May 19th, 2012
(CNN) — The body of a crime reporter who had been abducted Thursday in northwest Sonora State was found Friday inside a plastic bag south of Sonora, Notimex reported.
Marco Antonio Avila Garcia’s body, which bore signs of torture and carried a message related to drug trafficking, was discovered south of the municipality of Guyamas, the state-run news agency said, citing Jose Larrinaga, a spokesman for the district attorney.
Avila Garcia, 39, covered the public security beat for the daily El Regional de Sonora and Diario de Sonora in the municipality of Cajeme. Three armed, hooded men had kidnapped him from a carwash, Larrinaga said.
The National Human Rights Commission condemned the killing.
Commission President Raul Plascencia Villanueva called for an official investigation and that those responsible be punished “and sent a clear message that there will be no tolerance for those who commit crimes against journalists.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists said it had tallied more than 45 journalists who have been killed or disappeared in Mexico since 2006.
“We call on the Mexican authorities to do everything in their power to locate Marcos Avila Garcia and bring him back to safety,” said Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director.
Early this month, the dismembered bodies of two newspaper photographers, the girlfriend of one of them and a retired newspaper photographer were found inside plastic bags in Mexico’s eastern state of Veracruz.
In its report on a survey of political rights and civil liberties, “Freedom of the Press 2012,” Freedom House described Mexico as “not free.”
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May 19th, 2012
SPOKANE, Wash. —
Crime rates dropped across the state in 2011, according to an annual report from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
The total crime rate fell to 38.3 crimes per 1,000 residents, down 3.4 percent from the 2010 rate.
The report said the violent crime rate also fell, down 5 percent from 2010. There were 19,568 violent crimes reported in the state in 2011, about 60 percent of them being aggravated assaults.
The rate of property crimes fell 3.3 percent from 2010, and there were a total of 239,428 property crimes reported. Two-thirds of those were larceny or theft offenses.
The report found no law enforcement officers were killed on the job in 2011, although assaults on officers rose 2.9 percent from 2010 to 1,049.
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May 17th, 2012
Thousands of soldiers have been sent to Brazil’s remote Amazonian borders in a government crackdown on illegal mining, drug traffickers and smugglers. Given Brazil’s geography, it is a huge job – Brazil shares borders with 10 countries. Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo accompanied the military on a mission near the border with French Guyana.
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May 17th, 2012
HENRICO –
Pizza driver, cab driver robbed in Richmond
Police are investigating armed robberies in South Richmond that targeted a pizza delivery driver and a cab driver.
Neither victim was injured. Based on suspect descriptions, initial indications were that the two crimes were not linked.
Richmond police Capt. Michael Zohab said the first robbery was reported at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday and targeted a pizza delivery driver in the 600 block of Westover Hills Boulevard.
The suspects were described as three black males; one was about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighed about 130 pounds and was wearing a do-rag over his head as well as a baseball cap, a black hooded sweatshirt and a black jacket; another was about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighed about 180 pounds and had a do-rag and a black hooded sweatshirt. No detailed description was offered for the third suspect.
Zohab said one of the suspects had a handgun.
The cab driver robbery was reported in the 3100 block of Stockton Street at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday. Zohab said the driver reported being robbed by two passengers, a male and a female. No detailed descriptions were offered. One handgun was used in that robbery as well, Zohab said.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at (804) 780-1000.
Man wounded in attempted robbery
Police were searching for two suspects Wednesday in an attempted robbery and shooting in South Richmond that seriously wounded a man.
Richmond police Capt. Michael Zohab said the man, found with a single gunshot wound, was taken to VCU Medical Center, where he was in critical but stable condition Wednesday.
The shooting was reported about 2:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 3900 block of Caulder Court, near the McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Zohab said the two suspects were described as black men, 18 to 20 years old, one wearing baggy blue jeans and a baseball cap and the other with red boxer shorts and a baseball cap with a long ponytail.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at (804) 780-1000.
No one hurt when fire destroys Henrico house
No one was injured in a two-alarm fire that destroyed a house off Millers Lane.
