Mayor's nephew cashing in
investigative report
Bob Vanecko wants to revive Chicago's struggling neighborhoods with $68 million in city-linked pension funds. He has his eye on areas near his uncle's proposed Olympic stadium.
September 23, 2007
BY TIM NOVAK Staff Reporter/tnovak@suntimes.com
A nephew of Mayor Daley stands to make millions of dollars from city-connected pension funds.
In winning business from pension funds for city workers, cops, teachers and CTA employees, Robert G. Vanecko said he never told anyone he's Daley's nephew.
But officials with those funds knew who he was, interviews and documents show.
Vanecko and his partner, Allison S. Davis, a top mayoral ally, also asked pension funds outside Chicago to invest with DV Urban Realty Partners, a company they formed two years ago. None did.
It's a risky venture, Vanecko and Davis warned potential investors.
Still, the city-related pensions opened their checkbooks, giving DV Urban $68 million. They did so even as they face growing financial worries, according to a recent state study.
Vanecko and Davis plan to use the pension money in a real estate venture to redevelop some of Chicago's most-neglected neighborhoods. Among those could be the area around Washington Park, which is central to Daley's plans for the 2016 Olympics.
The pension funds represent 180,000 retired and current employees. So far, they've lost money on the deal -- $1.5 million since they invested in April 2006. That's to be expected, pension officials say, because real estate deals typically make money only when the property is sold.
The biggest reason for those losses is the $1 million in management fees Davis and Vanecko have gotten from the pension funds. They're guaranteed at least $3 million in management fees and could make as much as $8.4 million before the pension deal ends on Dec. 31, 2014.
Besides those fees, Davis and Vanecko also will share in any profits from the real estate deals. And they can earn a 3 percent fee on property they develop. And their management company is now running the only building they have purchased so far, a high-rise apartment building in the South Loop.
Davis and Vanecko declined to be interviewed by the Sun-Times, but offered this statement:
"We are confident that DV Urban will produce good returns for its investors over its long-term investment horizon. Our investors have partnered with us because of our track record and our focus on urban revitalization in Chicago.''
The Chicago pension funds defended their investments, saying they invested a small portion of their assets with a minority-owned company that aims to build up struggling city neighborhoods. Davis, who is African-American, owns 51 percent of DV Urban. Vanecko owns 49 percent.
Vanecko said he never told potential investors he's Daley's nephew. "As a matter of practice, I don't disclose this relationship,'' Vanecko wrote in an e-mail to the Sun-Times. "He is my uncle. I don't trade on his name.''
The mayor had nothing to do with his nephew getting city pension business, Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said. "He doesn't do things like that. It's just not his way."
One pension official worried that investing with Daley's nephew could draw criticism. "This relationship may prove troubling in today's climate where the press is looking to attack any politician, but especially Mayor Daley,'' Kevin Huber, executive director of the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund, wrote in a Sept. 26, 2005, e-mail to his board members.
The first grandchild
Bob Vanecko is the first of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley's 22 grandchildren. He's the son of Mary Carol Daley and Dr. Robert M. Vanecko, a former physician for a city pension fund that has invested with his son. Vanecko was raised in Chicago's tony Sauganash neighborhood and lives there with his wife and children.
Vanecko, 42, has a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University and a law degree from Northwestern University. He began his career in the early 1990s at Mayer Brown, a Loop law firm where his uncle, William M. Daley, was a senior partner. Vanecko joined Everen Securities in 1998 and became a vice president in real estate banking.
In July 2003, Vanecko joined Davis' small real estate development company, the Davis Group, according to a corporate biography they gave city planners. Davis is an attorney-turned-developer who builds low-income housing with tax subsidies from the city, state and federal governments.
Davis, 68, has a long relationship with the Daleys. The mayor appointed Davis to the Chicago Plan Commission in 1991 while Davis was running a small law firm. It's the law firm where Sen. Barack Obama worked.
Davis gave up his law practice in 1996 to become a developer. He continued to serve on the Plan Commission until last January, while collecting millions in city subsidies for his developments. Among his real estate partners was Tony Rezko, the businessman now facing federal charges that he demanded kickbacks from companies seeking state business under Gov. Blagojevich.
Davis often turns to the law firm of Daley & George, run by the mayor's brother, Michael Daley, to help his projects win approval from City Hall.
Despite his clout, Davis ran into trouble earlier this year, when city inspectors accused him of failing to clean up sewage in his New Evergreen/Sedgwick Apartments near Cabrini Green. Davis owns the building. His son runs it.
'Take your chances'
Davis and Vanecko created DV Urban in 2004. They initially were aiming to raise $100 million, primarily from pension funds, to redevelop Chicago neighborhoods, including abandoned industrial sites.
It's a risky, but potentially rewarding, business, they noted in their sales pitches. "Investors must be prepared to lose all or substantially all of their investment," Davis and Vanecko said in written pitches to pension funds.
Part of the risky nature of the investment, they noted, was that DV Urban is a startup business with no track record for developing property. But they touted Davis' development experience, saying some of his projects provided a 34 percent rate of return.
They approached each of the state's top government pension plans, except for the Illinois State Board of Investment, because Davis is a member of that board, an appointment made by Blagojevich, on Rezko's recommendation. The board invests pension funds for state employees, legislators and all judges.
At least six government pensions -- including those representing Chicago firefighters, Cook County employees and Downstate teachers -- rejected DV Urban's investment pitch.
"Pay your money, take your chances," a pension official said of the Davis and Vanecko plan.
Follow the leader
Getting the first investor is critical for a startup company. It took about a year for DV Urban to get its first investor -- the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund.
On March 17, 2005, the teachers' pension board voted unanimously to invest $25 million, contingent on Davis and Vanecko meeting their $100 million goal. When Davis and Vanecko fell short, they convinced the teachers' pension fund to stick with the $25 million investment, offering a greater share of profits and lower management fees.
"I had not a clue that one of the partners was related to the mayor," said Connee R. Fitch-Blanks, then-chairman of the fund's investment committee.
She was among three board members who said they never knew they were investing with the mayor's nephew. All 12 board members were notified of the relationship six months after they voted to invest with Vanecko's company. That notification came in an e-mail from Huber, the pension fund's executive director.
"There is an additional issue that I feel needs to be shared with the trustees concerning this investment," Huber said in the Sept. 26, 2005, e-mail. "One of the principals of DV Urban, Bob Vanecko, is Mayor Daley's nephew."
Huber asked board members if they wanted to reconsider the investment with Vanecko's company because it carries "potential political risk" in addition to its "significant investment risk."
They went ahead anyway. And other pension plans followed:
On May 17, 2005, DV Urban got $10 million from the Laborers' Annuity and Benefit Fund, which represents about 6 percent of City Hall employees. The fund's board voted 5-0 to approve the investment. Those voting for the deal included two members of Daley's administration -- then-city Comptroller Tariq Malhance and then-city Treasurer Judy Rice,both who were originally appointed to their jobs by the mayor. Also voting for the deal was John Briatta, a city Water Department dispatcher who's a brother-in-law of Cook County Commissioner John Daley, another brother of the mayor. Briatta is now in prison after pleading guilty to passing bribes in the Hired Truck scandal.
