police leader magazine

The Police Leader Magazine is published by Milton Brown, as a professional trade magazine focusing on topics relating to law enforcement and is distributedstate-wide in Texas. The magazine is solely owned and does not support any association or political group. Correspondence should be addressed to:

The Police Leader Magazine does not assume responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by contributors. Articles that appear in the publication donot offer endorsement of products or services from the magazine or its employees. The entire content of The Police Leader Magazine is copyrighted by thepublisher or held as indicated and may not be reproduced in any manner, either whole or in part, without written permission.

COPYRIGHTED 2012

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTIONS OF ANY FORM ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

The Police Leader Magazine is published quarterly or on a special issue basis. Advertising rates are available upon request. Editorial inquiries should bedirected to (210) 858-5158. Subscriptions are not available at this time – requests for copies can be submitted to the editor.

SPONSOR LIST

The following have made a contributionto the magazine.

POLICE LEADER

933 N. FloresSan Antonio, Texas 78212-5137

(210) 259-8540 or (210) 259-8579 fax

Jose RojasHarold Carr & FamilyMesquite DrillingMustang Hoy shotJemar RanchTransite Transportation

Service L.T.DGrand Used Restaurant

EquipmentCAS TransportationL&N TransportRBM Hot Shot

Services LLCJohn R. NelsonSouth Texas

Roustabouts LLCJuan Carillo & FamilyKelly StanleyMesquite DrillingTalmadge Becker

Trucking Co.Power Petroleum

Bluewater A/C & Refrigeration

Beck Equipment Co.Hoffmann ConstructionMiguel AbarcaBluesky Land Express Inc.Grayrock The Corp.C&M TransportLo TruckingJuan Carillo & FamilyRudolph Molina Jr.,

TruckingDe La Rosa TruckingTony Kacer Farms

Magazine / Photo Editorand Ad DirectorG. Eric James

Contributing WritersFriedrich Brunner(Foreign Correspondent)

Debbie McRillDr. Phillip LyonsDonna Shotwell

Frederick J. Williams

Cover PhotoDave Montana

Supervisor of Magazine Marketing

Milton Brown

Administrative StaffRicardo Villarreal, Jr. PLPL

LEADERPOLICE

3 Police Leader Magazine October 2012

164

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ISSUE #1

photo by: Josh Kulla / Wilsonville Spokesman

photo courtesy of Collin County

26

04. VICARIOUS TRAUMAby Lynn A. Tovar

Law enforcement officers face the risk of violence orwitness gruesome accident scenes, and may dealwith investigations such as child abuse or domesticabuse – the mental toll on these officers is sometimesoverlooked.

10. STOP and FRISKby Frederick J. Williams

The potentially volatile relationship between policeand Black Americans can be exacerbated with theuse of “stop and frisk” tactics.

16. La Sante Muerte - beyond drug cartelsby Kirsten Crow

A popular cult which has followers primarily in Mexicois becoming more prevalent and visible in the UnitedStates. Often associated with drugs, the saint hasdeeper connections with her followers.

22. HOT and BOTHEREDby Debbie McRill

With temperatures in Texas reaching oppressivelevels at times, aggressin or aggressive behaviorscan also increase - not only with the general public,but with officers as well.

26. EXTENDED EYES of the LAWby Donna Shotwell

Many cities are recruiting local citizens to be an extraset of eyes for the department. These volunteershelp provide communication between neighbors andlaw enforcement officers.

30. EYEWITNESS TESTIMONIESby Dr. Phillip Lyons

While witnessing a crime, perception can be flawed,encoding that information, and because memory ismalleable, retrieval of information can be complicated -making eyewitness testimonies questionable.

26

4 Police Leader Magazine

FEATURE STORY

iT

1ISSUE

It is no secret that police work

causes many law enforcement

officers to feel stressed. Patrol officers

face the risk of violence on a daily

basis, leading many people to

consider law enforcement an

inherently stressful occupation.

Also, specific duties within police

departments, such as child abuse

investigations, may cause more

anguish than others.

Yet, the mental toll of these

positions often is overlooked, and,

generally, the source of this anguish

is examined anecdotally rather

than empirically. Law enforcement

administrators need to take a closer

look at how traumatic events can

alter their employees’ world views

and senses of spirituality, which

ultimately affects the well being of

both personnel and organizations.

A positive spirit can help police

officers reduce work-related stress

by allowing them to minimize the

impact of traumatic experiences.

Therefore, managers and training

coordinators need to acknowledge

their critical role in changing the

behaviors and attitudes related to

workplace stress by developing

wellness and spirituality programs

for their agencies. Understanding

this stress, its sources and effects,

and various ways to combat it will

enrich officers’ quality of life. Effec-

tive training programs and a culture

of spirituality help officers manage

stress, respond to trauma, and lead a

more satisfying life.

People-Oriented Occupational Stress

Stress is an inevitable compo-

nent of life. In our fast-paced society,

individuals must respond to a

barrage of problems and changes in

a timely manner, take on greater

responsibilities, and become in-

creasingly more efficient at their

jobs. However, in addition to this

common, unavoidable stress, law

enforcement work presents more

challenges by frequently exposing

personnel to traumatic events. As

a result, police work meets the

definition of a “critical occupation.”

Personnel in critical occupations,

such as firefighters, paramedics,

ambulance drivers, rescue workers,

and emergency medical response

teams, deal with traumatic events

and their consequences. Officers,

along with these emergency serv-

ices professionals, play a critical role

to protect the community, a weighty

responsibility that brings significant

pressure. Those who do not learn

to cope with this anguish progress

to a more severe stage of stress

known as burnout.

Vicarious Traumatization and Spirituality in Law Enforcement

(reprinted with permission from the FBI / fbi.gov)

By Lynn A. Tovar, Ed.D.

Police Leader Magazine 5

Vicarious Traumatization

The concept of vicarious trauma-

tization, as introduced by McCann

and Pearlman, provides a theoreti-

cal framework to understand the

complicated and often painful

effects of trauma on crisis workers.

By definition, “the effects of

vicarious traumatization on an

individual resemble those of

traumatic experiences. They include

significant disruptions in one’s affect

tolerance, psychological needs,

beliefs about self and others, inter-

personal relationships, and sensory

memory, including imagery.”

Vicarious traumatization results

from empathetic engagement with

traumatic experiences. Tragic

events that harm innocent victims

are, unfortunately, an inevitable part

of our larger world and society.

