Legislative Issues

FIRST STEP Act

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WHY THE SENATE SHOULD REJECT THE FIRST STEP ACT, H.R. 5682

 

The bill will make communities less safe, releasing federal prisoners from prison far earlier than federal law (or Congress or judges) intended, as well as requiring the immediate release of 4,000 prisoners, regardless of their prison security classification.

Problems with H.R. 5682 – FIRST STEP Act

Specific concerns

 

  1. Legislation relies on failed state programs: The legislation is based upon state prison programs with track records less successful than current recidivism programs available to federal prisoners. None of the state programs heralded by legislation proponents have reduced recidivism more than current federal prison programs, which have achieved a recidivism rate of 38%, based upon the rate of re-arrest within five years of release.

 

  1. Significant reduction in sentences for dangerous offenders: The new system of time-off-sentence credits created by the legislation will significantly reduce sentences beyond those established by Congress and imposed by the courts.  Many criminals, including dangerous drug traffickers, will be able to cut off one-fourth to one-half (or more) of their sentences and receive release after facing only minimal consequences for their actions.

 

The legislation substantially reduces the sentences of federal felons in a backdoor fashion.  It reduces the sentences of convicted drug traffickers, including those selling and distributing heroin and fentanyl, as well as other violent criminals.  A federal inmate with a 10-year sentence (for example, a repeat drug trafficker convicted of distributing 15,000 doses of fentanyl) could return to the streets in only five years under the bill.  Similarly, an inmate who receives a five-year sentence could cut the time imposed even more, down to just 26 months in BOP custody.

 

These reductions in incarceration time not only dismantle any truth in our nation’s sentencing laws.  They cripple law enforcement’s ability to secure cooperation from criminals prior to sentencing.  Criminals facing sentencing will know that the sentence they end up serving will be substantially less than the sentence they were intended to receive under the law and as imposed by a federal judge.

 

  1. Immediate release of 4,000 offenders of all risk levels: The legislation will trigger an immediate jailbreak: the release of an estimated 4,000 federal offenders, most of whom have been convicted of serious federal felonies, including the trafficking of deadly narcotics, like heroin and fentanyl, and regardless of Bureau of Prison security classification. This would represent a release of historic proportion and could have serious consequences upon public safety.

 

  1. Micromanaging prisoner placement at risk of public safety: In addition, the legislation will require BOP to relocate a major portion of the federal prison population, with minimal exception, within 500 driving miles of a prisoner’s primary residence. Restricting BOP’s ability to place inmates will make prisons more dangerous and less conducive to rehabilitation. It also will be counter-productive to the housing and special needs of female prisoners, who constitute only 7% of the federal prison population. BOP already places inmates close to home when possible, while also observing a number of factors, including need to split up co-defendants and gang members, protect inmates from criminals they testified against, and in some cases, keep criminals away from their victims.

 

  1. Significant costs without additional funds: The legislation will add significant costs to Bureau of Prison (and taxpayer) spending, not reduce it. Transitional housing of inmates in halfway houses is expensive and more costly greater than current BOP housing, and substantially more than the $50 million authorized by the legislation.  The bill will blow up the BOP budget.  A Congressional Budget Office score of the legislation’s costs has not been released.

 

Current Bureau of Prisons education and reentry programs that train and prepare federal inmates for meaningful and productive lives upon their release should be improved and expanded.

 

Responsible public policy-making in changes to federal prisons should rely upon pilot studies measuring costs and recidivism effectiveness prior to nationwide implementation.

NNOAC First Step Act Senate Letter – May 2018

Training

Fentanyl Officer Safety

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This is course is being put on by the Minnesota Association of Narcotics Investigators (MSANI) and is being co-sponsored by the BCA. The northern MN event is also being co-sponsored by the Beltrami County Sheriff Office. This course will cover fentanyl background and history, review street fentanyl and pharmaceutical fentanyl along with numerous fentanyl analogs. The course will also cover routes of exposure and handling procedures in various types of investigations.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Upon completion, the officer will know how to conduct risk assessments to avoid being exposed and how to protect yourself in various types of investigations: possession cases, street sales and bulk sales/lab cases. Officers will have the knowledge and safety procedures to protect themselves on the street from fentanyl exposure.

