Lone Star Joint Task Force Executes 25 Year Old Warrant

Larry Lou McCumber, 66, was arrested by the United States Marshals Service Oklahoma City Metro Fugitive Squad (OCMFS) in Oklahoma City, OK.  An arrest warrant was issued pursuant to an investigation by the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), where more than 25 years ago McCumber was indicted on allegations of robbery and threat to a business.

On January 8, 2014, members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force initiated an investigation in the search for McCumber.  Subsequent to the investigation, task force officers discovered that McCumber had previously fled from San Antonio, TX to Oklahoma City, OK.  Members of the LSFTF then contacted members of the OCMFS in Oklahoma City, OK for assistance in locating and apprehending McCumber.  Yesterday, task force officers determined through investigative efforts that McCumber was residing at a house in the 3800 block of Hiddleston Circle, in Oklahoma City, OK.  Task force officers conducted a brief surveillance and approached the residence.  Task force officers made contact with McCumber’s spouse, identified themselves, entered the residence, made contact with McCumber, and took him into custody without incident.

On April 20, 1988, McCumber was formally indicted by a Grand Jury in Bexar County on allegations of robbery and threat to a business.  A warrant for McCumber’s arrest was issued the same day.  On January 22, 1988, McCumber allegedly entered a hotel in San Antonio, walked to the front desk, and handed a note to the clerk demanding money.  McCumber then placed his hand in his jacket pocket and motioned to indicate he had a weapon.  Once the clerk handed McCumber the money, he verbally threatened her not to do anything, and he ran from the hotel.

Robert R. Almonte, United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas, stated, “More than 25 years ago a warrant was issued for McCumber’s arrest and more than 25 years later he’s finally in custody.  The collaborative effort between the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and the Oklahoma City Metro Fugitive Squad proves that our task force officers are good at what they do…pursue fugitives and put them behind bars.”

Members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force:

New Braunfels Police Department

San Antonio Police Department

San Antonio Independent School District Police Department

Bexar County Sheriff’s Office

Comal County Sheriff’s Office

Bexar County Fire Marshal’s Office

Bexar County District Attorney’s Office

Texas Office of The Attorney General

Texas Department of Public Safety

Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Office of the Inspector General

Immigration & Customs Enforcement – Office of Detention & Removal

U.S. Marshals Service

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Florida Alert! Stop Discrimination against Gun Owners by Insurance Companies

Senate Bill 424 by Senator Tom Lee (R-Brandon) is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on Tuesday, January 14, at 2:00 pm.

SB-424 is a bill to stop insurance companies from discriminating against gun owners. Click here to view the bill text  SB-424

Please E-MAIL Committee members and ask them to SUPPORT SB-424

IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT:  SUPPORT SB-424 -- Stop Discrimination of Gun Owners

(To send your message to all just Block and Copy All email addresses into the "Send To" box)

simmons.david.web@flsenate.gov,
benacquisto.lizbeth.web@flsenate.gov,
clemens.jeff.web@flsenate.gov,
detert.nancy.web@flsenate.gov,
portilla.miguel.web@flsenate.gov,
hays.alan.web@flsenate.gov,
lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov,
margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov,
montford.bill.web@flsenate.gov,
negron.joe.web@flsenate.gov,
richter.garrett.web@flsenate.gov,
ring.jeremy.web@flsenate.gov,

Committee members need to hear from you.  There are cases of insurance companies refusing to provide insurance to gun owners because they own guns, as well as cases where applications for insurance contain questions about gun ownership.  SB-424 will stop such practices.

Please e-mail Committee Members today.

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Lush Life - Constructing Organized Crime in the UK

Lush Life: Constructing Organized Crime in the UK opens 'the box marked do not open, too difficult to deal with', in the words of one Assistant Chief Constable, to explore the contested notion of British organized crime. The first book to trace the history and policing of British organized crime, it addresses how the interlocking processes of de-industrialisation, globalisation and neo-liberalism have normalised activity that was previously the exclusive domain of professional criminals.

