Study finds education gap for illegal Mexican migrants' children

They finished two fewer years of school than peers with legal immigrant parents. The research on Los Angeles area residents shows the need to help such families become legal, the report's authors say.

The majority of children of illegal immigrants from Mexico in the Southland fail to graduate from high school, completing an average of two fewer years of schooling than their peers with legal immigrant parents, a new study has found.

The study by UC Irvine professor Frank Bean and three other researchers documented the persistent educational disadvantages for such children — who number 3.8 million, with about 80% born in the United States.

The study's authors said their findings highlighted the need to help such families gain legal status and a more secure future, arguing that deporting all of them was unrealistic.

"By not providing pathways to legalization, the United States not only risks creating an underclass, but also fails to develop a potentially valuable human resource," the report said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-illegal-academics-20111023,0,5789070.story

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Brooklyn mother dies shielding schoolchildren from gunfire

An 11-year-old girl and another parent were also hit by bullets during the Friday after-school shootings, police said.

Zurana Horton, 34, “was seen moments before she was shot hovering over several children to protect them as shots were fired,” a police report said. She died Friday at the scene. Neighbors are saying that Horton had 13 of her own children and that she might have been pregnant, NY1 said.

Family members told the New York Post that Horton had been planning to move from the crime-ridden Brownsville area of Brooklyn. “She's getting married, but now she can't do any of that,” her cousin told the Post. Neighbors who had gathered at her home were expressing sadness and outrage, news reports said Saturday.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Michigan

Pharmaceuticals outpace alcohol as drug of choice in Bay County

BAY CITY — Bay County has long had a reputation as a home of heavy drinkers, but another demon has edged out alcohol as the most abused substance.

In 2010, for the first time ever, more Bay County residents sought treatment for prescription drug abuse than for alcohol addiction, said Barry T. Schmidt, prevention specialist at the Neighborhood Resource Center, 709 Ninth St. in Bay City. “We never thought we'd see it, but according to the data, it's happening,” said Schmidt.

The numbers were compiled by the Riverhaven Coordinating Agency, a substance abuse treatment and prevention arm of Bay-Arenac Behavioral Health, an agency serving Arenac, Bay, Huron, Montcalm, Shiawassee and Tuscola counties. The data shows that, of area residents who received state-funded substance abuse treatment in 2010, 41 percent listed prescription painkillers as their primary addiction.

http://blog.mlive.com/news/baycity_impact/print.html?entry=/2011/10/pharmaceuticals_out_pace_alcoh.html

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Oct 22, 2011

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Obama announces that all U.S. troops in Iraq are coming home

President Obama says that the 40,000 U.S. troops will be 'home for the holidays,' fulfilling a campaign promise and acceding to the reality of a depleted treasury and overwhelming public opinion.

By declaring that the last American troops will leave Iraq by the end of the year, President Obama signaled the official close to one of the longest, most politically contentious wars in U.S. history — and the end to an American attempt to transform the Middle East with military might.

The soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will leave behind a stumbling young democracy, still beset by sectarian violence and tilting closer to its neighbor, Iran, a bitter U.S. foe.

They will return home to a country that has largely turned inward to face its own economic problems, and which long ago lost heart in a war fought in the name of protecting the world from weapons of mass destruction that were never found.

Obama promised Friday that the remaining 40,000 U.S. troops would be "home for the holidays," fulfilling a campaign promise but also acceding to the reality of a depleted treasury and overwhelming American public opinion. And the step reflected the political fact that Iraq demanded an end to the U.S. presence.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-troop-withdrawal-20111022,0,2312232,print.story

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As Libya takes stock, Moammar Kadafi's hidden riches astound

New estimates of the former leader's assets — more than $200 billion — are called 'staggering.' If they prove true, he would rank among the world's most rapacious leaders.

Moammar Kadafi secretly salted away more than $200 billion in bank accounts, real estate and corporate investments around the world before he was killed, about $30,000 for every Libyan citizen and double the amount that Western governments previously had suspected, according to senior Libyan officials.

