High expectations? States eye marijuana reform

Wash. mulls 15 percent tax as two dozen others consider legislation

OLYMPIA, Washington - Washington is one of four states where measures to legalize and regulate marijuana have been introduced, and about two dozen other states are considering bills ranging from medical marijuana to decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the herb.

"In terms of state legislatures, this is far and away the most active year that we've ever seen," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance, which supports reforming marijuana laws.

Nadelmann said that while legalization efforts are not likely to get much traction in state capitals anytime soon, the fact that there is such an increase of activity "is elevating the level of public discourse on this issue and legitimizing it."

"I would say that we are close to the tipping point," he said. "At this point they are still seen as symbolic bills to get the conversation going, but at least the conversation can be a serious one."

Opponents of relaxing marijuana laws aren't happy with any conversation on the topic, other than keeping the drug illegal.

"There's no upside to it in any manner other than for those people who want to smoke pot," said Travis Kuykendall, head of the West Texas High Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area office in El Paso, Texas. "There's nothing for society in it, there's nothing good for the country in it, there's nothing for the good of the economy in it."

Legalization bills were introduced in California and Massachusetts earlier this year, and this month, New Hampshire and Washington state prefiled bills in advance of their legislative sessions that begin in January. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, but guidelines have been loosened on federal prosecution of medical marijuana under the Obama administration.

Even so, marijuana reform legislation remains a tough sell in some places. In the South, for example, only Mississippi and North Carolina have decriminalization laws on the books.

"It's a social and cultural thing," said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based marijuana advocacy group. "There are some parts of the country where social attitudes are just a little more cautious and conservative."

'Pros and cons'
Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, a Seattle Democrat who is sponsoring the legalization bill in Washington state, said that she "wanted to start a strong conversation about the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana."

Under her bill, marijuana would be sold in Washington state's 160 state-run liquor stores, and customers, 21 and older, would pay a tax of 15 percent per gram. The measure would dedicate most of the money raised for substance abuse prevention and treatment, which is facing potential cuts in the state budget. Dickerson said the measure could eventually bring in as much to state coffers as alcohol does, more than $300 million a year.

"Our state is facing a huge financial deficit and deficits are projected for a few more years," Dickerson said, referring to the projected $2.6 billion hole lawmakers will need to fill next year. "We need to look at revenue and see what might be possible."


Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that tough economic times across the country have lawmakers looking at everything, and may lead even more states to eventually consider the potential tax value of pot.

"The bean counters are now reporting back to their elected officials how much money is being left off the table," he said, adding that billions of dollars worth of pot is going untaxed.

Ron Brooks, president of the National Narcotics Officers' Associations' Coalition, said that he feared that, if legalized, marijuana would contribute to more highway accidents and deaths, as well as a potential increase in health care costs for those who smoke it.

State lawmakers, he said, need to ask themselves "if they believe we really will make all that revenue, and even if we did, will it be worth the suffering, the loss of opportunities, the chronic illness or death that would occur?"

Legalization isn't the only measure lawmakers across the country are weighing. About two dozen states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin, are considering bills ranging from medical marijuana to decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, St. Pierre said. Washington state is among the states that are considering decriminalization, with a bill that would reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime with jail time to a civil infraction with a $100 penalty.

Voter-driven initiatives
Fourteen states, including Washington state, already have medical marijuana laws, and 13 have decriminalization laws on the books, St. Pierre said. About two dozen cities across the country, including Seattle, make marijuana offenses a low law-enforcement priority.

Marijuana advocates said that while increased activity in the statehouse is heartening, change most likely will come at the ballot box through voter-driven initiatives.

"Inevitably, the politicians are going to be behind the curve on this stuff," Nadelmann said, noting that almost all of the medical marijuana laws came about by initiative.

This month, a group campaigning to put a marijuana legalization measure before California voters said it had enough signatures to qualify for the 2010 ballot.

That proposal would legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Residents could cultivate marijuana gardens up to 25 square feet (2.3 sq. meters). City and county governments would determine whether to permit and tax marijuana sales within their boundaries. And in Nevada earlier this month, backers of a move to legalize marijuana there filed paperwork creating an advocacy group aimed at qualifying an initiative for the 2012 election.

Sheriff Lewis Wants Death Penalty

Sheriff Mike Lewis stated that he wants Thomas Leggs, Jr., accused murder of Sarah Foxwell, to face murder charges in the death of Sarah who's body was found on Christmas, 2009. We can't say we disagree. Leggs has not yet been charged with murder due to the on going investigation however murder charges are expected shortly.

