 |
| NEWS of the Day - October 4, 2011 |
|
on some issues of interest to the community policing and neighborhood activist across the country
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following group of articles from local newspapers and other sources constitutes but a small percentage of the information available to the community policing and neighborhood activist public. It is by no means meant to cover every possible issue of interest, nor is it meant to convey any particular point of view ...
We present this simply as a convenience to our readership ... |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Google News
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michigan Community policing is working
PAW PAW - "You have a police department that works really hard," Paw Paw Village Police Chief Eric Marshall told the Paw Paw Village Council Monday night. Since accepting his position in July of 2010, Marshall said, he has been listening to the needs of village officials, business owners, and residents toward creating a strategic plan for law enforcement.
From those contacts, Marshall and his staff, in collaboration with the village, and other local law enforcement agencies, have developed a concept for community policing to deal with the village's primary concerns, and improved relationships with the businesses, residents and the courts.
"Everyone on my staff is on board with what we are doing," Marshall reported. In June, patrols began under the community policing policies.
Paw Paw Village Police officers patrol "on foot one hour every night, every shift, every day," Marshall said. They speak with business owners during the day and check for locked doors during the night.
"They get out of their cars and talk to people."
Marshall said that face-to-face interaction, and listening to folks' comments, are key to the success of community policing.
Marshall said his department has developed a strong partnership with the county narcotics unit, and highly-effective working relationship with the Michigan State Police, Van Buren County Sheriff's and Prosecutor's offices.
In the 3-1/2 months of community policing, Marshall his officers responded to more than 1,000 calls for service, which led to 663 follow-up investigations that resulted in 30 felony arrests. They have made 402 enforcement contacts and 2,725 resident contacts.
Village President Roman Plaszczak noted that these personal contacts have resulted in village residents having more confidence in their police department.
Marshall added that because of the new approach to delivering services, the morale of the department has "totally changed," and cooperation from the community is greatly improved.
"What we've been trying to envision our police department becoming, it has," added Village Manager Larry Nielsen.
The Miller Street improvement project will proceed as planned. After much discussion among council members and with the neighborhood's residents, trustees lifted the hold on their contract with Yarbrough Construction in order to proceed with the construction of 5 ft. sidewalks within the right-of-way on the east side of Miller Street. The project is part of a long-range plan to make Paw Paw a safer, more "walkable" community.
Miller Street property owners brought a variety of issues to the council last month. Nielsen, several council members, and John Small of the Department of Public Services, later visited with residents and walked the neighborhood to get a better idea of their concerns.
Nielsen said he and Small would be working with Yar-brough Construction with residents' concerns in mind after the street's paving is completed, and as the sidewalk installation proceeds.
http://www.zwire.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2188&dept_id=414962&newsid=20466403
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the White House
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
by Howard A. Schmidt
October 3, 2011
Today, the White House issued a Presidential Proclamation designating October as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. On Friday, I will be speaking together with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano at the official kick-off event for the month at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. In the following weeks, the Department of Homeland Security will be hosting events across the nation to bring cybersecurity awareness to your state and your community. Every company, school, and family should use October as an opportunity to focus on cybersecurity – update training, attend or host an event, or talk to your children about responsible use of the Internet.
Cybersecurity is of course not something we can pay attention to for only one-month each year. It is a shared responsibility each and every day. That is why last year we began the National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign -- Stop. Think. Connect. -- an ongoing effort to educate Americans about risks in cyberspace and promotes simple steps that everyone can take to protect themselves online.
I'd also like to highlight the re-launch of OnGuardOnline.gov, the federal government's website to help you be safe, secure and responsible online. The site is a resource for parents, educators, and individuals who want to learn more about cybersecurity. Managed by the Federal Trade Commission, OnGuardOnline.gov is a partner in Stop. Think. Connect. and part of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. I encourage everyone to visit these three sites to learn more about what you can do to be safe online.
As this is the eighth National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it is a fitting time to reflect on how far we have come and how far we still need to go to secure this nation in cyberspace. At the start of the Obama Administration, we released the Cyberspace Policy Review, which issued a near term action plan to improve cybersecurity. I am pleased to say that our progress looks pretty good. In the last year, we issued two strategies that address major items on the action plan. The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace described a private-public partnership that will improve the way online transactions are conducted by moving beyond passwords toward secure, reliable online credentials. The federal government is now working to implement this vision on our own networks and encouraging the private sector to do so as well. We also released the first comprehensive International Strategy for Cyberspace, calling for prosperity, security, and openness in a networked world. The strategy lays out the Administration's vision for the future of the Internet and an agenda for partnering with other nations and peoples to realize this vision. Yet still more must be done. Working with the private sector, we expect to finalize the National Cyber Incident Response Plan shortly. The interim version of this plan has served our government well in managing cyber incidents over the last year. The revised plan has benefited from this experience.
Over the next year, we will continue progressing on the President's vision of an open, interoperable, secure and reliable Internet. This month, stay tuned for the release of a strategic plan that will outline how we will develop the next-generation of game-changing technologies for cybersecurity and for the release of the Department of Homeland Security's strategic plan for securing the homeland security enterprise in cyberspace.
Howard A. Schmidt is Special Assistant to the President and the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/03/national-cybersecurity-awareness-month
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From ICE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
United States, Mexico announce results of repatriation program
TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that 8,893 Mexican citizens agreed to voluntarily return to their hometowns in the interior of Mexico by participating in the Mexican Interior Repatriation Program (MIRP).
