Ross Parker was chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit for 8 years and worked as an AUSA for 28 in that office.

Ross Parker

This fall someone near and dear to me began a job tutoring and counseling students at an inner-city Detroit high school.

Her daily reports over the dinner table range from disturbing to appalling. Despite the heroic efforts by some of the teachers and students, attending school consists mainly of fighting your way to and from school with limited learning in between.

Her school has been on “lock down” two days this week because of incidents involving firearms. Squabbling among politicians, bureaucrats, teachers, and parents, along with a pathetic state economy and financing system, have insured the escalation of this dismal situation.

By Allan Lengel

If ever there was a major city that can’t afford corrupt public officials it would be Detroit, a place that is aching from the economic woes of our time.

That being said: How can anyone cheat the city?

Ask ex-Detroit Deputy Mayor Kandia Milton. He  stepped up before a federal judge in downtown Detroit on Thursday and pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy.

“Today, your honor, I am accepting full responsibility for my actions, ” Milton said, according to the Detroit Free Press. “I betrayed the trust of many people — my family, my friends, citizens of Detroit … and the mayor.”

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Ellen Howe served as Assistant Administrator for Strategic Communications & Public Affairs at the Transportation Security Administration from March 2006 until January 2009.

Ellen Howe/security debrief photo

Certainly the posting of the Transportation Security Administration’s screening procedures on the Internet was not the agency’s finest hour, but it was not the worst breach of security since 9/11, as I heard last night on CNN.

While some were quick to pounce and ridicule, most of what was in that document can be deciphered by studying procedures at the checkpoint, something terrorists are known to do before they execute an attack.

TSA is a complex organization, and its people and policies should not be underestimated. The agency bases its operations on intelligence, and the document that was revealed does not account for constant updates and tweaks made based on current intelligence.

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John “Junior” Gotti/youtube photo

John Gotti Jr., who walked free after his fourth mistrial on racketeering charges, is “optimistic” the feds won’t try for a fifth trial, the website Gang Land News reports.

The website, written by former New York Daily News mob writer Jerry Capeci, noted that Gotti could get word on the fed’s intentions at a Jan. 22 status conference hearing, if not sooner. A mistrial was declared on Dec. 1 after a New York jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked.

If all goes as planned, Gotti said, he hopes to move out of N.Y. and relocate his family to Florida or the Carolinas.

“I want to move on,” and change the surroundings, Gotti said, according to Gang Land.”To be here, it’s a little awkward at times. I’m not that far from Queens; I’m not that far from New York. You go to dinner in a restaurant with your wife, you tend to bump into old acquaintances.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q6IWWEM_pw

WASHINGTON – Five Transportation Security Administration employees have been placed on administrative leave in response to news that a 93-page confidential document on airport passenger screening was posted on the Internet, the agency said.

Assistant Homeland Security secretary David Heyman told senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday that a full investigation into the matter was underway, according to the Boston Globe.

The TSA has admitted that the document was posted online on a government procurement site in a redacted form. But people on the Internet were able to make copies without the redactions.

In a statement on Wednesday, the TSA said:

“TSA takes full responsibility for this improper posting and all individuals who may have been involved have been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the review.”

Robert Mueller III in Denver/fbi photo

WASHINGTON — FBI Director Robert Mueller III was in Chicago on Wednesday where he was briefed on a terror case involving the 2008 deadly attacks in Mumbai, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Mueller reportedly was told details of the case involving David Coleman Headley, who is charged with plotting to attack a Copenhagen newspaper and scouting targets for the Mumbai attack last year that resulted in about 170 deaths.

Headley has pleaded not guilty and is cooperating with the FBI, the Tribune reported.

By Allan Lengel

Attorney Gen. Eric Holder Jr. showed up in New York on Wednesday, not for a Broadway play, but to inspect how a real live drama will play out in the Big Apple.

The Associated Press reported that Holder arrived unannounced to inspect a jail and a Manhattan courthouse where suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four cronies will stand trial.

The five defendants have been held in Guantanamo Bay. The decision to put them on trial in New York has stirred plenty of controversy.

Some have criticized Holder and the White House, saying the trial will compromise the safety of New York residents. Critics also insist that the group should be tried in a military tribunal.

The AP, attributing information to Justice Department Matthew Miller, said Holder met with the prosecution team on the case.

”We have a robust plan to hold these trials safely and securely and there’s broad agreement that we can do that,” Miller said told the AP.

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST

• Philly Cop Busted for Soliciting Teen (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Little Left for Ex-NBA Ref Who was Busted for Illegal Gambling (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Cleric Linked to Ft. Hood Grew More Radicalized in Yemen (Washington Post)
• Congress Subpoenas the Salahis (Washington Post)
• Black N.C. Cops Say Chief Put them in Line Up Book to Frame Them and Embarrass Them (Courthouse News Service)
• West Bank Man Sues Sacha Baron Cohen and Letterman Over Terrorist Scene (Courthouse News Service)
• State Dept. Looking to Develop Text Messaging For Mexicans to Report Drug Related Murders (NextGov)

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