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August, 2014 - Week 3

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Washington

Obama orders review of federal role in arming state and local police

by Fox News

President Obama has directed a review of federal programs and funding that allow state and local law-enforcement agencies to acquire surplus military equipment, a senior administration official said Saturday.

The review will include whether the programs are appropriate, if the agencies are getting enough training and guidance to use the equipment and whether the federal government is sufficiently auditing the use of the equipment.

The president hinted Monday that a review was likely in the aftermath of an unarmed Ferguson, Mo., teen being fatally shot by a police officer, which was followed by local law enforcement using military equipment to try to control the ensuing protests and riots.

“I think it's probably useful for us to review how the funding has gone, how local law enforcement has used grant dollars, to make sure that what they're purchasing is stuff that they actually need, because there is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement and we don't want those lines blurred,” Obama said. “And I think that there will be some bipartisan interest in reexamining some of those programs.”

The August 9 incident in which 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by the officer and the local police later using automatic rifles and tank-like vehicles to control crowds was not the first time the issue about local police using military equipment has been raised.

An Associated Press investigation last year found that a large share of the $4.2 billion in surplus military gear distributed through the 24-year-old program went to police and sheriff's departments in rural areas with few officers and little crime.

On Tuesday, Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Defense Department's chief spokesman, said the program has not been allowed to “run amok.”

The program was created by Congress in 1990 to allow local police to apply for the excess equipment. However, the transfers reportedly have increased as the United States winds down its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Defense Logistics Agency took over the program in 1997.

“We don't push equipment on anybody,” Kirby continued. “This is excess equipment the taxpayers have paid for and we're not using anymore. And it is made available to law enforcement agencies, if they want it and if they qualify for it. … Just because they ask for a helicopter doesn't mean that they get a helicopter."

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., is among the members of Congress who plan to address the issue following August recess.

Johnson, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, wants to introduce legislation to curb what he describes as an increasing militarization of police agencies across the country.

“Militarizing America's Main Streets won't make us any safer, just more fearful and more reticent,” he said Thursday.

The president's review will be led by White House staff including the Domestic Policy Council, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget and relevant U.S. agencies -- including the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury, in coordination with Congress, the administration official also said Saturday.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/08/24/obama-orders-review-federal-programs-that-allow-local-police-to-get-military/

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Texas

Texas police chief fatally shot during traffic stop

by Fox News

The police chief in a small Texas town just southeast of San Antonio was fatally shot Saturday while conducting a traffic stop.

Bexar County Sheriff Susan Parmerleau told KABB-TV that Elmendorf Police Chief Michael Pimentel was shot after pulling over Joshua Lopez, 24, to serve an active misdemeanour warrant for graffiti. Parmerleau told The Associated Press that Lopez shot Pimentel several times. The chief was airlifted to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

"I tried talking to him when he was in the ambulance for a brief moment, but he wasn't conscious," Sgt. Jason Burchett told KABB. "Today is proof it doesn't matter if you're a small department, you think nothing can happen. Things certainly do."

Lopez was taken into custody without incident, Parmerleau said, and will face a charge of capital murder for shooting a police officer.

Elmendorf, located approximately 25 miles southeast of San Antonio, has a population of approximately 1,500. The town has only two paid police officers and ten reserve officers.

"It's a very small town. Everybody knows each other," Pamerleau told the AP, adding that the impact has been "devastating."

Elmendorf Mayor Evelyn Lykins said in a news release that Pimentel had served as police chief for more than a year.

"He embraced the community of Elmendorf not only as its head of law enforcement officer but also as a resident. We will miss him," the mayor said.

Steve McCraw, head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Pimentel is the fifth law enforcement officer to die in Texas this year. Three of the five were killed by gunfire. Thirteen officers died in the line of duty last year.

"Every day police officers throughout the state risk their lives to protect their communities, and tragically sometimes they make the ultimate sacrifice," McCraw said.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/24/texas-police-chief-fatally-shot-during-traffic-stop/

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Massachusetts

Letter to the Editor

Restore true community policing — ditch the machine gun

I am writing about the half-page photo in last Sunday's opinion section, captioned “Excessive force.”

Is the man with his hands raised thinking: How does this encounter with at least six police officers in riot gear, pointing machine guns at me, fit in with the notion of “to serve and protect”?

I was horrified when I saw this photo as well others depicting the police response in Ferguson, Mo. My immediate reaction was that we are living in a police state. How did we allow this to happen?

We are at a pivotal point in America with how we expect our community police forces to conduct themselves. Clearly, we do not need to arm our police like military commandos. If a need were to arise in which the police response needed to be ratcheted up, we should use National Guard units to step in.

Every level of government needs to step back and assess how the police should interact with citizens.

Let's hope that this wake-up call leads us to a common-sense approach to community policing.

Michael D. MacDonald

West Dennis

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2014/08/23/restore-true-community-policing-ditch-machine-gun/0AOJIRmHPewHytjqEcwJUM/story.html

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New Jersey

Opinion

Community policing needs priority focus

Events in Ferguson, Missouri, continue to be tragic and confounding. Investigation continues in regard to the circumstances of the police shooting of a teenager in Ferguson, but the issues raised in the death and its aftermath pose questions for every U.S. community including those in Rutherford County.

Relationships between law-enforcement agencies and their communities have been subjects of debate for decades, if not centuries, and involve racial differences, enforcement priorities and even the personalities of those involved in crime-fighting.

Along with the specific circumstances of the death of Michael Brown, attention about events in Ferguson has focused on the racial composition of the police force in Ferguson in comparison to the racial composition of the town and on the "militarization" of police forces throughout the United States.

Only one black member serves on the six-member Ferguson City council, so political action would be a good place to start to get better black representation on the council and in the city's 53-member police force that has only three black officers.

In regard to militarization, local governments may have taken too seriously calls to action such as "the war on drugs" or even "the war on terrorism" and obtained equipment and supplies necessary to "fight" such wars.

A countertrend has been the notion of "community policing," and while it may not necessarily be the "cop on the corner," it can be an opportunity for communities and their law enforcement officers to get to know each other and, most importantly, build trust.

Rutherford County has been a pioneer in developing a "school resource officer" program, and this program is community policing as its best, allowing students to learn about law-enforcement policies and procedures and meeting those who enforce the laws on a personal basis.

Local police departments have emphasized community involvement as part of their various programs for law enforcement, including police academies to educate the public about department policies and practices.

We see among the lessons, so far, from Ferguson the need for an increased role for "community policing" in law enforcement, and Murfreesboro Police Glenn Chrisman indicates this is a priority for city law enforcement.

Residents need the cooperation of law-enforcement officers to feel safe in their community, and officers need the cooperation of residents to solve crimes as well as provide that protection.

We support the county and its municipalities in making "community policing" their top priorities.

http://www.dnj.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/08/23/community-policing-needs-priority-focus/14512395/

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Canada

Letter from an Emergency Room Physician

TORONTO - Several weeks ago, during an evening shift in my emergency room, a motor vehicle accident victim was brought into my department by ambulance, having suffered minor injuries as a result of her crash.

The patient, a woman in her 40s, had driven her car into the back of another automobile, causing significant damage to her vehicle and injuring the two occupants of the car she struck.

As I examined this woman, it became apparent to me she was likely under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. Her breath smelled strongly of liquor, her words were slurred, and her balance was unsteady.

Speaking to the attending paramedics, I was informed police had not interviewed the woman at the scene and she had not yet been subjected to an alcohol breath test. Assessing the patient for injuries, I proceeded to order x-rays and CT scans, as well as lab tests to screen for alcohol and drugs of abuse.

Two hours later, having ruled out any major injuries to my patient as a result of her accident, I was informed she had refused all laboratory investigations I had ordered, as is her right under our laws. Further, inexplicably, police had still not shown up to interview her and she was now stating her desire to go home.

Faced with no reasonable justification to keep her in hospital, I was forced to watch as she got up from her stretcher and walked out of my ER, patient confidentiality legislation preventing me from taking any action to inform police of my suspicions.

As she strolled through the hospital's exit, she looked back at me and gave me a smirk -- a knowing glance that communicated what we both knew: she had committed a crime that had injured others and gotten away with it.

I have never in my career as a physician felt so powerless to carry out my obligation to protect the public as I did at that moment.

Patient confidentiality is one of the foremost principles by which all physicians must abide. While precise laws differ from province to province, there are only a few very specific instances during which a physician may break confidentiality without repercussions.

These include either threats by a patient to harm another person or themselves, or clear evidence of medical disorders that make driving unsafe -- like epilepsy, blackouts, dementia or ongoing impairment due to a “certainty” of substance abuse.

More recently, however, the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and Nova Scotia have enacted legislation making it mandatory for physicians to report to police when a victim of a gunshot wound arrives in their care.

When the Ontario gunshot law (Bill 110), the first of its kind in Canada, was enacted in 2005, debate was furious, pitting the societal danger of guns in the community against the risk that such a reporting requirement would lead to shooting victims avoiding hospital care.

However, at the time, it was ultimately felt by the government and by law enforcement that the risk posed by police being unaware of shootings in their community trumped individuals' rights to doctor-patient confidentiality.

Weighing these same two counter arguments -- societal risk and potential avoidance of medical care due to police involvement -- is an exercise that leads me to believe, as a physician, that if we are willing to break confidentiality over gunshots, we should be open to taking similar action when it comes to suspected cases of impaired driving.

The argument demonstrating societal risk from impaired driving is an easy one to make. In 2011, while only 158 homicides were recorded due to the use of firearms across Canada, over 1,000 Canadians were killed in motor vehicle collisions involving alcohol impairment -- a death rate almost seven times greater, representing a massive danger to society by any measure.

As for the risk of patients not seeking medical care due to fear of legal repercussions, the experience we have with Ontario's gunshot law is a helpful indicator. A study published in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine in 2009, assessing the effect of Bill 110 appears to vindicate the government's position that the legislation produced little harm and significant benefit. It found 86% of physicians believed the law had not affected their relations with gunshot patients, while only six cases of patients delaying their hospital visits due to fear of police involvement were reported. At the same time, 100% of police surveyed stated the law had helped with their investigations in such instances.

So, when impaired driving is a leading killer of Canadians, when physicians already routinely break confidentiality to report conditions that are unsafe for driving like epilepsy, and when experience from gunshot laws shows that physicians' reporting of significant dangers to the public does not affect relations between them and patients, why do our current laws force doctors to prioritize impaired drivers' confidentiality over the safety of the general public?

It is a question I don't have an answer for, but one thing is clear: If my motor vehicle accident patient goes on to kill herself or an innocent victim in an alcohol related crash, the guilt for this will lie squarely and inexcusably on a system that stopped her doctor from acting before it was too late.

Dr. Brett Belchetz,
Emergency Room Physician

Medical Expert for Sun News Network

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/08/23/er-doctor-why-does-impaired-drivers-privacy-trump-public-safety

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From the FBI

CJIS Digitizes Millions of Files in Modernization Push

The era of sliding drawers full of aging FBI files is drawing to a close. Millions of fingerprint cards, criminal history folders, and civil identity files that once filled rows upon rows of cabinets—and expansive warehouses—have been methodically converted into ones and zeroes.

The digital conversion of more than 30 million records—and as many as 83 million fingerprint cards—comes as the FBI fully activates its Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, a state-of-the-art digital platform of biometric and other types of identity information. The system, which is incrementally replacing the Bureau's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS, will better serve our most prolific customers—law enforcement agencies checking criminal histories and fingerprints, veterans, government employees, and the FBI's own Laboratory.

The conversion from manual to digital systems began more than two decades ago, when paper files outgrew the space at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. They were shipped to West Virginia, where the FBI built a campus in Clarksburg in 1992 for its Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division and leased warehouse space in nearby Fairmont for the burgeoning files. In 2010, CJIS broke ground on a new Biometric Technology Center and redoubled its efforts to digitize all the files. The most recent push—digitization of 8.8 million files in two years—not only added more data points to the NGI program, but also eliminated the need to move scores of cabinets full of paper into the new technology center.

“It makes those records immediately accessible to law enforcement across the country,” said Penny Harker, who runs the Biometric Services Unit at CJIS. She said fulfilling requests for fingerprint matches that once took hours now take just minutes or seconds. “It's a great benefit to them not having a delay simply because we were still storing files in a manual format.”

The FBI's role as steward of so many identity files dates back to the 1920s, when the Bureau received 800,000 files from the U.S. Army. In the 1930s, the Bureau's Identification Division compiled the largest-ever collection of fingerprints from files collected from partner law enforcement agencies.

The files that comprised the bulk of the digital conversion fell within three broad categories: criminal history files dating back to the early 1970s and before; civil identity files of people born prior to 1960 who enlisted in the military or applied for a government job; and fingerprint index cards. Files are maintained until individuals are 110 years old or dead

After scanning and digitization, the paper files are destroyed, though original versions of historic files—fingerprint cards for John Dillinger, Bonnie Parker, and Clyde Barrow, to name a few—have been saved from the shredder.

“This is a monumental leap for us, because now we're not taking months to get back with a positive identification, said Jeremy Wiltz, deputy assistant director at CJIS. “With our Next Generation Identification, we're going to take that into seconds and sub-seconds.”

NGI is scheduled to be fully operational in September. The digital conversion effort is also projected to be completed next month.

'A Dying Art'

In a cavernous warehouse in Fairmont, West Virginia, FBI employees who have spent the better part of their careers searching through files have spent the past few months preparing them for destruction. They are masters of the Bureau's unique manual filing system, which will soon be fully digital.

“The employees that work in these files have worked here for years,” said Donna Ray, an area manager at the Criminal Justice Information Services Division's warehouse in Fairmont, West Virginia. She has worked for the Bureau for four decades. “They take a great pride in what they do. It's the legacy system, and it's going away.”

Ray remembers when as many as 300 staffers worked shifts around the clock—searching, filing, retrieving, and annotating fingerprint cards, criminal histories, and civil identity files at FBI Headquarters and then in West Virginia. They carried magnifying glasses on their belts and marked up fingerprint cards according to their unique loops, whorls, and ridges. All of that has been automated and digitized in the name of efficiency. She and her colleagues are adjusting to the new Next Generation Identification system but will always have a soft spot for what Ray considers “a dying art.”

“It's historical,” Ray said. “It's what the Bureau was built upon. The old Identification Division is what built the Bureau.”

"I've had a lot of people ask me, 'Is it hard to give this up? Are you reluctant about what's going on?' And I'm not. I'm very excited about it," Ray added. "It's been a good 40 years. I've been very fortunate to work at the Bureau this long. But I'm very excited about where we're going in the future."

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/august/cjis-digitizes-millions-of-fbi-files-in-modernization-push/cjis-digitizes-millions-of-fbi-files-in-modernization-push

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U.S. Isn't Sure Just How Much to Fear ISIS

by MARK MAZZETTI and HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON — Earlier this year, President Obama likened the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to a junior varsity basketball squad, a group that posed little of the threat once presented by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

But on Thursday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called ISIS an “imminent threat to every interest we have,” adding, “This is beyond anything that we've seen.”

With the rapid advance of ISIS across northern Iraq, and the release this week of a video showing one of the group's operatives beheading an American journalist, the language Obama administration officials are using to describe the danger the terrorist group poses to the United States has become steadily more pointed. But some American officials and terrorism experts said that the ominous words overstated the group's ability to attack the United States and its interests abroad, and that ISIS could be undone by its own brutality and nihilism.

“They have a lot of attributes that should scare us: money, people, weapons and a huge swath of territory,” said Andrew Liepman, a senior fellow at the RAND Corporation and former deputy head of the National Counterterrorism Center. “But when we're surprised by a group, as we have been in this case, we tend to overreact.”

These notes of caution from inside the government and from terrorism watchers come as the White House considers expanding military action against ISIS, including possibly striking across the border in Syria.

American intelligence agencies are working on a thorough assessment of the group's strength, and they believe that its ability to gain and hold territory could make it a long-term menace in the Middle East. Intelligence officials said there were indications that ISIS' battlefield successes had attracted defectors from Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Africa, who are eager to join a group with momentum.

But experts say ISIS differs from traditional terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and its affiliates, primarily because it prefers enlarging what it calls its caliphate over discrete acts of terrorism. It has captured dams and oil fields, and has seized spoils of war like armored personnel carriers and tanks.

Bin Laden's goal was also to create an Islamic caliphate, but he often said that it was years away and could be achieved only under the proper conditions. ISIS, on the other hand, has renamed itself “Islamic State” and declared that the caliphate has arrived.

“This is a full-blown insurgent group, and talking about it as a terrorist group is not particularly helpful,” said William McCants, a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said the Defense Department did not believe that ISIS had “the capability right now to conduct a major attack on the U.S. homeland.”

“We do believe they have aspirations to strike Western targets,” Admiral Kirby said, adding that the “urgency of the threat” was driven by the belief that ISIS had enlisted thousands of foreign fighters and was holding its ground in Iraq and Syria. l

ISIS is now under pressure from American airstrikes in Iraq. And the group must defend its gains from advances by a host of adversaries, like Iraqi Kurdish troops, the forces of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and other Syrian rebels.

“Attacking the U.S. is not their first priority,” Mr. Liepman said.

In addition, American officials said that the group's brutal methods of governing the territory it has seized, while effective in the short term, could create internal factions that would weaken its grip on power.

Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that the group's ambition was to remake the Middle East by absorbing nations including Israel, Jordan, Kuwait and Syria into its caliphate. “If it were to achieve that vision, it would fundamentally alter the face of the Middle East and create a security environment that would certainly threaten us in many ways,” he said.

But some experts are skeptical that ISIS could ever realize that goal.

“ISIS can expand, but it can't dominate alone,” said George Friedman, chairman of Stratfor, a geopolitical risk analysis company. Even in Iraq, the group “can't defeat the Kurds,” Mr. Friedman said. “It certainly doesn't have the power to defeat the Shiites in the south.”

But for a population that is not accustomed to images of Americans at the mercy of foreign militaries, the video of the killing of the American journalist, James Foley, was bound to strike a chord and exacerbate a feeling of being under threat.

Some experts said the fear of ISIS was driven partly by how little is known about the organization. While the United States has spent more than a decade studying Al Qaeda, officials know comparatively little about the structure and leadership of ISIS, beyond the information they have on the group's self-appointed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

But a large segment of the United States' counterterrorism apparatus is now devoted to filling in the intelligence picture about ISIS. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mr. Hagel said as much. “We must prepare for everything,” he said. “And the only way you do that is that you take a cold, steely, hard look at it and get ready.”

that you take a cold, steely, hard look at it and get ready.”

It is generally agreed that it is far more difficult to carry out a terrorist attack inside the United States today than it was before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, because of the steps taken since to prevent would-be terrorists from entering the country.

But that does not mean that ISIS cannot present a significant threat in the Middle East.

“I'm worried about Turkey, I'm worried about Jordan, I'm worried about regional destabilization,” said Jarret Brachman, the author of “Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice” and an adviser to the United States government on ISIS and Al Qaeda.

Mr. Brachman said that he did not believe the group had the ability, at the moment, to attack the United States, and that such an attack would bring about an American response so destructive that it would undermine the militants' goal of territorial expansion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/us/politics/us-isnt-sure-just-how-much-to-fear-isis.html?_r=0

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Obama vs. ISIS: This Time It's Personal

by Eli Lake

When ISIS beheaded an American journalist, it meant to intimidate—and provoke—the United States. It should be careful what it wishes for. The gloves just came off.

The Obama administration signaled Thursday that the United States has begun a new war against the so-called Islamic State, and that group's operatives will not be safe from America's wrath in Iraq, in Syria, or wherever they can be tracked down.

Since U.S. intelligence agencies confirmed the authenticity of a video that showed the beheading of American journalist James Foley this week, the president and top cabinet officers have employed rhetoric about the jihadists of the Islamic State (also known as the “caliphate,” ISIS, or ISIL) that echoes the Bush administration in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Secretary of State John Kerry called ISIS “the face of evil” and vowed that America “will continue to confront [it] wherever it tries to spread its despicable hatred.” Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the military's response is to “take a cold, steely, hard look at” at ISIS and “get ready” for action.

While the Justice Department on Thursday announced that the FBI would be investigating the murder of Foley, Attorney General Eric Holder also left open the possibility that the United States may not wait for the verdict of a jury and judge. “We will not forget what happened and people will be held accountable one way or the other,” Holder said.

The most notable rhetorical tell came from Obama himself.

In the aftermath of the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Obama vowed to bring the attackers to justice. This week Obama struck a different tone, saying: “When people harm Americans, anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done.”

The difference between bringing suspects to justice and seeing that justice is done is roughly the same as the difference between treating terrorism as a crime and as an act of war.

Even though special operations teams were dispatched to Libya after Benghazi to target the jihadists suspected of carrying it out, Obama chose to treat the attack, which cost the lives of four Americans, as a crime. It took until June of this year for the FBI in conjunction with U.S. special operations teams to capture one of the ringleaders of the attack and bring him to the United States to face trial.

A different fate likely awaits the leaders of ISIS. According to the Pentagon, U.S. aircraft already have conducted 90 strikes inside Iraq since President Obama ordered what was billed as a limited air war against ISIS this month. That number is significant because some of those strikes occurred after the release of the ISIS video, which showed the murder of Foley. In that video, the terrorists promise to murder a second American hostage if airstrikes continue.

On Wednesday the White House confirmed that it had ordered a rescue mission in July to try to save Foley and other American hostages held inside Syria. This was the first publicly confirmed operation by U.S. soldiers inside Syria since Obama took office.

