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March, 2014 - Week 4

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Texas

River of drugs runs through Rio Grande Valley

by Bob Ortega and Rob O'Dell

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas -- The load wasn't hard to spot. Officers could see the marijuana bundles peeking out from the back of the SUV. But, as they pulled behind it, the driver turned to follow a school bus dropping off children.

"They take advantage of the school traffic. ... They know we won't initiate a stop when there are students around," said Nat Gonzalez, an investigator for a multiagency drug task force in Starr County, Texas.

Stop by stop, on that Monday earlier this month, the officers followed, watching the driver make calls on his cellphone, until he swerved south toward the Rio Grande.

Before they could catch up, he jumped out, sprinted for the river and swam to Mexico, leaving 1,400 pounds of marijuana behind.

The cartel smugglers know a great deal about how law enforcement here operates, and they have turned the Rio Grande Valley into one of the busiest marijuana corridors in the United States. Texas still trails Arizona in the volume of pot being seized by the Border Patrol and Customs. But if there's one part of the Southwestern border that illustrates the challenges of combating marijuana smuggling, it is along the winding river here.

Last year, across the Southwest, the Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection and other law-enforcement agencies intercepted more than 3.5 million pounds of marijuana — nearly a fifth of an ounce for every person in the United States.

But in the Rio Grande Valley, for every load they capture, 10 slip through, local officials estimate. Federal law-enforcement officials agreed.

The loads get through because the drug cartels closely monitor the Border Patrol and other law-enforcement agencies. The cartels study their tactics and strategies, and adapt quickly. They use that knowledge and the corrupting influence of money to win the daily cat-and-mouse games that define drug smuggling across the Rio Grande.

Encounters between agents and drug smugglers are frequent but rarely lethal. When cornered, drug runners are likely to abandon the loads of marijuana and escape back across the river.

Narcotics investigator Nat Gonzalez looks at an inflatable raft used to smuggle drugs across the Rio Grande river into Texas. (Photo: Michael Chow, The Arizona Republic)

Nationwide, nearly every drug-smuggling case in which Border Patrol agents did report responding with force over a 29-month period involved marijuana, The Arizona Republic found. Force can include using firearms, physical force, less-lethal weapons and devices to stop vehicles, like tire spike-strips.

The Republic reviewed more than 12,000 pages of CBP and Border Patrol use-of-force incident reports, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The reports covered 2010 through mid-2012.

That data shows marijuana smugglers run into the Border Patrol not just at highway checkpoints, but during frequent, small-scale runs crossing the border between ports of entry. By contrast, drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine seem to be caught primarily at official ports of entry or at highway checkpoints. Only two use-of-force incidents involved the smuggling of hard drugs.

The incident reports show that the Rio Grande Valley, where the river meanders so sinuously that it creates coils of U.S. territory nearly surrounded by Mexico, offers fertile soil for marijuana smuggling.

Last fiscal year, the Border Patrol said it seized 797,000 pounds in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. That trailed only the Tucson Sector's 1.2 million pounds; seizures in the Rio Grande sector totaled more than in the remaining 18 Border Patrol sectors combined. The sector covers 320 miles of the Rio Grande westward from the Gulf Coast.

Border Patrol officials in both Texas and Washington, D.C., declined to answer specific questions for this story. But Border Patrol Chief Michael Fisher told an audience in Phoenix during a border-security conference two weeks ago that south Texas has become the most active area along the border and is tops in terms of weight of marijuana per seizure.

Border Patrol figures showed a 10 percent drop in marijuana seizures by agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector from a year before, but south Texas drug authorities said they aren't seeing any decline.

"We think we're seeing an increase," said Carlos Garcia, Starr County's coordinator for Operation Stonegarden, a Homeland Security-funded program that provided $55 million last fiscal year to help pay local law-enforcement border-security costs. Garcia said seizures and incidents of loads being dumped are rising.

"In 30 seconds, they'll load a thousand pounds into the bed of a pickup," he said. "There can be 10 to 15 guys swimming across the river with loads on life rafts."

Same spiking story

A clear picture of the quixotic effort to stop marijuana smugglers in the Rio Grande Valley emerges in the many use-of-force incidents here in which agents used tire-deflation devices to try to apprehend smugglers they saw loading vehicles with bundles of marijuana.

Report after report repeats the scenario.

Agents spot smugglers at the Rio Grande loading bundles of marijuana into a vehicle, usually an old pickup truck, SUV or van. Border Patrol agents give chase and get authorization to "spike" the vehicle with a controlled tire-deflation device.

The smugglers bail out, often in a strategic spot, and flee. Agents find the vehicle with the load inside. The Border Patrol confiscates the vehicle and its load and announces that hundreds of thousands of dollars of drugs have been taken off the street.

But a search for the smugglers comes up empty. By the time the agents seize the drugs, the smugglers either already have swum back to Mexico or are on their way.

Incidents like this occurrednearly 50 times along the Rio Grande in south Texas between 2010 and 2012, CBP use-of-force reports show. There were fewer than 10 such incidents along the rest of the Southwest border.

In nearly every case, the driver and passengers escaped and the Border Patrol agents, following agency policy, stayed with the marijuana. Gonzalez, the Starr County task-force investigator, said other law-enforcement agencies do the same, to prevent smugglers doubling back and taking off in the vehicle again.

A river runs through it

At dusk one recent evening, a Border Patrol helicopter circled over a spot on the river just below downtown Rio Grande City. Three men in dark clothing paddled vigorously across the river in an inflatable boat, turning back toward Mexico. The river is narrow enough here, perhaps 60 yards across, that it takes scarcely a minute to cross.

A border crosser is captured after crossing the Rio Grande river from Mexico into the U.S. in Rio Grande City, Texas. (Photo: Michael Chow, The Arizona Republic)

A few minutes later, the bobbing flashlight of a Border Patrol agent approached across a quarter-mile-wide field. The agent pulled up a barbed-wire strand to let a handcuffed migrant he had caught slide under to the heavily rutted dirt road where the agent's vehicle was parked, lights flashing.

The agent, who was reluctant to talk and asked not to be identified, said migrants tend to cross the river in or near town, and the drug smugglers out of town.

"This is what it's like all the time, any hour," he said, nodding to his flashing lights and the helicopter, still overhead.

Gonzalez, the Starr County HIDTA task force investigator, said, "At night, downtown, every night you can hear the helicopters. It's normal. It's like hearing the train."

Behind his office sits a huge impound lot, ringed by tall fences topped with barbed wire, where some 200 vehicles seized in several months of drug raids await auction. A shiny Chevrolet Camaro that looked fresh off the dealer's lot faced a bulldozer and a backhoe. He showed trucks with fake signs for Texas businesses. There were boats, trailers, and — this being south Texas — row upon row of pickups and SUVs.

Gonzalez squatted next to one SUV to point out how the frame and springs have been welded "so it doesn't ride low when it's fully loaded." The rear seat had been removed to add space for drugs. Black paint coated the inside windows; from outside, they merely looked tinted.

"They'll use anything, good cars, ugly cars, anything to get it through," Gonzalez said.

After a short drive, he parked near the Rio Grande and led the way down a steep dirt trail to a spot on the bank. The deflated husk of a raft, slashed by agents, was nearby.

Heavy brush grows down to the bank on both sides of the winding river, offering endless hiding places for smugglers to wait until the coast is clear, or, on the U.S. side, to stash a load for later pickup. There are scores of small roads on the U.S. side that give access within minutes from the river to U.S. 83, a major east-west corridor.

"We've seen guys, in Starr County, sitting in trees on the Mexican side, watching the fields on this side with big binoculars," Gonzalez said. "They have great communication.

"Every day there's something going on," he said, "and if we don't catch it, they're banking it."

Then, too, sometimes those banking it are officers bought and paid for by the cartels.

Marijuana that was left on the grounds outside a storage shed at law enforcement offices in Rio Grand City, Texas, after bales were taken away to be destroyed. (Photo: Michael Chow, The Arizona Republic)

In August 2009, former Starr County Sheriff Reymundo Guerra was sentenced to 64 months in prison after being convicted of conspiracy for accepting bribes to help smugglers evade the law. Last year, in neighboring Hidalgo County, nine members of a narcotics team of sheriff's deputies and Mission, Texas, police officers were convicted on charges related to accepting bribes to guard marijuana and cocaine shipments. Friday, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino resigned. He didn't say why, but amid the scandal he's also fighting a lawsuit alleging that he accepted $10,000 in illegal cash donations from a drug dealer.

During 2011 and 2012, Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General investigated at least 19 Border Patrol agents or CBP officers in the Rio Grande Valley Sector over allegations of drug smuggling, according to records obtained by The Republic. The outcomes of those investigations couldn't be determined.

"There's so much money," Gonzalez said with a shrug. "You really need an active, dedicated officer for this kind of job."

Use of force

The Republic's investigation found that relatively few use-of-force cases involved drug smuggling, compared with human smuggling or illegal crossings. Seven of the 45 killings by CBP and Border Patrol agents since 2005 examined by The Republic involved drug smuggling — and marijuana was the only drug mentioned in those reports.

Out of nearly 1,600 CBP use-of-force reports nationwide from 2010 to mid-2012 The Republic analyzed, fewer than 125 reports specifically mention marijuana smuggling. But many other use-of-force cases had too little information to determine whether they were related to drug smuggling or undocumented migrants.

CBP officials hadn't responded by deadline to an August 2013 public-records request for more recent data.

Dennis Kenney, professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York, said there's a good reason marijuana is the main drug in use-of-force reports — more marijuana is smuggled and it is bulkier and harder to conceal than heroin or cocaine.

"If there's more of it and it's more likely to be found, you're likely to have a disproportionate amount of the cases involving marijuana," Kenney said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and CBP officials declined interview requests regarding the effectiveness of their efforts to interdict marijuana. However, the DEA's Drug Threat Assessment for last year noted that marijuana is increasingly available across the U.S. and is more potent. Independent studies suggest it's also less expensive than five or 10 years ago.

"Looking at the data, I think you'd be hard-pressed to point to anything that shows the drug-control policy has been effective, or that enforcement is doing what it's supposed to do," said Jeffrey Miron, an economist at Harvard University who has studied the market for marijuana.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/30/rio-grande-is-hot-spot-for-pot-smugglers/7066181/

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California

Los Angeles police commission to meet in San Pedro

by Donna Littlejohn

The Los Angeles police commission will hold a community meeting from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday at Peck Park Auditorium, 560 N. Western Ave., San Pedro.

The Board of Police Commissioners, which normally meets in downtown Los Angeles, holds quarterly meetings in various communities throughout the city as a way to involve more residents in community policing.

The commission functions similarly to a corporation's board of directors, setting policies for the department and overseeing its operations.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/government-and-politics/20140329/los-angeles-police-commission-to-meet-in-san-pedro

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Wisconsin

Neighborhood conference discusses strategies for happier, safer La Crosse

by SAMANTHA LUHMANN

Learning about ways to better their neighborhoods was the goal of more than 100 La Crosse-area residents who gathered inside of the Black River Beach Neighborhood Center Saturday.

The first La Crosse Mayor's Neighborhood Conference began at 8:30 a.m. and included presentations by the La Crosse Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, Couleecap and the city's planning department.

Richard Kyte, director of Viterbo University's D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership, also addressed civic engagement during a special keynote address. Social capital — a measurement of civic engagement — is defined as a network of relationships that help communities bond and build trust and cohesion.

“Social capital is correlated with all of the good things that we want,” such as a safe and welcoming neighborhood, he said. “When we focus on one thing, social capital seems to be the key.”

The key factors of increasing social capital include volunteering, commuting, “third places” and natural beauty, Kyte said. Therefore, people that volunteer their time and resources regularly, spend minimal time commuting, feel welcomed and accepted in a place other than their home and work, and live in a place of natural beauty will be happier and more engaged in their communities overall.

People that don't volunteer, commute for several minutes every day, aren't involved in a “third place” and aren't aesthetically pleased by their surrounding won't have a good social capital, he said.

“La Crosse is the fourth in the state of measured cities for social capital index,” Kyte said. “We have some of the highest social capital in La Crosse than anywhere in the nation.”

By maintaining — and improving — social capital, the safety and character of a community will advance. But there are other ways La Crosse residents can promote a secure neighborhood.

Phil Ostrem, a representative of the Powell Poage Hamilton Neighborhood Association, and Lisa Barrix, community policing officer of the La Crosse Police Department, informed event-goers on how to prevent crime by improving the appearance of their home. If a home is well groomed and maintained, a criminal is less likely to strike, Barrix said.

“The biggest thing is if people see that you care about your property and it's taken care of, people see is as less of a target,” she said.

Barrix also encouraged residents to build relationships with their neighbors and watch out for one another.

“No one group can reduce crime by themselves,” she said. “Everyone needs to work together to make La Crosse a better place to live.”

