~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

July, 2014 - Week 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minnesota

Minneapolis police outreach to Somali community offers a national model

by DAVID CHANEN

Somali-focused effort could be a model for police serving immigrant populations.

Minneapolis police officer Mike Kirchen hopped off his bike on a recent afternoon and strolled through the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, home to the largest Somali immigrant population in the United States.

An hour into his shift, he had given stickers to curious children, stopped traffic to help a woman cross a busy street, moved loitering teens away from a market and talked with a business owner who wanted to file a police report.

Kirchen's work is one thread in a federally funded community-policing initiative begun in January 2013. In a groundbreaking attempt to strengthen ties with Minneapolis' Somali community, police are working with elders and young people, probation officers, courts, city and county attorney's offices, business owners and law enforcement experts.

In 2011, the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $600,000 grant to the Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), which in turn chose Minneapolis' Somali-American community as its subject.

Justice officials said they were impressed by Minneapolis' work so far to build trust with its immigrant population. But they also made it clear they want the project to result in a national model other cities can replicate.

“There is lots of research out there that points to the importance of how officers treat people and how that translates in building relationships, but this is one of the first projects that attempts to take those concepts and put them into operation,” said Chuck Wexler, PERF's executive director.

When planning for the project started in 2012, police had already made some inroads in the area. At least two Somali-born officers were patrolling Cedar-Riverside, and a safety center had been opened in Riverside Plaza. Crime was already declining, so crime reduction did not need to be the overriding goal.

Philosophically, the project plays out at the intersection of “procedural justice,” which is how an officer shows objectivity and respect in interactions with people, and “police legitimacy,” a broader community acceptance of police authority and actions as fair and just, Wexler said.

Among the ways the department made those concepts concrete was by adding officers, providing cultural training, printing business cards with officers' cell numbers in Somali, focusing on young chronic offenders and hosting community events.

“The whole project engages an underserved community that requires special needs,” Wexler said. “The Somali population had a lot of challenges coming to this country.”

Letting voices be heard

A couple of years before the project became reality, the community was reeling. Young Somali-Americans were being recruited to fight for terrorist groups in war-torn Somalia. A few community members were charged with funding terrorist activity. And in early 2010, a Somali man was charged with killing three people in a Seward market.

Although densely populated, the community hadn't seen the type of police presence that it now is experiencing, said Russom Solomon, owner of the Red Sea Bar & Restaurant. Solomon, who is active in several West Bank and Cedar-Riverside associations, said the initiative is creating some change, but that further progress will come only if attitudes improve within the Police Department.

“Communicating better is better than no communication at all,” he said. “There is always room for improvement.”

During the project's planning stages, meetings were held to hear from community members. At one, someone said many taxidrivers were getting tickets and ending up in court, a move perceived as an attempt to damage their livelihood. Another resident complained that racism must be involved when an officer didn't immediately respond to a 911 call or follow up on a police report.

Those involved in the project set to work to change negative perceptions and realities.

Gail Baez, a senior prosecutor in the Hennepin County attorney's office, meets with community members monthly to get street-level intelligence on emerging crime issues and offenders causing problems. She and others also help residents provide victim impact statements at sentencings “so they can feel they have a voice in the courtroom,” she said.

Carla Nielson, a crime-prevention specialist at the community's safety center, plays the roles of educator and ambassador for the Police Department. At first, residents were hesitant to drop in, she said. Now, she answers inquiries on topics ranging from curfews to human trafficking.

Tackling domestic violence, a key component of the project, has produced immediate results. Incident reports have increased as residents realize that reporting violence doesn't cast shame on the community, said First Precinct Inspector Medaria Arradondo.

‘It helps with your life'

Interacting with young people also has been a priority.

Kirchen coordinates a program that has given away 500 bicycle helmets and a dozen bikes. He often eats lunch at the Brian Coyle Community Center, a gathering place for Somalis. Ibsa Mussa, 22, who volunteers to run the center's soccer games, says kids share stories with Kirchen as they eat and get to see an officer doing more than responding to a 911 call.

“They talk about him all the time,” said Mussa. “I like what the officers are doing. … It helps with your life.”

Community activist Abdirizak Bihi said the PERF project has “changed the whole landscape,” especially with young people.

“I was talking to 8-, 9- and 11-year-olds, and they are saying words like, ‘They are the good guys,'?” he said. “I think this should be a model. I live here. I have kids here. I've never seen a program have an impact in such a short time.”

Denise O'Donnell, Bureau of Justice assistant director, said preliminary indications are that the project, which is scheduled to wrap up this fall, is working.

“We expect that this work will lead to a national model that cities can implement to build stronger trust … resulting in violence reduction and prevention,” she said.

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/268749491.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From ICE

Secretary Johnson announces 192 criminal arrests in ongoing ICE operation to crack down on human smuggling to the Rio Grande Valley

WASHINGTON — As part of the U.S. Government's aggressive campaign to respond to the recent rise in illegal migration into South Texas, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, joined by U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Winkowski, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Operations Division Deputy Chief Jaime Salazar, today announced the progress of ongoing enforcement efforts by ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the United States Department of Justice to target human smuggling networks in the Rio Grande Valley.

On June 23, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) surged personnel to the RGV as part of HSI's efforts to target and dismantle human smuggling operations across the southwest border. Less than a month into this operation, 192 smugglers and their associates have already been arrested on criminal charges, more than 501 undocumented immigrants have been taken into custody and more than $625,000 in illicit profits have been seized from 288 bank accounts held by human smuggling and drug trafficking organizations.

"We have continued to stress that our borders are not open to illegal migration and that if you enter the United States illegally, we will send you back," said Secretary Johnson. "Equally important, those who prey upon migrants for financial gain will be targeted, arrested, and prosecuted. We are focusing on the pocketbooks of these human smugglers, including their money laundering activities in the United States – working with our Mexican and Central American partners to track, interdict, and seize the money flowing through Mexico and Central America."

"The Department of Justice will continue to prioritize cases involving smuggling or transporting of undocumented individuals, including minors, into the United States," said Deputy Attorney General James Cole. "We appreciate our longstanding partnership with ICE and DHS and look forward to continuing our work together on this important law enforcement initiative."

Examples of enforcement actions taken in this ongoing operation include:

•  On July 8, HSI special agents in McAllen, Texas, assisted by U.S. Border Patrol agents, encountered three suspected smugglers and 91 undocumented immigrants, including 12 unaccompanied children. The individuals were from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, China, Nicaragua and Mexico.

•  On July 9, HSI special agents in McAllen, assisted by U.S. Border Patrol, rescued a Honduran woman who was being threatened and held against her will by her smugglers. Her family member in Alexandria, Va., was being extorted for $2,000 in exchange for her release. Two Mexican nationals were arrested in McAllen on illegal immigrant smuggling charges.

•  On July 17, HSI special agents in McAllen, assisted by U.S. Border Patrol and the Palmview, Texas Police Department identified an immigrant stash house in Palmview with 46 undocumented immigrants of various Central American nationalities and two suspected illegal immigrant smugglers. The agents discovered the smugglers were part of an alien and drug smuggling operation connected to the smuggling of over 460 undocumented immigrants, more than 3,500 pounds of marijuana and 50 pounds of cocaine.

•  On July 17, HSI Del Rio special agents arrested a Honduran national in San Antonio for illegal immigrant smuggling. The individual is a previously convicted cocaine smuggler and the leader of an illegal immigrant smuggling organization known for smuggling more than 400 undocumented immigrants into the United States since January 2013. A firearm in his possession was also seized.

HSI is also pursuing money laundering activity associated with the transnational criminal activities of transnational human and drug smuggling operations, particularly focused on the exploitation of sophisticated ways smugglers and traffickers are using the financial system to further their activities. HSI is focused on identifying, targeting and dismantling criminal organizations using these accounts in order to disrupt the larger networks involved in human smuggling.

In May, HSI conducted Operation Southern Crossing, a month-long initiative along the U.S. southwest border in which 163 alien smugglers and other violators were arrested. HSI special agents also obtained 60 indictments and 45 convictions, seized 29 vehicles, nine firearms and more than $35,000 in illicit proceeds.

These efforts are part of the continuing U.S. government-wide response to address the recent influx of illegal migration coming across the southwest border. DHS will continue to vigorously pursue and dismantle these human smuggling organizations by all investigative means to include the financial structure of these criminal organizations. ICE HSI has deployed 60 additional criminal investigators and support personnel to their San Antonio and Houston offices for this purpose, as well as supplementing this with additional intelligence and programmatic support from ICE headquarters. Additionally, on June 30, Secretary Johnson announced the deployment of approximately 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents to the Rio Grande Valley Sector to augment illegal entry detection efforts to execute joint, targeted enforcement operations in order to disrupt and degrade criminal organizations that are responsible for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs throughout the South Texas Corridor.

The public is encouraged to report suspected human smuggling by calling the ICE tip line toll-free at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1407/140722washingtondcb.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the FBI

The Transnational Gang Threat -- Building Partnerships That Last

Wearing special headsets and sensors that transported them into a virtual world, the Central American Community Impact Exchange (CACIE) participants prepared to do battle in the FBI's simulation trainer. The armed criminals projected through their 3D goggles lurked behind furniture and doorways. Carrying real M4 rifles customized to shoot virtual rounds, it was the team's job to subdue the bad guys without becoming casualties themselves.

The state-of-the-art simulation trainer at our facility in Quantico, Virginia helps new FBI agents-in-training and police officers around the country hone their tactical skills. For the CACIE group—many of whom are not members of law enforcement—the simulator was an illuminating and sobering lesson in how dangerous a police officer's job is and how crucial teamwork is to success.

“Until today,” said a community activist from Honduras who had just emerged from a training run in the simulator, “I had never held or fired a weapon in my life.” Unfortunately, transnational gangs such as MS-13 and 18th Street use guns far too often for crimes and murders in her country and elsewhere in Central America.

One of CACIE's primary goals is to bring law enforcement and community groups together to develop programs that keep youths from being recruited by gangs. “The idea is to provide young people with other opportunities,” said Special Agent Rich Baer, a member of the FBI's Safe Streets and Gang Unit who helps administer the CACIE program.

For that concept to work, the 22 CACIE participants from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, and the U.S must develop strong relationships so that when the two-week class is completed, lasting partnerships can be formed.

“All the people here need to become close friends during this experience,” said Gerry Lopez, a senior deputy district attorney in Riverside, California, who participated in the first CACIE training session last year and was invited back to share best practices with this year's class. “Before there can be an effective professional connection,” he said, “there needs to be a meaningful personal connection.”

That's why the team-building exercise in the virtual trainer—along with other classroom, tactical, and field training the group received—is vital. Learning how officers search buildings and make arrests gave the non-law enforcement members of CACIE an appreciation for what police are up against when dealing with violent gang members. It also underscored the fact that the fight against transnational gangs—regardless of one's nationality—can only succeed through a unified effort.

“The hope is that after this training, the participants will take an elevated role against gangs in their communities,” Baer said, “and share with each other what works and what doesn't work.”

“It's good to know there are so many other people in different countries committed to keeping kids out of gangs,” said CACIE class member Fredy Martinez, a mental health therapist and court liaison with Arlington, Virginia's Department of Human Services who counsels young gang members caught up in the legal system. “This group—and what they stand for—validates what I do on a daily basis.”

CACIE participant Henry Pacheco, a counselor for the Northern Virginia Family Service's Intervention, Prevention, and Education Program, acknowledged that the gang problem can sometimes seem overwhelming. “But there is hope,” he said. “Just take a look at the people in this group. They all care, and they are all working together to make their communities better.”

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/july/the-transnational-gang-threat-part-2-building-partnerships-that-last/the-transnational-gang-threat-part-2-building-partnerships-that-last

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the FBI

The Transnational Gang Threat -- Overcoming the Language Barrier

For some Central American and U.S. participants in an FBI-led training program to combat the threat of transnational gangs, there may have been a considerable language barrier if not for the Bureau interpreters on hand to provide a verbal lifeline.

