Blacks Three Times As Likely As Whites to Be Searched in Traffic Stops ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ White, black, and Hispanic drivers were stopped by police around the U.S. at similar rates in 2008, but black drivers were about three times as likely as white drivers and about two times as likely as Hispanic drivers to be searched during a traffic stop, a study by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics said today. Police conducted a search of the driver or the vehicle in about five percent of traffic stops in 2008. An estimated 40 million U.S. residents age 16 or older, about 17 percent of the population, had a face-to-face contact with a police officer in 2008, the report said. That was a continuing decrease in contact between police and the public, down from 19 percent of residents who had contact with the police in 2005 and 21 percent who had contact in 2002. These findings are based on the Police-Public Contact Survey, conducted every three years since 1999. The survey, a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, is a nationally representative sample of U.S. residents age 16 or older. Nearly 60,000 people participated in the most recent survey, which was conducted during the last six months of 2008. |
CA Post-Conviction Domestic Violence Protection Orders Easier to Get ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to determined Santa Clara County, Ca., prosecutors, domestic-violence victims throughout California soon will be able to obtain long-term protective orders the instant their assailants are convicted, rather than endure a multistep process that can drag on for months, reports the San Jose Mercury News. "This is absolutely amazing and wonderful," said Stacy Castle of YWCA Silicon Valley and its Support Network for Battered Women. "I'm proud of the DA's office for streamlining this. It certainly will help protect the safety of victims." The new state law rectifies a situation that has long troubled advocates against domestic violence, Now, after someone is convicted of a domestic violence offense and goes to jail, the victim must obtain a separate post-conviction restraining order. Under a new law effective Jan. 1, the instant an assailant is convicted, a judge can impose a protective order for up to 10 years, whether the charge is a felony or a misdemeanor. There are two kinds of orders: one excludes any contact at all; the other allows limited "peaceful contact," including the dropping off and picking up of children. |
Police, Feds In Cleveland Team Up In V-Grip Anti-Gun Violence Plan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Federal officials are partnering with Cleveland police and Cuyahoga County prosecutors to address the vexing problem of gun violence in the city, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Dubbed "V-GRIP" -- Violence Gun Reduction and Interdiction Program -- agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives will join police in patrolling some of Cleveland's most crime-ridden neighborhoods in search of guns and the criminals who use them. "Guns are readily available, guns are more powerful and guns are in the hands of younger and younger people," said Mayor Frank Jackson. U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said that V-GRIP will try to build larger criminal cases of gun trafficking and train police about Fourth Amendment search-and-seizures issues and report writing so that more cases can be prosecuted in federal court. Federal agents will conduct "knock and talks" in some neighborhoods, going door-to-door to ger information about crime and guns. Steven Anthony, agent-in-charge of the Cleveland FBI office, said a similar effort in other Ohio cities has proved effective because residents were more apt to provide information about guns or criminals when they knew their neighbors also received a visit from agents. V-GRIP successfully lowered the violent crime and homicide rates in Youngstown when it was employed there this summer and last, said retired Police Chief Jimmy Hughes. |
Did PR Campaign Help Free Amanda Knox In Italy? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did the public relations campaign on behalf of Amanda Knox help lead to her release in Italy after four years in prison on a murder charge? The New York Times discusses that question and concludes that "no one can say for sure whether the painstaking and calculated rehabilitation of her image helped sway the Italian courts." Knox returned home to Seattle yesterday. The Knox family hired a public relations company specializing in crisis management soon after she was arrested in 2007 during her junior year abroad in Perugia, accused along with two men of killing her housemate, Meredith Kercher, during a sexual attack. Volunteers created a website that posted wholesome family snapshots of Knox--part of an effort to counter her portrayal by prosecutors and in the European press as a "she-devil." By the time she was freed on Monday, many media accounts in the U.S. portrayed her as a nice young woman, a linguistics major at the University of Washington, who had fallen victim to the Italian justice system. It was an official report casting doubt on the DNA evidence in the case that led to her exoneration. The media frenzy was mentioned by both the prosecution and the defense last month in court. |
