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Career Opportunities - The US Marshals Service is looking for people to work in all areas. Log on to
D. Pannell, USMarshalls Association
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWSMAGAZINE ( A Law Enforcement Publication)
Reaching Over hundreds of Readers Each Month, view our archived copies on the World Wide Web @
LESC Programs of Instruction
“Machines don’t fight wars. Terrain doesn’t fight wars.
Humans fight wars. You must get into the minds of humans.
That’s where the battles are won.” ~COL John Boyd
What’s in this month’s Issue:
- PRESIDENT ELECT – MR. BARACK OBAMA!
- Parole Director Accused Of Sexual Harassment
- History of the French Police
- FBI investigating 38 cases tied to financial crisis
- Police officers 'distressed' by teen's death
- Kemah police officers honored for saving child
- War on Crime turns Deadly
- Ex-New Orleans officer killed by gunfire on I-10
- DID YOU KNOW?
One of Canada's Largest Police Agencies. The Toronto Police Service. The Toronto Police Service is looking for people to work in all areas. Visit the website to learn more. D.Pannell
Barack Obama44thPresident of the United States
Incumbent
Assumedoffice
January 20, 2009
VicePresident / Joe Biden
Precededby / George W. Bush
United States Senator
from Illinois
Inoffice
January 3, 2005–November 16, 2008
Precededby / Peter Fitzgerald
Succeededby / Roland Burris
Member of the Illinois Senate
from the 13th district
Inoffice
January 8, 1997–November 4, 2004
Precededby / Alice Palmer
Succeededby / Kwame Raoul
Born / August 4, 1961 (1961-08-04)(age47)[1]
Honolulu, Hawaii[2]
Birthname / Barack Hussein Obama II[2]
Nationality / American
Politicalparty / Democratic
Spouse / Michelle Obama(m. 1992)
Children / Malia Ann (b.1998)
Natasha (Sasha) (b.2001)
Residence / Chicago, IL (private)
White House, Washington, D.C. (official)
Almamater / PunahouHonolulu, HawaiiOccidental College
Columbia University (B.A.)
Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Profession / Community Organizer
Attorney
Religion / Christian[3]
Signature /
Website / WhiteHouse.gov
President Elect, Mr. Obama, First Lady, Michelle Obama and First daughters; Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States.
His story is the American story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.
With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.
After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.
He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.
President Obama's years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world's most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by putting federal spending online.
He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.
Parole Director Accused Of Sexual Harrassment
by Pablo GuzmanNEW YORK (CBS) ―
Feb 5, 2009 9:44 pm US/Eastern
Pamela Menera alleges that Felix Rosa, currently the executive director of the NYS Division of Parole, sexually harassed her while he was being considered for a position as her supervisor. A New York State Division of Parole worker says her career at the agency screeched to a halt when she refused the sexual advances of her boss. That man was recently nominated by Governor David Paterson to be the next parole boss.
The woman just came forward and spoke to Pablo Guzman in an interview you'll only see on CBS 2. Pamela Menera alleges that Felix Rosa, currently the executive director of the NYS Division of Parole, sexually harassed her while he was being considered for a position as her supervisor.
Menera says Rosa told her, at her office on West 40th Street, "you better hope that I don't get that position, because I'll have you under the desk," Menera says.
Menera's lawyer says that from 1995 until present day, they reported this to superiors – including Governor Paterson – who, they say, did nothing. Paterson, in fact, nominated Rosa for the head job at the parole division. Rosa, however, suddenly withdrew his name Wednesday from consideration, not coincidentally, after word of Menera's press conference got out.
"He shut the door to the office in the division of training, and he exposed himself to her," Menera's lawyer, Bonita Zelman says. "He then attempted to forcibly put his hands on her body."
One union representative, Manuelita Clemente, said she told the governor's lawyer about the names of other women with stories similar to Menera in confidence. Then, she says, Rosa intimidated those women after getting the names from Paterson's lawyer. She wants Rosa out from the position that he still holds, "because he's got nothing but thugs in there – worse than parolees," Clemente says.
In a sign of the trouble that Paterson is in, the African American police organization, "The Guardians," once a strong ally, says that this incident and other recent moves have made Paterson look very bad. Some believe the governor may have thought that, by withdrawing Rosa's name from candidacy for the top parole job, the complaints lobbied against him would go away. Instead, the women involved are now seeking a meeting with the inspector general.
