Police routinely arresting people to get DNA, inquiry claims

UK

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Police officers are now routinely arresting people in order to add their DNA sample to the national police database, an inquiry will allege tomorrow.

The review of the national DNA database by the government’s human genetics commission also raises the possibility that the DNA profiles of three-quarters of young black males, aged 18 to 35, are now on the database.

The human genetics commission report, Nothing to hide, nothing to fear?, says the national DNA database for England and Wales is already the largest in the world, at 5 million profiles and growing, yet has no clear statutory basis or independent oversight.

The highly critical report from the government’s advisory body on the development of human genetics is published as the number of innocent people on the database is disclosed to be far higher than previously thought ‑ nearing 1 million.

The commission says the policy of routinely adding the DNA profiles of all those arrested has led to a highly disproportionate impact on different ethnic groups and the stigmatisation of young black men, with the danger of their being seen as “an ‘alien wedge’ of criminality”.

The crime and security bill published last week by the home secretary, Alan Johnson, proposes to keep DNA profiles of people arrested but not convicted of any offence on the database for six years. This follows a landmark European court judgment last December, ruling illegal the current blanket policy of indefinite retention of DNA profiles whether or not the person has been convicted of an offence.

It adds that parliament never formally debated the establishment of the DNA database. Its evolution involved a “function creep” from being used to confirm police suspicions to identifying suspects. This resulted in the addition of more and more profiles without being clearly matched by an improvement in convictions.

The chairman of the commission, Prof Jonathan Montgomery, said: “It’s now become pretty routine to take DNA samples on arrest. So large numbers of people on the DNA database will be there not because they have been convicted, but because they’ve been arrested.”

He said the commission had received evidence from a former police superintendent that it was now the norm to arrest offenders for everything possible. “It is apparently understood by serving police officers that one of the reasons, if not the reason, for the change in practice is so that the DNA of the offender can be obtained,” said Montgomery, adding that it would be a matter of very great concern if this was now a widespread practice.

The report says there is very little concrete evidence on the importance of the DNA match in leading to a conviction and whether the suspect would have been identified by other means anyway.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/nov/24/dna-database-inquiry

Texting while driving ban some points to ponder

Texting while driving ban some points to ponder

The Oklahoma state legislature has the question before them-Should we ban texting while driving?

HB 3250 , by Rep. Tibbs/Sykes, would ban cell phone use and texting while driving. This is part of a federal initiative to ban texting while driving. 
Some of the amendatory language is aimed at young drivers, but the bill also creates new law:

“A. A person shall not operate a motor vehicle on a street or highway while using a hand-held mobile telephone to write, send, or read a text message while the motor vehicle is in motion.

Any person who violates the provisions of subsection A of this section shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine and court costs that shall not exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).”

Arguments against this type of legislation;

3/31/10

Should we ban the children too?

In its study for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, the
University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research
Center installed miniature video cameras in the cars of 70
volunteers, equally distributed by sex and age. Half were from Pennsylvania and the other half from North Carolina.

Videotape data was analyzed for driver behaviors and for
contextual variables such as weather, highway conditions, and
whether the vehicle was stopped or moving.

 
 

Data showed that:

• Distractions are common in everyday driving.

• All subjects manipulated vehicle controls and nearly all
reached for objects in the vehicle.

• Many manipulated the sound system.

• Almost as many were distracted by objects or events outside
the vehicle.

• Approximately one-third of subjects used a cell phone
while driving.

• Forty percent engaged in reading or writing.

• Child passengers were about four times, and infants about
eight times more likely to cause distraction than adult passengers.

• Drivers were engaged in some form of potentially distracting
activity up to 16.1 percent of the total time their vehicles
were moving.*

• Most of the driver distractions are neither new nor
technological.

http://alturl.com/kk8o

Enforcement-It is impossible to tell whether drivers were using cell phones to send a text message, dial a phone number or download directions on a map.

• Will there be some sort of technological intervention to look into people’s cell phones in order to ascertain what was being done at the time the officer suspects they were texting? This is a problem for many reasons. Our phones are more than just phones. They are more like portable personal computers and contain a wealth of very personal information. Fourth Amendment issues would arise as would the possibility of suspicion of texting while driving being used as a pretext for stopping motorists.
• There is already technology available for entirely voice commanded interaction with cell phones.

