4 Oct 2011

LAPD Reassigns 150 Officers To Deal With CA Prisoner Shift to Counties ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Los Angeles Police Department will remove 150 officers from patrol and other assignments to deal with the fallout from a state-mandated plan to reduce prison overcrowding, a move that Police Chief Charlie Beck said will slow response times to 911 calls, reports the Los Angeles Times. Beck and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined to criticize the state's attempt to relieve severe prison overcrowding, saying it has unfairly saddled police with a burden that the department does not have the resources to address. They warned that it poses a risk to public safety and threatens to reverse the falling crime rates Los Angeles has experienced in the last decade. The plan, which went into effect Saturday, shifts responsibility for thousands of inmates and ex-convicts from state to county agencies. The Los Angeles police and other local departments will have to assume a leading role alongside the county's probation officers in keeping tabs on an escalating number of ex-convicts who otherwise would have been under the watch of the state's parole department or behind bars, Beck said. By year's end, Los Angeles is expected to be tracking 4,200 people, according to figures released by the mayor's office. Los Angeles Times

Casey Foundation Seeks 50% Juvenile Detention Drop In Decade ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Annie E. Casey Foundation is starting a juvenile justice initiative aimed at reducing juvenile incarceration by 50 percent in 10 years, beginning with the release of a report that makes the case for such a drastic reduction, says Youth Today. "An avalanche of research has emerged over the past three decades about what works and doesn't work in combating juvenile crime," stated the report "No Plce for Kids." "We now have overwhelming evidence showing that wholesale incarceration of juvenile offenders is a counterproductive public policy." Bart Lubow, Casey's director of programs for high-risk youth, said the foundation will begin work next year with a series of states where officials want to make policy shifts that will affect their reliance on youth correctional facilities. The foundation will use a strategy similar to the one it used for the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), which uses the development of a risk assessment to help states, counties, and cities reduce their reliance on juvenile detention centers, where some youths are held before facing a judge. Casey will begin with intensive work in a handful of counties and, once functional models have been developed, provide technical assistance as statewide reform becomes possible. Several states, notably California and Texas, have drastically reduced the number of juveniles confined in large state facilities in the past five years. Youth Today

Why Is Tennessee The Worst State For Violent Gun Crime? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ People were more likely to be victims of a violent gun crime in Tennessee than in any other state, found an analysis by The Tennessean of FBI statistics. Only Washington, D.C., had a higher rate of gun violence. Tennessee came out worst in the nation in the rate at which its residents are victims of aggravated assaults with a firearm and fifth-worst in robberies. The federal government defines aggravated assault as an attack that inflicts severe bodily injury and is usually done with a weapon likely to produce death or great bodily harm. The high rate is difficult to explain. Don Green of the University of Tennessee's Law Enforcement Innovation Center. He offered three possibilities for the high rate: better police reporting, a large number of gang and drug-related crime, or perhaps Tennessee's high rate of gun ownership. "One thing you could say would be if there are a number of firearms accessible to individuals, then they would be more inclined to use those during a heated argument," Green said. The idea reflects a longstanding debate between Second Amendment and gun control advocates. Research has shown some correlation between states with high gun ownership and high gun-related crimes. The Tennessean

Prosecutors Cited In Congressional Forensic-Science Reform Delay ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A lack of support by prosecutors lies behind the failure of forensic science reform legislation to be approved so far by Congress, says federal appeals court Judge Harry Edwards of Washington, D.C. A bill introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) would establish a federal office of forensic science that would propose national standards for the field. The bill was drafted after a critical report issued by a National Academy of Sciences panel co-chaired by Edwards. Edwards spoke at the showing of a new documentary, Mississippi Innocence, at the Newseum in Washington. The film tells the story of Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer, who were wrongly convicted in the rape and murder of two three-year-old girls in Noxubee County, Ms., in the early 1990s. The Innocence Project sought DNA tests that helped free both men and also helped lead authorities to the real killer. The movie focuses on two controversial forensic specialists, medical examiner Steven Hayne and forensic dentist Michael West, whose testimony was instrumental in the Brooks and Brewer convictions.

