. "It's like a spider web of connections," said police Lt. Michael Pavlik. "You find one and track that down, and find a friend and then follow that. It's a wealth of information, and it helps you keep up with them in a way we never imagined just a few years ago." |
| 56 Officers Killed On Duty Last Year, Up 8 from 2009: FBI ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fixty-six law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty last year, the FBI reported today; 72 officers died in accidents while performing their duties; and 53,469 officers were assaulted in the line of duty. The 56 felonious deaths occurred in 22 states and Puerto Rico. The total increased by eight over 2009. Five- and 10-year comparisons show an increase of eight felonious deaths over 2006 and a decrease of 14 compared with 2001. Of the 56 feloniously killed, 15 were ambushed; 14 were involved in arrest situations; eight were investigating suspicious persons/circumstances; seven were performing traffic stops/pursuits; six were answering disturbance calls; three were involved in tactical situations (e.g., high-risk entry); two were conducting investigative activity such as surveillance, searches, or interviews; and one was killed while transporting or maintaining custody of prisoners. Fifty-five officers were killed with firearms, including 38 handguns, 15 rifles, two with shotguns, and one with a vehicle. Of the 72 officers killed in accidents on duty, 45 were killed in vehicle accidents; the number of accidental line-of-duty deaths was up 24 from 2009. |
| DEA Imposes Emergency Ban On 3 "Bath Salt" Stimulants ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Drug Enforcement Administration took emergency action to ban three synthetic stimulants used to make products that are marketed at head shops and on the Web as "bath salts," but are actually used as recreational drugs that mimic the effects of cocaine, LSD, and methamphetamine, the New York Times reports. The measure puts mephedrone, methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and methylone under the most restrictive federal category for at least a year. The products, sometimes called plant food, are sold in powder or crystal form under names like Bliss, Purple Wave, Vanilla Sky, and Ivory Wave. Though not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for consumption, they have become increasingly popular, especially among teenagers and young adults. Some states have already banned bath salts, which sell for $25 to $50 for a 50-milligram packet. Some chemicals found in these products are related to an organic stimulant found in Arab and East African countries called khat, which is illegal in the U.S. |
Friday, October 21, 2011
20 October 2011
| Biden Stirs Controversy by Linking Obama Jobs Bill to Crime Rate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vice President Biden is stepping up his argument that rapes and murders could increase if Congress does not pass President Obama's $447 billion jobs bill, evoking sexual and violent imagery in his sales pitch for the second time in a week, reports FoxNews.com. Speaking to Philadelphia police officers at the University of Pennsylvania, Biden slammed Republican critics who say the jobs bill is just "temporary," underscoring measures aimed at maintaining police force levels. "Let me tell you, it's not temporary when that 9-1-1 call comes in and a woman's being raped. If a cop shows up in time to prevent the rape, it's not temporary to that woman," Biden said. "It's not temporary to the guy whose store is being held up and has a gun being pointed to his head if a cop shows up and he's not killed. That's not temporary to that store owner. Give me a break -- temporary. Last week, Biden suggested during a speech in Flint, Mi., that rapes and murders could rise if the jobs bill failed to pass Congress. The Republican National Committee called Biden's comments "irresponsible and mean-spirited" and calling on the media and women's groups to condemn the remarks. Said the RNC: "No victim of violent crime would ever wish that others were forced to experience the same trauma they went through - especially to make a brazen political point. So why would the sitting vice president of the United States?" The bill would provide $5 billion to help cities retain about 18,000 police officers and 7,000 firefighters. |
| Lohan Jailed; Judge Says Community Service Needn't be "Fulfilling" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Actress Lindsay Lohan was briefly jailed after a judge admonished - and occasionally mocked - her for "blowing off" her court-ordered community service, but there are doubts she will spend additional time behind bars despite numerous probation violations, reports the Los Angeles Times. L.A.'s jails are increasingly being filled with felons because of a controversial new law under which convicts who normally would be housed in state prisons are locked up locally instead. "The jails are going to be filled with felons," said Judge Stephanie Sautner, noting that because of jailhouse crowding that might not be a good option. Sautner sought to revoke Lohan's probation after she was kicked out of a community service program at a downtown women's shelter for repeatedly failing to show up. The actress was taken away in handcuffs after Sautner launched into Lohan for her casual attitude toward her assigned community service. Lohan has completed only 21 hours of the 360 hours she was ordered to serve at the women's shelter. Lohan also was ordered to complete 120 hours of service at the county morgue. Sautner blasted Lohan, taking note that the actress had told probation officials that she did not find work at the shelter to be "fulfilling." "Is that what a sentence is about? To fulfill the defendant?," the judge said. Then she answered her own question: "No." |
