WASHINGTON — It is amazing how much a simple timeline of U.S. war history, and a chart of war casualty statistics can reveal. In a short time you are reminded of things forgotten, or learn a few things you never knew.

Since 1675, U.S. colonists or citizens have participated in 26 wars. Six of the wars took place before the American Revolution. Two involved the English Colonies against France. Another two were between the French Colonies and Great Britain, and two more involved English colonists and Native Americans.

Starting with the American Revolution, we have had a war every 11 to 12 years of our history.

The longest period of peace was between the Civil War (1865) and the Spanish American War (1898): 33 years without a bona-fide, declared-by-Congress war with countries outside U.S. borders. Still, violence continued in the land of the free as Native American peoples were dislocated from their homes.

Most of our history we fought one declared war at a time. An exception is the War of 1812 (to 1815) that overlapped with the Creek War of 1813 to 1814. There was also some trouble on the Barbary Coast in 1815, and we invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 while we were building up to war in Vietnam.

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tango-mind-and-emotion/2012/may/25/memorial-day-many-men-and-women/

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Vets, supporters find solace, camaraderie in Rolling Thunder's roar

Motorcycle rally marks 25th year of taking D.C. by storm

For Walt Koren, it would be easier to know that his old friend is dead. Instead, he's lived with uncertainty for 41 years. Whether William Patrick Millner , an Army Air Cavalry pilot in Vietnam and high school classmate of Mr. Koren‘s, survived a crash landing in Laos in 1971, and whether he remains in captivity somewhere in Southeast Asia, are questions that haunt him to this day.

“I thought he'd been killed. Later, I learned he was missing in action, and it was easier to accept that he'd been killed,” said Mr. Koren , a 63-year-old construction manager now living in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

“I still sit there constantly and think about him every Sunday at church. I think about him still being a prisoner of war, and hear rumors he's being held in Laos. I hope that's not the case. How would you feel about 41 years being held captive? Wouldn't you rather be dead?” he said.

Mr. Koren found some solace four years ago when he joined Rolling Thunder Inc., a 90-chapter organization launched in 1995 as an offshoot of the now-famous Rolling Thunder Washington, D.C., motorcycle rally held each Memorial Day weekend.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the rally began with a simple mission that remains unfulfilled: account for Mr. Millner and the thousands of other veterans still missing.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/23/vets-supporters-find-solace-camaraderie-in-rolling/?page=all#pagebreak

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German doctors apologize for Nazi-era crimes

BERLIN — Germany 's medical association has adopted a declaration apologizing for sadistic experiments and other actions of doctors under the Nazis.

In the statement adopted earlier this week in Nuremberg, the association said many doctors under the Nazis were “guilty, contrary to their mission to heal, of scores of human rights violations and we ask the forgiveness of their victims, living and deceased, and of their descendants.”

In addition to performing pseudo-scientific experiments on concentration camp inmates, German doctors also were key to the Nazi's program of forced sterilization or euthanasia of the mentally ill or others deemed “unworthy of life.”

The medical association says “these crimes were not the actions of individual doctors but involved leading members of the medical community” and should be taken as a warning for the future.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/25/german-doctors-apologize-nazi-era-crimes/

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From the L.A. Daily News

Former Long Beach football player exonerated of rape will sue state

LONG BEACH — A former high school football star whose rape conviction was thrown out last week plans to file a compensation claim with the state, but will not sue the woman who recanted the rape and kidnapping charge she made a decade ago.

An attorney for Brian Banks, 26, said in news reports that his client will seek $100 from the state for every day he was wrongfully incarcerated.

"Brian Banks spent several years of his young life in prison when he should have been in college getting a degree and playing football," Justin Brooks, an attorney representing Banks and director of the California Innocence Project, said Saturday. "No amount of money can get that time back, but he certainly should be compensated."

Banks walked free on Thursday in a dramatic, 30-second hearing in Long Beach Superior Court during which Judge Mark Kim vacated his conviction. Banks spent five years and two months in prison after pleading no contest to forcible rape in 2003.

His accuser, Wanetta Gibson, was a high school sophomore when she accused Banks, then 17, of raping her in 2002 on the campus of Poly High School.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20718765/former-long-beach-football-player-exonerated-rape-will

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From the L.A. Times

About 30 children among more than 90 killed in Houla, Syria

Horrific images of the young victims bring international condemnation and may become a turning point in the rebellion.

BEIRUT — The blood-spattered children lay on a patterned rug, their wounds graphic proof that youth offers no protection from the dark forces unleashed in Syria.

