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| NEWS of the Day - January 28, 2012 |
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on some issues of interest to the community policing and neighborhood activist across the country
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following group of articles from local newspapers and other sources constitutes but a small percentage of the information available to the community policing and neighborhood activist public. It is by no means meant to cover every possible issue of interest, nor is it meant to convey any particular point of view ...
We present this simply as a convenience to our readership ... |
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From Los Angeles Times
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35 pounds of cocaine found in U.N. mailroom
There was something odd about two sacks that showed up this month in the United Nations mailroom, even if they did have what appeared to be the distinctive U.N. seal, with its globe framed by olive branches. It was blue, but a shade lighter than usual, and the sacks did not include the words "United Nations."
What's more, the sacks had no return address, or even an addressee. Package handlers at a U.N. mail room ran the bags through an X-ray screener.
Inside were 14 hollowed-out textbooks, each containing a little more than 2 pounds of cocaine, New York police told The Times on Friday.
U.N. security officials notified the New York Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Agency, which seized about 35 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $440,000, said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne.
Officials do not believe the cocaine, which was delivered to the U.N. complex last week by DHL, was intended for a diplomat.
"There's some theory that was this was an attempt to disguise this as a diplomatic pouch," Browne said. "If so, it was a very amateurish one."
Diplomatic pouches bear the words "diplomatic mail" and "United Nations," Browne said. These two bags had no text on them at all and looked obviously different from official pouches.
"Any experienced personnel at the U.N. would know instantly that this was a fake," he said.
The investigation is ongoing, but at this point, no arrests have been made. Browne, who has 20 years in law enforcement, said he could not recall a case like this at the U.N.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/
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Alleged Utah school bomb plot: 2 charged; teen girl praised as hero
A teenage girl who received an electronic warning was being praised as a hero Friday for tipping off authorities in Utah about what they believe was a plot by two students to blow up a high school during an assembly then steal an airplane and flee to safety.
Two students, who seemingly had a fascination with the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, were arrested this week in connection with the alleged plot at Roy High School in Roy.
Dallin Morgan, 18, was released Friday after posting bail of $10,000, Roy police spokeswoman Anna Bond said in a telephone interview. A 16-year-old boy, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was also charged.
Officials were not releasing the name of the girl who first approached school administrators, but there was no mistaking the admiration.
“It was the work of a very courageous student who came forward,” Bond said Friday. “It could have been a disaster.”
Roy is a suburb of 38,000 people about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. Many residents commute to larger cities nearby to work. It has one high school with about 1,500 students.
Law enforcement officers are investigating the incident and have put together the beginnings of a timeline, based on interviews and materials, including several computers, seized at the suspects' homes and from their vehicles. At least three months ago, perhaps earlier, Morgan and his friend allegedly began their planning, Bond said.
In December, the younger student reportedly went to Columbine to talk with people about the rampage by two high school seniors who shot and killed at least 12 students and one teacher. Twenty-one students were wounded in the gunfire and three others were hurt trying to escape. The pair, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, then committed suicide.
Despite their fascination with the massacre, the Utah students modified the script. For their weapon, they chose a bomb rather than a gun, and the pair hoped to escape, Bond said.
No bomb has been found, but officials “have very strong information to believe they have been involved in making and testing them in the past,” Bond said. Police have also recovered maps of the school not readily available and evidence that the pair had “an absolute knowledge of security systems” on campus.
The pair planned to escape by going to the Ogden Hinckley Airport, where they were going to steal an airplane. They had purchased pilot training software, costing about $350, and had logged hundreds of hours teaching themselves how to fly a small plane, Bond said.
On Wednesday, a student went to school administrators and said she had received a text from one of the suspects. Police would not discuss the details because the girl and the suspect who sent the message are both minors.
The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper quoted the girl as saying the text asked: “If I told you to stay home on a certain day, would you?”
School officials then contacted police.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/
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California bill seeks to limit detention of arrestees facing deportation
Legislation would counter Secure Communities program by limiting local law enforcement's role in holding people for immigration authorities.
by Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times
January 28, 2012
A bill being drafted by a state legislator would limit local law enforcement from holding arrestees on behalf of immigration authorities seeking to deport them.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) said he is finalizing amendments to a bill that would be the first statewide measure to counter the Secure Communities enforcement program, which requires law enforcement agencies to forward to immigration authorities the fingerprints of all arrestees booked into local jails.
If those authorities identify a candidate for deportation, they can issue a detainer, which asks the agency to hold them beyond the time when they would normally be released so immigration agents can take custody. The program has come under fire because many of those ensnared have never been convicted of crimes or are low-level offenders.