Henrico Fire and EMS Capt. Jim Mellon said crews were alerted by drivers in the area of Interstate 64 and Laburnum Avenue at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday about what appeared to be a brick house on fire. The first units found what appeared to be an abandoned two-story home fully involved in flames about 1,000 feet up a dirt road.
Firefighters needed about an hour to bring the blaze under control. The cause of the fire was under investigation Wednesday.
Police investigate death of infant in Henrico
Police are investigating the death of an infant after being called to a residence in eastern Henrico County.
Police responded to the 1600 block of Fawcett Lane after receiving an emergency call at 4:13 p.m. Wednesday and said efforts to revive the infant were unsuccessful.
The child was pronounced dead at VCU Medical Center in Richmond.
From staff reports
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May 17th, 2012
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. crime statistics show illegal drugs play a central role in criminal acts, providing new evidence that tackling drugs as a public health issue could offer a powerful tool for lowering national crime rates, officials said on Thursday.
An annual drug monitoring report, released by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, also showed a decline in the use of cocaine since 2003, a sign that drug-interdiction efforts and public education campaigns may be curtailing the use of the drug’s powder and crack forms.
The rate of overall illegal drug use in the United States has declined by roughly 30 percent since 1979.
But Thursday’s report, based on thousands of arrestee interviews and drug tests, showed that on average 71 percent of men arrested in 10 U.S. metropolitan areas last year tested positive for an illegal substance at the time they were taken into custody.
The figures ranged from 64 percent of arrests in Atlanta to 81 percent in Sacramento, California, and were higher for nearly half of the collection sites since 2007.
U.S. officials held up the data as evidence to support President Barack Obama‘s strategy aimed at breaking the cycle of drugs and crime by attacking substance abuse with treatment rather than jail for nonviolent offenders.
“Tackling the drug issue could go a long way in reducing our crime issues,” Gil Kerlikowske, head of the office that issued the report, told Reuters in an interview.
“These data confirm that we must address our drug problem as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue.”
The arrest figures included men taken into custody on more than one charge as well as those arrested in drug busts.
The data showed that on average about 23 percent of violent crimes and property crimes, including home burglaries, were committed by people who tested positive for at least one of 10 illegal drugs including marijuana, heroin and methamphetamines.
Charlotte, North Carolina, had the highest proportion of drug-related violent crime offenses at 29 percent, while New York City had the highest for drug-related property crimes at 32 percent.
DECLINE IN COCAINE USE
Cocaine was the second-most common drug found among arrestees after marijuana. But the report said cocaine use, with crack the most popular form, has declined significantly since a decade ago, dropping by half in major cities like New York and Chicago between 2000 and 2011.
The report said methamphetamine use was strongest in the West Coast cities of Sacramento and Portland, Oregon, with no evidence that its use has grown appreciably in areas east of the Mississippi River.
U.S. health officials says the link between drugs and crime is socially complex. But the effect drugs have on human behavior can seem more straightforward.
“Drugs impact things like inhibitory control. And our ability to weigh risks and consequences of certain behaviors is severely effected by drug abuse,” said Dr. Redonna Chandler of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Drug enforcement experts say the evidence strongly supports wider use of drug courts, which seek to impose treatment regimens instead of prison sentences on repeat criminals that are dependent on illegal drugs.
West Huddleston, of the Alexandria, Virginia-based National Association of Drug Court Professionals, said a convicted criminal who successfully completes a court-imposed treatment regimen is nearly 60 percent less likely to return to crime than those who go untreated.
There are more than 2,600 drug courts operating in the United States. But they reach only a fraction of drug-addicted offenders.
According to Chandler, 5 million of an estimated 7 million Americans who live under criminal justice supervision would benefit from drug treatment intervention. But only 7.6 percent actually receive treatment.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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May 15th, 2012
Victims of non-emergency crime in Canterbury are now getting a faster and more accessible service when reporting incidents to Police.
Two months after the 24-hour, seven days a week Crime Reporting Line (CRL) was introduced across the region, figures show that more than 11,500 calls have been taken by service.