Although not technically members of the Central American Community Impact Exchange program (CACIE), the four interpreters from our Language Services Section who recently took part in the two-week session were instrumental to the group's success, ensuring that the police officers, pastors, social workers, and community activists from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, and the U.S. were all on the same page.

A fundamental goal of CACIE is to facilitate an international coalition between law enforcement and communities to fight violent transnational gangs like MS-13 and 18th Street. The ability for partners from different countries to communicate—to share information and ideas—is central to that goal.

During presentations, participants who were not bilingual wore headsets to listen to an interpreter translating between English and Spanish. In the field, the linguists—whose regular assignments support a variety of FBI investigations—kept the dialogue flowing while the group toured neighborhoods and police stations in North Carolina and Guatemala learning about programs designed to keep young people out of gangs.

“What set this apart from our usual work is that it involved community leaders as well as law enforcement,” said Ana Lahr, a linguist in our Pittsburgh Division who, like the other CACIE interpreters, volunteered for this assignment. “We had the privilege of interacting with all the participants and listening to their unique perspectives,” she explained. “Everyone was passionate about the work they do.”

Typically, interpreters try to be “invisible” and simply convey the speaker's message, said Martha Anta, a linguist in our San Antonio Field Office. But hearing about the challenges CACIE participants face in their communities drew them all closer, she added. “It was extremely gratifying to be part of such a heartfelt group.”

The linguists were never really off-duty. Training days sometimes stretched beyond 12 hours, and their interpreting skills were also needed for after-hours tours and meals. As a result, said Lillian Atdjian, a language specialist in our Jacksonville Division, “we became members of the group.”

Thanks to the interpreters' efforts, noted CACIE participant Nick Hullinger, “the whole group was able to quickly move forward together. Their abilities made it easy for everyone to communicate and to bond.” Hullinger, a Spartanburg (South Carolina) County Sheriff's Office deputy and member of an FBI Safe Streets Task Force, added that the language barrier posed little problem for the group.

There were emotional moments when it was difficult to interpret, said Sabrina Jennings, a language analyst in our Houston Field Office. During a meeting with at-risk youth in Durham, North Carolina, for example, a young boy talked about not having a father or father figure in his life. “As a male counselor told the young boy to stand up and proceeded to hug him, I found it difficult to maintain my composure as I watched people in the audience crying,” Jennings recalled. “I kept interpreting with watery eyes and a lump in my throat.”

Just like the CACIE participants, she added, “the interpreters don't simply walk away from an assignment like this. We all spent two weeks together, shared so much, and learned from each other. We all became friends.”

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/july/the-transnational-gang-threat-part-3-overcoming-the-language-barrier/the-transnational-gang-threat-part-3-overcoming-the-language-barrier

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arizona

Prolonged Arizona execution was 'torture'

by Ben Brumfield and Mariano Castillo

The prolonged execution of Arizona death row inmate Joseph Wood was tantamount to torture, Sen. John McCain said.

The Arizona Republican told Politico he supports the death penalty in some cases, but the nearly two-hour execution involving a novel combination of drugs was carried out in a “terrible” way.

“The lethal injection needs to be an indeed lethal injection and not the bollocks-upped situation that just prevailed. That's torture,” he told Politico on Thursday.

McCain, who served as a U.S. military pilot, was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He was shot down, beaten and tortured.

Wood's last breaths were like “a fish on shore gulping for air,” reporter Troy Hayden said. Wood's attorneys tried to stop the execution more than halfway through, with one calling it “bungled” and “botched.”

State officials and his victims' relatives disagreed, saying Wood snored and didn't appear to be in agony.

Reports that the execution was botched are “erroneous,” Charles Ryan, director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, said Thursday.

Wood was comatose and never in pain during his execution, Ryan said. The director said: “The record clearly shows the inmate was fully and deeply sedated ... three minutes after the administration of the execution drugs.”

Suffering or not, Wood's death Wednesday afternoon took too long, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said, and she has ordered the state's Department of Corrections to review it.

http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/national_world/mccain-prolonged-arizona-execution-was-torture/article_60f2e717-5c1a-5cf8-934e-5fa5969e13d9.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

North Carolina

Community policing efforts make an impact in city neighborhoods

Wilmington Police Department Officer Fred Clark had to return to his car for one last piece of paper before he could continue on his way.

Reaching into the back seat of his cruiser, which was parked at Pender Avenue and 21st Street, Clark tore a couple stickers off a thick roll. Then he crossed the street to give them to a pair of young girls who had been watching his car.

"I feel like I'm running for mayor sometimes," Clark said after returning to the cruiser.

Clark, a 15-year veteran of the department, is the only officer dedicated solely to a community policing foot patrol, but a corporal will be assigned to the unit in the next two weeks. The foot patrols are just one way WPD uses community policing, with other initiatives including the downtown and public housing units, both of which have been touted as successes by department leadership in recent months.

WPD is considering how to expand these efforts because, officials say, of those successes.

"People respond very positively, and they like to see our officers, they like to talk to them, they like to see them out of their cars, they want to interact with our officers in our neighborhoods," Chief Ralph Evangelous said. "That whole perception of safety is huge, as well as the ability to glean information from them. You only get that by getting out and talking to people."

Recently, a man jumped into his beaten-up pickup truck and chased Clark down at 19th and Chestnut streets only to tell the surprised officer he appreciated seeing a police presence in his neighborhood.

Experts say community police officers such as Clark are vital to law enforcement.

"Treating the public with respect and listening to what they have to say is just as important, in the long run, as stopping and frisking suspicious individuals," said Dennis Rosenbaum, director of the Center for Research in Law and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

But expanding WPD's community policing footprint will come with a price tag, and when finances tightened in the past, the department discarded similar efforts.

WPD's community policing

Broadly speaking, community policing uses non-traditional techniques to work with residents to untangle the conditions that lead to crime, according to the Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

"People like to say it's not a project or program. It's a philosophy," said Dr. Jan Roehl, a consultant who has spent more than 30 years researching criminal and civil justice programs.

And officials say community policing has worked in parts of Wilmington. Take, for instance, the downtown district, which WPD defines as the area bordered by the Cape Fear River, the Isabel Holmes Bridge, Fifth Avenue and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.

In 2009, there were 511 Part I crimes in that area, a category that includes murder, rape, assault and robbery, among others.

Since then, the number of crimes has fallen steadily, reaching 350 in 2013, the lowest number in 12 years, according to WPD data. Police attribute that drop in part to the creation of the Downtown Task Force, a partnership between WPD and the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office, in 2011.

That unit's success has led Evangelous and WPD to openly wonder whether the task force should be replicated. At June's city council meeting, Evangelous discussed targeting District 3, which is bordered to the north by Market Street, the east by Colonial Drive, the west by Fifth Avenue to Castle Street and then the Cape Fear River and to the south by Martin Street. The police department identified 10 hotspots for violent crimes citywide, and four of them fall within District 3.

To have the same success in District 3, according to WPD data, the department would need nine new officers, three new sergeants and one new lieutenant position, at an annual cost of $708,000. Equipping those officers and giving them vehicles would cost another $656,500.

The department has not asked city council for funding yet, as any requests will be based on the results of a staffing study done with COPS and Michigan State University. The staffing study is expected to be finished in the late summer or early fall.

Council did grant WPD permission to go ahead with a grant from COPS that would see the department receive more than $900,000 over three years to put eight officers in high-gunfire areas. After those three years are up, though, retaining those officers would cost about $500,000 per year.

Making it work

Community policing's reliance on funding was evident at June's council meeting.

"Initiatives are maintained and implemented based on available funding and staffing," read one slide.

In 2007, the city started an initiative requiring officers to spend at least one hour during each of their shifts walking around their assigned zones. That has become unrealistic in recent years, Evangelous said, because of high call volumes that are already straining WPD's officers.

"Incident policing is how we policed for several decades, and it's always easy to get back there because not a lot of self-initiated policing is done when you're driven by radio calls," Evangelous said. Community policing is "a constant work in progress and one that you have to continue to embrace. And the public wants it, they've made it clear that they want it."

Community policing extends beyond expensive initiatives, though. At its most effective, one expert said, it becomes a department-wide philosophy.

"The important point for management is to communicate the importance of community policing, problem solving, and respectful interactions by all officers, and providing them with training in these areas," Rosenbaum said.

"Talking about it is not sufficient. Officers need real skills and tactics to achieve these goals," he added.

Still, there are advantages to having a small unit focused on community policing instead of having patrol officers try to fit it into their schedules.

"In the past, some departments adopted generalist philosophies where every one of our officers are community policing officers," Roehl said. "When you have that generalist approach, it's kind of, 'They'll build partnerships and do problem solving in their spare time.'"

Talking to everyone

Clark, the Wilmington community police officer, doesn't have spare time. His whole day is spent walking through Wilmington's neighborhoods and talking to residents.

During a two-hour period on the afternoon of July 17, he paced around the Carolina Place and Ardmore neighborhoods, took a lap through the alleys in Forest Hills, checked on some abandoned houses downtown to make sure the homeless hadn't moved in and walked around the Long Leaf Mobile Home Park.

"Basically, I walk around and talk to everyone I see," said Clark, who has been on assignment since April in the neighborhoods north and west of Kerr Avenue, Shipyard Boulevard and Carolina Beach Road that, when stitched together, make up the city's Northwest division.

At one point, Clark was strolling up the 1900 block of Church Street when a woman taking her groceries in spotted him coming toward her. She took a long glance at the officer, wearing his dark blue uniform outdoors in the middle of a 90-something degree afternoon.

"Are you just walking the beat or you walking for your health?" she said.

Clark laughed and said, "A little bit of both."

Then the woman told Clark that her neighbors make too much noise and can be heard clearly even over the whirring of a window air conditioning unit. He reminded her she should call 911 when there is a problem and, when she appeared satisfied, he told her to have a good day and went on his way.

"People just want to put a face to the badge," Clark said as he walked away, continuing his never-ending lap of the city.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20140725/ARTICLES/140729745?Title=Community-policing-efforts-make-an-impact-in-Wilmington-neighborhoods

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maryland

Maryland sheriff describes U.S.-Mexico border as 'combat zone'

Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said a "full deployment of military resources" to the U.S.-Mexico border is needed to address the illegal-immigration issues he witnessed

by Bethany Rodgers

FREDERICK, Md. — In a Thursday briefing to county leaders, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said a "full deployment of military resources" to the U.S.-Mexico border is needed to address the illegal-immigration issues he witnessed during his recent trip to Texas.

On last week's fact-finding mission, Jenkins observed a processing center that sheltered scores of children who have crossed into America unlawfully. He got a bird's-eye view of the vast border area while flying in a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter. He even donned floatable body armor and boarded a 34-foot river patrol boat fitted with machine guns.

"It's really, really hard to believe you're in America," Jenkins told Frederick County commissioners during Thursday's meeting. "You feel like you're in a combat zone."

Jenkins spent about 20 minutes detailing his experience visiting McAllen, Texas, with several other sheriffs from around the nation. In the trip's aftermath, Jenkins said he and the other law enforcement leaders will formulate recommendations, which they hope the National Sheriffs' Association will present to federal decision-makers.

The challenge of policing the vast border region between the United States and Mexico became particularly clear to Jenkins during his visit. Securing the area would require "a full militarization of the border, from one end to the other," he said in an interview after his presentation.

Jenkins said he recognizes the humanitarian needs involved when families and children come across the border seeking safety and a better life. Though he wasn't allowed to speak with the children at the processing center, he said he was saddened to see them and hear officials describe the dangers they face when traveling to America.

But most of his comments stressed the public safety concerns raised by illegal immigration.

"We're being invaded by drug cartels, drug smugglers, human traffickers, people who are being victimized. The flow of heroin and marijuana into Texas, through the borders, Arizona and New Mexico, is overwhelming," Jenkins said.

These drugs make their way to Frederick County, as do gang members who have crossed the border unlawfully, he said. Jenkins highlighted the local impact to explain his participation in the visit, which has drawn criticism and attracted widespread media attention. In particular, critics have pointed out that the group's trip was funded by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an organization listed as an anti-immigration hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Jenkins said FAIR was not pushing an agenda during his visit, although a representative of the organization was traveling with the sheriffs. The itinerary for the trip was crafted by two of the participating sheriffs, not by FAIR, he added. He also noted during his presentation that Frederick County taxpayers did not pay for his travel.

