Friday, October 28, 2011

1,000 state-licensed facilities match sex offenders' addresses

Los Angeles (CNN) -- The California state auditor has found that more than 1,000 state-licensed facilities -- including more than 600 for kids -- matched addresses in the sex-offender registry, saying oversight mechanisms lag behind state requirements. The state Department of Social Services "cites the lack of resources as the primary reason why it has not implemented an automated sex offender address match and why its oversight mechanisms are falling short of requirements," said the state auditor's report, released Thursday. Specifically, the report said that 677 foster and group homes and other state-licensed facilities for children matched sex offenders' addresses, as well as 385 state-licensed facilities for vulnerable adults. The auditor found that almost 600 of the 1,000 address matches were "high risk and in need of immediate investigation," the report said. It was not clear from the report how many foster and group homes are in California, in total. This month, the state social services agency and county child welfare agencies investigated 99% of the matches and began legal actions against eight licensees of facilities, including four license revocations, said the report, titled "Child Welfare Services -- California Can and Must Provide Better Protection and Support for Abused and Neglected Children." In six of those actions, registered sex offenders were living or present in the child facilities, and counties found 36 sex offenders having "some association" with foster homes -- prompting authorities to remove children from the facilities and ordering the offenders out of the homes, the report said. State costs for housing foster children have also grown dramatically, California State Auditor Elaine M. Howle found. "The percentage of children placed with private foster family agencies — agencies that recruit and certify foster homes and are compensated at a higher rate than state- or county-licensed foster homes — has dramatically increased over the last 10 years and resulted in an additional $327 million in foster care payments during that time," the report said. "The counties we visited admit to placing children with these agencies out of convenience rather than for elevated treatment needs as originally intended." The state social services agency "generally agreed" with the auditor's findings and outlined an action plan in response to several recommendations, the auditor said. In an October 7 response to the report, director Will Lightbourne of the California Department of Social Services wrote he agreed that "address comparison provides an additional protection for vulnerable clients in care, and agrees that prevention should be part of the protection." "We are concerned, however, that performing matches against every known sex offender address may not be the most effective means of prevention and ensuring protection. The process involved in this audit required CDSS and counties to investigate every known address of sex offenders, including addresses that were years and in some cases, decades, out of date," Lightbourne said. "The California Sex and Arson Registry (CSAR) includes effective dates of address and identifies active and inactive addresses, and future processes to compare addresses therefore should focus on information technology solutions to minimize the need for staff to manually search through and verify information," the director continued. "The CDSS is exploring solutions that leverage technology and key partners to create an efficient and effective process to provide this additional protection." The state auditor also recommended that the social service agency "complete comprehensive reviews of agencies' licensing activities more timely as well as on-site reviews of state-licensed foster homes, foster family agencies, and group homes. Moreover, Social Services should ensure that rates paid to private foster family agencies are appropriate and should monitor placements with these agencies," the auditor said. In 2010, child welfare agencies in California's 58 counties received 480,000 allegations of child abuse or neglect. Each county maintains its own child welfare service program, and the state Department of Social Services provides oversight, the report said.

Monday, October 17, 2011

World Television Premiere of Sin by Silence

World Television Premiere of Sin by Silence Monday, October 17 at 8:00pm Location: Discovery ID SIN BY SILENCE will have its world television premiere on Monday, October 17 at 8pm ET/PT on Investigation Discovery (ID) -http://www.InvestigationDiscovery.com/Silence Do something incredible during Domestic Violence Awareness Month! Invite your friends, students or organization to watch and share the film. Download the step-by-step guide & discussions videos to make your night a success at http://www.currix.com/sinbysilenc...