On Feb. 23, 2006, DV Urban got $3 million from the CTA pension fund.
On April 20, 2006, DV Urban got $15 million from the Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund, which represents about 60 percent of City Hall workers. The motion to invest came from pension fund board member Steve Lux, who is also the city comptroller, appointed by Daley. Rice, the city treasurer, seconded the motion. It passed 5-0.
"I acted in the best interests of pension fund participants and beneficiaries, as well as Chicago residents," Rice, now a Harris Bank official, said in an e-mail.
"In the case of DV Urban, the investment was meant to provide benefit in two ways -- first and foremost, we expected a high level of return for pension fund participants over the life of the investment. Secondly, we saw great benefit in growing pension fund returns while promoting real estate development in underserved areas of the city."
On April 25, 2006, DV Urban got its final investment, $15 million from the Chicago Policemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund. On a motion from fund President Dana Levenson -- who was then the mayor's chief financial officer -- the board voted 7-1 to invest with DV Urban. Among those voting "yes" were Lux and Rice.
Three days later, DV Urban set up a $75 million investment fund -- including $68 million from the pension funds and $7 million from Davis and Vanecko, who originally planned to invest just $2 million of their own money.
If DV Urban's real estate deals fail, pension officials say Davis and Vanecko could lose $7 million. They still would get the millions in management fees from the pension funds.
The first deal
So what have Davis and Vanecko done with the money?
They made their first real estate deal last September, with about $9 million in pension funds and a $56 million mortgage to buy a 344-unit apartment building at 1212 S. Michigan. They set up another company to run it.
This building gave Davis and Vanecko control of the only two corners that can be developed at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road. In a separate deal not involving pension money, Davis and Vanecko are building a 46-story condo tower at 1160 S. Michigan on land they bought from City Hall.
DV Urban has also put pension money into two other deals:
A $1 million loan to a company that owns the former Chicago Defender headquarters at 2400 S. Michigan. The owners include Matthew A. O'Malley, a restaurateur who had a baby with a top Chicago Park District official during negotiations to operate the Park Grill restaurant on prime land in Millennium Park.
A West Loop office building at 217 N. Jefferson. DV Urban declined to reveal the amount of money invested in the project.
Olympic dreams?
DV Urban has other plans involving major City Hall projects, according to documents and e-mails Davis and Vanecko sent to pension officials.
They're looking at investing in two Chicago Housing Authority developments that Davis is building as part of Daley's plan to replace high-rise housing projects.
Davis is a partner in the redevelopment of Stateway Gardens, at 39th and State. "Subsequent phases of this $400 million development may provide financing opportunities for our new fund," according to a Dec. 16, 2005, e-mail Vanecko sent to pension officials.
Vanecko mentioned another CHA project in an Oct. 2 e-mail to pension officials: "We have been selected . . . as the developer of the remainder of the Lakefront Properties site between 39th and 43rd Streets and Lake Park Ave. This project will create a mixed-income community on a former CHA site and consists of 269 units of housing, including CHA replacement, affordable and market-rate units."
Davis and Vanecko also told police pension officials that they're looking at projects in South Side neighborhoods around Washington Park -- where Daley plans to build a temporary stadium if Chicago is chosen to host the 2016 Olympics.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
How do you think Austin Police will react? Me too.
Austin police adopting new foot chase policy
Lack of procedure fueled debate in shooting of man by sergeant last year.
By Tony Plohetski Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN — Austin police officers must evaluate immediate danger, consider whether a suspect is known and can be arrested later, and ask themselves "what would be gained from pursuing the suspect" before beginning often-dangerous foot chases, according to a new department policy that takes effect this month.
The issue of when — and how — such pursuits should happen had fueled debate about whether a fired sergeant acted appropriately when he shot and killed Kevin Alexander Brown last year.
The policy establishes criteria officers should evaluate before beginning a chase and how they should respond during a pursuit.
According to the policy, officers must gauge the risk to themselves, fellow officers, suspects and bystanders. The two-page policy says that officers should consider whether a suspect may be armed and the availability of backup officers, and it requires them to radio a description of the suspect and location of the chase to dispatchers.
It also says officers should consider ending a chase if the suspects' identities are known and if they are not thought to be an immediate threat.
"The purpose of this policy is to facilitate the safe apprehension of a suspect who flees on foot to reduce the risk of injury to the officer, suspect and public," the policy says.
The new guidelines come more than a year after the shooting death of Brown by former Sgt. Michael Olsen.
Police Chief Art Acevedo fired Olsen late last year, saying that Olsen used poor judgment and tactics in his actions leading up to the shooting.
For instance, Acevedo said, Olsen, who was investigating a report that Brown had a gun at a nightclub, did not communicate with other officers to develop a "measured and coordinated" response and left his partner during the foot chase, creating a potential cross-fire encounter in which the officers could have accidently shot each other. He also said Olsen did not wait for backup before approaching Brown, and he questioned whether Brown posed an immediate threat.
During an appeal hearing in which Olsen sought to regain his job, his attorney, Tom Stribling, challenged the lack of a foot-pursuit policy and questioned how Olsen could have been held responsible for certain actions that weren't addressed in department rules.
Stribling said Tuesday that he had read a copy of the policy but, "I can't really say how it is going to affect (officers) or how it is going to be applied."
Attorney Scott Ozmun, who is representing Brown's family in a civil lawsuit against the city and who heard testimony during Olsen's appeal hearing, said, "To the extent that Stribling and Olsen raised that as an issue of concern, it's important for the department to address."
Brown's death was the second involving an Austin police foot chase since 2004.
Officer Amy Donovan was killed when she was struck by her partner, who was driving a patrol car while she chased a fleeing drug suspect in East Austin. Officer Adrian Valdovino received a written reprimand for failing to operate his patrol car safely.
In another incident that did not involve a death, Officer Wayne Williamson fired at a home invasion suspect during a foot chase last year as the suspect ran toward a busy shopping center parking lot. Acevedo said in a disciplinary memo firing Williamson that Williamson did not see a weapon when he fired.
Assistant Police Chief David Carter, who is the department's chief of staff, said Acevedo wanted to develop a foot-chase policy soon after taking over the department last year.
"Anytime that you have something where you have a tactical consideration, where somebody, either a police officer or suspect, could be injured, the department needs to establish some kind of training and policy on the matter," Carter said.
Carter said officials appointed a committee to look at other departments that have such policies.
Sgt. Jim Beck, who was on the committee, said officials reviewed policies from places such as the San Diego and Denver police departments and the Los Angeles County sheriff's department. Beck said many departments surveyed still do not have such polices.
Wuthipong "Tank" Tantaksinanukij, vice president of the Austin Police Association, said he supports the creation of a new policy.
"If anything else, I look at it as protecting the officer," he said. "That way, we have a clear policy on issues of what we can and can't pursue on. It outlines their job description."
Foot-pursuit policy highlights
The Austin Police Department this month will require officers to follow this protocol for foot pursuits:
Before beginning a foot pursuit, officers should consider whether a suspect is armed, the severity of the offense and the nature of the area, such as whether it is in a school zone or highway.
