Website and automated forms processes, Copyright
2007, Matthew August LeFande.
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rights reserved. No claim to original government forms
Website and automated forms processes, Copyright
2007, Matthew August LeFande.
All
rights reserved. No claim to original government forms
Letters against gun meeting swamp U.N.
U.N. officials have received more than 100,000 letters, many of them generated by a National Rifle Association campaign, protesting a U.N. forum on illicit small arms that starts Monday and runs through July Fourth.
"The 4th of July is America's most revered national holiday. Yet, you have nevertheless chosen that day to meet at the U.N., on American soil, in your drive to ban civilian firearm ownership worldwide. In doing so, you have placed the U.N. squarely on the side of freedom's enemies," reads a form letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan made available on an NRA Web site (www.stopungunban.org).
Another sample letter, addressed to Sri Lankan Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, who will preside over the conference, says: "The American people will never let you take away the rights that our 4th of July holiday represents. Our freedoms are not to blame for the world's problems, and this is a battle you can never win."
Mr. Kariyawasam, who sought to allay American concerns at a press conference this week, said he had received more than 100,000 such letters "from the U.S. public, saying you're having this meeting on the Fourth of July, and you will not take our guns away on this day."
Mr. Kariyawasam insisted that the timing of the two-week Small Arms Review Conference was purely coincidental and that the conferees would not discuss the legal possession, manufacture or transfer of weapons.
The main page of the NRA Web site says the purpose of the conference is "to finalize a U.N. treaty that would strip all citizens of all nations of their right to self-protection, and strip you of your rights under the Second Amendment."
No treaty is up for discussion.
Mr. Kariyawasam said, "Some members of the U.S. public are totally misinformed. This conference is about illegal weapons."
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, said in an interview last night that the letter-writing campaign was important to show U.N. officials they cannot take away the individual's right to self-protection.
"I've seen their statements that say it's only illegal guns and illegal trading," he said. "But the U.S. specifically tried to narrow this U.N. conference down to military style machine guns, and that was rejected. They are talking about every rifle, shotgun and handgun."
The United Nations agreed in 2001 to fight the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons after a divisive battle to define the scope of their efforts. Governments pledged to collect and destroy illegal weapons and tighten legislation to squeeze out illicit importing, exporting and sales.
The effort is restricted to small arms and light weapons -- basically, anything that can be fired by a person or transported on the back of a pickup truck. Such weapons represent a $4-billion-a-year business, according to U.N. statistics, of which an estimated $1 billion is illicit.
So far, 50 nations have destroyed excess weapons by burning them in "flames of peace" bonfires or crushing them under massive bulldozers.
The Bush administration has worked vigorously over the past five years to repel language endorsed by many European nations that would tighten controls on legally owned civilian firearms, and to compel manufacturers to mark each weapon and set up a registry to trace its ownership.
Most U.N. members are expected to participate in next week's conference, whose purpose is to assess how much progress has been made since 2001 and to plan future steps.
Some nations and private groups will explore the potential of an international agreement to record and track arms sales and transfers, but Mr. Kariyawasam said such talks would be on the sidelines of the main event.
The U.S. delegation to the conference will be led by Robert Joseph, who succeeded John R. Bolton as the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.
Mr. Bolton, now the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is the intended recipient of another NRA form letter.
"I urge you to use every means at your disposal to ensure the defeat of this treaty, and make sure that not one single dollar of American tax money is used by the U.N. to advance this global gun-control scheme," it says.
The NRA, officially recognized by the United Nations as a nongovernmental organization (NGO), is one of 210 such groups expected to attend the conference. Others represent pro-gun groups from Canada, Brazil, Britain, Italy, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Several shooting and sporting advocacy groups plan to speak during a day set aside for NGOs.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060623-120347-1805r.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:28 AM
matt@lefande.com
Perpetrator Problem: It's Hard to Run Away In Falling Trousers
One sunny afternoon in January, Vicki Chandler, a 55-year-old underwriting associate at Cigna HealthCare in Chattanooga, Tenn., was walking to her car when a teenager in loose khaki pants approached her, pointed to her pocketbook and said, "I need that." As she recounts the incident, he snatched the purse and took off.
