Law enforcement

Badge Honors Exceptional Acts of Bravery in the Line of Duty

January 29, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Today Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) introduced the Federal Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery Act (S.2565). This bipartisan legislation establishes an award that honors federal law enforcement officers who perform exceptional acts of bravery in the line of duty.    » read more »

Jan. 29, 2008 -- Colorado Governor Bill Ritter today appointed Attorney General John W. Suthers as the special prosecutor in the 1987 murder case of Peggy Hettrick, granting a request by the Larimer County District Attorney's Office.    » read more »

Compromise Would Create State Board of Corrections, Save Taxpayers Money

January 28, 2008 -- AUGUSTA – In negotiations over the weekend, an agreement in principle was reached between Maine Governor John E. Baldacci and representatives of Maine’s counties and sheriffs’ departments over a plan to create a new structure for the State’s Department of Corrections and county jails.    » read more »

Criminal Justice Reforms, New Policies and Procedures Now in Place to Safeguard Public Safety

January 27, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that she has directed the Board of Pardons and Paroles to begin processing appropriate violent offenders’ applications for parole, now that reforms of the criminal justice system have been put in place as well as new procedures for the Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) regarding reviews of parole applicants’ files and new Department of Correction (DOC) policies regarding community supervision of parolees.    » read more »

January 25, 2008 -- HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett today announced that agents from the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics Investigation have filed criminal charges against six Pittsburgh and Crawford County residents accused of trafficking and distributing heroin in Northwestern PA.    » read more »

Increased Patrols Lead to 35 Percent More Traffic and Criminal Citations

1/25/2008 -- Raleigh - North Carolina Governor Mike Easley announced today there were 559,588 traffic and criminal citations issued by state and local law enforcement officers across North Carolina during “Click It or Ticket” and “Booze It & Lose It” campaigns last year. That is a 35 percent increase from the 414,351 citations issued in 2006. Officers conducted more than 46,000 checkpoints and patrols during the 2007 campaigns, a boost of more than 64 percent from 2006.    » read more »

New Effort Designed to Deter Motorists from Running Red Lights

January 25, 2008 -- FREEHOLD -- New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety Director Pam Fischer, joined by officers from the Freehold Township, Manalapan and Marlboro Police Departments, today unveiled a new law enforcement and public awareness initiative designed to deter motorists from running red lights.    » read more »

January 25, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today signed into law a package of criminal justice reforms that establishes a new felony offense of “home invasion” and significantly strengthens the state’s system for dealing with paroles.    » read more »

Senators seek to support local law enforcement by restoring funding for critical program to $660 million

January 24, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – As the country’s law enforcement officials reel from federal budget cuts, U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Kit Bond (R-MO) today announced that they seek to increase funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program to $660 million. Byrne Grant funding is the only source of federal funding that encourages communities to band together to prevent and fight crime.    » read more »

January 23, 2008 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today joined Senate and House leaders to announce tough anti-gang legislation targeting Florida’s growing criminal gang problem. The proposed legislation, sponsored by Senator Jeff Atwater and Representative William Snyder, will help law enforcement and prosecutors combat gang activity by streamlining the definition of gang members, enhancing the ability for prosecutors to include previous criminal actions under RICO charges, and creating a “Gang Kingpin” statute.    » read more »

Federal Budget Cuts Imperil Crime-Fighting Initiatives in New York

January 15, 2008 -- New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and Assistant Secretary for Criminal Justice and Division of Criminal Justice Services Commissioner Denise E. O’Donnell today called on Congress to reverse cutbacks to a federal aid program that helps state and local governments fight crime. The cuts will cost New York State $17 million in criminal justice funding in 2008, and put at risk hundreds of local projects that have contributed to New York State’s historic reductions in crime.    » read more »

January 15, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today wrote legislative leaders, urging them to keep next week’s special session on criminal justice reforms brief, limiting the subject matter to areas where there is broad agreement and deferring any initiatives with budget implications until the regular session two weeks later.    » read more »

Senate Should End ‘Life Without Parole’ for Juvenile Offenders

Sacramento, January 14, 2008 – California’s State Senate should pass a law this month to end the sentencing of children to prison for life with no possibility of parole, Human Rights Watch said today in a report on a practice outlawed in most of the world.    » read more »

Announces State’s Success in Elimination of DNA Backlog of More Than 24,000 Samples to Solve Crime in Maryland

ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 10, 2008) – Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, joined by Attorney General Douglas Gansler, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, and law enforcement officials, today announced proposed legislation to expand DNA sampling to arrestees of “Crimes of Violence” and burglaries to improve public safety and solve violent crimes in our communities.    » read more »

January 9, 2008 -- “The ruling from the court today coincides with our arguments that Officers of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) are property hired, trained, and legally entitled to do their jobs. As the attorney general’s office had stressed to the court during oral arguments, there is nothing in Indiana code or the ordinance establishing IMPD that requires an officer to be re-sworn when his department consolidates with another agency.

The defendant was trying to find a loophole in the law, and the court did not let them.    » read more »