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NEWS of the Week - Nov 7 to Nov 13, 2011
on some NAACC / LACP issues of interest

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NEWS of the Week 
on some issues of interest to the community policing and neighborhood activist across the country

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following group of articles from local newspapers and other sources constitutes but a small percentage of the information available to the community policing and neighborhood activist public. It is by no means meant to cover every possible issue of interest, nor is it meant to convey any particular point of view ... We present this simply as a convenience to our readership ...

NOTE: To see full stories either click on the Daily links or on the URL provided below each article.

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Nov 13, 2011

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Editorial

Prison realignment done right

Putting California inmates under county control offers a chance for innovation and progress.

Californians shouldn't be surprised by recent reports, such as The Times' front-page story Friday, that county jails are filling up. Public safety realignment is no secret. After years of refusal to consider sentencing reforms, inability to provide adequate drug treatment, unwillingness to prepare parolees for lives outside prison and a continuing insistence on locking up more people longer, state prisons became so overcrowded that the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the population reduced. There was no appetite among the public or their elected representatives to build and staff more prisons. The state's options were to immediately release 33,000 inmates onto the streets, or to "realign": move much of the authority for inmates to the county level. Gov. Jerry Brown wisely chose the latter course. Counties now have to do what state government couldn't: make choices about whom to keep behind bars, whom to monitor at home with ankle bracelets, whom to refer for drug treatment.

The emergency realignment builds on a nationwide movement of more thoughtful, more deliberative decisions to incarcerate less and rehabilitate more. Many of the progressive innovations in criminal justice are coming not from supposedly liberal states and officials, but from conservatives who are determined to focus on cost and outcomes while keeping justice in the forefront. The group Right on Crime is setting the pace in states such as Texas. At the same time, leaders on the left, in California and elsewhere, have been conspicuously quiet about making realignment work. It's time for liberals who have long criticized the prison-industrial complex to redirect the local discourse from panic to progress.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-realign-20111113,0,6841083.story

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Michigan

Bing must say, 'Enough,' then lead

The bodies continue to pile up in too many Detroit neighborhoods.

And Mayor Dave Bing continues to stand down.

In a city where murder is as common as the sunrise, Bing has yet to attack the homicide crisis head-on, or to help build the social, cultural or neighborhood infrastructure that could get at root causes.

Detroit had the nation's highest homicide rate among the largest cities in 2010, and the city concedes the problem is worsening: Detroit's on track to post a 20% year-over-year increase in killings for 2011. The homicide rate could reach its highest point in nearly a decade.

http://www.freep.com/article/20111113/COL33/311130004/Stephen-Henderson-Bing-must-say-Enough-then-lead

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Jeff Gerritt: Other big cities find ways to cut violence

Violent crime plagues every major city in the nation.

It's a tough, complex and vexing problem. In Detroit, the problem is especially acute, with swaths of city neighborhoods beset by abandonment, lack of social fabric and spotty city services. But the notion that Detroit can't take aggressive action to reduce homicide rates is wrong and dangerous -- because it adds to the hopelessness and helplessness in many neighborhoods.

Crime is not a natural phenomenon, like bad weather, as Gary LaFree, a University of Maryland criminologist, put it. "More efficient use of policing can make a difference," he said. "It's probably not a 50% difference, but it can be a 10% difference."

Here are three cities that show how law enforcement working hand-in-hand with communities and neighborhoods can make a difference.

BALTIMORE: A FOCUS ON REPEAT VIOLENT OFFENDERS

BOSTON: BETTER POLICE- COMMUNITY COOPERATION

SAN JOSE: EFFECTIVE GANG PREVENTION TASK FORCE

http://www.freep.com/print/article/20111113/OPINION01/111130456/Jeff-Gerritt-Other-big-cities-find-ways-cut-violence

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Florida

Springs Police promotes Crime Watch program

The rash of residential burglaries in recent months has spurred Miami Springs Police to promote and revitalize its Citizens' Crime Watch program.

