A boatload of smuggled illegal immigrants who landed on an El Segundo beach this week included an array of felons previously deported from the United States for offenses ranging from drug possession to murder, authorities said Friday.

The passengers braved a night aboard a small fishing boat on rough water in darkness, traveling in the early hours of Wednesday morning beyond Coronado and Catalina islands as they tried to slip undetected from Tijuana to Southern California, states a court affidavit.

Most had intended to pay up to $8,500 to smugglers to bring them to Los Angeles. The affidavit, filed by a sheriff's deputy in U.S. District Court, indicated the boat's pilot and navigators became lost at sea, intending to land in Long Beach or San Pedro.

Instead, they came ashore in front of the NRG power plant in El Segundo, where witnesses spotted them and facility fences prevented them from climbing onto Vista del Mar. Police officers quickly corralled them.

On board the boat were 15 Mexican nationals, including a 14-year-old boy, three Mexican women, one male Salvadoran and one Chinese woman, authorities said.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20243705/panga-that-landed-at-el-segundo-had-14

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From Google News

Obama Backs Probe of Florida Teen's Death

President Responds, 'If I Had a Son, He'd Look Like Trayvon'; Republican Leadership Calls for a 'Thorough Investigation'

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama, speaking in unusually personal terms, weighed in on the recent killing of an unarmed black teenager, a rare moment of engagement by the president on a racially charged issue.

Thousands gathered in Washington D.C. to call for an arrest in the shooting death of a black Florida teenager. (Video: Reuters/Photo: AP)

Mr. Obama, speaking for the first time about the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, said he welcomed federal and state investigations into the shooting. Mr. Martin was shot last month in the Orlando, Fla., suburb of Sanford, by a neighborhood-watch volunteer.

"When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids," the president said Friday, responding to a question. "You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."

The killing has sparked protests in Florida and elsewhere, in part because the volunteer, who has said he was acting in self-defense, hasn't been arrested. The teen wasn't armed.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304636404577299544105831080.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_News_BlogsModule#printMode

DHS: Illegal immigrant population is 11.5 million

About 11.5 million illegal immigrants were in the U.S. last year, a figure that was essentially unchanged from 2010, according to the latest estimate the Homeland Security Department released Friday.

Homeland Security's demographers said recent economic and security trends appear to have halted what had been a steady rise in illegal immigration, but haven't significantly reversed it.

“It is unlikely that the unauthorized immigrant population increased after 2007 given relatively high U.S. unemployment, improved economic conditions in Mexico, record low numbers of apprehensions of unauthorized immigrants at U.S. borders, and greater levels of border enforcement,” the demographers said in their report.

Of the current illegal population, only 14 percent have entered the U.S. since 2005. That means the vast majority have been in the country for years, putting down the kinds of roots that immigrant-rights advocates say should earn them the chance to achieve citizenship. Those favoring stricter enforcement balk at that, however, saying it amounts to rewarding those who have broken the law the longest.

The data show that Mexicans still account for most illegal immigrants, at 6.8 million, or about 59 percent. But they are a higher percentage of late arrivals, making up 68 percent of those who came here between 2000 and 2011.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/23/dhs-illegal-immigrant-population-115-million/

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From Google News

Neighbors describe watch leader at center of Florida investigation

Current and former neighbors call George Zimmerman caring, passionate and polite, a regular guy they enjoyed being around.

But critics of the investigation into the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin at the hands of the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer have portrayed Zimmerman in other terms. They say he recklessly pursued Martin and possibly engaged in racial profiling.

They're demanding that Zimmerman, 28, be arrested in the death of Martin, who was shot last month while walking to the house of his father's fiancee after a trip to a Sanford convenience store.

Zimmerman has said he acted in self-defense.

The debate that has riveted the nation in the past few days has largely been framed in racial terms.

A police report describes Zimmerman as white; his family says he is Hispanic and he has wrongly been described as a racist. Martin was African-American.

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-03-22/justice/justice_florida-teen-zimmerman_1_law-enforcement-officers-investigation-shot?_s=PM:JUSTICE

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U.S. still fixated by nuclear terror

SEOUL: Visions of a mushroom cloud over a U.S. city may have led America into a dubious war in Iraq, but the threat of nuclear terror has lost none of its power to fixate U.S. leaders and shape foreign policy.

