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Month: August 2017

Boca Adopts Nightclub Security Ordinance Over Bar Owners’ Objection

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It has taken Boca Raton more than a year to nail down a nightclub security ordinance designed to control underage drinking and cut down on alcohol-related violence and misbehavior. While Boca was still working on its proposal, both Palm Beach and Broward counties adopted regulations similar to those the Boca Raton City Council approved Tuesday night. Despite the length of time Boca worked on its ordinance, it didn’t pass without objection from a local bar owner. Michael Tice, operator of Murphy’s downtown, told the board he helped work on the legislation, “and this one is the worst version yet.” He said the law will hurt operators of clubs with a 4COPS (For consumption on premises) license, which is very costly. It also applies to BC or bottle clubs, where people bring alcohol in themselves, said Alexander. Restaurants that serve more food than spirits have SRX licenses, and...

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Bodies from Water

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SUMMARY

1. Immersion artefacts occur in any corpse immersed in water, irrespective of whether death was from drowning or the person was dead on entering the water. Therefore, immersion artefacts do not contribute to proof of death by drowning. However, such artefacts are typically the most striking findings in a body recovered from water.

These immersion artefacts include: 1. goose-skin, or anserina cutis, which is roughening, or pimpling of the skin, 2. skin maceration, or washer-woman's skin, which is swelling and wrinkling of the skin, and 3. adipocere, which is the transformation of the fatty layer beneath the skin into a soap-like material - a process requiring many weeks or months.

2. Corpses in water always lie with the face down and with the head hanging. Buffeting in the water commonly produces post-mortem head injuries, which may be difficult to distinguish from injuries sustained during life. The presence of bleeding usually distinguishes ante-mortem from post-mortem injuries. However,

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North Miami Dumpster Enclosure Permit

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DUMPSTER ENCLOSURES PERMIT INSTRUCTIONS
North Miami’s Code of Ordinances requires all dumpsters to be enclosed. Each enclosure shall:
1) Be constructed on a concrete slab, asphalt surface or impervious pavers.
2) Have walls that are a minimum of 5 ft. and a maximum of 6ft. in height.
3) Shall be constructed of masonry (CBS wall); chain link fencing with vinyl slats (to assure opacity of the enclosure); wood fencing.
4) Have an access gate of sufficient size to remove the container from the enclosure. **Please note that the gate cannot open into a drive lane or across the sidewalk.
5) Have a working lock on the gate. The gate must be closed and secured at all times when the trash is not being emptied.
6) An impervious area shall be provided for the area between the enclosure and the street, alley or other public right of way from which the container will be serviced. The following attached examples A, B, and C, are of acceptable enclosure

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Evaluation of Discrete Vehicle Accident Sounds for use in Accident Reconstruction

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INTRODUCTION

A vehicle accident involves a complex series of events that result in a unique and specific accident scenario. Even small differences in the details of the accident can have dramatic changes in overall accident sequence. The speed, weight, and orientation of the vehicles at impact, for instance, affect where the impact occurs, the impact duration and severity, and the final rest positions of the vehicles. Likewise, the sound that results from a vehicle accident is affected by similar parameters such as the dynamics, position and orientation of the vehicles. The unique circumstances of the accident determine the sound pressure level, the duration of the sound, the directivity of the sound, and the sound’s frequency spectra. Some vehicle accidents involve tire skidding, glass breaking, engine noise, and tearing metal while other vehicle accidents include only some of these sound sources. These sounds depend on many variables and parameters such as the vehicle’s characteristics, the vehicle’s dynamic, and their surrounding environment.

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Prohibited Persons Notice Form and Power of Attorney for Firearms Relinquishment, Sale or Disposal (Penal Code Section 12021, subd. (d)(2))

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Any person who has been convicted of a felony, a specified misdemeanor, or a specified firearms offense; who is addicted to narcotics; who is the subject of a protective order; or who has been found by a court or mental facility to have certain mental disabilities is prohibited by California law from possessing firearms. Please refer to the accompanying document entitled “State of California Firearms Prohibiting Categories” for a complete list of the firearms prohibitions in state law.

Note: The duration of prohibitions vary. Also, federal law may impose additional and/or more restrictive prohibitions on firearms possession. Therefore, a person who is entitled to possess firearms under state law may nevertheless be prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law. For specific legal advice about the duration of a state prohibition, whether a state prohibition is still in effect, or whether federal law prohibits the possession of firearms, please consult with an attorney who is licensed to practice law in the State of California

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Community Acceptance Of Helicopter Noise: Criteria And Application

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SUMMARY

A study was conducted to define those criteria necessary for civil helicopter operations to be acoustically acceptable to the communities from which they operate and over which they fly. The study involved surveying existing domestic and foreign Federal regulations and guidelines, state and local noise ordinances, results of community noise annoyance studies, and results of individual aircraft noise annoyance studies in order to establish the criteria. The final criteria selected are based on the Day-Night Noise Level, %u, a measure of total noise exposure. weighted sound pressure level (dBA) which has accuracy comparable to other units currently used for aircraft. An Lterion for areas where the ambient noise is below 58 dBA. 2 dBA above the local ambient is recommended for areas where the ambient is above 58 dBA. source (such as aircraft operations) is less than the existing ambient noise energy. Characteristics found important for aircraft noise rating such as tone content, duration, and number of operations have been accounted for....

