January 26, 2011 Today's Stories -- Mayors' Record With Obama On Guns: 0 for 40 -- After FL Police Killings, Some Seek To Loosen Gun Laws -- NYPD Impact On Reducing Robberies Confirmed: Zimring -- Predictive Policing: Some Crime Random, A Lot Isn't -- Justice Department Will Review Attacks On Police Officers -- Memphis Police Leader Godwin May Retire In April -- Shortage Prompts Ohio To Change Lethal Injection Drug -- Obama Backs Mobile Broadband For Public Safety -- MA Gov Seeks To Combine Probation, Parole, Cut Budget -- Citing Parole Board Vindictiveness, Court Orders PA Release -- Is NRA Squelching Legitimate Research On Guns? -- Fight Looms As NRA Opposes Obama's ATF Nominee You may go to TheCrimeReport.org to search all archived CJN stories. Please e-mail Ted Gest at CJJ with concerns about the editorial content of our news items, to suggest news stories, or with general comments. |
Mayors' Record With Obama On Guns: 0 for 40 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After nearly five years of work, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 550-member coalition Mayors Against Illegal Guns has failed to force major strengthening of federal gun control laws, says the New York Times. "You've got an alternative voice to the dominant N.R.A. voice, and that adds to the dialogue," said Douglas Muzzio of the Baruch College School of Public Affairs. "The question then becomes: Does the dialogue lead to effective action? And that's more of an unknown. I have not seen a direct connection between what they're standing for and any substantive policy change." In 2009, the coalition group gave the Obama administration 40 ways it could strengthen federal gun rules without congressional action, from increasing enforcement of existing laws to tightening background checks. Only one proposal has been taken up by the White House, a rule, not yet in force, requiring dealers to report to federal officials when they make a sale involving multiple rifles or other long guns. Opponents of gun control have largely succeeded in blocking Congress from restricting the availability of guns, even after high-profile mass killings, from Columbine to Virginia Tech to Tucson. |
After FL Police Killings, Some Seek To Loosen Gun Laws ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Johnny Simms wasn't supposed to have a gun. Neither was Hydra Lacy. Both men were felons, says the Miami Herald. Each man murdered two police officers in separate cities, Miami and St. Petersburg. The explosion of gun violence hasn't gone unnoticed in the state Capitol, where members of the pro-gun Florida legislature say the tragedies underscore the need to loosen the regulation of guns -- rather than restrict them. "What these cases show is that gun regulation doesn't keep guns away from criminals,'' Sen. Greg Evers said. "It's time we get more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens so they can protect themselves. You don't bring a knife to a gun fight.'' Evers is sponsoring two controversial gun bills this legislative session. One would restrict physicians from asking patients about the presence of firearms in the home. The other would allow holders of concealed weapon permits to wear their guns in the open -- including on college campuses. About 780,000 Floridians have such permits. A third bill would ensure that local governments in Florida can't pass gun-control laws. All three are being pushed by the National Rifle Association, one of the most powerful lobbies in the state capital. |
NYPD Impact On Reducing Robberies Confirmed: Zimring ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over the past two decades, New York City's crime rate reduction is twice the national average and has lasted twice as long, University of California Berkeley law Prof. Franklin Zimring tells the Wall Street Journal. Zimring did research focused on homicide, robbery, and auto theft as reported by police from 1990 to 2009. He compared these numbers to independent sources to verify or discount the sizable decline in each crime. The professor says he confirmed the accuracy in the drop in robberies reported by police. Zimring, who is writing a book called "The City That Became Safe: New York and the Future of Crime Control," says changes in policing policies "are the only obvious candidates to take credit" for what he called the city's "Guinness Book of World Records' crime drop." The impact police had on homicide and rape were less pronounced, and the cops had a very limited role in lowering grand larcenies and assaults, he says. Meanwhile, critics of New York police crime statistics want to revive the sort of audit done in 1997 by former state Comptroller Carl McCall. Those pushing for review cite allegations from police officer Adrian Schoolcraft, who went public last year with secretly taped recording that showed that some police supervisors in his Bedford-Stuyvesant precinct may have been downgrading crime complaints or refusing to take them at all. |
Predictive Policing: Some Crime Random, A Lot Isn't ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several police deprtments are experimenting with the "predictive policing" concept, says Slate.com. They include Los Angeles, which has won a $3 million federal grant pending congressional approval of the federal budget, Santa Cruz, Ca., which recruited a Santa Clara University professor to help rejigger patrol patterns, and Chicago, which has a new criminal forecasting unit to predict crime before it happens. "This is not about predicting the behavior of a specific individual," says Jeffrey Brantingham, a UCLA anthropology professor on the team partnering with Los Angeles police. Rather, predictive policing deals with crime in the aggregate. "It's about predicting the risk of certain types of crimes in time and space," he says. Predictive policing is based on the idea that some crime is random-but a lot isn't. That doesn't mean police can prevent all crime-only the more predictable kinds, like burglary or auto theft. Isn't a lot of this intuitive? If a crime occurs on a particular block, can't officers just keep a closer eye on that area? Sure, says Brantingham, but intuition can take police only so far. In a city as large and complex as Los Angeles, it's hard to perform predictive policing by gut alone |