Hands free access will allow anyone to text, call, and email all with voice commands. This very innovative solution to the texting while driving dilemma needs to be in the hands of anyone with a mobile device that is used for communication. Hands free access is safe, simple and most of all cost effective. http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Solution-to-the-Texting-While-Driving-Ban&id=3511212

CNN Reports March 19, 2010

Mobile voice-recognition technology now allows people to send text messages to friends by talking instead of typing; to scan through transcriptions of voice mail instead of taking time to listen to them all; to tell their phones what they’re looking for on the Web; and, soon, to post to Twitter from their cars by speaking, allowing drivers to keep their eyes on the road.

“It’s now possible to pick up your phone and press a single button and say, ‘I want the Yelp.com review of the Capital Grille in Burlington, Massachusetts. Period,’ ” said Vlad Sejnoha, chief speech scientist at Nuance Communications, a major producer of voice-to-text software.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/19/voice.recognition/index.html

 

• Distracted driving laws are already on the books. Texting while driving is a distraction like many others. The real problem is poor judgment which is unfortunately, impossible to legislate out of existence.
  
• This will be viewed and possibly misused as “revenue enhancement”
  

 

More stats and studies to consider;

Effectiveness of legislation    

Current laws banning cell phone use in New York and Connecticut have proven to be ineffective.

The percentage of offenders decreased from 2.3% to 1.1% immediately after the ban was implemented, but after being in effect for a year the percentage increased to 2.1%, which is not significantly different from the pre-ban figure.

http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/10/1/11

A study by the Highway Loss Data Institute has found that while laws aimed against texting or making calls while driving are effective in reducing such behavior, they are not effective in reducing crashes

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20100129/laws-banning-cellphone-use-while-driving-have-no-effect-study.htm

 

Both traffic accidents and Fatalities are Down

Since 1995, there’s been an eightfold increase in cellphone subscribers in the United States, and we’ve increased the number of minutes spent on cellphones by a factor of 58.

What’s happened to traffic fatalities in that time? They’ve dropped — slightly, but they’ve dropped. Overall reported accidents since 1997 have dropped, too, from 6.7 million to 6 million.

Source- the Cato Institute

 

AAA’s Position:

At this time, AAA believes it is premature to ban the use of cell phones while driving. Instead, AAA advocates the following to address distracted driving:

1. Education. AAA is working to develop educational approaches that train drivers to recognize when they are being distracted and learn how to manage those distractions. Brochures and other materials are available at AAA offices around the country. AAA also is incorporating this information into all driver education programs including novice driver, driver improvement and senior driver programs.
   
2. Research. Research is needed to understand how distraction contributes to crashes and major causes of distraction. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has published a report, and more research is under way.
   
3. Cooperation. AAA is working with policy-makers, motor-vehicle offices, manufacturers and other motoring clubs worldwide on this issue. More information will be added to this site as results of these advocacy efforts are available.
   

http://www.aaapublicaffairs.com/Main/Default.asp?CategoryID=3&SubCategoryID=35&ContentID=42

 

 

Oklahoma Firearms Freedom Act in Committee Wed-Calls Needed!

SB 1685, the Oklahoma Firearms Freedom
Act will be heard in the Public Safety committee on Wed. March 31, 2010.at 3 pm.

 

These committee members need to know that this bill is very important to Oklahoma gun owners!

 

(Contact info below)

 

 

 

The Firearms Freedom Act (FFA) is a state law which declares that any firearms made and retained in-state are beyond the authority of Congress under its constitutional power to regulate commerce among the states

 

Oklahoma’s Firearms freedom Act is Senate Bill 1685 by Sen. Randy Brogdon and rep. Charles Key.

 

***

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms

 

The right to keep and bear arms is clearly a fundamental right the people have reserved to themselves.

 

That right is compromised if access to firearms is only via a federally-controlled supply chain. The founders recognized this and prohibited the federal government from such restrictions in both the Commerce Clause and the 2^nd Amendment.

