Halloween Safety Tips from the Los Angeles Fire Department

http://www.lacity.org/lafd/hween.htm  

Halloween Safety Tips from the Los Angeles Fire Department

BEFORE HALLOWEEN:

• Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Make sure that shoes fit well and that costumes are short enough to prevent tripping, entanglement or contact with flame.
• Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costumes and trick-or-treat bags for greater visibility.
• Secure emergency identification (name, address, phone number) discreetly within Halloween attire or on a bracelet.
• Because a mask can limit or block eyesight, consider non-toxic and hypoallergenic makeup or a decorative hat as a safe alternative.
• When shopping for costumes, wigs and accessories, purchase only those with a label indicating they are flame resistant.
• Think twice before using simulated knives, guns or swords. If such props must be used, be certain they do not appear authentic and are soft and flexible to prevent injury.
• Obtain flashlights with fresh batteries for all children and their escorts.
• Plan ahead to use only battery powered lanterns or chemical lightsticks in place of candles in decorations and costumes.
• This is also a great time to buy fresh batteries for your home Smoke Alarms.
• Teach children their home phone number and to how call 9-1-1 (or their local emergency number) if they have an emergency or become lost. Remind them that 9-1-1 can be dialed free from any phone.
• Review with your children the principle of “Stop-Drop-Roll”, should their clothes catch on fire.
• Openly discuss appropriate and inappropriate behavior at Halloween time.
• Consider purchasing individually packaged healthy food alternatives (or safe non-food treats) for those who visit your home.
• Take extra effort to eliminate tripping hazards on your porch and walkway. Check around your property for flower pots, low tree limbs, support wires or garden hoses that may prove hazardous to young children rushing from house to house.
• Learn or review CPR skills to aid someone who is choking or having a heart attack.
• Consider safe party guidelines when hosting an Adult or Office Party.

FUN ALTERNATIVES:

• Find a special event or start one in your own neighborhood.
• Community Centers, Shopping Malls and Houses of Worship may have organized festivities.
• Share the fun by arranging a visit to a Retirement Home or Senior Center.
• Create an alliance with College Fraternities, Sororities or Service Clubs for children’s face painting or a carnival

BEFORE NIGHTFALL ON HALLOWEEN:

• A good meal prior to parties and trick-or-treating will discourage youngsters from filling up on Halloween treats.
• Consider fire safety when decorating. Do not overload electrical outlets with holiday lighting or special effects, and do not block exit doors.
• While children can help with the fun of designing a Jack O’ Lantern, leave the carving to adults.
• Always keep Jack O’ Lanterns and hot electric lamps far away from drapes, decorations, flammable materials or areas where children and pets will be standing or walking.
• Plan and review with your children the route and behavior which is acceptable to you.
• Do not permit children to bicycle, roller-blade or skateboard.
• Agree on a specific time when revelers must return home.
• Along with flashlights for all, older children and escorts should wear a wristwatch and carry coins for non-emergency phone calls.
• Confine, segregate or otherwise prepare household pets for an evening of frightful sights and sounds. Be sure that all dogs and cats are wearing collars and proper identification tags. Consult your veterinarian for further advice.
• Remind all household drivers to remain cautious and drive slowly throughout the community.
• Adult partygoers should establish and reward a designated driver.

WHEN TRICK-OR-TREATING:

• A Parent or responsible Adult should always accompany young children on their neighborhood rounds.
• Remind Trick-or-Treaters:
  • By using a flashlight, they can see and be seen by others.
  • Stay in a group, walk slowly and communicate where you are going.
  • Only trick-or-treat in well known neighborhoods at homes that have a porch light on.
  • Remain on well-lit streets and always use the sidewalk.
  • If no sidewalk is available, walk at the farthest edge of the roadway facing traffic.
  • Never cut across yards or use alleys.
  • Never enter a stranger’s home or car for a treat.
  • Obey all traffic and pedestrian regulations.
  • Always walk. Never run across a street.
  • Only cross the street as a group in established crosswalks (as recognized by local custom).
  • Remove any mask or item that will limit eyesight before crossing a street, driveway or alley.
  • Don’t assume the right of way. Motorists may have trouble seeing Trick-or-Treaters. Just because one car stops, doesn’t mean others will.
  • Never consume unwrapped food items or open beverages that may be offered.
  • No treats are to be eaten until they are thoroughly checked by an Adult at home.
  • Law Enforcement authorities should be notified immediately of any suspicious or unlawful activity.