Because law enforcement officers

hold the responsibility of responding

to these incidents, they repeatedly

witness human beings’ intentional

cruelty to one another. As investiga-

tors listen to graphic accounts of

victims’ experiences and participate

in reenactments of tragic events,

these encounters stir powerful

emotions as officers engage with

victims’ pain and suffering. Officers

can become painfully aware of the

potential for trauma in their own

lives, and this empathetic engage-

ment leaves them vulnerable to the

emotional and spiritual effects of

vicarious traumatization.

Officers who fall victim to

vicarious traumatization may de-

monstrate changes in their core

sense of self or psychological

foundation. These alterations

include shifts in the officers’ identi-

ties and worldviews; their ability to

manage strong feelings, maintain a

positive sense of self, and connect

with others; their spirituality or sense

of meaning, expectation, aware-

Officers pay tribute to their own, at the annual fallen officers memorial in Houston.photo by: Dave Montana


1ISSUE

ness, and connection; and their

basic needs for safety, self-esteem,

trust, dependency, control, and

intimacy. These effects, which

disrupt officers’ professional and

personal lives, are cumulative and

potentially permanent.

A Study of Vicarious TraumaFocused Research

To investigate how vicarious

trauma manifests in law enforce-

ment agencies, the author studied

the ways that officers deal with

these painful and horrific experi-

ences that completely contradict

their previously held conceptions

about how the world should be.

The study examined how law

enforcement officers reconcile these

disruptions to their core beliefs (e.g.,

good versus evil, hope versus

despair, safety versus vulnerability)

and manage the physical, psycho-

logical, and social ramifications

of vicarious trauma. The study

analyzed the sources and effects

of these stresses, as well as the

ways in which the participants

reconstructed their lives to regain

their psychological and physical

health. Also, the author presents

suggestions on how organizations

can assist police officers in their

struggles, particularly by encouraging

them to learn wellness and spirituality-

based coping mechanisms.

To gather this information, the

author interviewed 15 law enforce-

ment investigators from the Chicago

area who worked on juvenile sexual

abuse cases. She asked questions

to determine how, if at all, the

interviewees were influenced or

changed by their professional expe-

riences. Face-to-face interviews

afforded her the opportunity to

observe the participant’s body

language, such as eye rolls, long

pauses between responses, or

voice inflections that indicated

contempt, concern, frustration,

or sorrow. Narrative interviews

illustrated to the author how various

episodes, experiences, or events

in officers’ lives impacted their

feelings, emotions, coping mecha-

nisms, and interactions with peers

and victims.

Lessons Learned

The study’s results indicated that

participants exhibited numerous

signs of vicarious traumatization,

including hyper vigilance, symptomatic

reactions, relationship problems, lack

of communication, denial, repres-

sion, isolation and disassociation,

change in worldviews, and a loss of

sense of meaning. Participants’

statements clearly demonstrated the

impacts of juvenile sexual assault

investigations in their lives. The first

interviewee stated, “I think that is a

part of what this job has done to me.

You look at society or you look at

people with a jaundiced-eye,

cynical perspective. We don’t always

see the best, we see the worst, or we

have suspicion about someone.”

One interviewee described the

FEATURE STORY

© iStockphoto.com


physical effects of psychological

trauma, such as “headaches, the

general tightness in the shoulders. I

don’t sleep well. I haven’t slept well in

a very long time. When I wake up in

the morning, I never feel refreshed.”

Also, as is common of vicarious

traumatization victims, some

subjects demonstrated significant

changes to their previously held

values. Another interviewee stated,

“I think before I got on the job and

people would ask, ‘Do you believe in

God?’ I would say, ‘Yeah, I believe

in Him, but I just don’t go to church.’

Now when people ask if I believe, I

will say, ‘If you saw what I saw—and

I spent two hours in Children’s

Memorial Hospital—and if you saw

what I saw… there is no God.’ Yeah,

I would say it has had an impact on

my belief.” The investigators demon-

strated that their experiences

permanently transformed their lives,

both professionally and personally;

as a result, new perspectives, new

beliefs, and coping strategies

emerged. Also, investigators who

felt most distant from traumatic

experiences were more open in their

acknowledgement of their effects

and more able to critically reflect

on them.

Positive Steps to Action

These results demonstrate that

law enforcement agencies must

take measures to help their person-

nel combat the negative effects

of occupational stress and vicarious

traumatization. Two important

methods to improve the well-being

of officers include facilitating spiritu-

ality in the workplace and imple-

menting training programs to teach

coping mechanisms.

Spirituality in the Workplace

What is spirituality in the work-

place? In this study, the author

ascribes to a broad definition of the

term. “Spirituality” does not denote

religious practices, God, or theology

but rather an inherent human

awareness of the elusive impact of

experience. It attributes meaning to

one’s life through hope and ideal-

ism, connection with others, and

awareness of experience. More

specifically, “workplace spirituality

recognizes that people have an

inner life that nourishes and is

nourished by meaningful work in the

context of community.”

The organization should remain

concerned about how officers’ work

affects their inner lives and emotions

and, thus, foster a culture that

welcomes spirituality as a coping

mechanism. The four cultural char-

acteristics of a spiritual organization

include a strong sense of purpose,

trust and respect among coworkers,

humanistic work practices, and the

toleration of employee expression in

the workplace. An awareness of

spirituality can shed a great deal of

light on the officers’ behavior in the

workplace; as a result, the organiza-

tional culture that accepts spirituality

can better help employees develop

to their full potential.

Because many individuals desire

to embrace spirituality in their

personal life and in their workplace,

organizations can promote a spiri-

tual culture by emphasizing the

value of community in a productive

work environment. Similarly, law

enforcement agencies need to

recognize that their employees have

both a mind and a spirit, and they


FEATURE STORY1ISSUE

seek to find meaning in their duties

and the community they serve.

Many police officers feel the desire

and commitment to connect with

other humans, whether inside the

workplace or externally, including

the citizens and victims they help. A

strong sense of spirituality in the

workplace promotes positive atti-

tudes, health, happiness, empower-

ment, inner peace, truth, and

healthy relationships.

Wellness Training

Once law enforcement adminis-

trators recognize the link between

wellness and overall personnel

development, they should provide

training opportunities to teach

officers how to cope with stress

on the job. These educational

programs will function as both

professional and personal develop-

ment for officers who suffer from

vicarious traumatization.

Before administrators develop

wellness programs for their depart-

ments, they should perform a

two-part training needs assessment.

