| Fayette
Sheriff Kathy Witt Seeks Re-Funding of Violence Against Women's Act At
White House. |
 Lexington,
KY. Fayette County Sheriff Kathy Witt has been asked to
represent law enforcement at a White House event with Hillary Rodham
Clinton scheduled for Monday, June 12, 2000. This event is designed to
call attention to the potential lapse and reauthorize in funding of the
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
The Violence Against Women Act is
designed to provide federal funding for innovative state and local
programs which improve the education, prevention, adjudication, and
response to domestic violence throughout the United States. |
| Criminal Background Check May Soon Be Required For College
Admission. |
Bloomington,
IN. Prospective Indiana University students could be denied admission if
they have a criminal record or history of disciplinary problems at another institution,
under a proposal for the IU academic handbook.
Under the proposal, all student applicants would be required to disclose whether they have
engaged in behavior that results in injury to other people. They must also give the
University permission to review criminal records if they exist.
Those with serious problems could be denied admission, or have their access to campus
facilities and events limited.
Presently the school is not authorized to deny admission to students on the basis of
criminal or social behavior because these matters are not discussed in the academic
handbook.
(Source: Associated Press Report in the January 23, 2000, edition of the Louisville
Courier-Journal.)
Editor's Note: College students are entitled to attend a
school which is safe as possible. This plan may not catch all of the problem people
but it is a good start. |
| U.S. Supreme Court Rules Police May Sometimes Stop
People Who Run At The Sight Of Police Officer. |
In January,
2000 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Chicago police had enough reason to stop a Chicago
man who ran after he spotted officers in an area known for drug dealing, and that police
can, sometimes at least, stop and question people because they run at the sight of a
police officer.
The U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment bans unreasonable searches and seizures. In
1968, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police can stop and question someone without a
warrant if there is reasonable suspicion that the person is involved in a crime or about
to commit one. State courts however, have been deeply divided over whether running
after seeing a police officer is enough to create reasonable suspicion of criminal
activity.
State courts in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New
Jersey and Utah have ruled that police generally could not stop and question people who
flee after seeing them. However, state courts in Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana,
Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin have said that running from the police does
create enough suspicion to justify a police stop. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling
provided much needed clarification of this issue in Illinois v. Wardlow. |
| Studies Show Certainty of Punishment Deters Crime. |
Scholars have published over 100 studies over the past 30 years testing
the deterrent effect of punishment on future criminal activity. Most confirm that
the increased risk of imprisonment and longer sentences deter crime.
Some of the findings of these studies include:
A 50% increase in the probability of incarceration prevents twice
as much violent
crime as a 50% increase in the length of the sentence.
A 50% boost in the chance in going to prison prevents 3 to 5
times as many murders
as a 50% increase in prison sentence for murderers.
A greater risk of execution deters murder.
A greater risk of imprisonment discourages twice as many
robberies as the same
boost in prison time.
(Source: Isaac Ehrlich and
Zhiquiang Liu, "Sensitivity Analyses of the Deterrence Hypothesis: Let's Keep the
Econ in Econometrics," Journal of Law and Economics, April, 1999.)
Editor's Note: Common sense has told most of use along that
the certainty and swiftness of punishment for breaking the law will
prevent future crime. So why don't we learn the lesson and do it? |
| The "Fear-of-Crime Factor" Remains High Among
Lexington Residents. |
Survey reveals that Lexingtonians worry most about crime, drugs
and violence.
Although crime rates are reported to have dropped in recent years, Lexington
residents continue to rank fear of crime, drugs and violence as their greatest concern,
according to a survey funded by the John S. and John L. Knight Foundation. The
survey of 500 Lexington residents was conducted last fall, and reported in the Lexington
Herald-Leader (H-L) on January 10, 2000.
According to the H-L
report those responding to the survey saw the following issues as either big or small
problems in the Lexington area.
1. Crime, Drugs or violence
..................................................................... 77%
2. Unsupervised children/teens
.............................................................. 68%
3. Racial and ethnic tension
.................................................................... 66%
4. Lack of involvement in efforts to improve the community
.................. 60%
5. Illiteracy
..................................................................................................
59%
6. Lack of affordable housing
.................................................................. 56%
7. Public schools do not provide high-equality education
.................... 53%
8. Homelessness
......................................................................................
53%
9. Lack of arts/cultural activities
.............................................................. 52%
10. Unemployment
......................................................................................
49%
11. Lack of affordable high-quality child care
.......................................... 47%
12. Abandoned/run-down buildings
.......................................................... 45% |
| The Meth Monster Cometh. |
Methamphetamine,
commonly known as "meth" or "crank", is the most addictive of
controlled substances. It has also been called the "poor man's cocaine"
because it is more accessible, less expensive, and provides a longer high than cocaine.
Crank is sold in pill, capsule, powder, or chunk form and can be smoked, snorted,
injected, or swallowed for a high which produces a rush, diminished fatigue, feelings of
mental alertness, and reduced appetite.
While it can be imported from Mexico, meth is typically produced locally by combining a
number of legal ingredients that are easily found in common items like matchsticks,
antifreeze, fertilizer, and cold medicine. An investment of less than $100 can yield
$2,000 worth of meth. The homemade labs where meths are made are usually located in
rural areas because of the strong smell, similar to cat urine or nail polish remover, that
results from the cooking process. Each pound of meth also generates five to six
pounds of toxic waste, which must be cleaned up by specially trained and equipped
hazardous material disposal teams. The procedure for cleaning up a meth lab is
similar to any other dangerous chemical spill and can cost five to ten thousand dollars,
or more, per site. This is just part of the expense and effort required by law
enforcement in response to the increasing popularity of meth.
