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Sept 19, 2013

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Obama orders security review after DC shooting, Defense Department report

President Barack Obama has ordered a comprehensive review of government contractor and employee protections, according to the White House.

The move comes in the wake of the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, which raised concerns about security procedures at U.S. military installations.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that Obama has directed his Office of Management and Budget to closely inspect security measures for contractors and employees across federal agencies.

Military officials said that the shooter — Aaron Alexis, 34, a former Navy reservist who was working as a civilian contractor — had a security card that allowed him access to the Navy Yard but not to the office building where he later opened fire, killing 12 people and wounding several others Monday.

Obama's move also followed the public release Tuesday of a Defense Department Inspector General report which disclosed major flaws in security screening of contractors working on Navy installations.

The reports says some 52 convicted felons managed to routinely get on bases even though their felony convictions came before they were granted entry credentials.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/17/20547441-obama-orders-security-review-after-dc-shooting-defense-department-report?lite

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Massachusetts

Online fund for Glen James, homeless man, nears $100k

If doing the right thing is its own reward, Glen James appears on the verge of a big-time bonus.

The homeless Boston man who turned in a backpack holding $42,000 in cash and travelers checks is attracting donations from across the nation. By early Thursday, an online fund set up by a Virginia man who has never been to Boston had collected almost $100,000.

And Ethan Whittington said he planned to keep the fund open for as long as people wanted to give.

“I just felt that this was somebody who needed to be rewarded for his good deeds,” said the 27-year-old Whittington, a marketing accounts manager from Midlothian, Va. “It’s just inspiring to see somebody do an honorable thing like that. If everybody could have the humanity that he did that day, and be together and warm, it’d be a special thing.”

Whittington thinks $250,000 — and a home — is now a reasonable goal for James, a soft-spoken man in his mid-50s who has been walking the streets for five years.

A Virginia man inspired by James’s honesty has started an online fund to raise money for him. As of early Thursday, there were pledges of more than $92,000.

‘“You know, $250,000 can change his life for the rest of his life.” —Ethan Whittington of Midlothian, Va., who started fund to benefit Glen James.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/09/18/online-fund-for-glen-james-homeless-man-tops/OoQjAFDnuO9NtppWE4DNSJ/story.html

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Louisiana

Nicholls relies on community policing

Nicholls State University Police patrol a quiet campus that has its share of incidents that come with university life.

But Nicholls' ranking as one of the safest college campuses in Louisiana on StateUniversity.com is a result of a philosophy of community police work, said Craig Jaccuzzo, director of University Police. Nicholls is the highest-ranked regional university in the website's ranking, sitting at No. 6 out of 44 schools.

People may hear law enforcement agencies using community police as their slogan, "but the truth is that it is the core of our mission of our police department," Jaccuzzo said. "It is our philosophy, not a program."

Part of that philosophy involves using the disciplinary actions the university already has instead of pressing charges on students for every infraction.

"If we catch an individual whose behavior doesn't constitute a criminal charge but violates our code of conduct, then that student is brought before our Judicial Affairs Department and that student will face sanctions by the university," he said.

Jaccuzzo said students who might have committed a misdemeanor or be disruptive would face more immediate punitive action from the university than through the traditional court system because of the accused's right to due process.

http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20130918/ARTICLES/130919546/1320?Title=Nicholls-relies-on-community-policing

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Illinois

Recreation programs, other initiatives improve quality of life

It’s been six years since the City of Joliet released a study of ways to improve the quality of life for those living in Districts 4 and 5, areas of the city that face challenges of poverty and crime.

The Quality of Life study was an all-encompassing blueprint of proposed initiatives for everything from improving education to reducing crime.

The Unity Community Development Corporation, utilizing information from that 2007 study, has since initiated a number of recreation and after-school tutoring programs aimed at improving the overall quality of life for people who live in the area.

Recreation is a key component to improving the quality of life in the area, which is why the Unity CDC started the Inner City Youth Sports League Program. The primary goal of the program is to partner with other organizations, parents, coaches and volunteers to teach and reinforce core values and life skills using the fundamentals of baseball. Beyond teaching the fundamentals of the game, Unity CDC encourages each coach to access positive and negative core behavior during the season and rewards good behavior.