But Brian Schmitt, an immigration lawyer and member of the Frederick Immigration Coalition, pointed out that Jenkins was still drawing a salary while on his two-day trip.

"The main focus of his duties is to ensure public safety," Schmitt said.

Militarizing the border is not a solution, since federal military forces cannot be used for domestic security operations, Schmitt said.

Moreover, the people now traveling into the U.S. are children, not criminals, he said.

"He (Jenkins) went down there to take a look at this humanitarian crisis, and for him to come back up here and say we're being invaded by gangs and drug cartels and coyotes is ludicrous," Schmitt said.

Jenkins has gained a reputation for being tough on illegal immigration. Under his leadership, the county has been the only jurisdiction in the state to participate in the federal 287(g) program, which authorizes correctional officers to enforce certain immigration laws. He also sits on the immigration and border subcommittee with the National Sheriffs' Association.

After hearing Jenkins' report, county commissioners thanked him for traveling to Texas.

"I am glad Sheriff Jenkins went. This is a national problem, and the sheriff has acquired a position of influence in the whole United States. I think he has the obligation to use this influence both for us and for the nation. So, we're proud of you for doing that," Commissioner Paul Smith said.

Jenkins urged those watching his presentation to press their congressional representatives to take action on immigration.

U.S. Rep. John Delaney said he agrees with Jenkins about the need for increased border security, adding that the recommendations of law enforcement leaders are helpful to members of Congress.

"I think it's great that the sheriff made the trip," Delaney, D-6th, said in a Thursday phone interview.

However, Delaney said providing more money and technological resources for securing the border is only one piece of immigration reform.

Federal leaders should also create a path to citizenship and tackle issues with visas and worker permitting.

Congress should also move swiftly on President Barack Obama's request for supplemental funding to deal with the current humanitarian crisis at the border, Delaney said. Officials must show compassion to the thousands of children who have fled to the U.S. to escape danger, he added.

"Some are in situations where sending them back amounts to certain death, and I think many of them should be designated as refugees," he said.

Karl Bickel, who is running against Jenkins for county sheriff, said the debate about immigration reform belongs with Delaney and others at the federal level and not with county officials. Jenkins should be more concerned about the heroin traveling to Frederick from Baltimore than about drugs trafficked across the Mexico border, he said.

In Bickel's opinion, Jenkins has exaggerated the presence of transnational gangs in Frederick County. But if anything, Jenkins' stance on immigration makes the problem worse, he argued.

"To the extent that there's going to be a gang presence, it's going to be in communities where the people are afraid to talk to the police because of his stance on immigration," Bickel said.

http://www.policeone.com/border-patrol/articles/7403346-Md-sheriff-describes-U-S-Mexico-border-as-combat-zone/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New York

Better policing is key to mending relations with community, say some of Staten Island's black leaders

by Diane C. Lore

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In the aftermath of Eric Garner's death, leaders of Staten Island's black community on the North Shore are calling for better policing as the key to mending torn relations with the community.

As Garner was laid to rest Wednesday, with many of the community's black leaders attending the funeral, several called for a total overhaul of police training, and a solid return to community policing.

Some said little had been learned in the 20 years since the 1994 death of Ernest Sayon.

Sayon, 22, died following a confrontation with police on Clifton's Park Hill Avenue in April of that year. A convicted drug dealer, Sayon stopped breathing and died in a police van while being driven to Bayley Seton Hospital.

"Not much has really improved since then; I don't think anyone is surprised by what happened to Eric Garner," said Cynthia Davis, a West Brighton resident who heads the Staten Island contingent of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network and is executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Enrichment in New Brighton.

"Police do not have a solid understanding of the area; some are even fearful of the community," she said.

"Police need to be retrained in race-relations. We need a solid return to community policing, where cops know the community, are from the community, and the community knows the cops," Ms. Davis continued. "That won't solve everything, but at least it's a start."

According to the U.S. Justice Department, community policing is defined as "a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues, such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime."

Meanwhile, Ed Josey, president of the Staten Island branch of the NAACP, said the Garner death continues to be the talk of the NAACP national convention in Las Vegas, which began July 19 and ended on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Josey had referred to the Garner death as a "modern day lynching" in a phone interview from the convention but had softened his stance somewhat in a later interview.

"I'm not going to crucify the whole Police Department for the bad apples," he said. He said he did not agree with black leaders who had called for the resignation of Police Commissioner William Bratton.

Bratton, who met Tuesday with Island leaders, has promised a total overhaul of NYPD training procedures. The commissioner said he would look to the Los Angeles Police Department for guidance.

"There's a lot of mistrust and negative views of police in the black community, and that's not improved much in the last 20 years," Josey said. "There's a lot of progress that needs to be made."

He too called for a return to community policing, and said he hoped Bratton could "start the mending process."

The Rev. Dr. Victor Brown, senior pastor of Mount Sinai United Christian Church, Tompkinsville, also said better policing is needed to mend relations, and he hoped Commissioner Bratton would take the lead.

"There is a golden opportunity here," Bishop Brown said, "for us to put forth a model of police-community relations that could become a model for the nation."

"Three things have to happen," said Bishop Brown, who serves as the clergy liaison to the 120th Precinct.

"First, we need increased and enhanced training for police, both in community policing tactics, and how to apprehend perpetrators. Second, there needs to be stiffer penalties for officers who misappropriate their authority, and third, there needs to be an improved dialogue between the police and the community."

"I believe we need to use this (Garner's death) as an opportunity to learn," said the minister, who also spoke at Garner's funeral, telling mourners, "So his death is not in vain, take this as a rally call, and accept the challenge."

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/07/black_leaders_say_better_polic.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Washington

Seattle mayor announces public safety plan after wave of shootings

by Bryan Cohen

Saying the city had reached a “crisis of confidence in public safety,” Mayor Ed Murray called for a litany of public safety initiatives and reforms on Wednesday, promising to create citizen oversight of the police department, create 500 new summer jobs for teens, and to work with state officials to require background checks for all gun sales in Washington.

In one of his most impassioned speeches since taking office, Murray announced his “Compact for a Safe Seattle” before a special session of the Seattle City Council. The announcements come in the wake of several high profile shootings, and some that received less attention.

“It's tough sitting down with a mother whose son was gunned down just blocks from her house,” Murray said Wednesday.

Earlier this month two gay men were gunned down at 29th and King. The motives behind the shooting are still unclear but police have yet to rule out a possible hate crime. Police have identified suspects but the crime remains unsolved.

Monday, Murray swore in his choice to lead his police force, new SPD Chief Kathleen O'Toole .

After years of calls for increased police accountability, Murray said he would separate the Office of Professional Accountability from SPD and provide the office with citizen oversight. Murray didn't detail how the oversight would work or how those citizens would obtain to their positions.

One of the mayor's first actions will be hitting the streets at 23rd and Jackson for his first of many promised “find-it-fix-it community walks,” where he and other officials will walk troubled areas to identify and address graffiti, street lighting, and litter. There are no walks planned for Capitol Hill this summer — unless you count Murray taking a stroll for coffee in his home neighborhood.

The strongest moments of the speech came when Murray lambasted Seattle for allowing an astonishing 54% of black children live in poverty compared to 6% of white children.

“No one is hurt more by crime than the poorest,” Murray said. “And in this city, as in most cities, we cannot talk about poverty without talking about race.”

Murray also said the city would work with existing community partnerships to create 500 more summer jobs for teens and continue to expand the program next year. “It is often said nothing stops a bullet like a job,” he said.

To further address teen violence, the mayor's Summer of Safety initiative would:

•  Extend hours at our community centers and parks to provide more programming geared at both youth and young adults during the day and in the evening hours

•  Expand out-of-school time social hours for teens at local libraries

•  Close neighborhood streets for a day of activities and games

And as some on Capitol Hill prepare this week for the revival of a Q-Patrol-style citizen safety group, Murray appeared to support such efforts by calling for more citizens to get involved with neighborhood watch and patrol groups.

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2014/06/seattle-mayor-announces-public-safety-plan-after-wave-of-shootings/comment-page-1/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arizona

Execution Gone Awry Prompts Concern Over Dubious Lethal-Injection Drugs

by P. Nash Jenkins

Many states won't disclose how they obtain the chemicals used in lethal injections, bringing into question the constitutionality of recent executions

There are just over 3,000 prisoners on death row in the U.S., and 32 states where their execution remains a legal course of action. The decision to implement capital punishment in these states is generally accepted as constitutional, so long as its procedure is in line with the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel-and-unusual punishment.

The execution of Arizona inmate Joseph R. Wood III on Wednesday took nearly two hours to complete, over much of which Wood “gasped and struggled to breathe,” according to a statement released by his defense team. Of the 26 state-sponsored executions committed in the U.S. so far this year, Wood's was the third to seemingly go awry due to the use of largely experimental lethal chemicals, prompting outrage from those who cite these incidents as evidence that capital punishment is not constitutionally viable given the apparent suffering of its recipients.

“His two-hour struggle to death goes beyond cruel and unusual. It's torment. It's something you'd see in third-world and uncivilized societies,” Arizona state senator Ed Ableser told TIME on Wednesday night. “It's embarrassing to see that our state once again is in the news for everything that is wrong that happens in our government.”

The execution should have lasted no more than 15 minutes; when it became clear to witnesses that Wood's death would be prolonged, his attorneys unsuccessfully filed an emergency appeal to end the proceedings, the final of several attempts to save his life. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court had approved the execution after a lower court ruled that Arizona, in refusing to declare how it had obtained the lethal chemicals to be used in the injection, may have violated Wood's First Amendment rights.

In Woods' execution, the state used a combination of the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone — the same cocktail used by the state of Ohio in the execution of Dennis McGuire in January, in which the inmate floundered and wheezed on a gurney for nearly half an hour before the state pronounced him dead.

In a statement released after Wood's death, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said she was “concerned by the length of time” it took for the injection to kill him, and that she has instructed the state's Department of Corrections to investigate the matter thoroughly.

It's still not certain whether Woods indeed suffered pain — state officials have insisted that he was comatose throughout the process — but in any case, his prolonged death draws further attention to the efficacy of the lethal chemicals used for capital punishment in the U.S., one of the world's last developed nations to still punish its worst criminals with death.

States have been struggling to devise new lethal chemicals to be used in capital punishment since 2011, when U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies ceased to manufacture and sell sodium thiopental, an anesthetic compound that has traditionally been essential to America's execution cocktails. It has been a process of trial and error, of learning from mistakes. The mistakes are those execution attempts that do not transpire according to plan — typically marked by a death that comes more slowly and viscerally than anticipated.

In recent months, the hesitation of certain states to disclose information about the new chemicals has fueled a public skepticism over the exact physiological effects of these drugs on those to whom they're administered.

“It's time for Arizona and the other states still using lethal injection to admit that this experiment with unreliable drugs is a failure,” Cassandra Stubbs, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Capital Punishment Project, said in a statement released after Wood's death. “Instead of hiding lethal injection under layers of foolish secrecy, these states need to show us where the drugs are coming from. Until they can give assurances that the drugs will work as intended, they must stop future executions.”

Nearly a third of all executions involving the sedative used to kill Wood “have had extremely troubling problems,” according to a report released last month by the Death Penalty Information Center.

“Arizona appears to have joined several other states who have been responsible for an entirely preventable horror — a bungled execution,” defense attorney Dale Baich told the press. “The public should hold its officials responsible and demand to make this process more transparent.”

http://time.com/3027886/execution-gone-awry-prompts-concern-over-dubious-lethal-injection-drugs/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From burning at the stake to lethal injection, how America keeps reinventing capital punishment

by Lindsey Bever and Justin Moyer

Wednesday's execution in Arizona appears to be another case of lethal injection gone awry. It's not supposed to take two hours. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) called for a review.