Justice Department Will Review Attacks On Police Officers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Justice Department will review a rash of deadly attacks on police after the fatal shootings of 10 officers since Jan. 1, says USA Today. Bernard Melekian, the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services director, said analysts would study whether deficits in training, resources, or officer behavior may have contributed to a troubling series of violent attacks in at least five states. The 10 firearm-related police deaths mark the third-highest January total in the past 20 years. "Coming off 2010, my gracious, it's a really bad way to start a new year," said Mark Marshall, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Marshall, the police chief in Smithfield, Va., said the association is just beginning to assemble a national database, tracking assaults on police that result in serious injury and death. The database, part of the Center for the Prevention of Violence Against the Police, will be used to help determine whether new training or resources are needed to better deal with violent confrontations. Police leaders, including former Miami police chief John Timoney, have identified several factors contributing to the violence. Among them: More desperate offenders willing to target police; officers' inconsistent use of body armor. Some, including the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, have suggested that up to half of all police do not wear armor regularly, and offenders' access to high-caliber weapons. |
Memphis Police Leader Godwin May Retire In April ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Memphis may be seeking a new police director to replace Larry Godwin, who is scheduled to retire in April, says the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Godwin, 59, likely will end a Memphis law enforcement career that spans nearly four decades. He will get an annual pension of about $93,510. Memphis Chief Administrative Officer George Little said the city is laying the groundwork for the transition, although it is possible that Godwin could be rehired after his formal retirement. The police are the city's largest division in budget and number of employees. Godwin has had acclaim for using technology to fight crime. He started the department's Operation Blue CRUSH (Crime Reduction Using Statistical History) initiative, a data-driven police deployment strategy that places officers in areas where statistics say crime is most likely to happen. Godwin was also the driving force behind the creation of the Real Time Crime Center, a centralized technology hub that provides officers in the field with instant and comprehensive crime information. |
Shortage Prompts Ohio To Change Lethal Injection Drug ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ohio is switching its lethal injection drug to an anesthetic commonly used to put pets to sleep as a shortage of the drug normally used for executions has worsened, reports the Associated Press. The state will use a single, powerful dose of pentobarbital, a common anesthetic used in surgeries and also by veterinarians to euthanize pets. The drug replaces sodium thiopental, which was already in short supply when its only U.S. manufacturer said last week it would no longer produce it. Ohio will use its remaining supply of sodium thiopental for the Feb. 17 execution of Frank Spisak, who killed three people at Cleveland State University in 1982. The first use of pentobarbital is planned for March's scheduled execution of Johnnie Baston. |
Obama Backs Mobile Broadband For Public Safety ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama portrayed the wireless industry as a great hope for job creation and improved public services, reports The Hill newspaper on Capitol Hill. He wants to cover 98 percent of Americans with 4G mobile broadband connections over the next five years, an ambitious goal considering these networks are all but nascent today. The debate over the D Block of spectrum appeared to get a brief allusion in the president's speech. He gave a nod to calls for public safety officials to gain access to mobile broadband. "It's about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device," he said. |
MA Gov Seeks To Combine Probation, Parole, Cut Budget ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, unable to resolve a power struggle with House and Senate leaders, is pressing ahead with a plan to merge the troubled state Probation Department and the embattled Parole Board, put them under his control, and slash their budgets, reports the Boston Globe. Patrick was acting on his long-stated goal of combining the agencies and seizing control, which he said would lead to better monitoring of prisoners before and after their release. The proposal, which would create a new Department of Reentry and Community Supervision, set the stage for a political battle with legislative leaders and the state's top judges, who have resisted the governor's call to transfer the Probation Department from the judiciary to the executive branch. Patrick already controls the Parole Board. Under the governor's plan, which requires legislative approval, not only would the probation and parole systems be combined, their budgets would be cut 9 percent, or $14 million, in the next fiscal year. Patrick aides said the spending reduction, which will be included in the governor's full budget proposal today, more accurately reflected demands on the two agencies. An independent investigator said last year that the Probation Department had been receiving unjustified increases to its budget as a reward for hiring friends and associates of lawmakers. |
Citing Parole Board Vindictiveness, Court Orders PA Release ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An 82-year-old Pennsylvania prisoner was released after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the state parole board showed "retaliation or vindictiveness" for refusing to release him when he committed a parole violation after the governor commuted his sentence, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. Former Gov. Robert Casey (now a U.S. senator) commuted the life sentence of Louis Mickens-Thomas in 1995. He ended up spending more than 45 years inside Graterford Prison. Mickens-Thomas was convicted of the 1964 murder of a girl, 12, largely on the testimony of a crime-lab worker who later was accused of having a long history of perjury and of faking her scientific credentials. He has always maintained his innocence, and for the last 20 years, Centurion Ministries has worked to free him. "He's completely innocent," said Centurion's Jim McCloskey. "He had nothing to do with that crime." His parole violation involved a discharge from a sex-offender treatment program for making an intimidating remark to a therapist after admitting he kissed a woman at church who did not want him to. |
