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Florida
Fla. cities on guard for any potential post-Zimmerman verdict unrest, stressing non-violence
MIAMI – Police and city leaders in Florida say they've taken precautionary steps for possible protests or civil unrest if George Zimmerman is acquitted in the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.
For months, officials have been working with pastors, youth coaches and community activists to stress a non-violent approach once a verdict is announced. But police also have quietly been making plans to deal with potential violence.
In South Florida where the 17-year-old Martin was from, police may set up "First Amendment Zones" in the Miami area for peaceful rallies. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel also is airing TV ads stressing non-violence.
Zimmerman is on trial for second-degree murder in the shooting of Martin in Sanford. Martin's supporters say the shooting was racially motivated, while Zimmerman claimed self-defense.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/11/fla-cities-on-guard-for-any-potential-post-zimmerman-verdict-unrest-stressing/
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Florida
Community policing making a difference
by Bobeth Yates
SARASOTA -- "It was getting a little scary a while back because there was a lot of shootings going on," said Newtown resident Sherrina Brown.
Brown says there was a point when the crime in her area had gotten really out of hand.
"People were getting killed quite a bit in one week. It was getting to the point where their was a murder or two to three a month," added Brown.
But crime in the Newtown area is on the decline. And Brown says that's partly because of the efforts of local churches and community organizations. Now the city of Sarasota and the Police Department are teaming up with those groups to continue the trend.
"We are not just going to stand by and allow criminals to come into our community. We are going to do everything we can and working with the citizens in our community to fight crime," said Chief DiPino.
Recently that partnership was on display. The group held what they called a "March Against the Madness". It was in response to a rash of violence and other crimes in the area. The strategy is called Drug Market Intervention and it already seems to be paying off.
"We've already arrested 39 individuals involved in dealing drugs in the New Town area," said DiPino.
But the arrests and the building of community relationships to help solve crimes are just part of the new initiative. City officials say they are also taking a proactive rather than reactive approach.
"Law enforcement has long realized they can't arrest their way out. We are going about identifying those persons who are the worst to the least and then create alternatives rather than jail," said Sarasota Vice Mayor Willie Shaw.
Currently the flagship program is just targeting Newtown but officials plan to expand it to the entire community in hopes of further reducing the crime rate.
"When Sarasota learns we are all one working towards a common goal I think we will be much further ahead way and we will see changes," added Shaw.
http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/community-policing-making-a-difference/article_4c3f7a96-e9a9-11e2-b740-001a4bcf6878.html
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Illinois
Chicago Police Using Twitter, Texting In Latest Efforts To Boost Community-Based Crime Fighting
In the city's latest efforts to fight crime and modernize the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program, three districts are turning to Twitter.
Members of the community can now tweet or text anonymous crime tips, videos and photos to police, while officers will use Twitter to disseminate missing persons alerts, crime updates and other real-time alerts, according to the Associated Press.
Fox Chicago reports Mayor Rahm Emanuel is set to announce the new changes to community policing program Monday, though the accounts are already up and running.
The pilot program is starting with three CAPS districts around the city:
Community members who aren't on Twitter can still send tips to police by notifying the 911 dispatcher who can send alerts to a tipster's phone enabling the caller to reply with a photo. NBC Chicago reports residents can also text anonymous tips to 274637 (CRIMES) using "CPD" in the message.
After a staggeringly violent holiday weekend in which 12 people were killed and dozens more injured, police say tips from witnesses led to an arrest in the shooting incident that injured two adults and a 5-year-old boy.
Additionally, the Chicago Police Department's website is getting a more user-friendly upgrade, according to ABC Chicago. Changes to Chicagopolice.org will be announced Monday.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/chicago-police-twitter_n_3561250.html?utm_hp_ref=chicago
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Illinois
The cop who wants to fight crime with the community
From a troubled corner on the west side, Chicago police captain Roger Bay sees the promise of preventing violence one storefront and milk crate at a time.
by Mick Dumke
Captain Roger Bay has been making arrests in tough neighborhoods for almost three decades, but in the last few years he's come to believe that's not good enough.
