Police in the Boston area say that thefts of Christmas gift parcels from stoops seem to be a growing trend this year, reports the Boston Globe. Cases have been reported in Somerville, Wellesley, Medford and Quincy. A father-daughter duo and a part-time UPS worker were also arraigned yesterday in Quincy District Court on separate larceny charges. The dismal state of the economy - and the uptick in online shopping and shipping - seems to be making conditions ripe for porch-picking.
“There seems to be more of a rash this year,’’ said Quincy Police Capt. John Dougan. An October consumer survey found that nearly 47 percent of consumers intended to do at least some of their shopping online, up from 44 percent last year, the National Retail Federation reported. That makes for plenty of deliveries. The United Parcel Service alone expects to deliver some 120 million packages this week. Somerville Police Capt. Charles J. Femino said, “This type of crime at this time of year is not unique to Somerville, but I can’t say that I’ve seen it on this scale before."
Across California, hundreds of criminals convicted of non-serious, non-violent, non-sexual crimes last month were no longer sent to prison under the state's massive inmate realignment, but this group of "low level" offenders does not include more than 2,200 inmates currently imprisoned for the exact same crimes, says the Monterey Herald. They are serving life sentences under California's three-strikes law.
It is this incongruity that again has inspired a reform effort aimed at requiring that an offender's third strike be a serious, violent offense. "Most people don't realize a petty theft with priors is a third strike and can get you life in prison," said defense attorney Brian Worthington. Men in Monterey County have been sentenced to 25 years to life for crimes ranging from petty theft to drug possession to second-degree burglary, the same offenses that now qualify others for county jail, probation and rehab programs. What third-strike conviction numbers don't reflect is how often the mere threat of applying the law — and therefore, a life sentence — is used to coerce plea agreements and prison time in low-level cases that otherwise could have ended with a few years' probation. That, says Worthington, is the hidden impact of three strikes.
Read full entry »A Seattle Police Department policy that allows officers to invoke protection against self-incrimination in routine use-of-force investigations is overbroad and offers unnecessary protection to police while undermining public confidence, says a U.S. Department of Justice letter reported by the Seattle Times. The Justice Department told Mayor Mike McGinn that the protection is routinely extended to situations where it was never intended to be applied.
Justice said the letter was sent in hopes that the department would address the issue immediately, "given the serious nature of our concerns," wrote Jonathan Smith, chief of Justice's Special Litigation Section, and Jenny Durkan, U.S. attorney in Seattle. The letter focuses on the Seattle police application of a 1967 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Garrity vs. New Jersey, that any potentially incriminating statement made by a police officer cannot be used to prosecute him in a criminal case if the officer believes he was compelled to give the statement under threat of losing his job.
Read full entry »A sagging economy and high beef prices have prompted a rise in livestock thefts, reports USA Today. A single beef cow can be worth up to $2,500. The thefts have increased from the Beef Belt in Texas and Oklahoma to other beef producing states in the Midwest and South. These modern rustlers won't fit the typical Hollywood image of mounted desperados wearing 10-gallon hats with bandannas covering their faces.
"Most of them use stock trailers pulled by pickups, or even 18-wheelers, to haul the animals away," said Billy Powell, executive vice president of the Alabama Cattlemen's Association. No national group collects stock theft data. Budget cuts are complicating law enforcement efforts in rustling cases. For example, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries did away with its investigative division June 1 due to state budget cuts. The group's 10 investigators looked into crimes ranging from equipment theft to rustling.
Read full entry »Copper theft has cast into darkness 33 miles of Interstate 95 in South Florida, reports the Palm Beach Post. Thieves have yanked out the underground copper wire needed to power the overhead lighting. The wire can be sold to metal recycling companies for as much as $3 a pound. State officials say it will cost $200,000 to replace the wiring and install anti-theft devices to prevent thieves from removing it again.
During the past four to six months, state transportation officials say, 18 sites in Palm Beach County have been hit by thieves, who removed 175,000 feet of wire. The problem is being reported across the country. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, a Washington-based trade group, has set up a website where law enforcement officials across the United States and Canada can report thefts and have the information relayed to recycling sites within 100 miles of where the incident occurred. In Florida, metal recyclers are required to take photos and thumbprints of their customers before buying metals.
A dramatic decline in auto theft is the result of advances in anti-theft technology and aggressive police work, the Washington Post reports. Newer cars...
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