The event was designed with the goal of bringing local groups and associations together to share ideas on how to reduce crime and enhance the quality of life and welfare of residents in La Crosse.

By spotlighting the possibilities of a safer, more welcoming place to live, it'll encourage people to get involved in their neighborhood and get to know their neighbors, said Janice Hauswirth of the Washburn Neighborhood.

“It's important to become involved in your neighborhood,” she said. “You think you alone cannot make a difference, but you can.”

Plans for next year's conference are already in the works, said Mayor Tim Kabat. Meanwhile, he intends on continuing working with local neighborhood associations and encouraging other residents to become involved.

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/neighborhood-conference-discusses-strategies-for-happier-safer-la-crosse/article_29e8e08e-3454-5ba5-a7b7-3b8d090e6bd5.html

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Michigan

Self-defense shootings spike in West Michigan, anecdotes show

by Angie Jackson

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – It was after 2 a.m. on a January night when a musician who had played at Yester Years Lounge left the bar on South Division Avenue and began loading band equipment into his nearby vehicle. The musician was caught off-guard when a gunman approached, stole items from the vehicle and pointed a weapon at him.

Then it was the robber's turn to be surprised: The musician had a concealed pistol license and a 9 mm handgun. The suspect was hit once in the torso. The injured man's “hollering” made it easy for responding police to locate him. The suspect was hospitalized and later charged with armed robbery.

The Jan. 19 shooting is one of a handful of recent high-profile incidents in West Michigan pitting criminals against CPL holders. In this case and that of a fatal shooting outside the New York Fried Chicken restaurant, the CPL holders who fired their weapons were not injured. And neither of those men has been charged in connection with the shootings.

In another self-defense shooting in Ionia last September, two CPL holders involved in an argument both died in an exchange of gunfire. Police say that stemmed from road rage.

The rights of CPL holders continue to be a controversial topic in Grand Rapids and its suburbs. It's a debate that stirs people's passions, and fractures into many camps.

Some have questioned how frequently CPL holders actually use their weapons. While there appears to be a local spike in these gun owners pulling their weapons for defense, it's impossible to say for sure.

That's because CPL involvement isn't factored into data that is categorized by law enforcement at a local or even a statewide level.

So the only way to track the actual frequency of self-defense shootings by CPL holders would be to pore over every shooting report individually.

In January, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said law-abiding CPL holders could deter violent crimes. He added to the contention that more guns equal less crime.

“It's almost a statement of ignorance when you consider there's no data,” said the Rev. Jerry Bishop of Lifequest Urban Outreach Center in Grand Rapids. He has been active in anti-violence efforts in the city. “That is an inconclusive statement that has created a bunch of hype to arm people.”

Local law enforcement officers say while the information would be interesting to know, it would be more relevant for legislative purposes than for policing.

But Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, whose district includes Allegan and Barry counties, argues data on self-defense shootings isn't necessary to illustrate that CPL holders prevent crimes from being carried out.

“I think that it's widely accepted by the majority that if you have some sort of weapon, you're able to defend yourself,” he said.

ANECDOTES, NOT RECORDS

New York Fried Chicken was busy the October night that two friends in their 20s ordered food from the South Division Avenue take-out restaurant following a concert in downtown Grand Rapids. The two were among an estimated three dozen customers in the parking lot when 20-year-old Delorian Taylor approached and pointed a gun at the chest of one of the men, unaware he was a CPL holder.

The man fired at Taylor from where they stood between two parked cars. Six shots hit Taylor, fatally wounding him.

The CPL holder's friend, 23-year-old Domnick Floyd, was subsequently killed by a bullet fired from an unknown person across the parking as the pair drove off. Police continue to investigate Floyd's homicide, and Kent County Prosecutor Bill Forsyth has not yet issued an opinion on whether the CPL holder – who has not been identified – was justified in killing Taylor.

The law mandates which information Michigan State Police collects on CPL holders, a spokesperson for the agency said. The state's firearms unit maintains a database that creates an annual report detailing the number of CPL holders who have licenses revoked or suspended due to criminal charges and other violations.

Record keepers with the Kent, Ionia, Allegan and Ottawa County sheriff's departments said they also don't collect records on self-defense shootings. Kent County Undersheriff Jon Hess said state police set the precedent on some crime data collection.

Justifiable homicides are tracked, but reports don't distinguish whether the shooter was licensed. The only way to discern whether any shooting, fatal or not, involved a CPL holder would be to scour police report narratives, Grand Rapids Police Lt. Pat Merrill said.

“I know the feds are not collecting anything specific for that,” he said. “We don't have anything like that. Nobody does.”

'COMMUNITY INJUSTICE'

Jeff Lodholtz, an NRA-certified CPL course instructor in Montcalm County, believes citizens who lawfully carry concealed guns deter crime. He'd love to be able to present his classes with hard facts to back up the claim, but the many gray areas in guns laws could make the reporting process a “logistical nightmare,” he said. He noted law enforcement agencies would have to follow a shooting case from start to finish, keeping tabs on possible forthcoming charges, to be sure whether a CPL holder acted in self-defense.

“I'd love to see the numbers. I'd love to see the data. I'd love to see that because it interests me,” Lodholtz said. “If I'm looking at it strictly as a taxpayer … I don't want somebody to come to me election time and say we need more money for this. That would just make me mad.”

Bishop questioned why agencies collect data for countless other incidents but not self-defense shootings. He called it a “community injustice” at a time when guns often dominate the conversation on crime.

“The compassion of the community should call us to say, ‘Hey listen, let's track this data,'” he said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2014/03/anecdotes_show_spike_in_self-d.html

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From the Department of Homeland Security

Supporting Women and Girls Through the Homeland Security Mission

During Women's History Month and every day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) upholds the commitment to the rights, security and dignity of women and girls in everything we do. Through our work to combat human trafficking, protect the rights of immigrants who are victims of domestic violence and other crimes, and ensure parents have the tools they need to keep their children safe online, DHS continues to foster various initiatives that focus specifically on reaching out to and empowering women and girls every day.

We also uphold that commitment within our own workforce, by doing all we can to recruit qualified and talented staff, and by helping to create an environment where everyone has the opportunity to advance and thrive.

Leaders like Julia Pierson, who last year became the first female Director of the U.S. Secret Service, and Connie Patrick, the first female Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), have paved the way for women in law enforcement. These women are role models whose success encourages today's young girls to pursue their dreams. They are also outstanding leaders, pure and simple.

DHS is proud to have so many remarkable women serving across the Department, including Kirstin Grote, Marcy Donnelly and Harleen Singh, three individuals featured as part of our Faces of Homeland Security. We recognize those who serve on the frontlines to ensure our Nation's borders are secure, our traveling public is safe, and our cyber infrastructure is protected.

And through the work of the Blue Campaign, DHS' unified voice to combat human trafficking; the DHS Council on Combating Violence Against Women; the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center's (FLETC) international Women in Law Enforcement Leadership Training Program; and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) immigration relief for victims of crimes, as well as many others, DHS provides resources for the safety and empowerment of women and girls throughout the United States.

I am proud to serve alongside so many remarkable women from across DHS, and to continue our work for the protection and security of women and girls every day.

http://www.dhs.gov/blog/2014/03/28/supporting-women-and-girls-through-homeland-security-mission

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New York

NYPD gets first inspector general — Washingtonian Philip Eure — as some cops react warily

In Washington, Eure has taken on so-called 'contempt of cop' arrests in which police arrest civilians on disorderly conduct charges. The New York City Council created his new post despite pushback from police unions claiming redundancy with the department's internal affairs unit.

by Rocco Parascandola , Greg B. Smith , Corky Siemaszko

He will be policing the police.

New York City on Friday appointed out-of-towner Philip Eure as its first inspector general for the NYPD.

Eure, whose job will be to oversee the nation's biggest police force, says he's up for the challenge.

“Leading the first inspector general office of the NYPD is an incredible opportunity to work with the premier police department [that] is globally recognized in one of the greatest cities in the world,” said Eure, 52, who starts May 27.

Eure, currently head of the District of Columbia Office of Police Complaints, insisted his office would not duplicate the work of the NYPD's internal affairs unit or the Civilian Complaint Review Board as some critics have claimed.

“The NYPDIG will not be redundant,” he said. “It will, however, fill a void.”

Police Commissioner William Bratton, who met Eure earlier, said, "I'm sure we'll have a collegial and collaborative relationship."

Eure will be “looking into the existing policies and procedures of the department,” said Bratton. “So it's a pretty broad-based set of responsibilities.”

Bratton said he has experience working with oversight — when he was Los Angeles' police chief, he answered to a federal monitor.

“You don't fight with them, you work with them, you agree to disagree, you make your best case,” he said. “It worked out quite well in Los Angeles.”

Eure got a wary welcome from Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives' Endowment Association.

“This is definitely a new frontier for the NYPD and how we all will coexist is going to be interesting,” he said. “But at the end of the day it is about working together for the safety of our city.”

Palladino said he had not met Eure, but expected “him to reach out quickly to have some open dialogue with the unions.”

Councilman Jumaane Williams and Brad Lander, both Brooklyn Democrats who were big critics of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactics, were sponsors of the law that created the civilian post. They praised Eure's appointment — and the decision to increase his staff from 30 to 50.

“These reforms will help reverse the damage done over the last 12 years and re-establish ties to communities long ignored,” they said in a statement.

Eure was the choice of Mayor de Blasio and city Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters, who was tasked with finding a candidate for the post under a new law passed by the City Council last year.

Then-Mayor Bloomberg and the police unions vigorously opposed the new position, saying the NYPD already had the IAB to monitor cops. Bloomberg vetoed the bill, but the Council overrode his veto.

Eure may be a blank slate to the 35,000-strong New York Police Department, but he has headed the agency that oversees the much smaller 4,000-member Washington police department since 2001.

Before that, Eure was an assistant federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division.

Eure make his mark cracking down on so-called “contempt of cop” cases — civilians illegally arrested after making disparaging comments to cops.

The police unions called Eure's new post a waste of taxpayer money and redundant to the department's internal affairs unit.

Eure contends that aggressive civilian oversight is crucial to eliminating abuse by police, which he says undermines their credibility in the communities they serve.

In a 2010 paper, Eure noted that police abuse of such laws “can have far-reaching consequences ranging from undermining the public's confidence in the police to the inefficient allocation of law enforcement resources.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/philip-eure-picked-nyc-inspector-general-nypd-article-1.1737785

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North Carolina

From the Editor:

Charlotte provides model for community policing as "Seeking Safety" project continues

by Michael Adams

The next installment of our yearlong "Seeking Safety" project appears in Sunday's newspaper. The story by Greg Barnes focuses on the community policing program in Charlotte -- a program that has become a national model for success.

What makes this story especially interesting is that our police chief, Harold Medlock, spent his career in Charlotte before taking the job here. He's steeped in the methods that have worked in the Queen City and has set his aim on bringing similar strategies to Fayetteville. It's something that requires a long view -- Medlock told Barnes that getting the concepts of community policing deeply rooted in the department could take a decade.

At its core, community policing depends on police officers building relationships in the neighborhoods where they work. And that means they need time, time out of their cars getting to see and be seen, time to participate in community programs, time simply to be a comfortable rather than threatening presence.

In Barnes' story, he looks at how Charlotte grew to embrace the concept and how the officers there use their time to build bridges to residents, who then become their partners in fighting crime.

In the same package, you can read about a gathering of community leaders held at the newspaper Thursday evening. We invited people from local government, law enforcement, churches, schools and non-profits to a "community conversation" on crime, what lessons we've learned through our "Seeking Safety" reporting and where their leadership can take us.

http://www.fayobserver.com/blogs/news/from_the_editor/article_a36dd016-b6b7-11e3-957f-0017a43b2370.html

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Texas

Community, police work to clean up Rundberg

by SHANNON MURRAY

AUSTIN -- Austin police are rolling out the plans for Restore Rundberg. It's an initiative two years in the making, and police say the plan to cleanup the crime-stricken area won't work without the help of the people who live there.

City and community leaders have been designing a plan since 2012, thanks to a $1 million grant from the Department of Justice. Now that the DOJ approved that plan, Austin Police are ready to get started.

The Rundberg neighborhood makes up only 2 percent of the city, yet it's known as one of the most dangerous.

"Data shows that the hot spots are here. When we did our analysis with UT and we picked our specific three spots. Twenty-one percent of the crime was occurring in those three hot spots," said APD commander Donald Baker. "So we figure it's very place-based strategy, narrowed it down and then we're looking at evidence based tactics. What can we do that research shows is effective?"

"Rundberg's known for its crime activity. Drugs, prostitution, gang activity," said former gang-member Louie Mejia. "The only place it's going to get you is dead or in jail."

As a leader for Ken Street Bible Study, Mejia and his friends have turned their lives around.

