Crime Blog | Your filter to El Paso area police blotters and court dockets

Police offer burglary prevention tips

During the summer, police usually notice an increase in home burglaries due to residents leaving windows and doors open or unlocked while they're away from home.

Police are offering the following tips to help residents make sure their homes and valuables are safe:

•Always lock your doors and windows including all side gates and patio doors.

•Install a home security alarm system with a motion detector light feature.

•Do not leave any packages, electronics, and other valuables in plain sight.

•Try not to be predictable and vary the times you leave your home and the routes you take.

•Leave a radio and use timers for lights.

•Label all your valuables with your driver’s license number.

•Do not leave your garage door(s) open.

•Organize or join a Neighborhood Watch Program on your street. Call your nearest regional command center, which are listed below, and request a free home security survey.

Pebble Hills, 915-599-5898; Mission Valley, 915-872-3600; Central,  915-838-8013; Northeast, 915-759-2004; and Westside, 915-585-6000.

Slain border agent's family alleges lies over ATF gun program

(Los Angeles Times) -- The family of slain U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry charged Wednesday that the top federal prosecutor in Phoenix lied to them about the guns found at the crime scene in an attempt to hide the weapons' connection to the ATF's failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.

Terry was killed in December 2010, allegedly by Mexican bandits carrying at least two AK-47 semiautomatic rifles that had been purchased in Arizona as part of Fast and Furious. The operation was intended to catch drug lords using illegal weapons, but the ATF immediately lost track of 1,700 firearms.

The Terry family alleged that then-U.S. Atty. Dennis K. Burke told them last March that the two weapons came from a store in Texas and were not part of Fast and Furious.

To read more, click here.

LA Times: Packed with heroin, burrito used in sting had bite

(Los Angeles Times) -- The young woman sat by herself in a hallway of the bustling courthouse, nervously clasping a brown paper bag. Inside was a warm bean and cheese burrito stuffed with 24 grams of black tar heroin.

Henry Marin, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, peeked out from a courtroom and waved her over.

Lunchtime was approaching — lawyers in suits clutched their briefcases and witnesses waited to testify.

As the handoff was made, no one appeared to be paying attention — until a voice commanded: "Deputy Marin, you need to stop."

What Marin didn't realize was that the hallway bystanders were undercover sheriff's investigators. And the woman was a cog in an elaborate sting targeting him and another deputy suspected of smuggling drugs into the county's lockups for inmates in a notorious prison gang.

To read more, click here.

'Blind mules' unknowingly ferry drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border

(CNN) -- Every weekday, Juan Andres drives across the U.S.-Mexico border from his home in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to the University of Texas at El Paso.

The three-and-a-half-mile commute takes him a world away from a major flashpoint in Mexico's drug cartel war, away from a city with one of the world's highest murder rates.

Andres, who agreed to speak to CNN under the condition that his name was changed, has always been keenly aware of his and his family's safety while living in Juarez.

"The city was already pretty dangerous. We tried not to go to restaurants and things like that where [kidnappings] could happen," he said.

A few years ago, Andres walked away from his career as an optometrist in Mexico to follow his passion: music.

To read more, click here.

Connecticut Police Officers Accused of Mistreating Latinos

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES -- F.B.I. agents arrested a sergeant and three police officers from East Haven, Conn., on Tuesday after they were indicted on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges for singling out and mistreating Latino residents.

The four were accused of conducting unreasonable searches and seizures and of using unreasonable force, including hitting suspects in the head while the suspects were in custody. The indictment said two officers had “regularly conducted traffic stops of Latino customers” going in or out of Latino-owned businesses and had arrested or detained the people they stopped.

The indictment, unsealed in federal court in Bridgeport, Conn., also said the officers had filed false and misleading reports to cover their actions.

To read more, click here.

Deming gang member gets 40 years in prison

DEMING, N.M. -- Daniel Ramon Munoz, 30, of Deming, was sentenced Friday to 40 years for drug trafficking and attempted escape in a federal court in Las Cruces, according to a release from the Department of Justice.

Munoz, also known as "Rhino" and a member of the Sureño gang, must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence. The Sureños gang originated in Southern California.

On Aug. 30, 2010, he pleaded guilty to eight counts related to conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and attempting to escape from the Luna County Detention Center in December 2009.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, in July 2009 tried to smuggle methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico by using women to conceal the drugs in their body cavities. The U.S. Attorney's Office said that during his plea hearing, he also admitted that while in federal custody, he had a handcuff key in his possession which he intended to use to escape from jail.

To read more, click here.

Another ATF weapons operation comes under scrutiny

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES -- In the late summer of 2010, the ATF agent leading the failed Fast and Furious gun-smuggling operation in Arizona flew to Mexico City to help coordinate cross-border investigations of U.S. weapons used by Mexican drug cartels.

Hope A. MacAllister wanted access to police and military vaults for American weapons recovered by Mexican authorities in raids and at crime scenes. She especially was interested in firearms from another ATF investigation, code-named White Gun, that she was running.

Now members of Congress who have spent months scrutinizing the Fast and Furious debacle are seeking to determine whether White Gun was another weapons investigation gone wrong.