He was thinking about this again one evening recently as he pointed to an inch-wide bullet hole in the wall outside an empty storefront at Chicago and Ridgeway—the mark left by a shooting a year ago that killed a 29-year-old.
Police believe the violence was likely the direct result of a gang or personal dispute. It didn't happen in a vacuum. Like so many other parts of the west side, that corner had been troubled for decades. "People just felt this was a spot to be out and do whatever you want," Bay said. He nodded toward the empty storefront. "This right here used to be Titanic Subs. The sign says, 'Best gyros in town,' but in five years I never saw them sell one gyro."
Instead, the store was selling cigarettes brought in illegally from out of state to avoid local taxes. "People from all over came here for cheap cigarettes, and this place was open 24 hours a day. That causes chaos, because then a person can come out here and buy that pack and sell it as single cigarettes, and so it creates an open-air market that looks like a drug market. And when [the driver of] the car wanted something different, they would point to somebody else"—the heroin dealer down the block.
At the same time, the liquor store next door made its sales through a walk-up window. Customers would drink on the sidewalk.
"There used to be guys sitting on milk crates on almost every corner," Bay said. "You don't know if they're waiting for drugs to get delivered, you don't know if they're selling, but they don't like being around when the police are there. We could ticket and arrest all we want, but the problem remains in the way people treat this community."
Things began to change when area residents worked with police and city officials to shut down the sub shop. Next they convinced the liquor store to hire security and move its sales counter inside. And last year police brass began deploying additional officers throughout the 11th police district, including cops on bikes and rookies on foot patrol who are charged with getting to know the neighborhood.
As Bay spoke, a burly security guard emerged from the liquor store and handed him a bottle of water. "Here you go, captain," the guard said. "Nice night!"
Bay agreed. He noted the scores of people out patronizing businesses on Chicago Avenue or just taking a walk. "And right now there are no milk crates."
Since he began working as a watch commander in the 11th District five years ago, Bay has been on a mission to immerse himself in the neighborhoods where he's charged with fighting crime. His goal is to be able to notice the small details that signal trouble, and to work with residents and businesses to change the fabric of the area in ways that busts alone will never do.
It's the result of a long evolution—one that much of the police department and political establishment have yet to make. "When I was a [rank-and-file] police officer I didn't talk to people on the block—I wasn't trained that way. I was trained to chase people down and lock them up, and I enjoyed it," Bay said. Most police "don't have a lot of experience with crime prevention."
Bay, 50, is six foot two and solidly built, with a long face crowned by a graying flattop. He grew up on the northwest side in a family that believed strongly in public engagement. His father served in the navy in World War II and then worked as a supervisor for the postal service, while his mother was a crossing guard for the police department.
After graduating from Lane Tech High School in 1981, Bay trained to become a paramedic and worked for a private ambulance company. His initial plan was to join the fire department, but then he decided it wouldn't hurt to apply for the police department at the same time. The police responded first. His first permanent assignment out of the academy in 1986 was in the 14th District, a chunk of the near-northwest side that includes Wicker Park and Logan Square. Both neighborhoods were then struggling with bloody gang conflicts. "People were getting shot over their colors on the corner," Bay says. In 1987, 38 people were murdered in the district; by last year the number had fallen to nine. "When you look at a corner like North and Damen, when I worked there as a police officer 25 years ago I could not imagine that was going to be a destination for nightlife, that the bars and restaurants would be thriving."
In 1995 Bay was on patrol when he saw a driver peel out of an intersection and speed off. When Bay pulled him over, the driver didn't have a license, and Bay discovered that the car had just left the scene of an accident. "After I get one cuff on, he turns around and strikes me, getting one solid punch to the face." It fractured Bay's cheekbone. The offender was caught after a short chase and, after sitting in jail for 17 days, was sentenced to time served, meaning he walked out of court free. "He was back on the street before I was," Bay said.
