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September, 2014 - Week 2

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'The Star-Spangled Banner' celebrates 200 years

by Ryan Carey-Mahoney

“The Star-Spangled Banner” turns 200 on Sunday and, even today, it has aged gracefully.

Sept. 14 marks 200 years since the poem was put to paper. Written by Francis Scott Key as he saw the American flag swaying in the final moments of the British bombardment at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. He was inspired by the flag's survival after the 25-hour, 1,800-bomb assault, according to the History Channel.

Key, a poet and lawyer, started with one verse quickly jotted down on the back of a letter, the Smithsonian Museum of American History says. It's the most commonly known portion of his piece and is often the only portion sung today. Key later expanded it by adding three verses, filled with the same rich imagery.

Coming in at 314 words, Key's poem immortalized the patriotism that inspired his first round of scribbles. The poem was soon printed in newspapers -- first in two Baltimore publications, then, by mid-October, in at least 17 other newspapers across the country, the Smithsonian says.

Key's knack for words made it meaningful, but it was when those words were put to music that “The Star-Spangled Banner” began to take off. The poem was set to the tune of “To Anacreon in Heaven,” a theme of London's Anacreontic Society, a gentlemen's music club, according to Fort McHenry's website. With the pacing matching up to rhythm, this made Key's words even more powerful.

As the song's popularity increased, it became more legitimized nationally. In the 1890s, the military adopted the song for the raising and lowering of the American flag at official ceremonies.

President Hoover officially made “The Star-Spangled Banner” the country's national anthem in March 1931, according to the History Channel.

The anthem has became a part of American tradition. Played at sporting events, political occasions and in schools throughout the country, it still resonates today -- both for its heart-wrenching renditions or a major flub.

So Sunday, sing it a little bit louder in honor of its 200th anniversary.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140914/NEWS07/309140127/Star-Spangled-Banner-200-years

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Utah

Family says police shot Utah man because he was black

by Lee Davidson

Darrien Hunt's family says it can figure only one reason that Saratoga Springs police would shoot to death a "timid" 22-year-old in the back, even if he had what they call a "toy" sword: He was black, and treated with extra suspicion because of it.

"It's difficult to make any sense out of the situation any other way," said Cindy Moss, the aunt of Hunt and acting family spokeswoman, on Saturday.

Saratoga Springs police issued a written statement saying claims that its officers' actions were a result of Hunt's race "are completely unfounded and speculative. Our officers responded to a call for service and addressed the situation that was presented to them."

The Utah County Attorney's Office, which is investigating the incident, also issued a statement saying, "There is currently no indication that race played any role in the confrontation."

The family's assertion comes amid still-ongoing protests in Ferguson, Mo., over the police shooting of an unarmed young black man — and cries that blacks are still treated differently by law enforcement. But it also comes as former Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love is the favorite to become the first black Republican woman ever elected to Congress.

Hunt was the son of a white mother and a black father. Moss, a white aunt, said she has tended not to believe stories by her sister's family of mistreatment of blacks in today's world, "and I don't like it when the race card is played. It's easy for us as whites to dismiss it."

But Moss says her view changed in recent days as the family has tried to figure out what happened in the shooting, and she watched personally how some of her black nephews and nieces are treated.

For example, she said the family went to a dollar store to buy vases for a memorial. A black nephew was looking at items by himself "and people from the store started following him. So he did what he has done many times. He walked over to my [white] sister and said, ‘That's my mom right there.' Then they quit following him."

Hunt was shot and killed Wednesday. A statement from the Utah County attorney's office on Saturday said, "Preliminary evidence suggests that Mr. Hunt brandished the sword and lunged toward the officers with the sword, at which time Mr. Hunt was shot." Police had described it as a samurai sword.

The Hunts' attorney, Randall Edwards, said in a statement that an independent autopsy revealed that Hunt was shot numerous times, "all from the rear."

"This is consistent with statements made by witnesses on the scene, who report that Darrien was shot to death while running away from the police," Edwards said. "It would appear difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile these facts with a story that Darrien was lunging toward the officers when he was shot. We continue to hope that a full investigation will reveal the whole truth about this tragedy."

Moss said the 3-foot sword strapped to Hunt's back was a decorator piece that is more of a toy, but it "does look like a sword from a distance." She said the blade is rounded and would not cut much.

She added: "The police make it sound like it was a big sword he was wielding. I'm offended that they even say he was armed with a weapon."

Moss said: "He was listening to his music, and maybe swinging his sword around to it at times. You don't deserve to be killed for that. … A lot of people who went to Comic Con last week probably looked a little different, too, in their costumes. Do we want them gunned down when they are just trying to have a fun day?"

She said Hunt's mother had been urging him to find a job, and they think he may have been headed to apply at a Panda Express restaurant near where he was shot.

"He may have worn it [the sword] thinking it was cool and would help. It's just the sort of thing he would do," adding he acted young for his age. She also said he was "timid" after he suffered for years from an abusive father who no longer lives with the family.

Moss said the family has been shown a picture snapped by a witness shortly before the shooting. It shows police talking to Hunt. "He is relaxed and his hands are down to his side," she said.

Moss added, "We'd like to know how in a second or two, he went from that to being shot" and how he could have so quickly possibly presented a threat with a sword not then in his hands.

Utah County Jail records show that Hunt was booked on Jan. 5 on suspicion of numerous counts of assault, domestic violence and child abuse. Later he pleaded guilty in abeyance on one assault count, meaning it would not count as a conviction if he did not re-offend.

Moss said it resulted from "a brother-and-sister thing" of siblings teasing and fighting with him, and him fighting back when some of their friends punched him.

Moss said the family has received "nothing" in information from police and investigators.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58409680-78/hunt-family-police-sword.html.csp

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Ohio

Fight against crime starts with community connections

CHILLICOTHE – As the country works through a period of mistrust of law enforcement as the result of incidents in Ferguson, Missouri, local safety-service forces are working to better engage members of the community on ways to make communication more effective should an emergency arise.

"Obviously, none of us in this job do it for thank-you's and all that stuff," said Bud Lytle, public information officer for the Chillicothe Police Department. "We like to discuss with people how we can help them out in their communities."

In Chillicothe, Lytle said officers use relationships built with schools, local businesses, the Ross County Safety Council and Southern Ohio Crime Stoppers as a means to collect crime tips. Knowing those relationships are in place is beneficial not only to law enforcement but also to the people they are trying to help.

"At any time we are going to try to start connecting more with our local authorities so we can be as prepared as we possibly can, and if some hazardous situation were to happen, we would be prepared to take care," said Pete Ruby, superintendent of Adena Local Schools.

Within the past week, the police department and the Ross County Sheriff's Office helped organize events that showcased safety training for area businesses and provided opportunities for officers and deputies to talk with community members.

"We are here in a friendly environment and a friendly nature," Lytle said. "It's nice to have those conversations and get people to let their guard down a little bit, and it obviously helps."

One of those relationship-building activities was the annual Honoring Our Heroes event that has become a staple of the area's commemoration of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001.

The event, which both pays tribute to people in the safety-service forces who died trying to help others on Sept. 11 and people who currently protect and serve across the country, allows residents to get a look at some of the equipment local police and fire units use and speak directly with some of those serving the community.

"When you host events like this, the community responds," Lytle said. "This is a very good community, and they react very positively to stuff like this. They really do support our first responders in the community."

Lytle said the department is constantly planning events, including an upcoming self-protection clinic for women that will be announced soon. Putting officers into neighborhoods themselves, which the Chillicothe Police Department has done via its bike patrol, is another way of bridging the gap between law enforcement and residents, he said.

The efforts help build connections between community members and law enforcement with the hope that residents will feel comfortable enough dealing with authorities that they will call in drug and crime tips.

Part of establishing that trust, Lytle said, includes providing a means for residents who have provided tips anonymously to Southern Ohio Crime Stoppers the opportunity to follow up on the status of the investigation by calling Crime Stoppers, which will contact police for an update.

For the Ross County Sheriff's Office, part of that relationship building in terms of obtaining drug tips is helping people understand what type of information is the most useful and the time frame it takes for something to work its way through the system.

"In the drug stuff, you are not going to see immediate response because you have to put a case together," Sheriff George Lavender said. "We need people to be more specific about the information they give to us. If they are dealing Friday or Saturday nights, or Tuesday nights, be specific. Tell us the times they are there because when we send people out to watch, we want that information."

To build trust and community goodwill, the sheriff's office also is working to decrease response times and make its presence more visible, Lavender said.

"This last year, we've really reached out to train our people better and equip them better," Lavender said. "There's always that need that people need a timely response to things. Before I came in, the response time was really bad. We've tried to get more people out, cut down the zones, move people into what we call zones or patrol zones to help out."

Getting out and promoting trust between residents and law enforcement is worth it when it comes to getting people to cooperate in an actual emergency, Lytle said.

"It gives us an opportunity to interact with them on a different level and, honestly, that's what we want," Lytle said. "We are citizens in this community too. ... So many times we talk to people in a negative context, and that wears on you, I don't care who you are. So it is great to interact with actual people."

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/story/news/local/2014/09/13/engagement-key-community-policing/15591673/

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New York

Bratton: Mayor and I agree on public-safety issues

The police commissioner said at a Crain's forum that crime was on track to drop for the 24th straight year.

by Andrew J. Hawkins

It's been a bumpy start for Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, but not with business leaders.

Back in December, Mr. Bratton's hiring reassured the business community that Mayor Bill de Blasio was serious about keeping crime low. However, after the July death of an African-American man placed in a police chokehold, the commissioner's public-approval rating fell.

But at a Crain's event last week, businesspeople greeted Mr. Bratton with reverence as he said crime was on track to drop for the 24th straight year. And he assured the audience that the mayor was on the same page.

"There is no daylight ... between the mayor and [me] on issues of public safety," Mr. Bratton said.

The commissioner's relationship with the Rev. Al Sharpton, a de Blasio ally, is another matter. When asked about having shared a dais with the civil-rights leader, as Mr. Sharpton blasted the police, he said, "I would shake hands with the devil if necessary to keep this city calm, safe and secure."

Later, he assured reporters (and Mr. Sharpton with a personal phone call) that he wasn't comparing the reverend to Satan. Mr. Sharpton took the snafu in stride, telling the New York Post , "I will wear devil horns to the next meeting if it's going to make the policies better."

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140914/POLITICS/140919933/bratton-mayor-and-i-agree-on-public-safety-issues#

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From the Department of Justice

Community Oriented Policing Services Outlines Best Practices for Use of Body-Worn Cameras for Police Officers

Today the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) released Implementing a Body-Worn Camera Program: Recommendations and Lessons Learned. The report analyzes some of the costs and benefits of law enforcement using body-worn video technology.

“Law enforcement agencies across the nation are contemplating how best to use body-worn cameras and these guidelines will help them weight the costs and benefits,” said COPS Office Director Ronald L. Davis. “There are many considerations when implementing a body-worn camera and this report will help chiefs and sheriffs make the best decision for their jurisdiction.”

The publication was developed jointly by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and COPS through a cooperative agreement under the FY 2013 Community Policing Development Program. PERF conducted research on the use of body-worn cameras, identified promising practices and lessons learned from the field, and produced a set of guidelines for agencies interested in implement a body-worn camera program. Included in this effort was a one-day executive session with more than 200 police chiefs, sheriffs, scholars, representatives from federal criminal justice agencies, and other experts present to share experiences and lessons learned about body-worn cameras, to identify promising practices from the field, and to engage in a dialogue about the issues surrounding cameras.

The publication reviews the perceived benefits of body-worn cameras and considerations surrounding body-worn cameras before proposing a set of comprehensive policy recommendations that reflect the promising practices and lessons that emerged from PERF's conference and its extensive discussions with police executives and other experts following the conference.

The policy recommendations cover all aspects of what a police department should consider when deciding to use body cameras including:

· Basic camera usage, such as who will be assigned to wear the cameras and where on the body the cameras are authorized to be placed;

· Recording protocols, including when to activate the camera, when to turn it off, and the types of circumstances in which recording is required, allowed or prohibited;

· The process for downloading recorded data from the camera, including who is responsible for downloading, when data must be downloaded, where data will be stored, and how to safeguard against data tampering or deletion;

· The length of time recorded data will be retained by the agency in various circumstances;

· The process and policies for accessing and reviewing recorded data, including the persons authorized to access data and the circumstances in which recorded data can be reviewed; and

· Policies for releasing recorded data to the public, including protocols regarding redactions and responding to public disclosure requests.

All COPS Office publications can be downloaded from the Resource Center and many can be ordered at no cost either through the Resource Center or by contacting the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 800-421-6770.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/September/14-cops-976.html

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Foley family says was 'threatened' by U.S. official over ransom: ABC

Reuters

The family of murdered American journalist James Foley says it was threatened by a U.S. official who warned that family members could be charged with supporting terrorism if they paid a ransom to his Islamist captors, ABC News reported on Friday.

ABC News quoted Foley's mother and brother as saying a military officer working for President Barack Obama's National Security Council had told them several times that they could face criminal charges if they paid a ransom.