An unidentified man picks up the limp corpse of one boy, displaying the battered remains for the camera. He puts the child down and hoists another lifeless young body aloft.

"Massacre in Houla — all children!" someone is heard shouting amid groans of agony and disbelief.

The grisly scenes posted online Saturday from Houla, a township in Homs province, drew international condemnation and in the view of some, have the potential to become a turning point in the 14-month rebellion against the government of President Bashar Assad.

The United Nations said that more than 90 people, more than one-third of them children, had been killed in what appeared to be the worst violence against civilians in Syria since a U.N.-backed cease-fire went into effect last month.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-killings-20120527,0,675051.story

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May 26, 2012

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From the L.A. Daily News

Bus driver taking kids to Disneyland arrested

SALT LAKE CITY - An alert police officer who boarded a bus full of recent Utah high school graduates headed to Disneyland averted what could have been a deadly road trip after arresting the driver for suspicion of being under the influence of drugs, authorities said Friday.

"There's no other way to put it," said Cedar City police Lt. Darin Adams. "I really hate to think of what would have been. We may have been getting calls today that the bus had crashed and students were dead or injured."

About 100 students from Canyon View High School in southern Utah had just graduated Thursday night and boarded the charter bus for their senior trip, Adams said.

Parents and faculty members had asked police to bring a K-9 to the scene before the bus departed to check students' bags for drugs.

Officer Isaac Askeroth boarded the bus with his dog and another officer and immediately noticed driver Brandon Gillman, 30, of South Jordan, seemed suspicious, Adams said.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20712815/bus-driver-taking-kids-disneyland-arrested

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Man allegedly shines laser at Pasadena police helicopter, injures officer's eyes

PASADENA - A man was in custody today for allegedly shining a laser at a Pasadena police helicopter, injuring the eyes of an officer on board.

Rafael Juarez, 23, of San Gabriel, was arrested Thursday and booked on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft and possession of a controlled substance, said Pasadena police Lt. Michael Ingram. He was held in lieu $25,000 bail, according to the sheriff's department.

The laser-pointing occurred about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, while the helicopter was flying over the city of San Gabriel, Ingram said.

"The helicopter crew was not wearing their protective eyewear at the time of the attack," Ingram said. "However, they identified the suspect's location and worked with the San Gabriel police ground units to contain the area, (and) the suspect was arrested without incident."

The flight crew landed safely at the Pasadena Heliport, and the injured officer was evaluated at a hospital. His condition was not released.

"Laser assaults on public and private aircraft are becoming all too common throughout Southern California," Pasadena police Chief Phillip Sanchez said. "Pointing a laser at an aircraft while flying is illegal and can have catastrophic consequences for aircrews and the people on the ground."

http://www.dailynews.com/crime/ci_20711428/man-allegedly-shines-laser-at-pasadena-police-helicopter

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From the Washington Times

P&G to add latches to make detergent packs safer

DALLAS — The maker of Tide Pods will create a new double-latch lid to deter children from accessing and eating the brightly colored detergent packets, a company spokesman said Friday.

Procter & Gamble spokesman Paul Fox said the Cincinnati-based company plans to create a new lid on tubs of Tide Pods “in the next couple of weeks.” The company continues to study the design of the package, Fox said.

Doctors say children sometimes swallow Tide Pods and similar laundry products, around 1 inch cubes that are meant to be dropped into a washing machine in place of liquid or powder detergent. Nearly 250 cases nationally have been reported to poison control centers this year, a figure that's expected to rise. No deaths have been reported.

Almost all of the cases so far have been reported since March, when several companies began to market the packets. A handful of children have been hospitalized for several days.

Texas reported 71 instances of exposure this year, all but one in March or later. Missouri reported 25 cases related to the packets, and Illinois reported 26.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/25/pg-add-latches-make-detergent-packs-safer/

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AWOL Muslim soldier guilty in Fort Hood bomb plot

WACO, Texas (AP) — Walking around a gun store one day last summer, the young man never took off his sunglasses as he asked questions about items he piled on the counter — behavior that struck the manager as odd.

Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo had already traveled hundreds of miles since going AWOL from Fort Campbell, Ky., three weeks earlier. He bought a gun from an online seller in Nashville and paid cash for thousands of dollars of bomb-making components at a major Dallas-area retail store. Trying to avoid being caught, he wore a baseball cap and sunglasses most of the time, never used credit cards while staying in motels and traveling by bus or cab, and he had his roommate's driver's license.

