February 13, 2010

Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa

If the gun hadn't jammed 16 years ago, the Methodist minister would not be alive.

The messy chaos of refugees in his church in central Johannesburg would not exist. The crowd of people who sleep on the floor in his home would not have a place to lay their heads.

The poor who wait at his door until midnight, or 2 a.m. or even 5 a.m. to talk to him would not be there. Their terrible stories would not be listened to. And the Rev. Paul Verryn would not carry their pain.

But the gun did jam.

::

To neighbors of the Central Methodist Church, Verryn is a pest, like one of those old ladies who collects hundreds of stray cats and makes the neighborhood stink. But he takes in people.

Sometimes 3,000 Zimbabwean refugees sleep in his church. Most evenings, crowds loiter, carrying their lives in plastic bags, waiting to get inside for the night. The church, five stories tall, is crammed full by nighttime. Huddled, shapeless forms fill the stairways. There's a constant shuffling hubbub, the occasional raucous shout.

When they bed down, Verryn carefully picks his way through, searching for places to step.

It lowers the tone of this already frayed downtown neighborhood, some think. Shopkeepers and local companies hate the chaos.

Verryn had death threats last April. Police arrested two men who admitted that local businessmen had paid them $4,000 to kill him, according to news reports.

In the center of downtown, Verryn's church fuels angst over the massive influx of Zimbabwean refugees into South Africa in recent years. In xenophobic violence against foreigners in 2008, the church was attacked by mobs.

Gauteng province lawmakers threatened to close the church in October, calling it "a horror" and "a ticking time bomb."

"If I could have it my way, I would close it down today," Molebatsi Bopape, the chairwoman of the legislature's health and social development committee, said at the time.

And now even his superiors have turned against him.

Verryn, whose 10-year term as the Methodist bishop of central Johannesburg ended in November, has been suspended from the church for talking to journalists and initiating court action, without permission, to appoint an independent curator to protect children at the church. Mediators will settle the matter.

His Soweto home is always crowded. Sometimes 20 people sleep on the floor, in spare rooms, on couches. Some have been there for years. Others come, hearing that he won't turn them away. It's like a comfortable old railway station, people sharing their stories between journeys.

"I feel sorry for homeless people. But then I go home," said Mary Metcalfe, a friend who has known him since the 1980s. "Paul's never learned that. He's not going to have an empty room when there are people in need.

"His bedroom is his only private space," said Metcalfe, who was one of the longtime confidants interviewed in place of Verryn, who cannot speak to journalists, his lawyers say, pending the hearing on his suspension. "The lounge, the dining room have people, because he would not be able to say, 'I'm sorry for you,' and then go home to an empty house."

In 2005, Verryn told an interviewer that he sometimes regretted never marrying, but thought that his 21-hour workday would have been tough on a family. In any case, there's no one else to burden when he takes in yet another person.

Metcalfe comes several evenings a week with supper and a piece of cake, knowing he wouldn't eat otherwise.

He confessed a recent mistake to her over supper one evening. Arriving home late, he heard about a homeless Zimbabwean man living alone on the Soweto dump. He went there in the middle of the night, found the man and took him to his home, full of people as usual.

But it was too much for the homeless man, who'd been isolated and couldn't cope with the crowd. He stayed a short time, then fled. When Verryn went to the dump searching again, he'd disappeared.

"Paul told me about this because he felt bad. In retrospect he might have found a different setting for the man," Metcalfe said. "He felt critical of himself for not having been perceptive enough to realize."

Verryn looks exactly as one would imagine an ordinary middle-aged cleric: average height, kindly eyes, spectacles, an open-necked shirt, gray beard and hair.

His appearance belies his courage. As an anti-apartheid activist, Verryn moved to Soweto in 1988 as minister, one of the few whites to live in the township. He often hid black activists in his home, including a tough 14-year-old boy named Stompie Seipei, an anti-apartheid activist who'd been jailed at 11.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, then-wife of jailed activist Nelson Mandela, lived in the area with her thuggish bodyguards known as the Mandela United Football Club.

The club abducted Seipei and three others from Verryn's home, accused them of having sex with the minister, then beat and tortured them. According to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Madikizela-Mandela "initiated and participated in the assaults." Seipei's body, beaten and stabbed, was found in January 1989.

Friends say it took Verryn years to recover from the grief over the boy's death and the sodomy accusations. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that Madikizela-Mandela "deliberately and maliciously slandered" Verryn, spreading false allegations that he had sex with the boys.

Verryn broke down in tears at the commission hearing, begging Seipei's mother to forgive him for failing to protect her son: "I should have taken far, far more seriously the danger he was in."

Three years ago he came face to face with Madikizela-Mandela again. Without hesitation, he embraced her.

The waiting room at Verryn's church is shabby, strewn with well-leafed Zimbabwean newspapers. Inside his cramped, messy office the chairs are piled with more papers. He once told an interviewer that he likes chaos but also likes for things to be right.

In his dusty office, Verryn interviews every new Zimbabwean refugee. Their stories stay with him: The boys who left Zimbabwe as a group of five. One got caught on an electric fence. One was taken by a crocodile, crossing the Limpopo River. One was shot. Only two made it.

The woman, forced by bandits to take her baby from her back and throw it into the Limpopo River. Those who were raped, tortured, who saw their loved ones killed.

Verryn drives home to Soweto for a meal about 10 p.m. Then he drives back to his church office and meets every person waiting there. Sometimes he finishes at dawn.

Hassen Lorgat of the South African National Nongovernmental Organization Coalition said Verryn gave the umbrella group a room rent-free in the church several years ago, when it had nowhere to go.

"He once said, 'The place may be smelling a bit, but this is the only place we have.' I said, 'Can we take fewer?' " Lorgat recalled, speaking of the refugees. "He said, 'But where would the other ones go?' "

Ishmail Kauzani spent a month at the church when he came to South Africa as a refugee in May 2008.

"There's no other place that caters for Zimbabwean refugees, especially the youth. He's providing them with school, everything," Kauzani said. "He's a father."

Sept. 26, 1993.

Verryn, clad in his cassock, gets out of his car, arriving home after a church service.

"Give me the keys to your car." A young man with a gun.

"I won't."

"Give me the keys or I'll kill you."

"Then kill me and it will be on your conscience with God. I'm not going to give you my keys." Three shots. Three misses. Then the gun jams. Verryn runs into the house. The gunman flees.

When he takes off his cassock later, a bullet falls out of the cloth.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-south-africa-bishop13-2010feb13,0,5340655,print.story

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Three killed in shooting at Alabama campus

All three were faculty members at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. A suspect is in custody. At least three others are injured, including two professors and a professor's assistant.

By Robin Abcarian and Richard Fausset

February 13, 2010

Reporting from Los Angeles and Atlanta

Three faculty members were killed, three other people were wounded and a woman was in custody Friday following a shooting during a biology department meeting on the campus of the University of Alabama-Huntsville, a university official said.

Two of the wounded are also faculty members and the other is a staff member, said Ray Garner, UA-Huntsville spokesman. Several dozen students were in the science building where the shootings took place, he said, but none witnessed the attack.

Huntsville Police Chief Henry Reyes said the suspect, whom he declined to identify, was apprehended without incident outside the building. Other "persons of interest" were also being questioned, he said.

Reyes, addressing reporters at a news conference Friday night, said a number of other people were also in the room at the time of the shooting but were not injured. Earlier Friday, campus Police Chief Charles Gailes said that people in the room had called 911 to report the shooting.

The three slain faculty members were identified as G.K. Podila, Maria Ragland Davis and Adriel Johnson.

The injured victims are professor Joseph G. Leahy, who was in critical condition Friday night; professor's assistant Stephanie Monticello, also in critical condition; and professor Luis Rogelio Cruz-Vera, who was in stable condition, according to Huntsville Hospital spokesman Burr Ingram.

The attack took place about 4 p.m. at the university's new Shelby Center, a $60-million science and technology facility with labs, classrooms and two auditoriums. Police responded within one minute of the emergency call.

An e-mail alert was sent to students: "There has been a shooting on campus. The shooter has been apprehended. Everyone is encouraged to go home, classes are canceled tonight. . . . Counselors are available [on campus]."

Soon after the shooting, one of the top trending topics on Twitter was "Alabama-Huntsville."

Some students told local television station WHNT that they had not received the alert despite having signed up for the e-mail warnings. Some said they received the alert an hour after the shootings were reported.

Alerting students to campus disruptions with text and voice messages became an issue in April 2007 after a student killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech.

Shanna Fuller, an Alabama-Huntsville student, told local television station WHNT-19 that she was in the library when the shootings occurred. For the first 10 or 15 minutes she didn't know the campus was on lockdown.

Despite being signed up for text alerts, she said, she did not receive word from the university. She found out there had been a shooting when her sister, who was watching the news, called to make sure she was OK.

Melissa Davis, whose stepmother teaches biology, was on the campus waiting to hear whether she was OK. Davis said that she had been unable to reach her.

