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April, 2014 - Week 5

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Indiana

200 youth football players spend day with public safety

by wanerandyspieth

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Youth football players, between the sixth and eighth, spent Saturday learning about public safety and the work that goes into it. It was part of NFL veteran Jason Baker's annual Pro Football Mini Camp.

Each year, children can participate in the two-day camp for free, but are required to participate in the included service project. This year's project paired the youth with Fort Wayne Police and Fire Departments, along with the Allen County Sheriff's Department, and the American Red Cross.

“This gives them a start and a different way they can impact their community,” Baker, a former NFL punter and Fort Wayne native, said. “Each one of these kids is getting exposed to something I'm sure they didn't do yesterday.”

Campers went through several stations on the day at the Public Safety Academy. A K-9 officer with the Allen County Sheriff's Department demonstrated some basic commands with his attack dog. Fort Wayne Police officers were on hand to show off some robotics and how officers handle a hostage situation.

The American Red Cross had campers perform basic CPR instructions.

The Fort Wayne Fire Department put together an obstacle course for campers to run through, and showed them how to operate a fire hose.

“It's all probably something they wouldn't do if they were at home playing video games this morning,” Baker said. “Maybe down the road, this changes their mentality towards what they think when they see a police officer or a fireman. Maybe they say those people are serving us. That may be a really cool occupation.”

Those currently working in public safety enjoy working with children, and find the event a positive way to help encourage the campers to consider joining them in the future.

“Public safety exposure, or recruiting in a sense, is important because public safety is a calling and kids have to be interested and exposed to that calling early if they want commit to that in their life,” Sgt. Jon Bowers, a commander with the Fort Wayne Police Department's negotiations team, said.

Fort Wayne police had a negotiations truck at the camp, and robots that are used for negotiations and defusing bombs.

“This is a terrific opportunity for us to interact with some kids in the community,” Amy Biggs, the Fort Wayne Fire Chief, said. “They're seeing a different part of public safety. They may never experience something, and I hope they never do, but this is an opportunity for them to interact and learn more about it.”

In past years, campers have used the service leadership project to learn about jobs at the 122nd Fighter Wing, and spent a day working at the Community Harvest Food Bank.

http://wane.com/news/local/200-youth-football-players-spend-day-with-public-safety/

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Colorado

Editorial

Consider public safety in immigrants' release

The decision by some Colorado sheriffs to release inmates wanted by immigration authorities may make legal sense, given recent court rulings.

But those decisions should be tempered by policies to protect the public from truly bad actors.

In recent weeks, a half-dozen Colorado county sheriffs said they would no longer hold inmates for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if the prisoners posted bail or otherwise settled their cases.

ICE often asks local authorities to detain inmates suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. The hold lasts 48 hours (more if a holiday or weekend is involved) after they otherwise would be released.

However, recent court decisions made clear such action violates Fourth Amendment protections against detention without probable cause. The most recent was just a couple weeks ago in Oregon.

It is a valid civil liberties issue and sheriffs have sound legal reasons for not honoring the detainer requests.

But there are public safety issues to consider, too.

Some of those inmates may be truly dangerous and should be deported, but instead could be released. They could go on to commit serious crimes.

People in the Chicago area know a little about that. In 2011, Cook County commissioners passed an ordinance barring the county's sheriff from heeding ICE detainer requests.

Since then, there have been disturbing examples of authorities ignoring ICE detainers and — this is key — failing to even tell ICE they were about to release the inmates.

One case involved the killing last month of a 15-year-old girl who was shot, authorities say, by her obsessed ex-boyfriend.

Though there is a lot of blame to go around in that case, ICE clearly wanted the suspect and he should have been deported or at least put in federal custody before having the chance to commit the crime he is accused of.

The key is communication.

There should be strong cooperation between local and federal authorities so immigration officials can move quickly to detain the most dangerous individuals before they are released.

Such policies would take recent court decisions into account, but also would acknowledge the high priority of public safety.

http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_25684996/consider-public-safety-immigrants-release

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Utah

Opinion

Demonizing children does not improve public safety

by John Mejia

Recently, the Deseret News blared this headline: “Gangs still prevalent in Utah with members as young as 5, police say,” (April 24). The related article quoted a police detective who, speaking at the recent Utah Gang Conference, reported seeing “documented gang members” among our kindergarteners.

I found this statement distressing — but not for the reasons you might think. As an ACLU attorney, a near-lifelong Utahn and a Latino father of two young children, I was distressed that responsible public servants would ever label and stigmatize a child in this way.

What do we know about this child, beyond the sensationalized charge of “gang membership?” We don't know why — or even whether — this child was engaged in the activity ascribed to him. We don't know if the graffiti was gang-specific in any meaningful way, or merely a child's poor facsimile of something seen around the neighborhood.

Putting destructive labels on a child accomplishes nothing positive for the child, his family or our communities. This is irresponsible behavior by law enforcement, and it is irresponsible for a local news outlet to repeat the unsubstantiated charge. It is neither productive nor fair.

By law enforcement's own definition, the first step to an individual being classified as a “gang member” is if she or he “self-identifies” as being in a gang. Did this kindergartner express to a teacher or police officer that he was in a gang? If a 5-year-old boy told you he was in a gang, how would you choose to understand that assertion?

You might visit his home and speak with his guardians to assess whether the child was being exposed to criminal activity. You might request permission to enroll him in a mentoring program. You might interact with his older siblings, to assess whether they require assistance or intervention.

Or you could show up at his school, pull the child out of class, question him, photograph him, and put his name in a database so that throughout his youth, he can be feared and stigmatized by educators, police officers and the public. We know that police use these practices on many children like this 5-year-old, and it would be unsurprising if police did just that here.

The Gang Conference revealed a disturbing lack of professional curiosity about the efficacy of these tactics. In the “Gangs 101” workshop, law enforcement officers showed photos of young children wearing red or blue, announcing to workshop attendees that “they” start very young. Attendees were encouraged to pay attention to colors, signs and tattoos — not behaviors, intentions, risks and needs.

I question whether it is in the best interest of public safety to teach educators and community partners to fear (primarily black and brown) children as violent “thugs” engaged in criminal behavior. Are police officers aware of the long-term impacts of documenting a 5-year-old child as a gang member? Where is the evidence that shows that labeling a child in this way somehow helps our State ameliorate true threats to public safety? What do these tactics accomplish, beyond exacerbating tension and distrust between law enforcement and the people they've sworn to protect?

The Utah Department of Corrections now accepts that prisoners must be categorized accurately according to risk — because subjecting low or moderate-risk offenders to high-risk supervision and programming actually makes those offenders more dangerous. Our educators are beginning to accept the destructiveness of “zero tolerance” policies, particularly to students of color, because they push kids out of school rather than facilitate appropriate intervention.

I hope Utah's law enforcement leaders will follow suit. Categorizing children as gang members doesn't divert them from getting into trouble. It condemns them to a lifetime of profiling and stigmatization.

John Mejia is the Legal Director of the ACLU of Utah.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865602239/Demonizing-children-does-not-improve-public-safety.html

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From ICE

HSI arrests 638 gang members during month-long operation

WASHINGTON — More than 600 gang members and associates from 145 different gangs were arrested in 179 cities across the U.S. during Project Southbound, a month-long operation executed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which targeted gangs affiliated with the Sureños.

The Sureños, also known as Sur 13, is a transnational criminal street gang that originated in Southern California with hundreds of cliques around the United States. The Sureños and their affiliates pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia and the number "13" is their symbol signifying "M" in the alphabet for Mexican Mafia. Membership and cliques associated with the Sureños are expanding faster than any other national-level gang in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Gang Intelligence Center's 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment. Sureños gang members are involved in a myriad of criminal activity, including murder, extortion, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, prostitution and other crimes with a nexus to the border.