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Apparently this piece of shit is facing earlier burglary charges in stemming from an incident where a female met him in a bar and he stated that he couldn't go home because his roommates wouldn't let him in. She asked him to leave twice. He regained entry to her residence and later that night the female woke up to this piece of shit standing by her bed with his pants down.

Video shows plainclothes D.C. detective drawing gun during snowball fight

WASHINGTON — Washington police were investigating on Sunday whether an off-duty officer drew his gun in the midst of a snowball fight involving a couple hundred people.

The Metropolitan Police Department said video from a local media outlet at the scene Saturday did not show the officer with his weapon drawn. However, authorities have since received "additional images and statements that would seem to support the allegation that the off-duty member did pull a gun," a police statement said.

About 200 people from a D.C. neighborhood had gathered Saturday to brave a snowstorm for a massive snowball fight, CNN affiliate WJLA reported.

"It was pretty fun," one unidentified participant told WJLA. "And then, you know, when the gun came out, uh, it just changed the tone of the thing a little bit."

The off-duty, plainclothes officer was driving in the area of the snowball fight when several snowballs hit his vehicle, police said. The officer exited the vehicle and yelled at the crowd, WJLA reported; witnesses accused that officer of drawing his gun.

A uniformed police officer who subsequently arrived was holding a gun at his hip, but he eventually returned it to his holster, video from WJLA shows. MPD Assistant Chief Peter Newsham said the uniformed officer was responding to a 911 call that someone -- apparently the plainclothes officer -- had a gun, according to WJLA.

The uniformed officer holstered his weapon when he recognized the plainclothes officer, Newsham said, according to WJLA.

The police statement said "there is no evidence that [officers] pointed any weapons in the direction of the crowd or at any individuals."

Calif. court overturns ban on felons owning body armor

By Robert Faturechi
Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — A police advocacy group has criticized an appeals court judgment last week overturning a law that prevented violent felons from owning body armor, saying the ruling will put officers and the public in danger.

The decade-old ban was enacted after the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, a confrontation between police and two heavily armored bank robbers that injured officers and civilians. The state Legislature passed the ban in 1998 as a measure to protect police. Thursday's ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles overturned the state law, saying it was unconstitutional because the definition of body armor was too vague.

"It just makes this job that much more dangerous," said Paul Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League union for LAPD officers.

"It's going to make criminals more bold and more likely to shoot it out with the police."

Ariz. inmates lose case, Sheriff Joe can play Christmas music all day in jail

12/21/2009

Washington Times

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Sheriff Joe Arpaio - the self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" in America - likes Christmas music, especially "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and anything by Alvin and the Chipmunks, and apparently he thinks the 8,000 inmates inside his Phoenix jail should, too.
So it was with some glee that his Maricopa County office announced Thursday in a red-and-green press release that the "sixth and perhaps final lawsuit" brought by inmates to stop the sheriff from playing the holiday songs all day, every day, during the holidays had been dismissed in federal court.

"We keep winning these lawsuits. Inmates should stop acting like the Grinch who stole Christmas and give up wasting the court's time with such frivolous assertions," it read. "But chances are they'll keep suing and we'll keep winning."

The latest lawsuit was filed by inmate William Lamb, who said that being forced to listen to the Christmas songs 12 hours a day was a violation of his civil and religious rights. But U.S. District Judge Roz Silver disagreed, dismissing the case and denying Lamb's claim for $250,000 in damages.

Sheriff Arpaio catapulted to national attention when he cracked down on the thousands of illegal immigrants who swarm daily through his county; put inmates in pink jumpsuits and underwear; worked them in chain gangs; housed them in tents in the Arizona desert and fed them bologna sandwiches.

He said that his Christmas selections were multi-ethnic and culturally diverse, from all faiths and ethnicities. He told The Washington Times earlier this year that in addition to tunes by Alvin and the Chipmunks, the music included the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Bing Crosby and Doctor Demento.

At the time, he said "all people everywhere deserve a little Christmas cheer."
Lt. Brian Lee, the sheriff's spokesman, said the court issued a summary judgment upholding the decision to "inject the holiday spirit into the lives of those incarcerated over the holiday season in the third-largest jail system in the U.S."

He said inmates have sued six times claiming the music was in violation of their religious rights or cruel and unusual punishment, but the court disagreed - finding no evidence of fact, so Sheriff Arpaio was entitled to the judgment as a matter of law.

The sheriff is no stranger to controversy, although his philosophy of "zero tolerance towards the criminal element" has been embraced by his deputies and the community alike. He was first elected in 1996 and was re-elected by double-digit margins in 2000, 2004 and 2008. In 2007 a petition to recall him failed to gain enough voter signatures to get on the ballot.