AFTER TRICK-OR-TREATING:

• Wait until children are home to sort and check treats. Though tampering is rare, a responsible Adult should closely examine all treats and throw away any spoiled, unwrapped or suspicious items.
• Try to apportion treats for the days following Halloween.
• Although sharing is encouraged, make sure items that can cause choking (such as hard candies), are given only to those of an appropriate age.

We wish you a safe and happy Halloween!

The Crime Clock and You by Diane Dimond

The Crime Clock and You

The official “Crime Clock” is counting down the odds that you or a family member or a friend will be touched by violent crime in the coming year. Think it can’t happen to you?

The Crime Clock doesn’t recognize race or age or gender. It’s all about statistics.

The figures are compiled each year by the National Center for Victims of Crime. The numbers come from various government and private agencies like the Department of Justice, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The Crime Clock might easily be dismissed as just a bunch of numbers, but it really isn’t. It’s the scoreboard on which America keeps track of all the criminal ugliness that happens in our country. Take the individual crimes committed and divide by the number of citizens we have, and you get numbers that will leave you numb.

While I’m usually skittish of statistics that can be easily manipulated or interpreted in biased ways, I really think you can take these stats to the bank. Ready to digest some mind-boggling figures?

There are so many homicides in America every year it extrapolates to this: One person is murdered every 31 minutes in America.

One person — woman or man — is raped every 1.9 minutes.

One child is reported abused or neglected every 35 seconds!

Stop for a minute, and imagine the true impact of these statistics. The agony of men, women and children left behind in the wake of these crimes, their scars carried for a lifetime.

And that’s not all.

The Crime Clock tells us one person is killed in an alcohol-related traffic accident every 40 minutes in America — that’s more than four dozen people every single day.

One woman is victimized by an intimate partner every 52 seconds; one man is similarly assaulted every three-and-a-half minutes. Just imagine the number of people crippled by domestic violence every single day. It’s mind-boggling!

One American home is burglarized every nine seconds. So what do you think your chances are of coming home one day to find your home has been violated, your belongings gone?

One elderly person falls victim to a violent crime every four minutes in the United States, and every single hour of every single day someone reports he or she has been victimized as part of a hate-related crime.

What are we doing to each other?

Last week in this space, I wrote about a wonderful organization called Crime Survivors (www.CrimeSurvivors.org) based in Orange County, Calif., founded and maintained by crime survivor Patricia Wenskunas.

The group struggles to make sure victims of crime are not forgotten in a system that gives so much benefit of the doubt to criminal defendants. I’m not knocking the idea of “innocent until proven guilty,” I just think we should give equal consideration to those left victimized. Patricia’s mantra is that victims are blameless — that they can rise above their victimhood into true survivor status with the proper support.

Reading mere numbers can sometimes fog the brain. It’s not until we hear individual stories about specific victims that we can truly begin to focus on the plight of victims and their families who suffer through the crime with them.

For every high-profile media case — think Matthew Shepard, Elizabeth Smart or Jaycee Dugard — there are hundreds of thousands of others each year you never hear about.

I doubt you heard about Patricia Wenskunas’ terror. She had suffered an eating disorder since childhood molestation by an uncle. As an adult, a single mother, she decided to hire a trainer to get her on a healthy path. Nine months into the program, her trusted trainer invited himself to her home, where he surreptitiously drugged her, beat her black and blue, bound her and suffocated her with layers of saran wrap. She survived, she told me, because when he threatened to kill her son if she screamed, she leaped off a balcony to find help. At that point, Patricia the victim became Patricia the survivor.

None of us should be complacent or fall into the trap of thinking crime happens to someone else. The Crime Clock says otherwise. The Crime Clock shows us the odds are not necessarily in our favor of getting through life without being touched by the constant swirl of crime that infects our country.

I’ve met a lot of victims in my line of work. None of them want to suffer with the burden of what they’ve been through. I come away thinking there has to be a way we can help those of our fellow citizens most deeply damaged by violent crime.

