Crime Prevention Starts with You

Prince George, B.C. - Prince George Community Policing is using BC Crime Prevention Week to remind citizens they play a key role in preventing crime and keeping our communities safe throughout the year.

The theme of this year's week is 'Prepare - Prevent - Protect', with a focus on bullying, identity theft, wire theft, ATM safety Tips, Top 10 Scams, and Police Victim Services of BC. This is the 28th year for Crime Prevention Week in our province.

Local Community Policing Coordinator, Dianne Sears, says "Creating awareness with specific crime prevention initiatives helps keep our community safe."

"Residents can feel more connected to their community and take responsible ownership of their neighbourhoods by getting involved in local crime prevention programs," says Sears. "By supporting your neighbours and watching out for each other through programs like Block Watch, is the easiest form of crime prevention."

She says volunteers are always welcome for Community policing programs and initiatives. You can call 250-561-3366 or visit www.communitypolicing.princegeorge.ca for more information.

http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/21991/3/crime+prevention+starts+with+you

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Bail denied for girlfriend of crime boss "Whitey" Bulger

BOSTON (Reuters) - Catherine Greig , charged with aiding her fugitive boyfriend, notorious mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger, was denied bail on Friday by a federal judge who ruled she was a serious flight risk.

Greig's lawyers had requested that she be released on bail to home confinement and electronic monitoring, with her own house and the home of her identical twin sister as additional collateral. But the judge denied that request.

"She walked away from both 16 years ago when she left Massachusetts with Bulger , demonstrating a willingness to leave everything and everyone behind," U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal said in a written ruling.

Greig, 60, is scheduled to go on trial in April 2012 on federal charges that she conspired with Bulger and others to conceal and harbor the aging gangster during the 16 years the pair hid from authorities.

http://news.yahoo.com/bail-denied-girlfriend-crime-boss-whitey-bulger-235609425.html

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Nov 5, 2011

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UCLA medical officials say patient information data stolen

The UCLA Health System is warning thousands of patients that their personal information was stolen and they are at risk of possible identity theft, officials said in a statement released Friday.

Officials don't believe the information has been accessed or misused but are referring patients to a data security company if their name and credit are affected.

Altogether, 16,288 patients' information was taken from the home of a physician whose house was burglarized on Sept. 6, according to the UCLA Health System.

The physician works for UCLA Faculty Practice Group, whose doctors see patients at the outpatient clinics and the four inpatient hospitals: Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center and Orthopedic Hospital, Mattel Children's Hospital and Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

The stolen patient information included first and last names as well as some birth dates, medical record numbers, addresses and medical information, officials said. It did not include Social Security numbers, credit card or insurance details. The patient information was from 2007 through 2011.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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O.C. teen gets life in prison for murder committed when he was 14

A Santa Ana teenager was sentenced Friday to 40 years to life in prison for a fatal shooting he committed when he was 14. Andrew Cervantes, now 15, was tried as adult and will begin his sentence at the California Youth Authority before being transferred at age 18 to state prison. Prosecutors said Cervantes shot Manuel Orozco, 17, on June 22, 2010, after a gang-related confrontation in Santa Ana.

Cervantes and his friend, Jose Baldemar Moreno, 15, rode their bikes by Orozco, a rival gang member, who was sitting in a parked car. One of the defendants made a hand gesture toward Orozco, who got out of the car and called out to the younger men. An argument erupted, and Cervantes pulled out a gun and shot Orozco in the chest.

Orozco died at the scene, two doors down from his home. Cervantes fled to Stockton, where he was later arrested. In September, a jury found Cervantes guilty of second-degree murder and street terrorism. Moreno, who was also prosecuted as an adult, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to three years in custody.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/teen-sentenced-to-life-in-prison.html

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California

Public Defender Jeff Adachi calls for zero tolerance of police who lie and steal

San Francisco – Revealing evidence of a fabricated police report, excessive force against a blameless merchant and police theft, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi called Thursday on the SFPD to: 1) launch an immediate investigation into new reports of police misconduct, and 2) to institute a zero tolerance policy for officers who steal or who lie in police reports.

