Saturday, April 13th, 2013 — Good Afternoon, Stay Safe
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NOTE: There will be no NYPD newsletter tomorrow. It will be back Monday. - Mike
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Violent crime spiking in wealthy Manhattan neighborhoods
By Jessica Simeone, Kevin Fasick and Jeane MacIntosh
Some of Manhattan’s wealthiest neighborhoods are exploding in a wave of violent crime that hearkens back to the bad old days when people feared going out at night, according to NYPD data obtained by The Post.
Chelsea, Gramercy Park, TriBeCa, SoHo and Midtown South all posted a frightening rise in rapes in the first three months of 2013 compared with the same period in 2012. Felony assaults in the usually peaceful West Village nearly tripled, the new crime statistics show.
Greenwich Village’s 6th Precinct tied the Rockaways’ grimy 100th Precinct for the city’s biggest year-to-date overall crime spike.
“We are the new 42nd Street before it was cleaned up. All of those problems came here,” lamented Robert Ziegler, 48, the co-owner of the Boots & Saddle bar on Christopher Street.
“I’ve been here for 15 years, and this last four or five years is the worst I thought I’d ever see it.
“But these past few months, it’s gotten worse.”
Increases in rapes, felony assault and grand larceny sent Village crime stats rocketing 28.7 percent during the Jan. 1-to-April 7 reporting period, the figures show.
The 13th Precinct (Gramercy) and the 1st Precinct (TriBeCa, SoHo and the Financial District) each reported five rapes since January, up from two each in the same period a year ago.
Chelsea’s 10th Precinct recorded four rapes, up from none a year ago, and saw a 61.5 percent hike in felony assaults, from 13 to 21.
The West Village’s 6th Precinct reported 44 felony assaults so far this year — up from 16 — for a 175 percent spike, while grand larceny jumped 36.6 percent to 351 incidents, against 257. There were two rapes, compared with one a year ago.
“It’s a crying shame, because this is one of the highest-rent neighborhoods in the city,” said Ziegler, who is part of the West Village Coalition to stop violence. “To have a crime rate comparable to the Rockaways, it’s just disgusting.”
Police sources said bar brawls account for about a quarter of increases in West Village felony assaults — and they also were a factor in Chelsea’s spike in assaults.
All of the wealthy lower Manhattan neighborhoods saw an increase in grand larcenies, with Gramercy’s 13th Precinct coming in right behind the Village, with a 28.5 percent increase.
Part of the increase is attributable to personal-property thefts in bars, police sources said.
“You’ll find a lot of people with nice property who aren’t being very attentive toward it,” one source said.
Meanwhile, precincts in Manhattan South’s historically more crime-addled neighborhoods, including Chinatown, the Lower East Side, East Village and Midtown North, all saw overall crime decline compared with a year ago, figures show.
Their performance helped keep Manhattan South’s overall crime increase at just under 6 percent, with a total of 3,928 incidents compared with 3,708 a year ago.
Overall, rapes jumped 30.8 percent; grand larceny was up 9.5 percent; felony assault rose 9.4 percent; burglary ticked up 1 percent, car thefts fell 5.9 percent and robberies dropped 18.6 percent — a decline attributed in part to the cold winter. Murders were flat, at 2 in both 2013 and 2012.
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NYPD Stop, Question and Frisk
Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘The New York Daily News’ Editorial:
Judge Shira Scheindlin undermines stop-and-frisk suit
Shakes premise of class-action case with question to witness
With a single pointed question, the federal judge presiding over the stop-and-frisk trial got to the heart of why she was wrong to sanction this class-action extravaganza — and why she must toss the case at the close of testimony.
Judge Shira Scheindlin let civil rights activists into the case based on the stories of 12 New Yorkers who say police unconstitutionally stopped them, plus evidence purporting to show that cops similarly victimized huge numbers of people.
To make that leap, she authorized the activists to study millions of forms on which police checked boxes recording the reasons for individual stops. The boxes indicate grounds like “high-crime area” or “furtive movements.” They are supposed to show that a cop had reasonable suspicion of criminality before interfering with anyone’s liberty.
A Columbia University professor reviewed the forms on the preposterous theory that he could divine from the boxes how often cops met the legal standard of reasonable suspicion.
He found that on 82% of the forms, cops had checked boxes indicating they had proper cause to conduct a stop, that 12% of the forms lacked enough information to draw a conclusion and that only 6% of the reports failed to justify stops.
Those proportions hardly support the allegation of widespread abuse. Still more, the boxes actually reveal next to nothing about the difficult judgment calls that prompted any single cop to make any particular stop, let alone the thinking of thousands of cops making millions of stops.
All those interactions between cops and citizens involve complex judgments; how complex becomes clear when you consider that rendering a verdict in the case has involved days of testimony.
That’s why Scheindlin was so off the mark in accepting the forms as a foundation for claiming that police have victimized hundreds of thousands of people . And that’s why it was astonishing to hear Scheindlin utter these words in court:
“You really don’t know much about the stop just by looking at the form, do you?”
The judge was speaking at the time to former Chief of Department Joseph Esposito, who was on the witness stand.
“Correct,” he answered, as it became crystal clear that Scheindlin had given the go-ahead to a case built on evidence that, by her own statement, is wholly unreliable. Case dismissed, Your Honor.
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Fixing Stop and Frisk by Reforming Our Drug Laws
By Sal F. Albanese (Candidate for Mayor of New York City) — Friday, April 12th, 2013; 2:16 p.m. ‘The Huffington Post’ / New York, NY
(Op-Ed / Commentary)
The most divisive issue facing New Yorkers in 2013 is stop and frisk, a tactic used by law enforcement to stop, question, and frisk people suspected of a crime. From Bed-Stuy to the Upper West Side, the single most commonly-asked question as I campaign for mayor is, "How do you feel about stop and frisk?"
"Abolish it!" some say. "Keep it. It works!" others say. Unfortunately, this complex issue is being reduced by some to a mere litmus test in which you are either "for" or "against." Fortunately, New Yorkers care too much about their neighborhoods, their families and their city to buy those arguments. They want a strong police department to keep guns off of the street, and they want to be able to walk around without fearing an unnecessary police encounter.