Patricia, and groups like hers, can’t do it alone.

Visit Diane Dimond’s official website at www.dianedimond.com for investigative reporting, polls and more. To find out more about Diane Dimond and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM  

Survivors Gift Drive & Elf’s Holly Day

I didn’t want people questioning why I stayed….

When I decided to get married at 19 my friends were all jealous, I had met the one.  He was tall, in the military and came from a strong religious family.  I walked down the aisle with a huge smile thinking about my happily ever after.  He deployed shortly after we were married, I was so proud to be a military wife.  I wrote him daily, was overly involved with everything for his unit and the ship he was on and even made sure that I spent holidays with his family even though he wasn’t there.  I wanted everything to be perfect during his deployment and when he came home.    
 
Shortly after his return he started changing.  He wasn’t the loving man that I married.  I just pushed it out of my mind thinking that maybe it was just the difference of being home versus ship life and finally living as a traditional married couple.  He started commenting on my wardrobe, my weight and ‘helping’ to make slight changes that would make ME feel better about myself.  It didn’t take long before the verbal became physical. 
 
Seven years ago I found the courage to leave that relationship and move forward.  I left that night with nothing but a backpack and no where to go. Being young and married, I was so focused on being a ‘good’ wife that I spent four years convincing myself that everything was ok.  It’s not like every day was bad, he did apologize each time, these were all good things that meant he was sorry… right?  After weekly trips to the emergency room, watching my hair fall out, my weight fluctuating drastically and a plethora of other medical issues, I finally realized that his apologies meant nothing.  Being hit, thrown, pushed and verbally abused and humiliated was not ok.
 
I would sneak into the house to get clothes while he was at work.  The day the lease was up, 2 months after I left, I had to get the rest of my belongings so I coordinated it with him and the military lawyer that I would be there alone.  He showed up while I was there.  He held me against the wall and choked me, for the first I wasn’t afraid.  I had finally surrendered that I would die at his mercy.  I will never know why he let me go but by the time I got off the floor and caught my breath he was gone.    
 
Three months after I left my husband I finally told my family that we were no longer together however I didn’t tell them why, I was so ashamed. I knew that there was a stigma and stereotype associated with victims of domestic violence; I didn’t want that following me.  I didn’t want people questioning why I stayed, why I didn’t leave the first time.  I knew that no one would understand the amount of control that this man had over me.

CDCR Asks Crime Victims to Register for New Automated Database to Keep them Better Informed about their Offenders

SACRAMENTO – In its effort to keep crime victims informed, the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is asking crime victims to register for a new automated system that will soon provide real-time information about the custody status of their offenders. The new system was made possible by a federal grant. 

“This is a significant step forward in helping victims, and making sure their questions and concerns are addressed,” CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate said.  “The VINE system will allow victims to be notified with accurate information so that they can protect themselves and participate in the criminal justice process.”

 

The new statewide automated Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) system will provide a 24-hour service and will give registered victims an instant notice by phone or email about their offender’s whereabouts.

 

“We are hoping to have the VINE system up and running by next year, but we are putting the call out to the victims of this state so they can register before it’s launched,” said Assistant Secretary Sandi Menefee from the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Service.

 

The state was awarded federal grant funds from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) within the United States Department of Justice.  The state was awarded $500,000 in federal grant money with a $500,000 in-kind match provided in the form of redirected CDCR staff resources to manage the system.  The grant award will be in effect for two years.

 

The automated system will also inform victims and next-of-kin of when their offender is scheduled for a parole board hearing if they are serving a life term.

 

Currently, the state does not have a unified statewide victim notification system.

CDCR is using a paper-based system for victim notification and the process varies among the 33 institutions. 

 

California Penal Code and the addition of Marsy’s Law requires CDCR to notify witnesses, victims and next of kin if a violent offender is  released, escapes, dies, or is up for parole.

 

The Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Service database documents that more than 20,000 victim notifications are made annually to victims of offenders in CDCR custody.

 

“The VINE system will be a more cost effective way to keep tabs on the thousands of offenders our office deals with on a daily basis,” said Menefee.  “Crime victims have been through enough already, this system will make it easier for them to get the information they need.”