CNBC to Premiere Documentary Original 'Billions Behind Bars' October 18th

CNBC to Premiere Documentary Original 'Billions Behind Bars' October 18th MONDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2011 09:07WRITTEN BY NEWSDESK 1 COMMENTSWith more than 2.3 million people locked up, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. One out of 100 American adults is behind bars – while a stunning one out of 32 is on probation, parole or in prison. These staggering numbers have created a thriving prison economy. The states and the federal government together spend roughly $74 billion a year on corrections, and nearly 800,000 people work in the business. On Tuesday, October 18th at 9PM ET/PT, CNBC’s one-hour documentary, “Billions Behind Bars: Inside America’s Prison Industry,” takes viewers behind the razor wire to investigate the profits and inner-workings of the multi-billion dollar corrections industry. From some of the poorest towns in America to some of the wealthiest investment firms on Wall Street, CNBC’s award-winning Senior Correspondent Scott Cohn travels the country to go inside the big and controversial business of prisons. After decades of tough-on-crime policies, prisons across the country have become so overcrowded, some states send inmates out of state to prisons thousands of miles away. This severe overcrowding has created an opportunity for a booming private prison industry that promises taxpayers significant cost-savings and state-of-the-art facilities. But for all the cost-savings, the practice of locking people up for profits can, in some cases, be highly controversial. Cohn looks into a private prison in Idaho dubbed the “gladiator school” by inmates and former prison employees who cite its high level of violence. This Idaho facility, run by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), one of the top publicly traded prison management corporations, has been the target of critics who’ve cited issues there concerning understaffing, overcrowding, and inadequate training of personnel. Though CCA disputes these claims, the company has agreed to continue efforts to improve conditions at the facility. CNBC examines the newest growth area for private prison companies: immigration detention. On any given day, the number of immigrant detainees in the U.S. exceeds 30,000, and roughly half of those are held in private-run facilities. Cohn profiles one such detainee and examines this expanding part of the prison industry that’s benefited from tougher immigration laws and brought hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to private companies. Traditionally, “Not in My Backyard” was the resounding response small towns gave to developers proposing a new prison for their town. But today, in some areas that are hard-pressed for jobs, welcome mats are being rolled out to prison companies. In some cases new prisons have brought new jobs and new hope; in other cases the results have been disappointing. CNBC profiles the town of Hardin, Montana, which accepted an appealing sales pitch to build a private prison that was supposed to bring jobs and much-needed revenue. Completed in 2007, Two Rivers Detention Center sits fully stocked but has never housed a single prisoner, leaving the desperate town of Hardin even worse off. Meanwhile, the prison developer and its hand-picked construction company were paid nearly 20 million dollars for their work. The U.S. is among the largest users of prison labor in the world and putting inmates to work has become a huge moneymaker. In Colorado, CNBC goes behind the bars and inside a little-known prison workforce creating products that have seeped into our everyday lives ― even some of the food we eat. Supporters of inmate labor programs point out the taxpayer and inmate rehabilitation benefits, but critics argue that the prison business is muscling out traditional business and taking jobs away from people on the outside. CNBC also travels to Texas, the one-time prison capital of America, which has become a leader of prison reform. Cohn meets a tough-talking judge in this law-and-order state who’s actually trying to keep offenders out of prison and save taxpayer money through an innovative and apparently successful rehabilitation program. Since the Community Corrections Continuum of Care Court program began in 2009, 87% of the participants have met all the requirements and have gone on to graduate from the program. For more information including slideshows and web extras, log onto: prisonindustry.cnbc.com. Mitch Weitzner is the Senior Executive Producer of “Billions Behind Bars: Inside America’s Prison Industry.” Mary Noonan is the Senior Producer. Na Eng, Ruth Chenetz and Lauren Farrelly are producers. Ray Borelli is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Research, Scheduling and Long Form Programming. The one-hour Documentary Reported by Scott Cohn Premieres on Tuesday, October 18th at 9PM ET/PT on CNBC, and will re-air on Tuesday, October 18th 10PM ET/PT, Friday, October 21st at 8PM ET and Sunday, October 23rd at 10PM ET.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Members of the public are being tricked by jail inmates and others through a telephone scam