But then he ran into trouble. As he ran, his loose trousers slipped down below his hips. As he reached down to hold them up, the teen was forced to throw the purse aside.
"That boy, he could run fast but he got caught up by his pants, which were real big and baggy," says Ms. Chandler, whose purse was retrieved by a parking attendant who had heard her cries for help.
It's a problem for perpetrators. Young men and teens wearing low-slung, baggy pants fairly regularly get tripped up in their getaways, a development that has given amused police officers and law-abiding citizens a welcome edge in the fight against crime.
James Green might have made a clean getaway when he stole seven DVDs from a Blockbuster store in Ferndale, Mich., last October. But he, too, was undone by his baggy pants.
Mr. Green, 30, rode away on a bicycle, with copies of "Donnie Brasco," "The Bourne Identity" and "Sin City." When a patrol car knocked over the bike, he fled on foot. As he ran, his trousers slipped down past his hips, and he tripped. He hitched up his pants and ran a few more yards before falling again.
Things got worse and worse for Mr. Green. He finally kicked off his pants and shoes and "ran into the yard of 1720 Beaufield," police officer Kenneth Jaklic said in a report of the incident. "I ran after [Mr. Green], yelling at him to stop." Instead, Mr. Green jumped over a fence behind a garage, and Mr. Jaklic immobilized him with two Taser darts in the back.
Mr. Green pleaded guilty to charges of resisting arrest and retail fraud and spent 30 days in jail. He could not be located for comment.
Denny Fuhrman, a 58-year-old police officer in Lynnwood, Wash., was escorting a handcuffed suspect to his patrol car one afternoon in 2004 when the youngster twisted free and took off running.
As he bolted, the baggy blue jeans he was wearing fell down around his ankles, sending him tumbling onto the pavement of a busy street. "He was rolling around in traffic, looking like a fish out of water," recalls Mr. Fuhrman.
Mr. Fuhrman's suspect wiggled out of his trousers before getting up from the street and running toward a nearby mall, as the police officer radioed a description to his colleagues: "White male, running, no pants, in handcuffs," Mr. Fuhrman recalls saying. The young man was arrested at the entrance of a J.C. Penney store after Janice Lewis, a 61-year-old passerby, grabbed his shirt collar and held on to him until police arrived.
"He was pretty wild," says Ms. Lewis, a grandmother of 10 who broke a knuckle during the scuffle. "I didn't even realize he was in his underwear till the police flipped him over."
Police declined to release the full name of the youth, identified only as Jason in written reports, because he was not convicted of a crime in connection with the incident. He had been arrested after allegedly trying to access a bank account that wasn't his.
Low-hanging baggy pants have been a fashion statement for young men for more than a decade, inspired by the advent of beltless prison jeans, says Andy Gilchrist, a California fashion consultant who has written a book on men's clothes. Over time, the tough-guy image associated with oversized trousers helped make the look standard for hip-hop performers, alternative music bands, skateboarders and snowboarders as it migrated from mostly black city streets to affluent white suburbs.
Just about every other week, Jim Matheny, a 41-year-old police lieutenant in Stamford, Conn., says he gets into foot chases with youths. He says it's getting easier to capture them because they can't run fast or far in those loose jeans.
"When I catch them, I tell them they'd do much better if they had pants that fit," says Lt. Matheny, who says he has had to help hold up the pants of his suspects while patting them down to search for drugs or weapons. "It's like: 'Hey dude, buy a belt and save yourself some trouble.' "
Ill-fitting pants aren't suited for jumping, either, as Noah Donell Brown of Hendersonville, N.C., learned. The 24-year-old tried to leap over the counter of a Subway sandwich shop during a robbery attempt, but he stumbled and came crashing down in front of several startled store employees. Mr. Brown, armed with a gun, got up and fled into a nearby residential neighborhood as the police were notified.
Police didn't have to work hard to arrest him. As Mr. Brown tried to scale a picket fence in someone's backyard, he caught his pants, according to the police department. He was found dangling upside down, his pants at his ankles and tangled in the fence.