 

CDCR and the California State Sheriff’s Association (CSSA) manage victim notification systems independent of each other.  This federal grant allows for an interface for both systems to come together – a seamless transition of an offender going from county jail to state prison.

 

CDCR operates and manages California’s 33 institutions, oversees a variety of community correctional facilities, and supervises parolees during their re-entry into society.  As part of its responsibilities, CDCR also adheres to the following legislative mandates in support of its vision to protect the public from crime and victimization.

 

If you are a victim of an offender that is serving time in the California state prison system, please call Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services at (877) 256-6877 to register for the upcoming VINE service.

 

# # #

How Crime Victims Become Crime Survivors by Diane Dimond on Creators.com – A Syndicate Of Talent

http://www.creators.com/opinion/diane-dimond/how-crime-victims-become-crime-survivors.html 

It was an overcast October Saturday at the Joint Forces Training Base at Los Alamitos, Calif. The 7 a.m. start time was daunting, but I’d promised to go.

I’m glad I did.

It was the annual “Survive and Thrive” 5k run/walk event put on by a group called Crime Survivors. Note that it’s not crime victims — it’s crime survivors. And before you ask: No, I didn’t run, but I did walk.

The woman who started Crime Survivors is Patricia Wenskunas, my hero.

She is a blonde dynamo, a catering event planner by trade and a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and attempted murder. She speaks gently, but her message packs a wallop: Crime victims deserve consideration — at least as much consideration as the criminal gets.

It was a point I heard repeatedly from the crowds who attended this annual event, all touched in life-changing ways. Several participants wore T-shirts with the image of their dead loved one, taken away in a sudden spurt of violence.

Many told me what they’d endured: childhood rapes, adult sexual assaults, domestic violence deaths or family who were killed by repeat drunk drivers. Several spoke of senseless murder. Every single person said after police arrived to tell them the awful news they were left in a foggy swirl of loneliness. They spoke of how hard it was to heal and to discover the pathway to their own recovery.

“Hi, I’m Diane Dimond. May I ask what brought you here today?”

Juenenne, a woman about my age, silently pointed to the picture of her handsome son Jake Eric Jackson on her shirt. Her chin quavered, her eyes brimmed and suddenly there we were — two total strangers standing on a parade field on a distant military base full of victim’s rights advocates — hugging each other.

“He was at a club one night. There were a couple of guys disrespecting a young lady, and Jake stepped in to help. He was hit in the face and wrestled with one for a minute. One took out a gun and shot Jake in the chest. As he lay dying, the other man kicked him and stomped on him.”

Juenenne had driven nearly two hours that morning from her home in Phelan, Calif., as a step along her path to recovery. She hoped mixing with others who shared similar pain might ease her sorrow.

After the speeches, Patricia invited a few family members up to the front to hold and then release beautiful white doves into the overcast sky.

As touching music played, Patricia gave a lingering hug to each survivor, and then the doves flew off, one by one, instinctively circling overhead, waiting for the others so they could fly off in unison. Their unity in the dreary sky was inspiring. That’s when I first noticed Mary Ann, who was certainly thinking of her dead son, Jonathan, as she released her dove.

On the walking path, lined with 3 foot tall pictures of lost loved ones, Mary Ann and I talked. She’d been angry at her 17-year-old son for getting his 16-year-old girlfriend pregnant. In a huff, he’d jumped on a bike at midnight and ridden off down the street. A carload of gang members happened by and inexplicably shot Jonathan dead. Mary Ann, a nurse who is married to a police officer, was pushing a baby carriage as we talked. Inside was little Shayla, the new grandbaby, who will never know her father.

“I don’t know what I’d do without this child,” Mary Anne said as she clenched her teeth against the tears.

Juenenne got justice. The two men who killed her son are in prison. Mary Ann has not, and that is part of the problem so many victims of crime face. Their terrible loss is made more burdensome as they try to navigate the justice system. Police are too busy to deliver updates on the case, the court proceedings are confusing, and the parole system is frightening. On this staggeringly long journey to justice, these folks feel victimized again and again.

I wish we could clone Patricia’s Crime Survivors group nationwide. They help educate the public and the police about victim’s rights. They push to change laws and attitudes. Crime Survivors donates thousands of adult and child emergency victim bags to law enforcement every year so officers can offer a victim something. The bag contains a list of vital phone numbers, toiletries including a toothbrush, a first aid kit and a journal with a pen so victims can write down their thoughts on the road to survival.

