Table of Contents
Section I - Introduction & Chargen
1 2- 12 13 Pages 14 - 25 14 - 17 18 - 22 23 24 - 25 Pages 26 - 37 26 - 34 35 - 37 Page 38 - 118 38 - 43 44 - 57 58 - 63 64 - 90 91 - 98 99 - 118 Chapter 1 - Overview Cover Art - Crime Civil Law: The Balance Table of Contents What this book is all about - A word from the Author- Legal Stuff (Questions & Character Generation Steps) World of Darkness Questions Character Generation Overview & Process Theme for the Crime/Civil/Law Characters Character Availabilities and Supernatural Interaction (Nature/Demeanor, Attributes) Personality Archetypes: Nature and Demeanor Attributes: Physical, Social and Mental
Chapter 2 - The Basics
Chapter 3 - Abilities
(Talents, Skills, Knowledges) Talents Secondary Talents Skills Secondary Skills Knowledges Secondary Knowledges
Pages 119 - 148 Chapter 4 - Advantages & Errata (Backgrounds, Virues, Merits, Flaws, Humanity) 119 - 125 Backgrounds 126 Virtues 127 A Word on Merits & Flaws 128 - 133 Merits 134 - 144 Flaws 145 Humanity 146 Path of the Loyal Heart, Willpower 147 Health, Poisons 148 Moving On
Section II - The Three Sides Of The Coin
149 A word from the Author Pages 150 - 281 Chapter 5 - Crime: Exposed 150 - 151 Questions About the Crime Sphere 152 Types of Criminals, Organized Crime 153 - 154 American Mafia 155 - 161 La Costa Nostra 162 La Stidda 163 - 165 Irish Mafia 166 - 168 Jewish Mafia 169 - 180 Russian Mafiya 181 - 186 Chinese Triad/Tong 187 Chiu Chau 188 - 196 Yakuza 197 Yamaguchi-Gumi 198 Columbian Cartel 202 - 203 Mexican Drug Traffickers 204 - 206 Cuban Mafia 207 Cuban Drug Traffickers 208 - 212 Motorcycle Gangs 213 - 216 Street Gangs 217 - 219 The Look, Graffiti, Spread of Gangs, Drugs and Violence 220 Examples of Gangs, Ranks, View from the Street 221 - 222 Reality Squared, Gangbanging 101, 'Gangsta Nation', Slang 223 - 230 A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang 231 Street Fighting 234 - 235 Gang Signs, Clothing 236 Hispanic Street Gangs 237 African American Street Gangs 238 Asian Gangs, White Gangs 239 Independent Criminals, Street Drug Dealers 240 Average Diplomatic Status between Each Crime Group 241 - 243 Crime Rank, Title and Status for the Different types of Criminals 244 Crime, in Review 245 Terrorists 246 Abu Nidal Organization 247 Abu Sayyaf Group 248 Alex Boncayao Brigade 249 al-Jihad 250 - 257 al-Qaida 258 Armed Islamic Group (GIA) 259 Aum Supreme Truth 260 Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) 261 Devrimci Sol (Revolutionary Left) 262 Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine 263 Harakat ul-Mujahidin 264 Jamaat ul-Fuqra 265 Japanese Red Army (JRA) 266 Kach and Kahane Chai 267 - 268 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 269 Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) 270 Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO) 271 National Liberation Army (ELN) 272 New People's Army (NPA) 273 Qibla and People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) 274 Real IRA (RIRA) 275 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) 276 Revolutionary Organization 17 November
277 278 279 280 281
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA) Sikh Terrorism Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path, SL) Zviadists
Pages 282 - 365 Chapter 6 - Civil: Documented 282 Word from the Author 283 - 284 Quick Overview 285 City Departments 286 Who runs City Hall 287 - 291 City Council 292 - 293 Community/Neighborhood Watch 294 How Citizens Participate in City Government 295 - 299 Hospitals, Coroner's Office 300 - 319 Medical Sphere, Laws & Policies, Policies & Procedures 320 Education and the School System Overview - Grades 321 - 323 Preschool, Primary, Secondary, Elementary, Middle, High 324 - 327 College or University, Public vs Private Schooling 328 - 330 History of American Education 331 Media Overview 332 - 335 Types of Media, Media Bias, Newsmagazines 336 - 337 Newspapers 338 - 340 Getting the Measure of a Soul on Deadline 341 - 342 Newspaper Writing 101 343 - 347 Writing the Summary lead, Avoiding Censorship, Jargon 348 - 354 Newsroom Politics 355 - 356 Broadcasting, Newsreels, Television Overview 357 Media Violence 358 SUMMARY: The Television Business 359 - 364 Radio Broadcasting 365 Comcompany - Portfilio of a radio Conglomerate
Page 366 - 513 366 367 - 368 369 370 371 - 372 373 - 374 375 376 - 377 378 - 381 382 - 383 384 - 385 386 - 388 389 - 391 392 393 394 - 395 396 397 398 - 399 400 - 401 402 - 407 408 - 414 415 - 434 435 - 445 446 - 448 449 - 451 452 - 454 455 - 456 457 458 - 462 463 - 467 468 469 - 470 471 - 480 481 - 486 487 - 493 494 495 496 497 - 500 501 - 502 503 504 - 505 506 - 508 509 - 511 512 - 513
Chapter 7 - Law: Defined A word from the Author Overview, Department of Justice Justice Intelligece Coordinating Council (JICC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) U.S. Marshals Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) United States Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP) The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) United States Imagery and Geospatial Information Systems (USIGS) The National Security Agency (NSA) United States Secret Service (USSS) National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Additional Federal Agencies, Black Ops International Agencies, The United Nations The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) INTERPOL Local Law Enforcement, Working Conditions, Earnings Working with Federal Agencies Office of Law Enforcement Coordination Local Police Department Divisions Law Scene Procedure (Miranda) A Treatise about the Law Sphere Crime Scene Processing Protocol Crime Scene Investigation Details Crime Scene Supervision Crime Scene Photography Last Will & Testament Law Enforcement Viewpoint on Gangs Background Checks, The Brady Act Legal Process of the Law Introduction to the U.S. Judicial Process Bankruptcy Courts & Process Criminal Case Process The Criminal Trial Process Civil Case Process US Naturalization, US Visas
Page 514 - 793 514 - 528 529 - 530 531 - 559 560 561 - 572 573 - 579 580 - 599 600 - 611 612 - 620 621 - 634 635 - 639 640 - 645 646 - 660 661 662 - 665 666 - 667 668 - 676 677 678 - 680 681 - 700 701 702 - 713 714 - 728 729 - 742 743 - 749 750 - 751 752 - 768 769 770 771 772 - 793
Chapter 8: Compiled Laws with Punishments & In Game Situational Guidelines Legal Definitions of Law Terms Examples of Criminal Law Dangerous Weapons Control Law Compiled Consequences for Actions A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q <empty> R S T U V W X <empty> Y <empty> Z <empty> Optional Collected Laws
Page 794 - 1134 Chapter 9: Drugs & The Illicit People Trade 794 - 833 Drugs: Street Slang 834 Club Drugs, Amphetamines 835 Barbituates 836 Caffeine 837 Cocaine, Crack Cocaine 838 Crystal Methamphetamine 839 Designer Drugs 840 - 841 Ecstacy 842 GHB 843 Heroin 844 Ketamine 845 LSD 846 Marijuana 847 Magic Mushrooms 848 PCP 849 Rape Drugs 850 Ritalin 851 Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) 852 Solvents and Inhalants 853 Steroids 854 Talwin & Ritalin 855 Tranquilizers 856 - 858 Mapping Illict Drug Markets 859 The Street Value of Prescription and Illegal Drugs 860 - 862 Are Raves, Drug Supermarkets? 863 - 864 The History of Modern Human Trafficking and the Illict Sex Trade 865 - 866 History of Prostitution in Western Societies 867 - 868 Sex-Slave Trade Activity: The Growing Trade 869 Sex Trafficking, The United States, and Europe 870 What The United States is Doing to Combat Trafficking 871 International Anti-trafficking Initiatives 872 - 873 Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery 874 Afghanistan - Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 875 Albania - Republic of Albania 876 Algeria - People's Democratic Republic of Algeria 877 Angola - Republic of Angola 878 Argentina - Argentine Republic (federal state, also named Argentine Nation) 879 Armenia - Republic of Armenia 880 Australia - Commonwealth of Australia (federal state, Commonwealth Realm) 881 Austria - Republic of Austria (federal state) 882 Azerbaijan - Republic of Azerbaijan (see also Nagorno-Karabakh) 883 Bahrain - Kingdom of Bahrain 884 Bangladesh - People's Republic of Bangladesh 885 Belarus - Republic of Belarus 886 Belgium - Kingdom of Belgium (federal state) 887 Belize (Commonwealth Realm) 888 Benin - Republic of Benin 889 Bolivia - Republic of Bolivia 890 Bosnia and Herzegovina (federal state) 891 Brazil - Federative Republic of Brazil (federal state) 892 Britain - United Kingdom - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Commonwealth Realm) 893 Brunei - Negara Brunei Darussalam 894 Bulgaria - Republic of Bulgaria 895 Burkina Faso 896 Burma - Union of Myanmar (formerly and popularly known as Burma) 897 Burundi - Republic of Burundi 898 Cambodia - Kingdom of Cambodia 899 Cameroon - Republic of Cameroon
900 - 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 - 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 - 940 941 942 943 944 - 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961
Canada (federal state, Commonwealth Realm) (Officially referred to as Dominion of Canada) Chad - Republic of Chad Chile - Republic of Chile China (PRC) - People's Republic of China (sometimes rendered as Mainland China) Colombia - Republic of Colombia Congo (Kinshasa) - Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire) Costa Rica - Republic of Costa Rica Cte d'Ivoire - Republic of Cte d'Ivoire (formerly known as Ivory Coast) Croatia - Republic of Croatia Cuba - Republic of Cuba Cyprus - Republic of Cyprus (see also Northern Cyprus) Czech Republic Czech Republic (sometimes also rendered as Czechia) Denmark Denmark - Kingdom of Denmark Djibouti - Republic of Djibouti Dominican Republic (sometimes also rendered as The Dominican) East Timor Timor-Leste - Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (known as East Timor) Ecuador - Republic of Ecuador Egypt - Arab Republic of Egypt El Salvador - Republic of El Salvador Equatorial Guinea - Republic of Equatorial Guinea Estonia - Republic of Estonia Ethiopia - Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (federal state) Finland - Republic of Finland France - French Republic Gabon - Gabonese Republic Gambia, The - Republic of The Gambia Germany - Federal Republic of Germany (federal state) Georgia - Republic of Georgia (Also Abkhazia and South Ossetia) Ghana - Republic of Ghana Greece - Hellenic Republic Guatemala - Republic of Guatemala Guinea - Republic of Guinea Guyana - Co-operative Republic of Guyana Haiti - Republic of Haiti Honduras - Republic of Honduras Hong Kong - Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (diplomatically known as Hong Kong, China) Hungary - Republic of Hungary India - Republic of India (federal state) Indonesia - Republic of Indonesia Iran - Islamic Republic of Iran Iraq - Republic of Iraq Israel - State of Israel Italy - Italian Republic Jamaica (Commonwealth Realm) Japan Jordan - Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Kazakhstan - Republic of Kazakhstan Kenya - Republic of Kenya Korea (North) - Democratic People's Republic of Korea (known as North Korea) Korea (South) - Republic of Korea (known as South Korea) Kuwait - State of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan - Kyrgyz Republic (sometimes also rendered as Kirghizia) Laos - Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia - Republic of Latvia Lebanon - Republic of Lebanon Liberia - Republic of Liberia Libya - Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Lithuania - Republic of Lithuania
962 963 964 965 - 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 - 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 - 997 998 999 1000 1001 - 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 - 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019
Luxembourg - Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Macau - Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (diplomatically known as Macau, China) Macedonia - Republic of Macedonia (diplomatically recognized as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) Madagascar - Republic of Madagascar Malawi - Republic of Malawi Malaysia (federal state) Mali - Republic of Mali Malta - Republic of Malta Mauritania - Islamic Republic of Mauritania Mauritius - Republic of Mauritius Mexico - United Mexican States (federal state) Moldova - Republic of Moldova (see also Pridnestrovie) Mongolia (sometimes also rendered as Outer Mongolia (together with Tuva) in order to distinguish it from Inner Mongolia of the People's Republic of China) Morocco - Kingdom of Morocco (see also Western Sahara) Mozambique - Republic of Mozambique Nepal - Kingdom of Nepal Netherlands, the - Kingdom of the Netherlands (consisting of the Netherlands and two overseas countries, namely Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles) New Zealand (Commonwealth Realm) Nicaragua - Republic of Nicaragua Niger - Republic of Niger Nigeria - Federal Republic of Nigeria (federal state) Norway - Kingdom of Norway Oman - Sultanate of Oman Pakistan - Islamic Republic of Pakistan Panama - Republic of Panama Paraguay - Republic of Paraguay Peru - Republic of Peru Philippines, the - Republic of the Philippines Poland - Republic of Poland Portugal - Portuguese Republic Qatar - State of Qatar Romania Russia - Russian Federation (federal state) Rwanda - Republic of Rwanda Saudi Arabia - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Senegal - Republic of Senegal Serbia and Montenegro - State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (federal state) Kosovo - Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohia (autonomous province of Serbia and Montenegro under UN interim civilian administration) Sierra Leone - Republic of Sierra Leone Singapore - Republic of Singapore Slovakia - Slovak Republic Slovenia - Republic of Slovenia Somalia (the whole country is presently fragmented with its Transitional National Government in exile) South Africa - Republic of South Africa Spain - Kingdom of Spain Sri Lanka - Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Sudan - Republic of the Sudan Suriname - Republic of Suriname Sweden - Kingdom of Sweden Switzerland - Swiss Confederation (federal state) Syria - Syrian Arab Republic Tajikistan - Republic of Tajikistan Taiwan (ROC) - Republic of China (diplomatically sometimes known as Chinese Taipei, regarded by UN as "Taiwan, Province of China")
1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 - 1028 1029 - 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 - 1043 1044 - 1048
1049 - 1064
1065 - 1083
1084 - 1091 1092 - 1116
1117 - 1125 1126 - 1129
Tanzania - United Republic of Tanzania (federal state) Thailand - Kingdom of Thailand Togo - Togolese Republic Tunisia - Tunisian Republic Turkey - Republic of Turkey Uganda - Republic of Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates (federal state) United States - United States of America (federal state) Uruguay - Oriental Republic of Uruguay Uzbekistan - Republic of Uzbekistan Venezuela - Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (federal state) Vietnam - Socialist Republic of Vietnam Yemen - Republic of Yemen Zambia - Republic of Zambia Zimbabwe - Republic of Zimbabwe List of Countries not included above. Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in Europe Human Trafficking in the UK Legalizing Pimping, Dutch Style Eastern European Sex-Slave Trade Becomes A Serious Problem Guilty Secrets of Russia's 'sex slaves' Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in the Middle East Israel - Facts on Trafficking and Prostitution Iran: Sex Slave Jihad Sex, Lies and the AIDS Epidemic in Nepal Sex, Lies and Urban India Grassroots Groups Fight Back International Sex Slave Trade: Saudi Arabia The Eastern European Jews Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in Asia Sex trade expanding in Asia 30,000 Thai women forced into Japanese sex trade Japanese Officer Admits Coercive Sex Slave Trade Sex-slave trade flourishes in Thailand Myanmar Sex Trade Sex trade key part of S.E. Asian economies The Sexual Exploitation of Women and Girls in the Philippines Sexual Exploitation and Violence Against Women The Philippine Network Against Trafficking in Women Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in Australia Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in the the Americas Human Trafficking in the US Human trafficking more than sex slave trade Shock over US child sex trade Slavery Still Alive Sexual Slavery in Prisons Stripclubs According to Strippers Child Sex Trade Rises in Central America The Sex Slaves from Mexico Trafficking in Persons: Latin America and the Caribbean Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean The Case of Columbia Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in Africa World Awareness Sex Slave Trade: Good For Some, World Awareness Dismantling the Sex-Slave trade A Call to Religious Arms
Page 1135 - *** Chapter 10: Additional Rules, Views and References 1135 World of Darkness Combined Worldview 1136 Crime Groups Extent Of Power Chart 1137 Dummy Corporations 1138 - 1139 Common Traits for Crime, Civil and Law Characters 1140 Obfuscate and Video 1141 - 1142 Weaponsmith Creating New Weapons 1143 - 1144 Martial Arts Alternative Rules 1145 - 1146 Example Fund-Raising Dinner 1147 - 1148 White Wolf (tm) Books Used as Basis 1149 - 1156 World of Darkness (tm) Backgrounds 1157 - 1211 World of Darkness (tm) Merits & Flaws 1212 - 1238 World of Darkness (tm) Abilities (Talents, Skills, Knowledges) 1239 Partial Listing of Websites Used for Research
This is a book compiled for Mortals in the World of Darkenss (tm) and focuses on the Crime, Civil and Law aspects of roleplay in a setting where these types of characters are the underdog. This is not created to supercede any of the published White Wolf (tm) books, as they are the basis of this tome, but not the meat of it. We are focused on the Mortal that is NOT aware of the Supernatural around them, and how they interact with each other in the Mortal Society, which is the backdrop for each and every other book that has been written for this game system. Consider this to be more of a guide to give ideas on how to role play a character in the selected field of Crime, Civil, or Law, instead of as a book that delineates the rules to play the game. White Wolf has already written those in their core and supplemental books, and we are not trying to usurp their creation. The first section of this book delineates how to create a Mortal character, as compiled from the various core books the White Wolf has published over the years. What this book will not do for you is give you a hard and fast rule for everything you will encounter along the story. There is not enough pages in the world to write those all down, and the Storyteller system has never been one to dictate solid rules. This book is a reference of compiled knowledge that will help you to define your character and show a background as to how a character can be played. There is detailed infromation for the CCL Storyteller as well, so that when the Law is broken, the Storyteller has an easy reference as to what the price the characters will pay, if they are caught. The different parts of this book have been called 'Spheres', and you will read them described as such. This is not to mean that they are secluded from all the rest of the game in their own bubble, but more to the point that they have specific things that they are focused on that are only useful to those characters in their similar situations. Legal Stuff World of Darkness content & materials is copyright 1990-2005 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. This book is an entirely unofficial use of the Vampire: The Masquarde and A World of Darkness gaming materials published by White Wolf Publishing, Inc. and not intended as an official or profit making venture in any way, shape or form. Although the use of these concepts, rules, etc., is unauthorized, no infringement is intended. This book is not affiliated with White Wolf Publishing, Inc. in any way and should not be viewed as such. These pages are freely available for viewing and personal use, but are, under no circumstances whatsoever, to be sold for profit.
Crime/Civil/Law: The Balance
Chapter 1 Overview
What is the World of Darkness? The greatest difference between our world and that of Mortals, Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, Wraiths and Changelings is...well the presence of Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, Wraiths and Changelings. That Vampires are supposedly pulling the strings of humanity, the Mages are trying to shepherd (or harm) humanity, Werewolves are fighting a losing battle with evil, Wraiths use the living to bring about thier own final peace and Changelings just want Mortals to believe in them again. And...yet, mortals move about as we do...not knowing these things exist outside of stories. Myths, folklore... So, then...the difference becomes this. Violence and despair are more common here. The world is bleak. Gothic punk describes what you see out your window. It is in these settings your character comes alive. Thomas Hobbes, in Leviathan states: 'No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.' The World of Darkness is only a few steps away from this horror of a world. There are arts, there are letters, there is a society....but the rest is quite true.... and will be the fact for most characters who stumble upon the darker things in the night. I've never played a game like this before. I've never heard of White Wolf or the World of Darkness. I have no books. Then you've found the perfect system. Mortals will get you involved with it all. From the Vampire looking for food, to the Werewolf looking for the Wyrm, to the Mage trying to Ascend and the Changeling in need of Glamour. As well...as meet other mortals, who don't know anymore then you do about the cast of supernaturals around you. Why a different book specific for the Crime/Civil/Law characters? It is true that Mortals don't get their own nifty core book from White Wolf "! However, this book changes all of that, at least in regards to Crime, Civil and Law Characters. We will be using the creation rules published in the 2nd Edition Vampire the Masquerade Players Guide and World of Darkness: Mafia (both these books follow the same creation guidelines) - so we'll consider the 2nd Ed VtM Players Guide and WoD: Mafia to be our "preferred" books in the game. We realize there are other Abilities outside the generated character sheets in the VtM books so those Abilities that are mundane enough for Mortals to have are added in here for reference. What is Crime/Civil/Law, and why does it need its own book? Crime/Civil/Law is entirely it's own entity and includes Law Enforcement, Politics, Civil Servants, Underworld/Crime, Media, Schools and Hospitals. So if you've been itching to play a Doctor, Lawyer, Criminal, Police Officer or Politician, this is the place to look. The diversity of the different concepts are what tie them together, three sides to the same coin, if you will. Why is the book called Crime/Civil/Law: the Balance? We chose the Balance because the three subspheres are all intertwined and do in a way counter-balance each other. As with any society, you have the Lawmakers, the Lawbreakers and the Law Enforcers. They are all part of the same city, just taking a different part of the place and making it their own. What about the Rules? Well that's easy. You have within these pages all you need to play a Crime/Civil/Law character in the World of Darkness. Rules are stated clearly throughout these pages. We suggest you read as much as you can or care to.
How do I start making a Crime/Civil/Law character? Before you start Character Generation, think about what you are interested in playing. Go through all of the information here. The object of the game is to have fun, and the character approval process in this book is designed to make sure that once youve gone through it, you have exactly that. Wanting to play a CCL character here is both a simple and a challenging process. The directions we ask you to follow are not complicated and are designed to get you approved and role-playing with other players as quickly as possible. However, applying for a CCL character is also challenging, because you need to understand your character's 'modus opperandi' to a deeper degree than many other characters might need. The Storyteller needs that information to help them explain why you do what you do, regardless of how good or 'evil' it is. The first step in creating a CCL character is to have a concept in mind for your character. We are eager for any original concepts that inspire RP within the CCL Sphere and with other characters in the active story line. Original ideas, enthusiasm, and an interest in Role Play over Roll Play are the keys to a successful application. However, we also try to limit applications to specific types of Criminals, Law Enforcement, and Politicos if only for the sanity of the Storyteller. All Sub Spheres are open to new players, and of that list, player characters can be recruited by any of the other groups and have the opportunity to change their Sub Sphere connections -- but only if this is justified by their RP. Once your concept has been approved, we move on to the background stage. Writing the background for a CCL character will take you a little time, a few days, a week, however long you need to create a realistic and interesting person. Don't feel rushed during this process because this is the number one most important step in the application process. Now some people find creating a background to be difficult, and I can't say that I blame them. We're not all novelists or top-notch writers, so to help anyone who needs it moved along, we've provided a few pointers below. Character History Humans can be the hardest characters to make. It's often so tempting to skip over the more mundane aspects of a character's history and skip straight to the juicy supernatural parts. You're not interested in who your character's parents are and his relationship with his family, no! And who can really blame you? We can. When you are a human being, it's so easy to neglect all the things around you that make you who you are. It's easy to overlook the millions of pieces of information you have tucked away inside your brain that you could call forth without having to think. These things are so easily overlooked when you're making a supernatural character, but with a human they're all you have, so pay close attention to them. When and where were you born? Did you ever move house? Do you have brothers or sisters? Ever have any pets? Did you have friends at school? A few, a lot, or none whatsoever? Have you kept in touch with any school friends? What did you do to while away your evenings once homework was out of the way (if you even did it)? Did you finish High School? Go to university? Experiment with your sexuality? Drugs? Fall out with your family? Lost someone close to you (and if so, were you with them when they died)? Even so these things are not mere events. You need to consider how these things make your character feel. Does he still miss the family dog even though she died ten years ago? Does he wish things were as happy and uncomplicated as they were when he was a child? Is he resentful or being bounced from one foster home to the next? Does he feel guilty that he wasn't there when his brother died? Does he despise himself for being gay? How do his feelings on the events in his life cause him to behave? If he was abandoned as a child, does he fear intimacy or crave it? If he hates himself for being gay, does he try to suppress it or has be turned his self-loathing into masochistic tendencies? Does he try and live his life the brother would have wanted him to, complete all his brother's unfinished work, visit his grave every week, or immerse himself in danger sports to try and distract himself from his guilty feelings? Humans are complicated creatures. If you believe they are mundane, this isn't the system for you.
Childhood Be sure to talk about your character's childhood, the way people were raised, and their experiences growing up are what make them the people that they are today. Intrinsic elements of your character can be found within their days as a youth. Details are nice as well, where did they live? What were their parents like? How was their education? Did they always believe what they do now? Becoming a Law Enforcement Agent/Criminal/Civil Servant This is the part that interests us the most. Did a High Official/Professional Criminal/Big Name In Politics take the character under their wing and train them to take their place, or did it happen on its own caused by some experience or situation left unsolved? How that happened will basically build their entire social system, and thus is a very important aspect of the character, and don't forget to detail the actual experience of the choice. How did it happen? Did it change the player in some drastic way? All these details make up the bulk of any CCL character, regardless of the specific sub-sphere and shouldn't be overlooked. Their Mundane Life What about the life you live among the opposite people? If you're a criminal, how do you react around police? Do you keep your cool? Same question for the Police around the criminals...do you keep your cool or do you wave you gun around? Be sure to detail and explain what your character still does within the rest of the world, because a good cover story is almost required if one intends to avoid the consequences of their actions for long.
The rest we trust you guys can accomplish on your own, those are just a few pointers we've often seen lacking in a background when it's submitted. Please note that we don't want you to submit your statistics at this time, all we want is the background ... only after we've approved this, do we move onto the next step.
Once your background is approved, you can write up your statistics ... however we feel like we should go ahead and tell you there are certain statistics that will most likely not allow you to walk into the game with. They are listed below: Attributes of 5 If you've got them, your background should seriously justify their existence, and the Storyteller is liable to want to see another attribute significantly weak to begin with, as something of a counter-balance to the fact. Attributes of 5 are world renowned and characters with this kind of stat have devoted their lives to that one part of their life, as that is their life. Abilities of 4 or 5 Everyone through Character Generation comes out as a fairly new character, so the odds are they haven't had time to master their particular abilities yet, that's something a Storyteller would like to see come in time with role play, and adventure and what not. If someone does want to begin the game with a 4 or 5 in an ability, there will need to be heavy justification for it in their background. Resources of 4 or more Not everyone can be the multi-millionaire who fights crime in their spare time, nor can everyone be the Master Criminal whose calling card says Pink Panther (tm). Nor can everyone be Ross Perot (no slander intended). We have a detailed listing of what we believe is the reasonable expectations for Resources for anything you do intend to be. No Contacts over 3 that is going to be an individual NPC. Multiple contacts will be required and justified in your background. Beyond this, the only thing left to do is work out the stats and the finishing touches of your character. That's all there is to it! We hope you find it challenging, but fun to do talk with your Storyteller. They will all do what they can to help you.
How do I represent this for the game? You need to mark down on a character sheet what skills, abilities and other attributes specific to the character you wish to play has, levels that character has attained, using the 1 to 5 levels from the White Wolf " gaming system. Okay, but what's my point spread for my character? Okay, grab your character sheet and repeat after us. 6/4/3 - Attributes - cost 5 freebie points 11/7/4 - Abilities - cost 2 freebie points 5 - Backgrounds - cost 1 freebie point 7 - Virtues - cost 2 freebies points Humanity = Conscience + Self-Control - costs 1 freebie point Willpower = Courage - costs 1 freebie point
Character Generation Overview What is Chargen? Character Generation, or Chargen, is the process that the player follows to write down what the PC knows and can do in a numerical format. Helpful Advice for Building a Character You may or may not need to use this page at all, depending on how well you know the World of Darkness. You may still even use this page, even if you have made a wealth of characters, its all about personal tastes. Regardless, it is part of the first Chapter in the Handbook, and gives you a wealth of information on how to make a character. More then the dots, this goes beyond themhow to give personality to the character you are portraying as well as explaining what some of the things on the character sheet mean. Common Traits and Terms: Mortal characters comprise the following Traits: Name: The characters name this may be anything from the characters birth name to a pseudonym. Whatever your character goes by belongs here. For example: Kathryn McKay (Kat), Serena Riley (formerly Serena Richards), Sari Morrison, Mykenzie Mercedes (real name: Chanel Rideaux), Zoe (real name: Adele Bouroughs). Player: This is the name of the player portraying the character in question. This would be your name. For example: Trish. Chronicle: This is the series of linked stories in which the character participates. This would be CbN, or Charleston by Night. Nature: This is the true personality of your character who she is deep down. Demeanor: This is the personality your character presents to the world. More often then not, Nature and Demeanor are different. Job: Unless you have no resources, your character must be making money somehow. Unless s/he was lucky enough to have a large inheritance (and keep in mindresources go up and down) s/he probably has a job. This is the spot to stick that. *Can also be switched to say Interaction System if you are playing a mortal in hopes of becoming a Mage/Changeling/Vampire. Allows me to help you get in touch with people in the system. Age: How old is your character? Stick that information here! Residence: Where does your character live? Examples: Apartment in Historic District, Apartment in French Quarter, House in North Charleston, House in the HarborWarehouse in the Harbor, etc. Concept: Your characters concept is a one- or two-word sketch of who your character is. Anything from Home-maker to Crazed Vigilante and many things work. Attributes: Attributes define your characters inborn aptitudes and potential. Abilities: Abilities are those proficiencies your character possesses intuitively or has learned. Advantages: A catchall term for the numerous benefits a character gets. Advantages refers to a collection of three other Traits. Backgrounds define the characters material assets and social network. Numina while they arent a necessity for a mortal character, for the few (and I do mean few as this Trait is restricted) that have psychic powers this is where they go. Virtues show the characters spiritual and moral fiber or lack thereof. Humanity: This Trait defines your characters look on life. How good/bad or in-between s/he is. Willpower: This Trait reflects your characters inner drive and desire to succeed at takes she undertakes. Health: The Health Trait measures how much injury the character has suffered. Experience: Your characters Experience Trait represents how much she has learned since she started play. All characters begin the game with an Experience Trait of zero. Experience is earned through play, and is then used to purchase new Traits.
Character Generation Process
*Step One: Character Concept Choose concept, job, Nature and Demeanor *Step Two: Select Attributes Prioritize the three categories: Physical, Social, Mental (6/4/3). Your character automatically has one dot in each Attribute. Rate Physical Traits: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina Rate Social Traits: Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance Rate Mental Traits: Perception, Intelligence, Wits *Step Three: Select Abilities Prioritize the three categories: Talents, Skills, Knowledges (11/7/4). Choose Talents, Skills, Knowledges No Ability higher then 3 at this point (higher then 3 is restricted and requires detail as to why the character is this proficient in the Talent, Skill, or Knowledge) *Step Four: Select Advantages Choose your Backgrounds (5) and rate Virtues (7) your character automatically has one dot in each Virtue. *Step Five: Finishing Touches Record Humanity (equal to Conscience + Self-Control), and Willpower (equal to Courage). Spend Freebie Points. Write history.
Sample Concepts *Criminal jailbird, Mafioso, drug dealer, pimp, car-jacker, thug, thief, fence *Drifter bum, smuggler, prostitute, junkie, pilgrim, biker, gambler *Entertainer musician, film star, artist, club kid, model *Intellectual writer, student, scientist, philosopher, social critic *Investigator detective, beat cop, government agent, private eye, witch-hunter *Kid child, runaway, outcast, urchin, gang-banger *Nightlifer clubgoer, skinhead, punk, barfly, raver, substance abuser *Outsider urban primitive, refugee, minority, conspiracy theorist *Politician judge, public official, councilor, aide, speechwriter *Professional engineer, doctor, computer programmer, lawyer, industrialist *Reporter journalist, news reporter, paparazzo, talk-show host, zine editor *Socialite dilettante, host, playboy, sycophant, prominent spouse *Soldier bodyguard, enforcer, mercenary, soldier of fortune, Green Beret *Worker trucker, farmer, wage earner, manservant, construction laborer These are not the only Concepts, just suggestions.
Step One: Character Concept
Concept is the birthing chamber for who a character will become. It need only be a general idea brute; slick mobster; manic kidnapper but it should be enough to ignite your imagination. If you choose, a character concept may be quite complex My character is a Jazz and Blues singer who is a Catholic; unfortunately due to the way the world has treated her, her faith in God wavers constantly somedays she is very faithful and somedays she denies her faith. Somedays she loves the Lord, and somedays she wants him to drop dead. This stage involves the selection of the characters concept, job (or interaction system), Nature and Demeanor. Concept Every human is unique, but the concept of a character lets you get a handle on core motives and design elements. Remember to define who this person was (and is), how she lived and what her relation was (and is) to the rest of the mortal world. Start small, with a basic idea that gets across a simple image or shows one or two talents of the character. From there, you can refine the concept to a sentence or so use that sentence to decide on how the characters likely to progress. Once you have a concept, refer to it while building the rest of the character. Your concept can provide hooks to the characters development and suggest appropriate capabilities or problems. People surprise us all the time though, and you may be tempted occasionally to do something with the character just to go against the grain. The concept also suggest some possible personality angles and serves to get your creative juices bubbling over the fire of imagination. You can pick one of the sample concepts above, but those ideas exist only to inspire you. Use your imagination, make something up, and give your mortal a unique place in the world! Job (or Interaction System) Job is where your character works, what s/he does for a living. This is important because it readily allows the Storyteller to relate that to the amount of resources the character has. Alternatively this can also the be Interaction System area, this is also important as it allows the Storyteller to know whether they should find players from other systems then the Mortals for you to interact with. Nature and Demeanor (Archetypes) After choosing concept and job (or interaction system), a player should choose her characters Nature and Demeanor. These behavioral Traits, known as Archetypes, help players understand what kind of people their characters are. Demeanor is the way a character presents herself to the outside world. It is the mask she wears to protect her inner self. A characters Demeanor often differs from her Nature, though it might not. Also, Demeanor refers to the attitude a character adapts most often people change Demeanors as often as they change their minds. Demeanor has no effect on any rules. Nature is the characters real self, the person she truly is. The Archetype a player chooses reflects that characters deep-rooted feelings about herself, others and the world. Nature need not be the only aspect of a characters true personality, merely the most dominant. Nature is also used to determine a characters ability to regain Willpower points (see section on Willpower). For a complete list of Archetypes from which to select Nature and Demeanor, see the section on Nature and Demeanor. Step Two: Select Attributes Players must now assign numbers. The first step in determining a characters numeric Traits is to prioritize his Attributes. Attributes are the natural abilities and raw stuff a character is made of. How strong is a character? How attractive? How quick? How smart? Attributes take all these questions into and more into account. All Mortal characters have nine Attributes, which are divided into three categories: Physical (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina), Social (Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance) and Mental (Perception, Intelligence, Wits). First the player must select which group of Attributes is his characters strong suit (primary). The player then selects the group in which the character is average (secondary). Finally, the remaining group is designated as the characters weak point (tertiary). Is your character tough but anti-social? Character concept and job may suggest certain ranks for these priorities, but feel free to decide upon any scheme you please. Nothing is worse than playing a boring stereotype. Playing an interesting stereotype though. All Mortal characters start with one dot in each Attribute, reflect the basic capabilities of the mortals from which they are drawn. A characters priorities determine how many dots the player may allocate to that cluster of Attributes. A player may distribute six additional dots to his characters primary group, four additional dots to the secondary group and three dots to the tertiary group. For example a tough, athletic character will likely allocate six dots to his Physical category, while a clever, wise character will place six dots in her Mental category.
Step Three: Select Abilities Abilities are also divided into three categories: Talents, Skills and Knowledges. Talents are intuitive Abilities that are inherent or learned in the field. Skills are Abilities learned through rigorous training or determination. They may be learned with careful practice, but can also be studied or learned through training. Knowledges are just that book learning and the like. Knowledges are typically mental pursuits or studies learned through schooling or books. Like Attributes, Ability groups are also prioritized during character creation. Players should select primary, secondary and tertiary groups for their Abilities. The primary group receives eleven dots, the secondary group receives seven dots, and the tertiary group gets four dots. Note that, unlike Attributes, characters do not begin the game with automatic dots in any Ability. Note further that no Ability may be purchased above three dots during this stage of character creation experts dont grow on trees. You may raise Abilities higher with freebie points, but that comes later. Step Four: Select Advantages Now comes the part of character generation during which the mortal truly becomes unique. Advantages are Traits that make the mortal a contender in the World of Darkness. Advantages are not prioritized; a set number of dots may be allocated to each category. Though this number fixed, additional Advantage dots may be purchased with freebie points. Backgrounds A beginning character has five dots worth of Backgrounds, which may be distributed at the players discretion. Background Traits should fit the character a destitute street preacher isnt likely to have Resources, for example though the Storyteller may disallow, or encourage players to take, certain Backgrounds for their characters. Virtues Virtues are very important to Mortal chronicles, for they provide the moral backbone for the characters. A characters emotional responses are very closely tied to her Virtues; these Traits define how well the character feels remorse. A Mortal character has three Virtues. Conscience governs a characters sense of right and wrong, while Self-Control determines how readily she maintains her composure. Courage measures the characters gumption and ability to withstand her fears and the more frightening elements of the world. Every character starts out with one dot in each Virtue, and the player then may distribute seven additional dots among the Virtues as she sees fit. These Virtues play instrumental rolls in determining a characters starting Humanity and Willpower levels, so be careful how you spread the points. Step Five: Last Touches At this stage, the player may spend 21 freebie points to personalize his character. First, however, a bit of bookkeeping needs to be done. Humanity A characters starting Humanity score equals the sum of her Conscience + Self- Control Traits, yielding a score between 5 and 10. Players are encouraged to raise their starting Willpower scores with freebie points. Willpower A characters beginning Willpower score equals her Courage rating, and thus ranges from 1-5. Players are encouraged to raise their starting Willpower scores with freebie points. Mortals Willpower is usually capped at 5, with extremely willful characters attaining 6,at Storyellers discretion. Freebie Points The player may now spend 21 freebie points to purchase additional dots in Traits. The points may be spent however the player chooses thus the term freebie. Each dot has a variable point cost based on which type of Trait.
Freebie Points Trait Attribute Ability Discipline Background Virtue Humanity Willpower Cost 5 per dot 2 per dot 7 per dot 1 per dot 2 per dot 1 per dot 1 per dot
Spark of Life If you go through all the motions above, you will have a character at least in the purely technical sense. All the dots are on the paper; you can interact your piece of paper with the mechanics of the game, and roll all the right combinations of dice at appropriate times. Frankly, though, for all your trouble, you might as well play checkers, because at this point your characters not much more detailed than a featureless piece on a game board. Now is the time to take the skeleton youve mechanically built with the rules and flesh it out into a living, breathing person. Take a good look at your Traits and numbers. Why are they there? How will they come across in the story? What parts of the character dont you know yet? Like a novelist building a literary figure, decide on all the physical, psychological and background details that make your character one of a kind, even in a swarm of other Mortals (never mind the Mages/Vampires/Changeling/Werewolves out and about!). Sure your character has an Appearance of 3 but what does that mean? Does she have a smile that could launch a thousand ships, or does she simply exude a challenging sort of self-confidence? What color are her eyes and hair? If shes skilled in Performance, or Etiquette, or Firearms, how did she acquire her skill? Did she always want to be a movie star? Is her polished veneer a reaction to growing up in a trailer park? Did she just, for whatever bizarre reason, walk onto a firing range and discover a natural aptitude for plugging holes in targets? Is her Ally actually her ex-lover who works for the FBI and with whom she maintains a uneasy, tension-laced friendship? This last phase of character creation, while the least necessary, is the most import. Otherwise your cop with the Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3 will be just like all the cops with Strength 4, Dexterity 3, and Stamina 3 and believe us, there are a lot of such cardboard characters out there. And thats a shame, because characters especially Mortals! should be unique, passionate, fascinating and memorable. A Final Note on the Overview A character without motivation might as well not be a character at all. Knowing what drives your character is central to understanding who she is. Think about where your character has been and where youd like to see her go. Consider her Nature and Demeanor do they suggest an ultimate goal? Once you have an idea of what it is your character wants to achieve, youre one step closer to making her a full-fledged personality of her own.
What is the theme of a Crime/Civil/Law World of Darkness (tm) game? The theme is the dark reality of it all - the World of Darkness takes this world we live in and makes it deadlier, scarier and down right nasty place to be, coupled with caution and mild levels of paranoia. It may sound kind of strange at first, but once explained we'd like to think it makes sense. We like the stories told to bring characters to fantastic places, do great things, and have adventures that test their mettle, but we also like the slow grueling build up that comes with such adventures. Slow and steady. The stories will mainly be about the grand city that you all have your PCs living in. The rest of the world is just a backdrop to the real story, the PCs hometown, wherever that is The paranoia and mystery aspect of it we like to inject as well, because there is more to the story than fighting and sexing everything that moves. We like to work closely with the rest of the storytellers so that the stories that are available can take you on any kind of theme you could possibly think of, the only theme that will actually remain constant, is that of the city. The city has a fairly basic theme, secrecy. You can't be blatant with your criminal activities, or your political dealings, because the Police are out there, and they're watching. And it's not just them, other criminals or politicos await in the dark for a lone criminal or political figure to slip up so that they can take the heat for the other's doings, it's just better to be sparing with your actions, besides ... the less people know about you, and the less they know what you're capable of, the more powerful you actually are.... Just a note to think about. Let's face it. Any setting is a dangerous city. The place is always beautiful, historic, but one of the most dangerous cities in the world. The city is decaying slowly as the corruption battles the governing forces and slowly gains ground. There would be no need for the police if the criminals did not exist. There would be no crime if the Politicians made everything good for the masses, instead of the elite few that can bribe them. There would be no Politicians if there were no contentions of different factions wanting to be the elite few. There would be no police if the elite few didn't wish to stay the elite few. Law is needed to keep order. Those that create the laws can be bribed. Those that defend the laws put their lives on the line every day. Those who do not like the laws that have been put into place, decide to go above it, or ignore the laws completely. As you can see, the three are intertwined and can be removed without destroying the others. The three groups here are almost like a family. There are Police who fall to the wayside and become dirty, mired in the world of the crime that infests the area. There are Politicians that only work for their own personal gains. There are criminals that make a living off of other people's suffering. But, amongst this there is hope. Criminals reform. The law still exists, and there are those who refine it and make it better for everyone, and order is still maintained by those who protect the people.
There are many other Supernatural groups that are rumored to exist in the city, many of the staples of the World of Darkness, including Ghosts, Fae, many of the Shape-shifting races, and others are available by Storyteller discretion, and have their own core rule books. Rumors of the undead, the shape-shifter, people with magical abilities, and even those who work for them have been heard here. You can see it, or something that resembles it everywhere, from bookstores to bars. Being but mere mortals here, how do we cope? We steal to make ourselves happy, or we protect the innocent from the horrors of the night, or we speak out about the injustices of the minorities and pass laws to promote our views of the world, all others be-damned.
Character Availabilities & Supernatural Interaction
Below are the following "generic types" of mortal characters allowed in Crime/Civil/Law: the Balance. Please note your character is not required to be a part of any of the organizations listed below, they could be a grocery clerk at a local "mom and pop" store, a bookstore owner, a model and so on. The groups listed below are just the more popular types of mortal characters that can easily be role-played. The Mafia Mortals will be given preference in the Mafia game, though all Supernaturals will be allowed to take part in the different families, except for Wraiths, of course. Wraiths are able to influence the families, especially if they are from an ancestor worship society. The Cops Mortals will be given preference in the cops game. However some shifters and other character types can be cops as well - one a case by case basis. Shifters must have a very low rage, in fact it can not be higher than 3 if they want to be able to control their tempers while performing this very stressful job. Also shifters must be born Homid to qualify. Vampires can NOT be police officers. All of the physicals and exams are during the daytime. And shifts are varied hours, sometimes requiring double shifts. The Feds Mortals will be given preference in the federal agents game. However some shifters and other character types can be feds as well. Shifters must have a very low rage, in fact it can not be higher than 3 if they want to be able to control their tempers while performing this very stressful job. Also shifters must be born Homid to qualify. Vampires can not be federal agents. All of the physicals and exams are during the daytime. And shifts are varied hours, sometimes requiring double shifts. The Schools Characters are allowed to play teachers from the University or High School but as a whole the school setting will be a backdrop to the chronicle, unless the game is based in a school of course. The main reason for this is that the main interest in the schools was playing a student at high school but that leads into characters being under 18 and usually in campaigns all characters need to be 18+.
The Hospital Mortals will be given preference as hospital employees. However some shifters and other character types can also be medical staff. Shifters must have a low rage, in fact it can not be higher than 4 if they want to be able to control their tempers while performing this somewhat stressful job. Also shifters must be born Homid. Vampires cannot be hospital staff but can hold a private practice with their own offices where they can set their own hours. Hospital staff is expected to work varied shifts and all of the hospitals continuing education courses are held in the daytime.
The Detention Center Inmates may be of any character type, however vampires will find that they can not hide from the sun very well while imprisoned as every cell has a window except for solitary confinement. And all activities are during the daytime. Changelings can be inmates and guards, but they will acquire banality there. Shifters can be inmates as well, but not guards unless they have a low rage (no more than 3) in order to deal with the stress of the job. Vampires cannot be guards since shifts vary and all training is done during the daytime. Detention Center Specific Flaws: Inmate 1 (less than a year) Inmate 2 (1 to 5 years) Inmate 3 (6 to 10 years) Inmate 4 (11 to 15 years) Inmate 5 (16 to 20 years) Inmate 6 (21 to life, no parole) Inmate 7 (death row, no parole) Parole 1 to 5 These flaws must be bought off with experience points at level of flaw times 3. Buying off Inmate automatically gains you the equal version of Parole unless you served the entire sentence. This is the price of playing a criminal concept and getting caught by the police. Inmate 6 and 7 cannot be bought off. With Inmate 6 you have two options, retiring your character or forever playing as an inmate in the detention center. Inmate 7 also has 2 choices, retiring the character or playing out the few short weeks left on death row and the execution.
The Political Arena Mortals will be given preference as political members of the society. However some shifters and other character types can also be politicians. Shifters must have a low rage, in fact it can not be higher than 4 if they want to be able to control their tempers while performing this somewhat stressful job. Also shifters must be born Homid. Vampires cannot be politicians but can hold a private practice with their own offices where they can set their own hours as guides to up and coming politicians. Politicians are expected to work varied shifts and all of the rallies; fundraisers and most debates are held in the daytime.
Chapter 2 The Basics
To begin your character creation, you need to first pick Nature and Demeanor. That is what this Chapter deals with. Everyone plays a role, often several every day. Every individual displays multiple layers of personality, varying from the contrived to the sincere. Each of these roles defines how we interact with the people and places around us, and we choose which parts of ourselves to show. It is the same with Mortals. The concept of Nature and Demeanor corresponds directly to the different masks we wear when we interact. A Mortal characters Nature is her true self, her innermost being the person she truly is. It is dangerous to show this though, as it lets others know who we are and what is important to us. Thus, characters also have Demeanors, faces they show to the world. By choosing how we related to the world, we are able to choose how it relates to us as well, as we guide the responses others give us. Philosophy aside, personality also has an effect on the mechanics of Mortals. A character may regain her dive and sense of purpose by acting in accordance with her Nature. Every time a character fulfills the requirement of her Nature Archetypes (see below), that character becomes eligible to regain a point of spent Willpower. If the Storyteller allows, the character regains the point. Archetypes allow players to build a sense of personality for their characters, and define a bit of what makes the character tick. It is worth noting that Archetypes are not rigid; characters need not slavishly devote themselves to their Natures and Demeanors. Rather, the character should act as the player reasonably or emotionally believes she would act in a given situation. Eventually, players and Storytellers should come up with their own Archetypes that more closely define how the character in question responds to her surroundings. After all, every character is an individual, and customized Archetypes should be logical outgrowth of a well-rounded character.
Personality Archetypes: Nature and Demeanor
(Here are some basic characters Archetypes, suitable for beginning play and their meanings.) Architect (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3,MSC) Autocrat (VP2,Vtm3) Autist (VP2) Avant-Garde (Mta2,Wto2,VP2) Benefactor (MGT,MSC) Bon Vivant (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Bravo (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Bureaucrat (Wto2) Capitalist (VGS) Caregiver (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Caretaker (MGT) Cavalier (VP2) Celebrant (Vtm3) Chameleon (VGS) Child (Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Competitor (VP2,Vtm3) Confidant (VP2) Conformist (Mta2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Conniver (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Crackerjack (WoDS) Creep Show (VGS) Critic (Mta2,Wto2,VP2) Crusader (MGT) Curmudgeon (Mta2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Dabbler (VGC) Deviant (Mta2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Devil's Advocate (MGT) Director (Mta2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Enigma (VGS) Entertainer (MGT) Explorer (Wto2) Eye of the Storm (VGS) Fanatic (Mta2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Follower (Wto2) Gallant (Vtm2,Vtm3) Gambler (Wto2) Guardian (MSC) Guru (VGS) Hacker (MGT) Honest-Abe (VP2) Idealist (VGC) Innovator (MGT) Investigator (MGT) Jester (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2) Jobsworth (VP2) Judge (Mta2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Leader (Wto2) Loner (Mta2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Machine (MGT) Mad Scientist (MGT) Manager (MGT) Manipulator (VP2) Martyr (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3,MSC) Masochist (VP2,Vtm3) Masquerader (WoDM) Mediator (Wto2,VP2) Misfit (MGT) Monster (Vtm3) Optimist (VP2) Pedagogue (VP2,Vtm3) Penitent (VP2,Vtm3,MGT) Perfectionist (VP2,Vtm3,MGT) Plotter (VP2) Poltroon (VP2) Praise-seeker (VP2) Quester (MGT) Rebel (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Recognition Seeker (WoDM) Reluctant Reborn (WoDM) Renunciate (WoDS,MSC) Rogue (Vtm3) Sadist (VGS) Sage (WoDS,MSC) Scientist (Wto2,VGC) Sensualist (WoDS,MSC) Sneak (MGT) Sociopath (VGS) Soldier (VGC) Supplicant (WoDS,MSC) Survivor (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Sycophant (VP2) Theorist (WoDS.MSC) Thrill-seeker (VP2,Vtm3) Traditionalist (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Trickster (Vtm3,MSC) Tycoon (MGT) Vigilante (MGT) Visionary (Mta2,Wto2,Vtm2,Vtm3) Waif (MSC) Wanderer (WoDM)
Architect The Architect has a sense of purpose even greater than herself. She is truly happy only when creating something of lasting value for others. People will always need things, and the Architect strives to provide at least one necessity . Inventors, pioneers, town founders, entrepreneurs and the like are all Architect Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you establish something of importance or value. Autocrat The Autocrat wants to be in charge. He seeks prominence for its own sake, not because he has the operations best interests at heart or because he has the best ideas (though he may certainly think so). He may genuinely believe others are incompetent, but ultimately he craves power and control. Dictators, gang leaders, bullies, corporate raiders and their ilk are Autocrat Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower when you achieve control over a group or organization involving other individuals. Autist You hide your secrets from others. Even more importantly, you hide your true self. Anyone who understands you can hurt you, so no one must ever see the real you, or even come close. Give away as little of yourself as possible - adopt a false personality if you like - but just make sure no one discovers the truth about you. Knowledge is power, and those who know you can do anything they like to you. - Regain one Willpower point whenever another character confesses he is unable to understand you, or whenever someone makes a false assumption about you that gives you an advantage. Avant-Garde You must always be in the forefront - always the first with a piece of news, a dance or fashion trend, or a discovery in the arts. Nothing pains you more than hearing news secondhand, or someone else telling you about a hot new band. New discoveries are your life, and you devote a great deal of time and effort to keeping up with things. After all, if you're not in the forefront, you're nowhere. - Regain one Willpower point whenever you are first with a piece of news or some other significant discovery. Bon Vivant The Bon Vivant knows life is shallow and meaningless. As such, the Bon Vivant decides to enjoy her time on earth. The Bon Vivant is not necessarily irresponsible. Rather, she is simply predisposed to having a good time along the way. Most Bon Vivants have low Self-Control scores, as they are so given to excess. Hedonists, sybarites, and dilettantes are examples of the Bon Vivant Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you truly enjoy yourself and can fully express your exultation. At the Storytellers option, a particularly fabulous revelry may yield multiple Willpower points. Bravo The Bravo is tough and a bully, and often takes perverse pleasure in tormenting the weak. To the Bravos mind, might makes right; power is what matters, and only those with power should be respected. Naturally, physical power is the best kind, but any kind will do. The Bravo sees overt threats as a perfectly reasonable means of gaining cooperation. The Bravo is not incapable of pity or kindness; he just prefers to do things his way. Robbers, bigots, thus and the insecure are all Bravo Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower any time you achieve your agenda through brutishness or intimidation. This need not be physical, as many Bravos verbally or socially cow their victims. Capitalist Why give it away for free when you can sell it? You are the ultimate mercenary, realizing that there is always a market to be developed anything can be a commodity. You have a keen understanding of how to manipulate other mortals into thinking they need specific goods or services. Appearance and influence are everything when it comes to the big sale, though youll use anything to your advantage. Salesmen, soldiers of fortune and bootlickers all adhere to the Capitalist Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you make a successful sale or barter of any commodity. Commodities need not be physical items; they may be bits of information, favors or other such intangibles. Caregiver Everyone needs comfort, a shoulder to cry on. A Caregiver takes her comfort in consoling others, and people often come to her with their problems. Nurses, doctors and psychiatrists are examples of potential Caregivers. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you successfully protect or nurture someone else.
Cavalier You are as bold, intrepid, valiant and fearless as you need to be to complete your duty. You are the hero who tries to live up to glorious ideals and codes of justice. By protecting that which is good, you seek to preserve the society that made you what you are. If your Nature is Cavalier, and your Humanity ever falls below four, you have to choose a new Nature. You probably hate Deviants, though you may not always recognize them. - Regain three Willpower points when you manage to accomplish a significant task that positively affects the group to which you belong. Celebrant The Celebrant takes joy in her cause. Whether the characters passion is battle, religious fervor, foiling her rivals or reading fine literature, it gives the Celebrant the strength to withstand adversity. Given the chance, the Celebrant will indulge in her passion as deeply as possible. Unlike the Fanatic, the Celebrant pursues her passion not out of duty, but out of enthusiasm. Crusaders, hippies, political activists and art enthusiasts are Celebrant Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you pursue your cause or convert another character to the same passion. Conversely, lose a point of temporary Willpower whenever you are denied your passion or it is badly lost to you. Chameleon Independent and self-reliant, you manage to blend into any situation. You carefully study behavior and mannerisms of everyone you come in contact with so you can pass yourself off as someone else later. You spend so much time altering your mannerisms and appearance that your own parents may not even recognize you. Spies, con artists, drag queens and impostors best represent the Chameleon. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you fool someone into thinking youre someone else for your own benefit. Child The Child is still immature in personality and temperament. He wants what he wants now, and often prefers someone to give it to him. Although he can typically care for himself, he would rather have a caretaker-type cater to his bratty desires. Some Child Archetypes are actually innocent rather than immature, ignorant of the cold ways of the real world. Children, spoiled individuals and some drug abusers are Child Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you manage to convince someone to help you with no gain to herself, or nurture you. Competitor The Competitor takes great excitement in the pursuit of victory. To the Competitor, every task is new challenge to meet and a new contest to win. Indeed, the Competitor sees all interactions as some sort of opportunity for her to be the best the best leader, the most productive, the most valuable or whatever. Corporate raiders, professional athletes and impassioned researchers are all examples of Competitor Archetypes. -Regain one point of Willpower whenever you succeed at a test or challenge. Especially difficult victories, may at the Storytellers discretion, allow you to regain multiple Willpower points. Confidant You understand people and, more importantly, you like them. You are a facilitator who listens and advises. People confess to you and in return you give them advice, most of which is good (though sometimes your advice is more for your own benefit than for that of the recipient). You are very interested in other people, and who and what they are. Personalities fascinate you, as do the sickness and beauty of human nature. - You regain a point of Willpower whenever someone confides in you on a personal and intimate level. Conformist The Conformist is a follower, taking anothers lead and finding security in the decisions of others. She prefers not to take charge, instead seeking to throw in with the rest of the group and lend her own unique aid. The Conformist is drawn to the most dynamic personality or individual she perceives to be the best. Being a Conformist is not necessarily a bad thing every group needs followers to lend stability to their causes. Groupies, party voters and the masses are Conformist Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever the group achieves one of its goals due to your support. Conniver Why work for something when you can trick somebody else into getting it for you? The Conniver always tries to find the easy way, the fast track to success and wealth. Some people call him a thief, a swindler or less pleasant terms, but he knows the everybody in the would do unto him if they could. He just does it first, and better. Criminals, con artists, salespeople, urchins and entrepreneurs might be Connivers. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you trick someone into doing something for you.
Critic Nothing in the world should be accepted without thorough scrutiny and examination. Nothing is ever perfect, and the blemishes must be pointed out in order for the good to be truly known. Your standards are high for everything, and you insist on their being met. You encourage the same ideals in others, because laxity and low standards reduce the quality of life for everyone. Others will thank you later, once they discover the purity of your perspective. You seek out and expose the imperfections in every person or thing you encounter. You are never satisfied with anything that is less than perfect, unless it is within yourself after all, you're not a perfectionist. - Regain one Willpower point whenever you are able to discover a significant imperfection that has escaped the attention of others. Creep Show You strive to shock and disgust those around you with gratuitous acts and ostentatiously evil mannerisms. You realize, of course, that its all show and merely a way to intimidate and control others. Outsiders, on the other hand, think you are the devil incarnate, and you revel in this image. Shock-rockers, rebellious teenagers and the attention-starved exemplify the Creep Show Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone recoils from you in horror or otherwise reacts in fear. Curmudgeon A Curmudgeon is bitter and cynical, finding flaws in everything and seeing little humor in life. He is often fatalistic or pessimistic, and has very little esteem for others. To the Curmudgeon, the glass is always half-full, though it may be damn near empty when other people are involved. Many Generation Xers are Curmudgeons. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone does something stupid, just like you said they would. You must predict this failure aloud. Dabbler The Dabbler is interested in everything but focuses on nothing. He flits from idea to idea, passion to passion and project to project without actually finishing anything. Others may get swept up in the Dabblers enthusiasm, and be left high and dry as a result when he moves onto something else, without warning. -Regain Willpower whenever you find a new enthusiasm and drop your old one completely. Deviant The Deviant is a freak, ostracized from society by unique tastes that place her outside the mainstream. Deviants are not indolent rebels or shiftless unrecognized geniuses; rather, they are independent thinkers who dont quite fit in the status quo. Deviant Archetypes often feel that the world stands against them, and as such reject traditional mortality. Some have bizarre tastes, preferences and ideologies. Extremists, eccentric celebrities and straight-out weirdos are Deviant Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower any time you are able to flout social mores without retribution. Director To the Director, nothing is worse then chaos and disorder. The Director seeks to be in charge, adopting a my way or the highway attitude on matters of decision-making. The Director is more concerned with bringing order out of strife, however, and need not be truly in control of a group to guide it. Coaches, teachers and many political figures exemplify the Director Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower when you influence a group in the completion of a difficult task. Enigma Your actions are bizarre, puzzling and inexplicable to everyone but yourself. To the rest of the world, however, your erratic actions suggest that youre eccentric if not completely crazy. Conspiracy theorists and deep cover agents all live up to the Enigma Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone is completely perplexed or baffled by one of your actions that later turns out to be a fruitful endeavor. Eye of the Storm Despite your calm subtle appearance, chaos and havoc seems to follow you. From burning cities to emotional upheaval, death and destruction circle you like albatrosses. For you, life is a never-ending trial with uncertainty around every corner. Gang leaders, political figures and other influential individuals exemplify the Eye of the Storm Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever a ruckus, riot or less violent phenomenon occurs around you.
Fanatic The Fanatic has a purpose, and that purpose consumes his existence. The Fanatic pours himself into his cause; indeed, he may feel guilty for undertaking any objective that deviates for his higher goal. To the Fanatic, the end justifies the means the cause is more important then those who serve it. Players who choose Fanatic Archetypes must select a cause for their characters to further. Revolutionaries, zealots and sincere firebrands are all examples of Fanatic Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you accomplish some task that directly relates to your cause. Flagellate (new) Similar to the Penitent, you have something you feel guilt for. Whether you committed a crime, hurt someone you cared for, or simply believe you never do anything right, you constantly beat yourself up. Perhaps you feel that inflicting pain on yourself will make up for your sins, or maybe you're just hard on yourself when you make mistakes. Either way, this is an archetype you probably need to overcome. Your strength is that you are driven. You constantly strive for perfection, if only to stop the little guilty voice in the back of your head. You regain a point of Willpower whenever you manage this. Your weakness is your guilt. You will often put yourself in a position for even greater pain, and sometimes this can drag others along with you. If this happens, you will of course feel even worse about yourself afterward. Gallant Gallants are flamboyant souls, always seeking attention and the chance to be the brightest stars. Gallants seek the company of others, if only to earn their adoration. Attention drives the Gallant, and the chase is often as important as fulfilling that pursuit. Nothing excites the Gallant so much as a new audience to woo and win. Performers, children and those with low self-esteem are often Gallant Archetypes. -Regain a point whenever you successfully impress another person. Guru Your enlightenment draws others to you. You may be a mentor, a priest with the Church or merely an idealist. Whatever the case, your presence motivates and moves others to engage in spiritual or ideological pursuits. Your peers view you as calm, centered and with it even when you are preaching about violence as a means to an end. Cult leaders, Zen masters and some priests are examples of Gurus. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever someone seeks out your help in spiritual matters and your guidance moves that individual to an enlightened action that he normally would not have taken. Also, regain a point of Willpower whenever you achieve an epiphany that relates to your personal philosophy. Honest-Abe You have a moderate temperament, and refrain at all cost from telling lies and stealing from others. You were brought up to live honestly and openly, and to be good to others - you have lived your life (and unlife) by these simple truths ever since. You are not a dogmatist and do not insist that others live as you do, nor have you constructed a complicated set of rules for yourself. You are flexible in your behavior, but always carefully evaluate your actions against your beliefs. -You regain five points of Willpower if your honesty harms you or your friends in some way, but later turns out to help you. In other words, your honesty turns out to have been the proper way to do things, even from a pragmatic point of view. Idealist The Idealist believes truly, madly, deeply in some higher goal or morality. The object of his idealism maybe pragmatic or amorphous, but the belief is there. -Regain a point of Willpower anytime an action in the pursuit of your ideals furthers your goals and brings your ideal closer to fruition. Jester You are the fool, idiot, quipster, clown or comic, forever making fun of both yourself and others. You constantly seek the humor in any situation, and strive always to battle the tides of depression inside yourself. You hate sorrow and pain, and constantly try to take others' minds off the dark side of life. Sometimes you'll do nearly anything to forget pain exists. Your particular brand of humor might not always impress your friends, but it makes you feel better. Some Jesters manage to escape pain and are truly happy, but most never find release. - Regain Willpower when you raise the spirits of those around you through the device of humor, especially when you are able to escape your own pain in the process
Jobsworth You are dedicated to the unbroken routine of your existence, and refuse to do anything that compromises your routine and established practices. No matter how urgent or deserving an individual case may be, the preservation of established practices and routines is more important. Individual decisions and considerations are fallible, whereas routines and established procedures are the distilled wisdom of years or decades of decision-making. Routines are what separate order from chaos. Make an exception once, and it sets a dangerous precedent; make an exception twice, and the door to anarchy is opened. -Regain a Willpower point each time you are able to preserve your routine, and each time you avoid reevaluating anything or making a decision about a situation based on its individual merits. At the Storyteller's option, more points may be awarded for truly impressive feats of generalization. Judge The Judge perpetually seeks to improve the system. A Judge takes pleasure in her rational nature and ability to draw the right conclusion when presented with the facts. The Judge respects justice, as it is the most efficient model for resolving issues. Judges, while they pursue the streamlining of problems, are rarely visionary, as they prefer proven models to insight. Engineers, lawyers and doctors are often Judge Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you correctly deduce a mystery by assembling the clues presented, or when one of your arguments unites dissenting parties. Loner Even in the crowd, the Loner sticks out, because he so obviously does not belong. Others view Loners as pariahs, remote and isolated, but in truth, the Loner prefers his own company to that of others. For whatever reason, the Loner simply disdains others, and this feeling is often reciprocated. Criminals, radicals and free thinkers are all Loner Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower when you accomplish something by yourself, yet which still benefits the coterie in some way. For truly impressive success, or achievement in spite of strong opposition, the Storyteller may choose to let you regain two Willpower points. Manipulator You have always been fascinated by others. Why do people behave as they do? What thoughts and emotions affect their actions? The cognitive processes that influence the choices people make intrigue you. Sometimes just asking people questions about their actions can yield important information, but often people do not truly understand their own motivations and concerns. In these cases, it is far easier to set up situations - experiments, if you will - to see how people behave. You attempt to manipulate these situations for your personal advantage, in order to discover more information about your chosen subjects. Some might call these experiments cruel, but to you it is mere scientific necessity. -Regain Willpower whenever you manage to set up an incident or situation that allows you to gain new insight into your subject's psyche. Martyr The Martyr suffers for his cause, enduring his trials out of the belief that his discomfort will ultimately improve others lot. Some Martyrs simply want the attention or sympathy their ordeals engender, while others are sincere in their cause, greeting their opposition with unfaltering faith in their own beliefs. Many Inquisitors, staunch idealists and outcasts are Martyr Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower when you sacrifice yourself or your comfort for your ideals or anothers immediate gain. Masochist The Masochist exists to test his limits, to see how much pain he can tolerate before he collapses. He gains satisfaction in humiliations, suffering, denial and even physical pain. The Masochist defines who he is by his capacity to feel discomfort he rises each day only to greet new pain. Certain extreme athletes, urban tribalists and the clinically depressed exemplify the Masochist Archetype. -Regain two points of Willpower whenever you experience pain in a way you never have before. Mediator The world is full of people who want things; sometimes people want the exact same thing. Some people have what other people want and would be willing to talk about working out a deal, but just don't know how to start. These people often have immense trouble finding and communicating with each other. That is where you come in. You are dedicated to mediating between people - fulfilling needs, smoothing over disputes, and generally helping people talk to one another. You are the diplomat, the middle child, the perpetual person in the middle. -Regain one point of Willpower whenever you are able to act as a go-between two individuals or groups, and regain another point if you carry things to a satisfactory conclusion. The Storyteller may award more points for particularly outstanding mediation.
Monster The Monster knows she is a creature of evil and acts like it. Evil and Suffering are the Monsters tools, and she uses them wherever she goes. No villainy is below her; no hurt goes uninflicted and no lies remain untold. The Monster does not commit evil for its own sake, but rather as a means to understand what she has become. Unstable individuals display characteristics of the Monster Archetype. -Malignant deeds reinforce the Monsters sense of purpose. Monster characters should pick a specific atrocity, regaining Willpower whenever they indulge that urge. For example, a tempter regains Willpower for luring someone into wickedness, while an apostate earns back Willpower for causing another to doubt her faith. Pick a destiny and fulfill it. Optimist "Everything always turns out for the best." That is the motto of your life, and you know if you can just stay cheerful and stop worrying, your problems will never be with you forever. Some call you a fool, but even they have to admit you're happier than they are. Certainly you'll encounter difficulties from time to time, but there's no sense in worrying yourself to death in advance. Don't worry, be happy, and have a nice day. -Regain a Willpower point whenever things turn out for the best, just like you said they would. You must predict such an outcome, either out loud to the other characters or to yourself (tell the Storyteller). Pedagogue The Pedagogue knows it all, and desperately wants to inform others. Whether through a sense of purposes or a genuine desire to help others, the Pedagogue makes sure his message is heard at length if necessary. Pedagogue Archetypes may range from well-meaning mentors to verbose blowhards who love to hear themselves talk. Instructors, the over educated and veterans of their field are all examples of Pedagogue Archetypes. -Regain one point of Willpower whenever you see or learn of someone who has benefited from the wisdom you shared with them. Penitent The Penitent exists to atone for the grave sin she commits simply by being who she is. Penitents have either low self-esteem or legitimate, traumatic past experiences, and feel compelled to make up for inflicting themselves upon the world. Penitent Archetypes are not always religious in outlook; some truly want to scourge the world of the grief they bring to it. Repentant sinners, persons with low self-esteem and remorseful criminals are all examples of the Penitent Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you feel that you have achieved absolution for a given grievance. This redemption should be of the same magnitude as the transgression the greater the crime, the greater the penance. The Storyteller is the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes a reasonable act of reparation. Perfectionist Perfectionist Archetypes simply demand the best. A half-hearted job gives the Perfectionist no satisfaction, and she expects the same degree of commitment and attention to detail from others that she demands from herself. Although the Perfectionist may be strict and exacting, the achievement of the end goal drives her and often those for whom she is responsible. Prima donnas, artists and conceptual designers exemplify the Perfectionist Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you accomplish your goal without any demonstrable flaw or impediment. Plotter Everything you do is planned. Very little springs from you spontaneously. Your plans are often long and involved, sometimes extending beyond the lives of the mortals involved in them. Details must be exact, for you believe any deviation could bring ruin. You try to plan everything in your life; each thing you do must accomplish something in the greater scheme. Deviation from routine, however, is bothersome, not traumatic. You are organized, not deranged. You tend to be neat and precise in everything you do. - You regain three points of Willpower when one of your plots comes to fruition in the exact manner you planned. Poltroon Meeting trouble (or anything else ) head-on is the tactic of fools and optimists. The sensible way to deal with trouble is to deny it a target. While some people might accuse you of sticking your head in the sand, they do have to admit that it has remained on your shoulders for quite some time, and looks like it will continue to do so indefinitely. You never confront what you can evade, and never face anything unless there is no other option. Courage is not high on your list of virtues, but then the line between courage and folly is virtually nonexistent to your eyes. -Regain one point of Willpower whenever you are able to avoid a problem or situation without dealing with it.
Praise-Seeker You self-worth is based entirely on the opinions of others. You crave approval and praise, and will go to extreme lengths to get such - even risking yourself and things you love. Unlike the Sycophant, you do not think of protection, and you have no thought of using others' good opinions to your own advantage - you simply crave praise and approval for their own sake, so you can feel good about yourself. -Regain one Willpower point whenever another character offers unprompted praise, admiration or appreciation. If the appreciation is truly great, and/or the other character is powerful or particularly admired, the Storyteller may award extra points. Rebel The Rebel is a malcontent, never satisfied with the status quo or the system as it is. He hates authority and does everything in his power to challenge and undermine it. Perhaps the Rebel truly believes in his ideals, but it is just as likely that he bears authority figures some ill will over a misunderstanding or wrong done to him in the past. Teenagers, insurrectionists and non-conformists all exemplify the Rebel Archetype. -Regain a point Willpower whenever your actions adversely affect your chosen oppositions. Rebels may oppose the government, the Church, whatever. The player should choose whom or what his character rebels against when he adopts this Archetype. Rogue Only one thing matters to the Rogue: herself. To each his own, and if others cannot protect their claims, they have no right to them. The Rogue is not necessarily a thug or bully however. She simply refuses to succumb to the whims of others. Rogues almost universally possess a sense of self-sufficiency. They have their own best interests in mind at all times. Prostitutes, capitalists and criminals all embody the Rogue Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower when your self-centered disposition leads you to profit, materially or otherwise. At the Storytellers discretion, accumulating gain without exposing your own weakness may let you gain two points of Willpower. Sadist You exist to inflict pain and suffering upon others. Killing is too easy torture is the best way to truly harm a person, and you seek the slowest, most painful means to push others to the ultimate limits. Pain others pain gives you immense pleasure. Drill Sergeants, jilted ex-lovers and some of the terminally deranged may all display Sadist Archetypes at one time or another; sadism is rare enough to appear only in aberrant cases, rather then reliably in one type of person or another. -Regain a point of Willpower whenever you inflict pain upon someone for no other reason than your own pleasure. Scientist To a Scientist, existence is a puzzle which she can help assemble. A Scientist logically and methodically examines her every situation and maneuver, looking for logical outcomes and patterns. This is not to say that the Scientist is always looking for scientific or rational explanation, but rather, that she examines her surroundings rigorously and with a critical eye. The system a Scientist attempts to impose on the world may be completely ludicrous, but it is a system, and she sticks by it. -Regain Willpower any time a logical, systematic approach to a problem helps you solve it, or information gather logically is of use in another similar situation. Sociopath All inferior beings should be exterminated in order to bring about a harmonious existence. You likely feel no remorse when you kill. On the contrary, you are doing a glorious deed for society. Those that know what you do are very critical of you, but sometimes you sway them with arguments like Darwin would agree that Im only helping nature along! -Regain Willpower whenever you are the greatest contributor to a body count after everything has settled down. This count includes times when you are the only killer, and it needs not result from massive combat like killing every member of a movie audience or gunning down defenseless patrons in a bank robbery. Soldier The Soldier is not a blindly loyal follower. While she exists for orders, she does not adhere to them unquestioningly. More independent than a Conformist but too tied into the idea of command to be a Loner, the Soldier applies her own techniques to others goals. While she may seek command herself someday, her ambitions lie within the established hierarchy and structure. The Soldier has no compunction about using whatever means necessary to do what needs to be done, so long as the orders to do so came from the right place. -Regain a point of Willpower when you achieve your orders objectives. The more difficult the orders are to fulfill, the better it feels to accomplish them. At Storytellers discretion, pulling off a spectacular success or fulfilling a lengthy mission may well be worth additional Willpower points.
Survivor No matter what happens, no matter the odds or opposition, the Survivor always manages to pull through. Whether alone or with a group, the Survivors utter refusal to accept defeat often makes the difference between success and failure. Survivors are frustrated by others acceptance of what fate has in store or willingness to withstand less than what they can achieve. Outcasts, street folk, and idealists may well be Survivor Archetypes. -Regain one point of Willpower whenever you survive a threatening situation through tenacity, or when another persists in spite of opposition due to your counsel. Sycophant In the grand scheme of things, you are small and weak and unfit for survival. Your best hope is to find someone who is more powerful than you are and persuade her to take care of you. In return you will serve, admire and follow her. You will do anything she says, unless it puts you in great risk. In any type of uncertain situation, you will attach yourself to the strongest-seeming person, siding with her, performing various barely necessary services and generally trying to ingratiate yourself. Thereby you hope to earn some kind of protection. There is no limit to the depths to which you will lower yourself in order to be accepted, and you have no pride. -Regain one Willpower point whenever a stronger character to whom you have attached yourself acts in your defense, be it siding with you in an argument or protecting you from physical harm. Thrill-Seeker The Thrill-Seeker lives for the rush brought on by danger. Unlike those of arguably saner disposition, the Thrill-Seeker actively pursues hazardous and possibly deadly situations. The Thrill-Seeker is not consciously suicidal or self-destructive he simply seeks the stimulation of imminent disaster. Gang bangers, petty thieves, and exhibitionists are all examples of the Thrill-Seeker Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower anytime you succeed at a dangerous task that you have deliberately undertaken. Thrill-Seekers are not stupid, however, and the Storyteller may choose not to reward a player who heedlessly sends her character into danger for the sole intent of harvesting Willpower. Traditionalist The orthodox ways satisfy the Traditionalist, who prefers to accomplish her goals with time-tested methods. Why vary your course when what has worked in the past is good enough? The Traditionalists finds the status quo acceptable, even preferable, to a change that might yield unpredictable results. Conservatives, judges, and authority figures are all examples of Traditionalist Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower any time the proven ways turn out to be the best. Also, regain a point of Willpower any time you successfully resist change for its own sake. Trickster The Trickster finds the absurd in everything. No matter how grim life may become, the Trickster always uncovers a kernel of humor within it. Tricksters cannot abide sorrow or pain, and so they strive to lighten the spirits of those around them. Some Tricksters even have higher ideals, challenging static dogma by exposing its failures in humorous ways. Comedians, satirists and social critics are examples of Trickster Archetype. -Regain a point of Willpower any time you manage to lift others spirits, especially if you are able to deny your own pain in the process. Visionary The Visionary is strong enough to look beyond the mundane and perceive the truly wondrous. Visionaries test accepted societal limits, and seek what few others have the courage to imagine. The Visionary rarely takes satisfaction in what society has to offer; she prefers to encourage society to offer what it could instead of what it does. Typically, society responds poorly to Visionaries, though it is they who are responsible for bringing about progress and change. Philosophers, inventors and the most inspired artists often have Visionary Archetypes. -Regain a point of Willpower each time you are able to convince others to have faith in your dreams and follow the course of action dictated by your vision. Please keep in mind that YOU need to keep track of your Archetype and if you should be receiving Willpower points back or not...It is not the ST's job to keep track of things like this.They have enough to remember.
Attributes
Every Mortal character has Attributes; they represent the basic potential of every person in the world, as well as most other living things. Most people have Attribute scores between 1 (poor) and 3 (good), though exceptionally gifted individuals may have scores of 4 (excellent) or even 5 (peak human capacity). You start out with 1 dot in each of your attributes.
Physical Physical Attributes define the condition of a characters body. They indicate how strong, agile and resilient a character is. Physical Attributes should be taken as the primary category for an action-oriented character. Strength Strength is the raw, brute power of a character. It governs how much weight a character can lift, how much he can physically push and how hard he can hit another character or object. The Strength Trait is added to a characters damage dice pool when he hits his opponent in hand to hand combat. It is also used when a character wishes to break, lift or carry something, as well as when a character tries to jump a distance. * Poor: You can lift 40 lbs ** Average: You can lift 100 lbs *** Good: You can lift 250 lbs **** Exceptional: You can lift 400 lbs ***** Outstanding: You can lift 650 lbs and crush skulls like grapes Specialties: Iron Grip, Powerful Arms, Reserves of Strength, Fists like Anvils Dexterity The Dexterity Attribute measures a characters general physical prowess. It encompasses the characters speed, agility and overall quickness, as well as indicating the characters ability to manipulate objects with control and precision. Also included under Dexteritys heading are hand-eye coordination, reflexes and bodily grace. * Poor: You are clumsy and awkward. Put that gun down before you hurt yourself ** Average: Youre no clod, but youre no ballerina either *** Good: You possess some degree of athletic potential **** Exceptional: You could be a acrobat if you wished ***** Outstanding: Your movements are liquid and hypnotic Specialties: Lithe, Swift, Feline Grace, Lightning Reflexes Stamina The Stamina Trait reflects a characters health, toughness and resilience. It indicates how long a character can exert herself and how much punishment she can withstand before suffering physical trauma. Stamina also includes a bit of psychic fortitude, indicating a characters grit and tenacity not to give up. * Poor: You bruise in a stiff wind ** Average: You are moderately healthy and can take a punch or two *** Good: You are in good shape and rarely fall ill **** Exceptional: You can run and perhaps win - any marathon you choose ***** Outstanding: Your constitution is truly Herculean Specialties: Tireless, Determined, Tough as Nails, Resolute
Social Social Attributes delineate a characters appearance, charm and ability to interact with society. These Traits are paramount in determining a characters first impressions, personal dynamics and relations with other individuals.
Charisma Charisma is a characters ability to entice and please others through her personality. Charisma comes into question when a character tries to win another characters sympathies or encourage others to trust her. Charisma does not indicate necessarily a silver tongue or skill with bullying. Rather, it is the simple power of a characters charm and influence. Charisma delineates a characters ability at convincing others to see her point of view. * Poor: Stop picking your nose ** Average: You are generally likeable and have several friends *** Good: People trust you implicitly **** Exceptional: You have significant personal magnetism ***** Outstanding: Entire cultures could follow your lead Specialties: Smooth Talker, Genteel, Urbane, Witty, Eloquent Speaker, Graceful Manipulation Manipulation measures a characters ability for self-expression in the interests of getting others to share her outlook or follow her whims. In short, its getting others to do what she wants. Manipulation comes into play when a character tries to influence or subtly guide anothers behavior. Manipulation is used to trick, bluff, fast-talk and railroad other characters. Whether or not the characters in question actually like the manipulator is irrelevant (this is why Manipulation differs from Charisma); a skilled motivator can eve employ the talents of people who hate her. Manipulation is a dangerous affair. Failed attempts at Manipulation often earn the ire of the would-be patsy. Botching a Manipulation roll may add a name to the characters list of enemies. People are manipulated every day, and typically ignore it. (Would you run to the store for me?) If the fact is brought to their attention, however, most people get quite defensive. Manipulation can be the most powerful tool in a Mortals repertoire, but failure can be disastrous. Characters with high Manipulation scores are often distrusted by those around them. * Poor: A person of few (often ineffectual) words. ** Average: You can fool some of the people some of the time, just like anyone else *** Good: You never pay full price **** Exceptional: You could be a politician or cult leader ***** Outstanding: Of course Ill tell the police it was I who killed him! Specialties: Persuasive, Damn Im Smooth, Seductive, Well-Reasoned Appearance The Appearance Attribute is a measure of a characters attractiveness. More then simple looks, however, Appearance is the sum of the characters visible grace, beauty and the indefinable je ne sais quoi that makes people desirable. This Trait is used for more than getting potential lovers to heed your beckon across a crowded dance floor. In situations in which first impressions are paramount, or that involve people who view Appearance as very important, a character may have no more dice in her Social dice pool than her Appearance score. Thus, it is critically important to either look your best or get to know people before you start trying to convince them to firebomb the Police Headquarters. * Poor: Ugly as a mud fence ** Average: You dont stand out in a crowd, for better or for worse *** Good: Strangers offer to buy you drinks at bars **** Exceptional: You are appealing enough to be a model, and people often go out of their way to tell you so ***** Outstanding: People react to you with either insane jealousy or beatific awe Specialties: Sexy, Respectable, Expressive, Otherworldly, Earthy
Mental Mental Attributes define a characters cerebral capacities, including such aspects as memory, intelligence, awareness of ones surroundings and the ability to think, learn and react.
Perception Perception measures a characters ability to observe his environment. This may involve a conscious effort, such as searching an area, but it is more often intuitive, as the character keen senses notice something out of the ordinary. Perception is a sensitivity to the characters surroundings, and is seldom present in the cynical or jaded (who have seen it all before). Perception is used to determine whether or not a character understands a given situation or detects an environmental stimulus. It can warn a character of ambushes, help a character identify a metaphor, distinguish a clue from a pile of refuse or uncover any other hidden or overlookable detail, whether physical or otherwise. * Poor: Perhaps you are absurdly self-absorbed, perhaps merely an airhead; in any event, even the most obvious details elude you ** Average: You are oblivious to the very subtle, but aware of the bigger picture. *** Good: You perceive moods, textures and minuscule changes in your environment **** Exceptional: Almost nothing evades your notice. ***** Outstanding: You instantly observe things almost imperceptible to human senses Specialties: Attentive, Insightful, Careful, Discerning, Experienced Intelligence The Intelligence Attribute refers to a characters grasp of facts and knowledge. More importantly, however, it governs a characters ability to reason, solve problems and evaluate situations. Intelligence is almost a misnomer, as the Attribute also includes critical thinking and flexibility of thought. Intelligence does not include savvy, wisdom or common sense, as those are properties of the characters personality, not Traits. Even the smartest character may be too foolish to keep her mouth shut or too daft to assume the thugs who want her car are up to no good. Characters with low Intelligence arent necessarily stupid (though they might be), they are just uneducated or simple thinkers. Likewise, characters with high Intelligence arent all Einsteins; they may be better at rote memorization or have particularly keen judgment. * Poor: Not the sharpest knife in the drawer (IQ 80) ** Average: Smart enough to realize your normal (IQ 100) *** Good: More enlightened than the masses (IQ 120) **** Exceptional: Youre not just bright, youre downright brilliant (IQ 140) ***** Outstanding: Certified genius (IQ 160+) Specialties: Book Knowledge, Creative, Analytical, Problem Solver, Subject Authority Wits The Wits Trait measures the characters ability to think on her feet and react quickly to a certain situation. It also reflects a characters general cleverness. Characters with low Wits scores are thick and mentally lethargic, or maybe gullible and unsophisticated. By contrast, characters with high Wits Traits almost always have a plan immediately and adapt to their surroundings with striking expedience. Characters with high Wits also manage to keep their cool in stressful situation. * Poor: Pull my finger ** Average: You know when to bet or fold in poker *** Good: You are seldom surprised or left speechless **** Exceptional: Youre one of the people who make others think, Ooh I shouldve said the next day ***** Outstanding: You think and respond almost more quickly then you can act Specialties: Getting the Jump on Others, Snappy Patter, Changes in Strategy, Ambushes
Chapter Three Abilities
As mentioned, Abilities are the Traits used to describe what you know and what youve learned to do. Whereas Attributes present your raw potential, Abilities represent the ways youve learned to use that potential. You may not need anything but brute strength to smash through a door but if youre trying to use sheer muscle power to force an engine part into place without breaking anything, you better know something about mechanics. When rolling dice, youll probably have to pair an Ability with an appropriate Attribute, in order to properly depict the combination of potential and know-how thats necessary for getting things done. There are 30 Abilities: 10 Talents, 10 Skills and 10 Knowledges. Each Ability typically covers a broad range of aptitudes. For certain Abilities (Expression, Crafts, Performance, Academics, Science), it is best to pick a specialty, even if the characters rating in the Ability is not yet 4 or higher. Thus, a character with the Crafts Skill is generally versed in handiwork of all sorts, but might be particularly adept at auto-mechanics. TALENTS Talents describe all the untrained and intuitive Abilities. Talents can, generally, never be trained or studied, but can only be learnt through direct experience usually during a Story. These Abilities represent the intuitive talents that your Character possesses and has honed over the years. Your Character has developed certain instinctual abilities through the course of her job, education or lifestyle. These abilities come to her naturally, and she doesnt have to choose consciously to invoke them, though she may employ them quite insightfully in certain situations. Talents result from her other studies, and they are side-effects of how she lives her life. Her experiences and personality dictate which of them she possesses. For example, an ex-ganger will be more alert to his surroundings than a debutante from the social set, merely because the ex-ganger has always had to watch his back. Unlike Skills and Knowledges, you take no penalty to your Attribute dice pool if your Character attempts an action that involves a Talent which she does not specifically possess. Talents merely stem from developments of the Characters natural Attributes in concert with special tricks, traits and instincts. Thus, if your Character takes an action using a Talent she does not possess, there is no effect on your roll. The number of dice equal to the base Attribute only are rolled. Talents are such natural and intuitive Abilities that it is assumed that everyone has some small capacity in each one. Talents: Acting Vtm2 MGT CPG Animal Empathy Mum2 Athletics Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Blatancy MBoS Carousing VP2 MBoS CPG Dodge Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Dreamcraft WoDS Expression Vtm2 Mum2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Guile Vtm2 Wto2 Homiletics I Interrogation VP2 MBoS CPG Intrigue Vtm2 VP2 VGC MBoS CtD Wto2 CPG Kenning CtD Masquerade VP2 Negotiation MGT Painting Vtm2 Poetic Expression VP2 Scan VP2 MBoS CPG Sculpture Vtm2 Seduction VP2 MBoS CtD CPG Style VP2 MBoS CPG Subterfuge Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Throwing VP2 Lucid Dreaming HoA Alertness Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Artistic Expression VP2 MBoS CPG Awareness Mum2 Mta2 Wto2 Brawl Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Diplomacy VP2 VGC MBoS CPG Dreaming VPGS Empathy Vtm2 Mum2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Fortune Telling/Divination VP2 Mum2 MBoS VGS VPGS WoDS CPG Haggling VP2 VGC Instruction VP2 Mta2 MBoS CtD Wto2 CPG Intimidation Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Intuition Mta2 WoDS Leadership Vtm2 Vtm3 Mimicry VP2 MBoS CPG Newspeak MGT Panhandling VP2 VGS VPGS Public Speaking VP2 Scrounging VP2 VGC MBoS Wto2 CPG Search Vtm2 VP2 VGC MBoS CtD Wto2 CPG Sense Deception VP2 MBoS CPG Streetwise Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Swimming VP2 Ventriloquism VP2 MBoS CPG
Alertness Something nagged at Marks mind as he made his way out of the gas company building. The crumbling facility certainly didnt inspire comfort in its visitors, but that wasnt the problem. He paused to collect his thoughts as he wondered what it was that made him feel particularly edgy, and he pulled his coat a little tighter against the ever-present chill. Squinting briefly, Mark watched the woman whod been working with her car in the parking lot, changing the flat front tire. He couldnt readily make out her features, but something about her movements was wrong. The drag on her leg Marks military mind immediately recognized the sign of someone wearing a concealed piece in an ankle holster, and he quietly turned back into the building to find a different exit. Whether in the wilds or down the shops, you maintain a sense of your surroundings. Youve learnt to keep an eye open in every direction and expect the unexpected. Seldom are you taken by surprise. Your Characters Alertness score describes how intuitively aware she is of her surroundings. Such a Character naturally pays attention to her senses and has learned to note changes in her surroundings and environment. Generally, it relates to physical aspects of the area and a Character with high Alertness may be more likely to spot an ambush in the shadows, notice a particular persons perfume, hear the snap of a twig or taste the taint of poison in a drink. She has honed her senses to the point where she instinctually notices things without having to look for them. More often than not, the Alertness Ability pairs with the Perception Attribute in creating dice pools. * Novice: A band of thugs would not escape your attention ** Practiced: It takes a clever thief to get past you *** Competent: You know if youre being followed **** Expert: You know youre being followed, whos following and how many there are ***** Master: You know when a colorless, odorless substance has been added to your drink ****** Legend: You notice when a flea enters of leaves a room Possessed by: Criminals, Bodyguards, Journalists, Detectives, Hunters Specialties: Thieves, Assassins, Guards, Paranoid, Ambushes, Traffic, Point Guard, Concealed Weapons, City, Forest, Followers Athletics Jared had been a long-jumper in high school. Standing at the edge of the roof, pursued, with options that boiled down to jump or jack-shit, he really hoped that he still had it. He debated. He pondered. He backed up and paced off the approach. Crash! The gun-toting gangers nearly broke the door off the hinges as they plowed through it. No class, Jared thought. He took only a moment to glance back, then focused on the leap. He set up, set his target and set himself in motion. One, two, three six, seven, leap! Jared threw himself into the air. His arms and legs flailed as he flew forward. In seconds, it was over. Jared landed with a roll on the far roof. He had made it, but dodging bullets wasnt going to be as easy. Climbing cliffs, leaping chasms, swimming rivers and hurling cabers are your bread and butter. Perhaps youre a sportsman, or simply a hardy lad or lass. You excel at the rough-and-tumble, whether the sport involves rules, teams or simple survival. This Talent describes the basic athletic ability that your Character has developed through physical training, sports or other rigorous physical activities. It differs from the Physical Attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina) in that it takes your Characters natural athleticism and adds the benefit of any training or sport aptitude to her innate physical potency. Athletics governs your Characters ability to jump, climb, throw and run and do any other athletic feat for which she may need to have trained or learned specific methodologies. * Novice: You rarely humiliate yourself ** Practiced: People competing against you swallow hard *** Competent: Youre a hero **** Expert: Youre expected to compete in the Olympics ***** Master: Even your opponents appreciate the grace with which you defeat them ****** Legend: You could beat any ancient Olympian at any event Possessed by: Athletes, Kids, Dancers, Actors, Trainers Specialties: Climbing, Juggling, Swimming, Local Sports, Hurled Objects, Stamina, Head For Rules, Cheating, Acrobatics, Dancing, Flexibility, Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Specific Sports
Brawl The jerk had it coming. Michele grabbed that finger he was pointing at her and pulled it around behind his back, stepping to one side and widening her stance. Smooth and graceful, she positioned herself and thrust his wrist up between his shoulder blades. In the flash of an eye, she had wiped the smug look off his face and planted him flat on his belly on the floor right where he belonged. Straddling him, she asked, Do you have anything else to say? The man coughed and shook his head. He groaned, No, maam. Your bare hands are weapons. Kicking, biting, punching, scratching and grappling all come easily to you. Brawling isnt generally fatal, but you can cause a lot of pain and suffering with your bare hands. The Brawl Talent represents your Characters hand-to-hand combat prowess. The Brawl Ability covers everything from scratching, biting and clawing to martial arts. Unarmed combat comes in many forms, and your character may have picked up her techniques on the street, in bar brawls, in the boxing ring or in a dojo. She may have trained and studied hard, or she may simply have lived a lifestyle that gave her enough experience to take care of herself in a fight. The Brawl Ability assumes that your Character isnt using any weapon aside from her body. * Novice: The local ruffians practice on you ** Practiced: The local ruffians leave you alone *** Competent: You are the local ruffians **** Expert: You can knock a man out with one punch ***** Master: Sting like a butterfly ****** Legend: You have mastered techniques unknown to the greatest fighters of your time Possessed by: Military, Police, Bouncers, Wrestlers, Boxers, Akashic Brothers, Thugs, Assassins Specialties: Boxing, Wrestling, Disarming, Dirty Fighting, Kicks, Self-Defense, Specific Martial Arts, Grappling, Armlocks, Pub Frays, Group Fights, Riots, Drunken Brawling
Dodge Cochrane sighed as he walked through the deserted parking garage to his car. Never in his life had he been so humiliated. He didnt understand why Markov insisted on treating him like a personal servant, but Cochrane had had enough. The car came out of nowhere, squealing around the turn and speeding straight for him. Cochrane lurched to one side, twisting away. He landed with a hard jolt to his body, but the car missed him. So, Cochrane thought, eyeing the license plate of the retreating vehicle, it seems Markovs tired of me, too. So be it. He got up, brushed himself off and went home to call Librescu. Maybe the Hollow One would be more appreciative of Cochranes particular talents. Whether you dive for cover, duck a punch or sidestep an arrow, youve learnt the best way to avoid injury is not getting hit. Dodge simply describes your ability to get out of the way of any incoming attacks. When someones shooting at, throwing a punch or trying to tackle your Character, the Dodge Ability tells how well she can get out of the way. It represents her skill at diving to one side, taking cover or otherwise maneuvering to remove herself from danger. * Novice: You know the basics of avoiding a line of fire, with some warning ** Practiced: You are experienced enough to know when to stay down and stay safe *** Competent: You know a number of ways to place yourself so most attacks will fail **** Expert: Enemies find you exceedingly difficult to kill ***** Master: Over time, youve actually learnt how to sidestep bullets ****** Legend: You dance untouched through great battles Possessed by: Criminals, Police, Street Kids, Martial Artists, Boxers Specialties: Sidestep, Duck, Dive For Cover, Leap, Footwork, Leap
Empathy The heart is an open book to you; emotions and moods are easy to read, and you can respond to them in kind. People have a hard time lying to your face, and they trust you to an unusual degree. With little effort, you can discern a persons motives or charm him with a few meaningful glances. On the other hand, like calls to like: your feelings often reflect the humors flowing around you, which often makes you temperamental. * Novice: Gossipy widows trust you ** Practiced: Few folk can look you in the eye and tell a lie *** Competent: You have an amazing insight moods and humors **** Expert: Youre a grand judge of nature, both human and otherwise ***** Master: You possess the heart-wisdom of Solomon or Salome ****** Legend: You read complicated emotions at a glance Possessed by: Actors, Mediums, Above-Average Salesmen, Pick-Up Artists Specialties: Truths, Trust, Inspiration, Mood-Reading, Perfect Timing, Wordless Expression, Comfort, Personalities, Knowing When To Run, Calming
Expression Layton lowered his voice, This story ends, my darling Lisa, two days later when Carma went in search of her lover. She found him on a desolate expanse of road, lying with his feet in the ditch. Even from a distance, Carma could tell He lay there so still and so empty. The man she had loved was gone, and all that remained was an empty shell. She didnt dare spare herself the horror of seeing him. One small hope pushed her forward, but his blood painted the concrete black in the moonlight and his dead eyes stared off into space, into the universe he had explored and loved so much. Carma knew, in that moment, where to find him. She lifted her eyes to the stars. The silence following Laytons story rang in Lisas eyes. Though Lisa fought them, tears escaped and slid down her cheeks. Her heart broke for the woman in the tale. She didnt know Carma, but she felt the pain of loss as distinctly as if it had been her own. She whispered, Ill see what I can do. Expression helps you get your point across, whether you are writing, singing, speaking or performing. In its highest form, Expression is an art; Characters with high ratings convey their feelings with eloquence and passion in their medium of choice. The manipulation of words comes easily to Characters with high Expression scores. This Talent covers the ability to use words (either verbal or written) to sway others, to evoke emotions and to get a point across to an audience. A politician might use this Talent to make his speeches so moving that he wins voters, whereas a poet might use this Talent to write poetry that touches the heart and makes his readers feel with him. This Ability ties directly to the Social Attributes. Aptitude in Expression can help a Character motivate others, tear down someones ego with biting criticism, charm an audience or manipulate a person into doing something he normally wouldnt do. * Novice: You have rudimentary talents good enough to win a college scholarship ** Practiced: You communicate with a notable level of wit, tact and skill *** Competent: You are a popular success in your chosen medium **** Expert: Your audience always responds with deep passion to your performance ***** Master: You are one of the most popular artists of your day, and nationally loved Possessed by: Actors, Writers, Poets, Politicians, Priests, Brown-nosers, Celestial Choristers Specialties: Poetry, Music, Improvisation, Prose, Comedy, Politics, Talk Radio, Inspiration, Conversation, Game Design
Intimidation Billy grumbled, Look, Im jus sayin I really dont think shes got her shit under control. Im not tryin tslam your girlfriend. Shes nice and all, but shes gonna bring us all down if she keeps this shit up. Know what I mean, man? Billys throat clenched when Duke lifted his eyes and turned his head slowly too slowly. A sense of impending doom scrambled up the back of Billys neck, like rats escaping a sinking ship. Under the scrutiny of Dukes hard eyes, Billy experienced the unmistakable urge to flee right along with the other vermin. You listen to me, Duke growled. I dont give a fuck what you think. Know what I mean? Man? Get outta here. Billy was already on his way. People have many fears, so they can be intimidated in many ways. It can occur subtly without your character even realizing shes doing it. Perhaps her strength of character alone makes her an intimidating figure. Perhaps her physical stature intimidates. In certain circumstances, she may wish to intimidate someone actively as well, through verbal or physical assault. The Intimidation Talent represents your characters awareness of her ability to overshadow others and her skill at using this factor to get her own way, draw information from an unwilling target or frighten others away from taking action against her. Intimidation lends you an air of quiet authority and dominance. It comes in many forms, from subtle suggestions to outright threats or harm. Each method depends on time, the place and those involved. Characters with this Talent know how to get what they want when they want it. * Novice: Your bark is worse than your bite ** Practiced: You intimidate those smaller than you *** Competent: You make people think twice before acting **** Expert: You dont try; people just avoid pissing you off ***** Master: You scare vicious pit bulls ****** Legend: Demons themselves would quake in your presence Possessed by: Bullies, Executives, Military Officers, Bouncers, Gangsters, Gypsies Specialties: Physical Scariness, Grit, Bluffing, Implied Threats, Crudeness, Fearlessness, Commanding Voice, Overt Violence, Look Official, Condescending Leadership Marcia stood slowly and lifted the crystal wine glass in her hand. She spoke up, Heres to Blackwell. Were going to miss you, love. The sobs quieted a bit and all eyes turned to Marcia. She drank from her glass and licked the bitter fruit from her lips. Her gaze traveled from person to person, her own sorrow, sympathy and strength revealed openly. They all lifted their glasses and toasted. She waited until they had finished, then said, And now, we have to go on. The crisis isnt over, and we cant afford to lose anyone else. We have to stick together, work together and help each other. Its what Blackwell would have wanted. What should we do? Someone asked. Marcia replied simply, I have a plan. Some characters have a knack for taking the leadership role with others. They exude a certain quality that makes people follow their orders, listen when they speak and embrace their agendas. The Leadership Ability has more to do with Charisma than it does Manipulation. It represents those indefinable qualities of appearance, mannerisms, vocal tone and eye contact that makes one a leader. A high score in Leadership doesnt necessarily mean, however, that the character makes all the right decisions for her group, only that her people will follow her like lemmings off the edge of a cliff just because she seems to know what shes doing. With this Ability, she knows how to get them to obey orders and remain calm under stress. Leadership involves exerting a certain authority and setting a good example to those in your charge. Combined with Charisma and Manipulation, you may have significant power over others actions. * Novice: You can head a committee successfully ** Practiced: You can co-ordinate major projects or speak confidently at town meetings *** Competent: You can manage a profitable company or run for local government **** Expert: Have you considered candidacy for a national office ***** Master: You can change the course of human events, like Gandhi or Hitler ****** Legend: They tend to worship rather than follow you Possessed by: Politicians, Gang Leaders, Corporate Executives, Police, Military Officers, Chantry Heads, Elders, Faerie Nobles Specialties: Take Command, Sway Opinion, Oration, Gain Trust, Brainstorming, Expertise, Nobility, Friendly, Tense Situations, Commands, Dictatorial, Military, Noble
Streetwise A cigarette flared in the darkness. Andy moseyed that way. He pulled up beside the street rat and lit a cigarette of his own. "Hey," he greeted simply and received an equally taciturn reply. Blowing his smoke up into the night, Andy said, "Heard the Head's got a boner for yellow meat." "Yeah," grunted the grungy kid. "That's the word. Man's boy was stuffed in the grinder. Sushi." Andy nodded, "Ugly shit. Any green comin' down on it?" The kid huffed quietly, glancing down the alley. "Fuck yeah," he murmured. "Chitown gigolo moved in last night." The conversation turned into silent smoking, then Andy pushed away from the wall. "Gotta go,"he grunted. "Take it easy, man." He restrained his smile until he'dtumed the comer. So, he thought. Zephyr's hired a hit-man to go after Lu. This should get interesting. He tossed his cigarette into the gutter and hailed a cab. The streets have a language and a rhythm all their own. This Talent allows your character to fit in on the streets, gather information from the street rumor-mill and take advantage of other street resources. It gives your character the necessary knowledge and understanding to tap the black markets successfully, to stay safe and to blend with the people who belong to the street. * Novice: You're not trusted entirely, but you can talk to people ** Practiced: You're accepted, and you can find what you need eventually *** Competent: You know how to earn respect on the streets **** Expert: You blend with the gangs and the drug dealers ***** Master: You haven't heard it, it hasn't happened Possessed by: Homeless, Criminals, Reporters, Detectives, Vice Squad, Free-Clinic Doctors, Cultists of Ecstasy, Bartenders, Bookies, Gang Members Specialties: Rumors, Drugs, Gangs, Petty Theft, Local Slang, Weapons, Fencing Merchandise, Illegal Acquisition, Information, Local Area Knowledge Subterfuge "Are you lying to me?" Mary-Joan asked bluntly, straightening her jacket's satin collar. She looked up at the new apprentice, gauging him. How many times had she stood in this same situation! She knew about secrets. Everyone had them even the most distinguished Choristers. This "altar boy" hadn't learned the fine art of hiding his yet. "No, Lady," the young mage replied, averting his eyes. Mary-Joan decided to let him believe that he had hoodwinked her. She put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm glad to hear that," she lied back with a smile. "I think you have a bright future in the Choir." This Talent represents your character's ability to conceal her true motives and act in a manner completely different from how she truly feels. Usually, a character will use this Talent to manipulate people, to hide an emotion that would not be well-received or to fit in with those around her. The Subterfuge Ability also allows her to recognize when others are acting contrary to their own feelings or are pretending to do something for reasons other than their true motives. Characters with a high score in Subterfuge have a knack for secrets, double-dealing and intrigue. * ** *** **** ***** ****** Novice: You can pull off the occasional lie Practiced: You hide your true feelings well Competent: You put on a believable act Expert: You have no cracks in your performance Master: You're the last person anyone would ever suspect Legend: Theyll never know who Kaiser Zose is
Secondary Talents Acting Devon blinked up at the police officer, looking tired and confused. "I honestly don't know anything about it, officer," he said, a slight catch in his voice. "I've been driving/or four hours and I just want to get some sleep. I remember passing the place, but I didn't stop." The officer nodded slowly, not really expecting anything more out of a simple traveller. Nothing about the car looked suspicious, anyhow. "Move along, then." Devon nodded gratefully and pulled his car out. As he sped up on the freeway again, the fatigue fell away from his face. He certainty did know about the house that had burst into flames two miles up the road, but who could tell? Any spy alive knows how important it is to fool people, fake emotions or masquerade as someone else. This Talent reflects your ability to do all those things and more. You can invent a personality, memorize dialogue or divert someone's suspicions with improvisation. While Manipulation usually works best with this Trait, Charisma (an overwhelming personality) or Appearance (seductive good looks) may be more effective than simple deviousness. The play's the thing, so play with whatever tools work best! * Novice: Pamela Anderson Lee ** Practiced: Sarah Michelle Gellar *** Competent: Meryl Streep **** Expert: Richard Burton ***** Master: Human Chameleon ****** Legend: Theyd be fooled even if they read your mind Possessed by: Performers, Good Liars, Politicians, Spies, Clones, Wrestlers, Constructs, HIT Marks, Turncoats Specialities: Impersonation, Performances, Faked Emotions, TV, Stage, Improvisation, Comedy, Misdirection, Seduction Animal Empathy Animal Empathy is a Talent which measures a Characters innate ability to relate to animals. At lower levels of ability, the Character will be able to accurately gauge an animals disposition (i.e., angry, playful, hungry) and then act accordingly. With increasing ability, the Character can almost mystically commune with the animal to subtly change its behavior. * Novice: Been to the zoo ** Practiced: Loves pets *** Competence: Veteran mailman **** Expert: Animals best friend ***** Master: Lord of the Jungle Possessed by: Vets, Outdoors Types, Farmers, Naturalists Specialities: Domestic, Birds, Moods, Dogs Artist In the Renaissance, art reaches new heights of refinement and sophistication. This Talent reflects your innate gift, learned skill and a working knowledge of your craft. Creating works of art is time-consuming but, in this setting (Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade), its a sure way to win influence, fame and favours. (See: Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade, Dramatic Systems, Chapter VII.) With this Trait, you choose an artistic discipline and give your passion form. Each discipline must be taken separately; understanding sculpture wont help you sing. * Novice: Crude but talented ** Practiced: An adequate apprentice *** Competence: The average professional **** Expert: On commission from nobles, kings and clergy ***** Master: Michealangelo, Donatello, maybe even the Maestro himself Possessed by: Painters, Sculptors, Patrons, Dilettantes, Performers Specialities: Embroidery, Painting, Musical Composition, Sculpture, Poetry
Artistic Expression You have the talent to produce works of art in various media. You can produce saleable works of two- or three-dimensional art and understand something of the technical aspects of painting and sketches. You are able to sketch a reasonably accurate rendition of a place or person. * Novice: Because of its simplicity, your work is seen as charmingly nave by some and amateurish by others ** Practiced: Your work could win prizes at local art society shows *** Competent: You could get a showing at a minor gallery **** Expert: Your work is widely admired, and galleries contact you about mounting exhibitions. You are invited to teach at local art colleges ***** Master: You are acknowledged as a driving force in contemporary art. Your work commands enormous prices, and is found in art museums as well as private collections and galleries Possessed by: Artists, Commercial Illustrators, Cartoonists, Police Artists, Forgers, Special Effects Technicians, Woodworkers, Theatre and Movie Set Builders, Model Makers Specialities: Oils, Watercolors, Mixed Media, Charcoal, Sketching, Models, Abstract, Caricature, Lighting Artist, Impressionist, Photo-Realism, Metals, Kinetic, Wood, Miniatures, Stone, Resin, Classical, Decoration Assimilation You know how to project a sense of rightness, of fitting in; you can coax even the most isolated and narrow-minded of villagers into considering you one of their kind. Assimilation is often used in conjunction with Charisma. Its impact, however, may wear off almost immediately after a first impression this Talent differs from the Etiquette Skill or Culture Knowledge in that no real knowledge of local customs or procedures is given. Its advantage lies in its flexibility; someone able to blend in when in one context will likely be able to do the same in many different types of company. * Novice: You arent painfully conspicuous in a group of people somewhat different from those you grew up with, but at the same time arent entirely comfortable ** Practiced: Youve become accustomed to blending in with a few different types of people But try not to draw attention to yourself *** Competent: People take your presence largely for granted under widely varying circumstances **** Expert: You seem equally at home in a court or a cabbage patch ***** Master: You can insinuate yourself unobtrusively into strongly defined, cliquish groups ****** Legend: No one will ever dream of questioning your presence even in the most unlikely of settings Possessed by: Undercover Agents, Moles, Con Men Specialities: Innocuousness, Obliviousness, Escaping Notice Biorhythms (Restricted) As an introspective person, and as such enjoying similarity with your inner self, you have the ability to make changes in your metabolism and other bodily functions. These alterations may consist of small tweaks to such aspects of your physiology as body temperature useful in withstanding extremes of heat and cold or larger scale systems shutdowns that allow you to survive catastrophic circumstances, such as being trapped in a cave-in or buried under the snow after an avalanche. While someone must take two dots in this Talent to reflect their basic heritage, many may find this Ability incredibly useful in many circumstances. Advanced levels enable humans to fine-tune their metabolism so that nearly every part of their body comes under their conscious control. Practical applications include control of respiratory functions, pain management, fertility and blood circulation. This Talent may not be purchased by everyone, as per Storytellers discretion, and costs double normal to raise each additional level. Cannot be bought with freebie points during character generation. * Novice: You can make minor adjustments in internal body temperature and heart rate ** Practiced: You can mimic the process of hibernation by slowing down your metabolism *** Competent: You can exercise phenomenal control over your respiratory and involuntary muscle systems **** Expert: You can isolate single portions of your metabolism while leaving others untouched ***** Master: The most renowned yogis in the world have nothing on you; you can go as far as to stop your heart and start it again after a prolonged hiatus Possessed by: Gurahl, Gurahl-kin, bears, yogis Specialities: Breath Control, Circulatory System, Fasting, Fertility, Total System Shutdown
Carousing This is the ability to have a good time at a party or other social occasion, and to make sure others around you also have a good time. Normally, it involves a mixture of eating, drinking and good cheer. This Ability can be, therefore, used to determine how entertaining and popular your Character is at a party of event. * Novice: You can plead a small appetite or recent illness ** Practiced: Perhaps your watching your diet *** Competent: A charming dinner companion **** Expert: You obviously enjoyed the food ***** Master: You even called for seconds Possessed by: Actors, Dilettantes, College Students, Vampires Specialities: Sexual Innuendo, Lewd Jokes, Drinking, Exaggeration, Anecdotes Diplomacy You have the ability to deal with people of all types and creeds. Even when handling touchy subjects, you are able to get results without ruffling too many feathers. You are skilled at delicate negotiations and mediating disputes getting along with others without overt manipulation and without letting your own aims fall to the wayside. This Ability involves a knowledge of the formal rules of give-and-take, as well as the official cultural rules of conduct and politeness. * Novice: You can iron out schoolyard disputes ** Practiced: Friends ask you to deal with things for them *** Competent: You could shine in management or personnel **** Expert: You could be a professional union negotiator or ombudsman ***** Master: You can defuse nearly any situation, from an industrial dispute to a war Possessed by: Schoolteachers, Union Negotiators, Politicians, Tycoons, Diplomats, Personnel Officers, Counselors Specialities: Mediation, Negotiation, Etiquette, International Relations, Industry, Tact, Personal Relationships Diving While others huddle on ship or shore, you bravely descend into the depths of the sea. This is no mean feat without magick or apparatus, you will have no way to breath and vicious creatures often wait just below the waves. Perhaps youre seaside-bred, like a Nipponese ama or a Greek islander; or maybe you pursue an unusual trade, such as sponge-fishing or treasure-salvage. It could be that this is simply a sport you enjoy, also, although it could be that you have mysterious ancestry that grants you some affinity with the ocean. In any case, you have no fear of the sea. In game terms, this Talent allows you to swim underwater (see the Swimming Ability), hold your breath for some time without panicking and reckon such things as depth, current, diving time and the like. A Stamina + Diving roll allows you to dive to great depths without injury, so long as you can hold your breath or breath underwater; a Dexterity + Diving roll allows you to win free of strong currents; a Perception + Diving roll helps you to recognize such hazards as sea urchins, vicious fish, rip tides and the like. You must have at least one dot in Swimming or Athletics to purchase this Ability. * Novice: You can duck your head and swim without fright ** Practiced: In depths of up to 20 feet or so, you can dive with little trouble *** Competent: Full fathom five, you can descend, explore and arise again **** Expert: Assuming you can breath, there are few places you cant go ***** Master: A mermaids child, to be sure! Possessed by: Competitors, Shell-divers Specialities: Fishing, Retrieval, Strong Currents, Tropical Waters, Ship Sabotage
Elusion Youre a hard person to catch; whether in city, field or forest, you know how to make the most of hiding-places and obstacles. Anyone who wants to snare you had better take care. Although this Talent does not render you silent, invisible or untraceable, it allows you to use any concealment crowds, brambles, fog, et cetera to your best advantage. Assuming theres some cover to employ, a successful Wits + Elusion roll lets you slip away from pursuit at least for a moment. The Arcane Background adds to this dice pool, as it does for Stealth attempts. With a very good roll (four or more successes), the things that hide you begin to hinder your foes: crowds berate them, brambles ensnare them, fog cloaks holes in the ground, and so on. Although the hindering is beyond your control, a subtle magus could easily take advantage of it * Novice: In busy surroundings, you can duck from sight ** Practiced: You easily evade casual pursuit *** Competent: If theres concealment to be found, you can use it **** Expert: It takes a skilful hunter to track you ***** Master: A veritable fox! Possessed by: Guerrillas, Activists, Criminals, Spies, Commandos Specialities: Woodlands, Cities, Swamps, Mountains, Fields, Misdirection Fortune Telling You may not have the gift to tell accurate fortunes, but you can make people believe you do. This Ability may prove useful as a plot device or as a means for the Character to earn some money. * Novice: You are able to use one method of divination adequately, and you treat this Ability as a pastime ** Practiced: You can use one method of fortune telling well, and can tell someone the kind of general information that will apply to them *** Competent: You know a lot about certain methods of fortune telling and can tell anyone detailed information that will apply to them **** Expert: You are able to use multiple methods well, and have a keen understanding of what people want to hear ***** Master: Gypsies take lessons from you Possessed by: Gypsies, New Agers, Psychics, Professional Fortune Tellers Specialities: Tarot Cards, Prophecy, Romance, Palmistry, Runes, I Ching, Death, Entrails
Grace This is the Ability to function smoothly in a social setting. Gossiping, cutting deals in the halls of power, making a good first impression, etc, are all aspects of Grace. Graceless Characters may be boorish, introverted or under-socialized; conversely, Character with high Grace ratings get along with people in any crowd and often have high ratings in the Contacts Background. * Novice: Debutante ** Practiced: Senator *** Competent: Hollywood celebrity **** Expert: Public relations director ***** Master: Vampire Prince Possessed by: Socialites, Spies, Diplomats Specialities: First Impressions, Gossip, Rumor Control, Schemes, Veiled Threats, Innuendo
Haggling You are skilled at bargaining and can reduce anothers price, or get some concession, under most circumstances. To bargain, make an opposed roll using your Manipulation + Haggling against the other Characters Wits + Haggling (or Wits + Alertness). Each net success you score increases the Characters offer by five percent if you are selling, or reduces the price accordingly if you are buying. Failure means that the price does not budge. A botch angers the other Character, driving her away in disgust or worsening their offer by 50 percent, or something else, at the Storytellers discretion. * Novice: Bargain Hunter ** Practiced: Market trader *** Competent: Horse trader **** Expert: Con artist ***** Master: Marco Polo Possessed by: Traders, Con Artists Specialities: Art, Weapons, Automobiles, Contracts, Advanced Technology, Services Homiletics You can give persuasive homiletics, and inspirational sermons. You can manage to turn almost any daily event into a life-enriching experience with many lessons to learn. This can be used from the pulpit, from a street corner, or even at the local bar; the audience can be a congregation or a circle of friends. * Novice: You can retell a good homily once heard ** Practiced: You can construct a small sermon of your own *** Competent: You can do this every week if you have to **** Expert: You actually make people listen ***** Master: You have changed lives Possessed by: Priests, Ministers, Motivational Speakers Specialities: Proverbs, True Stories, Biblical Allusions
Instruction With Instruction, you can teach subjects in ways that let others learn easily and well. Though you can never raise a students rating above your own, this Talent allows you to teach others your Skills and Knowledges. For instance, if you have four dots in the Computer Knowledge, you may teach a student up to four dots in this Knowledge as well. To determine the time and energy it takes to teach a particular skill, roll your Manipulation + Instruction against a difficulty of 11 minus the students Intelligence. One roll may be made per month of teaching. The number of successes is the number of experience points the student can apply towards that skill. Peter Kobie, for example, tries to teach his fellow Chantry member Clarissa Ryan about rudimentary first aid (Medicine) so he wont be the only one who can bandage people after a fight. Though squeamish, Clarissa is bright and willing to learn (Intelligence 3); the base difficulty for Peters roll is 11 minus Clarissas Intelligence (3) = 8. Peter rolls his Instruction and Manipulation, a total of six dice. With three successes, Clarissa can now dedicate three experience points to purchasing a dot in Medicine. Sometimes, a student may become discourage and distracted from their studies with various interruptions. In this case, she may have to spend a Willpower point (at the Storytellers discretion) to continue learning. With a lot of stops and starts, the student will have to burn an awful lot of Willpower. Likewise, the teach may decide to withdraw his services if the student doesnt seem to be progressing. Without approval from the Storyteller, Talents like Awareness and Empathy cannot generally be taught; they are inborn and only learnt the hard way. * Novice: You can present simple concepts, such as multiplication ** Practiced: You can teach moderately complex subjects like physics *** Competent: You can teach anything you know to a college-level of competency **** Expert: Learning from you is a pleasure; you make advanced calculus and ancient languages easily accessible ***** Master: Youre a teacher who always inspires your pupils, endowing them with a deep and true understanding of what you instruct Possessed by: Mentors, Teachers, Do Masters, Professors, People From All Walks Of Life, Elders Specialities: Any one Skill or Knowledge, Tradition Practices, Basic Education, Specific Subjects (History, Law, Statistics, etc), University, Sciences, Arts, Customs & Laws Interrogation Though only a single light illuminated the room, Yong's every step was precise. The prisoner in the chair tried not to acknowledge her presence, but his eyes flicked toward her nevertheless .As Yong dosed the door behind her, Room 101 grew darker still; the single light dimmed briefly, and the silence became complete. "Now," said Yong, sitting in a simple folding chair across from the prisoner, "You've been most uncooperative over the last two days, but we've managed to find your friends anyway. We don't need you anymore, but there's just one little thing I want to know...." Inwardly, Yong smiled as the broken, defeated man finally told her what she had been prying at for days. You are able to extract information from people by fair means or foul. Using a mixture of threats, trickery and persistent questioning, you ultimately unearth the truth. We want information... and you know how to get it. Your methods range from fast talk to threats and psychological warfare. In game terms, you roll your Manipulation + Interrogation to break a subject. Some methods work better than others with certain subjects, so define what you're doing and how before making the roll. The difficulty is usually equal to the subject's current Willpower rating, although subtle methods (simply talking rings around your subject until he accidentally lets the information drop) may require a simple difficulty 7 roll. Why break bones if you don't have to? (For raw force techniques, see Torture.) * Novice: Nosy neighbor. ** Practiced: Beat cop. *** Competent: Detective. **** Expert: Investigative reporter. ***** Master: Section One's Madeline. Possessed by: Cops, Journalists, Secret Service Personnel, Inquisitors, Men in Black, PsychOps, Syndicate Members of all kinds Specialities: Trickery, Double-Talk, Good Cop/Bad Cop, Implied Questions, Threats, Bribes, Subtle, Moral Blackmail, "We Already Know..."
Intrigue You know the finer points of plotting and deal-making in the halls of power. You understand the practical use of power (in sometimes threatening but always non-confrontational ways) to achieve your own ends. This Talent also allows you to separate truth from the endless amounts of false and useless gossip and to glean important facts about others in your social circle. * Novice: You have begun to realize different methods of power ** Practiced: Most people know better than to cross you *** Competent: With skills like these, you should be in office **** Expert: You make a formidable opponent ***** Master: Give em enough rope Possessed by: Elders and Elder wannabes, politicians, Chantry Masters, Technocracy Symposium regulars Specialities: Gossiping, Feigning Ignorance, Threats, Plotting, Rumor-Mongering, Alliances, Betrayals Intuition Your hunches are good, and youve come to trust them. Sometimes, you cant explain why you know something or how you jump from a jumbled set of facts to a brilliant conclusion, but this Talent has served you well. Intuition reflects your aptitude for good guessing and having gut feelings. This Talent is not a psychic ability, but rather an inborn "sixth sense for making leaps of logic and connections. Intuition may let the character know whether or not someone is lying or allow her to pick up on a lead to a puzzle from a seemingly minute set of clues. Intuition is also an excellent tool for Storytellers to convey information to the players. * Novice: Your instincts often put you on the right trail ** Practiced: Youve learnt to always follow your first answer *** Competent: You know when somethings afoot **** Expert: Not only do you know when somethings wrong, but also where to go to find out who is responsible ***** Master: Your insights are so sudden and precise that you often scare yourself Possessed by: Fortunetellers, Gamblers, Entrepreneurs, Bodyguards Specialities: Horse Races, Ambushes, Dice, Honesty
Invention You have a knack for creating things engines, clockworks, strange devices, etc. An Intelligence + Invention roll allows you to design new and wondrous objects which surpass anything invented previously although building the latest hovering robot or whatever is another thing entirely. This Talent draws both admiration and suspicion; after all, no man can be too innovative without attracting a reputation and trouble * Novice: A few of your blueprints look promising ** Practiced: Hmm That might just work *** Competent: When constructed, your devices tend to function **** Expert: Others come to you for advice and inspiration ***** Master: You are the new Da Vinci or Edison Possessed by: Technocrats, Mad Geniuses Specialities: Weaponry, Vehicles, Laborsaving Devices, Robotic, Electronics, Toys
Larceny You know how to steal. No mean feat in a paranoid world filled with electronic tills, CCTV and security guards. Since criminals often stick together, you probably know others of your kind, and understand their shady ways. The streets make sense to you, and you know how to find the lairs of thieves. A character with Larceny tends to blend in with the underside of society, and knows a few tricks of the trade purse-cutting, beggary, mugging and pocket-picking. Many shady activities can be reflected with a simple Attribute + Larceny roll. Cutting a purse? Dexterity + Larceny. Bluffing a mark? Manipulation + Larceny. Locating a hidden safe? Perception + Larceny. Most such tasks have a difficulty of 7 or 8. Some are easier, some are harder * Novice: Lowlife ** Practiced: One of the streets urchins *** Competent: Gypsy **** Expert: A seasoned and surviving member of the underworld aristocracy ***** Master: King of Thieves! ****** Legend: You could borrow the Queens eye-teeth Possessed by: Criminals, Con Artists, Beggars, Grifters, Gypsies, Hustlers Specialities: Street Slang, Spying, Trickery, Forgeries, Criminal Underground Logic Debate is another form of fencing; in its own way, logic is more powerful than a blade. You excel with this particular weapon, wrapping your opponents in conundrum and obscure facts. An innate faculty for reason and counter-point makes your arguments hard to refute. In the end, your rhetoric may lay the foundations for the future. * Novice: You could win a family quarrel ** Practiced: People have a hard time contradicting you *** Competent: Youve studied the techniques of formal debate **** Expert: Socrates would have his hands full ***** Master: Facts are putty and reason is your potters wheel Possessed by: Orators, Theologians, Philosophers, Writers, Council Founders Specialities: Scriptures, Classics, Morality, Art, Science, Metaphysics, Magick, Public Debate, Dissembling, Trickery, Emotional Appeals, Traps Lucid Dreaming (Restricted) You are the master of your own dreams and visions. At lower levels, you have some control of dream recall and initiation. At greater levels, you can attempt to gain conscious awareness during any of your dreams with a Perception + Lucid Dreaming roll (difficulty 9). Success allows you to consciously control your own actions; you can even try to manipulate your immediate dream surroundings (difficulty 6+). This Talent can also be used while in trances or while meditating: it allows you to enter the borderlands between waking and dreaming, where reality and phantasms intermingle. This is a useful tool in puzzling through riddles which youre trying to solve, understanding visions, etc. * Novice: You can try to remember with detail and clarity a previous dream ** Practiced: You can try to bring about a dream of your own choosing *** Competent: You have limited control over your own dreams **** Expert: Your dreams are familiar territory to you, and frequent them for subconscious understanding and advice from your inner self ***** Master: You know the byways of the dreaming, which sometimes seem more real than the waking world Possessed by: Shaman, Dream Researchers, Idiot Savants, Artists, Latent Psychics Specialities: Dream Control, Waking From Nightmares, Visionquesting, Combat
Mimicry You have a versatile voice, and can imitate accents, people and sometimes other sounds. You may use this Ability to entertain, or to deceive. With enough talent, almost any sort of sound can be created the larynx is an amazingly flexible organ * Novice: You can duplicate a few accents and do impressions of a few famous personalities ** Practiced: You can duplicate a range of accents well enough to fool just about anyone but a native speaker, and can convincingly imitate a range of celebrities and others *** Competent: You could do this on stage. You are easily capable of an increasingly wide range of accents and celebrity impressions. You can pick up someones vocal mannerisms by studying them for a couple of hours, and subsequently imitate them well enough to fool someone who doesnt know the person all that well. You can imitate birdcalls and some other sounds **** Expert: You can imitate a specific person well enough to fool someone over the phone, and pass as a native speaker in an accent similar to your own. You can duplicate a range of animal and technological noises ***** Master: There is almost no accent, person or noise you cant imitate Possessed by: Entertainers, Con Artists, Pranksters, Bird Callers Specialities: Accents, Celebrities, Birds And Animals, Mechanical Sounds, Vocal Impersonation Musician In your hands, a piece of shaped wood and gut becomes the voice of an angel. You might not be able to sing with your own voice thats a separate Ability but you can put your emotions into song with a variety of instruments. This Ability represents more than just the ability to strum a fretboard or blow on a flute; other folk might be able to play pleasing sounds, but you create music. * Novice: You can play one instrument without embarrassment ** Practiced: Youre always in the jam down at your local *** Competent: People pay to hear you, and you are conversant with a number of instruments **** Expert: Crowded venues hush to hear you play ***** Master: When people speak of bards, your name is on their lips Possessed by: Entertainers Specialities: Flutes, Guitar, The Blues, Jazz, Percussion, Keyboards, Jamming, Sacred Music Negotiation Mark shook his head, tired of the troublesome quarrel. "Look, both sides benefit from this. If we share our resources, we can avoid disputes, and we both get what we want. Face it: those Black Hats will be back. Why should we have multiple enemies when one is more than enough? I'm not asking for your help or for you to risk anything. I'm just asking that we set aside our problems, because we've both got bigger ones." The other man looked unconvinced for a minute, but finally nodded his assent. Mark smiled inwardly, thinking, "Barnum, eat your heart out." You know the art of the deal. Whether you're fixing a sticky labor dispute, striking a pact with someone or convincing some blue-painted retropagan to join the 21st century, you can get what you want while making your "partners" feel as though they've gotten the best of you. There's more to a good deal than just making an offer: You know how to approach a "partner," how to appeal to her wants or needs, how to play up to her vanity without coming off like a sap and when and how to put the screws on. If you're brokering a deal for other parties, you understand how to make them both happy while getting what you want. That, ultimately, is the bottom line. * Novice: Trading card collector ** Practiced: Family counselor *** Competent: Labor negotiator **** Expert: Hostage crisis specialist ***** Master: UN diplomat Possessed by: Diplomats, Men in Grey, Politicians, Spin Doctors, Managers, Syndicate Agents of all kinds Specialities: Hostages, Business, Bullying, Wheedling, Families, Politics, Trickery
Newspeak "Absolutely counter logical," Kris spouted. "A forwarded metaphase makes much more sense. Jump your cuejuncts for masshappy." The middle-aged corporate executive, completely lost in the babble, blinked twice before finally demanding, "What are you talking about? 1 pay you to consult, not to blither like Max Headroom." Kris grinned. "If you can't get with the language, you can't get with the times. If you can't get with the times, you can't get with the market. Miss the Newport and you'll be left in the dust. Sir, with my help you can capture all the profits." A new age demands new words. You specialize in coining them. Hyphens do not exist in your world; you spread disinformation, deimportantise malefactors, create credibility gaps and declare coprosperity. When the need arises, you specialize in B-52ing buzzwords and positroning soundbites for media conspicuscomp. Confusing? Not as confusing as you can be once you get going! A Social Trait-based Newspeak roll can excite or incite (Charisma + Newspeak); impress, intimidate or confuse (Manipulation + Newspeak) and even sucker skeptics by playing beauty and brains against them (Appearance + Newspeak). All hail neocom! * Novice: Given time, you can spin out buzzwords ** Practiced: In a situation, youre a flash communicator *** Competent: Your neologic metaphases into masscom **** Expert: Masspeak is you speak. You speak is alls peak ***** Master: You could make Orwells head explode Possessed by: Futurists, Reporters, Spin Doctors, Politicians, PR Consultants, Writers, Satirists Specialities: Spin Control, Neologic, Disinformation, Buzzwords, Techspeak, Malapropisms, Slogans
Panhandling You are a skilled beggar. You are able to get people to give you money just by asking for it. The art of panhandling is performed through a subtle blend of Manipulation, Empathy, Intimidation, Streetwise and Subterfuge. You know whom to ask, how to approach them, what to say, and how to avoid police. This is a useful Talent for picking up quick cash or for creating cover. * Novice: You can tell a good hard-luck story ** Practiced: You can gain sympathy from most people *** Competent: Real smooth. You can hit even the hardhearted for a few bucks **** Expert: People want to take you home and feed and clothe you ***** Master: You can get whatever you want (within reason) for free Possessed by: Street People, Addicts, Drifters, Professional Beggars Specialities: The Rack, Yuppies, Sob Stories, Targeting Persuasion This Trait represents your character's ability to win others over to her way of thinking. The method used may involve subtle mental and emotional seduction or even outright begging, pleading and cajoling. People with high Persuasion ratings tend to be natural leaders and advocates. * ** *** **** ***** Novice: You can be convincing through a concentrated effort Practiced: You pinpoint the hole in another's position Competent: A professional debater, you are always on top of any argument Expert: You make others feel guilty for even disagreeing with you Master: You say "Jump," and they say, "How high!"
Possessed by: Businesspeople, Demagogue, Orators, Politicians, Protesters, Visionaries Specialities: Emotional Appeal, Fast-Talk, Guilt, Logic, Sympathy, Wordplay
Poetic Expression You are able to craft words in ways that evoke thoughts, emotions and reactions from those who read them. You can compose pleasing poetry in one or more styles, create short and long fiction, write essays, reviews and editorials, and invent advertising jingles. It is rare for one person to be skilled at more than one specialty at one time, so choose carefully. * Novice: You can write a short poem and extemporize a limerick or couplet when the Muse is with you. A short story is not out of your reach ** Practiced: You could publish your poetry or fiction in a local journal, or write basic hit-parade lyrics. You can extemporize simple abab- and aabb-type quatrains *** Competent: You could get your novel or anthologies of your work published and make a profit. You can extemporize more complex verse forms, and even make blank verse sound like poetry **** Expert: You are asked to do readings of your work for local societies nationwide, and aficionados snap up your works as soon as they are published. You can write lyrics that people will be quoting in 10 years time, and extemporize iambic pentameters without thinking about it ***** Master: Your work is already being taught in English classes, and you are being recognized as one of the foremost writers of your day. Your lyrics are timeless, and you can extemporize in any form and any style Possessed by: Poets, Lyricists, Novelists, Journalists, Advertising Execs, Entertainers, English Teachers, Rappers Specialities: Limericks, Short Fiction, Novel, Scripts, Classical Forms, Lyric Writing, Extemporaneous, Jingles, Blank Verse, Deathless Art
Public Speaking You are able to mould the emotions of a crowd by making a speech. This might be at a political rally, in a courtroom, at a lecture or even at the barricades once the revolution is underway. Whatever you want your audience to feel is what it feels. * Novice: Entertaining speaker ** Practiced: Compelling speaker *** Competent: Inspiring speaker **** Expert: Popular champion ***** Master: Churchill or Hitler Possessed by: Politicians, Revolutionaries, Actors, Professors Specialities: Entertaining, Moving, Demagoguery, Vote-Catching, Lies Scan You are practiced at noticing small details and changes in the environment when you purposefully look at or listen to what is going on around you. This Ability can only be used when you specifically say you are attempting to notice if anything is amiss if you arent concentrating, this Ability will do you no good. * Novice: If anyone notices the police sirens, its you ** Practiced: The police could use your detective abilities *** Competent: The slightest motion draws your attention **** Expert: Nothing escapes your glance ***** Master: You can count the grains of salt on a pretzel by taste Possessed by: Detectives, GIs, FBI agents, Bodyguards, Night Watchmen Specialities: Keeping Watch, Quick Scan, Listening, Smelling, Assassins
Scrounging You have a knack for finding almost anything, under almost any circumstances. The masters of your craft can find a hot spring at the North Pole, or a mainframe computer in the heart of the Amazon Jungle, if necessary. In the city, you know where to find almost any kind of item and service, with no questions asked. It is amazing what you can find in dumpsters. * Novice: You can find basic equipment and services, such as drugs, illegal weapons and hired thugs ** Practiced: You can get hold of a vehicle, a forge passport or a skilled wiretapper *** Competent: You can find an aircraft and pilot or a hitman at an hours notice **** Expert: You can find state-of-the-art military hardware, any vehicle you desire and services better imagined than described ***** Master: You can probably find a rent-controlled apartment overlooking Central Park for $100 a month Possessed by: Criminals, Intelligence Operatives, Entrepreneurs, Nosferatu Specialities: Illegal Goods, Vehicles, Services, Art, Technical Equipment Search You know how best to go about looking for someone or something in a small area, where you can concentrate your perceptions. You can search for anything from a lost ring in your bedroom to the assassin who is hiding in the garden. * Novice: You are good at finding lost items ** Practiced: Tell-tale signs (e.g. broken plants) are apparent to you *** Competent: You know where to look **** Expert: Nothing escapes your glance ***** Master: You can spot the Purloined Letter in two seconds flat Possessed by: Detectives, Maids, Policemen, Prison Guards Specialities: Sounds, Woodwork, Small Objects, People, Concealed Doors Seduction You know how to lure, attract and command the attention of others in a sexual manner. By the way you hold yourself, how you look at someone and even by the tone of your voice, you are able to arouse and excite those upon whom you practice wiles. Once you have fully seduced someone, they will be willing to do nearly anything for you. * ** *** **** ***** Novice: Teenager Practiced: Mrs Robinson Competent: Heart-throb Expert: Movie star Master: Porn Star
Possessed by: Thespians, Escorts, Strippers, Good-for-nothing Men, Progenitor Glamour Traps, Cultists of Ecstasy Specialities: Witty Conversation, Opening Line, Innuendo, Alluring Look Sense Deception Over the years, you have developed the ability to know instinctively when people are not telling you the truth or not telling you the whole truth. There is a way they look, a tone of voice, a movement of the eyes you cant analyze it, but its always there and your instincts rarely let you down. * Novice: Sometimes you can tell, but you still get suckered though less than Joe Average ** Practiced: It takes a silver tongue to pull the wool over your eyes *** Competent: Anyone who can slip one past you is a highly skilled con artist **** Expert: You could make a living screening people for security ***** Master: People whisper behind your back, and many are nervous talking to you. Your ability is almost supernatural Possessed by: Bodyguards, Reporters, Interrogators, Security Personnel, Detectives, Mothers Specialities: Interviews, Investigative, Court-room, Technical (e.g., polygraphs)
Singing You can sing over a wide range, with a variety of styles and techniques. Singing is an extremely lucrative and popular Ability in the modern age. Though most singers are amateurs, others make enormous amounts of money. * Novice: You stand out when the family gathers around the piano ** Practiced: You could get lead roles with local amateur societies, or become a lead singer with a garage band *** Competent: You could get a choral part on the professional stage, or get a recording contract **** Expert: You could get a lead on Broadway or a record in the charts ***** Master: Theyll be playing your CDs 20 years from now Possessed by: Celestial Choristers, Performers, Travelling Players, Entertainers Specialities: Opera, Easy Listening, Rock, Church, Musicals Spiritual Alertness (Restricted) You are aware of the spiritual world around you, even if you cannot see it directly. Most people have this talent to some degree or other: when a ghost touches them, they feel a chill run down their spine or suddenly have the strange feeling they are being watched. Spiritual Alertness enhances this effect so that the individual can, without actually seeing the Underworld, distinguish spiritual sensations. This Talent differs from Awareness in that those who possess it are specifically aware of the presence of ghost, and not of occult or supernatural things in general. Note that to you, wraiths and spectres might be good or evil ghosts respectively, positively or negatively charged spiritual energy, or whatever concept is most appropriate to your world view. Take some time to think about what kind of Spiritual Alertness your character would possess. * Novice: You do not have to be touched by a ghost to feel its presence ** Practiced: You can sense whether or not there is more than one ghost around you *** Competent: You can distinguish between wraiths and spectres if they are touching you **** Expert: You can distinguish between wraiths and spectres if they are nearby ***** Master: You can sense a spiritual trap lying in wait Possessed by: Ghosthunters, Field Researchers, Channellers Specialities: Powerful Wraiths, Malfeans, Barghests Style You may not have been born good-looking, or possessed of natural charm, but you know how to dress and make the most of your appearance. Even if you are not physically attractive, heads turn because of your dress sense and style. Note that this Ability only applies to peoples reaction to your appearance; once you get closer, its up to you. * Novice: Good taste ** Practiced: Socialite *** Competent: Celebrity **** Expert: Celebrity advisor ***** Master: International model Possessed by: Socialites, Celebrities, Fashion Professionals, the Gifted Few Specialities: Classic, High Fashion, Street Fashion, Retro, Ethnic Swimming You are able to swim at least enough to keep yourself afloat, and maybe a little more. Perhaps you compete, or it is just part of your vocation; whatever the case, you need fear waterbound dangers far less than the average person. * Novice: You can swim ** Practiced: You can swim fast, or for extended periods *** Competent: Instructor or lifeguard **** Expert: Swim team ***** Master: Olympic gold Possessed by: Athletes, Lifeguards, almost anyone Specialities: Racing, Distance, Sea, Survival, Lifesaving
Throwing You know how to throw things in general, and how to turn this Ability to the use of various types of thrown weapons anything from spears to hatchets to knives to baseballs. Yes, if thrown hard enough, they make as good a weapon as a rock! * Novice: You sometimes get the ball over the home plate ** Practiced: High School baseball pitcher *** Competent: You are deadly even in a food fight **** Expert: Bruce Jenner with a javelin ***** Master: Tom Glavine Possessed by: Hobby Enthusiasts, Competitors Specialities: Forests, Target, Hunting, Moving Targets, Sports Trick This is a talent for tomfoolery. Everyone from jesters to con men utilize the Trick Talent to ply their trade. It measures a characters general ability to pull off stunts of deception, and more specifically governs such things as keeping a poker face, lying convincingly, and knowing how to set up physical props and/or people to pull off such stunts. * Novice: Prankster ** Practiced: Good for winning bar bets *** Competent: Grifter **** Expert: Con Man ***** Master: Professional Sting Man Possessed by: Comedians, Tricksters, Con Men, Class Clown Specialities: Sting, Blag, Practical Jokes, Clowning, Innocent, The Set-Up Ventriloquism You have the ability to throw your voice, making it appear to come from somewhere else. This Ability can be used for entertainment or deception. * Novice: You could do a ventriloquist act at a childrens party ** Practiced: You could get a spot with a local amateur vaudeville club. You can make someone standing next to you appear to speak *** Competent: You could almost make a living from your talent, with the odd TV variety show breaking up the round of cheap clubs and theatres. You can make someone or something within five yards of you appear to speak **** Expert: You could take your act to Vegas, and make your voice appear to come from any spot within 30 feet of you ***** Master: Young hopefuls bombard you with questions, and Variety calls you the saviour of a lost vaudeville art. You can make your voice appear to come from anywhere in earshot Possessed by: Entertainers, Con Artists, some Mediums Specialities: Distance, Clarity, Dummy, Inanimate Objects (e.g., radio)
Skills
Skills include those things your character has learned through training and practice. Usually, they involve some sort of physical interaction with a tool or the use of a learned method. These Traits require a conscious effort and practice to improve and also require your character to have undertaken some formal training in the area. If your character attempts an action involving a Skill in which she has no points, then your Storyteller may allow you to roll with a dice pool made up of the appropriate Attribute alone but she increases the difficulty number by one; your lack of practice and expertise hinders your success. Skills: Acrobatics VP2 VGC KOE MBoS CPG Animal Training VP2 MBoS Biotech MGT Blood Preparation VBH Body Alteration VPGS Bribery VP2 Climbing VP2 MBoS CPG Dancing VP2 MBoS CPG Disguise VP2 MBoS CtD Wto2 CPG Drinking WoDG Escapology VP2 MBoS CPG Fast-draw VP2 MBoS CPG Fire Dancing VGS First Aid VP2 MBoS CPG Fortune-telling WoDG/td> Gunsmithing VP2 MBoS CPG Herbalism VP2 Hypertech MGT Jetpack MGT Jury-rig MGT Lip Reading VP2 Mechanic VP2 CPG Melee Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Music Vtm2 Parachuting VP2 Pickpocket VP2 CPG Portents KOE Repair Vtm2 CtD Wto2 Scribing Mum2 Singing VP2 MBoS CPG Snake Charming VPGS Stealth Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Swimming MBoS CPG Throwing CPG Tracking VP2 MBoS CPG Ancient Weapons Wto2 Archery VP2 MBoS CtD Wto2 CPG Blacksmith VP2 CPG Boating Vtm2 CtD Wto2 Brewing/Distilling VP2 CPG Camouflage VP2 VGC MBoS CPG Cooking Vtm2 VP2 Wto2 CPG Debate VP2 Diversion WoDG Drive Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Etiquette Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Fast-talk VP2 MBoS CPG Fire Eating VPGS Fishing VP2 Gambling VP2 MBoS CPG Heavy Weaponry VP2 MBoS Wto2 High Ritual MBoS Hypnotism VP2 MBoS CPG Jeweler VP2 CPG Leadership Mum2 Mta2 CtD Mto2 Lockpicking VP2 MBoS CPG Medieval Weapons Wto2 Microgravity Operations MGT Networking MGT Performance KOE Mum2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Piloting Vtm2 VP2 MBoS MGT CtD CPG Pottery VP2 Research VP2 Mta2 WoDS Scuba VP2 Skiing VP2 Speed Reading VP2 MBoS Storytelling WoDG CPG The Talith WoDG Tightrope Walking VPGS Traps VP2 MBoS CPG Animal Ken Vtm2 Vtm3 CPG Artillery VP2 Blind Fighting VP2 MBoS VPGS CPG Boat Handling VP2 Bujo WoDG Carpentry VP2 CPG Crafts KOE Mum2 MBoS Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Demolitions VP2 MBoS Do Mta2 MBoS Energy Weapons MGT Falconry VP2 CPG Firearms Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Fire Walking VPGS Forgery VP2 Game Playing VP2 CPG Helmsman MGT Hunting VP2 VGC MBoS CPG Interrogation MGT Journalism VP2 Leatherworking VP2 CPG Martial Arts KOE Meditation VP2 KOE Mum2 Mta2 Wto2 Misdirection MBoS Painting Vtm2 Photography VP2 Police Procedure VP2 Psychoanalysis VP2 MBoS CPG Ride VP2 MBoS CPG Security Vtm2 Mum2 Vtm3 MGT CtD Sleight of Hand VP2 CPG Soulforging Wto2 Survival Vtm2 Mum2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Technology Mta2 Torture VP2 KOE MBoS VPGS MGT CPG Vamp VGS
Animal Ken You possess an affinity with the beasts of field and farm. While others struggle with, or fear, animals you train or befriend them with ease. This gift may come from a natural talent or from hard-won training, and may even extend to forms of mythic beasts as well. Characters skilled in Animal Ken can not only predict the actions of animals, but can calm or enrage them. * Novice: You can befriend domesticated animals ** Practiced: You can teach a dog or horse some simple tricks *** Competent: Professional animal trainer **** Expert: Wild beasts obey your commands ***** Master: Saint Francis ****** Legend: You are one with Gods creatures Possessed by: Animal Trainers, Zookeepers, Nature Lovers, Hunters Specialities: Dogs, Cats, Farm Animals, Bears, Parrots, Horses, Cats, Small Forest Creatures Crafts The machinery in the workroom whirred and buzzed. Unlike most people, Rafter needed the background noise to think and to create. She ran her hand down the smooth surface of the steel plate, sensing every minute warp and imperfection. "How would you like to be immortal?" she muttered absently to the piece. "I hope you're ready, baby, I'm gonna give you wings to fly." She flipped down the face-plate of her mask and fired up her blowtorch. The first stage of her greatest masterpiece had begun. The Crafts Skill includes anything related to working with your hands, such as engine repair, electronics, plumbing, carpentry and the creative arts. Your character can even create a lasting work of art with enough successes. If you put points in Crafts for your character, then you must choose a Speciality for her, even though you won't get any roll bonuses until you have four dots in it. Because this Skill encompasses so much, the Speciality helps you define exactly what your character has learned. * Novice: You can handle the simplest projects ** Practiced: You know little tricks to improve your work *** Competent: You make things others want to buy **** Expert: You amaze people with your work ***** Master: Your artistry sets you apart from the mainstream Possessed by: Mechanics, Artisans, Artists, Designers, Inventors, Quakers, Sons of Ether Specialities: Home Repair, Vehicle Repair, Clothing, Appraisal, Pottery, Watercolors, Carving, Carpentry, Leatherworking, Machinery, Sculpture, Woodcarving, Sewing, Swordsmithing, Engraving, Flaying Drive When faced with a choice between a brick wall, a narrow alley and a car full of armed gunmen, Missy chose the narrow alley. "Just like threading a needle," she reassured herself as she guided the speeding car into the tight passageway. Sparks flew past her window as the left-front panel scraped against hard stone. Missy kept her eyes straight ahead and prayed there weren't any dumpsters or children waiting to leap into the beams of her headlights. Finally, she saw the end of the tunnel, so to speak. The alley opened onto a parking lot. Just as she sped out into open space, she heard the crash and crunch of metal on stone behind her. Glancing in her rearview mirror, she spied the gunmen's vehicle wedged askew in the alley. During the leisurely drive home, she debated what kind of car she wanted to buy next. Although a character can usually handle a car without specialized training, it takes some level of the Drive Skill to handle a car in dangerous situations, tough terrain or really nasty traffic. The higher your character's Drive score, the more expertise she has with different driving conditions as well as different kinds of vehicles. You should establish with your Storyteller what kind of experience your character has, because a person skilled at riding a motorcycle may not have the first clue about driving 18-wheelers. * Novice: You can drive an automatic transmission ** Practiced: You can drive a stick and handle rush hour in New York *** Competent: You're as good as a professional chauffeur **** Expert: You could be a stunt driver ***** Master: You and your Porsche share one mind Possessed by: Cabbies, Truckers, Chauffeurs, Racers, Bikers, Bus Drivers, Cops, Drug Runners Specialities: Off-road, Motorcycle, Fancy Manoeuvring, Losing Tails, Sudden Stops, Skids, Curves, Evasion, Speed, Stunts, Traffic
Etiquette "So there I was, man, up to my eyeballs in Paradox and these freaky spirit things were closin' in." Brandon gestured with the pipe in his hand. Things seemed to be going well. His new friends had gone silent, listening to his story. They all stared at him through their drug-induced hazes expectantly. Brandon opened his mouth to continue the story, but someone interrupted. "Dude," the Cultist named Blue said, "you gonna hog that bowl all night! Pass it on!" Brandon blushed all the way to the roots of his hair and handed the pipe to the girl on his left. "Sorry," he uttered. Someone else jumped in, "Did I ever tell you guys about the time..." Etiquette gives your character the knowledge and grace she needs to do all the right things. This Ability helps your character when she's trying to impress others, fit in unobtrusively, be diplomatic or haggle. A character with a high score in Etiquette understands the nuances of proper behavior in both mortal and mage society. You may choose a Speciality for her that represents the culture with which she's most familiar. * Novice: You manage to stay out of people's way ** Practiced: You know some of the lingo and don't insult anyone *** Competent: You impress others with your ability to blend **** Expert: You're the epitome of tactfulness ***** Master: You'd make others feel like oafs in your shadow, but you're too smooth to let someone feel that bad around you Possessed by: Diplomats, Debutantes, Leaders, Celestial Choristers, Hermetics, The Idle Rich, Nobles, Dilettantes, Courtesans, Executives Specialities: Street Culture, High Society, Boardrooms, Mage Society, Particular supernatural faction (Eshu, Ventrue, Fianna, etc.), Soirees, Seductions, Dining
Firearms Nothing happened. Reny pulled on the trigger again, but still nothing. He stared down at the gun in his hand as if it were an alien. Susan reached over and efficiently flipped off the pistol's safety. "Try it now," she said with a chuckle. "Like this." She raised her gun and aimed it at the target. Boom! Boom! Boom! In three quick shots, the paper man had a neat, tight shamrock in the middle of his face. Boom! Susan grinned and lowered her weapon. "My lucky day. A four-leaf clover." Various forces and constraints such as Paradox, the Masquerade, Banality, etc., keep supernaturals from using their magic to deal with every situation. Sometimes, a good, old-fashioned revolver does the trick very nicely. Leading the dangerous lives they do, many characters learn to defend themselves in a variety of ways. This Skill represents your character's familiarity with a broad knowledge of all guns, from a simple .22 to an Ingram Mac-10 submachine gun to heavy machine guns. It doesn't, however, include heavy artillery such as mortars or tank guns. Someone skilled in Firearms can recognize, clean, load and shoot most types of small arms. This Ability is also used to un-jam a gun (using Wits + Firearms). * Novice: The bullets come out of that end, moving very fast.... ** Practiced: You spend time at the shooting range *** Competent: You've had to use your gun in a firefight or two **** Expert: Marksmanship is more than a hobby; even skilled gunfighters come to you for tips. The gun is an extension of your hand ***** Master: Your gun is an extension of your eye. If you can see it, you can hit it Possessed by: Police, Military, Survivalists, Hunters, Gangers, Hit men Specialities: Fast Draw, Gunsmithing, Sniping, Automatics, Shotguns, Handguns, Rifles, Machine Guns, Custom Ammunition, Pistols, Zipgun
Melee The cowboy had bad news written all over him. He was itching for a fight. Standing from his barstool, he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and flicked it open. Vern should have known better than to antagonize the man, but with a name like Vern, you have to keep your testosterone on high. "Come on," Vern egged, wiggling his fingers. He backed toward the pool table, and, when the man advanced, he grabbed a pool cue. The fight lasted longer than Vern had expected, but he couldn't use his magic there too many bystanders. Relying on his training, he wielded the cue like a staff and slowly dissuaded the cowboy from cutting him to ribbons .By the end, the man was face-down on the pool table, and Vern had suffered only a cut to his leather jacket. That hurt more than anything, of course. The jacket had sentimental value. In close proximity, a melee weapon such as a knife, club or sword can be just as lethal as a gun. This Skill describes your character's expertise with a variety of bladed and blunt weapons. It includes the use of clubs, knives, daggers, rapiers, stakes, katanas, axes, staffs, nunchaku or any other such weapon. Thrown weapons, though, operate under the province of Athletics or Throwing. * Novice: You know the right way to hold a knife ** Practiced: You've had experience with street fighting *** Competent: Sword, axe, club, severed limb if it's a weapon, you can use it **** Expert: Carving up your opponents is just like cutting a Thanksgiving turkey ***** Master: You flick your wrist and heads roll ****** Legend: No warrior can stand before your whirling blade Possessed by: Assassins, Gangers, Martial-Artists, Police, Duellists, Adventurers, Knights, Nobles, Thugs Specialities: Knives, Swords, Improvised Weapons, Stakes, Axes, Throwing, Edged Weapons, Disarms & Takeaways, Blunt Instruments, Quarterstaff, Found Weapon (Frying Pan, Broken Bottle, etc.) Performance "Mum's the word!" the announcer shouted, and the band ran onto the stage. Lights flashed and lasers skipped over the anonymous faces of the screaming crowd. Klaus strutted across to his microphone and put a big kiss to it for his fans, with a shrieking, "Mmmmmwah! Hello, everybody! We're Mum and we're gonna rock your universe!" The drumbeat kicked it off, an echoing bass heartbeat felt in every stomach in the auditorium. The other instruments joined in, providing the hum of blood and the crescendo of adrenaline. Klaus grabbed the collar of his T-shirt and tore it straight down the middle. The crowd went wild. In that blend of adoration, exultation and sheer screaming ecstasy, there was magic. Whenever your character attempts to perform something in front of an audience, this Skill governs her success. It covers all performance arts, such as singing, dancing, playing an instrument and acting. She will undoubtedly have a Speciality in one area, but truly talented performers may have developed expertise in several. This Trait not only represents your character's skill with the act itself, but also her ability to work the audience. It assumes some knowledge about the technical side and the society of your character's chosen field. Combined with the Expression Talent, the character can not only sing, dance or act, but can evoke strong emotion and improvise or create powerful messages for a given medium; with Subterfuge, the character can easily feign specific emotions or motives perfect for a strong actor. * Novice: You sing and the audience doesn't boo ** Practiced: You're relaxed and comfortable on stage *** Competent: You have a following of groupies **** Expert: You wow audiences with your talent ***** Master: Your performances draw awe-filled standing ovations Possessed by: Vocalists, Actors, Musicians, Dancers, Mimes, Celestial Choristers, Cultists of Ecstasy, Comedians, Storytellers Specialities: Dancing, Singing, Rock and Roll, Acting, Stand-up Comedy, specific instruments, Enchant Audience, Evoke Emotion, Storytelling, Voice
Security The building's doors were heavy, reinforced metal, locked magnetically and sealed against intrusion. Thin strips of wire showed breach detectors on the windows and the insides likely had motion detectors as well. Without a moment's hesitation, Irene made her way around the side of the building. Following the lay of the electrical lines , she found an outside junction box and popped it open. After a quick look at the fuses, she popped a set of alligator clips onto the wiring, then attached them to a set of ports on her hand computer. A few moments later, there was an audible crackle as the building's power supply was briefly interrupted. The magnetic locks gave a hissing sigh, and the assisting agents levered them open before they could reset properly. It only took a few seconds more for the op teams to rush inside. With the Security Skill, your character has a proficiency with the tools and techniques required for lock-picking, hotwiring cars, designing and deactivating burglar alarms, and opening safes. However, beware, since locks are pass. In this technological era, anything worth having is guarded by security systems. You know your way around such systems, and you can lay them out or take them down. Placement, wires, triggers, combinations, you know it all... or at least you think you do. In game terms, this Skill lets you set up, disable or circumvent a security layout. The more advanced or complex the set-up is, the higher the difficulty becomes. Most modern systems employ specialized technology; working on them also requires related Skills and Knowledges, such as Computer, Technology, Jury-Rig and sometimes Cryptography, Mathematics or Hypertech. Appropriate rolls include Perception + Security (to scope a system out), Intelligence + Security (to set up or disable a system), Wits + Security (to notice hidden details, and to do quick work) and Dexterity + Security (to dodge laser sensors or cameras). * Novice: You've read a book or two ** Practiced: Trained on one side of the law *** Competent: Trained on both sides of the law **** Expert: You design (or defeat) the best systems ***** Master: Given time and tools, you can foil almost any system Possessed by: Criminals, Men in Black, Security Personnel, Q Division, Thieves, Commandos, Infiltration Experts, Spies, Cops, Locksmiths Specialities: Computer Systems, Light-Based Systems, Hypertech, Cat Burglary, Tricks, Prisons, Electronics, Speed, Silently, Pick Locks, Hotwire, Burglar Alarms, Safecracking, Vaults, Design, Hot-Wiring Stealth Oz melded with the darkness, seeking its comforting embrace during the long night ahead. He barely breathed, barely blinked. At times, especially when the screams of outrage and pain rose like hot nettles into his throat, he found his own stillness nearly unbearable. But this, he reminded himself silently, this is the cycle of renewal, just a step in the process. He was a believer. He watched, for his own edification and because it was too late to save the victim. Still, the insane cruelty of the killer made his stomach uneasy. Had the world changed so little that it still produced a man who could systematically torture and kill another? The blood flowed across the floor, one small stream of it passing no more than an inch from Oz's toe. He didn't move. He didn't flee. And when the time came, he emerged from the shadows like Death and released the killer's soul too. He, unlike his victim, had no time for terror and knew no pain. The points you assign this Skill determine how well your character can sneak and hide. It applies whether your character is moving or not. In many cases, your Storyteller will ask you and your opponent to roll as in a resisted action. The player with the most successes either succeeds in avoiding detection or detects the other. For simplicity, however, the Storyteller may simply set the sneaking character's difficulty number equal to her opponent's Perception score. If she succeeds, then she manages to remain hidden. If she fails or botches, then she gets noticed. A particularly crafty Storyteller will make your Stealth rolls for you and let you sweat over whether your character is. actually hidden or nor. * Novice: You can hide behind big things ** Practiced: You sneak like a teenager escaping the house *** Competent: Shadows are friends to you **** Expert: Even dry leaves and branches do not betray your passing ***** Master: Have you considered joining a ninja clan? ****** Legend: You assassinate ninja Possessed by: Assassins, Reporters, Thieves, Eavesdroppers, Spies, Commandos, Hunters Specialities: Hiding, Silent Movement, Shadowing, Crowds, City, Wilderness
Survival/Urban Survival Remy tended the small fire and listened to the sounds of the animals in the swamp; the distant roars of the 'gators, the birds calling their mates and the hummed songs of the insects. He almost didn't notice that Shima had wandered off until it was too late. Lurching to his feet, he rushed after her and grabbed her by the arm just in time. "What are you doing?!" Shima turned on him and demanded. "Have you lost your mind?" Remy hissed. "I told you to stay with me," "Go to Hell. I have to piss." "You piss where I tell you." He glanced around and picked up a thick, dry branch. He tossed it up ahead, in Shima's intended path. Slowly, the branch melted down into the quicksand. "Any questions?" Remy asked. Every person has a special environment in which he's particularly comfortable. With this Skill, your character has learned all the little tricks necessary to survive in the environment he knows. Dangers abound everywhere and often a person unfamiliar with the terrain won't know how to avoid these dangers. Whether the environment is natural (such as a jungle or a desert) or urban (such as cities or sewers) it can be treacherous if you don't know what you're doing. You should choose a Speciality for your character to reflect what type of environment she knows. When your character uses Stealth in an environment foreign to him, you cannot roll more dice than his score in Survival. * Novice: You know enough not to drink stagnant water ** Practiced: A few camping and survival trips are under your belt *** Competent: You could lead an inexperienced group into your environment and bring them out alive **** Expert: You avoid even major discomforts easily with your skills ***** Master: You know your environment inside and out Possessed by: Military, Outdoors Enthusiasts, Park Rangers, Homeless, Mountaineers, Nomads, Verbena, Explorer, Gangrel, Hunters, Tribesman, Garou Specialities: Urban, Forest, Desert, Tropical, Jungle, Mountainous, Arctic, Medicine, Hunting, Foraging, Tracking
Secondary Skills Acrobatics You're a trained acrobat who knows the ins and outs of wild gymnastics. Perhaps you learned such skills during martial arts training; maybe you grew up in a family of performers. Then again, you may just be a stuntman for Sammo Hung Kam-bo. In any case, you know how to leap, how to fall, and how to sail through the air in gracefully impossible fashion. By combining this Skill with Dexterity, you can perform wild stunts, leaps, flips and more. Each dot you have in this Skill lets you ignore one Health Level's worth of falling damage. Thus, a character with Acrobatics 4 can fall up to 30feet without injury * Novice: Grade school gym class ** Practiced: High school jock *** Competent: College team **** Expert: State champion ***** Master: Olympic gold medallist Possessed by: Circus Performers, Olympians, Ninja Specialities: Balance Beams, Flips, Asai Moonsault, Sport, Martial Arts, Enhanced Jumping/Falling, Dance Animal Training You are able to train animals to obey commands and possibly perform tricks or other feats. Each species is a different speciality. * Novice: Heel, Fetch, Sit, Stay ** Practiced: Local show standard *** Competent: Champion sheep dog standard **** Expert: Elite police dog standard ***** Master: Circus/stunt standard Possessed by: Dog Handlers, Movie Animal Wranglers, Circus Animal Trainers Specialities: Dog, Horse, Elephant, Seal Archery You know how to fire a bow, and may be able to do so with great proficiency. Modern bows can be very complicated gadgets (especially crossbows), and this Skill is essential if you hope to use them correctly. Bows are able to fire wooden-shafted quarrels (without metal tips) * Novice: High school gym practice ** Practiced: Forest bowhunter *** Competent: Medieval ranger **** Expert: Will hit a bulls-eye, usually ***** Master: Robin Hood Possessed by: Hunters, Hobby Enthusiasts, Competitors Specialities: Arched Flight, Forests, Target, Hunting, Moving Targets Artillery You may operate and shoot artillery of all varieties anything from a mortar to a howitzer. Additionally, your knowledge of the weapons includes the ability to repair them. * Novice: Young recruit ** Practiced: Operator *** Competent: Forward observer **** Expert: Gun captain ***** Master: Can fire the thing by yourself if need be Possessed by: Weapons Designers, Armed Forces Personnel, Mercenaries Specialities: Aiming, Forward Observation, Line-Of-Sight, Out-Of-Sight, Radar, Night Fighting, Jungle
Blacksmith You are skilled in the working of iron, and can make objects from iron and steel. * Novice: You can make horseshoes from a cut-iron bar ** Practiced: You can make wrought-iron and mild-steel objects *** Competent: You can make different grades of steel and cast iron to industrial standards **** Expert: You can pattern-weld different grades of iron and steel to make a complex object such as a sword ***** Master: You can make a blade equal to any Japanese sword, or any iron or steel object you please Possessed by: Artisans, Blacksmiths, Hobbyists, Artists, Swordsmiths Specialities: Wrought Iron, Cast Iron, Toolmaking, Blademaking, Art, Spot-Welding, Pattern-Welding
Blind Fighting Even when unable to see your foes, you can use your Brawl and Melee Abilities with a reduced penalty or no penalty. This Ability may also be of great use out of combat, although it should be noted that it does not grant any actually ability to see better in darkness. For each dot the character has in this Ability, reduce the difficulty for performing actions while blind by one. Naturally, the difficulty can never be reduced below its unhindered equivalent. * Novice: You dont stub your toe in the dark ** Practiced: You can pinpoint the direction from which sound comes *** Competent: You can fight and predict your enemies locations at the same time **** Expert: You can almost feel where your opponents are ***** Master: Yours is an almost mystical sense, Zen and the Art of Spatial Awareness Possessed by: Ninja, Assassins, Martial Artists, Zen Archers, Spelunkers Specialities: Dodging, Punching, Indoors, Duels, Multiple Foes Blowgun This Skill is required to use a blowgun accurately, though unskilled characters may, with a difficulty of +3, use Dexterity + Strength. Blowguns have a difficulty of 5, require a minimum Strength of 2, and fire up to a range of Strength x5 yards. * Novice: Kid with a peashooter ** Practiced: Class peashooter ace *** Competent: Ninja wannabe **** Expert: Rainforest dweller ***** Master: Ninja Possessed by: Ninja, Assassins, killer pygmies Specialities: Short (up to 20 feet), Long (20 feet or more) Boat Handling You know your way around a boat, and can operate effectively in any crew position. * Novice: Weekend sailor ** Practiced: Serious enthusiast *** Competent: Competitor or semi-skilled professional **** Expert: Professional or Olympic standard ***** Master: Instructor or Olympic gold medallist Possessed by: Seamen, Coast Guard, Enthusiasts, Competitors Specialities: Sail, Power, Oared, Paddle, Inflatable
Body Alteration You are skilled in making alterations to the body. You may possess Vicissitude, the Life Sphere or some other supernatural ability, or you may just be a guy who does tattoos or scarification. In any case, you are used to working with flesh as the medium. * Novice: You can do body piercing ** Practiced: You can make decent tattoos or changes to the persons body, but nothing too elaborate *** Competent: You are quite good at your craft and can make elaborate designs or changes **** Expert: You can do work better than almost anyone ***** Master: You craft the Sistine Chapel of the body Possessed by: Tattooists, Body Piercers, Tzimisce Specialities: Designs, Coloration, Arms, Improving Appearance, Combat Use, Noses, Skulls Body Reading You can tell what people are thinking by the almost imperceptible body gestures they make. You sense their emotions and can determine whether or not they are hiding something. Some may call this intuition, but in reality it is a kind of finely tuned perception, keen attentiveness to body languages and, most importantly, correct interpretation of non-verbal communication. * Novice: You notice and can correctly interpret obvious gestures, such as failure to meet someones gaze ** Practiced: You can interpret more subtle gestures, such as eye movement and foot position *** Competent: You can correctly interpret the body language of a salesperson **** Expert: You can correctly interpret the body language of a politician ***** Master: You can correctly interpret the body language of a gifted actor Possessed by: Security Personnel, Psychiatrists, Hustlers Specialities: Children, Men, Women Brewing/Distilling You are skilled in the manufacture of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. You are familiar with the equipment used in brewing and distilling, and can maintain, operate and repair such equipment. * Novice: Brew-kit user ** Practiced: Home winemaker *** Competent: Moonshiner **** Expert: Commercial winemaker ***** Master: Chateau of repute Possessed by: Hobbyists, Vintners, Moonshiners Specialities: Wine, Beer, Spirits, Industrial Alcohol Bribery You know how, when and where to grease palms. Couple with Streetwise or Politics, this Ability could buy you a very easy life. However, you still need to decide whom to approach and whom to leave alone remember, not everyone turns a blind eye. * Novice: Get a bouncer to overlook the dress code ** Practiced: Get the building inspector off your back *** Competent: A policeman wont write you tickets **** Expert: The inspector from the EPA leaves you alone ***** Master: State politicians and local CEOs scratch your back Possessed by: Politicians, Lobbyists, Businessmen, Criminals Specialities: Police, Bureaucrats, Inspectors, Under-The-Table, Open Gifts
Bujo (Restricted) You have learnt the true art of the well-planned swindle. The bujo, a Romany term for an elaborate shakedown, involves convincing people to freely give you their money and valuables so that you can aid them in cleansing their souls or removing their bad luck. It is the mark of a true artist to be able to pull off a successful bujo. This Skill involves establishing some sort of fortune-telling business and then tricking clients into giving large sums of money to your character. Characters with this Skill can raise a sum of money equal to $5,000 times the number of successes on a Wits + Bujo roll against the targets Wits +4. The character must spend at least one week per $5,000 desired priming his mark for the swindle. A botch indicates that the characters swindle has been discovered by the mark. The results of a botch vary, from the mark leaving in a huff with his money to being raided by the police while the character is in the middle of making the final switch. * Novice: Can get change for the subway ** Practiced: Telemarketer *** Competent: Sweet old ladies are just dying to give you their money **** Expert: Televangelists give money to you ***** Master: Could convince an MD that the cure for cancer involves giving you all his money Possessed by: Gypsies Specialities: Gypsy Rose Lee, Romance, Health, Old Couples, Yuppies, Wealthy Widows Camouflage You can change your appearance through a mixture of clothing, makeup and movement, rendering you difficult to spot in a variety of different surroundings. This is not the ability to look like someone else, but simply to hide, and the Arcane Background frequently applies. * Novice: Boy Scout ** Practiced: Infantry Trooper *** Competent: Marine **** Expert: Special Forces ***** Master: Ninja Possessed by: Hunters, Military Personnel, Spies, Assassins, Poachers Specialities: Woods, Mountains, Urban, Open Country, Arctic Carpentry You are a competent woodworker, able to craft a variety of objects from wood. * Novice: Amateur handyman ** Practiced: Professional handyman *** Competent: Professional carpenter **** Expert: Joiner and cabinet-maker or night-school teacher ***** Master: You have your own TV show; rich clients seek you out Possessed by: Carpenters, Handymen, Builders, Furniture Makers Specialities: Construction, Furniture, Quality Items Climbing You can climb mountains and/or walls, and seldom have any fear of falling. The technical skills of chimneying, spike-setting and rappelling are all well known to you though, depending on your skill, you may be good or indifferent at them. Remember, mountain climbing at night is far more difficult than a daylight climb unless you can see in the dark. * Novice: You can scale easy mountains or walls with handholds ** Practiced: You go on mountaineering holidays. You can climb heavily weathered stone or brick walls *** Competent: You could work in an outdoors pursuit centre as an instructor, and can climb moderately rough stone or brick walls **** Expert: Youve done at least a couple of famous peaks, and can free-climb a fairly smooth stone or brick wall ***** Master: Everest and K2 are mild hikes. You could free-climb the World Trade Centre Possessed by: Mountaineers, Burglars, Enthusiasts Specialities: Cliffs, Hiking, Buildings, Free-Climbing, Rappelling
Construction This Skill covers the competencies required in the building construction trade. Laying concrete foundations, welding, masonry and riveting, as well as operation of heavy construction machinery, are all included in this Skill. At higher levels, the character also has a working knowledge of many engineering and architectural concepts. * Novice: Summer work ** Practiced: Apprentice *** Competent: Tradesman **** Expert: Site foreman ***** Master: Organizes major projects Possessed by: Builders, Bricklayers, Stonemasons, Structural Engineers, Architects Specialities: Buildings, Tunnels, Bridges, Roads Cooking You know how to prepare a variety of meals, and present them in an appealing manner. This can be a very useful social Ability, of course. * Novice: You give a reasonable dinner party ** Practiced: You give an excellent dinner party *** Competent: You could make a business of this **** Expert: You could publish recipe books ***** Master: You could have your own TV show, or become a chef in the finest of restaurants Possessed by: Chefs, restaurateurs, food critics Specialities: French, Cajun, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Bread, Desserts, Pastries, Cordon Bleu, Like Mother Made Dancing You are a proficient dancer, and may perform socially for the entertainment of others. You are familiar with most varieties of dance, but specialize in one particular style * Novice: You can manage a waltz at a wedding ** Practiced: You draw envious glances at weddings, and could perform on the local stage *** Competent: You are the talk of the ball, and could perform on the professional stage **** Expert: People ask you to teach them, and you could perform on TV ***** Master: Nijinsky, Fonteyn, Nureyev, Barishnikov, Astaire, Rogers and you Possessed by: Socialites, Pop Stars, Music Video Dancers, Ballet Dancers, Enthusiasts, Cruise Directors Specialities: Waltz, Polka, Two-Step, Foxtrot, Jive, Charleston, Latin, Show, Ballet Debate You are skilled at reasoned debate, and can present a convincing case through reason and logic. Combined with such Abilities as Diplomacy, this Ability could make you a first class negotiator. * Novice: Student ** Practiced: Debate team member *** Competent: Union negotiator **** Expert: Politician ***** Master: You could make fundamentalists understand evolution Possessed by: Diplomats, Negotiators, Academics, Politicians, Intellectuals Specialities: Logic, Politics, Informal, Social Discourse, Morals, Lowbrow, Low Blow
Disguise You can conceal your appearance and even make yourself look like another specific person through the use of clothes and makeup. * Novice: Good enough to fool someone who know neither you nor the person youre impersonating ** Practiced: Good enough to fool some of the people some of the time *** Competent: Good enough to fool some of the people most of the time **** Expert: Good enough to fool most of the people most of the time ***** Master: Good enough to fool the nearest and dearest most of the time Possessed by: Actors, Spies, Undercover Cops, Criminals, Con Artists Specialities: Specific Person, Type Of Person, Concealing Ones Own Identity
Diversion You have learnt the art of directing the attention of others where you wish it to be. Sometimes all eyes are drawn to you by even your subtlest gesture, while at other times your glance causes those around you to look elsewhere. You find that when you control the attention of those around you, all sorts of opportunities present themselves to you and your companions. This Skill enables a character to direct the attention of those around her. This Skill is similar to Sleight of Hand, except on a far greater scale. This Skill is most often used by one of the Rom and criminals to draw attention to herself while her partner takes advantage of a marks sudden inattention to her belongings. It is also invaluable to those who wish to leave an awkward scene without attracting attention to themselves. The characters Diversion number of dice should be added to any Manipulation or Appearance rolls made involving distracting others. * Novice: Look! Its Godzilla! ** Practiced: Can move through crowds unnoticed *** Competent: Proficient at three-card Monte **** Expert: Can manipulate the attention of whole crowds ***** Master: People see what you want them to see Possessed by: Gypsies, Criminals, Actors Specialities: Crowds, With Partner, Draw Attention Drinking You have learnt, through hard experience, how to hold your liquor. You are now able to drink a large amount of alcohol without having it impair your abilities at all. This comes in handy in all sorts of situations, from getting information out of the local biker gang to drinking your latest mark under the table and then helping yourself to the money youre sure he was about to lend you * Novice: You can make it through a bottle of wine ** Practiced: Bar regular *** Competent: Frat house champ **** Expert: Norm!!! ***** Master: Can out-drink a fish Possessed by: Gypsies, bikers, people from all walks of life Specialities: Spirits, Beers, Wines, Speed Drinking, Optics Run, Games
Elusion Youre a hard person to catch; whether in city, field or forest, you know how to make the most of hiding-places and obstacles. Anyone who wants to snare you had better take care. Although this Talent does not render you silent, invisible or untraceable, it allows you to use any concealment crowds, brambles, fog, et cetera to your best advantage. Assuming theres some cover to employ, a successful Wits + Elusion roll lets you slip away from pursuit at least for a moment. The Arcane Background adds to this dice pool, as it does for Stealth attempts. With a very good roll (four or more successes), the things that hide you begin to hinder your foes: crowds berate them, brambles ensnare them, fog cloaks holes in the ground, and so on. Although the hindering is beyond your control, a subtle magus could easily take advantage of it * Novice: In busy surroundings, you can duck from sight ** Practiced: You easily evade casual pursuit *** Competent: If theres concealment to be found, you can use it **** Expert: It takes a skilful hunter to track you ***** Master: A veritable fox! Possessed by: Guerrillas, Activists, Spies, Commandos Specialities: Woodlands, Cities, Swamps, Mountains, Fields, Misdirection Escapology You are skilled in various techniques that enable you to escape from bonds and restraints. This skill is primarily used for entertainment purposes, but can also be very useful in real life. * Novice: Childrens party entertainer; you can escape from loose or poorly-tied bonds ** Practiced: Amateur entertainer; you can escape from fairly well-tied bonds *** Competent: Professional entertainer; you can escape from handcuffs and chains **** Expert: Star; you can escape from a straitjacket ***** Master: Houdini who? Possessed by: Entertainers, martial artists, criminals Specialities: Magic Tricks, Ropes, Boxes, Locks, Underwater, Handcuffs, Showmanship Falconry Once the sport of noble, falconry is now practiced only by a few enthusiasts, although it can be put to a number of practical uses. * Novice: The bird comes back - sometimes ** Practiced: You can do small displays *** Competent: You work most of the local medieval fairs and outdoor exhibitions, and can catch enough to subsist **** Expert: In a different time, you would have been a noble admired for your skill, or you could have worked for a noble ***** Master: In a different time, you would have been with the kings entourage Possessed by: Nobles, Enthusiasts, Elder Vampires Specialities: Display, Hunting, History, Exotic Birds (e.g., Harpy Eagle) Fast-Talk This Ability allows you to convince someone of something using a sincere expression and an avalanche of words, rather that reasoned debate and logic. Its a surprisingly effective technique, provided that the mark has no time to think and does not have a Wits rating of four or more. The Storyteller should carefully judge whether this Ability is appropriate in a given situation, or whether it would be better to use some other Ability. * Novice: Vacuum cleaner salesman ** Practiced: Used car salesman *** Competent: Professional con artist **** Expert: Teflon-coated politician ***** Master: You regularly sell sand to the Saudis Possessed by: Salesmen, Con Artists, Politicians, Televangelists Specialities: Sell, Confuse, Get Off The Hook, Convince
Fencing A deft art, Fencing differs from the hack-and-slash of general melee. Fencers use thin, sharp blades against one another in dizzying contests. A skilled fencer is a dangerous man (or woman) whose craft often seems all the more romantic for its rarity. * Novice: Talented amateur ** Practiced: A promising regional entrant *** Competent: A skilful weaver of steel **** Expert: Blademaster ***** Master: Tybalt, King of the Olympic Cats! Possessed by: Nobles, Elder Vampires, Enthusiasts, Competitors Specialities: Florentine (two blades), Sabres, Dirty Tricks, Fancy Stunts Fire-Eating You know how to extinguish flames with your mouth without burning yourself. This Ability is extremely rare, of course, and even moreso in the Sabbat, which boasts members proficient in this skill, since fire is a very real threat. The only real uses of this Ability come with performances, and certain Ignoblis Ritae in the Sabbat. When the character tries to perform fire eating, damage should be rolled normally, but for every success with this Skill, reduce the amount of damage done by one health level. The difficulty is based on the trick being performed and the heat of the flame. * Novice: You are capable of trying it, but you may still get hurt ** Practiced: You may even be able to do it without any real chance of getting burnt *** Competent: You can accomplish the task with relative ease and without being burnt in the least **** Expert: You may perform tricks with fire and put out really hot flames ***** Master: You are capable of performing intricate tricks and even breathing back the flames Possessed by: Circus Performers, Sabbat Vampires, Weirdos Specialities: Flaming Knives, Breathing Back Fire Walking You can enter a trance-like state which allows you to walk across hot coals and leap through open flames. A few hotbloods in the Sabbat possess this Skill for use in the Fire Dance, an Ignoblis Ritus, but certainly less so than the few humans who possess it. The effects are handled as with the Fire Eating Skill. However, the character must concentrate on his Fire Walking and nothing else, so this Skill cant be part of a Dice Pool being split. * Novice: You are able to make leaps, so you are no coward ** Practiced: You are either naturally good or you have been doing this a while *** Competent: You can occasionally impress other, for you do not fear the fire one bit **** Expert: You are an acrobat in the flames and a real show-off ***** Master: You can outdo almost anyone in your leaps and can, if a Sabbat, perform the Fire Dance trick Possessed by: Circus Performers, Yogis, Sabbat Vampires Specialities: Leaping, Torches, Bonfires, Distance, Looking Tough First Aid This Ability allows a character to give basic medical attention to another. It is not as comprehensive an Ability as the Medicine Knowledge, but does allow for a basic grasp of all the practices of first aid and, at higher levels, techniques known to paramedics. * Novice: Mother of small children ** Practiced: Boy Scout *** Competent: Office safety representative **** Expert: School nurse ***** Master: Paramedic Possessed by: Mothers, Boy Scouts, Paramedics, Explorers, Outdoors Types Specialities: CPR, Broken Bones, Artificial Respiration, Diagnosis, Terminology
Fishing You can judge a body of water, and have a fair chance of catching a fish if there are any to be caught. You are familiar with various kinds of fishing equipment. * Novice: Weekend angler ** Practiced: Serious amateur *** Competent: Competition winner **** Expert: Professional fisherman ***** Master: Fish leap onto the shore as you walk by Possessed by: Weekend Warriors, Fishing Pros, Outdoors Types, Survivalists, Fishermen Specialities: Rod & Line, Fly, Deep-Sea, Net, Sharks, Survival
Foraging When food is scarce, you can still find something to eat perhaps not the greatest of delicacies but enough to stay alive. This Ability may be purchased by characters who have some experience of trying to stay alive under bad conditions; even the greatest foragers, however, can only find food in places where theres food to be found. A totally barren landscape will confound anyone. * Novice: You can scrounge up a few scraps in average surroundings ** Practiced: You know all the right places to look for chow *** Competent: Under harsh conditions, you can still survive **** Expert: If its edible, you can find it ***** Master: You can find sustenance, even when other creatures are starving Possessed by: Outdoorsmen, Survivalists, Special Forces Personnel, The Homeless Specialities: Urban, Forest, Ruins, Swamp, Desert, Winter, Grasslands Forgery You can copy a document or two-dimensional piece of art well enough to enable it to appear as the real thing under casual inspection, and perhaps more detailed inspection as well. * Novice: Interoffice memos ** Practiced: Signatures *** Competent: Commercial papers; passports **** Expert: Cheques, bonds, bank drafts; some artwork ***** Master: Banknotes; old master paintings Possessed by: Criminals, Artists, Schemers Specialities: Handwriting, Drawings, Paintings, Bonds, Documents, Banknotes Gambling You are adept at one or more games of chance, and can play without too much risk of losing heavily. You can also increase your chances of actually winning without actually cheating. * Novice: Saturday night poker with the boys ** Practiced: A couple of weeks in Vegas each year *** Competent: You are known in Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City **** Expert: You make a living from this. Your mother despairs ***** Master: You have to be careful not to tell people your name Possessed by: Professional Gamblers, Amateur Gamblers Specialities: Card Games, Dice Games, Roulette, One Armed Bandits
Game Playing This Ability covers games of strategy and skill, such as chess, go, shogi, xiang qui, hnefatafl, backgammon and so on. It does not cover card games see Gambling or simple games which rely largely on luck. * Novice: You can beat your father ** Practiced: You could get on a school team *** Competent: You could get on a college team **** Expert: You could get on a national team ***** Master: You could beat Karpov Possessed by: Enthusiasts, Competitors, Competition Judges Specialities: Chess, Go, Backgammon, Acquire, Stalingrad, Harpoon, Challenge, Monopoly
Garrote A rather gruesome Skill for using an equally gruesome weapon. Garrote is rolled with Dexterity against a difficulty of 6 to loop the garrote around a surprised or restrained opponents neck, otherwise the intended victim may roll Dexterity + Dodge (difficulty of the characters Dexterity + Garrote) to avoid the attack. The garrote does no damage on the first turn, but causes damage automatically thereafter if the victim does not break free by rolling Dexterity + Melee against the attackers Strength + Garrote. The damage caused by a garrote is Strength + 2 normally, but is Strength + 4 in the case of wire garrotes, which also break the skin and sever blood vessels, not to mention the windpipe is pulled hard enough. * Novice: Street punk ** Practiced: Unarmed combat instructor *** Competent: Special forces **** Expert: Professional assassin ***** Master: Ninja or Thuggee Possessed by: Assassins, Special Forces Specialities: Improvised, Speed, Choking, Incapacitate Opponent, Wires, Scarves Gossip Theres tattling, there gossip and then theres Gossip. Handled properly, Gossip is so much more than hearing a story from one person and passing it on to the next. It involves coercing additional details from informants, and earning the confidence of those who really arent supposed to say anything. Gossip is also the fine art of starting and spreading rumors and directing the flow of information once it leaves your lips. Finally, there are always the nuances of altering information or dreaming up misinformation, so that only the words you want public get passed along. This is a wonderful way to confound enemies, discredit rivals and make sure that no one but you knows the whole truth, assuming, of course, that no one was practicing a similar sort of deception on you. * Novice: Joseph told me that Chris likes Gretchen because shes cute Amateur stuff ** Practiced: The Walter Winchell of the school cafeteria *** Competent: You reign supreme at the office water cooler **** Expert: You know exactly whats going on and share some of what you know ***** Master: You can drop a rumor onto the Net and see it reported back to you as the Next Big Thing within the hour Possessed by: Gossip Columnists, Netheads, Maiden Aunts Specialities: Rumor-mongering, Misinformation, Sifting For The Truth, Lies
Gunsmithing You can repair firearms and produce ammunition for a variety of different guns. At high levels, you can construct special ammunition such as caseless, hollow point, mercury-tipped, and silver bullets. Given the tools (and enough skill) you can even build a gun from scratch, perhaps even one of your own design. * Novice: Black powder and paper cartridge ** Practiced: Cased standard ammunition *** Competent: Magnum rounds **** Expert: Caseless and hollow-point rounds ***** Master: You name it Possessed by: Gun Nuts, Survivalists, Cops, Serial Killers Specialities: Black Powder Weapons, Field Repair, Magnum & Supercharged, Armor Piercing, Invention, Special Ammunition Heavy Weapons You have the ability to operate and shoot heavy weapons of all varieties anything from an M60 heavy machinegun to a Dragon antitank weapon. Additionally, your knowledge of the weapons includes an ability to repair them. * Novice: Basic training ** Practiced: Operator *** Competent: Warrior **** Expert: Killer ***** Master: Rambo Possessed by: Mercenaries, Armed Forces Personnel, SWAT Officers Specialities: Desert, Jungle, Night Fighting, Friend From Foe, Loading Herbalism You have a working knowledge of herbs and their properties, medicinal and otherwise. You can find and prepare herbs, and know which herbs or blends of herbs to use in any situation. * Novice: You read a book on it once ** Practiced: You are a serious student of herb lore *** Competent: You are a local supplier **** Expert: Youve written books on herbalism ***** Master: You could easily function as an apothecary ****** Legend: Some whisper that you can raise the dead Possessed by: Holistic Healers, New Agers, Wizened Old Women, Low-Tech Societies Specialities: Culinary, Medicinal, Poisonous, Narcotic/Hallucinogenic Hiding You excel at disappearing. Although you havent been blessed with the natural camouflage of animals, you know where to find cover, how to keep quiet, and when the time has come to move again all without being spotted. Naturally, you need cover before you can lose yourself in it, but in both the wild and the city, a skilful eye can find many hiding places. This Ability may be rolled with Perception (to notice hiding places, including those perhaps of your prey) or Wits (to find cover quickly), or as part of a resisted roll against a pursuers Perception or Hunting roll. The Arcane Background applies to this Ability. * Novice: You can hide in the forest ** Practiced: You can hide quickly in woods, the city or underbrush *** Competent: You can hide in most surroundings **** Expert: You can hide just about anywhere ***** Master: Whered you go? Possessed by: Wanted Men, Criminals, Commandos Specialities: Forest, Desert, Urban, Playing Dead
High Ritual You know how to throw a party or gathering, anything from wild bacchanalia to a tear-filled memorial service. You know how to plan and choreograph the entire affair, down to the last item, making it an event to remember. Most people think that High Ritual is musty robes and candles. Its not. High Ritual involves consummate showmanship, capturing the participants attention and focusing their will, belief and emotion on the particular task at hand. A boring ritual makes for disinterested mages, which makes for sloppy magick. When High Ritual is done correctly, it looks artless, but its really the highest form of art. Successful use of this Skill might reduce magickal difficulties by 1, or possibly more, in addition to any other modifiers, and could add to Social impressions as well. * Novice: You can tastefully plan a wedding reception ** Practiced: You give good parties and receive more acceptances than regrets when people RSVP *** Competent: Your celebrations are becoming known, and not just in this world. Gatecrashers are a common occurrence **** Expert: When you choreograph the High Mass, angels appear in the choir loft, although they wont be visible to anyone by the gifted. Miracles may occur, and with far less trouble than they usually do ***** Master: Let the Wild Rumpus start! When you give a revel, it is an affair of legend. You were probably responsible for Woodstock. What are you doing next? Possessed by: Cult Leaders, Mages, Event Planners Specialities: Weddings, Funerals, Religious Ceremonies, Hermetic Mysteries, Outdoor Festivals, Bacchanals Hunting You are skilled at finding and killing animals for sport or food. In familiar terrain, you are able to predict the type, number and likely location of food animals, and know the best ways to kill them. Tracking, stalking, harrying and bringing prey down are all parts of this Ability. * Novice: Weekender ** Practiced: Enthusiast or trooper *** Competent: Survivalist or Marine **** Expert: Special Forces ***** Master: Werewolves Possessed by: Hunters, Weekend Warriors, Survivalists, Low-Tech Societies, Special Forces, Poachers Specialities: Temperate Forest, Jungle, Bush/Scrub, Mountain, Coast, Arctic, Desert, Aerial Hunting, Game Birds, Herd Animals, Large Game, Specific Targets (e.g., Bears, Elephants, Humans, etc.) Hypnotism You can place a willing subject into a trance, and use hypnotism to gather information or treat psychiatric problems. To place a willing subject into a trance, make an opposed roll of your Charisma + Hypnotism against the subjects Intelligence (difficulty 6 for both rolls). An unwilling subject must be immobilized (by some means or other) to comply (resisting with Willpower). The number of successes indicates the depth of the trance, and can be added to the characters Hypnotism Skill when rolling to ascertain the success of tasks such as gaining information. For example, a hypnotist with Charisma 4 and Hypnotism 4 hypnotizes a willing subject with Intelligence 5. The hypnotist rolls five successes and the subject rolls two a total of three successes in the hypnotists favor, indicating a fairly deep trance. The hypnotist can now roll seven dice (three successes plus Hypnosis 4) to probe the subjects mind. * Novice: You do it occasionally, primarily to entertain ** Practiced: You are a skilled amateur *** Competent: You could open a practice or go on the stage **** Expert: You could write books on the subject ***** Master: Who needs magick? Possessed by: Entertainers, Holistic Healers, New Agers, Police Specialists, Psychiatrists Specialities: Interrogation, Past-Life Regression, Behavior Modification
Indoctrination You are skilled in the methods of indoctrination. This can include brainwashing a First Team into believing they arent on a suicide mission, or convincing a new executive recruit that Pentex has the best interests of the planet in mind. Indoctrinating someone takes a long time of feeding them the information you want and leading them to mistrust contrary information. Indoctrination is a subtle skill, best used in a controlled-information environment. Its chance of success in a free market of ideas are little but, as the modern media machine has proven, it can still be quite effective. This Skill can also come in handy in the field. It can be used to reinforce existing doctrinal beliefs in the likes of First Teams, bolstering them for combat. The subtle, friendly form of this Skill (nightly newscasts) is paired with Charisma, but the forceful use (prisoner re-education) is paired with Manipulation. This Skills uses, however, are ultimately up to the Storyteller. * Novice: You can sometimes get others to follow the party line ** Practiced: You usually have no problem with convincing others that your version of the status quo *** Competent: You can turn friend against friend by raising doctrinal disputes **** Expert: You can easily mould others emotions and ideas into whatever form you desire ***** Master: Big Brother has nothing on you Possessed by: Propagandists, Public Relations Officers, Briefing Officers Specialities: Public Opinion, Advice, Combat, Propaganda, Counter-Doctrine Interrogation Though only a single light illuminated the room, Yo'ng's every step was precise. The prisoner in the chair tried not to acknowledge her presence, but his eyes flicked toward her nevertheless. As Yo'ng dosed the door behind her, Room 101 grew darker still; the single light dimmed briefly, and the silence became complete. "Now," said Yo'ng, sitting in a simple folding chair across from the prisoner, "You've been most uncooperative over the last two days, but we've managed to find your friends anyway. We don't need you anymore, but there's just one little thing I want to know...." Inwardly, Yo'ng smiled as the broken, defeated man finally told her what she had been prying at for days. You are able to extract information from people by fair means or foul. Using a mixture of threats, trickery and persistent questioning, you ultimately unearth the truth. We want information... and you know how to get it. Your methods range from fast talk to threats and psychological warfare. In game terms, you roll your Manipulation + Interrogation to break a subject. Some methods work better than others with certain subjects, so define what you're doing and how before making the roll. The difficulty is usually equal to the subject's current Willpower rating, although subtle methods (simply talking rings around your subject until he accidentally lets the information drop) may require a simple difficulty 7 roll. Why break bones if you don't have to? (For raw force techniques, see "Torture.") * Novice: Nosy neighbor ** Practiced: Beat cop *** Competent: Detective **** Expert: Investigative reporter ***** Master: Section One's Madeline Possessed by: Cops, Journalists, Secret Service Personnel, Inquisitors, Men in Black, Psych-Ops, Syndicate Members of all kinds Specialities: Trickery, Double-Talk, Good Cop/Bad Cop, Implied Questions, Threats, Bribes, Subtle, Moral Blackmail, "We Already Know..." Jeweller You are able to produce saleable pieces of jewelry (Dexterity + Jeweller) and appraise jewelry you see (Intelligence + Jeweller). You can determine the approximate worth of most jewelry by quick appraisal, but it is easy to make a mistake without in-depth examination. * Novice: You took a night school course once ** Practiced: You treat it as a fairly serious hobby *** Competent: You could run a small business **** Expert: This is your chosen career ***** Master: You are up there with Cartier Possessed by: Jewelers, Counterfeiters, Pawn Shop Owners Specialities: Gold, Gems, Antique, Ancient, Mystical, Crystal
Journalism You not only know how to write news stories, but also how to research and discover them in the first place. This Ability also gives you knowledge about the inner workings of a newsroom and a newspaper as a whole. Furthermore, Journalism often provides a familiarity with television news reporting. * Novice: Hack ** Practiced: Features reporter *** Competent: Investigative reporter **** Expert: Editor ***** Master: Pullitzer Prize winner Possessed by: Freelancers, Editors, Feature Reporters, Photographers, Foreign Correspondents Specialities: Politics, Sports, Corruption, Business, Deadlines, Editing Leadership Marcia stood slowly and lifted the crystal wine glass in her hand. She spoke up, Heres to Blackwell. Were going to miss you, love. The sobs quieted a bit and all eyes turned to Marcia. She drank from her glass and licked the bitter fruit from her lips. Her gaze travelled from person to person, her own sorrow, sympathy and strength revealed openly. They all lifted their glasses and toasted. She waited until they had finished, then said, And now, we have to go on. The crisis isnt over, and we cant afford to lose anyone else. We have to stick together, work together and help each other. Its what Blackwell would have wanted. What should we do? Someone asked. Marcia replied simply, I have a plan. Some characters have a knack for taking the leadership role with others. They exude a certain quality that makes people follow their orders, listen when they speak and embrace their agendas. The Leadership Ability has more to do with Charisma than it does Manipulation. It represents those indefinable qualities of appearance, mannerisms, vocal tone and eye contact that makes one a leader. A high score in Leadership doesnt necessarily mean, however, that the character makes all the right decisions for her group, only that her people will follow her like lemmings off the edge of a cliff just because she seems to know what shes doing. With this Ability, she knows how to get them to obey orders and remain calm under stress. Leadership involves exerting a certain authority and setting a good example to those in your charge. Combined with Charisma and Manipulation, you may have significant power over others actions. * ** *** **** ***** ****** Novice: You can head a committee successfully Practiced: You can co-ordinate major projects or speak confidently at town meetings Competent: You can manage a profitable company or run for local government Expert: Have you considered candidacy for a national office Master: You can change the course of human events, like Gandhi or Hitler Legend: They tend to worship rather than follow you
Possessed by: Politicians, Gang Leaders, Corporate Executives, Police, Military Officers, Chantry Heads, Elders, Faerie Nobles Specialities: Take Command, Sway Opinion, Oration, Gain Trust, Brainstorming, Expertise, Nobility, Friendly, Tense Situations, Commands, Dictatorial, Military, Noble Leatherworking You are able to produce serviceable items of leather, either for sale or for your own use. * Novice: You got a craft kit for your birthday ** Practiced: You make birthday presents for friends and family *** Competent: You sell to local stores **** Expert: People ask for your work by name ***** Master: Your picture appears in magazine ads Possessed by: Artisans, Survivalists Specialities: Clothing, Utensils, Horse Trappings, Special-Interest Items
Lip Reading You are able to understand speech without hearing it, just by watching mouth movement. Though you will not pick up on every word, you can usually figure out the gist of a sentence without too much trouble. * Novice: If someone talks slowly and clearly, with exaggerated mouth movement ** Practiced: If someone talks fairly slowly and you concentrate *** Competent: Under most circumstances **** Expert: Even under bad conditions, including foreign languages, bad light and distance ***** Master: Under just about any conditions Possessed by: Hearing Impaired, Spies, Detectives Specialities: Accents, Drunks, Poor Lighting, Fast Talkers, Surreptitiously Lockpicking You are able to open locks without the correct key or the right combination. Though this Ability is certainly becoming more and more obsolete with all the new security devices in use, there are enough locks still around to make it worthwhile. * Novice: Simple mortise lock ** Practiced: Cylinder locks and basic security locks *** Competent: Advanced security locks **** Expert: Safes ***** Master: Fort Knox Possessed by: Burglars, Safecrackers, Spies, Locksmiths Specialities: Key-Operated Locks, Combination Locks, Alarm Systems, Mag-Card Locks Martial Arts Character trained in the martial arts may use this Skill to replace the Brawl Talent. Martial Arts has long been depicted as a tough, time-consuming calling, which is reflected in the rules for its acquisition. During Character Generation, the Martial Arts Skill costs two Skill Dots per dot desired. If raising the Skill with Freebie Points, each additional dot purchased costs 3 Freebie Points. Raising this Skill with Experience Points costs 150% of the normal amount for an Ability. However, character with this Skill gain access to a variety of special combat manoeuvres. Additionally, all martial artists learn how to throw their foes. All successes over the first during the attack roll are added to the damage roll, up to the level of the martial arts of the character to represent the training in the style. All martial artist characters must define their style as hard or soft, which indicates the type of special manoeuvres they can learn. Hard styles, such as karate focus on powerful strikes; soft styles, including aikido, focus on redirection and defense. (See Chapter 9: References for a more exhaustive account of Martial Arts.) * Novice: Beginner ** Practiced: Student *** Competent: Brown belt **** Expert: Black belt ***** Master: Shaolin monk, Bruce Lee, et al Possessed by: Martial Artists, some monks, Stuntmen Specialities: Snake Style, Chops, Legsweeps, Finger Locks Mechanic You are a jack-of-all-trades with a particular affinity for mechanical devices, and can jerry rig or repair just about anything mechanical, given the right tools and materials. * Novice: You can fix a doorbell ** Practiced: You can fix a lawn-mower or scratch-build a doorbell *** Competent: You can fix a car or build an automatic garage door **** Expert: You can fix a high-performance car or rebuild an engine ***** Master: You can fix, build or improvise just about anything Possessed by: Mechanics, Car Nuts, Hobbyists Specialities: Electrical, Cars, Domestic, Inventing
Meditation Beatifically still, Lee Ann breathed in deep, even suspiration. Despite her usual casual attire, the cold seemed to roll off her as if she were sheeted in a layer of perfect contentment. "I'm still fuh-freezing!" moaned. Kyle, his arms wrapped about his body. "Isn't there an easier way to do this?" "Hush," Lee Ann said in a quiet voice, without even opening her eyes. "The important things are rarely easy. For now, Just breathe." Concentration and dedication are paramount in the working of magic, and a little serenity doesn't hurt either. Through Meditation, a character centers her mind, stills her thoughts and casts off the cares of the world for a time. Meditation allows characters to focus their thoughts and concentrate on specific problems or tasks. Thus, they draw their awareness inward to ignore harsh conditions or injury. An essential tool in the Dharmic search (or however else you character may perceive such things), this Skill allows you to fall into a trance, calm yourself and find inner peace. By centering yourself this way, you may also unlock puzzles (roll Perception + Meditation, difficulty 9; each success lowers the difficulty of the next Intelligence roll by one); go without feeding (Stamina + Meditation, difficulty 9; each success allows you to go one night without sustenance). * Novice: Those gurus on the street sure make it look easy, right? ** Practiced: Meditation helps sometimes when you're agitated *** Competent: A staple of your lifestyle, meditation keeps your mind clear **** Expert: Even under highly adverse conditions, you can find your centre ***** Master: You could practice Zen archery unruffled in the midst of a raging firestorm with your teeth Possessed by: New Agers, Martial-Artists, Psychological Patients Specialities: Stress Management, Clarity, Biofeedback, Zen, Tantric, Yogic, Transcendental, Relaxation, Foci, Virtual Reality, Memory, New Age, Mudras, Mantras, Staying Motionless Misdirection Misdirection deal with distracting people from what you are trying to do. By making your subject focus his concentration elsewhere, you can steer him away from a subject of interest. The subject of interest could be anything from what you are doing to an object sitting in plain sight. For example, Masters of Do are able to utilize successes on Misdirection rolls to lower the difficulty of their next Do roll to strike the distracted target. The Do practitioner throws a feint or false blow. While the opponent is trying to Dodge or block that blow, the practitioner delivers the attack that he originally intended to utilize. * Novice: Hey, youre shoelace is untied! ** Practiced: Youre really good at card tricks *** Competent: You can make a living at misdirecting people **** Expert: People give you things and then forget they did ***** Master: Strangers forget that they ever met you Possessed by: Con Men, Pickpockets, Sportsmen, Martial Artists, Stage Magicians Specialities: Theft, Concealment, Leading, Confusion Music You can create and play music; you know how to play one instrument for every dot your character has in this Ability. Of course, the higher your rating, the better you are at playing your instruments, especially the first instruments you learnt to play. This is the ability to create music the higher your rating, the greater your musical ability. You should decide what instruments you play. * Novice: With effort, you can play a few simple chords ** Practiced: You could play rhythm guitar in a garage band *** Competent: You could make a decent living playing on the club circuit **** Expert: You could play lead guitar on a 30-country tour ***** Master: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ****** Legend: They say you can sing tears from the stones Possessed by: Performers, Conductors, Composers Specialities: Guitar, Composition, Lyrics, Tuba, Improvised Solos
Naval Artillery Firing ships guns is not just a matter of knowing how to use the weapon, but how to allow for the movement of both your ship and the target. This Skill covers the whole gamut of naval artillery, but does not apply to land-based artillery. * Novice: You can hit a stationary ship moored right next to you ** Practiced: You can hit a ship a short distance away on the open sea *** Competent: You can hit a fast-moving ship in fair weather **** Expert: A glimpse of hull through a fog bank is all you need to get a hit ***** Master: The people who sank the Bismark come to you for advice Possessed by: Naval Personnel, Pirates Specialities: Cannons, Culverins, Small Bore Guns, Large Bore Guns, Torpedoes, Missiles Navigation This Ability measures how well you are able to take a ship from A to B, without visiting C, D and E on the way (unless you wish to, of course). To use this Skill, some information on where you are positioned is needed, and normally a map as well. * Novice: You can sail from one side of the harbour to the other without getting lost ** Practiced: You can direct a ship to a port on the same continent *** Competent: You can navigate across oceans with some accuracy **** Expert: There isnt a port in the world you couldnt reach ***** Master: Cape Horn, in a storm, blindfolded? No problem, guv. Possessed by: Old Sea Dogs, Navy Personnel, Commercial Seamen, Explorers Specialities: Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Indian, Mediterranean, Rivers Networking "Of course not," Choe purred to her contact. "I'm just looking to do a little business. You can make quite a bit of money, and all 1 need is a list of names." She waited as the man on the other end of the line hemmed for a moment. Finally, he mumbled what sounded like an agreement. "Thanks," she said at last. "I'll be sure to contact my people when your information arrives. And I'll pass your name along, too. I appreciate the help." After giving herself a moment to relax, Choe dialled the next number on her list. It's not what you know, it's who you know. And you know how to work those connections for all they're worth. If you're stranded in new circumstances without a network of contacts, you can make one with a little time and effort. It's all in how you play the game.... This Trait allows you to pull together a net of resources: lists, libraries, data banks, receptionists, specialists and informants. These aides won't actually act on your behalf (aside from a dropped word or two), but they're invaluable when you're trying to find something (Perception + Networking), accomplish something (Manipulation + Networking) or win someone over (Charisma or Appearance + Networking). The more obscure the fact, item, person or feat is, the higher the difficulty of the roll becomes. Networking takes time and access. You can't just do it from the street unless you've got a cellular phone and a few hours to spend on it. A Background like Contacts, Mentor or Spies would most likely represent an established network. * Novice: You know how to use a phone book and a library ** Practiced: Sweet-talking operators and secretaries is a cinch *** Competent: You know the right people to talk to, and you know how to find them **** Expert: With two hours and a phone, you can work miracles ***** Master: "How'd you get Salman Rushdie's address ?" Possessed by: Activists, Archivists, Flacks, Spies, Reporters, Research Assistants, Shmooze Masters Specialities: Research, Contact Info, Favours, Secrets, Tickets, Internet, Celebrities, Politics, Underworld
Parachuting You know how to prepare and use a parachute, both for sport or for other purposes. * Novice: Weekend jumper ** Practiced: Reservist *** Competent: Airborne regular **** Expert: Special Forces or sport instructor ***** Master: Special Forces instructor or sport champion Possessed by: Sport parachutist, Paratrooper, Flying enthusiast Specialities: Skydiving, HALO, Display, Mass Deployment, Escape Photography You know how to use a camera to produce quality and artistic pictures. You also know how to process photographic materials and how to maintain and repair photographic equipment. * Novice: Local club member ** Practiced: Local club prize-winner *** Competent: Semi-Pro; you sell some pieces **** Expert: Professional photographer ***** Master: One of the best Possessed by: Artists, Enthusiasts, Journalists, Police Specialists, Blackmailers Specialities: Photojournalism, Portraits, Forensic, X-ray, Photolithography
Pickpocket You are able to remove objects from someone elses clothing and body without the persons knowledge, even if the objects in question are in an inside pocket. You generally bump into the person to distract attention as you remove the object, though there are certainly other methods. * Novice: You can take wallets in a dense crowd ** Practiced: You can take a wallet from an inside pocket *** Competent: You can take a key chain from a trouser pocket **** Expert: You can take a watch while shaking hands ***** Master: You can take anything from anywhere Possessed by: Criminals Specialities: Pockets, Wallets, Watches, Chains, Getaways
Pilot The craft wobbled for a moment, then straightened as the pilot tweaked the rudders. Devon leaned over the back of the pilot's seat, watching intently as the man went about his job professionally. Ahead, the spurious martial artist literally skated across the short stretch of water, great furrowing troughs of water spraying up as he slalomed over its surface. Devon pursed his lips, sure that the physics of that trick weren't repeatable more than once. "Can you push it any faster?" Devon asked. The pilot looked at Devon for a moment, then shrugged. "Sure, but I don't want to run this guy over. He could get pretty badly hurt by the plenum chamber. The force of the air has to hold up this ton of hovercraft, after all." You know how to pilot all manner of flying craft: ground effect vehicles, helicopters, prop planes and jets. Given the incredible complexity of such machines, the average person would be lucky to get one started. You, on the other hand, are a virtuoso of flight. Well, perhaps you've only logged a few hours, but at least you can get off the ground, land safely and still have a chance of dealing with damage or unusual situations in the air. Note, however, that your level of skill in this Ability limits the types of aircraft you can fly. A hang glider pilot (one dot) cannot fly a helicopter (requiring four dots). * Novice: Club member; hang gliders only ** Practiced: Club champion; gliders and small aircraft only *** Competent: Professional or club instructor; commercial airplane license **** Expert: Military or display pilot; helicopter pilot; any type of commercial aircraft ***** Master: The Right Stuff Possessed by: Commandos, Fighter Pilots, Transport Technicians Specialities: Helicopters, Ground Effect Vehicles, Jets, Prop Planes, Jet Fighters, Experimental, Combat, Urban Flight, Night Flying, Thermals, Dogfights, Long Distances, Gliders, Takeoffs & Landings, Light Planes, Corporate Jets, Blimps, Balloons, Commercial/Transport Jets, Vintage Planes, Autogyros, Hang Gliders, Microlights
Police Procedure You know the general techniques and procedures employed by law enforcement authorities, and may utilize them yourself (especially if you are or were once a police officer). * Novice: Recruit ** Practiced: Patrol officer *** Competent: Detective **** Expert: Police inspector ***** Master: Only a master criminal would know this much Possessed by: Police Officers, Attorneys, Reporters, Private Detectives, FBI Agents, Serial Killers Specialities: APBs, Reports, Detectives, Evidence, Autopsies
Portents You are exceptionally skilled at formal and informal fortune telling and reading omens. Depending on your level of skill, you may be able to set up a thriving business in the mortal world. In any event, the Keui-Jin and several other factions of the supernatural world take such things extremely seriously, and a skilled diviner can gain great respect in such circles. One per story, you may attempt a divination roll. You must have the appropriate tools (I Ching, Tarot cards, compass, oracle bones, star charts, even a computer program), and the process takes a minimum of 30 minutes, as you scan the heavens for omens, toss oracle bones or runes, or shatter ideograph painted human skulls. You may either attempt a general reading (What do the stars hold?) or ask a specific question. The Storyteller assigns a difficulty, based on the general intent of your question (if any), and then allows you to roll your Dice Pool of Perception + Portents. Success means that the Storyteller gives you some sort of clue or hint; the greater the success, the more exact the answer, though it is always cryptic. Thus, if the Storyteller knows that a Kuei-Jin characters territory will soon suffer an invasion of Camarilla Kindred led by a crazed (and therefore vulnerable) Malkavian, she might say something like: White Bone Dragon strikes at the Jade Dragons flank. Enter the Bone Dragons maw, and its head will strike its tail in confusion. * Novice: The bird flew south? Umm Good luck tomorrow. ** Practiced: Neighbours invite you to perform I Ching readings *** Competent: Mothers for miles around ask you to interpret their newborns horoscopes **** Expert: You could have a column in a major newspaper ***** Master: Your predictions make and break banks, stock markets and wars Possessed by: Tao-shih, Street Hustlers, Hobbyists Specialities: I Ching, Astrology, Predicting the Stock Market Pottery You are able to make and fire ceramic items, either for artistic or practical purposes. * Novice: Hobbyist ** Practiced: Enthusiastic hobbyist; night school student *** Competent: Professional; night school instructor **** Expert: Craftsperson; growing business ***** Master: Household name Possessed by: Artisans, members of pre-industrial societies Specialities: Vessels, Sculptures, Models, Mouldings Psychoanalysis You are skilled in diagnosing and treating mental ailments (such as Derangements and some Flaws) without resorting to the use of behavior-altering drugs. During a session of analysis, you may roll Intelligence + Psychoanalysis (difficulty of the subjects Intelligence + 3). Keep track of your net successes; the Storyteller will decide how many successes are necessary to remove the Derangement. Even Freud couldnt cure people in a single session, so be patient! Note that it is possible to treat an unwilling patient this way, though the difficulty of doing so is equally to the subjects Willpower + 3. * Novice: A shoulder to cry on ** Practiced: Volunteer counselor *** Competent: Professional counselor **** Expert: Qualified psychoanalyst ***** Master: Freud Possessed by: Psychoanalysts, Holistic Healers, Good Listeners, Counselors, Parents, Teachers, Priests Specialities: Freudian, Jungian, Humanist, Ericksonian, Wiccan, Childhood, Gestalt Theory, Psychosis, Neurosis, Self, Sympathy, Terminology, Research
Repair You are able to repair simple or complex devices of all sorts. Such devices include doors, cars and even computers. Mastery of this Skill means you are a jack-of-all-trades. This Skill covers everything from simple carpentry to mechanics. Of course, proper tools are always needed. * Novice: You can assemble ready-made kits ** Practiced: You could wire a house *** Competent: You save quite a few dollars in mechanics fees **** Expert: You are able to repair personal computers within minutes ***** Master: If its broken, you can fix it Possessed by: Handymen, Maintenance Staff, Builders, Site Technicians, Technical Support Officers Specialities: Wood, Computers, Electronics, Engines, Automobiles, Electricity, Plumbing Research You are highly skilled at finding information from conventional sources. Given time and a good library, you can assemble the sum of human knowledge on almost any topic. Of course, the library may take the alternate form of an oral tribal litany, the internet or some such other source. * Novice: Undergrad ** Practiced: Grad student or research assistant *** Competent: Professor **** Expert: Research fellow ***** Master: Human database Possessed by: Academics, Detectives, Security Personnel, Journalists, Researchers, Writers Specialities: Any knowledge, Arcane Collections, On-Line Data, Oral Traditions, Folklore Riding You can climb onto a riding animal and stand a good chance of getting where you want to go without falling off, being thrown or having anything else unpleasant happen to you. When attempting something difficult, or when danger threatens, the Storyteller may require a Dexterity + Ride roll to avoid trouble. This Ability can also be combined with Mental Attributes to reflect your working knowledge of the relevant trappings and equipment. * Novice: Pony club member; dude ranch vacations ** Practiced: Pony club champion; weekend cowboy *** Competent: Pony club instructor; professional cowboy **** Expert: Showjumping champion; rodeo star ***** Master: Stunt rider ****** Legend: You know your horses capabilities better than it does, and can make use of them at will Possessed by: Enthusiasts, Cowboys, Stunt Riders, members of pre-industrial societies Specialities: Bareback, Horse, Mule, Camel, Elephant, Gallop, Tricks, No Hands Sagaman (Restricted) This Skill covers the ability to compose and recite epic poetry in the traditional Norse style. It also covers knowledge of Scandinavian historical legend, religious practices, kennings and aphorisms. A skilled skald (bard) commands much respect and can find a seat in any hall, either reciting saga or composing the story of the lords hall. * Novice: You know how the story goes. It starts, um ** Practiced: You know the plots of the major sagas, and rarely forget or stumble during recitations *** Competent: You know all the major sagas, and your storytelling is good enough to earn you a living **** Expert: You know all the major sagas and some of the minor ones as well. Youre skilled enough to tailor the story to the audience during recitations, and you never stumble over words. You have authored or composed sagas that have entered general use. ***** Master: Know Hrolfs Saga Kraka? You should. You wrote it! ****** Legend: You taught Snorri all he knew Possessed by: Vikings, Revivalists, Literature Buffs, Valdaermen Specialities: Heroic Sagas, Family Sagas, Regional Sagas, Improvisation, Composition, Recitation, Spoken, Written
Scribing The skill of scribing includes calligraphy, short-hand, hieroglyphics, and other forms of penmanship. The skill is rapidly fading from importance, as new tools replace the need for manually drafted or copied documents, but the skill does still exist, having become more of an art form than a professional service. * Novice: Can write neatly ** Practiced: Knows some calligraphy *** Competent: Master of all styles and forms **** Expert: Able to render clear pictograms ***** Master: Has restored the splendour and majesty of penmanship Possessed by: Enthusiasts, Artists, Professional Calligraphers Specialities: Copying, Illumination, Calligraphy Scuba You are proficient in the use of an aqualung, and are familiar with the many danger of diving, such as sharks and the bends. * Novice: Once a year, on vacation ** Practiced: Local club member *** Competent: Instructor **** Expert: Pro diver ***** Master: Navy SEAL Possessed by: Enthusiasts, Military, Treasure Hunters, Marine Biologists Specialities: Cold Water, Reef, Deep-Sea, Recreational Shield This is an ancient Ability rarely found in the modern world. However, there are still some who are proficient with the likes of shields, bucklers, et al. Whilst there are members of the supernatural community who either recall how to, or still do, handle a shield, as well as perhaps members of the battle re-enactment societies, it is the police who predominantly practice this still-useful martial skill. When parrying a blow with a shield, roll Dexterity + Shield just as in blocking hand-to-hand attacks (resisted versus the attackers successes). Any successes thereafter mean that the shields full armor rating is added to Stamina for the purposes of soaking damage. This is often used in conjunction with the Melee Skill. * Novice: Police Academy ** Practiced: Riot detail *** Competent: Police instructor **** Expert: Knight of the realm ***** Master: Sir Lancelot, or Captain America! Possessed by: Battle Re-Enactment Enthusiasts, Riot Police, Elder Vampires Specialities: Swords, Great Shield, Riot Shield, Clubs, Projectiles Shipwright At its heart, the Shipwright Skill is the ability to repair and build ships. It also governs the ability to assess a ships capability and value. Shipwrights can select the proper timber, cut and lay out frames and keels, use axes and adzes to shape the wood to the proper thickness, caulk, patch and otherwise repair damage to ships. * Novice: You can caulk and use an adze ** Practiced: You know how to graduate with width of the timbers and shape the keel *** Competent: You can build a ship from the ground up **** Expert: Your ships are durable and swift, and your work is highly sought after ***** Master: The greatest warchiefs give you silver from their arms and feast just to ask you to work for them ****** Legend: Theyve been buying your ships since you made them out of reeds Possessed by: Revivalists, Shipwrights Specialities: Drakkars, Knorrs, New Construction, Repairs In The Field, Repairs In A Slipway
Singing You can sing over a wide range, with a variety of styles and techniques. Singing is an extremely lucrative and popular Ability in the modern age. Though most singers are amateurs, others make enormous amounts of money. * Novice: You stand out when the family gathers around the piano ** Practiced: You could get lead roles with local amateur societies, or become a lead singer with a garage band *** Competent: You could get a choral part on the professional stage, or get a recording contract **** Expert: You could get a lead on Broadway or a record in the charts ***** Master: Theyll be playing your CDs 20 years from now Possessed by: Celestial Choristers, Performers, Travelling Players, Entertainers Specialities: Opera, Easy Listening, Rock, Church, Musicals Skiing You can travel on skis for sport or transportation with little chance of a mishap. You can also read snow, and know where it is safe and where it is not under most circumstances. * Novice: Vacation skier ** Practiced: Enthusiast *** Competent: Ski bum **** Expert: Hotdogger, ski champ, Arctic forces ***** Master: Olympic medallist, elite forces Possessed by: Sportsmen, Military, Arctic and Mountain Inhabitants Specialities: Cross-Country, Downhill, Ski-Jumping, Snowboarding, Stunts Sleight of Hand The quickness of your hands can deceive the eyes of others. You can perform magic tricks and other feats of legerdemain. * Novice: Card tricks at Christmas ** Practiced: Childrens parties *** Competent: Stage magician **** Expert: TV magician ***** Master: A legend in your own time Possessed by: Stage Magicians, Thieves Specialities: Produce Item, Conceal Item, Amuse Snake Charming You can mesmerize snakes, making them passive and willing to obey hand gestures with little chance of being bitten, although if you are a performer, it is likely that you also know to make sure that your snake has recently been drained of any poisons. * Novice: You are inexperienced, but know how it is done ** Practiced: You are capable of influencing a snake and making it less aggressive *** Competent: You can easily make one snake passive and handle it (with care) **** Expert: You can make any number of snakes passive and can handle them with ease ***** Master: You are a master cobra tamer. You can make snakes dance and move where you wish them to Possessed by: Entertainers, Snake Cultists Specialities: Rattlers, Dismissals, Dancing
Speed Reading Through practice, you have developed the ability to read and absorb large quantities of written material in a short time. * Novice: The New York Times in an hour ** Practiced: A novel in two to three hours *** Competent: A textbook in two to three hours **** Expert: A fat textbook in two to three hours ***** Master: War & Peace in two to three hours Possessed by: Academics, Literary Critics, Journalists, Researchers Specialities: Technical, Fiction, Newspapers, Research, Cramming, Reports Storytelling You are able to weave a web of language that can keep your audience entertained for hours on end. You have while away many an evening spinning your tales and sagas to others, and if you are a Rom or of a similar culture, your skills are held in high esteem for your clever tongue and keen wit. Whatever your background, though, your stories are enjoyed by those who hear them. Characters with this Ability are able to tell interesting and entertaining tales. This Skill is highly prized among the Rom and any Gypsy and perhaps any Gaje guest who can tell a good story will most certainly find herself plied with warm food, cold drink and a comfortable place to sleep. * Novice: Can tell a short joke ** Practiced: Know how to deliver a punch-line *** Competent: Invited to many parties **** Expert: Can keep an audience awake all night ***** Master: Qualified to run Vampire Possessed by: Gypsies, Compulsive Liars, Writers, Entertainers Specialities: Romances, Epic Sagas, Classical, Children, Bawdy, Tearful Talith (Restricted) You have learnt how to use the Romany weapon known as the talith. The talith is a heavy scarf, or diklo, of some 5-6 in length, with weighted hooks and barbs along each end. You can use the talith to disarm your opponents, or you can attack them, slashing with the barbed hooks. The advantage of reach combined with concealability make this weapon one of your favorite forms of attack. A character must be skilled in melee in order to learn this specialized form of combat. Hence, at least two dots are required in the Melee Skill, as the talith is a difficult weapon to master. It requires good co-ordination and a lot of practice. Although it does not do much damage as compared to a firearm, the talith is practically impossible to detect as a weapon, and it can be used to blind or disarm opponents. The greater the characters skill with the talith, the more varied the special manoeuvres and attacks of which the character is capable. * Novice: Can blind opponent, giving her a +1 target modifier ** Practiced: Can use the talith as an actual melee weapon *** Competent: Can use the talith to disarm opponents. Opponent must then roll Strength, difficulty 6. If your character rolls more successes on a Dexterity + Talith roll, also difficulty 6, then she successfully disarms the opponent **** Expert: Can use the talith as a second weapon in melee, allowing two attacks per action. However, all difficulties are raised by one ***** Master: Can entangle opponent with the talith. Opponent must make a Dexterity roll, again difficulty 6, to avoid entanglement. If the wielder of the talith has more successes she succeeds in entangling her opponent, causing him to lose his next action Possessed by: Gypsies Specialities: Second Weapon, Entangle, Blinding, Surprise Technology
Slamming the cover shut on the fuse box, Cathrine backed up, pulled the lever and gave the box a swift kick. After only a moment's hesitation, the lights in the room came back on. The generator patched into the box hummed merrily, and the rest of the onlookers rushed to check the computer systems, monitors and speakers. "Amazing what you can do with a strip of tinfoil, isn't it?" Cathrine smirked. "Too bad they don't make them like they used to." Skill with Technology covers all manner of repairs, electronics, mechanical aptitude and other gew-gawgery with devices. Characters skilled in Technology can not only use all manner of devices, but they can also repair or modify such items. Of course, tools and diagrams are most helpful in this endeavor, but sometimes there's no help for it but to trust to luck. Characters without this Skill can probably operate a toaster or a microwave oven, but they wouldn't even know how to change the oil in a car. * Novice: Fuse boxes, broken toasters and oil changes are your purview ** Practiced: You've done some electrical or mechanical hobbying, and you put together all sorts of useless crap in your garage *** Competent: Electrical and mechanical engineering are well within your range of skill, and you can repair many objects or make new ones **** Expert: You can even program a VCR ***** Master: If it works on a technological principle, you can break, build, repair or rewire it Possessed by: Engineers, Repairmen, Technocrats, Inventors, Saboteurs, Security Specialists Specialities: Electronics, Mechanics, Engines, Tinkering, Security, Technomagic, Invention Tightrope Walking
You can walk a tightrope, something you may have learnt as part of your training in a circus or through some other means. Tightrope Walking can be used for performance purposes, but has a number of other applications. * Novice: You can walk a tightrope slowly as long as nothing disturbs you. Wind, loud noises or looking down can all cause you to fall ** Practiced: You can walk a tightrope with minor distractions or without the aid of a pole *** Competent: You can walk a tightrope while distracted, as well as when the rope is slanted or slack **** Expert: You are as skilled as ninja ***** Master: You are a circus-level performer. You can walk a tightrope carrying objects or people. You may ride a tightrope bike across the rope or perform difficult tricks Possessed by: Performers, Circus Folk, Daring Thieves Specialities: Somersaults, Distractions, Phone Lines, Distance
Torture
They didn't have any time to waste. A few more minutes, and the drive system would fail. Shortly thereafter, the particle build-up would wash over the generators, and the resulting explosion would destroy most of the city block. All because the damn so-called "mage" here had haughtily decided that 200 human lives were a reasonable cost to destroy a science facility! "Where is it?" thundered Palov. With a swift backhand, he brought blood to the lips of the frail woman in the chair. The woman smirked at him, despite her bleeding lips. "You think a little pain will stop me?" Palov frowned menacingly. "Not at all. It's simply a warm-up for you, terrorist. I suspect that you'll talk as the nanoprobes reduce your brain to a semi-organic soup, though." He held out his hand to the doctor for the injector as the woman paled. "Or rather, you'll babble. You could've saved yourself the trouble., but we can get the chemical connectors more quickly this way. Too bad it hurts like hell" When subtle methods fail, urgent means may become necessary. Using this skill is no pleasant duty (you're not a sadist, after all!), but when innocent lives are on the line (and, more often than not, your subjects are murderous scum to begin with), there's little choice. Despite the common image of the blood-spattered torturer, Technocratic methods are far more precise. Why break someone's fingers when you can break his mind without leaving a mark? You know the fine points of excruciation the timing, the tools, the right places to probe and most importantly when not to touch your subject. After all, many subjects break just before the actual pain begins. The suggestion of agony is often more effective than the agony itself. In game terms, each successful Manipulation + Torture roll (difficulty is the subject's current Willpower) lowers the subject's Willpower by one point. Again, the inquisition may or may not involve physical harm. If it does, the damage depends on the methods employed. Just be sure your cause is just and your methods are thorough. The civilized world rightly holds a torturer in horrified contempt. * Novice: Simple sadist ** Practiced: Back-room cop *** Competent: Military-level interrogator **** Expert: Your own comrades fear you ***** Master: Master of Room 101 Possessed by: Military Special Advisors, Men in White, Covert Ops, Dictatorial Aides, Mad Scientists, Warped Agents, Administrators, Managers, Hollow Men, Tong Soldiers Specialities: Raw Brutality, Pain by Proxy, Mental Torment, Mind Games, Exquisite Pain, No Marks, Tools, Intimidation, Exotic Methods, Prolonging Life, Flagellation, Razor Blades, Avoiding Accidental Death Tracking You can identify the trail of an animal or person, and follow it under most conditions. The difficulty of such a feat varies according to the conditions following fresh tracks in deep snow is easier than following week-old tracks across a concrete sidewalk. * Novice: Boy Scout ** Practiced: Eagle Scout *** Competent: Hunter **** Expert: Indian tracker ***** Master: Grizzly Adams, Tonto Possessed by: Hunters, Survivalists, Special Forces, Detectives Specialities: Specific Species, Urban, Identification, Rock Traps You know how to set various types of traps according to the type of game you want to catch. * Novice: Boy Scout ** Practiced: Weekend survivalist *** Competent: Outdoorsman **** Expert: Mountain man ***** Master: Grizzly Adams, Rambo Possessed by: Trappers, Special Forces, Poachers, inhabitants of remote places Specialities: Specific Species, Deadfalls, Pits
Vamp You can use your seductive means to get any information from anyone. Whether youre acting out the role of the empathetic girlfriend, the bar floozy, the loving wife or the adventurous mistress, you know how to please. You can be subtle or overt, coy, or wanton, depending on what promises the best results, and you can interpret your subjects turn-ons to better accomplish your seduction. * Novice: You know how to gain a partners interest and extract information without being blatantly obvious ** Practiced: You perceive the subtle innuendoes in determining what a partner likes, and you use this insight to extract information *** Competent: From talking to someone for a few minutes, you can determine his fantasies. You enact them with skill, often withdrawing vital information easily and within the context of your role-playing games **** Expert: You can discern the marks ultimate fantasies, enacting dialogue and mannerisms perfectly. Your partner usually becomes obsessed with you, and the sap may tell you anything ***** Master: Some wonder if you are too good to be true; a veritable sucubbus or incubus Possessed by: Hustlers, Con Artists, Spies, Hookers, Casanovas Specialities: Lingerie, Modeling, Bondage, Role-Playing, S&M, D&S
Knowledges
Knowledge Traits represent your character's areas of scholastic and mental expertise. Most often, they require your character to have studied the topic involved actively, and for this reason, they are described in collegiate terms. Although most of them require formal training, your character may have learned them through self-study and reading. You should clarify with your Storyteller if such is the case, because your character may have the benefit of the information without the prestige of a degree. In the case of Medicine, for example, she may know how to set bones, but she may not have the certification to practice medicine legally. Your Storyteller may cap how many dots you can purchase in an area of Knowledge without pursuing a formal education. If you have no dots in a Knowledge Trait, you cannot even attempt a roll involving it without direct Storyteller permission. If your character doesn't speak Russian, for in stance, she can't fumble her way through a conversation with just her wits. Knowledges: Academics Vtm3 MGT Accounting VP2 Alchemy VP2 MBoS CPG Anthropology VP2 Archaeology VP2 Architecture VP2 Area Knowledge VP2 MBoS CPG Art CtD Wto2 Art History Vtm2 VP2 Astrology VP2 MBoS CPG Astronomy VP2 Biology VP2 Black Hand Knowledge VPGS Bureaucracy Vtm2 CtD Wto2 Chantry Politics MBoS Chemistry VP2 Church History I Church Lore I City Secrets VP2 Clan Knowledge VP2 VGC VPGS Computer Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Computer Hacking VP2 VGC MBoS CPG Conspiracy Theory MGT Construct Politics MGT Cosmology Mum2 Mta2 Covert Culture MGT Criminology VP2 Cryptography VP2 MBoS MGT CPG Culture Mta2 Economics VP2 VGC Electronics VP2 Enigmas KOE Mum2 Mta2 CtD Wto2 Engineering VP2 Finance Vtm2 Mum2 Vtm3 MGT CtD Wto2 Forensics VP2 Genealogy CtD Wto2 Geography Vtm2 CtD Wto2 Geology VP2 Hearth Wisdom WoDS Heraldry VP2 CPG Herbalism MBoS CPG History Vtm2 VP2 VGC MBoS CtD Wto2 CPG Investigation Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Journalism Vtm2 CtD Law Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Law Enforcement MGT Linguistics Vtm2 KOE Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Literature VP2 CPG Lore: Arcanum, Black Hand, Camarilla, Demonology, Faerie, Forbidden Secrets, Kindred, Lupine/Garou, Mage, Magical Societies, Marauders, Mummy, Nephandi, Romany, Sabbat, Seelie, Sewer, Spirit, Stone, Technocrats, Traditions, Underworld, Unseelie, Wraith, Wyrm VP2 Mta2 MBoS VPGS WoDS VBH WoDG CPG HoA Mathematics VP2 Media MGT Medicine Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Metallurgy VP2 Metaphysics WoDS Meteorology VP2 Military Science Vtm2 VP2 CtD Wto2 Mythlore CtD Mythology Mum2 WoDS HoA Naturalist VP2 Occult Vtm2 Mta2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 HoA Pharmacopaeia MGT Philosophy Vtm2 CtD Wto2 Physics VP2 Plague-breeding VCB Poisons MBoS CPG Politics Vtm2 Vtm3 CtD Wto2 Power-brokering MGT Propaganda MGT Psychology Vtm2 VP2 VGC MBoS MGT CtD Wto2 CPG HoA Reality Deviant Data MGT Rites I Rituals KOE Science Vtm2 Mta2 MBoS Vtm3 MGT CtD Wto2 CPG Scripture I Secret Code Languages MBoS Sign Language MBoS CPG Sub-dimensions MGT Taxidermy MBoS CPG Terrorism MGT Thanatology Mum2 VBH Theater Vtm2 CtD Wto2 Theology Vtm2 VP2 MBoS CtD Wto2 CPG Toxicology VP2 Vice MGT Occult Sciences HoA Parapsychology HoA Paleology HoA Sacred Scriptures HoA
Academics "So... what do you think?" Montreaux twined his rooty fingers together, glancing around nervously at the people studying his latest painting. He watched as Jack Black turned away with a harrumph of disapproval. His expression of anticipation crumpled as others slowly followed Jack's example all but one: Gerard. Deep-voiced and academic, Gerard spoke with authority. "Montreaux, you have captured the whimsy of a Monet watercoiour, here, where you have explored the evanescent effects of light. You evoke, with your use of broad areas of colour, the desolation and loneliness expressed by Munch. You pull taut the lines of sexual irreverence just as Picasso did during his Rose Period. Your use of Realism against a background of Impressionism, particularly in the pigeons and the fruit, strikes me as reminiscent of the Expressionist compositions found in a Gauguin. Tell me that you have studied the great works and sought to emulate them, or I shall surely die of wonder." Blinking, confused, Montreaux replied, "Umm?" He looked around for someone to explain to him what Gerard was saying, and he saw that the others had all turned back with renewed interest. Study in Academics represents your character's expertise in the "liberal arts and sciences." It covers many possible fields, and you should work with your Storyteller to choose a Speciality for your character. Academics includes the theoretical and sometimes practical study of anthropology, music, history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, literature, art and any other of the so-called "soft" sciences. Although you may choose a Speciality, your character will still have a basic knowledge of all other topics that fall in this category, simply because learning one often leads to learning bits and pieces of others. If college-educated, your character will have had to take electives, after all. Furthermore, this Trait represents an overall level of education and familiarity with the academic world, such as the politics and traditions of universities. McLean couldn't make heads or tails of the book. Even the computer translation guide was little help; the letters all ran together and the illuminated artwork made it difficult for the computer to recognize the letters. Fortunately, Hoffman came to the rescue. "That's 12th century Greek," he proclaimed. "It's distinctly different from other forms of the language, and from the look of it, I'd say that it was transcribed by an uncertain hand probably a monk who had only a passing knowledge of the language. It's possible that this book is actually a translation, though I'd wager a poor one." "How do you figure all that out?" McLean asked, still trying to figure out which end of the volume was up. Hoffman shrugged. "Did a few courses in biblio studies, and a little bit of medieval history. You just have to know what to look for." The broad knowledge of Academics covers all manner of scholastic and soft sciences. Old languages, philosophy, sociology and history are all covered. This is very much the sort of education youd expect from a liberal arts degree. Naturally, such a general education is prized in many organizations and factions in the World of Darkness, not least the Technocracy, since a broadly educated character has a firm grounding in worldly matters. For example, scholars of such groups as the Ivory Tower maintain that youd damn well better understand society before you try and do anything to it. When purchasing Academics, consider each branch as a different Knowledge. After youve learned three different variants, all new Academics variants cost half as much. A broad education manages to overlap, and it gives you insight into the interrelationships of worldly matters. Each area of study is considered a separate version of this Knowledge. A few branches include, but are not limited to: Anthropology: You have studied the human phenomenon of society in many of its forms, and understand its basic rules and structures on a theoretical level. You also have some specific knowledge about one or more contemporary pre-industrial societies. Specialities include: Ancient, Theoretical, Specific Culture. Archaeology: You have studied the remains of the past and the processes by which they are preserved and discovered. You can interpret archaeological remains and identify the likely origin of ancient artifacts; you also know a fair amount about one or more ancient cultures. Specialities include: Prehistoric, Europe, Classical, Central America, Excavation, Underwater Archaeology, Theory, Paleopathology, Paleoecology. Art History: You have studied art as an academic rather than practical subject, and know a great deal about its history. By looking at a piece of art, you have a good chance of identifying its place and period of origin, and in most cases you can name the artist without looking for a signature. You also have a fair idea of a pieces current market price. Specialities include: Classical, Renaissance, Masters, Impressionists, Primitive, American, Ethnographic. Criminology: You have studied the nature of crime when, where, how and why it is committed, the nature of the criminal mind and the history of famous cases. You are an expert on crime and law enforcement. Specialities include: Serial Killings, Unsolved Crimes, Jack The Ripper, Criminal Psychology.