So what can we do? First, we have to recognize that the Fourth Amendment protects all Americans, regardless of race, from unreasonable search. Second, we have to recognize the difference between stop and frisk, a legal police tactic upheld by the Terry v. Ohio case, and its application in New York City, where an especially wide net has been cast. Stop and frisk is a valuable police tool, but its application should be amended to ensure that no one is stopped in violation of the Constitution.
So how do we do that? We need to go straight to the root of why so many young people are being arrested: marijuana. Overwhelmingly, New Yorkers arrested during stop and frisk encounters are charged with marijuana possession. In the past decade, New York City spent one billion dollars and one million police hours prosecuting 440,000 marijuana arrests. Fifty percent of those arrested were under the age of 21. Eighty-five percent of them were black or Latino.
What have we accomplished with these arrests? Not very much. Marijuana is more prevalent than ever, with 1.8 million New York State residents using it. More than one third of New York City youth use it, just slightly less than those who smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. We are spending precious taxpayer money and police time, giving thousands of otherwise law-abiding young New Yorkers a permanent criminal record, and accomplishing little. No matter how you crunch the numbers, the conclusion is the same: current marijuana laws are creating more problems than they are solving.
History offers a clear path forward: taxing, regulating and ending the prohibition of marijuana.
By legalizing marijuana, we can allow officers to focus on patrol and build a rapport with communities. This will improve trust and the flow of information, enabling cops to more easily identify real troublemakers and drastically cut down on stops of law-abiding citizens. We can devote those one million police hours and one billion law enforcement dollars to hire and train more police officers, address local quality-of-life crimes and improve clearance rates for homicide, rape and robbery. By regulating marijuana, we can put black market drug dealers out of business and eliminate the rebellious allure that attracts young people. By taxing marijuana, we can raise billions of dollars in new revenue to pay teachers better, create pediatric wellness centers, invest in schools, and expand health services to prevent and treat drug addiction.
I spent 11 years as a New York City public school teacher and worked as a drug prevention coordinator. I spent 15 years on the City Council Public Safety Committee, hiring more police and equipping them with tools to protect our city. I don't like marijuana, and I don't think people should smoke it. I have never even tried it myself. But I do believe that the time has come to act.
New York City cannot afford to be divided or to throw away money on policies that don't work. If we take this politically courageous step, we can reduce stop and frisk encounters, reduce drug availability, and raise significant revenue to help our cops and our kids for years to come.
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NYPD’s Kelly Says Education, Technology Are Priorities
By Tamer El-Ghobashy — Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘The Wall Street Journal’ / New York, NY
New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly said on Friday that a priority for the rest of his time leading the department will be making it more technologically advanced and better educated.
Kelly said his vision is to have tools that improve the “internal exchange of information” between divisions in the NYPD and for officers to have devices that allow them to quickly access data in the field without the use of multiple, cumbersome databases.
“It takes money and imagination,” said Kelly, speaking at a news conference that announced the bust of two drug trafficking rings operating out of public housing developments in the Lower East Side and East Village.
Kelly pointed to an NYPD pilot program in which officers on patrol have been given smartphones outfitted with information ranging from the number of residents of a building with open warrants to the number of surveillance cameras in an area as examples of the technology that he is seeking to introduce on a wider scale.
This so-called Rugby device is “indicative of the approach we’d like to see to get that type of real-time, real-world information in the hands of police officers,” Kelly said.
Kelly – who will vacate the top spot at the end of the Bloomberg administration unless he is appointed by the mayor’s successor — said he is also seeking to increase the racial diversity in the department while increasing “education levels” to meet the challenges of technology driven policing.
“The job has gotten a lot more complex over the years and we need a higher level of education,” he said.
Kelly did, however, reiterate a concern that he and Bloomberg have for the future of the NYPD: the appointment of an independent Inspector General to monitor the department in the face of unprecedented criticism over its tactics.
On Friday, Kelly said for the first time that an Inspector General would undermine the authority of the commissioner.
“You’re creating another police commissioner,” he said, after arguing that such a monitor would be redundant with the NYPD’s internal affairs bureau.
To be effective, “it would take a significant amount of personnel just to respond to the work load that I believe would come through the Inspector General’s office,” Kelly said. He suggested public support for such oversight is driven by a lack of knowledge of the proposal, which has been supported by several Mayoral candidates and city council members.
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NYPD denies “ear lobe” photo led them to arson suspect
By Mary Murphy — Friday, April 12th, 2013 ‘WPIX News’ / New York, NY
(Edited for brevity)
BROOKLYN, New York (PIX11) - The NYPD denied Friday a published report saying an “ear lobe” photo of a suspected arsonist proved to be the crucial match in its database that led to the man’s arrest.
But the department acknowledged “Facial Recognition Technology” did play a role in the apprehension of the 35-year old suspect, Ruben Ubiles—a career criminal with 52 arrests in his background.
Police said Ubiles was captured on surveillance footage Tuesday, around the time the last arson happened at 130 Clymer Street in Williamsburg. Various photos entered into a computer at the NYPD’s “Real Time Crime Center” ended up providing a match to Ubiles’ name.
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44 Precinct
Violence down 60% in part of the Bronx
By Tim Fleischer — Friday, April 12th, 2013 ‘WABC Eyewitness News’ / New York, NY
NEW YORK (WABC) -- There is more than welcome news to a section of the Bronx that typically under siege by gangs and violence.
It's been 53 days since the last recorded shooting in the Concourse, High Bridge and Mt. Eden neighborhoods.
Police in the Bronx say that 60% of the shootings are motivated by gang members.
They have impacted that and significantly lowered the number of shootings.
"To go almost eight weeks without a shooting in this command is pretty much unheard of," said Inspector Kevin Catalina, Pct. Commanding Officer NYPD.
But it's what Inspector Kevin Catalina hopes to continue in the 44th Precinct.
It is one of the largest and densely populated precincts in the Bronx, stretching from Yankee Stadium and the Grand Concourse and into Mount Eden and over to High Bridge.
"Where I live in the High Bridge section there have been quite a few shootings in that area," said Jacqueline Snow, a High Bridge resident.
But since last year much of the police intelligence crackdown focuses on some 12 gangs in the precinct.
Following this violent shooting in which a 17-year-old is seen firing at rival gang members, police were able to arrest 12 leaders of the gang WTG.
"As a result of that, not only did we extract some of the worst individuals from the equation, but that takedown reverberated throughout the community, specifically the gang community," Inspector Catalina said.
Now when 44th precinct officers patrol the streets, gang members are left to wonder, who is next?
