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From the Los Angeles Times

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Dallas-area rapes have sorority asking why

Texas police are likewise confounded by why the assailant appears to be targeting older alumnae of Delta Sigma Theta, one of the nation's prominent black sororities.

by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times

October 27, 2011

Reporting from Dallas

Betty Culbreath is normally not a fearful person. That changed when she learned that four women raped in their homes nearby were fellow Delta Sigma Theta sorority alumnae — all in their 50s and 60s.

Culbreath, 70, went out to her car and removed her Delta license plate holder. She heeded the advice of the national president of the sorority to think twice before wearing Delta clothing or accessories, much of it in the sorority's signature color, red.

The crimes "made me fearful, more precautious," she said. "It has made me very conscious about anything that might identify me" as a Delta Sigma Theta.

Police are confounded by why a rapist appears to be targeting older women in one of the nation's prominent black sororities. For sorority members, the mystery underlies a dread that they could be the next victim attacked at home in the leafy Dallas suburbs of Corinth, Coppell and Plano. Here the flat land is dotted with lakes, evangelical churches and seemingly safe planned communities with names like Arbor Manors, Copperstone and Meadow Oaks.

Culbreath, former director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, is particularly alarmed by the surveillance video of a "person of interest" being sought by police, and the description of the suspect: a 275-to-300-pound tank of a man, African American, between 5 foot 7 and 5 foot 9, mid-30s or 40s, with a distinctive swagger.

"This man is so big it's just … oh, it's hard to think about when you reach a certain level of maturity," she said. "It makes you wonder what kind of vendetta would cause a man to be that evil, what's motivating him. We are a service sorority — we're not politicians; we're not involved in anything controversial."

Word of the attacks spread among the nation's "Divine Nine" black sororities and fraternities at their National Pan-Hellenic Council convention in Atlanta this week, on the Black Greek Forum, the Delta Sigma Theta Facebook page and other websites. Many people were frightened.

"This has really put a chill through everyone because we can't figure out an explanation for it," said Lawrence Ross, a Los Angeles-based author who is married to a Delta.

The most recent attack took place Oct. 14 in Shady Shores, and was investigated by Corinth police. The Coppell attack occurred Sept. 15. The two other assaults, in Plano, occurred in April and last November.

All four victims attended different colleges, said Plano Police Officer Andrae Smith, adding that it was too early to assume the suspect was exclusively targeting Deltas. But Plano police spokesman David Tilley said that "everybody associated with this has said it goes past coincidence."

Brad Garrett, a retired FBI profiler who's now a Washington-based consultant, said other criminals had targeted sororities, including serial killer Ted Bundy. But too little is known about the current suspect to be able to discern his motives, he said.

A serial rapist is "by and large fantasy-driven," Garrett said. "There's something that draws him. He could be trying to punish these women because they have been successful."

Delta Sigma Theta counts many notable members, or "sisters."

The sorority was founded by about two dozen students at Howard University in 1913, who promptly prepared to join a march in Washington for women's suffrage.

"They were told they were going to be marching separately, in the back," said Ross, author of "The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities."

"They refused to do that," he said, "so they marched with everyone else."

Deltas would go on to fight for civil rights, staging sit-ins and campaigning against voter suppression. Both the late Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.), the first black woman elected to Congress, and Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-Texas), the first Southern black congresswoman, were Deltas. So was Dorothy Height, longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women.

The sorority now has 250,000 members in more than 1,000 chapters worldwide, about 76% of them alumnae, according to a spokeswoman. The list includes some of the most accomplished black women in America, including U.S. Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin, former astronaut Joan Higginbotham, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and singers Roberta Flack and Natalie Cole.

Honorary Delta and pioneering black educator Mary McLeod Bethune wrote a poem about the selfless "Delta Girl" driven by "a purpose which directs her activities and all that she may control toward lifting somebody else."