LOCATION
July 10th 0800-1200 Bemidji State University Hobson Memorial Union 1500 Birchmont Drive Bemidji
July 11th 0800 – 1200 BCA HQ – Auditorium1430 Maryland Ave. E. Saint Paul, MN. 55106
July 11th 1300 – 1700 BCA HQ – Auditorium1430 Maryland Ave. E. Saint Paul, MN. 55106

AUDIENCE
All Law Enforcement Personnel, to include Supervisors of all levels, Patrol Officers, Narcotics and General Investigators.

REGISTRATION: $20
Register at the BCA training site by searching for Synthetic Drugs/Fentanyl officer Safety

Members Only, Training

San Bernardino Terrorist Attack

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San Bernardino Terrorist Attack :

From “What Happened?” to Lessons Learned
Wednesday, August 8, 2018

This is a four hour class on the San Bernardino terrorist attack which occurred on December 2, 2015.
Sgt. Gary Schuelke and officers of the San Bernardino Police Department will recount the malicious actions of Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Mailik on the Inland Regional Center (IRC) in San Bernardino, CA.
Victims who survived the violent act will be there to tell their story and give their insight into agency response.

Additional topics covered:

  • How Syed and Tashfeen met, planned & events up to the attack of IRC.
  • Survivor accounts from the terrorist attack on 12/2/2015
  • San Bernadino Police Department Narcotics Unit interactions With Syed and Tashfeen
  • Debrief for law enforcement agencies/personnel and other disciplines who work with crime victims.

San Bernardino Case Study

Event Flier

Drug Information, Public

Opioid Prescribing Guidelines Public Comment Period

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From: MN_DHS_Opioid
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2017 1:00 PM
Subject: Opioid Prescribing Guidelines Public Comment Period *** Comments accepted until December 30, 2017 at 4 pm

Good Afternoon,

As many of you are aware, the complete set of opioid prescribing recommendations developed under the DHS Opioid Prescribing Improvement Program was announced on Friday, December 1. The draft prescribing recommendations are available on the Opioid Prescribing Work Group web site here or at https://mn.gov/dhs/opwg. I have also attached the guidance for your review and distribution.

DHS is accepting public comments on the prescribing guidelines until 4 pm on December 30, 2017. Please distribute the guidance to members of your communities or networks who are interested in this topic.

DHS will collect comments and respond to questions about the guidance during the public comment period. After the public comment period, the Opioid Prescribing Work Group will review the comments submitted and determine whether to make changes to the recommendations. Revisions are subject to approval from the commissioners of Human Services and Health.

DHS may post public comments on its website, but will not post comments it finds to be inappropriate or comments that contain confidential information. Comments that contain confidential information may be posted, however, if the confidential information is redacted.

Comments may be submitted to this email address: dhs.opioid@state.mn.gov or by mail to the address below.

Minnesota Department of Human Services
Opioid Prescribing Improvement Program
PO Box 64983
St. Paul, MN 55164-0983

Thank you,

Sarah

Sarah Rinn, MPH

OPIP Coordinator | Health Care Administration

Minnesota Department of Human Services

Drug Information, Public

Toll of the failed Colorado experiment

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Five years later, Colorado sees toll of pot legalization

Published: Tuesday, November 14, 2017 | Colorado Springs Gazette Opinion

Last week marked the fifth anniversary of Colorado’s decision to sanction the world’s first anything-goes commercial pot trade.

Five years later, we remain an embarrassing cautionary tale.

Visitors to Colorado remark about a new agricultural smell, the wafting odor of pot as they drive near warehouse grow operations along Denver freeways. Residential neighborhoods throughout Colorado Springs reek of marijuana, as producers fill rental homes with plants.

Five years of retail pot coincide with five years of a homelessness growth rate that ranks among the highest rates in the country. Directors of homeless shelters, and people who live on the streets, tell us homeless substance abusers migrate here for easy access to pot.

Five years of Big Marijuana ushered in a doubling in the number of drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for marijuana, based on research by the pro-legalization Denver Post.

Five years of commercial pot have been five years of more marijuana in schools than teachers and administrators ever feared.

