Ideas Could Transform Police/Community Relations

In Pittsburgh, the police beating of CAPA student Jordan Miles, who hadn't done anything wrong, has seriously eroded the support of law-abiding citizens in the African American community and beyond. Two Kansas City lawmen contend that community relations should be the primary goal of law enforcement because they are essential to fighting crime. in their book "Unleashing the Power of Unconditional Respect: Transforming Law Enforcement and Police Training" Jack Colwell, a police veteran and trainer, and Chip Huth, who heads a SWAT team for the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department explain their ideas and practices. The interview airs on WDUQ this morning.

Chip Huth says the problems in Pittsburgh or Kansas City are not unique and arise from the challenge all people face in understanding the reality of others. He says it's common in such situations for police to "circle the wagons" and become very defensive, but he believes in taking the responsibility himself in order to have a hand in the solution. He says meetings that allow community members to express their points of view and to feel understood may open them up to understanding the police point of view.

Chip Huth says his SWAT team works in inner-city African American neighborhoods and hasn't had a citizen complaint when serving a search warrant for four years, even though they break down doors, throw flash bangs, break windows, and take "mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers" off to jail. Before that, it got more complaints than any other squad. He thinks the improvement is because he and his squad try to understand what it's like to be in the position of the people in the home--most likely terrified--and when the situation is secure, he sits down with the suspects and explains the terms of the search warrant, answers questions, advises of rights, etc.. Convicted felons heading off to jail have told him how much they respect the way his team treated their families.

Huth doesn't think race--white cops, black suspects--is the root of the problem with community relations. At the present time, all members of his SWAT team are white males, yet they are able to do a job that could arouse a great deal of resentment, no matter what they looked like, without citizen complaints. He thinks it has to do rather with seeing their "clients" as people, not objects.

House Votes to Add Three Controlled Substances

The Pennsylvania house has approved a bill that makes synthetic marijuana, salvia divinorum and bath salts illegal in the state. The measure originally focused only on Salvia divinorum or sage. After moving through committee last month, synthetic marijuana and bath salts or synthetic cocaine were added to the bill. Bill sponsor RosieMarie Swanger says she was happy to have the other substances added to her bill. “It was a convenient vehicle at the time to get it all done under one bill,” says Swanger. “They are all very harmful substances and need to be outlawed because people are committing suicide in some cases after the use of these substances.” Other bills dealing individually with bath salts and synthetic marijuana continue to make their way through the legislature.

Swanger says despite the confusing names, Pennsylvanians do not need to worry about accidently purchasing a drug, “Salvia divinorum is a different variety of sage than the herb we buy in the store or drink in sage tea. You can’t really buy it in places other than head shops. And bath salts is the name given to this synthetic cocaine which is a fine white powder just like the real cocaine.” She says it looks nothing like the bath salts you might actually add to your bath.

Swanger introduced a similar bill last year but it did not make it out of committee. She says the biggest difference between this year and last year is the party in power. “I’m a Republican and we now have a Republican majority so we are moving our member’s bills to a greater extent than they were moved under the other leadership,” says Swanger.

The measure now goes to the senate.

U.S. Attorney Reorganizes Office

David Hickton announced that he is restructuring the U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh in an effort to better distribute crimes the office handles throughout the staff. Hickton, the U.S. Attorney for Western PA, will reorganize the Criminal Division into four new sections: Civil Rights and Exploitation, National Security, Violent Crimes and Fraud and Corruption. He also established an Executive Committee of attorneys that will meet with office leadership to address training, planning, diversity, and case review. The changes will take effect on October 24th.

Hickton says the new Civil Rights section will show the office's obligation to addressing hate crimes. "It will send a message inside and outside this office, to the community at large, that we believe that civil rights violations and hate crimes are unacceptable...and that we intend to make it a priority to stop them."

He also says that, although he has created two new positions to make sure his office meets ethical obligations, he has not seen any misconduct from his staff. Hickton says that the posts are mainly to help improve the already high professionalism he has experienced.

The office currently employs 51 assistant attorneys and 60 support staff. And prosecutes civil and criminal cases on behalf of the U.S. in the western part of Pennsylvania.

