New Orleans mayor asks feds to review city police force

New Orleans, Louisiana (News Today) - The new mayor of New Orleans has asked the Justice Department to review the city's embattled police department.

In a letter sent Wednesday, Mayor Mitch Landrieu asked Attorney General Eric Holder to assign a team from the department's civil rights division to help the city address and prevent police misconduct.

"I have inherited a police force that has been described by many as one of the worst police departments in the country," Landrieu says in the letter.

"It is clear that nothing short of a complete transformation is necessary and essential to ensure safety for the citizens of New Orleans," it says. "The police force, the community, our citizens are desperate for positive change."

Landrieu, the brother of Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, took office Monday and met with Justice Department officials Wednesday. A detailed plan for a partnership between federal officials and police is still in the works, mayor spokesman Ryan Berni said.

On Thursday, Landrieu also announced he had tapped a new police superintendent, current Nashville Police Chief Ronal Serpas, to lead reforms. Landrieu said Serpas, a New Orleans native with a track record of reducing violent crime, was the candidate who was "best prepared to turn around the NOPD and start delivering results on day one."

There are at least eight federal civil rights investigations of New Orleans Police Department officers, FBI Special Agent Sheila Thorne told CNN. She declined to provide further details because the investigations are ongoing.

Federal prosecutors have investigated several New Orleans police officers involved in a shooting on the Danziger Bridge four days after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore in 2005.

Two civilians were killed in that shooting -- a 19-year-old man and a severely disabled 40-year-old man. Four people were hurt.

Four former city police officers pleaded guilty in federal court to charges relating to the shooting and to an alleged cover-up of the incident. Former officer Robert Barrios pleaded guilty in April to a charge he failed to report a cover-up. His plea came after guilty pleas from three other former New Orleans police officers: Michael Lohman, Jeffrey Lehrmann and Michael Hunter.

The mayor said in his letter that most officers "honor their commitment to protect and serve each day," but an independent investigation must evaluate the department.

"The force itself has been dealt a demoralizing blow with investigations, indictments and resignations stemming from incidents in the days following Hurricane Katrina," the mayor's letter says.

Investigations of city police by the Justice Department are not uncommon, but cities themselves rarely initiate them, according to Merrick Bobb, executive director of the Police Assessment Resource Center in Los Angeles.

Washington, D.C., officials took a similar approach in 1999 when they asked the Justice Department to investigate whether city police were using excessive force, he said.

"I think it reflects very well on Mayor Landrieu that one of the first things he is doing is attending to the problems of the New Orleans Police Department, which for many years has been considered one of the most troubled police departments in the United States," he said.

Working with federal officials will help close the "chapter of corruption" that has plagued police, said Melanie Talia, chief executive officer of the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation.

"Civil rights violations are not the norm, but they obviously have occurred. The Department of Justice will be here to help us weed those out and put an end to it," she said.

Peter Scharf, a criminology professor at Tulane University who helped advise the mayor on his search for a new police superintendent, said officials must make significant cultural changes within the police department, including improving legal ethics and regaining the community's trust.

"People are more afraid of the police than they are of the criminals, and we have really scary criminals," he said.

More than a decade before Katrina hit, federal officials stepped in to investigate New Orleans police corruption in a wide-reaching probe that led to the arrest and prosecution of a dozen officers.

A federal jury convicted former New Orleans police Officer Len Davis and sentenced him to death in 1996 for ordering a hit on a woman after she filed a civil rights complaint against him.

Davis' arrest came after an undercover FBI operation, dubbed "Shattered Shield," which also revealed that police were extorting from drug dealers and engaging in other corrupt activities, according to an account on the website of the FBI's New Orleans division.

A dozen officers were arrested and prosecuted after the investigation, and then-Chief of Police Richard Pennington worked to improve police ethics education with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the U.S. Marine Corps and the Louisiana State Police, the FBI website says.

But Landrieu's letter said "malfeasance by members of the Police Department" has persisted.

He told reporters in New Orleans that a partnership with the federal government fits with his goal of protecting city residents.

"This is about examining patterns and practices, thinking about excessive force, dealing with internal affairs and basically to engage in what I would consider to be transformational, systemic reform," he said.

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Violence in Athens after Greek austerity vote

Athens, Greece (News Today) - Violence broke out briefly between police and demonstrators here Thursday night, hours after Greek lawmakers approved an unpopular package of budget-cutting measures.

Thousands of demonstrators had gathered in front of Parliament to show their anger, and as dusk fell bottles were thrown at police, who responded with tear gas and pepper spray, said CNN's Diana Magnay, who was at the scene.

The government is cutting public-sector salaries, raising the retirement age for women in the public sector and imposing new taxes in order to secure billions of euros in loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Crowds dispersed quickly, Magnay said.

Four people were arrested, police said.

Demonstrations Thursday were smaller and generally more peaceful than a day earlier, when general strikes turned violent and three people were killed when a bank was fire bombed.

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Two unions had called on workers to meet Thursday evening in front of Parliament to protest the measures, which include higher taxes on cigarettes, fuel, gambling and luxuries, and an increase in the value-added tax consumers pay on purchases.

Athens police say about 8,000 protesters were outside the Parliament building while the voting was taking place and another 10,000 were at Omonia Square, including members of the militant left-wing PAME union, who planned to walk toward Parliament later.

It is not clear who started the violence. Shortly before it began police said the PAME supporters had dispersed peacefully.

Greek lawmakers voted 172 to 121 to approve the controversial package of cost-cutting measures, despite the protests, the prime minister's office announced.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted as the protests broke out, falling nearly 1,000 points and dropping below 10,000 before climbing back up and ending slightly above 10,500. Shortly after the close, the Nasdaq said faulty Procter & Gamble stock quotes were a major factor in markets' huge drop.

The European Union announced a 110 billion euro ($140 billion) aid package for Greece earlier this week.

Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou announced the tough cost-cutting measures to meet European Union and International Monetary Fund conditions for the deal.

Prime Minister George Papandreou said Wednesday night that no amount of unrest on the streets would change his support of the budget cuts, and he has already said he is prepared to risk not getting a second term in office because he feels the package is so important for Greece's future.

"We are all to blame for where we are today -- even those not in government who at every stage have blocked every attempt at change," Papandreou told Parliament.

"Other countries are voting to save Greece," Papandreou said in comments directed at the opposition. "What do we say to them? Can we not unite?"

Thursday at the burned bank, people placed flowers at a memorial for the victims killed in Wednesday's violence.

Greek government debt threatens to undermine the stability of the euro, the currency used by 16 countries in the European Union, including Greece.

International ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Greek debt to "junk" recently, making it harder and more expensive for Athens to borrow money commercially. That's when the European Union and International Monetary Fund decided to intervene.

What are the protests about?

Leaders of the countries that use the euro were planning to meet Friday evening in Brussels, Belgium, to finalize the bailout and discuss the effect it's having on the eurozone.

"This crisis has demonstrated that all euro-area member states have a responsibility for the stability of the euro area as a whole and the strength of the single currency," French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote in a joint letter Thursday to the presidents of the European Council, which is hosting the summit, and the European Commission.

Sarkozy and Merkel urged country leaders at the summit to consider tougher fiscal surveillance and more effective sanctions for eurozone members.

They also pushed for better-quality statistics, saying, "The lack of reliability of the Greek statistics explains to a large extent the markets' distrust in this country."

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NFL Hall of Famer charged in rape case

(News Today) - Hall of Fame football linebacker Lawrence Taylor was charged Thursday with rape and patronizing a prostitute in a case involving a 16-year-old girl, police in Ramapo, New York, said.

Taylor's attorney said the former New York Giants star denied the charges and will fight them.

"My client did not have sex with anybody. Period," Arthur Aidala said, adding: "Lawrence Taylor did not rape anybody."

Taylor appeared at an afternoon court hearing where a judge set bail at $75,000. Taylor was not asked to enter a plea and left the courthouse after posting bail.

Seeing television cameras outside the courthouse, Taylor said, "I'm not that important" as he walked away.

Taylor, 51, was arrested in a Holiday Inn room a few hours after the alleged rape took place, according to Christopher St. Lawrence, the town supervisor and police commissioner in Ramapo, about 30 miles northwest of New York City.

Police Chief Peter Brower said Taylor was charged with third-degree rape, a felony, for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with someone younger than 17. Taylor also was charged with third-degree patronization for allegedly paying the underage victim $300 to have sex, Brower said.

According to Brower, the rape charge carries a possible four-year prison term, and the patronization charge, a misdemeanor, could bring up to a year in prison.

Asked whether Taylor knew that the victim was underage, Brower said "ignorance is not an excuse" for having sex with a minor.

Aidala said after the bail hearing that Taylor "is denying and preparing to fight each and every one of those charges."

Aidala said that "no violence, no force, no threat, no weapons" was involved in the case. He noted that the rape charge against Taylor was for consensual sex with a minor and said Taylor denied it.

St. Lawrence and Brower said the alleged victim, since March a runaway from New York's Bronx borough, was allegedly brought to Ramapo by a pimp on Wednesday night.

When the pimp and the girl returned to New York early Thursday, she texted an uncle who notified the New York police, St. Lawrence said.

New York police arrested the pimp and called Ramapo police, and Taylor was arrested in his hotel room at around 4 a.m., according to St. Lawrence.

The alleged victim had facial injuries that police determined occurred before she entered the Holiday Inn room, St. Lawrence said.

Detective Lt. Brad Weidel said police knocked twice on Taylor's hotel door and identified themselves before entering the room. Weidel and St. Lawrence said Taylor was cooperative with authorities.

Taylor was a 10-time All-Pro linebacker for the New York Giants from 1981 to 1993 after earning All American honors at the University of North Carolina.

A punishing tackler and pass rusher known by his initials "L.T.," he was on two Super Bowl champion teams and was inducted into the National Football League's Hall of Fame, which noted that he "redefined the way the outside linebacker position was played."

However, Taylor was twice suspended by the NFL for substance abuse and battled a cocaine addiction long after retirement, resulting in several arrests and a downward spiral that he chronicled in a 2003 autobiography.

After kicking drugs, he worked as a sports commentator and appeared as a contestant on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" in 2009. Taylor and his dance partner on the program, Edyta Sliwinska, were eliminated in the seventh week of competition.

Brower said that police found a bottle of alcohol in Taylor's hotel room but that Taylor showed no sign of inebriation. Brower said that no drugs were found in the room.

Mark Lepselter, Taylor's agent, said Taylor was very upset about the charges against him.

"He's worked very hard over the last 12 years to change perceptions about him," Lepselter said.

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Accused killer says he killed Ohio couple in '77

New York (News Today) - A man who wrote about his life as a career criminal in his autobiography has confessed to a 33-year-old double homicide, authorities in Ohio said Tuesday.

Edward W. Edwards, 76, who is awaiting trial on murder charges in a separate case in Wisconsin, admitted killing a young Ohio couple in 1977, the Summit County prosecutor's office and the Norton, Ohio, police department announced in a statement.

According to police and prosecutors, Edwards said he killed William Lavaco, 21, and Judith Straub, 18. Their bodies were found in a Sterling, Ohio, park on August 8, 1977. Police said the couple had been shot point-blank in the neck with a 20-gauge shotgun.

Jeff Straub, who was 9 years old when his sister was killed, said he waited decades for this day. "After the first 10 years it was very improbable that there was ever going to be any justice in this case," Straub told CNN. "But I never completely gave up hope for Judy's sake."

Authorities said charges have not yet been filed against Edwards in the case as they are "reviewing their options" and have asked the public for help with information.

Detectives are trying to corroborate Edwards' confession, Norton Police Chief Thad Hete told CNN .

"Our investigators have taken the evidence that was retrieved from the crime scene in 1977 and are meeting with the crime lab to see if they can extract some DNA that matches that of Edwards," Hete said.

Years of not knowing who killed his sister haunted him and his family, Jeff Straub said.

"You knew the killer was out there and you didn't know where," he said. "I wondered if they could possibly be here in the same store or driving down the same street. You just wonder: Could that be the person that possibly killed my sister?"

Chief Hete said his investigation is in its earliest stages. "We're nowhere near the finish line in this case," Hete said. "His admissions and his statements will be looked at thoroughly. For peace of mind, it's imperative that we exhaust all our resources."

Edwards wrote an autobiography in 1972 titled, "Metamorphosis of a Criminal: The True Life Story of Ed Edwards." The book chronicled his criminal activities, which included robbery, theft and arson, according to police.

He is awaiting trial in Wisconsin in June for the 1980 slayings of two 19-year-olds, whose bodies were found in a cornfield, authorities said.

While Edwards is getting attention, Jeff Straub wants people to know about his sister Judy.

"This subject, he's getting a lot of publicity now and telling his side of the story, but Judy can't be here so I have to be strong and represent her ... so that she would be proud of me," Straub said.

"She was an all-American girl. She had blond hair, blue eyes, very pretty girl," Straub said. "At the funeral I remember people were lined up out the door and down the street."