Our system simply doesn’t help crime victims. I hope you never have to experience what they’ve gone through, but odds are you might. Next week, the ‘Victim Crime Clock’ and why your family could be next.

For more information on Crime Survivors visit www.CrimeSurvivors.com

Visit Diane Dimond’s official website at www.dianedimond.com for investigative reporting, polls and more. To find out more about Diane Dimond and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM

Crime Victims United Legislative Update

 OCTOBER 2009 

The 2009 Legislative Session has come to a close with the Governor taking action on 1,108 bills of the 3,052 introduced this year.  More specifically, the Governor signed roughly 478 and vetoed 229 bills in the final hours leading up to the October 11^th signature deadline.

The fate of the over 700 bills sent to the Governor at the end of session hung in the balance late Sunday as a result of the Legislature’s inability to reach a compromise on a plan to address the State’s water crisis.  Governor Schwarzenegger had initially threatened to veto all of the bills on his desk if a deal was not reached; however, he backed down in the final hours citing the progress the Legislature had made in its discussions.  The Governor has since called a Special Session on the issue, in addition to those already underway for education and tax reform. 

In the end, 2009 was a challenging year on all fronts.  The outlook for the year was dampened from the start as the State faced a roughly $40 billion budget deficit.  The Legislature ultimately had to take two passes at the budget deficit in order to resolve it – February and July – yet despite the action, the State still faces out year deficits in the billions.  For FY 2010-2011 alone finance experts are already forecasting a $7.4 billion deficit.  To add to the issue, the State Controller indicated last week that decreasing tax receipts will likely push the deficit higher with the state already about $1 billion short of what was anticipated in the FY 2009-2010 budget package.

Stay tuned…

2009-2010 Corrections Budget Recap

After months of debate, the Legislature approved a watered-down version of the Corrections budget package aimed at addressing the $1.2 billion unallocated cut to the Department of Corrections provided in the July budget package.  The highly controversial provisions that included instituting an independent sentencing commission, early release of inmates to alternative custody, and changing a number of wobbler crimes to misdemeanors were removed from the plan.  CVUC worked tirelessly with other public safety representatives to ensure these provisions, among others, were addressed. 

Although the package is far better than the package originally proposed by the Governor and Legislature, it is not perfect and will undoubtedly have consequences.  The package includes updates to the property crime thresholds to reflect the Consumer Price Index (CPI); inmate credit enhancements for those that participate in programs while in prison; summary parole/banked caseloads for parole that would reduce parole supervision for “nonviolent,” “nonserious” and “nonsex” offenders (this component of the package would also eliminate revocation for these parolees); and more. 

Specific to the provisions related to “nonviolent,” “nonserious” and “nonsex” classifications, we would remind our colleagues that under current California law offenders that have committed crimes including human trafficking, child abuse, elder abuse, solicitation to commit murder or sexual assault, hate crimes and more could possibly qualify for banked caseload parole with little or no supervision.

Despite the enactment of the watered-down plan, the issue of the federal court order to release roughly 40,000 inmates remains an issue that has yet to play out.  Additionally, discussions on the more contentious pieces of the original package continue.  All of this said, we are sure to see legislation – if not additional budget action – on these controversial issues in 2010.  It has also been suggested that the Governor may call a special session on corrections, but it has yet to materialize.

Stay tuned…

2009 Legislative Wrap-Up

AB 17 (Swanson): Human Trafficking – SIGNED – Includes abduction or procurement by fraudulent inducement for prostitution within the definition of criminal profiteering activity and authorizes imposition of an additional fine for pimping, pandering, or procurement of a child the proceeds of which would be granted to community-based organizations that serve minor victims of human trafficking.

AB 91 (Feuer): Vehicles: DUI: Ignition Interlock Device – SIGNED – Requires ignition interlock device manufacturers to provide certain information to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and requires the DMV to establish a pilot program that requires, as a condition of being issued a driver’s license a person to install an ignition interlock device on all vehicles they own/operate and to participate in an alcohol and drug assessment program and pay a fee.