But his luck ran out in Killeen, a city about 150 miles southwest of Dallas and near one of the nation's largest Army posts — Fort Hood. Guns Galore manager Cathy Cheadle “just had this feeling” about him. She and an employee talked about it and then called police — who had Abdo in custody less than 24 hours later at a motel, where authorities say he had started to build a bomb. Police hadn't even known his name or background until they detained him.

A federal jury Thursday convicted Abdo, a Muslim soldier, on six charges in connection with his failed plot to blow up a Texas restaurant full of Fort Hood troops, his religious mission to get “justice” for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“A disaster was averted because somebody picked up the phone and made a call,” prosecutor Mark Frazier told The Associated Press after the trial. “The people who work in businesses like this are vigilant … and risked being embarrassed if their suspicions turned out to be nothing, but that's what we want people to do.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/25/awol-muslim-soldier-guilty-fort-hood-bomb-plot/

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U.S. efforts on Web said frustrating to al Qaeda

Sites hacked to throw recruiters off message

U.S. efforts to counter al Qaeda recruiting online are bearing fruit, and the terrorist group is urging its members not to believe what they read on the Web, according to the State Department.

“We can tell that our efforts are starting to have an impact because we monitor the extremists venting their frustration and asking their supporters not to believe everything they read on the Internet,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a U.S. Special Operations Command conference in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday evening.

Mrs. Clinton highlighted a recent effort in which diplomats answered an al Qaeda recruiting campaign. Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen recently “began an advertising campaign on key tribal websites, bragging about killing Americans,” she said.

The campaign involved al Qaeda supporters posting pictures of coffins draped in the U.S. flag on Arabic-language discussion forums used by many young men from Yemen's fractious tribes.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/24/us-efforts-on-web-said-frustrating-to-al-qaeda/

CHARDON, Ohio — A 17-year-old will be tried as an adult in the school shooting deaths of three students, a juvenile court judge ruled Thursday after hearing a sheriff's deputy describe how the teen wore a T-shirt with the word “Killer” and admitted shooting people.

T.J. Lane admitted firing at students sitting at a cafeteria table at Chardon High School east of Cleveland on Feb. 27, killing three and seriously wounding two, authorities say.

Mr. Lane, with his grandparents and the relatives of victims sitting apart in court, swallowed hard and blinked as Geauga County Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell announced that he should be tried as an adult.

Mr. Lane could face life in prison if he's convicted. Minors are not eligible for the death penalty in Ohio. Had his case been routed to juvenile court, the maximum possible penalty would have kept him imprisoned until he turned 21.

The judge said he found probable evidence in all six charges against Mr. Lane, including aggravated murder counts. Judge Grendell rejected a defense request to release Mr. Lane on a $500,000 bond, saying Mr. Lane would pose a risk to flee and a safety risk to the community.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/24/ohio-teenager-to-be-tried-as-adult-in-school-slayi/

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N.J. finds NYPD Muslim surveillance is legal

TRENTON, N.J. — New York City police did not violate New Jersey laws when they conducted surveillance of Muslim businesses, mosques and student groups, Gov. Chris Christie's administration said Thursday following a three-month review, rejecting demands by Muslim leaders for a formal investigation and a clampdown on cross-border police operations.

The findings by Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa, a Christie appointee asked by the governor to look into the spying, mean New Jersey Muslims have no state recourse to stop the New York Police Department from infiltrating student groups, videotaping mosque-goers or collecting their license plate numbers as they pray.

Such operations were part of a widespread NYPD program to collect intelligence on Muslim communities both inside New York and beyond. Undercover officers and informants eavesdropped in Muslim cafes and monitored sermons, even when there was no evidence of a crime. The result was that many innocent business owners, students and others were cataloged in police files.

The interstate surveillance efforts, revealed by the Associated Press earlier this year, angered many Muslims and New Jersey officials. Some, like Newark Mayor Cory Booker and the state's top FBI official, criticized the tactics. Others, like Christie, focused more on the fact that the NYPD didn't tell New Jersey exactly what it was up to.

In response, Chiesa launched what he described as a fact-finding review. That review concluded that the NYPD's operations violated no state laws, either civil or criminal.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/24/nj-finds-nypd-muslim-surveillance-legal/

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Doctors report rise in kids eating detergent packs

DALLAS — Miniature laundry detergent packets arrived on store shelves in recent months, touted as a solution to bulky bottles and messy spills. But doctors across the country say children are confusing the tiny, brightly colored packets with candy and swallowing them.

Nearly 250 cases have been reported this year to poison control centers. Though they remain a tiny fraction of the thousands of poisoning calls received every year, doctors are concerned. The symptoms they see in connection with ingesting the packets — such as nausea and breathing problems — are more severe than typical detergent poisoning.