US Atty Holds Gang Summit

Over the last two days some 500 law enforcement officials and community leaders have gathered in Cranberry to talk about stamping out gang violence in Western Pennsylvania. The US Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania called the meeting. It is the 5th annual gathering on the subject organized by the office. US Attorney David Hickton says, “this is a battle we must win. The stakes are too high.” Hickton says the meeting is not just a sharing of best practices among the groups involved. He says it is a chance to educate people about the gang problems all communities face. “It is a rural issue as well as an urban issue,” says Hickton. Along with talking about the more well known gangs such as the Crips and Bloods, the summit will also be dealing with Skinheads and neo-Nazis. Hickton says law enforcement can only go so far in combating the problem. He says community groups need to make sure kids have programs to turn to help keep them out of a life of crime. “We need to replace despair and hopelessness with hope and opportunity,” says Hickton. He says there are programs out there to make sure “our children have the choice to take the right path.” Hickton says they have made great strides in combating gang activity in the last 5 years, especially on the Northside.

Measure Would Create "Blue Alerts"

The Pennsylvania House is considering legislation that would establish a type of Amber Alert system for incidents when police officers are killed or injured. The House Judiciary Committee is holding hearings on the measure which is sponsored by Democratic Representative Dom Costa of Pittsburgh, who is a former commander with the Pittsburgh Police and served as interim chief.
The Amber Alert system helps find children who are missing and catch suspected child abductors.
Representative Costa's bill is intended to enlist the public to help locate people who are suspected of attacking law enforcement officers. Costa says if the measure is approved, the Blue Alert would use media broadcasts and messaging signs along highways to provide information about the vehicle of a suspected law enforcement assailant....
"there's no having to testify or anything like that. All you're doing is saying you believe you (have) seen that car at a certain area. It directs the law enforcement agencies to these areas to try to find and apprehend these people."

Costa says the public would become the extra eyes in the search for the suspected assailant..."when someone attacks and armed protector and hurts, injures or takes that person's life, they'll hurt anybody...do whatever it takes to escape, and it's very important that we get the information out...to try to apprehend that person or persons as quickly as possible."

The investigating law enforcement agency could recommend activation of a Blue alert when:
--a law enforcement officer is killed or seriously injured by an offender
--the offender poses a serious risk or threat to the public or other law enforcement personnel.

New Effort Launched to Fight Child Exploitation

The US Department of Justice has launched a nationwide strategy to combat child exploitation but many of the tools are already in use here in Western Pennsylvania. The national program includes a comprehensive threat assessment of the dangers facing children from child pornography, online enticement, and commercial sexual exploitation. Locally, the US Attorney’s office has convened the Western Pennsylvania Crimes Against Children Task Force since 1999. Child exploitation prosecutions have jumped in the region from 5 in 1999 to 267 so far this year. Officials say tat makes the Western District of Pennsylvania one of the busiest offices of its size in the nation. A Child’s Place at Mercy Director Mary Carrasco says much of that can be attributed to the taskforce, “[Child exploitation] is a growing problem but the taskforce has contributed a lot to people working together and coming up with solutions and coming up with new strategies to approach this problem. “ She says when the taskforce first started to meet, some of the members were hesitant to share information but that was quickly overcome. Carassco says as the taskforce worked together, the members found ways to improve the process so children would not have to be repeatedly questioned by different agencies. “I remember a time when we did not ask kids if they were photographed or if there was any Internet component,” says Carassco. That has been important in tracking down child sex offenders.
The improvements have come as recently as this weekend. Using a Depart of Justice grant, Pennsylvania State Police along with Massachusetts State Police and The University of Mass Amherst developed a new tool to track, in real time, individuals sharing child pornography on the Internet. It was used for four hours Sunday. The results were posted for a news conference Monday on a map (above and right) as red markers. Acting US Atty. Robert Cessar says the tool is still very new but it will be used as much as possible, “we are gong to do our darndest to make sure five years from now there is going to be a lot less red on that [map].” Cessar says the maps were not surprising but they “stole his breath away.” “You know it’s out there but until you see a pictorial, or something, it just does not register. But when you look at that, that registers,” says Cessar.
As part of the national effort each region was asked to list their five most wanted fugitives. The five posted by the Western District of PA are all men who have violated the terms of their release to remain in touch with law enforcement as registered sex offenders. Marshall’s office officials say they will use all the tools they have to find all the people on the list.

Teen Sexting Might Become Illegal

The Pennsylvania House decided Tuesday that minors who sext should be prosecuted with either summary offenses or second-degree misdemeanors. The ACLU of Pennsylvania says that may be unconstitutional.

Bill 2189 went unto the Senate. It would create a tiered system of criminalization for sexting, the act of sending suggestive photos on cell phones.

The bill doesn’t address child pornography laws.