President Barack Obama put counter proliferation at the center of his political project, earning himself a Nobel Peace Prize, and has worked to secure radioactive material around the globe ever since.

He arrives in Seoul for the second Nuclear Security summit on Sunday in the next step in that quest, though the meeting will be overshadowed by nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea.

Views among scientists differ on whether a terror group like Al-Qaeda could build and detonate a primitive nuclear bomb on a U.S. city.

But no president will take the threat lightly after seeing the impact of mass terrorism wreaked by the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Obama said while hosting the first nuclear summit in Washington two years ago that a nuclear strike on a major populated area could change the global security landscape for years to come.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Analysis/2012/Mar-24/167850-us-still-fixated-by-nuclear-terror.ashx#axzz1q2H9NWqB

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Police say guns found on man at Sacramento airport

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Authorities say a Montana man tried to bring four loaded, semi-automatic handguns past a security checkpoint at Sacramento International Airport and was being held without bail Friday.

Harold Waller, 45, was arrested Thursday afternoon after Transportation Security Administration officials found a gun in one of his carry-on bags, said Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos.

When TSA screeners conducted a more thorough check, they found Waller was carrying a loaded gun, and had two other semi-automatic weapons packed in his carry-on bags, Ramos said.

After Waller was arrested, deputies searched his car and said they found eight more guns, some of which were loaded. Those guns were a combination of handguns and what he described as "long guns."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-03-24/sacramento-airport-guns/53744592/1

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Mar 23, 2012

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From the L.A. Daily News

Americans say Obama, Congress should do something to control fuel costs

Families canceling vacations. Fishermen watching their profits burn up along with their boats' gasoline. Drivers buying only a few gallons of gas at a time because they can't afford to fill the tank.

From all corners of the country, Americans are irritated these days by record-high fuel prices that have soared above $4 a gallon in some states and could top $5 by summer. And the cost is becoming a political issue just as the presidential campaign kicks into high gear.

Some blame President Barack Obama. Some just cite "the government," while others believe it's the work of big, greedy oil companies. No matter who is responsible, almost everyone seems to want the government to do something, even if people aren't sure what, exactly, it should or can do.

A Gallup poll this month found 85 percent of U.S. adults believe the president and Congress "should take immediate actions to try to control the rising price of gas." An Associated Press-GfK poll last month showed 71 percent believe gas prices are a "very" or "extremely" important matter.

Chris Kaufman, who spends $120 a week on gas to travel the 60 miles between his two jobs, at the University of South Dakota in Sioux Falls and at a hotel in Vermillion, S.D., blames the price spike on threats from Iran to cut off oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_20236115/americans-say-obama-congress-should-do-something-control

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From the Washington Times

Arrest demand grows in Fla teen's shooting death

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — The investigation into last month's shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in an Orlando suburb is out of the hands of the beleaguered police chief and the county prosecutor with the Justice Department looking at possible civil rights violations and a grand jury perhaps considering charges.

Until admitted shooter George Zimmerman is led away in handcuffs, the parents of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and the civil rights activists and others who have rallied for their cause say they won't be satisfied.

"We cannot allow a precedent when a man can just kill one of us ... and then walk out with the murder weapon," said civil rights leader Al Sharpton, flanked by Martin's parents and a stage full of supporters at a rally in Sanford on Thursday night. "We don't want good enough. We want George Zimmerman in court with handcuffs behind his back."

Police Chief Bill Lee said earlier in the day that he was stepping down temporarily to try to cool the building anger that his department did not arrest neighborhood watch volunteer Zimmerman, who has said he shot Martin on Feb. 26 in self-defense. Hours later, the governor announced that the local state attorney, Norman Wolfinger, had recused himself from the case.

Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, believe Zimmerman should have been arrested. They claim he was profiling their son and acted like a vigilante.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/23/arrest-demand-grows-fla-teens-shooting-death/print/

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‘Stand Your Ground Law' at center of Fla. shooting

MIAMI — Florida is among 21 states with a "Stand Your Ground Law," which gives people wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat during a fight. The self-defense law helps explain why a neighborhood watch captain has not been arrested in the shooting death of an unarmed teenager.