Through Project Southbound, which ran March 12 to April 13, HSI special agents worked with 150 federal, state and local law enforcement partners to apprehend individuals from various gangs affiliated with the Sureños. More than 73 percent of those arrested during this HSI National Gang Unit-led operation were members or associates of the Sureños.

In addition to the 638 gang members and associates, HSI agents also arrested – or assisted in the arrest of – 119 other individuals on federal and/or state criminal violations and administrative immigration violations, for a total of 757 arrests.

"Project Southbound is the largest-ever ICE operation targeting the Sureños gang," said ICE Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas S. Winkowski. "This gang now has more than 30,000 members in the United States and its numbers are growing. Targeting transnational gangs like the Sureños is a top priority for ICE and we will continue to disrupt and dismantle the violence and criminal activities that they inflict upon our neighborhoods."

Of the 638 gang members or associates arrested: 525 were charged with criminal offenses; 113 were arrested administratively for immigration violations; 414 had violent criminal histories, including seven individuals wanted for murder and five wanted for rape or sexual assault; and 256 were foreign nationals.

Among the Sureños gang members or associates arrested during Project Southbound were:

•  Cesar Lisandro Anaya, 27, an El Salvadoran national and an 18th Street gang member, arrested in Dallas, Texas, on immigration-related charges. He is wanted in El Salvador on felony warrants for aggravated homicide, extortion, and illicit groupings (gang activity).

•  Nine MS-13 gang members arrested on RICO charges filed in the District of Maryland stemming from their involvement in multiple criminal acts including murder, assault, extortion and prostitution, in furtherance of MS-13.

•  Richard Allen Cotinola, a U.S. citizen and Brewtown Locos gang member, arrested in New Mexico on an outstanding state warrant for violation of parole related to a previous conviction for aggravated burglary with a weapon. He has previous convictions for aggravated burglary with a weapon and armed robbery.

•  A father and son arrested in San Francisco on state narcotics and firearms charges following the execution of state search warrants on the father's property. The father, a Sureños gang associate and previously deported aggravated felon, accused of supplying large quantities of high-quality, commercially-grown marijuana to Sureños and Latin Kings gang members. During these arrests, HSI agents seized 4,669 marijuana plants, 25 pounds of processed marijuana, an AR-15 rifle, a stolen Glock handgun, four diesel generators, four vehicles and $85,635 in cash.

Those arrested during Project Southbound came from 21 countries in South and Central America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Of the total 757 arrested, 678 were males and 79 were females.

HSI special agents also seized 54 firearms, 13.36 pounds of methamphetamine, 82.76 pounds of marijuana, 3.075 pounds of cocaine, 1.44 pounds of heroin, more than $166,000 in U.S currency and 10 vehicles during Project Southbound.

ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Baltimore and Los Angeles also assisted with this operation.

This enforcement operation is part of HSI's Operation Community Shield a global initiative, in which HSI partners with existing federal, state and local anti-gang efforts to identify violent street gangs and develop intelligence on gang members and associates, gang criminal activities and international movements to arrest, prosecute, imprison and/or deport transnational gang members. HSI's National Gang Unit deters, disrupts and dismantles gang operations by tracing and seizing cash, weapons and other assets derived from criminal activities.

Since the inception of Operation Community Shield in February 2005, HSI special agents working in conjunction with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies across the nation have arrested more than 33,000 street gang members and associates linked to more than 2,600 different gangs. At least 43 percent of those arrested had a violent criminal history. More than 438 of those arrested were gang leaders, and more than 4,500 were MS-13 gang members or associates. Through this initiative, HSI has seized more than 5,615 firearms nationally.

The National Gang Unit within HSI identifies violent street gangs and develops intelligence on their membership, associates, criminal activities and international movements to deter, disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal gang operations by tracing and seizing cash, weapons and other assets derived from illicit activities.

To report suspicious activity, call ICE's 24-hour toll-free hotline at: 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or visit www.ice.gov

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1405/140501washingtondc.htm

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From the FBI

FBI and DHS Offer Partners Terrorist Incident Response Training
Coordination Among Agencies is Key

Last September, al Shabaab gunmen attacked a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing more than 70 people. In response, the FBI secured operational resources to assist Kenyan authorities.

Not long after, the Bureau—in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—formulated plans for a training exercise series to ensure that American law enforcement, other public safety first responders, and private sector entities had coordinated, effective response plans in place in case this type of complex terror attack ever occurs at a U.S. public venue.

These exercises aren't in response to any current threat but are simply part of our continuing mission to share information and work with public safety and private sector partners to improve overall threat response capabilities.

The first two phases of this training series took place last fall. Tabletop exercises were held with FBI field office personnel; federal, state, and local public safety officials; and private sector partners—including mall managers and owners—to discuss a hypothetical terror attack on a local mall and gain a clearer understanding of each other's capabilities and responsibilities. A second exercise was more inwardly focused, concentrating on FBI field office response plans and the effectiveness of our capabilities to communicate vital information to our own personnel and external partners.

After the training last fall, more effective responses to several subsequent public venue incidents—including an active shooter situation at a Maryland shopping mall this past January—were reported.

Lessons learned from Phases I and II were integrated into the third phase of the training, which is actually occurring now and over the next couple of weeks. During Phase III, FBI field offices—with DHS—are hosting a boots-on-the-ground exercise with regional federal, state, and local public and private sector partners at shopping malls outside of regular business hours.

This exercise scenario, like the first two phases, involves a simulated terrorist incident with numerous attacks, improvised explosive devices, and multiple victims and witnesses. Participants gather to discuss what's about to happen, run through the exercise, and finish up by reflecting on what worked and what didn't. After the several-hour exercise and the formal after-action review, participants will take the lessons learned and modify their own agency's response plans as needed to ensure they mesh with those of other agencies.

A few FBI offices have already conducted their Phase III training and can attest to its value.

For example, Monica Miller, special agent in charge of our Sacramento Division, said that her office's exercise “ensures unity and strategic collaboration among federal agencies, first responders, and private sector partners during a crisis” and also offered the opportunity to “make improvements well in advance of a real-world incident.”

Also supportive was the general manager of the mall where the Sacramento exercise took place. “We take our participation in training exercises such as this one seriously,” Eddie Ollmann explained, “because we know they help prepare our community to respond to potential emergency situations.”

So far, all of this training has been regionally based. Later this year, the FBI will host a capstone exercise to incorporate national assets and resources into the mix in the event of a public venue attack with broader implications.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/may/terrorist-incident-response-training/terrorist-incident-response-training

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Minnesota

Waseca School Bomb Plot Foiled Thanks to Witness

by M. Alex Johnson

A Minnesota teenager who admired the Columbine killers was charged Thursday with 10 attempted murder and explosives counts in a plot to shoot his family to death and then kill himself and "as many students as he could" by blowing up a school, authorities said.

Police said John David LaDue, 17, of Waseca, was less than two weeks away from carrying out his remarkably detailed plans to bomb Waseca Junior/Senior High School, about 75 miles south of Minneapolis, when he was arrested Tuesday.

Police said they found three fully functional bombs, other bomb-making materials, gunpowder, numerous firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in LaDue's home and in a rented storage locker.

LaDue was charged with four counts of first-degree attempted murder and six counts of possession of explosives, along with two counts of attempted damage to property. He was held at a juvenile facility after his arraignment Thursday morning.

An obviously shaken Waseca police Capt. Kris Markeson said at a news conference that LaDue almost certainly would have been able to carry out the attack based on "the amount of preparation that he put into this."