"He didn't make a good jump," said Hendersonville Police Chief Donnie Parks, who spotted Mr. Brown on the fence. "The only reason we caught the guy was because his pants fell down," he said, adding: "He was wearing underwear, thank goodness."
Hendersonville police used a knife to cut Mr. Brown free. He is currently serving time in prison after pleading guilty to attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon. His lawyer, Greg Newman, who has since become the mayor of Hendersonville, said he had not spoken to Mr. Brown since 2003. Mr. Brown, serving his sentence at Gaston Correctional Center in Dallas, N.C., could not be contacted for comment.
Dwight Oliver showed up for a court hearing in Seminole County, Fla., wearing loose pants and tennis shoes without laces. While waiting for his case to be called, Mr. Oliver tried to flee. He lost his pants as he ran down the steps of the courthouse.
He was later found in gray boxer shorts in a library three blocks from the courthouse and was arrested after a scuffle with police officers. It turned out the charges he was scheduled to face in court that day were dropped. He was slapped with new charges of resisting arrest and sentenced to two and a half years in jail for the incident. He served 17 months and was released in April.
"Those pants certainly didn't help him escape, and if he had just sat and waited, he would have been fine," said F. Wesley "Buck" Blankner Jr., who was Mr. Oliver's lawyer. Mr. Oliver didn't return calls seeking comment. His mother, Alice Oliver, said: "He wears pants like that, but he usually wears a belt."
Karl Franklin tried to run from police in Tallahassee, Fla., in pants that were on fire. According to a police report, the 30-year-old had stashed a lighted cigarette in his baggy pants and appeared to be preparing to urinate at a traffic intersection.
Seth Stoughton, a police officer at the time, approached Mr. Franklin and noticed the man's pocket was smoldering. Mr. Franklin, who could not be reached, started to run, but his pants dropped and tripped him up.
"I tried to slap the fire out, but he was struggling and kicking me, so I couldn't do much but hold him down," recalls Mr. Stoughton, who now works as a fraud investigator. When other officers arrived, they cut off the burning patch of cloth and arrested Mr. Franklin. He was charged with resisting arrest, but he later pleaded guilty to lesser charges and spent 10 days in jail.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115077011253684835-9XqlmpqNfdCI1v5gQzixV_2p2xs_20060628.html?mod=blogs
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:23 AM
matt@lefande.com
Report Scolds D.C. Agencies In Response to Assault
This much Marcus Rosenbaum already knew:
On the winter evening when his 63-year-old brother, David, was bashed on the head with a pipe and robbed near his Northwest Washington home, police officers, firefighters and medical workers who should have helped him failed in their jobs at nearly every step -- from the crime scene to the emergency room. That became clear to Rosenbaum through news accounts and his own inquiries in the months after the fatal mugging.
"We knew before we read the report that lots of mistakes had been made," he said yesterday, referring to a scathing 69-page review of the incident by the office of D.C. Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby.
The report, made public yesterday, offers no opinion on whether David E. Rosenbaum might have survived if treated properly. But it cites "an unacceptable chain of failure" by D.C. police, the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services and Howard University Hospital and warns that the mistakes could be a symptom of a much broader problem with emergency care.
Marcus Rosenbaum, 57, read every word. "It just made you feel awful to see all the details," he told reporters gathered in a small park at 38th and Harrison streets NW, not far from where the Jan. 6 attack occurred, on Gramercy Street NW.
Standing beside a dogwood tree planted in his brother's memory, Rosenbaum called the findings "horrible" and "numbing" and said Mayor Anthony A. Williams should consider firing senior police and fire officials.
"He should look not only at the people who were in the street . . . on January 6th, but also at the leadership in the fire department, the police department . . . who allowed them to be there to make the awful mistakes they made," Rosenbaum said. "All of them hold life-and-death jobs. If they can't do them, they should do something else for a living."
David Rosenbaum, who had recently retired after nearly four decades as a reporter and editor for the New York Times, had some wine before and during dinner that night, then went out for a stroll. The two men who eventually were charged with attacking him are also accused of robbing a woman in Silver Spring the same day, and one is charged in a separate mugging in the District last fall.