Police then pushed Tran without provocation, slapped his hand, yanked his arm behind his back, handcuffed him, threw him against a wall and kicked his legs out from beneath him, causing him to fall to the pavement. Tran was then handcuffed on the ground for 15 minutes in front of his store before being released.

The report describing the incident was signed by police under penalty of perjury. In an apparent attempt to justify the excessive force, the report falsely described Tran as balling his fist and taking a fighting stance against the officer.

http://sfbayview.com/2011/public-defender-jeff-adachi-calls-for-zero-tolerance-of-police-who-lie-and-steal/print/

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Colorado

Sign up for community safety volunteer academy

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is pleased to announce the dates for the 7th Community Safety Volunteer Academy - March 13 - May 17, 2012. The Community Safety Volunteer Program began in April, 2006 and has since graduated 58 (34 still active) Douglas County citizens who are involved in supporting the work of law enforcement professionals in the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

The Community Safety Volunteer program is community policing in its most basic form - a structured way for citizens to participate in helping provide for the safety and security of their own community. CSVs support the major activities of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office -- Patrol, Investigations, Detentions, Civil, and Community Resources - and activities where their unique expertise and or life experience are of benefit. CSVs are citizen volunteers who attend a training academy consisting of over 100 hours of field and classroom instruction and contribute a minimum of 16 hours of volunteer time each month after graduation. A CSV since 2007, Bill Wilson states "It provides me and others a real opportunity to give back to our community and hopefully contribute to providing a safe environment for the families of Douglas County."

http://www.ourcoloradonews.com/highlandsranch/newsreleases/sign-up-for-community-safety-volunteer-academy

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Holiday Mail for Heroes

In the Hall of the historic American Red Cross headquarters, I heard from several current and former members of the military who spoke poignantly about what it meant to receive a touch of home during the holiday season. I was inspired to sign my own card and now want to make sure to let the American people know how they can participate in the program, too.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/11/04/holiday-mail-heroes

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FBI Counterintelligence National Strategy
A Blueprint for Protecting U.S. Secrets

Espionage may seem like a throwback to earlier days of world wars and cold wars, but the threat is real and as serious as ever.

We see it—and work hard to counter it—all the time. It's not just the more traditional spies passing U.S. secrets to foreign governments, either to fatten their own wallets or to advance their ideological agendas. It's also students and scientists and plenty of others stealing the valuable trade secrets of American universities and businesses—the ingenuity that drives our economy—and providing them to other countries. It's nefarious actors sending controlled technologies overseas that help build bombs and weapons of mass destruction designed to hurt and kill Americans and others.

In late October, in fact, we took part in a multi-agency and multi-national operation that led to the indictment of five citizens of Singapore and four of their companies for illegally exporting thousands of radio frequency modules from the U.S. Allegedly, at least 16 of these modules were later found in unexploded improvised explosive devices in Iraq.

As the lead agency for exposing, preventing, and investigating intelligence activities on U.S. soil, the FBI continues to work to combat these threats using our full suite of investigative and intelligence capabilities. We've mapped out our blueprint in what we call our Counterintelligence National Strategy , which is regularly updated to focus resources on the most serious current and emerging threats.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/counterintelligence_110411/counterintelligence_110411

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Nov 4, 2011

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Portrait of U.S. poverty is changing; workers, Latinos hit hard

Small wonder that the economy remains the top presidential election issue.

Roughly a week before the Census Bureau releases the latest portrait of the nation based on economic data, new reports -- last month from the government and Thursday from the Brookings Institution -- give a dire glimpse of what can be expected. The number of people living in poverty is growing, encompassing all segments of society except for the very rich, the reports say. Further, poverty is spreading out of traditional areas.

“The slower economic growth of the 2000s, followed by the worst downturn in decades, led to increases in neighborhoods of extreme poverty once again throughout the nation, particularly in suburban and small metropolitan communities and in the Midwest,” according to the Brookings report, prepared by Elizabeth Kneebone, Carey Nadeau and Alan Berube.