“It’s not about mastering the sport; it’s about mastering the core values and life skills,” Unity CDC President Mac Willis said. “To this end, our primary focus is youth development.”

http://thetimesweekly.com/news/2013/sep/18/recreation-programs-other-initiatives-improve-qual/

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Pennsylvania

Residents Voice Concerns About Police Misconduct, Racial Profiling

Pittsburgh residents brought their concerns about police misconduct to City Council Tuesday during an open forum.

Concerned citizens brought up many issues, including a lack of diversity on the police force, racial profiling and overly aggressive policing in communities with high crime rates.

Rashad Byrdsong, president and CEO of the Homewood Community Empowerment Association, said law-abiding citizens of his community are stuck in a difficult situation.

“These type of shootings, homicide, crimes, in a lot of these distressed communities promote more aggressive policing,” Byrdsong said. “So we’re caught right in the middle between a lot of the gang activity and the more aggressive policing that’s going on in our community.”

Beth Pittinger, director of the Citizens Police Review Board, said she’s already fielded more complaints about police conduct this year than in all of last year.

http://wesa.fm/post/residents-voice-concerns-about-police-misconduct-racial-profiling

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Sept 18, 2013

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California

After 15 years of false starts, Oakland puts hope into a new community policing plan

West Oakland's Alex Miller-Cole has decided that he can't depend on the police for help. “Mead Avenue was the second worst street in all of Oakland,” he says. “All the neighbors have been mulching. We planted 75 trees. Now it's the cleanest street ever. Nothing happens here now.”

Miller-Cole's lived across the street from McClymonds High School for 13 years. For the first five, he says he and his husband called the police on a daily basis to report things like prostitution and gunshots. But more often than not, the police wouldn't do anything. So they came up with their own way to deal with the problem.

“We started getting to know our neighbors, getting more involved in their lives,” he says. “All of a sudden you know why a prostitute is a prostitute. You know why the boys are selling drugs on the corner. And you can maybe try to influence their lives differently.”

Miller-Cole doesn't think what he's doing is that radical. He just doesn't think he should be the only one doing it. To him, it's what police officers are supposed to do.

“If police came to my door, introduce himself. Next door, oh, you have three kids? Great, thank you. That's community policing – that you know the face of those guys. You'd feel so much more comfortable.”

http://kalw.org/post/after-15-years-false-starts-oakland-puts-hope-new-community-policing-plan

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Sept 17, 2013

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Washington DC

13 killed in Washington Navy Yard shooting rampage

WASHINGTON (AP) — The deadly attack at the Washington Navy Yard was carried out by one of the military's own: a defense contract employee and former Navy reservist who used a valid pass to get onto the installation and started firing inside a building, killing 12 people before he was slain in a gun battle with police.

The motive for the mass shooting — the deadliest on a military installation in the U.S. since the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009 — was a mystery, investigators said. But a profile of the lone gunman, a 34-year-old Aaron Alexis, was coming into focus. He was described as a Buddhist who had also had flares of rage, complained about the Navy and being a victim of discrimination and had several run-ins with law enforcement, including two shootings.

Monday's onslaught at a single building at the highly secure Navy Yard unfolded about 8:20 a.m. in the heart of the nation's capital, less than four miles from the White House and two miles from the Capitol.

It put all of Washington on edge. Mayor Vincent Gray said there was no indication it was a terrorist attack, but he added that the possibility had not been ruled out.

“This is a horrific tragedy,” he said.

Alexis carried three weapons: an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun, and a handgun that he took from a police officer at the scene, according to two federal law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20130916/13-killed-in-washington-navy-yard-shooting-rampage

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Washington, DC

Navy Yard shooting: What we know and don't know

The one question we all desperately want answered may have gone to the grave with Aaron Alexis: Why?

Why did he park at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, walk into Building 197, perch himself on an overlook above the atrium and open fire? The bullets that rained down killed 12 people and wounded eight others.

Why?

But that's not the only missing puzzle piece. Investigators are painstakingly trying to piece together the motive, the means and the method.

