Category Archives: Crime & Punishment

All Politics is Local, Crime & Punishment, Downtown, Fun & Games, Media, News, The Daily Feed
By

The Chamber gets Pranked

YouTube Preview Image

One of DC’s largest lobbying groups, the US Chamber of Commerce, has found itself as the butt of a prank.  Yesterday, a group claiming to represent the Chamber called a press conference at the National Press Club.  A few journalists, representing such prominent organizations as Reuters and CNN, showed up to here the stunning news that the Chamber was reversing its long-held stance on clean energy, which had been decidedly “pro-business” up to this point. Mid way through the press conference a man from the actual Chamber burst into the room and decried the proceedings as fraudulent.  Fortunately for us, the whole incident was caught on film and found its way onto Youtube.

At this point, details of what actually happened are still a bit shady.  It appears that a civic-minded comedy group, the Yes Men, staged the prank to call attention to the Chamber’s environmental stance. This group has held other, fake press conferences in the past, including delivering a fake key-note address on behalf of Exxon-Mobile at a major oil conference. At this point, the Chamber has stated that it is pursuing legal action against the Yes Men.

What do you all think?  Harmless joke? Praise-worthy activism? Crime?

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed
By

No, MPD, the Constitution Still Applies in Trinidad

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

That’s the word from the US Circuit Court, which refused to hear the case en banc, with seven of the eight judges voting that the three judge panel ruled correctly that MPD’s attempt to cordon off Trinidad from all but the residents of the neighborhood was unconstitutional.

There’s just one avenue of appeal left: The Supreme Court, just up the street. AG Nickles might have a receptive audience there, given the makeup of the court, but I wouldn’t bet on the District just yet.

Crime & Punishment, Talkin' Transit, Technology, The Features
By

Talkin’ Transit: They’re Watching You

Photo courtesy of
‘Do You Slow for Speed Cameras?’
courtesy of ‘Wayan Vota’

On Thursday, Big Brother is allowed to catch you speeding in Maryland. But will he really be watching?

The use of automated speed cameras becomes legal in Maryland tomorrow, but according to WaPo, few communities are jumping up to embrace it. Currently Gaithersburg, Chevy Chase Village, Takoma Park and Rockville employ the electronic devices – have been since 2006, since they went through the steps to use them. But some counties in the state have indicated they don’t plan on taking advantage of the new law.

The Maryland speed camera law was passed this past April. According to the law, before cameras can be used in other Maryland jurisdictions, the county or town council must hold a public hearing and give its approval. If the cameras are on federal or state highways, the approval of the State Highway Administration is required. Baltimore County has already authorized their use and several Prince George’s municipalities have started the process. (That would be Riverdale Heights, Berwyn Heights, New Carrollton, Bowie, District Heights and Cheverly, if you’re keeping track.)

Howard and Anne Arundel counties have no immediate plans but are taking initial steps to set aside money for possible programs. Continue reading →

Crime & Punishment, News, The Daily Feed
By

DC Sniper to be Executed Nov. 10

Photo courtesy of
‘Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova a.k.a Dragunov Sniper Rifle’
courtesy of ‘brian.ch’

MSNBC reports that a Virginia judge has scheduled John Allen Muhammad, the infamous DC sniper, for a November 10 execution date.  Muhammad was convicted of murdering Dean Meyers during a random killing spree in 2002 that left 10 people dead and several others severely injured. Over the course of three weeks, Muhammad and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, shot 14 innocent people in Virgina, Maryland and DC. The pair concealed themselves and a high powered rifle in the back of a specially modified sedan.  Both were captured in 2002 after a concerted effort by law enforcement and local communities and Muhammad was sentenced to death in Virginia in 2004.

Crime & Punishment, News, People, The Daily Feed, The District, WTF?!
By

Return of the Georgetown Cuddler!

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_0065’
courtesy of ‘Jessa B.C.’