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

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California lethal injections on hold for another year

Lawyers for the state and for death row prisoners agree to report to a judge on new lethal injection procedures by Sept. 15, 2012.

Attorneys for the state of California and death row prisoners have agreed to a timetable for reviewing new lethal injection procedures, effectively postponing any such executions for another year.

State attorneys representing prison authorities and lawyers for four of the 12 death row inmates who have exhausted their appeals and are eligible for death warrants filed papers Thursday with the San Francisco federal judge newly assigned to the complex and protracted case.

The papers set a Sept. 15, 2012, deadline for reporting to U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg any further issues that would require additional hearings before the judge can rule on whether the newly revised lethal injection procedures meet constitutional standards.

"It is fair to say it is unlikely that lethal injection executions would take place in 2012," said Lynda Gledhill, spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office.

She attributed the latest delay in the case, which has kept executions on hold for six years, to personnel changes at San Quentin State Prison and the appointment of a new execution team.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-executions-delayed-20111104,0,7021744,print.story

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No DNA tests for Texas death row inmate, judge decides

Skinner's attorneys have requested DNA testing of evidence that was not tested before his trial in 1995, including blood from the murder weapon, blood from a jacket left in Busby's home, rape kit results taken from Busby, scrapings from under Busby's fingernails, and hairs she was clutching when she died. Skinner says he requested the testing before trial, but that his lawyer at the time ignored his request.

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

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Community policing cost effective response to budget cuts, says DOJ

State and local law enforcement should not abandon community policing due to fewer resources as a result of the economic turndown, says a report from the Justice Department's office of community oriented policing services.

When police departments are forced to make widespread budget cuts, some react by reducing or eliminating community policing programs.

"Herein lies one of the major fallacies as it relates to community policing. Community policing should not be viewed as a particular program within a department, but rather as a department-wide philosophy," the report says.

In fact, community policing is more cost-effective than traditional policing, the report asserts, mainly because community participation in crime prevention amplifies available policing resources and community partnerships can provide a more efficient distribution of combined police and community resources than reactive policing.

The report predicts that the Bureau of Justice Statistics census of state and local law enforcement, based on data collected this year will show this first ever absolute decrease in sworn personnel since the BJS began collecting such data in 1986.

http://www.fiercehomelandsecurity.com/story/community-policing-cost-effective-response-budget-cuts-says-doj/2011-11-02

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Nov 3, 2011

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Op-Ed

Assassination backlash

It's been a banner year for targeted killings, but are they an effective way to fight terrorism?

There is no denying that 2011 has been a banner year for taxpayer-funded assassinations — Osama bin Laden, Anwar Awlaki, five senior Pakistani Taliban commanders in October and many more. Given the crucial U.S. backup role in Libya, and the ringing exhortation for the Libyan leader's death issued by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton just before the event itself, we can probably take a lot of credit for Moammar Kadafi's messy end too.

Once upon a time, U.S. officials used to claim that we were merely targeting "command and control centers," rather than specific individuals, as in the hunt for Saddam Hussein during the 1991 Persian Gulf War or the raid on Kadafi in 1986. Nowadays no one bothers to pretend. Successful assassination missions, whether by elite special forces or remote-controlled drones, are openly celebrated.

Clearly, the sentiment prevalent among our leaders is that eliminating particular enemy leaders is bound to have a beneficial effect. Thus in our recent wars, the U.S. has made the pursuit of "high-value targets," the principal objective of so-called human network attacks, a priority. "The platoon's mission is to kill or capture HVTs," recalled Matt Cook, a sergeant in the 101st Airborne based in northern Iraq in 2005. "That is all we do."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-cockburn-assassination-20111103,0,6016732.story

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LAPD renews call for help in Grim Sleeper case

During a sparsely attended community meeting at a Bethel A.M.E. Church in South Los Angeles, officials also provided information on six additional women whom they say were slain by by Franklin.

Los Angeles Police Department detectives said they have now linked Franklin, 59, to the six additional murders, bringing the total number of women he is believed to have killed to 16.