"No piece of information is too small," said Valerie Parlave of the FBI said Monday night. "We are looking to learn everything we can about his recent movements, his contacts and associates."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/17/us/navy-yard-shooting-knowns-unknowns/

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Sept 16, 2013

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California

L.A. Mission College gets at-risk youth back on track

For Javier Franco, it's a long way from Columbus Street to precalculus at L.A. Mission College.

A member of the notorious Columbus Street Gang, which just received an injunction because of street crimes including drug dealing and murder, the 27-year-old Panorama City student had served long stints in Folsom State Prison.

Then he found moral guidance from a former prizefighter at Communities in Schools in North Hills, a welding job through an apprenticeship at Laborers' Local 300 — and hope at the Sylmar community college that he could someday succeed.

“Deep inside, the gang life, the prison life, wasn't for me,” declared Franco, gazing out over the school that sent its soccer forward over many remedial math hurdles. “I always wanted much more. I wanted to be somebody.”

The northeast San Fernando Valley community college has long been a leader in reaching out to so-called at-risk youth by offering college-level courses to kids at local juvenile halls.

http://www.dailynews.com/social-affairs/20130915/la-mission-college-gets-at-risk-youth-back-on-track

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California

California school district hires firm to monitor students' social media

A suburban Los Angeles school district is now looking at the public postings on social media by middle and high school students, searching for possible violence, drug use, bullying, truancy and suicidal threats.

The district in Glendale, California, is paying $40,500 to a firm to monitor and report on 14,000 middle and high school students' posts on Twitter, Facebook and other social media for one year.

Though critics liken the monitoring to government stalking, school officials and their contractor say the purpose is student safety.

As classes began this fall, the district awarded the contract after it earlier paid the firm, Geo Listening, $5,000 last spring to conduct a pilot project monitoring 9,000 students at three high schools and a middle school. Among the results was a successful intervention with a student "who was speaking of ending his life" on his social media, said Chris Frydrych, CEO of the firm.

That intervention was significant because two students in the district committed suicide the past two years, said Superintendent Richard Sheehan. The suicides occurred at a time when California has reduced mental health services in schools, Sheehan said.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/14/us/california-schools-monitor-social-media/index.html

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New Jersey

Community policing returns to Montclair

After a half-decade hiatus, community policing has returned to Montclair with an announcement Monday about new strategies to police the township using a Community Services Unit.

The plan is for a small, mobile team led by a seasoned detective sergeant to use one-on-one connections made with residents to not only reduce crime but improve the quality of life in various Montclair neighborhoods.

Detective Sgt. Tyrone Williams and officers Jacqueline Allen and Rikki Cook on Mission Street the day their new unit was announced.

"We want to hear from the residents. We need their help," said Montclair Police Department Chief David Sabagh, speaking on Mission Street near an area that has had a high incidence of gun violence this year. "The community is the eyes and ears of the Police Department, and we can't be everywhere at once."

Earlier this year, multiple shootings occurred within a relatively small area - on Mission Street, Greenwood Avenue and Elmwood Avenue - and led to increasing patrols using the MPD and the Essex County Sheriff's Office to quell residents' fears.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/223818741_Community_policing_returns_to_Montclair.html

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Rhode Island

Spread thin, Providence police adjust how they investigate gangs, violent crimes

PROVIDENCE — Crime hasn't dropped by much in the city, but the number of police officers has.

The foot patrols are gone. There are fewer patrol officers, fewer detectives, fewer narcotics officers, fewer people investigating gangs and violent crime, and fewer officers posted in the city's public schools. The number of police districts, developed 10 years ago when the department adopted a community-policing strategy, has dropped from nine to seven and is expected to drop further. Although there have been some promotions, 18 higher-ranking positions remain vacant.

The loss of personnel has prompted changes in how the police target and investigate gangs and violent crimes. With fewer officers and less money, the police administration has adjusted how the department responds to violent crime.

Police Chief Hugh Clements Jr. and Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Paré say they've sought ways to be creative — using crime data to predict the city's hot spots and follow patterns, developing a better system of tracking gangs and gang associates, and employing a crime analyst, on loan from the National Guard, to help them prevent and investigate crimes.

http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20130915-spread-thin-providence-police-adjust-how-they-investigate-gangs-violent-crimes.ece

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