The Florida law lets police officers on the scene decide whether they believe the self-defense claim. In many cases, the officer's defer to making the arrest, letting the courts work out whether the deadly force is justified. In this case, however, police have said they are confident they did the right thing by not charging 28-year-old George Zimmerman, a white Hispanic.

The shooting's racial overtones have sparked a national outcry and debate over whether the shooting was warranted. And like many self-defense cases, two sides of the story have emerged.

Zimmerman told police he was attacked by 17-year-old Trayvon Martin after he had given up chasing the boy and he was returning to his truck. He had a bloody nose and blood on the back of his head, according to police. Martin's family questions Zimmerman's story, and believes if their races were reversed, there is no doubt a black shooter would be jailed, even if he claimed self-defense.

"They are making it look like Zimmerman is the victim and their son is in the grave," said Benjamin Crump, attorney for Martin's parents. "It's about equal justice."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/22/stand-your-ground-law-at-center-florida-shooting/print/

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Figures point to securer border, but risk of death for illegals still high

TUCSON, Ariz. — Amid all of the apparently good news about security along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, one dark spot stands out: The number of people dying in the desert as they attempt to make illegal crossings remains stubbornly high.

It's a figure that worries and puzzles both humanitarian aid groups and organizations that want to see a crackdown on illegal immigration.

For some, it calls into question the Border Patrol's own arrest figures, while for others it suggests agents are doing their job too well, and the heavier security is pushing illegal immigrants into ever-more remote areas — which means each illegal crosser faces a greater chance of dying.

"If most Americans were to watch on TV that there was some country where every year at least 200 to 500 remains are being found in these horrible deaths, dying in these horrible ways, we'd think that's barbaric," said Kat Rodriguez, program director at the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, which keeps statistics on such deaths.

"But the reality is, that's happening in the U.S. These people are dying, and there's a connection between these deaths and our policies," she said.

Indeed, the death rate — which Ms. Rodriguez defines as the number of bodies found per 100,000 illegal immigrants caught by the Border Patrol — has skyrocketed.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/22/figures-point-to-securer-border-but-risk-of-death-/print/

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From Google News

Thousands call for 'justice' at Trayvon Martin rally

Gov. Rick Scott removes Seminole state attorney, appoints special prosecutor

If Sanford city officials thought the police chief's departure would calm tempers arising from the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Thursday night's rally in the teenager's honor proved them wrong.

As speaker after speaker took the stage at a downtown park, they made one thing clear: They want George Zimmerman, the man who said he shot the 17-year-old, arrested, and they won't settle for anything less.

"I pledge I will not let my son die in vain!" Martin's father, Tracy Martin, told a cheering crowd of several thousand after being introduced by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

"We want to see Zimmerman in court with handcuffs behind his back, charged with the death of this young man, Trayvon Martin!" said Sharpton, who organized the rally and flew to Sanford earlier in the day despite learning of his mother's death that morning in Alabama. Sharpton said his mother, who was 89 and suffered from Alzheimer's, would have wanted him to be there.

Sharpton, an MSNBC commentator, civil-rights activist and founder of the National Action Network, took the podium nearly an hour into the rally and stirred the crowd.

"Twenty-six days ago, this young man Trayvon Martin ... went to the store for his brother. He came back and lost his life," Sharpton told the cheering crowd. "Trayvon represents a reckless disregard for our lives."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-trayvon-martin-rally-20120323,0,4973899.story

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Docs show NYPD infiltrated liberal groups

(AP) NEW YORK - Undercover NYPD officers attended meetings of liberal political organizations and kept intelligence files on activists who planned protests around the country, according to interviews and documents that show how police have used counterterrorism tactics to monitor even lawful activities.

The infiltration echoes the tactics the NYPD used in the run-up to New York's 2004 Republican National Convention, when police monitored church groups, anti-war organizations and environmental advocates nationwide. That effort was revealed by The New York Times in 2007 and in an ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit over how the NYPD treated convention protesters.

Police said the pre-convention spying was necessary to prepare for the huge, raucous crowds that were headed to the city. But documents obtained by The Associated Press show that the police department's intelligence unit continued to keep close watch on political groups in 2008, long after the convention had passed.