The CRL service, which began as a pilot in 2006, already operates in Auckland City, Counties Manukau and Bay of Plenty districts, and was introduced in Canterbury in late February.
It offers a 24/7 telephone service for people wanting to report non-emergency crime such as burglaries, wilful damage, graffiti and thefts from vehicles.
Crime Reporting Line staff can also give callers advice on matters such as what to do next after a burglary and how to contact Victim Support.
Inspector Peter Cooper, of Christchurch Police, says one of the benefits of the system is that local people no longer have to come into a police station to report minor crime.
“That option is still available, but for most people it will be much more convenient to report non-emergency crime by phone,” he says.
“For a long time people have asked why they can’t report crime over the phone – now we’re able to offer that service on a round-the-clock basis.
“When people call any local station, our staff will prioritise the call – if it’s an emergency, or if offenders are still on site, we will send officers to attend as rapidly as possible.
“If it’s not an emergency then local operators will transfer the call to the Crime Reporting Line, where staff will take details and enter the information directly into the Police computer system.”
Inspector Cooper says residents will see benefit from the improved back-office crime reporting systems and processes that CRL provides.
“The feedback so far from victims of crime has been very positive. They are getting much quicker feedback on the status of their cases – often in a matter of hours, rather than days or weeks.
“It’s also a very important tool in our focus on Prevention First. With CRL we’re able to coordinate and analyse all that incoming information and make much better use of it than we have in the past.
“Having crime data entered quickly and directly by CRL means we get good quality intelligence on crime trends fed back promptly – and we can deploy staff to target crime more quickly and effectively.
“CRL also helps free up our frontline staff from administrative tasks, so they can spend more time out and about in the community.”
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May 15th, 2012
ANNA TURNER
A new crime reporting line has proved a big success, with more than 11,000 calls being taken by the service since it was introduced two months ago.
The service, which began as a pilot in 2006, already operates in Auckland City, Counties Manukau and Bay of Plenty districts, and was introduced in Canterbury in late February.
It offers a 24/7 telephone service for people wanting to report non-emergency crime such as burglaries, wilful damage, graffiti and thefts from vehicles.
Crime reporting line staff can also give callers advice on matters such as what to do after a burglary and how to contact Victim Support.
Inspector Peter Cooper said one of the benefits of the system was that local people no longer have to come into a police station to report minor crime.
“That option is still available, but for most people it will be much more convenient to report non-emergency crime by phone.
“For a long time people have asked why they can’t report crime over the phone – now we’re able to offer that service on a round-the-clock basis.
“When people call any local station, our staff will prioritise the call – if it’s an emergency, or if offenders are still on site, we will send officers to attend as rapidly as possible. If it’s not an emergency then local operators will transfer the call to the crime reporting line, where staff will take details and enter the information directly into the police computer system,” he said.
Cooper said the feedback so far from victims had been very positive.
“They are getting much quicker feedback on the status of their cases – often in a matter of hours, rather than days or weeks. It’s also a very important tool in our focus on prevention first. With CRL we’re able to coordinate and analyse all that incoming information and make much better use of it than we have in the past.
“Having crime data entered quickly and directly by crime reporting line means we get good quality intelligence on crime trends fed back promptly – and we can deploy staff to target crime more quickly and effectively.
“Crime reporting line also helps free up our frontline staff from administrative tasks, so they can spend more time out and about in the community,” he said.
– © Fairfax NZ News
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May 13th, 2012
Crime reports are up significantly for the latest week in 13 L.A. neighborhoods, according to an analysis of LAPD data by the Los Angeles Times’ Crime L.A. database.
Nine neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Sun Valley (A) was the most unusual, recording 12 reports compared with a weekly average of 3.5 over the last three months.
Playa Vista (J) topped the list of four neighborhoods with property crime alerts. It recorded nine property crimes compared with its weekly average of 4.0 over the last three months.
Alerts are based on an analysis of crime reports for April 30–May 6, the most recent seven days for which data are available.