“We want to provide our citizens with the information and tools to help us fight crime or stop crime,” said Community Policing Officer Janice Simon. “Who knows their neighborhood better than the residents?”

Simon said that despite police officers cruising the neighborhoods, they don't always know what vehicle doesn't belong at a certain house, or who lives there or what is out of place.

“Residents should call us if they have the slightest suspicion or if a person or activity just doesn't seem right,” said Simon. “Sometimes they will see a person at a neighbor's house and rationalize that maybe it's just a worker or visitor. We'd rather people call us and we'll make the determination.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/11/2492279/springs-police-promotes-crime.html

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Nov 12, 2011

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Trucker's widow wins support in push for more safe rest areas

A truck driver's killing has led to proposed federal legislation aimed at providing more safe rest areas for truckers.

A transportation bill headed to the Senate floor includes Jason's Law, named after New York truck driver Jason Rivenburg, 35, who was killed in 2009 by a robber after he pulled his rig into an abandoned South Carolina gas station used by truckers as a rest stop. The robber got only $7, and Rivenburg left behind a son, then 23 months old, and a wife, then pregnant with twins.

Within days after her husband's funeral, Rivenburg's widow, Hope, met with her congressman, Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.). They then joined with trucking industry groups and others to mount a lobbying effort to make safe truck-parking facilities a national priority.

She and other family members have traveled to Capitol Hill, visiting lawmakers' offices, and have used Facebook and Twitter to rally the public to call their representatives.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Hundreds offer to help siblings orphaned by drug war violence

Hundreds of readers have offered support to a young El Monte man whose story of becoming patriarch to four younger siblings after a drug cartel shooting robbed them of their parents appeared in a Column One in The Times.

More than 300 people have called or written to ask how they can help Adali Gutierrez, 20, and his siblings.

Checks have arrived blindly in the mail -- several have been for $100; one was for $5, along with a simple note in Spanish.

The offers have included money, gift cards, groceries, a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal, rent payments, computers and Internet access.

The family's parents were killed with they inadvertently walked into a drug war dispute in Mexico. Adali, who was there to celebrate his birthday, was seriously injured in the shootings, and was left with lasting scars on his face.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/hundreds-offer-to-help-siblings-orphaned-by-drug-war-violence.html#more

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Honoring our Veterans for their Service and Sacrifice

WASHINGTON—In this week's address, President Obama spoke from the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego during Veterans Day, and he called on all Americans to rededicate themselves to serving our brave men and women in uniform as well as they have served us. Today, there are more than 850,000 veterans unemployed, which is why the President issued a challenge to private companies to hire or train more than 100,000 post-9/11 veterans or their spouses by 2013, and he was pleased to see the Senate pass proposals in his American Jobs Act on Thursday to give businesses tax credits for hiring veterans. President Obama told veterans that just as they have fought for us, he will continue to fight for jobs and opportunities for them, and that the United States will always honor their service and sacrifice.

Remarks of President Barack Obama

As Prepared for Delivery
San Diego, California
Saturday, November 12, 2011

I'm speaking to you from the bridge of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in San Diego. This is one of the biggest ships in the Navy, and on Friday it was home to one of the most unique college basketball games I've ever seen. It also gave members of our military and our veterans a chance to unwind a little bit, and on this Veterans Day, I want to take this opportunity to thank all our men and women in uniform for their service and their sacrifice. << more >>

.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/12/weekly-address-honoring-our-veterans-their-service-and-sacrifice

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DNS Malware: Is Your Computer Infected?

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/malware_110911/image/dns-malware-large

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Operation Ghost Click

International Cyber Ring That Infected Millions of Computers Dismantled

Six Estonian nationals have been arrested and charged with running a sophisticated Internet fraud ring that infected millions of computers worldwide with a virus and enabled the thieves to manipulate the multi-billion-dollar Internet advertising industry. Users of infected machines were unaware that their computers had been compromised—or that the malicious software rendered their machines vulnerable to a host of other viruses.