Economics: You know what an economy is and how one works. Coupled with Area Knowledge, this Ability enables you to determine the origin and destination of every penny in the city. You can study a city or country and gain a fair understanding of its economic condition and the reasons for such. Specialities include: Private Sector, Public Sector, Stock Market, Taxes, International Fine Arts: Though you dont necessarily have the ability to make great works of art (that being a function of other Abilities), you can understand the messages in works of art and critique it with the worst of them. Though many consider the arts impractical, Media Relations specialists and their ilk understand the value of putting a message into a medium. Genealogy: You have studied the academic science of names, families, dynasties and clans. You will be familiar with the history and evolution of many famous names including the clans and families that bear those names as well as the general effects of migrations, naturalization and so on upon names. This Ability also confers some familiarity with coats of arms and the like, and allows you to perform detailed research into such matters. Specialities include: Scottish, Coats Of Arms, English, Holocaust Survivors, Medieval, Famous Figures, American Roots. History: You have studied the history of the world or of a specific area or period, and understand what happened when, why and who was involved. You also have a fair idea of social, political, economic and technological conditions in various past times and places. Specialities include: Political, Intellectual, Social, Economic, Technological, Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, Modern, Europe, Asia, Africa, The Americas, Australia. Literature: You are familiar with the literature of one or more nations or historical periods, and know something of the general style and structure of literature the things that set literature apart from mere fiction or entertainment. You can usually find a witty and appropriate quote, or identify a quotation if you see one. Specialities include: The Novel, Poetry, Drama, English, American, European, Classical, Medieval, Asian, Islamic. Logic: Though the study of logic is often associated with science, it is really a form of ordered non-experimental thought and, as such, falls under the heading of philosophy. At the core, Logic relies on certain assumptions, so its difficult to form a proof of proof. Logic also has difficulty applying to concepts without discrete values, like morality. Where Logic does excel is in drawing a conclusion based on a set premise. Delving into Logic is a worthwhile endeavor for many characters, particularly Willworkers; the computer operators of the Technocracy and Virtual Adepts, as well as Etherites and some other Traditionalists, find the predictable patterns of Logic a necessity. Mythology: Mythology is the study of hero and god stories of particular societies. Myths, like legends and fairy tales, are stories that give societies their sense of reality and meaning. The concept of myth is relative; what is myth to one society is truth to another. Specialities include: Creation Myths, Cosmologies, Eschatologies, Soteriologies, Navajo, Celtic, Persian, Greek, Urban Myth. Philosophy: You have studied a number of philosophers and their works, from Plato to Hume, from Kant to Sartre, and are familiar with the principles they wrote of. Whether or not you agree with any of these, or other (perhaps more occult) philosophers, you are quite capable of reasoning on a philosophical level. Specialities include: Modern, Classical, German, Existentialism, Particular Philosopher, Political Philosophy, Aesthetics, Ethics. Theology: Religion is a familiar aspect of human endeavor for you, and you fully understand its place in the world. At higher levels, this Knowledge imparts an appreciation for all religious beliefs, while less skilled individuals tend to view their own beliefs as intrinsically superior to any others. This, of course, varies by individual. Possession of this Knowledge in no way requires personal belief in the tenets of any specific religion. Specialities include: Comparative, Agnosticism, Womens (often called Theaology), Liberation, Christian, Buddhist, Branch Davidian. * Student: You know the basic principles of your discipline ** College: You understand the major theories and concepts *** Masters: Youve devoted a fair amount of time and work to your studies **** Doctorate: You have an outstanding grasp of your speciality ***** Scholar: The obscure and the forgotten rest lightly on the tip of your tongue ****** Legend: The obscure and the forgotten rest lightly on the tip of your tongue Possessed by: Professors, Artists, Musicians, Writers, Trivia Buffs, Literary Critics, Scholars, Enthusiastic Amateurs, Museum Staff, Auction House Staff Generic Specialities: Theoretical, Classic, Radical, Particular Schools Of Thought, Cutting Edge Other Variants: Musicology, Medieval Studies, Architecture
Computer Cathrine's fingers flew across the keyboard, tick-tacking in the commands almost as quickly as the prompt appeared on the screen. She held back the urge to call on some of her incredible toys. This time, she couldn't afford to use her magic. This time, she had to do it the normal way. Of course, all things being relative, she knew she still had an advantage. The screen flashed blue and Cathrine's heart missed a beat. She held her breath. Had she hit a glitch she hadnt anticipated? But then, the logo of Dextron Inc. formed on the screen, and Cathrine smiled. She'd made it in. All she had to do was find and delete the records on Solomon. When they went looking for the hacker, they'd never suspect her. They'd start by looking for a Sleeper, and all because she hadn't left the signature use of hypertech. Computer operation and programming fall under the sway of the Computer Knowledge. Though such groups as the Technocracy makes great use of computers, today's highly information-based society relies on them a great deal as well. Those characters with low scores in Computer may know how to manipulate their way through simple software, whereas those with high scores can program, build their own and hack. This Ability allows you to operate computers and write computer programs. You probably know one or more programming languages and may even design your own computer systems. This Ability is necessary if you wish to break into protected computer systems or crack any kind of digital encryption. * Student: You can play computer games ** College: With some helpful files, some reference manuals and a little time, you can install or work through most software *** Masters: Programming is one of your talents, and you craft utilities to your own standards **** Doctorate: Not only do you write code, you can hack or debug other peoples' products, and you're familiar with the most recent and efficient innovations of computers ***** Scholar: You created the most recent computer technology Possessed by: Hackers, Programmers, Office Workers, Students, Virtual Adepts, Data Processors, MUSH Coders, Students, Gamers Specialities: Programming, Hacking, Code-Breaking, Viruses, Data Retrieval, Internet Finance The Asian economy had been effectively eviscerated. Though this occurrence presented some hardship in the short run, it had proven speculatively incredible and managed to cement certain principles of economics in the foremost public eye. Better still, it meant that the formerly impenetrable Asian markets now; needed an influx of capital and investment badly. That meant that the Syndicate could bring all of its global influence to bear, instead of being limited to particular Asiatic fronts. Choe allowed herself a small smile as she set to work on the complex plans that would allow her to similarly open up the markets of Western Europe. Not even a nuke can match the power of money, and you understand that power. With a few tips and a little legwork, you can plow through the marketplace the way a mechanic dismantles an engine. Chances are, you've also got a very healthy bank account (the Resources Background) that proves how much you know! * Student: Smart investor ** College: Professional banker *** Masters: Professional stockbroker **** Doctorate: E.F. Hutten ***** Scholar: Literal financial wizard Possessed by: Brokers, Tycoons, Reporters, Accountants, Syndicate Agents of all kinds Specialities: Stock Markets, International Trade, Buyouts, Takeovers, Futures, Investments, Bonds, Litigation, Laws, Secrets, Black Markets, Currency
Investigation "Did you move him?" asked David, crouching down beside the corpse. The smell of blood and other final bodily excretions put a mask of distaste on the Verbena's face. "No," replied the other man. "I found him and called you immediately." David nodded and pointed to an odd discoloration on the dead man's arm. "This arm has been moved. This discoloration shows the pooling of blood in the dead flesh. They should be on the bottom, but here they're on the top. Something was taken from that arm. Here, a ring is missing. See the wear-mark it left?" David looked up into the barrel of a gun. "Hmmm. Tell me, Victor," he said. "What was so special about the ring that you'd kill for it?" Whenever your character investigates a crime scene, looks for clues or performs more detailed forensic exploration, the Investigation Knowledge is invoked. This Trait implies that your character has learned to read specific clues that give her information. More than just the ability to notice things, it shows that your character has learned specific methods for discovering the truth. She may have studied Criminology or Forensics, for example. It's more than just noticing a clue; it also involves interpreting that clue. Investigation allows you to call upon training in basic criminology to locate evidence, perform forensic analysis and note minute details others miss. It also gives you the know-how to conduct a proper criminal investigation and reconstruct the scene of a crime to gain insight into what really occurred. * Student: You are an amateur with rudimentary training ** College: Youve had some investigative experience, on par with a law enforcement officer *** Masters: Youre experienced and could set up a successful business as a PI **** Doctorate: You could serve as a field agent for an intelligence or investigative agency ***** Scholar: You fit well within the company of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot or Lord Darcy ****** Legend: You could make a living out of tracking down Assamites, Nosferatu and John Courage! Possessed by: Detectives, Police, Coroners, Profilers, Intelligence Agents, Insurance Investigators, Reporters Specialities: Forensics, Crime Scenes, Poisons, Weapons, Collecting Evidence, Criminal Minds Law Climbing vines draped the white house on Marshall Street, their cheerful green painting a contradictory backdrop to the black limousines. The vehicles proceeded down the long, curving driveway to the front door. Each in turn, the judges entered the house. The last car brought the defendant, his advocates and his guards. The judges had already seated themselves at the front of the courtroom by the time the defendant entered. One from each of the Traditions, they waited with stiff impatience. It appeared that they had already made up their minds about the verdict, but the defendant deserved to have his case heard. That was the law. Wescott set his briefcase upon the table and opened it. He knew he had a tough job ahead of him. Clearing a man so carefully framed might well prove to be his greatest challenge. At the call for Wescott's opening statements, the advocate pulled a bloody heart from the plastic bag in his case and held it high. The entire room gasped. A character with a high score in the Law Trait knows local or national laws well enough to manipulate them to her benefit. She can find loopholes in the law, prosecute a defendant with aplomb or advise people on how far they can go without breaking the law. Those who know the law can often use it to their advantage. This Ability gives you knowledge of the legal system and jurisprudence, both how to manipulate the law and how to work within the system to get what you want. Furthermore, as an example of how this Knowledge may be used within the arena of the supernatural, this Knowledge can represent an understanding of the Protocols and allow a mage to use the laws of the Traditions to her own advantage. * Student: Your knowledge is practical, along the lines of most police officers ** College: You could pass the state bar exam *** Masters: Youve practiced law for some years and are a full partner in a firm **** Doctorate: Youve served as a judge or district attorney ***** Scholar: You could be a Supreme Court Justice, or a member of Congress or Parliament ****** Legend: Hammurabi was a pretender next to you Possessed by: Lawyers, Criminals, Police, Legislators, Judges, Bounty Hunters, Quaesitori, Philodoxes, Hierarchy Devotees Specialities: Criminal, Civil, Tradition, Police Procedure, Contracts, Corporate, Real Estate
Linguistics The Etherite from Paris stood slowly. "Je suis desole, mats je vous trouve absolument betes. Vous ne comprene? pas l' importance de mes travaux." He strode out of the room. "What did he say?" Preston asked, looking toward the Etherite's interpreter. "He said," the interpreter answered, "that he must excuse himself. He's not feeling well. And if you will excuse me, I believe I should go tend to him." The stick-legged man hurried after his companion. Blandine chuckled softly from her end of the table. She spoke French and knew the interpreter had smoothly covered his friend's insult. She assumed he had rushed off to entreat the Etherite to make amends rather than lose every chance of making an alliance on this side of the Atlantic. Moments later, she excused herself as well. She had a card to play in this little game. All characters are assumed to be able to speak, read and write their own native tongue. Any other languages known are represented by this Knowledge. Additional dots in Linguistics give a character a broader range of languages. You determine, with your Storyteller's approval, what languages you want your character to speak. These languages can come from any country, either modern or ancient, and they generally include written forms as well. A high level of this Knowledge often indicates a broad, general knowledge of language theory, and your character may take "Linguistic study" in place of a language, thereby studying the underpinnings of language itself. * Student: One extra language ** College: Two extra languages *** Masters: Four extra languages **** Doctorate: Eight extra languages ***** Scholar: 16 extra languages ****** Legend: 32 extra languages Possessed by: Linguists, Diplomats, Foreign Nationals, Spies, Tour Guides, Travellers, Interpreters Specialities: Hieroglyphs, Latin, Local Dialect, Written Expression, Slang, Ciphers, any modern language, Business Terminology, Technical Terms, Simultaneous Translation, Reading, Writing, Curses Medicine "It's because of my knowledge of the human body that I can do what I do, Maphis. Do you doubt me?" Jodi chewed coyly on a fingernail. "You see, there are certain locations where, if you disrupt the natural order, you can kill a person within moments." Her dark eyes slid down Maphis' body to his chest. "The heart... the ventricles are like wires. Close them and the whole system panics. Feel it?" Jodi smiled as Maphis gasped and pressed himself back against the wail. "Such terror in your eyes," she commented, releasing the organ from her magical control. "As it should be. I can squeeze specific muscles and make your body do as I wish. Or... I can render you completely vulnerable." With a gesture, she sent her magic to press Maphis' jugular closed. The mage's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Jodi laughed while she unbuttoned his shirt just for demonstration. She was still laughing when Maphis awakened. "So, "Jodi asked, "do you understand now why you hare to pay very... close... attention... when I address you?" The Medicine Trait gives your character an understanding of the human body, for both constructive, reparative and destructive purposes. It represents knowledge of medication, ailments and first aid. At higher levels, it allows diagnosis, treatment of disease, surgery and the use of highly technical medical equipment. A character with Medicine is not necessarily formally trained or licensed, but she can practice with the best of them as long as she's careful not to let anyone know! Of course, this Knowledge can also represent a character who is a certified medic, doctor or nurse, and it also includes a knowledge of drugs and their use. * Student: You know basic first -aid and CPR ** College: You can handle basic trauma and diagnosis *** Masters: General practice is within your range of skill **** Doctorate: Surgery, specialities and the big bucks all await your practice ***** Scholar: At the cutting edge of medicine, your skills are in demand throughout the world ****** Legend: Your healing arts are so great that some whisper you have a pact with the Devil Possessed by: Med Students, Lifeguards, Nurses, Doctors, Paramedics, Euthanatos, Progenitors Specialities: Research, Pediatrics, Emergency Care, Pathology, Poisons, Surgery, Pharmaceuticals, Alternative Medicine, Diseases, Neurology, Orthopedics, Oncology
Occult Xian made a conscious effort to loosen her death-grip on the steering wheel, flexing shaky fingers. She glanced over at her passenger. "We're lucky to be alive, aren't we?" Terry nodded, his gaze locked on the passing landscape. "They let us live." He drew a deep breath. "I've seen giant wolves like that before. They're supernatural. I don't know why they let us go. Our magic wouldn't have helped us if they had chosen to attack." "Their eyes..." Xian whispered. She shivered, imagining for a moment that she could still feel them watching her. She pressed on the gas pedal. This Trait describes your character's depth of occult knowledge, including mysticism, curses, magic, folklore, Umbral lore and various other lore related to the strange creatures and occurrences in the world. It doesn't necessarily imply that everything your character knows is correct, but it does give her insight to weed out the total nonsense. (Although she may still think that voodoo doesn't work, for example, she does know the general way others think that it does.) A character with a high level of Occult also knows a good amount about the likes of mages and other supernaturals, though again such knowledge may be incomplete or inaccurate. It's better than nothing, though! The occult encompasses both trendy New Age images as well as dark and sinister rumors of curses and black magick. It includes knowledge about voodoo, mysticism, the Tarot and other related magic popular among the masses. The occult is highly significant in its own right, for many among those same masses have strong beliefs in its supposed powers. Unlike the specific Occult Sciences and (to a lesser extend) Lore Knowledges, Occult is not a hard-and-fast Ability. Regrettably for your character, not everything she may believe to be gospel is based in fact. There is a lot out there that you will simply not know about * Student: You have some friends who are into weird stuff ** College: Curiosity has gotten you into the occult, but it's bigger than you've imagined *** Masters: Bizarre phenomena haunt your dreams, and you can place the significance of all manner of symbols and artifacts **** Doctorate: You're a true believer, and you can usually weed out the crap from the valid ***** Scholar: Not much surprises you anymore ****** Legend: You can recite verbatim what Thoth whispered in your ear Possessed by: Occultists, Pagans, Parapsychologists, Exorcists, Pulp Writers, Weirdos, the curious Specialities: Voudoun, Witches, Ghosts, Death Mythology, Infernalism, New Age, Folk Tales, Supernatural Creatures, Predictions, Magickal Devices, Cults & Secret Societies, Lost Civilisations, Relics, Numinous Sites, Legendary Creatures, Ancient Texts
Politics This Ability provides a familiarity with the political structures of the day, including an understanding of who is in charge and how they got there. It can include an understanding of both mortal and supernatural politics. This can be an essential Ability when attempting to deal with mortal authorities in any way. * Student: Protester or casual observer ** College: Campaign worker or political science major *** Masters: Campaign manager or speech writer **** Doctorate: Politician ***** Scholar: Machiavelli ****** Legend: You know when the rebellion will come Possessed by: Politicians, Activists, Reporters, Lobbyists, Campaigners, people from all walks of life Specialities: Neighborhood, City, Congress, Elections, Oration, Radical
Science Habeeb adjusted the rubber gloves carefully, pushing his fingers deeper and tugging them up over his wrists. The crinkle comforted him. It sounded clean and precise. The scientist had prepared the samples and run them through the equipment. If he had done everything right, he'd know for sure whether the soil around Monchello's farm had been contaminated. Carrying the slide to the microscope, Habeeb sat and peered through the eye-piece. The chemicals had selectively highlighted certain properties and there, among them, was the parasite. Habeeb sighed. So, it was true. Someone had caused Monchello's illness on purpose. This Knowledge describes your character's familiarity with the physical sciences, such as biology, chemistry, physics and geology. If you choose a specialization for your character, she still has a broad understanding of all the sciences, but her expertise lies in a particular field. The Storyteller sets the difficulty number of any rolls based on Science according to the complexity of the task. Science can cover a great diversity of topics, from astronomy to physics to chemistry to biology and beyond. Practical applications of Science may require the use of Technology or Crafts Skills. * Student: You survived high school science ** College: With a broad general picture of science, you're familiar with most prominent theories and a few experimental procedures *** Masters: Overseeing or setting up new projects and experiments is within your capabilities **** Doctorate: Discovery is your watchword, progress your goal ***** Scholar: You may soon solve science's greatest mysteries ****** Legend: Simply put, you are ahead of your time Possessed by: Scientists, Drug Designers, Engineers, Technicians, Technocrats, Pilots, Sons of Ether Specialities: Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Aeronautic Engineering, Astronomy, Metallurgy, Physics, Scientific Theory, and many, many more.
Secondary Knowledges Accounting You can set up and keep accounts in the commercially approved, conventional manner. You can also interpret accounts and find errors, tricks and embezzlement. * Student: Night school ** College: Junior clerk *** Masters: Senior clerk or junior partner **** Doctorate: Senior partner ***** Scholar: Nothing escapes you Possessed by: Business People, IRS Investigators Specialities: Small Business, Large Corporation, Governmental, Taxes Architecture You are trained in the design of buildings, from both functional and aesthetic points of view. You can judge where the load-bearing elements of a building are and interpret architectural plans. You instinctively know where the safest places are in the event of an explosion or earthquake. * Student: Student ** College: Office junior *** Masters: Junior partner **** Doctorate: Senior partner ***** Scholar: Frank Lloyd Wright Possessed by: Architects, Structural Engineers Specialities: Houses, Office Buildings, Public Works, Gothic Area Knowledge You are familiar with an area usually a city and know a fair amount about its structure, history, geography and mortal politics. This Knowledge does not include supernatural affairs, which should be covered by such Abilities as the various Lore Knowledges and City Secrets. * Student: You know a fair amount for an outsider ** College: You may have lived there for a year or two *** Masters: You may have lived there for 5-10 years **** Doctorate: Youre native born, and never left ***** Scholar: You could write the definitive book on the area Possessed by: Locals, Cops, Reporters, Cab Drivers Specialities: History, Geography, Politics, Transportation, Law Bureaucracy This Knowledge includes the ability to make your way through the political system, as well as the likes of the corporate world. The Knowledge also includes the ability to run or navigate through a bureaucracy, which of course presupposes at a rudimentary sense of organization. In fact, it can be seen as the chief organizational ability in the game. * Student: You have good organizational ability ** College: You understand power structures and can intuitively sense who is in control *** Masters: You can perform stalling tactics indefinitely **** Doctorate: You can perform supervisory administrative duties ***** Scholar: You could get a meeting with the President of the United States Possessed by: City Officials, Corporate Employees, Politicians Specialities: Corporate, Local Politics, National Politics, International Politics, Delegation, Charities
Cartography In purchasing this Knowledge, your character becomes familiar with the science of maps, exploration and mapping. Not only are you capable of creating accurate maps of an area, city or even stretch of land, but you are familiar with the elements of geography involved. Your character may also have some knowledge of oceanic and spatial cartography, depending on his level of skill, as well as such accidental familiarities as global positioning and the like. * Student: You can tell north from south ** College: Your maps are accurate and easily read *** Masters: You read and write a map with an instinctive sense of the region **** Doctorate: Explorers come to you with their problems ***** Scholar: Marco Polo Possessed by: Explorers, Military Personnel, Treasure Hunters, Void Engineers Specialities: Roads, Hills & Mountains, Symbols, Water-Based, Air-Based, Natural Features Church History You know the history of the Church through the ages, from its inception to the modern day. You understand ecclesiastical history within the context of secular, political and intellectual history. This skill can be chosen for the history of each different religion or tradition. The name Church need not be limiting; it can refer to the history of Islam, Buddhism or Judaism as easily as Christianity. * Student: Amateur or high school ** College: College student or equivalent *** Masters: Graduate student **** Doctorate: Professor or researcher ***** Scholar: Undisputed authority Possessed by: Scholars, Enthusiasts, Seminary Students, Priests Specialities: Biblical, Post-Biblical, Early, Medieval, Reformation, Modern, Scandals Church Rites You know the appropriate pomp and circumstance requisite for the completion of churchly duties (of your chosen religion). Even more important than the average liturgical knowledge, you have knowledge of religious rituals and invocations that have been formulated to be effective against the supernatural, e.g. the Roman Rite of Exorcism. You do not need to have memorized these rituals; they can be in your breviary (or similar handbook). * Student: Altar server ** College: Lay minister *** Masters: Ordained priest **** Doctorate: Bishop ***** Scholar: Cardinal Possessed by: Witch-Hunters, Priests, Exorcists Specialities: Exorcism, Daily Mass, Benediction, Ordination
Computer Hacking The character must have at least two dots in Computer before purchasing this Knowledge. Hacking allows the computer user to break the rules. It is not a programming skill that requires the Computer Knowledge. Hacking represents an imaginative faculty above and beyond the use of programming codes. In the binary computer world of yes/no, hacking represents the little bit of genius that says, Well, maybe When is Computer Hacking used rather than the Computer Knowledge? When the user is breaking into other computer systems or trying to manipulate data in real time. The Computer Ability is used for programming or other miscellaneous tasks. Computer Hacking is used most often as a complementary Ability to Computer, but it can aid programming by allowing the character to work faster or crack military codes that a normal programmer would not even be able to figure out. * Student: You are a computer geek who knows a few tricks, such as changing your grades in the university computer network ** College: You have great luck in guessing computer passwords *** Masters: You thought your electric bill was too high last month, but you can fix that with a few keystrokes **** Doctorate: Now that you have cracked the bank codes, which is it: Bermuda or Rio? ***** Scholar: The European Community was pretty annoyed about that thermonuclear incident, but you know they can never trace it back to you Possessed by: Virtual Adepts, some Technocrats, Computer Geeks, CIA Operatives Specialities: Kindred, Secret Powers, Influences, Magi, Garou, Alliances Conspiracy Theory "No, no, no," Albertus admonished." It has to do with the fact that at least three dozen members of the Ordo Templar managed to escape France under cover of darkness while their fortress was besieged. Naturally, they couldn't get past the king's men, since those weren't really 'men at all, but with the help of the Rigellians, they were able to slip unnoticed into a parallel dimension." Devon shook his head, the bizarre thoughts rattling in his head. This was going to be a long night. "Most significantly, of the Templars who escaped, one definitively resurfaced in Italy 200 years later. Hard to miss with his Templar armor still in good repair. More startling still, though, was the fact that he had with him a set of scrolls describing the formation of a New World Order...." The world is honeycombed with secret agencies, occult sects, government cover-ups and clandestine alliances. Anyone with half a brain knows it, and you've got far more than half a brain! In your files, hundreds of conspiracies boil just below the surface of civilisations illusion: alien abductions, assassination plots, genetic experiments, and monstrous alliances. As a collector of such modern paranoia, you've heard about dozens even hundreds of plots, conspirators and suspicious organizations. Do you believe this stuff? Of course! As such a character, you've got a ringside seat for conspiracies most people wouldn't dream of. Do you believe all of it? Probably not, although you've seen enough to make you nervous. Do you manufacture some of it? Well.... * Student: Illuminatus fan ** College: Net geek *** Masters: Art Bell **** Doctorate: Fox Mulder ***** Scholar: Anyone who knows this much isnt saying a damned word about it Possessed by: TV Producers, Writers, Net Hounds, Government Agents, UFOlogists, Media Ops, Survivalists, Geeks, Folks Who Are Scared Shitless of the World in General Specialities: Hoaxes, Government Cover-ups, Reality Deviants (werebeasts, the Masquerade, etc.), Assassinations, Elvis Sightings, Illuminati, Cults, Satanic Underground, Media Exposures, Aliens, Ascension War Factions, Roleplaying Games
Covert Culture A few seconds of flipping through the dossiers provided Palov with all of the information he needed. Though he worked for a new Order now, he hadn't forgotten his former days in the Spetsnaz. Though the man described was unfamiliar to him, he recognized the signature movements of a freelance agent, probably connected to the CIA. The man had done a good job of covering his tracks, but there was no way that he could anticipate the resources that Palov could bring to bear. After a moments thought, Palov decided that it would be best to have a Middle Eastern group "contact" the agent probably setting up the whole mess to look like the man had been using his CIA contacts to smuggle oil secrets. Nobody'd be the wiser. In the deadly maze of international intrigue, you know the people, groups, methods and tricks that distinguish a winner from a corpse. Naturally, a host of other skills help you employ that knowledge, but without a thorough background in the intelligence community, even James Bond would be lost. (Note: Project Twilight and World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X are helpful supplements if you've purchased this Knowledge. Episodes of La Femme Nikita and Callan are also recommended.) * ** Student: You know the names and organization of the secret service departments for the major world powers College: You keep abreast of every secret service organization in the world, and you know a few titbits about various "paraintelligence" organizations (e.g., US Special Affairs Division, the Arcanum and the Zaibatsu) *** Masters: You've heard a few secrets about the heads of the most notorious agencies (like Mossad or the CIA), and you know a handful of facts about most "paraintelligence" groups **** Doctorate: True, you know quite a few secrets about many of the world's top intelligence agencies and operations heads... but they know about you, too ***** Scholar: Your files contain sensitive data on every major intelligence agency in the world, and a few secrets about the deeply covert agencies, as well Possessed by: Spies, Terrorists, Counterterrorists, Hackers, Conspiracy Experts, Government Officials, International Informants, Arms Dealers Specialities: "Paraintelligence," Secret Societies, Investigations, Operations, Agency Heads, Special Projects, Gossip, Personnel, Tactics, Organization, Current Status Criminal Culture You know the politics and figures of organised crime within your city. You understand how the systems works, whom to pay off, whose arm to twist and who gets the cement shoes. Whether its street drugs or vampiric blood for a secret cult of ghouls, you know the source and whos playing the game. This Knowledge encompasses members of all criminal organizations, ethnic and otherwise, including the Mafia, Yakuza, and street gangs. * ** Student: You saw The Godfather a couple of times College: You know a few button men or soldiers and can name most of your citys prominent gangsters *** Masters: You know as much as most connected men **** Doctorate: If its happening in your city, you know about it ***** Scholar: If its happening, period, you know about it Possessed by: Criminals, Criminologists, Detectives, FBI Agents Specialities: Loan Sharking, Drug Running, Smuggling, Slavery, Politics, Ethnic Organizations
Cryptography The numbers sped across the computer screen, flickering like a phosphorescent snake of ever-shifting form. Devon watched, nearly hypnotized, while Irene tapped some sequencing codes into her palm computer. Finally, he turned to face the Iterator. "How much longer will it take?" he queried. Irene looked up, but she kept tapping codes into her device. "Under normal circumstances, a combinatorial non-reversing code of this nature would take about 20 years to decipher." Devon was about to raise his voice an uncommon occurrence when the computer screen shifted from a numeric display to a strange sort of fractal pattern. "Fortunately," Irene continued, "I am not constrained by normal circumstances." The world is full of codes, man-made and otherwise. You know how to read, interpret and compose such codes, from simple mathematical chains to brain-breaking linguistic/metaphysical constructs. With this Knowledge, you may create codes, which can be broken only by someone who exceeds your Cryptography rating with his own Intelligence + Cryptography roll. (Three successes beat a code-maker with Cryptography 2, but not one with Cryptography 3, for example.) You may also crack a code, rolling your own Intelligence + Cryptography; the Storyteller sets the difficulty, based on the complexity of the code and the obscurity of its elements. Not all codes are created equal. Some involve common elements (like algebra or alchemical correspondences), while others are deeply esoteric (like secret languages or the Navajo-based codes used in WWII). Depending on the elements involved, you might need to employ other Traits (Science: Mathematics or Hypermathematics, Secret Code Language, Lore, etc.) in order to decipher certain codes. Without those secrets, however, you might be able to puzzle out the form of a code even if you can't translate the results. * Student: Spy novel fan ** College: Military signals engineer *** Masters: Intelligence operative **** Doctorate: Cipher specialist ***** Scholar: Codebuster extraordinaire Possessed by: Spies, Puzzle Fans, Intelligence Specialists, Mathematics Experts, Military Signals Personnel Specialities: Secret Languages, Mathematical Encryption, Computers, Weird Logic, Mystical Codes, Ancient Styles, Obscure Character Sets Culture The idea of Culture combines the concepts of societal beliefs, behaviors, rituals, institutions, history and general thought patterns in reference to a certain group of people. It encompasses both how members of the society behave and what motivates their actions. The character can call upon his Culture Knowledge to interact with or influence certain societies and can pick up on useful titbits when encountering a new one, based on his experiences. Understanding the behavior, beliefs, art, institutions and general thought patterns of a society is part of this Knowledge. Possessing such information allows more than just knowledge of how people act, but why as well. This is extremely important if a person wishes to interact with a culture or to change or influence it. This Knowledge also provides an understanding of past and present cultures, an ability to quickly pick up cultural details of a new society, and indicates a talent for blending into the local society. * ** Student: You know some taboos and cultural mores College: Youre familiar with most cultures that have some similarity to your own *** Masters: Youre conversant with the sociological imperatives of several cultures **** Doctorate: You are an expert in working with other cultures; given time, you can fit into any society ***** Scholar: Youre at home with most any culture you encounter from the outset Possessed by: Archaeologists, Pollsters, Artists, Politicians, Explorers Specialities: Religion, Taboos, Politics, Manners, Sexuality, Art, Specific Societal Group (i.e., Garou, Kindred, Faeries, Traditions, Technocracy, etc.)
Current Events This Knowledge reflects your characters ability to keep up with current events, such as form the backdrop of life for everyone, and includes the likes of international, national and regional news, as well as events in her social arena. This Knowledge also allows some sense of the trends and factors at work in such events. * ** *** **** ***** Student: You read your daily paper College: Your opinion is often relied upon by friends and family Masters: Current events hold various subtle secrets, which you recognize Doctorate: You have your ear to the ground, and little goes on that you dont have a clue about Scholar: You are the Queen of Gossip, and know exactly whats going on at all times and, more importantly, why and whose behind it Possessed by: Reporters, Gossips, Newscasters, Politicians Specialities: Daily News, International News, Local Scene, Politics, Legal, Scientific
Dead Languages The so-called dead languages are still being spoken and understood by a select few. You can read the written form, comprehend the spoken form and carry on a fluent conversation. * Student: One additional language ** College: Two additional languages *** Masters: Three additional languages **** Doctorate: Four additional languages ***** Scholar: Five additional languages Possessed by: Older Wraiths, Scholars, Elder Vampires, Linguists Specialities: Written, Formal, Conversational Destruction of Spirits Many mortals see the Dead as a threat to the Living. Their own goal is thus to eliminate that threat. Still others view the Dead as more passively dangerous and wish to know how to protect themselves if conflict arises. This Knowledge covers the detail of how to destroy a spirit or eliminate (permanently or temporarily) the threat it poses. * ** other *** Student: Knows that to destroy a wraith on the physical plane means that it has only become incorporeal and thus still exists in the Underworld. Knows that ghosts have Corpi on the spiritual plane College: Knows certain limited things e.g., that a Maelstrom hurts wraiths, that spectres inhabit Maelstroms and thus can not be destroyed by them, or that the Restless, including mortal souls (if able to walk in the Underworld), can destroy each
Masters: Knows how to manipulate the system e.g., use the slave trade to get rid of pesky Enfants and Lemures. May per form exorcisms and Warding or Forbiddance rituals, though success is not guaranteed **** Doctorate: Knows about darksteel and barrow-flame. Knows of an Artefact what will cause damage to spirits ***** Scholar: Knows to destroy a wraiths Fetters (or use them to get at a wraith) and sources of Memoriam (i.e., those who pro vide the emotional energy that fuels a wraiths Lifeweb). Also, may know how to forge simple weapons that can be wielded in the Underworld Possessed by: Ghost-Hunters, Sect of Saint James Members, Cautious Mediums Specialities: Weapons, Maelstroms, Artifacts, Spectres, Wraiths
Enigmas The clock continued to tick as Mark rubbed his eyes. He'd always hated logic puzzles, but he knew he'd seen something like this be/ore. That old puzzle about getting the fox, the goose and the other thing across the river... whatever it was... It all boiled down to recursion, he guessed. There was an underlying pattern that could be repeated to build an answer. Quickly, he started sketching out combinations on the hem of his coat, using the nearly empty pen that he'd had in his pocket. Then, he started hopping from tile to tile and hoped that the spirit guarding the place wasn't feeling too trigger-happy. Mysteries are stock in trade for magic-workers. Some magicians make an especial study of puzzles, riddles and mysterious circumstances, though. When gut instincts fail and logic can't offer a solution, the character with a broad knowledge of Enigmas sees clever solutions, hidden meanings and the motives behind such tricks. The Enigmas Knowledge can be used for figuring out the best way to approach a puzzle, the answer to a spirit's riddle or even just the morning crossword. * Student: How'd those riddles go in The Hobbit? ** College: Towers of Hanoi, foxes and geese and a plethora of riddles all fill your head *** Masters: You can puzzle out the motives of spirits and madmen **** Doctorate: You do crosswords in pen in 10 minutes ***** Scholar: You are an enigma Possessed by: Detectives, Analysts, Game Players, Philosophers, Psychologists, Raving Nutcases, Really Annoying Old Masters, Mystics, Zen Enthusiasts, Crossword Puzzle Devotees Specialities: Deduction, Riddles, Quick Solutions, Historical Puzzles, Codes and Ciphers Heraldry You have studied the art and language of heraldry, and can interpret a heraldic device such as a coat of arms or a Japanese mon. You can also design a new one that the ruling authorities of heraldry would find acceptable. Successful recognition of a heraldic device automatically imparts a small amount of information about the family or organization to which it belongs. * Student: Amateur ** College: Enthusiast or historian *** Masters: Grad student or genealogist **** Doctorate: Professor or junior herald ***** Scholar: Research fellow or king of arms Possessed by: Enthusiasts, Historians, Genealogists, Heralds Specialities: British, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian, Japanese, Modern, Mercantile Herbalism You have a working knowledge of herbs and their properties, medicinal and otherwise. You can find and prepare herbs, and know which herbs or blends of herbs to use in any situation. This Ability will also provide knowledge of the magickal lore of plants. * Student: You read a book on it once ** College: You are a serious student of herb lore *** Masters: You are a local supplier **** Doctorate: Youve written books on herbalism ***** Scholar: You could easily function as an apothecary ****** Legend: Some whisper that you can raise the dead Possessed by: Holistic Healers, New Agers, Wizened Old Women, Low-Tech Societies Specialities: Culinary, Medicinal, Poisonous, Narcotic/Hallucinogenic, Spirit
Law Enforcement Annoyed, Mark leaned back lazily in his chair as the cop continued his litany of accusations. He could've walked out of the scene of the crime, but he'd needed to make time to let his friends get away, and now that meant spending two hours at the station listening to the ranting of an annoyed policeman with bitter coffee breath. "Look," said Mark, finally reaching his limit. "Youve got no evidence of anything, I didn't do anything and you haven't supplied me with a lawyer. Instead, you're in here fishing when you should be catching the criminals!" The cop leaned closer, his face red. "Listen, punk..." Mark cut Turn off, standing and walking to the door. "You charging me? No? Then I'm out of here." The cop fumed in impotent rage as Mark closed the door in his face. Every civilized nation has a law enforcement division, and most have several different branches local, state, federal, covert and international. You're familiar with these essential agencieshow they run, who runs them, what they do and what they can't do without bending the rules. While the Law Knowledge reflects your understanding of legal principles and procedures, and the Covert Culture Knowledge represents an understanding of the clandestine intelligence community, this Trait represents the practical side of the game. You know about Mirandising, evidence contamination, legal representation and the steps that police go through when questioning suspects or containing samples. * Student: Beat cop ** College: Sergeant *** Masters: Chief or DA **** Doctorate: Federal bureau official ***** Scholar: Attorney General Possessed by: Cops, Lawyers, Government Aides, Government Agents, Gang Bosses, Reporters Specialities: Local Beat, Federal Agencies, International Agencies, Courts, Crimes, Customs, Jurisdiction, Occult Crimes, Bending the Rules Lore Every supernatural group hoards its secrets from other. Lore or the alternative Ability RD Data, after Reality Deviant, as the Technocracy refer to it provides you with information about a particular hidden subculture or organization within the Tellurian. Knowledge about other groups, however, may often be second-hand or even assumed, and doubtless whoever is providing the information will filter it to suit their own needs. For example, a Technomancer would describe the Camarilla very differently than one of the Kindred themselves would. Gathering Lore may lead to inaccurate perceptions that can trip up players and create interesting problems and inherent dangers. Maybe you dont really want to know about those barabbi habits, after all Each type of Lore must be purchased separately; knowledge of the Get of Fenris will not help you deal with Satyrs. Some of these Lores are exceedingly dangerous to learn or to know. Arcanum: You know the history of the Arcanum, from its foundation to the present day. You know about the groups leadership, activities, history and beliefs. It is recommended that all starting Arcanum characters have a minimum of one dot in this Lore. Specialities include: History, Rites, Organization, Regulations Black Hand: You have learnt information about the Black Hand. Information known to few outside the organization. You know the history of the Hand, typical strategies used by the Hand, intrigue within the Hand, and Hand rituals. In addition, you can recognize all Black Hand members within your own city and the surrounding area. Specialities include: History, Famous Leaders, Tactics, Strategies, Secrets, Rituals, Local Members Camarilla: You know information about the Camarilla. You know who many of the Princes are, who many of the real rulers are, details about the Masquerade, Camarilla history, legends and propaganda. Specialities include: History, Legends, Famous Rulers, Princes, Strategies, Current Activities, Secrets, Propaganda Church: You know the real nitty-gritty about how the Church operates: who bosses around whom, who to avoid, who is in favor and how to bend the right ear. If you are not in the proper circles of power, then you know where they are. Getting access to them, or getting heard, is another matter entirely. Specialities include: Opus Dei, College of Cardinals, American Church, Irish Church, Vatican
Clan: You know information pertaining to a vampiric clan which, if your character is one of the Kindred, will generally, but not always, be her own. This information is not privy to most and it may have taken years for you to discover any useful information. Many clan members know very little about their heritage, usually because they do not care to find out. Specialities include: Gossip, Membership, Legends, History, Gatherings Continuum: This lore is rarely taught, or learnt for that matter, outside of Mage society, as it is the product of the arduous years of an Apprenticeship. Essentially a generalized course intended to familiarize an Apprentice with the various Awakened factions at play in the Ascension War, it is most often taught in College Chantries or Constructs. Whilst it is a grounding in the nature of different Traditions, Conventions and perhaps even Crafts, as well as the Nephandi, Orphans and Marauders, it is almost always tainted with the propaganda of the faction supplying it. Specialities include: Ascension War, History, Famous Figures, Tactics, Paradigm Court: The Lore provides a character with a working knowledge of the rules and regulations of the Court, both written and unwritten. This Ability is a necessity for any long-term court interaction; without it, the chance of committing a major faux pas is almost certain. This can also be used as a supplementary Ability with Diplomacy, High Ritual, Subterfuge, Expression, Seduction and any other Ability that is often used before members of the Court. When a character gains level five in this Lore, provided he has applied it suitably, he may be awarded a knighthood, earning the right to be addressed as Sir by all Court Servitors. Specialities include: Western Court, Eastern Court, Egyptian Court, Forms of Address, Seat Holders, Laws, Dominion Criminal: There are many secrets to be found in the world beneath common society. You may have been lucky or unlucky enough to learn just how extensive these secret societies of the criminal world have become. The Mafia, the Yakuza, the ROC, independent factions, the street gangs, motorcycle gangs and, of course, the Irish at the fringes of civilization all these conspirators lurk just out of common sight. This Trait allows you to discover just enough about these groups to be dangerous to them and to yourself! Without this Trait, you don't know the ins and outs of Criminal Networks, Street Politics, the Illegal Court, or anything else. These secrets must be pried from the darkness, and the darkness isn't always willing to share. Faerie: You possess information pertaining to the Seelie and Unseelie faeries, and know something of their great kingdom: Arcadia. Because of the frequently quixotic nature of faeries, most of your knowledge is hearsay and thus difficult to verify. Specialities include: Enchanting Music, Faerie Food, Somniare, Atlantium, Antrum, Caelum, Barathrum, Tartarus Familiar: You have studied the ways of the spirit-beings who bond themselves to mage. Although they seem infinite in their variety, you have learnt ways to categorize the creatures in both type and abilities. You know something of the nature and habits of these strange beings who come from the depths of the spirit-realm to join a mage in exploring the nature of reality. You comprehend at least a few aspects of the true nature of the mage-familiar relationship and know what types of familiars most often associate themselves with certain mages. The character must have at least two dots in either Spirit Lore, Cosmology or Occult before purchasing this Lore at all. However, this restriction does not apply to characters who are familiars themselves. Specialities include: Marauder, Nephandi, Tradition, Orphan-Drawn, Crafts Garou: You posses some information pertaining to werewolves what they eat, when they gather, their strengths and their weaknesses. You can use this Knowledge to discover how best to combat them, or how to bring about a peace between their various tribes and you. Specialities include: Totems, Tribes, Spirit Guides, Packs, Ancestors Inquisition: You know about the history of witch-hunters, from the early days of the Inquisition to the current activities of the Society of Leopold. You are well-versed in issues of Society leadership, history and beliefs. It is recommended that all members of the Society of Leopold have a minimum of one dot in the Knowledge. Specialities include: History, Politics, Organization, Regulations Kindred: This Ability reflects a characters knowledge of the great secrets of the Kindred: the Jyhad, Gehenna, the Antediluvians, Methuselahs, Inconnu and the Book of Nod. As with other Lores, at the end of some stories, the Storyteller will announce the maximum number of experience points a character can allot to the acquisition or improvement of this Knowledge, based on what each character has discovered during the course of the story. This Knowledge can help you to predict future actions of understand motivations. One who can untangle the knotted threads of the past may see the current pattern more clearly as it is being woven. Specialities include: Jyhad, Inconnu, Antediluvians, Caine, Book of Nod, Gehenna, Current Events, Apocrypha, Kindred Scions, Specific Clans Mage: You are familiar with the lore of magick and witchcraft. You know of the ancient orders of wizards: their cabals, covenants, and secret rituals. More importantly, you also know about their modern counterparts. Specialities include: Rituals, Wicca, Astrology, Order of Hermes, Kabbalah, Mystic Traditions
Mummy: If you are not a Mummy, then you have most likely learnt this from one of these strange beings. You know of their origins, their history, their cycle of death and rebirth, their magic and, though you are not a practitioner necessarily, their spiritual beliefs. Incidentally, higher levels of this Lore allow you some knowledge of the Silent Strider, the Setites, the Cult of Isis, Bane Mummies and the Children of Osiris, amongst others whose agendas involve the Undying, but most of what you know is confined to their relationships with the Mummies. Specialities include: Ancient History, Laws, The Nine Divisions of Mummies Souls, Individual Mummies, Horus Romany: You are knowledgeable in the lore of the Rom. You have listened with care to all the old tales, and can recount the history and legends of this people. This Ability reflects the characters knowledge of the position Gypsies hold in the world, of the Seeds of Knowledge, and of their role as wildcards in the upcoming Convergence. The higher the characters rating, the greater her knowledge of such secrets Sabbat: You know information generally available only to members of the Sabbat. If you are not Sabbat and you possess this Knowledge, you had better keep it a secret. If the Sabbat were to find out, your life (or unlife) expectancy would plummet. You know Sabbat history, legends, rituals, tactics, strategies and much more. Specialities include: History, Auctoritas Ritae, Famous Sabbat, Local Sabbat, Propaganda Spirit: You know of the spirit world, and its structures and forms. Though you may not have the ability to travel astrally, you understand how the process works. The world of ghosts is also known to you. Specialities include: Benign Spirits, Malevolent Spirits, Mischievous Spirits, Astral Travel, Specific Site, Hauntings, Shadowlands, High Umbra, Middle Umbra, Metaphysics, Near Umbra Wyrm: Some brave (or foolish) souls delve into the lore of the werewolves most dire enemy the Wyrm. This is dangerous; for every bit of information they gain, they risk destruction of corruption. Specialities include: Triatic Wyrm, Urge Wyrm, Monsters, Banes, Black Spiral Dancers, Malfeas * Student: You possess dubious and sketchy facts ** College: You are certain that some of your knowledge is accurate *** Masters: Familiar enough to hold an intelligent conversation **** Doctorate: You know a few things theyd rather you didnt know ***** Scholar: You know your subjects better than they know themselves. This can become a real problem! Possessed by: Sages, War Cabals, Research Assistants, Spies, Tale-Tellers Generic Specialities: Rumors, Legends, Activities, Famous Sites, History, Philosophies Media Gordon's teeth shone in contrast to his dusky skin as he grinned at the program director. "Trust me," he said, "you want to use the 10 o'clock spot. It's a better demographic. Besides, this week happens to be a special cliffhanger closure episode, so you'll get a bigger break from newcomers." "I'm not sure," the director said doubtfully. "Since the show's third season, it's been a little difficult for new people to jump in." "Possibly," said Gordon, "but the new movie will be bringing them up to speed pretty easily. This is the best venue you'll get." Privately, Gordon thought about how the change in programming would make a better spot accessible for one of his new massconsumer projects. And when popularity from that project hit its full stride, the product would put places like the neopagan bookstore that pack of Verbena deviants owned, out of business. With the right connections, you can reach millions of people worldwide. Once you have their attention, you can get them to believe whatever you want them to... at least for a moment. This Knowledge reflects media-savvythe people, messages, networks, tricks and technology that define the Information Age. You know who to call, what to say, how to get it on the air and why it will stick in the public's mind. By itself, this Trait does not grant privileged access to the media. (See the Background: Influence and the Merit: Ties for that.) Once you get access, though, you'll know how to use it to your best advantage. * Novice: Mass-Corn major ** Practiced: Reporter *** Competent: Professional journalist **** Expert: Head of a network ***** Master: Rupert Murdock Possessed by: Media Indoctrination Specialists, Reporters, Camera Operators, Editors, Watchdogs, Advertisers, Spin Doctors, Celebrities Specialities: Spin Control, Advertising, Local News, International, Multi-Media, Internet, TV, Newspapers, Conspiracy, Entertainment, Movies, Leverage, Politics, Blackmail
Meteorology Either through study or experience, you know a thing or two about weather. You can tell if its going to rain this afternoon, tonight or tomorrow; what the chances of snow is; or whether the skies will be cloudy or clear for the next few days. You can predict what the days high and low temperatures will be, and so on. * Student: High School ** College: College, weekend camper or TV weatherman *** Masters: Grad student or outdoor enthusiast **** Doctorate: Professor or farmer ***** Scholar: God calls you up and tells you Possessed by: Scholars, TV Weathermen, Farmers, Outdoors Types Specialities: Theoretical, Local Area, Prediction Military Science Through intensive study or actual battle experience, you are familiar with the techniques needed to conduct a military campaign. Your knowledge spans the spectrum of war, from the tactics required to command a 10-man squad to the grand strategy needed to command whole armies. You know where best to deploy your forces, cut off supply lines and capture vital territory. * Student: Citadel graduate ** College: NCO *** Masters: Brigadier General **** Doctorate: Julius Caesar ***** Scholar: Sun Tzu Possessed by: Military Personnel, Ex-Knights, Wargamers, Black Hand Warriors Specialities: Phalanx, Large-Scale, One-On-One, Modern, Sieges, Sabbat Moneylending Usury isnt something good Christians do; nevertheless, for society to prosper, someone must handle the filthy lucre. Thats your job, and youre good at it. From interest-lending to high finance, from book-keeping to figure-bouncing, you understand the tricks and techniques of the trade, banking and accounting. * Student: Street vendor ** College: A pawn merchant or loan shark, perhaps *** Masters: Practiced financier **** Doctorate: Merchant prince ***** Scholar: A friend of the banks Possessed by: Loan Sharks, Investors, Pawn Brokers, Bankers, Usurers Specialities: Loansharking, International Commerce, Speculation, Fraud, Underworld Navigation This Ability measures how well you are able to take a ship from A to B, without visiting C, D and E on the way (unless you wish to, of course). To use this Skill, some information on where you are positioned is needed, and normally a map as well. * Student: You can sail from one side of the harbour to the other without getting lost ** College: You can direct a ship to a port on the same continent *** Masters: You can navigate across oceans with some accuracy **** Doctorate: There isnt a port in the world you couldnt reach ***** Scholar: Cape Horn, in a storm, blindfolded? No problem, guv. Possessed by: Old Sea Dogs, Navy Personnel, Commercial Seamen, Explorers Specialities: Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Indian, Mediterranean, Rivers
Palaeography This is the science of reading ancient manuscripts (primarily Latin and Greek) and assigning an origin to them. Palaeography may also be used to determine if a manuscript is a forgery. Note that this Knowledge does not give you the ability to read Greek and Latin you must purchase those separately! With Palaeography, however, you can try to read texts in their original form, not cleaned up and presented in easy textbook fashion. Note that there are a number of variations upon Palaeography, which each count and can be purchased as a separate Ability. These include: Bibliography (the study of the printed page), Diplomatics (the study of documents), Epigraphy (the study of monumental engravings), Sigillography (the study of seals and sigils). * ** *** **** ***** Student: You can try to read a difficult document College: You can identify basic elements of the manuscript Masters: You can guess the approximate century and region of the manuscripts production Doctorate: You can pinpoint when and where the manuscript was written Scholar: You know almost certainly everything there is to know about the document, including production materials and perhaps even who scribed it (assuming that isnt already indicated) Possessed by: Professors, Antiquarians Specialities: Greek (Homeric, Classical or Byzantine), Latin (Classical or Vulgate) Parapsychology You are familiar with the scientific study of the paranormal, from theory to application. You know the basic methods, techniques and equipment used in parapsychological study. Unfortunately, your field tends to be viewed with disdain in most academic communities. * Student: You understand the basic concepts ** College: Youve had some formal training in the field *** Masters: Youve got a comprehensive grasp of the discipline **** Doctorate: You have accomplished much research and contributed to the field ***** Scholar: You are a recognized authority in the field Possessed by: Parapsychologists, New Agers, Amateur Ghost Hunters Specialities: Hauntings, Psychic Powers, Ley Lines Poisons You have a working knowledge of poisons, their effects and antidotes. You can analyze a poison to tell its origins, and can mix a poison or antidote given time and equipment. You must have at least one dot in Science to acquire this Knowledge. * Student: Dabbler ** College: Detective, mystery reader *** Masters: Pharmacist, mystery writer **** Doctorate: Forensic scientist, emergency room doctor ***** Scholar: Assassin Possessed by: Progenitors, Euthanatos, Mystery Buffs, Detectives, Pharmacists, Medics, Assassins Specialities: Venoms, Chemical, Plant-based, Analysis, Antidotes, Instant, Slow-Build
Power-Brokering "Not at all," said Choe. "The Bangkok consortium is ready to deal equitably. I've already made some connections. Now, it's time for the real players to get involved." Mr. Johnson tapped out the stub of his cigar, crushing it in his ornate glass tray. "I'm surprised you managed to find out about my connections to the group .I'm even more surprised that you got my secretary to get in touch with me. I suspect that it may be worth the while, though." "Of course it will be," smiled Choe. "If can get this far, I can certainly bring the rest of the pieces together." A veritable god of consolidation, you excel at making connections, alliances, networks and deals. Most people can't even get an appointment with a powerful person, but you know all the right hands for a power-play. This Knowledge differs slightly from the Talent: Negotiation. That Trait reflects a talent for making people co-operate, while this one shows that you understand who to talk to, how to reach them, what to offer and how far you can pull their strings. Unlike Networking, which simply lets you make contacts and gather information or groups of people, this Knowledge gives you the ability to talk directly to people in positions of authority. You can then bring diverse affiliations together for negotiations or co-operative efforts. Like Networking and Research, this Knowledge tends to be an "off-stage" Ability, used between action scenes to reflect a character "making a few calls." Social rolls (usually Manipulation + Power-Brokering) establish a rapport between parties and allow the negotiations to begin. In conjunction with Backgrounds like Allies, Influence, Mentor, Resources and Spies, Abilities like Etiquette, Intimidation, Media and Negotiation and a few basic Mind Procedures, this Knowledge is powerful indeed. With the right talents, connections and allies, a person can arrange almost anything.... * Student: You talk to a lot of secretaries ** College: You can get your foot in the door and keep it in *** Masters: They know your name **** Doctorate: "Mr. Turner will see you now" ***** Scholar: You dine with world leaders Possessed by: Diplomats, Journalists, Tycoons, Brokers, Leaders, Celebrities, Representatives, Spies, Receptionists Specialities: Media, Politics, Schmoozing, High Finance, Underworld, Blackmail, Making Friends
Propaganda With a single well-placed billboard, the idea was underway. Next, it spread to a local church group. From there, it expanded into some political essays in the local newspaper, which of course brought investigation from the television media. By then, the original sponsoring group was gone, but the message was out. A sound bite surreptitiously slipped to one of the reporters brought the idea to everyone's lips. In just under two weeks, the idea had taken hold. Nobody was going to be caught without a stance on the Kellerman Issue. Gordon really didn't have an opinion, but it was useful to manufacture one. After all, making an opinion meant making a market, which, in turn, meant that you could tell the Masses what they wanted to hear, and then sell them on whatever you wanted to do. A speciality of such supernatural groups as the Technocracys Media Relations ops, this Trait reflects a mixture of media savvy, psychology, popspeak and smear tactics. Essentially, you know how to make someone look as bad, or as good, as you want to make him look. You don't need advanced Procedures in order to affect public opinion on a grand scale. Given a few days, some resources (computers, cameras, air time, etc.) and a place to post your "message," you can do wonders without resorting to riskier measures! Altering public opinion with propaganda is a "downtime" activity. In game terms, you decide what you want to do and how you want to do it. A Manipulation + Propaganda roll or two assures that the public will get your message; the better you roll, the stronger the public's reaction. The roll's difficulty depends on the content of the message and its intentions: Making a popular politician look good is easy, but raising a mob to burn down the local occult bookstore (all without violating FCC regulations) is quite a bit harder. Many NOW and Syndicate ops use this expertise as a focus for subtle Mind Procedures (see Guide to the Technocracy). Others use it to make certain Effects easier (see "Abilities and Magic," in Mage: The Ascension). Note that propaganda's effects are neither immediate nor total. The public may be suggestible, but it isn't entirely stupid. * Student: Jerry Springer ** College: Ralph Reed *** Masters: Kenneth Starr **** Doctorate: Noam Chomsky ***** Scholar: Josef Goebbels Possessed by: Reporters, Network Heads, Spin Doctors, Media Activists, PR Consultants, Conspiracy Theorists, Men in Grey, Media Ops, TV Executives, Film & TV Directors Specialities: Celebrity Endorsements, Politics, Smears, Spin Control, Military, Advertising, Foreign "Markets," Sex, Scandal, Elections, Regulations, Subliminals, Total Fiction (see Wag the Dog), Manufacturing Consent Psychology "You realize, of course, that such denial is unhealthy," Devon reasoned. "I realize that blindly submitting to oppressive authority is unhealthy," the woman shot back. Devon clucked his tongue. "Oppressive authority? I'm certainly not holding you here. I'm not forcing you to listen to this. You decided to talk .If you want to shut me out, you can... but I thought you were about bringing together disparate ideas and ways of life." The woman looked doubtful. "You're trying to trick me. If I try to leave you'll just kill me." Devon looked saddened. "How could you ascribe such motives to me? I haven't hurt you. You're lashing out. What makes you so hostile? What are you really raging against, and why does it make you want to hurt other people?" The woman shrank into her seat, looking concerned. Devon smiled comfortingly as he began to pick the woman apart. The human mind is a machine, and you're just the mechanic to fix it. Trained in the arts of personality manipulation, behavior modification, psychological theory and conditioning, you can guess a person's motives, plumb her psyche or shift her perspective to suit your needs. If doing so sounds horribly manipulative, remember that psychology is merciful. Curing a psychotic is certainly better than letting her run wild... or shooting her. * Student: Manipulative confidante (Dr. Laura) ** College: Pop psychologist (John Gray) *** Masters: Psychologist or psychotherapist **** Doctorate: Influential (Sigmund Freud) ***** Scholar: Cutting-edge (William Glasser) Possessed by: Counselors, Therapists, Reporters, Con-Men, Analysts, Media Consultants, Psych Ops, Interrogators Specialities: Behavior Modification, Drug Therapy, Advanced Theories, Questioning, Children, Animals, Developmental, Experimental, Dreams, Jungian
Publishing The Publishing Knowledge is a working knowledge of publishing and the process necessary to go from a manuscript to a finished book, pamphlet or newspaper. Skill in editing (for both content and grammar) and a sense of how to present the material to enhance its effect on the reader go hand-in-hand with knowledge of how to produce the material components and etch print onto them. * ** *** Student: With some effort, you can publish a one-sheet news flash College: Your expertise extends to making a double-sided triple-fold pamphlet Masters: By employing a modicum of good equipment, you can produce eight-page folios with excellent word choice and eye-catching graphics **** Doctorate: Even using antique equipment, you are able to create solid, interesting and sometimes inflammatory newspapers or books ***** Scholar: Hearst has nothing on you. People eagerly await your influential and professional publications Possessed by: Typesetters, Editors, Publishing Moguls, Literary Agents, Public Relations Personnel Specialities: Broadsides, One Sheets, Ponderous Tomes Research You are highly skilled at finding information from conventional sources. Given time and a good library, you can assemble the sum of human knowledge on almost any topic. Of course, the library may take the alternate form of an oral tribal litany, the internet or somesuch other source. * Student: Undergrad ** College: Grad student or research assistant *** Masters: Professor **** Doctorate: Research fellow ***** Scholar: Human database Possessed by: Academics, Detectives, Security Personnel, Journalists, Researchers, Writers Specialities: Any knowledge, Arcane Collections, On-Line Data, Oral Traditions, Folklore Sacred Scriptures You have studied various religious scriptures extensively; based upon your particular inclination, you may have studied them in their historical context, or as direct divine revelation. You will have to choose this Knowledge separately for each broad scriptural category. Some example categories include: Islamic (Quran), Christian (Old Testament, New Testament), Jewish (Torah, Apocrypha), Zoroastrian (Zend Avestas), Hindu (Upanishads, Rig Veda, Bhaghavad-Gita) * Student: You quote freely, but not accurately ** College: People ask you questions you can answer *** Masters: You are not just well-read in the scriptures, but about them as well **** Doctorate: You possess a wide body of knowledge in the sacred scriptures ***** Scholar: You have read meanings never before considered or discovered Possessed by: Witch-Hunters, Scholars, Believers, Debunkers, Ministers Specialities: Laws, Figures, Divine Intervention Seamanship Seamanship covers ship-handling and sea lore. Seamanship is the ability to navigate a ship on both open sea and waterways. Seamanship also governs the characters ability to find the ships latitude and his knowledge of sea-routes, which are primarily navigated by landmark. This Ability also covers incidental skills related to ships, like rope handling, load-balancing, portaging and the like. * Student: If youre lost, you sail east. Thats the direction where the sun comes up ** College: Youre not a regular navigator, but you have some sea lore *** Masters: You can navigate the major routes **** Doctorate: You know many difficult sea routes ***** Scholar: Youve been sailing for longer than most people have been alive ****** Legend: Youve sailed the seaways from Vinland to Cathay Possessed by: Naval Personnel, Merchant Seaman, Coastal Types, Coast Guard, Pirates, Enthusiasts, Competitors Specialities: Baltic, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Portages, Coastal Navigation, Open Ocean, Rivers
Secret Code Languages Many of the occult factions have secret magic languages that only Adepts or the equivalent, or better, understand. The Verbena use the Language of Flowers, composing bouquets and nosegays whose component flowers and arrangements hold hidden meanings mullein, or hag taper, for example, means take courage, while nettle means you enchant me. The Akashic Brotherhood uses the Secret Signs of the notorious Hung Society. Even the Celestial Chorus has its own method of swift, secret communication, citing Chapter and Verse from their holy books, the meanings of which are only readily apparent to those who have committed them to heart. Fragments of these codes have leaked into the world of the masses, and some basic meanings can be deciphered by those with the appropriate background. Upper class matrons understand bits of the Language of Flowers, and Asian street gangs know a few of the hand signs of the Hung Society. * Student: 1 Secret Code ** College: 2 Secret Codes *** Masters: 3 Secret Codes **** Doctorate: 4 Secret Codes ***** Scholar: 5 Secret Codes Possessed by: Verbena, Akashic Brotherhood, Spies, Celestial Chorus, Secret Societies, Homeless Specialities: Warnings, Jokes, Indiscernible, Stealth, Overt Seneschal You are capable of maintaining a household or organization. Maybe you are a charitys director, the Abbot of a monastery, the steward of a nobles home or the butler of a an industrial giant. Perhaps you are simply the lady of the house. This Ability reflects your knowledge and experience in balancing the books, keeping inventory of the larder and wine cellar, managing the servants and other staff, entertaining guests, keeping grounds in good repair, and in general making certain that everything is in good running order. Even a farmer might have some similar ability in making sure there is enough money for keeping his farm in order. Along with the attendant experience, this Ability may allow you to evaluate how another household or similar organization is running, appraise the quality of goods and services, or entertain a guest even if youre not in your usual household or such. Ghouls often display or are picked for this aptitude, though they may become targets of their Domitors enemies, who would make great use of their knowledge. Of course, should such ghouls ever defect, their masters tend to make their death or recapture a top priority. Student: You can keep a smaller place running without too many troubles, and know how much money is available College: You can balance your books and budget for expenses, and guests are never a problem Masters: You can handle a larger household with no-one assisting you, and your guests always have a good time Doctorate: You can handle a large household or series of smaller households with no problem Scholar: You can keep your house running even through the most difficult of times, and your superiors consider you indispensable ****** Legend: Your ability to handle crises and manage your household are the talk of your social strata, and your peers look to you as an example Possessed by: Butlers, Household Staff, Personal Assistants Specialities: Kitchens, Hostels, Nobility, Nouveau Riche, Celebrities, Hotel * ** *** **** *****
Sign Language Sign languages can be bought as a level of either Secret Code Languages or Linguistics. Not all sign languages are the same. You must declare each sign language separately. Ninja, deaf people, spies and many mage cabals have their own separate hand codes. These must generally be taught by a member of a select group; obtaining the training may range from easy to damn near impossible.
Slang You know all the hip expressions for a given time period or social group, and maybe a few others, and can date or place someone fairly accurately by their slang. You can identify something as cool or gauche, and whether the guy is a brother or a square. You can also tell when youre being insulted or praised and can give it back in kind. * Student: Gauche ** College: Smooth Brother *** Masters: Way Cool **** Doctorate: Hip Daddy-o ***** Scholar: Motor-mouth Possessed by: Gang Members, Linguists Specialities: Insults, Greetings, Conversation Stone Lore (Restricted) To the mystic, all things contain magickal energy, spiritual properties or both. This discipline covers the essences of different stones, gems and minerals, and proves useful in jewelry-making, earth rites, elemental bargains and Talisman and Fetish creation. * ** *** **** ***** Student: You sell birthstones and psychic crystals College: You can match metals and stones to make amulets for most occasions Masters: You know your stones. Others mages come to you to get their rocks Doctorate: The Garou come to you to get rocks and metals. You talk to the stones Scholar: Not only do you talk to the stones, but sometimes they talk back. You know all the powers of the minerals, and can identify the great jewels of legend Possessed by: New Agers, Jewelers, Alchemists, Dreamspeakers Specialities: Planetary Influences, Jade Carving, Metals Symbolism Great wisdom hides in plain sight. In artwork, lore and scripture, symbols reflect a greater truth. Everything is loaded with deeper meanings; gestures, plants, animals, weather - all these things hold secrets for those who understand them. In game terms, this Knowledge allows you to send and decipher codes or recognize omens or heraldry (Intelligence + Symbolism); notice the theme in an artists work (Perception + Symbolism); or send and receive secret messages in art, speech or even architecture (Manipulation + Symbolism). To a magus, for example, symbols provide the keys to Creation. It is a dull custodian who cannot handle such keys. * Student: You grasp the obvious ** College: Sudden revelations impart hidden meanings *** Masters: Youre versed in many formal symbolic languages, such as Biblical verse, flower codes, hand gestures, etc **** Doctorate: Everything has a deeper significance, and you know where to look for it ***** Scholar: You read prophecies in the pattern of leaves Possessed by: Artists, Sages, Scholars, Writers, Film-Makers, Occultists, Mystics Specialities: Alchemy, Animals, Architecture, Biblical, Codes, Foreign Cultures, Heraldry, Omens, Paintings, Sculpture Taxidermy You can take an animal apart and preserve all the bits and pieces, not just the skins and heads. Your deer skins wont rot and your raven claws wont smell funny. Moreover, you can make sure newts eyes will stay fresh for years. * ** *** Student: The newts should freeze well College: Nobody will buy from you, but you should be able to cure a pelt or properly preserve a snake in formaldehyde Masters: Relatives who like animal heads nailed to their walls appreciate your presents. Others find you hobby distasteful because the animals dont look dead anymore. Of course, they dont look alive either **** Doctorate: You could get a job at the natural history museum. Old ladies who want their cats stuffed come to you, and the frog toes are as fresh as the day you got them ***** Scholar: You probably embalmed the Pharoahs in a past life. Your work looks like its going to get up and run off any second now Possessed by: Strange Old Men, Outdoors Types, High School Biology Teachers Specialities: Taming, Embalming, Preserving, Trophies, Techniques of Frankenstein, Victims
Terrorism The fools never knew what hit them. As the poisonous gas seeped through the church, the congregation choked, blackened and collapsed. The police would chalk it up to another of the local religious attacks. The deviant religious /actions themselves would lose two dozen faithful. To the fanatical Choristers, though, the message was clear: Anyone you touch, we will kill. Abandon your faith unless you really want to find out if there's a Heaven. Terrorism is the new form of warfare. You understand it to a frightening degree the tactics, the tools, the people, the groups, their staging-grounds and the web of politics and protocols that surround them all. As a member of the Technocracy, you probably practice counter-terrorism and minimise the damage these jackals do. On the other hand, terror is an effective tool, and it may occasionally be used against those who refuse all other forms of discourse.... * Student: You know the major organizations, their leaders, ideologies, and usual targets ** Competent: You work with the UN Security Council *** Practiced: You know the majors, the fringes and the fakes **** Expert: Mossad would like a word with you ***** Master: Mossad works for you Possessed by: Counter-Terrorists, War Buffs, Commandos, Reporters, Diplomats, Terrorists, Spies, Military Officials Specialities: Domestic Terror, Kidnapping, Ideology, "Celebrities," Secrets, Networks, Tactics, Sponsors, Weapons Theatre This Knowledge covers the theatrical world, both artistically and contemporarily. With it, your character knows of current productions, including the cast, director and so forth, and of current trends in theatrical works. More importantly, your character will also be capable of reviewing and judging such productions on their various merits (or lack thereof). Also, this Knowledge provides the character with a familiarity with the history of the theatre, including the emergence of various schools of work. The character also knows his way around a theatre, from the green room to the proscenium arch, the rehearsals to the opening night. * Student: You are a member of an amateur dramatics society ** College: You are the director of an amateur dramatics society *** Masters: You are a venerable font of theatrical trivia, and can tell the good from the bad **** Doctorate: You write influential reviews for a national newspaper ***** Scholar: You are the king of theatre, working backstage to make and break productions Possessed by: Theatre Staff, Actors, Stage Crew, Playwrights, Critics, Theatrical Agents, Promoters Specialities: Particular Company, Particular Playwright, Comedy, Shakespeare, Modern, Improvisation, Technical Trivia This Knowledge covers your characters interest in a specialized field, which may be anything from stamp collecting to the history of television to a particular celebritys life to the songs of a favored band, which is not covered by another Ability. * Student: You take an interest in the trivia ** College: You have an enthusiastic grasp of your trivia *** Masters: Peers regard you as fairly well-informed **** Doctorate: You are familiar with the subtle nuances and context of your trivia ***** Scholar: You could write the definitive book on your trivia. Perhaps you have Possessed by: People Who Need To Get Out More Specialities: Oddities, Likes & Dislikes, Evidence, Recordings, Quotes, Prices
Vice Gordon grinned at Steven over his drink. The club rocked with the '80s retro music that so many Generation X'ers still loved. Steve watched the place with a practiced eye but couldn't hide his satisfaction. His gaze lingered for a moment on the bare thighs of a young woman dancing on one of the side stage platforms, (racing along the line of her stockings. Following Steven's gaze, Gordon spoke loudly over the music, saying, "I'm glad we could talk we never seem to get to do business much these days." Steven just nodded; Gordon sidled his chair a little closer. "You know," he added conspiratorially, "1 know the owner of this place; I could set you up..." He let the implications trail off. Steven cocked an eyebrow. "What would it cost me?" Gordon laughed. "No considerations. We're just here to have a good time, remember?" In the back of his head, he started calculating what he could out of Steven once his associate's appetites had been aroused. What's their pleasure? Whatever it is, you know where to find it, how to get it for a good price and who to ask for the best stuff. Drugs, hookers, clubs, gambling you know the people, the places and the prices by name. Chances are, you're recognized in all the "right" circles, either as a good customer, as a soft touch, or as a hard-ass... all of which can be useful if you've got someone to impress. While the details are location-based (few New Yorkers know the prostitutes in Bangkok), you've got a good idea how and where to find thrills. Some things are universal. The Streetwise Talent helps you to recognize and avoid gangs, criminals and street people, as well as how to get your hands on guns, money and illicit good; but with Vice, you're a master of the deals that please. * Student: Mr. Bachelor Party ** College: Concierge or taxi driver *** Masters: Vice cop **** Doctorate: "Made man" ***** Scholar: Vice overlord Possessed by: Gangsters, Businessmen, Newscasters, Cops, Spies, Undercover Ops, Syndicate Managers, Blackmailers, Procurers Specialities: Drugs, Nightclubs, Strip Clubs, Gambling, Sex, Bars, Forbidden Thrills, Blackmail, Parties, Important Players, Bribery Web Culture Like the "mortal" version of Culture, this Knowledge Trait clues you in to the various groups and protocols of Netspace. Without it, you're an obvious newbie with very little idea of where to go, how to act or who to ask for information. With it, you've experienced enough to know your way around. Mortals can purchase this Knowledge, although they think the communities they understand are simply elaborate chatrooms and MUs. Naturally, this Ability won't protect you if you choose to act like a twit. Knowing Netiquette and practicing it are two different things. * Student: Newbie ** College: Trendie *** Masters: Netizen **** Doctorate: Parallaxer ***** Scholar: Elite Possessed by: Webspinners, Hackers, Admins, Skippers Specialities: Netiquette, Technocracy Protocols, Virtual Adepts, Gossip, Parallaxing, Underground Groups, Hacker Elite Wood Craft Wood Craft is the ability to use natures gifts to build shelters and even means of transportation. You know which types of trees are best for building durable housings, and you know which have the best elasticity. In a crunch, you could successfully fashion a bow and some arrows, complete with poisoned tips. * ** *** Student: You can build a lean-to, and can avoid using termite-infested wood. You know how to extinguish a campfire College: You could probably carve a decent walking stick and can start a fire with nothing more than a few twigs Masters: You know which vines are best for use in construction and which trees yield the best wood for your project. You know which plant saps make the best seals and glues **** Doctorate: You could build a permanent dwelling in the woods from local materials. Bows and blowguns for hunting are a breeze. You know the best dyes and curatives ***** Scholar: The forest is your tool shed. If you wanted to, you could build a city Possessed by: Native Americans, Hunters, Survivalists, Naturalists Specialities: Traps, Weapons, Tools, Shelters
Zoology You are a student of animal behavior. Through study or experience, you know when and where to find certain animals, how to watch them without provoking them to run away or attack you, and how they react to certain things. You can, by reading natural signs, predict whether there is a predator or some other threat in the area, and can interpret an animals mood through its behavior. * Student: Boy Scout ** College: Outdoors type *** Masters: TV nature show host **** Doctorate: Seasoned fieldworker ***** Scholar: David Attenborough Possessed by: Biologists, Outdoors Types, Hunters, Farmers, Wildlife Photographers, Lupines Specialities: Forest, Jungle, Plains, Mountains, Coast, Arctic, Desert
Chapter Four Advantages & Errata
Even within a given field of expertise, no two people are the same. While a few points of difference in Traits are to be expected, characters really separate out with advantages. These Traits represent the character's special bonuses and acquired unusual - human society ties, wealth, and influence. You'll get different amounts of points to improve each category of Advantages, and you can improve them later on with freebie points. Backgrounds These Traits describe advantages of birth, circumstance and opportunity: material possessions, social networks and the like. Backgrounds are external not internal, Traits, and you should always rationalize how you come to possess them, as well as what they represent. Who are your contacts? Why do your allies support you? How exactly do you make enough money to justify your four dots in Resources? If youve put enough detail into your character concept, selecting appropriate Backgrounds should be easy. Although its uncommon to make rolls involving Background Traits, your Storyteller might have you do so to see if you can obtain information, goods or favors. For example, you might have to roll Wits + Resources to keep your stock options healthy or Manipulation + Contacts to wheedle that extra favor from your smuggler associate. Allies Allies are people who support and help you family, friends, or even an organization that owes you some loyalty. Though allies aid you willingly, without coaxing or coercion, they are not always available to offer assistance; they have their own concerns and can only do so much in the name of friendship. However, they might have some useful Background Traits of their own, and might provide you with indirect access to their contacts, influence or resources. Allies are typically persons of influence and power in your home city. They can be of almost any sort, pending your Storytellers permission; you may have friends in the precinct morgue, or perhaps even the mayors ear, depending on how many dots you spend on this Trait. Your allies generally trustworthy. However, nothing comes for free; if you wind up drawing favors from your friend in the Cosa Nostra, hell probably ask you to do him a favor in kind in the future. This often leads to the beginning of a story. * One ally of moderate influence and power (doctor or veterinarian, local activist) ** Two allies, both of moderate power (district ranger, deputy sheriff) *** Three allies, one of whom is quite influential (newspaper editor, local philanthropist) **** Four allies, one of whom is very influential (city councilman, military base commander) ***** Five allies, one of whom is extremely influential (mayor, senator's aide) ****** Six moderately powerful Allies, many 'lesser' sidekicks or three really dangerous ones. ******* Seven Allies, a small gang or handful of strong people. ******** Eight Allies, a small army of followers or a large amalgam of dedicated people. ********* Nine separate Allies, a private militia or a number of loyal amalgams. ********** Ten potent Allies, several hundred followers or a variety of powerful people. Alternative Identity You maintain an identity outside your own, complete with papers, bitch certificates or any other documentation you desire. Only a few may know your real name or identity. Your alternate persona may be highly involved in organized crime, or a con artist who uses alternate identities for her game. * You are new at this identity game. Sometimes you slip and forget your other persona. ** You are well grounded in you alternative identity. You are convincing enough to play the part of a doctor, lawyer, funeral salesman, drug-smuggler or a capable spy. *** You have a fair reputation as your alternate persona and get name recognition in the area where you have infiltrated. **** Your alternative identity has respect and trust within your area of infiltration. ***** You command respect in your area of infiltration, and you may even have accumulated a bit of status. You have the trust (or at least the recognition) of many powerful individuals within your area. Backers This is similar to the Allies Background, but the character does not know who his Backers are. The Backers are secret forces within (or outside of) the character's life who support the character for reasons of their own. Backers are a good source of drama and intrigue for the Storyteller, since she can attribute all sorts of motivations and characteristics to them. * One Backer, of moderate influence and power ** Two Backers, both of them of moderate power. *** Three Backers, one of them quite influential. **** Four Backers, one of them very influential. ***** Five Backers, one of them extremely influential.
Contacts You know people all over the city. When you start making phone calls around your network, the amount of information you can dig up is almost terrifying. Contacts are largely people whom you can bribe, manipulate or coerce into offering information, but you also have a few major contacts friends whom you can rely on to give you accurate information in their fields of expertise. You should describe each major contact in some detail before the game begins. In addition to your major contacts, you also have a number of minor contacts spread throughout the city; your major contact might be in the district attorneys office, while your minor contacts might include beat cops, DMV clerks, club bouncers or even hot dog vendors. * One major contact ** Two major contacts *** Three major contacts **** Four major contacts ***** Five major contacts Dream (Restricted) With the Dream background, your character has the ability to meditate and tap into the wealth of information carried within the universal mind. She must focus on a particular problem while meditating, and the amount of time it takes her to glean the information will vary based on its complexity. This process has its drawbacks. She may not get exactly what she wanted, but instead may find herself possessing an intuitive understanding she didnt expect. The universal mind knows better than she does what will help her, but that doesnt mean shell figure out why this particular bit of information applies to her dilemma. Furthermore she only has access to the information until she sleeps again. Once she sleeps, the knowledge flies out of her mind and she loses access to it. Your Storyteller may ask you to roll Perception + Dream to see how well your character can focus and reach a meditative stat. Each character will have her own unique way of bringing forth the dream. It doesnt have to be sitting in a full lotus with incense burning. Some take long walks by the beach or vegetate to rock music. Whatever method your character uses, she must have no interruptions for the amount of time the Storyteller determines necessary. The information your character receives isnt concrete information, but rather an intuitive, guiding sense about something. She cant find a persons address this way, but she can sense that the person probably lives near the river, for example. Roll your characters Perception + Dream (difficulty 6) to determine to what extent the information she receives is helpful. Once per day, after your character has meditated successfully, you can substitute her Dream score for an Ability in a dice roll pertaining to the topic of her meditation. This applies whether she has the Ability or not. For example, if shes seeking some insight into her friends emotions, you can roll Intelligence + Dream even if your character has no Alertness or Empathy scores. If she does have one of these, you can still substitute if you choose. However, you cannot add her Dream and Alertness (or Empathy) scores. You roll one or the other. * You catch hazy bits of information ** You gain helpful insight *** You can access worthwhile lore **** You glean a wealth of knowledge ***** You make amazing leaps with your insight Equipment Your character has jumped all the hurdles and cut all the red-tape necessary to gain access to high-tech field equipment, such as silver bullets or IR goggles. You begin the game with one or more government-issue items, determined by the amount of dots you have in this Background. This is a one-time requisition, however; once that piece of equipment is used up (in the case of bullets) or lost, you have to roleplay your way into getting more (Rank helps in this task). * One Rank one piece of equipment. ** One Rank two piece of equipment, or two Rank one items. *** One Rank three piece of equipment, or a combination of other Rank items. **** One Rank four piece of equipment, or a combination of other Rank items. ***** One Rank five piece of equipment, or a combination of other Rank items.
Family Status The background trait Family Status reflects the credibility, reputation, power, and status one has within the Family. It is a measure of all around influence a member has among his/her peers. It can drop rapidly or very slowly, depending on the situation and is kept track of by the Family members. It will be handled like Renown for purposes of raising it. Each player will submit a report of what they have done for the family and temporary Status Points will be awarded for services to the family. Once 10 temporary points are achieved, they will have one permanent point awarded. Resources are a must to be in Mafia, at least Resources 2. No one will have Status above 4, unless the Don dies, or is killed. The mafia game will involve political pulling and fighting between families, and will usually leave the other venues alone. Mind you that there may be supernaturals within the mafia game, but they will ultimately be working for the better of the "Family" than sect or tribe (yadda yadda yadda). 0 Recruit - Lame ass wanna be * Piciotto: Button Man, or low-ranking soldier. Soldier - Got respect, now work it. ** Sgarrista: Wiseguy, or respected family man. Captain - Got a group of Soldiers and recruits to work. *** Caporegime: Lieutenant or Crew Leader. Lieutenant - Keep your men and territory making money, or sleep with the fishes. **** Capo Bastone: Underboss, or second-in-command. Consiliergi - Second in command, respected by the Don. ***** Capo: Don, one of the infamous "Mob bosses". Don - The family is yours. Fame You enjoy widespread recognition in society, perhaps as a entertainer, writer or athlete. People may enjoy just being seen with you. This gives you all manners of privileges when moving in society, but can also attract an unwanted amount of attention. The greatest weapon fame has is the ability to sway public opinion as modern media constantly proves. This Background is obviously a mixed blessing. You can certainly enjoy the privileges of your prestige getting the best seats, being invited to events youd otherwise miss, getting appointments with the elite but youre also often recognized when youd rather not be. However, your enemies cant just make you disappear without causing an undue stir, and you find it much easier to hunt in populated areas as people flock to you. Additionally your Storyteller might permit you to reduce difficulties of Social rolls against particularly starstruck or impressionable people. * Youre known to a select subculture of the city local clubgoers or the Park Avenue set, for instance ** A majority of the populace recognizes your face; youre a local celebrity such as a news anchor *** You have statewide renown; perhaps youre a state senator or a minor star of local interest **** Nationally famous; everybody knows something about you ***** Youre an internationally famous media icon Favors Through your actions, you have disposed certain individuals high up in the chain of command to favor you. They are willing, and able, to intercede on your behalf. This is a powerful Background. A Favor can be used to get you out of a lot of trouble (hide a body, eliminate a witness, destroy paperwork, etc.). Favors are easy solutions to many problems and can be used to accomplish things that Allies can't, or won't. Each favor may be used only once, however, and then it is gone. The Storyteller is the final judge of what a Favor can accomplish. Conversely, there's a common saying that has special resonance among members of La Cosa Nostra: "It's not what you have, it's who you know." This adage is especially true for those ambitious mafiosi trying to climb the rickety ladder of organized crime. Individuals with this Background have accumulated a set number of favors that they can call in during times of need. These favors come from one or more individuals who actually owe the character something, thus distinguishing them from Allies or Contacts. Unless the Storyteller says otherwise, each favor may be used only once (players must keep track of remaining favors) and the Storyteller is the final arbiter of what a single favor may accomplish. * One Favor for both Law and Crime Characters ** Two Favors for both Law and Crime Characters *** Three Favors for Law and Four Favors for Crime Characters **** Four Favors for Law and Seven Favors for Crime Characters ***** Five Favors for Law and Ten Favors for Crime Characters
Influence You have pull in the community, whether through wealth, prestige, political office, blackmail or some manipulation. Mortals with high Influence can sway, and in rare cases even control, the political and social processes of society. Influence represents the sum of your political power in your community, particularly among the police and bureaucracy. Some rolls may require you to use Influence in place of an Ability, particularly when attempting to sway minor bureaucrats. It is, of course, always easier to institute sweeping changes on a local level than a worldwide scale (e.g., having an abandoned building demolished is relatively easy, while starting a war is a bit more difficult). Some rolls might use Influence in place of an Ability, especially when you start to interact with any sort of minor bureaucrat. 0 Your peers recognize you. * Moderately influential: a factor in local politics. You have many local associates, and you know who to call. ** Well-connected: a factor in city politics. *** Position of influence: a factor in state politics. **** Broad personal power: a factor in regional politics. You're respected regionally; people seek your opinion. ***** Vastly influential: a factor in national politics. Your word is gold on a national level. ****** Influence in one nation's affairs. ******* Influence in two or three related nations. ******** Influence across a continent. ********* Influence in a sphere (First World, Third World, etc.) ********** Influence worldwide. Library (Restricted) With this Trait your character has access to a great wealth of information. This library may take the form of books, old scrolls, or computer databases. Most importantly, your character can access this information whenever she wants and study it at will. The knowledge contained in your characters library can include both mundane and occult elements. Although it may not always prove entirely reliable, more often than not your character can take her time, cross-reference and check her information. * Youve got some New-Age paperbacks ** Your library is 90% pulp and 10% substance *** You have numerous useful texts **** You have an enviable collection, both occult and mundane ***** You can access lore, lost secrets, common wisdom and obscure facts Mentor This Trait describes one or more elders who look after you. Each rating point of Mentor you possess describes how powerful your Mentor is in the community. Your Mentor could simply be a civil servant who has learned her way around the city, or a politician who has garnered huge amounts of power in both the local and national worlds. Your Mentor can advise you, protect you from others, speak for you to the current leaders, caution you when you intrude on the affairs of others, and inform you of opportunities for power and advancement. Often a Mentor is your boss, though it can be anyone who has taken an interest in you. If your Mentor is powerful, it might not be a single person, but a group. Thus, a company could be a Mentor, as could the ruling council of a city. Politicians often have the Mentor Background Trait because of the aid they receive from their elders. A Mentor may expect to receive something in return for the aid she provides. Though she may simply enjoy your company, in time of need she may call upon her "apprentice." This may begin a number of excellent stories. In general, however, you do receive more than you need to give out. * ** *** **** ***** Mentor is an civil servant, and of little influence. Unimportant or distant mentor. Mentor is well respected. Helpful but eccentric mentor. Mentor is a member of the city council or company board of directors. Good and notable Mentor. Mentor is a mayor and has much power over the city. Wise and respected mentor. Mentor is a Govenor or member of the Federal Government and is extraordinarily powerful. Powerful or influential Mentor.
Military Force When a character reaches a certain status in their chronicle, he has a chance to gain control of institutions that prevail through force. This includes local police, troopers, FBI, street gangs, crime bosses, biker packs and bands of thrill-seeking young people. Direct control of these kinds of mobs is always frightening if not handled with a kid glove, as has been seen in the past with gang leaders being overthrown or mob bosses gunned down in the streets. As a result, others often band together to curtail such aspirations in their fellows. This makes attaining and maintaining a large Military Force very difficult. Usually one character can only keep a small force before his rivals close in to stop his power grab. The player must define who a character's forces are and where they train. They could be a subset of the U.S. military, or any of the groups listed above. At Level Six and above, the Military Force will usually require some sort of government sponsorship. Storytellers should feel free to let the character control more of others with less combat training than is specifed for that level. For instance, with two dots a character might control a 40 person mob. * 15-person mob, generally unorganized and untrained; student rebels, street gang ** 25-person team, generally with some combat training: police, crime family *** 40-person platoon, all combat trained: SWAT team, army reserves **** 75-person troop, all veterans: mercenary soldiers, terrorist unit ***** 100-person company, elite troops: special forces company, intelligence unit ****** Several companies with a mix of weapons: mechanized infantry, air assault group ******* Military division: thousands of trained soldiers ******** One branch: a country's entire army, navy, air force or similar body ********* One country: all the Military Force in that country ********** Forces all over the world! Mob/Followers Crafty characters have more than the power of words behind them; they have a good, well-armed lynch mob. The mob is usually built over time, as characters make more and more allies in a particular region. These folks are not quite as educated as you (at least not in the ways of your advisaries), and may not be able to move mountains with their thoughts, but it sure feels good to have a buch of angry, incited-by-your-words people with torches and clubs backing you up. Your Mob rating typically represents just a little more muscle-power in tight times. * ** *** **** ***** 2 people 4 people 7 people 15 people 25 people
Rank (Title) Formal position in an organization or society Unless this Background is purchased, the character is assumed to be of the lowest grade/rank in the agency or organization concerned. Government policy is strict in enforcing rank privilege; the player character with the highest rank will be in command of other player characters. Player characters who abuse this privilege may find their authority undercut, resulting in poor performance on the field. This may ultamately cause the agent to be transferred or demoted. The Storyteller has the final say on how high this Background may be bought; no character should begin play higher than fifth in command of an agency or organization. If three or more dots of Rank are purchased, the character receives a Resource of 3, instead of the usual 2 (higher salary). * Novice: A sergeant in the Army, a standard agent in SAD, a lieutenant 2nd class in the NSA. ** Low Rank: A junior officer in the Army, a veteran agent in SAD, a captain in the NSA. *** Medium Rank: A captain in the Army, a field supervisor in SAD, a Major in the NSA. **** High Rank: A major or colonel in the Army, a regional director in SAD, a colonel in the NSA. ***** Command Staff: A general in the Army or the NSA. Some influence on agency policy is possible at this level. NOTE: See Law Enforcement and Criminal Expanded Rankings in their own entries within this book.
Resources This Trait describes your personal financial resources, or your access to such. A high Resource rating doesnt necessarily reflect your liquid assets; this Background describes your standard of living, your possessions and your buying power. No dots in Resources is just that: You have no permanent home and no possessions save a few clothes and possibly a weapon or pocketful of coins. You receive a basic allowance each moth based on your rating; be certain to detail exactly where this money comes from, be it a job, trust fund or dividends. After all, your fortune may well run out over the course of the chronicle, depending on how well you maintain it. You can also sell your liquid resources if you need the cash, but this can take weeks or even moths, depending on what exactly you are trying to sell. Art buyers dont just pop out of the woodwork after all. * Small savings: a small apartment and maybe a motorcycle. If liquidated, you would have about $1,000 in cash. Allowance of $500 a month. ** Middle class: an apartment or condominium. If liquidated you would have at least $8,000 in cash. Allowance of $1200 a month. *** Large savings: a homeowner or someone with some equity. If liquidated, you would have at least $50,000 in cash. Allowance of $3000 a month. **** Well-off: a member of the upper class. You own a very large house, or perhaps a dilapidated mansion. If liquidated you would have at least $500,000 in cash. Allowance of $9000 a month. ***** Ridiculously affluent: a multimillionare. Your house is limited by little save your imagination. If liquidated, you would have at least $5,000,000 in cash. Allowance of $30,000 a month. ****** Multimillionaire. Whatever you want, you have. ******* Welcome to the billionaire's club. At this point you can influence and entire business or industry. ******** You can control two global industries. ********* You can access several international industries. ********** The world is your checkbook. Equivalent Resources when Characters Pool their Monies For when Characters state that they wish to add their free monthly monies into a larger pool in order to buy something normally outside of their range or ability to buy something: Res 1 = 300 x 4 = Res 2 = 1200 x 10 = Res 3 = 3000 x 30 = Res 4 = 9000 x 100 = 5 = 30000 (This means you need 4 Characters with Resource 1 to equal 1 Character with Resource 2, 10 Characters to equal 1 with resource 3, 30 Characters to equal 1 with Resource 4 and 100 Characters to equal 1 with Resource 5.) Res 2 = 1200 x 3 = Res 3 = 3600 x 8 = Res 4 = 9600 x 30 = Res 5 = 36000 Res 3 = 3000 x 3 = Res 4 = 9000 x 10 = Res 5 = 30000 Res 4 = 9000 x 4 = Res 5 = 36000 Res 5 = 30000 Difference between Res 1 & 2 is 900 Difference between Res 1 & 3 is 2700 Difference between Res 1 & 4 is 8700 Difference between Res 1 & 5 is 29700 Difference between Res 2 & 3 is 1800 Difference between Res 2 & 4 is 7800 Difference between Res 2 & 5 is 28800 Difference between Res 3 & 4 is 6000 Difference between Res 3 & 5 is 27000 Difference between Res 4 & 5 is 21000 Resource Portfolio It is possible for players to raise their character resources by playing the stock market, or other investing groups, or savings bonds, either themselves or employing another PC with the relevant skills to manage their portfolio for them IC'ly. The system for raising is as follows: The player with the portfolio loses a point in temporary resources to symbolise they are reinvesting some of their disposable income. Once a month an intelligence + finance roll is made for the portfolio manager and the successes totalled until they reach or exceed 25 successes at which time the resources raise can be applied to the sheet. The players involved are responsible for reminding monthly to ask for the rolls to be made, the Storyteller will record the results. Willpower cannot be spent to ensure success (using other supernatural effects may be possible and should be outlined in your queue entry for the roll). Botches will be deducted from the total successes.
Retainers (Staff/Retinue) Description: You have one or more loyal servants or assistants. They can be fiercely loyal or not, skilled or not, depending on the type of Retainer they are. * One Retainer. ** Two Retainers. *** Three retainers. **** Four Retainers. ***** Five Retainers. Status You have something of a reputation and a standing within the community. It is usually determined by your family's Status and the respect your particular bloodline is due. The more Status you have, the less ill-treated you are by the others, and the more respected you are. Proteges can be considered to have zero Status, unless they have garnered so much power and attention that they must be treated seriously. Status is sometimes used in rolls with Social Traits and reflects your prestige in such instances. -1 or lower - you are a pariah. No one wants to meet with you, no one wants to talk to you, and anyone with a positive status (1 or better) who does will rapidly find their own status sliding. Usually you don't hit negative unless you've really screwed up. 0 - usually no influence - while you're not quite a pariah, you're certainly not on anyone's A lists and most people with an influence of 2 or greater won't even talk to you. People who do associate with you are likely to start finding themselves shunned as well. * Known: usually Acknowledged, or Proven. You pay your taxes and occasionally remember to vote. ** Respected: Gang leaders, the Neutral Zone keeper, Sheriffs, and political party members have 2 as a base. *** High Status: Gang Overlords, Priests, the Mayor, Organized Crime Leaders have 3 as a base. **** Powerful: Dons, Bishops, and Govenors, Special Agents in Charge have this as a minimum base. ***** Luminary: Senate or House Member, A Top Leader of an Organized Crime Syndicate, Commissioner, Director usually attain this level of Status.
Virtues
The Virtue Traits define a characters outlook on life they shape a characters ethical code and describe his commitment to his chosen morals. Virtues exist to help give a character a sense of being, not force players to portray their characters in a given way. Conscience Conscience is a Trait that allows characters to evaluate their conduct with relation to what is right and wrong. A characters moral judgment with Conscience stems from her attitude and outlook. Conscience factors into the difficulty of many rolls to avoid committing a transgression. Additionally, Conscience determines whether or not a character loses Humanity by committing acts that do not uphold her moral code (see Degeneration in this Handbook). A character with a high Conscience score feels remorse for transgressions, while a character with a lower Conscience may be a bit more callous or ethically lax. * Uncaring ** Normal *** Ethical **** Righteous ***** Remorseful Self-Control Self-Control defines a characters discipline. Characters with high Self-Control rarely succumb to emotional urges, and thus are able to restrain their darker sides more readily than characters with low Self-Control. * Unstable ** Normal *** Temperate **** Hardened ***** Total self-mastery Courage All characters have a Courage Trait. Courage is the quality that allows character to stand in the face of fear or daunting adversity. It is bravery, mettle and stoicism combined. A character with high Courage meets her fears head on, while a character of lesser Courage may flee in terror. * Timid ** Normal *** Bold **** Resolute ***** Heroic
Merits and Flaws
This section covers Merits and Flaws you may choose to take, and how to figure your Humanity and Willpower. As well as what that Health stuff is all about. Additionally you will find the Degeneration information as well as the Hierarchies of Sin for your mortal to follow. With Health you will also find information about poisons, which covers the type of damage you take for drugs or illness. A Word On Merits and Flaws: Merits and Flaws are optional Traits that a Storyteller may choose to include, or prohibit, in her chronicle. Properly used, Merits and Flaws help players create and individualize their characters. Merits are special abilities or advantages that are rare or unique in the general Mortal population, while Flaws are liabilities or disadvantages that pose challenges to a character's daily experience. These Traits can provide player characters with added depth and personality, but Storytellers should be careful to ensure that any Traits chosen will not adversely influence the course of the Chronicle or give one character an unfair advantage over the rest. Merits and Flaws can be selected only during character creation and are purchased using freebie points. Each Merit has it's own point cost, while each Flaw has a point value which adds to the total amount of freebies a player can spend during the creation process. A character as many Merits as the player can afford *although all Merits and Flaws must be backed up in the history and I'm known for not approving 6pts in Merits..., but no character may have more then seven points worth of Flaws (which would give the character a total of 28 freebies to spend in other areas). Merits and Flaws are divided into four categories: physical, mental, social and supernatural. The physical category describes Merits or Flaws that deal with a character's physical make-up or abilities, while the mental category addresses intellectual abilities or patterns of behavior. The social category comprises relationships and individual status in mortal society, while Supernatural Merits and Flaws concern the paranormal abilities and the way they interact with the physical world. *Supernatural Merits or Flaws are Restricted, which means we need a damned good history to approve them. This list below comprises what will be approved. Restricted means make me pee my pants history. If you see a Merit or Flaw that is not on this list that you may want...talk to your Storyteller. They always have the final say.
Merits
Physical: Ability Aptitude (1pt) For every human ability, there are those who have a natural flair for it. Within your characters specific aptitude, reduce all difficulties by two. A natural linguist picks up languages easily, speaking without any trace of accent, and a crack driver can perform phenomenal car tricks with ease. This Aptitude functions for ones Ability, but it can be taken multiple times for a character whos a natural with, say, computers and technology. Special or combat Abilities should never have an Ability Aptitude associated with them. Acute Sense (1pt) One of your senses is exceptionally sharp, be it sight, hearing, smell, touch or taste. The difficulties for all tasks involving the use of this particular sense are reduced by two. Ambidextrous (1pt) You have a high degree of off-hand dexterity and can perform tasks with the "wrong" hand at no penalty. You must still use the rules for taking multiple actions, but will not suffer a difficulty penalty if, say, you use two weapons or are forced to use your off hand. Blush of Health or Baby Face (2pts) You look more hale and health in appearance than others your same age, allowing you to be mistaken as younger in society much more easily. You still retain the features of a person up to twice your stamina younger, and your skin retains its peak softness for years equal to your stamina later than your body should start deterioriting. Expect to be checked at any bars or buying cigarettes until your late thirties at least! Bruiser (1pt) Your appearance is sufficiently thug like to inspire fear or at least disquiet in those who see you. While your not necessarily ugly per se, you do radiate a sort of quiet menace, to the point where people cross the street to avoid passing near you. You are at -1 difficulty on all Intimidation rolls against those who have not demonstrated their physical superiority to you. Catlike Balance (1pt) You possess an innately perfect sense of balance. Characters with this Merit reduce difficulties of all balance related rolls (e.g., Dexterity + Athletics to walk along a narrow ledge) by two. Daredevil (3pts) You are good at taking risks, and even better at surviving them. When attempting exceptionally risky actions (such as leaping from one moving car to another), characters with this Merit add an additional three dice to their rolls, and negate a single both die that may result from such a roll. Generally, such actions must be at least difficulty 8 and have the potential to inflict at least three health levels of damage if failed. Double-Jointed (1pt) You are unusually supple, Reduce the difficulty of any Dexterity roll involving body flexibility by two. Squeezing through a tiny space is one example of a use for this Merit. Enchanting Voice (2pts) There is something about your voice that others cannot ignore. When you command, they are cowed. When you seduce, they swoon. Whether thunderous, gentle, persuading or simply talking, your voice commands attention. The difficulties of all die rolls involving the use of the voice to persuade, charm or command by two. Friendly Face (1pt) You have a face that reminds everyone of someone, to the point where strangers are inclined to be well-inclined toward you because of it. The effect doesnt fade if you explain the mistake, leaving you at -1 difficulty on all appropriate Social-based rolls (yes for Seduction, no for Intimidation, for example) when a stranger is involved. This Merit only functions on a first meeting. Graceful (2pts) You've got a natural flair. Your movements hypnotize and your words charm, harsh though they may be. It's almost impossible for you to look awkward, even when you screw up royally. Most people respect this talent, and even jealous folks have to at least admit you've got style. Redude the difficulties of all Social rolls by two whenever there's a chance to make a really good impression. This doesn't apply to threats of brute force, although grace may be intimidating in its own way.
Light Sleeper (2pts) You can awaken instantly at any sign of trouble or danger, and do so without any sleepiness or hesitation. Huge Size (4pts) You are abnormally large in size, at least 610 and 300 pounds in weight. Aside from making you extremely noticeable in public, this extra mass bestows an additional Bruised health level. Characters with this merit may also gain bonuses to push objects, open barred doors, avoid being knocked down, etc. Insensible to Pain (5pts, Restricted) Your character might be made of steel, or just hopped up on drugs (although you should also take the Addiction Flaw if such is the case), but whatever the cause, he doesnt hurt no matter how wounded he is. You ignore all wound penalties until your character is finally killed. Mental: Berserker (2pts) The Beast is in you, but you know how to direct and make use of it. You have the capacity to berserk at will, and this makes you able to ignore your wound penalties. However, you must pay the consequences of your actions while berserking, just as you normally would. Your chance of entering an unwilling berserk is also unaffected. Calm Heart (3pts) You are naturally calm and do not easily fly off the handle. Catlike Balance (1pt) You possess an innately perfect sense of balance. Characters with this Merit reduce difficulties of all balance related rolls (e.g. Dexterity + Athletic to walk along a narrow ledge) by two. Code of Honor (2pts) You have a personal code of ethics to which you adhere. The specifics of this code must be worked out with the Storyteller prior to play, and the character must follow it strictly. Characters with this merit gain two additional dice to all Willpower or Virtue rolls when acting in accordance with their code (e.g., defending the helpless) or when attempting to avoid situations that might force them to violate their code. Coldly Logical (1pt) While some might refer to you as a cold fish you have a knack for separating factual reporting from emotional or hysterical coloration. You may or may not be emotional yourself, but you can see clearly when others are clouding the facts with their feelings (-1 difficulty on all Sense Deception and related rolls). Common Sense (1pt) You have a significant amount of practical, every day wisdom. Whenever the character is about to act in a way contrary to common sense, the Storyteller can make suggestions or warnings about the implications of said action. This is a very useful Merit to give to beginning players unfamiliar with the game. Computer Aptitude (2pts) You are familiar with and talented in the uses of computer equipment. All rolls involving computers are a -2 difficulty for you. Concentration (1pt) You have the ability to focus your mind and shut out any distractions or annoyances. Characters with this Merit are unaffected by any penalties stemming from distracting circumstances (e.g., loud noises, strobe lights, hanging upside down). Daredevil (3pts) You are good at taking risks, and even better at surviving them, When attempting exceptionally risky actions (such as leaping form one moving car to another), characters with this Merit add an additional three dice to their rolls, and negate a single botch die that may result from such a roll. Generally, such action must be at least difficulty 8 and have the potential to inflict at least three health levels of damage if failed.
Dual Nature (2pts) You have two distinct Natures, both of which have an influence on your personality and behavior. When you pick these Natures, be careful to choose Archetypes that are somewhat compatible. Dual Nature does not mean schizophrenia (that is a Derangement). This Merit allows you to regain Willpower using both Natures. You may still choose a Demanor, and it can be as different from the characters Natures as the player desires. Eidetic Memory (2pts) You remember, with perfect detail, things seen and heard. Documents, photographs, conversations, etc., can be committed to memory with only minor concentration. Under stressful conditions involving numerous distractions, you must make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 6) to summon enough concentration to absorb what your senses detect. Introspective (1pt) You have keen insight into the ulterior motives of all your actions. Through this nightly exercise, you also have incredible insight into the underlying motives of others actions. Add two dice to your Perception dice pool when you must take an action against someone with the same Nature or Demeanor as you. Iron Will (3pts, Restricted!) When you are determined and your mind is set, nothing can thwart you from your goals. When you are affected by a Dominate power, you may spend a point of Willpower to shake off the effects. In addition, you receive three extra dice to resist the effects of any mind-altering magic, spell or Thaumaturgy Path. This Merit does not effect Presence or other powers dealing with the emotions. Jack-of-all-Trades (5 pts) You have a large pool of miscellaneous skills and knowledge obtained through your extensive travels, the jobs youve held or just all-around know-how. You automatically have one dot in all Skill and Knowledge Dice Pools. This is an illusory level, used only to simulate a wide range of abilities. If the character trains or spends experience in the Skill or Knowledge, he must pay the point cost for the first level a "second time" before raising the Skill or Knowledge to 2. Light Sleeper (13-pts) For one point, your mortal needs less sleep than other mortals: He can function quite well on four hours a night. If the Storyteller imposes penalties on other players for sleep deprivation (one- or two-die penalties are suggested), then you are exempt. Needless to say, this Merit allows your character to accomplish a lot more with his daily activities. For two points, your mortal sleeps only two hours per night. This resilience is quite unusual, and it lets your mage get a lot more done. It also means that he has the luxury of sleeping while on the run. For three points, your mortal is truly sleepless. You may suffer penalties from exhaustion, but he does not need shut-eye. Perhaps your mortals brains sleep center was destroyed in a accident, regardless the only time your mortal sleeps is if hes drugged or beaten unconscious. Lightening Calculator (1pt) Your character can perform complex mathematical equations in her head instantly with little error at the speed of a computer. You as a player may used a calculator during play at any time, even if your character is fleeing for her life. Natural Linguist (2pts) You have a flair for the languages. You may add three dice to any dice pool involving written or spoken languages. Photographic Memory (3pts) A real asset for talekeepers and spies, this talent allows you to remember things with almost-total recall. Your memory isn't literally photographic, but it's close. In game terms, you can recount conversations verbatim, or ask the Storyteller to refresh your memory of things that you the player may have forgotten. He may demand an Intelligence roll before doing so, with the difficulty depending on the memory's complexity and obscurity. Remembering the address of the apartment you visited last night would be 4; remembering you first boyfriend's phone number would be 6; remembering the social security number on a file you saw last week would be a 9. Naturally, you have to have something to remember before you can remember it. This Merit does not supply facts that your character wouldn't have noticed in the first place. Precocious (3pt) You learn quickly. The time for you to pick up a particular Ability (or Abilities, at the Storytellers discretion) is cut in half, as is the experience cost. Time Sense (1pt) You have an innate sense of time and are able to estimate the passage of time accurately without using a watch or other mechanical device.
Social: Alternate Identity (3pts) In addition to your normal identity, youve taken up an alternate role that allows you to run with another group or sect of vampires. This other self has a believable history and backstory that can stand up to at least cursory checks, and he is accepted at face value (more or less) by his associates. However, you sire, Allies, Contacts, etc. dont know you maintain this second identity, and treat this "stranger" accordingly. Boon (1-6pts) Someone owes you a favor. The person in your debt , might be the lowliest scum in the city or might be the mayor herself; it all depends on how many points the Merit costs. You only have that single favor owed to you (unless you take the Merit multiple times), so using it properly is of paramount importance. Depending on status and other factors, the person who owes you a favor may well resent his debt, and might go out of his way to "settle" it early - even going so far as to create situations from which he must "rescue" you and thus clear the slate. Bullyboy (2pts) Youre part of the brute squad the local Don calls on when he needs some muscle. As a result, you get in on action that others miss entirely, score points with those in power, and occasionally get a chance to act outside the law. How far outside the law the Don is willing to let you go depends on circumstance and how much the Don likes you. Church Rank (1-3pts) You were part of the Church in life, thereby still possessing some of the advantages of church rank. You can influence local politics to some extent, an locals respect you as a representative of God. One point of this Merit might mean you are a summoner or deacon; 2 a monk, nun or pardoner. Three points represent a local friar or ranking monk. Higher ranks (abbess, bishop, and so on) should only be allowed with the Storytellers permission (and an even higher cost) - these ranks carry a great amount of influence and a grave level of responsibility. Church Ties (3pts) You have influence and contacts in some local churches, and have them means to create protest rallies and raise money. The more you use your ties of course, the greater your risk of being found out. Corporate Ties (3pts) You have both influence over and contacts in the local corporate community. You understand the dynamics of money in the city and have links with all the major players. In times of need, you can cause all sorts of financial mayhem, and can raise considerable amounts of money (in the form of loans) in a very short period of time. Culture Knack (3pts) Wherever you go, there you are. While some people may get hung up on social niceties when they travel, you're not one of them. This talent grants you an innate insight into social graces in unfamiliar settings. With very little effort, you could go from Soho pub to dinner with the Queen. Wherever you are, whoever you're with, you make a good impression. Unlike the Culture Knowledge, this Merit doesn't grant you an immediate background in the society you encounter; instead, it allows you to pick up customs quickly, if superficially, and keeps your from embarrassing yourself. In game terms, this Merit offsets any penalties your character would normally have in social situtations or culture clashes. Under some circumstances, it can reduce difficulties in encounters where "doing the right thing" makes an unusually good impression. It cannot be used to offset bad reactions based on magical interference of purchased Flaws, but it can help your character recover from a botched Social roll by rolling again at normal difficulty. Knowing just what to say or do can help you save face, and in some cultures, that's vitaly important. Debt of Gratitude (1-3pts) A person of power owes you gratitude because of something either you or your family did for her. The depth of gratitude this person owes depends on how many points the player wishes to spend. One point might mean a person owes the character a favor, three points might mean that she owes the character her life. Domain (2-4pts) The Don has given you exclusive rights to a piece of territory. The size and importance of that territory are in direct proportions to the cost of the Merit. A few blocks worth of rowhouses might be worth two points, while four square blocks in the citys financial district could be worth four.
Judical Ties (2pts) You have both influence over and contacts in the justice system. You know most of the judges as well as the attorneys in the prosecutors department , and can affect the progress of various cases and trials with limited difficulty to intervene in a case, you can influence it in one direction or another. These ties can also make it easy to acquire search warrants. Natural Leader (1pt) You are gifted with a certain magnetism to which others naturally defer. You receive two extra dice when making Leadership rolls. You must have a Charisma rating of 3 or greater to purchase this Merit. Resources (1-5 pts) This merit assumes the character once had the equivalent dots in the Background of the same name, but actually liquidated them. This is especially true of characters who are running away from someone (or something) or have, for good or ill, removed themselves from 'normal' society because of extrenuating circumstances (such as some Hunters) or because they just don't feel that they belong anymore. Each point spent gives the character the same amount of liquidated money that the Background gives ($1000.00 for a dot, $5,000,000 for five), however, this money is all the character has -- there is no allowance of anything per month. When the money is gone, it's gone for good. One final note, however; if the character has $5,000,000 in a 5% APR savings account (compunded quarterly), the return is a little over $20,000 per month. That's pretty damn good (unless you don't enjoy making $250,000 a year). Of course, owning the actual items would be better, if the money was, say, 'accidentally' frozen... This Merit assumes the character has decided to hide the money in a mattress, piggy bank, or anything that is not a bank (of any sort). If the character insists on investing the money halfway through the chronicle, it would be a simple matter of either seizing the assets or forcing an additional cost (experience or freebies) of 3-4 points for Resources (no more than that, since seized/frozen assets would eliminate the merit and the background). Sanctity (2pts, Restricted) This Merit is sometimes called the halo effect; everyone considers you pure and innocent, though not necessarily not nave. You have a saint-like quality that is hard to pinpoint but cannot be denied. You are trusted, even if you are not trustworthy. At the Storytellers discretion, you tend to receive lesser punishments for wrongdoing, and you are liked by most. Supernatural (THESE ARE ALL RESTRICTED!) Charmed Existence (5pts) Your life is somehow protected, and you do not face the perils that others must. It could be that you are simply lucky. Whatever the reason, you may ignore a single "one" on every roll you make. This makes it far less likely that you will ever botch, and grants you more successes than others obtain. Danger Sense (2pts) You have a sixth sense that warns you of danger. When you are in danger, the Storyteller should make a secret roll against your Perception + Alertness; the difficulty depends on the remoteness of the danger. IF the roll succeeds, the Storyteller tells you that you have a sense of foreboding. Multiple successes may refine the feeling and give and indication of direction, distance or nature. This Merit is more reliable and specific than Level One Auspex power, the two can be combined to create and even more potent warning system. Destiny (4pts) You have a great destiny, though you may well not realize it. Your destiny will become more and more apparent as the chronicle continues. Prophesies and dreams guide your way, and grant you clues to your ultimate goal. The sense of direction and security helps you overcome fear, depression and discouragement caused by anything nor relevant to your destiny. Until your destiny is fulfilled, you may suffer setbacks, but nothing will thwart you permanently. How this played is up to the Storyteller. Guardian Angel (6pts) Someone or something watches over you and protects you from harm. You have no idea who or what it is, but you have an idea that someone is looking out for you. In times of great need you may be supernaturally protected. However, one can never count upon a guardian angel. The Storyteller must decide why you are being watched over, and by what (not necessarily an angel, despite the name).
Higher Purpose (1pt) You have a goal that drives and directs you in everything. You do not concern yourself with petty matters and casual concerns, because your higher purpose is everything. Though you may sometimes be driven by this purpose and find yourself force to behave in ways contrary to the needs of personal survival, it can also grant you great personal strength. You gain two extra dice on all rolls that have anything to do with this higher purpose. You need to decide what your higher purpose is. Make sure you talk it over with the Storyteller first. (If you have the Flaw Driving Goal, you cannot take this Merit). Medium (2pts) You possess the natural affinity to sense and hear spirits, ghosts and shades. Though you cannot see them, you can sense them, speak to them and, through pleading or cajoling, draw them to your presence. You may call on them for aid or advice, but there will always be a price.
Flaws
Physical: Addiction (1-3-pts) You suffer from an addiction to a substance. This can be alcohol, nicotine, hard drugs or simply adrenaline. This substance always impairs you in some fashion. If the substance is relatively trivial and easily obtained, this Flaw is only worth 1 point, and it probably wont cause any game-related difficulties. If the substance is illegal, dangerous or liable to cause health or psychological problems, the Flaw is worth three points. Bad Sight (1-3pts) Your sight is defective. The difficulties of any die rolls involving the use of your eyesight are increased by two. As a one-point Flaw, this condition can be corrected with glasses or contacts; as a three-point Flaw, the condition is too severe to be corrected. Blind (6pts) You cannot see. Characters can compensate for the loss of vision by becoming more sensitive to other sensory input, but visual cues and images are lost to them. Actions involving hand-eye coordination are very difficult to perform, especially under stressful conditions. Difficulties of all Dexterity-based rolls are increased by two. Clumsy (2pts) You are a klutz, and continuously stumble over yourself, drop things, fall over, etc. Whether this is chopped up to uneven legs or an inner-ear problem, all Dexterity-based rolls are made at a +2 difficulty. Color Blindness (1pt) You can see in black ad white. Color means nothing to you, though you are sensitive to color density, which you perceive as shades of gray. (Note color blindness actually indicates an inability to distinguish between two colors, but we fudged a bit for the sake of brevity. Deaf (4pts) You cannot hear. You may not listen to electronic or vocal media, and the difficulties of many Alertness rolls are increased by three. Deep Sleeper (1pt) When you sleep, it is very difficult for you to awaken. Raise the difficulty by two on any such rolls, and roleplay how you never seem to be on time when you have an appointment early in the evening. Defective Sense (1pt) One of your characters senses is dulled or abnormally damaged in some fashion. Perhaps the character is hard of hearing, has limited taste receptors, is color-blind or is correctably near-sighted. In each chase, you suffer a two-point penalty to the difficulty of all rolls involved with the flawed sense. Obviously, you cannot take this Flaw in conjunction with an Acute Sense of the same type! Deformity (3pts) You have some kind of deformity a misshapen limb, hunchback, clubfoot etc. which affects your physical abilities and interactions with others. A hunchback, for instance, would lower a characters dexterity by two dots and increase the difficulty of die rolls relating to social skills by one. It is the responsibility of the Storyteller to determine the specific effects of the deformity chosen. Diminished Attributes (Variable please speak with Staff before taking this Flaw) Life isnt fair. When they were passing out brains, brawn, or beauty, someone else got your characters portion maybe several of them. What this means is that your character is remarkably lacking in the social, physical or mental department. He might be a victim of a disease or brain damage, or he may just have been born on the shallow end of the gene pool. It happens. However, you [the player] have points to spend on the other stuff. Real life may not be fair, but at least the game reality is. However, Storytellers should be careful with this Flaw, and make certain that the player role-plays the actual realities of being shortchanged. For each dot that you lose from your characters Attributes, you get three points back from this flaw. This kickback isnt subject to the normal limits of seven points of Flaws, but you cannot take more then one additional Flaw without special Storyteller approval and a damn good story. Note that this arrangement is not fair in terms for freebie points, but it lets you make a character who is totally crippled in one area and still get some payback. *Despite what this says you still CANNOT go over the seven points of flaws. Plus, you cannot take an additional flaw. Period. Dont ask.
Disfigured (2pts) A hideous disfigurement makes your appearance disturbing and memorable. The difficulties of all die rolls relating to social interaction are increased by two. You may not have an Appearance rating at greater then 2. Graceless (2pts) The antithesis of the Graceful Merit: you always look awkward, even when you're totally ontop of things. Everything you do looks, feels or sounds wrong, even if you go about it the right way. People think you're a schmuck no matter what you do, and this drives you crazy. Which, of course, makes you look even worse. This is an infuriating Flaw...In game terms, Graceless adds +2 difficulty to all Social Rolls which involve looking good, from Seduction to Etiquette, and leads others to think less of you. Hard of Hearing (1pt) Your hearing is defective. The difficulties of any dice rolls involving the use of hearing are increased by two. Lame (3pts) Your legs are damaged, which prevents you from running or walking easily. You are forced to walk with a cane or possibly leg braces, and have a pronounced limp to your stride. Your walking speed is one-quarter that of a normal human, and running is impossible. Lazy (3pts) You are simply lazy, avoiding anything that requires effort on your part. Preferring to let others do the hard work, you lounge around. For any action that requires preparation, theres a good chance you didnt properly prepare. Difficulty rolls for spontaneous Physical actions (including combat, unless its part of a planned offensive) increase by one. Light Sensitive (5pts) You are more sensitive to sunlight than other humans are. Sunlight causes pain if you go out into it, more than just the squinting that others do, it will cause you to write in pain. Indeed, even bright lights can be painful, but the pain can be mitigated by wearing sunglasses. When the moon is shining, the light it casts will cause discomfort similar to that of sunlight for a normal person. Remember, even on nights when the moon is full, it must have already set when you venture outside, or be obscured by the clouds to not affect you. Monstrous (3pts) Your mortal has an Appearance rating of zero. He may be the stereotypical pock-marked leper, or he may have the face and body of a demon or bug-eyed monster. Otherwise, someone just beat him with the ugly stick. Mute (4pts) You cannot speak. You may communicate with the Storyteller and describe your actions, but cannot talk to player or Storyteller characters unless everyone concerned uses Linguistics dots to purchase a commonly understood sign language or you write down what you wish to say. One Arm (3pts) You have only one arm - choose which, or determine randomly at character creation. It is assumed that you are accustomed to using your remaining hand, so you suffer no off-hand penalty. However, you do suffer a two-dice penalty to any Dice Pool where two hands would normally be needed to perform a task. A character may not take this Flaw with the Merit Ambidextrous. One Eye (2pts) You have only one eye which eye is missing is up to you. The difficulties of all Perception rolls involving eyesight are increased by two, and the difficulties of all die rolls requiring depth perception are increased by one (this includes ranged combat). Paraplegic (6pts) You can hardly move without the assistance, such as a pair of crutches or a wheelchair. Even then it can be painful and cumbersome to do so. The Storyteller and you should take care to roleplay this Flaw correctly, not matter how difficult it makes things. A character may not take this Flaw along with the Merit Double-Jointed. Short (1pt) You are well below average height four and a half feet tall or less. You have difficulty reaching or manipulating objects designed for normal adult size, and your running speed is one-half that of a normally proportioned human. Slow Healing (3pts) You have difficulty healing wounds. It requires twice as long to heal one health level of normal damage, and you heal one health level of aggravated damage four times as long, even with medical attention.
Twitch (1pt) You have some sort of repetitive motion that you make in times of stress, and its a dead giveaway as to your identity. Examples include a nervous cough, constantly wringing your hands, cracking your knuckles and so on. It costs one Willpower point to refrain from engaging in your twitch. Mental: Absent-Minded (3 pts) This Flaw may not be taken with the Merit Concentration. Though you do not forget such things as Knowledges or Skills, you do forget names, addresses, and when you last ate. In order to remember anything more than your own name and the location of your haven, you need to make a Wits roll or, as a last resort, spend a Willpower point. Amnesia (2pts) You are unable to remember anything about your past, yourself or your family, though your past might well come back to haunt you. Your origins and the circumstances behind your amnesia are for your Storyteller to determine, and she is encouraged to make it as interesting as possible. *Added note: This is what the book says. Personally I dont know that I will have the time to figure out amnesic characters backgrounds. I encourage you, instead, to come up with a story, but keep it from your character. Bulimia (4pt Flaw) The thought of eating is repulsive to you, and while you acknowledge the need to eat, you often have the irresistible desire to forcibly remove the food from your system. In order to successfully hold the food inside of your system until your body has absorbed all of the nutrition, you must make a Stamina roll against a difficulty of 8. Failure means the sudden and extremely messy (to say nothing of embarrassing) loss of all newly consumed foods as they are vomited from your body. Compulsion (1-4pts) There is something your mortal is compelled to do or not do, and whether or not he likes this is immaterial. This Flaw may be psychological, physiological, or supernatural in nature. If its purely psychological, you may roll Willpower to resist the Compulsion [difficulty 6 + the point value of the Flaw]. However, if its physiological or supernatural, it doesnt matter how willing the mind is, since the spirit is bound or the body is crippled, and he is unable to do this thing no matter how hard he tries. This Flaw is worth two extra points if such is the case. Compulsions can also vary. Not being able to touch something and not being able to harm it are two completely different things. This flaw is worth varied points, depending on the frequency and severity of the Compulsion. Flaw Compulsion 1 point Do not cross the threshold without permission, never show fear to the enemy, never contradict a superior officer 2 points Never refuse a reasonable bet, never betray any emotion, do not touch anything holy or consecrated to a particular faith, never harm a child 3 points Never refuse a duel, never strike a woman, never refuse an offer of sex, never tell a lie, never take a life 4 points Never tell the truth, dance whenever you hear music, become entranced by mirrors or beauty or books, never refuse a dare, do no harm Dark Secret (1pt) You have some sort of secret that, if uncovered, would be of immense embarrassment to you and would make you a pariah in the community. This can be anything from having murdered to having once been a member of the Klu Klux Klan. While this secret weighs on your mind at all times, it will only surface in occasional stories. Otherwise, it will begin to lose its impact. Death Wish (1-5pts) You have an unconscious wish to die. The search for truth, the politics and pain, the constant knowledge of taxes looming ahead of you, and perhaps your own cowardice, all have their effect on you. Although you never deliberately do anything to harm yourself, you do tend to hinder yourself at awkward times. At ant time during a story, the Storyteller may ask you to reroll a Skill check, The least successful of the two rolls is the actual result of your action. The Storyteller may do this a number of times per story equal to the number of points taken in this Flaw. Deep Sleeper (1pt) Snore, toss and ignore the alarm your mortal sleeps like a force of nature. Whenever the mortal is trying to wake up you suffer a difficulty penalty of two on the roll, and the mortal continues to stagger along bleary-eyed and uncomprehending for the rest of the scene (with a further one-point penalty on all rolls).
Driving Goal (3pts) You have personal goal, which sometimes compels and directs you in starting ways. The goal is always limitless in depth, and you can never truly achieve it. It could be to eradicate Cancer or achieve Peace on Earth. Because you must work towards your goal throughout the chronicle (thought you can avoid it for short periods by spending Willpower), it will get you into trouble and may jeopardize other actions. Choose your driving goal carefully, as it will direct and focus everything your character does. Emotional Isolation (1pt) You have seen too many friend and family, swept away on the river of time and cast into oblivion. The pain of seeing so many die while you continued to exist was horrible to bear, so horrible that you have now isolated yourself emotionally from all others. You often come across as cold and utterly without feeling, but what is that to you? You are now safe from pain. Due to your total emotional isolation, you receive a +1 difficulty modifier to any Social skill rolls involving emotions and cannot spend experience points on the Empathy Talent. Fascist (6pts) You disdain a certain kind of Mortal, and will go out of your way to do as much harm to them as possible. Whether it is a large and well-known group, such as Black skin colored people, or a tiny and rare group, such as Ainuit, you are completely biased against them. When you discover a member of the group, you must make Self-Control roll (difficulty 7) or lapse into uncontrolled actions and berate and possibly even attempt to kill your target. Additionally, you cannot stand to be in their presence; you must make Willpower roll (difficulty 7) to remain in the vicinity with your enemy or flee in a terrible rage. Even further, if you end up in a social situation with one, such as a party, Social difficulties are increased by +3 due to your undying hatred. Flashbacks (6pts) You managed to make it through the dramatic situation, but not wholly intact. The most insignificant thing can throw you into a different mood or state of mind. Your behavior is extremely unpredictable. Because of your precarious emotional state, your Willpower fluctuates. At the beginning of each story, make a Willpower roll (you may not spend Willpower for an automatic success, obviously). If you succeed, you may participate in the story as normal. If you fail, however, your Willpower is considered to be 1 for the duration of the session. You may roll again at the beginning of the next session to see if you regain your wits. Hatred (3pts) You have an unreasoning hatred of a certain thing. This hate is total and largely uncontrollable. You may hate a species of animal, a class of person, a color, a situation - anything. You must make a frenzy roll whenever faced wit the object of your hatred. You constantly pursue opportunities to harm the hated object or gain power over it. Illiterate (1pt) Through lack of education or as the result of a condition like dyslexia, you are unable to read or write. Impatient (1pt) You have no patience for standing around and waiting. You want to do things now, and the Devil take the hindmost. Every time you are forced to wait instead of acting, a Self-Control roll is required to see if you go haring off on your own instead. Inept (5pts) You are not attuned to your natural aptitudes, and therefore have five fewer points to spend on your Talents (the most you could take on your Talents would be eight, and the least would be 0). Of course, you can still spend freebie points to take Talents. However, you cannot at the start of the game, have any Talents at 3 or higher. Intolerance (1pt) You have an unreasoning dislike of a certain thing. This may be an animal, a class of person, a color, a situation, or just about anything at all. The difficulties of all dice tolls involving the subject are increased by two. Note that some dislikes may be too trivial to be reflect here - a dislike of White Wolf Magazine or tissue paper, for instance, will have little effect on play in most chronicles. The Storyteller is the final arbiter on what you can pick to dislike. Lunacy (2pts) You are affected by the phases of the moon, increasing your chances of freaking out. Under the crescent moon, difficulties to avoid freaking increase by one. Under the half or gibbous moon, difficulties rise by two. When the moon is full, difficulties increase by three.
Multiple Personalities (5pts) Many suffer from this affliction, which switches the Nature, Demeanor, or both at unpredictable times. You may have been born at daylight, but your interests can turn to nighttime pursuits without warning. Others may notice your unpredictable personality shifts, which might grow so severe that you have to assume other personalities to accommodate them. Unlike true multiple personality disorder, your character has some awreness of her different aliases; most with this quirk set up elaborate parallel lives to cover the changes. Others, those who dwell at the edges of civilization or in the wilderness, simply act differently. If anyone notices the difference, they're too intimidated to remark on it. In game terms, this Flaw forces the player to alter her character's behavior every few sessions, possibly during times of stress. You must figure out at least one "alternate identity" for your character to assume once in a while, and play out the difference between the two personalities. In reall extreme situations, the Storyteller might demand a Willpower roll, difficulty 8; if the player fails, the character starts behaving in a radically different manner, which may be a good thing, or a bad thing... Nightmares (1pt) You experience horrendous nightmares every time you sleep, and memories of them haunt you during your waking hours. Upon awakening, you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) or lose a die on all actions for the day (or night if you work 3rd shift). A botched Willpower roll indicates that, even when awake, you still believe that you are locked in the nightmare. Overconfident (1pt) You are an exaggerated and unshakable opinion of your own worth and capabilities - you never hesitate to trust your abilities, even in situations where you risk defeat. Because your abilities may not be enough, such overconfidence can be very dangerous. When you do fail, you quickly find someone or something else to blame. If you are convincing enough, you can infect others with you overconfidence. Paranoia, Extreme (3pts, Restricted) You are certain the world is full of creatures and people who wish to see you destroyed. However, you do not worry about those individuals who loathe you from a distance. It is the ones you let get near you, the ones who profess some caring towards you, you are the real danger. Of course, not all your associates and so-called friends are actually enemies (at least they probably all arent). However, you know that no one ever does anything they dont believe to be for their own benefit. You are constantly alert seeking to commit harm against you, or worse. Whenever someone you know performs an act that appears selfless, you must make a successful Self-Control roll to resist branding them a traitorous, implacable enemy bent on your destruction (and taking appropriate actions against such a monster!). The Storyteller may also decide that your companions actions are suspiciously altruistic and necessitate such a roll. Pelagic Compulsion (2pts) The afflicted character feels inexplicably drawn to the sea at the expense of his ability to concentrate on other matters (+1 difficulty to all Willpower rolls if the character has been out of sight of the ocean for more than 24 hours). This call can be temporarily satisfied by an extended sea voyage. Phobia (1-3pts) You have an overwhelming fear of something. Spiders, snakes, crowds and heights are examples of common phobias. You must make a Courage roll every time you encounter the object of your fear. The difficulty is determined by the Storyteller, and if you fail the roll you must retreat from the object. Routine (2pts) Through the ages you have settled into somewhat of a routine. You tend to go to the same places at the same times of year, and to proceed from place to place in a regular order. If others studied you behavior closely, they might be able to take advantage of it to do you harm. The Storyteller may lower the difficulty level for anyone attempting to surprise the character from 1-3 points depending on the specific nature of the situation. Sensation Junkie (2pts) Wheee!! Hop aboard the ride of your life---your life, that is! To you, everything is an endless source of stimulation, and you crave all the stimulation you can get. When an opportunity to try some new kick offers itself, you have to make a Willpower roll to resist. The more dangerous the sensation appears, the lower the difficulty of the roll---you might crave forbidden sensations, but you're not utterly suicidal. Naturally, you can always choose to have your character take life up on its offers even if she makes the roll, but that's her choice, not a compulsion. Short Fuse (2pts) You are easily angered. The difficulties of rolls to avoid flipping out are always two less, no matter how you were provoked. This is a dangerous Flaw; dont choose it without careful thought.
Shy (1pt) You are distinctly ill at ease when dealing with people and try to avoid social situations whenever possible. Difficulties for all rolls involving social interaction with strangers are increased by two. If the character becomes the center of attention in a large group, difficulties are increased by three. Soft-Hearted (1pt) You cannot stand to watch others suffer. You avoid any situation that involves causing someone physical or emotional pain, unless you make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8). You must have a Humanity rating of 7 or above to take this Flaw. Speech Impediment (1pt) You have a stammer or other speech impediment that hampers verbal communication. The difficulties of all die rolls involving verbal communication are increased by two. You must role-play this Flaw whenever possible. Too Curious (3pts) You're too inquisitive for your own good; even most cats have more of a sense of self-preservation that you do. When a mystery presents itself, you'll go all the way to hell(literally!) to puzzle it out. It's hard to put a finger on why you feel compelled to search out facts, but it often gets you in trouble. In game terms, this Flaw forces you to make a Willpower roll whenever some question is left unresolved. This question could be anything from an overheard conversation to a lost artifact. If you fail the roll, you'll go out of your way---really out of your way---to uncover the answer. The difficulty for the roll depends on the amount of work it looks like you will have to do. The simpler the question appears, the higher the Willpower difficulty will be. Note the emphasis on "looks like"; many complicated problems arise from something that seemed simple at the time. Uneducated (5pts) You have received absolutely no education, and have five fewer points to spend on you Knowledge Abilities (with eight being the greatest you could have, and 0 being the least). You can still spend freebie points to take Knowledges. As part of this, you cannot have any Knowledge higher than 3 at the beginning of the game. Unskilled (5pts) You have never trained extensively in any skill or craft, and therefore have five fewer points to spend on you Skills (with eight being the greatest you could have, and 0 being the least). While freebies can be spent to raise your Skills, no Skill may be higher than 3 at the beginning of the game. Vainglorious (1-3pts) You are boastful and know that you deserve any praise you receive. You are particularly fond of people who realize their lesser standing in the face of your obvious superiority, although you tend to view any who speak well of you as more intelligent and deserving than most. Due to your arrogance and love of sycophants, you receive an increase of one to three points on the difficulty level for resisting any attempts at Manipulation using flattery (the modifier is doubled if the flatter has a flattery specialty). The modifier is determined by the rating of this Flaw. Vengeful (2pts) You have a score to settle, incurred either during your business or social dealings. You are obsessed with taking your revenge on an individual or group, and it is your overriding priority in any situation where you encounter the object of your revenge. You may temporarily resist your need for vengeance by spending Willpower point. Weak-Willed (2pts) You are highly susceptible to Dominate and intimidation by others; you are, in fact unable to use your Willpower freely. You can employ your Willpower only when survival is at stake or it is appropriate to you Nature. Social: Anachronism (2pts) You have been set in your ways for some time, an are unable (or unwilling) to keep up with the changing times. An Intelligence roll is needed whenever you have to deal with something from a later period than your own childhood / forming days. If the roll is failed, total the net failures and use this total as a negative modifier to your attempts. Example: Matthew, a man born in 1913, has this Flaw and is attempting to deal with a computer. His Intelligence results in two net failures. Matthew now has a two-dice penalty when determining the outcome of his attempt to make the infernal machine cooperate. Note that characters with this Flaw will generally be older than the 50 years suggested in Vampire, so Storytellers should decide whether or not to allow this Flaw in their characters as it will go hand in hand with the Old-Age flaw.
Catspaw (2pts) Youve done dirty work for someone high up in the citys hierarchy in the past - the mayor, the chief of police, or even the govenor. However, instead of granting you a favor, your deeds have made you an embarrassment or a liability. For the moment, your former employers concern is to keep you quiet. In the long term, its to get rid of you. Crass (2pts) While you might be a savvy manipulator and accomplished powerbroker, you lack style and social grace. Your unrefined demeanor is something of a handicap, and often offends the delicate sensibilities of your more discerning associates. You are at a +1 difficulty on all appropriate social rolls, and experience costs to increase Etiquette or Grace are doubled. Disease Carrier (4pts) Your blood carries a lethal and highly contagious disease. The disease can be anything from rabies to HIV, and any who share your blood have a 10 percent chance of becoming a carrier as well. The disease is in latent stages, or dormant, and for some reason, has not gone beyond the initial infection stage. This is different of course from the flaw, Diseased. Disconcerting (2pts) You creep people out. It's not the things you say, or your looks, it's just...you. People don't handle your presence very well, and animals are skittish around you. Your actions may put them at ease, or might things worse, but that nagging eeriness never fades. Even your best friends admit you're weird. In game terms, your character adds +2 to all social difficulties that involve getting someone to like or trust her. This disconcerting aura has nothing to do with your looks or manners, and you may have to use those talents to balance out the effect you have on those around you. As the player, you may have to act out some sort of eerie mannerism, or struggle with the fact that people just don't care to be around your character. Embarrassed (3pts) While attending some kind of special function - A party, for example, or perhaps even a small dinner - you became a laughing stock for any number of reasons. Whatever the nature of your embarrassment is, you've made an ass out of yourself, and no one's going to let that slip by. You are at a +1 difficulty on all Social rolls with anyone who heard of your shortcoming(s) and a +2 Social roll difficulty with anyone who was actually present. At the Storyteller's discretion, you may lose a point or two of Status, or Rank or another Background depending on the exact nature of the incident (particular favorites including falling down a rather large length of stairs or having your pants pulled down by a sadistic 'friend'). Enemy (1-5pts) You have an enemy, or perhaps a group of enemies, who seek to harm you. The value of this flaw determines how powerful these enemies are. The most powerful enemies (Methuselahs or Archmages) would be five point Flaws, while someone nearer to your own power would be worth only one point. You must decide who your enemy is and how you became enemies in the first place. Expendable (1pt) Someone in power doesnt want you around. Maybe she wants territory you possess, or is jealous of the attention youre getting from someone - the details are irrelevant. What does matter is that she has the power to maneuver you into dangerous situations "for the greater good" and has no compunction about doing so. Failure (2pts) You once held a high position in the city, but failed catastrophically in your duties. Now you are branded incompetent, excluded from circles of power and responsibility and generally ostracized by those on their way up. Your exclusion may make you a target for recruitment by certain dangerous groups (or so the whispers run, making you even more distrusted). Conversely, the consequences of your error - a breach of business ethics, an unauthorized transaction on Wall Street, a lawbreaker allowed to escape might come back to haunt you. Friendly Face (1pt) You have a face that reminds everyone of someone, to the point where strangers are inclined to be well-inclined toward you because of it. The effect doesnt fade if you explain the "mistake" leaving you at -1 difficulty on all appropriate Social-based rolls (yes for Seduction, no for Intimidation, for example) when a stranger is involved. This Merit only functions on a first meeting. Harmless (1pt) Everyone in the city knows you, and knows that youre no threat to their plans. While that sort of estimation may seem insulting, its also what kept you from being killed. No one considers you worth their time to deal with, and that low opinion keeps you safe. If you start acting in a way that demonstrates that you are not longer harmless, others reactions to you will likely change as a result.
Hunted (4pts) You have come to the attention of a witch-hunter, or some similar individual who now seeks your destruction. This hunter is beyond reason and has some form of power, influence or authority that puts you at a disadvantage. Your friends, family and associates are likewise endangered. Sooner or later, this Flaw will result in a confrontation. The resolution should not be an easy one, and until then you are in for one hellish time. Hunted Like a Dog (3pts) Another group- be it an independent person of it or the entire group as a whole - has decided youre a target for extermination, and pursue you relentlessly. On the bright side, the enemies of your enemy may well wish to help you out, potentially garnering your allies in this one instance. Known Mercenary (1pt) The exploits of your past are well known in your city, and no one is ever going to believe that you follow the path of the civil servant. Whether you have an unselfish or altruistic bone in your body, none of those you must deal with believe you do - they're sure that if you're making a deal with them, they're probably getting the short end of the stick. They also believe that you only do anything about anything if it serves you, and nothing else matters in your plans. You are at a +1 difficulty on all appropriate Manipulation rolls, and rarely can convince anyone to trust you even a little. Laughingstock (5pts) Somehow youre draw the scorn of the locals, who make you their favorite and reflexive target. You are at +2 difficulty on all Social roll on public streets and a +1 anywhere else in the city. In addition, you are at +2 difficulty to use Intimidation on anyone who has heard the stories mocking you. Low Self-Image (2pts) You lack self-confidence and dont believe in yourself. You have two fewer dice in situations where you dont expect to succeed (at Storytellers discretion), though the penalty might be limited to one die if you help the Storyteller by pointing out times when this Flaw might affect you). At the Storytellers option, you may be required to make Willpower rolls to do things that require self-confidence, or even to use a Willpower point when others would not be obliged to do so. Mistaken Identity (1pt) You look similar to another, and are mistaken for her, much to your chagrin. This individuals allies will approach you and tell you things you do not want to hear, her enemies will attempt to do away with you, and others will treat you in odd ways. Ultimately you might be able to sort out things, but it will take tremendous effort. Narc (3pts) You are known to be a snitch, an informer planted in the laws pocket. Those on whom you might yet inform loathe you as a result, feeding you misinformation when they can in an attempt to discredit you. Given the opportunity, they might do you mischief. Regardless, your reputation as a full fledged weasel precedes you, putting you at +1 difficulty on all Social rolls against those who dont agree with you politics. New Arrival (1pt) Youve just arrived in your new city of residence, and have done so without knowing anyone in the place. Existing groups of your social class may try to recruit or eliminate you, while the other social factions size you up and take your measure. Meanwhile, your ignorance of the citys current events, history and politics (not to mention the personality quirks of the people already living there) may cause you to make a serious blunder. Notoriety (3pts) You have a bad reputation among the people of your chosen city. This may be your own reputation, or it may be derived from your family. There is a two-dice penalty to all dice rolls for social dealings with the citys social elite and law enforcement. A character with this Flaw may not take the Merit of Reputation. Old Flame (2pts) Someone you once cared for deeply is now with the enemy. He still attempts to play on your sympathies "for old times sake" while working against you. Unless you succeed on a contested Manipulation + Expression roll against your former friend, you do not act against him unless the situation becomes life-threatening.
Overextended (4pts) Youve got your fingers in too many pies, and people are starting to notice. You have too many in your Mob, too many Military Force and too many influences, which means that a lot of people have vested interest in trimming back your operations. These enemies take every opportunity to reduce your power and influence, and if that means lying, cheating or killing, so be it. Furthermore, your enemies block every attempt you make to move into new areas of control. Youre boxed in, and the box is getting smaller. Paramour, Jilted (1-3pts) You had a long-term relationship (minimum 10 years) with another. Although the relationship proved useful and pleasant while it lasted, you grew weary of your former paramour and ended the long term tyst. Unfortunately, your former paramour did not take the ending of the affair well, and has apparently developed a strong antipathy for you. You both known many of each others secrets and this has caused a stalemate thus far, but you are concerned that your ex-paramour may interfere in your affairs at some time in the future. The cost of this Flaw depends on the relative power and position of your ex-paramour in society ( 1 for an civil servant, 2 for another elite of equal power, 3 for a more powerful sychophant). Poverty (1pt) You are very poor. Either you never bothered to save anything over the years, or you throw away any accumulated wealth for your own, obscure reasons. You may not take any Resources. Sleeping with the Enemy (3pts) You have some sort of intimate connection with a member of an opposing group. You may have a love, a child, a friend or a contact working the other side of the fence, but regardless of politics you retain a friendly (or more than friendly) relationship with your putative foe. Your close ties to someone on the other side would be regarded as treason by your superiors within your group, and if you are discovered the penalty will vary widely depending on the situation from mere chiding to the punishment of death. Stereotype (2pts) You buy heavily into all the stories youve read and heard. You wear typical clothing as to your social status, regarless of fashion. Such behavior is embarrassing in the extreme to others in your group, who are likely to ostracize or mock you (+2 difficulty to Social rolls with others who dont share your habits). Also, you stand out to people outside your group, and run the risk of perpetuating the stereotype every time you take to the streets. Twisted Upbringing (1pt) Your parental caretaker was quite malevolent and taught you all the wrong things about society. All your beliefs about how people interact are wrong, and your faulty beliefs are likely to get you into a great deal of trouble. Over time, after many hard lessons, you can overcome this bad start (the Storyteller will tell you when). But until then, you will continue to believe what you were first told, no matter how others try to "trick" you into thinking otherwise. Unsettling Presence(2pts) You are menacing, scary and perhaps even downright dangerous. When you walk into a room, all those who can see your stance seem to instinctively know this. Even the non-mortals might feel unsettled. You get -2 dice on all social rolls, except those that feed off your intimidating nature (at Storyteller's discretion) though this only works on pure mortals. Uppity (2pts) You are proud of your new status - so proud that youve shot your mouth off to others and made some enemies. Wiser members of your circle laugh at you and chalk your rudeness up to youth, but others regard you as arrogant and insulting. These enemies will take action to embarrass or harm you. Furthermore, you are at +2 difficulty on all Social rolls against anyone you have alienated through your yammering - and you may not know who they are. At Storytellers discretion, you may also be required to make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6) to keep your mouth shut any time the opportunity presents itself for you to brag about your family lineage, your business position or your status in society. Ward (3pts) You are devoted to the protection of a mortal. You may describe your ward, though the Storyteller will actually create her. This character id often a friend or relative from your living days. Retainers do not count as wards, as they "pay their own way". Wards have a talent for getting caught up in the actions of stories, and are frequently targets of a characters enemies.
Supernatural: (THESE ARE ALL RESTRICTED!) Cursed (1-5pts) You have been cursed by someone or something with supernatural or magical powers. This curse is specific and detailed, it cannot be dispelled without extreme effort, and it can be life-threatening. Some examples follow: If you pass on a secret that was told to you, your betrayal will later harm you in some way (1pt), You stutter uncontrollably when you try to describe what you have seen or heard (2pt), You are doomed to make enemies of those to whom you have become most attached (so whatever you do, dont get too close to other characters!) (4pt), Every one of your accomplishments or achievements will eventually, inevitably, become soiled and fail in some way. (5pt) Dark Fate (5pts) You are doomed to experience a most horrible demise or, worse, suffer eternal agony. No matter what you do, someday, your struggles, and your dreams will come to naught. Your fate is certain and there is nothing you can do about it. Even more ghastly, you have partial knowledge of this, for you occasionally have visions of your fate - and they are most disturbing. The malaise these visions inspire in you can only be overcome through the use of Willpower, and will return after each vision. At some point in the chronicle, you will indeed face your fate, but when and how is completely up to the Storyteller. Though you cant do anything about your fate, you can still attempt to reach some goal before it occurs, or at least try to make sure that your friends are not destroyed as well. This is a difficult Flaw to roleplay; though it may seem as if it takes away all free will, we have found that ironically, it grants freedom. Deathsight (2pts) Everything appears rotted and decayed to you. The world appears to you as a corpse; other mortals look diseased, buildings seems decrepit, and foods look spoiled. You are at -2 difficulty to resist all rolls based on Appearance, but by the same token you are at +2 difficulty on all Perception-based rolls. In addition, you find social interaction difficult and are at +1 difficulty on all Social based rolls. Demon Hounded (1-4pts) A demon has taken a special interest in your soul. She appears to you occasionally, using threats, bribes and honeyed words to win you to her cause. Sometimes she just asks you to perform innocuous favors for her. Sometimes she just asks you to sell your soul. Sometimes she offers you favors or information without any apparent catch. In any case, it is not your interests she serves, but those of her diabolical masters. All of her plots are ultimately designed to ensnare you and win your soul. A minor demon (1pt Flaw) may be an annoying imp, incapable of no more than distracting you, thieving small items and pleading for your soul; its plans are unimpressive, but can be frustrating. A greater creature (4pt Flaw) is your physical equal and can concoct horrible devious plans to win your soul. In either case the Storyteller creates the character for the demon, and keeps track of its plots.
Enchanting Voice (2pts) There is something about your voice others cannot ignore. When you command, they are cowed. When you seduce, they swoon. Whether thunderous, gentle, pausing or simply talking, your voice commands attention. The difficulties of all die rolls involving the use of the voice to pursued, charm or command are reduced by two. Faerie Affinity (2pts) Your presence does not frighten faeries; indeed it attracts them, and you are naturally attuned to their ways. You are able, unlike most Kindred, to enter Arcadia, the mystical kingdom of the faeries, provided you find an entrance. Former Ghoul (1pt) You were introduced to the Blood. Your long experience as a Ghoul gives you insight into and comfort with vampiric society. You are at -1 difficulty on all Social rolls when in the presence of other Ghouls (particularly those who havent been educated by their sires), and have a standing -1 difficulty on rolls relating to knowledge of the Kindred. Haunted (3pts) You are haunted by an angry and tormented spirit, most likely one of your first victims. This spirit actively attempts to hinder you, especially when trying to do something that requires concentration, and does its utmost to vent its anguish upon you and anyone in your presence, The Storyteller determines the exact nature of the spirit, its powers, and whether or not it can eventually be laid to rest. Magic Susceptibility (2pts) You are susceptible to the magical rituals of the Tremere, as well as to spells of mages of other creeds and orders. The difficulty to cast a spell upon you is two less, and all spells cast have twice normal effect on you. Touch of Frost (1pt) Plants wither as you approach and die at your touch. Your touch leeches heat from living beings, as if you were made of ice.
Humanity
Humanity, unlike most other Traits, is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, as it is more complex then a 1-to-5 quantification allows for. Humanity drops according to Sins which you will find in the Hierarchies of Sins section in this Handbook. Not all Mortals are saints, nor are they blood-thirsty serial killers. X Monstrous * Horrific ** Bestial *** Cold **** Unfeeling ***** Distant ****** Removed ******* Normal ******** Caring ********* Compassionate ********** Saintly *Typically Mortals start out with Humanity less than 5, anything more than that needs to be worked out with your Storyteller. Degeneration and Hierarchies of Sin The system is simple: Whenever a character takes an action that the Storyteller decides is morally questionable, the character may suffer degeneration a permanent loss of Humanity. If degeneration is a possibility, the player whose character commits the act should make a Conscience roll for that character. The difficulty is 8 reprehensible acts are hard to justify though the Storyteller may modify this. Willpower may not be spent for an automatic success on the roll all the ego in the world wont protect a character from guilt. If the player makes the roll with even one success, the character loses no Humanity he feels enough remorse or somehow manages to justify his transgression. If he fails the roll, the character loses a point of Humanity. If the player botches, the character loses a point of both Humanity and Conscience, and also gains a derangement, decided upon by the Storyteller (who should make it appropriate). On the Brink A Storyteller should always warn a player before she takes an action that may cause degeneration. Players should understand the consequences of their characters actions, and should have the opportunity to enjoy making the decision. Players should not be allowed to think they can get away with anything. Make it obvious that a roll may become necessary if vicious characters persist in committing self-centered deeds. Hierarchy of Sin Humanity Humanity Moral Guideline 10 Selfish thoughts 9 Minor Selfish Acts 8 Injury to another (accidental or otherwise) 7 Theft 6 Accidental violation (bumping into someone and causing injury on accident) 5 Intentional property damage 4 Impassion violation (manslaughter) 3 Planned violation (outright murder) 2 Casual violation (thoughtless killing) 1 Utter perversion or heinous acts Whenever a character commits a dubious act, see how that action relates to the hierarchy. If the action is at or below the characters Humanity score a roll is warranted as the character falls further down the Humanity scale, she becomes increasingly callous, and minor peccadilloes cease to bother her. A violation may be anything questionable, and is presented to avoid inclining the scale toward any single transgression. Violation may be killing, callous injury, rape or any other villainy the Storyteller considers wrong.
Path of the Loyal Heart
(For Mafia Characters - The levels equal to Humanity Score) Due to the violent nature of Mafia members, they will be asked not to take humanity, and will be requested to take appropriate path. Those still wishing to take humanity must show they know the path of humanity, and will need play it out accordingly. Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Guideline Betraying the family Providing secrets against the family Attempting to do things not in interest of the family. Failing to take an opportunity to help in the family's goals. Not working to help other members of the family. Following your own interest above the Family. Passing an opportunity to gain power for the family. Failing to attend a family gathering when told to do so. Having desires other than service to the family. Maintaining any semblance of self as opposed to the family. Rationale Without the Family, I'm nothing, I'm fish bait. What I know about the family dies with me. What ever the family needs, that's what I do. Hey, my goals are my families. I am my brother's keeper. I don't get my share, until the family gives it to me. More power the family gets, the more riches/respect we get. My family needs me, in all things, we need each other. The Families goals are all that matter The family is my one, my only, my all.
Willpower
Willpower measures a characters inner drive and competence at overcoming unfavorable odds. Unlike other Traits, Willpower has both a permanent rating and a temporary pool. The rating is rolled or tested, while the pool is spent. When a player spends a point of a characters Willpower, she should cross off the point from the Willpower pool (the squares), not the Willpower rating (the circles). The rating stays constant if a character needs to roll Willpower for some reason, she bases the roll on the permanent rating. The pool is used up during the story. A characters Willpower pool will likely fluctuate a great deal during the course of a story or chronicle. It decreases by one point every time a player uses a point of Willpower to enable his character to do something extraordinary, like maintain self-control or gain an automatic success. Eventually, the character will have no Willpower left, and will no longer be able to exert the effort he once could. A character with no Willpower is exhausted mentally, physically and spiritually, and will have great difficulty doing anything, as he can no longer muster the mettle to undertake an action or cause. Willpower points can be regained during the course of a story, though players are advised to be careful and frugal with their characters Willpower pools. Like Humanity, the Willpower Trait is measured on a 1-10 scale rather than a 1-5 scale. * Spineless ** Weak *** Unassertive **** Diffident ***** Certain ****** Confident ******* Determined ******** Controlled ********* Iron-willed ********** Unshakable *Willpower ratings over 5 require special approval; see your Storyteller please if you want such.
Health
As seen on the character sheet, your character has a Health Trait comprising of seven levels. Once you pass the seventh level and take further damage, your character is dead. The Health Chart The Health Chart on the character sheet helps you track your characters current physical condition. It also lists the penalties imposed on your dice pool for each level of injury that your character sustains. As your character suffers more injuries, her health declines until she becomes incapacitated or dead. Every character has seven levels, ranging from Bruised to Incapacitated. Characters can also be in full health (with no health levels checked off), incapacitated or dead. When an attacker scores a success on a damage roll, your character takes one health level of damage. This is marked on your character sheet in the appropriate box, although the mark you make depends on the type of damage inflicted. Normal damage is recorded as a / in the appropriate box. Aggravated damage is marked with an X for each level inflicted. Aggravated damage always gets marked above normal (whether bashing or lethal). So if you mark a level of normal damage in the Bruised box, and take one aggravated health level later on, move down the bashing level to the Hurt box by marking that with a /. The aggravated level is then noted by simply drawing another slash through the Bruised box making it an X. Normal levels taken after aggravated levels are simply drawn in on the next open box. Normal damage isnt as severe as aggravated, so its always marked last and healed first. The number to the left of the lowest marked box indicates your current dice penalty. As your character gets more and more battered, its increasingly difficult for him to perform even the simplest of tasks. The dice penalty is subtracted from your dice pool for every action until the wound heals. Health Chart Health Level Bruised Hurt Injured ning speed) Wounded walk). Mauled Crippled Incapacitated Dead Poisons The Toxin Rating Most disease, drugs and poisons that do actual harm do bashing damage, but particularly deadly examples actually do lethal damage. Regardless of the type of damage done, all such forms of harm have a Toxin Rating indication the levels of damage caused. Once all damage from a disease has been healed, the patient is cured. The following table lists the damage called by a few common diseases or poisons. Those that do bashing damage are followed with a (B), while those that do lethal damage are marked with a (L). In all cases, the Toxin rating is the damage from one dose of the poisons, or the full-blown manifestations of the disease. Multiple doses are cumulative. Most diseases that do lethal continue to do lethal damage until the victim is treated or dead. Toxin Rating One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Disease Cold (B) Chicken Pox (B), Measles(L), Food Poisoning (B) Influenza (B), Pneumonia (L) Tuberculosis (L) AIDS (L) Black Plague (L) Ebola (L) Poison or Drug Alcohol(B), Cocaine(B) Methanol (L) Ptomaine (B) Ammonia (L) Bleach (L) Strong Acids (L) Cyanide (L) Dice Pool Penalty -1 -1 -2 -2 -5 Movement Penalty Character is only bruised a bit and suffers no dice pool penalties due to damage. Character is superficially hurt and suffers no movement hindrance. Character suffers minor injuries and movement is mildly inhibited (halve maximum runCharacter suffers significant damage and may not run (though he may still be able to Character is badly injured and may only hobble about (three yards/turn). Character is catastrophically injured and may only crawl (one yard/turn) Character is incapable of movement and is likely unconscious or in a coma. Character dies
Moving On
During the course of play you may wish to have your character "move on" into either a Ghoul (or full blown Vampire character) or awaken into a Mage, there are numerous possibilities. Please read below if you are interested in having your character "move on" and the rules therefore. Mortals can awaken to be mages, see the Mage rule books for specifics and restrictions on the process of awakening. Mediums are born as Mediums, you cannot become one at a later date regardless of the type of scene. Mortals can be Ghouled within the game. The prospective ghoul must have the experience points to buy Domitor and the prospective Domitor must have the experience points to purchase retainers. Ghouls must have a PC Domitor, and the Domitor must have Retainers and be online to claim the new ghoul. The Ghoul and Domitor must not be the same player. Mortals can be embraced into vampires. See the Vampire rule books about the specifics and restrictions for this to happen. Mortals may become Psychics through a traumatic event. See the Psychic rule books about the specifics and restrictions. Mortals can learn Sorcery in game. See the Sorcerer rule books about the specifics and restrictions (Note: this turns your character into a Sorcerer and thus your character then falls under the MtA realm of the game). Players that want a Custos/Consor need to follow the Mage rules about specifics and restrictions and will mainly fall under the Mage realm of the game. Mortals can become Wraiths during the course of the game. In this case the Mortal will cease to be part of the Crime Civil Law Sphere and becomes an infant, following Wraith the Oblivion rules.