Once a foot chase has begun, officers should notify dispatchers of the location, direction of the chase, description of the suspect and whether the suspect is armed.
Officers must end a foot chase if they think the danger to officers or the public outweighs the necessity for immediate arrest of the suspect or if the suspect's identity is known and the person isn't an immediate threat.
Lack of procedure fueled debate in shooting of man by sergeant last year.
By Tony Plohetski Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN — Austin police officers must evaluate immediate danger, consider whether a suspect is known and can be arrested later, and ask themselves "what would be gained from pursuing the suspect" before beginning often-dangerous foot chases, according to a new department policy that takes effect this month.
The issue of when — and how — such pursuits should happen had fueled debate about whether a fired sergeant acted appropriately when he shot and killed Kevin Alexander Brown last year.
The policy establishes criteria officers should evaluate before beginning a chase and how they should respond during a pursuit.
According to the policy, officers must gauge the risk to themselves, fellow officers, suspects and bystanders. The two-page policy says that officers should consider whether a suspect may be armed and the availability of backup officers, and it requires them to radio a description of the suspect and location of the chase to dispatchers.
It also says officers should consider ending a chase if the suspects' identities are known and if they are not thought to be an immediate threat.
"The purpose of this policy is to facilitate the safe apprehension of a suspect who flees on foot to reduce the risk of injury to the officer, suspect and public," the policy says.
The new guidelines come more than a year after the shooting death of Brown by former Sgt. Michael Olsen.
Police Chief Art Acevedo fired Olsen late last year, saying that Olsen used poor judgment and tactics in his actions leading up to the shooting.
For instance, Acevedo said, Olsen, who was investigating a report that Brown had a gun at a nightclub, did not communicate with other officers to develop a "measured and coordinated" response and left his partner during the foot chase, creating a potential cross-fire encounter in which the officers could have accidently shot each other. He also said Olsen did not wait for backup before approaching Brown, and he questioned whether Brown posed an immediate threat.
During an appeal hearing in which Olsen sought to regain his job, his attorney, Tom Stribling, challenged the lack of a foot-pursuit policy and questioned how Olsen could have been held responsible for certain actions that weren't addressed in department rules.
Stribling said Tuesday that he had read a copy of the policy but, "I can't really say how it is going to affect (officers) or how it is going to be applied."
Attorney Scott Ozmun, who is representing Brown's family in a civil lawsuit against the city and who heard testimony during Olsen's appeal hearing, said, "To the extent that Stribling and Olsen raised that as an issue of concern, it's important for the department to address."
Brown's death was the second involving an Austin police foot chase since 2004.
Officer Amy Donovan was killed when she was struck by her partner, who was driving a patrol car while she chased a fleeing drug suspect in East Austin. Officer Adrian Valdovino received a written reprimand for failing to operate his patrol car safely.
In another incident that did not involve a death, Officer Wayne Williamson fired at a home invasion suspect during a foot chase last year as the suspect ran toward a busy shopping center parking lot. Acevedo said in a disciplinary memo firing Williamson that Williamson did not see a weapon when he fired.
Assistant Police Chief David Carter, who is the department's chief of staff, said Acevedo wanted to develop a foot-chase policy soon after taking over the department last year.
"Anytime that you have something where you have a tactical consideration, where somebody, either a police officer or suspect, could be injured, the department needs to establish some kind of training and policy on the matter," Carter said.
Carter said officials appointed a committee to look at other departments that have such policies.
Sgt. Jim Beck, who was on the committee, said officials reviewed policies from places such as the San Diego and Denver police departments and the Los Angeles County sheriff's department. Beck said many departments surveyed still do not have such polices.
Wuthipong "Tank" Tantaksinanukij, vice president of the Austin Police Association, said he supports the creation of a new policy.
"If anything else, I look at it as protecting the officer," he said. "That way, we have a clear policy on issues of what we can and can't pursue on. It outlines their job description."
Foot-pursuit policy highlights
The Austin Police Department this month will require officers to follow this protocol for foot pursuits:
Before beginning a foot pursuit, officers should consider whether a suspect is armed, the severity of the offense and the nature of the area, such as whether it is in a school zone or highway.
Once a foot chase has begun, officers should notify dispatchers of the location, direction of the chase, description of the suspect and whether the suspect is armed.
Officers must end a foot chase if they think the danger to officers or the public outweighs the necessity for immediate arrest of the suspect or if the suspect's identity is known and the person isn't an immediate threat.
Where is our pension money going?
From the Sun Times
Another deal for Mayor Daley's nephew
Mayor Daley's nephew Robert Vanecko said Tuesday that he and his business partners no longer plan to invest city pension funds in a proposed Chicago Housing Authority development along the south lakefront.
"We looked at investing in it at one point, but we did not," Vanecko said.
As a result, he said, "I am not an investor in that project."
Vanecko was responding to a report in Monday's Chicago Sun-Times that he was involved in a proposed CHA development that his business partners plan to build at 40th and Lake Park Avenue. City Hall has preliminarily agreed to a $2 million loan for the project being developed by Vanecko's business partners, mayoral ally Allison S. Davis and his son Jared Davis.
The Davises' company, Davis Associates Managers, applied for the city funding nearly two years ago, saying they planned to invest $8 million in the project. Some of that money, sources said, was expected to come from DV Urban Realty, a company created by the Davises and Vanecko to manage $68 million from five city pension funds.
But Vanecko said DV Urban won't be investing in the CHA project, which is awaiting final approval from the city and the CHA. Construction is expected to begin next summer.
Shortly after Davis Associates was picked to develop the CHA project, Vanecko sent an e-mail to the five pension funds. "We have been selected by the North Kenwood-Oakland Working Group, the Habitat Company and the CHA as the developer of the remainder of the Lakefront Properties site between 39th and 43rd Street and Lake Park Avenue," Vanecko wrote. "Please feel free to contact any of us if you have any questions regarding these properties or any other matters. Regards, Allison, Jared and Bob."
Despite that e-mail, Vanecko said Tuesday he has no role in the project.
"This is wrong, and this is false,'' Vanecko said. "It is a project that Allison is involved with.''
Vanecko hadn't responded to Sun-Times requests -- dating to Sept. 3 -- for comment on the project.
"I did get your e-mails. I was going to respond, but it's been a crazy 10 days,'' Vanecko said, referring to the recent stock market turbulence.
Another deal for Mayor Daley's nephew
Mayor Daley's nephew Robert Vanecko said Tuesday that he and his business partners no longer plan to invest city pension funds in a proposed Chicago Housing Authority development along the south lakefront.
"We looked at investing in it at one point, but we did not," Vanecko said.
As a result, he said, "I am not an investor in that project."
Vanecko was responding to a report in Monday's Chicago Sun-Times that he was involved in a proposed CHA development that his business partners plan to build at 40th and Lake Park Avenue. City Hall has preliminarily agreed to a $2 million loan for the project being developed by Vanecko's business partners, mayoral ally Allison S. Davis and his son Jared Davis.
The Davises' company, Davis Associates Managers, applied for the city funding nearly two years ago, saying they planned to invest $8 million in the project. Some of that money, sources said, was expected to come from DV Urban Realty, a company created by the Davises and Vanecko to manage $68 million from five city pension funds.