But the way America kills criminals has been under review for centuries.

A little more than 400 years ago, what would become the United States saw what's believed to be its first execution.

In 1607, Capt. George Kendall of Jamestown, Va., was accused of mutiny, allegedly plotting to betray the British to the Spanish. He was stripped of his arms, imprisoned and shot.

A few years later, the death penalty was embraced in the colony for even small offenses such as stealing grapes — until a few years later, when laws were softened to attract more souls to the colony.

So began centuries of debate about capital punishment in the United States — not just about whether it was okay to kill convicted criminals, but how to kill them.

Methods were legion — and, as older ones were spurned as barbaric, new ones, often macabre, were embraced.

The breaking wheel gave way to hanging. Hanging gave way to the electric chair. The electric chair gave way to lethal injection. And, shortly before Wednesday's drawn-out execution of murderer Joseph R. Wood III in Arizona, one judge waxed nostalgic about the guillotine. At least it was efficient.

What does capital punishment look like — and when do we decide to change it? Here's a look back at the American killing floor.

PRESSING

Last used: 17th century

What it looked like: The prisoner lay on his back, perhaps on sharp rocks. A wooden slab was placed on his chest. Stones were put on top of the slab until the chest was crushed.

Notable example: There's only one documented pressing in American history. In 1692, the unfortunate Giles Cory, accused of wizardry, was pressed to death in Massachusetts in 1692 — as was John Proctor, the protagonist of Arthur Miller's “The Crucible.”

BREAKING WHEEL

Last used: 18th century

What it looked like: The prisoner was tied to a wagon wheel and bludgeoned to death. Limbs were tied to spaces between the wheel's spokes, then broken.

Notable example: Seven slaves who participated in a slave revolt were broken on the wheel in 1730 in Louisiana, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

BURNING TO DEATH

Last used: 19th century

Notable examples: A slave accused of arson was burned in Massachusetts in 1681 — and, according to one account, a slave accused of rape in South Carolina was burned in 1830 — the last execution by burning in the United States.

HANGING

When it was used: A lot. According to deathpenalty.procon.org, more than 9,000 people were hung in America between 1608 and 2002. The next common method, electrocution, killed only about 4,400.

Last used: In 1996, murderer Billy Bailey died by hanging in Delaware, choosing that method over lethal injection.

What it looks like: “Drop” hanging — dropping a prisoner from a proscribed height according to weight — breaks the neck or severs the head. Simply stringing up the condemned causes strangulation.

Notable examples: Many. Four people accused of conspiring to kill Abraham Lincoln were hung in 1865. A century later, so were Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, the murderers Truman Capote profiled in “In Cold Blood.”

ELECTRIC CHAIR

First used: Botched hangings led to criticism of the method as a remnant of the “dark ages” as early as 1886. So, in 1888, New York built the first electric chair. The idea came from Edison Company, which began demonstrating electrocution on animals, according to PBS. People got the hint: If it could be used to kill animals, it could be used to kill people, too. In 1890, William Kemmler is said to be the first person to “ride the lightning” as they said in “The Green Mile.”

Last used: In 2007, Tennessee child killer Daryl Holton elected to die by electrocution.

What it looks like: The offender sits in a chair wired to an electric current. A metal cap is put on the head and an electrode and wet sponge are strapped to the leg. Another is attached to the scalp. Once activated, 2,300 volts pass through his body for eight seconds, then 1,000 volts for 22 seconds and finally 2,300 volts for eight seconds, according to the Clark County Prosecutor's Office in Indiana.

Notable examples: Leon Frank Czolgosz, who murdered President McKinley, died in the electric chair in 1901. In 1989, so did serial killer Ted Bundy.

GAS CHAMBER

First used: In 1924, Gee Jon was reported to be the first prisoner to die in a gas chamber in the United States. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, this was also thought a humane alternative. In fact, Nevada wanted to pump cyanide gas into his prison cell while he was sleeping so he wouldn't see it coming. There were apparently a few technical difficulties and a gas chamber was quickly built to do the job.

Last used: Armed robber Walter LeGrand chose lethal gas in Arizona in 1999.

What it looks like: The inmate is strapped down around his chest, waist, arms and ankles in an airtight chamber. He wears a mask. When the chamber is activated, cyanide pellets hit a sulfuric acid solution and produce the lethal gas. According to the Clark County Prosecutor's Office: “Unconsciousness can occur within a few seconds if the prisoner takes a deep breath. However, if he or she holds their breath death can take much longer, and the prisoner usually goes into wild convulsions.” Once the inmate is dead, ammonia is pumped into the chamber to clear the air.

Notable example: Leonard Shockley is said to be the last juvenile to be executed in the gas chamber. In 1959, he was put to death in Maryland for a murder.

LETHAL INJECTION

When it was used: Seeking yet another “humane” execution method in 1977, Oklahoma became the first state to use lethal injection, now the primary method of execution in the United States. It's now highly scrutinized amid drug shortages, secrecy laws that allow states to conceal the drug manufacturers and recent botched executions in Ohio, Oklahoma and, now, Arizona.

Last used: Wednesday. Witnesses said Joseph R. Wood III gasped and snorted for nearly two hours before he died in Arizona. The state planned to use a two-drug combination that had been used only once before in an execution, which ended much the same way.

What it looks like: The offender is strapped to a gurney in an execution chamber and connected to an IV in each arm. (One line is used as a backup in case there's a malfunction in the other.) The standard method has been the three-drug injection in which the first drug acts as an anesthetic, the second paralyzes the lungs and diaphragm and the third stops the heart, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. But the scarcity of these drugs is forcing states to search for substitutes. It forced Oklahoma to use a new drug in March as the first drug in a lethal injection that reportedly left a man writhing before he died from a heart attack. The one or two-drug protocols typically call for a lethal dose of an anesthetic or sedative. The two-drug cocktail was notably used this year in Ohio and, now, Arizona.

Notable example: In 1980, John Wayne Gacy was convicted of 33 murders and sentenced to die. After 14 years of appeals, Gacy was finally executed by lethal injection in 1994. At that time, no other person had been convicted of as many murders in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

FIRING SQUAD

First used: George Kendall (see above)

Last used: John Albert Taylor was executed by firing squad in 1996. That was in Utah.

Notable example: Gary Gilmore, subject of Norman Mailer's book “The Executioner's Song.” In 1977, he chose to be executed by a Utah firing squad.

What it looks like: Traditionally, the firing squad is made up six shooters who stand opposite the prisoner, usually tied to chair or a stake, aim at the chest and fire. The head is a tougher target. The offender typically dies of hemorrhage and shock. A bucket beneath the chair catches the blood.

In a recent dissent (in a case involving the execution last night in Arizona) a federal appeals court judge praised this method — and others — as superior to lethal injection. “The guillotine is probably best but seems inconsistent with our national ethos,” Appeals Court Judge Alex Kozinski wrote. “And the electric chair, hanging and the gas chamber are each subject to occasional mishaps. The firing squad strikes me as the most promising. … There are plenty of people employed by the state who can pull the trigger and have the training to aim true.”

He had a broader point though: “The enterprise is flawed. Using drugs meant for individuals with medical needs to carry out executions is a misguided effort to mask the brutality of executions by making them look serene and peaceful–like something any one of us might experience in our final moments. But executions are, in fact, nothing like that.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/24/from-burning-at-the-stake-to-lethal-injection-how-america-keeps-reinventing-capital-punishment/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Africa

Contact lost with Algerian jet over Africa

Air Algerie has lost contact with one of its passenger aircraft nearly an hour after takeoff from Burkina Faso on Thursday bound for Algiers.

"Air navigation services have lost contact with an Air Algerie plane Thursday flying from Ouagadougou to Algiers, 50 minutes after takeoff," Algeria's national airline said, cited by national news agency APS.

It said the company initiated an "emergency plan" in the search for flight AH5017, which flies the four-hour passenger route four times a week.

A company said contact with the flight was lost while it was still in Malian airspace approaching the border with Algeria.

Despite international military intervention still under way, the situation remains unstable in northern Mali, which was seized by jihadist groups for several months in 2012.

On July 17, the Bamako government and armed groups from northern Mali launched tough talks in Algiers aimed at securing an elusive peace deal, and with parts of the country still mired in conflict.

"The plane was not far from the Algerian frontier when the crew was asked to make a detour because of poor visibility and to prevent the risk of collision with another aircraft on the Algiers-Bamako route," the source said.

"Contact was lost after the change of course."

It is believed the aircraft is an MD83 leased to Air Algerie by Spanish airline Swiftair.

Swiftair said in a notice posted on its website that the aircraft took off from Burkina Faso at 0117 local time and was supposed to land in Algiers at 0510 local time but never reached its destination

It said some 110 people and six crew are listed as being on board the flight.

One of Algeria's worst air disasters occurred in February this year, when a C-130 military aircraft carrying 78 people crashed in the mountainous northeast, killing more than 70 people.

Tamanrasset in the deep south was the site of the country's worst ever civilian air disaster, in March 2003.

In that accident, all but one of 103 people on board were killed when an Air Algerie passenger plane crashed on takeoff after one of its engines caught fire.

The sole survivor, a young Algerian soldier, was critically injured.

More to come.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/contact-lost-with-algerian-jet-over-africa-20140724-zwls1.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rhode Island

Editorial

Police methods that work

“Community policing” sounds like a belaboring of the obvious, but the concept, just a decade old in Providence, represents a turnabout in policing methods that has brought major reductions in crime to Rhode Island's capital city.

The New England Association of Chiefs of Police has bestowed its Community Policing Department of the Year award on the Providence Police Department. In spite of a decline in police resources, the city saw a 20 percent drop in crime last year.

In cities around the nation, community policing has replaced police practices grown sclerotic over decades as bureaucracy promoted a style of police work focused more on avoiding criticism than getting involved. But the idea of an officer on a beat who gets to know the problems of a neighborhood is back. It is not just a plot device from old movies anymore.

Providence instituted community policing in 2003, with the arrival of Dean Esserman as chief of police. Lieutenants were given more authority in their own districts. A statistical crime-tracking system was instituted that helps police plan a more comprehensive local strategy against crime.

Community policing also means treating small crimes such as loitering and graffiti as “gateways” to major crimes. Stops for minor offenses net illegal guns. Confiscation of those weapons and justice for their carriers prevent crimes from occurring — whether planned crimes or crimes of opportunity — and keeps more offenders off the streets.

The approach also means showing up to share in a neighborhood's celebrations and moments of grief. Providence police have done that repeatedly.

Mr. Esserman embraced community policing from his years with the New York Police Department. The tactics were controversial for a while, but success speaks for itself. More civilian organizations that might once have seen themselves mainly as police watchdogs now see themselves as police allies, contributing to a more effective fight for justice and safety in Providence.

Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements has done a fine job with diminishing resources. He commended his troops the other day, and was joined by Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré, who told the policing award ceremony: “It's about collaboration, it's about trust, and it's about bringing partners to the table with new ideas.”

The police cannot do the job of protecting the public wholly on their own. It is a team effort, requiring the help of those in the community who prefer to live in safety and wish to contribute to the common good. Let us hope this team effort continues for many years to come.

http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/editorials/20140724-police-methods-that-work.ece

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Connecticut

Editorial

Police need to engage residents

Bridgeport's gun buy-back program is, at best, as even Mayor Bill Finch concedes, not a "panacea," but merely one of the tools the city has to combat gun violence.

It's a pretty slim likelihood that one of the young thugs whose reputation, livelihood and maybe his very life depends on the gun he carries is likely to give it up in exchange for a groceries gift certificate.

Nevertheless, every gun that's no longer out in the public domain is one less gun that could be stolen or somehow fall into hands that will use it in a crime.

So the city's continued practice of buying guns with cash and other forms of compensation is worthwhile.

But it's just part of the effort. Another part of the approach that can always use bolstering in Bridgeport is the concept of community policing, the practice of police officers working and walking neighborhoods, getting out of squad cars and meeting the people who live and work in those neighborhoods.

Still too often, officers show up in a neighborhood only when they've been called to respond to some form of mayhem.