The White House refused to discuss conversations that the family had with officials, but said they involved people from different government branches, including the White House, the FBI, the intelligence agencies and the Defense Department.

"I'm not going to get into who said what in the context of these individual conversations," spokesman Josh Earnest said, but he reaffirmed the U.S. policy not to pay ransoms because it can encourage further abductions.

Foley's mother Diane told ABC News they were told several times of the possibility of charges if a ransom were paid. "We took it as a threat and it was appalling," she said. ABC did not identify the official she was referring to.

"Three times he intimidated us with that message. We were horrified he would say that. He just told us we would be prosecuted. We knew we had to save our son, we had to try," Diane Foley said in an ABC interview.

ABC quoted a spokeswoman for the National Security Council as saying that the Foley family was informed of U.S. laws banning terrorism financing but denying the family was told they could face charges if they made a ransom payment.

Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, while not discussing the family's charges directly, said she had gotten to know Diane Foley in the last 18 months as she pressed the government to help secure her son's release.

"She's just relentless in a good way, in a way any mother who wanted to do her utmost would. And I admire her very much, all that she did. As a mother, I can only imagine her pain," Rice told a group of reporters.

Secretary of State John Kerry said he was "taken aback" by the report. "I am totally unaware and would not condone anybody that I know of within the State Department making such statements," he told reporters during a visit to Istanbul to discuss international action against Islamic State.

A video of the beheading of James Foley by an Islamic State militant was posted on the Web on Aug. 19. Two weeks later a similar video showed another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, being beheaded.

The United States mounted an unsuccessful military mission to try to rescue Foley and other U.S. hostages held by the group in Syria this summer.

"We have found that terrorist organizations use hostage taking and ransoms as a critical source of financing for their organization and that paying ransoms only puts other Americans in a position where they're at even greater risk," Earnest said.

Islamic state is still holding a number of hostages from Western and other countries.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/12/us-iraq-crisis-foley-mother-idUSKBN0H72J120140912

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Editorial

Paying ransom for journalists encourages more kidnapping

JOURNALISTS AND aid workers attempting to bear witness to war and relieve the suffering of innocent civilians have met the most cruel and barbaric fate, including the savage murder of journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley, and kidnapping for ransom of many others. Their captors and executioners all too often act with impunity.

It now appears that al-Qaeda and its direct affiliates, as well as the separate group the Islamic State, have been kidnapping Westerners as a source of finance. The New York Times reported recently that tens of millions of dollars have been taken in by al-Qaeda in ransoms. Much of it has come from European governments, funneled through intermediaries, and eventually used to finance recruitment, training and arms purchases, the Times reported. Before he was savagely murdered, the kidnappers of Mr. Foley demanded a ransom of millions. The Times said that a dozen captives held in the same cell as Mr. Foley had been released upon payment of ransoms averaging more than $2.5 million, provided by European governments and organizations.

In principle, paying ransom is a terrible idea. It encourages more kidnapping. That is the strongest reason for governments, including the United States, to keep in place a policy against it. The fact that al-Qaeda has turned kidnapping into a global business is testament to what happens after delivery of a suitcase filled with cash — someone else gets taken.

When the freelance journalist Peter Theo Curtis was released after 22 months of captivity in Syria on Aug. 24, family members thanked Qatar for playing a role and said they had been told no money had been paid. Hopefully they are right.

The hostage-taking business is complex. It often occurs in a war zone where norms of basic human behavior are absent and chaos reigns. The captors exploit a saturated media culture — a video release is a standard practice to raise the pain and the price, tugging at the emotions of families, friends, relatives, employers and countrymen. The strains can be immense. Ronald Reagan's emotional reaction to pleas from family members of those Americans kidnapped in Lebanon in the 1980s led him to the ill-fated trade with Iran of weapons for hostages. The families of Mr. Foley and Mr. Sotloff made statements displaying deep and understandable agony over events and, in some cases, anger with how the fate of their sons was handled by the U.S. government.

Those who travel to war zones for the noble purpose of journalism or humanitarian aid usually proceed with a healthy understanding of the risks. The organizations that dispatch them must invest in all means possible for their training in advance and protection on the ground. Unfortunately, hardworking and courageous freelance journalists are, by definition, often the least protected and most vulnerable. For those organizations with the resources, better to invest in a strong defense against kidnapping before it happens than to find a way out after someone has been thrown into a dungeon.

The despicable people who kidnap others at the point of a gun are not easy to bring to justice, but they should not be encouraged with business transactions. If they can be found, they deserve no mercy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/paying-ransom-for-journalists-encourages-more-kidnapping/2014/09/12/1457cdaa-2f20-11e4-994d-202962a9150c_story.html

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Alaska

Opinion

There's no substitute for community policing and high standards

by David Sexton

Val Van Brocklin's observations in “Fairbanks incident shows value of smart police with military gear” (ADN, Thursday) was much needed nourishment to the consumer of law enforcement news. Coverage in both the liberal and conservative media has been decidedly negative of late.

This spreading negativity is only one symptom of a puzzling paradigm shift our profession is suffering under. We used to be the good guys people aspired to become. Now police academy attendance is at an all-time low, and there are openings in Alaska departments going unfilled.

Our peak popularity followed the community policing movement of 30-some years ago. But unfortunately, community policing died an early death. Van Brocklin's piece was especially poignant, as some scholars now teach that the 9/11 attacks signaled the beginning of the end of the era of community policing, shifting us in a different era altogether some call Intelligence-Led Policing. One prominent author in the field writes that “at first glance, Intelligence-Led Policing (ILP) looks not much different than community policing, albeit dressed out in more military surplus combat gear and stocked with more technology.”

But ILP is more than the surplus gear so media photo-friendly, especially in our current era of Ferguson coverage. The bigger shift is local police departments being encouraged to operate more like an intelligence agency, with cops acting more like spies, and trained to be suspicious and untrusting at first glance of everybody around them. Rather than problem-solvers, officers are now encouraged to engage in predictive and proactive policing. I am not asserting that this modus operandi is always a bad thing, but unrestrained, it results in justified "Minority Report"
style negativity among those being policed.

What should we as a profession be doing to stem this tide of losing community trust and respect? The generation of cops hired during the last boom period of generous federal funding is rapidly retiring. I remember when a police department opening brought dozens (I've seen hundreds) of applicants. Today there are long-time openings in Alaska departments that seem unfillable. I believe some of our departments are lowering past standards in order to find warm bodies to fill slots.

A presidential commission on law enforcement from as far back as 1967 concluded that law enforcement should require education beyond high school. In Alaska, this means to be employed as a commissioned law enforcer you need both a high school diploma and a certificate indicating successful completion of the 15-week public safety academy.

I believe we need to raise standards. We need to raise education minimums; the next cadre of officers needs to be masters of the liberal as well as the tactical arts. I had a Fairbanks area student/officer in class last week report that his views on a discussion topic were extreme. I believe just the opposite – it's the views of the officers not in the classroom that are more likely extreme compared to their non-police neighbors. Departments need to evaluate if they have drifted from the community-supported philosophy of partnerships and problem-solving techniques addressing immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime. The public needs to support local law enforcement's commitment by providing for the necessary resources. Community Policing is intensive – the necessary boots on the street are more expensive than the alternative free government surplus equipment.

David Sexton is an assistant professor of law enforcement at the University of Alaska Southeast.

http://www.adn.com/article/20140912/theres-no-substitute-community-policing-and-high-standards

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New York

'Clergy On Patrol' Offers Hope To Improving Rochester's Community, Police Relations

by Antonia Blumberg

The city of Rochester, New York will kick off a program on Saturday aimed at improving relations between community members and law enforcement -- and the timing could not be better.

The idea behind 'Clergy on Patrol' is simple, Rochester Press Officer Jessica Alaimo told The Huffington Post. The program will pair up clergy members and police officers for foot patrols with the hope of improving relations between law enforcement and the local community, which have taken a hit in recent months.

"The goal is to mend the mistrust certain neighborhoods have in the police by using the trust they have in the clergy as a bridge," Alaimo said. "While we've been building this program for some time, the recent riots in Ferguson and the shooting we had here highlighted the need for it."

Seeds of the program have existed in Rochester for some time, and with a new mayor as of 2013 and a new police chief as of April, the city was ready for it.

"We've undertaken a number of initiatives to reach out to the community [since April] because our ultimate success is contingent on the level of trust within the community," Rochester Chief of Police Michael Ciminelli told HuffPost.

Mayor Lovely Warren, who made history by becoming Rochester's first female mayor, came up with the idea for the program last fall. During her campaigning she came across a clergy group that had begun walking the streets and praying for the community -- and she liked the idea.

"Some of our neighborhoods have been left behind," Warren told HuffPost. "If we all put things in perspective and recognize that this is a community and we have to work hand in hand, then we'll get through this and make our community safer because of it."

Burnice Green is the head pastor at God's Vision Ministries, which played a key role in developing the program. His church also happens to be located on the street where police officer Daryl Pierson was fatally shot on September 3 -- shortly after Clergy on Patrol conducted its first trial run. As news of Pierson's death surfaced, Green said he was flooded with calls from members of his congregation.

"'Tell me that wasn't one of the officers we walked with,' they said. That showed me the impact that just that walk alone had," Green told HuffPost. "People were really concerned."

The police department held three training sessions prior to the program's launch with over 100 clergy members in attendance. These trainings covered logistics and safety measures, which Ciminelli said were only a precaution.

"These clergy members are all known in the neighborhoods," Ciminelli said. "They're very comfortable there. We don't believe there's any kind of safety issue."

Primarily, the program aims to get police officers on a first-name basis with community members. The police department conducted a survey in 2013 to gauge residents' views on the police, and Ciminelli said one thing that stood out was the need for greater familiarity between officers and residents.

"The people who reported interacting with the police department were more likely to have a positive view of the department," Ciminelli said. "The idea is to pair clergy up with officers so they can introduce the officers to the people in the community -- because the more we talk to people, the more people get to know us and the better we do."

The population of Rochester is 66 percent Catholic, six percent Jewish and the rest largely Christian of various denominations, according to city data. But it is home to houses of worship from many faiths, including Muslim and interfaith, and the Clergy on Patrol program will recruit religious leaders from diverse backgrounds, Warren told HuffPost.

"It's anybody that wants to join," Warren said. "We've reached out to people of all different faiths and denominations."

The program is part of a multifaceted reorganization of Rochester's law enforcement and implementation of new strategy that will also address police recruitment and patrols. Following the events in Ferguson over the summer, many were concerned by what they saw as the militarization of the police and the racial divide that often leaves community members feeling marginalized by authorities.

Rochester is tackling this, Warren said, by recruiting new police officers from within local churches -- with the hopes of building a police force that reflects the community it serves. Ciminelli added that the city is also initiating a major structural reorganization that will break the department up into five smaller sections to focus more on smaller beats, increased foot patrol and more face to face interaction with the community.

"Our ultimate goal is to have a better relationship with the community," Ciminelli said. "We think that in turn will result in better policing and overall a more harmonious community."

The Rochester Police Department -- which is roughly 74 percent white, 11 percent black and 12 percent Hispanic, according to city officials -- has not had the time to develop the same kind of relationship with the community as local clergy has, Warren said.

But she added that in the 40 percent black city, churches play an important role in providing community members with services and a space to feel safe in.

"In a black community the church was always that safe haven," Warren told HuffPost. "But what I saw was that there was this disconnect between the government and the church."

Warren referred to an incident in 2013 that caused a major rift between police, clergy and community members. A white police officer reportedly hit Brenda Hardaway, a black woman, over the head during an arrest despite her repeatedly telling him she was pregnant. Video of the altercation appeared online and lead to widespread criticism of the police tactics. Many clergy members came out against the officer, Warren said.

"I looked at this as a way to put things in perspective," Warren said. "The officers go out there everyday to serve the community, but they can't keep our city safe without the help of the community. Clergy on Patrol is community policing with clergy members at the helm."

Rev. Green agreed with the mayor's sentiments, saying clergy provide "a face for the community" that can bridge any existing divisions.

"The clergy serve to bridge the gap and pull down those walls," Green said. "We wanted to open the doors so the officers can do what they do."

In order for Clergy on Patrol to work, Green said, it has to be sustainable. He did not sign up to be a part of something that would operate for several months and peter out.

"It's not just a project but a lifestyle," Green told HuffPost. "It's something we need to follow up on and have a way of seeing if this is working and then adjusting and improving on what we have."

Reversing years of mistrust between police and community members will not happen overnight, both Green and Warren stressed. But Clergy on Patrol is one promising start.

"I'm trusting in the Lord that everything will turn out," Green said.

Clergy on Patrol kicks off a 10 a.m. on Saturday September 13 at The New Life Fellowship in Rochester.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/12/clergy-on-patrol_n_5811884.html

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What Has Changed About Police Brutality In America, From Rodney King To Michael Brown

by Nicole Flatow

Amadou Diallo. Rodney King. Timothy Thomas. Looking at where we are today in the weeks after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, it can feel like nothing has changed in the way we police the police.