— Ben Welsh, Thomas Suh Lauder
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May 13th, 2012
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DENVER – On Thursday night, Denver’s Police Gang Unit investigated a deadly shooting on the northeast side of the city.
Four people were shot in two different locations in the Montbello neighborhood resulting in one fatality.
Cesar Gallardo, 13, heard the shooting Wednesday.
“I heard like eight bullets,” he said. When he walked around to his front yard, “I saw all these people like walking around.”
Gallardo told 9NEWS something to spur a reflection of crime in that neighborhood.
“You kind of get used to it after a while,” he said. “But it kind of affects your life.”
“They do sometimes get used to it,” Dr. Eric Sigel, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Colorado said.
Sigel is part of a $6.5 million University of Colorado-Boulder study and effort to reduce youth violence in the Montbello neighborhood.
“Montbello is in the upper one-third of violent crime in the city of Denver,” he said.
Thirty thosand people live in the area. It is also where Lynn Narvaez is raising her children.
“A lot of people call it ‘Mont-ghetto,’” she said. “You cannot even let your kids here in the front of the house because then you don’t know what can happen.”
She says she feels unsafe in an area that has had marks of violence for years.
“The people do [graffiti] on the fence,” she said. “My big concern is that it’s somebody in the neighborhood. It’s somebody who is watching us.”
Statistics from the Denver Police Department show crime has actually gone down in the Montbello neighborhood since January 2010.
While there is not a reduction in every category, aggravated assault is down 4.7 percent.
Forcible sex offenses are down nearly 50 percent (48.9 percent).
Criminal mischief/damage crimes are down 30.1 percent.
“It takes a real whole culture change,” Dr. Sigel said.
Change is happening, he said. The CU-Boulder study he’s helping coordinate tries to identify kids who could be victims of crime they wouldn’t otherwise report.
“That’s one of the things we’re going to be doing in Montbello, is implementing screening in the healthcare setting, both in school based clinics, as well as Montbello Family Health Center,” Sigel said.
While statistics point to a crime reduction, those working to reduce crime in Montbello point to Wednesday’s potential gang shooting and say there’s more work to do.
“There’s not a quick fix,” Sigel said.
The CU-Boulder study is a five-year project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Starting this year, a community board will begin to implement more evidence based strategies and programs to reduce crime.
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)
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May 11th, 2012
California led the country in cyber-crime complaints and dollar losses to victims last year, according to a study released today by the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership of the FBI, National White Collar Crime Center and the U.S. Dept. of Justice.
Nationally, the biggest source of complaints and dollar losses were: romance scams, work-at-home scams and FBI-related imposters.
More than 314,000 cyber-crime complaints were filed by consumers nationwide in 2011, up 3.4 percent from a year ago. For those reporting financial losses, the average victim was duped out of $4,187.
Based on the number of complaints, the top five states were California (34,169), Florida (20,034), Texas (18,477), New York (15,056) and Ohio (12,661). Total reported losses for California victims was $70.5 million; nationally, losses topped $483 million.
Why was California the hardest hit?
“The honest hard truth is we’re not exactly sure,” said William Hinerman, unit chief of the Internet Crime Complaint Center. “It could possibly be that states with larger populations equal more complaints, more victims and more perpetrators.”
On a per capita basis, other states experienced more complaints of cyber crime. Alaska topped the list. Rounding out the top five were Alaska, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Nevada and Colorado.
In a conference call with reporters, Hinerman and other IC3 officials said Internet crime is “grossly under-reported” nationally. “We know there are tens of millions of computer users in the United States and everybody who gets email, gets spam.” Given that Internet usage is continually growing, he noted, the 314,000 complaints filed last year is “a miniscule fraction of the total crime perpetrated on the Internet.”
Regardless of causes, he and other Internet crime experts urged consumers to be vigilant. Do your homework, research the source of any online financial offers and be skeptical of anything that simply sound too good to be true. For more information: www.ic3.gov.
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I find it ridiculous that this article has been published without the actual phone number of this crime line – or even clarifying the name of the service.
It’s like not reporting on the whole story