The people who live in Bridgeport's neighborhoods know who the bad actors are. They know who's selling drugs, likely carrying guns, who's carrying a grudge against whom.

A police officer who shows up only periodically is hardly going to have the trust of residents who may have a well cultivated distrust for the police.

Unfortunately, some recent episodes in Bridgeport featuring rogue officers have done nothing to dispel that notion.

Now, make no mistake, Fairfield is not Bridgeport, with its population of 143,000, and the challenges facing city officers and residents are, for the most part, far different from those facing their suburban counterparts.

Nevertheless, even now, police in Fairfield, an affluent community of some 59,000, are rolling out a form of community involvement in the town's downtown business district.

This is not rocket science. In Fairfield, the department has reached out to business owners, letting them know someone from the department would be stopping by and asking for input on concerns.

"The big picture is that we are looking for creative and more effective ways of partnering with the community, said Officer Lance Newkirchen.

"We rely so much on technology, we need to get back tgo the basics. a human touch and good, old-fashioned police work with a modern twist is really going to be nice for the downtown, nad then we can launch in other areas."

Community policing, of course, takes some effort on the part of officers. It involves more than waiting at a post for a call to respond.

And it will no doubt take some wrangling with the union.

Finch and Police Chief Joseph Gaudett have repeatedly -- and rightly -- pointed out that stopping violence is something that the police alone cannot do. And many neighborhood groups in Bridgeport have responded with cooperation.

It is not enough, though, to just ask the community to do more. The police have to go into the neighborhoods even when they have not been summoned, just to learn the lay of the land and meet the neighbors half way.

http://www.ctpost.com/opinion/article/Police-need-to-engage-residents-5642220.php

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New York

Opinion

Pick up pace in improving police-community relations

As New York City investigators gather facts in the shocking death of a father of six who was illegally choked by police during his arrest, there are obvious lessons that Rochester can learn from the tragedy.

Foremost, city and community leaders should recognize the urgent need for improved police-community relations. True, plans for such efforts are underway, but they still can't be implemented soon enough.

The anger among people of color, in particular, after last week's death of Eric Garner on Staten Island is familiar. It surfaced locally last summer after a woman was wrestled to the ground by Rochester police. Such anger is premised on a long history of mistrust of police in minority communities as a result of tragic incidents perceived to be unfair. The same kind of anger, in fact, triggered rioting exactly 50 years ago today when Rochester police made an arrest at a street party. Another incident remembered in the African-American community here is the fatal shooting of a 100-pound black woman, Denise Hawkins, by police 35 years ago.

Without question, significant improvement in police-community relations has been made in recent decades, such as the appointment of three African-American police chiefs. And most recently, Michael Ciminelli, the newest chief, has followed his predecessors in making “community policing,” which involves officers forming closer ties with city residents, a priority. Not only is he focusing on improved police training and getting more officers out of patrol cars and onto the streets, but he promises to personally walk neighborhoods with organized groups.

Ciminelli also plans to make available to the public police demonstrations like the one recently given the Editorial Board of forceful tactics used by officers when a suspect resists arrest.

Meantime, the Unite Rochester and Facing Race = Embracing Equity initiatives are busy working on new strategies to bolster citizen confidence in police. The Unite Rochester Justice Committee's plans include formation of a Crisis Response Team. The CRT, made up of respected community and law enforcement leaders, will seek to ensure that credible information is free-flowing to the public whenever a police incident arouses widespread citizen suspicions. There is also a plan to create a Citizen Court Academy that would educate residents about the local court system.

These are all sensible ways to help police finally be seen as the servants and protectors of all citizens they are meant to be. With cases like that of Eric Garner rekindling distrust, improvements are imperative.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/07/24/pick-pace-improving-police-community-relations/13062497/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moscow

Russians have many theories about the MH17 crash. One involves fake dead people.

by Karoun Demirjian

MOSCOW — As consensus builds in the U.S. government that pro-Russian rebels are responsible for shooting down a Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine, Russians are embracing a smorgasbord of alternate explanations.

Like: Maybe it was actually part of an assassination plot. Maybe those bodies were planted.

Khadija Gamzatova, 50, heard on the news that Vladimir Putin's plane crossed flight paths with the Malaysian jet at one point — and thus believes that Ukrainian government troops shot down the jet, thinking it was the Russian president's plane.

“They were flying close to one another,” said Gamzatova, sitting on a park bench in central Moscow and gesturing to show just how close she believed the planes had been. Ukrainian forces “wanted to shoot down our plane, but this is what they got.”

Tattoo artist Sergey S. had a different theory. “A whole lot of witnesses on the Internet shot video and said the corpses weren't natural, that the people died a long time before [the plane crashed],” said the 45-year-old, declining to give his last name and emphatically expressing reservations that the reporter to whom he was speaking might be an American spy.

No evidence has emerged to support such explanations. But in Russia, each has earned the stamp of approval of either a mainstream media outlet or an influential corner of the Internet.

Since Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed last Thursday, killing all 298 people on board, the Russian media has either repeated or originated several theories about what might have brought down the plane — and almost none leaves open the possibility that the plane crash might have been the Russians' or the pro-Russian rebels' fault.

Each account of Ukrainian “provocation” seems to have found a ready audience.

Both Interfax and Russia's state-owned Channel 1 advanced the theory of a Putin assassination attempt. Russian media reported that Putin's plane and the Malaysian airliner had crossed the same point on their flight paths near Warsaw about a half hour apart — and that the planes had similar contours.

Various television outlets led their broadcasts with another idea: that a Ukrainian flight dispatcher intentionally steered the jet into a war zone to get shot down. Vitaly Trubin, 24, heard one such report on Russia 24.

“Why would the dispatcher do that?" Trubin asked. "Because the [Ukrainian] government told him to. Because the SBU [Ukrainian Security Service] told him to.”

Meanwhile, tattoo artist Sergey's preferred explanation — that the downed plane was actually filled with planted corpses — sped around the Russian-language Web after a rebel leader in eastern Ukraine, Igor Girkin, a Russian citizen also known by his nom de guerre Strelkov, was quoted spouting the theory on a VKontakte page dedicated to him Friday.

“According to the people who collected the corpses, most of the corpses were ‘not fresh' — people died several days ago,” Girkin said, according to the page. Many of the corpses, he claimed, showed no sign of blood.

Russian media aren't simply presenting alternate theories; seemingly wherever U.S. or Ukrainian officials offer what they say is evidence that could implicate pro-Russian rebels in shooting down the plane, the Russian media is ready to contest it.

When the Ukrainian army said it could show militants had surface-to-air missiles that could have shot down the aircraft, Russian media produced experts to rebut that and rebels to argue that even if they did have such missiles, they were all under repair.

As the U.S. government moved to verify the authenticity of recordings of phone calls that indicated rebels had fired at the plane, Russia 24 aired segments featuring sound production experts to demonstrate how those same recordings were a "fabricated fake."

Russians have picked up on the home-grown explanations not so much because they trust their own media, said one expert, but because it's simply anathema to believe an American source.

“We sincerely don't trust the U.S. We absolutely think you are vicious and cowardly and nasty,” explained Ivan Zassoursky, who chairs the new media department at Moscow State University.

“But then, we also really don't know anything,” he added.

A fractured media

Zassoursky said the possibility of war with neighboring Ukraine had revived both feelings of national pride and latent mistrust of the West, stemming from the days of the Cold War and reinforced by the U.S. military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. The latest crisis is also playing out at a time when Russians have unprecedented access to news that fits a somewhat jingoistic view of their country.

The mainstream media in Russia is dominated by state-funded television and newspapers. But the rise of the Internet has provided Russians with many other sources of information, even at a time when the Russian government is passing laws to limit the diversity of media on television and online.

“What is happening now is complete madness in a sense, because everybody has dropped their intellectual facilities as unneeded and is trying to join some kind of team,” Zassoursky said. “And that is happening as there is a shift in media, from the old media — which was centralized, and about personalities — to a new media, where people can find communities.”

Not all Russians believe what they read on state-funded media, Zassoursky added, or trust theories presented on social media. Younger and more educated people — especially those who speak languages other than Russian — tend to have a more critical view of the world, he said, and of their government.

But even those who filter their news somewhat often don't come to radically different conclusions about who is to blame for the Malaysian plane crash.

Alexei Smirnov, 45 and his wife, Olga Smirnova, 43, said they regularly tune out the state-funded channels in favor of EuroNews, which is based in France and partially funded by the E.U., or LifeNews, which is pro-Kremlin but not state-owned. But even if they don't believe any of the reports about Putin's plane or planted bodies, they still think that fault for the accident lies with Ukraine.

“It's a terrible situation for these people, but the responsibility must rest with Ukraine, regardless of where the rocket [that hit the plane] was flown from,” Smirnov said.

And even those who are loath to speculate at all on who is at fault still can't really swallow the U.S. version of what brought down the Malaysian jet.

“It's possible,” Artyom Kruglov, 19, a university student who studies physics and speaks some English, said when asked whether the American government's version of events — in which Russia bears some fault — could be true. “But — why?"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russians-have-many-theories-about-the-mh17-crash-one-involves-fake-dead-people/2014/07/22/9a1c5ec9-11b6-4384-b585-53fff62e5779_story.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New York

NYPD to Retrain Every Officer on Use of Force After 'Chokehold' Death

by JOSH MARGOLIN and COLLEEN CURRY

Every member of the New York City police department will be required to undergo retraining on the use of violence following the death of a man in custody who appeared to have been subdued with a chokehold, the police commissioner said today.

Police Commissioner William Bratton said his investigators have spoken with the FBI "to discuss their monitoring of this investigation," and said that he would "not be surprised" if federal prosecutors began their own civil rights violation case.

Bratton was referring to the death last week of Eric Garner. Garner, who was 6-foot-3 and roughly 350 pounds, died Thursday as police struggled to arrest him on suspicion of selling "loosies," or individual cigarettes, according to the NYPD. A video of the incident showed police apparently putting Garner in a chokehold while he says he can't breathe.

Authorities said Garner appeared to have a heart attack, but the results of an autopsy have not yet been released.

The district attorney is also investigating Garner's death and Bratton said that he expects Garner's family to file a civil suit in his death.

Bratton said that the incident indicated to him that "We need to do a lot more, a lot more, on the issue of training."

He said there would be a "special focus on the use of force" involving the "retraining of every member of the New York Police Department in the coming weeks and months and years."

"The department clearly needs to do more training," Bratton said.

A team from the NYPD will travel to Los Angeles to study the program at the LAPD, which Bratton noted he used to command.

The NYPD told ABC News today that an internal police report prepared right after Garner's death played down the incident, with officers saying Garner was not in "great distress" during the arrest.

The Internal Affairs report quoted two officers, Sgt. Dhanan Saminath and Sgt. Kizzy Adonis, telling supervisors immediately after the incident that cops were "maintaining control of him" and that Garner's condition did not seem serious, a law enforcement source told ABC News.

Adonis did tell supervisors that she “believed she heard the perpetrator state that he was having difficulty breathing,” the source said.

The NYPD placed Officer Daniel Pantaleo, an 8-year veteran who was seen in the video holding Garner, on modified assignment pending the outcome of the dual probes by the district attorney and Internal Affairs.

Panataleo's gun and badge were taken away pending the outcome of the investigations.

"We're hanging back right now. We wouldn't want to get in the way of the criminal investigation" being conducted by the district attorney, another federal source said.

FBI spokesman Christos Sinos stressed that a formal inquiry has not yet been opened up.

Garner's funeral will be held Wednesday in Brooklyn.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-monitoring-nypd-chokehold-death-case/story?id=24663805

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New York

New York City Police Study Use of Force; May Issue More Tasers

by JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN

Days after the death of a man who was subdued by police officers on Staten Island, the Police Department is undertaking a sweeping review of its training and tactics, Commissioner William J. Bratton said on Tuesday.

A senior police official said one change under discussion was the expanded use of Taser stun guns, which are available to a small number of New York officers but have been controversial here and elsewhere because of the risk they can pose to people with heart problems and other medical issues.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said stun guns could be a way to provide officers with more options for subduing people who were resisting arrest and avoiding the close contact that can lead to serious, even fatal, injuries to officers and suspects.