Many things haven't. Juries acquitted police. Cops got their jobs back. And brutality happened again.

Some things have gotten worse. Like police militarization.

But some things have gotten better, or are still moving toward reform in the wake of a prominent brutality incident. A history of these incidents reveals that some major recent police reforms got their start after highly publicized episodes of police violence. But it was only after years or decades and dogged, persistent community-building that some progress started to manifest.

Rodney King, 1991, Los Angeles

Videotape by a bystander captured five officers pummeling Rodney King with batons more than 50 times as he struggled on the ground outside his car. The recording immediately sparked outrage, but anger magnified when the officers who beat King were acquitted by a jury the following year. The acquittal triggered three days of violent riots during which at least 53 people died — and created immense momentum for reform. The cops in that case were ultimately held accountable, when federal prosecutors took up the case and secured convictions of four officers. And by some measures, the LAPD was transformed in the two decades that followed.

Los Angeles was the original militarizer of police, even before the federal government started handing out left-over or used weapons, and before the height of the War on Drugs.

“The LAPD was the godfather of that kind of militaristic response,” said John Jay College of Criminal Justice's Joe Domanick, author of a forthcoming book on LAPD reforms and the West Coast Bureau Chief for the Crime Report.

Los Angeles was forced to scale back in some ways after the riots, partially as a result of the Christopher Commission, created in response to the King beating to develop recommendations for reform. But initially, few of the Commission's recommendations were adopted by the city. “The Christopher Commission recommendations laid a foundation but weren't successful in bringing about reform,” Domanick said.

One of the most significant reforms that did come out of the Commission was ending the policy of lifetime terms for police chiefs. The police chief who presided during that period and had overseen an era of increased militarization at the Los Angeles Police Department, Daryl Gates, was forced to resign. And thereafter, lifetime terms were over.

In the intervening years, the city took advantage of its prerogative to hire chiefs for five-year terms and then bring in someone new, in a series of chiefs who instituted some change but failed to alter the culture. Domanick said that changed when Bill Bratton became chief more than ten years later in 2002 and instituted what is known as community policing. Underlying this approach is the idea that police can rarely solve public safety problems alone, and require the input of various stakeholders to come up with solutions that might be resolved by social services or other measures instead of a heavy police hand. Bratton was hired as a reformer chief, after a series of incidents of corruption emerged known as the Rampart scandal. “He started to make a dent in the culture of occupying force,” said Domanick, whose forthcoming book is titled, Blue: The Ruin and Redemption of the LAPD .

When Bratton arrived, the stage was set for real change because of a few other intervening developments. Five years after King's death, the city finally instituted a recommendation to create an independent inspector general to review the Department. In 1994, Congress passed provisions in the Crime Control Act meant to address police misconduct in a more systematic way, partially on the momentum of the Diallo beating. One provision gave the Department of Justice the power to bring civil suits against local police departments that exhibited a “pattern and practice” of excessive force or other constitutional violations, and the Department used that power to enter into a settlement known as a consent decree with Los Angeles.

This provision is perhaps among the most far-reaching remedies for holding entire police management structures accountable. Typically, Justice Department investigations that find constitutional violations result in agreements known as “consent decrees” that avert litigation by agreeing to federal monitoring and reforms. Common reforms include changes to police training, stronger mechanisms for complaints against officers, and improved supervision. A Vera Institute study of the first consent decree in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, found that use of force incidents declined after the consent decree ended, and that the city largely succeeded in meeting DOJ goals, but that citizens still perceived police as sometimes using excessive force, particularly against minorities.

It was in executing his city's consent decree that Bratton transformed the LAPD. “It is like night and day,” Jeff Schlanger, who was hired to monitor the LAPD in 2001, told NBC News. As in Ferguson, what was most lost after the Los Angeles riots is what is known as “police legitimacy” — community trust in the police that underlies all of their work. Bratton instituted an era of communication and respectful interaction between individuals and police, creating a department that reflected the community and building relationships with community leaders. He even demonstrated some inclination for holding officers accountable. After a violent police response to 2007 immigration rallies in McArthur Park, Bratton announced immediate investigations and several officers were eventually demoted or fired.

But many things remained unresolved. For one thing, the mechanisms for policing the police didn't improved much. A Human Rights Watch report noted that “at risk” LAPD officers who frequently use significant force continued to act with impunity, and officers were not frequently punished for misbehavior, either internally or by the courts. For another, some tactics embraced by Bratton have created their own set of hostilities with minority communities, as a result of policies that see targeting low-level offenses in high-crime areas as key to thwarting larger crime, Domanick said.

When this policy is not implemented with constant rigor, these police stops can also lead to unnecessary police violence and even death, as in the case of Ezell Ford, shot while reportedly laying on the ground after a routine police stop for still-undisclosed reasons.

Amadou Diallo, 1999, New York City

Plainclothes officers from the New York Police Department shot street vendor Amadou Diallo just outside his Bronx apartment building after they mistook his wallet for a gun. These officers, too, were acquitted at trial.

Then-police Commissioner Howard Safir instituted some changes after weeks of protest, including adding more minority officers to the special “Street Crimes” unit whose officer had shot Diallo and requiring all officers in the unit to wear uniforms.

But Darius Charney with the Center for Constitutional Rights said these fixes were nothing more than cosmetic, and lamented that the city initiated nothing like the Christopher Commission to reform itself. Weeks later, his organization honed in on what was perceived as the real issue uncovered by the shooting — the aggressive over-use of police stops. CCR filed a lawsuit to force reform, triggering a campaign against stop-and-frisk overuse in the NYPD that is still continuing.

At the time of the police shooting, the overwhelming police presence in some minority-heavy communities was a revelation to the general public. CCR's lawsuit sought data on the numbers and types of stops. For years, production of this data was delayed even after the City Council passed a data collection law. But in 2006, outrage once again bubbled up when Sean Bell was killed by undercover cops in the wee morning hours of his wedding day, and the New York Civil Liberties Union compelled the city to release the data.

What this data revealed was that “stop-and-frisk was actually getting worse, not better,” Charney said. The number of police stops had increased more than five-fold over the course of just five years, and they were just as racially skewed as they had ever been. With facts finally in hand, CCR filed a second lawsuit that resulted in a long-awaited victory when a federal judge held last year that the New York Police Department had engaged in unconstitutional racial profiling.

Even now, the court has not yet enforced that order as the police unions hold up final resolution by attempting to intervene on the appeal that Mayor Bill de Blasio has already dropped. But using the momentum of that litigation, advocates were also able to successfully campaign for new city legislation to hold police accountable. One new bill creates an inspector general to oversee NYPD. Another allows citizens to sue the police department for profiling not just based on race but also sexual orientation, religion, housing status, and other discriminatory categories.

“We have been able to I think working in tandem with advocates and organizers outside of the courtroom really make meaningful change,” Charney said of the city's progress.

But progress hasn't solved many things yet. In the weeks before Brown's death, police killed Eric Garner using an illegal chokehold, after they stopped him for suspected sale of untaxed cigarettes. That death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner.

Police accountability is still wanting in New York, with a citizen review board whose recommendations for officer discipline are often ignored by the police commissioner, and no neutral mechanism for prosecuting police. “We for many years have really pushed for a state-level agency … to prosecute crimes for municipal level police officers,” Charney said, citing the inherent bias prosecutors have in favor of the police.

And as a Twitter campaign gone wrong in April demonstrated, NYPD still hasn't quite come to terms with its tainted reputation.

Timothy Thomas, 2001, Cincinnati

The big-city police departments in Los Angeles and New York have been under close watch both before and after these incidents, as they face the unique challenges and advantages of concentrated metropolitan areas. But perhaps an incident that most closely mirrors that in Ferguson is the 2001 shooting of Timothy Thomas by police that triggered riots in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thomas, a 19-year-old with an infant son, started to run when an officer approached him on the street outside a nightclub. The officer called in back-up, a chase was on, and shots were fired with almost no information about Thomas. Cops said they thought Thomas was reaching for a gun but none was ever found.

The officer in that case, too, was acquitted. But even before the verdict, community members responded to the shooting with intense riots and an economic boycott, exposing a history of racial tensions with police. Thomas was the 15th black man who died during a police confrontation in the six years before the riot. And by the time of Thomas' death, the perception was that Cincinnati faced intractable tensions between citizens and police that couldn't be fixed by yet another investigation or report. But public outrage along with federal intervention created the momentum for a different, expansive settlement in 2002 from litigation that started even before Thomas was killed. The pressure became so great that police stopped resisting, and started collaborating.

As a result of agreements involving several advocacy groups and the Department of Justice, officers were trained on how to choose less-lethal force, and how to deal with the mentally ill and those under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They even created a mental health response team. They were not just given Tasers, but also exhaustive training on when they could use them and how. If they used a Taser, they had to document their use. And if their record didn't match what was being reported, an investigation would ensue. Cars were equipped with dash cameras. They took “community policing seriously,” doing walk-throughs of neighborhoods with residents, holding community meetings, and responding to community problems with nuanced solutions. Cincinatti's police chief has so embraced the reforms in the Collaborative Agreement that he takes a copy everywhere he goes.

And one more thing. Police were actually held accountable. Mike Brickner, senior policy director of the ACLU of Ohio, said one of the persistent problems the city encountered was that a few bad actors were committing egregious acts again and again without punishment, and giving the entire department a bad name as a consequence. But after Thomas' death, a Citizen Police Review Board was formed that seemed to actually have buy-in from the police department. Officers were disciplined, given new training, or fired. Police and particularly police unions had resisted the accountability mechanisms “tooth and nail” for years before Thomas' death. But when public pressure became overwhelming, Brickner says even police unions fell in line. And in the end, many officers ended up liking the review mechanism, finding that it could be just as useful to exonerate an officer who had been wrongfully accused as to punish an officer for wrongdoing.

“I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but those riots were some of the best things that ever happened: They taught us who we are and what mattered,” Kathy Y. Wilson, who for years wrote a local column called “Your Negro Tour Guide,” told the Washington Post.

“The outcomes of the Cincinnati collaborative agreement were pretty astounding and we were really pleased with them,” Brickner said. But he cautions against any reform plan that pretends there is an easy fix. “I will not pretend that this is an easy process,” Brickner said. His advice to other cities: If it goes too smoothly, you're probably not really instituting change. “It takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work and there will certainly be for anyone going through a process like this moments where it's very difficult and very painful,” he said.

Last month, two Cincinnati officers shot Donyale Rowe to death after he was pulled over for failure to signal. Immediately after the incident, the police chief named the officers involved and published their performance reviews. He said Rowe had a gun, and he released video of the incident from the dash cam. No tension errupted.

“Even where there is a strong intervention and things have changed significantly, I think it's unrealistic to say that there is never going to be another police problem or another issue that crops up,” he said. “But I think what has changed is that there are much fewer of them.” And when incidents do come up, “police also have the tools and the training and the mutual understanding of how to talk about these issues … so that they can be quickly navigated through and done in a way that communities can agree on and live with and that they don't boil over in the way they did in 2001.”

And police accountability remains one of the most sticky problems. A 2008 Cincinnati Enquirer review found that while 35 police officers were fired over a 20-year period, 19 of the 25 who appealed the decision to an arbitrator got their jobs back, with heavy backing from the police union. Many of the others who didn't win faced criminal charges that made it “difficult … or impossible” for them to get their job back.

Post-Ferguson

The city of Ferguson will have its own local reforms to consider, as the council has already passed several bills to establish a police review board, and set limits on excessive court fines and fees exposed after Brown's death. If past experience is any indication, reforming the police department is possible over the course many years and many battles.

But nationally, problems persist. “This is a very systemic problem in just about every community throughout the United States,” Brickner said.

And even in communities that have seen dramatic change, there are as many holes left to be filled as there have been reforms. One is the intransigent, incredible challenge of holding police accountable. Police unions exercise strong influence over many local boards that decide whether cops get to keep their jobs. Juries tend to side with police. And the law overwhelming favors the police. UC Irvine law school dean Erwin Chemerensky, who has long followed this issue, wrote after Brown's death that “the officer who shot Michael Brown and the City of Ferguson will most likely never be held accountable in court” due to doctrines from the Supreme Court down that weigh against holding officers accountable.

Another is a culture that embraces guns. Police are given a lot of leeway to use deadly force, in many instances when the public perception is that other lesser measures might do. As CNN's Mark O'Mara noted after Brown's death, “Cops are doing the job we told them to do.”

Riots in Ferguson have also exposed to America the extreme militarization of police forces that has only grown since the past waves of police shootings. And the racism in the criminal justice system persists, both overtly, and implicitly, even as more whites than ever believe the criminal justice system is no longer biased.

But there are reasons to be hopeful. For one thing, criminal justice reform is increasingly becoming a bipartisan issue. Even Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) became one of a growing number of congressional Republicans who have called for criminal justice reform. Domanick said he was also encouraged that there was outrage at Ferguson's police militarization across the political spectrum. For another, reform options exist that didn't before, such as body cameras for police. In fact, it is the emergence of mobile recording devices that has exposed some of the recent violent incidents — and debunked any attempts by police to skew the facts.