Section II The Three Sides of the Coin
Crime-Civil-Law has been put together under one umbrella in much of the World of Darkness because it is so interconnected with each other. You cannot have Criminals without the Enforcement to stop them. You cannot have Enforcement without the Law Makers who create something to enforce. You cannot have Law Makers without the Criminals they need to write laws against. But it is not all black and white. The three are intermingled completely with gray areas where Law Enforcement is on the take, Civil Law Makers are influenced by bribes and the Criminal aspects of the world are being infiltrated by Undercover Officers, as the Media investigate the Politicians in the limelight for any and all skeletons in their closets. The following pages will go into detail how these three seemingly different aspects of life are viewed in game terms, and give you insight on how to tailor your character in such a way to fit within this idea of Crime/Civil/Law: the Balance. As a note, these are all under one book, though they should be their own separate publications. If you view them as a compiled set of four books, then it doesnt seem as bad. Section I would be its own book, namely Mortals: the Many from which its pages originated and were expanded from. Section II holds the other books, namely Crime: Exposed, Civil: Documented and Law: Defined.
Chapter Five Crime: Exposed
The Crime Sphere encompasses, Individual Criminals, Local Gangs, Interstate Gangs, Organized and International Crime Syndicates, from two-bit all the way to hardened criminals. You name it, they do it. Petty Theft to Mass Murder. Crime is here to stay, regardless of what laws are passed by the Civil law makers, and what new technology the Law Enforcement deploy to suppress the acts of aggression done by those who believe that they are either outside, or above, the law. A Criminal comes in many shapes, sizes, creeds,colors and backgrounds. They have one thing in common regardless of the rest, they believe that their world is not ruled by the common society's laws. Why? Well, that is specific for their individual story, but they end up in the same place if they are not careful, namely on the lamb, running from the law. A player that creates a character that takes this route should expect a high turn over rate for their story. Plain and simple, the likelihood of the character getting caught is far greater than even in this world, which is as we know, really high to begin with. Crime does pay, but only to the very few lucky enough to get away with it. What is the Crime Sphere? The Crime Sphere is where all of the nere-do-wells come from. We're hoping to give not only a touch of the underbelly of society, but with a city specific tone. Crime is a big part of the character of any city, which is usually notorious for its corrupt government and law enforcement. As a city, it is a major center in the drug trade and smuggling. With the non-stop party that is the business center of the city, an unlimited supply of tourists, and the casino industry, the city is also rife with illegal gambling and prostitution. Basically the city has everything to offer a potential crook. The Crime Sphere is what takes all of this into account. The following pages offer a more specific look at various parts of the crime sphere as well as crime in a city in general. Talk with the Storyteller to find out the specifics of the city the game is based on. There should be a general history of the sphere to help you write up a workable background for your character. We hope that your application process is a smooth one, and that you consider the crime sphere as an option for your creation First off, what is Crime? CRIME - A crime is a wrongdoing classified by the State or by Congress as a felony or misdemeanor. A crime is an offense against a public law. This word, in its most general sense, includes all offenses, but in its more limited sense is confined to felony. The term offense may be considered as having the same meaning, but is usually understood to be a crime not indictable but punishable, summarily or by the forfeiture of a penalty. Felony. A felony is a serious crime punishable by at least one year in prison. Some family law felonies include kidnapping and custodial interference (in some states). People convicted of felonies lose certain rights, such as the right to vote or hold public office. During the term of sentence, the convicted person may also be prohibited from making contracts, marrying, suing or keeping certain professional licenses. Upon release from prison, the convict may also be required to register with the police. Misdemeanor. A misdemeanor is a crime for which the punishment is usually a fine and/or up to one year in a county jail. Often a crime which is a misdemeanor for the first offense becomes a felony for repeated offenses. All crimes that are not felonies are misdemeanors. Crimes are defined and punished by statutes and by the common law. Most common law offenses are as well known and as precisely ascertained as those which are defined by statutes; yet, from the difficulty of exactly defining and describing every act which ought to be punished, the vital and preserving principle has been adopted; that all immoral acts which tend to the prejudice of the community are punishable by courts of justice.
Crimes are 'mala in se,' or bad in themselves, and these include all offenses against the moral law; or they are 'mala prohibita,' bad because prohibited, as being against sound policy which, unless prohibited, would be innocent or indifferent. Crimes may be classed into such as affect: - 1. Religion And Public Worship: 1. Blasphemy. 2. Disturbing public worship. - 2. The Sovereign Power: 1. Treason. 2. Misprision of treason. - 3. The Current Coin: 1. Counterfeiting or impairing it. - 4. Public justice: 1. Bribery of judges or jurors, or receiving the bribe. 2. Perjury. 3. Prison breaking. 4. Rescue. 5. Barratry. 6. Maintenance. 7. Champerty. 8. Compounding felonies. 9. Misprision of felonies. 10. Oppression. 11. Extortion. 12. Suppressing evidence. 13. Negligence or misconduct in inferior officers. 14. Obstructing legal process. 15. Embracery. - 5. Public Peace: 1. Challenges to fight a duel. 2. Riots, routs and unlawful assemblies. 3. Affrays. 4. Libels. - 6. Public Trade: 1. Cheats. 2. Forestalling. S. Regrating. 4. Engrossing. 5. Monopolies. - 7. Chastity: 1. Sodomy. 2. Adultery. 3. Incest. 4. Bigamy. 5. Fornication. - 8. Decency And Morality: 1. Public indecency. 2. Drunkenness. 3. Violatiug the grave. - 9. Public Police And Economy: 1. Common nuisances. 2. Keeping disorderly houses and bawdy houses. 3. Idleness, vagrancy, and beggary. - 10. Public Policy: 1. Gambling. 2. Illegal lotteries. - 11. Individuals: 1. Homicide, which is justifiable, excusable or felonious. 3. Mayhem. 3. Rape. 4. Poisoning, with intent to murder. 5. Administering drugs to a woman quick with child to cause, miscarriage. 6. Concealing death of bastard child. 7. Assault and battery, which is either simple or with intent to commit some other crime. 8. kidnapping. 9. False imprisonment. 10. Abduction. - 12. Private Property: 1. Burglary. 2. Arson. 3. Robbery. 4., Forgery. Counterfeiting. 6. Larceny. 7. Receiving stolen goods, knowing them to have been stolen, or theft-bote. 8. Malicious mischief. - 13. The Public, Individuals, Or Their Property, According To The Intent Of The Criminal: 1. Conspiracy. What does that mean in game terms? Definition of a Criminal: Anyone willing to and capable of committing acts against their fellow man for their own gain is a criminal. Isn't that everyone? Well, in a way yes. But for the context of this game, we will focus on those who make it their way of life - It's how they make a living. We will ignore those people who occasionally take a pack of gum from the local convenience store because they feel the price is too much for it. Which brings us to the discerning types of Criminals for the city.
Types of Criminals There are three types. Organized Crime, Independents and Street Gangs. ORGANIZED CRIME MEMBERS: Everyone knows about the Mob. The Mafia. It's the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions that type of thing. But that is Italiano-American. How about the Triad from Northern China, or the ROC from the former Soviet Union, or La Cosa Nostra in Italy, or the Irish or Jewish Mobs in America, or even the Tong from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, or the Yakuza or even the Yamaguchi Gumi of Japan, or even the Chiu Chau from Southern China. They each have their own 'specialties' and strengths, as well as their own unique weaknesses. Organized Crime Even more broken down is Organized Crime into it's own types. Everyone knows about the Mob. The Mafia. It's the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions that type of thing. But that is Italiano-American. How about the Triad from Northern China, or the ROC from the former Soviet Union, or La Cosa Nostra in Italy, or the Irish or Jewish Mobs in America, or even the Tong from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, or the Yakuza or even the Yamaguchi Gumi of Japan, or even the Chiu Chau from Southern China. They each have their own 'specialties' and strengths, as well as their own unique weaknesses. They will be overviewed here for you to see the depth and breadth of the Organized Crime World.
American Mafia The organized crime syndicate run by American criminals. Extortion, drug dealing, murder, and all sorts of illegal activities are connected to this organization. They use the same structure as the La Cosa Nostra, and attempt to emulate their ways. What is the mafia? Where did it come from? Why there is a mafiosi? What is the mafia? Today's mafia is a group of criminals organized into "families," and operating in different parts of the world, The main idea of the mafiosi today is to make money,wether it be illegal or legit it doesn't matter. To make money they do things such as money laundering to turn there dirty (illegal) money into clean (legitimate) money.Mafiosi of today try to make contacts not enemies, though if anyone challenges their authority they are quickly and brutally erased. Where did it come from? The mafia is a, criminally oriented society, ignoring all forms of authority except their own. Most common form of extortion is the practice of handing out Black Hand notes, which had started in the 1700s. These notes, handed to wealthy citizens, were polite requests for an amount of money in return for protection. Of course, the only people that these victims needed protection against were the same criminals who handed them these notes. If their victims do not comply with their requests, they and their family can expect violence, kidnapping, bombings, and murder to be used against them as convincing arguments. Why is there a mafia? Let's begin with the word itself. Although the exact origin of the word "mafia" is uncertain, some believe it originated in 1282 during the French invasion of Sicily and the saying, "Morte Alla Francia Italia Anela" (Death to the French is Italy's Cry), or MAFIA. Then, eventually the word "mafia" came to mean "manly", in Sicily. Another theory of the origin of "mafia" begins as early as the 9th century. During that period, Sicily was ruled by Arab forces. The original inhabitants were oppressed, and desperately tried to escape and find refuge. In Arabic, the word "mafia" means, "refuge." Sicily was invaded by the Normans in the 11th century and its people were forced into labor and oppression once again. Every invasion of Sicily, thereafter, (French invasion in the 12th century, Spanish in the 13th century, then Germans, Austrians, and Greeks) resulted in native tribes seeking refuge in the hills of the island. The refugees eventually developed a secret society of unification intended to create a sense of family, based on Sicilian heritage. The structure of the organization was built on the idea of family and had a strong hierarchical make up. The "dons" were the family heads, in charge of the mafia in every village. They had to report to the "don of dons", who lived in Palermo, the capital of Sicily. The mafia grew large and strong by the 19th century. By then it had become a vast criminally oriented society. They followed their own authority and rules and ignored any other form of order. Joining the mafia was like joining a religion. It was a commitment for life. You could not retire from it (and this still holds true today.) This was a serious "religion", even for the very young mafia members. They were taught basic uses of the sword, knife, and rope, in order to be able to murder their victims. It would be a very violent death to anyone who became an informant. The American branch of the mafia, named "La Costra Nostra" (LCN), is believed to have begun in 1893 when Don Vito Cascio Ferro fled to New York after the murder of banker Emanuele Notarbartolo, in Sicily. More Mafioso fled to America during the 1920's, when Mussolini attempted to exterminate the mafia in Sicily. The mafia saw lucrative opportunities in the United States. Thousands of gunmen and thieves came over. They were joined by thousands of Italians and Sicilians who were looking for a better life in America. By the early 1900's every large city in the United States had its own mafia sanction. They concentrated on protection rackets. Soon they expanded by racketeering in other areas, such as gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging. The Prohibition era (in the 20's) is probably the most legendary era in gangster history. Mafia members basically declared their power and wealth openly. The mob flourished. This began Al Capone's reign, (as portrayed in the movie, The Untouchables.) Alphonso Capone, "Scarface", was a gangster in Chicago who amassed a fortune by selling alcohol and women. He also controlled every possible aspect of crime. Capone was sent to Alcatraz in 1931, not for various killings and breaking the 18th amendment, but for income tax evasion. When Capone was sent away, Chicago's "gangster" image began to fade. New York became the next big mafia city - the city for the next generation of gangsters. Once prohibition ended, gangsters reorganized themselves in "syndicates" or organizations which controlled gambling and prostitution, the distribution of drugs and new forms of "business." After Capone's time a new gangster surfaced, Salvatore Lucania, better known as, Charlie 'Lucky" Luciano, or "Boss of the Bosses" (Cappo di tutti cappi.) Unlike Capone, who only associated with Italians and Sicilians, Lucky Luciano was ethnically liberal. He began to recruit Jews in his organization. (Similar to the movie, Casino.) Luciano was close to his partners Benjamin "Bugsey" Siegel and Meyer Lansky. Bugsey Siegel built a super-casino in Las Vegas, but was murdered before it became profitable. Within ten years of his death, Las Vegas became the major powerhouse for gangster dealings, investments, and skimmings.
Luciano's gangs were always in conflict with the "pure Sicilian" gangs of Giuseppe Masseria, "Joe the Boss" (the first boss of what is now known as the Genovese family) and Salvatore Maranzano (head of the now Bonanno family), from the other side of New York. Luciano finally defeated Masseria after many "mafia wars" known as the Castellamarse Wars. Luciano took over Masseria's organization and became a powerful boss. Before Masseria died, he took a man named Carlo Gambino into his group. When Masseria was killed, Gambino shifted power under Salvatore Maranzano. However, it was a short stay for him. Maranzano died, Joe Bonanno succeeded him, and Carlo Gambino decided to join a new commission, the "Young Turks." Gambino, along with his brothers-in-law Peter and Paul Castellano, became united with Vincent Mangano. When Mangano mysteriously disappeared, Gambino pushed for an alliance (peace agreement) with Charlie Luciano and his associate Frank Costello. After Mangano's disappearance, Albert Anastasia became the boss and appointed Carlo Gambino a boss, but no one took this seriously. Gambino was, at that time, considered weak, taking put downs and ridicule from Anastasia. No other mafia member would have taken the abuse. Nobody thought of Gambino as a threat, at that time, which made it very easy for him to do unexpected things. In 1957, a man named Vito Genovese approached Gambino about getting rid of Anastasia. This would give Gambino top spot. Fed up with Anastasia, Gambino did away with him. However, he could not stop there. Genovese was power hungry. He wanted to rule all the families. He became ruthless and over-zealous. Gambino knew he had to put a stop to him before he got totally out of hand. Together with his new allies, Luciano and Costello, Gambino set up Genovese in a narcotics scheme that landed him in prison, sentenced to fifteen years. Gambino continued to avoid the F.B.I. and C.I.A. Every time they tried to deport him or put him on trial he would have a heart attack or somehow end up in the hospital. It was an ingenious plan! On the other side of New York, the Bonanno family didn't have much luck avoiding the authorities. Bonanno member Philip "Rusty" Rastelli succeeded Carmine Galanto as boss. Two of Rastelli's top men were Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano and Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero. They were portrayed in the movie, Donnie Brasco, which was based on the true story of undercover F.B.I. agent, Joe Pistone ("Donnie Brasco".) Crimes committed by "Sonny Black" and "Lefty Guns" were exposed. "Sonny Black" disappeared and "Lefty" went to prison. During the early 1970's, Joseph Colombo, head of the Profaci family, began bringing unwanted national attention to the mob and those associated with it, by starting the Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL). Carlo Gambino confronted Colombo and asked him to stop the rallies because of the media attention it was developing. Colombo refused. As the story goes, Colombo actually spit in Gambino's face. This infuriated Gambino. He approached the Gallo brothers (Joe and Larry) to do away with Colombo. He wanted them to kill him at a nationally covered IACRL rally, in order to express what will happen if you cross Gambino, and to ironically exhibit the association of violence and the Italian-American heritage - the very heritage that Colombo was supporting through rallies. It was vengeance and punishment for disrespecting a don. At the end of his life, Gambino appointed Paul Castellano as the new head of the family. Castellano was greedy and was disliked. This caused conflict amongst Gambino's men. Castellano walked around more like a banker than a mobster. Gambino thought it was a good idea to move the family into legitimate business, away from the streets. In 1985, Castellano was killed by another young Turk, John Gotti, (a disciple of Dellacrose, boss under Anastasia who was skipped over when Anastasia was ousted by Gambino.) Gotti was as loud and media exposed as anyone the mafia had seen since Albert Anastasia. John Gotti was known as the "Teflon Don" for his three separate trial acquittals in the late 80's. Finally, in 1991, the F.B.I. indicted Gotti, his underboss - Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, and Frankie Locascio on racketeering and murder conspiracy charges. Gravano shocked everyone when he broke the omerta and testified against Gotti. Gravano was placed into witness protection and served less than five years. John Gotti is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Illinois. His son, John Gotti Jr., is currently acting as boss of the Gambino crime family. However, a RICO case has been developed against him.
La Cosa Nostra The dreaded Italian mafia. This gang dates back to the 1920's during the days of Prohibition. Ever since then, they've played some hand in nearly every illegal activity in every major city. Overview Drugs are illegal and organized crime long ago moved to supply the lucrative market. Sex probably rates higher than whiskey in desirability, and so organized crime moved into illegal prostitution. In Sicily there is the Sicilian Mafia. In the 70's and 80's the Sicilian Mafia and La Cosa Nostra worked together in the National heroin trade. Recently the Sicilian Mafia has been linked to the highest levels of the Italian government. A good book about the Sicilian Mafia is, Midnight In Sicily. In Italy there is the Ndrangheta. Unlike the Sicilian and American mafia its families are based on blood relationships. Here in the U.S. there are other ethnic criminal groups, of course they are not as powerful as the Italians.There is the russian mob, which is just small individual mobs. There was or maybe still is the greek mob based in Astoria, Queens, they distributed illegal Joker Poker machines and ran horse rooms and a lucrative dice game. For years, they had paid the Lucchese family $10,000 a month for the right to operate on their turf. But none of these are as powerful or as organized as La Cosa Nostra and have to pay off the Cosa Nostra families to operate on their turf . FAMILY STRUCTURE The Commission The Commission handles interfamily disputes and sets general policy for La Cosa Nostra. It acts as more of a forum of Family Bosses than a board of directors. I have read conflicting reports as to the number of bosses on the Commission. In addition, Angelo Lombardo (former acting boss of the Cleveland Family) states that there are two Commissions: the Eastern Commission is based in New York and addresses concerns of the eastern Families, and the Western Commission is based in Chicago and handles concerns of the western Families, such as Kansas City, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Diego (actually San Jose), St.Louis, Milwaukee, and San Francisco. Apparently, not every Family has a seat on the Commission. For instance, Mr.Lombardo states that the Cleveland, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh Families are all represented by the Genovese Family on the Eastern Commission. The Family Ranking 0. Thug Thugs are low level brutes who assist in picking things up, guard things, and that sort of thing. 0. Wheelman Wheelmen are nothing more than drivers for the Family. They drive people around, and drive getaway cars. 0. Errand Boy Errand Boys bring things around, pick up protection money, accompany men on purchasing things and help load up. Low level dirty work with cheap pay. 0. Associate Associates are people who do business with the Family, but are not in any other way related to them. People here include those who the Family buy things from regularly, and people who pay protection money, and other assorted regular business partners. They often are willing to do anything to get "made", and therefore handle a lot of hits. 1. Soldier/Footsoldier The Soldiers are the guys that do the dirty work. Hits, Car Stealing, all that sort of stuff. Nice pay for the work though. They are still "made" guys. Also each soldier may have a few associates hanging out with him. 1. Valued Associates Valued Associates are men who do good, high paying work for the Family, and would be made men, but can't since they have no Italian blood. These are also gangs that are closely allied with the the Family.
1. Made Men are actual members of the Family. You must be at least 1/6th Italian to be made. They're members of a crew. Crews are run by Capos, and consist of 8-15 men. Capos run their own gigs with their crews, except when they're called upon by the bigger boys up to do things. 2. Capo (short for capodecina or caporegime) Capos are the head of a crew or decina (literally, "group of ten") of ten to fifteen soldiers. Most crews basically do business within themselves unless called upon by the higher up ranks of the Family. One must be at least 1/5th Italian to become a Capo 3. Main Bosses These are the main leaders of the entire gang. Their word is law. To become a main boss, you must be at least 1/3rd Italian. 4. Underboss (Sotto Capo) He is the second-in-command. He is usually the word on the street, so to speak. He controls the day-to-day operations of the Family. If anything happens to the Don, The Underboss takes care of things. 4. Consigliere The consigliere acts as a "couselor" or "advisor" to the boss. He is directly under the boss in terms of the hierarchy, but he doesn't normally give orders. This man is the advisor of the Don. He advises the Don on every decision he makes. 5. Boss/Don The leader of the Family. It is very seldom that anyone actually meets him. Only Capos, the Consigliere, and the Underboss are allowed to meet him, except under a special circumstance. Everyone guards him with their life. He is the man with all of the power in the Family. He gives the orders, and the rest of the Family is expected to follow them without question. "Two men can keep a secret, as long as one of them is dead" Mafia Induction Ceremony The most important day in most mobster's life is the day they get made and become a full member of the Family. This ceremony is usually done in the basement of a fellow mobster's house. At a table in the basement sit the boss, underboss, consigliere, and some capos of the Family. The mobster is told that this is a secret society and there is one way in and one way out. You come in on your feet and you go out in a coffin. That this thing of ours is to be what comes first in your life, it comes before your blood family. If their mother was on a death bed and you where called for, would you come? Or if we asked you to kill your own brother, would you? If so which finger would you use to pull the trigger with. The mobster's sponser would then prick that finger until blood came out. The blood would then be put on a picture of a saint and the picture placed in the hands of the wiseguy. Then the boss lights the picture on fire and while the wiseguy juggles it in his hand the boss says: "If you divulged the secrets of our life your soul will burn in hell like this saint. Then, the now made guy kisses everybody on both cheeks. Sometimes they do what is called a tie-in. This is when everybody holds hands and the boss (in Italian) says, "In honor of our brotherhood, I untie the knot," and everybody lets go. Then, the new made guy stands and joins hands in the circle and again the boss says, "In honor of our brotherhood, I tie the knot." The new member is told some rules and regulations and is on his way. Blood Oath The opening of the oath begins. "We are here this evening to make new members.You are entering into the Honored Society of Cosa Nostra witch only welcomes men of great courage & loyalty.To be a member is very important.It's more important than anything you've ever done in your life,or ever will do.Every thing else must be put behind you." The Boss begins the questioning."Would you do that?" New member:"Yes" "You know why your been invited?" "Yes" Do you want it? "Yes"
The Boss continues.If I told you your brother was wrong,that he's a rat,he's going to do one of us harm... You'd have to kill him.Would you do that for me?" "Yes" "So you know the severity of "This Thing of Ours.Your wife or children are dieing in bed & you have to leave because we call you.Would you do it? "Yes" "In Honor of the Family, the Family is open.The gun and knife are on the instruments by witch you live or die". The new member repeats after the Boss saying "I,(states name), want to enter into this organization.To protect my family and to protect all my friends,swear not to divulge this secert: to obey with love & omerta.I swear to abide by the rules of this organization.The boss asks witch finger the member uses to shoot the gun.The potential member shows his finger."The one who vouched for him pricks your finger with a pin.The blood it spills symbolizes your birth into our Family.We are now one until death."The Boss continues,He asks the new member to chose a number greater than the number of people in the room."Show some fingers."Each person in the room throws out their hand with any number of from 1 to 5 fingers.They count the number of fingers in the room until the number is reached.Whoever it end up being is his cumpare.The Boss then gets a Saint card: "Cup your hands. This is the holy image of our family" The new member speaks,"As burns this Saint,so will burn my soul.I swear to enter alive into this organization.And get out dead." The Boss reminds him, "You can never say anything to anyone... about this organization." The Boss explains the structure and purposes.At the top is the Boss.Second in command is the Underboss,then there is the Counselor.The Captains then the soldiers and associates."You are a soldier and will be assigned to a captain.If you leave he needs to be told if you go anywhere." La Cosa Nostra Glossary The maffiosos language is short, sober, clipped The phrase lassalu iri (let him go) has a disdainful meaning along the following lines: My dear chap, the man you are dealing with is an imbecile. You only compromise your dignity by picking him as an enemy. Another phrase be lassalu stari (let him be) -- seems identical, but has the opposite meaning. It translates as, That man deserves a severe lesson. But now is not the time. Let us wait. Then, when he is least expecting it, we will get him. The true maffioso dresses modestly. He affects a brotherly bonhomie in his attitude and speech. He makes himself seem nave, stupidly attentive to what you are saying. He endures insults and slaps with patience. Then, the same evening, he shoots you. Palermo Police Captain, Giuseppe Alongi (1886) Administration: the upper-level power structure of an organized crime family, composed of the Boss, Underboss, and Consigliere. Amico degli amici 'A friend of the friends'. Someone with mafia connections. Associate: an almost-there; one who works with and for wiseguys, but who hasn't been sworn in as a member of the Family. Also, 'half a button'. Babania: Heroin, as in dealing. Babbo: a dope, idiot, useless underling. Banana Race: fixed horse race. Beater: a swindler. Beef: a complaint or disagreement within organization, usually discussed during a 'sit down' or 'round-table' with the higher level Family members. Big Earner: one who makes a great deal of money for the Family. Biscuit: a gun. Books, The: euphemism for membership in the Family, since nothing is written down. When there is availability, the books are 'opened'. When no one is being 'made' the books are 'closed'. Boosters: small-time street thieves. Borgata (borgate) Originally the Italian term for the suburban townships and villages around Palermo that were the cradle of the mafia. Adopted by the American mafia to mean Family (see below). Borgata: a crime Family; also 'Brugad'. Boss: AKA 'Don'. The head of the crime Family; he is the only one who gives permission to 'whack' or 'make' someone, and he makes money from all Family operations. Boss of all Bosses; Capo di tutti Capi: while no one proclaims himself the Boss of Bosses anymore, the press awards this title to whomever they feel is the boss of the strongest of the five families of New York, who is also said to preside over Commission meetings. Broken: demoted in rank; also 'knocked down'. Brugad: a crime family; also 'Borgata'. Bulls: cops, pigs. Burn: to murder; AKA break an egg, clip, do a piece of work, hit, ice, pop, put out a contract on, whack. Busted: arrested.
Bust out: to bankrupt, usually in reference to a legitimate business taken over by a mobster and then bankrupted after using up its credit limit. Button: a 'made' member of the Mafia; buttonman, soldier, wiseguy, goodfella, Man of Honor. Button, Half a: one on the fringe of membership but not yet 'made'. Cafone: a phony or embarrassment to himself or others; also 'Gavone'. Camorrista (camorristi) Member of the camorra. Candy: cocaine Capo (capi) Boss of a Family Capo: ranking member of a Family who heads a crew of soldiers; also a skipper or captain. Capo dei capi Boss of bosses Capo di tutti Capi: see Boss of all Bosses. Capodecina (capidecina) Head of ten. Captain. Capomandamento Head of a mandamento Carabiniere (carabinieri) Military-style Italian police. Case: to check out, to size up, to look things over. Chased: to be banished from the Mafia and barred from associating or doing business with any made members. The punishment is merciful in that the offender is spared death. Clean: not armed. Cleaning: taking the necessary steps (driving around, stopping in various locations) to avoid being followed. Click: crew or gang, clique. Clip: to murder; see burn. Also used as a reference to take money from. Clock: to keep track of someone's movements and activities. Coglioni: balls Combinare Put through the mafia initiation ritual. Literally, arrange, get together. Combinato Initiated into the mafia; made. Combinazione Initiation into the mafia. Comare: a Mafia mistress; also 'Goumada'. Come in: to go see a higher-ranking member when summoned. Commission, The: the Mafia 'ruling body', typically a panel made up of the bosses of the five NY families (Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Colombo, Bonanno) sometimes with representatives from other US families, such as the Chicago Outfit. Commissione Commission. Cosa Nostras parliament or board of management for each province of Sicily. Comparatico The institution of godfatherhood in southern Italy. Compare (compari) Godfather. Literally co-father- the relationship between a childs father and its godfather Compare: crony, close pal, buddy. Connected: part of a gang or Family, protected. Consigliere: the counselor in a crime Family; advises boss and handles disputes within the ranks. Consigliere (consiglieri) Adviser to a capo. Contract: (1) murder assignment; (2) a case in court which is 'fixed'. Cooler: a stacked deck of cards. Also used as a reference to being sent to prison, especially where the odds are not good for surviving the sentence. Cool-off Man: accomplice in a crooked gambling game who calms down a heavy loser. Cop: to steal, usually when this is done sneakily. Cosa Nostra, La : 'This Thing of Ours'; 'Our Thing'. Cosa Nostra Literally, our thing; the mafia. Cosca (cosche) Family. Crew: a group of soldiers taking their orders from a Capo. Crime Family: a unit of Cosa Nostra operating in a specific territory, composed of men tied together by loyalty to their crime boss and sometimes by actual blood relationship. Also 'Borgata' or 'Brugad'. Cugine: a young toughguy looking to be made. Camorra The Neapolitan equivalent of the Sicilian mafia. Decina (decine) Group of ten mafiosi. Sub-division of a Family. Do a Piece of work: to murder; see burn. Don: the recognized Boss of a Sicilian-dominated Crime Family. Don A title originally given to the Spanish noblemen who ruled Sicily; later applied to any man of status. Earner: one whose expertise is making money for the Family. Empty Suit: one with nothing to offer who tries to hang around with mobsters. Also used to refer to a useless lawyer.
Enforcer: one who threatens, maims, or kills someone who doesn't cooperate with Family rules or deals. Enterprise syndicate Social science term for those aspects of mafia activity that involve illegal trade as opposed to controlling territory. (See power syndicate). Envelope: a cash payment. Family Local mafia group. Fence: one with contacts & outlets to liquidate swag. Finger: to inform on or to mark for murder. Flake: to frame, or be framed. Friend of Mine: introduction of a third person who is not a member of the Family but whom can be vouched for by a Family member. Friend of Ours: introduction of one made member to another. Gabelloto (gabelloti) Manager of a landowners estate. Gaff: a phoney Gavone: see cafone. Get a place ready: to find a burial site. Gift: a bribe, sometimes for a juror, etc.. Give a Pass: to grant a reprieve from being whacked. Give Up: to rat out, squeal, inform. Glom: to steal. Going: about to be whacked. Going South: (1) stealing; (2) passing money under the table; (3) going on the lam. Goombah, Goomba, Gumba: Sicilian slang for the Italian 'Compare'; Goombata. Goumada: see Comare. Gorilla: to intimidate, bully, push around. Greaseball: old-country Italian or Sicilian; someone of Italian origin who looks or acts slovenly. Hack: prison guard. Hard-on with a suitcase: mob lawyer; If feminine - half a hard-on with a suitcase. Heat: unwanted attention from the law or the press. Heavy Hitter: boss, person of authority, one who carries a lot of weight. Hit the bricks: released from prison. Honoured society The mafia. Italian: lonorata societ. Honored Society, The: the Sicilian Mafia's own term for itself. Hot items: stolen goods. Hot Place: a location suspected of being target of law enforcement or surveillance. Ice: to murder; see burn. Incaprettamento Method of tying a body up, with arms and legs behind back, so that it fits in a car boot. Literally, 'engoatment'. Infame (infami) Dishonoured scum. Traditional mafia insult for a traitor. Jackpot: trouble Joint, The: prison; AKA - the can, the pen, go away to college. Juice: loanshark interest. Juiced horse: a doped horse. Large: a thousand dollars Lettere di scrocco Literally, scrounging letters; threatening letters that demand money but often also plead poverty. Loanshark: one who lends money at an exorbitant interest rate; a shylock. Lupara Short-barrelled shotgun, for many years the favored weapon of mafiosi. Lupara bianca 'White shotgun'. Mafia killing in which the victim's body is never found. Made: to be sworn into LCN; AKA - 'straightened out', to get your button. Mafia Originally meant a kind of proud beauty in Palermo dialect. Cool is perhaps the closest modern English equivalent. Now used to refer to many forms of organized crime in Italy and around the world. Mafioso (mafiosi) A member of the mafia. Make a Marriage: bring two parties together for legitimate or illegitimate Family issues. Man of honour A member of the mafia. Italian: uomo donore (uomini donore) Man of respect As above. Italian: uomo di rispetto. Mandamento (mandamenti) District, usual made of three mafia Families with adjoining territories. A capomandamento is usually entitled to a seat on the Commission. Mattanza, la Literally the capture and slaughter of tuna fish. A massacre; the name given to the second mafia war, 1981-3 Mattresses, go to the, hitting the, taking to the: going to war with a rival Family or gang. Meat Eater: a corrupt cop. Mechanic: (1) card and dice manipulator who rigs games; (2) occasionally used as reference to an expert hitman or assassin. Mope: stupid person, one easily fooled, duped, taken in, swindled.
Mustache Pete: old fashioned or older generation Mafiosi, named for the handlebar mustache worn by many of the old Dons. Ndrangheta The equivalent of the mafia in Calabria. Nut, The: 'the bottom line'; net profit figure. Omert The mafias code of silence. Probably derived from umirt, the Sicilian word for humility. Omerta: the code of silence, the premier vow taken when being sworn into the Family. Violation is punishable by death. Office, The: nickname for the New England Crime Family. Off The Record: an action taken without the knowledge or approval of the Family On The Record: an action sanctioned by the Family. On The Arm: on credit On The Pad: paying regular bribes Outfit, The: nickname for the Chicago Crime Family. Packing: armed Padrino (padrini) Godfather. Paint: narcotics (used as verbal camoflage). Pentitismo The use of pentiti against the mafia. Pentito (pentiti) Literally penitent. Mafia defector or collaborator with justice. Picciotto (picciotti) Lad. Young thug. Piece: gun Pigeon: an informer, as in stool pigeon or 'stoolie'. Pinched: arrested PizzoProtection payment. From the Sicilian pizzu (beak). To let someone wet their beak is to pay protection money to them. Pop: to murder; see burn. Popped: (1) arrested or (2) murdered. Depends on era as its meaning changed. Posare Expel someone temporarily or permanently from the mafia. 'Drop.' Power syndicate Social science term for the aspect of mafia activities that involves exacting an extortion tax from legal and illegal businesses in an area. See also enterprise syndicate. Problem: a liability, one likely to be whacked. Punciuto Literally, 'pricked'. Initiated into the mafia. Queer: counterfeit, bank notes or share certificates. Rap-Sheet: criminal record, also 'yellow paper' Rat: one who violates Omerta; AKA - squealer, canary, snitch, stool pigeon, yellow dog. Regione, la The Region. The mafias governing body for the whole of Sicily, established in 1975. Round-Table: see Sit Down Sbirro (sbirri) Offensive term for police used by mafiosi. Score: to make money through committing a crime. Also to obtain drugs for personal use. Sfregio Either (1) a disfiguring wound or (2) an affront designed to make someone lose face. Hence means an offence to a mafiosos prestige, his territorial authority. Shills: hirelings who play in rigged games in order to draw in victims. Shiv: knife or homemade stabbing weapon, as might be found in a prison. Short: any vehicle Shylock: see loanshark Sidge: Sicilian Sit-down: a meeting with the Family administration to settle disputes; also 'Round-Table'. Skim: (1) tax-free gambling profits, money taken that is not reported to the IRS; (2) to steal extra profit for oneself before passing on remainder. Skipper: a Capo Smack: heroin Snort: cocaine Stand-up Guy: one who refuses to rat out the Family no matter what the pressure, offer or threat; one who can be trusted. Stidda Literally, bright star or bad luck; a federation of gangs in southern and eastern Sicily formed by expelled men of honour in the 1990s. Stiddari Members of the Stidda. Stone Killer: (1) cold-blooded assassin; (2) superlative, as in 'that's a stone killer car'. Stoolie: stool pigeon, informer. Straight, A: one who is not a criminal. Swag: stolen goods Tragediatore Mafia term for someone within the organization who spreads rumors or talks too much. 'Tragedian'. Uncle Sugar: the FBI Vig: interest payment on a loan from a loanshark; (vigorish); AKA - juice.
Vouch For: to personally guarantee - with own life - the reputation of someone dealing with the Family. Walk Talk, Take a Walk: to conduct a sensitive discussion while striding up and down the block to avoid being overheard on surveillance devices. Whack or Whack Out: (1) to murder; (2) to astound, amaze or overwhelm. Wiseguy: another term for Made Guy, a sworn-in member of La Cosa Nostra. Yard: a hundred dollars. Young Turks: younger, less traditional generation of Mafiosi. Less likely to live by the old rules. Zip The name given to Sicilian men of honour by their US counterparts because of their fast speech. Zips: American Mafia's derogatory term for the Sicilian Mafia.
Family Rules Some of these rules are different for each Family. Some are used universally. * 1.No member must ever upon penalty of death talk about the organization.Or the Family of witch he was made member.Not even within his on home. * 2.Ever member must obey without question the orders of his leader above him. * 3.No member must ever strike another member regardless of provocation. * 4.All grevances to that day he is initiated imagined or real,are to be forgiven & total amnesty granted. * 5.Total harmony was to rule both the business & the personal relationships between the families and the members. * 6.No member could covet anothers business or anothers wife. * 7.No drug dealing upon penalty of death. * 8.To introduce a third person who is not a member of the Family but who can be vouched for by a Family member you would say this is a friend of mine. * 9.To introduce a third person who is a member of the Family you would say this is a friend of ours. * 10.The only way that someone can do business legal or illegal with someone in there Family or another Family is if their capo approves it. * 11.Tell your capo everything. * 12.A member of one Family could contact a member of another Family only though his own boss. * 13.A member must come to the aid of another member in trouble with every means at his command,even at the risk of life or fortune. * 14.A member must consider an offense by an outsider against another member as an offense against himself & the entire membership and be ready to avenge it at any cost. * 15.When a member go's away he still gets money from projects witch he organized or helped to organize. * 16.The organization is always supreme & is something more than the sum of it's parts.All effort is aimed at ensuring the survival of the organization. * 17.There is no such thing as the indispensable man;people are only the parts for the larger machine. * 18.When someone is inducted the person that brought them inis responsible for them if they do something wrong they have to take care of it anyway necessary. * 19.Don't deal in counterfeit money. * 20.No kidnapping. * 21.Any member could borrow up to $999 from another member without reporting it to his capo.But $1,000 and up you'd have to report it. * 22.There is no using of explosives. * 23.No facial hair * 24.Dress in suit & tie
La Stidda A newly discovered Italian crime group, about which little is published. Not an "honor" system like the Mafia, but intended for criminal action and profit. Stidda (which means Star) members are called "stiddaroli" or "stiddari". The group is based in rural Sicily. Reportedly, the older members of the clan, take a needle to create a black and blue ink five-point star or circle tattoo on the web of the person's right hand, between thumb and index finger. Sometimes the tattoo is found on the shoulder or arm. The Stidda and Sicilian Mafia are essentially competitors, and Stidda boss Calogero Lauria was killed by dynamite, supposedly by the Mafia. A mafia that was formed by enemies of La Cosa Nostra. Theses Italians are trying to overrun the LCN and declare themselves the new Italian mafia. They use the same structure and rules as the LCN. La Stidda is, out of five, the most recent organization known in Italy. La Stidda, or The Star, has its home on Sicily. The first man to speak about it and gave its birth to the media was Francisco Marino Mannoia in 1989 and later in 1992 Leonardo Messina, both members of La Cosa Nostra. Both claimed that La Stidda was formed out of former LCN members. These members where outcasted or they had left LCN, bacause they did not want to follow orders by the dictator Toto Riina, the last capo di tutti capi . (not any more, since he is in jail and the Coleonesi has reduced in power, the Cupola is gone at this point and there is no one big leader anymore. ed) La Stidda is not a tight organization like LCN. There are many clans who operate alone, and others who work together. What they have in common are the rules, rituels and a tattoo on their hands. There are other gangs on Sicily, who operate with drugs, but none of them are greater than La Stidda. Messina was a soldier for LCN boss Giuseppe Piddu Madonia from Gela. Gela is also the heart of La Stidda. Piddu had always problems with them and sometimes it would get nasty. Three Stidda clans always made it hard for thim. Iocolano, Carbonara-Dominate and Riggio. These are very bloodthirsty clans, who murderd more than a hunderd people and gained more power and wealth. One of the first encounters between LCN and La Stidda was the LCN clan Sambita with the seven Ribisi brothers and the Stidda clan formed out of Domenico Pace, Paolo Amico and Gaetano Puzzangaro in Palma, who won their first round. There is much confusion going on. There are Stidda clans who operate with their LCN counterparts and there are Stidda clans who have troubles with LCN clans. Some Stidda members dont even know wich clan they belong to themselfs. In this way its has become very hard for the goverment to fight La Stidda. Sometimes the arrest members and at that point they dont care if they are LCN or Stidda members. They will figure out on a later date. As long they dont fight on the streets. These little wars are still going on today, but I dont think they ever be greater than LCN. In fact, nobody can top these guys in whole Italy, but they cause problems never the less. Recently I posted a story on La Stidda, who where hiding in Sardenia. (use the search to find it, ed). Members are known as Stiddari or Stiddaroli. Their power base lies in the Agrigento province, but also in Milano, Genova and Torino in the North. They have no clans outside Italy, maybe connections, but very few. They have a ritual initiation, but without a burning of a Saint. Wich strikes me most, and never understand, is the fact that members have a tattoo on their right hands. It is a sort of spider webb, a dott in the middle, with five lines connected in a cirlcle. These lines are the five points of gangsterism. Why dont get a tattoo saying youre a mobster? Seems to me they want to be a very tight organization, but so far no dice. In 1991 a Stidda member from the Cavallo-lanni clan, introduced himself to some else in Milano and said something like you must recognize to me-like member of this organization, within and outside this country. Well, they are hard to miss. The Family Capo Crimini/capo de tutti capi (super boss/bosses of bosses) Consigliere (advisor/family counselor) Capo Bastone (underboss, 2nd in command) Contabile (financial advisor) Caporegime or Capodecima (lieutenant, typically heads a faction of 10 or more soldiers comprising a "crew") Sgarrista (a foot soldier who carries out day to day business of the family. A "made" member of the mafia) Piciotto (lower-ranking soldiers; enforcers. Also known in the streets as the "button man") Giovane D'Honore (Mafia associate, typically a non-Sicilian or non-Italian member)
Irish Mafia An organized crime syndicate consisting of Irish criminals. Like any mafia, they run most of the illegal dealings in their neighborhoods. The Irish arrived in America over 40 years before the Italians and were the first wave of nonProtestant immigrants to arrive on it's shores. Waiting for these immigrants in the 1840's, who were fleeing famine and British occupation in their homeland, were the same WASP prejudices they had left behind them. They fought their way out of the ghetto through organised gangs such as the Dead Rabbits, Plug Uglies and The Molly Maguires and put in place a structure that saw American politics, law enforcment and gangsterism work hand in hand- a structure that has stood the test of time over 150 years since it was first put in place. It wasn't only America that these immigrants fled to. Waiting for them in Scotland, England, Canada and Australia was the the same religious prejudice they experienced from the occupying British in their own country. The British had already put in place a political structure in this Empire that denied the Irish in particular jobs and political influence- but this was about to change! It would have to be met head on. It proved to be bloody with violent gangs or the Mob as they became known, at the forefront of this dispute. What emerged was a new system. These gang leaders became political leaders and carried the huge Irish vote. The Nativist WASP gangs were down and out and the Irish emerged victorious. What was to follow, particularly in the US, was the birth of the Mob. The Irish now had a stranglehold in politics and along with the Irish dominated police force and criminal gangs, America's major cities saw the emergence of characters such as Old Smoke Morrissey, King Mike McDonald, Owney Madden, Legs Diamond and Dean O'Bannion. As T.J. English observes in his book Paddy Whacked: The Irish had a taste for politics that came from a culture based on social gatherings at the local pub and parish. The Irish understood the craft of giving and receiving favors. It was perfect and the same corrupt way of doing business with the politician, the policeman and the gangster all seated around the one table has lasted to this very day. This is the true face of The Irish Mob. No other ethnic group has ever infultrated the whole American system like the Irish have and probably never will. Irish Mafia Rankings When you reach the ranking of Personal thug you will have your choice of a boss from whom you will receive your missions. The type of boss you choose depicts the type of work, and Rank you get in the Irish Mafia (You may always perform the other types of jobs, You are never strictly limited to that type). It is more of a web of Ranks. There are alternate types of Kingpins you can be, which are the highest ranks acheivable in the Irish Mafia. Work with a local contact (Having to do with keeping rival gangs businesses down, and the Irish Mafias on the rise. Leads to "Mafia Kingpin") Example mission: Intercept Delivery truck heading for a Gourmet Japanese food Restaurant. Try to obtain him as an Informant.....if not he must at least disapear. Work for a local group (Having to do with drug, and gun dealing, etc....anything distributed, maybe even a car dealership...be creative. Leads to "Distribution Kingpin") Example Mission: Take these units of Heroin, 10 guys, and a couple vans to the Columbian Cartels Shipping yard. The deal is 70k. Make sure the deal goes sweet.....bring the money to me at the Casino, we'll divide it there. Work for one of the known families (Having to do with assasinations, bombings, etc.....again be creative. Leads to Mafia Hitman.) 1. The following are considered Rank 1: Piss Ant........Shit work, shit pay. (only available mission is "Lunch box in the Ice box")You'll only have to do it once.(Innitiation) Muscle.........Pull some jobs scaring local drug dealers, or any other pety things need doing. (through local contact) Hired Gun.....Begin pulling the trigger for the Irish Mafia...better pay. (through local group) (Once past this rank you are considered a solid member of the Irish Mafia. The sky is the limit.) 2. Body Guard......You are actually in the presence of Kingpins, and maybe even the the boss himself The Irish Gun. You are trusted, and receive very good pay. -If you are unarmed you may take one pistol, or fully automatic gun from "Public Stash". This offer only stands if you are unarmed. Any ranking above this may do the same. - You may take up to 2 thugs with you at all times. Try not to get them
killed...if they die, try to come back with cash atleast. All ranks above this may do the same. 3. Personal thug.....Begin doing missions directly from a single person, or npc boss of your choice.(This will determine what you become, and what type of missions you get in the Irish Mafia.) -If you go to prison it is a high priority to get you out. "Go to" Guy........You will receive a couple intricate, high paying missions on this stage before ascending to right hand man. 4. Right Hand Man.....You will be given many jobs, and will remain at this stage for a while. Once you are deemed worthy you will be issued one very hard......very high paying mission......upon completion you will be a Kingpin. -You an take up to 4 Irish thugs with you on any job. Jobs issued to you may require specific quantities of thugs, in that case you will probably get more. 5. Kingpin (Keep in mind there are alternate types of Kingpins).......you are trusted to the upmost, and greatly respected by most of those in the Mafia. You also get alot of perks. -You may distribute missions (determined by who you chose to work for as a Personal Thug) relating to your new specialty. Example: You became a Distribution Kingpin. You chose to go into the car dealing business. A dealership will be purchased (It will become a thread from which you may give missions out to potentials) and you may begin your life as a kingpin. -You may take up to 20 men with you if it is reasonable....ask your contact personally and he may allow you to take as many as you need. -You may use any of the Gangs cars at any time. -If you go to prison it is TOP priority to get you out. CURRENT TYPES OF KINGPINS Distribution Kingpin Example set-up: A car dealership....hand out missions having to do with stealing cars, stripping cars, etc.....be creative. Mafia Kingpin Example set-up:An office in Downtown where you give out missions which keep rival businesses struggling, and Irish business on the rise. Deliver missions like intercepting cargos, etc....be creative. Mafia Hitman, still a Kingpin Example set-up: A mansion where you reside until you are called to make someone disapear. You may also deliver missions such as assasinations....bombings....torture sessions...etc...be creative. You are never limited by the type of Kingpin you are. You may still hand out, and perform missions of other natures.
"Life is a play and we all play a part: The lover, the dreamer, the clown..." -- Laugh, Clown, Laugh Leprechauns, it is said, are a dichotomy. Charming imps; they are jokesters of tremendous levity; they are elusive; if nabbed by a mortal they yield to him or her their private pot of gold. But, folklore warns, dont ever -- ever! -- get on ones cross side, for an opened Pandoras Box awaits you if you do. This Jekyll/Hyde nature might well describe one of Irelands own lusty sons, born near Chicago, but bearing, nevertheless, all the impulsiveness of a leprechaun. Behind his Celtic blue eyes, his ruddily scrubbed-clean cheeks, his who-gives-a-damn grin and a rich Irish tenor singing voice, a killer lurked. Those who first met Dion OBanion in his flower shop or on the streets of his Near North Side stomping grounds found an amiable, good-natured young gentleman who would doff his hat to ladies and slap men on the back with a cheery, "Nice to meet ya, swell fellow!" (He habitually called strangers "swell fellows".) He would give to the poor without pause, he attended church on Sundays, abhorred prostitution and never hesitated to roll up his shirtsleeves to help where help was needed among his neighborhood. He never drank, even though he peddled the best beer in town. But, like the fabled leprechaun, a savage within him would manifest when tickled. In his interesting review of the 1920s, Only Yesterday, historian Frederick Lewis Allen summarizes OBanion: "...a bootlegger and gangster by night, a florist by day; a strange and complex character, a connoisseur of orchids and of manslaughter." Chicagos Chief of Police in the 1920s, Morgan A. Collins, attributes at least 25 gangland-related murders to Dion OBanion (although he never formally listed them.) His figure is probably not overstretched. Having learned at an early age that violence works best to get what you want, OBanion controlled the richest and most politically smart powerhouse wards in the city, and he managed to hold onto them despite the envy and lust of two men who usually got everything they went after, Johnny Torrio and Al Capone. Even in leisure, OBanion wore three guns -- .32 calibers -- on his person. He had his suits especially made with three hideaway pockets to conceal his armament. If he and "the lads," his crew, went out nights in their tuxedos (he believed in fashion and in presenting a prosperous image), all chambers were fully loaded. There is a theory sustained by some that, since he started out life as an altar boy without an apparent evil side, his "bad side" came out roaring after a youthful accident left him limping and embittered. But, if there was disdain there, he never showed it. He kidded constantly, loved a practical joke, and kept the city in stitches by his playful antics. To newspapermen, he was the ultimate in colorful press. Once, when questioned by a reporter about his gangs dubious activities, OBanion insisted in his ever-rhythmic Irish verse that, "Were just a couple of businessmen without the high hats." According to William Schofield, his legitimate partner in the floristry, OBanion never exhibited a tinge of ill humor with his customers nor in any of the business dealings. He sang while he worked, teased and wore a smile around the clock. Viola, his wife, said his favorite evening past-times were reading classic novels and playing the Victrola; he never angered; he was the epitome of the devoted husband. While these and many other testimonies differ far-range from his image as a gangster, and while they obviously defy policeman Collins statement that he was a killer, all their views -- good and bad -- are probably unbiased and accurate. By all evidence, Dion OBanion was a man of many faces, at least two overarching personalities: the saint and the sinner. Dion O'Banion was the model by which Warner Brothers so-many-times afterward used to create their cinema gangsters, the screaming reality of a James Cagney portrayal. A leprechaun with a pot and heart of gold -- and with a machine gun.
Jewish Mafia Organized crime in America was born of the amalgamation of the two most powerful ethnic crime groups in the underworld of the early 1930s - the Italian mafiosi and the Jewish gangsters. The prime architect of the so-called Jewish or Kosher Mafia, as some journalist referred to it, was Meyer Lansky, who judiciously pulled the strings that brought many powerful Jewish gangsters around the country under the umbrella of the emerging national crime syndicate. Lansky worked closely with Lucky Luciano and aided him in his fight against the old-line mafiosi then under the competing leaderships of Joe "the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano. These old-world Sicilians, especially Masseria, hated gangsters of other ethnic derivation, cooperated with them only when absolutely necessary and looked forward to the day they could get rid of them. Luciano and Lansky realized there was no room in the underworld for such counter-productive bigotry, and they plotted to get rid of both Masseria and Maranzano. After a bloody war and much intrigue that ended in 1931, both Masseria and Maranzano had been eradicated. Now it became necessary for Lansky and Luciano to "sell" their program of "brotherhood" to their Jewish and Italian followers. Lansky set about the task of uniting the Jewish gangs across the country. His missionary work brought in the Purple Gang from Detroit and the Moe Dalitz forces operating in Cleveland. He followed this up with a momentous convention of East Coast forces at the Franconia Hotel in New York City on November 11, 1931. Those attending included Bugsy Siegel, a longtime partner of Lansky and Luciano; Louis "Lepke" Buchalter; Joseph "Doc" Stacher; Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro; Hyman "Curly" Holtz; Louis "Shadows" Kravits; Harry Tietlebaum; Philip "Little Farvel" Kovalick; and Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg. Lansky explained to the participants that Luciano had successfully united the Italian mafiosi, and that the Lansky-Luciano "combination" or national crime syndicate was the wave of the future. All the participants agreed, and the Franconia conference established a firm platform: "The yids and dagos would no longer fight each other," the quotation attributed to the loquacious Siegel. Jewish gangsters who were thought to be constitutionally unsuited to the new "interfaith" combination of shared spoils with other ethnics, such as the "unsuited" Waxey Gordon, bootleg king of Philadelphia, were eliminated. The combination did this by continuing its business dealings with Gordon and then feeding information to Internal Revenue so that he could be put away on income tax charges. He was then replaced by the far more compliant Nig Rosen and Boo Boo Hoff. The fact that some in attendance at the Franconia meeting - Big Greenie and Bugsy Siegel - were eventually murdered did not alter the interfaith feelings of the combination. Bugsy might well have appreciated the fact that his murder was approved by a combined vote of, to use his words, "yids and dagos." Jack Dragna, the late boss of the Los Angeles Mafia, gave a fairly succinct description of the Jewish Mafia to Jimmy Fratianno, the hit man who later turned informer: "Meyer's got a Jewish family built along the same lines as our thing. But his family's all over the country. He's got guys like Lou Rhody and Dalitz, Doc Stacher, Gus Greenbaum, sharp fucking guys, good businessmen, and they know better than try to fuck us." Only on the last statement was Dragna suffering a delusion - or perhaps he was trying to impress Fratianno. The fact is that whenever Lansky gave an order Dragna jumped. Meyer "The Brain" Lansky (1902-1983) National Crime Syndicate Founder There was a godfather of the national crime syndicate, the parent organization of what became the American Mafia - and thus a real godfather of the American Mafia. He was called with total respect the "little man," and Lucky Luciano's advice to his followers was always "listen to him." He himself would brag with typical quiet elation: "We're bigger than U.S. Steel." And an agent of the FBI would say of him with grudging admiration: "He would have been chairman of the board of General Motors if he'd gone into legitimate business."
He was Maier Suchowljansky, better known as Meyer Lansky, a Jew from Grodno, Poland. While many mafiosi speak of "our thing" which excludes all but Italians, it is a matter of record that none of the top mafiosi ever excluded Meyer Lansky from anything. Only among the lower-rung levels of the Mafia was there any belief that Lansky, because he was not Italian, was just a money man to be respected and trusted, one who lacked real power to "vote" in the top councils. Lansky truly had the first and last word in organized crime. When the Big Six dominated the syndicate in the 1940s and 1950s, Lansky voted and all the others followed. Greasy Tumb Guzik from Chicago thought Lansky the genius of the age. Tony Accardo marveled at the money Lansky brought in. Longy Zwillman, head of the New Jersey rackets, followed Lansky's lead at all times. Ditto Frank Costello, who was Lansky's partner in New Orleans, Las Vegas and elsewhere. And Joey Adonis was under strict orders from the deported Lucky Luciano to "listen to Meyer." The voting usually went six-zip Lansky. Everybody listened to Meyer because it paid. If they listened well, he might, for instance, give them a slice of the preCastro Cuban action. Lansky cut in Chicago, Detroit, New Jersey, New York. Then the Trafficantes of Tampa tried to go in big on their own in Cuba, Lansky used his Batista connection to squash the move. Then he gave them a slice, smaller than what many other mafiosi got. That was Lansky's way. Jack Dragna, the Los Angeles Mafia boss, once tried to use muscle on Lansky to get a piece in Las Vegas. Lansky talked him in circles, got him up on tiptoes, and then not only didn't kiss him but gave him nothing. It was Lansky's way. Despite a rash of publicity during the last decade of his life, Lansky remained the most shadowy of the organized crime leaders. Although Luciano technically held the title, Lansky was regarded as equal and perhaps superior to Luciano as the godfather of organize crime as it emerged in the 1930s. Together, they were the successors of the warring Prohibition gangs as well as of the old-line Mafia, headed by the so-called Mustache Petes (particularly, Joe the Boss Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano. And the Mafia as it exists today, owes as much to the Jewish Lansky as to the Sicilian Lansky for its shape and prosperity. They were the perfect match: the well-read, even studious Lansky, who could survey all the angles of a given situation, and the less-than-erudite Luciano (he could make out the New York Daily News or Daily Mirror but he freely admitted the New York Times threw him), who made up for his limitations with a brilliant flair for organization and the brutal character to set any plan in motion. Throughout the years Lansky built an image of being alien to violence, but it was a myth. In the 1920s he and Bugsy Siegel organized the Bug and Meyer gang, which some described as the most violent of the Prohibition mobs in the East. They worked alternately as liquor hijackers and protectors of booze shipments for bootleggers willing to meet their prices, which were so exorbitant that it amounted to extortion. Bug and Meyer muscle was also available for "slammings" and rubouts for a fee and was the forerunner of Murder, Inc., the enforcement troop of the national syndicate. Many Bug and Meyer graduates, in fact, moved into Murder, Inc., in the 1930s; Lansky had as much to do with the forming of that outfit as anyone. He proposed the enforcers be put under the command of a triumvirate composed of Louis Lepke, Albert Anastasia and Bugsy Siegel. Other leaders of the emerging national crime syndicate objected to the kill-happy Siegel, feeling he would be too loyal to Lansky and would give Lansky too powerful a hold on the apparatus of the extermination crew should the confederation fall apart in a war of extermination. Lansky agreed to drop Siegel from the murder troop, but his influence was not dented. Both Luciano and Lansky independently said that they had planned the formation of a new syndicate as early as 1920, when Luciano was in his early 20s and Lansky was only 18. They were greatly influenced in this by the older Arnold Rothstein, the great gambler, criminal "brain" and mentor who, acting on his own plan for a national syndicate, nurtured Lansky's and Luciano's development. Rothstein's murder in 1928 shortened what the pair may have considered too long an apprenticeship. Lansky and Luciano together survived the crime wars of the 1920s by cunning alliances, eliminating one foe after another, even though they lacked the manpower and firepower of other gangs. When they effected the assassinations first of Masseria and the Maranzano, they stood at the pinnacle of power in the underworld. Even Al Capone realized they were more powerful than he. In remarks attributed to Luciano, he once explained, "I learned a long time before that Meyer Lansky understood the Italian brain almost better than I did. . . . I used to tell Lansky that he may've had a Jewish mother, but someplace he must've been wetnursed by a Sicilian." Luciano often said Lansky "could look around corners," or anticipate what would happen next in underworld intrigues, and that "the barrel of his gun was curved," meaning he knew how to keep himself out of the line of fire. Through the years that was Lansky's way. Lansky never begrudged Luciano his top role, realizing that the title brought the clear dangers of notoriety and, no matter how many payoffs were made, the hazard of being the target of the law. It was also necessary to sell Luciano as the top man in order to win the support of the Italian mobsters. Lansky had fewer difficulties selling Jewish mobsters like Zwillman or Moe Dalitz, or even the often unpredictable Dutch Schultz, on the value of syndication; they understood the profits involved. The Italian mafiosi were different, many cut adrift by the war of survival that had just been concluded. Lansky told Luciano: "A lot of these guys need something to believe in." He urged Luciano to keep some of the old-style Mafia trappings used by the Mustache Petes. Luciano had no patience for the nonsense of "made men" and blood oaths but agreed to let those who wanted such rituals have them. He did eliminate the position of "boss of bosses" - and immediately, as Lansky anticipated, gained that position de facto. At Lansky's suggestion the organization took the name of Unione Siciliano, a corruption in spelling of the old fraternal organization. Eventually Luciano just called it the "outfit" of the "combination." Luciano imbued in his men that all the traditions really meant little, that the important thing was money-making. (In time, though, Luciano saw the merits of the structure of the Italian wing; it gave him a power base and cemented that power. Even when imprisoned for a decade, his support never eroded and he could issue orders and have his revenues set aside for him.)
As late as 1951, when his name surfaced during the investigation of bookmaking czar Grank Erickson, the New York Times, with one of the most reliable news libraries in the world, did not know exactly who Meyer Lansky was. The newspaper identified him as "Meyer (Socks) Lansky," evidently mistaking him for Joseph (Socks) Lanza, the waterfront racketeer. During the Kefauver investigation (1950-1951) into crime, Lansky was considered so unimportant that he was not even called as a witness to testify. The committee did not even mention him in its first two interim reports. Only in the final report did the investigators correct their oversight and announce: "Evidence of the Costello-Adonis-Lansky operations was found in New York City, Saratoga, Bergen County, N.J., New Orleans, Miami, Las Vegas, the west coast, and Havana, Cuba." Lansky was revealed as "the brains of the combination." The "little man" became acknowledged as the one who held together Luciano's crime empire while he was behind bars. Lansky was the money man trusted to hide or invest millions for the syndicate, and he saw to it that Luciano got his share of the profits even after he was deported to Italy. It was Lansky who opened up what was for a time the syndicate's greatest source of income, gambling in Havana. He alone handled negotiations with dictator Fulgencio Batista for a complete monopoly of gambling in Cuba. Lansky was said to have personally deposited $3 million in a Zurich, Switzerland, bank for Batista and arranged to pay the ruling military junta, namely Batista, 50 percent of the profits thereafter. In the rise and fall of underworld fortunes, Lansky was immune to replacement because he was too valuable to lose. Thus, he could agree with Vito Genovese that Albert Anastasia should die and then later he could take part in a fantastic conspiracy that delivered Genovese himself to the feds. Despite this duplicity, Lansky faced no retribution. Lansky's arrest record over the years was bush-league stuff and it was not until 1970 that the federal government made a concerted effort to get him on income tax charges. Lansky had skimmed untold millions out of Las Vegas casinos which the syndicate secretly owned. The government also sought to deport him as an undesirable alien. In 1970, Lansky fled to Israel where so many of his Jewish underworld associates had retired. Lansky claimed Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, which accorded citizenship to anyone born of a Jewish mother. Lansky poured millions of dollars into the country to win public support, but he proved an embarrassment to the Israeli government. Law enforcement officials warned that Lansky was not retiring from organized crime but would use Israel as a base of operations. After a long battle in the courts and bitter debate by the public, Lansky was forced to leave Israel in 1972. In 1973, after undergoing open-heart surgery, Lansky was put on trial in Miami on the income tax charges that had worked so well against many crime bigwigs since Al Capone. It was a disaster for the government; Lansky was acquitted. In December 1974, the federal government gave up its efforts to put the then 72-year-old organized crime legend behind bars. Lansky maintained his position in the syndicate right to the very end. In the early 1970s his personal wealth was estimated at around $300 million and by 1980 it must have grown to at least $400 million. Some profilers have tried to explain Lansky's continuing to make money as an indication of his inner need for power and the ability to exercise it. They tend to overlook the more simple explanation: Lansky felt a man could never have too much. His drive was always more. However, in 1991 a British writer, Robert Lacey, published Little Man in which he insisted Lansky died hard up. The theory gained few supporters. A New York Times reviewer found the book "banal" and dismissed Lacey's claim that criminal investigators never pinned anything substantial on Lansky. "But such evidence proves exactly the opposite point, argue those who insist Meyer Lansky was a criminal mastermind who left behind a cast secret fortune. No one ever laid a finger on Lansky precisely because he left no fingerprints anywhere. The more you argue there was no fortune, the more you prove there has to have been," continued the article. Similarly, Lacey's theory would mean that Lansky, who had shown such men as Huey Long and Fulgencio Batista of Cuba the joys of foreign numbered accounts, neglected to set up anything for himself out of the millions he admittedly accumulated. Lansky had created organized crime in its syndicate form, but he was never interested in creating any dynasty. His children and wife were kept totally away from mob business. And he looked for no successor. In that sense Lansky was the quintessential Jewish-American mobster. They either stayed until they died or else they sold out their positions in the rackets and went into retirement. Meyer Lansky had outlived Lucky Luciano by 20 years but, in the end, Luciano's handiwork in the national crime syndicate - the American Mafia - was the portion that survived, simply because it was a structure, an apparatus that needed running, that automatically filled all vacancies because it remained a money-making machine. Yet Lansky in large measure created the American Mafia and was its real godfather.
Russian Mafiya (Russian Organized Crime) The most violent of all the mafias. They may be smaller than their Italian counter-parts, but their soldiers are loyal to the core and cold-blooded to their enemies. Introduction The Russian Mafia is otherwise known as "Russian Organized Crime" or "ROC". Very little is known in the way of gangsters by the way, they are extremely secretive in their operations. Russian organized crime has become a significant problem for US Law Enforcement Agencies. During the past several years, some Russian emigres have established a growing number of loosely structured criminal networks in this state that are involved in sophisticated criminal activities. The law enforcement intelligence community has also become aware of at least four structured Russian criminal organizations operating in Louisiana. Russian organized crime includes crime groups from all the republics which comprised the former Soviet Union. These crime groups are operating in many of the major cities in the US including New Orleans, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and San Diego. Russian crime figures have been identified in cases involving extortion, prostitution, insurance and medical fraud, auto theft, counterfeiting, credit card forgery, narcotics trafficking, fuel tax fraud, money laundering, and murder. Russian organized crime networks are also operating in New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Many of the Louisiana-based networks communicate and, in many cases, are connected with these out-of-state groups in their criminal activities. Organized Crime in the Former Soviet Union Many Russian organized crime groups in the United States have ties to organized crime groups in Russia. A report on organized crime presented to President Boris Yeltsin by Russia's Analytical Center for Social and Economic Policies, stated "The growth of organized crime threatens the political and economic development of Russia and creates conditions that could help bring the national socialists to power." An estimated 80 percent of the private enterprises and commercial banks in Russia's major cities are forced to pay a tribute of 10 to 20 percent of their profits to organized crime. On April 21, 1994, during a Senate hearing, CIA Director R. James Woolsey said, "Organized crime is so rampant in Russia that it threatens Boris Yeltsin's presidency and raises concern that syndicates will obtain and smuggle Russian nuclear weapons to terrorists or foreign agents." Wooisey revealed that organized crime syndicates from Russia, Asia, and Africa are forming alliances with traditional Italian and Latin American organizations, creating a formidable threat to international peace and stability. In recognition of this threat, the FBI recently established a Moscow office that will focus on Russian organized crime encroachment into the United States along with the potentially disastrous threat of trafficking in nuclear weapons. U.S. Aftorney General Janet Reno has named Russian organized crime groups in the United States a priority target for the U.S. Department of Justice. Law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S. now consider Russian organized crime a major threat and are developing strategies and forming task forces to counter that threat. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the demise of the Communist Party, many more gangs have formed that compete with one another for control of illegal markets and the territories for protection rackets. They began using violence extensively in that competition and against uncooperative legitimate entrepreneurs in early 1992. In Moscow and other major cities murders have increased substantially (many of them associated with gangland-style shoot-outs), as have crimes such as burglary, mugging, car theft, and robbery. Russian authorities have provided various estimates of the number of crime groups now operating in Russia, ranging from 2,600, of which 300 are "large syndicates, up to 3,000, of which 150 have become "well-organized fraternities".
Nine or ten large gangs from other regions of Russia operate in Moscow. Banking and finance are especially targeted by the mafia in postcommunist Russia. Between December 1992 and August 1993, there were eleven violent attacks against bankers, some of which were fatal. One reason for blackmailing and threatening bankers is to gain access to their books to determine which enterprises to target and how much to extort. In Yekaterinburg an investment broker whose business and influence had police think, grown to the point where it was threatening the local mafia was gunned down in September 1992, the fourth such murder in six months. Five gangs, at least one headed by a respected person in the community, are believed to be involved in export-import operations, banking and finance, and construction, as well as the Uralmash machine-producing complex. A Yekaterinburg Internal Affairs spokesman is quoted as saying, "No honest businessman can do anything in this city unless he pays unofficial taxes to crime groups, who in turn control many of our officials through bribes" He believes that "corruption has already penetrated some of the highest levels of the Government and security forces". The Uralmash mafia, named after the state enterprise where it originated, is especially interesting it was active in black markets in the days of the Soviet Union, selling goods and materials from Uralmash plants in return for needed supplies. With the state enterprise in financial difficulty in 1991, Handelman reports that, according to the police, the group "virtually moved inside the factory door." It "set up subsidiaries to purchase directly from the factory's assembly line, took over the factory's former Soviet-style youth club and established [its] own soccer team, restaurant, sportswear outlet and, reputedly, brokerage house". Handelman presents no information on what, if anything, this group is now doing that is illegal; this story thus illustrates the problem of sorting out the legitimate from the criminal. The brothers who ran the Soviet-era underground operation have, it would seem, brought their business aboveground and made it legitimate; if they must still proffer bribes to local officials, are they mafia or are the police overeager to so identify them? One mafia source in Moscow provided writer Andrew Solomon with a description suggesting that Russia's gangs are developing the characteristics of classic mafia families - recruiting members and helping them with law enforcement problems. The source claimed that more and more young people are interested in joining the mafia. "When I get in trouble he said, "the family helps; I was in prison in Finland, and they got me out". Another kind of story about the Russian mafias is the direction of violence by the state agencies themselves. According to Handelman, "assumptions are widespread that the crime groups are not only protected, but also in some cases instructed by Government officials and the police". A government report prepared for President Boris Yeltsin noted that police officers tip off gangs about vehicles carrying valuable cargo in the city of Tver. The same report noted that 70 to 80 percent of private businesses and commercial banks in major cities make payoffs of 10 to 20 percent of their turnover to organized crime. Today major illegal activity involves selling or trading raw materials (including oil) at below-market prices. The raw materials are then sold in the West at market prices, and the difference is pocketed by the individuals, sometimes by deposit in a foreign bank account. The security ministry (formerly the KGB) is evidently involved in some export businesses, and other companies involved have been "set up by the Communist Party to get funds out of the country". A commodity trading firm based in Switzerland, headed by Marc Rich, was trading grain, sugar, alumina, and machinery to Russia in exchange for oil and refined aluminum ingot, making profits by "skinning" the Russians. "Has Rich bribed influential pals and bureaucrats in the former Soviet Union?" Forbes asked. "Probably". The Mafia Phenomenon in the Soviet Union Two of the three conditions historically related to the development and growth of mafias -- excessive bureaucratic power and illegal markets -- were characteristic of the Soviet Union before its breakup at the end of 1991. The literature on the underground economy in the Soviet Union paints the following picture. A substantial underground economy - "off the books" of the state-owned enterprises-operating within and in association with the legal or planned economy. This was in addition to legal private enterprise, such as the private agricultural plot. Bribery and extortion as systematic features of economic transactions throughout the economy. From retail outlets to large manufacturing enterprises to medical care and education, bribery was standard in state-operated enterprises and private businesses, both for private gain and to achieve the goals of state enterprises. Monitoring and control by the Communist Party and other bureaucrats of all aspects of economic activity at all levels of the economy. Knowledge by those in positions of authority of the underground economy and the bribery and extortion. Selective enforcement of the variety of laws, rules, and regulations governing conduct and selective use of other powers (for example, the approval of job assignments) enabled the authorities to control or manipulate underground economic activity for their own political purposes. Boettke and Gary Anderson (1992) interpret the Soviet economic system as a form of mercantilism - "an economy where the central government sells strategic rent-generating positions within the economy for the purpose of raising revenue". The function of the central plan was, they propose, "to protect the value of mercantilism monopoly rights" and was thus an important device for monitoring competition within and among cartels. The controlling organization was the Communist Party, which determined important appointments and supervised enterprises. Loyalty was rewarded, but rewards - especially the nonmonetary rewards of access to better housing, medical care, food, recreation, and so forth - could be withdrawn if an individual fell out of favor with the party. Economists Hillman and Schnytzer (1986) apply the concept of rent seeking to the information provided by Simis, Grossman, and others, noting that "the evidence reveals that the illegal economy is not marginal to the official and officially-sanctioned systems". They consider rent seeking an alternative to and better analytic framework than Grossman's kleptocracy. They note that the rents received by officials in the hierarchy were not capitalizedloss of a job meant not only loss of income, legal and illegal, but also loss of special privileges. They suggest that this situation leads to an economic theory of the purge.
Purges undertaken from above are rent protecting, eliminating competition from below; purges undertaken from lower levels are part of the process of competing for rents. Like Boettke and Anderson, they find vested interests a substantial problem for reform. "To the extent that a centrally-planned economy generates rents . . . it is rational for individuals to engage in rent-seeking and, consequently, rent-protecting activity The uncertainties of the market remain, while the bureaucratization of society and the illegality of most market operations give rise to a plethora of rents". In the Gorbachev era (1985-1991) two pieces of legislation, the Law on Individual Labor Activity, which went into effect in May 1987, and the Law on Cooperatives of 1988, significantly affected the underground economy. These laws legalized private business (albeit with a variety of restrictions), by January 1, 1990, about 200,000 cooperatives were in operation. Some of the cooperatives were former underground enterprises that became legal; others, according to Jones and Moskoff's book on the cooperatives of the Gorbachev era, were fronts for racketeers. Some were spontaneous new business ventures; some were created by local governments; but the largest number were created within state-owned enterprises, often by the managers. Like their underground predecessors and the state-owned enterprises, they had supply problems and used venous illegal sources and methods of supply. They also found bribery essential to survival; for example, bribes were necessary to obtain office space in Moscow. In summary, "there were crimes committed by cooperators themselves, crimes perpetrated against the cooperatives, and wholesale extortion committed from top to bottom in the state government". The cooperatives came under attack for high prices (open on goods diverted from the state sector) and, in general, their profit orientation, which conflicted with the socialist mentality. The government regularly changed the rules - on licenses, lines of business, prices, hiring, taxation - for cooperatives and brought a variety of law enforcement actions against them, at the same time failing to protect the cooperatives from criminal activity, especially protection rackets Cooperatives responded by paying protection (75 percent of the cooperatives in Moscow and 90 percent of those in Leningrad made protection payments) and establishing their own protection services. Jones and Moskoff also state that violence against cooperatives during the Gorbachev era was "occasional," but threats may have been more common. In the words of former Yekaterinburg police official Yuri Mizum, "When cooperatives were permitted in the mid-80's . . . authorities saw no need to provide them with any special protection. We were all taught to regard private property as somehow illegitimate anyway. The police stayed away from these businesses like the plague and offered them no help, so of course when they were threatened by black marketeers, they had no alternative but to go along. Now, it's too late". Under the cooperative legislation many new banks were also created. Although some were independent, some of them were created by associations of cooperatives and made loans to their owners, thus providing the funds the state-owned banks were unwilling to lend. Another group was created by state-owned enterprises (often with partial ownership by government ministries) and made loans to state-owned enterprises. The accounts of the mafia in Russia are not nearly as detailed as the information that has been gathered over the years about the American and Sicilian mafias by journalists, through court records and the publication of wiretaps, and through testimony before legislative committees. Nevertheless, a fairly clear picture of the current situation is beginning to emerge. With the failed coup of August 1991 and the demise of the Communist Party, neither local officials nor those in central government agencies now seem to be constrained in their corrupt activities by any high-level authority. Viktor Shchekochikhin, the president of the Union of Russian Entrepreneurs, puts it this way: "Before, officials took money in a more or less orderly way, because they knew that people could continue to come back to them. They behaved properly, if one can say that. With the arrival of the democrats came temporaries, who know that in the next elections they will be thrown out. They have to assure their future now". Government officials have thus become free to compete within their own spheres of authority using their economic powers and their connections with criminal groups. Their economic influence is buttressed by the continued existence of monopoly production in many sectors of the economy, as well as state control of most output in the major industries (power, communications, transportation). This continuing legacy of the old Soviet economy ensures that connections will continue to be important in obtaining supplies and services. Criminal organizations are now willing to use violence. Some of these gangs are new; others existed before the breakup of the Soviet Union. Private protection agencies, often formed by or employing former KGB and army people, may do battle with criminal gangs or front for them. Some larger criminal organizations are absorbing smaller ones and taking their businesses. A small-time hood noted that his gang now supplies muscle for a larger group that controls his gang's old markets. It is widely believed that criminal gangs using violence may at times be operating under the direction and protection of government officials at central or local levels. The government's efforts to combat corruption, violence, and business fraud are severely hampered for several reasons. The law itself is unclear, incomplete, and sometimes internally as are property rights. More fundamental is the lack of consensus on what is legitimate, moral, and acceptable versus what is not and thus ought to be illegal and subject to criminal prosecution. The Soviet press vilified participants in the private underground economy and was used to attack cooperatives. Like the purges of the Soviet era, anticorruption efforts may be as much attacks on political opponents as genuine efforts to reform the system. The extent of corruption, and its acceptance and institutionalization as a reward to those loyal to, the communist regime in the Soviet era, makes it difficult to attack. The political forces who support an anticorruption campaign place their supporters as well as their opponents in jeopardy. Even legitimate law enforcement efforts against gang violence and protection rackets may affect the corrupt interests of government of finials.
An Early Stage of Capitalism? Some Russians and Americans hold the view that crime in Russia, especially organized crime, is simply an "early stage" of capitalism, implying that conditions in Russia today are like those in some earlier era in the United States, perhaps the era of the frontier West or that of the so-called robber barons. "Some Russians argue," Handelman says, "that a period of lawlessness is part of the price every society pays for radical economic change. Pointing to examples as disparate as the development of the American West and the transformation of Latin American economies, they suggest that without a certain amount of robber-baron-style entrepreneurship, the consumer goods in most Russian cities would disappear." "Russia right now is a bit like America west of Dodge City in the mid-1800s," according to George Melloan. "Today's corruption" writes Michael Scammell, a professor of Russian literature at Cornell, "seems to be characteristic of a period of profound change and upheaval, when Russian society is in the stage (to paraphrase Marx) of the primitive accumulation of capital." A Russian friend told Scammell that "the situation should be compared not with profit-making in today's America but with the rough-and-tumble of America of a century ago, and the new entrepreneurs should be compared with the robber barons of those days". But the Russian mafia phenomenon and other peculiarities of economic life in Russia have little similarity to conditions in the nineteenth-century United States or to any "early" stages of capitalism. Historical Perspective Joseph Berliner's study (1957) of management methods and factory operations in the USSR between 1938 and 1957 demonstrated that, even for factory managers whose goals were consistent with the incentive structure of the planned economy, "only by engaging in irregular practices can the manager run a successful enterprise". To meet plan targets (and receive bonuses and promotions) under conditions of continual shortages, the effective factory manager used influence (blat) for a variety of purposes. The factory position of tolkach developed to obtain "all manner of scarce commodities through a combination of influence and gifts". In return the factory manager or the tolkach provided supplies or services to others through various illegal methods, such as labeling good products as rejects. In the mid-1970s a number of studies demonstrated that the irregular economic activity in the USSR went beyond the pursuit of goals and rewards defined by the state. In a 1977 article, Gregory Grossman of the University of California at Berkeley describes the major forms of illegal economic activity in the Soviet Union. He drew on a variety of sources including extensive Soviet press reports and accounts of emigrants. Stealing from state enterprises including collective farms was practiced "by virtually everyone," providing extra income to employees and "an important, often indispensable, basis for the second economy". Grossman cites peasants stealing fodder, workers stealing tools and materials, physicians stealing medicines, drivers stealing gasoline, truck drivers diverting freight, and enterprise managers diverting goods either to the black market or into barter channels for needed supplies. In the Soviet economy shortages of consumer and producer goods provided the opportunity for additional income at all stages in the process of exchange. Goods arriving at retail stores were often set aside for preferred customers who paid extra, the extra funds - not entered on the books - going into the pockets of employees and management. Those who controlled the distribution of producer goods, housing, and consumer durables were often in a position to extract additional payments from consumers . Speculation in a variety of goods was another form of illegal economic activity. Illegal production was also a feature of the Soviet economy in construction gangs, household and automotive repair, tailoring, and other services. Some underground firms, often operating under the cover of state-owned enterprises, produced goods. These underground firms "are privately bought and sold at capitalized values that presumably reflect their expected profitability discounted for risk." Such activity had gone on since at least 1952. All this illegal market activity was accompanied by gifts or bribes to "highly placed authorities, ranging up to the ministerial level; local government chiefs; and, not least, provincial and possibly higher party secretaries and first secretaries". Reporting the sale of a variety of official positions for relatively large sums of money, Grossman finds that the process of bribery and graft was institutionalized. "Very probably there is a close organic connection between political administrative authority, on the one hand, and a highly developed world of illegal economic activity on the other. In sum the concept of kleptocracy . . . does not seem inapplicable". In Georgia, underground entrepreneurs were reported to have "significant control" over major party appointments in the republic. "Illegal private economic activities," Grossman concludes, "are a major and extremely widespread phenomenon that for a very large part of the population is, in one form or another, a regular, almost daily, experience". Grossman also notes that laundering illegally earned cash was a major problem, often accomplished by purchasing winning lottery tickets from the winner. Konstantin Simis was a Soviet defense attorney who had many clients involved in the underground economy. He considers bribery and corruption fundamental to the nature of the Soviet regime - "the most prominent characteristic hierarchy. . . unfettered either by the law or by public opinion". Those involved in the corruption include "secretaries and heads of departments within the district committees of the Communist Party, district-level KGB and militia commanders, the chairmen of district executive councils, their deputies and departments heads, as well as the heads of district inspectorates (the fire, public health, sanitation, and veterinary services) and, in districts not forming part of a large town or city, the district prosecutors". In general, "the entire senior staff of a district - from the Party secretary to the public prosecutor and the militia chief - provide protection for the very same directors of state farms and shops and chairmen of collective farms who are engaged in criminal activity (embezzlement, deception of customers and fraudulent stock-keeping) . . . any attempt to combat such organized crime is doomed to failure. Even when the criminal activities of a local mafia are reported to higher authority, there is as a rule no attempt to crack down on them, and the mafia then has a chance to round on those who tried to have their crimes exposed".
Simis's use of the term mafia, an early one in writing about the Soviet economic system, whether journalistic or academic, is consistent with conventional use - criminal activity protected by the authorities, against which the ordinary recourse of going to the police proves unproductive. Simis tells many stories about defending people involved in the underground economy in the Soviet Union, several of which involve people who reported criminal activity and corruption to the authorities and, as a result, were forced to leave town or were themselves prosecuted. Thus the extensive rules and regulations were selectively enforced to meet the objectives of those in power. As a junior Soviet official said, "The government knows exactly who is dealing in what - arrests are made only when there is some larger political reason". Simis's description of how underground business enterprises function in the absence of legally enforceable contracts resembles the privately adjudicated Law Merchant in Europe in the early Middle Ages, whereby a community of traders was able to ostracize those of unreliable reputation. Disputes in the Soviet underground economy were heard by arbitrators who had a reputation for fairness and impartiality. The parties to the dispute agreed to be bound by the results, with which they usually complied. Cheating and misrepresentation were dealt with by ostracism from a community that had some solidarity. Regional communities doing underground business were relatively small, and regions were linked; word of unreliability spread rapidly. In Georgia and Azerbaiijan there were, Simis reports, people murdered for "nonfulfillment of commercial obligations" but he knows of no such instances in the Baltic republics, Ukraine, or central Russia. Simis also reports that since the 1950s private enterprise has often been entered by buying an existing businesses operating within a stateowned enterprise. The purchaser acquired the right to the equipment and labor the previous owner had used "off the books," as well as the previous owner's connections within the state-owned enterprise and with outsiders. Sometimes even a private escrow arrangement was used. Simis describes a business that he claims is typical, one of whose principals he defended. The three brothers who owned the business, which produced leather products, made decisions jointly or by majority vote. The day-to-day managers were employees of the state-owned Moscow enterprise within which the business operated. The directors of the sateowned enterprise were paid by the brothers for useful connections, but they did not exercise control over the private enterprise activities. The twenty-eight co-defendants in the case, even those who had admitted guilt, gave little information about the main defendant or the violations of others - because the three brothers were committed to continuing their off-book salaries and paying their legal expenses provided they did not betray others or be "overly frank" with the authorities. The code here is similar to that of a mafia family. These three brothers maintained good contacts with ministry officials and bribed "people in laboratories or research institutes" to inflate raw material requirements and allowable waste for state production. Thus more would be left over for off-book production. Relations with other factories producing related inputs were good. In time the output of this privately owned business became large enough to establish a traveling sales force selling to sixty- four regions and towns. (The brothers falsified or counterfeited the bills of lading required for transporting the goods.) Aron Katsenelinboigen (a Soviet emigrant) and Herbert Levine categorize the various market relationships in the Soviet economy and describe practices such as bribery and obtaining cash through paying phantom employees. Two articles by Gerald Mars and Yochanan Altman, case studies of firms in the underground economy of Soviet Georgia, describe in detail how supplies are obtained for production, how goods are transported, bookkeeping and documentation problems, and bribery. A paper by Peter Boettke and Gary M. Anderson provides an overview of legal and illegal private economic activity in the Soviet Union and recounts a variety of instances of bribe taking and the sale of important positions, concluding that they are "not isolated cases, but endemic to the Soviet system. Moreover, positions of political authority or influence allow for the holders to extract rents from individuals throughout the economy . . . Protection from legal sanction and regulation was a lucrative source of revenue for strategically placed officials". In the 1960s and 1970s - and on into the 1980s - the Soviet economy was characterized by extensive illegal market activity involving systematic bribery of people in positions of power, which was primarily in the hands of the Communist Party. The close association between illegal market enterprises and the authorities marked this system as mafia,3 although it differed in one important respect from the classic mafias of Italy and the United States: violence appears in almost all cases to have been exercised not by the underworld but by those in positions of power, through the purge in Hillman and Schnytzer's interpretation or, from Boettke and Anderson's viewpoint, the government structures enforcing state mercantilism. As far as can be judged from available accounts, it was individuals or groups in the official sector who competed for the monopoly rents, not underground operators. During the 1970s and 1980s, according to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, approximately 200,000 Soviet citizens, many who were Russian-Jewish refugees, immigrated to the U.S. Although the Soviet government liberalized its Jewish immigration policy, it is believed that under this guise the KGB also emptied their prisons of hard-core criminals, much like Cuban dictator Fidel Castro did during the Mariel boatlift of 1980. Many of these criminals are believed to have continued their life of crime in the United States.
During the late 1980s, however, violence or threats of violence began to come from gangs, who had a vulnerable target (the new cooperatives) and, increasingly the means - firearms and other weapons. By the time of the Soviet breakup in 1991, Soviet officials had identified more than seven hundred gangs or clans operating in the Soviet Union. Organized along ethnic or family lines, each gang was headed by a boss called the thief-in-law. By the late 1980s identifiable gangs based on ethnic ties were operating in Moscow. For example, the Chechens controlled black market car sales; the Azerbaijanis had the fruit and flower concessions. The flow of Soviet refugees increased following congressional enactment of the Lautenberg Amendment in November 1989, which allows up to 50,000 Soviet refugees to enter the U.S. each year. This was followed by the adoption in May 1991, of Russia's first law granting its citizens the right to immigrate and travel freely. In 1994, according to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the majority of former Soviet emigres and refugees entering the U.S. declared as their intended state of residence New York, followed by Louisiana, Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Oregon. According to an April 1986 report by the President's Commission on Organized Crime, the first indication of an organized crime element among Russian immigrants came in 1975 when a gang from the Odessa region of Russia was discovered to be involved in major fraud. The victims were other Russians living throughout the United States. The group became known as the "Potato Bag Gang" because victims believed they had bought a sack of gold coins but actually received only a bag of potatoes. Soviet criminal networks gradually expanded into other criminal activities such as extortion, theft, prostitution, and actively preyed upon newly arriving groups of Russian emigres by extorting money from them. The Brighton Beach area of New York City became the hub for Russian organized crime in this country during the mid-1970s. There, Russian criminals developed a working relationship with the La Cosa Nostra (LCN) which allowed them to establish fuel tax fraud schemes in certain areas of New York. The LCN forced the Russian criminals involved in these frauds to pay a large portion of their proceeds as a "tax" to operate. Organization and Structure Russian Organized Crime Groups and Structure in Russia - In early 1993, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported there were over 5,000 organized crime groups operating in Russia. These groups were comprised of an estimated 100,000 members with a leadership of 18,000. Although Russian authorities have currently identified over 5,000 criminal groups in that country, Russian officials believe that only approximately 300 of those have some identifiable structure. Organized crime groups in Russia are not nearly as structured as those in the U.S., such as the LCN. Knowledgeable sources within the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have provided one model of the structure of groups in Russia. The principle behind this structure is to minimize contact with other cells that could lead to the identification of the entire organization. Each boss, called a "pakhan," controls four criminal cells through an intermediary called a "brigadier." The boss employs two spies that watch over the action of the brigadier to ensure loyalty and that he does not get too powerful. At the bottom of the structure are criminal cells specializing in various types of criminal activity or functions such as drugs, prostitution, political contacts, and "enforcers." A similar structure places an elite leadership on top which is buffered by support and security personnel from the street operators who are commifting the crimes. Street operators are not privy to the identity of their leadership. Strategy and planning is done only at the top echelon in order to minimize the risk of detection. According to law enforcement sources, those structures described above would fall into the old style of Soviet criminal enterprises. It is quite possible as organized crime has changed in Russia, so has the structure of these groups. Another representation of the structure is the following: (Rank #, Title & Description) 1. Peon- Small time work, only stay here for a little until you prove you can do higher work. The jobs here are pretty simple and require very little effort. 1a. Thug- Better pay than a Peon. 2. Henchman- You actually begin doing tough jobs on your own with good pay. 2a. Hitman- You do a lot more killing, a lot more dangerously. 3. Lieutenant- You are third in rank, just below the Underbosses and the Boss himself. You do some of the most important and hazardous missions. 4. Underboss- This is the highest honor you can receive. This means you are one of the top bosses. Here is what this gets you: - You are free to use one of the gang's cars without needing permission. - You can take up to 20 of our men without needing to ask. - You can buy things for the Russian Mafia, but you can only use up to $50,000 of the gang's money per day. - If you go to prison, it is a top priority to get you out. - You can give missions to those below you, unless Jax himself thinks it is unreasonable. - You are always under close watch by guards. 5. Captain of the Russian Mafia - He is the boss. You must always follow his orders, no matter what rank you are.
According to law enforcement sources, those structures described above would fall into the old style of Soviet criminal enterprises. It is quite possible as organized crime has changed in Russia, so has the structure of these groups. There is a traditional code of conduct within this old style of organized crime in Russia called "Vory v Zakone," or thieves in law. This group existed throughout the Soviet era and continues today throughout the republics of the former Soviet Union. In this society the thieves in law live and obey the "Vorovskoy Zakon," the thieves' code. The members are bound by 18 codes and if they are broken, the transgression is punishable by death. The Russian Organized Crime Members Code 1. Forsake his relatives--mother, father, brothers, sisters... 2. Not have a family of his own -- no wife, no children; this does not however, preclude him from having a lover. 3. Never, under any circumstances work, no mafter how much difficulty this brings-, live only on means gleaned from thievery. 4. Help other thieves -- both by moral and material support, utilizing the commune of thieves. 5. Keep secret information about the whereabouts of accomplices (i.e. dens, districts, hideouts, safe apartments, etc.). 6. In unavoidable situations (if a thief is under investigation) to take the blame for someone else's crime; this buys the other person time of freedom. 7. Demand a convocation of inquiry for the purpose of resolving disputes in the event of a conflict between oneself and other thieves, or between thieves. 8. If necessary, participate in such inquiries. 9. Carry out the punishment of the offending thief as decided by the convocation. 10. Not resist carrying out the decision of punishing the offending thief who is found guilty, with punishment determined by the convocation. 11. Have good command of the thieves'jargon ("Fehnay"). 12. Not gamble without being abie to cover losses. 13. Teach the trade to young beginners. 14. Have, if possible, informants from the rank and file of thieves. 15. Not lose your reasoning ability when using alcohol. 16. Have nothing to do with the authorities (particularly with the ITU [Correctional Labor Authority]), not participate in public activities, nor join any community organizations. 17. Not take weapons from the hands of authorities; not serve in the military. 18. Make good on promises given to other thieves. Translated from: Dictionary: Prison, Camp, Blotnoi, Jargon (Speech and Graphic Portraits of Soviet Prisons) Authors-compilers: Dantsik Sergeyevich Baldaev, Vladimir Kuz'mich Belko, and Igor Mikhailovich Isupov. Russian Organized Crime Groups in the United States Although Russian organized crime activity in the United States has been expanding for the past 20 years, its most significant growth has occurred during the past five years. In August 1993, the FBI reported there were 15 organized crime groups in the United States with former Soviet ethnic origins. There is considerable debate in the law enforcement community as to the level of organization and structure of Russian organized crime groups in the United States. Additionally, many of the Russian emigres who are involved in criminal activity in this country may be career criminals specializing in crime areas having little or nothing to do with Russian organized crime groups. Current information indicates that most Russian organized crime groups are loosely organized and do not have elaborate levels of structure. These groups are often influenced by their ethnic or regional backgrounds. They have formed networks that operate in situations of mutual interest and often shift alliances to meet particular needs. There is ample information that Russian crime groups operating on the East Coast cooperate and communicate with West Coast groups. Additionally, Russian organized crime groups in the U.S. communicate and operate with organized crime groups in Russia. FBI Director Louis Freeh stated that over 200 of Russia's 6,000-odd crime gangs operate with American counterparts in 17 U.S. cities in 14 states. According to intelligence reports, members of criminal groups in Russia are sent to reinforce and consolidate links between groups in Russia and the United States. Russian organized crime figures are also sent to this country to perform a service such as a gangland murder or extortion.
The following example provides some insight into this activity. According to law enforcement sources, Vyatcheslav Ivankov ("Little Japanese") a Russian organized crime leader, was believed to have traveled to the United States to organize ROC groups in the U.S. and establish links to ROC groups in the former Soviet Union. Ivankov is considered to be a highranking organized crime leader, or thief in law, both in Russia and the U.S. Ivankov was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, on June 8, 1995, for trying to extort $3.5 million from a Wall Street investment firm. Vyatcheslav Ivankov Some descriptions of the more publicized Russian organized crime groups in the United States are as follows: According to law enforcement sources, there are approximately 300 former Soviet Union crime figures and associates in the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Jose. There are approximately 600 to 800 Russian crime figures and associates in the New Orleans area, home to the second largest number of Russian immigrants in the United States. These figures include members of the Russian and Armenian organized crime groups. Northern California Auto Theft Group - A Northern Louisiana auto theft group came to the attention of law enforcement personnel in Sacramento and other parts of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State in early 1993. This group is primarily made up of blue collar type workers from the Ukraine and Western Russia. Specializing in auto theft and VIN switching, younger members of this group steal vehicles while the older members operate body shops. This group utilizes Interstate 5 to travel to Oregon and Washington to sell the stolen vehicle parts to other Ukrainian and Russian criminals. Additionally, this group is becoming involved in extortion, cellular telephone fraud, prostitution, and trafficking small amounts of narcotics. Group members have been known to carry weapons and are becoming increasingly violent. This group does not appear to have any clear cut, well defined structure, though its members appear to have formed networks and cooperate with each other in their criminal endeavors. Odessa Mafia The Odessa Mafia is considered the dominant Russian organized crime group in the United States. This group established itself in the Brighton Beach area of New York City between 1975 to 1981. In the early 1980s the Odessa Mafia sent two sub-groups to San Francisco and Las Angeles with their leadership remaining in Brighton Beach. The San Francisco Bay Area Odessa Mafia group, unlike their southern counterpart, appear to be highly structured and well organized. Secrecy surrounds their activities and the language barrier creates additional problems for law enforcement authorities. This has resulted in very liftle information concerning the hierarchy, the scope of their operations, and the number of members. This crime group is believed to be involved in extortion, money laundering, fraud, loan sharking, and homicide. Armenian Organized Crime Groups - The Hollywood area of Los Angeles and the city of Glendale are the focal points for Armenian organized crime activity. This area has the largest Armenian population outside of the Republic of Armenia. According to law enforcement sources, several Armenian organized crime groups are becoming well organized with a structured hierarchy. There are in excess of 450 members and associates of these groups. These crime groups are involved in extortion, fuel frauds, credit card fraud, murder, kidnap, and narcotics trafficking. One group is believed to have approximately 150-200 members. Several members of this organized crime group were convicted in 1994 in New Orleans of attempted murder, kidnaping, and extortion. This group is believed to be responsible for extorting a number of victims in the Armenian community. Russian Organized Criminal Activities in the United States Russian organized crime in the US is involved in extortion, narcotics, murder, auto theft, and loan sharking, as well as insurance, fuel, telecommunication, and credit card frauds. The following cases are examples of several different crime categories. Extortion - Five members of an Armenian organized crime group in New Orleans were convicted in 1994 for extortion, kidnaping, and attempted murder. They forcibly detained and threatened victims and their families with great bodily harm unless they paid the suspects money. This group is believed to have extorted the Armenian community in the New Orleans area for the last 13 years. Fuel Frauds - Fuel frauds, mostly in New Orleans and New York, cost both the federal and state governments approximately $2 billion annually in tax revenue. The majority of the fuel frauds are committed by Russian and Armenian organized crime groups operating in Southern Louisiana. There are a variety of schemes involving the fuel fraud including falsifying state and federal tax forms, use of fictitious companies, known as a "burn" company, extending fuel by blending tax free additives such as transmix or alcohol, rigging fuel pumps, manipulating dyed fuels designated for off-road purposes, and selling lower grade fuel as a premium product. The "daisy chain" scheme is the predominate method of fuel tax fraud. The daisy chain scheme starts with a string of companies created by Russian and Armenian organized crime groups and is designed to create a massive paper trail. In the daisy chain, a "burn" company is created and exists only on paper.
By the time auditors and investigators unravel the series of transactions to determine the tax liability, the "burn" company has disappeared without a trace of records or assets. These groups are pocketing up to 50 cents per gallon in federal and state taxes which enables them to sell the petroleum products below cost. Selling fuel below cost forces the legitimate operators out of business. Often these groups force legitimate businesses out of business using intimidation tactics through kidnaping, assaults, and bombings. On September 13, 1995, 13 Russian Armenian subjects were arrested and charged with racketeering, including multiple acts of mail and wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, and distribution of heroin and other narcotic controlled substances. The Russian Armenian group, called the Mikaelian Organization, after the group's leader and self professed "godfather" of the Russian Mafia, Hovsep Mikaelian, ran a black market diesel fuel network that supplied gas stations and truck stops throughout Southern Louisiana. They defrauded the Internal Revenue Service and the Louisiana Board of Equalization through various fraudulent schemes, by purchasing millions of gallons of diesel fuel and avoiding a huge tax liability. The Mikaelian Organization used wholesale permits obtained fraudulently to purchase tax-free diesel fuel that was intended to be used solely for off-road purposes such as farming and construction. The fuel was then diverted and sold at numerous independent diesel fuel stations, several of which were controlled by this organization. Up to 42 cents per gallon of the federal and state tax collected at the time of sale was pocketed by this organized crime group. This group was also involved in gaining control, through threats and extortion, of a large segment of the independent diesel fuel wholesale and retail service station and truck stop markets. Permits were also obtained by submitting fraudulent paperwork. In some cases, jet fuel, which can be purchased tax free, was added to the diesel fuel and sold at the service stations and truck stops. According to the U.S. Aftorney in New Orleans, this group managed to avoid paying $3.6 million in taxes in just one year. The arrests culminated a two-year joint task force investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the New Orleans Police Department, the Long Beach Police Department, the Louisiana Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Transportation. The task force confiscated more than $2 million in cash and property, including a BMW, Jaguar, and two Rolls Royces. In order to counter the diesel tax frauds, Senate Bill 840, was passed into law and took effect July 1, 1995. The purpose of the new law, which now parallels federal law, is to reduce diesel fuel frauds by imposing tax collection at a higher point (terminal level) in the distribution chain. Under the new law, taxes will be collected on tax exempt fuel by the terminal operator and refunded by the state (tax refund). A terminal is defined as a storage facility where fuel is stored and delivered to buyers. Fuel is delivered to the terminal directly from the refinery which is the first level in the distribution chain. Telecommunications Fraud - Russian crime figures in the New Orleans area are extensively involved in telecommunications fraud (cloned cellular phones). Law enforcement sources indicate that the activity is spreading to Northern Louisiana. This illegal process involves stealing electronic serial numbers of customers' cellular phones and programming them into computer chips, thus making a duplicate or clone of the telephones. While cloning has been going on for some time, it has grown rapidly and become more sophisticated as the industry has expanded. One cellular station in the Baton Rouge area is losing approximately $2 million a month in fraudulent calls made on cloned cellular telephones. Armenian organized crime figures are believed to be responsible for the majority of this fraudulent activity. Narcotics - ROC groups are not extensively involved in narcotics distribution in Louisiana. However, there have been significant events and cases that indicate a possible future trend in this area. * On March 4, 1993, a Russian emigre was arrested for pefty theft. The NO Police Department recovered two kilos of cocaine and $2,200 in cash from the emigre's vehicle. It was later learned the emigre was also involved in shipping stolen vehicles to Russia. * On May 1, 1993, a Russian emigre was arrested for immigration violations. Information from the Immigration and Naturalization Service indicates that the emigre was involved in smuggling cocaine from the U.S. to Russia through his import/export business in Southern Louisiana. This emigre had spent 13 years in a Russian prison. * In February 1995, Tracey Hill, believed to be a courier for a ROC group, was arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for possession of 18 kilos of cocaine. Hill was en route to Vancouver, B.C., from the New Orleans area. * On May 4, 1995, seven kilos of heroin was seized from a member of an Armenian organized crime group based in the New Orleans area. The heroin came from the Middle East and was intended for distribution in the United States. Medical/insurance Fraud - In New Orleans, Russian organized crime figures have been involved in various frauds that run the gamut from staged auto accidents to false billing schemes. In 1991, in a case considered the largest of its kind, the U.S. Aftorney's Office in New Orleans charged 13 defendants in a $1 billion false medical billing scheme that was headed by two Russian emigre brothers, Michael and David Smushkevich. The Smushkevich brothers have long been suspected of being part of a loosely organized Soviet crime syndicate operating in the New Orleans area during the late 1980s and early 1990S. .14 The 175 count indictment capped a six-year investigation by federal, state, and local agencies. Authorities reported that the brothers orchestrated a massive fraud scheme to use mobile medical laboratories to conduct unnecessary and false tests on patients. They then sent inflated and false bills to insurance companies and collected large fees. The scam eventually spread to Missouri, Illinois, and Florida. On September 20, 1994, the alleged ringleader, Michael Smushkevich was sentenced to 21 years in prison for fraud, conspiracy, racketeering, and money laundering. Smushkevich was also ordered to forfeit $50 million in assets, pay more than $41 million in restitution to government agencies and insurance companies victimized by the scheme, and pay a $2.75 million fine. David Smushkevich testified for the prosecution and received probation. It is estimated that the Smushkevich brothers pocketed between $50 and $80 million in profits. It is believed the brothers hid their money in an unknown country.
Loan Sharking - In October 1991, two Russian organized crime figures were convicted in New Orleans of extorting a Russian emigre businessman. The two Russian organized crime figures lent money to the victim at a 30 percent interest rate. The victim borrowed $125,000 and over eight years had paid back $480,000 but still owed $120,000. The suspects threatened the victim and his family if they didn't pay the rest of the money that was owed. Auto Theft - The Northern Louisiana auto theft group specializes in auto theft and operates in other parts of Northern Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Younger members of this group steal vehicles while the older members operate body shops. The body shops are used as chop shops where stolen auto parts are used to reconstruct vehicles bought from salvage pools. Vehicles are also stolen, surgically stripped, and the hulls dumped where they are easily found by law enforcement personnel. These vehicles end up at salvage yards where members of this auto theft group buy the surgically stripped hull and ultimately put the vehicle back together at the chop shops. Vehicles are also bought at the salvage pools for their VIN numbers. The VIN numbers are switched to stolen vehicles. The vehicles are then taken out of state and re-registered in an attempt to conceal or clear the salvaged title. Many of the stolen vehicles are believed to be shipped out of the country through New Orleans, Miami, and other port cities. This crime group may be using Russian organized crime groups to ship the vehicles to Europe or Russia where they are sold for substantial profits. Murder - Andrey Kuznetsov and an associate, Vladimir Litvinenko, were shot to death in Kuznetsov's rented house in Baton Rouge on January 26, 1992. Kuznetsov was believed to have been the leader of a New Orleans fraud ring with ties to Russian organized crime in New York and Russia. His widow claimed he introduced her to Russian organized crime leaders and members in New Orleans and New York. New Orleans Sheriffs Deputies arrested two Russian emigres at the murder scene. Sergei Ivanov was drenched in blood and carrying a handgun. An accomplice, Alexander Nikolaev, was also arrested with Ivanov. Sheriffs deputies found the two suspects in the act of cufting off the victims' fingers to hinder identification. Found in the house along with the bodies were numerous boxes of electronic equipment, copiers, TV sets, fax machines, and stereo components. Authorities state most of the equipment was stolen or bought illegally through the use of fraudulent'credit cards and check kiting. Money Laundering - Russian organized crime groups in the former Soviet Union are wire transferring huge amounts of money, ranging from several thousand to millions of dollars from bank accounts located in Finland, Cayman Islands, and Europe to U.S. banks. The source of this money is believed to come from narcotics activity, illegal trade in arms and antiques, and prostitution. Money is also stolen from the Russian government. According to a Russian newspaper, upwards of 1.5 trillion rubles (worth in excess of $1 billion) were stolen from the state with forged documents in 1992 to 1993. ROC groups launder the money through a elaborate trail of fictitious companies set up in Russia. The money is wire transferred to "tax haven" countries such as those in the Caribbean Islands. Money is also reportedly wire transferred to other countries in Europe, such as Switzerland and Finland. A substantial amount of this money is ending up in U.S. banks. Most of the wire transfer activity is occurring in Louisiana's larger cities such as Baton Rouge and New Orleans. It is believed that once the money has been exchanged into U.S. dollars, some of the money is sent back to Russia and is invested in lucrative financial and industrial projects, real estate, enterprises, and banks. The Russian emigres connected to the U.S. bank accounts are opening import/export businesses in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas. These business may be set up for the sole purpose of shipping large amounts of U.S. dollars to and from Russia. Interaction With Other Organized Crime Groups In cities, the LCN and Russian organized crime figures have formed working relationships in areas of fraudulent fuel tax schemes. The LCN is believed to have forced the Russians to pay tribute on the profits they made on these schemes. There is no information indicating that the LCN is exacting tribute from Russian fuel tax fraud operations in Louisiana. Colombian cocaine distributors are believed to have formed an alliance with organized crime groups in Russia to import large quantities of cocaine into that country. These ties became evident after a 1.1 metric ton shipment of cocaine was seized in St. Petersburg, Russia in February 1993. Criminal intelligence reports indicate Russian organized crime groups are not extensively involved in narcotics distribution in Louisiana. However, the following significant case illustrates a possible future trend and the alliances that are forming. On September 8, 1993, several Russian crime figures were arrested in St. Augustine, Florida for conspiracy and intent to import 800 kilos of cocaine. These subjects were attempting to establish a drug distribution route from Florida to Detroit and New York. It is believed groups of Russian organized crime figures in New Orleans and New York were part of this operation. The Russian group was dealing with Costa Rican drug traffickers and had plans to smuggle a large quantity of cocaine from Colombia to Italy aboard a vessel. The Russian group was dealing with the Sicilian Mafia in this venture. Although at the present time law enforcement authorities are not aware of any additional ties between Russian organized crime groups in Louisiana and other organized crime groups, it is probable that formalized alliances will occur in the future.
Tattoos From the mid 1960's to the 1980's, approximately 35 million people were incarcerated in Soviet prisons. Approximately 28 to 30 million Russian inmates were tattooed. According to criminologist Arkady G. Bronnikov, who has studied taftoos of Russian prisoners for 30 years, inmates wore tattoos only after they had committed a crime. The more convictions a criminal received, and as the terms of incarceration became more severe, the more tattoos a convict would have. Tatoos spell out lives of crime and establish the hierarchy of inmates. According to Bronnikov, at the top of the hierarchy are "pakhans" or organized crime bosses. The pakhans use the second level of the echelon known as the "authorities," (also known as enforcers, fighters, or soldiers) to carry out their orders. The "men" are the hard laborers and are the third level in the hierarchy. The lowest category are the "outcasts." These individuals are basically slaves to the upper levels of the echelon. The tattoos present a picture of the inmate's criminal history. According to Bronnikov, "Tattoos are like a passport, a biography, a uniform with medals. They reflect the convict's interests, his outlook on life, his world view." A prisoner with an incorrect or unauthorized tattoo could be punished or killed by fellow inmates. Law Enforcement agencies in the United States can expect to see more of these tattoos as the Russian criminal element surfaces. The tattoos may be of assistance in determining the subject's criminal background and activity Analysis Among the most significant organized crime groups to come to the aftention of law enforcement in the state in recent years, are the Russian organized crime groups. These criminal organizations have the potential to become part of large international networks allowing them to launder money, smuggle goods, and narcotics, and import criminals to carry out specific crimes. According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Louisiana is attracting the second largest number of Russian emigres settling in any state in this country. Louisiana is also experiencing a migration of Russian crime figures from the East Coast. This may be occurring because of the lack of strength the LCN has on the South Coast. The Russian organized crime groups would not have to pay a mob tax or tribute, thereby increasing their profits. A comparison can be drawn between Russian immigration and that of previous emigrant groups who have become organized crime powers in the United States such as the La Cosa Nostra and Triads. These new Russian emigres will be a fertile source for recruitment by existing Russian organized crime groups. Many of these groups are still in an embryonic stage such as the Northern Louisiana auto theft group. However, as immigration increases, these Russian crime groups can be expected to expand and new groups will be established. Russian organized crime groups in the United States and Russia have formed alliances with the La Cosa Nostra, the Colombian cocaine cartels, and the Sicilian Mafia. These alliances allow these groups to potentially become a dominant wholesale cocaine and heroin distribution factor in Louisiana. As Russian organized crime continues to expand in the state, it is probable they will form working relationships with other criminal groups such as the LCN, white collar criminals, or other non-traditional organized crime groups. Because of their experience at "working the system" in the former Soviet Union, Russian organized crime groups can be expected to continue their involvement in sophisticated criminal schemes, such as fuel and insurance frauds in the United States. Russian organized crime groups specialize in targets of opportunity and take advantage of bureaucratic mazes to build their profit base. They bring with them knowledge and methods to operate complicated fraud schemes which allow these white collar criminals to flourish. While public and law enforcement attention is drawn to gangs and street violence, Russian organized crime groups will make inroads into Louisiana using these complex criminal schemes requiring extensive investigative efforts. Law enforcement sources directly involved in the investigation of fuel frauds indicate that SB 840 will not eliminate the fraudulent schemes. Russian and Armenian organized crime groups will continue to defraud state and federal governments out of excise fuel taxes by coming up with elaborate refund schemes. It is believed that these groups will pool their resources to purchase their own terminals. Once in possession of a terminal and using falsified federal and state tax exemption forms the criminal groups can hide the true ownership of the fuel.
They will continue to blend fuels, under-report volume of fuel sold, improperly dispose and store hazardous waste, and sell lower grades of fuel as a premium product. Legitimate terminal operators may be bribed or even threatened into accepting fraudulent state and federal tax exemption forms. These criminal groups will import tax exempt fuels from other states or Mexico. Fuel will be exported out of state. Once exported out of state, the tax liability will be extremely difficult to track. These groups discriminately use violence to intimidate competing fuel distributors to force them out of business or sell their business to the criminal groups at reduced prices. These frauds also allow the criminal groups to sell fuel below market price which forces the legitimate operator out of business or into illegal activity to maintain their livelihoods. Members of Russian organized crime groups are violent but violence is usually employed for specific reasons such as eliminating competition and informants or punishing those who abscond with funds. They are much like the LCN and not like street gangs who use indiscriminate violence. Additionally, law enforcement authorities in Louisiana have had several confrontations with crime figures from the former Soviet Union. These crime figures are not afraid of American law enforcement or the criminal justice system and pose a potential threat to police officers. According to law enforcement sources, drug trafficking has not yet become a major focus for Russian organized crime groups in this state. Given the profits to be made and the experience many of these groups have with drugs in the former Soviet Union, it is highly probable that this will become a growing part of their illicit operations in Louisiana. Law enforcement agencies in Louisiana have begun to make some inroads against Russian organized crime. However, more information and resources are needed to determine the scope of their criminal operations, the structure and size of their organizations, intra and interstate networks, and their international ties to organized crime in Russia. Because there is a lack of intelligence data relating to Russian organized crime groups and their structure in this country, it is almost impossible at the present time to determine their magnitude or scope of operations. Based upon this lack of information, it is difficult to develop efficient strategies to counter them. The law enforcement community needs to work together in order to combat this new threat. State efforts to combat Russian organized crime are underway. Three law enforcement groups meet routinely to share criminal intelligence and information on these organized crime groups.
And what's the future for the Russian mobs? As they continue to expand, in all probability their working relationships with the Mafia and other criminal groups will grow stronger. It is likely that the Russians will look for a bigger piece of the international narcotics market, considering the profits and the availability of cash the gangsters have. As a result their political influence will increase. But whatever the future holds, the horizons are bright for the new ethnic mobs.
Chinese Triad A lethal gang that is almost completely Chinese. Their prime source of money is smuggling, be it weapons, drugs, or even people. Complete loyalty is a must. They supply America with almost all of its Opium. What is a Triad? Triads are the asian equivalent of the Italian Mafia; however, they are greater in numbers and are more powerful, controlling much of the world heroin drug trade. Triad members celebrated their 326th Anniversary in 2000. They have every intention to continue with their tradition and plan for their first millennium further down the road. Historians have spent decades researching the origin of the triad movement and it has been traced back to various movements dating as far back as the fifth century with the White Lotus Society. The consensus of present day triad members refers to their origin as the movement to "overthrow the Ching Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty," thus dating it to around 1674. This was the last folklore in Chinese history where the "oppressed" Chinese people were active in the planning of overthrowing the ruling government. It began with the monks from the Shaolin Monastery in Fujian province who were asked by the second Manchu Emperor to assist in resisting an invasion by rebels because his own army had been unsuccessful. The monks were successful in repelling the rebels; and having accomplished the aim, they declined to accept any reward and returned to their monastery. However, the Emperor realized that these monks with their martial arts skills were a threat to the Ching Dynasty. A raid on the monastery was thus organized and all but five of the monks were killed. While escaping from the monastery, the five monks drank from a stream in which they noticed a white porcelain bowl floating on the water. They picked up the bowl and saw that there were Chinese characters inscribed on it -- "overthrow the Ching, restore the Ming." They eventually found refuge in Kwang Tung province where they swore to overturn the Ching Dynasty. It was said that they made the oath at a place called the Red Flower Pavilion. While they were there, they noticed that the sunset was very red. Thus, they called themselves the brothers of Hung because they felt that red (hung) sky and Hung (the name of the first Emperor) of the Ming Dynasty was a blessing from heaven. This marked the birth of Hung Mun (Hung's Gate). The monks then went to different parts of China and formed five "lodges" to plan the overthrow of the Ching Dynasty. The first lodge was responsible for Fujian and Kansu provinces. The second lodge was responsible for Kwang Tung (Guangdong) and Kwang Si provinces. The third lodge was in charge of Yunan and Szechuan provinces. The fourth lodge was responsible for Hunan and Hupei provinces. The fifth lodge was responsible for Chekiang, Kiangsi and Honam provinces. Triad Society, name given to a number of Chinese antidynastic secret societies by 19th-century Western observers. Most of these groups claimed descent from the Heaven and Earth Society (Taendi hui) or the Triad Society (Sanhe hui), two secret societies of the late 17th cent. that had originated in Fujian prov. The avowed purpose of these societies was to overthrow the alien Manchu Ch'ing dynasty and to restore the native Chinese Ming dynasty. Societies sharing a similar ideology, ritual, and terminology spread all along the SE China coast. In times of peace the secret societies functioned as fraternal organizations, but they often became involved in criminal activities and at times armed conflict with rival groups occurred. Poor peasants, itinerant workers, and others who lacked strong kinship ties found security in the fraternal ties and in the protection offered by the societies. The Taiping Rebellion (185064) brought a revival of secret-society militancy and anti-Manchu sentiment, but local groups continued to function independently and no hierarchic organization was achieved. Branches of the Triads assisted Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries to carry out armed insurrection against the Ch'ing dynasty in the decade before the republican revolution of 1911. The Communist government of China launched (194950) a campaign to eliminate secret societies soon after assuming power. Triad societies persisted outside mainland China and among overseas Chinese. For the activities of secret societies in N China during the Ch'ing period. THE HISTORY Countries in the west were introduced to this "triad movement" in around 1859 when Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the founder of modern day China, fled when he failed in a coup d'etat in Canton (Guangzhou), China. While rallying for assistance from overseas Chinese living mainly in North America and in Europe, he utilized the Chi Kung Tong to publicize the work of his Republican Party in the overthrow of the Ching Dynasty. The original set up of Chi Kung Tong outside China was to provide support to Chinese living and working in a foreign country and it was mainly pro-Nationalist. Dr. Sun was an active office bearer of the Chung Yee Wui and recruited members to plan the "revolution." Full triad regalia were used in initiation, promotion and other ceremonies to instill loyalty of its members to the cause. Thus, some Chi Kung tongs adopted triad rituals within their mode of operation. In 1912, the Ching Dynasty was overthrown and a Chinese Republic was established. This ended the legitimate existence of the triad movement when their declared aim was achieved. However, the growth of its membership continued and the last known mass indoctrination was during the period 1945-49 in Canton (Guangzhou), China. General Kot Siu Wong of the Kuo Min Tang (Nationalist China) Intelligence Service was responsible for reorganizing all triad societies within Kwang Tung (Guangdong) province into the Hung Fat Shan branch of the Chung Yee Wui. A significantly large portion of the population was known to have joined for fear of being labelled as a communist. This group was the spearhead of the 14K as we know it today.
In the meantime, various groups operated under different names, most of them started as ethnic groups for self-preservation from outside forces or to intimidate fellow clansmen. Their activities had always been motivated by financial gain and operated under the guise of guilds/co-operative associations. These groups were all based in southern China and Hong Kong. To instill loyalty amongst members and fear in the general public, triad rituals were used for initiation and promotion ceremonies. The rituals used by the triads are adaptations from various Buddhist and Taoist ceremonies. The ceremonies are commonly used by the Chinese in connection with celebrations, blessings, remembrance, forging allegiance, etc. Since the crack down on triad activities in Hong Kong, which began in the 1950s, they took a low-key approach in their ceremonies. Exotic altars with full triad paraphernalia and elaborate ceremony are a thing of the past except for one or two of the Chinese tongs in North America. All initiation and promotion ceremonies are simplified, and makeshift altars are used. Ceremonies, which took days to complete, are now over in less than an hour. Triad poems, used to identify one's affiliation and rank, have been simplified and modernized when they are passed through word of mouth from generation to generation. Generally, a "triad expert' knows more of the history and practices than an active triad member. CURRENT SITUATION Once the political aim is taken away from the triad movement, there only remains greed as the focus of its existence. There is no legitimate reason for any triad organization to continue its operation, recruitment and fund raising. Money now becomes the motivating factor in organizing triad activities. Thus, the loyalty of its member is totally dependent on the financial reward. This effectively broke up whatever "central control" that was in place during its early existence. The rationale behind this is the way triad members operate. A triad leader will use his followers to intimidate, extort and/or blackmail victims for financial gain. The money received will be distributed amongst those who took part. Naturally the leader would receive a larger share than the followers would. The followers initially will be satisfied with the arrangement. Individually, they need the "power" of the group to obtain money from victims and to protect them from reprisals when engaging in territorial disputes. As they gained experience, they will be "promoted" to office bearer rank and may start their own recruitment drive. The recruitment will be conducted under the same banner, i.e. the new recruits will be joining as members of the same named triad society. Numbers for each society will grow, but it is not as a result of a centrally directed membership drive. New recruits would know who their "protector" (gang leader) is and whoever performed the ceremony but may never meet or be told the identity of the person who had recruited his protector years ago. Once they have their own "followers," they can thus branch out and start their own illegal businesses. They no longer need the protection offered by their respective leaders. Initially they may pay a small portion of their illegal gains to their leader. Once they have made their mark, they no longer need the backing of their "protectors." When the motivation is purely financial, no one would willingly give up part of their "hard earned money" to someone who did not share the risks. Within different triad societies, this "evolution" results in small individual cells operating independently. There could not be any "central control" since any such dictation from the top would result in less hard earned cash going to the "workers." This would be similar to the triad cells having to pay "protection money" for them to work independently. For street level activities, such as extortion/protection rackets, drug trafficking, prostitution, etc., the gangs have to establish their presence, intimidate their victims, and map out their territorial borders before they can operate. Thus, they have to "fight" for their right to operate. When the leader of a "cell" feels that he has sufficient manpower to protect his own interest, he will pick an area and start his own enterprise. A "central body" cannot make a decree and assign an area to a group because each location has to be fought out. It would be illogical and unprofitable for anyone to fight to gain control of an area and then assign it to someone else. Furthermore, one cannot dictate what a gang leader should do in any particular area. Some gangs may find extortion to their liking and others prefer to operate vice establishments. Others who have connections to drug importers would be involved in the trafficking of either heroin or soft drugs. This holds true for all street level illegal activities. However, the gang leaders may pay "homage" to their "elders" as a sign of respect during the four annual Chinese festive events, viz. Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Winter Solstice. This also ensures that one does not burn all his bridges should he need help in the future. The current structure of a triad society (triad cell) merely consists of a leader (office bearer) and a group of members (followers). It is also not unusual to see an ordinary member who has been active and successful in his career, recruiting followers. One does not have to be an office bearer to recruit. Gang members report directly to their leader on a day to day basis and leaders do not have to account for their actions to anyone else. To maintain some semblance of organization which also ensures that senior leaders receive "homage" from the now independent cells, each major triad society would hold an "election" every few years to choose a "chairman" and a "treasurer." They represent the Shan Chu (Dragon Head) and Deputy Shan Chu (Second in Command) of yesteryear. Their role is to "look after" the interest of their society, to settle disputes between its members and/or disputes with other societies. They do not and cannot control the activities of the gangs (cells).
There will be times when the Cho Kun makes a call to gang leaders to unite for a show of force over territorial disputes with cells from a different society which could not be resolved. However, the myth of the triad organization still remains in the minds of the general Chinese population. This myth is also kept alive through action movies glorifying triad exploitation, a theme that brings in box office hits in the world market. The triad is portrayed as a powerful underground organization controlled by a selected few "godfathers/dragon heads" with tentacles reaching all parts the world. They are untouchables and have supreme power over their members. They can order revenge attack or execute contract killings worldwide. The triad is seen as a tight knit group with central command structure directing its day to day operation. CURRENT SITUATION IN NORTH AMERICA The triad members either visiting or residing in North America are affiliated to the following groups: 14K; the Wo group; Sun Yee On; Luen Kung Lok (in Canada only); Chuen Yat Chi (in New York City only); Bamboo United and Fourseas (Taiwanese groups active in Houston and Los Angeles). With these triad gangs, street level activities are similar to other ethnic street gangs. They concentrate their activities within Chinatowns, victimizing Chinese businesses. Street gangs use violence to back up their demands. They need a show of force to convince their victims to comply. However, triad gangs rely more on the "myth" to frighten their victims. The only time they need to show their strength is when confronting opposing gangs who may also be active in the same area. Territorial rights are required to ensure one's success in making money. At organized crime level, triad membership only acts as a confirmation of one's intent. It acts as an introduction, an assurance between two parties that they are criminals. The membership reinforces co-operation in any illegal dealings. At this level, there is no such thing as "opposing triad groups". They will all join up to make money. If necessary, they will utilize whichever available Asian street gang, be it triad or not, to be runners and/or enforcers. CONCLUSION While it is established that triad members are just common criminals and they are not shielded from prosecution, there are two major obstacles faced by North American law enforcement officers. The primary one is the language barrier. The second obstacle is the "myth": One cannot hide from the triads. They are everywhere and anyone who betrays them will be killed. Families are not safe from repercussion. No one will testify against them in court. Members are sworn to loyalty and will not betray the society. "Other" street gangs utilize violence to achieve their objectives while "triad" gangs use the myth to reinforce their demands. When their basic loyalty is to money, the "old" rules do not count. These days, triad will sell out for personal gain. They will testify against their "brothers" if given immunity or reduced culpability. It is known that triads, like other street gangs, may intimidate witnesses prior to and during a trial. The usual protective arrangements should be made by law enforcement when necessary, and witnesses should be reassured that adequate protection will be available. Once a case has been concluded, it is extremely unlikely that revenge from fellow triad members would take place. They were there for the money, not for the "cause" or "loyalty." There is no financial gain to a revenge attack. It would only bring on enforcement pressure, which is bad for business. On the other hand, the "myth" can be used against them. While Hong Kong makes it unlawful to join a triad society or to possess triad writings, there is the anti-gang law in Canada and the RICO Statute in the United States to prosecute gang related activities. When a triad gang name is used, it will be an easier task to prove criminal intent, etc. The triad members either visiting or residing in North America are affiliated to one of the following groups: 14K; the Wo group; Sun Yee On; Luen Kung Lok (in Canada only); Chuen Yat Chi (in New York City only); Bamboo United and Fourseas (Taiwanese groups active in Houston and Los Angeles). With these triad gangs, street level activities are similar to other ethnic street gangs. They concentrate their activities within Chinatowns, victimizing Chinese businesses. Street gangs use violence to back up their demands. They need a show of force to convince their victims to comply. However, triad gangs rely more on the "myth" to frighten their victims. The only time they need to show their strength is when confronting opposing gangs who may also be active in the same area. Territorial rights are required to ensure one's success in making money.
At organized crime level, triad membership only acts as a confirmation of one's intent. It acts as an introduction, an assurance between two parties that they are criminals. The membership reinforces co-operation in any illegal dealings. At this level, there is no such thing as "opposing triad groups". They will all join up to make money. If necessary, they will utilize whichever available Asian street gang, be it triad or not, to be runners and/or enforcers. THE MAJOR TRIADS Sung Lian Strength: several hundred members, mostly second-and third-generation mainland immigrants. Activities: debt collection, massage parlors, brothels, small businesses. Tian Dao Man Strength: several hundred members, mostly native Taiwanese. Activities: debt collection, massage parlors, brothels, small businesses. Four Seas Strength: up to 2,000 members, mostly second-and third-generation mainland immigrants. Activities: construction, security services, debt collection, massage parlors, brothels, small businesses. United Bamboo Strength: 10,000 members, mostly second-and third-generation mainland immigrants. Activities: construction, security services, debt collection, loan sharking, gambling dens, hostess clubs, restaurants, small businesses. United Bamboo Members' Code of Ethics Harmony with the people is the first priority. We have to establish good social and personal connections so as not to create enemies. We have to seek special favors and help from uncommitted gang members by emphasizing our relationships with outside people. Let them publicize us. Gambling is our main financial source. We have to be careful how we handle it. Do not take it upon yourself to start things and make decisions you are not authorized to make. You are to discuss and plan all matters with the group and the elder brother first. Everyone has their assigned responsibility. Do not create confusion! We must not divulge our plans and affairs to outsiders, for example to our wives, girlfriends, etc. This is for our own safety. We have to be united with all our brothers and obey our elder brother's orders. All money earned outside the group must be turned over to the group. You must not keep any of it for yourself. Let the elder brother decide. When targeting wealthy prospects do not act hastily. Furthermore, do not harass or threaten them. Act to prevent suspicion and fear upon their part. If anything unexpected happens, do not abandon your brothers. If arrested, shoulder all responsibility and blame. Do not involve your brothers. Tong Hierarchy One of the structural characteristics that makes Chinese organized crime different from other forms is the relationship between some of the street gangs and certain adult organizations. The Merchants Associations are called Tongs and are often affiliated with asian street gangs as their muscle. For example, in New York, the street gang, Fuk Ching, is affiliated with the Fukien American Association, a Merchant Association. The Fukien American Association as with other tongs and their relationships with gangs provide the Fuk Ching with a physical place to gather and hang out. They allow the gang to operate on their (the tongs) territory, thus legitimizing them with the community. They also provide criminal opportunities (such as protecting gambling operations), as well as supplying money and guns. Tong-affiliated gangs, like the Fuk Ching, have an ah kung (grandfather) or shuk foo (uncle) who is their tong leader. The top gang position is the dai dai lo (big big brother). Communication between the tong and the gang occurs principally between these two individuals. Below the dai dai lo in descending order are the dai lo(s) or big brothers, the yee lo/saam lo (clique leaders), and at the bottom the ma jai or little horses. There are a variety of norms and rules that govern the gangs. These include respecting the ah kung, beating up members of other gangs on your turf, following the orders of the dai lo, and not betraying the gang. Rules violators are punished, sometimes severely, such as through physical assault and killing. History of the Triads Before their criminal enterprising, the Triads actually began as a resistance movement to the Manchu emperors. The Manchu were from a country north of China (Manchuria) and were seen as foreign rulers, who took China's northern capital (Peking) by force, and established their dynasty in 1674. In the thirteen year of rule of the second Manchu emperor (Kiang Hsi), a monastery of fighting monks ("Siu Lam") were recruited by the emperor to defeat a rebellion in Fukien. These monasteries received some imperial power as a reward. Due to court jealousies, these Fukien Buddhist monks were then themselves seen as a threat, and an army was sent to suppress them. Eighteen monks escaped, and of those eighteen, five of them each founded their own secret society, dedicated to overthrowing the Manchu (also known as the Ching) Dynasty, and restoring the previous Chinese Ming dynasty, which was seen as a golden age for China. Their motto became "Crush the Ch'ing, establish the Ming".
The family name of the Ming emperors was "Hung", and their colour was red, so both Hung and red are associated with Chinese secret societies. The societies called themselves the "Hung Mun." Secret codes were developed, to frustrate the emperor's spies. However, this secrecy, and the martial arts training, eventually led to the associations being used for criminal purposes, instead of political ones. During this period many Hung Mun were seen as protectors of the people against a repressive and sometimes vicious regime of the emperor. These secret societies played roles in several rebellions against the Manchus, notably the White Lotus Society rebellion in Szechuan, Hupeh and Shansi in the mid-1790's; the "Cudgels"uprising in Kwangsi province, 1847 to 1850; and Hung Hsiu Chuan's Kwangsi-based rebellion 1851-1865. Hung called himself Christ's brother, and rebellion (called T'ai Ping) was crushed with the aid of the Western powers. The Boxer Rebellion in Peking in 1896-1900, involved the White Lotus Society, as well as other triads called the "Big Swords" and the "Red Fists." Sun Yat Sen, the founder of Republican China, was allied with the Hsing Chung triad society, in his 1906 rebellion. Meanwhile, the Western powers and Japan virtually raped China, enforcing opium drug sales by war, stealing gold and heritage antiques, and demanding huge recompensation for any affront. The Manchus (the Ch'ing) were overthrown in 1911, but there were no Mings left to restore. Sun Yat Sen's successor was warlord Yuan Shik Kai, who worked with the triads in corruption. The Nationalist government set up in 1927 in Nanking was headed by a known killer and criminal member of the Shang Hai Green Gang, Chiang Kai Shek. The triads took over the government of southern China, and fought the Communists, later under Mao Tse Tung, for total control. The Western powers used this "Green Tang" organized crime group to suppress any labor unrest, and to kill off communists. When the Japanese invaded most major Chinese cities in World War Two, the Triads offered to work for them instead. In Hong Kong, the Triads ran criminal enterprises for the Japanese, The Japanese united the gangs under an association called the "Hing Ah Kee Kwan" (Asia Flourishing Organization). The gangsters were used to help police the residents of Hong Kong, and to suppress any anti-Japanese activity. The gangs were paid through a Japanese front company, called Lee Yuen Company. Following World War Two, the target of the West and the Triads became Communists again, and Chiang Kai Shek's nationalist government campaigned to increase Triad membership. In Southern China, this campaign was under Nationalist army lieutenant general, Kot Siu Wong, who had his headquarters at number 14, Po Wah Road, Canton. This is where the name of the "14 K" triad is thought to have originated. It was estimated that in 1947, there were 300,000 Triad members in Hong Kong alone. By 1949, when Mao Tse Tung's communists emerged as the victors, Triad nationalists were dispersed in Hong Kong, Macao, Thailand, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Perth Australia. [The remnants of Chiang Kai Shek's KMT (Kuomintang) South China army was forced into the Burmese highlands, where they became pivotal to smuggling drugs to the West, via Thailand, under Khun Sa]. The Communists suppressed triads on the mainland, executing and imprisoning many. Mao's Prime Minister, Chou En Lai, banned cultivation and use of opium in 1950. In 1956 there was a major riot in Kowloon, which was exploited by triads from Taiwan. Emergency (Detection Orders) Regulations were passed by the colonial government, and 10,000 suspected mobsters were arrested. Triads went into a semi- dormant period. But the cultural revolution in mainland China was one of several factors which caused massive emigration and social problems, including a resurgence of Triad criminal activity, much of it centering around Hong Kong, but extending to several continents. Triads in the U.S. With the first wave of Chinese immigrants in the 1800s, many Chinatowns sprung up throughout the west and east coast and in various mining towns throughout the west. These Chinatowns acted as Chinese communities, with everything from shops to restaurants. Eventually, these chinatowns developed various Merchant Associations, which acted as local "political parties" for the community, hosting various cultural/social town events for the community. However, with the established of the Chinese Exclusion Act, many of these "benevolent" merchant associations soon began to focus their attention on providing vices to the Chinese population, including gambling, prostitution, and Opium. With the issuance of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Chinese miners were prohibited from bringing over their wives. This effectively created a "bachelor" society within the Chinese American community, with many Chinese turning to vices the Merchant Associations [Tongs] provided. Eventually, the Merchant Associations soon began to rival each other for control of the vices. The two most powerful merchant associations were the Hip Sing Tong and the On Leong Tong. As expected, this ultimately lead to the Merchant Associations [Tongs] going to all out war with each other, with what has become effectively known in history as the TONG WARS. Fights broke out in almost every major Chinatown across the U.S from the mid-1800s to even up to the 1970s. In fact, it is from these Tong Wars that various Chinatowns obtained their reputation as being neighborhoods full of violence, opium, and just general hedonism. The foot soldiers were called boohowdoy, which is Cantonese for hatchetboy, because they would always use a hatchet or cleaver as their weapon of choice.
Eventually, the competition between the Tongs began to dissipate and the all-out-wars ceased. Many of the tongs, however, retained their criminal ways, and even today continue to engage in extortation, murder, gambling, prostitution, smuggling illegal Chinese immigrants into the U.S., and of course, supplying heroin, aka China White,from the Golden Triangle. Triads Today Today, the Triads are the most powerful criminal syndicate in the world, controlling much of the world's drug trade and branching off in every major city. With the passing over of Hong Kong back to mainland China, more and more Triads flee Hong Kong every year, seeking their fortune in such profitable areas as the U.S.
Chiu-Chau The notorious Chiu-chau mafia effectively established itself as a major narco-trafficking force in Asia, processing and moving hundreds of tons of heroin through major Asian distribution centers to the United States. Drug Trafficing - Poppy/Heroin from China The Chiu chau group is originally from mainland Southern China, but has emigrated to other parts of Asia and the world. They have long been regarded as a clannish group, preserving personal connections and networks. The notorious Chiu-chau mafia effectively established itself as a major narco-trafficking force in Asia, processing and moving hundreds of tons of heroin through major Asian distribution centers to the United States. During the 1960s Chiu chau entrepreneur Lim Seng established heroin processing plants in Manila, and after forcing other smaller-scale heroin labs out of business, made use of already-established shipping routes to send #4 heroin to the United States on a large scale. Lim Seng's career abruptly ended when he was convicted and sentenced to death by a Philippine Army firing squad. During the late 60s, the Chiu chau sent Hong Kong chemists to the Golden Triangle to set up heroin No. 4 processing labs, and began exporting their product to American GI's stationed in Vietnam. The soldiers were receptive to the cheap, high-grade heroin, and by mid 1971, addiction rates among US GIs were estimated at a staggering 20%. For the Chiu chau, such brisk sales were seen as an indication of future profit to be had on the American market. Once the Vietnam War ended, the already-addicted American GI's headed home, often unwelcomed as a result of their activity in an unpopular war, and syndicates exploited this market and expanded their distribution strategies. The Chiu chau already had established processing plants in Hong Kong and distribution contacts in the United States, London, and Australia, so they operationalized couriers to fly between ports of call with multiple passports and successfully move narcotics from Hong Kong to the United States. Aside from its numbers, flexibility and strategy, a large portion of the Chiu chau's success has to do with its strict organization, and highly secretive nature.
Yakuza These Japanese mobsters are some the wealthiest and most ruthless. They are feared for their deadly skills in the arts of assassination. History of the Yakuza --- Feudal Japan Kabuki-Mono The yakuza can trace its origins back to as early as 1612, when people known as kabuki-mono ("crazy ones"), began to attract the attention of local officials. Their odd clothing and haircuts and behavior, along with carrying longswords at their sides, made them quite noticable. Kabuki-mono made a habit of antagonizing and terrorizing anyone at their leisure, even to the point of cutting one down just for sheer pleasure. The kabuki-mono were eccentric samurai, taking outrageous names for their bands and speaking heavily in slang. Their loyalty to one another was remarkable. They would protect each other from any threat, including against their own families. In fact, the kabuki-mono were servants of the shogun, also taking the name of hatamoto-yakko ("Servants of the shogun"). The groups were comprised of nearly 500,000 samurai that were forced into unemployment during the time of peace during the Tokugawa era, forcing them to become ronin ("Wave man," a masterless samurai). Many had turned into bandits, looting towns and villages as they wandered throughout Japan. The hatamoto-yakko cannot truly be seen as the forebears of that yakuza. Instead, the yakuza see the machi-yokko ("Servants of the town") as their ancestors. These people were the ones who took up arms and defended the villages and towns from the hatamoto-yokko. These people consisted of such occupations as clerks, shopkeepers, innkeepers, laborers, homeless warriors and other ronin. Everyone who was part of the machi-yakko was an adept gambler, which helped them develop a closely-knit relationship with each other and their leaders, much like today's yakuza. The machi-yakko soon became folk heroes, praised by the townspeople for their actions against the hatamoto-yakko, though they were, for the most part, untrained and weaker than the hatamoto-yakko. They were very similar to England's Robin Hood. Some of the machi-yakko were even subjects of stories and plays. The early yakuza did not surface until the middle to late 1700's. These members include the bakuto (traditional gamblers) and the tekiya (street peddlers). These terms are still used today to describe yakuza members today, although a third group, gurentai (hoodlums) has been added in the post World War II era. Everyone in those groups came from the same background: poor, landless, delinquents and misfits. The groups stuck closely in the same small areas without problems, as the bakuto remained mostly along the higways and towns, and the tekiya operated in the markets and fairs of Japan. The yakuza began organizing into families, adopting a relationship known as oyabun-kobun (father-role/chiledrole). The oyabun was the "father," providing advice, protection and help; the kobun acted as the "child," swearing unswerving loyalty and service whenever the oyabun needed it. The initiation ceremony for the yakuza also developed in this period of time. Instead of the actual bloodletting that was practiced by the Mafia and the Triads, the yakuza exchanged sake cups to symbolize the entrance into the yakuza and the oyabunkobun relationship. The amounts of sake poured into each cup depended upon one's status, whether the participants were father-son, brother-brother, elder-younger, etc. The ceremony was usually performed in front if a Shinto altar, giving it religious significance. Tekiya The tekiya's history is still widely debated. The most widely accepted theory was that the tekiya came from yashi, an earlier word meaning peddler. The yashi were travelling merchants of medicine, much similar to the American West's snake oil merchants. Over time, yashi became a catch-all for all merchants and peddlers. The tekiya united with each other for protection and mutual interest from the Tokugawa regime. They began to control the booths at fairs and markets. Their reputation for shoddy merchandise was well known and well-deserved. Their salesmanship was deceptive. They lied about origins and quality of products. The would act drunk and make a show of selling their wares cheaply, so it would appear that they were unaware of what they were doing. They would delude the customer.
The tekiya followed the usual yakuza organization: oyabun, underboss, officers, enlisted and apprentices. The oyabun controlled the kobun and the allocation of stalls along with the availability of the goods. He also collected rents and protection money, and would pocket the difference between the two. Everything they did was legal work. In the middle 1700's, the feudal authorities recognized and therefore increased the power of the tekiya. Oyabun were given the authority of supervisor, now being able to have a surname and carry two swords similar to samurai, in order to reduce the threat of turf wars due to widespread fraud. However, the tekiya still embraced some criminal traits, such as protection rackets, the harboring of fugitives and known criminals, and brawling with other tekiya and gangs. Bakuto --- the Gamblers The bakuto were first recognized during the Tokugawa era, when the goverment hired them to gamble with contruction and irrigation workers in order to regain a portion of the substantial wages the workers received. The bakuto contributed to Japan's tradition for gambling, as well as the yakuza's traditional "finger-cutting," and the origin of the word "yakuza." The word comes from a hand in a card game called hanafuda (flower cards), similar to blackjack. Three cards are dealt per player, and the last digit of the total counts as the number of the hand. A hand of 20, the worst score, gives the score of zero. One such losing combination is 8-9-3, or ya-ku-sa, which began to be widely used to denote something useless. This term began to be used about bakuto, as they were, on the whole, useless to society. Yubitsume, the custom of finger-cutting, was introduced by the bakuto. The top joint of the little finger is ceremoniously severed, signifying a weakening of the hand, which meant that the gambler could not hold his sword as firmly. Yubitsume was performed was usually performed as an act of apology to the oyabun. Further infractions would either mean the severing of the next joint or the top section of another finger. It is also used as a lasting punishment just before expulsion. The use of tattoos also came from the criminal aspect of the bakuto. Criminals were usually tattooed with a black ring around an arm for each offense he had committed. However, the tattoos soon became a test of strength, as they were applied by undergoing 100 hours for a complete back tattoo. The tattoo also marked a misfit, always unwilling to adapt themselves to society. Modernization of the Yakuza Restoration Years The Meiji Restoration, starting in 1867, gave Japan a rebirth and its first of many transformations into an industrial nation. Political parties and a parliament were created, as well as a powerful military. The yakuza also began to modernize, keeping in pace with a rapidly changing Japan. They recruited members from construction jobs and dockworkings. They even began to control the rickshaw business. Gambling, however, had to be even more covert, as police were cracking down on bakuto gangs. The tekiya, unlike the bakuto, thrived and expanded, as their activites were not illegal, at least not on the surface. The yakuza began to dabble in politics, taking sides with certain politicians and officials. They cooperated with the goverment so they could get official sanction, or at least some freedom from harassment. The government did find a use for the yakuza --- as aid to ultranationalists, who took a militaristic role in Japan's adaption into democracy. Various secret societies were created and trained militarily, trained in languages, assassination, blackmail, etc. The ultranationalist reign of terror lasted into the 1930's, consisting of several coups d'etat, the assassination of two prime ministers and two finance ministers, and repeated attacks on politicians and industrialists. The yakuza provided muscle and men to the cause and participated in "land development" programs in occupied Manchuria or China. Things changed, however, when Pearl Harbor was bombed. The government no longer needed the ultranationalists or the yakuza. Members of these groups either worked with the goverment, put on a uniform, or were put into jail.
Occupation Years The American occupation forces in post-war Japan saw the yakuza as a primary threat to their work. They began investigations into yakuza activities. In 1948, their work stopped, as the forces thought their investigation was over and the threat was at an end, or at least diminished. However, the forces had rationed food, thereby giving the black market business to keep the gangs in wealth and power. The gangs were able to act unhindered since the civil police was unarmed. Some occupation officials even aided the yakuza. The gurentai began to form during the occupation, as there was a power vacuum in the government, as the occupation swept away the topmost layer of control in government and business. The gurentai could be seen upon as Japan's version of the Mob, its leader similar to what Al Capone was to the Mob. They dealt in black marketeering, for the most part, but also they went so far as to use threat, extortion and violence in their activities. Their members were the unemployed and the repatriated. The goverment used one gurentai as a controller of Korean labor, even though he was apprehended with criminal items. The occupation forces soon saw that the yakuza was well organized and continuing to operate under two oyabun supported by unidentified high-level goverment officials. They admitted defeat in 1950, as they realized that they could not protect the Japanese people from the yakuza. In the post-war years, the yakuza became more violent, both on the individual and collective scales. Swords had become a thing of the past, and guns were now becoming the new weapon of choice. They chose ordinary citizens, not just the other vendors or gamblers or specific group targets anymore, as their targets for shakedowns and robberies. Their appearances also changed, taking American movie gangsters (a la Guys and Dolls) as their influence. They started wearing sunglasses, dark suits and ties with white shirts, and began to sport crewcuts. Between the years of 1958 and 1963, the number of yakuza members rose by over 150%, to 184,000 members, more than the Japanese Army. There were some 5200 gangs operating throughout Japan. Yakuza gangs began to stake out their territories, and bloody and violent wars began to break out between them. Kodama The man who brought peace between many of the yakuza factions was named Yoshio Kodama. Kodama was in jail for the early part of the occupation, placed in the same section as cabinet officers, military, and ultranationalists. He himself was part of the ultranationalist group Kenkoku-kai (Association of the Founding of the Nation). In the late 1930's and early 1940's he worked as an espionage agent for the Japanese government, touring East Asia. He worked on a major operation to obtain strategic materiel needed for the Japanese war effort. By the end of the war, he had obtained the rank of rear admiral (an impressive feat at the age of thirty-four), and was advisor to the prime minister. He was rounded up with other government officials in 1946 and placed in Sugamo Prison to await trial. The occupation forces saw Kodama as a high security risk, should he ever be released, due to his fanatacism with the ultranationalists. Kodama had made a deal with the occupation forces G-2 section, and upon his release, was working for the intelligence branch of G-2. He was the principal go-between for G-2 and the yakuza by 1950. In the early 60's, Kodama wanted the yakuza gangs, who were now fighting one another, to join together into one giant coalition. He deplored the warfare, seeing it as a threat to anticommunist unity. He used many of his connections to secure a truce between the gangs. He made a fast alliance between Kazuo Taoka, oyabun of the Yamaguchi-gumi faction, and Hisayuki Machii, a Korean crimeboss in charge of Tosei-kai. The alliance broke the Kanto-kai faction for good. Kodama continued to use his influence to mediate the alliance between the Inagawa-kai and its Kanto allies and Yamaguchi-gumi. The truce that Kodama had envisioned was now at hand. Yoshio Kodama was then referred to as the Japanese underworld's visionary godfather.
Modern Yakuza Yakuza Structure The structure of the yakuza is easy to follow, once the oyabun-kobun relationship is understood. As an example to explain the structure of command of a yakuza clan, the Yamaguchi-gumi (as of November 1991) will be used. The oyabun, Yoshinori Watanabe, is the head of the clan, residing at the Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters in Kobe. He obtained the position of the fifth oyabun (or kumicho, supreme boss) in 1989. His original gang was the Kobe-based Yamaken-gumi. Kazuo Nakanishi remains as a saiko komon, or a senior advisor. He resides in Osaka, with 15 sub-gangs under his control, giving him 439 members. Saizo Kishimoto is the so-honbucho, the headquarters chief, with 6 gangs members under his control in Kobe. Masaru Takumi is the wakagashira, or number-two man. He controls 941 members in 41 gangs in Osaka. Testuo Nogami is the fuku-honbucho, an assistant, with 8 gangs (164 members) in Osaka. Under the kumicho are various komon (advisors), Shingiin (counselors), kumicho hisho (kumicho's secretaries), kaikei (accountants), and wakagashira-hosa (underlings of the second-in-command). Keisuke Masuda is the number three man (shateigashira), residing in Nagoya with 4 gangs consisting of 111 members under his care. He also has severeal shateigashira-hosa to aid him. There are 102 senior bosses (shatei, "younger brothers") and numerous junior leaders (wakashu, "young men"), making up then 750 gangs with 31,000 members in the Yamaguchi-gumi. The Yakuza and Today's Japan Today's Japan does not appreciate the "noble" workings of the yakuza. In fact, on March 1, 1992, the Japanese goverment passed the Act for Prevention of Unlawful Activities by Boryokudan (yakuza or criminal gangs) Members. This act designates the term boryokudan as a group with more that a certain precentage of membership having a criminal record. It also identifies organizations with strong violent or criminal tendencies. The act mainly prohibits the boryokudans from realizing profits made from forms of extortion not covered in previous existing laws, i.e., protection rackets. The yakuza is avoiding being called a boryokudan, mostly by trying to hide behind actual businesses they use as fronts. They have also published a book as of late, entitled "How to Evade the Law," which was distributed among the members of the Yamaguchi-gumi. In fact, 77 gangs affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi are registered as businesses or religious organizations. In March of 1992, wives and daughters of yakuza members marched in protest of the new laws through the Ginza. The following month, high-ranking yakuza argued that they are not truly evil; their code of chivalry (similar to bushido, the Way of the Warrior) and samurai values calls upon them to defend the interests of society's weaker members, and their conduct expresses their noble values, not violence. However, these arguments were proven wrong in the public eye, when members of the yakuza ambushed and stabbed filmmaker Itami Juzo over an anti-yakuza movie entitled "Minbo no Onna" (A Woman Yakuza Fighter). A boryokudan defector commented on the attack, and was later found shot in the leg. Even outsiders of the yakuza have protested the new laws against them. Over 130 lawyers, professors, and Christian ministers proclaimed that the yakuza countermeasures were unconcitutional, basically on the grounds that they infringed basic rights, such as the freedom of assembly, the choice of occupation, and the ownership of property. In fact, even ordinary citizens are against the yakuza. Citizens of the neighborhood of Ebitsuka, a neighborhood of Hamamatsu, 130 miles SW of Tokyo, did not want yakuza activity in their backyard. The yakuza were operating out of a green building, that the neighbors quickly termed as burakku biru ("black building"). The citizens videotaped everyone who went in and out of the building, noting specifically the ones wearing flashy suits, dark glasses, short hair and hints of tattoos on their arms. The yakuza retaliated against the citizens, smashing windows of the local garage mechanic, stabbing the town's lawyer in the lung, and slashing another activist in the throat. However, after police arresting half of the gang, the Ichiri Ikka, led by Tetsuya Aono, abandoned the burakku biru in an out-of-court settlement, as they did not want to stir up trouble for gangsters elsewhere.
Yakuza in Business and Politics The yakuza has always been involved in politics and business right from the start. The groups are always hungry for more power and money, wherever they can find it. In 1987, Noboru Takeshita was elected prime minister in Japan. There were always suspicions of gangster ties in the election. When questioned on the accusations in 1992, Takeshita denied knowing at the time that the yakuza were involved. What happened was this: during one of his speeches, a group was blaring comments against Takeshita. Some other group of people had silenced the commentators. The Liberal Democratic Party kingmaker was made to resign from politics in October 1992 when he admitted to receiving Y500m ({\$4}m) from a delivery firm, Sagawa Kyubin. The owner of the firm, Hiroyasu Watanabe, paid the kingmaker for trying to help save his business. Watanabe admitted to asking Ishii Susumu, the late head of the Inagawa-kai, to silence the group. Susumu called in a gang from Kyoto, the Aizu Kotetsu, to do the job. Aizu Kotetsu had a grudge against Takeshita due to a confidence job (paying Y4 billion for a Y500m gold screen). Takeshita denied the screen deal, although money from it was given to his secretary. Shigeaki Isaka, who was very close to the leader of Aizu Kotetsu, would help Takeshita win the election, in order to have a hold over him, possibly for future blackmail. There is another yakuza incident that hits closer to home. West Tsusho, a Tokyo-based real estate firm, bought two American companies with help from none other than Prescott Bush, Jr, President Bush's elder brother. What wasn't known at the time was that West Tsusho is an arm of the a company run by the Inagawa-kai's leader, Ishii Susumu. Tsusho purchased Quantum Access, a Houston-based software firm) and Asset Management International Financing & Settlement, a New York City-based company. Bush received a {$250,000} finder's fee for Asset Manangement, as was promised another {$250,000} per year for three years in consulting fees. Bush was unaware at the time that he was being a middleman for mob activity. A Bleak Future? With the anti-yakuza countermeasure act in place, the future for the yakuza seems bleak, at least in Japan. The North American expansion could do very well, as they channel nearly {\$10} billion into legitimate investments not only in the US, but in Europe as well. The FBI is gearing up to handle the new threat from the yakuza, now that their handling of the Mafia is nearly complete. However, their investigations will be difficult, as they can operate though shell corporations without the close scrutiny that hampers crooks in other companies. Also, money laundering is not a crime in Japan, so the investigations into the money angles of the yakuza will be extremely difficult. However, Yakuza in Japan are already seeing their future weaken. Between April 21 and May 25 of 1992, police stations in many prefectures received nearly 145 calls from gangsters and their families asking advice on how to leave the gangs and go legitimate. In response to this, over 60 companies in Japan offered to take in reformed yakuza as employees. The future for the Yakuza as of right now is uncertain. Perhaps the gangs will still survive in Japan, moving back into the underground where they hid during the occupation. Perhaps they will just move their operations elsewhere, amongst the Triads of southeast Asia, with whom they have had good relationships and business. Only time will tell... The Yakuza is an all men's society. They do not trust women. The only visible woman in the group is the boss' wife, called ane-san. Ane-san means "older sister." All members g ive her the same respect as the boss because she is his wife. However, she does not get involved in the business. Her position in the group is the boss' wife, and not a member of a group. The yakuza do not trust women because they believe that women ar e weak. They believe that women cannot fight like men, that women are not born to fight. To a yakuza member, the most important thing is courage. If there is a battle, you must be ready to fight to the death, rather than lose the battle. Yakuza members must be willing to die for their boss. They feel women are born to be mothers and to take care of their husbands. This may sound old-fashioned, but all yakuza members believe that women should stay home and take care of the children and not meddle in men's business. Another reason the yakuza do not allow women in their organization is that no one can talk about the group to outsiders. The yakuza do not believe that women are strong enough to keep silent if interrogated by the police or their ene mies. If anyone speak out, that will be the end of the group. For all of these reasons, the yakuza are a man's society.
The yakuza have their own unique way of apologizing when they make a mistake, or do something wrong. It is called "Yubizume. " Yubizume is the act of cutting off their little finger and giving it to the person they are apologizing to, or Yubitsume is when you cut of one of your fingers and send it to the Kumicho. This is done as an apology for disobedience. It can be done to expiate a wrongdoing but can also be done to spare one of your "children". When you have done something that your Kumicho dislikes you take a sharp item, cut of a fingertip,wrap it in paper and send it to the Kumicho and beg for his forgiveness. If it's the first time you cut of the littlefingertip there after it becomes the next little-finger and so on. Because of that you see yakuza- members that are without several of his fingers. This helps often at wrongdoings, but if you done something all too seriously, as e.g betray the entire clan, theres nothing that helps you from being executed. The manner comes originally from Bakuto. If a gambler couldnt pay back a debt or something alike, the persons tip of the little- finger got cut off, which damage the hand somewhat. This did in its turn that the person in question not could hold his sword equally well as before. In that way other people could see if a person havnt paid a debt, which could bring certain problems, since gambling always been prohibited in Japan. This happened to one of the informant's younger members in the group. He fell in love with the daughter of his boss, which is forbidden withou t the boss' permission. They secretly met each other without anyone knowing. They wanted to get married, but they knew that the boss would be against their marriage. Moreover, the boy knew that the boss might kill him because he had broken one of the ya kuza's rules. Eventually they decided to run away, but they were found by one of the members and brought back to the base after two days. The daughter was just scolded by her father, but the young man was commanded to apologize to the boss the yakuza way. The informant, who was the senior in the group, brought a knife and white string and put them in front of the young man. The young man knew what was expected of him; he did not waver at all. He picked up the knife, held one end of the string between his teeth while holding the other end with his right hand, and tied it around the little finger of his left hand. He took a deep breath, and chopped off the tip of his little finger with the knife. Then, he wrapped the finger tip in a towel and gave it to his boss. The boss did not say anything to the young man, which meant that the boss accepted the apology. However, the young man was forced to leave the group. Whoever betrays the boss has to leave the yakuza society. In the yakuza society, if a member is jailed for any reason, he gains prestige when he is released from police custody. The informant joined the yakuza right after he graduated from high school. He did not have any power, as he was just a kid. When he was twenty years old, he was wo rking at the bar which the group owned. There was a small room for gambling in the back. Somehow the police found out and raided the bar. The police arrested two customers who were gambling and also two waitresses. The informant and a senior member, who w as the manager of the bar and gambling room, escaped. The police knew the yakuza owned the bar, and went to that group's base to see the boss. They told him that they had raided the bar, but some of his members had escaped, and the police wanted them. T he boss contacted the senior member and the informant to the base. He told them that the police had commanded him to send the man who was in charge of the gambling to the station. He added that he could not send the senior man to the police because nobody else could run the gambling. The informant understood what the boss wanted, and so turned himself in to the police. He was jailed for two years, but he became one of the seniors when he came out. The yakuza mainly make their living through unlawful businesses, such as gambling, drugs, prostitution and loan-sharking. Most of the money comes from gambling, most often from dice games. Each group has its own gambling room, which is usually behind a bar or restaurant. Food and drinks are served, but th e main purpose is gambling. The gamblers are chosen by the group. If they do not know them, they cannot gamble. The yakuza do not want the police to know about their business. There are several kinds of dice games. The most popular game is cho ka han ka which means odds or evens. The game is very simple, two dice are jiggled in a black bamboo cup and put on a tatami (Japanese mat). Next, all the gamblers bet on either odds or evens, and put the stakes on the tatami at the same time. The die thrower then says, "That's all, gentlemen," and everybody has to take their hands away from the cash. Then he says "Play," in a low voice. At that time, he opens the bamboo cup and announces either "chou" or "han." The stakes in this game are very h igh. If the gamblers are all yakuza, they can bet at least ten thousand dollars for one play. Sometimes they make more than a million dollars a day. In a traditional dice game, all gamblers are expected to be professional. When the gamblers come into a room, they do not speak. The only thing that is heard is the sound of money being put down. Even though this is an old style of gambling, many groups still play this game because all the yakuza like to follow the traditional way. The yakuza also make money from prostitution. They hire young girls whose are younger than eighteen years old.
There are many ways to make a profit from this business, but the most popular one is the "date club." Some groups make more than a million dollars a month from this business. The date club is a men's club. There is a membership fee of at least one thousand dollars to join. Most of the customers are the rich middle-aged men, such as doctors, lawyers, and company presidents. Club members are shown young girls' pictu res to choose from, and a date with the chosen girl is arranged. The men then have to pay a fee of about two hundred dollars for the date, and all expenses. After the date, the customer calls the club and tells them whether they liked the girl, and wheth er or not they would like another date. To have sex with the girl can cost at least one thousand dollars. The hiring of high school students as prostitutes is against the law. However, some high school students are willing to work as prostitutes as they can earn much more money than from any other part-time job. Most of the money that the yakuza make is spent on the purchase of weapons. Each group has its own territory. The territory is very important to the yakuza. When they do business, they cannot break into each other group's territory. If one group tries to break into another's territory it must be protected, usually through violence. In Japan, the general public cannot have a weapon without a permit, but the yakuza do not respect the law. Many citizens become victims of the yakuza's battles. When they are fighting, each group tries to kill the boss of the other group, because a group without a boss is weak and has no power to fight. For all members, the boss is God. Without him, they cann ot do anything. Whoever wins the battle takes over the group that lost and their territory. From these battles, one group named Yamada gumi became the biggest yakuza group in Japan. About fifty years ago, this group was small with only eighty members. Now they number over ten thousand. It was very hard for the third boss to control an organization that big, but he was a very strong man, and all the members respected him. Under the boss were eight seniors who had their own groups, which were part of Yamada gumi. Although the seniors respected the boss, the relationship between each other was not good. They were all ambitious men who wanted to become the fourth Yamada gumi boss. The third boss knew that the seniors would fight after his death if he did not decide who would be the fourth boss. The boss picked a man named Shindo. Compared to the other seniors, Shindo was older and able to control the other members. All the seniors agreed with the third boss's decision. At that time, Shindo was se rving a two-year sentence for gambling. One year after the boss announced his decision, he died of heart disease. Shindo was still in prison. The other seniors and ane-san (the boss' wife), had a meeting about who would substitute for Shindo until he was released. Ane-san decided to be the substitute until Shindo was released. As mentioned, women are not allowed to be members of the yakuza, but this was an emergency, and her decision was respected by all the members as she was the wife of the former boss. None of the seniors were against ane-san's idea. However, she did not know how to manage a group of that size, so she picked a senior, Kondo, to be her assistant. This was a mistake. The other seniors did not like her decision because Kondo beca me the nearest man to the next boss. Ane-san had the authority to decide everything about the group, but the assistant was the one who made all the proposals to the management. In their minds, the assistant was more important than ane-san because he could make any proposal he wanted. Kondo was an aggressive and smart man, so he called two seniors and persuaded them into helping him. The two were Yoshida and Kawasaki. Although both of them wanted to be the next boss, they did not have the power to fight fo r that. They decided to take the side of Kondo and help him. Unexpectedly, Shindo died in jail.
Ane-san strongly recommended Kondo, her assistant, but four seniors did not agree with her. Tada, the oldest senior, said that he would fight if he could not be the next boss. The other three seniors backed him up. Tada formed a new group with other three seniors. He named the group Eishin kai, Yamada gumi was now divided. Kondo finally became the fourth boss of Yamada gumi. He wanted to get all Eishi n kai's members back to Yamada gumi. Tada however, wanted to make Eishin kai the biggest yakuza group in Japan. Both of them wanted to be the boss of the biggest yakuza group. This started a bloody battle. Both groups had many subsidiary groups. These subsidiary groups started to fight all over Japan. At least ten members were killed. Ane-san tried to stop both Kondo and Tada from fighting, but it did not help. She did not have power anymore. One of the Eishin kai subsidiary bosses was ordered to k ill Kondo, which they did outside his condominium. Yoshida who was the senior of Yamada gumi took Kondo's place and became the fifth boss of the group. However, the battle between Yamadagumi and Eishin kai was not over. The informant told me that it was impossible for them to settle their disputes because neither of them wanted to compromise. In this particular battle, at least three citizens were killed by the yakuza. It is easy to see why the yakuza are so famous in many countries, and feared and hated by many people. The yakuza do not follow the law. They also have illegal businesses, and have had many battles which have killed innocent citizens. This continues to be one of the biggest social problems in Japan. Tattoos It's usual within yakuza circuits to tattoo themselves, usually is it their clan's badge that they tattoos in all over their body. The origin to why the yakuza tattooed himself comes from Bakuto. They usually tattooed in a black ring around the arm for each crime they committed. Finally it became an evidence of strength, when it could take over 100 hours to do a backtattoo.The tattoo was to illustrate you were unwilling to accommodate yourself to societies rules and norms. Now it is to illustrate your clan belonging.
The Yakuza Structure Freelance Yakuza Freelancing yakuza is a yakuza that not commit any bigger crimes and belongs to a little group of hustlers. They have however some difficulties to survive or not come into jail, because the clan- yakuza not allows anyone other to operate within their territories. Clan- yakuza can tip the police about crimes that the freelance yakuza havent commit. If the freelance- yakuza earns too much money, the clan- yakuza kills the freelancing- yakuza or make him disappear without a trace. Clan- yakuza can however have a certain use of a freelance yakuza. If the clan- yakuza shall do something that they not want the clan to be associated with, they can turn to a freelancing yakuza that, for a sum of money, does the job for them. A freelance- yakuza can also be used as a scapegoat if it acquires a guilty to a crime. If a freelancer is a truly genius he can manage to begin his own clan. Usually a freelance- yakuza becomes, if they not gets killed, a member in a clan. Clan-Yakuza Clan- yakuza belongs to a clan. The clan can be compared with the Sicilian mafias "family". The clan are structured as a common family in traditional Japan. The clan have a hierarchy structure. The clans head chief is called Oyabun, that means Father. Beneath him he have his children(Wakashu) and brothers(Kyodai). This is not his reel children and brothers without it's designations on which rank and position they have within the clan. All the members in the clan obeys Oyabun and in return he protect them against all dangers. Oyabun is almighty within the clan and his words is the law. All obeys him without hesitation also if it means danger for its own life. Beneath him, oyabun has an adviser that calls Saiko-komon that have a staff of advocates, accountants, secretaries and advisers. Saiko-mono holds with his own gangs. The children's(Wakashu), boss calls Waka- gashira. He is number two in the clan after Oyabun, not in rank but in authority. He act as an middleman to see that the oyabun orders that bin given are being accomplished. The children can also be leader over a own gang and the children in the gangs can be a boss over one in his trun and so on. In that way the clan becomes a ramification with several sub- families The oyabun "brothers", Kyodai, boss is called Shatei-gashira. Shatei-gashira is of higher rank than Waka-gashira but havent got more authority. "The Brothers" have its own "children" or "younger brothers"(Shatei). Shatei, has its have own gangs etc. Everyone obeys its gangleader, but its always the oyabuns word that counts.
The word yakuza means 8-9-3. Ya means 8, ku 9, za 3. it comes from Japans counterpart to Black Jack, Oicho-kabu. The generally difference between the both card games are that in Oicho-kabu the cards' objective is to be 19 instead of 21. As you see, the sum of 8, 9 and 3, is 20, which is without any worth in Oicho-kabu. It's from there the name, yakuza, comes from, they are without worth for society. This doesn't mean that they have no use in society, it means that the members are people who somehow do not fit into society - society's misfits.
Yamaguchi-gumi Is Japan's largest organized crime group, based in Kansai in the western part of the country. The oyabun to the Yamaguchi-gumi from the mid 1940's until his death in 1981 was Kazuo Taoka. He was the third oyabun of the faction. Taoka had survived many assassination attempts, including one in 1978, when he was shot in the neck by a member of the Matsuda (a rival yakuza clan who had sworn vengeance on the Yamaguchi-gumi for the death of their oyabun) during a limbo dance exhibition at the Yamaguchi-gumi household. The Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's most powerful syndicate. Their symbol is a rhombus-shaped pin worn on the lapel of their suits. The combination of the pin plus the showing of their tattoos could get them anything they wanted. However, the pin was not always as powerful as they seemed. In 1980, when the Yamaguchi-gumi attempted to expand their territory into Hokkaido, they were met at the Sapporo airport by 800 members of local gangs who united to keep the Yamaguchi-gumi out of their area. Nearly 2000 anti-riot-equipped police kept the two groups apart. The Yamaguchi-gumi were prevented from opening their headquarters in Sapporo. In July 1981, Taoka suffered and died from a heart attack, ending his 35-year rule as oyabun. His death was celebrated by his yakuza underlings in the finest yakuza style. Police raided Yamaguchi-gumi homes and offices across Japan, arresting 900 members, and taking such contraband as firearms, swords, and amphetamines. The funeral was grand indeed, bringing in members from nearly 200 gangs, singers, actors, musicians, and even the police (who attended dressed in riot gear). Taoka's successor was to be his number-two man, Yakamen. However, he was in prison and was not due to be released until late 1982. During the absence of Yakamen, everyone (including the police) was surprised to see that the new temporary leader was Taoka's widow, Fumiko. However, Yakamen did not succeed Taoka, for he died of cirrhosis of the liver. The entire structure of Yamaguchi-gumi was now in chaos. The Yamaguchi-gumi controlled over 2500 businesses, sophisticated gambling and loan-sharking, and invested heavily in sports and other entertainment under Taoka's 35-year rule as oyabun. They operated under the same patterns that had existed for the yakuza for over 300 years, basically depending upon the oyabun-kobun relationship that controlled the day-to-day management of the syndicate. The syndicate was grossing well over {\$460} million per year. Their management style was envied by such organizations as the Mafia and General Motors. The Yamaguchi-gumi had 103 bosses or various rank from well over 500 gangs. Each of these bosses fared well, making over {\$130,000} annually. A syndicate head would make {\$43,000} per month ({\$360,000} annually after deducting \$13,000 per month for entertainment and office expenses). Of course, this would depend upon the number of soldiers the boss had under him. The Yamaguchi-gumi began to deal in narcotics now, primarily amphetamines. Other fields of choice brought in a high capital: moneylending, smuggling, and pornography (hard pornography is illegal in Japan). Rigging baseball games, horse races, and public property auctions were commonplace for yakuza. Seizing real estate, entertainment halls, hospitals, and English schools were also done by the yakuza. During Fumiko Taoka's rule, the membership of Yamaguchi-gumi rose to 13,346 members from 587 gangs by the end of 1983. Their control stretched to 36 of Japan's 47 prefectures. A council of eight high-ranking bosses took control, under the guidance of Fumiko Taoka, in 1983. However, the syndicate had to select a new godfather. Masahisa Takenaka became the new oyabun, as everyone preferred his militant style over Hiroshi Yamamoto's (his opponent) interi (intellectual) yakuza. Yamamoto, in a fit of anger after losing, took 13,000 men from the Yamaguchi-gumi and created the Ichiwa-kai, one of Japan's top three syndicates. In 1985, Ichiwa-kai assassins slaughtered Takenaka, creating a bloody gang war. Kazuo Nakanishi became the new oyabun for Yamaguchi-gumi and declared war on the Ichiwa-kai. Police interfered and arrested nearly a thousand mobsters and confiscated many weapons. The Yamaguchi-gumi was desperate to win, so they turned to operations in the US to fund their war. They had obtained many highly illegal weaponry, including rocket launchers and machine guns, in exchange for narcotics, however the conspirators were arrested, including Masashi Takenaka, Masahisa's brother, and Hideomi Oda, the syndicate's financial controller. The Yamaguchi-gumi was thrown back into chaos.
Columbian Cartel A drug-running organization with ties to nearly every gram of cocaine in America today. Trust is very lacking, however. Cartel members always want bigger and bigger slices of the profits, no matter the cost. History Until recently, the Colombia-based drug trafficking organizations, collectively known as the Cali mafia, dominated the international cocaine market. Although some elements of the Cali mafia continue to play an important role in the world's wholesale cocaine market, events in recent years have accelerated the decline of the Cali mafia's influence. These events include the capture of the Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers in 1995, the death of Jose Santacruz-Londono in March 1996, and the surrender of Pacho Herrera-Buitrago in September 1996. In the absence of these powerful drug lords, the drug trade has become more decentralized. Power is swiftly passing to experienced traffickers who have moved out from under the shadow of the Cali traffickers and are now seizing opportunities to increase their own share of the drug trade. These enterprising traffickers come primarily from two areas. One is the northern Valle del Cauca region, of which Cali is the capital city, located on Colombia's southeast coast. The second area is the Caribbean North Coast. While traffickers in these regions operate more independently than the Cali mafia, they nevertheless remain very powerful and by working with counterparts in Mexico, are still responsible for most of the world's cocaine production and wholesale distribution. Arcangel de Jesus Henao-Montoya runs trafficking operations out of the Northern Valle del Cauca region. The HenaoMontoya organization is the most powerful of the various independent trafficking groups that comprise the North Valle drug mafia. Until Arcangel's brother, Jose Orlando, surrendered to Colombian authorities to face illicit enrichment and money laundering charges in September 1997, he led the organization. In November 1998, Jose Orlando was shot and killed in the maximum-security wing of Bogota's Modelo Prison. This organization has a well-deserved reputation for violence and is closely linked to the brutal paramilitary groups run by Carlos Castano. Once a second tier lieutenant in the North Valle Cartel, Diego Montoya-Sanchez now heads one of the major trafficking groups in the area. DEA information indicates that Montoya-Sanchez orchestrates multi-ton shipments of cocaine to Mexico, and the United States and considers him to be one of the most significant cocaine traffickers in Colombia today. He was the principal supplier to Alejandro Bernal-Madrigal, aka Juvenal, and Mexican organizations. Montoya-Sanchez reportedly controls cocaine processing facilities in southern Colombia and also arranges shipments of cocaine base from Peru. Jairo Ivan Urdinola-Grajales and his brother, Julio Fabio Urdinola-Grajales, head a major drug trafficking organization associated with the Northern Valle del Cauca drug organizations. The Urdinolas are related by marriage to the Henao-Montoya family. The CNP arrested Jairo Ivan in April 1992 and later sentenced him to four-and-a-half years in prison on drug trafficking charges. Julio Fabio surrendered to Colombian authorities in March 1994. In October 1997, a Colombian judge dismissed murder charges against Jairo Ivan Urdinola. However, the Prosecutor General's Office has filed additional drug trafficking charges against him. DEA reporting indicates that the Urdinola-Grajales brothers continue to run their drug organization from prison. Victor Patino-Fomeque, who surrendered to Colombian authorities in June 1995, had managed the Cali drug mafia's maritime drug smuggling operations in Buenaventura, Colombia. In May 1996, Patino-Fomeque received a 12-year prison sentence. Due to Colombia's lenient penal codes, however, Patino-Fomeque probably will not be required to serve out his full sentence. Furthermore, Patino-Fomeque continues to direct his drug trafficking organization from prison. The Ochoa Brothers (Fabio, Juan David, and Jorge Luis) ran the most powerful of the Medellin drug trafficking organizations in the late 1980s. The Ochoa brothers voluntarily surrendered to the Colombian Government in late 1990 and early 1991. In July 1996, Juan David and Jorge Luis were released from prison after serving about five-and-a-half years. Fabio was released in September 1996, but was arrested by Colombian authorities in October 1999. In March 1996, Juan Carlos Ramirez-Abadia (aka "Chupeta") surrendered to Colombian authorities. Chupeta is believed to have surrendered, in part, for fear of his personal safety and to be eligible for a more lenient prison sentence.
In December 1996, Chupeta was sentenced to 24 years in prison, but may actually serve as few as seven-and-a-half years. In March 1998, a reliable DEA source reported that Jorge Orlando Rodriguez, aka "El Mono," has assumed control of the day-to-day operations of the Chupeta organization. However, Ramirez-Abadia continues to be involved in the major decisions involving the organization's activities. This reliable DEA source also reported that Chupeta's net worth was approximately $2.6 billion. Alejandro Bernal-Madrigal (aka "Juvenal") was a Bogota-based transportation coordinator for top Mexico- and Colombiabased traffickers. He was responsible for multi-ton shipments of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico for onward transport to the United States. Juvenal also transported large amounts of drug money to Mexico. He was arrested in October 1999 by Colombian authorities. Hugo Herrera-Vasquez heads a Cali-based trafficking organization that moves large quantities of cocaine from Colombia to the United States via Central America and Mexico. The Herrera organization also launders drug money destined for Colombia. Cash, wire transfers, and monetary instruments are used to move drug proceeds from the U.S. Southwest Border area to Colombia through Mexico and Panama. The DEA anticipates that Colombia-based cocaine trafficking organizations will remain the dominant players in the international cocaine trade into the 21st Century. Traffickers from Colombia continue to control the supply of cocaine at its source, have a firm grip on Caribbean smuggling routes, and dominate the wholesale cocaine markets in the eastern United States and in Europe. They are also aggressively increasing their share of the U.S. heroin market.
Organization Colombian organized groups are called cartels and are structured in what the text cites as "onionlike" layers of organizational power. Kingpins and managers are located in the center surrounded by layers of subordinates who are responsible for directing various aspects of operations. Included are growers, smugglers and small-time distributors. The next layer is lawyers, bankers, corrupt politicians and others who support and protect the organization and benefit from it while never understanding its entire scope. These people are easily replaced. Columbian drug cartels exert power over Colombian society by the terrorizing impact of criminal organizations. Colombia is home to 140 right wing paramilitary squads and six Marxist guerrilla groups. The murder rate in Colombia exceeds the New York City murder rate by two and one half times . Within Colombian cartels emerged four principal cartels which were the most active in cocaine trafficking: the Cali cartel, Bogota cartel, North Atlantic Coast cartel and the Medellin cartel. These cartels worked through collaboration to set prices and eliminate any effective competition. Cartels are communities with shared interests of greater or lesser duration, they are groups that pool their shipments, share methods of transportation and exchange information vital to drug operations. The cartels function like traditional business except they use violence to eliminate any competition and initiate threats and intimidation against those who do not except bribery. Cali Cartel is the largest of the four controlling an estimated 70 percent of the raw cocaine transported from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru for processing in Colombia. The Cali and Medellin Cartels worked together until 1987 by pooling funds to defend their members as well as working with the Basque ETA organization, a Spanish terrorist group noted for its expertise in the use of car bombs.
The Medellin Cartel In 1988 the United States State Department announced that Americans should stay away from the city of Medellin due to the criminal activities of the Medellin Cartel. This was based on the fact that the cartel claimed this city as their international base of operations. The cartel was headed by four individuals: Pablo Escobar, Jorge Ochoa, Jose Rodriguez and Carlos Lehder. The cartel began in the 1950s when small amounts of cocaine were shipped to Cuba. The cartel was organized in the 1970s by Escobar who was until then, a car thief. His idea was to convert his car theft routes to drug trafficking while Carlos Lehder made use of small aircraft to smuggle cocaine into the United States. Escobar's criminal influence earned him the reputation as one of the most dangerous and wanted fugitives in the world. He systematically organized small-time criminals into a large, almost bureaucratic crime machine that operated with the efficiency of a multinational corporation. With an army of 1,000 assassins he ordered the killing of rival cartel members and many law enforcement as well as public figures. Jose Rodriguez-Gacha, another original player in the cartel was known to be one of the most vicious. His trademark was to inscribe his initials on his bullets and in 1989 after an extensive search he was tracked to a farm belonging to Escobar and ultimately shot and killed by government troops. Luis Carlos Gacha was assassinated by unknown assassins, also in 1989. He achieved prominence by organizing military squads made up of landowners to wage a campaign against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Jorge Luis Ochoa was taken into custody in Spain. Drug Enforcement Agents told him they would arrange his release if he implicated the Sandinistas in drug-smuggling operations. Ochoa refused and Spain refused to extradite Ochoa to the United States. Ultimately he was sent back to Colombia where he was "mistakenly" released from custody. In 1991, Pablo Escobar surrendered to Colombian officials as part of a plea agreement. He served a short stint in a luxurious prison which Escobar helped design and was placed in charge of the prison. He demanded and received a bomb shelter and authority to close air space over the jail because he feared that his enemies from the Cali Cartel would kill him. When the government was made aware of the situation, Escobar was moved to a regular prison but while in transport he escaped into the jungle prompting a 16 month search. He was located in Medellin and was killed by government officers. Although the Medellin cartel is now defunct, the cocaine trade is still thriving, even with the death of Escobar. The Cali Cartel Colombia's third largest city, Cali has a booming economy with approximately 40 multinational companies based in the area. Interestingly, the illegal drug trade has served to boost the city's financial status. Some fear that with the elimination of the Medellin Cartel, a "Medellinization" is currently underway. The term Medellinization implies an increased wave of violence provoked by drug lords against both the people and government of Colombia who oppose and hinder the drug rackets of local cartels. The concern is such that American officials of the State Department and Drug Enforcement Agency no longer share criminal intelligence with the Colombian government. The Cali Cartel was thought to be an organization consisting of loosely affiliated and cooperating trafficking groups. The organization demonstrated an ability to work with other groups such as the North Atlantic Coast and unlike the Medellin Cartel, the Cali cartel was careful to conduct its operations in a discreet, businesslike manner. The ruling managers of the Cali Cartel were Jose Santacruz Londono, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela and his brother Miguel. Santacruz was the designer of worldwide trafficking, while Rodriguez was in charge of financing transactions and laundering money. Alliances were forged between Cali managers and the Japanses Yakuza; European and Asian markets are attractive for Colombian traffickers because of the potential profits. The cartel perfected ways to hide drugs in all types of legitimate cargo. Whenever American agents located a shipment, the cartel responded by adopting a new shipper, using different routes and employing more clever deceptions. These decisions were overseen by the corporate office, keeping tabs through daily or sometimes hourly telephone calls. Each cell was directed by a manager called a Caleno, and staffed by relatives and neighbors who salaries were based on an account system in Cali. A strict code of conduct was rigidly enforced such as nondescript clothing and four door family type cars. Drunkenness was not permitted nor were loud parties and the system permitted few defections. The penalty for rule breakers was death for both the cell member and his/her entire family. Cali Cartel traffickers operated in a very complicated but effective way. During 1995 and 1996, five major leaders of the Cali cartel were arrested and in 1996, Jose Santacruz Londono was shot by an elite police squad in Meddellin. Current Trends: Colombian Drug-Trrafficking Organizations Law enforcement efforts were successful in decentralizing the cocaine trade in Columbia, however several veteran traffickers from both the Cali and the Medellin cartel have now become powers on their own. Today cartels tend to operate independently of each other and delegate much responsibility for cocaine smuggling and wholesaling to syndicates in Mexico.
La Eme and the Mexican Drug Traffickers "Gang members who end up serving time in jail as adults often graduate to the toughest gang of all--the Mexican Mafia, or "La Eme," a prison-based gang that controls drug sales in San Antonio. Joining the Mexican Mafia is equivalent to playing in the major leagues. Drivebys become planned executions, and drug sales and racketeering replace auto theft and vandalism. Members are recruited in prison. Young street-gang members taking their first trip to the penitentiary often choose the hard-core gang lifestyle of the Mafia for the protection it offers in jail." The Mexican Mafia, also known as the New Family, is a militant revolutionary group in the California Prison System. They are known to use violent and disruptive attacks against the California Department of Correction Authority. They engage in rebellion, insurrection and destruction of Prison property. This group is made up of primarily Mexican-American convicts from the barrios of East Los Angeles. They have expanded power outside of the penal facilities and are organized into ethnic groups who are trying to control narcotics, contract killings, robbery and forgery. This group is antiblack and has aligned itself with the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacy movement . Operational styles between various drug traffickers differ considerably. For example, although Mexicans and Colombians are both involved in the drug trade, Colombian drug traffickers make use of modern technology while Mexicans prefer a more traditional approach. Mexican traffickers send several truckloads of drugs at a time operating on the assumption that only one will be searched. Narcoterrorism Terrorist groups are fueled by political motives while organized crime is generally associated with a profit motive. Since the early 1970s, the drug trade has fostered narcoterrorism, evident in countries such as Jamaica, Colombia and Myanmar. Drug trafficking and terrorism are parallel businesses; drug money provides the terrorist with cash for weapons, while the drug traffickers use terrorist methods to protect sources of supply and internal discipline as well as the integrity of the organization. The Colombia/Panama/Cuba Connection Examples of terrorist links to the drug trade in countries such as Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Myanmar illustrate the magnitude of the terrorist situation in Central and South America. The United States Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee learned that Fidel Castro himself created a system of drugs and arms between the United States and Central and South America. The Nicaraguan Connection During the late 1970's Fidel Castro saw a link between the drug trade and revolution. Using the drug trade to further his own interests, he used the power and money produced by drug trafficking to launch a revolution in Central America. Following the lead of Panama's Manuel Noriega, he aligned himself with drug traffickers; this connection led to the involvement of the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. The Shining Path This organization controls the Huallega Valley in Peru where more then 60 percent of the world's coca is produced. Founded by Abimael Guzman in 1970, the group embraced Maoism during several vists to China. The purpose of the Shining Path is to have a rural based revolution to rid the peasant population of the imperialistic influences of the United States and other foreign governments. The arrest of Guzman in 1992 lessened the strength of the Shining Path however they are still thought to carry out extensive terrorist operations. Burmese Communist Party Since 1948, in Myanmar, the Burmese Communist Party has been attempting to control the Shan State. The Shan State is the primary opium poppy cultivation area in the Golden Triangle, adjoining Laos and Thailand. For years the BCP was involved with extorting tax money from opium farmers in the region. The BCP now controls its own heroin refineries, most of the opium grown in the Northern Shan State.
Shan United Army In the 1960' and 70s, the Shan United Army was an insurgent group fighting for the independence of the Shan State . They now focus on manufacturing heroin. Through heroin smuggling they finance the insurgency. This represents an example of an insurgent group that has traded its political zeal for the immense profits of drug trafficking. The head of the SUA is Kuhn Sa, although he never went past elementary school he formed his own army out of the remnants of a local militia. The Mexican Mafia requires a vote of three members to make a new member or murder an existing member, but does not require a vote for a member to kill a nonmember. Mexican Mafia members have to follow four rules: they cannot (1) be an informant; (2) be a homosexual; (3) be a coward; or (4) disrespect or politick against another member. Death is the automatic consequence for violation of any of the first three rules, and only a member can carry out the murder of another. While in prison, the Mexican Mafia expects its members to engage in drug trafficking, extortion, and any other activity to acquire money and exert power and control over other inmates. Outside prison, Mexican Mafia members meet regularly to discuss and vote on actions in furtherance of the members' illegal activities. The Mexican Mafia is affiliated with the Sureos. Leadership of the Mexican Mafia is split between two rivals, one of whom comes from one of East L.A.'s Maravilla gangs while the other comes from the Inland Empire's South Ontario Black Angels gang. Communication in Prison In prison, Mexican Mafia members communicate by having meetings in the exercise yard, sending messages through visitors or inmates who were transferred between prisons, and passing small notes known as "kites" or "wilas". Further, Mexican Mafia members operate under a "code of silence", which obligates them to deny any membership in or knowledge of the organization.
Cuban Mafia INTRODUCTION A crime confederation, made up of groups of Cubans does exist. This syndicate of crime, in only a ten year span, has risen at a pace unparalleled by any other group, and it is still gaining momentum. The term "Cuban" will be used throughout to facilitate reference to the Cuban criminal element, and it is not meant to generalize on the nationality. Much is being written on the rise of the Black and Puerto Rican Mafia but nothing specifically on Cubans. ITS ORIGIN The Cuban criminal element is a well organized, politically powerful, crime confederation. Ironically, this has not been achieved in the traditional way, that is poor immigrants struggling through a visa quota to enter the United States; once here, using force and violence to reassert themselves as other groups before them have done, like the Irish, Jews, Italians. On the contrary, Cubans were indiscriminately welcomed with open arms as political refugees. Unfortunately, mingled with the bulk of honest citizens, come the professional criminal. Men who in Cuba had lived outside of the law, arrived to this country seeking to continue, covered by the protective mantle of a democratic government, their illicit trade. The criminal element which arrived in this country after Castro took over was not the ghetto material in the classical sense. It was a well trained, crime-wise, sophisticated element, with established connections throughout Latin America, and the American underworld. Connections with the American mob were cemented in the latter part of the 1950's when in 1956 Meyer Lansky moved the bulk of his casino operations to Cuba. There he formed a partnership with Santos Trafficante which controlled all the major gambling casinos on the island. The corruption and complete mob control which flourished in Cuba from 1956 to 1959 is paralleled only by what occurred in Chicago during the Capone era. Everyone, from the policeman on the beat to the President of the Republic, received his cut from the mob. The Central Intelligence Agency played a big part in the rapid growth of the Cuban syndicate by providing it with expert training in the use of firearms, explosives and clandestine methods of operation. In 1960, in an attempt to overthrow the Castro regime, thousands of Cubans were recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency and trained in clandestine warfare. Prior criminal experience combined with the new found techniques resulted in a highly polished criminal which in some instances makes a Cosa Nostra member look like a cub scout. On December, 1970 Dennis Dule, then an agent with the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, stated before a hearing of the Greater Miami Crime Commission that there was such a thing as a Cuban Mafia. Mr. Dale was nor far from the truth and he can be accredited with being the first person to publicly recognize that such a thing as a Cuban criminal organization existed. Although the writer does not agree with the term Cuban Mafia, for reasons which will be explained, enough intelligence has been gathered by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies which indicates the existence of a Cuban crime confederation. A confederation made up of small, organized groups, loosely connected, with no strong central government and complete local Autonomy, which control large gambling operations, and practically all of the drug importation into south Florida. RISE AND FALL OF THE CUBAN MAFIA The term Cuban Mafia denotes an organization having the same structural make-up as, or at least connected with, the Italian Cosa Nostra. While this may have been the case at one time, it is certainly not so now. There are no Capodecinas, Consiglieres, or Commissions in the Cuban groups. Moreover, the Cubans are regarded as unpredictable, and too violent by the now public relations conscious Cosa Nostra. They have been left alone to do their own thing, and are doing it quite successfully. In 1959, after being chased out of Cuba by Castro, Trafficante did attempt to cash in on the potential profits of a well organized lottery operation, in the rapidly expanding Cuban colony in Miami. He did it by helping old friends from Cuba like Domingo Echemendia,* and Evaristo Garcia Sr. and taking a cut from their operations. "My father saw Trafficante and Trafficante introduced my father to J.D. and that's how my father started operating out here. "We knew Trafficante from Cuba, and there we did favors." There were other Cubans working for Trafficante in Miami at that time, including Evaristo Garcia. Garcia took over Echemendia's operation after the latter died, and extended it to include shylocking. On December 3, 1967; at a meeting of the Cuban gambling combine of Miami, Santo Trafficante proposed Evaristo Garcia Sr. as lay-off man and seniorbanker for this area. With Trafficante's backing he was considered the "Number One Man" for Cuban gambling interests. His handle on bolita operations based on the Puerto Rican lottery was estimated at $40,000. per week. That's a yearly operation of over $2,000,000. which did not include shylocking activity.
In June 1969, Garcia, his son Jr. and Lazaro Milian, were indicted by a federal Grand Jury and charged with obstruction of justice. Later that same year, the elder Garcia jumped his $100,000. Bond and fled to Costa Rica where he still lives in order to avoid prosecution. Garcia Jr., Lazaro Milian, and Oscar Alvarez, continued with Trafficante's rapidly decaying Cuban operation. It did not last very long. Milian and Alvarez had themselves been arrested on October 1968 by Dade County deputies for conducting a lottery operation. At the time of the arrest Milian and Alvarez assumed that the arrest was nothing more than a shake-down by the deputies for more money. They attempted to bribe the deputies, consequently, additional charges were placed on the two subjects. Surprised and angered by the detectives' actions, they complained that they had been making regular payments to another deputy in order to operate free from police harassment. This outburst led to the infamous Celona confessions. Milian and Alvarez were convicted, and after serving 8 months in minimum security confinement, were given 5 years probation. On Jan. 1971; Garcia Jr. and Lazaro Milian fled to Costa Rica to join the elder Garcia. The subjects are not expected to return to the United States. Since the break-up of the Garcia operation no evidence of any king has turned up indicating that Trafficante has any control over Cuban gambling activities in Dade County. STRUCTURAL SKELETON Cubans who upon arrival in the United States were relocated in other cities throughout the nation, make for valuable connections on a national level. Internationally, connections have been made with Cubans who migrated to other countries directly from Cuba; in addition to those who have fled the United States fearing prosecution for crimes committed. One such country is Spain, which had been to the Cubans what Italy is to the Italian-American mobsters. No other group has enjoyed the mobility, ready-made connections, and freedom of operations as the Cubans have. A factor which has made difficult for law-enforcement to view the Cuban groups in perspective is the lack of organizational structure. Unlike the Cosa Nostra, there are no families or members with formal ranks. A Cuban group may consist of a group of men, working for a financial backer rather than a boss.** Each having different levels of responsibility, but no defined rank position. They are held together by the profit motive, not any family or group loyalty. If the particular illicit activity becomes unprofitable or risky due to police concentration, the backer may discontinue its' financing and disband the group. The members may then look for other going groups which may need their services. The backer himself may change the type of activity and continue operating; or may lay low until the pressure sub-sides, then continue with his activities. It is interesting to note that the Cosa Nostra, after being the dominant force in organized crime in this country for over forty years, is moving more towards the nebulous structure described above. Publicity and new laws given to law-enforcement agencies to fight organized crime have made it too risky to be boss. In addition, the respect and prestige that rank and formal membership once brought to the old timers, is not much sought after by their college educated descendants. The swift, smooth, unnoticed rise of the Cuban groups, has been unparalleled by any other group in the history of crime in this country. There are several reasons which have made it so, some have already been explained in preceding chapters. Let us examine others. No other ethnic group has been so openly received by this country. This has made possible ample ethnic reserves to draw from. As of February 28, 1970, one of every four citizens in Dade Country was of Cuban origin, with 240,716 resettled elsewhere in the United States. Another reason has been the lack of competition by existing groups in control. Besides being as clannish, or perhaps more so, as the Cosa Nostra, they are also more apt to violence since they have been unhindered by the public lime-light from which other groups suffer. Because the Cuban community has had a relatively low incidence rate of street crime i.e. rape, muggings, assaults, robberies, the Cuban groups have been completely ignored by the public in general. TRIANGLE OF DRUGS "There is a confederation of Cuban hoodlums who make up a triangle of associates in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the United States." (5) The triangle refereed to, is made up of Cubans who reside in the United States, South American and Spain. This confederation has become strong to the point of dealing direct in major drug transaction; thereby eliminating a middle man. In some instances it has played the role of middle man for other groups dealing in narcotics. Cubans dealing in Spain and South America are dealing directly with conversion laboratories operating in Marseilles, France and various countries in South America. The Cuban confederation has set up its own smuggling routes into the United States involving shipments values in millions of dollars. Cubans are the major importers of heroin and cocaine into the United States today. "They're moving tremendous amounts of heroin and cocaine to the point where they rival, if not surpass, the traditional organized crime elements in the United States." (6) One can easily measure the rate of growth of the Cuban confederation by observing that the illicit drug trade in this country is being rapidly monopolized by an organization which has been in existence for less than 15 years.
