......... NEWS
of the Day - October 20, 2009
on
some LACP issues of interest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS
of the Day
- October 20, 2009
on
some issues of interest to the community policing and neighborhood
activist
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following group of articles from local
newspapers and other sources constitutes but a small percentage
of the information available to the community policing and neighborhood
activist public. It is by no means meant to cover every possible
issue of interest, nor is it meant to convey any particular
point of view ...
We present this simply as a convenience to our readership ...
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From LA Times
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Toxic legacy of the Cold War
Ohio's Fernald Preserve has flowers, birds and tons of radioactive waste. Sites that once supplied the nation's nuclear arsenal now pose a staggering political, environmental and economic challenge.
By Ralph Vartabedian
October 20, 2009
Reporting from Fernald Preserve, Ohio
Amid the family farms and rolling terrain of southern Ohio, one hill stands out for its precise geometry.
The 65-foot-high mound stretching more than half a mile dominates a tract of northern hardwoods, prairie grasses and swampy ponds, known as the Fernald Preserve.
Contrary to appearances, there is nothing natural here. The high ground is filled with radioactive debris, scooped from the soil around a former uranium foundry that produced crucial parts for the nation's nuclear weapons program.
A $4.4-billion cleanup transformed Fernald from a dangerously contaminated factory complex into an environmental showcase. But it is "clean" only by the terms of a legal agreement. Its soils contain many times the natural amounts of radioactivity, and a plume of tainted water extends underground about a mile.
Nobody can ever safely live here, federal scientists say, and the site will have to be closely monitored essentially forever.
Fernald is part of the toxic legacy of the Cold War, one component in a vast complex of research labs, raw material mills, weapons production plants and other facilities that once supplied the nation's nuclear arsenal.
Today, these sites pose a staggering political, environmental and economic challenge. They harbor wastes so toxic that the best cleanups, such as the eight-year effort at Fernald, can do no more than contain the danger. Cleaning the properties enough that people could live and work on them again is either unaffordable or impossible.
The radioactive byproducts entombed at places like Fernald will remain hazardous for thousands of years. So today's scientists and engineers must devise remediation measures that will not only protect people today but last longer than any empire has endured -- all at a price society is willing to pay.
"We are faced with a mess, and you have to find some sort of a balance," said Victor Gilinsky, a nuclear waste expert and former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "There are no easy decisions."
The nationwide effort to clean up the Cold War nuclear weapons complex began two decades ago and so far has cost more than $100 billion. The cost is expected to total $330 billion over the next three to five decades. More than 100 sites have been officially cleaned up. Many of them have been turned into industrial parks or nature preserves or put to other limited uses under Energy Department supervision.
Nearly two dozen other sites still await cleanup. The Obama administration is using money from the economic stimulus package to add $6 billion to the effort over the next three years.
Collectively, the former nuclear facilities represent a stunning loss of natural resources and economic opportunity. Millions of gallons of radioactive sludges linger in underground tanks. Dozens of radioactive or toxic groundwater plumes are migrating underground in Washington, Idaho, South Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee, as well as California.
In Nevada, federal scientists are monitoring a vast sea of radioactive groundwater, contaminated by hundreds of underground nuclear tests, to make sure it does not encroach on populated areas or drinking-water supplies.
"New members of Congress come in and say, 'Oh, my God, look at the scale of this mess,' " said Geoffrey Fettus, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a frequent litigant against the Energy Department. "This cleanup is gruesomely complicated."
The results of a cleanup -- with enough will and money -- can be impressive.
The site of the former Fernald Feed Materials Production Center has evolved into a wildlife preserve covered with flowers. Nearly 200 species of birds have flocked to the site: dark-eyed juncos, hairy woodpeckers and flocks of mallards paddling across more than a dozen ponds.
The 1,050-acre site has a visitors' center with a small museum that recounts the history of the plant. About 9,000 visitors from churches, civic groups and schools are expected this year.
The plant, which opened in 1951 and was operated by the National Lead Co. of Ohio, manufactured uranium rods used to make plutonium for nuclear weapons.
In the mid-1980s, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency discovered an environmental disaster at the site.