Is NRA Squelching Legitimate Research On Guns? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the Tucson shootings, says the New York Times, questions resurfaced such as are communities where more people carry guns safer or less safe? Does the availability of high-capacity magazines increase deaths? Do more rigorous background checks make a difference? These and other basic questions cannot be fully answered, because not enough research has been done. Scientists in the field and former officials with the government agency that used to finance this research say the influence of the National Rife Association has all but choked off money for such work. "We've been stopped from answering the basic questions," said Mark Rosenberg, ex-chief of the National Center for Injury Control and Prevention, part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was for about a decade the leading source of financing for firearms research. NRA lobbyist Chris Cox said his group had not tried to squelch genuine scientific inquiries, just politically slanted ones. "Our concern is not with legitimate medical science," Cox said. "Our concern is they were promoting the idea that gun ownership was a disease that needed to be eradicated." The amount of money available for studying the impact of firearms is a small fraction of what it was in the mid-1990s, and the number of scientists toiling in the field has dwindled to just a handful as a result, researchers say. |
Fight Looms As NRA Opposes Obama's ATF Nominee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three days before the Tucson mass shooting restarted a debate on gunc ontrol, the White House renominated Andrew Traver, whose whose actions have riled the gun rights movement to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Traver, leads the agency's Chicago office, where he has been called an anti-gun zealot by some gun rights advocates who oppose his nomination, reports USA Today. "Traver has been deeply aligned with gun-control advocates and anti-gun activities," says the National Rifle Association. "This makes him the wrong choice to lead an enforcement agency that has almost exclusive oversight and control over the firearms industry, its retailers and consumers." Traver's nomination all but ensures the firearms debate will go on after the spotlight fades in Tucson. "I see (Traver's nomination) as a very big opportunity for the administration," said Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Since this administration took office, they have run from the gun issue. [] They need to fight for this." The bureau has been without a permanent director for five years. Its staffing - at 2,500 agents - has remained unchanged as other federal law enforcement agencies have grown dramatically. |
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011
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Monday, January 24, 2011
Articles for 24 January 2011
January 24, 2011 Today's Stories -- Four Detroit Police Officers Shot At Precinct Station -- Cleveland Cops Cleared Rapes With No Suspect: Newspaper -- Company To Stop Making Anesthetic Used In Executions -- VA Seized More High-Capacity Magazines Since Ban Expired -- U.S. Park Police Chief Returning Almost 7 Years After Firing -- Opinions Divided On Chicago Ex-Commander's Prison Term -- Don't Base Death Reports On Secondary Sources: NPR's Simon -- Could Unmanned Drones Become Law Enforcement Tool? -- Camden Cop Cut May Be "Catastrophic"--Police Expert -- Police Misconduct Lawsuit Settlements Up In Pittsburgh -- Cincinnati Seeks Community-Oriented Police Chief -- Brownback Abolishes KS Parole Panel, Names Corrections Chief You may go to TheCrimeReport.org to search all archived CJN stories. Please e-mail Ted Gest at CJJ with concerns about the editorial content of our news items, to suggest news stories, or with general comments. |
Four Detroit Police Officers Shot At Precinct Station ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a violence-weary city where every run can put police in danger, even this news was stunning: A gunman walked into a Detroit police precinct Sunday afternoon and opened fire with a shotgun, wounding four officers before return gunfire took his life, the Detroit News reports. After earlier coming into the 6th Precinct on the city's northwest side, a 38-year-old man returned about 4:30 p.m. and shot the commander in charge and three officers. All are expected to recover. "Incidents like this are very sobering and remind us how vulnerable we all are," said Police Chief Ralph Godbee. "We have a lot of people that are shaken up." That four were shot at once in Detroit wasn't shocking; that they were all uniformed and armed was. It capped another felonious weekend during which three bodies were found in a home on Friday and five people were shot outside a strip club early Sunday. "We have a serious problem with crime when someone has the audacity to walk into the police center and starts firing on police officers," City Councilman Andre Spivey said. "We have to wrap our arms around the public safety issue." |