In April 2008, an undercover NYPD officer traveled to New Orleans to attend the People's Summit, a gathering of liberal groups organized around their shared opposition to U.S. economic policy and the effect of trade agreements between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

When the undercover effort was summarized for supervisors, it identified groups opposed to U.S. immigration policy, labor laws and racial profiling. Two activists — Jordan Flaherty, a journalist, and Marisa Franco, a labor organizer for housekeepers and nannies — were mentioned by name in one of the police intelligence reports obtained by the AP.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57403085/docs-show-nypd-infiltrated-liberal-groups/

After Trayvon Martin: A Look at Hoco Neighborhood Watch

In the wake of Trayvon Martin's death, Howard County takes another look at community policing programs.

The premise behind Neighborhood Watch is simple.

“Neighbors working in conjunction with law enforcement are the eyes and ears of their community,” said Pat Sill, president of the Maryland Community Crime Prevention Institute, which trains law enforcement and community policing organizations.

“If they see something suspicious they report it,” she said of Neighborhood Watch volunteers. “They're not to be anything more than eyes and ears.”

In the wake of the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida, allegedly at the hands of a Neighborhood Watch volunteer, officials in Howard County may be taking another look at how community-policing organizations are operating.

“It always bears looking at when you have any incident,” said C. Vernon Gray, administrator of the Howard County Office of Human Rights. He spoke with County Executive Ken Ulman and Police Chief William McMahon in the wake of Martin's death to revisit the operations of the local Neighborhood Watch programs.

http://ellicottcity.patch.com/articles/after-trayvon-martin-a-look-at-hoco-neighborhood-watch

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Mar 22, 2012

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Was Florida shooter a vigilante or diligent neighbor?

Neighborhood watch captain called into question after teenager's death

Now, suddenly, people are wondering if the 28-year-old Zimmerman is an earnest if somewhat zealous young man who was just looking out for his neighborhood, or a wannabe cop who tried to take justice into his own hands.

He has been at the center of a growing furor over vigilantism, self-defense and racial profiling since he shot and killed an unarmed black teenager who was walking through his neighborhood Feb. 26 carrying only a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.

Zimmerman, a light-skinned Hispanic, has claimed self-defense in the slaying of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and has not been charged, but many black leaders are demanding his arrest, and state and federal authorities are investigating. Florida's Stand Your Ground law on self-defense gives people wide latitude to use deadly force.

Attorneys for Martin's parents say Zimmerman is a "loose cannon."

"He's a wannabe police officer," lawyer Benjamin Crump said. "Why did he have a gun?"

But some neighbors welcomed his vigilance, at least before the shooting.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/21/was-florida-shooter-vigilante-or-diligent-neighbor/print/

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From Google News

Trayvon Martin case: Should Sanford police chief be fired?

Late Wednesday, Sanford city commissioners passed a motion of "no confidence" in Police Chief Bill Lee Jr., who has defended his department for not arresting George Zimmerman after he shot Trayvon Martin, a black teenager.

Florida politicians and civil rights leaders joined calls for the firing of a police chief in the case of a neighborhood watch captain who killed an unarmed black teenager, as new details emerged on Wednesday about police handling of the investigation.

"The reality is that people in this community have lost faith in the police chief's ability to keep their children safe," Benjamin Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), told Reuters.

Florida congresswoman Frederica Wilson, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, echoed the call in an appearance on CNN. "Not only would I like to see it happen, but I'm joining with them to make sure it happens," Wilson said.

Speaking in the US House of Representatives, Florida congresswoman Corrine Brown criticized the police investigation of the shooter, George Zimmerman, who remains free almost a month after gunning down 17-year-old Trayvon Martin outside a gated community in Sanford, near Orlando.

"No drug tests. No alcohol tests. No lie detector tests. It's just his word that he felt threatened, so therefore he shot to kill. That is unacceptable," said Brown, who is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Martin's killing has sparked widespread outrage since the release of 911 emergency tapes last week.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0322/Trayvon-Martin-case-Should-Sanford-police-chief-be-fired

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Neighborhood watches shouldn't be armed

ALLENTOWN, Pa.— Neighborhood watch groups were designed to be the eyes and ears of police -- passively observing what they see and reporting back to law enforcement -- not to enforce the law themselves.