Andy Hoover, the Legislative Director or the ACLU of Pennsylvania says it infringes on First Ammendment rights. He also says the bill creates a new crime. "Kids are gonna stumble sometimes, they’re gonna be irresponsible but that’s best left to parents. This bill is basically a government takeover of parenting. This bill basically says we’re not going to trust parents to discipline their kids, the criminal justice is gonna do it and that’s wrong," he said.

According to a recent survey, 25 percent of teens have participated in sexting.

Bill to Repeal Death Penalty Introduced

State Senator Daylin Leach, a Democrat from Montgomery and Delaware counties has introduced legislation that would repeal the use of capital punishment in Pennsylvania.

Bill 1281, which is circulating in search of co-sponsors would only allow for a maximum sentence of life in prison. Leach says the death penalty disproportionately targets racial minorities and the poor and is not cost efficient or reliable.

Leach said the numbers of people who are exonerated due to DNA evidence the ways people are punished should be reexamined because it is a faulty system.

According to the ACLU there have been six death row exonerations since 1986 in Pennsylvania. There are over 200 people on Pennsylvania's death row.

9th Annual Forensic Science and Law Conference

The Wecht Institute at Duquesne University is hosting a conference today and tomorrow on the challenge of obtaining evidence in today's digital age. University of Central Florida Professor Mark Pollitt says the ability of law enforcement to collect electronic evidence varies tremendously, so there are jurisdictions where cases are not being made.

Saturday afternoon, internet safety advocates Alicia and Mary Kozakiewicz will speak. Mary says her then-13-year-old daughter Alicia disappeared New Year's Day 2002 between dinner and dessert. Unknown to her family, she went outside to meet someone she considered an online friend, who turned out to be a 38-year-old computer programmer. Using "digital footprints", the FBI found her in Virginia four days later.

Parents need to explain online dangers to their children but not assume they've gotten the message and also use protective software, according to Kozakiewicz.

Child Porn Loophole Closed

A bill that would close a loophole in the state’s child pornography law is awaiting Governor Ed Rendell’s signature. Bill sponsor Rep. Jennifer Mann of Lehigh County says she was spurred to action when a Delaware county man successfully appealed his child pornography conviction by claiming that he never intended to possess the illegal pictures, he just wanted to view them on line. The current law speaks only of “possessing” the material. Mann says there should be no distinction in this age of online viewing. That same case was later overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sighting the same logic as Mann’s legislation so she says she feels confident it will stand up to legal challenges. Governor Rendell has not said if he will sign the legislation but it was passed unanimously out of the House. The bill does account for unintentional viewing. Mann says even with spam and pop-up blockers sometimes “disturbing images slip through.” She says there is a big difference between that type of viewing and going out to a web site that offers child pornography and she says it will be easy for police and prosecutors to determine a person’s intention. Mann says, “law enforcement officials need to have every tool in their belt to fight child pornography.”

City/Brady Center Respond to NRA Lawsuit

The city of Pittsburgh and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence have filed a response to a lawsuit brought by the National Rifle Association. The NRA is suing the city over an ordinance that mandates gun owners report lost or stolen handguns within 24 hours. The law is meant to prevent the straw purchase of firearms and reduce gun trafficking. Daniel Vice, senior attorney for the Brady Center says they are arguing that the NRA's suit is baseless and have requested it be thrown out. He says the NRA has not proven that that the law impacts the organization and therefore has no merit. The NRA has 20 days to respond.

Shuman Center Transfers to Begin in October

The first transfer of residents from the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Lincoln-Lemington to the Auberle Home in McKeesport will most likely occur in October, when facilities will be ready to receive up to 24 young people awaiting their juvenile court hearings.

Shuman Executive Director Jack Simmons says transfer selection criteria have been crafted with the goal of assuring the safety of both residents and the community. Only younger, low-risk, first-time offenders will go to Auberle, where there is less security. Juveniles who have escaped from other facilities or stand accused of serious offenses will not be eligible.

Although housing some residents at Auberle may save money in the long run, Simmons says the primary reason for the move is to address overcrowding at Shuman, which has been a long-standing problem.

The Shuman residents transferred will be in the charge of Auberle employees, but their regimen will be identical to that at Shuman, according to Simmons.

More Than 100 Arrests in Western Pa.

Operation FALCON (Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally) took place in western Pennsylvania from June 15th through June 21st, resulting in more than 100 arrests. The effort targeted people who had warrants out for their arrest and brought in $70,000 in cash, 153 stamp bags of heroin, and 100 grams of crack cocaine. The effort was a collaboration of 41 separate law enforcement agencies. This was the third time the program operated in western Pennsylvania.