With both historical and sociological analyses, informed by the author's long term connection to an ethnographic site called 'Dogtown', a composite of several overlapping neighbourhoods in East London, this book critically addresses cliches such as criminal underworlds and the notion of the criminal firm. It considers the precursors to British organized crime, as well as the careers of famous crime families such as the Krays and the Richardsons, alongside the emergence of specialised law enforcement institutions to deal with this newly discovered threat. It also focuses on the various ways in which violence functions within organised crime, the role of rumour in formulating order within crime networks, the social construction of organised crime, the development of the cosmopolitan criminal and the all-inclusive nature of the contemporary criminal community of practice. Permeating throughout is a discussion of the flexible nature of the criminal market, the constructed nature of the notion of organised crime, and the normalisation of criminality.

Underpinned by rich, context-specific examples, case studies, stories, and other qualitative evidence based on ethnographic research and interviews, Lush Life follows on from the author's work on normal crime (DOING THE BUSINESS), and professional crime (Bad Business: Professional Crime in Modern Britain).

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DEA Official Joins Newly Formed National Commission on Forensic Sciences

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today announced appointments to a newly created National Commission on Forensic Science.

Members of the commission will work to improve the practice of forensic science by developing guidance concerning the intersections between forensic science and the criminal justice system.  The commission also will work to develop policy recommendations for the U.S. Attorney General, including uniform codes for professional responsibility and requirements for formal training and certification.

The commission is co-chaired by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole and Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick D. Gallagher.  Nelson Santos, deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Forensic Sciences at the Drug Enforcement Administration, and John M. Butler, special assistant to the NIST director for forensic science, serve as vice-chairs.

“I appreciate the commitment each of the commissioners has made and look forward to working with them to strengthen the validity and reliability of the forensic sciences and enhance quality assurance and quality control,” said Deputy Attorney General Cole. “Scientifically valid and accurate forensic analysis supports all aspects of our justice system.”

The commission includes federal, state and local forensic science service providers; research scientists and academics; law enforcement officials; prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges; and other stakeholders from across the country.  This breadth of experience and expertise reflects the many different entities that contribute to forensic science practice in the U.S. and will ensure these broad perspectives are represented on the commission and in its work.

“This new commission represents an extremely broad range of expertise and skills,” said Under Secretary Gallagher.  “It will help ensure that forensic science is supported by the strongest possible science-based evidence gathering, analysis and measurement.

“This latest and most impressive collaboration between the Department of Justice and the National Institute of Standards and Technology will help ensure that the forensic sciences are supported by the most rigorous standards available—a foundational requirement in a nation built on the credo of ‘justice for all,’” said John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The following commissioners were chosen from a pool of more than 300 candidates:

Suzanne Bell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, West Virginia University; Frederick Bieber, Ph.D., Medical Geneticist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School;
Thomas Cech, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder; Cecelia Crouse, Ph.D., Director, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Crime Laboratory; Gregory Czarnopys, Deputy Assistant Director, Forensic Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; M. Bonner Denton, Ph.D., Professor, University of Arizona; Vincent Di Maio, M.D., Consultant in Forensic Pathology; Troy Duster, Ph.D., Chancellor’s Professor and Senior Fellow, Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, University of California, Berkeley; Jules Epstein, Associate Professor of Law, Widener University; Stephen Fienberg, Ph.D., Maurice Falk University Professor of Statistics and Social Science, Carnegie Mellon University; Andrea Ferreira-Gonzalez, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology and Director Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Virginia Commonwealth University; John Fudenberg, Assistant Coroner, Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner, Clark County, Nevada; S. James Gates, Jr., Ph.D., University System Regents Professor and John S. Toll Professor of Physics, University of Maryland; Dean Gialamas, Crime Laboratory Director, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Scientific Services Bureau; Paul Giannelli, Distinguished University Professor and Albert J Weatherhead III and Richard W. Weatherhead Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University; Hon. Barbara Hervey, Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; Susan Howley, Public Policy Director, National Center for Victims of Crime; Ted Hunt, Chief Trial Attorney, Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Kansas City, Missouri; Linda Jackson, Director, Virginia Department of Forensic Science;  John Kacavas, United States Attorney, District of New Hampshire; Pamela King, Assistant State Public Defender, Minnesota State Public Defender Office; Marc LeBeau, Ph.D., Senior Forensic Scientist, Scientific Analysis Section, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Julia Leighton, General Counsel, Public Defender Service, District of Columbia; Hon. Bridget Mary McCormack, Justice, Michigan Supreme Court; Peter Neufeld, Co-Director, Innocence Project, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law; Phil Pulaski, Chief of Detectives, New York City Police Department; Hon. Jed Rakoff, Senior United States District Judge, Southern District of New York; Matthew Redle, Sheridan County and Prosecuting Attorney, Sheridan, Wyoming; Michael “Jeff” Salyards, Ph.D., Executive Director, Defense Forensic Science Center, Department of the Army; and Ryant Washington, Sheriff, Fluvanna County Sherriff’s Office, Fluvanna, Virginia.