"I don't know if they're not letting them contact family or what," Davis told the TV station, "or if she's OK. We're just trying to wait it out and see."

Later, police told her to go to the hospital.

It was not clear late Friday whether her stepmother was among the victims.

One week ago, Huntsville was shaken when 14-year-old Todd T. Brown was shot in the head at Discovery Middle School, allegedly by a fellow student. The suspect in that case was arrested and charged with murder and is being held in a juvenile facility.

"This is a very safe campus," said university spokesman Garner. "It's not unlike what we experienced a week ago. This town is not accustomed to having shootings and multiple deaths. It's a shock. It's tragic."

Huntsville, population 176,000, is located in northern Alabama, near the Tennessee state line. It's nicknamed "The Rocket City" for its long and storied history of aerospace advancements.

After World War II, advanced U.S. rocketry technology was developed there with the help of preeminent scientist Wernher von Braun, designer of the Germans' V-2 rocket.

The University of Alabama-Huntsville is closely aligned with the aerospace industry and national defense industries in town, including the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-alabama-shooting13-2010feb13,0,3360824,print.story

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Obama administration weighs choices for prosecuting 9/11 mastermind

Officials are considering 'multiple options' for trying Khalid Shaikh Mohammed following resistance to their proposal to hold a civilian trial for him in New York.

By Christi Parsons

7:50 AM PST, February 12, 2010

Reporting from Washington

The Obama administration is considering "multiple options" for trying the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, as local officials and some members of Congress resist the current Department of Justice plan for a civilian trial in New York.

But administration officials are not saying whether Khalid Shaikh Mohammed could be tried before a military commission, or at the Illinois prison where they plan to move other detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or at some other unnamed site.

Administration officials said last month that the White House was involved in discussions about the trial, as Congress was actively considering precluding options for trying Mohammed and the other detainees in New York.

"The president wants to see that they are brought to swift and certain justice," an administration official said Friday morning, adding that advisors to the president were not yet weighing in on the options publicly.

In an interview with the Washington Post published Friday, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. declined to rule out the possibility that the trial could be shifted from federal court to a military commission, though he indicated that that was not his preference.

Holder has said in the past that he believes a fair trial for Mohammed could be held in a military commission.

The Obama administration is pressing forward with plans to retrofit a near-empty state prison in Thomson, Ill., to accommodate detainees at Guantanamo. The White House has included money in its proposed 2011 budget to purchase and modify the Thomson Correctional Center near the Mississippi River.

The super-maximum security prison could hold all of the detainees not moved to the federal system or sent overseas, and could also house military commission trials.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-terror-white-house13-2010feb13,0,7457389,print.story

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County welfare agency refuses to release files on children's deaths

Officials cite 2007 disclosure law in barring access to data on recent cases.

By Garrett Therolf

February 13, 2010

Los Angeles County's embattled child welfare agency has clamped down on the release of information about 12 recent deaths among children who have passed through the child welfare system.

The decision follows a series of articles in The Times last year that detailed flawed casework. The cases prompted some reforms at the county's Department of Children and Family Services, including enhanced training for social workers.

But the state law that allowed much of the information to reach the public has been a source of discontent for Department of Children and Family Services Director Trish Ploehn. She has complained to a reporter that the law unfairly "denigrated" her department by placing such a harsh spotlight on the most tragic cases.

This week, she declined to release any records in the 12 most recent child deaths, invoking a provision of the law that allows prosecutors to keep parts of the records confidential during a criminal inquiry.

Among 31 deaths over the last two years that met the county's standard for abuse or neglect, Ploehn said she identified 18 cases in which social workers committed serious errors. The group of 12 cases now being withheld includes some of those cases.

Ploehn's decision had the strong support of at least one county supervisor.

David Sommers, a spokesman for Supervisor Don Knabe, said his boss "adamantly believes the personal and tragic details of a child's death should not be raked over by this newspaper. He stands behind the expert opinion of the county counsel, who says we are in full compliance with the law, and not the interpretation by lawyers and reporters representing the Los Angeles Times."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law in 2007 to allow public access to information when a child dies of abuse or neglect.

The law's preamble stated: "Without accurate and complete information about the circumstances leading to the child's death, public debate is stymied and the reforms, if adopted at all, may do little to prevent further tragedies."

The law made an exception, however, for instances in which the district attorney states that information might jeopardize a criminal inquiry. Child welfare agencies across the state were ordered to redact such information before release.

William J. Grimm, an attorney for the Oakland-based National Center for Youth Law, which successfully lobbied for the law, said his agency regularly requests records from all of California's 58 counties. Two small counties have denied records on as broad a basis as Los Angeles.

"The law doesn't permit a blanket, across-the-board approach to entire cases," Grimm said. "It requires the D.A. to go into each case and not just redact everything but redact only those things that imperil an investigation. The sort of response you received in Los Angeles was not the intent nor was it justified by the text of the law."

In the cases of the most recent deaths, the agency said Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's objections covered the entire files for four children, including basic details such as the victim's name.

For the remaining eight cases, the agency said unidentified law enforcement agencies covered the entire files.

State law extends the right to object in this way to only the district attorney, but agency officials said they extended the privilege to law enforcement agencies under guidance from the California Department of Social Services.

District attorney's office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said she polled senior child abuse prosecutors but was unable to find anyone who knew of an objection. She recommended asking the agency for the name of the prosecutor who objected, but the agency's attorney, Katie Bowser, declined.

"We don't think we have to give you that," Bowser said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-child-deaths13-2010feb13,0,2173169,print.story

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L.A. authorities trying to clarify Swiss position on Polanski extradition

February 12, 2010

L.A. authorities are trying to clarify the status of Roman Polanski's extradition to the U.S. after a Swiss justice official said the country won't extradite the director to the United States until L.A. courts resolves related legal disputes.

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said in a statement that it was looking into “somewhat conflicting news reports from Switzerland” over the extradition process.

“At present, this rests with the Swiss courts,” spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.

A Swiss official said Friday that Polanski should remain under house arrest at his Alpine lodge until the courts in California resolve various legal issues.

"When the question is still open, why should he be extradited?" justice official Rudolf Wyss told the Associated Press. "As long as the question is still open, our decision depends on that."
Last month, a judge rejected Polanski's request to be sentenced in absentia, scuttling the director's latest bid to end his three-decade-old child sex case.

The judge hoped that such a sentencing would allow his lawyers to lay out evidence of judicial misconduct in his case and secure him a sentence of no further time behind bars. Although a state appeals panel had suggested that Polanski be sentenced in absentia as the director is facing extradition proceedings in Switzerland, Judge Peter Espinoza said he was not bound by the higher court's suggestion.

Polanski's defense quickly vowed to appeal.

Polanski fled the U.S. just before he was set to be sentenced for having sex with the girl, contending that the original judge in the case, the late Laurence Rittenband, reneged on a promise to count the time the director spent in state prison before sentencing as his entire punishment.

Swiss officials have said Polanski faced two years in prison if sent back to L.A.

Asked about the Swiss official's statement, U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said, “According to my folks, it’s still a pending case.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/02/la-authorities-trying-to-clarify-swiss-position-on-polanski-extradition.html#more

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EDITORIAL

Jail breakdown

Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown needs to bring clarity to the state's troubled early release law.

February 13, 2010

Kevin Eugene Peterson, a clearly troubled young man who described himself as paranoid schizophrenic in a televised jailhouse interview, was released from Sacramento County Jail earlier this month, 16 days before his sentence was set to expire. He was back behind bars after less than a day, charged with sexually assaulting a homeless-services worker.

Peterson is now Exhibit A in the highly politicized case against the state's early release law, passed in September against the backdrop of a crushing state budget deficit and a federal court order to reduce the prison population. Opponents, mostly Republicans, are calling for a halt to early releases at the county level. They aren't necessarily wrong, but they're not quite right either. The real problem stems from Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown's failure to interpret the law so it can be properly carried out.

A Times analysis reveals that more than 1,500 inmates have been released early from county jails since the law took effect Jan. 25. It is not clear whether any of them, including Peterson, should have gotten out. Lawyers disagree on whether the law, aimed at state prisons, ought to apply to county jails at all. There is even stronger disagreement over the way it should be applied.

Jail inmates can already cut a third of the time from their sentences through credits for good behavior, but under the new law, nonviolent offenders can cut their sentences by half. Some counties are applying the good-behavior credits only to time served after Jan. 25, while others are applying them retroactively to time served before that. In addition to Sacramento County, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties have let hundreds of inmates loose early. Officials in L.A. County, meanwhile, haven't implemented any early releases.

This is a mess, and Brown is empowered to fix it by explaining how the law should be applied -- yet so far, his office has been silent. He needs to address the issue soon.

But we can't end there without decrying the demagoguery over Peterson. The purpose of last year's prison reform law was to cut the state inmate population by about 6,500. It does this in part through good-behavior credits, but mainly by revising parole rules to stop returning nonviolent offenders to prison for minor parole violations.