Speaking to reporters at Police Headquarters, Mr. Bratton said the goal of the review was “to develop state-of-the-art use-of-force policies.”

The remarks came as he addressed investigations into the death of the man on Staten Island, Eric Garner, 43. Mr. Garner died on Thursday after officers who had been trying to arrest him for selling loose cigarettes forced him to the ground. In a widely viewed video of the encounter, one of the officers appeared to use a chokehold — banned by the Police Department — to subdue Mr. Garner, who was heard repeatedly saying, “I can't breathe.” Other video taken later appears to show Mr. Garner unconscious and unresponsive to police officers and emergency medical workers.

The medical examiner's office is conducting an autopsy to determine what caused the death of Mr. Garner, who weighed 350 pounds and had health problems including asthma. Pathologists will seek to determine whether the chokehold contributed to his death.

The Staten Island district attorney's office is investigating Mr. Garner's death, and the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau is examining the conduct of the officers. The officer who appeared to use a chokehold has been stripped of his badge and gun, and an officer who helped hold down Mr. Garner has been placed on desk duty.

At the news conference on Tuesday, Mr. Bratton said he had met with F.B.I. officials in New York “to discuss their monitoring of this matter.” Mr. Bratton added that he expected the episode would ultimately be reviewed by federal prosecutors.

Mr. Bratton said that next week he would visit the Police Academy to see the presentations that officers receive on how to “take people down” and “take them into custody.”

During his remarks, Mr. Bratton did not mention Tasers, and it was not clear whether internal discussions about expanding the use of Tasers predated the episode on Staten Island or were in response to it. “There have been conversations, but nothing definitive,” said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal policy debates.

The Police Department has been warier of Tasers than have many departments elsewhere. Stun guns have a scandal-tainted history in New York. In the 1980s, an early-model stun gun was used to force drug suspects to confess.

Emergency Service Unit officers, who are highly trained and handle many of the department's emergency calls regarding emotionally disturbed people, began carrying Tasers shortly after the 1984 death of Eleanor Bumpurs, a disturbed woman who was shot to death by the police after she threatened officers with a knife.

As the use of stun guns grew around the country, the Police Department modestly expanded their use. In 2008, the department instructed some sergeants to wear Tasers on their gun belts instead of storing them in the trunks of police cruisers, as had been the practice.

The move stemmed in part from a study the department commissioned in 2007 after an unarmed Queens man, Sean Bell, was shot dead by officers. Among the recommendations in the study, conducted by the RAND Corporation, was that the Police Department consider making Tasers more widely available to officers.

But months after the police began to expand the use of Tasers, an emotionally disturbed man in Brooklyn fell to his death after the police shot him with a Taser. In that September 2008 episode, the man, Iman Morales, had engaged in a 30-minute standoff with the police, waving a fluorescent light bulb from a building ledge. A lieutenant on the scene ordered another officer with the Emergency Service Unit to fire a Taser at Mr. Morales, who fell headfirst to the sidewalk. Within days, the lieutenant, Michael W. Pigott, killed himself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/police-study-use-of-force-may-issue-more-tasers.html?_r=0

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

California

Palm Springs PD Looking for a Few Good Men, Women

The free 13-week Citizens' Police Academy will teach participants on police procedures, crime scene investigations, community policing and more.

by Renee Schiavone

Applications are being accepted for the Palm Springs Police Department's next Citizens' Police Academy, a police spokesman said today.

The free 13-week program starts Sept. 11. Participants discuss patrol procedures, traffic and crime scene investigations, K-9, SWAT, community policing, narcotics and other topics, and can go on a ride-along with a patrol officer, Palm Springs police Sgt. Harvey Reed said.

The police department has offered the program for 20 years, he said.

Meetings are held 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays at the police training center, 200 S. Civic Drive.

Applicants must be 18 years old and have no felony convictions. Applications are posted at www.pspd.com

For questions and reservations, email arnold.galvan@palmspringsca.gov or call records manager Dora Melanson at (760) 323-8109.

http://palmdesert.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/palm-springs-pd-looking-for-a-few-good-men-women

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ukraine

Ukraine says Russian officer pushed the button to shoot down MH17

by Nick Paton Walsh , Holly Yan and Catherine E. Shoichet

Kharkiv, Ukraine (CNN) -- Vitaly Nayda, Ukraine's director of informational security, told CNN on Tuesday that he is certain a Russian officer personally pushed the button to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Moscow has denied claims that it pulled the trigger.

Meanwhile, bodies from the crash, which were transported to Kharkiv, Ukraine, have been transferred to a local factory, authorities told CNN on Tuesday. A facility at the factory will transfer the remains to coffins and get them on a military plane to the Netherlands for forensic investigation, the officials said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he expects the first plane carrying the remains to arrive Wednesday in Eindhoven.

A train carried the remains of most victims from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 from the crash site in rebel-controlled territory to a government-controlled city Tuesday -- getting the bodies one step closer to their grieving families around the world.

The train traveled from the crash site in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine and arrived at a rail station in Kharkiv and were taken to a closed military area, where the 282 bodies will be put in coffins flown in from the Netherlands.

The bodies will eventually be taken to the Netherlands, where most of the passengers were from.

But a litany of obstacles remain -- not just in handling the remains, but in figuring out how and why MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

Five days after the the plane carrying 298 people plunged from the sky, here's the latest:

The victims

As authorities wait to process the 282 bodies , the remains of 16 people were still missing as of Monday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

The Ukrainian government has said 87 "body fragments" had been recovered from the sprawling crash site, but it's unclear who they may have belonged to.

The grisly scene was marred by reports that pro-Russian Ukrainian rebels, who control the area, had looted personal items from the scene and prevented international investigators from entering.

Poroshenko said the rebels' conduct was "barbaric."

But Dutch forensics experts who inspected the train Monday were "more or less" satisfied with how the bodies were being stored," said Michael Bociurkiw, the spokesman for monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The remains will be flown to Amsterdam on board a Dutch C-130 Hercules, officials said.

An Australian plane will also be involved in taking the bodies from Ukraine to Holland, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Tuesday.

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said bringing the victims' remains home is his country's top priority.

"To my dying day, I will not understand that it took so much time for the rescue workers to be allowed to do their difficult jobs," he told the U.N. Security Council on Monday, "and that human remains should be used in a political game."

The 'black boxes'

Ukrainian rebels gave Malaysian officials the data recorders from downed Flight 17 on Tuesday after days of attempts by the Malaysian government.

"In recent days, we have been working behind the scenes to establish contact with those in charge of the MH17 crash site," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said early Tuesday morning.

Najib said he spoke with rebel leader Alexander Borodai and reached an agreement for the transfer of the black boxes.

Malaysian officials will keep the black boxes while an international investigation team is being formalized, Najib said.

Once the team is finalized, "we will pass the black boxes to the international investigation team for further analysis," he said.

The voice recorder could include audio from the cockpit, which would show whether the pilots knew the plane had been hit, said Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

And the flight data recorder will give investigators information about engine settings, pressurization and electronic communications, among other details, she said.

But even the black boxes might not answer the two most pressing questions: who shot down the plane, and why.

The blame game

The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution Monday demanding full access to the crash site and condemning the downing of the plane.

The resolution won unanimous approval from the 15-member council, which includes Russia. It did not specify who was responsible for the crash.

U.S. and other officials have said it appears the plane was shot down by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile located within rebel-held territory. Evidence supporting that conclusion includes telephone intercepts purporting to be pro-Russian rebels discussing the shootdown and video of a Buk missile launcher traveling into Russia with at least one missile missing.

Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and others have said the pro-Russian rebels could not have shot such a high-flying jet down without weapons and training from Russia.

Obama called on Russia to rein in the rebel fighters, who he said had treated remains poorly and removed evidence from the site.

"What exactly are they trying to hide?" he said.

Officials said Monday that U.S. intelligence analysts are examining phone intercepts, social media posts and information gathered on the ground to see if Russian officials played a direct role in the shootdown, according to two U.S. officials directly familiar with the latest assessment. The officials declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation.

"We are trying to determine if they manned it, advised, or pulled the trigger," one of the officials told CNN.

Pro-Russian rebels have repeatedly denied responsibility for the attack.

"This is an information war," Borodai said. "We don't have the technical ability to destroy this plane. Ukrainians are not interested in the truth."

Moscow has strongly denied claims it pulled the trigger. Russian Army Lt. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov suggested a Ukrainian jet fighter may have shot the plane down.

Russian monitoring showed a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet flying along the same route and within 3 kilometers to 5 kilometers (1.9 miles to 3.1 miles) of Flight 17, Kartapolov said, according to Russian state media.

"We would like to know why the Ukrainian plane was flying along a civilian route on the same flight path as the Malaysian Boeing," Kartapolov said, according to the reports.

In his interview with Amanpour, Poroshenko rejected the Russian suggestion, saying all Ukrainian aircraft were on the ground at the time.

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, also blamed Ukraine for the crash on Monday. But when asked about audio recordings purporting to show pro-Russian separatists talking about shooting down a plane, he suggested that if they did, it was an accident.

"According to them, the people from the east were saying that they shot down a military jet," he said. "If they think they shot down a military jet, it was confusion. If it was confusion, it was not an act of terrorism."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/22/world/europe/ukraine-malaysia-airlines-crash/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Texas

Texas Gov. Rick Perry plans to deploy up to 1,000 guardsmen to border

by The Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas – Gov. Rick Perry said Monday he is deploying up to 1,000 National Guard troops over the next month to the Texas-Mexico border to combat criminals that Republican state leaders say are exploiting a surge of children and families entering the U.S. illegally.

Perry, a vocal critic of the White House's response to the border crisis -- and who is mulling a second presidential run in 2016 -- said the state has a responsibility to act after "lip service" from the federal government.

He rejected suggestions that Texas was militarizing local communities by putting National Guard troops on the ground or that crime data along the border doesn't justify additional resources.

The deployment will cost Texas an estimated $12 million a month. Texas Adjutant General John Nichols said his troops would simply be "referring and deterring" immigrants and not detaining people -- though Nichols said the National Guard could if asked.

"We think they'll come to us and say, `Please take us to a Border Patrol station," Nichols said.

More than 3,000 Border Patrol agents currently work in the region, and Perry has repeatedly asked Obama to send the National Guard to the border. Much of the area has been overwhelmed in recent months by tens of thousands of unaccompanied children illegally entering the U.S.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection didn't respond to a request for comment Monday.

As governor, Perry is commander in chief of Texas military forces unless those forces have already been mobilized by the White House. But if Perry deploys National Guard troops it is up to Texas to pay for them, while an order from Obama would mean Washington picks up the tab.

"Gov. Perry has referred repeatedly to his desire to make a symbolic statement to the people of Central America that the border is closed," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. "And he thinks that the best way to do that is to send 1,000 National Guard troops to the border. It seems to me that a much more powerful symbol would be the bipartisan passage of legislation that would actually make a historic investment in border security and send an additional 20,000 personnel to the border."

Earnest also said the White House hasn't received the kind of "formal communication" with Perry's office that usually accompanies such deployments.

President George W. Bush sent 6,000 National Guard troops to the border in 2006, and Obama eventually extended that deployment while ordering a second wave of National Guard forces to Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico in 2010. But the second round saw reduced numbers of troops, and most of their work was limited to air patrols in counterdrug operations.

Perry announced last month that Texas would steer another $1.3 million each week to the Department of Public Safety to assist in border security through at least the end of the year. In a letter to Obama on June 20, Perry made several requests for help along the border, including 1,000 National Guard troops, additional helicopters and giving troops "arrest powers to support Border Patrol operations until sufficient Border Patrol resources can be hired, trained and deployed to the border."

It's not clear why Perry would need the Obama administration to authorize arrest powers and the governor's office has not offered details ahead of the announcement. Texas law simply states that the governor can "adopt rules and regulations governing enlistment, organization, administration" of the Texas State Guard.

