This week, the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and
the Administration of Justice continued to hold hearings on crime reduction,
with panelists speaking about domestic violence and sexual assault, technology
issues encountered by law enforcement, and leveraging technology to reduce
crime. The hearings were held over three days via teleconference. Each
teleconference featured a panel of expert witnesses who provided testimony and,
subsequently, answered questions from the Commissioners.
On Tuesday, April 14, the Commission received testimony from
Matthew Gamette, Director of Forensic Services, Idaho State Police; Kim
Garrett, CEO of Palomar, Oklahoma City’s Family Justice Center; Richard Hertel,
Prosecutor for Ripley County, Indiana, and; Robert Hawkins, Muscogee Creek
Nation Police Chief.
Testimony and discussions focused on preventing and reducing
domestic violence and sexual assault. Director Gamette addressed the issue of
forensic resources: “[I]n this country, for every one case we report, we get
1.5 cases back into the laboratory. To solve DNA backlogs, we need more
scientists, bigger facilities, and funding. Turnaround time is directly
proportional to lab staffing.” In response to a question regarding reports of
increased allegations of domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, CEO Garrett
stated that Oklahoma City had experienced a 28 percent increase in domestic
violence calls to police and detailed the City’s response to the crisis. Mr.
Hertel spoke about the lack of criminal charges brought in domestic violence
and sexual assault cases, either because of underreporting or case attrition.
He advocated for a victim-centered approach to prosecutions. Chief Hawkins
detailed the complexities of prosecuting domestic violence and sexual assault
cases under tribal law and the challenges tribal governments face in providing
essential services for victims.
On Wednesday, April 15, in a two-part session on technology
issues encountered by law enforcement, the Commission heard testimony from
Darrin Jones, Executive Assistant Director for Science and Technology for the
FBI; Cyrus R. Vance Jr., District Attorney for New York County (New York);
Chuck Cohen, Vice President of the National White Collar Crime Center; Bryan
Stirling, Director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and; Todd Craig,
Chief of the Office of Security Technology for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
In part one of the hearing, testimony and discussion focused
on lawful access and the dark web. DA Vance and Mr. Jones both stressed the
need for federal legislation to achieve lawful access. Mr. Jones stated, “The
impact and magnitude of the lawful access crisis in the United States has grown
to a point where the public safety trade-off to the citizens of this country
can and should no longer be made privately and independently in the corporate
boardrooms of tech companies.” Vice President Cohen discussed the corruption of
technology by criminals: “[W]hat is true is criminals tend to be early adopters
of emerging technology and to subvert emerging technology to facilitate and
obfuscate criminal activities. And this is especially true for online child
sexual exploitation and online sex trafficking.”
The second part of the hearing focused on contraband
cellphones and other technology issues concerning security in jails and prisons.
Director Stirling and Chief Craig stressed that inmates, although physically
removed from the public, are still able to continue to commit crimes if they
have access to a cellphone, such as drug dealing, gang activity, and even
murder – as was the case in a fatal shooting orchestrated behind bars of a
correctional officer whose responsibility it was to remove contraband
cellphones from prison.
On Thursday, April 16, the Commission heard testimony from
Tom Ruocco, Chief of Criminal Law Enforcement, Texas Department of Public
Safety; Oxford (Alabama) Police Chief Bill Partridge; Christopher Amon, Chief
of the Firearms Operations Division for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms, and Explosives, and; David LeValley, Assistant Chief, Detroit Police Department.
Testimony and discussion focused on leveraging technology to
aid law enforcement. Chief Ruocco discussed the need to identify and integrate
“new technologies and methodologies into [law enforcement] procedures and work
flows.” Chief Partridge explained that because smaller jurisdictions do not
have the same technology capacity as larger departments, a regional model of
crime centers can be a force multiplier for fighting crime in all areas of a
county. Chief Amon discussed the National Integrated Ballistic Information
Network (NIBIN), which compares ballistic imaging of bullet casings and
provides actionable leads to law enforcement. He stressed that due to the high
probability of shooters to reoffend, law enforcement must be able to identify
them swiftly. “[NIBIN] allows investigators to identify crime guns using
cutting edge technology and trace their origin quickly.” Assistant Chief
LeValley spoke about Project Green Light Detroit, the first public-private
community partnership of its kind. The Project is a mix of real-time crime
fighting and community policing aimed at improving neighborhood safety and also
while revitalizing and growing local business.
For more information on the Commission, please visit:
https://www.justice.gov/ag/presidential-commission-law-enforcement-and-administration-justice.
Audio recordings and transcripts of the hearings will be
posted online once available.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment