Zaruba to Lead Sheriffs’ Association
from The Associated Press via the Fox Valley Villages Sun
DuPage County, Ill., Sheriff John E. Zaruba was elected Tuesday to the highest elected position a sheriff can achieve — president of the National Sheriffs' Association. Zaruba, who will be sworn in Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will serve as the spokesman and representative for more than 3,000 sheriffs nationwide. "I am both humbled and proud of being elected to this most prestigious position and am eager to serve with the same energy and integrity I serve the citizens of DuPage County," Zaruba said in a news release. More

Homeland Security Chief: We Will Enforce Immigration Laws
from the Miami Herald
Addressing hundreds of the nation's sheriffs in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that her department would work to secure the nation's border and enforce the existing immigration laws.“We will enforce the nation's immigration laws. We are going to do it in a smart and effective way,” Napolitano said. As the keynote speaker at the National Sheriffs' Association annual conference on Tuesday, Napolitano discussed immigration and other issues facing law enforcement. More

Georgia Courthouse Security Still a Worry after Spree
from The Associated Press via the Ledger-Enquirer
The Fulton County, Ga., courthouse, where a defendant killed a judge and three others and escaped four years ago, still doesn't have a security plan as the law requires. Three years after lawmakers outraged by the killings in Atlanta's seat of justice mandated that every sheriff adopt such a plan, sheriffs in as many as 14 counties haven't done so, according to the state sheriffs' association. More

L.A. County Sheriff's Department Suspends DNA Testing
from the Los Angeles Times
Out of cash and understaffed, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has suspended its faltering effort to analyze DNA evidence. The department halted shipments of the genetic evidence to private crime laboratories at the end of May after funds allotted for the testing ran dry, according to a report submitted by Sheriff Lee Baca to the county Board of Supervisors late last week. More

Florida County Sheriff's Office Puts Cadaver Dog on Duty
from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
One drop of blood is all Piper needs to sniff out a lead on a case involving human remains. Her little black nose ferrets out clues that bring closure to often heart-wrenching cases involving missing persons, homicides, fatal car crashes and search-and-rescue missions. K-9 Piper is the Palm Beach County, Fla., Sheriff's Office's first Human Remains Detection Dog -- also known as a cadaver dog. She joins 52 other canines that make up the agency's K-9 unit. More

Court to Decide Miranda Warning Expansion
from The Associated Press
The Supreme Court will decide whether a suspect has to be told that he has a right to have a lawyer present during questioning by police. The court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Kevin Dwayne Powell, who was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. More

Three-wheeled Devices Give Dallas Police a New Option for Patrolling
from the Dallas Morning News
Beyond squad cars and motorcycles, bikes and horses, Dallas cops have a new piece of patrol arsenal. It's a souped-up chariot, complete with sirens and emergency lights. Three wheels. All electric. Maximum speed 25 mph. "They're always pointing at it, thinking it looks like something from Star Wars," Deputy Chief Vincent Golbeck said of the crowd reaction. More

Technology to Help 911 Dispatchers Communicate
from the Deseret News
Decade-old communications issues between the Salt Lake County, Utah, Sheriff's Office and Valley Emergency Communications Center appear to finally be coming to a close. In a news conference Wednesday, VECC leaders and the sheriff's office announced the launch of a partnership between the two dispatch centers through the use of technology that will enhance the ability of both centers to monitor their emergency operations. More

Do DUI Checkpoints Work?
from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Each year, thousands of people die from alcohol-related collisions. In 2007, the most recent year for which totals have been available, 12,998 people died as a result of drunken driving, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. Law enforcement officials and citizens alike agree drunken driving is a problem, but that is where the formalities stop - the groups can't seem to decide on a way to curtail the problem. More

California Wants Early Prisoner Release
from The Associated Press via MSNBC
With California slipping into a financial sinkhole, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to save more than $180 million by cutting short the sentences of thousands of immigrants in the state's prisons and turning them over to federal authorities for deportation. The idea faces certain hurdles and immigration authorities warn that a mass release of inmates from California and other states could swamp the federal system, which is already at capacity. More