CUBAN LOTTERY The large sums of money which are required for high-level deals come from the same source which usually finances all other types of illicit ventures, illegal gambling. Aside from the few who started by dealing in small quantities of drugs and later bank-rolled themselves into the big time; profits from illegal gambling operations have been the starting point for most. Cuban owned business chains have been established in the hub of Dade County by profits from illegal gambling. Most of those businesses today are being used to front all types of illicit activities, from liquor and meat high-jacking, to cocaine shipments; the most prevalent being, of course, gambling. The gambling situation in the Cuban community is somewhat unique. Generations of Cubans have grown up with gambling as a way of life; for Cuba had its own national lottery. All forms of gambling were legal; from cock-fighting to casino operation. The common numbers operation was illegal; However, a policeman betting a quarter on a number with the local writer was a common sight. Gambling in the Cuban community is extremely widespread, it permeates social life; yet, gambling arrests are relatively few compared to other sections of the city. A great number of old honest, law-abiding citizens, proud of having worked all their lives, view writing numbers and selling lottery as an opportunity to earn extra income which would keep them out of the welfare rolls. The advantages of hiring these people are twofold. First, no one wants to arrest a 65 old woman for writing numbers; if they are arrested, chances of a jail sentence are almost nil. Second, by giving the old folks a chance to make some extra money the operation Robin-Hood image is enhanced; thus perpetuating the operation. The biggest lottery and numbers operation in Dade County is financed and operated by a Cuban banker.*** His name is not mentioned here for obvious reasons; however this has been verified by intelligence exchange with other law enforcement agencies and extensive use of confidential informants. CORRUPTION AND SOLUTION No knowledgeable person in law-enforcement will argue that vice cannot exist in a community without some form of official corruption. Is there vice in the Cuban community of Dade County? Most definitely yes; as we have already observed. Is there corruption? The answer can only be one, yes. However, corruption may only be incidental to the real problem or perhaps result of it; and not the true cause. The real problem, as was the case with the Cosa Nostra, may be failure to recognize that there is a Cuban confederation of crime; that a criminal conspiracy to beat the system does exist in the Cuban community. We must educate the public as we educate ourselves The Kefauvers and the McClellans have already served their need by placing a name tag and giving a face to one ghost. Let us not have to resort to them again. Let us do our own identifying. Let us attempt to combat this new ghost now; before the next grant is issued to teach us all about the Cuban Crime Confederation. * Echemendia had fronted for Trafficante as part owner of the Tropicana Casino Nightclub which was considered as one the world's finest. He died in 1965. ** Boss as used here, denotes gang leader or family head. *** Banker as used here devotes who finances a number operation, not connected with legitimate banking profession.
Cuban Drug Traffickers After several failed attempts to buy the Cuba from Spain, the U.S. drove the Spanish out during the Spanish-American War. The U.S. military occupied the island for the next four years. The first refugees came to the United States during this period and they tended to be wealthy, educated and professional.
In 1959, Cuba gained its independence from the United States through a revolution led by Fidel Castro. Seeing him as a communist threat, the United States welcomed Cuban refugees. These groups of migrants continued to be light-skinned elite, upperand middle-class Cubans, who lost their jobs, possessions and freedom due to Castro's regime. The U.S. provided refugee aid to help with housing, employment, health care and education. Another increase in Cuban immigrants took place during the early 1980s. This group of immigrants also included poor and uneducated people, and almost half of the group was dark-skinned. Some of the immigrants had mental-illnesses or used to be criminals. Said to be dangerous and incalculable, these immigrants were placed in tent cities next to military bases, where some of them remained into the late 1980s. The United States changed their immigration policy towards Cuba after this and started to send the arriving immigrants back. Compared to other Latino and Hispanic Americans, Cuban Americans are have to face less prejudices, are economically successful and well-educated. This is the case because many Cubans immigrated with a high education level, and they also received more financial help by the United States. Still, poverty is a challenge for many Cuban Americans. After their immigration, they had to work very hard until they got jobs equivalent to the positions they used to have in Cuba. Since 1959, more then one million Cubans have arrived in the United States. A significant number have been documented as having close ties to drug trafficking operations. The greatest concentration of criminals was in the Mariel Harbor exodus, with nearly 2 percent being classified as the criminal element. More than 10,000 Cubans took part in this exodus and became known as Marielitos who have joined drug organizations as enforcers and collectors. In April 1980 Fidel Castro threw open the harbor at the fishing port of Mariel to allow boats to come and go. For years Castro had been irritated with American immigration policy, which treated Cubans differently from other foreigners. Any Cuban who made it to American soil could expect asylum. With the opening of Mariel, CubanAmericans jumped into boats and headed south to pick up friends and relatives left in Cuba. When they arrived in Mariel, Castros soldiers filled the boats with the occupants of Cubas jails and hospital wards for the criminally insane. Castro was snookering us, Reno said. Dade County bore the brunt of it. In less than 5 months, more than 120,000 Cubans entered Miami. Many of the so-called Marielitos found their way into Latin American drug networks. Renos office, already overworked, was overwhelmed. Her 130 prosecutors handled more than 25,000 felony cases in 1980-81, up from 15,000 in 1977-78.
Motorcycle Gangs are Big Business Drugs, prostitution finance their operations Motorcycle Clubs Methamphetamine Labs Put aside those notions of the freedom of the road, the wind whipping through your hair, leather chaps and jacket flapping motorcycle gangs are big business now and the oldstyle outsiders who shun society have been replaced by formal institutions that are just as much organized crime as the Italian mobsters at the corner candy store. History The American outlaw motorcycle club grew out of the restlessness experienced by a small number of soldiers mostly airmen who returned from World War II unable to reintegrate into the quiet society they left. With a desire to relive a bit of the excitement they missed from the war, some vets began drifting around the country on large-block Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles. Hollywood latched onto the idea of the rebel on the open road and pumped out high-and low-budget films about the gangs with stars like Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson and, of course, Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider. The first incident of violence directly linked to motorcycle gangs was the Hollister, California incident on July 4, 1946 when the American Motorcycle Association sponsored its annual Dirt Hill Climb Races. Hollister, with its police force of seven men was illequipped for the number of bikers who came from all over to participate. The Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington and the Market Street Commandos were two of the larger gangs in attendance and street racing and fights were common. When a member of the POBOB was jailed for disturbing the peace, a large group of bikers tore the town apart trying to free the man. The myth of the American biker was born. Today The Hells Angels are the most prominent international motorcycle group and are formally incorporated to prevent abuse of the Hells Angels name and image. The incorporation fits the modern Angels: they are a business. They are known for producing methamphetamines (crank), PCP and LSD. The club grows and distributes marijuana and most chapters have loansharking and prostitution businesses as well. Besides the Hells Angeles, the Pagans motorcycle club ranks as one of the most feared in America. Active mostly in Americas Eastern area, the Pagans reportedly have more than 900 members in 44 chapters. They are considered one of the more nomadic gangs, as well. Law enforcement intelligence reports that the Pagans make a great deal of money through prostitution. Many of their prostitutes are young runaways who are coerced into the practice through threats, violence and intimidation. More than any other gang, the Pagans enjoy a close relationship with traditional ethnic organized crime. According to the Connecticut Attorney Generals office, the Pagans distribute approximately $15 million per year in methamphetamines. Security is taken care of by the Black T-shirt Gang. There is reportedly only one penalty for violating gang law: a .38 automatic fired into the back of the head. The Bandidos were formed in 1966 in Houston, Texas. The gang is also known as the Bandido Nation and is the fastest-growing outlaw gang in America. Active in the American Southwest, the gang reportedly has 500 members. The gang is allied with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
Harry J. Bowman In 1999, the FBI arrested Harry Joseph Bowman, head of the Outlaws who had been on the FBIs Most Wanted List since 1997. He disappeared after being indicted for a variety of racketeering charges. Bowman, who goes by the name Taco, was accused of murdering two Outlaws members in Florida and Indiana and the slaying of the president of a rival gang, the Warlocks. The racketeering charges against him included bombing two rival clubs headquarters. Their dislike of Hell's Angels is expressed in their slogans AHAMD, or All Hell's Angels Must Die, and ADIOS, or Angel's Die in Outlaws States. They also dislike the Pagans and the Warlocks, according to information filed with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. For most of Bowmans term as leader of the Outlaws, Wayne "Joe Black" Hicks was his right-hand man. Hicks became Florida's regional president in 1990. At a meeting with Bowman, Hicks reported that Alan "Greaser" Wolfe, an Outlaw, had testified before a grand jury. Bowman, who distributed Outlaws tee shirts bearing the slogan "snitches are a dying breed," told Hicks to take care of him. Hicks and another member revoked Wolfe's membership and beat him. The next year, Bowman ordered an Outlaw probationer, Dirt Ankerich, to murder a third man, Bear Chaffin. Ankerich went into Chaffin's garage, shot Chaffin four times in the back of the head, and ran away, thus earning his Outlaws patch and the special lightening bolts denoting him as a killer. In June 1994, numerous Outlaws descended on Gary, Indiana, to attend an event at a local speedway. This event was also customarily attended by the Invaders, another motorcycle club. The Outlaws suspected that the Invaders were affiliated with the Hell's Angels. On the night before the event, Bowman met with attending Outlaw presidents. Randy "Mad" Yager, the president of the Gary Outlaws, also held a meeting with the attending Outlaws and announced that they were to attack the Invaders at the speedway. To carry out this attack, the Outlaws planned to use a "war wagon," or a vehicle modified with steel plating and several gun ports. The war wagon was equipped with firearms and other weapons to facilitate the attack. The Outlaws drove the war wagon to the speedway, but no Invaders ever arrived. After the war wagon left, it was stopped by Gary police officers. The officers seized firearms, ammunition, and smoke grenades from inside the war wagon. In 2000, Bowman was convicted of multiple racketeering counts and sentenced to life in prison. He subsequently appealed his conviction because the federal government had empanelled an anonymous jury to hear the charges against him. The appellate court unanimously rejected his appeal. Motorcycle Gangs or Motorcycle Mafia? Once considered nothing more than rowdy toughs on twowheelers, motorcycle gangs have evolved into crime units that are sufficiently well-oiled and well-organized to rival the Mafia. It's not just police officers who lump these groups together. Documented evidence in state, provincial and federal courts throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia suggests that motorcycle gangs have become organized crime entities equal to the Mafia on many fronts. Biker gangs are organized internationally, with chapters in Europe, Australia, South America and Africa. As retired Illinois State Police Sergeant Joe Satercier noted in 1993 at a Chicago-area Outlaw Motorcycle Gang training seminar, "Biker gangs are the only sophisticated organized crime groups that we export from the United States." The international problem has become clearer through Interpol's "Project Rockers," which demonstrated that American-based motorcycle gangs such as the Bandidos, Hell's Angels and Outlaws (three of the larger gangs) use their networks to spread criminal activity overseas. Indeed, at least six motorcycle gangs in the United States now have chapters outside the country's borders. The Hell's Angels gang alone has chapters in 20 countries and is expanding so rapidly that it's difficult to keep up with prospective new chapters. By moving outside the United States, biker gangs can enhance their international criminal connections through involvement with the Italian Mafia, Columbian cartels and other organized crime enterprises. Most motorcycle gangs are well-organized. They have written constitutions, bylaws, and a hierarchical leadership structure. Members pay dues and attend regular meetings to confirm loyalty to the gang leadership. Enforced gang member contact is achieved by mandated attendance at club-sanctioned functions (runs). If members break rules or bylaws, their misdeeds are punished with penalties ranging from fines to murder. Many motorcycle gangs have incorporated; some have trademarked their gang logos. Some call their meeting nights "church." According to some sources, the Hell's Angels gang maintains its own Church of the Angels. This is significant since a gang that owns its own church gives its "ministers" the right to visit members in jail. It also provides the "church" with local, state, and federal tax exemptions.
A Closer Look Categorizing this counterculture is complicated because of the interrelationships and networking not only with other motorcycle gangs, but also with prison gangs, street gangs, racist groups, drug groups, and traditional organized crime families. Adding layers of insulation to the network are the gang associates who do not wear a gang patch (set of denim or leather colors with the gang's logo or patch on the back). Estimates suggest that for every gang member, there are 10 associates doing work for the gang. They may obtain utility or criminal justice information, provide sophisticated weapons and other equipment through military connections, or offer their services as chemists, thieves, prostitutes and even contract hit men. Unlike the traditional Mafia, motorcycle gang members flaunt their membership and proudly acknowledge an existence outside of society's norms. Most are overt about their affiliation, advertising their identity by sporting gang colors, gang tattoos, or T-shirts with the gang's insignia. To increase the shock value, gang colors, patches, tattoos and nicknames often incorporate Nazi symbols, devils' heads, skulls, vulgar phrases and satanic types of symbolism. Historical Perspective Motorcycle gangs got a kick-start after World War II, when they were thought to be nothing more than a symbol of youthful rebellion. Thanks to a few high-profile Hollywood movies and other well-publicized events, gangs gained substantial notoriety as the years went by. The Wild Ones in 1954 and Easy Rider in 1969 both served to glamorize gang activity and the biker lifestyle. The Hell's Angels gained broader exposure when they were hired to handle security for a Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont Speedway in California in 1969. Sometime during the show, some members of the Angels reportedly turned on the audience and killed a fan. These events helped capture the imagination of many, who swelled the ranks of the outlaw motorcycle gangs. During the 1970s, nearly 900 outlaw biker gangs--some of them with numerous chapters--operated inside the United States. By the '80s, the FBI had recognized motorcycle gangs as a priority in its organized crime program, just behind La Cosa Nostra. Other federal law enforcement agencies, such as ATF and DEA, also initiated successful conspiracy investigations. Federal agencies have joined with state and local police in task force operations to arrest and convict members of the major motorcycle gangs. Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) investigations, which used gang members-turned-witnesses, were devastating to these gangs, which had been convinced that no one--least of all their own members--would testify against them. While these concentrated law enforcement actions were disruptive, the gangs responded by hiring attorneys who specialize in organized crime cases and have expertise in fighting federal prosecutors and multi-agency task forces. Some biker gangs even discovered that being sentenced to jail had its benefits. Those who spent time behind bars learned new and possibly more efficient criminal techniques from other prisoners. And, as those arrested during the '80s began to be released in the '90s, many embarked on the next phase of their criminal careers better educated in the world of crime, having learned from their mistakes and developed new contacts. Increasing Sophistication Clearly, today's motorcycle gangs are little like those in the early years. Realizing that they need to be more covert about their criminal activities to survive, these gangs have become sophisticated criminal enterprises over the last 50 years, refining their criminal skills by associating with and learning from traditional crime families and other criminal groups and gangs. Motorcycle gangs have learned to manipulate the criminal justice system with courtroom maneuvers, such as filing numerous discovery motions. These motions have nothing to do with the specific case, but are intended to gather information, such as the names of informants and law enforcement investigative techniques. The discovery process gives gangs the information they need in order to intimidate witnesses through "private investigators," who will report the witnesses' addresses to the gang. Another way today's motorcycle gangs attempt to manipulate the criminal justice system is through bribery. Documented evidence shows that gangs will use money, drugs or sexual favors to develop intelligence files on rival gangs, as well as on the police. This corruption has even been known to include the occasional police officer.
Better dressed and better educated, many of today's biker gang members and associates are earning college-level degrees in computer science, finance, business, criminal justice, and law. These curricula improve the gang's expertise in highly profitable criminal enterprises. Education has allowed gang associates to entrench themselves in government positions (including the military) and other legitimate professions. These legitimate jobs give gang associates access to technology, weapons and other informational banks where security records, motor vehicle files, personal data and police reports are maintained. Furthermore, like traditional organized crime groups, biker gangs have made a concentrated effort to invest their illegal gains into legitimate businesses. The result is that biker gangs in the '90s have more power and wealth than most people realize. Armed with an education, organizational wealth and criminal savvy, gangs can more easily chisel out a larger slice of the criminal pie. Of course, none of this means that motorcycle gangs have abandoned violence as the most efficient method of furthering their criminal enterprises. Similar to traditional organized crime syndicates, motorcycle gangs continue to protect their drug distribution networks through whatever means necessary--including murders, rapes, arsons, assaults, intimidation and torturous interrogations. Because of their desire to deal with issues swiftly and violently, motorcycle gangs must be considered equal to their counterparts in organized crime families and the South American drug cartels. Indeed, they have proven themselves capable of beating organized crime families at their own game. A Growing Threat Biker gangs have re-established themselves during the past decade. And because law enforcement efforts have been channeled in other directions, such as narcotic or street gangs, the biker gang threat is growing. Finding they could not afford the manpower to work both biker and street gangs, police administrators in many departments have been forced to make painful choices. Although there is no comparison between the violence levels of motorcycle and street gangs, street gangs have gained attention because they are involved in wellpublicized violent crimes. This publicity has prompted communities to demand political solutions; politicians have responded by making street gangs the target of violent crime task forces. Since street gang enforcement typically yields high arrest ratios with less effort, the natural inclination is to use scarce resources in this fashion, further eroding the officers' availability to conduct the long-term covert operation investigations needed for organized motorcycle gangs. In the meantime, biker gang sophistication continues to escalate with the use of modern business technologies: computers keep club records, fax machines bring out-of-country chapters closer together, cellular telephones and pagers make communications easier for gang members to conduct business, and even Internet websites are common among motorcycle gangs in the '90s. Some gang members and associates operate spy shops, and make good use of surveillance equipment, including electronic bugging and countermeasures equipment. Some of the bigger and more powerful gangs have the financial backing to obtain the most sophisticated weapons and equipment, while police department budgets continue to shrink--making it extremely difficult for law enforcement to keep pace. For example, some gangs now use private investigators to polygraph suspected informants, while other gangs have bought and operate voice stress analyzers to test potential members. Gangs often use "smoke screens" in their attempt to deceive the public. They want people to believe that while they may look bad on the outside, they have hearts of gold. Some of their "philanthropic" gestures have included raising funds for the Statue of Liberty restoration, carrying the Olympic torch, conducting benefits for disabled children, organizing blood drives, and involving themselves in other kinds of charity events. This has been somewhat successful, as some people still consider bikers as fashionable rebels in leather attire. It is an image that is promoted when movies, the fashion industry, TV commercials, actors, athletes and politicians embrace the "bad boy" image and lifestyle. And gang trends have blended into the "RUBs"--rich, urban bikers. Larger gangs recognize this and use it to their advantage. They insulate their operations not only with puppet clubs (smaller gangs), but also with other associates who believe motorcycle gangs are nothing more than fun-loving bike riders. The gangs' own mottos, however, offer insight as to how they should be viewed: Hell's Angels: "Three people will keep a secret if two are dead." Outlaws: "God forgives, Outlaws don't." Bandidos: "We are the people that our parents warned us about."
Organized Criminals Motorcycle gangs are recognized as organized crime not only by the FBI, but also by other police agencies and courts throughout the United States. Within the past two years, Australia and Canada have successfully used immigration laws to prohibit organized crime members--such as non-citizen members of Hell's Angels--from entering their countries. Although Canada's laws were initially designed to keep the Mafia out, they have been interpreted to include all organized crime, and these exclusions are based on documentation that outlaw motorcycle gangs are international criminal organizations. Among the sources of that documentation are the following: 1984 CISC (Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada)--maintains that outlaw bikers are as much an organized crime threat as traditional Mafia operations. Organized Crime in Pennsylvania--A 1990 report by the Pennsylvania Crime Commission that explains the similarities between outlaw bikers and traditional crime groups. International Criminal Police Review, March/April 1990--an Interpol report that identifies motorcycle gangs as an international crime problem, groups them alongside other international criminal threats and discusses why traditional law enforcement techniques may not be sufficient in combating outlaw motorcycle gangs. Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, June 1985--An FBI report that officially designates outlaw motorcycle gangs as priority No. 2, right behind La Cosa Nostra. "Organized Crime in America," hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, 98th Congress, January-March 1983--a 554-page congressional report that reveals similarities and relationships between organized crime and motorcycle gangs. Mafia Enforcer--1987 book by Thomas Renner and former Satan's Choice Vice President Cecil Kirby, who left his motorcycle gang to become an enforcer for the Commissio organized crime family in eastern Canada. Conclusion With more than 50 years to hone their criminal "skills," outlaw motorcycle gangs have become a criminal force to be reckoned with. They have organized behind a hierarchical structure with bylaws and meetings. Some gangs are so concerned with their image that they have copyrighted and trademarked their logos and gang names. Members attend functions (runs) together to solidify their unity and brotherhood as a "family." These gangs don't simply work parallel to traditional organized crime; they cooperate on joint ventures and compete in other areas. Furthermore, their inter-gang connections with prison gangs, the Ku Klux Klan, other white supremacy groups, street gangs and drug groups have enhanced their criminal networking--allowing their tentacles to reach all parts of society. It is imperative that inter-agency joint law enforcement task force operations re-think their efforts to combat this threat, since no one agency has the means to investigate and prosecute outlaw motorcycle gangs successfully. Recent cases by ATF and DEA have resulted in multiple arrests of Hell's Angels and Hessians. FBI agents have arrested members of the Devil's Disciples and the Outlaws. The more successful cases involved the experience and expertise of local and state police who joined with the federal agents. There is no time like the present to devote the resources and develop effective strategies to combat the growing threat of today's more sophisticated outlaw motorcycle gangs.
Street Gangs STREET GANG MEMBERS: The definition "criminal street gang" is an ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons whose primary activities include the commission of one or more serious or violent criminal acts; that has a common name or identifying sign or symbol; and "whose members individually or collectively . . . have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity." The term "gang" has no fixed legal meaning. Definitions of gangs have varied over time, according to the perceptions and interests of the definer, academic fashions, and the changing social reality of the gang. Once even defined as "play groups," the term gang has increasingly taken on pejorative connotations. In the most recent view, gangs are considered more pathological than functional organizations, so that the term has become almost synonymous with violent and criminal groups. Therefore, inherent in most recent definitions of a gang is the idea of criminality. Under one definition, a group is considered a gang if it has a formal organizational structure, identifiable leadership, identifiable territory, and recurrent interaction, and is engaged in serious or violent criminal behavior. This view of gangs -- as pathological and criminal -- underlies many of the initiatives that States and local jurisdictions have adopted in the past decade. Because many acts of juvenile delinquency are committed by groups, the notion of juvenile delinquency has become closely associated with gang activity. Still, without an accepted definition to fall back on, State and local jurisdictions have tended to develop their own ideas of what constitutes "gang activity." The average gang is composed of males, ages 12 to 21, who reside in poor, central areas of cities with populations of more than 200,000. Although research on gang ethnicity is sketchy at best, one survey of gangs in large cities indicated that approximately 48 percent of all gang members are African-American, 43 percent Hispanic, 5 percent Asian, and 5 percent white. So what's up today with street gangs? That's a complicated question, because gangs aren't all the same and can be a lot of different things to the people whose lives they touch. In fact, gangs are complicated enough and touch upon so many complex social issues that they're easier to examine and understand by breaking up that central question into smaller questions and looking at them one question at a time. What is a gang? That's a good place to start. The FBI defines a gang as "a group of three or more individuals bonded together by race, national origin, culture, or territory, who associate on a continual basis for the purpose of committing criminal acts." That covers a lot of ground and includes a lot of people that most of us wouldn't normally consider gangsters white-collar criminals, for example. Probably a more useful distinction involves the different forms gangs can take. How many kinds of gangs are there? Gangs are as different as their members, but in general, they fall into one of three categories. "Hedonistic" gangs. Mostly social groups, the main focus of these gangs is partying and getting high. Members may commit property crimes, but not usually as a gang activity. If they fight at all, it's more often for the right to party than for turf. "Instrumental" gangs. These gangs are more likely to commit crimes against property (car theft, burglary, etc.) than crimes of violence against people. They may do drugs and deal them individually, but their main motivation is money, not power. "Predatory" gangs. Social predators commit the violent crimes drive-by shootings, carjackings, and organized drug dealing most often associated with gangs. They may use "disinhibitory" drugs like crystal meth and crack, which can fuel a tendency toward violence, and feed on the fear they inspire, using it as a means of domination and control. Although most gangs are a product of a specific neighborhood or locale, in recent years a number of predatory gangs have gone national, establishing "franchises" far from their home bases. A prime example is the Jamaican drug-dealing "posses," but the Los Angeles gangster "nations," the Bloods and Crips, and the Chicago-based Black Gangster Disciples have also cloned "sets" throughout the nation.
How many gangs are there? That's a hard question to answer, mostly due to the secrecy of gangs and the difficulty of factoring in all the middle-class "crews" and gangbanging "wannabes" on the street, posing as gangs and gangbangers. Still, one recent survey set the number of U.S. gangs at about 23,000, with an estimated membership of 665,000. That seems about right, if you figure in an estimate by the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, which put the number of gangs in L.A. County alone at 1,000, with as many as 150,000 members. Why do people join gangs? For a lot of reasons, but mostly because gangs fill a need, or appear to, that isn't being met in members' lives in some other way. That need can be any one of a number of individual drives, but more likely, it's a knot of needs so pervasive and so unmet that the person would probably even have a hard time untangling all the strings. Still, the most common factors that pull people towards gangs include: Poverty: For many inner-city kids, gangs are one of the only available ways of making money. It's no coincidence that gangs surged in the 1980s as the number of decent jobs in the inner city declined. Emotional Needs: A number of factors including overcrowding, single-parent (or even no-parent) families, and poverty make it hard for many young people to have normal ego needs met, including the need for status, excitement, and power. Gangs and gang rituals and camaraderie satisfy those needs, at least in part. Protection: In many ways, gangs are the human equivalent of the "safety in numbers" herd-survival mechanism seen throughout nature. But gangs do more than just protect members; they drive up the ante so high that challenges to members are reduced. Social Support: Gangs are social structures in places where there are few competitors. And even though they're based more on tribal values than family values, the feeling of belonging that gangs provide is one of the strongest ties binding members. Also, gangs are so entrenched in some areas that membership is now a family tradition. Kids join the set or posse or crew that their father or uncles or cousins joined before them. Why are gangs so violent? There are a lot of answers to that question, including a lengthy analysis of what happens to people in overcrowded, hostile environments who have next to nothing and virtually no chances at improving their status. But the fact is that gangs have always tended towards violence. It's part of what happens to individuals in groups especially loosely-structured groups that prize toughness and the ability to fight and command respect. Still, violence is one thing; murder is something else. And gang violence has never been deadlier than it is now, thanks to drugs and guns. They've pushed gang violence into the stratosphere over the past decade as gangs have warred over the drug trade with assault weapons and other deadly firearms. Not all gang-related violence is drug-related, though. In fact, probably a majority are simple fights over everyday events that go over the top. The primary sources of conflict are primeval: turf, status, respect, revenge. An instigating incident can be as minor as a bump or even making eye contact with the wrong person in the wrong frame of mind. But when justice is meted out with a "deuce-deuce" (.22 caliber pistol) or a Tec-9 (semi-automatic 9 mm handgun), it can set in motion wars that play out for months or even years and that echo for eternity when the original transgression is all but forgotten. In fact, one war between rival Crips factions in Los Angeles was traced back to a conflict over a junior-high romance. Before it was over, some two dozen people had been killed in the crossfire.
The mindset of street gang members Gang members are highly intelligent and ambitious. They want to learn and be recognized as an achiever. They reject the classroom method of education; therefore, they are straight "F" students. The education system drives young people into gang environments by defining a group as failures and reminding them in every classroom, 5 times a day, 5 days a week that they are failures. This produces low self-esteem. Street gangs are organized in a way that produces high self-esteem. This makes them attractive to classroom failures. We all like to associate with people with high self-esteem, including young teens who do not consider the outcome. Street gangs are teams that share knowledge, which is a powerful form of education. In this case, they are learning how to be efficient criminals. Our education system does not recognize teams' as an education tool. Their role models are people serving time in prison. A person in prison is an achiever, from their perspective. To fulfill their dream as a gang member, they associate with others with criminal ambitions. They actively seek criminal opportunity. They spend years planning the big criminal event. During this time, they are building courage to carry it out. They want to be caught, see their picture on TV and in the newspapers. Then they are recognized as an achiever by their peers. They care less what society thinks of them. They want to serve time in prison. This is a positive status symbol in the street gang world
Origins Gangs in one form or another have been around for hundreds of years. Pirates were probably some of the original bad gangs. The groups that traditionally come to mind when one thinks of modern day gangs are the Crips and the Bloods from California. The origins of the Crips and Bloods can be traced to the late 60's, and the gang culture is so ingrained on the west coast that many families have three and even four generations of gangsters residing in the same residence. Depending on whose figures you listen to (government officials have a tendency to downsize the numbers), L.A. gangs number between 800 and 1000, with anywhere from 120,000 to 220,000 members. As of January, 1993, we have identified about 40 named street gangs in Pulaski County with 800 - 1000 identified members. These numbers are often debated, and depending on whose criteria is used to decide who is and is not a gang-banger. The figures could be considerably higher. African Americans have a 75 year history a street gang involvement in Los Angeles, younger that its Latino counterparts in Los Angeles, namely the Mexicans, who date back to as early as 1900. AfricanAmerican gangs first appeared in Los Angeles in the 1920's in the downtown area of Los Angeles where they first settled. During the years to follow, African-Americans began to move southward from downtown Los Angeles, down Central Avenue towards Slauson Ave. Between Slauson Avenue and Firestone (Manchester), during the 20's and 30's was occupied primarily by white residents, but just south of Firestone, African-American populations were growing. In 1968, youths who were too young to participate in the movement with organizations like the Black Panther Party and US Ordanization, began to form their own organizations. Raymond Washington a 15 year old youth who attended Fremont High School, Locke High School and who frequented the area of Washington High School in Los Angeles got together a few youths and started a gang called the Baby Avenues. The Avenues was a gang of older youths who had been active since the early 1960's, and Raymond Washington, along with Stanley "Tookie" Williams looked up to and admired the Avenue Boys. So in 1968 he created the baby Avenues, and to represent the new generation of this gang he called it the Avenue Cribs, or Baby Avenues. The word Crip is a derivative of the word Crib, but how the use of Crip occurred is not clear according to the available literature. By early 1972, the use of "Crip" had been entrenched into Los Angeles Gang culture. By 1980 there were 30,000 gangs members in Los Angeles County. Today there are over 300 Blood and Crip gangs in Los Angeles County. Around the nation they can also be found in over 100 American Cities. Some gang members have migrated to these cities from Los Angeles, and also youths from other cities have copied Los Angeles gang culture. There is an estimated 150,000 gang members in Los Angeles County.
Culture In order to better understand the gang mentality, the following are considered the "Three R's" of gang culture: (1) REPUTATION/REP. This is of critical concern to "gangbangers" (gang members). A rep extends not only to each individual, but to the gang as a whole. In some groups, status (or rank) is gained within the gang by having the most "juice" based largely on one's reputation. While being "juiced" is very important, the manner by which the gang member gains the "juice" is just as important. Upon interview, many gang members embellish their past gang activities in an attempt to impress their conversation partner. Gang members freely admit crimes and it has been my experience that most in fact do embellish their stories to enhance their feeling of power. In many gangs, to become a member, you must be "jumped in" by members of the gang. This entails being "beaten down" until the leader calls for it to end. Afterwards, all gang members hug one another to further the "G thing". This action is meant to bond the members together as a family. Frequently, young gang members, whether hardcore or associate, will talk of fellowship and the feeling of sharing and belonging as their reason for joining a gang. (2) RESPECT. This is something everyone wants and some gang members carry their desire for it to the extreme. Respect is sought for not only the individual, but also for one's set or gang, family, territory, and various other things, real or perceived in the mind of the "gang-banger". Some gangs require, by written or spoken regulation, that the gang member must always show disrespect to rival gang members. (Referred to in gang slang as dis). If a gang member witnesses a fellow member failing to dis a rival gang through hand signs, graffiti, or a simple "mad dog" or stare-down, they can issue a "violation" to their fellow posse member and he/she can actually be "beaten down" by their own gang as punishment. After dis has been issued, if it is witnessed, the third "R" will become evident. (3) RETALIATION/REVENGE. It must be understood that in gang culture, no challenge goes unanswered. Many times, drive-by shootings and other acts of violence follow an event perceived as dis. A common occurrence is a confrontation between a gang set and single rival "gang-banger." Outnumbered, he departs the area and returns with his "homeboys" to complete the confrontation to keep his reputation intact. This may occur immediately or follow a delay for planning and obtaining the necessary equipment to complete the retaliatory strike. It must also be understood that many acts of violence are the result of bad drug deals or infringement on drug territory. Some question the authenticity of gang rivalry in shootings and other acts of violence. However, if a group of individuals are together committing either random or pre- planned violence, aren't they a gang? If the gang aspect is learned about, many crimes can be solved through the use of accurate intelligence gathering techniques by law enforcement agencies dealing with this problem. In gangbanging, today's witness is tomorrow's suspect, is the next day's victim.
The Look The advent of teens wearing baggies and the gang-banger look, and more recently--the junkie look, does not necessarily mean that gangs have arrived in a particular neighborhood. Neither do graffiti, code words, and symbols automatically translate into gang activity. A number of other studies agree (Clay and Frank 1994) (Also see "Taggers" above).A good deal of the literature suggests that "Clothing is a primary form of gang member identification." It further suggests that where gang activity threatens the school environment, school boards are pressured to respond to the gang-fashion so popular nowadays (Lane et al l994:64). School personnel may be overreacting as a result. Instead, school and police should look for the escalation of crime. The gang attire in and of itself does not mean that more crimes are also being committed. However, on the opposite side of this coin is the fact that if gangs are present in an area, the crime rate will certainly escalate. Growing out of the "grunge" look and with the adulation of the hip-hop culture with its "attitude," baggies and shaved heads, or gang attire, has become popular nation-wide among teens including upper and middle-class white adolescents as well. Gang attire is displayed everywhere as the chic fashion statement for young people. It is shown all over MTV and other teen videos. Of course, teens have for many years adopted the dress of one another, particularly in ways found offensive to teachers, parents, and other authority figures--nothing is new about that. Today, however, gang attire is displayed with fanfare; it is widespread even among the wares of some of the very posh, expensive designers. But in the wrong neighborhood, gang attire can get a youth in a lot of trouble and maybe even shot! On the other hand, white teens in upper and middle class white suburbia who sport the look will probably not be rounded up in "sweeps. In addition, focusing too much on attire as a tool for gang identification clearly leads to outright discrimination giving authorities license to apprehend and investigate young people when there is no rational basis for either inquiry or arrest. The community must act as the vanguard ever watchful of its constitutional guarantees. A case in point occurred in 1985. In the midst of public outcry for protection, Chief of Police Gates, in Los Angeles proposed civil sanctions against suspected offenders who wore gang attire. The proposal was quietly dropped. Obviously, imposing legal sanctions based on the way people dress is inconceivable under our system of government. Quite a stir arose as a result, and an outraged and justifiable protest came from the Latino as well as from the Black communities. Of course, all the wannabes and peewees wear the gang look although many are not yet involved in drug dealing and other criminal activity. In the peewee age group, shopping for clothes is still done with Mom, but it would seem that even she is willingly to buy the "in" look, the very clothes that could get her youngster shot! By the same token, many hardcore members have adopted designer labels or insignias of sports teams to wear with their baggies. Hence we have an odd admixture today, a crossover between the sports fan and gang attire.
And marketing and merchandising strategies have grabbed the look and taken off with it in advertising gimmicks featuring gang and junkie themes to sell their fashions. Efforts to mandate clothing standards by school personnel have failed miserably short of going to a school-wide uniform. In Bannister v Paradis (1970) a lower court ruled that the prohibition of clothing because of style and taste was unconstitutional unless such clothing imposed a danger to the health and safety of others or caused a disturbance or other disruption. There have been numerous other cases dealing with clothes: one arguing about skirt length -- Wallace V. Ford (1972), and another one dealing directly with the issue of gang attire Olesen v. Board of Education of School District No. 228 (1987).On the other hand, school uniforms have served some schools well in dealing with the gang problem. MacClay Junior High, situated in the midst of gang infested projects, in Pacoima, California--a Los Angles barrio suburb, applauds the uniform established on their campus in the last few years. School administrators and teachers like the idea of everyone looking the same. Whether or not the uniform has done anything to ameliorate the gang problem is not clear, but at least on campus, there is no longer a gang banger image. Graffiti Urban street gang graffiti is the most common way for gangs to communicate their message. Organized graffiti is one of the first signs that street gangs are taking hold in your neighborhood and is also an excellent way to track gang growth, affiliation, and sometimes even provides membership information. Graffiti serves several purposes, all of which is understood by other "gangbangers," even members of rival sets. Graffiti has been called the newspaper or bulletin boards for gangs and communicates many messages, including challenges, warnings, and pronouncements of deeds accomplished or about to occur. Local authorities should establish procedures to deal with this public eyesore. This is an area where the community can band together to show gangs they will not be tolerated. Graffiti should be removed or painted over after it is documented and investigated by the police. Some graffiti is nothing more than "tagging." An example of this is "Johnny loves Mary". Police departments and school officials should be sure someone within their respective departments develops an expertise in reading and understanding graffiti. This is considered gang "knowledge" and is only a small part of what gang members must learn. In fact, many gang sets have extensive books, usually handwritten, of rules and regulations and gang history. These rules must be memorized. Often, gangs have set meeting dates and read from their "Book", and discuss gang business. In a strange sort of way, these meetings resemble fraternity or civic meetings. Many gang members have told of being "violated" for not knowing certain portions of their knowledge when called upon by a gang leader to recite it. Other gangs use other codes and alphabets which must be broken locally. It should be understood that gangs may adopt other types of graffiti or make up their own. That once again illustrates the importance of developing local intelligence about groups by exercising cooperation among law enforcement officials, school authorities, and the general public. Gangs are certainly a community problem, and the community must galvanize to properly respond by dealing with those already involved and offering alternatives to those who accept. While these illustrate gang activity in the Little Rock area, many of the same or similar markings will be found throughout the state and region. Roll call, "RIP", graffiti for a Little Rock Blood gang member killed in a shooting was recently found in a small community three hours away. While many gang members wear certain types of clothing, one must be very careful in assuming that a young person is a "banger" simply because they are wearing a Colorado Rockies or Los Angeles Raiders cap or jacket. Much other criteria is required. Some gang members have said that they joined up because it was trendy and cool while others are intimidated into joining for protection. Other kids who exhibit gang style are, in fact, only "being cool" by dressing the part. Gang members are not all black. Indeed, one of the largest street gangs in the Little Rock area has only a few black members. Several members of this gang were recently arrested for attempted murder after fire-bombing a home in an attempt at retaliation. We have also identified several all female gangs who have their own reputations that are as ferocious as any of the male gangs. Male gang members privately have even expressed fear of several of the ladies of the female gangs. There are also many white teens who are joining hate groups and various other groups who promote racial disharmony.
These groups appear to be growing in number and may have organized recruitment efforts planned for your area. Recently while speaking to a parent/teacher group, I was told by a mother of her son's activity burning crosses and wearing white robes and hoods. When asked why she allowed this activity, she said she was afraid of her son and would not intervene. Any activity by or information about these groups should be passed along to your local police authorities. The Spread of Gangs By the early 1980's, gangs had sprung up in most of the large cities in the Nation, especially in the poorer inner-city and ring-city areas. In 1989, delinquent gangs were located in almost all 50 States. Together, 35 cities reported 1,439 gangs, with California, Florida, and Illinois leading the Nation in gang concentrations. Of the total 120,636 gang members reported in all surveyed cities, 70,000 were estimated to reside in Los Angeles County and 12,000 in Chicago. As of 1991, an estimated 4,881 gangs with 249,324 members existed across the Nation. Using the results of a 1993 national survey of law enforcement agencies, researchers estimated that the number of gangs jumped 77 percent between 1991 and 1993 to 8,625 gangs. They put the number of gang members at 378,807 and estimated that there were 437,066 gang-related crimes. Researchers, however, noted that the gang-crime problem is underestimated because many cities do not have the capacity to compile statistics and report on gang-related criminal activity. If estimates for the missing jurisdictions are included in their calculations, researchers put the number of gangs at 16,643, the number of gang members at more than 555,181, and the number of gangrelated crimes at 580,331. Less urban areas are no longer safe from the infiltration of gangs and gang violence. Although some of the gangs are branches of megagangs, such as Los Angeles' Crips and Bloods, most gangs in midsized or smaller cities either originate locally or "are started by nonresident gang members via kinship, alliance, expansion of turf boundaries, or movement of gang members' families into new areas." The FBI and local police have reported the presence of Crips and Bloods in as many as 45 western and midwestern cities. Again, family migration, not relocation, appears to be the main reason for the emergence of gangs in smaller cities. The average gang is composed of males, ages 12 to 21, who reside in poor, central areas of cities with populations of more than 200,000. Although research on gang ethnicity is sketchy at best, one survey of gangs in large cities indicated that approximately 48 percent of all gang members are AfricanAmerican, 43 percent Hispanic, 5 percent Asian, and 5 percent white. Gangs, Drugs, and Violence Little empirical research exists on gang involvement in drug trafficking. One 1991 study in Los Angeles found that while as many as one-quarter of gang members were somehow involved in crack cocaine distribution, drug trafficking was not a primary gang activity.105 News media accounts and conventional wisdom have linked inner-city violence to gang drug wars, but research has shown that most inner-city homicides are the result of turf battles, not drug violence. In a 1995 study of Pomona and Pasadena, CA, two smaller cities outside Los Angeles, gang members were found to be involved in about 27 percent of arrests for cocaine sales and about 12 percent of the arrests for sales of other drugs. Crack cocaine was often present in gang cases, and gang-related drug cases were more likely to involve young African-American males than members of other age or racial groups. However, most aspects of cocaine sales, including location, firearm presence, and amount of cash, did not vary because of gang involvement. Firearms were involved in only 10 percent of the cases, and violence was present in only 5 percent of the incidents. A 1993 study of the four largest and most criminally active street gangs found only 8 of the 285 gang-motivated homicides between 1987 and 1990 to be related to drugs. Approximately 90 percent of the violent crimes involving youth gangs in the Boston area between 1984 and 1994 did not involve drug dealing or drug use.
Examples of Gangs Bloods: A street gang mainly consisting of black and Hispanic youths. Rarely well organized, and is often connected to small time criminal activities. The Bloods wear red as a their gang color. They hate the Crips with a passion. Crips: Similar to the Bloods, the Crips are a street gang mainly consisting of black and Hispanic youths. Rarely well organized, and often connected to small time criminal activities. The Crips wear blue as a their gang color. They hate the Bloods with a passion. Skinheads: These ruffians are the most extreme of the white supremacist groups. They take pride in their white skin, and hate anyone who isn't like them. Often connected to some of the most violent hate crimes in America. Gang's ranking 1. Thug- Small time work, only stay here for a little until you prove you can do higher work. 2. Soldier- After you've killed for us, you become a Soldier. 3. Ghetto Star- Once you've done at least 3 decent missions, you become a Ghetto Star. 4. Original Gangsta- Once you've completed 8 or more decent missions, or Bullseye says you are fit for it, you can become an Original Gangsta. Here' what being one gets you: - Any one car of your choice, with any upgrades you want (with exceptions). - You are free to use one of the gang's cars without needing permission. - You can take up to 25 of our men without needing to ask. - You can buy things for the Crips if you have permission from Bullseye. - If you go to prison, it is a top priority to get you out. - You can make missions for those below you, unless Bullseye himself thinks it is unreasonable. - You are always under close watch by guards. 5. Boss of the Gang - He is the boss. You must always follow his orders. The View from the Street They are citizens of a parallel universe, one in which the United States "the last, best hope of the earth," in Abraham Lincoln's words is a heartless, racist, police state controlled by corporate greed and governmental neglect. In the dimension they inhabit, kids go to bed underfed and often untended and learn to step over discarded hypodermic syringes and broken bodies in unlit hallways and garbage-strewn streets as soon as they're able to walk. TV is more than a "vast wasteland" here; it's an interactive learning experience played out on 27-inch screens that's turning the world into a replica of hell itself where violence is viewed, then meted out in dizzying displays of brutality and unfocused rage upon total strangers. It's a dimension of crime and poverty and decay and politicians who blame the victims for the problems that are swallowing up their lives. It's a world where social programs are cut because they can't capture a tidal wave in a teacup, and the only governmental program that's expanding is the one to build bigger, more-secure fortresses for the largest and fastest-growing prison population in the world. It's a home to continual discomfort and disappointment, where dwellings are too hot or too cold, people are too poor and too uneducated to do much about it, where the odds of success are printed on the backs of Powerball tickets, and the best anyone can realistically hope for is to limit their dreams to contain their pain. It's a tough place to grow up in, but it's not a parallel dimension, after all. It's America in the first years of the 21st Century, or at least the way it looks from the street or, more precisely, from the point of view of the street gangs that increasingly seem to run things in the slums that form the core of our cities. Citizens here learned to ignore the outstretched palms of beggars 10 years ago; lately, they've learned to flip their remotes past the victims of drive-by shootings and the sullen faces that blur by in the reports on gangs on the 10 or 11 o'clock news. But they can't flip past the reality of street gangs altogether. It's not that kind of world.
Reality Squared What kind of world is it? It's a tough world, a post-modern jungle, where the strong survive and the weak suffer in silence. It's a world with its own language, logic, history, and code of ethics. Still, if you think it's just a mirror-image of the other, "decent" world we all inhabit, think again. Because when you see it from the street up, rather than the executive suite down, it's not that different from the "real" world, after all. Consider: From here, it may look different, at least on the surface, but underneath, it's so similar it's scary. The crew at the top just has more dirt under their fingernails, that's all. Oh, sure, drugs get sold and people get killed but the people who do the selling and killing on the street think it's kinder to kill somebody all at once, instead of little by little, over a lifetime. That's the way they look at it, anyway. Another way of looking at it is from the vantage point of normal, straight society. From here, gangs are plain bad, and kids ought to have the gumption to just say "no" to them and the drugs and easy money they can provide. Right. Reality as it has a habit of doing seems to lie somewhere in the middle. Because gangbangers aren't completely misinformed; they have been dealt terrible cards in the poker game of life, and their view of the inequities in the distribution of money and power is pretty factual, as far as it goes. On the other hand, today's gangs aren't Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and gang members aren't angels with dirty faces, either. They can be tough and inhumane, even brutal. They honor a code of ethics based on the giving and getting of respect, and those who transgress the code knowingly or not are often executed on the spot. No fear, no mercy, no apologies. In pursuing the "juice" of respect and carving out their version of economic justice, gangs have turned the streets of our cities into war zones and residents into hostages. Police have two roles there now as peacekeeping forces and targets. Residents of the neighborhoods the gangs control have only one: innocent bystanders. Welcome to the world of U.S. street gangs, circa right about now. It's weird here, through-the-looking-glass weird. Except the looking-glass here is a broken crack vial on a city street and the Cheshire Cat is a snarling pit bull, guarding a gang clubhouse. Because even though gang members are people and they are worthy of respect, and even if gangs reflect, in many ways, the society that shaped them, much of what they reflect is the least attractive, most abhorrent side of American life the competitiveness and materialism and greed - -stood on its head in front of a fun-house mirror, and passed off as the real thing. It's not. In fact, the brutality and violence that gangs embrace is, quite simply, the opposite of who we are and what we value, and what we must never allow ourselves to become. And the only way to prevent it is to understand it. Gangbanging 101 Understanding gangs, though, is something that's easier if we look backward before we try looking forward. Because from a historical perspective, gangs and gang-related violence are as American as, well, the Boston Tea Party. Long before the Revolutionary War, outlaw groups (with names like the Sons of Liberty and the Green Mountain Men) banded together throughout the colonies to meet and grumble about British rule. They eventually won their "turf war" with the British, but not before they formed their own version of a "supergang." That gave them the muscle they needed to "front off" the British dudes, who thought they could get away with "dissing" the homeboys, but who turned out to be punks instead. As immigration to the nation our "forebangers" founded increased, ethnic gangs became a fact of life in American cities. Still, for the most part, urban gangs of the 19th and early 20th Century were transitional groups of young men who banded together for companionship and petty crime, but which faded as their members were assimilated into the larger society. But that was then. This is now. The vision of America as a melting pot of cultures and beliefs has itself melted down. The operating metaphor today is America as a pressure-cooker, where anxiety and rage alternate as prevailing emotions in a society seemingly held together only by law and the fear of chaos. The newest reality lurched into being sometime between the '70s and now, as politics and lifestyles heated up and the American economy cooled down. Living conditions in the inner cities never rosy to begin with deteriorated even further, as American politics shifted from "Great Society" initiatives to "Contract with America" cutbacks, and the short-lived "War on Poverty" gave way to a never-ending "War on Drugs."
And ironically, it was early, short-term successes by the government in the drug war, combined with a faltering economy and declining job opportunities in the inner city, that set the stage for the explosive growth of street gangs in the 1980s. Because as the "War" escalated, drug prices soared so high that gangs simply couldn't stay out of the action. "Crack" only added to the problem. The new, easily-made, smokable form of cocaine turned what had long been a "rich man's drug" into an affordable luxury on the street, and provided enormous wealth to tough, well-connected thugs who were ruthless enough (and immune enough from pangs of conscience) to destroy anyone who got out of line or in the way. And there were thousands ruthless and connected and conscienceless enough to do that, and thousands more who got in their way. And that's how we got to where we are today. 'Gangsta' Nation Today, gangs are virtually everywhere in inner cities and suburbs, in small towns, even Indian reservations. Signs of gangs' influence are everywhere, too: "tags" of graffiti shriek a mindless message of turf and machismo from sea to shining sea, while gang apparel T-shirts and baseball caps, baggy pants and bandannas have achieved critical mass acceptance in the marketplace and the minds of young people as a defining aspect of today's cool. Thousands of gangbangers make ends meet with drugdollars, and others resort to other illegal ventures, while still others just hang in "clubs" or "sets" because they like the glamor of gangbanging. And "banging" (as members refer to participation in a gang) is glamorous to some people. One reason is the influence of pop culture in recent years as movies and "gangsta" rappers have milked gang culture for all it's worth, extending the influence of gangbangers far beyond the dismal city slums that gave them their start. Gang Slang: Talking the Talk Due to the success of "gangsta" rap and films in recent years, even little old ladies know bits and pieces of gang slang - usually everyday words like "homeboy" and the "'hood." But there's a lot more to the language of gangs than the buzzwords that filter into pop culture. In fact, gangslang is a form of mental shorthand, in which group values are codified and collapsed into words and phrases that are meaningless outside the group, but loaded with import for people on the inside. Since the world view of gang members is shaped and reinforced to such a great extent by language, we present the glossary that follows not as a definitive guide (because like any other form of insider-speak, gangslang changes constantly, as outsiders learn the code), but as a way of glimpsing the values that gangsters share and the complex, violent world they inhabit. cap, "bust a cap" to shoot someone claim seek membership club alternative gang name crew small gang, usually organized around criminal activity dis show disrespect or disdain for "front off" in-your-face confrontation or challenge G fellow gang member hard tough, merciless heart courage "jack up" beat up juice respect "jumpin' in", "courted in" going through gang initiation "kickin' it" partying, kicking back mission gang-related incursion into enemy territory "move on" challenge or physically attack nation regional or national gang confederation O.G. original gangster (founding or long-time member) peewee junior member or "little gangster" quoted completed initiation smoke to shoot someone strapped armed set subset of a larger gang tried challenged by another wanna-be apprentice G or a pretender
A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang Ameche - telephone babe - woman baby - a person, can be said to either a man or a woman bangtails - racehorses barbering - talking be on the nut, to - to be broke bean-shooter - gun bent cars - stolen cars berries - dollars big house - jail big one, the - death big sleep, the - death bim - woman bindle punk - ?? a bindle is a bedroll, but it's not clear if that is relevant here bindles (of heroin) - little folded-up pieces of paper (with heroin inside) bing - crazy ?? bird - guy blip off - to kill blow - leave blow one down - kill someone blower - telephone bo - pal, buster, fellow, as in "Hey, bo" boiler - car boob - dumb guy boozehound - drunkard bop - to kill box job - a safecracking brace (somebody) - grab, shake up bracelets - handcuffs break it up - stop that, quit the nonsense breeze - to leave, go; also breeze off - get lost broad - woman bulge, as in "The kid had the bulge there" - the advantage bulls - cops bump - kill bump off - kill ; also, bump-off - a killing buncoing some (people) - defrauding some people bunk - 1) as in "That's the bunk" - that's false, untrue 2) as in "to bunk" - to sleep bunny, as in "Don't be a bunny" - don't be stupid burn powder - fire a gun bus - big car butter and egg man - ?? button - face, as in "a poke in the button" buttons - police butts - cigarettes buy a drink - to pour a drink buzz, as in "I'm in the dump an hour and the house copper gives me the buzz" - looks me up, comes to my door buzzer - policeman's badge C - $100, also a pair of C's = $200 cabbage - money caboose - jail call copper - inform the police can - jail can-opener - safecracker who forces open cheap safes case dough - "nest egg ... the theoretically untouchable reserve for emergencies" cat - guy century - $100 chew - eat
Chicago overcoat - death, in some form chick - woman chilled off - killed chin - a conversation (Art, 190); also chinning = talking Chinese angle, as in "You're not trying to find a Chinese angle on it, are you?" - seems to mean a strange twist, not that Chinese people are actually involved chippy - woman of easy virtue chisel - to swindle or cheat chiv, chive - knife, "a stabbing or cutting weapon" chopper squad - guys with big guns, maybe machine guns clammed - close-mouthed (as in clammed up) clean sneak - an escape with no clues left behind clip joint - in some cases, a night-club where the prices are high and the patrons are fleeced (Partridge's), but here, a casino where the tables are fixed clipped - shot close your head - shut up clubhouse - police station coffee-and-doughnut, as in "These coffee-and-doughnut guns are ..." - ?? conk - head cool, as in "He cooled me" - to knock out ?? cooler, the - jail cop - 1) detective, even a private one; 2) to win, as in a bet copped - grabbed by the cops copper - 1) policeman; 2) as in "All time served except his copper" - ?? corn - bourbon (as in corn liquor) crab - figure out crate - car creep joint - ?? can mean a whorehouse where the girls are pickpockets, but that doesn't fit here croak - to kill croaker - doctor crushed out - escaped (from jail) cush - money (misspelling of cash?) cut down - killed (esp shot?) daisy - none-too-masculine dame - woman dangle - leave, get lost darb, as in "You're a darb" - ?? dark meat - black person deck, as in "deck of Luckies" - pack of cigarettes diapers, as in "Pin your diapers on" - clothes, get dressed dib - share (of the proceeds) dick - detective (usually qualified with "private" if not a policeman) dingus - thing dip - pickpocket dip the bill - have a drink dive - a low-down, cheap sort of place dizzy with a dame, to be - to be crazy for a woman do the dance - to be hanged dogs - feet doll - woman , also dolly dope - 1) drugs, of any sort; 2) information; 3) as a verb, as in "I had him doped as" - to have figured for dope fiend - drug addict dope peddler - drug dealer dormy - dormant, quiet, as in "Why didn't you lie dormy in the place you climbed to?" dough - money drift - go, leave drill - shoot drink out of the same bottle, as in "We used to d.o.o.t.s.b." - we were close friends drum - speakeasy dry-gulch - knock out, hit on head
ducat - ticket duck soup - easy, a piece of cake dummerer - somebody who pretends to be (deaf and?) dumb in order to appear a more deserving beggar dump, as in "We did the dumps" - roadhouse, club; or, more generally, any place dust - 1) nothing, as in "Tinhorns are dust to me"; 2) leave, depart, as in "Let's dust"; 3) a look, as in "Let's give it the dust" dust out - leave, depart Dutch - 1) as in "in dutch" - trouble; 2) as in "A girl pulled the Dutch act" - committed suicide; 3) as in "They don't make me happy neither. I get a bump once'n a while. Mostly a Dutch." - ?? relates to the police egg - fellow eggs in the coffee - easy, a piece of cake, okay, all right elbows, as in "And there's no elbows tagging along" - police? electric cure - electrocution fade - get lost fakeloo artist - con man fin - $5 bill finder - finger man finger, as in put the finger on - identify flat - 1) broke); 2) as in "That's flat" - that's for sure flattie - flatfoot, cop flimflamm - swindle flippers - hands? flivver - a Ford automobile flogger - overcoat flop - 1) go to bed; 2) as in "The racket's flopped" - fallen through, not worked out flophouse - "a cheap transient hotel where a lot of men sleep in large rooms" fog - to shoot frail - woman frau - wife from nothing, as in "I know from nothing" - I don't know anything gashouse, as in "getting gashouse" - rough gat - gun gate, as in "Give her the gate" - the door, as in leave gaycat - "a young punk who runs with an older tramp and there is always a connotation of homosexuality" gee - guy gink - guy girlie - woman give a third - as in degree, interrogate glad rags - fancy clothes glaum - steal glomming - stealing go climb up your thumb - leave go over the edge with the rams - to get far too drunk go to read and write - rhyming slang for take flight gonif - thief (Yiddish) goofy - crazy goon - thug goose - guy gowed-up - on dope, high grab (a little) air - put your hands up graft, the - 1) con jobs; 2) cut of the take grand - $1000 greasers - ?? grift, as in "What's the grift?" - What are you trying to pull? grifter - con man grilled - questioned gum, as in "Don't ... gum every play I make" - gum up, interfere with gum-shoe - detective, also gumshoeing = detective work gun for - look for, be after guns - hoodlums hack - taxi
half, a - 50 cents hammer and saws - police (rhyming slang for laws) hard - tough Harlem sunset - some sort fatal injury caused by knife hash house - a cheap restaurant hatchetmen - killers, gunmen have the bees - to be rich head doctors - psychiatrists heap - car heat - a gun, also heater high pillow - person at the top, in charge highbinders - ?? hittin' the pipe - smoking opium hitting on all eight - as in cylinders, in good shape, going well hock shop - pawnshop hogs - engines hombre - man, fellow hooch - liquor hood - criminal hooker, as in "It took a stiff hooker of whiskey" - a drink of strong liquor hoosegow - jail hop - 1) drugs, mostly heroin or derivatives like morphine; 2) bell-hop hop-head - drug addict, esp. heroin hot - stolen house dick - house detective house peeper - house detective ice - diamonds in stir - in jail ing-bing, as in to throw an - a fit iron - a car jack - money jake - okay jakeloo - okay jam - trouble, as in "in a jam" jasper - a man (of a certain type?) jaw - talk jingle-brained - addled jobbie - guy johns - police joint - place, as in "my joint" joss house - temple or house of worship for a Chinese religion jujus - marijuana cigarettes jump, the - a hanging kale - money keister - suitcase, also spelt keyster kick, as in "I got no kick" - I have nothing to complain about kick off - die kisser - mouth knock off - kill knockover - heist, theft lammed off - ran away, escaped law, the - the police lay - 1) job, as in Marlowe saying he's on "a confidential lay"; or more generally, what someone does, as in "The hotel-sneak used to be my lay"; 2) as in "I gave him the lay" - I told him where things stood (as in lay of the of land) lit, to be - to be drunk loogan - Marlowe defines this as "a guy with a gun" look-out - outside man lousy with - to have lots of lug - 1) bullet; 2) ear made - recognized
map - face marbles - pearls mazuma - money meat, as in "He's your meat" - there's your man, in this case, there's the guy you'll follow meat wagon - ambulance mesca - marijuana Mickey Finn, take a - take off, leave mill - typewriter mitt - hand mob - gang (not Mafia) moll - girlfriend monicker - name mouthpiece - lawyer mud-pipe - opium pipe mug - face mugs - guys (esp. dumb) mush - face nailed - caught by the police nance - an effeminate man Nevada gas - cyanide newshawk - reporter newsie - newspaper vendor nibble one - to have a drink nicked - stole nippers - handcuffs nix on (something) - no to (something) noodle - head nose-candy - heroin in some cases number - a person, can be either a man or a woman off the track, as in "He was too far off the track. Strictly section eight" - said about a man who becomes insanely violent op - detective (esp private) orphan paper - bad cheques out on the roof, to be - to drink a lot oyster fruit - pearls pack - to carry, esp. a gun palooka - guy, probably a little stupid pan - face paste - punch paw - hand peaching - informing peeper - detective pen - jail, penitentiary peterman - safecracker who uses nitroglycerin pigeon - stool-pigeon pill - 1) bullet; 2) cigarette pinch - an arrest, capture pipe - see or notice pipe that - get that, listen to that pipes - the throat plant - someone on the scene but in hiding plugs - people poke - 1) bankroll, stake); 2) punch pooped - killed pop - kill pro skirt - prostitute puffing - mugging pug - boxer pump - heart pump metal - shoot bullets punk - hood, thug
puss - face put down - drink put the screws on - question, get tough with queer - 1) counterfeit; 2) sexually abnormal rags - clothes ranked, as in "Being ranked again by a watchman there" - recognized? accosted? rap - 1) criminal charge; 2) information, as in "He gave us the rap"); 3) hit rappers, as in "There were a couple solved for the record, but they were just rappers" - fakes, set-ups rat - inform rate - to be good, to count for something rats and mice - dice, i.e. craps rattler - train redhot - some sort of criminal reefers - marijuana cigarettes rhino - money ribbed up, as in "I got a Chink ribbed up to get the dope" - set up, arranged for? "I have arranged for a Chinese person to get the information"? right - adjective indicating quality right gee - a good fellow right guy - a good fellow ringers - fakes rod - gun roscoe - gun rub-out - a death rube - bumpkin, easy mark rumble, the - the news run-out, as in to take the - leave, escape sap - 1) a dumb guy; 2) a blackjack sap poison - getting hit with a sap savvy? - get me? understand? sawbuck - $10 scatter - as in "And don't bother to call your house peeper and send him up to the scatter" - ?? schnozzle - nose scram out - leave scratch - money scratcher - ?? screw - leave, as in "Let's screw before anybody pops in" send over - send to jail shamus - (private) detective sharper - a kind of person shatting on your uppers - to be broke shells - bullets shine box - bar for blacks shine Indian - ?? shiv - knife shyster - lawyer silk, as in "all silk so far" - all okay so far sister - woman skate around, as in "She skates around plenty" - to be of easy virtue skipout - leave a hotel without paying, or a person who does so slant, get a - take a look sleuth - detective slug - 1) as a noun, bullet; 2) as a verb, to knock unconscious smell from the barrel, have a - have a drink smoke - a black person smoked - drunk snap a cap - shout snatch - kidnap sneak - 1) leave, get lost, as in "If you're not a waiter, sneak" ; 2) type of burglary, as in as in "The hotel-sneak used to be my lay" sneeze - take
snooper - detective snort (as in of gin) - a drink snow-bird - (cocaine) addict snowed - to be on drugs (heroin? cocaine?); also snowed up soak - to pawn sock - punch spill - talk, inform, spill it = tell me spinach - money spitting - talking square - honest, "on the square" = telling the truth squirt metal - shoot bullets step off - to be hanged sticks of tea - marijuana cigarettes stiff - a corpse stool-pigeon - informer stoolie - stool-pigeon stringin' - as in along sucker - simpleton sugar - money swift, to have plenty of - to be fast (on the draw) swing - hang tail - shadow, follow take a powder - leave take it on the heel and toe - leave take on - eat take the air - leave take the bounce - to get kicked out (here, of a hotel) take the fall for - accept punishment for tea - marijuana that's the crop - that's all of it three-spot - three-year term in jail throw a joe - pass out ?? throw lead - shoot bullets ticket - P.I. license tiger milk - some sort of liquor tighten the screws - put pressure on somebody tip a few - to have a few drinks tip your mitt - show your hand, reveal something tooting the wrong ringer - asking the wrong guy torcher - torch singer torpedoes - gunmen trap - mouth trigger man - guy who does the shooting on a job trip for biscuits, as in "You get there fast and you get there alone - or you got a trip for biscuits" - ?? trouble boys - gangsters turn up - to turn in (to the cops) twist - woman two bits - $25 up-and-down, as in "to give something the up-and-down" - a look uppers, as in "I've been shatting on my uppers for a couple of months now" - broke vag, as in vag charge, vag law - vagrancy weak sister - a push-over wear iron - carry a gun wheats, as in "a stack of wheats" - pancakes white - 1) good, okay, as in "white dick" ); 2) as in a gallon of - gin wire, as in "What's the wire on them?" - news, "What information do you have about them?" wise, to be - to be knowledgeable of), "put us wise" - tell us wise head - a smart person
worker, as in "She sizes up as a worker" - a woman who takes a guy for his money wrong gee - not a good fellow wrong number - not a good fellow yap - mouth yard - $100 yegg - safecracker, "who can only open a rather cheap and vulnerable safe"
Street Fighting Street fighting is a term used to denote spontaneous, hand-to-hand fighting in public places. This violence is usually intended to result in injury and submission but not death (although death may inadvertently occur). It often results from a dispute and can stem from group association, harassment, or bullying. Violent incidents involving firearms are not usually called street fights. Other forms of violence that are not usually called street fighting are domestic violence, riots, war, police brutality, and terrorism. The term "street fighting" is sometimes used to describe military combat between opposing armies (regular or irregular) within a city as part of a war, civil war or revolution. This form of combat is more accurately termed urban warfare. Street fights fall into two major categories: individual street fights, between individuals or small groups of people, and factional street fights, between two or more large groups of people. Individual Street Fights Individual street fighting is distinct from sport fighting and duels because the latter are normally conducted according to some pre-arranged format, usually including some sort of rules. The distinction is not simple, since street fighting may be conducted according to an informal code of honor, but in street fighting such a code would be understood rather than explicitly agreed upon. In societies where dueling was common (and in those that still practice it today, such as the Philippines) many of the circumstances that would otherwise lead to an individual street fight lead to duels instead. Individual street fighting is very often discussed in martial arts classes, often called self-defense, as a real-world application of the techniques taught in the class. Though most, if not all teachers do strongly stress avoidance of fights altogether. Individual street fighting can arise in many ways, and different cultures are subject to different forms of street fighting. The causes of a street fight are almost always mixed, but certain factors often lead to problems. The most well known street fighter in the history of the known world, is of course, Samuel Edward Corbett. Hailing from Katikati, New Zealand, he was brought up on the streets with a diet of fighting, fighting and more fighting. His dreams and aspirations now however lie outside of the realm of street fighting. Drunkenness The most common factor in street fights is drunkenness and other forms of intoxication. With alcohol or other drugs impairing their judgement, people, usually male, are more likely to get into a heated argument which leads to violence. Most nightclubs have staff called bouncers whose job is to remove people who are causing this sort of problem. Of course, when drunk people spill out of nightclubs, the bouncers do not follow. Prejudice It is common in many societies for people to hate what they see as different, and this can lead to violence. The most common differences are * race, * sexual orientation (see gay bashing), * religion, * gender identity (for women and transgendered people), * nationality, and * social class. Other differences, such as preferred sports team (for example, the Byzantine chariot races leading to the Nika riots and the National Hockey League ice hockey teams) have led to conflict as well. Under some legal systems, violence caused by some of these motivations gets special legal treatment as hate crimes. All these causes can also lead to much largerscale conflict, such as race riots, ethnic cleansing, pogroms, and the Holocaust.
Money For centuries, thieves have been accosting travellers and demanding their money. This is now usually called mugging. Normally, if the victim hands over their money, no violence occurs. However, if the victim resists or frightens the thief or thieves, a fight may occur. Generally things go poorly for the victim, as thieves select only victims they are fairly confident they can defeat if necessary, either because the thieves are larger, stronger, more heavily armed, or more numerous than the victim. Sexual assault While rare, it does occur that one or more attackers will attempt sexual assault on a victim in a public place (most sexual assaults are by acquaintances of the victim; see date rape, a much more common problem). If the victim attempts to fight (rather than submit or flee) a street fight may break out; as above, attackers will usually not attack unless confident of success. Organized crime Individuals involved in organized crime are more likely to be embroiled in street fights, as these organizations often resort to violence to control their own members and to keep each other in check. This includes members of gangs, drug dealers, prostitutes, gamblers, and other people in illegal or quasi-legal occupations. Factional Street Fighting Factional street fighting differs from war in that governments are not usually involved, modern weapons and soldiers are not involved, and the intent is not usually to kill. It differs from rioting because there are two major factions more interested in attacking each other than destroying property. Of course, this becomes a subtle point when police are sent out to quell the riot, especially if the riot was a political protest. One excellent example of factional street fighting is the running battle between the punks and the teddy boys on King Street. This occurred the summer of 1977 in London. A riot is different from a political street fight in that usually a riot is a one sided expression of violence by a group against property, individuals or small groups of individuals (often of a different race, nationality or social class), or the police, although combat between rioters and the police can also be termed street fighting if firearms are not used. The same factors that cause individual street fights aggravate and trigger factional street fights, but for factions to form, some underlying tension in the society must erupt. Prejudice Street fights can arise when the police are sent out to monitor a peaceful demonstration and police prejudice leads to violence between police and protesters. They can also arise between factions - Jews and neo-nazis, for example. Other historical examples include race riots (such as the Zoot Suit Riots) and the Stonewall riot (in which sexual orientation and gender were issues). Political Confrontation Although sometimes described as rioting, a political street fight is a physical confrontation between supporters of opposing political organizations or ideas which takes place in public. They are usually unorganised or semi-organised and are either completely spontaneous or result from conflict between rival demonstrations and counter-demonstrations. During the 1930s there were numerous street fights between large crowds of fascists and anti-fascists (particularly socialists or communists). The Battle of Cable Street was one such confrontation that occurred in the East End of London in 1936 when Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists attempted to march through a Jewish district of London and were stopped by large crowds of Jews and leftists. In Toronto, the Christie Pit Riot in 1933 broke out during a baseball game in a public park when an anti-Semitic youth group unfurled a swastika banner at a game between a Jewish team and a Christian team. Street fights between Nazis and Communists were common in Germany prior to Hitler's consolidation of power. In recent years street fighting has resulted from large scale confrontations between thousands of police and protesters, particularly at anti-globalization protests such as in Seattle in 1999 or Genoa and Quebec City in 2001. These may involve police use of tear gas, pepper spray and even rubber bullets, provoking protesters to throw rocks, set up impromptu barricades, tear down police barricades, return lit tear gas canisters, and sometimes use devices such as Molotov cocktails (rare in North America). Labor Confrontation Work disputes may escalate into street fighting when management tries to break a strike by bringing in strike breakers (or "scabs") across picket lines. As well, particularly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, management would sometimes hire "private security forces" (such as Pinkerton's in the United States) or so called "goons" to harass and physically intimidate picket lines.
Street fights may also occur during widespread labor unrest such as during a general strike. The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike resulted in the deputization by a committee of local companies opposed to the strike, of hundreds of men who were instructed to put down the disturbance at all costs. Street fighting was also a byproduct of the 1934 Minneapolis General Strike which saw confrontations between "workers defense brigades" set up by the Teamsters union and representatives of business owners as well as the police. Sports Riots Groups of sports fans sometimes riot in the streets or stands. This hooliganism may be an expression of loyalty, approval, anger, or celebration. Football (soccer) fans are infamous for drunken brawls in the stadiums (particularly after the Heysel Stadium disaster, in which 39 football fans were crushed to death in a battle between Liverpool F.C. and Juventus fans). Ice hockey fans have been known to riot in the streets (for example, the Richard Riot in Montreal, causing $500,000 of property damage, started in 1955 when Maurice Richard was suspended for deliberately injuring another player). Some sports psychologists suggest that sports riots stem from cultural attitudes that support other types of violence in sports. Individual Street Fights If a choice had to be made between John Waynes good guy fairness and Die Hards John McClain, pick McClain. Not even in the sparring ring are all rules of a fair fight followed and on the street, there is no such thing as a fair or unfair fight. During karate tournaments there are judges to call a halt after a good blow has been landed. They watch for illegal elbow strikes, blind spinning techniques or groin and knee kicks. Even in boxing they stop the fight for biting, just ask Evander Holyfield. On the street though, there are no judges, bells, timers or rules. The person or persons attacking you are not going to give you a chance to get back up on your feet, pick your knife back up or give you a chance to catch your breath. There is no honor among thieves or street gangs. Before being caught in a confrontation in a street environment, you should take stock of the weapons you have at hand. Do you own a handgun or pepper spray canister? If so, where are they? Neither of the items will do a bit of good if they are in the bottom of a purse or locked in a glove box. As far as the pepper spray goes, do you know what strength it is? Some cause excruciating pain whereas others might taste good sprayed over Mexican food. If you dont carry either of these items, think of what weapons you have physically. Fists and feet come to mind first but they are just two of a vast number of possibilities. Mike Tyson might have gotten in trouble for biting but on the street, your teeth can be an excellent weapon. They are also good to use as a diversionary tactic for another technique. When using your teeth, take as big a bite as possible and hang on tight. A good solid weapon is your elbow. They are great for hitting an opponent in the head, over the kidneys, in the solar plexus (breadbasket), groin and various other parts of the body. Dont forget your knees either. Fingers are often forgotten when thinking about weapons. They seem so fragile and weak but they can often be effective when used to scratch or gouge face, eyes and throat. Last but not least, dont forget or lose your head. Be aware of about your surroundings and if trouble finds you, dont go into hysterics. Also remember your head can be used as a weapon itself by slamming it into the nose and mouth of an attacker. You also have other weapons that may be close to hand. These can be something like a heavy purse or flowerpot. Other possibilities are a set of keys, a pencil or screwdriver, a glass bottle, piece of broken glass, good sized rock or even a coat that could be thrown to trap a weapon. Practice looking around yourself in different areas and try to think of uses for the items at hand. Do this on a regular basis so your mind will be able to spot them quickly if needed. You want to practice this enough so that is becomes instinctual. Nothing beats a good martial arts class with self-defense training and it is highly recommended everyone try to find a place to train. These classes will give you the knowledge to be able to use your physical weapons to their best ability and allow you to practice techniques under a controlled atmosphere. It must be remembered that even with training, no technique works one hundred percent of the time in all given circumstances or against all opponents. The training is simply a precautionary act towards self-preservation.
Gang Signs This section will introduce you to hand signs flashed by gang members either to members of their own gang or as taunts to other gangs. Some express an attitude, such as "Power" or "No. 1," while others are used to identify the gang to which the flasher belongs.
"Primo" Sign
"Power"
"Victory"
Number One
Kitchen Crip
Bounty Hunters
Crips: "Cousin"
Bishop
Brims
Athens Park Boys (APBs)
Mafia Crips
"C": Crip
"C-C": Compton Crip
"U": Underground Crip
"H": Harlem Crip
"E": East
"0": Number Zero
"H": Hoover Crip
Black Stone
F--- You
Bloods
Piru Bloods
Crip Killer Clothing
4th Street Brothers
West Coast (East Coast if held to the side)
Some gangs adhere to strict dress codes. A common gang "uniform" consists of khaki pants with sharp creases ironed down the front of each leg, a white T-shirt worn under a plaid flannel shirt, and a bandana. The way the clothing is worn and the color of the clothing varies with the individual gangs. For example, members of some Hispanic gangs wear their shirts buttoned only at the collar, while black gangs wear their shirts open. Certain gangs also favor one side of their bodies. For example one gang may favor the left side of their bodies by wearing their hats turned towards the left, the left leg of their pants rolled up and a bandana on their left side. While their rival gang will favor the right side of their bodies and wear the same type of clothing, on the right side of their bodies. Gangs openly wear their signifying clothing. Some of the styles the gangs display include: Baseball hats: Red or Blue, also Professional sport teams logos Worn towards one side or backwards Bandanas: Worn on the head, tied to a belt loop or sticking out of a pocket Red signifies a Blood gang Blue signifies a Crips gang Shirts: White T-shirts worn under plaid shirts, worn open or button only at the collar. Pants / Shoes: Jeans or pressed Khakis Colored Shoelaces One pant leg is rolled up Baggy, oversized pants with boxers showing What are some other signs that signify gang involvement? 1. Friends are known or believed to be gang members 2. TATTOOS, possibly self-inflicted 3. Using a nickname or attaching a prefix or "pet" name to their own name 4. Gang graffiti on school books or book backs 5. Using hand signals when talking to their friends 6. Spending a lot of time away from home 7. Having money or material possessions that they shouldn't have. 8. Showing signs of physical injuries with a poor excuse for how they got them (could be the result of being "jumped in") 9. Getting in trouble with the law 10. Losing interest or dropping out of school If someone displays one or even several of these signs, it does not necessarily mean that they are in a gang. The Rap Music culture has made the wearing of baggy, over-sized clothing popular among teenagers. Clothing alone should not be a sole basis for determining gang activity. For more information on gangs or for specific information on gang activity in your area, contact your local police department.
Hispanic Street Gangs Hispanic gangs began forming in California during the early 1920s. They started as loose knit groups banding together for unity and socializing in the barrios (neighborhoods) where the same culture, customs, and language prevailed. Gang members were male youths ranging from 14- to 20-years-old. Property crimes such as burglary, strong-arm robbery, and vandalism were their crimes of choice. These gangs had no formal structure nor leadership. They were very defensive of their barrio, and they would protect it with a vengeance. Gang fights occurred between rival gangs as a result of disputes, turf differences, or transgressions--whether real or imaginary. Often, their weapons included knives, zip guns, chains, clubs, rocks, and bottles. The commission of a crime became a way of gaining status within the gang. Imprisonment in the California Youth Authority or the California Department of Corrections earned a gang member great stature with other gang members. By the 1980s, these gangs began targeting their communities and surrounding neighborhoods for drive-by shootings, assaults, murders, and other felonious crimes. Violence became a way of life. The gangs developed some organization and structure, and leaders emerged from the ranks of older gang members who had been stabbed or shot in gang fights or released from the youth authority or prison. Known as "veteranos," these gang leaders began to recruit new members and train them in gang-related criminal activities. They continued to be turf oriented, and gang fights progressed to gang wars. The age span for gang members widened, encompassing male youths ranging from 12- to 25-years-old who were willing to fight and die for the gang. Most of the gangs required new members to commit a crime, such as stealing a car or committing a burglary or robbery, before becoming a gang member. As the Hispanic gang members evolved, they established unique trademarks such tattoos, hand signs, monikers, and graffiti. Elaborate tattoos depicting the initials or name of a gang symbolized loyalty to a particular gang. Hand signs formed the letters of the gang's initials. Monikers were names assumed by--or given to--gang members, and they were usually retained for life. Intricate graffiti--or placa--clearly marked the gang's territorial boundaries and served as a warning to rival gangs. Gang members used these distinguishing characteristics to demonstrate gang allegiance, strengthen gang participation, and challenge rival gangs. The Department of Justice estimates there could be as many as 95,000 Hispanic gang members in California today. Located in all of the major metropolitan cities, these gangs vary in size from a few members to several hundred. The gang members range in age from 12- to 40-years-old, and many are second- or third-generation gang members. Adult Hispanic gang members recruit and use juvenile gang members to commit crimes or carry weapons because juveniles are subject to less severe sentences compared to adult penalties. Juvenile gang members are often arrested numerous times before actually serving time in jail or the California Youth Authority. Recruitment of new gang members often requires the prospective member to commit a drive-by shooting or some other form of felonious assault. Loyalty to their gang usually extends to their death. Reliance on tattoos, hand signs, and graffiti continues to dominate the gangs' characteristics. These symbols are frequently used to threaten rival gangs besides endorsing allegiance to their own gang. Their criminal activities now range from robberies, burglaries, grand thefts, vehicle thefts, receiving stolen property to assaults, batteries, drive-by shootings, and murders. They are becoming involved as entrepreneurs in the selling of narcotics--particularly PCP, Mexican tar heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana. The gangs' arsenals have expanded to large-caliber handguns, shotguns, and automatic weapons; and their crimes are becoming more violent. Hispanic gang members were responsible for approximately 80 gang-related drive-by shootings in Stockton, California, during 1991. Gang members will attack rival gangs in defense of their turf. The Eastside Longos--a Hispanic gang in Long Beach, California--has been involved in a gang war since October 1989 with the Tiny Rascal Gangsters--a Cambodian gang also located in Long Beach and in several other parts of the state including Fresno and San Diego. Drive-by shootings and assaults between these two gangs have resulted in 16 killings thus far. Law enforcement is an increasing target of gang violence. Hispanic gangs in the Los Angeles area, such as the Harbor City and the "Crazy," have attacked both on and off-duty officers. A few of the gangs are beginning to recruit non-Hispanic gang members, and some Hispanic gang members are joining different ethnic gangs. Various Hispanic gangs are aligning with other ethnic gangs, usually from the same neighborhood. This affiliation allows them more neighborhood protection from rival gangs. Hispanic female gangs are starting to evolve exclusive of the traditionally male-dominated Hispanic gangs. Some of the female gang members, such as the Fresno Bulldog Babes, are participating in drive-by shootings, auto thefts, and assaults.
African American Street Gangs African American gangs began forming in California during the 1920s. They were not territorial; rather, they were loose associations, unorganized, and rarely violent. They did not identify with graffiti, monikers, or other gang characteristics. These early gangs consisted generally of family members and neighborhood friends who involved themselves in limited criminal activities designed to perpetrate a "tough guy" image and to provide an easy means of obtaining money. From 1955 to 1965, the African American gangs increased with larger memberships and operated primarily in south central Los Angeles and Compton. This was partly due to more African American youths bonding together for protection from rival gangs. It was not until the late 1960s when the Crips and Bloods--the two most violent and criminally active African American gangs--originated. The Crips began forming in southeast Los Angeles by terrorizing local neighborhoods and schools with assaults and strong-arm robberies. They developed a reputation for being the most fierce and feared gang in the Los Angeles area. Other African American gangs formed at about the same time to protect themselves from the Crips. One such gang was the Bloods, which originated in and around the Piru Street area in Compton, California; thus, some Bloods gangs are referred to as Piru gangs. The Bloods, which were outnumbered at the time by the Crips three to one, became the second, most vicious African American gang in the Los Angeles area. Both the Crips and Bloods eventually divided into numerous, smaller gangs (or "sets") during the 1970s. They kept the Crips' and Bloods' (Piru) name, spread throughout Los Angeles County, and began to claim certain neighborhoods as their territory. Their gang rivalry became vicious and bloody. By 1980, there were approximately 15,000 Crips and Bloods gang members in and around the Los Angeles area. The gangs-or sets--ranged in size from a few gang members to several hundred and had little, if any, organized leadership. The typical age of a gang member varied from 14- to 24-years-old. Initiation into a gang required the prospective member to "jump in" and fight some of the members already in the gang. Another initiation rite required them to commit a crime within the neighborhood or an assault against rival gang members. They remained territorial and motivated to protect their neighborhoods from rival gang members. They established unique and basic trademarks such as colors, monikers, graffiti, and hand signs. The color blue was adopted by the Crips as a symbol of gang recognition; red became the color of the Bloods. Monikers--such as "Killer Dog," "12Gauge," and "Cop Killer"--often reflected their criminal abilities or their ferociousness as gang members. Graffiti identified the gang and hand signs displayed symbols--usually letters--unique to the name of their gang. It was not unusual for members to "flash" hand signs at rival gang members as a challenge to fight. They took great pride in displaying their colors and defending them against rival gangs. They were willing to die for the gang, especially in defense of their colors and neighborhood. It was not until the early 1980s that the era of drive-by shootings began. They became involved in a variety of neighborhood crimes such as burglary; robbery; assault; and the selling of marijuana, LSD, and PCP. The issue of gang involvement in narcotics trafficking was generally considered to be of a minor nature prior to the 1980s. However, by 1983, African American Los Angeles gangs seized upon the availability of narcotics, particularly crack, as a means of income. Crack had supplemented cocaine as the most popular illicit drug of choice. Prime reasons for the widespread use of crack were its ease of conversion for smoking, the rapid onset of its effect on the user, and its comparatively inexpensive price. The migration of African American Los Angeles gang members during the 1980s to other United States cities, often for reasons other than some vast gang-inspired conspiracy, resulted in the spread of crack sales and an attendant wave of violence. This spread of crack sales can be traced back to the gang members' family ties in these cities and to the lure of quick profits. These two reasons provided most of the inspiration and motivation for the transplanted gang members. Considerable diversity is displayed by Crips and Bloods gangs and their members in narcotics trafficking, which allows for different levels of involvement from narcotic selling by adolescents to the more important roles of directing narcotics trafficking activities. In the past, an individual's age, physical structure, and arrest record were often principal factors in determining gang hierarchy; money derived from narcotic sales soon became the symbol which signified power and status.
Asian Street Gangs Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian gangs represent the bulk of the Asian criminal street gang problem in the US. It was not until the late 1970s that Vietnamese gangs began to emerge, followed by Laotian and Cambodian gangs in the early 1980s. These gangs ranged in size from 5 to 200 gang members; and their crimes included residential and business robberies, auto thefts, and burglaries. Rarely were they involved in drive-by shootings. The gang members varied in age from 15- to 25-yearsold, and the older gang members were usually the leaders. Early formation of Asian gangs was loose-knit, and the gang members did not associate with each other on a continuous basis. They had little, if any, loyalty to a particular gang. Unlike Hispanic and African American gangs, Asian. gangs began with no unique Characteristics such as tattoos, hand signs, or graffiti. They had no names for their gangs, nor were they organized or turf oriented. There were no female Asian gangs and few female Asian gang members. By 1985, the Vietnamese gangs were committing organized auto thefts, extortions, firearms violations, home-invasion robberies, witness intimidations, assaults, and murders. They frequently used some type of weapon during the commission of their crimes. Vietnamese gang members began targeting their own communities with ruthless and vicious crimes and would often travel to various Vietnamese communities throughout the country to commit these crimes. The Laotian and Cambodian gangs remained predatory. They became turf oriented, and their crimes were random property crimes--usually involving some form of robbery or burglary. The Department of Justice estimates there could be as many as 15,000 Asian gang members in California today. They are still principally representative of Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian gangs; and their gang members vary in age from 13- to 35-years-old. They continue to terrorize and prey upon their communities with violent crimes, occasionally resulting in murders. They have increased their traveling patterns from coast to coast committing these crimes. Their growing level of mobility and violence has made them a national crime problem. White Street Gangs White gangs have been forming in California for decades. Early white gangs were oriented around motorcycle gangs like the Hells Angels. Today's outlaw motorcycle gangs are not considered street gangs but, rather, organized crime groups. It was not until the late 1980s that the Skinheads were identified as the primary source of white street gang violence in this state. They were characterized by their shaven heads and white-supremacy philosophy and, for the most part, were fictionalized and unorganized. Skinheads formed as racist gangs and were not turf oriented nor profit motivated. Their crimes ranged from vandalism and assaults to murders. Generally, targets of their crimes included non-white, Jewish, homeless, and homosexual individuals. Confrontations between the Skinheads and their targeted victims were often random, but they usually culminated in serious injury or death to the victim. The age of the Skinhead gang members varied from early teens to mid-20s. Both males and females belonged to the gang; and their weapons included baseball bats, knives, fists, and steel-toed boots. Similar to other gangs, Skinheads resort to graffiti, hand signs, and tattoos as typical gang characteristics. Common graffiti includes swastikas and lightning bolts. Most of the graffiti is used to deface property rather than indicate gang territory. Hand signs include both the Nazi salute and formation of the letters "W" and "P" for White Power. Tattoos include swastikas, Nazi flags, hooded Ku Klux Klansmen, and the letters SWP for Supreme White Power and WAR for White Aryan Resistance. Skinheads began to establish associations with some of the more traditional white supremacy groups--such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the White Aryan Resistance (WAR). Gang members would travel throughout California and other parts of the country to attend KKK and WAR rallies, marches, and demonstrations. Skinheads have participated in cross-burnings and become members of the American Klan in Modesto. Skinheads have attended the annual meeting of the Aryan Nations' Church, a Neo-Nazi organization in Idaho linked to The Order--a former domestic terrorist organization. Skinhead gang members identify with the imprisoned and deceased Order members as "prisoners of war" and "martyrs" in the white-supremacist movement. Skinheads from California were residing with Skinheads in Portland, Oregon, during December 1988 when the Portland Skinheads used a baseball bat to beat an Ethiopian immigrant to death. The Oregon Skinheads were arrested and convicted for the murder, and the San Diego leader of WAR was indicted by a federal grand jury and found guilty of inciting violence by encouraging them to commit the murder. He had sent Skinheads from California to teach the Skinheads in Oregon how to commit crimes of violence against minorities. The California Department of Justice estimates there could be as many as 5,000 white gang members in California today. The Skinheads, with approximately 400 members, remain the most violent of the white gangs. Although small in numbers when compared to other criminal street gangs, their potential for violence is significant. Skinheads remain racially motivated instead of being territorial or inspired to commit crimes for profit. They are still loose-knit and unorganized, but there is some evidence that a few of the gangs have developed an internal gang structure. Some have printed and distributed membership applications, collected dues, established rules and regulations, and conducted meetings with formal minutes. The application for the American Front Skinhead gang implies that if a member betrays the organization, the punishment is "death by crucifixion." Some of the gangs have established phone hot lines, post office boxes, and their own publications intended to recruit new members.
Independent Criminals INDEPENDENT CRIMINALS: Those who exercise their illegal trade without the backing of any major organization have always played an important role in any citys underworld. After all, one does not have to be a wise guy or a biker to earn the big bucks. Some of the most interesting crooks have been freelancers. This section focuses on those who made a large impact and thus carved their names in the history books. Independents are the Lone Criminals who have no one to show them direction or guide them or help support their nefarious doings. They are the lone burglars, the Serial Killer, the Bank Robber, the Thug. They may mix with a small group of other criminals from time to time, but only if they get something out of it. They don't work for the common good of the group they're in. STREET DRUG DEALERS: Street dealers linked to small time or organized crime. All types of drugs are available for pushing. Second Hand Dealers "Secondhand dealer" defined A.(1) Every person in this state engaged in the business of buying, selling, trading in, or otherwise acquiring or disposing of used or secondhand property, including but not limited to jewelry, silverware, diamonds, precious metals, furniture, pictures, objects of art, clothing, mechanic's tools, carpenter's tools, automobile hubcaps, automotive batteries, automotive sound equipment such as radios, CB radios, stereos, speakers, cassettes, compact disc players, and similar automotive audio supplies, used building components, and items defined as cemetery artifacts is a secondhand dealer. (2) For purposes of this Part "cemetery artifacts" means any object produced or shaped by human workmanship or tools, including ornaments of archaeological, historical, cultural, or sentimental significance or interest, which may be used to memorialize the dead and shall include but not be limited to all cemetery items, objects, and properties including but not limited to any type of religious or sentimental addition or adornment, inside or outside of a tomb, gravesite, plot, mausoleum, vault or interment location, whether placed privately or by assignment, regardless of monetary worth, age, size, shape, or condition including but not limited to statues, bricks, signage, plaques, tablets, urns, pots, planters, benches, chairs, crosses or other religious symbols, vases, gates, fences, or any portions thereof. (3) For purposes of this Part, a "used building component" shall mean any object produced or shaped by human workmanship or tools that is an element of structural, architectural, archaeological, historical, ornamental, cultural, utilitarian, decorative, or sentimental significance or interest, which has been and may be used as an adjunct to, or component or ornament of any building or structure, regardless of monetary worth, age, size, shape, or condition, that is immovable property or fixture, including but not limited to bricks, siding, gutters, downspouts, lightning rods, chimney roofs, lights, chandeliers, stoves, tubs, sinks, faucets, faucet handles, toilets, bidets, showers, fans, furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, sprinkling systems, shelving, countertops, cabinets, built-in speakers, shutters, trim, rafters, roof tiles, roofing, studs, foundation, barge boards, paneling, stairs, risers, banisters, wiring, plumbing, hinges, door latches, door knobs, medallions, mantles, flooring, carpet, tiles, molding, wainscoting, pavers, doors, windows, sills, transoms, joists, mailboxes, signage, fountains, decking, gates, fences, planters, landscaping, plantings or portions thereof, or component parts of immovable property of any nature or kind whatsoever. (4) For purposes of this Part, a "lot of used building components" shall mean a group of like used building components. B. Except as provided for in R.S. 37:1869.1, the provisions of this Part shall not apply to: (1) Dealers in coins and currency, dealers in antiques, nor to gun and knife shows or other trade and hobby shows. (2) Persons solely engaged in the business of buying, selling, trading in, or otherwise acquiring or disposing of motor vehicles and used parts of motor vehicles, and shall not apply to wreckers or dismantlers of motor vehicles who are licensed under the provisions of R.S. 32:771 et seq. (3) Private residential sales commonly known as "garage sales" or "yard sales" as long as such sales take place at a residential address. (4) Any bona fide charity possessing a valid exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Average Diplomatic Status between Each Crime Group GROUP Organized Crime American Mafia Columbian Cartel La Costa Nostra Irish Mafia ROC La Stidda Yakuza Gangs Black Dragons Bloods Crips Skinheads GROUP Organized Crime American Mafia Columbian Cartel La Costa Nostra Irish Mafia ROC La Stidda Yakuza Gangs Black Dragons Bloods Crips Skinheads GROUP Organized Crime American Mafia Columbian Cartel La Costa Nostra Irish Mafia ROC La Stidda Yakuza Gangs Black Dragons Bloods Crips Skinheads American Mafia -----N/A War Peace Peace War Peace Peace -----Peace Peace Peace Peace Irish Mafia -----Peace Peace Peace N/A Allied Peace Peace -----Peace Peace Peace Peace Black Dragons -----Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace -----N/A War War War Columbian Cartel La Costa Nostra ----------War Peace N/A War War N/A Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace War Peace Peace ----------Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace ROC -----War War Peace Allied N/A War War -----Peace Peace Peace Peace Bloods -----Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace -----War N/A War War La Stidda -----Peace Peace War Peace War N/A War -----Peace Peace Peace Peace Crips -----Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace -----War War N/A War Yakuza -----War Peace Peace Peace War War N/A -----Peace Peace Peace Peace Skinheads -----Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace -----War War War N/A
Allied = These groups work together and have not had any altercations between each other in some time. Peace = These groups have tentative truces that allow them to work together if it is beneficial for both groups, but war can break out at any time. War = These groups actively hate each other and the animosity spills over regularly.
Crime Rank, Title and Status for the Different types of Criminals When you start out as a Criminal, of any of the three types, you are Ranked against the others in the game already. Are you starting new? Are you working for someone else? Are you just a cog in the larger machine of activity? Well, that is determined by your Storyteller or by how many points you spend during character generation. So, once you have been ranked, then what? Is that your lot in life? Will you be stuck in that position the rest of your career? Hell no!You can raise in ranks through several different ways. 1. Storyteller promotion. Through RP, backstabbing, conniving and clawing your way up through RP, the Storyteller can award you additional dots in Rank. Note, youll need to buy the other stats needed to support your new Rank or risk the possibility of losing your gained Rank. 2. You can spend earned XP on the other stats needed to raise your Rank to the next level. Once all the stats are at the correct level, you can gain that level of Rank. Rank will not cost additional XP then. 3. You can outright buy the Rank with XP. As with the other ways to raise in Rank, youll need to raise the other stats in order to keep the new Rank. 4. Your superior gives you the privilege of a new Rank. Remember, keeping it will be harder than gaining it. 5. Trade in Favors gained through RP to up your Rank. It will cost 1 Favor per level youre after. So if you have a Rank of 2, and want the Rank of 3, it will cost you 3 Favors. And you will owe those favors. Mafia Rank 0 Title Wheelman Errandboy Associate Thug Valued Associate Soldier/Foot Soldier Made Men Capo Gang Boss/Main Consigliere Underboss Boss/Don Criminal Lore 0 0 * * * ** ** ** ** *** *** **** Criminal Lore 0 0 * * ** ** ** ** *** Criminal Lore 0 * * ** ** ** *** Streetwise * * * ** ** ** ** ** ** *** **** **** Streetwise * ** ** ** ** ** ** *** **** Streetwise * * ** ** ** *** **** Military Force 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 * ** *** ***** Military Force 0 0 0 0 0 * * ** *** Military Force 0 0 0 0 * ** *** City Secrets 0 0 0 0 * * * * * ** ** *** City Secrets 0 0 0 0 0 * * ** *** City Secrets 0 0 0 * * ** ** Family Status 0 0 0 0 0 0 * ** *** **** **** ***** Family Status 0 0 * * * ** *** **** ***** Family Status 0 0 * ** *** **** ***** Favors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 * * ** *** **** Favors 0 0 0 * * * ** ** *** Favors 0 0 0 * * ** ***
* ** *** **** *****
La Cosa Nostra/La Stidda Rank Title 0 Associates Soldier 1 Good Fellow Made Men Wise Guy 2 Capo-Regimes 3 Consigliere 4 Underboss 5 Boss/Don ROC Rank 1 2 3 4 5 Title Peon Thug Henchman Hitman Lieutenant Underboss Captain
Irish Mob Rank Title 0 Sympathizer 1 Piss Ant Muscle Hired Gun 2 Body Guard 3 Personal Thug Go to Guy 4 Right Hand Man 5 Kingpin
Criminal Lore 0 * * * * ** ** ** **
Streetwise * * * * ** ** ** *** *** Streetwise * ** *** *** **** **** Streetwise * ** ** ** *** **** **** Streetwise * * ** ** ** ** Streetwise * ** ** ** *** *** Streetwise * ** ** *** ***
Military Force 0 0 0 0 * * * ** *** Military Force 0 * ** *** **** ***** Military Force 0 * ** *** **** ***** ****** Military Force 0 0 * ** *** **** Military Force 0 0 0 * ** *** Military Force 0 0 * ** ***
City Secrets 0 0 0 0 * * * ** ** City Secrets 0 0 0 * ** *** City Secrets 0 0 * ** ** ** *** City Secrets 0 0 0 * * * City Secrets 0 0 * * * * City Secrets 0 * * * *
Family Status 0 * * * ** *** *** **** ***** Family Status 0 * ** *** **** ***** Family Status 0 0 * ** *** **** ***** Family Status 0 0 * ** *** **** Family Status 0 0 * * ** *** Family Status 0 * * ** ***
Favors 0 0 0 0 0 * * ** *** Favors 0 0 0 * ** *** Favors 0 0 0 * ** *** **** Favors 0 0 0 * ** *** Favors 0 0 * * ** *** Favors 0 * * ** ***
Triad/Tong Rank Title Criminal Lore 0 ma jai or little horses 0 1 yee lo/saam lo (clique leaders) * 2 dai lo(s) or big brothers * 3 dai dai lo (big big brother) ** 4 shuk foo ** 5 ah kung (grandfather) ** Yakuza/Yamaguchi Gumi/Chiu Chau Rank Title Criminal Lore 0 ---------------1 Wakashu (Children) 0 2 Shatei (Younger Brothers) * 3 Kyodai (Brothers) * 4 Shatei-gashira ** Saiko-komon ** Waka- gashira *** 5 Oyabun (Father) *** Columbian Cartel Rank Title 0 Dealers 1 Runners 2 Guns 3 Syndicate Crew Boss 4 Wholesaler 5 Importer Street Gangs Rank Title 0 Gangsta-Groupie 1 Wannabee 2 Homey 3 Gangsta 4 Veteran 5 Leader Alternate Street Gangs Rank Title 1 Thug 2 Soldier 3 Ghetto Star 4 Original Gangsta 5 Boss of the Gang Criminal Lore 0 * * ** ** ** Criminal Lore 0 0 * * ** ** Criminal Lore 0 * * ** **
Motorcycle Gangs Rank Title 0 Prospect Member 1 Member 2 Compatriot 3 Muscle 4 Right Hand 5 Leader Independents Rank Title 1 Petty Thief 2 Thief 3 Criminal 4 Seasoned Criminal 5 Master Criminal
Criminal Lore 0 * * * ** ** Criminal Lore 0 * * ** **
Streetwise * * ** ** *** *** Streetwise * ** ** *** ****
Military Force 0 0 * ** *** **** Military Force 0 0 0 0 0
City Secrets 0 0 * * ** ** City Secrets 0 0 * ** **
Family Status 0 * * ** ** *** Family Status 0 0 0 0 *
Favors 0 * * ** ** *** Favors 0 0 0 0 0
Independent criminals, those who exercise their illegal trade without the backing of any major organization, have always played an important role in any citys underworld. After all, one does not have to be a wiseguy or a biker to earn the big bucks. Some of the most interesting crooks have been freelancers. Confidence men take more money each year from the American public than all the bank robbers and thugs with their violence. Quote from the opening sequence of the 1950 TV show Racket Squad, starring Reed Hadley.
Crime is everywhere. Even though countries define crime differently in their criminal codes, no country is without crime. An increasing number of countries now reports statistics concerning traditional crimes (murder, robbery, rape, theft, burglary, fraud and assault) to the United Nations surveys. Crimes rates computed from surveys of victims are universally higher than those of official records. While there are many known shortcomings of official crime statistics collected at the international level, the use of UNCJS data, for the purpose of making general inferences about groups of countries and trends over time, is reasonably reliable. Problems arise only when making comparisons between individual countries. Transnational crime has emerged as a leading issue of 1990s. This general category includes illicit trafficking in arms, drugs, children, women, immigrants, body organs, cultural artifacts, flora and fauna, nuclear materials and automobiles; terrorism; bribery, corruption and fraud; and money laundering. Transnational crimes are very complex crimes, composed of many smaller crimes. They are thus extremely difficult to count. No systematic method of accounting for these crimes yet exists at the international level. Few countries record these crimes separately in their official statistics. There is an urgent need for the development of reliable and uniform data collection. Illicit markets exist because there is a demand for illicit goods and services, and criminal organizations willing to meet that demand. Organized crime now operates on a vast, global level. For example, the theft of cars, which was once a traditional crime of concern only to a particular country, is now a transnational crime because cars are stolen with a view for sale on the international illicit market. The direction of illicit marketing is usually from the developing world to the developed world where demand is highest. The exception is luxury cars which, for example, are stolen in Western Europe and shipped to Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation. Very often illicit trade is mixed in with the licit trade, producing significant grey areas where it is difficult to identify illicit activities.
TERRORISTS The following entries have been added for completion and for reference. As they are a staple of every day real life, it stands to reason why it should be included in a game scenerio where we take reality and warp it even darker. Check with your Storyteller before attempting to apply any of the following to the game at hand. As with dealing with Minor characters (Those under the age of at least 16), not all Storytellers are willing to cover such aspects as Terrorists or Terrorism in their game play.
Abu Nidal Organization a.k.a. Fatah Revolutionary Council, Arab Revolutionary Council, Arab Revolutionary Brigades, Black September, and Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims. International terrorist organization led by Sabri al-Banna. Split from PLO in 1974. Made up of various functional committees, including political, military, and financial. Activities Has carried out terrorist attacks in 20 countries, killing or injuring almost 900 persons. Targets include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, moderate Palestinians, the PLO, and various Arab countries. Major attacks included the Rome and Vienna airports in December 1985, the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul and the Pan Am Flight 73 hijacking in Karachi in September 1986, and the City of Poros day-excursion ship attack in July 1988 in Greece. Suspected of assassinating PLO deputy chief Abu Iyad and PLO security chief Abu Hul in Tunis in January 1991. ANO assassinated a Jordanian diplomat in Lebanon in January 1994 and has been linked to the killing of the PLO representative there. Has not attacked Western targets since the late 1980s. Strength Several hundred plus militia in Lebanon and limited overseas support structure. Location/Area of Operation Al-Banna may have relocated to Iraq in December 1998, where the group maintains a presence. Has an operational presence in Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley and several Palestinian refugee camps in coastal areas of Lebanon. Also has a presence in Sudan and Syria, among others. Has demonstrated ability to operate over wide area, including the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. External Aid Has received considerable support including safe haven, training, logistic assistance, and financial aid from Iraq, Libya, and Syria (until 1987), in addition to close support for selected operations.
Abu Sayyaf Group Smallest and most radical of the Islamic separatist groups operating in the southern Philippines. Split from the Moro National Liberation Front in 1991 under the leadership of Abdurajik Abubakar Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with Philippine police on 18 December 1998. Some members have studied or worked in the Middle East and developed ties to Arab mujahidin while fighting and training in Afghanistan. Activities Uses bombs, assassinations, kidnappings, and extortion payments to promote an independent Islamic state in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, areas in the southern Philippines heavily populated by Muslims. Raided the town of Ipil in Mindanao in April 1995, the group's first large-scale action. Suspected of several small-scale bombings and kidnappings in 1998. Strength Unknown, but believed to have about 200 members. Location/Area of Operation The ASG operates in the southern Philippines and occasionally in Manila. External Aid Probably receives support from Islamic extremists in the Middle East and South Asia.
Alex Boncayao Brigade Activities The ABB, the urban hit squad of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was formed in the mid-1980s. Responsible for more than 100 murders and believed to have been involved in the 1989 murder of US Army Col. James Rowe in the Philippines. Although reportedly decimated by a series of arrests in late 1995, the murder in June 1996 of a former high-ranking Philippine official, claimed by the group, demonstrates that it still maintains terrorist capabilities. In March 1997 the group announced that it had formed an alliance with another armed group, the Revolutionary Proletarian Army. Strength Approximately 500. Location/Area of Operation Operates exclusively in Manila.
al-Jihad a.k.a. Jihad Group, Islamic Jihad, Vanguards of Conquest, Talaa' al-Fateh, Egyptian Islamic extremist group active since the late 1970s. Appears to be divided into two factions: one led by Ayman al-Zawahiri--who currently is in Afghanistan and is a key leader in terrorist financier Usama Bin Ladin's new World Islamic Front--and the Vanguards of Conquest (Talaa' al-Fateh) led by Ahmad Husayn Agiza. Abbud al-Zumar, leader of the original Jihad, is imprisoned in Egypt and recently joined the group's jailed spiritual leader, Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman, in a call for a "peaceful front." Primary goal is to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state. Increasingly willing to target US interests in Egypt. Activities Specializes in armed attacks against high-level Egyptian Government officials. The original Jihad was responsible for the assassination in 1981 of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Appears to concentrate on high-level, high-profile Egyptian Government officials, including cabinet ministers. Claimed responsibility for the attempted assassinations of Interior Minister Hassan al-Alfi in August 1993 and Prime Minister Atef Sedky in November 1993. Has not conducted an attack inside Egypt since 1993 and never has targeted foreign tourists there. Has threatened to retaliate against the United States, however, for its incarceration of Shaykh Umar Abd alRahman and, more recently, for the arrests of its members in Albania, Azerbaijan, and the United Kingdom. Strength Not known, but probably several thousand hardcore members and another several thousand sympathizers among the various factions. Location/Area of Operation Operates in the Cairo area. Has a network outside Egypt, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and Sudan. External Aid Not known. The Egyptian Government claims that Iran, Sudan, and militant Islamic groups in Afghanistan--including Usama Bin Ladin--support the Jihad factions. Also may obtain some funding through various Islamic nongovernmental organizations.
al-Qaida Established by Osama Bin Ladin about 1990 to bring together Arabs who fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet invasion. Helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Afghan resistance. Current goal is to "reestablish the Muslim State" throughout the world. Works with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems "non-Islamic" and remove Westerners from Muslim countries. Issued statement under banner of "The World Islamic Front for Jihad Against The Jews and Crusaders" in February 1998, saying it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens, civilian or military, and their allies everywhere. The organization's primary goal is the overthrow of what it sees as the corrupt and heretical governments of Muslim states, and their replacement with the rule of Sharia (Islamic law). Al-Qaida is intensely anti-Western, and views the United States in particular as the prime enemy of Islam. Bin Ladin has issued three "fatwahs" or religious rulings calling upon Muslims to take up arms against the United States. History Osama bin Ladin entered on his current path of holy warrior in 1979, the year Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. He transferred his business to Afghanistan including several hundred loyal workmen and heavy construction tools and set out to liberate the land from the infidel invader. Recognizing at once that the Afghans were lacking both infrastructure and manpower to fight a protracted conflict, he set about solving both problems at once. The first step was to set up an organized program of conscription. Together with Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdallah Azzam, he organized a recruiting office Maktab al-Khidamat. MAK advertised all over the Arab world for young Muslims to come fight in Afghanistan and set up branch recruiting offices all over the world, including in the U.S. and Europe. Bin Ladin paid for the transportation of the new recurits to Afghanistan, and set up facilities to train them. The Afghan government donated land and resources, while bin Ladin brought in experts from all over the world on guerilla warfare, sabotage, and covert operations. Within a little over a year he had thousands of volunteers in training in his private bootcamps. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 fighters received training and combat experience in Afghanistan, with only a fraction coming from the native Afghan population. Nearly half of the fighting force came from bin Ladin's native Saudi Arabia. Others came from Algeria (roughly 3,000), from Egypt (2,000), with thousands more coming from other Muslim countries such as Yemen, Pakistan and the Sudan. The war in Afghanistan was the stage for one of the last major stand-offs between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. The Americans at that time had the same goals as bin Ladins mujahedin the ousting of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. In what was hailed at the time as one of its most successful covert operations, Americas Central Intelligence Agency launched a $500 million per year campaign to arm and train the impoverished and outgunned mujahedin guerrillas to fight the Soviet Union. The most promising guerilla leaders were sought out and sponsored by the CIA. U.S. official sources are understandably vague on the question of whether Osama bin Ladin was one of the CIAs chosen at that time. Bin Ladins group was one of seven main mujahedin factions. It is estimated that a significant quantity of high tech American weapons, including stinger anti aircraft missiles, made their way into his arsenal. The majority of them are reported to be still there. The Mujahedin were wildly successful. In ten years of savage fighting they vanquished the Soviet Union. What had begun as a fragmented army of tribal warriors ended up a well organized and equipped modern army, one capable of beating a super power. The departing Soviet troops left behind an Afghanistan with a huge arsenal of sophisticated weapons and thousands of seasoned Islamic warriors from a variety of countries. Some of these veterans returned to their own countries and got on with their lives. Others returned to their own countries steeped in Islamic fundamentalism and a will to topple western-influenced, infidel governments in favor of Islamic regimes. They used the knowledge gleaned in the Afghan war to set up guerilla and terror cells. In Egypt and Algeria, the Afghan Veterans, as they came to be called, aided Islamic extremists in their fight against the secular governments. In most Arab countries, the veterans were not at all welcome, and the governments kept a close eye on their doings. However, in some countries the Afghan veterans were accorded a warm welcome. Such was the case in Sudan, where the government gave them jobs, helped them to set up training camps, and appointed some of them to government posts. In addition to these facilities established in friendly Arab countries, the majority of the mujahedin training camps in Afghanistan continued to operate, supplying Islamic mercenaries to conflicts in a number of countries. Afghanistan was still seen as the hearth-stone of the mujahedin, from whence trained fighters could be sent out to fight wherever they were needed. Mujahedin veterans began showing up in Islamic struggles in such places as Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Chechnya. Toward the end of the war in Afghanistan, bin Ladin split with MAK cofounder Azzam in the late 1980s, and in 1988 formed alQaida to continue the work of the Jihad. While Azzam continued to focus on support to Muslims in Afghanistan, bin Ladin turned his attention to carrying the war to other countries. In late 1989 Abdallah Azzam died in the explosion of a car bomb, generally blamed on a rival Afghani faction. Several rumors circulating at the time blamed bin Ladin himself for the attack. After the victory in Afghanistan, Osama bin Ladin returned to his native Saudi Arabia to take up the fight against the infidel government there. The Saudis were not disposed to tolerate his calls to insurrection, and quickly acted against him. In April 1994, his Saudi citizenship was revoked for irresponsible behavior and he was expelled from the country. Together with his family and a large band of followers, Bin Ladin moved to Khartoum in Sudan. There he set up factories and farms, some of which were established solely for the purpose of
supplying jobs to out-of-work mujahedin. He built roads and infrastructure for the Sudanese government and training camps for the Afghan Veterans. Among bin Ladins numerous Sudanese commercial interests are: a factory to process goat skins, a construction company, a bank, a sunflower plantation, and an import-export operation. His construction company el-Hijrah for Construction and Development Ltd. in partnership with the National Islamic Front and the Sudanese military built the new airport at Port Sudan, as well as a 1200km long highway linking Khartoum to Port Sudan. Another company reputed to be owned by bin Ladin is the Wadi al-Aqiq Company, an export-import firm. He also runs the Taba Investment Company Ltd. and the el-Shamal Islamic Bank in Khartoum, a joint effort with the NIF, in which bin Ladin is said to have invested $50 million. For many years, bin Ladin lived in Khartoum, in a residence guarded by the local security forces, while he was arranging for many of the Afghan veterans to move to Sudan. Bin Ladin is said to be close to Sudanese leader Omar Albashir, and to Hassan Turabi, the head of the National Islamic Front (NIF) in Sudan. However, Sudan long on the U.S. State Departments list of state sponsors of terrorism in recent years began to thaw toward the West. As a gesture toward the United States, the Sudanese government requested that bin Ladin depart. In May 1996, he moved to Afghanistan, leaving behind him in Sudan a network of Afghan Veterans and several successful factories and corporations. Several major companies in Sudan are linked to him, and are believed to be doing double duty as logistics support for bin Ladins network. In February 1998, bin Ladin announced the formation of an umbrella organization called The Islamic World Front for the struggle against the Jews and the Crusaders (Al-Jabhah al-Islamiyyah al-`Alamiyyah li-Qital al-Yahud wal-Salibiyyin) Among the members of this organization are the Egyptian al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya and the Egyptian al-Jihad. Both of these groups were have been active in terrorism over the past decade. (see Attacks of al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya and al-Jihad). The founder members of the Front include, besides bin Ladin; Dr. Ayman al- Zawahiri, leader of the Egyptian Jihad; Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, a leader of the Islamic Group. The Islamic Group is linked with the al-Dir al-Bahri massacre in Luxor in November 1997,which claimed the lives of 58 tourists; and some leaders of extremist fundamentalist movements in Pakistan. On May 28, 1998 the Islamabad daily, The News reported that Osama bin Ladin had announced the formation of an International Islamic Front for Jihad against America and Israel. Talking to a group of journalists who had traveled from Pakistan to meet him at his base in Khost in southern Afghanistan, he said leaders of Islamic movements in several countries, including Pakistan had evinced interest in joining the front. He stated that Dr Aiman AlZawahiri, leader of the Jamaat-ul-Jihad in Egypt who was present at the time, had played a crucial role in launching the front. Bin Ladin justified the formation of the anti-American and anti-Israeli front by arguing that Muslims everywhere in the world were suffering at the hands of the U.S. and Israel. He said the Muslims must wage holy war against their real enemies not only to rid themselves of unpopular regimes backed by the Americans and Israelis but also protect their faith. When a reporter maintained that bin Ladin and his colleagues could not possibly take on the world's only superpower, bin Ladin contended that the US was vulnerable and could be defeated in war. This would happen in the same way as the USSR suffered humiliation at the hands of the Afghan and Arab mujahideen in Afghanistan and was eventually dismembered. On 14 May 1998, The London Al-Quds al-'Arabi published an article to the effect that clerics in Afghanistan had issued a fatwa stipulating the necessity to move U.S. forces out of the Gulf region. Addressing Muslims the world-over, the Afghan ulema said: The enemies of Islam are not limited to a certain group or party; all atheists are enemies of Islam, and they take one another as friends. The Afghan ulema declared jihad based on the rules of the Shari'ah against the United States and its followers. They urged Islamic governments to perform the duty of armed jihad against the enemies of Islam, pointing out that if Muslims are lax in their responsibility, the enemies of Islam will occupy the two holy mosques as well, just as they occupied the al- Aqsa Mosque. They stressed, in a statement attached to the fatwa, that: This fatwa with the evidence and the rulings issued by early and current ulema, on which it is based is not merely a fatwa issued by the ulema of a Muslim country, but rather a religious fatwa that every Muslim should adopt and work under. There are probably a few hundred Arab volunteers still living in Afghanistan. They are the leftovers of the several thousand Arabs who came to Afghanistan via Pakistan in the 1980s to take part in the jihad against the USSR's Red Army and the Afghan communists. Those left behind have nowhere else to go because they risk being caught should they venture to return home. No other country would be willing to accept them. In any case, present day Afghanistan continues to be their safest hideaway. The ones who have returned to their countries have mostly joined the political and military struggle aimed at bringing an Islamic change there. Known as Arab-Afghans, these battle-hardened Islamists have come to be known as the most radical and dangerous of the fighters who have taken up arms against the Algerian and Egyptian governments. The Paris al-Watan al-'Arabi estimated on 26 June 1998, that the fact that bin-Ladin has shown up again in the press clearly indicates his emergence as a leader of the revolutionary council that was eventually established. According to the newspaper, a Dutch official who closely follows developments in the new Islamic Front, in cooperation with European organs, believes that relations were actually reorganized among the organizations which used to cooperate and coordinate with each other on the organizational and logistical levels on a new basis that gives an organizational working configuration to past relations. This is a new and important development. According to the Dutch official, this confirms the seriousness of this event, which requires larger and more accurate coordination between the European and U.S. authorities. It also calls for cooperation by some of the Middle Eastern authorities.
The organizations whose membership in the Islamic Front was announced are the Egyptian Jihad, the Egyptian Armed Group, the Pakistan Scholars Society, the Partisans Movement in Kashmir, the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh, and the Afghan military wing of the Advice and Reform commission led by Osama bin Ladin. All these organizations once cooperated and coordinated with one another, but without any specific configuration or mechanism for such cooperation. Moreover, each of these organizations had freedom of action, and they determined their own objectives independently. Cooperation among these organizations was only at the level of those who carry arms, which is one of the organizational levels of each organization. There were no means of cooperation and coordination among the people of the call, another of the organizational levels. This is due to the fact that Afghanistan enhanced relations among the carriers of arms and created a kind of interpersonal cohesion. According to this evaluation, the threat posed by this new front is due to the fact that it combines all the organizational levels, by establishing a shura [consultative] council. According to most assessments, this council is led by Osama Bin Ladin. This increases the front's effectiveness. It can be said that the Islamic Front has now moved from the constituent and organizational phase to the operational phase. Activities Conducted the bombings of the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 7 August that killed at least 301 persons and injured more than 5,000 others. Claims to have shot down US helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia in 1993 and to have conducted three bombings targeted against the US troop presence in Aden, Yemen in December 1992. Linked to plans for attempted terrorist operations, including the assassination of the Pope during his visit to Manila in late1994; simultaneous bombings of the US and Israeli Embassies in Manila and other Asian capitals in late 1994; the midair bombing of a dozen US transPacific flights in 1995; and a plan to kill President Clinton during a visit to the Philippines in early 1995. Continues to train, finance, and provide logistic support to terrorist groups that support these goals. Also responsible for the 2001 air attack on the twin towers in New York The following list of American grievances against bin Ladin and his network was taken from a U.S. State Department Fact Sheet: Bin Ladin's followers conspired to kill US servicemen in Yemen who were on their way to participate in the humanitarian mission "Operation Restore Hope" in Somalia in 1992, and plotted the deaths of American and other peacekeepers in Somalia who were there to deliver food to starving Muslim people. Bin Ladin's network assisted Egyptian terrorists who tried to assassinate Egyptian President Mubarak in 1995 and who have killed dozens of tourists in Egypt in recent years. The Egyptian Islamic Jihad, one of the key groups in the network, conducted a car bombing against the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan in 1995 that killed over 20 Egyptians and Pakistanis. Members of bin Ladin's network plotted to blow up US airliners in the Pacific and separately conspired to kill the Pope. His followers bombed a joint US and Saudi military training mission in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1995. Bin Ladin's network has publicly and repeatedly articulated a clear and violent anti-US agenda: In August 1996, bin Ladin issued a "declaration of war" against the United States. In February 1998, bin Ladin stated "If someone can kill an American soldier, it is better than wasting time on other matters." In February 1998, the bin Ladin network's World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders declared its intention to attack Americans and our allies, including civilians, anywhere in the world. In May 1998, bin Ladin stated at a press conference in Afghanistan that we would see the results of his threats "in a few weeks." Bali 2002: For months the Indonesian government had denied allegations that al-Qaida militants were setting up shop in the country. When Singapores investigation into a plot to bomb Western interests pointed to the involvement of Indonesian operatives, Indonesia refused even to entertain the possibility. Now, in the wake of what is being called the worst terrorist act in Indonesian history, these denials appear not only preposterous, but criminally remiss. There can be little doubt that the bombing of Balis popular nightclub district was aimed at the throngs of Western tourists who frequent the islands nightspots. Nor do many doubt that Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida were ultimately behind the attack, which came on the second anniversary of the bombing of the USS Cole. What is in doubt is whether the lesson has been learned. The attack on foreign visitors to Bali was only the latest and the most deadly attack on foreign visitors in Asia. This atrocity was preceded by attacks on French engineers, foreign diplomats, and Christian aid workers in Pakistan; by bombings targeting American forces in the Philippines; and by shooting attacks on American soldiers in Kuwait. Nor was this by any means the first attack against non Muslims in Indonesian cities; in December 2000, a series of well coordinated blasts targeted churches in Jakarta and elsewhere, killing more than 20 people. To say that the writing was on the wall would be a considerable understatement.
Al-Qaidas influence on the Islamic militant culture of Southeast Asia runs deep perhaps even deeper than anyone had previously suspected. Only since the September 11 attacks in the United States has the full extent of al-Qaida involvement in the region begun to emerge. What at first appeared to be a ragtag assortment of unrelated militant groups has now been revealed as an intricate web of mutual operational support, based on personal connections and shared ideology. While al-Qaidas influence has extended to virtually every part of Southeast Asia, Indonesia has provided particularly fertile ground, due to the current lack of a stable government and a recent history of brutal repression. Ironically, it was the Suharto governments suppression of Muslim religious groups that gave alQaida a foothold in Indonesia. In a region where the line between political activism and militant terrorism is a thin one, Suhartos attempt to wipe out his political adversaries pushed many Muslim fundamentalists across the line, straight into the arms of al-Qaida. Denied a chance to play a role in Indonesian politics, many Indonesian Islamists cultivated the dream of Daulah Islamiah Raya, an Islamic super-state that would include all of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Sultanate of Brunei, and parts of the southern Philippines, Thailand and even Cambodia. This notion of a global, or at least regional, Islamic nation was shared by the Wahhabi fundamentalists who eventually formed the Taliban, and by Osama bin Ladins network for global jihad. Always seeking to extend his influence, Osama bin Laden reached out to the disparate local extremist groups, offering financial and operational assistance. In return, he won new recruits to his cause of liberating Muslim lands from Western influence. On Christmas Eve, 2000, twenty bombs tore through Christian churches in Jakarta and eight other Indonesian cities. Twenty-two people were killed and nearly a hundred wounded. Dozens of other churches narrowly missed destruction because the bombs were defused or failed to explode. Two would-be attackers were killed when the bombs they were assembling exploded prematurely. A similar accident led Indonesian police to Iqbal Uzzaman, a Veteran of the Afghan war who had recruited at least 12 of the bombers. Uzzaman told interrogators that the attacks had been the brainchild of a man known as Hambali who he said had arrived in the city of Bandung with plans for 30 simultaneous attacks on infidel targets. Hambali had access to plenty of money, and brought along two assistants to build the bombs. Uzzaman was to provide the foot soldiers and Hambali would provide the wherewithal to carry out the attacks. While Uzzaman and nine of his recruits are currently serving time in Indonesian prisons, Hambali has disappeared without a trace. Six days after the church bombings, five nearly simultaneous explosions rocked the Philippine capital of Manila, killing another 22 people. More than a year later, Philippines police arrested an Indonesian citizen, Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, who had once worked as an explosives expert for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The new bombings were not the work of the MILF; a check of al-Ghozis cell-phone records revealed that immediately before and after the Manila bombings he had called a number belonging to Hambali. Al-Ghozi said that Hambali, who had visited Manila a short time before, had funded and coordinated the bombings. Al-Ghozi also led police to a cache in General Santos City on the island of Mindanao containing a tonne of Anzomex explosive, 300 detonators, six 400-meter rolls of detonating cord and 17 M16 assault rifles. That al-Ghozis arrest was able to throw light on the Manila blasts was pure serendipity, since he was arrested in connection with a totally different incident. In December 2001, Singaporean authorities arrested 13 members of a cell planning attacks on Western interests in that country. Al-Ghozi had acquired the explosives uncovered on Mindanao as part of this cells plan. According to Singapores Home Affairs Minister, the explosives were destined to be smuggled from Mindanao to Indonesia, and then to Malaysia and finally to Singapore. The Mindanao cache was only part of the picture: Singaporean investigators eventually concluded that the cell had intended to blow up seven targets on the island with trucks, each carrying three times as much explosives as that used to level the Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Eight of the men arrested in Singapore had trained at al-Qaidah camps in Afghanistan. The cell consisted of local Muslims belonging to Jemaah Islamiah, a clandestine Islamist group with ties to similar groups in Malaysia and Indonesia. Several of the men were reported to be members of Singapores armed forces. The cell, which was formed as far back as 1993, followed a classic al-Qaida pattern: Local militants formed cells of between three and four men, who were then provided with instruction and aid by al-Qaida consultants. Members of the Singaporean cell knew these foreign experts only as Mike and Sammy. Both men were experts in explosives and undercover work, and met with the cell several times during October 2001. The plan they helped develop required the cells local members to scout out and videotape potential targets, arrange for travel documents, and acquire the explosives to be used in the attacks. Mike reportedly instructed members of the cell to purchase some 20 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer. The actual attacks would be carried out by suicide bombers brought in by Sammy by which time the local cell members were to have left the country. The plans targets included the American, Australian and Israeli embassies in Singapore, as well American ships in Singapores harbor. The plot, code named Operation Jibril, was apparently known to Singaporean authorities as early as October 2000. Singapore government sources said the arrest of the local members of the cell thwarted a serious effort to launch attacks. However, the two al-Qaida experts managed to slip out of the country some time in late December. The arrest of Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi in mid-January in the Philippines was based on information provided by Singapore. Al-Ghozi, it turned out, was the explosives expert known to the Singaporean cell as Mike. The second al-Qaida consultant was later picked up by United States security agents in Oman. Sammy turned out to be Jabarah Mohammed Mansour, a Canadian citizen of Kuwaiti descent. Mansour proved extremely cooperative in answering questions about al-Qaida, and reportedly provided his interrogators with details about the networks training methods and operational techniques, including means of blending in with the local population while planning an attack.
But it was the interrogation Rohman al-Ghozi and the other members of the Singapore cell that provided the most information about al-Qaidas Southeast Asian cells. Among the information al-Ghozi provided was the name of the brains behind the Singapore operation. According to his affidavit, al-Ghozi had been working under the orders of Hambali, whom he described as the operational commander of Jemaah Islamiah. However, the name Hambali, which now appeared to be connected with virtually every major terror attack in Southeast Asia, was also connected with al-Qaida. It was Hambali who ordered a member of the Singapore cell to videotape possible targets on the island; and when police arrested the cell members in December 2001, they discovered a copy of the tape. A second copy had been sent by courier to bin Ladins operations chief, Mohammed Atef reportedly to get final approval for the planned attack. The tape, which was found in Atefs house in Kabul, Afghanistan, after his death, shows scenes of a bus stop, a Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) underground railway station, and an area where U.S. personnel congregate. There was also footage of a line of bicycles with carry-boxes strapped to them, which the narrator suggested could be used to carry explosives to a target. The tape provided the first direct link between the Jemaah Islamiah group and the al-Qaida leadership in Afghanistan. Hambali reportedly paid for the delivery of the tape to Atef, as well as training in Afghanistan for at least seven members of the Singapore cell. The plot to bomb Western targets in Singapore dates back to 1993, when Ibrahim Maidin visited Afghanistan. On his return to Singapore he began recruiting like-minded Muslims to attend private classes on Islam. He also founded Jamaah Islamiahs first Singapore cell, coordinating meetings with Hambali, who directed the organizations regional operations from his base in Kuala Lumpur. In 1994, Maidin began sending recruits for religious and military training in Malaysia. There, Hambali chose some of the more promising trainees to be sent on for further training at al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan. There they received training in the use of AK-47 assault rifles, mortars, and military tactics. An encrypted diskette recently seized by authorities showed a letter nominating two cell members for special training in ambush, assassination, sniper operations and field engineering. By 1997, the Fiah Ayab cell, the first of four Singapore Jemaah Islamiah cells was ready for action. The cell had contacts, through Hambali, with the central alQaida leadership, but for reasons unknown, the attacks which the cell was to have carried out never materialized. Al-Qaidas leadership was at the time busy with the final stages of the bombings of the American embassies in East Africa and this may have caused the Singapore plot to have been put on hold. Whatever the reason, it was not until 2001, that the networks second cell, Fiah Musa, became operational. This cell was coordinated by Faiz bin Abu Bakar Bafana, a 39-year-old Singaporean businessman who served with Hambali on the Jemaah Islamiahs regional operations council in Malaysia. It was Bafana who arranged for the two al-Qaida experts, al-Ghozi and Mansour, to visit Singapore. Meanwhile, Hambali was arranging to procure the explosives needed by the group. He contacted Yazid Sufaat, a Malaysian businessman and former military officer, and directed him to order four tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Sufaat placed the order through his company, Green Laboratory Medicine, and, according to Malaysian authorities, stashed the material at the port town of Muar on the West Coast of Malaysia. Al-Ghozi had advised the members of the Singapore cell that they would need some 21 tonnes of ammonium nitrate to carry out the planned attacks, and instructed the cell members to acquire the material from local suppliers. It was this that proved their undoing; members of the cell placed an order for seventeen tonnes of ammonium nitrate with a local company, which immediately alerted Singapores security agency, the ISD. The ISD launched an investigation, working on the assumption that foreign members of Jemaah Islamiah were seeking to infiltrate Singapore. However in November 2001, Mohammed Aslam bin Yar Ali Khan, a Singaporean of Pakistani descent and believed to have links to al-Qaida was captured in Afghanistan. It turned out that he had links to the local cell, whose existence the ISD had not hitherto suspected. Ali Khans arrest led the ISD directly to other cell members, and their interrogations eventually led to the capture of al-Ghozi and Mansour. Yazid Sufaat, the Malaysian businessman who had procured the explosives for the cell, was arrested in December 2001, upon returning home from a visit to Afghanistan. Investigators soon connected him with two of the September 11 hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, who had stayed with Sufaat while attending a crucial January 2001 planning meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Then, in August 2001, FBI agents raided the Minneapolis of Zacarias Moussaoui, believed to be the missing 20th hijacker in the September 11 attacks. Among Moussaouis papers, the agents discovered letters from a Malaysian company called Infocus Tech. The letters, identifying Moussaoui as the companys marketing consultant for the United States, Britain and Europe, were signed Yazid Sufaat, Managing Director. According to FBI sources quoted by Newsweek magazine, Sufaat had also agreed to pay Moussaoui $2,500 a month during his stay in the United States, along with a lump sum of $35,000 to get him started. Sufaat told interrogators that he had made these arrangements on the orders of Hambali and of Jemaah Islamiahs spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bayasir. Hambali, meanwhile, had once more managed to disappear without a trace. Whats more, so did the explosives stored at Muar.
Hambalis links to international terrorism did not start with the Singapore plot. He had in fact been involved in high-profile attacks against the United States long before anyone had heard of al-Qaida. Much of what is known of Hambalis involvement in international terrorism has emerged since September 11, 2001. What is disquieting is how little was previously known; for nearly a decade, he had been a pivotal figure in Islamic extremist terrorism, and yet had managed to remain virtually unknown. The picture that has emerged September 11 is of terrorist mastermind who has already served as coordinator for dozens of high-profile attacks. Police and security officials around the region suspect he may have set in motion other elaborate, and as yet undiscovered, terror plots before disappearing in January of 2001, apparently headed for Pakistan. As police investigations continue, each passing week uncovers more of what is now clearly an elaborate umbrella organization for al-Qaida linked terrorist activity in Southeast Asia, virtually all of which is coordinated by Hambali. Hambali Riduan Issamudin, now 37 fought alongside thousands of other young Muslims from around the world in the Afghan war against the Soviet Union. Upon his return from Afghanistan, he married a Chinese Malaysian woman and gave every impression of settling down to a modest life in Kuala Lumpur. However, in the background he organized classes for the teaching of Jihad, together with an Indonesian cleric named Abu Bakar Baasyir. This was a partnership that would last up to the present. Today, both men are instrumental in the running of Jemaah Islamiah, with Hambali providing the practical know-how and tactical experience and Abu Bakar serving as the organizations ideologue. The fundamental doctrine of the group is Daulah Islamiah Raya, the ideal of creating Islamic state in SoutheAsia that would include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Sultanate of Brunei, the South Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia. Most of these countries now have terrorist and tribal groups all seeking the same objective, which greatly facilitated the formation of regional ties by Jemaah Islamiah. But Hambalis aspirations did not stop with Southeast Asia; he is now known to have been intimately involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American interests, including the first World Trade Center bombing in February 1993. Together with Wali Khan Amin Shah, one of those eventually jailed in the bombing, Hambali established a company called Konsojaya. The companys ostensible business was exporting palm oil from Malaysia to Afghanistan; however, it also served as a conduit for the funding of Jihad. After the World Trade Center bombing, Hambali used the company to supply Wali Kahn and Ramzi Yousef with cash to escape to the Philippines. Hambali has also been implicated in Operation Bojinka a plot to blow up twelve American airliners over the Pacific. Wali Khan was eventually jailed for the bombing of a Philippine Airlines plane in December 1994 that killed a Japanese businessman. The bombing is believed to have been a dry run for Operation Bojinka. This operation too, is believed to have been the brainchild of Hambali. The Philippines cell that was to have carried it out was funded by Hambalis company Konsojaya. Hambali is also thought to have raised funds, bought arms and recruited fighters for a jihad against Indonesian and Filipino Christians. An investigation into the company provided investigators with the first clear indications of Hambalis links to al-Qaidas Afghanistan-based leadership. Phone taps by Philippine police showed that frequent calls were made from the Konsojaya offices in Malaysia to the Manila offices of Mohammed Khalifa, bin Ladens brother-in-law, who runs a charity organization for al-Qaida. In addition to coordinating Jemaah Islamiahs local groups, Hambali is the chief Southeast Asian representative and logistical coordinator for al-Qaida. He organized travel itineraries, accommodation and welcome dinners for hijackers Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, and a suspect in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, and met with Zacarias Moussaoui. Intelligence officials in the region say they believe that Hambali was instrumental is setting up the meeting in Kuala Lumpur during which plans for the September 11 attacks were finalized. Some even believe that Hambali was one of the chief architects of the attacks, perhaps using the 1995 plot as a blueprint. Hambalis whereabouts today are unknown. He reportedly left Malaysia on February 23 of this year for Indonesia. Two days later, he left Indonesia for an unknown location. While the whereabouts of Hambali are unknown, the location of his partner in the Jemaah Islamiah leadership, Abu Bakar Baaysir, has never been in doubt; he still lives and teaches quite openly on the Indonesian island of Java. An Islamic cleric of Yemeni origin, Abu Bakar, now 64, heads the Mujahidin Council of Indonesia. He is also believed to be a key figure in the Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia (KMM), an Islamic militant group that advocates the overthrow of the Malaysian government. Since last August, Malaysia has detained dozens members of the KMM.
More importantly, Abu Bakar has been identified as the amir, or supreme leader of Jemaah Islamiah by several members of the groups Singapore cells. Both Singapore and Malaysia have urged Indonesia to arrest Abu Bakar Baasyir, saying that his continued freedom of action undermines peace in the region. However, Indonesian officials say that there is insufficient evidence against him; after all, he has not broken any Indonesian laws. Singapore countered by offering to allow Indonesian authorities access to imprisoned members of Jemaah Islamiah. The offer was made after Indonesia sent a letter to Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew demanding he clarify his controversial statement that leaders of extremist cells were at large in Indonesia. Indonesia denounced Lees claim as provocative and unsubstantiated, but the Singapore foreign ministry said that proof could easily be provided. Indonesias reluctance to act against Abu Bakar and other militant preachers is part and parcel of the countrys unstable political situation. Baasyir is an unapologetic admirer of Osama bin Laden, and openly expresses a loathing of American leaders and Jews. But he has steadfastly denied that he is involved in any terrorist activities. However, the recent interrogation of an al-Qaida militant have begun to provide what American officials say as conclusive evidence that Baasyir is more than just a rabble-rouser. The prisoner, Omar al-Farouq, served as a liaison between Jemaah Islamiah to al-Qaidas senior leadership. His interrogation has provided a clearer picture of Jemaah Islamiyah. Al-Farouq said Baasyir had provided resources and logistical support for the planned attack on the American Embassy. The evidence provided by al-Farouq has led Washington to increase its pressure on Indonesia to arrest Abu Bakar Baasyir. Yet the Indonesian government, wary of a backlash by the countrys religious Muslims, has done little more than call Abu Bakar in for questioning. Some Indonesian Muslims see Abu Bakar as a legitimate Islamic cleric, albeit one with militant views, and Americas war on terrorism as a war on Islam. Meanwhile, Abu Bakar continues to live his normal life, teaching at the same school. However, Indonesian military sources quoted by TIME magazine said privately that they believed Abu Bakar to be a key link in the network of regional terrorist cells. Nor is Abu Bakar and his ilk Indonesias only terrorist problem. Indonesian has been plagued by a sectarian conflict in the Moluccas islands, where for three years Muslim militants have been waging a jihad against Christian villagers. The jihad groups have kept the fires of sectarian violence raging in the Moluccas, and are vocal in their calls to eradicate Christianity from the Islands. This conflict has drawn Islamic militants from all over the region to take part, playing much the same role in Southeast Asia that the Afghan conflict did a generation earlier. Foreign trainees have flocked to the Islands, bringing with them arms and explosives. They leave with a stronger connection to militant Islam, as well as valuable fighting experience. The central government has thus far been either unable or unwilling to come to grips with the problem, even as evidence mounts that foreign terrorist groups are exploiting the conflict to gain a foothold in Indonesia. Those efforts that have been made have been hampered by sympathy for the militant groups on the part of some elements of the Indonesian military. Indonesian police and military officials have publicly denied that foreign terrorist groups have set up training camps in the country. However, members of an al-Qaida cell arrested in Spain last year told investigators that they had trained in a makeshift training facility on the island of Sulawesi. The camp, officials said, was located in dense jungle near the port city of Poso. Sulawesi has been the scene of some of the areas most intense fighting between Muslims and Christians which has claimed more than 1,000 lives to date. Indonesian military sources have hinted that al-Qaida militants may have been behind some of the fighting. The officials said the Poso camp was operated by al-Qaida members with the assistance of local Muslim militants. Unlike other paramilitary training facilities in Indonesia, a country where political groups often have armed wings, this camp was a well-kept secret. Indonesian intelligence officials estimated that over the past year several hundred people, many of them from Europe, Pakistan and the Middle East, entered the country posing as aid workers to reach the camp. The officials said that in August and October of 2000, police briefly detained several non-Indonesians traveling in the Poso area, but they were released after showinglocal officials a letter fra Muslim charity based in southern Sulawesi stating they were going to Poso to help rebuild mosques. A senior Indonesian intelligence official said investigators subsequently discovered that the charity, known as the Crisis Prevention Committee, had connections to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. Police have concluded the foreigners were probably going to or from the camp when they were detained. The Bali attack has shown the folly of the governments continued refusal to deal with this trend; Indonesia now has no choice but to crack down on Islamist terrorists. But this will not be easy, as the country has still not fully recovered economically or politically from the harsh Suharto regime. Most Indonesians are loath to return to the years when even peaceful Islamic political activists were routinely jailed. At the same time, the countrys military and law enforcement agencies are not equipped to deal with the challenges of battling al-Qaida. For years Indonesias intelligence services, distracted by separatist rebellions and almost four years of political turmoil in the capital, had their hands too full to collect information on Islamist groups. What little intelligence gathering they attempted was hampered by chronic lack of funds; equipment that is standard in many countries, including devices to monitor cellular phones, are a luxury to Indonesias intelligence services. Nor will the Indonesian government be able, even if it is willing, to seek immediate help from the United States. A U.S. law, passed in the wake of the Indonesian armys human-rights abuses in East Timor, prohibits American military assistance to Indonesia. This law may soon be rescinded, as the war on terrorism overshadows humanrights issues. Meanwhile, Washington has quietly expanded the scope of intelligence cooperation with Indonesia on terrorist-related issues, in the hope that this could spur law enforcement agencies to take more aggressive steps against extremist groups. But the effort has so far received a mixed reception.
Ironically, the Indonesian governments attempts to avoid offending the countrys moderate Muslims may well have created the need for an unprecedented and harsh crackdown on Islamist groups. There is no question that if Indonesia continues to ignore the presence of international terrorists in its territory, it will face serious risks: not only the likelihood of further attacks, but also escalating conflict with its neighbors, including Malaysia and Singapore, and now Australia as well. These countries have problems of their own, and are unlikely to tolerate the risk of the epidemic of global jihad spreading from Indonesia to their own territories. Strength May have from several hundred to several thousand members. Also serves as the core of a loose umbrella organization that includes many Sunni Islamic extremist groups, including factions of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Gama'at al-Islamiyya, and the Harakat ulMujahidin Location/Area of Operation The Embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam underscore al-Qaida's global reach. Bin Ladin and his key lieutenants reside in Afghanistan, and the group maintains terrorist training camps there External Aid Bin Ladin, son of a billionaire Saudi family, is said to have inherited around $300 million that he uses to finance the group. Al-Qaida also maintains money-making businesses, collects donations from like-minded supporters, and illicitly siphons funds from donations to Muslim charitable organizations
Armed Islamic Group (GIA) An Islamic extremist group, the GIA aims to overthrow the secular Algerian regime and replace it with an Islamic state. The GIA began its violent activities in early 1992 after Algiers voided the victory of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS)--the largest Islamic party--in the first round of legislative elections in December 1991. Activities Frequent attacks against civilians, journalists, and foreign residents. In the last several years the GIA has conducted a terrorist campaign of civilian massacres, sometimes wiping out entire villages in its area of operations and frequently killing hundreds of civilians. Since announcing its terrorist campaign against foreigners living in Algeria in September 1993, the GIA has killed more than 100 expatriate men and women--mostly Europeans--in the country. Uses assassinations and bombings, including car bombs, and it is known to favor kidnapping victims and slitting their throats. The GIA hijacked an Air France flight to Algiers in December 1994, and suspicions centered on the group for a series of bombings in France in 1995. Strength Unknown, probably several hundred to several thousand. Location/Area of Operation Algeria External Aid Algerian expatriates and GIA members abroad, many of whom reside in Western Europe, provide some financial and logistic support. In addition, the Algerian Government has accused Iran and Sudan of supporting Algerian extremists and severed diplomatic relations with Iran in March 1993.
Aum Supreme Truth a.k.a. Aum Shinrikyo. A cult established in 1987 by Shoko Asahara, Aum aims to take over Japan and then the world. Its organizational structure mimicks that of a nation-state, with "finance," "construction," and "science and technology" ministries. Approved as a religious entity in 1989 under Japanese law, the group ran candidates in a Japanese parliamentary election in 1990. Over time, the cult began to emphasize the imminence of the end of the world and stated that the United States would initiate "Armageddon" by starting World War III with Japan. The Japanese Government revoked its recognition of Aum as a religious organization in October 1995, but in 1997 a government panel decided not to invoke the Anti-Subversive Law against the group, which would have outlawed the cult. Activities On 20 March 1995 Aum members simultaneously released sarin nerve gas on several Tokyo subway trains, killing 12 persons and injuring up to 6,000. The group was responsible for other mysterious chemical incidents in Japan in 1994. Its efforts to conduct attacks using biological agents have been unsuccessful. Japanese police arrested Asahara in May 1995, and he remained on trial facing seventeen counts of murder at the end of 1998. In 1997 and 1998 the cult resumed its recruiting activities in Japan and opened several commercial businesses. Maintains an Internet homepage that indicates Armageddon and anti-US sentiment remain a part of the cult's world view. Strength At the time of the Tokyo subway attack, the group claimed to have 9,000 members in Japan and up to 40,000 worldwide. Its current strength is unknown. Location/Area of Operation Operates in Japan, but previously had a presence in Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, the former Yugoslavia, and the United States.
Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) a.k.a Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna. Founded in 1959 with the aim of establishing an independent homeland based on Marxist principles in Spain's Basque region and the south western French provinces of Labourd, Basse-Navarra, and Soule. Activities Primarily bombings and assassinations of Spanish Government officials, especially security and military forces, politicians, and judicial figures. In response to French operations against the group, ETA also has targeted French interests. Finances its activities through kidnappings, robberies, and extortion. Has killed more than 800 persons since it began lethal attacks in the early 1960s; responsible for murdering 6 persons in 1998. ETA declared a "unilateral and indefinite" cease-fire on 17 September 1998. They broke it in 2001 renewing their bombing campaign. While popular in Basque they are hated by all other Spaniards. Strength Unknown; may have hundreds of members, plus supporters. Location/Area of Operation Operates primarily in the Basque autonomous regions of northern Spain and south western France, but also has bombed Spanish and French interests elsewhere. External Aid Has received training at various times in the past in Libya, Lebanon, and Nicaragua. Some ETA members allegedly have received sanctuary in Cuba. Also appears to have ties to the Irish Republican Army through the two groups' legal political wings.
Devrimci Sol (Revolutionary Left) a.k.a. Dev Sol (see Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front, DHKP/C). Egypt's largest militant group, active since the late 1970s; appears to be loosely organized. Has an external wing with a worldwide presence. Signed Usama Bin Ladin's fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks against US civilians but publicly has denied that it supports Bin Ladin. Shaykh Umar Abd alRahman is al-Gama'at's preeminent spiritual leader, and the group publicly has threatened to retaliate against US interests for his incarceration. Primary goal is to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state. Activities Armed attacks against Egyptian security and other government officials, Coptic Christians, and Egyptian opponents of Islamic extremism. Al-Gama'at has launched attacks on tourists in Egypt since 1992, most notably the attack in November 1997 at Luxor that killed 58 foreign tourists. Also claimed responsibility for the attempt in June 1995 to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Strength Unknown, but probably several thousand hardcore members and another several thousand sympathizers. Location/Area of Operation Operates mainly in the Al Minya, Asyu't, Qina, and Soha Governorates of southern Egypt. Also appears to have support in Cairo, Alexandria, and other urban locations, particularly among unemployed graduates and students. Has a worldwide presence, including in the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, and Austria. External Aid Unknown. The Egyptian Government believes that Iranian, Sudanese, and Afghan militant groups support the IG.
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Marxist-Leninist organization founded in 1969 when it split from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Believes Palestinian national goals can be achieved only through revolution of the masses. In early 1980s occupied political stance midway between Arafat and the rejectionists. Split into two factions in 1991; Nayif Hawatmah leads the majority and more hardline faction, which continues to dominate the group. Joined with other rejectionist groups to form the Alliance of Palestinian Forces (APF) to oppose the Declaration of Principals signed in 1993. Broke from the APF--along with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)--over ideological differences. Has made limited moves toward merging with the PFLP since the mid-1990s. Activities In the 1970s conducted numerous small bombings and minor assaults and some more spectacular operations in Israel and the occupied territories, concentrating on Israeli targets. Involved only in border raids since 1988, but continues to oppose the Israel-PLO peace agreement. Strength Estimated at 500 (total for both factions). Location/Area of Operation Syria, Lebanon, and the Israeli-occupied territories; terrorist attacks have taken place entirely in Israel and the occupied territories. Conducts occasional guerrilla operations in southern Lebanon. External Aid Receives limited financial and military aid from Syria.
Harakat ul-Mujahidin Formerly the Harakat ul-Ansar, which was designated a foreign terrorist organization in October 1997. HUM is an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan that operates primarily in Kashmir. Leader Fazlur Rehman Khalil has been linked to Bin Ladin and signed his fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks on US and Western interests. Operates terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan and suffered casualties in the US missile strikes on Bin Ladin-associated training camps in Khowst in August 1998. Fazlur Rehman Khalil subsequently said that HUM would take revenge on the United States. Activities Has conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in Kashmir. Linked to the Kashmiri militant group al-Faran that kidnapped five Western tourists in Kashmir in July 1995; one was killed in August 1995, and the other four reportedly were killed in December of the same year. Strength Has several thousand armed supporters located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, and India's southern Kashmir and Doda regions. Supporters are mostly Pakistanis and Kashmiris, and also include Afghans and Arab veterans of the Afghan war. Uses light and heavy machineguns, assault rifles, mortars, explosives, and rockets. Location/Area of Operation Based in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, but members conduct insurgent and terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir. The HUM trains its militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan. External Aid Collects donations from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and Islamic states and from Pakistanis and Kashmiris. The source and amount of HUA's military funding are unknown.
Jamaat ul-Fuqra Islamic sect that seeks to purify Islam through violence. Led by Pakistani cleric Shaykh Mubarik Ali Gilani, who established the organization in the early 1980s. Gilani now resides in Pakistan, but most cells are located in North America and the Caribbean. Members have purchased isolated rural compounds in North America to live communally, practice their faith, and insulate themselves from Western culture. Activities Fuqra members have attacked a variety of targets that they view as enemies of Islam, including Muslims they regards as heretics and Hindus. Attacks during the 1980s included assassinations and firebombings across the United States. Fuqra members in the United States have been convicted of criminal violations, including murder and fraud. Strength Unknown. Location/Area of Operation North America, Pakistan.
Japanese Red Army (JRA) a.k.a. Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB). An international terrorist group formed around 1970 after breaking away from Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. Led by Fusako Shigenobu, believed to be in Syrian-garrisoned area of Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Stated goals are to overthrow Japanese Government and monarchy and help foment world revolution. Organization unclear but may control or at least have ties to Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB). Also may have links to Antiwar Democratic Front, an overt leftist political organization in Japan. Details released following arrest in November 1987 of leader Osamu Maruoka indicate that JRA may be organizing cells in Asian cities, such as Manila and Singapore. Has had close and longstanding relations with Palestinian terrorist groups--based and operating outside Japan--since its inception. Activities During the 1970s JRA conducted a series of attacks around the world, including the massacre in 1972 at Lod Airport in Israel, two Japanese airliner hijackings, and an attempted takeover of the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. In April 1988, JRA operative Yu Kikumura was arrested with explosives on the New Jersey Turnpike, apparently planning an attack to coincide with the bombing of a USO club in Naples and a suspected JRA operation that killed five, including a US servicewoman. Kikumura was convicted of these charges and is serving a lengthy prison sentence in the United States. In March 1995, Ekita Yukiko, a longtime JRA activist, was arrested in Romania and subsequently deported to Japan. Eight others have been arrested since 1996, but leader Shigenobu remains at large. Strength About eight hardcore members; undetermined number of sympathizers. Location/Area of Operation Location unknown, but possibly based in Syrian-controlled areas of Lebanon.
Kach and Kahane Chai Stated goal is to restore the biblical state of Israel. Kach (founded by radical Israeli-American rabbi Meir Kahane) and its offshoot Kahane Chai, which means "Kahane Lives," (founded by Meir Kahane's son Binyamin following his father's assassination in the United States) were declared to be terrorist organizations in March 1994 by the Israeli Cabinet under the 1948 Terrorism Law. This followed the groups' statements in support of Dr. Baruch Goldstein's attack in February 1994 on the al-Ibrahimi Mosque--Goldstein was affiliated with Kach--and their verbal attacks on the Israeli Government. Activities Organize protests against the Israeli Government. Harass and threaten Palestinians in Hebron and the West Bank. Have threatened to attack Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli Government officials. Claimed responsibility for several shootings of West Bank Palestinians that killed four persons and wounded two in 1993. Strength Unknown. Location/Area of Operation Israel and West Bank settlements, particularly Qiryat Arba' in Hebron. External Aid Receives support from sympathizers in the United States and Europe.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Known front organizations: World Tamil Association (WTA), World Tamil Movement (WTM), the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT), the Ellalan Force, the Sangillan Force. The most powerful Tamil group in Sri Lanka, founded in 1976. Uses overt and illegal methods to raise funds, acquire weapons, and publicize its cause of establishing an independent Tamil state. Began its armed conflict with the Sri Lankan Government in 1983 and relies on a guerrilla strategy that includes the use of terrorist tactics. Activities Has integrated a battlefield insurgent strategy with a terrorist program that targets not only key government personnel in the countryside but also senior Sri Lankan political and military leaders in Colombo. LTTE political assassinations and bombings have become commonplace, including suicide attacks against Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Has refrained from targeting Western tourists out of fear that foreign governments would crack down on Tamil expatriates involved in fundraising activities abroad. Prefer to attack vulnerable government facilities and withdraw before reinforcements arrive. The LTTE has detonated two massive truck bombs directed against the Sri Lankan economy, one at the Central Bank in January 1996 and another at the Colombo World Trade Center in October 1997. The LTTE also has attacked several ships in Sri Lankan waters, including foreign commercial vessels and infrastructure targets such as commuter trains, buses, oil tanks, and power stations. The LTTE prefers to attack vulnerable government facilities then withdraw before reinforcements arrive, or to time its attacks to take advantage of security lapses on holidays, at night, or in the early morning. In the past several years, the LTTE has also attacked several commercial ships flying foreign flags in the waters off the north and east of the country. In 1998, threats were directed at domestic air carriers flying between Colombo and Jaffna, and in September of that year, a domestic civilian aircraft flying from Colombo to Jaffna crashed, killing everyone on board. The cause of the accident is still unknown. Bomb attacks remain the greatest terrorist hazard. The LTTE has attempted or carried out numerous political assassinations or attempts. In 1999, suicide bombings resulted in the death of 30 persons and injury to 143 others in Colombo, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Jaffna and Medawachchi. In January 2000, a suicide bomber killed more than a dozen and wounded several passers-by when she detonated her bomb outside the Prime Minister's Office after being detected by security personnel. In March 2000, as many as eight LTTE terrorists attacked a government motorcade traveling on a major Colombo thoroughfare, killing 25 people and wounding many others. In June 2000, a suicide bomber assassinated the Minister for Industrial Development in a Colombo suburb. Twenty-one others were killed and 60 people were injured in the attack. In October 2000, two American and one British women and their Sri Lankan driver were seriously injured in their vehicle in Central Colombo when an LTTE suicide bomber confronted by police exploded his device rather than surrender. Three policemen were killed. In October 2001, an LTTE suicide bomber stopped by police in the vicinity of an election rally in Colombo detonated his device rather than surrender, killing five people and injuring 16 others. In addition to individual suicide bombers, vehicle-mounted bombs have been used by the LTTE. Major hotels have been directly affected by terrorist activities and could be again because of their proximity to likely economic, government and military targets In January 1998, the Temple of the Tooth, an important religious and tourist site in Kandy, was subjected to a truck bomb; eight people were killed, and the temple, nearby businesses and an historic hotel were damaged. Small bombs have frequently been placed against infrastructure targets such as telephone switchgear or electrical power transformers. Public buses have also been the targets of terrorist attacks. In September 1999, bombs were detonated in buses in separate incidents in Negombo and Badula. In one week in February 2000, seven separate explosions of bombs left on public buses in Colombo and other cities killed three and wounded over 140 people. Bombs have also been found on trains and on train roadbeds, resulting in one death and injuries to over 50 people. In May 2000, the Sri Lankan Government activated provisions of the Public Security Ordinance, giving certain government authorities sweeping powers to deal with threats to national security. The next month the LTTE gained a significant victory in taking the Elephant pass army garrison, located in a town on the Jaffna Peninsula. In February 2002 the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by Norway. As of June 2003 the agreement appears to be dissolving. The LTTE claims the government has done little to address rebel concerns and deliver on the promises made during the six rounds of peace talks. The LTTE wanted to draft an independent Tamil administration, while the Sri Lankan government was willing to go only as far as granting financial autonomy. The impasse came as involved parties planned to meet in Tokyo for a Sri Lankan financial aid conference. The LTTE planned boycott the event. Strength Approximately 10,000 armed combatants in Sri Lanka; about 3,000 to 6,000 form a trained cadre of fighters. The LTTE also has a significant overseas support structure for fundraising, weapons procurement, and propaganda activities.
Location/Area of Operation Controls most of the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka and has conducted operations throughout the island. Headquartered in the Jaffna peninsula, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has established an extensive network of checkpoints and informants to keep track of any outsiders who enter the group's area of control. External Aid The LTTE's overt organizations support Tamil separatism by lobbying foreign governments and the United Nations. Also uses its international contacts to procure weapons, communications, and bomb making equipment. Exploits large Tamil communities in North America, Europe, and Asia to obtain funds and supplies for its fighters in Sri Lanka. Some Tamil communities in Europe also are involved in narcotics smuggling.
Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) Extremist terrorist group formed in 1996 as a splinter of the mainstream loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Seeks to subvert a political settlement with Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland by attacking Catholic politicians, civilians, and Protestant politicians who endorse the Northern Ireland peace process. Composed of hardliners formerly associated with the UVF. Mark "Swinger" Fulton now leads the LVF following the assassination in December 1997 of LVF founder Billy"King Rat" Wright. Announced a unilateral cease-fire on 15 May and, in a move unprecedented among Ulster terrorist groups, decommissioned a small but significant amount of weapons on 18 December 1998. Activities Bombings, kidnappings, and close-quarter shooting attacks. LVF bombs often have contained Powergel commercial explosives, typical of many loyalist groups. LVF attacks have been particularly vicious: LVF terrorists killed an 18-year old Catholic girl in July 1997 because she had a Protestant boyfriend. Murdered numerous Catholic civilians with no political or terrorist affiliations following Billy Wright's assassination. Also has conducted successful attacks against Irish targets in Irish border towns. Strength British press speculates about 500 activists. Location/Area of Operation Northern Ireland, Ireland.
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO) a.k.a. The National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA, the militant wing of the MEK), the People's Mujahidin of Iran (PMOI), National Council of Resistance (NCR), Muslim Iranian Student's Society (front organization used to garner financial support). Formed in the 1960s by the college-educated children of Iranian merchants, the MEK sought to counter what it perceived as excessive Western influence in the Shah's regime. Following a philosophy that mixes Marxism and Islam, has developed into the largest and most active armed Iranian dissident group. Its history is studded with anti-Western activity, and, most recently, attacks on the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad. Activities Worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorist violence. During the 1970s the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside Iran and killed several US military personnel and civilians working on defense projects in Tehran. Supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran. In April 1992 conducted attacks on Iranian embassies in 13 different countries, demonstrating the group's ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. Recent attacks in Iran include three explosions in Tehran in June 1998 that killed three persons and the assassination of Asadollah Lajevardi, the former director of the Evin Prison. Strength Several thousand fighters based in Iraq with an extensive overseas support structure. Most of the fighters are organized in the MEK's National Liberation Army (NLA). Location/Area of Operation In the 1980s the MEK's leaders were forced by Iranian security forces to flee to France. Most resettled in Iraq by 1987. In the mid1980s did not mount terrorist operations in Iran at a level similar to its activities in the 1970s. In recent years has claimed credit for a number of operations in Iran. External Aid Beyond support from Iraq, the MEK uses front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities.
National Liberation Army (ELN) Pro-Cuban, anti-US guerrilla group formed in January 1965. Primarily rural based, although has several urban fronts, particularly in the Magdalena Medio region. Entered peace talks with Colombian Civil Society in mid-1998 and was preparing to participate in a national convention in early 1999. Activities Conducted weekly assaults on oil infrastructure (typically pipeline bombings) and has inflicted massive oil spills. Extortion and bombings against US and other foreign businesses, especially the petroleum industry. Annually conducts several hundred kidnappings for profit, including foreign employees of large corporations. Forces coca and opium poppy cultivators to pay protection money and attacks government efforts to eradicate these crops. Strength Approximately 3,000-5,000 armed combatants and an unknown number of active supporters. Location/Area of Operations Colombia, border regions of Venezuela.
New People's Army (NPA) The guerrilla arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), NPA is an avowedly Maoist group formed in December 1969 with the aim of overthrowing the government through protracted guerrilla warfare. Although primarily a rural-based guerrilla group, the NPA has an active urban infrastructure to conduct terrorism and uses city-based assassination squads called sparrow units. Derives most of its funding from contributions of supporters and so-called revolutionary taxes extorted from local businesses. Activities Has suffered setbacks since the late 1980s because of splits within the CPP, lack of money, and successful government operations. The NPA primarily targets Philippine security forces, corrupt politicians, and drug traffickers. Opposes any US military presence in the Philippines and attacked US military interests before the US base closures in 1992. Strength Estimated between 6000 to 8000. Location/Area of Operations Operates in rural Luzon, Visayas, and parts of Mindanao. Has cells in Manila and other metropolitan centers.
Qibla and People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) Qibla is a small radical Islamic group led by Achmad Cassiem, who was inspired by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. Cassiem founded Qibla in the 1980s, seeking to establish an Islamic state in South Africa. PAGAD began in 1996 as a community anticrime group fighting drug lords in Cape Town's Cape Flats section. PAGAD now shares Qibla's anti-Western stance as well as some members and leadership. Though distinct, the media often treat the two groups as one. Activities Qibla routinely protests US policies toward the Muslim world and uses radio station 786 to promote its message and mobilze Muslims. PAGAD is suspected of conducting 170 bombings and 18 other violent actions in 1998 alone. Qibla and PAGAD may have masterminded the bombing on 15 August of the Cape Town Planet Hollywood. Often use the front names Muslims Against Global Oppression (MAGO) and Muslims Against Illegitimate Leaders (MAIL) when anti-Western campaigns are launched. Strength Qibla is estimated at 250 members. Police estimate there are at least 50 gunmen in PAGAD, and the size of PAGAD-organized demonstrations suggests it has considerably more adherents than Qibla. Location/Area of Operation Operate mainly in the CapeTown area, South Africa's foremost tourist venue.
Real IRA (RIRA) a.k.a True IRA. Formed in February-March 1998 as clandestine armed wing of the 32-County Sovereignty Movement, a "political pressure group" dedicated to removing British forces from Northern Ireland and unifying Ireland. The 32-County Sovereignty Movement opposed Sinn Fein's adoption in September 1997 of the Mitchell principles of democracy and nonviolence and opposed the amendment in May 1998 of Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution, which lay claim to Northern Ireland. Former IRA "quartermaster general" Mickey McKevitt leads the group; Bernadette Sands-McKevitt, his common-law wife, is the vice-chair of the 32County Sovereignty Movement. Activities Bombings, assassinations, and robberies. Most Real IRA activists are former IRA members; the group has inherited a wealth of experience in terrorist tactics and bombmaking. Targets include British military and police in Northern Ireland and Northern Irish Protestant communities. Claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack in Omagh, Northern Ireland on 15 August, which killed 29 and injured 220 persons. Announced a cease-fire after that bombing. Has attempted several unsuccessful bomb attacks on the UK mainland. Strength About 70, plus limited support from IRA hardliners dissatisfied with the current IRA cease-fire and other republican sympathizers. Location/Area of Operation Northern Ireland, Ireland, Great Britain. External Aid Suspected of receiving funds from sympathizers in the United States. Press reports claim Real IRA leaders also have sought support from Libya.
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) The largest, best-trained, and best-equipped insurgent organization in Colombia. Established in 1964 as a rural-based, pro-Soviet guerrilla army. Organized along military lines and includes several urban fronts. Has been anti-United States since its inception. The FARC agreed in 1998 to enter into preliminary peace talks with the Colombian Government. The Pastrana administration demilitarized five large rural municipalities to meet FARC conditions for peace talks. (President Pastrana traveled to this area on 7 January 1999 to inaugurate peace talks with guerrilla leaders, although the FARC's senior-most leader failed to attend). Activities Armed attacks against Colombian political, economic, military, and police targets. Many members pursue criminal activities, carrying out hundreds of kidnappings for profit annually. Foreign citizens often are targets of FARC kidnappings. Group has well-documented ties to narcotics traffickers, principally through the provision of armed protection for coca and poppy cultivation and narcotics production facilities, as well as through attacks on government narcotics eradication efforts. Also began in 1998 a bombing campaign against oil pipelines. Strength Approximately 8,000-12,000 armed combatants and an unknown number of supporters, mostly in rural areas. Location/Area of Operation Colombia, with occasional operations in border areas of Venezuela, Panama, Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador.
Revolutionary Organization 17 November Radical leftist group established in 1975 and named for the student uprising in Greece in November 1973 that protested the military regime. Anti-Greek establishment, anti-US, anti-Turkey, anti-NATO, and committed to the ouster of US bases, removal of Turkish military presence from Cyprus, and severing of Greece's ties to NATO and the European Union (EU). Possibly affiliated with other Greek terrorist groups. Activities Initial attacks were assassinations of senior US officials and Greek public figures. Added bombings in 1980s. Since 1990 has expanded targets to include EU facilities and foreign firms investing in Greece and has added improvised rocket attacks to its methods. Strength Unknown, but presumed to be small. Location/Area of Operation Athens, Greece.
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front a.k.a. Devrimci Sol (Revolutionary Left), Dev Sol. Originally formed in 1978 as Devrimci Sol, or Dev Sol, a splinter faction of the Turkish People's Liberation Party/Front. Renamed in 1994 after factional infighting, it espouses a Marxist ideology and is virulently anti-US and anti-NATO. Finances its activities chiefly through armed robberies and extortion. Activities Since the late 1980s has concentrated attacks against current and retired Turkish security and military officials. Began a new campaign against foreign interests in 1990. Assassinated two US military contractors and wounded a US Air Force officer to protest the Gulf war. Launched rockets at US Consulate in Istanbul in 1992. Assassinated prominent Turkish businessman in early 1996, its first significant terrorist act as DHKP/C. Strength Unknown. Location/Area of Operation Conducts attacks in Turkey--primarily in Istanbul--Ankara, Izmir, and Adana. Raises funds in Western Europe.
Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA) Extreme leftist group that developed from opposition to the military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. Formed in 1971, ELA is a self-described revolutionary, anti-capitalist, and anti-imperialist group that has declared its opposition to "imperialist domination, exploitation, and oppression." Strongly anti-US and seeks the removal of US military forces from Greece. Activities Since 1974 has conducted bombings against Greek Government and economic targets as well as US military and business facilities. In 1986 stepped up attacks on Greek Government and commercial interests. Raid on a safehouse in 1990 revealed a weapons cache and direct contacts with other Greek terrorist groups, including 1 May and Revolutionary Solidarity. In 1991, ELA and 1 May claimed joint responsibility for over 20 bombings. Greek police believe they have established a link between the ELA and the Revolutionary Organization 17 November. Has not claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack since January 1995. Strength Unknown. Location/Area of Operation Greece.
Sikh Terrorism Sikh terrorism is sponsored by expatriate and Indian Sikh groups who want to carve out an independent Sikh state called Khalistan (Land of the Pure) from Indian territory. Active groups include Babbar Khalsa, International Sikh Youth Federation, Dal Khalsa, Bhinderanwala Tiger Force. A previously unknown group, the Saheed Khalsa Force, claimed credit for the marketplace bombings in New Delhi in 1997. Activities Attacks in India are mounted against Indian officials and facilities, other Sikhs, and Hindus; they include assassinations, bombings, and kidnappings. Attacks have dropped markedly since 1992, as Indian security forces have killed or captured numerous senior Sikh militant leaders and have conducted successful army, paramilitary, and police operations. Many low-intensity bombings that might be attributable to Sikh extremists now occur without claims of credit. Strength Unknown. Location/Area of Operation Northern India, western Europe, Southeast Asia, and North America. External Aid Militant cells are active internationally and extremists gather funds from overseas Sikh communities. Sikh expatriates have formed a variety of international organizations that lobby for the Sikh cause overseas. Most prominent are the World Sikh Organization and the International Sikh Youth Federation.
Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path, SL) Larger of Peru's two insurgencies, SL is among the world's most ruthless guerrilla organizations. Formed in the late 1960s by then university professor Abimael Guzman. Stated goal is to destroy existing Peruvian institutions and replace them with peasant revolutionary regime. Also wants to rid Peru of foreign influences. Guzman's capture in September 1992 was a major blow, as were arrests of other SL leaders in 1995, defections, and Peruvian President Fujimori's amnesty program for repentant terrorists. Activities Has engaged in particularly brutal forms of terrorism, including the indiscriminate use of bombs. Conducted fewer attacks in 1998, generally limited to rural areas. Almost every institution in Peru has been a target of SL violence. Has bombed diplomatic missions of several countries in Peru, including the US Embassy. Conducts bombing campaigns and selective assassinations. Has attacked US businesses since its inception. Involved in cocaine trade. Strength Approximately 1,500 to 2,500 armed militants; larger number of supporters, mostly in rural areas. Location/Area of Operation Rural based, with few violent attacks in the capital.
Zviadists Extremist supporters of deceased former Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Following Gamsakhurdia's ouster in 1991, his supporters launched a revolt against his successor, Eduard Shevardnadze. Suppressed in late 1993, and Gamsakhurdia committed suicide in January 1994. Some Gamsakhurdia sympathizers have formed a weak legal opposition in Georgia, but others remain violently opposed to Shevardnadze's rule and seek to overthrow him. Some Gamsakhurdia government officials fled to Russia following Gamsakhurdia's ouster and now use Russia as a base of operations to bankroll anti-Shevardnadze activities. Activities Bombings and kidnappings. Attempted two assassinations against Shevardnadze in August 1995 and February 1998. Took UN personnel hostage following the February 1998 attempt, but released the hostages unharmed. Strength Unknown. Location/Area of Operation Georgia, especially Mingrelia, and Russia. External Aid May have received support and training in Chechen terrorist training camps. Chechen mercenaries participated in the assassination attempt against Shevardnadze in February 1998.
Chapter 6 Civil: Documented
The Civil Sphere is a massive undertaking. From the point of view that is the society the characters live in, Laws are the building blocks that make the world that they live in possible, as the structure that is followed in most Industrialized Countries. The people who support those laws are the Law Enforcement, but those laws are not put into place until those people who create the laws ratified them. This encompasses not only Politics, the Hospital (the Ambulance services), and Media (which in turn encompasses Newspaper, Radio and TV), but also Education (from Pre-K through College). Depending on how detailed the setting is created, this can add up to hundreds of openings available for characters to take. These are the positions that control the ship which is society and will allow several opportunities for characters to interact with the other spheres supported by the game as the Supernatural try to control the path of the society they are in, the Criminals attempt to thwart the policies laid down by the Politicians or to even corrupt them to change those laws, and the Law Enforcement who are there to support the status quo.
Quick Overview What is the Civil Sphere? This covers the PCs that are involved in Politics, and the Hospital. Politicians can vary from the local Aldermen to the District Council Members to the Mayor and his staff and any of the other Rights Activist Political PCs. The Hospital covers candystriper's to the Specialist Brain Surgeon and everything in between. The city the game is being played in and around should be rich in culture and history. The Civil Sphere covers all manners of concepts dealing with Community Service or Govenmental Positions, that are not directly tied into law enforcement: * Hospital (Nurse, Medical Doctors, Psychologists, Paramedics), PCs may want: Science, Medicine, First Aid, Psychology, Forensics, Chemistry. * Social Workers * Politicians - Including City Council and Community Leaders * Fire Fighters * Clerk's Office Workers * District Attorney or Judge: These PCs will have a Law degree. Dots may include: Law, Criminology, Research, Interrogation, Public Speaking. * University Employees & Students: Professors, Grad Students & Undergrad Students fall here, and are assisted by CCL and the Mortal Staff. * and the list goes on and on... COUNCIL DISTRICT MEMBER: Members with voting rights (each a Member or Community Member) are (1) individuals of voting age whose primary residence is within the City Area and who, at a meeting of the Council, can produce upon request a local drivers license, identification card, or some form of residency verification that indicates the individual resides within the City Area and/or (2) any one representative of a property or business owned or operated within the City Area and who, at a meeting of the Council, can produce upon request proof of representation of such a business or property. An individual who meets either of these Membership criteria but lacks the required documentation may vote at a meeting of the Association if a Member who has the required documentation vouches for the individual. COMMUNITY LEADER: Community leaders may be educators, clinicians, researchers, administrators, authors, consultants or entrepreneurs. Other community leaders may be considered based on their contributions to the profession. Educators may be faculty in a school of an existing chapter or in schools without a chapter. ACHIEVEMENT AREAS: Areas in which excellence of community leaders is demonstrated. Community leaders may demonstrate achievement in one or more of the following areas: education, practice, research, administration, or publication. NURSE: This is advanced professional nursing work in the psychosocial, physical and/or psychiatric nursing care and treatment for individuals with a mental or physical injury or illness and/or developmental disability in a county setting. An employee in this class performs as a head nurse, charge nurse, or as a staff nurse providing specialized nursing care and services, in a county setting for individuals with a mental or physical injury or illness and/or developmental disability. As head nurse the employee is responsible for directing the 24-hour continuity of the nursing care and treatment for individuals in a single patient care ward or living area or in a patient care ward or living area that provides acute or long-term care, usually on the day shift. The head nurse is responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive individualized nursing care and treatment plan for each individual.
As charge nurse, the employee directs and coordinates the delivery of nursing care and treatment to individuals on a single shift in multiple patient care wards or living areas, usually on the evening or night shift, or in a medical clinic or infirmary setting. Head nurses and charge nurses make assessments and decisions in regard to staff utilization and supplies and equipment needs. The head nurse and charge nurse directs the work efforts of professional nursing staff and supervises non-professional nursing personnel assigned to their patient care ward(s) or living area(s); and ensures that the coordination of services, coverage of services and maintenance of records is accomplished. The staff nurse at this level functions with charge nurse responsibility in a medical clinic or infirmary. Work involves evaluating nursing care and treatment plans; coordinating nursing care and services with members of the nursing staff, the multiple disciplines of the Interdisciplinary Treatment Team (ITT), Individual Habilitation Plan (IHP); and ensuring that individuals with symptomatic or established conditions of mental or physical injury or illness and/or developmental disability are provided nursing diagnosis and nursing care and treatment appropriate for their treatment needs and preferences. Work includes monitoring the physical and mental condition of individuals; assessing their medical charts, records and reports; ensuring that appropriate nursing care and treatment is provided through effective execution of the nursing regimen and the prescribed medical or psychiatric regimen for each individual; and participating in the development, implementation, evaluation and modification of a comprehensive individualized nursing care and treatment plan for each individual. Work also includes identifying learning needs; making training recommendations; providing ongoing orientation and onthe-job training for lower level professional and non-professional nursing personnel; participating in and evaluating staff development programs to further enhance professional nursing skills; and planning for future admissions and pre-discharge planning to maintain continuous and orderly nursing services in the patient care ward(s) or living area(s). Work assignments are received in the form of oral or written instructions and employees exercise independent judgment in the application of professional nursing practices. Work is clinically reviewed and evaluated by a professional Registered Nurse Supervisor or Physician through observation, review of reports and conferences for quality and adherence to established standards in the application of professional nursing practices. Work may be administratively reviewed by another professional supervisor. DOCTOR: A person with a medical degree whose job is to treat people who are ill or hurt. There are too many specialties to list here. PRIVATE LAWYERS: The definition of a lawyer is an advocate or advisor in society, that is as an advocate, to represent one of the opposing parties in a criminal or civil trial, and as an advisor to counsel clients as to their legal rights and suggest courses of action. But that is not all a lawyer is about. Being a lawyer takes hard work, dedication, and many years in school. Before you become a lawyer, there are many educational hills you must climb. First of all, like in most jobs, you must have a high school diploma. Then there's college. You must attend a four year college, although you may graduate in three, were as you would have to go to night school. But you're not out of the water yet. Law school is next on the agenda, which you must attend for three years. Some specific courses you may want to take to prepare for all of this include English, foreign languages, public speaking, government, philosophy, history, economics, math, and computer sciences. Now, although no "prelaw" major is required, the choice of the undergraduate program is very important. Other skills you will simply learn throughout high school and college, such as proficiency in writing, reading and analyzing, thinking logically, and communicating verbally. The chance of becoming a lawyer or the availability of the job is good, although not all lawyers are good ones. There were 656,000 lawyers in 1994, and three fourths of them, that's 75, were all in private firms. JUDGE CHARACTERS: An authority who is able to estimate worth or quality, or a public official authorized to decide questions bought before a court of justice.
City Departments There are many departments that make up a city government. These departments are necessary to operate the city and to provide services to its citizens. Not all cities provide the same services or have the same departments. The services, and ultimately the structure of the city government, are decided upon primarily by the residents of the city. Some of the most common city departments are: # Utilities - provides water and wastewater treatment (a few city departments provide other utilities like electricity and natural gas to homes and businesses). # Public Works - provides for garbage pickup, traffic lights, streets and road maintenance, and city building maintenance. # Planning - implements plans for the future growth and development of the city. # Finance - prepares payments for running the city, invests city revenues and handles the budget. # Parks and Recreation - provides recreational programs and activities for residents, such as sports, arts and crafts, and special events; staff also maintain city facilities, parks and playgrounds. # Police - makes sure that all laws are obeyed; keeps citizens safe and protects their property. Many police departments have programs/staff in schools to help students, such as the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, Officer Friendly and school resource officers. # Fire - provides fire protection to the community; also has fire prevention programs to make people aware of fire hazards and teach what to do in a fire emergency. Other city departments might include: library, building inspection, engineering, technology services, code enforcement, and animal control.
Governing Body - Who Runs City Hall? Every city is governed or run by a group of people who make and change laws. These people run the city because the people in the city voted in an election to let them do so. The people elected to run the city are usually called mayor, councilmember or commissioner. Most councils have five or seven members. The people adopt a charter, which is like a constitution, and in it the people decide how they will govern themselves. They meet as a council during the month to take care of city business. Anyone can attend these meetings. The meetings are usually held in city hall. How a city runs depends on what form or type of government is in place. The form of government is stated in each citys charter. There are four basic forms of government in Florida and there are many variations of these forms. # Council-manager form: This is a very prevalent form of government today. With this form of government, the city council (including the mayor) appoints a city manager who supervises and coordinates the various departments throughout city hall. The manager prepares the budget for the councils consideration and makes reports and recommendations to the city council. # Council-weak mayor form: This was the original form of city government in America. It is still widely used in small cities. With this form of government, the city council as a whole has control over administration or operation of the city. Many times the position of mayor is rotated from year to year among the councilmembers. The mayor has little authority and usually has no more power than any other councilmember. # Council-strong mayor form: This form of government was created from the weak mayor form of government. However, it is different because the mayor is actually the chief executive. In other words, the mayor has a lot of power over administration or operation of the city. The mayor has appointing powers and may also veto or vote against the actions of the council. # Commission form: With this form of city government, each commissioner serves as director of one or more departments. Collectively, the commission adopts policy, and each department implements it. The mayor assumes ceremonial leadership, and the commission collectively governs. Appointed City Officials While citizens elect or vote on people to make some decisions about how a city is run, other people are appointed or hired to implement the city councils actions. Some of the key city staff are described below. # City manager: The council-manager form of government requires that the city council appoint or hire someone to run the city. Not all cities have this form of government. This person is often referred to as the chief administrator or city manager. The city manager supervises and coordinates the various departments throughout city hall. The city manager prepares the budget for the councils consideration and makes reports and recommendations to the city council. All department heads usually report to the city manager. The managers position is expected to be non-political. # City clerk: All Florida cities have a city clerk. Usually the city charter says what the duties of the city clerk should be. The responsibilities of the clerk typically include attending all city council meetings, taking minutes of the meetings, and being responsible for all or most official records. Additional duties of the clerk may include those of the treasurer, purchasing officer, etc. In a few cities, the clerk is elected by the people, but in most the clerk is appointed by the city manager or city council. In some municipalities, one person is chosen to be both city manager and city clerk. # Finance officer: The finance officer, who is sometimes referred to as the treasurer, usually serves as the chief financial officer for the city. This is typically clarified by the city charter. Duties of the finance officer include the collection and receipt of all city monies. The finance officer is responsible for keeping records of city monies and for investing these funds. He/she is responsible for paying city employees and others who provide goods and services to the city. The finance officer often reports to the city manager and city council on the financial condition of the city. # City attorney: In most cities, the city council appoints a city attorney to give them legal advice. The city attorney may be a full-time employee, part-time employee or hired on a case-by-case basis. The city attorney gives legal opinions on issues affecting the city and advice on laws that the council is considering.
City Council The council-manager form of government is the most popular structure of government organization in the United States. Utilizing this form of administration, voters elect representatives (district representatives and a mayor) to pass laws and establish policies for the city. Each representative is paid $20 per meeting, while the Mayor earns $4040 per year. The Mayor and City Council are the communitys key decision makers. They focus on: the provision and efficiency of basic services; their districts growth; capital improvement projects; land use and development; the citys financial growth and economic development; and other important issues. Council members focus on how City policies not only meet the needs of their constituents, but also how they meet the goals of the entire community. The Council hires a City Manager to serve as the Citys chief administrator. The City Manager is responsible for carrying out the actions and policies of the council by overseeing the day-to-day operation of the organization. Council members also rely on the city manager to provide them with professional advice before they take action on a specific issue. Today, the City Manager oversees the employees in 36 departments who provide a wide range of municipal services. For example, City employees fight crime, put out fires, collect wastes, maintain streets, issue building permits, help senior citizens, provide recreation and cultural activities, and provide hundreds of other important services. The City Manager relies on department directors to ensure that these services are provided in an effective and efficient manner. The Manager also is charged with developing and overseeing an annual budget, which is approved by City Council each year, that pays for all of services the City provides to its customers. COUNCIL MEETINGS AND AGENDAS The Council establishes an annual meeting calendar. Meetings are usually held on three Tuesdays of the month at 7:00 p.m. in a Civil Legislation Building found in their city. This is usually the Old Town Hall The Council may call special meetings with 24-hour notice. The City Clerk prepares an agenda for each meeting, listing all business and any recommendations to be considered at that meeting. The agenda is posted and the press is given notice at least 72 hours before a regular meeting and at least 24 hours before any special meeting. By law Council can not discuss items not on the agenda except certain emergencies. Copies of reports relating to agenda items are available for public review at the City Clerk Department and all Public Library branches. A binder with complete meeting information is available for public review at the Council meeting. Meeting notices and agendas are posted in front of the meeting location, and on the Web (If available in game setting). Copies of all meeting-related documents are available from the City Clerk Department located within the city at a Civil Building. COUNCIL ACTIONS The City Council renders its decisions in one of three ways. An ordinance creates or changes City laws. It must be voted on at two separate meetings and is not effective until thirty days after the second vote. An ordinance can be repealed only by another ordinance. A resolution expresses Council policy or direction to the City Manager and generally takes effect upon adoption. It may be changed by a subsequent resolution. A motion is the most informal official action, usually to indicate majority approval for routine procedures.
COUNCIL PROCEDURE Council organization and parliamentary procedure during meetings is in accordance with the Council's Rules of Procedure and Robert's Rules of Order. Presentations and other ceremonial matters are generally held at the start of the Council meeting and are followed by public comment. A thirty-minute period is reserved at the beginning of all regular meetings for comments from the public. Any subject except a pending appeal may be brought before the Council during this time. Each speaker is limited to three minutes. Citizens wishing to address the Council during the public comment period must fill out a Speaker Card, which is available on site from the City Clerk approximately fifteen minutes prior to the meeting. The Consent Calendar consists of routine agenda items. Before a vote is taken, one or more Consent items may be removed for further discussion or continuance. All remaining Consent Calendar items are approved by Council in one motion without discussion. The Council may also vote to take agenda items in a different order than that listed on the agenda or add action items to the Consent Calendar. For certain City Council issues a public hearing is required. These items require the Council to review the written public record and to hear and weigh public testimony during the public hearing before taking action. Public speaking cards are available from the City Clerk for each hearing until the conclusion of the public hearing. GENERAL RULES FOR THE PUBLIC No person, except City officials or their representatives, shall be permitted to sit at the table in the Council Chambers without the express consent of the Council. A special section is designated for the press. Persons attending Council meetings are also expected to meet normal standards of courteous conduct. For the safety of all persons present, attendance in the Council Chambers is limited to the posted seating capacity of 123. The Council asks that people refrain from wearing scented products at meetings. CEREMONIAL MATTERS Ceremonial matters may include proclamations and awards from the Mayor and City Council. Persons receiving recognition from the Council will generally be given an opportunity to speak at this time. PUBLIC COMMENT - SPEAKER CARDS If a person desires to speak on any matter on the agenda or on any matter under the jurisdiction of the City Council, the person should complete a Speaker Card and check the box marked Council on the card. Submit it as directed by the City Clerk prior to the start of the meeting. Speaking about an appeal on that nights agenda is not allowed. Also see the Public Hearing section below. Speaker Cards are available from the City Clerk 15 minutes prior to the meeting. A total of 30 minutes is provided for Public Comment. Each speaker is allowed a maximum of 3 minutes. A person may defer or share his time with other speakers, but may not extend his speaking time. The City Clerk shuffles the cards and randomly selects 10 speakers. This procedure gives everyone an equal chance to speak. Unless a matter is scheduled as a public hearing, the Council will only take Public Comment at the start of the meeting during the Public Comment period. The Brown Act prohibits the Council from discussing or taking action on an issue raised during Public Comment unless it is specifically listed on the agenda. However, the Council may refer a subject to the City Manager for further investigation. CONSENT CALENDAR A Consent Calendar item recommends specific Council action that is routine, non-controversial, easily explained and can be expected to receive Council approval without need for discussion. Prior to voting on the Consent Calendar, each Councilmember has an opportunity to remove items from the Consent Calendar for discussion and/or add items from the Action Calendar to the Consent Calendar. The Council may also add Information Reports to the Action Calendar and refer specific Communications to the City Manager. All items remaining or added to the Consent Calendar are then approved in one motion by one vote. Reports removed from the Consent Calendar will either be considered after all other matters on the Action Calendar are addressed or may be postponed to another meeting. If you are unsure about the status of a particular item, you may wish to ask the City Clerk.
PUBLIC HEARINGS - SPEAKER CARDS If a matter is listed on the agenda as a Public Hearing, any person wishing to speak on the matter should request a Speaker Card from the City Clerk. Cards are available from the Clerk 15 minutes prior to the meeting until the close of the Public Hearing. Complete a Speaker card and check the box marked Hearing. Submit the card directly to the City Clerk. In the case of appeals, the applicant and appellant will be invited to speak first and are limited to five minutes each. All other speakers may speak for a maximum of 3 minutes. Speakers are called in the order their cards were received by the Clerk and all speakers will be given an opportunity to speak. Public Hearings will commence immediately following approval of the Consent Calendar. After hearing public testimony, the Council may decide to continue or close the Public Hearing. In either case, Council discussion and action is generally scheduled for the next Council meeting and will not take place at the Hearing unless there is an immediate need. ACTION CALENDAR The Action Calendar includes reports that may be characterized as controversial, likely to elicit Council questions or require a lengthy discussion. The Action Calendar also includes those items that were removed from a Consent Calendar either at the current meeting or a previous meeting by a Councilmember for discussion. REPORTS FOR INFORMATION Reports for information will be considered received and filed unless a Councilmember moves the item to Reports for Action for discussion during consideration of the Consent Calendar. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Written communications submitted to the City Clerk's Office and addressed to the City Council are placed on the next available Council agenda. If the communication is specific to an Appeal, it will be listed on the Agenda under the Appeal. All other communications will be listed under the Communication section of the agenda. Unless referred to the City Manager, communications are deemed noted and filed. Citizens presenting written communications to the Council at the meeting are required to provide the City Clerk with 15 copies for distribution. The City Clerk encourages submittal of written communications to the City Clerk's Office no later than 8 days prior to the meeting to ensure inclusion with the agenda. EMERGENCY ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS Sections: 010 Purposes. 020 Definitions. 030 Director and assistant director of emergency services Alternates. 040 Proclamation of emergency. 050 Emergency operations plan Elements Adoption. 060 Powers and duties of the director and assistant director of emergency services. 070 Powers and duties of director during emergency. 080 Continuity of government. 090 Expenditures. 100 Punishment of violations. 010 Purposes. The declared purposes of this chapter are to provide for the preparation and carrying out of plans for the protection of persons and property within the city in the event of an emergency; the directions of the emergency organization; and the coordination of the emergency functions of this city with all other public agencies, corporations, organizations, and affected private persons. 020 Definitions. A. Director means the director of emergency services for the city of the game location. B. Emergency means a local emergency, state of emergency, state of war emergency or national emergency. C. Emergency organization means all officers and employees of the city, together with those disaster service volunteers registered and enrolled to aid them during an emergency, and all groups, organizations, and persons who, by agreement or operation of law, may be impressed into service under provisions of FMC 2.36.070(A)(3).
D. Local emergency means the duly proclaimed existence of conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the territorial limits of the city of the game location, caused by such conditions as air pollution, fire, flood, storm, epidemic, riot, drought, sudden and severe energy shortage, plant or animal infestation or disease, the Governors warning of an earthquake or volcanic prediction, or an earthquake, or other conditions, other than conditions resulting from a labor controversy, which conditions are, or likely to be, beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of the city and require the combined forces of other political subdivisions to combat, or with respect to regulated energy utilities, a sudden and severe energy shortage which requires extraordinary measures beyond the authority vested in the State Public Utilities Commission. E. National emergency means a proclamation by the President of the United States of the existence of a national emergency. F. State of emergency means the duly proclaimed, by the Governor or Director of the State Office of Emergency Services, existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the state caused by such conditions as air pollution, fire, flood, storm, epidemic, riot, drought, sudden and severe energy shortage, plant or animal infestation, or disease, the Governors warning of an earthquake or volcanic prediction, or an earthquake, or other conditions other than conditions causing a state of war emergency, which conditions, by reason of their magnitude are, or are likely to be, beyond the control of the services, personnel equipment, and facilities of any single county, city, and county and city and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat, or with respect to regulated energy utilities, a sudden and severe energy shortage which requires extraordinary measures beyond the authority vested in the State Public Utilities Commission. G. State of war emergency means the condition which exists immediately, with or without the proclamation thereof by the Governor, whenever this state or nation is attacked by an enemy of the United States, or upon receipt by the state of a warning from the federal government indicating that such an enemy attack is probable or imminent. H. Sudden and severe energy shortage means a rapid, unforeseen shortage of energy resulting from, but not limited to, events such as an embargo, sabotage, or natural disaster, and which has a statewide, regional, or local impact. I. Unavailable means an officer who is either killed, missing, or is so seriously injured as to be unable to attend meetings and otherwise perform his/her duties. 030 Director and assistant director of emergency services Alternates. A. There is hereby created the office of director of emergency services. The city manager is hereby designated the director of emergency services. B. There is hereby created the office of assistant director of emergency services. The police chief is hereby designated the assistant director of emergency services. 040 Proclamation of emergency. A. Upon a request by the director, or on its own initiative, the city council may proclaim the existence or the threatened existence of a local emergency when circumstances described in FMC 2.36.020(B) exist. Said proclamation shall be in writing and shall take effect immediately. B. If the city council is not in session, the director may proclaim the existence or the threatened existence of a local emergency when circumstances described in FMC 2.36.020(B) exist. Said proclamation shall be in writing and shall take effect immediately. When a local emergency is proclaimed by the director, the city council shall review and ratify the proclamation at the next regularly scheduled council meeting or the proclamation shall have no further force or effect. C. At least every 21 days after the proclamation of a local emergency and until said local emergency is terminated, the city council shall review the continuing need for a local emergency and shall terminate the local emergency at the earliest possible date the conditions warrant. D. The city council may, by resolution, request the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency when the locally available resources are inadequate to cope with the emergency. 050 Emergency operations plan Elements Adoption. The director shall be responsible for the development of the city of the game location emergency operations plan, which shall provide for the effective mobilization of all of the resources of the city, both public and private, to meet any condition constituting a local emergency, state of emergency, state of war emergency, or national emergency. Said emergency plan shall include such elements as continuity of government, the mobilization of resources, mutual aid, and public information; and shall describe the principles and methods to be applied in carrying out emergency operations for rendering mutual aid during emergencies; and, shall provide for the organization, powers, and duties, services, and staff of the emergency organization. Said plan shall take effect upon approval of the city council. Said plan may be revised from time to time as determined appropriate by the director. 060 Powers and duties of the director and assistant director of emergency services. A. The director shall control and direct the efforts of the emergency organization of the city for the accomplishment of the purposes of this chapter. B. The director shall coordinate the services and staff of the emergency organization of the city; and resolve questions of authority and responsibility that may arise within personnel and staff of the emergency organization.
C. The director shall represent the city in all public dealings with public and private agencies on matters pertaining to emergencies as defined herein. D. The assistant director shall have such powers and duties as may be assigned by the director. 070 Powers and duties of director during emergency. A. In the event of a proclamation of a local emergency, or the proclamation of a state of emergency, or the existence of a national emergency, the director is hereby empowered: 1. To promulgate orders and regulations necessary to provide for the protection of life and property, including orders or regulations imposing a curfew within designated boundaries where necessary to preserve the public order and safety. Such orders and regulations shall be in writing and shall be confirmed at the earliest practical time by the city council. 2. To obtain vital supplies, equipment, and such other properties found lacking and needed for the protection of life and property and to bind the city for the fair value thereof, and, if required immediately, to commandeer the same for public use. 3. To require emergency services of any city officer or employee, and, to command the aid of as many citizens of this community as he deems necessary in the execution of his duties. In the event the aid of private citizens is necessary, such persons shall register as volunteers in accordance with the emergency plan. Such persons shall be entitled to all privileges, benefits, and immunities as are provided by state law for registered disaster service workers. 4. To requisition necessary personnel or material of any city department or agency. 5. To execute all of his ordinary powers as city manager, as well as to execute all of his special powers conferred by this chapter, emergency plan, any agreement approved by the city council, or by any other lawful authority. B. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the director is not authorized to commandeer any newspaper, newspaper wire service, or radio or television station, but if no other means of communication is available, the director may utilize any news service, and the city shall pay the reasonable value of such use. In so utilizing any such facilities, the director shall interfere as little as possible with the facilities transmission of news. 080 Continuity of government. A. In the event of a proclamation of local emergency, state of emergency, state of war emergency, or national emergency, when fewer than a quorum of city council members are available, the city council shall proceed to reconstitute itself by filling vacancies until there are sufficient members to form a quorum as required by law. The available city council members shall fill vacancies by appointment. Should no city council members be available, the chair of the county board of supervisors shall appoint members to the city council until there are sufficient members to form a quorum as required by law. B. In the event a council member becomes available after a period of being unavailable, that council member shall resume his office. C. Emergency appointments to the city council as authorized herein shall be temporary, and shall last only until such time as either an elected council member becomes available, or a special election may be held. D. In the event the city manager is, or becomes, unavailable and is therefore unable to serve as director, the chief of police shall serve as both city manager and director. In the event the chief of police is, or becomes, unavailable to serve as director and city manager, the director of public works shall serve as both city manager and director. Thereafter, in the event of unavailability, the order of succession to serve as director and city manager shall be the director of finance, community development director. If the city manager becomes available, he shall resume the office of director and city manager. 090 Expenditures. Any expenditures made in connection with emergency activities, including mutual aid activities, shall be deemed conclusively to be for the direct protection and benefit of the inhabitants and property of the city of the game location. (Ord. 97-611 2). 100 Punishment of violations. It shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not to exceed $500.00, or by imprisonment for not to exceed six months, or both, for any person, during an emergency, to: A. Willfully obstruct, hinder, or delay any member of the emergency organization in the enforcement of any lawful rule or regulation issued pursuant to this chapter or in the performance of any duty imposed upon him by virtue of this chapter. B. Do any act forbidden by any lawful rule or regulation issued pursuant to this chapter if such act is of such a nature as to give or be likely to give assistance to the enemy or to imperil the lives or property of inhabitants of this city, or to prevent, hinder, or delay the defense or protection thereof. C. Wear, carry, or display, without authority, any means of identification specified by the director of emergency services or the emergency agency of the state.
