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| NEWS > 21 February 2006 |
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Police chief's comments on 'gr
CHILDREN'S charities last night condemned a senior police officer who claimed people who had sex with girls of 13 or over should not be classed as paedophiles.
Chief Constable Terry Grange, from Dyfed-Powys Police, said he believed paedophiles should be defined as men who had sex with pre-pubescents. The closer a child was to 16 - the age of consent - the more of a "grey area" it became, he said.
He later sought to clarify his position, insisting he was referring only to 13, 14 and 15-year-old girls and teenage boys. Mr Grange said he would endorse the prosecution of an... Read more
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Bloomberg - USA
21 February 2006
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Los Angeles Turns to GPS Devic
Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Los Angeles police have surrendered to their city's obsession with televised car chases. They're hoping now that new technology will mean safer pursuits, fewer accidents and even fewer getaways.
The LAPD will become the first department in the U.S. to adopt a Global Positioning System device to track fleeing drivers. The gadget, manufactured by StarChase LLC, will be fired onto a suspect car, then will transmit location information to officers who can stay a safe distance behind.
The LAPD, which has averaged 660 car chases a year for the past six years, half of which end in a crash, is trying to reduce the number in a city that has turned high-speed pursuits into a lucrative business and surefire ratings booster for television stations.
``All we can do is add tools to our tool bag to mitigate and stop car chases quicker,'' said LAPD Lieutenant Paul Vernon in an interview. ``The number of car pursuits has been pretty steady. It's the popularity that has spiked and been pushed to the extent that it has become a spectator sport.''
In 2005, two bystanders were killed during high-speed pursuits. The average chase ends within a minute and only two to three times a year will a pursuit last longer, according to Vernon. ``Of course the O.J. Simpson pursuit stands out as one of those times,'' he said.
StarChase the Answer?
The LAPD in the third quarter of this year will start placing StarChase units in the grill of some squad cars. Each unit can fire two GPS tracking devices containing a battery and a radio transmitter embedded in an epoxy compound. The tag affixes to the suspect's vehicle and transmits its location via satellite to police headquarters. The system is approved by the National Security Agency.
``Our system will enable police to choose a deliberate strategy, where police choose the place and time when they are going to stop a vehicle,'' said Sean Sawyer, chief executive officer of StarChase, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. ``They can think ahead instead of playing catch up. Today they are at the mercy of suspect drivers.''
Currently, the system has been tested only in situations where vehicles weren't moving. Under those circumstances the device could be attached successfully at an average distance of 30 feet, according to Sawyer. The system will be tested on moving vehicles when the LAPD installs them on some of their cars.
Chases Boost Ratings
The Los Angeles Police Department, which first started flying helicopters in 1956, uses the aircraft to chase suspect drivers.
``For those departments who have a helicopter, the new GPS system isn't as vital,'' said Vernon. ``But not everybody has one. Also helicopters can't go forever and they can be limited by weather, so the GPS system can help with that.''
The LAPD isn't alone in using helicopters to follow suspect drivers. Many local television stations, including KTLA, a Tribune Co. station, rent choppers to follow the action and broadcast the high-speed pursuits.
``The amount of viewers varies, depending on what time of the day it is and how long the chase is,'' said Jeff Wald, news director at KTLA. ``But it's definite that there is a dramatic increase in ratings.''
The station, which broadcast its first car chase in 1990, airs as many as three a week, yet ``sometimes there aren't any to broadcast for a whole month,'' Wald said.
KTLA's helicopter is equipped with a $400,000 Cineflex high- definition camera. The camera can read license plates from 5,000 feet and is gyro-stabilized, so that the picture remains perfectly steady even if the helicopter is pitching.
Wake-Up Call
In May 1998, Daniel Jones, a 42-year-old maintenance worker who was HIV-positive and unhappy about his health care, shot himself after setting his car and dog on fire on one of the local freeway overpasses. The footage was broadcast live during an interruption of a regular children's program.
``The Daniel Jones incident really gave us a wake-up call and made us think about what we are putting on television,'' Wald said. ``These days we really very rarely break during the day or evening programming.''
William Bratton, who became LAPD chief in 2002, has tried to persuade television stations ever since to stop airing pursuits.
``The media, to their credit, have taken some responsibility in not unnecessarily broadcasting these pursuits live,'' Vernon said. ``There's definitely been a decrease in these being broadcast.''
The new GPS system is one of several tools Bratton has employed to cut down on car chases and make them safer. Today, officers aren't allowed to chase somebody for a traffic violation or misdemeanor or to fire at a moving vehicle if it doesn't pose a threat.
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