In the case of Ferguson, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced he will initiate an investigation of the city's “patterns and practices” in addition to the separate criminal investigation of the Brown case. In fact, Holder has taken on a new tone for the country's top law enforcer that acknowledges the United States epidemic of discriminatory and overly punitive criminal punishment.

But underlying all of this is the segregation and oppression that was unveiled in Ferguson. A Washington Post investigation last week revealed that these underlying problems still persist in Cincinnati, meaning that while police were indeed reformed, fixing the racial tensions that existed in 2001 Cincinnati is “a job unfinished." Even Cincinnati's black police chief says he fears his own son's encounters with the police.

“The cultural disconnect is very real; you have the weight of generations of abuse on African Americans,” Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell told the Washington Post after Brown's death.

“[T]he mentality is that these lives in the ghetto are not to be valued,” added Domanick. “Policing and violence are only symptoms of this larger problem. We're gonna have problems. But at least we're starting to know now what works in terms of reducing crime short term and long term and what works in terms of community policing and good community relations.”

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/09/11/3477520/whats-changed-and-what-hasnt-in-policing-the-police/

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California

LAPD Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce Arrest Suspect for Sexual Act with Child Under 10 years of age

Long Beach, California -- Los Angeles Police Department Juvenile Division Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) detectives arrested 23-year-old Ryan Booth for 288.7(b) of the California Penal Code Section-Sexual Act with a child under 10 years of age.

On September 5, 2014, detectives from the Los Angeles Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, along with investigators from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Investigations group assigned to the Los Angeles Regional Internet Crime Against Children Task Force assisted serving a search warrant at the suspect's resident in Long Beach, California.  The Suspect was taken into custody without incident.

The Search warrant was obtained after detectives investigated a lead involving internet postings of an unknown individual soliciting child sexual exploitation material.  Investigators identified the suspect as 23-year-old Ryan Booth and discovered he was a contact offender.

The LA ICAC Taskforce is spearheaded by the LAPD with 63 federal and local affiliate agencies that detect and investigate child predators that use the internet as a means to contact children or deal in child pornography.  The public is reminded that any suspected inappropriate contact with a minor or knowledge of child pornography on the Internet should be immediately reported to local law enforcement agencies or to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.  Reports can also go to www.missingkids.com, and the information will be forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency on a nationwide basis. June is Internet Safety Month and parents are encouraged to discuss Internet safety tips with their children.

Anyone with information regarding this case or other information is urged to contact Lieutenant Andrea Grossman at (562) 624-4027.  During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).  Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to www.lapdonline.org, and click on "Anonymous Web Tips.”

http://lapdblog.typepad.com/lapd_blog/

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Yahoo: Feds made us spy or pay $250K a day in fines

by Cheryl K. Chumley

Yahoo executives said the federal government made them participate in a surveillance program and turn over key private client information — else face $250,000 per day in fines.

The insider account of how and why Yahoo helped the feds expand their spy program came to light just this week, after a judge ordered some materials related to the company's challenge of the government's actions to be unsealed, The Associated Press reported.

Yahoo said in a statement that feds changed a law during the George W. Bush administration that allowed government to demand certain user data from online services provided by the company. Yahoo subsequently challenged that law change.

“Our challenge and a later appeal in the case did not succeed,” Yahoo's general counsel, Ron Bell, said in the statement, AP reported. But the just-unsealed material shows “how we had to fight every step of the way to challenge the U.S. government's surveillance efforts. At one point, the U.S. government threatened the imposition of $250,000 in fines per day if we refused to comply.”

The aspect of law at question is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's Amendments Act, and the topic of PRISM — a portion of the text that allows the federal government to access online communications of certain companies. Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden talked about Section 702 and PRISM months ago.

Yahoo maintained its always tried to secure users' information — and will continue to do the same.

“We consider this an important win for transparency and hope that these records help promote informed discussion about the relationship between privacy, due process and intelligence gathering,” Mr. Bell said, AP reported.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/12/yahoo-feds-made-us-spy-or-pay-250k-day-fines/

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Florida

City manager, new chief want officers out of patrol cars, into community

by Steve Stefanides

New Marco Police Chief Al Schettino is determined to get his officers more involved in the community.

Simply put, Schettino and City Manager Roger Hernstadt want Marco officers out of their cars more, interacting with residents and visitors alike.

Whether on patrol on bicycles, out on the water with the police department's watercraft or boat, walking in the numerous shopping areas or on the department's motorcycle, residents will be seeing more of the men and women of the department outside of the standard police vehicle.

“This will provide an increased visibility for the department and allow the general public and business person the opportunity to network with officers and see them as more than just a uniform,” said Schettino.

Both Schettino and Hernstadt are supporters of community policing and the benefits it brings to a small community.

Recently, the department has begun to implement the plan, deploying officers such as George Guyer, a veteran officer from the metro Philadelphia area.

“We did the bicycle patrols in Chester where I'm from,” said Guyer. “You'd be amazed how effective they are in both opening up the lines of communications with residents and allowing us to keep a little closer eye on the potential for any wrongdoing in shopping areas and parking lots.”

Over the busy Labor Day weekend, both the boat and the department personal watercraft were deployed to help keep Marco's waterways safe.

“Not only do we have a lot of asphalt to cover on Marco, but we have 100 miles of waterways, which we are responsible for also,” said Schettino.

Two years ago, the Marco Island Police Foundation, through the efforts of Scott Case of Executive Auto Service, raised money for a new Harley Davidson police motorcycle for the department.

Residents have begun to see it being used over the last couple of weeks.

Matt Goetz, a former Marco officer and familiar face on the motorcycle, has returned to the department after being gone for a short time.

“The bike gives us a lot of flexibility which you miss just being in a car,” said Goetz.

The department is even equipping some of the patrol vehicles with cycle racks, allowing officers to utilize the bikes and exit their cars as they feel necessary.

Over the weekend, Guyer even assisted a cyclist with a flat tire by mounting the bike on his rack and transporting the disabled bike and its rider home.

“He really was pleased and thanked me over and over again,” said Guyer.

http://www.marcoislandflorida.com/article/20140911/MARCONEWS/309110001/City-manager-new-chief-emphasize-community-policing

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Virginia

Free seminar for public safety personnel on dealing with trauma, loss

NORFOLK -- A one-day seminar for public safety personnel called “Winning the Battle” is September 15 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The seminar, put on by The End of Watch Foundation, is free for public safety employees: police, fire, EMS, military police, chaplains, dispatchers, administrative personnel, mental health professionals and their spouses.

The foundation is bringing in Clarke Paris, author and producer of the documentary "The Pain Behind the Badge." He and his wife have spoken around the world speaking to law enforcement agencies to help first responders and their families cope with the aftermath of critical incidents.

The foundation promotes awareness, prevention, education and support regarding law enforcement suicides and line of duty deaths, officials said.

Click here to register for the seminiar, which will take place at 7000 Granby Street in Norfolk.
Any questions, contact 1-888-611-7627.

http://www.wvec.com/community/winning-the-battle--274747161.html

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Patriot Day 9/11 and America's perpetual mourning

(Video tribute to 9/11 on site)

by Laurie Edwards-Tate

September 9, 2014 — When New York City's Twin Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001, America was forever transformed.

Americans across the country tragically lost their unshakable belief that acts of foreign war and terror could not occur on American soil.

As approximately 3,000 Americans died, while visions of burning buildings and people jumping out of buildings proliferated on the TV news, the country came together for a brief moment in time in a unified voice screaming in disbelief, shock, mourning, outrage and resolve to move forward together.

America was instantly united as “one Nation, under God, indivisible.”

Polarizing issues of race, religion and politics were forgotten and replaced with a renewed American idealism.

Old Glory was displayed on porches, buildings, bumper stickers, automobile antennae, lapels and any other conceivable location.

For one tragic moment in time, the United States were truly united.

Firemen, policemen, patriots, volunteers and others flocked to the streets of New York City, coming from all over the United States with offers of aide, assistance and hope, without thought of their own lives or personal security.

On December 18, 2001, President George W. Bush signed the House of Representatives Joint Resolution 71, signing into law the designation of September 11 as Patriot Day.

Though not considered a federal holiday, the tradition continues to this day with American flags flown at half-staff at all United States government buildings across the globe, and at homes across America in a day of remembrance, mourning, and respect for those who gave their lives and for those who helped save them.

A moment of national silence is widely observed every September 11 at exactly the time the Twin Towers were viciously attacked, 8:46 A.M. EST.

Thirteen years now since the original September 11, Americans remember and acknowledge its place in history with parades, special events, prayer vigils, military and political events and by leaving flowers at Memorial sites.

Americans have also since returned to what constitutes a new normal existence and everyday life.

However, international conflicts have ensued, while major economies have come to near collapse.

The social, economic and political status in the United States has become more greatly divided and uncertain.

As the lessons from September 11, 2001 have been replaced with naiveté and complacency, Americans appear to no longer be unified or in agreement regarding the meaning of and their appreciation for Democracy.

Recently published in Breitbart, a Fox News interview with Retired Lieutenant General Thomas McInery revealed his concerns regarding ISIS and disclosing his belief that the terror group could pose a threat to America this coming September 11, 2014.

McInery said that the United States should “go to DEFCON 1, our highest readiness and be prepared as we lead up to 9/11…we may even see a 9/11/14.”

As America remains consumed by tumultuous events occurring all over the world and with concern for the threat they might pose to the United States, the perils which could possibly occur on American soil might be overlooked.

It is possible that attacks could occur within American borders, whether perpetrated by those who feel disenfranchised or by those residing in the United States and benefiting from its safe harbors.

As Americans pay homage to September 11, 2001 this coming September the feelings of shock, pain, mourning and outrage persist for many.

Large numbers of Americans are likely suffering from a form of societal PTSD stemming from the horrific, shocking tragedy on September 11, 2001, all the while coping with a sense of uncertainty, fear and mistrust.

Americans lost more than 3,000 lives on September 11, 2001–they have also lost what was thought to be an unbreakable trust in the ability of its people to fulfill fundamental democratic principles for the promise of preserving freedom for the entire Nation.

Throughout the celebrations this coming September 11, 2014, may all Americans renew and embrace the basic core values of the United States to preserve “liberty and justice for all” Americans.

http://www.commdiginews.com/politics-2/patriot-day-911-and-americas-perpetual-mourning-25470/

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Pennsylvania

Congressional medal part of today's Flight 93 ceremony

by Joe Mandak

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — The 40 passengers and crew who died when hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in southwestern Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were to be honored in a new way during the 13th anniversary ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial.

A Congressional Gold Medal awarded to those who died at the site of the memorial will be presented today as part of the ceremony. Bells will be rung and the names of the victims will be read at 10:03 a.m., the moment the airliner crashed as passengers fought with hijackers for control of the jet.

Today's ceremony also comes as the National Park Service marks progress on a $17 million to $23 million phase of the project that includes a visitors' center and a learning center, which officials hope will boost the number of annual visitors to the memorial from 300,000 to more than 500,000. Ground was broken on the project a day before the 12th anniversary ceremony last year, and a media tour of the construction progress was held Wednesday.

“We have to make sure there will be a place to come in the future to learn about what happened,” Gordon Felt said just after dawn Thursday, near the tent where the memorial ceremony was to take place. Felt's brother, Edward, was among the passengers killed. Gordon is president of the Families of Flight 93, a support group of victims' families which has had input on the memorial park's design.

Organizers erected the tent because severe thunderstorms were forecast to roll through the rural field where the plane crashed about 75 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The memorial area was much quieter than in past years, when hundreds of spectators would have begun gathering at dawn. On Thursday, Felt was alone among media members and park service workers some two hours before the ceremony.

Dennis Hastert, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives when the attacks occurred, was scheduled to deliver the keynote remarks at Thursday's ceremony. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett also was scheduled to attend.

The Congressional Medal will be on display at the memorial through Sunday. It will go on permanent display once the visitor's center opens, hopefully for the 14th anniversary.

The same medals are being awarded at the World Trade Center and Pentagon sites, which were also ravaged by al-Qaeda-hijacked airliners that morning. Felt said the medals “are one more tribute and honor that out government has bestowed on our loved ones in memory of their actions on Sept. 11.”

Flight 93 was traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco when four hijackers took control, with the likely goal of crashing it into the White House or Capitol. The 9/11 Commission concluded that the hijackers downed the plane as the 33 passengers and seven crew aboard the plant revolted.

That happened after several passengers learned in cellphone calls with loved ones that three other hijacked jets were crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington earlier that morning. Passenger Todd Beamer is credited with helping lead the revolt with the simple command, “Let's roll.”

Although work on the memorial continues, including plans for a 93-foot-tall tower with 40 wind chimes, other aspects of the park have been completed, including roads and a Memorial Plaza near the crash site that consists of a white stone wall that traces the doomed plane's flight path, with each victim's name engraved on a separate panel. Forty memorial groves of trees have been planted, and large sections of the park have been replanted or reforested.