COMMUNITY/NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION RECOGNITION Sections: 011 Purpose. 021 Recognition of neighborhood organizations. 031 Participation. 041 Notification policy. 051 Organization entitled to notice. 061 Required notices. 071 Participation in the planning process. 081 Open process. 091 Budget. 101 Volunteer status and partial indemnification. 011 Purpose. It is the policy of the City to recognize neighborhood-based community organizations for the purpose of informing the citizens of relevant city business and decisions; providing citizen input and information regarding planning and development issues to the city planning process; improving public health and safety through communication with public safety agencies; and enhancing the social and cultural well being of the city. They should also act as a information network to the community at large. This chapter provides a process for such recognition and notification. 021 Recognition of neighborhood organizations. A. All organizations recognized pursuant to this chapter shall comply with the following conditions: 1. Must be organized and filed with the state the city is in as not-for-profit corporations and in good standing with the state to be recognized. 2. To obtain recognition all community-based organizations shall submit to the city recorder for review and approval the following information: a. Articles of incorporation and bylaws of the community-based organization; b. Bylaws shall contain a provision against discrimination and encouraging representation and participation from all qualified members; c. A list of officers, directors or trustees of the organization together with their addresses and the address to which any notice to the organization should be sent; d. Not later than January 31st of each year any recognized organization seeking continuing recognition shall submit to the city recorder any changes in the information specified in subsections (A)(2)(a) and (b) of this section and a list of each meeting held by the organization in the preceding year; a description of the election procedures for officers, directors or trustees of the organization; and copies of all minutes. B. Neighborhood and community-based organizations that fully comply with Section 2.60.020 shall be recognized. 1. Membership in any neighborhood or community- based organization shall be open to anyone residing within or owning property within the boundaries of the organization. 2. The number, name or boundaries of any community or neighborhood organization may be amended by the city council upon petition from a city councilmember, or from a neighborhood or community organization recognized under this chapter. 3. All neighborhood or community organizations affected by such a petition shall hold a public hearing on the amendment request not less than fifteen or more than forty-five days after written notice of the request is received. 4. Within forty-five days after the hearings before the affected community or neighborhood organization the city council shall hold a public hearing on the amendment request. C. All organizations recognized pursuant to this chapter shall strictly comply with the provisions of the open meeting laws of the state. Under no circumstances shall any neighborhood or community-based organization be authorized to hold a closed meeting. Holding such a meeting shall be grounds to immediately terminate recognition of the organization without notice. 031 Participation. Recognized organizations shall be encouraged to make recommendations to the mayor and city council on all matters affecting the city or the organizations community or neighborhood. Recognized organizations shall be part of the citys notification process provided by Section 051. 041 Notification policy. It is the policy of the City to notify recognized or registered organizations of activities affecting or of interest to the organization and to seek their input.
051 Organization entitled to notice. A. A recognized organization pursuant to Section 021(C) shall receive notices and may participate in the process established by this chapter. B. Any other entity, organization or person may register on an annual basis with the city recorder to receive notices specified in this chapter. 061 Required notices. A. The planning and zoning commission will submit to each recognized or registered organization copies of the planning commission public meeting agendas and shall also submit to neighborhood and community organizations applications for changes in zoning ordinances or conditional use applications pertaining to territory located within three hundred feet of the border of such recognized organization. B. Board of adjustment agendas will be sent to all organizations recognized pursuant to this chapter. C. The failure to give proper notice under this section shall not affect the validity of any act or decision of the city and shall not give rise to any private right of action. 071 Participation in the planning process. A. Recognized and registered organizations are encouraged to make recommendations concerning matters of which they are given notice pursuant to this chapter. In making such recommendations the spokesperson for the organization shall specify the following: 1. The nature of the meeting at which the organizations recommendation was obtained (i.e., executive committee, board, general membership, or otherwise); 2. The notice procedure for the meeting at which such recommendation was made; 3. The vote on such recommendation; 4. Any dissenting reports. B. The City planning division shall encourage all zoning petition and/or conditional use applicants to meet with affected recognized organizations to discuss and receive input on the petition or application proposal prior to scheduling the matter for consideration by the planning commission. 081 Open process. The notification and participation process specified in this chapter is not intended to preclude the participation in any public hearing by individuals or entities on their own behalf. All citizens of the City affected by the decision are invited and encouraged to participate. 091 Budget. A. The city council may budget annually a reasonable amount of money for recognized and registered organizations for administrative costs, including but not limited to postage, stationery and duplication costs, and meeting notice publication. B. Recognized and registered organizations shall establish a fiscal year in their bylaws that corresponds to the fiscal year of the city and make annual written budget requests to the city not later than March 1st of each year. C. Within thirty days following the close of the fiscal year, organizations receiving funding from the city shall file a detailed financial statement with the city finance director. The statement shall be in a form provided by the city and shall set forth all revenues and expenditures for the prior year. 101 Volunteer status and partial indemnification. A. Recognized organization members shall be considered volunteers and not employees, agents, officials or officers of the City and shall have no authority, either express or implied to bind the city to any agreements, contracts, resolutions or any other actions of the organizations. B. Recognized organizations and their officers, trustees and directors shall be indemnified by the city pursuant to the State Governmental Immunity Act as available in any civil action which may arise from determinations and recommendations or actions made within the scope of performance of their duties under this chapter. This defense and indemnification obligation on behalf of the city shall be limited to only those determinations and recommendations and shall not extend to any physical activities of the recognized organizations or their members such as use of private vehicle, inspecting property or other similar activities. This provision shall not be deemed a waiver of any claim for immunity from suit on behalf of the volunteer.
How Citizens Participate in City Government It is very important for residents to participate in the activities of their city government. Policies and major decisions of the city are made by city officials with the input of city residents. It is important for citizens to know how their government works and get involved because these decisions impact the lives of all residents. The following are some ways you can get involved in your city government: # Voting for someone running for office, or voting for or against an issue that will affect you and all city residents. You must be 18 years old to register to vote. # Attending and speaking at a city public hearing. # Writing letters or calling your city officials about an issue that affects you. # Serving on a city advisory committee and/or board. These are usually set up by the city council/commission to deal with an issue or problem and are made up of both citizens and city council/commission members. Some examples are the Planning and Zoning Board and the Recreation Advisory Committee. # Running for an elected office, such as mayor or council/commission. # Working for the city. There are many different types of jobs with city governmentaccountants, managers, engineers, secretaries, firefighters, police officers, planners and many more. # Serve as a volunteer in a city department such as parks and recreation.
Hospitals
The Profile Any hospital in game is a fully equipped general hospital set up as per international standards and was started in the game history. It is a hospital equipped with ultra modern facilities to handle all medical and surgical diseases including accidents and emergencies. The hospital has at least forty beds, with provisions for expansion, up to ad including 240+ beds, depending on the size of the city the game is based in, leaving room for other hospitals around the city to support the other areas. Following is the detailed outlook of the hospital: Patient Rooms: All rooms are aesthetically designed with attached toilets, and are well ventilated and air conditioned, with provisions for central oxygen supply and patient monitoring devices. General Ward: There are three general wards for male, female, and pediatric patients, having several beds each. Adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU): The ICU has beds for cardiac, respiratory and post-operative support with central gas supply, ventilators (artificial respirators) and state of the art patient monitors. The unit has round the clock monitoring by trained nurses and resident doctors. In addition there are multi-specialty consultants are on call when necessary. Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU): The NICU is equipped for six patient' and ultra modern radiatant warmers, phototherapy equipment, humidifier, incubators and ventilators for neo - natal and pediatric patients. All ICU and NICU beds have individual multi parameter monitors, oxygen lines, and central suction line. These units are also equipped with a blood gas analysis machine, for perfect ventilatory care. Operation Theater: The operation theater is spacious, well equipped, centrally air conditioned, with twin overhead Phililux lights and central piped gases. It is also provided with a modern anesthetic machine with multi parameter invasive and non-invasive monitors. Apart from general surgery, the theater is equipped to perform laparoscopic, and endoscopic surgery. It also has provisions for fluoroscopy using a C-arm. The ICU is an extension of the operation theater for post operative care.
Out patient department (OPD): There is a full OPD department. Casualty department: Totally equipped to tackle all emergencies with resuscitation equipments. Other facilities available in the hospital The hospital is also equipped with an X-Ray and ultrasound machine with instantaneous laboratory facilities. Ambulance Service 24-hour ambulance service with mobile incubators to transport sick new borns from any destination in and outside Goa, escorted by trained nurses and doctors. NOTE: Specialized hospitals will not find the role play availability as much as a general hospital would, and the addition of a Morgue to the facility as well as a CDC office will expand that location even further. COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE The mission of the State Medical Examiners (M.E.) Office is to assure that all deaths which affect the public interest are properly investigated and reported in the prescribed time frame and manner so as to protect the decedent, as mandated in the State Code 41-61-63. These type deaths include homicides, suicides, accidents, unexplained, SIDS, and unattended deaths. In addition, the M.E.s Office assures that all coroners and their deputies meet the required educational standards and provide continuing education courses in the most current forensic investigative techniques and procedures. In an effort to assist coroners in the forensic determination of cause and manner of death, the office provides information on the latest forensic technology and expert services and resources. The majority of evidence from death investigation cases is processed by the M.E.s Office and submitted to the State Crime Lab . The M.E.s Office is committed to providing continuing education in the most current forensic investigative techniques and procedures to county medical examiners and their deputies. A national technical working group of death investigation experts has created minimum standards for medico-legal death investigators in training courses including a national board examination for certification. The M. E.s Office currently incorporates this training into its 40-hour basic death investigation classes. Many newly elected or appointed county medical examiner investigators (CMEI) and deputies (DMEI) were certified during the class to perform medico-legal death investigations. In addition, even more CMEI/DMEIs have been temporarily certified awaiting the next death investigation class. Approximately 200 autopsies were performed at the State Morgue facility during any given Fiscal Year. In addition to providing 24-hour coverage, the morgue is equipped with the latest digital imaging technology for almost instant production of court presentation-quality photographs. The morgue facility also offers in-house x-ray and a specially designed room for autopsies on decomposed bodies. Two staff members maintain state certification as radiological technicians. Statewide over 1600 autopsies were performed out of approximately 15,000 coroners cases. The State has at least eight active designated pathologists. The Medical Examiners Office continues to provide numerous services to the death investigators of the State including specially designed field specimen collection kits for biological samples in order to provide the State Crime Laboratory with the best available evidence for toxicological examinations. Staff are on call 24-hours per day to assist coroners with questions concerning autopsies and cause of death determinations. The M.E.s Office maintains professional associations with numerous forensic experts across the country for consultation on cases involving anthropology, entomology, radiology, as well as equivocal deaths.
Statement of Policy, Procedure and Practice Policy Title: FACILITY AND EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AND HOUSEKEEPING Policy: The administrative side of the Medical Examiner's Office is space which is leased by the County in the city Professional Building. Except for simple housekeeping, the County is responsible for general facility maintenance through the County Facilities Department. The morgue portion of the Medical Examiner's Office is leased from the city Hospital. This is a completely secure facility, but routine maintenance is provided by the city Hospital. Maintenance workers will have limited access for routine housekeeping activities, maintenance, and required periods of new construction. The staff of the Medical Examiner's Office has responsibility in helping to maintain a neat, clean, and safe working environment and facility. Procedures and Practices For the morgue at the city Hospital, emergency maintenance services can be contacted off-hours via the city Hospital Security. During usual working hours, maintenance can be called directly. When work is performed on the morgue facility, the Lead Autopsy Technician or other Medical Examiner staff must be in attendance. At the city Hospital routine maintenance requests can be submitted by the Lead Autopsy Technician. On the administrative side, routine maintenance requests can be brought to the attention of the Medical Examiner Staff Assistant who will contact the County Facilities, and initiate a work order. The staff assistant will follow-up on a regular basis until the requested work is completed. Problems with specific equipment or instruments should be brought to the attention of the employee's supervisor by means of a written note/memo/e-mail as soon as possible. Facility and Equipment Maintenance and Housekeeping Each Medical Examiner's office staff member has access to and use of an individual desk area/work space. Each individual employee is responsible for keeping their desk area/work space clean and safe. The Medical Examiner Staff Assistant should be contacted with any computer equipment repair requests. The ME Staff Assistant will troubleshoot and contact County ISD as appropriate. All maintenance agreements and any repair work that requires expenditure of sums from the Medical Examiner's office budget require approval in advance from the Medical Examiner Staff Assistant. The ME Staff Assistant will track and maintain files for maintenance and repair work and annual maintenance agreements with private vendors. Care of the light microscopes on a routine basis is the responsibility of the pathologists, who are to keep the instruments clean and aligned. They will replace light bulbs and make minor adjustments as needed. Cleaning of the microscopes is described in another policy. Keeping the freezer, autopsy room, autopsy equipment and instruments, autopsy photographic equipment, special evidence storage area, tissue area, and walk-in cooler area clean and maintained is the responsibility of the Lead Autopsy Assistant. This includes the regulation/replacement of Biohazardous waste receptacles. Maintenance and servicing of related air handling equipment and ducts is to be supervised by the Lead Autopsy Technician, but performed by the the city Hospital maintenance staff. The body scale, autopsy (organ) scale, and electronic scale for pediatric cases are to undergo periodic maintenance and calibration (specified in another policy). After a body is released from the morgue facility, the staff member making the release is responsible for cleaning and disinfecting the body cart/table. All staff members share the responsibility for keeping the staff lunch room and conference room clean, neat, and safe. This includes cleaning the microwave oven on a bi-weekly basis, and periodically (twice monthly) discarding unclaimed, perishable items in the refrigerator.
FEES: In accordance with the Government Code 27472, County Code 050, and Board Resolution No. 99-0298, the following fees are charged by the Coroner's Office. Coroner's Report First copy to next-of-kin case within last three years case older than three years No Charge $20.00 $50.00
Autopsy Report case within last three years $35.00 case older than three years $65.00 Autopsy (Non-Homicide) At Request Of Other County Includes report Autopsy & pathology support services. $1,406.00 Autopsy At Request Of Other County (Homicide) or By Family. Includes report Autopsy & pathology support services. $1,916.00 Body release - after hours and upon approval Mon-Fri 4:30 pm - 10:00 am Sat-Sun & County holidays 4:00 pm to 8:00 am. After hours $35.00 Body Transport Vehicle Storage $300.00 $10.00 per day
These fees are to be paid by the person legally responsible. Typically that person is the same person listed as next-of-kin for purposes of claiming the deceased. VISITS/TOURS: The Coroner's Office receives numerous requests from persons and organizations in the community to view an autopsy or tour the morgue facilities. These requests made it necessary for the Coroner to establish the following guidelines for autopsy viewings and morgue tours so authorizations to enter the facility are consistently applied and do not disrupt the operations of the Coroner's Office. * In general, individual and/or group requests to view an autopsy or tour the morgue facilities will be limited to sworn peace officer staff; County personnel and commissions; Court-ordered DUI referrals; prospective employees, volunteers, and student interns; and physicians and nurses in the County who document a legitimate reason to view an autopsy or tour the morgue. * With the exception of Court-ordered DUI referrals, all individuals authorized to view an autopsy or tour the morgue area must be at least 18 years of age. Typically more than 50% of all deaths in the County are reportable Coroner's Office cases as required by the Government Code and Health and Safety Code. All of the reported cases involve a Deputy Coroner investigative component; and approximately 20% of the cases require an autopsy, external body review, or medical record evaluation by the Coroner's Office to determine the cause of death. In reviewing workload statistics for any year, it is significant to note that: * There were approximately 26 deaths per day in the County. * Over 15 of these deaths were reported to the Coroner's Office. * Almost 6.5 bodies were delivered to the County morgue daily. The five classifications for the manner of death in Coroner cases are defined as follows: Accident - Used in those cases of accidental death including drowning, accidental overdose, falls, motor vehicle accidents, etc. Natural - Any natural disease process including, but not limited to, heart disease, SIDS, chronic ethanol abuse, etc. Suicide - Action taken by someone to end their own life. It must be an overt action versus a habitual action. Homicide - When a person is killed by one or more persons. This is different than "murder". Murder is the "unlawful" taking of a human life by another. For example, if a police officer kills someone in the line of duty, it is a homicide but it is not necessarily a murder. All murders are homicides, but all homicides are not murders. Undetermined - This is usually an interim classification that indicates a level of uncertainty about the circumstances surrounding a death. This classification is usually changed once the results of the autopsy are received. Sometimes, however, the cause of death and/or the circumstances of the death cannot be fully determined. If that is the case, the classification would remain undetermined.
Cause of Death: The County Coroner's Office is mandated by the State Government Code 27491 et seq. to determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of sudden or unexplained deaths in the County. In Coroner cases the cause of death is determined by a Forensic Pathologist who performs an autopsy, an external examination of the decedent, or a review of the deceased's medical records. The Deputy Coroner is responsible for the death scene investigation, documenting the circumstances of the case, and selecting the manner of death which can be classified as accident, homicide, natural, suicide, or undetermined. When a death appears to be from natural causes, the cause of death may be available after 11:00 a.m. the morning following the death. However, when the death is the result of a homicide, suicide, automobile accident, and in many natural deaths, the cause of death will not be available for several weeks because the forensic pathologist will order toxicology tests. This does not delay the release of the body.
Medical Sphere Here we will attempt to define a few things that have been troubling the players of the WoD. However, an overview of what the sphere actually is seems to be in order. So...... Everyone who wishes to play some character within the medical sphere must have a desire to help others in some way or another. From the candy-striper to the surgeon, there has to be a driving force behind them to want to assist those others in the world in need of medical assistance, from the common cold to the most horrific ailments. This is why you've join the ranks of the medical field, isn't it? White Wolf (tm) has not touched upon the rules governing the care of characters within a setting beyond the point of allocating the Abilities, Knowledges, Talents and so forth for record purposes. This book will be cutting a new path for these rules. As always, rules are meant to be guidelines, not the final word. Medical Rank & Definitions The following list depicts the way that 'rank' is assigned within the Hospital and the Medical Sphere by giving a run down on how one progresses through their medical training: Medical students spend four years in undergrad. They can study Pre-Med or not, the only requirement for medical school is good grades and a handful of classes. (Approximate Age 18-22) Medical school takes another four years. (Approximate Age 22-26) Then you enter your internship, which generally lasts one year (sometimes two, for highly specialized fields like surgery) and has you rotating between departments. (Approximate Age 26-28) After that, you go into your residency, which is with a specific department. At this point, you are a 'real' doctor. You do a lot of work independently, though you are constantly supervised by the Attendants. In essence, it is a big work-study program. You are trained as you go. (Approximate Age 28-32) After your residency, which lasts for three to five years (depending on specialty), you have a number of options. You can get a job as an Attending Physician at a hospital, you can go into private practice, or you can continue learning by getting a Fellowship. The last is usually for sub-specialization. For example, you might spend five years as a surgical resident, then take a fellowship in cardiac or neurosurgery. Fellowships generally last one to three years. (Approximate Age 32-34) So, the Medical Ranks are: * Intern (1-2 years) (Approximate Age 26-28) ** Resident (3-5 years) (Approximate Age 28-32) *** Fellow (1-3 years, optional) (Approximate Age 32-34) **** Attending (Approximate Age 34-55) ***** Administration (Approximate Age 55+) The Dots represent the level in which you should have the background Rank. If you do not have this background yet, let the Storyteller running the game know this to add to your sheet. There is also positions within these, like Chief Resident or, for Attendants, department heads (like Chief of Emergency Surgery). I'd suggest recording your year, department, and (if you have one) specialty. So you'd have 'First Year Resident - Emergency Surgery' and 'Attending - Neurosurgery'. The following listing shows how the Hospital is set up, and will define how to go about admitting someone for care. First off, the departments: Administration Direct Care / Post - Surgery Recovery Emergency Room / Surgery Psychiatric Ward Medical Research *NB* There is vastly far too much medical information to reproduce for game terms, so this book will generalize the following outline so that it can be used for 90% of the situations you will encounter. Remember that, with all rules for WoD, they are guidelines and that the Storyteller running the scene has final ruling based upon the accepted guidelines.
Procedure for Dealing with IC Hospital Visits 1. Medical Doctors must CTA (Cover Their Ass). Everyone is looking for an excuse to sue you for malpractice. Usually, if they can't find something legit, they'll make stuff up. Follow the guidelines for assistance and you should be fine. 2. For game purposes, let's try to keep on top of all steps of a PC's involvement with the Hospital and Staff. A. Check - In (There can be several different types of check-ins.) 1. Voluntary Out Patient -- This should last no more than the specific scene. 2. Involuntary Out Patient -- This should last no more than 24 hours for 'observational' purposes 3. Voluntary In Patient -- This should last for no more than 48 hours, unless the admittance requires surgery 4. Involuntary In Patient -- This can last no more than 72 hours without legal justification. A Lawyer must be notified. *NB* As the Doctor/Physician checking the patient in, you are responsible for them during their stay, regardless of EMC rank. If the check in is performed by a Staff Member, an IC doctor will be assigned within 24 RL hours. This is the only time that policy may be placed on hold. Once the Physician has been assigned, IC time will be in effect. B. Diagnosis and/or Treatment 1. At check-in the patient must be Diagnosed and attended to properly. If this is the result of ICA and there are no PC Medics, the Storyteller may perform the Diagnosis and any life-threatening treatment. 2. Depending on the diagnosis, surgery and/or medicines are to be taken care of. 3. Updates to their condition if dealing with long-term recovery should be done regularly. 4. Release of Patient. Extended holding of the patient will require Staff approval. C. Check - Out 1. Voluntary Out Patient -- End of scene the patient signs the applicable forms and pays, leaving by themselves. 2. Involuntary Out Patient -- At the end of the time period, they are either released or placed into another care facility for further assistance. This can only be done by Staff approval. 3. Voluntary In Patient -- Barring long surgery recovery time, once the time period has elapsed, the patient is given a doctor's reccomendation for release. Paperwork filled out and bills paid. PC leaves by themselves. 4. Involuntary In Patient -- If after the 72 hour limit has been reached, with Staff approval the patient can be kept indefinitely. However, an PC Lawyer must be contacted and Legal proceeding must be started through IC means. If there are no PC Lawyers, the Storyteller may perform the role of the Lawyer to continue the storyline. D. Miscellaneous Changes to Procedure The following are the only ways that a PC can be ICly detained more than one scene in the hospital: 1. IC recovery will take more than 72 hours due to surgery or individual wounds. 2. The PC has agreed to stay for the additional time *AND* IC role-play has been scheduled. 3. The Storyteller has judged that the PC must remain within the confines of the Hospital care. Medical Sphere Laws & Policies 1.01 CONSENT TO MEDICAL AND SURGICAL PROCEDURES 1.01.B GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING PATIENTS WITH IDENTIFIED PSYCHIATRIC OR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEMS 1.02 INVOLUNTARY ADMISSION FOR A 72 HOLD 1.03 SUSPECTED ABUSE AND NEGLECT REPORTING 1.04 COMMUNICATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH LITIGATION 1.05 RELEASE OF MEDICAL RECORD INFORMATION 2.01 DISCHARGE PROCEDURE 2.02 LEAVING HOSPITAL AGAINST MEDICAL ADVICE 2.03 LIVING WILLS 2.04 PATIENT VISITATION Policy No.: 1.01 Section: Medical Legal Effective: July 1, 1983 Revision: May 1, 1998 Subject: CONSENT TO MEDICAL AND SURGICAL PROCEDURES Source: Administration
POLICY STATEMENT The underlying principle of informed consent is that patients have the right to be told what to expect and to determine what will be done with and to their bodies. Completion of a procedure-specific consent form is necessary for most invasive procedures (see Procedures, Section B). The form should be considered as just the documentation of the discussion, not as the entire consent process. Except in emergencies, medical or surgical treatment or procedures shall not be administered to any patient until informed consent has been obtained from the patient or one legally authorized to act on behalf of the patient (Autopsies are governed by Policy #3). PROCEDURES SECTION A: GENERAL ADMISSION CONSENT Upon admission to the hospital, a General Admission Consent Form will be signed by the patient or a person authorized and empowered to give consent on behalf of the patient (See Section C III). This consent form documents the patient's consent to routine hospital service, diagnostic procedures and medical treatment. The General Admission Consent Form shall not be used in the place of a Procedure-specific Consent Form for those treatments or procedures described in Section B. SECTION B: PROCEDURE-SPECIFIC CONSENT FORM In addition to the General Admission Consent, a procedure-specific consent form must be used to document informed consent in the following situations: All surgical and endoscopic procedures which involve an entry into the body, either through an incision, or through one of the body's natural openings; All laser procedures; Blood and blood product transfusion; Dialysis (Peritoneal and Hemodialysis); Therapeutic and Donor Apheresis; Sterilization (See also Policy 1.02); Any treatment or procedure which is experimental in nature. Electro-convulsive therapy; Bone-marrow biopsies; and Any other procedure that the medical staff determines requires a specific explanation to the patient. Any doubts as to the necessity of obtaining a procedure-specific consent form from the patient should be resolved in favor of obtaining consent. SECTION C: WHO CAN GIVE CONSENT ADULT PATIENTS WHO ARE CAPABLE OF MAKING DECISIONS. Adult patients who are capable of making decisions regarding proposed treatment may give, withhold or revoke consent for themselves. They may also refuse to give consent to treatment. (See Section E, III, Refusals of Consent.) Spouses and other relatives may not give, withhold, or revoke consent for adults who are capable of making decisions regarding proposed treatment for themselves. ADULT PATIENTS WHO ARE NOT CAPABLE OF MAKING MEDICAL DECISIONS. Determination of Incompetence to Give Consent If an adult is unable to understand all relevant facts related to his condition and /or proposed treatment, his capacity to give informed consent must be questioned. Finding of incapacity must be made by an attending physician in consultation with another attending physician (preferably a psychiatrist) Note: In this state, a judge is not required in order to declare a patient incompetent. This lack of capacity may be temporary or permanent and may be due to a natural state, age, anxiety, illness, injury, drugs or sedation, intoxication, or other cause. An adult patient shall not be considered incapable to make a decision regarding proposed treatment based solely upon the fact of his or her refusal of medical care. The attending physician shall document the basis of such finding in the patient's chart. Alternate Sources of Consent for Incompetent Patients. Once the determination has been made that a patient lacks capacity to give informed consent, permission should be obtained in the following order. ADVANCED DIRECTIVES: (See also Policy 2.03 on Living Wills) Exceptions exist in an emergency. Advanced Directives can take many forms, such as living wills, declarations pursuant to the Arkansas law concerning the Rights of Terminally Ill and Permanently Unconscious; durable powers of attorney with medical care provisions; medical care proxies; etc. The opinion of legal counsel may be sought if there are any questions regarding the scope of the document under consideration.
SUBSTITUTED CONSENT: Any one of the following should be contacted by the physician to obtain substituted consent for surgical or medical treatment or procedures or to clarify the documented or verbal preferences of the patient when a patient's incompetency is either not temporary or when an emergency exists: a) a court-appointed guardian, conservator, or custodian; (A family member wishing to be appointed should contact an attorney for assistance). b) a spouse (including those which are minors); c) any parent (including those who are minors), whether the child is of the parent's blood, is an adopted child, is a stepchild, or is a foster child (However, the father of an illegitimate child cannot consent for the child solely on the basis of parenthood); d) provided that the parents are unavailable, any maternal grandparent, and (if the father is so authorized and empowered to grant consent) the paternal grandparent; e) any adult child; f) any adult sibling; or g) any person standing in loco parentis, whether formally serving or not. C. Order of Preference Although the law does not specify an order of preference for substituted consent, care should be taken to contact the legal guardian, conservator, or custodian. If the nearest available person is contacted and refuses to consent, an attempt should be made to obtain consent from another person on the list above. If no person on such list will consent, follow the procedures in Section C. IV. (Court Ordered Consent). If there is no time to seek a court order, and an emergency exists, follow the procedure in Section. C.V. (Emergency Consent). III. OBTAINING CONSENT FROM OR FOR A MINOR. Determining Whether a Minor Can Give Consent for Himself/Herself A minor is a person under eighteen (18) years of age. A minor may give, withhold, revoke consent for himself or herself if any of the following conditions are met: The minor is married (does not include divorced or widowed minors) The minor is a pregnant female seeking treatment in connection with pregnancy or childbirth, except in unnatural interruption of the pregnancy The minor is emancipated (that is, patient has been self-supporting, makes his/her own life decisions and is living apart from parents for a substantial period of time. Emancipation is ultimately a legal determination and it is strongly suggested that hospital counsel be consulted prior to proceeding with consent on this basis). The minor is incarcerated in the Department of Correction or the Department of Community Punishment; or The minor is seeking treatment for a venereal disease. Substituted Consent. Unless one or more of the exceptions listed above apply, consent for the treatment of a minor must be obtained from one of the following: A guardian, conservator, or custodian; A parent (including those which are minors), whether the child is of parent's blood, is an adopted child, is a stepchild, or is a foster child; (However, the father of an illegitimate child cannot consent for the child solely on the basis of parenthood) Any adult sibling; Any maternal grandparent, and (if the father is so authorized and empowered to grant consent) a paternal grandparent; provided, however, the parents are absent; or Any person standing in loco parentis, whether formally serving or not. IV. COURT-ORDERED CONSENT. When consent cannot be obtained through any other means, a court order can be obtained giving consent for treatment. Hospital Administration should be contacted if such a situation arises and if time permits. Hospital Administration will determine whether or not to seek a court order for surgical or medical treatment or procedures. Hospital administration should be contacted in at least the following situations: A pregnant female in the third trimester of pregnancy who refuses surgical or medical treatment of procedures; A minor patient who is not authorized and empowered to give consent for himself or herself and all available persons authorized and empowered to give consent to surgical or medical treatment or procedures on his or her behalf refuse to do so; An adult who is incapable of making a medical decision and all available persons authorized and empowered to give consent to surgical or medical treatment or procedures on his or her behalf refuse to do so.
V. EMERGENCY CONSENT (IMPLIED CONSENT) An emergency is defined as a situation, where in competent medical judgment, the proposed surgical or medical treatment or procedures are immediately or imminently necessary and any delay caused by an attempt to obtain a consent would jeopardize the life, health or safety of the person affected or would result in disfigurement or impaired faculties. Emergency consent shall not be used to over-ride the patients health care directives whether those directives be communicated by Living Will and/or through discussions with the patient as documented in the patients medical record. Implied Consent when Substituted Consent Is Not Possible. Consent to surgical or medical treatment or procedures may be implied if: An emergency exists and, The patient is not capable of giving or withholding consent for himself or herself; and, There is no one immediately available who is authorized, empowered, or capable of giving consent for the patient. Implied Consent After Refusal of Consent Has Been Given. Consent to surgical or medical treatment or procedures may also be implied when; There has been a subsequent material or morbid change in the condition of the affected person after the refusal of consent and an emergency condition now exists; and The patient is not capable of giving or withholding consent for himself or herself; and There is no other person immediately available who is authorized, empowered, or capable to consent. SECTION D: PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING CONSENT RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PHYSICIAN. The physician who is responsible for performing the medical or surgical treatment or procedure has the responsibility of obtaining informed consent from the patient or one authorized, empowered, and capable of consenting on behalf of the patient. The physician should provide the following information to the patient in terms the patient can understand unless the patient waives his/her rights to full disclosure: the diagnosis the nature and purpose of the proposed treatment; the prognosis of the proposed treatment; the risks and possible complications of the proposed treatment (However, where the risk is low but the consequence of the rare occurrence is extremely severe, that risk should be disclosed.) reasonable alternatives to the proposed treatment including the option of no treatment; prognosis of alternatives including no treatment. WITNESS TO THE SIGNATURE The patient's signature on the consent form is witnessed by a UAMS employee or a physician who is not on the procedural. The witness' signature on the consent form signifies only that the patient's signature is indeed his own. Witnessing the signature implies nothing about the witnesses knowledge of the patient's ability to give consent or completeness of the information shared by the physician with the patient. VERBAL OR PHONE CONSENT. Because of the distance involved or because of an extreme emergency situation, verbal or phone permission from any of the persons authorized to give consent on behalf of the patient may be obtained in the presence of two (2) witnesses by the use of extension phones (the physician and a hospital employee), and signed by both. The person giving the consent should be asked to sign as soon as possible. It is not necessary for the hospital employee to witness the information provided by the physician, merely the person's consent. SECTION E: DURATION OF CONSENT EXPIRATION OF CONSENT. A general consent for admission shall be valid for the duration of the hospitalization. If the patient is discharged and needs to be readmitted, a new consent form for admission must be signed by the patient or one legally authorized to act on behalf of the patient. A procedure-specific consent form is considered valid for five (5) weeks after the date of signature as long as the patient's condition has not materially changed during the interim. The same consent form, however, cannot be reused when a procedure is repeated. Consent for procedures, such as hysterectomies for Medicaid patients, which require at least thirty (30) days advance notice, will be considered valid for five (5) weeks following the thirty (30) day notice period.
EXTENSION OR MODIFICATION OF PROCEDURE. A patient who consents to treatment, implies consent to further procedures that are medically justified during the course of the operation, as long as the extension procedure: Does not materially increase risk to the patient; does not involve the removal of an organ or limb; does not terminate the patient's reproductive capacity (unless such potentialities have been discussed with the patient and he has given prior consent and such consent is documented in the chart). REFUSALS OF CONSENT. An adult patient who is conscious and capable of making a medical decision has the right to refuse any surgical or medical treatment or procedures. A patient may, before treatment is begun, specifically prohibit a procedure that might become necessary during treatment or withdraw a consent previously given for such procedure. In the event of such refusal, two (2) alternative courses are possible: The physician may refuse to admit the patient on the grounds that proper care cannot be rendered because of the patient's refusal to allow procedures that the physician believes may be necessary for the preservation of life of health; or The physician can admit the patient and provide only such services and procedures as are within the limits stated by the patient. If the patient has already been admitted when the refusal to consent is expressed, the services or procedures should be provided within the limits imposed by the patient or the physician should offer assistance to the patient in finding another physician who is willing to provide treatment within the patient's limitations. The Hospital Administrator on duty should be contacted immediately if the patient is: A minor; Pregnant; An adult with minor children; or A person who appears to be under the influence of drugs, delirious or comatose, or otherwise incapable of exercising rational judgment. A patient who imposes limits by refusing certain procedures (e.g., refusal to permit a blood or blood derivatives transfusion to an adult of the Jehovah's Witness faith), should be required to execute a release, Patient's Release Upon Refusal of Treatment, MR-33. The progress notes in the medical records should reflect the discussion with the patient and the patients refusal to consent to specific treatment. The consent form shall remain in the patient's chart. Policy No.: 1.01.B Section: Medical Staff Effective: November 15, 1996 Revision: Reviewed: June 1, 1998 Subject: GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING PATIENTS WITH IDENTIFIED PSYCHIATRIC OR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEMS Source: Emergency Department POLICY: When a patient is identified as having psychiatric or substance abuse problem, Social Work and Psychiatry are available to address problems and make recommendations. PROCEDURES: Emergency Department Patients with Psychiatric or Substance Abuse Problems Upon arrival to the Emergency Department (ED), patients with substance abuse and/or psychiatric problems will be initially evaluated and dispositioned according to the ED policy. Any of the following dispositions may be appropriate and may require a referral to a mental health screener to facilitate. Consideration should be given to whether the patient is in acute danger to himself/herself and the appropriate measures taken, i.e. medical intervention, security surveillance, restraints, etc. Disposition of the acute or unstable patient will be made by the physician with consideration given to medical stability, social situation, safety, financial and treatment resources and according to the individual patients needs. In all cases family or significant others should clearly understand plans for treatment after conferring with the RN, physician and/or screener. I. Patients with Psychiatric Problems: A. Referral or Transfer made to appropriate facilities, mental health centers, or service providers (Screeners may need to be contacted to assist in facilitating transfer). B. If a patient refuses treatment, or wants to leave AMA, and is judged to be of danger to himself or others, the Emergency Physician may confer with psychiatry and/or the mental health screener regarding the patient meeting criteria for 72-hour hold. C. Discharge with referral to community resources/agencies.
D. Consult to Medical Social Work/Discharge Planning to discuss options for treatment or resources available. II. Patients with Substance Abuse Problems: The above options for substance abuse may be initiated with the inclusion of : Admission to University Hospital due to emergent medical needs. If there is difficulty in making appropriate discharge disposition for the above patients, then assistance is available through consultation with Psychiatry and/or Medical Social Work/Discharge Planning Department. III. Non Emergency Department Patients with Psychiatric Problems and/or Substance Abuse On patient care units or in the clinics, the Psychiatric Consult-Liaison team is available for consultation if a patient is identified with a behavioral or substance abuse problem. To obtain a psychiatric consult: 1. Call the Consult Coordinator at 555-5101, from 7:30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., Monday through Friday. 2. After 5:00 p.m., weekends, and holidays, emergency psychiatry consults may be obtained by contacting the hospital operator at 555-7000 - ask for resident on call. In addition, Social Work and the Psychiatric CNS are available to assist in addressing issues involving a psychiatric, behavioral or substance abuse problem. To contact Social Work: 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at extension 65870 or by beeper 555-6543 any other time. To contact the Psychiatric CNS: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday at Beeper # 555-6483. IV. The primary physician will consult the EMC Psychiatry Consultation Service and/or Social Work to request that patient(s) with psychiatric or substance abuse issues be evaluated for their recommendations for appropriate treatment and disposition. Patient Admitted to EMC (Hospital/Emergency Department) Medical Evaluation Completed and Appropriate Labs Drawn Psychiatric/Substance Abuse Issues Identified by Patient's Treatment Team Primary Physician requests Consult from Psychiatry and/or Social work Ward Coordinator Contacts Psychiatry and/or Social Work Psychiatry 555-5101 M-F 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Psychiatric CNS 555-6483 M-F 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 555-7000 After Hours to Page Psychiatry Resident on Call Social Work 555-5870 M-F 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 555-6543 After Hours to Page Social Worker on Call Patient is evaluated by Consultant Treatment and/or Disposition Recommendations are given For Acute Psychiatric or Substance Abuse Inpatient 1. No insurance- Call State Screener Call Social Work 2. Insurance- Call Social Work For Psychiatric or Substance Abuse Outpatient Psychiatry will help or Social Work will help with referral Policy No.: 1.02 Section: Medical/Legal Effective: June 7, 1994 Revision: October 1999 Subject: INVOLUNTARY ADMISSION FOR A 72 HOLD Source: Administration PURPOSE: To clarify the qualifications required for a 72 hours hold and what legal process must be followed to assure compliance with Arkansas state statutes. POLICY: In compliance with state statutes, a person may be involuntarily admitted to the Medical Center and detained, provided that person meets the criteria for involuntary admission as relating to a person suffering from mental illness or disease. When a person who meets such criteria is admitted under this policy, immediate transfer to an appropriate facility shall be sought by the attending physician immediately, upon the stabilization of the person's medical condition.
20-47-207 (C) Involuntary Admission Criteria: A person shall be eligible for involuntary admission if he is in such mental condition as a result of mental illness disease or disorder that he poses a clear and present danger to himself or others. If a person is lacks capacity to make decisions, refer to the Medical Center Policy 1.01 on Consents as lack of capacity does not necessarily meet involuntary admission criteria. DEFINITIONS 1. A Clear and Present Danger to Himself A. This is established by demonstration that the person has inflicted serious bodily injury on himself or has attempted suicide or selfinjury, and there is a reasonable probability that such conduct will be repeated if admission is not ordered; or B. The person has threatened or has inflicted serious bodily injury on him/herself and there is a reasonable probability that serious bodily injury will occur if admission is not ordered ; or C. The person's behavior demonstrates that he/she lacks the capacity to care for his/her own welfare and there is a reasonable probability of death, serious bodily injury, or other serious physical or mental debilitation of admission is not ordered. 2. A Clear and Present Danger to Others Is established by demonstrating that the person has inflicted, attempted to inflict, or threatened to inflict serious bodily harm on another, and there is a reasonable probability that such conduct will occur if admission is not ordered. 3. Detain Any confinement of a person against his/her wishes, whether by physical restraint, mechanical restraint, confinement to a room or building, or chemical restraint. 4. Mental Illness A substantial impairment of emotional processes, or of the ability to exercise conscious control of one's actions, or of the ability to perceive reality or to reason, when the impairment is manifested by instances of extremely abnormal behavior or extremely faulty perceptions. It does not include impairment solely caused by: Epilepsy Mental Retardation Continuous or non-continuous periods of intoxication caused by alcohol or drugs Dependence or addiction to alcohol or drugs Senility or cerebro-vascular disease PROCEDURES 1. Detention: The physician may detain a person for initial evaluation and treatment provided the following are met: Within one hour after the initial evaluation and order for detention, the person is advised and served with a copy of his/her rights . The Statement of Rights (Attachment A) shall be given and explained to the patient by either the primary physician or his/her designee. The person is determined by a licensed physician to be a clear and present danger to self or others as a result of mental illness or disease and in compliance with the above definition. A petition is filed as specified below and a hearing is held within the legally required time period. A psychiatric consult is acquired. Refer to University Hospital Policy MS 4.07 for specific instructions concerning detention utilizing restraint procedures. 2. Petition: Involuntary hold may not exceed 72 hours unless directed by Court Order. If the physician believes that the individual meets criteria for involuntary admission for longer than the 72 hour hold period, as defined in this policy, an action must be commenced in Probate Court. A public hearing shall be set by the court within three (3) days, excluding weekends and holidays, of the person's initial confinement associated with the present episode of illness. Contact hospital legal counsel at 555-1379 to initiate appropriate court action. 3. Release Of The Seventy-Two (72) Hour Hold: The person so detained may be released sooner than the 72 hour detention period if in the judgment of the treating physician and psychiatrist that the person does not require further mental health treatment. This shall be documented in the physicians progress notes.
STATEMENT OF RIGHTS Patients Name: __________________________ You have the following rights as outlined in ACA 20-47-211 when involuntarily admitted: 1. A person has the right to effective assistance of counsel, including the right to a court appointed attorney. 2. A person's attorney has a right to be present at all significant stages of the proceedings and at all hearings; except no attorney shall be entitled to be present upon examination of the person by the physician or any member of the treatment staff pursuant to an evaluation, whether initially, or subsequently. 3. A person has the right to present evidence in his/her own behalf. 4. A person has the right to cross-examine witnesses who testify against him/her. 5. A person has a right to remain silent. 6. A person has a right to view and copy all petitions, reports, and documents contained in the court file. Presented by: __________________________ Date/Time: __________________ Policy No.: 1.03 Section: Medical/Legal Effective: November 1, 1998 Revision: May 1, 1999 Subject: SUSPECTED ABUSE AND NEGLECT REPORTING Source: Case Coordination Center POLICY: EMC is committed to protecting and safeguarding the rights of patients who are victims of abuse and/or neglect. The purpose of this policy is to identify and provide a mechanism for reporting suspected cased of abuse and/or neglect. PROCEDURES: I. Suspected Abuse or Neglect A. Louisiana law mandates that any healthcare professional with a reasonable cause to suspect that a patient (child or endangered or impaired adult) has been subjected to physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect or conditions/ circumstances which would reasonably result in abuse (see attachments), must immediately report suspected abuse to the proper authorities, agencies or department. For persons age 18 or older, Adult Protective Services (800-555-5725) should be contacted. For children 17 years and younger, the Department of Children and Family Services (800-555-5964) should be contacted. B. The Case Coordination Center will be notified of and coordinate all cases of suspected abuse and/or neglect. (Includes Hospital, Emergency Department and Ambulatory Services). C. The social worker will immediately assess each patient situation and make a referral to the appropriate state agency or authority. D. Careful documentation of suspected abuse and/or neglect and ongoing assessment will be made in the medical record including but not limited to: 1. Detailed description of physical appearance and emotional attitude of the patient. 2. Home situation and/or caregiver and the times and names of persons notified of the suspected abuse. E. If the patient appears to have been abused or neglected in another institution (i.e. nursing home), the case should be reported to the Director of the State Office of Long Term Care (800-555-8698). F. The mandated reporting agency is responsible for evaluation of patient, home, care giver and are responsible for a written report to referring social worker of case disposition. G. Though the law does not require this, it is best to make patients, parents, and/or family aware that a referral will be made and that they will be visited. H. In case of death suspected to be caused by abuse or neglect, the appropriate medical examiner or coroner should be notified. II. Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault The following applies to all EMC patients admitted to the Hospital, seen the Outpatient Clinics, or Emergency Department. The staff will follow all legal and community standards of practice to protect patients from harm and to link them with supportive services. When domestic violence or sexual assault is alleged or suspected, a referral should be made to the Case Coordination Center (See attachments). If a sexual assault occurs after hours, then a Sexual Assault Center counselor should be contacted. (800-555-2700 or 1877-555-5368). The on-call social worker can be contacted if a sexual assault center counselor is unavailable after hours. Patients, who are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, must consent to treatment and have the right to refuse any services, referrals, or consults. If a patient does not wish to see a social worker, then Emergency Department staff or outpatient staff will give the patient a community resource handout.
The following measures, depending on the wishes of the patient and the nature of risk, may be taken (the patient has the right to refuse a rape kit, refuse to speak with a social worker, file charges with the police, or speak with a sexual assault center representative): Interview the patient, family and significant other(s) to obtain all relevant information as part of the psychosocial assessment for the purposes of: a. Determining the existence and nature of the domestic violence or assault (when, where, what or by whom). b. Determining the available family, community and other resources. 2. Request a psychiatric evaluation, if an assessment indicates psychological or emotional difficulties requiring medical exploration. 3. Encourage a police report by the patient, acknowledging the patients right to refuse to file a report. 4. Discuss concerns and determine solutions with the patient, and when appropriate, with responsible relatives or significant others who may need to act on the patients behalf. 5. Make appropriate referrals to community agencies for shelter and counseling. 6. Contact Medical/Legal Authorities should harm is threatened to the patient. 7. Documentation of all assessments and interventions in the medical record. 8. The social worker will follow-up as appropriate.
DEFINITIONS ENDANGERED ADULT An adult eighteen (18) years of age or older who is found to be in a situation or condition which poses an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm to that person and who demonstrates a lack of capacity to comprehend the nature and consequence of remaining the situation or condition. IMPAIRED ADULT Any adult eighteen (18) years or older who suffers from mental or physical disease or defect as a consequence thereof is unable to protect himself/herself from abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
PHYSICAL ABUSE Any intentional and unnecessary physical act, which inflicts pain on or causes injury to an endangered or impaired adult, including sexual abuse; Any intentional or demeaning act which subjects an endangered or impaired adult to ridicule or psychological injury in a manner likely to provoke fear or alarm. NEGLECT Negligently failing to provide necessary treatment, rehabilitation, care, food, clothing shelter, supervision or medical services to an endangered adult or impaired adult; Negligently failing to report health problems, changes in health problems, or changes in health conditions of an endangered adult or impaired adult to the appropriate medical personnel; Negligently failing to carry out a prescribed treatment plan. EXPLOITATION Any illegal use or management of an endangered adults funds, assets, or property or the use of an endangered adults power of attorney or guardianship or person for the profit or advantage of himself or another. PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT PHYSICAL NEGLECT Physical Indicators: Consistent hunger, poor hygiene, inappropriate dress Consistent lack of supervision, especially in dangerous activities or long periods Unattended physical problems or medical needs Abandonment Lice Distended stomach, emaciated Behavior Indicators: Begging, stealing food Constant fatigue, listlessness or falling asleep States there are not caretakers at home Frequent school absence or tardiness Destructive SEXUAL ABUSE Physical Indicators: Difficulty in walking or sitting Torn, stained, or bloody underclothing Pain or itching in genital area Bruises or bleeding external genital, vaginal, or anal area Venereal disease Frequent urinary or yeast infections Frequent unexplained sore throats PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (Cont.) Behavioral Indicators: Unwilling to participate in certain physical activities Sudden drop in school performance Reports sexual assault by adults Withdrawal, fantasy, or unusually infantile behavior Crying with no provocation Poor peer relationships/chronic runaway
PHYSICAL ABUSE Physical indicators: Unexplained bruises and Welts: on torso, back, buttocks, thighs in various stages of healing clustered, forming regular patterns reflecting shape of article used to inflict (electric cord, belt buckle) on several different areas regularly appear after absence, weekend, or vacation human bite marks bald spot Unexplained burns: Cigar cigarette burns especially on soles, palms, back or buttocks Immersion burns (sock like, glove like, doughnut-shaped on buttocks or genitalia) Rope burns on arms, legs, neck, or torso Patterned like electric burns, iron, etc. Unexplained fractures: To skull, nose, facial structure In various stages of healing Multiple or spiral fractures Unexplained lacerations or abrasions: To mouth, lips, gums, eye To external genitalia PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (Cont.) Behavioral Indicators: Wearing clothing that covers the body which is not appropriate Chronic runaway (especially adolescent) Wary of adult contacts Behavioral Extremes: aggressiveness, withdrawal, overly compliant Accident prone Exhibits anxiety about normal activities (napping) Early to school or stays late as if afraid to go home Complains of soreness and moves awkwardly Afraid to go home Destructive to self and others Apprehensive when other children cry Cannot tolerate physical contact or touch Reports injury by parents EMOTIONAL MALTREATMENT Physical Indicators: Speech disorders Lags in physical development Failure to thrive (especially in infants) Substance abuse Behavioral Indicators: Habit disorders (sucking, biting, rocking, etc.) Conduct disorders (antisocial, destructive) Neurotic traits (sleep disorders, inhibition of play) Behavioral extremes: Compliant, passive Aggressive, demanding Overly adaptive behavior: Inappropriately adult Inappropriately infantile Developmental lags (mental, emotional) Delinquent behavior (especially adolescents)
POTENTIAL ADULT ABUSE/DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INDICATORS Discrepancy between injury and history. Inappropriate injury or degree of injury versus history. Conflicting histories of injury. Bizarre or inappropriate explanation. Insistence that injury is severe when no injury exists. Long delay between the injury and the time treatment is sought. History of being "accident-prone". History of many previous injuries, repeated emergency room or physician visits for injuries. History of seeking treatment from different medical providers. Untreated old injuries. Multiple injuries in various stages of healing. Injuries on an area of the body normally covered by clothing. Injuries consistent with the shape of a weapon (i.e., coat hangers, ropes, belts, irons, ropes, cigarettes,). Apolitical or hemorrhaging beneath scalp from hair pulling. Change in affect when significant other is present. Significant low self-esteem. History of physical encounters with significant others, such as throwing objects, using weapons, licking or biting. Feeling endangered or fearful without explanation. One or both partners involved with mood altering substances (ETOH, other drugs). Cover-up responses such as "its a family matter," "it was my fault," "he/she was drunk," "the kids were bad that day." Signs of harassment or intimidation on the part of the significant other. Policy No.:1.04 Section: Medical/Legal Effective: July 1, 1992 Reviewed: June 1,1998 Subject: COMMUNICATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH LITIGATION Source: Hospital Attorney POLICY: Hospital personnel often receive requests for comments or information from patients, attorneys, and others in connection with lawsuits and legal claims (such as workers compensation). Care should be taken because much patient information is confidential and should not be revealed to anyone other than the patient. Health care professionals cannot be required to give "expert opinion" testimony (they, like everyone else, can be required to testify as to matters which they have actually witnessed). Furthermore, responding to such requests can absorb a great deal of valuable employee time, which can compromise patient care. PROCEDURES: I. Medical Records: All requests for medical records of discharged patients and inpatients shall be handled according to UAMS Policy and Procedures. II. Other Requests for Information: In this section, the term "employee" refers to employees other than physicians. The term "testimony" includes oral testimony and written testimony, such as an affidavit. If an attorney or other person purporting to represent a patient or a person opposed to a patient in litigation attempts to interview any employee or obtain written information from any employee, the request will be handled as follows: The employee will not respond to a request without first notifying his/her supervisor of the request. When patients are currently inpatients, the supervisor will notify the attending physician of the request. The employee or supervisor will inform the person who is requesting information that a copy of the medical record may be obtained from the Medical Records Department. Employees will decline to offer opinions regarding the care, condition or prognosis of the patient, even if they are subpoenaed to testify at trial or in a deposition.
Employees having personal knowledge of a patient's condition, treatment, or other matters, may answer questions clarifying the information in the medical record or give testimony as to events of which they have personal knowledge. Such information will be given only: (a) at trial or at a deposition, and then only if the employee has been subpoenaed and the patient has consented to the testimony, and (b) informally, with the specific written consent of the patient, if the supervisor believes the need for the employee to testify at a deposition or at trial will be minimized if there is informal disclosure of the information. If the person seeking the informal conference is a party opposed to the patient in a legal proceeding, or an opposing attorney, the written consent of the patient must specify that the hospital employee is authorized to discuss the patient's medical care without the patient or the patient's attorney being present. If the Medical Center, or an employee or student of the Hospital is a party or potential party to the litigation; all requests will be referred through the appropriate Hospital Administrator to counsel for the City. If a City physician is a party or potential party to the litigation, all requests will be referred through the Hospital Medical Director to counsel for the physician. Physicians are not obliged to give "expert opinion" testimony unless the physician has agreed with the patient to give such testimony. The furnishing of expert opinion testimony is a professional service to the patient, and physicians are entitled to be reasonably compensated for their time and expertise. Policy No.: 1.05 Section: Medical/Legal Effective: July 1, 1983 Revision: June 1, 1998 Subject: RELEASE OF MEDICAL RECORD INFORMATION Source: Medical Records POLICY: Requests by a patient or other party to view or receive a copy of a medical record shall be coordinated through the Medical Record Information Services Department and accompanied by the patient's written authorization. PROCEDURES: I. Release of Information to a Patient A. A patient's request for his medical record shall be responded to in one of the following ways: 1. Permit viewing of all or pertinent portions of the record. 2. Provide a copy of all or pertinent portions of the record. 3. Provide a summary of the record. 4. Deny access or provisions of a copy of the record. This response shall be made only when it is clear that knowledge of the contents of the medical record could be detrimental to the patient's physical or mental health or is likely to cause the patient to harm himself or another. At the request of the patient, a copy of the record may be released to an appropriate third party. B. Response to a patient's request will be determined by the following process: 1. The Medical Record Information Services Department shall be responsible for receiving and facilitating the appropriate response to any patient's request to view or obtain a copy of his medical record. 2. The patient shall present proper authorization for release of the medical record to himself to the Correspondence Secretary, Medical Record Information Services. The Correspondence Secretary shall inform the patient of the hospital policy and notify the attending physician of the patient's request at the Medical Record Directors discretion. If the appropriate physician is unavailable, the Chief of Service will determine whether or not information should be released directly to the patient. A recommendation to limit viewing or to provide a copy of only pertinent portions of the medical record shall be supported with a written justification statement. Such recommendations shall be viewed as a commitment by the recommending physician to prepare the summary in a timely manner should the recommendation be accepted. The recommendation to deny the request shall be supported with a detailed written justification statement. The physician may write an order in the record that the chart may be released to the patient or a reason that certain portions should not be released at the time of a patient's discharge. 3. If the physician fails to respond or responds with "no problem", the patient will be allowed to review his medical record in the presence of the physician or an employee of the Medical Record Information Services. If the patient has requested a copy of the record, the Correspondence Secretary will inform the patient of the charges and arrange a mutually agreeable time for the patient to pick up the copies. The patient shall sign a form indicating the type of access which has been provided to him. 4. If the physician responds that the information in the record should not be released, the Director of Medical Record Information Services shall be responsible for reviewing the case with the physician and recommending to Administration a final determination of the response, i.e., recommendation to limit the response to pertinent portions of the record, to a summary, or deny the request.
II. Release of Information to a Third Party A. A request to permit a party other than the patient to view, obtain a copy of, or obtain information from a patient's medical record shall not be honored unless accompanied by an appropriately written authorization signed and dated by the patient. The only exceptions to this policy are when the request is: 1. From another health care institution or physician engaged in providing immediate treatment to the patient and it appears that the patient would, if able, provide appropriate authorization. 2. In the form of a subpoena duces tecum or other court order. 3. From the Louisiana State Board of Health and is regarding a reportable disease. 4. For reasons which, in the judgment of the Director of the Medical Record Information Services Department, warrants an exception such as, but not limited to, access by legal representative of the hospital or a physician for defense of a claim or by approved review agencies such as the PRO. 5. From outside organ recovery teams granted temporary privileges to harvest organs from deceased patients. B. The Medical Record Information Services Department shall be responsible for: 1. Receiving all requests. 2. Responding to those for which physician involvement is not required. 3. Obtaining physician involvement when necessary. 4. Notifying Hospital Administration of the receipt of a request from an attorney unless it appears that legal action is against a party other than the hospital or its staff. C. An appropriately written authorization should: 1. Have been signed and dated by the patient not more than 90 days before presented to the hospital. 2. Specify to whom the request is addressed and to whom the records are to be released. 3. Designate the illness or appropriate dates of treatment to which the authorization applies. 4. State the reason for the request. D. Since the review of the record may disrupt patient care, a request to view the record of a patient who is hospitalized at the time the request is made shall be deferred until the patient is discharged unless the reason for the request, in the judgment of the Director of the Medical Records Department, justifies an exception. If reviewing is permitted, the following procedures shall be followed: 1. Viewing shall be done by appointment only in order that the record will be absent from the nursing station at a time when patient care shall not be interrupted. The Medical Record Department shall schedule the time based on the recommendation of the appropriate head nurse. 2. The responsible physician shall be notified prior to the appointment. 3. The viewing shall be done in the Medical Record Department in the presence of a physician or department employee. Exceptions shall be approved by the Director of Medical Record Information Services. 4. The requester shall present, at the time of the viewing; an appropriately written authorization signed and dated by the patient or his guardian no more than 48 hours prior to the viewing. E. A request from a law enforcement or other governmental agency shall be treated like any other request from a source other than a patient. F. All referring physicians should receive a copy of the discharge summary. The dictating physician should state when dictating the summary, that a copy is to be sent to the referring physician, giving his full name and address. III. Invalid Authorizations A. The hospital has the right to refuse to honor an authorization when: 1. There is a question as to the identity or authenticity of the signature of the person presenting the authorization. 2. There is doubt as to the competency of the person who signed the authorization. 3. There is doubt as to the signer being 18 or older. 4. There is a question as to the legal status of the guardian, conservator, etc. 5. There is reason to know that patient does not want the authorization honored. 6. The requirement of the hospital's policies have not been met. 7. The records requested are psychiatric records or drug and alcohol abuse records. Any questions regarding release of confidential patient information should be referred to the Director of Medical Record Information Services.
Policy No.: 2.01 Section: Medical Staff Effective: May 10, 1982 Revision: September 11, 1995 Reviewed: Subject: DISCHARGE PROCEDURE Source: Medical Board
June 1, 1998
POLICY: Patients shall be discharged only on the written, signed order of a physician. A dictated discharge summary is required on all deaths regardless of length of stay. It is the intention of this policy to prepare patients for discharge in a manner consistent with quality medical care. Patients should be discharged as early as possible. The procedures described in this policy should not be in any way construed to unnecessarily prolong an admission. PROCEDURES: I. Discharge Orders Orders of discharge are to be written by 5:00 p.m. on the date preceding discharge. The medical record front sheet shall be completed and signed, either by the attending physician or resident, as a condition of the patient's discharge. II. Discharge Summary A. A discharge summary shall be dictated at the time of discharge. B. Exceptions: 1. Normal obstetrical patients 2. Normal newborn patients 3. Short-stay admissions (48 hours or less) These patients require a written discharge note which sufficiently justifies the diagnosis, as well as substantiates the treatment and outcome. C. All discharge summaries shall be signed or countersigned by the responsible physician. III. Patients are to be prepared for discharge prior to 10:00 a.m. At that time the room should be vacated and prepared for a new admission by 12:00 p.m. IV. Should a patient leave the hospital against the advice of the responsible physician or without proper discharge, Policy 2.02, Leaving Hospital Against Medical Advice, shall be followed. Policy No.: 2.02 Section: Patient Services Effective: July 1, 1983 Revision: June 1, 1998 Subject: LEAVING HOSPITAL AGAINST MEDICAL ADVICE Source: Administration POLICY: All reasonable efforts shall be made to discourage inpatients from leaving before the physician has indicated completion of treatment. If the patient refuses to remain or elopes, relatives shall be notified and discharge shall be effective immediately and considered against medical advice. PROCEDURES: I. General Instructions A. The physician shall inform the patient of risks of leaving against medical advice in an effort to have the patient reconsider the decision. B. If the patient is legally incompetent to make such a judgment, the hospital must prevent the patient's departure until the guardian has consented to the departure. The Nursing Director/ADON on duty shall be notified. C. When the patient seeking discharge poses a threat to public health and safety (situations where the patient has a contagious disease or, due to mental disease or defect, presents a danger to the well-being of himself or other persons in the community), the hospital must prevent the patient's departure. The Nursing Director/ADON on duty shall be notified. D. A patient who leaves against medical advice shall be discharged when it is determined that the patient has left The Hospital. It shall be documented by the nurse, in the patient's medical record that the patient requested discharge contrary to medical advice and that the risks and consequences of the decision were carefully related to the patient. The Physician who spoke to the patient will document on the progress notes. The patient who desires to leave the hospital against the advice of his physician shall be encouraged to sign the statement entitled MR-31, DISCHARGE AGAINST MEDICAL ADVICE. If the patient refused to sign the form, the refusal should be noted on the form, witnessed and placed in the patient's medical record. E. When a member of the patient's family requests a discharge against medical advice, the hospital shall refuse to discharge the patient unless the patient concurs. If the patient has been declared incompetent by a psychiatric consult and it is the physician's opinion that the discharge is contrary to the patient's interest, the hospital shall not honor the family's request. The Nursing Director on duty shall be notified. A request of parents for discharge of a minor shall be honored.
F. The family of the patient leaving against medical advice shall be contacted immediately. II. Notification Instruction When the Patient Types Below Elope or Indicate Their Intent to Elope A. Police Holds - Notify the Department of Public Safety. B. Mentally Incompetent Patients - Notify the Nursing Director/ADON on duty. C. Contagious Disease - Contact the Nursing Director who will notify the hospital epidemiologist. If necessary, the Epidemiologist will notify the Public Health authorities to take action to protect the public. D. Minors - Notify parents or guardian immediately and notify the Department of Public Safety. E. Patient who the attending physician feels should be returned as soon as possible - Notify the patient's family immediately and notify the Department of Public Safety. F. Patients whose return is not considered urgent by the attending physician - Notify the patient's family immediately. The Administrator on-call should be notified by the Nursing Director/ADON for warranted situations.
CITY MEDICAL CENTER DISCHARGE AGAINST MEDICAL ADVICE Date____________________ This will acknowledge that I leave the City Medical Center against the advice of the medical staff, and hereby assume all responsibility for any consequences subsequent to my departure. They have explained to me the reasons why I should remain under treatment and observation, in consideration of which I relieve them, the hospital, and any other persons attached to the institution, of any responsibility for my act. Witness: _______________________________ (Official Title) _________________________________ Relationship for the Patent Med Rec - 31 Policy No.: 2.03 Section: Patient Services Effective: January 1, 1992 Revision: October 15, 1995 Reviewed: June 1, 1998 July 1, 1999 Subject: LIVING WILLS Source: Medical Ethics Advisory Committee POLICY: All adult patients, at the time of inpatient admission, shall be provided EMC Hospital's "Your Living Will" pamphlet, which provides information regarding living wills and a living will form. In addition, The Hospital must inquire whether the patient has executed a living will and document the patient's response in the patient's medical record. The Hospital shall assist those who have not executed a living will, but choose to do so while in The Hospital. Patients shall not be discriminated against based on whether or not they have executed a living will. All appropriate Hospital staff shall be provided in-service education on issues concerning living wills at least once per year. ________________________ Patient
PROCEDURES: DEFINITION: A living will is a written document executed by an individual of sound mind and 18 or more years of age which governs the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment only in cases when the patient is terminally ill or permanently unconscious. (Other patient requests or advanced directives under different circumstances must be addressed via Policy 1.01, "Refusal to Consent to Treatment", or other relevant policies). The living will need not comply with any particular format as long as it is in written form and appears to be authentic and unrevoked. It may be handwritten or typewritten. Living wills executed in another state in compliance with the law of that state will be valid. Hospital Admissions will provide all adult patients (including direct-admit patients) a copy of EMC Hospital's "Your Living Will" pamphlet. This pamphlet is designed to provide information concerning an individual's rights under state law (Act 713, 1987) to make medical decisions and formulate advance directives. This shall normally be provided as part of the admissions packet. The patient's nurse, within eight hours of admission, shall review with the patient The "Your Living Will" pamphlet and ask the patient if he/she has executed a living will. The patient's response shall be documented on the Patient Information Form. If the patient has a living will, a copy will be made and included in the medical record (see #V). The nurse will answer any questions the patient may have about living wills and is encouraged to contact the patient's physician to speak to the patient if further clarification or discussion is necessary. A select interdisciplinary group of staff under the direction of the Ethics Committee will be available to answer questions that Medical or Nursing personnel cannot answer. This group can be contacted through the Chaplaincy Office or Hospital Administration If a patient desires to execute a living will and is of sound mind and 18 or more years of age, the nurse may assist in securing two witnesses to sign the Living Will Declaration or the Optional Proxy Directive. The witnesses may include any Hospital employees. Assistance from a social worker, chaplain, or physician shall be obtained by Nursing whenever necessary. If a physician is unwilling to comply with the living will, the physician must notify the patient (or patient's representative) and follow patient instructions to transfer care to another physician. All living wills, either existing or newly executed, shall be incorporated into the patient's medical record and attached to the lefthand side of the folder. Upon determining that the patient who has executed a living will is in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious, a physical shall record the determination and any other pertinent patient directives in the medical record. A living will may be revoked at any time and in any manner by the patient, without regard to the patient's mental or physical condition. A revocation is effective upon communication to a physician, nurse or a witness to the living will. The physician or nurse shall record the revocation in the patient's medical record and verbally notify other members of the health care team of the revocation. Policy No.: 2.04 Section: Patient Services Effective: 1998 Subject: PATIENT VISITATION Source: Administration POLICY: Visiting hours are scheduled for the benefit of patients, recognizing that limited, controlled visiting by loved ones is a desirable part of a patient's therapy. PROCEDURES: I. Visitors Visitors are cordially welcomed as a benefit for the Patient. Recognizing that rest for the patient and unhindered performance of treatment by medical personnel must be given priority over visiting, visitors are asked: A. To make visits as short as possible; speak softly and cheerfully; B. To refrain from, smoking in patient rooms; a designated smoking area is available on the B level parking deck; C. To limit visitors to two per patient; D. To use waiting areas provided for visitors. E. To respect and not interfere with the duty of the staff to deliver patient care. July 1, 1983 Revision: June 1,
II. Visitors Staying Overnight To preserve our patients' privacy, visitors may not stay in the patient's semi-private room overnight. In certain instances, a relative may stay with the patient in a private room at the discretion of the Head Nurse Manager responsible for the unit. The professional staff of The Hospital may ask that a relative (of the same sex as the patient if the patient is in a semiprivate room) remain with the patient overnight due to the critical nature of the patient's condition. Such exceptions will be at the discretion of the Head Nurse in charge of the unit. The Hospital is secured after 8:30 p.m., except for the Emergency Room entrance, for the protection of the patients and staff. III. Children Visiting Patients A. Hospital Children under 12 years of age may not visit above the first floor of The Hospital without special permission by the Registered Nurse taking care of the patient. Visitation is restricted to patient rooms for a limited time period. Children may not remain in hallways or waiting areas, with the exception of the lobby on the first floor. B. Ambulatory Services Children under the age of 12 years may not visit within the clinical treatment area without the consent of either the Clinic Manager or the R.N. Coordinator. Children under the age of 12 years may not be left unattended in the waiting rooms or hallways. IV. Visiting Hours Visiting hours in The Hospital are 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Separate visiting hours, times, and rules are applicable to visitors of patients in critical areas: 4E- Intensive Care Unit: Two visitors will be permitted to visit from 9-11AM. 2-4PM, and 8-10PM. Exceptions to standard visiting times may be contracted in consultation with the patients nurse. CVICU- Two visitors at a time for ten minutes every four hours from 8AM 8PM. Intermediate Unit- Two visitors at a time for thirty minutes from 8AM-8PM. Intensive Care Nursery- Open visitation except from 6:30-7:30AM, 6:30-7:30PM, and 10AM-Noon (for physician rounds). The Registered Nurse in charge of the nursing unit is responsible to see that visitors observe the regulations. If he cannot control an obvious case of unauthorized visiting detrimental to the patient, he refers the case to his supervisor. In cases of unruly visitors, Public Safety is notified. An incident report, when indicated, is made by the Security Officer and/or nursing staff. These will be added to as the need arises. Now after all of this, what does this mean in game terms?
These are the basis that all rulings will be made from by the Storyteller. If a ruling is made in total disregard to this section, the Storyteller must have a good basis to do so for it, ask them. For PCs who become patients: 1.01, 1.02, 2.01, and 2.02 will be your friend. If you have been placed into medical care due a nonlife threatening situation, you should not be held for more than 72 IC hours. If you are, there had better be a damned good reason for it. For PCs who are the Medical Attendant: If you check someone in, regardless of your station within the Medical Center, they are your patient. We do not have enough IC Medics to be able to switch off and assign physicians as in RL. The only acception to this is when a PC requires a psychological evaluation. When this situation arises, the Psychiatrist becomes an Assistant to the attending medic. The Doctor in charge still has the responsibility to see that the patient is checked out on a timely basis.
Education and the School System Overview Education in the United States is highly decentralized and varies widely. Curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies are set through locally elected school boards with jurisdiction over school districts, which are usually coextensive with counties, while educational standards and standardized testing decisions are usually made by the U.S. states though acts of the state legislature and governor and decisions of the state departments of education. The U.S. federal government, through the U.S. Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. School accreditation decisions are made by voluntary regional associations. Schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia teach in English, while schools in the territory of Puerto Rico teach in Spanish. Non-profit private schools are widespread, are largely independent of the government, and include secular as well as parochial schools. The United States has a relatively educated population. Literacy is estimated at 97 percent. As of 2003, 76.6 million students were enrolled in nursery through undergraduate study. Of these, 72 percent to 17 were judged academically "on track" for their age (enrolled in school at or above grade level). Of those enrolled in compulsory education, 5.2 million (10.4 percent) were attending private schools. Among the country's adult population, over 85 percent have completed high school, and 27 percent have received a bachelor's degree or higher. The average salary for college graduates is $45,400, exceeding the national average by more than $10,000. School Grades The U.S. uses a grade notation and year naming system that is not well understood in other countries. Unlike other nations, Americans prefer to use ordinal numbers rather than cardinal numbers for grades in ordinary speech. Thus, when asked what grade they are in, a typical American child is more likely to say "fourth grade" rather than "Grade 4." The following is the typical ages and grade groupings in public and private schools. Many different, though rare, variations exist across the country. Level / Grade, Age: (Years old) * Preschool, Nursery School, or Head Start; Under 5 * Elementary School o Kindergarten: 56 o 1st Grade: 67 o 2nd Grade: 78 o 3rd Grade: 89 o 4th Grade: 910 o 5th Grade: 1011 * Middle school (more traditionally called junior high school) o 6th Grade: 1112 (not alwayssome elementary schools include 6th grade as their highest grade) o 7th Grade: 1213 o 8th Grade: 1314 * High school o 9th Grade (Freshman year): 1415 (not alwayssome junior high schools include 9th grade as their highest grade) o 10th Grade (Sophomore year): 1516 o 11th Grade (Junior year): 1617 o 12th Grade (Senior year): 1718 * College or University (usually four years) o Freshman: 1819 o Sophomore: 1920 o Junior: 2021 o Senior: 2122
Preschool There are no mandatory public preschool or crche programs in the United States. The federal government funds the Head Start preschool program for poor children, but most families are on their own with regard to finding a preschool or, in the alternative, child care. In the large cities, there are often upper-class preschools catering to the children of the wealthy. Because some upper-class families see these schools as the first step towards the Ivy League, there are even counselors who specialize in assisting parents and their toddlers through the preschool admissions process. Primary andSecondary Education Schooling is compulsory for all children in the United States, but the age range for which school attendance is required varies from state to state. Most children begin primary education with kindergarten at the age of 5 or 6, depending upon eligibility requirements in their district, and complete their secondary education at the age of 18 when their senior year of high school ends. Typically, mandatory education starts with first grade (kindergarten is often not compulsory). Some states allow students to leave school at age 16, before finishing high school; other states require students to stay in school until age 18. Most parents send their children to either a public or private institution. According to government data, one-tenth of students are enrolled in private schools. However, approximately 85% of students enter the public schools, largely because they are "free" (tax burdens by school districts vary from area to area). Students attend school for around eight hours per day, 185 days per year. Most schools have a summer break period for about two and half months from June through August. This break is much longer than the one students in many other nations receive. Originally, "summer vacation", as it is colloquially called, allowed students to participate in the harvest period during the summer. However, this is now relatively unnecessary and remains largely by tradition; it also has immense popular support. Some groups think that children should stay in school longer, but there is little momentum from this angle. Parents may also choose to educate their own children at home. Less than 5% choose to do so, however. Proponents of home education invoke parental responsibility and the classical liberal arguments for personal freedom from government intrusion. Few proponents advocate that homeschooling should be the dominant educational policy. Most homeschooling advocates are wary of the established educational institutions for various reasons. Some are religious conservatives who see nonreligious education as contrary to their moral or religious systems. Others feel that they can more effectively tailor a curriculum to suit an individual students academic strengths and weaknesses, especially those with learning disabilities. Still others feel that the negative social pressures of schools (such as bullying, drugs, crime, and other school-related problems) are detrimental to a childs proper development. Parents often form groups to help each other in the homeschooling process, and may even assign classes to different parents, similar to public and private schools. Opposition to homeschooling comes from varied sources, including teachers' organizations and school districts. Opponents' stated concerns fall into several broad categories, including fears of poor academic quality, loss of income for the schools, and religious or social extremism. (For example, a creationist parent could remove a child from public school because the school's biology curriculum teaches evolution by natural selection.) Furthermore, some believe that removing children from the school environment could hamper their ability to socialize with peers their own age. Elementary School (Kindergarten through Grade 5/6) Elementary school, "grade school", "grammar school", and "public school" are all interchangeable names for schools that begin with Kindergarten or first grade and end either with fifth or sixth grade. Elementary school provides a common daily routine for all students, except the most disadvantaged students (those with learning disabilities, mental illnesses, or those students who do not speak English) and sometimes gifted or advanced students. Students do not choose a course structure and remain in a single classroom throughout the school day, with the exceptions of physical education ("P.E." or "gym") and music and/or art classes. Education is relatively unstandardized at this level. Teachers receive a book to give to the students for each subject and brief overviews of what they are expected to teach. In general, a student learns basic arithmetic and sometimes rudimentary algebra in mathematics, as well as learning English proficiency (language arts), such as basic grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Social studies (history) and science are the most undertaught subjects, mostly because most elementary teachers have a degree in English or education. Social studies may include basic events and concepts in American history and world history, and in some places state or local history; science varies widely. Middle School (Grades 6/7 through 8) "Middle school", "junior high school", and "intermediate school" are all interchangeable names for schools that begin in 6th or 7th grade and end in 8th, though they may sometimes include 9th grade as well. The term "junior high school" and the arrangement beginning with 7th grade are becoming less common.
At this time, students begin to enroll in class schedules where they take classes from several teachers in a given day, unlike in elementary school where all classes are with the same teacher. The classes are usually a strict set of a science, math, English, social science courses, interspersed with a reading and/or technology class. Every year from kindergarten through ninth grade usually includes a mandatory physical education or P.E. class. Student-chosen courses, known as electives, are generally limited to only one or two classes. High School (Grades 9 through 12) High school runs from grades 9 through 12. Some school districts deviate from this formula. The most widely seen difference is to include 9th grade in middle school, though it is a relatively old practice which is disappearing. In high school, students obtain much more control of their education, and may choose even their core classes. Basic Curricular Structure Most students in the United States, unlike their counterparts in other developed nations, do not begin to specialize into a narrow field of study until their sophomore year of college. Some schools do encourage students to take electives in the areas they are considering for a career. Generally, at the high school level, they take a broad variety of classes, without special emphasis. The curriculum varies widely in quality and rigidity; for example, some states consider 70 (on a 100 point scale) to be a passing grade while others consider it to be 75 and others 60. The following are the typical minimum course sequences that one must take in order to obtain a high school diploma; they are not indicative of the necessary minimum courses or course rigor required for attending college in the United States: * Science (biology, chemistry, and physics) * Mathematics (usually three years minimum, including algebra, geometry, algebra II, and/or precalculus/trigonometry) * English (four years) * Social Science (various history, government, and economics courses, always including American history) * Physical education (at least one year) Many states require a "Health" course in which students learn anatomy, nutrition, and first aid; the basic concepts of sexuality and birth control; and why to avoid substances like illegal drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. Electives High Schools offer wide variety of elective courses, although the availability of such courses depends upon each particular school's financial situation. Common types of electives include: * Visual arts (drawing, sculpture, painting, photography, film) * Performing Arts (drama, band, orchestra, dance) * Shop (woodworking, metalworking, automobile repair) * Computers (word processing, programming, graphic design) * Athletics (football, baseball, basketball, track and field, swimming, gymnastics, water polo, soccer) * Publishing (journalism, yearbook) * Foreign languages (French, German, and Spanish are common; Chinese, Latin, Greek and Japanese are less common, though Latin is gaining popularity) Additional options for gifted students Not all high schools contain the same rigorous coursework as others. Most high and middle schools have classes known as "honors" classes for motivated and gifted students, where the quality of education is usually higher and much tougher. If funds are available, a high school may provide Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses, which are special forms of honors classes. AP or IB courses are usually taken during the third or fourth years of high school, either as a replacement for a typical third-year course (e.g., taking AP U.S. History as a replacement for standard U.S. History), a refresher of an earlier course (e.g., taking AP Biology in the fourth year even though one already took Biology as a freshman), or simply as a way to study something interesting during one's senior year (e.g., AP Economics). Most postsecondary institutions take AP or IB exam results into consideration in the admissions process. Because AP and IB courses are supposed to be the equivalent of freshman year college courses, postsecondary institutions may grant unit credit which enables students to graduate early. Other institutions use examinations for placement purposes only: students are exempted from introductory course work but may not receive credit towards a concentration, degree, or core requirement. Institutions vary in the selection of examinations they accept and the scores they require to grant credit or placement, with more elite institutions tending to accept fewer examinations and requiring higher scoring. Both public schools and private schools in wealthy neighborhoods are able to provide many more AP and IB course options than impoverished inner-city high schools, and this difference is seen as a major cause of the differing outcomes for their graduates.
Also, in states with well-developed community college systems, there are often mechanisms by which gifted students may seek permission from their school district to attend community college courses full time during the summer, and during weekends and evenings during the school year. The units earned this way can often be transferred to one's university, and can facilitate early graduation. Extracurricular activities Many students, mostly in high schools, participate in extracurricular activities, which can extend to large amounts of time outside the normal school day; homeschooled students, however, are not normally allowed to participate. Student participation in sports programs, drill teams, bands, and spirit groups can extend to hours of practices and performances. Most states have organizations which develop rules for competition between groups. These organizations are usually forced to implement time limits on hours practiced as a prerequisite for participation. For instance, the University Interscholastic League of Texas sets a maximum of nine hours practice time outside of school per week for any organized team or group. Sports programs and their related games are major events for American students, especially football (as illustrated by the book and movie Friday Night Lights). They are also a major source of funds for school districts. An entire culture has developed around these events. Schools may sell "spirit" shirts to wear to games and school stadiums are often filled to capacity, even for nonsporting competitions. In addition to sports, many non-athletic extracurricular activities are usually present in American Scools, both public and private. Student government is present in most American schools, with some students who are elected to class offices being given certain responsibilities, such as holding fundraisers and organizing in school events. School newspapers, in which students are responsible for the writing, editing, publishing, and distribution of a newpaper, are also very common. Schools also have provide for other activities, like writing groups, debate teams, quiz teams, club sports (not provided with the same funds or privileges as other sports programs), peer groups, and various other activities. Although individually, such programs might not be available in all schools, taken as a whole, these programs are present in the vast majority of schools. Standardized Testing Under the No Child Left Behind Act, all American states must test students in public schools statewide to ensure that they are achieving the desired level of minimum education; students being educated at home or in private schools are not included. The Act also requires that students and schools show "adequate yearly progress." This means they must show some improvement each year. An example is the Regents (Examinations) test in New York. In some schools, most course credit is earned through midterm and final examinations (at the middle and the end of the semester). These tests have been criticized for not evaluating a student's knowledge correctly, while being granted too much weight in the calculation of the student's course grade (as opposed to shorter quizzes or extensive long-term projects which may provide a more comprehensive picture of a student's grasp of the material). Also in many schools are yearly tests called midterms and finals. Because midterms and finals are usually the most important tests, any errors made will be magnified. These tests have been criticized for not evaluating a student's knowledge correctly and weighting too much on the student's average grade. Most attempts to ban these types of tests in the United States have been unsuccessful. During high school, students, usually in their junior year (grade 11), may take one or more standardized tests depending on their postsecondary education preferences and their local graduation requirements (some students choose not to take the tests at all). In theory, these tests evaluate the level of knowledge and learning aptitude they have attained. The SAT and ACT are the most common standardized tests that students take when applying to college. A student may take the SAT, ACT, or both depending upon the college the student plans to apply to for admission. However, not all students move on to postsecondary education, and may not need to take the tests. Education of Students with Special Needs In the United States, education of the mentally retarded, blind, and deaf is structured to adhere as closely as possible to the same experience received by normal students. Blind and deaf students usually have separate classes in which they spend most of their day, but may sit in on normal classes with guides or interpreters. The mentally retarded are required to attend the same amount of time as other students; however, they are almost always in separate classrooms for the majority, if not all, of the school day. These classes, commonly known as special education or special ed, are run by teachers who are often required to have special training. Depending upon the degree and severity of any mental or physical problems, these students may participate in normal classes and activities, often under the care of a guide. Larger districts are often able to provide more adequate and quality care for those with special needs. Some students are identified early on as having dyslexia or being significantly slower learners than other students. Sometimes these students are able to attend special sessions during the day to supplement regular class time; here they often receive extra instruction or perform easier work. The goal of these programs, however, is to try and bring everyone up to the same standard and provide equal opportunity to those students who are challenged.
College or University Post-secondary education in the United States is known as college or university and commonly consists of four years of study at an institution of higher learning. Like high school, the four undergraduate grades are commonly called freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years (alternately called first year, second year, etc.). Students traditionally apply to receive admission into college, with varying difficulties of entrance. Schools differ in their competitiveness and reputation; generally, public schools are viewed as more lenient and less prestigious than the more expensive private schools. Admissions criteria involve test scores (like the SAT and ACT) and class ranking as well as extracurricular activities performed prior to the application date. Also, many colleges consider the rigor of previous courses taken along with the grades earned. Certain test scores, class rank, or other numerical factors hardly ever have absolute, required levels, but often have a threshold below which admission is unlikely. Once admitted, students engage in undergraduate study, which consists of satisfying university and class requirements to achieve a bachelor's degree. The most common method consists of four years of study leading to a Bachelor of Arts (BA), a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, or sometimes (but very rarely) another bachelor's degree such as Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). Some students choose to attend a "community college" for two years prior to further study at another college or university. A community college is run by the local municipality, usually the county. Though rarely handing out actual degrees, community colleges may award an Associate of Arts (AA) degree after two years. Those seeking to continue their education may transfer to a four-year college or university (after applying through a similar admissions process as those applying directly to the four-year institution, see articulation). Some community colleges have automatic enrollment agreements with a local four-year college, where the community college provides the first two years of study and the university provides the remaining years of study, sometimes all on one campus. For example, the University of Houston System has partnered with community colleges in neighboring cities to provide bachelor's and master's degrees in cities that are only served by community colleges. The community college awards the associate's degree and the university awards the bachelor's and master's degrees. Graduate study conducted after obtaining an initial degree and/or after some years of professional work, may lead to a Master's Degree (MA), Master of Science (MS), or other master's degrees such as Master of Business Admisitration (MBA), Master of Education (MEd), and Master of Fine Arts (MFA). After additional years of study and sometimes in conjunction with the completion of a master's degree, students may earn a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or other doctoral degree, such as Doctor of Arts, Doctor of Education or Doctor of Theology. Some programs, such as medicine, have formal apprenticeship procedures like residency and interning which must be completed after graduation and before one is considered to be fully trained. Other professional programs like law and business have no formal apprenticeship requirements after graduation (although law school graduates must take the bar exam in order to legally practice law). Entrance into graduate programs usually depends upon a student's undergraduate academic performance or professional experience as well as their score on a standardized entrance exam like the GRE (graduate schools in general), the LSAT (law), the GMAT (business), or the MCAT (medicine). Many graduate and law schools do not require experience after earning a bachelor's degree to enter their programs; however, business schools candidates may be considered deficient without several years of professional work experience. Less than 10% of students ever attend postgraduate courses and most, after obtaining their bachelor's degree, proceed directly into the work force. Public vs. Private Schools Primary and Secondary Education Unlike most other industrialized countries, the United States does not have a nationalized (controlled at the national level) educational system. Thus, K-12 students in most areas have a choice between free taxpayer-funded public schools and private schools. Public school systems are supported by a combination of local, state, and federal government funding. Because a large portion of school revenues come from local property taxes, public schools vary widely in the resources they have available per student. Class size also varies significantly from one district to another. Curriculum decisions in public schools are made largely at the local and state levels; the federal government has limited influence. In most districts, schools are run by a locally elected school board. The school board appoints an official called the superintendent of schools to manage the schools in the district. All public school systems are required to provide an education free of charge to everyone of school age in their districts. Not every individual public school, however, is open to all interested students. Large cities such as New York often have "magnet schools" which cater to gifted students or to students with special interests, such as science or performing arts. Admission to some of these schools is highly competitive.
Private schools in the United States include parochial schools affiliated with religious denominations, nonprofit independent schools, and for-profit private schools. Private schools charge varying rates depending on geographic location, the school's expenses, and the availability of funding from sources other than tuition. For example, some churches partially subsidize private schools for their members. Some people have argued that when their child attends a private school, they should be able to take the funds which the public school no longer needs and apply that money towards private school tuition in the form of vouchers; this is the basis of the school choice movement. Private schools have various purposes. Some cater to general education students. Others are for gifted students, for students with learning disabilities, or for other students with special needs. Unlike public school systems, private schools have no legal obligation to accept any interested student. Admission to some private schools is highly selective. Private schools also have the ability permanently to expel persistently unruly students, a disciplinary option not always legally available to public school systems. Colleges and Universities Each state in the United States maintains its own public university system, which is always nonprofit. Most areas will also have private institutions which may be for-profit or nonprofit. A few states (like California and Arizona) have two separate state university systems. The faculty of the more prestigious one are expected to conduct advanced cutting-edge research in addition to teaching (University of California), while the less prestigious is focused on quality of teaching and producing the next generation of teachers (California State University). Cost The vast majority of students (up to 70%) lack the financial resources to pay tuition up front and must rely on student loans and scholarships from their university, the federal government, or a private lender. All but a few charity institutions charge tuition to all students, although scholarships (both merit-based and need-based) are widely available. Generally, private universities charge much higher tuition than their public counterparts, which rely on state funds to make up the difference. Because each state supports its own university system with state taxes, most public universities charge much higher rates for out-of-state students. Private universities are generally considered to be of higher quality than public universities, although there are many exceptions. The absence of state funds tends to drive private universities to offer better services to students. Annual undergraduate tuition varies widely from state to state, and many additional fees apply. A typical year's tuition at a public university (for residents of the state) would be about $5,000. Tuition for public school students from outside the state are generally comparable to private school prices, although students can generally get state residency after their first year. Private schools are typically much higher, although prices vary widely from "no-frills" private schools to highly specialized technical institutes. Depending upon the type of school and program, annual graduate program tuition can vary from $15,000 to as high as $40,000. Note that these prices do not include living expenses (rent, room/board, etc.) or additional fees that schools add on such as "activities fees" or health insurance. These fees, especially room and board, can range from $6,000 to $12,000 an academic year (assuming a single student without children). Unfortunately for most students, costs are rising and state appropriations for aid are shrinking. This has led to debate over funding at both the state and local levels. For instance, from 2002 to 2004 alone, tuition rates at public schools increased by just over 14%. This is largely due to dwindling state funding. A more moderate increase of 6% over the same period for private schools also occurred. The Status Ladder American colleges and universities are notorious for being somewhat status conscious. Their faculty, staff, alumni, students, and applicants all monitor unofficial "rankings" produced by magazines like U.S. News and World Report and test preparation services like The Princeton Review. These rankings are generally sorted by prestige, which in turn is often based on factors like brand recognition, selectivity in admissions, the generosity of alumni donors, and the volume of faculty research. In terms of brand recognition, the most well-known university in the United States is Harvard University. Harvard alumni are prominent in American business, education, and society in general; but more than this, Harvard has become entrenched as the "top" school in the public mind. It has been featured in numerous movies (e.g., Legally Blonde, Soul Man) as the ultimate example of the academic "ivory tower." As for which other "top tier" universities form the "top tier" is a matter of debate. It is almost universally acknowledged that some of the most prestigious universities are the other members of the Ivy League athletic conference on the East Coast, but it is not necessarily true that they offer a better education. The alumni of these colleges also constitute a large part of the faculties at most other universities. Less than 10%15% of those who apply are accepted. Beneath these in status are a small group of elite private universities and Public Ivies scattered around the country. After these come the top land-grant public universities, and then the vast majority of universities and colleges (public and private). At the bottom are community colleges, which by law are usually required to accept all local residents who seek to attend and rarely offer anything beyond an associate degree.
Aware of the status attached to the selectivity of the colleges they attend, a student usually applies to a range of schools. Often he or she applies to a prestigious school with a low acceptance rate, gambling on the chance of acceptance. On the other end, a student may also apply to a school he or she feels will almost certainly admit him or her, in case the student is admitted nowhere else. The applicant may refer to this school colloquially as his or her "safety school." A college student may also refer to a rival college or university as a "safety school" implying that the other school's standards are lower than those at the student's own school. As for community colleges, some status-conscious people are embarrassed to admit that they are going to attend one. In general, community colleges have a relationship with four-year state universities and colleges which enable students from community colleges to transfer relatively smoothly to these universities. They usually have a group of classes for which credit is guaranteed to transfer to the four-year college so that it will fulfill the graduation requirements for a bachelor's degree. This "ladder" is not absolute, however. Some non-Ivy League private universities, such as MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University, The University of Notre Dame, Duke University, and Emory University, can rival Ivy League schools in prestige, especially in newer or more specialized fields of study. Likewise, some elite public universities, such as UC Berkeley and the University of Virginia, are comparable to elite private universities (especially in terms of graduate education and research). There are several dozen small private liberal arts colleges (like Williams, Amherst, Wellesley, and the Claremont Colleges) which are renowned for their small class sizes and high-quality teaching, and could potentially offer an educational experience superior to that at larger universities. There is no absolute correlation between prestige and quality of education (albeit, there may be a general one), and most schools are better in some areas than in others, for which other universities may offer better courses themselves. As with many issues concerning education in the United States, the status ladder is controversial. Contemporary Education Issues Major educational issues in the United States center on curriculum, funding, and control. Of critical importance, because of its enormous implications on education and funding, is the No Child Left Behind Act. Curriculum Issues Curriculum in the United States varies widely from district to district. Not only do schools offer an incredible range of topics and quality, but private schools may include religious classes as mandatory for attendance (this also begets the problem of government funding vouchers; see below). This has produced camps of argument over the standardization of curriculum and to what degree. Some feel that schools should be nationalized and the curriculum changed to a national standard. These same groups often are advocates of standardized testing, which is mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act. Aside from who controls the curriculum, groups argue over the teaching of the English language, evolution, and sex education. The largest problem facing the curriculum today is probably the teaching of the English language. Apart from the fact that it is spoken by over 95% of the nation, there is a strong national tradition of upholding English as the de facto official language. However, up to 28 million Spanish-speaking immigrants and their children are now living in the southern United States; of these, only half speak English fluently and up to 10% do not speak English at all. This has created the problem of teaching to the children of these immigrants. While a few, mostly Hispanic, groups want bilingual education, the majority of school districts are attempting to use English as a Second Language (ESL) courses to teach Spanish-speaking students English. In addition, there are threats to the "integrity" of the language itself. A growing number of African Americans are speaking a dialect called African American Vernacular English. While it is not taught in any American schools, there has been debate over its place in education. In 1999, the School Board of the State of Kansas caused controversy when it decided to eliminate testing of evolution in its state assessment tests. This caused outrage among scientists and average citizens alike, but was widely supported in Kansas. However, intense media coverage and the national spotlight convinced the Board to eventually overturn the decision. As of 2005, such controversies have not abated. Not surprisingly, most scientific observers stress the importance of evolution in the curriculum and dislike the idea of intelligent design or creationist ideas being included. Fundamentalist religious and "family values" groups, on the other hand, stress the need to teach creationism in the public schools. While a majority of Americans approve of teaching evolution, a majority also support at least the mention of intelligent design and/or creationism in the curriculum of science courses. Today, sex education ("sex ed") in the United States is relatively underdeveloped. Because of the huge controversy over the issue, many schools attempt to avoid the study as much as possible in Health classes. Contrary to popular depiction by the media, there are few specifically sex education classes in existence. Also, because President Bush has called for abstinence-only sex education and has the power to withhold funding, many schools are backing away from teaching about or instructing students in the use of birth control or contraceptives.
However, according to a 2004 survey, a majority of the 1001-parent group polled wants complete sex education in the schools. The American people are heavily divided over the issue. Many agreed with the statement "Sex education in school makes it easier for me to talk to my child about sexual issues", while a similarly large proportion disagreed with the statement that their children were being exposed to "subjects I don't think my child should be discussing". Also, only ten percent believed that their children's sexual education class forced them to discuss sexual issues "too early". On the other hand, the largest group (49%) was only "somewhat confident" that the values taught in their children's sex ed classes were similar to those taught at home, and 23% were less confident still. (The margin of error was plus or minus 4.7 percent.) Funding Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog. Samuel Clemens, 1900 Funding for schools in the United States is a delicate and muddy issue. The current controversy stems much from the No Child Left Behind Act. The Act gives the Department of Education the right to withhold funding if it believes a school, district, or even a state is not complying and is making no effort to comply. However, federal funding accounts for little of overall monies received by a school. The vast majority comes from the state government and from local property taxes. Property taxes have been a problem for years; California residents used their state constitution's clause for public initiatives to enact limits on property tax increases by a direct popular vote. Many communities across the country are dealing with what has become a major issue. Many parents of students who attend private school or are homeschooled have taken issue with the idea of paying for an education their children aren't receiving. However, tax proponents point out that every person pays property taxes for public education, not just parents of school-age children. Indeed, without it schools would not have enough money to remain open. Still, parents of students who go to private schools want to use this money instead to fund their children's private education. This is the foundation of the school voucher movement. Local V. State Funding One of the biggest debates in funding public schools is funding by local taxes or state taxes. The federal government makes up 7.3% of the public school system funds. It is up to the state and counties to decide the funding of the remaining 92.7%. For example, in New Hampshire, only 8% of public school funding comes from state taxes, compared to Hawaii, whose public school funding comes from all state taxes. One of the biggest advantages in the public school system being funded by local taxes rather than the state taxes is personalization. Parents who are concerned about their child's education can move to a better school district, one that is better funded by its local taxes. Since local taxes that fund public schools are property taxes, a higher funded school district would mean a more pricey neighborhood, but such is the cost of education. At the college and university level, funding becomes an issue due to the sheer complexity of gaining it. Some of the reason for the confusion at the college/university level in the United States is that student loan funding is split in half; half is managed by the Department of Education directly, called the Federal Direct Student Loan Program (FDSLP). The other half is managed by commercial entities such as banks, credit unions, and financial services firms such as Sallie Mae, under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). Some schools accept only FFELP loans; others accept only FDSLP. Still others accept both, and a few schools will not accept either, in which case students must seek out private alternatives for student loans. All federal funding is provided by the Higher Education Act of 1965, which was up for reauthorization in 2004. Congress has not yet been able to pass a new version because it has been congested with other issues like Social Security and intelligence reform. Also, the reauthorization bill contains controversial measures, one of which would force regionally accredited colleges and universities to accept inbound unit credit transfers from the less prestigious nationally accredited trade schools (once a given student has already gone through the selective admission process). The regionally accredited schools (the vast majority of American colleges and universities) are ferociously resisting this measure because it would force them to articulate specific reasons for denying transfer of unit credit for each class (such as an instructor's inferior credentials or the inadequate amount of unit hours). In turn, the trade schools would be able to drag them into a nasty public debate about the so-called "ivory tower" elitism. Control There is some debate about where control for education actually lies. Education, which is not mentioned in the constitution of the United States, was and is usually delegated to the states. Currently the state and national governments have a power-sharing arrangement. Furthermore, within each state, there are different types of control. Some states have a statewide school system, while others delegate power to county, city or township level school boards.
History of American Education Expansion of American education during the late 1800s In 1870, only 2% of 17-year-olds graduated from high school. By 1900, however, 31 states required 8- to 14-year-olds to attend school. As a result, by 1910, 72% of American children attended school and half of the nation's children attended one-room schools. Lessons consisted of students reading aloud from their texts such as the McGuffey Readers, and emphasis was placed on rote memorization. Teachers often used physical punishments, such as hitting students on the knuckles with birch switches, for incorrect answers. Because the public schools focused on assimilation, many immigrants, who resisted Americanization, sent their children to private religious schools. Higher Education Between 1880 and 1885, more than 150 new colleges and universities were opened in America. Philanthropists endowed many of these institutions. Leland Stanford, one of The Big Four, for example, established Stanford University in 1891. Many American public universities came about because of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Acts of 1862 and 1890. During the rapid westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century, the federal government took control of huge amounts of so-called "empty" land (often after forcing the previous Native American residents into reservations). Under the Morrill Acts, the federal government offered to give 30,000 acres (121 km) of federal land to each state, on the condition that they used the land (or proceeds from its sale) to establish universities. The resulting schools are often referred to as land-grant colleges, and the most wellknown is the University of California. However, there are exceptions, such as Cornell University, which is a private school that also happens to be a land-grant university of the state of New York. School Administration Structure The National Association of State Boards of Education The National Association of State Boards of Education exists to serve and strengthen State Boards of Education in their pursuit of high levels of academic achievement for all students. The National Association of State Boards of Education is the only national organization giving voice and adding value to the nation's State Boards of Education. A non-profit organization founded in 1958, NASBE works to strengthen state leadership in educational policymaking, promote excellence in the education of all students, advocate equality of access to educational opportunity, and assure continued citizen support for public education. State School Boards Association The State School Boards Association serves as the statewide voice of more than 700 school boards of education. The collective influence of some 5,000 school board members, who constitute half the elected officials in the state, enables the Association to work toward the benefit of the elementary and secondary public school system in the State. School board members are the educational leaders of their communities; they determine policies that govern the operation of their local public school system. The Association provides current information and advice on matters affecting school boards and cooperates with other educational and related organizations in promoting excellence in education. Consistent with our dedication to children, learning and the community, the Association provides advocacy and other services to public school boards. School board involvement in the Association is varied and extensive. The Association's bylaws and resolutions are adopted by the delegates of the membership at the Business Meeting held during the Annual Convention. These expressions of the membership's intent form the backbone of the Association's policies and actions. The delegates at the Annual Business Meeting elect the officers of the Association, which include the president, two vice presidents and the treasurer. The Board of Directors consists of the Association's president, two vice presidents, the treasurer and the immediate past president; one director from each of the Association's 13 geographic areas; and a representative of the Conference of Big Five School Districts. The officers are nominated by the Board of Directors for election at the Business Meeting. The Directors are nominated by the member school boards of their designated geographic area and elected by ballot. The duties of the Board of Directors include promoting the interest of education throughout the state, deciding general policies of the Association, appointing the executive director and adopting the Association's annual budget. The Association's Committee System The Board of Directors seeks information and advice from member school boards through its committee system. In addition to the Executive Committee and the Resolutions Committee, ad hoc committees have been appointed. Association committees report to and advise the Board of Directors. The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors consists of no more than eight members of the Board. They are appointed by the Board each year at its organizational meeting in January. The Executive Committee is charged with providing the executive director and the officers with the means necessary to carry out the Association's administrative functions. The Resolutions Committee reviews proposed resolutions submitted by member school boards, and reports to the delegates at the Annual Business Meeting held during the Annual Convention. Resolutions and bylaws adopted at the Business Meeting form the guiding principles of the Association. These may involve, for example, internal issues of finance and organization, or a resolution may direct the Association to introduce or oppose state or federal legislation.
Other standing board committees include the Committee on Association Operations, the Policy and Bylaws Committee and the Investment Advisory Committee. Committees that draw membership from beyond the board itself are the Cultural Diversity Committee and the Distinguished Services Award Committee, as well as the Investment Advisory Committee and the Resolutions Committee. In addition, the board may appoint ad hoc committees to look to specific matters on behalf of the membership, such as the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on BOCES. Grass-Roots Advocacy The State Legislative Network (SLN) is the grass-roots legislative strength of the Association. The SLN is designed so that one school board member from each county encompassed by a state assembly or senatorial district will participate in legislative activities. This is to ensure that proper consideration is given to the position espoused by school boards whenever the Legislature is examining legislation related to education. School board members in each congressional district actively participate in the Federal Relations Network (FRN), the Association's federal grass-roots counterpart to the SLN. Periodic information is sent directly from the Association and/or the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to each member of the network. Social Issues in American Schools In addition to the challenge to be excellent, American schools have been facing novel problems. They must cope with an influx of immigrant children, many of whom speak little or no English. They must respond to demands that the curriculum reflect the various cultures of all children. Schools must make sure that students develop basic skills for the job market, and they must consider the needs of nontraditional students, such as teen-age mothers. Schools are addressing these problems in ways that reflect the diversity of the U.S. educational system. They are hiring or training large numbers of teachers of English as a second language and, in some communities, setting up bilingual schools. They are opening up the traditional European-centered curriculum to embrace material from African, Asian, and other cultures. Schools are also teaching cognitive skills to the nearly 40 percent of American students who do not go on to higher education. In the words of a recent report by the Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, "A strong back, the willingness to work, and a high school diploma were once all that was necessary to make a start in America. They are no longer. A well-developed mind, a continued willingness to learn and the ability to put knowledge to work are the new keys to the future of our young people, the success of our business, and the economic well-being of the nation." A Snapshot of American Higher Education The United States leads the industrial nations in the proportion of its young people who receive higher education. For some careers -- law, medicine, education, engineering -- a college education is a necessary first step. More than 60 percent of Americans now work in jobs that involve the handling of information, and a high school diploma is seldom adequate for such work. Other careers do not strictly require a college degree, but having one often can improve a person's chances of getting a job and can increase the salary he or she is paid. The widespread availability of a college education in America dates back to 1944, when Congress passed a law popularly known as the GI Bill. (GI -- meaning "government issue" -- was a nickname for an American soldier, and the law provided financial aid to members of the armed forces after World War II was over.) By 1955 more than 2 million veterans of World War II and the Korean War had used the GI Bill to go to college. Many of them came from poor families and would not have had the chance to go to college without the law. The program's success changed the American image of who should attend college. About the same time, the percentage of women in American colleges began to grow steadily; in 1993 women received 54 percent of all degrees awarded, compared to 24 percent in 1950. With the end of racial segregation in the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans also entered colleges in record numbers. The percentage of African Americans who go on to college, however, is still lower than the general population. In 1992, 47.9 percent of African-American high school graduates were enrolled in college, compared with 61.7 percent of all high school graduates. Liberal or Vocational Education? Like high schools, American colleges are sometimes criticized for discarding required courses and offering too many electives. In the mid-1980s the Association of American Colleges issued a report that called for teaching a body of common knowledge to all college students. A similar report, "Involvement in Learning," issued by the National Institute of Education, concluded that the college curriculum had become "excessively...work-related." The report also warned that college education may no longer be developing in students "the shared values and knowledge" that traditionally bind Americans together. These reports coincided with a trend away from the liberal arts. Instead, students were choosing major fields designed to prepare them for specific jobs. In 1992, 51 percent of the bachelor's degrees were conferred in the fields of business and management, communications, computer and information sciences, education, engineering, and health sciences.
This trend raises questions that apply to the educational philosophy of all industrialized countries. In an age of technological breakthroughs and highly specialized disciplines, is there still a need for the generalist with a broad background and well-developed abilities to reason and communicate? And if the answer to that question is yes, should society take steps to encourage its colleges and universities to produce more such generalists? Like their counterparts in other countries, American educators continue to debate these questions. Changing Standards Until the 1950s required courses were many, electives few. In the 1960s and 1970s, the trend was to give students more choices. By the 1980s, however, parents and educators were taking a second look at this practice. The primary reason for their concern was the possible connection between the growth of electives and the slow but steady decline of American students' average scores on standardized tests of mathematics, reading, and science. At the same time, college administrators and business executives began to complain that some high school graduates needed remedial courses in the so-called three R's: reading, writing, and arithmetic. About 99 percent of American adults reported in the 1980 census that they could read and write. But critics claimed that about 13 percent of America's 17-year-olds were "functionally illiterate." That is, they were unable to carry out such everyday tasks as understanding printed instructions and filling out a job application. Experts scrutinized every conceivable cause for the decline in average scores in the early 1980s. One target was television, which was accused of producing mediocre programs. And American children, critics said, watched too much TV, an average of 25 hours a week. School boards were criticized for paying teachers too little, with the result that good ones tended to leave the field of education, and for giving students easier material to work with so that all of them could get a diploma -- a phenomenon known as "dumbing down" the curriculum. No single cause was identified for what ailed American secondary education. Similarly, there was no one solution. The U.S. Department of Education established a national commission to examine the question. In 1983 the commission made several recommendations: lengthen the school day and year, formulate a new core curriculum for all students (four years of English; three years each of math, science, and social studies; a half-year of computer science), and raise the standards of performance in each subject. As a result, many schools have tightened their requirements, and test scores for American children have been rising. In 1989 President George Bush and the governors of all 50 states gave the movement to reform American education a new impetus when they set six goals to be achieved by the year 2000: * That all children will start school ready to learn. * That 90 percent of all high school students will graduate. * That all students will achieve competence in core subjects at certain key points in their progress. * That American students will be first in the world in math and science achievement. * That every American adult will be literate and have the skills to function as a citizen and a worker. * That all schools will be free of drugs and violence and offer a disciplined environment that is conducive to learning. Congress established a program called Goals 2000, by which the states receive federal grants to help them reach the goals. By 1996, progress had been made -- 86 percent of American students completed high school, scores on national math and science tests had gone up one full grade, and half of all four-year-olds attended programs to prepare them for school. Meanwhile, there has been an effort to establish national standards in math, science, English, and history -- an endeavor that President Bill Clinton strongly supports. Speaking to the National Governors Association education summit in 1996, he said, "I believe the most important thing you can do is to have high expectations for students -- to make them believe they can learn,...to assess whether they're learning or not, and to hold them accountable as well as to reward them."
Media Overview Media (the plural of medium) is a truncation of the term media of communication, referring to those organized means of dissemination of fact, opinion, entertainment, and other information, such as newspapers, magazines, cinema films, radio, television, the World Wide Web, billboards, books, Compact discs, DVDs, videocassettes, and other forms of publishing. Although writers currently change in their preference for using media in the singular ("the media is...") or the plural ("the media are..."), the former will still incur criticism in some situations. (Please see data for a similar example.) Academic programs for the study of mass media are usually referred to as mass communication programs. History During the 20th century, the advent of mass media was driven by technology that allowed the massive duplication of material at a low price. Physical duplication technologies such as printing, record pressing and film duplication allowed the duplication of books, newspapers and movies at low prices to huge audiences. Television and radio allowed the electronic duplication of content for the first time. Mass media had the economics of linear replication: a single work could make money proportional to the number of copies sold, and as volumes went up, units costs went down, increasing profit margins further. Vast fortunes were to be made in mass media. In a democratic society, an independent media serves to educate the public/electorate about issues regarding government and corporate entities (see Mass media and public opinion). Some consider concentration of media ownership to be the single greatest threat to democracy. Corporate and Mainstream Outlets Sometimes mass media (suand the news media in particular) is referred to as the "corporate media". Other references include the "mainstream media" (MSM). Technically, "mainstream media" includes outlets that are in harmony with the prevailing direction of influence in the culture atlarge. In the United States, usage of these terms often depends on the connotations the speaker wants to invoke. The term "corporate media" is rather used by leftist media critics to imply that the mainstream media is manipulated by large multinational corporations. This is countered by right-leaning authors with the term "MSM", the acronym implying that the majority of mass media sources is dominated by leftist powers which are furthering their own agenda (see Conspiracy theory, Media bias in the United States). Purposes * Advocacy, both for business and social concerns. This can include advertising, marketing, propaganda, public relations, and political communication. * Enrichment and education, such as literature. * Entertainment, traditionally through performances of acting, music, and sports, along with light reading; since the late 20th century also through video and computer games. * Journalism. * Public service announcements. Forms Electronic media and print media include: * Broadcasting, in the narrow sense, for radio and television. * Various types of discs or tape. In the 20th century, these were mainly used for music. Video and computer uses followed. * Film, most often used for entertainment, but also for documentaries. * Internet, which has many uses and presents both opportunities and challenges. Blogs are unique to the Internet. * Publishing, in the narrow sense, meaning on paper, mainly via books, magazines, and newspapers.
The Internet and Mass Media Toward the end of the 20th century, the advent of the World Wide Web marked the first era in which any individual could have a means of exposure on a scale comparable to that of mass media. For the first time, anyone with a web site can address a global audience, although serving to high levels of web traffic is still relatively expensive. It is possible that the rise of peer-to-peer technologies may have begun the process of making the cost of bandwidth manageable. Although a vast amount of information, imagery, and commentary (i.e. "content") has been made available, it is often difficult to determine the authenticity and reliability of information contained in (in many cases, self-published) web pages. The invention of the Internet has also allowed breaking news stories to reach around the globe within minutes. This rapid growth of instantaneous, decentralized communication is often deemed likely to change mass media and its relationship to society. Cross Media "Cross-media" means the idea of distributing the same message through different media channels. A similar idea is expressed in the news industry as "convergence". Many authors understand cross-media publishing to be the ability to publish in both print and on the web without manual conversion effort. An increasing number of wireless devices with mutually incompatible data and screen formats make it even more difficult to achieve the objective create once, publish many. News Media The 'news media' is a term used to describe mass media that focus on news. These include print media (newspapers, magazines); broadcast media (radio stations, television stations, television networks), and increasingly Internet-based media (World Wide Web pages, weblogs). Usually the term includes all working journalists and is often used by those who would make generalizations about the product of "most" journalists, for example that journalists who work for large media corporations, or who are based in New York City or Washington, D.C, harbor a liberal (or conservative) bias. Media / Political Bias There is no such thing as an objective point of view. No matter how much we may try to ignore it, human communication always takes place in a context, through a medium, and among individuals and groups who are situated historically, politically, economically, and socially. This state of affairs is neither bad nor good. It simply is. Bias is a small word that identifies the collective influences of the entire context of a message. Politicians are certainly biased and overtly so. They belong to parties and espouse policies and ideologies. And while they may think their individual ideologies are simply common sense, they understand that they speak from political positions. Journalists, too, speak from political positions but usually not overtly so. The journalistic ethics of objectivity and fairness are strong influences on the profession. But journalistic objectivity is not the pristine objectivity of philosophy. Instead, a journalist attempts to be objective by two methods: 1) fairness to those concerned with the news and 2) a professional process of information gathering that seeks fairness, completeness, and accuracy. As we all know, the ethical heights journalists set for themselves are not always reached. But, all in all, like politics, it is an honorable profession practiced, for the most part, by people trying to do the right thing. The press is often thought of as a unified voice with a distinct bias (right or left depending on the critic). This simplistic thinking fits the needs of ideological struggle, but is hardly useful in coming to a better understanding of what is happening in the world. I believe journalism is an under-theorized practice. In other words, journalists often do what they do without reflecting upon the meaning of the premises and assumptions that support their practice. I say this as a former journalist. I think we may begin to reflect upon journalistic practice by noticing that the press applies a narrative structure to ambiguous events in order to create a coherent and causal sense of events. For citizens and information consumers (which are one in the same today), it is important to develop the skill of detecting bias. Remember: Bias does not suggest that a message is false or unfair. You should apply other techniques in the Rhetorica Critical Meter to determine if a message is fallacious.
Critical Questions for Detecting Bias 1. What is the author's / speaker's socio-political position? With what social, political, or professional groups is the speaker identified? 2. Does the speaker have anything to gain personally from delivering the message? 3. Who is paying for the message? Where does the message appear? What is the bias of the medium? Who stands to gain? 4. What sources does the speaker use, and how credible are they? Does the speaker cite statistics? If so, how were the data gathered, who gathered the data, and are the data being presented fully? 5. How does the speaker present arguments? Is the message one-sided, or does it include alternative points of view? Does the speaker fairly present alternative arguments? Does the speaker ignore obviously conflicting arguments? 6. If the message includes alternative points of view, how are those views characterized? Does the speaker use positive words and images to describe his/her point of view and negative words and images to describe other points of view? Does the speaker ascribe positive motivations to his/her point of view and negative motivations to alternative points of view? Bias in the News Media Is the news media biased toward liberals? Yes. Is the news media biased toward conservatives? Yes. These questions and answers are uninteresting because it is possible to find evidence--anecdotal and otherwise--to "prove" media bias of one stripe or another. Far more interesting and instructive is studying the inherent, or structural, biases of journalism as a professional practice--especially as mediated through television. I use the word "bias" here to challenge its current use by partisan critics. A more accepted, and perhaps more accurate, term would be "frame." These are some of the professional frames that structure what journalists can see and how they can present what they see. 1. Commercial bias: The news media are money-making businesses. As such, they must deliver a good product to their customers to make a profit. The customers of the news media are advertisers. The most important product the news media delivers to its customers are readers or viewers. Good is defined in numbers and quality of readers or viewers. The news media are biased toward conflict (re: bad news and narrative biases below) because conflict draws readers and viewers. Harmony is boring. 2. Temporal bias: The news media are biased toward the immediate. News is what's new and fresh. To be immediate and fresh, the news must be ever-changing even when there is little news to cover. 3. Visual bias: Television (and, increasingly, newspapers) is biased toward visual depictions of news. Television is nothing without pictures. Legitimate news that has no visual angle is likely to get little attention. Much of what is important in politics--policy--cannot be photographed. 4. Bad news bias: Good news is boring (and probably does not photograph well, either). This bias makes the world look like a more dangerous place than it really is. Plus, this bias makes politicians look far more crooked than they really are. 5. Narrative bias: The news media cover the news in terms of "stories" that must have a beginning, middle, and end--in other words, a plot with antagonists and protagonists. Much of what happens in our world, however, is ambiguous. The news media apply a narrative structure to ambiguous events suggesting that these events are easily understood and have clear cause-and-effect relationships. Good storytelling requires drama, and so this bias often leads journalists to add, or seek out, drama for the sake of drama. Controversy creates drama. Journalists often seek out the opinions of competing experts or officials in order to present conflict between two sides of an issue (sometimes referred to as the authority-disorder bias). Lastly, narrative bias leads many journalists to create, and then hang on to, master narratives--set story lines with set characters who act in set ways. Once a master narrative has been set, it is very difficult to get journalists to see that their narrative is simply one way, and not necessarily the correct or best way, of viewing people and events. 6. Status Quo bias: The news media believe "the system works." During the "fiasco in Florida," recall that the news media were compelled to remind us that the Constitution was safe, the process was working, and all would be well. The mainstream news media never question the structure of the political system. The American way is the only way, politically and socially. In fact, the American way is news. The press spends vast amounts of time in unquestioning coverage of the process of political campaigns (but less so on the process of governance). This bias ensures that alternate points of view about how government might run and what government might do are effectively ignored. 7. Fairness bias: No, this is not an oxymoron. Ethical journalistic practice demands that reporters and editors be fair. In the news product this bias manifests as a contention between/among political actors (also re: narrative bias above). Whenever one faction or politician does something or says something newsworthy, the press is compelled by this bias to get a reaction from an opposing camp. This creates the illusion that the game of politics is always contentious and never cooperative. This bias can also create situations in which one faction appears to be attacked by the press. For example, politician A announces some positive accomplishment followed by the press seeking a negative comment from politician B.
The point is not to disparage politician A but to be fair to politician B. When politician A is a conservative, this practice appears to be liberal bias. 8. Expediency bias: Journalism is a competitive, deadline-driven profession. Reporters compete among themselves for prime space or air time. News organizations compete for market share and reader/viewer attention. And the 24-hour news cycle--driven by the immediacy of television and the internet--creates a situation in which the job of competing never comes to a rest. Add financial pressures to this mix--the general desire of media groups for profit margins that exceed what's "normal" in many other industries--and you create a bias toward information that can be obtained quickly, easily, and inexpensively. Need an expert/official quote (status quo bias) to balance (fairness bias) a story (narrative bias)? Who can you get on the phone fast? Who is always ready with a quote and always willing to speak (i.e. say what you need them to say to balance the story)? Who sent a press release recently? Much of deadline decision making comes down to gathering information that is readily available from sources that are well known. 9. Glory bias: Journalists, especially television reporters, often assert themselves into the stories they cover. This happens most often in terms of proximity, i.e. to the locus of unfolding events or within the orbit of powerful political and civic actors. This bias helps journalists establish and maintain a cultural identity as knowledgeable insiders (although many journalists reject the notion that follows from this--that they are players in the game and not merely observers). The glory bias shows itself in particularly obnoxious ways in television journalism. News promos with stirring music and heroic pictures of individual reporters create the aura of omnipresence and omnipotence. I ascribe the use of the satellite phone to this bias. Note how often it's used in situations in which a normal video feed should be no problem to establish, e.g. a report from Tokyo I saw recently on CNN. The jerky pictures and fuzzy sound of the satellite phone create a romantic image of foreign adventure. Structural Bias as Theory I have asserted that some critics of the press think of it as speaking with a unified voice with a distinct ideological bias. I have further asserted that this simplistic thinking fits the needs of ideological struggle, but is hardly useful in coming to a better understanding of what is happening in the world. For that better understanding we need a theory. A theory offers us a model that tells us why things happen as they do. Further, a theory allows us to predict outcomes and behavior. Assertions of ideological bias do neither. While we can expect the press to demonstrate ideological biases in regard to certain issues or other localized phenomena, these and other behaviors are explained and predicted by the structural biases. Since the press sometimes demonstrates a conservative bias, asserting that the press is liberal neither predicts nor explains. Since the press sometimes demonstrates a liberal bias, asserting that the press is conservative neither predicts nor explains. Test this for yourself. Choose a situation that is current--preferably breaking right now. For each of the structural biases listed above, write down what you would expect the press to do based on that bias. Then, complete the exercise with a concluding statement that takes into account as many of the structural biases as possible. Now, follow the situation for a few days and note how the press behaves. I think you will find that you have successfully predicted press behavior. News media Assumptions About Language and Discourse Simply communicating by written or spoken words introduces bias to the message. If, as asserted earlier, there is no such thing as an objective point of view, then there cannot be objective or transparent language, i.e. a one-to-one correspondence between reality and words such that I may accurately represent reality so that you experience it as I do. Language mediates our lived experiences. And our evaluation of those experiences are reflected in our language use. Rhetoric scholar James A. Berlin once said that language is "never innocent." By this he meant that language cannot be neutral; it reflects and structures our ideologies and world views. To speak at all is to speak politically. The practice of journalism, however, accepts a very different view of language that creates serious consequences for the news consumer. Most journalists do their jobs with little or no thought given to language theory, i.e. how language works and how humans use language. Most journalists, consciously or not, accept a theory (metaphor) of language as a transparent conduit along which word-ideas are easily sent to a reader or viewer who then experiences reality as portrayed by the words. From George Lakoff's Moral Politics (U of Chicago P), journalism falsely asserts that: 1. Concepts are literal and nonpartisan: The standard six-question rubric of journalism (who, what, when, where, why, how) cannot capture the complexity of issues as seen through, and expressed by, the incompatible moral systems of liberals and conservatives. 2. Language use is neutral: "Language is associated with a conceptual system. To use the language of a moral or political conceptual system is to use and to reinforce that conceptual system."
3. News can be reported in neutral terms: Not if #2 is correct. To choose a discourse is to choose a position. To attempt neutrality confuses the political concepts. Is it an "inheritance tax" or a "death tax"? What could possibly be a neutral term? To use both in the name of balance is confusing because most news articles don't have the space, and most TV treatments don't have the time, to fully explain the terms and why liberals prefer one and conservatives prefer the other. There's no time or space to explain why this language difference matters (beyond political tactics) to the formation, implementation, and evaluation of policy. 4. Mere use of language cannot put anyone at a disadvantage: Again, see #2. 5. All readers and viewers share the same conceptual system: We share the same English language, i.e. its grammar. We often do not share dialects or the denotations and connotations of concepts, lived experience, and ideologies. The statement "I am a patriotic American" means something entirely different to liberals and conservatives. That difference is more than a matter of connotation. The differences in connotation spring from different moral constructs. What the conservative means by that statement appears immoral to the liberal and vice versa. These false assumptions by journalists, rather than overt politicking, help create the political bias news consumers often detect in news reporting. A conservative will quite naturally assert a conservative world view by using concepts in ways comfortable to conservatives. The same goes for liberals. It is often pointed out that most news reporters are Democrats or vote for Democrats. Party affiliation, however, tells us nothing about political ideology and the moral concepts that undergird it. There are conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans. Be that as it may, the ethics of journalistic practice strongly urge reporters to adopt the assumptions about language listed above and the structural biases listed above. The ethics of journalistic practice encourage journalists to adopt a (nonexistent) neutral language to mitigate any effects of ideological bias. There simply is no concerted or sustained effort to slant the news for political purposes by mainstream news outlets. Anti-Bias Crusading as an Elitist Practice Accuracy in Media claims the the news media are biased toward liberal politics. Fairness & Accuracy in Media claims the the news media are biased toward conservative politics. Supporters of these views see one group as right and the other as wrong. But the reality is not that simple. Yes, AIM and FAIR each point out coverage that appears to bolster their various claims. At times, the media do seem to be biased one way or the other. What these groups don't say, however, is that their mistrust of the media is also a mistrust of the people. Those who complain most about media bias would see themselves as able to identify it and resist it. They get upset about it because they question whether the average American is able to do the same. If the average American can identify it and resist it, then there is little need to get upset about bias. The AIM and FAIR web sites are full of material to help hapless Americans avoid the cognitive ravages of the "evil" conservatives or the "slandering" liberals and their media lackeys. I believe the average American is quite capable of identifying problems with news coverage. In my opinion, crusading against political bias in the news media is an elitist practice. Newsmagazines A newsmagazine, sometimes called news magazine, is a usually weekly magazine featuring articles on current events. News magazines generally go a little more in-depth into stories than newspapers, trying to give the reader an understanding of the context surrounding important events, rather than just the facts. Major news magazines in the United States include: * TIME * Newsweek * U.S. News and World Report * WORLD * The Nation
Major news magazines based outside the United States include: * The Economist (United Kingdom) * Maclean's Magazine (Canada)
Newspapers A newspaper is a lightweight and disposable publication (more specifically, a periodical), usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. It may be general or special interest, and may be published daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly. General-interest newspapers are usually journals of current news on a variety of topics. Those can include political events, crime, business, sports, and opinions (either editorials, columns, or political cartoons). Many also include weather news and forecasts. Newspapers increasingly use photographs to illustrate stories; they also often include comic strips and other entertainment, such as crosswords. Newspaper Interviewing 101 These are tips for beginners on conducting journalistic interviews. The were written for participants in the Detroit Free Press high school apprenticeships. (Also see Newspaper writing 101.) The best thing to do when interviewing a source is to act naturally. An interview does not have to happen in a formal, suited atmosphere. An interview is just a talk with someone about a specific topic. But instead of merely hearing, the reporter is listening and writing down the pertinent details. Reporters must keep their opinions to themselves. Preparing for the interview Don't go to an interview unprepared. Check newspaper files and the library for information on your subject or the topic. Have some information in your head before you start. For example, if you are interviewing a person who sells furs and is annoyed by animal rights pickets, it might be interesting to know if this person has a dog or a cat. Have your questions ready. Don't expect your news source to tell you voluntarily what you want to know. Your questions, although you may stray from them, help you organize your thoughts. They also will remind you to get all the answers you want. Make an appointment. You can't go into a busy official's office and get 30 minutes of his or her time unless you first set up an appointment. Then make sure you arrive on time. Dress properly. Be prepared and show respect for the source. Take three things with you on every assignment: a pencil, a piece of paper; and a grain of salt. Be a bit skeptical, don't believe everything you're told. Conducting the interview Introduce yourself and the publication for which you are writing. Look your subject in the eye. Don't be so busy taking notes that all the source sees are your flying fingers and the top of your head. It makes some people nervous to see every word being written down. Often, the first question to ask is how to spell the individual's name. Don't rely on the spelling you've seen somewhere else because it could be wrong. A misspelled name is definitely the first way to lose credibility. Pronounce the name of the respondent correctly and use it from time to time during the interview. Double-check the dates and the spelling of names. Even a name like Smith can be spelled differently. Don't ever be afraid to ask what you might fear is a silly question. Start with easy, sociable questions to relax the person you're interviewing. Save the tough questions for later. Avoid questions that appear to have predetermined answers. Don't let your opinions determine the focus of your questioning. Ask open-ended questions that invite a lengthy answer and can bring out anecdotes and opinions: ``How did you react?'' or ''Why do you think that happened?'' Try to take down as many direct quotes as possible. Don't ask questions that let your source give one-word answers. Don't ask negative questions. That is, don't say,''No news, yet?'' Don't make it easy for your subject to say ''no.'' Let the interviewee know you know something about him or her. This is called priming the interviewee. It goes like this: Mr. Jones, I understand you appeared in a movie about the takeover by people under 30. Do you believe this could actually happen? Accept all facts and other data professionally. Do not argue or show undue shock or surprise. Have a note-taking system. For example, write ''rr'' for railroad. Avoid promising to print remarks a certain way. Do not promise to let the interviewee read the story before it is published. Leave the door open for another talk. Ask the subject if he or she would mind if you made contact later personally or by phone for a follow-up. Get a phone number where the source can be reached later. End the interview by making sure you have a phone number to contact the source later for further facts or clarification. If you use a tape recorder; don't depend on it. Batteries run down and tape recorders can malfunction. Take notes, even if you're using a tape recorder.
Taking notes Some kind of shorthand is a must. Most reporters use some form of shortened writing, such as ''w/o'' for without or ''inc'' for incomplete. Initials can stand for titles and symbols can be used to refer to organizations. Set apart direct quotes with circles, quotation marks, stars or underlining. Taking notes on one side of the paper or pad makes their rearrangement to fit story structure easier. Listen carefully. Don't note unimportant details. Ask for the spellings on all names and titles. It is better to ask now than to have to call back to get them. Or worse, to get them wrong in the story. Get direct quotations, especially on the main points. Observe details about your source and surroundings, and write down your impressions. Concentrate on what you are seeing and hearing. Immediately after an interview, review and supplement your notes. Arrange your notes in order of importance. It is unnecessary to write complete sentences unless you wish to get a direct quote in its entirety. Write down specific information you cannot trust to memory: ages, names, addresses, statistics, sums of money. Try to get biographical information where needed and look for newspaper clips and other material which may be used for background information. Do not be afraid to double-check unclear information even if you must make a follow-up call to do so. Exciting writing is built on exciting anecdotes, so the interviewer is always listening for them. A really sharp interviewer also listens for clues to experiences that could make lively anecdotes. Then the interviewer directs the subject to ''give me an example'' or ''tell me about a time when that actually happened.'' Finding anecdotes An anecdote is a small story. So, anecdotes can become stories within your larger story. Often, an anecdote will illustrate something about the interviewee such as his or her loyalty, bravery, persistence or a quality which a ''title story'' can illustrate. These must be carefully ''mined.'' Watch your subject Observe non-verbals -- body gestures, facial expressions, paralanguage (the way something is said), artifacts (what the person is wearing), movement -- of the interviewee. About 70 percent of total communication is non-verbal. Thus, if you are to tell the complete story, you must provide the reader with the complete story. Study the environment Bulletin boards, desk tops, pictures on the wall, file cabinets, etc. How does the sunlight stream into the room? And how does all this relate to the interviewee? Avoid using description just for the sake of description. Post-interview interview Some interviewees are masters at ''pulling the wool'' over reporters' eyes. So, be ready to check statements or figures with other sources. You should not take everything at face value. You should be a bit skeptical. Remember: ''If your mother says she loves you, check it out!''
Getting the Measure of a Soul on Deadline (Interviewing Tips From a Psychologist) Before studying clinical psychology, I thought I knew everything about interviewing that a journalist needed to know. Through coursework and experience as a reporter at AP and The Washington Post, I'd learned to get usable quotes from almost anyone, from grieving parents to recalcitrant bureaucrats. But while working on my doctorate in clinical psychology, I learned how little journalists know about interviewing. Journalists learn to get accurate quotes on deadline. Psychologists learn to get the measure of a soul in 50 minutes. Training provides the difference. As a student journalist, I learned how to interview by simply doing interviews and publishing the information. But as a student psychologist, I took my professor literally and figuratively along on the interviews I did with patients. I spent a semester recording my interviews with patients, then going over the tapes with my instructor. We analyzed every word, every sigh and every pause. We could spend a half hour discussing questions such as did the patient talk so dramatically because as a child she had had to resort to drama to get her workaholic parents' attention, or was she responding to the tactlessly worded comment I had made earlier in the session? I used follow-up interviews to determine which of my theories were correct. And when I returned to journalism, I found that my psychology training had given me many useful techniques that were applicable to journalism. ASK ABOUT ODD BEHAVIOR One of the most important things I learned as a clinical psychologist was to follow up with direct questions when a person's behavior didn't make sense. Before studying psychology, I avoided asking such questions. But graduate school taught me that behavior that seems strange to me may seem perfectly normal to the person I'm interviewing, so the person may have no qualms about talking honestly about the behavior. The person even may think it's odd if I don't ask such questions. Here's an example: During my first week interning on an in-patient ward, I interviewed a patient who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Throughout the interview, the patient glared at the empty space next to me as if there were another person sitting there. Sometimes, I had to almost shout to get the patient's attention as if I were competing with another conversation. I speculated that he was hallucinating. However, I was too polite to ask the patient what he was experiencing. I feared insulting him. When I told my supervisor, she said, "Just ask him what he was looking at." So I did. The patient calmly replied that he had been staring at a creature who had been telegraphing vile thoughts into the patient's head. "Why didn't you ask before?" he added. So question, question, question, and frame your questions in the nonjudgemental way that psychologists do. Say things like, "I notice that when you talked about losing the election, you laughed. Tell me what your laughter was about." Avoid questions starting with "why." "Why?" makes many people feel like they are being stabbed in the chest by an accusatory parent's index finger. It's also a good idea to use the same words as the person you are interviewing. You probably already know that if the deathrow inmate you're interviewing says that when his girlfriend "annoyed" him, he set fire to her cat and smashed her car with a sledgehammer you shouldn't ask, "How could you behave like such a madman?" But you also shouldn't ask "What did she do to make you so furious?" Even though your word choice was accurate, he may become offended that you thought he was angry. Instead say, "What did she do to annoy you?" PAY ATTENTION TO THE FIRST CONTACT From the moment that a patient sets up an appointment, psychologists are taking notes and hypothesizing about the patient's behavior. Does the patient say, "My husband asked me to call you?" Then possibly the patient doesn't feel she has a problem, and may not even come to the appointment. Does the patient ask for excruciatingly detailed directions? Then the patient may be very dependent, expecting the world to take complete care of him. Journalists who pay attention from their first contact with their interview subjects may learn important information about how the person handles surprises, stress and life in general. Here's an example from the feature writing class that I teach: After a reporter was stood up by the pre-med student she'd planned to profile for class, she called the campus pre-med organization president for another referral. The president immediately offered to be interviewed that afternoon, even though she said she was home recovering from the flu. The president, who lived on a street where the addresses were difficult to spot, met the reporter outside, then offered freshly made tea and snacks in a neat kitchen smelling of cleanser. Hearing that, I asked the class, "What kind of an ill person would be so accommodating as to clean her house, make tea, and wait outside for a journalist?" Half concluded that the president must be a liar, because a sick person wouldn't be so accommodating. The rest concluded that the president was a publicity hound. Neither was true, as the class' subsequent questioning of the reporter revealed. The president was simply a very kind, modest person, so modest that the reporter wanted to leave out some important information for fear of embarrassing the profile subject. The information included the fact that the president had founded the pre-med organization, regularly volunteered with senior citizens and high school students, and had achieved the campus' highest scores on the Medical School Admissions Test. Attending to the president's behavior upon first contact allowed the reporter to include information in the profile about the president's modesty and kindness as well as about her impressive accomplishments.
EMBRACE SILENCE There is a good reason why psychologists are parodied as only saying things like "Um-hmm" and "tell me more." The less psychologists talk, the more most patients reveal. Does this mean that reporters can't establish rapport by telling subjects some personal things about themselves? No. Making some brief personal statements can be an excellent way of helping sources feel comfortable. Saying something like, "I'm interested in writing about your experience because my father was alcoholic, too, and I want readers to know that it's possible to recover from that pain," may help a subject open up during the first interview. But if the person you were interviewing began describing watching her father die of alcoholism, it would be an interruption, not encouragement, if you started describing your father's death. Instead, it would be wise to nod sympathetically while taking careful notes. When I spoke at the National Writers Workshop in Fort Lauderdale, I asked memberts of the audience what goes through their minds when they ask a question and the source remains silent. "I worry about whether I asked a stupid question," one woman replied, as others nodded. But instead of meaning that a reporter's question is awry, silences may mean that the reporter has touched upon an important issue. In therapy, long silences or quick denials often occur before patients talk about things they've never revealed to another person, these even may be things so painful the patient had forgotten them. Here's an example: "Tell me about one of your turning points," a reporter asked a star linebacker. "I've been asked that question before, but I haven't had any turning points." the linebacker answered. The reporter restated the question, mentioning that most people have turning points. Then the reporter waited in what began to seem like an interminable silence. Finally, slowly, and with tears in his eyes, the athlete described how when he was returning from a vacation at age 9, the van that he and his family were riding in flipped. His mother had almost died. His father and siblings were seriously injured. "It was the first time as a family that we felt so vulnerable....God uses us for a reason," he said softly, adding that it had been years since he had thought about the accident. CONFRONT PSYCHOBABBLE "I'm searching for my inner child." "I'm a little schizy sometimes." "My family was dysfunctional." "Im co-dependent." "I'm a recovering alcoholic. Such statements roll of the tongues of many people who have been in therapy, have read self-help books or have attended self-help meetings. And, if you're not wise to their real meanings, you might think that your source is talking to you as if you really were a psychologist. But that's far from the truth. Good psychologists don't accept such statements, and neither should you. Such psychobabble usually is meaningless. "Recovering alcoholic" could be the self definition of a diabetic who drank three small glasses of wine a year or of a person who has been through 50 inpatient alcoholism treatments and who daily guzzles a gallon of Gallo. "Co-dependent" could mean lots of things. I remember once talking with a group of self-described co-dependent people. They ranged from a woman whose husband packed two fifths of hard liquor for himself in case the bar ran dry during their weekend trips, to a young woman whose parents sang "slobbidy, slobbidy" when she spilled milk. So when you hear psychobabble, get the specifics: "Give me an example, please." PROBE FEELINGS In social situations, if we accidentally ask a question that causes a person to get teary eyed, it's polite to change the subject. But when subjects get emotional, therapists either ask follow-up questions, or the therapists remain silent, allowing patients to fill the void with more detail. Reporters should do the same. Many people shut down when you label their feelings, so it's better to describe their behavior instead. Instead of saying, "You looked sad when you talked about losing your job" say, "Your eyes filled with tears when you were talking about your job. " Then either ask "What was that about?" or remain silent, so they will tell you more. If your source expresses no feeling when you would expect feeling, probe. Don't just accept that nothing is wrong. A recent college graduate coolly told a reporter, who was working on an article about fatherless sons, "I don't know who my father is, but it never bothered me." Because the source had grown up in a neighborhood filled with single mothers, the reporter concluded that the lack of a father hadn't affected the young man. But when the reporter told me about the source, that conclusion didn't make sense. Parentage is a foundation of every person's identity. I wondered whether not having a father was so painful that the young man had convinced himself that it wasn't important. So, I suggested that the reporter ask the source about specific childhood events that would have magnified a father's absence. How had the young man learned about sex? How had he learned to deal with bullies? How had he handled church and athletic events in which fathers normally were present? The source talked about having to ask the church deacons about sex because "You didn't wanna ask Mama about sex," and he talked about being a kid wishing "my father was there to say 'C'mon son, let's go play catch.'" The same young man who had initially said that he resented his father "not for me, but for my mother" who had coped with the rearing sons alone, now said, "When a father isn't present you can crush a kid."
Also, don't accept a source's words at face value. There is a psychology adage that "the unconscious does not speak in negatives." That means that you should be suspicious when a person spontaneously denies a feeling. Imagine that you ask a source how she reacted after being fired and she says, "I don't hate my former boss." The psychology adage does not mean that you can write that the source "hates her former boss." But you can take note of the source's body language and subsequent statements to get a more complete picture of the truth. If the source shouted that statement while slamming her hand on the table, you can add those details to the quote, and the readers can draw their own conclusions. If the person follows up by laughingly describing her ex-boss's recent hospitalization, you can include that information, too, including the source's guffaws. One caveat: You can't put words into your subject's mouths. Ask open ended questions like, "How do you feel about your boss?" not, "Do you hate your boss?" or "You don't hate your boss, do you?" JOURNALISTS CAN BORROW FROM THERAPISTS "Tell me about yourself," is a request that many therapists make the first time they interview patients. The answers convey much about how patients view themselves and what the patients think is important. The answers also may convey information that the therapist never would have considered asking. However, reporters asking sources to "Tell me about yourself" would sound as if they didn't know their job. So say something like, "I've done a lot of background research about you, so I already know much about you. However, I'd be interested in hearing about you from your own perspective. Take a few minutes to tell me what you think is important for me to know about you as I do this article." Ask the question and then, like a good psychologist, close your mouth and wait for the revelation.
Newspaper Writing 101 These are tips for beginners on writing newspaper articles. The were written for participants in the Detroit Free Press high school apprenticeships. (Also see Interviewing 101.) Writing the story A story is much like a conversation. It begins with the most interesting piece of information or a summary of the highlights and works its way down to the least interesting facts. There are words or phrases that take you from one topic of conversation to another. Before you know it, you're finished. Inverted pyramid You should be very familiar with the inverted pyramid style of writing. You'll likely use it every day. For example, when you call a friend to tell him or her about a big date, you begin by telling the most interesting and important things first. The least important information is saved for the end of the conversation, and depending on how much time you have to talk, that information may not get into the conversation. That concept also applies to news stories. The lead is the first paragraph of a news story. Usually, the lead is one sentence long and summarizes the facts of the news story in order of most newsworthy to least news-worthy. The reader should know at first glance what the story is about and what its emphasis is. Here is an example: Bargainers from General Motors and UAW Local 160 will resume talks in Warren this morning seeking to end a day-old strike over the transfer of jobs from unionized employees to less costly contract workers. Who, What, Where, When, Why and How ... The five Ws and an H Depending on the elements of news value, the summary news lead emphasizes and includes some or all of the five Ws and H. Who names the subject(s) of the story. The who, a noun, can refer to a person, a group, a building, an institution, a concept -- anything about which a story can be written. The who in the lead above are the bargainers from General Motors and the UAW. The what is the action taking place. It is a verb that tells what the who is doing. Reporters should always use active voice and action verbs for the what because they make the wording direct and lively. What are the bargainers doing? The lead says they will resume talks. When tells the time the action is happening. It is an adverb or an adverb phrase. When will the bargainers resume talks? This morning. Where is the place the action is happening. Again, it is an adverb or adverb or adverb phrase. In our story, the where is Warren. Why, another adverb, explains the action in the lead. The bargainers are meeting to discuss the transfer of jobs. How usually describes the manner in which action occurs. The Lead The lead sets the structure for the rest of the story. If the lead is good, the rest of the story comes together easily. Many reporters spend half their writing time on the lead alone. One guiding principle behind story organization is: The structure of the story can help the reader understand what you are writing about. The structure should lead the reader from idea to idea simply and clearly. The object is to give readers information, and wow them with convoluted style. News Lead In one of their bloodiest raids into Lebanon in years, Israeli warplanes killed dozens of Muslim guerrillas with rockets and machine-gun fire Thursday as they pounded a training camp of the pro-Aranian party of God. Quote Lead "I have the worst job in the Army." This is an example of a good quote lead because the reader asks, "What could that possibly be?" Description lead Penciled sketches of an air strike, complete with renderings of F14s and Patriot missiles. And on the ground, tiny people run for cover. That's how 8-year-old Jimmy Zayas pictures war in the Middle East... Like a beauty pageant entrant, Donald Hofeditz struts his vital statistics. He curls his thumb in his waistband to show he's a size 36, down from 40. He pats his stomach where 50 pounds used to rest. And he rubs his chest about his now healthy cholesterol level of 177. Hofeditz even relishes showing his ``before'' pictures. The pot-bellied 70-year-old in the early 1980s was unable to cut his backyard grass because of the cumbersome weight.
Bad lead A reminder to those who enjoy good new records. The library has 22 new records which it is willing to loan out! The students are invited to come and look them over! In the first place, the opening sentence isn't even a sentence. There are times when sentence fragments are acceptable, if you use them effectively, but that first sentence isn't one of them. Is it news that the library is willing to ``loan out'' materials? That's what libraries are for. The word ``out'' is unnecessary. And ``loan'' is an adjective or noun, not a verb. Make it ``lend.'' A better way to express the thoughts in this lead would be: Twenty-two new records have been placed in the school's lending library, the head librarian announced. Transitions With one-sentence paragraphs consisting of only one idea -- block paragraphs -- it would be easy for a story to appear as a series of statements without any smooth flow from one idea to the next. Block paragraphing makes the use of effective transitions important. Transitions are words or phrases that link two ideas, making the movement from one to the other clear and easy. Obvious transitional phrases are: thus, therefore, on the other hand, next, then, and so on. Transitions in news stories are generally done by repeating a word or phrase or using a synonym for a key word in the preceding paragraph. Think of block graphs as islands tied together with transition bridges of repeated words or phrases. Direct quotes You should use direct quotes: # if a source's language is particularly colorful or picturesque # when it is important for written information -- especially official information -- to come from an obviously authoritative voice # to answer the questions "why, how, who, or what?" Use a direct quote after a summary statement that needs amplification, verification or example. Remember, a direct quote repeats exactly what the interviewee said. If you don't have a person's exact words, you can paraphrase, but you cannot change the meaning of a person's words. And when you paraphrase, you must never use quotation marks. Putting it all together: News story Colleagues of polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk said Wednesday that they are ready to mount large-scale trials of his AIDS vaccine in thousands of people infected with the AIDS virus. The Salk group, which had been criticized for promoting the vaccine without sufficient documentation, this week published the first scientific report of its results. The group's research showed that growth of the human immuno-deficiency virus slowed substantially in infected volunteers given three injections of the vaccine. The report, in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, comes at a time when researchers are discouraged about efforts to make an effective AIDS vaccine -- either to treat HIV-infected people, such as Salk's subjects, or to prevent infection, such as classic vaccines against polio or smallpox. "Both approaches have their problems with this virus," said Dr. Thomas Merigan of Stanford University, a prominent AIDS researcher. The virus' ability to elude immune defenses ``is the most powerful tool this virus is using against us now.'' Putting it all together: Feature story They met through video dating, when the sight of his muscular build drove her so wild she smacked kisses all over the monitor. Never mind his rowdy past, his other mates, his penchant for projectile vomiting when annoyed. True love forgives. Now the young couple would like to start a family -part animal urge, part science project. For she is Koko, the worldfamous gorilla. A two-time National Geographic cover model, she wowed the public in the 1970s by learning to communicate with humans using American Sign Language. Researchers have higher than usual expectations for the mating of Koko and her muscular intended, Ndume, from the Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago. Eager to understand animal intelligence, scientists are hoping to discover whether Koko will teach her offspring to use sign language.
Writing the Summary Lead Writing the summary lead is as simple as 1-2-3. And, it can map out your article from A to B to C. Ernie Boone, Michigan State University journalism instructor, outlined his three-step process for writing the summary lead: 1. Hook the reader 2. Inform the reader 3. Organize the story In greater detail, then: Hooking the reader means to seize on the most interesting detail of the story and announce it first. There are many ways to hook readers. Tell them about something that will happen to them. Wow them with remarkable facts. Appeal to their sympathies. Choose your hook from the traditional Ernie Boonewho-what-where-when-why-how lineup that you're writing about. Generally, the most important fact of the story will not be where or when something happened, Boone said. Once you've grabbed your readers, inform them by bring in the other key facts, typically, the remaining W's. But don't stop there, said Boone. Go beyond telling readers what happened. Try to tell them the effect or result of what happened. Relate it to them. This will lift your article up out of the past, and spill it forward into the future and into readers' lives. Third, use the structure you laid down in No. 2 to organize the rest of your story. Explain things in the order that you used to introduce them. Some will take just a sentence; some will take a few paragraphs, but you have already mapped out the general direction for your story. Boone offered a few more things to keeping mind, and some things to avoid: DO write in the active voice (Tracy spilled the beans), rather than the passive voice (The beans were spilled by Tracy.) DO keep your lead brief. It's OK to have one-sentence paragraphs -- especially here. Keep the full lead -- which might run to a few sentences -- to 35 words or less. DO restrict yourself to the essentials. The lead may need the name, but can the title wait till later? Do we have to know the exact time in the lead, or can that wait? DO tell readers where the information is coming from when it reports opinion, speculation or guesswork. DON'T start you lead with the word There. (There was a blah-blah-blah ...) DON'T start with the when of a story. Bore-ing. DON'T make your lead a single three- or four-sentence paragraph. DON'T load the lead with opinion or judgment (In a stupid move, ...) Avoiding Censorship Jane Briggs-Bunting has been trained as a journalist and as an attorney and has used both skills to fight censorship. She prefers to use the journalism. She says the best way student journalists can avoid censorship is with rock-solid stories and sources. A professor at Oakland University in Michigan, Briggs-Bunting says that nothing peels back the lid of censorship better than a relevant, well-sourced and wonderfully written story. Friends in high places can help, too. Student journalists don't have nearly as much legal ground to stand on as their professional counterparts. If the principal is, in effect, the publisher, censorship can come easily. If your work on the newspaper is in a for-credit class, there's another potential restriction. And, if you attend a private school, there may be even more restrictions -- though not necessarily. All of those concerns can add up to a reluctance to publish, or self censorship, the worst kind of limit. Briggs-Bunting, a professor, attorney and formerly a reporter at the Detroit Free Press, says that the best plan for avoiding censorship is to deliver the goods journalistically. "Do hard stories, providing good, solid information for people who need it and might not otherwise see it." For starters, she advises students to keep their most controversial material in the news columns. It's tougher to censor the news than it is to censor opinion pieces like editorials and columns. That leads to her next strategy: Make sure the subject is relevant. If it's controversial enough to be censored, but it doesn't matter to your readers, there's not much to defend. Next, make sure your sources are solid gold. It is far easier for an administrator to chuck a story that is based on anonymous sources or friends around the school than when the sources are local, state or national officials with prestigious credentials. "The censorship declines," Briggs-Bunting says, "when you provide relevant, solid stories with drop-dead, credible sources." Censor This How would they censor an on-line paper written and posted off campus? Finally, she says, write well. Grammar and spelling have to be correct. Follow style. Triple-check your facts. "It's really easy to censor a piece of crap," she says, so don't give anyone the chance. And what about those friends in high places? Consider this: Every principal is beholden to someone. It's usually a school superintendent or a school board. Smart students get to know the principal's bosses, and earn their respect. But, how?
Cover the school board. "Don't just cover the games and what people wear to the prom," says Briggs-Bunting. Cover the school board. They usually meet once a month, often on a Monday or Tuesday night. The meetings are open. They sound dull, but this is where things like course offerings, openings and closings of schools, transportation issues and salaries are determined. Smart students will spiff up, show up and ask questions. A story or two, well turned, on what the board is doing, could build real credibility for the school paper and make it much, much harder for someone to censor a good, relevant story. "The principal is going to have a much tougher time going against the school board rather than you or your poor adviser," Briggs-Bunting says. Other allies -- and good stories -- are in the PTO, the PTA and unions. Another good tool to turn back censorship is a policy statement for the paper. BriggsBunting advises that the policy include the phrase, "an independent voice in the community." That word, "independent," gives some principals pause, but the chances of getting it in there go up when the student journalists show that they can be professional. While laws may not be an effective tools against censorship, Briggs-Bunting suggests that student journalists learn about and use state laws concerning open meetings and freedom of information. These laws, written for citizens, not newspapers, give everyone the right to hear public issues being discussed, or to get paper documenting the way public money is spent and policies are set. Students can get help by asking professional journalists for the local papers, or by contacting the Student Press Law Center and the Society of Professional Journalists. Journalistic Jargon Journalists, who spend so much time trying to keep the jargon of police, doctors and lawyers out of the paper, use a lot of it themselves. These are a few terms that, if you're new to a newsroom, may make you wonder. The list is not complete, it is subject to local variations and typographical terms themselves could fill a book. A.C.E. or Ace Assistant City Editor agate Small type often used for statistical data on sports and stock pages. It is a type size of approximately 5 1/2 points tall, a point being 1/72nd of an inch. B-copy The background of the story is outlined first without having the specific or major details of the story. Also called A matter. beat A reporter's topic area. Courts, religion, education and Macomb County are all beats. Think of reporters covering their areas as a cop might walk a beat. box A sidebar or extra information. break The part of a story that is continued on another page. Sometimes several breaks are gathered together on a "break page." Also called jumps. breakline A mid-sentence or paragraph that continues the story on the following page. Sometimes used to mean turnline. breakout (highlighted text box) The synopsis of the story. Key highlights of the story that stand out. brief A small or tiny story. brite or bright A funny, short story. broadsheet The size of most dailies, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today and the Free Press. Folded in half, it's a tabloid, or tab. budget The various news departments' proposals for what they want to put in the newspaper. Has to do with space and news, not dollars. bug A short bit of type, such as (AP). In this case, it would signify that the story is from the Associated Press. bulldog An edition timed to come out in the early evening, as soon as stock closings can be published. (Could also be the city editor.) bullet Arrows, dots or squares that point out key topics of the story.
byline The name of the writer, appearing at the top of an article. Artists and photographers typically get credits. When the reporter's name appears at the end, it often is preceded by a dash and is called a signer. chaser A late edition of the newspaper for which the presses are not stopped until the plates are ready. Those pages, then, are said to be "chasing" a running press. The longer it takes for them to get there, the more papers are missed. cold type Type that is set photographically on paper, an advancement from type that was set in hot lead. column inch One inch tall and one column wide. It is used to measure ads and articles. copy boy Obsolete term replaced in many papers with copy aide, these are men and women who keep the newsroom running by attending to various duties such as office machines, handling phones, assembling paperwork and driving around town to retrieve photos and other material. copy desk The desk where articles are edited, headlines and captions are written, newspaper style is enforced and deadlines are either made or missed. cq Correct as is; lets copy editors know that something has been checked and needs no further checking. Usually, these letters are put just after the copy they refer to. cutline A caption. The term comes from the day when engravings or "cuts" were used to make the impression on the page. dateline The city or place designation at the beginning of a story. Some newspapers strictly enforce a rule that the dateline must say where the reporter was when the story was gathered. A foreign story gathered by phone at home, then, might run with no dateline. deadline Every paper has dozens in a day for the hundreds of parts that go into it. You might ask what the deadline is for the piece you're working on, the deadline for the last type to be set or the time when the presses should start. double truck An ad or editorial project that covers two facing pages. If it prints across the gutter between the two pages, and if the pages are on the same sheet, rather than two adjacent sheets, it might be called a "true" double truck. This name comes from the days when the heavy forms for newspaper pages, largely filled with lead type, were rolled around the composing room floor on heavy carts called trucks. Two pages for one project meant a double truck. ears The little white spaces on either side of the newspaper's name on the front page. Some newspapers put weather or lottery information in them. (An expression sometimes heard in newsrooms, "Go stick it in your ear," has nothing to do with this.) embargo The time when something can be released. News may be released early so that news outlets can be ready to publish or air it, but there may be a restriction on when it can be released to the public. Breaking an embargo -- reporting information early -- may cause sources to be less willing to release news. first reference The first time someone is mentioned in an article, and generally should have their full name. flag The newspaper's name on page one. Also called the nameplate. FOIA Used as a noun or a verb (when it is done to balky government officials), it is the Freedom of Information Act. folio The page number, newspaper name and date appearing in the corner of a page. FTE Full Time Equivalent; an accounting term that refers to staffing. A full-time employee is one FTE; a two-day-a-week employee is .4 FTEs. A newsroom may have a budget number of total FTEs that will be comprised of full- and part-time workers. G.A. Short for general assignment. A G.A. is a reporter who does not have a beat, but who might be called on to write about anything. graph A paragraph. gutter The space between two columns. hairline A .5-point rule.
hot type From the days when type was set with molten lead, replaced with photographically produced cold type. HTK Head(line) to come. It means that the story has been edited and the headline will come later. inside Not on the front page, as in, "we'll run this story inside." jump The part of a story that continues on another page. Also called a break. The readers get directions from jump lines. justify Type that is aligned evenly on the left and the right. lead The start of a story, usually one to three paragraphs. Pronounced lede, and sometimes spelled that way, too. leading Refers to the spacing between lines of type. The size of the type plus the space to the next line. lede The start of a story. It is spelled this way to prevent confusion with lead, a metal that was used extensively in hot-type days, and a term that refers to the spacing of lines in a story. leg A column of type. A two-column headline will likely have two legs of type under it. mainbar Formed in a backward sort of way, a main bar is simply the main story, but stated this way to distinguish it from secondary sidebar stories. It's a little like calling the city's main library the main branch to distinguish it from the true, secondary branches. masthead This term is used to mean three things and can get confusing. It is used to mean the name on page one, for the box on the editorial page with the names of top editors, and for the box of names, phone numbers and addresses that appears in the first few pages of the newspaper morgue Outdated term for the library. mug A mug shot or a small photo of someone. If someone says, "get me a mug," don't come back with coffee. nameplate The newspaper's name on page one, is also called the flag or masthead. nut graf The paragraph in a story that tells readers what the story is about and why they should care. Some papers have rules about how close this should be to the top of the story. oped Opposite of the editorial page. May contain columns and guest viewpoints. paginate The act of making a page on a computer screen. paraphrase To summarize or rewrite in your own words a quote. Paraphrasing should not have quote marks. pica A unit of measurement. There are six picas in an inch; each pica contains 12 points. point A unit of measurement equaling 1/72nd of an inch. For measuring typographical elements. pool A certain number of reporters or one reporter who goes out and represents everyone else. For example, a high-interest court case, a presidential appearance or a concert may not have room for all the journalists who want to cover it, so the organizers may restrict coverage to a press pool. Pool coverage is usually shared with other media outlets. proof Any printed copy before it goes to press. Usually made on a printer or photocopy machine. rag right, rag left Not justified. Uneven on either the right or the left. refer Prounced reefer, but spelled this way, it refers readers to inside or related stories. At some papers, these have been called whips. rim The copy editors, collectively. Dates back to the days when the copy desk was a horseshoe-shaped piece of furniture with rim editors around the outside and slot editors on the inside, doling out and checking work. rule A straight line on the page, usually expressed with its width as in, "a 1-point rule." Don't call them lines, except in hairline.
scoop As a noun, a story no one else has; as a verb, to do it to the competition. sidebar A story that accompanies the main story, detailing a particular angle or aspect, such as the hero's early childhood. single-copy sales Newsstands, store sales. Anything not home delivered. slot One of the people on the copy desk who checks over the copy editors' work before committing it to type. Also used as a verb: "Hey, Terry, slot me on this, will you?" slug An internal name for a story, usually just one word. Elex might be the slug for a story on school elections. spike To kill something. At one time, when editors were finished with a piece of paper, such as a story, headline or page proof, they would slam it down on an upright nail on their desk. Then, they would know they were done with it, but could go back to it later if they needed to. Today, many newsroom computers have a "spike" key for killing a story or file. spot story A small story that is usually more specific, as opposed to a bigger story like a feature story. spread A package that goes across the crease of two facing pages to combine them. skybox A term for promotional boxes that are usually above the nameplate of the newspaper. Also known as a teaser. stet A proofreading symbol that means leave it the way it is. stringer A writer or photographer who is not a full-time employee, but who is paid by the job. The term comes from the days when a writer would get paid by the column inch and would measure his or her contribution by holding a string along the story to measure its length, knot it, measure the next column or story, and so on, reporting the final length for pay. strip A story that goes all the way across the top of the page -- or nearly so. Some people will call it a strip if it goes almost all the way across. Others will say it's not a true strip if there is anything above it, but will grudgingly concede the point. stylebook The newspaper's book of rules and policies for handling copy. Can include everything from spelling of local streets to policy for handling profanities and juvenile crime victims. tab Short for tabloid. Refers to any newspaper or section folded to that size. takeout A longer story that takes a step back from daily, breaking news stories to put a running story with frequent developments into context and perspective. thumb corner The upper, outside corner of pages. So-called because that's where a reader might grab them to turn to the next page. teaser Shows what is in the inside of the paper or previews a story or series. Same as a promo but smaller. turnline Tells you to go to the next page where the article continues. widow A short line of type, left at the top of a column. The worst: single words. Computerized typesetting makes them far more common than a fussy page makeup person would have tolerated. Some people use this term to refer to any short line at the end of a paragraph and trim stories deftly by eliminating just enough words to eliminate the widows. zone Part of a newspaper's circulation area. If the newspaper divides its circulation area into zones, advertisers may buy ads in just their local areas. Often, news coverage is zoned to complement zoned advertising.
Newsroom Politics Turf and Cracks; Noses and Toes Politics is the stuff they don't teach you in college. Politics can be the bumps that give the school of hard knocks its name. Let's start with three truths: 1. Politics are about power. Like the organization's hierarchy, budget authority or seniority, politics is just another of the workplace's many power systems. Your home has more than one system to deliver electricity, water and heat; offices have more than one power system wired into the infrastructure. 2. Like it or not, politics exist in any large organization. (You've experienced them since grade school.) Deny it or pretend it doesn't go on and you will hold yourself and your career back. You don't have to "play the game," but you have to be aware of your environment, how it affects you and how you can operate inside it. 3. Office politics can be good or bad. It is not always a negative. Consider this: Everyone in the newsroom knows that the executive editor insists on the highest quality and absolute credibility. People who are sloppy or who take ethical shortcuts will hear about it. How is that bad? The newsroom has a culture that says, "we are professional, and we expect you to be that way, too." There are bad politics, of course, and we all know what those are, but they are just one brand of politics. Adopt the idea that office politics can help you or hurt you, whether you play politics or not. Understand that office politics is a power system, wired in with other power systems in the office. Some things get done in strict accordance with organizational, chain-of-command procedures. Other things get done politically. When you ask someone in a department over which you have no influence to help you get something done, you are using some personal capital. In this case, politics are a good thing. Once you get used to the idea that politics are all around us and to not place a value judgment on them, start learning about how to work with them to make your career and your newspaper stronger. Pitching a Story Even after 25 years of newspapering, people can pitch ideas that never make it to the plate. When that happens, you have to try someone else, or go back, re-evaluate what youre pitching and try again. Sometimes you have forgotten your own advice for pitching a story. It is: * Pitch ideas, not topics. While the maxim is "if you can't write your idea on the back of a business card, you don't have one," editors need more than that. "Rave parties" is not a story idea. "Garage sales" is not a story idea. These are topics. A fully fleshed story idea has a news peg and answers the question, "Why are we doing this now?" The answer "because we never did it before" is lame. A story idea has news elements -- currency, importance, conflict or resolution. Editors do not deal in three-word ideas. They deal in budget lines. Get a look at the news budgets used at the newspaper for story meetings. See how the stories sound on there. Develop a budget line for your story idea. * Prepare your pitch with a little reporting. Talk to some people. Search the newspaper's library. Is this really a new idea? You don't want to be pitching a story that was written six months ago. Do some reporting to flesh out the idea. Who is behind the story? What make it news? How is it developing? Why does it matter to our readers? * Make the case. You want to pitch a story about a quirky little diner that is shutting after a short but successful run. It doesn't sound like much of a story -- unless you can say that the diner attracted a large clientele from the city's legal community. Or was the only place where homeless people and business people ate, side by side. Or was the only place in the city that served gazpatcho, and now people will have to drive a hundred miles to find it. Or the owner is closing shop because she is going to take the profits and sail around the world. Do enough reporting so that the editor can take this story into a news meeting and talk it up to other editors. Don't blurt out a story idea on your hunch alone. Poke around. Chances are your instincts are good, but you need to deliver some specifics. * Understand what the newspaper is looking for. If you come up with a story that connects to one of the newspaper's key initiatives, you have something. They say they care about the well-being of children and you have a story about children having no safe place to play. You're onto something. Find a child who exemplifies that and who could be the lead for your story. * Look at it from the editor's point of view. This is not selling out or "playing the game," this is framing your idea in a way that will strike the right chords with the newspaper and get your story into print. * Try another angle. You've sharpened, focused and retooled. No dice. There may be another avenue. Sometimes you're pitching the wrong editor. If the metro editor won't take it, will the features editor? Could it be a photo story? There's more than one way to get an idea into print. * Finally, explain why you think the story is important. You and the editor may have different perspectives, but you're not from different planets. Listen to the editor's questions. Find out what it will take to move your idea to the story stage. Be willing to explain, negotiate and sharpen the idea. If your pitch falls flat, it's easy to blame it on an editor. Too easy. If your story matters to you, find a way to recast it and pitch it again so that the editors can see what you have. Don't drop the idea at the first obstacle. If you really have a good idea, it deserves more than a half-hearted pitch. And, remember. Even someone, after 25 years in the newsroom, many as an assigning editor and news editor, sometimes can't get their ideas into the paper. But you don't stop trying.
Getting Face Time "Face time" is kind of a crude term. It dehumanizes or trvilializes what is meant to be personal. All it means is that people who spend time with each other, face to face, get to know and understand each other better. That can lead to stronger relationships and greater respect. In the newsroom, top editors know they should "get face time" with their staffs. Reporters, designers, photographers, copy editors and others should try to "get face time" with the editors. Even the top editors. OK, but what does one do during "face time"? It's not complicated. Talk about the news and the newspaper. Talk about what worked and how to make things work better. The key to it is to talk about what should be shared issues. Get to know the other people and their journalistic values and let them get to know yours. It's easy to understand that the newest hire in the newsroom might feel intimidated about talking to the top brass. "She's too busy." "I don't want to interrupt him." "I don't have anything important to say." "What will I say?" Top editors can feel a bit odd about talking to their staffers, too, especially if they don't already know the person well. "What would we talk about?" "Will I be sending a sign to the whole newsroom if I talk to this person and not that one?" "What do we have in common?" Even the boss can feel a little insecure or unsure. Take the first step. Talking is seldom actually as awkward as we fear it might be. Just get in there and do it. A good door opener is a positive comment: "Mary shot a great photo story." "Hey, I though that story really nailed the issue." "Our headline made me think." If you're afraid to open a conversation that will turn into a disagreement (maybe the other person hated that headline), ask a question: "Should we do more on that story tomorrow?" Make a suggestion: "I know a place where we can find a hundred more people just like the one we profiled today. I bet there's more to this." Relay some positive information from a third party: "I heard two people this morning talking about how much they liked that front-page photo." The important thing is to make yourself known as a person, rather than as a byline at the top of a story or the signature on the bottom of an inter-office memo. Then, grow the relationship with follow-up conversations. Some of the most intimidated people at the newspaper -- the new hires -- have the easiest entree to top editors by virtue of the fact that they are new hires. In many places, that means they have just been interviewed by the top brass. Keep that face-to-face relationship going. "Hey, thanks a ton for hiring me. I've been here a month now and wanted to say that. Let me tell you what I like about my job." Really, all it takes is a little gumption. One expects journalists to have that, but some seem more comfortable demonstrating that out on the streets than in the newsroom. A case in point: An intern made a name for herself at her newspaper by asking the editor out for coffee. He appreciated it, complimented her for her initiative and told others about it. People at other newspapers even heard about the intern who asked the editor out for coffee. A year later, people were still talking abut it. It was such a little thing, but it helped her a lot. And the editor bought the coffee. Turf Wars We humans believe that we are the most evolved members of the animal kingdom. If we could understand dogs, we'd probably find that they say the same thing. Yet both species spend a lot of time marking their territory. In the newsroom, there are three main kinds of turf to be marked: content, people and money. IThis means there are ample opportunities to step on toes or put someone's nose out of joint. Anyone who is new to a newsroom has to watch out for the other dogs. A reporter who tries to do a story on what another reporter feels is his or her beat is going to get snapped at. This frequently happens to interns. Sometimes, it is not even apparent that one has strayed onto someone else's turf. A very possessive (and perhaps insecure) reporter will run all around, marking way more content than one person can possibly cover, and then spend a lot of time and energy defending it. A story this person has had on the back burner for six months can come to a rolling boil when someone new comes along and tries to see whether anything is cooking. Because editors supervise the reporters who get involved in turf wars, someone who wanders onto what another person perceives as his or her turf can quickly find that they are being growled at by not just another reporter, but that reporter's editor, as well. When it gets ugly, you better hope that you have the biggest dog in the fight. Editors can get in turf wars all the time about whether this department or that one should cover the story and whether it should be published in this section or that. At other times, editors and reporters avoid certain less-glamorous duties, allowing things to fall through the cracks between what they perceive as the limits of their responsibilities. When this happens, there can be a lot of finger-pointing and excuse-making as higher editors ask, "How did we miss that?" Sometimes, two editors will go at it about the use of a reporter's time. This becomes a resource issue, as staff members can be one of an editor's only resources. This means that a reporter who has an idea for a story that might logically run in another section would be wisest to start by talking with his or her own editor about the proposal. And then there are financial resources. Most newsroom budgets are divided into categories, and editors have control over how just their part of the budget is spent. This represents real power. If someone spends some of their budget without their knowledge or consent, there is going to be trouble. For example, if one editor overspends his or her own budget on travel and overtime and another editor's budget for these gets cut, there is likely to be some barking. A lot of this seems ridiculous. The newspaper should be edited for the best possible use of resources, not to protect somebody's ego or slice of power. But the reality in some newsrooms is that turf wars go on all the time.
How should you deal with that? First, know who has what turf. Don't put yourself in the position of being surprised that it was not OK with somebody that you chased this story or generated that expense. Once you figure out whose turf you're about to tread on, find a way to get in there with assent or an ally. First, try to get cooperation by explaining what you're trying to do and how it benefits the whole operation. One strategy is to work with the person whose turf it is so that they do not feel like they've given anything away or that they become stronger by sharing their power and letting you on their turf. An overworked reporter may feel that by giving a story on the beat away to someone else, it will at least get covered, an unlikely prospect given their workloads. If you can't get cooperation, get help. That will come from someone at a higher level. It may be your editor. It may be the person with overall newsroom authority for the budget who can back you up or make things happen in ways that spread around the cost. Whatever you do, don't make yourself a living example of how dog-eat-dog people can be. Cover Your Ass CYA, or "cover your ass" is a smart defensive strategy to save yourself from needless trouble around the newsroom. It is nothing more, really, than keeping your bosses informed and getting them involved when there is the potential for a mess. Here's an example: You've just learned that a story you're writing for the newspaper is likely to bring complaints from a particular group. You feel you've been complete and accurate, but think the group will complain anyway because it doesn't come off looking very good. So, while the story is being edited, you tell the editor that you think people might complain about it, who the people are and what the issues are. Your boss is then informed and involved in helping you make the story as bulletproof as possible. If the calls come, your boss is already waiting for them and knows what the issues are. The editor has not been blind-sided. Had you not covered your ass by telling the editor what was up, some of the readers' wrath would have rained down on your head. One of the benefits of covering your ass is that it helps you make the best decisions in dangerous situations because you have sought counsel from your editor. Another benefit is that editors, by investing in the process, put their butts on the line with yours. (I can't explain why this part of the human anatomy has so much to do with this particular exercise unless it has something to do with avoiding a good butt-kicking. Or chewing.) CYA is just as useful with intra-office politics as it is with those involving outside groups. If you think a particular move inside the newsroom might result in a turf war, enlist one or more editors before you make a move. They will tell you where the mines are buried and help you avoid them. If you have been up-front with them and used their advice, there will be a lot less damage and you won't be the only one whose (here we go again) is hanging out there. The keys, then, to CYA, are to anticipate trouble, inform the boss and use their advice. No but about it. Going Over Heads One meaning for the expression "over my head" is that I didn't understand something because it was a bit beyond my intellectual reach. To be "in over your head" means essentially the same thing, an allusion to drowning. In newsroom politics, "going over my head" means that somebody spoke to my editor about something I think they should have come to me about. Going to my boss instead of me (or after me) makes me look bad. It happens when someone goes to the boss' boss with a beef or issue. No wonder it makes bosses twitchy. Unless your boss has prepared the Big Boss with some CYA action, the boss is bound to come back with some uncomfortable questions. It is often good and necessary, though, for people to have relationships beyond their immediate supervisor. Advice about mentoring, for example, says that good mentors come from at least one management level beyond where your boss is. So, your boss' boss might be an ideal mentor for you. But how can you forge such a relationship without making your editor feel paranoid? Some confident and secure bosses are always OK with this. It helps if the Big Boss keeps them informed. But there is a lot of insecurity in any business -- newsrooms, too -- so some editors feel threatened when they see their direct reports "going over their head." Here are some that can help you have relationships like that without all the hassle: * Develop relationships on the basis of positive or neutral issues. Look for opportunities to develop these relationships and then maintain them. If the only time you "go over the boss' head" is when you have something bad to say, the boss has a right to be worried. If the only time you talk to your boss' boss is when you want to complain about your supervisor, of course he or she will be paranoid. They should be paranoid. (It doesn't do good things for you, either, to always show up with complaints.) Keep the relationship more well-rounded than that. And focus on broader issues than your immediate boss. Take advantage of the top boss' higher vantage point and gain some understanding of the wider world in the newsroom. Tell your boss' supervisor some good things about working at the paper. What you need is a collegial relationship in which all three of you feel comfortable with whichever way the communication flows. It does you no good to harden a 1-2-3 up-the-chain-of-command linear relationship that keeps you at the bottom. If all three of you can approach things as adults, it pulls you up to their level. * Tell your boss what your doing. If you want to go two links up the chain of command with a great idea, tell your editor what you're doing. If they don't know what you're doing, they're free to fantasize.
* Have professional relationships with people throughout the organization. If your sole orientation is up, up, up, you will look like a climber who will run over anyone who gets in your way. Maintain relationships with your peers and people in other departments. In short, make it a natural part of your image that you can talk with anyone in the newspaper on virtually any subject related to the enterprise. A couple more words on going over someone's head: This does not just happen when someone talks to their boss' boss. It can be perceived whenever someone talks to a boss. The response might be, "Why did you ask my boss? Why didn't you just come to me?" (Implication: Don't you trust me? Are you trying to make me look bad?) Solution: Give a thought as to whether you are going to the right person, the one closest to getting the job done, fixing the problem or responsible for the situation. If you're not, somebody could feel cut out. Recovering From Mistakes Mistakes don't just happen. People make them. You make them and so do i. (oops) For journalists, the issue is not whether we make mistakes, it's what we do after we make them. The root of the answer is in understanding what mistakes do. Mistakes damage your newspaper's credibility, your own credibility and the credibility of the people who work with you and in journalism generally. Without credibility, journalists have nothing. Good journalists fiercely keep, protect and, when necessary, restore that credibility. Here are the five steps to follow when you do the inevitable: 1. Admit responsibility. Do not point fingers at others who may have participated in the mistake or let it get through. Anyone who has worked at a newspaper for more than a week should know that it is a rare mistake that belongs to just one person. Your editors know this, too. Admitting responsibility is far better than having responsibility pinned on you as you try to shift blame. 2. Show remorse. Not sack cloth and ashes, but genuine concern for the trouble and the misunderstanding the mistake has caused in that item and for the readers generally. Apologies to sources and editors may be appropriate. 3. Make things right. You can't get the mistake back once it's been published, but you should offer to write the correction. If the newspaper has a third party writing the corrections -- a good policy -- offer to help. 4. Explain. Don't make an excuse for your lapse, but do explain what happened. If you went too fast, were careless or failed to check the best sources, say so. Some newspapers want to see this in writing. Anticipate that and write your explanation even before someone asks you to. Can these be used against you at appraisal time? Yes. But there will be no need for that if you make very few mistakes, and invoking your Fifth Amendment rights won't save you, anyway. After all, the evidence of the mistake -- without your explanation -- has been published and delivered all around town. 5. Learn and move on. Analyze how the mistake got into the paper and change your work habits to make sure it won't happen again. And then move on. Don't let remorse paralyze you. You're not the first journalist to make a mistake and you won't be the last. You won't really get over this mistake until you're confident that you're producing error-free journalism again. The Memo is the Message You wouldn't use a hammer to kill an ant, but that's just what some people do when they use the wrong tool to communicate their issues around the office. The key difference, of course, is that they may not be squashing ants so much as their own careers. You have many arrows in your communication quiver, and choosing the right one is important, because choosing the wrong one can carry unintended messages. You wouldn't, for example, send a memo to someone telling them that the building is ablaze, or fire someone with an e-mail message. E-mail has, in fact, changed the arsenal for office communications, by adding a less formal option that is somewhere between on-paper missives and the spoken word. These are some of the tools at your disposal, and their characteristics. Beware that their characteristics are either advantages or disadvantages, depending on the circumstances. (Incidentally, seeing an editor use the wrong communication tool is no excuse for making the same mistake yourself.) TALKING FACE TO FACE CHARACTERISTICS: * There is immediate back-and-forth for developing ideas or strategies or hashing out disagreements. * Body language and facial expressions help conveny your message. * This can build relationships for future conversations. * There is no permanent, written record. * Everybody gets to talk. * Logistically difficult for people who work in different areas or on different shifts. GOOD FOR: Developing ideas together where deep understanding is needed. BAD FOR: Confrontations on deadline that can result in screaming, door-slamming public fights.
TALKING ON THE PHONE CHARACTERISTICS: * It is a fast way to get up a two-way conversation with someone who is not nearby. * Some people are more comfortable talking on the phone than talking face-to-face. If you notice that about someone, use it. * Phone conversations carry intonation, emphasis and pauses -- valuable information that doesn't make it onto paper. They do not convey body language. * No one else can see hwo you're talking to. * In conference calls of three or more people, it can be hard to tell who's talking. Speakers should identify themselves. GOOD FOR: setting up a face-to-face. For example, you might call a person to ask whether you can bring over the job candidate, rather than show up and step into a public rebuff. BAD FOR: One-way delivery of non-urgent messages. "The check is in the mail." "I'd like to take two days off next month." "I finished that assignment." Written notes or e-mail are quicker, there is less room for a communication snafu or misunderstanding and they are easier for the receiver to get. VOICE MAIL MESSAGE CHARACTERISTICS: * It's informal. * It's more personal because it carries your voice and expressions. * It is one-way communication. * It's easy to send. * People can pick it up from the road * It can be saved or forwarded. * It is less permanent than paper or e-mail GOOD FOR: Beyond the obvious use of Voice Mail to leave messages for people who are on the phone or away from the desk, Voice Mail can be a great way to offer praise or a thank-you. One reporter said she was so cheered by a Voice Mail compliment on her story that she played it several time over the ensuing week. BAD FOR: Delivering bad news. Don't hide behind the Voice Mail to avoid seeing the person's face or allowing them a chance to reply or question. Also bad for long and complicated messages that may have to be played over and over again. Keep them short, put the message up front and clearly repeat important information like call-back numbers. E-MAIL CHARACTERISTICS: * E-mail combines the characteristics of a phone message and a written e-mail. * An exchange of short e-mails, much as what happens in a live chat, can form a written record of the exchange. * It is cheap. * It is fast. Too fast, sometimes. Hotheads who dash off a flaming e-mail to someone they're mad at sometimes wish they still lived in the days when the amount of time it would have taken them to find a stamp, address an envelope and get to the post office would have allowed their cooler head to prevail. If you're angry, sleep on it. (When unsuccessful job candidates flame me, I print out their e-mail, staple it to their application and put it in the permanent files. I have been tempted to forward a copy of the e-mail to their boss, who will then know that they not only are looking for a job, but have incredibly bad judgment.) * Lacks emphasis and intonation. * Sarcastic humor can sound like insults. Even if you use those little emoticons. ;-) * It forms a permanent record that can be saved, forwarded or printed. GOOD FOR: Quickly sending text, data, images and sound. Instantly sedning material that the recipient can read when they have time.. BAD FOR: Times when you need to be sure the other party gets your message right now. (Use the phone or face-to-face, instead.) Delivering really bad news. Expressing your anger in a constructive way. Privacy. Notice how many so-called" internal" newspaper notices, issued digitally, show up on Jim Romanesko's MediaNews, and how quickly they get there. E-mail makes it possible.
THE MEMO CHARACTERISTICS: The ultimate in one-way communication, a memo carries just one persons views. For that reason, memoes usually are for topdown communication, but they can flow the other way, too. They are good for laying out policies and proposals, for suggesting and summarizing. GOOD FOR: Communicating by memo gives you the chance to plan what you want to say and to get it right. As such, a memo has a formality that requires correct spelling and punctuation, while an e-mail message might be more off-the-cuff. A memo is a permanent record that may be photocopied, posted, passed around and filed. BAD FOR: Informal or personal matters. An editor's memo telling a copy editor that she did a good job raises a pat on the back into something larger. A memo telling people someone happy birthday or that a ring has been left in the men's room seems to be over the top, impersonal or officious. CC:'ing THE MEMO CHARACTERISTICS: CC is the abbreviation for carbon copy. (If you don't know what that means, go ask your grandfather.) This letters signify that copies of the document (on paper or digital) have been sent to the names that follow the abbreviation. We've outgrown carbon paper, but we haven't outgrown the carbon copy. CC can have widely different effects, depending on what the note says and where you decide to send the copies. CC implies simultaneity, so some of the CC'd recipients will likely wonder whether the other people on the list have already read the note. A note that gives praise and is then copied to other people, spreading the good news around, is a nice thing. The sender lets everyone know that he or she appreciates good work, is considerate enough to thank someone for it and is thoughtful enough to send the good words around. CC'ing praise reflects well on its sender. When someone CC's a negative note, that has extreme power. In fact, the very act of sending the note to the CC parties can outshout the words themselves. Some people CC their ire to those who supervise the objects of their disaffection. If you scorch your boss or a colleague in a memo and then send copies blazing up through the chain of command, you'll almost always be the one who gets burned. Your immediate boss will think, "Why are they going over my head?" Your boss' boss will think, "So, is this supposed to get someone in trouble?" Your boss' boss' boss will think, "What now? Why does this person think they need to tell me about this? Do they expect a response from me?" Most of the time, the bad news that this kind of note carries is more effectively handled person to person. GOOD FOR: Sending good news or making sure everyone is "in the loop." BAD FOR: Venting Trash talk trashes you Everyone likes a little trash talk. Television networks have risen and fallen on it. Some people use it to gain status among their peers. And it has cost American businesses more productivity than Girl Scout cookie sales, the college basketball playoff pool and Monday-morning hangovers combined. You know it is wrong. Cut it out. Trash talk is not harmless recreation, and the one you hurt the most could be yourself. Now, a lot of top editors, insulated from their staffs by layers and layers of deputy, assistant, associate and assigning editors may seem not to know what is going on at the reporter level. In a lot of cases, that is even true. But the one thing they are likely to find out about is who the trash-talkers are. They find out because trash talk lives and dies on the newsroom grapevine -- and most editors have a piece of it, too. Some editors even use the grapevine to put out their own messages. "Well, I could issue a memo, but I just dropped a word to Terry. That will work faster. I'm sure half the newsroom knows it by now." If you become the diva of dish or the sultan of smear, your reputation will suffer. Your work will, too. Being heavily invested in office gossip takes a lot of time. It can tend to get you all wrapped up in networks other than the ones that run the place. Your productivity will drop. Editors will notice. And they likely will know what you're doing instead of work. Your compensation and success are more likely linked to how much you know about the outside community than to how much you know about who said what to whom, who is dating whom and how good you are at handicapping the next promotion. You may gain some fame with some of your peers for being an in-house know-it-all, but it comes with a cost. Success will come faster and your work will be better if you can restrain yourself from using your energies to keep up to the minute on the latest office melodrama. Someone may say, "Gee, he sure is clueless about what goes on around here," but someone else will say, "yes, but I've never heard him say a bad word about any of us and he sure puts a lot of stuff in the paper." Enough said.
When You Get Big-Footed It can make you resentful. Hell, it can drive you downright mad. Just when you find a big story or idea, something that will lift you above the usual routine, it gets taken away. You feel cheated and disrespected. So, what are you going to do? First, assess the situation. You may have found the story, but are you best equipped to do it? Editors should consider both factors. Getting the best possible story to the readers matters more to editors than making sure that everyone on the staff feels happy. It's not always the case that the person who starts a story is the best person, for the readers, to take it all the way. Recognize, too, that some stories require more than one reporter. In the early part of your career, you were indoctrinated into thinking that single-byline stories are best. That's because you were writing for clips and didn't want there to be any confusion about what was your work and what was someone else's. The best newspapers, however, will swarm the best stories with people. "You get down to the police station, you get to the neighborhood where it happened, you three go stake out the hospitals and you stay here and take feeds from the others." The same coverage plan goes into non-breaking news stories. Finally, remember that other people on the staff may have feelings of ownership about the story you turned up, too. They may feel reluctant to share carefully nurtured sources with other reporters, or they may see the story as a follow on something they did previously. Getting big-footed can have a lot of dimensions to it, and you're best off if you understand them all. Otherwise, you can look like you're pouting or sulking. So, what do you do when it happens? Try to stick with the story. Be proud that you turned up a good story, and ask to stay involved. Don't insist on all or nothiing. Be persistent about going along for the ride. If this is to be a team story, make the case that you should be part of the team. If it doesn't require a team, try to remain on the story as a partner. If they put someone on it who is clearly more skilled, ask to use it as a learning experience. Be professional by showing your dedication to the story, not to your own hurt feelings. Offer what you have. Pitch a sidebar you can handle yourself. In some cases, you may need to talk to the editor privately, explain why you don't like the way things were handled and ask why you were knocked off the story. The key is generally not confrontation, but to hang in there, to get a piece of what you can't have entirely and to show that you want the best story, too. Then, remember all that. The day may come when someone else will start a story that will come your way. When that happens, keep the other person involved. Online Journalism Online journalism is reporting and other journalism produced or distributed via the Internet. An early leader was The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., USA. Many news organizations based in other media also distribute news online. How much they take advantage of the medium varies. Some news organizations use the Web only or primarily. The Internet challenges traditional news organizations in several ways. They may be losing classified ads to Web sites, which are often targeted by interest instead of geography. The advertising on news Web sites is sometimes insufficient to support the investment. Even before the Internet, technology and perhaps other factors were dividing people's attention, leading to more but narrower media outlets. Online journalism also lead to the spread of independent online media such as openDemocracy in the UK, and Wikinews in the US.
Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video signals (programs) to a number of recipients ("listeners" or "viewers") that belong to a large group. This group may be the public in general, or a relatively large audience within the public. Thus, an Internet channel may distribute text or music world-wide, while a public address system in (for example) a workplace may broadcast very limited ad hoc soundbites to a small population within its range. The sequencing of content in a broadcast is called a schedule. Television and radio programs are distributed through radio broadcasting or cable, often both simultaneously. By coding signals and having decoding equipment in homes, the latter also enables subscription-based channels and pay-per-view services. A broadcasting organization may broadcast several programs at the same time, through several channels (frequencies), for example BBC One and Two. On the other hand, two or more organizations may share a channel and each use it during a fixed part of the day. Digital radio and digital television may also transmit multiplexed programming, with several channels compressed into one ensemble. When broadcasting is done via the Internet the term webcasting is often used. Broadcasting forms a very large segment of the mass media. Broadcasting to a very narrow range of audience is called narrowcasting. Newsreels A Newsreel is a documentary film that is regularly released in a public presentation place containing filmed news stories. Created by Path Frres of France in 1908, this form of film was a staple of the typical North American, British, and Commonwealth countries (especially Canada, Australia and New Zealand), and throughout European cinema programming schedule from the silent era until the 1960s when television news broadcasting completely supplanted its role. Path would eventually merge with RKO... An example of a newsreel story is in the film Citizen Kane (which was prepared by RKO's actual newsreel staff), which includes a fictional newsreel that summarizes the life of the title character. History of the US Networks 1920 - 1990s WWI - Navy Control Postwar - Private Hands Marconi - General Electric - RCA (David Sarnoff) RCA - GE (25%), - Westinghouse (20%), - AT&T (4%) GE/Westinghouse - manufacture RCA - sales AT&T - make/sell transmitters Birth of radio - Conrad, Pittsburgh, Hornes & Westinghouse Nov 2 1920 KDKA 20 radio transmission licences in 1920 200 in 1922 Nearly 600 by 1923 Westinghouse/GE/RCA - "Radio Group Station". (WJZ) AT&T/Western Electric "Telephone Group Station" (WEAF) 1926 AT&T left market Westinghouse/GE/RCA creates NBC Blue and Red networks First competition CBS (William Paley) Post 1927 advertising becomes increasingly important sponsoring/producing programmes 1930s - networks dominant force in US broadcasting.
1938 - 40% of the 660 radio stations affiliated to NBC or CBS - 98% of total nihttime wattage Mutual Broadcasting System. - "Chain Broadcasting Investigation" * no station could run two stations in the same market * NBC and CBS forced to sell in-house talent booking agencies 1943 - NBC sells Blue. Becomes ABC Television - "naturally" run by networks Television TV initially slow to develop in US some doubt over standards 1941 FCC adopts National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) standards 1947 FCC reaffirms standards 1948 Stations increase from 17 to 48, Cities served from 8 to 23, Sales surpass 1947 by 500%, 47 audience grows by 4000 1948 - 1952: "The Freeze" 1952 FCC Sixth Report and Order - makes 2053 allotments in 1,291 communities 1950s - 1970s - Network competition NBC - to 1955 CBS - 1955 - 1976 ABC - 1976 (Fred Silverman) 1980s & 1990s - New Networks 1987 - Fox 1995 - UPN (United Paramount Network) 1995 - WB (Warner Brothers) Syndication: "any programme sold, licenced, distributed, or offered to television stations licenses in more than one market for nonnetwork television broadcast exhibition. Off-network syndication First-run syndication Financial interest -syndication rules (finsyn) Syndicated shows usually "stripped"- Therefore need for many (130 plus) episodes Creates demand for first run syndicated shows. Regulation FCC - Federal Communications Commission Fairness Doctrine ('87) Equal Time Provision (essentially '83) Prime Time Access Rule (PTAR) ('95) Limits on station ownership 18-18-12 rule (FM/AM/TV) Advertising Finsyn ('93) Television - Overview 79% of young people, aged 9-17, watch TV for one or more hours each day. Source: Young People In A Wired World, Media Awareness Network, 2001 Most of us have happy memories of watching television with our families when we were young. But what was once a simple shared pastime has become an increasingly complexand sometimes problematic part of modern family life. Instead of two or three stations we now have hundreds, with shows for every taste and interest. This increased selection means that there are fewer opportunities for the whole family to sit down and enjoy a show together. Watching television has become a more solitary activity and less shared time means that parents are less able to monitor what their kids are watching. SUMMARY: The Effects of Television What effect has television had on our society? How does it impact the intellectual, moral, and psychological development of our children? According to numerous Gallup polls over the years, this is an enduring - and growing - concern of many parents, grandparents, and educators. The most recent of these polls (November 2002) indicates that concerns have continued to grow and parents' sense of helplessness has increased. So what are the documented effects of television, and what control do we as parents have? How can "regular folks" make a difference in the rising tide of vulgarity, violence, and hypersexuality that seems to engulf our children? This is not a simple topic, and we won't treat it simply. There are many aspects to the effect that television, films, and advertising have on our society and on our children. These are related and often overlap, but in many cases they have separate and distinct issues.
Media Violence The most studied of these issues has been the impact of media violence on children. Over a thousand academic studies have been completed, with remarkably consistent results: media violence makes our kids more aggressive, less patient, and more fearful of the world around them. Watching violence desensitizes children to actual acts of violence. Portrayals of Sexual Exploitation and Attitudes Portrayals of hypersexual behavior, casual sexual encounters without apparent consequence, exploitative programs like ABC's Are You Hot? and exploitation of sex in advertising have just the effect that parents fear. They turn up the pressure on teens to have sexual relations earlier, normalizing casual sexual encounters, and confusing younger kids who may be somewhat traumatized by too-early exposure to sexual issues. Impact on Self-Image Impact on self-image, particularly of teens, is substantial and well-documented. The combined effects of television (passivity, lowered physical activity, increased aggressiveness, sense of isolation, etc.) contribute to the negative changes in adolescent behavior over the last twenty years. Dramatic increases in anorexia, bulemia, depression, and self-mutilation over the last decade are certainly symptoms of an underlying cultural problem - one that television contributes to substantially. The Harvard Medical School's study on the dramatic increase of eating disorders among teen girls on Fiji after the introduction of American television is a scientific "smoking gun." Read the study. Vulgarity and Rudeness In a recent poll, (April, 2002) nearly eight in 10 respondents to the poll said lack of respect and courtesy is a serious national problem, and six in 10 said the problem is getting worse. This relates to increased aggressiveness, lack of consideration of others, and public vulgarity, all behaviors that are normalized by increasingly vulgar and rude television shows. Most media experts believe that television has shaped and accelerated this trend, rather than simply reflecting it, as TV execs are fond of claiming. Rude and vulgar behavior on television "normalizes" the behavior and breaks down the social barriers that help children understand when certain behaviors are appropriate (the locker room) and not appropriate (in class, at a party). Intense and disturbing imagery Intense and disturbing imagery, including scenes of extreme violence (but including other extreme taboos such as cannibalism), were once found only in ultraviolent films. More and more, those images are appearing on television and cable. Particularly for children and teens, these images have an effect that can best be described as a reduced version of post-traumatic stress disorder. The intense and disturbing images return unbidden and at times obsessively since the children have little ability to process and sublimate the images. Passive watching - the "couch potato" syndrome Television doesn't have to be violent or vulgar to have a negative effect. Excessive television watching of any sort has clear psychological and physiological effects on children. We refer to this as the "couch potato" syndrome. Several studies have documented that even benign television content decreases children's creativity and imagination, decreases physical activity, increases obesity. Lowered grades, decreased ability to handle stress and conflict, and higher levels of aggressive behavior with peers have also been clearly documented. Advertising manipulation/commercialization The effects of commercialism cannot be underestimated. Our children are besieged by manipulative commercial messages day in and day out, on TV, and even at school. Companies hire psychologists to help them target children and manipulate them; we call this the "art of whine-making." The bombardment of commercial messages has created a sense of chronic dissatisfaction in children and, many psychologists think, has contributed to the increased in teen depression.
SUMMARY: The Television Business "The TV business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs." - Hunter S. Thompson Selling Eyeballs If you think the television business is about entertainment and news, you're in serious need of reeducation. The television business is about making money. And they make money by "selling eyeballs." Entertainment is a side issue, something that happens now and then as a happy accident. Values, the impact on children, the direction society is going are not generally part of the picture at all. Anything that a programmer can do that increases ratings (more "eyeballs") is what they will do. Attracting eyeballs cheaply is even better. And if that means having supermodels eat worms, well, heck, let's do it! Youth, Youth, Youth The television business is really controlled by the advertising business, and suffers from all the arbitrary trends and fashionable theories pushed by agencies. Chief among these right now is the lemming-like rush to "buy young eyeballs." The coveted target audience is 18-49, with many ad agencies emphasizing the 18-34 group; some focus more on the even younger 13-24 group, hoping to cultivate future brand-loyal customers. Once you hit 50, you fall off the radar scope; tastes of older audiences are no longer considered by most networks. The problem is, there is very little scientific basis for this pervasive philosophy that drives network programming. In fact, most studies reveal a significant flaw in the theory. David Poltrack, CBS Vice President of advertising, says that "all of the statistical evidence, all of the marketing research that's been done, documents that the fastest growing audience of importance is the 55-plus audience." The "Suits" Another factor that affects the quality of programming is the fact that the big networks are now owned by even larger, multinational corporations, and are run by MBAs instead of people with creative credentials. In the business, actors and directors refer to these folks as "the suits." Veteran entertainers like Carol Burnett blame these corporate money managers for much of the decline in the quality of television programming. Today, decisions in the television business are based more on multinational corporate policies than whether a given show is good or bad. This has been accelerated hugely by the massive consolidation over the last several years; today only eight gigantic companies control nearly everything you see in movie theatres, on TV, and hear on the radio. Tiny, Isolated, Out of Touch But the problems that the television industry has in connecting with most viewers is not just due to "the suits" or pressure from Madison Avenue. The problems also stem from the fact that the television world is very, very small, quite isolated, and very much out of touch with mainstream America. Hiding behind the First Amendment But ultimately, the exploitative and vulgar programming we are seeing today traces back to a steadfast refusal to take responsibility for the effects of programming. Executives are in frantic denial, insisting that television simply reflects culture and denying that their programs have an influence or shaping effect. Real change in the television business will not come until more executives begin to take personal responsibility for the effects their decisions have on society. This is what we refer to as "socially responsible media."