Fraud Alert: Members of the public are being tricked by jail inmates and others through a telephone scam The public is being tricked by jail inmates and others through a phone scam. This fraud has occurred off and on for many years in different parts of the country. This notice was shared with the public by the LASD earlier this year and resulted in a major decrease in victims and potential victims contacting the LASD. There has again been a sudden increase in reports of this scam. Members of the public have been calling the Sheriff's Department and asking to talk to a specific deputy, detective, or sergeant who had just called them. The real deputy who answers the phone explains they are mistaken, as the named deputy does not exist or is not on duty. The scam begins by the victim caller receiving a call from a person claiming to be a deputy. This imposter tells the victim that one of their family member's has been incarcerated or involved in an accident. The imposter then informs the victim caller that their family member provided the victim caller's name as an emergency contact. The victim caller is then instructed to call a number that begins with *72 (Example: *72-323-555-1212) to get the information they will need. When the victim caller hangs up and dials the number provided, they are told they have a wrong number. Concerned for the safety of their family member, the victim caller then calls an information line (4-1-1) and asks for a number to the Sheriff's Department. They are then connected with a real deputy. However, since the victim caller used the prefix *72 to initiate their last phone call, they have just automatically forwarded all their incoming calls to the scammer's phone number (These include collect calls from inmates who want to avoid paying for collect calls). The billing for these forwarded calls goes to the victim caller until they turn off call forwarding on their phone (usually by dialing *73). If not careful, Victims can be scammed out of a lot of money in collect-call fees before they find this out. Do Not Dial *72 unless you want to forward your calls. If you have been involved in this scam, and you have already dialed a number beginning with *72, contact your phone service provider to learn how to shut off automatic call forwarding. For more information regarding this scam, please read the below alert from the California Public Utilities Commission for further details, recommendations and recourse.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Tips to Help Protect Your Kids + Neighborhood Watch

October is National Crime Prevention Month: Tips to Help Protect Your Kids + Neighborhood Watch Safety Tips For Your Kids: Unfortunately no neighborhood is completely immune to crime. However, there are steps you can take to help keep your family and your neighborhood safe. • Know where your children are. Have your children tell you or ask permission before leaving the house and give them a time to check in or be home. When possible, have them leave a phone number of where they will be. • Help children learn important phone numbers. Have your children practice reciting their home phone number and address, and your work and cell phone numbers. If they have trouble memorizing these, write them down on a card and have them carry it at all times. Tell your children where you will be and the best way to reach you. • Set limits on where your children can go in your neighborhood. Do you want them crossing busy roads? Playing in alleys or abandoned buildings? Are there certain homes in your neighborhood that you don't want your children to go to? • Get to know your children's friends. Meet their parents before letting your children to go to their home and keep a list of their phone numbers. If you can't meet their parents, call and talk to them. Ask what your children might do at their house and if they will be supervised. • Choose a safe house in your neighborhood. Pick a neighbor's house where your children can go if they need help. Point out other places they can go for help, like stores, libraries, and police stations. • Teach children to settle arguments with words, not fists. Role-play talking out problems, walking away from fist fights, and what to do when confronted with bullies. Remind them that taunting and teasing can hurt friends and make enemies. • Work together with your neighbors. Watch out for suspicious and unusual behavior in your neighborhood. Get to know your neighbors and their children so you can look out for one another. • Start a new Neighborhood Crime Watch Group or re-activate an old one.
 Neighborhood Crime Watch (NCW) is a partnership between residents and law enforcement to improve safety and prevent crime. What you can learn with NCW: • Who your neighbors are and how to work with them • How to use a neighborhood map and roster to communicate • How and why crime happens • How to improve home security and personal safety • How to recognize and report suspicious activity • Active NCW groups with visible NCW signs can deter crime Contact your local sheriff's station or police station for more information: National Crime Prevention Council go to http://www.ncpc.org/ In 1984, the National Crime Prevention Council designated October Crime Prevention Month. Every year since then, government agencies, civic groups, schools, businesses, and youth organizations have reached out to educate the public, showcase their accomplishments, and explore new partnerships during this special month. October has become the official month for recognizing and celebrating the practice of crime prevention, while promoting awareness of important issues such as victimization, volunteerism, and creating safer, more caring communities. The month-long celebration spotlights successful crime prevention efforts on the local, state, and national levels.

Alert: Everyone near 805 & Carmel Valley should be aware of shooting suspect.

Alert: Everyone near 805 & Carmel Valley should be aware of shooting suspect. SDPD and CHP are alerting residents to a dangerous situation. A man in a white Chev Malibu driving north on I-805 has fired shots at several persons on the freeway. Possible vehicle lic is 5POM917. The man is described as a H/M and was last seen at Del Mar Hts Rd north on I-5. The man is considered armed and very dangerous and people are asked to avoid contact with the suspect. If seen, please call 911 without hesitation. Sent by San Diego Police Department, 1401 Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101