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From Los Angeles Times

An implausible plan to fight terrorism through community outreach

A White House paper promoting community initiatives to curb radicalization is commendable, but there is no evidence to suggest such efforts work.

August 5, 2011

Preventing self-radicalized Muslim Americans from engaging in or abetting acts of terrorism is obviously a national priority. But a new Obama administration position paper offers an implausible approach to achieving that objective.

The blueprint, titled "Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States," mentions other sorts of terrorism, but its focus is on that fueled by Islamic extremism (though it doesn't use that term). Its recommendation is that the federal government engage in "strengthening community partnerships and preventing violent extremism … as a facilitator, convener, and source of information."

The notion is that community initiatives can help ameliorate extremism among young men who might be attracted to the teachings of Al Qaeda. The report draws an analogy with three other community initiatives: anti-gang efforts; liaisons between community groups and the federal government in connection with anti-terrorism efforts; and the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative designed to prevent school violence and drug abuse. In the schools program, the report notes, participating school districts must address violence and substance abuse.

An outreach program for Muslim communities, one that promotes nonviolence and dialogue with the larger society, is not a bad idea. The question is whether it would have much effect on the sort of "lone wolf" terrorists who pose the greatest threat. The report offers no convincing evidence that programs that work with gang members and schoolchildren would also deter violence by jihadists.

Nor is it obvious that, as the report suggests, "good governance programs — including those that promote immigrant integration and civic engagement, protect civil rights, and provide social services — … may help prevent radicalization that leads to violence." Finally, the report suggests a propaganda effort to challenge justifications of violence and promote "the unifying and inclusive vision of our American ideals." Praiseworthy as such a message is, delivering it through community outreach or otherwise seems unlikely to influence the behavior of potential terrorists.

To be fair, the report does not suggest community-based approaches as a substitute for investigation by law enforcement of potential terrorists. Indeed, it proposes greater involvement by police with local communities (a form of "community outreach" with a long history). Much of the report makes sense. But the overwhelming emphasis is on community outreach as an inoculation against extremism. That case has not been made.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-counterterror-20110805,0,7982943,print.story

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From Google News

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Canada

‘Flash robs' invade Canada

The next minute, 40 or so youth descended en masse. As they marched in they grabbed everything in sight.

The next minute, like a well-oiled many-tentacled machine, the mob turned around and left with $800 worth of goods.

Some were laughing, others had their heads down, and others looked directly into the security cameras, oddly defiant.

Behind them was a single photographer or videographer, holding his camera and looking oddly out of place.

And then the store employee followed seconds later, shaking his head in disbelief.

It was reportedly Canada's first “flash rob.” The phenomenon has been steadily occurring in many U.S. cities — Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Las Vegas among them.

In Chicago, North Face and Filene's were victims. In Washington, Victoria's Secret endured a 20-second raid that police believe was organized on social media. In Philadelphia, 100 teens attacked a group of pedestrians near a downtown subway station in what was described as a flash mob. In Las Vegas a group of 35 people robbed a convenience store.

Like flash mobs, the participants are alerted of the criminal activity through social media or texting. But instead of gathering to sing en masse or hold a demonstration, those who participate in flash robs invade a store en masse, take what they want, and then leave.

Ottawa police describe it as a “flash theft” rather than flash rob.

Not to be too technical, but robbery is theft with violence and there has been no evidence of violence in the Quickie case, says Const. Marc Soucy, a media relations officer with the Ottawa Police.

“We're worried a little bit about the phenomenon,” he said. “It's probably a youth thing. I don't know why they're doing it. It could be for a rush of adrenalin. Sometimes you get the mob mentality when you get a group of people.”

A grocery store was reportedly targeted and attacked in a similar way. But Soucy said there was no clear evidence that it had in fact been a flash rob.

U.S. observers see it as a sign of how Facebook and Twitter may be changing or reshaping criminal behaviour. Others see it as a way for the disenfranchised to feel more powerful or as a ticket to instant stardom in the Internet age.