Cleveland Cops Cleared Rapes With No Suspect: Newspaper ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cleveland police broke departmental rules and sidestepped national law enforcement standards when they prematurely cleared rape cases without sex-crimes detectives ever identifying the suspects, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. A Plain Dealer analysis found that police improperly cleared at least 52 rape cases in 2006 and 2007, giving the impression they had solved more crimes than they had. In reality, unknown assailants who abducted victims from city streets or bus stops and held them hostage while they raped them are not being pursued. That leaves them free to attack other victims. The FBI crime-reporting standards, which are similar to Cleveland's own police procedures, call for detectives to keep sexual-assault cases open until a suspect is identified. The federal rules say that to close a case without an arrest -- a classification known as "exceptional clearance," meeting several criteria. Acceptable reasons for exceptionally clearing a case range from a suspect's death to a victim who chooses not to pursue prosecution. In Cleveland, police are using those justifications without first identifying a suspect. And the city is counting the improperly cleared cases toward the police department's overall clearance rate, a widely recognized barometer of a law enforcement agency's performance. Most commonly in Cleveland, cases die when detectives declare victims "uncooperative," when they don't answer phone calls or show up to the department's downtown offices for interviews. According to the newspaper's analysis of data provided by the city, about 56 percent of all rape investigations during the two years in question have been cleared -- meaning there was an arrest, the crime was proven unfounded, the case was turned over to another agency or it was labeled an exceptional clearance. The analysis showed that in the two years, sex-crimes detectives cleared nearly 2 1/2 times as many cases by exception as they did by arrest. At least 16 percent of exceptionally cleared cases examined by the Plain Dealer were classified as such in violation of the department's own policy. |
Company To Stop Making Anesthetic Used In Executions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. company that makes a drug most states use in lethal injection announced Friday that it would no longer produce the powerful anesthetic, a decision that throws the nation's capital punishment apparatus into disarray, the Washington Post reports. The decision by Hospira of Lake Forest., Il., was prompted by demands from Italy, which does not authorize capital punishment, that no sodium thiopental - which the company had planned to make at its plant outside Milan - be used for executions. Hospira's move will force states and the federal government to look for alternatives to the drug, which could require lengthy approval processes and result in costly, long-running legal challenges. "This is clearly going to cause a problem for a lot of states," said Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes the death penalty. The development will "anger a lot of people," said Michael Rushford of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a Sacramento group that supports the death penalty. "It would certainly bother someone whose daughter was killed by a convicted sex offender." Thirty-five states permit executions. |
VA Seized More High-Capacity Magazines Since Ban Expired ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The number of guns with high-capacity magazines seized by Virginia police dropped during a decade-long federal prohibition on assault weapons, but the rate has rebounded sharply since the ban was lifted in 2004, the Washington Post reports. More than 15,000 guns equipped with high-capacity magazines - holding 11 or more bullets - have been seized by Virginia police since 1993. The role of high-capacity magazines was thrust into the national spotlight when Jared Loughner allegedly opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun outside a Tucson grocery store, killing six and wounding 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ.). Authorities say Loughner used a legally purchased 9mm Glock 19 handgun with a 31-round clip and was tackled while changing magazines. Last year in Virginia, guns with high-capacity magazines amounted to 22 percent of the weapons recovered and reported by police. In 2004, when the ban expired, the rate had reached a low of 10 percent. In each year since then, the rate has gone up. "Maybe the federal ban was finally starting to make a dent in the market by the time it ended," said Christopher Koper of the Police Executive Research Forum, who studied the assault weapons ban for the National Institute of Justice. Congress could reinstitute the prohibition on high-capacity magazines, a measure opposed by gun-rights advocates. |
U.S. Park Police Chief Returning Almost 7 Years After Firing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Teresa Chambers, who was ousted as U.S. Park Police chief almost seven years ago, will resume her duties Jan. 31, the Washington Post reports. Chambers, 53, is returning after the Bush administration fired her for warning that staff shortages could lead to safety hazards at national parks and monuments in the Washington, D.C., area. In a 2003 interview with the Post, Chambers warned that her police force was underfunded and overstretched. National Park Service officials charged that she provided an "open invitation to lawbreakers" by discussing the agency's potential vulnerabilities, and the Interior Department fired her in 2004. Citing weak evidence against her, the Merit Systems Protection Board this month ordered her reinstatement and ruled that she is entitled to about $2 million in retroactive pay and reimbursement for legal fees. |
Opinions Divided On Chicago Ex-Commander's Prison Term ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After former Chicago police commander Jon Burge was sentenced Friday to 4 1/2 years in prison for lying about his role in torturing criminal suspects, Mark Clements, an alleged victim of Burge's "midnight crew" of detectives who was freed after 28 years in prison, said, "This is ridiculous. This is a smack in the face once again to the African-American community. [] This is a complete injustice," the Chicago Tribune reports. Clements, an alleged victim of Burge's "Midnight Crew" of detectives who was released after 28 years in prison, wasn't the only one in the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse who felt Burge got a light sentence. "What a shame that black folks get had again," a man said as he left the courtroom after the sentencing. The disappointment of some of Burge's alleged victims stood in stark contrast to the reaction of their lawyers and prosecutors. They agreed that U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow's sentence delivered an unmistakable message that Burge - who has faced allegations of abuse from dozens of criminal suspects for decades - had finally been brought to justice. |