Today, that mission appears to be a signal of things to come. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that ISIS had effectively erased the frontier between Iraq and Syria. “They will have to be addressed on both sides of what is at this point a nonexistent border,” he said. “That will come when we have a coalition that takes on the task of defeating ISIS over time.” But there is little question that if such a coalition is to take shape, the United States will have to lead it.

The last time Obama proposed airstrikes inside Syria, nearly a year ago in response to the gassing of rebel forces and civilians near Damascus, many Republicans opposed the action. This time, the early criticism from the GOP was about who was responsible for the initial leak the administration said forced its hand to go public with the information about its operation in Syria.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/21/obama-readies-for-war-on-isis.html

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Why will Ferguson cop who allegedly shot Mike Brown get $250,000 of crowdsourced funds?

by Anu Passary

A support campaign for Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown six times, has managed to collect over a quarter million dollars in a few days.

The $235,010 have been generated courtesy online donations from 5,902 people and have come via GoFundMe, a crowdsourcing site. The controversial crowdfunding "Support Officer Darren Wilson" page was created on Aug. 17, and the generated proceeds will go Wilson and his family to "cover potential legal fees" and living expenses.

"We stand behind Officer Darren Wilson and his family during this trying time in their lives," reads the page. "All proceeds will be sent directly to Darren Wilson and his family for any financial needs they may have including legal fees."

Several donors passed racist comments on the page while making donations, prompting GoFundMe to disable the comments as it was in violation of the site's terms.

"In regard to the 'Officer Darren Wilson' campaign, donors' comments posted in violation of GoFundMe's terms have been removed," tweeted the site.

While the initial campaign on GoFundMe has ended, the generated funds will be shifted to the second GoFundMe page "Officer Wilson Fundraiser" in support of the police officer. This campaign has been initiated by Shield of Hope a non-profit organization. The page has already generated $46,466 (at the time of writing) in a day from 1,070 pledgers.

Supporters of the Black teen Michael Brown also have created a page on GoFundMe. However, by contrast, the "Michael Brown Memorial Fund" page in support of the Brown family has managed to generate $190,410 (at the time of writing) thanks to contributions from 6,720 people in nine days.

The fundraising for Wilson has stirred a hornet's nest with several protestors demanding that GoFundMe pull down the campaign. The outrage has led to a #boycottGoFundMe campaign on Twitter.

"@gofundme you're still supporting a campaign that's a thin veil to support a murderer and many racists who support him. #BoycottGoFundMe," tweeted an activist.

A 12-person county grand jury has begun the hearing in the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Brown was shot six times on Aug. 9 by police officer Wilson, fueling protests and anger in the predominantly white-dominated Louis County. Many people want Wilson to be convicted for the killing, whereas other want to see more evidence.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/13853/20140823/why-will-ferguson-cop-who-allegedly-shot-mike-brown-get-250-000-of-crowdsourced-funds.htm

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North Carolina

‘Warrior cops' or community policing?

Ferguson sparks national dialogue

by William R. Toler

Armored vehicles roll down the street as men with assault rifles — wearing flak vests and helmets — stand nearby.

The air is filled with clouds of smoke as canisters of gas are fired all around.

Journalists are threatened with capture and death at gunpoint. Some are even arrested.

This isn't a military action in Afghanistan, Iraq or Israel.

It's the police in Ferguson, Missouri, attempting to quell the outrage following the Aug. 8 shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a police officer.

Last week, Americans got a glimpse of a trend that has been rising rapidly over the past decade: the militarization of domestic police forces.

In his 2013 book, “Rise of the Warrior Cop,” award-winning journalist Radley Balko outlines the evolution of police from Officer Friendly walking a neighborhood beat to looking like what some people compare to as the Stormtroopers of “Star Wars.”

Balko writes at The Watch, a blog for the Washington Post featuring cases of police militarization, SWAT team blunders and malicious prosecution. He has previously written for The Huffington Post and Reason Magazine.

He is considered one of the country's top experts on militarization and has been busy with television appearances the past two weeks.

“Police today are armed, dressed, trained and conditioned like soldiers,” Balko writes in the conclusion of his book. “They're given greater protections from civil and criminal liability than normal citizens.”

Balko lays part of the blame on the War on Drugs, which unofficially began in the late '60s.

“They're permitted to violently break into homes, often at night, to enforce laws against nonviolent, consensual acts,“ he continues. “Negligence and errors in judgment that result in needless terror, injury and death are rarely held accountable.”

“Citizens who make similar errors under the same circumstances almost always face criminal charges, usually felonies.”

Richmond County Sheriff James E. Clemmons Jr. said police accountability is “very important.”

“The community is looking for us to be honorable, professional, trustworthy, loyal and committed to public safety,” he said.

“We should not be put on a pedestal,” he said. “We're human, too. We make mistakes, too. It's how we react to those mistakes.”

Many police departments across North Carolina and the country have acquired military surplus equipment through the Pentagon's 1033 program.

According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon “has supplied police departments across the country with more than $4.3 billion in gear since 1997, including $449 million in 2013.”

A recent map on the New York Times' website shows Richmond County has received 10 assault rifles and one night vision piece since the program began.

Rockingham Police Chief Billy Kelly —“to protect officer safety”— wouldn't say how many rifles his department picked up.

“We give our officers the tools they need to do their jobs safely and protect the people they serve,” he said.

“We don't just rely on weaponry,” Kelly said, adding, “They're here in case we do need them.”

Kelly said the tools included in the officers' arsenal — other than guns, batons and handcuffs — include proper training on how to de-escalate a situation.

He said the RPD has not applied for an armored vehicle because,” I haven't seen the need to.”

“That's not to say another agency doesn't see the need,” he added.

Kelly mentioned incidents where police may need to be heavily armed, citing a case in California where bank robbers were wearing body armor.

“The fact that this is Rockingham doesn't mean we won't have those situations here,” he said.

Agencies in Orange County have obtained three armored vehicles in addition to a collection of pistols and rifles. Nearby Stanly County boasts 20 assault rifles, 11 pistols, five shotguns, two armored vehicles and a grenade launcher. Harnett County has a mine-resistant vehicle and 48 pieces of body armor.

The Pentagon program isn't the only way law enforcement officers can get their hands on military-grade gear.

The Department of Homeland Security allows police and sheriffs' departments to apply for armored vehicles called a BearCat. The BearCat is an eight-ton assault truck featuring gun ports, a battering ram attachment and tear gas nozzle, with an option for a gun turret on top.

Jacksonville police applied for a BearCat last October with little opposition.

But a New Hampshire city caused quite a stir when it requested one last summer.

The reasons listed on the application for needing such a vehicle included “threats” from sovereign citizens, the Occupy movement and participants in the Free State Project.

The latter has a goal to get 20,000 libertarian-minded individuals to move to New Hampshire to create a free society.

It's just not city and town departments amping up their arsenals.

In 2013, Ohio State University acquired a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle.

Balko writes that military contractors are now starting to market their products to domestic police agencies, creating a police-industrial complex.

The military mindset doesn't seem to be as strong in Richmond County as in other areas, although there seem to be some slight signs of militarization.

Several Richmond County sheriff's deputies have been seen walking around in olive-green uniforms with black vests. The Rockingham Police Department's SWAT vehicle — though it resembles an ambulance and not an armored personnel carrier — is called “The War Wagon II.”

As for the uniforms, both Kelly and Clemmons said they were utility uniforms for K-9 officers and animal control officers and should not be construed as the departments being militarized.

“It's more useful for what they do,” Kelly said.

Clemmons said officers' jobs dictate their dress code. Most deputies wear traditional uniforms, while some may be dressed in uniforms that can withstand getting down in the dirt or trekking through the woods.

Both of Richmond County's top cops said community policing is their preferred method.

“Community policing is very much an integral part of what we do,” Clemmons said. “People have a name and a face they can identify.”

Kelly said, weather permitting, his officers walk beats through neighborhoods.

“It's when you don't have that presence, you don't have that trust,” Clemmons said.

“It's about earning trust, creating a team,” he said, adding the community has its own role to play in public safety. “It's not us against you, it's us working together.”

http://www.yourdailyjournal.com/news/home_top-localnews1/50386501/Warrior-cops-or-community-policing#.U_iJQc90ypo

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Conneticut

Editorial

Police Engagement Has Borne Better Relations

Hartford police have learned how to engage the community

There was anger and concern in the neighborhood after a Hartford police officer injured 18-year-old Luis Anglero Jr. with a stun gun on Tuesday while breaking up a crowd at the corner of Albany Avenue and Garden Street in the city's North End.

But there was no rioting.

Mayor Pedro Segarra and police officials responded quickly, saying the incident was being taken very seriously and would be investigated by the internal affairs division and a civilian review board. Thus far, at least, community leaders are with them.

That's progress. Relations between the overwhelmingly minority North End community and the police department aren't perfect, as the Taser incident might suggest, but they are better than they once were.

Hartford Then And Now

The pictures of demonstrations and riots coming from Ferguson, Mo., for the past week, following the shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old there by a police officer, are reminiscent of Hartford in the late 1960s, when riots scarred the North End and incidents of police misconduct led to a court decree on police conduct.

Since then, there's been a growing realization that the department needs to be a part of the Hartford community, not an occupying army. In fits and starts, the department has pushed ahead.

In the 1980s, Chief Bernard Sullivan began meeting regularly with clergy from the African American Ministerial Alliance and began recruiting new officers from their congregations. He also established the community service officer program, assigning officers to each neighborhood to get to know residents, build trust and help solve their problems. Many CSOs, as they are known, have been outstanding, as have other officers. For example, Detective William Gervais, on the force in the 1980s and 1990s, ran a Boy Scout troop in the city. Such officers are worth their weight in gold.

Chief James Rovella has continued the effort with programs such as Project Longevity, in which officers work with the families of at-risk young men to help them back on the right path. The department continues older programs, such as the Police Athletic League, and pursues newer ones, such as faith-based community service officers.

Community Policing

The fury in Ferguson suggests what happens when a department doesn't make these kinds of efforts.

The Ferguson department — an overwhelmingly white department in a largely minority city — appears to have done little to no community policing. When the community feels it has to resort to rioting, there's been a failure of police-community cooperation.

Then there is communication. A department that is invested in its community says as much as it can as soon as it can, as Hartford officials did in the Taser case.

"We want transparency. We want the truth, and then we'll take it from there," said the Rev. Henry Brown, adding that he believes Chief Rovella and his officers will investigate the incident properly. He, the Rev. Stephen Camp and others believe that relations between Hartford police department and residents have improved through the years, but that more work needs to be done.

It would be good if more officers lived in the city. Police work doesn't exist in a vacuum; urban crime is an attendant pathology of urban poverty. It would be good to see more coordination between the police and schools, health centers, job training programs and families. It would be marvelous if there were more jobs in the city for city residents.

But community policing is essential. It's somewhat like sales. You establish relationships. You find out what your customer needs and problems are. You make them yours.

You solve them.

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-community-policing-20140822,0,3340101.story

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New York

Editorial

Three cheers for the NYPD

The Rev. Al Sharpton's march today in Staten Island is meant to slam New York's Finest. We'll say it flat out: We support the cops.

Unequivocally.

Better The Rev & Co. turn their march into a parade to celebrate the NYPD — and how the department, almost single-handedly, turned this city around. (Notwithstanding efforts to the contrary by rabble-rousing self-promoters like Sharpton.)

How ironic that the reverend titled his bit of street theater a “We Will Not Go Back” march. Because that's precisely what he wants the city to do: return to the ugly days when cops failed to control crime, chaos ruled and the city was barely livable.

Only two decades ago, the city saw 2,245 people murdered in a single year. That's more than six lives a day — and most of those were the lives of blacks and Hispanics. Moms and dads had their kids sleep in bathtubs to avoid stray bullets.

Today, thanks to the men and women in blue, this year the average is less than one murder a day. Think of all the lives, minority lives, that have been saved.

Even beyond that, New York's Police Department made the city livable. It has made it possible for people to run businesses here and live their lives without daily dread.

Are there some bad cops? No question. Are there police-related tragedies in a city where 35,000 uniformed officers interact with 8.5 million residents 23 million times a year? Who would expect otherwise?

But think about what the city asks of these men and women: To walk up a dark flight of stairs in some seedy building searching for armed bandits who might shoot at any moment. To break up gang violence and get weapons off the street from thugs who'd rather not give them up.

And, yes, to improve the quality of life for average New Yorkers.

For the resident who doesn't want bums urinating on his stoop. For the tourist who doesn't want to be shaken down for tips or fondled in Times Square. For the bodega owner who fears being undercut by freelancers selling untaxed cigarettes at a lower price right outside his shop.

In the course of their daily assignments, 44 police officers have lost their lives while protecting New Yorkers since 2000 alone — including 23 on 9/11.

Yet today's NYPD stands as a model of restraint. In 1994, cops shot and injured 61 people and killed 29. Last year, just 26 perpetrators were shot and eight died.

Which is why the march makes little sense. It was supposedly motivated by the death of Eric Garner (who died after resisting cops who were trying to arrest him for .?.?. selling illegal, ­untaxed cigarettes).

It's predicated on the cops' guilt, which Sharpton wants folks to infer mainly on the basis of an edited video. Indeed, he wants folks to indict the entire NYPD on that flimsy ­evidence.

Sorry: Given all that cops do, we think they deserve at least the same benefit of the doubt that criminals get every day.

Yes, we feel terrible about Garner's death (though he'd likely be alive if he hadn't resisted arrest). But there's no proof — at this point, anyway — that the cops trying to arrest him did anything unlawful.

Yet the march does make sense from another perspective. It makes Sharpton a “hero”: He's the champion of “victims” of police brutality, you see. So what if that slurs the cops?

We don't buy it. Nor should New Yorkers.

Rather, we prefer to raise a glass to New York's Finest — and to remember all that they have done for this city.

http://nypost.com/2014/08/23/three-cheers-for-the-nypd/

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California

Officer in critical condition in coma, trainee shoots and kills suspect in California gunfight

by The Asssociated Press

SAN BERNARDINO, California — A veteran, second-generation police officer was in critical condition in a medically induced coma after being wounded in a shootout where the rookie officer he was training shot and killed a gunman, authorities said.

The wounded officer, 31-year-old Gabriel Garcia, whose father is a captain in his department, underwent surgery for at least two bullet wounds from the protracted gun battle, San Bernardino police chief Jarrod Burguan said Friday.

Garcia and his partner — a trainee on the job for just two months — stopped to talk to a group of people standing outside a home on a cul de sac when one of them pulled a gun and immediately opened fire, Burguan said.

He was shot, but his partner managed to shoot the gunman in the long gun fight that followed, the chief said.

The officer in training was not hit during the gunfire. Given his level of experience, his response was exceptional, Burguan said.

"He did a pretty remarkable job," the chief said.

The shooter, identified by police as Alex Alvarado, 38, died at a hospital.

Garcia was initially said to be in grave condition, but after he made it through surgery police expressed new hope for his survival, and officers, family and friends gathered at the hospital for a vigil Friday night.

"The next three to five days are absolutely critical in terms of Gabe's long-term prognosis," Burguan said.

Garcia is a highly commended, six-year veteran of the department who has spent much of his career on patrol duty and some time on a graffiti task force, Burguan said.

"He is exemplary in every sense of the word," the chief said.

Five people were detained and questioned by detectives. It was unclear why the officers made contact with the group.

Jonathan Contreras, 20, of San Bernardino was arrested on suspicion of possession of an assault rifle and possession of a sawed-off rifle, officials said. While Alvarado fired the weapons, they were in the possession of Contreras, the chief said.

Another man, 24-year-old Orlando Cruz, was arrested in connection with outstanding traffic warrants. Two women, 18 and 19, and a 30-year-old man were also questioned.

"We don't know what their level of involvement is," Burguan said.

http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/4179f87a76c141f28ddc3e8fb729bceb/US--Officer-Shot

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Wyoming

Police K-9 Dies After Being Left In Hot Car; Officer Faces Animal Cruelty Charge

A police dog in Wyoming dies after it was left in a hot car for at least six hours, authorities says.

Zachary Miller, of Mills Police Department, was facing animal cruelty charge in connection with the death of a K-9, named Nyx. He pleaded of the guilty of the charge.

Investigation revealed that Miller left the 10-year-old female black labrador in his patrol car for more than six hours on July 9.

Reports said the car was running, but the air conditioning was off and outside temperatures reached 86 degrees, when Nyx was left inside.

Nyx was trained to detect drugs and had been with the department since 2006. Miller had been Nyx's handler over the past two years. She also lived with Miller's family and went on family vacations.

Chief Bryon Preciado, of Mills Police Department, said Miller has been with the department for four years and had no disciplinary record before the incident. Last year, he was even awarded as “Officer of the Year”.

Nyx was Mill's first and only police dog. The police department's K9 program has been put on hold and currently reviewing its policies with regards to police dogs.

http://www.upstartmagazine.com/police-k-9-dies-after-being-left-in-hot-car-officer-faces-animal-cruelty-charge/299077/

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Missouri

National Guard start pullout as protests in Ferguson turn calmer

by Scott Malone and Edward McAllister

Missouri's governor ordered National Guard troops to withdraw from the riot-weary town of Ferguson on Thursday as tensions eased after nearly two weeks of racially charged protests over the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

Demonstrators were orderly for a second straight evening on Thursday, the calmest night in the St. Louis suburb since 18-year-old Michael Brown was gunned down by a white police officer on Aug. 9 under disputed circumstances.

Even as scores of boisterous but peaceful protesters returned to the streets, Brown's father, Michael Brown Sr., urged them during a CNN interview "to go back to your regular life."

He expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support but criticized thugs and outside agitators who police have blamed for much of the lawlessness that accompanied earlier protests.

"This looting, all this other stuff ... it's not helping our boy. It's doing nothing but causing more pain, plus it's shaming his name," Brown's father said. "Go back home to your family ... Hug your kids. Hold onto them tight. Keep them close."

Ferguson erupted in anger after the teenager's slaying, with nightly rallies frequently punctuated by looting, vandalism and clashes between protesters and heavily armed riot police, often ending in volleys of tear gas and dozens of arrests.

The turmoil has cast the community of 21,000 people into the international spotlight as an emblem of often-troubled U.S. race relations.

Although Ferguson is predominantly African American, its political leadership, police department and public school administration are dominated by whites. Civil rights activists say Brown's death was the culmination of years of police unfairly targeting blacks.

With civic leaders and clergy urging protesters in recent days to maintain order and leave the streets after dark, crowds have grown thinner in number and have become more subdued.

"I think we've turned a corner," said State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, a black officer placed in command last week of a local police force widely criticized for heavy-handed tactics that seemed to be stoking civil unrest.

On Thursday night, Johnson and many of his officers mingled casually among protesters. The police presence was generally more low key than it had been since Brown was shot, but the night was not without incident.

Police made a number of isolated arrests of people suspected of instigating the earlier unrest, and tensions heightened briefly as protesters clamored around arresting officers, before members of the clergy members moved in to calm the crowd.

National Guard troops, who were deployed to Ferguson to assist police at the height of disturbances but have kept a relatively low profile during demonstrations, were ordered by Governor Jay Nixon to begin pulling out of the community.

"We continue to see improvement," Nixon said in a statement.

REGAINING MOTHER'S TRUST

A day earlier, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson to meet Brown's parents and other residents, and to review the status of a federal civil rights investigation he has ordered into Brown's slaying.

Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, who viewed her son's body for the first time on Wednesday at a local morgue shortly before meeting Holder, said his assurances helped restore her faith that justice could be done.

"Just hearing the words come directly from his mouth, face-to-face, made me feel like, one day, I will," she told CNN on Thursday. "And I'm not saying today, or yesterday, but one day, they will regain my trust."

Brown's parents and supporters have been calling for the immediate arrest of Darren Wilson, 28, the police officer who shot their son. Wilson has been placed on leave and has gone into seclusion.

A local grand jury met on Wednesday to begin hearing evidence in the case, a process that St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said could last into mid-October.

Brown's family and protesters are demanding that the probe be turned over to a special prosecutor, saying McCulloch has a record of discriminatory handling of cases involving police accused of misconduct against blacks.

McCulloch, whose father was a police officer killed in the line of duty by a black man, has promised a fair and impartial investigation. State Senator Jamilah Nasheed arrived at McCulloch's office on Thursday with petitions calling for his removal from the case.

"I am here to deliver a message to Bob McCulloch that the people do not have any confidence in him," Nasheed said. "The people's opinion is that he totally has no ability to do the right thing."

SIGNS OF EASING TENSION

Despite lingering expressions of anger and distrust, the atmosphere in Ferguson appeared to be growing calmer.

"Things are de-escalating," said Roy Harris outside Original Reds B-B-Q, located on West Florissant Avenue, where many of the protests have taken place.

The restaurant has boarded up its windows, but written in large letters in red paint on the plywood planks is the promise: "We will be back." Workers were selling sandwiches in the parking lot next to an outdoor meat smoker.

Only six people were arrested overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, far fewer than the scores detained on previous nights. As of Thursday afternoon, the total number of arrests since the uproar began in Ferguson had climbed to just over 200, most for failing to heed orders to disperse, police said.

Outside a fast-food restaurant blocks away from where Brown was shot, a small group of young black men held a homemade wanted poster for Wilson.