Details of the two-year FBI investigation called Operation Ghost Click were announced today in New York when a federal indictment was unsealed . Officials also described their efforts to make sure infected users' Internet access would not be disrupted as a result of the operation.

The indictment, said Janice Fedarcyk, assistant director in charge of our New York office, “describes an intricate international conspiracy conceived and carried out by sophisticated criminals.” She added, “The harm inflicted by the defendants was not merely a matter of reaping illegitimate income.”

Beginning in 2007, the cyber ring used a class of malware called DNSChanger to infect approximately 4 million computers in more than 100 countries. There were about 500,000 infections in the U.S., including computers belonging to individuals, businesses, and government agencies such as NASA. The thieves were able to manipulate Internet advertising to generate at least $14 million in illicit fees. In some cases, the malware had the additional effect of preventing users' anti-virus software and operating systems from updating, thereby exposing infected machines to even more malicious software.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/malware_110911/malware_110911

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Nov 11, 2011

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L.A. County jails may be out of room next month

The state law that shifts prisoners to local authorities means the Sheriff's Department may release thousands of inmates awaiting trial. A new way of identifying the least risky ones is in the works, Baca says.

Los Angeles County's jails could run out of space as early as next month because of an influx of state prisoners, prompting officials to consider releasing potentially thousands of inmates awaiting trial.

The state's new prison law, which establishes a practice known as realignment, is expected to send as many as 8,000 offenders who would normally go to state prisons into the L.A. County Jail system in the next year.

Currently, defendants awaiting trial account for 70% of the jail population, but Sheriff Lee Baca said that might need to drop to 50%. The department is studying a major expansion of its electronic monitoring and home detention programs to keep track of inmates who are released.

Baca said the department is also developing a new risk-assessment system designed to better identify which inmates are the best candidates to leave the jails.

Additionally, the department is looking at ways to channel more offenders into education and substance abuse programs rather than jail.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jails-release-20111111,0,5341935,print.story

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Miami Springs Police promotes Crime Watch program

The rash of residential burglaries in recent months has spurred Miami Springs Police to promote and revitalize its Citizens' Crime Watch program.

“We want to provide our citizens with the information and tools to help us fight crime or stop crime,” said Community Policing Officer Janice Simon. “Who knows their neighborhood better than the residents?”

Simon said that despite police officers cruising the neighborhoods, they don't always know what vehicle doesn't belong at a certain house, or who lives there or what is out of place.

“Residents should call us if they have the slightest suspicion or if a person or activity just doesn't seem right,” said Simon. “Sometimes they will see a person at a neighbor's house and rationalize that maybe it's just a worker or visitor. We'd rather people call us and we'll make the determination.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/11/2492279/springs-police-promotes-crime.html

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Nov 10, 2011

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Police stymied by contradictions in Sky Metalwala's disappearance

In a strange case of life imitating art, it now appears that a recent episode of the NBC television series "Law & Order: SVU" featured a storyline remarkably similar to the account a mother in Washington state gave police about the disappearance of her 2-year-old son, Sky Metalwala, when she left him strapped in his car seat on the side of a road.

Julia Biryukova has told detectives her car ran out of gas Sunday morning while she was trying to take her son to the hospital. When she returned from the gas station an hour later, she said, her son was gone.

The TV show featured a story about a woman who claimed her car was stolen outside a convenience store with her son buckled in the back seat.

In the show, the mother, like Biryukova, is in the midst of a difficult divorce. And police come to suspect that the parents know more about the case than they're letting on.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Nationwide emergency warning test needs fine-tuning

The first nationwide test of the emergency warning system failed to reach all television and radio stations in the country, but federal officials said they will make improvements.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called weaknesses in the system exposed by the test "unacceptable."