"Everybody loved her, I had never heard anybody say a bad word about her," he said, adding that he "couldn't ask for a sister you could be more proud of."

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Two men arrested in popular principal's slaying

Washington (News Terupdate) - The District of Columbia principal who was found shot to death in his home last month met his alleged killers on a phone chat line, authorities said at a news conference Monday where they announced arrests in connection with the slaying.

Two men have been charged in the killing of Brian Betts, 42. They have been identified as Alonte Saunders, of an unknown address, and Sharif Tau Lancaster, who resides in the District of Columbia, police said.

The suspects, both 18, have been charged with first degree murder, armed robbery and the use of a handgun in a felony crime of violence, according to Officer Melanie Brenner of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department.

Brenner said charges against a third unidentified suspect, also 18, are pending. Earlier, police said a fourth person was arrested in connection with the slaying of Betts. Artura Otey Williams, 46, was charged with two counts of knowingly receiving a stolen credit card with the intent to use it.

Betts' body was discovered in his Silver Spring, Maryland, home, on April 16 after he didn't show up for work at Shaw Middle School. At Monday's news conference, Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said "one or more of the suspects was connected with Betts after he (the victim) used a phone chat line." Manger said it was a "sex line" and that the call was made on the night of Betts' death.

"We did not believe that this was just a random case and as far as we could tell there was some connection made via this chat line," Manger said, "but whether or not the victim had previous contact with the suspects before, we don't know that."

Lancaster's fingerprints were found in the victim's home near the scene of Betts' death, Manger said. He said fingerprints belonging to Saunders were recovered on the exterior and interior of Betts' vehicle, which was found abandoned on a Washington street two days after the killing.

Manger said the investigation remained very active and asked people to come forward with more information.

He also had a warning to anyone who interacts with strangers on the internet or phone chat lines. "You just never know who you may meet up with," he said.

The death of Betts, who was a popular educator among faculty and students, has shaken the community.

"He was an inspirational leader for the teachers and the students, and that leadership was bringing results," Chancellor Michelle Rhee of the District of Columbia Public Schools said in a statement.

"He knew what the children under his care were capable of, and he was determined to show them how to get there. Brian Betts' death is an incredible loss of a young and dedicated school leader."

AC360° blog: Online tributes for slain principal

Past and current students, as well as employees, have posted online their thoughts and memories of the slain principal.

"Mr. Betts was one of those teachers you could never forget," wrote one former student. "Yes, he was a teacher, a figure of authority, but he felt more like an older brother, and made us feel comfortable about coming to him about almost anything ... Our area has lost an amazing person."

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1 police officer killed, several wounded in Detroit

(News Terupdate) - A well-respected veteran Detroit, Michigan, police officer was gunned down early Monday, the first time in about five years a city officer has been killed in the line of duty, the city police chief said.

Police responded to an early Monday complaint of shots fired. They were met by someone armed with a handgun who shot at the officers when they arrived at a house, Chief Warren Evans told reporters.

The slain officer was shot several times. Four other officers and the alleged perpetrator were shot and were at a hospital, Evans said.

The four wounded officers were struck in the hands and legs. Where the suspect was shot was not disclosed.

"It's a tough time for all of us," Evans told reporters.

He didn't identify the officer, but Evans said he was a "great police officer, loved by almost everyone here."

Additional coverage from CNN affiliate WDIV

Evans said he had been on the job around 12 years and "certainly wasn't a rookie."

The slain officer leaves a widow and a 10-year-old son, officials said. Mayor Dave Bing, who met with the widow, said he apologized to her and knows she is in pain.

"I surely hope that the citizens here who know things, that can help the police department, that we need to come together as a city to stop this madness," Bing said.

Police have secured the scene and found drugs in the house, which may have been an abandoned structure.

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Stockbroker vanished; husband left town with kids

New York (News Terupdate) - Tom McLachlan, a police captain in West Valley, Utah, felt a surge of adrenalin when he received a phone call two weeks ago from authorities some 200 miles away in Idaho.

A motorist looking for a better cell phone signal had found female skeletal remains on a hilltop near Idaho Falls. McLachlan had a case on his desk involving a 28-year-old stockbroker and mother of two who vanished in December under suspicious circumstances.

Could the body be Susan Powell's?

McLachlan says he now has doubts. The skeletal remains seemed to have been there much longer than Susan Powell has been missing.

"Susan has been missing for five months, so the body is likely not her," he told CNN. "We need to wait until DNA tests come back, which could take up to a few weeks."

Susan Powell's disappearance is the kind of case that gets under an investigator's skin. Right now, police have plenty of suspicion but scant evidence.

Powell simply vanished, leaving her purse, wallet and cell phone behind in her home.

Her husband, Josh Powell, told police she was asleep when he left after midnight, taking their children, ages 2 and 4, on a camping trip in below-freezing weather.

He told police he spent the early morning hours of December 7 with his children in the family van in Simpson Springs Campground, a 90-minute drive from the Powells' home.

Police entered the case that Monday afternoon. The children had not been dropped off at day care and neither Josh nor Susan Powell had shown up at work. No one had heard from them.

"We were concerned that the family was in the house and some accident, maybe a gas leak, had injured them," said McLachlan. "So we broke into the home when no one answered the door."

Police sources told CNN that officers found a large wet spot on the carpet in the home. It was being dried by two fans, they said, but would give no further details.

West Valley police say Josh Powell is the only person they are looking at, but they are not calling him a suspect in his wife's disappearance. They say they have no physical evidence of foul play.

CNN called several times seeking comment from Josh Powell and his attorney, Scott Williams. The phone calls were not returned.

Police say they have been unable to confirm Powell's story about the camping trip. They searched the campground, but any potential evidence had been covered by heavy snow.

Police characterize Josh Powell as being uncooperative, saying he would not lead them to the exact location of the camp site. In January, he packed up his belongings and moved with the children to his parents' home in Puyallup, Washington.

Susan Powell's father, Charles Cox, told CNN she is not the kind of person who would go off on her own without contacting her family.

"She would never leave those two children behind," Cox said.

Susan Powell's father says there was trouble in the marriage, with financial pressures being the primary issue between the couple. Josh had been unemployed until just before his wife disappeared.

In the months leading up to her disappearance, Susan Powell had talked about getting a divorce, family and friends told CNN. They asked that their names not be published because the investigation is ongoing.

Police are asking for the public's help in solving this case. Susan Powell stands 5-foot-3, is 130 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Susan Powell is asked to call the West Valley Police Department tip line at (801) 840-4000. An $11,000 reward is offered.

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Police scour latest evidence in Times Square bombing attempt

New York (News Terupdate) - Law enforcement officials early Monday pored through evidence, including a 20-second video, after a failed car bombing attempt in Times Square over the weekend.

