Datelines

Feb 1, 1999 12:00 PM, AC&SSI Staff

Washington - The FBI 1997 Uniform Crime Report shows crimes with guns decreasing faster than violent crime overall - evidence that the nation's gun laws are working, according to Handgun Control Inc., the citizens' gun control lobby chaired by Sarah Brady. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, since implementation of the Brady Law in February 1994, background checks on handgun purchasers have prevented 242,000 would-be buyers from purchasing a gun from licensed dealers, reports U.S. Newswire.

Atlanta - Gwinnett Park is the first in the area to take advantage of the Business Watch program, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Offered by the Gwinnett Police Department, the service is designed to provide security using the principles of the Neighborhood Watch program. Police officers will teach workers at the 2.2 million-square-foot, multi-tenant building crimefighting and personal safety techniques tailored to on-the-job security issues such as fraud and workplace violence.

Cleveland - Police say identity theft has become an epidemic, reports The Plain Dealer. Why? Changing technology and easy credit. A convicted thief, for example, stole the identity of a Chandler, Ariz., man with the same first and last name. The General Accounting Office estimates annual losses due to identity theft in the billions of dollars, and Akron, Ohio, police have seen such cases increase from two or three a month to two or three a day over the past 10 years, according to the report.

King of Prussia, Pa. - "Understated government statistics indicate that there are no less than 50,000 serious crimes committed on college campuses every year," says Security On Campus vice president S. Daniel Carter in a PR Newswire story. That is why the organization offers the CampusSafety.org project, a Web site (campussafety.org) with crime information on more than 500 schools and tips on avoiding and preventing crime.

Washington - In his annual year-end report on the federal judiciary, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist says the trend of federalizing crimes has contributed to a 15 percent increase in the number of criminal cases in federal courts, reports Investor's Business Daily. An example: the 1992 Anti-Car-Theft Act, which federalizes carjacking offenses. Rehnquist blamed the trend on Congress' desire to appear responsive to every highly publicized societal ill.

Vancouver, Wash. - A polite and well-groomed man quietly robbed Washington Mutual bank, according to The Columbian. The robber told the clerk "thank you," before walking out of the bank with an undisclosed amount.

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