Recently added articles from Narcotics Enforcement & Prevention Digest:

House Panel Backs $1B Hike For DOJ, Targets Drug Interdiction at Border

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The House version of the Justice Department budget for fiscal 2008 calls for a $1 billion increase in appropriations, citing a rising rate of violent crime that has resulted from six years of Bush Administration erosion of federal support for state and local law enforcement. The bill, HR ...

COPS JUMPS BY 34% WITH MOST OF HIKE FOR HIRING

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The Justice Department appropriation for fiscal 2008 recommends an increase of 34 percent for a revived Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. More than half of the $184 million increase would be allocated to hiring officers to reinforce state and local police ...

METH PROGRAMS WOULD CONTINUE AT '07 LEVEL

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The House subcommittee bill rejected President Bush's proposal to eliminate funding for meth programs, directing that appropriations continue at current levels through September 2008. The bill provides $20 million to maintain DEA Mobile Enforcement Teams (MET), which the president ...

6% HIKE FOR DEA AIMS AT BORDER INTERDICTION

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The House bill calls for a 6 percent increase to more than $2 billion in outlays for the Drug Enforcement Administration with emphasis on Southwest border interdiction and intelligence gathering. About one-fifth of the new money would be directed to attack poly-drug trafficking ...

JUVENILE JUSTICE BUDGET RISES 18%

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... House appropriators recommended an increase of 18 percent in the juvenile justice budget for fiscal 2008, boosting spending $61 million to $400 million. The subcommittee on Justice Department appropriations in reporting a budget bill, HR 3093, rejected President Bush's recommendation to ...

VIDEO PUTS COMMAND IN CONTROL AT CRIME SITE

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The University of Maryland's Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering is in the advanced research stage of a video system that would put police command centers in direct contact with crime scenes to improve control of officers in the field. A police cruiser at the scene would provide a ...

CHEAP, FATAL HEROIN MIX ATTRACTS TEXAS MINORS

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The Dallas Police Department has warned federal authorities about a new cheap form of narcotics crossing the border from Mexico that is believed to have contributed to overdose deaths of more than 20 youths since 2006. Officers in the department's Narcotics Division said the drug known ...

DRUG USERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE URBAN

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported drug users in counties are more likely to live in urban communities than in non-urban areas. Regardless of race or ethnicity, the survey found a lower percentage of persons living in non-metropolitan counties use illicit drugs and ...

1/3 IN FIRST-TIME REHAB ARE DAILY SUBSTANCE ABUSERS

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said one-third of individual in treatment for the first time are daily users of alcohol or illegal drugs. The agency said 46 percent of individuals in rehabilitation are receiving their first treatment while 44 percent have ...

PASSENGER IN STOPPED CAR CAN BLOCK SEARCH

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The Supreme Court decided 4th Amendment protections against illegal searches and seizures extend to passengers in a vehicle. The court said a passenger in a vehicle stopped by police would feel constrained from leaving the scene, which is effectively an illegal seizure. "When a ...

1st Circuit: WARRANT MISIDENTIFIES DRUG, BUT STANDS UP

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... Events that substantially occur as a confidential informant claimed despite misidentification of the trafficked drug are sufficient to form the basis for a legal search, warrant, ruled the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. The court said the informant's tip wasn't 100 percent accurate, but ...

2nd Circuit: MINIMAL CULPABILITY BARS ASSET SEIZURE

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the government's seizure of a wife's half-interest in real estate despite her guilty plea for operating a marijuana grow operation. Although Kathleen van Hofe pled guilty and received a nine-month suspended sentence, the appellate court found her ...

9th Circuit: WARRANTLESS SEARCH IS LEGAL IN BID FOR ARREST

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... Police with an arrest warrant, but without a search warrant, can legally conduct a search when they believe the fugitive is present in a residence, said the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel rejected the argument of Ronald Diaz that police violated the 4th Amendment when ...

10th Circuit: OFFICER KEEPS IMMUNITY IN TESTING FOR SOBRIETY

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... An officer maintains qualified immunity for arresting a motorist who refused a sobriety test, ruled the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. A circuit panel reversed a $1 million civil rights judgment against Colorado State Trooper Kevin Turner. A district court jury concluded the ...

Minnesota: WARRANTLESS SEARCH BY DRUG CANINE IS LEGAL

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that police could legally use a drug-sniffing dog outside the entrance of a residence without a warrant or probable cause. The court said an individual has no expectation of privacy in an area that is easily accessible by the public. Further, ...

Pennsylvania: PRELIMINARY HEARING EVIDENCE IS PUBLIC

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided evidence presented in preliminary hearings is a public record even if the evidence is not introduced at trial. The court said judges have discretion to withhold or limit access to judicial records under certain circumstances, but ...

California: LAWMAKERS BACK EASIER SENTENCES FOR FELONY

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The Senate and Assembly have each approved bills, SB 110 and AB 160, with minor differences that would reduce penalties for some felonies and give judges more discretion in sentencing offenders. Both bills create a sentencing commission that would set new guidelines for courts. The ...

Connecticut: LEGISLATURE BACKS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... The legislature completed action and sent to the governor a bill to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. The bill allows a physician who pays a $25 registration fee to certify an adult patient's use of marijuana ...

Missouri: DRUG DEALING PENALTIES RISE TO LIFE SENTENCE

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... Governor Matt Blunt signed a bill, SB 198, that sets a life sentence for the sale of drugs near a park, ...

Nevada: JUSTICES BACK EASING OF DRUG SENTENCES

Jun 29, 2007; Anonymous ... Chief Justice Bill Maupin and Associate Justice Jim Hardesty asked the legislature to give the courts more discretion in drug sentencing and for the state to increase funding for drug and mental health treatment. The Supreme Court justices in testimony before the ...