But Vanecko said DV Urban won't be investing in the CHA project, which is awaiting final approval from the city and the CHA. Construction is expected to begin next summer.
Shortly after Davis Associates was picked to develop the CHA project, Vanecko sent an e-mail to the five pension funds. "We have been selected by the North Kenwood-Oakland Working Group, the Habitat Company and the CHA as the developer of the remainder of the Lakefront Properties site between 39th and 43rd Street and Lake Park Avenue," Vanecko wrote. "Please feel free to contact any of us if you have any questions regarding these properties or any other matters. Regards, Allison, Jared and Bob."
Despite that e-mail, Vanecko said Tuesday he has no role in the project.
"This is wrong, and this is false,'' Vanecko said. "It is a project that Allison is involved with.''
Vanecko hadn't responded to Sun-Times requests -- dating to Sept. 3 -- for comment on the project.
"I did get your e-mails. I was going to respond, but it's been a crazy 10 days,'' Vanecko said, referring to the recent stock market turbulence.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Hiring Police Elsewhere
One in three recent Atlanta Police Academy graduates have criminal records
By TIM EBERLY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Keovongsa Siharath was arrested in Henry County on charges he punched his stepfather.
Jeffrey Churchill was charged with assault in an altercation with a woman in a mall parking lot.
Calvin Thomas was taken into custody in DeKalb County on a concealed weapons charge.
All three are now officers with the Atlanta Police Department.
More than one-third of recent Atlanta Police Academy graduates have been arrested or cited for a crime, according to a review of their job applications. The arrests ranged from minor offenses such as shoplifting to violent charges including assault. More than one-third of the officers had been rejected by other law enforcement agencies, and more than half of the recruits admitted using marijuana.
“On its face, it’s troubling and disturbing,” said Vincent Fort, a state senator from Atlanta. “It would be very troubling that people might be hitting the streets to serve and protect and they have histories that have made them unqualified to serve on other departments.”
But Atlanta police say it’s not so simple. Officials have been trying without success for more than a decade to grow the department to 2,000 officers, an effort hurt by this year’s budget crisis. With competition for recruits intense among law enforcement agencies, Atlanta has had to make concessions.
“We would like, in an ideal world, to see every applicant with a clean record, but obviously that’s not reality,” said Atlanta police Lt. Elder Dancy, who runs the department’s recruitment unit. “I don’t think you’ll find any departments who hire only applicants with squeaky-clean records.”
Three decades ago, a police officer with a criminal record was much less common than it is now, said Robert Friedmann, a criminal justice professor at Georgia State University. But times have changed and many agencies have had to relax their hiring policies, Friedmann said.
By TIM EBERLY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Keovongsa Siharath was arrested in Henry County on charges he punched his stepfather.
Jeffrey Churchill was charged with assault in an altercation with a woman in a mall parking lot.
Calvin Thomas was taken into custody in DeKalb County on a concealed weapons charge.
All three are now officers with the Atlanta Police Department.
More than one-third of recent Atlanta Police Academy graduates have been arrested or cited for a crime, according to a review of their job applications. The arrests ranged from minor offenses such as shoplifting to violent charges including assault. More than one-third of the officers had been rejected by other law enforcement agencies, and more than half of the recruits admitted using marijuana.
“On its face, it’s troubling and disturbing,” said Vincent Fort, a state senator from Atlanta. “It would be very troubling that people might be hitting the streets to serve and protect and they have histories that have made them unqualified to serve on other departments.”
But Atlanta police say it’s not so simple. Officials have been trying without success for more than a decade to grow the department to 2,000 officers, an effort hurt by this year’s budget crisis. With competition for recruits intense among law enforcement agencies, Atlanta has had to make concessions.
“We would like, in an ideal world, to see every applicant with a clean record, but obviously that’s not reality,” said Atlanta police Lt. Elder Dancy, who runs the department’s recruitment unit. “I don’t think you’ll find any departments who hire only applicants with squeaky-clean records.”
Three decades ago, a police officer with a criminal record was much less common than it is now, said Robert Friedmann, a criminal justice professor at Georgia State University. But times have changed and many agencies have had to relax their hiring policies, Friedmann said.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Well, what do you think?
chicagotribune.com
Courts are failing battered women
TRIBUNE INVESTIGATION: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
17% of domestic violence cases in Cook County end in conviction. And the rate isn't getting better despite a courthouse that opened 3 years ago with a goal of helping battered women
By Liam Ford
Chicago Tribune reporter
October 10, 2008
For every man convicted in a Cook County court of beating his wife or girlfriend, five men brought in on similar charges walk away legally unscathed. And despite official promises to help women pursue abuse complaints, that conviction rate is only getting worse.
Prosecuting domestic violence has never been easy, mostly because women often choose to drop charges. But the odds of conviction rise when women get help navigating a complex court system and prosecutors provide early, intensive contact with victims.
Cook County's opening of a $62 million courthouse in 2005 was aimed in part at making women feel more comfortable pursuing their cases. Yet, a Tribune analysis has found, one-sixth of the 19,000 domestic violence cases brought each year in Cook County now result in convictions.
That dismal record feeds a vicious cycle: With so few convictions, victims lose faith in the courts, and the violence continues unabated, advocates say.
"It looks like there isn't anyone holding abusers accountable," said Dawn Dalton of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network.
The Tribune analysis found that nearly 14 percent of defendants countywide faced domestic violence charges multiple times over just a three-year period.
Nakia Adams, 29, said she endured two years of taunts from a former boyfriend as he harassed her despite a court order forbidding any contact.
"I started giving up on the court system," Adams said. But when she began working with victim advocates and attorneys from private support groups, her attitude about the process changed. Adams pushed prosecutors to pursue a conviction of the man.
Her lesson for other women: "Just don't be afraid to go to get help."
Help, however, can be hard to come by.
When the Domestic Violence Court was established in 1984, a key innovation was to create a pool of advocates, some employed by the county and others by private groups, to help guide victims through the court's complexities. The advocates provide emotional support, help find temporary housing and arrange counseling, health care and employment for the victims.
But heavy caseloads and chronic staff shortages have chipped away at those services. Frustrated by the bureaucracy and long delays between arrest and the start of trial, many women choose to drop cases, victims and advocates say.
Though problems are seen across Cook County, they are especially acute in Chicago itself: Convictions in city cases, which stood at 20 percent in 2003, dropped to less than 14 percent last year.
Chief Circuit Judge Timothy Evans moved in August to address the problems.
After two women who had sought protection through the court were killed—and after the Tribune began investigating conviction rates—Evans named a panel of judges, lawyers, advocates and civic leaders to find solutions.
"If we can put all of our resources together, meager as they are, we can have a broader safety net for victims . . . and get . . . perpetrators off the cycle of violence," Evans said in an interview in his Daley Center offices.
As it is, unless they are among a few hundred charged with felonies each year, most of the accused escape court with no jail time, no fines, not even alcohol or drug treatment, the Tribune analysis found.
"The message is sent to the abuser that you can get away with this," said Jody Raphael, who over the last five years has tracked the court's performance for the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center at DePaul University.