The report describes blunder after blunder by emergency personnel -- so many mistakes by so many people in a single incident that they suggest "systemic . . . problems related to the delivery of basic emergency medical services citywide," the study said.
The ambulance crew that was sent to the scene got lost on the way, then mistakenly thought Rosenbaum was intoxicated, classified him as a "low priority" and transported him to Howard University Hospital instead of a closer emergency room. Firefighters at the scene also failed to properly assess Rosenbaum's condition.
Although Rosenbaum was incoherent and barely conscious, emergency room personnel at Howard left him on a gurney in a hallway for more than an hour before someone discovered that he had suffered a severe head wound, which would prove fatal.
Police officers, not realizing that a mugging had occurred, failed to immediately secure the scene, identify the victim and begin an investigation.
"This was a tragic incident from every perspective," Adrian H. Thompson, chief of fire and emergency medical services, said in a statement yesterday.
"I again express my sincere condolences to Mr. Rosenbaum's family," he said. "I want to assure them and everyone that we have already implemented improvements in our system and are prepared to make even more improvements in the coming months."
As for whether top police and fire officials could lose their jobs, Edward D. Reiskin, deputy mayor for public safety and justice, said: "There's some accountability up the chain. It doesn't mean we have to clean house of the management of the fire department. But I think we have to look beyond just the personnel action for the people who were at the scene."
Reiskin said that, to the best of his knowledge, no one involved in the incident had been fired. "I think the department is reviewing what personnel actions are appropriate," he said.
At Howard University Hospital, a spokeswoman declined to comment on the report but issued a statement saying that officials have "implemented immediate and ongoing measures to ensure that all patients receive the highest standard of emergency care."
Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he agreed with some of the report's findings about police failures. "We should have gathered [evidence] on the sidewalk. . . . We should have taken a deeper look into this incident. . . . Clearly, there were some errors made."
A spokesman for the mayor, Vince Morris, said Williams (D) "feels pretty strongly that the failings were broad and not limited to this one incident."
D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, agreed. "A person doesn't mess up this badly as they did on Gramercy Street and never do it again," he said. "This is suggestive of how these individuals respond."
Mendelson said Thompson should keep his job for now. "The test for the chief is how he handles this, what kind of discipline he metes out and what are the changes he makes," he said.
But council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), who represents the neighborhood where the attack occurred, said public safety leadership changes are in order.
"I am appalled that . . . no action has been taken," she said. "I want to know how many other emergency responders aren't qualified to be riding firetrucks and ambulances."
Marcus Rosenbaum put it this way: "The problems are not just problems of procedure. They're problems of people -- people who don't know their jobs, who don't do their jobs and, in this case, didn't seem to even care about their jobs."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/16/AR2006061601096.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:07 PM
matt@lefande.com
Drunk armed with vodka steals police car
Police in Boston say that drivers who spotted a man at the wheel of a squad car holding a bottle of vodka and ordering them to pull over was not a real officer.
Several people called to report Jeffrey Jarosz's behavior, the Boston Herald reported.
Jarosz, who the Herald said already had a long rap sheet, mostly for driving while intoxicated and alcohol-related assaults, is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail on a list of charges that include impersonating an officer, stealing the police car and, yes, driving while intoxicated. His most recent address has been the Pine Street Inn, a well-known Boston shelter.
Jarosz allegedly grabbed the car, which belonged to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority police, from a South Boston garage where it was being repaired.
"Witnesses stated he had lights and sirens on, and he was behind the wheel pointing and yelling at people to pull over," David Procopio, a spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney told the Herald.
Police forces in Boston are reconsidering the circumstances in which they leave keys in squad cars.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060615-053909-1071r
posted by Matthew LeFande 10:01 AM
matt@lefande.com
Bugs Bunny sparks security alert
A girl of six triggered a security scare at an airport – with a pink Bugs Bunny water pistol rammed full of sweets.
Kelly Vinnicombe was bought the £2.50 toy in the departure lounge by her mother Sarah, and packed it in her bag.
But, as they went through the X-ray security machine, guards hauled them to one side.
Ms Vinnicombe, 34, was told the toy was technically a 'weapon' and would have to be registered at the firearms desk.
