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From LA Times

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San Jose police investigate alleged videotaped beating of student by officers

The San Jose Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the alleged videotaped beating of an unarmed university student by two police officers during an arrest last month, a spokesman for the department said today.

A grainy cellphone video posted on the San Jose Mercury News website shows police officers subduing the student, who could be heard screaming. Police had been called to a home Sept. 3 after a report that the San Jose State student, Phuong Ho, was assaulting his roommate, police said.

The department is conducting a “thorough investigation” that will be turned over to the Santa Clara County district attorney's office for review, said Sgt. Ronnie Lopez of the San Jose Police Department.

Lopez said the department launched the investigation immediately after learning about the incident late last week. Investigators are interviewing witnesses and reviewing the posted cellphone video, along with other video.

“Our investigators are reviewing this entire case from beginning to end,” he said. “They want to make sure that the force used was necessary.”

Two officers -- Kenneth Siegel and Steven Payne Jr. -- are seen on the video, police said. Two additional officers were also at the scene. All four are on administrative leave.

After the criminal inquiry is complete, Lopez said, the department's internal affairs unit will also conduct an administrative investigation to determine whether there was any wrongdoing. In addition to possible criminal charges, the officers could face discipline ranging from a formal letter of reprimand to termination.

Ho, 20, was charged with brandishing a knife and resisting arrest, Lopez said.

Ho is being represented by San Jose lawyer Duyen Hoang Nguyen, according to the Associated Press. Nguyen could not be reached for comment.

[Updated, 4 p.m.]: Nguyen said late this afternoon that his client did not resist arrest and that he pulled out a knife to prepare his dinner after the altercation with his roommate. Nguyen said the argument was over before police arrived.

"There is nothing to justify the use of force," Nguyen said.

Ho, reached by phone this afternoon, said one officer pushed him against the wall of his room and struck him with his hand. Then, he believes, as many as four officers began hitting him with a baton and one of them used a Taser on him. Ho said one of the baton strikes occurred after he was handcuffed.

Ho said he didn't understand what the police officers wanted him to do, in part because English is his second language.

Ho said the baton strikes left injuries on both of his legs.

“I don't think they treated me like human,” he said. “I think things need to change so this police brutality doesn't happen to other people.”

Lopez said the department also plans to review whether additional training is needed.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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Child abduction survivor lives with fear and guilt

When she was 8, Opal Horton escaped from a kidnapper. Her friend wasn't so lucky. Now 32, she testifies at a man's sentencing in the slaying of another girl.

By Ted Gregory and Art Barnum

October 26, 2009

Reporting from Chicago

The little girl who got away is 32 now, with two teenage sons. She likes to camp and fish with her family, and she helps her husband remodel their vintage house.

But she rarely goes out alone, and hates getting into her car after it's been parked outside overnight. She is haunted by guilt -- guilt that dates from when she was 8.

On June 2, 1985, Opal Horton and her friend Melissa Ackerman were riding bicycles on a gravel road in Somonauk, Ill., when a man stepped out of a blue AMC Gremlin and asked for directions.

He grabbed Opal, tossed her in the front seat and chased Melissa, according to court documents.

In those frantic seconds, Opal scrambled to unlock the passenger door, but the lock had been disabled. She lunged over to the driver's-side window, jumped out and fell to the gravel, tripping the man, who had returned with Melissa pinned under his arm.

Opal ran. Melissa could not.

Fifteen days later, a deputy sheriff found Melissa's body in a ditch -- five days after her eighth birthday.

Brian Dugan was apprehended and pleaded guilty.

Dugan took something from Opal Horton that day, and has never really left her, even as she tries to deny his presence. But today, Horton is a powerful symbol. For parents whose children could not escape, she is the wrenching image of what might have been. For others, she is a chilling reminder of danger and an example of fragile perseverance.

"When Mike Ackerman hugs me," Horton said of Melissa's father, "it's not just a normal hug. It's like he's hugging Melissa too. I still don't talk to the Ackermans as much as I should because I always feel like, 'Do they look at me and feel awkward or sad?' I just don't want them to feel uncomfortable."

Two years before Dugan grabbed Opal and Melissa, he had abducted, raped and killed 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville, Ill. His sentencing for the Nicarico crime is underway, with a death penalty hearing continuing Tuesday.

