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Stories of police interest from all sources

Riots at Texas prison bring scrutiny (Feb 9, 2009)
Survey: Crime spikes related to economy (Jan 27, 2009)
Baltimore to stop ID'ing officers in shootings (Jan. 8, 2009)
40% fewer officers killed by gunfire in '08 (Dec. 28, 2008)

Riots at Texas Prison Bring Scrutiny

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL and DANNY ROBBINS
Associated Press Writers

Posted: February 9, 2009

PECOS, Texas -- A remote western Texas county secured its finances and kept jobs at home by turning over its sprawling prison to private management, but two inmate riots in the last six weeks have increased scrutiny on the facility.

About five years ago, Reeves County faced a major boondoggle - a prison without prisoners. The lack of inmates to fill a newly built third unit put the county at risk of defaulting on the bonds used to finance the unit's construction.

The county turned to a publicly traded company, The GEO Group Inc., to manage the prison and fill it with federal inmates. The influx allowed the prison, Reeves County's largest employer, to stay in operation, but not without a series of disturbances.

The latest was a riot the weekend of Jan. 31. The GEO Group said Tuesday that no major injuries occurred but the prison couldn't immediately resume normal operations because of "significant" damage to buildings.

During the earlier riot in December, two employees were taken hostage and an exercise room was burned. That disturbance caused at least $320,000 worth of damage, county records show.

These and other matters detailed in news accounts and court documents indicate widespread tension among inmates over a variety of issues, most notably medical treatment. And, for some observers, they give more voice to the oft-stated criticism of private prisons.

"Generally, these (disturbances) are not random," said Bert Useem, a Purdue University sociology and anthropology professor who has written extensively on prison issues. "They occur in prisons that are facing serious difficulties."

The GEO Group issued brief statements at the time of the disturbances but did not respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking further comment.

The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company previously has attracted scrutiny over conditions in its prisons.

In 2007, the Texas Youth Commission fired the company after nearly 200 teenage offenders were removed from a juvenile justice center it operated in Bronte, citing health and safety violations.

The company also has come under fire for its operation of a facility that houses illegal immigrant detainees in Pearsall. A federal lawsuit charges that two Mexican immigrants were not treated for their mental illnesses. And correctional officers at the facility are threatening to strike over pay and working conditions.

"They operate as a bare-bones, profit-making machine," said Howard Johannssen, an official with the union representing the Pearsall officers.

In Reeves County and Pecos, its largest town, The GEO Group is viewed favorably for saving jobs when it was hired to manage the prison five years ago.

Since hiring The GEO Group, the county has filled the center with more than 3,300 federal inmates, including more than 1,207 in unit III. Many of the prisoners are non-U.S. citizens.

The facility employs more than 500 people, most of whom work for the county, and has become increasingly important to the economy as the area has lost several other employers in recent years.

"Any small community with a prison that employs that number of people would see (the value of having such a facility)," said Robert Tobias, executive director of the Pecos Economic Development Corporation.

The significance of The GEO Group's work on the county's behalf was underscored in January 2006 when the Pecos Area Chamber of Commerce gave the company its "Citizen of the Year" award. At the presentation, chamber president Jim Dutchover cited the company for injecting an "infusion of ideas and money" into the community.

But recent events have left the impression that the prison has been poorly run.

"Prisoner riots are a relatively rare occurrence," the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a letter to the Department of Justice requesting that it investigate the center. "For this reason, two serious disturbances within a two-month period at a single facility is sufficient cause for great concern."

A message seeking comment from the Justice Department was not immediately returned Saturday. The ACLU says the department hasn't responded to its request for an investigation.

According to information posted on the Web site of another advocacy group, the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the latest riot began when authorities refused to respond to prisoners' request that a gravely ill inmate be released from solitary confinement and transferred to a hospital.

A federal lawsuit filed by an inmate in 2007 claims prisoners were sprayed with mace after staging a hunger strike to protest the quality of medical care and meals. As part of the suit, filed without an attorney, the prisoner included an undated memo purportedly from a prison official saying he was working toward improving meals, medical care and recreational equipment.

The prison was accredited last month by the American Correctional Association, the nation's only such program for adult and juvenile detention facilities.

The accreditation, required by the federal Bureau of Prisons, was based largely on the results of an onsite audit in October in which representatives of the organization would have reviewed paperwork and interviewed inmates outside the presence of prison authorities, said James Gondles, the group's executive director.

