On Q Professional Investigations

Recently, Senate Bill 1422 was amended to increase opportunities for hunters. SB 1422, as amended in the House, would expand hunting opportunities in the Collar counties by allowing the use of crossbows during the deer archery season.

Sponsored by Senator Neil Anderson (R-36), SB 1422 passed the House as amended by a 103 – 12 vote on May 21, 2015. SB 1422 now awaits a concurrence motion on House Amendment 1 in the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Experience in other states has shown that allowing the use of crossbows during hunting seasons helps retain and recruit hunters and does not have a higher success rate over vertical bows. NRA has always supported expanding on hunting opportunities when there is no biological reason to oppose them.

Also, crossbows would allow young hunters who do not yet possess the physical strength to use a vertical bow to go afield earlier and as a result, they would be more likely to recruit more family and friends into Illinois’ ranks of hunters.

Please call state Senator John Sullivan (D-47), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and urge a concurrence motion on House Amendment 1 to SB 1422.

Senator John M. Sullivan
(217) 782-2479

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On May 18, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order prohibiting enforcement of provisions of D.C. law that effectively grant to the police chief the discretion to decide who may lawfully exercise the right to bear arms in public for self-defense.

This follows on the heels of an earlier ruling in which the District lost the argument that the right to “bear arms” does not apply outside the home, leading to the hasty enactment of an “emergency” may-issue concealed carry licensing scheme. Such a license is the only means by which most people can lawfully carry firearms in D.C. for self-defense. Monday’s case, Wren v. District of Columbia, made a preliminary ruling that D.C.’s policy of discretionary issuance would likely run afoul of the Second Amendment.

Under D.C.’s law, an applicant must show a “good reason to fear injury to his or her person” or “other proper reason” for the carrying of a concealed handgun. Apart from employment involving the handling or transportation of cash or other valuables, the only way to meet these requirements is to show “a special need for self-protection,” or for protection of a vulnerable family member, “distinguishable from the general community” (emphasis added).

In other words, the District has established a strong legal presumption against exercise of the right that an applicant has to rebut with “evidence of specific threats or previous attacks which demonstrate a special danger” to the life of the applicant or vulnerable family member.

The upshot of these requirements is that most applications will be summarily denied, which D.C. acknowledged to the court was the point of enacting them. The court wrote, “Defendants argue that the … requirement[s] reasonably further[] its important governmental interest in reducing the number of concealed weapons in public in order to reduce the risks to other members of the public and to reduce the disproportionate use of such weapons in the commission of violent crimes.”

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PLATTSBURGH — Clinton County legislators agreed to allow probation officers to carry firearms if they wish, but not without some dissent.

“This may be overkill,” Legislator Mark Dame (R-Area 8, City and Town of Plattsburgh) said at Wednesday night’s meeting.

DANGER OF VIOLENCE

For the past two years, the legislature has been considering allowing the use of firearms for probation officers, studying the issue at length.

Probation Department Director David Marcoux said the number of people on probation that they have to supervise has grown significantly in recent years and that concern about people becoming violent during home visits has increased.

The policy that Marcoux and the legislature’s Public Safety Committee came up with allows officers to use firearms, if they want, on certain home visits.

The guns and ammunition would be purchased by the county, and the officers would be trained before they are issued.

DRUGS

Legislator Robert Hall (D-Area 10, City of Plattsburgh), who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said the situation has gotten so dangerous in the county because of drugs that the need for firearms is real.

“I really do believe that this is a deterrent,” Hall said.

Legislator Peter Keenan (D-Area 5, Peru) agreed with Hall.

“These officers will be well trained, and I think we really need this program badly,” he said.

Harry McManus (D-Area 1, Champlain), Chairman Sam Dyer (D-Area 3, Beekmantown), Patty Waldron (D-Area 6, Saranac), Jimmy Langley (R-Area 7, Peru), John Gallagher (D-Area 9, City of Plattsburgh) and Jonathan Beach (R-Area 2, Altona) also favored the policy allowing guns to be used.

“Our job is to hire good department heads and give them the tools to do the job right without micro-managing them,” Langley said, adding that Marcoux’s endorsement of the policy was enough for him.

“David (Marcoux) moved up the ranks in this department quickly because of the good head on his shoulders. I have the utmost faith in him. This is not an ego thing with him.”

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Huntsville City Schools expects to spend $280,500 for hiring 15 part-time campus security officers to help protect students before and after regular classroom hours.

The district must strategically assign its current campus security officers because it doesn’t have enough CSOs to work every campus, Dr. Jeff Wilson, director of operations, told school board members last week, and adding 15 more will cover the district.

More to the purpose, a larger CSO staff provides enhanced security as part of a new transfer student supervision plan, he said. This means more eyes to keep watch in the mornings and afternoon when both magnet school and Majority-to-Minority students are in the midst of moving to campuses.