Last week, Horton told her story in court for the first time.

She broke down in tears as she walked to the witness stand and struggled to regain her composure. Assistant State's Atty. Michael Wolfe, who was questioning her, paused twice to keep his emotions in check.

When Dugan got out of his car, "he walked closer, saying he couldn't hear us," Horton testified. She took deep breaths between questions.

"I whispered to Melissa that we had to go." But Dugan "grabbed me by the neck," she said, "and threw me through a window into the car, like a ball through the window."

After she ran, she testified, she hid in a tractor tire at a nearby John Deere dealership until she heard a car take off. She poked her head out and saw Melissa through the car window.

"I waited until I couldn't see the car anymore. I took off running, ducking so he couldn't see me," she testified.

She ran several blocks to the house of someone she knew, a teacher.

"Someone took my friend," Horton said. The teacher called police.

For the next two weeks, the police questioned Horton.

On June 17, a female FBI agent who had befriended the girl took her to a park and told her Melissa had been found.

"I was happy -- then she told me something else," said Horton, again breaking into tears.

Later, Michael Ackerman took the stand. Wolfe asked him what his biggest concern was today.

"My biggest concern is Opal," Ackerman said.

In an interview before she testified, Horton said the days and weeks after her escape were jumbled in her mind now.

She slept with her parents for months and could not go to the bathroom alone.

She saw counselors two or three times, but they were men and she was deathly afraid of men. She refused to talk to strangers about what happened.

Horton used to dream about Melissa. In her dream, the two of them were in Dugan's parked car. He was asleep.

"It's very vivid to me that we are together," she said. "She's alive and we're sleeping and we would wake up, sneak out and get away while he was sleeping in his car."

Horton was a single mom of two boys and working as a real estate agent when she met Brad Wernsman, a custom home builder, in 2005. They married this year.

Over the years, the shock of her ordeal subsided, but her everyday anxiety persists. She had the backyard fenced and the basketball hoop placed inside so her boys could practice with protection. For years, she refused to let her sons ride their bikes or go outside unless she was with them.

Once, alone at home with one of her sons, she heard a noise that frightened her. Creating a game of the situation, she crawled with her son to the garage and drove with him to her parents' home.

Six months ago in her car, she panicked and banged her head when she started the engine and heard a voice from the radio.

"I always think people are out to get me," she said. "I'm notorious for hearing things."

Horton's parents told the boys about her experience, which Horton said she couldn't do, when they were about 6 and 4. They asked a few questions but have not pressed her for details, she said. The boys are now 15 and 13.

Horton put her fear of Dugan to rest in July, when she forced herself to watch him plead guilty to the Nicarico crime, she said. She hadn't seen him since June 2, 1985.

"It was very empowering, actually. Seeing him, he was nothing. I would not say my life is ruined because of him, absolutely not. I don't know how to say it. He took a part of me, but I feel like that person's not here. She's gone."

But the guilt is powerful and hard to shake. It goes beyond thoughts of why Melissa was lost and she wasn't. Horton often wonders how she might have helped if she had stayed in the car.

"You always feel like maybe you could have steered the car off the road," she said, "or gotten someone's attention, just so she wouldn't have to be alone."

As torturous as it was to testify, she said she was adamant about doing it.

"As a parent, how can you not do as much as you can to get justice for your child?" Horton said. "Jeanine, she deserves justice. I've never met the Nicaricos, but would love to have a relationship, knowing that, I guess, somebody lived and can speak for her as a child."

As for Dugan, she has "no trouble saying he deserves the death penalty."

After talking with her pastor, she said, she needs to "change my idea of forgiveness."

"Not that I don't have to forgive him," Horton said. "I just don't have to say, 'Oh, give me a hug.' I have to say I'm OK with it and move on and know that God has a place for him, as he does for me. It's not me forgiving him; it's God forgiving him. I'm not the one making this call."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-girl-got-away26-2009oct26,0,5606331,print.story

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From the Daily News

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Next LAPD chief could be historic selection

Will Los Angeles get its first woman police chief in history? Or will the city celebrate its first Latino chief? Or will the LAPD's next chief be an Asian?

The successor to departing Police Chief William J. Bratton could set a new city precedent, given that at least two women, two Latinos and an Asian are among the 13 candidates for the job.