"For us he is a wanted man. It is time for calm and peace but only if they bring him to justice," said 23-year-old Dontey Carter, shirtless with a scarf wrapped around his head.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/22/us-usa-missouri-shooting-idUSKBN0GF0LP20140822

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Missouri

Ferguson Police Tactics Challenged as Conflict Evolved

Critics Fault Authorities For Lack of Coordination

by Ben Kesling and Pervaiz Shallwani

A week into sometimes violent protests here, a police shift change one evening made the crowd visibly restless. It was, in part, their reaction to something simple: the new officers wore all-black uniforms, instead of the blue shirts and trousers of those already in place.

For an operation that has been criticized for being overly militarized, the mismatched uniforms that stirred up the crowd, who believed the police were preparing a crackdown rather than just bringing in fresh officers, exposed a more pressing problem—a lack of unity among the various departments trying to work together in a seemingly improvisational process.

The uniform issue was relatively minor compared with the criticism leveled at authorities after officers pointed high-powered rifles at the crowd. Yet both are included in a litany of strategies police and officials tried, and often changed or scrapped, while working in the crucible of a fast-moving conflict.

"Changing conditions often requires a change in approaches, especially in a difficult and fluid situation like the one in Ferguson," said Scott Holste, spokesman for Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon who has also tested a few tactics and tinkered with them to find solutions to quelling the unrest.

On Thursday, Mr. Nixon said he would begin pulling the National Guard out of the mix, following several nights of relative calm, with only a few dozen hard-core demonstrators being cleared from the street late at night. In the wake of the Aug. 9 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer, Mr. Nixon had given authority over security to the state police, declared a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew and then called in the Guard.

"What did work was community policing, reaching out to seniors and community leaders. That's when you saw things turn around," said St. Ann Chief of Police Aaron Jimenez, whose officers have been involved in securing Ferguson.

The situation that has played out in this St. Louis suburb of about 21,000 residents is one that several law-enforcement officials have said is unlike anything they had ever seen and nothing they could reasonably have been prepared to handle.

"In my 28 years I've never experienced anything like this," said Jon Belmar, chief of the St. Louis County Police Department, which was quickly summoned to help the Ferguson department with manpower and equipment.

Hours after the unarmed African-American teenager was killed, crowds gathered to protest and a call went out to area departments to help the Ferguson force, which has 53 members.

Five miles away in St. Ann, Chief Jimenez said his department received the emergency call sent to the county's more than 70 law-enforcement agencies. His was one of numerous departments that piled into Ferguson that night, bringing gear and their own tactics, training and command structure with them.

That resulted in a mishmash of tactics and confusion.

"They had a staging area but there was no command post at the time," Chief Jimenez said. Departments fired rubber munitions and tear gas, though no police official has been able to pin down who shot with what. "I don't know who is doing that, but I agree with them using them," Mr. Jimenez said of the tear gas deployment.

Former New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly said he was reminded of the 1992 Crown Heights riots in Brooklyn, N.Y. Only after three days did the department begin to respond effectively, divvying up patrol areas and devising ways to target troublemakers in the crowd for arrest.

That's why it becomes important to have nailed down mutual-aid drills and well-understood supervision and command structures, Mr. Kelly said.

Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said the challenges are even greater for smaller agencies, like those that responded in Ferguson.

"You have at least five different agencies that have to piece together a strategy," he said. "Unless you have trained together, unless you have worked together, the response is going to be uneven and challenging under the best of practices."

http://online.wsj.com/articles/ferguson-police-tactics-challenged-as-conflict-evolved-1408675855

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Wisconsin

Milwaukee Chief: Community Policing Improves Safety & Relations with Residents

by Erin Toner

Milwaukee's police chief wonders whether flaring racial tensions in Ferguson, Missouri are due, in part, to a disinvestment in community policing.

Unrest continues in Ferguson, over the fatal police shooting of an unarmed, black teenager.

The situation has sparked a national conversation about the militarization of police departments and racial profiling.

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn wants people to consider one reason things may have gotten this way. He says in the 80s and 90s, community policing was all the rage because it deterred crime. Officers developed relationships with residents.

But, “much progress was lost, post 9/11,” Flynn says.

Flynn says after 9/11, homeland security became the new law enforcement focus, even on the local level. Federal money that had gone into community policing instead started beefing up local departments with riot gear, more powerful weapons and anti-terrorism tools – a move politicians and the public supported. Flynn says many are realizing now, the new gear and tactics triggered an atmosphere of mistrust.

The chief says when he took over the MPD six years ago, he reintroduced community policing.

“We don't just have community meetings. Every one of our district commanders is tightly wired into a network of community leaders – real community leaders, not the ones you see on TV – the people that are invested in their neighborhoods, working on the problems of those neighborhoods with them,” Flynn says.

Flynn says Milwaukee officers have also begun working with community groups to develop leaders in the city's highest-crime neighborhoods. Generally, they're blocks steeped in poverty with few glimmers of hope.

“We have broken communities who desperately need high-quality policing that treats them with respect and those are standards we need to be held accountable for, but you would never know the extraordinary texture and nuance of the police engagement with these communities when they're only characterized by conspicuous failure or something that's conspicuously newsworthy,” Flynn says.

Flynn says the community expects officers to play many roles, including social workers and crime fighters. And he adds, the job can be like walking a tightrope – preventing violence, but not occupying neighborhoods or targeting certain people. He says the balance residents demand is the nitty-gritty of police work.

“What they want is policing that works hard to know who's who in the neighborhood, that can draw the distinctions between folks that need to be stopped and asked about what their business are and people are connected to that neighborhood, live in that neighborhood and are trying to live an appropriately conventional life in that neighborhood. They want constitutional policing, they want respectful policing,” Flynn says.

Chief Flynn acknowledges that there have been what he calls “critical incidents.”

For instance, in April at Red Arrow Park downtown, a police officer fired multiple shots at Dontre Hamilton, a 31-year-old, unarmed black man, killing him. The officer said Hamilton was combative and threatening. The man's family said he was mentally ill. Prosecutors are reviewing the shooting.

The MPD has also been hit with dozens of civil rights lawsuits, mainly by black men, who claim officers performed illegal strip and cavity searches. In one case resolved this month, a jury ordered two officers to pay a victim more than half a million dollars.

The incidents have sparked protests here, but Flynn points out none have reached critical mass, like what's going on in Missouri. He contends one explanation may be that better relations exist here between minority residents and police.

“Most people in the afflicted neighborhoods had some connection to the department that was positive and they were willing to suspend judgment until the outcome,” Flynn says.

But some community leaders say the situation here is tenuous, and social conditions simmering in many neighborhoods could boil over. On Friday, the president of the Milwaukee branch of the NAACP will share his perspective.

http://wuwm.com/post/milwaukee-chief-community-policing-improves-safety-relations-residents

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California

Valley pastors to hold forum Saturday on community policing

The Baptist Pastors Conference of Fresno and Central California will hold a community forum and panel discussion at 6 p.m. Saturday on community policing.

The conference supports the idea of community policing, or community-oriented policing, as a strategy that focuses on the police building ties and working closely with members of communities.

The forum at Corinth Baptist Church, 2377 S. Ivy Ave. in Fresno, will include a discussion about city governance and plans to avoid tragic events, such as the turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri, that has followed the fatal shooting Aug. 9 of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/21/4081314/valley-pastors-to-hold-forum-saturday.html

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Op-Ed

Ferguson: The Need for Community Policing

by Eric Lucas

"We are having a difficult time at night especially discerning...between those who wish to peacefully assemble...and those who wish to infiltrate and cause problems... " Ferguson Mayor James Knowles

Another Racially Motivated Shooting

Saturday, August 9 th , a City of Ferguson police officer shot and killed a young black male, named Michael Brown. The shooting led to street protests and confrontations with the police. Accusations are flying that this is just another racially motivated shooting. But is that all there is to it? Isn't there a deeper problem related to how our police forces operate? In America today the militarization of our police forces threatens to destroy the essence of our communities. And it is unnecessary.

The Mayor's Plea

Thursday, August 14, 2014 on the MSNBC show News Nation , reporter Alex Witt interviewed City of Ferguson Mayor James Knowles. She asked a question suggesting that the root cause of the problem was " trouble between citizens and a predominantly white police force." The Mayor, in responding to the question, denied that racial animus was the root of the problem. He said:

Telling the good guys from the bad guys

In other words, the Mayor sees the problem as being unable to tell the good law abiding citizens from the unlawful ones because of the transient nature of their living requirements. And in part he is right. But in another real sense he is wrong.

This is exemplified by the story of Zebedee Cobbs, a black man who lives in my city of Everett, Washington.

Zeb Cobbs is a model citizen. He has been in business since 1970 and owner of "Zebedee's" a hair salon business, at its current location since 1980. He is a member of the prestigious downtown Rotary club. He has been a church Deacon and a family friend most of my adult life.

But almost ten years ago, officers from the Everett police department accosted him. An article from the Everett Herald described it like this:

In 1995, he was subject to a dreadful indignity when police officers entered Zebedee's early one Saturday as Cobbs was opening his shop.

In a Herald article about the incident, Zebedee Cobbs was quoted as saying, "One of them kind of got next to me, and said, 'We just want to find out if you belong here or not.' I said, 'Yes, I own the building, I own the business, I've been in this town for 23 years.'

"They saw a black man from the road, and assumed I was going through the till and robbing the place," Cobbs said in '95.

Zeb's daily routine when opening his shop was to count the money in the till. Two Everett Police Officers saw this, entered his business guns drawn and demanded that he identify himself. But the infuriating thing about this incident is that Zeb had been the owner of that business, at the time, for 15 years in the very same location.

Why didn't the officers on that beat know that? Why was Zeb treated as a threat in a town he had lived in for nearly quarter of a century? And why did Zeb, a longtime community member, get treated as a stranger like Michael Brown?

The key to the answer lies in Zeb's observation that "from the road" they looked in and saw a suspect: as they patrolled they saw a stranger who was black. And in my view this scenario is an essential part of the problem.

Community Policing

Police officers cannot safely police the communities they serve by merely patrolling in their cars. It has been known for many years that effective policing requires officers to be familiar with the communities they serve. And this idea is known as: Community Policing.

The dictionary definition says:

Community policing allocates police officers to particular areas so that they become familiar with the local inhabitants.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 established the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Its policy manual discusses the principle as follows:

Geographic assignment of officers: With community policing, there is a shift to the long-term assignment of officers to specific neighborhoods or areas. Geographic deployment plans can help enhance customer service and facilitate more contact between police and citizens, thus establishing a strong relationship and mutual accountability. Beat boundaries should correspond to neighborhood boundaries....

This policy returns to the old idea of officers having a "beat." When I was a kid, officers walked a beat. Everyone knew the officer and everyone knew they could call that officer if trouble occurred.

The "long term assignment to specific neighborhoods" or "beats" recognizes that police officers cannot be effective if they are strangers confronting strangers. Such confrontations increase the likelihood of a violent result.

The Apartment Complex

We won't have a de-militarized, community friendly, police force until we get officers out of their cars and back to walking a beat: until we eliminate the "us versus them" mentality that exists when human individuals are locked away in their cars.

The Mayor's problem with Michael Brown was not that he was an apartment-living transient "stranger." Because the same "stranger" problem existed with Zeb Cobbs who was the furthest thing from being transient.

Citizens do not cause the "stranger" problem. It is caused by the police and how they view their jobs as police officers.

Imagine that same apartment complex. Image the beat officers and their sergeant walking up to the complex to welcome each new family moving in. They introduce themselves, give the new occupants their business cards and let them know that they are there to keep them safe and to call them if they need any help. They get to know the people they serve and the people get to know them.

Would Michael Brown have been shot dead if he, his friend, the on-looking neighbors, and the officer all knew each other?

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Ferguson--The-Need-for-Co-by-Eric-Lucas-Accountability_Citizens_City-Of-Ferguson_Community-140821-293.html

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California

Editorial

Davis Police Department's armored truck drives a wedge between community and policing

Don't call the military surplus armored vehicle that the Davis Police Department brought home earlier this month a tank. Sure, it has a gun turret, but it is a Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected vehicle.

That distinction means little to people alarmed that a mammoth sand-colored battle machine that appears to have come straight from Fallujah recently arrived in the leafy liberal town of Davis . What on earth could police need with an armored vehicle here? Though it's not uncommon for police agencies to have armed vehicles these days, Davis is hardly Detroit.

Davis police are feeling defensive about the vehicle, a gift from the federal government. They're not being praised for frugality in acquiring an MRAP – called “m-rap” for short – for free. Instead, City Council members complain they did not know about the donation until after it arrived. Some say there is no need for it in a college town where streets are hardly mean.

Worse still was the timing. Although the acquisition of the vehicle had been in the works for more than two years, the department took delivery of it just days before Michael Brown was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Mo. Many people believe that the resulting civil unrest was escalated in part by the Ferguson PD's response to protests while outfitted with military-style gear and vehicles.

We don't blame Davis police for following a law enforcement trend. If there is any blame for the militarization of America's police departments in the years since 9/11, it belongs to the Department of Defense.

The DOD has donated more than $5 billion worth of its old battle equipment to local law enforcement agencies as part of 1033 Program – about $450 million last year alone. In addition to MRAPs, police have received helmets, body armor, firearms, gas masks and other battlefield gear.

That's hardly standard-issue equipment for community policing.

Though police see the equipment as tools to make their jobs safer, with the added benefit of being free, they may not get how the optics affect public perception. Embracing equipment more suited to armed conflict than public safety sends a visual message that community and policing aren't on the same level.

That's a bad message to send. Community policing has done more to quell violence in disenfranchised communities than any piece of safety equipment, not that Davis is disenfranchised.

Davis police Lt. Thomas Waltz assured us that the department would develop policies for the use of the armored vehicle. He imagines it might be used for evacuations, in situations where suspects are barricaded, when officers are under fire or to serve high-risk search warrants. If the MRAP stays, we'd like to see the guidelines for use be even tighter. We'd be happiest if it sat unneeded at the side of the city yard for good.

Davis police need tools to keep officers safe as they conduct their jobs. But the accumulation of military garb puts a greater distance between the police and the community, which makes everyone less safe.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/21/6643255/editorial-davis-police-departments.html

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Florida

'Community policing' gets redefined in St. Petersburg

by Steve Nichols

ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - St. Petersburg presented a pair of totally unrelated displays of police-community relations Tuesday, with parties to both events agreeing on one point: Police Chief Tony Holloway has a good idea.

"We already have a community policing team. Well, I'm looking at a community-policing police department," Holloway told FOX 13 News. "I expect that within the next couple of weeks, to start seeing officers getting in and out of their car, to start walking the neighborhood, to start talking to people."

An hour before, state leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference decried the racially-charged situation in Ferguson, Missouri following the police shooting death of a black teenager.

"The Michael Brown case is not an isolated case. It is a racial case," Florida SCLC chairman Art Rock declared inside the SCLC's St. Petersburg office.

State SCLC president Reginald Gundy called for a U.S. Department of Justice hotline to report police abuses, as well as a more local "copwatch.”

"We are encouraging everybody in the state of Florida that is riding around in their vehicles to start using their phones to photograph all police stops," Pastor Gundy said. "It seems like every time a white man kills a black child or a black person, we can't get justice out of this state."

After the news conference, SCLC executive director Jeffrey Copeland talked about community policing.

"Ferguson, Missouri, is not going to happen in north St. Pete. If Ferguson, Missouri, is going to happen, it's going to happen in south St. Pete," Copeland said. "We don't want that, so I think what Holloway is doing, he's paving the way so that doesn't happen."

Without criticizing Missouri officials, Holloway explained how his approach to a controversial shooting would work.

"Have all the community leaders come in, sit down at the table, and say this is what happened," he said, adding that approach presumes a pre-existing relationship.

"We have to build that trust and that's all it's about. When something happens, call it in, and let's talk. But if you haven't had those conversations prior to that, all I'm doing is calling you in when it's an emergency," Holloway said.

On the street, in theory, officers are meeting citizens casually, instead of officially.

"I'm 100 percent sure it could work," the SCLC's Copeland said. "It's good to see you on a more pleasant note than every time I see you, you're throwing some kid on the ground and chasing cars around the neighborhood or you're shooting in cars."

The totally different police-community experience was in the Old Northeast, where a handful of detectives and officers handed out anti-car burglary fliers. The Old Northeast is far different from Midtown, but neighborhood association president Peter Motzenbecker supported the new community policing model.

"I think the residents would love it," Motzenbecker said. "It would be a great opportunity to interact with our police officers and for the neighbors to have a sense of what's going on, on a more regular basis."

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/26321384/community-policing-gets-redefined-in-st-petersburg

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California

MPD chief urges community policing

by Eric Vodden

Crime prevention and community policing are the best hope for halting a gradual trend of more crimes in Marysville, Police Chief David Baker told the City Council on Tuesday night.

Baker, presenting the department's 2013 report, called a changing of priorities in the department "a rebirth of sorts."

"Crime in our community continues to trend upward," Baker told the council. "It's no longer a matter of saying we need more officers."

Instead, Baker outlined increased efforts in crime prevention programs and community policing, a system in which patrol officers are assigned geographical areas to build a rapport with neighborhood residents and focus on crime prevention.

The report notes a slow increase in the number of so-called Part I crimes since 2010 — climbing from 40.51 such crimes per 1,000 population to 51.26 in 2013. In between, the rate climbed to 44.33 in 2011 and 48.59 in 2012.

Part I crimes include homicides, forcible rapes, aggravated assaults, burglaries and vehicle thefts. Individual breakouts of each crime are not included in the report, although there were no Marysville homicides in 2013.

The number of Part II crimes — including drunken driving, possession of stolen property and vandalism — dropped from 67.85 in 2011 to 51.26 in 2013, according to the report.

Baker said if funding becomes available, he would recommend the addition of a school resource officer, a narcotics officer and a traffic officer to combat the increase.

Those recommendations echoed those Baker outlined earlier when discussing what he would like to see if a proposed 1-cent sales tax is approved by voters in November.

Marysville officers investigated 447 traffic collisions in 2013, a decline from 630 in 2012. Forty-five of those accidents resulted in injuries.

The number of arrests has steadily declined from 2,055 in 2000 to 1,260 in 2013. It dropped from 1,649 arrests made in 2012, with felony arrests dropping from 467 in 2012 to 356 in 2013.

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/mpd-chief-urges-community-policing/article_4f9a46dc-2830-11e4-861d-001a4bcf6878.html

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Missouri

Lee's Summit police believe community-focused policing could prevent civil unrest

by TORIANO PORTER

Leaders of the Lee's Summit Police Department believe their community-oriented strategy toward law enforcement has built public trust that is crucial to preventing civil unrest.

As much of the nation focuses on developments in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson after a fatal police shooting there, police here have been transfixed by the story as well.

The peaceful and not-so-peaceful protests – and law enforcement's reaction to them – could play out anywhere, including Lee's Summit, but local officials believe their community-policing approach could possibly prevent the unruliness that has followed the Aug. 9 shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old.

“We're very lucky to live in a great community,” said Scott Lyons, interim police chief in Lee's Summit. “We have a great relationship with not only our citizens in the community but also our community groups. It's like a fabric. We practice community-oriented policing. We get along. We're transparent and we've built relationships.”

The department's policy on crowd control and mass-arrest situations is clearly defined, Lyons said, and plans are in place for a prompt and efficient response to civil disturbances. The goal is to safeguard citizens and property, restore and maintain order, and protect the constitutional rights of people involved.

Lyons said the department deals with large crowds in Lee's Summit throughout the year, including providing a presence at festivals and fairs. Addressing unrest correlates to officer and department training.

“Luckily, we have not had that type of incident here in this town,” he said. “We've responded to other cities, but even then that was 15 years ago. That's something that officers are trained in at the academy; that's where they first learn the technical part of crowd control. We also have officers that we send away to training.”

Lee's Summit Police Sgt. Chris Depue agreed that the department's policy on policing has fostered a better understanding between residents and officers.

“We've been lucky that we have never had a spontaneous civil unrest or a riot,” he said. “We've had a ton of peaceful protests. We've had several presidential candidate visits. All of those require the same amount of planning as an unplanned or spontaneous one. It's the same amount of planning; you just have more time to plan.

“Peaceful demonstrations could get violent if they go bad, but we are ahead of them because of our planning.”

A number of community leaders in Ferguson have decried a lack of transparency in the officer-involved shooting. Representatives for the victim have demanded police reports, and they've lamented the lack of dashboad cameras in police cruisers, which might have shown what really happened.

Most Lee's Summit police vehicles are equipped with dash cameras. The department is also in the preliminary stages of a plan to install body cameras on uniformed officers as well, Lyons said.

Department policy stipulates that whenever officers have contact with citizens, they have to activate the dashboard camera.

Lyons added that he and other members of the department have been tuned in to the turmoil in Ferguson. The goal, he said, is to learn from the events, which have become an international storyline of militarized police, protest and civil unrest.

“It makes no difference where the incident happens in the United States,” Lyons said. “Law enforcement is always looking for ways to do things better. We always try to take lessons from incidents that happen and then try to look at where our policy is and modify that. We stay abreast of any type of contemporary training and the best practices that are out there.”

Asked if the department participates in a Department of Defense program that has seen local police agencies throughout the country suit up in military gear and use military-style tactics in defusing unrest, Lyons said:

“We do participate in some of those programs that the federal government has, but we've not been a big user of military equipment.”

http://www.lsjournal.com/2014/08/19/120068/lees-summit-police-believe-community.html?sp=/99/100/101/

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Massachusetts

Bad policy, bad policing

by Juliette Kayyem

The fearsome response by the Ferguson, Mo., police department in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown was not only shockingly ill-conceived, but in many ways inevitable. This kind of stand-off, with police using tear gas and rubber bullets, and perched atop armored transport vehicles with high-powered rifles, is what happens when local police departments are given access to equipment that has no other function than to kill or terrify.

