Track your favorite inmate(s) via Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE). They will, if you sign up, send notification of a change in status via email. They don’t cover everything online yet especially at the county and city level and I didn’t see any federal data in the spot checking I did.
I don’t know anyone in jail but I can see that this might be a very valuable service for someone who does be they victim, friend, or relative.
Plastered all over the news the past few days were stories of how unprecedented cooperation between US law enforcement agencies led to 10,000 fugitives being arrested in Operation Falcon. This sounds impressive and did impress people. For instance, Law Pundit noted:
This is a sign of government law enforcement agencies working together effectively for the interests of the people and represents a modern landmark in law enforcement cooperation in getting the criminals off the streets.
This prompted me to remember the question I had asked myself when I read this in the morning paper yesterday: What is the normal rate of arrests?
Well, I did some checking via the The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2002 and found some interesting numbers:
No drug arrests in the above but apparently included in Operation Falcon!
My suspicion is that they simply reported business as usual (in some cases less than usual) and by giving it one of those magic labels, Operation Falcon, and publicizing it they have tried to make us think something new and wonderful is happening. Well, welcome to the world of marketing and government BS.
Oh, and if this really was a real coordinated effort, then we did not get our money’s worth (surprise) as they appear to have failed to meet even average arrest rates.
Update 4/18: More on this at Marginal Revolution and the Washington Post.
The US drug enforcement agency has published the 2005 edition of their classic magazine Drugs of Abuse:
This DEA magazine delivers clear, scientific information about drugs in a factual, straightforward way, combined with scores of precise photographs shot to scale.
There are lots of photos and there may be some facts but what is the message? Mr. Sun says:
I must say that, for me, the primary impact of the magazine was to make me want to do drugs. I’m as straight as an arrow, but after looking at this DEA publication I simply can’t wait to start cramming psychoactive substances down my pill hole. Let’s look at a few screenshots, shall we?
Well, click on over and look at them with Mr. Sun!
Via Hit & Run where some of the commentors have noticed items that may not be quite factual. Can you find others?
The US federal government actively prescribes and distributes medical marijuana.
Just thought you’d like to know….
Bryan, in a comment to this post notes:
I was in law enforcement and part of our public liability training dealt with section 242 of Title 18 of the US Code which gives non-citizens the same rights as citizens in the area of criminal law.
On his blog, he links to the relevant sections of the US Code including Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113C, � 2340A – Torture which says:
a) Offense.� Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
(b) Jurisdiction.� There is jurisdiction over the activity prohibited in subsection (a) if�
(1) the alleged offender is a national of the United States; or
(2) the alleged offender is present in the United States, irrespective of the nationality of the victim or alleged offender.
(c) Conspiracy.� A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.
I suspect the gonzales will not be upholding his obligation as attorney general to uphold the laws of the United States.
Oh, I suppose, though, that like his predecessor he will wastefully allocate plenty of resources to activities occurring between consenting adults.