"First thing: You do not engage. Once you see anything, a suspicious activity, you call the number that the police department has given you," said Chris Tutko, director of the Neighborhood Watch program at the National Sheriffs' Association, which launched the neighborhood watch concept 40 years ago as a response to rising crime.

Tutko said he was flabbergasted to learn about a watch captain's shooting of the 17-year-old Martin last month in Sanford, Fla. Civil rights groups have demanded the arrest of the captain, George Zimmerman, who has said he shot Martin in self-defense. The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation.

Tutko said it's highly unusual, and highly discouraged, for a neighborhood watch to be armed.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/03/22/experts_neighborhood_watches_shouldnt_be_armed/?page=full

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Mar 21, 2012

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Weak schools may be security threat

Report: System overhaul needed

The state of the nation's education system is becoming a national security issue and could leave the U.S. unprepared to respond to military threats and compete in a global economy, according to a new task force report from the Council on Foreign Relations.

"Though educational attainment has not changed significantly, demands on the workbox have increased, making success less attainable for many Americans," the task force, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Joel Klein, a former New York City school chancellor, concluded in their report released Tuesday.

Mr. Klein in a briefing with reporters noted that three-fourths of students are ineligible to serve in the military because they either have a criminal record or they do not have the education required for military tasks, such as cybersecurity jobs.

Both Mr. Klein and Ms. Rice said there are jobs the modern world needs that America cannot fill. Although the U.S. high-tech sector continues to lead the world in innovation, the rising generation needs more education in language, anthropology, civics, science and technology in order to keep up with the global market, they said.

Those who are semieducated are "punished" in a global market, said Ms. Rice, now a professor at Stanford.

"Across the board, it is human potential that makes a nation great today," she said. "It's not what you can dig out of the ground, as it was with the 19th century. It's not what you can manufacture along an assembly line as it was in the 20th century. It is human capital, and the key to human capital is education."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/20/weak-schools-may-be-security-threat/

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ORLANDO, Fla. — George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who fired the shot that claimed the life of Trayvon Martin on a rainy night in Sanford, Fla., last month, has been painted as a racist, a vigilante and a murderer.

More than a half-million people have signed an online petition calling for his arrest. He is in hiding, driven from his home by threats.

Little is publicly known about the 28-year-old from Virginia who attended Seminole State College and aspired to become a law-enforcement officer.

But the Sentinel has unearthed new details about the life of the man at the center of this controversy, including an allegation of domestic violence in his past.

As thousands call for his arrest — some threatening vigilante justice of their own — few defenders have emerged for the embattled neighborhood watchman.

His father, Robert Zimmerman, told the Sentinel that George, the third of four children, is a former altar boy. And he insisted his son is not racist.

"Anybody who knows my son knows and routinely tells me that they don't believe one thing of what's reported in the media," his father said in an exclusive interview last week.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/who_is_florida_neighborhood_crime_watch_volunteer_george_zimmerman

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Leading online dating websites to check U.S. sex offender registries

SAN FRANCISCO, California (BNO NEWS) – Leading online dating companies Match.com, eHarmony and the operator of the websites ChristianMingle and JDate have signed an agreement to check its subscribers against the U.S. sex offender registries, the companies announced on late Tuesday.

The three-page agreement between California Attorney General Kamala Harris and the three companies states that the providers will attempt to identify sexual predators, including through the use of sex offender registries when they have the information required to conduct such checks.

The agreement recognizes that such screening tools have limitations which impact their efficacy, and the websites will therefore also use other tools and technologies to protect its members and identify fake profiles. "When identified, [the providers will] remove registered sexual predators from participating in fee-based services on their websites," the agreement said.

Harris welcomed the agreement, which also calls for the websites to provide its members with safety tips and a rapid abuse reporting system through which members can notify the provider and investigators of potential physical safety issues, fraud, or other suspected criminal activity.

