Violent past for Ohio shooting suspect

On Wednesday, new information came to light about the 17-year-old investigators say killed three students and wounded two others when a judge released records from TJ Lane's juvenile court files.

Those documents show that in 2009 Lane was charged with assaulting his uncle, John Breuning. Authorities said "TJ also jumped on John ... put him in a choke hold."

Other court documents show a troubled family life. His father, Thomas J. Lane Jr., was charged with domestic violence, assault, kidnapping and theft and served time in jail.

And mother Sarah A. Nolan was charged with domestic violence in 1995 and convicted of disorderly conduct.

Earlier this week, CBS News learned that Lane told police he stole the .22-caliber pistol used in the rampage from his uncle. But now a report has surfaced that he may have taken it from his grandfather's house, where he lived.

On Monday, student Megan Lear was sitting in the school cafeteria near Lane, whom she had spoken to now and then.

"He had on like a band shirt once, so we talked about that," she told CBS affiliate WOIO-TV of Cleveland. "He never seemed the type to do something like that."

She left moments before the shots rang out and still wonders why she was spared from the horror.

Three nights after the attacks, the community is still visibly mourning.

"I felt like I had to stop back here, you know, just on my way through the square to light a few candles," parent Rick Morrison said.

Prosecutors have until Thursday afternoon to file charges. Lane faces three counts of aggravated murder and will be tried as an adult. On Thursday morning, students and parents plan to walk hand in hand from the town square to the school, where they will be allowed to return for the first time since Monday's mayhem.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57388330/violent-past-for-ohio-shooting-suspect/

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Council Members Push NYPD Reform to Curb Stop-and-Frisk Practice

by Ailsa Chang

A coalition of City Council members and advocates led by Councilman Jumaane Williams of Brooklyn introduced Wednesday a package of police reform bills the group says will bring greater accountability to the NYPD.

The elected officials and advocates who stood outside City Hall on Wednesday form a group called Communities United For Police Reform, which intends to make police reform a major issue in the upcoming mayoral election.

The coalition took aim at the NYPD's stop-and-frisk practices, which reached a record high in 2011 when police conducted more than 684,000 stops. Eighty-seven percent of people stopped were either black or Latino.

"We represent the communities that stop-and-frisk and police accountability are huge issues in," Williams said, "and what we're telling you is, these tools are being abused in our community, and they're not working."

Last year, stop and frisks led to the confiscation of 819 guns, which amounts to about one tenth of one percent of all stop-and-frisks the department conducted in 2011.

The police department has argued that although the percentage is small, stop-and-frisks indisputably result in hundreds of fewer illegal guns circulating in New York City.

Williams pointed out that gun buy-back programs take more guns off the street. The NYPD has never disputed that claim.

"There is no other agency that would be allowed to have such a failure rate and continue to use a tool that does not work, except for the NYPD," said Williams.

Councilwoman Letitia James said the only reason the vast majority of people stopped are black or Latino is because the police are relying on racial profiling.

"Unfortunately, it has not resulted in reducing any crime," said James. "These are innocent people, it's costing taxpayers, and it has not fostered better community policing relations. Unfortunately, it's only hurt them."

One bill introduced Wednesday would ban profiling by police based on race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, housing status, among other characteristics.

The police department has had a ban on racial profiling since 2002, but that operations order is limited only to racial profiling.

Another bill would require officers to tell a person they can refuse consent to a search when police do not have a warrant or probable cause. If passed, this new law would force officers to show evidence of that consent through a written and signed record, or through audio tape or video footage.

The third bill would require officers to give out business cards with their name and rank each after they stop and frisk someone. The card would also display the phone number for the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent police watchdog organizations the investigates instances of individual police misconduct.

"None of this stuff alone is going to solve the problem of police abuse. Of course not," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. But these are incremental steps that can and must be taken to help us make progress in reducing the abuse and the discrimination that we see day in and day out."

Communities United For Police Reform intends to support additional bills to be introduced in the City Council, which would create an Inspector General office that would oversee the NYPD and call for better reporting of demographic data related to arrests and summonses.

Other City Council members supporting the proposed legislation include Brad Lander of Brooklyn, Melissa Mark-Viverito of Manhattan, Rosie Mendez of Manhattan, Margaret Chin of Manhattan, Julissa Ferreras of Queens, Stephen Levin of Brooklyn, Charles Barron of Brooklyn, Ydanis Rodriguez of Manhattan and Danny Dromm of Queens.

http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2012/feb/29/council-members-tout-legislation-aimed-nypd-accountability/#

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Connecticut

New Haven sees second murder free month

March 1, 2012

Wednesday marked the end of New Haven's second-straight month without a homicide, an interval not seen since summer 2009.

The number of violent crimes is down citywide by more than 20 percent compared to this time last year, according to data from the New Haven Police Department. But city and police officials said it is still too early to tell what role, if any, the community policing strategies implemented in the past three months by NHPD Chief Dean Esserman have played in the drop.

“We've implemented many strategic changes, and there are more cops walking the beat, so I think it would be unwise to specifically attribute [the drop in violent crime] to any one thing,” NHPD spokesman David Hartman said. “What we do know is that we have a new chief, a new direction, and have zero homicides to date this year.”

While Hartman said the statistics so far this year are promising, he stressed that “statistics are simply statistics” and rarely provide an insightful look into the city's crime situation. Since the statistics can change instantly, it would be “arrogant or foolish” to declare the department's community policing efforts successful yet, he added.

Hartman could not immediately supply detailed statistics of New Haven crime in February, but in January, the violent crime rate was 28.7 percent below the rate in January 2011. This figure includes a 29.9 percent drop in robberies and a 16.7 percent decrease in assaults.

This figure followed a year in which violent crime dropped 11 percent citywide even as the number of homicides rose by 10 to 34 — a 20-year high. By this time last year, the Elm City had recorded four murders.

“It's a very short period to judge on, but I do think community policing is making a difference in bringing violent crime down significantly,” said Richard Epstein, the chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners. “Some of that is attributable to more visibility of officers on the beat, and other strategies implemented [by Esserman] will make a difference.”

Like Hartman, Epstein cautioned that it is “too early to declare victory yet” but said the Board of Police Commissioners is encouraged by the crime figures posted so far this year.

Hartman said the NHPD's progress in solving cases, both in the Major Crimes Unit and the newly formed shooting task force, has helped prevent other crimes from being committed.

“When warrants are being signed for past homicides … along with the general increase in solved crimes, if you are a criminal, and you see people being caught and convicted left and right, that seems to be quite a deterrent,” he said.

The last time New Haven saw multiple months without a homicide, between April and August 2009, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. attributed the trend to “more enforcement.”

The community, not just the department, has contributed to the decrease in violent crime, said Bishop Theodore Brooks, who served on the Board of Police Commissioners until earlier this month.

“It has to do with the community itself, with people reaching out to each other and asking them to stop the violence and the senseless killings,” Brooks said.

The involvement of federal and state officials in New Haven policing may also explain the positive crime statistics so far this year, said Ward 7 Alderman Doug Hausladen '04, who serves on the Board of Aldermen's public safety committee.

Hausladen said the drop in violent crime may also be related to an improving economic climate in the city. While Hausladen said he did not know specific data about youth employment in the Elm City, hiring has picked up and jobless claims are decreasing in the city.

“Job availability is definitely a factor in crime,” Hausladen said. “Economic viability and possibility and hope — those things do help solve crime. They take the violent offender and make them an active member of society.”

A report presented to the state legislature's Judiciary Committee on Feb. 10 showed that crime is at a 44-year low in Connecticut.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/mar/01/new-haven-sees-second-murder-free-month/

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