She spent an hour explaining where the gun came from – just metres away in an airport shop – before the toy was tagged and packed in a separate part of the plane.
Ms Vinnicombe, of Plymouth, Devon, said: 'It's bright pink with Bugs Bunny on it.'
The pair were reunited with their cargo at Heathrow Airport after an 11-hour flight.
A Cape Town airport spokeswoman insisted: 'It's is better to be safe than sorry.'
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=15414&in_page_id=2
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:20 AM
matt@lefande.com
Man Thwarts Alleged Car Thief, Faces Charges
A Framingham, MA man is being called a hero by some and a criminal by police.
James Copp reportedly swung a baseball bat at a man who was trying to break into his car over the weekend.
The alleged thief suffered minor injuries.
Neighbors said Copp is a hero for fighting back, but police said it still amounts to assault. They told the MetroWest Daily News that they had no choice but to charge him.
The alleged car thief was also charged Monday.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/9360278/detail.html?subid=22100410&qs=1;bp=t
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:01 AM
matt@lefande.com
Bandit sues auto shop he tried to rob for beating him up
A man is suing an Rochester, NY auto-parts store for assault and battery after he attempted to hold up the business and employees responded by beating him with a metal pipe.
Dana Buckman, 46, walked into an auto shop brandishing a semiautomatic pistol July 5, 2005, only to have it turned on him by employees Eli Crespo and Jerry Vega, police said. The men beat Buckman with a metal pipe and held him with his own gun.
Buckman escaped, only to be arrested a week later.
He pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a repeat violent felon.
Now Buckman has claimed the men chased him out of the store and continued to beat him. He is suing the auto shop and the two men for the injuries he suffered and for intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2006/06/09/1623652-ap.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 6:03 PM
matt@lefande.com
Democrats call Zarqawi killing a stunt
Some Democrats, breaking ranks from their leadership, today said the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi in Iraq was a stunt to divert attention from an unpopular and hopeless war.
"This is just to cover Bush's [rear] so he doesn't have to answer" for Iraqi civilians being killed by the U.S. military and his own sagging poll numbers, said Rep. Pete Stark, California Democrat. "Iraq is still a mess -- get out."
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, said Zarqawi was a small part of "a growing anti-American insurgency" and that it's time to get out.
"We're there for all the wrong reasons," Mr. Kucinich said.
Officially, Democratic leaders reacted positively to the news and praised the troops that successfully targeted al Qaeda's leader in Iraq with 500-pound bombs at his safe house 30 miles from Baghdad.
"This is a good day for the Iraqi people, the U.S. military and our intelligence community," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
President Bush said that yesterday's killing of the 39-year-old Jordanian-born terrorist offers an opportunity to "turn the tide" in the war and that Tuesday he will discuss with Iraqi leaders "how to best deploy America's resources in Iraq."
A senior White House official cautioned that Mr. Bush was not hinting at possible early reductions in U.S. troops there, according to Reuters news agency.
Meanwhile, Democrats sprinkled caveats throughout their praise.
"That is good news; he was a dreadful, vicious person," said Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat. Mr. Conrad added that he hopes the military can get Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, another top al Qaeda leader.
"They're even more important," he said.
Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Michigan Democrat, said it was good news but added, "I think we have a long way to go."
Republicans called Zarqawi's death a positive step and thanked Iraqi citizens for standing up to a threat against their nascent Democracy.
"I am more optimistic than ever that a free and stable Iraq can be achieved," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060608-041042-9038r.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 6:47 PM
matt@lefande.com
Suspect turns Taser on police officer
A Wichita police officer had his Taser used against him during a scuffle with a suspect Wednesday afternoon.
The officer was not injured in the incident, and the 19-year-old suspect surrendered after the officer drew his gun and other officers arrived at the scene, Lt. Mitch Dunbar said.
It was the first time a Taser has been used against a Wichita officer, he said; patrol officers began using them in February.
The officer in Wednesday's incident was responding to the report of a larceny at the Borders book store at 1715 N. Rock Road at about 4:20 p.m. when he spotted a person matching the description of the suspect in the area of 24th Street North and Rock. After a short foot chase, Dunbar said, the officer caught the suspect.