The visitor's center design also will recall the plane's flight, as the design calls for it to be split in two in a line that marks the path of the plane overhead.

While the memorial is a lasting legacy to those who died, Felt said it's also important for the families of those involved to gather at the site each anniversary.

“It really brings a sense of comfort to come together with other people who have suffered the same loss,” Felt said. “It's difficult each year to reopen that wound, but at the same time it's important to remember.”

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2014/09/11/Flight-93-families-honored-and-thanked-at-U-S-Capitol-Shanksville-PIttsburgh-9-11/stories/201409110298

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FEMA Asks Thousands of Sandy Victims to Pay back Funds They Received

by Hunter Hackney

It has been reported two years ago when the Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast that the federal government announced a fund amounting to $1.4 billion as a disaster aid to the storm victims. But now thousands of these victims have been asked to pay back the amount given to them.

According to program officials and data obtained by The Associated Press, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is inspecting over almost 4,500 household that they suspect have received improper payments after the storm hit the region.

As of September, the agency had asked over 850 victim families who received the aid to return a collective $5.8 million. On the other hand the agency's scrutiny is going on and other cases are still under review.

Sources reported that FEMA called this campaign of recovering the overpayments as "recoupment" which includes unintentional violations of eligibility rules, bureaucratic mistakes or missing documentation, rather than outright fraud.

As per a report, many people who received assistance in form of federal funds have been asked to return money because the agency found them ineligible for receiving the fund because properties damaged were their primary residences, vacation houses or rental properties.

The agency reported that there are some cases where more than one member of the family received the aid.

It has been found that the average demanded fund as on July 30 was $6,987, which is supposed to be a larger amount which will be very tough for many households to pay back. But the agency during its investigation found that roughly half of the households were reported to have an annual income of $30,000 or less.

Ann Dibble, director of the New York Legal Assistance Group's storm response unit, which has been helping many families to fight for the repayment of victim fund in a statement said that most of the money given to victims has already been spent on the storm recovery.

Sources said Sandy had a major impact in many states making it one of the most severe hurricanes in the history of U. S. More than 280 people died.

http://newsmaine.net/20602-fema-asks-thousands-sandy-victims-pay-back-funds-they-received

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Misouri

Dozens arrested as Ferguson protesters try to shut down highway

by Cheryl K. Chumley

Police arrested dozens of protesters in Ferguson who had assembled near the entry and exit ramps of Interstate 70, with apparent plans to shut down travel on the highway.

CNN reported that some of the demonstrators — who were protesting what they see as the unjustified police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown — threw rocks at law enforcement. Police reported that they were also confronted with hurled bricks, glass bottles and water bottles.

Most of those arrested will face unlawful assembly charges, said Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Al Nothum, CNN reported. Four, however, have been charged with assault of a law enforcement agent.

“Attempting to block an interstate highway is unsafe and unacceptable,” said Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, KMOV reported. “People trying to shut down I-70 would not only create a very serious hazard for themselves, but also for motorists simply trying to get home from school or work.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/11/dozens-arrested-as-ferguson-protesters-try-to-shut/

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Vermont

Opinion

The case for community policing

by John D. Due Jr.

(CNN) —A chaplain told me as my wife, Patricia Stephens Due, was dying from cancer in 2012 that in the Book of Judges, Patricia was Deborah, a warrior judge of the Israelites, and I was her Barak, the military commander. Next month, I will celebrate my 80th birthday and my lifetime as a veteran of the Freedom Movement.

As I have watched the media coverage on Michael Brown, I have begun to wonder, what should I wear to my party?

Should I wear a prisoner's uniform? Or am I expected to wear a dark blue business suit simply because I am a member of the Florida Bar?

Michael Brown -- "Big Mike" -- was the unarmed, young black man about to begin college who was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson County, outside of St. Louis. Witnesses say Mike Brown had his hands up, which is the universal sign of surrender that should have stopped the shooting. Although media focused last week on whether he had a juvenile record -- something completely irrelevant to whether his killing by a white police officer was justified -- Mike Brown was never convicted of a crime or in prison. Yet he was still trapped in society's prison without walls.

The legal case against the police officer will center on whether he acted in self-defense and used necessary force to protect himself and or society.

The larger question this case raises is the role of the police force in a community. Is it to be at war with the community on a militarized basis to destroy the enemy in a zero-sum game of winners and losers? Does this mean we need to train our police in anti-terrorism and war games with a military orientation of being a winner against a loser?

The fate of Big Mike is the most recent highly publicized shooting of a young black man by our militarized police departments, which perpetuate our collective fear and war mentality instead of instilling trust.

What happened to the idea of "restorative justice," where everybody is a winner in a win-win game rather than a zero-sum game? Restorative justice is a philosophy similar to the reconciliation philosophy that led South Africa to a peaceful democracy post-apartheid, in which law enforcement engages with offenders, victims and community members to strengthen them all.

Restorative justice is central to the success of community policing.

When Janet Reno was state attorney of Miami-Dade County, she worked with leaders like Bob Simms of the Community Relations Board, who was my boss, and Dennis Moss, of the West Perrine Crime Prevention Program in a low-income community, to advance community policing, a strategy of collaborative partnerships among law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce crime and fear and to promote trust.

Instead of adopting zero tolerance as a solution to push-out "problem children," they developed a "circle" model of community policing, which included meetings every week with the state attorney, public safety and law enforcement officials, community organizations, and those the greater community would label as "thugs." This was a model that Janet Reno took to the Justice Department as United States attorney general when the "Community Oriented Policing Services," or COPS, program was launched in 1994 to revolutionize policing.

But post-9/11, it seems that community policing has all but been forgotten because of the perceived need to militarize our police departments with anti-terrorism equipment and training.

Our power structure no longer shows love for "community policing" with the black community, which has become a prison without walls in the zero-sum war mentality of winners and losers.

For our social sanity, philosopher Erich Fromm would have said we must assert compassion, responsibility, respect, knowledge and order to restore our community. We can no longer live in a society where we have no love for our neighbor or our enemy, where we have no productive love for all of God's children.

So, it was heartening when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced last week that the United States Justice Department was not only going to investigate whether there has been a local police pattern and practice of civil rights violations in Ferguson County, but also that he had tapped Ron Davis, director of the DOJ's COPS program, to provide technical assistance to St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar in a voluntary collaborative reform process.

Yet it was disappointing that in the press statement and questions and answers between reporters and Holder and Davis, there were no words re-affirming the concept of restorative justice to counter the militarization of our local police departments.

This silence hurts the confidence of state attorneys, judges and law enforcement agencies who have believed that restorative justice is an official part of the COPS program. Restorative justice is a healing process -- focusing on the needs of the victim, the needs of the offender, as well as the community that is at risk. Its goal is to establish a beloved community -- not retribution and fear.

But I have hope and faith that local law enforcement officials like Sheriff Morris Young, who is responsible for Gadsden County in the predominantly black town of Quincy, Florida, will continue to set an example by viewing residents -- even those who are at risk or have committed offenses -- as people and not just statistics that feed the dependent criminal justice system. This commitment to restorative justice will help prevent crime, facilitate the re-entry of wrongdoers when they get in trouble, and strengthen our communities.

So, on my 80th birthday, I will wear a prison uniform -- so as to tell my family and friends that we are all prisoners -- but with hope and faith that we can all break free.

http://www.wptz.com/national/opinion-the-case-for-community-policing/27956784

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California

Authorities Allege Ties Between LA Fashion Industry, Cartels

by Mike O'Sullivan

LOS ANGELES — U.S. officials say they have broken up crime rings that funneled tens of millions of dollars from Mexican drug cartels through fashion businesses in Los Angeles. Authorities announced nine arrests as 1,000 law enforcement agents fanned out through the city on Wednesday.

Police arrested three people connected with a business called QT Fashion in the bustling fashion district of Los Angeles. Authorities say the owner and two employees channeled ransom funds for an American held captive by the Sinaloa drug cartel, funneling the money through 17 fashion businesses before the captive was released.

Authorities also issued arrest warrants for three people in Mexico in connection with that case.

Other indictments involve two sting operations in fashion companies that authorities say laundered drug profits by selling apparel in what the officials call a black market peso exchange.

Investigators have seized more that $65 million, including at least $35 million in cash from one Los Angeles location.

The investigation required the tracking of duffel bags and cartons full of money, said California attorney general Kamala Harris.

“Although it seems and appears to be complex, what was involved at the heart of it was very simple - follow the money,” said Harris.

William Bodner of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said the probe is ongoing and more arrests can be expected among those who cooperate with drug cartels.
'This is just the beginning. The law enforcement community in Los Angeles is coming after you,” said Bodner.

The Los Angeles fashion industry has annual revenues around $18 billion. Officials say it has attracted drug money since the Mexican government tightened restrictions on cash transfers four years ago. And they say Los Angeles has become the epicenter of cartel money laundering.

http://www.voanews.com/content/authorities-allege-ties-between-la-fashion-industry-and-cartels/2445844.html

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Missouri

At meeting Ferguson officials hoped would heal, speakers express outrage, doubt over reforms

by ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Elected leaders in the St. Louis suburb where an unarmed black 18-year-old was fatally shot by a white police officer hoped to use their first public meeting since Michael Brown's death as a chance to promote community healing.

Instead, they were greeted Tuesday night with anger, outrage and warnings of voter retribution at the ballot box. Proposals to overhaul the municipal courts and create a citizen police review board were greeted warily, if not with outright skepticism.

"You've lost your authority to govern this community," said St. Louis activist John Chasnoff. "You're going to have to step aside peacefully if this community is going to heal."

The shooting last month exposed an undercurrent of racial unrest in Ferguson and other mostly black communities of north St. Louis County, and prompted days of sometimes violent protests.

Officials have pledged to boost minority hiring in Ferguson's 53-person police force, which has just three black officers, and to meet informally in city neighborhoods to promote a public dialogue.

But within minutes of the start of the City Council meeting, where the proposals were briefly discussed, several demonstrators stood up and shouted as the council tried to cover some routine business. Later, others stood and chanted, "Shut it down!" while raising their hands in the air. Several witnesses say Brown raised his hands as officer Darren Wilson shot him.

The first person to take the microphone during the public comment period said he was there for the mayor's job. It was a theme echoed throughout, as speaker after speaker expressed doubt about planned reforms — and anger at the government officials on the stage.

"I heard the mayor say Ferguson doesn't have a race problem," said Taurean Russell, 30. "There must be two Fergusons."

Earlier, the council had announced proposals to reduce revenue from court fines used for general city operations and more broadly reform court procedures. Critics say reliance on court revenue and traffic fines to fund city services penalizes low-income defendants who can't afford private attorneys and who are often jailed for not promptly paying those fines.

In the last fiscal year, court fines and fees accounted for $2.6 million, or nearly one-fifth of the city budget. That's nearly twice as much as the city collected two years earlier.

The meeting, exactly one month after Brown's death, was held in a local church to accommodate several hundred attendees who had to walk through metal detectors at police-guarded entrances.

Several speakers reiterated plans to block Interstate 70 in Ferguson on Wednesday in an act of civil disobedience. Organizers say they want to bring rush-hour traffic to a standstill.

The U.S. Justice Department announced last week that it was launching a broad investigation into the Ferguson Police Department, looking for patterns of discrimination.

Ferguson, a city of 21,000, is about 70 percent black. The mayor and five of the six City Council members are white. A 2013 report by the Missouri attorney general's office found that Ferguson police stopped and arrested black drivers nearly twice as often as white motorists, but were less likely to find contraband among the black drivers.

Police have said the shooting of Brown followed a scuffle after Wilson told Brown and a friend to move out of the street and onto a sidewalk. Autopsies concluded Brown was shot at least six times.

Brown's parents joined about 20 supporters and activists outside police headquarters earlier Tuesday to reiterate calls for Wilson's immediate arrest.

http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2014/09/10/ferguson-reforms-met-with-rancor-at-city-meeting

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Maryland

Police awarded $7.2 million in public safety grants

Nearly $3 million earmarked for foot patrols more absent than visible in most city neighborhoods

by Mark Reutter

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, through his Office of Crime Control and Prevention, has awarded $7.2 million to the Baltimore Police Department, including nearly $3 million for neighborhood foot patrols.

The grants are a continuation of initiatives started by the governor in 2007 to help suppress violent crime in Baltimore and provide “officers on the street highly visible to criminals and welcomed by neighborhood residents.”

A $2 million Neighborhood Community Policing grant will help pay the salaries of about 25 police officers who work with community groups in activities such as Citizens on Patrol and Operation Crime Watch.

Officers in Cars

A $2.8 million Neighborhood Foot Patrol grant will underwrite an unspecified number of officers on foot patrols “throughout communities to bolster public trust, significantly reduce violent crime and improve public safety in Baltimore City,” according to the grant description.

The absence of foot patrols in most neighborhoods (with the notable exception of the Inner Harbor and nearby tourist enclaves) has been a sore spot in hearings by the City Council's Public Safety Committee.

Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts has blamed the problem of “officers not getting out of their cars” on contract language with the Fraternal Order of Police. He has pledged to beef-up foot patrols in special enforcement zones and as part of his community policing strategy.

