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: New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library

Crime And Justice News (November 14, 2008)

By David Badertscher, PLL

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Source: Crime and Justice News (November 14, 2008) "--Slate's Shafer: In Context, Gun Sales Uptick 'Not Very Significant' --Critics Assail City Crime Rankings; Publication Due Nov. 24 --Closing Of Ohio Youth Center Marks Change In Juvenile Justice --Boston Herald Sues For Breakdown Of MA Parole Board Votes --In China, Lionization of Accused Cop-Killer Pegged To Alienation --It May Be Illegal, But SC Hopes To Jam Prison Cell Phone Calls --No. 2 Boston Cop Takes Leave; Eyed In Academy Affair 'Mess' --Report Is Critical Of US Handling Of Illegal Immigrant Children --With New Command Center, NYC Hopes To Keep Traffic Moving --Violence, Economy Cited As Holiday Travel To Mexico Declines --Amid Controversy, Do Stats Reveal Racial Profiling In Palo Alto? --Charlotte Mulls 16 'Ambitious, Challenging' Anti-Crime Ideas Slate's Shafer: In Context, Gun Sales Uptick 'Not Very Significant' Writing in Slate, Jack Shafer notes that a popular trend story in the media has 'put the idea into circulation that the election and economic turmoil were spurring an increase in gun and ammo sales.' He says the foundation of the stories is solid: The primary measurement of gun purchases shows that sales are rising this year. The Washington Post reports there were 8.4 million background checks from Jan. 1 to Sept. 28, up 9 percent from the same period last year. Shafer writes, 'It sounds scary, but the 2008 year-to-date increase doesn't tell the whole story. The first full year of the background check system was 1999, when 8.6 million background checks were conducted. For the next four years, background checks bubbled under 8 million annually and didn't break above 8 million again until in 2004. In 2007, the number of applications was essentially the same as in 1999 (8,658,000 vs. 8,621,000), which means that there was no growth in the number of gun sales over almost a decade. Considered inside the context of a decade's worth of background check data and a growing population, the 9 percent year-to-date increase doesn't seem very significant.' Slate - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wV4HC-WJKoSIXUBH5OL6o0RPfCv_5gPkNI6A1JXLoq1ZvPiIFkyIiVrGZtewEa9iJJyxyk_AmaXDNu9SnhdbcmkKG02XkuWphCDm3og-XAcpRjj9XM0ptsdxXNlteUTJrgghiKgKa_FWg== Critics Assail City Crime Rankings; Publication Due Nov. 24 The costs of ranking cities by their rates of reported crime outweigh the benefits, criminologist Richard Rosenfeld of the University of Missouri at St. Louis asserted yesterday. Rosenfeld spoke at the American Society of Criminology, which is holding its annual meeting in St. Louis. CQ Press, publisher of an annual volume that ranks cities and metropolitan areas, is scheduled to issue this year's edition on Nov. 24. The company says it will no longer refer to cities at the top and bottom of the list as the 'most dangerous' or 'safest' cities. Rosenfeld argued that the rankings misinform the public about the true risks of crime in a particular area. James Noonan of the FBI Uniform Crime Reports unit, speaking on the same panel, noted that the rankings tend to punish police agencies that report crime data accurately. The FBI opposes using its data for rankings. Jeff Rainford, a top adviser to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, contended that the city crime rankings 'offer no useful information.' In St. Louis, which has ranked high on the list of per capita crime rates, five neighborhoods do have high crime totals but 74 are relatively safe, Rainford said. CQ Press Acquisitions Editor Doug Goldenberg-Hart told the session that publication of the crime data has prompted some cities to step up their anticrime efforts. He cited Oakland as having overhauled its policing in part after being cited as one of the highest-crime cities in the country. 'The numbers are the numbers,' he said. St. Louis' Rainford suggested that analysts correlate crime rates with other factors such as poverty levels, gun availability, sentencing practices and the impact of tax policy. Crime & Justice News - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wWjX99P3GDDE1neFRHtixsKwvlXNo_rNl1o9Pu3RIsHTP72jkLt1D1IYfH_1algSYmRnnK8eIHuz4h6tiyao-4tSce1PAa9kcw= Closing Of Ohio Youth Center Marks Change In Juvenile Justice The shuttering of the county-run Youth Development Center in Hudson, Ohio, ends an era for a place that has served troubled youths for more than 100 years, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. But it also marks a fundamental change in how the county's juvenile justice system will deal with kids who need a time-out from the community. Previously, those youths - mostly probation violators who had committed crimes like burglary or domestic violence - were sent for months to the 453-acre campus in Summit County. The change of scenery got some kids away from the city and bad