“We're not quite sure why it's happening,” said Dr. Kurt Kleinschmidt, a Dallas toxicologist. “But we've clearly had some kids who have become much more ill. We look at these pods as being clearly more dangerous than the standard detergent.”

Both Tide and Purex introduced laundry detergent packets in March. The light plastic packets contain a single-use amount of detergent that dissolves in water. They're intended to be dropped into a laundry machine in place of liquid or powder detergent.

Poison control centers began fielding calls about the packets soon after they were introduced. Texas reported 71 instances of exposure this year, all but one in March or later. Missouri reported 25 cases related to the packets, and Illinois reported 26.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/24/doctors-report-rise-kids-eating-detergent-packs/

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Missouri opts for untested drug for executions

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The same anesthetic that caused the overdose death of pop star Michael Jackson is now the drug of choice for executions in Missouri , causing a stir among critics who question how the state can guarantee a drug untested for lethal injection won't cause pain and suffering for the condemned.

Last week, the Missouri Department of Corrections announced it was switching from its longstanding three-drug method to the use of a single drug, propofol. Missouri would be the first state ever to use propofol as an execution drug.

“This is very, very concerning with a drug that we don't know, and seeing the problems of the one-drug method,” said Kathleen Holmes of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Until recently, the 33 states with the death penalty used a virtually identical three-drug process: Sodium thiopental was administered to put the inmate to sleep, then two other drugs stopped the heart and lungs. But makers of sodium thiopental have stopped selling it for use in executions . Supplies mostly ran out or expired, forcing states to consider alternatives.

Most states have retained the three-drug method but turned to pentobarbital as a replacement for sodium thiopental. Pentobarbital, a barbiturate used to treat anxiety and convulsive disorders such as epilepsy, has been used in roughly 50 executions in the past two years, said Richard Dieter , executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/24/missouri-opts-untested-drug-executions/

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From Google News

Inmates May Soon Work Inside Central Ohio School District

They've been sentenced to years in prison, but inmates may soon be working in and around schools in a Central Ohio district.

Leaders with the Fairbanks Local Schools in Union County are currently working on a partnership with the Ohio Reformatory for Women.

The grass outside Fairbanks High School in Union County is freshly cut. In just a couple weeks, the ones doing the cutting may be inmates.

Fairbanks Local Schools Superintendent Bob Humble said the district and the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville are working on a reintegration program over the summer for female inmates.

Inmates participating in the program would be first-time, non-violent and non-sexual offenders who are nearing release. Whether it's mowing the grass or cleaning the halls, Humble said eight inmates will do it all.

http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/may/24/inmates-may-soon-work-inside-central-ohio-school-d-ar-1048720/

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Florida

Delray workshop planned to boost community policing

Residents invited to get tips on crime prevention, more

They are not official members of the Delray Beach Police Department, yet officers rely on residents as if they were.

With minor crime on the rise, the Delray Beach Police Department is renewing ties with the community and returning to the kind of policing where residents and officers collaborate and are on a first-name basis.

"There's only so many [police officers] and 66,000 residents," said Isabel Make, a member of the city's Neighborhood Advisory Board.

The advisory board, the Police Department and the city's Community Improvement Department will host a Crime Prevention Workshop Thursday at the Delray Beach Public Library.

Participating residents will learn to spot suspicious activity in neighborhoods, look out for their neighbors and even learn crime prevention techniques that encompass landscaping and environmental design.

"Crime seems to be a hot topic right now and one of the priorities we hear from the community," said Jennifer Costello, the city's neighborhood planner.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/delray-beach/fl-delray-community-policing-20120524,0,6663776.story

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Rhode Island

Police: Pawtucket crime on the decline

PAWTUCKET – The Pawtucket Police Department is announcing an overall decline in crime of 8.6 percent from 2010 to 2011, including a sharp drop in juvenile incidents of almost 25 percent.

Police officials are attributing the lower crime numbers to a number of “homegrown factors,” according to a news release.

“We are very pleased to announce that our overall crime rate has gone down significantly,” said Police Chief Paul King. “That's also a positive sign that the many educational programs and partnerships we have developed with the community are having the desired effect.”

Although the effect is difficult to quantify directly, police say the ongoing presence of school resource officers in the high schools, the Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program in the middle schools and the Drug Awareness Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program in the elementary schools have significantly reduced juvenile crime, and also contributed to potential incidents not developing into criminal violations at all.