"Maybe 15 individuals are responsible for maybe half of the shootings that occur. What we aim to do, we aim to target and remove those individuals from the equation," Catalina said.
They hope to decrease the danger for the innocent people who are sometimes caught in the cross fire.
"Due to drug violence and gun violence, the kid got shot," said Deborah Pascoe, a neighborhood resident.
Deborah Pascoe remembers the 9-year-old boy who was shot in crossfire and survived last summer.
She's glad there have been no shootings recently.
"We want to prevent those innocent bystanders from being hit," Catalina said.
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PSA # 7 (Former 28 Pct.) P.O. Jose Tejada
NYPD veteran arrested at JFK: Federal prosecutor
By Rich Bockmann — Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘The Times-Ledger’ / Queens
NYPD veteran Jose Tejada was met by New York’s Finest when he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport last week, but instead of a warm welcome he got a pair of cuffs slapped on his wrists.
Federal prosecutors said Tejada, who has spent 17 years on the force, used his position in the NYPD to allegedly help a gang of stick-up artists pull off more than 100 armed robberies of drug dealers in an operation that netted 250 kilograms of coke and $1 million in ill-gotten cash.
Dressed in NYPD uniforms, Tejada and his crew allegedly used fake warrants and handcuffs to stage phony arrests, bilking drug dealers out of their supplies, according to Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for New York’s Eastern District.
Tejada is accused of personally participating in three robberies and attempted robberies in 2006 and 2007 when he was “on active duty and in uniform,” according to the complaint.
During one of the hold-ups, Tejada and his crew mistook a Bronx home for a drug crew’s hangout, prosecutors said. Tejada and two others dressed in uniforms allegedly rifled through the house while the officer brandished his department-issued firearm at the family, according to the complaint.
During another robbery in Manhattan, Tejada and his crew — which included another actual cop — allegedly pulled a car over and handcuffed the driver before making off with 5 kilograms of coke.
Tejada is also accused of illegally accessing a law-enforcement database to make sure his co-conspirators did not have outstanding warrants against them.
Federal prosecutors said 21 members of the crew, which has operated since 2001, have already been convicted. Tejada’s name was added onto a superseding indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court April 3.
Tejada is charged with conspiring to commit robbery and distribute drugs and using a firearm in a robbery, the U.S. attorney said. He could get life in prison if convicted on the narcotics and weapons charges.
Tejada has pleaded not guilty, according to the New York Post.
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New York State
Magazine limit, gun registration period set in New York
Much-debated gun provision limits magazines to seven rounds.
By Jon Campbell (Gannett Albany Bureau) — Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘USA Today’
ALBANY, N.Y. — In late February, a sea of several thousand gun-rights supporters stood on the state Capitol's west lawn. While waving American flags and "Don't Tread on Me" banners, they chanted: "We will not comply."
Starting Monday, their message will be put to the test. This marks a key date in the ongoing battle over the state's controversial gun-control laws. A much-debated provision of the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act takes effect, prohibiting firearm owners from loading more than seven rounds into their magazines unless they're at a range or in competition.
Also on Monday, owners of certain AR15 assault rifles and other semi-automatic guns with military-style features – the sale of which is now banned in New York – can begin registering their firearms with the state and have a year to do so.
The form will be available on State Police's website beginning Monday, according to the agency. The registration requirement applies to anyone who owned such a gun before Jan. 15.
The provisions were among the hallmarks of the new law, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo shepherded through the Legislature in January as New York moved to become the first to enact new gun-control measures after the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.
And as the law takes effect, gun owners will have one of their first chances to decide whether to comply -- or deliberately break it in protest.
"That's a personal decision that everyone has to make," said Tom King, president of the state Rifle & Pistol Association. "I personally believe that New Yorkers are legal and lawful gun owners and citizens of the state. And being legal and lawful, they will obey the law."
The magazine limit has already been scaled back since it was first enacted, though Cuomo has challenged that characterization. As part of budget negotiations last month, Cuomo and lawmakers agreed to continue to permit the sale of 10-round-capacity magazines but only allow them to be loaded with seven. The original law prohibited dealers from selling anything greater than seven-bullet magazines.
The revised, soon-to-take-effect limit has some wondering whether it can be effectively enforced.
"How are you really going to police if someone has seven bullets in a magazine or 10?" said Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, who opposes the SAFE Act. "You're just not going to be able to police it. It's impractical."
When faced with questions about enforcement, Cuomo has pointed to New York City, where only five bullets are allowed in a magazine. City officials have been "enforcing that for a long time," Cuomo said in March.
Cuomo has faced continued opposition from conservatives and gun-rights supporters since the SAFE Act was passed, and polls have shown his approval rating taking a dip. In a radio interview Wednesday, Cuomo said government officials have to "ignore the extremists" when looking at enacting safer gun laws, prodding Congress to act on a strong federal law.
"There's no doubt that this is a politically polarizing issue – but for the extremes," Cuomo said on "The Capitol Pressroom," a public-radio program. "Moderate people, gun owners included, overwhelmingly support reasonable gun control."
Assemblyman Steve Katz pledged to break the law as it was being debated on the Assembly floor in January.
"This bill will turn me into a criminal because you can bet that before I leave to do the people's work, there will be more than seven bullets in the magazine of my wife's firearm," Katz said at the time.
When it comes to registering previously owned semi-automatic guns that now fall within the state's ban, gun owners will be required to provide a slate of personal information to police. It will include their name, date of birth, gender, race, address, Social Security number and a description of each gun being registered.
Failing to register comes with a misdemeanor charge and forfeiture of the firearm, though a 30-day grace period can be extended if the gun owner didn't know they had to register.
Since registration of assault weapons was never previously required, police don't have an estimate of how many are in New York and would have to be registered. The forms are due by April 15, 2014, and the state has to maintain a non-public database including the information.
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Stewart Airport hosts groundbreaking for new NY police crime lab
By Unnamed Author(s) — Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘The Kingston Daily Freeman’ / Kingston, NY
NEW WINDSOR, N.Y. — Ground was broken Friday for a new state police crime lab at Stewart Airport.
The new building, which will replace a 35-year-old facility, won’t cost the state anything. Rather, the $10 million project is being funded by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Stewart, in exchange for continued state police protection of the airport’s terminal.
State police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico said during Friday’s ceremony that the new lab, like the one it’s replacing, will serve all law enforcement in the region.