All that stopped him was a witness who phoned in a report of a suspicious person at the rental unit Tuesday night, Markeson said. Police said in a statement that because that person did the right thing, "unimaginable tragedy has been prevented."

In the statement and in an investigative affidavit, police outlined a frighteningly comprehensive plan that LaDue detailed in a journal he kept in a locked guitar case in his bedroom.

The journal records LaDue's fascination with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who gunned down 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado 15 years ago last month, police said.

It describes a sequence of events in which LaDue would shoot his parents and his sister and then set a series of fires to divert emergency crews.

Once the first responders were out of the way, he planned to set off pressure cooker bombs at the school during the lunch hour — a time chosen so "as many students as possible" would be killed, according to the journal, as described in the official documents.

He then expected to die in a shootout with police or school security officers, the documents say.

Markeson wouldn't discuss possible motives, but he said there was no indication that LaDue had been bullied at school or that he had any accomplices.

Thomas Lee, superintendent of the Waseca Public Schools, told reporters Thursday that teachers and administrators knew LaDue as a good student who was "a little quiet" and caused no trouble.

"Today has been a very rough day," Lee said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/waseca-school-bomb-plot-foiled-thanks-witness-n95216

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Oklahoma

Drugs in botched Oklahoma execution leaked from IV

by SEAN MURPHY

OKLAHOMA CITY — Some of the three drugs used in a botched Oklahoma execution this week never made it into the death row inmate's system because a vein in his groin that collapsed wasn't noticed until 21 minutes after the execution started, the state's prisons chief said Thursday in a report urging changes to the state's execution procedures.

Medical officials tried for nearly an hour to find a vein in Clayton Lockett's arms, legs and neck before finally inserting an IV into his groin, prisons director Robert Patton wrote in a letter to the governor detailing Lockett's last day.

By the time a doctor lifted a sheet covering the inmate and noticed the line had become dislodged from the vein, all of the execution drugs had already been injected and there wasn't another suitable vein, the report noted.

"The drugs had either absorbed into tissue, leaked out or both," Patton wrote. "The director asked the following question, 'Have enough drugs been administered to cause death?' The doctor responded, 'No.'"

At that time, Patton halted the Tuesday night execution, but Lockett was pronounced dead of a heart attack 10 minutes later.

Oklahoma's execution rules call for medical personnel to immediately give emergency aid if a stay is granted while the lethal drugs are being administered, but it's not clear if that happened. The report does not say what occurred from when Patton called off the execution at 6:56 p.m. to Lockett being pronounced dead at 7:06 p.m.

The report also indicated that on his last morning, Lockett fought with guards who attempted to remove him from his cell and was shocked with a stun gun. After being taken to a prison infirmary, a self-inflicted cut was found on Lockett's arm that was determined not to require stitches. The report also notes that Lockett refused food at breakfast and lunch.

Madeline Cohen, an attorney for inmate Charles Warner, who had been scheduled to be executed two hours after Lockett, said Oklahoma was revealing information about the events "in a chaotic manner."

"As the Oklahoma Department of Corrections dribbles out piecemeal information about Clayton Lockett's botched execution, they have revealed that Mr. Lockett was killed using an invasive and painful method -- an IV line in his groin," Cohen said in a statement. "Placing such a femoral IV line requires highly specialized medical training and expertise."

Inserting IVs into the groin area -- the upper thigh or pelvic region -- is often done for trauma patients and in experienced hands can be straightforward, but injecting in the femoral vein can be tricky because it's not as visible as arm veins and lies next to the femoral artery, said Dr. Jonathan Weisbuch, a physician in Phoenix.

Warner's execution was initially rescheduled for May 13. Patton called Thursday for an indefinite stay, something Cohen said she agreed was necessary.

Gov. Mary Fallin, who has ordered one of her Cabinet members to investigate the botched execution, said Thursday she was willing to issue a 60-day stay for Warner, the longest allowed under state law, if needed to complete the inquiry.

"If it does require more time, then yes, I think they should take more time," Fallin said Thursday. "We need to get it right."

If 60 days isn't adequate, Oklahoma's attorney general said he would request an additional stay from the courts to ensure no executions are carried out until the review is complete.

In his recommendations to the governor, Patton said the state should:

--Place more decision-making power with the director instead of the prison warden.

--Conduct a full review of execution procedures, and ensure Oklahoma "adopts proven standards."

--Give staff the "extensive training" required once new protocols are written.

--Allow an external review of what went wrong.

Lockett's execution was to have started at 6 p.m., but according to a timeline with Patton's letter a medical technician working from 5:27 p.m. to 6:18 p.m. couldn't find a suitable place for an intravenous line on Lockett's arms, legs, feet and neck.

The execution started at 6:23 p.m. Typically inmates die in about 10 minutes. Patton stopped the execution at 6:56 p.m., but 10 minutes later Lockett apparently suffered a heart attack. Autopsy results are pending.

http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2023504165_apxoklahomaexecution.html

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New York

Off-duty NYPD officer shoots man in unprovoked “bizarre” attack

by Jane Walsh

A New York Police Department (NYPD) officer has appeared in court in Pelham in Westchester County, accused of felony assault. Brendan Cronin (27) allegedly fired 13 shots from his car window, wounding a man in a nearby car six times.

The victim, Joseph Felice (47), was hit in the torso, arm and hand by six bullets. He needed surgery, but reports say he will recover from his injuries.

Pelham police believe the officer used his Glock 9 service handgun in this seemingly unprovoked attack. They describe the incident as "random" and "bizarre." Police say there are no apparent connections between the alleged perpetrator and the victim.

It has been reported that Cronin was drinking with another off-duty officer in City Island before driving north. The attack on Felice took place on Lincoln Avenue near Sixth Avenue. Cronin was pulled over by police shortly afterward after a member of the public reported a car driving erratically.

The police told a press conference Cronin has refused to take a breath test and has been quiet while in custody.

The accused told officers he has no memory of shooting his gun. He has been suspended from duty.

Cronin, who lives in Yonkers, is a six-year veteran of the NYPD and works at the 46th Precinct in the Bronx.

Following his closed arraignment he was sent to Westchester County jail on $150,000 cash bail or $250,000 bond. Cronin is due back in court at 6pm on Thursday, May 8.

Robert Borrelli was driving the car in which Felice was riding when the attack took place. He and his best friend were driving home after their New Rochelle Wranglers hockey team won its playoff game when suddenly Cronin began to shoot.

Borrelli hit the gas and raced his friend to the Bronx hospital, teammate Rich Koh, told the New York Daily News.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Off-duty-NYPD-officer-shoots-man-in-unprovoked-bizarre-attack-VIDEO.html

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Montana

German officials demand justice after exchange student killed in Montana

MISSOULA, Mont. - The German consulate called for justice Wednesday after a homeowner fired four blasts from a shotgun into his garage, killing a 17-year-old exchange student who was inside.

The investigation into the killing of Diren Dede of Hamburg should make clear that it is illegal to kill an unarmed juvenile just because he was trespassing, said Julia Reinhardt, spokeswoman for the consulate in San Francisco.

"We consider what happened completely out of proportion to the probable risk," Reinhardt said.

Dede's father, Celal, arrived in Missoula on Tuesday night with a family friend to recovery his son's body. They spent part of the morning at the home of Diren Dede's host family in Missoula and declined to be interviewed.

Deputy County Attorney Andrew Paul met with the father on Wednesday afternoon, but said he couldn't release any further information regarding the case, The Missoulian newspaper reported.

The teen was studying at Missoula's Big Sky High School and was to leave the U.S. after the school term ended in just a few weeks. Students at the school were being offered counseling.

It is not clear what Diren Dede was doing in Markus Kaarma's garage just before the shooting early Sunday morning. Prosecutors allege the 29-year-old firefighter shot into his garage without warning after an intruder tripped sensors he had installed.