“An investigation by Education News Colorado, Solutions and the I-News Network shows drug violations reported by Colorado’s K-12 schools have increased 45 percent in the past four years, even as the combined number of all other violations has fallen,” explains an expose on escalating pot use in schools by Rocky Mountain PBS in late 2016.

The investigation found an increase in high school drug violations of 71 percent since legalization. School suspensions for drugs increased 45 percent.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found Colorado ranks first in the country for marijuana use among teens, scoring well above the national average.

The only good news to celebrate on this anniversary is the dawn of another organization to push back against Big Marijuana’s threat to kids, teens and young adults.

The Marijuana Accountability Coalition formed Nov. 6 in Denver and will establish satellites throughout the state. It resulted from discussions among recovery professionals, parents, physicians and others concerned with the long-term effects of a commercial industry profiteering off of substance abuse.

“It’s one thing to decriminalize marijuana, it’s an entirely different thing to legalize an industry that has commercialized a drug that is devastating our kids and devastating whole communities,” said coalition founder Justin Luke Riley. “Coloradans need to know, other states need to know, that Colorado is suffering from massive normalization and commercialization of this drug which has resulted in Colorado being the number one state for youth drug use in the country. Kids are being expelled at higher rates, and more road deaths tied to pot have resulted since legalization.”

Commercial pot’s five-year anniversary is an odious occasion for those who want safer streets, healthier kids and less suffering associated with substance abuse. Experts say the worst effects of widespread pot use will culminate over decades. If so, we can only imagine the somber nature of Big Marijuana’s 25th birthday.

  • — Colorado Springs Gazette
Drug Legalization

Fentanyl Exposure

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Please see the email below from our Medical Officer, Dr. John Halpin, for important scientific and practical resources on fentanyl exposure among emergency responders:

Over the weekend, the American College of Medical Toxicologists released an authoritative, well-researched position paper on “preventing occupational fentanyl and fentanyl analog exposure to emergency responders.” It can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.acmt.net/_Library/Fentanyl_Position/Fentanyl_PPE_Emergency_Responders_.pdf

One key feature of this document is that it clarifies the role of dermal exposure to illicitly-manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs as a health hazard for first responders, noting that dermal toxicity is, in fact, very low for the powdered fentanyl products, and that standard universal precautions, and in some cases an N95 mask for respiratory protection, are sufficient protection for law enforcement and other first responders. It should be noted that NIOSH has recently updated their guidance on this topic, and this guidance can be found at the following link: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/fentanyl/risk.html

Conferences, Members Only

Fall Conference 2017 Details

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Instructor Robert Almonte

Deputy Chief (Ret), El Paso, Texas Police Department and former U.S. Marshal. Robert has 32 years of law enforcement experience with expertise in narcotics investigations and undercover work. He served as the United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas from 2010 to 2016.

He previously served 25 years with the El Paso, TX Police Department where he spent the majority of his career in narcotics investigations and retired as a Deputy Chief. As the Narcotics Commander with the EPPD, he championed innovative programs like the Hotel/Motel Narcotics Interdiction Unit and the West Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Stash House Task Force, both of which yielded successful apprehensions through community-policing initiatives.

Robert Almonte has received numerous awards, including the 1999 White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) award for National “Outstanding HIDTA Task Force Commander”, as well as Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition in 2003. He has provided training to thousands of law enforcement officers throughout the United States and Sweden. He has spent years conducting extensive research on the Mexican drug trade, and how they pray for protection from law enforcement. He is also the creator and producer of the DVD; “Patron Saints of the Mexican Drug Underworld”.

Tuesday afternoon : Patron Saints of the Mexican Underworld

Drug and human traffickers, gang members and other criminals involve the spiritual world in their trade for protection from law enforcement. This intensive course will include information on various legitimate and illegitimate saints and icons used by criminals. Several significant arrests, including that of a cold case murder, as well as drug and money seizures throughout the country have been attributed to this course and are discussed during the presentation.

Wednesday Morning : Hotel and Motel Investigations

Hotels and motels are used for a variety of criminal activity, including; drug trafficking and human trafficking, as well as other criminal activity, including their use by the 911 Terrorists. This course will present an overview of how to select investigators, meet and sell to hotel/motel managers, presentation to hotel/motel staff, surveillance techniques, conducting knock and talks, as well as how to conduct room searches.