Franklin, suspected of being the so-called Grim Sleeper, is already charged with murder in the slayings of 10 women whose bodies were found on the streets of South Los Angeles over two decades.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/grim-sleeper-community-meeting.html#more

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Massachusetts

OUR VIEW: Cops and community unite to fight crime

The weather may not have been ideal this past weekend, but an effort to put a damper on crime in Fall River neighborhoods helped send a message that many eyes were watching to fight against crime this Halloween weekend. The Community On Patrol public safety initiative was championed by Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan and supported by the city's police unions and neighborhood associations.

Under the program, which took place Saturday, several police officers — on their own time — volunteered to team up with neighborhood watch members to patrol streets in the Flint, St. Anne's, the Highlands and Maplewood neighborhoods during the day. For the police, the volunteer effort was a way to give back to the community and show that their dedication to the city is about more than getting a paycheck. After all, community policing is about being visible and building relationships within the community.

In addition to the walking beats, which targeted some of Fall River's less crime-ridden neighborhoods, an evening component involved “Crime Caravans” to patrol high-crime neighborhoods on Saturday night. Flanagan, who sees the initiative as a pilot program, got the idea from another mayor, Cory Booker of crime-plagued Newark, N.J. Booker had instituted that program in 2009.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerset/news/opinions/x213520886/OUR-VIEW-Cops-and-community-unite-to-fight-crime#axzz1ce52dhI4

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Justice Department, Six Cities Work to Prevent Youth Violence President Obama's National Forum Develops Strategies to Help Youth Succeed

WASHINGTON—Teams of youth violence experts from Boston; Chicago; Detroit; Memphis, Tenn.; Salinas, Calif.; and San Jose, Calif., have concluded a two-day meeting of the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention. The group, comprised of law enforcement officers, policy and public-health experts, educators, researchers, city officials, social services providers, community and faith leaders, and concerned parents, met this week to share experiences and to continue working to address and to prevent youth and gang violence.

“The work we are doing is sending an unmistakable message: that, in this country, we will not give up on our children when it comes to combating youth violence,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “The priorities that we set now are what will allow America's next generation of leaders to rise above the current threats and obstacles, break destructive cycles and seize tomorrow's opportunities.”

The six participating cities developed comprehensive plans to prevent youth and gang violence in their city, using multi-disciplinary partnerships, balanced approaches and data-driven strategies. They first presented these plans at the Summit on Preventing Youth Violence on April 4-5, 2011, in Washington, D.C. These plans focus on strategies to reduce violence, improve opportunities for youth, and encourage innovation at the local and federal levels. The strategy is already at work in each city, enabling these teams to establish diverse partnerships, leverage limited resources, and raise awareness of the problem and solutions as well as support for young people.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/November/11-opa-1435.html

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Oral Statement of Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson Before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security

Chairman Sensenbrenner, Ranking Member Scott, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to be here today. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the priorities and work of the Office of Justice Programs.

Before I begin, Mr. Chairman, I really want to commend your leadership over the years in your efforts to protect our nation's young people – through the Adam Walsh Act, the PROTECT Act, and strengthening AMBER Alert. In my work at OJP, I see the difference this has made.

OJP's mission is to increase public safety and improve the fair administration of justice across America through innovative leadership and programs. The resources OJP provides are critically important to our state, local, and tribal partners, especially in challenging economic times when public safety professionals face shrinking budgets.

When I was confirmed as Assistant Attorney General two years ago, I announced three goals: first, to support state, local, and tribal criminal and juvenile justice practitioners through innovative partnerships; second, to expand our base of knowledge about “what works” and better communicate that knowledge to the field; and third, to fulfill our obligations as stewards of federal funds. I can report on progress in each area.

http://www.justice.gov/ojp/opa/pr/testimony/2011/ojp-testimony-111102.html

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Nov 2, 2011

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Prescription painkillers outpace heroin, cocaine in OD deaths

Overdose deaths from abuse of prescription painkillers in the U.S. now outnumber deaths involving heroin and cocaine combined, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

In 2008, drug overdoses caused 36,450 deaths in the U.S. One or more prescription drugs were involved in 20,044 of these deaths, CDC researchers wrote in the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Opioid pain relievers, including oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone, were involved in 14,800. In 1999, only about 4,000 people were killed by overdosing on this type of drug, the CDC said.