At the same time, when victims see so few convictions, they are less likely to go forward with their own cases, experts said.
Of course, some women drop charges, refuse to testify or fail to show up in court for personal reasons beyond the flaws of the court system. Most of the time, unless children or other family members have been injured by the defendant, prosecutors will not push the case without the victim's cooperation.
But not all women who drop cases are trying to protect their men, court veterans say. If the system gave victims better access to advocates and attorneys so they would be more comfortable in pursuing their cases, more women would go forward, according to victims and legal experts.
They often "don't get the information that they need to be able to make informed decisions, and that has a big [impact on] how effective the court system is," Dalton said.
Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine said his office this year renewed its emphasis on moving more serious domestic violence charges to felony court. By doing so, those cases get more individual attention from prosecutors and investigators.
Still, judges and attorneys must juggle scores of cases each day, often giving prosecutors little time to meet with victims before they first face a judge.
Some strides were made three years ago when the court moved from a dilapidated building on South Michigan Avenue to its four-story home at 555 W. Harrison St. For one thing, broader hallways in the new building mean victims and abusers no longer gather in close proximity. Safety has gone up. Fear and intimidation have gone down.But the move has not cured staffing ills. Private advocates who work at the court say they have enough funding and staff to help only one of every 10 victims seeking legal protection.
Hayley Myers, 29, a hairstylist and mother of two, has sought several times over the last three years to have her estranged husband arrested on abuse allegations. Myers expressed anger at how prosecutors and judges sometimes treat victims "like they're a number."
"I would think that in a situation where the woman is adamant about pressing charges, and seriously wants to be done with this person, that they would take it more to heart . . . as if they were dealing with someone in their own family," Myers said. "But it's not. It's not like that at all."
Tribune reporter Darnell Little contributed to this report.
lford@tribune.com
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
Courts are failing battered women
TRIBUNE INVESTIGATION: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
17% of domestic violence cases in Cook County end in conviction. And the rate isn't getting better despite a courthouse that opened 3 years ago with a goal of helping battered women
By Liam Ford
Chicago Tribune reporter
October 10, 2008
For every man convicted in a Cook County court of beating his wife or girlfriend, five men brought in on similar charges walk away legally unscathed. And despite official promises to help women pursue abuse complaints, that conviction rate is only getting worse.
Prosecuting domestic violence has never been easy, mostly because women often choose to drop charges. But the odds of conviction rise when women get help navigating a complex court system and prosecutors provide early, intensive contact with victims.
Cook County's opening of a $62 million courthouse in 2005 was aimed in part at making women feel more comfortable pursuing their cases. Yet, a Tribune analysis has found, one-sixth of the 19,000 domestic violence cases brought each year in Cook County now result in convictions.
That dismal record feeds a vicious cycle: With so few convictions, victims lose faith in the courts, and the violence continues unabated, advocates say.
"It looks like there isn't anyone holding abusers accountable," said Dawn Dalton of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network.
The Tribune analysis found that nearly 14 percent of defendants countywide faced domestic violence charges multiple times over just a three-year period.
Nakia Adams, 29, said she endured two years of taunts from a former boyfriend as he harassed her despite a court order forbidding any contact.
"I started giving up on the court system," Adams said. But when she began working with victim advocates and attorneys from private support groups, her attitude about the process changed. Adams pushed prosecutors to pursue a conviction of the man.
Her lesson for other women: "Just don't be afraid to go to get help."
Help, however, can be hard to come by.
When the Domestic Violence Court was established in 1984, a key innovation was to create a pool of advocates, some employed by the county and others by private groups, to help guide victims through the court's complexities. The advocates provide emotional support, help find temporary housing and arrange counseling, health care and employment for the victims.
But heavy caseloads and chronic staff shortages have chipped away at those services. Frustrated by the bureaucracy and long delays between arrest and the start of trial, many women choose to drop cases, victims and advocates say.
Though problems are seen across Cook County, they are especially acute in Chicago itself: Convictions in city cases, which stood at 20 percent in 2003, dropped to less than 14 percent last year.
Chief Circuit Judge Timothy Evans moved in August to address the problems.
After two women who had sought protection through the court were killed—and after the Tribune began investigating conviction rates—Evans named a panel of judges, lawyers, advocates and civic leaders to find solutions.
"If we can put all of our resources together, meager as they are, we can have a broader safety net for victims . . . and get . . . perpetrators off the cycle of violence," Evans said in an interview in his Daley Center offices.
As it is, unless they are among a few hundred charged with felonies each year, most of the accused escape court with no jail time, no fines, not even alcohol or drug treatment, the Tribune analysis found.
"The message is sent to the abuser that you can get away with this," said Jody Raphael, who over the last five years has tracked the court's performance for the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center at DePaul University.
At the same time, when victims see so few convictions, they are less likely to go forward with their own cases, experts said.
Of course, some women drop charges, refuse to testify or fail to show up in court for personal reasons beyond the flaws of the court system. Most of the time, unless children or other family members have been injured by the defendant, prosecutors will not push the case without the victim's cooperation.
But not all women who drop cases are trying to protect their men, court veterans say. If the system gave victims better access to advocates and attorneys so they would be more comfortable in pursuing their cases, more women would go forward, according to victims and legal experts.
They often "don't get the information that they need to be able to make informed decisions, and that has a big [impact on] how effective the court system is," Dalton said.
Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine said his office this year renewed its emphasis on moving more serious domestic violence charges to felony court. By doing so, those cases get more individual attention from prosecutors and investigators.
Still, judges and attorneys must juggle scores of cases each day, often giving prosecutors little time to meet with victims before they first face a judge.
Some strides were made three years ago when the court moved from a dilapidated building on South Michigan Avenue to its four-story home at 555 W. Harrison St. For one thing, broader hallways in the new building mean victims and abusers no longer gather in close proximity. Safety has gone up. Fear and intimidation have gone down.But the move has not cured staffing ills. Private advocates who work at the court say they have enough funding and staff to help only one of every 10 victims seeking legal protection.
Hayley Myers, 29, a hairstylist and mother of two, has sought several times over the last three years to have her estranged husband arrested on abuse allegations. Myers expressed anger at how prosecutors and judges sometimes treat victims "like they're a number."
"I would think that in a situation where the woman is adamant about pressing charges, and seriously wants to be done with this person, that they would take it more to heart . . . as if they were dealing with someone in their own family," Myers said. "But it's not. It's not like that at all."
Tribune reporter Darnell Little contributed to this report.
lford@tribune.com
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Vincent Esposito my former 019 Dist. co-worker
Largo, Florida -- Authorities say a Largo police officer fatally shot a man who was seen shooting at his neighbors.
Detectives say it began after they received a 9-1-1 call, claiming a gunman was shooting at a neighbor's home.
Officers caught up with 42-year-old Vincent Esposito, who they say was armed with a pellet gun designed to look like a .45-caliber, semi-automatic handgun.
One officer tried to control him before a confrontation. The officer then fired his gun. Esposito was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where he died.
The officer, Sgt. Frank Parr, is on routine paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Ridge Road South was closed for much of the day, but has since reopened.
Tampa Bay's 10 News. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Detectives say it began after they received a 9-1-1 call, claiming a gunman was shooting at a neighbor's home.