Radio Broadcasting Radio: The Roots of Broadcasting "Just a minute! Something's happening.! Ladies and gentlemen, this is terrific. The end of the thing is beginning to flake off! The top is beginning to rotate like a screw! The thing must be metal! ... This is the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed! Wait a minute. Someone is crawling out of the hollow top. Someone or... something. I can see peering out of that black two luminous discs .. are they eyes? It might be a face. It might be ..." With that, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater players unleashed the "War of the Worlds" on October 30, 1938 (the night before Halloween). The play, only an hour long, caused people to dash hysterically into the streets, flock to churches to pray, or fatalistically face death at the hands of Martian invaders. From the CBS Radio Studio One in New York, Welles demonstrated, convincingly and disturbingly, the power of radio. From 1887, when Heinrich Hertz first sent and received radio waves, to the present, an amazing amount of progress has been made by radio and TV engineers and scientists. We take for granted today what was considered science fiction just a decade or two ago. The route from the primitive spark-gap transmitters to the present state-of-the-art has been charted by the pioneering efforts of many. Broadcasting (along with telephone technology) has brought the world closer together than the early pioneers of the art could have imagined. Eighty years have passed since Charles D. (Doc) Herrold founded a voice station (as it then was known) at San Jose, CA. Developments between then and now have been marked by many inspired breakthroughs, and many years of plain hard work. In the Beginning... In 1895, at age 21, Guglielmo Marconi and his brother Alfonso first transmitted radio signals across the hills behind their home in Bologna, Italy. Unable to interest the Italian government in his invention, Marconi took his crude transmitter and receiver to England, where the British navy quickly realized the maritime potential of radio. Within two years, the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company had been founded. The invention of the vacuum tube diode by J. Ambrose Fleming in 1904 and the triode vacuum tube amplifier by Lee DeForest in 1906 launched broadcasting as we know it. Early experimental stations took this new technology and began developing their own tubes using in-house capabilities, including glass blowing. As the young electronics industry began to grow, vacuum tubes were produced in great quantity and standardized (to a point), making it possible to share new developments and applications. It is difficult to answer the question, "Who was the first broadcaster?" Much depends on what is defined as broadcasting. As far as AM radio is concerned, the grandfather of the broadcast industry, there were five stations that exhibited a rich tradition of being first in broadcasting: * KDKA, Pittsburgh. Dr. Frank Conrad conducted the experimental work that led to the establishment of KDKA, which made its formal debut on November 2, 1920. Conrad was apparently among the first to use the term "broadcast" to describe a radio service. * WWJ, Detroit. The birthplace of broadcasting at WWJ was the Detroit News. The station signed on the air August 20, 1920. It was the first station to be operated by a newspaper, and the first commercial station to broadcast regularly scheduled daily programs. * KCBS, San Jose. Doc Herrold's station at San Jose (which eventually became KCBS, San Francisco) began as an experimental operation with the first documented transmissions occurring in 1909. It is said of Herrold that he conceived the idea of broadcasting information and entertainment programs to the public. * WHA, the University of Wisconsin. 9XM-WHA achieved its first successful transmission of voice and music in 1917 from the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison. Pioneers in the establishment of the station were Malcolm Hansen and Professor Earle Terry. * WGY, Schnectady, NY. Operated by the General Electric Company, WGY served as the test bed for many experiments in AM radio. Later efforts at the facility were directed toward perfecting FM and television transmission. Each of these stations was first in its own way, and each played a significant role in establishing the foundation for broadcasting. Contributions included both equipment and technology. Most stations in the 1910s and '20s built their own gear. For example, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, special transmitting tubes were built by hand as needed to keep radio station 9XM, which later became WHA, on the air. The tubes were designed, constructed and tested by Professor E. M. Terry and a group of his students in the University laboratories. Some of the tubes were also used in wireless telephonic experiments carried on with the Great Lakes Naval Training Station during 1918, when a war-time ban was imposed on wireless broadcasts. It took many hours to make each tube. The air was extracted by means of a mercury vapor vacuum pump while the filaments were lighted and the plate voltage was on. As the vacuum increased, the plate current was raised until the plate became red hot. This out-gassing process was primitive, but it worked. The students frequently worked through the night to get a tube ready for the next day's broadcasting. When completed, the device might last only a few minutes before burning out. Plate dissipation on the early tubes, designated #1, #2 and so on, was about 25W. Tube #5 had a power output of about 50W. Tubes #6-8 were capable of approximately 75W. Tube #8 was one of the earliest hand-made commercial products.
Sarnoff: The Visionary The "broadcasters" of the 1920s and early 30s were experimenters, not businessmen. Some businesses did, however, spring from the makeshift laboratories of the early scientists. David Sarnoff, general manager of RCA was quick to capitalize on the new medium. Sarnoff was a powerful figure in the development of radio broadcasting in the 1920s and '30s, and a key mover in the development of television from its beginning in the late 1920s through maturity in the '50s and beyond. Sarnoff was born in Russia in 1891, and came to the United States at the age of 9. After completing his schooling, Sarnoff secured a job as a telegraph operator with the Marconi Wireless Company and quickly proceeded to make a name for himself. In 1912, at the age of 21, he intercepted the first distress signals from the doomed ship Titanic. Legend has it that Sarnoff stayed at his post for 72 straight hours to keep the world apprised of the rescue attempts, and the names of survivors. As the story goes, when the disaster was over, Sarnoff was a household word. Four years later Sarnoff, then a contracts manager at the Marconi Company, sent a memo to his boss suggesting the use of radio for entertainment: "I have in mind a plan of development which would make radio a household utility in the same sense as the piano or phonograph... The receiver can be designed in the form of a simple 'Radio Music Box'...(which) can be placed in the parlor or living room." Sarnoff's marketing vision and appetite for hard work led him in 1919 to join the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) as general manager. RCA was created by General Electric when the American Marconi Company was returned to private control by the U.S. government following wartime operations. RCA's function was principally to handle the nation's overseas communications. RCA later became a stand-alone company, independent of GE. Sarnoff was best known at RCA in the years following World War II as "The General." (In 1944 he was awarded the rank of Brigadier General.) Radio Central Sarnoff and RCA's first major project was the construction of a huge radio transmitting station at Rocky Point, NY. The facility, completed in 1921, was hailed by President Harding as a milestone in wireless progress. The President, in fact, put the station into operation by throwing a switch that had been rigged-up at the White House. Wireless stations around the globe had been alerted to tune in for a congratulatory statement by the President. For a decade, Radio Central -- as it was known -- was the only means of direct communications with Europe. It was also the "hopping off" point for messages transmitted by RCA to Central and South America. The Rocky Point site was not only famous for its role in communications, but also for the pioneers of the radio age who regularly visited there. The guest book lists such men as Guglielmo Marconi, Lee DeForest, Charles Steinmetz, Nikola Tesla, David Sarnoff and many others. Radio Central was a milestone in transatlantic communications. There were originally two antenna structures at the Rocky Point site, each with six 410 foot towers. The towers stretched over a 3-mile area on the eastern end of Long Island. The facility long outlived its usefulness. RCA demolished one group of 6 towers in the 1950s; five more were destroyed in early 1960. The last tower of the once mighty Radio Central was taken down on December 13, 1977. Radio City at Rockefeller Center NBC was created in 1926 through the acquisition of two early experimental radio stations that had been founded by Westinghouse and AT&T. The network's commercial broadcast operations began in October 1927 at 711 Fifth Avenue in New York. The facilities, then viewed as spacious, were designed by venerated chief engineer O. B. Hanson, who would later go on to design the network's 30 Rockefeller Center headquarters. The first station, WJZ, had been established in 1921 by Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. A Newark, NJ, factory cloakroom was the original studio, equipped with a rented piano and an acoustic phonograph. After the station was purchased by RCA, the studios and transmitter were moved to Aeolian Hall in New York. The second station, WEAF, on New York's Walker Street, was put on the air by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which was -- in the words of the company -- "anxious to study the possibilities of radio broadcasting." In just six years, the pioneer network outgrew the Fifth Avenue quarters. On November 11, 1933, NBC began network operations at "30 Rock". The 11-story building, just to the west of the 70-story RCA Building Tower, simultaneously fed two networks and the two local stations. The building contained 22 studios and five audition rooms, with associated client and observation rooms, switching booths, a master control center and other technical facilities. The new radio complex occupied almost 280,000 square feet.
Hanson's Vision Hanson's master plan for radio broadcasting from 30 Rock evolved from his radio communication experience, which began in 1912 with his education in "wireless" at the Marconi Company (later the RCA Institute). He went to sea twice, and between voyages, worked for Marconi's testing department. Hanson eventually became chief engineer of the department and helped put WAAM radio in Newark on the air. Hanson moved to WEAF in 1922, becoming the assistant to the plant engineer. When NBC bought the station in 1926, he became the chief engineer. Hanson's vision in broadcast facilities design is implicit in the radio network's 55-year occupancy of 30 Rock, with the continually expanding TV network as a co-occupant since the late 1930s. His accomplishments lend credence to the old saw that experience is the best teacher. His design knowledge was the amalgamation of lessons learned at sea, at Marconi, at the experimental facilities of WAAM and WEAF and, later, in the installation and operation of the network's Fifth Avenue facilities. It is particularly interesting that Hanson designed 30 Rock for both radio network broadcasting, and for what he described as "elementary visual broadcasting, or television, as it is more popularly known." His foresight was evident. "Anticipating the advent of television," he wrote, "the entire lighting system in the studio section was designed to operate on direct current to obviate the possibility of stroboscopic interference from alternating current lighting. Five 750kW motor generator sets in the basement (have) a considerable portion of capacity intended for flood lighting, a requirement for television." The design of a ninth floor, 4-studio group anticipated special needs for complex live radio production as well as live television, as shown in Figure 2-1. The four 30-foot, almost-square studios were arranged around a single central control room. Hanson installed sound-insulated windows from this control room into each of the four studios. The floor of the control room was designed so that it could be converted into a turntable that revolved via an electric motor. "One purpose of this studio group is to allow, in sound broadcasting, for the separation of various performers," Hanson wrote. "For example, the orchestra might be in one studio, the principal players in another and the remainder of the cast in still another. The outputs from the three studios would then be electrically combined or 'mixed.' The arrangement allows the producer a more accurate control over the 'balances' of the units involved. "Another purpose of these studios is to allow for rapid scene shifts in television. This would be accomplished by simply revolving the control-room floor so that the scanning equipment, which would be mounted thereon, would face the desired studio," he said. (What was Hanson's 1930 vision as to the form and size of the TV camera?) "Thus, four scene changes could be effected, if necessary, within a very short time." According to Hanson, "The maximum practicable degree of centralization (is needed) to simplify the problem of routine inspection and maintenance, and to facilitate the location or correction of trouble in the minimum possible time." All of the centralized switching, master control and input/output equipment was situated originally on the fifth floor, along with a power room and battery room (providing 14Vdc filament power at 250A, and 400Vdc plate B+ voltage at 2.5A), and a main equipment room filled with 330 racks including 300 audio amplifiers. On the periphery of this floor (one of two with windows) were operating staff offices, recording rooms (for electrical transcriptions), a laboratory (specific capabilities or purposes not identified) and operating and maintenance shops. The equipment roster and materials list for the 30 Rock project included the following: * Equipment installation time: 9 months * Audio cable, miscellaneous sizes: 470,000 feet * Other miscellaneous wire: 250,000 feet * Largest cable used: 1,800 conductor * Synchronous clocks (220 Vac/60 Hz): 275 * Conduit, miscellaneous sizes: 660,000 feet * Trench for cable: 2,500 feet * Sound-insulated doors: 296 * Microphone outlets in studios: 250 * Loudspeakers: 175 * Radio receivers: 110 * Equipment racks: 330 * Audio amplifiers: 300 * Vacuum tubes: 2,000 * Remote monitoring stations: 120 With the sale of NBC radio in 1988, the 11-story studio core was transformed into an all-TV plant.
WLW: The Nation's Station Radio station WLW has a history as colorful and varied as any in the United States. It is unique in that it was the only station ever granted authority to broadcast with 500kW. The station actually began with 20 watts of power as a hobby of Powel Crosley, Jr. The first license for WLW was granted by the Department of Commerce in 1922. Crosley was authorized to broadcast on a wavelength of 360 meters with a power of 50W, three evenings a week. Growth of the station was continuous. It operated at various frequencies and power levels until, in 1927, WLW was assigned to 700kHz at 50kW and remained there. Operation at 50kW commenced on October 4, 1928. The transmitter was located in Mason, OH. The station could be heard as far away as Jacksonville, FL and Washington, D.C. The super-power era of WLW began in 1934. The contract for construction of the enormous transmitter was awarded to RCA in February 1933. Tests on the unit began on January 15, 1934. The cost of the transmitter and associated equipment was approximately $400,000, not much today, but a staggering sum in the middle of the Great Depression. At 9:02 p.m. on May second, programming was commenced with full 500kW of power. The super-power operation was designed to be experimental, but Crosley managed to renew the license every 6 months until 1939. The call sign W8XO was occasionally used during test periods, but the regular call sign of WLW was used for programming. "Immense" is the only way to describe the WLW facility. The antenna reached a height (including the flagpole at the top) of 831-feet. The antenna rested on a single ceramic insulator that supported the combined force of 135 tons of steel and 400 tons exerted by the guys. The tower was guyed with eight 1 7/8-inch cables anchored 375-feet from the base of the antenna. The main antenna was augmented by a directional tower designed to protect CFRB, Toronto, when the station was using 500kW at night. The directional system was unique in that it was the first designed to achieve both horizontal directivity and vertical-angle suppression. A spray pond in front of the building provided cooling for the system, moving 512 gallons of water per minute. Through a heat exchanger, the water then cooled 200 gallons of distilled water in a closed system that cooled the transmitting tubes. The transmitter consumed an entire building. Modulation transformers weighing 37,000 pounds each were installed in the basement. Three plate transformers, a rectifier filter reactor, and a modulation reactor were installed outside the building. The "exciter" for the transmitter produced 50kW of RF power! A motor-generator was used to provide 125V dc for control circuits. The station had its own power substation. While operating at 500kW, the transmitter consumed 15,450,000 kWh per year. The facility was equipped with a complete machine shop because station personnel had to build much of the ancillary hardware they needed. Equipment included gas, arc and spot welders, a metal lathe, milling machine, engraving machine, sander, drill press, metal brake, table saw and other equipment. A wide variety of electrical components were also on hand. WLW operated at 500kW until March 1, 1939, when the FCC ordered the station to reduce power to 50kW. The station returned to super-power operation a few times during World War II for government research. The days when WLW could boast to being "the nation's station," were, however, in the past. The FCC Enters the Picture As broadcasting began to develop, it became obvious to lawmakers that some type of regulation was needed to provide for orderly use of the airwaves. To fill this need, the Federal Communications Commission was formed in 1934, the end result of the Communications Act of the same year. The FCC, now observing its 55th year, was officially established on June 19, 1934, when President Franklin Roosevelt signed the enabling legislation. Some noteworthy actions during the first year of operation included: * First broadcast license denied (KGIX, Las Vegas) for failure to complete its construction as required. * Current ownership information required from broadcast stations. * Hearings held on non-profit educational broadcasting allocations. * Allocations for clear and other channels (with several stations operating simultaneously at night) to be surveyed. * First amateur license revoked. The "Golden Era" of Radio Radio of the pre-World War II days was more than an entertainment and information medium. It was a friend; a connection with the rest of the world; an escape from the hardships of the Great Depression. Radio was special. People involved in it were special. This, legend has it, was the "golden age" of radio. If you were to step back 50 years into the studios of a local station you would find a much different world than the broadcast station of today: different equipment, different types of people and different business goals. Broadcasting of this era was more than just a business or a job. It was the profession of magic. Radio had a distinctly formal air about it. Announcers and musicians dressed in tuxedos. Female performers were elegantly attired as well, even when there was no studio audience. Announcing was formal. Broadcasting was regarded as a grand production, almost theatrical in nature. Enunciation and vocal clarity were essential, partly due to limitations of the equipment, but also because of the tradition of the theater. This formality of attitude and style would remain a part of radio well into the 1940s. Many local stations had a staff orchestra, some for playing jazz, others for symphonic programs. A few stations had their own dramatic groups. Each station had its following of loyal fans who would structure their days around their favorite radio programs. Those were the days that brought radio to its peak of popularity and influence.
Nearly every station had several studios of varying sizes. In New York and Hollywood, the networks used theaters for programs presented before audiences. Because audio consoles of stock design did not appear until the late 1930s, each station assembled its own facilities. Mixers were put together from individual faders. Amplifiers were stock items consisting of several basic types. Monitor loudspeakers were usually electro-dynamics mounted in a baffle of no particular design. Performance left a lot to be desired. The standard volume unit indicator (VU meter) was adopted by the industry in 1939. Prior to that time many different instruments were used to adjust program levels. Ballistic characteristics were far from standard, and the rectifier configurations inside the meters varied from model to model. The mainstay of the studio was the venerable RCA 44 series ribbon. The microphone provided fairly good directional characteristics, but its size and vulnerability to wind noise limited its use mainly to inside pickups. Condenser microphones were used to some extent in the '30s. Compared with today's versions, the early condensers were large, heavy and prone to produce noise under humid conditions. Dynamic microphones also enjoyed popularity, chiefly for remotes because of their ruggedness. For many years, phonograph records were frowned upon for actual broadcast use, due in part to questions regarding license and royalty matters. The main source of recorded music was transcription libraries. These libraries were leased to stations for use on the air. The 16-inch discs utilized various forms of modulation. Some used a vertical -- or "hill and dale"-- cut while others used a laterally modulated groove similar to modern discs. Turntables had to be large to accommodate the 16-inch discs; the machines were heavy for speed stability. Remote amplifiers were back-breakers in the literal sense. These "portable" units weighed in at 35 to 40 pounds. Add to this several microphones, stands, cables and headphones, and you can see why only the bravest souls liked to do remotes. The use of radio relay equipment was limited to frequencies between 1.6 and 3MHz. This required relatively long antennas, even when loaded with an inductance. Skywave effects were also a problem, and frequently caused interference. Because AM was the only method available, the systems were highly susceptible to noise. The Origins of the Networks The formation and growth of the national radio networks is an exciting chapter in the history of broadcasting. The growth and prosperity of networks was linked tightly with the number of potential affiliates. The giant RCA organization was the first company to recognize that the development of broadcast technology and management of broadcast services could best be performed by an independent organization. Accordingly, RCA under the guidance of David Sarnoff set the trend in network formation by creating the National Broadcasting Company in 1926. By the following year it had two divisions, the Red and Blue networks. The origins of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) can be traced back to 1926 and a company called United Independent Broadcasters (UIB). The firm came close to bankruptcy several times during its first year or so of operation. One of the organizations that kept UIB afloat for awhile was the Columbia Phonograph Company. When the record company sold back to the original investors their interest, they retained the name Columbia Broadcasting System. In 1927 William Paley became interested in the fledgling company, and decided to invest in it and help run it. The rest, as they say, is history. Incidentally, in 1938 CBS brought the Columbia Phonograph company (now Columbia Records) and held it until recently. In 1934, the Mutual Broadcasting System was created to serve the increasing number of radio stations on the air at that time. During the 1940s, two additional radio networks were founded, the DuMont Network (1946) and the Liberty Broadcasting System (1949). They played an important role in the broadcast industry of their time, but later bowed to the giant networks and their well-established affiliates. In 1943, Edward J. Nobel bought the NBC Blue Network (operated by NBC) and renamed it the American Broadcasting Company. The sale to Nobel was prompted by a federal antitrust ruling. The sale price to the Lifesaver manufacturer was $8-million. In 1953, the company was merged with Paramount, providing a valuable entry for the network into the telefilm business.
FM Grows Up FM radio was the forgotten stepchild of broadcasting until the early 1960s. The awakening came as the result of FM license allocation changes and stereo transmission. In 1962 the FCC revised its commercial FM rules to divide the United States into 3 zones (instead of the previous 2). Three classes of commercial FM stations were also created. Until the '62 decision, FM stations were authorized on the basis of protecting the predicted service contours of existing stations. The new rules, however, changed the FM assignment scheme to one requiring minimum mileage separations between stations. In 1963 the table of assignments for commercial FM stations was created, and nearly 3,000 assignments were made to nearly 2,000 mainland communities. Assignments in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were added in 1964. The new scheme enacted by the commission was not universally popular, however. Some FM stations on the air at the time were faced with having to reduce their power level and/or antenna height to meet the new guidelines. Stations operating at high powers -- 125kW ERP was not uncommon -- protested and sought to gain public support. In Northern California, for example, stations that were to be impacted by the new rules organized an appeal to listeners -- broadcast simultaneously on the stations. All of the stations to be affected reduced their power during the broadcast to show the public the negative impact such a reduction would have on service. The effort was copied in Los Angeles and other markets. Finally, in 1963, the grandfather rights of stations that had power in excess of Class B limits were granted. The second spark that made FM come alive was stereo. Although stereo audio dates back to experiments performed over wire lines by telephone engineers in the 1880s, real development came only with post-World War II technology. In 1959, the National Stereophonic Radio Committee was created to examine the many proposed systems of transmitting FM stereo and submit a final recommendation to the FCC. In the summer of 1960, 6 systems were field tested over KDKA-FM in Pittsburgh, with receivers set up at Uniontown, PA. The system proposed by General Electric and Zenith was adopted, with broadcasting authorized to start on June 1, 1961. The first stations to begin stereophonic programing under the new rules were, quite appropriately, WGHM, Schenectady, NY (owned by General Electric), and WEFM, Chicago (owned by Zenith). Circular polarization of the transmitted signal was another major step for FM radio. One of the early proponents was KPEN-FM, Atherton (on the San Francisco Peninsula), which later would become KIOI (better known as K-101), San Francisco. KPEN received a special temporary authorization from the FCC in the later part of 1963 to start testing the effects of adding a vertical component to the existing horizontal signal. A second Western Electric 10kW transmitter was purchased and modified to provide the needed power. Separate vertical dipoles were manufactured and installed on the station's tower. With this setup, engineers were able to vary the phase relationship and amplitude so that the station could switch from a horizontally polarized signal to a circular pattern. Monitoring points were established in rugged areas of San Francisco to observe the results. It was found that as the vertical component of the transmitted signal was increased, reception of stereo signals improved significantly. At the same time, Lew Wetzel of WFIL-FM was proving to the commission that the vertical component of a circularly polarized transmission did not extend the 1mV contour. With these two reports, the FCC decided that it would indeed be in the public interest for FM stations to transmit with circular polarization.
COMCOMPANY PROFILE (example of a Radio Conglomerate) The Comcompany is one of the largest major-market radio operators in the United States, with stations covering news, alternative rock, country, FM talk, classic rock, oldies, JACK and urban formats, among others. A division of Ubercorp Inc. (NYSE: UBER), Comcompany operates 178 radio stations, the majority of which are in the nation's top 50 markets. Additionally, Comcompany is home to 30 of the country's leading sports franchises amongst MLB, the NFL, the NBA, the WNBA, and the NHL including the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Chicago Bears and the Detroit Red Wings. Last Year, Comcompany owned and operated five of the nation's Top 10 billing radio stations, including three of the top four billing AM stations, and the top two billing stations among the rock format. Comcompany's one station also ranks as the most listened to station in the country. The overall mix of each radio station's programming is designed to fit the station's specific format and serve its local community. Among the popular national personalities heard on Comcompany are Don Imus and Howard Stern, along with a host of powerhouse local celebrities. Further enhancing Comcompany's programming exposure is the company's long-standing alliance with Westwood One, which provides stations with news, sports, weather, music, talk and entertainment programming and content, and presents an unparalleled menu of events such as the Olympic Games, NFL football, NCAA basketball, including the Men's Basketball Championship, The Masters, the U.S. Open, the Grammy Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards. OVERVIEW OF POSITIONS AT LOCAL STATIONS For information about the specific job openings currently available at Comcompany Broadcasting, visit the Comcompany Job Bank today. Listed below is a brief overview of some of the positions typically located at a station. Managerial Positions General Manager Responsible for the overall operation of a station. General Sales Manager Hires and supervises the sales staff, develops sales plans and goals. (Some larger stations may have separate national, regional and local sales managers) Program Director Responsible for the on-air product of the station. Also controls production, talent and program schedules. Business Manager In charge of all financial transactions. News Director Runs the news department, assigns stories to reporters, identifies news issues within the community. Promotions Director Promotes the station's image, programs and activities through contests, events, and activities. Chief Engineer Responsible for all technical operations at the station. On-Air Positions Announcers/Disc Jockeys Depending on a station's format, will host and produce programs, read commercial copy and public service announcements. Sales Positions Account Executive Makes calls on potential advertisers to sell commercial inventory on the station. Administrative Positions Sales Assistant Offers administrative support to the sales staff and the managers, including drafting of sales proposals. Traffic Director Links the programming and sales departments by collecting data to prepare a daily broadcast schedule. Keeps track of up to the minute commercial time availabilities. Promotions Assistant Offers administrative support to the programming and promotions staff. Receptionist Entry level position with duties that vary depending on the station.
Chapter 7 Law: Defined
The Law Sphere encompasses Local, State, Federal and International Law. Now, this would take ten times as many pages to cover each and every scenerio that a character could get in to, and for that, there have been libraries built to house all of the books related to the subject. There is no way that a game can cover that. Therefore, this section covers only the general topics that characters will come across, what the character's job will entail, and how they can rise in ranks. Jurisdiction will always be an issue between local, state, federal and international. It will be a Storyteller's Descretion as to how it is resolved, however, a way to streamline the issue into a way to control multiple types of Officers and Agents would be to implement a Joint Task Force. This however could be considered a more Totalitarian Regime, or Big Brother view, rather than the current U.S structure of Law Enfrocement, but this is the World of Darkness afterall. This book does not touch on the creation of laws. Nor does it touch on the process of the legal system once a criminal is caught and jailed. Most, if not all games, will not be able to support the true process of the law in the allocation of lawyers and have acceptable jurors to be able to bring about a 'fair trial' for the characters involved. This falls to the Storyteller. The evidence gathered by the Law PCs is presented by the Prosecuting Lawyer (Or given to the Storyteller in raw form from the PCs themselves) and the evidence gathered by the Defense Lawyer (Or the evidence supposedly collected in defense of the character will be determined by the Storyteller) and once that has been weighed, the Storyteller makes a decision as to the outcome of the trial, or at least, setting the difficulty of the roll to determine the outcome of the Jury's decision. Just as a note, there should not be anything as specific as a 'fair trial' here. This is after all, the World of Darkness.
Quick Overview The World of Darkness offers many opportunities for the Law Enforcement in any game. There are Murders, Homicides, Rapes, Burglaries, Corruption, Extortion.... You name it, we've got it. In fact, statistically speaking, we have more of it than the average city in the real world, when we add the World of Darkness twist to it. However, catching most of them is a bit harder than normal, given the darker nature of the game in general. Many Police just don't care anymore. For those who do, the paperwork and strife is a bleak existence. They are the few, the barely alive, the fighting. Most of the ranks are made up of Mortals, and that is the basis on which this page is written. If a 'supernatural' PC wishes to become a cop, then special arrangements can be made, cross-sphere, with both storytellers having a say in the character development. There are also Lawyers, Forensic Pathologists, Psychologists/Psychiatrists, Coroners and Judges that come under this Sub Sphere. Department of Justice - Introduction The mission of the United States Department of Justice is to enforce the law and defend the interests of the U.S. according to the law, provide Federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime, seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior, administer and enforce the Nation's immigration laws fairly and effectively and ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. In carrying out this mission, the Attorney General, as the Nation's chief law enforcement officer, directs and oversees the activities of the more than 110,000 attorneys, investigators, correctional personnel and other employees of the United States Department of Justice. Although the office of the Attorney General dates from 1789, the Department of Justice was not established until 1870. Today, its responsibilities are diverse and wide ranging. These responsibilities are carried out through the Department's component organizations: the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigate Federal crimes; the United States Marshals Service (USMS) protects the Federal judiciary, apprehends fugitives, detains prisoners and supports the Federal courts; the United States Attorneys and the litigating divisions prosecute offenders and represent the United States of America in Federal court; the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) controls the border and carries out the Nation's immigration statutes; and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) incarcerates sentenced offenders. The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) assist State and local governments. OJP's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) develops and disseminates knowledge about crime and justice issues; its Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) collects, analyzes, publishes and disseminates information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime and the operation of the justice systems at all levels of government. Other components also help administer the system of justice and further the Department's mission (the United States Trustees, the Community Relations Service, the Justice Management Division, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Office of the Inspector General, among others). Although the Department is headquartered in Washington, D.C., most of its work takes place outside of Washington. As a result, most of its employees are located in any of about 2,600 installations of the Department around the country (ranging from a one- or two-person border station to a large Division office in a major city), or in one of more than 100 overseas offices. Overall, the Department of Justice had a budget of over $16 billion in 1996, an 18.7-percent increase over last years budget of $13.8 billion.
Justice Intelligece Coordinating Council (JICC) The success of the nations efforts to combat terrorism and other criminal threats requires the intelligence components of the Department of Justice to coordinate their collection, production and dissemination of intelligence, as well as efforts to recruit, develop and retain intelligence professionals. To that end, the Attorney General today announced the establishment of a Justice Intelligence Coordinating Council (JICC). By coordinating our intelligence collection, the JICC will provide better support and information to the Terrorist Threat Integration Center recently created by President Bush, and will additionally aid the functions of the new Terrorist Screening Center as well. The JICC Will Be the Senior Level Coordination Mechanism for All Intelligence Related Activities Conducted by the Department and Its Subordinate Organizations. *It will improve the integration of the Departments intelligence related activities conducted for national security, homeland security, and criminal law enforcement purposes. *It also will provide the Department a unified voice in the Intelligence Community and in federal coordination with state, local, and tribal law enforcement. The Department Is Committed to Exercising Its Intelligence Functions within the Bounds of the Constitution, Laws and Guidelines that Protect the Privacy of Law-Abiding Americans. *In coordinating the Departments intelligence activities, the JICC will ensure adherence to these laws and guidelines and respect for civil liberties. The performance of intelligence functions by the Department of Justice integrates intelligence and law enforcement in order to combat terrorism and other threats to our country without sacrificing the freedoms that we cherish. *Components of the Justice Department are subject to open Congressional oversight and operate within a framework of judicial checks and balances that protect civil liberties The JICC Improves the Justice Department's Structure for Cooperating More Closely with the Intelligence Community and the Department of Homeland Security. *The Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of Central Intelligence signed an agreement in 2003 to govern the sharing of homeland security information. *The JICC will give the Attorney General a more effective way to monitor implementation of its provisions by the Justice Department components covered by this agreement. The Justice Department has Collaborated with the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative, Led By the International Association of Chiefs of Police, to Develop a National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan. *The Plan was approved by the IACP in October 2003 and endorsed by the Attorney General in November 2003. *The JICC will provide a more effective way for all the criminal law enforcement components of the DOJ to continue this collaboration during implementation of the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan and the Department's Law Enforcement Information Sharing strategy. The JICC Will Strengthen the Process for Coordinating Department of Justice Participation in the Intelligence-Related Work of the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council, and Other National-Level Bodies. LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERS: The Attorney General Intends to Appoint the FBI Executive Assistant Director for Intelligence, Maureen A. Baginski, as the First JICC Chair. She will have the responsibility to develop guidance and oversight procedures and to coordinate with other intelligence coordination entities to meet JICC requirements. *A coordinating staff made up of representatives from all JICC member organizations will support the activities of the JICC. They will work in concert with each Department of Justice intelligence organization in preparing material for the JICC and JICC Chair. Membership on the JICC Will Include: *Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives *Bureau of Prisons *Drug Enforcement Administration *Federal Bureau of Investigation *National Central Bureau (INTERPOL) *Office of Intelligence Policy and Review *Office of Tribal Justice *U.S. Marshalls Service
Office of the Inspector General (OIG) The Inspector General, United States Department of Justice (DOJ), promotes economy, efficiency and effectiveness within the Department. The Inspector General also enforces criminal and civil laws, regulations and ethical standards within DOJ by investigating individuals and organizations who allegedly are involved in financial, contractual or criminal misconduct in DOJ programs and operations. By Act of Congress, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was established in the Department of Justice (Department) on April 14, 1989. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) consists of an immediate office, which is comprised of the Inspector General, the Deputy Inspector General, the Office of the General Counsel and the Special Investigations and Review Unit; and four major components, each headed by an Assistant Inspector General. The four OIG components are: The Audit Division, which conducts, reports on and tracks the resolution of financial and performance audits of organizations, programs and functions within the Department. Financial audits examine financial statements and financially related activities. Performance audits review economy, efficiency and programmatic issues. The Audit Division also monitors expenditures made under DOJ contracts, grants and other agreements. The Investigations Division, which investigates alleged violations of fraud, abuse and integrity laws that govern DOJ employees, operations, grantees and contractors. Investigations Division Special Agents develop cases for criminal prosecution and civil or administrative action. The Inspections Division, which provides the Inspector General with an alternative mechanism to traditional audit and investigative disciplines to assess Department of Justice (Department) programs and activities. Much of the work results in recommendations to decisionmakers to streamline operations, reduce unnecessary regulations, improve customer service, and minimize inefficient and ineffective procedures. In addition to assessing Department programs, the Division conducts special reviews requested by the Inspector General or senior Department management that arise suddenly and need immediate attention. The Management and Planning Division, which provides the Inspector General with advice on administrative and fiscal policy and assist OIG components by providing services in the areas of planning, budget, finance, quality assurance, personnel, training, procurement, automated data processing, computer network communications and general support. The Office of General Counsel, located in the Inspector General's immediate office, consists of three attorneys. This office provides legal advice to the Inspector General and the OIG's four divisions (Investigations, Audit, Inspections, and Management and Planning), and addresses a wide array of issues including statutory interpretation, fraud, personnel and labor management, criminal procedure, Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act, and ethics. Attorneys also occupy the positions of Counselor to the Inspector General and Special Investigative Counsel. In addition, four attorneys serve in the OIG's Special Investigations and Review Unit, which performs certain sensitive investigations involving Department employees and operations. Continuing the effort to address corruption and misconduct within the Department, the Inspector General (IG) formed the Research and Analysis Unit (Unit) in the Investigations Division. The Unit will design, plan, and conduct policy analyses and research projects related to the investigation and prevention of corruption. Unit initiatives will include studies of corruption in the federal prison system and along the Southwest Border and development of a more targeted integrity awareness program. The Unit also will develop a statistics-based management program to help the Division identify trends in Department misconduct and corruption and develop strategies to address these trends. The special agents are assigned to offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Dallas, El Centro, El Paso, Houston, Los Angeles, McAllen, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Tucson. The auditors are located in offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Other OIG components -- the Inspections Division, the Special Investigations and Review Unit, the Management and Planning Division, the Office of General Counsel, and the Inspector General's immediate office -- are located in Washington, D.C. The OIG carries out its mission with a workforce of approximately 480 special agents, auditors, inspectors, and support staff. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducts investigations of employee misconduct and performs audits and inspections of Department programs and operations. The OIG investigates allegations of misconduct involving all Department employees except those of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and attorneys where the allegation involves the exercise of authority to investigate, litigate or provide legal advice, and any law enforcement participants in such cases. The OIG also investigates all allegations of fraud by contractors, grantees, and recipients of Department benefits, and third parties improperly seeking to influence the Department or its employees. The OIG conducts audits and inspections of Department programs, operations, contracts and grants to detect and prevent fraud, waste and abuse. It also recommends, where appropriate, changes in policies or procedures to improve efficiency. The Inspector General reports directly to the Attorney General, has access to all Department records and documents, may subpoena records from outside sources, and administers oaths and takes affidavits as necessary. In addition, OIG special agents are deputized as Special Deputy U.S. Marshals.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) Date Founded: Founded 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation, reformed 1935 as the Federal Bureau of Investigation Mission When Founded: To act as a purely investigative arm of the Attorney General's office Mission Today: The FBI now enforces over 255 federal laws. It has full police powers of arrest and jurisdiction over domestic counterintelligence. Jurisdiction: Anywhere within the borders of the U.S. and its territories. The FBI has conducted legal arrests of suspects in international waters. Headquarters: J. Edgar Hoover Buildig, Wahsington, D.C.; FBI Training Academy, Criminal Forensics Laboratory, and support facilities at Quantico USMC base, Virginia 1 # of Personnel: 21,607 total, with 10,000 agents Annual Budget: $ 2.338 billion (estimated) History/Profile: When the Bureau of Investigation was formed, it had no powers of arrest. Agents were known as "Briefcase Agents," because they were not permitted to carry firearms. When J. Edgar Hoover took over the Directorship of the Bureau in 1924, it had devolved into a corrupt and highly politicized agency, staffed by all manner of con men and political hacks. It was to Hoover's credit that he professionalized the Bureau and turned it into the premier law-enforcement agency in the United States. It is equally to Director William Webster's credit that he ended the "Hoover Era" with its emphasis on surveillance of domestic political opposition and radicals who offended Hoover's sensibilities. Webster did not stop those activities but instead made sure that only criminal, foreign-government- influenced, or dangerously violent political groups would be subject to investigation by the FBI. The FBI has jurisdiction over investigations dealing with white-collar crime, foreign counterintelligence, organized crime, public corruption, civil rights violations, terrorism, federal narcotics violation and robbery of banks insured by the Federal Depositor's Insurance Corporation. As the quality of local law has risen and the quality of bank robbers has fallen, the FBI has placed bank robbery at the bottom of its. priority list, Its counterintelligence manpower has been cut since the collapse of Communism. What remains of the Intelligence Division has focused its attention on international terrorism. The FBI has received much publicity for its Psychological Crimes Division and the assistance it provides in tracking down serial killers. The FBI has fifty-nine regional offices in the U.S. as well as fifteen overseas embassy presences for liaisoning with foreign law-enforcement agencies. The FBI Crime Laboratory and National Fingerprint Index serve as a resource to local law enforcement, and the FBI Academy at Quantico trains law- enforcement personnel from around the U.S. and the world. The FBI is the one federal law-enforcement agency that does open its intelligence database to the CIA. All such intelligence requests must be made formally to the Director of the FBI. The FBI motto is Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity." MISSION The mission of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners. The organization with these responsibilities has not always been called the FBI. Investigative Jurisdiction of the FBI: The FBI's investigative authority is the broadest of all federal law enforcement agencies. Therefore, it has adopted a strategic approach which stresses long-term, complex investigations. The FBI's investigative philosophy also emphasizes close relations and information sharing with other federal, state, local and international law enforcement and intelligence agencies. A significant number of FBI investigations are conducted in concert with other law enforcement agencies or as part of joint task forces. The FBI has divided its investigations into seven programs: 1. Applicant Matters 2. Civil Rights 3. Counterterrorism 4. Foreign Counterintelligence 5. Organized Crime/Drugs 6. Violent Crimes and Major Offenders 7. Financial Crime These programs represent the FBI's responsibility as assigned by law. Individual cases in a particular program may receive extensive investigative attention because of their size, potential impact, or sensitivity. Investigations are conducted within the Attorney General's Guidelines which pertain to racketeering enterprises, general criminal investigations, undercover operations, criminal information matters, extraterritorial investigations, and domestic security/terrorism matters. The Guidelines afford centralized direction, which allows for greater uniformity and control of national and international law enforcement efforts. Some sensitive investigative methods, such as undercover activities and electronic surveillance, are subject to specific review and approval procedures.
CORE VALUES The FBI will strive for excellence in all aspects of its missions. In pursuing these missions and vision, the FBI and its employees will be true to, and exemplify, the following core values: Adherence to the rule of law and the rights conferred to all under the United States Constitution; Integrity through everyday ethical behavior; Accountability by accepting responsibility for our actions and decisions and the consequences of our actions and decisions; Fairness in dealing with people; and Leadership through example, both at work and in our communities. The New Agents' Training Unit (NATU) coordinates 17 weeks of instruction at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. New Agent Trainees (NATS) are exposed to three components of curriculum involving the following areas: * Investigative / Tactical * Non-Investigative * Administrative The above three components total 643.5 hours of instruction, which are spread over four major concentrations:Photograph of NAT practicing his handcuffing technique. * Academics * Firearms * Operational Skills * The Integrated Case Scenario NATS must pass 9 academic examinations, with a score of 85% or better, in the following disciplines: * Legal (2 exams) * Behavioral Science * Interviewing * Ethics * Basic and Advanced Investigative Techniques (2 Exams) * Interrogation * Forensic Science A Physical Training Test (PT test) is administered to each NAT during the first, seventh, and 14th week of training. A minimum of 12 points (at least 1 point must be scored in each of the four events as well), out of a possible 40, is required to pass each PT test. The four events that are tested are: 1) sit-ups, 2) 300 meter run 3) push-ups, and 4) a one and half mile run. A fifth event, the pull-up, is also administered during each test. This event is being utilized for study purposes. NATS are also required to pass a Defensive Tactics (DT) test as well. The DT test focuses on grappling and boxing, handcuffing, control holds, searching subjects, weapon retention, and disarming techniques. Each NAT must qualify twice with the Bureau issued handgun, and once with the shotgun. To qualify, a NAT must shoot 80% or better on two of three qualification courses with the pistol, as well as a cumulative score of 80% on all three qualifications. The NAT must also demonstrate familiarity with the Bureau sub-machine gun. NATs will fire between 3,000 - 5,000 rounds of ammunition during their 17 weeks of training. While engaged in the aforementioned training, the NATS are given a case to investigate which will culminate in the arrest of multiple subjects. The investigation mirrors what they will experience in the field, since it is conducted at Hogan's Alley, a mock city built especially for practical exercises. The NATS conduct interviews, perform surveillance, and put to use the street survival techniques taught by the instructors at Hogan's Alley. NATU is staffed by Supervisory Special Agents that serve as class supervisors. They are assisted by two Special Agents, referred to as Field Counselors. These Field Counselors are Special Agents from the 56 Field Divisions throughout the Bureau, who have volunteered to spend 17 weeks at the FBI Academy. During these 17 weeks the NATU staff evaluates each NAT as to their suitability to be a Special Agent of the FBI. Graduation from the FBI Academy is determined by the following criteria: * successful completion of the training program * adherence to the FBI Core Values F.B.I Agents Priorities 1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack 2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage 3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes 4. Combat public corruption at all levels 5. Protect civil rights 6. Combat transnational and national criminal organizations and enterprises 7. Combat major white-collar crime 8. Combat significant violent crime 9. Support federal, state, local and international partners 10. Upgrade technology to successfully perform the FBI's mission
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) DEA agents enforce laws and regulations relating to illegal drugs. Not only is the DEA the lead agency for domestic enforcement of Federal drug laws, it also has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations abroad. Agents may conduct complex criminal investigations, carry out surveillance of criminals, and infiltrate illicit drug organizations using undercover techniques. Date Founded: July 1973 Mission When founded: To enforce federal anti narcotics laws Mission Today: Unchanged Jurisdiction: Anywhere within the U.S. and its territories. The DEA's ability to operate overseas is dictated by the U.S.'s relations with the host country. Headquarters: Arlington, Virginia # of Personnel: 6,179 total (4,000 of them special agents, estimated) Annual Budget: $ 929 million History/Profile: The DEA is the central federal law enforcement authority for combating the illegal narcotics industry. The explosion of drug use in the U.S. has caused a concurrent growth in the DEA. DEA manpower has grown 400% since it was chartered in 1972, and its budget has grown 1400%. This growth in budget and authority has led to some bureaucratic turf wars with the FBI, which is the DEA's nominal boss. The DEA's bread and butter are undercover operations, something at which the DEA does excel. The DEA has the best undercover and informant system in the federal law-enforcement community. Critics caim too much energy is wasted on small "buy-bust" operations. However, the DEA has made a killing in asset forfeitures, raking in an estimated $ 700 million in 1992 alone. The DEA has approximately 120 offices across the U.S. and sixty foreign offices. An estimated 800 agents operate abroad, with the largest contingents in Mexico and Thailand. When relations are expceptionally good with the host country, DEA agents may have the power to conduct arrests on foreign soil or at least carry their weapons. When relations are poor, DEA agents may not be allowed to move about without a local law-enforcement escort. The DEA has been involved with numerous paramilitary operations searching out and destroying drug crops in the source countries. Operations like SNOWCAP, which carried out drug eradication in twelve countries, were successful only in creating local animosity and straining U.S.-Latin American relations. Relations between the DEA and the State Department are poor. DEA agents do not get diplomatic passports unlike their Department of Agriculture colleagues working on pest eradication. The DEA often complains that their operations are stifled by the State Department, particularly when high-ranking foreign officials friendly to the U.S. are involved in the drug trade.
The mission of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is to enforce the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States and bring to the criminal and civil justice system of the United States, or any other competent jurisdiction, those organizations and principal members of organizations, involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the United States; and to recommend and support non-enforcement programs aimed at reducing the availability of illicit controlled substances on the domestic and international markets.
In carrying out its mission as the agency responsible for enforcing the controlled substances laws and regulations of the United States, the DEA's primary responsibilities include: * Investigation and preparation for the prosecution of major violators of controlled substance laws operating at interstate and international levels. * Investigation and preparation for prosecution of criminals and drug gangs who perpetrate violence in our communities and terrorize citizens through fear and intimidation. * Management of a national drug intelligence program in cooperation with federal, state, local, and foreign officials to collect, analyze, and disseminate strategic and operational drug intelligence information. * Seizure and forfeiture of assets derived from, traceable to, or intended to be used for illicit drug trafficking. * Enforcement of the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act as they pertain to the manufacture, distribution, and dispensing of legally produced controlled substances. * Coordination and cooperation with federal, state and local law enforcement officials on mutual drug enforcement efforts and enhancement of such efforts through exploitation of potential interstate and international investigations beyond local or limited federal jurisdictions and resources. * Coordination and cooperation with federal, state, and local agencies, and with foreign governments, in programs designed to reduce the availability of illicit abuse-type drugs on the United States market through nonenforcement methods such as crop eradication, crop substitution, and training of foreign officials. * Responsibility, under the policy guidance of the Secretary of State and U.S. Ambassadors, for all programs associated with drug law enforcement counterparts in foreign countries. * Liaison with the United Nations, Interpol, and other organizations on matters relating to international drug control programs. Major Operations 2005 Operation Money Trail Operation Mallorca Operation Cyber Chase 2004 Operation Money Clip Operation United Eagles Operation Streamline Operation Candy Box 2003 Operation Trifecta Operation Northern Star Operation Pipe Dreams Operation Deja Vu
National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) was established in 1993 to provide a strategic picture of drug distribution organizations. The NDIC mission is to coordinate and consolidate strategic organizational drug intelligence from national security and law enforcement agencies in order to produce requested assessments and analyses regarding the structure, membership, finances, communication, transportation, logistics, and other activities of drug trafficking organizations. The NDIC's scope is worldwide drug trafficking, specifically those organizations that threaten US national security. The Center develops intelligence on all aspects of this threat to support objectives outlined by the Attorney General and the National Drug Control Strategy. NDIC extensively uses open-source material and field contacts to maintain a "pulse" on current counterdrug efforts and search for emerging trends and patterns. We support this effort with specialized analyses and the latest data handling technology. NDIC customers are law enforcement agency executives and national policy makers involved in the counterdrug effort. The FBI is one of many federal law enforcement, intelligence, and military agencies participating in the NDIC. As appropriate, NDIC also provide evidentiary and tactical information derived from our strategic analyses directly to law enforcement organizations. These customers are NDIC partners in determining assignments, disseminating products, and evaluating product quality. NDIC analytical products are called Strategic Organizational Drug Intelligence or SODI. SODI products consist of two parts. The first part describes the primary attributes of drug trafficking organizations: production and processing, transportation, distribution, market, finance, and infrastructure. The second part describes intelligence determinants: changes, indications, patterns, predictions, strengths, trends, vulnerabilities, and warnings about drug trafficking organizations. Our analyses also identify intelligence gaps. These intelligence products consist of predictive strategic estimates, organizational assessments, baseline studies, and other reports. The Center also produces intelligence tools such as databases and support charts including link, association, event, and transaction. While exploiting collected data, NDIC may identify opportunities to generate operational information, and these strategic byproducts are coordinatedwith the appropriate agencies. NDIC's Intelligence Priorities Board -- created in 1996 year after a mandate by the Office of Investigative Agency Policies - sets the organization's collection and analysis requirements. NDIC analysts -- after gathering information from the field and from the various agencies' headquarters -- review the information and prepare reports, studies, and other products on requested drug trafficking-related topics. NDIC is also in the process of developing an electronic library which would enable participating agencies to search specific topics. These library services should eventually be available to state and local law enforcement as well. The NDIC has institutionalized a system -- the Organizational and Strategic Intelligence System (OASIS) -- to manage resources, define operational requirements, and establish a standard analytical product framework. The NDIC Technical Support Division (TSD) explores and encourages the use of nonproprietary and open architecture systems. TSD chairs an interagency Technical Advisory Board (TAB) that seeks technological solutions to data handling and interoperability problems and fosters information sharing and compatibility standards within the counterdrug community.
U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB) The concept of achieving international cooperation among police agencies across the globe became a reality with the creation of the International Criminal Police Organization, known today as INTERPOL. The organization seeks to involve all nations in a voluntary exchange of information about crimes and the criminals who perpetrate such crimes. INTERPOL's innovative concept of international police cooperation has been extremely successful and continues to flourish. Today the United States is one of 177 nations which comprise INTERPOL's membership. INTERPOL's United States National Central Bureau (USNCB) fills a unique role within the vast and complex network of police jurisdictions in the United States. The USNCB serves as the point of contact for both American and foreign police seeking assistance in criminal investigations which extend beyond their national boundaries. The USNCB provides assistance to the law enforcement community by coordinating information for international investigations and providing efficient communications between U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and the National Central Bureaus of other member countries. The services of INTERPOL-USNCB are available to nearly 20,000 eligible state and local law enforcement agencies -- in many situations this is the only medium for the police to secure investigative assistance from a foreign police force. Through its domestic and INTERPOL law enforcement channels, the USNCB exchanges criminal investigative information with other INTERPOL member countries in response to investigative assistance requests. In addition, the USNCB plays a significant role in guiding world-wide INTERPOL principles to ensure efficiency and continuity, and to develop cooperative international working methods flexible enough to embody the wide variety of police investigative structures in the different INTERPOL member countries. The United States National Central Bureau employs advanced telecommunications systems to meet its mission; is staffed with experts from the fields of criminal investigations, international law, and domestic police methods; and, operates under the auspices of the Departments of Justice and Treasury. The USNCB is a unique entity in the U.S. law enforcement community and serves a unique role because of the international diversity of its activities. The USNCB works closely with U.S. border agencies to ensure the identification of international criminals and fugitives presenting themselves for inspection and admission into the United States. USNCB assists INS and U.S. Customs agents responding to INTERPOL lookouts placed by USNCB in their lookout databases. Where identification is confirmed, the subject is arrested, if possible, and/or entry into the United States denied. Information on both domestic and international terrorist groups and their modus operandi is being exchanged with foreign law enforcement agencies through the International Criminal Police Organizations (INTERPOL) communications network and through international meetings such as the INTERPOL-sponsored International Symposium on Terrorism. "Point of Contact for International Law Enforcement" MISSION The U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB) was authorized by statute (22 U.S.C. 263a) and operates within the guidelines prescribed by the Department of Justice, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security. The mission of the US National Central Bureau is to facilitate international law enforcement cooperation as the United States representative with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), on behalf of the Attorney General. The major functions of the USNCB are to: * Transmit information of a criminal justice, humanitarian, or other law enforcement related nature between National Central Bureaus of INTERPOL member countries, and law enforcement agencies of the United States. * Respond to requests by law enforcement agencies, and legitimate organizations, institutions and individuals, when in agreement with the INTERPOL constitution. * Coordinate and integrate information for investigations of an international nature and identify those involving patterns and trends of criminal activities.
Organization Structure Office of the Director and Deputy Director Office of General Counsel Administrative Services Division Investigative Support Division Alien/Fugitive Investigative Division Terrorism and Violent Crime Division Drug Investigative Division Economic Crimes Division State and Local Police Liaison How Law Enforcement Can Contact USNCB The USNCB is available ONLY to the law enforcement community 24-hours a day, every day of the year. Federal law enforcement agencies may use established procedures to contact the USNCB. State or local law enforcement agencies may contact the USNCB directly or through its INTERPOL State Liaison Office. U.S. law enforcement agencies may contact the USNCB directly through the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS) at DCINTER00. The USNCB needs the following information from the law enforcement community in order to transmit a request for investigative or humanitarian assistance: * name, title, and law enforcement agency of the requester and contact information * case number * priority of the request and explanation if urgent * criminal violation or humanitarian matter involved * facts and circumstances of investigative matter * details of action or information requested * all available biographical data on subject(s); including, but not limited to, complete name, date of birth, nationality/ies, passport information, address, parents' names, addresses How the Public Can Contact USNCB Non-law enforcement U.S. individuals and organizations who believe that they need foreign police assistance in a criminal or humanitarian matter must contact the appropriate U.S. law enforcement agency (usually the state or local police office). That law enforcement agency will contact the USNCB if it determines that international criminal investigative or humanitarian assistance is needed. Humanitarian assistance includes such matters as checking on the welfare of an individual, or, notifying families of persons who have died or become seriously ill while abroad. Filing a Request for International Assistance 1. The request must be in writing. Although the USNCB may accept an initial request for assistance by telephone where there is an emergency or when the case is urgent, it can not issue the information internationally until the written copy is received. 2. There must be an international investigative aspect to the request. 3. The request must not involve matters of a religious, military, political or racial nature. However, the underlying criminal offenses associated with such activities may be investigated. 4. The reason for the request must be clearly stated, the type of investigation must be identified, and a case established, e.g. case number issued and provided. 5. To the fullest extent possible, provide identifying details of the subject. * Subject's full name (first, middle, last) * Subject's date of birth * Subject's place of birth * Subject's parents' names (mother's maiden name) * Subject's nationality * Subject's passport number * Subject's previous address in a foreign country * Subject's fingerprints * Subject's photograph * Description of physical characteristics and markings * Other personal identifiers where available.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is a law enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. Its unique responsibilities include protecting the public and reducing violent crime. ATF enforces the Federal laws and regulations relating to alcohol and tobacco diversion, firearms, explosives, and arson. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is a preeminent federal law enforcement agency fighting violent crime in America. Year after year, ATF continues to stop those violent and criminal behaviors that threaten the peace of our communities. ATFs work to prevent the possession and use of firearms and explosives by unauthorized people helps prevent terrorism and promote the countrys security. ATFs enforcement activities support the Department of Justices strategic goal to enforce federal laws and represent the rights and interests of the American people. Through enforcement of federal firearms laws, investigation of arsons and explosives incidents and thefts, and efforts to combat alcohol and tobacco diversion, ATF special agents, inspectors and support personnel are determined to succeed in their mission of preventing terrorism, reducing violent crime and protecting the public. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives must protect the public against crime, violence, and other threats to public safety. Our vision will help us chart the course to improve the way we serve and protect the public, provide leadership and expertise, and achieve new levels of effectiveness and teamwork. NOTE: On January 24, 2003, ATF's law enforcement functions were transferred to the Department of Justice (DOJ), and ATF became the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). ATF's Strategic Plan is currently being revised to reflect the agency's new name and mission and function within DOJ. The new plan will be posted upon DOJ's approval. Mission The mission of ATF is to conduct criminal investigations, regulate the firearms and explosives industries, and assist other law enforcement agencies. This work is undertaken to prevent terrorism, reduce violent crime and to protect the public in a manner that is faithful to the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Vision Working For A Safer and More Secure America...Through Innovation and Partnerships Values We value each other and those we serve. We will: * Uphold the highest standards of excellence and integrity; * Provide high quality service and promote strong external partnerships; * Develop a diverse, innovative, and well-trained work force to achieve our goals; and * Embrace learning and change in order to meet the challenges of the future
VIOLENT CRIME REDUCTION ATFs Violent Crime Impact Teams (VCIT) work with local law enforcement to identify and arrest the most violent offenders in 20 designated cities. This initiative has placed teams consisting of ATF and other federal agents, state and local police and federal and state prosecutors in selected cities. In 2005, the initiative was expanded to an additional five cities and now includes Albuquerque, N.M.; Baltimore, Md.; Camden, N.J.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Columbus, Ohio; Fresno, Calif.; Greensboro, N.C.; Hartford, Conn.; Houston, Texas; Las Vegas, Nev.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Miami and Tampa, Fla.; New Orleans, La.; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pa.; Richmond, Va.; Tucson, Ariz.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Washington, D.C. ATFs Violent Crime Impact Team programs, coupled with Project Safe Neighborhoods, announced by President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft in 2001, bring to bear the combined resources of federal, state and local agencies to reduce violent crime by successfully removing armed career criminals, armed criminal organizations, violent gang members, armed drug traffickers, and illegal firearms traffickers from our streets. In FY 2004, ATF investigated 3,781 fire and explosives incidents that resulted in the death or injury of 658 people and property losses exceeding $607 million. ATF established the Certified Fire Investigator Program more than 15 years ago. The program is unique in federal law enforcement and currently has 83 special agent fire investigators. In response to explosive incidents, ATFs explosives enforcement officers have unique technical capabilities in explosives and bomb disposal. ATFs certified explosives specialists are highly trained special agents who have developed an unmatched level of expertise in post-blast analysis. In FY 2004, ATF had 327 explosives specialists based in 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, Canada, Mexico, and Colombia. ATF also enforces federal criminal statutes, including the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act, that address the diversion of alcohol and tobacco taxes. In FY 2004, ATF conducted 438 tobacco investigations, some of them multi-jurisdictional, involving multimillion dollar trafficking schemes. PROTECTING THE PUBLIC At the end of FY 2004, there were approximately 106,000 federal firearms licensees in the United States authorized to conduct commerce in firearms. ATF performed more than 12,000 firearms licensee inspections and made more than 2,100 referrals to law enforcement. ATFs Federal Firearms Licensing Center processed 13,042 applications for new firearms licenses and 20,464 applications for license renewals. Also in FY 2004, ATF inspectors, in helping to ensure the lawful storage of explosive materials, completed more than 6,000 explosives inspections and detected 1,235 explosives industry public safety violations that have been corrected. ATF processed 2,873 applications for new explosives licenses and 1,641 applications to renew existing licenses. OTHER ATF RESOURCES AND ASSETS NIBIN - ATF provides investigative support to its state and local partners through a leadership role in the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). The program provides for the nationwide installation and networking of automated ballistic imaging equipment in partnership with state and local law enforcement agencies. The NIBIN program currently has approximately 230 sites located throughout the United States, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. During FY 2004, NIBIN partner agencies imaged 168,979 bullets and casings into the database, resulting in 2,669 hits, or matches. COMPREHENSIVE CRIME GUN TRACING - The Comprehensive Crime Gun Tracing Initiative, which began in FY 2001, continues to provide nationwide firearms tracing capability. ATF's National Tracing Center processed approximately 260,000 trace requests of crime guns in 2004. ATF has completed the development of eTrace; an Internet-based firearms trace submission system. Trace analysis modules will be made available to the entire law enforcement community in FY 2005. BOMB AND ARSON TRACKING SYSTEM - The system allows state, local and other federal law enforcement agencies to share information about bomb and arson cases and incidents. Participants receive a user ID and password from ATF to enable law enforcement agencies to capture, store and exchange information such as the type of incident, target, date and location. ARSON AND EXPLOSIVES NATIONAL REPOSITORY - The countrys most comprehensive set of data describing fire and explosion incidents. In FY 2004, the Attorney General designated ATF as the sole agency to manage all departmental databases containing arson and explosives incident data. The national repository contains information on more than 110,000 arson and explosives incidents obtained from federal, state, and local fire service and law enforcement incident reports, bomb technicians and explosives investigators. NATIONAL RESPONSE TEAMS - ATF maintains four National Response Teams consisting of highly trained special agents, forensic chemists and professional support staff who can be deployed within 24 hours to major explosion and fire scenes anywhere in the United States. National Response Teams were activated 32 times in FY 2004. Since 1978, the teams have responded to conduct crime scene analysis and cause-and-origin investigations of 588 fires and explosives incidents. INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TEAM - The ATF International Response Team participates with the Diplomatic Security Service of the U.S. Department of State to provide technical and investigative assistance at international explosives and fire incidents. In August 2004, ATFs International Response Team was deployed to Asuncion, Paraguay, to assist in the investigation of a supermarket fire that killed more than 400 people.
EXPLOSIVES DETECTION CANINES - Ninety-eight ATF-certified explosives detection canine teams are working throughout the United States. Thirty-four of these teams include ATF special agent handlers, while the other 64 are deployed to state, local or other federal agencies. To date, 450 explosives detection canines have been trained and deployed in 19 countries. ATF also trains accelerant detection canines for state and local fire departments. In FY 2004, ATF trained 47 accelerant detection canines. TRAINING - During the last four years, ATF has trained more than 4,000 federal, state, local, military and international bomb technicians and investigators in explosive disposal and investigative techniques at the National Center for Explosive Training and Research. In cooperation with the U.S. Army, ATF is training Army explosive units prior to their deployment to Iraq. ATF also provides post-blast and render safe training for U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and for the Iraqi Police Service. Because of their proficiency in explosives investigations, ATFs special agent certified explosives specialists are used as instructors for explosive-related training at the International Law Enforcement Academies in Budapest, Hungary; Bangkok, Thailand; and Gaborone, Botswana. NATIONAL LABORATORY SERVICES - ATFs laboratories are an invaluable resource in perfecting ATF cases and in serving as a resource for state and local law enforcement. ATF maintains three national laboratory facilities. They are located in Maryland, Georgia and California. The National Laboratory Center in Maryland serves as the administrative headquarters for ATF Laboratory Services nationwide and houses the ATF Forensic Science Laboratory and the Fire Research Laboratory. The Fire Research Laboratory is the only facility in the world dedicated to fire scene investigations. It can replicate initial fire scenarios approaching a quarter acre in size, to scale, and under controlled conditions to allow for detailed analysis. The ATF Forensic Science Laboratories were the first federal forensics laboratories to be accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors. The expertise of the ATF firearms examiners, fingerprint specialists and forensic chemists was used at all shooting scenes during the October 2002 sniper investigation in Washington, D.C. The ATF Fire Research Laboratory also deployed its mobile unit to many of the sniper shooting scenes. In FY 2004, Laboratory Services personnel received 3,460 forensic cases; provided 731 days of instruction to ATF and other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies; spent 257 days providing expert testimony in court; and spent 332 days providing scientific advice and support at ATF-investigated crime scenes. In addition, the National Laboratory Center is home to the ATF National Firearms Examiners Academy, which trains state and local law enforcement officers to become firearms and tool mark examiners. Office of Intelligence Policy and Review The Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, under the direction of the Counsel to the Attorney General for Intelligence Policy, is responsible for advising the Attorney General on all matters relating to the national security activities of the United States. The Office provides formal and informal legal advice to the Attorney General and the United States intelligence agencies regarding questions of law and procedure that relate to United States intelligence activities; performs review functions of certain intelligence activities; and prepares and presents applications for electronic surveillance to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
The Office assists Government agencies by providing legal advice on matters of national security law and policy and represents the Department of Justice on variety of interagency committees such as the National Foreign Intelligence Council. The Office also comments on and coordinates other agencies' views regarding proposed legislation affecting intelligence matters. OIPR assists the Attorney General by providing legal advice and recommendations regarding national security matters, reviewing executive orders, directives and procedures relating to the intelligence community, and approving certain intelligencegathering activities. The Office serves as adviser to the Attorney General, Departmental units and various client agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Defense and State Departments, concerning questions of law, regulation, on the interpretation and application of the Constitution, statutes, regulations, directives relating to United States national security activities as well as the legality of domestic and overseas intelligence operations. The Office represents the Attorney General on various interagency committees and task forces dealing with national security-related issues and policy regarding nonproliferation, scientific exchange programs, export administration, information and personnel security, overflights of United States territory by aircraft from foreign countries and the development of national intelligence topics. OIPR chairs the Department Review Committee which implements Department classification policy, decides Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act appeals, and resolves issues involving mandatory classification review. OIPR also co-chairs various working groups established under the Intelligence-Law Enforcement Policy Board to resolve issues between the two communities and formulate policy to facilitate better cooperation. The Office participates in the development of legislative initiatives and communicates with the Congress, especially its intelligence committees, in refining and analyzing legislation. The Office also maintains and supervises the Intelligence Analysis Unit, which provides liaison with the intelligence community and timely intelligence product to the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, supporting their national security responsibilities. The Office represents the United States before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. It prepares applications to the Court for orders authorizing electronic surveillance and physical searches by United States intelligence agencies for foreign intelligence purposes in investigations involving espionage and international terrorism, and presents them for Court review. When evidence obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is proposed to be used in criminal proceedings, the Office obtains the necessary authorization from the Attorney General. In coordination with the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney, OIPR prepares the motions and briefs required in the U.S. district court or court of appeals whenever surveillance authorized under the Act is challenged. OIPR also monitors certain intelligence and counterintelligence investigations conducted by United States intelligence agencies to ensure conformity with applicable laws and procedures. It regularly briefs the Congressional intelligence committees on all of the activities within its scope of review. This office maintains copies of legal memoranda; applications presented to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court; correspondence from persons who have written to the office and/or indices to individuals who have been referred to the office; and indices to the legal memoranda, applications, and correspondence. Records maintained include those relating to the administration of the office. Because of the sensitive nature of the work, OIPR attorneys must be eligible for the highest level security clearances. There is an attorney staff of 20.
U.S. Marshals U.S. marshals and deputy marshals protect the Federal courts and ensure the effective operation of the judicial system. They provide protection for the Federal judiciary, transport Federal prisoners, protect Federal witnesses, and manage assets seized from criminal enterprises. They enjoy the widest jurisdiction of any Federal law enforcement agency and are involved to some degree in nearly all Federal law enforcement efforts. In addition, U.S. marshals pursue and arrest Federal fugitives. U.S. Border Patrol agents protect more than 8,000 miles of international land and water boundaries. Their missions are to detect and prevent the smuggling and unlawful entry of undocumented foreign nationals into the U.S., apprehend those persons found in violation of the immigration laws, and interdict contraband, such as narcotics. Immigration inspectors interview and examine people seeking entrance to the U.S. and its territories. They inspect passports to determine whether people are legally eligible to enter the United States. Immigration inspectors also prepare reports, maintain records, and process applications and petitions for immigration or temporary residence in the United States. Even after the creation of more than 50 specialized federal law enforcement agencies during the 20th century, the Marshals retained the broadest jurisdiction and authority. For over 200 years now, U.S. Marshals and their Deputies have served as the instruments of civil authority used by all three branches of government. Marshals have been involved in most of the major historical episodes in America's past. The history of the Marshals is, quite simply, the story of how the American people govern themselves. The Marshals Service looks back on a proud heritage - a tradition spanning two centuries of service to the Nation and dedication to the principles of our Constitution and the rule of law. As our young nation expanded westward, U.S. Marshals embodied the civilian power of the Federal Government to bring law and justice to the frontier. For every new territory, marshals were appointed to impose the law on the untamed wilderness. And, at virtually every significant point over the years where Constitutional principles or the force of law have been challenged, the marshals were there - and they prevailed. The challenges faced today by Marshals and their Deputies are no less demanding than those of the past. In fact, the skills, devotion and determination required to carry out our contemporary responsibilities make the modern Marshals Service a unique and elite cadre of law enforcement professionals. And so, in looking back over our history, we would hope the you recognize and take pride in the fact that this agency is an intimate part of the continuum of the grand American experiment in self-government. The Marshals Service is the nations oldest and most versatile federal law enforcement agency. Since 1789, federal marshals have served the nation through a variety of vital law enforcement activities. Ninety-four U.S. marshals, appointed by the president or the U.S. attorney general, direct the activities of 94 district offices and personnel stationed at more than 350 locations throughout the 50 states, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Each district, and the District of Columbia Superior Court, is headed by a U.S. marshal. The Marshals Services headquarters are located in the Washington, D.C. area. The Marshals Service occupies a uniquely central position in the federal justice system. It is involved in virtually every federal law enforcement initiative. Approximately 4,800 deputy marshals and career employees perform the following nationwide, dayto-day missions. Judicial Security Protection of federal judicial officials, which includes judges, attorneys and jurors, holds a high priority with the Marshals Service. Deputy marshals use the latest security techniques and devices at highly sensitive trials throughout the nation. Fully-trained, contract officers comprise the agencys Court Security Officer (CSO) Program. These specially deputized officers have full law enforcement authority and occupy a vital role in courthouse security. The Marshals Service protects more than 2,000 sitting judges and countless other court officials at more than 400 court facilities throughout the nation. The Marshals Service also oversees each aspect of courthouse construction projects, from design through completion, to ensure the safety of federal judges, court personnel and the public. Fugitive Investigations Last year, the Marshals Service apprehended more than 36,000 federal fugitives, clearing 39,000 federal felony warrants. This is more than all other law enforcement agencies combined. Working with law enforcement authorities at federal, state, local and international levels, the Marshals Service apprehends thousands of dangerous felons each year. In support of the agencys fugitive mission, the Domestic Investigations Branch oversees liaison activities with the El Paso (Texas) Intelligence Center and is developing new programs such as the Financial Surveillance Unit, which tracks fugitives through financial means. The Marshals Service has memoranda of understanding to assume fugitive investigations for: the Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Customs Service; Internal Revenue Service; various investigative services within the Department of Defense; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Social Security Administration; Food and Drug Administration; Department of Health and Human Services; and various Offices of Inspectors General. The Marshals Service has been designated by the Department of Justice as the primary agency to apprehend fugitives that are wanted by foreign nations and believed to be in the United States. Fugitive apprehension efforts have expanded abroad with Marshals Service offices in Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Also, the Marshals Service is the primary agency responsible for tracking and extraditing fugitives who are apprehended in foreign countries and wanted for prosecution in the United States.
Witness Security The Marshals Service provides for the security, health and safety of government witnesses and their immediate dependents whose lives are in danger as a result of their testimony against drug traffickers, terrorists, organized crime members and other major criminals. Since 1971, the Marshals Service has protected, relocated and given new identities to over 7,700 witnesses and 9,800 of their family members. The successful operation of the Witness Security Program have been generally recognized as providing a unique and valuable tool in the governments war against major criminal enterprises. Prisoner Services The Marshals Service houses over 53,000 detainees in federal, state, local and private jails throughout the nation. In order to house these pre-sentenced prisoners, the Marshals Service contracts with approximately 1,300 state and local governments to rent jail space. Seventy-five percent of the prisoners in Marshals Service custody are detained in state, local and private facilities; the remainder are housed in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities. In areas where detention space is scarce, the Marshals Service uses Cooperative Agreement Program (CAP) funds to improve local jail conditions and expand jail capacities in return for guaranteed space for federal prisoners. Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS) In 1995, the air fleets of the Marshals Service and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) merged to create the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS). The merger created a more efficient and effective system for transporting prisoners and criminal aliens. Operated by the Marshals Service, JPATS is one of the largest transporters of prisoners in the world, handling more than 1,000 requests every day to move prisoners between judicial districts, correctional institutions and foreign countries. On average, nearly 3000,000 prisoner and alien movements a year are completed by JPATS via coordinated air and ground systems. Asset Forfeiture Program The Marshals Service is responsible for managing and disposing seized and forfeited properties acquired by criminals through illegal activities. Under the auspices of the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program, the Marshals Service currently manages more than $964 million worth of property, and it promptly disposes of assets seized by all Department of Justice agencies. The goal of the program is to maximize the net return from seized property and then to use the property and proceeds for law enforcement purposes. Service of Court Process Historically, the U.S. Marshals Service has taken responsibility for serving most Federal court criminal process. However, the courts have become more receptive to other law enforcement personnel serving criminal process. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 4 and 4.1, and Rule E(4) of the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims, clearly define the cases in which the USMS is responsible for service of civil process and the manner in which such service will be made. Operations Support Deputy marshals carry out hundreds of special missions each year that are related to the Marshals Services broad federal law enforcement and judicial security responsibilities. The Special Operations Group is a highly trained force of deputy marshals with the responsibility and capability of responding to emergency situations where federal law is violated or where federal property is endangered. Most SOG members are full-time deputy marshals stationed in district offices throughout the nation. They remain on call 24 hours a day for SOG missions. Specially trained deputy marshals provide security and law enforcement assistance to the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force when Minuteman and cruise missiles are moved between military facilities. The Office of Emergency Management is the primary point of contact when the Marshals Service is involved in sensitive and classified missions. It has primary responsibility over the agencys actions involving homeland security, national emergencies and domestic crises.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) Date Founded: Founded as Center for Disease Control in 1960. Reorganized as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on October 31, 1995 Mission When Founded: To protect the public health by providing leadership and direction in the prevention and control of disease and responding to publick health emergencies. Mission Today: Unchanged Jurisdiction: The United States and its territories. Foreign operations are conducted with the permission of the host country. Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia # of Personnel: 4,300 Annual Budget: Over $ 2 billion History/Profile: Although officially the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, this agency is still known colloquially as the CDC. The CDC administers national programs for the prevention and control of communicable and vector-borne diseases. It develops programs in chronic disease prevention and control through consultation with state and local health departments. The CDC also responds directly to environmental, biological, chemical, and radiological emergencies. The CDC directs and enforces foreign quarantine activities and regulations and consults with other nations in the control of preventable diseases. It liaisons with national and international agencies such as the United Nations's World Health Organization and the Institut Merieux in order ot coordinate international efforts. The CDC has eight major operatinal units: the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; the Center for Health Promotion and Education; the Center for Environment Health; the National Center for Health Statics; the International Health Program, the Center for Prevention Servicies; the Center for Infectious Diseases; and the Epidemiology Program Office. The Center for Infectious Diseases is the division of the CDC respondible for providing aid at home or abroad in the case of epidemics. Under the Center for Infectious Diseases is the Special Pathogen Branch, or "Bug Chasers". Members of this branch spend their time searching out and examining emerging or littleknown diseases. They've dealt with some of the most lethal substances on the earth-visuses like Ebola Zaire, Marbugvirus and Hantavirus. The viruses they fight often have a fatality rate as hig as 90%. The Epidemiology Branch is the CDC's "intelligence directorate" and provides consultation to other federal agencies. About the CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the 13 major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is the principal agency in the United States government for protecting the health and safety of all Americans and for providing essential human services, especially for those people who are least able to help themselves. Since it was founded in 1946 to help control malaria, CDC has remained at the forefront of public health efforts to prevent and control infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, workplace hazards, disabilities, and environmental health threats. Today, CDC is globally recognized for conducting research and investigations and for its action oriented approach. CDC applies research and findings to improve peoples daily lives and responds to health emergenciessomething that distinguishes CDC from its peer agencies. As a result of the Futures Initiative, CDC is aligning its priorities and investments under two overarching health protection goals: Health promotion and prevention of disease, injury, and disability: All people, especially those at higher risk due to health disparities, will achieve their optimal lifespan with the best possible quality of health in every stage of life. Preparedness: People in all communities will be protected from infectious, occupational, environmental, and terrorist threats. The workforce at CDC/ATSDR totals more than 9,000 employees in 170 occupations with a public health focus, including physicians, statisticians, epidemiologists, laboratory experts, behavioral scientists, and health communicators. This represents a cross-section of Americas culturally and ethnically diverse society; hence CDC is well-positioned to serve the American public, to meet the health goals for our nation as set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services, and to respond to disease outbreaks, health crises, and disasters in the United States and worldwide. Although its national headquarters is in Atlanta, more than 3,000 CDC employees work at other locations throughout the United States. Additional CDC staff are deployed to countries around the globe, assigned to almost all state health departments, and dispersed to numerous local health agencies on both long- and short-term assignments. CDC does not work alone, however. We work in partnership with other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services and across the U.S. government; with world, state, and municipal governments; with the private sector, health care organizations, academic institutions, and international and U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations to accomplish our mission.
Strategic Imperatives As a result of the Futures Initiative, these six strategic imperatives were developed to enable CDC to meet the challenges of public health in the 21st century. Health impact. CDC will prioritize its science, research, and programs to achieve measurable health impact for the public, and emphasize prevention of early risk factors and support of healthy behaviors. CDC will be a customer-centric organization. CDCs primary customers are the people whose health we are working to protect. Public health research. Science will remain the foundation on which all CDC programs, policies, and practices are based. Leadership for the nations health system. CDC must assume greater leadership to strengthen the health impact of the state and local public health systems. Global health. CDC will establish clear priorities for its global programs and increase global connectivity to ensure rapid detection and response to emerging health threats. Effectiveness and accountability. CDC will modernize its management and business practices to become more efficient, effective, and accountable. Vision, Mission, Core Values, and Pledge CDC Vision for the 21st Century Healthy People in a Healthy WorldThrough Prevention CDC, as the sentinel for the health of people in the United States and throughout the world, strives to protect peoples health and safety, provide reliable health information, and improve health through strong partnerships. CDC Mission To promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. CDC seeks to accomplish its mission by working with partners throughout the nation and the world to * monitor health, * detect and investigate health problems, * conduct research to enhance prevention, * develop and advocate sound public health policies, * implement prevention strategies, * promote healthy behaviors, * foster safe and healthful environments, * provide leadership and training. Those functions are the backbone of CDCs mission. Each of CDCs component organizations undertakes these activities in conducting its specific programs. The steps needed to accomplish this mission are also based on scientific excellence, requiring welltrained public health practitioners and leaders dedicated to high standards of quality and ethical practice. CDC Pledge CDC pledges to the American people: To be a diligent steward of the funds entrusted to it. To provide an environment for intellectual and personal growth and integrity. To base all public health decisions on the highest quality scientific data, openly and objectively derived. To place the benefits to society above the benefits to the institution. To treat all persons with dignity, honesty, and respect. CDC Core Values Accountability As diligent stewards of public trust and public funds, we act decisively and compassionately in service to the peoples health. We ensure that our research and our services are based on sound science and meet real public needs to achieve our public health goals. Respect We respect and understand our interdependence with all people, both inside the agency and throughout the world, treating them and their contributions with dignity and valuing individual and cultural diversity. We are committed to achieving a diverse workforce at all levels of the organization. Integrity We are honest and ethical in all we do. We will do what we say. We prize scientific integrity and professional excellence.
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United States Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense The IC is a federation of executive branch agencies and organizations that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities necessary for the conduct of foreign relations and the protection of the national security of the United States. These activities include: * Collection of information needed by the President, the National Security Council, the Secretaries of State and Defense, and other Executive Branch officials for the performance of their duties and responsibilities; * Production and dissemination of intelligence; * Collection of information concerning, and the conduct of activities to protect against, intelligence activities directed against the US, international terrorist and international narcotics activities, and other hostile activities directed against the US by foreign powers, organizations, persons, and their agents; Special activities; Administrative and support activities within the US and abroad necessary for the performance of authorized activities; and Such other intelligence activities as the President may direct from time to time.
An IC member is a federal government agency, service, bureau, or other organization within the executive branch that plays a role in the business of national intelligence. The Intelligence Community comprises many such organizations. Except for the Central Intelligence Agency, intelligence offices or agencies are components of cabinet departments with other roles and missions. The intelligence offices/agencies, however, participate in Intelligence Community activities and serve to support the other efforts of their departments. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has all-source analytical capabilities that cover the whole world outside US borders. It produces a range of studies that cover virtually any topic of interest to national security policymakers. CIA also collects intelligence with human sources and, on occasion, undertakes covert actions at the direction of the President. (A covert action is an activity or activities of the US Government to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the US role will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly.) Three major intelligence agencies in the Department of Defense (DoD) - the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) - absorb the larger part of the national intelligence budget. NSA is responsible for signals intelligence and has collection sites throughout the world. The NRO develops and operates reconnaissance satellites. The NGA prepares the geospatial data - ranging from maps and charts to sophisticated computerized databases - necessary for targeting in an era dependent upon precision guided weapons. In addition to these three agencies, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is responsible for defense attaches and for providing DoD with a variety of intelligence products. Although the Intelligence Reform Act provides extensive budgetary and management authorities over these agencies to the Director of National Intelligence, it does not revoke the responsibilities of the Secretary of Defense for these agencies. The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is one of the smaller components of the Intelligence Community but is widely recognized for the high quality of its analysis. INR is strictly an analytical agency; diplomatic reporting from embassies, though highly useful to intelligence analysts, is not considered an intelligence function (nor is it budgeted as one). The key intelligence functions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) relate to counterterrorism and counterintelligence. The former mission has grown enormously in importance since September 2001, many new analysts have been hired, and the FBI has been reorganized in an attempt to ensure that intelligence functions are not subordinated to traditional law enforcement efforts. Most importantly, law enforcement information is now expected to be forwarded to other intelligence agencies for use in allsource products. The intelligence organizations of the four military services (Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines) concentrate largely on concerns related to their specific missions. Their analytical products, along with those of DIA, supplement the work of CIA analysts and provide greater depth on key technical issues. The Homeland Security Act provided the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsibilities for fusing law enforcement and intelligence information relating to terrorist threats to the homeland. The Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate in DHS participates in the inter-agency counterterrorism efforts and, along with the FBI, has focused on ensuring that state and local law enforcement officials receive information on terrorist threats from national-level intelligence agencies. The Coast Guard, now part of DHS, deals with information relating to maritime security and homeland defense. The Energy Department analyzes foreign nuclear weapons programs as well as nuclear non-proliferation and energy-security issues. It also has a robust counterintelligence effort.
The Department of the Treasury collects and processes information that may affect US fiscal and monetary policies. Treasury also covers the terrorist financing issue. The Intelligence Community is subject to external oversight from the Executive and Legislative branches. Within the Executive, the IC works closely with the National Security Council (NSC).Other Executive organizations involved in oversight include the following: * The President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB): The PFIAB is an entity within the Executive Office of the President formed "to assess the quality, quantity, and adequacy" of intelligence collection, analysis, counterintelligence, and other activities of the IC. The PFIAB reports directly to the President, and provides recommendations for actions to improve and enhance the performance of intelligence efforts. It also examines issues raised by the President or the Director of National Intelligence and can make recommendations directly to the DNI. Membership of the PFIAB consists of not more that 16 persons appointed by the President. * The President's Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB): Once a separate organization under the President, the IOB was made a standing committee of the PFIAB in 1993. The IOB is composed of four members of the PFIAB appointed by the Chairman of the PFIAB. The IOB conducts independent oversight investigations as required and reviews the oversight practices and procedures of the inspectors general and general counsels of intelligence agencies. * The Office of Management and Budget (OMB): OMB is part of the Executive Office of the President. It reviews intelligence budgets in light of presidential policies and priorities, clears proposed testimony, and approves draft intelligence legislation for submission to Congress. Within the Congress, principal oversight responsibility rests with the two intelligence committees. By law, the President must ensure that these two committees are kept "fully and currently" informed of the activities of the Intelligence Community, including any "significant anticipated intelligence activities." Notice is also required to be provided to both committees of all covert action programs approved by the President as well as all "significant intelligence failures." * The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI): The membership of the SSCI has ranged from 13 to 17, with the majority party in Congress having one more member than the minority. Members of the SSCI serve 8-year terms. In addition to its role in annually authorizing appropriations for intelligence activities, the SSCI carries out oversight investigations and inquiries as required. It also handles presidential nominations referred to the Senate for the positions of DNI, Principle Deputy DNI, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Inspector General of CIA, and reviews treaties referred to the Senate for ratification as necessary to determine the ability of the Intelligence Community to verify the provisions of the treaty under consideration. * House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI): The membership of the HPSCI is currently set at 19 members and is proportional to the partisan makeup of the entire House of Representatives. Members may be appointed for terms up to eight years. Like its Senate counterpart, the HPSCI conducts oversight investigations and inquiries in addition to processing the annual authorization of appropriations for intelligence. * Other Committees: In addition to the intelligence committees, other congressional committees occasionally become involved in oversight matters by virtue of their overlapping jurisdictions and responsibilities. The armed services committees of each House, for example, exercise concurrent jurisdiction over DoD intelligence activities; and the judiciary committees in each House exercise concurrent jurisdiction over FBI intelligence activities. Through these interactions, the IC keeps policy and decision makers well informed of intelligence related to national security issues, and Congress maintains oversight of intelligence activities.
Projected formation of the Intelligence Community under the One Force Reorganization: (Storyteller preference to use either.)
Current Structure for the Intelligence Community:
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Securing Our Homeland--The DHS Strategic Plan The National Strategy for Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 served to mobilize and organize our nation to secure the homeland from terrorist attacks. This exceedingly complex mission requires a focused effort from our entire society if we are to be successful. To this end, one primary reason for the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security was to provide the unifying core for the vast national network of organizations and institutions involved in efforts to secure our nation. In order to better do this and to provide guidance to the 180,000 DHS men and women who work every day on this important task, the Department developed its own high-level strategic plan. The vision and mission statements, strategic goals and objectives provide the framework guiding the actions that make up the daily operations of the department. Vision Preserving our freedoms, protecting America ... we secure our homeland. Mission We will lead the unified national effort to secure America. We will prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the nation. We will ensure safe and secure borders, welcome lawful immigrants and visitors, and promote the free-flow of commerce. Strategic Goals Awareness -- Identify and understand threats, assess vulnerabilities, determine potential impacts and disseminate timely information to our homeland security partners and the American public. Prevention -- Detect, deter and mitigate threats to our homeland. Protection -- Safeguard our people and their freedoms, critical infrastructure, property and the economy of our Nation from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. Response -- Lead, manage and coordinate the national response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. Recovery -- Lead national, state, local and private sector efforts to restore services and rebuild communities after acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. Service -- Serve the public effectively by facilitating lawful trade, travel and immigration. Organizational Excellence -- Value our most important resource, our people. Create a culture that promotes a common identity, innovation, mutual respect, accountability and teamwork to achieve efficiencies, effectiveness, and operational synergies. Department Six-point Agenda A six-point agenda for the Department of Homeland Security is planned to ensure that the Departments policies, operations, and structures are aligned in the best way to address the potential threats both present and future that face our nation. The six-point agenda will guide the department in the near term and result in changes that will: 1. Increase overall preparedness, particularly for catastrophic events 2. Create better transportation security systems to move people and cargo more securely and efficiently 3. Strengthen border security and interior enforcement and reform immigration processes; 4. Enhance information sharing with our partners 5. Improve DHS financial management, human resource development, procurement and information technology 6. Realign the DHS organization to maximize mission performance. Organizational Initiatives: Structural Adjustments Supporting the agenda, the department proposes to realign the Department of Homeland Security to increase its ability to prepare, prevent, and respond to terrorist attacks and other emergencies. These changes will better integrate the Department and give department employees better tools to accomplish their mission. Centralize and Improve Policy Development and Coordination. A new Directorate of Policy will * be the primary Department-wide coordinator for policies, regulations, and other initiatives. * ensure consistency of policy and regulatory development across the department * perform long-range strategic policy planning * assume the policy coordination functions previously performed by the Border and Transportation Security (BTS) Directorate * include Office of International Affairs, Office of Private Sector Liaison, Homeland Security Advisory Council, Office of Immigration Statistics, and the Senior Asylum Officer
Strengthen Intelligence Functions and Information Sharing. A new Office of Intelligence and Analysis will ensure that information is * gathered from all relevant field operations and other parts of the intelligence community * analyzed with a mission-oriented focus * informative to senior decision-makers * disseminated to the appropriate federal, state, local, and private sector partners * Led by a Chief Intelligence Officer reporting directly to the Secretary, this office will be comprised of analysts within the former Information Analysis directorate and draw on expertise of other department components with intelligence collection and analysis operations. Improve Coordination and Efficiency of Operations. A new Director of Operations Coordination to * conduct joint operations across all organizational elements * coordinate incident management activities * use all resources within the Department to translate intelligence and policy into immediate action * The Homeland Security Operations Center, which serves as the nations nerve center for information sharing and domestic incident management on a 24/7/365 basis, will be a critical part of this new office. Enhance Coordination and Deployment of Preparedness Assets. The Directorate for Preparedness will * consolidate preparedness assets from across the Department * facilitate grants and oversee nationwide preparedness efforts supporting first responder training, citizen awareness, public health, infrastructure and cyber security and ensure proper steps are taken to protect high-risk targets * focus on cyber security and telecommunications * include a new Chief Medical Officer, responsible for carrying out the Departments responsibilities to coordinate the response to biological attacks * Managed by an Under Secretary this Directorate will include infrastructure protection, assets of the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness responsible for grants, training and exercises, the U.S. Fire Administration, and the Office of National Capitol Region Coordination. Other Department Realignments * Improve National Response and Recovery Efforts by Focusing FEMA on Its Core Functions. FEMA will report directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security. In order to strengthen and enhance our Nations ability to respond to and recover from manmade or natural disasters, FEMA will now focus on its historic and vital mission of response and recovery. * Integrate Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) into Broader Aviation Security Efforts. The Federal Air Marshal Service will be moved from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bureau to the Transportation Security Administration to increase operational coordination and strengthen efforts to meet this common goal of aviation security. * Merge Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. This new Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs will merge certain functions among the Office of Legislative Affairs and the Office of State and Local Government Coordination in order to streamline intergovernmental relations efforts and better share homeland security information with members of Congress as well as state and local officials. * Assign Office of Security to Management Directorate. The Office of Security will be moved to return oversight of that office to the Under Secretary for Management in order to better manage information systems, contractual activities, security accreditation, training and resources. Timeline The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (HSA) provides certain flexibility for the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish, consolidate, alter or discontinue organizational units within the Department. The mechanism for implementing these changes is a notification to Congress, required under section 872 of the HSA, allowing for the changes to take effect after 60 days. Other proposed changes will require Congressional action. The Department will work with Congress to accomplish these shared goals. Background The agenda is based on conclusions drawn as a result of the Second Stage Review. The review, initiated by the Secretary, examined nearly every element of the Department of Homeland Security in order to recommend ways that DHS could better * manage risk in terms of threat, vulnerability and consequence * prioritize policies and operational missions according to this risk-based approach * establish a series of preventive and protective steps that would increase security at multiple levels.
Eighteen action teams composed of 10-12 subject matter experts and hundreds of public and private partners at the federal, state, local, tribal and international levels examined a wide range of issues, including: * Risk/Readiness * Information and Intelligence Sharing * Performance Metrics * Law Enforcement Activities * Listening to External Partners * Supply Chain Security * Internal Communications and DHS Culture * Research, Technology & Detection History: Who Became Part of the Department? The agencies slated to become part of the Department of Homeland Security will be housed in one of four major directorates: Border and Transportation Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Science and Technology, and Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. The Border and Transportation Security directorate will bring the major border security and transportation operations under one roof, including: * The U.S. Customs Service (Treasury) * The Immigration and Naturalization Service (part) (Justice) * The Federal Protective Service * The Transportation Security Administration (Transportation) * Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (Treasury) * Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (part)(Agriculture) * Office for Domestic Preparedness (Justice) The Emergency Preparedness and Response directorate will oversee domestic disaster preparedness training and coordinate government disaster response. It will bring together: * The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) * Strategic National Stockpile and the National Disaster Medical System (HHS) * Nuclear Incident Response Team (Energy) * Domestic Emergency Support Teams (Justice) * National Domestic Preparedness Office (FBI) The Science and Technology directorate will seek to utilize all scientific and technological advantages when securing the homeland. The following assets will be part of this effort: * CBRN Countermeasures Programs (Energy) * Environmental Measurements Laboratory (Energy) * National BW Defense Analysis Center (Defense) * Plum Island Animal Disease Center (Agriculture) The Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection directorate will analyze intelligence and information from other agencies (including the CIA, FBI, DIA and NSA) involving threats to homeland security and evaluate vulnerabilities in the nation's infrastructure. It will bring together: * Federal Computer Incident Response Center (GSA) * National Communications System (Defense) * National Infrastructure Protection Center (FBI) * Energy Security and Assurance Program (Energy) The Secret Service and the Coast Guard will also be located in the Department of Homeland Security, remaining intact and reporting directly to the Secretary. In addition, the INS adjudications and benefits programs will report directly to the Deputy Secretary as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) Formerly The Office for State & Local Domestic Preparedness, is the program office within the Department of Justice (DOJ) responsible for enhancing the capacity of state and local jurisdictions to respond to, and mitigate the consequences of, incidents of domestic terrorism. In the 1998 Appropriations Act (Public Law 105-119) and accompanying report, the Congress expressed its concern regarding the real and potentially catastrophic effects of a chemical or biological act of terrorism. Congress stated that while the Federal Government plays an important role in preventing and responding to these types of threats, state and local public safety personnel are typically first to respond to the scene when such incidents occur. As a result, Congress authorized the Attorney General to assist state and local public safety personnel in acquiring the specialized training and equipment necessary to safely respond to and manage terrorist incidents involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD). On April 30, 1998, the Attorney General delegated authority to the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) to develop and administer training and equipment assistance programs for state and local emergency response agencies to better prepare them against this threat. To execute this mission, the Office of Justice Programs established ODP to develop and administer a national Domestic Preparedness Program. The Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) is a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (SLGCP). SLGCP is the federal government's lead agency responsible for preparing the nation against terrorism by assisting states, local and tribal jurisdictions, and regional authorities as they prevent, deter, and respond to terrorist acts. SLGCP provides a broad array of assistance to America's first responders through funding, coordinated training, exercises, equipment acquisition, and technical assistance. ODP Mission The mission of ODP is to prepare America for acts of domestic terrorism by developing and implementing a national program to enhance the capacity of state and local agencies to respond to incidents of terrorism, particularly those involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) incidents, through coordinated training, equipment acquisition, technical assistance, and support for Federal, state, and local exercises. ODP fulfills this mission through a series of program efforts responsive to the specific requirements of state and local agencies. ODP works directly with emergency responders and conducts assessments of state and local needs and capabilities to guide the development and execution of these programs. Assistance provided by ODP is directed at a broad spectrum of state and local emergency responders, including firefighters, emergency medical services, emergency management agencies, law enforcement, and public officials.
Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP) Congress provided the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with a clear statutory mandate to reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism and to detect, to prevent and to respond to terrorist attacks. DHS is composed of five Directorates, one of which (the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection, IAIP, Directorate) is a member of the Intelligence Community. IAIP's mission to disseminate information analyzed by the Department to State and local government agencies and authorities and private sector entities brings to the post 9/11 federal government a capability for the security and protection of the nation's domestic assets that did not previously exist. The essential function of IAIP is mapping the vulnerabilities of the nation's critical infrastructure against a comprehensive analysis of intelligence and public source information. This function is unique to the federal government and fundamental to the nation's ability to better protect itself from terrorist attack. Intelligence Responsibilities Within IAIP, the Office of Information Analysis (IA) performs the intelligence activities carried out within DHS. IA responsibilities are as follows: * Monitor, assess, and coordinate indications and warnings in support of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, who by Executive Order is responsible for implementing the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS). o Access all information, assessments, analysis, and unevaluated intelligence relating to terrorist threats to the homeland. o Maintain real time intelligence connectivity to support situational awareness during implementation of protective measures and incident management. * Assess the scope of terrorist threats to the homeland in order to understand such threats in light of actual and potential vulnerabilities of the homeland. o Integrate threat information and analyses with vulnerability assessments from the DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) in order to identify priorities for protective and support measures by DHS, other agencies of the Federal Government, State and local government agencies and authorities, the private sector and other entities. o Respond to requirements from the Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection for information analysis and intelligence requirements. * Gather and integrate terrorist-related information from DHS component agencies, State and local government agencies and authorities, and private sector terrorist-related reporting/information; process requests for information (RFI) from these component agencies, State and local government agencies and authorities and private sector entities. o Disseminate threat information, intelligence and responses to RFI's to DHS component agencies, State and local government agencies and authorities and private sector entities. IAIP and the Terrorist Threat Integration Center The roles and functions of IAIP and the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC) are complementary and collaborative and enhance the national effort to detect, disrupt, and prevent terrorism. TTIC makes full use of all terrorist threat-related information and expertise available to the US Government and provides comprehensive all-source threat analysis to the President, to DHS, and to other Federal agencies. IAIP provides intelligence analysts to the TTIC, who participate with analysts from other Federal agencies in analyzing this all-source terrorist information. IAIP also provides TTIC with threat information gathered and integrated from DHS component agencies, State and local government agencies and authorities and private sector entities. IAIP integrates all-source threat information and analysis received from TTIC and other agencies of the Intelligence Community with its own vulnerability assessments to provide tailored threat assessments, including priorities for protective and support measures to other agencies of the Federal Government, State and local government agencies and authorities, and private sector entities. Finally, IAIP administers the Homeland Security Advisory System to include exercising primary responsibility for public advisories. Together, DHS's IAIP and the TTIC fulfill all of the requirements called for in sections 201 and 202 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) NGA is a major intelligence and combat support agency of the Department of Defense. It supports U.S. national policy makers and military forces by providing timely, relevant, and accurate geospatial intelligence derived by the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information to describe, assess, and visually depict physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth. As the Intelligence Community's functional manager for baseline geospatial intelligence, NGA provides critical support to the national decision-making process and the operational readiness of America's military forces. The exclusive business of NGA is intelligence, and therefore the entire Agency is considered to be a member of the Intelligence Community. With its headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, it operates major facilities in the northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Missouri, areas as well as support and liaison offices worldwide. NGAs Contribution to Intelligence The mission supports national security objectives by providing geospatial intelligence in all its forms, and from whatever sourceimagery, imagery intelligence, and cartographic data and informationto ensure the knowledge foundation for planning, decision, and action. NGA was established October 1, 1996, as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency Act of 1996. Its name was changed in 2003 by the 2004 Defense Appropriation Bill. The agency centralizes responsibility for imagery and mapping, representing a fundamental step toward achieving the Department of Defense vision of "dominant battle space awareness." It exploits the tremendous potential of enhanced collection systems, digital processing technology and the prospective expansion in commercial imagery. NGA makes its contribution to intelligence through the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSGI), the integration of technology, policies, capabilities, and doctrine necessary to conduct Geospatial Intelligence in a multi-intelligence environment. With Headquarters in Bethesda, Md., NGA operates major facilities in the northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo., areas as well as support and liaison offices worldwide. NGA Vision: Know the Earth Show the Way * Supplies geospatial intelligence in all its forms, and from whatever source-imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial data and information-to ensure the knowledge foundation for planning, decision, and action. * Provides easy access to geospatial intelligence databases for all stakeholders. * Creates tailored, customer-specific geospatial intelligence, analytic services, and solutions. From its beginning, the agency has focused on its customers by providing uninterrupted support for current requirements while transitioning from an analog environment to the digital domain. NGAs Strategic Goals: * First and foremost, to respond to analysis and production demands in what is considered a perpetual state of crisis. * To champion and complete a complex set of major investments, to move to the NEXT level of the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSGI). * To forge the AFTER-NEXT environment by constantly driving future technical trends and applying them to operational needs, inserting technology rapidly, and providing relevant Geospatial Intelligence, services, and solutions. * To align human resource plans, policies, and services with the agency's Strategic Intent and Core Values, in recognition that all that is done is completely dependent on NGA's most important resource, the agency's peoplegovernment and contractor. * To continue the transformation of the NGA business model by using best practices to enhance the agency's position as the premier Geospatial Intelligence provider. * To lead the NSGI as Functional Manager. * To capitalize on all forms of traditional or non-traditional data including National Technical Means, airborne, civil, and commercial sources. * To champion multi-intelligence collaboration. * To rely on partners-both domestic and foreign-to help conduct the mission. * To transform the agency's infrastructure.
NGA serves as the programmatic and functional manager for the end-to-end geospatial intelligence process, which includes the cycle of activities for tasking imagery collection, processing raw intelligence data, exploiting imagery intelligence, and disseminating information and knowledge to consumers. NGA supports national policy objectives by committing substantial geospatial analysis resources to the priorities identified in Presidential Decision Directive 35, especially as it relates to diplomatic and regional security policy, arms control and treaty monitoring activities, counterterrorism, nonproliferation, chemical and biological warfare, and information operations activities. Underscoring the vision of Know the Earth...Show the Way is the understanding that integration of imagery intelligence and geospatial information is crucial to every national security activity the US Government undertakes. To be successful in peace, crisis, and war, national security officials and military decision makers require: * A controlled imagery base for a diverse range of imagery information (including satellite photo-reconnaissance data). Included with these data are imagery analyses. * Elevation datawhen combined with imagery these data allow three dimensional scene visualization. In addition to enabling a more realistic and intuitive visualization capability, elevation data are essential to precision strike capabilities. * Data on natural and manmade features. Such "feature" data enhance the understanding of objects on, above, and below the Earth surface and are crucial for aeronautical and nautical safety of navigation. Personnel: The NGA work force is in fields such as cartography, imagery analysis, the physical sciences, geodesy, computer and telecommunication engineering, and photogrammetry. The Future: NGA greatly enhanced its information holdings with the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The SRTM collected near-global elevation data with a specially modified radar system. The raw data collected is being converted into digital terrain elevation data, which will provide an evenly spaced grid of elevation measurements of the Earths surface. SRTM proved to be one of the best geospatial collection tools in the history of mapping. NGAs Corporate Messages: * NGA provides the Intelligence Community the Center of Excellence for Geospatial Intelligence and serves as functional manager for the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSGI). * NGA integrates geospatial analysis and imagery intelligence to provide the baseline geospatial intelligence framework employed by the US Intelligence Community to support US National Security. * The agency synchronizes its vision, message, organization, and actions to provide timely, relevant, and accurate geospatial intelligence to ensure that national and military customers achieve success. * NGA plays a leading role in the Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense in strengthening and transforming our national intelligence system. * The Agency's organizing principle in its support to customers is NGA Now, NGA Next, and NGA After Next. * NGA plays a critical role in the war on terrorism and in homeland security. * NGA's business practices, system development and acquisition, and incorporation of advanced technology all serve to accelerate its transformation and modernization effort. * NGA's partnerships and outsourcing initiatives with government, industry, and academia are critical components of the agency's transformation efforts. * Commercial imagery and derived information remains vital to NGA's geospatial intelligence mission. * NGA maintains a dedicated, diverse high quality workforce through innovative human development practices and by providing the training and education necessary to remain at the cutting edge of tradecraft.
National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) NIMA was established on 1 October 1996 to address these expanding requirements. It was created from the former Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), Central Imagery Office (CIO), and the Defense Dissemination Program Office (DDPO) in their entirety; the missions and functions of the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC); and the imagery exploitation, dissemination and processing capabilities of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO). The National Imagery and Mapping Agency's (NIMA's) role is to support the war fighter through priorities established by the commanders in chief (CINCs). This support comes in the form of imagery, imagery intelligence, and GI (including standard maps and data sets) in support of national security objectives. The agency's vision is to guarantee ready access to the world's imagery, imagery intelligence, and GI. NIMA has technical and liaison representatives at the CINC level who work with the staff and the GI&S officer to establish requirements and priorities and to identify the best products and services that NIMA can provide. These representatives prioritize, validate, and consolidate requirements identified by major subordinate commands (MSCs). NIMA has a global mission, as established by the NIMA Act of 1996. It has the unique responsibilities of managing and providing imagery and GI to national policy makers and military forces. NIMA is also an established part of the US intelligence community in recognition of its unique responsibilities and global mission. NIMA brings together in a single organization the imagery tasking, production, exploitation, and dissemination (TPED) responsibilities and the mapping, charting, and geodetic functions of eight separate organizations of the defense and intelligence communities. NIMA continues to improve support to national and military customers through comprehensive management of US imaging and geospatial capabilities. The NIMA mission is to provide timely, relevant, and accurate imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information in support of national security objectives. NIMA is responsible for providing support to military operations, defense agencies, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and other Federal Government Agencies on matters concerning imagery and geospatial information relating to national security. NIMA was created by consolidating several agencies into a single entity which requires consolidating several distinct missions into the NIMA mission. Under this mission NIMA is assigned the responsibility to prescribe and mandate standards and end-to-end technical architectures related to imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information for the DoD Components and for non-DoD elements of the Intelligence Community. NIMA is chartered to provide management and operation (collection tasking, imagery analysis and geospatial information production) of the imagery and geospatial services for National customers and for support to military operations, planning, training, and weapons systems. It is to ensure access and dissemination of primary and secondary imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information. NIMA is responsible for the acquisition, design, development, implementation, installation, transition, and sustainment of systems, standards, and technology pertaining to the United States Imagery and Geospatial Information Systems (USIGS) for the imagery, imagery analysis, and geospatial information community. NIMA ensures that imagery intelligence, geospatial information, and other needs for imagery are managed effectively and efficiently in a manner conducive to national security and consistent with the authorities and duties of the Secretary of Defense and the DCI.
United States Imagery and Geospatial Information Systems (USIGS) The United States Imagery and Geospatial Information System (USIGS) is an umbrella term for the suites of systems formerly called the United States Imagery System (USIS) and the Global Geospatial Information and Services (GGIS). USIGS will be defined by the migration of the former USIS and GGIS architectures, with the goal of common graphical interfaces, and seamless information exchanges. In addition to the former USIS and GGIS framework, USIGS will include new capabilities, and leverage the pre-existing architecture work. USIGS will use the DII/COE C4ISR Architecture Framework, and the Joint Technical Architecture as its baseline.
The National Security Agency (NSA) NSA is the nations cryptologic organization and as such, coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to produce foreign intelligence information and protect US information systems. A high-technology organization, NSA is on the frontiers of communications and information technology. NSA is also one of the most important centers of foreign language analysis and research within the US Government. The Agency is completely dedicated to this business and therefore the entire organization is considered to be a Community member. NSAs Contribution to Intelligence NSA has two strategic missions: * To exploit foreign signals for national foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposesa capability called signals intelligence or SIGINT. * To provide solutions, products and services, and conduct defensive information operations, to achieve information assurance for information infrastructures critical to US national security interestsa capability referred to as information assurance or IA. Mission Statement The ability to understand the secret communications of our foreign adversaries while protecting our own communications -a capability in which the United States leads the world -- gives our nation a unique advantage. Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) is a unique discipline with a long and storied past. SIGINT's modern era dates to World War II, when the U.S. broke the Japanese military code and learned of plans to invade Midway Island. This intelligence allowed the U.S. to defeat Japan's superior fleet. The use of SIGINT is believed to have directly contributed to shortening the war by at least one year. Today, SIGINT continues to play an important role in maintaining the superpower status of the United States. As the world becomes more and more technology-oriented, the Information Assurance (IA) mission becomes increasingly challenging. This mission involves protecting all classified and sensitive information that is stored or sent through U.S. Government equipment. IA professionals go to great lengths to make certain that Government systems remain impenetrable. This support spans from the highest levels of U.S. Government to the individual warfighter in the field. NSA conducts one of the U.S. Government's leading research and development programs. Some of the Agency's R&D projects have significantly advanced the state of the art in the scientific and business worlds. NSA's early interest in cryptanalytic research led to the first large-scale computer and the first solid-state computer, predecessors to the modern computer. NSA pioneered efforts in flexible storage capabilities, which led to the development of the tape cassette. NSA also made ground-breaking developments in semiconductor technology and remains a world leader in many technological fields. Who is the NSA? NSA employs the country's premier codemakers and codebreakers. It is said to be the largest employer of mathematicians in the United States and perhaps the world. Its mathematicians contribute directly to the two missions of the Agency: designing cipher systems that will protect the integrity of U.S. information systems and searching for weaknesses in adversaries' systems and codes. Technology and the world change rapidly, and great emphasis is placed on staying ahead of these changes with employee training programs. The National Cryptologic School is indicative of the Agency's commitment to professional development. The school not only provides unique training for the NSA workforce, but it also serves as a training resource for the entire Department of Defense. NSA sponsors employees for bachelor and graduate studies at the Nation's top universities and colleges, and selected Agency employees attend the various war colleges of the U.S. Armed Forces. NSA was established by Presidential directive in 1952 to provide signals intelligence and communications security activities of the Government. Since then, the NSA has gained the responsibility for information systems security and operations security training. The Central Security Service (CSS) was established in 1972 to provide cryptologic activities within the military and thereby a more unified DoD cryptologic effort. The NSA/CSS is also a combat support agency of the DoD. The NSA Work Force. Most NSA/CSS employees, both civilian and military, are headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland, centrally located between Baltimore and Washington, DC. The NSA work force consists of highly talented military and civilian members with a wide array of skills and expertise: mathematicians, physicists, cryptanalysts, intelligence analysts, linguists, computer scientists, and engineers. This work force, combined with NSAs nationwide strategic alliance with a consortium of contractors and academia, has been the key to all past successes and remains the foundation for the future. Emerging Challenges. NSA continues to be challenged by an increasingly dynamic set of customer demands: transnational terrorism, narcotics trafficking, organized crime, counterintelligence, alien smuggling, asymmetric threats, and international disputes. Our military forces are more likely to be involved in coalition warfare, regional conflicts, peacekeeping operations, and nontraditional operations than in the past. At the same time, the rapid and unfettered growth of global information technology makes both of the Agencys missions harderand more importantthan ever. To meet these emerging challenges, NSA has embarked on an ambitious corporate strategy to transform its operations to a service-based architecture that includes a re-engineered cryptologic system with interoperability across the Community and common connectivity with customers. This mandate for change firmly establishes SIGINT and IA as major contributors in ensuring information superiority of US warfighters and policymakers.
A Proud Tradition, a Bright Future. The National Security Agency has a proud tradition of serving the nation. NSA has been credited with preventing or significantly shortening military conflicts, thereby saving lives of US military and civilian personnel. NSA gives the nation a decisive edge in diplomatic and economic interactions with other nations, for countering terrorism, and for helping stem the flow of narcotics into our country. NSA has been a premier information agency of the industrial age, and, through ongoing modernization and cutting edge research, will continue to be a premiere knowledge agency of the information age.
The NSA/CSS exists to protect the nation and serve others. We must work collaboratively and corporately to anticipate and meet our customers' needs. Our customers must know that they can count on us to provide them with what they need, when they need it, and in a form they can use. We pledge the following to our customers: * No one will work harder to defend and support the nation's interests. * No one will stand watch longer to prevent operational and technological surprise against our nation and warfighters. * No one will do more to achieve interoperability with the Services and our Allies. * No one, bar none, will be more innovative in seeking the technological advantages we will need to succeed in the 21st Century. * Together we form the bond as America's team. Information Superiority for America: One Team, One Mission Intelligence and information systems security have always complemented each other. Intelligence gives us an information advantage over our adversaries and competitors. Information systems security prevents others from gaining a comparable advantage over us. The two functions serve as the offensive and defensive squads of a team dedicated to a single goal - information superiority for America and its Allies. "Information superiority is the capability to collect, process, and disseminate an uninterrupted flow of information while exploiting or denying an adversary's ability to do the same."
United States Secret Service (USSS) 1865 The Secret Service Division began on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency. Chief William P. Wood was sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch. 1867 Secret Service responsibilities were broadened to include "detecting persons perpetrating frauds against the government." This appropriation resulted in investigations into the Ku Klux Klan, non-conforming distillers, smugglers, mail robbers, land frauds, and a number of other infractions against the federal laws. 1870 Secret Service headquarters relocated to New York City. 1874 Secret Service headquarters returned to Washington, D.C. 1875 The first commission book and a new badge were issued to operatives. 1877 Congress passed an Act prohibiting the counterfeiting of any coin, gold or silver bar. 1883 Secret Service was officially acknowledged as a distinct organization within the Treasury Department. 1894 The Secret Service began informal part-time protection of President Cleveland. 1895 Congress passed corrective legislation for the counterfeiting or possession of counterfeit stamps. 1901 Congress informally requested Secret Service Presidential protection following the assassination of President William McKinley. 1902 The Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for protection of the President. Two operatives were assigned full time to the White House Detail. 1906 Congress passed Sundry Civil Expenses Act for 1907 that provided funds for Presidential protection by the Secret Service. Secret Service operatives began to investigate the western land frauds. The Service's investigations returned millions of acres of land to the government. Operative Joseph A. Walker was murdered on November 3, 1907, while working on one of these cases. He was the first operative killed in the line of duty. 1908 Secret Service began protecting the President-elect. Also, President Roosevelt transferred eight Secret Service agents to the Department of Justice. They formed the nucleus of what is now the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 1913 Congress authorized permanent protection of the President and the statutory authorization for President-elect protection. 1915 President Wilson directed the Secretary of the Treasury to have the Secret Service investigate espionage in the United States. 1917 Congress authorized permanent protection of the President's immediate family and made "threats" directed toward the President a federal violation. 1922 White House Police Force created on October 1, 1922, at the request of President Harding. 1930 White House Police were placed under the supervision of the Secret Service. 1950 Officer Leslie Coffelt, White House Police, was shot and killed by Puerto Rican nationalists while protecting President Truman at the Blair House on November 1, 1950. 1951 Triggered by the attack on Truman, Congress enacted legislation that permanently authorized Secret Service protection of the President, his immediate family, the President-elect, and the Vice President, if he wishes. (Public Law - 82-79). 1961 Congress authorized protection of former Presidents for a reasonable period of time. 1962 Congress expanded coverage to include the Vice President (or the next officer to succeed the President) and the Vice President-elect. (Public Law 87-829). 1963 Congress passed legislation for protection of Mrs. John F. Kennedy and her minor children for 2 years. (Public Law 83195). 1965 Congress authorized protection of former Presidents and their spouses during their lifetime and minor children until age 16. 1968 As a result of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, Congress authorized protection of major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and nominees. (Public Law 90-331). Congress also authorized protection of widows of Presidents until death, or remarriage, and their children until age 16. 1970 White House Police Force renamed the Executive Protective Service and increased its responsibilities to include the protection of diplomatic missions in the Washington, D.C., area. (Public Law 91-217). 1971 Congress authorized Secret Service protection for visiting heads of a foreign state or government, or other official guests, as directed. 1975 The duties of Executive Protective Service were expanded to include protection of foreign diplomatic missions located throughout the United States and its territories. 1977 The Executive Protective Service was officially renamed the Secret Service Uniformed Division on November 15, 1977. 1984 Congress enacted legislation making the fraudulent use of credit and debit cards a federal violation. The law also authorized the Secret Service to investigate violations relating to credit and debit card fraud, federal-interest computer fraud, and fraudulent identification documents. 1986 Treasury Police Force merged into the Secret Service Uniformed Division on October 5, 1986. A Presidential directive authorized protection of the accompanying spouse of the head of a foreign state or government. 1990 The Secret Service received concurrent jurisdiction with Department of Justice law enforcement personnel to conduct any kind of investigation, civil or criminal, related to federally insured financial institutions.
1994 The passage of the 1994 Crime Bill Public Law 103-322, in part, revised Title 18 USC Section 470, providing that any person manufacturing, trafficking in, or possessing counterfeit U.S. currency abroad may be prosecuted as if the act occurred within the United States. 1997 Congress passed legislation in 1994 stating that Presidents elected to office after January 1, 1997, will receive Secret Service protection for 10 years after leaving office. Individuals elected to office prior to January 1, 1997, will continue to receive lifetime protection. (Public Law 103-329) 1998 Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act (Public Law105-184) allowed for criminal forfeiture of fraud proceeds for convictions of 18 USC sections 1028, 1029, 1341, or 1344, or of a conspiracy to commit such an offense, if the offense involved telemarketing. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act (Public Law 105-318) amends 18 USC section 1028 to establish the offense of "Identity Theft." Penalties were established for anyone who knowingly transfers or uses, without authority, any means of identification of another person, with the intent to commit an unlawful activity that is a violation of the identity theft provisions of section 1028. 2000 Presidential Threat Protection Act (Public Law 106-544) is passed, which in part, authorizes the Secret Service to participate in the planning, coordination, and implementation of security operations at special events of national significance ("National Special Security Event"), as determined by the President. 2001 The Patriot Act (Public Law 107-56) increases the Secret Service's role in investigating fraud and related activity in connections with computers. In addition it authorizes the Director of the Secret Service to establish nationwide electronic crimes taskforces to assist the law enforcement, private sector and academia in detecting and suppressing computer-based crime; increases the statutory penalties for the manufacturing, possession, dealing and passing of counterfeit U.S. or foreign obligations; and allows enforcement action to be taken to protect our financial payment systems while combating transnational financial crimes directed by terrorists or other criminals. 2002 The Department of Homeland Security is established with the passage of (Public Law 107-296) which in part, transfers the United States Secret Service from the Department of the Treasury, to the new department effective March 1, 2003. VISION STATEMENT "Building on a Tradition of Excellence and Meeting the Challenges of the Future." MISSION STATEMENT The United States Secret Service is mandated by statute and executive order to carry out two significant missions: protection and criminal investigations. The Secret Service protects the President and Vice President, their families, heads of state, and other designated individuals; investigates threats against these protectees; protects the White House, Vice Presidents Residence, Foreign Missions, and other buildings within Washington, D.C.; and plans and implements security designs for designated National Special Security Events. The Secret Service also investigates violations of laws relating to counterfeiting of obligations and securities of the United States; financial crimes that include, but are not limited to, access device fraud, financial institution fraud, identity theft, computer fraud; and computer-based attacks on our nations financial, banking, and telecommunications infrastructure.
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Formation The National Reconnaissance Office was created on 25 August 1960 following months of intense controversy between the White House, CIA, the Air Force and the Department of Defense over the allocation of responsibilities for satellite reconnaissance. In the aftermath of the 1 May 1960 downing of Gary Powers' U-2 over the Soviet Union, President Eisenhower on 10 June directed Defense Secretary Thomas Gates develop recommendations on the future of space intelligence collection. Gates appointed a panel headed by Under Secretary of the Air Force Joseph Charyk, who was joined by Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering John Rubel and Presidential Science Adviser George Kistiakowsky. Their report to the National Security Council (NSC) on 25 August marked the formation of the NRO. The decision to form a "national" agency was intended to ensure that the interests of all parties, including the military and civilian intelligence communities, would be represented in the utilization of space systems. Subsequent Developments By 1961 the Agency and the Air Force had established a working relationship for overhead reconnaissance systems through a central administrative office, whose director reported to the Secretary of Defense but accepted intelligence requirements through USIB. By informal agreement, the Air Force provided launchers, bases, and recovery capability for reconnaissance systems, while the Agency was responsible for research, development, contracting, and security. Essentially, the agreement allowed the Agency to decide which systems would be deployed, and the Air Force challenged the CIA's jurisdiction. A primary mission was at stake in these negotiations, and the struggle was fierce on both sides. Control by one agency or another did not involve only budgets and manpower. Since the Air Force and CIA missions were very different, a decision would affect the nature of the reconnaissance program itself -- tactical or national intelligence priorities, the frequency and location of overflights, and the use of data. The agreement that emerged in 1965 attempted to balance the interests of both the Air Force and the CIA. A three-person Executive Committee, (EXCOM) for the administration of overhead reconnaissance was established. Its members included the DCI, an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and the President's Scientific Advisor. The EXCOM reported to the Secretary of Defense, who was assigned primary administrative authority for overhead reconnaissance systems. The arrangement recognized the DCI's authority as head of the community to establish collection requirements in consultation with USIB; it also gave him responsibility for processing and utilizing data generated by overhead reconnaissance. In the event that he did not agree with a decision made by the Secretary of Defense, the DCI was given the right to appeal to the President. The agreement represented a compromise between Air Force and CIA claims and provided substantive recognition of the DCT's national intelligence responsibility. As a structure for decision-making, it has worked well. However, it has not rectified the inherent competition over technical collection systems that has come to motivate the intelligence process. The development of these systems has created intense rivalry principally between the Air Force and the Agency over program deployments. With so much money and personnel at stake with each new system, each organization is eager to gain the benefits of successful contracting. As a result the accepted solution to problems with the intelligence product has come to be more collection rather than better analysis. Organizational History In late 1992, the NRO released the text of the Defense Department Directive establishing the Organization: The National Reconnaissance Office will be organized separately within the Department of Defense under the Director, National Reconnaissance Office, appointed by the Secretary of Defense. The Director will be responsible for consolidation of all Department of Defense satellite and air vehicle overflight projects for intelligence into a single program, defined as the National Reconnaissance Program, and for the complete management and conduct of this Program in accordance with policy guidance and decisions of the Secretary of Defense.
In carrying out his responsibilities for the National Reconnaissance Program, the Director, National Reconnaissance Office shall: 1. Work directly with the Defense Space Operations Committee (DSOC) on policy budgets, requirements and programs. The Defense Space Operations Committee is the principal advisory body to the Secretary of Defense for the National Reconnaissance Program. (Its members include the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Review; the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Communications, Command, Control and Intelligence; and the Secretary of the Air Force, who will be the Chairman of the Committee.) The Director shall respond to tasks approved by the Defense Space Operations Committee and will keep the DSOC informed, on a regular basis, on the status of projects of the National Reconnaissance Program. 2. Similarly inform other Department of Defense personnel as he may determine necessary in the course of carrying out specific project matters. 3. Establish appropriate interfaces between the National Reconnaissance Office and the United States Intelligence Board, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. 4. Where appropriate, make use of qualified personnel of services and agencies of the Department of Defense as full time members of the National Reconnaissance Office. Officials of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, military departments, and other DoD agencies shall provide support within their respective fields of to the Director, National Reconnaissance Office as may be necessary for the Director to carry out his assigned responsibilities and functions, Director, National Reconnaissance Office. The Director, National Reconnaissance Office will be given support as required from normal staff elements of the military departments and agencies concerned, although these staff elements will not participate in these project matters except as he specifically requests. The Director, National Reconnaissance Office, in connection with his assigned responsibilities for the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Reconnaissance Program, is hereby specifically delegated authority to: 1. Organize, staff and supervise the National Reconnaissance Office. 2. Establish, manage and conduct the National Reconnaissance Program. 3. Assist the Secretary of Defense in the supervision of aircraft, and satellite reconnaissance, photographic projects, and be his direct representative both within and outside the Department of Defense. 4. Review all Department of Defense budget requests and expenditures for any item falling within the definition of the National Reconnaissance Program, including studies and preliminary research and development of components and techniques to support such existing or future projects. All projects falling within the definition of the National Reconnaissance Program are assigned to that program and will be managed as outlined herein unless specific exception is made by the Director, National Reconnaissance Office. Announcements of any such exceptions will be made by numbered enclosures to this directive. The Director, National Reconnaissance Office will establish the security procedures to be followed for all matters in the National Reconnaissance Program to protect all elements of the National Reconnaissance Office. All communications pertaining to matters under the National Reconnaissance Program will be subject to special systems of security control under the cognizance of the Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, except as specifically exempted by either Director, National Reconnaissance Office or the Secretary of Defense. With the single exception of this directive, no mention will be made of the following titles or their abbreviations in any document which is not controlled under the special security control system(s) referred to: National Reconnaissance Program; National Reconnaissance Office. Where absolutely necessary to refer to the National Reconnaissance Program in communications not controlled under the prescribed special security systems, such reference will be made by use of the terminology: "Matters under the purview of DoD TS-5105.23." 1960-1989 - Initial Organization Since its formation on 25 August 1960, the Navy, Air Force and CIA had each managed their own stable of satellites, with both Air Force and CIA managing both SIGINT and IMINT assets, although CIA usually handled IMINT and Air Force had primary responsibility for SIGINT. Program D included aerial assets. Initially the NRO was organized into four programs, each of which was responsible for system design and development, coordination with contractors, and operations. Program A included all Air Force satellite intelligence programs, which were managed by the Special Projects Office located at the Air Force Space and Missiles System Center at Los Angeles AFB, El Segundo, CA. Program B encompassed Central Intelligence Agency satellite programs, which were the responsibility of the Agency's Deputy Director for Science and Technology, discharged the Assistant Deputy Director for Research and Engineering. Program C embraced the Naval component of NRO, responsible for ocean surveillance satellites. Development activities were conducted by the Naval Space and Warfare Systems Command (NAVSPAWAR) in Crystal City, VA, and the Navy Space Project Office at Los Angeles AFB, El Segundo, CA. Operational control of Naval systems is the responsibility of the Naval Security Group Command, headquartered in Washington, DC. Program D covered aerial surveillance programs, such as the U-2 and A-11, prior to 1969. These aircraft were subsequently operated by the Air Force Strategic Air Command, until the establishment of Air Combat Command, whereupon control of the remaining U-2s reverted briefly with NRO. Responsibility for these activities was subsequently removed from the NRO and ultimately lodged in the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office in late 1993.
This use of service executive agents mirrored the pattern initially established by the Advanced Research Projects Agency, and later by the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, and its successor, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. A small central agency staff directed and supervised work conducted by much larger service organizations, which in turn managed relations with the even larger contractor base. Although the NRO is a national organization, since its formation the NRO has operated under the cover of the Under Secretary of the Air Force, and the Office of Space Systems [SAF/SS], which serves as the organization's staff director. However, during the Carter and Bush Administrations, the NRO was headed by an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force -- on both occasions the Under Secretary was a woman, who was presumably not qualified to discharge this responsibility. Exceptionally, Reagan Administration Air Force Under Secretary Edward Aldridge retained responsibility for the NRO when he became Secretary of the Air Force. For over a decade the NRO Deputy Director has been an Air Force civilian, Jimmie Hill, and the current identity of the NRO Director can be readily tracked by observing who Jimmie Hill works for. The Under Secretary of the Navy is also specifically tasked to operate the Department of the Navy's programs which are part of the NRO. The Director of Central Intelligence chairs the National Reconnaissance Executive Committee, which directly supervises the NRO. 1989-1990 Consolidation In mid-1989, David Boren, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence requested a jointly approved plan for the reorganization of the National Reconnaissance Office. In 1989 the Senate Intelligence Committee stated that: " ... the best approach to ensuring a robust national reconnaissance program is to reorganize the NRO in a way which facilitates greater communication, cross-system and cross-program fertilization, and common security, support, and administrative practices. Thus, the Committee directs that, unless an Alternative plan approved by the Secretary of Defense and the DCI is submitted prior to November 1, 1989, the NRO begin, no later than November 1, 1989, a reorganization according to the plan outlined in a letter to the Intelligence Committee dated November 21, 1988 by then Secretary of the Air Force Edward C. Aldridge, Jr.... " ... (2) collocation of remaining activities in a central facility in the Washington, D.C. area; ... [under] ... the Aldridge Plan...Ultimately, circa 1991-1992, the plan called for the collocation of the CIA Air Force, and Navy Program offices in a new facility in Northern Virginia. The Committee believes these goals and the timetable are realistic. Moreover, additional realignment of program office functions are made feasible by the collocation and should be pursued.... "Accordingly, the Committee directs that all activities of the various program offices be collocated according to the 19911992 timetable unless the Director, NRO decides, based on compelling reasons, that certain sub-elements of the three program offices should not collocate. In such a case, the Director should notify the Intelligence Committees of his decision and describe his rationale for it. In a 3 July 1989 letter to Boren regarding the NRO restructure, Defense Secretary Richard Cheney and Director of Central Intelligence William Webster stated their intent to: Form a Joint Senior Advisory Board (now referred to as the National Reconnaissance Review Board) of senior Intelligence Community managers to advise us and the DSRO regarding NRO issues; Establish a strong Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation capability within the NRO to support the architectural development and programmatic decision processes; Designate the CIA's Director of Development and Engineering as the Director of Program B to provide a full-time manager for Program B; and Establish, within the NRO, a Deputy Director for Command Support position (now referred to as the Deputy Director for Military Support) to improve NRO support to the military. In addition to these initial steps, the DNRO Restructure Study recommended: Realignment of the NRO and Defense Support Project Office (DSPO) staffs to improve management effectiveness and facilitate a more integrated and effective organizational response to military requirements. The DSPO continued as a distinct organizational entity providing the principal focus for the DSPO/NRO interface with the military. However, common support functions, such as budget administration and planning and analysis support, were combined into single organizational entities that provided support to both the NRO and DSPO. Establish, within the NRO, National Security Agency staff responsible for ensuring that consistent and adequate implementation standards are applied across government and contractor organizations in order to minimize wasteful resource expenditures and maximize the effectiveness of security protection. Continued use of a small, centralized, Inspection and Audit (IG) function, supported by the IG activities of the NRO Program Offices' parent organizations, to accomplish the necessary NRO IG functions. With the recent agreement between the NRO and CIA, the final issue preventing successful implementation of this concept has been removed and all NRO Program Offices and their parent organizations support the charter of the NRO Inspector General. Defense Secretary Richard Cheney and Director of Central Intelligence William Webster endorsed the DNRO's decision not to pursue further collocation. They shared his belief that the combination of restructure initiatives being implemented had the potential to achieve the same benefit as a total collocation without the downside risk of disrupting the NRO's program execution ability and support infrastructure. However, they did express the belief, as did DNRO, that it was important to continue to protect the option to implement additional collocation initiatives if required. The DNRO's facility acquisition strategy supported this objective.
The Defense Secretary and the Director of Central Intelligence reaffirmed their previous conviction, supported by the DNRO's 1989-90 reassessment, that a business-line structure, that would attempt to give each Program Office the responsibility for a unique mission area, was neither a viable or effective restructure alternative. They wanted to preserve a beneficial degree of competition between the Program Offices and the ability to apply the resources of all three Program Offices, as appropriate, to a problem. Competition was also viewed as vital to sustaining the motivation of the Program Offices and the ability to develop creative solutions to intelligence requirements. The Defense Secretary and the Director of Central Intelligence shared the DNRO's concern regarding the House Appropriations Committee guidance to shift program management responsibility for the Defense Reconnaissance Support Program (DRSP) and Airborne Reconnaissance Support Program (ARSP) from the DNRO to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (AND (C3I)). In their view, no matter what external lines of authority existed, or are established, to the NRO, the fundamental principle must remain that NRO Program Offices must work for one program manager, the DNRO, regardless of the source of the funding for the programs they are executing. Subsequent to the preparation of the Restructuring Report on 8 January 1990, the ASD(C3I) and the DNRO developed a recommendation which maintained this principle while providing for appropriate direction from the ASD(C3I). Under this plan, the NRO's Deputy Director for Military Support would also serve as the Director of the DSPO under the day-to-day operational control of the DNRO. In this capacity, he will receive programmatic oversight, requirements, guidance, and funding through the ASD(C3I). The DSPO would be a DoD staff element (not a NRO Program Office) with budgeting, coordination, and architectural responsibilities. Specific relationships among the ASD(C3I), DSPO, DNRO, and the DCI were to be formulated and provided at a later date. The DNRO recommended implementation of an NRO headquarters collocation that included the DNRO, his deputies, their staff support, management elements from the three Program Offices, and appropriate centralized support functions in order to facilitate a more integrated organizational approach to the accomplishment of the NRO mission, built upon the unique capabilities of the individual Program Offices. Throughout most of its history, the small NRO staff consisted of personnel seconded from other agencies. The January 1990 NRO Restructure Report noted the problems this created, and considered the possibility of creating: " ... a more integrated organizational structure. Multiple civilian personnel systems may result in individuals doing similar jobs for different levels of pay and benefits. Additionally, our ability to make the personnel changes necessary to accommodate programmatic changes in our programs might be improved if the NRP budgeted, and perhaps directly controlled, its personnel resources. "This area is very important to the long term success of our restructure efforts. However, I am not prepared to recommend a definitive solution for our personnel requirements beyond the approach for the additional requirements described above. I intend to work with the Administration and the Congress to develop a solution as quickly as possible." The restructure activities required additional personnel to support the centralized security function. To support the additional personnel requirements associated with the new facilities and the centralized security function, 111 additional personnel were authorized to be paid with funds available to the National Reconnaissance Program, which would require funding increasing gradually from $5.6 million in 1991 to $7.9 million in 1995. 1992 Functional Reorganization As early as mid-1989 it was reported that the Defense Department (Air Force) was in charge of the photographic intelligence bureau of the NRO.<16> And by late 1989 it was reported that the NRO had initiated a major restructuring, with each CIA assigned responsibility for all satellites under the Imagery Branch, and Air Force assigned responsibility for all satellites under the SIGINT Branch. Least affected was the Navy, which retained responsibility for the satellites of the Ocean Surveillance Branch. Although these reports were in error at the time, they reflected the options under consideration in 1989, and ultimately implemented in 1992. The Woolsey panel recommended reorganization of NRO into several directorates and collocation of major NRO elements as expeditiously as possible. These recommendations were approved by the DCI, the Secretary of Defense, and the President. The Restructure Plan approved by the SECDEF and DCI collocated most of the NRO to a single location as soon as possible. Full collocation would be supported with the occupancy of the NRO Westfields facility in 1996. According to the NRO, the Westfields consolidation would: strengthen the technical capability of the organization; improve decision making; promote closer, more active, interfaces with customers; improve ability to develop more integrated architecture; allow merging of similar functions to minimize redundancy; and facilitate functional organization structure. The process of reorganization along product rather than service lines began in late 1992. In mid- November, DCI Robert Gates announced: "... we have implemented a far-reaching internal restructuring of the National Reconnaissance Office (including declassification of its existence). These changes, from an organizational to a functional structure, are the most comprehensive in the NRO's history."
Under the new structure, the designation of CIA as IMINT Branch manager and Air Force as SIGINT Branch-manager was replaced by IMINT and SIGINT Branches staffed by workers from CIA and the military services. According to NRO Director Martin Faga, under the new structure: "We will have the CIA and the [Defense Department] people intertwined to carry out the particular functions we need." Faga suggested that the NRO organization prior to 1989, with each service working competitively and independently, had contributed to excessive proliferation of competing satellite designs and a lack of technical coordination. The leading public authority on NRO, Jeff Richelson, suggested that: "The advances have been so great that maybe they don't need the degree of competition they have had in the past. You're not going to have the Air Force and the CIA competing for the design of the next signals intelligence spacecraft in the way you have in the past." As of early 1994, NRO reported that "significant progress has been made in our efforts to reorganize into an integrated functional organization." As part of the continuing baseline review of NRO support functions, it was determined that the support function needed to be consolidated and expanded in the NRO. Consequently a Management Services and Operations (MSO) organization was established in FY 1992. MSO provides consolidated support in the areas of communications, human resources management, administrative services, facility acquisition, logistics support,, and facility security. Additionally, the Centralized Security Function has expanded its original support function in the areas of communications security training and personnel security. The Miscellaneous Support and Operations element of the Mission Support expenditure center includes the facilities required in the NRO reorganization, airlift support, personnel costs, security operations, NRO communications and non-program specific logistics and support. The FY 1992 increase in Miscellaneous Support and Operations includes a functional transfer from the Air Force for the operational costs of the NRO communications. As a result of the restructure actions the NRO became responsible for new or increased infrastructure and administrative support which it had previously received from other organizations. These functions necessitated an increase in NRO personnel. In addition to the personnel requirements to support the NRO restructure initiated in 1990, the recent organizational changes and the declassification of the existence of the NRO increased the requirement for additional personnel to support FOIA facility activities and an expanded NRO Inspector General function.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Date Founded: September 18,1947 Mission When Founded: To coordinate the disparate civilian and military intelligence agencies, analyze their raw data, and produce finished reports for the President and the National Security Council Mission Today: To advance American interests when diplomacy fails and military force is not warranted Jurisdiction: Intelligence / counterintelligence and covert action activities outside the borders pi the United States and its territories (theoretically). The CIA has staged operations within U.S. territory and has conducted operations inside both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens. Headquarters: Langley, Virginia, with support facilities in McLean, Virginia. Training Facility at Camp Perry, Virginia (known informally as "The Farm") # of Personnel: Between 16,500 and 20,000, not including paid agents, contract mercenaries, consultants, and CIA front companies personnel Annual Budget: $ 1.5 billion (estimated) History/Profile: The history of the CIA is particularly convoluted. Much of what the public knows about the CIA, or "The Company," as it is sometimes known, comes to light only when there is a major disaster or a scandal. The public hardly ever hears about CIA operations that are successful. This has created a reputation for incompetence and corruption that may not be deserved. The CIA is divided into four Directorates Operations, Intelligence, Science and Technology, and Administration. The Directorate of Operations (DO), the largest of the three, gathers intelligence, conducts counterintelligence, and mounts covert operations. The Directorate of Intelligence (Dl) analyzes the information gathered and presents reports to government policymakers. The Directorate of Science and Technology (DST) designs everything from spy satellites and miniature cameras to "non-discernible bio-inoculators" (poison dart guns) and the SR- 71 "Blackbird" reconnaissance plane. The Direktorate of Administration (DA) provides the other three with information services, finance, logistics, legal services, personnel, and security. The primary DO occupation is the Case Officer. These men and women are not "agents." Agents are those foreign nationals (usually) who provide information and services to the CIA. They could be spies in government agencies, employees or managers of CIA-owned businesses like Air America or Southern Air Transport, or even "Contract Employees," the current euphemism for mercenaries. The Case Officer is the manager who gives these people their assignments and collects their information. The CIA has always been hesitant to use "illegals" that is, Case Officers who are not under official cover (usually diplomatic) and don't have diplomatic immunity. If the mission is one that proscribes the use of the CIA Station's staff at the U.S. embassy, then Contract Employees - who have no official connection to the CIA are used. The Case Officer is highly trained in paramilitary operations at "The Farm" training facility. He is, however, more likely to shoot photos than bullets, and the only kind of assassination he likely to commit is character assassination through his propaganda operations. Contract Employees are more likely to be involved with the "dagger" side of cloak-and-dagger operations. Contract Employees can be from almost any background. The same is true of agents. The Dl analysts are sometimes career analysts with an M.A. or Ph.D. in a particular geographic speciality or something he is a Case Officer who has retired from the field. Their jobs rarely take them out of the United States and it usually centers around wading through mountains of data. There are specialists in every field, from religious studies to military analysij to biographic intelligence. They operate in a rarefied, almost academic, atmosphere. DST employees usually have M.A.s or Ph.D.s in the hard sciences. DA employees come from every conceivable field. There is even in-house counsel to the CIA to handle its legal affairs. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed William Donovan as head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), an organization that was given the responsible for espionage and for helping the resistance movement in Europe. He was helped in this by William Stephenson and Britain's MI6 chief, Stewart Menzies. Donovan was given the rank of major general and during the Second World War he built up a team of 16,000 agents working behind enemy lines. The growth of the OSS brought conflict with John Edgar Hoover who saw it as a rival to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He persuaded President Harry S. Truman that the OSS in peacetime would be an "American Gestapo". As soon as the Second World War ended Truman ordered the OSS to be closed down leaving a small intelligence organization, the Strategic Services Unit (SSU) in the War Department. However, the OSS provided a model for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that was established in September 1947. Its role was to evaluate intelligence reports and coordinate the intelligence activities of the various government departments in the interest of national security. The NSC was also established by the National Security Act of 1947 to advise the President with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to the national security. The NSC is the highest Executive Branch entity providing review of, guidance for, and direction to the conduct of all national foreign intelligence and counterintelligence activities. The statutory members of the NSC are the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense. The Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff participate as advisers. The person who is Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) is simultaneously Director of the CIA and the leader of the Intelligence Community, of which CIA is but one component. The Intelligence Community refers in the aggregate to those Executive Branch agencies and organizations that conduct the variety of intelligence activities which make up the total US national intelligence effort.
The Community includes the Central Intelligence Agency; the National Security Agency; the Defense Intelligence Agency; offices within the Department of Defense for collection of specialized national foreign intelligence through reconnaissance programs; the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the Department of State; Army, Navy, and Air Force intelligence; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Department of the Treasury; and the Department of Energy; Special Operations Command (SOCOM). Members of the Intelligence Community advise the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) through their representation on a number of specialized committees that deal with intelligence matters of common concern. Chief among these groups are the National Foreign Intelligence Board and the Intelligence Community Executive Committee, which the DCI chairs. Rear Admiral Sidney W. Souers, who was the Deputy Chief of Naval Intelligence, was appointed the first Director of Central Intelligence. Walter Bedell Smith took over the post in 1950 and held it until being replaced by Allen W. Dulles in 1953. Richard Bissell joined the CIA and was placed in charge of the Directorate for Plans, an organization instructed to conduct covert anti-Communist operations around the world. His deputy was Richard Helms, who had successfully mounted a mount a massive convert campaign against the Communist Party during the post-war elections in Italy. The Directorate for Plans was responsible for what became known as the CIA's Black Operations. This involved a policy that was later to become known as Executive Action (a plan to remove unfriendly foreign leaders from power). This including a coup d'tat that overthrew the Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 after he introduced land reforms and nationalized the United Fruit Company. Other political leaders deposed by Executive Action included Patrice Lumumba of the Congo, the Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo, General Abd al-Karim Kassem of Iraq and Ngo Dinh Diem, the leader of South Vietnam. However, his main target was Fidel Castro who had established a socialist government in Cuba. In January 1959 General Fulgencio Batista was ousted by Fidel Castro. In its first hundred days in office Castro's government passed several new laws. Rents were cut by up to 50 per cent for low wage earners; property owned by Batista and his ministers was confiscated; the telephone company was nationalized and the rates were reduced by 50 per cent; land was redistributed amongst the peasants (including the land owned by the Castro family); separate facilities for blacks and whites (swimming pools, beaches, hotels, cemeteries etc.) were abolished. Some of Castro's new laws also upset the United States. Much of the land given to the peasants was owned by United States corporations. So also was the telephone company that was nationalized. The United States government responded by telling Castro they would no longer be willing to supply the technology and technicians needed to run Cuba's economy. When this failed to change Castro's policies they reduced their orders for Cuban sugar. Castro refused to be intimidated by the United States and adopted even more aggressive policies towards them. In the summer of 1960 Castro nationalism United States property worth $850 million. He also negotiated a deal where by the Soviet Union and other communist countries in Eastern Europe agreed to purchase the sugar that the United States had refused to take. The Soviet Union also agreed to supply the weapons, technicians and machinery denied to Cuba by the United States. In March 1960, President Dwight Eisenhower of the United States approved a CIA plan to overthrow Castro. The plan involved a budget of $13 million to train "a paramilitary force outside Cuba for guerrilla action." The strategy was organised by Bissell and Helms. An estimated 400 CIA officers were employed full-time to carry out what became known as Operation Mongoose. Sidney Gottlieb of the CIA Technical Services Division was asked to come up with proposals that would undermine Castro's popularity with the Cuban people. Plans included a scheme to spray a television studio in which he was about to appear with an hallucinogenic drug and contaminating his shoes with thallium which they believed would cause the hair in his beard to fall out. These schemes were rejected and instead Bissell decided to arrange the assassination of Fidel Castro. In September 1960, Richard Bissell and Allen W. Dulles, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), initiated talks with two leading figures of the Mafia, Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana. Later, other crime bosses such as Carlos Marcello, Santos Trafficante and Meyer Lansky became involved in this plot against Castro. Robert Maheu, a veteran of CIA counter-espionage activities, was instructed to offer the Mafia $150,000 to kill Fidel Castro. The advantage of employing the Mafia for this work is that it provided CIA with a credible cover story. The Mafia were known to be angry with Castro for closing down their profitable brothels and casinos in Cuba. If the assassins were killed or captured the media would accept that the Mafia were working on their own. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had to be brought into this plan as part of the deal involved protection against investigations against the Mafia in the United States. Castro was later to complain that there were twenty ClA-sponsered attempts on his life. Eventually Johnny Roselli and his friends became convinced that the Cuban revolution could not be reversed by simply removing its leader. However, they continued to play along with this CIA plot in order to prevent them being prosecuted for criminal offenses committed in the United States. When John F. Kennedy replaced Dwight Eisenhower as president of the United States he was told about the CIA plan to invade Cuba. Kennedy had doubts about the venture but he was afraid he would be seen as soft on communism if he refused permission for it to go ahead. Kennedy's advisers convinced him that Fidel Castro was an unpopular leader and that once the invasion started the Cuban people would support the ClA-trained forces. On April 14, 1961, B-26 planes began bombing Cuba's airfields. After the raids Cuba was left with only eight planes and seven pilots. Two days later five merchant ships carrying 1,400 Cuban exiles arrived at the Bay of Pigs. The attack was a total failure. Two of the ships were sunk, including the ship that was carrying most of the supplies.
Two of the planes that were attempting to give air-cover were also shot down. Within seventy-two hours all the invading troops had been killed, wounded or had surrendered. After the CIA's internal inquiry into this fiasco, Allen W. Dulles was sacked by President John F. Kennedy and Richard Bissell was forced to resign. Richard Helms now took over the Directorate for Plans. He now introduced a campaign that involved covert attacks on the Cuban economy. The US Congress has had legislative oversight responsibilities over the CIA and other intelligence agencies since 1947.
However, prior to the mid-1970s, oversight responsibilities resided in the Armed Services Committees of both chambers and were less formal than they are now. At the time, the DCI and his representatives interacted directly with the respective chairmen of the Congressional Committees, and formal hearings and testimony were rare. In 1970 it seemed that Salvador Allende and his Socialist Workers' Party would win the general election in Chile. Various multinational companies, including International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), feared what would happen if Allende gained control of the country. Richard Helms agreed to use funds supplied by these companies to help the right-wing party gain power. When this strategy ended in failure, Nixon ordered Helms to help the Chilean armed forces to overthrow Allende. On 11th September, 1973, a military coup removed Allende's government from power. Allende died in the fighting in the presidential palace in Santiago and General Augusto Pinochet replaced him as president. In 1975 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee began investigating the CIA. Senator Stuart Symington asked Richard Helms if the CIA had been involved in the removal of Salvador Allende. Helms replied no. He also insisted that he had not passed money to opponents of Allende. In that year Frank Church became the chairman of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities. This committee investigated alleged abuses of power by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The committee looked at the case of Fred Hampton and discovered that William O'Neal, Hampton's bodyguard, was a FBI agent-provocateur who, days before the raid, had delivered an apartment floor-plan to the Bureau with an "X" marking Hampton's bed. Ballistic evidence showed that most bullets during the raid were aimed at Hampton's bedroom. Church's committee also discovered that the CIA and FBI had sent anonymous letters attacking the political beliefs of targets in order to induce their employers to fire them. Similar letters were sent to spouses in an effort to destroy marriages. The committee also documented criminal break-ins, the theft of membership lists and misinformation campaigns aimed at provoking violent attacks against targeted individuals. One of those people targeted was Martin Luther King. The FBI mailed King a tape recording made from microphones hidden in hotel rooms. The tape was accompanied by a note suggesting that the recording would be released to the public unless King committed suicide. In its final report, issued in April 1976, the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities concluded: Domestic intelligence activity has threatened and undermined the Constitutional rights of Americans to free speech, association and privacy. It has done so primarily because the Constitutional system for checking abuse of power has not been applied. Investigations by the CIA's Inspector General and by Frank Church and his Select Committee on Intelligence Activities showed that Hems had lied to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. They also discovered that Helms had been involved in illegal domestic surveillance and the murders of Patrice Lumumba, General Abd al-Karim Kassem and Ngo Dinh Diem. In 1977 Helms was found guilty of lying to Congress and received a suspended two-year prison sentence. Following allegations of wrongdoing by US intelligence agencies, the Senate established the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) on 19 May 1976. The House of Representatives followed suit on 14 July 1977 by creating the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). These committees, along with the Armed Services as well as the Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs Committees, were charged with authorizing the programs of the intelligence agencies and overseeing their activities. Conversely, President Gerald Ford established the President's Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB) in 1976 as a White House entity with oversight responsibility for the legality and propriety of intelligence activities. The Board, which reports to the President, is charged primarily with preparing reports "of intelligence activities that the IOB believes may be unlawful or contrary to Executive order or Presidential directive." The Board may also refer such reports to the Attorney General. This standard assists the President in ensuring that highly sensitive intelligence activities comply with law and Presidential directive. In 1997, the IOB was made a standing committee of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB). The PFIAB is maintained within the Executive Office of the President. Its sixteen members serve at the pleasure of the President and are appointed from among trustworthy and distinguished citizens outside of government on the basis of achievement, experience, and integrity. They serve without compensation. The Board continually reviews the performance of all government agencies engaged in the collection, evaluation, or production of intelligence or in the execution of intelligence policy. It also assesses the adequacy of management, personnel, and organization in intelligence agencies and advises the President concerning the objectives, conduct, and coordination of the activities of these agencies. The Advisory Board is specifically charged to make appropriate recommendations for actions to improve and enhance the performance of the intelligence efforts of the United States. The 1980 Intelligence Oversight Act established the current oversight structure by making SSCI and HPSCI the only two oversight committees for the CIA and other intelligence agencies. However, the Appropriations Committees, given their constitutional role to appropriate funds for all US Government activities, also exercise some oversight functions. However, only the CIA interacts closely with other committees, depending on issues and jurisdiction. The CIA's Office of Congressional Affairs deals directly with oversight issues. SSCI and HPSCI receive all CIA finished intelligence products. Moreover, CIA officials and analysts give more than one thousand substantive briefings a year to members of Congress, congressional committees, and their staffs. SOCOM, formed initially as a military command for special operations, now falls under the Deputy Director Of Operations (DDO) of the CIA informally as of 1980 and formally as of 1995. The DDO has primary responsibility for the clandestine collection of foreign intelligence, including human source intelligence (HUMINT). Domestically, the DDO is responsible for the overt collection of foreign intelligence volunteered by individuals and organizations in the United States.
The DDO is under the Executive Director (EXDIR) and the Deputy Executive Director (DEXDIR) of Central Intelligence. The DCI appoints the EXDIR, who is the Agency's Chief Operating Officer. The EXDIR manages the CIA on a daily basis, formulating and implementing policies and programs that affect the corporate interests of the Agency and its personnel on behalf of the DCI with input from the four Deputy Directors (DDA, DDI, DDS&T, and DDO). Functions within the EXDIR's jurisdiction include budget and resources, strategic planning, senior personnel assignments and issues that affect the operations of the entire Agency. When the DCI or DDCI represent the Intelligence Community before Congress or in Community forums, the EXDIR represents the Agency. The EXDIR and DEXDIR are under the Director OF Central Intelligence (DCI) and the Deputy Director Of Central Intelligence (DDCI). The DCI is the primary adviser to the President and the National Security Council on national foreign intelligence matters. He is the head of the Central Intelligence Agency and of such other staff elements as are required for the discharge of his Intelligence Community responsibilities. Executive Order 12333, issued by President Reagan on 4 December 1981, gives the DCI authority to develop and implement the National Foreign Intelligence Program and to coordinate the tasking of all Intelligence Community collection elements. In addition to staff elements of the Office of the DCI, the Intelligence Community consists of the Central Intelligence Agency; the National Security Agency; the Defense Intelligence Agency; the National Reconnaissance Office; the National Imagery and Mapping Agency; the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the Department of State; and the intelligence elements of the military services (including SOCOM), the FBI, and the Departments of Treasury and Energy. The Director of Central Intelligence has four major Community responsibilities: to serve as the senior intelligence officer of the government; to establish requirements and priorities for Community efforts; to develop and justify the National Foreign Intelligence Program (NFIP); and to protect sources and methods. Collateral responsibilities can be inferred, including planning, evaluation, and coordination. The DCI also serves as Chairman of the NSC's Senior Interagency Group when it meets to consider intelligence matters. This committee addresses issues requiring interagency attention, deals with interdepartmental matters, and monitors the execution of approved intelligence policies and decisions. The DDCI is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The DDCI assists the Director by performing such functions as the DCI assigns or delegates. He acts for and exercises the powers of the Director in his absence or disability or in the event of a vacancy in the position of the Director The Covert Action Group (CAG) was formed in 1989 to cover SOCOM operations that could not and/or would not ever be reported to or tied with any oversight and would include domestic counterintelligence and counterterrorist, operations technically outside official Central Intelligence jurisdiction or the oversight auspices. Such operations could not be tied to being under Presidential sanction, legislative oversight, or central intelligence directive, in order to avoid compromising situations as evident in the failed arms operations of late 1980's. In other words, CAG handles national and international situations that need to be plausibly deniable and/or that other agencies can not or do not want to be involved in.
Personnel for CAG would be managed from the 'outside' through 'contracting' firms with funding provided by SOCOM. One of those contracting firms, Rogers Consulting International. (RCI), is managed and operated by Benjamin Rogers (aka Ben Stevens or Bishop). RCI currently has domestic offices in Miami (FL), Fairfax (VA), Chicago (IL), Seattle (WA), San Francisco (CA), Corpus Christi (TX), New Orleans (LA) and New York City (NY). Internationally, RCI expects to open offices in the UK, Italy, Israel, Belgium and several other countries. In May 1992, the DCI's Nonproliferation Center (NPC) was established as the focal point for all IC activities related to nonproliferation. The NPC, structurally located in the Directorate of Intelligence, develops and updates strategic plans, provides assessments, manages operations, and enhances collection efforts in order to provide the policy maker with a coordinated view on nonproliferation issues for decision making. Current methods of intelligence collection generally fall into one of two major categories: they are either manpower- or hardware-intensive. As its name indicates, human-source intelligence or HUMINT requires a considerable investment in people to obtain the desired results. In contrast, the satellites and other sophisticated hardware systems that yield enormous amounts of data are themselves extremely costly to develop and operate. Two of the CIA's four directorates engage in collection: Directorate of Operations (DO) The Directorate of Operations (DO), headed by the Deputy Director for Operations (DUO), has primary responsibility for the clandestine collection of foreign intelligence, including HUMINT. Domestically, the DDO is responsible for the overt collection of foreign intelligence volunteered by individuals and organizations in the United States, and in some cases, data on foreign activities collected by other US Government agencies. Since 1992, the DDO has been assisted by an Associate Deputy Director for Military Affairs (ADDO/MA), who facilitates Agency cooperation with the military. The DO is divided administratively into area divisions, as are the State Department and CIA's Directorate of Intelligence, with the addition of a domestic collection division, two topical centers, one tasking center, and one defector resettlement center. Several staffs deal with issues specific to the work of the DO. Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T) Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T), headed by the Deputy Director for Science and Technology, provides support to CIA and the Intelligence Community (IC) in the collection, processing, and exploitation of intelligence from all sources imagery, HUMINT, open source, signals intelligence (SIGINT), and other forms of intelligence data collected by clandestine technical means. The support includes research, development, acquisition, and operations of the technical capabilities and systems. For open source and imagery exploitation, the DS&T serves as a service of common concern for the IC through, respectively, its Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) and National Photographic Interpretation Center. For HUMINT, the DS&T components provide a wide range of technical support, including agent communication. The National Photographic Interpretation Center is also managed within the DS&T. NPIC is a joint CIA/Defense Department center, and its product is disseminated to its parent agencies, which, in turn, incorporate it into all-source intelligence reports. NPIC also produces imagery interpretation reports, briefing boards, videotapes for national-level consumers, and provides support for the military. Directorate of Intelligence CIA produces a wide variety of finished intelligence. Its substantive scope is worldwide. It covers functional as well as regional issues, and its products range from quick-reaction, informal oral briefings to complex, long-term research studies that may take months or years to complete. Virtually all of CIA's finished intelligence is designed to support national-level policy deliberations. The Directorate of Intelligence (DI) DI, headed by the Deputy Director for Intelligence, produces the bulk of CIA's finished intelligence products and is the executive agent for meeting CIA's responsibility to produce national-level current intelligence. Since 1981, the Directorate's analysis of regional and country-specific topics has been performed in five regional offices.
Each of these offices generates multi-disciplinary studies encompassing military, economic, political, and other factors and produces the full range of finished intelligence. These offices - structured largely to mirror the way their policy maker consumers are organized in the State Department, Defense Department, NSC Staff, and other departments - are: * Office of African and Latin American Analysis * Office of East Asian Analysis * Office of European Analysis * Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis * Office of Slavic and Eurasian Analysis The Directorate also has four offices that are worldwide in responsibility but focus on particular issues or kinds of analysis: The Office of Resources, Trade and Technology (RTT) has the broadest responsibility, covering such translational issues as sanctions monitoring, economic negotiations support, foreign efforts to unfairly aid business, questionable foreign financial practices, international arms market trends, defense industry strategies, energy and resource analysis, geographic and demographic issues, and environmental trends and civil technology challenges-from both a technical and policy perspective. The Office of Scientific and Weapons Research (OSWR) produces assessments of foreign developments in science, technology, and weapons. Major issues currently addressed by OSWR include: the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear security and safety, technology surprise, and the proliferation of advanced conventional weaponry. The Office of Leadership Analysis (LDA) integrates the work of biographic, psychological, and medical specialists to provide comprehensive assessments of the major leaders, groups, and institutions of foreign countries that exercise formal or informal power. The Office of Imagery Analysis (OIA) which, effective I October 1993, is managed and staffed on behalf of the Directorate by the National Photographic Interpretation Center - provides analyses on the full range of substantive intelligence topics worldwide and develops and applies methodologies used to maximize the utility of current and future imaging systems. Two offices in the Directorate provide support to Directorate analysis and to other agencies: The Office of Information Resources (OIR) provides all-source library and reference services within CIA and retrieves CIA documents for the IC. It supports Directorate of Intelligence information systems and is developing an electronic open-source delivery system with connectivity to the IC. OIR also develops methodologies to support quantitative research and analysis. The Office of Current Production and Analytic Support (CPAS) publishes national-level current intelligence, fulfills the CIA's warning and alert functions via its Operations Center, coordinates foreign intelligence liaison activities, and supports CIA's finished intelligence production with cartographic, design, and editorial expertise. The CIA Vision: To be the keystone of a US Intelligence Community that is preeminent in the world, known for both the high quality of its work and the excellence of its people. The CIA stands for: * Intelligence that adds substantial value to the management of crises, the conduct of war, and the development of policy. * Objectivity in the substance of intelligence, a deep commitment to the customer in its form and timing.
Other Federal agencies employ police and special agents with sworn arrest powers and the authority to carry firearms. These agencies include the Postal Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Law Enforcement, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Federal Air Marshals. Treasury Department - Currently the Department of the Treasury has been charged with a federal mandate from Congress and the President to enforce the 18th Amendment, the National Prohibition Act, and the Volstead Act. Hopelessly under staffed and armed with few modern laws to aid their cause, these agents face an uphill battle enforcing an unpopular set of laws. Bureau of Internal Revenue - Later known as the Internal Revenue Service, this agency was responsible for the collection of taxes and the investigation of tax fraud. It began working with the Department of Treasury after 1929 in order to prosecute bootleggers and gangsters for tax evasion on their illegal incomes. Committee on Public Information (CPI) - The CPI was created in response to the Zimmerman Telegram in 1917. Since then, this is the federal government's propaganda machine. Its job is to spin the press and monitor domestic subversives such as socialists and immigrant workers which in their view are synonymous and a danger to American industry and capital interests. They promote the "American Way of Life". Federal Agent Role-Play Hints: The previou spages has tons of information in them. This shows only the mere beginnings of how big the government is, but what does all of that mean in game terms? Well, it is simple. Regardless of what branch you work under, they are all interlinked. You must be able to work through the correct channels to get the support you ned to do your job, regardless the task. Each Agency or Department has been assigned a specific area of expertise, to which you will fit. Anything outside of that, youll need support from your peers. Most Storytellers will focus on two or three groups for their storys theme, the most popular being the FBI, NSA and the CIA. Check with your Storyteller to see what Federal Agencies they will support. You will at some point have to work with the other agencies to get your job done, this handy reference will certainly help you decide on what organization you need to go to for information. Additional Role Play Opportunities: Federal Black Book Ops: Refers to the covert culture within government agencies and their activities regarding the paranormal. Over the course of American history, many unexplained events have gained the attention of the government. Congress has responded by allocating funds from the National Budget to these agencies, which in turn earmark a portion for secret projects dealing with several different covert operations. Few people know about these "black book" projects as lump sums are given to the agency and then are lost in a sea of paper trails, code names, and marked "classified". Indeed the agencies within agencies within agencies are even hidden from their parent organization most of the time. These operations include secret backing of questionable governments or groups to protect U.S. interests, technological and scientific development, or where Federal Black Book Ops is concerned.... the investigation and research into the unexplained. Governments all over the world and the agencies within have long been controlled and manipulated by the unexplained searches requested by the Superiors in Charge. Their covert culture and campaigns of misinformation in the name of "public safety" has been the biggest thorn in their side. However, fearing the reaction of the masses, they have been battling themselves and their bureaucracies rather than making significant progress to curb and possibly even control the entities they seek to understand. In Chicago: The Roarin' 20's, the government and its agencies are in their infancy in terms of intelligence. Before World War I, Americans saw little need for much of a military, let alone intelligence agencies. The United States was a world away from Europe and its problems and embarked on a policy of isolationalism. That all changed in 1917 with the interception of the Zimmerman Telegram. The precursors of our modern intelligence agencies began to spring up with the passing of the Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1917. Populated with the idealistic on one hand who are determined to make a difference in the infant agencies and protect the United States and its citizens on one hand. On the other hand, there are the corrupt. Just as ambitious as their idealistic counterparts, these people explore new laws to further their own power and secret agendas behind the scenes. Those at the top are guided by their own politics, agendas, and aspirations which often times calls for manipulating the very expansions in the law that they have created. Rivalries, politics, betrayal, and sheer ruthlessness are some of the things an agent must deal with and deal with well in order to hope to survive lest he become another hidden casualty in a society that is too affluent, carefree, and innocent to care. In this vein agencies are far too new to have made that leap from protecting the United States from subversives and socialists to protecting it from the unexplained. What would happen if they found out that there were worse things in the shadows than bootleggers, communists, and Labor Unions?
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Special Operations (Black Ops) Within the Central Intelligence Agency, covert action is housed inside the Directorate of Operations, headed by a deputy director for operations (DDO). This directorate consist of, among other subdivisions, a unit for political and economic covert action (the Covert Action Staff, or CAS), for paramilitary (PM) covert action (the Special Operations unit), for counterintelligence (the CI staff [CIS]), and for several geographic desks responsible for the collection of foreign intelligence. For our purposes, we will examine the Special Operations unit. The Directorate of Operations also houses special groups for conducting counterterrorism and counternarcotics, for tracking nuclear proliferation, and other tasks. Administrated by the DO, the PM group (Special Operations) maintains an elite cadre (Special Activities Staff) that are are highly skilled in weaponry; covert transport of personnel and material by air, sea, and land.; guerrilla warfare; the use of explosives; and escape and evasion techniques. They are prepared to respond quickly to a myriad of possible needs, from parachute drops and communications support to assistance with counternarcotics operations and defector infiltration. For PM tasks (special operations missions) and its other responsibilities, the Special Operations staff attempts to recruit assets with the appropriate specialized skills, though the geographic desks remain the principal units involved in the recruitment of personnel in so-called denied areas (Libya, Iraq, Iran, etc.). Special operations also provides special air, ground, maritime and training support for the Agency's intelligence gathering operations. A special case within the realm of PM operations is the murder of individual enemies: the assassination option, sometimes referred to euphemistically as "executive action" or "termination with extreme prejudice". Insofar as the Church Commission was able to ascertain, this option has been resorted to infrequently, and, at least with heads of state, never successfully. Source: America's Secret Power: The CIA in a Democratic Society, by Loch Johnson Defining Overt, Clandestine, and Covert Operations: Overt Operation: An operation conducted openly, without concealment. Clandestine Operation: An operation sponsored or conducted by governmental departments or agencies in such a way as to assure secrecy or concealment. A clandestine operation differs from a covert operation in that emphasis is placed on concealment of the operation rather than on concealment of identity of sponsor. In special operations, an activity may be both covert and clandestine and may focus equally on operational considerations and intelligence-related activities. Covert Operation: An operation that is so planned and executed as to conceal the identity of or permit plausible denial by the sponsor. A covert operation differs from a clandestine operation in that emphasis is placed on concealment of identity of sponsor rather than on concealment of the operation.
Department of Energy (DOE) Special Response Teams (SRT) About Y-12 Special Response Teams - The Department of Energy Y-12 Plant is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and is tasked with manufacturing and reworking nuclear weapon components, dismantling nuclear weapon components returned from the national arsenal, serves as the nation's storehouse for special nuclear material (SNM), and provides special production support to various programs. The Special Response Teams (SRT) are tasked with the mission to protect nuclear weapon components and special nuclear material (SNM) with deadly force if necessary. These teams are filled with professionals that have served in the Military and local, state and federal Law Enforcement. It is not uncommon to find former Marines, Rangers, Special Forces, and Air Force Security Police veterans serving in various positions within the teams. Additional, all team members go through extensive initial training and regular testing to gain and keep their position. Qualification standards include bi-annual marksmanship testing with all team weapons. Some of those qualifications include precision shooting while on the move (no easy skill), obstacle course that includes engaging various targets while negotiating obstacles, individual and team building assaults (CQB) in both day and night conditions, and various other physical and written test. In all, they receive more that ten times the annual training time of some Law Enforcement departments. Additional Facts about the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant Owner U.S. Department of Energy Managing Contractor Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc. Location In the Bear Creek Valley of East Tennessee, within the city limits of Oak Ridge, Tennessee (population 28,000), about 15 miles from Knoxville Size 811 acres, spanning 2.5 miles, with some 250 buildings that house about 7 million square feet of laboratory, research and development, machining, dismantlement, and storage areas Unions International Guards Union of America (IGUA) Atomic Trades and Labor Council (ATLC), consisting of 18 local unions U.S. Secret Service Protective Detail and Counter Assault Team (CAT) Our Protective Mission After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Congress directed the Secret Service to protect the President of the United States. Protection remains the primary mission of the United States Secret Service. In the modern Secret Service, the division directly responsible for the personal security of the President and the First Family is the Presidential Protective Division (PPD). This division continually maintains a close perimeter of agents around its protectees. It also conducts advance security surveys for Presidential trips and major events. Since 1992, PPD has included a special unit known as the Counter Assault Team (CAT). CAT was created in the late 1970s within select field offices to neutralize an attack on a protectee as quickly as possible. Until it was incorporated into PPD, CAT was part of the Special Services Division. Today, the Secret Service is authorized by law to protect: * the President, the Vice President, (or other individuals next in order of succession to the Office of the President), the Presidentelect and Vice President-elect; * the immediate families of the above individuals; * former Presidents, their spouses for their lifetimes, except when the spouse re-marries. In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former Presidents for a period of not more than 10 years from the date the former President leaves office. * children of former presidents until age 16; * visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses traveling with them, other distinguished foreign visitors to the United States, and official representatives of the United States performing special missions abroad; * major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general Presidential election. How Protection Works Certain Secret Service protective methods are generally the same for all individuals protected. Permanent protectees, such as the President and the First Lady, have details of special agents assigned to them for a 3 to 5. Temporary protectees, such as candidates and foreign dignitaries, have details of special agents on temporary assignment from Secret Service field offices. The Secret Service does not discuss methods or means in any detail, however generally speaking, the advance team surveys each site to be visited. From these surveys, the members determine manpower, equipment, hospitals, and evacuation routes for emergencies. Fire, rescue, and other public service personnel in the community are alerted. A command post is established with full communications facilities. The assistance of the military, federal, state, county, and local law enforcement organizations is a vital part of the entire security operation. Before the protectee's arrival, the lead advance agent coordinates all law enforcement representatives participating in the visit. Personnel are posted and are alerted to specific problems associated with the visit. Intelligence information is discussed, identification specified, and emergency options outlined. Prior to the arrival of the protectee, checkpoints are established, and access to the secured area is limited.
Protective Research During the visit, Secret Service and local law enforcement personnel form a network of support for members of the detail surrounding the protectee. The Secret Service command post acts as the communication center for protective activities, monitors emergencies, and keeps all participants in contact with one another. After the visit, agents analyze every step of the protective operation, record unusual incidents, and suggest improvements for the future. Protective research is an important ingredient in all security operations. Technicians and engineers develop, test, and maintain technical devices and equipment needed to secure a safe environment for the Service's protectees. Agents and specialists assigned to protective research also evaluate information received from other law enforcement and intelligence agencies regarding individuals or groups who may pose a threat to protectees. This information is critical to the Service's protective planning. Uniformed Division The Secret Service Uniformed Division, initially a force comprised of a few members of the military and the Metropolitan Police Department, began formalized protection of the White House and its grounds in 1860. This unit was under the direction of the White House Military Aide until 1922 when President Warren G. Harding prompted the establishment of a White House Police Force. It was not until 1930, after an unknown intruder managed to walk into the White House dining room, that President Herbert Hoover recognized the need for the White House Police and the Secret Service to join forces. President Hoover wanted the Secret Service to exclusively control every aspect of Presidential protection; therefore, Congress placed the supervision of the White House Police under the direction of the Chief of the Secret Service. In 1970, Public Law 91-217 expanded the role of the White House Police, newly named the Executive Protective Service, to include protection of diplomatic missions in the Washington, D.C. area. Congress later added the protection of the Vice President's immediate family to the Executive Protective Service's growing responsibilities in 1974. After several name revisions, the force officially adopted its current name, the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division in 1977. While protection of the White House Complex remains its primary mission, the Uniformed Division's responsibilities have expanded greatly over the years. They now protect the following: * the White House Complex, the Main Treasury Building and Annex, and other Presidential offices; * the President and members of the immediate family; * the temporary official residence of the Vice President in the District of Columbia; * the Vice President and members of the immediate family; and * foreign diplomatic missions in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and throughout the United States, and its territories and possessions, as prescribed by statute. Officers of the Uniformed Division carry out their protective responsibilities through special support units (Countersniper, Canine Explosive Detection Team, Emergency Response Team, Crime Scene Search Technicians, Special Operations Section, Magnetometers) and a network of fixed security posts, foot, bicycle, vehicular and motorcycle patrols. U.S. Customs Service Air Interdiction Program Established by Congress during the late 1960's in response to the growing number of airborne smugglers bringing drugs into the United States, the Customs Aviation Interdiction Program became operational in 1971. Its mission: to stem the flow of illicit drugs coming into the U.S. through the air and to assist other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. In response to the growing appetite in America for drugs, particularly cocaine, Customs has developed an increasingly sophisticated armada of sensor equipped interceptor aircraft and apprehension helicopters to combat those attempting to smuggle dangerous substances across America's borders. Cessna Citation Once detected, suspect aircraft entering U.S. air space are covertly intercepted, identified and followed to their delivery sites by Customs interceptor aircraft such as the Cessna Citation jet and the Customs High Endurance Tracker (CHET). Actions by the smuggler aircraft are carefully video taped and documented by Customs air crews for use as evidence in subsequent criminal prosecution proceedings. Black Hawk Utilizing the Sikorsky UH-60 "Black Hawk" helicopter, Customs law enforcement crews land adjacent to the smuggling aircraft and, assisted by officers from local, state, and other federal agencies, arrest the smugglers and seize their illegal cargo and conveyances.
Such capabilities have made airborne drug smuggling into the U.S. increasingly risky and more difficult. It is no coincidence that such air smuggling attempts have decreased precipitously over the last decade, as smugglers seek alternative means to covertly bring their contraband to the U.S. marketplace. One of the most difficult facets of air interdiction involves the initial detection of airborne smugglers, who tend to fly their aircraft "low and slow" to avoid radar detection. To meet this threat, the Customs Aviation Interdiction program has developed comprehensive ground-based and airborne radar capabilities to detect smugglers not only along the U.S. borders but also as they depart the source countries and transit areas. Utilizing a wide variety of civilian and military ground-based radars, tethered aerostat radars, airborne reconnaissance aircraft and other sensors, the Customs Air Interdiction Coordination Center (DAICC) conducts 24-hour surveillance along the entire southern tier of the U.S., and Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. When suspect aircraft are observed crossing the border, DAICC will immediately launch an appropriate Customs interdiction aircraft. DAICC provides intelligence, communications, and tactical radar control to the interceptor aircraft and ground units involved in the interdiction activity. P3 Additionally, Customs P3-AEW airborne early warning radar aircraft provide radar coverage wherever needed, including: the southern border, the Caribbean, or over international waters adjacent to as well as over source and transit countries. U.S. Customs aircrews also participate in sanctioned and carefully planned undercover operations. These efforts are undertaken in close coordination with the Customs Office of Investigations and other agencies as appropriate. Smuggling networks are infiltrated by gaining their confidence, then prosecuting through the gathering of evidence to convict them. Helicopter The Aviation Interdiction Program's secondary mission is to support the efforts of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in their counter drug efforts. Customs helicopters and light aircraft are utilized in a wide variety of ways to assist the entire law enforcement community. For example, airborne surveillance plays a crucial role in following and apprehending smugglers. Customs aviation branches and units strategically located throughout the nation assist other agencies by utilizing aircraft to discretely follow land and marine "targets." This added "eye in the sky" capability gives ground-based officers a much greater advantage when following suspects. Over the past several years, this approach has made drug smuggling into the U.S. increasingly difficult. Dedicated Individuals Many dedicated individuals have committed their energies and talents to help fulfill the Customs aviation interdiction mission. Customs air crews include highly trained law enforcement professionals who bring special skills to the fight against drug smuggling. Customs pilots, many of whom are former military aviators, must have logged over 1,500 hours of flight time before being hired. The Customs pilot is well versed in all aspects of tactical flying and operations. For those qualified men and women who may be interested in a career as a United States Customs Service pilot, please call (202) 927-3682 for application material. Additional aircrew members include multi-mission law enforcement officers capable of operating sophisticated airborne radar and infrared sensors as well as acting as tactical officer during the apprehension phase of an operation. All tactical aircrew members are criminal investigators responsible for assembling complex criminal cases for swift prosecution. Detection Systems Specialists (DSS) are primarily responsible for monitoring ground-based and airborne detection systems. Using the latest in detection equipment and seasoned judgement, the DSS is able to acquire, track, and advise airborne Customs crews of suspicious aircraft for identification. The typical DSS brings to the job a wealth of prior experience in military or civil aviation radar controlling. The U.S. Customs Aviation Interdiction Program has as its primary mandate the detection and apprehension of drug smuggling aircraft entering the country. Collateral with this law enforcement mission is a real obligation to successfully reach and communicate with the youth of today in order to deter illegal activities tomorrow. Customs outreach effort is designed to directly interact with community-based organizations and schools so that citizens as well as children become aware of the dangers of drugs and Customs dedicated efforts to combat the problem. Every year, hundreds of professionals from throughout the Customs Aviation Interdiction Program visit primary and secondary schools, civic groups, charitable gatherings and business groups to disseminate the anti-drug message. Organizations interested in obtaining more information about this free community service should write to one of the following Customs Aviation Facilities.
U.S. Marshals Service Special Operations and Special Mission Units Deputy U.S. Marshals carry out hundreds of special missions yearly that are related to the Service's broad federal law enforcement and judicial security responsibilities. Special Operations Group The Special Operations Group (SOG) is a specially-trained and highly-disciplined tactical unit. SOG is a self-supporting response team capable of responding to emergencies anywhere in the United States or its territories. Most of the Deputy Marshals who have volunteered to be SOG members serve as full-time Deputies in Marshals Service offices throughout the nation, and they remain on call 24 hours a day for SOG missions. SOG also maintains a small, full-time operational cadre stationed at the Marshals Service Tactical Operations Center at Camp Beauregard, La., where all SOG deputies undergo extensive, specialized training in tactics and weaponry. These deputies must meet rigorous standards of physical and mental ability. The group's missions include: fugitive apprehension; dignitary protection; court security; transporting high-profile and dangerous prisoners; witness security; and asset seizures. The Special Operations Group (SOG) is another one of the Federal agencies' SWAT teams, and it was the first one to be established, in 1971. The SOG is probably the least active of the Federal Special Operations groups as to the nature of their work. They are capable of responding to emergencies anywhere in the United States or its territories within six hours after receiving the order. Most of the SOG operators are full-time Deputy Marshals and are volunteers in this special division. They remain on call 24 hours a day in the case of an emergency. The SOG has its training area set up at the Marshals Service Tactical Operations Center at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, where all SOG deputies undergo specialized training in tactics and weaponry. As all other CT units, they must meet rigorous standards of physical and mental ability. The group's missions include apprehending fugitives, dignitary protection, court security, transporting high-profile and dangerous prisoners, witness security and asset seizures. SOG members also assisted the Department of Defense in repatriating Haitian refugees last year. The group provided tactical teams to Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C. to support Operation Gunsmoke, a 10-week multi-agency fugitive manhunt of the country's most violent and hard-to-find fugitives. The SOG's first major deployment was in 1973 to Wounded Knee, South Dakota, where members of the American Indian Movement seized the hamlet. One hundred US Marshals and FBI agents arrived on scene and both sides dug in. Over the next 71 days, negotiations carried on, and almost every night there was an exchange of gunfire between the federal agents and the Native Americans. The SOG's request for Armored Personnel Carriers to re-take the town, was denied, and they were ordered to contain the situation, and to arrest anyone involved. Two Indians were killed and one US Marshal was wounded during the ordeal which lasted the 71 days, right up until the AIM surrendered. Like the DEA, the Special Operations Group has taken to the Colt 9mm submachine gun. Their pistols are most likely Glocks and they wear the standard SWAT gear. These include Kevlar body armor and helmet, goggles, assault vest, weapons, flashbangs and such. Missile Escort The Missile Escort Program is another responsibility of the Marshals Service. Deputy Marshals are specially trained to provide security and law enforcement assistance to the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force during the movement of nuclear warheads between military facilities. Judgment Enforcement Teams The Judgment Enforcement Teams (JET) are a new Marshals Service mission that began in 1992. Selected Deputy Marshals receive special training and are assigned to the Financial Litigation Units of selected U.S. Attorney Offices to provide an enforcement capability. They investigate cases where individuals have reneged on debts owed to the government, such as for criminal fines, financial fraud and medical training. The Deputies identify debtor assets, facilitate pre-judgement and post-judgment remedy planning, and enforce other judgment requirements. The Judgment Enforcement Team (JET) program received the Webber Seavey Award in 1994 from the International Association of Chiefs of Police for a "successful initiative to maximize the collection of debt owed to the federal government." Special Assignments In 1994, the Office of District Affairs was created to assist Marshals Service district offices experiencing administrative and operational problems during extraordinary circumstances. The office also coordinates special assignments for high-threat trials and SOG deployments. The office temporarily assigns Deputy Marshals when a district's permanently-assigned Deputies need assistance in carrying out their missions. For example, hundred of Deputies from across the country augmented the manpower of districts hard hit by recent hurricanes. The mobilization orders for these Deputies came from the Attorney General.
Drug Enforcement Adminstration (DEA) Special Operations and Special Mission Units DEA's Response to Violent Drug Crime The DEA Mobile Enforcement Team initiative (MET) is designed as a support service to help state and local police departments combat violent crime and drug trafficking in their communities. The METs are tactical, quick-response teams. At the request of a police chief, sheriff, or district attorney, a MET will be deployed to work in concert with local police to dislodge violent drug offenders from the community. In coordination with state and local agencies, a MET will conduct surveillance, collect intelligence, cultivate investigations, obtain indictments and help with arrests, before returning to its base-division. Mobile Enforcement Team members are not homicide investigators. The MET's mission is to cultivate drug intelligence and investigations against violent offenders, and then share that information with state and local authorities to further their homicide cases and prosecutions. Those factors are: Limited Resources: State and local law enforcement agencies are expected to investigate more crimes with less financial, material, staffing, and technical resources. The MET initiative provides financial and technical support to investigations, as well as a diverse group of Agents whose involvement would minimize risk of exposing local undercover officers. More violence/fewer police officers: The number of police officers has dropped, while violent crime incidents have surged. In 1990, says the IACP, the nation had fewer than one officer to respond to every three violent crimes. Increased teen violence: Young peoplethe most violent of all age groupsare committing more random violence and killing strangers more frequently than adult criminals. Police investigations, therefore, are weakened, with fewer ties between victim and offender. Witness intimidation: Criminal witness intimidation has had a profound negative impact on investigations, prosecutions, and the closure rate. Increased use of intimidation by gangs has undermined numerous investigations and prevented an untold number of potential witnesses from providing crucial testimony. Violence within the criminal community: MET Mission, Objectives, Procedures Another reason for the declining closure rate is that many homicides and other violent acts are committed within the criminal community, yet still terrorize the innocent. These would include enforcement actions within gangs, reprisals between drug lords, and crimes committed among criminals to obtain money for drugs. In addition to law enforcement agencies, the METs also reach out for the unique expertise that can be offered by specialized housing agencies. Numerous communities across the country have shown that improvements to public housing, which often serve as gang-havens, can help drive out gang activity and lower crime rates. Such agencies that might be included in this effort are public housing police forces, building inspectors, and city tax and finance departments. The DEA will give priority attention to certain circumstances when dispatching MET teams to state and local communities. These include: Areas that are prone to, and have reflected, a high incidence of violent crime that are directly related to street-level drug trafficking; Areas that are plagued by an extremely high volume of drug trafficking or by blatant drug dealing in public places where little or no regard is shown for authority figures or local law enforcement efforts; and Complaints of drug distribution in and around schools, playgrounds, and other areas where youths congregate.
Methods of Operation The DEA began assigning METs to DEA Divisions across the country in early 1995. When contacted by a local counterpart, the DEA Special Agent in Charge will first ensure that the gang or organization to be targeted is known to traffic drugs and engage in violence. The SAC will then dispatch to that city an advance team consisting of two or three Special Agents. Over the following two to three weeks, the advance team, using state-of-the-art equipment, will take surveillance videos and collect intelligence on gang members. Also during this time, the advance team will meet with local counterparts to discuss key issues. These issues include: the handling of evidence and defendants, seized assets, warrants, press releases and publicity, expenditures, actual or potential informants, funding the investigation, processing defendants, and follow-up procedures. Afterwards, the advance team will return to its base-division, where it will review the surveillance intelligence with the other team members and then collectively draft an action plan. The entire team, consisting of 10-12 Agents, will then return to the target city outfitted with the latest surveillance and raid-planning equipment. At that point, in cooperation with local agencies, the team will raid the targeted gang-havens and make arrests. Following a MET-assisted operation, DEA officials will meet with representatives of the requesting agency to evaluate the long-term success of the operation. Measures of effectiveness of the operation include: visible drug sales and use reduction, the stability of the target area, community reaction and involvement, resource development, resource implementation, media coverage, and a comprehensive assessment by the requesting agency. Significantly, the DEA will not involve itself in any way with the press, neither making press releases nor issuing public announcements regarding these operations. All media relations and press announcements concerning the progress and outcome of the investigations will reside solely with the requesting agency. Division of Responsibilities Identifying the targets and goals of the MET operation will be the responsibility of the requesting agency; Methods of investigation and surveillance will be the responsibility of DEA-MET personnel; Media events and press releases will be at the discretion and sole responsibility of the local law enforcement executive, not the DEA; and Upon completion of its assignment, the MET will then turn over all cases to the requesting agency for further development. Structure, Staffing, Training DEA allocated $3 million in FY-95 to train, equip, and support 19 Mobile Enforcement Teams based in as many DEA offices across the country. Approximately 200 DEA Special Agents are assigned to the MET Initiative. A few examples of early MET successes follow: One of the first MET deployments was requested by Sheriff Edward Williams and Assistant District Attorney David Hillford of St. Luis Obispo, California. Only 10 days after the request, the MET deployed to target several gangs who trafficked in methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. Local authorities reported 13 drug homicides that had been linked to gang members controlling methamphetamine laboratories in St. Luis Obispo County. After 60 days of deployment, the MET completed the operation with 70 arrests, the seizure of $250,000 worth of drugs and two assault rifles. According to DEA Group Supervisor Robert McGuire, "Gang activity in the county has been greatly reduced." In a letter of appreciation to the DEA, Sheriff Williams stated, "The accomplishments achieved as a result of this MET operation will have a significant impact on the drug problem and the quality of life in this community." Another successful MET deployment was to Galveston, Texas. Sheriff Joe Max Taylor of Galveston County requested DEA assistance to address gang-related drug problems in several areas of the county. Soon after its deployment, the MET arrested members of Crips, Bloods, and Latin Kings gangs that ran crack houses and were linked to numerous drive-by shootings and homicides. The MET conducted over 40 search warrants that netted 76 arrests for drugs violations, murder, violent acts, deadly conduct, and aggravated assault with a firearm. Another highlight of this investigation was the identification of two sources of supply for crack houses in Galveston County. One source was supplying 400 kilograms of crack cocaine to gang members, annually. Sheriff Taylor said, "The Houston MET team has been able penetrate two key organizations that are responsible for providing over 75 percent of the cocaine to street gangs that are active in our county. DEA's MET program is a very worthwhile project that provides law enforcement agencies that are faced with limited resources the breadth of experience needed to counter drug-related violence." Another MET deployment out of DEA's Washington, D.C. Division led the MET to Manassas, Virginia. In this case, a joint request had been submitted by the Manassas Police Department and the Prince William County Sheriff's Office. The targets were open air drug markets in three housing projects in the Manassas area. Prince William County Police Chief Charlie Deane said, " We've worked with the DEA for a number of years now, and the MET initiative is giving us intensive short-term assistance." The deployment successfully concluded with the indictment of 54 defendants for state drug violations. Fifty drug exhibits were purchased in three housing projects, and the defendants ranged in age from 13 to 65. To date, 38 defendants have been arrested in connection with this investigation.
In Arlington, Texas, Police Chief David Kunkell requested DEA assistance in combatting the "principal members of a very violent methamphetamine organization." In May, a MET deployment in Arlington, Texas, culminated with the arrest of seven individuals and the seizure of $1 million worth of methamphetamine, 4 guns, 7 automobiles, and $114,000 in cash. The targets were methamphetamine traffickers from Mexico believed to be major suppliers of methamphetamine in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Most of the gang members have criminal records for violent crimes such as robbery, street assaults, and murder. Moreover, several had connections to the Latin Kings drug gang. The New Orleans MET Team was requested to deploy to Selma, Alabama and surrounding Dallas County. In the past year there had been nine drug-related homicides and a 44 percent increase in drug-related robberies. Recently two members of this organization, which distributed 25 kilograms of crack cocaine weekly, were involved in a drug-related murder and shooting of another individual. The MET deployment in May successfully culminated with Grand Jury indictments against 17 members of the organization and the arrest of 15 individuals in July 1995. In Denver, Colorado, Chief David Michuad of the Denver Police Department requested the assistance of the MET team to confront the large-scale drug distribution gang headed by David Gutierrez. This criminal group had been supplying drugs throughout the Denver metropolitan area, including the prison system, since 1979. Although Gutierrez is suspected of four homicides, his gang used force and violence to intimidate potential witnesses. Nevertheless, information developed by the Denver Police Department and the MET was used to secure a Continuing Criminal Enterprise indictment. On July 19, 1995, Gutierrez and four of his associates were arrested on numerous federal drug charges, as well as operating a CCE. Another 12 members of the gang have been indicted, and several properties worth over $1 million have been seized. Several Police Chiefs have stated that the MET program is "long overdue." Ruben Ortega, Chief of Police in Salt Lake City, stated that "The MET is of great assistance to local agencies strapped for resources to combat violent, drug dealing gangs." Aviation Operations The DEA Office of Aviation Operations leads the air war in the fight against illegal drugs. This means employing aircraft in a variety of roles to support domestic and foreign operations against drug traffickers. As drug trafficking increased nationwide, it was evident that drug traffickers had no boundaries. DEA recognized the need to have mobility on land, air and sea. Since its inception in 1971 under DEA's predecessor agency, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the Office of Aviation Operations has grown from a single aircraft to a fleet of 90 planes. The Office's mission is to provide aviation support to operational and intelligence elements within DEA; detect, locate, identify and assess illicit narcotic related trafficking activities in the United States and foreign countries; and assist other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies involved in the deterrence of illicit narcotics related activities. The Aviation Operations Center is headquartered on a 12.3 acre site adjacent to Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. Today, 103 Special Agent/Pilots are based in various offices throughout the United States, Central and South America. DEA pilots are experienced criminal investigators as well as highly qualified aviators. The Office of Aviation Operations provides support in surveillance, photographic missions and intelligence gathering, undercover investigations, over-water search and surveillance, and rapid deployment of personnel and equipment.
Border Tactical (BORTAC) Communications System Project Description: The BORTAC Communications System is an operational system that connects the dispatch centers of 12 Federal, State, and local law enforcement and public safety agencies in the allocated County. It has been a joint effort of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center (CTAC) of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the Navy's Public Safety Center in the allocated County. NIJ provided design and project management, CTAC provided funding for hardware and dedicated phone circuits, and the Navy provided technical management and a facility to be the central connect point for the circuits. The implementation relies on the use of off-the-shelf communications circuits and radio system software to create a "patch" that connects different agencies' radio systems. The "patch" allows patrol/mobile units to achieve real-time, voluntary, and unencrypted voice communications interoperability. The "patch", once enabled, eliminates the need for the dispatcher to relay his or her officer's location and questions to the other dispatchers who repeat the information to their officers. The officers are able to speak directly to one another without the intervening relay process. The result is more accurate exchange of information and more timely response by each officer. Increased safety is an important result of the patching process. (NOTE: Each officer has to be operating within the existing coverage of his or her radio system. Officers cannot use this system if they leave their native region.) The names of the participating agencies are displayed on a central computer screen. When two or more agencies request that they be connected, a dispatcher at the central location uses a mouse to connect the appropriate icons on the computer screen. At the same time the software connects the communication circuits into the equivalent of a conference call. In this case, the voices heard on the conference call are the audio portion of each agency's radio frequency that has been designated for that patch. Multiple agencies can be patched together and multiple patches can be operating independently of one another. When the agencies have completed the operation they notify the central center and a dispatcher uses a few mouse operations to disconnect the participants. No agency is ever added to the patch unless that agency agrees. In this way the autonomy of each system is preserved. Status Report: The BORTAC testbed was established in June 1996 and initiated through a tabletop exercise involving real communications on December 4, 1996, with five different agencies. Since December 1996, the BORTAC communications testbed has been utilized several times each month by law enforcement in the San Diego area for an array of activities, including regional auto-theft task force operations, truancy sweeps, counterdrug sweeps, police pursuits, special cross-border events, gang suppression, etc. Though the system was anticipated to support "pop-up" operations, such as pursuits moving amongst jurisdictions, it has also been used to support planned operations wherein agencies agree to multi-agency operations with the agencies connected through the BORTAC system. NIJ's Border Research and Technology Center and the Navy's Public Safety Directorate, were the technical managers of the BORTAC system during its development. The system is now operational and is managed by the users through a committee. The issues facing the system all revolve around interagency procedures and protocols. As a consequence, the the allocated County Police Department and the the allocated State Highway Patrol have assumed joint leadership of the BORTAC system and are now taking the lead in guiding its progress. The BRTC and the Navy will continue to participate and provide guidance and reminders of lessons learned on an as-needed basis. This signals a successful enterprise in which Federal funding and technical know-how were used to initialize and organize a system that is now in the hands of state and local agencies with border enforcement responsibilities. The agencies are pleased with the system and in the words of one user: "[It] . . . sounded like officers from other agencies were in the backseats of our vehicles." Replication of this communications testbed is being implemented in all Counties of the US. Participating Agencies: Individual State Highway Patrol City Police Department City Sheriff's Department Individual State Police Department Naval Base Security Navy Investigative Service Navy Fire Department U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Border Patrol Federal Bureau of Investigation Drug Enforcement Administration U.S. Customs Service
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Operations and Response Units Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) The FBI's Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) provides rapid assistance to incidents in a crisis. The CIRG was established in May 1994 to supply emergency response to terrorist activities, hostage taking, barricaded persons, and other critical incidents. The CIRG is comprised of eight diverse Units which provide operational support and training. Expert assistance is available in cases involving abduction or mysterious disappearance of children, crisis management, hostage negotiation, criminal investigative analysis, and special weapons and tactics. CIRG assists in the assessment, selection, and training of FBI undercover employees. The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) is a component of CIRG and is responsible for planning and executing tactical plans for the arrests of fugitives or the release of hostages. The HRT has been extremely successful in deployments in the United States and overseas. The FBI'S Critical Incident Negotiation Team In the early 1980s, the country witnessed a rise in the number of long-term hostage and barricade incidents. For example, members of the Aryan Nation created a barricade situation on Whidbey Island, Washington, in December 1984. Earlier, a small, right-wing survivalist group known as the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord was involved in a similar incident in Arkansas. FBI hostage negotiators successfully resolved these situations and others like them, but the incidents challenged the crisis negotiation capacity of the FBI and pointed to the need for a special response mechanism. As a result, the Crisis Management Unit (CMU)1 at the FBI Academy developed a new approach. In 1985, the CMU formed the Critical Incident Negotiation Team (CINT), a small, highly trained and mobile group of experienced FBI crisis negotiators. This team became the nucleus of an organized response to complex and potentially lengthy hostage and barricade incidents nationwide. The FBI typically negotiates approximately 45 bank robbery and hijacking hostage incidents annually. The wealth of knowledge developed from these experiences, coupled with lessons learned from other law enforcement agencies, prepare CINT members to handle high-risk incidents. In addition to handling situations arising under FBI jurisdiction, the CINT provides aroundthe-clock consultation to State and local law enforcement agencies. Selection of Team Members The original CINT members were drawn from a pool of more than 350 FBI negotiators nationwide based on resume reviews, personal interviews, psychological testing, and negotiation experience. This group of 25 negotiators was multiracial and multilingual, with one member being fluent in five languages. Most had been hostage negotiators for 10-15 years and had extensive operational, investigative, and training experience. Their diverse investigative experience included foreign counterintelligence, counterterrorism, organized crime, and general criminal investigation. Training Because most of those selected for CINT had been police instructors in the field, they possessed an excellent working knowledge of negotiation strategies, hostage and barricade techniques, and crisis management principles, in addition to actual negotiation experience. Nevertheless, CMU arranged and coordinated semiannual training seminars conducted either at the FBI Academy or at other field locations that could accommodate the team's special instructional needs. For example, the team conducted joint training with the Department of Energy's Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) and participated in numerous long-term national training exercises conducted in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Camp Pendleton, California; and Indianapolis, Indiana. Criminal profilers and mental health professionals experienced in personality assessment also provided instruction for the team. Preparation for Negotiations Overseas The International Hostage Taking Act of 1984 tasked the FBI with deploying agents overseas to conduct hijacking and kidnaping investigations. This responsibility requires CINT members to interact regularly with Department of State personnel and to receive overseas operations training. Training in this area focuses on developing meaningful threat assessments, devising strategies for responding to ransom demands, and coordinating the efforts of the U.S. Embassy staff, host country police, and intelligence agencies, as well as employers and families of the victims. Team members familiarize themselves with diplomatic procedures, receive numerous inoculations for protection against disease, study cultural variables, review overseas jurisdiction, and generally prepare for rapid deployment abroad. CINT members also attend a 2-week negotiation course offered by the Metropolitan Police Department in London, England, for supplementary training. In addition to general training, CINT also has focused on preparing for specific threats. Immediately prior to the Gulf War in 1991, a special session was held at the FBI Academy to prepare CINT negotiators to deal with the potential threats posed by international terrorists. The team reviewed past terrorist incidents in the Middle East and examined the impact that culture, history, politics, and religion had on violence in the region. Today, training for CINT members continues on a regular basis to address pertinent and current challenges and to maintain the team's state-of-the-art readiness. Refresher training focuses on such areas as nuclear, chemical, and biological extortion; cult ideology; international terrorism; abnormal psychology; and crisis/suicide intervention.