"To my knowledge, our auditing didn't raise any red flags," he said.

However, because of the riots, it is likely that another auditing team will be sent to the prison, Gondles said.

"Are we concerned when an incident happens at an accredited facility?" he said. "The answer is yes."

Associated Press writer Betsy Blaney contributed to this report. Back to top

Survey: Crime spikes related to economy

By KEVIN JOHNSON
USA TODAY, Jan 27, 2009

Nearly half of the 233 police agencies surveyed since the collapse of the nation's financial markets link increases in criminal offenses to the faltering economy, a new review by a law enforcement research group shows.

In a comprehensive survey of possible links between crime and the economy, the Police Executive Research Forum found that 44% of agencies reported spikes in crime linked to the economy. Of those, 39% reported increases in robberies, 32% in burglaries and 40% in thefts. The report also found that 63% of the 233 agencies were bracing for funding cuts during the upcoming year.

The survey, conducted over a five-week period starting in late December, asked for information on all of 2008 but emphasized the past six months to account for the economic crash.

The combination of declining resources and increases in some offenses represents the "first wave" of bad news for communities and police officials, says Chuck Wexler, the research forum's executive director.

"When departments saw increases in violent crime (in 2005 and 2006), they were able to flood the problem areas using overtime for additional patrols. Now, that overtime is drying up," he says. He adds that 62% of police departments said they were cutting overtime spending.

Crime dropped in 2007 and during the first half of 2008, according to the FBI. The FBI's full report on 2008 won't be completed until later this year.

Among cities reporting increases in crimes linked to the sagging economy:

*Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington blames the economy for increases of 14% in burglary in 2008 and of 17% in auto theft. Many of those offenses spiked as the economy soured, he says.

Instead of taking jewelry and other valuables, he says, burglars are stripping homes of flat-screen TVs and computers. Both items can easily be resold.

"I haven't seen stuff like this in a long time," Pennington says.

*Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo says financial woes are pushing people to violence. He says aggravated assaults rose 10% last year. Many involved family having to money disputes, he says.

"The state of the economy is putting tremendous pressure on the American family," Acevedo says. "There are homes the cops all know where there has been a pattern of problems. Now, we're going to homes that haven't been problems in the past."

*Topeka police reported spikes in shoplifting and burglaries. Thieves there are stealing license plates to recover stickers on the plates that show proof of tax payments, according to the report.

Some communities reported a decrease in crime despite the economic slump. Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris says crime in his city has not worsened, and property-related offenses -- burglary, theft and robbery -- actually have declined 9%.

"We would like to think it's our crime-suppression effort," Harris says. "I hesitate to take responsibility for declines in crime, because that means you get the blame when it goes up."

Eleven percent of the agencies reported crime increases they did not link to the economy.

Wexler says police aren't likely to feel the full impact of the faltering economy until at least midyear because crime tends to pick up in the summer.

In Atlanta, Pennington says the economy already is hampering the department's ability to fight rising crime.

City workers, including the department's 1,760 officers, administrators and chief, are now working 36-hour weeks to save money, he says. The hourly cuts took effect after Christmas.

"This just started," Pennington says. "We'll see how it goes." Back to top

Baltimore to stop ID'ing officers in shootings

JUSTIN FENTON
The Baltimore Sun, Jan. 8, 2009 

Baltimore police will no longer release the names of officers who kill or injure people, changing a long-standing practice that the department believes put officers at risk.

The decision is prompting criticism from several Baltimore leaders, who said withholding officers' names will only endanger an already tenuous relationship between the police and the community. Baltimore police shot 21 people last year, 13 of them fatally - the same number killed by police in 2007, when 31 people were shot. Those numbers are up from 2006, when 15 were shot and five killed.

"If we're ever going to get to a point where the community trusts the police, we need to have some transparency and full disclosure about what's happening," said state Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, a West Baltimore Democrat who is a public defender.

The Police Department is asking residents to become more engaged in their neighborhoods and to work with police to solve crimes and overcome a "Stop Snitching" culture. Marvin L. "Doc" Cheatham Sr., president of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, said he wouldn't want police to give out information that endangers officers, but he said the new policy "doesn't help" improve community relations.

"We've got to find more and better ways to bring the community and police together," he said. "This may not sit too well with many of us."