In theory, this should actually reduce crime, because it will free up parole officials to focus more attention on truly dangerous people. Yet the crimes that are avoided because parole officers are working more efficiently don't make headlines. That's why it's foolish to set corrections policy based on sensational cases. California's efforts to reduce its prison population should be judged on their effect on overall crime, not their portrayal on the evening news.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-jails13-2010feb13,0,2156010,print.story

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From the Daily News

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Olympic luger from Georgia dies after crash

By Stephen Wilson, AP Sports Writer

02/12/2010

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A men's Olympic luger from the country of Georgia died Friday after a high-speed crash on a track that is the world's fastest and has raised safety concerns among competitors. A tearful IOC president Jacques Rogge said the death hours before the opening ceremony "clearly casts a shadow over these games."

Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled during training, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center. Paramedics and doctors were unable to revive the 21-year-old luger, who died at a hospital, the International Olympic Committee said.

"We are heartbroken beyond words," said John Furlong, chief executive of the Vancouver organizing committee.

Before speaking at a news conference, Rogge took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes and said, "Sorry, it's a bit difficult to remain composed."

"Here you have a young athlete that lost his life in pursuing his passion," Rogge added. "He had a dream to participate in the Olympic Games. He trained hard and he had this fatal accident. I have no words to say what we feel."

Rogge said he was in contact with Kumaritashvili's family and officials from the Georgian government. Georgia's Olympic committee was deciding whether to remain in the games, Rogge said.

An investigation into the crash started quickly, although Rogge said this was not the time to talk about it. The men's luge competition is scheduled to begin Saturday afternoon. Officials at the Whistler track said they were uncertain if the schedule would be affected.

Rescue workers were at Kumaritashvili's side within seconds. Chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation started less than one minute after the crash, and he was quickly airlifted to a trauma center in Whistler.

Kumaritashvili struck the inside wall of the track on the final turn. His body immediately went airborne and cleared the ice-coated concrete wall along the left side of the sliding surface. His sled remained in the track, and it appeared his helmet visor skidded down the ice.

The remainder of men's training was canceled for the day, with VANOC officials saying an investigation was taking place to "ensure a safe field of play."

The danger of the Whistler track has been talked about for months - particularly after several nations, including the U.S., were upset over restrictions regarding access to the facility by nations other than Canada, with some noting it could lead to a safety issue.

Kumaritashvili is the fourth competitor to die at the Winter Games and the first since 1992.

"It's a very rare situation," three-time Olympic champion and German coach Georg Hackl said before learning of the death, clearly shaken after seeing Kumaritashvili tended to furiously by medical workers.

Shortly before the accident, Hackl said he didn't believe the track was unsafe.

"People have the opinion it is dangerous but the track crew does the best it can and they are working hard to make sure the track is in good shape and everyone is safe," he said. "My opinion is that it's not anymore dangerous than anywhere else."

Five-time Olympian Mark Grimmette, chosen as the U.S. team's flag bearer, said the speeds on the track are pushing the boundaries of safety.

"We're probably getting close," he said the night before the death. "This track is fast and you definitely have to be on your game. ... So it's definitely something they are going to have to take into account on future tracks."

American luger Christian Niccum crashed during a World Cup event in Whistler last year.

"When I hit that ice going 90 mph it turns into fire," Niccum said Thursday. "I remember coming around to the finish and I just wanted to rip off my suit, 'I'm on fire. I'm on fire.'"

This was Kumaritashvili's second crash during training for the games. He also failed to finish his second of six practice runs, and in the runs he did finish, his average speed was about 88 mph - significantly less than the speed the top sliders are managing on this lightning-fast course.

It was unclear how fast Kumaritashvili was going, although many sliders have exceeded 90 mph on this course. More than a dozen athletes have crashed during Olympic training for luge, and some questioned whether athletes from smaller nations - like Georgia - had enough time to prepare for the daunting track.

At the finish area, not far from where Kumaritashvili lost control, athletes, coaches and officials solemnly awaited word on Kumaritashvili before eventually being ushered away. Access to the crash area was closed within about 30 minutes.

"I've never seen anything like that," said Shiva Keshavan, a four-time Olympian from India.

Representatives from the three U.S. sliding federations were to release a joint statement later Friday. American athletes were not immediately made available for reaction after news of the death was confirmed.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the Georgian Olympic team," U.S. bobsled pilot Steven Holcomb said on Twitter. "The sliding community suffered a tragic and devastating loss to our family today."

"RIP Nodar Kumaritashvili," wrote American skeleton athlete Kyle Tress, who did not qualify for the Olympic team. "Let's never forget how dangerous these sports can be."

Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings.

Earlier in the day, gold-medal favorite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy crashed, losing control of his sled on Curve 11. Zoeggeler came off his sled and held it with his left arm to keep it from smashing atop his body. He slid on his back down several curves before coming to a stop and walking away.

Training days in Whistler have been crash-filled. A Romanian woman was briefly knocked unconscious and at least four Americans - Chris Mazdzer on Wednesday, Megan Sweeney on Thursday and both Tony Benshoof and Bengt Walden on Friday in the same training session where Zoeggeler wrecked - have had serious trouble just getting down the track.

"I think they are pushing it a little too much," Australia's Hannah Campbell-Pegg said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. "To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we're crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives."

At the 1992 Albertville Games, Nicholas Bochatay of Switzerland died after crashing into a snow grooming machine during training for the demonstration sport of speed skiing on the next-to-last day of the games. He was practicing on a public slope before his event was to begin.

Australian downhill skier Ross Milne died when he struck a tree during a training run shortly before the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki also died in a crash during training in Innsbruck.

At the 1988 Calgary Games, an Austrian team doctor, Jorg Oberhammer, died after being hit by a snow grooming machine.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_14389640

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From the Wall Street Journal

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Vancouver Braces for Olympic Protests

A 15,500-Strong Force Mobilized to Keep the Games Safe Draws Complaints of Heavy-Handedness From Activists

By PHRED DVORAK And GEOFFREY A. FOWLER

VANCOUVER—As the winter Olympics kick off here this weekend, so do plans for protests that could put thousands of demonstrators on the city's streets, in a test of how Vancouver will balance security and civil liberties.

From Friday evening through Monday, anti-Olympics protesters, environmental activists and aboriginal groups plan a cavalcade of events, including demonstrations outside the Games' Opening Ceremonies and a Saturday march to clog city streets dubbed "2010 Heart Attack."

The Olympic torch run through Vancouver Friday was rerouted to bypass some protesters.

Vancouver, meanwhile, has readied itself for all threats and disturbances, hosting a 15,500-strong dedicated security force whose cost is approaching an estimated $1 billion.

Taking a Stand

Among those planning to demonstrate at the Winter Games in Vancouver:

The precautions are raising the hackles of activists in the city that gave birth to Greenpeace. Some say they have been questioned at their homes or workplaces in recent weeks by Olympics security personnel. A spokesman for the Olympics Integrated Security Unit says it is using "every possible way" to gather information, in accordance with Canadian laws.

Canadian border officials, meanwhile, have turned back numerous activists at the border, after quizzing them on their Olympics plans, protesters say.

"It's a fine line between ensuring there's every opportunity to protest and guaranteeing the safety and security of the Games,'' said Mayor Gregor Robertson, in an interview earlier in the week.

Security has always been a tricky issue for Olympics hosts. They are given the task of defending the Games against everything from terrorist threats to unscrupulous businesses trying to undermine the marketing of corporate sponsors. Host cities also want to look good in the eyes of the world, leading them to sweep dissent and urban blight out of sight, critics say.

During the 2008 Olympics In Beijing, police confined protesters to a few designated zones, raising the ire of human-rights activists. Some known activists weren't even given visas to attend the Games, including American speed skater Joey Cheek, who wanted to attend to protest China's involvement with the government of Sudan.

Vancouver Olympics security chiefs say that all intelligence suggests the threat level for the Winter Games is "low." But they are pulling out the stops to make sure it stays that way, bringing in 4,200 Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 4,500 Canadian Forces troops, 1,800 municipal police and 5,000 private security personnel—so many people that they have contracted three cruise ships to put everyone up.

Those forces are arrayed to protect Olympics venues and some outlying areas, with Canadian navy divers helping to secure waterfronts and army patrols on skis for snowy backcountry terrain.

An additional 1,300 Vancouver police officers are responsible for maintaining order in the city's public spaces, where the demonstrations are expected. Security personnel are taking no chances: On Thursday, police evacuated and closed down the seabus terminal in north Vancouver for more than three hours after a suspicious package was reported there. It turned out to be a false alarm.

The heightened attention to policing is raising hackles among civil-liberties activists. "There is a huge security force, and there are a lot of red flags that we have seen that it might be excessive,'' said David Eby, the executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. Mr. Eby said Vancouver is fielding 5,000 more security personnel and police than Salt Lake City did when it hosted the Winter Games in early 2002, just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

On Friday, the BCCLA said it had trained some 400 volunteers to monitor police and demonstrators throughout the Games. The "legal observers," who will wear bright orange shirts and carry video cameras, won't participate in protests, but will record any evidence of what they deem to be excessive use of force by security, and will share the videos with the media. It is the first such an effort at an Olympics, the organization said.