First, managers should analyze the

current state of wellness training in

their agencies. Then, they must

understand the severity of occupa-

tional stress among their officers.

They should ask questions, such as,

How has your work affected your

personal identity, spirituality, sexual-

ity, relationships, and emotional

responsiveness? Does your work

lead to feelings of frustration and

hopelessness or to joy and accom-

plishment? What programs does the

organization have in place to help

officers deal with these changes?

After agencies gain a better

understanding of their needs, they

can develop educational programs

to remedy these issues. Trainers

should instruct officers about the

causes and effects of stress, as well

as constructive ways to combat it.

A well-rounded stress reduction/

spirituality curriculum should provide

information about stress indicators,

the benefits of physical exercise and

proper nutrition, and effective inter-

personal communication methods.

Departments should implement

prevention measures by immedi-

ately educating new recruits on

stress and wellness. However,

continuing instruction becomes

even more important for officers

later in their careers; these experi-

enced officers more likely will suffer

from the effects of stress already.

As a result, agencies must

provide support for their personnel,

which can come in many forms.

Support from the officer’s agency

and family is a critical factor in a

troubled person’s decision to seek

help. Many administrators institute

employee assistance programs to

provide 24-hour help lines and

confidential counseling.

In addition, the psychological

debriefings comprise an important

technique to help personnel cope

with traumatic events. Conducting

debriefings soon after incidents

allows police officers to express

their feelings and discuss the occur-

rence in a supportive group setting.

Also, peer support groups allow

officers who have been affected by

trauma to talk to fellow law enforce-

ment professionals who will listen to

them and provide assistance.

Trainers and administrators must

understand, however, that many law

© Thinkstock.com


enforcement officers fear that

acknowledging such stress impacts

their work and, thus, may not seek

help on their own.

Last, administrators must acknowl-

edge that each law enforcement

agency is unique and has its own

set of stress-related problems. It,

therefore, is necessary to conduct

ongoing assessments into the

causes and minimization of stress

among their officers.

Conclusion

Law enforcement officials should

seek a greater understanding of the

toll that work-related stress has on

police officers. Organizations have

begun to recognize that occupational

stress and vicarious traumatization

pose serious hazards for their

workers’ mental health; as such,

they need to consider facilitating

wellness and spirituality programs in

the workplace. These programs are

positive, proactive ways to address

the deeper impact of police work on

officers’ lives.

Training coordinators and admin-

istrators need to understand the

day-to-day events of the patrol

officers, specialized investigators,

and other personnel who struggle

with repeated exposure to trauma in

their lives. Then, they can provide

their employees with appropriate

professional development and

training opportunities to remedy

these issues. This training will

help officers overcome stress and

constructively respond to vicarious

traumatization by showing them

methods to incorporate wellness

and spirituality into their lives.

As many law enforcement agen-

cies across the country downsize

due to budget cuts, layoffs, or attri-

tion, it remains critical to focus on

retaining effective, hardworking

officers. Therefore, organizations

should consider the above philoso-

phies and approach training in a

holistic manner. In a workplace

where training and development

foster a culture of wellness and spir-

ituality, employees will individually

and collectively begin to create,

relate, and experience a richer,

dynamic, and more meaningful life,

both professionally and personally.

PL


One of the more racially charged

problems in the history of this

country has always been the

relationship between the police and

the African American communities.

Confrontation instead of cooperation

has been the defining factor

between the two entities. That

confrontation is predicated on a lack

of trust built up over the years. The

police do not trust Black Americans

and the latter do not trust the police

who patrol their communities. This

potentially volatile relationship has

been exacerbated with the increas-

ing use of “stop and frisk,” a tactic

used by police officers to reduce

crime in a specific area of the city,

usually the inner city. “Stop and

frisk” allows the police to stop any

citizen they consider suspicious and

frisk them for weapons. However,

the problem is that most of the

stops are based on racial profiling,

especially Blacks. In New York City

last year, the police conducted

685,724 stops and 87% were either

Blacks or Latinos, primarily between

the ages of 14 and 24. Out of the total

number stopped, 88% were innocent.

Racial and ethnic profiling can be

defined as the use of racial or ethnic

appearance as criteria to decide

which individuals to stop, frisk, or

question. It has become the subject

of concern and led to considerable

discussion centered on the constitu-

tional issue; specifically the individ-

ual protections from unreasonable

search and seizure guaranteed in

the Fourth Amendment. In May 2012,

Judge Shira A. Scheindlin of the

Federal District Court in Manhattan

granted a class action status to a

civil suit filed by the Center for

Constitutional Rights, and supported

by the New York Civil Liberties

Union on behalf of the people who

have been victims of these stops in

New York City. Next year when the

case goes to court, there is a strong

possibility that the police department

will be required to either stop or alter

the way they conduct this practice.

Beside the constitutional issue, how-

ever, this practice also needs to be

assessed from a historical context.

Since passage of the Thirteenth

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,

ending the horrible practice of

slavery in this country, the relation-

ship between the police and the

Black community has been turbulent.

STOP and

FRISKAn Unnecessary

Confrontation Between

the Police and

the Black Community.

1ISSUE

EDITORIAL

by

Frederick J. Williams

Adjunct Prof. of American Government,San Antonio College and Managing Edi-

tor, Divine Literary Publishing, LLC.

© Getty Images


For over a hundred years, the police

were the enforcer of the Black

Codes built into state constitutions

after the Civil War, and Jim Crow

Laws after 1876. In order to main-

tain an apartheid system, it was

imperative that police have absolute

and uncontrolled power to keep the

newly freed slaves in check. In order

to use their power, the police were

not bogged down by the constitu-

tional protections guaranteed to all

its citizens. They freely violated the

Second Amendment rights of Blacks

to own weapons and Fourth

Amendment rights against unrea-

sonable search and seizure. When

arrested, Blacks were not provided

with Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth

Amendment protections granted to

all other citizens. Blacks were also

denied First Amendment protections

guaranteeing freedom of assembly

and speech. All these rights that

most Americans took for granted

were arbitrarily denied this country’s

Black citizens throughout all regions

of the country.