 

The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

 

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

 

 

 

 

Public Safety Committee Members phones/emails:

 
 

Rep. Sue Tibbs, Chair   1-405-557-7379, suetibbs@okhouse.gov - Room 303A

Rep. Steve Martin, Vice Chair 10405-557-7420, stevemartin@okhouse.gov – Room 330

 
 

Rep. Wallace Collins, 1-405-557-7386, wallace.collins@okhouse.gov – Room 502

Rep. Chuck Hoskin, 1-405-557-7319, chuck.hoskin@okhouse.gov – Room 509

Rep. Mark McCullough, 1-405-557-7414, mark.mccullough@okhouse.gov – Room 328A

Rep. Randy McDaniel, 1-405-557-7409, randy.mcdaniel@okhouse.gov – Room 302A

Rep. Jason Murphey, 1-405-557-7350, jason.murphey@okhouse.gov – Room 400-B

Rep. Leslie Osborn, 1-405-557-7333, leslie.osborn@okhouse.gov – Room 300

Rep. Mike Ritze, 1-405-557-7338, mike.ritze@okhouse.gov – Room 327

Rep. Paul Roan, 1-405-557-7308, paulroan@okhouse.gov – Room 540

Rep. Glen Smithson, 1-405-557-7315, glensmithson@okhouse.gov – Room 539

Rep. Todd Thomsen, 1-405-557-7336, todd.thomsen@okhouse.gov – Room 408

 

 

Status of Firearms Freedom Act in other states

http://americancommondefencereview.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/up-to-date-firearms-freedom-act-status-report-as-of-march-18-2010/

 

Oklahoma’s Anti Chipping Bill Under Pressure by Lobbyist HB 2569

3/30/2010

HB 2569, Prohibiting RFIDs in the Oklahoma drivers license and state-issued ID cards by Rep. Wesselhoft and Dan Newberry of the Senate

Sen. Newberry is receiving pressure from an industry lobbyist to amend this bill.

Jim Dunlap is the lobbyist representing HID Global. http://www.hidglobal.com/

The proposed amendment by lobbyist Dunlap would open the door for chipping the drivers licenses and state-issued ID cards which is exactly what this bill is protecting AGAINST!

Please let Sen. Newberry know that we appreciate his sponsorship of this bill and urge him to hold fast.

Let him know that the PEOPLE of Oklahoma DO NOT want this bill altered in any way.

Senator Dan Newberry

newberry@oksenate.gov

405.521.5600

This bill protects our freedom and privacy.

The fact that RFID chips pose a threat our freedom and privacy is not disputed.

A 2005 DHS Report on using RFID for human identification purposes lists the potential for pervasive surveillance as one of many issues with using RFID technology in identification documents.

The concern that the deployment of RFID‐enabled systems represents the potential for widespread surveillance of individuals, including US citizens, without their knowledge or consent.

Read the Report;

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy/privacy_advcom_12-2006_rpt_RFID.pdf

The privacy and security problems of RFID tags

The fundamental problem with RFID technology is simple: RFID tags and RFID readers
communicate using radio waves, and radio-frequency transmissions in general are
physically insecure. Exposed or publicly available information channels are harder to
secure than wires or cables.
Several factors make RFID tags especially dangerous to privacy.
• RFID tags are promiscuous: they are generally designed to be activated, and their
transmissions receivable, by any compatible reader/sensor device
• RFID tags are stealthy: when RFID tags are being read, the people carrying the tags
don’t know that it’s happening
• RFID tags are remotely readable, and can be read through many common substances
(cloth, leather, paper)

Source-Lee Tien,Senior Staff Attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation

before the Senate Judiciary Committee
Senator Joseph L. Dunn, Chair of the California Legislature in 2005

This technology is very detrimental to our security but obviously holds great benefits for the industry.

AxXiom for Liberty

http://axiomamuse.wordpress.com

We could all be tracked Cops test license-plate cameras that store, trace data

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Oct 9, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Portland police are testing a high-tech camera system that rivals anything in a science fiction movie.

It can reach back in time and track your movements across the city — and even produce photos of your previous locations.

But — while some are raising Big Brother civil liberties questions about the concept — the police promise they will only use it to solve crimes, like finding stolen cars or locating wanted criminals.

The system features a series of cameras that mount on patrol cars that automatically read and photograph the license plates of all passing vehicles — including those parked along the sides of the streets. Plates of stolen and suspect-linked vehicles trigger an alarm, allowing the officers to immediately locate them.