Leaking silos were belching radon gas. A leaky dust collector had spewed uranium powder into the air. Rain running off the plant had contaminated the Great Miami Aquifer, an underground body of water that extends from Cincinnati to Dayton.
On the day the plant was shut in 1989, pipes and tanks were left full of waste.
The Ohio EPA estimated that 340 tons of uranium had been released. In a series of lawsuits against the Energy Department, the state of Ohio won about $14 million for environmental damage; local residents won $78 million for emotional distress and loss of property values; and workers won roughly $20 million for health and safety claims.
Lisa Crawford, who has lived in the area her entire life, became involved in 1985. That's when she discovered that the well water flowing through the taps in her house, across the street from the plant, contained uranium at levels 180 times the federal safety standard. She moved out later that year with her husband and their son.
Neighbors and environmentalists organized to push for a cleanup, but after years of study came to realize that there was no perfect solution.
They faced a choice: Live with a certain level of contamination or push for a comprehensive cleanup with no guarantee of success and a $50-billion price tag.
"In the 1990s, there came a time when we had to say, 'OK, we have studied this to death,' " Crawford said.
The key to the cleanup was a compromise that left the vast majority of contaminated material on the site. The compromise hinged on a legal agreement with the Energy Department that relaxed the definition of "clean" and limited future uses of the property.
That trade-off underlies virtually every cleanup and has helped to reduce costs and shorten cleanup times.
"Are we totally cleaned up? No," Crawford said. "Could we have gotten a better cleanup? No. But we are comfortable with what we have."
Three million cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste was left in the mound that dominates the site. It is actually a highly engineered disposal facility.
The production center's buildings were demolished, and about 6 inches of topsoil was scraped from the center of the site. The building debris and the topsoil were bulldozed into the 65-foot-high mound. The contaminated material is encapsulated by thick layers of impermeable clay and fabric liners to prevent rain from seeping in. A complex network of piping under the landfill monitors for leakage.
The system is supposed to prevent radioactive water from leeching into the ground for the next 200 to 1,000 years, said Johnny Reising, who was the Energy Department's cleanup chief at the site.
"Can I speak for 1,000 years into the future? No," said Reising, now retired. "You can't make it 100% safe. But you can make it compliant with all the requirements."
Only the most highly radioactive material, consisting of high-purity former Belgian Congo uranium ore and tailings, was hauled away. It was deemed too dangerous to leave in the rainy Ohio climate. Ultimately, it was mixed with cement and cast in 3,776 steel containers that were sent to a privately owned dump in west Texas.
The Fernald cleanup was completed in 2006. It reduced uranium in the soil outside the plant to no more than 82 parts per million -- about 20 times greater than the naturally occurring level in Ohio.
Groundwater will be pumped and treated until 2026, bringing the contamination below the federal standard of 30 parts per billion, but well above the natural level.
"The area is unacceptable for housing," said Jim Seric, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency manager who oversaw the cleanup. "It is excellent for wildlife viewing."
The Energy Department is reducing its standards for nuclear-site cleanups, allowing ever more waste to be left in place, say critics, including Fettus. For example, the department used complex regulatory maneuvers, as well as a change to federal law in 2004, to reclassify highly radioactive waste at the Savannah River weapons plant in South Carolina so that dangerous residues can remain on site, entombed in concrete in underground tanks.
Inez Triay, the Obama administration's newly appointed cleanup chief, rejects criticism that the program is relaxing its standards and failing to protect the environment.
Triay, a chemist who has spent her career in the Energy Department's cleanup program, said that in some cases it is technically impossible to remove every last bit of waste from underground tanks and that leaving a small amount encased in concrete is "a completely appropriate thing to do."
Even after a cleanup, the job is not finished. An Energy Department agency, the Office of Legacy Management, has been created to monitor the sites. A warehouse in West Virginia, which is nearly completed, will hold millions of records in perpetuity, detailing how the cleanups were conducted and where the toxins are buried.
Among the files will be a hefty section on Fernald.
The records will note the location of the radioactive mound. They will show how the basements of the former manufacturing buildings became storage ponds and how for hundreds and possibly thousands of years workers will have to trap groundhogs so they don't burrow through the barriers keeping radioactive waste from leaching into groundwater.
