Archive for May 2009
Drug Abuse and Crime
May 28, 2009 | 
Author A new study sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy finds an association between drug abuse and criminal behavior. The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program gathered information on drug abuse from adult male arrestees in 10 counties across the country. Denver county was one of those tested. Face-to-face interviews and urinalysis were conducted with the arrestees, whose participation was voluntary and confidential.
The study findings are as follows:
- Drug use among the arrestee population is much higher than in the general U.S. population. Over 50% of all arrestees tested positive for at least one drug. The percentage is higher for younger offenders (age 21 and under, 85%; age 36+ 68%).
- The most common drugs were marijuana, cocaine, opiates and methamphetamine in that order. The lone exception is Atlanta, where the most common drug is cocaine. The urinalysis did not differentiate between cocaine and crack.
- Cocaine use in Denver and Indianapolis has declined since 2007 while remaining stable in the rest of the country.
- Methamphetamine use varies by region. Less than 1% tested positive in the eastern states, slightly higher in the mid-west and highest on the west coast. Sacramento had 35%testing positive.
There is an association between criminal behavior and drug use, but what does it all mean? The association does not show cause and effect. Do criminals use drugs? Do drug users commit crimes? How do we correct these behaviors? The questions still remain. Perhaps future studies with show a cause and effect relationship and lead to a solution.
Pretty please, Mister!
A few months ago, I got a call from a woman who wanted to bond out her ex-son-in-law. I met with her to do the paperwork and she described him as an a life-long alcoholic who had associations to the biker world and claimed to have friends in low places. I asked her if she was certain that she wanted to do this bond as he sounded like trouble. She said that she did and was doing it as a favor to his mother who lived in another state.
She was a solid indemnitor so I agreed to do the bond. However, I made sure to explain the details of a bond revocation in the event that became necessary. She agreed to all of the conditions and I posted the bond. One of the bond conditions imposed by the court was that the defendant report to pre-trial services and obtain an ankle monitor to prohibit his use of alcohol. I met with the defendant the night before he was to get the monitor and I couldn’t believe what I saw.
You’ve probably seen the famous mug shot of Nick Nolte. This guy looked like his father. He was in his mid-fifties but looked like he’d been drinking and using drugs for at least 75 years. He said he was on his last night of drinking before getting the monitor and was going to make the best of it. I left having a real bad feeling about this guy.
A couple of weeks later, I got a forfeiture notice from the court. I looked into it and found that this guy never went for the monitor. I had two choices, pay the forfeiture or put him back in jail. Easy decision. I called the defendant’s number and learned it was disconnected. I called the indemnitor and learned that the guy had been evicted from his apartment but got information as to where he was. I didn’t think he’d be a fighter, but he did walk with a cane and I didn’t want to go it alone. So, I took some muscle with me.
We went to the new apartment and went to the door. His daughter answered and said he was out. She said that he had gone to the grocery store and would be back soon. I asked her to have him call me when he could. We went back to the car to wait for him. He arrived about a half-hour later and was carrying his beer and cigarettes (the groceries). We caught up with him as he was entering a gate and quickly cuffed him and informed him of the revocation. He took it well, sort of like having to pay the price of doing business. However, he asked to be able to use the bathroom prior to going to the jail.
Crap! I really didn’t want to take the cuffs off, but I was more concerned about him going in the car on the way to the jail. So, we took him in the apartment and let him use the bathroom. I wouldn’t let him close the door and I stood there right with him. Crap he did. He also got rid of a stash that he had in his pocket. I didn’t care. I don’t make criminal cases anymore and didn’t care to deal with the complications of introducing contraband to a correctional facility.
When his job was done, we cuffed him again and took him to the car. He needed a cane to walk, so I had to cuff him in front so he could walk. Crap, again! I put him in the front seat and the muscle sat behind him. I put the seatbelt over his arms and took the cane. Off to jail we went.
I tried my best to keep him talking on the way to the jail. He said that he couldn’t wear the monitor because he was an alcoholic and could not stop drinking as he would go into the DT’s. I told him that I got the forfeiture letter and had to make an easy choice. I said, ” I got a letter from the court and either had to pay the money or put you back in jail. You lose.” He seemed to understand.
About half -way to the jail the bargaining started. He offered money, but that didn’t work . Then he started begging. He said that he could not do jail time because they don’t have booze there. He knew he was in for a rough time and the Dt’s were inevitable. He repeatedly said ” Please don’t take me to jail. Please! Please! Please! I’ll be good”.
