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Maurice Clemmons the suspected lone cop killer is dead. He was shot and killed by a Seattle patrol officer who was investigating a stolen car early Tuesday morning.
The police officer came across the stolen car and approached it. He detected movement behind him and recognized the suspect as Clemmons. He ordered him to show his hands and stop. Clemmons wouldn’t – so the police officer shot him several times.
Clemmons had a serious gunshot wound from one of the four officers killed in the coffee-shop shooting. With these additional injuries he died. Police also found a handgun on Clemmons that belonged to one of the slain officers.
He didn’t work alone, he had at least six or seven accomplices to help him escape. Police have these people in custody as well. As earlier reported, Clemmons was charged in Washington state earlier this year with assaulting a police officer and raping a child. Investigators in the sex case said he was motivated by visions that he was Jesus Christ and that the world was on the verge of the apocalypse.
Today the world did end for him and now the streets are safer.
It was a horrific scene. Four police officers were massacred while sitting in a coffee shop in Lakewood, Washington. They were preparing for their shift when Maurice Clemmons walked into the coffee shop. He went to the counter as if to order coffee but then turned and opened fire on the police officers.
The officers were in full uniform and wearing bulletproof vests but it appeared that Clemmons planned the shooting and executed the police officers. However, the motive is unknown as to why Clemmons shot the police officers.
Currently, the police may have a location for Clemmons. He may be injured and seeking medical assistance. Clemmons’ criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. However, he has been released numerous times from custody despite the danger he poses to the community.
Recently, Clemmons had been in jail in Pierce County for the past several months on a pending charge of second-degree rape of a child. Six days ago, he was released from custody even though he was wanted on a fugitive warrant out of Arkansas and has felony charges in Washington State.
If you have information on Clemmons please contact your local police department. This low-scum criminal has to be caught and put in jail.
Recently, Forbes listed the most dangerous cities in the U.S. They used violent crime statistics from the FBI’s 2008 latest uniform crime report to determine which cities were most dangerous.
According to the FBI, the violent crime category is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Forbes used federal statistics of cities with more than 500,000 residents. Although nationwide crime was down 3.5% in the first six months of 2008, their top ten most dangerous cities were among those identified by the Department of Justice as transit points for Mexican drug cartels.
Run by crime lords like Joaquin Guzman Lorea, these drug gangs and their violent turf wars are spreading into the American Southwest and beyond. Stockton, California listed as number 5 is 500 miles from Tijuana and has seen an uptick in related violent crime. Stockton is a major transit point along the I-5 corridor on the way to Seattle and Vancouver. Most of the crime is drug gangs fighting other drug gangs.
However, the number one most dangerous city is Detroit, Michigan. There have been 1,220 violent crimes committed per 100,000 people. The reason is that this city has a lot of local crime syndicates along with small gangs who tend to compete over territory. Memphis, Tennessee is listed as number two; Miami, Florida is number three and Las Vegas, Nevada is number four.
What all of these cities have in common is the bad economy and lower housing prices. There are many areas that have vacant homes as well as vacant businesses.
According to a local news station in Denver, Colorado, the 18th Judicial District, Colorado’s largest by population, including Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties, accidentally purged hundreds of unresolved misdemeanor cases years before they were due to be reviewed for dismissal.
This represented many criminals who skipped court appearances and included 1,109 similar cases in 2007. One in four of those cases or at least 285 warrants were cancelled by mistake and were not eligible for dismissal under rules established by the 18th Judicial District and District Attorney Carol Chambers.
The Colorado Supreme Court requires unresolved misdemeanor cases be held for no less than four years before documents can be destroyed to save space. An agreement between the 18th Judicial District and District Attorney Chambers required that the most minor traffic offenses with active failure to appear warrants be held for five years. The deal outlined a sliding scale where the most serious misdemeanor cases including DUI, child abuse and drugs charges would be individually reviewed after 10 years. However, because of a “clerical error” these cases were purged out of the system.
The result was that a known criminal who was also an illegal immigrant charged with vehicular homicide was out on the streets. He was known to drive drunk and in September 2009 killed a sixty-nine year old grandmother.
This is what happens when a “clerical” error occurs. Criminals are out on the street and innocent people die. Because of this error, a judge has reissued warrants in some of the 285 prematurely dismissed cases, but other cases appear to be lost forever.
When you are driving during rush-hour traffic, you probably don’t think about the other drivers around you. However, statistics show that there are drivers who are driving without a license. In fact, in Colorado, drivers without valid licenses were involved in 24 percent of crashes last year.
A recent state audit estimates that as many as 225,000 people in Colorado are driving illegally and were involved in nearly one-fourth of all fatal crashes last year. Who are these drivers? They are most likely teenagers, illegal immigrants and people who have lost their license due to driving convictions.
Throughout the years, state legislatures have tried to stop drivers from driving without a license by using several methods. Some states impound vehicles or issue special stickers for the car that has been driven by people without valid licenses. Do these methods work? Obviously not, according to the latest statistics.
So be careful the next time you are driving, that driver next to you may be an unlicensed driver.