Most recently he has come to the attention of the federal government. He was notified in March by the Justice Department that he may have unfairly targeted Hispanics and Spanish-speaking people for arrest. In October, the Department of Homeland Security revoked the authority of 160 of his federally trained deputies to make immigration arrests in the field.

The sheriff has denied any wrongdoing and has said he welcomed and would cooperate in any investigation of his office. He has continued to arrest illegal immigrants under recently passed state laws.

Tired of waiting for the federal government to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and concerned about the potential terrorism threat that the lack of border security posed, he assigned deputies in 2006 to monitor his 9,226-square-mile county for illegal immigrants. He targeted the illegals under an anti-smuggling law that state lawmakers passed to fight drug trafficking.

"My message is clear: If you come here and I catch you, you're going straight to jail," he said at the time. "We're going to arrest any illegal who violates this new law, and I'm not going to turn these people over to federal authorities so they can have a free ride back to Mexico. I'll give them a free ride to my jail."

Sheriff Arpaio, 77, captured headlines nationwide when he set up a jail system that included tents, spent less than 15 cents per meal per inmate, and banned smoking, coffee, movies, pornographic magazines and unrestricted television in all of his jails. He also assigned both men and women to chain gangs.

The sheriff also has created several rehabilitative programs, including "Hard Knocks High," the only accredited high school program administered by a sheriff's office in a U.S. jail.

More recently he has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor, with polls showing that he has a commanding lead as a Republican candidate for the November 2010 race.

A November poll by Rasmussen Reports said that of 1,200 likely Arizona voters, he was the Republicans' "best shot at holding onto the Arizona governorship in 2010." The poll said Sheriff Arpaio led the expected Democratic challenger, Terry Goddard, Arizona's attorney general, by 12 points and that 64 percent of voters statewide said he was doing the right thing by working around federal law to continue his aggressive actions against illegal immigration.

Lt. Lee said his boss had received "multiple inquiries locally and nationally" about the latest Rasmussen poll, but had made no decision regarding the governor's race.

American Military Power

Salisbury chief lawsuit case: 'It ain't over'

December 3, 2009

Salisbury chief lawsuit case: 'It ain't over'

Police chief to seek reconsideration against Salisbury's mayor, City CouncilBy Laura D'AlessandroStaff Writer

SALISBURY -- The legal battle between Police Chief Allan Webster and the city isn't over.
Despite the recent dismissal of Webster's case by a Wicomico County Circuit Court judge, Webster announced Wednesday he'd continue to seek a declaratory judgment. Webster's attorney, Robin Cockey, said a motion for reconsideration would be made by Monday.

"It ain't over till the fat lady sings, and the fat lady has not yet even tuned up," Cockey said.
Webster filed the lawsuit Nov. 3 after receiving the first reprimands of his 40-year career and claimed Mayor Jim Ireton denied him a proper grievance hearing by which to appeal them. Webster said the default judge for the employee grievance hearing, City Administrator John Pick, was a witness and the second-in-command, Assistant City Administrator Loré Chambers, was of a lower rank than he. Webster therefore asked Ireton to allow the City Council to judge his employee hearing, though provisions are not made for such an arrangement within the city charter or employee handbook.

His request led to the fourth and final reprimand from Ireton prior to Webster filing the lawsuit.
Ireton responded to the lawsuit with a public statement, calling the debacle "frivolous" and "unlawful" and labeling it a distraction. His opinion hasn't changed.

"With appealing the ruling, Mr. Cockey and his client are saying the mayor's wrong, Mr. Pick is wrong, Loré Chambers can't be right, the city charter is wrong, the city employee handbook is wrong and the judge is now wrong," Ireton said. "I am confused as to why this distraction continues."

But Cockey said the case hasn't been given a fair chance or a lawful one.

Cockey was taken aback by the delivery of the dismissal, done prior to his Monday deadline to submit a response to the city's Nov. 23 motion.

"Granting the city's motion without allowing the opposing party the time to respond and to request a hearing provided in the Maryland Rules was illegal and unfair and the court's decision was contrary to what we think the merits of the case dictate," Cockey said. "We would like and feel we are entitled to an opportunity to present the merits of the case according to the timetable and in the manner prescribed by the Maryland Rules ---- that's why we have rules."

The court's dismissal was made on the grounds that the chief's case was not ripe for judgment as he had not exhausted all provisions laid out by the city charter and employee handbook.