“I realize for a lot of people whose perceptions may be colored by the latest crime story, especially, if it's in their neighborhood, that crime must seem like it's going up in Pawtucket and elsewhere,” said Mayor Don Grebien. “It is true we have a long way to go to make Pawtucket as safe as it can be. But when you step back a bit to look at the big picture, the numbers show a very positive trend.

http://www.valleybreeze.com/2012/05/24/pawtucket/police-pawtucket-crime-on-the-decline

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May 24, 2012

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From the L.A. Daily News

Man claims doctor carved KKK into his stomach during surgery, hundreds protest

RAPID CITY, S.D. - Hundreds of people marched Monday in support of a man who says the letters KKK were carved into his stomach by a surgeon at a South Dakota hospital.

A YouTube video featuring 69-year-old Vern Traversie, a Lakota man who lives on the Cheyenne River Reservation, has gone viral in Native American communities. In it, Traversie shows a photo of his abdomen. Though he himself is blind, Traversie says he was told by others that the scars left after his heart surgery make out the hateful letters, and he is outraged.

The problem is, not everyone sees it. Like those spotting the Madonna in a water stain, Traversie's advocates are staunch believers. Those who aren't include police who investigated his allegations and hospital officials.

Rapid City police say they conducted an investigation but found no evidence of a crime. Craig Saunders, a cardiologist at Barnabas Hospital in Newark, N.J., said incision marks can take many different shapes, depending on where the doctor needs to get into the body. Saunders, who did not operate on Traversie, said surgical tape also can leave scarring and lesions depend on the make-up of the person's body.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20690340/man-claims-doctor-carved-kkk-into-his-stomach

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From the Washington Times

Military diligent in quest to locate its missing

Armed forces lab follows leads, finds remains, IDs the fallen

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE , Del. — More than 83,000 Americans are missing from overseas conflicts dating to World War II — and James Canik's mission is to account for each and every one of them.

A daunting task, certainly, but not a solitary one.

As deputy director of the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, Mr. Canik leads scores of forensic scientists who scour files and test genetic material to determine the identities of the thousands of remains gathered by the Defense Department each year.

Directed by Congress and the Pentagon to capture the phantoms of wars, Mr. Canik , a Vietnam veteran, sees his job as a small part of the military's commitment to honor service members and their loved ones.

“I think what is really important is the fact that we don't forget,” said the 64-year-old former medical evacuation pilot. “We are always going to go back. We're always going to look. We're going to do our best to provide the answers to the families.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/23/no-rest-while-theyre-missing/?page=all#pagebreak

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From Google News

Broken windows theory of community policing will get major test in Detroit

Three decades after he and his late colleague, James Q. Wilson, first described their "broken windows" theory of policing in a celebrated magazine article, criminologist George Kelling is bringing to Detroit their now-conventional wisdom about how to maintain law and order.

In a 90-day pilot program underwritten by a conservative think tank in Manhattan, Kelling, now in his 70s, and Michael Allegretti, a 33-year-old policy wonk defeated in a 2010 bid for Staten Island's congressional seat, will try to stem an outbreak of home invasions in Detroit's Grandmont-Rosedale neighborhood -- one of a handful of residential areas city planners have deemed stable, densely inhabited and worthy of aggressive public investment.

First articulated in a 1982 essay for the Atlantic Monthly, the broken windows theory suggests that the slippery slope to lawlessness begins when a community starts tolerating relatively minor violations of public order -- vandalism of abandoned structures, minor traffic violations, loitering and the like -- and that cracking down on such nuisances discourages more serious crimes such as robbery, burglary and assault.

Although some critics suggest its impact has been overstated, broken windows policing is generally credited with contributing to dramatic reductions of crime in New York and Los Angeles, where top cops have applied Wilson and Kelling's theories for decades.

But can it really make a difference in Detroit neighborhoods where unbroken windows have become the exception to the rule?

http://www.freep.com/article/20120524/COL04/205240458/Brian-Dickerson-Broken-windows-theory-of-community-policing-will-get-major-test-in-Detroit

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Feds say there is no opting out of “Secure Communities” policing

A federal information-sharing policy newly implemented in Vermont has put the state's look-the-other-way, bias-free policing policy in jeopardy.

The policy, Secure Communities, uses existing procedure and infrastructure to assist the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division in catching illegal immigrants.

Before Tuesday, when state or local police in Vermont made an arrest and submitted the suspect's fingerprints into the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) database, the fingerprint information only went to the FBI database. The fingerprints were checked against known criminals or outstanding warrants, allowing for increased law enforcement capability across state lines.

