Embed: DOJ’s 71ppg PDF on Serial Murder

By BitcoDavid

 

Several years ago, I did a paper on the differences between the 3 major types of mass murderers. Serial Killers, Spree Killers and Thrill Killers. The terms are not interchangeable – the three types have succinctly different motivations, methodologies and pathologies. Research for that piece came from the DSM-IV, and from the DOJ. Recently, I found this PDF document on the Web. It’s a long read, but is the bleeding edge of law enforcement research into the phenomenon.

View this document on Scribd

It is worth noting that none of the terms apply to politically or religiously motivated killers, although in some cases, both the Serials and the Spree types have reported religion as a motive. Generally speaking, that is viewed as a common symptom of these illnesses, but the feeling is that a pathological murderer would kill regardless of religion.

Both this report and the information in the DSM – my previous paper, for that matter, as well – did not therefore, deal with the issue of terrorism. So, although the outcomes may be the same, there is a significant difference between – for example – Harris and Klebold, and the Tsarnaev brothers.

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

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Update on Englewood Case from H.E.A.R.D.

By BitcoDavid

http://www.behearddc.org/

This came from HEARD’s FaceBook page. If you haven’t yet done so, and you’re on FaceBook, you can shoot on over there, and give ‘em a “Like.” HEARD – Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf – is an organization that works tirelessly to aid both the Deaf community and the wrongfully convicted. They have been a wonderful resource for DeafInPrison.com

The Justice Department announced yesterday that it has reached settlement agreements with the City of Englewood and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The agreements resolve allegations that these law enforcement agencies failed to provide effective communication to individuals who are deaf, including crime victims, witnesses, members of the public, arrestees, and detainees. These law enforcement agencies came forward voluntarily to enter into these agreements while the Department’s investigation was ongoing, so no finding of violation was made against either entity. The agreements also resolve a private lawsuit brought by individuals who are deaf, the Colorado Association of the Deaf, and the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition. The agreements are very comprehensive and may serve as models throughout the nation’s law enforcement and detention communities.

People interested in finding out more about the ADA and the Department’s settlement agreements with the City of Englewood and Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office can access the ADA website at ADA.gov, or call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 (voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).

Again, you can go here to find out more online.

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

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When Will They Ever Learn…

By Jean F. Andrews

As The Crackerhead Crumbles

In their popular 1960’s folk song, Peter, Paul and Mary sing the ballad, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” In the ballad, is the echoing refrain, “When Will They Ever Learn,” that points a firm finger at a society engaged in the Viet Nam War, wondering sadly, Where have all the flowers, soldiers and graveyards gone?  This sweet refrain, can also be applied to the many police departments across the country in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Colorado who repeatedly refuse to give deaf suspects and inmates sign language interpreters during questioning as well as during important events during the arrest and jail intake, processing, orientation and during needed educational and rehabilitation services. Consequently, across the country, police departments have repeated lost legal cases and have had to pay hefty settlements costing the tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mary Travers’ obituary page. Examiner.com

There is an easy solution.

Simply make it the police department policy to do the following as recommended by the Department of Justice.

A police officer, upon discovering an individual is deaf, by law, must offer the individual an opportunity to request a sign language interpreter. One way the officer may do so is by providing the deaf individual with a visual representation (illustrated below) allowing the deaf individual to make a choice. It depicts the ADA recognized symbol for sign language and includes two hands signing “yes” and “no”. The deaf individual can select “yes” or “no” by pointing to, circling, or signing the choice.

Deaf individuals too would be wise to copy this visual and keep in their wallet in the event they are stopped by a policeman.

 

 

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

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Wasted Lives – Our Children Die in Adult Jails

By BitcoDavid

In the 1990s, a wave of fear tore through the fabric of American culture. We were terrified by the idea of non-prosecutable children committing murder and other violent crimes. We were constantly being told that gangs – most of which were Latin in origin – were recruiting minors, and the Media was rife with stories of random killings and armed robberies committed by children.

A fearful and punitive nation had to react, and react we did.

Richard Brown’s suicide note. Georgia Alliance for Children

By the turn of the century, the idea of children being tried and convicted as adults was no longer news. Teens and tweens – sentenced to LWOP and even death, didn’t horrify us as much as the idea of an arbitrary phantom youth wielding a Tec-9.