"I worry about people forgetting about this site," said Crawford, who sometimes goes for a stroll around the preserve. "It is our job now to make future generations know what happened here."
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Swiss court orders director Polanski kept in jail
From the Associated Press
3:32 AM PDT, October 20, 2009
BELLINZONA, Switzerland
Director Roman Polanski has lost an appeal to be freed from a Swiss prison ahead of his possible extradition to the United States for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.
The Swiss Criminal Court today said that releasing Polanski on bail or under house arrest posed a high risk of flight.
The ruling represents another setback for the 76-year-old filmmaker who is considered a convicted felon and a fugitive by authorities in Los Angeles.
The court said Polanski can appeal the verdict to Switzerland's highest tribunal. He can also continue attempts to persuade the Swiss Justice Ministry to release him.
Polanski was arrested Sept. 26 as he arrived in Zurich to receive an award from a film festival.
The Obama administration tells federal authorities not to prosecute users and suppliers following state laws, reversing Bush's position.
By Josh Meyer
October 20, 2009
Reporting from Washington
The Obama administration on Monday told federal authorities not to arrest or prosecute medical marijuana users and suppliers who aren't violating local laws, paving the way for some states to allow dispensaries to provide the drug as relief for some maladies.
The Justice Department's guidelines ended months of uncertainty over how far the Obama White House planned to go in reversing the Bush administration's position, which was that federal drug laws should be enforced even in states like California, with medical marijuana laws on the books.
The new guidelines tell prosecutors and federal drug agents they have more important things to do than to arrest people who are obeying state laws that allow some use or sale of medical marijuana.
"It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal," Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a statement.
Advocates say marijuana helps relieve pain and nausea and stimulates appetite in patients suffering from cancer and some other diseases.
The guidelines clarify what some critics had said was an ambiguous position by the Obama administration, especially in California, where authorities raided numerous clinics and made arrests over the years. Some of those raids followed Obama's inauguration in January, after, as a presidential candidate, he had pledged to stop them.
Holder had telegraphed the change in March.
On Monday, he said the guidelines were adopted, in part, because federal agencies must reserve their limited resources for urgent needs. One priority is countering the violent Mexican drug cartels, which use vast profits from their U.S. marijuana sales to support other criminal activities, the guidelines say.
The Justice Department will continue to prosecute people whose claims of compliance with state and local law conceal operations that are "inconsistent" with the terms, conditions or purposes of those laws, according to Holder and Deputy Atty. Gen. David Ogden.
The guidelines urge authorities to pursue cases involving violence, illegal use of firearms, selling marijuana to minors, excessive financial gains and ties to criminal enterprises.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups welcomed the decision as an important step toward a comprehensive national policy on medical marijuana that will allow states to implement their laws without fear of federal interference.
But many law enforcement advocates, some conservative groups and members of Congress criticized it.
In all, 14 states have medical marijuana laws. But some, such as New Mexico, Rhode Island and Michigan, have been reluctant to create programs lest they be struck down by courts or shut down by federal authorities, said Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU's California-based Drug Law Reform Project.
Boyd said he hoped the new policy would spur local governments with well-established medical marijuana programs to weed out fly-by-night dispensaries that are in it for the huge potential profits.
"The big news outside of California is that this will get the states off the dime," Boyd said.
In California, he said, it would "clarify the line between what is legal and illegal and reduce some of the chaos that exists, and that's a good thing."
But opponents warned of consequences.
"By directing federal law enforcement officers to ignore federal drug laws, the administration is tacitly condoning the use of marijuana in the U.S.," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.
He said the decision undermined the administration's plan to attack the Mexican drug cartels, which he said were growing marijuana in U.S. national parks and fueling drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Other states that allow marijuana for medical purposes are Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
California is unusual in allowing dispensaries to sell marijuana and advertise their services.
In Los Angeles, however, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said last week that he would continue to prosecute dispensaries for over-the-counter sales.
By Rick Orlov, Staff Writer Updated: 10/19/2009 07:12:00 PM PDT
Responding to long-standing complaints about a confusing and ineffective system for helping the poor, city officials on Monday unveiled a revamped program that provides a range of services from a single location.