Black Americans still suffer from

the memories of those days in the

Jim Crow south. Stories are passed

down from generation to generation

of the abuses suffered at the hands

of the police. According to historian,

Leon Litwack, while white children

viewed the police as their friend,

blacks have always feared them as

an enemy. Litwack, in his outstanding

book, Trouble In Mind: Black South-

erners in the Age of Jim Crow,

recalls many of the negative experi-

ences recorded by Blacks in the

south. “As a child in Durham, North

Carolina, Pauli Murray viewed

the local police as heavily armed,

invariably mountainous red-faced

men who seemed more a signal of

calamity than of protection. Richard

Wright, Jr., recalled, ‘I was convinced

early that policemen were my

enemies. I never approached a

policeman with a question until I had

been in Chicago for nearly a year.’

This same negative image domi-

nated Albon Holsey’s perception of

law enforcement. Growing up in

Georgia at the turn of the century he

and his friends always lived in

mortal fear of the police for they

were arch-tormentors and persecu-

tors of Negroes. ‘I ran so often from

the police,’ Holsfrod wrote, ‘when

I was a boy that even now (1929),

though I am past forty, if one walks

upon me unexpectedly my first

impulse is to take to my heels.’”

Treating Blacks as less than

human traumatized an entire race of

people for those years after the Civil

War and prior to the Civil Rights

Movement of the 1960’s. The police

have not only enforced unjust laws,photo from gawker.com

[Officers can be] considered an invading army that comes into the

neighborhood to maintain peace and then leave, never really creating any

semblance of a relationship with the people. As a result, too often the only

contact between the residents and the police is of a confrontational nature.

“

”


but have often participated in the

illegal killing and lynching of Blacks.

The police have always acted as

enforcers of the customs and tradi-

tions that the white south refused to

give up. It was only after President

Lyndon B. Johnson viewed the

beating that blacks endured at the

hands of the police in Selma,

Alabama in March 1965, that he

decided to support the Voting

Rights Act.

The historical context is key

when examining the “Stop and

Frisk” policies because Black

America has not sufficiently healed

from the many abuses they have

suffered at the hands of the police.

Just as Albon Holsey ran from the

police in 1929 Georgia, young Black

teenagers are still running. The

Rodney King beating is still fresh on

their minds, and is a constant

reminder to many Blacks that the

police do not respect the integrity of

the community, nor do they believe

they should be burdened with

constitutional considerations.

In June of this year, Reverend

Al Sharpton, President of the

National Action Network, a civil

rights organization headquartered in

New York City led a Father’s Day

march protesting the blatantly

discriminatory practice of targeting

young Blacks and Latinos for what

the marchers considered unconsti-

tutional searches. However, not all

black leadership in the New York

area support Sharpton’s opposition

to the practice. Reverend Floyd

Flake, former United States

Congressman and pastor of Greater

Allen A.M.E. Church in Jamaica,

New York supports the police. “Stop

and frisk is an important element to

try to stop crime in the community,”

Reverend Flake told a New York

Times reporter. Reverend Flake

believes that crime has gotten so

out of control in the streets that

extreme tactics are necessary to

bring order back to the community.

Additionally, the problem is exac-

erbated because the police do not

live in the areas they patrol, and are

often viewed from the colonial

context of the past. They are

considered an invading army that

comes into the neighborhood to

maintain peace and then leave,

never really creating any semblance

of a relationship with the people. As

a result, too often the only contact

between the residents and the

police is of a confrontational nature.

Midnight Basketball, sponsored every

summer by police departments, is not

sufficient to compensate for the

negative perceptions the residents

harbor toward the police. New and

innovative programs must be imple-

mented as teaching tools to

bridge the gap that continues to

exist between the police and the

residents of inner city neighborhoods.

It now appears that the constitu-

tional issue of “stop and frisk” will

finally be resolved through the

courts. However, it is going to take

more than a court decision to

resolve the much larger problem

created by a history of bad blood

between the two. The solution lies in

more communication between the

police and the community. When the

stop and frisk tactic causes more

problems than what it resolves, then

it is time for all police departments

to halt this practice, and consider

different approaches that are more

acceptable to the community they

are there to serve.

(CONTINUED) EDITORIAL

(... from p. 9)

ALAMOAUSTIN

AAA DRILLING


FEATURE1ISSUE

LaSantaMuerte

Devotion goes far beyond

the drug cartels.

by Kristen Crowstory reprinted with permission from the Waco Tribune-Herald, 2011

L


La Santa Muerte may be the rising star of what some

law enforcement agencies consider to be “narco-saints,”

but her presence doesn’t appear to have taken deep

root in Waco.

The cult, which translates to English as The Holy

Death, and the persona, sometimes referred to in

English as the Death Saint, is a new phenomenon in the

U.S., a transplant from her popular devotion in Mexico.

Her candles can be found in the aisles at some local

groceries stores, and her figurines — typically styled as

a hooded skeleton, and often featured with justice

scales, a globe or a scythe — can be sought out at the

flea market, or an obscure store that intermingles

“La Flaca,” or “The Skinny Girl,” with canonized Catholic

saints and love potions.

But local law enforcement agencies report few

occurrences of her presence accompanying the

narcotics with which she is often most associated in

the U.S.

And although items of Santa Muerte worship are

available for purchase, local vendors said the religion is

only emerging in the city, and has not yet developed a

large following.

The fact that items for the worship of Santa Muerte

appear in Waco, surprised R. Andrew Chesnut, Ph.D.,

who works at the Bishop Walter Sullivan Chair of

Catholic Studies located at Virginia Commonwealth

University.

“It means she’s in the U.S. heartland,” he said. “It’s

not confined to the border or big cities.”

The cult

A scholar who has studied what he refers to as

a new religious movement for nearly two years, is

preparing to publish the first academic book in English

on the subject, called “Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte,

the Skeleton Saint.”

In Mexico alone, there are an estimated 5 million

devotees, he said. And alongside growth in Mexico,

she’s taking a firmer presence in the U.S., according

to Chesnut.

She first caught his attention when many of the

public altars to Santa Muerte — which often consist of

statues, candles and offerings that can include fruit,

candy, cigarettes and alcohol in the motley assortment

— were bulldozed by the Mexican government in 2009.

That government defined her as an “enemy of the

state,” Chesnut said.

He concedes that being a “narco-saint” is “definitely

part of who she is,” but the cult envelops much more.

“One of the great ironies is...there are many people

prosecuting the drug war who are devotees,” he said,

recalling patches of Santa Muerte sometimes worn

by Mexican municipal police. “She does have a special

appeal...most importantly, for people who face death on

a frequent basis. That’s not only narcos, but police and

soldiers. She’s the representation of death itself, and

who better to extend life than death?”