neighborhood influences. But, in the end, they would return home. And that transition, studies showed, did not always go smoothly. Under a new plan hammered out by county and Juvenile Court officials, juveniles convicted of lower-level offenses can be screened - much like foster children are - and sent to private agencies in Cuyahoga County for up to 90 days of treatment. Some will be in secure facilities, others in less-restrictive settings. The county has agreed to spend about $5 million a year on treating 300 juveniles in this way. The idea is to treat difficult juveniles in their own communities where family members or other positive supports can be involved. Cleveland Plain Dealer - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wUQSRiLvQJnGz1UCfjzXRcEzsAlWgHYcMve-MCRG3zpUE0VY4-vPjHoFv_GiniOC_FHrgwidEeAPobfuFtS1QU7msBjDfYhkhOFkyoRqOMIu_JjIMbT5OJRNJ9_Bm0vIs0SFZXcnjAU_NX_WPHOEoNldHgmjGsIrug9m9ChcUChVVnfoC7Xh7Im3y5YK5ask6dDWZFcvIs5LXfojFnhsRpi Boston Herald Sues For Breakdown Of MA Parole Board Votes The Boston Herald says it is taking the state to court to force the release of individual voting records of the parole board, the politically appointed seven-member body that decides whether to let convicted murderers and other felons out of prison. The complaint against state Executive Secretary of Public Safety Kevin M. Burke, whose office oversees the parole board, seeks to overturn a decision to keep the records secret. 'Cops, prosecutors and judges are all required to perform their criminal-justice duties in the light of day, fully accountable to citizens,' said Herald Editor in Chief Kevin R. Convey. 'Why should the members of the Parole Board alone be allowed to shield their actions from public view?' In May, the Herald sought the member-by- member breakdown in the 4-3 decision to release murderer Karter Reed, 31. Burke's office denied the request. The Herald appealed to the state's Supervisor of Public Records, who upheld Burke's decision. Reed served 15 years of a 25-year sentence for stabbing to death a fellow teen in a high school classroom. The board voted to release him after his first parole hearing in March, during which the victim's relatives pleaded with the board to keep Reed locked up. Reed's supporters said he had turned his life around. Boston Herald - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wXHcxwsofyUI_enz4tSNNgglgSsKySJkK5Q7nJG0VaNalt7K6dmQ1G3DeoF_TT-wbGGqZQ_1iEvEhV621oSDGIkKExtG_NbdiCj5Lykb570ZdQlIP6gfK0zFMgixlI0QTIWLdzXpw7K_S5tvspQkbN37OyWLTHExUbKc24vlKqW6roSnJenc4eeI9wIagem6qDTyckQOWgyaeEPoAZOv1TdmuL3aDtLJyIoRPRBa17MHXHs153aLi8i In China, Lionization of Accused Cop-Killer Pegged To Alienation Yang Jia, who fatally stabbed six police officers in Shanghai, China, last summer, has become an unlikely Chinese hero in what the Washington Post describes as a bizarre twist that reveals the fissures that run beneath the country's elaborately constructed social order. Thousands of Chinese have lionized him for standing up to the security forces that are increasingly seen as a blunt instrument of the Communist Party's chief aim: to ensure its authority by maintaining stability and stifling dissent. At one of Yang's hearings last month, hundreds of protesters descended on court, carrying signs that read 'Long Live the Killer' and shouting 'Down with the Communist Party.' More than 4,000 people have signed an open letter posted online urging that Yang's life be spared. The letter has been erased from many Web sites by government censors, and coverage of the case in the state-run media has been strictly controlled. As heinous as the July 1 crime reportedly was, and despite Yang's confession, many Chinese still doubt the government's findings. Public support for Yang has been bolstered by reports that he had been mistreated by police on at least two occasions and may have been seeking revenge. Yang's story has generated an uncommon level of public interest, with everything from his personal background to the minute details of the crime becoming fodder for feverish discussion among his backers. Washington Post - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wXhDaj2uCotJuq6UGSeFakZtrAq0kXIk-bszdiUsbi-oY7MAxD-WXljvwprMyxvhfRTDnY0RpdP5GFyR6iPejoD5zKT9kf44o3JjUBn7MT35BWqtI_9KBiGlvKMz8I43MSDjEYKkspu8cdAWMv2t7dDpWKTF3moQMwpU8hBsFKy1t62iR7PBYXtsD1rfWpH2Hi_FP0G7xxsa9QK2LNKGFk0Gljgsmy2ggA= It May Be Illegal, But SC Hopes To Jam Prison Cell Phone Calls South Carolina's proposal to jam cell phone signals in prisons violates federal law, but regulators said Thursday they are willing to work with officials in their efforts to keep inmates from making calls using the contraband devices, reports the Associated Press. State prisons chief Jon Ozmint wants to demonstrate how the jamming technology would work. Federal Communications Commission spokesman Robert Kenny said the agency recognizes officials' distress about contraband cell phones, which some say have become a new form of cash behind bars. The FCC can grant federal agencies the authority to use the jammers, which prevent cell