The FamilySource Program will launch Jan. 4, administering $18 million to a number of lead agencies and subcontractors _ including 15 in the San Fernando Valley. Officials say the program will be able to help 50,000 needy families.
"Now, more than ever, we need to act strategically to lay the foundation for our recovery from this economic crisis," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "We have created 21 centers for our most vulnerable residents."
City Councilman Richard Alarc n, who has been working to improve poverty-assistance programs, said better coordination among the various agencies will help make the system more efficient.
"One of the things it does is create nodes of operation where we centralize the operation of the network and gives us greater oversight," Alarc n said. "It provides collaboration and lets us make sure we are more efficiently providing services."
Deputy Mayor Larry Frank said the program was developed after an audit by then-Controller Laura Chick said the city's poverty-assistance programs failed to adequately address the issues of poverty, gangs and youth development.
"It took us three years to develop this, wrapping in to one program all the services that are offered," Frank said. FamilySource will have a single application that will apply to such programs as health care, banking, discount utility rates, school lunch programs and the federal Earned Income Tax Credit program.
"What this means is a family will come in, fill out one application and we will be able to find out which state and federal programs they are eligible for, rather than having to run around to more than a dozen different agencies," Alarc n said.
While details are still being worked out, plans call for FamilySource to establish 21 centers citywide and work with five subcontractors in each area.
"We think this will represent a real savings for these families and result in putting more money in the local economy," Frank said.
By Lee Baca Lee Baca is the sheriff of Los Angeles County. Updated: 10/19/2009 05:34:29 PM PDT
IF we can stop gun-using criminals from obtaining ammunition, we can avoid gun violence and save lives.
Since 2004, studies and pilot programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento have shown that requiring identification before the sale of handgun ammunition not only helps keep bullets out of the hands of dangerous criminals and children but leads to the arrest of dangerous felons and gang members.
The city of Sacramento recently reported that in just more than a year since enacting a similar local ordinance to the recently passed Assembly Bill 962, nearly 200 people, who were not legally entitled to own or possess firearms or ammunition, were nabbed.
As an example, Sacramento police recently arrested a woman on parole for burglary who purchased two types of handgun ammunition at two different gun stores.
A subsequent investigation found that the convicted felon along with her boyfriend, who was on parole for armed robbery, also had three semiautomatic weapons, an ounce of crystal methamphetamine and 900 Ecstasy pills - exactly the type of people Californians don't want to be purchasing ammunition. Both were booked on suspicion of weapons and drug charges.
A 2006 study by the Rand Corp. on Los Angeles' city ordinance showed 10,050 rounds of ammunition were purchased by prohibited persons in a period of just two months. The study concluded that "monitoring ammunition transactions may help reduce the supply of ammunition to criminals and the frequency of injuries from felonious gun assaults. Such a record can also provide information for generating leads on illegal firearm possession."
Assembly Bill 962 reasonably regulates access to ammunition and improves public safety without placing undue burdens on consumers. It targets criminals, not law-abiding citizens who will find that purchasing ammunition will be similar to purchasing cold medicine or buying an item at the pawn shop.
This measure requires vendors of handgun ammunition to keep a log of information on handgun ammunition sales, store ammunition in a safe and secure manner and require the face-to-face transfer of ammunition sales - a small price to pay to help keep bullets out of the hands of children, gang members, parolees and even people who previously served time in prison for murder.
While the gun lobby has argued that AB 962 is similar to the ineffective federal law enacted in the 1960s, they fail to acknowledge the federal law didn't exist in the computer age when information is easily shared; that the federal law did not give local law enforcement access to the data; and that the federal law allowed any type of ID, such as a gym card, as proof of identification.
When local law enforcement has access to the data of ammunition sales, it leads to the arrest of dangerous criminals who purchase bullets. Studies also showed the program would be more effective if enacted statewide.
In order to stop dangerous criminals from firing the bullets that kill people, we must be proactive and ensure the public safety by catching these criminals at the gun store for purchasing ammunition before we catch them on the streets for murdering Californians.
PARIS -- A French man charged with raping a boy after being imprisoned for two other child rape cases has written to President Nicolas Sarkozy asking to be castrated, fuelling a public debate about how to punish sex offenders.