State police stress racial treatment policy

PRINCESS ANNE -- Barrack commanders and trooper supervisors across Maryland are underscoring professional conduct and the Maryland State Police agency's intolerance of race-based treatment when dealing with the public after a black woman in Princess Anne handed authorities a cell phone voice message recording of an MSP criminal investigator making a racial slur.

"Commanders and supervisors are using this reported incident as an opportunity to remind their subordinates of the need to remain professional at all times, in all we do," MSP spokesman Greg Shipley said Thursday. "This is being discussed throughout the Maryland State Police. We hold our troopers to a high standard of professional police conduct."

The MSP sergeant who allegedly left the slur on the cell phone belonging to Teleta Dashiell is on administrative duty during a "priority" administrative investigation of the matter, a process that could conclude by the end of December, Shipley said.

The Maryland State Police already has a clear policy in place forbidding racial profiling or other type of race-based police action, Shipley also said, in response to an earlier suggestion by Somerset County NAACP branch President Kirkland Hall that the trooper in question "could use some diversity training."

MSP officials won't discuss the alleged Nov. 3 incident, except to say that the trooper is a 13-year MSP veteran assigned to a criminal investigations bureau and "is not assigned to a particular barrack."

Agency officials also refuse to identify the trooper, although the person heard making the slur identifies himself on Dashiell's voice message as Sgt. Maiello. Dashiell has said that an investigator at the MSP Princess Anne barrack who interviewed her Nov. 10 about the matter identified the trooper as Sgt. John Maiello.

At the Princess Anne barrack, Lt. Krah Plunkert said Thursday that supervisors are "reinforcing our core values."

Plunkert said it is important that the incident doesn't hamper relationships built between the Princess Anne barrack and the black community.

Rick Poilltt Expected to Make More Budget Cuts, Considering Layoffs

SALISBURY — The Wicomico County executive’s plan for closing the budget shortfall takes too much out of reserves and needs more spending cuts, several council members say.

“We are trying to not go too far into reserves. We are looking at all departments for more cuts,” Sheree Sample-Hughes, the council vice president, said Thursday.

This week the council held a brainstorming session on additional spending cuts the county could make. Before them is a bill by County Executive Richard M. Pollitt Jr. that would address a more than $6 million gap in the budget. He has pinned the shortfall on unexpected Maryland funding cuts and a drop in income tax revenues.

Pollitt’s bill would mainly lower expenses by cutting departments by 15 percent. It would largely raise revenues by drawing down reserve funds that will later need to be replenished.
The approach isn’t good enough, said Councilman Joe Holloway, who hasn’t forgotten how the existing budget was balanced. The county elected then to defer retirement payments, dip into reserves and borrow $1 million from the Solid Waste Enterprise account.

“The county government has dragged its feet too long,” Holloway said. “What are we going to do next year, when indications are that it’s going to be worse?”

This week the council identified several spending reduction suggestions in a meeting. Now, Council Administrator Matt Creamer is putting them into a formal list and will seek the help of the Executive’s Office to put a dollar amount on them.

“I invited them to make some suggestions. I’ll be delighted to hear their thoughts,” Pollitt said Thursday.

Many of the spending cuts, if undertaken, might result in layoffs — something the county has been able to avoid this point. County workers did not receive pay raises this year and will have to take furlough days.

Among the suggestions: How much would the county save if employees were no longer given their birthday off with pay? What would the savings be if the position of public information officer, now held by Jim Fineran, would be eliminated? Furthermore, the council is interested in reviewing the staffing levels among the building inspections staff and the State’s Attorney’s Office.

“It’s a touchy situation because you’re talking about personnel,” Holloway said. “We’ve done everything else. We’re pulled from reserves. We’ve pulled back services.”

Pollitt said he wasn’t able to respond to many of the council’s suggestions, as he hasn’t yet received them. However, he cautioned against the pitfall of looking “at the cost of everything and the value of nothing.” For example, he highlighted the importance of the public information officer position at a time when the county is faced with many challenges.

“Of all times, this is the time when you need a clear channel of information from the county to the public,” Pollitt said.

As the council and executive continue to work on the budget, the county is approaching the halfway point of its financial calendar. In April, deliberations will begin for next year’s budget.
Pollitt said he knows next year’s budget will likely be worse than the current one. His goal has been to put off the “drama” and keep services intact.

“Do you want to start the pain now or spread it out?” he said.

State v. Brittany Barkley

Excellent work by the police and the Wicomico County States Attorney's Office in all these murder cases.

Judge D. William Simpson imposed a sentence of Life Without Possibility of Parole for First Degree (Premeditated) Murder and Thirty (30) Years in the Division of Corrections to run CONSECUTIVELY to the Life Without Parole Sentence for the Armed Carjacking.
Anita's family members were there and were very appreciative.