“Among the other forensic services that we provide, we do drug chemistry and toxicology as our primary functions, and we don’t do it only for state police cases. We service all of the police agencies and district attorneys up and down the Hudson Valley,” D’Amico said.
Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye said the new lab is yet another element of growth and expansion at Stewart, which the authority has operated since late 2007.
Stewart Airport Commission Chairman James Wright said he was “delighted” the state police chose to keep their lab at the airport.
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U.S.A.
Neglected Issues -- Police Killings of the Mentally Ill and the Lack of Police and Mental Health Relations
By Gerald Landsberg (Professor, Silver School of Social Work at New York University) and Ashley Fresenius — Friday, April 12th, 2013; 4:02 p.m. ‘The Huffington Post’ / New York, NY
We have witnessed over the past several years increasing concern over violence by the mentally ill. Major incidents such as Newtown, Connecticut; Aurora, Colorado; Tucson, Arizona and Virginia Tech have all drawn wide scale public attention through the media and have increased public stigma against the mentally ill. Often overlooked in these discussions are the continuous major financial cuts experienced by the mental health system and the subsequent act of dramatically reducing services. Additionally, for the past twenty years we have criminalized mental illness and it is estimated that nearly 700,000 or 1/3 of the 2.1 million people in jail and prison are mentally ill, most of whom are incarcerated for minimal charges. Police have become the mental health crisis providers throughout the United States and are often inadequately trained for the task ahead. Lastly, the relationships between local police and mental health providers are often weak or non-existent.
Police are appropriately concerned about the dangers they face dealing with the mentally ill, especially as the number of encounters grow. A report indicates that half of police shootings involve people with mental illness. John Grohol of Psych Central elaborates:
perhaps more folks with mental illness are roaming the streets because of the relentless state budget cuts for those who are in the most need in our society "At the same time, there's broad agreement that an inadequate public mental health care system, further eroded by $4.53 billion in state-level budget cuts since 2009, has put police on the front lines of a crisis in our society that few officers are adequately trained to handle. As a result, police officials across the country report spending more time and money responding to calls for service that involve mentally ill or emotionally disturbed people, but little data has been gathered to quantify the strain on public resources."
One result of the encounters between police and emotionally disturbed persons is the number of police killings of the mentally ill have grown. Grohol's recent article in Psych Central (cited above) entitled, "Half of Police Shootings Involve people with Mental Illness" states, "there are no federal statistics on police shootings of mentally ill people, but according to the investigation published this week, 'a review of available reports indicates that at least half of the estimated 375 to 500 people shot and killed by police each year in this country have mental health problems." An example of these tragic incidents includes: six police officers in Michigan who gun down a homeless, possibly schizophrenic in a parking lot who refused to drop a small folding knife, a police officer fatally shooting a mentally ill, chronic alcoholic as he crosses the street while carving wood with a pocket knife and an incident in Oregon where police were checking on a man who was threatening suicide and wound up killing him with a single gunshot in the back. Tragedies similar to these have been happening more and more frequently across the United States causing devastation to families, the mental health community as well as the police officers.
A particularly tragic incident occurred in New York City recently where a woman called the police about a family member who was seen to be an emotionally disturbed person. When police arrived the man who was called about was found on his fire escape, screaming. A police officer saw the man from the ground and tasered him at which point the man fell to the ground to his death. The despondent police officer committed suicide a few weeks after this incident resulting in a tragedy for both families.
To begin to address this issue, the United States Department of Justice has begun an in depth investigation and actions in several large cities noted for these incidents; such as Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington and New Orleans, Louisiana. This is a useful start however; much more attention needs to be paid in the areas of better training of police officers and the need for local mental health advocacy organizations to link and collaborate with police agencies to advocate for change. An effort to train police officers in the CIT model (crisis intervention team model (and/or other training models) would help to not only to provide officers with the knowledge and training to deal with potential danger and crises when dealing with the mentally ill but would also help to foster the alliance necessary between law enforcement and mental health agencies. However, the track record for mental health/police collaboration has been weak and with the cutbacks in mental health services, the future may not be promising.
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In Gun Debate, No Rift on Better Care for Mentally Ill
By JEREMY W. PETERS — Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘The New York Times’
WASHINGTON — While the Senate has been consumed with a divisive debate over expanded background checks for gun buyers, lawmakers have been quietly working across party lines on legislation that advocates say could help prevent killers like Adam Lanza, the gunman in the Newtown, Conn., massacre, from slipping through the cracks.
Proponents say the plans, which stand a good chance of being included in any final gun-control bill, would lead to some of the most significant advancements in years in treating mental illness and address a problem that people on both sides of the issue agree is a root cause of gun rampages. Unlike the bitter disagreements that have characterized efforts to limit access to guns, the idea of improving mental health unites Republicans and Democrats, urban and rural, blue state and red state.
“This is a place where people can come together,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan, who has worked with some of the Senate’s most conservative Republicans on a piece of mental health legislation. “As we’ve listened to people on all sides of the gun debate, they’ve all talked about the fact that we need to address mental health treatment. And that’s what this does.”
The issue also appeals to members of Congress in another important way: it serves as a political refuge for Republicans and more conservative Democrats who are eager to offer a federal response to the shootings in Connecticut and Aurora, Colo., but have no interest in taking any action that could be seen as infringing on constitutional gun rights.
Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, who has not wavered in his opposition to tighter gun laws, met with families of Newtown victims and said he came away believing they wanted to attack mental health problems above all else.
“This is actually something we can and should do something about,” Mr. Cornyn said. “We need to make sure that the mentally ill are getting the help they need.”
Advocates for better mental health services said that many of them were initially uneasy about seizing on an event as tragic as the Connecticut school shootings to win improvements in care. And many have noted that very few violent crimes are committed by mentally ill people. But they came to believe that the current time was the best opportunity for real change, and that they might not get another one for a while.
“This is our moment,” said Linda Rosenberg, the president of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. “I hate the connection between gun violence and the need for better mental health care, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.”
The emerging legislation would, among other things, finance the construction of more community mental health centers, provide grants to train teachers to spot early signs of mental illness and make more Medicaid dollars available for mental health care.
There would be suicide prevention initiatives and support for children who have faced trauma. The sponsors of one of the bills estimated that an additional 1.5 million people with mental illness would be treated each year.