The new estimates of the deposed dictator's hidden cash, gold reserves and investments are "staggering," one person who has studied detailed records of the asset search said Friday. "No one truly appreciated the scope of it."

If the values prove accurate, Kadafi will go down in history as one of the most rapacious as well as one of the most bizarre world leaders, on a scale with the late Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire or the late Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines.

Kadafi's death after he was captured Thursday outside his birthplace, the coastal town of Surt, not only all but ended the armed uprising that erupted in February. Revelation of the stunning size of the portfolio may stir anger among Libya's 6.5 million people — about one-third of whom live in poverty.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-kadafi-money-20111022,0,5740812.story

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Limiting California's 'compassionate release' program

The case of 'Onion Field' killer Gregory Powell shows the need to restrict certain inmates from even being considered for the program.

Gregory Powell, better known to L.A. history buffs and fans of novelist Joseph Wambaugh as the "Onion Field" killer, is going to die in prison. That's fine with the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the family of Powell's victim and even Powell himself. But it does raise questions about the state's "compassionate release" program and whether killers should be set free when their time is nearly up.

In 1963, Powell and an accomplice abducted Los Angeles Police Officers Ian Campbell and Karl Hettinger at gunpoint, drove them to an onion field near Bakersfield and executed Campbell. Powell was convicted of first-degree murder and sent to death row, but when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972, his sentence was commuted to life in prison. That life is nearing its end; according to Powell's doctor, he has terminal prostate cancer and has less than six months to live. The finding triggered a hearing this week by the parole board to determine whether Powell qualifies to be set free under the state's compassionate release law, even though he reportedly told authorities that he'd prefer to remain in prison.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-compassion-20111022,0,7460876.story

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Is Mexico 'under siege'?

Drug-related violence has spread to many formerly peaceful areas of the country.

Since June 2008, The Times has been reporting on the drug-related violence on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The series is labeled "Mexico Under Siege" and has included more than 300 articles to date. The Oct. 9 installment prompted reader John Fries of Long Beach to write:

"Now yet another article under the headline or title 'Mexico Under Siege.' As a frequent traveler to Mexico, most recently three weeks driving in Yucatan, I object to the insinuation contained in this title. Yes, there are some parts of Mexico I would not travel to, just as there are some parts of Los Angeles I don't drive through on surface streets.

"To imply that all of Mexico, and all tourists traveling in Mexico, face daily and constant danger is false, misleading and does a disservice both to Mexico and to our fellow citizens possibly interested in visiting our neighbor. It's no wonder that recently I meet more Europeans than Americans when I travel."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-postscript-mexico-under-siege-20111022-7,0,767781.story

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Oct 21, 2011

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Kadafi slain against a backdrop of NATO support

The seven-month bombing campaign gave the Libyan revolutionaries a key weapon. It also exposed the uncertain future of the world's most powerful military bloc.

With the capture and death of Moammar Kadafi, NATO's aerial assault on Libya essentially ended the same way it began: with warplanes raining down bombs on him in the name of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians from his loyalists, while helping Kadafi's enemies run him to ground.

Throughout the seven-month operation, the alliance in essence served as the anti-Kadafi fighters' air force, crippling the strongman's forces and installations with relentless sorties that at times came close to killing him as well. The final assault was said to have been delivered by a French fighter jet and a U.S. Predator drone missile aiming at his convoy as he tried to flee his last stronghold in the city of Surt.

As they have throughout the campaign, NATO officials insisted Thursday that they were not targeting Kadafi himself. A senior officer in the alliance said there was no specific intelligence that Kadafi was in either of the two vehicles that were hit, which were part of the larger convoy maneuvering through the area.

"Those vehicles seemed to be directing the actions of the others, and they were struck. For all we know it could have been a lower-level leader," the officer said.

