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Dec 26, 2013

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President Urges Americans to Volunteer This Holiday Season

The president and first lady asks Americans to remember the troops who are serving throughout the world and to remember that the holiday spirit of giving.

President Barack Obama gave his annual Christmas message Wednesday and used the moment to ask Americans to remember the troops who are serving the country far from their loved ones.

"Our extraordinary men and women in uniform are serving so that the rest of us can enjoy the blessings we cherish during the holidays," the president said with first lady by his side in a pre-recorded message, NBC News. "But that means many of our troops are far from home and far from family."

The president, who champions community service, also used the moment to urge Americans to volunteer.

"For families like ours, that service is a chance to celebrate the birth of Christ and live out what He taught us — to love our neighbors as we would ourselves; to feed the hungry and look after the sick; to be our brother's keeper and our sister's keeper," he said.

The president and first lady planned to visit to a Marine Corps base in Hawaii, where Obama and his family are on their annual vacation, the Associated Press reports. According to AP, some 600 troops from various military branches were gathered to hear from Obama after being served Christmas dinner.

Obama also said that he called 10 troops stationed in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to thank them for their service and the incredible sacrifices they make every day, AP reports.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2013/12/president_urges_americans_to_volunteer_this_holiday_season.html?wpisrc=burger

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Michigan Jews, Muslims volunteering on Christmas

DETROIT (AP) — Jews and Muslims have been volunteering around metropolitan Detroit to help their Christian neighbors celebrate Christmas.

The Detroit Free Press says about 1,000 Jewish and Muslim volunteers from a number of congregations collaborated Wednesday on Mitzvah Day, the largest single day of volunteering by the local Jewish community. The Michigan Muslim Community Council is coordinating volunteers from its communities.

The volunteers are helping social service agencies at about 40 sites throughout the day.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit has sponsored Mitzvah Day for two decades, and Muslims have been part of the effort for the past five years.

Mitzvah means "commandment" in Hebrew and is generally translated as a good deed.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Michigan-Jews-Muslims-volunteering-on-Christmas-5092869.php

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Connecticut

Cameras that scan Greeneville streets are subject to a policy designed to maintain privacy

Norwich - The idea of a series of surveillance cameras monitoring public areas was unnerving to some when it was first proposed in the Greeneville area more than a year ago. But those cameras have been there for a year, and a dozen new cameras now watch the daily goings-on in the downtown area.

There have been few complaints, according to police, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut says the police department appears to have taken appropriate measures to protect citizens' rights with their recently released usage policy.

The newest cameras were installed by Norwich Public Utilities earlier this month above Franklin, Main and Boswell streets and at Franklin Square and Howard Brown Park. They are linked to police department headquarters by the utility's fiber optic lines, which were installed throughout the city as part of the municipal area network to support the utility's own high speed and broadband systems.

The department's policy, still in its draft form, says the cameras are to be used solely for overt monitoring of public areas, "where no reasonable expectation for privacy exists." The policy is available on the city's website and outlines procedures for their use and storage of the video from the 16 cameras now in place. Police say they plan to keep recordings for 30 days before being destroyed unless the video is to be used as part of an investigation or prosecution.

"This policy is a solid one," said ACLU staff attorney David McGuire. "It really is great that the department is recognizing the potential privacy ramifications of the system. The 30-day retention period is absolutely key and prevents a massive buildup of data."

http://www.theday.com/article/20131226/NWS04/312269501/-1/nws

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Captive American Warren Weinstein feels 'totally abandoned and forgotten'

Saying he feels "totally abandoned and forgotten," kidnapped U.S. government contractor Warren Weinstein called on President Barack Obama to negotiate for his freedom in a video released by al Qaeda on Christmas.

The 72-year-old Weinstein was abducted from his home in the Pakistani city of Lahore in August 2011.

In the 13-minute video provided to the Washington Post, Weinstein appeals to the President, Secretary of State John Kerry, the American media, the American public and finally his family.

"Nine years ago, I came to Pakistan to help my government and I did so at a time when most Americans would not come here," he said. "And now, when I need my government, it seems I have been totally abandoned and forgotten."

This is the second video with him making a direct plea to the Obama administration. The first was released in May 2012.