To read more, click here.

Video depicts LA deputy punching woman

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES -- Questions were growing about an incident on a Metro bus in which a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy is seen on videotape striking a woman in the face.

The incident has been prominently shown on local TV and the Internet. Sheriff Lee Baca said Wednesday that officials would look into the incident.

He said the deputy would be held accountable for his actions but stopped short of saying the incident required discipline. He also said the deputy might require retraining.

To read more, click here.

FBI changes definition of rape to include men as victims

By Kevin Johnson / USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The FBI is changing its long-standing definition of rape for the first time to include sexual assaults on males following persistent calls from victims advocates who claim that the offense, as currently defined in the agency's annual crime report, has been undercounted for decades.

Under the current definition, established 85 years ago, many of the sex crimes alleged in the ongoing prosecution of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky would not be counted in the bureau's Uniform Crime Report, one of the most reliable measures of crime in the United States. Sandusky is accused in alleged assaults and sexual misconduct involving 10 male victims.

Rape is currently defined as the "carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will."

The new provision will define rape as any kind of penetration of another person, regardless of gender, without the victim's consent. It also includes a broad range of rapes involving both males and females in which attackers use objects to penetrate their victims.

"Rape is a devastating crime and we can't solve it unless we know the full extent of it,'' said Vice President Biden, who worked closely with advocates on the issue. "This long-awaited change to the definition of rape is a victory for women and men across the country whose suffering has gone unaccounted for over 80 years."

Attorney General Eric Holder called the change "long overdue'' and added that the new provision will "provide us with a more accurate understanding of the scope and volume of these crimes.''

Carol Tracy, executive director of the Women's Law Project, and 90 other organizations that support victims of sexual abuse have been pushing for such a change for more than a decade, saying that the public has long been "misled" about the prevalence of rape.

"If you can't measure it accurately, you can't monitor it and you can't direct appropriate resources to deal with the problem," Tracy said.

At stake are tens of millions of dollars in federal and state aid which flow to victims of sex crimes. The budgeting and distribution of that money has been based partly on the measures contained in the FBI's crime report.

In September, a survey of major city police chiefs found that 80% believed the old definition was "not adequate," according to the review by the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

"The crimes are still being prosecuted under state law, but the current definition is not a true reflection of the nature of sexual assault in the United States," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the police research group.

FBI Director Robert Mueller has approved the change, which will be phased into the data-collection process over the next two to three years.

The FBI's action is part of a broader national re-assessment of how rape and sexual crimes are reported and tracked in the United States.

Last month, the National Academies Committee on National Statistics launched a review on behalf of the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, which produces the National Crime Victimization Survey.

The 21-month study will examine how information about sex offenses is collected; it also will assess the quality of data published by BJS's National Crime Victimization Survey. The survey gathers information from victims to assess the prevalence of crime. The separate FBI report receives its data from local law enforcement agencies.

Although the separate reports are aimed at providing a more thorough measure, they offer very different accounts of sexual assault in the United States.

In 2010, for example, the FBI reported 84,767 rapes, down from 89,241 in 2009. Meanwhile, the victimization survey recorded 188,380 sexual assaults, up from 125,920 in 2009.

Carol House, the committee's study director, said the FBI statistics are believed to represent the lower estimate of rape in the United States, largely because of the confines of the old definition. The victimization survey, she said, provides "a middle range,'' that doesn't account for untold numbers of victims who are not comfortable sharing such personal information with surveyors.

"One of the problems is how you get somebody to agree to talk about something like this in a meaningful way while assuring that their (identities) will remain confidential,'' House said.

Holiday safety tips

Officials with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office are offering the following tips to make sure area residents stay safe this holiday season.

When shopping:

•Dress comfortable and casual for freedom of motion

•Do not overload yourself with packages

•Park in a well lit area and close proximity

•Lock your car

•Do not leave valuable items in plain view

•Have your keys available or in hand

•Be aware of your surroundings before you exit your vehicle

•Check inside your vehicle before getting in

•Be aware of “con artists” trying to distract you with intention of taking your belongings

•Avoid wearing expensive jewelry

•Avoid carrying large amounts of cash

•Be aware of shoulder surfing when paying with debit/credit card

•Leave birth certificates, social security cards and other documents with personal identifying information at home in a secure place

When at home:

•Keep your home well lighted

•Be aware of dark areas/blind spots, landscaping, where an attacker can hide

•Do not place valuables in plain view from your home (Christmas tree with gifts)

•Do not place spare keys outside the home by the door

•Do not leave messages that you are away from home

While on a computer:

•Stay up to date with anti-virus software to detect or deflect malicious software

•Do not open unsolicited mail (spam)

•Be aware of phishing/smishing schemes to get personal identifying information by email or text

•Do not forget about orders you have placed

•Be aware of chain letters (by mail, email, text) that guarantee big money with a small investment

When giving to charity:

•Be aware of emails, callers claiming to be charitable organizations

•Verify information before you contribute to any organization

•Give to charities you know

•Be suspicious of those organizations who accept only cash

•Check out companies through Federal Trade Commission, Attorney General and Better Business Bureau