The supervision plans also tasks school principals to designate a space outside their school and a space inside their school in which students waiting for magnet buses, M-to-M transfer buses, or other transportation will wait to be picked up.

Transfer students can arrive at their zoned school as early as 7 a.m. to get a bus that takes them to their transfer school. On afternoons, they can remain on campus as past 4 p.m. Some schools also offer after-school programs that extend to 5:30 p.m. The officers will work weekdays 6:45 to 8:45 a.m. and 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

The unarmed CSOs will be there to ensure the campus only contains students who are meant to be at school during those extra times, Wilson said, and prevent unauthorized youths or young adults from loitering before or after school. The officers will be equipped with two-way radios and remote access to student ID picture to verify students are who they claim.
The part-time CSOs will earn $15 per hour and operate on a work schedule much like crossing guards.

The wages will cost an additional $236,340, which includes $91,000 for overtime. The district also will spend $18,000 for Motorola 1500 XTS radios and $5,040 on uniforms. The school board is expected to approve the expenditures through its annual budget process.

Wilson said he has already received interest from qualified applicants to work as CSOs. Most of them are recently retired personnel, who like the idea of earning $60 a day for four hours work.

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A bill to clean up California’s security industry was unanimously approved by the Assembly Business and Professions Committee Tuesday, moving it one step closer to becoming law.

Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) introduced the bill, AB 1042, after seeing an NBC 7 Investigates story exposing the local underground industry of untrained, unlicensed security officers.

The story came after two local deaths involving bouncers – one where the bouncer was arrested and charged for involuntary manslaughter and the other where the death was ruled a homicide. The San Diego Police
Department forwarded that investigation to the San Diego County District Attorney’s office for review.
Click here to see the complete investigation.

If adopted, the bill would further professionalize the security guard industry and protect public safety.

“If a guard or bouncer wears a uniform or performs a security role, they should have to meet minimum professional standards and pass background checks,” Cooper said in a press release about the bill. “AB 1042 will ensure individuals providing security services are properly licensed, trained and certified,” he added.

NBC 7 Investigates original story, exposed two issues in the security industry:

If a security officer/guard isn’t wearing a uniform, he or she does not have to be licensed in the state of California.

Many of security guards are getting state-issued security guard registration cards (also known as guard cards) and getting jobs but may be completing only a fraction of the curriculum.

AB 1042 updates the definition of a Proprietary Private Security Officer and adds examples of security officer duties to ensure individuals employed by a business such as a bar or restaurant and who provide security services are not unlicensed.

The bill is supported by the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates and will next be heard on the Assembly floor.

NBC 7 Investigates is working for you. If you have more information about this or other story tips, contact us: (619) 578-0393, NBC7Investigates@nbcuni.com. To receive the latest NBC 7 Investigates stories, subscribe to our newsletter.

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CINCINNATI — Cincinnati City Council’s Law and Public Safety Committee voted Monday to repeal a law that’s been on the books for decades that allows the city to hire private police officers.

After its fourth meeting on issue, which arose earlier this year after a Hamilton County prosecutor said he was not going to prosecute those arrested by private officers, the committee voted 3-1 to repeal it. Only Councilman Charlie Winburn voted against the repeal.

Since 1983, the city law has allowed Cincinnati’s police chief to grant specially-trained citizens full police powers, including the ability to make arrests. Businesses and organizations have used private officers — who receive Cincinnati police training — to provide security at various venues including the Ensemble Theater, the Regional Chamber of Commerce, Avondale Town Center and some apartment complexes.

There are two groups that employ the private officers: Cincinnati Special Police and the Cincinnati’s Private Police Association. Combined, they employ 10 people — seven of whom are commissioned officers.

The vote is expected go to council for a full vote on Wednesday.

At issue is concern raised by the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office that private officers do not receive adequate training and some have made erroneous errors on reports.

Hamilton County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Richard G. Gibson wrote a letter sent to the county’s clerk of courts in January outlining his concerns, which sparked the debate. In part the letter stated:

“We have recently had criminal complaints signed, and arrest and investigation reports completed by such officers which were legally erroneous, factually deficient, and almost completely unintelligible.”

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The governor signed the controversial guns-in-parks bill Friday morning.

Gov. Bill Haslam acknowledged he had initial concerns about the bill, but he approves of the latest version that passed the House and Senate.

“Overall I believe the legislation in its final form is a vast improvement from the bill as initially introduced,” Haslam wrote in a letter to Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell explaining his decision.

“However, I am concerned that an unintended consequence may be operational challenges for local leaders in managing their parks in a safe, effective and consistent manner, due to events and situations that could not have been anticipated in drafting this law.”

Haslam told reporters Thursday he’d reviewed the legislation and would take action soon.

The bill nixes any local bans on people with handgun permits taking their guns into parks.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has outspokenly criticized the bill. Friday morning he said he didn’t know what the governor planned to do with the legislation.