Ex-Officio Members:

David Honey, Ph.D., Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Science and Technology and Director of Science and Technology, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Marilyn Huestis, Ph.D., Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health; Gerald LaPorte, Acting Director, Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, National Institute of Justice; Patricia Manzolillo, Laboratory Director, Forensic Laboratory Services, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Frances Schrotter, Senior Vice President and Chief Operation Officer, American National Standards Institute; Kathryn Turman, Program Director, Office for Victim Assistance, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Mark Weiss, Ph.D., Division Director, Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, National Science Foundation.

The first meeting of the Commission will be held February 3-4, 2014, at 810 7th Street, N.W., Washington, DC.

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#Chicago is a Legal Loser on the Gun Front, Again #GunRights

Since the death of communism in most of the places where it once prevailed, North Korea and Cuba function mainly as educational exhibits for an irrelevant and unsuccessful ideology. When it comes to the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, the city of Chicago fills a similar role.

The city is famous for some of the strictest gun laws in the country. In 1982, it approved a near-total ban on handguns. In 1992, it outlawed "assault weapons." Mayors and aldermen never tired of railing against firearms.

In 2008, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in Washington, D.C., it was clear that Chicago was on what liberals often refer to, in other contexts, as the wrong side of history. But the people in City Hall were either not smart enough or not honest enough to make peace with change. They preferred to emulate the cavalry troops in "The Charge of the Light Brigade," who rallied to the call, "Charge for the guns!" despite the certainty of defeat.

In the 2008 verdict, the justices said the Second Amendment upholds an individual right to possess firearms for self-defense. But the city fought a legal challenge to its handgun ban — only to lose, predictably, in the Supreme Court.

Besides being a legal and policy setback, it was a loss for taxpayers, who had to pay not only the cost of defending the ordinance but the cost of challenging it. Chicago was obliged to pay $1.4 million to the National Rifle Association, which won the lawsuit.

Did this expensive indignity persuade then-Mayor Richard M. Daley to abandon the fight? Ha. He pushed through a new ordinance intended to demonize and discourage gun ownership as much as he could get away with — which, as became apparent, was not very much.

The measure required gun owners to get at least five hours of training, including one hour at a shooting range. In a novel twist, though, it outlawed "shooting galleries, firearm ranges or any other place where firearms are discharged." The city claimed proper training is vital while hindering residents from getting it.

This section prompted another lawsuit, which argued that the right to own a gun for protection was of limited value if owners had no chance to achieve and maintain proficiency in using one — and that they shouldn't have to leave the city to comply with the city's very own rules. A federal appeals court agreed.

Judge Ilana Rovner said, "The ordinance admittedly was designed to make gun ownership as difficult as possible." But she noted pointedly that the Supreme Court has upheld "the Second Amendment right to possess a gun in the home for self-defense and the city must come to terms with that reality."

The same ordinance dictated that every gun be registered (even though Illinois already required every gun owner to register with the state). The courts never got to consider the constitutionality of that requirement, because the General Assembly passed a law overruling it.

A federal appeals court, however, did order the state to grant permits to carry concealed handguns, as every other state does. In short order, Chicago went from completely banning handguns to having to let licensed owners pack them in public.

Defeats don't get much more total than that. But like the Washington Generals, who get beat by the Harlem Globetrotters every night, the city stubbornly insists on entering contests it is bound to lose.

The latest was Monday, when a federal district judge invalidated the city's ban on the sale or transfer of firearms. The ordinance makes it illegal to operate a federally licensed gun shop or even for a father to give a gun to his son.

As usual with Chicago gun laws, it went too far. "The ban on gun sales and transfers," wrote Judge Edmond Chang, "prevents Chicagoans from fulfilling, within the limits of Chicago, the most fundamental prerequisite of legal gun ownership — that of simple acquisition."

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid attention to the Supreme Court's reasoning on the Second Amendment. But Chicago politicians have let their hostility toward guns and gun owners blind them to the obvious.

The old proverb says there's no education in the second kick of a mule. But for some people, once is not enough.

Thanks to Steve Chapman.

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