Crank first came on the scene in California more than a decade ago, as a drug commonly
made and distributed by outlaw biker gangs, and since then has been spreading inexorably
eastward. States in the path of meth's movement have reacted by toughening
controlled substance laws and enacting new statutes that limit access to the ingredients
used to make meth. Increased effort by law enforcement has resulted in the movement
of meth manufacturers across state lines, which has in turn prompted the formation of
multi-jurisdictional task forces in adjacent states.
Meth users resemble other drug addicts in the types of crimes they commit, like robbery,
theft, and burglary, to find their drug habit. Use of the drug leads to violence and
paranoia, which in turn results in further crimes committed by addicts. and just
like other drug dealers, those who make and distribute meth do not hesitate to commit
crimes of violence and coercion against those who threaten their illegal enterprises, such
as rival dealers, witnesses, and law enforcement agents. However, meth is unique
because it is cheap and easy to produce from legally obtained ingredients and offers
extremely high returns for minimal investment of time and money. It appears that the
authorities are just beginning to see the impact of the "meth monster" in terms
of increased crime, cleanup costs, and the medical and social consequences of addiction. |
| No Wonder The Public Has So Little Faith In The Criminal Justice
System. |
| Bridgeport,
CT. A man who earned high grades in college after being ruled incompetent
to stand trial for killing his girlfriend 10 years ago pleaded guilty recently to a
reduced charge of manslaughter. Kenneth
Curtis, 34, was charged a decade ago with shooting Donna Kalson to death. He then
shot himself in the head and the courts concluded that he had suffered brain damage and
declared him incompetent to stand trial for the killing.
But in 1997, police discovered that he had been
earning A's and B's in college. He was re-arrested on the homicide charge in
November, 1997, and entered a plea of guilty.
This story appeared in the 9/17/99
edition of the Louisville Courier Journal.
Editor's Note: The Bridgeport
Police Department is to be commended for its persistence in keeping up with its cases. |
Crack Use Declines Across U.S.
New generation scorns drug addicts as big-time losers. |
| New
York. Street-level crack dealers are hard-pressed to make a living these
days, according to a former Brooklyn drug dealer. The story of the decline of crack
in New York is that it was done-in by aging, boredom and other opportunities. Over the past 10 years, the New York police made nearly
900,000 drug arrests. Almost a third were for using and selling crack. But
nearly every major U.S. city plagued by the drug has matched New York's rise and fall in
crack use - regardless of how law enforcement responded.
Surveys, arrest statistics and interviews of users,
dealers and street-level narcotics officers point to the same pattern: the crack
epidemic behaved much like a fever. First, it came on strong, rising without
hesitation. Then it broke just as the most dire warnings were being sounded.
In New York, the use of crack stopped growing as
soon as its addicts became known as the biggest losers on the street. The most
telling factor was a generational revulsion against the drug. In the early 90's a
shift in the attitudes of young drug dealers was noticed. They didn't use crack and
they didn't respect people who did.
(This excerpt is from an article in The
New York Times, written by Timothy Egan).
Editor's Note: Hopefully this
trend is a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel of drug use and abuse in America. |
| California's Get Tough "Three Strikes Law"
Appears To Deter Crime. |
| Quantico,
VA. Punishment or the threat of punishment for violating our laws is what
our court system does to deter individuals from breaking the law. Three
strikes laws are often seen as an answer to some of the crime problems in
America. Such laws attempt to reduce crime by incarcerating repeat offenders or
deterring potential offenders from committing future crimes. California enacted its three strikes law in
1994. Since then the crime rate in California has dropped 26.9 percent, which
translates to 815,000 fewer crimes. While the three strikes law
cannot be given sole credit for the drop in crime, in many cases it proved an essential
missing piece of the crime control puzzle.
|
| "Three Strikes" laws attempt to reduce crime by
incarcerating repeat offenders or deterring potential offenders from committing future
crimes. |
|
It should be noted that in
the year prior to the law's passage, California's population of paroled felons
increased by 226 as felons from other states moved to California. In the
year after the law's enactment, the number of paroled felons plunged as 1,335
moved out of California.
Although not conclusive, this decrease may predict
the deterrent effect of California's three strikes law. The
Deterrent Effect of Three Strikes Law, by John R. Schafer, FBI Special Agent, FBI
Law Enforcement Bulletin, April, 1999.
Note: The 1998
Kentucky Legislature passed a law that allowed judges to probate defendants who have been
convicted of being a persistent felony offender. A persistent felony offender is a
person who has one or more prior felony convictions within the past five years. |
| Juvenile Crime Down.
But, Report Says It Is Just The "Calm Before The Storm." |
Washington, D.C.
Researchers predict that the crime rate will increase dramatically in the near future
because the number of juveniles currently in their preteens far exceeds the normal number
of that age group.
|
| It is well-recognized that approximately 6% of all juveniles
commit more than half the crimes in the United States. |
|
In truth, crime remains an activity
for the young, particularly young men. In 1996, males under the age of 25 made up
45% of the individuals arrested in the United States for serious crimes. Another
well-recognized study found that approximately 6% of all juveniles commit more than half
the crimes in the United States.
A more frightening statistic reveals that each
generation of juvenile offenders has been more violent than the generation that proceeded
it. The data suggests that a small number of young offenders commit numerous
unpunished crimes because the courts, especially the juvenile justice system, provide the
offenders with countless "second chances." These offenders are not held
accountable for their actions and are thus not motivated to change their criminal
behavior.
In short, the current juvenile justice system does
little to rehabilitate or deter young offenders from a life of crime. This lack of
success has frustrated the public to the point where long-term incarceration appears to be
the only solution. |