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Firearm Noise

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6.1 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT

The main sources of noise within the affected environment on Tinian addressed in this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) are related to military operations (airfield operations, ground training, construction noise and ground vehicular traffic). Ground training encompasses many types of activities, but live-fire activities are emphasized in analyzing the noise environment because they generate more noise than other ground-based activities. Heavy equipment used during construction activities is the primary source of construction noise. Traffic noise relates to vehicle movements on roadways around the island. The following sections discuss the baseline noise environment to assess the potential effects of noise that may be generated in each geographical area of interest on Tinian should the proposed action be implemented.

6.1.1 Definition of Resource

Sound is the stimulation of auditory organs produced by sound waves transmitted through the air or other medium. Sound waves are small pressure fluctuation waves caused by vibrations. Human hearing generally covers fluctuations between frequencies of

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How Do Forensic Investigators Analyze Ballistic Evidence?

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Firearms & Ballistics

Firearm investigation is a specialty of forensic science focusing on the examination of firearms and related subjects. Closely linked to this is ballistics, which relates to the flight path of projectiles, often associated with forensic science during the investigation of firearms. This area of study examines the path of a bullet from when it leaves the firearm up until it strikes the target. During investigations in which the use of firearms is suspected, a number of artefacts may be collected for examination, including firearms, cartridge cases, bullets, live ammunition, trace materials, and any material damaged by a projectile.

The study of firearms and firearm ballistics is often divided in internal, external and terminal ballistics. Internal ballistics refers to the processes inside the firearm, the minute space of time between the shooter pulling the trigger and the bullet exiting the muzzle of the gun. Following this, external ballistics deals with the bullet’s flight between leaving the firearm and striking a target. Finally,...

Additional Resource: Firearms & Ballistics

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Possession of an Unregistered Firearm 26 U.S.C. § 5861

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6.26.5861 Possession of an Unregistered Firearm (26 U.S.C. § 5861)

Count (No.) of the indictment charges (name of defendant) with possession of an unregistered firearm, namely (describe the firearm; e.g., a shotgun having a barrel of less than 18 inches in length), which is a violation of federal law. In order to find (name) guilty of the offense charged in the indictment, you must find that the government proved each of the following four elements beyond a reasonable doubt.

First: That (name) knowingly possessed a firearm;

Second: That this firearm was a (describe the firearm; e.g., a shotgun having a barrel of less than 18 inches in length);

Third: That (name) knew of the characteristics of the firearm, (that is, that it was (describe the firearm; e.g., a shotgun having a barrel of less than 18 inches in length));

Fourth: That this firearm was (could readily have been put) in operating condition; and

Fifth: That this

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Understanding Mental Illness And Responding to Suicide In Criminal Justice Settings

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CRIMINAL JUSTICE STANDARDS ON MENTAL HEALTH

[Adopted August 8, 2016, to supplant the Third Edition (August 1984) of the ABA Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards, For the version of the Mental Health Standards in effect prior to August 8, 2016, please click here.]

PART I: THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM

Standard 7-1.1. Terminology

(a) Unless otherwise specified, these Standards adopt the definition of “mental disorder” found in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association.* In the settings addressed by the Standards, mental disorder is most likely to encompass mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorders; developmental disabilities that affect intellectual and adaptive functioning; and substance use disorders that develop from repeated and extensive abuse of drugs or alcohol or some combination thereof.

(b) “Mental health professional,” as used in these Standards, includes psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and psychiatric nurses and other clinicians with expertise in the evaluation and treatment of mental disorders.