tower signals from ever reaching a phone, effectively blocking all calls. But there's no such provision for state and local law enforcement, and Ozmint has invited a company that sells the equipment to demonstrate it next week at a South Carolina prison. Experts say the consequences of not using jammers can be dire. Ozmint blames illegal cell phones for most escapes from South Carolina prisons. Critics say it's impossible to contain the jamming technology to one or two buildings, and that using it runs the risk of affecting people using phones nearby. Associated Press/Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald-Journal - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wVTa-i2mZKeGf5ZfcEnkcEn9tXLDnOg_JhnkS9DyGEZN_Y4oVr_SL2KqAozgoOgrpxNyr8EHM6sWyJ7aIWUxxV-0WTqik0AoHuPA6NkfuUFfiwMpsD9SJyMNeg2v9qWEWLhO54j5zOEdRr9X2Nx9hYO No. 2 Boston Cop Takes Leave; Eyed In Academy Affair 'Mess' The second in charge at the Boston Police Department took a leave of absence yesterday amid questions over whether he inappropriately pressured the head of the city's Police Academy to overlook a suspected affair between a drill instructor and a female recruit, reports the Boston Globe. Robert P. Dunford, 64, a tough-talking Dorchester native who has risen through the ranks to become the sometimes controversial superintendent in chief, allegedly intervened on behalf of a friend, creating what one official described as a 'complicated mess.' At the center of the controversy is the department's Police Academy, where a drill instructor, Officer Paul Downey, was believed to have been engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a female recruit. When the commander of the academy, Deputy Superintendent Marie L. Donahue, moved to discipline Downey, Dunford might have applied pressure on her to overlook any transgression, said two public officials briefed on the investigation. Boston Globe - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wXKI5tOO5XDkPm3TY7GfWSLMU8iTB6aPFxM7DdzBQuBi3_hUcpkoyPCcpon6FVvfNJlAXSHrOWuXe8U2DZXfPqnIlD5cp1Msrfy6H3Gkj2vY6XvNdZC2eamiZUscpfJRoi88gUbKXwSziYP2GQYR8i8-7jFy-RxsszVfOgfL37W0by039Jria8oiSC7erfKFxMzCCYL8epsCjdx7JfqPPQdn33oS_2TE80= Report Is Critical Of US Handling Of Illegal Immigrant Children As report by a Texas think tank says federal authorities have compromised the rights and safety of some unaccompanied illegal immigrant children they have detained, according to the Associated Press. Many children appeared before immigration judges without legal representation, some were transported home in shackles or cages, and the medical needs of some were ignored, according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Dallas. ''There's no consistent policy. There's nobody who's responsible for these kids, in looking out for their safety,'' report author Amy Thompson said. ''It's being handled in ad hoc fashion.'' The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration and border enforcement, disputes the findings. ''DHS and its component agencies treat all minors, including unaccompanied alien children, with dignity, respect and special concern for their particular vulnerabilities,'' spokeswoman Laura Keehner said. The report was compiled through interviews and by examining U.S. immigration agency documents and immigration policies and statistics. An estimated 43,000 unaccompanied illegal immigrant children were removed from the U.S. in 2007, according to the report. They were caught while traveling alone, or with siblings, other children or adults whom they may not know. Associated Press/Houston Chronicle - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wV7XDWAcM1NcPl17_ImpCyaDHy1NuqDAE-8zDomxUoCDnETpAtKl_ACfPh-eB8kwQqe7wHDoBWxiRVA2fm7PDS76uW7E8ro12BsppHMh4-nhBcP1H9GF7rdZcOk9UtYqxQ0tOScgK4huocH0cM_suhD With New Command Center, NYC Hopes To Keep Traffic Moving New York has opened its new Joint Traffic Management Center, a state-of-the-art facility that allows police officers and technicians from the city and state to track traffic patterns, respond to accidents or other complications and distribute information to the public about road conditions. Technicians at the Queens center monitor digital video feeds from about 500 cameras posted around the city. They also receive data from roadside sensors that measure vehicle speeds, so they know how fast traffic is moving. That information is used to create a color-coded digital map of the city, known as the flow map. The city plans to put the flow map on the Internet in the next few weeks so that anyone can check traffic speeds on their computer or cellphone. Technicians at the center can also remotely control about half of the city's 12,300 traffic signals. The center was built over the last five years at a cost of $16 million, most of it paid by the federal government. Much of the information on display at the center was already available to traffic managers, but the city and state previously operated in different rooms in the Long Island City building where the center is housed. Having them in the same room, along