Officers caught up with 42-year-old Vincent Esposito, who they say was armed with a pellet gun designed to look like a .45-caliber, semi-automatic handgun.
One officer tried to control him before a confrontation. The officer then fired his gun. Esposito was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where he died.
The officer, Sgt. Frank Parr, is on routine paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Ridge Road South was closed for much of the day, but has since reopened.
Tampa Bay's 10 News. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Officer Daniel Faulkner update
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal for a new trial for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted in the 1981 killing of a Philadelphia police officer.
The justices did not comment on their action Monday, which leaves in place a state Supreme Court ruling upholding Abu-Jamal's murder conviction.
Separately, a federal appeals court also has upheld the conviction, but ordered a new sentencing hearing.
Officer Daniel Faulkner was shot to death after pulling over Abu-Jamal's brother in an overnight traffic stop.
The case has drawn worldwide attention.
Prosecutors say Faulkner, 25, managed to shoot Abu-Jamal during the confrontation. A wounded Abu-Jamal, his own gun lying nearby, was still at the scene when police arrived, and authorities consider the evidence against him overwhelming.
Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, has argued in numerous appeals that racism by the judge and prosecutors corrupted his 1982 conviction at the hands of a mostly white jury. Prosecutors, meanwhile, had appealed a federal judge's 2001 decision to grant Abu-Jamal a new sentencing hearing because of flawed jury instructions.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal for a new trial for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted in the 1981 killing of a Philadelphia police officer.
The justices did not comment on their action Monday, which leaves in place a state Supreme Court ruling upholding Abu-Jamal's murder conviction.
Separately, a federal appeals court also has upheld the conviction, but ordered a new sentencing hearing.
Officer Daniel Faulkner was shot to death after pulling over Abu-Jamal's brother in an overnight traffic stop.
The case has drawn worldwide attention.
Prosecutors say Faulkner, 25, managed to shoot Abu-Jamal during the confrontation. A wounded Abu-Jamal, his own gun lying nearby, was still at the scene when police arrived, and authorities consider the evidence against him overwhelming.
Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, has argued in numerous appeals that racism by the judge and prosecutors corrupted his 1982 conviction at the hands of a mostly white jury. Prosecutors, meanwhile, had appealed a federal judge's 2001 decision to grant Abu-Jamal a new sentencing hearing because of flawed jury instructions.
This is why we must fight to keep a Defined Benefit Plan
There is a discussion going on to change the type of pension account for new hires. To go from the current defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan.
A defined benefit plan lets you know how much money you will get when you retire. An example is 50% of your current pay. You know what you'll get and get it until you pass away.
With a defined contribution, you pay a defined amount every month and rely on the market for what you get when you retire and it's very possible for you to out live you savings. Giving you nothing, when you least can afford it.
In those departments that have a two tier system (defined benefit vs defined contribution) the "young guys" feel that the "old timers" didn't protect their backs. When the "young guys" take over the bargaining unit they give away benefits for the "old timers" that hadn't looked out for them when they could.
Don't let this happen here!
chicagotribune.com
Retirement accounts hit hard
Associated Press
October 8, 2008
The upheaval that has engulfed the financial markets is also devastating people's savings, forcing families to hold off on major purchases and delay retirement, Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office, told the House Education and Labor Committee on Tuesday. Lawmakers began investigating how the turmoil is whittling away workers' nest eggs.
Orszag's findings:
$2 trillion The amount Americans' retirement plans have lost in the past 15 months.
10% The percentage lost by public and private pension funds and employees' private retirement savings accounts such as 401(k)'s between mid-2007 and mid-2008.
10% The additional percentage lost in just the past three months.
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
A defined benefit plan lets you know how much money you will get when you retire. An example is 50% of your current pay. You know what you'll get and get it until you pass away.
With a defined contribution, you pay a defined amount every month and rely on the market for what you get when you retire and it's very possible for you to out live you savings. Giving you nothing, when you least can afford it.
In those departments that have a two tier system (defined benefit vs defined contribution) the "young guys" feel that the "old timers" didn't protect their backs. When the "young guys" take over the bargaining unit they give away benefits for the "old timers" that hadn't looked out for them when they could.
Don't let this happen here!
chicagotribune.com
Retirement accounts hit hard
Associated Press
October 8, 2008
The upheaval that has engulfed the financial markets is also devastating people's savings, forcing families to hold off on major purchases and delay retirement, Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office, told the House Education and Labor Committee on Tuesday. Lawmakers began investigating how the turmoil is whittling away workers' nest eggs.
Orszag's findings:
$2 trillion The amount Americans' retirement plans have lost in the past 15 months.
10% The percentage lost by public and private pension funds and employees' private retirement savings accounts such as 401(k)'s between mid-2007 and mid-2008.
10% The additional percentage lost in just the past three months.
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
This is why I'm voting for McCain
Islamic takeover of U.S. already under way
Expert warns 'mainstream media' providing 'talking points' of Arab countries
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
An expert on terrorism is warning the United States should be fighting Islamization, which she believes already is under way. And author Brigitte Gabriel should know: She watched it happen in her native Lebanon.
"Lebanon used to be the only majority Christian country in the Middle East," Gabriel told radio talk show host Andrea Shea King in a recent hour-long interview "Most people today do not know that. We were the majority, the Muslims were the minority, but as the years went by, the Muslims became the majority because of their birth rate, but also because of our open-border policy.
"We welcomed everyone into our country," Gabriel said, and people didn't realize that the "minority," the Muslims in the society, "was not tolerant" and "did not believe all people were equal."
"They tried to impose their way of thinking on us, and they succeeded," she said.
An excerpt of her interview can be heard here:
The result, Gabriel said, was that a radical terrorist organization tied to Islam, Hezbollah, now rules in Lebanon.
As WND reported, Gabriel is fearful that terrorists believe now is the time to strike at America, while it is distracted by financial tension and election turmoil. She expressed the concerns during an interview with KSFO's Barbara Simpson, when she also discussed her new book, "They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It
Gabriel's new interview with King is available on BlogTalkRadio.
(Story continues below)
She noted it's been seven years since the Sept. 11, 2001, act of war on U.S. soil by Islamists, but America is falling to Islam's attack, and the battle already is far advanced.
"They do not need to fire a single bullet to destroy us," she said. "They are taking over our country culturally, just like they have taken over Europe."
She said Islam is being taught across the U.S. as part of world history courses for seventh graders.
"A three-week course is teaching students to memorize and recite Islamic prayers and verses from the Quran," she said. "Students have to adopt Islamic names, fast for a day to experience Ramadan, the holiest of Islamic religious holidays, and write about their experience as a Muslim at the end of the program. The exercises during the class include encouraging students to incorporate Arabic phrases such as Allahu Akbar in their speeches, and for students to imagine they were meeting disciples on a pilgrimage to Mecca. This is a state-approved curriculum, using state-adopted textbooks that have been part of the instructional program in California for over a decade."
WND reported this week that a new study shows U.S. textbooks provide "information" such as that Jesus was a Palestinian and the nation of Israel imposes terrorism on others but is not a victim a terrorism.