It seems that the Georgetown Cuddler has struck again. On Sunday, a young woman awoke to find a strange man sitting next to her. “She said she was laying on the couch and all of a sudden someone walked in and sat down next to her and she jumped up and told him to leave and he did right after but it’s been happening a little too often,” recounted a friend of the young woman, who apparently speaks in run-on sentences. The Cuddler, whose modus operandi is to enter unlocked houses and spoon with sleeping women, has been the bane of District police.  No one seems to know who he is, or what he looks like and he has been able to avoid law enforcement, thus far. Georgetown University, in an effort to protect its female students, has ramped up the search for the Cuddler and is keeping the campus informed of any developments.

Crime & Punishment, Downtown, The Daily Feed
By

Holocaust Shooter to be Arraigned

Photo courtesy of
‘Holocaust Museum’
courtesy of ‘Andrea Christman’

WUSA 9 reports that James von Brunn, white supremacist and Holocaust Museum shooter, is scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday.  Von Brunn has been indicted on seven counts, including first degree murder, for killing a security guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in June.  Four of his charges carry the possibility of a death sentence.

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed
By

DC Residents Sue for Carry Privileges

Photo courtesy of
‘Taurus 85T Revolver vs. Kel-Tec P3AT Pistol’
courtesy of ‘bk1bennett’

“An Armed Society is a Polite Society.” — Robert Heinlein

While it’s hard to say if Heinlein’s right, it certainly is interesting to think about. Yesterday, three DC residents and Marylander sued for the right to carry firearms in the District, outside of their home. Alan Gura, lawyer for Dick Heller in District of Columbia v. Heller, is representing these four plaintiffs.

It’s not clear that they’ll be successful, but I support the legal process of petitioning.

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed
By

AG Nickles In Hot Water

Photo courtesy of
‘that’s, like, way tubular, dude’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

It was a rough week for DC Attorney General Peter Nickles last week. Between getting dressed down by a Circuit Court judge for failing to provide a series of papers and Ward 3 councilwoman Mary Cheh’s suggestion that he resign on Friday, it’s looking like the AG will have his name attached to adjectives like “beleaguered” and “embattled.” With Judge Emmet Sullivan considering an independent investigation of the AG’s office related to the Pershing Park incident in 2002, where protestors during IMF/World Bank weekend were arrested improperly. Nickles is now playing hard to get with the media, telling City Paper’s Jason Cherkis that he won’t return his calls.

Here’s hoping we start to get some answers. Councilman Mendelssohn? Perhaps you’d better start that investigation.

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed
By

MPD is Hands-On for National Night Out

Photo courtesy of
‘blue peloton’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Tonight is National Night Out, an organized night out to fight crime and prevent drug use. It’s also the sixth use of All-Hands-On-Deck (AHOD) for MPD. The first five AHOD weekends resulted in nearly 2,400 arrests and seizure of $30,000 in drugs. There will be events in all seven of the MPD Police Districts, even though the release lists only six.


View National Night Out Locations – DC in a larger map

In addition, THEARC is putting on a concert at their location on Mississippi Ave SE, featuring Tabi Bonney and Tanya Blount.

MPD Officers will be on-duty as part of AHOD through Wednesday morning.

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!
By

What’s Next, Metro?

Photo courtesy of
‘No Tresspassing by Order of Metro Transit’
courtesy of ‘Wayan Vota’

DCist pointed out this afternoon that WMATA buried the lede in their latest press release, which states:

In the most recent incident, a Metrobus operator refused to allow a customer to exit the bus after a verbal dispute. He was arrested by Metro Transit Police on Saturday, July 25, and charged with kidnapping. The bus operator is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of an investigation. Metro officials will determine an appropriate level of discipline once the investigation is complete.

First it was sleeping on the job, or reading a book, or texting, and now we’ve seen WMATA employees go from light misdemeanors straight into felony charges. I was sitting here thinking just now that what we really need to see from WMATA drivers, in order to pine for reading, texting and sleeping, is something along the line of kidnapping, or assaulting an off-duty police officer or maybe even light bank robbery. Perhaps what we’re missing is an appreciation for the difficulty of light rule-breaking?

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
By

Alexandria Police Chief Arrested for DUI

Photo courtesy of
‘How Much is that Bottle in the Window?’
courtesy of ‘Karon’

The Post is reporting that Alexandria Chief of Police David Baker was arrested for DUI in Arlington over the weekend, with a blood-alcohol content of .19, more than twice the legal limit. He was involved in a collision with another car, with $1800 in damage to the two vehicles. Chief Baker has been placed on administrative leave while the case is investigated. He faces a minimum of 5 days in jail as his BAC was over .15.

A blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.08 percent is considered legally impaired. However, alcohol can start to affect many of your senses after only one drink. No matter the circumstances, you should never drink and drive. It’s not worth the risk of putting yourself and others in danger.

A blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.08 percent is considered legally impaired. However, alcohol can start to affect many of your senses after only one drink. No matter the circumstances, you should never drink and drive. It’s not worth the risk of putting yourself and others in danger.

The largest group at risk for drinking and driving are those who binge drink or are struggling with an alcohol use disorder (AUD). This means they consume a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time, putting them at risk for harmful side effects and according to Leppard Law PLLC many legal problems. It takes roughly 30 minutes to two hours for alcohol to be absorbed into your bloodstream. During this time, your breathing may slow down and your cognitive skills may be delayed. Because of this, it is always dangerous to drink and drive.

Crime & Punishment, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors
By

Sexual Assault in Rock Creek Park

Photo courtesy of
‘Beach Drive tunnel’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

WUSA 9 reports that a female jogger was sexually assaulted as she ran in Rock Creek Park yesterday.  Police say that a man dragged her into the woods and assaulted her at around 7am.  While Rock Creek park is generally a safe place, please use caution while running there, particularly until this perpetrator is caught. Hopefully this isn’t something serial.

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed
By

Crime drops in PG County

Photo courtesy of
‘Car 8928’
courtesy of ‘Bogotron’

The Washington Post reported today that crime in Prince George’s County, MD has dropped more than 14% in the first half of this year. That’s good news for the county, which is generally regarded as a high-crime area. They’ve had 10 fewer killings, 12 fewer rapes, and 1,307 fewer stolen cars in the six-month period, which the police attribute to closer contact with the people in their communities and addressing symptoms before they become problems.

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed
By

Friendly Reminder: Protect Your Car

Photo courtesy of
‘Be Cool in your Blue Crusier’
courtesy of ‘Wayan Vota’

Crime is something that everyone in big cities deals with, but there are things you can do to avoid being a victim. One of my friends got her car broken into over the weekend, and the friendly policewoman who responded told her that there were three other break-ins within a couple of blocks of where she lives (Eastern Market) by people looking for one thing: GPSes. These devices are often used to protect your car or increase the value of its insurance, but in this case, the device cannot protect itself from intruders. In addition to this, always keep your car checked through just car checks. There are many different kinds of GPS for different applications as the guide on GeoSettr will tell you. They are certainly a valuable asset.

It’s easy to get lax after living in the city for a while without incident, but don’t forget to take all valuables out of your car– and wipe those suction marks off your windshield! Apparently, that’s one major tip-off that a GPS might be inside. If that strikes you as over the top, just remember: it’s a whole lot less of a hassle than getting your car broken into.

Crime & Punishment, News, The Daily Feed
By

Appeals Court Says Trinidad Roadblocks Unconstitutional

Photo courtesy of
‘Hospitality Island’
courtesy of ‘Justin S. Campbell’

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected the ruling of a lower court that last summer’s police roadblocks in Trinidad were constitutional. The case has been returned to the lower court for further review, so we’ve not seen the last of it. You can read the court’s whole opinion (PDF) via the Pacer system. Councilman Phil Mendelsohn said in an email statement this afternoon, “It is unfortunate that the District’s Attorney General was so wrong to insist that the roadblocks were constitutional. However, today’s decision is no surprise given that the DC Court of Appeals came to the same conclusion regarding roadblocks – ironically, also in Trinidad – in 1991.”

The Court’s opinion today is largely based on an important case concerning police checkpoints decided by the Supreme Court in 2000: City of Indianapolis vs. Edmond. Here, I quote from the finding: “But the Court stressed that “[w]e have never approved a checkpoint program whose primary purpose was to detect evidence of ordinary criminal wrongdoing.” Edmond, 531 U.S. at 41. The Court then concluded that “[b]ecause the primary purpose of the Indianapolis checkpoint program is ultimately indistinguishable from the general interest in crime control, the
checkpoints violate the Fourth Amendment.” Id. at 48. It is this rule which governs the present case, and as the purpose of the NSZ checkpoint program is not immediately distinguishable from the general interest in crime control, appellants’ argument that the seizures were unconstitutional appears headed for ultimate victory.”

