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Written by Drug Czars past and present
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Californians will face an important decision in November when they vote on whether to legalize marijuana. Proponents of Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, rely on two main arguments: that legalizing and taxing marijuana would generate much-needed revenue, and that legalization would allow law enforcement to focus on other crimes. As experts in the field of drug policy, policing, prevention, education and treatment, we can report that neither of these claims withstand scrutiny. No country in the world has legalized marijuana to the extent envisioned by Proposition 19, so it is impossible to predict precisely the consequences of wholesale legalization.
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Written by Dennis Slocumb
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There have been a myriad of opinions regarding Arizona's SB1070 and its impact on everyone involved. Clearly, the majority of Americans agree with the concept of deporting illegal entrants, particularly those who have brought attention to themselves by their criminal conduct. It does not seem that any of our government's leaders want to do anything but talk about addressing the issue. Businesses and agriculture benefit from the inexpensive labor while the liberals sees immigration only in terms of human rights. Both ignore the fundamental underlying factor that some of the persons in the country illegally are causing problems beyond their mere presence.
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Written by Tom Wetzel
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Having a good field training officer can make such a difference in the kind of career a rookie officer will have. If he or she has a good one who imparts knowledge and wisdom, the officer is blessed. But conversely, if he has an unethical, incompetent or lazy FTO, the officer may develop poor habits and have an unproductive career. Young rookies are like clay and field training officers can help sculpt them into solid public servants. Ideally a field training officer will not limit her instruction to only job-related tasks but will also provide insight on how an officer should behave off duty as well.
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Written by LAPPL
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He was serving his country as a Marine reservist in Afghanistan when the 15-pound roadside bomb Marine Staff Sgt. and LAPD officer Joshua Cullins was disarming, exploded. Joshua suffered a concussion in the blast. When the alarming news reached LAPD's Central Division, his fellow officers turned to YouTube to send a pair of get-well-soon messages to their friend and colleague. As recounted in a must-read story by LA Times' writer Bob Pool, Captain Daryl Russell remembered that one of his officers, David Marroquin, was experienced at producing videos.
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Written by Mark Nichols
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When it comes to border security, the vast majority of the officials with their hands on the purse strings overwhelmingly favor so-called "high tech" solutions. If you read American Police Beat you already know that the "virtual fence" between the U.S. and Mexico is poster child for mismanagement with regard to government contracts and will most likely never be completed. It's made a lot of money for a select few but is widely considered a failure in terms of what the fence was supposed to actually do. But according to AOL News, public concern about illegal immigration, border security and human trafficking is at an all-time high. The pressure to "do something," has led to the deployment of National Guard troops on the border as well the increased use of unmanned aircraft, or drones to stem the tide of drugs and illegal immigrants as it washes onto American shores.
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Written by Mark Nichols
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In an attempt to maximize all available funding sources, the Lockport, New York Common Council says it will seek the most police officers possible and use the highest salaries available in applying for a federal grant to hire five new officers. The city recently applied for a federal COPS grant, which will pay the full salaries and benefits for the new officers for four years. Lockport Police Lt. Douglas Haak, who is in charge of filling out the grant application for the Police Department, told the aldermen there's no point in trying to curry favor with the feds by "low balling" estimates of the officers' cost.
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Written by APB Staff
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Have you ever noticed how annoying it is listening to someone on his or her cell phone? "Really? No way! (other person talking) Well Tammy said that wasn't the case. (more silence,) No, no, we're going to other place. The waitress at the other spot was really slow." And it can go on for hours. Now scientists say that they might have discovered why listening to one half of a conversation is so frustrating. It turns out that our imaginations can't help filling in the blanks. And before you know it, you've just wasted 15 valuable minutes putting the pieces of meaningless puzzle together in your head.
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Written by Kevin Morison
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With strong backing from America's law enforcement, corporate and philanthropic communities, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) announced today that it will break ground in October on the first-ever National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, DC. Groundbreaking will take place on October 14, 2010. The Museum will be built on Federal land across the street from the existing National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in historic Judiciary Square, the symbolic seat of the nation's criminal justice system. A gala celebration is planned for that evening at the National Building Museum.
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Written by APB Staff
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If you read American Police Beat, you already know about the consternation of some taxpayers in Utah who recently received their first bill for policing services. Now one of those residents is hopping mad about the situation and plans to take his case to court. The plaintiff is also a prominent tax attorney. Mark Buchi, a member of the state's Tax Review Commission wants to make it clear that he's not against fees and charges for some government services. Charging a fee for a fishing license, a car registration or a park admission all makes sense he says. But charging American citizens for their own police protection rubs a lot of people the wrong way.
