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Police Warn "Lock it or lose it"

admin — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:25:57 +0000

From CincinnatiEnquirer.com:

That is Cincinnati Police Department’s new slogan for March, which is Theft From Auto Awareness Month.

The slogan is simple, quick and efficient – much like when a thief smashes a window and breaks into a car.

“Everywhere you park a car and leave it unattended, you could be in danger,” said Dave Bailey, Cincinnati police District 5 commander. “No neighborhood is completely safe.”

The old example is It takes less than 10 seconds for a person to break into a car.

The Cincinnati Police Department proved this during the kickoff event. A video showed a man smashing a window, grabbing a GPS system and running.

The time: seven seconds.

Police have a slew of car break-in statistics “which may astound you,” Police Chief Thomas Streicher said. For example, A car is stolen once every 102 minutes, and 14 vehicles are stolen a day in Cincinnati, police said.

To avoid being a victim, park in well-lit areas and remove all items from the car, Bailey said.

The police are making an educational push starting a push for auto education and awareness because of the approaching warm season. March is a time when snow is melting, the inside of cars become more visible and crime increases, Streicher said.

“People are out moving about, and the bad guys are out moving about,” he said. “What are they looking for? Simple targets.”

It may not matter what the target is.

Khadija Monk of Clifton spoke at the event. All she had in her car was a bag of clothes to be donated to Goodwill. Thieves took it after breaking in.

“It doesn’t matter what’s in your car, if it’s valuable or not valuable,” she said. “If they can see it, they’re going to take it and think about it later.”

This is why Cincinnati police is pushing their new slogan. They want everyone to make sure their items are out of sight. They will be doing a campaign of fliers, mailings, public-service announcements PSAs and community meetings to combat vehicle break-ins.

To reduce crime in Cincinnati, it all comes down to the driver. A person has to hide their items every time, Streicher said.

“The very best prevention we have is people looking after themselves,” he said.

Joseph H. Spring, Esq.
MARK E. GODBEY & ASSOCIATES
708 Walnut Street, Suite 600
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
(513) 241 - 6650 phone
(513) 241 - 6649 fax

Penalties Increase for Drunk Driving Offenses in Ohio

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:11:31 +0000

In September of 2008, new changes went into effect for Ohio laws governing allegations of “Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs” (OMVI). Formally nown as “DUIs,” Ohio’s “OMVI” statute was recently overhauled by the Ohio legislature. Among other changes, the new provisions increase penalties for particular offenses, increase mandatory minimums on certain portions of sentences, revise the use of treatment programs, and expand the use of “ignition interlock” devices. In addition, the revised laws expand the ways in which law enforcement officials can compel a suspect to submit to a “forced” chemical test of their Blood-Alcohol Content (BAC). The new law provides that, in certain circumstances, law enforcement officials may now use “whatever reasonable means are necessary” in order to complete the chemical test. See, Ohio Revised Code §§4511.19 and 4511.191(a)(5)(a)-(b).

While the full effect (and constitutionality) of these revisions remains to be seen, one thing is clear: Ohio is stepping-up enforcement and punishment for drunk driving offenses. If you or someone you know has been charged with a drunk driving offense, call our offices TODAY for a FREE initial consultation to know and protect your rights.

Blake P. Somers, Attorney at Law
Mark E. Godbey & Associates
708 Walnut Street, Suite 600
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
(513) 241 – 6650 phone
(513) 241 – 6649 fax

Death Penalty for White-collar Criminals?

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:30:37 +0000

This post’s title is also the title of this newspaper commentary, which is–not surprising–a response to the Madoff mess. Here are snippets:

We rationalize capital punishment by claiming that the fear of death is an excellent deterrent and a fitting punishment for cases of extreme harm to an individual (murder) or a community (sex offenders). Rarely has the fear of the death penalty deterred a single crime of passion or the flawed anti-social criminal. To be a deterrent, potential criminals need time to weigh the crime against the penalty and some level of native intelligence to understand that death by lethal injection or the electric chair is very likely if they commit the crime.

Ethical and religious considerations aside, perhaps the death penalty should not be reserved only for violent physical crime but as punishment for extreme economic harm, to white-collar crime such as embezzlement, fraud, or the conspiracies of silence that made so many accessories to Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and the corporate collapses that have cost us nearly a trillion dollars so far. I tend to think that Madoff would never have stolen so much money from so many people if the penalty was death.

As internationally minded readers likely know, the Chinese use the death penalty this way. Though I doubt the US will be following China’s lead here anytime soon, this commentary provides a useful reminder of how easy and common it is for persons to want to respond to one extreme crime with a proposal for more extreme punishment schemes.

Joseph H. Spring, Esq.
MARK E. GODBEY & ASSOCIATES
708 Walnut Street, Suite 600
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
(513) 241 – 6650 phone
(513) 241 – 6649 fax