Prosecutor Blames "Unacceptable Media Pressure" For Knox Release ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amanda Knox left Italy for the U.S. today after an Italian appeals court dramatically overturned the American student's conviction of sexually assaulting and brutally slaying her British roommate, the Associated Press reports. Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini expressed disbelief in the verdict, and vowed an appeal to Italy's highest criminal court. "This trial was done under unacceptable media pressure. The decision was almost already announced, this is not normal," he said. Knox, 24, and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, who shared an apartment with Knox in Perugia. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, Sollecito to 25. Both had been in custody since Nov. 6, 2007, four days after Kercher's body was found. Associated Press/NPR

Supreme Court Turns Down Chance To Extend Gun-Possession Rights ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down the appeal of a Maryland man who said the state's restrictive gun-permit law violated his constitutional right to carry a firearm in public for self defense. The Christian Science Monitor said the case, Williams v. Maryland, was being closely followed because it might have set the stage for another potential landmark Second Amendment decision by the high court. The action does not end the possibility of a gun-rights case's reaching the court this term. The high court is awaiting briefs in at least one other gun case, and several other Second Amendment cases are working their way to the court. In 2008, the justices ruled that Americans have a right to possess arms in the home for self defense - a ruling that prevents government from enacting overly restrictive gun-control regulations. In 2010, the court announced that Second Amendment rights apply not only in federal jurisdictions but throughout the country in state and local jurisdictions as well. the Williams case asked the court to extend its analysis one step further, clarifying whether the Second Amendment's right to "keep and bear arms" free from overly restrictive regulations applies beyond the home to carrying weapons in public for personal self defense Christian Science Monitor

Top DOJ Officials Knew ATF Agents Allowed Guns "Walked" Into Mexico ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Senior U.S. Justice Department officials were aware that ATF agents allowed firearms to be "walked" into Mexico, reports the Los Angeles Times, citing emails last year in which they discussed two undercover operations on the Southwest border, including the failed Fast and Furious program. Justice Department officials last October discussed both the Fast and Furious gun-trafficking surveillance operation in Phoenix and a separate investigation from 2006 and 2007 called Operation Wide Receiver. In Wide Receiver, which took place in Tucson, firearms also were acquired by illegal straw purchasers and lost in Mexico, the emails say. The term "gun walking" is central to the failure of Fast and Furious. Agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives purposely allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell weapons to illegal straw buyers, hoping to track the guns to Mexican drug cartel leaders and arrest them. But they lost track of more than 2,000 weapons, and the Mexican government says some of them have turned up at about 170 crime scenes there. Two were recovered at the scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent's slaying in Arizona in December. Justice Department officials have said that they knew nothing of Fast and Furious tactics until ATF whistle-blowers went public this year with allegations that guns were being illegally purchased with the ATF's knowledge Los Angeles Times

Investigation of PA Corrections Officers Sets Back Profession's Image ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The arrest last week of a corrections officer at Pittsburgh's state prison -- and the information that as many as 11 additional employees could be criminally charged -- is viewed by many in the industry as a blow against two decades worth of efforts to professionalize the image of corrections, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Harry Nicoletti, 59, is charged with 92 counts of physically and sexually abusing the inmates on the intake pod for the State Correctional Institution Pittsburgh. The affidavit of probable cause against Nicoletti spells out in graphic detail acts of depravity, such as forcing inmates to urinate and put mouse feces in other inmates' food; violent sexual assaults; and manipulation and threats. Hei had worked in the prison for 10 years before he was suspended in January. Experts wonder why it took at least two years of alleged abuse before the allegations were investigated by the state Department of Corrections. They also understand the environment corrections officers work in, and the thin line they must negotiate every day between authority and abuse. The facility houses 1,769 convicts and employs about 580 people. Half of those employees are corrections officers Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Los Angeles County Jail Inmates Involved in Smuggling In Narcotics ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Los Angeles County jail inmates have used corrupt guards to penetrate tight security at lockups, helping fuel a lucrative drug trade behind bars, reports the Los Angeles Times. Three sheriff's guards have been convicted and a fourth fired in recent years for smuggling or attempting to smuggle narcotics into jail for inmates. Sheriff's investigators are checking allegations that at least three more depu The porous nature of the jails was highlighted last week when the Times reported that FBI agents conducted an undercover sting in which a deputy was accused of taking $1,500 to smuggle a cellphone to an inmate working as a federal informant. Federal authorities are investigating reports of brutality and other misconduct by deputies in the nation's largest jail system. Sheriff Lee Baca said employees caught up in smuggling schemes are usually facing financial hardship. The deputy at the center of the FBI sting had six children from two prior marriages, commitments that consumed about 70% of his salary, Baca said. Los Angeles Times