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Written by William J. Bratton
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(Editors note: This opinion piece will also be in the September 2010 issue of American Police Beat) In more than 40 years in law enforcement, I have been part of a revolution in policing technology. When I began as a Boston police officer, walkie-talkies were so bulky that no one wanted to carry them. Years later, while I was New York City police commissioner, the New York Police Department developed the COMPSTAT model of policing-using timely information, gained through technology, to drastically cut crime rates. Today, many police departments have real time crime centers, leveraging new communications technology to do a more effective job fighting crime.
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Written by APB Staff
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As a longtime member of the NYPD's elite Emergency Service Unit, as well as a licensed physician's assistant, Det. Dennis Canale is used to saving lives. Those dual skills were never put to better use than in November 2008, when he saved the life of retired Det. Greg Boyle, who while working as a security guard had been shot and wounded during a robbery at a jewelry store located inside the Waldorf Astoria hotel.
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Written by Mark Nichols
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Are people so fed up with crime and the criminal justice system that they are taking the law into their own hands? Or are some individuals watching too many "Dirty Harry" movies and a little quick to pull the trigger? In Oregon recently, Gresham police say Witter, 48, was in an AT&T store when he witnessed two men stealing multiple iPhones. It's unclear from the press reports whether the perpetrators stuck the joint up or just shoplifted the phones. But based on Witter's actions, hopefully it was the former as opposed to the latter. Witter didn't call the cops. He just ran after the thieves with his gun drawn.
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Written by Mark Nichols
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If civilian staff doubled in American police departments in ten years, odds are there would be some discussion about whether or not that was a good thing for public safety. And according to an article in the UK Mail newspaper, that's exactly the kind of question people are asking after it was determined that the number of civilian police staff has nearly doubled over the last decade in the United Kingdom.
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Written by Michael Valentin
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After the attacks of September 11, 2001, we all said "Never Forget." In that spirit it's important to keep in mind that people from all over the country came to the aid of New York City. Every state in the country including Puerto Rico sent responders. The Police Aid Foundation has created a team of active and retired officers, who have come together to aid officers and their families who courageously performed their duties are now suffering and dying with 9/11 related illness. One of our projects has been creating a poster tribute of the officers who have passed since September 11, 2001, whether from exposure to toxins at Ground Zero, or while digging through debris for remains at Staten Island's Fresh Kills landfill.
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Written by APB Staff
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In the latest "false report news" we have the bizarre case of a University of Iowa physician who claimed he had been mugged and stabbed in Chicago. But it turns out the doctor stabbed himself and made the whole mugging story up. Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis lashed out at the physician during an interview with the Chicago Sun Times. "He embarrassed the city with his story," Weis said. "It cast the city in negative light." Dr. Gary Hunninghake, 63, has been charged with felony disorderly conduct-filing a false police report.
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Written by Bob Fitzsimmons
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"Sorry honey, I have to work late again tonight, there was an accident." Sorry honey, I got forced out for a shift, I'm going to miss the birthday party." After about six years of hearing this, my very understanding wife, Frannie, decided if she couldn't beat me, she would join me. My wife, a 53-year-old cancer survivor, decided that she would follow her dream to become a police officer. To do this she would have to attend the grueling 18-week Maine Criminal Justice Academy. First she completed the 100 pre-service classes which enabled her to work the road for a police department.
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Written by Mark Nichols
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According to a report by the Associated Press, federal and state authorities recently held a series of anti-terrorism training exercises at ports throughout California. The two days of simulations included exercises involving an attack on a container ship at the Port of Oakland and a bomb in the San Francisco Bay found sea mammals trained by the Navy. It was unclear whether dolphins or seals, or both were involved in the drills. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger started the annual training event in 2004 to improve homeland security and disaster preparedness.
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Written by Mark Nichols
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Between the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and other major news stories recently, there hasn't been much talk about the flooding in Kentucky that has taken lives and caused billions of dollars worth of damage. Back in early May, two Nashville police officers fought their way to a flooded mobile home park to get the trapped residents out safely. But the rising water nearly trapped the cops as well.
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Written by Mark Nichols
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According to a recent story by CBS, several people in Maryland are facing felony charges for recording their arrests on camera. Others say they have been intimidated to shut their cameras off. As a result something of a legal controversy has sprung up. As is usually the case with electronic recording and law enforcement issues, the main issue is whether a given incident occurred in a one-party state or a two-party state.
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Written by Cynthia Brown
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Last month American Police Beat hosted the 11th annual Police Union Leadership Seminar at Harvard University. The invitation-only event is attended by the presidents and officers of the police associations from the 50 largest cities in the nation. The three-day seminar, held at the Harvard Law School, is a challenging program of lectures and panel discussions led by some of the nation's foremost experts in the fields of leadership, management, negotiations strategies, using social media and other topics of interest to the people who are leading the largest police unions in the country. This year, the secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, joined us in Cambridge to speak to the group about the pressing issues facing DHS eand the Department's important partnership with local law enforcement across the country.
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