Ms. Stabenow’s measure has attracted backing from some of the Senate Republicans who are strongly backed by the National Rifle Association, including Marco Rubio of Florida and Roy Blunt of Missouri. Both of those lawmakers opposed the successful effort on Thursday to overcome a Republican filibuster and begin debate on a gun measure.
One of the proposals being negotiated, which has the support of Senators Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, unanimously passed a Senate committee this week, something that could hardly be said about any of the gun legislation.
President Obama has also joined the effort. His budget includes $130 million for programs that would help detect mental illness in young children, train educators to spot those signs and refer the students to treatment.
Treatment for mentally ill people is but one of many issues before Congress, and it lacks not only headline-grabbing elements like semiautomatic weapons and gun-show loopholes, but also a backer like Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York who can bankroll a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to remind voters to contact their senators.
Nevertheless, the issue has moved rapidly through the Senate, because of the efforts of the mental health lobby and because many legislators have a personal connection to mental illness. Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, spoke the other day about his father’s suicide by gun.
Senate Democratic aides said that there is likely to be at least one mental health bill offered as an amendment to the larger gun package. The problem will be accommodating all of the additions.
Democrats have to agree to allow Republicans the same number of amendments as they give themselves. To reduce the likelihood that Republicans will offer multiple amendments that could water down and even torpedo the gun bill, it is in Democrats’ interest to limit their amendments.
A major reason proponents of this legislation see it as so significant is that unlike background checks or weapons bans, properly treating mental illness can prevent problems before a potential killer tries to buy a gun.
“Interestingly enough, if you look at Aurora, Tucson, Newtown, the people we’re talking about are very likely not individuals whose names would be on any lists,” said Ronald S. Honberg, the legal director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. He noted that none of the recent spree killers he mentioned had been declared “mentally defective” by a judge, the legal standard for a name landing in the background check system.
Though more stringent reporting standards into the nation’s background check system will undoubtedly help, he added, there will always be holes.
“It’s very difficult to come up with a system that’s foolproof,” he said. “The bigger point is if you really want to improve mental health care in this country, then let’s improve mental health care.”
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Gun measures put moderate Senate Dems in bind
By KEN THOMAS (The Associated Press) — Friday, April 12th, 2013; 7:40 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters.
The choice: Either they stick with Obama and gun control advocates - and give an opening to campaign challengers and the National Rifle Association to assail them - or they stand with conservative and moderate gun owners back home worried about a possible infringement on their rights.
Five Senate Democrats - Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Max Baucus of Montana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina - are seeking another term in states carried by Republican Mitt Romney last fall. For the next few weeks, at least, the spotlight will be on how they maneuver as the Senate debates gun-control legislation pushed by Democrats in response to the deadly Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting.
Two other GOP-leaning states with large numbers of gun owners - West Virginia and South Dakota - will have open seats following Democratic retirements. Republicans have placed many of these states at the top of their priority lists as they try to gain six seats to win back the Senate majority.
Debate begins next week on Senate legislation that would require nearly all gun buyers to submit to background checks, toughen federal laws banning illicit firearms sales and provide more money for school safety measures. The background checks are viewed by gun control advocates as the best step to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from accessing weapons. The NRA has opposed the expansion of background checks, saying it could lead to federal registries of gun owners. It has sought better enforcement of existing laws, which it contends is too easy for criminals to circumvent.
"There's a fear in these states that this is going to go further and farther than anyone has suggested," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist and former chief of staff to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. But he said efforts to curb gun violence were aided by the emotional toll of the Sandy Hook shootings, in which 20 children and six adult educators were killed. "Newtown changed everything," he said.
Thus, these Senate Democrats are weighing the possibility of angry voters next year against pressure from fellow Democrats. So far, they're divided.
Baucus, the only Democrat with the NRA's top rating, said he will vote against the bill as it currently stands. He pointed to the 18,000 phone calls his office has received about it - he said only 2,000 of those callers favored it.
"I represent Montana - that's my first loyalty," Baucus said. "They're my employers. That's why I'm here."
Baucus knows the perils of a debate over firearms. He supported a 1994 crime bill sought by President Bill Clinton that included an assault weapons ban and survived a vigorous challenge from Republicans two years later.
Two other Democrats have already raised their objections.
Begich and Pryor voted Thursday with Republicans in an unsuccessful bid to block debate on Democrats' gun control legislation.
Begich said the current bill has "serious problems with it" and he wanted Democrats to consider his proposal with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to improve how the federal background check system prevents weapons from getting to people with certain mental health problems.
"My first priority is Alaska. It's not complicated for me," Begich said. "It doesn't matter if it's election year or non-election year. I've done 4 1/2 years of pro-gun votes here." Asked whether Obama's push on gun violence was complicating matters for him at home, Begich said with a laugh: "The president makes my life difficult on many fronts."
Pryor said the bill in its current form was "too broad and unworkable."
Hagan is taking a different position. She said in a statement she planned to support what's become known as the Manchin-Toomey measure for its sponsors, noting it would "explicitly" ban the federal government from creating a registry.
"As a mother there is nothing more important to me than protecting our kids. I am looking at each proposal to ensure it is common sense, will be effective and will not infringe on Second Amendment rights," she said.
Landrieu has yet to indicate what she might support in a final bill. She said following Thursday's vote that the Second Amendment right to own firearms "is not to be taken away" but that the nation was "plagued by gun violence." Making no commitments, she said it was "worthy of a debate to see if we can find a common-sense solution."
Debate begins next week on a measure forged by Manchin and Republican Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania that would expand background checks less broadly than the overall legislation. The proposal would subject buyers in commercial settings like gun shows and the Internet to the checks but exempt transactions such as sales between friends and relatives.
The Senate also is likely to hold votes on proposals to ban military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, two measures that were excluded from the bill and are expected to be defeated. With so many votes ahead, and the potential for a number of procedural votes, any Democrat runs the risk of having one of their votes misconstrued in future TV ads.
All are bracing for negative ads - and pressure from those they anger.
Gun control advocates holding rallies across the country have the deep pockets of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has pumped $12 million in TV advertising pressuring support for the measures. Bloomberg's group announced plans Friday for more ads next week in seven states, including Landrieu's Louisiana and North Dakota, home to freshman Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.
An offshoot of Obama's campaign, Organizing for Action, planned to hold rallies in 14 states on Saturday to push for the measures.