In the fall, several activists filed a suit challenging the constitutionality of a change Vancouver made to its bylaws, which might have prevented people from carrying signs with political messages in a portion of the downtown area. In December, the city amended those rules to make clear they were applying to marketers and advertisers, and deleted a part that banned signs that didn't celebrate the Olympics.The initial wording had been an attempt to accommodate rules from the Olympics organizers, who tend to want cities to display a ``promotional attitude'' throughout the Games, said Vancouver city councilor Geoff Meggs.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703525704575061661652534790.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLENews#printMode

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Obama Touts Return of 'Paygo'

By SARAH N. LYNCH

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama praised lawmakers for restoring a measure that aims to bring federal spending under control in his weekly radio address Saturday, but expressed concern that politics may still get in the way of reducing the massive deficit.

Mr. Obama also vowed in his weekly speech to press ahead with an executive order to create a new bipartisan fiscal commission charged with recommending ways to reduce the deficit--a measure that has faced opposition from some Republicans.

"After a decade of profligacy, the American people are tired of politicians who talk the talk but don't walk the walk when it comes to fiscal responsibility," Mr. Obama said.

"It's easy to get up in front of the cameras and rant against exploding deficits. What's hard is actually getting deficits under control. But that's what we must do."

Mr. Obama made his remarks the day after he signed new legislation which will restore a rule requiring any new mandatory spending to be offset by spending cuts or new revenue elsewhere in the budget.

The rule, known as "pay-as-you-go" or "Paygo," was in place during the 1990s, the last time there was a federal budget surplus.

Mr. Obama said the abandonment of that "common sense" rule during the Bush administration helped fuel the record deficit the U.S. government is facing today.

"It was this rule that helped lead to balanced budgets in the 1990s, by making clear that we could not increase entitlement spending or cut taxes simply by borrowing more money," Mr. Obama said. "And it was the abandonment of this rule that allowed the previous administration and previous congresses to pass massive tax cuts for the wealthy and create an expensive new drug program without paying for any of it."

The rule's restoration comes at a time when the U.S. is facing a record deficit that is on course to keep growing. The administration said earlier this month it expects the deficit to climb to $1.6 trillion in the current fiscal year.

Mr. Obama has proposed budget cuts and a three-year spending freeze on some government programs, but he has also strongly pushed for a new fiscal commission as well. He expressed disappointment Saturday that the measure faces some opposition.

"Unfortunately this proposal--which received the support of a bipartisan majority in the Senate--was recently blocked," Mr. Obama said. "So, I will be creating this commission by executive order."

Meanwhile Saturday, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, S.C.) in the GOP's weekly address on criticized the Obama administration's push to prosecute the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other co-defendants in a Manhattan civilian court.

Mr. Graham made his comments just one day after Attorney General Eric Holder told the Washington Post in an interview he may abandon his hopes for a civilian trial amid a political backlash to the plan from both federal lawmakers and local officials in New York, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The Washington Post said in the article that Mr. Obama may now get involved in trying to find a new spot for a civilian trial, but if political resistance continues, the administration may be forced to switch to a military tribunal. Mr. Graham, who earlier this month introduced a bill to cut off funding for civilian trials in federal courts for the alleged Sept. 11 conspirators , saidSaturday that trying terrorists in civilian courts would be affording them too many rights and could actually compromise investigations by U.S. intelligence officials.

"These Al-Qaeda terrorists are not common criminals," Mr. Graham said. "Never before have we allowed noncitizen, enemy combatants captured on the battlefield access to our civilian courts providing them with the same constitutional rights as American citizens. Al-Qaeda terrorists should not receive more rights than a Nazi war criminal."

He said that military laws allow the U.S. to collect "valuable intelligence without reading Miranda Rights to enemy combatants" and urged the administration to reinstate the charges against Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators before military commissions.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704124704575062933503677928.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5#printMode

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Police, Fire Departments Face Budget Axe

Public Safety Has Traditionally Been Spared Belt-Tightening, but Deep Cuts in Tax Revenue and State Aid Are Changing That

By STEPHANIE SIMON

The bleak arithmetic of the recession has pushed cities across the nation to make deep cuts in police, fire and emergency medical services.

Some cities are eliminating hundreds of patrol-officer and firefighter positions and taking ladder trucks and ambulances out of service. Others have announced they will no longer respond to entire categories of calls, such as burglaries, check fraud, shoplifting and traffic accidents involving minor injuries.

San Diego just auctioned off its police horses. Colorado Springs, Colo., has put its two police helicopters up for sale online. In Phoenix, Mayor Phil Gordon, a Democrat, said wearily that he may no longer be able to attach officers to federal task forces running down leads on terrorism, drug trafficking and child exploitation.

Mr. Gordon's latest draft budget calls for laying off 236 officers. A tentative deal with the police union for a 3.2% salary cut may save some of those jobs, but even so, the expected layoffs—on top of normal attrition with no replacement hiring—will leave the Phoenix force at less than 85% its authorized strength.
Crime has been dropping, Mr. Gordon said. But he is struggling to see how Phoenix will be able to field "enough officers to do the day-to-day work of responding to problems, much less trying to prevent them."

Public safety, considered a core government duty by voters on the left and right alike, has traditionally been protected from belt-tightening despite the fact that it consumes a big chunk of most budgets. Laying off police officers isn't popular. And most police and fire forces are unionized, with multiyear contracts that may preclude salary freezes, furloughs and other cost-saving measures.

"These are the cuts of last resort," said Chris Hoene, research director for the National League of Cities.

Cities have sustained sharp reductions in both tax revenue and state aid. That has led to municipal budget gaps totaling billions of dollars nationwide, forcing municipal officials to shrink public-safety forces that in many cases they had spent the past decade building.

Cities can, and have, cut other services—shutting libraries, scrapping parks programs, deferring road repair, even unscrewing streetlight bulbs. Yet that only gets them so far.

Public safety accounts for 22% of general municipal spending nationally, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. That's second only to education, which accounts for about 27%.

At some point, it becomes counterproductive to shield public safety from budget cuts, said Los Angeles Councilman Bernard C. Parks, the city's former police chief. It does no good to have a robust police force, he said, if there isn't enough money to fix its vehicles, process its crime reports or buy its equipment.

In the past year, 14% of cities have cut public safety and the number is expected to jump in the next two years, according to the National League of Cities. Already, wrangling over the next budget has begun in many cities, with politicians seeking wage concessions from police and fire unions in a bid to minimize layoffs.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed closing as many as 20 fire companies and losing 1,300 cops through attrition, which would reduce the police department to 80% of its 2001 staffing level. Much smaller towns such as Bossier City, La., and East Providence, R.I., are also bracing for cuts.

In some cases, citizens will notice little change; there may be fewer officers at schools or fewer supervisors back at the station, but that's it. Other departments, however, have shed core services or are asking the public to take on duties such as driving sick neighbors to the hospital rather than calling 911.

Colorado Springs police no longer will deal with abandoned vehicles unless they pose a hazard. Officers are unlikely to respond to property crimes unless they have a solid lead on a suspect. They have lost a couple SWAT team members, a couple gang officers and a supervisor who helped victims of domestic violence navigate the legal system.

During a spate of armed robberies this winter, the department keenly felt the loss of its police helicopters. Tracking and pursuing suspects on foot and in cars wasn't nearly as effective, Lt. David Whitlock said.

"Clearly, our message to the public will be, there are some things we're just not able to do," Colorado Springs police Lt. David Whitlock said.

In Phoenix, police union president Mark Spencer said precincts are so short-staffed that it can take two hours to answer calls for lower-priority emergencies such as fights in progress or a hit-and-run. "If you're not injured in an assault, we won't call it a crime right now," Mr. Spencer said. "There's very little we can do about it."

Some police chiefs said the lean budgets have pushed them to do better. San Diego Chief Bill Lansdowne trimmed a number of specialized units to save money—including narcotics, canine and harbor safety—but assigned more officers to beat patrol. He believes that bulked-up street presence is preventing crime. "We are much more efficient," Chief Lansdowne said.

But others said efficiencies aren't everything in public safety. "Trying to find the breaking point of a police department is a very dangerous budgetary game to play," said New York Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., a Democrat. "The thin blue line is being stretched to its limit."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704337004575059650511481356.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5#printMode

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H1N1 Flu Affected 57 Million Americans, CDC Says

By JENNIFER CORBETT DOOREN

WASHINGTON—More than 57 million Americans have become ill from the H1N1 influenza virus and nearly 11,700 have died, according to estimates released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the new figures show the H1N1 pandemic virus is still spreading, they also reflect a slowdown in the transmission of the illnesses since last fall. The CDC had last estimated about 55 million Americans had been sickened, 246,000 were hospitalized and about 11,100 had died through mid-December.