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Click it or Ticket campaign in Minnesota has proven to be successful. DPS recently reported that the primary seat belt law has helped the state achieve a record high 90 percent seat belt compliance rate. This is up from 87 percent in 2008.
As a result, motorists’ deaths in Minnesota have declined in 2009. To date, 239 motorists have been killed on Minnesota roads compared to 246 at this time last year. DPS credits this decline to awareness, education and enforcement of the primary law that has changed motorist’s behavior. Law enforcement has seen increased seat belt use for all passengers including back seat passengers. In addition, motorists are buckling up their children in correct child restraints.
Because of the new law that took effect in June 2009, law enforcement can stop motorists for not wearing a seat belt including unbelted passengers. A belt citation is $25 but ends up costing more than $100 when factoring administrative fees. Each year in Minnesota, around 200 unbelted motorists are killed and another 400 unbelted motorists suffer serious, life-altering injuries.
So buckle up Minnesota and click it or you’ll get a ticket.
The FBI is currently using facial recognition technology on millions of motorists. They are comparing driver’s license photos with pictures of convicts by using a high tech analysis of chin widths and nose sizes.
This project is located in Raleigh, North Carolina. State and federal laws allow driver’s license agencies to release records for law enforcement use, and local agencies are able to access to North Carolina’s database. However, the FBI is not yet authorized to collect and store the photos. That means the facial-recognition analysis must be done at the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles.
This gives the FBI literally access to millions of driver’s licenses. The search takes just a couple of hours giving the FBI a virtual line-up by comparing the photos to suspected criminals and fugitives. Facial-recognition software is not entirely new, however the FBI North Carolina project is the first major step in considering expanding use of the technology to find fugitives nationwide. Recently, a fugitive who changed his name and moved to another state was captured by using this technology.
Biometric information is unique to each person and includes fingerprints and DNA. Further biometric information to be tested includes iris patterns in the eye, voices, scent and even a person’s gait.
This type of biometric information offers the FBI access to everyone’s license photo. Should you be concerned about how your driver’s license is being used? Is it right to use your photo for a de-facto law enforcement database? You make the call.
Recently in Chicago four former members of a now disbanded Chicago Police Unit admitted to taking part in home invasions and thefts. Even though these bad cops stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from suspected drug dealers and others, their conduct was unacceptable.
The prosecutor in the case read a 17-page synopsis of what they admitted to doing. The officers pulled over motorists without cause, grabbed their keys and stormed into their homes, falsified reports, pocketed huge sums of money and even shook each other down for money. In fact, they withheld insulin from a diabetic man until he told them where to find the cash.
Several of the former members of this elite drug and gang unit called the Special Operations Section still face charges that include plotting to hire someone to murder another member of the unit to keep him from talking to the government. All of this happened between 2003 and 2005.
Law enforcement is there to serve and protect the community. However, when rogue police officers use their authority to shake down people, steal and rob they are criminals just like any other criminal and should be prosecuted to the full extend of the law.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) recently released the DWI end of summer crackdown report. From August 21st through September 7th statewide DWI arrests resulted in 1,873 DWI arrest or more than 100 DWIs per day. The average alcohol concentration of offenders was 0.16 – twice the legal limit of 0.08.
If you are arrested for DWI you will lose your license for at least 90 days and costs may be as high as $20,000 in fees and increased insurance rates. Sadly, each year in Minnesota up to 200 people are killed in alcohol-related crashes. More than 35,000 people are arrested for DWI.
Along with the DWI crackdown, police also cited 3,035 seat belt non-use citations. The report also stated that of the impaired drivers and their passengers killed in alcohol-related crashes during 2006-2008, more than 70 percent were not wearing seat belts.
Here is the breakdown of DWI arrests statewide:
The Minnesota State Patrol – 284
Minneapolis Police Department 55
St. Paul Police – 49,
Bloomington Police 37,
Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office 31
In greater Minnesota, White Earth Tribal Police arrested 28 motorists for DWI, followed by Rochester Police Department (22), Cass County Sheriff’s Office (19), Mankato Police (19), and Stearns County Sheriff’s Office (18).
The Preliminary 2009 crash facts from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) revealed that none of the four children under age 7 who were killed in crashes were properly restrained. In addition, seven of the 10 children involved in crashes were seriously injured.
That is why DPS is encouraging all parents and caregivers to use correct booster seats for children. Minnesota does have a booster seat law that became effective July 1 of this year. This law states that a child cannot ride in a seat belt alone until they are 8 years old or reach 4 feet 9 inches tall — whichever comes first. DPS recommends keeping a child in a booster seat based on their height rather than their age.
Boosters are for children that have outgrown a forward-facing child seat. This means that a child can use a booster seat who is about 40 pounds and age 4. A booster seat lifts a child up so a seat belt fits properly. Poor seat belt fit can contribute to serious injury — such as internal decapitation — ejection and death in traffic crashes.
Parents and caregivers are encouraged to visit DPS’s website for materials including the “Buckle Up Kids” and “Don’t Skip a Step” brochures that provide detail on how to properly secure a child in a vehicle. Let’s keep our kids safe and secure while riding in a car.
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