Just days before, Kaarma told a woman that his house had been burglarized twice and he had been waiting up nights to shoot an intruder, court records said.

Kaarma's attorney, Paul Ryan, said his client plans to plead not guilty to a charge of deliberate homicide because Montana law allows homeowners to protect their residences with deadly force when they believe they are going to be harmed.

There had been a number of break-ins in the neighborhood and Kaarma believed the police weren't doing anything about it, Ryan said.

"We know with no question the individual entered garage. Kaarma didn't know who he was, his intent or whether he was armed," Ryan said.

Kaarma and his partner, Janelle Pflager, have remained in their home since he was released on $30,000 bond Monday. A sign on their front door Wednesday told visitors not to ring the bell.

Ryan said Kaarma and Plfager, who have a young child, have received anonymous death threats on Facebook. International media and curious locals alike have been hounding the couple, making them fearful to leave the house.

"They are trapped in their house now," Ryan told The Missoulian.

An official from the German consulate is in Missoula to assist Celal Dede in recovering the body and to meet with local law enforcement and prosecutors, Reinhardt said.

"This is very important to us, and she is there to put pressure on the authorities to investigate thoroughly," Reinhardt said. "We don't have any doubt that this will happen."

Dede's family in Hamburg told the German newspaper Bild the family has lived in Germany since 1977, and Diren has two sisters ages 19 and 21. He was to be in the U.S. for just another six weeks, but now the family plans a burial in Turkey, the newspaper reported.

Diren Dede played soccer for his Missoula high school and in Germany. His former team in Hamburg was to play a charity match Wednesday to help the family pay for the funeral and other costs.

The teen's fellow players on the Big Sky High School soccer team were hit hard by his death, CBS affiliate KPAX reported.

The team's soccer coach praised Dede, both as an athlete and as an advocate for social justice.

"We were all just amazed at what he could do as far as being a defender," soccer coach Jay Bostrom told MTN News. "Another thing about his personality, he was a very open-minded, sensitive young man who was concerned a lot with global justice and social justice issues around the world."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/german-officials-demand-justice-after-exchanged-student-killed-in-montana/

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Oklahoma's botched lethal injection marks new front in battle over executions

by Josh Levs, Ed Payne, and Greg Botelho

A botched lethal injection in Oklahoma has catapulted the issue of U.S. capital punishment back into the international spotlight, raising new questions about the drugs being used and the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

"We have a fundamental standard in this country that even when the death penalty is justified, it must be carried out humanely -- and I think everyone would recognize that this case fell short of that standard," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday.

What went wrong Tuesday in Oklahoma "will not only cause officials in that state to review carefully their execution procedures and methods," said Richard W. Garnett, a former Supreme Court law clerk who now teaches criminal and constitutional law at the University of Notre Dame, "it will also almost prompt many Americans across the country to rethink the wisdom, and the morality, of capital punishment."

"The Constitution allows capital punishment in some cases, and so the decision whether to use it or abandon it, and the moral responsibility for its use and misuse, are in our hands," he said.

Precisely what happened during the execution of convicted murderer and rapist Clayton Lockett remains unclear. Witnesses described the man convulsing and writhing on the gurney, as well as struggling to speak, before officials blocked the witnesses' view.

It was the state's first time using a new, three-drug cocktail for an execution.

Oklahoma halted the execution of another convicted murderer and rapist, Charles Warner, which was scheduled for later in the day.

Thirty-two U.S. states have the death penalty, as does the U.S. government and the U.S. military. Since 2009, three states -- New Mexico, Connecticut, and Maryland -- have voted to abolish it.

States that have capital punishment have been forced to find new drugs to use since European-based manufacturers banned U.S. prisons from using theirs for executions. One of those manufacturers is the Danish company Lundbeck, maker of pentobarbital.

Carney, speaking to reporters at a daily briefing, said he had not discussed the Oklahoma case with President Barack Obama.

"He has long said that while the evidence suggests that the death penalty does little to deter crime, he believes there are some crimes that are so heinous that the death penalty is merited." The crimes committed by the two men in Oklahoma "are indisputably horrific and heinous," Carney said.

'There was chaos'

Lockett lived for 43 minutes after being administered the first drug, CNN affiliate KFOR reported. He got out the words "Man," "I'm not," and "something's wrong," reporter Courtney Francisco of KFOR said. Then the blinds were closed.

Other reporters, including Cary Aspinwall of the Tulsa World newspaper, also said Lockett was still alive and lifted his head while prison officials lowered the blinds so onlookers couldn't see what was going on.

Dean Sanderford, Lockett's attorney, said his client's body "started to twitch," and then "the convulsing got worse. It looked like his whole upper body was trying to lift off the gurney. For a minute, there was chaos."

Sanderford said guards ordered him out of the witness area, and he was never told what had happened to Lockett, who was convicted in 2000 of first-degree murder, rape, kidnapping and robbery.

After administering the first drug, "We began pushing the second and third drugs in the protocol," said Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton. "There was some concern at that time that the drugs were not having the effect. So the doctor observed the line and determined that the line had blown." He said that Lockett's vein had "exploded."

The execution process was halted, but Lockett died of a heart attack, Patton said.

"I notified the attorney general's office, the governor's office of my intent to stop the execution and requested a stay for 14 days," said Patton.

Gov. Mary Fallin issued a statement saying that "execution officials said Lockett remained unconscious after the lethal injection drugs were administered."

Another state, another botched execution

Earlier this year, a convicted murderer and rapist in Ohio, Dennis McGuire, appeared to gasp and convulse for at least 10 minutes before dying from the drug cocktail used in his execution.

Ohio used the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone in McGuire's January execution, the state said.

Louisiana announced later that month that it would use the same two-drug cocktail.

Oklahoma had announced the drugs it planned to use: midazolam; vecuronium bromide to stop respiration; and potassium chloride to stop the heart. "Two intravenous lines are inserted, one in each arm. The drugs are injected by hand-held syringes simultaneously into the two intravenous lines. The sequence is in the order that the drugs are listed above. Three executioners are utilized, with each one injecting one of the drugs."

The execution was the first time Oklahoma had used midazolam as the first element in its three-drug cocktail. The drug is generally used for children "before medical procedures or before anesthesia for surgery to cause drowsiness, relieve anxiety, and prevent any memory of the event," the U.S. National Library of Medicine says. "It works by slowing activity in the brain to allow relaxation and sleep."

The drug "may cause serious or life-threatening breathing problems," so a child should only receive it "in a hospital or doctor's office that has the equipment that is needed to monitor his or her heart and lungs and to provide life-saving medical treatment quickly if his or her breathing slows or stops."

Cruel and unusual?

The question for courts is whether using such drugs in executions constitutes "cruel and unusual" punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

After his execution, McGuire's family filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction of the execution protocol the state used.

"The lawsuit alleges that when Mr. McGuire's Ohio execution was carried out on January 16th, he did endure frequent episodes of air hunger and suffocation, as predicted," the office of the family's attorney Richard Schulte said in a statement. "Following administration of the execution protocol, the decedent experienced 'repeated cycles of snorting, gurgling and arching his back, appearing to writhe in pain,' and 'looked and sounded as though he was suffocating.' This continued for 19 minutes."

In Oklahoma, attorneys for both Lockett and Warner have been engaged in a court fight over the drugs used in the state's executions.

They'd initially challenged the state Department of Corrections' unwillingness to divulge which drugs would be used. The department finally disclosed the substances.

Lockett and Warner also took issue with the state's so-called secrecy provision forbidding it from disclosing the identities of anyone involved in the execution process or suppliers of any drugs or medical equipment. The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected that complaint, saying such secrecy does not prevent the prisoners from challenging their executions as unconstitutional.