"Consumers should be able to use websites without the fear of being scammed or targeted," said Harris, whose office established an eCrime Unit last year to prosecute crimes involving the use of technology. "In the interest of protecting and educating users, I strongly encourage all online dating companies to adopt the same principles as these industry leaders."

http://channel6newsonline.com/2012/03/leading-online-dating-websites-to-check-u-s-sex-offender-registries/

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Time to Reset Police-Muslim Relations

The cornerstone of the Obama administration's strategy for addressing homegrown terrorism is the development of trusted relationships between law enforcement and communities targeted by al Qaeda and other radical groups. Since the policy was rolled out last summer, a series of episodes has undercut this effort. Media reports uncovered FBI training materials identifying Islam as an inherently violent religion, New York Police Department commissioner Ray Kelly appeared in an inflammatory film decried by Muslim leaders and allegations have arisen that a NYPD counterterrorism unit has been spying and keeping files on individual Muslims without any evidence of criminal wrongdoing. We need to hit the reset button quickly and establish a partnership between law enforcement and Muslim Americans that can provide a foundation for an effective national counterterrorism policy.

There are three key sources of tension that all need to be addressed: government-funded training that casts Islam as encouraging violence, surveillance of individuals and communities without a criminal predicate and the use of informants to goad individuals into criminal activities.

The FBI has acted aggressively to deal with the training controversy by setting up a task force to review 150,000 pages of training materials and remove inaccurate, offensive content. Similar action needs to be undertaken by other counterterrorism agencies. State and local authorities that receive federal funds should also be required to use only the screened, approved training materials.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-schanzer/fbi-muslim-treatment_b_1368273.html

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Study says Saginaw crime down in past four years thanks in part to community policing

The Citistat team, which explores Saginaw issues and works with various city departments to form solutions to problems, reported that crime has dropped the most in the areas where a community police officer is present.

There are currently nine districts in Saginaw that have a community police officer assigned to them, said CitiStat analyst Yolanda Jones.

Examining data from 2007 to 2011, several crime categories decreased in nearly every part of the city, though a slightly more dramatic decrease was seen in areas with community police officers, members of the group said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/03/community_police_officers_help.html

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From ICE

International partnerships are key to fighting transnational crime

When you sit down with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Deputy Director Kumar Kibble, he'll tell you "bad guys don't respect our borders, and we need international partnerships to keep up with them."

He makes this statement on the heels of a recent trip to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, where he was joined by his chief of staff, Homeland Security Investigations' (HSI) executive associate director and HSI's deputy director of the Office of International Affairs.

The foursome spent a significant amount of time with Israeli and Palestinian law enforcement officials, all of whom are strong HSI partners. They also visited HSI offices in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. These offices are heavily involved in supporting HSI's investigative portfolio, which covers everything from human trafficking to cybercrime.

As part of their duties overseas, HSI special agents often examine visa applications for fraud, initiate investigations, coordinate with law enforcement partners and provide training and advice to Department of State consular officers. The work performed by these special agents is vital to protecting the United States against terrorist and criminal organizations.

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1203/120320israel.htm

The highest priority of any law enforcement agency is to protect the communities it serves. When it comes to enforcing our nation's immigration laws, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) focuses its limited resources on those who have been arrested for breaking criminal laws. ICE prioritizes the removal of criminal aliens, those who pose a threat to public safety, and repeat immigration violators.

Secure Communities is a simple and common sense way to carry out ICE's priorities. It uses an already-existing federal information-sharing partnership between ICE and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that helps to identify criminal aliens without imposing new or additional requirements on state and local law enforcement. For decades, local jurisdictions have shared the fingerprints of individuals who are booked into jails with the FBI to see if they have a criminal record. Under Secure Communities, the FBI automatically sends the fingerprints to ICE to check against its immigration databases. If these checks reveal that an individual is unlawfully present in the United States or otherwise removable due to a criminal conviction, ICE takes enforcement action – prioritizing the removal of individuals who present the most significant threats to public safety as determined by the severity of their crime, their criminal history, and other factors – as well as those who have repeatedly violated immigration laws.

Secure Communities imposes no new or additional requirements on state and local law enforcement, and the federal government, not the state or local law enforcement agency, determines what immigration enforcement action, if any, is appropriate. Only federal DHS officers make immigration enforcement decisions, and they do so only after an individual is arrested for a criminal violation of state law, separate and apart from any violations of immigration law.

http://www.ice.gov/secure_communities/

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From the FBI

Eco-Terrorist Sentenced
Help Us Find Remaining Operation Backfire Fugitives

After he was indicted in 2006 for firebombing a University of Washington research facility, Justin Solondz became an international fugitive, beginning an odyssey that would land him in a Chinese jail—and finally before a federal judge in Seattle, who sentenced him last week to seven years in prison.

