Police Issues

CATCH AND RELEASE (PART II)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:47:59 GMT

Ever since NIJ adopted the “evidence-based” mantra it’s been de rigueur for governments at all levels to demand solutions that are founded in science and empirically verifiable. But in criminal justice, where it’s often hard to say what factors to consider in the first place, let alone how to measure their effects, thoughtlessly crunching data is risky.

For an example look no further than Milwaukee’s brand-new pretrial release program. Developed by Justice 2000, a small Milwaukee nonprofit founded in 2001 to promote the “safe release and community integration of criminal offenders,” it applies a set of measures to estimate the likelihood that a defendant might fail to appear or reoffend. Staff members collect information about the nature of the offense, criminal record, previous failures to appear, drug and alcohol use, mental impairment, community bonds and family ties from official records and personal interviews. Results are computed and furnished to a court commissioner who makes the final decision about bail and release.

YOU THINK YOU'RE UPSET?

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:25:39 GMT

“White-Collar Criminology and the Wall Street Occupy Movement,” Henry Pontell and William Black’s sharp-tongued missive in the current issue of The Criminologist, accuses the criminal justice system of an inexcusable failure to hold top financial executives accountable for the current mess:

"The global meltdown of 2008 was influenced by flawed financial policies, law-breaking, greed, irresponsibility, and not an inconsiderable amount of concerted ignorance and outright stupidity...Control fraud [fraud by executives] has played an integral part...In the end control fraud will persist as long as the kleptocratic corporate culture remains entrenched...This [arresting and denigrating Wall Street protesters] stands in stark contrast to the virtual absence of indignation, moral outrage and effective law enforcement that would have stopped those whose real crimes have led many law-abiding citizens around the world into the streets."

NEWS CLIPS

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:24:39 GMT

* Senator criticizes DOJ for spending big bucks to defend its lawyers in misconduct cases * NYPD makes record number of pot arrests, says it keeps down crime * Philadelphia beset by lots of violence and few convictions * Milwaukee "evidence-based" pre-trial release program frees accused killer without bail * After more than three months Occupy Miami tent city comes down * House Democrats blast ATF "gun walking" operations * ACLU, others accuse Houston jailers of brutality * Connecticut small-town chief quits after FBI arrests four officers on civil rights charges * Congressman says DEA money-laundering strategy may cause rather than prevent crime * Memphis PD partners with Feds to combat gang violence

FROM BRADY TO THE CONFRONTATION CLAUSE

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:20:27 GMT

If you’re reading this, crime and justice are your bag. And if so, the Supreme Court’s current term, chock-full as it is of important criminal cases, should be of great interest.

Two months ago, in “From Eyewitnesses to GPS,” we prognosticated about five cases. One, Perry v. New Hampshire, was recently decided. Perry, a convicted thief, argued that eyewitness testimony is so unreliable that he should have been entitled to a pretrial hearing on its admissibility. As we predicted (well, not just us) the Supremes disagreed. Unless police purposefully bias the ID process – and in Perry there was no such evidence – it rightfully falls on the jury, not a judge, to determine how much weight an identification deserves.

MAKING SAUSAGE

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:27:03 GMT

Readers who follow this site know that we’re not shy about criticizing excessive force. Nor about calling a time-out when officers try to excuse egregious behavior with outrageous claims. And on first glance this incident seemed a perfect example.

Six days ago Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a bus stop. A man had called 911 to complain that a woman was threatening riders. “She’s trying to pick a fight with anybody, she almost hit an old man. She was talking about how she got out of prison and ‘I’ll beat up all you guys’.” (Click here to hear the 911 call in its entirety.)

It turns out that Julie Nelson had been convicted four times for assaulting cops. Homeless and mentally disturbed, the mordantly obese 42-year old woman had left on a bus. By the time that deputies hopped on board Nelson seemed friendly enough. Yet knowing her all too well, the officers asked Nelson to exit. She refused, and when they tried to force compliance Nelson resisted and uttered profanities.

MURDER, INTERRUPTED?

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:39:30 GMT

“The Interrupters,” one of the season’s most acclaimed documentaries, follows three Chicago Ceasefire street workers as they seek to disrupt the cycle of violence and retaliation that infuse the everyday lives of poor youth with fear and uncertainty.

Launched in 1999 by the University of Illinois School of Public Health, Chicago Ceasefire deployed former gang members in inner city areas to identify and counsel high-risk youth, mediate disputes and defuse potentially violent situations. This approach distinguishes Chicago from Boston Ceasefire (aka Boston Gun Project,) a 1996 initiative that tackled the problem of youth homicide by staging meetings (“call-ins”) with parolees and probationers to scare them straight and offer options.

POLICE ISSUES' OINK-OINKS FOR 2011

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:43:35 GMT

As our fifth year of pontificating about criminal justice comes to a close we’ve endeavored to bring you some of the most noteworthy events of 2011. Or at least a few of the most amusing. Ready that grin and enjoy the ride!

Clueless in Los Angeles. Only hours after the L.A. Times revealed that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department mistakenly jailed nearly 200 persons in 2011 on warrants issued for someone else, Sheriff Lee Baca formed a task force to fix things. It will presumably be working alongside another “task force” that’s investigating explosive allegations about abuses in the jails, including the presence of gang-like deputy cliques. Baca, who blames commanders for keeping him in the dark, hadn’t known about that one either...

CATCH AND RELEASE

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:40:06 GMT

“If you’re talking about somebody who the rap sheet in front of you shows is potentially a dangerous person, has a gun, has a criminal history, common sense says don’t let him out until you make one phone call.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s criticism was directed at Evelyn Laporte, a Brooklyn judge who had brushed aside a prosecutor’s request to set $2,500 bail and released a man arrested on drug possession and child endangerment charges on his own recognizance.

FASTER, CHEAPER, WORSE

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:01:30 GMT

Is “corrections” a non-sequitur? No, insists NIJ. Its landmark 1997 report, “Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising,” argued that carefully designed and appropriately targeted programs of sufficient dosage and duration can indeed rehabilitate. Intensive, theory based “cognitive and behavioral treatments” were particularly recommended for high-risk populations.

That’s exactly what Project Greenlight offered. Developed by the Vera Institute of Justice and conducted in New York between February 2003 and February 2004, it applied a “cognitive-behavioral” approach to mitigate personality traits associated with offending such as impulsivity, antisocial attitudes and drug use. Inmates would participate in therapeutic sessions, receive housing and employment assistance, and interact with parole agents and social workers before release. Ex-offenders would leave with detailed, step-by-step plans to help them successfully reintegrate into the community.

LAPD GOT IT RIGHT

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:11:11 GMT

“You have to agree that this is not your grandfather’s LAPD.” Connie Rice’s reaction undoubtedly perplexed some of her admirers. After all, only a short time earlier, during the early morning hours of November 30, more than a thousand cops swarmed over the City Hall lawn, shut down the Occupy encampment and arrested nearly 300 protesters.

Yet the well-known civil rights activist and long-time LAPD critic couldn’t be more pleased. Her feelings were shared by legal observers, ministers and rabbis who circulated through the site, keeping a wary eye on cops as they hauled campers away. Pam Noles, a protester and onsite monitor for the National Lawyers Guild, which supports the Occupy movement, praised everyone for keeping it peaceful: “The LAPD had their A game on....Both sides did what they had to do.”