Don't Base Death Reports On Secondary Sources: NPR's Simon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, and a close friend of Rep. Gabrelle Giffords (D-AZ), has criticized his own network for wrongly reporting that Giffords had died in the shooting on Jan. 8, reports NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepherd. On the day it happened, Simon phoned the NPR news desk and was told the information was based on "confirmation" from the Pima County Sheriff's department and a congressional source. "I couldn't fathom how cops or pols would know more than the hospital," said Simon. "Two sources who are not in a position to know something are not reliable sources." Adds Simon: "There should be no room for doubt when a news organization declares someone dead. They should wait until the medical authorities directly involved declare death, or close family members announce it. There is simply no way that anyone else-not local police, not witnesses, not 'two governmental sources'-would be in a position to know for certain especially when there are now, between respiration and brain activity, at least a couple of medical gauges of death." |
Could Unmanned Drones Become Law Enforcement Tool? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before a SWAT team raid on a drug suspect, Texas agents launched a drone. A bird-size device called a Wasp floated hundreds of feet into the sky and instantly beamed live video to agents on the ground. The SWAT team stormed the house and arrested the suspect, says the Washington Post. "The nice thing is it's covert," said Bill Nabors Jr., chief pilot of the Texas Department of Public Safety, who described the 2009 operation for the first time publicly. "You don't hear it, and unless you know what you're looking for, you can't see it." The drone technology that has revolutionized warfare abroad is entering the U.S. airspace: Unmanned aircraft are patrolling the border with Mexico, searching for missing persons over difficult terrain, flying into hurricanes to collect weather data, photographing traffic accident scenes and tracking the spread of forest fires. The Texas operation presaged what could be one of the most far-reaching and potentially controversial uses of drones: as a new and relatively cheap surveillance tool in domestic law enforcement. The Federal Aviation Administration requires the few police departments with drones to seek emergency authorization if they want to deploy one in an actual operation. Because of concerns about safety, it grants permission only occasionally. By 2013, the FAA expects to have formulated new rules that would allow police routinely to fly lightweight, unarmed drones up to 400 feet above the ground - high enough for them to be largely invisible eyes in the sky. |
Camden Cop Cut May Be "Catastrophic"--Police Expert ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the first week after layoffs cut the Camden, N.J., Police Department nearly in half, predictions of doom and gloom and outlaws running wild in the streets have remained just that - predictions, says the Philadelphia Inquirer. Experts say there's no way a city like Camden can avoid feeling the impact of the massive layoffs, which also included about one-third of the city's firefighters. "You can't police the same way you did with half the police force," said Chuck Wexler of the Police Executive Research Forum, a think tank in Washington, D.C. "There is no department that I know of [facing the kind of crime in Camden] that has lost half of their police force." Said Prof. Maki Haberfeld of John Jay College of Criminal Justice: "There is always a need to have some sort of balance between reactive and proactive policing," but "when you're losing that many officers [] this balance goes out the window." So far, there has been no uptick in assaults, shootings, or the other mayhem that have branded Camden a city on the brink. "For a reasonable-sized city, this is one of the most catastrophic law enforcement stories in the country," said Eugene O'Donnell, a professor of law and police studies at John Jay College. The Camden police reduction brings the city, with a 78,000 population, closer to the national average of 2.1 police officers per 1,000 residents, said John Firman of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Firman and others said using that ratio as a standard was simply playing a numbers game and avoiding the reality of police work. "Staffing has to be based on three things," he said. "What's your mission, and what is needed to ensure public safety and officers' safety." Those factors vary by municipality, and trying to establish a common ratio is foolhardy, he said. |
Police Misconduct Lawsuit Settlements Up In Pittsburgh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Settlements in police misconduct cases have cost the city of Pittsburgh about $300,000 in the past 13 months, and another settlement for $150,000 is pending -- an uptick in payouts that has some officials and lawyers urging a review of police department procedures, especially those pertaining to officers' off-duty activities, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The city settled one federal misconduct lawsuit in 2008 and one in 2009. Last year, however, the city settled four misconduct suits, two of them involving officers who were off-duty or moonlighting when the incidents occurred. So far this year, City Council has taken up two more settlements, both involving off-duty officers. Because the financially strapped city is self-insured, payouts come from the $450 million operating budget. "My hope is that the city takes more control over officers' behavior, when they are on the clock and off the clock," said lawyer Gerald O'Brien, who is seeking a $150,000 settlement for a dump-truck driver who charges that an officer in uniform but off duty and driving a personal vehicle -- passed him and cut him off on a downtown street and then assaulted him in 2008. David Rudovsky of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and author of "Police Misconduct: Law and Litigation" said an increase in suits or complaints signals the need for a policy review. "I would think any responsible public official would look at that and say maybe there's a problem," he said, noting it would make no sense for the city to shell out money in settlements and "not do anything internally." |