But military-grade weapons are dangerous not simply because they represent a war-like response so prevalent in security efforts in the post-9/11 era. They also violate the cardinal rules of security in the homeland: flexibility and a capacity to pivot are key.

Here, history is instructive. Until World War II, the American homeland had been relatively safe from foreign attacks. After Pearl Harbor, first responders had to contend with a new type of danger, but how to do so was not entirely clear. New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia wanted the federal government to adopt a war mentality in US cities, with sirens, neighborhood militias, and concrete bunkers. Community-engagement efforts, he once wrote, were “sissy stuff.”

It wasn't until President Richard Nixon that the obsession with national security threats finally started to change. That change came because Hurricane Camille in 1969 and several other natural disasters exposed an inadequate and ineffective federal response. In reaction, Nixon authorized an important shift in policy: Domestic security funds could be used for any kind of threat. The new approach was called “dual use” and applied to planning, equipment, and training.

Dual-use has the benefit of being both efficient and effective. The firefighter who shows up at a burning building does not wonder, at that moment, whether an arsonist or a careless cigarette smoker is to blame. She just wants to put the fire out. The medics at the Boston Marathon finish line had no idea whether the carnage came from a terrorist attack or a gas explosion. They just implemented their well-honed plans for treating a sudden surge in injuries.

Dual-use planning was consistent with reforms occurring in many urban police departments, which were increasingly embracing community policing models.

And then 9/11 happened. And then we forgot. Once again, we started thinking that community-engagement strategies were “sissy stuff.” Enter Ferguson.

In 2007, when I was the state's homeland security adviser, the Bush administration — which was facing an insurgency in Iraq — told the states that 25 percent of our federal security funding had to be spent on responses to IED explosives. The states pushed back, pointing out that that percentage was arbitrary and didn't equate to the risks we faced. Boston, after all, is not Baghdad. Citing the need to support first responders regardless of the specific threat they faced, we echoed the dual-use mantra. The Department of Homeland Security relented in that instance, but it still has a long way to go.

It's not that military equipment is absolutely unimaginable in a domestic setting, particularly when police are at risk. But two significant reforms should be made as we right-size our post-9/11 state.

First, don't give a municipal police department single-use weaponry unless that department has a dedicated team trained for such weapons. Otherwise, the federal government should only provide those weapons to state agencies such as the National Guard or the state police. In most cases, that reform would mean that military weapons would ultimately be controlled by a governor, who presumably has better judgment than a small-town police chief.

Second, federal funding schemes should be altered to support well-established policing policies and response efforts. Currently, it's all but impossible to use federal funding to hire new state or local employees. The thinking is that because policing is a local effort, jurisdictions should pay for their own personnel. But that sets up a strange system under which the purchase of “gizmos” is allowable, but the hiring of community-relations experts, bilingual police officers, and more diverse workforces isn't. That needs to change.

These reforms are not “sissy stuff.” By refocusing on dual-use planning and limiting military weapons in domestic settings, we can learn from the past and build a safer future.

Juliette Kayyem served in homeland security for Governor Deval Patrick and President Obama. A former candidate for governor, she was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist for her columns in the Globe.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/08/20/ferguson-bad-policy-leads-bad-policing/idhJgJVOIgDzgr1abtFMEO/story.html

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Vermont

Local, state police using armored vehicles

ACLU believes there's no need to use military vehicles to protect civilian officers

by Bridget Shanahan

MONTPELIER, Vt. — The unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, has brought into question the use of military vehicles by local police departments.

You might not realize it, but those armored vehicles are also part of the police departments in Vermont and New York.

Vermont and New York State Police along with the Plattsburgh Police Department, all have some sort of military vehicle.

Vermont State Police used theirs as recently as this week.

Law enforcement will tell you they use the armored vehicles for protection in hostile situations, but there are some who say their presence hinders the effectiveness of community policing.

“I don't understand the case for local police having those at all. It just doesn't make any sense to me,” Vermont ACLU Executive Director Allen Gilbert said.

Gilbert is talking about armored vehicles that were used by the U.S. military now in the hands of state and local police departments.

It's something he doesn't think any civilian force needs.

“It's the shock and awe and intimidation that I don't think is really part of what really good community policing is all about,” Gilbert added.

Police in Ferguson also have a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle known as an MRAP. that's what they're using to address the unrest following the police shooting of teenager Michael Brown.

These former military vehicles usually come to local departments by way of a grant after they've been used overseas.

“You know what I hope? I hope it sits in a spot and we never use it,” Plattsburgh Police Chief Desmond Racicot said.

But they did use it.

Plattsburgh police brought out their MRAP to protect officers during the initial investigation of a murder suicide in February.

“We didn't know if that person was going to be alive, aggressive, threatening,” Racicot said.

Vermont State Police and New York State Police both have armored vehicles too. VSP used their Bearcat just this week during a suicidal situation in Duxbury.

The Clinton County Sheriff has an armored Humvee. They used it at a standoff in Altoona in 2012.

“I think now people are beginning to realize when you give local police military equipment, military clothing, military weapons they start acting or seeming to act like the military and I think most people would agree that's not a good thing. Local police are not a military force,” Gilbert said.

“If someone came to me today and said, 'we're going to give you a vehicle that looks like an oversized soccer mom's minivan' that was armored that I could use to get close to a situation with a weapon, we'd take it,” Racicot said.

Vermont State Police didn't have any information on how often they use their vehicles but did say they got their Bearcat in 2011 and just got their MRAP in February of this year.

The Burlington Police Department does not have any armored military vehicles.

http://www.wptz.com/news/vermont-new-york/burlington/local-state-police-using-armored-vehicles/27619590#!bGJQEH

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Missouri

National Guard Arrives In Ferguson, But Clashes Continue

by Braden Goyette

FERGUSON, Mo. -- Strict new protest rules and the presence of the National Guard in Ferguson didn't prevent fresh clashes with police on Monday night, the ninth night of unrest since unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by a white police officer on Aug. 9.

Police fired several rounds of tear gas into the crowd after a small number of protesters reportedly threw bottles at the officers. Shots were fired, and the cops ordered everyone without media credentials to disperse, then evacuated the media center as well.

"Air smells like gun powder," the Washington Post's Wesley Lowery tweeted. "Not like tear gas. Gun powder."

The National Guard, deployed to Ferguson by order of Gov. Jay Nixon (D) Monday morning, was posted at the police command center so that local police could concentrate on monitoring the protest, Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson told reporters.

The evening seemed to begin peacefully, with increased restrictions on where and how people could assemble. The QuikTrip, a meeting place for protesters on past nights, was closed off. Police told people that they had to keep moving or else they would be arrested, and the streets were closed off to cars early in the evening. The festive atmosphere of previous nights was replaced with solemn protests.

But tensions quickly rose after some in the crowd reportedly threw objects at police, who formed lines and told everyone to move back. An armored vehicle moved through the crowd, and several people took off running. CNN reported that white anarchists from outside of Ferguson were the ones throwing things at police.

Some protesters, led by Malik Shabazz, who is affiliated with the New Black Panther Party, tried to calm the situation and encourage people to keep walking and disperse. "We didn't want the news tonight to be tear gas and everybody running," he added. "The news tonight is that we're here for justice, for the arrest of officer Darren Wilson, we're here for Mike Brown and his family and we want an end to police brutality."

The police moved back the line and the tension in the crowd briefly eased before tempers flared again.

As a handful of people reportedly continued to throw bottles at police and protesters defied police orders to immediately disperse, the situation again intensified. Police fired tear gas at the crowd, and one person was reported to be shot. "That was the most intense tear gas yet," ANIMAL New York reporter Amy K. Nelson tweeted. "A photog collapsed right in front of me, said canister just rolled right beneath his feet."

"Multiple gun shots. Tear gas by Quick Trip. Escalation," New York Daily News reporter Pearl Gabel tweeted.

During a press conference early Tuesday morning, Johnson said two men were shot on Monday night. No update was available on their condition, but neither were shot by police.

Two fires were set on Monday, one at a business and one at an unoccupied residence, Johnson said. A molotov cocktail and two guns were also confiscated from a vehicle located near the police command center.

Although 31 people were arrested, many were not locals; authorities said that some of the people detained by officers came from as far away as New York and California. Johnson said good people were protesting during daylight hours, and are encouraged to do so again in the morning; however, "violent agitators" were taking advantage of a volatile situation.

"Protesters don't clash with police," Johnson said. "They don't throw molotov cocktails. It is criminals that throw molotov cocktails and fire shots."

Johnson backed the officers' actions, saying the protesters and members of the media were repeatedly asked to return to the sidewalks during clashes. We need to have the roads cleared, he said, for the everyone's safety.

When reporters asked why heavy vehicles and officers in full SWAT gear were facing off with protesters, Johnson said officers had come under fire during the unrest and four had sustained injuries from people throwing rocks and bottles. These units were only deployed into dangerous areas to help the wounded, he said.

Monday night's clashes soured the optimism that officers and protesters alike seemed to share earlier in the evening.

Ruth Gordon, 73, was hopeful as she worked to keep up with police orders to move. "I know I'm a slow walker, but eventually I get where I want to go," she said. "God has enabled me to do that, and that's what I'm doing. And we gonna get justice. We gonna get justice. I don't know how long it's gonna take, but until they bring the policeman in that did this shooting, there ain't gonna be no peace."

"It's coming," Gordon added. "Peace is coming. I can't tell you when, but peace is coming," Gordon said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/18/ferguson-protests_n_5689963.html

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Missouri

The night's tense tally: 2 shot, 2 fires, 31 arrested

Two men were shot during the chaos of demonstrations late Monday and early today near West Florissant and Canfield, police confirmed. Officers weren't involved in the shootings. There was no immediate information on the identities or conditions of the victims.

Police also confirmed that 31 people were arrested, including some who had come from as far as New York and California.

In an emotional news conference around 2:30 a.m. in the area of the protests, Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson said the shootings demonstrate “a dangerous dynamic in the night” in which a few people determined to cause trouble can pull a whole crowd into it.

While he acknowledged there is currently no curfew in place, he urged legitimate protesters come our during the day from now on, rather than at night.

“We do not want to lose another life in this community,” said Johnson.

His comments came after a night punctuated by bottles thrown at police, two fires in the area, and scattered reports of gunfire.

“Our officers came under heavy fire,” said Johnson. He stressed that “not a single bullet was fired by officers.”

Johnson, who was put on charge of security in Ferguson last week under orders by Gov. Jay Nixon, appeared before a table that displayed two handguns that officers had confiscated in an unrelated incident during the night's strife, as well as a Molotov cocktail.

Johnson said the weapons were confiscated from “violent agitators” who were using other peaceful protests as “cover” to cause conflicts with police.

“This nation is watching each and every one of us,” said Johnson, who was visibly angry and emotional during the news conference. “I am not going to let the criminals that have come here from across this country, or live in this neighborhood, define this community.”

Johnson also lectured reporters at the scene, telling them they were interfering with police and putting themselves in danger by failing to immediately clear areas when asked to by officers. He also implored reporters to “not glamorize the acts of criminals.”

Some reporters at the news conference pushed back, saying he was infringing on their ability to do their jobs by asking them to stay separate from protesters.

3 a.m., Kevin McDermott

OUR EARLIER COVERAGE:

Updated at 1:00 a.m. with comments from Missouri Highway Patrol

After many tense moments, including the deployment of tear gas, cooler heads seemed to be prevailing in Ferguson on early Tuesday morning.

At 12:30 a.m. police had issued a final warning to clear West Florissant, but several small groups still remained in the street.

At least 12 people were arrested in a truck at Canfield. Two pistols were found on those arrested, and a Molotov cocktail was found in the bed of their truck.

Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol defended all the arrests in an interview on CNN. "The people we arrested tonight, they weren't being peaceful," he said.

Johnson said that there were two shooting victims on the night, and that both victims were shot by members of the crowd.

Earlier story: 11:55 p.m.

When protesters defied police orders to leave the parking lot of the burned-out QuikTrip, police fired tear gas Monday night after repeated warnings.

Just before midnight, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson told reporters shots had been fired at Canfield and told the media to go to the command center about a quarter-mile away.

The St. Louis County Police Chief, Jon Belmar, echoed Dotson, telling reporters to move back to the command post because of gunfire.

Steven Hawkins, the executive director of Amnesty International, saw the tear gas being fired near QuikTrip. He said the police reacted when protesters wouldn't leave.

He could not confirm whether protesters threw rocks at police, but said "even if a few rocks were thrown, it wouldn't have made a difference. The police are in full body armor."

Shortly before midnight, police increased their efforts to clear some areas. They used loudspeakers to warn: "You need to disperse immediately. If you are credentialed media, move to your designated area. Do it now."

11:50 p.m, Steve Giegerich, Ken Leiser

Protests escalated again late Monday night as police fired tear gas at protesters who defied police by refusing orders to disperse, instead gathering in groups near the QuikTrip and other Ferguson spots.

Police fired at least three tear gas volleys near the QuikTrip as emergency vehicles sped to the scene. Police also used tear gas to break up protesters near West Florissant and Northwoods Estates.

"They're gassing our kids," one protester shouted.

In front of the McDonald's restaurant, a tactical united removed a driver from his car at gunpoint. There was no immediate word on why.

Some protesters also tipped over portable toilets and dragged them into the streets.

11:15 p.m, Steve Giegerich, Ken Leiser, Valerie Hahn

Tear gas fired again in Ferguson

Police fired tear gas on protesters near the QuikTrip late Monday night after they defied officers by gathering and refusing to disperse.

Police also forced a man out of his car at gunpoint about the same time they were firing tear gas.

The standoff at the burned-out convenience store had gone on for more than 20 minutes before the tear gas was deployed.

11:05 p.m. Steve Giegerich

Protesters defied police by gathering in large groups at several spots Monday night, including near the burned out QuikTrip and at West Florissant and Northwind Estates.

Police used a loudspeaker near the QuikTrip and warned about 100 protesters, "If you are standing around on the QuikTrip, you may be subject to arrest."

At several points during the night, police warned off protesters by beating the pavement with their night sticks.

Police made some arrests during the night but no official tallies were released. Just before 11 p.m., reporters estimated that the number of protesters was down to about 100.

Valerie Hahn, Ken Leiser, Steve Giegerich, 10:45 p.m.

A peaceful night took a precarious turn just before 10 p.m. Monday in Ferguson as protesters threw bottles at police, who responded with orders for protesters to clear the streets and high-pitched sound cannons blaring.

Police ordered protesters, "Back off now!" and told them to clear the streets immediately.

Things turned tense when a group of protesters marched toward a police line and stopped, defying the night-long orders for all protesters to keep moving. Police put on their helmets and seemed prepared for a confrontation.

An armored vehicle moved down the street trying to clear the crowd, and some pastors in the street stood with their arms locked trying to restore peace. They helped to move protesters away from the police line.

Pastor Michael McBride said he helped calm the protester before police deployed tear gas by talking to the protesters.

"We put our arms around them and whispered that we love them," he said.

10:10 p.m, Steve Giegerich, Valerie Hahn

Shools will stay closed all week

The Ferguson-Florissant School District announced Monday night that its schools would stay closed for the rest of the week.

"We believe that closing schools for the rest of this week will allow needed time for peace and stability to be restored to our community," the district said in a statement.

The district said it would hold the first day of classes on Monday, Aug. 25.

9:10 p.m. Monday, staff

As darkness fell Monday night, police increased their effort to keep protesters moving -- politely telling protesters they needed to keep moving.

One protester asked pointedly "Did they tell the people supporting the cop downtown to keep moving?" referring to a Sunday evening gathering in support of Officer Darren Wilson.

But the crowd, smaller than Sunday night, was staying on the sidewalk and obeying officers' orders to keep moving. At 9 p.m., the protests remained peaceful.

One protester was arrested in front of the McDonald's after 9 p.m., for failure to disperse, police said. When the officers walked him off, a group of protesters followed along.

Carmelita Wiliams came from Dellwood to join the protests. She said she plans to be out for as many nights as it takes.

"If one person is left, I want to be with that person," she said.

Another protester, Allysha Hamber, 42, asked how her sons can stand fight for America, "but I can't stand on sidewalk and protest?"

In a related development, a federal judge Monday night denied a motion by the American Civil Liberties Union for a temporary restraining order to stop police from requiring people to keep moving on sidewalks and thoroughfares in Ferguson unless they're gathered in a designated protest area.

8:20 p.m. Monday Steve Giegerich, Valerie Hahn, and Margaret Gillerman.

Press Club condemns treatment of journalists in Ferguson

The Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis on Monday condemned the treatment of journalists covering the Ferguson crisis and said they should be able to freely cover the news.

"We strongly condemn the manhandling and disrespect shown to our colleagues by authorities during the unfolding crisis in Ferguson, Mo.," the group said in a statement. "We believe these actions should cease, and that those responsible for maintaining order in Ferguson establish and enforce rules to assure the safety of our journalistic colleagues."

8 p.m, Margaret Gillerman

Police kept protesters on the move Monday night, telling anyone who stopped in a parking lot or street to keep moving.

Reporters were included in the keep-moving mandate by police, who shooed them off the parking lot at the McDonald's restaurant. Police officers walking the scene carried riot gear and big sticks

Highway Patrol troopers on the scene had zip ties -- which are used as handcuffs -- attached to their belts. They told motorists driving through the area to be careful.

Some protesters bought roses and bottled water from the Family Dollar store, then handed the roses out to peaceful demonstrators.

Valerie Hahn, Steve Giegerich, 7:40 p.m. Monday

Authorities prepare for another night of protests

Authorities in charge of security in Ferguson are preparing for another night of protests.

It comes after a day that saw the arrest of another journalist, this one captured on video. Meanwhile, Archbishop Robert Carlson has announced a special Mass this week for the people of Ferguson.

"We will not allow vandals, criminal elements to impact the safety and security of this community," Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson said during a brief press conference Monday afternoon. "We will not allow those elements disrupt, impact, the soul of this community."

Johnson introduced Missouri National Guard Brig. Gen. Gregory Mason, who will oversee the Missouri National Guard's efforts in the area. They were called in by the governor early Monday morning after another night of protests that turned violent.

Mason spoke briefly before a police chaplain said a short prayer at the microphones.

"We have well-trained and well-seasoned soldiers assigned to the command post here," Mason said. "Our soldiers have that as their main mission and they are well-equipped."

Authorities are establishing an "organized protest zone" at Ferguson Road and West Florissant Avenue, St. Louis County police said. West Florissant was being closed to traffic. Authorities said the media would have access through road blocks.

Shortly after media were told of the "organized protest zone," authorities began setting up concrete highway barriers at checkpoints near the protest zone.

A crowd of several hundred protesters gathered at the intersection, and faced off a few feet from about 40 police officers and Missouri Highway Patrol troopers. One of the officers wore body armor, but the others were in everyday gear. The tense moment eventually eased.

In other developments today:

• The arrest of a photographer for Getty Images during the Ferguson protests was captured on video and posted online today.

The video shows Getty photographer Scott Olson being arrested by several officers and talking to the videographer as it happens.

"I'm being arrested because they said the media is required to be in a certain area," he says to the camera. Another officer can be heard off-camera telling the videographer, "Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving."

The Instagram video was posted by New York-based freelance journalist Amy K. Nelson.

• Archbishop Robert Carlson released a letter today announcing a special Mass dedicated to the people of Ferguson.

On Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 5 p.m., the Catholic faithful will celebrate a Mass for peace and justice at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.

“I have personally visited Ferguson and Michael Brown's memorial to offer my prayers for everyone affected by this tragedy,” Carlson said.

Carlson said that a special collection will be taken at the Mass to assist food pantries and parishes in the Ferguson area that offer assistance to those affected by looting and destruction of property.

Catholic schools will also offer a daily rosary for peace. Special intentions during all school Masses will also be dedicated to Ferguson. “Catholic Family Services, an agency of Catholic Charities, has made counselors available to any Catholic school that requests assistance,” Carlson said.

-Staff, 5:25 p.m.

Restrictions on news helicopters in Ferguson extended

The Federal Aviation Administration extended flight restrictions for news helicopters over Ferguson through Sunday. In its order, the agency cited the reason as "to provide a safe environment for law enforcement activities."

Staff, 6:20 p.m. Monday

Obama on Ferguson: 'Let's seek to heal rather than wound each other'

President Barack Obama decried the violence and looting of some protesters in Ferguson and called for protests to be peaceful.

"We have all seen images of protesters and law enforcement in the streets. It's clear that the vast majority of people are peacefully protesting. What's also clear is that a small minority of individuals are not," he said. "While I understand the passions and the anger that arise over the death of Michael Brown, giving into that anger by looting or carrying guns, and even attacking the police only serves to raise tensions and stir chaos. It undermines rather than advancing justice."

Obama added: "Let's seek to heal rather than wound each other."

He also reiterated the right for people to peacefully protest without undo restrictions from authorities and said that constitutional rights must be vigilantly protected.

"There is no excuse for excessive force by police," he said.

Taking a two-day break from summer vacation, Obama huddled with top advisers at the White House Monday before speaking to the nation on developments in both Iraq and Ferguson, two trouble spots where Obama has ordered his administration to intervene.