"Deltas value leadership development," said Tamara Brown, a Delta alumna and co-editor of a book about black fraternities and sororities.

In the growing Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, which encompasses a dozen northern Texas counties with a population of about 6.4 million, membership in Delta Sigma Theta and the "Divine Nine" has helped locals integrate with new arrivals, said Rhetta Washington McCoy, 39, past president of a Dallas chapter of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.

"A lot of people think sororities and fraternities and think a social club on a college campus and once college is over, you're done," she said. "Our organizations have more of a social service aspect."

That's one reason so many black alumnae in the Dallas area wear or carry sorority insignia with them, she said.

But the attacks have them thinking differently.

Staff at the sorority's national headquarters in Washington even warned sisters in the Dallas area not to speak publicly.

Despite her fear, Culbreath said she was willing to be interviewed because she is "proud to be where I am and not hide that because some fool decided to make that the common denominator of people he attacked."

"We are very proud of our membership. It's a sorority made up of educated black women," she said. "It's a lifetime commitment. You're proud to be one because of what the organization stands for. You wear your T-shirts or you have your license plate holder because it's in your heart."

"When this gentleman is caught," she said, "we'll go back to business as usual."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-delta-sig-20111028,0,6032822.story

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Kidney "matchmaker" pleads guilty in organ trafficking case

U.S. officials said it was the first U.S. conviction for illegal sales of human organs.

Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, 60, could face up to 20 years in prison and a hefty fine after pleading guilty in federal court in Trenton, N.J., to brokering three illegal kidney transplants. He also admitted to one count of conspiring to broker an illegal kidney sale. According to prosecutors, he procured the kidneys from sellers in Israel for customers in New Jersey, who paid at least $120,000 per transaction.

Rosenbaum, who lives in Brooklyn, was arrested in 2009 in a sweeping crackdown on corruption in New Jersey, which also netted politicians and rabbis. A government informant had recorded Rosenbaum setting up what was supposedly a kidney sale for a man seeking an organ for his sick uncle.

On the tape, Rosenbaum was heard describing himself as "a matchmaker" with extensive experience pairing kidneys with patients who preferred to pay cash for them rather than wait for donor organs to become available through hospitals. Rosenbaum got the kidneys from people in Israel, who sold them for $10,000 each.

Under 1984 federal law, it is illegal to buy or sell human organs for transplants. But waits for lifesaving transplants can stretch for years, leading to a global black market for kidneys in particular. According to information from the Department of Health and Human Services, there are more than 90,000 people waiting for kidneys in the United States, making it by far the most sought-after organ.

Kidneys also are popular among traffickers because they can be harvested from live donors, Art Caplan of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics said, according to the Associated Press. Caplan told the AP that internationally, about one-quarter of all kidneys may be trafficked, and he called Rosenbaum's actions "heinous."

But defense attorneys Ronald Kleinberg and Richard Finkel argued in a statement that Rosenbaum had helped people by arranging operations that were done safely in U.S. hospitals, which have not been named in court documents. "The transplants were successful and the donors and recipients are now leading full and healthy lives," the statement said. "In fact, because of the transplants and for the first time in many years, the recipients are no longer burdened by the medical and substantial health dangers associated with dialysis and kidney failure."

Prosecutors said Rosenbaum took advantage of people in Israel, who sold their organs, and of desperately ill Americans willing to pay huge amounts for lifesaving treatment.

"A black market in human organs is not only a grave threat to public health, it reserves life-saving treatment for those who can best afford it at the expense of those who cannot," said New Jersey's U.S. attorney, Paul Fishman.

Read more about the case in this FBI statement on Thursday's developments.

Rosenbaum is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 2. Until then, he was ordered to remain under house arrest with electronic monitoring.

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

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From Google News

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Albany Police Department Holds Community Policing Forum

October 27, 2011

Albany residents met with members of the Albany Community Police Advisory Committee Tuesday at the La Salle School. The forum allowed residents to share their concerns about their neighborhoods.