The video released by authorities showed an image of a man, who police say is possibly connected to the attempted bombing, changing his shirt along a New York street. A balding man with dark hair is seen removing a shirt and putting it in a bag before walking out of the camera's view from inside a restaurant.

The investigation was focusing on examinations of a Nissan Pathfinder where the attempted homemade bomb was placed. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Sunday that the vehicle was being combed for fingerprints, hair, fibers and other evidence that may help identify who was responsible.

Police were also combing through hours of surveillance footage in the area for possible clues.

Of the video, Kelly said it "shows a white male in his 40s, in Shubert Alley, looking back in the direction of West 45th Street" in a "furtive manner."

"He also was seen shedding a dark-colored shirt, revealing a red one underneath. He put the darker one into a bag that he was carrying," he added.

Kelly acknowledged that the actions of the man "could be perfectly innocent."

Asked whether police had a video showing a man getting out of the Nissan, Kelly answered, "no."

The video was captured about a half block from where police said the Pathfinder containing bomb-making materials was found Saturday evening on West 45th Street in the city's iconic Times Square area.

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The police also have a videotape from a Pennsylvania tourist who believes he may have caught the suspect's image on camera, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne.

Kelly said Sunday that a New York police bomb squad blew open a large gun locker found in the Pathfinder, revealing eight bags of an "unknown substance" and a pressure-cooker-type metal pot containing a "bird's nest of wires and M-88 firecrackers."

Preliminary tests later determined the substance to be "nonexplosive grade fertilizer incapable of blowing up," according to Browne. Some types of fertilizer can be used in bomb-making.

The gun locker was one of many items found in the rear of the Pathfinder after a T-shirt vendor alerted a nearby police officer to smoke coming out of the vehicle.

Officials removed three propane tanks weighing between 15 and 17 pounds from the SUV, Kelly said, comparing them to the kind typically used on backyard barbecues. One of the tanks had more M-88 firecrackers attached to the side, Kelly said, some of which detonated inside the vehicle.

Also found in the vehicle's back seat were two full five-gallon gasoline containers, Kelly said. Between those gasoline containers was a "16-ounce can filled with between 20 and 30 M-88 devices," he said, adding that two clocks on the floor of the car's back seat were connected by wires to the can containing the firecrackers, and possibly to the gun locker as well.

Had the car bomb detonated, Kelly said it would have caused casualties and a "significant fireball."

Times Square evacuation captured on iPhone

"I'm told the vehicle itself would have at least been cut in half," he said. "You have large numbers of pedestrians in that area, so, yeah, we were lucky that it didn't detonate."

Browne added that the materials found were "capable of producing human casualties and broken windows," but did not have enough force "to take down a structure, in the opinion of NYPD bomb experts."

Officials did not immediately know how the bomb would have been detonated, but Kelly offered a few hints into its design.

"(We believe) the timers would ignite the can of explosives and that would cause the five-gallon cans (of gasoline) to go on fire and then explode the propane tanks and have some effect on that rifle box," Kelly said.

Meanwhile, Times Square returned to its bustling self Sunday, even as questions remained about the source of the attempted car bombing.

In a purported Pakistani Taliban video that surfaced on the internet Sunday, the group took responsibility for the foiled attack, though Kelly said Sunday afternoon that "we have no evidence to support this claim."

The group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, said in the video that the attack was revenge for their leaders killed by American forces, and for United States and NATO interference in that part of the world.

Another claim of responsibility e-mailed by an individual to a local New York news station is being investigated, Kelly said.

Kelly called the foiled attack "a sober reminder that New York is clearly a target of people who want to come here and do us harm."

President Obama, speaking from Venice, Louisiana, where he was monitoring a massive oil slick creeping toward the Gulf Coast, promised "to see that justice is done" in the failed car bombing.

"Since last night, my national security teams have been taking every step necessary to ensure that our state and local partners have the full support and cooperation of the federal government," he said. "We're going to do what's necessary to protect the American people, to determine who's behind this potentially deadly act and to see that justice is done."

In an advisory sent to local and national law enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security wrote, "There is no information to indicate that this was anything more than a single incident. Additionally, there is no reporting suggesting targeting of other specific locations."

Police officers did a search for secondary devices in the area and found none, Kelly said after the discovery of the Pathfinder.

Another angle of the investigation involved the license plates found on the vehicle.

Authorities said that the Connecticut license plate on the front of Pathfinder did not belong to that car, but to a pickup truck that was last reported at a junkyard.

Following that lead, police were spotted at an automobile used parts company, Kramer's Used Auto Parts of Stratford, Connecticut.

Kelly said that the plate found on the rear of the Pathfinder was also registered to a different vehicle, which was located in an auto repair shop in Connecticut, where its matching plate was also found.

The Pathfinder's vehicle identification number had been removed from the dashboard, but officials recovered it from another location on the car, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.

Kelly said officials have identified the registered owner of the Pathfinder, but were not yet making his name public.

A New York police official told CNN the owner lives in the tristate area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Read more about the discovery of the car bomb

The lockdown of the popular New York attraction began around 6:30 p.m. Saturday after a T-shirt vendor -- a Vietnam veteran -- saw the SUV, found it suspicious and alerted a mounted police officer.

Officer Wayne Rhatigan peered inside and noticed a box with smoke coming out and smelled gunpowder. Authorities immediately evacuated the area.

Rhatigan, a 19-year NYPD veteran, and vendor Lance Orton were called "heroes" by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Sunday.

"We're very lucky that people like Wayne and ... Lance Orton saw something and did something about it, and that's what we all have to do," Bloombergsaid outside Blue Fin restaurant in Times Square, where he later dined with Rhatigan in a show of the safety around the area.

"There are some people around the world that find our freedoms so threatening that they're willing to kill themselves and others to prevent us from enjoying it, but we're not going to let them win," Bloomberg said.

Rhatigan said that after smelling the gunpowder he thought, "Uh oh, this is a little bit more than just a parked car and a cigarette in the ashtray."

He said that despite the potential danger, there wasn't time to be scared as he and other officers sought to set up a perimeter and evacuate passers-by.

"It's what we do, this is our job," Rhatigan, 46, said outside the restaurant.

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Police may have video of possible car bomb suspect

New York (News Terupdate) - Law enforcement officials are examining video that may have captured the image of a suspect in the attempted Times Square car bombing, New York's police commissioner said Sunday.

The video "shows a white male in his 40s, in Shubert Alley, looking back in the direction of West 45th Street," Commissioner Ray Kelly told a news conference, adding that the man looked around in a "furtive manner."