Then, he said something that I’ve never heard a prisoner say before. He said ” Pretty please, Mister. Don’t take me to jail. I’m saying pretty please.” I had all I could do to keep from laughing in is face. Then, he got really pissed and claimed he was having a heart attack and we should take him to the hospital. He started hyper-ventilating and complaining of chest pains trying to divert us from the jail. I used to be an EMT and knew he was faking it. On to the jail we went.
About a mile from the jail, he made his last-ditch effort to avoid jail. He freed his hands from the seatbelt and opened the front door to try and exit. The muscle put a choke hold on him and I told him that his feet might hit the street, but his head would stay with us. He saw the light and stopped trying to get out. We made it to the jail without further incident but had to spend two hours booking him. He ran through his entire repertoire of complaints for the jail medical staff before they would accept him.
We left the jail and walked to the car. As we got in, we looked at each other and simultaneously said “Pretty please?” We couldn’t believe it. We had never heard that one before.
Dog, the Bounty Hunter
I just got a phone call from Dog the Bounty Hunter. He wanted to know if I had any fugitives to be picked up. Unfortunately, there are none at present. However, that could change at any time. The conversation was over pretty quickly, and I was surprised to hear from him. I forgot to ask him his phone number and checked the caller ID. The number came back as 1-000-000-000. Too bad.
Dog, if you happen to read this, call me and give me your number. You never know…..
Posted in Bail Recovery | 
Tags: Bail Recovery, Bounty Hunter, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Fugitive Recovery | 
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Online Predators
There has been a lot of publicity about online predators recently. As a former criminal investigator or sex crimes against children, I was curious about the trend an decided to investigate. I’ve seen all of the promos for Dateline – To Catch a Predator, yet I cannot bring myself to watch it. I’ve lived it, I don’t need to watch it on TV, though many people do. However, I do want to understand the nature of the problem.
The University of New Hampshire has a Crimes Against Children Research Center that has published a report entitled Trends in Arrests of “Online Predators”. According to the results of this study, online predation is a problem… but not to the extent that Dateline would have you believe. “Arrests of online predators in 2006 constituted about 1% of all arrests for sex crimes committed against children and youth. That means 99% found another way to approach their victims. This is similar to the statistic that you are more likely to die in a car crash but the crash of an airliner gets the publicity.
Other key findings of the report are as follows:
- Between 2000 and 2006, there was a 21% increase in arrests of offenders who solicited actual youth and a 381% increase in arrests of offenders who solicited under cover investigators.
- As online predator arrests were increasing, overall sex offenses against children were in decline.
- There is no evidence that predators were stalking victims based upon information they posted on social networking sites.
The report concludes that law enforcement is having success in arresting online predators but it is premature to conclude that the internet is an unusually dangerous environment. Most crimes committed by online predators involved adolescent victims who knew they were communicating with older adults who wanted sex. Most victims went to the meetings expecting to engage in sexual activity and were victims because they were too young to consent to sexual activity with adults.
The possibility that Internet use facilitates sexual predation needs to be taken seriously, but it is not the problem that the media portrays. Law enforcement is doing a good job arresting predators and needs to continue that effort. However, parents need to understand that the internet is not more dangerous than other environments that their children encounter. My own experience, though some time ago, leads me to believe that abusive step-fathers, family friends, teachers, counselors, clergy and youth group leaders are a larger part of the problem. Parents need to pay attention to adults who gravitate to positions involving contact with children. Offenders are sociable people who work or volunteer in positions where they have contact with children and are able to choose their victims accordingly.
iDiot!!!
Here’s a story that blends technology and stupid criminology. A woman in New York was mugged in a train station and her iPhone was taken. Later, while checking her e-mail, she noticed an e-mail in her outbox that she knew that she didn’t send. She opened the file and discovered that the thief had used her iPhone and e-mail account to send a picture of himself. She took the picture to the police, identified the suspect and he was arrested.
Crime Mapping
I just learned of a new website, Crime Mapping that allows law enforcement agencies to inform the public about crime in their area. The system utilizes the records of that agency and produces a searchable map with all of the crime activity pinpointed by location and nature of crime. It costs the agency about $3000 a year to provide this service and is already used by agencies in California, Florida and several other states. Unfortunately, Colorado isn’t one of them.
I saw where Boulder has some type of crime map available, but it wasn’t working when I visited the site. I think that this would be a very valuable public service and should be utilized more widely and would likely help to reduce crime. For example, if I knew that I lived in an area that reported a lot of property crime, I would take steps to protect my property better as well as pay more attention to the comings and goings of people in the area.
Knowledge is power and we could use that knowledge to make change to our community. Unfortunately, Law Enforcement is far more reactive than proactive. I believe that we should make our political leaders aware of this type of service and convince them of the benefits. I know I would like to know what is going on around me. Law Enforcement already has the data in their records systems, make it available in a useful manner for the general public.