After Lockett's execution, Adam Leathers, co-chairman of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, accused the state of having "tortured a human being in an unconstitutional experimental act of evil."

"Medical and legal experts from around the country had repeatedly warned Oklahoma's governor, courts and Department of Corrections about the likelihood that the protocol intended for use ... would be highly problematic," said Deborah Denno, death penalty expert at Fordham Law School.

"This botch was foreseeable and the state (was) ill prepared to deal with the circumstances despite knowing that the entire world was watching. Lethal injection botches have existed for decades but never have they been riskier or more irresponsible than they are in 2014. This outcome is a disgrace," Denno said.

Amnesty International USA called the botched execution "one of the starkest examples yet of why the death penalty must be abolished."w

"Last night the state of Oklahoma proved that justice can never be carried out from a death chamber," Executive Director Steven W. Hawkins said in a statement.

Investigation

The Oklahoma attorney general's office is "gathering information on what happened in order to evaluate," said spokeswoman Dianne Clay.

Fallin ordered an independent review of the state's execution procedures and issued an executive order granting a two-week delay in executions.

"I believe the legal process worked. I believe the death penalty is an appropriate response and punishment to those who commit heinous crimes against their fellow men and women. However, I also believe the state needs to be certain of its protocols and its procedures for executions and that they work," she told reporters Wednesday.

Fallin gave no deadline for the review, which will be led by Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Thompson. If it is not done within the 14-day period, the governor said she would issue an additional stay for Warner.

Lockett's attorney slammed the announcement and called for a "truly" independent investigation.

"The DPS is a state agency, and its Commissioner reports to the Governor. As such, the review proposed by Governor Fallin would not be conducted by a neutral, independent entity.

"In order to understand exactly what went wrong in last night's horrific execution, and restore any confidence in the execution process, the death of Clayton Lockett must be investigated by a truly independent organization, not a state employee or agency," Dean Sanderford said in a statement.

Lockett was convicted in 2000 of a bevy of crimes that left Stephanie Nieman dead and two people injured.

Nieman's parents released a statement Tuesday prior to Lockett's scheduled execution.

"God blessed us with our precious daughter, Stephanie for 19 years," it read. "She was the joy of our life. We are thankful this day has finally arrived and justice will finally be served."

Warner, who now awaits execution, was convicted in 2003 for the first-degree rape and murder six years earlier of his then-girlfriend's 11-month-old daughter, Adrianna Waller.

His attorney, Madeline Cohen, said further legal action can be expected given that "something went horribly awry" in Lockett's execution Tuesday.

"Oklahoma cannot carry out further executions until there's transparency in this process," Cohen said. "... Oklahoma needs to take a step back."

In a CNN/ORC poll earlier this year, 50% of Americans said the penalty for murder in general should be death, while 45% said it should be a life sentence. The survey's sampling error made that a statistical tie. Fifty-six percent of men supported the death penalty for murder in general, while 45% of women did.

A Gallup poll last year found 62% of Americans believe the death penalty is morally acceptable, while half as many, 31%, consider it morally wrong.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/30/us/oklahoma-botched-execution/

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Oklahoma

State governor orders Okla. Department of Public Safety to investigate failed execution

by Janelle Stecklein

OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Mary Fallin ordered a thorough review Wednesday of the botched lethal drug execution of a convicted murderer that left him writhing and grunting.

But the governor said executions will continue in Oklahoma, and the review by the state Department of Public Safety is to determine if medical and other protocols were followed in the failed execution of Clayton D. Lockett.

Lockett, 38, was the first of two planned executions Tuesday night at the state prison in McAlester. Twenty minutes into the drug injection procedure, he began to lift his body from the gurney and grunt, according to gallery witnesses.

At that point, the procedure was stopped, the blinds drawn on the death chamber, and witnesses later told Lockett died shortly afterward of a massive heart attack.

Fallin promptly ordered a two-week stay for the execution of the second inmate, Charles F. Warner, who was scheduled to be put to death two hours after Lockett.

She said Warner would be executed on May 13 unless the review and assessment of Lockett's death were not completed by then. There are another 50 convicts on death row in Oklahoma awaiting execution.

“His fellow Oklahomans have sentenced him to death,” Fallin said in brief remarks to a room full of media. “We expect the sentence to be carried out as required by law.”

Lockett's bungled execution stoked the national debate over capital punishment, and whether lethal injections violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Even the White House weighed in, with presidential press secretary Jay Carney criticizing the execution.

“We have a fundamental standard in this country that even when the death penalty is justified, it must be carried out humanely,” said Carney. “I think everyone would recognize that this case fell short of that standard.”

Lockett was administered three drugs: midazolam, a sedative to cause unconsciousness; vecuronium to relax the body's muscles, and potassium chloride to stop the heart from beating.

http://www.normantranscript.com/headlines/x2117364612/State-governor-orders-Okla-Department-of-Public-Safety-to-investigate-failed-execution

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Pennsylvania

Officials announce Norristown Quality of Life Policing Task Force

by Oscar Gamble

NORRISTOWN — The police department is spearheading a collaborative effort with SEPTA police and the Montgomery County District Attorney's and Sheriff's offices to change the perception of the municipality in terms of crime and public safety.

About 50 residents and members of the media attended a press conference in Council Chambers at Norristown Municipal Hall Wednesday afternoon to hear from municipal, county and law enforcement officials about the Norristown Quality of Life Policing Task Force, an initiative designed to “decrease fear of crime, increase the visibility of multifaceted community policing and establish a more effective collaboration around policing priorities in the municipality.”

Norristown Council President Bill Caldwell opened by explaining the benefit of an accurate depiction of safety in the municipality for residents, visitors and businesses.

“Urban communities often get a bum wrap for being places where random crime happens and we're here to tell you today that that is not what happens in Norristown,” said Caldwell.

“The chiefs will present a new approach that we're going to take to make people feel comfortable ... to live, work and play in Norristown. We feel that we are the next up and coming community not only in Montgomery County but in all of Southeastern Pennsylvania.”

Caldwell said that positive things are happening in Norristown and burgeoning redevelopment is only possible in the community the public feels is safe.

At-large councilman Marlon Millner touted the new initiative and spoke about some specifics, including the likelihood of increased patrols in the business corridor and more security at transportation hubs.

Municipal administrator Crandall Jones addressed concerns regarding the potential effectiveness of the initiative in light of the perception of an unsustainable tax base. Jones asserted that public safety and economic development are inseparable aspects of public policy and that the perception of a community as safe results in investment that fortifies the tax base.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman stressed the importance of enforcing quality of life infractions as a tool for ensuring safety and polishing Norristown's image.

“Addressing quality of life crimes and violations is one of the things law enforcement needs to do to make people in the community feel safer and actually make them safer,” said Ferman. “We've done it here in Montgomery County in the past and other jurisdictions have used this type of approach and its been successful.”

She also commended Norristown Chief of Police Mark Talbot for his vision in formulating the task force and pledged prosecutorial support from the DA's office

“Today we are introducing a new conversation about Norristown,” said Talbot. “The conversation is largely about hope and possibility. It's about effective collaboration and commitment around a shared mission. That mission will manifest itself in the form of increased safety, both in objective terms as well as in the subjective way we feel about living and working in Norristown.”

http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140430/officials-announce-norristown-quality-of-life-policing-task-force

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Oklahoma

Botched Oklahoma execution reignites death penalty debate

by Lindsey Bever

Tuesday night's botched execution in Oklahoma, which resulted in an inmate's writhing death from a heart attack 43 minutes after he received what was supposed to be a lethal injection, was just one in a series of bungled execution attempts the past few years. It's prompting calls for a moratorium on capital punishment from death penalty opponents.