"He also was seen shedding a dark-colored shirt, revealing a red one underneath. He put the darker one into a bag that he was carrying," he said.

The video was captured about a half block from where police said a Nissan Pathfinder containing bomb-making materials was found Saturday evening on West 45th Street in the city's iconic Times Square area.

The police also have a videotape from a Pennsylvania tourist who believes he may have caught the suspect's image on camera, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne.

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Also Sunday, Kelly said an NYPD bomb squad blew open a large gun locker found in the Pathfinder, revealing eight bags of an "unknown substance" and a pressure-cooker-type metal pot containing a "bird's nest of wires and M-88 firecrackers."

Preliminary tests later determined the substance to be "non-explosive grade fertilizer incapable of blowing up," according to Browne.

The gun locker was one of many items found in the rear of the Pathfinder after a T-shirt vendor alerted a nearby police officer to smoke coming out of the vehicle.

Officials removed from the SUV three propane tanks weighing between 15 and 17 pounds, Kelly said, comparing them to the kind typically used on backyard barbecues. One of the tanks had more M-88 firecrackers attached to the side, Kelly said, some of which detonated inside the vehicle.

Also found in the vehicle's back seat were two full five-gallon gasoline containers, Kelly said. And between those gasoline containers was a "16-ounce can filled with between 20 and 30 M-88 devices," he said, adding that two clocks on the floor of the vehicle's back seat were connected by wires to the can containing the firecrackers, and possibly to the gun locker as well.

Read more about the discovery of the car bomb

Had the car bomb detonated, Kelly said it would have caused casualties and a "significant fireball."

"I'm told the vehicle itself would have at least been cut in half," he said. "You have large numbers of pedestrians in that area, so, yeah, we were lucky that it didn't detonate."

Browne added that the materials found were "capable of producing human casualties and broken windows," but did not have enough force "to take down a structure, in the opinion of NYPD bomb experts."

Officials did not immediately know how the bomb would have been detonated, but Kelly offered a few hints into its design.

"(We believe) the timers would ignite the can of explosives and that would cause the five-gallon cans (of gasoline) to go on fire and then explode the propane tanks and have some effect on that rifle box," Kelly said.

Times Square evacuation captured on iPhone

Meanwhile, Times Square returned to its bustling self Sunday, even as questions remained about the source of the attempted car bombing.

In a purported Pakistani Taliban video that surfaced on the internet Sunday, the group took responsibility for the foiled attack, though Kelly said Sunday afternoon that "we have no evidence to support this claim."

The group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, says in the video that the attack was revenge for their leaders killed by American forces, and for U.S. and NATO interference in that part of the world.

Another claim of responsibility e-mailed by an individual to a local New York news station is being investigated, Kelly said.

Kelly called the foiled attack "a sober reminder that New York is clearly a target of people who want to come here and do us harm."

President Obama, speaking from Venice, Louisiana, where he was monitoring a massive oil slick creeping toward the Gulf Coast, promised "to see that justice is done" in the failed car bombing.

"Since last night, my national security teams have been taking every step necessary to ensure that our state and local partners have the full support and cooperation of the federal government," he said. "We're going to do what's necessary to protect the American people, to determine who's behind this potentially deadly act and to see that justice is done."

In an advisory sent to local and national law enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security wrote, "There is no information to indicate that this was anything more than a single incident. Additionally, there is no reporting suggesting targeting of other specific locations."

Kelly said following the discovery of the Pathfinder, police officers did a search for secondary devices in the area and found none.

The investigation was focusing on examinations of the Nissan Pathfinder where the attempted homemade bomb was placed. Kelly said the vehicle is being combed for fingerprints, hair, fibers and other evidence that may help identify who was responsible, and hours of surveillance footage in the area were being monitored for possible clues.

Another angle of the investigation involved the license plates found on the vehicle.

Authorities said that the Connecticut license plate on the front of Pathfinder did not belong to that car, but to a pickup truck that was last reported at a junkyard.

Following that lead, police were spotted at an automobile used parts company, Kramer's Used Auto Parts of Stratford, Connecticut.

Kelly said that the plate found on the rear of the Pathfinder was also registered to a different vehicle, which was located in an auto repair shop in Connecticut, where its matching plate was also found.

The Pathfinder's vehicle identification number had been removed from the dashboard, but officials recovered it from another location on the car, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.

Kelly said officials have identified the registered owner of the Pathfinder, but were not yet making his name public.

A New York police official told CNN the owner lives in the Tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The lockdown of the popular New York attraction began around 6:30 p.m. Saturday after a T-shirt vendor -- a Vietnam veteran -- saw the SUV, found it suspicious and alerted a mounted police officer.

Officer Wayne Rhatigan peered inside and noticed a box with smoke coming out and smelled gunpowder. Authorities immediately evacuated the area.

Watch police evacuate McDonald's: 'Pack your food up! Let's go!'

Rhatigan, a 19-year NYPD veteran, and vendor Lance Orton were called "heroes" by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Sunday.

"We're very lucky that people like Wayne and ... Lance Orton saw something and did something about it, and that's what we all have to do," Bloomberg said outside Blue Fin restaurant in Times Square, where he later dined with Rhatigan in a show of the safety around the area.

"There are some people around the world that find our freedoms so threatening that they're willing to kill themselves and others to prevent us from enjoying it, but we're not going to let them win," Bloomberg said.

Rhatigan said that after smelling the gunpowder he thought, "Uh oh, this is a little bit more than just a parked car and a cigarette in the ashtray."

He said that despite the potential danger, there wasn't time to be scared as he and other officers sought to set up a perimeter and evacuate passers-by.

"It's what we do, this is our job," Rhatigan, 46, said outside the restaurant.

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Police: Bad blood led to doctor's slaying

New York (News Terupdate) - A former colleague accused of murdering a Yale University doctor carried a grudge -- along with a wig, handguns and approximately 1,000 rounds of ammunition when he was arrested, police said.

In addition, investigators said they found printouts in the suspect's car with information about two people who may have been potential targets.

Lishan Wang, 44, was charged this week with the murder of Dr. Vajinder Toor and the attempted murder of Toor's wife. Toor, who worked in the infectious disease branch of Yale New Haven Hospital, was gunned down Monday morning outside his home in Branford, Connecticut.

Toor was the second person in the Yale medical community to be slain in less than a year. Annie Le, a graduate student at the medical school, was strangled to death inside a research building in September, police said. A lab technician has been charged with killing Le and is awaiting trial.

Yale was not the connection between Wang and Toor, however. They previously worked together at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in New York City.

