~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Los Angeles Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

L.A.'s triumph over crime

More officers and better policing are among the key reasons L.A. is a much safer city today.

November 26, 2011

As families gather across Los Angeles and beyond, many will celebrate the holiday weekend with a joy they owe in part to this city's historic triumph against crime. In the early 1990s, Los Angeles typically was the scene of more than 1,000 murders a year, a shocking toll that sapped the city's self-confidence as it cut a devastating swath through neighborhoods, schools and, most tragically, families. It has become easy in recent years to expect crime to decline here, but it's worth remembering how dangerous this city was compared with how safe it is.

As of mid-November this year, 254 men and women have been murdered in Los Angeles during 2011. That's still a shocking number, but it means that some 800 families will enjoy this holiday without the shadow of murder. And that's true year after year; those 800 families are merely those who escaped a tragedy in the last 12 months. Hundreds more would have suffered a loss in the previous year or years before, so the relief is as compounding as the tragedy once was.

That sea change in violence and its ramifications is part of a national trend, though the effects in Los Angeles have been particularly dramatic. Across the nation, the homicide rate — the number of people killed per 100,000 population — increased from about four per 100,000 in the 1950s to about 10 in the early 1990s; since then, it has dropped to about 5.5. The decline in Los Angeles has been far greater: In 1993, the homicide rate was 30.5 per 100,000; this year, it's on track to end at about six. As city leaders like to note, not since Eisenhower was president has Los Angeles been this safe.

The reasons for this change have been widely studied, though not to a complete consensus. Social scientists have pointed to changing demographics — the aging of a youthful population that accounts for most violent crime — the waning popularity of crack, rising prison populations, gun control laws, even the legalization of abortion. The theory regarding abortion argues that unwanted children are disproportionately inclined to commit crimes, so limiting the number of such children also has had the effect of reducing crime. One provocative statistic: The decline in crime in high-propensity abortion states from 1985 to 1997 was 25.9%, while in low-propensity abortion states over the same period, crime increased 4.1%.

But two factors have commanded the most attention: the increased number of police officers, again nationally as well as in Los Angeles, and the adoption of new policing strategies, usually under the general definition of "community policing." Both have been at work in Los Angeles for most of that period, and offer a persuasive rebuttal to social scientists who once doubted whether police had much to do with crime. Driven by improved statistical analysis and refined responses to crime trends — as well as renewed commitment to respect for constitutional rights — police are registering significant gains in systematically combating crime. Long and gratefully past are the days when chiefs such as Los Angeles' Daryl F. Gates could argue that smaller, aggressive forces were in the public interest. Gates' approach led to increased crime and public revulsion at police practices; the opposite has bolstered confidence in police and driven down crime. The impact of modern policing, both in numbers and in approach, is validated by the work of the LAPD in recent decades, as it is in New York and elsewhere. Today, few criminologists argue that police are irrelevant.

There is, in addition, a growing body of literature on the effects of this historic decline in crime, especially murder. For every crime there is a cost — property that is lost, medical bills to pay, work days missed and the more difficult-to-measure effects of psychological damage to survivors. One study by researchers at Iowa State University in 2010 concluded that the societal cost of a single murder — including the cost to victims, to the criminal justice system and to the lost productivity of offenders, as well as a complicated measure known as the "willingness to pay" to prevent murder — exceeds $17 million. By that calculation, the savings to Los Angeles of eliminating 800 murders a year since the early 1990s comes to more than $1.36 billion annually. As those researchers noted "In addition to the lives that are lost and shattered, murder also denotes extraordinary collateral fiscal costs."

No family that has lost a relative to murder ever entirely recovers. The empty seat at Thanksgiving may be occupied, but the hole left by an absent son or daughter, a missing mother or father, never again is filled to the brim. This weekend in Los Angeles, 800 families enjoy a holiday that would have been barren by comparison had they lost a loved one this year to a murder. That is a social victory for which every resident of this city should be appreciative.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-crime-20111126,0,25464,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Google News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ohio

Two more bodies may be linked to Craigslist

ZANESVILLE - Two more bodies were discovered Friday morning - one in Noble County and the other in Summit County - that might be linked to an alleged murder plot using a Craigslist help wanted ad.

Early Friday morning, the Noble County Sheriff's Office and agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation discovered a body that appears to be that of a white male in a shallow grave in Stock Township. No identification was found, and the body was sent to the Licking County Coroner's Office for an autopsy.

A second body was found Friday morning in a shallow grave near Rolling Acres shopping mall in Akron.

Special Agent Vicki Anderson with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that body was discovered after investigators were given information about where to look.

Anderson said she could not say if the body was that of Timothy Kern, of Massillon. Kern hasn't been seen in more than a week, and might have been another victim of the Craigslist ad asking for workers to help with a farm in Noble County.

The Akron body has been sent to the Summit County Coroner's Office, and an autopsy is scheduled for today.

Anderson said the body was decomposed. She could not say if it was a male or female. The body was covered in the grave, Anderson said, and cadaver dogs discovered it.

This past week, authorities were asking for help to find Kern, 47, who disappeared from his Plain Township home Nov. 13.

Harry Trombitas, special agent with the FBI in Columbus, said Kern apparently had been offered a job that morning and had made arrangements to meet the employer.

Kern's disappearance is similar to that of David Pauley, of Norfolk, Va. His body was found in a grave Nov. 15 in Noble County.

Noble County authorities discovered Pauley after another man reported he had been shot in the arm while trying to escape two men he met after answering a Craigslist ad.

Kern, Pauley and the gunshot victim all had answered ads seeking farm workers.

Authorities have been under a gag order issued this past week by Noble County Common Pleas Judge John W. Nau.

