Recently in Police Category

BY MIKE CETERA

So, Joe Birkett's son got caught in a pot bust. So what? Now we have confirmation his family isn't infallible either.

The arrest of Nicholas T. Birkett would have been relegated to the police blotter -- at best -- if he wasn't the son of the DuPage County state's attorney.

Instead, Joe's son becomes just another statistic in this country's "war on drugs." We are left to either empathize or mock a politician and his son.

BY MIKE CETERA

Here's something nobody is talking about: Shootings are down, way down, in Aurora this year.

Through Wednesday, shootings had dropped by more than 50 percent when compared to the same time period last year, according to Aurora Police Department statistics.

The numbers
25 shootings between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2008
53 shootings between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2007

Those figures put Aurora on pace to record 75 shootings this year. Wow.

BY MIKE CETERA

On its face, charging a kid with a crime that could land him in prison for as long as 30 years for lighting a roll of toilet paper on fire seems a bit like overkill. People convicted of reckless homicide have been given less time.

But when you consider what could have happened after the 17-year-old allegedly started a blaze in a bathroom earlier this week at West Aurora High School, such a penalty seems far less extreme.

BY DAVE PARRO

While the conviction Monday of six Insane Deuces gang members made headlines in Aurora, it got little attention elsewhere. It should have, however, because proving conspiracy might be the most powerful tool police and prosecutors have in bringing down street gangs here.

Federal prosecutors successfully used racketeering laws to prove a conspiracy to commit murder and sell drugs in Aurora over a period of time. Some of the gang members will be facing life sentences under strict federal sentencing guidelines.

It's not the first time the RICO Act, originally used against the Mafia, has been used against street gangs. But it's a new tool in Aurora, and the guilty verdicts this week could be a sign of things to come.

BY MIKE CETERA

Ninety-nine days into the new year and the city of Aurora has yet to record a murder for 2008. Something to celebrate? Let's let recent history be the judge.

The city's first 2007 murder was recorded on Jan. 21. No charges have been filed in the death of 15-year-old Oscar Rodriguez.

The city's first 2006 murder was recorded on Jan. 6. A man was sentenced to 70 years in prison last year for the murder of 28-year-old Antoine "Tyrell" Bell.

In fact, the city has not been murder free this late into the new year since 1987, a year that saw just one homicide.

BY MIKE CETERA

CYNIC: Having defeated all other scourges upon mankind, the city of Aurora -- with an assist from the politicians in Springfield who need fodder for re-election -- has decided to tackle a problem it doesn't have: meth.

OPTIMIST: They acknowledged meth production isn't a problem here yet. They're just being proactive. Assistant Police Chief Greg Thomas said "this is a preventive measure to make sure it is not a problem here."

CYNIC: Proactive? I believe the term you're looking for is political opportunism. They use a recent bust -- in Chicago -- to make themselves look current and tough on crime. And, as an added bonus, they might scare some voters into believing something that isn't true.

BY MIKE CETERA

When I try to picture a hate crime, I think of pitch forks, burning crosses and racially-motivated beatings. I don't conjure up a domestic dispute between two kids who used to date.

But a 14-year-old high school student in St. Charles is facing a hate crime charge -- a felony -- for writing "disparaging comments" on his ex-girlfriend's locker, among other things.

If both of these teens were the same race, this fallout from the breakup would have been unremarkable. Kids are immature. Nasty comments happen. But he is white and she is black.

From the story:

According to the state's attorney's office, the boy also drew a stick figure of a person in a noose on his computer. At some point the girl saw it and became alarmed -- leading to the hate crime charge, the state's attorney's office said.

BY MIKE CETERA

The city of Aurora trumpeted it's latest crime statistics last week, something unusual for a town that has in the past taken a PR beating in this regard.

And while the overall decrease is a positive, the last line in Staff Writer Matt Hanley's story caught my eye: "Last year's reduction in major crimes mirrors a national drop in crime rates."

Really? Crime is dropping everywhere? Why is this?

BY MIKE CETERA

With so many communities -- including Aurora -- approving use of cameras to catch people running red lights, I found a new study out of Florida particularly interesting.

The Florida Public Health Review concludes that "crash, injury and mortality risks do not change immediately, if at all" with the introduction of red-light cameras.

Further, the study notes that red-light running fatalities -- at least in Florida -- are not on the rise. So why the need for cameras?

Because the rigorous and robust studies conclude that cameras are associated with increased crashes and costs, any economic analysis of cameras should include these newly generated costs to the public. Indirect costs to the public are usually not considered in the calculation of total revenues and profits generated from red light cameras.... Also, public policy should avoid conflicts of interest that enhance revenues for government and private interests at the risk of public safety (emphasis added).

BY MIKE CETERA

Do you attend NIU? Do you know someone who does? Share your thoughts on the Northern Illinois University shooting after the jump.