Death rates among non-Hispanic whites and American Indians were three times higher than rates in blacks and Hispanic whites, and were highest among people ages 35 to 54. People in rural counties were about twice as likely to overdose on prescription painkillers as people in large cities.

Sales of the drugs soared along with the death rates, rising fourfold from 1999 to 2008.

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-prescription-drug-overdose-deaths-20111101,0,3720275,print.story

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Georgia militia members arrested, accused of plotting ricin attack

Federal officials arrested four members of a Georgia militia group Tuesday, alleging that the men were planning to attack state and federal buildings with guns and explosives.

They say the men also intended to deploy the deadly toxin ricin in some cities, including Atlanta; one suspect described a plan to blow the substance out of a moving car on the freeway.

The affidavits against the four men -- Frederick Thomas, 73, Dan Roberts, 67, Ray H. Adams, 65, and Samuel J. Crump, 68 -- do not specify the group to which they belonged, indicating only that they were "members of a fringe group of a known militia organization" called the "covert group," which held clandestine meetings in the northeast Georgia foothills.

Unbeknown to the men, the group was being monitored by a government source who recorded its meetings, and, later, by an undercover federal agent pretending to be an arms dealer.

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

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Residents encouraged to get involved in community policing programs

The detachment is seeking volunteers for three community policing programs, but particularly for the Speed Watch and Citizens on Patrol ( COPS ) programs. Those programs have seen membership dwindle over the last few years, said Cst. Ambie Verbruggen, community policing/crime reduction officer for the Dawson Creek RCMP , and one of her priorities is to see more members of the community get involved.

“ I think citizen involvement is very important,” said Verbruggen. “Having the numbers we have, the police can't be everywhere and see everything, so having citizens out there with their eyes and ears, taking care of our city, is so important.”

She said Speed Watch involves training members of the public how to use radar equipment and record statistics to help police officers enforce speed limits, specifically in school zones and high-collision areas, but also wherever volunteers feel the program is needed. She said it is a non-enforcement program, so volunteers would not make any contact or communication with motorists, but rather simply record their speeds.

http://mile0city.ca/article/news/2011/11/01/residents-encouraged-get-involved-community-policing-programs

Russian spies were succeeding, FBI official says

The 10 sleeper agents exposed in 2010 were reportedly succeeding in efforts to rise in American society and gain connections to policymakers. Newly released documents detail the investigation.

Brush passes. Dead drops. Secret electronic messages. All under the watchful eye of the FBI.

Documents released Monday, including photos, videos and papers, offered new details about the FBI's decade-long investigation into a ring of Russian sleeper agents who, U.S. officials say, were trying to burrow their way into American society to learn secrets from people in power.

The investigation was code-named Operation Ghost Stories because six of the 10 agents had assumed the identities of dead people.

The agents, whom the U.S. sent to Russia in July 2010 in the largest spy swap since the Cold War, are not accused of stealing any U.S. secrets. But they were more dangerous than commonly believed, C. Frank Figliuzzi, FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, said in an interview.

They were "the cream of the crop" of trained Russian intelligence agents, he said, and they were sent here to blend in and befriend American policymakers. They were succeeding, Figliuzzi said.

"Several were getting close to high-ranking officials," he said. One had gone to work for a confidant of a U.S. Cabinet member, he added, declining to offer details.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-russian-spies-20111101,0,4213990,print.story

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Supreme Court hesitates to extend rights on plea deals

Justices show reluctance to reopen the cases of criminal defendants who missed out on good plea deals because of their lawyers' mistakes.

The Supreme Court showed little enthusiasm Monday for reopening the cases of criminal defendants who lost out on good plea deals based on bad advice or bungling by their lawyers. In the past, the court has said that criminal defendants not only have a right to a lawyer, but a right to reopen their cases if a lawyer's bungling denied them a right to a fair trial.