"Large areas of the country received the test but some areas did not,'' the Federal Communications Commission said in a statement. Some TV stations stayed on the test longer than the planned 30 seconds. A Washington, D.C., station was stuck on a test graphic for four minutes, ABC News reported.

Some TV viewers never saw any test. "Nothing happened," read a Twitter message from Arkansas.

The FCC said the test, scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern, "served the purpose for which it was intended -- to identify gaps and generate a comprehensive set of data to help strengthen our ability to communicate during real emergencies."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Editorial

Is GPS tracking too '1984'?

The Supreme Court should rule that under the 4th Amendment, police must get a warrant before tracking a suspect using GPS surveillance.

Should the police be allowed to affix an electronic tracking device to a suspect's car without a warrant and follow his every movement for a month? That was the question at an oral argument at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The justices expressed unease with such pervasive surveillance, with one comparing it to George Orwell's "1984."

Their misgivings reflect a sense on the part of many Americans, including this editorial board, that there's something creepy about round-the-clock electronic surveillance. But when they decide the case of Antoine Jones, a suspected drug dealer who was arrested after being monitored by a global positioning system, they will have to base any decision in Jones' favor not on creepiness but on the Constitution. Fortunately, that document, interpreted in light of technological advances, supports a ruling that GPS surveillance without a warrant violates the 4th Amendment.

In his argument, Deputy Solicitor Gen. Michael Dreeben asked the court to treat GPS tracking the same way it treats visual observation of a suspect on a public street. "What a person seeks to preserve as private in the enclave of his own home or in a private letter or inside of his vehicle when he is traveling is a subject of 4th Amendment protection," Dreeben said. "But what he reveals to the world, such as his movements in a car on a public roadway, is not."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-gps-20111110,0,5546556,print.story

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Nov 9, 2011

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17 employees exposed to radiation at Idaho nuclear lab

Seventeen employees at the Idaho National Laboratory were exposed to radiation Tuesday afternoon from plutonium during a routine operation at a decommissioned reactor, officials at the lab said.

The employees were taken to a medical facility at the lab for observation, though the exposure was said to be low-level.

The lab said the public was not in danger and no release of radiation had occurred outside the facility.

The sprawing federal facility conducts a wide range of research, but the facility where the incident occured conducts work on civilian nuclear energy.

Plutonium is not highly radioactive, but inhaling or ingesting the material can cause chronic exposure and has been linked to elevated risk of cancer.

The lab could not say whether the employees were exposed to a flash of radiation or to airborne material. The exposure occurred when employees opened a container that had the plutonium inside. Sara Prentice, a spokeswoman, said it was not known what the employees were doing inside the reactor building, but she described it as a routine operation.

The incident is being managed by laboratory leaders and officials from the Energy Department's Idaho office, she said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Potential to track people via GPS alarms Supreme Court justices

The Supreme Court justices, both conservative and liberal, voiced alarm on Tuesday at the idea of giving the government unlimited power to monitor people in public through the use of GPS devices or other tracking technology. The comments came during an argument over whether FBI agents need a search warrant before they secretly install a GPS tracker on a suspect's car.

A government lawyer insisted that because no one has a right to privacy when they move on the public streets, the Constitution puts no limits on such high-tech surveillance. It would “not be a search if you put a GPS device on all of our cars, monitored our movements for a month?” asked Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

“The justices of this court?” said deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben. Yes, Roberts said.

“Under our theory and under this court's case, the justices of this court when driving on public roadways have no greater expectation ... ” “So your answer is yes,” Roberts interjected.

The chief justice said he understood the notion that agents could follow a person on foot or in a car, but “this seems dramatically different.” The new technology allows an agent to sit at in an office and monitor the movements of many persons, he said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Editorial

Life without parole for young criminals -- it's too cruel

The Supreme Court will whether it is inherently cruel and unusual to lock up someone forever for a crime committed when the perpetrator hasn't developed an adult capacity to grasp the consequences of his or her actions.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases brought by inmates in Alabama and Arkansas who were sentenced to life in prison without parole for killings they committed as 14-year-olds. On the face of it, that sounds right; in the popular imagination, it's those Bible-belt states in the South that subject children to unthinkable lifelong punishment before they are deemed, by society's cooler heads, to have had the mental and emotional capacity to vote, smoke a cigarette or even see a movie made for older teens.