A $2.4 million Violent Crime Reduction-Drug Interdiction grant will pay for about seven sergeants and 20 detectives who “will eliminate open-air drug markets, dismantle violent drug organizations, dismantle gang recruitment capabilities and debrief all arrestees, forwarding information to other units,” according to the grant document.

The one-year grants, which began on July 1, 2014 and will continue through June 30, 2015, will be formally accepted by the Board of Estimates at tomorrow's (September 10) meeting.

https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/09/09/police-awarded-7-2-million-in-public-safety-grants/

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From the Department of Justice

Justice Officials Meet with Key Stakeholders on Launch of Elder Justice Website

Earlier today, Associate Attorney General Tony West, Assistant Attorney General Stuart F. Delery for the Civil Division and members of the Department's Elder Justice Initiative met with stakeholders in the field of elder abuse and financial exploitation to launch the Elder Justice website in an effort to further prevent and combat elder abuse and financial exploitation.

Associate Attorney General West and Assistant Attorney General Delery delivered remarks at the outreach event to federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as to other partners who combat elder abuse. The remarks focused on the significant contributions that the Elder Justice website can make to the field and on the Department's commitment to protecting seniors from abuse and exploitation. The Elder Justice website will serve as a resource for elder abuse prosecutors, researchers and practitioners, and most importantly, for victims of elder abuse and their families. This website will also serve as a forum for law enforcement and elder justice policy communities to share information and enhance public awareness about elder abuse.

“The launch of the Elder Justice website today marks another milestone in reaching our shared goal of keeping older Americans safe from abuse and neglect,” said Associate Attorney General West. “The more we embrace our elders with respect and care, the stronger our society will be. This tool helps move us closer to that goal.”

Protecting older Americans is one of the Department's top priorities, as evidence shows that nearly one in 10 people over the age of 60 suffer abuse and neglect. Elder abuse includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and financial exploitation. Elder abuse depletes the resources of individuals, families, businesses and public programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, by billions of dollars each year, which in turn places enormous burdens on our health care, financial and judicial systems.

Older Americans are also targeted by consumer scams, health care fraud and financial exploitation, and protecting this group from financial exploitation is also a priority of the department. It is estimated that older adults in the United States lose more than $2.9 billion annually from financial exploitation. Financial loss may result in loss of independence, decreased health and psychological distress, all of which culminate in a diminished quality of life for older adults. Over the years, the department has successfully prosecuted a number of criminals who targeted the elderly through reverse mortgage fraud scams and lottery scams. In addition, the department's healthcare fraud enforcement and prevention and consumer protection efforts protect older Americans from financial exploitation.

“The website provides resources and a means for improved communication among prosecutors, supports victims and families, and establishes a mechanism for collaboration for researchers and practitioners,” said Assistant Attorney General Delery. “ While there are many other victim support websites available, we believed that the department could add significant value in this domain by consolidating information nationwide and making it more user-friendly. The Civil Division will continue to strengthen its efforts to protect the elderly.”

Partners in attendance included the Federal Trade Commission; the American Bar Association; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of the Inspector General; the National Association for Medicaid Fraud Control Units; the Office of the U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and the Social Security Administration.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/September/14-civ-952.html

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Remarks by Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason

Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Coburn and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to speak with you today about the Department of Justice's role in supporting state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

Recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, have raised concerns about whether state and local law enforcement's use of military type equipment and tactical training should be more closely examined. As President Obama has said, the laws of the United States mandate a clear distinction between our national armed forces and civilian state and local law enforcement.

To help maintain that distinction while ensuring that civilian law enforcement departments have access to state-of-the-art equipment and training, Congress has authorized the Department of Justice to administer programs and funding to help state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies safeguard their communities, while also protecting the civil liberties of their citizens.

As Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs, I am responsible for overseeing an array of activities designed to support law enforcement. Our work with law enforcement agencies is part of our overall mission to provide leadership, information, and other assistance to strengthen community safety and ensure the fair administration of justice.

One of our largest programs – and the leading source of federal funding for law enforcement – is the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, commonly known as JAG. JAG, a formula grant program, supports a wide range of activities intended to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice system. Due to its importance in community crime prevention and reduction, we take great pains to see that funds are used appropriately and administered in the most transparent way possible.

Our Bureau of Justice Assistance – the office responsible for managing the JAG program – takes a number of steps to ensure compliance with program stipulations and prevent misuse of funds, including the requirement of quarterly financial and activity reports and an annual desk review of each of its active grants. These measures allow us to maximize our oversight of JAG grants and minimize the potential for inappropriate use of federal funds.

As we provide critical funding to state and local law enforcement agencies, our research and development and standards and testing programs – managed by the National Institute of Justice – enable us to deploy state-of-the-art equipment and technology to aid them in their work. Much of the equipment and technology used in public safety is adapted from the military. A notable example is police body armor, which has saved the lives of more than 3,100 officers.

Our partnership with the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security has allowed us to collaborate on the research and development of these technologies and help make them available to public safety agencies. We accomplish this by providing technical assistance to state and local agencies through the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center.

I wish to also add that, through the Police-Public Contact Survey, our Bureau of Justice Statistics collects data on citizen-law enforcement interactions such as driver stops and requests for assistance. We are actively working to improve our understanding of the nature of those interactions and to bolster our collections of data on the excessive use of force by law enforcement.

Mr. Chairman, the Department of Justice and my office – the Office of Justice Programs – are committed to using our resources to help America's law enforcement agencies protect their communities while earning the trust and respect of the citizens they serve. We will continue to bring the latest knowledge and the best tools to this task.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today, and I look forward to working with the committee to ensure that we are able to meet our collective goals of public safety and public trust.

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/ojp/speeches/2014/ojp-speech-140909.html

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From the FBI

Ohio

Justice in Labor Trafficking Case -- Subjects Get Lengthy Prison Terms

In October 2012, a young woman was arrested by police in Ashland, Ohio for shoplifting a candy bar. But when she explained why she stole the candy, her story concerned the officers, and, eventually—after additional information was obtained—the Cleveland FBI opened a federal investigation into the matter.

It turned out that the young woman, who was cognitively disabled, was being held against her will and forced to perform manual labor for a couple who lived in a multi-dwelling house not far from the store where she was arrested. And it wasn't just the woman herself being held—it was her young daughter as well. Mother and daughter had been living in the apartment—in squalid conditions and enduring constant threats—since August 2010. The withholding of food was just one of the methods their captors used to control them.

Last month, after an investigation by the FBI and the Ashland Police Department, a federal judge handed down substantial prison terms for the two primary defendants following their convictions on labor trafficking charges: Jordie Callahan was sentenced to 30 years, while Jessica Hunt received a 32-year sentence. And earlier this year, acquaintances Daniel Brown and Dezerah Silsby were also sentenced for their supportive roles in the conspiracy to deprive the victims in this case of their freedom.

Back in 2010, Callahan and Hunt, who knew about the young woman's disability, targeted her and her daughter and invited them to live in their apartment. Once there, the defendants used force, threats of force, physical restraint, and threats of physical restraint to make sure they stayed, forcing the older victim to clean and do yard work.

Some of the defendants' actions included:

•  Forcing the victims to sleep on a cement floor in a locked basement, then on the floor in a locked bedroom;

•  Keeping the younger victim locked in a bedroom while her mother worked and not allowing either victim to use a bathroom until all of the day's chores were completed;

•  Giving the victims minimal food and water;

•  Sending the woman to the store for food and other items and threatening to harm her daughter if she didn't return within a certain time frame;

•  Taunting the victims with pit bulls and snakes;

•  Forcing the woman to hit her daughter while her actions were recorded with a cell phone, then threatening to show the video to authorities if the woman didn't do their bidding; and

•  Physically harming the woman by slamming a door on her hand or kicking her in the hips, then taking her to the emergency room and confiscating any prescription pain medicine she received to feed their own drug habits.

Fortunately, the October 2012 arrest of the woman for shoplifting ultimately led to her freedom—and the freedom of her daughter.

An integral aspect of the federal case against Callahan and his co-conspirators was the work done by the FBI's victim specialist in Cleveland and the U.S. Attorney's Office victim-witness coordinator, who jointly navigated through a myriad of organizations and government entities to ensure that both mother and child received needed services and support, from the beginning of the case through trial, sentencing, and beyond.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/september/subjects-sentenced-in-labor-trafficking-case/subjects-sentenced-in-labor-trafficking-case

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Midwest respiratory virus spreads; here's what you should know

by Matt Picht

The rare respiratory virus that's hospitalizing children across the country continues to spread: 12 states have now alerted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of possible outbreaks. (Video via KMGH)

The virus, identified as enterovirus D68, was first reported in the Midwest but now might have spread as far east as North Carolina. It's sent hundreds of children to the hospital with flulike symptoms and breathing problems; some even had to be put it intensive care units. (Video via KSHB)

But what is enterovirus D68, and how worried about it should we be? Here's what we know so far.

First, the basics: enterovirus D68 is a rare strain of enterovirus, a common type of virus which hits 10 to 15 million people in the U.S. every year. Usually, these infections result in nothing more than a strong cold, but this particular version has caused some nasty respiratory symptoms — very young or asthmatic children are particularly at risk from this virus. (Video via Fox News)

Previous outbreaks were confined to small clusters of people; this is the first mass outbreak of the virus on record. One scientist told The Washington Post, "We speculate that this virus in the past 10 to 15 years has sort of evolved into different sub types. ... Maybe it has mutated into something that is more easily transmissible, I don't know if that is the case but it's certainly possible."

There's no specific vaccine or treatment, but health officials say the disease can be prevented by common-sense hygiene — washing your hands and avoiding sick people will go a long way towards stopping the spread.

And despite all the scary images this outbreak is generating, a contributor for The Daily Beast thinks the panic is a little overblown. He points to the last time this virus raised its head back in February, when it was linked to partial paralysis.

"That outbreak, too, flashed brilliantly across the headlines and created a similar legion of terrified parents who called worn-down pediatricians for support. Now, months later, few even recall that winter panic."

Fortunately, the illness isn't fatal; so far, no one has died during this outbreak, and most children who might have contracted the virus have recovered.

http://www.wsbradio.com/news/lifestyles/health/midwest-respiratory-virus-spreads-heres-what-you-s/nhJWF/

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US efforts to track Islamic extremists reportedly hampered by disputes with Europe

by Fox News

Efforts by U.S. intelligence officials to track American and European-born fighters who travel to the Middle East to join Islamic extremist groups like ISIS have been complicated by different approaches to sharing information and homeland security from their European counterparts, according to a published report.

The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. officials are struggling to ascertain the movements of suspected extremists once they enter certain European countries. The gaps are occurring despite the fact that the U.S. and several European security services have developed close intelligence links, with intelligence from both sides of the Atlantic buttressing terror watch lists kept by U.S. officials, such as the no-fly list.

According to the Journal, a particular cause for concern among U.S. intelligence officials is a series of anti-terror proposals made last week by British Prime Minister David Cameron, most notably to revoke the passports of British nationals who have traveled to fight for ISIS. The British proposal reportedly has been greeted warily by U.S. counter-terrorism officials, who say that any move to confiscate passports could prevent people who have traveled to Syria and Iraq from speaking to authorities and providing intelligence about what is happening there.

Apparently buttressing the U.S. officials' concerns, a report in The Times of London last week suggested that up to 30 British-born ISIS fighters have been disgusted by the militants' brutal tactics and wish to return home, but are fearful of doing so due to the punitive measures advocated by Cameron.

Meanwhile, President Obama is scheduled to meet with congressional leaders Tuesday afternoon to discuss his plan to combat the ISIS threat. Few details of Obama's plan have been revealed ahead of a scheduled Wednesday address to the nation, though the New York Times reported Monday that the White House was in the process of planning a three-phase campaign that some Pentagon officials believe would take at least three years to fully execute.

The U.S. has already launched close to 150 airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq, and The Times reported that the final phase of the campaign would call for the extension of airstrikes into Syria, where ISIS has its home base.

The Obama administration is also bringing pressure on allies to swing firmly behind action against ISIS. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to travel to to Saudi Arabia and Jordan to meet with Mideast leaders and gauge their level of commitment to a growing worldwide coalition. The Associated Press reported that Kerry pressed a core group of 10 countries to form a loose coalition to go after last week's NATO summit. Along with the United States, the coalition comprises the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Germany, Canada, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark.

As he weighs his next move, Obama was soliciting advice Monday from prominent foreign policy experts from across the political spectrum over dinner at the White House. Among the guests invited to join Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were former national security advisers from the Obama, George W. Bush, Clinton and Carter administrations, as well as Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass and former Acting CIA Director Michael Morrell.

In a call Monday evening, Obama congratulated new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi for the approval of a new government. The White House said al-Abadi "expressed his commitment to work with all communities in Iraq as well as regional and international partners to strengthen Iraq's capabilities" to fight the Islamic State militants.