The inmate, Clayton Lockett, was confirmed unconscious 10 minutes after the first dose in the state's new three-drug protocol was administered. The first drug, midazolam, is intended to render a person unconscious. But three minutes later, he began breathing heavily, thrashing and straining to lift his head, media witnesses said.

Reporters for Tulsa World and KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City said Lockett called out from the gurney, “man.”

The blinds were then lowered to prevent people in the viewing gallery from seeing inside the death chamber. Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton answered a ringing phone and left the room with a few officials.

Patton told reporters Lockett's vein line had “blown.” When asked what he meant, Patton said the vein had “exploded.”

Soon afterward, an alarmed Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin stayed for 14 days the other execution that was scheduled for Tuesday night, the Associated Press reported.

“I have asked the Department of Corrections to conduct a full review of Oklahoma's execution procedures to determine what happened and why during this evening's execution of Clayton Derrell Lockett,” Fallin said. “I have issued an executive order delaying the execution of Charles Frederick Warner for 14 days to allow for that review to be completed.”

Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, called for an investigation as well as an immediate moratorium on all executions in the state, saying, “In Oklahoma's haste to conduct a science experiment on two men behind a veil of secrecy, our state has disgraced itself before the nation and world.”

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty also responded in a statement: “This night will be a catalyst for those aggrieved and outraged to continue to fight to abolish the death penalty in Oklahoma and every other state in America.”

Executions have become increasingly difficult for states to carry out over the past two years because of similar incidents. Licensed physicians are now unwilling to have anything to do with them on ethical grounds. Pharmaceutical companies that market the most tested drugs have cut off supplies, forcing states to obtain compounds they refuse to describe from suppliers they refuse to identify.

These controversies have begun a whole new phase in the decades-long struggle over capital punishment. For years, opponents of the death penalty fought about its fundamental fairness under the Constitution. When they lost that fight, they attacked the capacity of the criminal justice system to actually mete out the death penalty reliably and without racial bias. They lost that fight, too, in the 1980s.

Now the battle concerns not who dies, but how they die, and the competence of states to carry out executions humanely.

The visibility and drama of Oklahoma's trouble Tuesday night is likely to intensify that conflict. There has been no doubt about the guilt of these two condemned men. Lockett, 38, was convicted of shooting a teenager and watching as she was buried alive. Warner, 46, was convicted of raping and murdering his girlfriend's 11-month-old baby.

Both were set to be executed Tuesday, Lockett at 6 p.m. Central time and Warner at 8 p.m.

Lockett's execution was halted when it appeared the lethal injection administered to him was ineffective. Contrary to the description from media eyewitnesses, officials said he remained unconscious and passed away in the execution chamber at 7:06 p.m.

“There was some concern at that time that the drugs were not having that [desired] effect, and the doctor observed the line at that time and determined the line had blown,” Patton said in a news conference. “After conferring with the warden, and unknown how much drugs went into him, it was my decision at that time to stop the execution.”

Still, 43 minutes after the first injection, Lockett suffered a heart attack and died.

Tulsa World enterprise editor Ziva Branstetter, who one of 12 media witnesses, wrote a dramatic account of the execution:

6:28 p.m. Fifty milligrams of midazolam have been injected into each of Lockett's arms to start the process, an attempt to sedate him before the second and third drugs are administered to stop the breathing and the heart. Lockett has spent the past several minutes blinking and occasionally pursing his lips.

6:29 p.m. Lockett's eyes are closed and his mouth is open slightly.

6:31 p.m. The doctor checks Lockett's pupils and places his hand on the inmate's chest, shaking him slightly. ‘Mr. Lockett is not unconscious,' Trammell states.

6:33 p.m. The doctor checks Lockett a second time after a full minute without movement. ‘Mr. Lockett is unconscious,' Trammell states. It seems like it took longer than expected for this to occur. In past executions I have attended, there has been no notice that the inmate was unconscious, just a pronouncement of death after about eight minutes without much reaction from the inmate.

6:36 p.m. Lockett kicks his right leg and his head rolls to the side. He mumbles something we can't understand.

6:37 p.m. The inmate's body starts writhing and bucking and it looks like he's trying to get up. Both arms are strapped down and several straps secure his body to the gurney. He utters another unintelligible statement. Defense Attorney Dean Sanderford is quietly crying in the observation area.

6:38 p.m. Lockett is grimacing, grunting and lifting his head and shoulders entirely up from the gurney. He begins rolling his head from side to side. He again mumbles something we can't understand, except for the word ‘man.' He lifts his head and shoulders off the gurney several times, as if he's trying to sit up. He appears to be in pain.

6:39 p.m. The physician walks around to Lockett's right arm, lifts up the sheet and says something to Trammell. ‘We're going to lower the blinds temporarily,' she says. The blinds are lowered and we can't see what is happening. Reporters exchange shocked glances. Nothing like this has happened at an execution any of us has witnessed since 1990, when the state resumed executions using lethal injection.

6:40 p.m. A black landline phone rings in the viewing chamber and Patton leaves to take the call, stretching the phone cord out into the hall and closing the door behind him. Though the clock on the wall in the execution chamber is no longer visible, it seems like several minutes pass before Thompson is summoned out to the hallway.

Approximately 6:50 p.m. Patton comes back to the viewing room and says the execution has been ‘stopped. We've had a vein failure in which the chemicals did not make it into the offender. … Under my authority, we are issuing a stay for the second execution.' The announcement is stunning and leaves us wondering what has happened to Lockett.

The court fight preceding the attempted executions had also been messy.

Lockett and Warner had sued the state for refusing to disclose details about the execution drugs, saying it violated the Constitution's guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment. They argued that without knowing who manufactures the execution drugs, they had no way of ensuring the drugs would work as intended.

The case placed Oklahoma's two highest courts at odds and prompted calls for the impeachment of state Supreme Court justices after the court last week issued a rare stay of execution. The high court later dissolved its stay and dismissed the inmates' claim that they were entitled to know the source of the lethal drugs, the AP reported.

By then, Gov. Fallin had issued a stay of execution of her own — a one-week delay in Lockett's execution that resulted in both inmates being set to die the same day.

After Tuesday's failure, Lockett's attorney David Autry questioned the amount of the sedative, midazolam, that was injected, saying he thought the 100 milligrams called for in the Oklahoma's execution protocol was “an overdose quantity.” He said he was also skeptical of the department's determination that Lockett's vein had failed.

Tuesday was the first time the state had administered midazolam as the first drug in its execution protocol.

Earlier this year, the state attorney general's office announced that a deal to obtain pentobarbital and vecuronium bromide, a muscle relaxer, had fallen through, and Lockett and Warner's executions were delayed.

The new protocol was identified in court papers and included the combination of midazolam and hydromorphone.

Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire was the first U.S. inmate to receive this controversial combination earlier this year — and it reportedly caused him to make gasping-like sounds for several minutes before he was ultimately pronounced dead.

Regarding Warner's scheduled execution, federal public defender Madeline Cohen, one of his attorneys, told the Washington Post, “Oh, we will be pursuing further action.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/30/botched-oklahoma-execution-reignites-death-penalty-debate/?tid=pm_national_pop

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Oklahoma

Execution drugs harm breathing and heart function

by The Associated Press

Oklahoma changed its execution protocols twice this year. State officials have five options for lethal injections, including a new three-drug mixture that was used for the first time Tuesday.

Two of the drugs used carry warnings that they can suppress the respiratory system, and the third warns that cardiac trouble can occur with high but non-lethal doses and lists specific steps to take if a patient receives too much of the drug but doesn't die.