"It's a tremendous opportunity to make history," said Arturo Placencia, former president of the Latin American Law Enforcement Association, an organization of Los Angeles Hispanic officers.

"To get a Latino police chief or a woman chief would be as important as when Antonio Villaraigosa was elected the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles."

Jan Tucker, co-president of the National Organization for Women's San Fernando Valley/Northeast Los Angeles chapter, said the selection of a woman would be unheard of a generation ago.

"It would be tremendous, especially given the LAPD's culture, which has undergone serious change," said Tucker. "It would be a sea change to have a woman who has come up through the ranks of the department and at the top of the heap.

"It's been a long time coming. We've already seen an attitude in the city of Los Angeles over women in uniform."

But Latinos and women activists aren't holding their breath.

At best, the two women candidates - Assistant Chief Sharon Papa, the first woman in the LAPD to hold that position, and Deputy Chief Sandy Jo MacArthur, commander of the Incident Management and Training Bureau - are seen as dark horses by some observers.

Meanwhile, the Latino and Asian candidates - Deputy Chief Mark Perez, commander of the Professional Standards Bureau; Deputy Chief Sergio G. Diaz, who oversees the LAPD's Central Bureau; and Deputy Chief Terry S. Hara, commanding officer of operations West Bureau - have not registered high in the handicapping among bloggers and in news reports.

In recent weeks, Asian-Americans have rallied around Hara's candidacy, with several supporters appearing on his behalf at each of the community meetings held by the Police Commission for citizen input on the next chief.

The LAPD has had two African-American police chiefs in recent history - Willie Williams and Bernard Parks. Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger, director and commanding officer of the office of operations, is among the contenders for Bratton's replacement.

In talking to reporters after their formal interviews with the Los Angeles Police Commission last week, neither of the two Latino candidates pressed their ethnicity.

"I don't know that there's been a Latino chief (in Los Angeles) ever, but I think that being Latino is just one of the things in the panoply that should be considered," said Perez. "I don't think of being a Hispanic chief as being the key aspect to this."

"It really is about who is going to lead the LAPD into the 21st century and pick up where Bratton left off."

In an interview, Diaz did not address the issue of being a Latino candidate.

Papa and MacArthur declined interviews with reporters.

Hara said his candidacy as an Asian-American reflects the cultural diversity of Los Angeles.

"I think the fact that there's such a diverse group of candidates says a lot about how much the city has changed and the opportunity for all groups within the organization to compete in the process," he said. "That is so much different than 30 years ago."

James Acevedo, a longtime San Fernando Valley Latino activist, said many Hispanics feel that there is a more pressing issue in selecting Bratton's successor than a candidate's ethnicity.

"Policing is such an intricate process, we've learned, that I'm hoping the person they select - and hopefully it's one of the 11 from inside the department - knows the streets and the problems that are besetting our neighborhoods," said Acevedo.

"That's of uppermost importance, I think, in who the next chief is - that it's the best man or woman for the job."

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_13641424

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From The Washington Times

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Monday, October 26, 2009

'Balloon-boy' sheriff isn't bashful

ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) | The sheriff at the center of the runaway-balloon saga says he's not enjoying the media spotlight, but that's never stopped the John Wayne fan from using it to offer brash opinions on hot-button topics.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden once used his blog to label a nearby city "the imbecilic borough of Boulder" for being too secular. At a nationally televised news conference Oct. 18, he declared that much of what's on TV is "garbage."

Sheriff Alderden, who has worked in law enforcement for 37 years, wasn't well known outside his home county until Oct. 15, when the saga of a boy feared carried away on a balloon captivated a live television audience of millions. Since then, he's been a frequent presence on TV, in newspapers and on the Internet.

At first, he told the world he believed Richard and Mayumi Heene when they said they feared their 6-year-old son was aboard the balloon. The boy was later found at the family's Fort Collins home, where he said he'd been hiding because he was afraid he was in trouble.

Two days later, Sheriff Alderden accused the Heenes of perpetrating a hoax for publicity and said he would recommend criminal charges. He said he had only pretended to believe the couple to gain their confidence while deputies investigated.