Though video circulating worldwide shows Kadafi surviving the air attack, the bloodied leader was left in the hands of revolutionary forces who appeared either unable or unwilling to keep him safe in the murky minutes before his death.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-nato-20111021,0,4843984.story

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Chinese toddler's death evokes outpouring of grief and guilt

By midday, there were 2 million condolence messages flooding the Internet for the girl, whose name was Wang Yue, or Yueyue for short. "Heaven's roads have no cars. Go in peace, little Yueyue," wrote one woman. "Your life woke up this ignorant society. Thanks to little Yueyue for letting us stop our fast-paced steps so we can wait for our soul," wrote a man, Sun Laolin.

The accident happened Oct. 13 at a market in Foshan, a city in Guangdong province. Yueyue's plight has riveted China since Sunday, when harrowing video footage from a closed-circuit camera at the market went up on the Internet showing the little girl in red trousers and a dark T-shirt toddling into the path of a delivery van.

As she lay bleeding on the road, people walked or drove by on scooters, in some cases pausing to look at the girl or swerving to avoid her, but not stopping to help or call police. She was hit by another van before a trash collector pulled her out of the road and called the mother, who had been hanging laundry at the time the girl wandered off. Yueyue has since become a household name in China, as has her lone rescuer, trash collector Chen Xianmei, 57, an illiterate migrant from the countryside.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/10/toddlers-death-evokes-outpouring-of-grief-and-guilt.html

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Foreigners' Sweetener: Buy House, Get a Visa

The reeling housing market has come to this: To shore it up, two Senators are preparing to introduce a bipartisan bill Thursday that would give residence visas to foreigners who spend at least $500,000 to buy houses in the U.S.

The provision is part of a larger package of immigration measures, co-authored by Sens. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), designed to spur more foreign investment in the U.S. Supporters of the bill, co-authored by Sen. Charles Schumer, say it would help make up for American buyers who are holding back.

Foreigners have accounted for a growing share of home purchases in South Florida, Southern California, Arizona and other hard-hit markets. Chinese and Canadian buyers, among others, are taking advantage not only of big declines in U.S. home prices and reduced competition from Americans but also of favorable foreign exchange rates.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203752604576641421449460968.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#printMode

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Alabama

Public safety event brings ASU community together

Alabama State University's public safety department reached out to its students Thursday with an evening focused on safety, combined with a mix of music, food and fun.

The first "Hornets in Harmo­ny" took place near the practice football field and ASU Chief of Po­lice Huey Thornton said the event was all about people embracing one another.

"The university is a community and we wanted to bring that com­munity together," Thornton said. "We want to make the students aware that the department of pub­lic safety is transforming along with the university."

An example of that transforma­tion is the department's partner­ship with agencies such as the Montgomery Police Department, District Attorney's Office and the One Place Family Justice Center. Representatives from those orga­nizations and others spoke to a crowd of hundreds about the dangers of domestic violence and date rape.

The students sat in bleach­ers and took in the words of the speakers, while munch­ing on a meal provided by the university. Hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken helped take their minds off the chilly evening weather. Oth­er highlights of the festivi­ties included performances from cheerleaders and Greek organizations.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20111021/NEWS01/110210345/Public-safety-event-brings-ASU-community-together

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Nevada

Metropolitan Police Department to receive community policing award

It was one of three agencies that received the Webber Seavy Award, the International Association of Chiefs of Police's top honor for community policing.

The award recognizes Safe Village, a partnership between law enforcement, the government and the community to reduce violent crime in West Las Vegas. Since Safe Village began in 2006, gun crimes in West Las Vegas have steadily decreased.

Deputy Chief Gary Schofield, Capt. Larry Burns and the Rev. Willie Cherry of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church will travel to Chicago next week to accept the award.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/metropolitan-police-department-to-receive-community-policing-award-132260643.html

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Canada

County towns top safe cities list -- County is one of the safest regions to live in Canada

Crime rates lowest: Study

According to 2010 Statistics Canada data, five of the country's eight safest communities are here. Amherstburg tops the list as the safest community with more than 10,000 people of 238 communities in the nation.