Obama also spoke with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the need to keep addressing the ongoing threat from the Islamic State and to thank Australia for its contributions to humanitarian air drops in northern Iraq, the White House said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/09/us-efforts-to-track-islamic-extremists-reportedly-hampered-by-disputes-with/

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Misssouri

Ferguson to reform municipal court, add police review board

by Kelly Moffitt

As national attention mounts on the way St. Louis municipalities use court fine revenue for city operations and on police use of force in the area, the Ferguson City Council has announced the proposal of three major reforms.

The city will hold ward meetings for public input on the reforms, with some of the proposals on the agenda for Tuesday night's City Council meeting. It will be held at 7 p.m. at Greater Grace Church, 3690 Pershall Road.

Here's the breakdown of the proposed reforms:

Establishing a Citizen Review Board to work with the police department to review their actions.

I ntroducing an ordinance that will keep court fine revenues at or below 15 percent of Ferguson's revenue. Any excess will be earmarked for special community projects, not general revenue.

Reforming the way Ferguson's municipal court works by repealing the "failure to appear" offense, abolishing some administrative fees which may impact low-income persons to a greater extent and the creation of a special docket for defendants having trouble making monthly payments.

Likewise, the council announced, the municipal judge has called for a warrant recall to run from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Those who have outstanding warrants are encouraged to call the municipal court clerk for information on the recall.

“The overall goal of these changes is to improve trust within the community and increase transparency, particularly within Ferguson's courts and police department,” said Ward 1 Council Member Mark Byrne in a statement.

Finally, the city is seeking funding for the West Florissant Great Streets Project in conjunction with the City of Dellwood and St. Louis County to improve the corridor where the majority of protests and damage occurred in the wake of the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/morning_call/2014/09/ferguson-to-reform-municipal-courts-add-police.html

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New York

At Hearing On NYPD Force, The '5,000-Pound Elephant In The Room' Is 'Broken Windows'

NEW YORK -- It took two hours during Monday's packed City Council hearing with NYPD Commissioner William Bratton for someone to mention “broken windows.” It was council member Robert Cornegy (D-Brooklyn) who finally broached the subject, calling the controversial policing strategy the “5,000-pound elephant in the room.”

Cornegy made the remark while questioning Bratton about the NYPD's continued crackdown on subway dancers, a classic example of the policing theory that holds that targeting low-level offenses helps curb more serious crime.

“I'm extremely concerned that too many New Yorkers just doing what they do to get by in these tough times are being charged with crimes even when their activities are classified as violations and not misdemeanors,” Cornegy told Bratton, adding that the crackdown could amount to “the over-criminalizing of New Yorkers participating” in an “informal economy.”

Bratton, who championed broken windows policing during an earlier stint as NYPD commissioner in the ‘90s, responded sternly that subway cars are “not for dancing” and that the performers are a danger to passengers.

To the disappointment of many in the audience, this brief exchange, and a couple short discussions later in the hearing, were the closest New York has come to a formal, public debate on broken windows. Monday's hearing instead centered around Bratton's new plan to retrain 20,000 NYPD officers every year. The retraining, which would cost $25 million to $30 million a year, would focus on defusing conflicts with uncooperative suspects, the proper use of force, and using summonses and warnings as alternatives to arrest.

The changes stem from the death of Eric Garner this summer. Garner, a black 43-year-old father of six, died after a white NYPD officer, Daniel Pantaleo, put him into a banned chokehold during an arrest in Staten Island for selling untaxed cigarettes. A viral video shows Garner screaming “I can't breathe!” numerous times before his body goes limp. A medical examiner ruled his death homicide.

The death spurred intense criticism of broken windows, with critics arguing that there's no evidence to support its effectiveness in preventing serious crime. A NY Daily News analysis showed the dramatic racial disparities in how low-level crimes are enforced in New York.

“There was no real need to arrest Mr. Garner or to use the level of force that we all saw on the video tape,” Alex Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College, said in a statement submitted to the council Monday. “A civilian inspector could just as easily come and issued a citation. For those who think arrest is a better solution I will point out that Mr. Garner was arrested dozens of previous times and it seems to have had no positive impact on his behavior or life circumstances.”

There are “civilian alternatives to relying on police work” for enforcing low-level crimes, Vitale added, that “are much cheaper to implement, more effective, and less likely to have long term negative consequences for those who are currently arrested and ticketed.”

Daneil Loehr, an investigator with legal group the Bronx Defenders, spoke during “public comment” portion of Monday's hearing, after all but two city council members and most reporters had left.

“Training can only do so much while the strategy of broken windows policing remains intact,” Loehr said. “Whether the officers are trained or not, the encounters designed by broken windows policing increase the odds of misconduct and created distrust due to the volume of police encounters it generates and the disparate targeting of communities of color.”

Josmar Trujillo, of New Yorkers Against Bratton, told HuffPost he was disappointed at the “softball questions” many council members posed to Bratton.

He said the call for training, although a “politically savvy” response to Garner's death, does little to address the “fundamental” problems with broken windows. The council, Trujillo added, needs a hearing on broken windows “immediately.”

Since Garner's death, a handful of council members and other New York lawmakers have publicly criticized broken windows. After Monday's hearing, council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito told reporters that the policing strategy “would be something that we would want to cover possibly in a subsequent hearing.”

But even if the council were to reform the NYPD's embrace of broken wndows, it's unclear whether Mayor Bill de Blasio would support such a move. Despite coming into office this year with a promise to end stop and frisk, and to improve the NYPD's relationship with communities of color, de Blasio has thus far been steadfast in his support of Bratton's use of broken windows.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/09/nypd-broken-windows-city-council_n_5788296.html

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California

Community Policing Aims to Create Safer Neighborhoods

by Elizabeth Lee

LONG BEACH, CALIF.— The shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer during a street confrontation in Ferguson, Missouri has sparked debate about racial divisions in America, and the sometimes hostile relationship between police and some communities. Many police departments, including the one in racially diverse Long Beach, California, are using a technique called community policing to both fight crime and improve relations.

Through the years, the city of Long Beach has struggled with gang violence, poverty, and racial tensions among residents and with police.

Resident Jacob Sarenana, 22, said he has experienced it firsthand.

“They always try to mess with me. I ask 'what's the reason for pulling me over?' [The police will say] 'Oh, because you fit the description.' Really? Really, yeah, I guess I'm always fitting the description then, because I'm always getting pulled over,” said Sarenana.

Community activist Darick Simpson has been working to improve relations by coordinating meetings between young people and officers.

Simpson said in a city where more than 30% of youth under 17 are poor, poverty and racial differences become the causes of conflict.

“With any differences come some misunderstanding. People bring their culture, they bring that history into the workplace into schools, into different social scenarios,” said Simpson.

While racial differences can cause conflict, Simpson said he has seen improvement over the years. Last year, the city saw its lowest violent crime rate in more than 40 years. So far this year, the numbers are even lower.

Don Rodriguez works with young people in the city, and said officers are more involved with the community than ever before.

“Now we're seeing more community people involved in the policing, working with the police, police getting a better feel of the community,” said Rodriguez.

Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell said that in past years, officers would tell the community what the problems were and try to fix them. But that philosophy has changed into one of “community policing” -- partnering with citizens and community leaders to solve deep-rooted problems in the neighborhoods.

“We build a team. And when you have a team, when a crisis comes up, you're not dealing with it by yourself. And too often when we see things get volatile across America, whether it's a racial issue or another similar type of issue -- it's often because there aren't those pre-existing relationships in place,” explained McDonnell.

But, he pointed out, even successful partnerships are not a guarantee that conflicts won't happen.

“We will always have issues that arise. We will always have that potential for conflict. It's not if it happens, it's when, and more importantly, how we deal with it when it does happen,” said McDonnell.

McDonnell said the key to shifting deep-rooted biases is reaching out to young people all the time, not just when a crime has occurred.

http://www.voanews.com/content/community-policing-aims-to-create-safer-neighborhoods/2443338.html

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California

A change of tune for LAPD as community policing makes gains

(Video on site)

LOS ANGELES - In the public housing projects of the Watts neighborhood in Southeast, Los Angeles, police seem as determined to make friends as they do to make arrests.

"These kids look up to us as a mentor, a father figure, a mother figure, a close auntie," said Officer Tiffany Norwood, who serves in what is called the Community Safety Partnership.

It's a change from how police were seen here less than a decade ago.

"The relationship back then, it was hostile. There was mutual disrespect. There was mutual fear," said Capt. Phillip Tingirides, who took command of the community police station here in 2007.

"We were so busy going from one shooting scene to the next, sweeping up the casings, and just not even looking at this community as being families, as being people who are suffering, as being people who have no other options because there are no jobs."

Tingirides has led his officers in changing attitudes and changing language.

"There's a difference between telling someone, 'Hey, can I talk to you?' and 'Hey, get over here!'" said Tingirides.

Two decades ago, the LAPD was best known for incidents like the 1991 beating of Rodney King, that led to riots against police brutality.

For civil rights attorney Connie Rice, it would have been impossible to believe that the day would come when the LAPD would be trusted. In the 1990's Rice became known for suing the police.

"No one else would tell LAPD you can't shoot people in the back when they're fleeing from you," said Rice. "You can't beat people to a pulp just because they mouth off to you."

In 1999, the Rampart Scandal revealed widespread misconduct and corruption in the LAPD. Under supervision of a federal judge the department was forced to change. Rice headed the panel that recommended reforms.

"We jumped on LAPD with everything we had because we knew this was the last chance that we had to get this police department to understand they serve the poor, black population," said Rice.

The relationship is far from perfect. Protests followed the fatal police shooting last month of Ezell Ford, an unarmed mentally ill man. Police Chief Charlie Beck met critics and promised a transparent investigation, as the LAPD tries to hold onto the gains made through its community policing.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-change-of-tune-for-lapd-as-community-policing-makes-gains/

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Indiana

Blight elimination program aims to improve public safety

by Jack Rinehart

INDIANAPOLIS - A statewide program aimed at improving public safety kicked off Monday in Indianapolis.

The Blight Elimination Program provides state funds for demolition, while at the same time, requires new construction to follow on the razed site. In the St. Clair neighborhood on the city's near east side, the local neighborhood development corporation has used a similar program to rebuild and restore more than 60 homes.

One blighted home at in the 900 block of North Beville Avenue was demolished in less than two hours, Monday.

Area resident Emerson Willis came to see the house come tumbling down.

"I drove down here to see the house come down because of the crime that this house and the house right beside it attract to the area. I 'm excited to see everything they're going to do on Beville here in the next six months," Willis said.

The home is the first of more than 4,000 homes targeted for demolition. As part of its share, the city of Indianapolis received $6.4 million to tear down 336 homes, Metropolitan Development Director Adam Thies said.

"Homes that were once desirable are less desirable and certainly are going to need modernization and change. And some homes are simply not going to be saved as that," Thies said.

Near East Area Renewal Executive Director John Hay said the demolitions will make residents feel safer.

"It increases value. It increases safety. The sense of neighborhood and the sense of ownership goes up and it makes a difference for the community," Hay said.

The city has targeted five homes on Beville Avenue for demolition with plans for a new home to take its place. Residents and property owners in the neighborhood will reap the benefits of reinvesting in the community.

"I think it's going to improve the neighborhood and bring property values up. I'm a homeowner and my parents own a couple of properties on the block. I think it's a real good thing," resident Ernest Collins said.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/blight-elimination-program-aims-to-improve-public-safety

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Colorado

Fort Collins police open, transparent

by John Hutto

From time to time around the country, we see communities in conflict as a result of police action or a controversial event. While it is natural to wonder if this could happen here in Fort Collins, I think the more important discussion revolves around strategies for ensuring we address issues as a community before they have the opportunity to spin out of control.

Fort Collins Police Services is driven by our mission, vision and values. We are dedicated to providing service through a model of community policing. For us this means engaging the community in an open dialogue about your priorities and then delivering service to address those priorities in a professional and compassionate manner. Our view of community policing drives an expectation that every member of Fort Collins Police Services engages in a problem solving approach in reaching a resolution.

We also have looked for innovative ways to deliver police service to the community. District 1 and the Neighborhood Enforcement Team, or NET, are examples of this. The unique environment of downtown Fort Collins requires a unique police approach. District 1 was created to address the specific needs of that environment. The officers assigned to District 1 work closely with the downtown community in building partnerships to address issues.

The officers assigned to NET tackle long-term issues that can affect quality of life in our neighborhoods. NET was created with the understanding that a patrol officer responding to a call for service may not always have the time or resources to address what may be a chronic issue. NET officers work with neighbors by listening and creating solutions that often involve other city departments, such as code enforcement. Like the officers assigned to District 1, the NET team's greatest strength lies in building partnerships. By bringing neighborhood stakeholders together with those best equipped to address the issues, we have created a viable model of success.

In addition to an emphasis on community policing, Fort Collins Police Services operates in an open and transparent manner. Our website, fcgov.com/police, provides a comprehensive look at our operations and services. In addition to dozens of safety and general information topics, on that page you also can find our full and complete policy manual.

Fort Collins Police Services is deeply committed to being your partner in public safety through our dedication to community policing in an open and transparent environment.

