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Nation in brief
Compiled from Times wires FBI says officer deaths by criminals on the riseWASHINGTON -- The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks produced the single deadliest day in the history of U.S. law enforcement -- 72 officers killed -- yet almost as many died in nonterrorist incidents during 2001 as violence against police rose to a four-year high. The collapse of the World Trade Center in New York after the twin towers were struck by hijacked airliners accounted for 71 of last year's 142 law enforcement killings, the FBI reported Monday. The 72nd victim was a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer who died when a plane commandeered by terrorists crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Overshadowed by the enormity of those numbers is another statistic: 70 other law enforcement officers were killed by criminals around the country in 2001, the highest number since 1997 and a 37 percent increase over the 51 slain in 2000. "Law enforcement is a high-risk occupation," the FBI report says. "The men and women who serve the public in this way place themselves in danger as a matter of routine." Still, the nonterrorism deaths are far below those recorded in the 1970s, when it was common for more than 200 officers to die violently or in accidents every year, said Craig Floyd, chairman of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington. That number for 2001 would be about 148. Baltimore takes stand in battle against AIDSBALTIMORE -- Mayor Martin O'Malley declared a "state of emergency" Monday in Baltimore's battle against AIDS, calling for a coordinated assault by public and private interests on an illness that disproportionately afflicts the black community. His declaration -- which promised little new money or initiatives -- came after intense lobbying by an organization of black ministers and an AIDS commission spearheaded by Baltimore City Council President Sheila Dixon, who lost a brother and sister-in-law to AIDS. Since June, both groups had called on the mayor to dedicate more resources toward prevention, treatment and education -- saying the city's efforts had been woefully inadequate. Police say rust eating Crown Victoria cruisersEAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Police departments in Connecticut and other states are taking some of their Ford Crown Victoria Interceptors off the streets because the police cars' frames are rusting. The Crown Victoria was also recently investigated by the government for gas tank fires linked to the deaths of 12 officers. About 350,000 Crown Victorias are used by police departments across the country, accounting for about 80 percent of police cars on the road in the United States. East Hartford pulled eight cruisers off the road in November, the Journal Inquirer of Manchester reported last week. The South Bend, Ind., Police Department removed 70 of its 111 Crown Victorias from the streets earlier this year because of rust. Departments in Elyria and Lorain, Ohio, have also pulled some of the cars. Ford spokesman Todd Nissen said the rusted frames do not necessarily mean the cars are unsafe. Appellate court upholds offshore Calif. drilling banSAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court Monday upheld a ruling that blocks oil and natural gas exploration off the central California coast, saying the area can't be drilled until the California Coastal Commission approves the work. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocks any attempt to drill off the coast of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Some estimates say there is enough oil there to run California's refineries for two years and natural gas for five months of the state's demands. Ex-Klan leader David Duke seeks deal in fraud caseNEW ORLEANS -- An attorney for former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke said Monday that he is negotiating with federal prosecutors on a possible deal over allegations of mail fraud and income tax violations. Duke, a former Louisiana House member who ran second for the U.S. Senate in 1990 and lost a runoff for governor in 1991, has been overseas for most of the past two years.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