AB 250 (Miller): Criminal Procedure: Trials: Timing – SIGNED – Amends existing law which requires a defendant be brought to trial within 60 days of arraignment in a felony case or have the case dismissed if the defendant did not waive that time limit or consent to an extension of time.  It requires the withdrawal of a time waiver to be done in open court and specifies that in the absence of an express general time waiver or upon the withdrawal of such waiver, the court set the trial date and notify all parties.

AB 275 (Solorio): Missing Persons: DNA Database – SIGNED – Deletes the sunset date on the funding that provides for the Department of Justice to utilize a DNA database for unsolved cases and provides for the collection of samples from unidentified deceased persons and from potential sources for comparison.

AB 375 (Nielsen): Child Custody: Child Sexual Abuse – 2 Year Bill – Prohibits, unless a specified showing is made, a court from granting a request to modify a child custody order on an ex parte basis if there is a finding of sexual abuse of, or domestic violence against the child, if the court determines that certain circumstances are present.

AB 383 (Lieu): Criminal Procedure – 2 Year Bill – Amends the existing law that establishes limitations on the time for commencing criminal actions; provides for the tolling or extension of these time limitations; provides that regarding sex crimes and certain other crimes a criminal complaint may be filed within one year of the date on which the identify of the suspect is conclusively established by DNA testing; and extends this limitation on the time period for analyzing biological evidence.

AB 633 (Ammiano): Death Penalty – 2 Year Bill – Provides that in any case in which a defendant has been found guilty of first degree murder by a jury and the jury has been unable to reach an unanimous verdict that one or more the special circumstances charged are true and does not reach a unanimous verdict that all the special circumstances charged are not true, the court shall dismiss the jury and impose a sentence of confinement in state for a term of 25 years.

AB 671 (Krekorian): Public Safety Gold Shield Award – SIGNED – Requires the Governor to annually award and present a Golden Shield Award the next of kin of, or immediate family members of, every public safety officer who, who while serving in any capacity under competent authority, has been killed in the line of duty.

AB 731 (Villines): Child Abuse Sentencing – 2 Year Bill – Makes it a felony, punishable by a specified term of imprisonment for a person having the care or custody of a child who is under a certain age to assault the child with force that to a reasonable person would be likely to produce great bodily injury, resulting in the child becoming comatose due to brain injury or suffering paralysis of a permanent nature.

AB 768 (Torres): Elder Abuse – 2 Year Bill – Amends existing law which proscribes various crimes related to the abuse of an elder or dependent adult. Deletes the language requiring that the person either know or reasonably should know that the victim was an elder or dependent adult from the definitions of those crimes.

AB 807 (Fuentes): Restitution Centers – VETOED – Requires the reopening and operation of restitution centers and provides inmates who commit crimes involving direct victims with priority placement in restitution centers.

Veto Message: http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/2009bills/AB807_Fuentes_Veto_Message.pdf

AB 988 (Brownley): Human Trafficking: Training Content – VETOED – Requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, upon the next regularly scheduled review of a training module relating to human trafficking, to create and make available training content on the U Visa.

Veto Message:  http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/2009bills/AB988_Brownley_Veto_Message.pdf

AB 999 (Skinner): Juveniles: Division of Juvenile Justice – 2 Year Bill – Requires the projected board date of a ward to be advanced according to completion of specified programs meant to offer a ward successful reentry into society and requires the division to implement policies and regulations on ward disciplinary matters.

AB 1017 (Portantino): Sexual Assault Crimes – VETOED – Requires local law enforcement agencies responsible for taking or processing rape kit evidence to annually report to the Department of Justice statistical information pertaining to the processing of such kits.

Veto Message:  http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/2009bills/AB1017_Portantino_Veto_Message.pdf

AB 1053 (Solorio): Juveniles – SIGNED – Repeals the Interstate Compact on Juveniles and enacts the Interstate Compact for Juveniles which would make the state subject to rules and regulations governing the supervision or return of juvenile offenders. Provides any state or U.S. territory is eligible to become a compacting state.

AB 1166 (Nielsen): Parole: Hearings: Review – SIGNED – Amends existing law that provides that a panel of two or more commission or deputy commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings shall meet with an inmate and set a parole release date and provides that in the event of a tie vote, the matter shall be referred to the board for an en banc review limited to the records that were before the panel that rendered the vote. Exempts such reviews under Marsy’s Law (2008).