Often the flash robs are videotaped and the exploits are posted on YouTube, part of the appeal, social observers suggest. It is a kind of youthful statement of rebellion and power. And there is no shortage of videos on YouTube detailing flash robs, including the one in Ottawa. A YouTube video shows the flash invasion in rapid-fire detail.

Some crime experts see flash robs as the latest twist on swarming. “It's actually quite similar to the swarmings that used to take place in the 1990s,” said Irwin Waller, a professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa and author of Less Law, More Order , a book on reducing crime.

“But with swarmings you had to talk to your buddies about who was going to go with you to rob the jacket or shoes.” With flash robs you can draw large numbers with a simple text or tweet, he explained.

Social media not only allows you to get a large number of people to participate, it also allows you to post your exploits online for all to see, he added. “You can see the ones in Chicago and Las Vegas. They provide an example.”

“But 40 people coming into a convenience store is terrifying for the employees and other consumers,” Waller added.”You just don't know what will go wrong and you don't know when someone will be traumatized, but also when somebody will be injured.”

So far Ottawa police have yet to find the culprits or figure out whether it was a spur of a moment event or one that was well planned. The role Twitter or texting might have played for now also remains unknown. The force is reviewing the security camera footage of the event to try to establish who was involved.

David Pyrooz, a criminologist at Arizona State University, believes that incidents like flash robs will increase and as will the use of a quick tweet to make it happen.

“More offenders decrease the likelihood of arrest,” he said. “It looks like it's a youthful phenomenon. That's something fun and exciting. It commands respect and notoriety.”

Officials from the Quickie Freeze chain refused the Star's request to speak with the manager of the convenience store and said the cashier who was on duty at the time of the incident was away until mid-August.

Virginia Tech security put to the test in gun scare

by Tonia Moxley, Mary Hardbarger and Amy Matzke-Fawcett

BLACKSBURG -- A Virginia Tech gun scare raised international interest in minutes Thursday as the campus was alerted and secured, police went on a search and a sketch of a suspect was produced.

But as the day wore on and media inquiries came from stateside and abroad, no evidence was turned up of a safety threat -- a situation that started about 9 a.m. That's when three teenage girls reported that they'd seen a man possibly carrying a gun near Dietrick Dining Hall, university officials said. The girls were on campus as part of Higher Achievement, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that sponsors academic programs for at-risk middle school students.

On the campus that experienced the April 16, 2007, shooting tragedy, officials acted quickly Thursday morning. Thousands were going to class, working and attending summer camps -- even though the fall semester won't start until later this month.

"In this day and age, we don't think we had any other choice than to send an alert," Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said, also adding that "it's simply the world we live in today . . . communicate first, investigate later."

Hincker also said several times Thursday upon media questioning that "the most important thing we can try to do is contextualize this information."

Officers from five police agencies, including state troopers, responded to the campus upon the report Thursday morning but found no evidence of a gunman despite searching for hours on foot and in vehicles.

Police planned to maintain a large and active presence, including continued patrols on campus through Thursday evening, Tech Chief Wendell Flinchum said.

The university sent out alerts via outdoor loudspeakers, text message, blast email, desktop alert, phone messages, the vt.edu homepage, Twitter, Facebook and electronic classroom signs. Those on campus were warned to remain indoors, starting just after 9:30 a.m. The alert was lifted about 2:40 p.m.

"Every one of our alert systems worked without a glitch," Hincker said.

Police later issued the composite sketch of a person of interest -- a white male with close-cropped light-brown hair said to be 6 feet tall and wearing a blue-and-white striped shirt, gray shorts and brown sandals.

No surveillance video was available around the site where the man was first reported to be seen. No cameras are installed in the area between Dietrick and New Residence Hall East, Hincker said.

Late in the day, Tech President Charles Steger released a statement in which he said "we suggest that you remain vigilant for possible threats. Maintain awareness of your surroundings and circumstances."

State Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was "working with law enforcement to investigate the situation that happened at Virginia Tech this morning," spokesman Brian Gottstein wrote in an email Thursday

Tech officials, with help from Cuccinelli's office, are appealing $55,000 in fines by the United States Department of Education, which found that the university violated the federal Clery Act in failing to immediately warn the campus of the early morning start of the 2007 shootings, in which two students were killed in West Ambler Johnston Hall. The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, then opened fire about two hours later in Norris Hall, killing 30 more people before committing suicide. The parents of two women slain in Norris are suing the university for a total of $20 million.

Soon after the alert was issued Thursday, campus was quiet. Check-in booths at New Residence Hall East were deserted, with papers, pens and a soccer ball left behind. Police patrolled the area, and students peered out from study lounge windows.

Engineering student J.D. Robertson said he was in class when he saw the alert flash across an electronic message board.

"It was all the way across campus, so I wasn't too concerned," he said of the incident.

Robertson was a sophomore in high school on April 16, 2007, and said he remembered news reports of the tragedy.

"It does conjure up the image, but a lot has changed since then," Robertson said. "There are a lot of new security measures in place."

Chris Moon, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering and a member of the wrestling team, was in the weight room in Cassell Coliseum when he overheard people talking about the warning. It caused him little concern.

"I was really just hoping my class got canceled," he said. "It seemed like the police had it under control."

While many people stayed indoors or away from campus, some did not.

Sean Gart, an engineering mechanics student who lives in Salem, said after learning that young teens had made the initial report, he thought it was "most likely a misunderstanding" and came to campus to meet a friend.

Bob Prout, executive director of the All-Arts, Sciences & Technology Camp was on the Drillfield with his group of campers when the chaos erupted. The campers, ages 11-15, were about to launch small rockets they had made when the sirens ushered them inside to safety.

"Everybody sort of just melded away into the scenery," Prout said.

But the director said he decided to stay behind on the Drillfield to keep a watchful eye on his rockets as he answered calls from concerned parents.

A law-abiding citizen may carry a firearm on the Tech campus under state law. Universities may ban firearms in campus buildings and at campus events, according to the Virginia Supreme Court.

The court noted in a January ruling that such bans must be narrowly tailored, and may not apply to the general campus grounds.

Tech's weapons policy, in effect for at least the past 20 years, bans "unauthorized" possession of a firearm in campus buildings, residence halls or events such as football games. Students living on campus may store legally-owned firearms and some ammunition at the campus police department, according to the policy.

But, in July, Cuccinelli opined that while universities may prohibit the open carry of handguns in buildings and at events, the carrying of concealed weapons by state permit holders may not be curtailed anywhere on campus.

That opinion has not been tested by the courts, and was condemned Thursday by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

April 16th survivor and Tech alumnus Colin Goddard works as a Brady Campaign lobbyist.

There was a reminder Thursday, though, that gun scares are not limited to college campuses.

Montgomery County sheriff's deputies and Christiansburg police searched Thursday morning for a man reported to be carrying a gun near the county health department -- 9 miles away from the Tech campus.

The matter was investigated, but no threat was found, town spokeswoman Becky Wilburn said.

http://hamptonroads.com/print/609604

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NY Sen. Gillibrand supports policing bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (KEHR'-sten JIHL'-uh-brand) is supporting a bill designed to strengthen community policing nationwide.

The bill authored by Sen. Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, would authorize $500 million a year to hire up to 50,000 officers for community policing. It would authorize $250 million a year for police to acquire new equipment and $150 million a year to help local district attorneys hire community prosecutors.

Gillibrand says that with police agencies in New York hit by budget cuts, the legislation will keep officers on the beat and keep neighborhoods safe.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/NY-Sen-Gillibrand-supports-policing-bill-1719800.php

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Wisconsin

Police to ride bikes to school with students in South side neighborhood

by SANDY CULLEN

Madison police are hoping to continue making inroads into a South Side neighborhood with a troubled past by pedaling to school with students.