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The iGrip, with its Enhanced Qwerty letter layout, can be used as a complement to a keyboard. It is “Enhanced” because the more commonly used characters have been placed on the inside portion of the keys where your fingers naturally fall when grasping the device. So, for example, on a standard Qwerty keyboard a touch typist must move his or her left middle finger off the “D” key on the home row to the keyboard’s upper row to press the much more common letter, “E.” By contrast, on an iGrip the “E” key is easily accessible on the home row, and you move your left middle finger to the outer edge of the key to generate the less commonly used letter “D.” This configuration minimizes finger movement, thereby enhancing the iGrip's ergonomics while increasing typing speed.
The iGrip has a 65% finger-to-letter correlation with a keyboard, so a touch typist can switch from his or her keyboard to an iGrip and back again without a relearning lag time. Learning to use an iGrip first also makes it easier to learn to touch type on a standard QWERTY keyboard. Thus, you can learn to use both devices in about the same amount of time it would take you to learn to touch type on the keyboard alone. Moreover, by using an iGrip as a complement to your keyboard, you will cut down the number of repetitive movements associated with using your keyboard, possibly reducing the risk of developing a repetitive strain injury such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome....more
Career Opportunities - The US Marshals Service is looking for people to work in all areas. Log on to
D. Pannell, USMarshalls Association
TOPCOPS INTERNATIONAL NEWSMAGAZINE ( A Law Enforcement Publication)
Reaching Over hundreds of Readers Each Month, view our archived copies on the World Wide Web @
HISTORY OF THE FRENCH POLICE:
The site is in French and would need to be interpreted but makes for interesting reading:
HISTOIRE DE LA POLICE EN FRANCE
La police est, étymologiquement, l'art de gouverner la cité. Aujourd'hui, le terme recouvre deux concepts qui ont entre eux des rapports étroits: l'ensemble des prescriptions imposées aux citoyens en vue de la sauvegarde de l'ordre public; l'ensemble des services chargés de faire respecter ces prescriptions.
La fonction de police est celle d'assumer la sécurité interne. Elle s'exerce ainsi à deux niveaux. Sur un plan interindividuel, il va s'agir de la régulation des disputes locales, qui peuvent être liées à des relations dégradées de voisinage, à des contentieux matrimoniaux, à des perturbations de la vie publique (circulation notamment) et, surtout, à des phénomènes que les criminologues dénomment «déviance» et que les juristes enferment pour leur part dans l'expression d'«atteinte à la sécurité des personnes et des biens»: meurtres, vols, destructions, etc. Lorsque les différends concernent des groupes, on parle alors de conflits sociaux: ceux-ci débouchent parfois sur des situations d'émeutes, d'insurrections, de révolutions.
La police répond à une fonction d'ordre qui existe dans la mesure où les ressortissants d'un même territoire produisent du désordre. Elle a la charge de faire respecter la «tranquillité publique», c'est-à-dire assurer «la conformité des conduites aux normes établies, pour sauvegarder entre les membres d'une collectivité donnée le dénominateur commun nécessaire à la cohésion et au fonctionnement de cette collectivité».
L'action de la police consiste donc en sanctions qui vont du droit de surveillance à l'usage de la force, sanctions destinées à réprimer la violation des normes (règles écrites, usages, limites laissées à l'appréciation) qui régissent le fonctionnement légitime ou légal d'une collectivité. Les contraintes posées par l'existence de violences sociales et politiques à l'intérieur d'une société constituée sont bien de tous les temps. En revanche, si la fonction de police est universelle, elle ne renvoie pas à des pratiques et à des structures identiques.
Histoire de la police L'histoire de la police, dans les sociétés différenciées, est celle du lent passage d'une milice à un corps de fonctionnaires. En Grèce, on déléguait la tâche d'arbitrer les querelles individuelles à un corps d'esclaves scythes. À Rome, c'était à des esclaves gaulois qu'était dévolu le même rôle; quant aux violences collectives, c'était aux armées formées de citoyens romains qu'il revenait de les réprimer – ainsi des insurrections d'esclaves. ( Continued on the site indicated above )
FBI investigating 38 cases tied to financial crisis
WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating 38 cases of corporate fraud or financial institution wrongdoing tied to the economic crisis, and the federal bailout watchdog has already opened several criminal probes, officials told Congress Wednesday.