Since then, he's received e-mails that praise him as a hero or denounce him as a bumbler. A Denver Post editorial suggested his public pretense about believing the Heenes will make residents more cynical about law enforcement. But people who know Sheriff Alderden call him a dedicated officer who has raised his department's professionalism in this county of 290,000 residents.

"He's no-nonsense" but has a sense of humor, said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety, who served with Sheriff Alderden on a state crime task force. "I would call him a likable guy."

Sheriff Alderden describes himself as a patriot. He's a big fan of John Wayne and calls his blog "The Bull's-eye: Straight Shooting From the Sheriff."

When his son, 32-year-old John W. Alderden, served 10 days in the Larimer County jail over a traffic fine this year, the sheriff said he ordered his staff to treat his son like any other inmate.

"As a father, I am embarrassed and disappointed in him," the sheriff told the Fort Collins Coloradoan. "We spoke by phone when he was in booking, and he asked for the money to pay his fine. I declined."

Calls to the son's home phone were not answered.

In a blog entry Wednesday, the sheriff said that he didn't like the media attention the balloon case generated but that he was proud of his department's response.

Jim Alderden was born in 1951 in the Chicago area. He started his law-enforcement career in 1972 with the police department at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. After stints with the Estes Park and Steamboat Springs police, he joined the Larimer County Sheriff's Department as a patrol deputy in 1979.

He rose through the ranks until then-Sheriff Richard Shockley promoted him to undersheriff in 1990. Sheriff Shockley told the Associated Press that he fired his aide in 1991 because they disagreed on management style.

The future sheriff then worked as a criminal investigator for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in suburban Denver until 1998, when he returned to Larimer County, ran against Sheriff Shockley and won.

Sheriff Alderden has raised his department's morale and standards, said Kathay Rennels, chairwoman of the Larimer County commissioners. She rates his performance as "excellent" despite their tangles over budget issues.

But Sheriff Alderden has been sharply critical of the commissioners on issues ranging from benefits for same-sex couples to his right to express his views on the county Web site.

When commissioners approved benefits for the unmarried partners of county employees, including same-sex couples, Sheriff Alderden ridiculed the move in his blog. He objected to the cost but said moral and religious objections were also valid.

When commissioners suggested that Sheriff Alderden shouldn't use the county Web site to espouse his opinions, he called them the "Board of County Censors" and moved his department's Web pages to another site outside the commissioners' control.

Sheriff Alderden also took aim in his blog at the Fort Collins City Council for debating whether Christmas displays on city property should be more secular and less Christian. He said Christianity was under attack and invited the public to help decorate a privately funded Christmas tree - "not a holiday tree" - on the grounds of his county-owned complex.

The Republican was re-elected in 2002 and 2006 without opposition. He can't run again because of term limits, and his plans after leaving office in January 2011 aren't clear.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/26/balloon-boy-sheriff-isnt-bashful//print/

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Monday, October 26, 2009

Florida police vet 1,150 tips in girl's slaying

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ORANGE PARK, Fla. (AP) | Investigators had more than 1,100 tips, but are still trying to figure out what happened when 7-year-old Somer Thompson disappeared on her walk home from a north Florida school last week.

At a fundraiser Sunday for Somer's family, children played in a bounce house as adults watched carefully. They vowed to find the girl's killer and raised about $18,500 so her mother doesn't have to go back to work immediately.

Somer's name and photo were everywhere at the carnival-like fundraiser, which was held in a tree-lined park in the town's center. A silent raffle, a bake sale and even glittery makeovers for girls were offered to help the family after Somer went missing after school Monday. Her body was found in a Georgia landfill Wednesday.

"I've been crying since Day One," said Amanda Wendorff, a co-organizer of the fundraiser. "When it's a child, it just touches a community."

Mrs. Wendorff, the wife of a Clay County Sheriff's deputy, has four children. She urged people at the carnival to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious - underscoring the fear that is running deep in the community.

Meanwhile, detectives from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are combing through tips: More than 1,150 calls from people across the United States have poured in regarding Somer.

So far, no one has come forward to say they saw the girl abducted or attacked. Investigators have ruled out all 161 registered sex offenders who lived within a five-mile radius of Somer's home.

Mother Diena Thompson has praised the hard work of investigators.

"These detectives - excuse my language - are busting their [expletive] to find it. Because it's an it," Mrs. Thompson said Saturday, referring to the killer of her daughter.