Solondz, 32, was a member of an eco-terrorist cell known as “The Family,” which committed an estimated $48 million worth of arson and vandalism across the Pacific Northwest and western U.S. between 1996 and 2001 under the names of the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front.

Three members of The Family are still on the run, and there is a reward for information leading to their arrest.

The cell's most notorious crime was the 1998 arson of a Vail, Colorado ski resort that caused $26 million in damages and drew international attention to eco-terrorists—those who break the law in misguided and malicious attempts to protect the environment and animal rights. We took the lead in the Vail investigation, working closely with our local, state, and federal law enforcement counterparts. In 2004, multiple eco-terror investigations were condensed into Operation Backfire.

We need your help to bring the three remaining fugitives from The Family to justice. A reward of up to $50,000 each is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Joseph Dibee, Josephine Overaker, and Rebecca Rubin, all believed to be living abroad.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/march/eco-terrorist_032012/eco-terrorist_032012

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Mar 20, 2012

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Feds to investigate fatal shooting of Fla. teen

ORLANDO, Fla. — The federal Justice Department says it has begun an investigation into the fatal shooting death of an unarmed black teen in Florida by a neighborhood watch captain.

The agency said in a statement late Monday that it will perform an independent review of the evidence and take appropriate action.

Police have described the man who fired the shot, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, as white; his family says he is Hispanic and not racist.

Zimmerman claims he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last month in self-defense during a confrontation in a gated community in Sanford.

College students around Florida rallied Monday to demand the Zimmerman's arrest, though authorities say they may be hamstrung by a state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/19/justice-department-probe-fla-teen-shooting-death/print/

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Students want Fla. watch leader who shot teen arrested

ORLANDO, Fla. — College students around Florida rallied Monday to demand the arrest of a white neighborhood watch captain who shot an unarmed black teen last month, though authorities may be hamstrung by a state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force.

Students held rallies on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee and outside the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, where prosecutors are reviewing the case to determine if charges should be filed. The students demanded the arrest of 28-year-old George Zimmerman, who authorities say shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last month during a confrontation in a gated community in Sanford.

Zimmerman spotted Martin as he was patrolling his neighborhood on a rainy evening last month and called 911 to report a suspicious person. Against the advice of the 911 dispatcher, Zimmerman then followed Martin, who was walking home from a convenience store with a bag of Skittles in his pocket.

Zimmerman's father has said his son is Hispanic and is not racist. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense.

“I don't think a man who exited his vehicle after the 911 dispatcher told him to stay inside the car can claim self-defense,” Carl McPhail, a 28-year-old Barry University law school student, said at the Sanford rally.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/19/students-want-fla-watch-leader-shot-teen-arrested/?page=all#pagebreak

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From Google News

Trayvon Martin Exclusive: Friend on Phone with Teen Before Death Recounts Events

March 20, 2012— In the last moments of his life Trayvon Martin was being hounded by a strange man on a cell phone who ran after him, cornered him, and confronted him, according to the teenage girl whose call logs show she was on the phone with the 17-year-old boy in the moments before neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot him dead.

Martin's death on Feb. 26 has stirred national outrage and protests, partly prompting the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the FBI to open an investigation into the case. ABC News was there exclusively as the 16-year-old girl told Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump about the last terrifying moments of the doe-eyed teenager's life.

"He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man," Martin's friend said. "I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run but he said he was not going to run." Eventually he would run, said the girl, thinking that he'd managed to escape. But suddenly the strange man was back, cornering Martin.

"Trayvon said 'what are you following me for,' and the man said 'what are you doing here.' Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again and he didn't answer the phone." The line went dead. Besides screams heard on 911 calls that night as Martin and Zimmerman scuffled, those were the last words he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-death-friend-phone-teen-death-recounts/story?id=15959017

(CNN) -- A 2010 video of an airport screener patting down a 3-year-old boy in a wheelchair has become the latest Rorschach test of the public's attitude towards the TSA, pitting agency defenders against those who say the video shows the child being treated like a terrorist. Posted on YouTube Saturday night by the child's father, the video had nearly 100,000 hits by Monday evening.