U.S. officials also said in testimony prepared for a Senate hearing that fraud cases are straining resources for investigating white-collar crime, and that the Justice Department backs proposed legislation to tighten financial-fraud laws. Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the $700 billion U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that several criminal investigations related to the program are already under way.
"We have already opened several criminal investigations involving multiple jurisdictions, and ... are closely coordinating our executive-compensation oversight efforts with the New York State Attorney General," he said. Trillions of dollars in government money will be potentially at risk of fraudulent activity in the multiple rescue programs to address the financial crisis, he said.
"These huge investments of taxpayers money, made over a relatively short time period, will require close oversight and will invariably provide an incentive to those seeking to profit criminally," Barofsky said. The FBI's caseload of 38 corporate and financial institution investigations linked to the crisis represents an increase from about two dozen publicly reported last year.
"The increasing mortgage, corporate fraud and financial institution failure case inventory is straining the FBI's limited white-collar-crime resources," FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said. He said the FBI increased to 180 the number of agents working on mortgage fraud cases, from 120 in 2007.
Barofsky said counterterrorism efforts since the Sept. 11 attacks seven years ago had drained resources from white-collar crime probes. "We saw areas of coverage shrink and prosecutorial thresholds rise. The Department of Justice's recent shift of focus to mortgage fraud has left other areas of white-collar crime underfunded and underprosecuted," he said. The Justice Department backs legislation proposed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy to hire more federal investigators and prosecutors and tighten laws against financial crime, said the acting head of the department's criminal division, Rita Glavin.
The proposals include covering mortgage lenders under bank-fraud laws — Glavin cited a Wall Street Journal report that more than half of subprime mortgages made in 2005 were made by lenders that did not fall under such laws. Other measures would criminalize making a false statement to mortgage lenders, amend the major U.S. fraud law to include activities related to TARP bailout money, and include commodities options and futures trading in securities fraud laws. "These changes would enhance our ability to investigate and prosecute mortgage fraud and other types of investment fraud," Glavin said.
Police officers 'distressed' by teen's death By Melinda Howells
Posted Mon Feb 9, 2009 9:04am AEDT Updated Mon Feb 9, 2009 9:02am AEDT
The Queensland Police Union (QPU) says officers are distressed by the death of a 16-year-old boy during an arrest at Ipswich, west of Brisbane, on Saturday night.
The QPU defended the actions of officers involved, saying officers said the teen was behaving aggressively on a street in Brassall.
Officers told the boy they would use a stun gun if he did not lie down. He lay on the road and was run over by a car driven by an 18-year-old woman. The teen died in hospital.
A report is being prepared for the coroner. QPU president Cameron Pope says the officers involved acted appropriately, but are shaken up. "It's extremely distressing for them," he said.
"As one said, it's his job to save lives and to have something like this happen to him and him trying to do everything in his power for it not to happen is extremely distressing for those officers."
Mr Pope says it was an accident. "I went out there - as did the Ethical Standards Commander - investigating the incident and I'm quite happy that the investigation will find that police have acted completely appropriately in regards to the matter," he said.
The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) says the police ethical standards unit investigation must be thorough. QCCL president Michael Cope says many questions need to be answered about the actions of police.
"Certainly the police owe a duty of care when they arrest somebody and that would ensure making sure the road is kept clear so on the face of it it calls for a very thorough investigation," he said.
"If they're arresting somebody in the middle of the road, then as I said, it's their obligation to make sure the scene is safe from cars passing.
"By that I mean that's just commonsense duty of care that they have to everybody."
War on crime turns deadly - February 08 2009 at 06:23PM By Fred Kockott
There is a new war on the streets. Deadly shootouts between police and organised crime gangs are now a defining feature of police work and life in South Africa.
In the past two weeks in and around Durban, more than 16 criminal suspects, and an innocent bystander, it seems, have been killed in shootouts with police, bringing to the fore the use of deadly force in apprehending suspects.
Do these incidents reflect a new, tougher, if not gung-ho approach to combating crime? Have some policemen interpreted too literally the recent shoot-to-kill utterances of some leading politicians?
'Mkhize opened fire when police tried to pull his car over' And how do we know that vital witnesses are not being deliberately taken out by cops on the take? These are just some of the questions various commentators, including violence monitor Mary de Haas, are asking in the wake of yet another suspect killed in Durban this week.