On the flip side, the NRA is certain to spend a chunk of money assailing anyone who backs the measure. Republicans, meanwhile, say the issue could serve as a strong motivating factor in rural states next year.
"The discussion is devastating to Democrats - that's why they stopped talking about it for a long time," said Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
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Associated Press writer Matt Gouras in Helena, Mont., and Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La., contributed to this report.
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Local police grapple with response to cybercrimes
By EILEEN SULLIVAN (The Associated Press) — Saturday, April 13th, 2013; 8:12 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- If a purse with $900 is stolen, the victim probably would call the police. If a computer hacker steals $900 from that same person's bank account, what then? Call the police? Could they even help?
As it is now, local police don't have widespread know-how to investigate cybercrimes. They rely heavily on the expertise of the federal government, which focuses on large, often international cybercrimes.
What's missing is the first response role, typically the preserve of local police departments that respond to calls for help from individuals and communities.
Obama administration officials have said that cyberterrorism is the leading worldwide threat to national security. So far, the discussion about such threats and security has focused on breaking classified foreign government codes, monitoring overseas communications and protecting the U.S. from devastating attacks that could jeopardize massive amounts of data and valuable corporate trade secrets.
It's been about businesses protecting their networks and individuals using the Internet safely, for instance, by choosing smart passwords.
But when one person hacks into someone else's computer to access a bank account, credit cards or even email, the crime fighting path is uncertain.
"I am not sure who owns cybercrime at the local level. And that is a problem," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum.
Local police departments are looking to boost their expertise so they can respond to cybercrimes and cyberthreats that are expected to only get worse.
The hypothetical victim who had $900 stolen from the bank account should call the police, and the police should document the theft in a report, said Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major City Chiefs Association, which represents police chiefs in major U.S. metropolitan areas.
"What they can do after that gets very complicated," Stephens said.
For instance, police departments work within jurisdictions, but cybercrime knows no boundaries.
"The victim may live in one place, their bank is in another jurisdiction and the person that committed the theft could be anywhere in the world," Stephens said.
Then there's the matter of determining who the victim is.
Most banks and credit card companies typically replace the accountholder's stolen funds, he said, which makes the banks and credit companies the victims of the theft.
"Most local police do not have the capacity to investigate these cases even if they have jurisdiction," Stephens said.
Further complicating the issue is that the response to a cyberoffense is not the same as the response to a physical offense such as a burglary.
When someone's home is burglarized, the homeowner doesn't usually repair the broken window, clean up the crime scene and then call the police. But in cases such as network intrusions, the victim's first goal typically is intended to get the network restored and working again. In doing this, initial crime scene evidence may be sacrificed, complicating an investigation down the road.
"Police will need to become more equipped to deal with cybercrime in the future," Stephens said. "Most major cities have a limited capability, but more will be required."
Bart Johnson, executive director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said police need to have a better understanding of what a cyberthreat is and how to address it. Johnson said his organization has been working with the FBI and Homeland Security Department since December to confront these issues.
"The unfortunate thing is that law enforcement at a state and local level are not fully apprised of the threat, who the actors are," said Johnson. The FBI and Secret Service have the capabilities to address this, he said, but more expertise is needed at the local level.
The Secret Service has trained some 1,400 state and local law enforcement officers on cybercrimes since the agency started the education program in 2008, said Hugh Dunleavy, deputy assistant director of the Secret Service, which specializes in investigating such crimes. But the demand for training is greater than the agency can provide, he said.
Some local police officers may participate on some task forces with the FBI, Secret Service and other federal agencies, but the cases typically are those with international components and involve millions of dollars.
Mike Sena, president of the National Fusion Center Association, an organization that represents state and local intelligence centers around the country, recalled a case in which a California business was the victim of a cybercrime and lost $40,000. Sena said the theft wasn't great enough for the federal government to take up the investigation, and there was confusion about where to turn at the local level.
"The FBI and Secret Service are looking at just large amounts of thefts. Who takes care of that lower tier," Sena said.
Several current task forces coordinate with local law enforcement on cyberissues, and the federal government offers some guidance for where to turn, depending on the incident and depending on who is asked.
According to the Justice Department, if a computer is hacked, you can call your local FBI office or the Secret Service or the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is run by the FBI and the nonprofit National White Collar Crime Center.
For Internet fraud and spam, you can call your local FBI office, the Secret Service, or file an online complaint with the Federal Trade Commission or the Securities and Exchange Commission. There are also Secret Service-led Electronic Crimes Task Forces in 29 cities, and they regularly work with state and local law enforcement.
But figuring out which task force or which federal investigative agency to turn to can be a challenge. Not everyone will have the expertise to know what time of crime occurred so that the right agency can be contacted, said Shawn Henry, former top cybercop at the FBI and currently president of CrowdStrike Services, a security technology company.
That leaves few options for a victim of a cybercrime whose loss would be considered small by the federal government but crippling to the individual or small business.
"Right now there's such a level of confusion on where to push the information," Sena said.
Dunleavy said he is confident that local law enforcement at least knows who to call, but there is a need for more training.
"The general public is going to call who they know the best," Dunleavy said. "They're going to call the police officer that they see on a daily basis for response."
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PolitiFact: Chicago seizes more guns than New York, Los Angeles
By Becky Bowers — Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘The Tampa Bay Times’ / Tampa Bay, FL
The statement:
Says in Chicago, "we take more guns off the streets than New York or L.A."
Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago, in a CNN interview
The ruling
We talked with Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman in Emanuel's office. He said the city uses the comparison with New York and Los Angeles to demonstrate that Chicago's strict gun control rules won't work by themselves.
In the first six months of last year, the city — not counting gun buybacks or turn-ins — seized 3,912 guns. That's as many as New York and Los Angeles combined, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab, which got numbers from the cities' police departments.
In Chicago, police picked up illegal weapons at crime scenes and at traffic stops, found them with search warrants and investigations, or heard about them when people called 911 to report a "man with a gun."
In the same months that Chicago recovered 3,912 guns, Los Angeles got 2,296 and New York got 1,385.
That wasn't an anomaly, according to Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.
For several years under the Clinton administration, an effort to fight youth crime collected gun-tracing data for major U.S. cities.
"I can tell you that Chicago consistently recovered more guns than any of the other cities," Webster said.
We pulled those reports from 1998, 1999 and 2000. Chicago recovered and traced more guns than either New York or Los Angeles in all three years. In 1998, it picked up 16,222 weapons — more than the two larger cities together. Why?