The new figures estimate the number of illnesses from April—when the new H1N1 influenza virus was first discovered—through Jan. 14.
While health officials have yet to declare the end of the influenza pandemic, a new round of widespread illness is increasingly unlikely now that a substantial portion of the American population has been either sickened by or vaccinated against the H1N1 pandemic virus. About 70 million people have been vaccinated.

About 257,000 people were hospitalized with H1N1 influenza through mid-January, which is higher than the approximately 200,000 hospitalizations seen in a normal influenza season when seasonal influenza viruses are circulating.

Of the hospitalizations, 82,000 were in people younger than 18 while 150,000 were in people age 18 to 64. About 25,000 people age 65 and older were hospitalized with H1N1, which shows the H1N1 virus is continuing to affect younger people. With seasonal influenza, the majority of hospitalizations and deaths are in people age 65 and older.

The CDC attributed 11,690 deaths to H1N1 with 1,230 of them being in young people age 17 and younger and 8,980 in people age 18 to 64. In the elderly, 1,480 deaths were attributed to H1N1. In a normal influenza season about 36,000 deaths are attributed to influenza and pneumonia with 90% of them being in people age 65 and older.

In a separate weekly report of H1N1 influenza activity, the CDC said most influenza strains circulating as of Feb. 6 are the H1N1 strain and not strains that cause seasonal influenza.

As of Feb. 6, the majority of states reported "sporadic" transmission of the H1N1 virus, the CDC said. However, the CDC said doctor visits for influenza-like illnesses increased slightly over the previous week but "remain low overall."

Write to Jennifer Corbett Dooren at jennifer.corbett-dooren@dowjones.com

Corrections & Amplifications:

The CDC attributed 11,690 deaths to H1N1 with 1,230 of them being in young people age 17 and younger and 8,980 in people age 18 to 64. A previous version of this article said there were 8,490 deaths attributed to H1N1 in people age 18 to 64.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703525704575061373940012844.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5#printMode

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From the Washington Times

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EDITORIAL

Nuclear Iran

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Iran has emerged as a nuclear state, and there is nothing the United States can do about it.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Thursday that Tehran has the capability to produce weapons-grade uranium but has no intention of building atomic bombs. "At the present time, we have the capability to produce very highly enriched fuel," he said, from 20 percent to 80 percent enriched - in other words, from weapons-usable to weapons-grade. But this is no reason for concern, he assured, because Iran "is brave enough to explicitly announce it if it wants to make a nuclear bomb; it will build it and is not afraid of you."

There is a reason that highly enriched uranium is called "weapons-grade," and it has nothing to do with peaceful uses of nuclear power. It is a measure of Western impotence that the United States went to war with Iraq in 2003 to prevent the very things Iran is announcing with pride in 2010. Had Saddam Hussein made the same claim, the question over weapons of mass destruction would have been settled at once. What is going on in Iran is not the "weapons of mass destruction-related activities" with which Saddam was charged; this is the stuff of nightmares.

Mr. Ahmadinejad also "officially announced" that "the era of superpowers and bullying" is over. He may be on to something. The United States has failed consistently to prevent Iran from pursuing a nuclear program. Repeated assertions from Washington that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable must be measured against the reality that Tehran can now produce nuclear weapons if it so desires. The unacceptable is rapidly becoming the undeniable.

The national security establishment sends signals that indicate it doesn't consider the mullahs' nuclear threat much of a problem. The section of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) dealing with preventing proliferation and countering weapons of mass destruction does not mention Iran, and the review in general seems to focus more on conflict management, things like containment and post-strike cleanup rather than prevention. The confident claim that the problem is mainly one of adequate resourcing is unwarranted, as the failure of a missile-defense exercise against a simulated Iranian missile attack earlier this month illustrated.

Elsewhere, discussion swirls around various forms of sanctions: smart sanctions, focused sanctions, effective sanctions, sanctions that bite, and so forth. However, there is no reason to think that any sanctions regime will dissuade Tehran from its current course of action. If anything, sanctions could serve as an excuse for the Islamic regime to construct and test a nuclear weapon as a response to purported Western economic genocide, or some such claim.

Mr. Ahmadinejad appealed to President Obama to open his heart to change, essentially saying Tehran would reach out a hand if Washington would unclench its fist. However, he also underscored the growing irrelevance of the United States to influence events in the region. This is true. The limited courses of action being discussed in Washington are irrelevant. The Iranian nuclear issue will be decided by others. Tehran will pursue its revolutionary interests. Israel will act to guarantee its national survival. Other states in the region will do what they need to do as events unfold.

The United States should begin planning for the inevitable. Conflict is coming; it won't be managed away.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/15/nuclear-iran//print/

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EDITORIAL

Gun owners in the cross hairs

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The gun grabbers are at it again in Maryland. Next month, the state's House Judiciary Committee will initiate hearings on legislation forcing firearms enthusiasts to register with the state government before they can exercise their Second Amendment rights.

The plan, drafted by Delegate Samuel I. Rosenberg, Baltimore Democrat, and Sen. Brian E. Frosh, Montgomery County Democrat, would mandate that citizens carry a special license while conducting any number of routine transactions involving a gun.

To obtain a gun license, a person must fill out a long application form, attend a comprehensive firearms safety course, pay a nonrefundable fee to the state and wait 30 days for the completion of a criminal background check. If all items are processed properly, the Maryland State Police would drop the license in the mail.

It would become a crime to go to a gun range and rent a firearm for a little target shooting without this license in hand. Out-of-state visitors who might want to keep up their skills while on vacation would be out of luck under the proposal because they would not even be allowed to apply for a state gun license.

The bill would make it a crime on par with murder, kidnapping, rape and extortion for a private party to sell his own gun to someone who has no license. It also would give police the authority to seize the e-mail, cell phone and other records of anyone merely suspected of selling or renting a gun in Maryland without a license. This is an extreme reaction to conduct that is perfectly legal in most states and should be a constitutional right anywhere in the Land of the Free.

It's obvious that Mr. Rosenberg and Mr. Frosh are not really interested in stopping criminals from obtaining weapons. Instead, this misguided proposal plainly is designed to harass legitimate gun owners with bureaucracy and paperwork until they simply give up on the idea of exercising their legal rights.

Readers should let the measure's proponents know what they think.

Mr. Frosh is available at 301/ 858-3102, brian.frosh@senate.state.md.us, and Mr. Rosenberg can be reached at 301/858-3179, samuel.rosenberg@ house.state.md.us.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/12/gun-owners-in-the-cross-hairs//print/

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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Secretary Napolitano to Discuss Ways to Bolster Global Aviation Security with International Partners in Mexico

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano will travel to Mexico City on Feb. 16-18, at the invitation of her Mexican colleague, Interior Secretary Fernando Francisco Gómez-Mont, to meet with her North, Central and South American and Caribbean counterparts and officials from the International Civil Aviation Organization to discuss ways to bolster global aviation security.
Secretary Napolitano's trip is the second in a series of major international meetings intended to build consensus on strengthening global aviation security, and to identify specific steps which nations can take individually and collectively to protect all passengers-including strengthening of international aviation security standards, exchanging of best practices, and improving screening procedures and processes.

While the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does not conduct screening at foreign airports, Secretary Napolitano is committed to strengthening coordination with international partners to implement stronger and more effective measures to protect the integrity of the global aviation network.

While in Mexico City, Secretary Napolitano will also meet with top Mexican officials to discuss the ongoing collaboration by DHS and the Mexican government to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and share information about transnational threats while streamlining legitimate travel and trade.

In January, Secretary Napolitano met with her European counterparts in Toledo, Spain, resulting in a joint declaration between the United States and the European Union on a way forward to strengthen the international civil aviation system through enhanced information collection and sharing, cooperation on technological development, and modernized aviation security standards.

Secretary Napolitano also traveled to Geneva to meet with airline industry partners about the need for collaborative action to prevent terrorists from boarding commercial aircraft.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1266006073168.shtm

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From the Department of Justice

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Attorney General Eric Holder Addresses the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives

Tampa, Fla. ~ Friday, February 12, 2010

Thank you, President [Ernest] Green. I’m not sure what I appreciate more – your warm welcome or the semi-warm Florida weather. After all the snow we’ve seen in Washington this week, it’s good to be here in Tampa. But more importantly it’s great to be among so many friends.

Over the years, I’ve been privileged to work with many of you. And I’ve had the pleasure of watching this organization increase its membership, its outreach programs, and its impact on cities in crisis and communities in need.

In 1976, the year the National Organization for Black Law Enforcement Officers was launched, I joined the Department of Justice as a young prosecutor. My career path was guided by the same commitment, the same inability to turn a blind eye to injustice, and the same optimism that inspired NOBLE’s founding.

Now, some of the younger people in this room may not remember those days. But those of us with more than a few gray hairs on our heads can recall that it was a time of extraordinary challenge. It was also a time of unprecedented fear.