France is considering forcing some sex offenders to undergo chemical castration, but the physical castration the man asked for is banned, French media reported on Saturday.
The reports said Francis Evrard had asked in the letter for his testicles to be surgically removed.
Evrard is accused of kidnapping and raping the boy in 2007 after serving an 18-year jail sentence for the rape of two other boys. The boy's father, Mustafa Kocacurt, judged the request a stunt aimed at receiving a more lenient sentence.
“Why now, ten days before the trial? He could have done this two years ago or even before committing all his crimes,“ Kocakurt said on French television on Saturday.
The debate over forced chemical castration was revived earlier this month by the rape and murder of a woman by a suspected re-offender.
France, along with a number of other European countries including Sweden and Denmark, already allows the use of drugs to lower the sex drive of offenders who agree to it.
To help raise awareness among all Americans, the President has designated October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month . Last week, I wrote about some of the specific threats we face every time we use a computer. However, we are not helpless against these threats. In a video released last week, President Obama identified some basic things that all computer users can do to improve their cybersecurity and better protect themselves online. In this post, I would like to expand further on these tips that computer users can adopt to improve their "cyber hygiene."
Keep your security software and operating system up-to-date. At a minimum, your computer should have current anti-virus and anti-spyware software and a firewall to protect yourself from hackers and malicious software that can steal sensitive personal information. Hackers also take advantage of Web browsers and operating system software that do not have the latest security updates. Operating system companies issue security patches for flaws that they find in their systems, so it is important to set your operating system and web browser software to download and install security patches automatically.
Protect your personal information online. Millions of people become victims of identity theft each year. One way that cyber criminals convince computer users to divulge their confidential personal information is through fake "phishing" emails , which are often cleverly disguised to look like authentic emails. Be wary of clicking on links in emails that are unfamiliar and be very cautious about providing personal information online, such as your password, financial information, or social security number.
Know who you are dealing with. It is remarkably simple for online scammers to impersonate a legitimate business, so you need to know who you are dealing with. If you are thinking about shopping on an unfamiliar website, do some independent research before you buy. Similarly, before you download software, be sure that the software developer is trustworthy. Cyber criminals will often embed the capability to steal passwords and files into free software.
Learn what to do if something goes wrong. If your computer gets hacked, the effects may be obvious (e.g., deleted or corrupted files), or they may be subtle (e.g., slow computing performance). As a first step, you should scan your computer with updated anti-virus software. You may wish to get professional assistance through your computer's manufacturer, computer retail store, or local computer technician. You can also alert the appropriate authorities by contacting your Internet Service Provider or the Internet Crime Complaint Center . The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can assist if you are subject to identity theft . You can also forward spam or phishing emails to the FTC at spam@uce.gov .
Former State Attorney Investigator convicted of possessing child pornography
ORLANDO, Fla. - A former investigator for the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office, Sean Peters, was found guilty of possession of child pornography after a four-day jury trial in the Middle Judicial District of Florida before U.S. District Judge John Antoon following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation
Following the Oct. 16 conviction, Judge Antoon ordered Peters to be remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshalls until his sentencing hearing on Jan. 15, 2010.
Peters was previously indicted on child pornography possession charges and arrested by ICE special agents in Orlando in May 2009. ICE special agents had obtained and executed a federal search warrant at Peters' Orlando residence and seized a computer and a CD from the residence. The computer was located in a downstairs office, and the CD was located in a DVD player in Peters' bedroom. ICE special agents conducted a forensic analysis on the computer and the CD, which showed that Peters had over 4,000 images of child pornography and erotica on his computer and the CD. At the time of the search warrant, Peters was employed as an investigator for the Florida State Attorney's Office, but subsequently resigned from the state attorney's office after the search warrant was executed at his residence.
ICE agents assigned to ICE's in the Orlando office obtained information concerning Peters from an ICE nationwide operation titled "Project Flicker." Project Flicker is an investigation that targeted suspicious PayPal account activity. Peters is one of numerous individuals who sent money to the suspicious PayPal accounts to pay for access to child pornography websites.
This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest aimed at those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign national predators whose crimes make them deportable. Launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 11,600 individuals through Operation Predator.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com/ .
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Ambrose prosecuted the case.