Webster points out that the city has a lot of gangs, and gangs and guns go together. Its Police Department cracks down on illegal gun possession, making arrests more likely. And Illinois gun control laws aren't nearly as strong as those in New York and California in deterring gun trafficking into the city, he said.
Webster told House Democrats in March that studies show state gun laws are undermined by gaps in federal law — people buy guns in states with the weakest laws to sell in states with the toughest laws.
The same idea works for counties and cities.
In Chicago, all it takes is a drive outside the city limits, the New York Times reported, such as to Chuck's Gun Shop in Riverdale, Ill., the source of more than 1,300 weapons seized in Chicago since 2008.
The same store was identified as a key source of crime guns in a New York Times piece in 1999.
We rate this statement True.
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
City police approve testing effectiveness of ammunition
By Liz Navratil — Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’ / Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh police brass, union leaders and an instructor at the bureau's training academy plan to work together to determine whether they are using effective ammunition or whether they should adjust their gun training.
Assistant Chief of Operations Maurita Bryant said at a Friday afternoon news conference that members of the uniform and public safety committee, as well as some SWAT team members, told her they were concerned about the effectiveness of the Federal 180 gr.HST cartridge that they have been using since 2008.
The bureau began using the cartridge after an FBI ballistics expert from Quantico, Va., recommended it following a comparison study. Police officials said the Philadelphia police department uses the same cartridge.
Police said they intend to send their current ammunition back to the manufacturer for testing and to ask the FBI to conduct another review. Acting police Chief Regina McDonald said the city will pay any bills that arise from the testing and that police do not yet have an estimate for how much it will cost.
Officers said they became especially concerned when it took multiple gunshots to subdue Dante A. Bonner, 19, of Homewood, after he shot Officer Christopher Kertis during an incident in East Liberty last month. Many of them reiterated those concerns this week after police said James R. Hill, a 24-year-old fugitive who grew up in Homewood, fired at officers even after he was struck by return fire from police.
"Any time that our officers fired at an individual and that individual was able to return fire ... the officers are concerned with 'Why, why as soon as that shot hit didn't that actor go down right away,' " Chief Bryant said. "There's a lot of factors that go into that."
Sgt. John Lubawski, who works at the bureau's training academy, said a number of factors contribute to how many shots it takes to subdue a violent suspect -- including the power of the ammunition and where the bullet hits.
"There is no bullet out there that can cause an actor to immediately cease fire unless you hit them in a very small area in the central nervous system," he said. That becomes incredibly difficult, he said, when the target is moving.
When choosing their ammunition, officers seek to find bullets that provide enough power to accomplish the job but not so much that they become excessively powerful.
"You have to bridge the gap between rifle power and pistol concealability," Detective William Friburger said after the news conference.
Officer Eric Engelhardt, chairman of the police union's Officer Safety Committee, said he has been pleased by the bureau's willingness to evaluate the matter.
"This is fact-finding," he said. "This is the FOP and the city coming together."
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New Orleans, Louisiana
Feds want to expedite NOPD consent decree monitor selection, but city opposes
By Ramon Antonio Vargas — Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune’ / New Orleans, LA
U.S. Department of Justice officials have asked a judge to begin picking a monitor to oversee the implementation of a consent decree mandating reforms for the New Orleans Police Department if the feds and the city can't agree on one by Monday. But Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration is opposed to that, federal court filings show.
A 10-member panel composed of an equal number of appointees by the city and the Justice Department had been given a deadline of April 30 to recommend one of two finalists for the job of NOPD consent decree monitor. U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan, who endorsed the decree in January, will review any selection before approving it; if the committee fails to reach a consensus on which finalist should monitor the decree by April 30, Morgan will choose one of the two firms.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department requested that Morgan begin selecting a monitor sooner: after a public meeting Monday at noon in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome's Bienville Club Lounge if the committee hasn't agreed on a recommendation. The DOJ also petitioned Morgan to confirm that Landrieu's administration "may not unilaterally renegotiate any substantive term of the Professional Services Agreement" between the monitor and the city, including cost.
The city argued in a motion filed today that Morgan shouldn't alter the selection process. While it intends to continue working towards making a selection Monday, Landrieu's staff would like an opportunity to negotiate cost before any pick is confirmed on April 30, the city said in its response.
Furthermore, Landrieu's administration contended that it has the right to negotiate the price for the NOPD consent decree monitor -- not the DOJ.
"The city is once again being confronted by DOJ's deliberate indifference about the financial impact of this consent decree," which could range from $7 million to $9 million over four years, the response added. "DOJ's request that it be allowed to negotiate the price should be denied because DOJ has refused to contribute any money to the cost of the monitor and has demonstrated a remarkable insensitivity to the city's budgetary constraints."
The Landrieu administration has complained bitterly about having to write a "blank check" to cover the cost of a second DOJ-mandated consent decree, this one ordering reforms at the Orleans Parish jail.
Landrieu's administration also asked that the mayor be given the opportunity to interview the finalists before Morgan confirms one. Morgan set a status conference in her chambers for 2 p.m. this afternoon then pushed it back an hour, presumably to discuss all of these issues.
The two monitor candidates are the firms Hillard Heintze of Chicago and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton of Washington D.C. The city prefers the former, while the DOJ prefers the latter.
Hillard Heintze -- whose bid came in at $7.2 million -- is led by former Chicago Police Superintendent Terry Hillard and Arnette Heintze, retired special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service's field office in Chicago. Sheppard Mullin's group -- whose bid was $7.9 million -- is led by managing partner Jonathan Aronie, and its proposed monitor team includes the former police chiefs of Pittsburgh and Arlington, Texas.
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Arizona
Phoenix police speed up DUI search-warrant process
Search warrant process to take blood samples in DUI cases streamlined for Phoenix police.
By Cecilia Chan — Saturday, April 13th, 2013 ‘The Arizona Republic’ / Phoenix, AZ
PHOENIX -- Phoenix police officers can now get a signed search warrant for a blood sample from a suspected drunken driver within minutes from their patrol car.
Officers don't have to drive to a station, type or write up a warrant, fax it to the court and then wait up to an hour or more for a faxed approval from a judge.
"We see an extreme benefit to our department from an efficiency standpoint, putting cops back quicker on the streets and collecting evidence quicker," police spokesman Steve Martos said. "From our standpoint it has worked incredibly well for us."
