Researcher: Rookie Deputies, Officers Need to be Studied
from the Chicago Tribune
The life of a rookie police officer can be a tough one. After training for months, the officers are sent out to face stresses, dangers and a world unlike anything they've known before. If they're second-, third- or fourth-generation officers, they could have even more expectations to live up to. Dennis Rosenbaum, a criminology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, wants to find out what exactly happens over the course of a career that makes an officer good at the job. He believes a variety of factors can be influences, from training to home life to bosses. More

U.S. Rattled As Mexico Drug War Bleeds Over Border
from Reuters
U.S. authorities fear that violent crime is beginning to bleed over the porous Mexico border and take hold here. Extreme violence is common in Mexico where drug cartel abductions and executions are a daily feature of a raging drug war that claimed 6,000 lives south of the border last year. More

Hunterdon County Courthouse Costs vs. Liability: Guards’ Guns Complicate Security
from the Hunterdon County Democrat
In Hunterdon County N.J., armed guards are at the center of a courthouse controversy. The sheriff is responsible for security at the county Justice Center, but the Freeholders make county policies that govern staffing and weapons. The sheriff would like to replace part-time guards with full-time sheriff’s officers. The Freeholders would like the part-time guards to stay because compared to full-time sheriff’s officers, part-time guards are cheap. But the real conflict is between state regulations that dictate who can secure the courthouse and those that dictate who may carry weapons. More

County, State at Odds on Jails
from the Kennebec Journal
Maine's jails could close or become overcrowded given potential changes to the state budget, county corrections officials said. The changes hinge on a decision by the state that could provide additional funding outside of the state property-tax cap for county jail operations starting July 1. On that date, state funding to Maine's 15 county jails will cease unless an agreement is reached between the Legislature and the State Board of Corrections, the nine-person group that oversees county jails in Maine. More

As Economic Woes Deepen, Obama Underlines Stimulus
from The Washington Post
Faced with a deteriorating business climate and dogged Republican criticism of his measures to stem the nation’s economic decline, the President stood with 25 police recruits whose impending layoffs were reversed because of the stimulus package. More

Report Says Criminal Justice Population Has Exploded in the U.S.
from the Anderson Independent-Mail News
One in 38 adults in South Carolina is either in prison, on parole or on probation, according to a new study. In Georgia the number jumps to one in 13. The national average is one in 31, according to the Pew Center on the States, which studied the numbers and costs of corrections institutions in the United States. More

New Shock Tech Could Zap Rioters, Cancer Cells
from Wired
Today's Tasers stun their targets for just a few seconds. A new technique using ultra-short electric pulses could allow tomorrow's electroshock weapons to immobilize people for as long as fifteen minutes –- and may one day also be used to destroy tumors. More

Police Turn Focus to Protect Seniors
from the Gazette
The Prince George's County, Md., Police Department will use Adelphi and Beltsville as launch sites for its Triad program, which is aimed at increasing communication between police and senior citizens and providing crime prevention resources to the elderly. More

Police Using More High-Tech Gadgets
from Voice of America
The high-tech gadgets developed for warfare are now being used for police work in the United States and other countries. Police departments find the advanced technology helps officers carry out surveillance and other activities without putting them in danger. For example, robots are being used by Special Weapons and Tactics units, or SWAT teams, in most major American cities in an effort to reduce casualties. More

Computer Technology Fingers Illegal Aliens
from The Morning Call
When a suspect is arrested in Bucks County, Pa., suspects place their hands on an imaging screen that scans their fingerprints into a computer linked to a federal database. Within minutes, prison officials can learn the person’s criminal record. This systems has been in use in Bucks and Montgomery counties—the only two in Pennsylvania so far—for a couple of months. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to extend the program to more than 6,000 local police booking centers and jails nationwide in about 3-½ years. More

Rate-My-Cop: New Web Site Has Police Furious
from CBS-13
Police agencies from coast to coast are furious with a new website on the internet. RateMyCop.com has the names of thousands of officers, and many believe it is putting them in danger. More