Dressed in a light gray jacket and black cap, and sporting a full beard, Weinstein spoke with little emotion, saying he's not in good health, has a heart condition and suffers from acute asthma, before adding that "the years have taken their toll."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/26/world/asia/pakistan-captured-american/

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Dec 25, 2013

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California

Inland counties denied millions for jail construction

Riverside and San Bernardino counties each were denied requests this month for $80 million in state grants for jail construction, even though their applications ranked among the highest-scoring based on criteria used to evaluate grant proposals.

The denial hampers efforts to add and improve jail space in this region. In order to comply with federal court orders, each county has released thousands of inmates early since 2011 because there's no room for them.

Riverside's 3,906 jail beds in five jails are all filled. And the chronic lack of beds was exacerbated in 2011 with the enactment of public safety realignment. Under realignment, offenders convicted of low-level offenses serve their time in county jails instead of state prisons, a move made to satisfy a court mandate to reduce California's prison population.

Almost 7,000 Riverside inmates were turned loose early in 2012 to relieve crowding. More than 9,000 have been let go so far this year.

Early release could cause a rise in low-level crimes, such as petty theft and drug possession, said Riverside County Assistant Sheriff Steve Thetford.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/politics/politics-headlines-index/20131224-public-safety-inland-counties-denied-millions-for-jail-construction.ece

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Dec 24, 2013

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US moves troops in prep for more action in S Sudan

The U.S. is moving additional Marines and aircraft from Spain to the Horn of Africa to provide embassy security and help with evacuations from violence-wracked South Sudan.

Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday that the commander in Africa is getting the forces ready for any request that may come from the State Department.

The U.N. says about 1,000 people have been killed in a week of violence in the world's newest country.

A defense official said the extra forces moving to Djibouti will bring the total U.S. troops in the region to 150, with 10 aircraft, including Osprey helicopters and C-130 transport planes.

Of those forces, about 45 U.S. Army troops are in South Sudan providing security. The remainder are in Djibouti, where the U.S. maintains its only permanent military base in Africa.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-moves-troops-in-prep-for-more-action-in-s-sudan/1211220/

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Connecticut

New Haven Officers Take Community Policing to Heart

New Haven Police Officers Elizabeth White and Allyn Wright have been walking the beat ever since they joined the force nearly two years ago.

“We were one of the first classes that came out under the new whole community policing concept. Right off of FTO, we started walking up in Brookside, before people even moved into Brookside,” said Officer White.

As each person moved in, the officers introduced themselves and started building relationships.

“We started off in the summer. We bought ice cream off the ice cream truck. The parents started to feel more comfortable with us. It's all through the kids,” said Officer Wright.

The officers say that focus on the children is what really solidified their place at Brookside and in Westville Manor.

“The kids have helped us a lot. It's usually easier. The kids like the police more than the adults do. Once you get a relationship with the kids and then their parents see how much they like you, the relationship you have with their children, it opens the parents up to you,” said Officer White.

Because the challenge the officers face is trying to build trust between the community and the police. “Not everyone wants to talk to you, not everyone wants their kids around you, so it's just gaining their trust,” said Officer Wright.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/New-Haven-Officers-Take-Community-Policing-to-Heart-237061581.html

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Massachusetts

Mass. police polishing image with kids through trading cards

An Essex chief comes up with trading cards featuring his officers' faces and stats.

ESSEX, Mass . — Just over a year ago, 20 schoolchildren and six adults were gunned down at a Newtown, Conn., school, a horrible incident that reverberated in this coastal town.

Police Chief Peter G. Silva's first instinct was to send officers to Essex Elementary School, but school officials were hesitant about having an unknown police officer in the classrooms, suspecting that his presence would make children more anxious rather than less.

So Silva made it his mission to find a way to introduce children to members of the local force, so they would recognize a friendly face matched with a helping hand. The solution: Trading cards, a throwback to both old-time hobbies and community policing.

The collectible cards, not unlike baseball cards, offer a photo of a police officer on the front, and some statistics and personal information on the back.

For example, Silva's card says he joined the town force in 1988; he's also fond of the classic rock sounds of Chicago and Styx.