What has been released is that Brogan Rafferty, 16, is in the Muskingum County Juvenile Detention Center, charged with one count of attempted murder and one count of complicity to attempted murder. No trial or hearing date has been released.

A 52-year-old Summit County man is being held in the Summit County Jail on prostitution charges along with a variety of other potential charges that might be connected to the crimes, but no formal charges have been filed.

Officials became aware of the alleged scheme when the 48-year-old gunshot victim called the Noble County Sheriff's Office on Nov. 6. He told deputies he had met two suspects in Marietta, ate breakfast and then drove his car to Caldwell and got into the suspect's vehicle. He said the three drove to Don Warner Road in Stock Township. As the victim and a suspect started walking down the road, the victim said, he heard what he thought was a gun being cocked.

Turning, the victim said he saw the suspect pointing a gun at his head. The victim told investigators he slapped the gun away and started running.

Shots were fired and the victim was hit once in the right arm, but he managed to hide for seven hours in the dense woods until he was able to get to a home and call for help.

On Nov. 11, Debra Bruce called Noble County Sheriff Stephen Hannum and filed a missing person's report on her twin brother, Pauley. Bruce said Pauley had spent the night in a Parkersburg, W.Va., motel, checking in on Oct. 22 and checking out the next day.

Pauley, too, was headed to Noble County to answer the ad he saw on Craigslist.

Wood County Sheriff's Lt. J.K. Hamric said a U-haul trailer Pauley had rented was turned in to an Akron office Oct. 24, but there was no sign of Pauley.

Anyone with information on Kern is asked to call the FBI at 330-456-6200 or the Noble County Sheriff's Office at 740-732-5631.

http://www.marionstar.com/article/20111126/NEWS01/111260303/Two-more-bodies-may-linked-Craigslist?odyssey=nav%7Chead

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dayton mayor praises police department

Nov 25, 2011

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Dayton's Mayor Gary Leitzell joined 2 News Today Friday morning where he praised Dayton's police department.

Theft from vehicles in the downtown district is down by more than a third this year, even though there are more restaurants, bars and clubs operating downtown, said Leitzell.

He also told 2 News about an award given for a community policing project at Belmont High School. The project reduced reported crimes and disorderly behavior by 80 percent, and student attendance and performance have improved. This project has just won an international award for its excellence.

The mayor also set the facts straight. "The proposed 2012 budget does not include any reductions in firefighters or police officers," he said.

http://www.wdtn.com/dpp/news/dayton-mayor-praises-police-department

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Texas

Rowlett police recognized for community policing

The Rowlett Police Department has been recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for its approach to community policing.

The department was named a finalist for the 2011 IACP Community Policing Award in the 50,001-100,000 population category. The winner for the category was the New Rochelle Police Department in New York.

“It tells our community that we take our job seriously, that we are working hard to provide them the best law enforcement that we can,” Chief Matt Walling said. “Internally, it validates the efforts that we've made the last couple of years to try to make a community policing and problem-solving ingrained in the department.”

Community policing involves the community in crime prevention, while problem-oriented policing, another discipline the department practices, focuses on addressing the root problem as opposed to merely clearing calls, Walling said.

“It's more than just waiting for something to happen,” Walling said. “It's being proactive.”

Rowlett's department was selected as a finalist from 25 applicants in its category, said Travis Parrish, a member of the IACP community-policing committee. Rowlett stood out because community policing is a philosophy there, he said.

“What we look for as a committee is whether or not community policing is at the foundation, at the core, of what the agency is,” Parrish said.

Promoting community policing was Walling's major goal when he became chief in 2005. It's a matter of changing the culture through training and other initiatives, Walling said.

“What we've learned along the way is it takes baby steps,” he said.

With the backing of police officers and support staff, Walling's community-policing efforts have gained steam. A defining moment for Rowlett happened in 2009, when the city reorganized the department to include code enforcement, animal services and health services. These offices were grouped with school-resource officers, crossing guards and volunteers in police services to form the community services division.

Having all those resources under one roof makes it easier to fight crime, Walling said.

For example, the department's patrol division supports community services by helping spot code violations, an effort that in 2010 accounted for 11 percent of all code violations identified, Walling said.

Pinpointing problems such as broken fences or graffiti — conditions that make a neighborhood feel unsafe and may attract criminal activity — is a prevention strategy, he added.

Patrol officers also reach out to businesses regularly to update contact information and encourage people to report suspicious activity.

Walling points to a city crime rate that has decreased over the past four years as a sign that community policing is working. Rowlett saw a 9.4 percent drop in crime in 2010 and will likely see a 13 percent dip in 2011, he said.

But the main weapons in the department's community-policing arsenal are neighborhood watch programs, the chief said. Thanks to aggressive recruiting of homeowners associations, those have more than doubled in the past two years to 20, he said.

“We can't do it by ourselves,” Walling said. “It takes citizens' willingness to help us because they know what's going on in their neighborhoods.”

One of the participating homeowners associations is Bill Wright's neighborhood, Harborside. Wright led the effort to begin a neighborhood watch program in the community last summer after having participated in one in his former neighborhood in Florida. Now 166 homeowners, representing 106 out of about 320 homes in the subdivision, have joined.

Wright said the number of crimes reported in Harborside dropped from 42 to 16 in the year after the subdivision joined the neighborhood watch program. According to a memo Wright sent to the HOA board of directors, several factors may have contributed, including signs at the neighborhood entrances, volunteer growth and participation in National Night Out.

The purpose of a neighborhood watch program is to report suspicious activity to police, not to confront criminals, Wright said.

“Our motto is we look out after each other,” he said, “and that's exactly what we're about.”

For more information about neighborhood watch programs with Rowlett police, call 972-412-6283.

.