In the 1960s and 70s, America’s crime rate increased more than five-fold. Violent crime nearly quadrupled. The murder rate doubled. Illegal drug use surged. And our prison population skyrocketed.

In the face of these challenges, a small group of concerned, frustrated, and, ultimately, hopeful law enforcement executives came together. These officers had risen through the professional ranks and diversified the leadership of their departments. And they wanted to open the doors of opportunity for communities that had been left behind and for colleagues who had been overlooked.

These leaders saw firsthand both the value and obstacles of diversifying our nation’s police departments. They also recognized that the nationwide call to crack down on crime had, too often, also resulted in a breakdown of trust between police officers and the communities they served.

Their initial conversation has developed into a vibrant national dialogue -- one that each of you has helped to sustain. By pressing the communities you serve toward progress, and the colleagues you work alongside toward fairness, you’ve also strengthened this discussion.

I’m grateful to all of you. In particular, I want to thank you for your work with the federal government on a range of law enforcement issues. And I want you to know that your expertise and engagement will be critical in helping this Justice Department achieve its goals for this year and beyond.

Today, I’ve been asked to tell you about the Department’s key goals. I also want to talk to you about some of the challenges you’re facing.

Last fall, when I met with several members of NOBLE’s leadership team, I explained that the Justice Department is in the process of “getting back to basics.” We’re working to reinvigorate the Department’s traditional missions and to revive an ethos of integrity, independence, and transparency in everything we do.

At every level, we’re focused on job one: protecting the safety of the American people. In addition to combating terrorism and fighting crime, we’re also working to enforce our laws in a neutral and nonpartisan manner and to re-establish and strengthen our relationships with state, local and tribal authorities.

In the months ahead, we plan to give particular emphasis to initiatives aimed at tackling economic crime, international organized crime, youth violence, and the exploitation of children. We will also be focusing on improving our corrections system and ensuring that conditions are secure, humane, and aimed at rehabilitation. And we intend to build on the great progress we’ve made in opening new channels of communication with other agencies and with our partners in the field.

In meeting these goals, I know that success will depend on how well we support our partners in local law enforcement. It will also depend on our ability to provide the investments you need to do your jobs well.

From day one, this Administration has signaled a commitment to providing local law enforcement officials with sufficient resources. And the Justice Department is an enthusiastic partner in this work.

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act alone, we have awarded more than $2 billion through the Office of Justice Programs. And we’ve allocated more than $1 billion through the office of Community Oriented Policing Services. In targeting these resources, a key priority is keeping law enforcement safe. Just a few weeks ago, I announced that $11 million will be pumped into our Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program. This investment will allow us to purchase an estimated 26,000 additional bullet-resistant vests this year. These new vests will save and protect lives, and they represent a small part of a much larger commitment to law enforcement safety.

Let me be clear about this: violence against law enforcement will not be tolerated. At every level of the Justice Department, and in every corner of our country, acts of violence against law enforcement will be pursued. They will be prosecuted. And they will be punished.

Just as surely as we will work to protect you, the Department will also look for new ways to assist you in addressing and overcoming the challenges you face each day.

I know there are two specific problems many of you are struggling to tackle, and I’d like to address them.

First, the growing number of Americans – and disproportionate number of African Americans – currently incarcerated in prisons across our country.

Second, the division and tension that sometimes exists between law enforcement officers and the communities they work to protect.

As you all know, our nation now has the world’s highest incarceration rate. In the last 40 years, the number of inmates in American prisons has increased seven-fold. Today, one out of every 100 adults in America is behind bars.

Most of these prisoners are poor and uneducated. Twenty percent of them are Hispanic. Forty percent are black. In too many black families and neighborhoods, a “cradle-to-prison” life path has become the norm for young men. African Americans are now eight times more likely to be incarcerated as whites. And, if current trends continue, nearly 1 in 3 of our young black men will spend time behind bars.

Let me be clear, we enhance public safety by incarcerating those who harm our neighbors and our communities. This is a fact. But in our work to protect the American people, incarceration cannot be our only law enforcement strategy. We’ve learned that simply building more prisons and jails will not solve all our problems.

It’s time to face facts about our current approach to incarceration. It’s not sustainable. It’s not affordable. And we’ve seen that it isn’t always as effective as we think in reducing crime and keeping Americans safe.

Over the last few decades, state spending on corrections has risen faster than nearly any other budget item. Yet our best research suggests that there are other, more effective ways to invest taxpayer dollars and ensure public safety.

At a cost of $60 billion a year, our prisons and jails do very little to prepare prisoners to get jobs and “go straight” after they're released. Former offenders are often barred from housing, shunned by potential employers, and surrounded by other ex-offenders in their neighborhoods. This is a recipe for high recidivism. And it’s the reason that two-thirds of those released are rearrested within three years.

It’s time for a new approach.

If we are going to achieve positive outcomes for public safety, for state and local government budgets, for our communities, and for people who have been incarcerated and their families, we must begin to acknowledge that easy short-term solutions sometimes cause long-term negative consequences.

The truth is that any real effort to contain spending on corrections, while ensuring public safety, must include a strong focus on preparing for reentry so we can reduce recidivism. Effective reentry programs can transform lives. They can ease difficult transitions. And they can provide our best chance for safeguarding our neighborhoods and supporting offenders who have served their time and who are also resolved to improve their lives.

I’m proud that, last year, the Justice Department distributed $28 million in reentry awards under the Second Chance Act. And I’m pleased to tell you that we will have another $100 million available for reentry programs this year. But we must complement reentry programs with smart and sound policy changes at every level of government.

At the federal level, I have established a Sentencing and Corrections Working Group to take a fresh look at federal sentencing practices and determine how we can better prepare federal prisoners to transition back into their communities. Likewise, we must analyze the distinct crime trends and corrections policies of our states and counties by focusing on the neighborhoods where large numbers of offenders return. This will allow us to provide state and local officials with targeted, data-driven options for improving public safety and reducing spending.

We must also look for ways to expand and complement the work that NOBLE is leading. Your members are combating the vicious cycles of violence and poverty with opportunity, education, and hope. You’ve raised awareness about effective solutions for reducing recidivism. You’ve helped police departments implement new policies aimed at supporting those recently released from prison. You’ve created mentoring programs for the children of offenders, and you’ve found new ways to assist at-risk youth.

Many of you have volunteered what little free time you have to help a former prisoner fill out a job application or draft a resume. And when the call for a job interview finally arrived, many of you also dug into your own pockets to make sure that someone struggling to build a better life had the bus fare or the new shirt or the child care that they needed to pursue that opportunity.

You call this “community engagement.” I call it “leadership.”

Leadership is essential to safely reducing our alarming and disproportionate incarceration rates. It’s also the antidote to overcoming misconceptions and suspicions about law enforcement.

Today, some of those who need your help the most simply don’t trust the police. You’ve all seen this. And many of you have experienced the wariness, the anger, and the fear that’s out there.

I know how difficult overcoming professional misconceptions can be. But I also know that when some in our communities do not trust our law enforcement officers, our law enforcement system does not – and cannot – work.

So in those instances, how can we restore the public trust?

Research has proven the effectiveness of our existing treatment and education programs. And NOBLE has proven that the involvement of our police officers can make a critical difference in empowering communities and improving perceptions about law enforcement.

One place we’ve seen strong progress is Chicago, where NOBLE has collaborated closely with the police department. There, as in other cities, you’ve supported programs that provide positive interactions between young people and law enforcement.

The Chicago Youth Leadership Academy illustrates why these programs are so important. With the University of Chicago and a local nonprofit organization, Chicago’s Police Department administers what has become known as “Cops camp,” a week-long program that brings together police officers and teenage boys from Chicago’s South Side neighborhood.

Though these campers are only in middle or high school, half of them are the oldest male in their homes. As part of the program, they’re able to experience college life first-hand, sleep in a dorm, attend classes, and get to know their local police officers as teachers and mentors, instead of rivals.

For many of these campers, the experience is not only eye-opening . It’s also mind-changing.

One 16-year-old described how interacting with officers changed his perspective about their work. “I thought I didn’t like police officers,” he said. “I learned to trust them, [and] I learned that police officers don't have an easy job.”

Indeed, your jobs are difficult. And I would argue that they’ve never been more demanding. While the responsibility you shoulder is enormous, I believe it can’t compare to the opportunity each one of you has to make a difference.

Your membership can and must be a leading force in enhancing confidence in law enforcement, representing our police departments, strengthening public safety, empowering communities, and improving lives.

The people you serve, as well as your brothers and sisters in uniform, need the courage and creativity that inspired NOBLE’s beginning and now guide your current work.

Though NOBLE calls its members “the conscience of law enforcement,” in many ways, you serve as the conscience of a nation – calling forth our best selves and leading us toward better days.

I wish you continued success, and I look forward to our continued strong partnership.