Secure Communities is simple: It takes down a previously existing division between the FBI fingerprint database and ICE, thereby allowing immigration officials to track and investigate arrested individuals in Vermont.

In a statement, ICE Spokesman Ross Feinstein noted that since the beginning of the program's nationwide rollout in 2008, “Secure Communities has helped ICE remove more than 135,000 convicted criminal aliens including more than 49,000 convicted of major violent offenses like murder, rape and the sexual abuse of children. Approximately 95% of the 179,000 removals generated through Secure Communities clearly fell within one of ICE's enforcement priorities.”

http://vtdigger.org/2012/05/23/feds-say-there-is-no-opting-out-of-secure-communities-policing/

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From the White House

Everyone Can Find a Way to Honor our Service Members

Over the past few years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to spend time with our veterans, troops and military families. With every visit, I come away inspired.

They are military spouses, who balance work, family and school — all while dealing with the emotions of a deployment. They are military children, who move from school to school while picking up extra chores while their dad or mom is away serving our country. They are survivors of our fallen, who are pillars of strength for their communities. And of course, they are our troops, veterans and wounded warriors, who have dedicated their lives to defending America.

This Memorial Day, we must remember that these heroes are found in every corner of our country, from big cities to rural areas, from base communities to small towns. But no matter where they are assigned or what their duties are, when our service members are called to serve, so too are their families.

That's why one year ago, first lady Michelle Obama and I launched Joining Forces, an initiative to bring Americans together to recognize, honor and serve our nation's veterans and military families. Joining Forces focuses on three key areas — employment, education and wellness — while raising awareness about the service, sacrifice and needs of our troops, veterans and their families.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/05/23/everyone-can-find-way-honor-our-service-members

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From the Department of Justice

Justice Department Releases Final Rule to Prevent, Detect and Respond to Prison Rape
Landmark Regulation Contains New Standards to Combat Sexual Abuse in Confinement Facilities

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today released a final rule to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse in confinement facilities, in accordance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA). This landmark rule sets national standards for four categories of facilities: adult prisons and jails, lockups, community confinement facilities and juvenile facilities. Today's rule is the first-ever federal effort to set standards aimed at protecting inmates in all such facilities at the federal, state and local levels.

“The standards we establish today reflect the fact that sexual assault crimes committed within our correctional facilities can have devastating consequences – for individual victims and for communities far beyond our jails and prisons,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “These standards are the result of a thoughtful and deliberative process – and represent a critical step forward in protecting the rights and safety of all Americans.”

The standards have three clear goals: to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/May/12-ag-635.html

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From the FBI

Domestic Threat - White Supremacy Extremism

It was a gruesome and hateful crime—three men with white supremacist tattoos punching and kicking the face and body of an African-American man at a bus stop in Houston last summer simply because of the color of his skin. All three were recently convicted of the attack, following an investigation by the FBI and its partners.

It's not an isolated case. It seems like a throwback to a different era, but white supremacy—which sees whites as inherently superior to those of other races—still exists in America today. Having those kinds of beliefs is not against the law…as a matter of fact, it's protected by the First Amendment. But white supremacy becomes a crime—and for the FBI, a form of what we call extremism—when it is furthered through threatened or actual use of force or violence or other illegal activity.

The Bureau has been investigating the criminal activities of white supremacy extremists like Ku Klux Klan members since as early as 1918. Today's extremists are more challenging than ever. They're affiliated with a variety of white supremacy groups, and they can be motivated by any number of religious or political ideologies. We're also seeing more lone offenders and small, violent factions of larger groups at work, which makes detection of these crimes tougher.

White supremacy extremists specifically target racial, ethnic, and religious minorities; the federal government; and in some instances, even each other. Their tactics include assault, murder, threats and intimidation, and bombings. They also commit other kinds of crimes—like drug trafficking, bank and armored car robberies, and counterfeiting—to fund their hate-filled activities.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/may/extremism_052212/extremism_052212

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May 23, 2012

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From the Washington Times

Burst of activity detected at N. Korean nuclear test site

SEOUL — North Korea has ramped up work at its nuclear test site, according to an analysis of satellite images released Tuesday, a day after a senior U.S. envoy warned the North that an atomic test would unify the world in seeking swift, tough punishment.

Glyn Davies' comments after meetings Monday in Seoul with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts reflect widespread worry that North Korea may follow a failed April 13 long-range rocket test with its third nuclear test.

Both of its previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, followed rocket launches.

