Full Report

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/index.html  

Homicide Overview

• In 2006, 78.9 percent of murder victims for whom gender was known were male.  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 1.)
• Concerning murder victims for whom race was known, 50.2 percent were black, 47.1 percent were white, and the remaining victims were from other or unknown races.  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 2.)
• In single victim/single offender incidents where the age of the offender was known, 93.8 percent of the victims were slain by adults (individuals 18 years of age or older).  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 4.)
• Data from single victim/single offender incidents showed that 93.2 percent of black victims were murdered by black offenders, and 82.9 percent of white victims were murdered by white offenders.  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 5.)
• Homicide data for single victim/single offender incidents indicated that 92.0 percent of female victims were slain by male offenders. (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 5.)
• For murders where the gender of the offender was known, 90.9 percent were males.  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 3.)
• For murders where the race of the offender was known, 54.8 percent were black, 42.8 percent were white, and 2.4 percent were other races.  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 3.)
• Of the homicides for which the type of weapon was specified, firearms were used in 73.4 percent of the offenses.  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 7.)  Of the identified firearms used, handguns comprised 88.4 percent.
• In incidents of murder where the relationships of murder victims and offenders were known, 21.6 percent of victims were slain by family members, 23.1 percent were murdered by strangers, and 55.3 percent were killed by someone with whom they were acquainted (neighbor, friend, boyfriend, etc.).  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 9.)
• In 2006, 32.2 percent of female victims were killed by their husbands or boyfriends.  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Tables 2 and 9.)
• Concerning the circumstances surrounding murders, 26.1 percent of the victims were slain during arguments (including romantic triangles), and 16.3 percent were killed in conjunction with a felony (i.e., the victim was slain while being raped, robbed, etc.)  Circumstances were unknown for 34.8 percent of reported homicides.  (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 11.)
• Law enforcement reported 617 justifiable homicides in 2006.  Of those, law enforcement officers justifiably killed 376 individuals, and private citizens justifiably killed 241 individuals.

Clearances Overview

• Nationwide in 2006, 44.3 percent of violent crimes and 15.8 percent of property crimes were cleared by arrest or exceptional means.
• Of the violent crimes (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault), murder had the highest percentage of offenses cleared at 60.7 percent.
• Of the property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft), larceny-theft had the highest percentage of offenses cleared at 17.4 percent.
• Eighteen percent of arson offenses were cleared by arrest or exceptional means.
• Nationwide in 2006, 40.2 percent of arson offenses cleared by arrest or exceptional means involved only juveniles (individuals under age 18), the highest percentage of all offense clearances involving only juveniles.

From news.yahoo.com, by Ted Bridis and Eileen Sullivan
 
A government video shows the potential destruction caused by hackers seizing control of a crucial part of the U.S. electrical grid: an industrial turbine spinning wildly out of control until it becomes a smoking hulk and power shuts down.

The video, produced for the Homeland Security Department and obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, was marked “Official Use Only.” It shows commands quietly triggered by simulated hackers having such a violent reaction that the enormous turbine shudders as pieces fly apart and it belches black-and-white smoke.

The video was produced for top U.S. policy makers by the Idaho National Laboratory, which has studied the little-understood risks to the specialized electronic equipment that operates power, water and chemical plants. Vice President Dick Cheney is among those who have watched the video, said one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because this official was not authorized to publicly discuss such high-level briefings.

Full story…

From Breitbart.com, AP 

Two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as amended by the Patriot Act, “now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment.” Full story…

From The Journal & Constitution, by Louie Favorite

1st Lt. Terri Gurrola clings to her daughter Gabrielle, 3, at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, having just returned from a seven-month tour in Iraq. 

From news.yahoo.com

US private security company Blackwater was back on the streets of Baghdad, four days after being grounded following a shooting incident in which 10 people were killed, a US official said Friday.

Blackwater guards were giving protection to US embassy staff and other officials on “limited” missions, US spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo told AFP.

“We have resumed limited movement today. It is very limited and all missions need to be pre-approved,” she said.

“The decision was taken by us in consultation with the Iraqi government. All convoys will be protected by PSDs (private security details). Yes, it is Blackwater.”

Full story…

From home.businesswire.com 

Apogen Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of QinetiQ North America, today announced it has been awarded a task order as a subcontractor to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for IT support services under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) IT Operations Support contract. SAIC won the task order through the Homeland Security Department’s Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions program, a Department-wide acquisition contract launched a year ago. Under the terms of the task order, Apogen will lead Field Operations and provide best practices solutions and continuous process improvement strategies for ICE. This work is valued at up to $34.2 million for the contract’s base year and two option years.

Full story 

From  money.cnn.com, by PR Newswire

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded General Dynamics a contract to provide technical and program management support services to the U.S. Coast Guard Incident Response Team (CIRT). The award has a maximum potential value of $10.5 million over 52 months if all options are exercised.

Full story…

From NYTimes.com, by Eric Lipton

The deputy Homeland Security Department secretary, Michael Jackson, who helped set up the Transportation Security Administration shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks, said he was resigning, effective Oct. 26, and returning to the private sector to earn more money. His name was mentioned as a possible successor to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff if Mr. Chertoff had been nominated as attorney general.

Story link…

From SPTimes.com, by Susan T. Martin

Two years ago on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Congregation Beth Shalom in Clearwater had an unusual guest speaker — a Muslim.

Ahmed Bedier, head of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, discussed similarities between Judaism and Islam. He answered questions about the Koran. One woman called the talk “wonderful.”

Yet Rabbi David Weizman now wishes he hadn’t invited Bedier.

Full story… 

From Wired.com, by Ryan Singel

International travelers concerned about being labeled a terrorist or drug runner by secret Homeland Security algorithms may want to be careful what books they read on the plane. Newly revealed records show the government is storing such information for years.

Privacy advocates obtained database records showing that the government routinely records the race of people pulled aside for extra screening as they enter the country, along with cursory answers given to U.S. border inspectors about their purpose in traveling. In one case, the records note Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Gilmore’s choice of reading material, and worry over the number of small flashlights he’d packed for the trip.

The breadth of the information obtained by the Gilmore-funded Identity Project (using a Privacy Act request) shows the government’s screening program at the border is actually a “surveillance dragnet,” according to the group’s spokesman Bill Scannell.

Full story…