| Civil Liberties Group Says Police Often Misuse Stun Guns In NY State ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police officers misused stun guns in nearly 60 percent of incidents across New York State, charges the New York Civil Liberties Union. With the exception of New York City, many police departments did not comply with the recommendations of national law enforcement agencies, WNYC reports. In 35 percent of cases, subjects reportedly were engaged in defensive or passive resistance. The study found that 40 percent of the stun gun incidents involved at-risk subjects, such as children, the elderly, the visibly infirm, and those who were seriously intoxicated or mentally ill. Experts said Tasers should be used only where there is active aggression by a subject or a documented threat of physical harm to another person. "Our analysis shows that police officers are using Tasers in inappropriate, irresponsible and downright deadly manner," the group's Donna Lieberman said. "This disturbing pattern of misuse and abuse endangers lives. Our point in issuing this report is not to single out any particular police department, but rather to highlight problems that are the result of the dramatic, more than 30 fold increase in the number of police departments using Tasers in the last ten years." |
| As Inmate Population Ages, North Carolina Opens New Medical Complex ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ North Carolina is readying a new medical complex at its Central Prison to replace buildings that are too cramped and outdated to treat adequately a growing and aging prison population, says the Raleigh News & Observer. The new $155 million hospital and mental health facility will begin accepting patients next month. Demolition of the old hospital starts Nov. 28. Corrections officials say the expanded medical treatment will cut the cost of treatment in outside hospitals by a third. The expansion comes at a time when community hospitals are pushing the prison system to take care of more of its own patients. The state now spends nearly $11 million a year driving and guarding inmates during hospital visits. There were more than 1,700 inmate admissions to outside hospitals. The savings in outside medical bills will be offset by additional prison personnel costs. The department plans to hire hundreds of medical and custody employees for the new complex. Corrections officials expect the new health complex will pay for itself in 10 years. The proportion of state prison inmates 50 and older has risen in the last 11 years from 6.2 percent in 2000 to nearly 12 percent in 2010. |
| FBI Moving Ahead With Revising Definition of Rape for UCR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As expected, an FBI panel will recommend a new federal definition of rape, moving the agency a step closer to updating the way it counts sex crimes for the first time in more than 80 years, reports the Baltimore Sun. The new definition, discussed this week at a meeting in Baltimore, is likely to expand the number of crimes that would be reported as rapes to the FBI by local police agencies. Many states already track such crimes but don't submit them to the federal Uniform Crime Reporting data collection program as rapes because of its narrower definition. That, experts say, misleads the public about the prevalence of rape and leads to fewer resources to investigate the crimes and catch the attackers. "This is a huge step forward in accurately reflecting the true number of rapes that are occurring in our country," said Chuck Wexler of the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement policy think tank. Since 1927, the definition of rape used by the FBI has been "the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will," which excludes incidents of anal or oral penetration, male rape, and incidents where force is not used. Wexler said 80 percent of police chiefs agreed that the definition was outdated and should be updated. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said better tracking will lead to greater resources. Police and crisis centers cite the federal statistics in applying for grants and other support. |
| Justice Studies Requests to Review NYPD Muslim Surveillance ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A former Homeland Security Department civil rights lawyer has asked the federal government to investigate the New York Police Department for its secret surveillance of Muslim communities, reports the Associated Press. Sahar Aziz, a Texas Wesleyan University law professor, said police monitoring of mosques, Islamic bookstores, and Muslim student groups needed to be looked into because the New York police serve as a model for departments nationwide. She said Associated Press reports about the NYPD's intelligence unit have troubled Muslims. "What's on their mind?" she said to an Washington, D.C., audience that included the Justice Department's top civil rights officials. An AP investigation reported on New York police use of plainclothes officers, known as "rakers," who pose as customers and eavesdrop in Muslim cafes and bookstores. Hundreds of mosques and student organizations were investigated and dozens were infiltrated as police built intelligence databases about all aspects of life in Muslim neighborhoods. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said such programs give police a crucial head start in the event of a terrorist plot or attack. He says police don't make those decisions based on ethnicity and only follow leads in launching investigations. The Justice Department said it was reviewing a Sept. 13 letter from Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), asking for an investigation. |
| Washington, D.C., Ends Jailings For Expired License Plates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After public outrage over the practice of arresting drivers with expired license plates, the Washington, D.C., Council acted to keep those people out of jail cells, the Washington Post reports. It adopted emergency legislation that would repeal criminal penalties for driving with an expired tag, instituting fines instead. "Today, we have an opportunity to fix a problem in our law, one that has caused many people to scratch their heads in amazement," said Chairman Kwame Brown, who introduced the legislation on behalf of Mayor Vincent Gray. Washington Post |