Deployment The FBI deploys CINT negotiators for one of two reasons. First, when the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team responds to a hostage or barricade incident, a negotiation program manager from the CMU accompanies the team's advance group. Upon arrival at the scene, the program manager confers with local field office negotiators to assess the situation, the need for language or other specialty skills, the projected time span of the situation, the availability of local FBI field office negotiators, and the number of additional negotiators who may be needed. The program manager then contacts appropriate CINT members and instructs them to report to the scene, if warranted. Since 1985, CINT members have negotiated domestic incidents such as the Cuban prisoner uprisings in Oakdale, Louisiana; Atlanta, Georgia; and Talladega, Alabama, as well as standoffs with religious zealots in Marion, Utah; Ruby Creek, Idaho; and Waco, Texas. Other situations where the team provided assistance include the Lucasville, Ohio, prison riot and a week-long barricaded siege in Missoula, Montana. CINT negotiators also respond to situations in other countries at the request of a U.S. Ambassador, usually to assist in negotiating the release of Americans held hostage or kidnaped by terrorists or other criminal groups. In these international incidents, the CMU dispatches selected negotiators either to the country where the hostages are being held or to an adjacent country more receptive to the presence of Americans. CINT members deployed overseas generally respond in teams of two. Since 1985, CINT negotiators have assisted in the release of American hostages held in Ecuador, Chile, El Salvador, Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Zaire, Cambodia, and the Philippines. These delicate international incidents require team members to work closely with U.S. Embassy personnel, the families and employers of the victims, and the law enforcement agencies of the host countries. As a result of the team's successful record, requests for as-sistance continue to increase. To date, team members have been deployed overseas 22 times. International Assistance Recently, the team acquired an additional mission international police training and consulting. As a result, CINT negotiators have met with police forces around the globe to provide training in crisis management as it pertains to kidnaping and hostage incidents. Case Study On October 25, 1993, deputy sheriffs in Missoula, Montana, attempted to arrest a subject on an assault warrant. The subject fired a rifle shot that shattered the windshield of the deputy's cruiser and slightly wounded the officer. The subject subsequently barricaded himself inside his home with his wife and three of his nine children. The subject, who emigrated from the Ukraine 3 years earlier, had limited English-speaking ability and a history of mental instability. The Missoula County Sheriff's Department and Missoula Police Department set up a perimeter and opened negotiations with the subject in an attempt to resolve the standoff peacefully. However, the subject's mental state and his insistence on speaking only in Russian complicated the negotiations. Commanders at the scene called the CMU, which set up telephonic support from CINT negotiators for the sheriff's and police department's negotiators in Missoula. The FBI also dispatched Russian-speaking agents to the scene to provide language support. While these agents contributed valuable liguaistic assistance, they were not trained crisis negotiators. Missoula County authorities subsequently requested the assistance of a Russian-speaking negotiator. CMU identified two CINT members, one a native Russian speaker and the other, an experienced Soviet counterintelligence investigator, and immediately dispatched them from Washington, DC, to Missoula. To resolve the situation, the Russian-speaking CINT member directed and coached the subject's wife as she spoke with her husband. By closely following the uaidance provided by the negotiators, she ultimately convinced her husband to surrender. The direct involvement of CINT members and the professional effort of the Missoula law enforcement com-munity peacefully resolved the week-long standoff without further incident. Protracted hostage and barricade situations present a special challenge to law enforcement. By learning from past incidents and tapping into the experiences of other law enforcement agencies worldwide, the FBI Crisis Management Unit developed the Critical Incident Negotiation Team. Through its training and consultation services, the team of highly trained and experienced negotiators is available to assist law enforcement agencies around the world to resolve peacefully complex, high-risk incidents at any time, day or night. Formerly the Special Operations and Research Unit, the CMU is now part of the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG).
CONFRONTING THE TERRORIST HOSTAGE TAKER For the foreseeable future, terrorism, both domestic and international, will continue to be a major concern to U.S. Government and law enforcement agencies. Concern over terrorism is consistently voiced by officers attending the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Some officers have the impression that in a terrorist hostage incident, the crisis management approach would (or should) be substantially different from that in a criminal hostage incident. This is not the case. Since the mid-1970s, the FBI has grouped hostage taking incidents into four broad categories--the terrorist, the prison situation, the criminal, and the mentally disturbed. State and local law enforcement officers at the FBI Academy have indicated that these four major categories are still commonly used by law enforcement agencies. Further, there is also the consensus that the current set of negotiation strategies and tactics available to law enforcement provides viable alternatives from which to choose, whatever the motivation for the taking of hostages. Unfortunately, much of what is believed about terrorist conduct and behavior is derived from the media and the entertainment industry. Both the general population and the law enforcement community have come to accept the terrorist stereotype as accurately depicting personality traits, dedication, sophistication, commitment, and modus operandi. All too often, the dramatic events surrounding a terrorist incident are misrepresented in fictional accounts or in media efforts aimed at recreating actual situations that have occurred. Further, a brief news flash, broadcasted during an ongoing terrorist siege, does not draw an accurate picture of a terrorist's total range of conduct and personality traits. Therefore, many of the expressed ideas regarding terrorists appear to be based upon incorrect perceptions. The Terrorist Hostage Taker The FBI defines terrorism as the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social goals. One major difficulty in discussing the terrorist hostage taker is that the words ``terrorist'' and ``terrorism'' have been used by the media to such an extent that they are virtually useless as valid descriptive terms. They have become political terms with almost as many definitions as speakers. From the viewpoint of the crisis manager (i.e., the on-scene commander), does it help to distinguish a hostage taking as a terrorist act, separate from a criminal act? No, it does not. The label given the behavior does not change the act. In fact, the FBI now refers to such acts as ``terrorist crimes'' to underscore the fact that the motivation for the behavior does not change the criminality of such behavior. The emphasis here is not meant to imply a lesser risk but to stress that the act is, first and foremost, a violent crime in progress, regardless of the stated motivation of the hostage taker. Too often, those who are quick to point out that an act is a ``terrorist incident'' (or any other kind, for that matter) mistakenly confuse the labeling with understanding. In this case, the label is one that is so subjective that it is meaningless. To describe an incident as only a ``terrorist'' event implies that all such events are similar. Even additional adjectives, such as ``Palestinian'' terrorists, fail to identify, for example, significant differences in motives, methods, and goals of the various Palestinian factions, and of course, individual differences among the members themselves. The use of a label is helpful only if the term is associated with essential elements that differentiate one set of behaviors from another. Perhaps a more-descriptive term would be ``planned political/ religious'' hostage taking, since this term does not have the emotional overtones currently attached to the word ``terrorist.'' Such a term avoids the automatic, and potentially misleading, assumptions made when the word ``terrorist'' is used. The essential question is: In confronting such an incident, will law enforcement agencies employ crisis management techniques that have been used successfully in a wide variety of hostage/barricade situations, or will those procedures be discarded as a result of faulty assumptions of how terrorists are supposed to behave? Popular perceptions regarding terrorists would lead us to believe that they comprise a unique and specific personality type, and that terrorists are to be differentiated from the wide range of criminal and mentally disturbed personalities more frequently observed by law enforcement crisis managers. To our knowledge, no scientific studies or analytical surveys exist that might serve to provide the basis for such a belief. In order to examine the validity of current crisis management/negotiation techniques in confronting such incidents, it is essential to separate common myth from factual knowledge. The Terrorist Mystique In a planned political/religious incident, the subjects typically take hostages with the intent of getting publicity for their cause, and in some cases, to demand the release of imprisoned group members. The fact that these are planned rather than spontaneous hostage takings indicates an increased likelihood of outside moral and/or operational support and creates a virtual certainty of extensive media coverage. It appears that some political and religious extremists, particularly in the Middle East, have been successful in one very basic way--they have generated an extreme interest and concern for their activities among Western law enforcement officers. Former Chinese Communist party leader Mao Tse Tung maintained that terrorists should kill one to influence a thousand, and some radical Palestinian groups and extremist Lebanese Shia (e.g., Hizballah) seem to have accomplished this.
However, in an article reviewing the terrorist psychosocial profile, Strentz concludes that terrorist groups (particularly those of Middle Eastern origin) have changed dramatically. Contrasting left-wing Middle Eastern groups of the 1980s to those groups active a decade earlier, he found the more recent Middle Eastern groups to be poorly educated, unskilled, unemployed, illiterate, undisciplined, and ill-trained. Does this mean that a planned political/religious hostage incident is not dangerous? Obviously not. As Strentz notes, ``While one should never consciously underestimate adversaries, neither should one make them into supermen. They are a force to be reckoned with, but must be viewed within the perspective of reality.'' Beginning in 1985, the FBI began investigating violations of the Hostage Taking Statute (Title 18, USC, Section 1203) and in 1986, the Overseas Homicide/Attempted Homicide Statute (Title 18, USC, Section 2331). These statutes provided for the first time the investigative vehicle through which FBI Special Agents could actively and aggressively respond to major terrorist incidents abroad wherein American citizens and property were the victims. Starting with the June 14, 1985, hijacking of TWA Flight 847, FBI Special Agents came into direct contact with a number of American victims. Through detailed debriefings in pursuit of criminal prosecution, they collected a large volume of data concerning observed terrorist behavior. Subsequent FBI victim debriefings and interviews of incarcerated terrorists involved in almost all of the planned political/religious incidents that have occurred during the second half of the 1980s expanded this database significantly. Understandably, the information-gathering process during this investigative activity was not designed as an orderly scientific examination that would provide the basis for personality assessments. Rather, it aimed at developing evidentiary material. Nonetheless, relying on these interviews, and on the experience and observation of FBI Agents, a clearer and more accurate picture of terrorist behavior can be drawn. This picture should serve to demystify the terrorist, to separate fact from fiction, and to support the position that decades of significant crisis management experience in a variety of circumstances has prepared American law enforcement to deal with a political/religious hostage incident. It appears that the average terrorist is not as sophisticated as is commonly believed. Terrorist interviews and victim debriefings show that most of the terrorists of the 1980s received very marginal training prior to deployment for an operation. They were provided with only a minimal set of instructions as to how to conduct themselves during an operation. And while these terrorists may have been given a list of demands, for the most part, they were not trained to negotiate with authorities to achieve those demands. In the course of the FBI's investigations, it became evident that these subjects are seldom prepared to deal with the unknown variables and unforeseen changes that routinely play an integral part in such sieges. As a general rule (and more specifically applicable to Middle Eastern subjects), the terrorists are young males with little or no formal education. These individuals come from deprived economic conditions and are without any significant positive work experience. Contrary to popular notion, they do not employ sophisticated false documentation or disguises and most certainly do not fit the ``jet set'' multilingual, worldly, and savvy profile so often projected in popular literature. For example, before going to Italy to initiate the October 1985, Achille Lauro incident, the four young terrorists involved never traveled outside of Lebanon. Only one spoke a second language. They received little training, were afforded only minimal instructions regarding their mission, and traveled on Scandinavian passports. These terrorists stood out as four young Arab males aboard a ship populated almost entirely by elderly American and European tourists. Once the operation began, they were confronted with unexpected responses from government officials. This put them in a panic, since they failed to prepare contingency plans and could not adapt to the circumstances. During the September 1986, hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, the four terrorists who boarded the Boeing 747 immediately rushed to the front of the aircraft looking for the cockpit in order to gain control of the crew. They were dumbfounded when they discovered the cockpit was not located at the nose of the aircraft, as anticipated. They did not know that a Boeing 747's cockpit could only be reached by ascending a stairway located at the rear of the first class cabin. This delay allowed the cockpit crew to escape. The April 1988, hijacking of Kuwaiti Flight 422 has been cited as demonstrating terrorist sophistication. However, during this incident, when Beirut International Airport controllers denied landing clearance and blocked the runway, one terrorist demanded the pilot land in the ocean and taxi from there onto the land. When the pilot argued that such a maneuver was impossible, the terrorist displayed the plastic safety card found in the back of all passenger seats and pointed to a drawing depicting a floating aircraft with passengers exiting and gathering on flotation equipment. The terrorist firmly believed that this picture proved that the aircraft could land in the water, float, and then be driven onto land. Such incidents clearly do not support the popular belief that all terrorists undergo extensive and detailed aircraft hijack training at so-called ``desert terrorist academies.'' However, these examples should not suggest that political/religious hostage takers are harmless or incompetent. These subjects, like all hostage takers, should be treated with the utmost caution and respect. These unsophisticated, uneducated, and ill-trained young men have killed many innocent victims. Indeed, they probably should be considered even more dangerous because of their inadequate preparation and the acts of violence they tend to commit when their plans do not materialize.
The Law Enforcement Response One question frequently asked by police officers during training sessions is, ``How would you negotiate differently during a terrorist incident?'' Once the distinction is made between kidnapping (where the location of subject and victim are typically unknown) and hostage taking (where the subject and victim are contained within a police perimeter), officers are surprised (or perhaps disappointed) to hear the answer. Basically, negotiation strategies and tactics for terrorist incidents are identical to those that would be used during any hostage or barricade incident, regardless of the political or religious backgrounds of the subjects. Simply stated, there are a finite number of strategies (and particular tactics to support each of those strategies) to choose from when negotiating with hostage takers that are contained and isolated. The fact that a particular group of subjects puts forth political or religious reasons for taking hostages does not call into play a conceptually different set of strategies. The negotiation team assesses the motives, demands, and behaviors of these hostage takers and makes recommendations to the on-scene commander as to the most appropriate strategy, drawn from the same set of possibilities as in any other hostage incident. However, the specific factors the team considers crucial to a particular incident, in all cases, depends on the circumstances of the hostage taking. For example, suppose a person, claiming harassment and persecution by Federal authorities who are stealing thoughts from his mind, took hostages in a public office building and threatened to kill the hostages unless the FBI stopped the persecution. The negotiation team would logically focus on the subject's medical history, seeking records of past treatment for mental disturbance, interviewing any mental health professional (MHP) who may have treated the subject, and perhaps using the MHP as a consultant. On the other hand, if a group of subjects took the same hostages in the same building, but claimed to represent the ``People's Holy Liberation Forces,'' the team would certainly value any information on the origins, composition, and any previous actions by this group. Knowledgeable sources on both the political and religious dogma of the group, as well as language experts, would be consulted and perhaps incorporated into the negotiation team. As one can see, the process of assessment and recommendation remains the same, but clearly the specific factors or issues that the team considers critical vary with each incident. This is not to say that when a politically motivated incident occurs in the United States, there is not a greater amount of involvement by the higher levels of the U.S. Government, because there is. In fact, ``The desire of terrorists, both international and domestic, to focus media attention on their causes by staging attacks at locations or events of international interest has made it necessary for governmental and law enforcement authorities to closely coordinate their preparations for special events.'' That involvement, however, does not call into play ``better,'' or even different, negotiation strategies or principles. The negotiation recommendations are simply reviewed by a longer chain of command. Even as long as 12 years ago, Stratton stated that social, political or religious terrorists are the most difficult to deal with because of their commitment. However, he also pointed out that negotiation with political/religious hostage takers has been successful. When hostage takers plan to be surrounded, as in the takeover of a public building, the probability of a prolonged incident increases and the risk to the hostages is considered to be very high. However, notwithstanding the fact that such an incident was deliberately planned, the commitment of the hostage takers may not be a ``total'' commitment. Post-incident review of the behavior of some of the hostage takers in planned political incidents indicates that there may be a difference in being ``willing'' to die for a cause and in ``wanting'' to die for a cause. Once the subject has been away from a support system for days or weeks and emotional and physical exhaustion sets in, that person may be more willing to accept the rationale presented by the negotiator. Political hostage takers have been negotiated with effectively by stressing that their point has been made, their demands have been heard, their cause has been ``aired'' to the world, and therefore, killing hostages would only serve to discredit them and their cause in the eyes of the public. One author concludes that police negotiating tactics are most likely to succeed in planned, political/religious situations if the subjects are primarily interested in making a symbolic statement and obtaining publicity. These negotiation tactics have, in fact, been successful in resolving a number of planned political/religious hostage incidents in the United States and elsewhere. Even incidents that required a tactical resolution, such as the siege at the Iranian Embassy in London in April 1981, confirmed the appropriateness of these negotiating techniques. The dangers posed by planned political/religious hostage taking incidents should in no way be minimized. Rather, law enforcement should respond to these incidents in a manner that is consistent with the crisis management procedures that have been developed and validated through thousands of hostage/barricade situations worldwide. If political/religious situations are accorded special status or are the cause for law enforcement to ignore effective crisis management strategies, then law enforcement falls victim to the ``terrorist mystique'' that has allowed terrorism to become a potent weapon in recent years. However, if a planned political/religious incident is not treated as a special case, and hostage takers instead are dealt with as any other high-risk subject would be, then law enforcement will be better able to employ the professional skills learned through the lessons of the past years. FBI's New Siege Mentality QUANTICO, VA. -- A dozen masked FBI agents burst into a room full of hostages and gun-wielding terrorists, screaming, "Get down! Get down!" Three figures collapse as the FBI men open fire. Two agents hold the prostrate hostage-takers at gunpoint, while others race off to search adjacent rooms. One of the terrorists reaches haltingly for a gun; an agent kicks him and shouts, "Knock it off!" From an adjacent observation tower, instructors in yellow T-shirts watch the scene unfold, making half-insulting comments. The nightmarish drama is surreal under the hot Virginia sun.
"You try to make it as realistic as possible," senior FBI agent Robin Montgomery says of the training scene. "You may think there are three people in the room, and it turns out there are four." The agents are wearing Darth Vader masks, black T-shirts with "FBI" emblazoned on the front, fatigue pants, heavy black boots. This is meant to intimidate. "If the bad guys see the professionalism in the attire, they're liable to be more acquiescent," Montgomery says. "It's not like you see sometimes on TV. They don't wear luau shirts." Welcome to the Critical Incident Response Group. Created a year ago in the aftermath of the siege near Waco, Texas, this unit is the U.S. government's best hope for resolving future confrontations and conflagrations. It brings together in one place the nation's most elite commandos, its highest-tech equipment, and its best thinking on what the FBI dryly calls "critical incidents": hostage-takings and sieges. This new setup is an attempt to learn the lessons of Waco, where in April 1993 Branch Davidian sect members perished in a blaze when the FBItried to end a protracted siege. And it represents a major shift in FBI strategy. While many reports and hearings have focused on what went wrong at Waco, few have noted the FBI's actual reforms since the event. For the first time, all the agency's resources for tackling barricade situations -- from commandos and negotiators to snipers and psychologists -- are under one unified, high-level command. The unit has been formed at an especially propitious time. The United States, which historically has been relatively free of terrorism, now seems to face a greater threat. The bombings at the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City are feared by many to be just the beginning. Even more frightening is the growing availability of weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear materials, spreading illegally from Eastern Europe; biological weapons, such as viruses and bacteria; and poisons, like the gas used recently in the Tokyo subway system. A growing number of law enforcement specialists are concerned that terrorists could use such weapons in the United States. Someone has to think about exactly how the country would handle that. Someone has to spend his time imagining the most horrifying events that could ever engulf a nation. ORDER FROM CHAOS After more than 80 people died in the flames at Waco, there was no shortage of critics willing to tell the FBI exactly what it had done wrong: The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) was too small. Commanders were poorly trained in handling sieges. The FBI misunderstood the nature of fringe religious groups. Most of all, over and over again, came this message: Confusion reigned. It was not clear enough who reported to whom or which agency and which people were in charge. "Clarification of the chain of command is extremely important," says Robert Louden, who spent 13 years as a hostage negotiator with the New York Police Department and now teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. "Not everybody can have every toy, every resource. You have to put the best people in place to do the job, with clear lines of authority." The FBI's new director took such comments to heart. In the aftermath of the Waco tragedy, he required 15 senior agents from around the country to be schooled in crisis management; when a confrontation erupts, he's said, he will pick one of these 15 to run the show. (At Waco, the head of the FBI's San Antonio office took charge on the ground simply because he was closest.) Freeh also put high-ranking Justice Department officials, from Attorney General Janet Reno on down, through two days of crisis training. Meanwhile, the FBI is negotiating agreements with other agencies to clarify that the FBI alone will take the lead when major standoffs occur. But Freeh's most dramatic move was to announce in April 1994 that he was creating a completely new division of the bureau, bringing all the FBI's crisis units under it, and putting one man, Montgomery, in charge. This gives Montgomery, a 25-year FBI veteran who formerly headed the bureau's office in Portland, Ore., the flexibility to dispatch precisely those agents whose skills are needed. Previously, a crisis prompted every FBI unit to send its specialists en masse. At a 1992 standoff with white supremacist Randy Reaver in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in which Weaver's wife and son and a U.S. marshal died, a huge number of federal agents showed up. "At Ruby Ridge, you ended up overnight with the third-largest city in Idaho in a potato field," Montgomery says. "I can get a quick idea from the people on the ground as to what their specific needs might be, and I have a plane available to use for a 'Noah's Ark' concept" -- that is, he can pick a couple of agents from each unit. Not everyone is applauding the Critical Incident Response Group. "They can reorganize all they want, but that doesn't solve the problem," says Lawrence Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America. "There are fundamental questions that need to be answered: Did they do the right thing [at Waco and Ruby Ridge]? Should they be doing this kind of work at all? Maybe it's time to re-examine the existence of that entire sort of police work at the federal level." And doubtless, the FBI's efforts at reorganization will do little to mollify the militiamen nationwide who regard Waco and Ruby Ridge as showcases of federal law enforcement's tendency toward what the militias see as jack-booted thuggery. But Montgomery says such fears are misplaced. Stressing that his unit includes negotiators and behaviorial specialists, as well as commandos, Montgomery says his true goal is to prevent confrontations in the first place. "That is where we're focusing," Montgomery says. "We are not focusing on the tactical side. It is there, it is needed, but our primary focus is on dialogue."
THEME PARK FOR COPS Back at Quantico, Montgomery, 49, glides around the grounds of the FBI Academy, where his headquarters are, in a navy blue Mercury Grand Marquis. A hand-exercise grip lies alongside his cellular phone. Montgomery has sandy hair, blond eyebrows, and a reddish complexion. An almost imperceptible scar is etched horizontally across his chin. He surveys a scene that resembles a theme park for cops. Helicopters thrum overhead, and the rattle of gunfire is constant. Agents arrayed at shooting ranges blast away at white targets that vaguely resemble human torsos. The ghostlike torsos turn slowly sideways to provide a tougher mark. Everyone here is color-coded: Instructors wear bright yellow, trainees dark blue, Drug Enforcement Administration officers light gray. The jewel of Montgomery's new unit is the Hostage Rescue Team. A small, elite group created in the 1970s, the HRT is now being beefed up from 51 members to 91. These agents train for just one thing -- the siege -- and they know it better than anyone else. They can serve as snipers or storm into buildings. They can blow a hole in the wall, if that's the only way in. Montgomery points out an indeterminate two-story wooden edifice, still under construction; when it's complete in a few months, it will simulate a labyrinthine criminal lair, and the HRT will practice storming in. To train HRTmembers to function under great fatigue, Montgomery says, they are exercised to the point of exhaustion, then given decision-making problems. Montgomery gestures toward a hangar. "This particular helicopter can be folded up and taken with us," he says, adding that the HRT can be airborne within four hours. Montgomery passes a group of agents from Miami who are watching a shooting expert demonstrate quick-draw techniques. This is one of the FBI's nine regional super-SWAT teams, who receive one week of training at Quantico each year. The instructor pulls out his gun and aims it at an imaginary adversary in one motion, over and over again, his movements silky as a cat's. "Not a lot to it, is there?" he asks. "The weapon clears the holster and comes toward the target . . . safety's on . . . ready gun . . . out toward the target . . . fire." Recently expanded to roughly 30 members each, the SWAT teams respond instantly when a crisis erupts, taking charge of the area until the HRT arrives. The agents have undergone this training a dozen times. "It may seem redundant," says Montgomery, watching from a distance. "And it's meant to be redundant as hell so the tactics are second nature." Also part of Montgomery's operation are five full-time hostage negotiators and three agents who specialize in creating command posts -- setting up phone lines, fax machines, computers, conference areas, and systems for sifting through information. The idea behind all this is to create interlocking teams of rescuers across the country, all familiar with each other -- a fraternity of white knights ready to charge in. The goal is simple: to keep control amid utter pandemonium. "You need to make some kind of order out of absolute chaos," says Tony Daniels, a former assistant FBI director who now runs an investigative and consulting business in McLean, Va. "The quicker you can do that, the better off you are. Put yourself in the place of an individual in Oklahoma City, for example. Imagine the absolute chaos, and the information coming in by the bucketload, and trying to get it all organized as quickly as possible." NO MORE WACOS Back in his corner office, Montgomery has an expansive view of the manicured academy campus. The room is dominated by an elaborate wooden book case, with the FBI motto -- "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity" -- etched into the wood. A mock "Wanted" poster, presented by mischievous subordinates, charges Montgomery with the crime of "impersonating an FBI executive." Montgomery's life sounds like it was dreamed up by a screenwriter for a Chuck Norris movie. Shipped to Vietnam at 18, he was leading a Marine scouting party in June 1969 when his men were trapped by heavy fire. The young lieutenant crawled forward in a rice paddy, stood up in full view of the enemy soldiers, and took out two machine gun positions. Badly wounded in the process, Montgomery won the Navy Cross for heroism. His FBI career is studded with dramatic moments. Montgomery was at Wounded Knee, S.D., during a 70-day takeover by Indian activists in 1973. He helped plan the successful storming of the federal prison at Talladega, Ala., after inmates took nine hostages in 1991. He was with the FBI forces at Ruby Ridge in 1992. Now Montgomery, more than anyone outside the military, is charged with helping the country fight its nightmares. Because Freeh envisioned a unit that could be called on during any unconventional, "exotic" threat, the agents who specialize in everything from serial killers to child abductions -- not just sieges -- also have been placed under Montgomery's command. When Freeh asked him to take the job, Montgomery knew that his biggest successes -- preventing sieges in the first place -would go unnoticed, while his failures would likely be fiery and spectacular. But he felt he could not say no. "I'm at a place where I don't have to prove anything to anybody, OK," Montgomery says. "I believe in the concept. There are a lot of dedicated people around here who want to prevent another Waco." IT BEGAN WITH MUNICH Few images linger the way hostage standoffs do. In 1971, inmates at New York's Attica prison riot. Before the siege ends, 29 inmates and 10 hostages lie dead. In 1972, black-hooded terrorists hold Israeli athletes hostage at the Munich Olympics and massacre 11. In 1977, Hanafi Muslims seize three buildings in Washington and take 149 hostages. A radio reporter is killed, but the standoff otherwise ends peacefully.
Yet just 25 years ago, the country had little experience with hostage-takings and scant plans for fighting back. It was only after Munich that the FBI was jolted into creating SWAT units (short for Special Weapons and Tactics), recalls Conrad Hassel, a longtime FBI counter-terrorism expert. And it was not until 1978 that the Hostage Rescue Team was created. "The modern age of terrorism dates itself back to Munich," says Hassel, now a partner at Hassel & Hassel, a law firm in Manassas, Va. "It's not because terrorism started then -- I worked in the South in the '60s and people were blowing up churches -but that's when satellite TV was available. And terrorism in my opinion is basically theater. You try to impress as many people as possible." Some experts say the conflagration at Waco and the explosion at Oklahoma City are at least as traumatic for the nation as Munich was. And they may be just a warm-up. Scholars who study violent movements say it is easier than ever for those with conspiracy delusions to communicate, especially through the Internet, so the delusions can blossom into full-fledged group paranoia. Others note that television exposure is increasingly available; instead of periodic updates, CNN now is at the scene around the clock. The ominous spread of nuclear materials from Eastern Europe and the use of sarin gas in the Tokyo subway attack earlier this year -- once the seemingly far-fetched stuff of Batman movies -- has given terrorists the potential to threaten not just buildings, but whole communities. "It was the final breaking of the paradigm," says Bertram Brown, a terrorism expert and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, about the terrorist act in Tokyo. "For years we were wondering: 'They use guns, knives, and explosives . . . but the chemical, the biological, the bacteria, the toxins have never been a major factor.' " Even if they aren't used, the mere threat of such weapons can have a strong emotional effect, making people lose faith that their government can protect them, says Brown, currently a senior physician with the Pentagon. "Just the panic component is going to be so extraordinary," he says. "We're studying what happened in Japan, and you have psychological effects that far exceed the physical ones." Another fear is that as the year 2000 approaches, the country will see an increase in religious groups convinced that the apocalypse is at hand, some of whom may try to bring it about themselves through violence. "While many of us will find a way of celebrating the year and the events of civilization, for others it's a way to hold their own memorials," says Frank Ochberg, a professor of criminal justice, journalism, and psychiatry at Michigan State University. "Some are religious and feel they have to carry out their interpretation of Armageddon, to separate the blessed and the damned." These nightmarish scenarios may never occur. But among the small, informal community that studies such things, the consensus is that it is important to be prepared. And that is where Montgomery and his team come in. In June 1993, shortly after the Waco siege, Ochberg called together a group of academics, law enforcement officers, psychologists, and others and created an ongoing "analysis group." It is meant to be a pool of brainpower that authorities can summon if instant expertise is needed on some obscure corner of theology, psychology, weaponry. "We had long needed an advisory network of the brightest people in the country that we could turn to," says Donald Bassett, a longtime FBI crisis specialist and now a consultant in Reedville, Va. "I'm a firm believer in synergistic problem solving." Montgomery has been receptive, accepting the group's self-appointed role as outside consultant. He attended a seminar the group held six months ago. He met with nuclear arms expert Edward Rowney at the group's suggestion. "We're becoming more and more involved in some of your more exotic scenarios: nuclear weapons, biological weapons," Montgomery says. NOT LOOKING FOR BUSINESS The FBI, of course, has not satisfied all its critics by creating the Critical Incident Response Group. Some say the Hostage Rescue Team should be beefed up even more -- or that some of its members should be stationed in the West, to speed the response to incidents in that part of the country. Others say the FBI's attempts to establish its lead-agency role have been inadequate, and that what is really needed is an executive order by the president to eliminate any confusion. Some are dissatisfied with Montgomery's informal consultation with psychologists and sociologists, saying more official action is required. Still, these suggestions involve fine-tuning, and most experts seem to agree that the FBI is at least heading in the right direction. Typically mild is the critique of Richard Davis, former assistant secretary of the Treasury for enforcement, who recommends a far bigger Hostage Rescue Team. "You can have [a standoff] in a hotel or even a 747 where the [team's] numbers wouldn't be sufficient," says Davis, now a partner in New York's Weil, Gotshal &Manges. "But in tough budget times, these are tough calls. I favor what I favor, but I understand what they are doing." Ultimately, it will be hard to judge the success of Montgomery's group until a major siege erupts. So far, the operation has not been truly tested. Montgomery stresses that it would be fine with him if this dazzling assembly of technology and training is never tested. Avoiding sieges is preferable to fighting them, he says. That is why his agents work regularly with FBI field offices to prevent hostages from being taken in the first place. "If we have to be the Maytag man," Montgomery says, "that's okay."
Federal Bureau of Prisons Special Operations and Response Teams (SORT) The Federal Bureau of Prisons has three teams that are part of its program for improving emergency preparedness. The Special Operations and Response Team (SORT) has 15 members which include a security systems expert, a firearms and tactical officer and an emergency medical treatment specialist. SORT members meet strict academic, psychological and physical requirements. SORT are supplemented by Disturbance Control Teams and Hostage Negotiation Teams. Federal BOP Special Operations and Response Teams have handled dozens of high-profile emergency situations in the past eight years--and not all have been institutional crises. From their work during the Atlanta and Oakdale prison disturbances of 1987 to the Los Angeles street riots of 1992, these units have used their special training to provide valuable control and recovery services. The Federal Bureau of Prisons established an Office of Emergency Preparedness in May 1990 to coordinate the agency's national emergency response capability and to provide oversight and guidance to its Special Operations and Response Team (SORT) program. In addition, the office functions as the agency's liaison with other agencies in all emergency response-related areas and provides BOP managers with training in emergency planning and response. The history of the office dates to the riots and hostage situations at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta and the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, La., in November 1987. A BOP After-Action Review Team, assigned to examine the Bureau's response to these incidents, made more than 100 recommendations for improving emergency preparedness. The Bureau's executive staff--the director, assistant directors and regional directors--reviewed these recommendations and decided to adopt many of them. When the office was formed, one of its main functions was to monitor implementation of the approved recommendations. This process continued through June 1992, when all of the BOP's six regions reported 100 percent institutional compliance. In addition to its monitoring, oversight and emergency management responsibilities, one of the principle functions of the Office of Emergency Preparedness is to provide training and guidance to the Bureau's SORTs. SORTs are highly trained tactical teams capable of responding to prison disturbances and supporting local law enforcement authorities during civil unrest or natural disasters. SORT Program A typical SORT has 15 members, including an emergency medical treatment specialist, a firearms instructor, a rappel master, a security/locking systems expert, a blueprint expert and several firearms and tactical planning/procedures experts. The Bureau currently has 44 SORTs involving more than 700 BOP staff. Team members must meet and maintain strict standards. Prior to acceptance, each candidate must be certified by a physician as physically fit and must complete an obstacle course and two-mile run within strict time limits. Each member must be proficient with weapons used in emergency response situations and, within 90 days of becoming a team member, must become proficient in tactical responses, riot control techniques and rappelling. In addition to meeting certain physical and technical standards, all members must pass a written examination covering BOP policies on a wide range of subjects. Each candidate also undergoes a panel interview with an associate warden, captain, team leader and staff psychologist before being placed on the team. Once a SORT is established at an institution, it must follow strict guidelines for all operations. In addition to the required certification for individual members, each team must be certified during regional SORT maneuver and training exercises, which are held annually. Each region certifies and ranks its teams using national standards developed by the Office of Emergency Preparedness and approved by BOP executive staff. The Office of Emergency Preparedness prepares the tests for this certification process and develops a guidebook for each regional correctional services administrator to use during the training. Skill areas covered in training include tactical planning for building entry and hostage rescue scenarios, weapons skills and rappelling. Teams deficient in any area are identified and given supplementary training to ensure that they meet required performance standards. Each SORT meets its mandatory training requirements by holding monthly training sessions. Team members must be provided eight hours of on-duty training each month, but most institutions have opted to provide 16 hours. In addition to mandatory training, team members receive collateral specialty training that reinforces the special skills of individual team members. For example, each team has at least one medical specialist,blueprint specialist, chemical agent specialist and sniper. To meet both the rigorous mandatory training requirements and the collateral specialty training, most team members participate in a substantial amount of training on their personal time. While all BOP medium- and higher-security institutions are required to have SORTs, staff participation in a SORT is voluntary. Each SORT member has a regular duty assignment, with SORT participation as a collateral duty. SORT membership is not limited to custody staff. A typical team includes men and women from various departments throughout the institution.
Other Response Teams In addition to SORTs, the BOP requires each institution to develop, train and maintain Disturbance Control Teams. These teams train in traditional disturbance control techniques (such as using squad formations to move groups of inmates), leaving the more tactical operations to the SORTs. These teams can be assembled more quickly than SORTs because far more institution staff are trained in this level of response. Thus, these teams often serve as the primary institution response to emergencies (especially in institutions that do not have SORTs), or as a supplementary response option when an institution's SORT needs to be activated immediately. Supplementing both SORTs and Disturbance Control Teams are the BOP's Hostage Negotiation Teams. With the exception of minimum security camps, each institution must develop and maintain a Hostage Negotiation Team. Currently, the BOP has more than 200 trained correctional hostage negotiation specialists. Negotiation teams provide for a shared experience and responsibility in the extremely stressful hostage negotiation process. All members of Hostage Negotiation Teams must participate in monthly training. To ensure a good working relationship between negotiators and tactical team members, the BOP encourages the use of a SORT liaison officer for the Hostage Negotiation Team. The liaison officer attends the monthly hostage negotiation training and ensures that a dialogue is maintained between the two teams. The BOP has several logistics centers for storing emergency equipment such as mobile kitchens, water trailers, tents, cots, blankets and portable lighting. These supplies--most of which are military surplus--can be used to support institution operations or an influx of staff to the site of an emergency situation. During monthly training, SORTs test logistics center equipment to ensure that it is operable. The Office of Emergency Preparedness also has developed an interagency agreement with the Department of Defense to move Bureau personnel and equipment to troubled areas in the event of an institutional emergency. All institutions are required to conduct at least two mock emergency exercises each year to integrate the various aspects of their emergency response program--SORT, Disturbance Control and the Hostage Negotiation Team--and to ensure coordination with relevant military, federal, state, or local law enforcement and emergency response staff. The Bureau's training and commitment to readiness has paid great dividends in recent years. It was instrumental in the successful resolution of the 1987 disturbances at USP-Atlanta and FCI-Oakdale, the 1991 hostage situation at FCI-Talladega, Ala., the containment and mass-movement of inmates after Hurricane Andrew damaged FCI-Miami, and the maintenance of order during the civil unrest that erupted in Los Angeles in May 1992. These episodes demonstrated the importance of adequate preparation and training when coping with a wide variety of emergency situations.
International Agencies - The Global Reach Outside every individual country government, theres a big world out there withtheir own governemnts and styles of rule from the Democratic Two-Party system that the United States works with, all the way through the myriad rainbow of govenrments to the other end with a Totalitarian Dictatorship. Above them is the view of a One World approach to how the different nations should work with each other, and that is how the United Nations and INTERPOL came to exist. There are other groups, such as The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), though they do not belong to any government, but do hold prominent positions in several key places around the world, and can influence governments with the use, or misuse of their funding. The United Nations (UN): HOW THE UN WORKS The United Nations was established on 24 October 1945 by 51 countries committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN: membership totals 191 countries*. When States become Members of the United Nations, they agree to accept the obligations of the UN Charter, an international treaty that sets out basic principles of international relations. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes: to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. The United Nations is not a world government and it does not make laws. It does, however, provide the means to help resolve international conflicts and formulate policies on matters affecting all of us. At the UN, all the Member States large and small, rich and poor, with differing political views and social systems have a voice and a vote in this process. The United Nations has six main organs. Five of them the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The sixth, the International Court of Justice, is located at The Hague in the Netherlands. *As of the printing of this Book, Includes Timor-Leste (East Timor) and Switzerland, which became Member States in September 2002.
The General Assembly All UN Member States are represented in the General Assembly a "parliament of nations" which meets to consider the world's most pressing problems. Each Member State has one vote. Decisions on such key issues as international peace and security, admitting new members and the UN budget are decided by two-thirds majority. Other matters are decided by simple majority. In recent years, a special effort has been made to reach decisions through consensus, rather than by taking a formal vote. The General Assembly in session.At its 2001/2002 session, the Assembly is considering more than 180 different topics, including globalization, AIDS, conflict in Africa, protection of the environment and consolidation of new democracies. The Assembly cannot force action by any State, but its recommendations are an important indication of world opinion and represent the moral authority of the community of nations. The Assembly holds its annual regular session from September to December. When necessary, it may resume its session or hold a special or emergency session on subjects of particular concern. When the Assembly is not meeting, its work is carried out by its six main committees, other subsidiary bodies and the UN Secretariat. The Security Council The UN Charter gives the Security Council primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The Council may convene at any time, whenever peace is threatened. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to carry out the Council's decisions. There are 15 Council members. Five of these China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States are permanent members. The other 10 are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Member States are discussing making changes in Council membership and working to reflect today's political and economic realities. The Security Council has established well ovwe 50 peacekeeping operations.Decisions of the Council require nine yes votes. Except in votes on procedural questions, a decision cannot be taken if there is a no vote, or veto, by a permanent member. When the Council considers a threat to international peace, it first explores ways to settle the dispute peacefully. It may suggest principles for a settlement or undertake mediation. In the event of fighting, the Council tries to secure a ceasefire. It may send a peacekeeping mission to help the parties maintain the truce and to keep opposing forces apart. The Council can take measures to enforce its decisions. It can impose economic sanctions or order an arms embargo. On rare occasions, the Council has authorized Member States to use "all necessary means," including collective military action, to see that its decisions are carried out. The Council also makes recommendations to the General Assembly on the appointment of a new Secretary-General and on the admission of new Members to the UN. The Economic and Social Council The Economic and Social Council, under the overall authority of the General Assembly, coordinates the economic and social work of the United Nations and the UN family of organizations. As the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues and for formulating policy recommendations, the Council plays a key role in fostering international cooperation for development. It also consults with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), thereby maintaining a vital link between the United Nations and civil society. The Council has 54 members, elected by the General Assembly for three-year terms. It meets throughout the year and holds a major session in July, during which a special meeting of Ministers discusses major economic, social and humanitarian issues. The Council's subsidiary bodies meet regularly and report back to it. The Commission on Human Rights, for example, monitors the observance of human rights throughout the world. Other bodies focus on such issues as social development, the status of women, crime prevention, narcotic drugs and environmental protection. Five regional commissions promote economic development and cooperation in their respective regions. The Trusteeship Council The Trusteeship Council was established to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories administered by seven Member States and ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government or independence. By 1994, all Trust Territories had attained self-government or independence, either as separate States or by joining neighbouring independent countries. The last to do so was the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Palau which was administered by the United States and became the 185th Member State. Its work completed, the Trusteeship Council now consists of the five permanent members of the Security Council. It has amended its rules of procedure to allow it to meet as and when the occasion may require.
The International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, is the main judicial organ of the UN. Consisting of 15 judges elected jointly by the General Assembly and the Security Council, the Court decides disputes between countries. Participation by States in a proceeding is voluntary, but if a State agrees to participate, it is obligated to comply with the Court's decision. The Court also provides advisory opinions to the General Assembly and the Security Council upon request. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan addressing the General Assembly. The Secretary-General is the world's foremost peacemaker, as well as the UN's chief administrative officer.The Secretariat The Secretariat carries out the substantive and administrative work of the United Nations as directed by the General Assembly, the Security Council and the other organs. At its head is the Secretary-General, who provides overall administrative guidance. The Secretariat consists of departments and offices with a total staff of some 7,500 under the regular budget, and a nearly equal number under special funding. They are drawn from some 170 countries. Duty stations include UN Headquarters in New York, as well as UN offices in Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi and other locations. The UN system The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and 12 other independent organizations known as "specialized agencies" are linked to the UN through cooperative agreements. These agencies, among them the World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization, are autonomous bodies created by intergovernmental agreement. They have wide-ranging international responsibilities in the economic, social, cultural, educational, health and related fields. Some of them, like the International Labor Organization and the Universal Postal Union, are older than the UN itself. In addition, a number of UN offices, programmes and funds such as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) work to improve the economic and social condition of people around the world. They report to the General Assembly or the Economic and Social Council. All these organizations have their own governing bodies, budgets and secretariats. Together with the United Nations, they are known as the UN family, or the UN system. Together, they provide technical assistance and other forms of practical help in virtually all economic and social areas. 2. WHAT THE UN DOES FOR PEACE Preserving world peace is a central purpose of the United Nations. Under the Charter, Member States agree to settle disputes by peaceful means and refrain from threatening or using force against other States. The UN provides the means to settle disputes peacefully today as in 1962, when the Security Council debated the Cuban missile crisis.Over the years, the UN has played a major role in helping defuse international crises and in resolving protracted conflicts. It has undertaken complex operations involving peacemaking, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. It has worked to prevent conflicts from breaking out. And after a conflict, it has increasingly undertaken action to address the root causes of war and lay the foundation for durable peace. UN efforts have produced dramatic results. The UN helped defuse the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and the Middle East crisis in 1973. In 1988, a UN-sponsored peace settlement ended the Iran-Iraq war, and the following year UN-sponsored negotiations led to the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. In the 1990s, the UN was instrumental in restoring sovereignty to Kuwait and played a major role in ending civil wars in Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mozambique, restoring the democratically elected government in Haiti, and resolving or containing conflict in various other countries. When, in September 1999, a campaign of violence forced some 200,000 East Timorese to flee their homes following a vote on self-determination, the UN authorized the dispatch of an international security force, which helped restore order. In October, the Council established a UN Transitional Administration which, with the protection of the multinational force, began overseeing the territorys transition to independence. And when terrorists attacked the United States on 11 September 2001, the Security Council acted quickly adopting a wide-ranging resolution which obligates States to ensure that any person who participates in financing, planning, preparing, perpetrating or supporting terrorist acts is brought to justice, as well as to establish such acts as serious criminal offenses under domestic law. Disarmament A UN demining team in Lipovac, Croatia locates an active landmine.Halting the spread of arms and reducing and eventually eliminating all weapons of mass destruction are major goals of the United Nations. The UN has been an ongoing forum for disarmament negotiations, making recommendations and initiating studies. It supports multilateral negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament and in other international bodies. These negotiations have produced such agreements as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (1996) and treaties establishing nuclear-free zones.
Other treaties prohibit the development, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons (1992) and bacteriological weapons (1972); ban nuclear weapons from the seabed and ocean floor (1971) and outer space (1967); and ban or restrict other types of weapons. By 2001, more than 120 countries had become parties to the 1997 Ottawa Convention outlawing landmines. The UN encourages all nations to adhere to this and other treaties banning destructive weapons of war. The UN is also supporting efforts to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons the weapons of choice in 46 of 49 major conflicts since 1990. The UN Register of Conventional Arms and the system for standardized reporting of military expenditures help promote greater transparency in military matters. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, through a system of safeguards agreements, ensures that nuclear materials and equipment intended for peaceful uses are not diverted for military purposes. And in The Hague, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons collects information on chemical facilities worldwide and conducts routine inspections to ensure adherence to the chemical weapons convention. Peacemaking UN peacemaking brings hostile parties to agreement through diplomatic means. The Security Council, in its efforts to maintain international peace and security, may recommend ways to avoid conflict or restore or secure peace through negotiation, for example, or recourse to the International Court of Justice. The Secretary-General plays an important role in peacemaking. The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter that appears to threaten international peace and security, use good offices to carry out mediation or exercise quiet diplomacy behind the scenes either personally or through special envoys. The Secretary-General also undertakes preventive diplomacy aimed at resolving disputes before they escalate. Peacebuilding The UN is increasingly undertaking activities that address the underlying causes of conflict. The people of East Timor, in August 2001, cast their ballots for a democratically elected assembly, in UN-supervised elections.Development assistance is a key element of peace-building. In cooperation with UN agencies, donor countries, host governments and NGOs, the United Nations works to support good governance, civil law and order, elections and human rights in countries struggling to deal with the aftermath of conflict. At the same time, it helps these countries rebuild administrative, health, educational and other services disrupted by war. Some of these activities, such as the UN's supervision of the 1989 elections in Namibia, mine-clearance programmes in Mozambique and police training in Haiti, take place within the framework of a UN peacekeeping operation and may continue when the operation withdraws. Others are requested by governments as in Cambodia, where the UN maintains a human rights office, or in Guatemala, where the UN is helping to implement peace agreements which affect virtually all aspects of national life. Peacekeeping The Security Council sets up UN peacekeeping operations and defines their scope and mandate in its efforts to maintain peace and international security. Most operations involve military duties, such as observing a ceasefire or establishing a buffer zone while negotiators seek a long-term solution. Others may require civilian police or other civilian personnel to help organize elections or monitor human rights. Operations have also been deployed to monitor peace agreements in cooperation with the peacekeeping forces of regional organizations. Peacekeeping operations may last for a few months or continue for many years. The UN's operation at the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, for example, was established in 1949, and UN peacekeepers have been in Cyprus since 1964. In contrast, the UN was able to complete its 1994 mission in the Aouzou Strip between Libya and Chad in a little over a month. Since the UN first deployed peacekeepers in 1948, some 123 countries have voluntarily provided more than 750,000 military and civilian police personnel. They have served, along with thousands of civilians, in 54 peacekeeping operations. UN action for peace... ...In Africa When a crisis subsides, the UN helps refugees like these Mozambicans who want to return to their homes.UN peace efforts have taken many forms over the years, including the long campaign against apartheid in South Africa, active support for Namibian independence, a number of electoral support missions and some 20 peacekeeping operations. The most recent operations in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia and Eritrea were established in 1999 and 2000. The UN has helped repatriate refugees to Mozambique, provided humanitarian assistance in Somalia and Sudan, and undertaken diplomatic efforts to restore peace in the Great Lakes region. It has helped prevent new unrest in the Central African Republic, and it is helping to prepare for a referendum on the future of Western Sahara. Elsewhere in Africa, UN field missions continue their peace-building activities in Guinea-Bissau and Liberia, and remain in Angola and Burundi to support various initiatives aimed at promoting peace and reconciliation. At the request of the Security Council, the Secretary-General has provided a comprehensive analysis of conflicts in Africa along with recommendations on how to promote durable peace.
...In Asia and the Pacific The UN family continues working to strengthen Cambodian civil society, human rights and democracy following the massive 1992-1993 UN peacekeeping mission in that country. In Afghanistan, the UN worked throughout the last decade to facilitate national reconciliation and reconstruction, needed as a result of the country's protracted civil war. But despite intense diplomatic efforts by the Secretary-General and his personal envoys, fighting continued at great humanitarian cost, severely hindering attempts by the UN system to provide assistance to the Afghan people. With the escalation of the conflict in Afghanistan following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack on the United States, the Secretary-General in October appointed Lakhdar Brahimi as his Special Representative for Afghanistan. As the situation there unfolded, the UN played a central role in promoting dialogue among the Afghan parties, aimed at establishing a broad-based, inclusive government. In East Timor, UN-brokered talks between Indonesia and Portugal culminated in a May 1999 agreement which paved the way for a popular consultation on the status of the territory. Under the agreement, a UN mission supervised voter registration and an August 1999 ballot, in which 78 per cent of East Timorese voted for independence over autonomy within Indonesia. In August 2001, a major step was taken in that direction, with the election of a Constituent Assembly which drafted the constitution for an independent and democratic East Timor. In Tajikistan, the United Nations Office of Peace-building was created in June 2000 to replace a peacekeeping operation there, providing the political framework and leadership for a variety of peace-building activities. Elsewhere, UN military observers continued to monitor the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. In the Pacific, the UN helped the government of Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville parties reach a comprehensive agreement covering issues of autonomy, referendum and weapons disposal. ...In Europe In Cyprus, the Secretary-General and his Special Adviser have worked to promote negotiations aimed at achieving a comprehensive settlement. The UN peacekeeping force there continues to supervise the ceasefire lines, maintain the buffer zone and undertake humanitarian activities. The UN worked strenuously towards resolving the conflict in the former Yugoslavia while providing relief assistance to some 4 million people. In 1991, the UN imposed an arms embargo, while the Secretary-General and his envoy conducted diplomatic efforts to end the fighting. From 1992 to 1995, UN peacekeepers sought to bring peace and security to Croatia, helped protect civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and helped ensure that the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was not drawn into the war. Following the 1995 Dayton-Paris peace agreements, four UN missions helped secure the peace. Today, the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina carries out a wide range of law enforcement functions while coordinating humanitarian, human rights and reconstruction activities. The UN Mission of Observers in Prevlaka monitors the demilitarization of that peninsula a strategic area disputed by Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In Kosovo, the UN is rebuilding schools and providing student supplies, as part of a wide-ranging assistance effort.In Kosovo (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), the Security Council established in 1999 an interim international administration following the end of NATO air bombings and the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces. Under the umbrella of the UN, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the United Nations are working with the people of Kosovo to create a functioning, democratic society with substantial autonomy. Municipal elections in October 2000, and the promulgation of a Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-Government, paved the way for Kosovo-wide elections on 17 November 2001 for a legislative assembly. In Abkhazia, Georgia, while the UN military observer mission carries out its peacekeeping mandate, diplomatic efforts have continued to find a comprehensive settlement of the Georgian/Abkhaz conflict. ...In the Americas An essential part of keeping peace is helping demobilized fighters like these in El Salvador return to normal life.UN peacemaking and peacekeeping have been instrumental in resolving protracted conflicts in Central America. In 1989, in Nicaragua, the peace effort led to voluntary demobilization of the resistance movement, whose members turned in their weapons to the UN. In 1990, a UN mission observed Nicaragua's elections the first UN-observed elections in an independent country. In El Salvador, peace talks mediated by the Secretary-General ended 12 years of fighting and a UN peacekeeping mission verified implementation of all agreements. In Guatemala, UN-assisted negotiations ended a 35-year civil war. Today, the UN Verification Mission in Guatemala, works to see that the comprehensive peace agreements are fully implemented. In Haiti, following international action to restore the democratically elected government, the UN has put a comprehensive programme in place, emphasizing human rights, consensus-building and conflict-reduction, with the strong participation of civil society. ...In the Middle East UN concern over the Arab-Israeli conflict spans five decades and five full-fledged wars. The UN has defined principles for a just and lasting peace, including two benchmark Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) which remain the basis for an overall settlement.
The UN has supported other initiatives aimed at solving underlying political problems, and has despatched various peacekeeping operations to the region. The UN's first military observer group was set up in 1948 and maintains its presence in the area to this day. The UN's first peacekeeping force was also set up there, during the Suez crisis of 1956. Two peacekeeping forces are currently in the region. One, established in 1974, maintains an area of separation on the Golan Heights between Israeli and Syrian troops. The other, established in 1978, contributes to stability in southern Lebanon and in 2000 verified the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area. Since the events of September 2000 in Jerusalem and the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa intifada, the Secretary-General has intensified his efforts to end the violence and bring the Israelis and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. He participated in the October 2000 Summit meeting at Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt co-chaired by United States President Bill Clinton and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak which resulted in the establishment of a fact-finding committee chaired by U.S. Senator George Mitchell. Its April 2001 report remains the only broadly acceptable blueprint for confidence-building measures between the parties and eventual resumption of the peace process. The Secretary-General and his representatives participate actively in efforts to implement its recommendations, in close coordination with other interested actors including the United States, the Russian Federation, the European Union and countries of the region. Elsewhere in the region, a UN observer mission monitors the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait following the restoration of Kuwait's sovereignty in 1991. 3. WHAT THE UN DOES FOR JUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW Through UN efforts, governments have concluded many multilateral agreements that make the world a safer, healthier place with greater opportunity and justice for all of us. This comprehensive body of international law, including human rights law, is one of the UN's great achievements. Human rights Eleanor Roosevelt played an important role in negotiating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the General Assembly in 1948, sets out basic rights and freedoms to which all women and men are entitled among them the right to life, liberty and nationality; to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; the right to work and to be educated; the right to food and housing; and the right to take part in government. These rights are legally binding by virtue of two International Covenants, to which most States are parties. One Covenant deals with economic, social and cultural rights and the other with civil and political rights. Together with the Declaration, they constitute the International Bill of Human Rights. The Declaration laid the groundwork for more than 80 conventions and declarations on human rights, including the two International Covenants; conventions to eliminate racial discrimination and discrimination against women; conventions on the rights of the child, against torture and other degrading treatment of punishment, the status of refugees and the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide; and declarations on the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, the right to development, and the rights of human rights defenders. Field workers, like these in Haiti, support UN human rights activities in a growing number of countries.With its standardssetting work nearly complete, the UN is shifting the emphasis of its human rights efforts to the implementation of human rights laws. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, who coordinates UN human rights activities, works with governments to improve their observance of human rights, seeks to prevent violations, and works closely with the UN human rights mechanisms. The UN Commission on Human Rights, an intergovernmental body, holds public meetings to review the human rights performance of States, to adopt new standards and to promote human rights around the world. The Commission also appoints independent experts "special rapporteurs" to report on specific human rights abuses or to examine the human rights situation in specific countries. UN human rights bodies contribute to early warning and conflict prevention, as well as in efforts to address the root causes of conflict. A number of UN peacekeeping operations have a human rights component. In all, UN human rights field activities are currently being carried out in nearly 30 countries or territories. They help strengthen national capacities in human rights legislation, administration and education; investigate reported violations; and assist governments in taking corrective measures when needed. Promoting respect for human rights is increasingly central to UN development assistance. In particular, the right to development is seen as part of a dynamic process which integrates civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, and by which the well-being of all individuals in a society is improved. Key to the enjoyment of the right to development is the eradication of poverty, a major UN goal. International law The UN Charter specifically calls on the United Nations to undertake the progressive codification and development of international law. The over 500 conventions, treaties and standards resulting from this work have provided a framework for promoting international peace and security and economic and social development. States that ratify these conventions are legally bound by them. The International Law Commission prepares drafts on topics of international law which can then be incorporated into conventions and opened for ratification by States. Some of these conventions form the basis for law governing relations among States, such as the convention on diplomatic relations or the convention regulating the use of international watercourses.
The UN Commission on International Trade Law develops rules and guidelines designed to harmonize and facilitate laws regulating international trade. The UN has also pioneered the development of international environmental law. Agreements such as the convention to combat desertification, the convention on the ozone layer, and the convention on the transborder movement of hazardous wastes are administered by the UN Environment Programme. The Convention on the Law of the Sea seeks to ensure equitable access by all countries to the riches of the oceans, protect them from pollution and facilitate freedom of navigation and research. The Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs is the key international treaty against drug trafficking. The United Nations remains at the centre of international efforts to create a legal framework against terrorism. Twelve global conventions on the issue have been negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations, including the 1979 Convention against the Taking of Hostages, the 1997 Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, and the 1999 Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, and work is in progress on a comprehensive anti-terrorism treaty. In 2001, following the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States, the Security Council adopted a wide-ranging antiterrorist resolution, under the enforcement provisions of the UN Charter. It included provisions to prevent the financing of terrorism, criminalize the collection of funds for such purposes, and to immediately freeze terrorist financial assets. The Council called on States to accelerate the exchange of information regarding terrorist movements and decided that States should afford one another the greatest measure of assistance for criminal investigations or proceedings relating to terrorist acts. Ending impunity Massive violations of humanitarian law during the fighting in the former Yugoslavia led the Security Council in 1993 to establish an international tribunal to try persons accused of war crimes in that conflict. In 1994, the Council set up a second tribunal to hear cases involving accusations of genocide in Rwanda. The tribunals have found several defendants guilty and sentenced them to prison. The Rwanda Tribunal in 1998 handed down the first-ever verdict by an international court on the crime of genocide, as well as the first-ever sentence for that crime. A key United Nations goal an international mechanism to impose accountability in the face of mass violations of human rights was realized in 1998 when governments agreed to establish an International Criminal Court. The Court will provide a means for punishing perpetrators of genocide and other crimes against humanity. In voting to set up the Court, the international community made it clear that impunity the assumption that crimes will go unpunished is no longer possible for those who commit atrocities. The Court will come into being on 1 July 2002. The UN has also contributed to the elaboration of conventions relating to international humanitarian law, such as the 1948 Convention on Genocide and the 1980 Inhumane Weapons Convention (concerning weapons which are excessively injurious or have indiscriminate effects). Other action for justice and equal rights In 1945, 750 million people lived in non-self-governing territories. Today, that number has been reduced to just over 1 million, in large measure due to the crucial role played by the UN in encouraging the aspirations of dependent peoples and helping speed their independence. Since 1960, when the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, some 60 former colonial Territories have attained independence and joined the UN as sovereign Members. A UN-led campaign lasting more than 30 years helped end the system of racial segregation in South Africa known as apartheid. In 1994, a UN observer mission observed that country's first all-race elections. Since its foundation, the UN has been working to affirm the fundamental equality of all people and to counter racism in all its forms. As decided by the General Assembly, in 2001 a World Conference examined ways to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance. 4. WHAT THE UN DOES FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE Humanitarian disasters can occur anywhere, at any time. Whether the cause be flood, drought, earthquake or conflict, a humanitarian disaster means lost lives, displaced populations, communities incapable of sustaining themselves and great suffering. Emergency assistance In the face of disaster, the UN family of organizations supplies food, shelter, medicines and logistical support to the victims most of them children, women and the elderly. UNHCR's assistance for Pakistan's Afghan refugees focuses on education and health.To pay for this assistance and deliver it to those in need, the UN has raised billions of dollars from international donors. During 2001 alone, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs launched 19 inter-agency appeals, raising more than $1.4 billion to assist 44 million people in 19 countries and regions. The Office is headed by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, who also serves as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.
Providing humanitarian assistance requires that the United Nations overcome major logistical and security constraints in the field. Reaching affected areas can itself be a major obstacle. In recent years, many crises have been aggravated by an erosion of respect for human rights. Humanitarian workers have been denied access to people in need, and warring parties have deliberately targeted civilians and aid workers. Since 1992, more than 200 UN civilian staff members have been killed and some 265 taken hostage while serving in humanitarian operations worldwide. In the effort to prevent human rights violations in the midst of crisis, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has played an increasingly active role in the UN response to emergencies. The UN coordinates its response to humanitarian crises through a committee of all the key humanitarian bodies, chaired by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. Members include the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Other UN agencies are also represented, as are major non-governmental and intergovernmental humanitarian organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. Humanitarian response The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator is responsible for developing policy for humanitarian action and for promoting humanitarian issues helping raise awareness, for example, of the consequences of the proliferation of small arms or the humanitarian effects of sanctions. People who have fled war, persecution or human rights abuse refugees and displaced persons are assisted by UNHCR. At the start of 2001, there were some 22 million people of concern to UNHCR in more than 120 countries, including some 5.4 million internally displaced. Some 3.6 million Afghans accounted for 30 per cent of refugees worldwide, followed by 568,000 refugees from Burundi and 512,800 from Iraq. UN emergency assistance, like the airdrop in Sudan, helps relieve suffering when a humanitarian disaster occurs.As the worlds largest food aid organization, WFP supplies one third of emergency food assistance worldwide. In 2000, WFP delivered 3.7 million tons of food aid to 83 million people in 83 countries including most of the worlds refugees and internally displaced persons. War and civil strife have separated an estimated 1 million children from their parents over the past 10 years, made 12 million more homeless and left 10 million severely traumatized. UNICEF seeks to meet the needs of these children by supplying food, safe water, medicine and shelter. UNICEF has also pioneered the concept of "children as zones of peace" and created "days of tranquillity" and "corridors of peace" to help protect children in war and provide them with essential services. Disaster prevention and preparedness are also part of UN humanitarian action. When disasters occur, UNDP coordinates relief work at the local level, while promoting recovery and long-term development. In 2001, for example, following a devastating earthquake in India, the agency moved quickly to help local communities, while working to reduce long-term vulnerability to natural disasters. And in countries undergoing extended emergencies or recovering from conflict, humanitarian assistance is increasingly seen as part of an overall peace-building effort, along with developmental, political and financial assistance. Palestine refugees Relief work for Palestine refugees has been carried out since 1949 by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Today, the Agency provides essential health, education, relief and social services and implements income-generation programmes for more than 4 million Palestine refugees in the region. A UN Coordinator oversees all development assistance provided by the UN system to the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. Office of the Iraq Programme In 1996, pending fulfilment by Iraq of a number of Security Council resolutions, Iraq and the United Nations agreed on an "oil-for-food programme" to alleviate the humanitarian impact of comprehensive sanctions imposed against the country in 1990. The Office of the Iraq Programme was established in 1997 to consolidate management of the programme, which includes the sale of Iraqi oil, the processing of contracts between Iraq and its suppliers for the purchase of humanitarian supplies, and observing Iraq's distribution of those supplies. 5. WHAT THE UN DOES FOR DEVELOPMENT One of the UN's central mandates is the promotion of higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development. As much as 70 per cent of the work of the UN system is devoted to accomplishing this mandate. Guiding the work is the belief that eradicating poverty and improving the well-being of people everywhere are necessary steps in creating conditions for lasting world peace. The UN has unique strengths in promoting development. Its presence is global and its comprehensive mandate spans social, economic and emergency needs. The UN does not represent any particular national or commercial interest. When major policy decisions are taken, all countries, rich and poor, have a voice.
Setting the agenda The UN system has long promoted sustainable development of precious water resources.The UN has played a crucial role in building international consensus on action for development. Beginning in 1960, the General Assembly has helped set priorities and goals through a series of 10-year International Development Strategies. While focusing on issues of particular concern, the Decades have consistently stressed the need for progress on all aspects of social and economic development. The UN continues formulating new development objectives in such key areas as sustainable development, the advancement of women, human rights, environmental protection and good governance along with programmes to make them a reality. At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders adopted a set of Millennium Development Goals aimed at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; and ensuring environmental sustainability through a set of measurable targets to be achieved by the year 2015. Among these are: cutting in half the proportion of those who earn less than a dollar a day; achieving universal primary education; eliminating gender disparity at all levels of education; and dramatically reducing child mortality while increasing maternal health. Assistance for development The UN system works in a variety of ways to promote economic and social goals. The mandates of the specialized agencies cover virtually all areas of economic and social endeavor. The agencies provide technical assistance and other forms of practical help to countries around the world. In cooperation with the UN, they help formulate policies, set standards and guidelines, foster support and mobilize funds. The World Bank, for example, provided more than $17 billion in development loans in fiscal year 2001 to more than 100 developing countries. Close coordination between the UN and the specialized agencies is ensured through the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), comprising the Secretary-General, the heads of the specialized agencies, funds and programmes, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Trade Organization. UN agencies work with local officials and NGOs to meet the health needs of children in conflict situations, such as this UNICEF-led immunization campaign in Afghanistan.The UN programmes and funds work under the authority of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council to carry out the UN's economic and social mandate. To enhance overall cooperation, the Secretary-General in 1997 set up the UN Development Group, comprising the UN operational programmes and funds. The UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN's largest provider of grants for sustainable human development worldwide, is actively involved in attaining the millennium development goals. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is the lead UN organization working for the long-term survival, protection and development of children. Active in some 160 countries, areas and territories, its programmes focus on immunization, primary health care, nutrition and basic education.
The UN supports HIV/AIDS-related activities, including grass-roots education programmes, in 155 countries.Many other UN programmes work for development, in partnership with governments and NGOs. The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest international food aid organization for both emergency relief and development. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is the largest international provider of population assistance. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) works to encourage sound environmental practices everywhere, and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) assists people living in health-threatening housing conditions. To increase the participation of developing countries in the global economy, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) promotes international trade. UNCTAD also works with the World Trade Organization (WTO), a separate entity, in assisting developing countries' exports through the International Trade Centre. Pooling resources The UN system is increasingly pooling its efforts to tackle complex problems that cut across organizational areas of expertise and defy the efforts of any country acting alone. The Joint UN Programme on AIDS pools the expertise of eight UN agencies and programmes to combat an epidemic that has struck more than 57 million people worldwide. The UN System-Wide Special Initiative on Africa a 10-year, $25 billion endeavor launched in 1996 brings virtually all points of the UN into a common programme to ensure basic education, health services and food security in Africa. The Global Environment Facility, a $3.5 billion fund administered by UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank, helps developing countries carry out environmental programmes. UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank and WHO joined forces in 1998 to launch a new campaign to fight malaria, which kills more than 1 million people a year. Joint initiatives to expand immunization and develop new vaccines have enlisted the support of business leaders, philanthropic foundations, non-governmental organizations and governments, as well as UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank. 6. THE SPECIALIZED AGENCIES Autonomous organizations joined to the UN through special agreements: ILO (International Labor Organization): Formulates policies and programmes to improve working conditions and employment opportunities, and sets labor standards used by countries around the world. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN): Works to improve agricultural productivity and food security, and to better the living standards of rural populations. UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization): Promotes education for all, cultural development, protection of the world's natural and cultural heritage, international cooperation in science, press freedom and communication. WHO (World Health Organization): Coordinates programmes aimed at solving health problems and the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health. It works in such areas as immunization, health education and the provision of essential drugs. World Bank Group: Provides loans and technical assistance to developing countries to reduce poverty and advance sustainable economic growth. IMF (International Monetary Fund):Facilitates international monetary cooperation and financial stability and provides a permanent forum for consultation, advice and assistance on financial issues. ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization):Sets international standards for the safety, security and efficiency of air transport, and serves as the coordinator for international cooperation in all areas of civil aviation. UPU (Universal Postal Union):Establishes international regulations for postal services, provides technical assistance and promotes cooperation in postal matters. ITU (International Telecommunication Union): Fosters international cooperation to improve telecommunications of all kinds, coordinates usage of radio and TV frequencies, promotes safety measures and conducts research. WMO (World Meteorological Organization): Promotes scientific research on the Earth's atmosphere and on climate change, and facilitates the global exchange of meteorological data. IMO (International Maritime Organization): Works to improve international shipping procedures, raise standards in marine safety, and reduce marine pollution by ships. WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization): Promotes international protection of intellectual property and fosters cooperation on copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs and patents. UNODC is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime. Established in 1997, UNODC has approximately 500 staff members worldwide. Its headquarters are in Vienna and it has 21 field offices as well as a liaison offices in New York. UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from governments, for 90 per cent of its budget. UNODC is mandated to assist Member States in their struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism. In the Millennium Declaration, Member States also resolved to intensify efforts to fight transnational crime in all its dimensions, to redouble the efforts to implement the commitment to counter the world drug problem and to take concerted action against international terrorism.
IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development): Mobilizes financial resources to raise food production and nutrition levels among the poor in developing countries. UNIDO (UN Industrial Development Organization): Promotes the industrial advancement of developing countries through technical assistance, advisory services and training. IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency): An autonomous intergovernmental organization under the aegis of the UN, it works for the safe and peaceful uses of atomic energy. 7. THE UN IS WORKING TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE The UN formulated the historic Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), as well as more than 80 human rights treaties that help protect and promote specific rights. UN peacekeeping is a vital instrument for peace. Currently some 47,650 UN military and civilian personnel, provided by 87 countries, are engaged in 15 operations around the world. UN environmental conventions have helped reduce acid rain in Europe and North America, cut marine pollution worldwide, and phase out production of gases destroying the Earth's ozone layer. The UN and its agencies, including the World Bank and the UN Development Programme, are the premier vehicle for furthering development in poorer countries, providing assistance worth more than $30 billion a year. More international law has been developed through the UN in the past five decades than in all previous history. Every year, up to 3 million childrens lives are saved by immunization, but almost 3 million more die from preventable diseases. UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank Group, private foundations, the pharmaceutical industry and governments have joined hands in a new initiative the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization that aims to reduce that figure to zero. The World Food Programme each year provides about one third of the world's food aid. Air traffic the world over is safer, thanks to rules and regulations agreed on through the International Civil Aviation Organization. UN appeals raise more than $1 billion a year for emergency assistance to victims of war and natural disaster. Smallpox was eradicated from the world through a global campaign coordinated by WHO. Another WHO campaign has eliminated polio from the Americas, and aims at eradicating it globally by 2005. Expenditures of the UN system on operational activities for development mostly for economic and social programmes to help the world's poorest countries amount to some $6 billion a year (excluding the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and International Fund for Agricultural Development). This is equal to 0.75 per cent of world military expenditures of over $800 billion.
The three pillars of the UNODC work programme are: * Research and analytical work to increase knowledge and understanding of drugs and crime issues and expand the evidence-base for policy and operational decisions; * Normative work to assist States in the ratification and implementation of the international treaties, the development of domestic legislation on drugs, crime and terrorism, and the provision of secretariat and substantive services to the treaty-based and governing bodies; and * Field-based technical cooperation projects to enhance the capacity of Member States to counteract illicit drugs, crime and terrorism. Globalization has created an environment where illicit drugs, crime and terrorism can flow easily across borders. The welfare gains to be had from open trade and flow of public goods are, however, offset by the globalization of threats to human security. UNODC s interventions are therefore designed to contribute to the following outcomes: * Governments will be better equipped to fulfil and implement their obligations under the international treaties, particularly through effective judicial cooperation, prevention and counter measures against illicit drug production, trafficking and abuse, human trafficking and other forms of organized crime, money laundering, corruption and terrorism; * Decisions by policy-makers will be more evidence-based, relying on more extensive and intensive knowledge of illicit drugs, crime and terrorism issues; * Civil society and public opinion will be more firmly committed to action against the illicit drug and crime problems, relying on greater awareness and understanding of the issues. In pursuing its objectives, UNODC will make every effort to integrate and mainstream the gender perspective, particularly in its projects for prevention and the provision of alternative livelihoods, as well as those against human trafficking. UNODC is continuing its efforts to implement its operational priorities ( English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian and Chinese) through an integrated approach to counter drugs, crime and terrorism. The following documents provide details about the reorientation of work for stronger integration and greater synergy between UNODC's main areas of responsibility: * Secretary General's bulletin -- Organization of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (PDF) * "Integrated operations in drugs, crime and terrorism: Commentary on UNODC's new organizational structure" (PDF) * Organizational chart for UNODC (PDF) * UNODC terms of reference (PDF) * Programme Activities funded by the fund of UNDCP OIOS Report In response to allegations of corruption within UNODC made public in November 2003, Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa requested an independent assessment by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). Leadership The Secretary-General has appointed Antonio Maria Costa (Italy) as the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV). Upon assuming the leadership of UNODC and UNOV, Executive Director/Director-General Costa discusses his commitment to 'good governance' in an article for the UN Chronicle ( French, English). 1998 UNGASS on the world drug problem In 1998, the General Assembly's twentieth special session on the world drug problem was held in New York. The GA adopted the text Political Declaration as recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole. In 1990, the General Assembly had adopted a Political Declaration and a Global Programme of Action concerning world wide drug abuse and drug trafficking, and proclaimed the decade of 1990-2000 to be the United Nations Decade against Drug Abuse. Programme on Drugs and Crime The United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) was established in 1991. In October 2002, UNDCP was renamed the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which also administers the Fund of UNDCP. UNODC works to educate the world about the dangers of drug abuse and to strengthen international action against drug production, trafficking and drug-related crime through alternative development projects, illicit crop monitoring and anti-money laundering programmes. UNODC also provides accurate statistics through the Global Assessment Programme (GAP) and helps to draft legislation and train judicial officials as part of its Legal Advisory Programme. In 1997 UNODC was also tasked with the responsibility for crime prevention, criminal justice and criminal law reform. The Office works with Member States to strengthen the rule of law, promote stable and viable criminal justice systems and combat the growing threat of transnational organized crime through its Global Programme Against Corruption, Global Programme Against Organized Crime and Global Programme Against Trafficking in Human Beings and its Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB).
CND The Commission on Narcotic Drugs ( CND) was established in 1946 by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the central policy-making body within the UN system for dealing with all drug-related matters. The Commission analyses the world drug abuse situation and develops proposals to strengthen international drug control. INCB The International Narcotics Control Board ( INCB) is the independent and quasi-judicial control body for the implementation of the United Nations drug conventions. It was established in 1968 by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. INCB is independent of Governments as well as of the United Nations; its 13 members serve in their personal capacity. UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice The 40-member UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice formulates international policies and recommends activities in the field of crime control. It offers nations a forum for exchanging information and to settle on ways to fight crime on a global level. The Commission is a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council and formulates draft resolutions for action by the Council. These resolutions eventually direct the work of UNODC's Crime Programme. NGOs and Civil Society UNODC has worked closely with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) since its inception in 1991. Recognizing the powerful influence that NGOs and other aspects of civil society exert on public attitudes and social values, UNODC field offices cooperate with and monitor more than 1,200 NGOs working around the world to counter drug abuse.
INTERPOL Vision Interpol exists to help create a safer world. Its aim is to provide a unique range of essential services for the law enforcement community to optimise the international effort to combat crime. Mission To be the worlds pre-eminent police organization in support of all organizations, authorities and services whose mission is preventing, detecting, and suppressing crime. Interpol will achieve this by: * Providing both a global perspective and a regional focus; * Exchanging information that is timely, accurate, relevant and complete; * Facilitating international co-operation; * Co-ordinating joint operational activities of its member countries; * Making available know- how, expertise and good practice Interpol will act on the basis of the articulated demands and expectations of these organizations, authorities and services, while remaining alert to developments so as to be able to anticipate future requirements Core functions Interpol provides three core services: * a unique global police communication system * a range of criminal databases and analytical services * proactive support for police operations throughout the world Structure of Interpol
Article 5 of the Constitution stipulates that 'The International Criminal Police Organization - Interpol shall comprise: the General Assembly, the Executive Committee, the General Secretariat, the National Central Bureaus [and] the Advisers.' General Assembly - the organization's supreme governing body, composed of delegates appointed by each member country. It meets once a year and takes all important decisions related to policy, resources, working methods, finances, activities and programmes. Executive Committee - elected by the General Assembly, there are 13 members (the president, three vice-presidents and nine delegates) representing the different Interpol regions (1). General Secretariat - the Secretary General and a technical and administrative staff entrusted with the work of the Organization. National Central Bureaus (NCBs) - an Interpol office or point of contact which is the key link between national law enforcement and Interpol services provided and maintained by each member state. Advisers - experts in a purely advisory capacity, who may be appointed by the Executive Committee and confirmed by the General Assembly. (1) For administrative purposes, Interpol groups its member countries into four regions: Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. On an operational basis, countries are arranged into a number of zones, geographically and linguistically, to facilitate communication.
General Assembly The General Assembly is composed of delegates appointed by the governments of Member States. As Interpol's supreme governing body, it meets once a year and takes all the major decisions affecting general policy, the resources needed for international co-operation, working methods, finances and programmes of activities. It also elects the Organization's Executive Committee. Generally speaking, the Assembly takes decisions by a simple majority in the form of resolutions. Each Member State represented has one vote. Executive Committee The Executive Committee is Interpols select deliberative organ which meets three times a year, usually in March, July and immediately before the General Assembly. Its role, in accordance with Article 22 of the Constitution, is to supervise the execution of the decisions of the General Assembly prepare the agenda for sessions of the General Assembly submit to the General Assembly any programme of work or project which it considers useful supervise the administration and work of the Secretary General In accordance with Article 15 of the Constitution, the Executive Committee has 13 members comprising the president of the organization, 3 vice-presidents and 9 delegates. These members are elected by the General Assembly and should belong to different countries, in addition, the president and the 3 vice-presidents must come from different regions. The president is elected for 4 years, and vice-presidents for 3. They are not immediately eligible for re-election either to the same posts, or as delegates to the Executive Committee. Voting is by secret ballot. A two-thirds majority is required for the election of the president. If this majority is not obtained after the second ballot, a simple majority is then sufficient. Vice-Presidents and delegates are elected on a simple majority. Each member state has one vote; those member states attending the General Assembly are eligible to take part in the election, providing they are not prevented from doing so under Article 52 of the General Regulations. Secretary General The General Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General of the Organization, who is appointed by the General Assembly for a period of 5 years. He may be re-elected. The Secretary General is effectively the Organizations chief full-time official. He is responsible for seeing that the day-today work of international police co-operation is carried out, and the implementation of the decisions of the General Assembly and Executive Committee. The role is defined in the Constitution, in particular, Articles 28, 29 and 30. The General Regulations stipulate the broad framework for the election of the Secretary General in Articles 42, 43 and 44.
A brief history of Interpol 1914 First International Criminal Police Congress held in Monaco; police officers, lawyers and magistrates from 14 countries attend. 1923 Creation of the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) with headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on the initiative of Dr. Johannes Schober, President of the Vienna Police. 1942 Hijacked by the Nazi regime, the ICPC moves to Berlin; many countries withdraw from the organization in protest. 1945 For all practical purposes the ICPC ceases to exist. 1946 Belgium leads the rebuilding of the organization; a new headquarters is created in Paris. 'Interpol' chosen as telegraphic address. 1949 Consultative status granted by the United Nations; adoption of the Interpol emblem.
1956 Under a completely modernised constitution, the ICPC becomes the International Criminal Police Organization Interpol, abbreviated to ICPO-Interpol or just Interpol. 1971 Interpol is recognized as an intergovernmental organization by the United Nations. 1989 Inauguration of the new Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon, France, by President Franois Mitterrand. 1990 The X.400 communication system is initiated, enabling Interpol National Central Bureaus (NCBs) to send electronic messages directly to each other and to the General Secretariat. 1992 Introduction of the Automatic Search Facility for remote searches of the Interpol database. 1998 Creation of a new database: the Interpol Criminal Information System (ICIS). 2002 The I-24/7 web-based communication system is developed, improving NCBs' access to multiple databases containing all types of criminal information. Co-operation agreements with other international organizations Interpol has established strong relationships with a wide variety of international organizations, intergovernmental and non governmental, acting in different fields of interest of the Organization. In order to provide a clear legal basis for working together, Interpol has concluded a number of co-operation agreements with these day-to-day partners. Police co-operation agreements The development of a model police co-operation agreement is a concept which has quite naturally gained ground within Interpol. Indeed, it seems obvious that the Organization should provide its member countries with the legal tools they need to facilitate co-operation they initiate bilaterally. A model agreement has therefore been compiled on the basis of numerous studies, which reflects a wealth of experience in international police co-operation. In adopting this instrument, in particular for those member states which have not yet developed this form of co-operation to a large extent, the Organization is fulfilling its role as set out in the Constitution, namely 'to ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal police authorities, and to establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes'. Interpol - United Nations Relationship Interpol has long co-operated with the United Nations in law enforcement matters, a relationship that was formalized by the signing of a co-operation agreement between the two organizations in October 1996. The co-operation agreement grants the two organizations observer status in sessions of their respective general assemblies. The agreement outlines further areas in which the two organizations could co-ordinate their efforts: * responding to the needs of the international community in fighting crime * assisting states in their efforts to combat organized crime * co-operating in the implementation of the mandates of international judicial bodies * carrying out joint investigations and other police-related matters in the context of peace-keeping * establishing joint databases related to penal law. To strengthen the global capacity to respond coherently to ever-changing developments in the world from a law enforcement perspective, Interpol appointed Dr Ulrich Kersten, former president of the German Federal Criminal Police (Bundeskriminalamt) and former Interpol Executive Committee member, as its first Special Representative to the United Nations on November 5, 2004. As both organizations occupy unique positions in the international community, the creation of the Interpol office at UN headquarters in New York marks the beginning of a new era of co-operation between them. The Interpol office at the UN embodies the spirit of the original co-operation agreement, and will focus on: * liaison between Interpol and the United Nations by establishing, maintaining, developing and promoting contact networks between the general secretariats of the two organizations, their dependent bodies and their officials * raising UN awareness of Interpol's functions and services by facilitating and enhancing the exchange of information between the two parties * identifying opportunities for collaboration based on extensive knowledge of the activities and developments of the two organizations * acting as the senior advisor to the Interpol Secretary General regarding all matters or developments having, or that may have, a UN impact.
Local Law Enforcement Ever thought police work was interesting? Do you like a good mystery? Have you wanted battle something greater than yourself? If so, then the PD (Police Department) or the FBI is for you. ICly, these PCs will be at least 21 and will have had the appropriate training. An FBI agent will likely be a college graduate, as well as most NOPD personnel beyond the rank of Officer. Law PCs will want dots in some of the following: Alertness, Investigation, Firearms, Search, Interrogation, Dodge, Bureaucracy, Criminology, Forensics, Law, Security. The World of Darkness offers many opportunities for the Law Enforcement in any setting. There are Murders, Homicides, Rapes, Burglaries, Corruption, Extortion....You name it, we've got it. However, catching most of them is a bit harder than normal, given the darker nature of the game in general. Many Police just don't care anymore. For those who do, the paperwork and strife is a bleak existance. They are the few, the barely alive, the fighting. Most of the ranks are made up of Mortals, and that is the basis on which this page is written. If a 'supernatural' PC wishes to become a Law Enforcement Officer/Agent, then special arrangements can be made, cross-sphere, with both spheres needs attended to in the character development. As for the Department itself. It is one of many in the city limits. Although it is the only IC department, we must take into account the others for IC matters of information, sharing and so forth. The Department is set up so that it can be self sustaining. Simply put, things that happen IC can stay completely IC if the chain of command is followed and the 'paperwork' is handled correctly. Job Outlook The opportunity for public service through law enforcement work is attractive to many because the job is challenging and involves much personal responsibility. Furthermore, law enforcement officers in many agencies may retire with a pension after 20 or 25 years of service, allowing them to pursue a second career while still in their 40s. Because of relatively attractive salaries and benefits, the number of qualified candidates exceeds the number of job openings in Federal law enforcement agencies and in most State police departmentsresulting in increased hiring standards and selectivity by employers. Competition should remain keen for higher paying jobs with State and Federal agencies and police departments in more affluent areas. Opportunities will be better in local and special police departments, especially in departments that offer relatively low salaries, or in urban communities where the crime rate is relatively high. Applicants with college training in police science, military police experience, or both should have the best opportunities. Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement Civil service regulations govern the appointment of police and detectives in practically all States, large municipalities, and special police agencies, as well as in many smaller ones. Candidates must be U.S. citizens, usually at least 20 years of age, and must meet rigorous physical and personal qualifications. In the Federal Government, candidates must be at least 21 years of age but less than 37 years of age at the time of appointment. Physical examinations for entrance into law enforcement often include tests of vision, hearing, strength, and agility. Eligibility for appointment usually depends on performance in competitive written examinations and previous education and experience. In larger departments, where the majority of law enforcement jobs are found, applicants usually must have at least a high school education. Federal and State agencies typically require a college degree. Candidates should enjoy working with people and meeting the public. Because personal characteristics such as honesty, sound judgment, integrity, and a sense of responsibility are especially important in law enforcement, candidates are interviewed by senior officers, and their character traits and backgrounds are investigated. In some agencies, candidates are interviewed by a psychiatrist or a psychologist, or given a personality test. Most applicants are subjected to lie detector examinations or drug testing. Some agencies subject sworn personnel to random drug testing as a condition of continuing employment.
Before their first assignments, officers usually go through a period of training. In State and large local departments, recruits get training in their agencys police academy, often for 12 to 14 weeks. In small agencies, recruits often attend a regional or State academy. Training includes classroom instruction in constitutional law and civil rights, State laws and local ordinances, and accident investigation. Recruits also receive training and supervised experience in patrol, traffic control, use of firearms, self-defense, first aid, and emergency response. Police departments in some large cities hire high school graduates who are still in their teens as police cadets or trainees. They do clerical work and attend classes, usually for 1 to 2 years, at which point they reach the minimum age requirement and may be appointed to the regular force. Police officers usually become eligible for promotion after a probationary period ranging from 6 months to 3 years. In a large department, promotion may enable an officer to become a detective or specialize in one type of police work, such as working with juveniles. Promotions to corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, and captain usually are made according to a candidates position on a promotion list, as determined by scores on a written examination and on-the-job performance. Law enforcement agencies are encouraging applicants to take postsecondary school training in law enforcement-related subjects. Many entry-level applicants for police jobs have completed some formal postsecondary education and a significant number are college graduates. Many junior colleges, colleges, and universities offer programs in law enforcement or administration of justice. Other courses helpful in preparing for a career in law enforcement include accounting, finance, electrical engineering, computer science, and foreign languages. Physical education and sports are helpful in developing the competitiveness, stamina, and agility needed for many law enforcement positions. Knowledge of a foreign language is an asset in many Federal agencies and urban departments. Continuing training helps police officers, detectives, and special agents improve their job performance. Through police department academies, regional centers for public safety employees established by the States, and Federal agency training centers, instructors provide annual training in self-defense tactics, firearms, use-of-force policies, sensitivity and communications skills, crowd-control techniques, relevant legal developments, and advances in law enforcement equipment. Many agencies pay all or part of the tuition for officers to work toward degrees in criminal justice, police science, administration of justice, or public administration, and pay higher salaries to those who earn such a degree. Significant Points * Police work can be dangerous and stressful. * Civil service regulations govern the appointment of police and detectives. * Competition should remain keen for higher paying jobs with State and Federal agencies and police departments in affluent areas; opportunities will be better in local and special police departments that offer relatively low salaries or in urban communities where the crime rate is relatively high. * Applicants with college training in police science or military police experience should have the best opportunities. Nature of the Work People depend on police officers and detectives to protect their lives and property. Law enforcement officers, some of whom are State or Federal special agents or inspectors, perform these duties in a variety of ways, depending on the size and type of their organization. In most jurisdictions, they are expected to exercise authority when necessary, whether on or off duty. Uniformed police officers who work in municipal police departments of various sizes, small communities, and rural areas have general law enforcement duties including maintaining regular patrols and responding to calls for service. They may direct traffic at the scene of a fire, investigate a burglary, or give first aid to an accident victim. In large police departments, officers usually are assigned to a specific type of duty. Many urban police agencies are becoming more involved in community policinga practice in which an officer builds relationships with the citizens of local neighborhoods and mobilizes the public to help fight crime. Police agencies are usually organized into geographic districts, with uniformed officers assigned to patrol a specific area, such as part of the business district or outlying residential neighborhoods. Officers may work alone, but in large agencies they often patrol with a partner. While on patrol, officers attempt to become thoroughly familiar with their patrol area and remain alert for anything unusual. Suspicious circumstances and hazards to public safety are investigated or noted, and officers are dispatched to individual calls for assistance within their district. During their shift, they may identify, pursue, and arrest suspected criminals, resolve problems within the community, and enforce traffic laws. Public college and university police forces, public school district police, and agencies serving transportation systems and facilities are examples of special police agencies. These agencies have special geographic jurisdictions or enforcement responsibilities in the United States. Most sworn personnel in special agencies are uniformed officers, a smaller number are investigators. Some police officers specialize in such diverse fields as chemical and microscopic analysis, training and firearms instruction, or handwriting and fingerprint identification. Others work with special units such as horseback, bicycle, motorcycle or harbor patrol, canine corps, or special weapons and tactics (SWAT) or emergency response teams. A few local and special law enforcement officers primarily perform jail-related duties or work in courts. Regardless of job duties or location, police officers and detectives at all levels must write reports and maintain meticulous records that will be needed if they testify in court.
Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs enforce the law on the county level. Sheriffs are usually elected to their posts and perform duties similar to those of a local or county police chief. Sheriffs departments tend to be relatively small, most having fewer than 25 sworn officers. A deputy sheriff in a large agency will have law enforcement duties similar to those of officers in urban police departments. Police and sheriffs deputies who provide security in city and county courts are sometimes called bailiffs. (For information on other officers who work in jails and prisons, see correctional officers elsewhere in the Handbook.) State police officers (sometimes called State troopers or highway patrol officers) arrest criminals Statewide and patrol highways to enforce motor vehicle laws and regulations. Uniformed officers are best known for issuing traffic citations to motorists who violate the law. At the scene of accidents, they may direct traffic, give first aid, and call for emergency equipment. They also write reports used to determine the cause of the accident. State police officers are frequently called upon to render assistance to other law enforcement agencies, especially those in rural areas or small towns. State law enforcement agencies operate in every State except Hawaii. Most full-time sworn personnel are uniformed officers who regularly patrol and respond to calls for service. Others are investigators, perform court-related duties, or work in administrative or other assignments. Detectives are plainclothes investigators who gather facts and collect evidence for criminal cases. Some are assigned to interagency task forces to combat specific types of crime. They conduct interviews, examine records, observe the activities of suspects, and participate in raids or arrests. Detectives and State and Federal agents and inspectors usually specialize in one of a wide variety of violations such as homicide or fraud. They are assigned cases on a rotating basis and work on them until an arrest and conviction occurs or the case is dropped. Working Conditions Police work can be very dangerous and stressful. In addition to the obvious dangers of confrontations with criminals, officers need to be constantly alert and ready to deal appropriately with a number of other threatening situations. Many law enforcement officers witness death and suffering resulting from accidents and criminal behavior. A career in law enforcement may take a toll on officers private lives. Uniformed officers, detectives, agents, and inspectors are usually scheduled to work 40-hour weeks, but paid overtime is common. Shift work is necessary because protection must be provided around the clock. Junior officers frequently work weekends, holidays, and nights. Police officers and detectives are required to work at any time their services are needed and may work long hours during investigations. In most jurisdictions, whether on or off duty, officers are expected to be armed and to exercise their arrest authority whenever necessary. Earnings Police and sheriffs patrol officers had median annual earnings of $42,270 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $32,300 and $53,500. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $25,270, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $65,330. Median annual earnings were $47,090 in State government, $42,020 in local government, and $41,600 in Federal Government. In 2002, median annual earnings of police and detective supervisors were $61,010. The middle 50 percent earned between $47,210 and $74,610. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $36,340, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $90,070. Median annual earnings were $78,230 in Federal Government, $64,410 in State government, and $59,830 in local government. In 2002, median annual earnings of detectives and criminal investigators were $51,410. The middle 50 percent earned between $39,010 and $65,980. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $31,010, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $80,380. Median annual earnings were $66,500 in Federal Government, $47,700 in local government, and $46,600 in State government. Federal law provides special salary rates to Federal employees who serve in law enforcement. Additionally, Federal special agents and inspectors receive law enforcement availability pay (LEAP)equal to 25 percent of the agents grade and stepawarded because of the large amount of overtime that these agents are expected to work. For example, in 2003 FBI agents enter Federal service as GS-10 employees on the pay scale at a base salary of $39,115, yet earned about $48,890 a year with availability pay. They can advance to the GS-13 grade level in field nonsupervisory assignments at a base salary of $61,251, which is worth $76,560 with availability pay. FBI supervisory, management, and executive positions in grades GS-14 and GS-15 pay a base salary of about $72,381 or $85,140 a year, respectively, and equaled $90,480 or $106,430 per year including availability pay. Salaries were slightly higher in selected areas where the prevailing local pay level was higher. Because Federal agents may be eligible for a special law enforcement benefits package, applicants should ask their recruiter for more information.
According to the International City-County Management Associations annual Police and Fire Personnel, Salaries, and Expenditures Survey, average salaries for sworn full-time positions in 2002 were as follows: Police chief Deputy chief Police captain Police lieutenant Police sergeant Police corporal Minimumannual base salary $68,337 59,790 56,499 52,446 46,805 39,899 Maximumannual base salary $87,037 75,266 70,177 63,059 55,661 49,299
Total earnings for local, State, and special police and detectives frequently exceed the stated salary because of payments for overtime, which can be significant. In addition to the common benefitspaid vacation, sick leave, and medical and life insurance most police and sheriffs departments provide officers with special allowances for uniforms. Because police officers usually are covered by liberal pension plans, many retire at half-pay after 20 or 25 years of service. Working with Federal Law Enforcement It is the policy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to share with Law Enforcement personnel pertinent information regarding terrorism. In the past, the primary mechanism for such information sharing was the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). In response to the terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001, the FBI established the State and Local Law Enforcement Executives and Elected Officials Security Clearance Initiative. This program was initiated to brief officials with an established "need-to-know" on classified information that would or could affect their area of jurisdiction. Most information needed by state or local law enforcement can be shared at an unclassified level. In those instances where it is necessary to share classified information, it can usually be accomplished at the Secret level. This brochure describes when security clearances are necessary and the notable differences between clearance levels. It also describes the process involved in applying and being considered for a clearance. State and local officials who require access to classified material must apply for a security clearance through their local FBI Field Office. The candidate should obtain from their local FBI Field Office a Standard Form 86 (SF 86), Questionnaire for National Security Positions; and two FD-258 (FBI applicant fingerprint cards). One of two levels of security clearance, Secret or Top Secret, may be appropriate. The background investigation and records checks for Secret and Top Secret security clearance are mandated by Presidential Executive Order (EO). The EO requires these procedures in order for a security clearance to be granted; the FBI does not have the ability to waive them. Secret Clearances A Secret security clearance may be granted to those persons that have a "need-toknow" national security information, classified at the Confidential or Secret level. It is generally the most appropriate security clearance for state and local law enforcement officials that do not routinely work on an FBI Task Force or in an FBI facility. A Secret security clearance takes the least amount of time to process and allows for escorted access to FBI facilities. The procedure is as follows: * FBI performs record checks with various Federal agencies and local law enforcement, as well as, a review of credit history. * Candidate completes forms SF-86 and FD-258. Once favorably adjudicated for a Secret security clearance, the candidate will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Top Secret Clearances A Top Secret clearance may be granted to those persons who have a "need-to-know" national security information, classified up to the Top Secret level, and who need unescorted access to FBI facilities, when necessary. This type of clearance will most often be appropriate for law enforcement officers assigned to FBI Task Forces housed in FBI facilities. In addition to all the requirements at the Secret level, a background investigation, covering a 10-year time period, is required. Once favorably adjudicated for a Top Secret security clearance, the candidate will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
Questions and Answers (Q&A): Q: Who should apply for a security clearance? A: State or local officials whose duties require that they have access to classified information, and who are willing to undergo a mandatory background investigation. Q: What is the purpose of a background investigation? A: The scope of the investigation varies with the level of the clearance being sought. It is designed to allow the government to assess whether a candidate is sufficiently trustworthy to be granted access to classified information. Applicants must meet certain criteria, relating to their honesty, character, integrity, reliability, judgement, mental health, and association with undesirable persons or foreign nationals. Q: If an individual occupies an executive position with a law enforcement agency, must he or she still undergo a background investigation in order to access classified information? A: An Executive Order (EO), issued by the President, requires background investigations for all persons entrusted with access to classified information. The provisions of the EO are mandatory, cannot be waived, and apply equally to all federal, state, and local law enforcement officers. This is true of both Secret and Top Secret security clearances. Q: How long does it normally take to obtain a Secret security clearance? A: It is the goal of the FBI to complete the processing for Secret security clearances within 45 to 60 days, once a completed application is submitted. The processing time for each individual case will vary depending upon its complexity. Q: How long does it normally take to obtain a Top Secret security clearance? A: It is the goal of the FBI to complete the processing for Top Secret security clearances within 6 to 9 months, once a completed application is submitted. The processing time for each individual case will vary depending upon its complexity Q: What kind of inquiries will the FBI make into my background? A: Credit and criminal history checks will be conducted on all applicants. For a Top Secret security clearance, the background investigation includes additional record checks which can verify citizenship for the applicant and family members, verification of birth, education, employment history, and military history. Additionally, interviews will be conducted of persons who know the candidate, and of any spouse divorced within the past ten years. Additional interviews will be conducted, as needed, to resolve any inconsistencies. Residences will be confirmed, neighbors interviewed, and public records queried for information about bankruptcies, divorces, and criminal or civil litigation. The background investigation may be expanded if an applicant has resided abroad, or has a history of mental disorders, or drug or alcohol abuse. A personal interview will be conducted of the candidate. Q: If I have a poor credit history, or other issues in my background, will this prevent me from getting a security clearance? A: A poor credit history, or other issues, will not necessarily disqualify a candidate from receiving a clearance, but resolution of the issues will likely take additional time. If the issues are significant, they may prevent a clearance from being approved. Q: If I choose not to apply for a security clearance, will I still be informed about counterterrorism issues important to my jurisdiction? A: Absolutely. If the FBI receives information relevant to terrorism which may impact your jurisdiction, you will be informed by your local Field Office, through the Law Enforcement On-Line network, via NLETS, and through other available mechanisms which are approved for the transmission of unclassified information. Most terrorism-related information can be provided in an unclassified form. Q: Are there any other advantages or disadvantages to receiving unclassified or classified terrorism-related information? A: An additional advantage of receiving unclassified terrorism-related information is that there may be fewer restrictions on your ability to further disseminate it within your jurisdiction. Classified information may only be disseminated to other cleared persons, who also have a need-to-know. Q: What is the difference between an interim and a full security clearance? A: Interim clearances are granted in exceptional circumstances where official functions must be performed before completion of the investigative and adjudicative processes associated with the security clearance procedure. There is no difference between an interim and a full security clearance as it relates to access to classified information. However, when such access is granted, the background investigation must be expedited, and, if unfavorable information is developed at anytime, the interim securityclearance may be withdrawn.
Office of Law Enforcement Coordination The FBI Office of Law Enforcement Coordination (OLEC) was created to build bridges and strengthen relationships between the FBI and the law enforcement community. The OLEC facilitates two-way communication, collaboration, and a high level of customer service. It supports the FBI in coordination with its law enforcement partners to uphold the law and protect the United States from criminal and terrorist activities. Working Together for a Safer America Director Robert S. Mueller, III established the OLEC to enhance coordination and communications between the FBI and its federal, state, and local law enforcement partners on a national level. The Office provides advice and guidance to FBI executives regarding the utilization of state and local law enforcement expertise and resources in criminal, cyber, and counterterrorism investigations, as well as recommends policies and programs to enhance the FBI's working relationship with its partners. The OLEC serves as the FBI's primary liaison for the national law enforcement associations and represents the perspective of police and sheriff departments within the FBI. The OLEC coordinates the Director's Law Enforcement Advisory Group and supports the FBI's intelligence-sharing and technological efforts with state and local law enforcement. The OLEC is also responsible for liaison with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, and other federal agencies.
Local Police Department Divisions The current setup for the Police Department is the following Commissioner | | Chief of Police | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | Captain of Patrol Captain of Detectives Captain of Internal Affairs | | | | | | Patrol Officers Homicide I A Detectives & K-9 Units & Forensics / CSI There are also Lawyers, Forensic Pathologists, Psychologists/Psychiatrists, Coroners and Judges that belong here, but do not fit in the scheme of the diagram. If you have any concepts that would fit into the law area please talk to your Storyteller. PATROL DIVISION OFFICERS: Uniformed police officers who work in municipal police departments of various sizes, small communities, and rural areas have general law enforcement duties including maintaining regular patrols and responding to calls for service. They may direct traffic at the scene of a fire, investigate a burglary, or give first aid to an accident victim. In large police departments, officers usually are assigned to a specific type of duty. Many urban police agencies are becoming more involved in community policinga practice in which an officer builds relationships with the citizens of local neighborhoods and mobilizes the public to help fight crime. Public college and university police forces, public school district police, and agencies serving transportation systems and facilities are examples of special police agencies. These agencies have special geographic jurisdictions or enforcement responsibilities in the United States. Most sworn personnel in special agencies are uniformed officers, a smaller number are investigators. Police Officer Police Officers comprise the largest number of sworn officers in the Department. The Police Officer rank is divided into four paygrade advancement ranks: Police Officer Class I, II, III and IV. A Police Officer I is a probationary officer who automatically advances to Police Officer II upon successful completion of his/her probationary period. A Police Officer may be assigned to a foot beat, a black and white patrol car, bicycle patrol, Mounted Unit, a two-wheel motorcycle or a specialized unit such as S.W.A.T. or K-9 Unit. Normally, when a police recruit graduates from the Police Academy, he/she is assigned to a geographic patrol division within the City and is considered as a probationary officer and placed under the supervision of a higher ranking officer, normally a Police Officer III Field Training Officer. A probationary Police Officer assigned to a patrol unit performs basic duties such as: * Responding to the scene of a crime or an accident * Interviewing suspects, witnesses * Writing crime reports * Responding to radio calls * Monitoring any suspicious activity of ongoing crimes * Coordinating vehicular traffic * Visiting open businesses such as banks, markets, department stores, service stations, and other types to establish a rapport with owners * Booking suspects and evidence and transporting them to the appropriate Police Department facility * Responding to citizens and visitors questions * Preparing Daily Field Activity Reports * Attending and coordinating neighborhood watch meetings * Performing numerous other activities in support of the community policing philosophy
A Police Officer assigned to a specialized division or as a Desk Officer performs all of the aforementioned duties in addition to performing duties that are unique to these specialized divisions. For example, a Police Officer may be assigned to Juvenile Narcotics Division to conduct undercover narcotics investigations or patrol the school area to monitor criminal activity and to maintain liaison with the school officials. In addition, a Police Officer may be assigned to a two-wheel motorcycle unit to enforce traffic laws, investigate traffic accidents, cite the violators of traffic laws, appear in the court, search for drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and maintain order in congested areas. A Police Officer may also serve as a helicopter pilot or an observer in Air Support Division and provide assistance to ground units. A Police Officer III or IV may also serve as a Vice Investigator, Instructor at the Police Academy, Detective Trainee, Legislative Officer, News Media Coordinator, Range Officer, Recruitment Officer, Driver-Security Aide to the Chief of Police and the Mayor of the City, Senior Lead Officer, Unusual Occurrence Planning Officer, or numerous other positions within the Police Department. The opportunities available to a Police Officer within the LAPD are so diverse, they are too numerous to mention on this web page. DETECTIVE DIVISION OFFICERS: Detectives are plainclothes investigators who gather facts and collect evidence for criminal cases. Some are assigned to interagency task forces to combat specific types of crime. They conduct interviews, examine records, observe the activities of suspects, and participate in raids or arrests. Detectives and State and Federal agents and inspectors usually specialize in one of a wide variety of violations such as homicide or fraud. They are assigned cases on a rotating basis and work on them until an arrest and conviction occurs or the case is dropped. Police Detective The class title of a Police Detective within the Police Department is assigned to specialized functions of criminal investigations. At present, there are three Detective ranks within the Police Department: Detective I, II and III. The Detective II and III are supervisory positions and are responsible for training and overseeing the activities of Detectives I and Police Officers. A Detective is often assigned to a specialized division and is responsible for responding to the scenes of crimes, conducting preliminary and followup investigations, preparing the required investigative reports, preparing a biopsy of the report, apprehending the suspect, preparing the case for a successful prosecution, and testifying in court. On occasion, a Detective travels to other parts of the country or overseas to extradite suspects wanted in connection with crimes committed in the City of Los Angeles. In this capacity, a Detective maintains liaison with international law enforcement agencies. Some of the specialized duties performed by a Detective include: conduct narcotics investigations, perform surveillance and establish and maintain contacts with informants; investigate gang related crimes; respond to and investigate scenes of crimes such as homicide, theft, robbery, auto theft, illegal sex related activities; and, crimes committed by juveniles. In addition, a Detective may perform court liaison functions; act as a Watch Commander; provide electronic equipment expertise to conduct surveillance and polygraph examinations; investigate applicants and businesses who have applied for Police Commission permits to conduct business; investigate child abuse cases; provide expert testimony in court; and, conduct investigations of crimes committed by gangs of foreign origin. A Detective III is responsible for the above described duties in addition to serving as a leader in high profile cases of major robbery, fraud and homicide. A Detective III reviews reports prepared by his/her subordinates, informs the commanding officer of the status of the pending investigations, provides technical expertise, trains and supervises newly assigned Detectives and civilian personnel, and performs related administrative duties. Police Sergeant The class title of Police Sergeant within the Police Department is assigned to geographic patrol divisions, specialized divisions and administrative units of these divisions. The class title of Sergeant is broken down into two ranks: Sergeant I and II, and the Sergeant II rank performs a higher and more complex level of duties. When assigned to a patrol function, the Sergeant may be a Watch Commander or Assistant Watch Commander during his/her tour of duty. In this capacity, the Sergeant prepares daily car plan assignments; prepares and presents roll call training; inspects personnel and equipment for conformity to Department standards; supervises the desk, patrol officers on foot or in vehicles; reviews and approves various types of reports; prepares and investigates personnel complaints; responds to crime scenes at the request of police officers; handles radio calls and dispatches personnel; keeps the supervisors informed of issues of concern to them; trains and supervises probationary officers; and performs related functions.
Police Sergeants assigned to specialized divisions perform specific duties characteristic of these divisions. A police Sergeant may be assigned to any one of the following specialized divisions: Air Support, Personnel, Commission Investigation, Communications, Public Affairs, Juvenile, Narcotics, Vice, Jail, Traffic, Court Liaison, Community Relations, Training, Legal Affairs, Mounted or K-9 Unit, S.W.A.T. Unit, etc. In addition to performing some or all of the above described duties, a police Sergeant assigned to any one of these specialized divisions provides knowledge, expertise, and experience which are unique to dayto-day operations of these divisions as well as unusual situations which may occur in the course of the law enforcement operations. For example, a police Sergeant assigned to Air Support division may operate a helicopter, perform air surveillance, supervise and train other pilots, and act as a liaison with the Federal Aviation Administration for compliance with FAA rules. A police Sergeant assigned to Mounted or K-9 Unit may be required to possess knowledge and training related to the use of a horse or a dog in law enforcement operations. The qualifications required of a police Sergeant to be assigned to a specialized division are subject to change depending on the changes in the Departments policies and procedures. Police Lieutenant The Police Lieutenant rank within the Police Department is assigned as Officer-inCharge of various law enforcement and administrative functions and is broken down into two ranks: Lieutenant I and II. Lieutenants I are generally assigned as watch commanders or administrative lieutenants at the geographic Area level. The Lieutenant II may assist detective divisions commanding officers or act as Section Officers-in-Charge of various specialized entities throughout the Department. The Lieutenant assigned to geographic patrol and detective divisions is responsible for supervising patrol sergeants, police officers and detectives who carry out dayto-day, routine crime suppression and investigative functions. In this capacity, the Lieutenant is an assistant to the Captain and acts as a Commanding Officer in the Captains absence. Specifically, the Lieutenant ensures appropriate and sufficient deployment of officers depending upon crime trends in his/her geographic Area; responds to scenes of serious crimes such as officer-involved shooting, homicide, major robbery and theft; reviews and ensures complete and accurate follow-up investigations; and, keeps the Captain informed of issues of concern within his/her command. In addition, the Lieutenant performs administrative functions such as review of the incoming correspondence and response to Department entities, outside agencies, and citizens; supervisors daily activity reports; and, crime and accident reports. The Lieutenant ensures appropriate and timely training of the subordinates; the inspection of personnel, equipment and facilities to ensure compliance with the Departments policies and procedures; conducts interviews of sworn and civilian personnel; attends community meetings to promote Departments goals and missions and community safety programs; teaches classes at the Police Academy; and performs other related duties.
Lieutenants assigned to specialized divisions perform unique duties characteristic of each division such as Narcotics, Organized Crime and Vice, Anti-Terrorist, Juvenile Narcotics, Child Abuse, Air Support and surveillance, D.A.R.E., Burglary/Auto Theft, Financial Crimes, Transit, Labor Relations, Crime Suppression and S.W.A.T. Depending upon the division of assignment, each Lieutenant supervises the activities of his/her subordinates; coordinates specialized training and ensures sufficient stock of tactical supplies and equipment; maintains liaison with appropriate Department entities; acts as a leader at the scene of crime; and, reviews and completes all reports for the approval of a Captain. Police Captain The Police Captain is assigned within the Police Department to geographic Areas, detective divisions, and specialized divisions. The class title of a Police Captain is divided into three paygrade advancements: Captain I, II and III. Each higher level of a Police Captain assumes a more complex and difficult level of responsibility within his/her assignment. As a Commanding Officer of a patrol or detective division, the Captain is responsible for the following duties: inspecting and overseeing the functions of the patrol officers and detectives to ensure compliance with the Department policies, procedures, regulations and standards; supervising the administrative and support functions of non-sworn personnel; inspecting personnel, facilities, and tactics for safety and/or training needs; maintaining liaison with numerous municipal, government, civic organizations, and private citizens to establish and maintain rapport to facilitate Departments functions and to promote neighborhood safety and community policing programs. In addition to carrying out the aforementioned duties, Captains assigned to specialized divisions such as Narcotics, Organized Crime and Vice, Robbery/Homicide, Juvenile Services, Burglary/Auto Theft, Financial Crimes, Air Support, and Transit are responsible for unique duties characteristic of each division. In addition, a Captain performs administrative duties such as reviewing correspondence, budget requests, and activity reports; interviewing and hiring sworn and civilian personnel for their division; acting as a Chiefs Duty Officer (off-hours); teaching classes at the Police Academy; and assuming the responsibilities of a Police Commander in his/her absence. Police Commander The Police Commander acts as the Assistant Commanding Officer at the four geographic Bureaus and OperationsHeadquarters Bureau. They act as commanding officers for Community Affairs, Uniformed Services, Detective Services, Juvenile Services, Criminal Intelligence, Personnel, Training, Internal Affairs, Administrative, and Transit Groups. Each of these Groups are sub-divided into more specialized divisions such as Narcotics, Organized Crime and Vice, Anti-Terrorist, Burglary/Auto Theft, Air Support, Crime Suppression, Labor Relations, and Robbery/Homicide. Each Division is under the command of a Police Captain. Additionally, Commander rank personnel occupy positions as the Ombudsperson, Governmental Liaison, Employee Relations Administrator, and Department Commander; a staff level officer assigned to oversee night-time operations citywide. The duties of the Commander are dependent upon his/her assignment to a specific bureau and may include: overseeing and directing the activities of patrol officers within geographic Areas; coordinating detectives investigative efforts within the City; and, exercising functional supervision over officers engaged in traffic enforcement functions. In addition, the Commander maintains contact with civic leaders and community groups within their geographic bureaus to promote the goals and missions of the Police Department to encourage neighborhood watch safety programs and to generate input from citizens to establish mutual trust between police officers and the community. Also, the Commander is responsible for ensuring compliance with Department policies and procedures by personnel under his/her supervision; conducting audits of operations; and, making recommendations to higher management for improving productivity and increasing efficiency. Further, the Commander may act as a Chiefs Duty Officer during offhours or a Deputy Chief in his/her absence and carry out duties specified by the Chief of Police. Police Deputy Chief The Police Deputy Chief is the second highest rank in the Police Department and reports directly to the Chief of Police. The Deputy Chief can be promoted from the rank of Captain or Commander. The Deputy Chief is assigned as the commanding officer of major organizational components such as Geographic Operations Bureaus, Detective Bureaus, Human Resources Bureau, Internal Affairs Group, or as the Chief of Staff. In addition to carrying out specific bureau duties, the Deputy Chief may assume the duties of the Chief of Police in his absence and perform related functions in that capacity.
Specifically, the Deputy Chief oversees and directs the activities of patrol officers assigned within his/her Bureau; the detectives who investigate crimes committed citywide such as, homicide, robbery, auto theft, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and bunco; police officers assigned to traffic enforcement and accident investigation; personnel responsible for all operations of recruitment, promotions, training, deployment, background investigation, and maintenance of personnel records. Also, the Deputy Chief represents the Department at community and business meetings to promote the Departments missions and goals in order to foster mutual trust between the community and the Department. In addition, the Deputy Chief acts as a Chief of Staff to the Office of the Chief of Police and keeps the Police Chief informed of all operational activities on a day-to-day basis. Chief of Police The Chief of Police (COP) is the highest-ranking officer in the Police Department. As a General Manager of the Police Department, the COP is responsible for the planning, efficient administration and operation of the Police Department under the authority of the Board of Police Commissioners. In this capacity, the COP directs, plans, and coordinates the enforcement of the penal divisions of the City Charter, the ordinances of the City, and the laws of the state and nation for the purpose of protecting persons and property and for the preservation of the peace of the community. The COP is responsible for testifying before the City Council, the state and national legislative bodies on law enforcement matters of importance to the City of Los Angeles; and, proposing new or amending existing legislation which could have an impact on law enforcement. The COP attends the Police Commission meetings to keep that body informed about any issue related to the Departments operations and to respond to citizens complaints or concerns. Also, the COP acts on all matters related to disciplinary issues and recommends awards for exemplary conduct of the Departments sworn and civilian employees. In addition, the COP makes presentations to private citizens community groups, religious organizations, schools, and the business and industrial community to promote the goals and missions of the Police Department and to solicit their input in making the City of Los Angeles a safe place in which to live, visit and conduct business. During a state of emergency such as civil disturbance in the City, the COP assumes a leadership role in planning, coordinating and directing all activities aimed at restoring peace in the City or otherwise returning conditions to normal. The COP has jurisdiction within the City of Los Angeles and line command authority over 9,600 sworn and 3,510 civilian employees. The official duties of the COP are described in City Charter Sections 80, 87, 200, and 201. The COP is generally selected from within the ranks of Deputy Police Chief and should have a college degree and at least 12 years of progressively responsible law enforcement experience. The COP is appointed by the Mayor and is subject to the approval of the Police Commission and the City Council. The COP can serve a maximum of two five-year terms. IA DIVISION OFFICERS: What is Internal Affairs? The mission of Internal Affairs is to review officer involved critical incidents and investigate complaints received on sworn and non-sworn employees of the Police Department. Critical incidents include officer involved shootings, pursuits resulting in serious injury, or any incident resulting in serious injury or death of a person, regardless of any allegations of misconduct. In addition, all complaints of misconduct, whether received from residents or Department employees, are thoroughly investigated by Internal Affairs to ensure the integrity of the Police Department COUNTY SHERIFF: Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs enforce the law on the county level. Sheriffs are usually elected to their posts and perform duties similar to those of a local or county police chief. Sheriffs departments tend to be relatively small, most having fewer than 25 sworn officers. A deputy sheriff in a large agency will have law enforcement duties similar to those of officers in urban police departments. Police and sheriffs deputies who provide security in city and county courts are sometimes called bailiffs. Public Defenders A lawyer who works for a state or local agency representing clients accused of a crime who cannot afford to pay. Plans and conducts investigations to support the defense in a wide variety of major adult and juvenile criminal cases such as those involving numerous defendants or multiple offenses. Examines the scene of the crime, locates and identifies material evidence, and records findings. Obtains information concerning the whereabouts of witnesses by interviewing employers, public agencies, families, neighbors, and others or by accessing a computerized data base; follows leads and locates witnesses by means of telephone inquiries and searches of directories, utility records, Department of Motor Vehicles records, and records of other organizations and other agencies. Interviews and obtains information from witnesses and determines whether there is sufficient basis for the witness to be subpoenaed for court testimony. Testifies in court as the investigator of record and makes subsequent in-trial investigations, as required. Prepares detailed reports of completed investigations to support the defense.
The following are the rules set forth in order for all Law Personnel to follow in any situation requiring paperwork/Case Files to be opened, etc. 1. If an arrest is made - READ THE MIRANDA WARNINGS WHEN YOU MAKE THE ARREST! MIRANDA RIGHTS 1. You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. 2. Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. 3. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. 4. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. 5. If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. 6. Do you know and understand your rights as I have explained them to you? Failure to do so will make the arrest invalid. MIRANDA LAW - A GUIDE TO THE PRIVILEGE AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION The foundation for Miranda v. Arizona (1966) was laid in Malloy v. Hogan (1964) which applied the privilege against selfincrimination to state criminal proceedings and Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) which allowed consultation with an attorney about the privilege against self-incrimination. Because Malloy, or the privilege against self-incrimination, is a primary component of the 5th Amendment, and Escobedo, or the right to counsel, is a primary component of the 6th Amendment, Miranda, or Miranda Law, is usually referred to as "the marriage of the 5th and 6th Amendment". It is therefore not a simple 5th Amendment case nor a simple self-incrimination case. What it deals with are confessions and interrogations, two words that don't even appear in the 5th Amendment. Miranda is a "bright line" rule (beyond which nobody should cross) intended to forever extinguish the use of COERCION but allowing PRESSURE. It was not intended, as the exclusionary rule was, to reform the police or improve society, but to simply draw the line on coercion, much like Brown v. Mississippi (1936) was intended to outlaw torture. It was not intended to eliminate interrogation, which is inherently stressful and necessarily involves pressure. The purpose of Miranda is to neutralize the distinct psychological disadvantage that suspects are under when dealing with police. Confessions, prior to Miranda, were only required to meet the voluntariness test, a requirement that all confessions must be voluntary, an exercise of free will on the part of a suspect. This requirement was usually met if the suspect's physical, mental, and emotional condition was stable at the time of making a confession. Today, the voluntariness test and its totality-of-circumstances component continues to be used, but in our post-Miranda era, police must prove they read specific Miranda warnings and obtained an intelligent waiver. Miranda law is not offense-specific; it doesn't matter if the offense is a felony or misdemeanor. Specific Miranda warnings include the following statements: * You have the right to remain silent. * Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. * You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him present with you during questioning. * If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent you, if you wish. Intelligent waiver: * Do you understand each of these rights as I have explained them to you? * Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now? There was much concern in the wake of Miranda over the exact wording of the above statements. Police often carried and read from little cards to avoid a favorite tactic of defense attorneys--embarrassing the officer on the stand in repeating the exact words from memory. Over the years, however, Miranda has been "eroded" somewhat (although the courts will not tolerate deliberately reckless departures from the exact wording), as in the case of Duckworth v. Eagan (1989) which held that the following words, although less than perfectly clear, were still acceptable: * You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions, and to have him or her with you during questioning. You have the right to the advice and presence of a lawyer even if you cannot afford to hire one. We have no way of giving you a lawyer, but one will be appointed for you, if you wish, if and when you go to court.
A violation of Miranda law will result in immediate (and automatic) suppression of evidence, rendering whatever statements the suspect made to the police and any use the police made with those statements inadmissible in court. However, a violation of Miranda law, in itself, is not grounds for an acquittal nor a reversal of conviction. Two rules have been established in appellate procedure which are followed very strictly. THE HARMLESS ERROR DOCTRINE THE AUTOMATIC REVERSAL RULE If an involuntary confession is admitted at trial, but the effect was harmless and did not have a prejudicial impact because there was other overwhelming evidence, the conviction must be upheld. If an involuntary confession is admitted at trial, and the constitutional violation is such that the suspect never understood their right to a lawyer, the conviction must be reversed. Miranda warnings are "triggered", or apply and have to be read, if TWO elements are present: CUSTODY and INTERROGATION. Both are more difficult to define than what might appear at first glance. It is important to note that BOTH elements must be present at the same time, what might be called CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION, although for purposes of understanding, we will treat each term separately. CUSTODY is the Miranda equivalent of arrest. It does not include traffic stops or brief field interviews based on reasonable suspicion. Nor does it apply to telephone calls, since the suspect is always free to hang up. There is no litmus test (checklist), but an objective test is used to determine if custody occurs. The officer's subjective intent to arrest does not matter. What matters is if, objectively, a reasonable person would believe that an officer conveyed, by words or actions, that a suspect is not free to leave. It also does not matter why the suspect is in custody. Warnings must be given if the suspect is arrested or in jail for one crime and being questioned for another crime. The general rule is that custody occurs whenever a suspect is placed in "unfamiliar and hostile surroundings". A look at some examples will demonstrate how restrictive this rule really is: * Questioning at the police station. This is not automatically a custodial situation. It depends on whether the suspect was brought in handcuffed or accompanied officers voluntarily. It also depends upon whether questioning takes place in a closed room across a desk or not. Some parts of police stations, like interrogation rooms, are examples of hostile surroundings, while other parts are not hostile at all. * Questioning in a police vehicle. This is not automatically a custodial situation. If a suspect is locked in the back seat of a cruiser equipped with a screen, this is obviously a hostile surrounding. But with other types of vehicles and the rare front seat interview, the custodial aspect is questionable. * Questioning at the crime scene. Generally, Miranda does not apply to on-the-street and on-scene questioning. Officers routinely ask "What happened" at traffic accidents without Miranda warnings. However, if the circumstances are such that it can be reasonably inferred that police are probably going to arrest somebody, Miranda must be read. An example would be if somebody appeared intoxicated after a traffic accident where the reasonable belief that police wouldn't let this person drive home triggers Miranda. * Questioning at the suspect's home. Again, the words and actions of the officer questioning a suspect at home must signify a hostile or intimidating atmosphere to trigger Miranda. An example of intimidating action would be waking the suspect up at 4:00 a.m. to talk to them. An example of non-intimidating action would be dropping by the suspect's house at a more regular time of day, say 8:00 a.m. INTERROGATION is questioning that goes beyond the simple "What happened" and "What did you do, see, or hear?" to questions that imply a suspect's involvement in crime. Questions about motive, alibi, ability, or opportunity to do the crime are all examples of interrogation, such as "Where were you on the night of October 13th?" Usually, this insinuating or judgmental tone is prefaced by rapport-building, or treating the suspect like family. For example: "How are you? Are you comfortable? Do you want something to drink?" is NOT an INTERROGATION. "How are you? Are you comfortable? Do you want something to drink? Are you tired? When was the last time you slept. Oh, and by the way, where were you on the night of October 13th?" is an INTERROGATION. Interrogation inherently involves PERSUASION or PRESSURE. The ultimate goal of interrogation is to obtain a confession, or at least an admission (soft confession)..., anything that would implicate the suspect in criminal behavior. It can safely be assumed nobody would voluntarily implicate themselves to police, but interrogation necessarily involves persuading or convincing a person that it would be in their best interests to do so. Interrogation is changing a person's mind so that they want to tell the police everything they did wrong, and getting them to help convict themselves. The Supreme Court has treated interrogation as testimony (spoken or written words), or its functional equivalent. Anything like spontaneous utterances or asking a suspect to write down in their own words what happened is the functional equivalent of interrogation.
The functional equivalence rule covers any action, deception, or trickery designed to elicit an incriminating response. If, for example, two police officers talk out loud to themselves in front of a suspect with the intent of being overheard and eliciting a "Hey, wait a minute" response from the suspect, this is the functional equivalent of an interrogation. Asking somebody to fill out the narrative section of a police form is also a functional equivalent. Legally, there are three levels of communication: (1) spontaneous utterances; (2) express questioning (Would you like to make a phone call?); and interrogation. Lying to a suspect that an eyewitness has fingered them is a functional equivalent of express questioning, not interrogation, but if it is designed to elicit an incriminating response, it is interrogation. Below is a summary of most of the rules, doctrines, or standards dealing with the Court's treatment of interrogation. * The Functional Equivalence Rule (Rhode Island v. Innis 1980). Silence, manipulation, "guilt trips", and any other tricks by interrogators designed to elicit a spontaneous incrimination are the functional equivalent of an interrogation. * The Deliberately-Eliciting-a-Response Standard. High-tech listening, or bugging, devices that are unknown to the suspect do not deliberately elicit an incriminating response, and therefore can be used without Miranda warnings. * The Massiah Doctrine. If an undercover officer is used, and the suspect doesn't know it's an undercover officer, Miranda does not apply. Also, if a previously Mirandized suspect is let out on bail or held in lockup, an undercover operative can obtain incriminating testimony thru infiltration or sharing a jail cell (Illinois v. Perkins 1990). * The Edwards Rule. If a suspect makes a clear, unambiguous request for counsel, police must cease questioning. Clear and unambiguous must be stronger language than "Maybe I should talk to a lawyer". Also, if after police cease questioning, the suspect himself re-initiates conversation, exchanges, or further communication with police, and incriminating statements may be used at trial. A SUMMARY OF EXCEPTIONS TO THE MIRANDA RULE * ATTORNEY WAIVERS (Moran v. Burbine 1985) If a suspect is talking to police after having waived his right to have an attorney present and the suspect's lawyer has called the police to indicate a desire to advise his client not to talk, the police are under no obligation to inform the suspect of his lawyer's wishes. * BOOKING PROCEDURES (Pennsylvania v. Muniz 1990) Miranda is not required if standard police procedures are being followed, specifically booking procedures, where a suspect is fingerprinted and photographed, e.g. * DELAYED WARNINGS (Oregon v. Elstad 1985) If a suspect confesses right away prior to receiving Miranda warnings but is later given warnings at the police station and confesses, the initial statements may not be used, but the later confession can be used. The failure to give warnings right way does not invalidate later interrogations. * DERIVATIVE EVIDENCE (Michigan v. Tucker 1974) Applies if suspect has not been Mirandized and asserts an alibi defense in response to police questioning. If police check out the alibi, and it, or the witness leads from it, lead to incriminating information against the suspect, it can be used against them. The reliability of any witness's testimony is not affected by Miranda violations. * ILLEGAL SEARCH AND SEIZURE (New York v. Harris 1990) If the police unlawfully enter a home and illegally make an arrest, but then take the suspect to the police station, read him his rights, and he confesses, the illegal search and seizure do no taint the subsequent legal confession. * IMPEACHMENT (Harris v. New York 1971) Impeachment is the in-trial process of destroying a witness' credibility. The law allows an illegally obtained confession to be admitted at trial if the defendant testifies on their own behalf. This is to show that the defendant committed perjury. Also, silence at the time of police interrogation is a presumption of guilt if the defendant later attempts a defense strategy of self-defense at trial. This is because if self-defense was the motive, it would have been reasonable for the defendant to tell the police about it. * INDEPENDENT EVIDENCE (Arizona v. Fulminante 1991) If an inmate is under threat of physical attack by other prisoners and a fellow inmate, in reality an undercover officer, promises to protect him in return for the truth, the confession is coerced because of the threat of physical attack, but the conviction need not be overturned if sufficient independent evidence supporting a guilty verdict is introduced. * PRIVATE SECURITY (U.S. v. Garlock 1994) Talking to a probation officer, a private detective (perhaps one hired by the victim's family), or any private law enforcement official does not involve Miranda at all. Even the most outrageous conduct of private actors cannot violate a suspect's 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. * PUBLIC SAFETY (New York v. Quarles 1984) If police capture or chase somebody who has hid or discarded a gun or drugs somewhere where innocent members of the public might come across this contraband, the officers don't have to read Miranda in order to ask "Where is it?" * PURGED TAINT (Wong Sun v. U.S. 1963) A confession obtained following an unlawful arrest is admissible if the "taint" caused by the police illegality is somehow "purged". Usually applies in cases involving multiple questioning at different points in time; e.g., marathon interrogations with breaks, or (more commonly) the suspect coming back in voluntarily to continue answering questions after being released. The suspect's voluntariness to talk after a break in time "purges" the taint of previous police illegality.
* RESUMED QUESTIONING (Michigan v. Mosley 1975) If a second officer a few hours later in a different room starts a new interrogation, the suspect does not have to be re-Mirandized, although something called the staleness doctrine will apply if a significant period of time has passed. Re-Mirandizing is required if there are two or more interrogations by different police agencies, state and federal, for example.
* SURREPTITIOUS QUESTIONING (Illinois v. Perkins 1990) The Miranda rule and a suspect's 5th Amendment rights are not violated if undercover police or their informants are used to obtain incriminating testimony from a suspect. The suspect's 6th Amendment rights are violated, however, if any of these techniques are used after formal charges have been filed. Miranda warnings are not required when suspect is unaware he is speaking to a law enforcement official. 2. Create a new Open Case or Incident Report (This is what is submitted to your Storyteller to keep track of your case and investigation): TITLE OF THE CASE: LASTNAME_(Kind of Report: Homicide, Robbery, Rape, Theft, Etc.) CASE NUMBER: (MONTHDAYYEAR ex. 08032005) TYPE OF REPORT: (MISSING PERSON/HOMICIDE/EXPLOSION/FUGITIVE/ETC) SUBJECT OF REPORT: (VICTIM/SUSPECT/PLACE/THING) LOCATION OF INCIDENT: (IC Location) IC DATE & TIME: (The current VR time is: 05:43:58am, Monday, 24th of June, 2013) REPORT FILED BY: (Your Name & Rank) CLASSIFIED INFORMATION: (Everything that you can remember that happened.) WHO TO CONTACT ICLY: (This will be you, and anyone else involved as well.) WHO TO CONTACT ON STAFF: (This is the Storyteller who ran the initial Scene) 3. Be available for questions from your CO, the Lawyers, etc. If this case is to be handed out as an assignment later on to another Officer (Presumably a Detective), the original Officer involved still needs to post the initial Report and must be available for questioning. *NB* If more than one Officer is involved in a scene, EACH Officer must send in their own report. 4. If the scene involves a Homicide or other case that needs investigation, and you are NOT a Detective, you must pause the scene until a Detective can be available, unless the Storyteller involved runs an NPC Detective at that time (Which is severely undesired.). If you are a Detective, you can proceed with the investigation. Submit your reports as above. 5. Once the scene is completed and the initial reports have been posted, the following must be adhered to: A1. If there was an arrest made, that PC Must be given his/her one phonecall. There will be a current listing of available Lawyers supplied by the Storyteller to be checked by all Law Personnel. A2. If there was only an investigation performed, and there are questions that need to be answered by Forensics, or an Autopsy needs to be performed, the correct individuals must be contacted with the requests. To make this easier upon the Captains, I will leave it up to their decision if the Detective in question can make the request him/herself, or if it must come from the Captain. All requests must be made by note, even if a scene is acted between the PCs.
B. IF there is an interrogation made, and the subject knows their rights, there will most probably be a Lawyer present. The Interrogator will need to send their report to their Captain. Use Case # MMDDYY-NN Interrogation as the heading. The subject must either be charged now, or released. C. If Charged, the charging Officer must add a report entitled MMDDYY-NN Charges, listing the charges and supporting evidence. This must also be sent to the Defense Lawyer in a note. The Judge will set Bail according to the report. D. If there is no Lawyer at the time of charging, then the Court will appoint a Public Defender. 6. At the Court's earliest convenience, the hearing/trial for the case will be presided over by an IC Judge. A. The Storyteller from the scene can be present for this, but it should be for reference purposes only. B. In Court the IC Judge will hold all rulings. Their actions are the law. If they rule unfairly, or in biased views, that's what the Court of Appeals is for. C. Once the trial is finished, the Judge must submit a record form to the Storyteller with the heading MMDDYY-NN Trial to inform of the results. 7. Captains may extend congratulations to the Officers involved for a job well done, or just hand out new case assignments as need be. ERRATA: If an Officer wishes to request a search for information on a certain person not involved in an open case, or for a case in which they are not assigned, they must request it of the PD Records Department. The IC Records Keeper takes care of all inquiries sent in to the Storyteller via note. The inquiries will be responded to in the order in which they were received. Being a Law Enforcement Agent on any level (Local, State or Federal) in the World of Darkness is a very dangerous career to be in. More so than in the world that we live in on a daily basis. You are thwarted at every turn by bureaucracy, cover-ups, powerful enemies of the state, and others that would rather not have you find them, and have the means to easily do so.
The solving of a case should not be the only goal in a Law Enforcement Agents life. The path that they take to get to the end of the case is the story line that should be focused upon, enjoyed and expanded upon. The hunt, the chase, the investigation. That is the important part. If the Officer of the Law catches the bad guy, excellent. Remember though that there are dozens of others waiting to take his place. Its a nevr ending battle, that in the World of Darkness, is being lost. But that is no reason to give up the fight. It is more of a reason to pick up arms and take it to the streets twice as hard as before.
A Treatise about the Law Sphere By Shakron Things will happen in game that will make players question their worthiness of being a Law Enforcement Agent of any Agency or organization. Admittedly, Law is one of the HARDEST character concepts to play. But, Why? Because the odds are stacked against the Law PCs. Horribly against them. Everyone wants to be able to feel an accomplishment when they Roleplay. Be able to say 'I did /this/.' and it made a difference. Unfortunately most cases that come across Law Enforcement desks aren't simple ones. They are filled with leads that become dead ends, by no fault of your own gaming skills and investigative prowess. The influence of all of the other 'Spheres' come to bear on Law the Hardest, because it is the Ranks of the Officers that are the most dangerous to the 'Others' in the game. Why?, you may ask. Well, Law PCs don't have anything to hide. There is no Masquerade or Veil or Shroud or Dreaming, or Delerium or 'What Have You', to be breached. The Law PCs are the Mortals, and there are more of them, than there are of the others. It is also the Law PCs job to uncover their secrets, as usually, those secrets are breaking the Law in some form or another. But, it is not easy. Never will be. There will always be setbacks. They don't want the Law to learn their terrible truths. But let reassurances say that the Law PC that the players are currently contemplating playing right now, is a VITAL part of this game, right here, right now. Without the players, the Law Enforcement, whatever level they may be in, from Street Patrol all the way up to Sgt. Detective, are all in the thick of it, even if they are blissfully ignorant of who is watching them, and the others are always watching, there would be no fear from the other groups to do what they wanted throughout the city. There would be rape, murder, wars in the city streets and just utter chaos. Each and every one of the Law Sphere, believe it or not, keep that in check. DO NOT for one moment think that Law RP is worthless or invalid, because it is very far from the truth if that thought crosses minds. The Storyteller reads each and every Judge and Law request that comes in from the Law PCs before they are shuffled out to be handled by the Staffer in question (If not by the CCL Storyteller, personally) and every one of them makes the Storyteller Proud of the Law Sphere. The requests for information are concise, detailed and (usually) on the mark for the case being worked on. Each and every one of the players makes it worthwhile for the Storyteller to do this on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. Don't feel bad about bombarding the Storyteller with questions, that's what the Storyteller(s) are here for. That's how Law keeps the pressure on the other spheres, and keeps them on their toes. THE PLAYERS are the ones who do that. The Storyteller can't be the one, she's only one person. It can not be stressed enough. The Individual Player. They are the ones that make the Law Sphere work, and the Storyteller is behind the Player 100 percent with what they do. Remember that. Especially when the cases can not be solved. Because honestly, there are a lot that can't be, and the Storyteller is not going to maneuver the story line to make it that they can be. That would be a slight to everyone involved, and really, not true to the Dark theme of the World of Darkness that is followed and is presented to the players. Do not ever take it personally if a case can not be solved. It is the player's diligence and work on that case that actually makes, no..let's use a stronger word here, FORCES the other spheres to follow their own codes and make those cases unsolvable. Why? Because whenever and where ever they breach their codes of secrecy, WE, the Men and Women of the Law Sphere, will be there.
How To Handle Crime Scenes Crime Scene Processing Protocol In the endeavor of completing a work task certain criteria to complete the work task is needed. Crime scene processing is no different in that respect than to other work related tasks such as exchanging a motor in a car, painting a landscape scene or preparing a meal. There are certain tasks related to each work objective. In the field of crime scene processing several books have been written on what these tasks are and how they should be incorporated into the field of crime scene processing. Yet each book varies only in the technique used, not in a change of the basic protocol used for the processing of crime scenes. How do you explain to someone the mechanics of thoroughly processing a crime scene? It sounds simple, but in fact crime scene processing is a very intricate and interwoven multiple task function. It is difficult to explain to someone the exact protocol that will be used at every crime scene. Each crime scene is different and may require a different approach to processing the scene. However there is a basic crime scene protocol that should be adhered to in all crime scenes. These basic functions or tasks are as follows: 1. INTERVIEW 2. EXAMINE 3. PHOTOGRAPH 4. SKETCH 5. PROCESS Interview is the first step in processing a crime scene. The crime scene technician must interview the first officer at the scene or the victim to ascertain the "theory" of the case. Basically what allegedly happened, what crime took place, and how was the crime committed. This information may not be factual information but it will give the crime scene technician a base from which to start. Examine the crime scene as the second step in the protocol. Examine the scene for what? To ascertain if the "theory" of the case is substantiated by what the crime scene technician observes. Examining the scene to identify possible items of evidentiary nature, identify point of entry and point of exit, and getting the general layout of the crime scene. Photograph the crime scene is the third step in the protocol. Photographing the crime scene to record a pictorial view of what the scene looks like and to record items of possible evidence. Crime scene photographs are generally taken in two categories, overall views and items of evidence. Sketch the crime scene is the fourth step in the protocol. A rough sketch is completed by the crime scene technician to demonstrate the layout of the crime scene or to identify the exact position of the deceased victim or evidence within the crime scene. A crime scene sketch may not be completed on every case, however some form of sketching usually occurs in most cases, i.e., on a fingerprint lift card to identify exactly where the latent was recovered. The last step in the protocol is to process the crime scene. Process the scene for what? The crime scene technician will process the crime scene for evidence, both physical and testimonial evidence. It is the crime scene technicians responsibility to identify, evaluate and collect physical evidence from the crime scene for further analysis by a crime laboratory. The above five steps in the protocol of crime scene processing is intermingled with each other step. If the "theory" of the case dictates that the intruder forcibly entered the residence through a window then the crime scene technician will need to examine the window area for footwear patterns, toolmarks, trace evidence and latent finger prints. Upon finding such items of evidence the technician will need to photograph their location and possibly complete a sketch showing the exact location of the evidence or perhaps a sketch of the footwear pattern. This intermingling of the steps in the protocol will continue throughout the processing of the crime scene. Of course interwoven throughout these five steps is the recording of the crime scene by photographs, sketches, and field notes. This protocol should be used in all crime scenes. Whether the crime scene is a recovered stolen vehicle or a multiple homicide where several crime scenes are involved the basic protocol is the same INTERVIEW, EXAMINE, PHOTOGRAPH, SKETCH and PROCESS. BURGLARY CHECK LIST (B & E) 1. Photograph 2. Tool Marks 3. Paint Standards 4. Safe Insulation Standards 5. Foot Prints 6. Tire Tracks 7. Fingerprints (Latents) 8. Glass Standards 9. Soil Standards 10. Hairs and Fibers 11. Other evidence relative to crime
HOMICIDE CHECK LIST 1. 1-9 on Burglary Check List 2. Hair Standard 3. Fingernail Scrapings 4. Blood Standards 5. Blood Sample (Scene) 6. Close-up Photos of wounds 7. Clothing of Victim 8. Clothing of Suspect 9. Other evidence relative to crime 10. Weapons 11. Major Case Prints 12. Identification Photos 13. Attend Autopsy/Collect Evidence SEXUAL ASSAULT CHECK LIST 1. Clothing of Victim 2. Clothing of Suspect 3. All Stains Present 4. Location of Occurrence 5. Sexual Assault Kit 6. Suspects Standards 7. Fingernail Scrapings 8. All Bloodstains 9. Bed Linens 10. Latent Prints 11. Hairs and Fibers 12. If forced entry to structure then include 1-9 on burglary check list PRIMARY SCENE VS SECONDARY SCENE The above "Crime Scene Check List" is in reality a "reminder" list. The list is intended for those officers who responsible for the identification, protection, and collection of the evidence from the various crime scenes. IT IS NOT A SHOPPING LIST ! The crime laboratories do not want one of each item! This list is strictly to remind the officer what he may have forgotten or overlooked before he leaves the crime scene. The beginning of the list has the 5 step protocol for the processing of ALL crime scenes, INTERVIEW, EXAMINE, PHOTOGRAPH, SKETCH & PROCESS. The bottom of the Check List are the terms Primary & Secondary. Again meant as a reminder to officers that all crime scenes have two areas to the scene, the PRIMARY area, where the crime was committed or where the body is located, and a SECONDARY area, all avenue's leading to the scene / body. For instance, if there is a deceased body in a room, the primary scene is where the body is located and the secondary area is the other rooms of the structure PLUS the outdoor area where the suspect had enter or leave the building. The secondary area is usually quite large and is seldom properly identified or protected. Under the heading of "Sexual Assaults" there is the term "location of occurrence". This again is trying to remind the officer that some evidence may be different for the location, i.e., Motel room, victim's bedroom, suspect's bedroom, suspect's/victim's car or and outdoor scene, all of these present their own share of problems and circumstances.
Crime Scene Investigation Details I. The Initial Death Scene Examination The crime scene examination and subsequent search should be done in a careful and methodical manner. After talking to the officer(s) who were the first ones on the scene and learning from them of any changes that might have been made to the scene since their arrival, such as turning lights on or off or opening doors or windows, start the examination by working your way into the body using great care to avoid disturbing or destroying any evidence as you do. Carefully observe the floor or ground surrounding the body. Look for items of evidence or of evidential value such as stains, marks, etc. Remember to look up too, every crime scene is 3 dimensional. Another technique to you assist in locating evidence is to shine a flashlight on the ground at an oblique angle. Yes, even in the daytime. Look at the items as they are located. Pay close attention to everything as you approach the body at this time, do not dismiss anything until its evidentuary value can be determined. Are there any footprints or drag marks? Is there anything on the floor or ground that may be stepped on or destroyed? Only one investigator at a time should approach the body! Determine what, if anything, has been moved or altered by the suspect(s) or anyone else prior to your arrival. Has the body been moved? If so, by whom and for what reason? Never move or alter the positioning of the body! Make close visual examinations of the body and the area immediately around it. Look between the arms and legs without moving them. Look at the arms, hands and fingers. Are there defense wounds? Is there anything under the nails that you can see at this time? If you can, try to determine the cause of death and the instrument or method used. Take careful notes of the external appearance of the body and the clothing or lack of clothing. Look at or for lividity, decomposition, direction of blood flow patterns, remember the law of gravity. Is the blood flow consistant with it? Make detailed notes. Describe the clothing, and especially the condition of the clothing. Do folds or rolls indicate the body had been dragged? If so, in what direction? Note those folds and rolls, diagram them then photograph them. They could assist you in determining the method of transportation or placement of the body at the location where it was found. There could be trace evidence in the folds and rolls too. Describe the location and appearance of wounds, bruises, etc. Make careful and detailed observations. Describe not only what you see, but also what you do not see! Forget about what you think you see! If something is missing, note it. For example, if you observe an area on the wrist that is not tanned by the sun, note it. DO NOT state that a wristwatch is missing. What if the victim had an I.D. bracelet or sweatband on instead? Never ASSUME! Examine the scene for the presence and absense of blood. If any is located, note the amount, size and shape of the drops and degree of coagulation or separation of it. Photograph it using a scale and always taking the pictures from a 90 degree angle. At this time, you should be making a sketch of the scene. It can be a rough, freehand sketch drawn on a blank piece of paper or in your notebook. You should include in the sketch things like the location of all doors, windows, furniture, the victim and anything else you feel it is necessary to document. A sketch should be made in all murder cases and any other case involving a death where there is any question of cause or at the discretion of the investigator. Measurements can then be made of the location to show the size of the area drawn, the width and height of doors, windows, tables, the bed or any other items needed. This will also geographically locate the victims body and items of evidence within the scene. If the investigator is reasonably sure this is not a natural death and he/she is going to proceed with the investigation as if it is a murder, then at a later date, a detailed formal diagram should be drawn using drafting tools, a scale and a uniform format. Photos of the scene can give a distorted view of the relationship of the body to other fixed objects due to camera angle, size of lense, lighting, etc. To accurately depict the scene it is possible to use photos in conjunction with the finished diagram. Something to keep in mind about the sketch is this, you should have enough information in it so you could give it to another investigator and that person would be able to complete a finished diagram without the need to revisit the scene. II. Photographs The investigator should have the photographer, if one is available, or, if not that lucky, then the investigator himself should ensure that; * Overall photos of the scene are taken to show the approach to the area, street signs, street light locations in relation to the actual scene, street addresses and identifying objects at the scene. Pictures should also be taken of every room in the house, even if their relationship to the crime scene is not readily apparent. * Photograph the scene in a clockwise pattern before altering the body's position or any other evidence within the scene. Photograph the scene from at least 2 opposite corners, but from all four corners is even better. This way, nothing is missed or hidden from view by intervening objects. * Photograph the body and the immediate vicinity around the body. If you have a camera boom, take pictures from ceiling height down of the victim and any other evidence. This perspective often shows things missed when viewed from ground or eye level. * Keep a photo log. Another idea to keep in mind when photographing the exterior of an indoor scene or an exterior scene is to take photos of the spectators who are standing around watching the activities. Many times the perpetrator will return to observe the actions of the police or fire personnel. This seems to be especially true in arson cases. Additionally, photos may help identify reluctant witnesses who can be identified and interviewed at a later time.
Once the photos are taken, the investigator should now make a detailed examination of the victim. Are the eyes and/or mouth open or closed, what is the color of skin, of the nails and hands or lips. The presence or absence of blood, saliva, vomit, lung purge, their direction and flow. The best idea is to begin at the head and work down to the feet. Look for cuts, bruises, stab wounds or bullet holes. Document maggot activity if present. When the body is moved, check the underside of the body for wounds and underneath the body for items of an evidentiary value. Record the temperature of the body, the surface it is laying on, and the interface area between the two. Obtain the ambient temperature. If a maggot mass is present, take the temperature of the mass. Do not attempt to learn the victims identity by going through the pockets of the victims clothing. If his/her identity cannot be established by other means at the scene, the investigator can obtain this information when it is made available at the Medical Examiners office later. Identification photos and finger and palm prints should be taken at the Medical Examiners office too. In some jurisdictions these things can be done at the scene. If the Medical Examiner is comfortable with the competency of the crime scene investigators or if their forensic investigators are present to observe and document the actions of the crime scene investigators, some Medical Examiners will not have a problem with these things being done at the scene. III. Notifying the Medical Examiner The crime scene investigator, the detective or the supervisor on the scene should notify the medical examiner of the type of death case they are investigating. Since the determination of cause and manner of death often depends on the evidence recovered at the scene, the Medical Examiner may elect to respond to the scene personally or send one of his forensic investigators in his place. The agency's relationship with the Medical Examiners office is crucial to the successful investigation of any case. A relationship of trust and honesty is essential. Since any investigation requires a team effort, steps must be taken to ensure that a harmonious atmosphere is in place and remains that way. There are certain notifications that must be made during the preliminary investigation. The Medical Examiners Office should be notified and apprised of the situation as soon as possible after a murder has been discovered. They should also be notified if there is any unattended or suspicious death being investigated. If any change in status in the case occurs, they should be made aware of it. Florida law charges the Medical Examiner with determining the cause and manner of death in any case that he deems necessary, including but not limited to murder, unattended death cases, suicides and cases involving communicable diseases or public health hazards. The prompt notification will also result in the timely arrival of trained professionals who can assist the investigator in the determination of an approximate time of death. IV. Continuing the Search Search the immediate area around the body (divide the room into a grid and work outward from the body). Have another investigator retrace your steps and recheck the grids for any missed evidence. REMEMBER, all scenes are three dimensional, never forget too look up too! Do not touch areas or articles which have the possibility of being processed for latent fingerprints. Expand the search to the remainder of the building or scene. Personal notepads, diaries, phone books and answering machines or the tapes in them are good sources of information. Check the caller I.D. unit. Missing personal belongings or items that have been moved or removed may provide valuable information. The scope or intensity of the search of the scene depends on the particular situation and the conditions present. It would be difficult to proceed with a detailed examination of a scene without adequate lighting. To do so would probably result in the overlooking of evidence or the destruction of trace or latent evidence. It is impossible to describe all the possibilities which could occur in an improper search of a scene. In the end, it depends on the training, experience and judgement of the investigator and upon the same factors relating to those he/she calls on to assist. One final note, be cognizant of someones expectation of privacy or legal standing. If that possibility exists, a search warrant or written consent to search must be obtained. V. Fingerprint Evidence Latent prints are left by the contact of the palmar surfaces of the hands and/or bare feet of a person are probably the most valuable piece of evidence at any crime scene. The term "latent" means hidden, not visible. However, for the purpose of this instruction, a latent print is considered as one which is obtained in conjunction with an investigation involving a possible identification. There are three main types of prints which may be obtained in an investigation, they are; 1) visible or patent prints, 2) molded or plastic prints and 3) latent prints. Visible or Patent Prints are those prints which have been made by transferring a foreign substance, such as ink, blood, grease or dust from the crests of the papillary ridges to the surface of the object touched. The most common type is the dust print. When a finger comes in contact with a thin layer of dust, some of the dust sticks to the friction ridges. When the finger subsequently comes in contact with or against a clean surface, a fingerprint results or, when the finger is removed from the surface, the ridges pull away the dust, leaving the fingerprint. This print in some cases may be so clear that it can be successfully searched in a single fingerprint file. An excellent print may also be left when the finger is contaminated by other substances such as ink, soot, flour, paint, facial oils, etc. Fingerprints in blood are not uncommon in murder investigations, but can be indistinct and less reliable for identification. They could require chemical enhancement to make them identifiable.
Molded or Plastic Prints are those prints that occur when the finger touches or presses against a soft pliable surface such as putty, wax, an adhesive, grease, drying paint, blood or soap. Impressions in the skin of a deceased victim have also been observed. A negative or reversed impression of the friction ridge pattern is thereby produced as a molded or plastic print. Such a print may also be found in paint or recently painted objects or surfaces. Latent Prints are those prints made by natural skin secretions such as perspiration, sebaceous oils and dirt being deposited on an object touched from the details in the friction ridge patterns. Latent prints are usually found on objects with smooth, polished surfaces or on paper. Under favorable conditions, however, they may also appear on rougher surfaces like tightly woven materials, starched fabrics, vegetation, wood or even human skin. Photographing Prints found at the scene should always be photographed prior to attempting to lift them. This is recommended since it is much easier to introduce print evidence into court if it has been recorded. Especially since parts of the object on which the print was located will also be visible in the photograph. If a good lift is obtained during the investigation and it is identified as being that of the suspect, it may be necessary to have the photograph enlarged. Copies of the photos can also be made available for the attorneys and jurors. When taking the photos of the prints, always use a scale or other measuring devise and take the photo at a 90 degree angle to the surface to prevent any distortion to the print when it is being photographed. Make sure the scale is visible in the picture and that the inches or metric notation is visible. It is also a good habit to indicate where up is in the picture since the orientation of the print can be useful information. Prints from sources other than fingers are also obtained at crime scenes. While it is usually true that more fingerprints are obtained in investigations than prints from any other papillary skin surface, it should be mentioned that any palmar (palm, wrist) or plantar (foot, toe) skin designs can also serve to positively identify the suspect. In some cases, lip and ear prints have also been recovered. VI. Expanding the Search Once the investigators have completed their examination and the body has been removed, the investigators should take time to systematically check the remainder of the house, business, vehicle or location and carefully note items of evidence or conditions which may shed any additional light on the investigation. These can include; 1. Doors, are they locked or bolted (from the inside or outside), are there marks of forced entry, does the doorbell work, is there a doorknocker, are there scratches around the keyhole, etc. 2. Windows, what type, are they locked or unlocked, open or broken, note the type and position of curtains, drapes or blinds. 3. Newspapers and mail, is the mail unopened or read or not, check the postmarks on envelopes and the dates of newspapers. 4. Lights, which ones were on when the crime was discovered, how are they controlled, by timers, motion sensors or switches. Can they be seen from the outside. Are the bulbs broken or unscrewed? 5. Smells, do you or did the first responding officer notice the smell of gas, tobacco, alcohol, perfume, gun powder or anything else unusual. 6. Kitchens, was food being prepared, if so, what kind (it may or may not correspond with the victims stomach contents). Is there food that was partially eaten, utensils, glasses or plates. Is the stove warm or still on, Are there signs of attempts to burn or wash away evidence. Are there signs of clean up attempts. 7. Heating/Air Conditioners, what type is it, is it vented or unvented (carbon monoxide can kill). What is the thermostat setting. 8. Are there signs of a party, such as empty bottles (note the labels, brands, types of liquor, etc.) are there cups, glasses and what is their contents, how many are there, is lipstick on any of them, how many places are set at the table. 9. Note contents of ashtrays, cigarette packs and butts, brands, the way in which the cigarettes were extinguished, is there tooth marks or lipstick on them. Remember, DNA is easily obtained from the butts, preserve them properly. 10. Contents of waste baskets and trash cans, has anyone been going through them looking for anything, is the trash in proper order (dates on newspapers, letters, etc.). 11. Clocks and watches, are they wind-up or electric. Are they running, do they show the right time, what time are alarm clocks set for. Check timers on VCR's, microwave ovens, etc. 12. Bathrooms and vanities, are towels, rags etc. damp to touch or dry. Are they bloodstained. Check for signs that the suspect cleaned up afterwards or was injured and bled at the scene. Is the toilet seat and lid left up? In a womans house, this could be a piece of important information. Check medicine cabinets for drugs, check the tanks of toilets, that is a great place to hide things. 13. General disorder, is there evidence of a struggle, is the place just dirty, etc. 14. Shootings, how many bullets were fired, account for all of them if possible, find cartridge cases (number and location found) if there are any bullet holes (number and location), was the weapon left at the scene. There may be expended cartridge casings found laying on the floor, rug or on furniture. It is recommended to mark these items, after photographing them first, with numbered markers to prevent their being moved, altered or damaged. If necessary, they may be protected by placing water glasses over them. 15. Stabbing and beatings, was the instrument left at the scene, could it have come from that location or was it brought to the scene by the suspect. 16. Blood, document the location, degree of coagulation, type (spots, stains, spatters, pooling, etc.). Sketch and photograph the bloodstains. Remember, when a body fluid begins to decompose, it will discharge a reddish brown fluid which resembles blood, when describing this, be objective, call it what it is, a reddish brown fluid. Bloodspatter analysis may be used to reconstruct violent crimes. Carefully photograph all blood patterns using scales. DO NOT cover up patterns with the scales if possible. Remember, always look up, cast-off spatter will probably be on the ceiling.
17. Hangings and strangulation, what instrument or means was used, was it obtained in the house or brought to the scene, are there any portions remaining. If a suspected auto-erotic death, look for signs of prior activities such as rope marks on door frames or rafters. Be prepared for scene re-arranging by ashamed family members. Remember, do not cut the victim down if he/she is obviously dead until all aspects of the investigation have been covered. Never cut through the knot and always use a piece of string tied to each end of the cut to re-connect the circle. 18. Look at stairs, hallways, entries and exits to the scene, check for footprints, debris, discarded items and fingerprints. Attempt to determine the route used to enter and exit the scene by the suspect and avoid contaminating it. 19. Presence of items that do not belong there, many suspects, in the heat of the moment, will leave items of great evidential value, don't overlook this possibility. 20. Is there signs of ransacking, to what degree, if any, has the scene been ransacked. Was anything taken (relatives and friends can assist in making this determination). 21. Look for hiding places for weapons which the suspect may have had to conceal quickly, check behind stoves, on top of tall furniture, behind books, among bedclothes, under the mattress, on the roof. VII. Personal Information Is the victim married or in a relationship? Determine as much about the state of the marriage or relationship as possible, for example, abuse, infidelity on either partners part, drug or alcohol abuse, monetary problems. Is there a suicide note, if so does it appear genuine or staged? Process for prints, get handwriting samples from the other occupants of the location. Has the victim threatened suicide recently, has he/she been despondent, what has happened recently to prompt or preclude such actions? Check the victims computer. VIII. Curious Onlookers at the Scene Many additional problems are caused by curious onlookers at the scene when a body is discovered. The major concern is, of course, to protect the scene from destruction or contamination by onlookers and curious police officers. The latter group usually presents the most problems. Police Officers are naturally curious and generally have to see things for themselves. Detailed follow-up investigations of many crimes have revealed that various items initially thought to be of great evidential value were actually left by curious police officers. It will never be known how much valuable time has been wasted and how much evidence has been destroyed by the mere presence of policemen. Just standing around or leaning against a doorway may grind evidence into the ground or smear a good fingerprint. The investigator should explain these facts to the officers present and if the officers are not needed, request that they leave the scene. Most officers are cooperative and no difficulty should be encountered if the matter is presented properly. Occasionally, a problem presents itself when a high-ranking officer appears on the scene. If it becomes apparent that their presence could result in the destruction of evidence, their cooperation should be elicited in leaving the scene. The use of a log or name list of everyone entering the crime scene also helps discourage the curious. When good latent fingerprints are found, every person who has been present at the scene, including the victim, must be fingerprinted for identification and/or elimination purposes. The police should use tact and courtesy when dealing with civilian witnesses and crowds. This approach serves several purposes. It will gain as much cooperation from people as possible under the circumstances and it may result in a witness, who is an onlooker, coming forward with valuable information. This is especially important in areas where past experiences indicates that the hostility of onlookers is easily aroused. In some situations, the mood of the crowd may become so ugly that the police are forced to leave the scene before they can complete their investigation. Populated areas, usually consist of streets, sidewalks, communities, etc. and requires the presence of officers to protect the scene. If not, physical barriers such as crime scene tape, vehicles or sawhorses may be needed. In some cases, a detailed search of an entire area may be necessary. This can be done most effectively by cordoning off the area and dividing it into manageable sections to be searched individually. Remember, when setting the boundaries of the crime scene, make it cover as large an area as possible. It is much easier to shrink it down later that to try to expand it once the boundaries have been established. And a news cameraman is standing where you want to expant the scene to. To avoid destroying evidence in areas of heavy weed or brush, a pathway may be marked off using string or flags and used as the sole entrance and exit to the scene until the search is finished. The pathway should be carefully examined first to ensure no evidence is lost. Officers should never overlook the potential of any items found at or near the scene. Investigators should conduct a neighborhood canvass for witnesses. In Rural Settings, many problems will present themselves that are found in urban settings. These are handled in the same manner as an urban investigation. However, there can be significant differences in a rural setting, these could include, * Accessibility or the lack of it. Are 4 wheel drive vehicles needed? Can it only be reached by boat or helicopter? Do you need to pack all your equipment in with you? * Length of time a body has been there prior to discovery. This will cause many changes to the scene such as decomposition, animal activity and weather related destruction of the evidence. * Use care not to disturb the ground that may have footprints or tire marks imbedded in it. * Employ aerial photography. It will provide information about routes or egress and exit to the area, traffic patterns and location of homes, etc. This is true in both rural and urban settings.
IX. Evidence As a rule, in the absence of a crime scene investigator, the removal and submission of evidence should be restricted to the lead investigator or lead uniform officer. When evidence is discovered by persons other than the investigator, these items should be, if possible, pointed out to the investigator for his collection and removal to avoid a long list of witnesses or links in the ever growing chain of custody needed for court at a later date. Remember if the scene is being worked by a crime scene investigator, that is his/her scene. They are in command of the scene itself. All other law enforcement personnel present are there to assist that investigator. There can be situations where the finder of the evidence should collect and log it rather than give it to the investigator. This will reduce the chain of custody but still requires the finder to advise the investigator of its discovery, location and identity. Any evidence so moved must be photographed first. Evidence can be marked for proper identification. This can be nothing more than the recording of a serial number or the physical placement of your unique mark directly on the item. If marking items, make sure you do not cause the destruction of latent prints or other marks such as tool marks or ballistic identifiers. When submitting evidence; 1. Give a complete description of all evidence submitted including, date, time, location recovered and who recovered it. 2. Illustrate the chain of custody and indicate who will be needed to testify in court about that specific piece of evidence and why. 3. If a search warrant was obtained, include that information. 4. List the evidence recovered in a chronological order and include the exact location of recovery. This could include measurements. X. Finally The previously listed suggestions are provided as a basic guideline. They are based on experience, training and observations. They are not meant to be an exhaustive, complete list of actions to be taken at a crime scene. Each scene is unique. Each scene requires detailed and complete processing techniques. If you rely on the training you have received, the observation of others working their scenes and the lessons learned from working previous scenes of your own, you will continue to grow and evolve, providing your jurisdiction with the finest possible work product you are capable of producing. Dead Body Evidence Checklist * Thoroughly photograph everything before moving or touching anything * Collect fragile evidence on the body * Collect other types of evidence * Remove hair, fingernails and other trace evidence. Place in waxed paper, bindle them, and place them in envelopes. * Brush head hair and pubic region (if naked). Hold butcher paper under the area you are brushing. Book paper into evidence. * Remove trace evidence from skin and clothing from entire body with scotch pads or lint rollers. Only use frosted tape. Take from face, hands, feet, legs, torso, pubic area and neck. * Collect samples of pooled blood. o Use hemasticks to confirm it is actually blood o Collect control samples (as close to the area as possible) o Use cotton swab with one drop of distilled water on it. Place the swab in wax paper loosely and then place it in an envelop. Break stick if necessary. o Place in freezer * Collect exemplars o Environment (vegetation, soil, maggots, other) o Residence (carpet fibers, paint, misc. fibers, other) o Vehicle (carpet fibers, seat fibers, roll the tires, vin number, wheel base) o Animals (hairs, bedding) * Collect blood samples from victim using "Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit" blood tubes * Collect fingernail clippings. Use toothpicks if nails are very short. * Swab bite mark areas * Swab oral cavity * Collect exemplar hairs
Here is a checklist for a homicide investigation. This is intended to be only a guide. Use what you can from the form. HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION CHECKLIST A. ARRIVAL AT SCENE: 1. Enter scene by route least likely to disturb evidence, noting route of travel. 2. Check victim for signs of life (breathing, neck area for pulse). 3. Note time of arrival B. LIVING VICTIM: 1. Summons Medical Assistance 2. Dying Declarations a. Conscious Victim - If victim is conscious, attempt to obtain the following information: 1. Who did this to you? 2. If name of assailant not known to victim, commence identification by description: man, woman, race, height, weight, color of hair, eyes, type of clothing, etc. 3. Establish the fact that the victim knows that he/she is dying. C. Unconscious Victim 1. At scene - If victim unconscious on arrival at scene, MAKE SURE THAT A POLICE OFFICER REMAINS WITH VICTIM AT ALL TIMES, INCLUDING TRIP TO HOSPITAL SO THAT ANY DYING DECLARATIONS MADE DURING CONSCIOUS PERIODS CAN BE NOTED. 2. At Hospital - Upon arrival at hospital alert medical personnel to possibility of dying declarations. Request them to note same if made during operative period. 3. Notification - Request to be notified if victim regains consciousness so that you will be present when any dying declarations made. D. Removal of Victim from Scene 1. Before removal a. If possible, photograph victims position at scene before removal. b. If time and circumstance do not permit photos before victim is removed carefully note the position of the victim in your report. 2. Obtain physical evidence from victim a. Officer accompanying victim to hospital should collect victims clothing and personal effects as they become available. b. Officer receiving items should carefully note time received and the identity of person from whom items were received. c. If Necessary for identification items handled by physicians, nurses should be marked by those persons and the chain of custody noted. This is particularly important with items such as bullets, etc. Medical personnel should not attempt to identify caliber or types of firearms used. NOTE: - A failure to follow up on collecting items that left the crime scene with the victim may cause their loss or render them useless as evidence. E. Notify command of situation 1. Notify command of your agency, REQUEST ASSISTANCE. 2. Notify or request notification of DA representative (Only for legal questions, do not allow a lawyer to get involved in the actual investigation. Their training limits them to the providing advise on legal issues only). 3. Notify or request notification of medical examiner. F. Secure Scene 1. Block or rope off scene (ABigger is better"). 2. Persons at Scene a. Clear unauthorized person from the scene. NOTE: You cannot worry about hurting someones feelings. If they do not belong tell them to leave. This must include any unauthorized police command. b. Prevent anyone from touching the body or disturbing anything pending the arrival of the medical examiner, identification personnel,and investigative officers. c. Witnesses 1. Note name and address of persons present. 2. Obtain brief statement from each person present. 3. Hold witnesses until arrival of investigators. 4. Keep Witnesses separate to prevent conversation. 3. Prevent Destruction of fragile evidence such as footprints, tire tracks, etc.
G. Process Scene CAUTION - Be aware that there are search and seizure problems in this area. If in doubt you may wish to contact your DA regarding a warrant or other advise. NOTE: - At night - Obtain adequate lighting before scene processing commences. Artificial lighting used must be adequate for photography and for minute detail search for items such as hair, cartridge cases, etc. WHEN LIGHTING NOT AVAILABLE - secure scene under guard and wait for daylight before processing is commenced. H. Identification Personnel (Technical Investigators) 1. Note time of arrival 2. Note weather conditions, especially at outside crime scenes. 3. Check perimeter of scene to insure that all of scene is secured. 4. Obtain summary of situation from officer in charge. 5. Photograph scene a. Photograph scene 1. Take color photographs of the scene from all angles. Work from the perimeter to center. 2. Include photographs of entrance, exit routes to scene. REMEMBER - There is no such thing as too many photographs of a crime scene. 3. Make sure that all possible locations relevant to scene are photographed. Particularly important that all rooms at scene are photographed. REMEMBER - Something may have happened in an adjoining room that will be of critical importance as the investigation develops. 4. Photograph specific items of evidence such as footprints, cartridge cases, weapons, etc. as observed in place at scene. Where scale is important (footprints, tire tracks use ruler scale to show size). 5. Overhead photographs a. Should be taken of outdoor scenes, including streets, intersections. These can be invaluable in constructing scale representation of scene. b. Extension ladders, power company and fire trucks should be utilized for this purpose. 6. Video tape a. Video tape recordings should be made of scene where possible. b. Include video tape shots of collecting evidence, examining victim at scene. c. Also video tape defendant, witnesses. 7. Photograph victim at scene a. Color photographs should be taken of deceased from all angles. b. Photograph deceased as items are removed from body, identification, clothing, etc. c. Photograph substances on body and clothing of deceased such as blood, seminal fluid, powder residue, etc. These should include full length and close-ups. d. Photograph wounds, injuries - include close-ups. This should be done step by step as body examined, disrobed by medical examiner at scene. 8. Make careful note of following: a. Position of body b. Position, condition of clothing c. Location of substances on deceased and his clothing d. Any alteration of deceaseds position before your arrival as determined from witnesses or officers. 9. Survey Scene a. Take careful measurements of the scene. Measure each room in a house (NOTE: it is very hard to return later to a scene if you do not have a warrant). b. Use a reference point that is permanent. 10. Search of Scene A. Deceased 1. Before removing examine deceased for physical evidence (Example: loose hairs, fibers, etc.) 2. Place deceased on a cloth sheet, move body shortest possible distance. 3. Examine the ground underneath the victim 4. Examine deceased for additional physical evidence that may become visible after movement. 5. Collect physical evidence from deceased to include personal effects, clothing, shoes, weapons, etc. B. Scene area a. Organize scene search by adopting specific plan, assign tasks,areas of search to individual officers. b. Assign ONE officer to collect, mark and transport items found. c. Execute search by carefully following plan of assigned tasks. d. Note, mark and photograph location of objects found such as latent fingerprints, footprints, tire tracks, tool marks, hair, fragments of cloth, buttons, cigarette butts, cartridge cases, bullet holes, bullets, bloodstains, etc.
e. Collect, mark evidence. REMEMBER - When collecting evidence DO NOT overlook such items as room furniture, doors, etc. that can be used to reconstruct crime scene in court. f. Preserve items of evidence individually. i. Do not place separate items of evidence in same container. (Example: mixing items of clothing in one bag can compromise evidence such as head or pubic hair when the location of such items on a particular garment is critical. ii. Use correct container - molded plastic container for blood. Paper bindle for hair or fiber. Paper bag for bloody items. Never put evidence that may decompose or deteriorate into a plastic bag. iii. Provide information to lab personnel concerning source of item, what test you desire performed. Make contact with the lab personnel and give a brief account of what your investigation shows. 11. Process Defendant A. Photograph Defendant 1. Show any injuries or lack of injuries 2. Show his clothing and general appearance 3. Show hands (both sides) 4. Show any tattoos or scars B. Take any evidence that you are entitled to 1. Pubic combing if a rape case 2. Any item that is on the clothing and could be lost 3. Obtain warrant for blood and hair samples 12. Autopsy Processing a. Arrange through the medical examiner the transportation of the victim to morgue. b. Medical Examiner investigator or police officer should be present during the autopsy c. If possible before autopsy take finger and palm prints of deceased. If not then once the autopsy is completed get the prints. d. Pick up any evidence that was obtained during the autopsy (blood samples, hair samples, fingernail scrapings, bullets) NOTE: Place each item in a separate container. Paper bags are best. Each container should be marked, dated and initialed. 13. Investigative Personnel a. Obtain summary of situation from officer at scene. b. Check scene security and take steps necessary to correct and errors or omissions, if any. c. Review all actions of officers on the scene d. Initiate Investigation from the beginning e. Determine identity of deceased 1. Identification on person of deceased 2. Relatives 3. Witnesses 4. Fingerprints f. Attempt to reconstruct events at crime scene by use of the following: 1. Position of body 2. Number, location of wounds 3. Trajectory of bullets 4. Bloodstains, substances 5. Other signs of violence 6. Other physical evidence at scene g. Organize Investigation 1. Assign specific tasks to individual officers. 2. Supervise execution of assigned tasks. 3. Receive, Record and Index information received from investigators a. Establish case book to include the following: i. Index of contents ii. Initial reports iii. Follow up reports iv. Evidence reports v. Medical reports vi. Witness statements vii. Defendants statements viii. Background on defendant ix. Background on deceased
x. Evidence Log Book xi Books of photographs b. Provide Copies of case book for i. Principal investigators ii. DAs office c. Keep case book current by distributing new reports, etc., as available 1. Communicate information a. To you investigators b. To other agencies c. To PIO 14. Obtained Detailed Statements a. Defendant 1. Advise of MIRANDA RIGHTS using card. 2. Have defendant initial or sign rights card or get a verbal acknowledgment that defendant understands rights. 3. Video tape or record the defendants statement. i. Your choice if you tell defendant he/she is being recorded. ii. Turn tape from the start. iii. Questions should be designed to answer the unanswered questions that you have about the case. iv. If lawyer is present you must control the interview. b. Witnesses 1. Use your discretion as to video a witness or not. i. Do tape if witness is reluctant ii. Not necessary if witness is cooperative iii. Unfortunately cost of tapes must be considered. 15. Establish movements of deceased prior to death to determine: a. Time last seen alive b. Who with c. What doing d. Location 16. Examine deceaseds background, including the following: a. Relatives b. Friends c. Employment d. Possible criminal record or activities e. Finances f. Possible romantic involvements g. Possible use of narcotics h. Gang involvement 17. Motive A. Consider deceaseds background B. View scene information for evidence indicating motives such as: a. Sex b. Theft of money or property c. Narcotics d. Mental Derangement 18. Determine actions of defendant before homicide a. You may be required to cover period days, weeks or months before homicide, depending on circumstances, including motive. b. Pay attention to any unusual actions of defendant, trips, absences from work, home, etc. c. Cover any activities such as surveillance of victim, purchase of weapons, etc. 19. Determine actions of defendant after homicide a. Fight b. Destruction or concealment of: 1. Clothing worn at crime scene 2. Weapons used 3. Vehicles used (including cleaning of same to remove bloodstains, etc.) 20. Practical tips. a. Call upon experienced investigators to assist. b. Question thoroughly those concerned. c. Be careful in questioning witnesses- they may turn to be principals in the crime.
d. Do not divulge critical information carelessly to witnesses - it may get back to the defense and you may end up with what you have told the witness instead of what he actually knows about the event. e. Separate witnesses f. Confer with your co-workers. g. Cooperate with fellow officers h. Be courteous and tactful. i. Give constant attention to dissemination of pertinent information to other agencies. j. Do no disclose valuable information to press or unauthorized persons. 21. Report Writing A. Facts of case must be reported. No investigation regardless of how competently executed is complete unless accurately reported. REMEMBER - Reports are your channel of communication to command, DA, fellow officers. Your case is never better than your report. B. Contents of Report must include at least the following: a. Summary - A brief, concise summary of operative case facts at beginning of report. This puts case in narrative form, enables reader to grasp picture before examining balance of report for details, witnesses statements. Summary should not contain verbatim recital of witnesses statements. b. List of Evidence - List items seized, using consecutive numbers for each individual item. Specify following: 1. What 2. Where seized 3. From whom 4. Where stored 5. Action taken - Specify if item given to lab personnel for testing, and, if so, to whom. c. Action Needed - Specify any processing remaining to be done such as latent prints, lab testing, etc. d. List of witnesses with brief statement of what testimony concerns; connection with case. e. Witnesses Statements f. Do not include: i. Your opinions concerning the value of case. ii. Irrelevant Material
CRIME SCENE SUPERVISION 10-101 CRIME SCENE SUPERVISION (02/22/05) 10-101.01 CRIME SCENE SUPERVISION - CRITICALLY ILL OR INJURED CHILDREN (12/15/98) 10-102 INITIAL OR PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS 10-103 FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATION BY UNIFORMED OFFICERS 10-104 RECOMMENDATION UPON COMPLETION OF INITIAL INVESTIGATION 10-105 CASE CLOSED BY ARREST - MISDEMEANORS 10-106 ASSISTANCE FROM IDENTIFICATION DIVISION (03/14/03) 10-107 NOTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS (07/17/01) 10-108 DEATH DETERMINATION 10-109 HOMICIDE OR SUSPICIOUS DEATH SCENE (07/17/01) 10-110 NOTIFICATION OF THE MEDICAL EXAMINER (07/17/01) 10-111 SEARCHING DEAD BODIES 10-112 TRANSPORTATION OF DEAD BODIES 10-113 DEAD BODIES - OFFENSE/INCIDENT REPORTS 10-114 NOTIFICATION TO RELATIVES 10-115 SEXUAL ASSAULT INVESTIGATIONS 10-115.01 DATE RAPE DRUGS (12/03/01) 10-115.02 PREDATORY/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION (08/21/00) 10-115.03 SEX OFFENDER COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION (08/11/99) 10-116 OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTINGS (10/03/88) 10-101 CRIME SCENE SUPERVISION (02/22/05) Crime scene processing will begin after incident stabilization of the scene. Incident command priorities of life safety, search and rescue, and security precede crime scene preservation and processing. (05/15/96) After incident stabilization, the ranking investigative officer present is in charge of a crime scene. If an investigative officer is not present, the supervisor from the precinct will proceed to the scene and direct security until Crime Lab personnel have processed the scene. The supervisor will determine when uniformed personnel will be released from crime scenes that, in his/her determination, do not warrant the presence of uniformed officers for scene security. When a crime scene has been designated as another jurisdiction's crime scene, the investigative officer in charge will relinquish crime scene authority to the other investigative agency. (05/14/96) (07/01/96) (1/10/97) The following log shall be used at all major crime scenes including Critical Incidents and Operation 100's. Crime Scene Entry Log The Crime Scene Entry Log (MP-9011) is available to personnel. All uniformed officers shall have a supply of forms with them. Immediately after a crime scene has been secured using yellow crime scene tape, it is the on-scene supervisor's responsibility to designate an officer to start and maintain the Crime Scene Entry Log. The officer will fill in the case control number, location, and date. The officer will write his/her name and badge number on the first line of the log including the time the log was started. The officer will record the names, employee/badge number, date, time in, time out, and the reason for entering the scene of all officers or other personnel that enter the scene past the yellow tape. All personnel recorded on the log must make a CAPRS statement prior to the end of their shift. Once all personnel have cleared the scene, the designated officer in control of the log will property inventory the log under the incident case control number. Red Crime Scene Tape Crime Lab Unit personnel will maintain rolls of red crime scene tape. The red tape will be placed around portion(s) of the scene that need to be processed by the Crime Lab Unit. Only Crime Lab Unit personnel and Car 710 will be allowed to cross the red tape. Red tape usage will be at the discretion of the Crime Lab Unit. Once the Crime Lab Unit is finished processing the scene, Crime Lab Unit personnel will remove the red tape.
10-101.01 CRIME SCENE SUPERVISION - CRITICALLY ILL OR INJURED CHILDREN (12/15/98) When responding to a call of a child under the age of five, who has become suddenly or unexpectedly ill or injured, protocol shall be: 1. Officers shall notify Car 1140 and a supervisor, who shall respond to the scene. 2. Officers shall gather information from the caretaker/parents as to the circumstances surrounding the illness or injury. 3. Officers shall identify everyone at the scene, including full name, date of birth, address, phone number, etc. 4. If possible, officers shall obtain Fire Department and EMS run numbers, employee names, and ambulance or station number for the offense report. 5. Car 1140 or the on-scene supervisor shall make the determination of whether Car 9 should be notified. 6. Car 1140 or the on-scene supervisor may contact the Child Abuse supervisor for more direction or assistance if needed. 7. Car 1140 or the on-scene supervisor shall make the determination whether the scene should be photographed by the Identification Division. 8. After clearing the scene, officers shall immediately enter into the CAPRS system an offense report entitled, "HLTWEL or CHLDAB." The on-scene supervisor shall determine which officers must make a supplement in the CAPRS offense report. 9. Officers shall always err on the side of protecting the child victim or siblings. For children five years of age or above, officers may also be called to the scene if paramedics determine that circumstances surrounding the injury or illness are suspicious. It is important to remember that in these types of cases, things are not always as they appear. It is imperative that officers at the scene balance the need to protect the child's and the parent's rights. Officers shall not openly accuse the caretaker/parent of child abuse. 10-102 INITIAL OR PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS Preliminary investigations by a responding officer may be very restricted or may constitute the entire investigation of the crime. In a particular crime, the preliminary investigation may be limited by investigative policy, and in all cases it is limited by an officer's assignment workload. An officer should not continue a preliminary investigation to the point where the investigation will jeopardize other job responsibilities or duties. 10-103 FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATION BY UNIFORMED OFFICERS Uniformed officers may conduct a follow-up investigation upon approval of their superior officer when there is a reasonable chance of apprehending the suspect, when there is a need for obtaining additional information for the preliminary investigative report, or when there are other compelling circumstances. 10-104 RECOMMENDATION UPON COMPLETION OF INITIAL INVESTIGATION Uniformed officers, upon completion of their initial investigation, will conclude the Offense/Incident Report, if one is required, with one of the following comments: RECOMMENDATION: CASE CONTINUED PENDING FURTHER INFORMATION OR LEADS This will be used if the decision is not to recommend further use of police investigative resources. RECOMMENDATION: FURTHER INVESTIGATION This will be used if the decision is to recommend further use of police investigative resources. The recommendation will be expressed in all capital letters and will appear as the last entry in the body of the original Offense/Incident Report double spaced from the offense/incident narrative, if possible. 10-105 CASE CLOSED BY ARREST - MISDEMEANORS Uniformed officers, upon completion of their initial investigation, shall close by arrest or citation all Offense/Incident Reports when the following elements are present: * The crime is a misdemeanor; and * All known suspects are arrested or issued citations; and * Victims and witnesses have been interviewed; and * There is no further investigation required. The narrative of the Offense/Incident Report must reflect investigative findings supporting the recommended disposition and also the following: * The full name and date of birth of the suspect. * Charges, statute or ordinance numbers. * Citation number, if one is issued. EXAMPLE: CASE CLOSED - BY ARREST - CITATION (#92-99910) Officer John Doe, Badge #010101 4th Precinct, Squad 410
10-106 ASSISTANCE FROM IDENTIFICATION DIVISION (03/14/03) The decision to summon a specialist from the Identification Division to a crime scene shall be made by a supervisor, or lacking a supervisor, the senior officer at the scene, except death scenes where Car 710 has been summoned. In cases where Car 710 has been summoned, they will directly call for a specialist from the Identification Division. If possible, the request will be made by phone. Officers will provide the Identification Division with the information they require. All other requests for assistance from the Identification Division shall be made via dispatch. Officers requesting the assistance of an investigator or identification specialist shall be responsible for the protection of evidence until relieved by the investigator or identification specialist. If requested by the Identification Division, officers shall maintain scene security and assist with evidence preservation. When evidence is present at any crime scene to which an investigator or identification specialist is summoned and it is not photographed or collected, the investigator or specialist must state in a supplemental report the reason(s) why the evidence was not collected or photographed at the scene. 10-107 NOTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS (07/17/01) On-duty investigators and the on-duty Watch Commander shall be notified immediately in the following situations: * Homicides * Assault with injury on a public safety officer (police, fire, ambulance) or any NOPD employee * All suicides and DOA's - on-duty investigators (04/01/93) * All suicides and suspicious DOA's - Watch Commander * Serious felonies where suspects are known or apprehended * Aggravated assaults - with great bodily harm * Business robberies * Any robbery where there is serious injury, large loss, the possibility of immediately locating the suspect(s), or when an arrest has been made regarding the robbery * A case with complex information available at the time of the initial response * Any serious incident When practical, requests for investigators and/or the on-duty Watch Commander shall be made by telephone. If the request is made by radio, an officer shall remain in contact with MECC until an investigator or the Watch Commander is contacted. When uniformed officers are relieved at the scene by investigators, and based on staffing levels, the supervisor shall direct officers to complete all CAPRS reports. 10-108 DEATH DETERMINATION The primary responsibility of an officer in any situation is to take all steps necessary to preserve life. Except when a person is obviously deceased, it shall be the responsibility of a physician or Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel to determine if death has occurred. EMS shall be requested at the scene of an apparent death unless a physician is present or there is not even a remote possibility that the person is alive. (07/17/01) 10-109 HOMICIDE OR SUSPICIOUS DEATH SCENE (07/17/01) The first officer to arrive at a homicide or suspicious death scene shall notify his/her immediate supervisor, who shall then notify the Homicide Unit and the on-duty Watch Commander by telephone, when possible. Homicide Unit investigators will notify the Identification Division. The first officer at the scene shall immediately take the following measures: * Request assistance in securing the scene. * Secure the area where the crime was committed and where the body was found. For an indoor scene, seal off all points of entry and exit. For an outdoor scene, use crime scene tape to immediately rope off the area, securing the largest area possible. Efforts should be made to protect evidence from the elements. Be aware of the possibility of multiple scenes. * Do not allow any unauthorized persons to enter or leave the scene. Identify any unauthorized persons attempting to enter the scene and relay this information to the on-scene investigator(s). No one shall be permitted to approach the scene until investigators arrive. * Do not allow anything to be touched or moved at the scene. Do not move a weapon unless it presents an immediate danger. Do not cover the body with anything or allow anyone else to cover the body. If possible, and without disturbing evidence, create a secure environment around the body so that it is not in plain view of the public until the arrival of Homicide or Identification Division personnel. * Upon arrival at the scene, Homicide investigators or Identification Division personnel shall be responsible for placing a barrier around the body. The decision of whether or not to cover a body shall only be made by Homicide investigators or the Commander of the Homicide Unit. Upon arrival at the scene, Homicide personnel will gather the known facts and make a decision. Preservation of evidence will be the only factor in making this decision. Bodies will not be covered in cases where little facts are known about the cause and manner of death and/or where witness accounts are not available. (12/01/03) * If covering the body is not possible, the Commander at the scene will use other methods that might be available, i.e., a vehicle, bus, etc. placed to obstruct viewing by the public. (12/0103)
* If the decision to cover a body has been made, the deceased will be covered with a sterile sheet provided by the Medical Examiner's Office. All Homicide cars have a supply of pre-packaged sheets. The package in which the sheet was enclosed will be property inventoried. The sheet will be taken by Medical Examiner's Office staff. (12/01/03) * If anything is touched or moved, inform investigators and document it in the CAPRS report. Do not remove anything from the scene unless instructed by investigators. * Identify and isolate all witnesses as soon as possible. Identify witnesses by name, date of birth, home address, telephone number, business address, business telephone and business hours. All witnesses will be transported to the Homicide Unit at the direction of the investigator(s) and/or Watch Commander. If a witness refuses to go to the Homicide Unit, inform the investigator(s) or Watch Commander. * Eliminate sightseeing at the scene, including police. Do not discuss the incident; direct all requests for information to the onduty Watch Commander. * Upon arrival, investigators shall be in charge of the scene. The supervisor shall report to the investigator(s) in charge at the scene and shall provide assistance as needed. When released from the scene and based on staffing levels, the supervisor shall direct officers to complete all CAPRS reports. All police personnel present at the scene shall make a statement unless instructed otherwise by investigators. Photographs at death/homicide scenes shall only be taken by Identification Division personnel or by persons authorized by the Homicide Unit investigators. 10-110 NOTIFICATION OF THE MEDICAL EXAMINER (07/17/01) In the event of a homicide or suspicious death, an on-scene Homicide investigator shall notify the Medical Examiner's office as soon as possible. In all other deaths, officers shall notify the Medical Examiner's office by telephone, even if a qualified physician is present. Personnel from the Medical Examiner's office will determine whether they will investigate the scene or release the body to a funeral home. 10-111 SEARCHING DEAD BODIES Officers shall prevent anyone other than investigators or personnel from the Medical Examiner's Office from searching dead bodies. A witness, preferably a family member, shall be requested to remain at the scene and shall be identified in the Offense/Incident Report. Any personal effects taken from the deceased by anyone shall be documented in the report. Death weapons or other property of the deceased, when taken for evidence, shall be itemized and signed for by the officers when so requested by the Medical Examiner. 10-112 TRANSPORTATION OF DEAD BODIES A dead body shall only be moved after the Medical Examiner's Office directs the removal. Dead bodies under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner will be removed by Medical Examiner personnel. 10-113 DEAD BODIES - OFFENSE/INCIDENT REPORTS When officers are assigned a dead body call and there are no suspicious circumstances, the officers shall make an Offense/Incident Report titled "DOA" (Dead On Arrival). The report shall include all pertinent information regarding identification, probable cause of death, name of doctor and removal of the body. If the identity of the body cannot be established after the medical examiner arrives, officers shall use "unknown" for the victim's name on the report. A complete description of the victim shall be included. It is expected that officers will give reasonable aid and comfort to the family members present and ensure that they are able to make necessary arrangements. Services of the Police Chaplain Corps may be offered. 10-114 NOTIFICATION TO RELATIVES It is the legal responsibility of the Medical Examiner's Office to make proper notification to relatives of the deceased. Officers may at times assume this responsibility when it might be helpful to the investigation. Officers shall inform the Medical Examiner of these special circumstances. (01/28/94) 10-115 SEXUAL ASSAULT INVESTIGATIONS Officers assigned to sexual assault investigations shall respond immediately and determine if the victim needs medical assistance. If the crime was recently committed, the suspect's description should be broadcast over the radio. The crime scene shall be thoroughly investigated and processed since the scene will be a major factor in determining whether or not the case is prosecuted. (11/22/92) As part of the preliminary investigation, officers shall also: * Instruct the victim not to wash, change clothes or clean the crime scene until evidence can be gathered. Request that the victim submit to a physical examination at the Hennepin * Medical Center (HCMC) for necessary treatment and examination for sexual assault evidence.
* Secure the scene if the sexual assault is of a nature where forensic or other evidence may be found. A superior officer shall respond to the scene if forensic evidence may be found or if the Field Operations Unit is to be called to the scene. On extensive or complex crime scenes or in unique circumstances, a superior officer shall remain on the scene to direct the Field Operations Unit. In all other cases, an officer shall remain on the scene to direct the Field Operations Unit. If available, Sex Crimes investigators or Car 1110 may be called to direct the Field Operations Unit at the crime scene. The superior officer should consider using other department resources, such as Canine. (11/01/92) (11/22/92) * Inventory all of the victim's clothing (undergarments, etc.), sheets, blankets, Kleenex, towels, etc., which may contain traces of evidence. All items must be packaged separately in paper containers, if available, and properly marked for identification. (11/01/92) * Transport the victim to HCMC for necessary treatment and examination. * Make arrangements for the victim's transportation home or to the Sex Crimes Unit after the medical examination. * Complete all necessary reports including the Offense/Incident Report, the Property Inventory Report and all necessary statements. When a suspect is apprehended for sexual crimes, inventory all of the suspect's clothing, including undergarments and personal effects. All items shall be packaged separately in paper containers and properly marked for identification. MSS 629.73 calls for jail personnel to notify victims of Criminal Sexual Assaults prior to the release of the alleged suspect. In accordance with this Statute, Officers shall be required to complete a Criminal Sexual Assault Victim Notification form (located in the intake area) when booking a suspect for CSC. Officers shall be required to complete this form in full; including name, address and phone number of the victim. (10/03/89) If a suspect is arrested on a P.C. Pick-up, the officer shall be responsible for obtaining the victim's name, address and phone number for the Criminal Sexual Assault Victim Notification form. Officers shall contact either the Records Section or Sex Crimes Unit to obtain this victim information. If the victim is a minor, the officer shall list the minor's parent or guardian as a contact person. (10/03/89) 10-115.01 DATE RAPE DRUGS (12/03/01) An increase in sexual assault cases is being facilitated by the possible use of "date rape drugs." The most commonly used drugs for this purpose are Rohypnol, Ketamine, GHB and GBL. When officers respond to the scene of a sexual assault, they should be aware of the following symptoms caused by the use of date rape drugs: * A loss of memory or blackouts with minimum use of alcohol; * Severe drowsiness; * Difficulty in walking and other motor movements; * Slurred speech and impaired judgement If the victim complains of any of the above symptoms or similar symptoms, they should be transported immediately for a Sexual Assault Resource Services (SARS) exam. When the victim arrives at the hospital for the SARS exam, the officer should immediately notify the hospital staff of the possible use of a "date rape drug." Hospital staff will be responsible for drawing the needed blood/urine samples from the victim for later processing. It should be noted that the body metabolizes most of these substances within 12 hours, so the samples must be drawn immediately. If possible, the officer(s) shall note the time of ingestion of the substance and the time of the sample draw in their reports. The hospital will retain the samples that will later be picked up by the case investigator. The evidence relating to the investigation should be property inventoried according to the NOPD policies. 10-115.02 PREDATORY/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION (08/21/00) An offender must register his or her address with local law enforcement under Minnesota Statute 243.166, if the offender was charged with, or petitioned for, a felony violation of or attempt to violate any of the following crimes; and convicted of, or adjudicated delinquent for that offense or of another offense arising out of the same circumstances: Legal Statutes 609.185, subd 2; 609.25; 609.342; 609.343; 609.344; 609.345; 609.3451, subd 3; 617.23, subd 3; Predatory Crime under the Patterned Sex Offender Statute AND offender sentenced as a patterned sex offender, Statute 609.1352; Predatory Crime under the Patterned Sex Offender Statute AND the court has found the crime to be a part of a predatory pattern of behavior that had criminal sexual conduct as its goal; 617.246; 617.247; Committed as a Sexual Psychopath or Sexually Dangerous Person, under Statute 253B.185 or 526.10, whether convicted of a crime or not; False Imprisonment of a Minor; Soliciting a Minor to Engage in Prostitution; Soliciting a Minor to Engage in Sexual Conduct; Felony Level Criminal Sexual Conduct 5th Degree Offenses; Felony Indecent Exposure Offenses; Comparable Federal offense or violation of Uniform Code of Military Justice; Comparable offense in another state within the last ten years; Individuals who are charged with or petitioned for an offense listed in the registration law or a similar law of another state or federal jurisdiction and who are found not guilty by reason of mental illness or mental deficiency after a trial for that offense, or found guilty but mentally ill after a trial for that offense in a state with a guilty but mentally ill verdict; and committed pursuant to a court commitment order under section Statute 253B.18.
Registration Location and Hours The offender shall register his/her address(es) within 5 days prior to changing addresses. They shall complete the required registration form (as provided by BCA, Community Corrections or the local law enforcement agency) between the hours of 8 AM and 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, at City Hall, Criminal Investigation Division, Room 108. On Wednesday evenings, the offender may register between the hours of 5 and 9:00 PM at City Hall, Chem Test Unit, Room 19. The offender shall also be subject to fingerprinting and photographing, as requested by BCA, at the time of registration. Copies of the completed registration form, along with a completed fingerprint card and a photograph, shall be forwarded immediately to Sex Crimes so Sex Crimes can send the form to the BCA within two working days (original and copy). At the time of registration, the offender will be provided a copy of his signed registration form. All registration data is PRIVATE DATA to be used for law enforcement purposes only and will not be provided in any way to the public. Any questions may be directed to the Sex Crimes Unit at 555-3081. 10-115.03 SEX OFFENDER COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION (08/11/99) All convicted sex offenders released from prison, and required to register with their local police department under State Statute 243.166s1, will be given a risk assessment by the Department of Corrections. The Sex Crimes Unit and CCP/SAFE will be notified of the release and the risk assessment level of all sex offenders who will reside in the city. CCP/SAFE shall coordinate departmental notification of sex offenders residing in the city. The Sex Crimes Unit shall coordinate notification to other law enforcement agencies where the offender is likely to be encountered. The Sex Crimes Unit and CCP/SAFE shall coordinate public notification of convicted sex offenders residing in the city. The risk assessment levels and required notifications are as follows: Level I - Low risk of re-offense. The Department may notify other law enforcement agencies where the offender is likely to be encountered and shall notify any victims of or witnesses to the offense committed by the offender. Notification shall be made to victims who requested disclosure. No community notification required. Level II - Moderate risk of re-offense. Notification as in Level I. Additionally, the fact sheet may be disclosed to the staff members of public and private educational institutions, daycare facilities and other establishments and organizations that primarily serve individuals likely to be victimized by the offender, based on the offender's victim preference or pattern of offending. Level III - High risk of re-offense. Notification as in Levels I and II. Community notification meetings shall be held per State Statute 244.052s4. Alternative notification methods may be used in certain circumstances. If the offender is assessed at Level II or III, and is residing in a residential treatment facility for offenders, no disclosure shall be made to any person, agency, or organization other than those notified under Level I until the offender is released from the treatment facility. The Community Notification Coordinator shall distribute fact sheets of convicted sex offenders to each precinct/command. Each precinct/command shall maintain a file of the sex offender fact sheets. Each precinct may also utilize the Intranet to collect the most up-to-date information about Level I, II and III sex offenders. The data provided via the Intranet is strictly confidential and for PD use only. The precincts/command shall provide the public information of Level III offenders per State Statute 224.052s4 to individuals requesting information under the Community Notification Law. Intranet data shall be updated and maintained by the Community Notification Coordinator. The Community Notification Coordinator shall be responsible for the timely management and maintenance of a Level III Sex Offender Information Website. The PD shall post information about Level III sex offenders at their discretion. 10-116 OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTINGS (10/03/88) The On-Duty Watch Commander and a member of the Police Administration shall be notified by the Emergency Communications Center of all officer involved shootings. The On-Duty Watch Commander shall proceed to the scene of the shooting. Attendance at the scene by a member of the Police Administration shall be at the discretion of the Chief or one of the Bureau Heads. (02/27/89) The ranking investigative officer present is in charge of the crime scene.