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III declined to comment on the change, saying he left the decision to new department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. The new policy mirrors those of some other departments and is designed to protect officers from retaliation, Guglielmi said.

A spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon said she will not interfere with the department's decision.

Regionally and across the country, police agencies differ in their disclosure of police-involved shootings; some release the names within hours and others withhold the information altogether.

The police union applauded the policy change. Robert F. Cherry, president of the Baltimore police union and a former homicide detective, said the department vigorously investigates shootings that involve officers.

"If anything, the investigation is more intensive than for the average citizen," Cherry said. "The only thing the department is doing differently is choosing not to release their name. ... I'm surprised we haven't gone to this earlier."

Talk of the change surfaced nearly a year ago in February, but officials in the mayor's office said they had not been briefed and promised the issue would be thoroughly vetted. Over the summer, police informally stopped releasing names of officers involved in shootings.

Six people were shot by officers during that span, and only one officer was identified. Four victims were identified.

Among the last officers whose names were released was Officer Tommy Sanders, who has since been indicted on manslaughter charges in connection with the death of Edward Lamont Hunt at a Northeast Baltimore shopping center. Hunt was shot several times in the back after he attempted to flee. Sanders, 38, is scheduled to go to trial next month.

Guglielmi, who joined the department last month after a stint with the federal Office of the Special Counsel, said the change is not a departmentwide rule but a policy of the public affairs office, which disseminates information.

Guglielmi said the department will release the names of officers only if they are found through an internal investigation to have erred - though that could require a policy change as well, since the department currently does not notify the public about the results of internal investigations.

"After doing a couple ride-alongs [with officers], I sincerely believe there are some security implications for identifying officers unless they were found in the wrong," he said.

Guglielmi cited backlash against Officer Salvatore Rivieri, the Inner Harbor patrol officer who was videotaped berating a teenage skateboader. The video was posted on YouTube and appeared on national television, and police said Rivieri has received death threats at his home.

But Doug Ward, director of the division of public safety leadership for the Johns Hopkins University and a former state trooper, said the Rivieri case is a perfect example of the public's right to know about a potential problem officer. He said police must provide a certain amount of transparency for the public to trust that their internal investigative process is responsible.

"I understand that they're trying to protect their own and that kind of thing, but I'm not sure that's good public policy," Ward said.

A spokeswoman for Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said last year that she had concerns about the prospect of withholding officers' names and "would not do anything to jeopardize the progress that we have made with our relationship with the community." The spokeswoman, Margaret T. Burns, said yesterday that Jessamy's position had not changed.

Alvin O. Gillard, director of the city community relations commission, said he hopes police will look more closely at the community impact.

"Unless there's some compelling reason, I don't know if it's going to be helpful in rebuilding that [trust]," Gillard said.

Many Baltimore-area law enforcement agencies report names of officers involved in shootings. Anne Arundel County releases the information within 12 to 24 hours. Baltimore County police release information on the judgment of its media relations office. Maryland State Police and the Harford County Sheriff's Office decide case-by-case, typically taking the officer's assignment into consideration.

Maj. Andrew Ellis, commander of the Prince George's County police public affairs office, said his department waits 24 hours after a shooting, then publishes information on the department's Web site.

"We believe it is in the public interest for our residents to know when our officers use deadly force," Ellis said. "Our officers are public agents. One thing the chief has promised is that there will be transparency with our agency."

In other big cities, policies are split on the issue. Washington Metropolitan police release officers' names depending on the circumstances; Los Angeles police are under orders from the city's police commission to release the names of officers, even if they were working undercover.

Boston police do not release names until an internal investigation is complete. Police in Detroit, Philadelphia and New York do not divulge names at all, officials said. The FBI also withholds names.

"That's basically for the safety of the agent in question, as there may be individuals who may try to retaliate against that agent," said FBI spokesman Bill Carter. "The names do get out, in many instances, [when] the [local field offices] will look at it to determine if it was a rightful shooting. But we do not as a policy."

Many critics of Baltimore's policy change noted that officers involved with shootings are often taken off the streets while a review is conducted, reducing the danger of retaliation.

Moreover, critics said, knowing the identity of police officers is crucial to public accountability.

"In the aftermath of a shooting, citizens would be interested in whether there's been any other incidents related to that officer," said David Rocah, a staff attorney with the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "That would seem like extremely important information, and there would be no way to know that unless you have the name." Back to top