Attorney General Eric Holder will travel to Ferguson on Wednesday, and Obama promised work "on the ground" from those in the Justice Department conducting a separate, independent civil rights investigation into Michael Brown's death. Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., plan to join him.

Asked about Nixon's activation of the Missouri National Guard, Obama said he had expressed an interest in making sure the National Guard was used in a limited and appropriate way.

"I spoke to Gov. Nixon about this, expressed an interest in making sure that if in fact the National Guard is used, it is used in a limited an appropriate way. he described the support role that they going to be providing to law enforcement," he said. "And I'll be watching over the next several days to assess whether, in fact, it's helping rather than hindering progress in Ferguson."

Holder said later Monday that more than 40 FBI agents continued their canvassing Monday of the neighborhood where Michael Brown was shot. As a result, they've conducted several more interviews. He also ordered an additional autopsy Monday.

He asked for patience as they complete their work, and promised integrity in the investigation.

"This is a critical step in restoring trust between law enforcement and the community, not just in Ferguson, but beyond," he said in a statement. He also called for an end to violence in Ferguson and said the selective release of sensitive information so far in this case has been troubling.

- Staff and The Associated Press, 5:15 p.m. Monday.

• • •

New poll shows sharp racial, ideological divisions following Ferguson shooting death

WASHINGTON • A just-released Pew Research Center poll shows sharp divides between blacks and whites over the police shooting death of Michael Brown and what it means for race relations in America.

The poll of 1,000 adults was taken Thursday through Sunday. It showed that blacks (80 percent) are more than twice as likely as whites (37 percent) to believe the case raises important issues about race.

It also said that while 65 percent of blacks believe police response has gone "too far," only 33 percent of whites say so. Some 32 percent of whites say it has been about right, and 35 percent say they don't know. About 20 percent of blacks say the police response has been about right, with 15 percent saying they didn't know.

There are also ideological divisions. While 68 percent of Democrats say the 18-year-old Brown's killing and the aftermath raises important issues about race, 22 percent of Republicans and 40 percent of independents do.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

- Chuck Raasch, 5 p.m. Monday

• • •

Attorneys sue for police records of shooting

An attorneys' group is suing to try to get police records about the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

The lawsuit filed Monday by the National Bar Association contends the Ferguson Police Department is in violation of the state open-records law for not releasing reports, videos and photos about the Aug. 9 shooting. It also seeks records related to Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown.

The National Bar Association calls itself "the nation's oldest and largest association of African American lawyers and judges." Benjamin Crump, the attorney who has emerged as the spokesman for the Brown family since the shooting, is the Association's vice-president for finance.

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson has said everything pertaining to the investigation of Brown's shooting is being handled by the St. Louis County Police Department.

But Jackson did release the officer's name last week, as well as police reports and surveillance video from a convenience store robbery in which Brown was a suspect.

- AP, 6 p.m.

• • •

Marchers demanding to get in Nixon's satellite office in downtown St. Louis

Security officers blocked the front door of the Wainwright building downtown as a crowd marching with the Organization of Black Struggle attempted to get into Gov. Jay Nixon's office this afternoon. They demanded a toning down of police tactics in Ferguson.

The group began marching to Nixon's satellite office in downtown St. Louis shortly after 3 p.m. after starting out from at Kiener Plaza, saying the activation of the National Guard will escalate the situation. They want the removal of Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson, the arrest of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, as well as the appointment of a special investigator.

"Hey-hey, ho-ho, National Guard has got to go!" the group shouted. An officer told the crowd that Nixon was not inside the building.

About 75 protesters were sitting outside of the building as several officers on bike patrol monitored the crowd. Police put about eight people in plastic and metal cuffs, and the crowd began to move back to Kiener Plaza.

One of those arrested was Hedy Epstein, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor and political activist.

She wore a black T-shirt that read, "Stay Human." She was one of several who led the march of protesters with a banner that, in part, read, don't shoot.

She walked the half block from Kiener Plaza to the state building and was in the front line of people who stood by the door leading. She was one of eight who were led away by police for failure to disperse from the front door of the building.

She told The Nation after her release, "I've been doing this since I was a teenager. I didn't think I would have to do it when I was 90."

-Nancy Cambria, 4:10 p.m.

• • •

Governor: No curfew tonight in Ferguson; National Guard will protect police command center

Gov. Jay Nixon said there will be no curfew tonight in Ferguson, where a rotating series of official responses to protests have failed to end looting and violence late at night.

The Missouri National Guard, called in early Monday by Nixon to help keep order in Ferguson, will be used to protect the police command center, the governor's office said.

Nixon said the guard's role will be limited to protecting the command center in the Westfall shopping center, formerly Northland, on West Florissant. Police officials said the command center was the destination of protesters who were met with tear gas Sunday evening.

"The Guard will concentrate its resources on carrying out this limited mission," Nixon said in a statement.

He also said, "I join the people of Ferguson, and all Missourians, in strongly condemning the violent acts we saw (Sunday) night, including the firing upon law enforcement officers, the shooting of a civilian, the throwing of Molotov cocktails, looting and a coordinated attempt to overrun the unified Command Center.

"We are all frustrated and looking for justice to be achieved regarding the shooting death of Michael Brown. As the dual investigations continue into what happened nine days ago at Canfield Green, we must defend Ferguson from these violent interlopers so that the peaceful protests can operate in peace and the search for answers and justice can continue.”

- Staff, 12:40 p.m. Monday

• • •

National Guard called in to help restore order

Gov. Jay Nixon announced early Monday morning that he was activating the National Guard to help restore order in Ferguson after a week of protests that have resulted in looting and violence some nights.

"Given these deliberate, coordinated and intensifying violent attacks on lives and property in Ferguson, I am directing the highly capable men and women of the Missouri National Guard to assist Colonel Ron Replogle and the Unified Command in restoring peace and order to this community.” the governor's executive order said.

At his press conference after another night of violent clashes with protesters, Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson said new security steps were planned but declined to detail them. In response to one of the few questions that were allowed, he said those plans were still in flux but did not include bringing in National Guard troops. But Nixon announced a short time later he would bring in those troops.

Governors have mustered National Guard soldiers to the St. Louis area for floods, heat waves and even a heavy snowstorm, but not street violence, at least not since World War II. In April 1968, then-Gov. Warren E. Hearnes sent more than 1,500 National Guard soldiers to Kansas City to assist police during a riot that broke out shortly after the murder of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.

Johnson said the additional measures being put in place had been formulated in talks between himself, Nixon, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson and Replogle, who is in charge of the Highway Patrol.

Johnson, who was put in control of security on the North County city's streets last week, blamed a small group of agitators for the night's violence that included shootings, molotov cocktails and lootings. He said he believed those who instigated the violence came to what had been a peaceful protest determined to "provoke a response."

Other law enforcement authorities said three people had been injured in shootings during the night. None of the shootings involved officers, authorities said. Police said seven or eight people were arrested on charges of failing to disperse.

Johnson detailed a night of violence that began about 8:25 with a shooting among the protesters. Next, he said, shots were fired at officers, Molotov cocktails thrown at police and businesses were looted.

At one point, he said, a McDonald's was overrun by protesters and the workers inside had to take shelter.

"Based on these conditions, I had no alternative but to elevate our response," Johnson said, referring to officers' push to clear the streets hours before the midnight curfew with measures that included the use of tear gas.

Replogle, interviewed about 2:30 a.m. on CNN, said of the decision to call in the National Guard: "We need some help."

He said larger and larger groups of protesters have been showing up on the streets of Ferguson since the fatal shooting last weekend of Michael Brown, 18, by a Ferguson police officer.

Replogle said the protesters who are resorting to violence "aren't residents of this city, we know that."

Authorities closed a one-half-mile stretch of West Florissant Avenue from Chambers Road on the north to Woodstock Road on the south "until further notice," but reopened it later this morning. Woodstock is just north of Lucas and Hunt Road. The gutted QuikTrip is nearly in the middle of the closed stretch.

- Staff, updated 11:45 a.m. Monday.

• • •

Two protesters arrested outside McDonald's

At about 2:30 p.m. police arrested two people who refused to keep moving in front of the McDonald's on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson. They had been part of a large crowd of several dozen people who had been chanting and holding their hands up as they looped along the sidewalk, across the street along the sidewalk on the other side and back across to the McDonald's.

No protesters were standing in the street today. Cops have been making people hanging off of cars or hanging out of them get back inside.

- Paul Hampel, 3 p.m. Monday

• • •

Nation of Islam calls for demonstrators to leave Ferguson by sunset; groups decry use of National Guard

A representative of the Nation of Islam stood with other community organizers today in front of the police department and said they would be encouraging demonstrators to leave the area by sunset.

“We don't want a repeat of what happened last night,” said Akbar Muhammad, along with others, including representatives from the Universal African Peoples Organization and Black Lawyers for Justice at a press conference early this afternoon.

The leaders also said they disagreed with Gov. Jay Nixon's calling in of the Missouri National Guard, saying they feared it would make the situation worse instead of curbing violence that has occurred since the death of Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

Earlier, the group had asked demonstrators to abide the curfew imposed by police. Now, it's best if people leave by dark, leaders said.

The groups are in midst of planning their own demonstration. A time and location wasn't immediately announced, but organizers said they wanted to avoid the area of West Florissant Avenue, where all the chaos has occurred.

The Organization for Black Struggle also today decried the use of National Guard troops in Ferguson and called for an immediate de-escalation of law enforcement tactics.

“After a brief respite last week, police last night turned to violence again rather than community policing,” the group said in a statement. “The indiscriminate use of tear gas and rubber bullets, without warning, is unacceptable! The decision to call up the National Guard is only another step toward escalation of the situation.”

Members of the civil rights group said they will try to meet today with Gov. Jay Nixon.

-Lilly Fowler and Michael Sorkin, 1:45 p.m. Monday

• • •

Burned-out QuikTrip now off-limits

The burned-out QuikTrip that has become one of the main gathering points for protesters in Ferguson was put off-limits by police on Monday.

Law enforcement officers told protesters and reporters who stopped at the store's parking lot they needed to keep moving.

The store, which was burned in the riots on Aug. 10, has become a focal point of the unrest in Ferguson since Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by a police officer on Aug. 9.

- Paul Hampel and Laurie Skrivan, 12:15 p.m. Monday

• • •

Private autopsy shows Brown shot 6 times; distance from officer who fired unclear

A private autopsy requested by the family of Michael Brown showed he was shot at least six times, including a fatal shot to the skull, Dr. Michael M. Baden announced at a press conference Monday morning.

All bullets entered the front of his body; two shots hit Brown's head and four hit his right arm. Some of the bullets caused multiple wounds as they entered, exited and re-entered parts of Brown's body, including his upper torso. One bullet entered near Brown's right eye and exited near his jawline before entering Brown's right shoulder, according to the private autopsy.

The St. Louis County medical examiner's office is releasing little information about their autopsy, conducted previously. Brown was shot multiple times and died of wounds to the head and chest, said Suzanne McCune, forensic administrator for the St. Louis County medical examiner's office. She would not release any toxicological information.

The medical examiner has sent its autopsy report regarding Brown's death, including his toxicology screening, to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch, McCune said.

Baden said he determined in the private autopsy that all of the shots were survivable except one to the top of Brown's head that went into his brain.

The autopsy did not shed much light on how far Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson was from Brown when he shot the unarmed man. Because there was no gunshot residue on the body, it appears the muzzle of the gun was at least one or two feet away, Baden said. "It could have been 30 feet away," Dr. Baden says.

He was unable to examine Brown's clothing for gunshot residue.

Baden also said the number of gunshot wounds Brown sustained could have been released by authorities immediately. Baden said the family has a right to know this information and releasing it "calms community and family concerns over a coverup."

Baden said Dr. Mary Case, the chief medical examiner of St. Louis County, is "a very excellent forensic pathologist, and I'm sure her work will turn out to be very excellent when it's released. But it hasn't been released yet and the family wants to know."

Baden said letting the family know that a bullet wound to the brain causes immediate loss of consciousness can be helpful to the grieving family in trying times. He said it appears Brown did not suffer.

- Staff, 10:30 a.m. Monday

• • •

City of Ferguson hires PR help

The City of Ferguson has hired a Chesterfield-based public relations firm to handle the crush of media requests.

The 21,000 person city, which has been plunged into a crisis after the fatal shooting death of Michael Brown, on Monday began directing all questions to Common Ground PR. The PR firm includes a specialty in "crisis management."

"Common Ground Public Relations helps organizations prepare and respond to crises affecting their operations as well as their reputation," the company's website says. "We believe that safeguarding a company's reputation and its bottom line requires crisis-related public relations strategies that include media relations, social and online outreach, community outreach and third-party collaborations. We can help with preparation, training, in-the-midst support, and the re-establishment of trust after the storm."

-Nick Pistor, 2:30 p.m. Monday

• • •

More than a dozen injured during Sunday evening protests

SSM DePaul Health Center treated 12 people following the Ferguson demonstrations Sunday, the most injuries any hospital has reported during one night since the protests began.

Two gunshot victims were treated and released Sunday night at DePaul, Spokeswoman Jamie Sherman said. Another 10 patients were treated for injuries sustained after a high-speed chase with police.

Sherman said it's unclear if all 10 individuals were in the same vehicle.

Four remained at the hospital as of Monday morning. Their conditions were not available, but the hospital said they were stable.

Getting to those injured has become difficult for first responders, and has caused a shift in strategy, Chris Cebollero, chief of EMS for Christian Hospital, said.

His crews now park in “staging areas” where they wait for the injured to be brought to them.

“Early on we had some challenges with folks attacking the ambulance and we needed to make sure that our folks stayed safe,” Cebollero said.

Now the ambulance crews have become part of incident command alongside officers. At least one ambulance is on site continuously after about 6 p.m., Cebollero said.

The majority of injuries being treated by Cebollero's crews are not life-threatening, he said. There was a man beaten unconscious early on, but since then Cebollero said most individuals are being treated at the scene and then released from care.

It seems that those with more serious injuries are getting to the hospitals on their own, he said.

- Samantha Liss, noon Monday

• • •

Cleanup begins as morning light reveals looted stores

By 6 o'clock this morning, traffic was moving in front of the looted Dellwood Market and the McDonalds restaurant, where broken windows were not yet cleaned up or boarded up. Employees of the restaurant began showing up before dawn and had the restaurant open for business by 6:30 a.m.

Some protesters were on the scene, including Mauricelm-Lei Millere, 41, of Washington, D.C. He said he is with the New Black Panther Party.

Millere said any trouble was started by "provocateurs who are trying to destroy this."

Malik Rhasan, 42, of Atlanta, said he came to Ferguson under the belief that the St. Louis suburb was a town on fire. "I was proud of the youth last night, and very disappointed by the police," Rhasan said.

Mayor Reggie Jones of Dellwood said the market on Chambers Road wasn't the only city business hit; he's checking a pizza store and auto parts store.

"Our city isn't included in this, but we've been dragged into it because we are so close," he said.

Virgil Smith, 48, of Florissant was driving by this morning when he saw the broken storefront window at Rehoboth Pharmacy, at 9944 West Florissant Avenue. He stopped and was helping sweep up the glass, saying he felt he needed to do something.

"At least in Iraq you know who enemy is," said Smith, who spent 20 years in the Air Force. "Here you never know. They are all blended in with the community."

The owner, Idowu Ajibola, was doing an inventory to see what was swiped. They took some pain medication and Xanax, he said. They also stole hair products.

To replace the glass will probably cost $6,000, Ajibola says, "and what they took is probably just 10 percent of that."

He figures they didn't get more because he had turned off all the security lights inside the store when the rioting began and the looters couldn't see what was inside, the owner said.

Police are looking for blood inside the pharmacy to try to find the culprits through DNA.

- Kim Bell, 6:40 a.m. Monday

• • •

Brown's mother: Peace will follow justice – including the arrest of officer

Michael Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, appeared on Good Morning America Monday and was asked how peace can be restored in Ferguson.

"With justice," she told the show's Robin Roberts.

And what does justice look like?

"Arresting (the police officer who shot Brown) and making him accountable for his actions," she said.

McSpadden also said she had spoken with Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, who is in charge of security in Ferguson, at a vigil at a church Sunday.

"He had a heartfelt message for me, and that was that that could have been his son," she said.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/police-show-force-some-small-groups-of-protesters-still-remain/article_f794b446-1ee7-56f1-b4f5-03c5663b596f.html

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California

South Pasadena teens arrested for planned mass school shooting

Police arrested two Southern California teens who were allegedly planning a mass shooting at their high school.

by Gabrielle Levy

Two Southern California teens were arrested Monday for allegedly planning a mass shooting at their high school just days before classes are due to begin this week.

Officials at South Pasadena High School notified police after learning of the teens' plot to "kill three staff members and as many students as possible with firearms."

South Pasadena Police detectives said in a statement they were able to obtain enough evidence upon executing search warrants at the students' homes to arrested the students, and while one was taken into custody without incident, the other resisted.

The student, identified as male, attempted to flee, but was eventually caught, they said.

"This is a prime example of school officials recognizing suspicious behavior. It was this information that helped prevent a horrific tragedy," Sgt. Brian Solinsky said in the release.

Geoff Yantz, superintendent of the South Pasadena Unified School District, thanked police for stopping a "potential mass shooting" in a note to parents and employees.

"The police have the situation under control and there is currently no threat to students or employees," Yantz said. "The School Board and I appreciate the immediate response by the South Pasadena Police Department, and school will begin on as planned" on Thursday.

As the news of the arrests spread in the community, people took to Twitter to share their disbelief -- and gratitude for heads-up action on the part of school officials and law enforcement.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/08/19/South-Pasadena-teens-arrested-for-planned-mass-school-shooting/5651408443473/

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Community Policing, the Best for the Best

by Mary Silver

It was the 1990s in a poor, sometimes desperate neighborhood. I heard and saw gunfire more times than I can count. Blood was not unknown. The one hopeful community garden was ripped out of the ground the night after it was planted. No one made a second attempt at a garden, not that decade.

Into that near-war zone came community police, in pairs, on bicycles, sometimes on foot, or in cars. I no longer remember most of their names. But I remember how they made me feel.

They could be trusted. They really were there to protect and serve. Not in the sarcastic slang of the day, in which serve was a synonym for “beat you to a pulp.”

A key part of this was that most of them looked like the people they were protecting. This is not true, of course, of the local police in Ferguson, Mo.

To these officers, the teens hanging around the streets of Summerhill and Boatrock looked like their own nephews, cousins, sons, and daughters. Nobody forced this ethnic mix. There were no ethnic or racial quotas, but once a group has political power, law enforcement starts looking like that powerful group.

No Panic

The community policing officers were chosen for this assignment because they were the best of the best. They were the ones who were not going to panic. They were the ones who were not going to lose their tempers.

They followed the law enforcement technique of verbal judo, after the book of the same name, in which a person calms a situation by showing respect and kindness. All of them were friendly, outgoing, humble kinds of people, and they were well-trained, you could tell.

Now I know that the 1990s were far from a golden age for good policing in my town. I know this because officers were leading robbing crews, and they got caught and convicted. Later, in 2006, they shot and killed a 92-year-old lady after using a no-knock warrant to break down her door.

Defuse, Protect

Yet the community policing worked. Those men and women were straight and ethical. I saw them defuse situations and protect people.

The bad cops got caught and received justice.

It can happen like that. The key to it is political power. Elect representatives who will make civil, respectful policing a priority.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/column/890252-community-policing-the-best-for-the-best/

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Connecticut

Hartford Police Chief: City Unlikely To Have Ferguson-Type Situation

by tterzi

After nine days of strife since a white police officer shot a black teenager, urban centers across America are now comparing their procedures to those of St. Louis suburb Ferguson, Missouri. Hartford, for one, believes it is on a path to partnerships.

Rev. Henry Brown, a tireless community advocate in Hartford, believes poor leadership, from the mayor to the police chief, has fueled the fire in Ferguson.

Brown, who represents Mothers United Against Violence, says police from the St. Louis suburb should have gone to the victim's family immediately and assured them there was going to be a thorough investigation.

Communication with the community, early and often, is a key component in Hartford Police Chief James Rovella's approach.

“What usually happens here in Hartford is you either see me or my public information officer first explain the how, when, why and what,” said Rovella, who is approaching his second anniversary as chief.

This philosophy, Brown noted, should be a staple in a community, like Ferguson, which is nearly 70 percent African American.

“They waited five days to release any kind of information,” said Brown.

Perhaps the single most important reason Chief Rovella believes Hartford would avoid becoming Ferguson: community policing.

“We have officers in the community, in constant contact with community members, making themselves available and they discuss problems,” said Rovella.

But community policing is not subscribed to by some urban police departments because it's expensive.

“It requires upwards of 65 to 70 of my officers being dedicated to specific neighborhoods,” added Rovella.

Rovella said his days as a Hartford detective, and later as an inspector for the chief state's attorney's office, taught him that one important characteristic of any good leader is being an excellent listener.

http://foxct.com/2014/08/18/why-hartford-likley-wont-have-a-situation-like-fergusons/

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Editorial

Smarter police work

Building trust can help prevent another Ferguson, Mo.

At this writing it's too soon to know if the street violence in Ferguson, Mo., is ebbing. But it's not too soon to ask what lessons can be learned.

The Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a member of the local police department has led to peaceful protests against the use of excessive force by police in a community that is mostly African-American but whose police department is overwhelmingly white. It has also led to looting and vandalism.