These days, however, about 95% of crime cases are resolved through a plea agreement, not a trial. At issue in two cases Monday was whether to extend the right to competent legal advice to plea deals. Most of the justices made clear they were reluctant to give defendants a new trial or a shorter prison term because a lawyer's mistake caused them to miss out on a favorable plea deal.

"It was the defendant's choice, not the lawyer's choice" to plead guilty, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told one advocate. And the defendant has to live with his or her decision, he suggested.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-plea-20111101,0,3405773,print.story

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Computer program could point police to gang-crime suspects

UCLA mathematicians devise an algorithm based on data from the Los Angeles Police Department for the Hollenbeck area east of downtown.

A team of UCLA researchers has delved again into the world of crime fighting, this time developing a computer program capable of pointing police to potential suspects when feuds between rival gangs erupt into violence.

The work is the latest contribution in the fast-emerging field of predictive policing — a broad area of study rooted in the notion that it is possible, through sophisticated computer analysis of information about previous crimes, to predict where and when crimes will occur or, in this case, to calculate the probability a certain gang committed a crime.

Some of the most ambitious work is being done at UCLA, where researchers are concentrating largely on the ways criminals behave in urban settings.

In the recent research, mathematicians devised an algorithm to crunch information the Los Angeles Police Department collected on more than 1,000 gang-related crimes and suspected gang crimes in the LAPD's Hollenbeck Division — an area east of downtown L.A. that is home to more than two dozen active gangs. Often, a perceived or real affront by one gang to another can set off a spiral of retaliatory violence.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla-gang-computer-20111101,0,4024302,print.story

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Phoenix worker convicted of nine slayings in Baseline Killer case

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

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A rizona busts massive Mexican drug smuggling operation

Arizona officials have arrested 76 people suspected in the smuggling of at least $2 billion worth of drugs through the state's western desert in coordination with Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

“We in Arizona continue to stand and fight the Mexican drug cartels, who think they own the place,” Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said in a statement about the investigation, dubbed Operation Pipeline Express.

“While this is a historic drug bust, sadly this represents only a fraction of what my deputies face every day,” Babeu said. The arrests were made during a series of recent raids.

Officials said the ring, based in Chandler, Stanfield and Maricopa, used backpackers and trucks to move drugs from the border to a network of stash houses in the Phoenix area. After arriving in Phoenix, the smugglers sold the drugs, which included marijuana, cocaine and heroin, to distributors from various states.

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

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Massachusetts

Cops and community unite to fight crime

The weather may not have been ideal this past weekend, but an effort to put a damper on crime in Fall River neighborhoods helped send a message that many eyes were watching to fight against crime this Halloween weekend. The Community On Patrol public safety initiative was championed by Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan and supported by the city's police unions and neighborhood associations.

Under the program, which took place Saturday, several police officers — on their own time — volunteered to team up with neighborhood watch members to patrol streets in the Flint, St. Anne's, the Highlands and Maplewood neighborhoods during the day. For the police, the volunteer effort was a way to give back to the community and show that their dedication to the city is about more than getting a paycheck. After all, community policing is about being visible and building relationships within the community.

In addition to the walking beats, which targeted some of Fall River's less crime-ridden neighborhoods, an evening component involved “Crime Caravans” to patrol high-crime neighborhoods on Saturday night. Flanagan, who sees the initiative as a pilot program, got the idea from another mayor, Cory Booker of crime-plagued Newark, N.J. Booker had instituted that program in 2009.

http://www.heraldnews.com/features/x213520886/OUR-VIEW-Cops-and-community-unite-to-fight-crime

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Why We Can't Wait: Taking Action to Reduce Prescription Drug Shortages

Sometimes the most important component of a patient's treatment is the type of medication they receive and the consistency at which they receive it. For some Americans, a change in their treatment regimen or a substitution of a medication can seriously threaten their ability to get better.