North Korea, meanwhile, shot back in a statement Tuesday, saying it will keep developing its nuclear program if the United States continues to “stifle” the country.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman made no direct threat of a nuclear test, but said North Korea feels compelled to strengthen its “nuclear deterrent” in the face of U.S. hostility.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/22/burst-of-activity-detected-at-n-korean-nuclear-tes/

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From Google News

Ohio

Nonprofit seeks people to train Labrador retrievers as guide dogs

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Can you take in a beautiful, cuddly, smart, sweet-smelling, purebred puppy?

Nurture it for 16 months? Then give it up?

Guiding Eyes for the Blind wants people that will do just that. The nonprofit is expanding its Labrador retriever puppy training program, adding Cleveland East to its Cleveland West branch to involve more people in puppy rearing.

"We all cry when the dog is leaving, but when you get to meet the person who is receiving the dog, you really feel like you are giving that person wings," Guiding Eyes spokeswoman and puppy raiser Michelle Brier said.

Victoria Smith of Concord Township agreed. Giving up Vanilla after spending much of every day with her for 16 months "was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do," she said.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/05/nonprofit_seeks_people_to_trai.html

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Arizona

'Domestic terrorism': White supremacist gets 40 years in jail for Ariz. bomb attack

A white supremacist likely will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a federal judge sentenced him to 40 years in prison Tuesday for a 2004 bombing that wounded a black city official in suburban Phoenix.

Jurors in February convicted Dennis Mahon, 61, of three federal charges stemming from a package bomb that injured Don Logan — Scottsdale's diversity director at the time — and a secretary.

They stopped short of finding him guilty of a hate crime after a six-week trial that included dramatic testimony from Logan and a female government informant dubbed a "trailer park Mata Hari" by defense attorneys.

In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge David Campbell said he believed the bombing was premeditated and done to promote an agenda of hate and racism.

He called it an "act of domestic terrorism."

Campbell defended the decision not to classify it as a hate crime. "The jury was never asked if this was a hate crime," he said, although they were asked to consider whether Logan was targeted because of his race, The Arizona Republic reported.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/23/11823265-domestic-terrorism-white-supremacist-gets-40-years-in-jail-for-ariz-bomb-attack?lite

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Detroit

Community Policing Coming to the Motor City

DETROIT (WJBK) - In the past five days, Detroit has had 8 murders and 33 non-fatal shootings. With crime rates getting out of control, one group is implementing a plan that they say can help Detroit.

The Manhattan project is coming to the Motor City, and hopes "community Policing" will have a big impact on crime in Detroit. The group lowered crime dramatically in New York City, as well as Milwaukee.

"In New York City in 1980, if you would have told citizens that New York was going to be in the position that it was in by the late 1990's, nobody would have believed you. People wanted to move out of New York City," said George Kelling with the Manhattan Project.

The Manhattan Project will kick off in Detroit on June 4th in the Grandmont and Rosedale neighborhood. It will last for 90 days, and is paid for by the non-profit Manhattan Institute.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/community-policing-coming-to-the-motor-city-20120522-km

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Minnesota

Military beat: Police share info on vets in crisis

A one-day course is scheduled next month to teach law enforcement personnel de-escalation tactics for military veterans in crisis.

The course, hosted by the Lakeville Police Department and the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute, recognizes the unique circumstances first responders often face when dealing with veterans. The eight-hour class teaches cops, 911 dispatchers, emergency medical responders, jail personnel, chaplains and others who may encounter a veteran in crisis how to use verbal tactical skills to defuse potentially dangerous situations. It also will deal with the effects of multiple deployments, understanding the emotional impact of war-time stressors, challenges of veterans with reintegration and definitions and how to identify the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health disorders affecting veterans.

The Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute is a nonprofit organization that offers comprehensive consulting services and customized training on a local and national scale. As a testament to the importance of the topic, the class is already full and there is a waiting list.

The classes are being offered as it becomes more clear that veterans facing the criminal justice system often bring special needs. Last month, the Ramsey County attorney's office and the Minnesota Alliance on Crime presented a program on PTSD in the criminal justice system.

While not excusing the behavior, after 10 years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, civilian courts nationwide are acknowledging that some veterans' crimes can be traced back to the combat zone and that jail or prison time often isn't the best answer. Statistics compiled by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals show that 70 percent of defendants in specialty courts such as the vets courts finish their programs and that 75 percent do not reoffend for at least two years.

http://www.startribune.com/local/152741945.html

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May 22, 2012

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From Google News

Dharun Ravi's sentence a surprise to legal experts, though appeal could come

NEW BRUNSWICK — The clock is now ticking.