| Senior MA Probation Officials Being Suspended in Hiring Scandal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amid rising expectations of federal indictments in the Massachusetts Probation Department hiring scandal, Commissioner Ronald Corbett Jr. has informed more than a dozen senior managers he plans to take disciplinary action against them for their role in a sham hiring process that systematically funneled jobs and promotions to politically connected candidates, the Boston Globe reports. John O'Brien, the department's former commissioner, and three top deputies already have resigned or been fired - and O'Brien faces state criminal charges for allegedly trading campaign contributions from his employees to get a job for his wife at the state lottery. Corbett, O'Brien's successor, has been deliberating for almost a year over how to punish other department employees who participated in what independent counsel Paul F. Ware Jr. called systemic corruption. This week, Corbett sent disciplinary letters to most of the 12 regional supervisors who oversaw the job interview process as well as other human resources employees, telling them they face unpaid suspensions of varying lengths. |
| Leading Data-Driven Policing, Milwaukee's Flynn Gets 2nd Term ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Buoyed by a falling crime rate and a well-received emphasis on focused, data-driven policing, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn likely will get his contract renewed tonight by the city's Police and Fire Commission, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It would be the first time in 27 years that a police chief's contract has been renewed. Because city salaries for department managers are frozen, Flynn, 63, would not get a raise but would maintain his $146,000-a-year salary and benefits. He was appointed in 2008, and his term is set to expire Jan. 8. When evaluating the chief's performance, the commission considers several elements, including crime statistics, technology initiatives, handling of citizen complaints and public outreach. Among the trademarks of Flynn's administration: an emphasis on data-driven policing and statistics, and a focus on proactive policing in high-crime areas over reactive patrols. He and District Attorney John Chisholm created community prosecutors. Crime in the city has declined steadily. Flynn has been credited with modernizing the department with technology and creating an intelligence fusion center to coordinate efforts of local, state, and federal law enforcement. |
| Education Department to Hear VA Tech Appeal On Fines Over Massacre ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Department of Education has scheduled a December 7-9 hearing on Virginia Tech's appeal of $55,000 in fines for failing to notify campus sooner in a 2007 shooting rampage in which a student killed 32 students and faculty, the Associated Press reports. Virginia Tech officials have denied wrongdoing, saying the department is holding them to higher standards than were in place the day of the shootings. "The relatively small monetary penalty is not the reason for this appeal," Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli said. "The university has already expended millions as a result of the tragedy. The main purpose of the appeal is to compel the federal Department of Education to treat Virginia Tech fairly and to apply a very poorly defined and subjectively applied federal law consistently and correctly." The agency found the university violated a federal campus safety law by waiting more than two hours after two students were shot to death before sending out a campus wide warning. By that time, student gunman Seung-Hui Cho was chaining shut the doors to a classroom building where he killed 30 more and then himself. |
| How Ohio Program Tries to Protect Kids from Harsh Sexting Penalties ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kids' sexting has been terrifying and befuddling adults since it took off in recent years when unlimited data plans armed a generation with cell-phone cameras, says Redbook. No one knows how many kids do it: One study reported 20 percent of teens, another 4 percent. (In both cases, a larger group admitted to forwarding someone else's photo.) Because the images are, by definition, child pornography, in most jurisdictions sexting by kids - be it sharing a self-portrait or forwarding one - is a felony, an adult crime punishable with jail time and mandatory registration as a sex offender. Yet it's clear that kids are different from the sleazebags on To Catch a Predator. Stakeholders on all sides of the issue - parents, educators, researchers, and prosecutors - are learning that it's tough to punish and deter teen sexting without destroying young lives in the process. How does a family survive a sexting scandal? A unique program in Ohio tries to protect kids from the cruelest penalties of the criminal justice system. It launched in 2009 with a simple goal: to educate, not prosecute, teens who make bad judgment calls. |
| Feds: Allow Judges To Release Historic 30-Year-Old Grand Jury Material ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Justice Department is proposing a change in legal rules that would give judges greater flexibility to release grand jury material of historical significance in cases more than 30 years old, reports the Blog of Legal Times. The request by Attorney General Eric Holder to a committee of the federal judiciary's policy-making body, comes after the government declined to challenge a judge's order directing the government to release Richard Nixon's grand jury testimony. "After a suitably long period, in case of enduring historical importance, the need for continued secrecy is eventually outweighed by the public's legitimate interest in preserving and accessing the documentary legacy of our government," Holder said. He said an amendment to the rule "would accommodate society's legitimate interest in securing eventual public access to grand-jury materials of significant public importance, while at the same time defining the contours of that access." |
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