"The homeboys were the ones terrorizing the neighborhood, now they're trying to evangelize the neighborhood," said bible study leader "Big Joe" Hernandez.

The group is working closely with the police to help with Restore Rundberg by attending meetings and community cleanups and mentoring in youth programs.

"It's just basically people from the hood that are looking for a change," Hernandez said.

It's a much different relationship than Hernandez had in the past.

"We're bred in the streets to hate the cops, you know?" he said. "They're above any gang. They're like our mortal enemy."

"This is community policing," said Baker. "We want to come up and not have a resident that's fearful of us. [We want to] come up and talk to him."

Baker is part of the team that helped create a plan under Restore Rundberg that focuses on four top priorities: economic development, a senior/health center, youth after school programs and affordable housing.

"How do we get business owners, residents, people that want to assist with the issues that are going on to make it to where people feel safe and are safe," he said.

Another major part of the plan is a mobile policing unit. In addition to the usual patrols in the area, six to eight additional officers will be there on foot.

"The focus is not to go out there and do a lot of enforcement. It's more high visibility and community engagement," Baker said. "It's neighbors helping neighbors. We are part of it. The police department can't be the solution for everything."

Mejia said they're happy to help bridge the gap.

"It's time to do something positive, something good," Mejia said.

Officers on foot patrol will start April 5 and continue for the next three years.

According to a study conducted by the Restore Rundberg team, between 2009 and 2012, the Rundberg area saw a higher proportion of crime than you'd expect for an area making up 5 percent of Austin's population. It had 11 percent of the city's violent crime, 7 percent of the city's property crime and 34 percent of the prostitution incidents for the entire city.

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/Former-gang-members-police-work-together-252776371.html

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Iowa

DMACC club donates money to buy vest for police dog

by Christopher Pratt

When "Titan," Des Moines' newest police dog, hits the streets in a few weeks, he'll be a bit more protected in the often dangerous work of the department's canine unit.

After washing dogs and selling baked goods, the Des Moines Area Community College veterinary technology club donated $1,450 they raised to buy a bullet-proof vest for the department's new four-legged officer.

Des Moines Police Officer Tony Ballantini will soon go to Indiana to meet Titan for a six-week training course to learn how to handle the young German shepherd.

Ballantini thanked about 20 veterinary technology club members who attended a check presentation Thursday at DMACC's Ankeny campus.

"It's very generous and I appreciate it," said Ballantini, adding dogs help in community policing efforts such as outreach to youngsters.

Des Moines Police Chief Humane Officer Sgt. James Butler said the donation will aid community policing efforts. Though police dogs are bought through the city's normal bidding process and assigned an officer who acts as their owner, community donations are also important to the animals, Butler said.

Titan will be fifth dog assigned to the canine patrol unit, which was established in 2000. It uses dogs for a variety of purposes like tracking missing persons and searching for evidence and drugs. Three other dogs are used for single purpose uses, including narcotics and airport operations.

Community members often form connections with the animals. One former dog Reno, who was shot while on duty in 2004, had a dog park named after him in Des Moines. Reno died in 2012.

DeeDee Schumacher, a professor at DMACC's veterinary technology program, said she grew to value the dogs after working at a clinic where Des Moines' police dogs came for treatment.

Sgt. Mark Miller, a fellow member of the canine unit, told the group how much he has grown to appreciate the relationship he has with his dog Emir. He also demonstrated for them how proficient Emir is at sniffing out controlled substances.

"Statistically you're still only going to find the bad guys 65 percent of the time, whereas with the police dog you're going to find them 98 percent of the time," Miller said. "The big difference is the nose."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2014/03/28/dmacc-donates-money-police-dog/6987891/

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Tennessee

Lebanon Citizens Police Academy underway

Some local citizens are in the midst of stepping into the shoes of some of our local law enforcement officers.

by Caitlin Rickard

The Lebanon Police Department's Citizens Police Academy is now underway, and Chief Scott Bowen said the program has had an “absolutely good turnout.”

Bowen said about 18-19 people signed up for this academy, which is a volunteer program that is offered to residents and business owners to help educate and inform the community.

“That's about the right size we like to have, about 18-25 people,” said Bowen. “Any more than that and it can get hard with all of the hands-on stuff we do throughout the class.”

According to Bowen, the program has been very successful and has been going on for about 17 years.

“We find that the citizens really enjoy this, and to be honest, the staff enjoys it just as much if not more because they get to share what they do,” Bowen said. “It's just a really good time for everyone, and we enjoy the positive feedback.”

The program began Thursday night and will meet every Thursday for six weeks from 6-9 p.m. in the courtroom of the Lebanon Police Department. The participation cost is free to the public.

The volunteer police academy consists of lectures, presentations and hands-on activities to teach and inform participants of the many sides of law enforcement and also to introduce the police department that serves them and the community. The program aims to give citizens a better sense of the department and everyday operations as well as highlight the public's role in the Community Oriented Policing philosophy.

“[Thursday] night was the introduction to the police department and just a general overview of the department and things like that,” Bowen said. “From there they'll get to do various things, like a narcotics detective will come in one night, one night we'll have driving safety tips, one night we'll have crime prevention.”

He said there are hands-on activities each night of the program.

Participants will also learn what goes on in the department as well as see different functions and programs within the department each week during different themes that include community relations, SWAT and the K-9 Unit, Bowen said.

Another thing people enjoy, Bowen added, is the forensics team.

“Everyone likes the forensics team because they get to lift fingerprints and tire tracks,” Bowen said.

Bowen said the part that he thinks the participants enjoy most during the program is getting to participate in two ride-alongs with officers.

“I think they enjoy the ride-along most because they get that one-on-one time with an officer and that's just another piece to building rapport with the community,” Bowen said. “Citizens are more likely to share information or call us if they're more in tune with the people in the department working.”

Bowen said that over the years, people have also came back and gone through the program again because it is constantly updating and changing due to changing times and circumstances.

“It's been very successful and our volunteer program actually came out of the Citizen Police Academy,” Bowen said. “At the end of six weeks, people are just like ‘what more can I do?'”

Overall, Bowen said the academy has been one of the most successful programs the department has done since he's been there.

“Our staff enjoys it and loves participating as well as the citizen participating so it's just a great way to show citizens what it is we do and build rapport with them and the community,” Bowen said.

http://www.lebanondemocrat.com/article/364641?topstories=

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How you can make private security partners a big police asset

by Doug Wyllie, PoliceOne Editor in Chief

ILEETA presenter explains why not tapping into information from private security personnel is like leaving money on the table

There's no denying that there are private security people who have absolutely no business being in any way involved in your law enforcement efforts. But if you choose your private security partners wisely and well, they can be a tremendous force multiplier. If you're careful and strategic about the partnerships you build, you will gain access to individuals who are trained observers, you will have the opportunity to tap into vast amounts of information and databases kept by private security companies, and you will have engaged community stakeholders is the basic functions of community policing and directed criminal interdiction.

During ILEETA 2014, Andre Queen — a Former Deputy Chief with the Illinois Auxiliary Police Reserve and currently the President of a Chicago-based private security company — gave an excellent presentation on how agencies might maximize the available resources represented by local private security entities.

Being Selective and Strategic

It all begins with proper selection and screening of potential members of the group. Ideally, you will be able to identify what Queen called “bridge members.”

“You want to identify folks who are security directors and managers who are also former law enforcement,” Queen said.

You've got gang members and convicted felons who are making their way into security officer jobs — hell, there are gang members who are in the United States military — so you have to constantly evaluate the personnel with whom you're partnering.

“Screening is an ongoing process,” Queen explained. “Some states certify individuals to work as security officers who have criminal histories, and some states don't immediately revoke security credentials for individuals charged with serious crimes.”

Queen explained that in many places, the state requires the individual to voluntarily report being arrested and charged with a crime. “How many people do you think actually do that. Not a lot, right?”

Due to the fact that most state licensing agencies for private security are not police agencies, your department's criminal intelligence database may reveal a security officer with gang or other criminal affiliations.

“Do your due diligence!” Queen added.

5 Evaluation Guidelines

Queen then gave five basic guidelines you might consider as your starting point for your own evaluation and selection of private security to be given “membership” in your public/private partnership.

Avoid providing membership to entry-level guards or support personnel.

Approach business leaders to explain what you are looking for in a prospective participant.

Recruit security managers whenever possible. If not possible, then a senior supervisor.

Fully screen individuals who present themselves for membership from their respective security department. Conduct private one-on-one sessions, to “get a feel for the person” and explain your expectations.

Don't be afraid to say “no” and refuse a prospective member.

Throughout the process, you will also need to identify the range of the partnership (how large of an area to cover: from a local, neighborhood focus all the way up to citywide or regional domain), and determine the scope of the effort.

“What type of criminal activity are you looking for? This will determine who your members should be. If you're going to go fishing, you should know what kind of fish you're trying to catch.”

If you're targeting organized retail theft, you're naturally going to want to partner with retail security, but you should not dismiss inviting local hotel security too. “Bad guys stay at hotels,” he explained.

“Unless you are establishing your group for the sole purpose of addressing a specific concern, do not limit your membership to specific industry security personnel. You don't know what other security departments bring to the table until you invite them,” Queen said. “Bringing different types of security departments from different industries together can yield unexpected rewards.”

Two Types of Approach

Queen described two basic models — the beat cop approach and the group approach — which you may consider when implementing a partnership.

The beat cop model is simple, implementable, and scalable.

“Stop in and visit the security officers at specific locations you want to include in your network. Talk to the security guards and determine who you may select as your point person at that location. Get contact information to keep with your cell phone. Repeat this step for every location you wish to add to your network,” Queen said.

“In this method, you'll likely be drawing more information from entry-level guards, and less from security managers who may not be on site or available at the time of your visit to that location.”

Queen suggested choosing a specific security supervisor or officer, per location, for regular contact. He said you should conduct “an informal field interview type of screen to get a feel for the individual. Talk to their manager,” he added.

The group model is a little more complex, in part by virtue of the fact that there are simply more players involved. As noted above, groups can be created to address multiple criminal concerns or have a singular focus. “Some groups begin as a single-purpose group, and later evolve into a multipurpose group,” Queen said.

Once you've identified your range and scope as noted above, you'll want to create a letter of invitation to security managers at locations you wish to join the organization. “Invite them to a formation meeting, and explain that membership is restricted to security professionals only, at the level of security supervisor or above,” Queen said.

“If possible, hand deliver the letter to the security manager of each organization you wish to add. This allows you your first opportunity to build that relationship, and to feel out the individual.”

Hold regular meetings with the group, and communicate clearly the purposes and objectives of the effort.

“Use the first meeting to establish the purpose of the organization, and the expectations and the frequency of meetings. During the first meeting, you should state who is qualified for membership in the organization, and establish basic parameters of what information is to be shared outside of the membership, and to whom, and when.”

One Final Word of Caution

Security officers collect a ton of information — information on the people they catch in engaged in criminal activities from retail theft to trespassing — and that date goes into vast records which transcend jurisdictional boundaries.

“That information can be invaluable evidence for your investigation into criminal activity you're investigating,” Queen said.

Queen cautioned, however, that you have to be careful about exchange of information — you must ensure that you're not treading in legally indefensible waters.

Some police/security group models have:

• Only shared information about individuals orally, but not in written form, due to liability concerns under federal and state employment and privacy laws.

• Some partnerships provide the most sensitive information only to fully vetted members, although associate members may access other benefits of membership, such as training.

Think of your selected private security partners as the fixed-position sentries. They're there before your car rolls through the area, and they're there afterward. They see the people scatter when you roll by, and they see them return after you've left.

Not tapping into some of the information and observations certain private security personnel gather is like leaving money on the table.

About the author

Doug Wyllie is Editor in Chief of PoliceOne, responsible for setting the editorial direction of the website and managing the planned editorial features by our roster of expert writers. In addition to his editorial and managerial responsibilities, Doug has authored more than 750 feature articles and tactical tips on a wide range of topics and trends that affect the law enforcement community. Doug is a member of International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), and an Associate Member of the California Peace Officers' Association. He is also a member of the Public Safety Writers Association, and is a three-time (2011, 2012, and 2014) Western Publishing Association "Maggie Award" Finalist in the category of Best Regularly Featured Digital Edition Column. Even in his "spare" time, he is active in his support for the law enforcement community, contributing his time and talents toward police-related charitable events as well as participating in force-on-force training, search-and-rescue training, and other scenario-based training designed to prepare cops for the fight they face every day on the street.

http://www.policeone.com/gangs/articles/7021552-How-you-can-make-private-security-partners-a-big-police-asset/

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Hospital ratings show sharp differences in safety, chance of dying

by Sharon Begley

An analysis of government data on hospital safety, including how likely patients are to die of avoidable surgical complications, shows that hospitals vary markedly on these measures and that patients are at higher risk in some nationally-known facilities than at tiny hospitals little known outside their rural communities.

