Reducing Jail Beds is Tough Assignment for Sheriff
from IndyStar.com
Money to house county jail inmates in Indiana will be cut back next year, leaving public safety leaders to figure out how to reduce the jail population in 2010 without imposing early releases. So far, the solutions include a push for more efficient courts and heightened scrutiny of inmates, but neither guarantees that the goal of housing at least 126 fewer inmates will be achieved. More

Drill Held to Deal with Potential H1N1 Outbreak in Jail
from KTVN
Officials from various agencies held a drill to theorize how they'd deal with an H1N1 outbreak at the Washoe County Jail in Nevada. About 40 people from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, the Washoe District Health Department, Prison Health Services and the courts took part. They worked together to come up with the best way to contain an outbreak at the jail. More

Police Worry About Demise of Crown Vic
from Officer.com
For police agencies, the Ford Crown Victoria has been like an old friend -- dependable and always there. So news that Ford Motor Co. plans to halt production of the sedan after 2011 worries local law enforcement leaders, who say they are worried about finding a suitable successor and about the potential costs of replacing equipment that has fit the "Crown Vic" year after year. More

Mexican Drug Cartels Doing Big Business with Pot Farms in North Texas
from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Mexico’s nimble drug cartels are leapfrogging tightened border security and establishing sophisticated marijuana-growing operations in North Texas and Oklahoma, law enforcement officials say. "There is no doubt" that three big marijuana fields uncovered this month in Ellis and Navarro counties "have a tie to the border and a Mexican drug cartel," said a drug investigator for the Department of Public Safety. "They brought the tenders up here from Mexico to do the work. "This is not Joe Bob growing some marijuana to smoke. These are professional drug operations," said the investigator. More

Massive Pot Farm Found in Maine
from the Bangor Daily News
More than 60 law enforcement officers harvested massive, high-quality marijuana plants at a remote location in Washington County. Not only is the seizure the largest in Maine’s history, the multimillion-dollar operation was the first of its kind seen in the state, according to drug enforcement officials. More

Background Check Leads to Arrest in 1976 Killing
from The Associated Press via Yahoo! News
A man who walked into an Atlanta suburb's police department seeking a criminal background check for a job application wound up under arrest as a suspect in the slaying of a former University of Missouri student in 1976, authorities said. Johnny Wright, 65, went to the Lawrenceville Police Department last week for a background check he needed to apply for a job as a driver, police Capt. Greg Vaughn said. "When they ran the check, they got a hit on him," Vaughn said. "He paid $15 to get arrested." More

Police Capture Alligator in Texas
from UPI
San Antonio police said officers used duct tape and a prisoner transport van to capture and relocate a four-foot alligator found in a residential neighborhood. The police department said officers responded to a disturbance call and taped the reptile's jaws shut after being unable to reach a game warden, the San Antonio Express-News reported. More

West Texas Town Shuts Down Police Department
from KVUE
Plenty of cities are struggling with budget cuts. One West Texas town decided to get rid of its police to save money. Marfa's quiet country lifestyle and thriving art scene make this tiny West Texas town a favorite getaway, but the city’s police department shuts down October 1. "That's something that we pride ourselves in Marfa and we want to keep," said J.D. Wilbourn, Marfa police chief. "All this funding out there to provide for law enforcement agencies to up the security for the border region, but yet we've got a mayor that's doing away with law enforcement." More

Drug Courts Look to Treat Offenders’ Behavior and Addiction
from the Danville News
The first drug court was founded in Miami in 1989. Since then, jurisdictions have organized more than 2,300 drug courts based on four different models: adult, juvenile, family and DUI. “At the time in our community, we had very few sentencing options,” said Tara Kunkel, the administrator for the Chesterfield, Virginia court. “The judges were seeing more and more that the legal system was becoming a revolving door.” Each drug court operates independently and creates its own specific rules. But the guidelines for entering a drug court, punishments for breaking the court’s rules and rewards for finishing the court are similar. On average, defendants finish adult drug court in about a year and six months, according to a 2009 study of drug courts in the state by the Virginia Supreme Court. More