Matt Dubiel, the father of Rocco Dubiel, videotaped the incident in the spring of 2010 at Chicago Midway International. He posted the video after rediscovering it last week, saying he became enraged anew when reviewing it, he said.

"There is another human being putting their hands on my child. That is not acceptable," he said. "If he was putting his hands on my child at McDonald's or anyplace else, we would immediately have him arrested and call the police."

The Transportation Security Administration noted the agency has changed its procedures since 2010 and said pat downs of children 12 and younger are unlikely, although still possible, under the new protocols.

Under the new TSA policy that took effect in September, screeners can work with parents to resolve alarms at the checkpoint. Among other options, screeners can have the children go through metal detectors or body scanners multiple times or can swab their hands to test for traces of explosives.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/20/travel/airport-toddler-video/?hpt=us_c2

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N. Idaho white supremacist runs for sheriff

A white supremacist in northern Idaho is running for sheriff of Bonner County, saying his views on race will not influence his approach to the office.

Shaun Patrick Winkler, 33, is running against incumbent Sheriff Daryl Wheeler and Ponderay police Officer Tim Fry for the Republican nomination on May 15, according to the Bonner County Daily Bee.

The winner of the primary contest will face independent candidate Rocky Jordan in November. Winkler told the Bee that his ties to the Aryan Nation and Church of Jesus Christ-Christian won't influence his agenda. “Whether people will believe me or not, it will be entirely up to their own discretion,” the Bee quoted Winkler as saying.

He said he was motivated to run because of the increasing federal reach into Bonner County, the newspaper reported. He also said he doesn't think enough is being done to curb drugs and sex offenders.

“I don't look at myself as a vigilante; I look at myself as a concerned citizen,” Winkler told the Bee.

Armstrong to bring community policing back to Memphis

Teddy bears are hung on telephone poles on nearly every other block in one South Neighborhood. They quietly tell a story about crime in the area.

Armstrong says violent crime may be down, but not everyone sees or feels it in their neighborhood.

"I've had people say to me ‘Director Armstrong, when is the last time you drove through my community? How in the world can you drive through my community and tell me that crime is down 10 percent? What does that mean,'" he said. "(It's a) very valid point."

Armstrong is bringing back community policing to fight crime and try to restore neighborhoods plagued with blight, shootings, drugs and gangs, and he's starting in South Memphis.

http://www.wmctv.com/story/17196097/armstrong-to-bring-community-policing-back-to-memphis

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Baltimore police launch daily newscast

Each episode will stream live and talk about significant arrests and acts of violence

(Video on site)

BALTIMORE — City police officials said they believe the Baltimore Police Department is the first in the nation to launch a daily newscast.

BPD-TV will stream live from Baltimore City police headquarters weekdays at 12:30 p.m., and each episode will be archived on the Baltimore Police Department's website. "We're going to talk about significant arrests. We're going to talk about robberies, acts of violence that may have occurred in your community, (and we'll air) suspect descriptions from the night before," police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

The newscast comes as part of a new, virtual front line in Baltimore City's policing strategy. The idea of the new newscast is to interact with the public in any way possible. Police officials said delivering police news online is the next logical step in their multimedia push.

http://www.policeone.com/community-policing/articles/5270493-Video-Baltimore-police-launch-daily-newscast

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Mar 19, 2012

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Community Policing Relies On Neighbors To Call When See Crimes Not Take Matters In Own Hands

(VIdeo on site)

Greensboro, NC -- Police officers credit neighborhood watch programs for helping be extra eyes and ears for law enforcement.

Officers warn the program is not meant to replace officers. Citizens are trained to recognize and report suspicious activity without becoming involved in the incident.

That doesn't appear to be the case in Florida. A neighborhood watch captain allegedly shot and killed a 17 year-old boy last month. The neighbor first reported a suspicious man to 911 but kept following him according to the 911 call.

The neighbor told police he shot the teen in self defense. The 17 year-old was only carrying candy and a drink he bought at a nearby convenience store. The state attorney is now reviewing the case.

Police in Greensboro warn against any citizen taking matters into their own hands. Lieutenant Joel Cranford said a community watch program assists police. It does not replace them.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article/220368/57/Neighborhood-Watch-Programs-Assist-Police-Not-Replace-Them

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