Scientists Report Progress On Substance Abuse Addiction Vaccine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While scientists have historically focused their vaccination efforts on diseases - with great success - they are now at work on shots that could one day release people from the grip of substance abuse, says the New York Times. "We view this as an alternative or better way for some people," said Dr. Kim D. Janda, a professor at the Scripps Research Institute. Unlike preventive vaccines, this type of injection would be administered after someone had already succumbed to an addictive drug. For instance, cocaine addicts who had been vaccinated with one of Dr. Janda's formulations before they snorted cocaine reported feeling like they'd used "dirty coke," he said. "They felt like they were wasting their money." It's a novel use for vaccines that has placed Dr. Janda, 54, in the vanguard of addiction treatment. Because addiction is now thought to cause physical changes in the brain, doctors increasingly advocate medical solutions to America's drug problem, leading to renewed interest in his work. "It's very fashionable now," said Dr. Janda, "When we started doing this 27 years ago, it wasn't." In July, Dr. Janda's lab - 25 researchers, most of graduate-school age - made headlines when it announced that it had produced a vaccine that blunted the effects of heroin in rats. Rodents given the vaccine didn't experience the pain-deadening effects of heroin and stopped helping themselves to the drug, presumably because it ceased to have any effect. New York Times

Heroin's New Business Model: Better Branding, Quality Control ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An ordinary-looking, red-brick home in the New York City suburb of Fort Lee, N.J., represents the new, more serene face of the ever-thriving heroin trade, Manhattan-based narcotics investigators tell the Associated Press. "It can still be a violent, dirty business, but it's changed," said Bill Cook, a longtime investigator with the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. Absent are scenes out of films like "American Gangster," with kingpins flaunting wealth, settling turf wars with gunplay and serving strung-out junkies queuing up to buy low-grade product. The new business model calls for more discretion and discipline, and better branding and quality control. The heroin is purer and the users more mainstream, including college students and professionals who snort rather than shoot up. Many have transitioned to heroin after getting hooked on prescription painkillers belonging to the same opiate family. Compared to past eras marked by images of junkies cooking the drug with a dirty spoon, heroin "doesn't have the same stigma attached to it," said John Gilbride, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York office. Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle

Boston Starts Bike Patrols In Crime-Plagued Dorchester Area ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boston police are using bicycle patrols to make police officers more visible and more human, says the Boston Globe. That personal connection is a key element in the department's strategy to stem violence along a corridor in the city's Dorchester neighborhood, which has endured at least seven homicides within a 2-mile radius this year, the most recent Sept. 25, when two teenage boys were shot, one fatally, while making a quick trip to the corner store. Surveillance cameras will be mounted, patrols increased, and collaborations strengthened with neighborhood watch groups. Undercover investigations will be launched, the most recent of which netted 14 men wanted on drug charges. Boston's police department has Safe Street Teams patrolling hot spots in 14 neighborhoods. The bikes, said Deputy Superintendent Randall Halstead, are an extension of officers walking a beat and getting to know residents. "It's more effective,'' Halstead said, less than a block from a sidewalk memorial that marks where Jaivon Blake, 16, was shot dead Sept. 25 "What it all boils down to is having them talk to us, because we're only as effective as we can be when people talk to us.'' Boston Globe