That wasn't the only incident that left Bay thinking that much of the criminal justice system was based on quick fixes. "We need smart sentencing and smart release, but everything is done for expediency," he concluded. And policing practices were a big part of the problem. Day after day, "we did what we were asked to do, which was chase 911 calls. But did it make a difference?" As the cycle repeated itself, he realized something else had to be done.
The issues were even more acute in the 11th District, a stretch of the west side that's been saturated with gangs, drugs, and violence since businesses began leaving in the 1960s. Police periodically responded with stepped up enforcement, including a surge of officers and arrests in the early 2000s. Crime went down, as it did citywide, but community residents sometimes saw the police as an occupying force, and the area remained one of the most dangerous in Chicago.
To get a handle on where the problems were centered, Bay started by studying years of crime data. He discovered that beats 1112 and 1121, which make up most of West Humboldt Park, were consistently near the top in shootings and drug arrests. When he was moved from nights to afternoons in 2010, Bay decided to start spending more time there.
The captain soon became a fixture at community policing and block club meetings. "This is a man who's visible," says Chet Jackson, executive director of the West Humboldt Neighborhood Development Council. Even better, Bay seemed to understand the view of Jackson and other leaders that "the standard [police] role of rounding people up on the corner isn't getting us anywhere."
Bay came away similarly impressed with the commitment of Jackson and the core group of residents who showed up month after month for community meetings. In many neighborhoods, the city's community policing program does little more than offer people a chance to gripe. But Bay found people in West Humboldt who were trying to transform the area with fresh ideas, development, and jobs, starting with a new restaurant on Chicago Avenue called Turkey Chop. "I haven't seen anything like that in other districts," Bay said. "It's driven by the people."
When police superintendent Garry McCarthy deployed additional police to the west side last year, Bay set out to send the message that the measure of their effectiveness won't be how many arrests they make, but whether they're minimizing the disorder that breeds crime. If that happens, he says, residents and businesses will respond and lasting change can occur.
Not that police don't make "good arrests." Bay himself helped snag a shooting suspect a couple weeks earlier—he figured something didn't add up after seeing the man walking near the crime scene without a shirt on despite it being a chilly day. "If we have a good arrest—if he's a felon with multiple convictions and we put him away for a gun or a delivery—maybe he comes back in five years. Is the corner different in five years?"
Ideally—as with North and Damen—it is.
A relatively long winter didn't hurt, but something appears to be working. While homicides and shootings went up citywide in 2012, the 11th District ended the year with 38 murders, the lowest total since 2006. Earlier this year more than three months passed without a killing, and shootings were down 29 percent from last year as of mid-June.
At the same time, police are locking fewer people up. By the end of 2012 arrests in the 11th District were down a third from a decade earlier, and 11 percent since 2008. They've continued to fall this year.
Jackson says it's the presence of police—starting with Captain Bay—that's had the biggest impact. "Does it stop all the drug activity? Absolutely not, because they keep changing," Jackson says. "But it gives people some security that they're not going to get caught in the crossfire."
Bay doesn't argue that problems remain on the west side. One person was killed and seven others were wounded in a drive-by shooting near Flournoy and Francisco on July 6—the third shooting in that area in three days. Police believe they were gang conflicts.
"All over West Humboldt Park and Garfield Park, groups are trying to get their neighborhoods back block by block," Bay said. But around the site of the drive-by, "we are still in need of people to stand up and speak out."
At the same time, the drug trade remains so entrenched and sophisticated that dealers continually adapt to new police strategies. For years customers—many from the suburbs and out of state—have traveled to west-side corners to buy heroin and other drugs directly from street dealers. But that's not always how it works anymore. At one operation, just a few blocks away on North Trumbull, police discovered this spring that the workers on the corner were taking orders and then phoning them in to a supplier at another location. Customers then waited nearby for delivery.
"Some residents think it's getting worse because they keep seeing those guys standing on the corner, but they're not carrying anything," Bay says. "We try to get the guys delivering from the stash house in the suburbs. It takes a long time."