When reached by the Associated Press by phone Sunday, Mrs. Thompson declined an interview.

"I don't want to think about doing any news until after I bury my baby," she said.

A public viewing and funeral are planned for Monday and Tuesday, but graveside services and the burial will be private.

Dozens of mourners and supporters have held nightly vigils outside the Thompsons' home. They have gathered around a huge makeshift memorial of "Hannah Montana" balloons, stuffed animals and candles that have burned so long that the wax has melted into the grass.

An autopsy has been completed and investigators know how Somer died, but authorities won't disclose their findings or any details about the body.

Family and friends described Somer as a friendly little girl who rode her scooter around the neighborhood.

"She never met a stranger. She was very friendly," said Robert O'Cain, a neighbor. "She was always looking for other kids to play with."

Tina Justyna said her daughter, 11, would often go to the library with Somer at school - and the pair would look at books about kittens and puppies. Her daughter is devastated that Somer is gone, she said.

"I don't let her watch the news," Ms. Justyna said. "She lost one of the few friends she had."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/26/florida-police-vet-1150-tips-in-girls-slaying//print/

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Monday, October 26, 2009

Respect wins the sex wars

Rebecca Hagelin

OPINION / ANALYSIS:

Culture challenge of the week: Parents, teens and sex

We live in a culture that promotes teen sex at every turn. T-shirts with slogans like "Everyone loves a slutty girl" sort of summarize what teens are up against. Marketers, liberals and the mass media have reduced sexual activity to little more than an amusing hobby, and made the concept of sexual purity seem backwards and outdated.

Feminist author Naomi Wolf seeks to influence this generation of young women by writing, "There are no good girls; we are all bad girls, in the best sense of the word." She invites readers to join her in an effort to "explore the shadow slut who walks alongside us." Ms. Wolf is just one example of why the new breed of feminism is so dangerous: It argues that women should be able to employ any means to get ahead - even the exploitation and abuse of their bodies.

But statistics that demonstrate the harm caused by such objectifying behavior is endless and alarming. They include a report by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, revealing that the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the Western industrialized world. Three in 10 young women under the age of 20 will become pregnant at least once. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 48 percent of high school students say they have had intercourse, and 50 percent of new sexually transmitted diseases each year occur in young people ages 15-25.

And here's the clincher: Studies show that a sea of teenagers are living with regret -- 55 percent of the boys and 70 percent of the girls who had sex now say they wish they had not.

How to save your teen from a life of regret

Recently I asked a beautiful teenage girl who is very bold about her stance for purity what motivates her to hold her ground. She said simply, "My sense of morality, which is based on my faith and the values my mother and father have taught me." This teen is very active in Young Life ministries and church youth groups, and her parents have always been frank with her about sex, abstinence and wanting the very best for her life.

It was encouraging to hear that her faith and her parents have more influence than even the massive amounts of media that glorify sexual promiscuity.

If you think this young woman is an anomaly, think again. In study after study, when asked what influences them the most, teenagers overwhelmingly say, "My parents." Children of all ages are desperate for their parents' attention and love - and guidance.

It's not a matter of whether you have influence. The question is: "How are you going to use it?" If you are silent on the issue of sexual activity, your silence will be taken as an endorsement of the behavior. But if you communicate the value of abstinence, show your love every day and vow to never give up in the effort to connect with your children, you can influence their worldview, their choices and the course of their young lives for the better.

When I asked if there were any other factors in her decision she said, "Respect. I know that I will have more respect from my peers if I uphold high standards."

She had learned to recognize a positive type of peer pressure -- the side that is often missed. In their hearts, kids know what type of behavior is respectful and what is not. Despite media efforts to warp views to the contrary, teens respect their peers who rise above the status quo.

So, to summarize: Faith in God, a clearly defined sense of morality, the right kind of parental influence, and understanding what leads to being respected are elements in helping your teens win the "sex" wars. For tips on how you can better equip them, visit www.abstinence.net.

• Rebecca Hagelin is a family advocate and the author of the best-seller "30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family." For more family tips, visit HowToSaveYourFamily.com

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/26/respect-wins-the-sex-wars//print/

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From the FBI

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http://www.fbi.gov/page2/oct09/citizens_academies_102609.html

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From Parade Magazine

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