Crime spike expected to continue through holiday

By Sharahn D. Boykin
Staff Writer - Daily Slime, er... times.

SALISBURY -- Residents can expect to see more shoppers at the mall and other retail establishments for the next month or so, which is not unusual this time of year.

But they can also expect to see a surge in thefts, burglaries and domestic assaults, from now through January, according to law enforcement officers and security experts.

Last December, Salisbury Police Department crime statistics were telling a different story about crime during the holiday season. There was an estimated 7 percent drop in thefts and 8 percent decrease in burglaries, according to data from the department.

Salisbury police also reported a steady decline in the number of shoplifting arrests since August 2008. This was during a time when retailers in the country, about 79 percent, reported an increase in shoplifters, according to the National Retail Federation -- a retail trade association.

This year, even though the holiday shopping season has just begun with Black Friday, thefts and burglaries are already up, according to the city police department's Web site. So far, there have been 150 more burglaries and 141 more thefts compared to last year.

"There's more people willing to try things they haven't tried before," said Muir Boda, a security expert with more than a decade of experience. "Some people get desperate when they want something special."

For several months now, law enforcement leaders have warned the community that people with no criminal backgrounds will begin to commit crimes to provide for their families.

Shawn Lornell Schoolfield, 19, and his sister, Stacey Marie Schoolfield, 24, pleaded guilty to armed robbery charges after robbing an 82-year-old Salisbury man at gunpoint in his home five days before Christmas in 2008.

During the sentencing, a judge said he couldn't figure out why Shawn Schoolfield, a young man with no criminal history who sang in the church choir, would commit such a crime. Schoolfield and his sister committed the robbery to get money for Christmas, according to court documents.

Shawn Schoolfield pleaded guilty to armed robbery and a handgun charge and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

More recently, an 83-year-old woman shopping at an Elkton, Md., Walmart had her fanny pack stolen Tuesday. The suspect, another woman, snatched the pack containing about $300 in cash, credit cards, keys and other personal items from the victim's waist and ran from the store.

Retailers and law enforcement are taking additional precautions in preparation for a possible increase in thefts and burglaries. The Wicomico County Sheriff's Office added extra patrols near businesses and the mall as of Monday, according to Sheriff Mike Lewis.

"We anticipate a spike in crime," Lewis said. "We always have a spike in crime during the holiday season."

The Centre at Salisbury declined to comment on whether it adds additional security personnel during the holidays, but the mall does routinely utilize foot, Segway and mobile security personnel, according to Alane Emerson, a spokeswoman for the mall.

"Safety is a No. 1 concern for us," she said.

Crimes of opportunity are more common, according to police and prosecutors. They caution shoppers to be aware of their surroundings and keep purses and wallets safe. Experts also advise shoppers not to leave gifts, in plain view or hidden, in the car.

"Some people will take whatever opportunity to commit theft and steal someone else's property if they can potentially sell it," said 1st Sgt. Tim Robinson, the assistant commander of the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office Road Patrol.

In addition to stolen purchases, sometimes shoppers have a tendency to lose children and elderly relatives in the store, according to security experts. Shoppers should keep small children in the shopping cart and monitor older relatives who could wander away and become confused.

Many retail establishments use Adam alerts when an individual is missing in the store. Store employees immediately search the store, including bathrooms and exits.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time, we locate them within five to 10 minutes," Boda said.

In addition to burglaries and thefts, domestic violence tends to go up around this time of year as well, according to law enforcement. Domestic violence experts say they expect a spike in assaults after the holiday season.

"The attitude is that a dysfunctional family is better than no family at all," said Michelle Hughes of the Life Crisis Center. "Thanksgiving and Christmas are all about family, so these women will do whatever they have to do to keep the peace. After Christmas, I suspect that it will be worse than usual because of the economy."


The News Journal contributed to this report.

Black Friday Is Here...

READY FOR THE FUN??

Another black Friday has come. To all those who are going shopping on this day fit for the gladiators remember take no prisoners, get that digital camera and flat screen TV! It's every man for him/herself!!

Feds working to end use of 10-codes

11/26/2009
Feds working to end use of 10-codes
By John Scheibe Ventura County Star

If federal Homeland Security officials have their way, the next time a police officer arrives on scene, he'll simply radio back "I'm here" rather than saying "10-97." Police have long used "10-codes" to communicate with each other and dispatchers. The codes were developed in the 1930s, when radio channels were scarce. They allowed police to succinctly relay information through a four-digit number rather than clog the airwaves with wordy descriptions.