See Also: Criminal Justice Standards On Mental Health (2966 downloads )

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ON THE CORNER: Day Labor in the United States

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Executive Summary

This report profiles, for the first time, the national phenomenon of day labor in the United States. Men and women looking for employment in open-air markets by the side of the road, at busy intersections, in front of home improvement stores and in other public spaces are ubiquitous in cities across the nation. The circumstances that give rise to this labor market are complex and poorly understood. In this report, we analyze data from the National Day Labor Survey, the first systematic and scientific study of the day-labor sector and its workforce in the United States. This portrait of day labor in the United States is based on a national survey of 2,660 day laborers. These workers were randomly selected at 264 hiring sites in 139 municipalities in 20 states and the District of Columbia. The sheer number of these sites, combined with their presence in every region in the country, reflects the enormous breadth of this labor

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Comorbidity of DSM-IV Personality Disorders in Unipolar and Bipolar Affective Disorders

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The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of Personality Disorders assessed by Structured Clinical Interview for Axis-II in 155 inpatients diagnosed with Unipolar Disorder vs inpatients with Bipolar Disorder (39). The most frequent Axis II diagnoses among Unipolar inpatients were Borderline (31.6%), Dependent (25.2%), and Obsessive-Compulsive (14.2%) Personality Disorders. Among Bipolar inpatients, the most prevalent personality disorders were Borderline (41%), Narcissistic (20.5%), Dependent (12.8%), and Histrionic disorders (10.3%). Using chi squared analysis, few differences in distribution emerged between the two groups: Unipolar patients had more recurrent Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder than Bipolar patients (chi(1)2=6.24, p<.005). Comorbid Narcissistic Personality Disorder was significantly more frequent in the Bipolar than in the Unipolar group (chi(1)2=6.34, P<.01). Considering the three clusters (DSM-IV classification), there was a significant difference between the groups, Cluster C (fearful, avoidant) diagnoses being more frequent in the Unipolar than in the Bipolar group (48.4% vs 20.5%, respectively). Cluster B (dramatic, emotionally erratic) diagnoses were found more frequently in

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Prison Suicide: An Overview and Guide to Prevention

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INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Writing about “difficult prisoners” in his autobiography Fifty Years of Prison Service, Zebulon R. Brockway appeared perturbed by the prospect of managing suicidal inmates and by the resulting publicity in the event of their deaths. As superintendent of Elmira Reformatory (often described as the original model from which progressive penology evolved) from 1876 to 1900, Warden Brockway described his experience with three prison suicides: One, a prisoner on parole in New York City who violated his obligations, was taken for kindly investigation to the secretary of the Prison Association, at the rooms then situated in the third story of the Bible House. While awaiting the secretary’s convenience the young man suddenly dashed through an open window to his death on the pavement below. The newspapers made a sensational account of it and inquired why, if the reformatory was as it should be, a paroled man should voluntarily go to his death rather than be returned to treatment there.

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Attorney General Opinion | Bill Lockyer

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Is the state or a county responsible for the payment of the costs of (1) a report required before a court may consider suspension of a defendant’s sentence, where the defendant has been convicted of a lewd or lascivious act on a minor under 14, (2) an examination of a defendant’s mental competency, (3) an examination of a defendant, who has been convicted of a felony, to determine whether an involuntary civil commitment should be made due to narcotics addiction, (4) an examination of a person, in the absence of a criminal proceeding, to determine whether a civil commitment should be made due to narcotics addiction, (5) an examination and testimony in connection with an involuntary civil commitment of a person believed to be imminently dangerous to others, (6) evaluations and counsel regarding a civil commitment due to an inmate being a sexually violent predator, and (7) an examination of a defendant where a plea of “not guilty by reason of insanity” has been entered?

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Potential Liabilities of Probation and Parole Officers

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FOREWORD

In 1982, the National Institute of Corrections published the first comprehensive overview of potential legal liabilities that can confront probation and parole officers as the result of their decisionmaking and work with offenders. The initial report addressed the primary areas of litigation against probation and parole officers and administrators; relevant caselaw; and the various forms of liability, immunity, confidentiality, good faith, and indemnity. The initial publication generated high interest among probation and parole practitioners and, for that reason, the Institute contracted with the original author to update the material in light of more recent cases. The Institute has also developed a training program regarding legal liabilities of probation and parole officers, which is presented through its National Academy of Corrections. As with the first edition of this report, it must be emphasized that this revised edition was prepared for a national audience; the reader must obtain specific guidance from his/her state or local jurisdiction.

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Crime Scene Robot and Sensor Simulation

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Abstract

Virtual reality has been proposed as a training regime for a large number of tasks from surgery rehearsal (cf. [Robb et al. 1996], to combat simulation (cf. [U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment 1994]) to assiting in basic design (cf. [Fa et al. 1992]). Virtual reality provides a novel and effective training medium for applications in which training “in the real world” is dangerous or expensive. Here we describe the C2SM simulator system – a virtual reality-based training system that provides an accurate simulation of the CBRNE Crime Scene Modeller System (see [Topol et al. 2008]). The training system provides a simulation of both the underlying robotic platform and the C2SM sensor suite, and allows training of the system to take place without physically deploying the robot or the simulation of chemical and radiological agents that might be present. This paper describes the basic structure of the C2SM simulator and the software components that were used to construct it.

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