05-31-02

Dumb Crooks

PROMMIN' AID
Police in Reading, Pennsylvania said a teenager carjacked an SUV because he needed transportation to the prom. The stolen vehicle was found outside a hotel -- containing rented formalwear and Polaroid prom photos of the suspect and his girlfriend. Police said the SUV was jacked at gunpoint from a teacher at the suspect's school.

LETTIN' THE FLIES IN
A man in the lobby of the LaPorte, Indiana Sheriff's Department slumped against a wall and began snoring loudly. Plainly visible in his mouth were plastic bags -- which deputies determined to contain cocaine. He'd come to the station to post bail for a friend.

TAKING A CHOP OUT OF CRIME
A Durban, South Africa burglar picked the wrong victim when he attempted to strangle the 45-year-old woman who caught him ransacking her home. Marietjie Fourie -- an award-winning karate expert -- fractured his skull.

HE'LL BE A MODEL PRISONER
A silent burglar alarm at a clothing store summoned police in Vegevano, Italy -- who found a pried-open service door. After a thorough search of the premises turned up nothing, a sharp-eyed officer spotted a suspect standing in the display window impersonating a mannequin.

MUZAK MUGGER
A man who stole a purse in a Hartford, Connecticut mall accidently hit the 911 button on the victim's cellphone -- and ducked into another store to buy some new clothes. As a dispatcher guided police from store to store, they found the perp by identifying the store's background music.

MAYBE FOR AN X-BOX...
Arapahoe County, Colorado authorities arrested a 15-year-old boy on three counts of trying to hire someone to kill his aunt. Detectives said the teen was offering his Sony PlayStation in exchange for the hit.

That Ragged Old Flag--Johnny Cash

I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench, an old man was sittin there.
I said, "Your court house is kinda run down,
He said, "No, it will do for our little town".
I said "your old flag pole kinda leaned a little bit,
And that's a ragged old flag
you got hanging on it".
He said "have a seat", so I sat down,
He said, "is this your first visit to our little town"
I said, "I think it is"
He said "I don't like to brag,
but we're kinda proud of
"That Ragged Old Flag"

"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there,
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
It got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it, writing
"Oh Say Can You See"
It got a rip in New Orleans,
with Packingham & Jackson
tugging at its seams.

It almost fell at the Alamo
beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on tho.
It got cut with a sword in Chancellorsville,
Got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee and
Beauregard and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on
"That Ragged Old Flag"

On Flanders Field in World War I,
She took a bad hit from a Bertha Gun,
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low by the time
that one was through,
She was in Korea, Vietnam, She went where 
she was sent by her Uncle Sam.

The Native Americans,
The Black, Yellow and White
All shed red blood for the Stars and Stripes.
And here in her own good land,

She's been abused, burned,
dishonored, denied and refused,
And the very government for which she stands
Has been scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting thread bare, and she's
wearing kinda thin,
But she's in pretty good shape,
for the shape she's in.
Cause she's been through the fire before
and she can take a whole lot more.

So we raise her up every morning
And we bring her down slow every night,
We don't let her touch the ground,
And we fold her up right.
On second thought
I do like to brag
Cause I'm mighty proud of
"That Ragged Old Flag"

Legal Issues

WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF PROBATIONER’S APARTMENT SUPPORTED BY REASONABLE SUSPICION AND CONDITION OF PROBATION.

The defendant was convicted of a drug offense and placed on probation. A condition of that probation was that the defendant submit “his person, property, place of residence, vehicle, personal effects, to search at anytime, with or without a search warrant, warrant of arrest or reasonable cause.”

Shortly after being placed on probation, equipment of the local electric utility company was intentionally damaged. The defendant was a suspect because he had been charged with theft of service by the company, and his electric service had been discontinued for failure to pay his bill.

Surveillance was established at the defendant’s residence, and he was seen carrying away three cylindrical objects that looked like pipe bombs and throwing them in an adjacent river. A sheriff’s deputy observed explosive materials and brass padlocks of the kind removed from the utility company’s damaged equipment vault in a truck driven to the defendant’s apartment by his friend, who also was suspected in the vandalism against the utility.

Based on what he had seen, the deputy decided to conduct a search of the defendant’s apartment. He knew about the condition of probation, and decided he did not need a warrant.

Inside the apartment, the deputy found detonation cord, ammunition, liquid chemicals, instruction manuals on chemistry and electrical circuitry, bolt cutters, telephone pole-climbing spurs, drug paraphernalia, and a brass padlock stamped with the initials of the electric company that had been vandalized.

Following the defendant’s arrest on several federal charges, he moved to suppress the items found in his apartment. The trial court found that the deputy had reasonable suspicion, but that the search was for “investigative purposes.” Rather than for “probationary” purposes, and it ordered the evidence suppressed.

The condition of probation did not specify that searches would be confined to probationary matters. The Supreme Court accepted the case to determine “whether the Fourth Amendment limits searches pursuant to [a] probation condition to those with a “probationary” purpose.

Holding: In order to satisfy the Fourth Amendment, a search must be reasonable. Reasonableness is determined “by assessing, on the one hand, the degree to which it intrudes upon an individual’s privacy and, on the other hand, the degree to which it is needed for the promotion of legitimate governmental interests.”

Probation is a form of punishment that limits a probationer’s freedom, and a court granting probation may impose reasonable conditions that deprive probationers of freedoms enjoyed by law-abiding citizens.

The sentencing judge in the defendant’s case determined that it was necessary to condition his probation on acceptance of the search provision. “It was reasonable to conclude that the search condition would further the two primary goals of probation – rehabilitation and protecting society from future criminal violations.”

The recidivism rate of probationers is significantly higher than the general crime rate, and probationers are more likely to violate the law than other citizens. Further, probationers have a strong incentive to conceal their criminal activities and dispose of criminal evidence that might lead to the revocation of their probation.

On balance, a search of this probationer’s residence required no more than reasonable suspicion. While probable cause ordinarily is required to conduct a search, a lower level of suspicion suffices when, as here, the person’s privacy interests are diminished.

For the same reasons that justify a search on reasonable suspicion, no warrant was required. The search in this case was supported by reasonable suspicion and authorized by a condition of probation. Consequently, it was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment, even though conducted without a warrant. U.S. v. Knights, 122 S.Ct. 587 (2001)

WEATHERFORD JUNIOR COLLEGE

DECATUR CAMPUS
JUNE 17 - JUNE 21
8:00 AM -- 5:00 PM
INTERMEDIATE SPANISH

JULY 8 - JULY 10
8:00 AM -- 5:00 PM
INTERMEDIATE CRIME SCENE SEARCH

AUGUST 2
8:00 AM -- 5:00 PM
RACIAL PROFILING/ASSET FORFEITURE**

AUGUST 16
8:00 AM -- 5:00 PM
RACIAL PROFILING/ASSET FORFEITURE**

**THIS IS A REQUIRED COURSE FOR TCLEOSE PEACE OFFICER - YOU WILL HAVE TO ATTEND ONE OF THESE TWO DAYS.

Cyber Space

From the Chaplain

SPEAKING

“Blessed are they who have nothing to say and cannot be persuaded to say it” (James Russell Lowell).

The six most important words: “I admit I made a mistake.”

The five most important words: “You did a good job.”

The four most important words: “What is your opinion?”

The three most important words: “If you please.”

The two most important words: “Thank you.”

The most important word: “We.”