But problems developed over time. For starters, there is no universal code. To one agency, a "10-50" might mean "officer down," while to another it stands for a routine traffic stop.
The problem became especially evident during big emergencies, such as the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., where police and fire agencies from across the nation rushed to help.

"When they got there, many of them were unable to communicate with each other effectively," said Chris Essid, director of the Office of Emergency Communications for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Many agencies faced the same problem four years later when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Essid said. Federal officials now require that officers use "plain language" when responding to a crisis involving multiple agencies. "Very often, it doesn't take anymore time to just say it in English," Essid said.

Federal officials are also urging departments to replace their jumble of codes with "plain language" in their day-to-day operations. Essid and others point to a 2005 incident in Missouri in which a local police officer radioed late one night to his dispatcher that he had just seen a state highway patrol officer's car with a door open stopped along a highway. The officer said he was going to go back to make sure the patrolman was OK.

It turns out the Missouri Highway Patrol officer was lying in a ditch, barely alive, having been shot eight times with a rifle. The local police dispatcher decided to use plain English in sending out a call for help.

Had she said "10-33," her department's code for "officer down," it would have meant something very different to the Missouri Highway Patrol: "traffic backup." Instead, every state trooper within miles responded, and the officer lived. In many cases, "being able to communicate quickly and effectively can mean the difference between life and death," Essid said.

Technology also has come a long way since the 1930s, Essid said, noting police and others now have many more ways to communicate, such as computers in patrol cars. But getting agencies to change a communication system that's been in place nearly 80 years in many places is another matter. "Culture change is never easy," he said.

John Miller, a sergeant with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department, said deputies would often get in trouble if they used plain language in the field when he went to work for the department 25 years ago. "The dispatchers would get mad because you were talking too much and taking up too much radio time," Miller said.

Now, more and more agencies are working together, Miller said, whether it's on a big wildfire or other large operation. "There's a big advantage to using plain talk in that everyone knows what everyone else is talking about," said Miller, who has helped train recruits for the department.
Recruits continue to learn the 10-code, Miller said, but deputies are encouraged to use everyday language when possible.

In some situations, using plain language is not a good idea, he said. An officer, for example, might not want a relative to hear something horrific right away at the scene, such as the death of a loved one. An officer might also want to speak in code when they've encountered a dangerous suspect, he said.

"You don't want to tip someone off and endanger your own life or that of someone else."
Sgt. Jack Richards, a spokesman for the Ventura Police Department, believes there will always be a need for police code. "There are times when it's just more efficient to transmit something in code rather than in plain language," Richards said. But like Miller, Richards believes it's important to give officers the choice to use either. "It all depends on the situation," Richards said.

In wake of Ohio officer's death, cops lobby for H1N1 vaccine priority

11/15/2009

In wake of Ohio officer's death, cops lobby for H1N1 vaccine priority

By John Futty
Columbus Dispatch

PREBLE COUNTY, Ohio — The death of a captain in the Preble County sheriff's office has prompted Franklin County law-enforcement officials to renew their call to give officers priority for vaccination against the H1N1 virus.

But it's unclear how Michael Thornsberry contracted the virus, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aren't planning to change recommendations for priority groups.

Thornsberry, 38, a 15-year veteran of the Preble County force, died Friday at Indiana University Hospital, where he was treated for H1N1 and pneumonia.

The president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9 in Columbus mentioned Thornsberry's death this week in a letter to central Ohio legislators in Washington, D.C.

"I'm imploring you to make the necessary contacts to ensure that law-enforcement officers are given the opportunity to be vaccinated as soon as possible," wrote Police Sgt. Jim Gilbert.

He and Franklin County Chief Deputy Steve Martin began lobbying Washington legislators weeks ago after learning that the CDC did not include law officers among the priority groups for early vaccinations.

The CDC gave priority to pregnant women; people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months; health-care and emergency-medical services workers; and those with chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

A CDC spokeswoman said in an e-mail Tuesday that officers "who provide emergency medical service on a regular basis as part of their job" can qualify for early vaccinations at the discretion of the state.

"For many law-enforcement officers, providing emergency medical care would be an uncommon event," Arleen Porcell-Pharr wrote. "Thus, at this point, we have no plans to change our recommendations."

Gilbert said there are about 3,100 active, sworn officers in Franklin County.

The Pickaway County General Health District decided to include law officers among its "first-responders" and has vaccinated a couple hundred officers, said Tammy Ayers, director of operations for the district.

News reports indicate that officers have received the vaccine in other communities, including Muncie, Ind., and the Minneapolis area.