Each year, millions of children fall prey to sexual predators. These young victims are left with permanent psychological, physical, and emotional scars. ICE targets child pornographers, child sex tourists and facilitators, human smugglers and traffickers of minors, criminal aliens convicted of offenses against minors and those deported for child exploitation offenses who have returned illegally.
Seeking to bring an end to this criminal activity and protect children worldwide, ICE developed Operation Predator in 2003, an initiative to identify, investigate and arrest child predators and sexual offenders. Operation Predator draws on ICE's unique investigative and enforcement authorities to safeguard children.
Coordinated nationally and internationally, Operation Predator brings together an array of ICE disciplines and resources to target these child sex abusers. As part of the effort
ICE has created a National Child Victim Identification System in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Justice, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces and other agencies.
ICE agents stationed internationally work with foreign governments, Interpol and others to enhance coordination and cooperation on crimes that cross borders.
ICE is a member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, joining law enforcement agencies around the world to fight child exploitation information and images that travel over the Internet.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com .
About ICE membership in the Virtual Global Taskforce
The Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) is made up of law enforcement agencies from around the world working together to fight child abuse online. The aim of the VGT is to build an effective, international partnership of law enforcement agencies that helps to protect children from online child abuse.
The objectives of the VGT are:
to make the Internet a safer place;
to identify, locate and help children at risk; and
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From the Washington Times
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Media misled in 'balloon-boy' case
Jennifer Harper
The "balloon boy" was a dim-bulb hoax that ultimately generated an illuminating media moment. Indeed, major news organizations and the American public dutifully followed the glittery tale like fascinated children, and the story devolved from high drama to mere sideshow antics in 48 hours.
"New iPhone App Detects Balloon Hoaxes," noted comedian and columnist Andy Borowitz in his own parody headline on Monday.
Law enforcement was placed in a complicated position, however.
Larimer County, Colo., Sheriff Jim Alderden played the role of good cop, hall monitor, sergeant-at-arms and media analyst as the story took flight. Charged with keeping the global press at bay, Sheriff Alderden employed a method long used by authorities when national security or public safety is on the public radar.
He told a little fib to journalists.
The loony situation was treated with considerable gravity. Sheriff Alderden initially claimed he believed the Heene family's claims of innocence in the balloon matter. Like a deft public affairs man who must determine whether the press has a "need to know" sensitive information, he bided his time and strategically protected his case against the Heenes, who could face felony charges.
"I think we bumped against the line of misleading the media. For that, I apologize," the sheriff said. "We did this to make [family members] believe we were still on their side. We established trust."
Sheriff Alderden also implied that several "media outlets" were privy to the Heene's scheme to promote a "mad scientist" reality TV show by launching the silver balloon and implying that their young son was aboard, then standing by as rescue, chaos and buzz ensued.
Was the plainspoken sheriff justified in his omission of facts?
"Sadly, I'm sure the sheriff knew the story was going to be enormous, and he wanted to have all his facts - and instincts - in line before he went public. In that case, he showed far more caution than the so-called 'news' people," said Tim Graham of the Media Research Center.
"It's disturbing that cable news networks get hoaxed. But they also exploited their own mistakes for another marathon of balloon-boy-aftermath programming. The networks have exposed themselves, like the proverbial suckers born every minute," Mr. Graham said. "They can be manipulated. Then they seem almost grateful to their manipulators for giving them an ongoing audience-grabber, even as their own reputations float away."
Joey Skaggs, a veteran "hoax artist" and professional prankster who has fooled the news media repeatedly with fascinating and outlandish scenarios for two decades, said the fandango between press and police has long been a fixture in the cultural landscape.
"There's been a distinct relationship between the news media and authorities since the beginning. And that relationship goes both ways. Sometimes police work with you, sometimes not," Mr. Skaggs said, citing his experiences with police when he posed as a "scalp transplant doctor," among other things.
"Balloon boy was not so much a hoax as a scam - self-aggrandizing parents exploiting their children, costing taxpayer money, then facing consequences. In the end, we've got to examine the intent of the parents, the media and the police," Mr. Skaggs said. "I don't know if it's right or wrong here for authorities to withhold information. But it is not unusual, and it's been happening for quite some time."
