Fresh Loaf

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2008 crime statistics, released on Monday, add weight to the argument that, contrary to what some folks in City Hall might’ve said in the past, Atlanta’s crime concerns aren’t about perception but about people actually entering your car or home and taking your possessions.

Although the bureau’s stats show violent crimes in Atlanta decreased 8.3 percent compared to 2007 (that’s good!), property crimes such as burglaries, thefts and larceny jumped 7.6 percent (that’s bad!). That’s quite a leap in just a year and a stark contrast to the 1.6 percent decrease in property crimes enjoyed by the rest of the country.

Real Clear Politics crunched the bureau’s statistics and concluded Atlanta had a 16 percent per capita crime rate, thus earning it the distinction of being the second least safe city in the United States. Memphis, Tenn., earned top honors. San Antonio, Texas, Detroit and Milwaukee rounded out the bottom five.

Celebrate our dubious honor by locking up your flat screens, supporting your local patrolman, and keeping valuables in your car out of sight.

(H/T to Sara for noting the RCP article)

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Wow, this is crazy. Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich was just arrested by federal agents for trying to sell Pres.-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat. Now that’s ballsy!

According to U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald – the guy who nailed Cheny henchman Scooter Libby — Blagojevich had been more or less soliciting bids for the soon-to-be open Senate seat. Under state law, the governor has the sole power to appoint replacement senators.

According to the Washington Post, Blagojevich wasn’t shy about his alleged scam, as revealed on wiretap tapes:

In a Nov. 3 call intercepted by the FBI, Blagojevich told an ally that if he could not get anything personally from a candidate for the job, “then I just might take it,” according to court papers.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s [expletive] golden, and uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing,” the governor said in another conversation Nov. 5, the court papers said.

(more…)

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Now that the FBI has concluded its investigation into the death of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston at the hands of two Atlanta cops, the police department has formed a task force to conduct its own internal probe of Johnston’s killing.

Here’s what Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said (in a press release) about the creation of the task force:

Following the November 21, 2006 death of Ms. Kathryn Johnston at 933 Neal Street, I asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to commence an independent investigation into Ms. Johnston’s death.  The scope of the FBI investigation included allegations of criminal acts as well as other misconduct. I would like to thank the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office for their help and assistance in conducting this investigation regarding criminal misconduct. …

The Atlanta Police Department should be given an opportunity to review the actions of its own employees for the purpose of determining whether administrative charges are appropriate. If it is deemed appropriate, adminstrative action will be taken against officers as warranted.

My question is, where does the city’s newly created Citizen Review Board — a board that came into existence as a result of the Johnston killing — fit into all this?

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