An officer stopping a suspected impaired driver must obtain a search warrant if the driver refuses to provide a blood sample.
The results of a blood test can take up to six weeks to process and are use in court, Martos said.
An officer makes a DUI arrest based several factors including witness observation of the driving behavior, bloodshot watery eyes, odor of intoxicating liquor, driver's statement and failing a field sobriety test, he said.
"When we used breathalyzers, we still needed an accumulation of different factors in order to use the breathalyzer," Martos said. "Blood is now taken in lieu of the breathalyzer as it is a more accurate read on the operator's blood alcohol content."
The eSearch Warrant Application allows an officer to send a warrant from a patrol car's computer directly to a judge, who can approve or reject the document on a laptop from the bench in between cases, Martos said. The court's Search Warrant Center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Maricopa County Superior Court and the Phoenix Police Department launched the pilot program last fall with seven police DUI vans and recently rolled it out to all patrol officers. Cost to implement the program was not readily available.
"Over the course of the last few months, it's taking around 10 minutes to get (a warrant) back," Martos said.
And time is of essence when dealing with a DUI case where the evidence is degradable, Superior Court Presiding Judge Norman Davis said.
"Blood alcohol dissipates over time," Davis said. "It's in everyone's interest, police and the defendant, to get timely accurate results for evidentiary purposes later on."
Davis said the court has applied for a $40,000 state grant to expand the program to all Valley law enforcement agencies. If funding is available the system could be in place next year, he said.
Davis added that the streamlined process has reduced the court's time to process each request.
Martos said the department doesn't track how m any search warrants for blood samples are processed.
But, Martos said, the department handled more than 6,100 DUI cases last year and "we do have to draw search warrants often for these types of cases."
Once a warrant is granted, the driver's blood is taken by an officer trained to do the procedure. The department has 110 trained officers, Martos said.
Phoenix Police Department exclusively uses blood tests in DUI cases and breath tests only in situations where blood can't be taken, Martos said.
Blood tests in DUI cases are more accurate and hold up better in court, he said. The department transitioned to blood-only evidence in 2010, joining Valley agencies, including Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Gilbert and Peoria police.
Davis said the court next year, depending on funding, will look at other warrants where the improved technology makes sense.
The court issued approximately 680 search warrants per month in fiscal year 2010, according to the court website.
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Immigration Enforcement / Illegal Aliens
ICE union chief: Immigration plan to 'doom' U.S.
By KEVIN CIRILLI — Friday, April 12th, 2013; 4:32 p.m. EDT ‘Politico’
The union president for immigration officers blasted President Barack Obama as well as Congress’ Gang of Eight immigration proposal, saying the plan will “doom” the country on Friday.
Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, said that ICE officers are being shut out of the immigration debate.
“We’re just in shock right now that the law enforcement officers from the border control, from ICE, our prosecuting attorneys – people that are in the trenches right now and see exactly what’s wrong with our broken immigration system – don’t have a seat at the table and can’t have input,” Crane told former GOP Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Huckabee’s radio program.
Crane continued: “Quite honestly, I think it’s going to doom us to repeat all of the failures that we already currently have with the immigration system as it exists.”
The bipartisan Gang of Eight — which includes Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — is expected to unveil their immigration proposal next week.
Crane criticized Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, whose agency oversees ICE, as well as the Obama administration.
“From day one since Janet Napolitano came in, she’s excluded us as law enforcement officers from the table,” Crane told Huckabee. “[…] Currently right now the administration is ignoring the laws as enacted by Congress. They are making up their own policies because they believe that the executive branch has the ability to dictate to the American people above and beyond what Congress has stated with regard to how immigration law is going to be enforced.”
Crane criticized Rubio, a potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate.
“There have been certain parts of this that have been leaked yesterday to the media and one part of this is that Sen. Rubio had stated that there would be no legislation unless enforce came first and at least what they released yesterday indicates that enforcement will absolutely not come first,” Crane told Huckabee.
Fox News reported Friday that Crane’s National ICE Council wants Rubio to leave the Gang of Eight because the group is not satisfied with early reports about the plan’s inclusion of border security. Many conservatives say they want more stringent border control enforcement mechanisms as part of any immigration compromise.
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Homeland Security
Homeland Security's New $3.9 Billion Headquarters
By Devin Leonard — Friday, April 12th, 2013; ‘Business Week Magazine’
President Barack Obama is trying to solve big problems in his proposed 2014 budget. His efforts to curtail entitlement spending have gotten most of the headlines. But he also seems determined to complete the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s new headquarters, the largest federal construction project since the Pentagon rose in the 1940s. The cost: $3.9 billion.
The project would unite at a single location nearly all DHS’s 22 divisions devoted to thwarting terrorists and safeguarding the populace from natural and manmade disasters. The site is the campus of St. Elizabeth Hospital, a former federal asylum that was once the home of poet Ezra Pound and John Hinckley, Ronald Reagan’s would-be assassin. There would be 4.5 million square feet of workspace in the new facility and ample employee parking.
The project’s supporters say the price tag is justified. They say it’s not easy to get the various DHS divisions to operate in concert with each other if they are scattered throughout the capital area. At the 2009 groundbreaking, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano herself made the case for the agency’s costly new digs: “It will help us have meetings. It will help us create a culture of ‘one DHS.’”
It didn’t take long for the project to become mired in politics. House Republicans, a number of whom see the DHS as an inefficient and fiscally profligate bureaucracy, were loath to fund the new headquarters fully. A new headquarters for the U.S. Coast Guard, which involved more excavation than any real estate development in the District of Columbia’s history, moved forward. The rest of the endeavor languished, becoming a symbol of Washington dysfunction. The tighter integration that Napolitano promised also remained a work in progress. The DHS is on the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s “high risk” list, a distinction it shares with such troubled federal agencies as the U.S. Postal Service.
Now Obama is trying to ensure that the DHS headquarters eventually rises. On Wednesday, the president included $367 million in his budget to continue construction.
Getting the money won’t be easy. In February, one of the DHS’s more persistent naysayers, U.S. Representative John Mica, a Florida Republican, boasted about how he and his fellow party members had curtailed the project. He said he would also like to dismantle much of the DHS.
He’d better act swiftly. If the White House ever gets all the DHS’s divisions on one campus, nobody will want to move them again.
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Mike Bosak
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