When the suspect resisted, the officer deployed his Taser twice. The suspect was not affected, however, and broke the contact wires. The teen gained control of the device and stunned the officer twice -- once on the stomach and again in the groin area.
The officer was not seriously injured, Lt. Alan Price said. The suspect was arrested for a variety of offenses, and had several outstanding warrants as well.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/14717139.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 3:43 PM
matt@lefande.com
Man shows up drunk to DUI hearing, has to sober up in cell
James Kassab arrived bright and early -- 9:45 a.m. -- at the Centre County (Pa.) Courthouse Annex on Thursday, where he was scheduled to plead guilty to drunken driving.
The problem was that he was drunk when he got there.
A portable breathalyzer test found his blood alcohol level to be about .15 percent, or almost double the legal limit to drive in Pennsylvania.
Centre County Judge Bradley P. Lunsford was not amused and ordered Kassab, 24, of 622 Galen Drive, State College, handcuffed, led from the courtroom and put in a holding cell for the rest of the day to sober up. Kassab did not even receive a lunch.
"We're going to try it again here at 3:45 p.m.," Lunsford said, donning his judicial robes. "If he is sober, we'll take his plea. And, if not, well, we'll see him tomorrow."
Later, with Lunsford seated on his bench, two sheriff's deputies led the bleary-eyed and still-handcuffed Kassab to a seat nearby.
"How do you feel?" Lunsford asked without looking up.
"Pretty embarrassed," Kassab answered.
"I bet," the judge said, still not looking up.
This time, a breath test reported no alcohol in Kassab's system, and as Kassab was now clearly coherent, Lunsford accepted his plea to drunken driving.
As Kassab repeatedly apologized, Lunsford told him that until his sentencing, he is not allowed to drink any alcohol, to be inside any establishment that serves or sells alcoholic beverages, or to even be near someone who is drinking alcohol.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/local/14720760.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 2:42 PM
matt@lefande.com
D.C. at Low Risk Of Attack, Says Federal Agency
The Department of Homeland Security has ranked the District in a low-risk category of terrorist attack or catastrophe, putting it in the bottom 25 percent of U.S. states and territories, as part of a decision that will cost the city millions in anti-terror funds, according to city and federal officials.
The news came as irate officials from New York and Washington demanded explanations for why the department slashed funds in a separate urban anti-terrorism program by 40 percent for the metropolitan areas hit hardest by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out these are two cities still at risk," said D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey.
Homeland Security officials said the District had far fewer potential targets than the larger jurisdictions, such as California, it competed against. They said the decisions came after an elaborate process aimed at fairly dividing anti-terror funds.
"From a risk perspective, even with all the things that the District of Columbia has versus a New York or a Florida or a California, it's a much different case," said Tracy A. Henke, assistant secretary for grants and training at DHS.
The department adopted new, risk-based procedures this year to divide $1.7 billion in 2006 anti-terror funding for states and cities. Officials announced Wednesday that under the biggest program -- involving urban areas -- the capital region's allocation of about $77 million last year would be cut to $46.5 million.
D.C. officials, stunned to lose so much money, then got another jolt: Under a smaller program, tailored for states, the District's grant shrank to $4.3 million, from $9.2 million last year. City officials had expected a reduction because funding for the entire program had been halved. But they were shocked by the department's rationale.
"They said relative to the other states, the District is not high risk," said Edward D. Reiskin, D.C. deputy mayor for public safety. "It was pretty surprising."
Ramsey expressed even more outrage, noting that the District received among the smallest allocations in the country.
"Are you going to tell me Rhode Island should get more money than the District of Columbia?" the chief sputtered in an interview on Washington Post Radio.
Although the District is home to the White House, the Capitol, FBI headquarters and many national monuments, it received a smaller state grant than Montana, Hawaii and Utah. Each of them received $4.5 million, as did Rhode Island.
Henke said the nation's capital ranked in the lowest 25 percent of states and territories in part because it competes with much larger jurisdictions, which have much higher numbers of "critical infrastructure" targets.
"When you look at the District of Columbia, you have to look at its scale," she said.