DEA Bans JWH "Herbal Incense," Other Varieties Pop Up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the newest drugs on the nation's target list, a synthetic cannabinoid that until recently was sold legally as "herbal incense" -but was actually smoked like tobacco-has set off a debate between researchers and law enforcement over how dangerous it really is, says The Crime Report. It has also set off a "cat and mouse" game over how the product is sold. On March 1, three variants of a substance called JWH were determined to be a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration. That puts JWH in the same category as marijuana and heroin. According to the Act, Schedule 1 drugs are those which serve no medical purpose and have a high potential for abuse. Anyone caught selling or smoking these versions of JWH faces similar charges that their state would give them for possession or sale of marijuana. Tthere's one big catch in the feds' clampdown. There are more than 400 versions of JWH. So, even as companies stop selling products containing the now-banned JWH-018, JWH- 073, and JWH- 200, other products offering the same "results" are expected to replace them. DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said the agency faced a "cat and mouse game" in its efforts to take JWH off the shelves. |
Mexico-Texas Drug Smugglers Try to Use Unwitting Couriers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prosecutors and a federal judge concede that law-abiding travelers are unwittingly used to smuggle narcotics across the Texas-Mexico border, reports the Houston Chronicle. When their vehicles or bags are searched on entering the U.S., inspectors find thousands of dollars worth of illegal narcotics that the travelers can't explain. An indictment was dropped against a bus-riding Mexican citizen headed to Houston. In exchange for a free ride on the bus, he ushered two saddles and other cargo through U.S. customs. Hidden inside the saddles was $20,000 worth of cocaine. It is unclear how many federal cases involve so-called unwitting couriers. Such cases are not tracked by the government. Federal data show that in 2009, 3,846 defendants were federally charged with drug trafficking in the region that stretches from El Paso to Houston. Of those, 126 were dismissed, 17 were found guilty and the rest pleaded guilty. |
Alaska Seeks Ways To Curtail Rising State Prison Budget ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alaska's growing and expensive prison population is getting new attention from state legislators, who say they want to try new ways to lower inmate numbers, reports the Anchorage Daily News. House and Senate panels that oversee the state corrections budget hosted a daylong "Smart Justice Summit" Monday to learn how other states tackled the problem and to examine what innovations might work in Alaska. This year's budget for the state Department of Corrections tops $288 million, up more than $110 million from what was being spent 10 years ago. The state's new Goose Creek prison, due to open next July, cost $250 million to build, and if state leaders don't flip the trend, it'll be full in just a couple of years. Liberals and conservatives can unite over reforms that cut costs while offering more help for offenders, said state Sen. Johnny Ellis. Ellis, a Democrat, backs the principles -- including accountability, lowering crime and rehabilitation -- espoused by an initiative called Right on Crime that includes high profile conservatives Newt Gingrich, Jeb Bush and Ed Meese. "It's a magic moment," Ellis said. Alaska is among eight states that experienced the biggest increase in prison populations between the end of 2008 and the start of 2010, according to a Pew Center on the States study. |
Half of TX $466 Million Prison Health Care Cost to Inmates Over 55 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As housing and medical care costs for Texas inmates continue to rise, state Sen. John Whitmire wants the geriatric inmates released so the state can shed that part of the $465.7 million it spends annually on inmate medical care, reports the Tyler Morning Telegraph. More than 50 percent of that cost is spent on care for inmates 55 and older. "We don't have the luxury to spend money on old, sick and dying inmates," said Whitmire. "If we want to continue spending millions to house, care for and bury these offenders, then OK, but then we won't have money for education, roads and other programs where the money is desperately needed." Rusk County District Attorney Micheal Jimerson is among those who disagree with Whitmire. Jimerson said a jury's decision and a court's ruling should not be circumvented to "save a couple of dollars" while endangering the public. "You're talking about accepting a promise from a criminal that he/she will not reoffend, when many of them have been given chance after chance," he said. In 2010, 392 inmates died in prison, and of those, 114 were older than 60. |
Baltimore Plans New Sex-Assault Prevention Drive; Reforms Slow ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jacqueline Robarge of a Baltimore nonprofit called Power Inside has been tapped to work with a city task force formed to improve sexual assault investigations. The Sexual Assault Response Team, which includes police and women's advocacy groups, is part of ongoing reforms prompted by he Baltimore Sun's reporting on problems with how city police handle allegations of rape and sexual assault. Those reforms include overhauling the department's sex offense unit and training for detectives. New protocols have been implemented, barring the practice of patrol officers dismissing reports without at least documenting the allegations. Robarge fears that her clients - many of whom engage in prostitution - remain overlooked and that the Police Department's culture change isn't happening quickly enough. "The women are not being believed," Robarge said. "These are cases where women have directly engaged the police and nothing has been written down." Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld plan to announce a new sexual assault prevention campaign, says the Sun. After the Sun reported that Baltimore led the nation in the number of rape reports discarded by detectives, the number being recorded jumped by more than 50 percent in the first six months of this year. Victims' advocates and others say more needs to done, noting continuing complaints about poor treatment by some detectives. |