The safety ratings of 2,591 hospitals, released by Consumer Reports magazine on Thursday, come at a time when estimates of the number of Americans killed by hospital errors is soaring.

According to the 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine that first put a spotlight on the issue, the death toll from medical mistakes in hospitals was at least 98,000 then. In 2010, however, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general said that poor hospital care contributed to 180,000 deaths every year - and that was only among Medicare patients, those 65 or older. And a 2013 study estimated such deaths at a minimum of 210,000 annually and as many as 440,000.

If the highest number is correct, poor hospital care would be the country's third leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer.

In 2011, 722,000 annual hospital-acquired infections alone killed 75,000 patients, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Wednesday.

The Consumer Reports hospital safety analysis comes eight months after it released ratings of the quality of surgical care at 2,463 hospitals, based on the percentage of Medicare patients who died in the hospital during or after their surgery and the percentage who stayed in the hospital longer than expected.

For the current analysis, Consumer Reports compiled data on readmissions (often a sign of poor initial care or follow-up, and something Medicare now penalizes hospitals for), overuse of CT scans (which can cause cancer years later), hospital-acquired infections, communication (on, for instance, medication doses after a patient is discharged) and mortality.

The latter was composed of patients who had a heart attack, heart failure, or pneumonia and died within 30 days of entering the hospital, plus surgery-related deaths, meaning patients who had treatable but ultimately fatal complications after an operation. Those include blood clots in the legs or lungs, or cardiac arrest.

All of the data were adjusted so that hospitals were not penalized for having sicker patients.

Combining the raw data yielded a safety score of 0 to 100. Miles Memorial Hospital in tiny Damariscotta, Maine, came out on top with a safety score of 78, while Bolivar Medical Center in Cleveland, Mississippi, brought up the rear with an 11.

The data all came from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, part of HHS, and were as recent as 2012-2013 (for bloodstream infections) and as old as 2009-2011 (for adverse events in surgical patients). Data on deaths, readmission, and CTs were from patients 65 or older, while that on hospital-acquired infections was for patients of all ages.

RATERS TEND TO DISAGREE

The differences between hospitals at the top and bottom can be a matter of life and death.

Patients who are hospitalized for pneumonia at a low-scoring facility were 67 percent more likely to die within 30 days of admission than pneumonia patients at a top-scoring hospital, according to the Consumer Reports analysis. Of 1,000 surgical patients who develop a serious surgical complication in a top-rated hospital, 87 or fewer die, compared to more than 132 in a low-rated one - a 52 percent higher fatality risk.

Consumers are likely to be frustrated if they look up their local hospital on both Consumer Reports and Medicare's Hospital Compare, which is at Medicare.gov/hospitalcompare. In both, many kinds of data are missing from many hospitals.

For some hospitals, the results are fairly consistent across ratings. Bolivar Medical Center in Cleveland, Mississippi, got Consumer Reports' lowest safety rating, 11. Medicare shows that its death rate for pneumonia and heart failure patients are worse than the national average, as is its readmission rate. Bolivar declined to comment.

In other cases, however, raters disagree. Consumer Reports gave a Nyack Hospital in Nyack, New York, a safety score of 25, tied for ninth worst. But Medicare says its rate of surgical complications is about average, as are readmission and death rates for pneumonia, heart attack, and heart failure patients. A spokeswoman for Nyack declined to comment.

There is disagreement at the high end, too. Miles Memorial, which received the highest safety rating in the Consumer Reports analysis, had rates of surgical complications, infections, death from pneumonia and heart failure, and readmission of heart failure and pneumonia patients no different from the national average, according to Medicare. It did very well in avoiding unnecessary imaging, however.

One reason is that Medicare might regard a hospital's infection or mortality rate as "average" if it is just a few percentage points below the U.S. average, explained Doris Peter, associate director of Consumer Reports Health, who led the data analysis. But the magazine would see that as below average.

The article is available in the May issue of Consumer Reports and online at www.ConsumerReports.org, but accessing the ratings of individual hospitals at www.ConsumerReports.org/hospitalratings requires a paid subscription.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/us-hospitals-ratings-idUSBREA2Q0NC20140327

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Washington

90 still missing in fatal Washington state mudslide; 16 bodies recovered

The number of missing was at one time 220 from the devastating slide on Saturday, but that number has dropped as authorities found duplicate names and others alive. While 16 bodies have been found, authorities think the death toll is at least 24 as the search continues.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DARRINGTON, Wash. — Washington authorities on Wednesday reduced the number of people missing from a community wiped out by a mudslide to 90, as the families and friends of those still unaccounted for begin to confront the reality that some may never be found.

The official death toll remains at 16, with an additional eight bodies located but not recovered, Snohomish County Emergency Management Director John Pennington said. Authorities said they expected more bodies to be found on Thursday.

The number of missing had been fluctuating — at one point reaching as high as 220 — but authorities were able to verify that 140 people reported missing had been located, Pennington said. That left 90 people missing, plus 35 others who may or may not have been in the area at the time of the slide.

The revised numbers come at the end of a rain-soaked fifth day of searching for survivors in the small community of Oso, some 55 miles southeast of Seattle. But as time passes and the death toll continues to rise, the chances grow increasingly dim of finding people alive amid the debris.

With little hope to cling to, family members of the missing are beginning realize their loved ones may remain entombed forever inside a mountain of mud that is believed to have claimed more than 20 lives.

Becky Bach watches and waits, hoping that search crews find her brother and three other relatives who are missing in Washington state's deadly mudslide.

Doug Massingale waits too, for word about his 4-month-old granddaughter. Searchers were able to identify carpet from the infant's bedroom, but a log jam stood in the way of a more thorough effort to find little Sanoah Huestis, known as “Snowy.”

“It just generates so many questions if they don't find them,” Bach said. “I've never known anyb ody to die in a natural disaster. Do they issue death certificates?”

Search crews using dogs, bulldozers and their bare hands kept slogging through the mess of broken wood and mud, but authorities have acknowledged they might have to leave some victims buried.

Trying to recover every corpse would be impractical and dangerous.

The debris field is about a square mile and 30 to 40 feet deep in places, with a moon-like surface that includes quicksand-like muck, rain-slickened mud and ice. The terrain is difficult to navigate on foot and makes it treacherous or impossible to bring in heavy equipment.

To make matters worse, the pile is laced with other hazards that include fallen trees, propane and septic tanks, twisted vehicles and countless shards of shattered homes.

“We have to get on with our lives at some point,” said Bach, who has spent the past several days in the area in hopes that searchers would find her brother, his wife, her 20-year-old great niece and the young girl's fiance.

The knowledge that some victims could be abandoned to the earth is difficult to accept.

“Realistically ...I honestly don't think they're going to find them alive,” Bach said, crying. “But as a family, we're trying to figure out what to do if they find no bodies.”

Bach spoke via phone about a wedding the family had planned for summer at the rural home that was destroyed. And how, she wondered, do you plan a funeral without a body? “We'll probably just have a memorial, and if they find the bodies eventually, then we'll deal with that then.”

A death certificate, issued by the state, is legal proof that someone has died. Families often need them to settle their affairs. The authority to issue them starts with a county medical examiner or coroner, said Donn Moyer, spokesman for the Washington State Department of Health. If and when it appears there is no chance of finding someone, people can ask the county to start that process.

In previous mudslides, many victims were left where they perished. Mudslides killed thousands in Venezuela in 1999, and about 1,500 bodies were found. But the death toll was estimated at 5,000 to 30,000, so the government declared entire neighborhoods “memorial grounds.”

Two Washington National Guard Blackhawk helicopters arrived at the site Wednesday to relieve sheriff's helicopter crews that had been working since Saturday.

The Blackhawks' sole mission is body removal, said Bill Quistorf, chief pilot for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.

Other survivors began to grow impatient Wednesday that they weren't allowed to return to the sites of their homes to search for their valuables and keepsakes.

“This isn't right. All of us who are still alive need to have access and find what we can of our lives,” said Robin Youngblood, who said her son-in-law was turned away from the slide site.

As families grieved, officials were pressed again Wednesday about multiple reports from years ago that showed the potential for catastrophic landslides in the area.

Pennington said authorities took steps to mitigate risks and warn people of potential dangers, especially after a 2006 landslide in the area. But the sheer size of this disaster was overwhelming.

“It haunts me,” a sometimes-emotional Pennington told reporters. “I think we did what we could do. Sometimes large slides happen.”

Massingale said he's grateful that his daughter, Natasha Huestis, survived the slide. She had gone to Arlington that morning and left her baby with her mother, Christina Jefferds. Her husband Seth, a volunteer firefighter, was also away at the time.

“She didn't suffer,” Massingale said after he was told about Christina's death.

Massingale said he would miss his first grandchild, a sweet, pretty and smiley child.

“It's stressful to think about,” he said. “A little baby that hasn't gotten a start yet in life. It's too much.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/90-missing-fatal-washington-state-mudslide-16-bodies-recovered-article-1.1736117

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Wisconsin

Green Bay police report decline in violent and property crimes

by Nathan Phelps

Violent and property crimes in Green Bay dropped by a little more than 8 percent last year.

Annual numbers from the Green Bay Police Department showed violent crimes such as rape and robbery fell by 5 percent in 2013. Property crime, which includes vehicle thefts and burglary, fell by nearly 9 percent from the previous year.

The downturn comes as the Green Bay Police Department continues to adapt many practices of community policing across its force. While not wholly responsible for the decline in crime numbers — weather, community education, intervention from other community service providers, are others — it is believed to be one of the factors.

“We had some months where the numbers were higher than the previous year, but when you averaged out the entire year, the numbers came down,” said Green Bay Police Department Capt. Bill Galvin, who works one of the districts on the city's east side.

Three homicides were reported last year, the same number since 2011, while rape was reported to be down almost 32 percent; robberies down 3.6 percent; and assaults down 2.3 percent, according to the Uniform Crime Report filed by the Green Bay Police Department.

Burglary was down 11.7 percent; thefts fell 8.3 percent; and vehicle thefts were down 5.5 percent. Arson showed the only increase at 6.7 percent — one more case than was reported in 2012.

Preliminary numbers in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Report for January through June 2013 indicated agencies around the country reported a drop of 5.4 percent in both violent and property crimes.

The full FBI report will be released later in the year.

One of the initiatives launched in Green Bay last year included officers increasing the number of “self-initiated” calls. Those calls include cases in which officers check on an open door on a building, check the security of parked cars, or call in gang graffiti painted on a wall rather than reacting to calls for service from the community.

“Some of that is expected and some of that has increased because of our initiative,” Galvin said. “For a long time our department had a philosophy that we had 18 officers assigned to community policing. That philosophy has changed to we're all policemen and we should all be embracing ... the community policing ideals and using those when we're doing our work.”

That trend started two years ago when the department transitioned from a 10-zone policing model to one that divided the city into four districts from west to east. It was aimed at creating community connections between officers and residents.

So far this year the department is seeing “good” crime numbers, but Galvin said he expects that may change when the weather improves.

“Last year the focus was private property crimes — burglaries and thefts,” he said.

“This year each district is focusing on persons, places and problems. What we want to try to do ... is instead of me telling everyone ‘We're going to reduce private property crimes for the entire district' is (focus on) one place where we're having a lot of incidents.”

That can mean anything from drugs and prostitution to assaults and traffic problems. Police will then focus on that location, groups or individuals to help eliminate the problem, he said.

“We want to be able to walk away and have it be self sustaining,” Galvin said.

“It's not just the police that solve the problem. When we look at, let's say a problem neighborhood, we ... could get human services from the county involved if we're seeing certain issues with children; we could get the schools involved; the inspection department; the department of public works; and maybe some private entities, the Boys & Girls Club.”

Crime	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
Homicide	3	3	3	2	1	2	3
Rape	32	47	60	55	66	78	68
Robbery	80	83	53	68	88	104	89
Aggravated Assault	376	385	317	250	319	320	458
Burglary	576	652	502	575	638	651	565
Theft	2020	2203	1971	1920	1980	2303	2094
Vehicle theft	103	109	110	125	125	153	184
Arson	16	15	9	6	29	17	11
Total	3206	3497	3025	2986	3246	3628	3472

Source: Green Bay Police Department

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20140325/GPG0101/303240350/Violent-crime-property-crime-down-8-Green-Bay

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California

Opinion

Police Promotions Break Neighborhood Circles of Trust

by Tasha Williamson

When Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman named her assistant chiefs, she moved deserving police captains up in the ranks – and out of the communities that need them most.

Their promotions made a few of us nervous. These captains had courageously stepped up to make changes that gradually improved community-police relations. What would happen now that they had left?