MIRP is a bilaterally beneficial voluntary program that ensures the safe and swift return of Mexican nationals found unlawfully in the Sonora Arizona desert region of the United States to their places of origin in the Mexican interior. The program is run by ICE, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mexican Ministry of the Interior.
The last flight for 2011, carrying 139 people, departed Tucson Wednesday for Mexico City.
"MIRP reflects our mutual commitment to strong and effective enforcement of both nations' immigration laws, and this program is proof that we can do so in a humanitarian way," said Katrina S. Kane, field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Arizona. "This program prioritizes the humane treatment of detainees throughout the removal process."
MIRP was designed in 2004 as a bilateral effort between the United States and Mexico to reduce the loss of human life and combat organized crime linked to the smuggling, trafficking and exploitation of persons.
Under MIRP, Mexican nationals apprehended in U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma and Tucson Sectors are taken to DHS facilities in Nogales and Yuma, Ariz., where candidates are medically screened, meet with officials from Mexican Consulate and are offered the opportunity to voluntarily participate in the program.
This year's first repatriation flight departed Tucson International Airport on July 11. Of the 8,893 people returned this year, 85 percent were men and 15 percent were women. A total of 328 juveniles accompanied by their parents participated in MIRP as well.
A total of 125,164 Mexican nationals have been safely returned under MIRP over the program's eight summers of operation.
http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1109/110929tucson.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ICE arrests more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens, fugitives in enforcement operation
throughout all 50 states
18 weapons seized during operation
WASHINGTON — As part of the Obama administration's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced the results of a seven-day national "Cross Check" enforcement operation-which led to the arrest of more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens.
"The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE's ongoing commitment and focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens and those that game our nation's immigration system," said ICE Director John Morton. "Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers and agents in tracking down at large criminal aliens and fugitives, there are 2,901 fewer criminal aliens in our neighborhoods across the country."
This seven-day operation, the largest of its kind, involved the collaboration of more than 1,900 ICE officers and agents from all of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations' (ERO) 24 field offices, as well as coordination with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners throughout the United States. Arrests occurred in all 50 states and four U.S. territories.
All of the 2,901 individuals taken into custody had prior criminal convictions including at least 1,282 aliens who had multiple criminal convictions. More than 1,600 of those arrested had felony convictions including manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, sexual crimes against minors, and aggravated assault. Of the total 2,901 criminal aliens arrested, 42 were gang members and 151 were convicted sex offenders.
In addition to being convicted criminals, 681 of those arrested were also immigration fugitives who had previously been ordered to leave the country but failed to depart. Additionally, 386 were illegal re-entrants who had been previously removed from the country multiple times. Because of their serious criminal histories and prior immigration arrest records, at least 146 of those arrested during the enforcement action were presented to U.S attorneys for prosecution on a variety of charges including illegal re-entry after deportation, a felony which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
The arrestees include:
- Virgilio Lopez-Ruiz , 54, a national of the Dominican Republic, who was residing in the Bronx, N.Y., convicted on Nov. 16, 1988, of second degree attempted murder.
- Ike Romanus Bright , 51, a national of Nigeria, who was residing in Kyle, Texas, was an ICE fugitive alien convicted on Nov. 5, 1986, of second degree attempted murder.
- Jose Gallardo, 51, a national of Mexico, who was residing in North Hollywood, Calif., convicted on March 21, 1996, of kidnapping a child under 14 years of age and shooting at an occupied dwelling. The Department of Justice is filing criminal charges for illegally re-entering the United States after having been removed.
- Ian Kirt Kuar, 52, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, who was residing in Hauppauge, N.Y., convicted on Nov. 14, 1975, of second degree manslaughter and convicted on May 12, 1995, of fifth degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
- Roberto Hackett-Baquie, 54, a national of Panama, who was residing in Stone Mountain, Ga., convicted on March 26, 2008, of child molestation.
- Euford Brown, 60, a national of Jamaica, who was residing in Mattapan, Mass., was an ICE fugitive alien and a registered sex offender convicted on April 2, 1986, of rape.
- Austin Alfredo Alonzo-Fiallos, 36, a national of Honduras, who was residing in West Columbia, S.C., was an ICE fugitive alien convicted on March 2, 1998, of felony burglary-armed assault and felony assault and battery on official employee. He is also wanted in Miami on charges of attempted first degree murder and charges of kidnapping, burglary and armed assault. He is pending extradition to Miami on the criminal charges.
ICE conducted the first successful Cross Check operation in December 2009, and has since conducted Cross Check operations in 37 states, including regional operations in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest regions. In May, ICE conducted the first nationwide Cross Check operation. These previous Cross Check operations resulted in ICE arresting 4,506 convicted criminals, fugitives and aliens nationwide who have illegally re-entered the United States after removal.
Last week's enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE's National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP), which is responsible for locating, arresting and removing at-large criminal aliens and immigration fugitives. The officers who conducted last week's operation received substantial assistance from ICE's Fugitive Operations Support Center (FOSC) and ICE's Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) both located in Williston, Vt.
ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that targets serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, such as those charged with or convicted of homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, major drug offenses and threats to national security. ICE also prioritizes the arrest and removal of those who game the immigration system including immigration fugitives or those criminal aliens who have been previously deported and illegally re-entered the country.
http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1109/110928washingtondc.htm |
|