Still, Bay predicts crime will continue to fall in West Humboldt Park—in large part because it's poised for more community and business development. He says that the new Bloomingdale Trail, just six blocks north, is sure to bring bicyclists through the area as they connect with the boulevard park system to the south and west.
"I hope the city keeps hiring" officers, he said, "because that's the way we can sustain this."
Bay was interrupted by a loud crash from across the street as a middle-aged man in a white T-shirt pushed over a road construction sign. He then flipped off passing cars while weaving across Chicago Avenue.
"And then there's Pumpkin," said Bay. "We all know him. When he goes off his meds, or when he drinks and it's with his meds, he's not all together."
Pumpkin made it across the street and grumbled as he walked as close to Bay as possible without touching him. Then he continued on down the sidewalk.
Bay watched him go. "A detective told me 27 years ago in the academy, 'You have to know what's normal to know what isn't.'"
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/west-humboldt-crime-rates-violence-safety-community-policing/Content?oid=10284708
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North Carolina
9 Investigates: Percentage of rapes in Charlotte increases
by Catherine Bilkey
Local leaders are trying to stop a disturbing problem. Rapes are up by double digit percentages in parts of Charlotte.
While Eyewitness News Reporter Catherine Bilkey was investigating why the numbers are so high, she found out they may be even higher.
"They all three took turns raping me, but they had a camera set up that was just stagnant," Jillian Mourning said. "They videotaped the entire thing."
Mourning is a rape survivor who now runs a local charity working to stop sexual exploitation.
"Nobody is immune from sexual assault," Mourning said.
According to Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department officials, there were 85 rapes in April, a 12 percent increase over April 2012. The year 2012 had 5 percent more rapes than 2011, with some areas seeing even bigger jumps. The North Tryon Division saw a 28 percent increase. The Westover Division -- 20 percent.
The head of CMPD's Sexual Assault Unit said rape is a problem in the community.
"Absolutely," Sgt. Melanie Peacock said." And one of the things that I don't know if a lot of people think about is alcohol is the number one contributor that we see not only to make someone a victim, but a suspect as well."
Peacock's unit deals only with adult rape cases -- none involving children. Already this year, they've handled 100 cases. There were 217 in 2012 and 197 in 2011.
The number of adult rapes is slightly lower than last year at this time. Channel 9 asked her why the unit didn't see a huge drop.
"I'm not sure if there's really any one reason. Sometimes we'll get a lot of reports from the past unexpectedly," Peacock said.
Her unit goes to colleges, to try to raise awareness, but she says there may be many more rapes they don't know about.
"I think sexual assault has been vastly under-reported," Peacock said. "Statistics show that it has been for years. It's such a personal crime that the nature of talking about the details may be enough to make a victim not report."
Mourning didn't tell police right after her rape. In fact, she never took the case to trial. She was worried that her attackers would post videos of the rape online. Now she helps other women in similar situations, but she says in a society that is quick to judge on a taboo subject -- it can be daunting for victims.
"When it's under-reported, people don't take it as seriously because it's not out there as much," Mourning said.
Police say around 90 percent of victims knew their attacker. Victim advocate Brandy Stephens said that also keeps victims from reporting.
"They're really afraid that no one is going to believe them because there was a prior relationship," the director of counseling and victim advocacy with Safe Alliance said.
"One of the most important things that we do is -- we believe them," Rape Crisis Companion Teresa Weis said.
Jeff and Teresa Weis work with rape victims as volunteers through Safe Alliance. They told Channel 9 that reporting is important, because the victim may not be the only person being abused.
"They think, understandably, that they're the center of this assault," Teresa Weis said. "And often times, the perpetrator can be perpetrating other people."
Peacock said her unit will work with any victim, no matter what the circumstances of the assault. They want to get suspects off the street, and they want justice for the victim.
If you are or know a victim of a rape or sexual assault, it's never too late to talk to someone about it.
Click the following for more information:
Safe Alliance Rape Crisis Services
Reducing Your Risk of Becoming a Victim-CMPD
What to Do if Attacked-CMPD
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/special-reports/9-investigates-percentage-rapes-charlotte-increase/nYmDg/ 