She’s also widely considered to be a powerful

healer. Most devotees of Santa Muerte consider them-

selves Catholic, Chesnut said. But most also believe

Santa Muerte is more potent than the Catholic saints.

She has a reputation for being fast and efficacious

in the fulfillment of miracles, but also for being “danger-

ous and demanding,” he said.

“Whatever promise or vow you made (for the

miracle), you better...fulfill it or you and your family might

be in trouble,” Chesnut said.

Many believers, too, are those who feel unaccepted

in the Catholic church, such as homosexuals and drug

addicts, he said.


The background

Although the beginnings of Santa Muerte have been

debated, Chesnut believes she is based on a

syncretism of Catholic and indigenous beliefs, and

possibly the European version of the Grim Reaper that

was introduced to the country by the Spanish.

The cult was underground for several centuries, not

appearing until the 1950s or ’60s, he said, and eventually

“going public” in 2001.

Santa Muerte is often shown in cloaks of varying

colors, each of which has a different significance — gold

is for prosperity, for instance, while white is for purity,

peace and consecration. The hue most associated with

cartel activity is black, he said — that version is believed

to be the protector.

But while drug cartel operatives may believe the

black Santa Muerte protects them from police and rival

cartels, others may interpret the black Santa Muerte to

protect them from a stray bullet fired by one of the gang

members in the most criminally active areas.

“In fact, she is a spiritual multitasker,” Chesnut said.

“On a small scale, (prosperity) can mean finding a job.

. . . For a narco, it can mean that the shipment of meth

makes it safely to Houston.”

Before widespread publicity of her role in narco-

trafficking, she was mainly used for love magic by

women who thought their men were cheating, he said.

Santa Muerte was intended to “bind” or punish cheating

men, he said.

Simplifying her role simply as a criminal figure is

erroneous, Chesnut said.

“That’s what’s really dangerous — there’s a lot of

devotees in Mexico and in this country that have nothing

to do with the drug trade,” he said. “It’s something to

look into, but most Mexicans who are devotees are

not narcos.”

Law enforcement

Last year, Robert Almonte, the U.S. marshal for the

Western District, gave a training session to local

law enforcement agencies titled “Patron Saints of the

Mexican Drug Underworld.”

He considers Santa Muerte the fastest-growing of

the narco-saints, likely eclipsing other popular figures

such as Jesus Malverde, a Robin Hood-like persona.

FEATURE STORY1ISSUE

U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte talksabout the spread of patron saintworship associated with Mexicandrug cartels.

Tattoo artist Victor Enriquez of Steel Concepts Tattoosin Waco with some original designs featuring theSanta Muerte figure.

photo courtesy of the Waco-Tribune-Herald

photo courtesy of the Waco-Tribune-Herald


Waco police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton

said the department’s drug enforcement unit started

coming across the items a few years ago.

“(Officers) are seeing them on some of the drug

houses they have gone in on, but not overwhelmingly

so,” he said.

More often, Swanton said, the items have been seen

in the homes of people not involved in narcotics.

“Absolutely, we’re seeing them in people’s

homes...and not necessarily houses we’re doing drug

raids on. They’re prominent, they’re out there,” he said.

“They’re not always used for bad purposes. For the

larger stores to carry them, there is a business

for them.”

The training helped the officers better understand

what it is they’re seeing, Swanton continued.

“It really educated them what the symbolism was,”

he said.

Several other agencies, including the local office for

the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas

Department of Public Safety, reported they had not seen

the iconography associated with narcotics seizures.

DPS Sr. Cpl. Charlie Morgan said he received

a recent e-mail about the subject, but declined to

comment further, citing concerns about sensitive

information.

He had not heard of any troopers finding Santa

Muerte images on any of the traffic stops that yielded

large drug busts, either, he said.

Still, officers are trained to identify La Santisima

Muerte , as she is also known, and the association with

narco-trade remains prevalent.

Almonte noted while the images themselves cannot

be used as probable cause, understanding them and

using independent investigation has “led to arrests,

seizing drugs and seizing drug money.”

Chesnut thinks the correlation between narcotics

and Santa Muerte is the result of several high-profile

drug seizures and arrests where officers found the

folk saint.

Local culture

At the Treasure City flea market near Waco, a ven-

dor who refused to give her name said in Spanish that

the items are merely considered a tradition in Mexico.

At her booth, she sells a myriad of spiritual items,

including Catholic saint medallions, Buddhas and Santa

Muerte figurines and candles.

Another saleswoman at a local grocer said her

employer was forced to send back an order of the

statues because they sat on the shelves collecting dust.

In fact, several area priests said they were not aware

of a Santa Muerte movement in the area.

Father Lawrence Soler of Sacred Heart Parish said

he and others he spoke to were “completely in the dark”

about the concept, and suggested it possibly wouldn’t

be considered a religion at all.

Man carries a La Santa Muerte statue during alocal gathering honoring the Death Saint.

Associated Press / AP Photo


But at a small, unassuming store in Waco, a shop-

keeper said she does brisk business with Santa Muerte

merchandise. Amid candles intended to cast love spells,

various herbs and Catholic medallions, there are

statues of Santa Muerte of various sizes and materials.

The shopkeeper fears retribution for selling the

items, she said, citing a previous instance when her

windows were smashed after someone took offense to

her use of a different religious symbol.

On a recent weekend, two three-foot statues loomed

in a back corner of the store. One cloaked in red and

the other in black, a dollar bill was attached to both as

an offering by the purchaser before he took them home.

The taller statues were specifically ordered by the

request of a man from Zacatecas, she said. Other

clients have requested prayer books for Santa Muerte.

The woman said that she does not personally

believe in Holy Death, or encourage her clients to

believe in it — but respects it.

She thinks the religion is not fully entrenched in the

area yet, but said the requests are evidence that it is

becoming more popular.

TattooS

One of the more popular offerings for Santa Muerte,

experts say, is an “offering of skin” — a tattoo.

Although artists at several tattoo shops said they

couldn’t recall or drew very few Santa Muerte tattoos,

artist Victor Enriquez of Steel Concepts Tattoos and

Body Piercings said he’s created at least 20 custom

designs for Waco clients during the past two years.

They’ve varied from a traditional Virgin image with a

skull face to a more European-looking Grim Reaper and

everything in between, he said.

But the only people who get them are those who are

serious devotees, he said. The most popular of the

colors is that for wealth, Enriquez said.

Some of his more devoted clients have cried at the

images because the client believed “it was going to

make him have wealth, and be a better father,” he said.