Assistant Chiefs Todd Jarvis and Terry McManus were wonderful captains. Often they gave almost too much of themselves to serve their communities. In their new executive roles, they are positioned to push for practices that work in neighborhoods, and help Zimmerman make decisions that truly address community needs.

With her team of assistant chiefs, Zimmerman can navigate through department challenges to change an antiquated system of policing. She will need to admit that racism exists, and create strategies to stop it from thriving in neighborhoods and within her own department. It appears she has already started that effort with her community town hall meetings.

But I've never seen a chief ask the community who he or she should bring in or out of neighborhoods. It's important to encourage this engagement, to remind residents these are decisions that will affect their lives and families. When leading officers leave, we often have to start all over again to build trusting relationships.

These ties are significant. I remember a distinct shift in community-police relations back in 2010, when tragedies hit close to the divisions, one after another. Over the course of a year, we lost six officers: Christopher Wilson, Jeremy Henwood, David Hall, Donna Williams with her daughter Briana, Christopher Blakely and Jason Prokop.

One officer stood to speak at a meeting in the wake of these blows: “Now we know the grief of the community, who too has lost so many valuable lives. This is incredibly hard; we are supposed to be tough.”

Residents and police found a kinship here. The relationship of trust grew stronger, and the community became safer.

We'll face another transition soon: Southeastern Division Capt. Tony McElroy is retiring in June. McElroy has been an outstanding example of police leadership — he helped break down barriers between the department and the community, and still greets many people around the neighborhood with hugs.

This would be an ideal opportunity for Zimmerman to consult residents before picking McElroy's successor. My suggestion? Lt. Debbie Farrar, who is currently serving as coordinator for the department's psychiatric emergency response team. She has shown the same passion for community, connecting with all of us both on and off the job.

Moving Farrar back into our community would keep a familiar face in power, and encourage public trust in a reliable police presence. Zimmerman should certainly continue to take advantage of the leadership and perspective our local division heads can offer. But it's this steady influence that will keep our neighborhoods strong and safe.

http://voiceofsandiego.org/2014/03/26/police-promotions-break-neighborhood-circles-of-trust/

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Alabama

Northport Police hosting 'Coffee with a Cop' event Saturday

Northport Police officers will meet with members of the public at a "Coffee with a Cop" event on Saturday.

Officers will be at the Chick-fil-A at 1620 Mcfarland Blvd. in Northport between 7 and 10:30 a.m.

The program aims to advance community policing by improving relationships between community members and officers, as well as providing time for interaction outside emergencies or emotional situations.

"Coffee with a Cop" is national initiative that is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. The local event is one of several planned by Northport Police Department's recently reinstated Community Relations Program, said Officer Carrie Baker

Baker, the department's community resource officer, said that the event is an opportunity for community members to ask questions about the department, discuss concerns and just enjoy a cup of coffee.

Any businesses interested in hosting a similar event with the Northport Police Department can call Baker at 205-469-1385 or email

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20140326/NEWS/140329768/1007?Title=Northport-Police-hosting-Coffee-with-a-Cop-event-Saturday

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Colorado

NewStart Solutions, L3C Publicly Announces First Test Pilot Program with the City of Pueblo and the Pueblo Police Department

NewStart Solutions, L3C, a Wyoming Low-Profit Limited Liability “Social Benefit” Company with operations in Colorado Springs, CO has formally introduced a new enhanced SaaS-based “Crowd Sourced Crime Fighting” solution called “CrimeSuspect.NET”.

Colorado Springs, CO -- “CSN”, is an innovative web-based Crime Tipping, Alerting, and Notification solution for improving the Community Policing efforts and Citizen Communications activities of local Law Enforcement Agencies such as Police Agencies, County Sheriff Departments, Campus Security, and local communities.

In addition, the company has announced that it has entered into a unique “45-Day Test Pilot Program” with the City of Pueblo and the Pueblo Police Department to “test drive” the CSN Community/Policing Solution.

The company has been in development of the CrimeSuspect.NET solution since early 2013 in a partnership alliance with Ensemble Ventures, LLC, a Colorado Springs, CO based business and technology development company that operates a Seed Stage Venture Ventilator supporting a variety of entrepreneurial start-up activities in Southern Colorado.

Changing the Game in Crime Fighting:

Today, Adam Leonard, the Founder and CEO of NewStart, who is a Colorado Springs native, who after a distinguished 10+ year Law Enforcement career is finally able to “go public” with his vision of developing pro-active internet-based crime fighting tools, and creating powerful communications and social networking solutions for enhancing and improving local Community Policing efforts.

On the start of his new company, Mr. Leonard commented, “I finally feel a sense of closure. I've committed the rest of my life to helping citizens and fallen officers everywhere so we can offer enhanced solutions to local law enforcement agencies to improve their community policing activities. If these solutions can help to save one life and spare a family from the tragedies that mine has suffered along with thousands of others, then I will consider myself successful in giving back.”

Launching CrimeSuspect.NET:

After over a year of development, with Ensemble and its team of business development and technology specialists, NewStart is launching two web-sites.

The first is its primary corporate web site, CrimeSuspect.NET, which outlines the vision and mission for the organization.

It can be found at: http://www.crimesuspect.net

The site outlines the concept of “Crowd-Sourced Crime-Fighting” which is a set of unique interactive Community Policing tools that CSN has developed to equip local citizens with information gathering and communications tools to help Law Enforcement fight local crime, and improve overall safety conditions for local communities.

Launching a Community/Policing Portal for the Pueblo Police Department:

The second major development is the announcement of a unique partnership between NewStart and The City of Pueblo and the Pueblo Police Department who are teaming up with NewStart to engage in an initial 45-day Test Pilot Program to test-drive and evaluate the CSN Community/Policing solution for the City of Pueblo. After seeing the "added-value" services that NewStart can offer to the citizens of Pueblo to improve Community Policing Services to the Community, as well as understanding the strong commitment to improving police investigations and citizen relationships that NewStart has, The Pueblo Police Department decided to engage with NewStart to test drive its unique solution. This site is now live and can be found at: http://csn.pueblo.us

About NewStart Solutions:

NewStart Solutions, L3C is a Wyoming registered and Colorado Springs-based, “Low Profit” social benefit company staffed by Law Enforcement Veterans and Internet Technology Professionals. They are developing a new Crowd-Sourced, Community-Based, Law Enforcement-Driven, “Crime Alerting and Notification Solution” called “CrimeSuspect.NET”. The CSN solution provides the public, as well as law enforcement officials, with a 2-way, instant data sharing, web-delivered, and local “edge-of-the-network” server-enhanced, crime-fighting solution. It addresses many of the shortfalls of current online crime tipping software services offered by local non-profit groups and associations who are using out-dated and ineffective solutions that are non-standardized.

http://www.pr.com/press-release/549264

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Georgia

Sheriff's Office Uses Facebook Videos to Share Drop in Crime

by Deon Guillory

Augusta, GA - The Richmond County Sheriff's Office has posted several videos on its Facebook page showing the community that the agency's "got your back".

The videos for the "We Got Your Back" campaign were made in house and show how the sheriff's new community policing philosophy is working.

The Facebook videos are getting many likes from viewers like you.

The Richmond County Sheriff's Office made three promotional videos that boasts the office's new approach to crime fighting and a reduction in crime.

"When we went to the community policing philosophy, we wanted to do everything we can to stay in touch with the community and the community has actually helped us solve a lot of crimes," said Lt. Lewis Blanchard.

The videos were first posted on the Richmond County Sheriff's Office Facebook page back in November, but have gained new attention after they were shared again. This coming after city leaders exempted Sheriff Richard Roundtree from an approved budget cut costing tax payers nearly $900,000. Lt. Blanchard said marketing is a part of their jobs.

"It's all a part of our community policing and it's the direction we're heading. Right now, we're operating at the same budget, basically, that we were in year's past and we're making it happen," said Lt. Blanchard

The videos are getting rave reviews from citizens.

JyNelle Handy posted "I'm applauding this plan. It's working in the Hephzibah area! Turning the corner and seeing an officer parked "in the neighborhood" makes for safer communities."

Phillip Williams says "This dramatic drop in crime shows what happens when you have a law enforcement agency that understands community policing."

Lt. Blanchard says the Sheriff's office is working with the Governor's Office of Highway Safety to make a video about traffic problems in our area. That video would be paid for by the state.

http://www.wjbf.com/story/25081937/sheriffs-office-uses-facebook-videos-to-share-drop-in-crime

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Oregon

Joint Terrorism Task Force: A look back at Portland's complicated, contentious involvement

by Brad Schmidt

Although Wednesday's conversation about Portland's relationship with the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force was comparatively subdued, the city's history with federal anti-terrorism efforts is complicated and studded with controversy:

1997: Portland joins the local Joint Terrorism Task Force, which initially focused on investigating and preventing criminal threats to the Nike World Masters Games.

2000: City Council members formalized the relationship with federal anti-terrorism efforts, despite concerns among some activist groups -- including the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, the Portland chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Portland Copwatch and the National Lawyers Guild -- about the potential for civil rights violations.

2001: In the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the City Council renews the JTTF agreement. The only no vote is Commissioner Charlie Hales: "I'm concerned the Joint Terrorism Task Force is one more case of specialized assignments dealing with the threat of the month, rather than dealing with the consistent issue of community policing," Hales said. "Are we still in the business of community policing?"

2003: City leaders agree to stay in the JTTF, but also joined more than 200 communities nationwide in passing a resolution criticizing the USA Patriot Act. "We cannot compromise on freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism," said Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who sponsored the resolution on the Patriot Act. "There's a growing climate of fear undermining our national resolve."

2004: Former police chief Tom Potter is elected mayor, and says he wants security clearance from the U.S. Justice Department to review Portland's participation in the JTTF before deciding whether to support reauthorizing the arrangement.

2005: After negotiations with federal officials fail to satisfy their worries, City Council members vote 4-1 to remove Portland officers from the JTTF. "When we look at our history, we see examples that when we blindly give people power, that sometimes the power is misused," Potter said. " I don't think whether we stay in or out of the JTTF will determine the safety of Portland citizens. I think what will determine the safety of Portland citizens is when we work together, when we watch out for each and care for each other, that our society is safer."

2010: The arrest of 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud on charges of trying to detonate a bomb in Pioneer Courthouse Square prompts Saltzman to call for Portland's immediate return to the task force.

2011: Mayor Sam Adams and the City Council vote unanimously to police involvement on an "as-needed basis."

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/03/joint_terrorism_task_force_a_l.html

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Texas

For most suburban Dallas cities, crime rates drop again

by TRISTAN HALLMAN

Taking a tough stance on crime and involving residents in police efforts is key to Dallas suburbs' efforts to boost their economic and population bases, officials say.

“When you move to a city, the first two questions you're going to ask is ‘How are the schools, and what's the crime rate like?'” Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye said.

Dye and other area police officials credited community outreach, hotspot policing, statistical crime analysis and crime prevention efforts for big drops in property crimes.

With the exception of McKinney and Mesquite, which saw crime edge up, the 10 biggest suburbs in Collin, Dallas and Denton counties all reported drops in 2013 ranging from modest to possibly historic.

Grand Prairie

The city saw murders shoot up to 12 last year after only one homicide in 2012. But nearly all of them were domestic, and Dye said there was little the department could do to prevent them.

Property crime continued to fall. Since 2010, burglaries are down 43 percent, and auto thefts are down nearly 37 percent.

The city had a sharp increase in traffic stops to help make contact with possible suspects, he said. And the department keeps a rolling list of known repeat offenders that it monitors.

Irving

Officials hailed the continued drop in major crimes last year and Police Chief Larry Boyd said community policing, offender disruptions and targeted deployments to troublesome areas helped halt crimes.

Thefts and aggravated assaults have dropped 30 percent in the past seven years, with steeper falls in burglaries and auto thefts. Only two murders were reported in 2013, down from nine in 2007.

Drops in the overall crime rate shallowed out last year, including a slight increase in robberies, which are still down 30 percent from 2007.

Garland

Crime fell, but less dramatically than in other cities, and officials are concerned. Violent crime was down about 5 percent, thanks to a drop in aggravated assaults, and property crime was down roughly 4 percent from 2012.

But auto theft jumped 9 percent, and the department couldn't explain a sudden uptick in December.

And the city reported a 13 percent increase in rapes, although the number was in line with the amount in two of the previous four years. Officials were particularly concerned that eight of the 53 rapes were reportedly committed by strangers, which they said was more than usual.

Mesquite

Total crime was barely up, but a large drop in aggravated assault paced a 9 percent drop in violent crime. There were six murders last year vs. two in 2012, but two murder-suicides — one that left a family of four dead — were behind the increase.

Police said retail shoplifting is to blame for a nearly 4 percent increase in thefts over the year. But burglaries were down 12 percent.