The deployment of heavily armed police in military-style body armor has seemed to many to be an overreaction. Officers need to protect themselves when put in potentially dangerous situations. But scenes of police in riot gear advancing on unarmed crowds don't evoke an image of a department that wants most of all “to protect and to serve” its community.

Heavy armament needs to be part of the arsenal of many police departments, especially those in larger cities who may confront terrorists or gun-toting criminal gangs. But as Ferguson is proving, its use against ordinary citizens enraged by what they see as an injustice may only add more flames to the fire of indignation.

There are lessons here for police departments everywhere. An obvious one is that the men and women in police uniform ought to reflect the racial makeup of the community, at least to some degree.

But even this kind of quota system doesn't get at the deepest issue: trust. Regardless of race, police officers who don't feel they are part of the community they patrol, and a community that feels the officers are faceless people in blue uniforms, are unlikely to trust each other when an incident occurs.

Community policing puts police on the streets before a tragedy strikes. Their chief role isn't to knock heads and take names but to get to know community members and what's on their minds, to prevent crime as much as to chase criminals down. These police want to be seen more as “protectors” than “enforcers.”

Cincinnati and Los Angeles reformed their police departments after riots, with positive effects. They and many other cities have worked with citizens, listening and taking a “we're in this together” approach. This kind of policing takes time to tell people what actions are being taken and why. Officers return to a neighborhood after an incident to ask questions and hear complaints. Then the trust and relationships built over time can pay big dividends when a crisis erupts.

Missouri's top law enforcement officials are hastily trying to rebuild bridges to the Ferguson community. Both Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald Johnson, an African-American who now heads the security team in Ferguson, and Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, who is white, have offered apologies and promises.

“Michael [Brown]'s going to make it better for our sons so they can be better black men,” Johnson told members of the Ferguson community. “We need to pray. We need to thank Michael for his life. And we need to thank him for the change that he is going to make.”

“This week is a 50-year flood of anger that has broken loose in this city the likes of which we have not seen since Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] was killed,” Attorney General Koster said. “And I am sorry that I have not done more from the law enforcement community to break down that wall of anger, that wall of armor.”

Good words – and a good starting point. Now Ferguson must seize this opportunity to rise above a tragedy and help show other American communities the path to a better way of policing.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2014/0818/Smarter-police-work

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Minnesota

Minneapolis police struggle to hire diverse force

by MATT MCKINNEY

Facing a wave of police retirements, Minneapolis is scrambling to hire nearly 100 new officers by the end of this year, the largest addition to its ranks in recent history.

City officials acknowledge that at least 71 percent of the new hires are likely to be white, giving rise to concerns among minority groups that the racial makeup of the force — particularly blacks — is not keeping up with the rest of the city.

“I think we're going to be disappointed” in the diversity of the new hires, said City Council Member Blong Yang, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee.

The issue of police force diversity has drawn national attention in recent days after a white officer fatally shot an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Mo. The incident prompted protesters to clash with law enforcement in the suburban St. Louis community that has struggled with the racial makeup of its force.

Minneapolis police have about half the black and Hispanic officers they need to accurately reflect the city's population, records show. This comes despite years of diversity plans, legal action and a federal mediation agreement sparked by low levels of minority representation within the police.

Minneapolis police have been intensely committed to finding diverse candidates, said police spokesman John Elder.

“When we got the green light to hire, we went out and looked everywhere,” he said. “We were out on the streets; we were in the churches. We know we have great talent in Minneapolis and we're doing our best to cultivate it.”

The wave of anticipated new hires was created by a surge in retirements. The force levels are lower than they have been in recent history, and the city has experienced an uptick in certain crimes.

Minneapolis leaders must balance their desire to improve diversity against intense political pressure to rapidly get the force back up to full strength.

“The mayor wants diversity; the chief wants diversity,” said Lisa Clemons, a former Minneapolis police officer who is black. But the lack of better results “doesn't make sense.”

The department's diversity problem falls unevenly across its ranks: while black and Hispanic officers number too few, American Indians and Asians are represented on the force in percentages that mirror the city's population.

Of the 807 officers and cadets in field training currently on the force, 78.9 percent are white, 9.2 percent are black, 5.2 percent are Asian, 4.1 percent are Hispanic and 2.5 percent are American Indian. Women made up 15 percent of the police force in 2013, down from 16.4 percent in 2003.

Against that backdrop, neighborhood activists have pressed this summer for more information from the department about its hiring plans.

“My concern and our concern is that there seems to be room to hire new people but where are the people of color, particularly about African Americans?” asked Peter Hayden, part of the Community Standards Initiative, a group seeking more diversity.

The struggle to diversify the force has prompted some officers to go out into the community and recruit minority candidates themselves.

At a meeting earlier this summer, Minneapolis police officer Eric Lukes, who is black, detailed his efforts in his off-duty hours to find young people he can mentor for the department's Community Service Officer program, a path toward becoming a full-time officer. He said he currently is working with five candidates.

The group is hoping to get a meeting with Police Chief Janeé Harteau.

“I think the numbers are what they are not because of the lack of not trying,” said police union president John Delmonico. “I think the numbers are as good as they can get for what we have to work with in the big pool of law enforcement candidates.”

Delmonico said it is tough to know how best to broaden the department's diversity.

City records show that the department had 60 black officers in 1997, but that number fell year over year until it was just 49 by 2003, or about 6 percent of the force in a city which is 18 percent black.

In that year, 2003, a federal mediation agreement brokered by the U.S. Department of Justice ordered the city to address the minority shortfall within the department. Some progress was made: today there are 74 black Minneapolis police officers, or 9.2 percent of the force.

“That was an initiative driven by community people,” said Ron Edwards, a city activist who has closely watched the department's diversity numbers for years. He was among a group of people who sat on the now-disbanded Police Community Relations Council, which was created by the federal mediation agreement.

“I'm disappointed,” Edwards said. He said if the city wants to make the police force mirror the city's diversity, the incoming classes should not only match that of the city, but have enough minority hires to make up the gap within the department.

Hiring plans

The City Council has authorized the department to hire enough officers to raise the department to 860 officers; it's currently near 770 officers on the street, one of the lowest numbers in 25 years.

The city has 1.9 officers per 1,000 residents, a ratio that puts it below St. Paul and many other Midwestern cities. The depleted force has seen response times rise while officers have reported stopping fewer suspicious vehicles and suspicious persons. Violent crime, meanwhile, has risen 4.7 percent so far this year.

A hiring push will have up to 100 join the force before the end of the year, Harteau has pledged, though many of the officers will still be in field training through the end of the year. Some of the hires are fresh out of the police academy, while others have experience in departments elsewhere and won't require as much field training.

Of all 85 of those potential hires — the cadets, recruits and hires with law enforcement experience — at least 60, about 71 percent, are white, according to the city figures. The number of white officers could be higher because some of the remaining 25 candidates didn't share their race when they applied, according to the City Attorney's office.

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/271772331.html

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The ugly history of racist policing in America

by Dara Lind

The shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri, policeman Darren Wilson has revealed deep anger and frustration among residents of the St. Louis suburb. But Brown's death, and the protests that have followed it, didn't happen in a vacuum.

Vox spoke with historian Heather Ann Thompson, a professor at Temple University who writes extensively on 20th-century urban politics and criminal justice and worked on the recent National Research Council report on mass incarceration, to talk about the tense and often hostile history between African Americans and the police in America.

Dara Lind: What does history teach us about what's going on in Ferguson?

Heather Ann Thompson: There are some locally important things about this, and there are some nationally important things. There's been a lot of attention to the fact that St. Louis did not riot during the 1960s, for example. But St. Louis has always had this very tortured racial history. In July of 1917, there was one of the most brutal riots against African Americans there — scores and scores of white folks attacking blacks simply for being employed in wartime industries. There were indiscriminate attacks and, in effect, lynchings: beatings, hangings of black residents.

So the fact that St. Louis didn't erupt in the '60s is almost an anomaly or an outlying story. Because St. Louis does have very tense race relations between whites and blacks, and also between the police and the black community.

Nationally, it suggests that we haven't learned nearly enough from our history. Not just 1917, and all the riots that happened in 1919, and 1921 — but, much more specifically, from the ‘60s. Because of course, this is exactly the same issue that generated most of the rebellions of the 1960s. In 1964, exactly 50 years ago, [unrest in] Philadelphia, Rochester, and Harlem were all touched off by the killing of young African Americans. That's what touches off Harlem. It's the beating of a young black man that touches off Rochester in '64. It's the rumor that a pregnant woman has been killed by the police in Philadelphia in '64. So in some sense, my reaction to this is: of course. Because until you fundamentally deal with this issue of police accountability in the black community and fair policing in the black community, this is always a possibility.

DL: This continuity from the white attacks on black citizens after World War I, to the rioting of disenfranchised African Americans in the 1960s, is interesting. Is there a relationship between those two and between the violence of private white citizens and violence of police?

HT: On the surface they seem unrelated: you've got racist white citizens who are attacking blacks in the streets, and then years or decades later, you have the police acting violently in the black community.

In response to all those riots in the 1910s and 1920s, civil rights commissions were set up in cities, and there was pressure on both local and federal governments to address white vigilantism and white rioting against blacks. And while it was not particularly effective, it certainly had this censuring quality to it. And then what historians would agree happened is that, in so many cities, the police became the proxy for what the white community wants.

So one of the answers is that police became the front line of the white community — or, at least, the most racially conservative white community. It's the police that are called out, for example, when blacks try to integrate white neighborhoods. It's the police that become that body that defends whites in their homes.

DL: How did this play out after the unrest that you mentioned?

HT: We start the war on crime in 1965, which, of course, is very much in response to these urban rebellions. Because politicians decide that protests against things like police brutality are exactly the same thing as crime — that this is disorderly. This is criminal.

And so, police are specifically charged with keeping order and with stopping crime, which has now become synonymous with black behavior in the streets. The police, again, become that entity that polices black boundaries. And I will tell you that one of the most striking things about the media coverage of Ferguson is that they are absolutely doing what they did in the 1960s in terms of the reporting: "This is all about the looters, this is all about black violence."

DL: It certainly seems that even before any looting actually happened in Ferguson, police were anticipating that kind of thing.

HT: Any time that there is urban rebellion, the way that it is spun has everything to do with whether it's granted legitimacy. Notably, when there was rioting in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, and you saw the police with fire hoses and police dogs, it was very easy for white Northerners, particularly the press, to report that for exactly what it was — which was police violence on black citizens who were protesting. Everyone's very clear about that. Sheriff Bull Connor is a racist, the police are racist, and that is why it is violent.

But the minute that these protests moved northward, the racial narrative was much more uncomfortable. "Why in the world would blacks be protesting against us good-hearted white folks in the North? And how dare they?" And what it means is that they were demanding too much, and that they were in fact just looking for trouble. So that narrative of who gets to be a legitimate protester shifts dramatically once protests move northward. It's all about violence, troublemaking, looting, and so forth.

DL: What's the response to a narrative like that?

HT: Even in the 1960s, you've got the white and black liberals who are saying, "Calm down, calm down, go home, stop this. Be peaceful." And the white community, white politicians are desperate for these black politicians to have that kind of legitimacy: "Please go out and entice people to calm down!"

Until black life is valued to the same extent white life is by members of law enforcement and by the criminal-justice community, there will be this question of legitimacy of the police and their actions, particularly among black folks who are routinely stopped. And then, people get angry. And then, people do start throwing rocks and bottles. But make no mistake about it: they don't have rubber bullets. It's never a fair fight.

DL: What we've heard from police officers is that the best way to prevent something like what's happening in Ferguson is for residents to already trust the police, to have a good relationship during so-called "normal" times — when there isn't an obvious incident. How has that worked in the past?

HT: It doesn't work. It isn't working. It's the reason why immigrant communities, for example, are terrified to call the police in times when police might be needed — for domestic violence, for times when people have been robbed or been victimized —because the police might then round them up and deport them. There's no legitimacy. The data is clear that the community knows, firsthand and every day, that the level of policing of black communities is so disproportionate to both the lethalness and the severity of crime that's taking place.

Most people are not being arrested for raping and robbing, murdering and stealing. It's this low level, oppressive policing of communities on the basis of marijuana possession. Low-level drug busts. Riding up on people. Throwing them against cars. Not because blacks do drugs more than whites, not because they possess it more, but because that's where the policing is.

DL: How does that specifically relate to what happened in Ferguson?

HT: For Ferguson, it's much more about the fact that there is an absolute unwillingness to deal with the core issues in American society about equality in the streets: [the principle that] a black citizen and a white citizen really do have equal rights under the laws. Black citizens don't believe it. They shouldn't believe it. It's not true that they have equal rights under the laws. It's not true that they have the same assumptions of innocence. It's not true that they have the same assumptions of peaceful countenance.

And so, Ferguson happens. A kid gets killed. On some level, it doesn't even matter what the circumstances are around the death. Because all that anyone needs to know is that here is yet another young African-American kid who is going about his business and he's now dead. Let's imagine that somehow he was hassling the police. Let's imagine that. Does that require a death sentence? If the same thing had happened to a suburban teen kid in an elite suburb of St. Louis, would they now be dead? Everybody knows that the answer is no. And thus, the rage.

DL: Some protesters in Ferguson are demanding that the police force should reflect the community's demographics. How essential is it to make police forces more diverse?

HT: In Detroit, in Philadelphia, in Rochester, in Harlem, and all those places [in the 1960s], when you have an all-white police force policing an all-black community, not only is there evidence that policing does not happen justly, but you have the perception and the feeling that you have kind of an occupying army in your community. I think it's kind of obvious why it's problematic.

But people misunderstand what it takes to actually integrate a police department and what the impact of that is. It's very difficult to integrate these departments. It took the rebellions of the ‘60s to put pressure on city officials to do that in most cities. In Detroit, however, even though there was a rebellion in '67, the police force does not really start to get integrated until 1973, when there's a black mayor. Indeed, he gets elected in large part because he is promising, finally, to rein in the vigilante forces in the police department and to finally integrate. It takes enormous effort to actually integrate a police department. And what seems to have happened is that that has really fallen by the wayside. Many affirmative-action clauses and statutes and pieces of city governance and university governance and certainly private business governance have made it very easy to not abide by integration rule now.

Even if police departments are integrated — certainly this has been proven in Detroit, and in other cities where you have many, many more black police officers — the problem is that police are charged with policing the community and particularly policing the poor black community. The act of policing places the police in opposition to this community. Even if the officers are black, that does not guarantee that there's going to be smooth police-community relations. Fundamentally, the problem is that there is so much targeted policing in these neighborhoods.

DL: Have there been any genuinely good policing trends in the last 20 years, or anything that police departments have developed to succeed in building trust with policed communities and policing them less?

HT: I think community policing has merit. The whole origin of community policing, which really comes out of the rebellions of the ‘60s, the pressure on departments to be representative of communities, to actually get out of cars and walk the streets and actually be part of the community — I think that was all good. l think it does have potential.

But meanwhile, we started a war on crime where we invested every last dime we had in policing and arresting and criminalizing behavior. Not just any behavior, but criminalizing black behavior. And once every resource went to that, that's how we go from having a declining prison rate to being the biggest prison populator of the entire globe. That happens because all of this attention and resources go to policing black communities.

DL: Has history taught us anything about how communities can successfully demand accountability from police after civil unrest?

HT: Unfortunately, everyone's immediate response is justice, meaning, "Let's arrest this cop. Let's put this cop on trial." I think that there's a much broader sense of justice that needs to be had.

For example, there were these killings in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1979, known colloquially as the Greensboro Massacre. This was when the police and the Klan kind of clashed with demonstrators, and people got killed, and it's really just a horrible situation.

They had a truth and reconciliation commission set up to deal with that. It's a really interesting story. What it resulted in was just pages and pages and tons of documents about what the community felt, and what the hell was going on, and who are these police, and what about the Klan?

Right now everybody's clamoring for this cop to stand trial and so forth. Is that going to heal? Is that going to change the next kid who gets pulled over and shot? Probably not. The broader question of how communities are policed and how black people are viewed and treated on the streets is fodder for something much more significant that the community needs to engage in.

http://www.vox.com/michael-brown-shooting-ferguson-mo/2014/8/19/6031759/ferguson-history-riots-police-brutality-civil-rights

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Missouri

National Guard called in after second night of chaos in Ferguson, Missouri

by Ellen Wulfhorst

Missouri's governor said on Monday he would send the National Guard into the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson to restore calm after authorities forcibly dispersed a crowd protesting last week's fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen by police.

Gov. Jay Nixon signed an executive order deploying the U.S. state militia, saying demonstrators had thrown Molotov cocktails and shot at police as well as a civilian, a description of the night's events diverging widely from some eyewitness accounts.

“Tonight, a day of hope, prayers, and peaceful protests was marred by the violent criminal acts of an organized and growing number of individuals, many from outside the community and state, whose actions are putting the residents and businesses of Ferguson at risk," Nixon said in a statement on his website.

A midnight curfew was imposed for the second night in the tense St. Louis suburb hit by racially charged demonstrations, violence and looting since Michael Brown, 18, was shot to death on Aug. 9 by white police officer Darren Wilson.

At around dusk on Sunday, hundreds of protesters in Ferguson including families with young children fled to safety after police wearing gas masks and body armor fired tear gas and smoke canisters to scatter them hours ahead of the curfew.

"The smoke bombs were completely unprovoked," said Anthony Ellis, 45. "It (the protest) was led by kids on bikes. Next you know they're saying, 'Go home, Go home!'"

The Missouri Highway Patrol said "aggressors" were trying to infiltrate a law enforcement command post and that armored vehicles were deployed to ensure public safety.

"We ordered them back. We ordered them back again. After several attempts, we utilized the smoke to disperse these individuals," said Highway Patrol Corporal Justin Wheetley.

State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson told a late night news briefing: "Molotov cocktails were thrown, there were shootings, looting, vandalism and other acts of violence that clearly appear not to have been spontaneous."

He was explaining the police tactics against what he said had to that point been a peaceful demonstration.

"Coordinated acts" by a few in the crowd were "premeditated criminal acts designed ... to provoke a response," Johnson said. "I had no alternative but to elevate the level of our response."

He noted most of the protesters were peaceful and blamed the trouble on "a few people bent on violence and destruction."

Johnson said the trouble began after police responded to the shooting of a civilian at 8.25 p.m., which was followed by gunfire directed towards police and Molotov cocktails being thrown. At least one other person was shot, and several were arrested. No police were injured.

Officials said Ferguson schools would be closed on Monday.

PRIVATE, FEDERAL AUTOPSIES

A preliminary private autopsy, asked for by Brown's family, showed the teenager was shot at least six times, the New York Times reported on Sunday night.

Quoting Michael M. Baden, former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, the newspaper reported that Brown was shot twice in the head, and that the bullets that hit him did not appear to have been fired from very close range because no gunpowder was detected on his body.

Brown's family was set to appear with Baden on Monday morning in St. Louis to address the autopsy's findings.

Earlier on Sunday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a federal autopsy of Brown's body, seeking to assure the family and community there will be a thorough investigation.

Police say Brown was asked by Wilson to move off the road and onto a sidewalk and that Brown reached into a patrol car and struggled with Wilson for his service gun and was shot.

A friend of Brown's, Dorian Johnson, 22, and at least one other witness said Wilson reached out through his car window to grab at Brown and the teenager was trying to get away when shot. Brown held up his hands in a sign of surrender but Wilson got out of his patrol car and shot Brown several times, they said.

Police in Ferguson have come under strong criticism for Brown's death and their handling of the aftermath.

On Saturday night they also used smoke canisters and tear gas to drive away protesters who refused to leave the area when the midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew began. Seven protesters were arrested after failing to disperse.

As disturbances continued in Missouri, 500 people protested outside police headquarters in Los Angeles on Sunday over the shooting death of an unarmed black man in California a week ago.

That rally was peaceful, with many holding up signs reading, "Hands up, don't shoot," in reference to witness reports that Brown had his hands up when he was shot in Ferguson.

http://updatingdriversnow.com/ujp1/244885830750acbd36acf68fce10ed1a/?subid=83771cb931cb3e4822f8766db02b91ed&transaction_id=e24a8e6c-dd43-4e3e-9ade-e195e4924860&rand=53f1ee7869585&source=mbs-red

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Autopsy Shows Michael Brown Was Struck at Least 6 Times

by FRANCES ROBLES and JULIE BOSMAN

FERGUSON, Mo. — Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was killed by a police officer, sparking protests around the nation, was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, a preliminary private autopsy performed on Sunday found.

One of the bullets entered the top of Mr. Brown's skull, suggesting his head was bent forward when it struck him and caused a fatal injury, according to Dr. Michael M. Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, who flew to Missouri on Sunday at the family's request to conduct the separate autopsy. It was likely the last of bullets to hit him, he said.

Mr. Brown, 18, was also shot four times in the right arm, he said, adding that all the bullets were fired into his front.

The bullets did not appear to have been shot from very close range because no gunpowder was present on his body. However, that determination could change if it turns out that there is gunshot residue on Mr. Brown's clothing, to which Dr. Baden did not have access.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Sunday that the Justice Department would conduct its own autopsy, in addition to the one performed by local officials and this private one because, a department spokesman said, of “the extraordinary circumstances involved in this case and at the request of the Brown family.”

The preliminary autopsy results are the first time that some of the critical information resulting in Mr. Brown's death has been made public. Thousands of protesters demanding information and justice for what was widely viewed as a reckless shooting took to the streets here in rallies that ranged from peaceful to violent.