"This is generally broadbased good news for Windsor-Essex," said Ron Gaudet, executive director of the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation.

"I think we can do an awful lot with it in business attraction, retention and startups. It really speaks to the quality of life in the region." Gaudet said quality of life is one of the top five criteria companies look for in relocation selection.

"Whether you are the CEO or parking attendant, you care about where you live," Gaudet said. It's also easier to attract retirees to relocate if you can advertise that they can shop without fear of "not coming home."

http://www.windsorstar.com/news/County+towns+safe+cities+list/5584913/story.html

ACLU releases documents alleging sexual abuse of female detainees

The documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, include detailed narratives by three women who describe sexual assaults by guards while the detainees were being transported in prison vans.

The ACLU said the 185 assaults took place in or near federal detention centers around the country, with more allegations against facilities in Texas than in any other state. The assaults described in the documents, obtained from government agencies, do not represent the full scope of the problem because sexual assault is "notoriously underreported,'' the ACLU said.

"Immigrants in detention are uniquely vulnerable to abuse -- and those holding them in custody know it," Mark Whitburn, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement. "Many do not speak English ... and may not be aware of their rights, or they may be afraid to exercise them."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole Speaks at the Department's Conference on Post 9/11 Discrimination

Good morning. It's a pleasure to join all of you for this important conference. I'd like to thank Dean [Paul] Schiff Berman and the George Washington University Law School community for hosting us today. Since its founding, the GW Law School has stood in the best tradition of intellectual inquiry – exploring the most pressing legal questions of our times – and this conference is no exception.

I'd also like to thank Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez, and all of my dedicated colleagues in the Department of Justice who work every day to protect the rights of all Americans and to combat racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination.

The search for freedom from religious persecution brought many of the earliest settlers to America – the French Huegenots, and later the Pilgrims and Puritans. As a result, the framers enshrined the principle of religious freedom in the First Amendment. The principle of human equality – described in the Declaration of Independence as “self-evident” – was equally, if not more, significant in the founding of our nation. Recognizing the importance of both equality and religious liberty, in 1785, James Madison described America with pride as “an Asylum to the persecuted and oppressed of every Nation and Religion.”

Since Madison's time, the promise of equality and religious freedom has brought people of all faiths and backgrounds to America. We have not always succeeded in living up to that promise, and religious and ethnic discrimination has a long history in this country. Yet the story of America has been the story of our continuing effort to ensure that each of us in this country – regardless of our race, color, or national origin – has the chance to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/dag/speeches/2011/dag-speech-111019.html

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The FBI Since 9/11

Exec Discusses Improvements Since Anthrax Attacks

In the decade since deadly anthrax spores were sent through the mail in 2001, killing five people and sickening 22 others, the FBI has made significant advances in efforts to prevent and identify bio-terror threats. That was the message delivered Tuesday at a Senate hearing entitled: “Ten Years After 9/11 and the Anthrax Attacks: Protecting Against Biological Threats.”

On a panel of federal experts that included the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, Vahid Majidi—head of the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate—described how much the Bureau has changed since the first of several anthrax-laced letters began arriving in mailboxes a week after 9/11. Our primary focus is on prevention.

“Domestic and international terrorist groups, such as al Qaeda and its affiliates, have shown unwavering interest in using biological agents and toxins,” Majidi said during the hearing before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. “The FBI is dedicated to protecting our nation and will continue to collaborate with the scientific community to proactively address new biological threats on the horizon.”

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/october/anthrax_101811/anthrax_101811

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Honoring Fallen Firefighters

The wrong way to fight terrorism

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies' continued use of anti-Muslim training materials could lead to the collapse of a critical partnership with the Muslim American community.