In contrast, the Washington region -- including the Virginia and Maryland suburbs -- ranked in the top 25 percent of metropolitan areas for risk, she and other officials said.
Henke said she could not provide exact details of how the District's low-risk score was calculated but said it includes factors such as population, vulnerable assets and intelligence information. When asked whether the score included consideration of the Sept. 11 attacks, which included plans to strike either the Capitol or White House, Henke said, "We're looking at the most recent information."
Department officials have declined to release a list of risk scores for the jurisdictions vying for funding under its grant programs. The department has also declined to release information about the review panels, made up of law enforcement and homeland security officials from 47 states, whose recommendations were used in making decisions.
The risk of attack was not the only factor that went into the grant allocations. States and localities were also judged on the effectiveness of the plans outlined in their applications. And those from the District and the capital region received low marks compared with plans from other jurisdictions, officials said.
"They said everything [in the applications] was at or above average, but that it was not as good as most other urban areas' submissions," said Reiskin, who as deputy mayor helped coordinate the process for the District. "So there seems to be an inconsistency there. But the detail is what we haven't really received."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, under fire for the government's response last year to Hurricane Katrina, is facing sharp criticism in the wake of the grant announcements, including resignation demands from the New York Daily News and Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-N.Y.).
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, announced yesterday that he will hold a hearing on the grants.
"We have to understand how this formula spit out numbers that give less money to the National Capital Region," said Robert White, a Davis spokesman. "On the surface, it doesn't make a lot of sense to us."
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said she was asking for a meeting next week with DHS officials to review the reasons for the cuts. And, in a move led by Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), the Washington area's congressional delegation plans to send a letter to Chertoff today decrying the 40 percent reduction in grant funds for the region, according to a draft copy of the letter.
"DHS' conclusion that the [Washington region] can absorb such a cut and still provide adequate protection for millions of citizens and visitors is both shortsighted and unacceptable," the letter says.
Appearing last night on PBS's "The News Hour With Jim Lehrer," Chertoff said he believed that New York and Washington got "a fair shake." New York and Washington may have been hurt by their relative success in securing potential targets; officials want to "spread the money to other places," Chertoff said. He said New York has received more than $500 million in grants since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Washington region, meanwhile, has received more than $213 million in urban anti-terror grants, records show.
Stung by an $83 million cut this year to the city, politicians in New York were fuming.
A DHS risk assessment sheet for New York said the home of the Statue of Liberty and other landmarks had zero "national monuments and icons. " The assessment also tallied only four banking and finance institutions worth more than $8 billion. Republican Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's office says there are at least 20.
"Maybe the secretary will come meet us at the Empire State Building so we can show him the many national icons in New York," said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-New York).
Henke said the Statue of Liberty was included in the state risk rating but was not counted in the city rankings at all, in part because the statue is federal property. She also said other landmarks, such as the Brooklyn Bridge or Empire State Building, were counted in other categories, such as bridges or tall buildings.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/01/AR2006060102012.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:48 AM
matt@lefande.com
Lightning Strike Victim Sues Over False Declaration Of Death
A Connecticut man who was struck by lightning and mistakenly declared dead by emergency medical technicians is suing, claiming that lack of treatment at the scene left him with brain damage.
On May 31, 2005, Kevin Crandall, a mason and blues musician, was struck by lightning while building a stone wall. Emergency medical technicians from the Stonington Volunteer Ambulance Corps determined Crandall was dead and covered him with a blanket and did not try to resuscitate him.
However, minutes later, police Sgt. Keith Beebe leaned over Crandall and noticed he was still alive. Crandall was then rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Crandall suffers from memory loss, can only work part time and is struggling to sing and play the harmonica again, according to his attorney, Stephen Reck.
Reck Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the ambulance corps, its president, Victor Lima, Iona Lyons, an emergency medical technician, and the town, saying their actions resulted in Crandall suffering brain damage because of a lack of oxygen.
Both Lima and Lyons agreed to be placed on a year's probation and undergo retraining after the state Department of Public Health investigated the incident and found they "failed to conduct a proper patient assessment" and "failed to recognize the patient was actually alive."
http://www.nbc30.com/news/9304766/detail.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 3:04 PM
matt@lefande.com