"Now it is being rolled out nationwide. One book I discuss in particular is 'Across the Centuries,' published by Houghton Mifflin. The Muslim Council on Education has been busy working with the State Department of Education and America's top three publishers who …are literally rewriting history," Gabriel said.
"'Across the Centuries' is a staple in the State of California. This textbook is at best, a well of misinformation. It is 558 pages long and covers the 1500 years from the fall of the Roman Empire and the French Revolution. The text includes 55 pages devoted to Islam, seven pages noting the Middle Ages in Europe, and six pages of Christian history. The chapter on the Byzantine Empire received only six pages. The chapter on Islam accounts for 10 percent of the text, while Christianity and Judaism are almost entirely absent," she said.
"This is public education approved by the State Board of Education nationwide! Our students are being indoctrinated into Islam in our public schools and we don't even have a clue! How can this be allowed to be taught in public schools in America? Most people do not know about it because it is flying under the radar!" she said.
At the university level it's worse, she said.
"What's been happening for the last 16 years, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states ... because of the money coming from the oil, they have been pumping millions of dollars into our universities appointing Arab professors who are anti-American, anti-Israel, who have been basically brain-washing our students into believe we are the problem," she said.
"The children, who have been educated in American universities for the last 16 years, have graduated and are now working ... not influenced ... by our patriotic education as Americans, but they have been influenced by Arab thinking ... [and] hatred based on revenge," she said.
"The writing is on the wall. Who would have thought that Shariah would come to Harvard University with regulated women-only gym hours? That an imam in Des Moines, Iowa, gave an opening prayer at the 2007 Iowa Legislature's opening session in which he called on Allah to give victory over those who disbelieve? Muslim taxi drivers in Minnesota who refuse to pick up passengers carrying alcohol? The first Islamic public school, the Kahlil Gibran Academy, that opened in 2007, funded by tax dollars! American colleges designating Islamic prayer rooms on campus for use by Muslims only!" Gabriel said.
"Those of us who come from the Middle East and see what's happening in the U.S. ... shake our heads in amazement," she said, calling her book a warning. "We are coming up to a very important election. This is the time we need to understand what is at stake, why our voice counts, why we need togo out and vote. This is the time to make a difference before it is too late," she said.
She said that's why besides her book, she's launched the ActForAmerica.org website.
"We launched this out of American Congress for Truth as our activism and political lobbying arm because I realized talking by itself is only wasting hot air and is entertainment. Action is the only way that's going to make a difference," she said. "History reveals that the apathetic give way to the passionate, the complacent are subdued by the committed. ACT for America.org is mobilizing people all over the country and giving them the tools to resist the Islamic infiltration in our society on every level: schools, governments, universities and corporations.
"Our work is vital in educating the American public about what is happening behind the scenes," she said.
"I encourage people to go to our website Act for America.org. I know we have citizen action training seminars coming up in Kansas City and in Indianapolis within the next two weeks. Sign up and attend them if you are in those areas. And check where we have chapters across the country and either join a chapter, or if there's no chapter in your community, sign up to lead one. Organized power at the grass roots level trumps the voices of political correctness," Gabriel said.
"The radical Islamists promised to destroy us, and as you know from the recent war in Lebanon, that country is now nearly Islamic," she said.
"We are not waiting for this phenomenon to occur here in the war against Islamofascism. We are not simply hoping for spontaneous grassroots eruptions that may or may not come. We are making it occur by organizing grassroots chapters and supporters across America. We will force elected representatives to choose. To align themselves with the grassroots voices of America or the voice of political correctness."
Gabriel was born and raised in Lebanon. When she was 10, her home was bombed by radical Islamists. She spent two and a half months in a hospital with injuries, and then she survived with her parents for seven years hidden in an underground bomb shelter, subsisting without electricity or heat on a meager diet of rice, lentils and tufts of grass that grew outside the shelter. She crawled beneath sniper fire for sips of water from a nearby ditch.
Those who have lived through such experiences are horrified at Americans' attitudes, she said.
"I have two guests staying with me, also from Lebanon, who ran to Israel for their lives when Israel withdrew out of Lebanon. And this is their first trip to America. I took them to New York and to Washington, D.C., last week and we were walking around and they were stunned at the gullibility of Americans. I took them to an air show this past week and they saw Muslims in our military. They looked at me in utter shock and said, 'Do Americans know these same Muslims would turn their guns against their fellow Americans, military men and women in the same tents, and kill them in the name of Islam? What is America thinking?'" Gabriel said.
"We are not only fighting a military jihad, we are fighting a cultural jihad and we need to wake up. We are as much at war with the cultural jihad as we are with the military jihad," Gabriel said.
"Islam is coming to America while we are asleep at the wheel and only focusing on al-Qaida attacking us militarily. The Muslims are taking us over culturally and remember, they don't even have to fire one bullet," she said.
Gabriel's book, according to "American Jihad" author Steve Emerson, is "riveting, compelling and spellbinding. This is a must read for the entire American public."
"A compelling and captivating personal story with a powerful lesson about threats to freedom in our time," said R. James Woolsey, director of Central Intelligence from 1993-1995.
"There is a threat. We must do something about it. We must stop them," Gabriel said.
Earlier, in an interview with WND columnist Larry Elder published in two parts, "Because they hate," and "Because they hate, part 2," Gabriel said al-Qaida already is inside the U.S., as is Hezbollah.
"We estimate thousands have already been smuggled into America. ... Hamas is here. ... They have cells in over 40 states. ... We also need to reform our immigration and visa programs. We need to monitor who is coming into our country and why. ... We need to increase human intelligence. … I want everyone who fits the terrorist profile to be profiled. We have men between the ages of 16 and 40 who have committed terrorist acts around the world in the name of Islam. They are not little old ladies from Ohio with blue hair. They are not children going to Disney World on their Easter vacation," she said.
Elder asked: "What happens if a Democrat wins the 2008 election?"
"We are doomed. Our enemies want the Democrats to win. This last election, jihadist websites were playing victory songs and declaring the Democrats are our allies in the war against America," she said.
Expert warns 'mainstream media' providing 'talking points' of Arab countries
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
An expert on terrorism is warning the United States should be fighting Islamization, which she believes already is under way. And author Brigitte Gabriel should know: She watched it happen in her native Lebanon.
"Lebanon used to be the only majority Christian country in the Middle East," Gabriel told radio talk show host Andrea Shea King in a recent hour-long interview "Most people today do not know that. We were the majority, the Muslims were the minority, but as the years went by, the Muslims became the majority because of their birth rate, but also because of our open-border policy.
"We welcomed everyone into our country," Gabriel said, and people didn't realize that the "minority," the Muslims in the society, "was not tolerant" and "did not believe all people were equal."
"They tried to impose their way of thinking on us, and they succeeded," she said.
An excerpt of her interview can be heard here:
The result, Gabriel said, was that a radical terrorist organization tied to Islam, Hezbollah, now rules in Lebanon.
As WND reported, Gabriel is fearful that terrorists believe now is the time to strike at America, while it is distracted by financial tension and election turmoil. She expressed the concerns during an interview with KSFO's Barbara Simpson, when she also discussed her new book, "They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It
Gabriel's new interview with King is available on BlogTalkRadio.