Cincinnati Seeks Community-Oriented Police Chief ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the first time, Cincinnati can hire a police chief from anywhere, says the Cincinnati Enquirer. Until now, every chief in the department's 207-year history has come from within the ranks. Voters gave the city the power to hire fire and police chiefs from the outside in 2001, after riots prompted by the death of an unarmed African-American man who ran from police and was shot by an officer. The police chief job may be the most important in Cincinnati. Nothing dogs the city more than the perception that it is unsafe - even though data show that crime is falling. The new chief could be taking over from Tom Streicher a department that, for budget reasons, may shrink or lose its patrol functions to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. The Enquirer interviewed more than a dozen people, including crime victims, elected officials, police officers and neighborhood activists, to see what Cincinnati wants and needs in the next chief. They want someone selected through an honest and public process who makes them be safe and feel safe. Someone who fully gets what Cincinnati has endured in the past decade in terms of the department's relationship with African-Americans. For the man doing the hiring, connection with the community seems to be key. At the top of a four-page ad for the job, City Manager Milton Dohoney said he is seeking a community-oriented law enforcement leader with a legacy of integrity. |
Brownback Abolishes KS Parole Panel, Names Corrections Chief ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gov. Sam Brownback has abolished the Kansas Parole Board to save money, the Wichita Eagle reports. He named Raymond Roberts, warden of the El Dorado Correctional Facility, to head the corrections department. In a move projected to save nearly$500,000, a three-person committee of corrections staff will take over responsibility for making parole decisions for the approximately 500 inmates who remain incarcerated with sentences allowing for the possibility of parole. The new group will take over the Parole Board's responsibility to conduct hearings and decide whether to reincarcerate ex-convicts accused of violating conditions of their parole. Board member Patricia Biggs has expressed concern that abolition of the board could lead to staff decisions to release prisoners to ease overcrowding, or, alternatively, to keep people in prison longer to justify expansion of staff or prisons. She said the plan raises issues of due process of law for alleged parole violators, because the same agency responsible for bringing the accusaion would also be responsible for deciding the defendant's guilt and punishment. Brownback said the need for parole oversight is dwindling because the state has moved to a system in which new convicts are given exact sentences that are not open to parole review. New corrections director Roberts is known for encouraging Christian evangelism as part of the corrections system. A center he established is open to inmates of all faiths. Brownback said Roberts' focus on ministry as part of the corrections process "gives men and women serving their time the opportunity to change their lives." |
Friday, January 21, 2011
Articles for 21 January 2011
January 21, 2011 Today's Stories -- GOP-Inspired Budget Cuts Could Reduce FBI By 4,000 Agents -- 125 Arrested In Biggest FBI Organized Crime Bust -- How Much Weaker Is Today's Organized Crime? -- NYPD Analyzes Hard-To-Predict "Active Shooter Attacks" -- Assange Case Issue: Do Rape Victims Deserve Anonymity? -- WA Rules On When Medical Pot Can Be Used Called Political -- Chicago Police Work To Spread Intel Reports Quicker -- Critic: Reducing Parole Discretion Boosts Prosecutors' Power -- Gun-Rights Bills Advance After Arizona Shootings -- Tom Roy Named Corrections Director In Minnesota -- KS County Gets Plan On Keeping Mentally Ill Out Of Jail -- Ohio Police Classify Phallic Snow Sculpture As Disorderly Conduct You may go to TheCrimeReport.org to search all archived CJN stories. Please e-mail Ted Gest at CJJ with concerns about the editorial content of our news items, to suggest news stories, or with general comments. |
GOP-Inspired Budget Cuts Could Reduce FBI By 4,000 Agents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congressional conservatives have demanded far more dramatic reductions in government spending than House GOP leaders have proposed, reports the Washington Post. Members of the conservative Republican Study Committee said the GOP must keep its campaign pledge to slice at least $100 billion from non-defense programs, an effort that would require lawmakers to reduce funding for most federal agencies by a third over the next seven months. This could bring deep cuts in criminal-justice staffing and programs. According to Democratic estimates, cuts applied across the board would require the Justice Department to fire 4,000 FBI agents and 1,500 agents at the Drug Enforcement Administration. The federal prison system would have to fire 5,700 correctional officers. There was no immediate estimate on how cuts would affect federal aid for state and local anticrime programs, but the current budgeted figure is $519 million. The Obama administration's budget proposal for the fiscal year starting in October is expected in mid-February. |
125 Arrested In Biggest FBI Organized Crime Bust ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Criminal accusations spanning several states and several decades, encompassing figures from seven mob families, led to the arrest of nearly 125 people on federal charges yesterday, reports the New York Times. The charges included murders, including a double homicide over a spilled drink in a bar. There were also run-of-the-mill activities associated with organized crime: racketeering, extortion, loan-sharking, money laundering, gambling, and the like. The charges were 16 indictments handed up in federal courts in four jurisdictions. Federal officials called it the "largest mob roundup in F.B.I. history." For Attorney General Eric Holder, it was an opportunity to preside over the kind of law enforcement operation that was once the core mission of the Justice Department, but that has been largely overshadowed by terrorism issues. Questions were raised by the diffuse nature of the indictments, which involved myriad unrelated criminal activity. The sweep began before dawn, with 800 federal agents and state and local investigators fanning out across the region. |