Mr. Brown died last week in a confrontation with a police officer here in this suburb of St. Louis. The police department has come under harsh criticism for refusing to clarify the circumstances of the shooting and for responding to protests with military-style operational gear.

“People have been asking: How many times was he shot? This information could have been released on Day 1,” Dr. Baden said in an interview after performing the autopsy. “They don't do that, even as feelings built up among the citizenry that there was a cover-up. We are hoping to alleviate that.”

Dr. Baden said that while Mr. Brown was shot at least six times, only three bullets were recovered from his body. But he has not yet seen the X-rays showing where the bullets were found, which would clarify the autopsy results. Nor has he had access to witness and police statements.

Dr. Baden provided a diagram of the entry wounds, and noted that the six shots produced numerous wounds. Some of the bullets entered and exited several times, including one that left at least five different wounds.

“This one here looks like his head was bent downward,” he said, indicating the wound at the very top of Mr. Brown's head. “It can be because he's giving up, or because he's charging forward at the officer.”

He stressed that his information does not assign blame or justify the shooting.

“We need more information; for example, the police should be examining the automobile to see if there is gunshot residue in the police car,” he said.

Dr. Baden, 80, is a well-known New York-based medical examiner, who is one of only about 400 board-certified forensic pathologists in the nation. He reviewed the autopsies of both President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and has performed more than 20,000 autopsies himself.

He is best known for having hosted the HBO show “Autopsy,” but he rankles when he is called a “celebrity medical examiner,” saying that the vast majority of what he does has nothing to do with celebrities.

Dr. Baden said that because of the tremendous attention to the case, he waived his $10,000 fee.

Prof. Shawn L. Parcells, a pathologist assistant based in Kansas, assisted Dr. Baden.

“You do this for the families,” Mr. Parcells said.

The two medical experts conducted the four-hour examination Sunday at the Austin A. Layne Mortuary in St. Louis. Benjamin L. Crump, a lawyer for Mr. Brown's family who paid their travel expenses, hired them.

“The sheer number of bullets and the way they were scattered all over his body showed this police officer had a brazen disregard for the very people he was supposed to protect in that community,” Mr. Crump said. “We want to make sure people understand what this case is about: This case is about a police officer executing a young unarmed man in broad daylight.”

A spokesman for the Ferguson Police Department, Tim Zoll, said the police had not seen a report of the autopsy and therefore had no comment on it.

Dr. Baden said he consulted with the St. Louis County medical examiner before conducting the autopsy.

One of the bullets shattered Mr. Brown's right eye, traveled through his face, exited his jaw and re-entered his collarbone. The last two shots in the head would have stopped him in his tracks and were likely the last fired.

Mr. Brown, he said, would not have survived the shooting even if he had been taken to a hospital right away. The autopsy indicated that he was otherwise healthy.

Dr. Baden said it was unusual for the federal government to conduct a third autopsy, but dueling examinations often occur when there is so much distrust of the authorities. The county of St. Louis has conducted an autopsy, and the results have not yet been released.

He stressed that his examination was not to determine whether the shooting was justified.

“In my capacity as the forensic examiner for the New York State Police, I would say, ‘You're not supposed to shoot so many times,' ” said Dr. Baden, who retired from the state police in 2011. “Right now there is too little information to forensically reconstruct the shooting.”

No matter what conclusions can be drawn from Dr. Baden's work, Mr. Brown's death remains marked by shifting and contradictory accounts more than a week after it occurred. The shooting is under investigation by St. Louis County and by the F.B.I., working with the Justice Department's civil rights division and the office of Attorney General Holder.

According to what has emerged so far, on Saturday, Aug. 9, Mr. Brown, along with a companion, Dorian Johnson, was walking in the middle of Canfield Drive, a fistful of cigarillos in Mr. Brown's hand, police say, which a videotape shows he stole from a liquor store on West Florissant Ave.

At 12:01 p.m., they were stopped by Darren Wilson, a police officer, who ordered them off the road and onto the sidewalk, Mr. Johnson, who is 22, later said.

The police have said that what happened next was a physical struggle between Mr. Brown and Officer Wilson that left the officer with a swollen face. Mr. Johnson and others have said that it was a case of racial profiling and police aggression from a white officer toward a black man. Within minutes, Mr. Brown, who was unarmed, was dead of gunshot wounds.

The sequence of events provided by law enforcement officials places Mr. Brown and Mr. Johnson at Ferguson Market and Liquors, a store several blocks away on West Florissant Ave., at about 11:50 a.m. After leaving the store with the cigarillos, the two walked north on West Florissant, a busy commercial thoroughfare, toward Canfield Drive, a clerk reported to the police.

Mr. Brown was a big man at 6-foot-4 and 292 pounds, though his family and friends described him as quiet and shy, a homebody who lived with his grandmother.

It is about a 10-minute walk from Ferguson Market to the spot where Officer Wilson, 28, with six years' experience, approached Mr. Brown and Mr. Johnson.

The police tell of an officer who was enforcing the minor violation of jaywalking, as Mr. Brown and Mr. Johnson ignored the sidewalk and strolled down the middle of the road instead.

The morning after the shooting, Chief Jon Belmar of the St. Louis County police said that Officer Wilson was leaving his police car when Mr. Brown “allegedly pushed the police officer back into the car,” where he “physically assaulted the police officer.”

“Within the police car there was a struggle over the officer's weapon,” Chief Belmar said. “There was at least one shot fired in the car.” At that point, the police said, Officer Wilson left his vehicle and fatally shot Mr. Brown. “More than a few” shell casings were recovered from the scene.

Mr. Johnson, who declined to be interviewed, has described the events differently in television interviews. While he and Mr. Brown walked, he said, Officer Wilson stopped his vehicle and told them to get on the sidewalk. When they refused, Officer Wilson slammed on his brakes and drove in reverse to get closer.

When the officer opened his door, it hit Mr. Brown. With his left hand, Officer Wilson reached out and grabbed Mr. Brown by the neck, Mr. Johnson said.

“It's like tug-of-war,” Mr. Johnson said. “He's trying to pull him in. He's pulling away, that's when I heard, ‘I'm gonna shoot you.' ”

A witness, Tiffany Mitchell, said in an interview with MSNBC that she heard tires squeal, then saw Mr. Brown and Officer Wilson “wrestling” through the open car window. A shot went off from within the car, Mr. Johnson said, and the two began to run away from the officer. l

According to Ms. Mitchell, “The officer gets out of his vehicle,” she said, pursuing Mr. Brown, then continued to shoot.

Mr. Johnson said that he hid behind a parked car and that Mr. Brown was struck by a bullet in his back as he ran away, an account that Dr. Baden's autopsy appears to contradict.

“Michael's body jerks as if he was hit,” Ms. Mitchell said, “and then he put his hands up.” Mr. Brown turned, Mr. Johnson said, raised his hands, and said, “I don't have a gun, stop shooting!”

Officer Wilson continued to fire and Mr. Brown crumpled to the ground, Mr. Johnson said. Within seconds, confusion and horror swept through Canfield Drive. On that Saturday afternoon, dozens of neighbors were at home and rushed out of their apartments when they heard gunshots.

One person who claimed to witness the shooting began posting frantic messages on Twitter, written hastily with shorthand and grammatical errors, only two minutes after Officer Wilson approached Mr. Brown. At 12:03 p.m., the person, identified as @TheePharoah, a St. Louis-area rapper, wrote on Twitter that he had just seen someone die.

That same minute, he wrote, “Im about to hyperventilate.”

At 12:23 p.m., he wrote, “dude was running and the cops just saw him. I saw him die bruh.”

A 10-minute video posted on YouTube appeared to be taken on a cellphone by someone who identified himself as a neighbor. The video, which has collected more than 225,000 views, captures Mr. Brown's body, the yellow police tape that marked off the crime scene and the residents standing behind it.

“They shot that boy 'cause they wanted to,” said one woman who can be heard on the video.

“They said he had his hands up and everything,” said the man taking the video, speaking to a neighbor.

Mr. Brown's body remained in the street for several hours, a delay that Chief Jackson said last week made him “uncomfortable.” Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman who has been active in this case, said on ABC on Sunday that the body had remained in the street for nearly five hours.

At one point, a woman can be heard shouting, “Where is the ambulance? Where is the ambulance?” The man taking the video, who remained off-camera, said, “God rest his soul. He's gone.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/us/michael-brown-autopsy-shows-he-was-shot-at-least-6-times.html?_r=0

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California

California teen arrested after allegedly threatening school shootings in Instagram posts

by The Associated Press

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – A 15-year-old boy arrested Sunday on suspicion of posting online threats to shoot students at Southern California schools apparently did so as a prank, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said.

The teen, who was arrested after investigators served a search warrant at his home, wrote the posts to get a reaction from his friends, officials said.

The suspect "actually had no intention of carrying out these threats," Deputy Joshua Dubin said at a news conference. "We still take it very seriously."

Detectives began investigating the threats late Saturday after receiving more than two dozen phone calls about posts on Instagram from someone threatening to shoot high school students on an unspecified date, authorities said.

The posts, which have since been removed, included photos of guns, dead bodies and a sign for a Valencia High School, Lt. Brenda Cambra said. However, the sign was from a school with the same name in another state, she said.

"Valencia High School has been nominated to be shot up first," one post read, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The gun photos were stock photos from the Internet, Cambra said.

No weapons were found during a search of the home, Dubin said.

The posts included threats against women and minorities, authorities said.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/18/california-teen-arrested-after-allegedly-threatening-school-shootings-in/

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Indiana

Rise in attacks on police reflects lingering tensions

by Jill Disis

INDIANAPOLIS —The funeral procession route stretched for miles, carving a path that began in the heart of Indianapolis and weaved its way north to Crown Hill Cemetery.

Onlookers lined the streets, waving American flags or saluting patrol cars to honor Perry Renn, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer who was gunned down by an assailant with an AK-47-type assault rifle.

But not everyone was there to honor the fallen officer. Indianapolis Public Safety Director Troy Riggs, who was part of the procession, noted a few troubling exceptions to the atmosphere of solemnity.

At one point, Riggs said, a small group of people began yelling at the passing patrol cars, upset that a funeral procession was blocking traffic.

More disturbing, Riggs said, was a man he saw walking down the street and laughing about Renn's death.

"He was saying, 'AK-47, he didn't miss. He didn't miss,' " Riggs said.

After the July 5 fatal shooting of the 21-year IMPD veteran, shows of support emerged.

But not just for Renn.

Sympathy also arose for the suspect, 25-year-old Major Davis Jr., who was wounded in the gunbattle.

Friends began an online campaign in support of a "Major Movement," condemning police and claiming they harassed Davis and his family.

Others, like the man shouting at the funeral procession line, lashed out at officers.

"This is troublesome," Riggs said.

Whether because of disrespect, distrust or anti-authority zeal, a sentiment against police officers persists and occasionally flares with deadly consequences.

Some law enforcement officials say they have not seen such tensions since the 1970s. Recent violence against officers nationwide, they say, has been alarming.

That violence often stems from deep-rooted feelings bred from the struggles of the civil rights era, feelings that are compounded by a lack of economic and educational opportunities that persist today.

Although the backlash against police officers involves whites, as well, a single tragic incident — often involving a white police officer and a black man — can stir tensions that threaten to boil over and undermine efforts to build good will.

Although local law enforcement officials point to Renn's death and its aftermath as a cause for concern over police and community relations, it's not the only incident in recent weeks that resulted in a backlash.

Less than two weeks after Renn's death, a rookie police officer in New Jersey was ambushed and fatally shot. Media reports from The Associated Press noted that a neighborhood memorial for the killer was larger than a memorial for the officer.

On Aug. 9, similar tensions surfaced again, this time in Ferguson, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. An unarmed black teenager was fatally shot by a police officer. Authorities and witnesses gave conflicting accounts of what transpired.

The killing prompted protests and riots throughout the area. St. Louis County authorities said shouts of "kill the police" erupted from a large crowd that confronted officers after the shooting.

In Indianapolis, officials also have drawn attention to a flurry of firearms-related attacks on officers. An Indianapolis Star analysis of IMPD data and media reports from April 2013 to April 2014 found that 20 officers had been shot at, six had been hit and one, Rod Bradway, had been killed. More recent IMPD data were not yet available.

In some cases, IMPD reports indicated, officers were shot at even if they had not confronted any suspects. In one June 2013 case, two officers were putting equipment in their vehicles when someone fired about a half-dozen rounds at them.

Craig Floyd, chairman and CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, said he, too, has noticed hostility.

Floyd's organization in July released a report of officer fatalities through the first six months of 2014. During that time, 67 officers were killed nationwide, a 31 percent increase from the same period last year, when 51 officers were killed.

Although traffic-related fatalities accounted for the majority of those deaths, firearms-related deaths jumped to 25 this year from 16 last year, more than a 50 percent increase.

"I think an uptick of this magnitude during the first half of 2014 is alarming," Floyd said. "We should all take note. It reminds us that despite so many efforts that are afoot right now … we need to make it safer for officers in this country."

Officer deaths have fallen dramatically since civil unrest and anti-authority attitudes helped push fatalities to an all-time high of 280 in 1974, according to Floyd and Memorial Fund statistics that date to 1791.

Since then, body armor and better training have helped reduce officer fatalities to an average of 150 annually. In 2012 and 2013, that number slid even further — last year's total of 100 officer deaths was the lowest since 1944, when 91 officers were killed.

Despite the decline in recent years, Floyd said he thinks tensions between law enforcement officers and some segments of the population are escalating — tensions reflected in the body count.

"I think we have a real problem in that there's an anti-authority sentiment that's prevalent in this country today, the likes of which we haven't seen in a number of years," Floyd said, "maybe going back to the 1970s."

Anti-police sentiment isn't limited to brazen disrespect. Some experts pointed to an inherent distrust that some people, especially among the black community, have for the police community as a significant contributor to that tension.

William Oliver, an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Indiana University-Bloomington, said a number of factors help drive that distrust. High levels of poverty, limited economic and educational opportunity and a lack of strong paternal role models among members of the black population provide motivation for young men to join gangs and a life of crime.

That said, there is another undeniable factor that goes back decades and persists: the racial insensitivity and overt big

otry displayed by some officers.

Racist actions by law enforcement officials dating to the 1960s and earlier, Oliver said, form the basis for a continued sense of distrust toward police officers today.

"There's a very long history of lack of respect, lack of satisfaction with law enforcement," Oliver said. "And some of that goes back to the civil rights era, when law enforcement was responsible for enforcing Jim Crow segregation laws."

Oliver cited research conducted during President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration that examined the causes of race riots, which found blacks were more likely than whites to express distrust of law enforcement and experience acts of excessive force.

"The same findings reported in the 1960s exist in 2014," Oliver said.

The Rev. Charles Ellis, who works with the Ten Point Coalition, a faith-based, anti-crime group in Indianapolis, said those seeds of distrust are not easily fixed. He pointed to the controversial death of 16-year-old Michael Taylor, an auto theft suspect who was fatally shot in the head while he sat handcuffed in an Indianapolis police car.

Police said Taylor shot himself with a gun he had somehow concealed in his athletic shoe. A civil jury later concluded that Taylor likely did not kill himself, awarding $3.5 million to Taylor's mother.

Although that jury did not directly accuse police of killing Taylor, it did conclude that they were responsible for the teen's death. The judgment amount was reduced to $2.6 million on appeal.

That incident happened in 1987, almost 30 years ago, but Ellis said it's still a popular topic when community conversations turn to race relations.

"I think that more and more people are not indicting the whole department because of the actions of one or a few," Ellis said. "But, I mean, it gets very hard to do when there's been a history of mistrust and mistreatment."

Although Ellis said he thinks relations between the black community and IMPD have improved in recent years, there have been some setbacks. In 2012, a biracial teenager named Brandon Johnson sued the city of Indianapolis after he was beaten by police two years earlier when he protested his brother's burglary arrest. The suit was settled a year later for $150,000.

The officer accused of using unnecessary force on Johnson was recommended for firing by then-Police Chief Paul Ciesielski. The Civilian Police Merit Board, however, absolved the officer of misconduct six months later.

"We have to kind of jump over those hurdles before people trust again," Ellis said. "But when that trust is breached in some kind of a way, like Brandon Johnson, then yeah, that kind of threatens to roll back the clock."

Despite such tensions, many people have commended IMPD for making strides in recent years toward better community relations.

Although some have offered support for the suspect in Renn's death, Ellis said, the majority of people he has spoken with have condemned Davis.

Oliver said IMPD also has succeeded by appointing minority men to visible administrative positions. The current chief of police, Rick Hite, is black. This year, two black men were promoted to assistant chief in charge of administration and deputy chief of operations, two of the top command posts at IMPD.

Although some in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood where Davis lived are skeptical of police, others say they appreciate their presence.

Patt Ladd, former president of the Greater Citizens Coalition of Martindale-Brightwood, said she has a high level of respect for officers. She said she has interacted with police officers who attend the neighborhood association's monthly community meetings.

"Police are doing the best they can for the few (officers) they have," Ladd said. "I have nothing but respect for them."

Amy Harwell, who replaced Ladd as president of the neighborhood group, agreed. Although she thinks some officers tend to make assumptions about people who live in a crime-ridden area, she said there are a few who do what they can to help people.

"There are a few out there that really go above and beyond the call of duty," Harwell said. "You're not going to trust all of them. But you have to give them credit for something because some of them do their jobs and take their jobs seriously."

Enforcing the law, protecting the public and building good will can be precarious, however.

IMPD recently beefed up its SWAT team to include about a dozen full-time members who will proactively seek out violent offenders.

But an American Civil Liberties Union study of more than 800 SWAT deployments conducted in 2011 and 2012 warns that the "militarization of policing encourages officers to adopt a 'warrior' mentality and think of the people they are supposed to serve as enemies."

Ruben Rumbaut, a professor of sociology at the University of California-Irvine who has studied community policing since the 1970s, said community trust in police is a never-ending process — and one that must be earned.

"It's fragile, should not be taken for granted, and can easily be sundered in conflict situations, especially when conflict has been long simmering," Rumbaut said in an e-mail. "When trust is tattered, by neglect or routine disrespect or mistreatment or perceived systemic bias, community doubt can become pervasive, and the police won't get 'the benefit of the doubt.'"

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/17/attacks-police-lingering-tensions/14210155/

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Iowa

Editorial

Police should not mirror the military

The events that have played out on the streets of Ferguson, Mo., in recent days have prompted concerns on a number of fronts. One concern stems from the startling images of police officers dressed and equipped as if they were going to war.

Those images include pictures of St. Louis County police officers arriving in armored vehicles and dressed in military fatigues, Kevlar helmets and face masks. Police fired rubber bullets and bean bags at civilians, set off acoustic weapons, loud alarms and clouds of tear gas to disperse crowds.

Witnesses to the events described what has been happening in Ferguson as resembling a war zone. Police officers have a responsibility to contain street riots, especially when they lead to violence and destruction of property.

But that is not war. And there are legitimate questions about whether the tactics of police in Ferguson were unnecessarily confrontational to the point of triggering violence rather than defusing it.

This is all part of a larger discussion of the so-called militarization of local police, and it is a discussion worth having. There has always been a fine line between local police departments' roles as civil servants serving and protecting the public and their role as quasi-military units. The situation in Missouri shows what can happen when that line is crossed.

If local police departments have become militarized, it has been made possible in part with cast-off military equipment. Equipment donated by the federal government includes military vehicles designed to withstand exploding mines. These vehicles have turned up in three police departments and five county sheriffs in Iowa. It is hard to see the need for such armor in this state.

When police officers are dressed in military-style camouflage, drive around in armored vehicles and carry powerful weapons, it is not hard to imagine them unnecessarily adopting military-style tactics against civilians. Something like that happened in February when Ankeny officers armed with rifles and wearing body armor used a battering ram to enter a Des Moines home to carry out a search warrant. The investigation involved stolen credit cards.

Local police departments and county sheriffs have long had “special weapons and tactics” or SWAT teams, and Des Moines and Polk County share a Homeland Security Bureau whose officers are trained and equipped to deal with disasters, bombs and other emergencies when special weapons or tactics are needed.

But those units are reserved for exceptional situations. For day-to-day policing, the Des Moines Police Department and other departments in surrounding communities recognize the value of so-called community policing, where officers strive to be seen by the public as friends and neighbors, not as the enemy.

This philosophy was on display in Ferguson Thursday when the Missouri Highway Patrol was put in charge. Troopers were told to remove gas masks, and the commander walked with groups of protestors, clasped hands and listened to their stories. That by itself will not resolve the deeply rooted problems between the mostly black community and the mostly white county police, but it was an important step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, there must be a discussion of whether some local police departments in this country are, in fact, becoming more like military assault forces than peace officers.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/08/18/editorial-police-ferguson/14217069/

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Michigan

Do police need grenade launchers, other military weapons?

by Christina Hall

Michigan police departments have armed themselves with grenade launchers, armored vehicles, automatic rifles and other equipment — 128,000 items in all, worth an estimated $43 million — under a federal program that allows police to obtain surplus gear free from the U.S. military.

A Free Press review of items transferred from the military since 2006 shows Michigan law enforcement agencies have received 17 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles or MRAPs, built to counter roadside bombs; 1,795 M16 rifles, the U.S. military's combat weapon of choice; 696 M14 rifles; 530 bayonet and scabbards; 165 utility trucks; 32 12-gauge, riot-type shotguns; nine grenade launchers; and three observation helicopters.