Starting with the first day of school on Sept. 1, members of the South District's Community Policing Team will join the Arbor Hills-Leopold neighborhood officer to bicycle to and from school with a group of youngsters in first through fifth grades.

Inspired by the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin's Safe Routes to School program and Leopold Elementary School's "walking school bus" concept, the effort is designed to give students positive contacts with police, said Officer Andre Lewis, a member of the Community Policing Team who is organizing the program with neighborhood Officer Deon Johnson.

"It just builds a good community relationship," Lewis said.

For many residents, their only contact with police is when someone is being arrested, he said.

"It was a high-crime neighborhood a couple of years ago," Lewis said of the area that had problems with drugs, gunfire, fights and other disturbances.

"The past couple of years, we've seen a drastic and significant change," he said, adding that police hope the bike program will help to further the positive results that have accompanied the addition of a neighborhood officer and other initiatives.

Each morning in September, officers will lead members of the Leopold Bike Club on a 20-minute ride before arriving at the Post Road school via the new Cannonball Bike Trail in time for breakfast.

Students who bike to school 21 days will receive a bicycle to keep.

Officers will resume the rides in spring, and hope students also will continue biking on their own. Lewis said.

So far, about 10 students have gotten the OK from parents to participate.

Police are seeking donations of gently used bicycles appropriate for children ages 6-9.

"We've had a number of bikes donated," Lewis said.

Ten bicycle helmets and locks also have been donated by Wheels for Winners, a nonprofit organization that provides refurbished bikes to Dane County youths who do community service, he said.

Along with developing positive relationships, the bike-to-school program will provide an opportunity for exercise for the youngsters and officers alike, said Lewis, who hopes the activity also will help boost students' performance in the classroom.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/article_6c76a9b8-bef6-11e0-a24c-001cc4c03286.html

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Australia

Police log on to face crime

The police have unveiled a new form of the Neighbourhood Watch scheme that uses Facebook

The police have unveiled a new form of the Neighbourhood Watch scheme that uses Facebook to allow residents to report crime and engage with the force.

Project Eyewatch will be trialled at 10 local area commands in NSW, none of which are on the northern beaches.

Police commissioner Andrew Scipione said the project was “a promising, modern version of Neighbourhood Watch”, allowing residents and police to exchange information using police co-ordinated homepages on Facebook.

“The traditional Neighbourhood Watch program has proved very successful over the years but people are leading more demanding lives,” Mr Scipione said.

“Many often don't have the time or ability to attend community meetings to discuss matters with police. But the majority of Australians have access to computers and the internet, via hand-held devices, tablets, laptops and personal computers.

“It makes sense to trial a community crime initiative where people can provide or receive information while at home or on the move.

“It will also provide a rapid flow of information, allowing the people of NSW to be quickly heard at a local policing level.”

http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/police-log-on-to-face-crime/

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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ICE Effectively Responds to 9/11 Commission Report Recommendations

• Our specially trained ICE agents, assigned to the Visa Security Program, are identifying and stopping potential terrorist and criminal suspects before entering the U.S. Deployed to diplomatic posts overseas, ICE agents perform thorough visa application reviews in order to assess whether applicants are attempting to enter the U.S. for illegitimate purposes.
  
  
• Our world-renowned Forensic Document Laboratory (FDL) is on the leading edge of detecting and deterring use of fraudulent documents by terrorist and other criminal who are trying to elude or outsmart the screening process.
  
  
• We are furthering our nation's safety through management of the International Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which tracks and monitors the status and activities of nonimmigrant students and exchange visitors. Our agents ensure that only legitimate foreign students or exchange students gain entry to the U.S. and that they abide by the terms of their visas while here.
  
  
• We are also assisting the DHS-wide effort to address the backlog of unvetted potential visa overstays by investigating leads with potential national security concerns.

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