Lt. Bill Hedgpeth, a police spokesman, credited the city's 60 neighborhood watch programs, statistical analysis and Skywatch observation towers deployed to combat theft.

Richardson

Police Chief Jim Spivey said he was “tickled pink” with the city's crime numbers in 2013, which showed a 9 percent drop in major crimes.

Robberies, burglaries and sexual assaults were down. Spivey said the department has put special focus on burglaries, which reached what he said were all-time lows. He said a citizen patrol program and detailed data analysis have helped drive down property crimes.

“We've gotten so much better at understanding those numbers and being responsive to those numbers, we're there when the crooks are,” he said.

Plano

The city saw its lowest crime rate in 20 years, Police Chief Greg Rushin recently reported at the annual State of the City address.

The major crime rate fell nearly 8 percent from 2012.

Last year's three homicides were all linked to domestic violence. Two were murder-suicides; in the third, a man has been charged in the beating death of his wife.

Last year, police also made arrests in a major prostitution ring after a nearly two-year investigation in cooperation with federal authorities.

McKinney

Total crime edged up after property crimes rose 11 percent over 2012.

Jumps in theft and auto theft drove the rate increase. Violent crimes, meanwhile, fell 21 percent.

But the city saw only one murder, and reported rapes declined to 44 from 64 the previous year.

Frisco

The major crime rate fell 9 percent last year despite increases in thefts and auto thefts.

But decreases in other categories were enough to keep the crime rate down.

Simple assaults fell about 21 percent, and robberies were down more than 18 percent. Burglaries also decreased — by about 14 percent.

Carrollton

Crime dropped nearly 18 percent over 2012, thanks to big declines in burglary, theft and auto theft.

Chief Rex Redden said he has emphasized crime prevention and intelligence gathering. He pushes his officers to make contacts in the community and has removed some from administrative roles. He said he is “just trying to get the badges back doing police work.”

“I've asked a lot of them over the last four years, and they've responded admirably,” he said.

Lewisville

The city had an 18 percent drop in crime driven by big decreases in burglaries.

But sex offenses increased to 36 in 2013, up from 20 the previous year, and nonviolent family offenses climbed 64 percent.

Staff writers Ray Leszcynski, Valerie Wigglesworth, Avi Selk and Wendy Hundley contributed to this story.

AT A GLANCE: Crime rates

2013 major crime rate per 1,000 people:

- Plano (pop. 264,360): 24.05 - McKinney (pop. 140,390): 22.40 - Frisco (pop. 129,680): 22.29 - Irving (pop. 220,750): 30.37 - Garland (pop. 229,120): 38.77

- Grand Prairie (pop. 178,290): 31.73 - Mesquite (pop. 140,240): 48.01 - Richardson (pop. 100,850): 28.78 - Carrollton (pop. 122,280): 24.07 - Lewisville (pop. 97,140): 27.86

Based on reported crime statistics and 2013 North Central Texas Council of Governments population estimates.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20140326-for-most-suburban-dallas-cities-crime-rates-drop-again.ece

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Obama to propose ending NSA's phone call sweep

by EILEEN SULLIVAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House wants the National Security Agency to get out of the business of sweeping up and storing vast amounts of data on Americans' phone calls.

The Obama administration this week is expected to propose that Congress overhaul the electronic surveillance program by having phone companies hold onto the call records as they do now, according to a government official briefed on the proposal. The New York Times first reported the details of the proposal Monday night. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the plan.

The White House proposal would end the government's practice of sweeping up the phone records of millions of Americans and holding onto those records for five years so the numbers can be searched for national security purposes. Instead, the White House is expected to propose that the phone records be kept for 18 months, as the phone companies are already required to do by federal regulation, and that it be able to preserve its ability to see certain records in specific circumstances approved by a judge.

According to a senior administration official, the president will present ‘‘a sound approach to ensuring the government no longer collects or holds this data, but still ensures that the government has access to the information it needs to meet the national security needs his team has identified.'' The administration official spoke late Monday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the proposal before it was officially announced.

The president's plan, however, relies on Congress to pass legislation — something that has so far seemed unlikely.

Details of the government's secret phone records collection program were disclosed last year by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden. Privacy advocates were outraged to learn that the government was holding onto phone records of innocent Americans for up to five years. Obama promised to make changes to the program in an effort to win back public support.

In January, President Barack Obama tasked his administration with coming up with an alternative to the current counterterrorism program and suggested that the phone companies option was the most likely. However, he also said that option posed problems.

‘‘This will not be simple,'' Obama said. An independent review panel suggested that the practice of the government collecting the phone records be replaced by a third party or the phone companies holding the records, and the government would access them as needed.

‘‘Both of these options pose difficult problems,'' Obama said in January. ‘‘Relying solely on the records of multiple providers, for example, could require companies to alter their procedures in ways that raise new privacy concerns.

And the phone companies have been against this option, as well.

In several meetings with White House staff since December, phone company executives came out strongly opposed to proposals that would shift the custody of the records from the NSA to the telecoms. The executives said they would only accept such changes to the NSA program if they were legally required and if that requirement was spelled out in legislation.

The companies are concerned about the costs of retaining the records and potential liability, such as being sued by individuals whose phone data was provided to intelligence or law enforcement agencies, these people said. The discussions with the White House ceased earlier this year. Industry officials said they had not been in contact with the administration as new options were being considered. The executives have continued to discuss the issue with lawmakers, however.

The administration's proposed changes won't happen right away. The government plans to continue its bulk collection program for at least three months, the Times said.

But it's unlikely that Congress would pass legislation in the next three months, as the NSA surveillance has proved to be a divisive issue, even within political parties.

The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, has advocated for the program to continue to operate as it does. The California Democrat said she would be open to other options if they met national security and privacy needs.

It is unclear whether the White House proposal will meet those needs.

Leaders of the House intelligence committee are expected to introduce legislation Tuesday that would call for a similar option to the Obama administration's.

Under the administration's pending legislative proposal, officials would have to obtain phone records by getting individual orders from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the Times report said. The new court orders would require companies to provide those records swiftly and to make available continuing data related to the order when new calls are placed or received.

http://www.boston.com/2014/03/25/obama-propose-ending-nsa-phone-call-sweep/N2RRJ4kNmkTMdugaunZ2QK/story.html

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Alabama

MPD: ‘Hotspot' policing paying off

by Michael Brannon

Since February, in the community of Webb Avenue near DIP, ‘hotspot' policing by the Mobile Police Department has paid off, according to officers.

A drug raid in February apparently caught the attention of criminals in the community. Now, officers say, crime has gone down and residents are not complaining.

‘Hotspot' communities are neighborhoods that have high crime rates that have been identified by the Mobile Police Department.

Lt. Roy Hodge told FOX10 News Monday this area of town was the department implemented the new policing concept. Because of homicides, robberies, burglaries, and shootings, he said it is needed…and it has worked.

“We come in and try to identify what's causing these things and try to take steps to get the reasons why it's happening out of there. We don't want to go out and clean this place up and take care of the problem and leave and have it return back to the way it was before we started. The way that we prevent that from happening is with community involvement,” said Lt. Hodge.

The Mobile Police Department took matters into its own hands by holding a community action meeting with some residents. One result of the meeting: cleaning up the neighborhood.

“You get over in the area and you see trash and litter and things like that. Things that are not conducive to a clean and safe neighborhood. Things the draw and all activity. [Residents] care enough to show up. They were very appreciative of what we've done so far,” said Lt. Hodge.

“The concerns we had, the police really took care of. They started patrolling here every couple of hours since the little raid they had. The traffic and all that has stopped and we appreciate the presence. It feels safe,” said one resident.

Larry Welch has lived in the neighborhood for over 20 years and seen the neighborhood decline.

“This is the worst of that in the last couple of months, but now it seems like we trying to get some cops back in here and help us make it a little safer for people who wanted to be nice community,” said Welch.

Police Chief James Barber told FOX10 News there are other ‘hotspot' areas currently being worked on. However those locations cannot be disclosed at this time.

http://fox10tv.com/2014/03/24/mpd-hotspot-policing-paying-off/

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California

LAPD Pacific Division Using “Predictive Policing”, Seeks Community Participation

by Bret

From the LAPD Pacific Division:

Advisory: LAPD Pacific Division is using Predictive Policing to help keep your community safe. What is it and how can you participate?

LAPD Pacific Division has adopted the use of an experimental technology called Predictive Policing to thwart would be criminals and burglars. What is Predictive Policing?

Predictive Policing uses a mathematical logarithm combined with past crime reports to generate boxes on a map which, predict where officers should deploy to best deter crime. The goal of Predictive Policing is not to boost the number of arrests in an area, it is to deter criminals from committing crimes in the first place.

How does it work? Each day officers receive a new map with Predictive Policing boxes, and during the course of their shift officers will patrol the box areas in between responding to calls for service. The idea is that the more time spent in the box areas the more crime will be deterred.

LAPD Pacific Division wants to enhance the results of Predictive Policing to drive crime as low as possible. In an effort to do this we are deploying as many resources as possible to the box areas. To further increase the effectiveness of Predictive Policing we are asking the public to spend any free time that you may have in these areas too. You can simply walk with a neighbor, exercise, or walk your dog in these areas and your presence alone can assist in deterring would be criminals from committing crime in your neighborhood. Each day we will release via social media the closest cross streets for the boxes in your neighborhood. The boxes will change each day, so check back in to see where you can help deter crime.

In other parts of Los Angeles Predictive Policing has been effective, and has reduced crimes such as theft and burglary in those communities. Predictive Policing is one more tool that we will use to help combat crime in Pacific Division, but it will not replace the many other techniques that we currently employ. Please join us in helping to protect your neighborhood. To see what you can do, please visit us on social media.

Please visit LAPD on Facebook, @LAPDPacific”>Twitter or Youtube.

http://www.yovenice.com/2014/03/24/lapd-pacific-division-using-predictive-policing-seeks-community-participate/

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From the Department of Justice

In New Step to Fight Recidivism, Attorney General Holder Announces Justice Department to Require Federal Halfway Houses to Boost Treatment Services for Inmates Prior to Release

New Rules Also Instruct Federal Halfway Houses to Provide Transportation Assistance, Cell Phone Access in Order to Help Inmates Seek Employment Opportunities

WASHINGTON—In a new step to further the Justice Department's efforts towards enhancing reentry among formerly incarcerated individuals, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Monday that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will impose new requirements on federal halfway houses that help inmates transition back into society. Under the proposed new requirements, these halfway houses will have to provide a specialized form of treatment to prisoners, including those with mental health and substance abuse issues. For the first time, halfway houses will also have to provide greater assistance to inmates who are pursuing job opportunities, such as permitting cell phones to be used by inmates and providing funds for transportation. The new requirements also expand access to electronic monitoring equipment, such as GPS-equipped ankle bracelets, to allow more inmates to utilize home confinement as a reentry method.

Holder announced the changes in a video message posted on the Department's website.

The BOP's new policies have the potential to be far-reaching. To ease their transition, those exiting prison typically spend the last few months of their sentence in either a federal halfway house—known as a residential reentry center (RRC)—or under home confinement, or a combination of the two. These community-based programs provide much needed assistance to returning citizens in finding employment and housing, facilitating connections with service providers, reestablishing ties to family and friends, and more.

Last year alone, more than 30,000 federal inmates passed through a halfway house.

Among the most significant changes Holder announced is the requirement for standardized Cognitive Behavioral Programming (CBP) to be offered at all federal halfway houses. This treatment will address behavior that places formerly incarcerated individuals at higher risk of recidivism. As part of this treatment requirement, BOP is setting guidelines for instructor qualifications, class size and length, and training for all staff at the halfway houses.

Several other modifications are being made to the standard contracts that apply to federal halfway houses in order to provide greater support to returning citizens. Examples include requiring halfway houses to provide public transportation vouchers or transportation assistance to help residents secure employment, requiring all federal halfway houses to allow residents to have cell phones to facilitate communication with potential employers and family, and improving and expanding home confinement by increasing the use of GPS monitoring.

The proposed new requirements will be posted today on the Federal Business Opportunities website (www.fbo.gov). Interested parties will have a 30-day period to comment on the proposal. The BOP anticipates implementing the new requirements beginning with contracts expiring in 2014.

The complete text of the Attorney General's video message is below:

“Today, America's federal prison population is experiencing a period of significant negative growth, with nearly 4,000 fewer inmates behind bars than at the end of the last fiscal year. This is the first major reduction in the federal prison population in three decades.

“Thanks to a variety of effective, evidence-based reentry programs and services, we're doing more than ever to ensure that the tens of thousands of federal inmates who return to their communities each year have access to the substance abuse treatment, job training, affordable housing, parenting education, and other resources that so many need to break the cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration.