with the police, is meant to foster greater coordination and faster responses to problems. New York Times - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wXsbSH2Jj-PDfOpngxT7_QViyfyTTDc0QVhOEHIi4W0YD3eFQhXo8Dqf559E56VP5ujsIAyBk8CS3e-1soaOv9GScIQmW_7vElwDb0kR7LC2-U_bzut6Ys5uLVSZRAWwQFwXbldLzrTHFZmDluNQ42p-Ga3NxtC6LR74Ew_FaAGLOVuwZlVZkko8i3OcdSmcR5zpP-KY-74Jg== Violence, Economy Cited As Holiday Travel To Mexico Declines As Mexican nationals and Mexican Americans begin to plan their holidays, many say they are choosing not to make the annual trek home to visit relatives. While some are dissuaded by the worsening economy, others are avoiding travel to Mexico because they fear the rampant kidnappings, killings and shootouts, reports the Los Angeles Times. The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert last month warning U.S. citizens to take precautions and to be aware of the 'increasingly violent fight for control of narcotics trafficking routes,' especially in the cities of Tijuana, Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez. (In another story, the Times reports that some Mexican resort cities are seeing declining reservations from American tourists, who fear the violence.) Business at Transportes Intercalifornias, which runs about 15 buses a day from Los Angeles to the border towns of Tijuana and Mexicali, is already down from last year, said dispatcher Robert Bahine. 'They don't want to go home because of the problems in TJ, all the shootings and the killings,' he said. Mexicana Airlines has seen about a 4% drop from last year in bookings from Mexicans traveling home to visit friends and relatives. Mexico's consul general in Los Angeles, Juan Gutierrez Gonzalez, also said he believes the economy is having a greater effect on travel than the drug wars. Los Angeles Times - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wVeT6BrWa5lo6BbLCLwcCZVpnFtc4Zmhf2txY1yYWS4yBJIvmRziso1lPoT0H6Zhqe9Ig8QxSBQ4SASUKaRmYPnvkh3saMukhnsYk04NxCtP7SJH0xnKzynf4FqsivY1LsOAGSEi6KikkcHvyGIVLSK9mQ_9_kUqbuAS2sRxKLUZ0pDdqnwbuS3 Amid Controversy, Do Stats Reveal Racial Profiling In Palo Alto? One in every 50 Palo Alto, Calif., residents is black. But one in every seven drivers pulled over in the city is black, according to the police department. Once pulled over, whites are searched 5 percent to 10 percent of the time, city statistics show. Blacks are searched about 20 percent of the time. At first blush, the data appears to back up many African-Americans' claims that they're being disproportionately targeted by local police. But do they provide evidence of wrongdoing by the department? That's not so clear, reports the Bay Area News Group. Charges of racial profiling have been leveled at Palo Alto in the two weeks since Police Chief Lynne Johnson told reporters that her officers would be stopping African-Americans on the street as they work to solve a rash of assaults. To some, the comments sounded like an endorsement of racial profiling. Johnson later apologized, saying she misspoke and pointing to the department's 'zero tolerance' policy against racial profiling. Little noticed in the flap has been the department's own reports of traffic stops broken down by racial group, information that has been collected for years. The problem, Palo Alto officials say, is deciphering the significance of those numbers. Bay Area News Group - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wWtxuXLkbo-n7Xs_GFlMDOJo6vWj-H5K9yKhpOUtSKiS6r6sAKZbJRFXIKGTWGrmDiBdzyqFTdUJCmxg27gQwy6359HyR2spmXmbRLqSWazR8dzDL92NcDsEYviljCnBK2IuvyoGTxusuEItRxjMBZbOApGwL6MAPM= Charlotte Mulls 16 'Ambitious, Challenging' Anti-Crime Ideas Months after Charlotte residents pleaded with local leaders to fix crime problems in the community, a citizens' panel has offered 16 ideas they believe will help make the local justice system run more smoothly. The ideas are diverse, touching on all the crime agencies in Mecklenburg, reports the Charlotte Observer. They're also ambitious and will challenge the heads of those crime agencies to work more closely together to ensure their success. Some ideas mirror those recommended in the past by similar groups that were never implemented. Task force members have said they don't want their ideas to suffer the same fate. But county commissioners quickly signed off on one of the task force's ideas. They agreed last week to create a county staff position designed to help hold the crime agencies more accountable for improving the system. It remains to be seen what will happen to the other proposals. Commissioners left consideration of those ideas to the new slate of commissioners joining the board in December. County administrators also will study the proposals. Charlotte Observer - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001OIkOBb_x0wU81G9moX0u6SS4CCoOEIkTKYNRJE4x7nco9OCO7RVVJsuLbzJT3fEwrDsqCnkjOi7N0tRFXJjeP6XQJp0EpmPA27kwx1qEcK4ZCkK985jWxoWJSZ5n8aRnDAciaC52jS2O1ySuk00G08dDjnbXxF4s2-GlkmjCCJ0= "

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on November 14, 2008 (boomark / email).