(Story continues below)
She noted it's been seven years since the Sept. 11, 2001, act of war on U.S. soil by Islamists, but America is falling to Islam's attack, and the battle already is far advanced.
"They do not need to fire a single bullet to destroy us," she said. "They are taking over our country culturally, just like they have taken over Europe."
She said Islam is being taught across the U.S. as part of world history courses for seventh graders.
"A three-week course is teaching students to memorize and recite Islamic prayers and verses from the Quran," she said. "Students have to adopt Islamic names, fast for a day to experience Ramadan, the holiest of Islamic religious holidays, and write about their experience as a Muslim at the end of the program. The exercises during the class include encouraging students to incorporate Arabic phrases such as Allahu Akbar in their speeches, and for students to imagine they were meeting disciples on a pilgrimage to Mecca. This is a state-approved curriculum, using state-adopted textbooks that have been part of the instructional program in California for over a decade."
WND reported this week that a new study shows U.S. textbooks provide "information" such as that Jesus was a Palestinian and the nation of Israel imposes terrorism on others but is not a victim a terrorism.
"Now it is being rolled out nationwide. One book I discuss in particular is 'Across the Centuries,' published by Houghton Mifflin. The Muslim Council on Education has been busy working with the State Department of Education and America's top three publishers who …are literally rewriting history," Gabriel said.
"'Across the Centuries' is a staple in the State of California. This textbook is at best, a well of misinformation. It is 558 pages long and covers the 1500 years from the fall of the Roman Empire and the French Revolution. The text includes 55 pages devoted to Islam, seven pages noting the Middle Ages in Europe, and six pages of Christian history. The chapter on the Byzantine Empire received only six pages. The chapter on Islam accounts for 10 percent of the text, while Christianity and Judaism are almost entirely absent," she said.
"This is public education approved by the State Board of Education nationwide! Our students are being indoctrinated into Islam in our public schools and we don't even have a clue! How can this be allowed to be taught in public schools in America? Most people do not know about it because it is flying under the radar!" she said.
At the university level it's worse, she said.
"What's been happening for the last 16 years, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states ... because of the money coming from the oil, they have been pumping millions of dollars into our universities appointing Arab professors who are anti-American, anti-Israel, who have been basically brain-washing our students into believe we are the problem," she said.
"The children, who have been educated in American universities for the last 16 years, have graduated and are now working ... not influenced ... by our patriotic education as Americans, but they have been influenced by Arab thinking ... [and] hatred based on revenge," she said.
"The writing is on the wall. Who would have thought that Shariah would come to Harvard University with regulated women-only gym hours? That an imam in Des Moines, Iowa, gave an opening prayer at the 2007 Iowa Legislature's opening session in which he called on Allah to give victory over those who disbelieve? Muslim taxi drivers in Minnesota who refuse to pick up passengers carrying alcohol? The first Islamic public school, the Kahlil Gibran Academy, that opened in 2007, funded by tax dollars! American colleges designating Islamic prayer rooms on campus for use by Muslims only!" Gabriel said.
"Those of us who come from the Middle East and see what's happening in the U.S. ... shake our heads in amazement," she said, calling her book a warning. "We are coming up to a very important election. This is the time we need to understand what is at stake, why our voice counts, why we need togo out and vote. This is the time to make a difference before it is too late," she said.
She said that's why besides her book, she's launched the ActForAmerica.org website.
"We launched this out of American Congress for Truth as our activism and political lobbying arm because I realized talking by itself is only wasting hot air and is entertainment. Action is the only way that's going to make a difference," she said. "History reveals that the apathetic give way to the passionate, the complacent are subdued by the committed. ACT for America.org is mobilizing people all over the country and giving them the tools to resist the Islamic infiltration in our society on every level: schools, governments, universities and corporations.
"Our work is vital in educating the American public about what is happening behind the scenes," she said.
"I encourage people to go to our website Act for America.org. I know we have citizen action training seminars coming up in Kansas City and in Indianapolis within the next two weeks. Sign up and attend them if you are in those areas. And check where we have chapters across the country and either join a chapter, or if there's no chapter in your community, sign up to lead one. Organized power at the grass roots level trumps the voices of political correctness," Gabriel said.
"The radical Islamists promised to destroy us, and as you know from the recent war in Lebanon, that country is now nearly Islamic," she said.
"We are not waiting for this phenomenon to occur here in the war against Islamofascism. We are not simply hoping for spontaneous grassroots eruptions that may or may not come. We are making it occur by organizing grassroots chapters and supporters across America. We will force elected representatives to choose. To align themselves with the grassroots voices of America or the voice of political correctness."
Gabriel was born and raised in Lebanon. When she was 10, her home was bombed by radical Islamists. She spent two and a half months in a hospital with injuries, and then she survived with her parents for seven years hidden in an underground bomb shelter, subsisting without electricity or heat on a meager diet of rice, lentils and tufts of grass that grew outside the shelter. She crawled beneath sniper fire for sips of water from a nearby ditch.
Those who have lived through such experiences are horrified at Americans' attitudes, she said.
"I have two guests staying with me, also from Lebanon, who ran to Israel for their lives when Israel withdrew out of Lebanon. And this is their first trip to America. I took them to New York and to Washington, D.C., last week and we were walking around and they were stunned at the gullibility of Americans. I took them to an air show this past week and they saw Muslims in our military. They looked at me in utter shock and said, 'Do Americans know these same Muslims would turn their guns against their fellow Americans, military men and women in the same tents, and kill them in the name of Islam? What is America thinking?'" Gabriel said.
"We are not only fighting a military jihad, we are fighting a cultural jihad and we need to wake up. We are as much at war with the cultural jihad as we are with the military jihad," Gabriel said.
"Islam is coming to America while we are asleep at the wheel and only focusing on al-Qaida attacking us militarily. The Muslims are taking us over culturally and remember, they don't even have to fire one bullet," she said.
Gabriel's book, according to "American Jihad" author Steve Emerson, is "riveting, compelling and spellbinding. This is a must read for the entire American public."
"A compelling and captivating personal story with a powerful lesson about threats to freedom in our time," said R. James Woolsey, director of Central Intelligence from 1993-1995.
"There is a threat. We must do something about it. We must stop them," Gabriel said.
Earlier, in an interview with WND columnist Larry Elder published in two parts, "Because they hate," and "Because they hate, part 2," Gabriel said al-Qaida already is inside the U.S., as is Hezbollah.
"We estimate thousands have already been smuggled into America. ... Hamas is here. ... They have cells in over 40 states. ... We also need to reform our immigration and visa programs. We need to monitor who is coming into our country and why. ... We need to increase human intelligence. … I want everyone who fits the terrorist profile to be profiled. We have men between the ages of 16 and 40 who have committed terrorist acts around the world in the name of Islam. They are not little old ladies from Ohio with blue hair. They are not children going to Disney World on their Easter vacation," she said.
Elder asked: "What happens if a Democrat wins the 2008 election?"
"We are doomed. Our enemies want the Democrats to win. This last election, jihadist websites were playing victory songs and declaring the Democrats are our allies in the war against America," she said.
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