“Through innovative strategies like the Justice Department's ‘Smart on Crime' initiative, we're working hard to tear down unnecessary barriers to opportunity and independence – while building up programs that enable former prisoners to reintegrate into their communities. And nowhere is this work stronger than at the Federal Bureau of Prisons – where groundbreaking efforts are underway to make our criminal justice expenditures both smarter and more productive.

“Today, I'm pleased to announce that the Justice Department – through the Bureau of Prisons – is taking a critical step forward that will enable us to build on this important work – and improve the way reentry programming is implemented from coast to coast.

“For the first time, we will require all 200-plus halfway houses in the federal system to offer standardized treatment to prisoners with mental health and substance abuse issues. This treatment will be intensive, and must follow rigorous standards set forth by the Bureau of Prisons. Once fully implemented, these services will be available to every single one of the approximately 30,000 inmates who are released through halfway houses each year. This will ensure consistency and continuity of care between federal prisons and community-based facilities. And it will enhance the programs that help prisoners overcome their past struggles, get on the right path, and stay out of our criminal justice system.

“These important changes and others are codified in BOP's published requirements for halfway houses – which will be posted online this week. Over the next 30 days, those who operate halfway houses will have the opportunity to provide feedback on these newly proposed requirements. And I encourage members of the public to visit this site, learn about these tools, and make your voices heard as well – so we can all take an active part in constructing the more effective, more efficient, and more just system that everyone in this country deserves.”

The full video is available at: http://www.justice.gov/agwa.php

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/March/14-ag-301.html

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From the Department of Homeland Security

Engaging the Academic Community in our Homeland Security Mission

Last week, I joined the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC) to announce an important milestone in the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) engagement with the academic community – the renewal of the Council's charter by Secretary Jeh Johnson. Comprised of 23 university presidents and academic leaders from across the nation, the Council has delivered over 80 recommendations on issues related to homeland security and the academic community since March 2012.

DHS is acting on many of the Council's recommendations, such as enhancing the Department's engagement with the international student community, taking steps to improve college and university emergency preparedness, and increasing outreach to students, faculty and schools.

DHS has also embarked on several initiatives to develop the next generation of homeland security leaders. In December, we announced the expansion of the Secretary's Honors Program Cyber Student Volunteer Initiative, a program that provides 2-year and 4-year college students with assignments that support DHS's cyber mission. This year, the initiative received almost 1700 applicants for over 110 volunteer assignments at local DHS field offices at more than 60 locations across the country.

To develop the initiative, Secretary Johnson, along with National Protection and Programs Directorate Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity Dr. Phyllis Schneck have already begun visiting college campuses to continue developing the next generation of cybersecurity workforce leaders. Secretary Johnson and Deputy Under Secretary Schneck have visited Georgia Tech and Morehouse College to meet with students. These meetings are the latest step in DHS's ongoing efforts to attract the best and brightest cyber talent to support the Department's important cybersecurity mission.

In the coming year, we look forward to building upon these numerous accomplishments and expanding our work with the Council under the leadership of its new Chair, Dr. R. Bowen Loftin, Chancellor of the University of Missouri. We are also honored to welcome David Esquith, David Adams, and Ed Ramotowski to the Council, who will serve as ex-officio members representing the Departments of Education, Justice and State, respectively. Their combined expertise will help DHS look at new and innovative ways of working with our partners in the government and throughout the private sector on these important issues.

DHS is proud to work with these leaders and is committed to building a strong and lasting relationship with the academic community. Learn more about the HSAAC here .

For more information on DHS and academic engagement, visit http://www.dhs.gov/topic/academic-engagement , or sign up for email updates through DHS's GovDelivery service.

http://www.dhs.gov/blog/2014/03/24/engaging-academic-community-our-homeland-security-mission

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DOJ agrees to review San Diego Police Department practices

by Tony Perry

SAN DIEGO - The mayor and other city officials are set to formally announce Monday that the U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to their request to perform a management practices audit on the Police Department.

The audit is meant to "help restore public trust" in the department following two recent cases of allegations that officers assaulted women while on duty. One officer has been charged, a second is being investigated.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer, City Atty. Jan Goldsmith and Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman are set for a news conference at the U.S. attorney's office to discuss the audit, which was first requested by Zimmerman's predecessor, Bill Lansdowne.

A statement issued by Faulconer's office on Sunday said the audit is "the first of many steps to help rebuild the police department and ensure safety in every San Diego neighborhood."

Also set to be at the news conference are Associate Atty. Gen. Tony West, San Diego U.S. Atty. Laura Duffy, and Ron Davis, director of the Department of Justice's community oriented policing services office.

Among other things, officials want suggestions on how to better detect problem officers. The audit will take six months and be funded by the Department of Justice.

Faulconer's statement said the audit will be "a voluntary independent assessment" of the department, which has 1,856 officers.

Lansdowne, 69, chief for more than a decade, retired March 3, the day that Faulconer was sworn in as mayor. Zimmerman was unanimously approved by the City Council as his successor.

In 2011, San Diego officer Anthony Arevalos was convicted of demanding sexual favors from women after making traffic stops. He was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison. He was fired after the accusations were made.

The City Council has approved a total of $2.3 million in payments to women assaulted by Arevalos. One case has gone to trial.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-diego-police-audit-20140323,0,562273.story#axzz2ws19NjdW

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Police Brutality and Deaf People

by Talila A. Lewis, Robert Kim, Pearl Pearson, Jonathan Meister...

These are the most recent additions to the long list of deaf people who have been brutally assaulted by police officers for what has been described by officers as failure to respond to officers' verbal commands, aggressive hand signaling or resisting arrest.

Two years ago, Robert Kim pulled over to fix a flat tire just before slipping into a diabetic episode. He was seated on the grass when a police officer arrived. Kim tried to make the officer aware that he was deaf, that he had trouble speaking, and that he was in diabetic shock. Instead of contacting paramedics, this officer and others beat and tasered Kim for failing to respond to their verbal orders. Doctors at the hospital where Kim was subsequently taken assessed his condition as life-threatening.

This January, Pearl Pearson, a 64 year-old deaf man, was attempting to show patrolmen a placard saying "I am deaf" when they pulled him from his car, brutally assaulted him, dislocating his shoulder and swelling his eyes. Immediately following Pearson's assault, the officers' dashboard camera reveals officers cursing after they run a quick check of his license and find out that he is deaf. The district attorney announced that the patrolmen involved would not be charged for this brutal attack on the same day that he charged Pearson—who has two sons who are police officers—with resisting arrest.

And last February Jonathan Meister was carrying his belongings from his friend's home when officers mistook him for a burglar, determined that his attempts to use sign language were aggressive, and began beating, tasering and choking him to the point of unconsciousness.

These stories highlight the woeful lack of training about -- and awareness of -- Deaf culture and communication within police departments across the nation. They illustrate the urgent need for systemic change.

Perhaps as alarming as the frequency and severity of these assaults, is the infrequency and leniency of formal charges against the officers responsible. Deaf survivors of police brutality and family members of deaf homicide victims tend to prevail in lawsuits against police, costing taxpayers dearly, but officers are rarely formally charged or dismissed for their actions.

The Americans with Disabilities Act makes clear that officers must take appropriate steps to communicate effectively with deaf people. This obligation includes providing sign language interpreters and auxiliary aids. But beyond this, there is a clear need for police officers to understand how to communicate with members of the deaf community.

Many deaf people use their eyes and hands to communicate, as opposed to hearing people who more often rely on their ears and voice. Body language and facial expression are key components of sign language. As such, it is not uncommon for people who communicate through sign to create a bit of space between themselves and the other person to ensure that the receiver has full view of the hands, body and face. Officers who misunderstand these and other key components of Deaf culture and communication, may feel threatened and choose to retaliate against a deaf person. When police departments ensure that officers are aware of and sensitive to varied modes of communication used by deaf people, this will not only protect the deaf community, but also increase the safety of officers.

The ACLU, HEARD and Marlee Matlin have teamed up to create a sign language video to ensure that deaf people know their rights when interacting with police officers. But deaf people can only do so much. It is the responsibility of police departments to ensure that their officers are adequately trained.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform-free-speech/police-brutality-and-deaf-people

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New Exonerations Registry Catalogs Over 2,400 Wrongful Convictions

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, more than 1,230 criminal defendants who were wrongfully convicted have been exonerated since 1989. Another 1,170 cases involving wrongful convictions were not included in the Registry's database because they were “collective exonerations” in police misconduct scandals in which officers fabricated evidence – for example, by planting drugs or guns on suspects.

The criminal justice system does not keep an official record of exonerations. As such, the University of Michigan Law School partnered with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law to found the Registry in May 2012.

The Registry's database includes cases gathered from court records and catalogs of exonerations maintained by wrongful conviction organizations, such as the Innocence Project.

One of the most recent exonerations in the Registry is that of Sheldon Mosley, who was convicted of child sexual abuse in 1996 in Texas, sentenced to 60 years and released on October 11, 2013. Mosley was falsely accused of molesting his 4-year-old daughter, who recanted in 2012, saying she had been coerced into testifying about the abuse by other family members. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacated Mosley's conviction and the district attorney dismissed the charges.

The Registry has amassed details about 1,232 exonerations between 1989 and October 2013. The wrongfully convicted defendants in those cases served a combined total of more than 10,000 years in prison before being exonerated. Ninety-three percent were male and around half were African American. Over 100 had been sentenced to death.

Interestingly, 83% of the exonerees had taken their cases to trial and been convicted by juries; 7% were convicted by judges while only 9% pleaded guilty. This indicates that in a disproportionate percentage of cases, the defendants who went to trial proclaiming their innocence were, in fact, innocent.

According to the Registry, 52% of wrongful convictions involved perjured testimony or false accusations; in homicide cases that number climbed to 65%. Police and prosecutorial misconduct, including withholding exculpatory evidence, contributed to 43% of the cases resulting in exonerations.

Just over 40% of the wrongful convictions were based on mistaken eyewitness identification – 79% in sexual abuse cases. False or misleading forensic evidence was involved in 22% of wrongful convictions, while false confessions occurred in 14%. [See: PLN, Dec. 2011, p.14; April 2011, p.18]. The percentages add up to more than 100% because multiple factors were involved in many of the cases.

“The most important goal of the [criminal justice] system is accuracy,” said Michigan Law School professor Samuel Gross, who helped create the Registry. “Getting the right person and not getting the wrong person are obviously the most important goals. The only way to get those are to learn how we made our mistakes.”

The Registry does not include innocent defendants who pleaded guilty to avoid the risk of more serious punishments, or cases that were dismissed due to legal errors absent evidence of innocence.

The Registry is “a good start” said Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions. However, it represents only a small fraction of the total number of cases involving innocence. “We know there are many more that we haven't found,” said Gross. Counties such as San Bernardino County in California and Bexar County in Texas are heavily populated yet claim to have no exonerations. Researchers believe that is unlikely.

“What this shows is that the criminal justice system makes mistakes, and they are more common than people think,” Gross stated.

Unsurprisingly, some prosecutors disagree. Exonerations “give the gross perception that there is a serious problem with wrongful convictions in this country, and it is just not the case,” said Scott Burns, executive director of the National District Attorneys Association.

One cannot help but wonder if Mr. Burns and his fellow prosecutors would feel the same way if they were among the thousands of innocent men and women who have been wrongfully convicted and sent to prison for crimes they didn't commit.

The Registry is not the first project to compile a database of exonerations. Justice Denied maintains a list of more than 3,900 people who were wrongfully convicted both in the United States and other countries, and publishes an online quarterly magazine of the same name about wrongful convictions. Plus the Innocence Project has a database of 311 post-conviction DNA exonerations. [See PLN's resources section on page 60].

Sources: USA Today, Associated Press, Huffington Post, www.exonerationregistry.org

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/25616_displayArticle.aspx

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Criminal Background Checks Criticized for Incorrect Data, Racial Discrimination

by Derek Gilna

A July 2013 study by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) found that widespread errors in FBI arrest data – which is increasingly relied upon by employers conducting criminal background checks – has reached alarming proportions. According to NELP staff attorney Madeline Neighly, the FBI records used for background checks “might be considered the gold standard, but these records are a mess.”

Part of the problem stems from the fact that the FBI is processing almost 17 million criminal background checks annually, or six times more than a decade ago. NELP reported that as many as 50% of the records compiled by the FBI, which constitute the largest database of criminal records in the nation, may be inaccurate or incomplete – resulting in serious economic hardships, especially for minority job applicants.

One reason for the inaccuracies is that background checks are quick to include arrests and criminal charges but much slower to show dismissals, not-guilty findings, expungements, felonies reduced to misdemeanors and other dispositions of criminal proceedings. The FBI acts as a clearinghouse for state agencies that supply arrest and criminal record data, which is collected and incorporated into background checks disseminated to authorized third parties.

Unfortunately, the FBI apparently lacks the resources to verify the accuracy of the data being supplied to potential employers, resulting in the undeserved rejection of many otherwise qualified job applicants.