We in the Muslim American community have been battling the corrupt and bankrupt ideas of cults such as Al Qaeda. Now it seems we also have to battle pseudo-experts in the FBI and the Department of Justice. A disturbing string of training material used by the FBI and a U.S. attorney's office came to light beginning in late July that reveals a deep anti-Muslim sentiment within the U.S. government.

If this matter is not immediately addressed, it will undermine the relationship between law enforcement and the Muslim American community — another example of the ineptitude and/or apathy undermining bridges built with care over decades. It is not enough to just call it a "very valid concern," as FBI Director Robert Mueller told a congressional committee this month.

The training material in question provided to FBI agents at the academy in Quantico, Va. — as first reported by Wired magazine's Danger Room blog — contained bigoted and inflammatory views on Muslims, including claims that "devout" Muslims are more prone toward violence, that Islam aims to "transform a country's culture into 7th century Arabian ways," that Islamic charitable giving is a "funding mechanism for combat" and that the prophet Muhammad was a "violent cult leader."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-almarayati-fbi-20111019,0,5130318,print.story

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Deportations Reach a New All-Time High

The United States deported the largest amount of people in the last year in the nation's history, immigration officials say. John Morton, the director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, says the agency deported nearly 400,000 individuals during the fiscal year 2011 that just ended in September.

ICE said about 55 percent of those deported had felony or misdemeanor convictions. More than 1 million undocumented immigrants have been deported since President Obama took office in January 2009.

Officials said the number of deported individuals who had been convicted of crimes was up 89 percent from 2008. But officials could not immediately say how many of those crimes were related to immigration violations.

Among those deported were more than 1,000 people convicted of homicide. Another 5,800 were sexual offenders, and about 80,000 people convicted of drug related crimes or driving under the influence.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/10/18/us-deportations-reach-new-record/

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Most illegal immigrants deported last year were criminals

WASHINGTON–The U.S. deported nearly 400,000 illegal immigrants last year, and an increasing number of them were convicted criminals, according to figures set for release Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security. Deportations have been on the rise for the past decade, and the 396,906 illegal immigrants deported in fiscal year 2011 is the highest number yet, according to the figures.

Under the Obama administration, Homeland Security issued new priorities to focus deportations on convicted criminals, people who pose threats to national security and repeated border-crossers. Last year, 55% of those deported were convicted criminals, the highest percentage in nearly a decade.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said the numbers reflect the administration's "focus on sensible immigration." "In the face of limited resources, we have to prioritize, and that starts with criminal offenders," Morton said. "We are making sure that people who game the system face the consequences."

Chief's Challenge: Change Minus Tsuris

Bringing community policing to New Haven the first time sparked a civil war within the department. Will the city's new chief be able to bring it back without sparking another one?

That question follows Tuesday's return appearance in town of Dean Esserman. The one-time New Haven assistant police chief will become the city's new police chief, the fourth in four years, starting Nov. 16.

At a City Hall press conference, Esserman made clear what he plans to do. Initial reactions, including from some old-line skeptics, suggest that he may have an easier path this time around.

“In my day [New Haven] was the center of the country for community policing. It is time to regain that reputation,” Esserman said. “Community policing works.”

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/we_lost_our_relation/id_41254

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Washington

Lindon police chief working to prevent domestic abuse

Police Chief Cody Cullimore of Lindon was selected as one of 30 law enforcement executives from across the United States to participate in the 15th National Law Enforcement Leadership Institute on Violence Against Women.

Hosted by The International Association of Chiefs of Police, the goal of the conference was to help law enforcement develop and enhance strategies to prevent and eliminate violence against women in their communities.

Since he had the rare opportunity to build a police department from the ground up, Cullimore has created community policing programs that have allowed the citizens of Lindon to get to know their law enforcement officers. Known in his town simply as Cody, it is his small-town approach to law enforcement that has kept the city of Lindon statistically safe from crime.