It was in a Florida case last year that the Supreme Court rejected life without parole for juveniles whose crimes fell short of murder. Once again, it was the federal judiciary that had to straighten out a Southern state only too willing to impose the too-cruel and, for a teenager, too-unusual sentence of life without parole for a crime in which no one died, committed by someone with less than full adult capacity.

But those stereotypes of Southern justice are misleading; it is not only in the South that such cruel and uneven punishments are meted out. In fact, we in supposedly enlightened California come close to first place for cruel treatment of youth offenders. Year after year, California Democrats who live in fear of the county prosecutors' and victims' families' lobbies have voted down attempts to eliminate sentences of life in prison without parole for juveniles.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-juveniles-20111109,0,4507276,print.story

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"This is a test": U.S. set for alert check

(AP) The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission will hold the first national test of the Emergency Alert System.

For 30 seconds beginning Wednesday at 2 p.m., "this is a test" will be broadcast on radio, TV and cable stations, satellite radio and television services, and wireline video service providers across the country.

The national alert and warning system was established to enable the president to address the American people during emergencies and disasters. The system never has been tested nationwide.

The National Weather Service, governors and state and local emergency officials also can use aspects of the system for localized alerts

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57321252/this-is-a-test-u.s-set-for-alert-check/

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Texas

Rowlett Police Department selected as finalist for Community Policing Award

The Rowlett Police Department was honored at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP's) Annual Conference Banquet in Chicago on Oct. 26 The department was recognize d for its community policing initiatives for cities with a population of 50,001- 1100,000.

Each year since 1998 the International Association of Chiefs of Police Community Policing Committee has recognized the best practices of agencies around the world.

Entries are categorized by population, featuring innovative ideas utilizing the power of community policing, through collaboration and partnerships, to make local, national and global communities safer from crime and terrorism. This recognition comes in the form of the IAC P/Cisco Community Policing Award.

According to Chief Todd A. Miller, Chair person of the IACP Community Policing Committee, "The philosophy of community policing is more relevant and needed more today than ever before. With resources limited by current economic conditions, the force multiplication agencies receive by implementing the community policing philosophy and partnering with citizens is the most effective means of making our communities safer. That is why we undertake this tremendous effort each year to recognize the best of the best."

http://www.scntx.com/articles/2011/11/08/rowlett_lakeshore_times/news/1783r.txt

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Phony Document Rings Broken Up
Alleged California Ringleader Arrested

It just got a little harder to get a phony driver's license or Social Security card in the U.S.

On November 3, more than 300 law enforcement officers from a variety of federal and local agencies executed dozens of search warrants and arrests involving fraudulent document rings operating in California, Illinois, and Texas that reached into a number of other states and Mexico.

One of the main targets of the investigation was Alejandro Morales Serrano, who is believed to be a key player in this criminal conspiracy. Serrano and a number of his associates allegedly manufactured and sold the raw materials used to create the phony documents—like sheets of plastic laminates, monochrome card printer ribbons, hard plastic cards, and magnetic card reader/writer machines. Serrano was also one of those arrested during the law enforcement sweep.

The indictment alleges that the false documents were created on a large scale in California, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, and Michigan. In addition to U.S. driver's licenses and Social Security cards, these documents also included U.S. Permanent Residency cards (a.k.a., “green cards”), Mexican consular ID cards, and Mexican driver's licenses.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/documents_110711/documents_110711

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Nov 8, 2011

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Texas court postpones execution pending DNA appeal

Texas' highest criminal court has postponed the execution of a convicted murderer who argues that new DNA testing of old evidence could prove his innocence.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday delayed the scheduled Wednesday execution of Henry "Hank" Skinner, 49, while it examines how changes in state law concerning DNA test requests apply to his case.