AB 1209 (Ma): Identification – SIGNED – Amends existing law that regards misdemeanor release procedures by specifying that an officer may book the arrested person at the scene or at the arresting agency prior to release.

AB 1270 (Torrico): Victims Compensation: Procedure – VETOED – Requires the Victims Compensation & Government Claims Board, for purposes of meeting a requirement for the timely processing of application for victims’ assistance, to adopt written procedures and timeframes for approving or denying applications. Additionally, it requires approval for the expenditure of funds by the board with regard to any technology system that is utilized for the review of applications.

Veto Message:   http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/2009bills/AB1270_Torrico_Veto_Message.pdf

AB 1376 (Bass): Sentencing – 2 Year Bill – Creates an independent multijurisdictional body to develop sentencing guidelines and provide a nonpartisan forum for sentencing policy development, information development, research, and planning concerning criminal sentences and their effects.

AB 1516 (Lieu): Criminal Procedure: Discovery – SIGNED – Allows the court to order a defendant in a criminal action or a minor in a juvenile delinquency proceeding to submit to examination by a prosecution-retained mental health expert whenever a defendant or minor places in issue his or her mental state at any phase of the criminal action or juvenile proceeding through the proposed testimony of any mental health expert.

ACR 59 (Nielsen): Crime Victims’ Rights Week – ENACTED – Recognizes the week of April 26, 2009, through May 2, 2009, as Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

SB 46 (Alquist): Sex Offenders: Commencing Trial: Time – 2 Year Bill – Adds specified sex offenses, including rape, sodomy, lewd or lascivious acts, oral copulation, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and acts of sexual penetration to the list of crimes for which there is no statute of limitation for prosecution.

SB 50 (Corbett): Victims of Sexual Assault – 2 Year Bill – Provides that victims of sexual assault are not required to participate in the criminal justice system or cooperate with law enforcement in order to be provided with a forensic medical exam.

SB 110 (Liu): People with Disabilities: Victims of Crime – 2 Year Bill – Provides information related to deaths of children with disabilities and people with disabilities killed as a result of domestic violence is included in Child Death Review and Domestic Violence Death Review Teams procedures. Additionally, it requires the Department of Developmental Services to report a case of suspected abuse or neglect of a person held in custody as developmentally disabled.

SB 226 (Alquist): Identity Theft – 2 Year Bill ­– Provides that when multiple identity theft offenses occur in multiple jurisdictions and all of the offenses involve the same defendant or defendants and either the same personal identifying information of one person or the same scheme or substantially similar activity, the jurisdiction for all offenses, including offenses connected together to an underlying identity theft offense, is proper in any one of the counties where the offenses occurred.

SB 314 (Calderon): Crime Victims – SIGNED – Allows the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board to increase the cash payment or reimbursement for relocation if the board finds this amount is appropriate due to the unusual, dire, or exceptional circumstances of a particular claim. Additionally, it allows the offset of a personal income tax refund for the nonpayment of penalties to the Restitution Fund.

SB 325 (Alquist): Sex Offenders: Assessment – SIGNED – Provides a protocol for an agency that believes a score does not represent the person’s true risk level to submit the case to certain experts for override; requires maintenance of a database to record risk assessment scores; requires that probation reports include information on additional persons, including juveniles; and authorizes committee experts access to all risk assessment related records.

SB 399 (Yee): Sentencing – 2 Year Bill – Authorizes a prisoner who was under 18 years of age at the time of committing an offense for which the prisoner was sentenced to life without parole to submit a petition for recall and resentencing. Establishes certain criteria to be considered when a court decides whether to conduct a hearing on the petition recall and resentencing and additional criteria to be consider by the court regarding the petition. Requires the court to hold hearing if the court finds that the defendant’s statement is true.

SB 440 (Denham): Sentencing – 2 Year Bill – Adds certain felonies to the list of violent felonies, the list of serious felonies, and to both lists.