Thank you.

http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2010/ag-speech-100212.html

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Justice Department Announces New Intellectual Property Task Force as Part of Broad IP Enforcement Initiative

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the formation of a new Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property as part of a Department-wide initiative to confront the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property (IP) crimes.

"The rise in intellectual property crime in the United States and abroad threatens not only our public safety but also our economic wellbeing. The Department of Justice must confront this threat with a strong and coordinated response," said Attorney General Holder. "This Task Force will allow us to identify and implement a multi-faceted strategy with our federal, state and international partners to effectively combat this type of crime."

The Attorney General’s announcement follows a summit meeting convened last December by Vice President Biden, a long-standing champion of U.S. intellectual property rights-holders. At that meeting, which was attended by Attorney General Holder and other cabinet heads, the Vice President discussed the importance of stronger enforcement and supported actions to raise the priority of combating IP theft and improving coordination -- including the establishment of an intellectual property task force at the Department of Justice.

"Theft of intellectual property does significant harm to our economy and endangers the health and safety of our citizens," said Vice President Biden. "This administration is committed to stronger and stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights, and this new task force is a step in the right direction."

The Task Force, to be chaired by the Deputy Attorney General, will focus on strengthening efforts to combat intellectual property crimes through close coordination with state and local law enforcement partners as well as international counterparts. It will also monitor and coordinate overall intellectual property enforcement efforts at the Department, with an increased focus on the international aspects of IP enforcement, including the links between IP crime and international organized crime. Building on previous efforts in the Department to target intellectual property crimes, the Task Force will also serve as an engine of policy development to address the evolving technological and legal landscape of this area of law enforcement.

As part of its mission, the Task Force will work closely with the recently established Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC), housed in the Executive Office of the President and charged with drafting an Administration-wide strategic plan on intellectual property. As part of its mission, the Task Force will assist IPEC in recommending improvements to intellectual property enforcement efforts.

"Americans produce more technologies, more brands, more creative works and more innovation than any other nation on Earth," said Victoria Espinel, the U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator. "President Obama is committed to ensuring that the value created by American workers and enjoyed by communities around the world is protected. The Justice Department’s new task force will play a critical role in supporting the Administration's ongoing efforts to protect American intellectual property and the millions of jobs that depend on it."

The Task Force will include representatives from the offices of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, and the Associate Attorney General; the Criminal Division; the Civil Division; the Antitrust Division; the Office of Legal Policy; the Office of Justice Programs; the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee; the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the FBI.

As part of its broader intellectual property initiative, the Department will also step up policy engagement with foreign law enforcement partners, develop a plan to expand civil IP enforcement efforts, and leverage existing partnerships with federal agencies and independent regulatory authorities such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Communications Commission.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/February/10-ag-137.html

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Canadian Firm and U.S. Subsidiary to Pay $4 Million to Settle Lawsuit in Connection with Sale of Defective Bullet-Proof Vests

WASHINGTON - Lincoln Fabrics Ltd., a Canadian weaver of ballistic fabrics, and its American subsidiary, have agreed to pay the United States $4 million to settle the United States’ lawsuit against Lincoln for violations of the False Claims Act in connection with their role in the weaving of Zylon fabric used in the manufacture and sale of defective Zylon bullet-proof vests, the Justice Department announced today.

Using Zylon fiber manufactured by Toyobo Corp., Lincoln wove ballistic fabric for the body armor industry. Lincoln’s woven Zylon fabric was used in the manufacture of Zylon bullet-proof vests sold by several companies, including Second Chance Body Armor Inc., First Choice Armor Inc. and Point Blank Body Armor Inc. These vests were purchased by the United States, and by various state, local, and/or tribal law enforcement agencies, who were partially reimbursed by the United States.

The United States alleged that the Zylon in these vests lost its ballistic capability quickly, especially when exposed to heat and humidity. The United States further alleged that Lincoln was aware of the defective nature of the Zylon by at least December 2001, but continued to sell Zylon for use in ballistic armor until August 2005, when the National Institute of Justice issued a report that Zylon degraded quickly in ballistic applications. At that time, all American body armor manufacturers stopped using Zylon in body armor.

In October 2009, the United States filed suit against Lincoln for violations of the False Claims Act and related claims. The settlement announced today resolves this lawsuit.

"Companies that knowingly sell the government defective bulletproof vests not only commit fraud, they put the lives of our law enforcement women and men at risk," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We will pursue vigorously allegations that these or any other companies manufactured flawed vests, knew about their problems, yet sold them anyway."

This settlement is part of a larger investigation of the body armor industry’s use of Zylon in body armor. As part of today’s agreement, Lincoln has pledged its cooperation in the Government’s on-going investigation. The United States previously has settled with six other participants in the Zylon body armor industry for over $54 million. Additionally, the United States has pending lawsuits against Toyobo Co., Honeywell Inc., Second Chance Body Armor, Inc. and First Choice Armor Inc.

Today’s settlement with Lincoln was the result of an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the General Services Administration Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Department of Energy Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of the Inspector General and the Defense Contracting Audit Agency.

This settlement is part of the government’s emphasis on combating fraud. One of the most powerful tools in that effort is the False Claims Act. The Justice Department’s total recoveries in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 have topped $3 billion.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/February/10-civ-136.html

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From ICE

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2 sentenced in Pennsylvania in forced labor case

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Two people were sentenced on February 11 on forced labor trafficking, marriage fraud and forced labor organization charges in federal court for their involvement in a forced labor organization investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Central Pennsylvania.

Lynda Dieu Phan, 39, and Duc Cao Nguyen, 41, both of New Cumberland, Pa., were sentenced to a 90-day term of imprisonment followed by 270 days of home arrest and one year of supervised release. The judge further ordered that Phan pay $300,000 in restitution. The court's order also included the forfeiture of a 2008 Toyota Highlander and $185,416.82 that was seized. Nguyen was sentenced to a one-year term of probation and a $1,000 fine.

In October 2009, Lynda Dieu Phan pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit forced labor trafficking, forced labor and marriage fraud. Duc Cao Nguyen and another co-defendant Justin Phan pleaded guilty to marriage fraud.

Court records show beginning sometime in 2000 until August 2008, Lynda Dieu Phan, Duc Cao Nguyen, and Justin Phan, conspired that Lynda Dieu Phan travel to Vietnam to recruit two victims to work in her nail salons located in the York, Pa. area. Fraudulent marriages were arranged so the victims could gain entry into the United States. Upon entry, the victims were forced to work at Lynda Dieu Phan's nail salons.

"This investigation has shown the unfortunate reality that modern day slavery continues to exist in the 21st century. Those who compel such acts will be held accountable," said John P. Kelleghan, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Philadelphia. "Because this heinous crime is extremely well-hidden, we need to help educate members of the public about human trafficking, so that we can rescue the victims, and working with our local, state and federal partners, to prosecute those who engage in these horrendous acts."

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1002/100212harrisburg.htm

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From the FBI

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FORENSIC ANALYSIS

Clues Buried in Sounds and Images

02/12/10

The 14 videotapes arrived on Peter Smith’s desk individually wrapped in plain manila envelopes. They had been sent by a special agent in our Phoenix office who wanted them analyzed after heavy rains exposed the buried cache in a yawning 35-foot-deep hole in the ground. A man who found the tapes saw the contents of one of them and quickly called the police, who in turn called us.

The tapes were in bad shape, but that’s nothing new to Smith, whose job it is to repair and recover damaged media so the contents can aid investigators. Smith is one of 26 examiners who work in the FBI’s Digital Evidence Laboratory’s Forensic Audio, Video, and Image Analysis Unit. Based in Quantico, Virginia, the unit gets requests from all 56 field offices and our overseas offices, or legal attachés.

“When I got them, they were caked with mud,” said Smith, a specialist in video reconstruction. Like his colleagues, he’s worked on tapes in much worse condition—unspooled, soaked in jet fuel, stretched, cut, or partially demagnetized. Every case is different.

“You have to assess each case in order to get it back into playable condition,” Smith said. In this case, that meant unspooling the tightly wound tapes, rinsing away the mud, and carefully drying them. The tapes were put on new spools and into new housings. Duplicates were recorded when the restored tapes were played. The original and new recordings were then sent back to Phoenix so investigators could move forward on the case.

Last year, the unit closed 610 examination requests—274 on audio and 336 on video and still images. On any given day, examiners are looking for even the smallest clues that could aid in a case.

“To take a hunk of garbage and turn it into usable evidence—that’s very rewarding,” says Peter Smith, of the Forensic Audio, Video and Image Analysis Unit.

In the 2007 case of the unearthed tapes, the recovered material revealed a man engaging in sexual activity with minor girls, one believed to be 5 or 6 years old. The tapes were decades old and recorded in a format that predates VHS. As Smith reconstructed the tapes, he found a key piece of evidence—one of the girls said the name of the man appearing with her on the video. Smith contacted the FBI case agent in Phoenix, who ran a check of motor vehicle licenses, which led him to an 81-year-old man who managed the property where the tapes came to light. He was quickly arrested.