The camera also is hooked into a computer that records the exact time and location where each plate was photographed, allowing the police to later map its previous locations around town.

The system features a series of cameras that mount on patrol cars that automatically read and photograph the license plates of all passing vehicles — including those parked along the sides of the streets. Plates of stolen and suspect-linked vehicles trigger an alarm, allowing the officers to immediately locate them.

The camera also is hooked into a computer that records the exact time and location where each plate was photographed, allowing the police to later map its previous locations around town.

Read More;

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/print_story.php?story_id=122350294579016400

What Can We Do About the Health Care Reform Act? NE Activist Answers

An educational flyer / handout about the recently passed health care reform legislation passed by the US Congress. Includes explanation of state sovereignty, nullification, interposition.

By Shelli Dawdy of Stubborn Facts

View this document on Scribd

Federal Court Approves Traffic Stop Tasering Of Pregnant Woman

Reported by TheNewspaper.com

Federal Court Approves Traffic Stop Tasering Of Pregnant Woman

Posted: 29 Mar 2010 01:03 AM PDT

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Friday that it was acceptable for police to taser a pregnant mother over a minor traffic ticket. On November 23, 2004, Seattle, Washington Police Officer Juan Ornelas had been running a speed trap when Malaika Brooks passed by while driving her eleven-year-old son to school. Ornelas pulled over Brooks and accused her of speeding at 32 MPH. Brooks believed that the officer had mistakenly clocked the car ahead of hers, so she refused to sign the ticket thinking it would be an admission of guilt.

“I’m not signing, I’m not signing,” Brooks said.

Eight years previously, Brooks had been stopped for another offense and she refused to sign the ticket. The officer on the scene allowed her to go without incident. This time, however, a second officer on the scene, Donald M. Jones, became incensed. He brandished a taser saying it would hurt her “extremely bad” if she did not get out of the car so that they could take her to jail. Brooks said that she was seven months pregnant, but Jones did not care. Ornelas put her in an armlock while Jones blasted the pregnant woman three times with the taser in her thigh, shoulder and neck. The officers then dragged her out of the car.

A jury subsequently refused to convict Brooks of resisting arrest. Brooks sued the officers over their use of excessive force. The appellate court, however, believed the jury to be in error.

“Based on Brooks’s undisputed uncooperative behavior, a reasonably prudent person would have believed Brooks was violating section 9A.76.020 by obstructing the Officers’ attempts to obtain her signature and complete the traffic stop,” Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall wrote for the majority.

The court went on to argue that the use of force on a non-threatening and non-violent motorist was appropriate and reasonable. The appellate court ruled that the pregnant woman could pose a threat to three armed male police officers.

read more;

Federal Court Approves Traffic Stop Tasering Of Pregnant Woman

AxXiom for Liberty-Live! Fridays 6-8 CST on the Rule of Law Radio Network

Beginning Friday April 2, 2010 on Rule of Law Radio Network

6- 8 CST Listen Live!

RuleofLawRadio.com

AxXiom for Liberty

Hosted by Kaye Beach

aka AxXiom

Just how free do you want to be?

Topics

• Activism and coalition building
• American government and the “New Paradigm”  (what was the old one?)
• The power and pitfalls of political engagement
• Surveillance-How watching the world changes the world

Special emphasis on the everyday heroes and heroines of freedom who are making a difference and how they are doing it

More details soon!

Rep.Randy Terrill in Trouble

3/29/10

Apparently, the Oklahoma Public Employees Association gets special access to records that are closed to the public. Rep Terrill gets financial support and “Legislator of the Year” award from OPEA and fails to follow the law and ethics rules regarding his own record keeping. We get more reasons to doubt our legislators.

The Tulsa World Reports;

March 28, 2010

Bill opened state workers’ addresses

OKLAHOMA CITY — A state lawmaker last year quietly opened up confidential state employee information to a private labor organization that advocates for state workers.

The Oklahoma Public Employees Association can now send annual mailings to the home addresses of all state workers — addresses the Legislature closed off to the public years ago by exempting them from the Open Records Act.