"A lot of places there is an emphasis on revenue and ticket writing and those types of things," Cullimore said. "We have never felt that here. When I came here at the start of this police process I explained that my attitude was more into education and safety. The council bought into that and I have felt that support from them."

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/article_0c42d102-b790-53fb-9f61-d98fa6dd84d7.html

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ICE announces year-end removal numbers, highlights focus on key priorities including threats to public safety and national security

WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton today announced the agency's fiscal year 2011 year-end removal numbers, highlighting trends that underscore the administration's focus on removing individuals from the country that fall into priority areas for enforcement. These priorities include the identification and removal of those that have broken criminal laws, threats to national security, recent border crossers, repeat violators of immigration law and immigration court fugitives.

"Smart and effective immigration enforcement relies on setting priorities for removal and executing on those priorities," said Director Morton. "These year-end totals indicate that we are making progress, with more convicted criminals, recent border crossers, egregious immigration law violators and immigration fugitives being removed from the country than ever before. Though we still have work to do, this progress is a testament to the hard work and dedication of thousands of ICE agents, officers and attorneys around the country."

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1110/111018washingtondc.htm

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FBI Releases Images in David Parker Ray Case

The Albuquerque FBI has released hundreds of images of items that were collected during the investigation of David Parker Ray. The New Mexico man died in state prison in 2002 while serving a sentence of more than 223 years in connection with kidnapping and other charges involving two women who said he sexually tortured them at his residence near Elephant Butte Lake. Numerous searches have been conducted over the years based on suspicions Ray may have killed several unidentified victims. Ray claimed to have abducted about 40 victims from several states. No bodies have been found.

The FBI believes some of the items, which include jewelry and clothes, may have been taken from victims and is asking the public to see if they recognize any of the items. "The FBI, along with its law enforcement partners in New Mexico, is aggressively pursuing several leads in the search for remains of any possible victims of David Parker Ray," said Frank Fisher of the Albuquerque Field Office. "We are asking family and friends of missing people to look over these photographs and contact us if they recognize any of these items."

Anyone with any information in the case is asked to contact Albuquerque Police Detective Richard Lewis at rlewis@cabq.gov -- View the items

http://www.fbi.gov/news/news_blog/fbi-releases-images-in-david-parker-ray-case

Online outrage in China after toddler run over twice, ignored

More than a dozen pedestrians and motorists passed by as Wang Yue lay writhing in pain after she was hit last week by a van in a wholesale market in the southern city of Foshan, in Guangdong province.

Video footage from a closed circuit camera was posed on YouTube and Youku, a Chinese video sharing site.

As Wang lay in the street after the first collision, another van ran over her although it appears the driver didn't notice. More bystanders walked by, including one woman with a small girl, who walked briskly away after she realized there was a bloody child on the ground.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/10/toddler-hit-and-run-china-soul-searching-outrage.html

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Poll: 50% of Americans -- a record high -- favor legal marijuana

Slowly but surely, Americans seem to be making peace with the pot pipe.

According to a poll released by Gallup on Monday, 50% of Americans surveyed say marijuana use should be legal — up from 46% last year. This year, 46% percent said it should be illegal.

Those numbers mean that, for the first time in the poll's 42-year-history, Americans who say that marijuana should be legal outnumber those who say it should be illegal.

Societal acceptance of marijuana has come a long way since 1969, when Gallup first posed the question "Should marijuana use be legal?" Back then, only 12% of Americans favored legalization of the drug. From the '70s through the mid-'90s, support remained in the 20s, but it has been climbing steadily since 2002.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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9th Circuit finds police stun gun use excessive in 2 cases

The ruling could prompt police to reexamine rules and practices for the temporarily debilitating weapons.

Police used excessive force when they fired Tasers at a pregnant woman in Seattle and a victim of domestic abuse in Maui, a federal appeals court ruled Monday in a case that could influence how police handle those resisting arrest across the West.

The ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in a full 11-judge forum used to decide important questions of law, could prompt police forces to reexamine their rules and practices for the temporarily debilitating stun guns.