MIDAZOLAM (sedative)

Warning labels that accompany packages of midazolam say intravenous use of the drug has been associated with respiratory suppression or respiratory arrest. Monitoring is required in case there is a need to intervene with life-saving medical treatment. Overdoses can result in a slow heart rate.

VECURONIUM BROMIDE (paralytic)

The package labeling warns that means of providing artificial respiration and oxygen therapy should be available when patients are given vercuronium, which is often used to relax muscles for intubation or during surgery. Respiration "insufficiency" is listed as a possible adverse reaction.

POTASSIUM CHLORIDE (stops heart)

The labels include strong warnings that potassium chloride must be given at a slow, controlled rate when administered for the treatment of a potassium deficiency. At higher doses, the drug stops the heart. For non-lethal higher doses, medical literature says to discontinue the infusion immediately and use injections of dextrose and insulin, absorb excess potassium and engage in dialysis. Respiratory paralysis is also possible. Medical literature at the National Institutes of Health says potassium intoxication can cause cardiac arrest and that EKG abnormalities can illustrate trouble.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Execution-drugs-harm-breathing-and-heart-function-5440512.php

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Washington D.C.

Distracted Driving Is a Public Safety Concern | Commentary

by Sen. Jay Rockefeller

Distracted driving has been a growing public safety concern for me, as it has for the Department of Transportation, safety advocates and the countless families who fear losing a loved one because of a driver focused on something other than driving. Distractions have always been present in the car, but the face of this problem has completely changed with the evolution of modern technology. Now, drivers can talk, text and search for information on a smartphone, further drawing their attention away from the road.

It's true that much of this new technology offers benefits for drivers. Advanced mapping and navigation systems help drivers get to where they want to go without having to fight with paper maps. The wide array of music and news apps provides drivers with more listening options than ever. But if these technologies pull the driver's focus away from the road, the risks of a tragic accident occurring are simply too high.

We have made substantial progress in making our drivers more aware of the dangers associated with distraction. Congress, the Department of Transportation and other agencies and organizations have joined together in urging drivers to focus on the road. At the local level, 43 states have enacted tough distracted driving laws by banning text messaging for all drivers. Several have even made it illegal for novice drivers to use their cellphones behind the wheel — a strong step against distracted driving that I believe more states should take.

Auto companies and smartphone manufacturers also have an opportunity, and a responsibility, to be a part of the solution. Much of their focus today seems to be on providing drivers with the same features and connectivity in their car that they have on their smartphones. They have argued that in-car “infotainment” systems which mirror the temptations of smartphones are actually safer than the alternatives. To me, this reasoning ignores one simple and critical fact — if the driver's eyes are on a screen, they're not on the road.

It is my hope that major industry stakeholders will do more to use their brands, resources and market share to limit distractions and save thousands of lives each year. In February, I convened a daylong summit in the Senate Commerce Committee which brought together smartphone manufacturers, wireless carriers, operating system developers and automakers, as well as government regulators and safety advocates.

Our discussion revolved around the significant collaboration underway among industries to develop systems that could encourage drivers to put down their phones or otherwise render them unusable for the driver. During the discussion, everyone seemed to agree that the technology already exists for improved products and services that would limit distracted driving. I was pleased to see this consensus.

I also discussed with summit participants industry's civic responsibility to save lives from distracted driving, and implored them to act boldly and act now. As an example, parents could be given tools to limit distractions for their teenage drivers so their son or daughter can't talk on the phone, text or update social networking sites while driving. We've also heard from plenty of experienced drivers who want the same ability to limit their own smartphone's functionality while they're behind the wheel. And many employers are seeking ways to prohibit their employees from texting or talking while driving company cars.

Mobile device-makers, software developers, automakers and wireless carriers could — and should — implement widely available, accessible and seamless solutions that prevent distractions from our smartphones. It's no secret that I believe companies must fight the urge to feed into consumers' need for connectivity, without taking into account the safety implications. We all know the car is a unique environment. It's not a park bench or a subway station. That's why, for everyone's safety, the driver's attention is needed on the road.

I have spent significant time working to prevent distracted driving. To me, this is a critical public safety issue that requires involvement from all sectors if we are to achieve an all-of-the-above solution. If car companies, smartphone manufacturers, wireless carriers and software developers have the tools to join in this solution — and they've said they do — then I believe they should help focus drivers on the road ahead.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/distracted_driving_is_a_public_safety_concern_commentary-232527-1.html?pos=oopih

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From the Department of Justice

(Video on site)

Attorney General Holder: Justice Department to Collect Data on Stops, Arrests as Part of Effort to Curb Racial Bias in Criminal Justice System

April 28, 2014

The Department of Justice is launching an initiative to analyze and reduce the effect of racial bias within the criminal justice system. Through the new National Center for Building Community Trust and Justice, the Department will collect data regarding a broad range of areas in which fairness and trust can come into question-from stops and searches to wrongful convictions. By employing a data-driven approach that builds on the work of the Department's Smart on Crime initiative, this program will implement evidence-based strategies to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color. This new effort will be funded by an initial $4.75 million competitive grant award.

http://www.justice.gov/agwa.php

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Deputy Attorney General Cole Delivers Remarks on the White House Task Force Protecting Students from Sexual Assault

Good afternoon. It's an honor to be a part of this unprecedented effort to address campus sexual assault. In January, when President Obama, with the help of Vice President Biden, established the “White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault,” the Department of Justice enthusiastically joined the effort. As the parent of a daughter who graduated from college just a few years ago, I understand the importance of ensuring that campuses are safe and welcoming learning environments.

As we just heard from Tina [Tchen], the statistics about campus sexual violence make clear that the problem is urgent and the consequences can be devastating. This is not just an education issue, it is also a criminal justice issue.

We know the majority of rapes are committed by a small number of perpetrators, and we know that both schools and law enforcement struggle to investigate and adjudicate these crimes. Sadly, we never even hear about most campus sexual assaults because victims are often afraid to come forward, fear retaliation, or blame themselves for what happened. Only 2% of college students who suffer sexual assault while incapacitated, and only 13% of other college students who are rape survivors, report the crime.

The Department of Justice is devoting significant resources to address the problem and build on our work in this area over the last two decades. This year, our Office on Violence Against Women – also known as OVW – will award nearly $400 million more in grants to provide states, tribal governments, educational institutions, and victim service providers with resources to address sexual assault and domestic violence.

OVW also is launching a multi-year initiative to evaluate prevention programs, victim services, and campus law enforcement training to ensure that victims are treated in a manner that is sensitive to what they have been through. This is a critical part of encouraging a victim to come forward and report an assault so we can hope to stop the next one before it happens. In addition, OVW is developing an online resource hub to share best practices with campuses across the country.

This is truly a Department-wide initiative, and OVW is joined by a variety of Justice Department components working together to provide training, technical assistance, and information-sharing. Because campus sexual assault can be a form of discrimination based on sex, and a violation of a student's civil rights, the Department's Civil Rights Division is addressing sexual assault by vigorously enforcing civil rights laws. Along with other components in the Department, it is partnering with the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to provide guidance to schools in designing the best policies and practices to protect students' civil rights.

Together, with members of the Task Force, the Department is working to prevent violence and support survivors by increasing public awareness. Earlier this month, I participated, along with fellow administration colleagues, in a nationwide university tour to raise awareness of campus sexual assault and to join with the schools in this effort. Learning first-hand from universities administrators, their students, their campus law enforcement, and their support networks, only served to solidify the need for an urgent, bold, and comprehensive response.

And while the federal government has an important role to play, we recognize that the government cannot solve the problem alone. To succeed, we must not only capitalize on the expertise of, but also provide training and support to local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors' offices, the courts, and victim services providers so they can effectively participate in the effort to combat to sexual assault.