SB 447 (Yee): Criminal Records: Custodian – SIGNED – Requires the Department of Justice to establish a confirmation program to process fingerprint-based criminal record background clearances on individuals designated by an agency as a custodian of records. Additionally, it requires agencies to designate a custodian of records and to annually notify the department as to the identity of the agency’s custodian of records.

SB 588 (Public Safety Committee): Sex Offender Management Board – SIGNED – Deletes the repeal date of existing law that created the Sex Offender Management Board.

SB 662 (Yee)/SB 13xxx (Alquist): Domestic Violence: Funding – 2 Year Bill – Appropriates funds to be allocated for the purpose of backfilling funding for shelter-based services for battered women’s shelters that was eliminated as a result of the Governor’s line item budget vetoes in July.

SB 733 (Leno): Crime Victims: Trauma Center Grants – 2 Year Bill – Authorizes the Victims Compensation & Government Claims Board to award grants to trauma centers annually to cover direct services for victims.

SB 748 (Leno): Witness Relocation & Assistance Program: Records – SIGNED – Provides no person, state, or local public agency, or private entity shall post the home address, telephone number or personal identifying information that discloses the location of any witness or witness family member participating in the Witness Relocation and Assistance Program with specified intent. Provides criminal penalties for violations and authorizes program participants to submit opt-out forms to Internet search engine providers to prevent inclusion of above information.

**Please note: These are just a few of the bills CVUC was tracking in the 2009 Legislative Session; the full bill list will be available on our website soon.

2009 Crime Victims United Charitable Foundation Scholarships

Crime Victims United of California (CVUC) is pleased to congratulate the 2009 Crime Victims United Charitable Foundation’s (CVUCF) Scholarship recipients. The decision this year was especially difficult as there were so many deserving, young victims of crime.

Due to the generosity of so many in supporting CVUCF’s 20^th Annual Classic Cup, we will be awarding 3 Catina Rose Memorial Scholarships, 1 PREVENT Scholarship and 1 Christie Wilson Scholarship. The young adult recipients have overcome such pain and adversity, and yet have resolutely decided to go on with their lives. Their stories vary from attempted murder to parental abuse to domestic abuse and witnessing the murder of their parent. The recipients will join us at this year’s Classic Cup Awards Banquet to receive their scholarships.

Remember, it is only through the generosity of caring individuals that we are able to offer these scholarships. We are the only group in California offering this type of financial support to these young victims of crime.  Please help us to continue to offer these scholarships by supporting the Crime Victims United Charitable Foundation Classic Cup Tournaments.  If you would like more information, please contact Crime Victims United Charitable Foundation at (530) 885-9544 for more information. 

Thank you and again, congratulations to the 2009 winners!

Medieval Times – Special Price for Friends of Crime Survivors

Thanksgiving Meal Program

congratulate this year’s winners of the CVUC Scholarships

CRIME VICTIMS UNITED OF CALIFORNIA
   It is with great pleasure  that  I would like to congratulate this year’s winners of the Crime Victims United Charitable Foundation’s Scholarships. The decision this year was especially difficult – there were so many deserving, young victims of crime. Due to the generosity of so many in supporting Crime Victims United Charitable Foundation’s 20th Annual Classic Cup, I am pleased to announce that we will be awarding 3 Catina Rose Memorial Scholarships, 1 Prevention Scholarship and 1 Christie Wilson Scholarship. These young adults have overcome such pain and adversity, and yet have resolutely decided to go on with their lives. Their stories range from attempted murder, parental abuse, domestic abuse and witnessing the murder of their parent.     The recipients will be joining us at this years Classic Cup Awards Banquet to receive their scholarships. If you would like to join us and meet these outstanding young adults and offer your support to them, please contact 530-885-9544 for more information. Remember, it is only through the generosity of caring individuals that we are able to offer these scholarships. We are the only group in California that offers this type of financial support to these young victims of crime. Please help us to continue to offer these scholarships by supporting the Crime Victims United Charitable Foundation Classic Cup Tournaments. 
   Thank you and again, Congratulations to this year’s winners.
 
Harriet Salarno Chair Crime Victims United “Protecting Today’s Victims; Preventing Tomorrows” www.crimevictimsunited.com 11400 Atwood Rd. Auburn, Ca 95603 P: 530-885-9544/F:530-885-4608 cvuc@sbcglobal.net