John Hutto is the Fort Collins police chief. Contact him at jhutto@fcgov.com or (970) 221-6550.

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/local/2014/09/07/hutto-fort-collins-police-open-transparent/15156389/

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New York

NYPD to test body-worn cameras

Department announced Thursday it's launching a pilot program to test 60 cameras worn by officers, becoming the latest and largest police department in the country to accept the technology

by Tom Hays

NEW YORK — The New York Police department announced Thursday it's launching a pilot program to test 60 cameras worn by officers, becoming the latest and largest police department in the country to accept the technology as a tool of modern law enforcement.

At a news conference, Police Commissioner William Bratton predicted that the cameras would soon become as commonplace as police radios and bulletproof vests.

"It is the next wave," Bratton said. "It is going to be an essential part of what an officer wants to wear on patrol."

The pilot program, funded by a $60,000 donation from a police foundation, is modeled after one being conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department, Bratton said. Officers will be asked to voluntarily use one of two versions — one worn behind the ear, the other clipped to the front of the uniform — while on patrol in five precincts around the city.

"This pilot program will provide transparency, accountability and protection for both the police officers and those they serve, while reducing financial losses for the city," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday in a joint statement with Public Advocate Letitia James.

Bratton cautioned that broader use of the cameras in the 35,000-officer department faces several hurdles, including costs that could run into the millions of dollars annually. The department still must develop protocols for when an officer should turn on a camera and determine how to store a potentially massive amount of video footage and for how long, he said.

The NYPD also must overcome skepticism from police unions. Bratton said he had met with union officials, telling them that there is evidence that the cameras can protect officers from false claims of abuse.

"It's not a simple issue," Bratton said. "There are a lot of complexities going forward."

The commissioner said he was moving ahead with the program without waiting for final resolution of the legal fight over a federal judge's order to try out the technology to deter illegal street stops of minorities. The order is still under appeal by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and other unions.

"Police officers have nothing to hide, but there are many unanswered questions as to how this will work practically," PBA president Patrick Lynch said in a statement on Thursday. "We await the answers."

The number of police departments using cameras has grown recently in part because technology has become smaller and easier to use.

In Ferguson, Missouri, where protests have raged over the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson, police started wearing cameras this week. Chief Tom Jackson said that the department was given about 50 body cameras by two companies and that each officer will get one to use.

Donna Lieberman, head of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the cameras should be a win-win as long as their use is limited to police interactions.

"But we also have concerns about mission creep and privacy," she said. "The NYPD has a long history of engaging in surveillance of innocent New Yorkers, and body cameras can't become yet another tool for massive police surveillance. Safeguards must be in place to protect the privacy of both officers and the public."

http://www.policeone.com/police-products/body-cameras/articles/7532661-NYPD-to-test-body-worn-cameras/

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Texas

Border Patrol: Leave law enforcement to the pros

Coordination is challenging among the law enforcement entities alone. Armed civilian militias further complicate the effort

by Christopher Sherman

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas — Not long ago, the U.S. Border Patrol was the only law enforcement agency monitoring the mesquite thickets and sugarcane fields along the Rio Grande, and an agent's challenge was to distinguish between an exhausted immigrant and a threat.

Now the thick brush is teeming with hundreds of state troopers, National Guardsmen and civilian militia members, all heavily armed and often wearing tactical vests and camouflage.

Since illegal immigration spiked in the Rio Grande Valley this summer, the Border Patrol has dispatched more agents, the Texas Department of Public Safety has sent more troopers and Gov. Rick Perry deployed as many as 1,000 guardsmen to the area. Officials have refused to release exact numbers, but Texas is spending $1.3 million a week on state troopers and about $12 million a month on the guardsmen.

Field communication among the various armed agents is fragmented, and a recent friendly fire incident involving a militia member prompted the Border Patrol this week to urge that law enforcement be left to the professionals. Meanwhile, in border communities, some locals fear that the increased security presence is more of a threat.

Coordination is challenging among the law enforcement entities alone. They use different radio equipment, which complicates direct communication in the field. So their representatives sit side by side in a 24/7 command center to avoid surprises — "deconfliction" in law enforcement parlance. Each shift of Border Patrol agents is briefed on the presence and activities of other entities before going into the field.

Armed civilian militias, which have joined the fray in unknown numbers, further complicate the effort.

"Sometimes it can be dangerous, because you have all these (non-law enforcement) people out there running around the border," said Kevin Oaks, the Border Patrol's chief in the Rio Grande Valley. "There are cartel members that carry assault weapons and camouflage, and then there's others that may be under the auspices of whatever group, may look very similar, and we have no idea who those people are. My fear is that these things clash and eventually there will be a very bad outcome."

That was nearly the case Aug. 29, when a Border Patrol agent pursuing a group of immigrants near the Rio Grande east of Brownsville spun around to find a man in civilian clothes holding a rifle. The agent fired several shots but didn't hit the man, who was patrolling with a citizens' militia group.

The National Guard's deployment so far has barely registered with area residents. Soldiers circulate mostly between their hotels and border observation points. State troopers, patrolling in their black and white vehicles, have been far more visible.

On a recent evening, 15 troopers could be seen driving from one side of Rio Grande City to the other. They were among 31 units seen on a 35-mile stretch of border highway between Escobares and Penitas.

Rio Grande City Mayor Ruben Villarreal is philosophical about the troopers lining his main street and the guardsmen filling his Holiday Inn. Border towns are often buffeted by decisions made in far off capitals on both sides of the border, and they learn to adapt and persevere over time.

"Living along the border has made us so resilient," Villarreal said. "If we want a sense of security in the nation — because it's not just security for Rio Grande City or Texas, it's for the nation — we have to understand there are going to be compromises."

But the heightened security presence has rattled some residents who are used to living in a region with a ubiquitous law enforcement presence.

About 50 people gathered Thursday at the San Juan offices of La Union del Pueblo Entero, a labor advocacy group. A woman took the microphone and asked the crowd how many of them were worried about the intensified DPS patrols. Nearly everyone in the room raised their hand.

Among them was Isabel Barbosa, of La Joya, who said she was riding in a car with her mother and four siblings last month when a state trooper pulled them over, saying her mother had crossed the white line on the shoulder of the road.

Barbosa, 21, said her mother was initially told she would receive only a warning. But she was taken into custody after a Border Patrol agent arrived and determined she was in the country illegally. She was deported the next day after living in the U.S. for 18 years, leaving behind a sick husband and five children, the youngest of whom is 3.

"People are afraid to go out even to the store. They can't take their children even to the clinics. They can't do anything," Barbosa told The Associated Press.

Villarreal concedes that some of his constituents have been taken aback by the increased security and warns visitors to closely observe the speed limit, even though troopers find other reasons, such as dark window tints, to make stops.

"We sacrifice privacy an awful lot down here for the security that this nation needs," Villarreal said.

http://www.policeone.com/border-patrol/articles/7538347-Border-Patrol-Leave-law-enforcement-to-the-pros/

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Wiconsin

How cops can help citizens better understand police use of force

Policing — already a dangerous profession — is becoming even more so because of anti-police rhetoric and inaccurate reporting in use of force cases

by Lt. Dan Marcou

Picture the following hypothetical scenario: A chief at a press conference states, “Ladies and gentlemen I have gathered you here today, because police use of force cases are routinely mishandled by journalists and community leaders. It is my belief that journalists and community leaders may do a better job in this area if they have at least a basic understanding of what a justified use of force looks like.”

There are three things the public needs to know about contacts with police.

1. Be courteous

2. Be cooperative

3. Be compliant

Criminality, Not Color
It is important for you to convey to the public that police officers pursue criminality, not color. Officers must have a reason to make contact with an individual. They must be able to explain later in court that they had either a reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe the individual had committed or was about to commit an offense.

The fact is that more than 95 percent of police contacts are handled without rising above the level of dialog. This is because most people are cooperative and compliant. This is the way it should be, because it is unlawful to resist and or obstruct an officer, while in the performance of his/her duty.

If a person disagrees with a stop or an arrest, the place to argue the case vigorously is in a court of law, not on the street.

Force Options
When an officer meets resistance, officers are trained to use a level of force justified by the specific threat, or resistance they are presented with. For example, if a person pulls away from an officer making an arrest and snaps, “Don't you touch me,” the officer can choose to apply a compliance hold to that person.

These holds are designed to convince the person to comply.

When a suspect is actively resisting, the officer can also choose to disengage and deploy a TASER or utilize pepper spray to overcome that resistance.

It might surprise some people to discover that when a suspect strikes an officer, or even acts as if he or she is about to strike an officer, that officer can legally deliver impacts with what we call personal body weapons.

Officers can punch, kick, or strike with elbows and/or knees to defend themselves and/or make an arrest.

Officers can also choose to deliver baton impacts to targeted areas on the body. Officers can even strike a suspect more than once if once does not stop the suspect's threat. If a suspect tries to hit an officer, don't be surprised when that officer hits back.

Use of Deadly Force
I've never heard an officer say at the beginning of a shift, “I hope I get to shoot someone today.”

While the vast majority of officers never fire their weapons in the line of duty, some have to. When an officer is faced with the threat of death or great bodily injury — or someone they are sworn to protect is faced with that same imminent threat — an officer is justified in using deadly force.

There are three generally held misconceptions about deadly force that continually arise and need to be addressed:

1. An officer can shoot an unarmed man under certain conditions.
An officer may have to use deadly force on an unarmed man who is larger, stronger, and/or attempting to disarm the officer, for example. In the case of a suspect, who is battering an officer to the point that he or she may suffer death or great bodily harm, the use of deadly force is defensible. Police officers do not have to sustain a severe beating in the line of duty.

Other factors that could justify an officer's choice to utilize deadly force are the extent of that officer's injury, exhaustion, or the number of assaultive adversaries the officer is confronted with.

2. An officer can, in certain conditions, shoot someone in the back.
You see if a suspect is fleeing and their escape presents an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to the community at large, the use of deadly force can be justified. On some occasions a round might enter through the back, because of the dynamics of the circumstance.

3. Officers are not — and never will be — trained to shoot to wound or shoot weapons out of subjects' hands.
These are not realistic options. Handguns are not accurate enough to deliberately attempt such things when lives are on the line.

The Bottom Line
From 2003 to 2012, 535 officers were killed in the line of duty in this country. Another 580,000 were injured in the line of duty.

I'm afraid that policing — which is already a dangerous profession — is becoming even more so, because of anti-police rhetoric and inaccurate reporting in use of force cases.

If every person contacted by officers were to remain courteous, cooperative, and compliant, there would never be a need to employ force. The reality is, however, that although most people will cooperate, some people will resist arrest.

It is not easy for a lone police officer to get a resistive suspect into handcuffs. If it looks rough, that's because it is rough.

Police work is a contact sport, but for cops there is no second place. If someone in the public sees a cop struggling with a suspect and decides not to give him/her a hand, they should at least give them the benefit of the doubt.

Cops are not asking for citizens to get into the arena with them — they would just like the audience to stop cheering for the other team.

The only way to get these three extremely simple ideas out to our communities is for you to take this information and share it, with both your fellow officers and with your community members.

About the author

Lt. Dan Marcou retired as a highly decorated police lieutenant and SWAT Commander with 33 years of full time law enforcement experience. He is a nationally recognized police trainer in many police disciplines and is a Master Trainer in the State of Wisconsin. He has authored three novels The Calling: The Making of a Veteran Cop , S.W.A.T. Blue Knights in Black Armor , and Nobody's Heroes are all available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. Visit his website and contact Dan Marcou

http://www.policeone.com/use-of-force/articles/7526699-How-cops-can-help-citizens-better-understand-police-use-of-force/

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Indiana

Freed: Missing mother caged, raped and forced to wear dog collar

Indiana woman saved after two-month ordeal in mobile home hell by good Samaritan.

by Jason Molinet

A good Samaritan helped an Indiana woman missing for nearly two months to escape a mobile home where she had been raped and kept in a cage, according to the Evansville Police Department.

Joelle Lockwood, a 30-year-old mother of two, went missing July 9. She was reportedly last seen intoxicated and standing on a street corner waiting for a ride.

Hours after Lockwood was reunited with family on Saturday, Evansville SWAT raided the home and arrested Rick R. House Jr., 37, and Kendra S. Tooley, 44, the Evansville Courier & Press reported. The couple will be formally charged with rape and criminal confinement on Monday, police said.

"I would say their state when they were taken into custody was emotionless," Posey County Sheriff Greg Oeth told the Courier & Press.

Ronald Higgs, the good Samaritan, saw Lockwood Thursday when he visited the home. Tooley is his ex-wife. Higgs reportedly returned fought for Lockwood's freedom one night later when he saw her wearing only a T-shirt and dog collar, according to the Tristate Homepage.

"I didn't really know what I could do because I'm nowhere near the man I used to be, but I'm not leaving this house without her," Higgs told the Tristate Homepage. "I don't care what I have to do. She's coming home."

After a scuffle, Higgs left with Lockwood.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/freed-missing-mother-raped-forced-wear-dog-collar-article-1.1931847