Other problems with background checks are attributable to private companies that compile criminal record information from public databases, using software that often fails to distinguish between people with the same or similar names, or those who are victims of identity theft. [See: PLN, May 2013, p.34].

Further complicating the situation is the fact that applicants rejected due to inaccurate background records are disproportionately black or Hispanic, raising the possibility of racial discrimination. According to a 2010 report issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, in approximately half the states up to 40% of criminal records were missing final dispositions. Backlogs in updating this data varied from state to state, sometimes taking up to 18 months.

Although the FBI cautions in its background checks that job applicants should be provided an opportunity to challenge or correct their records, that does not always occur. Instead, the burden falls on the applicant to prove his or her innocence. When potential employees are given a copy of the faulty background information and a meaningful opportunity to challenge inaccuracies, they are often able to correct the errors.

One example of the ordeal faced by job applicants rejected due to incorrect criminal background data is the plight of seaport workers, who are required by the Transportation Security Administration to pass an FBI background check. More than 120,000 applications for seaport workers have been rejected since 2007, but applicants were successful in 94% of the cases where they filed appeals or sought waivers.

As another example, the Department of Commerce's 2010 census required the hiring of vast numbers of people, and 4 million job applications were received. Of those, a quarter were rejected as a result of FBI background checks. A lawsuit filed in April 2010 alleges that applicants had only a month to disprove the negative reports, which disproportionately discriminated against blacks and Hispanics. If certified, the class of eligible claimants is estimated to number over 850,000. The district court denied the Department of Commerce's motion to dismiss on March 22, 2012, and the case remains pending. See: Houser v. Blank, U.S.D.C. (S.D. NY), Case No. 1:10-cv-03105-FM.

In its July 2013 report, NELP advocated for a more equitable appeal process when incorrect information is included in criminal background checks, which would give rejected job applicants at least two months after they are apprised of the reason for the rejection to submit evidence to dispute faulty background information.

“[T]hese inaccuracies have a devastating impact on workers, especially workers of color who are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system. There is a solution to this problem that would immediately result in less job-loss and financial hardship: the FBI must ensure that records are accurate and complete prior to being released for employment and licensing decisions,” NELP concluded.

Additionally, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has grown concerned in recent years with possible racial discrimination due to the increased use of criminal background checks, and the agency issued new guidance to employers on that issue in April 2012. [See: PLN, June 2012, p.20]. Approximately 86% of employers use background checks during the hiring process, according to a 2012 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination against job applicants and employees on account of their race,” said EEOC Chairwoman Jacqueline A. Berrien. “Since issuing its first written policy guidance in the 1980s regarding the use of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions, the EEOC has advised employers that under certain circumstances, their use of that information to deny employment opportunities could be at odds with Title VII.”

In June 2013, the EEOC took legal action against two large companies – Dolgencorp LLC, the parent corporation of discount retailer Dollar General, and a BMW factory in South Carolina – due to their hiring practices. According to a lawsuit filed by the EEOC, Dollar General violated the civil rights of two job applicants – incorrectly stating that one had a felony conviction based on a background check, while denying employment to another applicant who had disclosed a six-year-old conviction.

In another suit, the EEOC argued that BMW's requirement that contract workers already employed at the company's plant had to reapply for their jobs in 2008 resulted in a disproportionate percentage of minority employees being fired for failing background checks, absent individualized assessments. Both suits were brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. See: EEOC v. Dolgencorp LLC, U.S.D.C. (N.D. Ill.), Case No. 1:13-cv-04307 and EEOC v. BMW Manufacturing Co. LLC, U.S.D.C. (D. SC), Case No. 7:13-cv-01583-HMH-JDA.

Predictably the EEOC faced intense criticism from business interests, with some saying the agency was trying to protect “former criminals.” Todd McCracken, with the National Small Business Association, noted, “State and federal courts will allow potentially devastating tort lawsuits against businesses that hire felons who commit crimes at the workplace or in customers' homes. Yet the EEOC is threatening to launch lawsuits if they do not hire those same felons.”

According to BMW spokesman Kenn Sparks, “BMW believes that it has complied with the letter and spirit of the law and will defend itself against the EEOC's allegations of race discrimination.” Dollar General announced that its employment policies are “structured to foster a safe and healthy environment for its employees, its customers, and to protect its assets in a lawful, reasonable and nondiscriminatory manner.”

Yet when rejecting job applicants with criminal records, Dollar General and BMW appear to be working at cross-purposes. Given the nation's enormous prison population and with around 637,000 prisoners being released each year, it is unwise on many levels to refuse to hire people who are otherwise qualified when employment is essential to help ex-offenders become law-abiding, tax-paying citizens.

Nine state Attorneys General sent a joint letter to the EEOC on July 24, 2013 in response to the agency's lawsuits against Dollar General and BMW, protesting the EEOC's enforcement actions related to criminal background checks. The Attorneys General called the suits “misguided and a quintessential example of gross federal overreach.”

Lawsuits alleging discrimination due to criminal background checks that disproportionately impact minorities are not easy wins, however, even for the EEOC. On August 9, 2013, a federal district court in Maryland ruled against the agency in a case similar to those filed against Dollar General and BMW, finding that an event-marketing firm, Freeman Co., did not discriminate against minority job applicants by conducting criminal background and credit checks during the hiring process. In dismissing the case, the court noted that the EEOC itself uses background checks. See: EEOC v. Freeman Co., U.S.D.C. (D. Md.), Case No. 8:09-cv-02573-RWT; 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112368.

In November 2013 the EEOC was sued by the State of Texas, which argued that the agency's guidance related to criminal background checks limits “the prerogative of employers, including Texas, to exclude convicted felons from employment.” The EEOC filed a motion to dismiss on January 27, 2014, which remains pending. See: State of Texas v. EEOC, U.S.D.C. (N.D. Texas), Case No. 5:13-cv-00255-C.

Although there is some evidence that society's view of former prisoners is becoming less punitive, the reality is that ex-offenders still have a very difficult time finding jobs that pay a living wage. A 2003 study by sociologist Devah Pager found that being a minority increased the negative impact of a criminal history, in that white job applicants with criminal records were more likely to be hired than black applicants with similar records. It is unlikely that much has changed over the past decade.

The EEOC stated in its lawsuits against Dollar General and BMW that the companies used criminal background checks in a manner that had a “disparate impact” on minority job applicants, who are more likely to have criminal histories.

Yet barely mentioned in the studies related to background checks and criminal records, or in the EEOC's enforcement actions, is the fact that the underlying reason for many of the problems related to ex-offenders finding employment is our nation's policy of mass incarceration. Around 2.2 million people are incarcerated in prisons and jails at any given time; those released will all have criminal records and, thus, a paucity of job prospects.

According to a research study published in January 2014, 49% of black males, 44% of Hispanic males and 38% of white males are arrested by age 23, which can have a significant impact on their ability to find future employment.

“Criminal records that show up in [background] searches can impede employment, reduce access to housing, thwart admission to and financing for higher education and affect civic and volunteer activities such as voting or adoption. They also can damage personal and family relationships,” noted University of South Carolina criminology professor Robert Brame, the lead author of the study.

Enforcement actions by the EEOC, “Ban the Box” initiatives to remove criminal history questions from job applications, federal legislation – such as the Fairness and Accuracy in Criminal Background Checks Act introduced by U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott in July 2013 – and increased awareness about the re-entry needs of released prisoners can help alleviate problems related to background checks and employment for ex-offenders. Ban the Box legislation has been enacted in ten states and dozens of cities, and some private employers, notably Target, no longer ask about criminal records on their job applications. [See: PLN, Sept. 2011, p.32].

But more is needed. Specifically, adding “prior incarceration status” to the list of protected classes – which include race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age and disability – that employers may not legally consider when hiring job applicants would go a long way to help level the employment playing field for ex-offenders. That, however, is a solution unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Sources: “Wanted: Accurate FBI Background Checks for Employment,” National Employment Law Project (July 2013), www.washingtonpost.com, www.foxnews.com, www.eeoc.gov, www.economist.com, www.thenation.com, www.thecrimereport.org\, www.eurekalert.org, Wall Street Journal, www.labi.org

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/25748_displayArticle.aspx

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Ohio

Scams of elderly are on the rise

by Encarnacion Pyle

When the 73-year-old man picked up the phone at his Westerville home early one recent morning, a frantic caller identified himself as the man's college-age grandson in need of help.

The caller said he had been picked up for drunken driving during spring break, was sitting in jail and needed $2,500 for bail. In between sobs, he begged his grandfather not to tell his parents or anyone else, fearing he might get kicked out of school or worse, his home.

“It scared the bejesus out of me,” the man said. “All I could think about was protecting my grandson and bringing him home, safe and sound.”

After several failed attempts to call his grandson, he wired the money.

A few hours later, his real grandson called, and the man found out he had fallen prey to an age-old shakedown that law-enforcement officials often call the “grandparents scam.” He asked not to be identified, because he is ashamed and embarrassed.

He said he probably wouldn't have fallen for the scam if he hadn't been awakened from a sound sleep at 3 a.m. and if the voice on the line wasn't screaming in panic, making it hard to recognize that it wasn't his grandson.

Financial abuse and exploitation cost millions of older adults nearly $3 billion a year, not to mention untold emotional and psychological anguish, according to a study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute.

Actor Mickey Rooney helped dramatize the toll of elder abuse when he testified before a Senate committee three years ago that he had been “stripped of the ability to make even the most basic decisions about my life.”

In February 2011, Rooney sought court protection from his stepson, Chris Abner, and Abner's wife, Christina, for withholding basic necessities, such as food and medicine, while draining his finances. A Los Angeles judge appointed a temporary conservator for Rooney, whose health has been failing for years, and ordered the couple to stay away from him.

An estimated 1 in 9 elderly Americans experiences abuse or neglect per year, often at the hands of family members, friends, neighbors or caregivers, according to the National Council on Aging.

The actual figure is likely much higher because many incidents go unreported. Seniors often don't want to turn in someone they trusted for fear of what might happen if they do, such as being forced to live in a nursing home because they don't have a caregiver.

“It's extremely sad sometimes because even if you see the abuse, you can't help them if they aren't willing to help themselves,” said Michelle Jones, a spokeswoman for LifeCare Alliance, which delivers Meals on Wheels in central Ohio.

The agencies that investigate abuse and neglect in Ohio's 88 counties received 14,646 reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of people 60 or older in the 2013 fiscal year that ended on June 30, according to state officials.

Self-neglect cases make up nearly half the reports (6,818), followed by neglect by others (3,362), exploitation (2,357), emotional abuse (1,108), physical abuse (963) and sexual abuse (38).

The problem likely will get worse as the number of Americans 65 or older explodes in the coming years. That's why it is imperative, experts say, that relatives and friends learn the warning signs, such as unusual bank activity or a new “best friend” or a family member who isolates a senior from others.

“It's a huge problem and much, much more prevalent than anyone has any idea,” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said.

President Barack Obama has included $25 million in new funding in his federal budget proposal to detect, prosecute and raise awareness about elder abuse and neglect.

The Ohio House recently passed a bill designed to protect older Ohioans from losing their life savings or homes. The bill, proposed by two Republicans, is being debated in the Senate.

The proposal expands the definition of elder abuse under Ohio law to include financial harm, neglect and exploitation. It would create a registry to identify and track patterns of elder abuse, provide ongoing training for caseworkers and extend the list of people who would be required to report allegations of abuse to include banks and other financial institutions.

“The elderly-abuse laws in Ohio haven't been updated in 25 years. The world has changed a lot over those years,” said Rep. Wes Retherford, a Republican from Hamilton and a co-author of the bill.

Rep. Mike Dovilla, a Republican from Berea who is the other author, said he knows personally how easy it is to almost become a victim. A scammer tried to get money from his grandparents recently by claiming to be a grandchild who had been in a car crash and needed money. His grandparents didn't fall for the scam, he said, but “it's heartbreaking what can happen.”

A recent survey by the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers identified these types of elderly abuse: theft by family, friends or neighbors; theft by caregivers; mail, phone or Internet investment/security scams; home-repair scams; and getting a senior to sign a deed, will or power of attorney through deception.

Sometimes, the cases are clear-cut, such as when two women befriended and obtained a power of attorney for a 94-year-old Clintonville man in 2009. They stole more than $850,000 of his savings and were about to help themselves to $50,000 more when they were caught a year later.

Other times, it's murkier, such as when an adult child moves into his aging parents' home and relies on their retirement benefits, or a caregiver talks a senior into giving her money for an emergency, said Antonia Carroll, director of the Franklin County Office on Aging, which investigates abuse claims.

“Just getting involved is often enough of a deterrent to get someone to back off,” Carroll said.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/03/24/scams-of-elderly-are-on-the-rise.html