The Albany Police Department hopes to fix these problems through community policing, which encourages the police to have an active role in issues that go on in the neighborhoods. Their goal is to eliminate crime and the fear of crime by inspiring and empowering the community to work together to improve the quality of life and to make Albany a safer community.

Members of the Advisory Committee, which was formed in September 2009, were appointed by the Common Council. The committee holds forums throughout the city so that voices can be heard from different neighborhoods. They hope this approach gets the public more involved and builds a relationship between the police and the community.

The Neighborhood Engagement Unit works with the committee to monitor problems. Their job is to patrol different areas and interact with the community. The unit is made up of some 27 beat officers who are part of this unit and they work daily as a team. Lieutenant Michael Tremblay of the Neighborhood Engagement Unit helps with these efforts.

“We work to engage the community, to play a more active and interactive role in problem identification and resolution, using a problem oriented policing philosophy. The goal is to come up with more permanent solution sets to neighborhood specific problems,” he said.
Tremblay has seen improvements made through community policing.

“Participation and feedback has been extremely high and has helped shape the course that the Albany Police Department has taken in the pursuit of true Community Policing,” he said.

Pine Hills Neighborhood Association member, Mary Dugan, has seen improvements in the Pine Hills. She manages properties on Hudson, Hamilton, and Quail street and is optimistic about Albany Police.

“I didn't want to report any problems because of the lack of interest, but the police have improved by 200%,” Dugan said. “The police are interested in knowing what's going on and they are responding to complaints.” Students know that they are no longer able to get away with certain behaviors because of the presence of beat officers, she said.

Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff, wants to get people to understand that their voices are being heard.

“We have met with people who represent groups that are difficult to reach. We have groups that have never coexisted,” he said.

Feedback from the community will only help to build relationships and improve the city.
“There were trust issues between the community and the police department, but we are moving forward quicker than we anticipated” he said.

http://strosechronicle.com/wordpress/?p=2054

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Forum Hopes To Steer Tulsa Teens In A Positive Direction

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Tulsa's police and community coalition held a youth forum to get an important message across to high schoolers: That they can't have a positive future when they're involved in negative activities.

"We don't need you locked up, young men," said Marvin Blades, TPS Police Officer

This was the message of officer Marvin Blades as he talked to high school students. A message he hopes sinks in and makes a difference.

"Oh I hear it all the time, 'Oh I got five kids.' But you aren't taking care of any of them. Not one," Blades said.

It's straight talk about responsibility, education and doing the right thing.

"We need you raising your families; we need you being there for your children. And we need you positive and available for your communities," he told the students.

Marvin Blades is one of the officers interacting with teens from most all of Tulsa's High Schools at a special youth forum by the Mayor's Police and Community Coalition.

Students get to know officers better, learn about community policing, and hear positive and powerful messages and advice.

"They should want to graduate and do better things," said 10th grader Devin Duckett.

"Stay in school and get an education. Stay away from drugs and negative things in life," said 9th grader Billy Owens.

As a Tulsa Police Officer for 31 years, and now a TPS officer for four years, Marvin Blades has seen the consequences from those negative things in life. Over the years, he's attended more than 100 funerals for gang members.

"I know you can't live like that and expect to live a long time," Blades said.

Instead, Blades and the other officers want the students to live long, happy, healthy lives. But the journey begins with good decisions.

"Go ahead and do your drive by, but let's drive by a church and meet God. Let's drive by a school and get yourself an education. To me those are important," Blade said.

Blades also says the forum is important, and it's critical for these students to share what they've learned with their peers back at their high schools.

Organizers are looking into duplicating the forum, and tailoring it to be held at McClain High School and possibly other high schools in Tulsa.

http://www.newson6.com/story/15894183/program-hopes-to-steer-tulsa-teens-in-a-positive-direction?clienttype=printable

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