Metro Atlanta News
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American Police Beat
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Written by Fabian Cota, American Police Beat
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Wednesday, 18 August 2010 10:14 |
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 American Police Beat targets the nation's law enforcement profession and seeks to give a voice to the nation's law enforcement professional. APB is dedicated to providing a forum where officers can speak out about the numerous issues that impact their personal and professional lives on a MONTHLY basis. Because we know how important your privacy is, we never sell or distribute your address or personal information.
This months articles in the American Police Beat News Letter;
The Tyranny of Photo Enforcement.
by Fabian Cota
The public’s safety is law enforcement’s primary goal and Arizona’s photo radar cameras are, unfortunately, directly correlated with my profession. When speed cameras were decided on by our government at the time, I believe the intent was to help make our streets less dangerous. Revenue from tickets did sound attractive to police agencies, especially one like mine that is currently about 400 officers short of the national average. However, photo radar has backfired on many levels and Arizona police agencies are left holding the bag. There is no question photo radar has caused concern from the public in which I serve...
Disobeying Orders, But Saving A Fellow Officer's Life.
by Cynthia Brown
Police officers are expected to be physically tough. When you’re rolling to a call, there’s no time for a bum knee or a headache. But there’s another kind of toughness that doesn’t have anything to do with injuries or pain. It takes a special kind of toughness to take care of another cop in trouble, especially when you have to disobey orders to do it...
iHomingBeacon.
by APB Staff
Crime does not pay. Unless, of course, you’re not stupid and really good at it. But Horatio Toure is no criminal mastermind. Toure became infamous recently just by stealing an iPhone in San Francisco – during a security test involving the GPS tracking device placed in the phone... |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 August 2010 15:48 |
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AJC
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Written by Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Saturday, 19 June 2010 06:30 |
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 Citing community concerns, Fulton County's chief Superior Court judge on Friday said she is changing the way burglary cases will be handled -- and the new arrangement will likely mean stiffer sentences for people who break into homes and businesses.
Magistrate judges who are appointed to their positions will no longer decide burglary cases and impose sentences, many of which have been criticized by community leaders as too lenient. The county's elected Superior Court judges will begin hearing all burglary cases beginning June 21, Chief Judge Cynthia Wright said.
"I'm ecstatic about that," George Turner, Atlanta's interim police chief, said. "At just about every community meeting I've gone to people are up in arms about burglaries and the types of sentences they are getting. The complaints are that burglars too often are getting right back out on the streets."
Monica O'Neal, president of the East Lake Neighbors Community Association, also welcomed the change, although she cited recent statistics that show a drop in crime in her area. "I'm glad they are going to take a different and stronger stance on this," she said.
In a statement, Wright said she and her fellow judges "have listened to input from our citizens and have taken their concerns to heart. We are making this change so that we can adequately review the charges, a defendant's past criminal history, impose appropriate sentences and be held accountable by the public for the sentence imposed."
At this point, Wright said, the court believes it is more appropriate to reassign burglary cases because of the "increasing incidence of burglary and the increasing incidence of violent burglary."
In recent years, nonviolent burglary cases have been assigned to the court's Felony Fast-Track program and handled by magistrate judges. The program, initiated in 2006, has been credited with reducing the court's backlog of nonviolent drug and property crime cases by 40 percent and giving Superior Court judges more time to deal with the more serious cases involving violent crime.
Under the Fast-Track program, almost all nonviolent cases are disposed of within nine weeks after a suspect is arrested.
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Metro Atlanta News
