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October 10, 2008 7:37:56 PM CDT


Stories related to: law enforcement

Stories

17 Stories

  • October 2008
    • Army Unit to Handle Threats on US Soil

      Army Unit to Handle Threats on US Soil

      (Newser) - A new US Army combat unit will focus on domestic threats like terrorist attacks and natural disasters, raising questions about the role of the military on American soil, CNN reports. The mission is a new assignment for a combat team that was the first to enter Baghdad in 2003. Based in Georgia, the unit will concentrate on logistics and backing local police. More »

      Tags

      US military   police   law enforcement   Army

  • September 2008
    • Cox Has Neutered SEC's Watchdog Role

      Cox Has Neutered SEC's Watchdog Role

      (Newser) - Under chairman Christopher Cox, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has drastically reduced the power of its enforcement division, Portfolio reports. Cox was brought in to “chill it out” after his predecessor was perhaps too zealous for White House tastes. Congress chided Cox for essentially turning down more funding, and penalties against offenders last year were a third of those in 2005, when Cox took office. More »

      Tags

      Bush administration   Wall Street   fraud   Securities and Exchange Commission   law enforcement   Christopher Cox

  • August 2008
    • Construction Theft Is Building Concern

      Construction Theft Is Building Concern

      (Newser) - Increasing theft of building materials from construction sites, especially residential projects, is driving up the cost of homes to consumers as much as 10%, the New York Times reports. Experts say as much as $5 billion a year is being lost to thieves looking to profit from skyrocketing prices for building materials and metal prices. More »

      Tags

      crime   theft   construction   law enforcement   metal prices   home builders   copper   commodity prices

    • Turtle Assists in Pot Bust

      Turtle Assists in Pot Bust

      (Newser) - Agent 99, watch out: A 6-inch-long box turtle known as "No. 72” may want your job. Washington, DC, police recently got an assist from No. 72 in making a drug bust, the Washington Post reports. One of several turtles fitted with transmitters that allow National Park Service researchers to track them, No. 72 happened to receive a visit from a scientist while plodding amid some suspicious plants. "I could tell they were marijuana plants," said Ken Ferebee. More »

      Tags

      crime   marijuana   Washington DC   arrest   national park   law enforcement   National Park Service   turtle

  • July 2008
    • Illegal Search Rule Faces New Challenge

      Illegal Search Rule Faces New Challenge

      (Newser) - America is the only country in the world where evidence—even a carload of narcotics—is automatically suppressed if the police are found to have acted wrongly in acquiring it, writes the New York Times . Courts in other countries weigh the level of police misconduct with the gravity of the crime and the power of the evidence. In the US, the exclusion is absolute, but a change could be coming. More »

      Tags

      US Supreme Court   police   law enforcement   Fourth Amendment   US Constitution   search and seizure

  • April 2008
    • DNA Used to Nab Criminal Kin

      DNA Used to Nab Criminal Kin

      (Newser) - Law-enforcement agencies are using DNA of family members—often without their consent—to identify and convict criminals, the Washington Post reports. Privacy advocates object that it turns family members into unwitting informants, and subjects innocent relatives to “lifelong genetic surveillance” because someone in their family committed a crime. But investigators say it could increase DNA-solved cases by as much as 40%. More »

      Tags

      murder   crime   FBI   DNA   genetics   Massachusetts   Colorado   DNA evidence   law enforcement   DNA database   criminal justice

  • March 2008
  • February 2008
    • How Bad's Your Neighborhood? Find Out Online

      How Bad's Your Neighborhood? Find Out Online

      (Newser) - Neighborhood Watch just got a digital upgrade, reports the AP. CrimeReports.com, the brainchild of a suburban DC dweller who accidentally let a burglar into his apartment building, mines police logs for data on crimes and plots them all on Google maps. Users can set up email alerts to keep tabs on criminal happenings going on around them. More »

      Tags

      Internet   crime   law enforcement   Google Maps   crime statistics

    • Cops Closing Doors on Cold Cases

      Cops Closing Doors on Cold Cases

      (Newser) - Amid shrinking budgets and shifts in focus, US police departments are downsizing their cold-case divisions, USA Today reports. Federal funding for the units dropped 40% in 2007, and departments are reducing the hours devoted to long-unsolved cases—and even eliminating the positions entirely. Experts in the field worry that such measures leave murderers to roam free. More »

      Tags

      murder   law enforcement   police department   violent crime   cold cases

  • December 2007
    • FBI Plans Huge Biometric Index

      FBI Plans Huge Biometric Index

      (Newser) - The FBI is planning a $1 billion database of “biometric” information—face shapes, iris scans, palm patterns, and even gait patterns—to enhance investigations, the Washington Post reports. Critics fear that the plan, called Next Generation Identification, will further erode individual privacy as the body becomes a de facto identification card: "It's enabling the Always On Surveillance Society,” said an ACLU director. More »

      Tags

      FBI   privacy   Berlin   law enforcement   identity card   fingerprinting   Big Brother   biometrics

    • Judge: Cops Can't Force Defendant to Tell Password

      Judge: Cops Can't Force Defendant to Tell Password

      (Newser) - In what could turn out to be a landmark decision on computer privacy and Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination, a federal judge in Vermont has ruled that a man accused of transporting child pornography across the US border with Canada can’t be forced to turn over his laptop password to prosecutors, reports CNET. More »

      Tags

      Canada   law   child pornography   computer security   law enforcement

  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
    • Publicity-Hound Pedophile May Walk Free

      Publicity-Hound Pedophile May Walk Free

      (Newser) - A California man who wrote about his sexual obsession with young girls on his website could soon be out of jail, the LA Times reports. Jack McClellan is incarcerated for violating a restraining order, but its sweeping terms are unlikely to hold up in court, experts say, highlighting the difficulty of dealing with pedophiles who haven't been caught molesting children. More »

      Tags

      California   pedophile   law enforcement   Constitution   Jack McClellan

    • Bush Vows to Hunt Down Illegals

      Bush Vows to Hunt Down Illegals

      (Newser) - Bush is vowing to enforce old immigration laws after all, now that comprehensive reform has croaked on the Senate floor. He promises to crack down on workers who don't have valid Social Security numbers in particular, but bosses parry that there can be good reasons for numerical snafus with the agency – and huge headaches trying to unwrap its red tape. More »