August 2008

Have you ever been the victim of a bully? Ever stand silent and let a bully pick on someone?

Most people wouldn’t consider bullying a crime – but it could be creating criminals right before our very eyes.

A study from a group called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids concluded that nearly 60 percent of boys whom researchers classified as bullies in grades 6-9 were convicted of at least one crime by the age of 24. And get this, 40 percent of those same boys grew up to have three or more criminal convictions.

In other words, today’s bully could be tomorrow’s criminal.

So, what can we do about it?

I’m a big believer in families taking responsibility for the actions of their children. But boys and girls reserve their bullying for when they are away from Mom and Dad. That means other adults have to step up at schools, camps, sporting events and youth activity centers.

What to do with a bully?
Vote in my online poll after the jump…

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Ever since I saw secret agent Maxwell Smart take off his shoe and use it as a telephone I’ve been fascinated by the array of ‘toys’ available to law enforcement. So, as I was flipping through Tactical Weapons Magazine the other day (hey, no telling where an intrepid columnist gets her information!) there, among ads for special ops shotguns and mini night vision monoculars, was the strangest contraption I’d ever seen. The headline read: Mini Blimp Recon. Huh?

It looked like a cross between a suspended-in-the-sky Michelin Man and a big white, over inflated football with a tail. The technical name is BLN-3 Mini Blimp, its nickname is TopEyeView and to this civilian it could mean a revolution in law enforcement. [click to continue...]

F

rom time to time I get in my e-mail box a message like this:

“…A friend of mine has made a YouTube video about the murder of my 10 year old brother in Jacksonville, Florida in 1968. Glen’s death was not investigated in 1968 and still today there has been no justice for Glen.”

I diligently go to the website address provided thinking the cold-case story of Glen might make a good subject for one of these columns.

I’m quickly overwhelmed. Its clear reading the impassioned blogs of Glen’s still bereaved sister, Sandy, that the family’s pain is as real today - a full 40 years later - as it was that early February morning in 1968 when little Glen’s body was found beaten and “partially hanging” from a neighborhood rope swing. His death was originally labeled an accident. But the bruises on his tiny body, clearly visible on his face at the open casket funeral, told his family otherwise. Nevertheless, police simply closed the case with no investigation. Two years ago sister Sandy got another Jacksonville detective to declare “foul play” was involved. But since no evidence had been gathered in 1968 there was little authorities could do if they re-opened the case - so they didn’t.

So Sandy’s lonely quest for justice for her little brother continues. Her parents went to their graves never knowing who abducted and killed their little boy - or why.

It’s the WHY that seems to be so important to the survivors of cold case victims. [click to continue...]

David is a convicted child molester, a registered sex offender, who has served his time and currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

So what should society do with him now that he’s out? Watch him like a hawk? Well, that’s already being done via the registry through which he must regularly report his every lifestyle move - where he lives, where he works, what car he drives, where he spends his time.

For many of us the quick answer would be, “Lock him up and throw away the key!” And until I met David I would have joined in that chorus. Once a sex offender always a sex offender - that’s been my mantra.

To make a very long story short David’s estranged wife accused him of sexually touching their 5 year old daughter during a visitation. Their 7 year old son allegedly saw it happen during a naptime when all three of them had laid down to take a quick snooze. [click to continue...]