Like video, audio and still images contain a bounty of potential clues. Examiners look for patterns and textures in clothes or a suspect’s distinctive physical features. Photogrammetry can reveal a suspect’s height or the length of a gun’s barrel. In many cases, with the proliferation of sophisticated photo-editing software, examiners can determine if images have been digitally manipulated, as is sometimes the defense claim in child pornography cases.

“It’s enabled us to hone our skills as far as recognizing real versus fake,” said Dr. Richard W. Vorder Bruegge, one of our image examiners and a leader in the field of forensic analysis.

The Digital Evidence Laboratory, part of our Operational Technology Division, has played a key role in a wide variety of high-profile cases, including the 9/11 probe, the Enron investigation, and the 2004 murder of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, a case that relied heavily on analysis of grainy surveillance video showing her abductor leading her away from a Florida car wash.

For examiners working on the periphery of so many cases, it’s particularly satisfying when their forensic analysis plays a central role in an investigation. In the buried tapes case, the discovery of the man’s identity led to a search of his home—and more sex tapes. The man eventually pled guilty to child pornography charges and was sentenced in 2008 to more than six years in prison.

“This is one of the more rewarding cases,” Smith said. “To take a hunk of garbage and turn it into usable evidence—that’s very rewarding.”

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/feb10/forensic_021210.html

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From the DEA

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Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation: Northern Star

FEB 11 -- RALEIGH, NC - Today, United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced the conclusion of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation: Northern Star. Northern Star is a multi-agency local, state, and federal joint investigation which targeted the JULIAN AVILEZ drug trafficking organization (DTO) and the upper-level drug traffickers which his organization supplied.

In 2006, the Goldsboro-Wayne County Drug Squad and the Drug Enforcement Administration began investigating the illegal structure was determined and specific targets identified, the investigation was quickly designated as an OCDETF investigation - bringing with it the full resources of the federal government to prosecute and dismantle this group.

The AVILEZ organization operated primarily out of Goldsboro, North Carolina, as well as the Wayne and Sampson County areas. AVILEZ used the "Tienda Avilez" convenience store, which he operated in Newton Grove, as a base for his narcotics trafficking. The organization was responsible for importing, distributing, and supplying hundreds of kilograms of powder cocaine and other illegal narcotics throughout eastern North Carolina.

At the height of his cocaine trafficking, AVILEZ facilitated the monthly importation of 20-30 kilogram cocaine shipments directly from Mexico by a Mexican drug cartel. This extensive conspiracy to distribute cocaine extended outside of North Carolina to include South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and California.

The subsequent financial investigation revealed that over $1 million worth of monetary proceeds from these illegal activities were laundered through various bank accounts and through the "Tienda Avilez." Much of the money was transferred to Mexico and California via domestic and international wire transfer services.

This operation has yielded the federal indictment and conviction of 26 major drug traffickers in and around Wayne County. These defendants were charged with a variety of crimes, including: conspiracy to distribute cocaine, cocaine base (crack), marijuana, and methamphetamine; distribution of cocaine, cocaine base (crack), marijuana, and methamphetamine; domestic and international money laundering; illegal possession of firearms; and other violations of federal law.

All defendants, but two, have been sentenced and received significant federal sentences for the crimes they committed, ranging from 60 months to 292 months imprisonment. Twelve of these defendants have received sentences of 10 years or more in federal prison. JULIAN AVILEZ was sentenced to 188 months imprisonment for his criminal activity. His Mexican cartel source of supply received a sentence of 292 months imprisonment.

Additionally, several other defendants prosecuted under this investigation received federal sentences in excess of 15 years imprisonment. RICO MOSES, a major distributor of crack cocaine in Goldsboro, received a sentence of 243 months imprisonment. ANTWON DEMETRIUS PEACOCK pled guilty to a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base (crack) and possession of a firearm in furtherance of that crime and is currently serving a 205 month sentence for his distribution of several hundred grams of crack cocaine in the Goldsboro area.

Over the course of this operation, law enforcement seized 14 firearms, 11 kilograms of cocaine, 2 kilograms of crack cocaine, and over $1 million in U.S. currency. In addition, over $600,000 worth of real and personal property was seized and/or forfeited by defendants.

Rodney G. Benson, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA Atlanta Field Division (AFD) commented, “All participating agencies played a crucial role in the eradication of this drug distribution network, which made this case a success. This organization's drug trafficking activities posed a significant threat to the quality of life within a number of communities. The dismantling of this criminal enterprise makes these communities a safer place today.”

Mr. Holding commented, “One of the most significant weapons against drug trafficking that law enforcement has is the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. Such an investigation is a joint operation that includes all levels of law enforcement--working together as a team. This investigation is an example of the success that can be had by a cooperative effort toward a common goal of defeating narcotics traffickers.”

“This press conference highlights what occurs when law enforcement agencies co-ordinate their efforts. IRS-Criminal Investigation will continue to provide financial expertise to these joint investigations because Money Laundering is found in virtually all crimes for profit. Everyone benefits when we work together,” stated Special Agent in Charge IRS-CI, Jeannine A. Hammett.

OCDETF Operation: Northern Star was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration - Raleigh Office, Wayne County Sheriff's Office, Goldsboro Police Department, Sampson County Sheriff’s Office, Mount Olive Police Department, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement -
Raleigh, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives - Wilmington.

Special Assistant United States Attorney Imelda J. Pate and Assistant United States Attorney Brian S. Meyers represented the Government in this case. Ms. Pate is an Assistant District Attorney who prosecutes cases arising out of Lenoir, Wayne, and Greene Counties. District Attorney C. Branson Vickory has assigned her to the United States Attorney's Office to prosecute federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force criminal matters.

DEA Atlanta’s SAC Benson encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.justhinktwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov.

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/atlanta021110bp.html

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Twenty-Five Individuals with Alleged Ties to a Colombian Cartel Arrested and Charged with Drug Trafficking in the Eastern District of Texas

FEB 12 --DALLAS, Texas – U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced today that 25 alleged members of a Colombian drug trafficking organization have been indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas.

The indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury on Oct. 15, 2009, and unsealed on Feb. 5, 2010, charges the 25 defendants with drug trafficking crimes, including conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and manufacturing and distribution of cocaine to be imported into the United States. According to the indictment, the defendants are alleged to be members of a drug trafficking organization responsible for sending cocaine from Colombia to the United States using Central America and Mexico as a transshipment point.

To date, this investigation has seized 7.5 tons of cocaine and $4.25 million in assets.

The Colombian National Police (CNP) began executing arrest warrants on Feb. 8, 2010 in Colombia and Panama. Of the 25 defendants, 21 are now in custody. If convicted, they face up to life in federal prison.

"We cannot sit back and allow these drug trafficking organizations, wherever they are located, to transport tons of cocaine to the United States, with impunity," said U.S. Attorney Bales. "In this operation, the agents, both American and Colombian, are literally reaching across hemispheres to strike a blow against a criminal organization that is a vital lifeline to several Mexican drug cartels. We are proud to be part of what we believe to be an historical effort in the war on drugs."

“Operation ‘No Fly Zone’ represents an unprecedented level of international law enforcement cooperation between the Colombian National Police (CNP) and North Texas law enforcement agencies,” said James L. Capra, Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “The complete dismantlement of this criminal organization based in Colombia will severely impact the ability of drug traffickers to transport cocaine from the jungles of Colombia, via Central America and Mexico, to the United States using small aircraft.”

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration HIDTA Group 1 and the Colombian National Police. HIDTA Group 1 consists of: the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Coppell Police Department, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office, the Dallas County Sheriff's Office, the Dallas Police Department, the Ellis County Sheriff's Office, the Internal Revenue Service, the Irving Police Department, the Richardson Police Department, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Waxahachie Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Heather Rattan and Camelia Lopez. Provisional arrest warrants, the legal instruments which triggered the enforcement actions and arrests in Colombia, were prepared with the assistance of the DOJ Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs in Washington D.C.

An indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/newsrel/2010/dallas021210p.html

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From the ATF

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East Texas Arson Task Force Releases Sketches

TYLER, Texas — Robert Champion, Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), released three composite sketches of individuals that investigators would like to identify and interview in relation to the some of the church arsons that have occurred in the Henderson, Smith and Van Zandt Counties since January 1.

Law enforcement is soliciting the help of the public, said Champion. Anyone that can identify the individuals in the composite sketches is encouraged to call us and assist with the investigation.

Several tip lines have been established to receive calls around the clock: 1 (888) ATF-FIRE (888-283-3473); (903) 675-0061 and (903) 675-0062. ATF has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

This investigation is being conducted by ATF, Texas Department of Public Safety, Athens Fire Marshal’s Office, Henderson County Fire Marshal’s Office, Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office, Tyler Fire Marshal’s Office and the Van Zandt County Fire Marshal’s Office.

http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2010/02/021210-dal-arson-task-force-releases-sketches.html

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