In a White House letter to Perry on July 7, Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett laid out steps the administration was taking to deal with what the president had called an "urgent humanitarian situation," but did not mention the National Guard. Obama met with Perry two days later in Dallas, and the administration has worked with Mexico and other countries the immigrants are leaving to make it clear they will not be allowed to stay in the U.S.

On previous border deployments, National Guard soldiers have served in support roles -- administrative, intelligence gathering -- while the Border Patrol expanded its ranks. Some National Guard troops already participate in counter-drug operations on the border, though they don't have arrest powers.

Since October, more than 57,000 unaccompanied children and teenagers have entered the U.S. illegally -- more than double compared to the same period a year earlier. Most have been from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, where rampant gang violence and intense poverty have driven tens of thousands of people outside their borders.

Their numbers overwhelmed Border Patrol facilities in the Rio Grande Valley, leading Perry and the Texas Department of Public Safety to argue that Border Patrol agents distracted by groups of children and families were leaving gaps.

Most of those children have been turning themselves in to the first person in a uniform they see.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/21/texas-gov-rick-perry-plans-to-deploy-1000-guardsmen-to-border/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Texas

Sheriffs question move to send National Guard to border

Sheriffs said they have not been consulted and question the wisdom of sending military personnel who are not authorized to stop, question or arrest anyone

by Christy Hoppe

AUSTIN, Texas — The governor's office confirmed this morning that Rick Perry will order 1,000 National Guard troops to the Texas border to beef up patrols in South Texas.

But sheriffs along the border said they have not been consulted and question the wisdom of sending military personnel who are not authorized to stop, question or arrest anyone.

"At this time, a lot of people do things for political reasons. I don't know that it helps," said Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio.

Lucio said deputies, police and the U.S. Border Patrol work well together and that they have been able to handle the small uptick in crime along the border.

"I don't know what good they can do," Lucio said of military personnel. "I need people who I can hire who know the community, the language and who can help."

Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra also told the McAllen Monitor that the Guard troops can't make arrests and he didn't know what their objective would be.

"The National Guard they're trained in warfare; they're not trained in law enforcement," he said. "I need to find out what their actual role is going to be, but I think the money would be better spent giving local law enforcement more funds."

Perry has appeared on news shows and at political events around the country saying that if Washington wasn't prepared to secure the border, he would act unilaterally.

In a press conference scheduled for 2 p.m. CDT, Perry will appear with Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is running for governor, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to announce the military surge.

They have reasoned that drug and human traffickers might be taking advantage of border conditions and move contraband through the area. Along with redeployed state troopers, the Republican leaders have indicated that having "boots on the ground" might serve as a deterrent.

The border has been overwhelmed with the influx of 57,000 unaccompanied children, mostly from Honduras, who have been fleeing gang violence. Many are voluntarily turning themselves in to the first American authority they see.

The estimated cost to state taxpayers for the surge, including Department of Public Safety and the Guard personnel, is $5 million a week.

The border sheriffs said they could hire a lot of new deputies with that money.

"You just can't come out here and be a police officer," Lucio said, adding that he is concerned at the move to militarize the border.

"Eventually, they might get into trouble," he said of the Guard. "They're trained for different things."

http://www.policeone.com/border-patrol/articles/7391658-Sheriffs-question-move-to-send-National-Guard-to-border/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New York

'Modified duty' for medics after fatal NYC arrest

Four emergency workers involved in the medical response for an NYC man who died in police custody have been barred from responding to 911 calls

by Verena Dobnik

NEW YORK — Four emergency workers involved in the medical response for a New York City man who died in police custody after being put in an apparent chokehold have been barred from responding to 911 calls, the Fire Department of New York said.

The two EMTs and two paramedics removed from the city's emergency response system are the latest public safety workers to face reassignment as questions mount about Thursday's death of Eric Garner. Two police officers — including the one who put his arm around Garner's neck — have been put on desk duty.

The medics' modified duty restrictions will remain in effect pending an investigation into their actions, fire department spokesman James Long said Sunday.

Video of the arrest shot by a bystander shows one officer wrap his arm around Garner's neck as he is taken to the ground — arrested for allegedly selling untaxed, loose cigarettes — while Garner shouts, "I can't breathe!"

The fire department disclosed the medics' reassignment after a second video surfaced showing at least a half-dozen police officers and emergency workers circling a man who appears to be Garner lying on the sidewalk, handcuffed and unresponsive.

Long said placing the emergency workers on modified duty — which includes a notice in their state health department file that they are not to respond to medical calls — is department protocol when questions arise about a medical response and was not a reaction to the post-arrest video.

The fire department said the emergency workers are employees of Richmond County Medical Center, the Staten Island hospital where Garner was taken by ambulance and pronounced dead. Authorities said the father of six likely had a heart attack, but more tests are needed to determine the exact cause and manner of his death.

A Richmond County Medical Center spokeswoman did not immediately respond to messages.

Long said the fire department took action against the hospital's emergency responders because it oversees the city's 911 system, a patchwork of public and privately-operated emergency services.

The restrictions on the medical personnel came a day after the police department said it reassigned Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who used the apparent chokehold on Garner, and another unidentified officer while prosecutors and internal affairs detectives investigate. Chokeholds are banned under department policy.

The department said it stripped Pantaleo, an eight-year veteran of the force, of his gun and badge.

Court records show that within the past two years, three men sued Pantaleo in federal court over allegedly unlawful, racially motivated arrests. Pantaleo did not return a telephone message.

Earlier Sunday, the Rev. Al Sharpton demanded justice for Garner and accountability from citizens who attack police officers during an appeal from the pulpit at Manhattan's Riverside Church.

Garner was "choked by New York City policemen," the Harlem preacher told the congregation. "What bothers me is that the nation watches a man say 'I can't breathe' and the choking continues, and police surround him and none of them even say, 'Wait a minute, stop! He can't breathe!'"

Garner's funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at the Bethel Baptist Church in Brooklyn.

Video of Garner's struggle with police obtained by the New York Daily News shows the 6-foot-3, 350-pound man becoming irate and refusing to be handcuffed.

Garner, who has been arrested for illegally selling cigarettes numerous times in recent years, told the officers who confronted him that he had not done anything wrong, according to the video of the arrest.

"Every time you see me, you want to mess with me. I'm tired of it. It stops today," Garner shouts. "I'm minding my business. Please just leave me alone."

Then, as four officers bring him down to the sidewalk, Garner, who was asthmatic, gasps, "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" The video shows one officer using his hands to push Garner's face into the sidewalk.

The second video, which appears to have been shot shortly after Garner was handcuffed, shows him lying on the sidewalk, apparently unresponsive. More than three minutes in, medics arrive and one checks his pulse. Garner is lifted onto a gurney and transported to a waiting ambulance about two minutes later.

A bystander asks why no one is performing CPR and one officer responds, "because he's breathing."

http://www.policeone.com/use-of-force/articles/7391217-Modified-duty-for-medics-after-fatal-NYC-arrest/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

California

Neighborhood watch groups seen as way to cut Delano crime

by Mimi Elkalla

DELANO, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) - Assemblyman Rudy Salas hosted a public safety town hall Saturday in Delano, giving residents an opportunity to voice their concerns and receive information on how to better protect their neighborhoods.

Delano Police Chief Mark DeRosia spoke about the importance of residents being proactive when it comes to protecting their neighborhoods.

“Involvement in the sense of eyes and ears for the community, educate themselves more on programs that we have,” said DeRosia. “Looking out for their neighbors, things like this.”

DeRosia stressed the importance of neighborhood watch groups. He said it is a way for community members to help law enforcement better secure neighborhoods.

He said starting a neighborhood watch group is easy, and he would like to see a couple hundred more in Delano.

“We'll send somebody out to talk to you,” said DeRosia. “Help you set up the program and establish the meeting.”

Salas agreed that one of the most important ways to get involved is through a neighborhood watch group.

“Everyone can get involved in neighborhood watch,” said Salas. “That's just being very diligent and vigilant about what's occurring in your own neighborhood.”

Currently, there are 41 active neighborhood watch groups in Delano. Once a neighborhood decides to start one, they are given free signs and installation.

The crime in Delano is down 25 percent from this time last year. DeRosia said the neighborhoods with an active neighborhood watch tend to have less crime.

If you would like to start your own neighborhood watch group in Delano, you can contact the community service officer at (661) 720-2278 for more information.

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/Public-safety-in-Delano-267821641.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Florida

Florida town stunned by news of police KKK ties

by The Associated Press

FRUITLAND PARK, Fla. (AP) — Ann Hunnewell and her central Florida police officer husband knelt in the living room of a fellow officer's home, with pillow cases as makeshift hoods over their heads. A few words were spoken and they, along with a half-dozen others, were initiated into the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, she says.

Last week, that five-year-old initiation ceremony stunned residents of the small town of Fruitland Park, who found out an investigative report linked two city officers with the secret hate society that once was violently active in the area. Ann Hunnewell's ex-husband, George Hunnewell, was fired, and deputy chief David Borst resigned from the 13-member Fruitland Park Police Department. Borst has denied being a member.

James Elkins, a third officer who Ann Hunnewell says recruited her and her husband, resigned in 2010 after his Klan ties became public.

The violence against blacks that permeated the area was more than 60 years ago, when the place was more rural and the main industry was citrus. These days, the community of less than 5,000 residents about 50 miles northwest of Orlando has been infused by the thousands of wealthier, more cosmopolitan retirees in the area. Those who live in the bedroom community, which is less than 10 percent black, have reacted not only with shock, but disgust that officers could be involved with the Klan, the mayor said.

"Maybe I'm ignorant, but I didn't realize that they still met and organized and did that kind of thing," said Michele Lange, a church volunteer.

Mayor Chris Bell says he heard stories about a Klan rally that took place two years before he arrived in the 1970s, but he has never seen anything firsthand. As recently as the 1960s, many in law enforcement in the South were members but "it's exceedingly unusual these days to find a police officer who is secretly a Klansman," said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups.

While the Klan used to be politically powerful in the 1920s, when governors and U.S. senators were among its 4 million members, nowadays it is much less active than other sectors of the radical right and has less than 5,000 members nationwide, Potok said.

"The radical right is quite large and vigorous. The Klan is very small," he said. "The radical right looks down on the Klan."

Fruitland Park, though, has been dealing with alleged KKK ties and other problems in the police ranks since 2010, when Elkins resigned after his estranged wife made his membership public.

Last week, residents were told Borst and the Hunnewells had been members of the United Northern and Southern Knights Chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, though its presence in their town wasn't noticeable. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement sent the police chief a report linking the officers to the Klan based on information from the FBI. Both men didn't return repeated phone messages to their homes, but Borst told the Orlando Sentinel he has never been a Klan member.

Ann Hunnewell — who was a police department secretary until 2010 — told Florida investigators that former Police Chief J.M. Isom asked her and her ex-husband to join the KKK in 2008, trying to learn if Elkins was a member. Isom, though, shortly after Elkins resigned, also quit after he was accused of getting incentive pay for earning bogus university degrees.

Current Police Chief Terry Isaacs said he took a sworn oath from Isom, who called Ann Hunnewell's account a lie, and that there was no record of such an undercover investigation.

The disclosure of the officers' Klan ties harkened back to the 1940s and 1950s when hate crimes against blacks were common. That era was chronicled in the 2012 book "Devil in the Grove." Then-Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall shot two of four black men, dubbed the "Groveland Four," who were dubiously charged with raping a white woman.

"Things have improved, of course," said Sannye Jones, a local NAACP official who moved to Lake County in the 1960s. "But racism still exists, just not in the same way. People are not as open and not as blatant."

Isaacs said three years ago, he inherited a police department of 13 fulltime officers and five part-time officers — none of them black — that had a "lackadaisical culture."

"I've taken great steps to overcome that. I've brought in diversity training for the officers and laid down orders that will get you fired," Isaacs said.

Hunnewell previously had been suspended for misconduct for the way he handled a case. Last year, he received five "letters of counseling" from supervisors for showing up late and writing reports incorrectly. He was promoted to corporal in 2012 but then demoted the next year for allowing personal problems to affect his job, Isaacs said.