“This is a perfect opportunity to get the kids and the community involved with the Police Department,” Silva said.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/It_s_in_the_cards__Police_polishing_image_with_kids_.html

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Bill Bratton on both coasts

Inspired by a chapter on policing by leading criminologists Jeffrey Fagan (Columbia University) and John McDonald (University of Pennsylvania), the editors of the recently published volume New York and Los Angeles: The Uncertain Future , David Halle and Andrew A. Beveridge, along with Sydney Beveridge, take a closer look at the consequences of the recent New York mayoral race.

Incoming New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has just chosen Bill Bratton as the city's Police Commissioner. Bratton returns to the top post he occupied from 1994 to 1996 where he played a critical role in police reform in New York, and then as Los Angeles Police Commissioner from 2002 to 2009. Bratton's stint in Los Angeles is a key reason why community-police relations there seem in better shape than New York's. Bratton achieved this in Los Angeles while also presiding over a massive drop in crime. It is this apparent ability both to reduce crime and improve community-police relations that will now be tested in New York where outgoing mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly argue that their Stop and Frisk policy, which critics argue has alienated many in the black and Latino community, is vital for keeping crime low.

How did Bratton get his Los Angeles results? For sure the reasons that crime has plummeted in both cities to levels not seen since the early 1960s are a complex mix, from changing police tactics to long-term demographic shifts to the ebbs and flows of drug epidemics. Still, Bratton introduced the famous COMPSTAT program in interestingly different forms in both cities, and this is one key reason for the differences in community-police relations. COMPSTAT uses geographical mapping of crime to make strategic decisions about officer deployment, and sets police division benchmarks for crime reduction. Under the NYPD version of COMPSTAT, each division captain was basically responsible for crime trends and for formulating a response in his or her police area. Performance was noted in monthly, central command staff meetings, but what was noted was primarily crime trends, and how to deal with these was left to local commanders.

http://blog.oup.com/2013/12/new-york-los-angeles-police-departments/

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Dec 23, 2013

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Florida

Sarasota Police's outreach barbecue draws criticism

SARASOTA - You would not think that a picnic with barbecue and music could be controversial, but when it comes to the community of Newtown and the officers that patrol there, even the simplest gesture can become a lightning rod.

Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino said her idea for a barbecue block party is intended to strengthen community relationships, but rank-and-file officers say it sends a wrong message about a dangerous situation.

It all started with an incident last month in which a Sarasota Police officer, attempting to make an arrest in Newtown, got in a fight with a known drug dealer. What happened next varies based on who tells the story.

Officer Ken Goebel was conducting surveillance about 9:30 a.m. Nov. 26 when he saw what appeared to be a drug transaction on the street corner at 23rd Street and Leon Avenue.

In Goebel's narrative of the events preceding the arrest of Peter Porter, 36, the officer details his struggle to detain Porter. Goebel said Porter took his police radio, punched him in the head and removed his handcuffs from his utility belt. Goebel's holster and gun also were stripped from him, though how they were pulled from his belt is unclear.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20131222/ARTICLE/131229907?Title=Sarasota-Police-s-outreach-barbecue-draws-criticism

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Massachusetts

Black box lets data flow in an emergency

Lets first responders on nearly any system share photos, videos

The dozens of federal, state, and local police departments that responded to the terrorist bombings during the Boston Marathon in April had a vital tool at their disposal: a radio network that enabled disparate agencies to talk to each other.

But one shortcoming of the system was that there was no easy way for investigators and officers in the field to share data, such as photos and videos. But a black box developed by engineers in Massachusetts could provide the ultimate solution.

The box, created by Mutualink Inc., lets firstresponder agencies instantly share all of their digital communications, regardless of what kind of two-way radio, computer network, or telephone system the agency uses. Mutualink can translate virtually any signal into a standard format that other agencies can use.

“We don't know of any company on the planet that's doing it the way we're doing it,” said Mark Hatten, chief executive of Mutualink. Based in Wallingford, Conn., it maintains its research-and-development facility in Westford.

Police, fire, and emergency medical services from many towns and cities routinely offer help during crises like the Boston Marathon bombing or Hurricane Sandy. State and federal agencies also get involved. But agencies may deploy vastly different electronic equipment, broadcast over different frequencies, use different digital encoding standards. As a result, vital information may not be shared with all who need it.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/12/23/mutualink-can-help-public-safety-agencies-crisis/uO7bOaDqZCyat4ANaZb2gL/story.html

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