It will be no small feat, but we ultimately must change the culture on campuses and in communities, so that everyone understands that sexual assault is never acceptable.

And to truly make the most of the national spotlight cast by the President and the Vice President, we must do more than raise awareness. We must transform awareness and advocacy into action, and this Task Force and the Department of Justice have begun to do just that. We have no choice but to commit ourselves to strengthening programs and services to protect students from incidents of sexual assault -- not just for the students enrolled today -- but for students in future generations as well. The Attorney General and I are extremely proud of the fact that the Department Justice is a part of this critical work.

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/dag/speeches/2014/dag-speech-140429.html

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Ohio

Police arrest Ohio man after tracing bomb threats in 4 NW counties to suspect's cellphone

by Associated Press

PORT CLINTON, Ohio -- An investigation into a series of telephoned bomb threats to schools and police departments in northwestern Ohio has resulted in a man's arrest on a charge of inducing panic.

Charles Tingler, 22, of Oak Harbor, was being held in jail Saturday on the charge, an Ottawa County jail official said. It could not be determined immediately whether Tingler had an attorney.

Fake threats occurred in Ottawa, Sandusky, Erie and Lucas counties. In each call, the suspect either said a device was about to go off in the school building or that a man in a trench coat was walking in the school with a bomb, police said.

Agent Donald St. Clair of the Ottawa County Drug Task Force told area reporters at a Friday news conference that the charge against Tingler related to threats to Oak Harbor schools on April 21. The case will be presented to a grand jury, and more charges related to threats to other schools are likely, Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan said.

A message seeking additional comment was left Saturday at the Ottawa County sheriff's office. There was no answer to calls to the prosecutor's office.

St. Clair told reporters earlier that police were able to trace the calls to Tingler's cellphone and that the suspect used different Internet sites and mobile applications designed to disguise his voice and phone number.

Tingler told authorities that he made some calls that started as pranks and said that he "took it too far," St. Clair told reporters.

"He was extremely remorseful," St. Clair said. "Toward the end of the interview, he was ready to cry and break down."

Authorities said the drug task force was involved because its agents are local law enforcement officers who assist on other cases when asked.

Tingler is scheduled for a hearing in Ottawa County Municipal Court on Monday.

http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2014/04/police_arrest_ohio_man_after_t.html

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From the Department of Justice

Office on Violence Against Women Announces Two New Grants to Support Prosecutorial and Victim Services in Rural and Tribal Communities in the Bakken Region

The Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) today announced the release of two grant solicitations to launch a new $3 million special initiative for the Bakken Region. Located in western North Dakota and eastern Montana, the Bakken region has experienced rapid growth in oil and gas production in recent years. It has also seen increases in population and crime. OVW's Bakken Region Initiative will support the expansion of services to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking as well as aid the local criminal justice system in responding to these crimes.

“Over the past five years, we have made great strides in protecting women from violence in Indian country,” said Associate Attorney General Tony West. “We will continue to partner with tribal and local law enforcement and service providers, and together we will help strengthen public safety in the Bakken communities with resources like these grants.”

Supported by funding from OVW's Rural Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking Grant Assistance Program (Rural Program), the OVW Bakken Region Initiative will support projects that are designed to address the unique challenges faced by victims, responders and service providers within this rural region. The Bakken Region Initiative was developed through a collaborative process resulting from OVW's July 2013 fact-finding trip to the region, during which OVW leadership met with local and tribal advocates and law enforcement, tribal leaders, the U.S. Attorney, FBI agents and victim service staff. In response, OVW developed two solicitations, the Violence Against Women Bakken Region Initiative: Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Bakken Region Tribal SAUSA Initiative) and the Violence Against Women Bakken Region Initiative: Enhanced Response to Victims (Bakken Region Enhanced Response to Victims Initiative). Together, these grants will create dedicated resources to increase local and tribal capacity to prosecute crimes of violence against women and provide services to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking.

“Local and tribal victim service providers have been overwhelmed with the increase in domestic violence and sexual assault victims coming forward and needing help,” said Bea Hanson, OVW's Principal Deputy Director. “These targeted funds will enable the community to assist more victims and support the growing population in the Bakken Region.”

The Bakken Region Tribal SAUSA Initiative will support the salary, travel and training costs of a Tribal SAUSA for the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana and a Tribal SAUSA for the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The Tribal SAUSAs, who will be cross-designated to bring cases in both tribal and federal courts, will work in collaboration with the U.S. Attorneys' Offices in the Districts of Montana and North Dakota. These prosecutors will maintain an active violence against women crimes caseload in tribal and federal courts, while also helping to promote higher quality investigations, improved training and better inter-governmental communication.

The Bakken Region Enhanced Response to Victims Initiative will fund state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions, as well as local and tribal victim service providers responding to the increased demand for domestic violence and sexual assault victim services. Funding and technical assistance will also help those working to prevent violence and support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.

The solicitations are non-competitive special initiative announcements, and applications for both solicitations are due by May 28, 2014.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/April/14-ovw-438.html

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From the Department of Homeland Security

FEMA Urges Preparedness Ahead of Severe Weather

Residents Encouraged to Monitor Conditions and Follow Direction of Local Officials

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) , through its regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Denton, Texas, is monitoring a large-scale storm system moving across the western U.S. into the Great Plains which will potentially cause a multi-day severe weather outbreak this weekend and into early next week. Residents in potentially affected areas should take the time now to ensure they are prepared for severe weather.

FEMA is in close contact with the National Weather Service, which is forecasting the development of severe thunderstorms across the central and southern Great Plains this weekend and into the Mississippi Valley and mid-South early next week, with the potential for hail, damaging winds and tornadoes, as the system progresses eastward. Ahead of this storm, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are possible today in parts of southern Virginia and North Carolina For a comprehensive forecast for your area, visit www.weather.gov.

Many mobile devices are capable of receiving free Wireless Emergency Alerts, which are sent by public safety officials such as the National Weather Service about imminent threats like severe weather. They look like a text message and show the type and time of the alert, any action you should take, and the agency issuing the alert.

When natural disasters like severe weather and tornadoes strike, the first responders are local emergency and public works personnel, volunteers, humanitarian organizations, and numerous private interest groups who provide emergency assistance required to protect the public's health and safety and to meet immediate human needs.

Severe Weather & Tornado Safety Tips

• Maintain an emergency supply kit both at home and in the car to help prepare for power outages or impassable roads. Visit www.ready.gov or www.listo.gov to learn more about how to be better prepared and how to protect your family during emergencies. Find severe weather and tornado preparedness tips at http://www.ready.gov/severe-weather.

• Follow the instructions of state and local officials, and listen to local radio or TV stations for updated disaster response and evacuation information. Residents can listen to NOAA Weather Radio and local news to monitor for severe weather updates and warnings. The National Weather Service is the source for tornado watches and warnings.

• Become familiar with the terms used to identify severe weather and discuss with your family what to do if a watch or warning is issued. Terms used to describe tornado and other severe weather hazards include the following:

For a flash flood:

• A flash flood watch: Flash flooding is possible. Be prepared to move to higher ground; monitor NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for information.

• A flash flood warning: A flash flood is occurring; seek higher ground on foot immediately.

For a severe thunderstorm:

• A severe thunderstorm watch means that a severe thunderstorm with large hail and/or damaging winds is possible in your area.

• A severe thunderstorm warning means that a severe thunderstorm with large hail and/or damaging winds is occurring or imminent, move indoors immediately.

For a tornado:

• A tornado watch means a tornado is possible in your area.

• A tornado warning means a tornado is either occurring or imminent, take shelter immediately.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate's activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/04/25/fema-urges-preparedness-ahead-severe-weather