"I felt he was beyond the point of being saved at this point," the chief said of Hunnewell's firing.

Cases the officers worked on also are under scrutiny. On Friday, prosecutors dismissed three cases — two traffic offenses and a misdemeanor battery.

The news about sworn police officers perhaps being part of the Klan doesn't sit well with many in Fruitland Park, which calls itself the "Friendly City," the mayor said. Adding to the influx of retirees, The Villages has plans to build housing for 4,000 residents, which would almost double the city's population.

"I'm shocked, very shocked," said Chery Mion, who lives in The Villages but works in a Fruitland Park gift shop next door to the mayor's office. "I didn't think that organization was still around. Yes, in the 1950s. But this 2014, and it's rather disconcerting to know."

http://news.hjnews.com/news/world/florida-town-stunned-by-news-of-police-kkk-ties/article_f1af16ae-0dbe-52ae-8049-8d58ac845eca.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New York

NYPD Cop's Chokehold May Not Have Caused Serious Injury to Man's Throat

NEW YORK) -- A man who died after a New York City police officer took him to the ground in a chokehold appeared to have little damage to his neck and trachea, according to preliminary autopsy results, a law enforcement source said, but that may not be enough to keep him from being disciplined or even facing criminal charges.

Eric Garner, who was 6 feet 3 inches tall and about 350 pounds, died Thursday after police struggled to arrest him for allegedly selling loose cigarettes on Staten Island, according to the NYPD. Police said he appeared to suffer a heart attack.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo, an 8-year veteran who was seen in a video that has sparked outrage putting Garner in a chokehold, has been placed on "modified assignment," meaning he was stripped of his badge and gun, pending the outcome of the dual probes by the district attorney and Internal Affairs.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton had announced Friday that the cop and his partner were on "desk duty," but they still had their guns and shields.

A chokehold is a violation of NYPD police, regardless of whether the move causes any damage, but beyond that, prosecutors and police investigators will be looking at whether it caused or contributed to Garner's death about an hour after he was taken into custody.

The New York City Medical Examiner's Office said Sunday it had not reached any finding on Garner's cause of death.

"At this time, no determination has been made by the Medical Examiner's office as to the cause and manner of death of Eric Garner," ME spokeswoman Julie Bolcer said. "The cause and manner of death are pending further studies, and no findings will be released until the investigation is complete. Any other information or suggestion to the contrary is simply not true."

Official preliminary results could come in the next few days.

Garner was arrested in Staten Island after he was allegedly seen selling "loosie" cigarettes, police said. Garner was known for selling individual cigarettes for 50 cents each in his Staten Island neighborhood.

Police said the cigarettes come from North Carolina and Garner is the end of the supply line. Because the Staten Island man allegedly sold cigarettes to children, the police called the cigarettes a "quality of life" issue in the neighborhood.

Garner's death has led to outrage, especially after video obtained by the New York Daily News appeared to show that the man was put into a chokehold as he was arrested.

The chokehold is prohibited by NYPD departmental policy.

Mayor Bill De Blasio called the video of the arrest "very troubling" and delayed a planned vacation for a day after hearing about the incident. De Blasio said NYPD internal affairs and the local district attorney were investigating the incident.

The video shows officers approaching Garner, who initially denies that he's selling loose cigarettes.

"I'm minding my business why don't you leave me alone," Garner can be heard saying.

Eventually when police officers move in, Garner appears to not comply and at least five officers wrestle him to the ground as they attempt to handcuff him.

As Garner is being held down, he can be heard telling police that he "can't breathe." Eventually when officers realize he is not responsive, they called in an ambulance, which took Garner to a hospital where he died a short time later.

The apparent violence of the arrest led to outrage and the internal investigation. On line, numerous people tweeted #JusticeforEricGarner, calling attention to the deadly incident.

Policeman's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch, questioned by ABC News about what constitutes an appropriate use of force, said the public should not rush to judge before the official investigation is concluded.

"At times, when officers are required to make an arrest, they must employ the use of force in order to get compliance from an individual who NYPD policy requires must be rear-cuffed for transport to a precinct," Lynch said. "Force, by its very nature, is an ugly thing to witness. Taken out of the context of what is happening, necessary force can be misinterpreted to be excessive by those who are not trained in law enforcement procedures."

http://www.kvor.com/common/more.php?m=58&ts=1405899301&article=6A8772BC102311E4B51EFEFDADE6840A&mode=2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

California

Bathroom bus gives hope to San Francisco homeless

A nonprofit group is taking a novel approach to helping the homeless in San Francisco with a new bus that allows them to take a shower.

The former public transit bus has been outfitted with two full private bathrooms and offers hot showers, clean toilets, shampoo, soap and towels free of charge. The founder of the nonprofit Lava Mae mobile shower bus said she wanted to return a sense of dignity to those living on the streets.

"If you're homeless, you're living on the streets and you're filthy, you're trying to improve your circumstances, but you can't interview for a job, you can't apply for housing and you get disconnected from your sense of humanity," Doniece Sandoval said.

"So a shower just in of itself is amazing for people."

Lava Mae says the bus is mobile, allowing it to reach homeless people scattered throughout the city. And having a facility on wheels eliminates the potential for rent hikes and evictions in a city with high real estate prices.

A homeless survey in 2013 counted more than 6,400 homeless people in San Francisco.

San Francisco officials are testing a similar mobile toilet program in the struggling Tenderloin district, where complaints about human waste are common. The toilets will be available at three locations from 2pm through 9pm Tuesday through Friday and then removed and taken off site to be cleaned, the city's public works department said.

The $75,000 cost to refurbish the Lava Mae bus was provided by private donations, including from technology giant Google, whose employee buses in San Francisco have attracted protesters who view them as a symbol of economic inequality and gentrification. The city allows Lava Mae to use nearby fire hydrants for water.

Ralph Brown, a 55-year-old military veteran who has been homeless for about a year, took a shower aboard Lava Mae's bus on its first day of service last month. It was his first shower in several days.

"When people move away from you on the bus, it's time to take a shower," he said.

Some homeless shelters in the city have showers, but they can have long waits. The Lava Mae bus also provides relaxing music.

"Being inside there is kind of a trip because it's pretty high-tech and kind of ingenious," he said. "Basically I just feel a lot better."

Sandoval said that's the reaction she sees from many of the people who use the bus."Their faces are just beaming," she said. They're so incredibly grateful. It's a great feeling to just be able to offer people something so simple and yet so vital," she said.

For now, the bus will be parked every Saturday in San Francisco's Mission District, but Lava Mae hopes to have additional buses in the city in the coming years.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11296873

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Illinois

Chicago leaders, law enforcement to discuss joint efforts to combat violence

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Four people were killed and 38 wounded in Chicago over the weekend. City leaders and federal law enforcement officials will meet to plan joint efforts to combat gun violence.

The private meeting will also include a few community organizations.

Shamiya Adams, 11, was fatally struck in the head by a stray bullet while she was at a sleep over in the 3900-block of West Gladys in Chicago's West Garfield Park neighborhood Friday night.

Several prayer vigils were held for Adams over the weekend. Her mother, Shaneetha Goodloe, spoke publicly for the first time Sunday night , surrounded by family and friends.

"I don't wish this on nobody," Goodloe said. "My daughter was so sweet and so kind. She kiss me on my cheek every night and told me how much she loved me."

Goodloe said she wants no more killing.

"I don't want nobody to retaliate," Goodloe said. "Let police do what they do."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy and the heads of the region's federal law enforcement agencies plan to attend the meeting on Monday.

The mayor's office made the announcement overnight, noting in its short news release that while Chicago continues to see historic lows in murders and overall crime, government and community leaders recognize there's much more work to be done.

The meeting location and time has not been released.

http://abc7chicago.com/news/chicago-leaders-to-discuss-joint-efforts-to-combat-violence/204538/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Missouri

KCPD, activists organize new community policing effort

Group aims to help train people in neighborhoods to spot, report crime

by Matt Evans

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —To encourage people to come forward with information that can help police make arrests, community activists are creating a new group to help spot and report crime.

The goal of the project is to have one person on every block with the responsibility and training to be able to spot crimes and pass the information on to the police.

Community leaders and police said it's a problem when crimes take place and no one is held responsible.

"A lot of times people want to report crimes, but they're scared to talk to the police officers, which is understandable," said the Rev. Tony Caldwell, a community activist. "This gives them the (intermediary), someone to talk to."

In the past week, Kansas City has had three homicides and many other shootings. A man and a woman were seriously injured in a shooting and robbery while they were trying to buy their son a car on Craigslist.

Community leaders said it's easier to prevent these types of incidents or bring the perpetrators to justice if people step up and speak out. Police officers at the organizing meeting on Sunday said that the more crime goes unreported, the worse things will get.

"It's like a cancer if the bad guys, which are a small percentage, continue to sell their drugs or shoot their guns or commit crime in a particular neighborhood," said Officer Tim Griddine of the Kansas City Police Department. "Fear spreads, less people want to report it and more burglaries and more crime occur."

Police said they have a good relationship with several groups that help spot crime. They said they think having specific people in every neighborhood could also be helpful.

Organizers said there are already hundreds of people signed up for the community police program.

http://www.kmbc.com/news/kcpd-activists-organize-new-community-policing-effort/27046632#!bi7mHs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.N. Accuses Islamic State of Executions, Rape, Child Abuse in Iraq

by Maggie Fick

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The United Nations accused Islamic State fighters in Iraq of executing religious and other leaders as well as teachers and health workers, forcibly recruiting children and raping women among acts that amounted to war crimes.

A UN report focused on a range of violations committed against civilians, particularly by the Islamic State, though it also said Iraqi forces and allied fighters had not taken precautions to protect civilians from violence.

“(This)…may also amount to war crimes,” the report found.

At least 5,576 Iraqi civilians have been killed this year in violence, the U.N. said in the most detailed account yet of the impact of months of unrest culminating in advances by Sunni militants led by the al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State, formerly known as ISIL, across the north.

“ISIL and associated armed groups have also continued to… perpetrate targeted assassinations (community, political, and religious leaders, government employees, education professionals, health workers, etc.), sexual assault, rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls, forced recruitment of children, kidnappings, executions, robberies.”

The report also accused them of wanton destruction and plundering of places of worship and of cultural or historical significance.

“Credible information on recruitment and use of children as soldiers was also received,” the report noted.

“Every day we receive accounts of a terrible litany of human rights violations being committed in Iraq against ordinary Iraqi children, women and men, who have been deprived of their security, their livelihoods, their homes, education, healthcare and other basic services,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.

The report also details violations committed by government forces and affiliated groups, citing “summary executions/extrajudicial killings of prisoners and detainees”, which it said may constitute a war crime.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry said this week that an investigation had revealed the Islamic State had taken 510 Shi'ite prisoners from a prison in Mosul to an agricultural area and executed them – killing all but 17 who managed to flee.

The ministry said the its report was based on testimony of one of the prisoners who fled.

GOVERNMENT HAMSTRUNG

Of the 2,400 people killed in June, 1,531 were civilians, the U.N. said earlier this month.

The report called on the government to investigate serious violations and to hold the perpetrators to account.

But the capacity of the Shi'ite-led caretaker government to do so in the face of a Sunni uprising that threatens to fracture the country on sectarian and ethnic lines may be limited.

Iraqi politicians have yet to complete the formation of a new government more than three months after parliamentary elections. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki faces pressure from Sunnis, Kurds and some Shi'ites to step aside after two terms in office in which his critics say he marginalized opponents.

The bruised Iraqi army has leaned heavily on Shi'ite militia and volunteers in its battle against the Sunni insurgency. A Shi'ite lawmaker said militia fighters carried out “a lot of assassinations and killings” when first deployed last month, although he said the situation had improved subsequently.

The U.N. noted that the “deteriorating security situation” had limited its ability to directly monitor and verify incidents. More than 1.2 million people had been displaced this year, according to the report.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-n-accuses-islamic-state-of-executions-rape-child-abuse-in-iraq/