Preble County Sheriff Michael Simpson said that no one knows whether Thornsberry, who became ill in early October, contracted H1N1 on the job.

Franklin County Sheriff Jim Karnes said he questions how law-enforcement officers could not be defined as first responders.

"Who were the ones who died in the towers (on Sept. 11): firemen and policemen. I didn't see anyone from Capitol Hill running into buildings," Karnes said. "If we're not first responders, who are?"

Suspended St. Louis officer says he 'could have used verbal judo'

11/12/2009

Suspended St. Louis officer says he 'could have used verbal judo'

By Rebecca S. Rivas
St. Louis AMerican

ST. LOUIS — After being suspended without pay for 19 months from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Police Officer Scott Tillis made his final argument to keep his job at a penalty hearing on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, the Board of Police Commissioners found Tillis guilty of two charges of insubordination: conduct unbecoming of an officer and bringing discredit to department or personnel.

Before the reprimands of April 2008, Tillis had filed a discrimination lawsuit against the police board and Police Chief Joe Mokwa because his commanding officers would not allow him to practice his religion. When asked on the stand what he would have done differently, Tillis said, “Recognizing (Smith’s) anger and how he felt, I could have used verbal judo to calm down the situation.”

Do your kids know the "C-Walk"?

Kids all across the country learning the "C" Walk. Here a girl even does a highschool project on it and the dance team dances to it in the auditorium. This is the "C" walk or "Crips" walk performed by crip gang affiliated rappers like ice cube and xhibit.

Tired of crime?

So you say you're tired of crime eh? Crime up 11% eh? Well, we have your solution. We bring you this guy...rapping about robbing people in Salisbury and his gang membership, shooting people, and earning money from drug sales. Nice!

From http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/.
If you can fit the entire phrase "Bootylicious" across your ass, we are thinking not so much.

Britain deploys permanently armed police in London

10/23/2009
Britain deploys permanently armed police in London
By David Stringer Associated Press

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LONDON — Wielding submachine guns and pistols, British police are making rare armed patrols in crime-blighted London neighborhoods — a change in law enforcement tactics that may prompt calls for the wider use of weapons by the country's traditionally unarmed Bobbies.
London's police department said Friday that a new armed unit is carrying out regular sweeps of districts riven by gun battles between rival drug gangs.

Unlike typical police procedure, the team of about 20 officers actively seeks out criminals carrying or storing guns — rather than waiting to respond to emergency calls about incidents involving weapons.

Chief Inspector Neil Sharman said the unit began work in June to tackle pockets of rising gun crime, and will double in size from November amid concerns over the increasing use of weapons in Britain's capital.

In contrast to the United States and many European nations, British police have never routinely carried firearms on patrol, with only a limited number of specialist officers trained to use guns. Britain's Home Office said being unarmed is part of the "character of the police" in the U.K.
"In the past the police were authority figures dealing primarily with people who respected the police. However, as terrorism and crime increases in the U.K. the traditional icon of the Bobby on the beat is becoming incapable of dealing with terrorists and violent crime," said Bob Ayers, a London-based former U.S. intelligence officer.

The British public has traditionally been resistant to the routine arming of police — a skepticism heightened by the 2005 shooting death of an innocent Brazilian electrician, mistaken by police marksmen for a suicide bomber.

Yet, some argue Britain is now naive to believe that police can tackle rising levels of gun crime without weapons of their own.

"Every single police officer should have a gun," said Daniel Dixon, a 25-year-old engineer from central London. "Criminals might be carrying weapons, and the police officer is endangering himself by not having one."

In the 12 months to September, London saw a 17 percent rise in gun offenses, up from 1,484 to 1,737. According to government figures for England and Wales, there are about 50 to 60 shooting deaths in the country each year.

Scotland Yard said the new armed patrols are taking place in Brixton, a south London district with a reputation as a drug dealing hotspot, and an area of north London dogged by a turf battle between rival Turkish drug gangs.

The sweeps are being carried out about once a week by officers already attached to the specialist firearms unit. Some see the tactic as evidence the Britain may slowly be rethinking its policy on armed police. "Since 9/11 they've become much more aware of the fact that it is a violent world out there," said Ayers.

Jenny Jones, a legislator at London's City Hall and member of the oversight committee for London police, said the change in tactics is unacceptable. "I can't believe that the sight of a policeman with a machine gun will make people feel safer," she said.

London Mayor Boris Johnson's office said "armed police have a role in certain circumstances, but that should be the exception not the norm."