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
By

Council to Probe Barry’s Contracts

Photo courtesy of
‘Roosevelt at campaign contributions investigation (LOC)’
courtesy of ‘The Library of Congress’

Council Chair Vincent Gray has announced that the City Council will be investigating the contract given to Donna Watts-Brighthaupt by Marion Barry in the amount of $60,000, as to whether it was properly awarded. This is a bit of a backtrack for the council, as Gray had earlier said he wasn’t sure if the council had the authority to investigate Barry’s contract. The council will be retaining an outside law firm to conduct the investigation and make recommendations to the council regarding the status of the contract.

I was talking with a friend last night, and both of us were wondering if this would finally be the scandal to sink Marion Barry. Each of us wondered if there wasn’t a trail of these kinds of contracts through the last decade or so of Barry’s public service, and that this might be the final nail in the coffin. I think that, for as long as Marion Barry’s been around, he might get a slap on the wrist, because you don’t have such a long career here without knowing just how to play something like this. My friend made a valid point that it seems that a number of Republican governors could learn from Marion Barry’s scandal-handling techniques. I couldn’t agree more, the guy is a master at scandal operations.

Photo from LOC, because who doesn’t think that Teddy Roosevelt wouldn’t be an awesome investigator in this case?

Crime & Punishment, News, The Daily Feed
By

Security Drills Today

Photo courtesy of
‘Chinese New Year / Lookout’
courtesy of ‘little-wings’

If you noticed a bit higher than average police presence in Montgomery County this morning, you were right. They’re doing collaboration drills today including a number of agencies in Montgomery County. 180 officers from 13 different agencies are working on a drill today, which will include K-9 teams and the Montgomery County SWAT team, until 7pm. So, it’s not that there’s something weird afoot, other than the usual security theatre.

Crime & Punishment, News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
By

Marion Barry Arrested in Domestic Dispute

Photo courtesy of
‘IMG_8619’
courtesy of ‘dbking’

NBC 4 is reporting tonight that Marion Barry was arrested today in a domestic dispute. The Twitter Buzz is that the charge was for stalking, but as the commenter on NBCWashington.com wrote, “the only thing it seemed that he was capable of stalking might be a stuffed animal or a warm glass of milk”.

Hopefully Hizzoner will be available for comment in the morning.

Crime & Punishment, The Daily Feed
By

Stumble Safely

stumble.png

I’m not one to harp on crime statistics as a governing behavior for where I do my socializing, but this one’s too beautiful not to share. Check out Stumble Safely, which maps together a street map of DC, some delightful night spots, DC Metro station maps, and DC Crime Data. It even has settings so that you can filter by time of day or evening. It’s a gorgeous part of Apps for Democracy, a locally-organized contest for putting together a bunch of publicly available data into useful applications for the public.

All Politics is Local, Crime & Punishment, News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
By

Eleanor Holmes Norton: Voting Rights Can Wait

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_2721’
courtesy of ‘Ghost_Bear’

Mike DeBonis (Loose Lips of the City Paper) has the news that Eleanor Holmes Norton is killing this year’s Voting Rights Bill, mostly thanks to the inability of Steny Hoyer to get his party in line over the removal of the Ensign amendment. The Voting Rights Bill may come back in another Congress, but for now it remains a continuing elusive dream for the District of Columbia.

The Ensign amendment, designed to remove all of the District’s current firearms registration laws and revert to the Federal standards, was transformed into a national referendum by the NRA, who promised to grade legislators on their vote. With political pressure weighing on centrist Democrats who support 2nd amendment rights, the Ensign amendment passed handily and put a boat anchor on the bill. Unable to remove it in Conference, Congresswoman Norton has requested that the Bill be tabled until some time in the future.

If you’d like to register your displeasure, you can contact the office of Senator John Ensign, below. Perhaps we can arrange for a mail-in campaign where we send him something to symbolize the disenfranchisement of the District on a Federal Level?

Senator John Ensign, Nevada
119 Russell Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6244