How Much Weaker Is Today's Organized Crime? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The new charges against organized crime figures raises the question of how much weaker the mob is than it used to be. The Wall Street Journal notes that when three leaders of New York's five reputed Mafia families were convicted in 1986, then-FBI director William Webster said that, "Traditional organized crime is never going to be the same again." What was known as the Commission case was the catalyst for the fragmentation of La Cosa Nostra. Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder said that, "Members of La Cosa Nostra are among the most dangerous criminals in our country." The Journal says that in recent years, the mob has been viewed mostly as television entertainment. Mark Feldman, a former federal prosecutor, said the mob has been "severely battered by the cases brought against it over the last two decades, but they're not dead. There's still wherewithal for them to regenerate and there is still a culture and still people who are attracted to the easy money." The FBI shifted resources to terrorism and white-collar crime cases after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, said Bruce Mouw, a former FBI agent handling organized crime cases. "If the mob knew how few agents are assigned they would be heartened," said Mouw. "If the FBI continues to shift resources away, these guys will regroup and rearm." |
NYPD Analyzes Hard-To-Predict "Active Shooter Attacks" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Tucson shooting in which six people were killed and 14 others injured is what law enforcement officers call an "active shooter attack," says the Wall Street Journal. The New York Police Department issued a report to security officials with its analysis of 202 such incidents in the U.S., dating back to 1966. Historically 98 percent of the active shooting incidents were carried out by a single attacker. That "makes these attacks more difficult to detect before they occur," said Jessica Tisch of the New York police counter-terrorism unit. Tisch said 29 percent of the shootings occurred in schools, 23 percent in malls or other commercial settings, 13 percent in office buildings, 13 percent in factories or warehouses, and 22 percent in other places. The median number of deaths in these incidents was two. Some 46 percent of the attacks were ended by use of force, either by law enforcement or bystanders. In 40 percent of the cases the attacker committed suicide. Capt. Michael Riggio recommended that corporate business security officials prepare drills on active shooting attacks and create a "safe room" stocked with medical supplies. Riggio says that during an active shooting attack employees should never approach the arriving police officers; when evacuating, they should never hold anything in their hands. "Hands empty, hands open and hands up," Riggio said. |
Assange Case Issue: Do Rape Victims Deserve Anonymity? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rape victims' right to anonymity has been in the issue in the case of Wikileaks' Julian Assange, with two leading exponents of women's rights taking different sides. Wendy Murphy, a former sex crimes prosecutor, writes for Women's eNews that both arguments miss the main point: protecting a rape victim's constitutional right to privacy. Naomi Wolf and Katha Pollitt published opposing pieces on whether the women described as Julian Assange's alleged sexual assault victims should be identified in the press against their will. Pollitt argues against disclosure. She emphasizes that it will deter reporting and cause needless harm to people who have suffered enough. Wolf says all victims should be named because anonymity is a "relic" from a time when women suffered shame for being raped because it undermined her "value" to be known as the damaged "property" of her husband or father. Forced disclosure of victims' identities in rape cases, Wolf says, will promote women's equality by putting that idea to bed. Murphy argues that Wolf is wrong and Pollitt takes the wrong path to get there: Not naming U.S. victims has little to do with stigma, and everything to do with the Constitution. |
WA Rules On When Medical Pot Can Be Used Called Political ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elliott Cain wanted to know why it is legal to use medical marijuana to treat anxiety in California, but not in Washington state, where patients with other conditions such as cancer and HIV have had legal access to pot for more than a decade, says the Seattle Times. A Washington state panel that evaluates requests to add medical conditions to the list of those that can be treated with marijuana said there is no rigorous scientific evidence that marijuana is effective in treating anxiety. The answer also has as much to do with politics as science. Despite more than a decade of experience with marijuana as medicine, Washington's relationship with cannabis and the community seeking to expand its use remains a troubled one. For years, patients have complained that ambiguities in the state's 1998 medical- marijuana law have made obtaining and possessing cannabis difficult, even scary. The state Medical Quality Assurance Commission has added only four medical conditions since 1999. The board's decisions are as political as they are scientific, a symptom of the lack of clinical studies involving pot. Even some of the people who serve on the medical-marijuana panel are exasperated with the process. "It should be done in a different manner," said Dr. Catherine Hunter, a gynecologist who served on two panels that evaluated two medical-marijuana petitions despite what she said was her lack of expertise. "Medical decisions shouldn't be made in a political arena." |
Chicago Police Work To Spread Intel Reports Quicker ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a bit like a scene from "Minority Report," the 2002 Tom Cruise movie that featured genetically altered humans with special powers to predict crime, says the Chicago Sun-Times. In October, the Chicago Police Department's new crime-forecasting unit was analyzing 911 calls for service and produced an intelligence report predicting a shooting would happen soon on a particular block on the South Side. Three minutes later, it did. Police Superintendent Jody Weis wondered if the department could produce intelligence reports even quicker. Next time, officers might have an hour's notice before a shooting instead of just a few minutes. Weis is consolidating the department's intelligence-gathering units under his direct command to improve the flow of information. The so-called 24-hour "fusion center," which opened in 2007, also will move under the superintendent's office. The fusion center is one of dozens that opened across the country in response to a 911 report that called for better sharing of federal, state and local intelligence on terrorism. Brett Goldstein, director of predictive analytics, said the change will allow his office to send out intelligence reports more quickly. "We're running against a clock," he said. |