“I don’t judge anybody for what they do. . . . I don’t

knock on anyone’s beliefs,” said Enriquez, who identi-

fied himself as a Baptist and a nonbeliever of Santa

Muerte . “I just do the tattoo.”

He said other skeletons such as the playful versions

associated with Dia de los Muertos, called las catrinas,

also are becoming more popular.

Catrinas, though, should not be confused with Santa

Muerte , Chesnut said. While catrina is considered a

symbol of death, she is not a spiritual entity, he said.

But like any other emerging trend, La Santa Muerte

has made appearances in pop culture and her image is

being marketed, Chesnut said.

Notably, she’s played a role in the popular television

series “Breaking Bad” and “Dexter,” and been

mentioned in “Man on Fire,” he said.

There are hoodies, ball caps, tennis shoes and

jewelry now emblazoned with her image.

“At the end of the day, she’s grown so much in ten

years (because she is believed) to be a fast miracle

worker,” Chesnut said. “And that’s what people are look-

ing for, is miracles.”

FEATURE STORY1ISSUE

PL


ARTICLE1ISSUE

Texas presents unique chal-

lenges in the weather department.

There are days when you go to your

car, touch the door handle and are

pretty sure you just seared off your

fingerprints. You grab at the back of

your shirt and peel it away from your

slick skin. You adjust your holster

and wonder if you’ll be teased if you

confess you have a serious case of

chafing going on. Then, you look

down at your watch and realize it is

7:30 in the morning and you have

hours of this lovely Texas day ahead

of you.

Texan’s are a diverse group of

people, but one Texas truth every-

one seems to agree on is the

struggle during the oppressive heat.

Jokes abound about chickens laying

hard-boiled eggs and cows giving

evaporated milk. The fact is that

going about daily life when the

temperatures stay consistently over

a hundred degrees is draining on a

person and downright miserable.

When the heat and humidity keep

the temperatures sweltering late into

the night, does this produce discom-

fort with a natural longing for cooler

weather or does it produce a

pressure cooker effect on moods

and emotions?

“The heat hypothesis states

that hot temperatures can increase

aggressive motives and behaviors.”

According to a study, Heat and

Violence, Craig A. Anderson at Iowa

State University, heat does cause

increased aggression. The findings

are consistent. “Exposure to hot

temperatures increases heart rate,

endorsement of aggressive attitudes

and beliefs, and feelings of hostility,

all the while decreasing feelings of

arousal and comfort.” Other factors

may also add to the increased

hostility. In hot summer months,

more people are out-and-about.

School is out, parents are trying to

maximize vacation time, road

construction is in high gear and

others are frustrated that they have

to work, angry at those “idiots” on

the road clogging traffic. Summer

does increase the number of people

in contact with each other, increas-

ing the chances of tempers flaring

with potential deadly consequences.

From data gathered in 2000, you

can expect an increase in murders

and assaults by 2.6% in the summer

and the hotter the summer, the per-

centage increases. This includes

other types of aggressive behavior

such as spousal abuse and even

spontaneous riots.

An increase in heart rate is one

reason believed to lead to this in-

crease in aggression. An interesting

aspect of this study for police offi-

cers is that the study determined,

“heat stress decreases performance

of many cognitive tasks.” This

translates to; less-aware, more

Hot and BotheredBy Debbie McRill


sluggish responses, with a topping

of increased agitation, creating the

trifecta of illogical behavior. The study

still has questions for continuing

research. For example, does heat

cause other physiological activities

in the body that we are not yet

aware of?

Because Texas has longer

periods of high-heat, this can cause

extra strain on an officer performing

on the job. Aside from the normal

caution to any situation, high

temperatures present people with

shorter fuses that can escalate

negative behavior quicker. People

that may be normally leveled-

headed aren’t anymore due to

actual physiological issues. As

an example, if you approach two

people that appear to be having a

disagreement on a broiling hot side-

walk, sweat pouring from their red

faces, you don’t know what to

expect. Under cooler conditions, the

two in disagreement may see you

and realize that they were getting

unruly. Your presence alone could

“cool off” the situation. When

extreme heat is involved, that edgy

frustration may quickly escalate into

an aggressive act. In a situation

where normally the person begins

to back away, showing that the

incident is over, the person may

demand to have the final word.

Without the usual filters of more

logical thought in place, the person

may begin to yell and then the situ-

ation escalates into much more than

it needed to be.

As an officer in Texas, where

some years it feels like ten out of

twelve months is unbearably hot,

learning coping techniques is to

your advantage. Understanding that

you likely have many of the same,

sick-of-this-heat symptoms as the

general public, can help you control

the situation. Pulling over a car for a

traffic violation means that you will

be standing on a hot, bake-your-

toes roadside typically with the

constant sound of cars passing

(load noise is also an irritant for

heat-related aggression).

To maintain the best atmosphere

possible for yourself and the traffic

offender, you might want to follow

the advice of Susan Gillpatrick,

Med, LPC, CTS. One easy tip to

help you handle the situation is to

breathe deeply. This small action

can slow your heart rate and

increase your calmness. Notice your

own level of anger or agitation. Your

body gives you clues that you are on

edge. If you have tense muscles or

if your first instinct is to tumble out

with a sarcastic comment, you can

learn to understand these are

triggers. Also recognize other

contributing factors. You may be

tired, worried, or even hungry. By

noticing these subtle clues, you will

gain an edge to dealing with the

public, when what you would rather

be doing is spending five luxurious

minutes in a walk-in cooler.

Obviously, you may not be able

to dissuade a, hot-under-the-collar,

brain-is-boiling aggressor, but you

may be able to lessen the situation.

Just understanding that a person

may be acting irrationally to normal

behavior gives you more information

about the situation. If you approach

a person that is talking in a raised

voice and appears to be on the

verge of a violent act, you may real-

ize that you have to shift your tone.

If noise increases the aggression,

you may choose to speak in a quiet

voice. Or, if you need to question the

person, is there a spot of shade

you two can step into to ask your

questions?

Obviously, you have training on

dealing with the public. You also

have your instincts that tell you how

to approach a situation. However,

extreme heat has other factors at

play as William Shakespeare stated

so well in Romeo and Juliet, “For

now, these hot days, is the mad

blood stirring.” Understanding that

heat-related aggression isn’t rational

will give you one more tool to handle

a situation.

