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'Veterans Court' helps Los Angeles' ex-soldiers find the right path after being arrested
by Christina Villacorte
Herbert Brown was destined for prison until Veterans Court gave the former soldier a new start.
He'd used drugs for decades to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder from the Vietnam War, and was eventually arrested for selling cocaine to an undercover cop.
Veterans Court, however, allowed him to avoid prison and receive mental health and substance abuse treatment instead.
On Monday, Brown graduated from the program and Judge Miguel Tynan dismissed the charges against him.
"I was in deep trouble," Brown said during the simple graduation ceremony at a courtroom in the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles.
"I'm not good at speeches but I just want to say 'thank you' to everybody," he added.
In all, six wounded warriors became the second batch to graduate from the Los Angeles County Veterans Court program Monday.
"The program did help me out," said Richard King, another veteran. "I'm back on track with a good life again, and I owe it all to this program and the VA (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which helped provide the treatment)."
Robert Garcia, another veteran, said the program enabled him to go back to school and train to be an alcohol and drug counselor.
"I'm going to college, working on my associate (degrees), and you gave me the opportunity to do these things," he told the court. "Thank you very much."
Veterans Court was launched in 2010, as a collaboration among the county Superior Court, District Attorney's Office, Public Defender's Office, Alternate Public Defender's Office, Office of Public Counsel and the VA.
By shifting veterans away from prison and providing treatment instead, the program has now saved taxpayers about $3 million, according to the DA's Office.
In March, nine veterans became the first batch to graduate from Veterans Court. Another 75 veterans are still undergoing treatment, which lasts at least 18 months.
"They had trouble and they needed help, and it was deemed not only decent but necessary that we do something," said Tynan, a veteran himself.
Chief deputy district attorney Jackie Lacey, a candidate for district attorney, also attended the graduation.
"Thank you for all you've done for me personally by serving this country," she told the veterans. "You're brave people for what you've done, and you deserve the chance the court has given you."
Brown had been an 18-year-old high school basketball star, poised to receive an athletic scholarship to a major university, when he was drafted into the military and sent to fight in Vietnam.
The boy came under sniper fire almost immediately.
"We'd just landed - we ain't even dirty yet," he said. "Someone gave us the all-clear so we were getting ready to get up when the guy next to me got hit in the chest several times, and I saw all this blood come out through his back."
In another incident, Brown suffered severe burns after a truck he was riding in exploded. He was also traumatized after seeing a fellow soldier "blow his brains out."
Exposure to Agent Orange led to his daughter being born missing one hand - one of her arms ended in a stump at the elbow.
Brown said he began taking drugs in the war zone, after fellow soldiers said it helped them cope. His addiction destroyed his marriage, left him estranged from his children, and put him in jail for four years.
A prosecutor wanted to put him behind bars for another six years, but Brown's attorney pushed for his case to go to Veterans Court.
"I don't think anyone among us could have mentally and emotionally come out of that experience and been whole," deputy public defender Lauri Brenner said.
"There was a big struggle to get him into Veterans Court, but he was one that we really had to fight for," she added. "He doesn't belong in prison."
After almost two years in treatment, Brown said the nightmares and flashbacks are fading. He's also stayed sober.
He now intends to look for a job at the VA campus in West L.A.
After handing out their certificates and hugging them, Tynan beamed at the veterans and wished them well.
"I'm not sure who said this but it's true," he said. "Success should not be measured by what you accomplish but by what you overcome."
http://www.dailynews.com/crime/ci_21780413/veterans-court-helps-los-angeles-ex-soldiers-find
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Video shows police officers repeatedly pummeling shirtless man in Jewish youth center in Brooklyn
A volunteer security guard at the center said he called cops because he found the shirtless man drunk and sleeping in the lounge of the center, which provides services to young Jewish adults.
by Simone Weichselbaum, Irving Dejohn and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
Two police officers repeatedly pummeled a shirtless man in a Jewish youth center in Brooklyn after they roused him from sleeping and moved to arrest him, surveillance video released Sunday night shows.
Cops showed up at the Aliya Institute on E. New York Ave. in Crown Heights on the evening of Oct. 8 after receiving a call about a fight between two men, a community source told the Daily News.
But Zlamy Trappler, 24, a volunteer security guard at the center, said he called cops because he found the shirtless man drunk and sleeping in the lounge of the center, which provides services to young Jewish adults.
Two police officers, one male and one female, found the man sleeping on a couch, surveillance video shows.
The officers awaken the man, identified by CrownHeights.info, which first made the video public, as Ehud Halevi, who is swaddled in a white sheet, the video shows.
As Halevi gets to his feet, Trappler comes in, and Halevi appears to have a heated exchange with the cops and Trappler, who leaves. The exchange between Halevi and the officers intensifies, with the male cop removing a pair of handcuffs, the video shows. Halevi pushes the male officer's hands away from his body, the video shows.
The officer then charges Halevi, the video shows, punching him in the face, while the female officer appears to pepper-spray him and beats him with what appears to be a truncheon.
CHInfoVideo
After a two-minute beatdown, another eight police officers arrive and handcuff Halevi, who appears to be unbloodied, the video shows.
"I regret making the call. I should have let him sleep. It spiraled out of control," said Trappler.
Cops charged Halevi with assaulting a police officer, trespassing, resisting arrest and harassment, according to CrownHeight.info.
Police did not respond to requests for comment Sunday night.
The community source said Halevi had been allowed to stay at the Institute.
Sara Feiglin, wife of Rabbi Moshe Feiglin, who runs the youth center, confirmed the account given by CrownHeights.info. The rabbi did not respond to a request for comment.
With Reuven Blau
CLICK FOR VIDEO
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/video-cops-pummel-shirtless-man-jewish-youth-center-article-1.1183619
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Virginia
Arlington Police Hosting Forums to Talk Crime Trends
Four forums are slated through the first of November.
by Arlington Patch Staff Report
The Arlington County Police Department will host a series of community forums to discuss current crime trends throughout the county, including discussion about recent incidents of violent crime, according to a news release.
Each forum will be hosted in one of the county's three police districts. Police Chief Doug Scott, Deputy Chief Michael Dunne, and commanders and officers from each district's community policing team will attend to present information and answer questions, the release states.
Police will have statistics to present to the community as part of these events, spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said.
The meetings will take place:
Wednesday (District 1): 7 p.m. at Madison Community Center, 3829 N. Stafford St., Room 6
Oct. 24 (District 2 - South): 7 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 830 S. 23rd St.
Oct. 25 (District 3): 7 p.m. at Arlington Career Center, 816 S. Walter Reed Drive
Nov. 1 (District 2 - North): 7 p.m. at Key Elementary School, 2300 Key Blvd., multi-purpose room
Police are directing questions and concerns to the three district commanders:
Click here to locate the appropriate Police District for your neighborhood .
http://arlington-va.patch.com/articles/arlington-police-hosting-forums-to-talk-crime-trends 