Between 2005 and 2010, the number of prescription drug shortages nearly tripled. While the FDA successfully prevented 137 drug shortages between January 1, 2010 and September 26, 2011, prescription drug shortages continue to threaten the health and safety of the American people. Today, too many people are waiting for their prescription to become available. Some are forced to switch from the medication they prefer, while others go without their medicine altogether. In some cases, drug shortages can even force people to stop a course of treatment before it finishes.

We cannot control the factors that cause these drug shortages. But we are committed to doing our part to counteract them. Which is why President Obama signed an Executive Order today that will lead to earlier FDA notification of any impending shortages for certain prescription drugs. Early notification can help prevent a shortage from becoming a crisis by allowing hospitals, doctors and manufacturers to take action to ensure medications remain available.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/31/why-we-can-t-wait-taking-action-reduce-prescription-drug-shortages

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By the Numbers: 650 Percent

The number of prescription drug shortages tripled between 2005 and 2010 . Besides having serious consequences for people's health and well-being, drug shortages drive vendors to charge outragous prices for drugs that are normally affordable when in stock. One report found that price-gouging vendors mark up prices on drugs in short supply by 650 percent, on average.

Another report about these “grey market vendors”—companies that inflate prices of drugs running in short supply—found that a leukemia drug whose typical contract price is about $12 per vial was being sold at $990 per vial. At the extreme, a drug used to treat high blood pressure that was normally priced at $25.90 was being sold at $1,200 due to a drug shortage.

Only a very small number of drugs are affected by such shortages, but for many patients, changing medications may be the difference between getting healthier and getting sicker. Drugs affected by shortages include cancer treatments, anesthesia drugs, and other medications that are critical to the treatment and prevention of serious diseases and life-threatening conditions.

Today, President Obama signed an Executive Order that will help prevent shortages that lead to this type of price gouging. The order directs the Food and Drug Administration to expand reporting about situations that might lead to drug shortages, and also to http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/31/numbers-650-percent work with the Department of Justice to investigate illegal price gouging.

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Cybersecurity is Everyone's Business

Africa Keep police on their toes

Community Policing: Now More Than Ever

"Local law enforcement can play a key and very crucial role in maintaining the defense of our homeland." Chief Charles Ramsey, Washington, DC

Since September 11, federal agencies have increased terrorism prevention and response efforts, but much of the responsibility for dealing with these threats and the fear they create rests at the local level. Community policing can help law enforcement prepare for and prevent terrorist acts and respond to the fear such threats create by encouraging organizational change within law enforcement agencies, supporting problem-solving efforts, and seeking external partnerships.

While many U.S. law enforcement agencies have adopted community policing strategies in recent years, traumatic events like the 9/11 attacks can cause organizations to fall back on more traditional methods of doing business. Some police departments may abandon community policing for seemingly more immediate security concerns. Community policing, however, should play a central role in addressing these issues.

The community policing philosophy emphasizes organizational changes such as delegating decision-making power to line-level officers and assigning them to fixed geographic areas. This can be valuable in a crisis. When there is no time for decisions to move up the chain of command, officers accustomed to making decisions may be better prepared to respond quickly and in innovative ways. Officers assigned to specific geographic areas are also better able to build relationships with residents. Such officers may thus be more attuned to community fears and able to respond more effectively to them.

Community policing also helps to build trust between the community and law enforcement, which in a crisis can help law enforcement deal more effectively with community concerns. This trust also helps law enforcement to develop knowledge of community and resident activity and can provide vital intelligence relating to potential terrorist actions.

http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=716

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Community Policing Checklist

Click here to download a printable PDF version

Apply this checklist to your department periodically to gauge your progress in maximizing community policing:

Vision/Values/Mission

• Has the organization written or revised these statements to reflect an organization-wide commitment to the philosophy and principles of community policing?
• Does the process include soliciting input from all levels of the police department, including sworn, non-sworn, and civilian personnel?
• Does the process include soliciting input from outside the police department: the community, business, civic officials, public agencies, community institutions (schools, hospitals, the faith community), non-profit agencies, formal and informal community leaders, and community residents?

.