The Brooklyn hospital fired Wang in 2008 after a confrontation with Toor, according to a police report and civil court records. Wang then sued the medical center, alleging discrimination against him.

In his federal lawsuit, Wang said supervisors and other doctors humiliated and harassed him because he is Chinese.

He also said that a hospital committee unfairly labeled him as "excitable, emotional, and unable to control his anger," and that the human resources department falsely characterized him as "mentally impaired and suffering from anger issues."

Wang alleged in his lawsuit that Toor, who was the chief resident for the Department of Medicine, had accused him of ignoring pages and calls from hospital staff. The two men then "engaged in a heated discussion," with Toor accusing Wang of "threatening his safety by using hostile body language," according to the suit.

Wang was suspended without pay pending an investigation. He said in his court papers that the hospital would fire him if he did not seek "disability leave for mental impairment." Wang said he refused to "feign impairment for the sake of saving his job." He was terminated in July 2008.

Wang's civil attorney, Christine A. Fernandez, said in a statement that she was "deeply saddened" by the shooting. "My heartfelt condolences go out to Dr. Toor's family and to Dr. Wang's wife and three children," she said.

Attempts to reach Wang's lawyer in the criminal case were not successful, but the New York Times reported that he's being represented by two public defenders. He has not yet entered a plea.

Police say Wang allegedly sought revenge against his former medical colleague and harbored a grudge against him.

The Branford Police Department report provides chilling details of the violence that intruded on Blueberry Lane on Monday morning:

Toor kissed his wife and headed out to his driveway, on his way to work. Wang greeted him with gunfire, the report says.

Toor's wife, who was inside the couple's condo, told police "she heard a loud and rapid noise which sounded like gunshots and ran out of the house," according to the report. She saw her husband lying on the grass in the front yard and spotted a man later identified as Wang standing next to a minivan.

"What are you doing to my husband?" she shouted, according to the police report.

The man turned his handgun toward her and fired several shots, she told police. She ducked behind a car, and he missed.

Neighbors heard the shots as well. One told police she saw the man firing at Toor's wife. Another said she heard a woman screaming and saw a man lying on the grass. The woman kept Toor's son, 3, inside so he would not see his fatally wounded father, the police report said.

Toor, who was shot five times, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Wang was stopped a short time later, driving a red Dodge Caravan, police said. He was carrying two ammunition magazines in his right front jacket pocket, according to the police report.

Inside the minivan, police said they found three handguns and approximately 1,000 rounds of ammunition. According to the report, "also discovered in the vehicle were clothing, and a wig along with numerous other weapons such as a hammer, and a knife."

Authorities said a picture of the victim was found in the vehicle along with printout information on two other people.

Wang is being held on $2 million bail.

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Arizona police officer sues over immigration law

(News Terupdate) - A police officer in Tucson, Arizona, asks that local law enforcement be exempt from enforcing the state's new immigration law in a lawsuit filed in federal court on Thursday.

Officer Martin H. Escobar claims in the suit that the law will "seriously impede law enforcement investigations and facilitate the successful commission of crimes."

He also says there are no "race-neutral criteria or basis to suspect or identify who is lawfully in the United States," including a person's proximity to the Mexican border, linguistic characteristics and capabilities, skin color, clothing worn or the type of vehicle driven.

The law, signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on April 23, allows police to ask anyone for proof of legal U.S. residency. Brewer and others who support the law have said it does not involve racial profiling or any other illegal acts.

"Racial profiling is illegal," Brewer said after signing the bill. "It is illegal in America, and it's certainly illegal in Arizona."

Read the complaint (PDF)

But Escobar's suit says the law "is the product of racial bias aimed specifically at Hispanics" and places every Hispanic within the state at risk of losing his or her constitutional rights.

Brewer, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, the city of Tucson and Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall are named in the suit.

Escobar asks that local law enforcement be exempt "from engaging any immigration stops, questioning, detention, citing or any law enforcement activity reserved to the federal government."

Escobar, 45, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Mexico and immigrated with his parents when he was 5 years old, attorney Richard M. Martinez said.

Tucson Police Department spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco declined to comment on the case because city policies prevent employees from discussing pending litigation. But he said Escobar has worked for the department since 1995 and patrols Tucson's south side.

Martinez said his client has spent years working to break down barriers between the Police Department and the predominantly Hispanic community.

"All this law does is put the barrier back up. ... It takes away trust and the rapport and relationships," he said Thursday.

Spokespeople for Brewer and Goddard did not return requests for comment.

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6 police, 1 civilian dead in Juarez shootout

(News Terupdate) - A noon shootout left six police officers and a civilian dead on the streets of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Friday, city officials said.

Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said five of the dead were federal police officers and one was a female city officer, all part of the joint police task force formed to combat drug violence in the border town.

Another federal officer was gravely wounded, Reyes said, and a city officer was wounded but not with life-threatening injuries.

A civilian was hit by shrapnel but those injuries were also not serious, he added.

Reyes said the incident began when two patrol cars, one from federal police and one from city police, stopped several people they had been investigating.

Gunmen in three other cars attacked the police convoy with a variety of weapons, including AK-47s, he said, based on bullets and shell casings found on the scene.

The gunmen, who escaped in a gray Dodge Durango and a green Dodge Caravan, may have been drug dealers, Federal Police said. The attack may have been in response to several recent arrests in Juarez, including eight people apprehended Thursday for possession of weapons, drugs and a stolen van, the agency said.

The mayor said it wasn't immediately clear why the police had stopped the people or whether the incident was drug related. Investigators are treating the incident "as a direct attack on police officers," he said.

Federal police launched an aerial search for the gunmen's vehicles but there have been no arrests.

Reyes said at a meeting with federal police that he was ordering an increase of patrol cars so there will be three or four cars per location.

About 800 cars patrol the city, Reyes said. The city police force consists of 3,000 officers, bolstered by 5,000 federal officers.

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Police close in on suspects in booby traps targeting gang task force

(News Terupdate) - Police in California say that with the arrests of 23 people this week, they are getting closer to those responsible for a string of brazen attacks against officers in a gang task force.

The booby trap-style attacks believed to be targeting the Hemet Police Department began in December when, police say, a natural gas line was rerouted into the task force's headquarters, risking an explosion. The most recent incident occurred in March, when four city code enforcement trucks were set ablaze in the Hemet City Hall parking lot.

None of the 23 suspects arrested Tuesday face charges directly related to the four attacks, but police are hopeful that they will lead them to the people responsible, Hemet Police Capt. Dave Brown told CNN.

"Tuesday's operation produced an enormous amount of property and evidence. The 23 people arrested were detained and interviewed, producing leads, and those leads are being followed up," Brown said.