The special access to the information was made possible by Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, who is also a member of OPEA.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20100328_16_A1_OKLAHO479136

From NewsOK Watchdog;

March 28, 2010

Oklahoma law releases 40,000 state worker addresses for mailings

Terrill has won the group’s support again this year because he is the House author of Senate Bill 1753, which would exempt dates of birth of public employees from the Open Records Act.

Since House Bill 2245 went into effect in June, a spreadsheet of all state workers’ home addresses has twice been e-mailed to direct mail companies hired by OPEA, according to Office of State Finance contracts and e-mails obtained by The Oklahoman.

The confidentiality agreements call for written confirmation that the mailing list has been destroyed within five days of the mailing. The Office of State Finance has no record of those written confirmations.

[. . .] For his work to provide the state employee mailing list to the association, OPEA named Terrill its “Legislator of the Year” for the 2009 year.

“Representative Terrill has shown himself to be a friend of state employees and OPEA by passing HB 2245,” said Connie Stockton, the group’s president, in a news release announcing Terrill’s honor.

Read more: http://www.newsok.com/article/3449654#ixzz0jWdOOk3C

Oklahoma lawmaker Randy Terrill to return 2010 campaign money

Read more: http://www.newsok.com/oklahoma-lawmaker-randy-terrill-to-return-2010-campaign-money/article/3449649#ixzz0jWgIH16m

The Oklahoma Public Employees Association‘s political action committee gave him a $5,000 check last year that was labeled “campaign contribution.” The check was made out to Terrill individually — not his campaign. Terrill deposited the check Oct. 21 in an account for his 2010 campaign, according to a bank deposit slip provided by Terrill.

[. . .]State law requires candidates to register campaign committees with the Ethics Commission within 10 days of receiving $500 or more in donations. The Ethics Commission has no such record for Terrill’s 2010 campaign.

Terrill reported three donations from OPEA’s committee totaling $5,000 in his 2008 campaign finance reports, but did not report the $5,000 donation from 2009. OPEA’s committee reported the donation in its Ethics Commission filings.

Terrill filed statements of inactivity showing no donations or expenditures to his 2008 campaign for all four reporting periods in 2009. However, he said Friday he received donations during that time and would file an amended report including those donations in his 2008 campaign report. Terrill said he doesn’t believe those donations were designated for his 2010 campaign, but that the donations would be returned if they were.

Terrill also said he didn’t know how much money is in the bank account for his 2010 campaign. He also said he could not provide contributor statements that would show which campaign — his 2008 or 2010 committees — the donations were intended for.

Ethics laws require contributor statements to accompany all campaign donations in excess of $50. The statements are not filed with the Ethics Commission, but committees are required to keep the statements for their records.

Read more: http://www.newsok.com/oklahoma-lawmaker-randy-terrill-to-return-2010-campaign-money/article/3449649#ixzz0jWe57SX5

Okla. Highway Patrol Trooper Ronnie Sites -Thank You!

OKMULGEE – An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper accused of stomping a handcuffed woman under arrest in a November 2008 incident in Henryetta has been ordered to resign from the patrol as a result of a court hearing on Friday.

[. . .]Giulioli said Rowland, who appeared before Special Judge Cynthia Pickering in Okmulgee on Friday, entered a “blind plea” – a no-contest plea – to a misdemeanor assault and battery charge.

In addition to having to resign from the patrol and give up his CLEET certification, Rowland was handed a one-year deferred jail term, plus he has to pay nearly $800 in fines and court costs, the prosecutor said.

The trooper was accused of kicking Dana Michall Walls, 35, of Tulsa several times in the chest on Nov. 21, 2008, as she lay outside of Carolina’s Trail Club in Henryetta. He claimed she was intoxicated
and had spit on him.

The beating was captured on the trooper’s vehicle dashboard camera, in addition to the dashboard camera of a backup trooper.

According to authorities, the charge against the trooper was not filed by Walls, but came as a result of eyewitness accounts by other officers at the scene.

It was Highway Patrol Trooper Ronnie Sites who reported the abuse.  Even though this sort of action is no more than we would expect from an officer of the law, we know that many factors work against it, in police work as well as any other vocation.   A big thank you goes to this officer for doing the right thing.  I hope that there are many more like you!

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20100326_12_0_OKMULG121828