Oakland Police Shooting Caught On Cop's Camera Raises Questions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A fatal shooting by Oakland, Ca., police captured on video by a city-issued camera clipped to the officer's chest is bringing attention to the growing phenomenon of camera-wearing police, says the Christian Science Monitor. On Sept. 25, two Oakland officers pulled over a car. and a passenger, who allegedly had a gun and drugs, fled on foot. Video footage from the officer's chest-mounted camera shows a struggle between one of the officers and the fleeing man - and the fatal shot fired from the officer's gun. The fatal shooting is the second nationally to be captured on video by a practice that has grown to include about 1,100 of the 17,000 police agencies nationwide. The rise of camera-wearing police is the outgrowth of a trend since the 1991 Rodney King police-beating case: mounting video cameras in police cruisers both to protect officers against allegations of abuse and to promote police accountability. For all its benefits, the new technology also raises questions, ranging from how police departments can guard against tampering to whether the videos should ever become public. Experts say the Oakland incident, now under investigation, is an opportunity to bring legal and regulatory clarity to the practice. "There are a lot of issues floating around about all of this," says Robert Langran of Villanova University. "A lot will depend on the circumstances of each case, what the police want, what the victim's family wants, whether charges are brought, and whether the case is civil or criminal. If charges are brought, a lot of this will get clarified, if not, much will remain iffy." |
Some Violent MI Parolees Make Automated Phone Check-Ins ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On any given day, hundreds of convicted felons in Michigan pick up their phones and make a monthly call to Chicago to answer 90 seconds of automated questions, says the Detroit Free Press. Have you re-offended? Have you moved from your place of residence? Are you employed? The new approach to monitoring some ex-cons, called OffenderLink, has been used in Michigan for 15 months. More than 14,400 probationers and parolees have used it. Corrections officials call it as a cost-effective means of monitoring a large population of low-risk offenders so probation and parole agents can concentrate on others who pose a greater risk to public safety. A Free Press review of records obtained under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act found many offenders reporting by phone have criminal histories that include violent crimes, some are repeat offenders, and hundreds are chronic drunken drivers and drug users. The list includes armed bank robbers, a sex offender, arsonists, and seven felons who assaulted police officers. A computer analysis of the records found that more than 300 parolees and probationers can no longer be reached. Dozens are back in custody, charged or convicted of committing new crimes. "There is a lot of re-offending when it comes to probationers and parolees, and I don't think having them make a call once a month is going to help solve that problem," Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton s aid. |
Some Violent CA Offenses Qualify For Local Jail Assignments ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Backers of the new dramatic shift in California's sentencing say it will send only those convicted of nonviolent or non-serious crimes to county jails instead of state prison, a change designed to save the state money and reduce inmate crowding. A review by the Associated Press of crimes that qualify for local sentences shows at least two dozen offenses shifting to local control that can be considered serious or violent. Among them: Involuntary manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, killing or injuring a police officer while resisting arrest, participating in a lynching, possession of weapons of mass destruction, possessing explosives, threatening a witness or juror, and using arson or explosives to terrorize a health facility or church. "These crimes include a variety of offenses that would strike many civilians as far from trivial," says Public Policy Institute of California researcher Dean Misczynski. A list of 500 criminal code sections to be covered by the law was compiled by the California District Attorneys Association. Among those who could be affected if convicted is Dr. Conrad Murray, on trial for involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson. He would serve his maximum four-year sentence in a Los Angeles County jail instead of state prison. |
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Wednesday, October 5, 2011
5 Oct 2011
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