The suspects were arrested throughout Riverside County on a variety of felony and misdemeanor charges -- from possession of weapons and stolen property to outstanding warrants and narcotics. Local and state law enforcement agencies participated in the raids, in which 35 locations were searched and evidence, including 16 weapons, was seized.

Read the names of the suspects

Some of those arrested have gang affiliations, Brown said, but it's still unclear whether the attacks are gang-related. A motive is still not known.

"Motive has been a missing piece, but once the suspects are identified, we believe a motive will follow," he said.

"Sometimes, in gang cases, the motive is clear from the beginning. But in this case, we're not even sure it's a gang case, and if so, we're not sure if one gang is operating independent of others or if there's some sort of cooperation between the gangs."

Hemet is one of eight local, state and federal agencies that make up the Riverside County Gang Task Force, which was formed in 2006 to address the growth of criminal street gangs and outlaw motorcycle gangs.

As the county expanded and its population grew, so did the presence and reach of organized crime. Since 1997, the number of gangs in Riverside County has grown from 266 to 391, according to the task force's website, and total gang membership has grown to 10,620 people countywide.

Authorities believe the attacks could be related because of their close timing and identical targets, John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, said last month.

On New Years Eve, the unmarked headquarters of the Hemet Gang Task Force was filled with deadly natural gas. Two task force members detected the gas, backed away and reported it.

On February 23, a task force member at the Hemet headquarters opened a security gate outside the building, which launched a homemade zip gun attached to the gate. The weapon fired, missing the officer's head by inches.

The headquarters has since been moved to an undisclosed location, where extra security precautions are being taken, Hall said.

On March 5, criminals targeted a task force member who had parked an unmarked police car in front of a convenience store in Hemet. The officer found what appeared to be a homemade pipe bomb hidden underneath the vehicle.

The attacks have drawn the attention of state and federal law enforcement, which have contributed manpower and money to a $200,000 reward offered in the case.

The Hemet Police Department has set up a confidential tip line for anyone with information: 951-765-3897. People can also e-mail tip to: tips@cityofhemet.org.

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U.S. envoy in Israel amid settlement dispute

(News Terupdate) - The Obama administration's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, returned to the region Thursday, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that "there will be no freeze" on construction opposed by Palestinians and the United States.

Mitchell's visit comes in the wake of talks this week that included U.S., Israeli and Palestinian officials.

"At the end of those discussions last night, we thought it was fruitful for George to travel to the region," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. He provided no details.

The talks, conducted in Israel, included Dan Shapiro of the National Security Council and David Hale, one of Mitchell's deputies, Crowley said. It was not clear who represented Israel and the Palestinians.

In an interview Thursday on Israel's Channel 2, Netanyahu said "there will be no freeze in Jerusalem."

The United States and Israel have been at odds over Israeli plans to build residences in East Jerusalem.

"This is what we are arguing about," Netanyahu said. "They are saying we have to stop building, and I say as prime minister of all the Israelis, there are red lines. This is a red line. I won't cross it. This is not a dispute with America."

Asked for a response to Netanyahu's comments, Crowley said, "I don't think that they necessarily are new.

"We understand that the Israelis have a long-standing position," he said. "But as [Secretary of State Hillary Clinton] has said repeatedly, the status quo is not sustainable."

Crowley said the United States received "a number of ideas from the Israelis" in response to "specific steps" that the Obama administration asked them to take.

"Some of them address the concerns that we laid out in the initial conversation between Secretary Clinton and Prime Minister Netanyahu a few weeks ago," Crowley said. "Have they done everything that we'd like to see them do? No. But this is why ... we're continuing this conversation."

Crowley said Mitchell would meet with both Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Senior State Department officials, however, said they didn't expect any major breakthroughs from the talks. They noted that Netanyahu does not see any incentive to take action on settlement activity in East Jerusalem until negotiations start, and Abbas is tentative about holding talks with Israel without any commitments on settlements, especially given Arab League demands that settlement activity stop before negotiations begin.

Netanyahu's comments are not likely to make ending the rift between the United States and Israel over East Jerusalem construction any easier.

In March, the Israeli government announced the construction of 1,600 housing units in East Jerusalem as U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden was visiting the Jewish state. The announcement outraged the Obama administration and led to the Palestinian withdrawal from agreed-upon indirect negotiations with Israel.

In a visit later that month to the United States, Netanyahu was presented with a set of concessions the White House wanted to see the Israel make in an effort to restart negotiations with the Palestinians.

Neither government detailed what the exact nature of the concessions were, but sources on both sides said a halt in East Jerusalem construction was among the demands from the Obama administration.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Netanyahu had informed the White House over the weekend that Israel would not stop building in East Jerusalem.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli government, would not comment on the report other than to say that "the talks with the Americans are ongoing."

"We are working hard to find a framework that will allow for the resumption of talks," Regev said of negotiations with the Palestinians.

Israel seized East Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967 and considers it part of its sovereign capital, a claim not recognized by the international community. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the future capital of their state.

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Heather Locklear charged in hit-and-run crash

Los Angeles, California (News Terupdate) - Actress Heather Locklear allegedly crashed her car into a street sign near her home last weekend and failed to report the early morning wreck, police said.

Locklear, 48, was ticketed for a misdemeanor hit-and-run offense, but her lawyer said it was not clear she was behind the wheel. A neighbor called police Saturday night to report being awakened by the sound of a crash 16 hours earlier in the golf club community near Thousand Oaks, California, a Ventura County Sheriff's captain said.

Security camera video showed a car registered to Locklear passing, but it did not show it hitting the street sign, he said. Debris found at the scene was enough to tie the accident to Locklear's car, he said.

"The matter is still being looked into as it is not yet clear who was driving the vehicle," said Blair Berk, Locklear's lawyer. She was given a citation, but not taken into custody, Berk said.

Locklear has a May 17 court date in Simi Valley, California. The actress was arrested in 2008 on a driving-under-the-influence charge, but the charge was later dropped when she pleaded guilty to reckless driving.

Locklear's recent acting includes a role in the updated version of the TV series "Melrose Place." She played Sammy Jo Dean Carrington in eight seasons of "Dynasty" starting in 1981.

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Will others follow Arizona's lead on immigration?

(News Terupdate) - Now that Arizona lawmakers have passed what's considered some of the toughest immigration legislation in the country, other states are watching to see whether they should follow in the state's footsteps or stand back.

Arizona's bill orders immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times and requires police to question people if there's reason to suspect they're in the United States illegally. It also targets those who hire illegal immigrant day laborers or knowingly transport them.