“I was opposed to the bill, opposed to having guns in parks. And if that becomes the law in the state of Tennessee and our local option is taken away from us, we’ll have to follow the law,” Dean told reporters Friday.

Dean said he planned to work with the Metro legal department to better understand how the law could be enforced.

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DESTIN, FL (WSFA) – A bale of cocaine worth $600,000 washed up on a beach in Destin, FL, over the weekend, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Beach safety personnel found the drugs in the surf behind a condominium complex on the Gulf of Mexico around 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

The 21 kilos of cocaine was packaged into bricks and labeled “Adidas,” according to authorities.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to call 850-651-7400 or contact Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 850-863-TIPS, emeraldcoastcrimestoppers.com, or Text “Tip214 plus your message” to CRIMES 274637.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — After nine months of debate, Cleveland City Council on Monday passed legislation that Mayor Frank Jackson says will encourage responsible gun ownership and help prevent firearms from ending up in the hands of criminals.

One of the provisions requires gun offenders to register with the city’s safety department within five days of either being released from prison or moving to Cleveland.

Others replace the city’s current gun ordinances with language that mirrors state law, including prohibitions against using a gun while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, defacing a gun’s serial number or allowing a minor to use a gun without supervision.

The duplication allows police to charge offenders under the city code instead of the state statute, which means the city keeps any fines collected, Chief Counsel Rick Horvath told members of City Council’s Finance Committee Monday.

The ordinance sets the following restrictions:

Prohibits carrying a concealed deadly weapon or handgun, unless the person is a police officer or a person who holds a license to carry a concealed weapon.

Requires a person who sells or transfers a gun, and who is not a licensed gun dealer, to report such transactions to police.

Requires an owner to report a lost or stolen gun to police.

Creates a gun offender registry, requiring people convicted of gun crimes to register their names with Cleveland’s Safety Director.

Prohibits the display, marking or sale of a facsimile firearm and prohibits brandishing a facsimile firearm in the presence of law enforcement or with the intent to frighten people.

Prohibits the negligent transfer of a firearm to a felon or intoxicated person.

Sets restrictions for firearms in the hands of minors and restricts discharging firearms in public areas, including schools, churches, cemeteries, playgrounds and parks.

Requires owners to safely store firearms to keep them from being stolen or out of the hands of children.

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The Dominican street gang in Lawrence, Massachusetts must have thought they had the perfect illegal enterprise: kidnap drug dealers, bookmakers, and money launderers, steal their cash and drugs, and then hold them for ransom—knowing that since the victims were themselves criminals, they and their families would likely never report the abductions.

The gang members—known as joloperros, or stick-up guys—were organized, armed, and violent: They often tortured their victims, sometimes with hot irons.

“They targeted anyone they thought they could make large sums of money from,” said Special Agent Jeff Wood, coordinator of the North Shore Gang Task Force, one of the FBI’s three Safe Streets Task Forces in Massachusetts.

The kidnappings began around 2010 in and around Lawrence, a largely Hispanic city and gang stronghold located about 20 miles north of Boston. The North Shore Gang Task Force—made up of the FBI, the Massachusetts State Police, the Lawrence Police Department, the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, and other local law enforcement agencies—worked with the Drug Enforcement Agency to build a case against the crew.

“The victims and their families would not report the crimes,” Wood said, “because they didn’t want to admit that, yes, they were selling drugs or laundering money. And some of the victims were in the country illegally.”

The joloperros mainly targeted drug dealers, and their methods were sophisticated. They used GPS devices to track individuals, conducted surveillance to learn targets’ routes and movements, and also tried to identify dealers’ stash houses.

“They weren’t targeting street-level dealers, but rather suppliers,” Wood said. Some of the victims were selling multiple kilos of heroin and cocaine on a monthly basis.

When the actual abductions took place, the crew would grab the victim, duct tape his hands, and put a cover over his head. Victims were taken to safe houses, where they were often tortured, and large ransoms were demanded from their families.

“When we got word of a kidnapping, we would go to the family and they wouldn’t cooperate,” Wood said. But over time, using a variety of investigative techniques such as confidential sources, controlled drug buys, and other means, most of the crew was dismantled.

Last month, after previously pleading guilty to a violent 2012 kidnapping in which a $100,000 ransom was demanded, Edgar Acevedo was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Since the task force investigation began more than two years ago, approximately 20 individuals have been charged in federal court—including some of the gang’s leaders—with kidnapping-related offenses or for crimes associated with the Lawrence-based kidnapping crews.

To date, nine people have pled guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and four others have pled guilty to firearm-related offenses. Several joloperros are awaiting trial.

“At one point, these kidnapping crews had a very large presence in Lawrence,” Wood said, “but their presence has decreased dramatically thanks to law enforcement intervention.” He noted that many people associate violent gangs with Los Angeles or the Southwest Border, “but gangs are just as violent and just as dangerous in upstate Maine as they are in Los Angeles. They lower the quality of life in the community they are operating in, no matter where that community is.”

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