Skinner was convicted and sent to death row in the murder of his girlfriend, Twila Busby, and her two adult sons in their Texas Panhandle home on New Year's Eve 1993. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court halted his execution an hour before he was due to die and sent the case back to state courts to decide the question of whether new DNA testing was required.

Skinner's attorneys have requested testing of evidence that was not tested before his trial in 1995, including blood from the murder weapon, blood from a jacket left in Busby's home, rape kit results taken from Busby, scrapings from under Busby's fingernails, and hairs she was clutching when she died. Skinner says he requested the testing before trial, but that his original lawyer ignored him.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Op-Ed

The right of citizens to videotape police

Actions against citizen videographers go against not just the Constitution but good public policy. Without a videotape, Rodney King would have been just another guy with a prior record claiming abuse.

Twenty years ago, as Rodney King was beaten by Los Angeles police officers, a private citizen in a nearby apartment turned on his video camera. Largely because of that tape, four officers were criminally charged. In July, a homeless schizophrenic man died after a police beating in Fullerton. Audio from a cellphone video caught Kelly Thomas' cries for his father and helped force an investigation that resulted in a first-degree murder charge against one police officer.

The increasing availability of cellphones and video cameras has fundamentally changed police abuse cases, creating vital evidence in cases that were once dismissed as matters of conflicting accounts between officers and citizens. With that change, however, has come a backlash from officers who, despite court rulings upholding the right of citizens to tape police in public, have been threatening or arresting people for the "crime" of recording them. In many states, prosecutors have fought to support such claims and put citizens in jail for videotaping officers, even in cases of police abuse.

In New York this year, Emily Good was arrested after videotaping the arrest of a man at a traffic stop in Rochester. Good was filming from her frontyard; an officer is heard saying to her, "I don't feel safe with you standing behind me, so I'm going to ask you to go into your house." When she continued to film, the officer said, "You seem very anti-police," and arrested her.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-turley-video-20111108,0,399116,print.story

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Editorial

Immigrant detainees deserve lawyers

The vast majority of detainees, including children and the mentally ill, are forced to represent themselves in immigration court. That could, and should, change soon.

In 2009, President Obama vowed to overhaul the nation's immigration detention system. Since then, his administration has taken some steps to deliver on that promise, such as providing detainees improved access to medical care and closing troubled facilities. But it has yet to provide the most meaningful fix: ensuring that indigent immigrants in detention have access to legal counsel.

Until now, federal courts have held that only criminal defendants are entitled to court-appointed counsel. An immigration case, even if it involves detention, is a civil matter. As a result, the vast majority of detainees, including children and the mentally ill, are forced to represent themselves in immigration court.

This month, however, a federal judge in Los Angeles could help bring some fairness to the system. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee has been asked to decide whether to grant class-action status in a lawsuit brought on behalf of mentally disabled immigrant detainees who don't have the money to pay for legal representation. If Gee certifies the class under the Rehabilitation Act, which requires the government to accommodate people with disabilities, it could help hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

That would be a great start. But much more is needed to ensure that all detainees are afforded fair treatment under the law.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-counsel-20111108,0,1550081,print.story

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Canada

Award for 'exemplary leadership' in community policing

Exemplary leadership in community policing has resulted in local auxiliary constable Cindy von Kampen being presented with a big provincial award.

Von Kampen has led several crime prevention partnerships in Courtenay and has been the president of the Comox Valley Citizens on Patrol program since 2007.

She manages a group of 58 volunteers who put in more than 15,000 hours each year and is also responsible for overseeing the Speedwatch and Stolen Auto Recovery System programs.

She also makes herself available to speak on topics such as bullying and staying safe - issues that directly involve seniors, fraud, counterfeit currency and shoplifting.

