Topic:
Law Enforcement
Latest Headlines
Latest Headlines
Mueller says FBI cuts threaten response to attacks like Boston
Training builds relationships between law enforcement agencies, and that's part of what made the response to the Boston Marathon bombings so effective--but it's also among the first things those agencies cut when budgets tighten, FBI Director Robert Mueller said May 16.
Boston police chief details federal impact on response to Marathon attack
Training and equipment that Boston police received from the federal government saved lives after the April 15 Marathon bombings, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis told a House panel May 9. He singled out the Urban Areas Security Initiative, a grant program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Americans favor expanding surveillance but worry about losing civil liberties, poll finds
More than four-fifths of American adults favor the expansion of camera surveillance in public places, according to a poll from CNN, Time and ORC International. A similar amount favor the use of facial-recognition technology to scan for suspected terrorists at certain locations.
Drug strategy notes traffickers' adaptations
The White House's annual drug control strategy emphasizes efforts along the border to disrupt the drug trade but also the ability of traffickers to adapt to law enforcement measures. Cartels have found their way around law enforcement obstacles through cross-border tunnels, ultralight aircraft and international mail, says the Office of National Drug Control Policy strategy (.pdf), released April 24.
Boston attack shows promise of citizen photographs for investigations
Law enforcement needs to figure out how to handle an influx of photographs submitted by terror attack bystanders, Richard Daddario, the New York City Police Department's deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, said at a House hearing April 25.
NYPD under fire for surveillance of Muslims, stop-and-frisk policy
The Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition, the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility project, and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund interviewed 57 American Muslims in New York City, including religious figures, youth, business owners, law enforcement officers and mosque-goers. Many of their mosques, businesses and student groups appeared in leaked NYPD documents about the surveillance, says a report the advocacy organizations published earlier this month.
Warrant necessary to use drug-sniffing dogs outside home, Supreme Court rules
A police officer without a warrant can approach a home and knock on the door, just as a private citizen can--"but introducing a trained police dog to explore the area around the home in hopes of discovering incriminating evidence is something else," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the majority opinion.
OIG criticizes spotty FBI documentation of terrorist financing investigations
FBI and National Security Division investigators are not adequately documenting their use of established techniques for investigating possible financing of terrorism, the Justice Department's office of inspector general says.
Papp calls for resilience in annual Coast Guard address
The Coast Guard has commissioned its fourth Fast Response Cutter, will christen its fourth National Security Cutter in October and will soon announce three finalists for the Offshore Patrol Cutter procurement, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp said Feb. 27 during his annual state of the service address. In addition, an overhaul of the heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star is complete; in a commandant's situation report (.pdf), Papp says the icebreaker will undertake its first mission to Antarctica since 2006.
Maryland defends DNA collection law in Supreme Court case
A DNA sample from a man arrested for assault linked him to an unsolved rape, and now the state of Maryland is arguing before the Supreme Court that it was constitutional to collect the sample. Maryland's Court of Appeals ruled otherwise last year.