1/8 Page


1/8 Page


ARTICLE1ISSUE

Everyone dreams of a

friendly neighborhood en-

vironment for children to

play and grow up in. However, that

dream is not reality. Many cities are

recruiting local citizens to be an

extra set of eyes. These volunteers

work to decrease the frequency of

crimes in the community, while

providing better communication

between neighbors and law enforce-

ment officials.

Citizen’s Patrol is not a new

idea, nevertheless, several cities in

and around Houston are making it a

top priority. Police departments are

using the media like, news stations,

websites, and other resources, to

get the word out about volunteer

opportunities. The Houston Police

department provides a website

dedicated to volunteer work.

The website is located at

harriscountycit izencorps.com.

There, volunteers can find several

different ways to get involved in the

community besides just the city’s

Citizen’s Patrol.

On the outskirts of Houston, the

city of Deer Park is located in south-

east Harris county. The city offers a

free Citizen‘s Police Academy in an

effort to increases the collaborative

partnership between residents and

police officers. Sheila Plovanich is

the Deer Park Police Department

Community Liaison, she provides a

detail description of what the

volunteers are exposed to at the

academy, “This is the 14 week

program where our citizens learn

the inner workings of the police

department. Citizen’s learn about

every aspect of the police depart-

ment, from recruiting and training,

communications, patrol duties, DWI,

SWAT patrol duties, fingerprinting

(lifting and taking). They also get an

eight hour ride along with an officer

and/or an eight hour sit in with Dis-

patch.” The program helps citizens

experience the inter workings of the

law, and to have a better under-

standing of what the life of an officer

is really like.

In addition to the Police Acad-

emy, Deer Park offers a program

called the Handicap Parking Pro-

gram. The program is geared to

helping prevent illegal parking in

handicap spaces that are reserved

for people who truly need them. Ms.

Plovanich explains the program,

“The Deer Park Police Department

Handicap Parking Program is set up

so that our trained volunteers patrol

photo courtesy of the Greenville County website

by Donna Shotwell

[ABOVE] Citizens on Patrol (COP) was first integrated into the Greenville Police Department's CommunityPrograms in the late 1990s as an effort to enhance the Department's community policing concept. COP isa uniformed patrol operation comprised of trained citizen volunteers selected from the Greenville PoliceDepartment Citizens Police Academy.

The Extended Eyesof the Law


the city looking for handicap parking

violators. The volunteers are trained

on what to look for and how to issue

citations to violators.” They are

trained and equipped with “handicap

parking enforcement vests, police

department radios, ticket books and

a vehicle for patrolling for handicap

parking violators.” The volunteers

have legal power to write tickets to

handicap parking violators through-

out the city. Not everyday is the

same and “some days our volun-

teers may issue eight to ten citations

and other days they may only issue

one or two. I think once word gets

out that the program is active and

violators realize that if they park

illegally, they will get a ticket. Once

violators are issued a $500.00 ticket,

they tend to not make that mistake

again.” Says, Ms. Plovanich. Its

surprising to find any violators when

handicap parking spaces are

usually marked with a sign and a

blue handicap symbol painted on

the space. The service provided by

the volunteers not only helps the

handicapped, but also provides

relief for officers who can make a

better use of their time responding

to emergency calls.

After completing the training

programs the volunteer receives a

certificate of completions and can

join the Citizen’s Police Academy

Alumni Association. The Alumni

Association opens the door to more

knowledgeable volunteer opportuni-

ties. Several different kinds of

“volunteer programs for the Alumni

Association are in the works, such

as assisting in clearing warrants

and starting neighborhood watch

programs throughout the city”

(www.deerparktx.gov/ ). The more

volunteers involved in the commu-

nity, the better working relationship

between residents and the police

department. By the success of both

groups working together the goal of

a safer community is within reach.

The city of Deer Park is constantly

seeking motivated volunteers, but

not just anyone can join the Police

Academy there is a criteria that must

be met. You must be “18 years of

age or older, live or work in Deer

Park and have no criminal history

(felonies or misdemeanors involving

moral turpitude)” – (deerparktx.gov).

Maintaining law abiding citizens

that are dedicated to helping the

community is what the police

photo by Sheila Plovanich, Community Liaison, Deer Park Police Department

Two of the Deer Park Citizens onPatrol, volunteer officers, issuing ahandicap parking citation.


ARTICLE1ISSUE

department is looking for to participate

in these programs. Ms. Plovanich

says that most of “our handicap

parking volunteers consist of any-

one who can pass a background

check, and who have a genuine

interest in curbing the problems

of violators parking in handicap

parking spaces. Some of our volun-

teers have been through our Citizen’s

Police Academy and are a part of our

Deer Park Citizen’s Police Academy

Alumni Association. Some of our

volunteers are retired, some are

business owners, some are handi-

capped citizen’s, but the common

goal they all share, no matter where

they are coming from, is the idea

that handicap parking spaces

should be utilized by individuals who

are handicapped and not by individ-

uals who are abusing the system.”

The thrill of writing tickets and

upholding the law as an average

citizen is something that would

excite most people into partaking in

The "new" Converse Citizens On Patrol vehicle sits outside the Kneupper Justice Center in Converse. Therefurbished Converse patrol vehicle will now be used by the all-volunteer COPs members.

the offered programs. A lot of people

wonder what it would be like to have

the same authoritative power as a

police officer, and the handicap

parking program allows for residents

to experience real police work first

hand.

While out patrolling the streets

looking for handicap parking law

breakers the volunteers may

encounter other crimes in progress.

When such a situation arises, the

training program has prepared the

volunteers on what procedures to

follow. “If our volunteers were to see

a crime in progress, they would

know to radio the incident in to

dispatch, attempt to get a vehicle

description and license plate num-

ber or description of the person(s) in

question as well as keep a safe

distance from harm. The volunteers

would stay in contact with dispatch

until responding officers arrive and

take control of the scene,” states

Ms. Plovanich. The volunteers must

pay close attention to details like

what a person is wearing or the type

of vehicle at the seen. Giving an ac-

curate description of details will aid

police in successfully apprehending

a suspect or finding the location of

the crime scene faster. Volunteers

must be aware of their surrounds at

all times like a real law enforcement

officer, so they can successfully

report to the dispatchers and officers

who arrive on the scene.

More and more cities are creat-

ing programs that include residents

to help achieve the goal of a safer

community to live in. Due to budget

cuts there are not enough officers

available to oversee all the minor

violation being committed on a daily

basis. The more volunteers that

are involved in maintaining a close

watch on neighborhoods and

streets in the community, the better

the future looks for the different

generations ahead.

