Cell Phones, Texting Vex Law Enforcement at Crime Scenes
from the St. Petersburg Times
It's a normal reaction — people see a car accident and slow down to rubberneck. But what happens when those same people, now equipped with cell phone cameras and text messaging, decide to snap photos? Or release the identity of the victim before a family is notified? Those are some of the new challenges that law enforcement personnel say they are encountering more often these days as technology evolves. More

Columbine Tragedy Transformed Police Tactics
from The Associated Press via USA Today
The first officers on the scene had never trained for what they found at Columbine High School: No hostages. No demands. Just killing. In the hours that followed, Americans watched in horror as the standard police procedure for dealing with shooting rampages in the U.S. proved tragically, heartbreakingly flawed on April 20, 1999. Ten years later, Columbine has transformed the way police in the U.S. deal with shooting rampages. More

Florida Lawmakers Want to End 'Crash Taxes'
from The Associated Press via Tampa Bay Online
Florida lawmakers are considering a ban on fees, dubbed "crash taxes" by detractors who say they're unfair and not always covered by insurance. These fees are collected to cover the cost of the county police and firefighters who respond to accidents. Six other states - Arkansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Tennessee and Georgia - already prohibit them, and Alabama and California may do the same. More

Explorer Scout Rescues Sheriff's Deputy as Assailant Throttles Lawman
from The Stockton Record via the Mercury News
A 16-year-old Explorer Scout riding along Friday with a Calaveras County sheriff's deputy may have saved the deputy's life during a brawl in Valley Springs, a Sheriff's Department spokesman said Monday. Sgt. Dave Seawell, a department spokesman, did not identify the teenager but said Deputy Michael Dittman was on the verge of losing consciousness during a Friday night brawl when the Explorer intervened to pull an assailant's forearm off of Dittman's throat. More

Michigan Sheriff Offers to Lay off Deputies to Pay for Jail
from the Kalamazoo Gazette
In a move he said was out of ''desperation, ' Allegan County, Mich.'s sheriff suggested that he was willing to lay off deputies to pay to build a new jail. ''I'm at a point where I've got to do something,'' Sheriff Blaine Koops told the Allegan County Board of Commissioners, referring to a consultant's report that said the jail had outlived its usefulness and was unsafe and unhealthy for inmates and staff. “My ability to operate that facility is narrowing by the day,” Koops said. More

New Fingerprinting Technique could Crack Cold Cases
from CNN
A groundbreaking technique developed across the Atlantic Ocean in Britain may help law enforcement personnel to crack cold cases. The technique enables scientists to detect fingerprints on spent bullets and shell casings, even when the print had been wiped off. It works by detecting the minute corrosion of metal caused by sweat, which corrodes the metal in the shape of the fingerprint. More

Supreme Court Limits Warrantless Vehicle Searches
from The Associated Press
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police need a warrant to search the vehicle of someone they have arrested if the person is locked up in a patrol cruiser and poses no safety threat to officers. The court's 5-4 decision puts new limits on the ability of police to search a vehicle immediately after the arrest of a suspect. More

Is Respect for Police Authority Declining?
from The Gazette
In the time Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Police Officer Tim Davis has been recuperating, four other officers have been assaulted, including one who was kicked in the cheek. Even more alarming is the rate at which it's happening. Some 17 assaults on police officers in Cedar Rapids have been reported already this year, compared with 30 in all of 2008. Police Chief Greg Graham said the department is evaluating whether more or different training is needed. More

Drug Smugglers becoming More Creative
from CNN
Drug traffickers are throwing everything they've got at getting drugs into the United States any way they can. At the San Ysidro crossing near the Mexican border, officials have found drugs smuggled in things such as tables, toys, furniture, holiday candles, even tennis shoes. The smuggling organizations are well-established and sophisticated. They have a recognized hierarchy and employ the latest technology, said Rafael Reyes, chief of global enforcement operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. More

Program Pairs Prisoners with Dogs Awaiting Adoption in a Process that Helps Both Parties
from the Winston-Salem Journal
Four inmates from the Forsyth Correctional Center in Winston-Salem, Ore., re the first local participants in "A New Leash on Life," a dog-training program for inmates in minimal- and medium-security custody at state prisons. Prisons partner with animal shelters and animal-welfare agencies to train dogs in order to prepare them to be adopted. More

Michigan Sheriff to Train Community
from the Midland Daily News
Disasters mean emergency responders are busy, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. To make sure citizens know what to do in disasters and emergencies, the Midland County, Mich., Sheriff's Office is hosting community disaster preparation training. More