On October 19th, 2007, Ashley Smith – while allegedly being monitored on video – tore some strips of cloth from her bed sheets, wrapped them around her neck, and slid off the bed into oblivion. She had spent the past year at an adult facility in Canada – most of that time in solitary. Guards who swear they were watching her, didn’t find the body for 4 hours. She was 19.

In Georgia, Richard Brown had just turned 15 when he decided to break into a Little League concession stand. Georgia sent him to a youth facility, but it was over a hundred miles away. His family couldn’t afford to come visit him. Left by authorities to his own devices, Brown was bullied and antagonized by the other teenaged inmates. He was deprived of food and sexually assaulted. Six days before Christmas, he scrawled out a hand written note, and hanged himself from the ceiling fire suppressor.

Ashley Smith spent almost a year in Segregation before hanging herself at 19. Photo: The Star – Canada.

According to the DOJ, 110 youths, aged 15 to 17 killed themselves while in custody in the 4 years between 1995 and 1999. A staggering 70% of them were being held for non-violent offenses. However, all the young people in that report were detained at youth facilities.

The NYT reports,  that teenagers are 36 times more likely to commit suicide in an adult jail than those in juvenile facilities. The idea of holding minors in adult jails until the youth authorities can decide what to do with them is proving to be an abysmal failure, as well. Forty-eight percent of youth suicides in adult facilities take place in the first week of incarceration.

I debated whether to use this picture. I finally decided to go with it. My apology to any who find it offensive. Photo: CharonBoat.com. You might find the comments interesting.

Psychologists tell us the the Human brain doesn’t complete its development until the mid to late 20s. Children aren’t just small adults. They react much differently to stimuli than do their adult counterparts. One such stimulus is solitary confinement. This inhumane and draconian punishment destroys adults – imagine what it must be like to be 16, and locked away from all Human contact.

Furthermore, Children are often held for much different reasons than are adults. Incorrigibility, truancy and a plethora of psychological and behavioral issues – none of which are actually crimes - can be behind why a minor may find herself in custody. You’re a 15 year-old girl who feels like a misfit at school, and acts out. Next thing you know, you’re in solitary confinement in a Supermax! Or possibly worse – you’re thrown into a population with abusers and hardened criminals.

View this document on Scribd

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

 

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A Suicide In Prison

Times-Picayune archive
An Orleans Parish Prison inmate committed suicide Sunday night despite being on a 24-hour suicide watch, Sheriff Marlin Gusman said Monday.

Individuals who are coping with mental Illness are in need of treatment not incarceration and isolation. Isolation can lead to suicide.That is what happened to William Goetzee, Coast Guard officer who was locked up and not properly supervised. He committed suicide in a New Orleans prison.

Among the areas that the Justice Department has focused on are “shockingly high rates” of violence, as well as suicide prevention measures that are “grossly inadequate” and have most likely resulted in multiple suicides (there have been at least 37 deaths at the jail, including 6 suicides, since January 2006, according to coroners’ reports compiled in a separate lawsuit against the jail). One of the cases cited in the Justice Department report was an unnamed 48-year-old man whose suicide in August 2011 was an “egregious example” of the jail’s inadequacies.

Article in New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/us/a-life-buffeted-by-new-orleanss-ordeals-ends-in-a-troubled-jail.html?hp=

William Goetzee, a Coast Guard officer in New Orleans whose life was intertwined with the city’s ordeals, committed suicide in 2011 in the notorious Orleans Parish Prison.

Also from the Times:

William Widmer for The New York Times
Commander Goetzee, a Coast Guard reservist, died in jail in 2011.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/prisons_and_prisoners/index.html

And finally, there’s this from the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/08/inmate_on_suicide_watch_kills.html

William Goetzee, 48, was arrested Aug. 2 outside federal court after he tried to snatch a gun from a federal security officer. During the attempt to get the gun, he told the officer he wanted to kill himself.

1980-2003 timeline graph of suicide rate in US prisons and jails. For more info:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/shsplj.htm
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This graph shows comparative rates of suicides between county jails and U.S. prisons.

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