In the Seattle case, a seven-months pregnant Malaika Brooks was driving her son to school when she was stopped by police, ticketed for driving 12 miles over the 20-mph speed limit and blasted with a stun gun three times after refusing to sign the citation.

Two years later and thousands of miles away in Maui, Jayzel Mattos was trying to defuse a brewing clash between her drunk husband and four police officers called to a domestic disturbance when one of the officers suddenly dropped her to the floor with two jolts from his Taser, which was set in dart mode.

The federal appeals court ruled that in both instances, police used excessive force and that their actions violated the Constitution's protection from unreasonable force.

Borrowed cellphone slams prison cell shut

An inmate says used a contraband phone to tell relatives he was about to be paroled. Caught, he gets five more years in prison.

Dwayne Kennedy threw a man from a moving car in 1988, but that's not what's keeping him in prison today. It's not the inmate he stabbed 17 years ago either; the state parole board forgave him that.

Instead, California prison officials are keeping Kennedy locked up for an extra five years — costing taxpayers roughly $250,000 — because guards caught him with a contraband cellphone he says he borrowed to tell his family he had just been granted parole and was coming home.

It was "just stupid on my part for even using it," Kennedy told a pair of parole commissioners convened in June 2010 to decide his punishment for breaking prison rules. But "cellphones are just everywhere in prison nowadays.... It's easy to borrow one from a guy," Kennedy said.

Indeed, Kennedy's access to the phone underscores a rapidly growing problem for California corrections officials. Just five years ago, only 261 of the devices turned up behind state prison walls. This year, guards are on pace to seize about 15,000 phones — nearly one for every 11 inmates. Almost as troubling as prisoners gaining access to cellphones is their frequent source: prison employees.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prison-cellphone-20111018,0,5932909,print.story

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India

Over 100 community policing centres opened in Punjab

The Punjab government on Monday opened 115 community policing centres across the state to encourage people to freely approach the police for redressal of their grievances.

To make state police "citizen-friendly", Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal launched the community policing initiative by inaugurating 'Saanjh Kendras' at Majitha and Civil Lines.

"There is an inherent fear among common citizens to enter Thana for even civil work. Therefore, the Saanjh Kendras have been constructed separately from police stations, and persons manning these Kendras are dressed in civil and corporate-style dresses," Badal said.

http://www.governancenow.com/gov-next/egov/over-100-community-policing-centres-opened-punjab

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Canada

Community awareness important for police to protect citizens Special

Constable Tony Vella was the special guest at Centro de Língua Portuguesa –Instituto Camões in Toronto to discuss personal safety and community policing. Vella spoke to a room of local residents representing all age groups.

Director Ana Fernandes-Iria invited Constables Vella and Scott Mills at the centre's first town meeting. Toronto City Councillor Ana Bailao also took the time to take part in the event.

Mills and Vella both work for the Toronto Police Service and go out on their own time to community events like tonight's to help build a bridge between the police and Toronto residents. That bridge building helps not only give residents more knowledge on how to protect themselves but can actually reduce crime through more awareness.

Vella started the discussion with talking about knowing what division that is for the area in times of crisis. Many in Toronto don't know which police division is the one for where they live, as was seen with several of the members of the audience. Having a relationship with local police can help residents know what to do if a crisis does arise. Many also were unsure of when to call the main number for their division or to call 9-1-1.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/print/article/312966

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Joining Forces to Rebuild 1,000 Homes for Veterans

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden joined forces with Sears Holding's Heroes at Home program and the Rebuilding Together nonprofit organization today to put the final touches on the 1,000th home that they have rebuilt for veterans since 2007.

The home belongs to Army Sergent Johnny Agbi who served in the Army's 10th Mountain Division and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. While serving as an Army medic in Afghanistan, his helicopter transport was shot down and he suffered injuries that have required him to use a wheelchair and join a comprehensive rehabilitation program. Along with fifty volunteers, the First Lady, Dr. Biden, Sears and Rebuilding Together completed a retrofit of Army Sergent Johnny Agbi's home to make it wheelchair accessible.