Critic: Reducing Parole Discretion Boosts Prosecutors' Power ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reducing parole board discretion on prisoner releases gives more power to prosecutors, who may be no better at making such decisions and may be corrupt, argues lawyer Wendy Kaminer on TheAtlantic.com. Kaminer commented on the Massachusetts police officer killing that led to the resignation of most of that state's parole commissioners. Kaminer says Gov. Deval Patrick's shake-up of the agency, which was met with the surprised approval of his conservative critics and the dismay of liberal criminal justice advocates, seemed inevitable. TheAtlantic.com |
Gun-Rights Bills Advance After Arizona Shootings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the shooting of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others in Tucson, the proximity between elected officials and armed citizens is drawing fresh attention and, in some cases, worry. Security personnel have stepped up their presence in some state capitols as new legislative sessions begin, and the typical raft of proposed pro- and anti-gun legislation has taken on a new urgency as a result of the events in Arizona., says Stateline.org. Overwhelming victories by Republicans in November's state elections have increased the chances of pro-gun bills passing, and many lawmakers believe the right legislative response to fatal shootings like the one in Tucson is to expand, not limit, gun rights. Ensuring broader access to guns for law-abiding citizens, they argue, can help residents defend themselves if an attack or other emergency occurs. In one of its first moves, the GOP majority that took control of the New Hampshire House of Representatives this month voted to allow concealed guns and other weapons in the statehouse and surrounding legislative buildings. Republicans also reversed a 40-year-old chamber policy that banned concealed guns on the House floor itself. |
Tom Roy Named Corrections Director In Minnesota ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton named Tom Roy, director of Arrowhead Regional Corrections, which serves five northern counties, to lead the state corrections department, reports the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Roy has spent more than three decades in that field. Roy, who replaces Joan Fabian, will lead an agency that oversees thousands of inmates at 10 adult and juvenile corrections facilities statewide. A native of northern Minnesota, Roy graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1974, then started work in probation and parole. In 1994, he was promoted to chief probation officer for the five Arrowhead counties and, in 2002, took over as executive director for Arrowhead Regional Corrections. He also is chair of the Minnesota Interstate Compact Advisory Council, which oversees the movement of convicted offenders to and from Minnesota. |
KS County Gets Plan On Keeping Mentally Ill Out Of Jail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new Johnson County, Ks., study recommends far more resources and broad coordination of the justice and health systems to help keep the mentally ill out of jail, says the Kansas City Star. The report, released after 19 months of research, addresses a problem common to communities nationwide. It found that 17 percent of those booked into the Johnson County jail were mentally ill, roughly the national average. The county's initiative has been designated a national demonstration project by the U.S. Department of Justice. It was carried out by groups that included county law enforcement, corrections, the district attorney, and mental health experts. The report makes more than three dozen recommendations and has already resulted in federal grants to fund some initiatives. "We found there is no single solution," said Karen Wulfkuhle of United Community Services of Johnson County, the group that provided a grant to start the study. Each arrest or contact creates an intercept point that can get help to the mentally ill, the report says. Recommendations include mental health training for police, parole officers, and dispatchers; more sentencing alternatives and court diversion, more treatment, including a therapeutic community at the jail to deal specifically with those dealing with mental illness and substance abuse, and greater efforts to involve family. David Wiebe, director of Johnson County Mental Health, said that treating the mentally ill is better and cheaper than jailing them, but Kansas and other states are cutting funding for mental health. The state cut $1.7 million from his budget in the last two years, he, and a new proposed budget would cut it $1.5 million more. |
Ohio Police Classify Phallic Snow Sculpture As Disorderly Conduct ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A phallic snow display in Ohio was short-lived after police told a 16-year-old boy to remove a seven-foot-high snow sculpture emulating male genitalia from his front yard, reports the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. Police classified the offense as "disorderly conduct." Roman King said he got "car honks with people giving us the thumbs up," from drivers while it was standing. Elyria Police Chief Duane Whitely said it was the first time he had ever heard of a complaint concerning such a sculpture, and after some research, said it would likely fall under disorderly conduct. "It's obviously an offensive structure," Whitely said. He said it was unlikely to fall under public indecency laws because "public indecency has to do a lot with the human body." No charges or citations were issued, and the frozen phallus fell after being chopped down with a snow shovel. |
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