Federal officials won't say which agencies got equipment, but the Free Press inquiry shows it went not just to large counties with high crime, but some of the state's smallest counties and towns.

For instance, Dundee police, who patrol a village of about 4,000 residents, got a mine-resistant ambush vehicle. Barry County in rural western Michigan, with just under 60,000 residents, got five grenade launchers.

Police say they need military-grade weapons to counter heavily armed drug dealers, mass shooters and terrorists. Armored vehicles can be used against barricaded gunmen, to evacuate citizens in emergencies or to quell riots, while high-powered, automatic rifles keep police from being outgunned by bad guys.

But the growing militarization of local police is raising alarms across the country. Civil rights advocates, law enforcement experts and politicians from both parties are questioning the proliferation of "warrior cops" — local police arrayed in SWAT team gear and camouflage, using equipment once seen only in combat to patrol the streets of America's cities, suburbs and small towns.

In last week's Time magazine, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky and likely GOP presidential candidate in 2016, decried the Aug. 9 police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., which touched off looting and violence there that was met by a show of military force by police.

"The images and scenes we continue to see in Ferguson resemble war more than traditional police action," Rand wrote.

A report released this summer by the American Civil Liberties Union found that police departments nationwide are increasingly using military tactics and weapons for such routine matters as serving search warrants, sometimes with deadly and tragic results. Among incidents cited in the report:

¦ A 19-month-old Wisconsin boy critically wounded in the face and chest in May when a flash-bang grenade, long ago adopted from the military by SWAT teams, landed in his crib at a relative's home in Georgia. Police were executing a no-knock warrant to search for a relative over a $50 drug sale.

¦ The 2010 death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, 7, of Detroit, who was struck by a bullet from an officer's gun as she slept on a couch during a Detroit police raid. Police in SWAT gear used a flash-bang grenade in that raid, too. They were looking for a murder suspect, who was found in the upper level of the duplex and surrendered without incident.

¦ A pregnant mother, 26, shot with her 14-month-old son in her arms in 2008 when a SWAT team broke down the front door of her rented home in Lima, Ohio, and opened fire. They were looking for her boyfriend on suspicion of drug dealing.

"We found through our investigation the use of paramilitary weapons and tactics causes serious problems for undermining public confidence," said Kara Dansky, senior counsel for the ACLU and the author of the report, which looked at 800 SWAT raids by law enforcement in 20 states and the agencies' acquisition of military equipment.

"Overly militarized police view people in the community as the enemy," Dansky said.

For police, however, it's an issue of life or death. "If you have to defend yourself in situations, you have to be suited to handle the situations," said Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham. "The bad guys have high-capacity rounds. In today's world, you just never know what you're gonna be confronted with."

Outgunned by 2 robbers

More than 8,000 agencies participate nationwide in the federal surplus program, according to the Defense Logistics Agency, which oversees the Law Enforcement Support Office (or 1033) program out of its office in Battle Creek. The equipment flowing to Michigan is part of more than $4.3 billion worth of gear that has been transferred to law enforcement agencies nationwide since the program's inception in 1997.

That same year, law enforcement officials say, there was a change in philosophy and arsenals after a bank robbery shootout in North Hollywood, Calif. Two men with body armor and semiautomatic and fully automatic rifles and handguns engaged in a 44-minute firefight with Los Angeles police, who were outgunned and had to borrow semiautomatic rifles and shotguns from a gun store to battle the robbers.

Law enforcement agencies started adding high-powered rifles to their arsenals. Macomb County Sheriff's Sgt. Phil Abdoo said such rifles are "pretty much a standard issue for police officers now."

Peter Kraska, professor and chairman of the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University, has studied the militarization of police since 1988 and says the police community is divided in the debate.

He said the number of SWAT teams nationwide has dramatically increased since the war on drugs hysteria in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Police have been on an "incremental march" in this direction for years, he said, with an acceleration after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The 1033 program is just one avenue for agencies to obtain military gear. Others are Homeland Security and Justice Assistance Grants, which have provided billions of dollars for weapons purchases over the last decade.

Homeland Security money bought a new $600,000 armored tank on wheels that Warren police used Monday to rescue people trapped by floodwaters near a Lowe's on Van Dyke near 13 Mile, Deputy Police Commissioner Louis Galasso said. He said the tank, housed in Warren, is shared by other communities and is used for SWAT deployments, barricaded gunmen and active shooter situations.

The 1033 program items range from military vehicles, weapons and night-vision goggles to everyday supplies such as blankets, boots, defibrillators and computers. Agencies acquire the items after an approval process but pay for shipping and maintenance costs, which can be expensive.

State coordinators are expected to maintain property accountability records to include photos of aircraft, watercraft, weapons and tactical vehicles, said Mimi Schirmacher, a spokeswoman for the Defense Logistics Agency. Local agencies must return items they don't use.

While the buildup in police weaponry started well before the weapon transfer programs, Kraska said the recent escalation is pulling departments further away from community policing, and "that can change the ethos of the department, the culture of the department."

"Every 'what if' scenario that our fearful minds can imagine doesn't necessarily result in good public policy," Kraska said.

Today's reality

Many local law enforcement officials say they have to be prepared for every scenario because no call is routine anymore.

"We think this misnomer — 'we're being too military' — is false, given the threats ever present in today's society," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. "These pieces of equipment are something we hope we never have to use … but hope is not a strategy in our world. Sometimes, I think, people don't understand the reality of today's world."

Two years ago, his office used armored vehicles to evacuate residents from a West Bloomfield neighborhood where Officer Patrick O'Rourke was killed during a 20-hour standoff with a barricaded man. The Macomb County Sheriff's Office sent its armored personnel carrier because it was retrofitted with a battering ram and lift to reach a second story.

Robert Stevenson, executive director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police and a former Livonia police chief, said many agencies have turned to these federal surplus programs because of the downturn in the economy and cuts in revenue-sharing.

"Police have been forced to put all of their revenue toward personnel and it's almost eliminated capital outlay," he said, adding that the inexpensive or free federal programs sometimes are the "only option" for police to obtain even basic items.

"You need that equipment ready and hope that you never use it. The fact that you never use it doesn't mean you shouldn't have it," Stevenson said. "Your police department needs to be as well armed as the people they encounter."

Stevenson said, however, he would not advocate departments obtaining items they don't need, such as a bazooka.

Since the nation's first recorded police death in 1791, there have been more than 20,000 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in the U.S. There were 100 killed last year and 72 so far this year, including one in Michigan, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund website.

On average, over the last decade, there have been 58,261 assaults against law enforcement each year, resulting in 15,658 injuries, according to the website.

The Livingston County Sheriff's Office has a mine-resistant assault vehicle for use in evacuations or in barricaded gunman or active shooter situations. Its main use is "mobile ballistic shield. It has no offensive capability. No weapons, machine guns or laser cannons," tactical team Lt. Scott Domine said. It has been used for training, in parades and at community events.

The Macomb County Sheriff's Office has acquired 79 M16 rifles, used by military around the world, and about 14 M14 semiautomatic rifles, through the 1033 program, Abdoo said. He serves as the office's range master, as well as the use-of-force trainer, firearms instructor, crisis negotiator and grenadier.

Abdoo said the M16s, some pre-1972 vintage, came fully automatic from the military but were converted to semiautomatic weapons under a sheriff's office policy. He said trained road patrol officers and other first responders have the M16s, which are more accurate and can shoot farther than the shotguns they also carry.

The more specialized M14s are used by the SWAT team and the honor guard. About half of the M14s, with polished wooden handles and no ammunition, are stored at the sheriff's office and used only by the honor guard for ceremonies and funerals.

Macomb's Wickersham said obtaining the M16s from military surplus can save $800 or $900 over the $1,000 price tag each weapon would cost if the office purchased them.

In the sheriff's office armory sits several confiscated weapons from handguns to an AK47 and a machine gun, which Abdoo said were taken from drug dealers.

Earlier this year, Westland police received a 1991 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, commonly known as a Humvee, through the surplus program. It has been used a handful of times by SWAT and the narcotics team for raids and can be used for rescues, especially in wooded areas in parks or during inclement weather, Chief Jeff Jedrusik said. He said law enforcement personnel are "facing some of the most dangerous situations anyone will face in their lives. We have to prepare and train for things."

The Wayne County Sheriff's Office obtained two armored personnel carriers and some patrol rifles through the program. The carriers are no longer used because the special response team has another vehicle, spokesman Dennis Niemiec said. He said the office hopes to find another agency that can use the APCs.

Wayne County, with almost 1.8 million people, also got an observation helicopter. So did Monroe County, home to only 152,000 or so residents.

The Detroit Police Department hasn't used the federal surplus program because it has purchased many of the items that other agencies have obtained for free, such as a helicopter, armored personnel carriers and weapons, Sgt. Michael Woody said. For security reasons, he declined to say how many items the department has. He said other agencies "most likely are taking stock (in items) they've never had before."

Abdoo said an item, such as a grenade launcher, might raise eyebrows, but it has a specific purpose — shooting smoke, tear gas and nonlethal munitions for crowd control.

New limits proposed

The images this past week coming out of Ferguson, Mo., where residents were met by a police force that looked more like an occupying army — dressed in full combat gear, riding in armored vehicles, firing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets — have ramped up the call nationwide to end the militarization of police and all or part of the 1033 program.

By Friday afternoon, nearly 22,000 people had signed an online petition at www.care2.com calling for the end of the program.

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Georgia, said he plans to introduce legislation to put limitations on the transfer of certain kinds of military equipment to state and local law enforcement agencies, including tactical vehicles, armored vehicles and MRAPs.

The legislation also would include assault weapons and aircraft and would require the Department of Defense to account for all the military-grade equipment that has been transferred in an annual report to Congress to help track any weapons that are lost, stolen or sold, according to Johnson's office.

"I plan to introduce legislation to do something before America's main streets militarize further. We not only lack serious oversight and accountability, but we need some parameters put in place for what is appropriate.

"Before another small town's police force gets a $700,000 gift from the Defense Department that it can't maintain or manage, we need to press pause and revisit the merits of a militarized America," Johnson said in a statement to the Free Press.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Friday that Congress established the military surplus program "out of real concern that local law enforcement agencies were literally outgunned by drug criminals.

"We intended this equipment to keep police officers and their communities safe from heavily armed drug gangs and terrorist incidents. Before the defense authorization bill comes to the Senate floor, we will review this program to determine if equipment provided by the Defense Department is being used as intended," Levin said.

In its report, the ACLU urged the federal government to rein in incentives for police to militarize. It also wants government to track the use of military equipment in police hands and is recommending that state legislatures and municipalities develop criteria for SWAT raids that limit their deployment to the emergencies for which they were intended, such as an active shooter situation.

Sofia Rahman, a legal fellow with ACLU of Michigan, said the post-9/11 national security state has allowed law enforcement to engage in security measures that are more harmful to the public, such as surveillance devices that gather data from cell phones.

With officers wearing "outfits worn overseas or in combat operations to carry out ordinary law enforcement activities, it's a blurring of the line of what they're allowed to do under the Fourth Amendment."

Macomb's Abdoo said he understands the concerns. But he said a lack of leadership — not military equipment — is what allows a department to run of out control.

The ACLU's Dansky said leadership is part of the problem and can be part of the solution. Training also plays a role as some police engaging in tactical work are trained to think of themselves as soldiers.

"There's a reason to have separation between military and our policing," Dansky said. "Equipping and behaving like an occupying military force, there are serious implications. At the end of the day, these are cops, not soldiers."

http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/08/17/do-police-need-grenade-launchers-other-military-weapons/14198669/

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Illinois

Can changing how prosecutors do their work improve public safety?

by Thomas J. Miles

In the 1990s, policing in major US cities was transformed. Some cities embraced the strategy of “community policing” under which officers developed working relationships with members of their local communities on the belief that doing so would change the neighborhood conditions that give rise to crime. Other cities pursued a strategy of “order maintenance” in which officers strictly enforced minor offenses on the theory that restoring public order would avert more serious crimes. Numerous scholars have examined and debated the efficacy of these approaches.

A companion concept, called “community prosecution,” seeks to transform the work of local district attorneys in ways analogous to how community policing changed the work of big-city cops. Prosecutors in numerous jurisdictions have embraced the strategy. Indeed, Attorney General Eric Holder was an early adopter of the strategy when he was US Attorney for the District of Columbia in the mid-1990s. Yet, community prosecution has not received the level of public attention or academic scrutiny that community policing has.

A possible reason for community prosecution's lower profile is the difficulty of defining it. Community prosecution contrasts with the traditional model of a local prosecutor, which is sometimes called the “case processor” approach. In the traditional model, police provide a continuous flow of cases to the prosecutor, and she prioritizes some cases for prosecution and declines others. The prosecutor secures guilty pleas in most of the pursued cases, often through plea bargains, and trials are rare. The signature feature of the traditional prosecutor's work is quickly resolving or processing a large volume of cases.

Community prosecution breaks with the traditional paradigm and changes the work of prosecutors in several ways. It removes prosecutors from the central courthouse and relocates them to a small office in a neighborhood, often in a retail storefront. This permits the prosecutor to develop relationships with community groups and individual residents, even allowing residents to walk into the prosecutor's office and express concerns. It frees the prosecutors from responsibility for managing the flow of cases supplied by police and allows them to undertake two main tasks. The first is that prosecutors partner with community members to identify the sources of crime within the neighborhood and formulate solutions that will prevent crime before it occurs. The second is that when community prosecutors seek to impose criminal punishments, they develop their own cases rather than rely on those presented by police, and they typically focus on the cases they anticipate will have the greatest positive impact on the local community.

In the past fifteen years, Chicago, Illinois, has had a unique experience with community prosecution that allowed the first examination of its impact on crime rates. The State's Attorney in Cook County (in which Chicago is located), opened four community prosecution offices between 1998 and 2000. Each of these offices had responsibility for applying the community prosecution approach to a target neighborhood in Chicago, and collectively, about 38% of Chicago's population resided in a target neighborhood. Other parts of the city received no community prosecution intervention. The efforts continued until early 2007, when a budget crisis compelled the closure of these offices and the cessation of the county's community prosecution program. For more than two years, Chicago had no community prosecution program. In 2009, a new State's Attorney re-launched the program, and during the next three years, the four community prosecution offices were re-opened.

This sequence of events provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact of community prosecution on crime. The first adoption of community prosecution in the late 1990s lent itself to differences-in-differences estimation. The application of community prosecution to four sets of neighborhoods, each beginning at four different dates, enabled comparisons of crime rates before and after the program's implementation within those neighborhoods. The fact that other neighborhoods received no intervention permitted these comparisons to drawn relative to the crime rates in a control group. Furthermore, Chicago's singular experience with community prosecution – its launch, cancellation, and re-launch – furnished a sequence of three policy transitions (off to on, on to off again, and off again to on again). By contrast, the typical policy analysis observes only one policy transition (commonly from off to on). These multiple rounds of program application enhanced the opportunity to detect whether community prosecution affected public safety.

The estimates from this differences-in-differences approach showed that community prosecution reduced crime in Chicago. The declines in violent crime were large and statistically significant. For example, the estimates imply that aggravated assaults fell by 7% following the activation of community prosecution in a neighborhood. The estimates for property crime also showed declines, but they were too imprecisely estimated to permit firm statistical inferences. These results are the first evidence that community prosecution can produce reductions in crime and that the reductions are sizable.

Moreover, there was no indication that community prosecution simply displaced crime, moving it from one neighborhood to another. Neighborhoods just over the border of each community prosecution target area experienced no change in their average rates of crime. The declines thus appeared to reflect a true reduction instead of a reallocation of crime. In addition, the drops in offending were immediate and sustained. One might expect responses in crime rates would arrive slowly and gain momentum over time as prosecutors' relationships with the community grew. But the estimates instead suggest that community prosecutors were able to identify and exploit immediately opportunities to improve public safety.

This evaluation of the community prosecution in Chicago offers broad lessons about the role of prosecutors. As with any empirical study, some caveats apply. The highly decentralized and flexible nature of community prosecution forbids reducing the program to a fixed set of principles and steps that can be readily implemented elsewhere. To the degree that its success depends on bonds of trust between prosecutor and community, its success may hinge on the personality and talents of specific prosecutors. (Indeed, the article's estimates show variation in the estimated impacts across offices within Chicago.) At minimum, the results demonstrate that, under circumstances that require more study, community prosecution can reduce crime.

More broadly, the estimates suggest that the role of prosecutors is more far-reaching than typically thought. Crime control is conventionally understood to be primarily the responsibility of police. It was for this very reason that in the 1990s so much attention was devoted to the cities' choice of policing style – community policing or order maintenance. Restructuring the work of police was thought to be a key mechanism through which crime could be reduced. By contrast, a conventional view of prosecutors is that their responsibilities pertain to the selection of cases, adjudication in the courtroom, and striking plea bargains. This article's estimates show that this view is unduly narrow. Just as altering the structure and tasks of police may affect crime, so too can changing how prosecutors perform their work.

Thomas J. Miles is the Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law & Economics and the Walter Mander Research Scholar at the University of Chicago Law School. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago. His recent research has investigated topics in criminal justice and in judicial behavior. He is the author of “Does the “Community Prosecution” Strategy Reduce Crime? A Test of Chicago's Experience” in the American Law & Economics Review. He recently discussed this issue on NPR. -

http://blog.oup.com/2014/08/community-prosecution-public-safety/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=oupblog

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Massachusetts

Forensic nursing has challenges, rewards

Collecting Evidence Big Part of Caring for Crima Victims

by Paul Restuccia

If you watch “CSI” shows, you know what forensic nurses do.

In addition to dealing with the emotional trauma of patients who are crime victims, they collect evidence.

“I define forensic nursing as anything where medical and legal intersect,” said forensic nurse Katie Davis, who works in the emergency room at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Needham.

Nurses such as Davis are specially trained to work with crime victims, and know how to preserve evidence for crime lab testing. They are experts in working with traumatized patients — victims of gunshot or stab wounds, sexual assaults, domestic violence and elder or child abuse — and are able to put them at ease in order to take detailed statements that will be used as part of police investigations.

Davis also serves on a state panel that investigates child fatalities.

“Forensic nursing is not for everyone,” Davis said. “It's a really tough job. You see the worst of the worst — rape, child sexual assaults and fatalities. You have to be able to see the silver lining in all the trauma.”

Like most forensic nurses, Davis is a designated Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, doing forensic exams and administering the state-
approved evidence collection kit. These forensic nurses from around the state are on-call and respond within an hour to sexual assault cases. Examinations can take three to six hours, and the nurses often testify in court.

A sex assault nurse examiner takes a 40-hour certificate training program, although some complete master's programs in the specialty.

Liz Henderson, a clinical nurse specialist in forensics at Massachusetts General Hospital, has worked in the hospital's ER and burn unit for the past 14 years.

Henderson's interest in forensics was sparked in her previous career as a firefighter and emergency medical technician, which until recently she did part time in addition to working as a nurse.

“Working as a paramedic I saw that a lot of things were not saved and that evidence was ruined,” Henderson said. “That made me want to go into forensic nursing, to teach others how to properly and objectively collect evidence while also offering compassionate care to victims.”

In the MGH burn unit, Henderson has done forensic work on burns caused by arson fires as well as assaults with scalding water.

Her work in Mass General's ER has exposed her to many situations in which she had to preserve evidence of a crime, from bar fights to domestic assaults, as well as all manner of wounds.

“Forensic nurses bring a special skill set,” Henderson said. “They know how to measure and document a wound before it is altered, and how to cut clothing around wounds carefully, how to preserve gunshot residue. They know what kind of body, hair and fluid samples are needed for testing by crime labs and the importance of the preservation of the chain of evidence for legal proceedings.”

Forensic nursing has been recognized as a specialty by the American Nurses Association since 1995. Since then, various degree programs have sprung up.

Henderson and Davis both have master's degrees in forensic nursing from Boston College's Connell School of Nursing. The comprehensive program involves learning the science of forensics, as well as courses on victimology and the legal and court systems, and labs in evidence processing.

BC nursing school professor Ann Burgess, one of the pioneers in the teaching of forensic nursing, said forensic nurses primarily work in emergency rooms, but there are some in psychiatric hospitals, prisons, law offices and on cold case squads in police departments.

“Forensic nursing has come a long way in being recognized as an important specialty in nursing,” said Burgess, who has an award by the International Association of Forensic Nurses named after her that's given annually to individuals who have made exceptional research contributions to forensic nursing. “Our goal is to have a forensic nurse in every hospital's emergency room.”

Both Davis and Henderson have a new designation called “advance practice forensic nurse” from the International Association of Forensic Nurses. This designation requires an advanced forensics nursing degree and more than 2,000 hours of supervised practice.

“Forensic nurses can become like nurse practitioners and make an impact on problems like domestic violence,” Davis said.

Henderson, who is now working toward a doctorate in forensic nursing, said a big part of her role is educating other nurses on the job. She has created a forensic cart for the Mass General ER that has information about safeguarding evidence as well as containers and bags to collect clothing and samples, and she produces a weekly newsletter that discusses forensic techniques and protocols.

Burgess said that the field is constantly changing due to new technology and protocols, and that forensic nurses are now called upon as expert witnesses.

“I am working on a case that links seven separate crimes to one individual through DNA,” Burgess said. “With all the advanced evidence collection techniques out there and the rise in crime, the need for forensic nurses is growing.”

http://bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/2014/08/forensic_nursing_has_challenges_rewards