On Friday, she was presented with the Kenneth M. Eckert Community Policing Award by B.C.'s Solicitor General and Minister for Public Safety, Shirley Bond, at a ceremony in Burnaby.

http://www.canada.com/Award+exemplary+leadership+community+policing/5672937/story.html

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Nov 7, 2011

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Airport screening process may be revamped, TSA chief says

TSA Administrator John Pistole says airport security procedures may be overhauled to focus on intelligence gathering and change the way children are searched. Also, JetBlue and American Airlines face possible fines for stranding passengers.

In appearances before Congress, Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole has strongly defended the airport screening process that treats everyone the same, including infants and the elderly.

But in his latest testimony before a congressional panel, Pistole changed his tune and began talking about overhauling the system to focus on intelligence gathering and targeting those travelers the TSA knows the least about.

"Since I became TSA administrator, I have listened to ideas from people all over this country," he told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. As a result, he said, the agency is moving in the new direction by expanding several pilot security programs and changing the way children are searched at airport security checkpoints.

But don't expect the changes to cut down on the long lines at checkpoints during this holiday travel season. TSA's revised security procedures probably won't be expanded nationwide for several months, an agency spokesman said.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-20111107,0,5486773,print.story

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Kalamazoo marijuana signs say 'vote yes' to 'improve public safety'

KALAMAZOO — In the lead-up to Tuesday's Kalamazoo city election, yard signs have popped up around the city imploring residents to vote yes on a city-charter amendment to “improve public safety.”

The signs don't mention that the proposed amendment is about marijuana and that the improvement backers are seeking is to make the possession of an ounce or less of the drug the “lowest priority” for Kalamazoo law enforcement.

One sign was placed at Crosstown Parkway and South Westnedge Avenue, three blocks west of Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety headquarters.

Unruffled by its vague message, Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley can only guess what the sign is getting at: “By us not focusing on marijuana, making it less of a priority, in their estimation it frees up ... public safety officers to focus their time elsewhere,” he said.

Hadley's take on that suggestion: Possession of an ounce or less of marijuana isn't a first priority anyway. “If we get a an anonymous call that someone is smoking marijuana on their porch, we're not running lights and sirens out there,” Hadley said.

http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette_impact/print.html?entry=/2011/11/kalamazoo_marijuana_signs_say.html

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Iowa

Keeping watch

Jones looks out for neighbors, community

When residents in the Coleman District of Fort Dodge got tired of people committing crimes in their area, and wanted to bring beauty and safety to their neighborhood, they took action by forming a Neighborhood Watch group.

One of the group's founders, and current leader, is Dennis Jones. "We were having problems with people in the neighborhood committing vandalism, and there were some burglaries going on," he said. "We decided to group up and try to control them."

Neighborhood Watch groups are composed of people in a specific area who come together to make a difference in their community. This includes watching out for crimes and just being good neighbors.

In Coleman, Jones spread the word about the group by passing out fliers to everyone in the 10-block area the group covers. Jones said most neighbors responded well to the group. He said many were concerned about what was going on in their community and wanted to make a difference.

http://www.messengernews.net/page/content.detail/id/543700/Keeping-watch.html?nav=5010

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Indiana

Watch program gaining steam

STAUNTON -- According to Clay County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Rob Gambill, the Staunton Neighborhood Watch program is moving at a pace he expected. Gambill recently told The Brazil Times the group has had three different classes at this point, with a fourth planned Monday at 6:30 p.m., at the Staunton Community Center.

Gambill said the first three classes focused on identifying suspicious behavior, reporting behaviors and creating ways to make homes safer against burglary or home invasion. He said Monday's class will focus on identity theft. Gambill said the program was initially meeting on Sundays, but changed the day due to lack of attendance.

"It has fluctuated," Gambill said regarding attendance, adding the class average so far has been approximately 10 residents.

http://www.thebraziltimes.com/story/1781689.html

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