Photo: courtesy of the City Of Converse website


COLUMN1ISSUE

According to Black’s Law

Dictionary, direct evidence is “evi-

dence that is based on personal

knowledge or observation and that,

if true, proves a fact without infer-

ence or presumption,” whereas

circumstantial evidence is “evidence

based on inference and not on

personal knowledge or observation.”

It is fundamental and axiomatic in

criminal law that direct evidence

is preferable to circumstantial

evidence. Even the Constitution

itself requires two witnesses to

convict a person of treason—the

only crime it explicitly defines.

Despite the clear preference for

direct over circumstantial evidence,

recent scientific findings have raised

serious doubts about this prefer-

ence. Not only have advances in the

natural sciences improved the value

of circumstantial evidence, but also

social scientific findings have called

into question many of our assump-

tions about the value of direct

evidence. As a result, it may be time

to revisit this historic hierarchy.

In the natural sciences, develop-

ments in DNA science and technology,

for example, have revolutionized

criminal investigation. Just a couple

of decades ago, analysis of bodily

fluids might produce results that

would narrow down the source to

a few million or hundreds of thou-

sands of potential suspects. Now,

DNA profiling can establish identity

to a scientific certainty. Consequently,

the chain of inferences that must be

drawn in order to connect a suspect

to a sample is substantially shorter.

As a result, circumstantial evidence

is much stronger now than previously.

At the same time the natural

sciences were improving the value

of circumstantial evidence, the

social sciences were casting doubt

on direct evidence. The neuro

sciences and cognitive psychology

made significant advances in our

understanding of how we perceive,

encode, store, and retrieve experi-

ence. Previous assumptions that

our brains accurately record events

as if writing on a hard drive in real

time have been rejected. We now

know that perception is flawed,

encoding is fragile, memory is

malleable, and retrieval is compli-

cated. Not surprisingly, then,

eyewitness identification has turned

out to be not nearly as reliable as we

once thought.

The failings of eyewitness identi-

fication have recently attracted

considerable attention. Since 2001

Dallas County has exonerated 32

people convicted of crimes which

DNA evidence now shows they did

not commit. Most of these convic-

tions relied heavily on faulty eyewit-

ness identification resulting in the

loss of decades of freedom for these

innocents. The wrongful convictions

attracted the attention of the 81st

Session of the Texas Legislature

which passed House Bill 498 estab-

lishing the Timothy Cole Advisory

Committee on Wrongful Convictions

which was tasked with, among other

things, looking at the issue of

eyewitness identification.

At the same time the legislative

branch was exploring the issue, the

judicial branch was also attending

to it. Judge Barbara Hervey estab-

lished an ad hoc committee, the

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Criminal Justice Integrity Unit, to

examine the strengths and weak-

nesses of the Texas criminal justice

system. Not surprisingly, in light of

the developments in Dallas County

and elsewhere, eyewitness identifi-

cation quickly became a focus of

the Unit.

The 82nd Session of the Texas

Dr. Lyons

Eyewitness Testimoniesin criminal prosecutions

Phillip Lyons, J.D., Ph.D., is a professor in the Collegeof Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University andthe College of Criminal Justice's liaison to the ForensicClinical Psychology Program. He worked full-time in lawenforcement from 1981 to 1989. He currently holds aMaster Peace Officer license and is a reserve officer withthe Alvin Police Department.


COLUMN1ISSUE

Legislature took up the issue again,

this time, passing House Bill 215.

Codified at Article 38.20 of the Texas

Code of Criminal Procedure, the bill

requires every law enforcement

agency which routinely conducts

photo arrays or live lineups to have

a policy regulating the practice.

The statute also required the Bill

Blackwood Law Enforcement Man-

agement Institute of Texas (LEMIT)

at Sam Houston State University to

develop a sample policy and proce-

dural guidelines based on existing

research in consultation with law en-

forcement agencies of various sizes,

prosecutors, the defense bar, and

special interest groups focused on

actual innocence.

LEMIT staff worked tirelessly for

months to develop a model policy

and procedural guidelines based on

current research and best practices.

Once the policy was crafted, it was

translated into sample procedural

guidelines. Although agencies are

under no obligation to adopt the

policy and procedural guidelines,

they are free to do so with confi-

dence that the policy and proce-

dures reflect the most current

science and best practice.

Perhaps the most controversial

element of the LEMIT policy is the

preference for sequential, as

opposed to simultaneous, adminis-

tration methods. With a sequential

method, the witness sees each of

the people in the photo spread or

live line up one at a time, whereas

with a simultaneous method, the

suspect and fillers, also known as

foils, are all shown at the same time.

Research has shown that the

simultaneous method produces

relative judgments by the witness,

that is, the witness tries to determine

which person looks most like the

perpetrator. By contrast, with the

sequential method, the witness

makes an absolute judgment about

each person, that is, the witness

views each person and decides

whether he is or is not the perpetrator.

Another important aspect of the

policy articulates the preferred

method of eyewitness identification.

The LEMIT policy explicitly endorses

the use of photo arrays as opposed

to live lineups. This is so not only

because the former are logistically

easier, but also because of research

showing that even people who were

not witnesses to a crime are able to

pick out the suspect from a live

lineup. Obviously, information is

“leaking” out somehow for this to

happen. This raises an important

point about the policy and its under-

lying assumptions, namely, that the

problems inherent in identification

procedures were not necessarily the

result of any intentional misconduct

on the part of investigating officers,

but rather, may well have stemmed

from the inadvertent leakage of

information. Witnesses are under

great pressure — often self-

imposed — to “get” the guy and the

will react to any cue, however subtle

and inadvertent, to do so.

That pressure on witnesses

leads to another policy, namely, the

policy of reducing the pressure.

Through a series of procedures,

including the use of blank photo-

graphs or folders, instructions to wit-

nesses (before, during, and after the

identification procedure), and other

techniques, witnesses are made to

feel less pressure to identify a

suspect. Although these approaches

help remedy some of the problems

associated with eyewitness identifi-

cation, it remains imperfect and

there is no substitute for a compe-

tent, thorough criminal investigation

for minimizing reliance on a single

identification.

PhiLLiP LyoNS

© Getty Images

U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte talksabout the spread of patron saintworship associated with Mexicandrug cartels.

1/4 Verticle



1/8 Page

1/8 Page

police leader magazine

Documents