The Joining Forces initiative is all about honoring and supporting America's service members and their families, and the work of the Heroes at Home program and Rebuilding Together is an amazing example of how companies, organizations and individuals can help. They work to improve the lives of American military families by making necessary repairs, improvements or modifications to the homes of veterans and wounded warriors.

Following the build, Dr. Jill Biden thanked Sergeant Johnny Agbi for welcoming the team to his home:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/17/joining-forces-rebuild-1000-homes-veterans

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Oct 17, 2011

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Submachine guns, handguns stolen from LAPD SWAT-training site

Police officials confirm that more than 30 firearms, stored overnight at a building considered secure, were stolen. 'It's embarrassing.... It's a lesson learned,' Deputy Chief Michael Downing says.

A cache of Los Angeles Police Department submachine guns and handguns was stolen last week from a secured building used by the department's SWAT unit, raising fears that the weapons, which police had altered to fire only blanks, could be converted back to lethal use, police officials confirmed.

The weapons, which include 21 MP-5 submachine guns and 12 large caliber handguns, were moved Wednesday night to a multistory building at 14th and San Pedro streets downtown and stored in a locked box on the building's first floor, said LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing.

Members of the SWAT unit, which specializes in hostage rescues and other high-risk situations, were scheduled to train at the facility Thursday, Downing said. A police officer arriving at the building around 9 a.m. Thursday discovered the weapons were missing, according to Downing. The officer also found electrical equipment stacked near a back door, indicating the burglars may still have been working and fled when the officer arrived.

Downing said the building, although not a guarded LAPD facility, was considered secure. To get to the weapons, the thieves cut through bolt locks on an outside door and two internal doors and forced their way through a metal roll gate, he said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd-guns-missing-20111017,0,4016252,print.story

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Border agency's rapid growth accompanied by rise in corruption

Since October 2004, 132 U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees have been indicted or convicted on corruption-related charges. Rapid expansion and lack of funds for background checks are blamed.

When Luis Alarid was a child, his mother would seat him in the car while she smuggled people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. She was the sweet-talking commuter, he was her cute boy, and the mother-son ploy regularly kept customs inspectors from peeking inside the trunk.

Twenty-five years later, Alarid was back at the border in San Diego, seeking a job as a customs inspector. To get hired by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, he first needed to clear screening that examined his personal, financial and work histories.

Alarid had served in the Marines and Army, which was a factor in his favor. But there was cause for concern: His finances were in shambles, including $30,000 in credit card debt. His mother, father and other relatives had been convicted of or indicted on charges of smuggling.

After the background check and an interview, Alarid was cleared for a border posting.

Within months, he turned his government job into a lucrative criminal enterprise. In cahoots with a gang that included his uncle and, allegedly, his mother, Alarid let cars into California filled with drugs and illegal immigrants.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-border-corrupt-20111017,0,1769707,print.story

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Pakistan

Community policing answer to people's woes: police chief

Public involvement required in the fight against crime

THE Fiji Police Force believes crime prevention is a shared responsibility between them and members of the public and is looking to promote the concept of community policing nationwide.

Following the creation of the National Crime Prevention Board, the Fiji Police Force has begun reaching out to communities around the country in an effort to raise awareness on the concept.

At last week's police symposium themed "Strong partnership with the community", members of the public, the business sector, youth and community leaders, government officials, and other stakeholders got an opportunity to present papers and participate and contribute to building knowledge about effective community policing practices.

Assistant Commissioner and Chief of Staff, Ravi Narayan, said the force was working towards setting up a rural, divisional and national platform for the nationwide adoption of the concept.

He said community engagement programs in the past had shown the effectiveness of bringing people together who were willing to assist in the administration and maintenance of the law with the police.

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=183431

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