Sept. 30, 2013
Toronto Star – Patty Winsa
Youth carding records should be purged, advocates say – Federal law stipulates when youth court records are sealed, but there are no guidelines for police records.
New York City police do a lot of ‘carding’ – or stop and frisk – and later adding the personal data to a police data bank. In Toronto, the practice is equally frequent, some say even more than NYC, hundreds of thousands per year. The link offers a number of articles on the practice of carding by the Toronto police. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/knowntopolice2013/2013/09/27/youth_carding_records_should_be_purged_advocates_say.html
Express (UK) – Owen Bennett
‘Legalise drugs to break power of criminal gangs’ says top UK policeman
The illicit drug trade is a profitable base for the gangs in the UK and the top policeman wants to distribute the heroin and cocaine through the National Health Services. Calling the war on drugs a failure, Durham Chief Constable Mike Barton, who is also the national intelligence leader for the Association of Chief Police Officers, wants to wrestle power and profits away from the gangs. http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/433153/Legalise-drugs-to-break-power-of-criminal-gangs-says-top-UK-policeman Related article: Aberdeen Press and Report (UK) – Jessica Murphy Legalise drugs to hit gangs in the pocket, says top cop http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/3411840
Vancouver Sun – Tobi Cohen, Postmedia News
No Mercy – Tougher treatment aimed to deter future refugees, memo says
The Canadian Counsel for Refuges (CCR) has acquired a memo from three years ago in which the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced an aggressive confrontation with the Sri Lankin ship Sun Sea which brought 362 men, 80 women and 49 minors to Victoria, BC. The memo was circulated even before the vessel landed, a sign of a clear intent to treat these refuges differently and a sign that CBSA had intended to make an example of them. http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Mercy/8972238/story.html#ixzz2gIxgGQzH
Baltimore Sun – Alison Knezevich
Town hall forum in Baltimore focuses on long-term incarceration
Baltimore is in process of recovering from the Unger decision. The convictions of 26 people to date have been laid aside so far because of discrimination within the justice system that found them guilty. The incidents involved all White judges and jurors and have brought about the disbarment of three defence attorneys as well. Maryland has the highest rate of Black persons sentenced to life in prison in the nation.http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-justice-townhall-20130928,0,6370836.story
Business Standard (Delhi, India)
Campaign enlists community volunteers for women’s safety
In the face of a very harsh year for public rape, and a plethora of devices, electronic and otherwise for keeping women safe, Prukalpa Sankar, co-founder of ‘The Social Cop’, has begun a search for the two people per street who would be willing to come to the aid of women and for ways to link them so that response time is less than two minutes. The volunteers are financing by crowdsourcing. http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/campaign-enlists-community-volunteers-for-women-s-safety-113092700344_1.html
Winnipeg Free Press –
Battling bullying our gift to the prince – Canada donates $100,000 to Canadian Centre for Child Protection
To celebrate the birth of Prince George, an heir to the Throne and a potential king of Canada, the Canadian government has donated $100,000 to a charity focused on child protection, especially from cyberbullying. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/battling-bullying-our-gift-to-the-prince-225464822.html Related article: CBC Alberta – Huffington Post Saskatchewan Boy Takes Life After Being Bullied, Mother Says http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/26/todd-loik-cyber-bullying-suicide_n_3991539.html
The Republic (Indiana) – Robert Jablon, Associated Press
Report: Rampant truancy may cost California billions through increased crime, poverty
The new report surveys over 550 elementary school attendance records and then projects the other social costs when truancy is frequent. Last year, nearly 30% were truant with one in five elementary students; the problem involves over one million students with 30% of the schools reporting a 20-40% truancy. The cost for down the road expenses to the state of California is put at $46 billion. http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/ba2518b1d2924dafb3a9e08d339d6efa/CA–California-Truancy