Dharun Ravi was sentenced Monday to spend a month in county jail, but the former Rutgers University student convicted of spying on his gay roommate via a remote webcam won't know his fate for another nine days. That's how long the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has to appeal the judge's surprising sentence in a case that has captured national attention and sparked a debate on cyber bullying and gay teen suicide.

For now at least, Ravi remains free.

Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman shocked the New Brunswick courtroom Monday when he ordered Ravi to spend 30 days in jail, departing from established sentencing guidelines that called for up to 10 years in state prison. Visibly upset with the sentence, First Assistant Prosecutor Julia McClure immediately told the judge she would appeal.

Berman's decision means there will be even more drama before the long legal battle is over in a case that has already stretched 20 months.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/dharun_ravis_sentence_a_surpri.html

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Florida

Chief: Community policing curbs crime

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/18576452/community-policing-curbs-crime

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Nebraska

Police officers in Fremont won't just be on the lookout for criminals this summer.

Officers also will be looking to catch young people in the act of being safe as part of the Fremont Police Department's Gotcha! program.

The program, which has been around for more than a decade, is part of the department's community policing efforts.

“It's another way to get our police officers out in the community for positive contacts with area youth,” Lt. Kurt Bottorff said.

Bottorff said officers on patrol will be looking for children from preschool to junior high age wearing helmets while riding their bikes or skateboards, using crosswalks safely, wearing reflective clothing and other things.

http://fremonttribune.com/news/local/fremont-police-will-play-gotcha/article_443aee1e-a35c-11e1-90a1-0019bb2963f4.html

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From the Department of Justice

Thank you, Judge Gleeson for that introduction. I am very pleased to be here among this distinguished panel of criminal justice professionals.

I want to thank the Federal Bar Council's Special Committee on Sentencing Reform and Alternatives to Incarceration and the New York University School of Law's Center on the Administration of Criminal Law for hosting this important session.

And let me especially thank Judge Gleeson, Larry Krantz, Caroline Rule, Professor Rachel Barkow and others for bringing us together tonight.

The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that more than $74 billion is spent on state and federal corrections annually. Today, some 2.3 million people – more than 1 in 100 American adults – are behind bars. Currently, the federal prison population totals over 218,000 and the federal Bureau of Prisons' budget has nearly doubled since 2000 -- to $6.6 billion. At the end of 2010, there were 105,552 federal offenders on supervised release.

More than 700,000 individuals leave state and federal prisons each year. More than 45,000 are federal offenders returning to U.S. communities. Forty percent of federal offenders are rearrested or have their supervision revoked within three years after release. For state inmates, the figure is 67%.

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/dag/speeches/2012/dag-speech-120521.html

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May 21, 2012

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From Google News

Massachusetts

Loophole benefits drunk drivers

Legislators, AG want to alter Melanie's Law

Attorney General Martha Coakley and members of the Legislature are seeking to close a loophole in a drunken-driving law that allows some drivers who are prosecuted for drunken driving to avoid some of the sanctions the law was written to impose.

The loophole was brought to light when the Supreme Judicial Court ruled on Thursday that drivers who acknowledge that they were drunk behind the wheel but whose cases are continued without a finding are not subject to the stiffest civil penalties allowed by the law.

“Repeat drunk drivers pose a serious threat to public safety,'' according to a statement from Coakley, who is working with state Senator Katherine Clark and state Representative Eugene L. O'Flaherty on the issue. “We must respond quickly to close this loophole and ensure that repeat drunk drivers are taken off the roads for significant periods of time.''

Melanie's Law was passed in 2005 after a 13-year-old girl named Melanie Powell was hit and killed by a repeat drunk driver as she was walking across the street. The law was intended to keep repeat offenders off the street.

Under the law, a driver with no previous convictions for drunken driving can receive an 18-month license suspension. The length of suspension increases with the number of convictions on a driver's record. A driver with three or more previous convictions can receive a lifetime suspension.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/05/21/attorney_general_legislators_seeking_to_close_drunk_driving_loophole_in_melanies_law/

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Florida

Results expected for FMPD community policing effort

Officers get neighbors involved in identifying crime issues and work together to solve them.

"It's recognizable. You see more police in the community," says Ken Burns, Associate Pastor at Friendship Baptist Church.

Cyrus Calhoun has lived in the Franklin Park neighborhood all of his life. He thinks officers reaching out to the community are helping, but he has suggestions as well.

"In addition to cruisers, we need police officers on bicycles and police officers on foot," he says.

http://www.abc-7.com/story/18566888/results-expected-for-fmpd-community-policing-effort

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