"States have their own ways of fighting back," Ammiano said. "We can't stand by and let innocent people, food vendors, etc., be caught up in sweeps, assume they're guilty of some violent offense and then deport them and separate them from their families."
Although the exact language is not yet finalized, the legislation would be similar to policies in Cook County, Ill., and Santa Clara County that instruct law enforcement agencies not to cooperate with certain detainer requests, the assemblyman said. The restrictions will probably be introduced in the spring as an amendment to AB 1081, known as the Trust Act, which attempted to allow local law enforcement to opt out of the fingerprint program and had ample support in the Assembly last year.
Local policies limiting detainers have generated a great deal of controversy. John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, recently wrote to the Cook County Board of Commissioners to warn them that their rules may be in violation of federal law.
Ammiano called Morton's letter "posturing" and said federal authorities were attempting to trump the will of the people.
In a statement, ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas said immigration holds are necessary to protect the public.
"Even though some aliens may be arrested on minor criminal charges, they may also have more serious criminal backgrounds which disguise their true danger to society," Navas said. "Jurisdictions that ignore detainers bear the risk of possible public safety risks."
Immigrant advocates argue that law enforcement agencies are unduly burdened by holding people who are not charged with crimes, are eligible to post bond or have been ordered released by a judge.
"For localities, Secure Communities amounts to an unfunded mandate that creates all kinds of dilemmas for local law enforcement," said Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "All of this impedes local law enforcement's ability to perform their primary responsibility, which is to ensure a community's safety."
As originally introduced, the Trust Act would have given California counties a way to avoid Secure Communities by amending a state agreement with ICE. It passed the Assembly on a 47 to 26 vote and had been approved by the Senate Public Safety Committee but was put on hold after federal immigration officials announced they were voiding signed agreements with the states and proceeding with nationwide implementation of Secure Communities.
Since then, advocacy groups working with Ammiano's office have met to discuss ways to make the legislation effective, said Angela Chan, staff attorney for the San Francisco based Asian Law Caucus, a legal and civil rights advocacy group.
"Right now is a time to be creative about how we can push back against the imposition of this program on our local communities," she said. "I think everyone recognizes the urgency of this."
Ammiano, members of several advocacy groups and Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco will gather Saturday in San Francisco to provide some details on the legislation and to call on Gov. Jerry Brown and Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris to reform the state's participation in Secure Communities.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immigration-law-20120128,0,3775946,print.story
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From Google News
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Stop me if you've heard this one before, but there were these cops …
Reality TV show to look at how humor defuses tense situations
by Melanie Lekocevic
COXSACKIE — They say you can't make this stuff up, and in this case it just might be true - the Coxsackie Police Department may soon become the focus of a reality television show tentatively dubbed “Comedy Cop.”
On January 5 and 6, a reality-based television crew was filming in Coxsackie, focusing on the local police department's approach to community policing.
And they're looking at how humor is used to defuse situations and solve problems.
Producers Joel Raatz and Alex Landolina brought their crew to town to interview police officers and local officials. The idea for the show was inspired by the recent hire by the Coxsackie Police Department of 52-year-old rookie John Mulrooney, who also happens to be a veteran of another sort - Mulrooney is a nationally recognized comedian.
“You rarely get to see the real behind-the-scenes of a police department and their interaction with its citizens on current shows, and I think we've found the perfect village in Coxsackie,” Raatz said in a press release.
Raatz and Landolina first came up with the idea for the show when they met Mulrooney, who said he had just joined the police force at the age of 52. They have partnered with Leftfield Pictures, the same company that created the hit television show “Pawn Stars,” in the hopes of bringing “Comedy Cop” to the small screen.
According to Mayor Mark Evans, who was filmed in a scene of his own for the show's pilot, if the pilot is picked up by a network, it would showcase the community of Coxsackie.
“We are excited about the opportunity to participate in the filming and to showcase our police department, and also show what we have always known, that our village is a great community to live and work in,” Evans said.
Once the pilot episode is edited, Raatz and Landolina will begin making the rounds in Hollywood, looking for a network to pick up the show for at least a half-season of episodes. And they are reportedly hoping for a major network.
“They will show it to the studios and they will try to get it onto a channel,” Evans explained. “If they like the idea then it may be a go, and then they might order a number of episodes.”
The concept of small town policing as the focus of a reality-based television show should hardly come as a surprise. The current crop of reality shows have been based on everything from the daily life of exterminators to housewives to rock stars, shipping packages, moving entire houses and animal rescue groups.
http://www.thedailymail.net/articles/2012/01/28/news/doc4f238e2ed81c9599594299.txt
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