Critics, including immigrant advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, are concerned that the legislation will foster racial profiling, arguing that most police officers don't have enough training to look past race while investigating a person's legal status.

The bill made it through the state Senate on Monday after it was passed by the state House last week. It's now awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. Supporters of the measure expect her to sign it. Latino members of Congress are calling on Brewer to veto it.

Michael Hethmon, general counsel for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, helped draft the language of the Arizona bill. The institute is the legal affiliate of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

On the heels of the Arizona initiative, Hethmon said he has been approached by lawmakers from four other states who have asked for advice on how they can do the same thing where they live. He declined to identify the states, citing attorney-client privilege.

"Arizona was meant to be the leading edge," Hethmon said. "If you are going to work on developing a state-based response to this enormous problem -- the lack of a national immigration policy -- Arizona is the place to do it."

Hethmon pointed to Arizona's history of citizen ballot initiatives in support of immigration reform, noting that "what's happening in Arizona just didn't pop out of nowhere. It's the latest step in a fairly deliberate process."

Republican State Rep. Russell Pearce, who sponsored the legislation in Arizona, said the four initiatives he put on the 2006 ballot regarding illegal immigrants passed by an average of 75 percent.

State laws relating to immigration have increased in recent years, according to numbers from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In 2005, 300 bills were introduced. The next year, that number nearly doubled, and in 2007, more than 1,500 bills were introduced. Another 1,305 were introduced in 2008, and about 1,500 were considered in 2009.

About 15 percent of those were enacted, dealing with issues such as driver's licenses, health and education.

About1,000 bills have been brought up so far this year.

Hethmon cited the election year, the Democratic leadership's position on the issue and the tough economic times as catalysts for introducing legislation.

"Historically, not only in the U.S. but in virtually all industrialized nations, when the unemployment rates go up ... the public becomes much less sympathetic toward programs which bring in large numbers of foreigners as workers and economic players," he said.

Whether Arizona becomes the standard-bearer on illegal immigration depends on the fate of the legislation, said Ann Morse, the program director of the National Conference of State Legislatures' Immigrant Policy Project.

"Certainly states will look at it, but not in a rush," she said. With court challenges promised from opponents, states will be watching to see if the legislation is deemed constitutional and if it's costly, Morse said.

Omar Jadwat, the staff attorney with the ACLU's Immigrants Rights' Project, said following in Arizona's footsteps would take states in the wrong direction.

"Although we are aware that people are trying to convince other legislatures to go down this path, I think it's clear that both as a policy matter and a legal matter, that Arizona's approach is the wrong one," he said.

Isabel Garcia, a legal defender in Arizona's Pima County, blasted the bill as "the most dangerous precedent in this country, violating all of our due process rights."

"We have not seen this kind of legislation since the Jim Crow laws. And targeting our communities, it is the single most largest attack on our communities," she said.

Pearce brushed off her criticism, saying, " 'Illegal' is not a race, it's a crime."

"We do not tolerate those who break into our country, just like we don't tolerate those who break into our homes," he said.

Hethmon praised the legislation as "the most cost-effective and the most humane way to deal with the illegal immigration problem."

"Every time you convince an illegal alien to self-deport, you bypass having to resort to direct physical deportation," he said.

In addition to providing a model for other states, Hethmon said the legislation in Arizona and other bills in the works in other states also provide an example on the national level.

"The states are laboratories for democracy. The federal government is in gridlock," he said. "We're providing models for the day when the ice breaks up on the Hill and the legislative waters flow and the country decides to confront this problem in a realistic way."

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Police search for killer of D.C. principal

Washington (News Terupdate) - Police may have found valuable clues in the killing of a popular District of Columbia middle school principal as the search for suspects continued Tuesday.

Detectives found the abandoned sport utility vehicle of slain educator Brian Betts. And over the weekend police learned that two people abandoned the dark blue Nissan Xterra a day after Betts was found dead.

Police are searching for the two people but say they have sketchy descriptions of them.

Betts, 42, was found shot to death in his Maryland home on April 15. The shooting sent shock waves through Shaw Middle School.

Follow the case on the AC360 blog

"I couldn't believe it and when I saw the news. I started crying," said Anna Rojas, a ninth-grader at the school.

Betts was seen as a rising star in the D.C. school system and in the past had won an "Outstanding Teacher" award. He had been hand-picked by District of Columbia Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee to lead the struggling school.

"He was an inspirational leader for the teachers and the students, and that leadership was bringing results," Rhee said in a statement.

"He knew what the children under his care were capable of, and he was determined to show them how to get there. Brian Betts' death is an incredible loss of a young and dedicated school leader."

Police said they have developed a timeline of Betts' movements in the days before his death. They also say clues at his home could point to the killer being a person that Betts knew.

"This is not a random event. There were no signs of forced entry to the home," said Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County police.

Monday, students returned to Betts' middle school for the first time since his death. There were tears and many who missed the principal, known for greeting students with hugs.

"Everybody liked him. I wouldn't think that anybody from school would try to hurt him. He was such a nice person," said Anthony Smith, a seventh-grader.

On the 12--year-old's arm was written: "R.I.P. Mr. Betts."

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Ex-Los Angeles Police Chief Gates dies

Los Angeles, California (News Terupdate) - Daryl Gates, former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, has died at age 83 after a battle with bladder cancer, Los Angeles police said.

Gates was the city's top police official from 1978 through 1992 when he resigned in the wake of the turmoil from the 1991 Rodney King police beating and the riots that followed.

"Daryl Francis Gates was a one-in-a-million human being," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said. "He inspired others to succeed and, in doing so, changed the landscape of law enforcement around the world."

Gates' 14 years as chief was a time of change, growth and turmoil in Los Angeles, as the city passed Chicago, Illinois, to become the nation's second largest.

His reputation was tarnished by racial gaffes, including one highly publicized remark when he defended officers' use of carotid chokehold that sometimes led to injuries or death.

Gates suggested that blacks had arteries that "do not open up as fast as on normal people." He later said he intended "normal" to mean all healthy people.

His department was credited with keeping the 1984 Summer Olympics safe.

A native of the Los Angeles area, Gates joined the force as a rookie in 1949.

Gates called the rise of drug trafficking a "deadly plague invading our shores" and made it a priority in the 1980s.

"More than half of all murders and bank robberies were narcotics-related" in 1987, according to a statement from the Los Angeles police.

Gates is credited with the creation of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, which was based on his belief "that the present generation had already surrendered to drug dependency and that the country's future lies with the readiness of our children to resist involvement," Los Angeles police said.

The DARE program has spread throughout U.S. law enforcement agencies over the past two decades.

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