Dolapo Akinmade, a 35-year old accountant from Welwyn Garden City, a town just north of London, said the fact the British public rarely carry firearms means police don't need weapons. "I think society is better off without guns. If every policeman had a gun it would create a tense atmosphere," he said.

"It's a question of is it necessary, and the general feeling is that it's not," said Roy Ingleton, author of "Arming the British Police: The Great Debate."

Texas group derides K-9 scent IDs as 'junk science'

By Jeff Carlton Associated Press
Related Article:Lawsuits target Texas K-9 'scent lineups'

DALLAS — The Innocence Project of Texas said Friday that scent identification lineups, in which trained dogs determine if a suspect's smell matches the smell of crime scene evidence, are based on faulty science and have led to a number of wrongful convictions.

The group, which tries to free the wrongly convicted, said it will release a report next week detailing at least five cases in which innocent people were arrested following scent ID lineups conducted by a Fort Bend sheriff's deputy who trains dogs. Two of the five were jailed for capital murder before the charges against them were dropped.

Deputy Keith Pikett has spent about 20 years training dogs named Clue, James Bond and Columbo to sniff out possible criminals in more than 2,000 scent identification lineups. But the lineups have come under attack from some in the legal community, and Pikett is being sued by two people who claim they were wrongly implicated in crimes because of Pikett's scent lineups.
Trained dogs are routinely at border checkpoints and airports to smell for drugs, bombs or other contraband. They're used by search and rescue teams and in other police work, such as to chase suspects.

But what Pikett does amounts to "dog whispering," the innocence group said.
"This is exactly the kind of down-home voodoo that jurors like because, hey, everybody likes a dog," said Jeff Blackburn, chief counsel for the Innocence Project of Texas. "Why don't they just have a guy who says he has a unicorn that can figure out who criminals are?"

Texas and Florida are the only states that regularly use scent identifications, Blackburn said. The Innocence Project of Florida is reviewing about 20 cases involving a now dead dog handler who worked on three cases that later resulted in exonerations. Florida has since begun to restrict the use of scent lineups.

During a scent lineup, an officer wipes individual pieces of gauze or cloth on a suspect and several other people, and then places them in separate coffee cans, according to the lawsuits against Pikett. A trained dog is presented a piece of crime scene evidence, and is then led by Pikett to each can for a whiff. The dog is supposed to signal Pikett if it sniffs a match.

Proponents of scent lineups argue that each person has a unique smell, and that dogs are capable of distinguishing among the subtlest of differences.

But critics say the method lacks the scientific validity of other court-approved identification methods, including DNA and fingerprint testing.

"This should not be in court," said Rex Easley, the attorney who filed both lawsuits. "It is junk, absolute junk. It's unreliable. There is no methodology and no science."

Pikett's attorney, Randall Morse, said his client denies any wrongdoing. He described him as a well-respected law enforcement official who has consulted for the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Texas Attorney General's Office and several Texas police and sheriff's departments.

Pikett has testified as an expert witness in more than 40 cases, Morse said. In at least three cases, defense attorneys lost appeals arguing that Pikett's testimony should be inadmissible.
Pikett spent about nine years as a dog expert-for-hire while working as a high school science teacher before joining the sheriff's department full-time about 11 years ago, Morse said.
"There is a whole criminal defense bar who would tell you he is not reliable. One reason is that he does a good job of putting people away," said Morse, an assistant Fort Bend County attorney.
Doug Lowry, the president of the National Police Bloodhound Association, a nonprofit group that holds seminars on using bloodhounds in police work, said in an affidavit that he watched video of Pikett's lineups and found them "disturbing." Pikett's dogs appeared to be "just taking a walk in the park instead of conducting scent lineups."

The association stopped training police to do scent lineups several years ago because "very few bloodhound teams were found to be consistently proficient" and there were "too many variables involved," Lowry said.

In the lawsuits, the plaintiffs accuse Pikett of manufacturing evidence and say his scent lineups are merely an "elaborate performance." Pikett denies the allegations.

The lawsuits aren't the first time someone took action against Pikett. In 2008, a now former Harris County assistant prosecutor e-mailed his colleagues to warn them about the "unreliable evidence" that came from Pikett's work with Houston police, according to an affidavit.
Dr. Alejandro del Carmen, the chairman of the University of Texas at Arlington's criminology and criminal justice department, compared scent identification to primitive criminology theories that identified suspects by body type. The once-accepted theory was that skinny people were too shy and heavy people too lazy to commit crimes.

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"As a trained criminologist and a Ph.D., I find it nerve-racking that the justice system would rely on the ability of a dog to predict someone's guilt or innocence," del Carmen said.