CRIME SCENE PHOTOGRAPHY FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES Acquiring and Analyzing Information * Crime Scene Management * Conducting Investigations and Collecting Evidence [Photography] TABLE OF CONTENTS * Introduction * Getting the Evidence into Court * Sharpness * Lighting * Exposure (with available light) * Steps to Follow to Obtain Proper Exposure * Exposure Using a Flash * Equipment Maintenance * Ideas to Consider * Points to Remember * Before Shooting: A Checklist INTRODUCTION Almost every day, photography provides new evidence of its value as a powerful weapon in the war against crime. More and more departments are coming to realize that--even in routine incidents--simple pictures taken with simple cameras can make an impressive difference in Court. Furthermore, police departments are continually finding new ways to use photography, both as a tool for investigation and as a means to record data quickly and accurately. Every defense lawyer knows that testimonial evidence may be proved inaccurate. Even signed confessions do not necessarily prove guilt in Court. But, photographs of physical evidence can show what happened so clearly and convincingly that juries convict and judges sentence. Even pictures which never get to Court may make cases. Departmental workloads often make it impossible to collect all the right people at the right place at the right time. In such cases, pictures made by the first patrolman on the scene can be an indispensable investigative tool. Photography works! You can make it work for you. Here's how: GETTING THE EVIDENCE INTO COURT Any picture an officer takes may wind up in Court. You will be safe if you keep this in mind for every photo you shoot. Experience has shown that attention to a few simple rules can make pictures acceptable to most judges. Rule 1 - Do Not Disturb the Scene This is the cardinal rule of crime scene photography. Both later investigators and jurors need to see the scene as it was when the police arrived. Some Courts have held that a scene is disturbed by the addition of even such simple things as measuring scales and labels. Leave them out of your first series of pictures. As far as possible, plan your pictures before you shoot. Make sure to cover the whole scene before it is touched or altered in any way. After the scene has been photographed in its original state, you may shoot a second series of pictures with minor changes. You can add measuring scales, remove obstacles blocking the view or do anything else which will make the scene clearer. If you are working with a partner, take pictures of him moving objects or adding them to the scene. This will show the jury exactly what was done and why. Rule 2 - Get a complete Series of Pictures You must move around the scene to see everything. So must the camera. Generally speaking, each important object in the scene should appear in at least three pictures: an overview; a mid range shot; a close-up. The overview should cover the entire scene to bring out the relationships between the objects. The mid range shot shows and important object and its immediate surroundings. Finally, each close-up shows a key detail clearly. All of these pictures are important. A close-up alone does not indicate where the object was located. an overview alone does not bring out all items sharply enough to permit a detailed examination. Rule 3 - Pay Attention to Camera Angles Relationships of size and distance may be distorted by the wrong viewpoint. Examine the scene in the view finder. This shows the scene as your camera will see it.
Ask yourself questions such as: Does this picture reveal the true position of the witness to the crime? Do the skid marks seem longer or shorter in the viewfinder than they are in real life? How large is the lead pipe used as a weapon? Shoot most pictures with the camera at eye level. This is the height from which people normally see things and that makes it easier to judge perspective. One practical way to assure complete coverage and to provide correct perspective is to follow the FOUR CORNER APPROACH.
Rule 4 - Record all Data You will often want to stress key details in a picture. If you do that by marking on the print itself, a defense lawyer may accuse you of altering it. For this reason, it is wise to do your marking on a transparent overlay which can be removed to show the untouched print. Another way to avoid possible objections is to label the negatives from which your prints were made and take them with you to Court. Finally, you may want to support your prints with a "sketch map" of the crime scene and indicate the camera position for each shot. This is not a must; however, in your first few cases this procedure may be useful. In our Canadian Judicial System another member who was present and accompanying the photographer at the time the photographs were taken may enter the photographs as exhibits. Surely, you can attest to the question imposed by the Courts, "Do these photographs truly depict the scene as you saw it that day?" An answer, "Yes" is all that is required to enter the photographs as evidence. If you follow these guidelines, you should have no trouble in getting your photographs accepted as legal evidence. But in order to be useful, pictures must also be: Sharp, Focused and Properly Exposed. SHARPNESS Taking sharp pictures is easy; but it is also important. A photograph that is not sharp can be less useful than a NEAR SIGHTED WITNESS! The following are some causes of photographs that are not sharp and suggestions as to how to remedy the matter. Movement: Research has shown that camera movement is the chief cause of pictures that are not sharp. If you keep your camera steady, you will probably keep your pictures sharp. A heavy tripod is your best aid in keeping your camera steady. Use one whenever you can. However, if you do not have a tripod, there are other things you can do. For example, you can use any solid object such as a table top, a tree trunk or the roof of a car(not running) to brace the camera. Always squeeze the shutter release as you do the trigger on your gun. If you jerk it, the camera may wobble even on the sturdiest tripod. Be on the lookout for other methods that will help you keep your camera steady. Everything you learn and apply will make your pictures that much sharper.
Dirt: Pictures that are not sharp are often due to foreign materials on the lens. This may be dirt. It may also be condensation which formed when you moved your camera from a cool area to a warm one. Either problem can be cured quickly by cleaning the lens with tissues made especially for the purpose. Always use LENS CLEANING SOLVENT to soften the tissue and the dirt, otherwise, you may scratch the lens. LIGHTING Lighting is critical in photography. The direction from which the light comes determines where shadows fall. Sometimes these shadows completely obscure details in the picture. On the other hand, shadows may reveal details which would otherwise be invisible. Here are basic rules that will help you to understand lighting and judge how each scene should be lit:
Direction: The most important consideration is the angle from which the light comes. Light may be directed from the front, the side or the back. Other lighting arrangements are variations and combinations of these.
Back lighting: This has little value in crime scene photography. A light directly behind the subject creates a silhouette. The subject may be entirely concealed by its own shadow. Furthermore, any light shining directly into the lens can cause "FLARE". This may make the whole picture foggy, streaked or spotty in appearance. Avoid back lit situations when you can. If you are forced to shoot toward a light, try to keep it from shining into the lens. Place the lens in the shadow of the subject or shade it with a notebook or any other hand held object. Shade the lens as well as possible without actually blocking the camera's view. Side Lighting: This may be very good or very bad, depending on the situation. Side lighting puts shadows on the unlit side of the subject. These shadows are often essential to bring out the fine texture that is found in a cloth sample, a footprint or a tool mark. Try to use side lighting in all such situations. On the other hand, when you shoot into a subject, the shadows obscure important interior details. When subjects such as automobiles, handbags and closets are side lit, even large objects inside them may not appear on the negative. You usually want to avoid side lighting in these situations.
When you need side lighting, you can obtain it by detaching the flash from your camera and moving it one side of the subject. If your flash is not removable, you can often dispense with it entirely and place another light source such as a table lamp or an automobile headlight where it will shine light from one side. Front Lighting: This is essentially shadowless. It, therefore, gives the best representation of most crime scenes. When you do not have a specific need for shadows in a scene, you will normally be wise to light it from the front. In daylight, be sure that the sun is behind you or at least over your shoulder-- Right or Left, it does not matter. Watch for one special problem that arises when using flash. A highly polished surface in a scene can cause strong reflections which you may not see until after the film is processed. The bright reflection of the flash shining directly back into the lens causes some of the same problems that back lighting does. You can tip the head of the flash unit up sometimes to an angle of 45 degrees. and bounce the light off the ceiling. This technique may require you to use a different "f" stop on the camera lens or different Auto Flash setting. More on this matter on the next page(cf. "Using a Flash"). Reflection problems can usually be avoided by shooting at an angle of 45 degrees. to the reflective surface. If, on the other hand, you must shoot directly toward a highly polished surface, try an extra picture without the flash(this may require the use of a tripod since you will be using lower shutter speeds). EXPOSURE (with available light) In addition to the direction of the light, you must also consider the amount of light. This is governed by the "exposure". Modern cameras with automatic metering systems can greatly simplify exposure problems, especially when you have to shoot quickly. Nevertheless, no camera can "think" for you. The photographer is ultimately responsible for the exposure. Your Pentax K1000 camera has a built-in exposure meter. In most cases, "centering the exposure needle" is all that is required. Do not take photographs looking into the sun. The exposure meter will be fooled by all the light. STEPS TO FOLLOW TO OBTAIN PROPER EXPOSURE (using Available Light Photography, i.e. No Flash) 1) When inserting a roll of film in the camera, you must always set your ASA dial according to the film speed as stated on the film cartridge. This adjusts your built-in light meter to the film's light sensitivity. 2) For crime or accident scenes, the shutter speed on the camera should be set at 1/125 sec. This is usually a good starting point for the shutter speed. Your shutter speed could change from a slower speed to a faster one depending on the light intensity at the time the photograph is taken. 3) Adjust your light meter needle as seen in the viewfinder by turning the aperture ring located on the barrel of the lens until the needle is properly lined up. When the needle is properly lined up, this tells the photographer that the light entering the camera will produce a properly exposed photograph. 4) Your final step in available light photography is to COMPOSE your shots and FOCUS. NB: Use a shutter speed faster than 1/30 of a second for all hand held photographs. The camera must be supported(tripod, etc) for shutter speeds of 1/30 of a second or slower. EXPOSURE USING A FLASH (artificial light) Your flash will be so important to you that it deserves special consideration. The flash is your light. It is with you at all times. You can, therefore, learn to control it more predictably than you can the available light that you happen to find on the spot. With experience, you may be able to learn to use the flash to duplicate almost any type of natural lighting. Even without experience, the flash can help improve crime scene photography a great deal. You normally need front lighting and the flash mounted on the camera will provide that automatically. Steps to Follow to Obtain Properly Exposed Photographs in Artificial Light (i.e. FLASH) Photography NB: When using a flash as the light source, adjustment must be done to both the camera and the flash unit in order to obtain a properly exposed photograph. 1) Your flash unit, now being your main light source, must be adjusted to the proper ASA setting according to the speed of the film being used-for the same reasons you adjusted the camera light meter to the film speed being used. 2) The Vivitar 283 has four AUTOMATIC settings as well as the MANUAL MODE. 3) These AUTOMATIC settings are indicated via COLOUR codes(yellow, red, blue, mauve) on the flash scale dial on the side of the flash unit. These colour codes will indicate the maximum distance capability as well as the required corresponding "f" stop(lens aperture setting). 4) Once you have decided on the most appropriate setting, note the colour. You must now adjust the the Thyristor Sensor on the front of the flash so that the colour code on it corresponds to the one on the flash scale. 5) When choosing a setting you must keep in mind both the distance requirement and the desired DEPTH OF FIELD (DOF). That is to say, colour code yellow used to shoot objects about 40 feet away requires "f" 2.8, but there is little DOF. Colour code mauve which requires an "f" stop setting of "f" 11 will give you the greatest DOF, but the light from the flash will only properly expose objects up to 10 feet. You will have to come to some sort of compromise here. 6) When using the MANUAL MODE, always ensure your Aperture setting corresponds with the distance indicated on your flash scale. Also, check the Thyristor Sensor to ensure that you have set it "M" position.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE SHUTTER SPEED OF THE PENTAX K1000 MUST BE SET AT 60X AT ALL TIMES WHEN USING FLASH!!!! For those of you who understand how a thyristor controlled flash functions, you need not follow my instructions. However, if you have never used a flash before and you follow the above instructions, I will guarantee that you will get a very acceptable photograph. Unusual Lighting Depth Problems encountered with Flash: You will sometimes need to take a picture in which there are important details both near and far from the camera. These situations can be particularly troublesome because the near objects get too much light while the far objects get too little. That creates OVEREXPOSURE and UNDEREXPOSURE in the same picture. One solution to this problem might be to remove the flash from the camera and take an extra picture using only the available light found at the scene and metering it with the camera's light meter. Again, you will probably have to use a tripod because you will be using very slow shutter speeds(less than 1/30 of a second in dim lighting). EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE Even the simplest camera is a precision tool. Like your gun, it will do its job for you only when you take care of it. Case: The best maintenance for your camera is protection. If you have a camera case, put your camera inside it when not in use. If you have no case, at least keep the lens covered. Also, avoid the common mistake of leaving the camera open when the film is removed--this will let in dust. Lens: Take great care of the lens. As even cleaning causes some damage, clean your lens only when there is a genuine need. On the other hand, when the lens does need cleaning, never put it off. Fingerprints, exhaust fumes and ocean salt will permanently damage the coating on many lenses if they are left uncleaned. Mirror: NEVER! EVER! touch the mirror you see inside the camera body when the lens is removed--it is extremely delicate. Although the mirror may be filthy, the mirror flips out of the way when you take a photo and none of the dust on it will show up in your photos. Contacts: Corrosive environments can also damage the electrical contacts in the camera and in the flash. This may be puzzling if you do not realize that it can happen. The solution is easy - just polish the electrical contacts with an ordinary pencil eraser. Film and Batteries: Keep fresh film and fresh batteries on hand. You can no more afford to have expired film and batteries in your camera than you can to have outdated bullets in your gun. Kit: Finally, keep your photographic equipment TOGETHER as a kit and READY to use. If you have any sort of a carrying case, it will not only protect the equipment, but will help you to avoid misplacing anything. You may have heard stories about professional photographers who have reported for an assignment with a load of elaborate equipment and NO FILM! Some of these stories are true. You can escape this sort of embarrassment by keeping your kit together. IDEAS TO CONSIDER If you practice the basics contained in these notes, you will be able to get usable evidence on film in most crime scenes. After you master these basics, however, you may want to seek out ways of using your ability to obtain even better results. Pictures need not be pretty or artistic to supply convincing evidence. Nevertheless, a higher degree of technical competence will occasionally secure convincing pictures in situations where you might otherwise get nothing. Flash - Try experimenting with different ways of placing your flash. Sometimes, lifting the flash high overhead and pointing at a spot just behind the most distant subject will enable you to light a large area evenly. Also, try pointing the flash at the ceiling. By doing this, the whole room is used as a flash reflector--but you needs lots of flash power and a light coloured, low ceiling to do this. By experimenting with your procedures, you can discover numerous techniques. As you get into more varied situations, you will find problems in police photography which civilian photographers seldom encounter. You will have to invent ways of dealing with them. Just remember that any experimental technique must be backed up with the conventional approach until it has proven itself in practice. POINTS TO REMEMBER 1) Always take preliminary photographs before the scene is altered in any way. 2) Take a complete set of pictures (Overall Mid Range & Close - up). Shoot from different angles and distances. Film is cheaper than lost cases. 3) Use fresh film and keep it away from heat. 4) Keep your pictures sharp. Use a tripod if possible. Focus carefully. Be sure your lens is clean. 5) Avoid back lighting. It creates silhouettes and may cause flare. If you must shoot toward a light, shade the lens as best you can.
6) Use side lighting to bring out texture, accident damage, tool marks and any other irregularities on a surface. Avoid it when shooting recesses, containers and closets. 7) Front lighting is normally the best in police work. Use it unless three dimensional details need to be recorded(then use side lighting). 8) The flash provides portable and easily controlled light. In sunlit scenes, it fills in the shadows and brings out details that they might otherwise hide. 9) Aiming your flash at a highly polished surface may cause "glare". Point the camera/flash at the surface from a 45 degree. angle. 10) Cover the flash with a clean white handkerchief for close subjects to prevent the flash from "burning" the subject in with overexposure or harsh light. 11) When some important objects are near you and others are far away, use your flash but expect those objects closer to you to be overexposed and those further away to be underexposed. Try taking an extra shot without a flash if there is some "available" light but you will most likely have to use a tripod or rest the camera on some solid stationary object to prevent a blurred or unclear image. 12) Keep all your equipment in good condition and readily available. It will then give maximum usefulness and minimum trouble. BEFORE SHOOTING: A CHECKLIST Every photographer, even a skilled professional, occasionally makes careless mistakes, like shooting with an empty camera or forgetting to remove the lens cap. To avoid such fundamental errors, experienced photographers have developed mental checklists to run through before putting the camera to use. Here is one such list, suggested by veterans of the photographic staff of LIFE magazine: 1) Is the camera already loaded? Many a photographer has lost precious exposures because he opened the back of his camera to put in new film without checking to see that the camera was empty. Check the film window in the back of the camera or the automatic frame counter. If there is any doubt, test the film advance; if there is film in the camera you should be able to feel a slight resistance to turning. On cameras with rewind knobs, the knob should revolve if there is film in the camera. 2) How many exposures are left? If there are only a few frames remaining and you expect to be shooting rapidly, wind the film through and put in a new roll. 3) Is the camera free of dust and film chips? Before loading up with fresh film, look for loose fragments of film which sometimes are broken off by the windup spool and jam the camera mechanism. Both chips and dirt can leave long scratches on new film as it moves through. Dust on the film or the back of the lens can spot or blur pictures. To clean out the inside of your camera, use a soft brush or special blower brush; you can do a good job simply by blowing into the camera and then gently wiping out any remaining dirt with a clean, wadded handkerchief which has been laundered enough times to be free of lint. Never try to brush off any dirt or dust on the mirror inside the camera body. It is very delicate and merely touching it can damage it. It swings out of the way when the photo is being taken so any dirt on it will not show up in your photo anyway. You can blow on it to try to remove dust. 4) Are you loading the film in subdued light? Instant loading film cartridge and 35mm film cassettes are light tight, BUT with regular roll film such as you use with the Pentax K1000, load it in subdued light since light can actually travel down the sides of the film and back into the unexposed film in the cartridge thereby ruining it. 5) Is the film moving properly to the take-up spool? When you load a fresh roll of film, make certain that the film's tapered beginning(leader) is firmly inserted in the take-up spool.
Then advance the film at least one full frame while the camera back is open. If you use 35mm film, make sure that the sprockets remain engaged in the holes along with the edges before closing the camera back. 6) Is the camera back tightly latched? After closing and latching the camera back, try to open it without releasing the locking mechanism. 7) Is the take-up spool turning? To be certain that the film is advancing properly, work the film-advance mechanism at least once, feeling for resistance. If the camera has a rewind knob, it should revolve. If it does not, open the camera and repeat step five. 8) Is the lens securely in place? If you are using a camera with interchangeable lenses(such as the Pentax K1000, the standard RCMP camera across the nation), try to wiggle the lens barrel; if it moves at all, take the lens off and remount it properly. 9) Is the lens clean? Do not try to clean the lens with an ordinary cloth which may scratch the glass. Do not use silicone treated eyeglass tissues which may damage the special coatings on the lens. Liquid eyeglass cleaners can get down into the barrel of the lens and dissolve the cements used in there. The BEST WAY to clean a lens is to blow away dust and then "fog" the glass with your breath or a special photographic lens cleaner. Then wipe the lens very gently with special photographic lens tissue(they are provided in your camera case at Depot). 10) Is your light meter set correctly for the speed of the film you are using? 11) Is your light meter battery fully charged? Keep spares. 12) Have you removed your lens cap or lens filters? With single lens reflex cameras such as this Pentax K1000, the lens cap poses no problem since you are actually viewing the scene through the lens. If the cap were on, you would see nothing. But with other cameras, you should always check to see if the lens cap is on. Other colleagues in your office may have been using the camera for special assignments and might have used special light filters which they left on the lens and which may ruin your photos. It's always a good idea to have a quick look at the lens before you start shooting.
IN CHARACTER - LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT - TEMPLATE I, [Name of Testator], a resident of [CITY], [STATE], being of sound and disposing mind and memory and over the age of eighteen (18) years or having been lawfully married or a member of the armed forces of the United States or a member of an auxiliary of the armed forces of the United States or a member of the maritime service of the United States, and not being actuated by any duress, menace, fraud, mistake, or undue influence, do make, publish, and declare this to be my last Will, hereby expressly revoking all Wills and Codicils previously made by me. I. EXECUTOR: I appoint [ENTER NAME] as Executor of this my Last Will and Testament and provide if this Executor is unable or unwilling to serve then I appoint [ENTER NAME] as alternate Executor. My Executor shall be authorized to carry out all provisions of this Will and pay my just debts, obligations and funeral expenses. II. BEQUESTS: I will, give, and bequeath unto the persons named below, if he or she survives me, the Property described below: Name: [ENTER NAME] Address: [ENTER ADDRESS] [CITY], [STATE] Relationship: [ENTER RELATIONSHIP] Property: [ENTER PROPERTY] rName: [ENTER NAME] Address: [ENTER ADDRESS] [CITY], [STATE] Relationship: [ENTER RELATIONSHIP] Property: [ENTER PROPERTY] If a named beneficiary to this Will predeceases me, the bequest to such person shall lapse, and the property shall pass under the other provisions of this Will. If I do not possess or own any property listed above on the date of my death, the bequest of that property shall lapse. III. ALL REMAINING PROPERTY; RESIDUARY CLAUSE: I give, devise, and bequeath all of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, of whatever kind and character, and wherever located, to my [ENTER RELATIONSHIP], [ENTER NAME] provided that [ENTER NAME] survives me. If [ENTER NAME] does not survive me, then I give, devise, and bequeath all of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, of whatever kind and character, and wherever located, to [ENTER NAME] as alternate. IV. WAIVER OF BOND, INVENTORY, ACCOUNTING, REPORTING AND APPROVAL: My Executor and alternate Executor shall serve without any bond, and I hereby waive the necessity of preparing or filing any inventory, accounting, appraisal, reporting, approvals or final appraisement of my estate. I direct that no expert appraisal be made of my estate unless required by law. V. OPTIONAL PROVISIONS: I have placed my initials next to the provisions below that I adopt as part of this Will. Any unmarked provision is not adopted by me and is not a part of this Will. [INITIALS] Any and all debts of my estate shall first be paid from my residuary estate. Any debts on any real property bequeathed in this Will shall be assumed by the person to receive such real property and not paid by my Executor. [INITIALS] I direct that my remains be cremated and that the ashes be disposed of according to the wishes of my Executor. VI. CONSTRUCTION: The term "testator" as used in this Will is deemed to include me as Testator or Testatrix. The pronouns used in this Will shall include, where appropriate, either gender or both, singular and plural. VII. SEVERABILITY AND SURVIVAL: If any part of this Will is declared invalid, illegal, or inoperative for any reason, it is my intent that the remaining parts shall be effective and fully operative, and that any Court so interpreting this Will and any provision in it construe in favor of survival. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I, [Name of Testator], hereby set my hand to this last Will, on each page of which I have placed my initials, on this [NUMBER]th day of [MONTH], [YEAR] at [CITY], State of [STATE]. [Signature] [Printed or typed name of Testator] [Address of Testator, Line 1] [CITY], [STATE] [Address of Testator, Line 2] WITNESSES [Signature #1] [Printed or typed name of Witness] [Signature #2] [Printed or typed name of Witness]
LAW ENFORCEMENT VIEW POINT ON GANGS Are gang members worth saving? Yes. In spite of their tough-guy (and bad-girl) posturing, it's important to remember that gang members are kids or, at least, started out that way. Some didn't have much of a choice or didn't know they did when they were coming up. Gangs were like the Boys' Club or the "Y" in their neighborhood, and they joined because it gave them something to do and a place to be. They didn't create the crumbling community they were born into and they didn't choose the poverty and squalor all around them. Kids who join gangs are often just trying to adapt and, if anything, they're only guilty of obeying the laws of survival. That doesn't mean gang members ought to be excused for criminal acts. What's wrong is wrong, period. And crimes particularly crimes of violence shouldn't go unpunished. What it does mean is that, contrary to the images we see in the media, a majority of gangbangers really are worth saving if we have the will and the compassion. How do we do that? By changing. We could start by acknowledging our stake in the quality of life for residents of our inner cities. We might even stop calling our inner cities "inner cities" altogether (as if the misery there were somehow a function of geography, rather than history and sociology and economics), and start calling them what they are: "ghettos" and "slums." We could stop letting politicians play games with race and poverty, and make them begin the work of redeveloping our cities and empowering the people who live there to build their future. We could enact serious measures to crack down on gangs and gang-related crime, balancing them with equally-tough measures to eliminate the factors that contribute to the appeal of gangs and the allure of crime among poor people. A good place to start would be to provide recreational facilities for kids both inside the city and out, and making sure they're safe and not just extensions of the gangbangers' turf. We should expand social services, not do away with them. And in spite of the political rhetoric, we should pay for what's needed by asking people who profit most from the status quo to pay a bigger share to help those who profit from it least. If we can't do it because it's right, maybe we can do it because it's cheaper. "We can't look a kid in the eye and tell him that we can't spend a thousand dollars on him when he's 12 or 13 but that we'll be happy to reserve a jail cell for him and spend a hundred grand a year on him later," argues North Carolina Attorney General Mike Easley. "It's not just bad policy; it's bad arithmetic." Increasing the Peace One hopeful sign is that many gang members see membership as a means to an end often, an economic one. Gangbanging isn't a lifetime calling, and gangs fade as members change and their lives evolve. That fact puts the ball back where it belongs: onto the court of the larger, "decent" society, where we can do something to help if we have the courage and the humanity. Because even though gangs have long been part of the background of city life, they broke out at the same time that social forces were deserting the inner cities, as factories shut their doors and social services were dismantled. The jobs may not have been fast-track, but they provided paychecks and self-respect to the people who earned them. The programs may not have been perfect, but they did offer evidence that society cared about inner-city residents at least a little. If we expect respect for the rule of law, we need to pay attention to a more basic law that of cause and effect, especially when it plays out so plainly in front of us. Because ultimately, the only way we can increase the peace is by jacking up the supply of "juice" (or respect) that flows from "us" to "them." That doesn't mean turning our cities over to gangs. They're a symptom of a disease we have to cure. But to do it, we have to get serious about providing jobs, education, and basic services for all our people, especially those who have nothing. Because the answer to the problems that gangs pose is as old as the jungle and as obvious as the victims on tonight's late-night news: Don't expect respect if you don't give it.
Background Checks - The Brady Act Several agencies conduct background checks including the FBI. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) provides detailed information about checks for those attempting to purchase firearms. In November 1993, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Act) of 1994 was signed into law, requiring Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) to request background checks on individuals attempting to purchase a firearm. The permanent provisions of the Brady Act, which went into effect on November 30, 1998, required the Attorney General to establish the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Any FFL may contact NICS for information to be supplied immediately as to whether the receipt of a firearm by a prospective transferee would violate federal or state law. In states that agree to conduct Brady background checks, once the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) form 4473 is completed, the FFL contacts the state point of contact (POC) for a NICS check. A state POC is a state agency that agrees to conduct Brady background checks, including NICS checks, on prospective gun purchasers. In states that have agreed to serve as POCs, FFLs contact the state POC for a Brady background check rather than contacting the FBI. Currently, 16 states serve as full POCs for NICS (checks on handguns and long guns) and 10 states serve as partial POCs for NICS (states perform checks for handgun purchases and FBI processes checks for long gun purchases). A state POC will access the states independant criminal history database as well as NICS. The NICS provides access to millions of criminal history records from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The NICS searches its own database, the NICS Index, as well as the National Crime Information Center 2000 (NCIC 2000) and the FBI Interstate Identification Index (III) for possible matching subject information under the disqualifiers set forth by the Brady Act. Prohibited Categories Include: 1. Convicted felons and persons under indictment for a felony; 2. Fugitives from justice; 3. Unlawful drug users or drug addicts; 4. Individuals who have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution or determined to be mentally incompetent; 5. Illegal aliens and legal aliens admitted under a non-immigrant visa; 6. Individuals who have been dishonorably discharged from the military; 7. Persons who have renounced their citizenship; 8. Persons subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders; and 9. Persons convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence. In states that have not agreed to serve as state POCs, once the ATF Form 4473 is completed, the FFL contacts the NICS at the FBI, via a toll free telephone number, to request a background check. NICS is available for background checks 17 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays (except Thanksgiving and Christmas). The call is received at one of two call centers located in Moundsville, West Virginia, and Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
Legal Process of the Law The U.S. Courts Article III of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch as one of the three separate and distinct branches of the federal government. The other two are the legislative and executive branches. The federal courts often are called the guardians of the Constitution because their rulings protect rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. Through fair and impartial judgments, the federal courts interpret and apply the law to resolve disputes. The courts do not make the laws. That is the responsibility of Congress. Nor do the courts have the power to enforce the laws. That is the role of the President and the many executive branch departments and agencies. The Founding Fathers of the nation considered an independent federal judiciary essential to ensure fairness and equal justice for all citizens of the United States. The Constitution they drafted promotes judicial independence in two major ways. First, federal judges are appointed for life, and they can be removed from office only through impeachment and conviction by Congress of "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Second, the Constitution provides that the compensation of federal judges "shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office," which means that neither the President nor Congress can reduce the salary of a federal judge. These two protections help an independent judiciary to decide cases free from popular passions and political influence. Due Process of Law Due process of law is a legal concept that ensures the government will respect all of a person's legal rights instead of just some or most of those legal rights, when the government deprives a person of life, liberty, or property. Due process has also been interpreted as placing limitations on laws and legal proceedings in order to guarantee fundamental fairness, justice, and liberty. The legal systems of many nations embrace some variant of this, such as the concept of fundamental justice in Canada. International Due Process Most countries recognize some form of due process under customary international law. Although the specifics are nebulous, there has been consensus that a nation must guarantee foreign visitors a basic minimum level of justice and fairness. Some nations have argued that they were bound to grant no more rights to aliens than they did to their own citizensthe doctrine of national treatmentwhich also means that both would be vulnerable to the same deprivations by the government. With the growth of international human rights law and the frequent use of treaties to govern treatment of foreign nationals abroad, the distinction in practice between these two perspectives has all but disappeared. Due Process in the United States The Fifth Amendment contains a guarantee of basic due process applicable only to actions of the federal government: "No person shall be... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...." The Fourteenth Amendment contains the same phrase, but expressly applied to the States. The Supreme Court has interpreted the two clauses identically, so under the federal Constitution, there is no substantial difference in protection from federal or State action. However, State constitutions also have their own guarantees of due process that may, by their own terms or by the interpretation of that State's judiciary, extend even more protection to individuals than under federal law. The Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution is descended from a similar clause of Magna Carta in which the King John of England agreed (in the year 1215 A.D.) that "No Freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or be disseized of his Freehold, or liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any otherwise destroyed; nor will we pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful Judgment of his peers, or by the Law of the Land." Thus, the core historical meaning of the Due Process Clause is that the government cannot deprive anyone if the Law of the Land forbids it. In other words, neither the King nor an American President may take away your life, liberty, or property if the law denies him that power. Due Process under the federal Constitution has additionally been interpreted as a restraint on the ways that legislatures may alter the law, although some judges over the years have objected to stretching the Due Process Clause beyond what was intended by Magna Carta. As a limitation on Congress, the Due Process Clause has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to have both procedural and substantive components, meaning that it imposes restrictions on legal proceduresthe ways in which laws may operate and also on legal substancewhat laws may attempt to do or prohibit. The distinction between substance and procedure is difficult in both theory and practice to establish. Moreover, the substantive component of due process has proven to be very controversial, because it gives the Court considerable power to strike down state and federal statutes that criminalize various activities. Procedural Due Process Procedural due process is essentially based on the concept of procedural fairness. As a bare minimum, it includes an individual's right to be adequately notified of charges or proceedings involving him, and the opportunity to be heard at these proceedings. In criminal cases, fair procedures help to ensure that an accused person will not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, which occurs when an innocent person is wrongly convicted.
In the United States, criminal prosecutions and civil cases are governed by explicit guarantees of rights under the Bill of Rights and as incorporated under the Fourteenth Amendment to the States. However, when the Constitution has not laid out the specific procedures that must be followed in other government proceedings, due process provides a minimum floor of protection to the individual that statutes, regulations, and enforcement actions must at least meet (but can exceed), in order to ensure that no one is deprived of life, liberty, or property arbitrarily and without opportunity to affect the judgment or result. This minimum protection extends to all government proceedings that can result in an individual's deprivation, whether civil or criminal in nature, from parole violation hearings to administrative hearings regarding government benefits and entitlements to full-blown criminal trials. In criminal cases, many of these due process protections overlap with procedural protections provided by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees reliable procedures that protect innocent people from being punished, which would be tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment. Personal Jurisdiction Procedural due process places limits on the assertion of personal jurisdiction over a defendant to a lawsuit, limiting the locations where that defendant may be hauled into court. This is of particular relevance in cases involving business transactions conducted across state lines, where the defendant may not have set foot in the other state, but still conducted affairs with the other state's residents through correspondence, the shipment of goods, or indirect agents. This limitation also applies to jurisdiction over foreign defendants in U.S. courts. In a somewhat complicated line of cases, the Supreme Court has required that the defendant had established minimum contacts with the jurisdiction wishing to act as a forum for the litigation, such that the defendant should not be surprised that he was subject to suit in that location. The defendant must have purposefully availed himself of the privilege of conducting business within that jurisdictionintentionally directing his activities at that state and its residents. Simply put, the defendant's actions determine where he can be sued, rather than the actions or movement of the plaintiff. Courts are still working out how this applies to lawsuits regarding Internet activity and business, though they appear to be in agreement that the "passive" posting of a website is not enough to establish widespread jurisdiction wherever someone wants to sue the web author over the contents. A court in one state must have a means of notifying the resident of another (or of a foreign country), to comply with the notice requirement of due process. This is typically done through "long-arm statutes" that provide for service of process upon the defendant in another jurisdiction through agents located or sent there. Because out-of-state defendants can't always be located easily, some state or local laws may allow for service by publication. An example of this would be printing a notice of the lawsuit in a newspaper published where the defendant is believed to reside. Because the failure of a defendant to appear in court results in a default judgment against him, such measures must be sufficiently calculated to give actual notice to the defendant to satisfy due process. Substantive Due Process Defined Though on its face the idea that due process is not only procedural but also substantive seems paradoxical, the Court has starting with Dred Scott v. Sandford - endorsed that view. Note that the boundary between substance and procedure is far from exact. The Supreme Court has held for much of its history that due process must include limits not only on how people are put on trial (procedures), but also limits on what kind of control majorities can have over minorities and individuals (substance). The court has viewed the due process clause as embracing those fundamental rights that are "implicit in ordered liberty." Just what these rights are is not always clear, though life, property, and freedom from imprisonment are some of the better established. Substantive due process has protected such rights as marriage, homosexuality, and raising children, and the extension of much of the Bill of Rights over the States. However, what are seen as past abuses and present excesses of this doctrine continue to spur debate over its use. If the right at issue is considered a fundamental right, the government is prohibited from infringing that right unless the infringement is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest. The concept of a compelling interest has never been well defined. The concept of narrow tailoring essentially means that the policy should advance the government's interest, and should do so better than alternatives that are less restrictive of the fundamental right. This analysis is often softened in the more controversial areas. Development and use as a doctrine The idea of substantive due process was developed in the nineteenth century, rather than being part of the legacy of Magna Carta. James Madison explained as follows, when he proposed the Bill of Rights to Congress in 1789: "Magna Carta does not contain any one provision for the security of those rights, respecting which the people of America are most alarmed." Magna Carta forbade the King from disobeying Parliament, and the framers of the Bill of Rights (including Madison) understood that Magna Carta did not forbid Parliament from doing anything.
Substantive due process was first applied by the Supreme Court in a subsection of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1856), though it can be argued that the doctrine dates back to Calder v. Bull (1798). Dred Scott was a slave who claimed that passing into territory where slavery was prohibited destroyed his owner's property rights over him. The court ruled in three parts. First, it argued that Dred Scott was not a citizen of the United States and therefore he had no right to liberty under the Constitution of 1856this argument, now harshly repudiated, is not based on the Due Process clause but did establish that the Court considered Dred Scott to be property. Second, the court argued that no Federal law could exist which per se appropriated property without advance notice and opportunity for judicial reviewthis was a Due Process argument. Thus, the decision established lack of procedure violates Due Process just as much an unfair procedure. After the Fourteenth Amendment applied due process restrictions to states, the Supreme Court used this same doctrine to protect a liberty of contract by routinely striking down (such as in Lochner v. New York) those economic and labor regulations which restricted particular economic activities per se without opportunity for judicial review. It is also charged that Substantive Due Process developed and became common currency as a consequence of the Court's desire to accommodate the railroads and trusts of the late 19th Century; see also, The Supreme Court and Its Great Justices, Sidney H. Asch, Ch. 4, pp.66-70. As judges became more deferential to legislative judgment in the area of commerce, substantive due process shifted away from upholding laissez-faire economics to recognizing individual rights considered to be fundamental liberty interests. This has included the incorporation of most of the Bill of Rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to apply to the laws and actions of states, as well as the recognition of rights concerning family and privacy not elsewhere in the text of the Constitution. See, for example, Griswold v. Connecticut, where privacy was said to be found in what the Court called the "penumbras" of certain amendments, such as the First, Fourth, and Ninth. Substantive due process has notably been invoked to invalidate laws in such areas as abortion in Roe v. Wade, and most recently in Lawrence v. Texas regarding the rights to homosexual activities. Incorporation Main article: Incorporation of the Bill of Rights Incorporation is the legal doctrine by which the Bill of Rights, either in full or in part, is applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. Although incorporation started with Gitlow v. New York (1925), a First Amendment case, it really began in earnest in the 1940s and 1950s. Justice Hugo Black famously favored the jot-for-jot incorporation of the entire Bill of Rights. Justice Felix Frankfurter, howeverjoined later by Justice John M. Harlanfelt that the federal courts should only apply those sections of the Bill of Rights whose abridgment would deny a "fundamental right." It was the latter course that the Warren Court of the 1960s took, although, in the end, almost all of the Bill of Rights was incorporated against the states. The basis for incorporation is substantive due process, and the role of that doctrine in applying the guarantees of the Bill of Rights to the states is just as notable as its use in defining new fundamental rights that are not explictly guaranteed by the Constitution's text. In both cases, the question is whether the right asserted is "fundamental," which means that just as not all proposed "new" constitutional rights are afforded judicial recognition, not all provisions of the Bill of Rights have been deemed sufficiently fundamental to warrant enforcement against the states. Some argue that the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment would be a more appropriate textual source for the incorporation doctrine (and possibly for the implied fundamental rights that substantive due process also protects), but the Supreme Court rejected that view in the 1873 Slaughterhouse Cases. Criticisms of Substantive Due Process The same criticisms of the doctrine continue as in the past: that justices are reading their personal views into the Constitution instead of interpreting it. However, the disagreements now are usually much more concerned with what, based on tradition and history, should be embraced under such protections of fundamental liberty rather than whether there are such unspoken guarantees in the Constitution in the first place. Originalists - including two current Supreme Court Justices, Thomas and Scalia - stringently reject Substantive Due Process, and believe that due process should only limit legislators with respect to actual due process. Scalia, in particular, has been caustically dismissive of the legitimacy of the doctrine, calling it a "judicial usurpation". Both Scalia and Thomas, though have occasionally joined Court opinions that do not challenge the doctrine, and have in their dissents taken more to arguing over how substantive due process should be employed based on Court precedent. In other words, the main debate in recent decades within the Court over substantive due process has been more about where to apply it, and less about whether it should be applied at all. Many non-originalists, like Justice Byron White have also been critical of substantive due process. As propounded in his dissents in Moore v. City of East Cleveland and Roe v. Wade as well as his majority opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick, White argued that the doctrine of substantive due process gives the judiciary too much power over the governance of the nation and takes away such power from the elected branches of government. He argued that the fact that the Court has created new substantive rights in the past should not lead it to "repeat the process at will." In his book Democracy and Distrust, non-originalist John Hart Ely criticized "substantive due process" as a glaring non-sequitur. Ely argued the phrase was a contradiction in terms, like the phrase "green pastel redness," and was radically undemocratic because it allowed judges to impose substantive values on the political process. Ely argued that the courts should serve to reinforce the democratic process, not to displace the substantive value choices of the people's elected representatives.
Judicial Review of Substantive Due Process Violations When a law or other act of government is challenged as a violation of individual liberty under the Due Process Clause, courts use two forms of scrutiny, or judicial review. This inquiry balances the importance of the governmental interest being served and the appropriateness of the government's method of implementation against the resulting infringement of individual rights. If the governmental action infringes upon a fundamental right, the highest level of reviewstrict scrutinyis used. In order to pass strict scrutiny review, the law or act must be narrowly tailored to a compelling government interest. When the governmental restriction restricts liberty in a manner that does not implicate a fundamental right, rational basis review is used. Here a legitimate government interest is enough to pass this review. A law is more likely to survive constitutional challenges under rational basis scrutiny than under strict scrutiny. Explicit Procedural Guarantees in the U.S. Constitution * Article One, Section 9: o the right to writs of habeas corpus, except during rebellion or invasion o the prohibition of bills of attainder (conviction and sentencing for a crime, typically treason, by a legislative act) o the prohibition of ex post facto laws (punishing acts not crimes at the time they were committed) * Article Three, Section 2: o the right to a jury trial regardless of whether the crime occurred in a state or in another location * The 5th Amendment: o the right to a grand jury indictment in federal court, in capital and other "infamous" cases, except for members of the armed forces o the prohibition of double jeopardy (prosecuting someone again for a crime on which a final judgment is already passed) o the right to not testify against oneself (self-incrimination) o the right to due process of law for life, liberty, and property (as enforced against the federal government) * The 6th Amendment: o in all criminal prosecutions: + the right to a speedy and public trial in the state where the crime occurred + the right to an impartial jury of one's peers + the right to know the charges and evidence + the right to confront and cross-examine opposing witnesses + the right to compel witnesses to appear + the right to counsel * The 7th Amendment: o in civil trials in federal courts: + the right to a jury in civil trials + the guarantee that issues determined by a jury will not be redetermined by other courts in a manner contrary to the common law * The 14th Amendment, Section 1: o the right to due process of law regarding life, liberty, and property (as enforced against State governments) The Role of Habeas Corpus How are due-process rights protected? That is, what if government officials proceed to arbitrarily arrest and detain people indefinitely without charges or trial, as U.S. officials today are doing to people in Iraq? What if they attempt to punish, even execute them, in secret sham proceedings involving the denial of counsel or other due-process guarantees, as U.S. officials are today doing at their military installation in Cuba to foreigners accused of terrorism? Our English and American ancestors understood that the only effective way to secure the release of people who were wrongfully detained was through a legal process known as habeas corpus, which stretches back to 1679, when Parliament enacted the Habeas Corpus Act and which the Framers later enshrined in the limitation on the powers of Congress in Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution: The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. Habeas corpus is a process that entitles a person held in custody to file a petition in court formally requesting the court to summon the accused and his custodian to court where the custodian will be required to show the reason he is detaining the petitioner. If the court issues a writ of habeas corpus, a law-enforcement officer serves the writ (i.e., a formal court order) on the custodian, ordering him to bring the detainee to court and to show cause why he is being detained. If the custodian refuses, he is subject to a contempt citation, which means that the judge will order his arrest and detention until he complies with the order of the court. As a practical matter, the writ of habeas corpus forces government officials either to formally charge a prisoner or to release him.
Introduction to the U.S. Judicial Process How the U.S. legal system works and the important role played by the people who serve on juries is explained here. Our legal system cannot work if citizens don't participate. If you do not support the legal system by participating in it, then everyone suffers the consequences of a system in which only a few people determine what is right and wrong. Jury service is a crucial part of our system of justice. Americans expect our courts to decide fairly and are justly upset, when this does not happen, but try to imagine a world where judgements are rendered without citizen input and you expect the decision to be unfair. At any Lawyer Firm, we believe that all of us, need to contribute to our country by performing our civic obligations. One of our very important civic obligations is to participate as jurors in the legal system when called upon to serve. In providing this mock trial outline, we hope in some small measure to help educate students about our system of justice and the importance of jury service. The American Legal System As former colonists of Great Britain, the Founding Fathers of the United States adopted much of the legal system of Great Britain. We have a "common law," or law made by courts rather than a monarch or other central governmental authority like a legislature. The jury, a panel of ordinary citizens chosen to decide a case, is an integral part of our common-law system. Use of juries to decide cases is a distinguishing feature of the American legal system. Few other countries in the world use juries as we do in the United States. Over the centuries, many people have believed that juries in most cases reach a fairer and more just result than would be obtained using a judge alone, as many countries do. Because a jury decides cases after "deliberations," or discussions, among a group of people, the jury's decision is likely to have the input from many different people from different backgrounds, who must as a group decide what is right. Juries are used in both civil cases, which decide disputes among private citizens, and criminal cases, which decide cases brought by the government alleging that individuals have committed crimes. Juries are selected from the U.S. citizens and summoned (required by court order to appear for jury selection). "Panels," or consisting of set numbers, of jurors are called for each case requiring a jury. The judge assigned to the case oversees the selection of jurors to serve as the jury for that case. In some states, prospective jurors are questioned by the judge; in others, they are questioned by the lawyers representing the parties under rules dictated by state law. Key Players Judges The district court's chief judge position is assigned based on length of service. It is held by the longest-serving active judge from among those judges who are 64 years old or younger, have served for one year or more as a judge, and have not previously served as chief judge. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years or to age 70, whatever comes first, and handles administrative matters related to operation of the clerk's office and the courthouse that do not require the attention of all the judges. He or she generally carries a full caseload in addition to administrative duties. A chief judge does not receive any additional pay. Magistrate judges are appointed by the U.S. district judges in each judicial district for a term of service of eight years (four years for part-time magistrate judges), which can be renewed. They hear the federal equivalent of misdemeanor cases minor crimes committed on federal lands. They also handle preliminary matters in criminal cases, and are usually the first judicial officer a defendant sees following arrest or indictment. In most districts, magistrate judges also handle pretrial motions and hearings in civil cases and felony criminal cases; those cases are eventually turned over to district judges for trial. Magistrate judges may preside over civil trials if the parties consent. The job title is magistrate judge, not magistrate. Clerks Each federal judicial district has a clerk of court whose staff, among other duties, accepts papers for filing and moves those papers from the clerk's office to judges' chambers. The clerk's office serves as the court's central nervous system all matters must flow through it, and the clerk of court serves as custodian of the record in every case. The staff members you will deal with at the front counter of the clerk's office are generally referred to as docket clerks. Most districts with multiple divisions also have two or more division managers, who supervise clerk's office staff in a given courthouse. Because they function primarily as supervisors and managers, you may rarely see the clerk of court or division manager in a courtroom. In each judge's courtroom, generally seated in front of the judge's bench, is the courtroom deputy clerk. In addition to being the person primarily responsible for maintaining the case files, the courtroom deputy clerk calls cases at the beginning of a hearing, swears in witnesses during trials, and receives exhibits introduced into evidence at trial. The courtroom deputy clerk is a member of the clerk's office staff, not a member of the judge's personal staff, and should not be confused with the judge's law clerks, who generally also sit near the judge's bench during hearings. It is a courtroom deputy clerk who generally announces the arrival of the judge in the courtroom, sometimes by saying, "All rise. Oyez, oyez, oyez . . ."
Court Officers Court reporters generally sit in front of the judge, facing the attorneys. They are responsible for recording the proceedings, either by using a stenographic machine or an audio recording hood, which looks like a mask, into which they repeat the words spoken during the hearing. They typically are employed by the court, and are paid a salary for recording hearings and trials, and providing copies of transcripts to the judge and the clerk of court. All parties, journalists, and members of the public who want a copy of the transcript must pay the reporter a per-page fee, which is set by the Judicial Conference of the United States. In courthouses, you will see two kinds of security personnel. Each federal judicial district has a United States Marshal, who is appointed by the President and reports to the attorney general. The marshal oversees the security of the district court. He or she heads an office of deputy U.S. marshals, who typically wear business attire when in the courtroom, are responsible for the custody and transportation of prisoners, and the safety of witnesses, jurors, and the judge. There typically are two or more deputy marshals present whenever a criminal defendant who is being detained during the trial is present in the courtroom. Outside the courtroom, the U.S.Marshals Service runs the Witness Security Program, which is more commonly known as the witness protection program, in which witnesses who could face retribution are relocated under new identities after they testify. The U.S.M.S. is also the federal governments lead agency in tracking down fugitives. Court security officers, who dress in blue blazers and gray pants, also work under the direction of the U.S. Marshal. They are responsible for the safety of the public in the courthouse. They staff the metal detectors inside the front doors of most courthouses. Generally at least one court security officer also known as a CSO is present at every court hearing. Attorneys Each federal judicial district has a U.S. Attorney's Office, which is the local office of the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. attorney, who runs the office, is nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a four-year term. Assistant U.S. attorneys ordinarily serve as the government's lawyers in both criminal and civil cases. In criminal cases, they often are joined at the courtroom's counsel table by the lead law enforcement agent who investigated the case. Assistant U.S. attorneys are sometimes assisted by counsel from other federal agencies if the case involves an investigation that was begun by those agencies. Counsel Representing defendants in a criminal case is one or more defense counsel. Defense counsel almost always sit at the table located the farthest from the jury box. If defendants can afford to, they are required to hire private counsel, unless the defendants choose to represent themselves. (Self-representation is known by the Latin term, appearing pro se.) If defendants cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for them from one of two sources. Federal public defenders are government-paid lawyers who represent financially qualified defendants. Criminal Justice Act (CJA) or panel attorneys are lawyers in private practice who make themselves available to be appointed to represent such defendants. CJA attorneys are used in cases in which the federal public defender has a conflict of interest, representing one of several defendants in the same case. CJA attorneys also are used when public defenders do not have the resources either staff or time to handle the case, or if the particular court does not have a defender office. CJA attorneys generally are assigned at random from a list maintained by the clerk's office. In most judicial districts, however, judges can order that a particular attorney be assigned to a case if complexity of the case or the interests of justice require it. Chief Judge of the Appelate Court Federal court of appeals judges are Article III judges appointed for life. Each judge is authorized to maintain a staff that usually includes three law clerks and two secretaries (judicial assistants). The chief judge has an important role in court management. By statute, the chief judge is the judge senior in commission who, at the inception of chief judge service, has served on the court at least one year and is under the age of 65. A chief judge may serve for a maximum of seven years, and may not serve as chief judge beyond the age of 70. As the presiding official of a court of appeals, the chief judge has both legal and functional authority over court administration. The chief judge has specific statutory responsibilities for the management of the court and its cases, to facilitate the smooth and efficient operation of the court and the timely hearing and disposition of cases. For example, the chief judge has responsibility to ensure the administration of cases by providing a sufficient number of judges to sit on appellate panels. This includes the authority to certify the need for a temporary assignment of a judge from another circuit to serve on a district court or the court of appeals; to designate or assign a circuit judge with the circuit to hold district court in any district within the circuit; to designate or assign a district judge to sit on the court of appeals; or to designate or assign temporarily a district judge to hold a district court in any district in the circuit. The chief judge has statutory authority to certify that an emergency exists that would permit the formation of a panel not consisting of a majority of judges from the same court of appeals, which normally is required by statute. The chief judge also has administrative responsibilities relating to the court's operation, including presiding over court meetings and coordinating decision-making activities of the court. This includes the appointment and oversight of a court staff, including the clerk of court and the senior staff attorney. The chief judge's responsibilities include budgetary and administrative authority.
Judicial Council of the Appelate Court The chief judge also presides over the circuit judicial council, which is vested with authority to "make all necessary and appropriate orders for the effective and expeditious administration of justice within its circuit." (28 U.S.C. Section 332(d)(1)). In addition to the chief judge, the council consists of an equal number of appellate and district judges. The Judicial Conference has called on judicial councils to take on more specific responsibilities, such as approving temporary emergency support for chambers within each circuit. Circuit Executive of the Appelate Court Each circuit has a circuit executive who works closely with the chief judge to coordinate a wide range of administrative matters. The circuit executive is appointed by the circuit judicial council. Each court of appeals also is organized into the following court units: clerk's office, staff attorney office, circuit mediation office, and, in some circuits, clerk for the bankruptcy appellate panel. Clerk of the Appelate Court In some circuits, the circuit executive serves as a liaison between the court and the news media. In other circuits, however, that responsibility may belong to the appeals court's clerk of court, whose staff manages the flow of cases through the court, maintains court records, and handles other administrative duties. The clerk of court is responsible for central records keeping, maintaining caseload statistics, and maintaining automation (information technology) systems necessary for the effective operation of the court. Senior Staff Attorney of the Appelate Courts Another member of a court of appeals' management team may be its senior staff attorney, who supervises an office of attorneys whose duties range from reviewing all appeals filed by prison inmates without a lawyer's help to drafting proposed opinions on preliminary matters. Each court of appeals has a circuit mediation program, also referred to as a conference attorney program. Although programs vary from court to court, the primary goal of the program is to achieve settlement of pending cases prior to submission to a panel of judges for decision. The circuit librarian is appointed by each court of appeals and is responsible for the administration of the library program and related services within the circuit. An important inquiry early on in any journalist's dealings with a federal court of appeals is to identify the person(s) within the court authorized to talk to the news media. Most courts of appeals do not have a public information officer, but the circuit executive or clerk of court likely has designated an individual who deals with the news media on a daily basis.
Bankruptcy Courts & Process Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The primary purposes of the federal bankruptcy laws are to give an honest debtor, either a person or a business, a "fresh start" in life by relieving the debtor of most debts, and to repay creditors in an orderly manner to the extent that the debtor has property available for payment. That can be done using several different methods, as identified by chapter numbers of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, Title 11 of the United States Code. There are 90 U.S. bankruptcy courts, which, by statute, are units of the U.S. district courts. A U.S. bankruptcy judge presides over a bankruptcy case. The judge is appointed to a 14-year term by the judges of the local U.S. Court of Appeals and can be reappointed. Like district courts, bankruptcy courts have their own local rules. Each court's local rules are available at the court's web site, all of which can be accessed at www.uscourts.gov. A publication, Bankruptcy Basics, offers a good explanation of bankruptcy law and bankruptcy court proceedings. Bankruptcy court proceedings are open to the public and the news media unless some extraordinary circumstance exists, such as the judge considering a matter under seal. As in other federal courts, all bankruptcy proceedings are recorded. Bankruptcy judges are authorized to use either contract court reporters (not employees of the court) or electronic sound recording equipment. You may order a transcript of a bankruptcy proceeding through the contract court reporter or through a professional transcription service chosen by the court. All documents filed in connection with a bankruptcy case generally are considered public documents and can be viewed at the court clerks office or through the court's PACER system. Bankruptcy courts generally have their own clerks, but in some judicial districts the clerk's operations of the district and bankruptcy courts are consolidated. Bankruptcy generally provides two options: liquidation or reorganization. Liquidation means selling off a debtor's assets, if there are any available, to raise cash for creditors. Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code is designed for that purpose. When a Chapter 7 case is filed, a trustee is appointed by the United States Trustee to take over the debtor's property for the benefit of creditors. A debtor who is an individual, however, is allowed to keep a limited amount of "exempt" property specified by law. The great majority of cases filed under Chapter 7, however, are "no assets" cases, in which the debtor has no assets available for distribution to creditors. Reorgan zation involves obtaining a bankruptcy judge's approval of a plan for repayment over time of all or a percentage of the debts owed to creditors. Chapters 11 and 13 govern the reorganization of a debtor's financial affairs. Chapter 13 cases involve obtaining a bankruptcy judge's approval of a plan for repayment over time of all or a percentage of the debts owed to creditors. Chapter 11 cases, nearly always filed by corporations or other business entities, involve a plan of reorganization of the debtor's liabilities, which must be voted on by creditors and approved by a bankruptcy judge. In all cases, no matter what chapter, a "meeting of creditors" must be held, usually from 20 to 40 days after a bankruptcy petition is filed. The debtor must attend this meeting, at which creditors may ask questions regarding the debtor's financial affairs and the extent of the debtor's holdings. A trustee, not a bankruptcy judge, presides over this hearing. There are several types of bankruptcy proceedings that may interest journalists. The first is a hearing on first day orders, which are sometimes held in Chapter 11 cases. At this hearing, a bankruptcy judge is asked to approve important matters that determine how the debtor will operate while the case is pending. Another hearing in a Chapter 11 case is held for confirmation of the debtors plan of reorganization. During this hearing, the debtor's lawyer attempts to obtain the judge's approval of the plan, and creditors have a chance to present their objections to the plan. Still another proceeding of interest is an adversary hearing something of a mini-trial involving a particular issue related to the main bankruptcy case. Adversary proceedings can focus, among other things, on requests for injunctions, environmental issues, and fraud on the part of the debtor. Appeals of a bankruptcy judge's rulings can be made to the district court, or, in certain circuits, to a bankruptcy appellate panel composed of three bankruptcy judges. Further appeals to the court of appeals and the Supreme Court are then available. Bankruptcy court records are available online through the PACER system or through each court's web site. The court web sites also contain local rules, practice preferences of individual judges, and other useful information.
Criminal Case Process The Investigation A defendant may be arrested in the course of allegedly committing a crime. But the criminal cases that attract media attention most often involve a protracted investigation prior to a defendants arrest. The investigation will generally be conducted by the FBI, but other federal agencies may be involved depending on the nature of the alleged crime (DEA for drug investigations, SEC for securities investigations, etc.). To obtain a search warrant or arrest warrant, the law enforcement agent and an assistant U.S. attorney will have to make an application to a magistrate judge or district court judge. The applications will be accompanied by an affidavit filed by the lead law enforcement agent, which is meant to provide the judge with evidence of probable cause. Both documents can be valuable for reporters. The application itself a one-page form will include information about the defendant, and the affidavit will include an overview of the facts of the case. To avoid public disclosure of the investigation, search warrant applications generally are sealed, at least until the search is conducted and sometimes until after the arrest is made. While they are sealed, the warrant application will typically show up on the court's docket under a title that gives away nothing about the substance of the case, such as "In re search warrant application." But if a search warrant application is unsealed before an arrest, that provides a valuable lead that an investigation is underway. Courthouse beat reporters should review unsealed warrants on a regular basis. The ways that clerks offices file search warrant applications vary greatly from office to office; youll have to ask at your courthouse about the easiest way to routinely review the documents. Prosecutors use three terms to describe people involved in investigations, and it is critical that you distinguish among them. A "witness" is someone who merely has information useful to the investigation. A "subject" of an investigation is a person whose conduct is within the scope of a criminal probe, although they themselves may not be suspected of breaking the law. A "target" is someone who is likely to be indicted. A subject of an investigation can become a target. Indictment Before the target of an investigation is arrested, prosecutors generally will take the evidence they have gathered to a grand jury. Grand juries are composed of 16 to 23 citizens. Agreement by a bare majority is required to find probable cause exists that a crime was committed. Grand juries are formally supervised by a district judge, often the chief judge, but for all practical purposes they function day-to-day under the auspices of the U.S. Attorney's Office. Only prosecutors present evidence before a grand jury, and a finding of probable cause necessary to issue an indictment is a relatively low standard of proof. The indictment lists the crimes the defendant allegedly committed and describes the facts the government believes support those allegations. It is a roadmap to what the prosecution intends to prove at trial. Grand jury indictments are returned to the district court usually to a magistrate judge in a sealed court hearing. Indictments generally are unsealed after a defendant is arrested. A criminal case also can begin without an indictment. In these cases, the lead investigator swears out a criminal complaint, called an "information," setting forth the same kinds of allegations and facts that would be contained in an indictment. Absent an indictment, the prosecution must convince a judge that there is probable cause to proceed with the case. These hearings are held in open court after the defendant has been arrested in a felony case. A defendant can agree to waive indictment and proceed with the case based on the criminal complaint, or can demand that the prosecutor seek an indictment. Defendant Appears in Court Within hours of the defendant's arrest, he or she will make an initial appearance in court. Defendants are typically not represented by counsel at this hearing. They are advised of the charges they face, their rights are explained to them by the judge, and counsel is appointed if defendants cannot afford to hire their own lawyer. Defendants will be remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service at the conclusion of this hearing unless they are released, in which case conditions of release will be set. Defendants are provided with the services of a court interpreter in all courtroom appearances when language is a barrier to the effective administration of justice. If no indictment has been issued, the defendant will next have a preliminary examination hearing, at which the government will present its evidence. If the judge finds there is probable cause (or if an indictment has already been returned), there will then be a detention hearing, where it will be determined whether the defendant needs to be held in jail until trial. Both sides may present evidence at this hearing, as well as cross-examine the other side's witnesses. The decision whether to release the defendant is governed by the Bail Reform Act of 1984 and subsequent amendments to it. The law presumes that defendants should be released on personal recognizance or unsecured personal bond (that is, without putting up any money or other asset as security) unless the judge determines "that such release will not reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required or will endanger the safety of any other person or the community." The judge can put restrictions on defendants such as requiring a secured bond, forfeiture of a passport, electronic monitoring of defendants' location, requiring they remain in their home, etc. But the judge must choose "the least restrictive ... condition, or combination of conditions, that ... will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required and the safety of any other person and the community."
There are exceptions to the presumption that defendants should be released pending trial. The Act creates a rebuttable presumption that defendants should not be released under the following circumstances: * The defendant is accused of one of a list of crimes listed in the statute, and was previously convicted of committing one of the specified crimes while free on bail. * The judge finds there is probable cause the defendant committed a federal drug offense that carries a penalty of 10 years or more in prison. * The judge finds there is probable cause the defendant used a firearm to commit a felony. To rebut the presumption and release a defendant, the judge must find that some condition or combination of conditions of release will assure defendants' appearance at trial and safeguard the community. Prior to the detention hearing, a member of the court's Pretrial Services office will speak to the defendant and as many family members as possible. The officer will file a report with the judge, prosecutor, and defense counsel that makes a recommendation whether the defendant can be released and, if so, under what conditions. This is a recommendation only, and it is not binding on the judge. A decision to release or detain a defendant that is made by a magistrate judge may be reviewed by a district judge on the motion of either party. (This is a kind of appeal, though the word "appeal" is not used to describe it.) Detention orders may also be appealed to the court of appeals after a district judge rules on them. The last of the early hearings in a criminal case is the arraignment. The defendant's counsel is asked three questions: * Does the defendant waive a formal arraignment, at which the indictment would be read in its entirety? * How does the defendant plead, guilty or not guilty? * Does the defendant request a trial by jury? (If not, the case will be decided by the judge in what is known as a bench trial.) If a formal arraignment is waived as it almost always is the hearing can be over in five minutes. At the arraignment, some judges also schedule the trial date and dates for motion hearings. Under the Speedy Trial Act, criminal defendants are entitled to a trial that begins no later than 70 days from the date the indictment or information was filed, or from the date the defendant appears before a judge, whichever is later. The defendant can waive the right to a speedy trial, or the judge can waive the requirements of the Act by finding that the interests of justice require it. These four hearings can be held at a single time under certain circumstances. In some courts magistrate judges hold all of these hearings; in other courts, some are held by magistrate judges while others are held by District Court judges. In most courts, the District Court judge who will handle the trial is assigned to the case after the initial appearance; check with the clerk's office for that judges name. Judges are assigned to cases at random, to avoid the possibility that prosecutors might "judge shop" their case to a jurist considered friendly to prosecution arguments. Pretrial Motions and Hearings A wide variety of motions may be made prior to trial. Among the most common that are filed by the defense are: * Motions to relocate the trial through a change of venue, claiming pretrial publicity will make it impossible to select an impartial jury. * Motions challenging the admissibility of certain pieces of evidence. * Motions seeking access to evidence in the possession of the prosecution. This phase of the case, known as motion practice, occurs primarily on paper. Only if a judge feels that oral argument of the issues or evidence from witnesses would aid in a decision will a hearing be held. During the pretrial phase, you also may encounter efforts to seal what hearings there are. Most pretrial hearings must be open to the public, but there are a complicated set of exceptions. Media organizations may decide to oppose the sealing of court records. Plea Bargains and Sentencing More than 90 percent of federal defendants plead guilty. Some do so during the pretrial phase as part of a plea bargain, in exchange for the prosecutors' dropping some charges or recommending a more lenient sentence. Two documents are filed with the court at the plea hearing: the plea agreement, which outlines what charges are being pleaded to and which are being dropped; and a statement of facts describing what the defendant admits to doing. Both generally are available only after the hearing has ended. During the hearing, the judge will conduct what is known as the plea colloquy, in which defendants are informed of the rights they are giving up and the crimes they are admitting. At some point, the judge will ask the defendants to, in their words, describe what they did. Sentencing is generally scheduled for a month or more after the plea hearing, to allow time for the staff of the court's Probation Office to prepare a presentence investigation report. The probation officer will speak to the defendant, family members, friends, and others as part of the investigation. The report is always filed with the judge, prosecutor, and defense counsel under seal. Since 1987, sentencing in federal court has been governed by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. They are set by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, a judicial branch agency created by Congress to make sentencing more determinate and lessen sentencing disparities. The presentence report makes a recommendation as to how the guidelines rate the seriousness of the offense and the defendant's criminal history. Prosecutors and defense counsel will have made a similar estimate when they agreed to the plea bargain. The judge is bound by the Guidelines, but may depart upward or downward, subject to review on appeal. The judge is not required to follow the recommendations of the probation office or the parties. During the sentencing hearing, defendants are given a chance to tell the court anything they believe the judge should consider before imposing sentence.
The Criminal Trial Process Jury Selection During jury selection, which is also known as voir dire, the lawyers, the judge or both will question prospective jurors about their backgrounds and their ability to be impartial. Prospective jurors may be struck from the panel in two ways. Lawyers may exercise a "challenge for cause," claiming the juror could not be impartial. If the judge agrees, the potential juror is excused. "Peremptory challenges" allow lawyers to remove a juror without stating a reason. Both sides are given a limited number of these peremptory challenges. Jury selection in death penalty and other complex cases can take several weeks. In some courts, judges handling a high-profile trial will call in 200 or more jurors to fill out an extensive questionnaire, and then call in 20 or more a day to be questioned individually and challenged for cause. On the final day of jury selection in such cases, the qualified pool of jurors is called in, both sides exercise their peremptory challenges, and the jury is seated. You should never contact a prospective juror or his or her family or close friends, nor should you speak about the case if you know you are in the presence of a juror while a case is active. This is considered jury tamperinga crime. In cases in which judges are concerned about the safety of jurors, the jury may be anonymous, identified only by numbers. No one, other than the person in the clerk's office who arranges their payment (jurors are paid $40 per day), will know their names in such a case. A judge may decide that a need exists to sequester a jurykeep all jurors in the courts custody until a trial concludes. Opening Statements It is opening statements and closing arguments. At the beginning of a trial, lawyers are limited to telling the jury what they believe the evidence will show. Only at the end can they marshal those facts to make an argument the defendant did or did not commit the crime. Prosecutors go first because they bear the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime. Defense counsel are not obligated to make an opening statement or present any evidence, since the defendant is presumed innocent. Defense counsel may choose to make an opening statement at the conclusion of the initial set of prosecution witnesses, known as the prosecution's case-in-chief. Testimony, Exhibits, and Transcripts Some individual judges or local rules of court require the prosecution to file a list of potential witnesses prior to trial, along with a list of exhibits that may be entered into evidence. These lists can provide a handy reference for reporters. Check the case file about a week before trial begins. Prosecution witnesses take the stand first. Each can be cross-examined by the defense. If a witness is cross-examined, the prosecution is permitted a "redirect," asking the witness only questions related to the topics discussed during cross-examination. You are free to speak to witnesses after they are excused by the court, unless the judge indicates the witness is subject to recall to the stand later in the trial. The witness, however, is not obligated to respond to your questions, and often may be advised by counsel not to do so. At the end of the prosecution's case-in-chief, the defense likely will make what is known as a Rule 29 motion. Named after Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29, the motion asks the judge to acquit the defendant because the prosecution's evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction. This motion may also be made after the conclusion of testimony by the defense witnesses. These motions are almost always denied because the prosecutions case is rarely that weak. But if the motion is granted, the defendant goes free; the prosecution cannot appeal such a ruling and the defendant cannot be tried again in federal court on the same charges because of the constitutional protection against double jeopardy. If, however, the judge waits to rule on the motion until after the jury reaches a verdict, and that verdict is guilty, prosecutors can then appeal the judge's acquittal. During testimony, both sides will seek to introduce pieces of evidence. If the judge allows an item to be admitted, it becomes part of the public record of the case and should be available for members of the media to inspect and copy. However, your interest in seeing the item sometimes conflicts with the court's interest in insuring none of the evidence is tampered with. This is another of those issues you'll want to broach with your contact person in the clerk's office. Getting a copy of the exhibit from the party that introduced it is another option you can pursue. Transcripts of courtroom proceedings are provided to the court and litigants by a court reporter. Many court reporters are trained in what is called real-time court reporting, which makes a daily copy of a transcript available, for a fee. Closing Arguments The prosecution goes first, followed by the defense and a rebuttal by the prosecution. Because the prosecution has the burden of proof, it gets the final word.
Jury Instructions, Deliberations, and the Verdict After the closing arguments, the judge will give the jury its final instructions. Both sides may contest the content of those instructions because they can have an enormous effect on the jury's verdict. During deliberations, the jurors may have questions about the evidence or the instructions. They will give a note to the Deputy Marshal or some court employee, who will take it to the judge. The judge will then call the lawyers back into court, discuss what the answer to the note should be, call the jurors back into the courtroom, and give them the answer. Criminal juries must reach a unanimous verdict of guilty or not guilty. The jury may say at some point that it is hopelessly deadlocked. At this point, judges typically give the jury whats known as an Allen charge. Named after a 1896 U.S. Supreme Court case, the Allen charge urges jurors to reconsider their opinions and try again to reach a verdict. If they attempt to do so but still report they are deadlocked, the judge may declare a mistrial. In most federal courthouses, once a jury has reached a verdict, it is announced as soon as all the lawyers can get to the courtroom. You may have as little as 15 minutes warning. Once a jury's members have been dismissed by the judge, you are free to speak to them. (The clerk's office may be willing to provide the names and addresses of the jurors, unless the jury is anonymous.) Still, no juror is obligated to speak with you. In high-profile cases, the crush of media attention can be overwhelming for some jurors. In such cases judges will sometimes have court security personnel escort the jurors out a back door of the courthouse. You may want to suggest to your contact person in the clerks office that the judge ask any jurors who would be willing to speak to the media to remain in the jury room or convene at a specific location inside or outside the courthouse. That gives journalists the access they want, while providing a controlled environment in which the jurors can feel comfortable. Death Penalty Cases Federal judges, following the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, determine and impose sentences in all cases except death penalty cases. If a defendant facing the death penalty is found guilty, the same jury that convicted him will determine his sentence. It has only two choices: execution or life in prison. A second phase of the trial, referred to as the penalty phase, then takes place. Both sides can present witnesses who will testify about the seriousness of the crime and any mitigating factors, such as the defendant's life experiences and lack of a prior criminal history.
Civil Case Process Most of the procedures that govern a criminal case also apply to civil cases. The major differences are described below. Filing the Complaint Civil cases do not involve an allegation by the government that an individual or entity violated the criminal laws of the United States. Civil cases begin when a plaintiff the party seeking relief files a complaint. Federal courts are authorized to hear only civil cases that: * Deal with a question involving the United States Constitution. * Involve questions of federal law (as opposed to state law). * Involve the government of the United States of America including its agencies as a party, whether as a plaintiff or defendant. * Involve a dispute among residents of different states with an amount in controversy more than $75,000. The act of informing individuals or businesses about a complaint filed against them is called service of process. Generally, a lawsuit must be filed in the jurisdiction where the defendant resides or where the claim arose. In cases based on diversity of citizenship (when the plaintiff and defendant are residents of different states), the lawsuit may be filed in the jurisdiction where the plaintiff resides. The complaint states the claim that the plaintiff is making why he, she, or it is entitled to relief. And it states the kind of relief sought. There are three principal forms of relief: * Declaratory judgment: a decision of the court that determines the rights of parties without ordering anything be done or awarding monetary damages. * Injunction: a court order requiring the defendant to do a specific act or prohibiting a defendant from doing a specific act. If a true emergency exists, a temporary restraining order (TRO) can be issued without even providing notice of the lawsuit to the defendant; a TRO can last no more than 10 days. A preliminary injunction is similar to a TRO, except that the defendant must receive notice of the lawsuit before the preliminary injunction is issued. The preliminary injunction (sometimes informally referred to as a temporary injunction) stays in effect until a hearing can be held, or sometimes until after a trial. If the plaintiff is successful at trial, a permanent injunction would be issued. * Monetary relief: money damages meant to make the plaintiff "whole" for the wrongdoing of the defendant. The two most common types of monetary relief are compensatory and punitive damages. Compensatory damages are intended to compensate the injured party for his or her loss. Special damages are a subset of compensatory damages; they represent the direct costs of the wrongdoing, such as hospital bills or wages lost while being treated. General damages are also a result of the wrongdoing, but are subjective in amount, such as awards for the plaintiff's pain and suffering or a payment for his or her mental anguish. Some contracts anticipate a breach of the agreement and stipulate how much will be awarded in the event a party reneges on the deal; these are called liquidated damages. There are also cases where a wrong was committed by the defendant, but the plaintiff suffered almost no harm; nominal damages, such as an award of $1, are made in such cases. Punitive damages, which generally are available only if authorized by statute, are awarded to punish the defendant and are a warning to others who would consider undertaking similar conduct. Treble damages are a variation of punitive damages triple the amount of the plaintiff's actual losses. The Defendant's Answer Under federal rules, defendants generally have 20 days to file an answer after they are served with the complaint; the government of the United States has 60 days. Defendants in cases seeking review of decisions under the Social Security Act have 90 days to answer. Defendants in cases brought under the Freedom of Information Act have 30 days to answer. The complaint and answer should be available for you to see and copy in the clerks office. In many courts, this information also will be available online. Motions Against the Complaint Although most defenses to a complaint must be stated in the answer, a defendant has the option of asserting certain defenses in the form of a motion to dismiss the complaint before filing the answer. Motions to dismiss the complaint typically make one or more of the following arguments: * The court lacks the power to decide the subject matter of the case or to compel a defendant to appear. * Service of process was defective. * The complaint fails to state a claim that the law will recognize as enforceable. Pretrial Conferences and Hearings Once the defendant has filed his or her answer or motion to dismiss the complaint, the judge assigned the case will hold a pretrial conference. The conference typically lasts less than an hour. A schedule for discovery the exchange of information between opposing parties is generally set at this conference, and a trial date is sometimes also scheduled at this point. Most motions filed in civil cases involve disputes about whether a party is entitled to receive certain kinds of information prior to trial. While these motions are a part of the case file, the actual information in dispute is almost never filed with the court. During discovery, the parties may take numerous depositions of people involved in the dispute. In a deposition, the witness is under oath and asked questions by the attorneys for both sides, much as they would be if they were on the witness stand in court.
This testimony sometimes may be introduced during the trial. Journalists do not have a right to attend depositions in civil cases, as they are not conducted in open court or in the presence of a judge. When either party files a pretrial motion, the judge may choose to hold a hearing. However, if the judge believes the motion papers are sufficiently clear that the issue can be decided without an oral presentation, no hearing will be held. After discovery, the judge will hold a final pretrial hearing. Usually, the hearing is a conference between the judge and the parties to discuss the issues that will be tried and the evidence that is to be used at trial. The judge also will usually require that a pretrial order be submitted by the parties, in which the trial plans of the parties are set forth in writing. The purpose is to help the judge and the parties understand exactly what issues will be important at the trial, and to work out possible solutions to problems before the trial begins. Parties frequently discuss settling their case during this final pretrial phase, and it is not uncommon for judges to strongly encourage them to resolve the dispute before trial. Ending the Case Without a Trial A trial is necessary only when there are disputed issues of fact. After the discovery period has ended, it may become apparent that the facts in the case are not in dispute, and one or more parties may file a motion for summary judgment. A motion for summary judgment can be filed at any time after the answer is filed. After the motion for summary judgment and the response have been filed, the judge, generally without conducting a hearing, will decide whether or not to grant the motion. If the judge grants the motion in whole, the case will be over and judgment will be entered in favor of the party who moved for summary judgment. If the judge grants the motion in part, only the issues that are in dispute will be tried, and those issues on which summary judgment was granted will not be. If the judge denies the motion, the case will be set for trial. The parties also may resolve their dispute by settlement, without court intervention. The overwhelming majority of civil cases are settled prior to trial. The Civil Trial Process Both the plaintiff and the defendant have the constitutional right to a jury trial. The jury in a civil case consists of no fewer than six and no more than 12 members, not including alternate jurors. All verdicts must be unanimous, unless the parties agree otherwise an option not available in criminal cases. The plaintiffs lawyer goes first in opening statements, followed by defense counsel, and the plaintiffs witnesses appear first. Once the plaintiff's last witness has testified, the defendant may, but is not required to, make a motion for a "directed verdict," which is similar to a Rule 29 motion in a criminal case. This motion claims that the plaintiff has failed to prove one or more of the essential elements of the claim for relief and therefore the defendant is entitled to judgment in his favor as a matter of law. Unlike criminal juries, which can only find a defendant guilty if the evidence is beyond a reasonable doubt, civil juries find the facts based on the preponderance of the evidence standard that is, it is more likely than not that factual issues supporting the plaintiff's claims have been proven to be true. Courtroom Equipment Advances in courtroom technologies can both streamline litigation and increase juror understanding. For the federal judiciary, the modern courtroom offers four basic features: An evidence presentation system that enables the judge or lawyers to show jurors and each other case documents and exhibits on a network of monitors. Large courtroom monitors allow the public to follow the proceedings. Video-teleconferencing, which, among other things, permits offsite witnesses to offer live testimony during trial and accommodates appellate proceedings without all participating judges and lawyers being physically present. Integrated CD-ROM, video and audio capability, which allows lawyers to present their cases on videotape, audiotape, or through CD-ROM players attached to personal computers. Realtime transcription, a system that allows a court reporter's transcription to be viewed virtually simultaneously on monitors placed throughout the courtroom for use by the judge, lawyers, and jurors. The Parties to a Civil Trial Plaintiff. The plaintiff is the person who begins the suit. In the complaint, the plaintiff states, or alleges, that he or she was injured by the conduct of another. The plaintiff usually is represented by a lawyer. Defendant. The defendant is the individual sued by the plaintiff. The defendant usually is also represented by a lawyer. The defendant disputes the statements, or allegations, in the plaintiff's complaint or may admit the allegations, but argue that he or she has a valid defense to the claims such as self defense. The Judge. The judge decides which disputed facts (evidence), may be presented to the jury. The judge also tells the jury in "jury instructions" what the applicable law is. The judge decides the issues of law (see the glossary) in the case. The Jury. The jury is a group of ordinary citizens selected to decide the case. A jury usually is made up of a group of six or twelve individuals, depending on state law. In most states, a jury must reach a unanimous verdict. That is, all members of the jury must agree with the decision. Some states allow for less than a unanimous verdict in some civil cases. If less than the required number of jurors agree, then the jury is a "hung jury." That means that the jury was unable to reach a decision. In that case, the case can be tried again.
Witnesses. Witnesses must have specific knowledge of what happened. Witnesses are generally not allowed to present hearsay testimony (such as gossip). Expert witnesses may not know the specific facts in the case but may use their specialized knowledge to help the jury understand complex evidence, such as the degree of intoxication that results from drinking certain amounts of liquor. The Bailiff. The bailiff is a court officer charged with keeping order in the court and helping the jury. A bailiff also may oversee custody of prisoners while in court during criminal cases. Juvenile Case Process With the exception of certain traffic, alcohol, tobacco, and watercraft violations, persons under the age of 18 years who violate any federal, state, local law or municipal ordinance are processed under the Juvenile Corrections Act. Juvenile cases are customarily handled in the magistrate division of the district court. As a rule, neither the juvenile court nor any of its officers are allowed to initiate action to bring a juvenile before the court. Usually such action begins with law enforcement. When an officer believes that a juvenile has broken the law, he or she files a report concerning the alleged offense. If further action is desirable, a report requesting that a petition be filed with the juvenile court is submitted to the prosecuting attorney. The prosecuting attorney reviews the case and determines if there is sufficient evidence to bring the matter before the juvenile court. If the prosecutor believes there is sufficient evidence, the petition is filed with the court. A petition is the formal document that sets forth the specific act with which the juvenile is charged. Unless such a petition is filed, the juvenile may not be brought before the court, except to be released from detention. Once a petition has been filed, a probation officer conducts an interview with the juvenile and with one or both of the parents or legal guardian. This interview advises the juvenile and his or her parents of the content of the petition and advises all parties of their constitutional rights. It is also used to obtain as much information as possible to aid the court in making the most fair and helpful decision in the event that the juvenile is found within the purview of the Juvenile Corrections Act. The probation officer tries to answer questions that the juvenile or parent has about the court process and sets the time and date for the initial court hearing. If the probation officer concludes that formal court action would not serve the best interests of the juvenile or the public, he or she may recommend to the court that the case be dismissed or that the juvenile diverted into a community program such as a youth court. The judge may accept or reject the recommendation. Present at the court hearings are the judge, the in-court clerk, a probation officer, the juvenile, his or her parents, and attorneys if desired. Other persons may attend if the court opens the proceedings pursuant to court rules. Typically, such persons as school counselors and police officers may attend. At the start of the court hearing, the judge reviews the petition to determine if the juvenile and his or her parents understand the charge. If copies of the petitions have not been served, they are delivered to the juvenile and his or her parents at the hearing. Before the facts of the petition are discussed, the judge reviews the constitutional and legal rights of all parties. The court then determines whether or not the facts as contained in the petition are true. If the juvenile denies the charge, the case is set for hearing. If the court finds the juvenile within the purview of the Juvenile Corrections Act at the conclusion of the hearing or by the juvenile's own admission, the court proceeds to make disposition. The court has a number of alternatives in making disposition. Briefly, they are: dismissing the case after counseling by the judge or probation officer; continuing the case for a specific action (such as paying restitution) to be completed by the juvenile and then dismissing the charges; # completing short- or long-term counseling; # referring the defendant for psychological or psychiatric evaluation and treatment; # completing probation in which the child is allowed to remain at home, subject to supervision by the court; or commitment to a juvenile detention facility for a period of 30 days or less; or referral of the child and/or his or her family to another community agency; # committing the juvenile to the Department of Juvenile Corrections which could place the juvenile at the Juvenile Corrections Center or, in some cases, the State Mental Hospital. In felony or more serious misdemeanor cases the court may transfer the case to the district court to be processed under adult criminal law. Under State Code, the juvenile must be at least 14 years of age to be tried as an adult.
US Naturalization Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is conferred upon a foreign citizen or national after he or she fulfills the requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The general requirements for administrative naturalization include: * a period of continuous residence and physical presence in the United States; * residence in a particular USCIS District prior to filing; * an ability to read, write, and speak English; * a knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government; * good moral character; * attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution; and, * favorable disposition toward the United States. Note: Recent changes in immigration law and USCIS procedures now make it easier for U.S. military personnel to naturalize. All naturalization applicants must demonstrate good moral character, attachment, and favorable disposition. The other naturalization requirements may be modified or waived for certain applicants, such as spouses of U.S. citizens. Applicants should review the following materials and carefully read the N-400 application instructions before applying. "America is not a fortress; no, we never want to be a fortress. We're a free country; we're an open society. And we must always protect the rights of our law -- of law-abiding citizens from around the world who come here to conduct business or to study or to spend time with their family." -- President Bush US Visas The U.S. is a free and open society. We welcome citizens from around the world who genuinely want to visit, study, and do business here. We are dedicated to protecting their safety and keeping our doors open to them. Changes in visa procedures reflect our concern for ensuring the safety of U.S. residents and visitors alike, not to make it more difficult for legitimate travelers to enter the United States. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, we made some changes in our laws governing visitor entry and exit. We now require additional application forms and security clearances. Visa applications take longer to process. At first, many applicants experienced hardship when applications got backlogged and delays became indefinite. Fortunately, we have improved our visa clearance procedures. Better interagency cooperation and automated procedures have speeded up the clearance process. Our goal is to make the visa process not only thorough, but also respectful and efficient. There are some new procedures that you will need to become familiar with. We want to educate and inform you about this process. In 2001 and 2002, the United States passed new laws that affected some aspects of the nonimmigrant visa process and entry-exit procedures. Many things remain the same, however. What's the Same in U.S. Visa Processing Procedures? Applicants still must complete all of the various application forms, submit photographs, application fees and other kinds of documentation as they did before. To obtain a visitor visa (for tourism, medical treatment, and certain kinds of business activities), the process may be relatively simple. To obtain other types of visas, to study or work, for example, more forms and documentation will be required. Individual experience in obtaining a visa can therefore range from relatively fast and simple to relatively complex and time consuming. Applicants also still need to demonstrate their intent to return home rather than stay permanently in the United States. You will not be granted a visa if, in the judgment of the consular officer, you have not met all of the necessary criteria. What's Different about U.S. Visa Processing Procedures? The United States is committed to what Secretary Powell has called the policy of "secure borders, open doors," by facilitating legitimate travel to the United States by international visitors while maintaining the integrity and security of our borders and our nation. Laws passed after September 11, 2001 focused ways to improve border security in the United States. To learn more, select Safety and Security of U.S. Borders Most visa applicants can expect to be interviewed and must now have two index fingerscans collected as part of the visa application process. These fingerscans are normally collected by the consular officer at the visa interview window, but in some posts they are collected prior to the visa interview. In addition to being satisfied that the applicant intends to honor the terms of the visa by returning home, the consular officer must evaluate the security risk presented by the applicant. We carefully examine all applications. Visa applications take longer to process. This affects all nonimmigrant visas. Advance planning can smooth the visa application process for you.
What's the Same in U.S. Visa Application Procedures? Many aspects of U.S. visa application process continue as before. All applicants' names are routinely checked against sophisticated government databases for possible criminal or other information that may disqualify them. The consular officer examines the application and supporting documents and data for facts indicating possible ineligibilities, inconsistencies or questions that may require clarification. In certain situations, the consular officer may ask for additional application review in Washington, DC. Some visa applicants may need to undergo an extra review process if they seek to engage in a commercial exchange or academic pursuit involving certain designated fields of advanced technology. What's Different About U.S. Visa Application Procedures? Some aspects of the nonimmigrant visa process have changed. Supplemental Application -- All male nonimmigrant visa applicants between the ages of 16-45, regardless of nationality or other factors, must now complete a supplemental application form which helps inform the consular officer's judgment about visa eligibility. Consular officers have the authority to require anyone from any country to complete visa forms if they think it's warranted. Student and Exchange Visitor Visas - All student and exchange visitors, regardless of nationality or other factors, must complete a supplemental application form which helps inform the consular officer's judgment about visa eligibility. Applicants must also get an authorization form from their sponsoring institution in the U.S. Before a visa can be issued, the sponsoring institution must authenticate the applicant by opening and maintaining an electronic file on a Web-based data management system managed by the Department of Homeland Security, called Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
Chapter 8 Compiled Laws with Punishments & Criminal Situations
LEGAL DEFINITIONS OF LAW TERMS Sensus verborum est anima legis. "The meaning of words is the spirit of the law." ASSAULT (legal def.) The touching of another person with an intent to harm, without that person's consent. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. ABLE context 'discussed by an ABLE writer' 1: possessed of needed powers or of needed resources to accomplish an objective '~ to perform under the contract' 2: having freedom from restriction or obligation or from conditions preventing an action '~ to vote' 3: legally qualified possessed of legal competence '~ to inherit property' Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. ACTIONABLE (legal def.) When enough facts or circumstances exist to meet the legal requirements to file a legitimate lawsuit. If the facts required to prove a case cannot be alleged in the complaint, the case is not "actionable" and the client and his/her attorney should not file a suit. Of course, whether many cases are actionable is a matter of judgment and interpretation of the facts and/or law, resulting in many lawsuits that clog the courts. Incidentally, if a case is filed which is clearly not actionable, it may result in a lawsuit against the filer of the original suit for malicious prosecution by the defendant after he/she has won the original suit. Source: law.com dictionary. AFFORDED, AFFORD 1: to give forth; to supply, yield, or produce as the natural result, fruit, or issue; as, grapes afford wine; olives afford oil; the earth affords fruit; the sea affords an abundant supply of fish 2: to give, grant, or confer, with a remoter reference to its being the natural result; to provide; to furnish; as, a good life affords consolation in old age 3: to offer, provide, or supply, as in selling, granting, expending, with profit, or without loss or too great injury; as, A affords his goods cheaper than B; a man can afford a sum yearly in charity. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. ALIENATE (legal def.) 1: to sell or give completely and without reserve; to transfer title to somebody else. A voluntary conveyance of property, especially real property. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. ALIENATION context 'alienation of a wife's affections'(legal def. 'alienation of affections') 1: the diversion of a person's affection from someone (as a spouse) who has certain rights or claims to such affection usu. to a third person who is held to be the instigator or cause of the diversion. In most jurisdictions today (2001) 'alienation of affections' is no longer recognized as a basis for a civil suit. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. ALLEGED context (alleged breach of an implied contract)(legal def.) 1: asserted to be true esp. stated in an allegation '~ crimes' 2: accused but not yet proven or convicted 'trial of ~ war criminals -R. G. Neumann'. Pronunciation: &-'lejd, -'le-j&d. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. AMICUS CURIAE (legal def.) Latin: friend of the court. Refers more specifically to persons asking for permission to intervene in a case in which they are neither plaintiff or defendant, usually to present their point of view (or that of their organization) in a case which has the potential of setting a legal precedent in their area of activity. This is common, for example, in civil rights cases and, in some instances, can only be done with the permission of the parties or the court. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. ASPIRATION A strong desire to achieve something high or great b : an object of such desire. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. BATTERY (legal def.)[Old French batterie beating, from battre to beat, from Latin battuere] 1: the crime or tort of intentionally or recklessly causing offensive physical contact or bodily harm (as by striking or by administering a poison or drug) that is not consented to by the victim; compare assault. Pronunciation: 'ba-t&-rE, -trE. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. BENEFICENT Doing or producing good; performing acts of kindness and charity; characterized by beneficence. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. BENEVOLENCE 1: the disposition to do good; good will; charitableness; love of mankind, accompanied with a desire to promote their happiness. 2: An act of kindness; good done; charity given. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913.
BILL OF RIGHTS (legal def.) The first ten amendments to the federal Constitution demanded by several states in return for ratifying the Constitution, since the failure to protect these rights was a glaring omission in the Constitution as adopted in convention in 1787. Adopted and ratified in 1791, the Bill of Rights are: First: Prohibits laws establishing a religion (separation of church and state), and bans laws which would restrict freedom of religion, speech, press (now interpreted as covering all media), right to peaceably assemble and petition the government. Second: A "well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Third: No quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner's consent. Fourth: No unreasonable search and seizures, no warrants without probable cause, and such warrants must be upon "oath or affirmation" and describe the place to be searched or the person or things to be taken. Fifth: Prohibits criminal charges for death penalty ("capital punishment") or any other "infamous" crime (felony) without indictment by a Grand Jury except under martial law in the time of war or "public danger"; no person may be tried twice for the same offense; no one may be compelled to be a witness against himself ("taking the Fifth"), no one can be deprived of life, liberty or property without "due process of law"; no taking of property for public use (eminent domain) without just compensation. These rights have become applicable to states through the 14th Amendment as well as state constitutions. Sixth: Rights of criminal defendants to a speedy and public trial, impartial local jury, information on the nature and cause of accusation, confront witnesses against him, right to subpena witnesses, and have counsel. Seventh: Juries may be demanded in civil cases (over $20) and the jury shall be trier of the fact in such cases as required by Common Law. Eighth: No excessive bail, excessive fines or "cruel and unusual punishment." Ninth: Stating these rights shall not be construed to deny that other rights are retained by the people. Tenth: Powers given to the United States (central government) and not prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people. Source: U.S. CONSTITUTION, law.com dictionary BREACH context 'alleged breach of an implied contract'(legal def.) The failure to do what one promised to do under a contract. Proving a breach of contract is a prerequisite of any suit for damages based on the contract. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. BOTCH 1: something that is botched : MESS 2: PATCHWORK, HODGEPODGE. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIARE DICTIONARY. CASE (legal def.) 1: case describes a dispute taken to court. An appellate court decision published in a book of such decisions is also called a case and may be used as guidance or precedent by other courts. A person doing legal research will commonly say that he has to look up a case to see if its ruling on a point should be followed by other courts. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. CASUAL, CASUALLY context 'is casually complete'[OE. casuel, F. casuel, fr. L. casualis, fr. casus fall, accident, fr. cadere to fall] 1: happening or coming to pass without design, and without being foreseen or expected; accidental; fortuitous; coming by chance. 'Casual breaks, in the general system.' --W. Irving. 2: coming without regularity; occasional; incidental; as, casual expenses.' A constant habit, rather than a casual gesture.' --Hawthorne. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. CIVIL 1a: of or relating to citizens b: of or relating to the state or its citizenry 2a : CIVILIZED 'civil society' b : adequate in courtesy and politeness : MANNERLY 3a : of, relating to, or based on civil law b : relating to private rights and to remedies sought by action or suit distinct from criminal proceedings c : established by law 4: of, relating to, or involving the general public, their activities, needs, or ways, or civic affairs as distinguished from special (as military or religious) affairs. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. CIVIL RIGHTS Those rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution, including the right to due process, equal treatment under the law of all people regarding enjoyment of life, liberty, property, and protection. Positive civil rights include the right to vote, the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a democratic society, such as equal access to public schools, recreation, transportation, public facilities, and housing, and equal and fair treatment by law enforcement and the courts. Source: law.com dictionary
COMMON LAW, COMMON-LAW RULE (legal def.) 1: a body of law that is based on custom and general principles and embodied in case law and that serves as precedent or is applied to situations not covered by statute 'the common law of torts' 2: the body of law that was first developed in the English courts of law as distinguished from equity and that allows for particular remedies (as damages) 'in suits at common law...the right of trial by jury shall be preserved -U.S. Constitution amend. 3: the body of law developed in England that is the basis of U.S. federal law and of state law in all states except Louisiana. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. COMMUNITY (legal def.) 1: the people who live in a particular place or region and usu. are linked by some common interests 2: the mass of community property owned by a husband and wife 'a spouse may not...lease to a third person his undivided interest in the ~ or in particular things of the ~ -Louisiana Civil Code' 3: the entity created upon the marriage of a husband and wife for the purposes of ownership of property in community property states 'an agreement terminating the ~'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. CONDONE [Latin condonare to absolve, from com- + donare to give -- more at DONATION] To pardon or overlook voluntarily; especially : to treat as if trivial, harmless, or of no importance 'condone corruption in politics'. Source WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. CONSTITUTE(S), CONSTITUTED AUTHORITY (legal def. 'constitute') [L. constitutus, p. p. of constiture to constitute; con- + statuere to place, set, fr. status station, fr. stare to stand.] 1: to appoint to an office or function 'those who are constituted heirs or named legatees -Louisiana Civil Code' 'legal authority ~s all magistrates' 2: See also establish See also found. 'to ~ tribunals inferior to the supreme Court -U.S. Constitution art. 3: to put (as an agreement) into required form 4: to qualify as 'a letter can ~ a will -W. M. McGovern, Jr. et al.' 'failure to act may ~ negligence' 5: to form the substance or whole of 'the bonds constituted the entire estate' Pronunciation: kn-st&-'tt, -'tyt. 6: the basic law or laws of a nation or a state which sets out how that state will be organized. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY, WEBSTER'S from 1913. CONTUMELY [L. contumelia, prob. akin to contemnere to despise: cf. OF. contumelie. Cf. Contumacy.] Rudeness compounded of haughtiness and contempt; scornful insolence; despiteful treatment; disdain; contemptuousness in act or speech; disgrace. 'The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely.' --Shak. 'Nothing aggravates tyranny so much as contumely.' --Burke. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. COPYRIGHT (legal def.) The exclusive right to produce or reproduce (copy), to perform in public or to publish an original literary or artistic work. Many countries have expanded the definition of a 'literary work' to include computer programs or other electronically stored information. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. CORPORATION (legal def.) 1: a legal entity, allowed by legislation, which permits a group of people, as shareholders (for-profit companies) or members (non-profit companies), to create an organization, which can then focus on pursuing set objectives, and empowered with legal rights which are usually only reserved for individuals, such as to sue and be sued, own property, hire employees or loan and borrow money. Also known as a 'company.' The primary advantage of for profit corporations is that it provides its shareholders with a right to participate in the profits (by dividends) without any personal liability because the company absorbs the entire liability of the organization. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. CORPOREAL, CORPOREAL BEING (legal def.) 1: having, consisting of, or relating to a physical material body compare incorporeal Pronunciation: ko'r-'pOr-E-&l. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. CORRELATIVE context 'correlative rights' 1: having or indicating a reciprocal relation. One who, or that which, stands in a reciprocal relation, or is correlated, to some other person or thing. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. COUNSEL [ME conseil, fr.OF, fr. Latin consilium, fr. consulere to consult] 1a: advice given especially as a result of consultation b : a policy or plan of action or behavior 2: DELIBERATION, CONSULTATION 3a: [Obs.]PURPOSE b: guarded thoughts or intentions 4: a plural counsel (1) : a lawyer engaged in the trial or management of a case in court (2) : a lawyer appointed to advise and represent in legal matters an individual client or a corporate and especially a public body. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. CRIMINAL LIABILITY (legal def. 'Criminal Law ') That body of the law that deals with conduct considered so harmful to society as a whole that it is prohibited by statute, prosecuted and punished by the government. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. CULPABLE (legal def.) Sufficiently responsible for criminal acts or negligence to be at fault and liable for the conduct. Sometimes culpability rests on whether the person realized the wrongful nature of his/her actions and thus should take the blame.Source:law.com dictionary.
CUSTODY (legal def.) 1: means the charge and control of a child including the right to make all major decisions such as education, religious upbringing, training, health and welfare. Custody, without qualification usually refers to a combination of physical custody and legal custody. For other varieties of custody, see joint custody, split custody and divided custody. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. DAMAGES (legal def.) A cash compensation ordered by a court to offset losses or suffering caused by another's fault or negligence. Damages are a typical request made of a court when persons sue for breach of contract or tort. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. DAMNUM ABSQUE INJURIA [Late Latin, 'loss without unlawful conduct'] 1: a loss for which the law provides no means of recovery compare injuria absque damno Pronunciation: dam-n&m-'ab-skwE-in-'ju'r-E-&,'dm-nu'm-'b-skwA-in-'y-rE-. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. DAUB 1: to cover or coat with soft adhesive matter : PLASTER 2: to coat with a dirty substance.3: to apply coloring material crudely to 4: to apply (as paint) crudely. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. DEEMED 1: to be of opinion; to think; to estimate; to opine; to suppose. 2: to pass judgment. [Obs.] Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. DEFAMATION (legal def.) 1: an attack on the good reputation of a person, by slander or libel. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. DEFENDANT (legal def.) A person required to make answer in a legal action or suit -- compare PLAINTIFF. Source: law.com dictionary. DEPRAVED context 'gross and depraved imagination'(legal def.) Marked by moral corruption or perversion as shown by a capacity for extreme and wanton physical cruelty 'the ~ state of mind of the murderer' 'the ~ nature of the crime' Pronunciation: di-'prAvd. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. DISCERN 1: to see or understand the difference; to make distinction; as, to discern between good and evil, truth and falsehood. 'More than six score thousand that cannot discern between their right hand their left.' --Jonah iv.11. 2: To make cognizance. [Obs.] Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. DOCTRINE 1[Obs.]: TEACHING, INSTRUCTION 2a: something that is taught b: a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief : DOGMA c : a principle of law established through past decisions d : a statement of fundamental government policy especially in international relations. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. EFFRONTERY [French effronterie, ultimately from Med. Latin effront-, effrons shameless, from Latin ex- + front-, frons forehead] Shameless boldness : INSOLENCE . Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. E.G.; [Latin 'for example';] Meaning, as an example; 'Furthermore, e.g., in the case of Jones vs. Smith....' Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. ENCROACH (legal def.) [Anglo-French encrocher, probably alteration of acrocher to catch hold of, seize, usurp, from Old French, from a-, prefix stressing goal + croc hook] to enter esp. gradually or stealthily into the possessions or rights of another '~es on an adjoining property' Pronunciation: in-'krOch. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. ENGRAFTED (def. 'ingraft') 1: to insert, as a scion of one tree, shrub, or plant in another for propagation; as, to ingraft a peach scion on a plum tree; figuratively, to insert or introduce in such a way as to make a part of something. 'This fellow would ingraft a foreign name Upon our stock.' --Dryden 2: to subject to the process of grafting; to furnish with grafts or scions; to graft; as, to ingraft a tree. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. ENJOINED (legal def.)[Anglo-French enjoindre to impose, constrain, from Old French, from Latin injungere to attach, impose, from in- on + jungere to join] to prohibit by judicial order, issue an injunction against 'a three-judge district court had ~ed the plans -W. J. Brennan, Jr.' Pronunciation: in-'jo'in. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913.
ENTAILED context 'notoriety entailed' 1: to settle or fix inalienably on a person or thing, or on a person and his descendants or a certain line of descendants; -- said especially of an estate; to bestow as an heritage. 'Allowing them to entail their estates.' --Hume. 'I here entail The crown to thee and to thine heirs forever.' --Shak. 2: To appoint hereditary possessor. [Obs.] 'To entail him and his heirs unto the crown.' --Shak. 3: To cut or carve in a ornamental way. [Obs.] 4: to confer, assign, or transmit as if by entail : FASTEN 'entailed on them indelible disgrace' -- Robert Browning. 5: to fix (a person) permanently in some condition or status 'entail him and his heirs unto the crown' -- Shak. 6 : to impose, involve, or imply as a necessary accompaniment or result. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. ENTERPRISE, ENTERPRISING context 'the too enterprising press' 1: that which is undertaken; something attempted to be performed; a work projected which involves activity, courage, energy, and the like; a bold, arduous, or hazardous attempt; an undertaking; as, a manly enterprise' a warlike enterprise.' --Shak. 2: willingness or eagerness to engage in labor which requires boldness, promptness, energy, and like qualities; as, a man of great enterprise. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. ENUMERATION [L. enumeratio: cf. F.['e]num['e]ration.]1: the act of numerating, making separate mention, or recounting. 2: a detailed account, in which each thing is specially noticed. 3: (Rhet.) a recapitulation, in the peroration, of the heads of an argument. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. ESCROW When the performance of something is outstanding and a third party holds onto money or a written document (such as shares or a deed) until a certain condition is met between the two contracting parties. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. EXHAUSTIVE context 'exhaustive definition'(legal def.) Serving or tending to exhaust; exhibiting all the facts or arguments; as, an exhaustive method. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. FEASOR, MALFEASOR (legal def.) One who commits a 'Malfeasance'; doing something which is illegal. Compare with misfeasance and nonfeasance. Misfeasance: improperly doing something which a person has the legal right to do. Nonfeasance: not doing something that a person should be doing. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. FEELINGS 1: to perceive by the touch; to take cognizance of by means of the nerves of sensation distributed all over the body, especially by those of the skin; to have sensation excited by contact of (a thing) with the body or limbs 2: to touch; to handle; to examine by touching; as, feel this piece of silk; hence, to make trial of; to test; often with 'out' 3: to perceive by the mind; to have a sense of; to experience; to be affected by; to be sensible of, or sensitive to; as, to feel pleasure; to feel pain 4: To take internal cognizance of; to be conscious of; to have an inward persuasion of. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. FELONY (legal def.) A serious crime for which the punishment is prison for more than a year or death. Crimes of less gravity are called misdemeanors. This term is no longer used in England or other Commonwealth countries but remains a major distinction in the United States. Historically, in England, the term referred to crimes for which the punishment was the loss of land, life or a limb. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. FEUDAL SYSTEM (legal def.)A social structure that existed throughout much of Europe between 800 and 1400 and that revolved around a multi-level hierarchy between lords (who held land granted under tenure from the king), and their tenants (also called 'vassals'). Tenants would lease land from the lord in exchange for loyalty and goods or services, such as military assistance or money. In exchange, the tenant would be protected from attack. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. FITLY context '...forged in the slow fire of the centuries, and today fitly tempered to his hand.' In a fit manner; suitably; properly; conveniently. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. FLAGRANT context 'more flagrant breaches' 1: Flaming; inflamed; glowing; burning; ardent. 2: Actually in preparation, execution, or performance; carried on hotly; raging. 3: Flaming into notice; notorious; enormous; heinous; glaringly wicked. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. FORESTALL 1: to take beforehand, or in advance; to anticipate 2: to take possession of, in advance of some one or something else, to the exclusion or detriment of the latter; to get ahead of; to reoccupy; also, to exclude, hinder, or prevent, by prior occupation, or by measures taken in advance. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. GOSSIP (def. 'gossip') 1: a sponsor; a godfather or a godmother. 2: a friend or comrade; a companion; a familiar and customary acquaintance [Obs.] 3: one who runs house to house, tattling and telling news; an idle tattler 4: the tattle of a gossip; groundless rumor.(def. MONGER) 1: a trader; a dealer; -- now used chiefly in composition; as, fishmonger, ironmonger, newsmonger, gossipmonger. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913.
GROSS context 'gross and depraved imagination'[Middle English, immediately obvious, from Middle French gros thick, coarse, from Latin grossus] 1: flagrant or extreme esp. in badness or offensiveness of very blameworthy character 'a ~ violation of the rules of ethics' 'a ~ abuse of trust' 2: consisting of an overall total exclusive of deductions '~ annual earnings' compare net Pronunciation: 'grOs. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY, WEBSTER'S from 1913. HARASSMENT (legal def.) 1: unsolicited words or conduct which tend to annoy, alarm or abuse another person. An excellent alternate definition can be found in Canadian human rights legislation as: 'a course of vexatious comment or conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.' Name-calling ('stupid', 'retard' or 'dummy') is a common form of harassment. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. HEARSAY (legal def.) 1: any evidence that is offered by a witness of which they do not have direct knowledge but, rather, their testimony is based on what others have said to them. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. HONOR 1: esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. 'A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country.' --Matt. xiii.57 2: that which rightfully attracts esteem. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. IDLE context 'idle or prurient curiosity' 1: of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable; thoughtless; silly; barren. 'Deserts idle.' --Shak. 'Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.' --Matt.xii. 36. 2: not called into active service; not turned to appropriate use; unemployed; as, idle hours. 3: not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing; as, idle workmen. 4: given rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy; slothful; as, an idle fellow. 5: lightheaded; foolish. [Obs.] Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. IMPEDIMENT context 'an impediment in his speech'(legal def.) Something that prevents or interferes with a process, power, or right 'should have known of the legal ~s to the execution of any judgment against the police jury' specif. a bar to the formation of a valid contract or marriage. Pronunciation: im-'pe-d&-m&nt. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. IMPREGNABLE [F. imprenable; im- not + prenable pregnable, fr. prendre to take, L. prehendere, to get, to obtain.] Not to be stormed, or taken by assault; incapable of being subdued; able to resist attack; unconquerable; as, an impregnable fortress; impregnable virtue. 'The man's affection remains wholly unconcerned and impregnable.' --South. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. INCORPOREAL (legal def.) 1: not tangible having no material body or form '~ hereditaments' 'an ~ right' compare corporeal Pronunciation: 'in-ko'r-'pOr-E-&l. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. INDICTABLE OFFENSE (legal def.) An offence which, in Canada, is more serious than those which can proceed by summary conviction. This is the Canadian equivalent to the USA 'felony'. Murder and treason are examples of crimes committed in Canada which would be indictable offenses. These crimes are usually tried by federally-appointed judges and carry heavy sentences. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. INDICTMENT [USA] A formal accusation returned by a Grand Jury, that charges a person with a serious crime. It is on the basis of an indictment that an accused person must stand trial. (legal def. 'indict')[alteration of earlier indite, from Anglo-French enditer, from Old French, to write down, ultimately from Latin indicere to proclaim, from in- toward + dicere to say]to charge with a crime by the finding or presentment of a grand jury in due form of law compare accuse arraign charge Pronunciation: in-'dIt. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. INDOLENT 1: free from toil, pain, or trouble. [Obs.] 2: indulging in ease; avoiding labor and exertion; habitually idle; lazy; inactive; as, an indolent man 3: causing little or no pain or annoyance; as, an indolent tumor Syn: idle; lazy; slothful; sluggish; listless; inactive; inert. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. INFERIOR TRIBUNAL (legal def. 'inferior court') 1: a court that is subordinate to and whose decisions are subject to review by the highest court in a judicial system (as of a state or country) specif. a court having limited and specified jurisdiction rather than general jurisdiction. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. INFRACTION (legal def.) The act of infringing. Pronunciation: in-'frak-sh&n'(legal def. 'infringe')[Medieval Latin infringere, from Latin, to break, crush, from in- + frangere to break] 1: to encroach upon in a way that violates law or the rights of another 'the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed -U.S. Constitution amend. II' esp. to violate a holder's rights under (a copyright, patent, trademark, or trade name) See also encroach Pronunciation: in-'frinj. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY.
INFRINGEMENT (legal def.) The act or an instance of infringing esp. the unauthorized use of copyrighted or patented material or of a trademark, trade name, or trade dress see also equivalent fair use Infringement of a trademark, trade name, or trade dress involves use of one by the infringer that is the same as that of the owner or so similar that it is likely to deceive or to cause confusion or mistake on the part of the average purchaser. Infringement of a copyright involves the copying of a material and substantial portion of the protected work. If the alleged infringer denies copying, the copyright holder may be able to prove infringement with circumstantial evidence of the infringer's access to the protected work and of similarities between the two works. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. INHERES context 'there inheres the quality' To be inherent; to stick (in); to be fixed or permanently incorporated with something; to cleave (to); to belong, as attributes or qualities. 'They do but inhere in the subject that supports them.' --Digby. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. INJUNCTIONS (legal def.) 1: a court order that prohibits a party from doing something (restrictive injunction) or compels them to do something (mandatory injunction). Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. INJURIA context 'legal injuria'[Latin, unlawful conduct, unjust treatment](legal def.) Invasion of another's rights for which one may bring an action. Pronunciation: in-'ju'r -E-&. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. INSULT [L. insultus, fr. insilire to leap upon] 1: the act of leaping on; onset; attack. [Obs.] 2: gross abuse offered to another, either by word or act; an act or speech of insolence or contempt; an affront; an indignity. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. INTANGIBLE (legal def.) 1: something intangible specif. an asset (as goodwill or a patent right) that is not corporeal. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. INTANGIBLE PROPERTY context 'opened the wide realm of intangible property, in the products and processes of the mind, as works of literature and art, good-will, trade secrets, and trade-marks.' (legal def.) 1: property (as a stock certificate or professional license) that derives value not from its intrinsic physical nature but from what it represents.(legal def, 'real property) 1: property consisting of land, buildings, crops, or other resources still attached to or within the land or improvements or fixtures permanently attached to the land or a structure on it also an interest, benefit, right, or privilege in such property.(legal def. 'intangible') 1: incapable of being touched, having no physical existence not tangible or corporeal Pronunciation: 'tan-j&-b&l 2: something intangible specif. an asset (as goodwill or a patent right) that is not Corporeal. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. INTERPOSITION 1: the act of interposing, or the state of being interposed; a being, placing, or coming between; mediation 2: the thing interposed. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. INTRINSIC context 'intrinsic merits' Belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing Pronunciation: in-'trin-zik, -sik. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. INVIOLATE 1: not violated; uninjured; unhurt; unbroken. 'His fortune of arms was still inviolate.' --Bacon. 2: not corrupted, defiled, or profaned; chaste; pure. 'Inviolate truth.' --Denham. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. INVOKED (legal def.) 1: to appeal to as furnishing authority or motive 2: to put into legal effect or call for the observance of See also enforce 'invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege' 3: to introduce or put into operation 'invoking economic sanctions' 4: to be the cause of 'the...decision invoked the final hardship -U.S. Code'. Pronunciation: in-'vOk. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. ISLAMIC LAW (legal def.)1: The law according to the Muslim faith and as interpreted from the Koran. Islamic law is probably best known for deterrent punishment, which is the basis of the Islamic criminal system and the fact that there is no separation of church and state. Under Islamic law, the religion of Islam and the government are one. Islamic law is controlled, ruled and regulated by the Islamic religion. Islamic law purports to regulate all public and private behavior including personal hygiene, diet, sexual conduct, and child rearing. Islamic law now prevails in countries all over the middle east and elsewhere covering twenty per cent of the world's population. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. JOINT CUSTODY (legal def.) a child custody decision which means that both parents share joint legal custody and joint physical custody. This is not very common and many professionals have taken to referring to 'joint legal custody but sole maternal physical custody' as 'joint custody'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. JURISDICTION (legal def.) Refers to a court's authority to judge over a situation usually acquired in one of three ways: over acts committed in a defined territory (e.g.; the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Australia is limited to acts committed or originating in Australia), over certain types of cases (the jurisdiction of a bankruptcy court is limited to bankruptcy cases), or over certain persons (a military court has jurisdiction limited to actions of enlisted personnel). Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY.
KEEN context 'and keenest sense' 1: sharp; having a fine edge or point; as, a keen razor, or a razor with a keen edge. 'That my keen knife see not the wound it makes.' --Shak. 2: acute of mind; sharp; penetrating; having or expressing mental acuteness; as, a man of keen understanding; a keen look; keen features.' To make our wits more keen.' --Shak. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. LAWSUIT (legal def.) An action brought in a court for the purpose of seeking relief from or remedy for an alleged wrong. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. LEGAL CUSTODY (legal def.) a child custody decision which entails the right to make, or participate in, the significant decisions affecting a child's health and welfare (compare with physical custody and joint custody). Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. LEGISLATION (legal def.) Written and approved laws. Also known as 'statutes' or 'acts.' In constitutional law, one would talk of the 'power to legislate' or the 'legislative arm of government' referring to the power of political bodies (e.g.; house of assembly, Congress, Parliament) to write the laws of the land. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. LIABILITY (legal def.) Any legal obligation, either due now or at some time in the future. It could be a debt or a promise to do something. To say a person is 'liable' for a debt or wrongful act is to indicate that they are the person responsible for paying the debt or compensating the wrongful act. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. LIBEL context 'the law of SLANDER and LIBEL'(legal def.) 1: defamation by writing such as in a newspaper or a letter. A libel plaintiff must generally establish that the alleged libel refers to him or her specifically that it was published to other and that some injury (as to reputation) occurred that gives him or her a right to recover damages (as actual general presumed or special damages). The defendant may plead and establish the truth of the statements as a defense. Criminal libel may have additional elements as in tending to provoke a breach of peace or in blackening the memory of someone who is dead. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. LIBELOUS (legal def. LIBEL) Defamation by writing such as in a newspaper or a letter. Although libel is defined under state case law or statute, the U.S. Supreme Court has enumerated some First Amendment protections that apply to matters of public concern. In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the Court held that in order to recover damages a public person (as a celebrity or politician) who alleges libel (as by a newspaper) has to prove that the statement was made with `actual malice'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. LIBERAL context 'a more liberal doctrine'[F. lib['e] ral, L. liberalis, from liber Free;] 1: free by birth; hence, befitting a freeman or gentleman; refined; noble; independent; free; not servile or mean; as, a liberal ancestry; a liberal spirit; liberal arts or studies. 'Liberal education.' --Macaulay. 'A liberal tongue.' --Shak. 2: Bestowing in a large and noble way, as a freeman; generous; bounteous; openhanded; as, a liberal giver. 'Liberal of praise.' --Bacon. 3: bestowed in a large way; hence, more than sufficient; abundant; bountiful; ample; profuse; as, a liberal gift; a liberal discharge of matter or of water. 4: Not strict or rigorous; not confined or restricted to the literal sense; free; as, a liberal translation of a classic, or a liberal construction of law or of language. 5: not narrow or contracted in mind; not selfish; enlarged in spirit'. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. LOUISIANA LAW (legal def.) 1: for the benefit of our common law brethren we'll provide a brief explanation of Louisiana law. Louisiana was settled by both the Spanish and the French before being acquired as territory for the United States. Europe had had an elaborate system of laws dating from ancient times. The law had been codified, collected into a written set or compilation of laws called a code. From the time of the Code of Justinian, the Greek and Roman Civil Codes, and all the way to the famous Napoleonic Code created under the reign of Napoleon. It is said that the ten commandments are a simple civil code or collection of laws governing our civil behavior toward our fellow man. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. MALICE (legal def. 'malice') 1: the intention or desire to cause harm (as death, bodily injury, or property damage) to another through an unlawful or wrongful act without justification or excuse 2: wanton disregard for the rights of others or for the value of human life 3: an improper or evil motive or purpose 'if ~ cannot be proved or a benign purpose can be imagined -David Kairys' Pronunciation: 'ma-l&s'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. MALICIOUS PROSECUTION (legal def.) Filing a lawsuit with the intention of creating problems for the defendant such as costs, attorneys' fees, anguish, or distraction when there is no substantial basis for the suit. If the defendant in the lawsuit wins and has evidence that the suit was filed out of spite and without any legal or factual foundation, he/she may, in turn, sue for damages against the person who filed the original action. If malice is clearly proved against the party who brought the original suit, punitive damages may be awarded along with special and general damages. In recent cases, courts have ruled that an attorney who knowingly assists a client in filing a worthless lawsuit out of malice or spite may be liable for damages along with the client. The suit by the victim to recover damages for a malicious prosecution cannot be filed until the original lawsuit is decided in favor of the victim. Source: law.com dictionary
MARRIAGE (legal def.) The state-recognized, voluntary and exclusive contract for the lifelong union of two persons. Most countries do not recognize marriage between same-sex couples or polygamous marriages. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. MATERIAL context 'material rather than spiritual'(legal def.) 1: of, relating to, or consisting of physical matter 2: being of real importance or consequence 3: being an essential component 'the ~ terms of the contract' 4: being relevant to a subject under consideration specif being such as would affect or be taken into consideration by a reasonable person in acting or making a decision see also insider trading Pronunciation: m&-'tir-E-&l. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. MEAN context 'a mean fiction' 1: destitute of distinction or eminence; common; low; vulgar; humble. 'Of mean parentage.' --Sir P. Sidney. 2: Wanting dignity of mind; low-minded; base; destitute of honor; spiritless; as, a mean motive. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. MERITS context 'intrinsic merits'(legal def. 'merit') 1: the substance of a case apart from matters of jurisdiction, procedure, or form 'a ruling on the ~s of the case' see also judgment on the merits at judgment 2: legal significance, standing, or worth 'an argument without ~' Pronunciation: 'mer-&t. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. MUNICIPAL context 'municipal or parochial'(legal def.) 1: of or relating to the internal affairs of a major political unit (as a nation) 'was sentenced by a court of ~, not international, jurisdiction' 2: of, relating to, or characteristic of a municipality 'the ~counsel' 3: having local self-government 'a ~ district' 4: restricted to one locality Pronunciation: myu'-'ni-s&-p&l. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. NEGLIGENCE (GROSS NEGLIGENCE) (legal def.) Negligence that is marked by conduct that presents an unreasonably high degree of risk to others and by a failure to exercise even the slightest care in protecting them from it and that is sometimes associated with conscious and willful indifference to their rights see also recklessness compare criminal negligence in this entry. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. NOTORIOUS (legal def.) 1: generally known and talked of 'adverse possession created by open, continuous, ~, and adverse use'. Pronunciation: O-'tOr-E-&s. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. NUISANCE (legal def.) The unreasonable, unwarranted and/or unlawful use of property, which causes inconvenience or damage to others, either to individuals and/or to the general public. Nuisances can include noxious smells, noise, burning, misdirection of water onto other property, illegal gambling, unauthorized collections of rusting autos, indecent signs and pictures on businesses and a host of bothersome activities. Where illegal they can be abated (changed, repaired or improved) by criminal or quasi-criminal charges. If a nuisance interferes with another person's quiet or peaceful or pleasant use of his/her property, it may be the basis for a lawsuit for damages and/or an injunction ordering the person or entity causing the nuisance to desist (stop) or limit the activity (such as closing down an activity in the evening). Source: law.com dictionary. NOTORIETY context 'notoriety entailed' The quality or condition of being notorious; the state of being generally or publicly known; -- commonly used in an unfavorable sense; as, the notoriety of a crime.' They were not subjects in their own nature so exposed to public notoriety.' --Addison. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. OBNOXIOUS [L. obnoxius; ob (see Ob-) + noxius hurtful] 1: subject; liable; exposed; answerable; amenable; -- with to. 'The writings of lawyers, which are tied obnoxious to their particular laws.' --Bacon. 'Esteeming it more honorable to live on the public than to be obnoxious to any private purse.' --Milton. 2: liable to censure; exposed to punishment; reprehensible; blameworthy. 3: offensive; odious; hateful; as, an obnoxious statesman. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. ORAL context 'oral publication' 1: uttered by the mouth, or in words; spoken, not written; verbal; as, oral traditions; oral testimony; oral law. 2: of or pertaining to the mouth; surrounding or lining the mouth. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. PALE context 'as beyond the pale'[F. pal, fr. L. palus: cf. D. paal. a stake] 1: a pointed stake or slat, either driven into the ground, or fastened to a rail at the top and bottom, for fencing or inclosing; a picket. 2: That which incloses or fences in; a boundary; a limit; a fence; a palisade. 3: A space or field having bounds or limits; a limited region or place; an inclosure; -- often used figuratively.' Out of the pale of civilization.' --Macaulay. English pale (Hist.), the limits or territory within which alone the English conquerors of Ireland held dominion for a long period after their invasion of the country in 1172. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. PANTOMIME 1: a universal mimic; an actor who assumes many parts; also, any actor. [Obs.] 2: one who acts his part by gesticulation or dumb show only, without speaking; a pantomimist 3: a dramatic representation by actors who use only dumb show; hence, dumb show, generally 4: A dramatic and spectacular entertainment of which dumb acting as well as burlesque dialogue, music, and dancing by Clown, Harlequin, etc., are features. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913.
PARENTS', context 'parents' feelings'(legal def.) 1: a person who begets or brings forth offspring esp. the natural parents of a child born of their marriage. The biological father of an illegitimate child is usu. not considered the child's parent absent a judicial ruling. 2: an entity or group that gives rise to or acquires another usually subsidiary entity or group 'a ~ company' specif. a corporation that owns a required minimum percentage of the stock of another corporation Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY, law.com dictionary. PAROCHIAL context 'municipal or parochial'(legal def.) Of or relating to a parish Pronunciation: p&-'rO-kE-&l. Of or pertaining to a parish; restricted to a parish; as, parochial duties. 'Parochial pastors.' --Bp. Atterbury. Hence, limited; narrow. 'The parochial mind.' Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY, WEBSTER'S from 1913. PECUNIARY VALUE (legal def. LATIN pecunius 'money') Consisting of, measured in, or relating to money '~ damages' Pronunciation: pi-'ky-nE-'er-E. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PERPETRATION [Latin perpetratus, past participle of perpetrare, from per- through + patrare to accomplish, from pater father] To bring about or carry out (as a crime or deception) : COMMIT. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. PER QUOD (legal def.)[Latin, whereby] On the basis of or with reference to extrinsic circumstances 'statements are considered defamatory per quod if the defamatory character of the statement is not apparent on its face 'a per quod claim for loss of consortium'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PER QUOD SERVITIUM AMISIT (legal def. LATIN) 'for the loss of services'. Example; 'For injuries to the relative rights, as for enticing away an infant child, per quod servitium amisit ('for the loss of services'), for criminal conversation, seducing or harboring wives; debauching daughters, but in this case the daughter must live with her father as his servant; or enticing away or harboring apprentices or servants. When the seduction takes place in the husband's or father's house, he may, at his election, have trespass or case, but when the injury is done in the house of another, case is the proper remedy.' Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PER SE (legal def,)[Latin, by, of, or in itself] 1: inherently, strictly, or by operation of statute, constitutional provision or doctrine, or case law 'the transaction was illegal per se' 2: without proof of special damages or reference to extrinsic circumstances 'defamatory statements that were actionable per se' compare per quod Pronunciation: p&r-'sA, 'per-; p&r-'sE. 3: being such inherently, clearly, or by operation of statute, constitutional provision or doctrine, or case law 'it is clear that licensing of adult entertainment establishments is not a per se violation of the First Amendment'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PERSON context 'right to the immunity of the person--the right to one's personality.'(legal def.) 1: the quality, state, or fact of being a person 'the corporation has legal ~' 2: the totality of an individual's behavioral and emotional characteristics. 3: An entity with legal rights and existence including the ability to sue and be sued, to sign contracts, to receive gifts, to appear in court either by themselves or by lawyer. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PERSONALITY context 'the right to an inviolate personality' (legal def.) 1: the quality, state, or fact of being a person 'the corporation has legal ~' 2: the totality of an individual's behavioral and emotional characteristics 'a ~ disorder' (def. 'personality') 1: that which constitutes distinction of person; individuality. 2: Something said or written which refers to the person, conduct, etc., of some individual, especially something of a disparaging or offensive nature; personal remarks; as, indulgence in personalities. 'Sharp personalities were exchanged.' --Macaulay. 3: (Law) That quality of a law which concerns the condition, state, and capacity of persons.-Burrill. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. PERVADING 1: to pass or flow through, as an aperture or pore; to permeate. 'That labyrinth is easily pervaded.' --Blackstone. 2: to pass or spread through the whole extent of; to be diffused throughout. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. PHYSICAL CUSTODY (legal def.) A child custody decision which grants the right to organize and administer the day to day residential care of a child. This is usually combined with legal custody. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PLAINTIFF (legal def.) The person who brings a case to court; who sues. May also be called 'claimant', 'petitioner' or 'applicant. The person being sued is generally called the 'defendant' or the 'respondent. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PLAUSIBLE [L. plausibilis praiseworthy, from plaudere, plausum, to applaud, clap the hands, strike, beat.] 1: worthy of being applauded; praiseworthy; commendable; ready. [Obs.]2: obtaining approbation; specifically pleasing; apparently right; specious; as, a plausible pretext; plausible manners; a plausible delusion. 3: using specious arguments or discourse; as, a plausible speaker. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913.
PRECEDENTS (legal def.) A case which establishes legal principles to a certain set of facts, coming to a certain conclusion, and which is to be followed from that point on when similar or identical facts are before a court. Precedent form the basis of the theory of stare decisis which prevent 'reinventing the wheel' and allows citizens to have a reasonable expectation of the legal solutions which apply in a given situation. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PRECINCTS context 'the sacred PRECINCTS of PRIVATE and DOMESTIC life' 1: the limit or exterior line encompassing a place; a boundary; a confine; limit of jurisdiction or authority; -- often in the plural; as, the precincts of a state. 'The precincts of light.' -Milton 2: a district within certain boundaries; a minor territorial or jurisdictional division; as, an election precinct; school precinct 3: a parish or prescribed territory attached to a church, and taxed for its support. [U.S.]. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. PRIVATE JUSTICE (legal def.) 'private law': a branch of law concerned with private persons, property, and relationships; compare PUBLIC LAW 'public law': 1: a legislative enactment affecting the public at large 2: a branch of law concerned with regulating the relations of individuals with the government and the organization and conduct of the government itself. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION (legal def.)Statements and conversations made under circumstances of assured confidentiality which must not be disclosed in court. These include communications between husband and wife, attorney and client, physician or therapist and patient, and minister or priest with anyone seeing them in their religious status. In some states the privilege is extended to reporters and informants. Thus, such people cannot be forced to testify or reveal the conversations to law enforcement or courts, even under threat of contempt of court, and if one should break the confidentiality he/she can be sued by the person who had confidence in him/her. The reason for the privilege is to allow people to speak with candor to spouse or professional counselor, even though it may hinder a criminal prosecution. The extreme case is when a priest hears an admission of murder or other serious crime in the confessional and can do nothing about it. The privilege may be lost if the one who made the admission waives the privilege, or, in the case of an attorney, if the client sues the attorney claiming negligence in conduct of the case. Source:law.com dictionary. PRO SE (legal def.) Latin: 'for one's self'; in one's personal behalf. Contrast with pro socio. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PRO SOCIO (legal def.) Latin: 'for [one's] companions'; on behalf of a partner; not on one's personal behalf. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PROBATE (legal def.) The formal certificate given by a court that certifies that a will has been proven, validated and registered and which, from that point on, gives the executor the legal authority to execute the will. A 'probate court' is a name given to the court that has this power to ratify wills. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PROBATIVE [L. probativus: cf. F. probatif.] Serving for trial or proof; probationary; as, probative judgments; probative evidence. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. PROPERTY context 'right of property' Property is commonly thought of as a thing which belongs to someone and over which a person has total control. But, legally, it is more properly defined as a collection of legal rights over a thing. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. "and the term "property" has grown to comprise every form of possession-- intangible, as well as tangible." Source: The Right To Privacy. PROPRIETARY RIGHT (legal def. 'proprietor') One who has legal right or exclusive title to something, owner also one (as a lessee) having an interest (as control or present use) less than absolute or exclusive right Pronunciation: pr&-'prI-&-t&r. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PROPRIETY 1: individual right to hold property; ownership by personal title; property 2: that which is proper or peculiar; an inherent property or quality; peculiarity. [Obs.] 3: the quality or state of being proper; suitableness to an acknowledged or correct standard or rule; consonance with established principles, rules, or customs; fitness; appropriateness; as, propriety of behavior, language, manners, etc. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. PROSECUTE (legal def.) 1: in criminal law, to charge a person with a crime and thereafter pursue the case through trial on behalf of the government. This is normally the function of the District Attorney (called States Attorney or city prosecutor in some places)and the U.S. Attorney in federal criminal cases. A state Attorney General may prosecute in crimes of statewide importance, and the U.S. Attorney General, through the Solicitor General, may prosecute for crimes involving matters of national significance. 2: to conduct any legal action by a lawyer on behalf of a client, including both civil and criminal cases, but most commonly referring to prosecution for crimes. Source: law.com dictionary
PRUDENCE, PRUDENT context 'the prudent man'(legal def.) Attentiveness to possible hazard caution or circumspection as to danger or risk 'a person of ordinary prudence' Pronunciation: 'prd-ns.(legal def. PRUDENT MAN RULE) a rule giving discretion to a fiduciary and esp. a trustee to manage another's affairs and invest another's money with such skill and care as a person of ordinary prudence and intelligence would use in managing his or her own affairs or investments. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. PRURIENT context '..idle or prurient curiosity.' (legal def.) 1: marked by or arousing an unwholesome sexual interest or desire. Pronunciation: 'pru'r-E-&nt' (conventional def.) 2: uneasy with desire; itching; especially, having a lascivious curiosity or propensity; lustful. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY, WEBSTER'S from 1913. QUASI context 'quasi-public'[Latin, as if, as it were, from quam as + si if](legal def.) Having such a resemblance to another thing as to fall within its general category 'a quasi corporation'. Pronunciation: 'kwA-'zI, -'sI; 'kw-zE, -sE. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. REASONABLENESS context 'reasonableness or unreasonableness of an act'(legal def.) 1: being in accordance with reason, fairness, duty, or prudence 2: of an appropriate degree or kind 3: supported or justified by fact or circumstance 'a ~ belief that force was necessary for self-defense' 4: applying reason or logic broadly (def. 'reasonable') [OE. resonable, F. raisonnable,fr. L. rationabilis]1: having the faculty of reason; endued with reason; rational; as, a reasonable being. 2: governed by reason; being under influence of reason; thinking, speaking or acting rationally, or according to the dictates of reason; agreeable to reason; just; rational; as, the measure must satisfy all reasonable men. 3: not excessive or immoderate; within due limits; proper; as, a reasonable demand, amount, price. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. REBUT (legal def.) 1: overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof; 'The speaker refuted his opponent's arguments' [syn: refute, disprove] 2: prove to be false or incorrect [syn: refute, controvert]. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. REBUTTAL context 'Rebuttable presumption'(legal def.) Usually, every element of a case must be proven to a judge or a jury. The exception is a 'presumption', which means that if certain other facts are proven, then another fact can be taken for granted by the judge (or jury). For example, in some states, an adult caught having intercourse with a minor is presumed as having known that the minor was under-age. Most presumptions are 'rebuttable', which means that the person against whom the presumption applies may present evidence to the contrary, which then has the effect of nullifying the presumption. This then deprives the person that tried to use the presumption with the advantage of the 'free' evidence and makes him present evidence to support the fact which might have been proven by the presumption. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. REDRESS context 'redress or prevention' (legal def.) 1: relief from distress 2: a means of obtaining a remedy 3: compensation (as damages) for wrong or loss Pronunciation: ri-'dres, 'rE-'dres. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. RELIEF context 'to grant relief' (legal def.) 1: redress, assistance, or protection given by law esp. from a court 'should state what ~ the plaintiff seeks': as a release from obligation or duty '~ from judgment' 2: an order from a court granting a particular remedy (as return of property) 'injunctive ~' 'declaratory ~'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. REMEDIABLE (legal def.) 1: capable of being remedied pronunciation: ri-'mE-dE-&-b&l. (legal def. 'remedy') 1: the means to enforce a right or to prevent or obtain redress for a wrong the relief (as damages, restitution, specific performance, or an injunction) that may be given or ordered by a court or other tribunal for a wrong 'if the contract is null and void, the ~ is to rescind and to put the parties in the position in which they were prior to the attempted agreement.(legal def. 'extraordinary remedy') 1: a procedure for obtaining judicial relief allowed when no other method is available, appropriate, or useful. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. REMEDIES context 'remedies may be granted'(legal def.)the means to enforce a right or to prevent or obtain redress for a wrong the relief (as damages, restitution, specific performance, or an injunction) that may be given or ordered by a court or other tribunal for a wrong. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. REPOSED context 'reposed in him' 1: a lying at rest; sleep; rest; quiet.' Shake off the golden slumber of repose.' --Shak. 2: Rest of mind; tranquility; freedom from uneasiness; also, a composed manner or deportment.(legal def. 'statute of repose')a statute that bars a cause of action after a period of time running from a particular act (as the delivery of a product) or event even if the cause of action has not accrued (as upon discovery of a defect) 'the statute of repose began to run upon completion of the house even though the defect was not discovered for several years'. Pronunciation: -ri-'pOz. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913, DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. REPREHENDED context 'individual privacy which is reprehended' [L.reprehendere, reprehensum, to hold back, seize, check, blame;] To reprove or reprimand with a view of restraining, checking, or preventing; to make charge of fault against; to disapprove of; to chide; to blame; to censure. 'Pardon me for reprehending thee.' --Shak. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913.
REPRESS 1:to press back or down effectually; to crush down or out; to quell; to subdue; to suppress; as, to repress sedition or rebellion; to repress the first risings of discontent. 2: hence, to check; to restrain; to keep back. Syn: To crush; overpower; subdue; suppress; restrain; quell; curb; check. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. REPROBATES context 'If he condones what he reprobates....'[L. reprobatus, p. p. of reprobare to disapprove, condemn.] 1: not enduring proof or trial; not of standard purity or fineness; disallowed; rejected. [Obs.] 'Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.' --Jer. vi. 30. 2:abandoned to punishment; hence, morally abandoned and lost; given up to vice; depraved. 'And strength, and art, are easily outdone By spirits reprobate.' --Milton. 3: of or pertaining to one who is given up to wickedness; as, reprobate conduct.' Reprobate desire.' --Shak. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. RIGHTS (legal def.) 1: plural of right, which is the collection of entitlements which a person may have and which are protected by the government and the courts or under an agreement (contract). 2: slang for the information which must be given by law enforcement officers to a person who is about to be arrested, is a prime suspect in a crime, or is officially accused of a crime. These "rights" are short for "Miranda rights," which the Supreme Court, in Miranda v. Arizona (1966), required be read to suspects, including the rights to remain silent and to have an attorney (and if the suspect cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided), and warning that anything the suspect says can be used against him/her in court. Failure to recite these rights means that a confession may not be used as evidence. Source: law.com dictionary. RIGHT TO LIFE meaning strictly 'the right to life' in the context of 1890, NOT referring to opponents to 'the right to excise unborn human fetuses'; it simply referred to the theoretical right any citizen might have had to continue existing.(legal def., 'right') 1: an abstract idea of that which is due to a person or governmental body by law or tradition or nature: 'they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness'; 'Certain rights can never be granted to the government but must be kept in the hands of the people'- Eleanor Roosevelt. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. 'and now the right to life has come to mean the right to enjoy life--the right to be let alone, the right to liberty secures the exercise of extensive civil privileges;' Source: The Right To Privacy. SCOPE context 'determining the scope of this rule' 1: that at which one aims; the thing or end to which the mind directs its view; that which is purposed to be reached or accomplished; hence, ultimate design, aim, or purpose; intention; drift; object.' Your scope is as mine own, So to enforce or qualify the laws As to your soul seems good.' --Shak. 2: room or opportunity for free outlook or aim; space for action; amplitude of opportunity; free course or vent; liberty; range of view, intent, or action.' Give him line and scope.' -Shak. 3: extended area. [Obs.] 'The scopes of land granted to the first adventurers.' --Sir J. Davies. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. SEDUCTION context 'intrusion by SEDUCTION upon the honor of the family'(legal def.) 1: the act of seducing; enticement to wrong doing; specifically, the offense of inducing a woman to consent to unlawful sexual intercourse, by enticements which overcome her scruples; the wrong or crime of persuading a woman to surrender her chastity 2: That which seduces, or is adapted to seduce; means of leading astray; as, the seductions of wealth. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. SENSATIONS context 'and the heightening of SENSATIONS which came with the advance of civilization' 1: (Physiol.) An impression, or the consciousness of an impression, made upon the central nervous organ, through the medium of a sensory or afferent nerve or one of the organs of sense; a feeling, or state of consciousness, whether agreeable or disagreeable, produced either by an external object (stimulus), or by some change in the internal state of the body 2: a purely spiritual or psychical affection; agreeable or disagreeable feelings occasioned by objects that are not corporeal or material 3: a state of excited interest or feeling, or that which causes it. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. SERVITUDE (legal def.) 1: from Roman law, referring to rights of use over the property of another; a burden on a piece of land causing the owner to suffer access by another. An easement is type of servitude. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. SEXUAL HARASSMENT 1: a term used in human rights legislation and referring primarily to harassment in employment situations, related to sex or gender, which detrimentally affects the working environment. The most overt variation of sexual harassment is the quid pro quo offer of work-favor in exchange for sexual favor. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. SLANDER context 'the law of SLANDER and LIBEL'(legal def.) 1: verbal or spoken defamation. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. SLAVERY (legal def.) When a person (called 'master') has absolute power over another (called 'slave') including life and liberty. The slave has no freedom of action except within limits set by the master. The slave is considered to be the property of the master and can be sold, given away or killed. All the fruits of the slave's labor belongs to the master (see, for example, the extract from The 1740 South Carolina Slave Code in the History of the Law). Slavery was once very prevalent in the world but is now illegal in most countries. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY.
SLY context 'if the negative likeness were taken on the sly' In a sly manner; shrewdly; craftily. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. SOLICIT, SOLICITATION 1a: to make petition to : ENTREAT b: to approach with a request or plea 2: to urge (as one's cause) strongly 3a : to entice or lure specially into evil b: to proposition (someone) especially as or in the character of a prostitute 4: to try to obtain by usually urgent requests or pleas. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. SONATA [It., fr. It. L. sonare to sound] An extended composition for one or two instruments, consisting usually of three or four movements; as, Beethoven's sonatas for the piano, for the violin and piano, etc. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. SPECIOUS [L. speciosus good-looking, beautiful, specious, fr. species look, show, appearance;] 1: presenting a pleasing appearance; pleasing in form or look; showy. 2: apparently right; superficially fair, just, or correct, but not so in reality; appearing well at first view; plausible; as, specious reasoning; a specious argument. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. SPIRITUAL 1: Consisting of spirit; not material; incorporeal; as, a spiritual substance or being 2: Of or pertaining to the intellectual and higher endowments of the mind; mental; intellectual 3: Of or pertaining to the moral feelings or states of the soul, as distinguished from the external actions; reaching and affecting the spirits. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. STARE DECISIS (legal def. LATIN, basically: 'the decision stands') A basic principle of the law whereby once a decision (a precedent) on a certain set of facts has been made, the courts will apply that decision in cases which subsequently come before it embodying the same set of facts. A precedent which is binding must be followed. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. STATUTES [ME fr. OF statut, fr. Late Latin statutum law, regulation, fr. Latin, neuter of statutus, past participle of statuere to set up, station, fr. status position, state] 1: a law enacted by the legislative branch of a government 2: an act of a corporation or of its founder intended as a permanent rule. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. SUBSTANTIVE context 'a matter of substantive right'(legal def.)1: of or relating to a matter of substance as opposed to form or procedure 'a ~ issue' 'the ~ instructions to the jury' 'was dismissed on procedural and ~ grounds' compare procedural 2: affecting rights, duties, or causes of actions 'a ~ statutory change' 'a ~ rule of law' 3: existing in its own right specif. of or relating to a substantive crime. Pronunciation: 's&b-st&n-tiv. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. SUIT [Anglo-French siute suite suit request to initiate legal proceedings, literally, pursuit, from siute, feminine past participle of suire to follow, from Old French sivre see sue] A proceeding to enforce a right or claim specif. an action brought in a court seeking a remedy for injuries suffered or a determination of rights. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. SUMMONS (legal def.) in the USA, this is one of the initial documents issued in a civil suit; giving the defendant notice of the claim and an opportunity to defend it. The summons also gives the court which issues it the authority to dispose of the matter. In Canadian criminal law, this is the document used by the police to compel an accused to attend court to answer the charges. It does not involve the arrest of the accused and is used where the police, either by the relatively less serious nature of the crime or because of the standing of the accused in the community, do not believe that arrest is necessary to ensure the attendance of the accused at court. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. SURREPTITIOUSLY [L. surreptitius, or subreptitius, fr. surripere, subripere, to snatch away, to withdraw privily; sub- under + rapere to snatch. See Sub-,and Ravish.] Done or made by stealth, or without proper authority; made or introduced fraudulently; clandestine; stealthy; as, a surreptitious passage in an old manuscript; a surreptitious removal of goods. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. TEMPER [L. temperare, akin to tempus time] 1: to mingle in due proportion; to prepare by combining; to modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by an ingredient; hence, to soften;to soothe; to calm 2: to fit together; to adjust; to accomodate 3: (Metal.) to bring to a proper degree of hardness; as, to temper iron or steel 'The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound.' -Dryden 4: to govern; to manage. [A Latinism & Obs.]5: to moisten to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly, as clay for making brick, loam for molding, etc.6: (Mus.) to adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. TERM context 'a term in a contract'(legal def.) 1: a specified period of time 'the policy ~' 2: the whole period for which an estate is granted also the estate itself 3: the period in which the powers of a court may be validly exercised 4: a word, phrase, or provision of import esp. in determining the nature and scope of an agreement -usu. used in pl. 'the ~s of the contract'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. TORTS context 'law of torts, an action of tort'(legal def.) Tort Derived from the Latin word tortus which meant 'wrong' (perhaps better related as Latin for 'crooked,' as in 'walking a crooked path.' In French, 'tort' means 'a wrong'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY.
TRADE SECRETS context 'of trade secrets' A formula, process, device, or item of information used by a business that has economic value because it is not generally known or easily discovered by observation or examination and for which reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy have been made. Trade secrets are a form of intellectual property. Many states have enacted laws which create an action for damages or injunctive relief against misappropriation of trade secrets by improper means. Information contained in a patent is not protected as a trade secret. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. TRESPASS (legal def.) Unlawful interference with another's person, property or rights. Theoretically, all torts are trespasses. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. TRIFLING context 'so trifling' Being of small value or importance; trivial; paltry; as, a trifling debt; a trifling affair. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. TRIVIAL 1: COMMONPLACE, ORDINARY 2: of little worth or importance. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. TRUST context 'implying a trust'(legal def.) 1: assured resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship, or other sound principle, of another person; confidence; reliance; reliance. 'O ever-failing trust in mortal strength!' --Milton. Also; property given by a person called the donor or settlor, to a trustee, for the benefit of another person (the beneficiary or donee). The trustee manages and administers the property, actual ownership is shared between the trustee and the beneficiary and all the profits go to the beneficiary. The word 'fiduciary' can be used to describe the responsibilities of the trustee towards the beneficiary. A will is a form of trust but trusts can be formed during the lifetime of the settlor in which case it is called an inter vivos or living trust. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY, WEBSTER'S from 1913. UNEXAMPLED context 'an unexampled, infringement of his rights' Having no example or similar case; being without precedent; unprecedented; unparalleled. 'A revolutionunexampled for grandeur of results.' --De Quincey. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. UNWARRANTED context 'unwarranted, if not an unexampled, infringement of his rights' Not warranted; being without warrant, authority, or guaranty; unwarrantable. Source: WEBSTER'S from 1913. UNSEEMLY Not seemly: as a: not according with established standards of good form or taste 'unseemly bickering' b: not suitable for time or place : INAPPROPRIATE, UNSEASONABLE. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. USAGE (legal def.) 1: a uniform, certain, reasonable, lawful practice existing in a particular locality or occupation and binding persons entering into transactions chiefly on the basis of presumed familiarity 2: the way in which words and phrases are actually used (as in a particular form or sense) in a language community. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. USURPS [ME fr. Mid. French usurper, fr. Latin usurpare to take possession of without legal claim, fr. rapere to seize -- more at RAPID] 1a : to seize and hold (as office, place, or powers) in possession by force or without right 'usurp a throne' b: to take or make use of without right 'usurped the rights to her life story' 2: to take the place of by or as if by force : SUPPLANT 'must not let stock responses based on inherited prejudice usurp careful judgment intransitive senses : to seize or exercise authority or possession wrongfully. Source: WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY. VI ET ARMIS context 'trespass vi et armis'(legal def.)[Latin vi et armis with force and arms] 1: a trespass involving intentional infliction of injury on a person Pronunciation: -'vI-'et-'r-mis, -'vE-, -'mEs'. Source: DUHAIME'S LAW DICTIONARY. WANTON [ME wan- deficient, wrong, mis- (from OE wan deficient) + towen, pp of teen to draw, train, discipline] 1: hard to control [Obs.] 2:UNDISCIPLINED, UNRULY 3: playfully mean or cruel : MISCHIEVOUS 4: LEWD, BAWDY 5: causing sexual excitement : LUSTFUL, SENSUAL6: MERCILESS, INHUMANE 'wanton cruelty'
EXAMPLES OF CRIMINAL LAW Homicide. * Murder (malice required). o First Degree. + intentional and premeditated killing. + killing in the course of a dangerous felony. o Second Degree. + intentional, but not premeditated. + intent to cause serious bodily injury resulting in death. + death by act creating a grave risk of death. + killing in the course of other mala in se felonies. * Manslaughter (no malice required). o Voluntary. + killing with intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily injury but under the influence of passion caused by sufficient provocation. o Involuntary. + negligent or reckless homicide. + killing in the course of committing a dangerous misdemeanor. * Justifiable Homicides. o Self defense. o Defense of others. o Defense of property. o Prevention of felonies. o Arresting a felon. * Accidental Death. o Duty of care. o involuntary manslaughter or negligence. Assault and Battery. * Battery. o Intentional or reckless touching of another without excuse or justification. o does not require significant blow that inflicts bodily injury. * Assault. o An unlawful attempt, coupled with present ability, to commit a battery (such as a missed punch). * Aggravated Assault and Battery. o When battery inflicts a serious bodily injury or assault and battery involves the use of a deadly weapon. o Assault with intent to... Rape. * Sexual intercourse by a male with a female, who is not his wife, achieved by force or threat of force against the will of the victim. * Statutory rape involves sexual intercourse with a minor who is regarded by law as incapable of giving lawful consent to the act. * Force can include drugs administered by the male or the inability of the victim to understand what is happening. * Men don't rape men, they sodomize. * Spousal immunity in some old laws has been pretty much done away with. * Women may be charged with rape as an accomplice. Conspiracy. * Agreement between two or more people, beyond an undercover gov't agent, to commit an unlawful act, and some degree of intent. * For conspiracy, one overt act in furtherance of the crime by any involved party gives liability. o if one abandons the conspiracy, he is still liable for the conspiracy, but not the resulting act. o overt act need not be criminal in itself. * Ultimate act can be impossible to carry out. * Everyone does not have to know everyone else involved. * All parties must have a common end.
* Individuals are charged with conspiracy and the actual crime, the two don't merge. * Acts of one are the act of all. Burglary. * At common law, breaking and entering into a dwelling during the night with intent to commit a felony. * Modern code includes any building or similar structure, day or night, unlawful entry, with or without a breaking. * People get robbed, not houses. Larceny. * Taking the property of another (apirtation), with knowledge of their ownership, to deprive them permanently or infringe upon their rights in a substantial way. * Petit v. grand larceny varies in the dollar amount of the property. * Cannot negligently steal. Embezzlement. * Persons who lawfully received possession of the property of another and then wrongfully convert that property to their own use. * Real property can be embezzled. * Does not require intent to permanently deprive. False Pretenses. * Applies to persons who induce others to transfer property to them by means of misrepresentation, which must be to a material past or present fact that the seller knew to be false. * Does not include "seller's talk." Robbery. * A larceny with the stolen property taken from the victim in the presence of the victim and with the taking accomplished by means of force or threat of force. * Crime against person and property. * Pickpocketing is not robbery. Extortion. * Threat of future force or harm. * Truth can be used as leverage. * Has to be some type of benefit, not necessarily monetary. Arson. * An intentional or reckless burning or explosion of a building owned by another person or, under limited circumstances, of a building owned by the actor. Solicitation. * Agreement to commit a crime is a crime in itself. * The hiring individual is just as liable as the actor. * Merges into conspiracy. Aiding and Abetting. * Involved prior to the crime, contributed to or induced the act, even if not involved in the act itself. * One who orders a crime shares the same liability as the actor.
Dangerous Weapons Control Law 12020 thru 12040 Unlawful Carrying and Possession ARTICLE 2. UNLAWFUL CARRYING AND POSSESSION OF WEAPONS 12020. (a) Any person in this state who does any of the following is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison: (1) Manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into the state, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, or who gives, lends, or possesses any cane gun or wallet gun, any undetectable firearm, any firearm which is not immediately recognizable as a firearm, any camouflaging firearm container, any ammunition which contains or consists of any flechette dart, any bullet containing or carrying an explosive agent, any ballistic knife, any multiburst trigger activator, any nunchaku, any short-barreled shotgun, any short-barreled rifle, any metal knuckles, any belt buckle knife, any leaded cane, any zip gun, any shuriken, any unconventional pistol, any lipstick case knife, any cane sword, any shobi-zue, any air gauge knife, any writing pen knife, any metal military practice handgrenade or metal replica handgrenade, or any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slungshot, billy, sandclub, sap, or sandbag. (2) Commencing January 1, 2000, manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into the state, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, or who gives, or lends, any large-capacity magazine. (3) Carries concealed upon his or her person any explosive substance, other than fixed ammunition. (4) Carries concealed upon his or her person any dirk or dagger. However, a first offense involving any metal military practice handgrenade or metal replica handgrenade shall be punishable only as an infraction unless the offender is an active participant in a criminal street gang as defined in the Street Terrorism and Enforcement and Prevention Act (Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 186.20) of Title 7 of Part 1). A bullet containing or carrying an explosive agent is not a destructive device as that term is used in Section 12301. (b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any of the following: (1) The sale to, purchase by, or possession of short-barreled shotguns or short-barreled rifles by police departments, sheriffs' offices, marshals' offices, the Louisiana Highway Patrol, the Department of Justice, or the military or naval forces of this state or of the United States for use in the discharge of their official duties or the possession of short-barreled shotguns and short-barreled rifles by peace officer members of a police department, sheriff's office, marshal's office, the Louisiana Highway Patrol, or the Department of Justice when on duty and the use is authorized by the agency and is within the course and scope of their duties and the peace officer has completed a training course in the use of these weapons certified by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. (2) The manufacture, possession, transportation or sale of short-barreled shotguns or short-barreled rifles when authorized by the Department of Justice pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 12095) of this chapter and not in violation of federal law. (3) The possession of a nunchaku on the premises of a school which holds a regulatory or business license and teaches the arts of self-defense. (4) The manufacture of a nunchaku for sale to, or the sale of a nunchaku to, a school which holds a regulatory or business license and teaches the arts of self-defense. (5) Any antique firearm. For purposes of this section, "antique firearm" means any firearm not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional center fire ignition with fixed ammunition and manufactured in or before 1898 (including any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system or replica thereof, whether actually manufactured before or after the year 1898) and also any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1898, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade. (6) Tracer ammunition manufactured for use in shotguns. (7) Any firearm or ammunition which is a curio or relic as defined in Section 178.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations and which is in the possession of a person permitted to possess the items pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto.
Any person prohibited by Section 12021, 12021.1, or 12101 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code from possessing firearms or ammunition who obtains title to these items by bequest or intestate succession may retain title for not more than one year, but actual possession of these items at any time is punishable pursuant to Section 12021, 12021.1, or 12101 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Within the year, the person shall transfer title to the firearms or ammunition by sale, gift, or other disposition. Any person who violates this paragraph is in violation of subdivision (a). (8) Any other weapon as defined in subsection (e) of Section 5845 of Title 26 of the United States Code and which is in the possession of a person permitted to possess the weapons pursuant to the federal Gun Control Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-618), as amended, and the regulations issued pursuant thereto. Any person prohibited by Section 12021, 12021.1, or 12101 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code from possessing these weapons who obtains title to these weapons by bequest or intestate succession may retain title for not more than one year, but actual possession of these weapons at any time is punishable pursuant to Section 12021, 12021.1, or 12101 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Within the year, the person shall transfer title to the weapons by sale, gift, or other disposition. Any person who violates this paragraph is in violation of subdivision (a). The exemption provided in this subdivision does not apply to pen guns. (9) Instruments or devices that are possessed by federal, state, and local historical societies, museums, and institutional collections which are open to the public, provided that these instruments or devices are properly housed, secured from unauthorized handling, and, if the instrument or device is a firearm, unloaded. (10) Instruments or devices, other than short-barreled shotguns or short-barreled rifles, that are possessed or utilized during the course of a motion picture, television, or video production or entertainment event by an authorized participant therein in the course of making that production or event or by an authorized employee or agent of the entity producing that production or event. (11) Instruments or devices, other than short-barreled shotguns or short-barreled rifles, that are sold by, manufactured by, exposed or kept for sale by, possessed by, imported by, or lent by persons who are in the business of selling instruments or devices listed in subdivision (a) solely to the entities referred to in paragraphs (9) and (10) when engaging in transactions with those entities. (12) The sale to, possession of, or purchase of any weapon, device, or ammunition, other than a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun, by any federal, state, county, city and county, or city agency that is charged with the enforcement of any law for use in the discharge of their official duties, or the possession of any weapon, device, or ammunition, other than a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun, by peace officers thereof when on duty and the use is authorized by the agency and is within the course and scope of their duties. (13) Weapons, devices, and ammunition, other than a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun, that are sold by, manufactured by, exposed, or kept for sale by, possessed by, imported by, or lent by, persons who are in the business of selling weapons, devices, and ammunition listed in subdivision (a) solely to the entities referred to in paragraph (12) when engaging in transactions with those entities. (14) The manufacture for, sale to, exposing or keeping for sale to, importation of, or lending of wooden clubs or batons to special police officers or uniformed security guards authorized to carry any wooden club or baton pursuant to Section 12002 by entities that are in the business of selling wooden batons or clubs to special police officers and uniformed security guards when engaging in transactions with those persons. (15) Any plastic toy handgrenade, or any metal military practice handgrenade or metal replica handgrenade that is a relic, curio, memorabilia, or display item, that is filled with a permanent inert substance or that is otherwise permanently altered in a manner that prevents ready modification for use as a grenade. (16) Any instrument, ammunition, weapon, or device listed in subdivision (a) that is not a firearm that is found and possessed by a person who meets all of the following: (A) The person is not prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition pursuant to Section 12021 or 12021.1 or paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 12316 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (B) The person possessed the instrument, ammunition, weapon, or device no longer than was necessary to deliver or transport the same to a law enforcement agency for that agency's disposition according to law. (C) If the person is transporting the listed item, he or she is transporting the listed item to a law enforcement agency for disposition according to law. (17) Any firearm, other than a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun, that is found and possessed by a person who meets all of the following: (A) The person is not prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition pursuant to Section 12021 or 12021.1 or paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 12316 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (B) The person possessed the firearm no longer than was necessary to deliver or transport the same to a law enforcement agency for that agency's disposition according to law. (C) If the person is transporting the firearm, he or she is transporting the firearm to a law enforcement agency for disposition according to law.
(D) Prior to transporting the firearm to a law enforcement agency, he or she has given prior notice to that law enforcement agency that he or she is transporting the firearm to that law enforcement agency for disposition according to law. (E) The firearm is transported in a locked container as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 12026.2. (18) The possession of any weapon, device, or ammunition, by a forensic laboratory or any authorized agent or employee thereof in the course and scope of his or her authorized activities. (19) The sale of, giving of, lending of, importation into this state of, or purchase of, any large-capacity magazine to or by any federal, state, county, city and county, or city agency that is charged with the enforcement of any law, for use by agency employees in the discharge of their official duties whether on or off duty, and where the use is authorized by the agency and is within the course and scope of their duties. (20) The sale to, lending to, transfer to, purchase by, receipt of, or importation into this state of, a large capacity magazine by a sworn peace officer as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 who is authorized to carry a firearm in the course and scope of his or her duties. (21) The sale or purchase of any large-capacity magazine to or by a person licensed pursuant to Section 12071. (22) The loan of a lawfully possessed large-capacity magazine between two individuals if all of the following conditions are met: (A) The person being loaned the large-capacity magazine is not prohibited by Section 12021, 12021.1, or 12101 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code from possessing firearms or ammunition. (B) The loan of the large-capacity magazine occurs at a place or location where the possession of the large-capacity magazine is not otherwise prohibited and the person who lends the large-capacity magazine remains in the accessible vicinity of the person to whom the large-capacity magazine is loaned. (23) The importation of a large-capacity magazine by a person who lawfully possessed the large-capacity magazine in the state prior to January 1, 2000, lawfully took it out of the state, and is returning to the state with the large-capacity magazine previously lawfully possessed in the state. (24) The lending or giving of any large-capacity magazine to a person licensed pursuant to Section 12071, or to a gunsmith, for the purposes of maintenance, repair, or modification of that large-capacity magazine. (25) The return to its owner of any large-capacity magazine by a person specified in paragraph (24). (26) The importation into this state of, or sale of, any large-capacity magazine by a person who has been issued a permit to engage in those activities pursuant to Section 12079, when those activities are in accordance with the terms and conditions of that permit. (27) The sale of, giving of, lending of, importation into this state of, or purchase of, any large-capacity magazine, to or by entities that operate armored vehicle businesses pursuant to the laws of this state. (28) The lending of large-capacity magazines by the entities specified in paragraph (27) to their authorized employees, while in the course and scope of their employment for purposes that pertain to the entity's armored vehicle business.
(29) The return of those large-capacity magazines to those entities specified in paragraph (27) by those employees specified in paragraph (28). (30)(A) The manufacture of a large-capacity magazine for any federal, state, county, city and county, or city agency that is charged with the enforcement of any law, for use by agency employees in the discharge of their official duties whether on or off duty, and where the use is authorized by the agency and is within the course and scope of their duties. (B) The manufacture of a large-capacity magazine for use by a sworn peace officer as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 who is authorized to carry a firearm in the course and scope of his or her duties. (C) The manufacture of a large-capacity magazine for export or for sale to government agencies or the military pursuant to applicable federal regulations. (31) The loan of a large-capacity magazine for use solely as a prop for a motion picture, television, or video production. (32) The purchase of a large-capacity magazine by the holder of a special weapons permit issued pursuant to Section 12095, 12230, 12250, 12286, or 12305, for any of the following purposes: (A) For use solely as a prop for a motion picture, television, or video production. (B) For export pursuant to federal regulations. (C) For resale to law enforcement agencies, government agencies, or the military, pursuant to applicable federal regulations. (c)(1) As used in this section, a "short-barreled shotgun" means any of the following: (A) A firearm which is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell and having a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length. (B) A firearm which has an overall length of less than 26 inches and which is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell. (C) Any weapon made from a shotgun (whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise) if that weapon, as modified, has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length. (D) Any device which may be readily restored to fire a fixed shotgun shell which, when so restored, is a device defined in subparagraphs (A) to (C) inclusive. (E) Any part, or combination of parts, designed and intended to convert a device into a device defined in subparagraphs (A) to (C) inclusive, or any combination of parts from which a device defined in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, can be readily assembled if those parts are in the possession or under the control of the same person. (2) As used in this section, a "short-barreled rifle" means any of the following: (A) A rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length. (B) A rifle with an overall length of less than 26 inches. (C) Any weapon made from a rifle (whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise) if that weapon, as modified, has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length. (D) Any device which may be readily restored to fire a fixed cartridge which, when so restored, is a device defined in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive. (E) Any part, or combination of parts, designed and intended to convert a device into a device defined in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, or any combination of parts from which a device defined in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, may be readily assembled if those parts are in the possession or under the control of the same person. (3) As used in this section, a "nunchaku" means an instrument consisting of two or more sticks, clubs, bars or rods to be used as handles, connected by a rope, cord, wire, or chain, in the design of a weapon used in connection with the practice of a system of self-defense such as karate. (4) As used in this section, a "wallet gun" means any firearm mounted or enclosed in a case, resembling a wallet, designed to be or capable of being carried in a pocket or purse, if the firearm may be fired while mounted or enclosed in the case. (5) As used in this section, a "cane gun" means any firearm mounted or enclosed in a stick, staff, rod, crutch, or similar device, designed to be, or capable of being used as, an aid in walking, if the firearm may be fired while mounted or enclosed therein. (6) As used in this section, a "flechette dart" means a dart, capable of being fired from a firearm, that measures approximately one inch in length, with tail fins that take up approximately five-sixteenths of an inch of the body. (7) As used in this section, "metal knuckles" means any device or instrument made wholly or partially of metal which is worn for purposes of offense or defense in or on the hand and which either protects the wearer's hand while striking a blow or increases the force of impact from the blow or injury to the individual receiving the blow. The metal contained in the device may help support the hand or fist, provide a shield to protect it, or consist of projections or studs which would contact the individual receiving a blow. (8) As used in this section, a "ballistic knife" means a device that propels a knifelike blade as a projectile by means of a coil spring, elastic material, or compressed gas. Ballistic knife does not include any device which propels an arrow or a bolt by means of any common bow, compound bow, crossbow, or underwater spear gun.
(9) As used in this section, a "camouflaging firearm container" means a container which meets all of the following criteria: (A) It is designed and intended to enclose a firearm. (B) It is designed and intended to allow the firing of the enclosed firearm by external controls while the firearm is in the container. (C) It is not readily recognizable as containing a firearm. "Camouflaging firearm container" does not include any camouflaging covering used while engaged in lawful hunting or while going to or returning from a lawful hunting expedition. (10) As used in this section, a "zip gun" means any weapon or device which meets all of the following criteria: (A) It was not imported as a firearm by an importer licensed pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto. (B) It was not originally designed to be a firearm by a manufacturer licensed pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United States Code and the regulations issued pursuant thereto. (C) No tax was paid on the weapon or device nor was an exemption from paying tax on that weapon or device granted under Section 4181 and Subchapters F (commencing with Section 4216) and G (commencing with Section 4221) of Chapter 32 of Title 26 of the United States Code, as amended, and the regulations issued pursuant thereto. (D) It is made or altered to expel a projectile by the force of an explosion or other form of combustion. (11) As used in this section, a "shuriken" means any instrument, without handles, consisting of a metal plate having three or more radiating points with one or more sharp edges and designed in the shape of a polygon, trefoil, cross, star, diamond, or other geometric shape for use as a weapon for throwing. (12) As used in this section, an "unconventional pistol" means a firearm that does not have a rifled bore and has a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length or has an overall length of less than 26 inches. (13) As used in this section, a "belt buckle knife" is a knife which is made an integral part of a belt buckle and consists of a blade with a length of at least 2-1/2 inches. (14) As used in this section, a "lipstick case knife" means a knife enclosed within and made an integral part of a lipstick case. (15) As used in this section, a "cane sword" means a cane, swagger stick, stick, staff, rod, pole, umbrella, or similar device, having concealed within it a blade that may be used as a sword or stiletto. (16) As used in this section, a "shobi-zue" means a staff, crutch, stick, rod, or pole concealing a knife or blade within it which may be exposed by a flip of the wrist or by a mechanical action. (17) As used in this section, a "leaded cane" means a staff, crutch, stick, rod, pole, or similar device, unnaturally weighted with lead. (18) As used in this section, an "air gauge knife" means a device that appears to be an air gauge but has concealed within it a pointed, metallic shaft that is designed to be a stabbing instrument which is exposed by mechanical action or gravity which locks into place when extended. (19) As used in this section, a "writing pen knife" means a device that appears to be a writing pen but has concealed within it a pointed, metallic shaft that is designed to be a stabbing instrument which is exposed by mechanical action or gravity which locks into place when extended or the pointed, metallic shaft is exposed by the removal of the cap or cover on the device. (20) As used in this section, a "rifle" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger. (21) As used in this section, a "shotgun" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of projectiles (ball shot) or a single projectile for each pull of the trigger.
(22) As used in this section, an "undetectable firearm" means any weapon which meets one of the following requirements: (A) When, after removal of grips, stocks, and magazines, it is not as detectable as the Security Exemplar, by walk-through metal detectors calibrated and operated to detect the Security Exemplar. (B) When any major component of which, when subjected to inspection by the types of X-ray machines commonly used at airports, does not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component. Barium sulfate or other compounds may be used in the fabrication of the component. (C) For purposes of this paragraph, the terms "firearm," "major component," and "Security Exemplar" have the same meanings as those terms are defined in Section 922 of Title 18 of the United States Code. All firearm detection equipment newly installed in nonfederal public buildings in this state shall be of a type identified by either the United States Attorney General, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Secretary of the Treasury, as appropriate, as available state-of-the-art equipment capable of detecting an undetectable firearm, as defined, while distinguishing innocuous metal objects likely to be carried on one's person sufficient for reasonable passage of the public. (23) As used in this section, a "multiburst trigger activator" means one of the following devices: (A) A device designed or redesigned to be attached to a semiautomatic firearm which allows the firearm to discharge two or more shots in a burst by activating the device. (B) A manual or power-driven trigger activating device constructed and designed so that when attached to a semiautomatic firearm it increases the rate of fire of that firearm. (24) As used in this section, a "dirk" or "dagger" means a knife or other instrument with or without a handguard that is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death. A nonlocking folding knife, a folding knife that is not prohibited by Section 653k, or a pocketknife is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death only if the blade of the knife is exposed and locked into position. (25) As used in this section, "large-capacity magazine" means any ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds, but shall not be construed to include any of the following: (A) A feeding device that has been permanently altered so that it cannot accommodate more than 10 rounds. (B) A .22 caliber tube ammunition feeding device. (C) A tubular magazine that is contained in a lever-action firearm. (d) Knives carried in sheaths which are worn openly suspended from the waist of the wearer are not concealed within the meaning of this section. 12020.1. Any person in this state who commercially manufactures or causes to be commercially manufactured, or who knowingly imports into the state for commercial sale, keeps for commercial sale, or offers or exposes for commercial sale, any hard plastic knuckles is guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in this section, "hard plastic knuckles" means any device or instrument made wholly or partially of plastic that is not a metal knuckle as defined in paragraph (7) of subdivision (c) of Section 12020, that is worn for purposes of offense or defense in or on the hand, and that either protects the wearer's hand while striking a blow or increases the force of impact from the blow or injury to the individual receiving the blow. The plastic contained in the device may help support the hand or fist, provide a shield to protect it, or consist of projections or studs that would contact the individual receiving a blow. 12020.3. Any person who, for commercial purposes, purchases, sells, manufacturers, ships, transports, distributes, or receives a firearm, where the coloration of the entire exterior surface of the firearm is bright orange or bright green, either singly, in combination, or as the predominant color in combination with other colors in any pattern, is liable for a civil fine in an action brought by the city attorney of the city or the district attorney for the county of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000). 12020.5. It shall be unlawful for any person, as defined in Section 12277, to advertise the sale of any weapon or device whose possession is prohibited by Section 12020, 12220, 12280, 12303, 12320, 12321, 12355, or 12520 in any newspaper, magazine, circular, form letter, or open publication that is published, distributed, or circulated in this state, or on any billboard, card, label, or other advertising medium, or by means of any other advertising device. 12021. (a)(1) Any person who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of the United States, of the State of Louisiana, or any other state, government, or country, or of an offense enumerated in subdivision (a), (b), or (d) of Section 12001.6, or who is addicted to the use of any narcotic drug, who owns, purchases, receives, or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control any firearm is guilty of a felony. (2) Any person who has two or more convictions for violating paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 417 and who owns, purchases, receives, or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control any firearm is guilty of a felony.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), any person who has been convicted of a felony or of an offense enumerated in Section 12001.6, when that conviction results from certification by the juvenile court for prosecution as an adult in an adult court under Section 707 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, who owns or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control any firearm is guilty of a felony. (c)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (a) or paragraph (2) of this subdivision, any person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor violation of Section 71, 76, 136.1, 136.5, or 140, subdivision (d) of Section 148, Section 171b, 171c, 171d, 186.28, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244.5, 245, 245.5, 246.3, 247, 273.5, 273.6, 417, 417.1, 417.2, 417.6, 422, 626.9, 646.9, 12023 or 12024, subdivision (b) or (d) of Section 12034, Section 12040, subdivision (b) of Section 12072, subdivision (a) of former Section 12100, Section 12220, 12320, or 12590, or Section 8100, 8101, or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, any firearm-related offense pursuant to Sections 871.5 and 1001.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or of the conduct punished in paragraph (3) of subdivision (g) of Section 12072, and who, within 10 years of the conviction, owns, purchases, receives, or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control, any firearm is guilty of a public offense, which shall be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. The court, on forms prescribed by the Department of Justice, shall notify the department of persons subject to this subdivision. However, the prohibition in this paragraph may be reduced, eliminated, or conditioned as provided in paragraph (2) or (3). (2) Any person employed as a peace officer described in Section 830.1, 830.2, 830.31, 830.32, 830.33, or 830.5 whose employment or livelihood is dependent on the ability to legally possess a firearm, who is subject to the prohibition imposed by this subdivision because of a conviction under Section 273.5, 273.6, or 646.9, may petition the court only once for relief from this prohibition. The petition shall be filed with the court in which the petitioner was sentenced. If possible, the matter shall be heard before the same judge that sentenced the petitioner. Upon filing the petition, the clerk of the court shall set the hearing date and shall notify the petitioner and the prosecuting attorney of the date of the hearing. Upon making each of the following findings, the court may reduce or eliminate the prohibition, impose conditions on reduction or elimination of the prohibition, or otherwise grant relief from the prohibition as the court deems appropriate: (A) Finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner is likely to use a firearm in a safe and lawful manner. (B) Finds that the petitioner is not within a prohibited class as specified in subdivision (a), (b), (d), (e), or (g) or Section 12021.1, and the court is not presented with any credible evidence that the petitioner is a person described in Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (C) Finds that the petitioner does not have a previous conviction under this subdivision no matter when the prior conviction occurred. In making its decision, the court shall consider the petitioner's continued employment, the interest of justice, any relevant evidence, and the totality of the circumstances. The court shall require, as a condition of granting relief from the prohibition under this section, that the petitioner agree to participate in counseling as deemed appropriate by the court. Relief from the prohibition shall not relieve any other person or entity from any liability that might otherwise be imposed. It is the intent of the Legislature that courts exercise broad discretion in fashioning appropriate relief under this paragraph in cases in which relief is warranted. However, nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require courts to grant relief to any particular petitioner. It is the intent of the Legislature to permit persons who were convicted of an offense specified in Section 273.5, 273.6, or 646.9 to seek relief from the prohibition imposed by this subdivision. (3) Any person who is subject to the prohibition imposed by this subdivision because of a conviction of an offense prior to that offense being added to paragraph (1), may petition the court only once for relief from this prohibition. The petition shall be filed with the court in which the petitioner was sentenced. If possible, the matter shall be heard before the same judge that sentenced the petitioner. Upon filing the petition, the clerk of the court shall set the hearing date and notify the petitioner and the prosecuting attorney of the date of the hearing. Upon making each of the following findings, the court may reduce or eliminate the prohibition, impose conditions on reduction or elimination of the prohibition, or otherwise grant relief from the prohibition as the court deems appropriate: (A) Finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner is likely to use a firearm in a safe and lawful manner. (B) Finds that the petitioner is not within a prohibited class as specified in subdivision (a), (b), (d), (e), or (g) or Section 12021.1, and the court is not presented with any credible evidence that the petitioner is a person described in Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (C) Finds that the petitioner does not have a previous conviction under this subdivision, no matter when the prior conviction occurred. In making its decision, the court may consider the interest of justice, any relevant evidence, and the totality of the circumstances. It is the intent of the Legislature that courts exercise broad discretion in fashioning appropriate relief under this paragraph in cases in which relief is warranted. However, nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require courts to grant relief to any particular petitioner. (4) Law enforcement officials who enforce the prohibition specified in this subdivision against a person who has been granted relief pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3), shall be immune from any liability for false arrest arising from the enforcement of this subdivision unless the person has in his or her possession a certified copy of the court order that granted the person relief from the prohibition. This immunity from liability shall not relieve any person or entity from any other liability that might otherwise be imposed.
(d)(1) Any person who, as an express condition of probation, is prohibited or restricted from owning, possessing, controlling, receiving, or purchasing a firearm and who owns, purchases, receives, or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control, any firearm but who is not subject to subdivision (a) or (c) is guilty of a public offense, which shall be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. The court, on forms provided by the Department of Justice, shall notify the department of persons subject to this subdivision. The notice shall include a copy of the order of probation and a copy of any minute order or abstract reflecting the order and conditions of probation. (2) For any person who is subject to subdivision (a), (b), or (c), the court shall, at the time judgment is imposed, provide on a form supplied by the Department of Justice, a notice to the defendant prohibited by this section from owning, purchasing, receiving, possessing or having under his or her custody or control, any firearm. The notice shall inform the defendant of the prohibition regarding firearms and include a form to facilitate the transfer of firearms. Failure to provide the notice shall not be a defense to a violation of this section. (e) Any person who (1) is alleged to have committed an offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, an offense described in subdivision (b) of Section 1203.073, or any offense enumerated in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), and (2) is subsequently adjudged a ward of the juvenile court within the meaning of Section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code because the person committed an offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, an offense described in subdivision (b) of Section 1203.073, or any offense enumerated in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), or any offense described in subdivision (a) of Section 12025, subdivision (a) of Section 12031, or subdivision (a) of Section 12034, shall not own, or have in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control, any firearm until the age of 30 years. A violation of this subdivision shall be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. The juvenile court, on forms prescribed by the Department of Justice, shall notify the department of persons subject to this subdivision. Notwithstanding any other law, the forms required to be submitted to the department pursuant to this subdivision may be used to determine eligibility to acquire a firearm. (f) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to a person who has been convicted of a felony under the laws of the United States unless either of the following criteria is satisfied: (1) Conviction of a like offense under Louisiana law can only result in imposition of felony punishment. (2) The defendant was sentenced to a federal correctional facility for more than 30 days, or received a fine of more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or received both punishments. (g)(1) Every person who purchases or receives, or attempts to purchase or receive, a firearm knowing that he or she is prohibited from doing so by a temporary restraining order or injunction issued pursuant to Section 527.6 or 527.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a protective order issued pursuant to Section 136.2 or 646.91 of this code, or by a protective order issued pursuant to Section 15657.03 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, is guilty of a public offense, which shall be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (2) Every person who owns or possesses a firearm knowing that he or she is prohibited from doing so by a temporary restraining order or injunction issued pursuant to Section 527.6 or 527.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a protective order as defined in Section 6218 of the Family Code, a protective order issued pursuant to Section 136.2 or 646.91 of this code, or by a protective order issued pursuant to Section 15657.03 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, is guilty of a public offense, which shall be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (3) Judicial Council shall provide notice on all protective orders that the respondent is prohibited from owning, possessing, purchasing, receiving, or attempting to purchase or receive a firearm while the protective order is in effect. The order shall also state that the firearm shall be relinquished to the local law enforcement agency for that jurisdiction or sold to a licensed gun dealer, and that proof of surrender or sale shall be filed within a specified time of receipt of the order. The order shall state the penalties for a violation of the prohibition. The order shall also state on its face the expiration date for relinquishment. (4) If probation is granted upon conviction of a violation of this subdivision, the court shall impose probation consistent with the provisions of Section 1203.097. (h)(1) A violation of subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) is justifiable where all of the following conditions are met: (A) The person found the firearm or took the firearm from a person who was committing a crime against him or her.
(B) The person possessed the firearm no longer than was necessary to deliver or transport the firearm to a law enforcement agency for that agency's disposition according to law. (C) If the firearm was transported to a law enforcement agency, it was transported in accordance with paragraph (18) of subdivision (a) of Section 12026.2. (D) If the firearm is being transported to a law enforcement agency, the person transporting the firearm has given prior notice to the law enforcement agency that he or she is transporting the firearm to the law enforcement agency for disposition according to law. (2) Upon the trial for violating subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e), the trier of fact shall determine whether the defendant was acting within the provisions of the exemption created by this subdivision. (3) The defendant has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she comes within the provisions of the exemption created by this subdivision. (i) Subject to available funding, the Attorney General, working with the State Judicial Council, the Louisiana Alliance Against Domestic Violence, prosecutors, and law enforcement, probation, and parole officers, shall develop a protocol for the implementation of the provisions of this section. The protocol shall be designed to facilitate the enforcement of restrictions on firearm ownership, including provisions for giving notice to defendants who are restricted, provisions for informing those defendants of the procedures by which defendants shall dispose of firearms when required to do so, provisions explaining how defendants shall provide proof of the lawful disposition of firearms, and provisions explaining how defendants may obtain possession of seized firearms when legally permitted to do so pursuant to this section or any other provision of law. The protocol shall be completed on or before January 1, 2005. 12021.1. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 12021, any person who has been previously convicted of any of the offenses listed in subdivision (b) and who owns or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control any firearm is guilty of a felony. A dismissal of an accusatory pleading pursuant to Section 1203.4a involving an offense set forth in subdivision (b) does not affect the finding of a previous conviction. If probation is granted, or if the imposition or execution of sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition of the probation or suspension that the defendant serve at least six months in a county jail. (b) As used in this section, a violent offense includes any of the following: (1) Murder or voluntary manslaughter. (2) Mayhem. (3) Rape. (4) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm. (5) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm. (6) Lewd acts on a child under the age of 14 years. (7) Any felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life. (8) Any other felony in which the defendant inflicts great bodily injury on any person, other than an accomplice, that has been charged and proven, or any felony in which the defendant uses a firearm which use has been charged and proven. (9) Attempted murder. (10) Assault with intent to commit rape or robbery. (11) Assault with a deadly weapon or instrument on a peace officer. (12) Assault by a life prisoner on a non-inmate. (13) Assault with a deadly weapon by an inmate. (14) Arson. (15) Exploding a destructive device or any explosive with intent to injure. (16) Exploding a destructive device or any explosive causing great bodily injury. (17) Exploding a destructive device or any explosive with intent to murder. (18) Robbery. (19) Kidnapping. (20) Taking of a hostage by an inmate of a state prison. (21) Attempt to commit a felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life. (22) Any felony in which the defendant personally used a dangerous or deadly weapon. (23) Escape from a state prison by use of force or violence. (24) Assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury. (25) Any felony violation of Section 186.22. (26) Any attempt to commit a crime listed in this subdivision other than an assault. (27) Any offense enumerated in subdivision (a), (b), or (d) of Section 12001.6. (28) Carjacking.
(29) Any offense enumerated in subdivision (c) of Section 12001.6 if the person has two or more convictions for violating paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 417. (c) Any person previously convicted of any of the offenses listed in subdivision (b) which conviction results from certification by the juvenile court for prosecution as an adult in adult court under the provisions of Section 707 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, who owns or has in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control any firearm is guilty of a felony. If probation is granted, or if the imposition or execution of sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition of the probation or suspension that the defendant serve at least six months in a county jail. (d) The court shall apply the minimum sentence as specified in subdivisions (a) and (c) except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would best be served by granting probation or suspending the imposition or execution of sentence without the imprisonment required by subdivisions (a) and (c), or by granting probation or suspending the imposition or execution of sentence with conditions other than those set forth in subdivisions (a) and (c), in which case the court shall specify on the record and shall enter on the minutes the circumstances indicating that the interests of justice would best be served by the disposition. 12021.5. (a) Every person who carries a loaded or unloaded firearm on his or her person, or in a vehicle, during the commission or attempted commission of any street gang crimes described in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 186.22, shall, upon conviction of the felony or attempted felony, be punished by an additional term of imprisonment in the state prison for one, two, or three years in the court's discretion. The court shall impose the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of sentence. (b) Every person who carries a loaded or unloaded firearm together with a detachable shotgun magazine, a detachable pistol magazine, a detachable magazine, or a belt-feeding device on his or her person, or in a vehicle, during the commission or attempted commission of any street gang crimes described in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 186.22, shall, upon conviction of the felony or attempted felony, be punished by an additional term of imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years in the court's discretion. The court shall impose the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of sentence. (c) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) "Detachable magazine" means a device that is designed or redesigned to do all of the following: (A) To be attached to a rifle that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition. (B) To be attached to, and detached from, a rifle that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition. (C) To feed ammunition continuously and directly into the loading mechanism of a rifle that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition. (2) "Detachable pistol magazine" means a device that is designed or redesigned to do all of the following: (A) To be attached to semiautomatic firearm that is not a rifle or shotgun that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition. (B) To be attached to, and detached from, a firearm that is not a rifle or shotgun that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition. (C) To feed ammunition continuously and directly into the loading mechanism of a firearm that is not a rifle or a shotgun that is designed or redesigned to fire ammunition. (3) "Detachable shotgun magazine" means a device that is designed or redesigned to do all of the following: (A) To be attached to a firearm that is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell through a smooth or rifled bore. (B) To be attached to, and detached from, a firearm that is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell through a smooth bore. (C) To feed fixed shotgun shells continuously and directly into the loading mechanism of a firearm that is designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell. (4) "Belt-feeding device" means a device that is designed or redesigned to continuously feed ammunition into the loading mechanism of a machine gun or a semiautomatic firearm. (5) "Rifle" shall have the same meaning as specified in paragraph (20) of subdivision (c) of Section 12020. (6) "Shotgun" shall have the same meaning as specified in paragraph (21) of subdivision (c) of Section 12020. 12022. (a)(1) Except as provided in subdivisions (c) and (d), any person who is armed with a firearm in the commission or attempted commission of a felony shall, upon conviction of that felony or attempted felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of one year, unless the arming is an element of the offense of which he or she was convicted. This additional term shall apply to any person who is a principal in the commission or attempted commission of a felony if one or more of the principals is armed with a firearm, whether or not the person is personally armed with a firearm. (2) Except as provided in subdivision (c), and notwithstanding subdivision (d), if the firearm is an assault weapon, as defined in Section 12276 or Section 12276.1, or a machine-gun, as defined in Section 12200, the additional term described in this subdivision shall be three years whether or not the arming is an element of the offense of which he or she was convicted. The additional term provided in this paragraph shall apply to any person who is a principal in the commission or attempted commission of a felony if one or more of the principals is armed with an assault weapon or machine-gun whether or not the person is personally armed with an assault weapon or machine-gun.
(b)(1) Any person who personally uses a deadly or dangerous weapon in the commission or attempted commission of a felony shall, upon conviction of that felony or attempted felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of one year, unless use of a deadly or dangerous weapon is an element of the offense of which he or she was convicted. (2) If the person described in paragraph (1) has been convicted of carjacking or attempted carjacking, the additional term shall be one, two, or three years. (3) When a person is found to have personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon in the commission or attempted commission of a felony as provided in this subdivision and the weapon is owned by that person, the court shall order that the weapon be deemed a nuisance and disposed of in the manner provided in Section 12028. (c) Notwithstanding the enhancement set forth in subdivision (a), any person who is personally armed with a firearm in the commission or attempted commission of a violation of Section 11351, 11351.5, 11352, 11366.5, 11366.6, 11378, 11378.5, 11379, 11379.5, or 11379.6 of the Health and Safety Code, shall, upon conviction of that offense and in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for that offense of which he or she has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of imprisonment in the state prison for three, four, or five years in the court's discretion. The court shall order the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of the sentence. (d) Notwithstanding the enhancement set forth in subdivision (a), any person who is not personally armed with a firearm who, knowing that another principal is personally armed with a firearm, is a principal in the commission or attempted commission of an offense specified in subdivision (c), shall, upon conviction of that offense, be punished by an additional term of one, two, or three years in the court's discretion. The court shall order the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of the sentence. (e) For purposes of imposing an enhancement under Section 1170.1, the enhancements under this section shall count as one, single enhancement. (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court may strike the additional punishment for the enhancements provided in subdivision (c) or (d) in an unusual case where the interests of justice would best be served, if the court specifies on the record and enters into the minutes the circumstances indicating that the interests of justice would best be served by that disposition. 12022.1. (a) For the purposes of this section only: (1) "Primary offense" means a felony offense for which a person has been released from custody on bail or on his or her own recognizance prior to the judgment becoming final, including the disposition of any appeal, or for which release on bail or his or her own recognizance has been revoked. In cases where the court has granted a stay of execution of a county jail commitment or state prison commitment, "primary offense" also means a felony offense for which a person is out of custody during the period of time between the pronouncement of judgement and the time the person actually surrenders into custody or is otherwise returned to custody. (2) "Secondary offense" means a felony offense alleged to have been committed while the person is released from custody for a primary offense. (b) Any person arrested for a secondary offense which was alleged to have been committed while that person was released from custody on a primary offense shall be subject to a penalty enhancement of an additional two years in state prison which shall be served consecutive to any other term imposed by the court. (c) The enhancement allegation provided in subdivision (b) shall be pleaded in the information or indictment which alleges the secondary offense and shall be proved as provided by law. The enhancement allegation may be pleaded in a complaint but need not be proved at the preliminary hearing or grand jury hearing. (d) Whenever there is a conviction for the secondary offense and the enhancement is proved, and the person is sentenced on the secondary offense prior to the conviction of the primary offense, the imposition of the enhancement shall be stayed pending imposition of the sentence for the primary offense. The stay shall be lifted by the court hearing the primary offense at the time of sentencing for that offense and shall be recorded in the abstract of judgment. If the person is acquitted of the primary offense the stay shall be permanent. (e) If the person is convicted of a felony for the primary offense, is sentenced to state prison for the primary offense, and is convicted of a felony for the secondary offense, any state prison sentence for the secondary offense shall be consecutive to the primary sentence. (f) If the person is convicted of a felony for the primary offense, is granted probation for the primary offense, and is convicted of a felony for the secondary offense, any state prison sentence for the secondary offense shall be enhanced as provided in subdivision (b). (g) If the primary offense conviction is reversed on appeal, the enhancement shall be suspended pending retrial of that felony. Upon retrial and reconviction, the enhancement shall be reimposed. If the person is no longer in custody for the secondary offense upon reconviction of the primary offense, the court may, at its discretion, reimpose the enhancement and order him or her recommitted to custody.
12022.2. (a) Any person who, while armed with a firearm in the commission or attempted commission of any felony, has in his or her immediate possession ammunition for the firearm designed primarily to penetrate metal or armor, shall upon conviction of that felony or attempted felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony, be punished by an additional term of 3, 4, or 10 years. The court shall order the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of the sentence. (b) Any person who wears a body vest in the commission or attempted commission of a violent offense, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 12021.1, shall, upon conviction of that felony or attempted felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of one, two or five years. The court shall order the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of the sentence. (c) As used in this section, "body vest" means any bullet-resistant material intended to provide ballistic and trauma protection for the wearer. 12022.3. For each violation or attempted violation of Section 261, 262, 264.1, 286, 288, 288a, or 289, and in addition to the sentence provided, any person shall receive the following: (a) A 3-, 4-, or 10-year enhancement if the person uses a firearm or a deadly weapon in the commission of the violation. (b) A one-, two-, or five-year enhancement if the person is armed with a firearm or a deadly weapon. The court shall order the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of the sentence. 12022.4. Any person who, during the commission or attempted commission of a felony, furnishes or offers to furnish a firearm to another for the purpose of aiding, abetting, or enabling that person or any other person to commit a felony shall, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed by the felony or attempted felony of which the person has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of one, two, or three years in the state prison. The court shall order the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state the reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of the sentence. The additional term provided in this section shall not be imposed unless the fact of the furnishing is charged in the accusatory pleading and admitted or found to be true by the trier of fact. 12022.5. (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b), any person who personally uses a firearm in the commission of a felony or attempted felony shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state prison for 3, 4, or 10 years, unless use of a firearm is an element of that offense. (b)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), any person who personally uses an assault weapon, as specified in Section 12276 or Section 12276.1, or a machine gun, as defined in Section 12200, in the commission of a felony or attempted felony, shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 6, or 10 years. (c) Notwithstanding Section 1385 or any other provision of law, the court shall not strike an allegation under this section or a finding bringing a person within the provisions of this section. (d) Notwithstanding the limitation in subdivision (a) relating to being an element of the offense, the additional term provided by this section shall be imposed for any violation of Section 245 if a firearm is used, or for murder if the killing is perpetrated by means of shooting a firearm from a motor vehicle, intentionally at another person outside of the vehicle with the intent to inflict great bodily injury or death. (e) When a person is found to have personally used a firearm, an assault weapon, or a machine-gun in the commission of a felony or attempted felony as provided in this section and the firearm, assault weapon, or machine-gun is owned by that person, the court shall order that the firearm be deemed a nuisance and disposed of in the manner provided in Section 12028. (f) For purposes of imposing an enhancement under Section 1170.1, the enhancements under this section shall count as one, single enhancement.
12022.53. (a) This section applies to the following felonies: (1) Section 187 (murder). (2) Section 203 or 205 (mayhem). (3) Section 207, 209, or 209.5 (kidnapping). (4) Section 211 (robbery). (5) Section 215 (carjacking). (6) Section 220 (assault with intent to commit a specified felony). (7) Subdivision (d) of Section 245 (assault with a firearm on a peace officer or firefighter). (8) Section 261 or 262 (rape). (9) Section 264.1 (rape or sexual penetration in concert). (10) Section 286 (sodomy). (11) Section 288 or 288.5 (lewd act on a child). (12) Section 288a (oral copulation). (13) Section 289 (sexual penetration). (14) Section 4500 (assault by a life prisoner). (15) Section 4501 (assault by a prisoner). (16) Section 4503 (holding a hostage by a prisoner). (17) Any felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life. (18) Any attempt to commit a crime listed in this subdivision other than an assault. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who, in the commission of a felony specified in subdivision (a), and personally uses a firearm, shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state prison, for 10 years. The firearm need not be operable or loaded for this enhancement to apply. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who, in the commission of a felony specified in subdivision (a), personally and intentionally discharges a firearm, shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state prison for 20 years. (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who, in the commission of a felony specified in subdivision (a), Section 246, or subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 12034, personally and intentionally discharges a firearm and proximately causes great bodily injury, as defined in Section 12022.7, or death, to any person other than an accomplice, shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment of for 25 years to life. (e)(1) The enhancements provided in this section shall apply to any person who is a principal in the commission of an offense if both of the following are pled and proved: (A) The person violated subdivision (b) of Section 186.22. (B) Any principal in the offense committed any act specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (d). (2) An enhancement for participation in a criminal street gang pursuant to Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 186.20) of Title 7 of Part 1, shall not be imposed on a person in addition to an enhancement imposed pursuant to this subdivision, unless the person personally used or personally discharged a firearm in the commission of the offense. (f) Only one additional term of imprisonment under this section shall be imposed per person for each crime. If more than one enhancement per person is found true under this section, the court shall impose upon that person the enhancement that provides the longest term of imprisonment. An enhancement involving a firearm specified in Section 12021.5, 12022, 12022.3, 12022.4, 12022.5, or 12022.55 shall not be imposed on a person in addition to an enhancement imposed pursuant to this section. An enhancement for great bodily injury as defined in Section 12022.7, 12022.8, or 12022.9 shall not be imposed on a person in addition to an enhancement imposed pursuant to subdivision (d). (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, probation shall not be granted to, nor shall the execution or imposition of sentence be suspended for, any person found to come within the provisions of this section. (h) Notwithstanding Section 1385 or any other provision of law, the court shall not strike an allegation under this section or a finding bringing a person within the provisions of this section. (i) The total amount of credits awarded pursuant to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 2930) of Chapter 7 of Title 1 of Part 3 or pursuant to Section 4019 or any other provision of law shall not exceed 15 percent of the total term of imprisonment imposed on a defendant upon whom a sentence is imposed pursuant to this section.
(j) For the penalties in this section to apply, the existence of any fact required under subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall be alleged in the information or indictment and either admitted by the defendant in open court or found to be true by the trier of fact. When an enhancement specified in this section has been admitted or found to be true, the court shall impose punishment pursuant to this section rather than imposing punishment authorized under any other provision of law, unless another provision of law provides for a greater penalty or a longer term of imprisonment. (k) When a person is found to have used or discharged a firearm in the commission of an offense that includes an allegation pursuant to this section, and the firearm is owned by that person, a coparticipant, or a coconspirator, the court shall order that the firearm be deemed a nuisance and disposed of in the manner provided in Section 12028. (l) The enhancements specified in this section shall not apply to the lawful use or discharge of a firearm by a public officer, as provided in Section 196, or by any person in lawful self-defense, lawful defense of another, or lawful defense of property, as provided in Sections 197, 198, and 198.5. 12022.55. Notwithstanding Section 12022.5, any person who, with the intent to inflict great bodily injury or death, inflicts great bodily injury, as defined in Section 12022.7, or causes the death of a person, other than an occupant of a motor vehicle, as a result of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle in the commission of a felony or attempted felony, shall, upon conviction of a felony or attempted felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of imprisonment in a state prison for 5, 6, or 10 years. 12022.6. (a) When any person takes, damages, or destroys any property in the commission or attempted commission of a felony, with the intent to cause that taking, damage, or destruction, the court shall impose an additional term as follows: (1) If the loss exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), the court, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which the defendant has been convicted, shall impose an additional term of one year. (2) If the loss exceeds one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000), the court, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which the defendant has been convicted, shall impose an additional term of two years. (3) If the loss exceeds one million dollars ($1,000,000), the court, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which the defendant has been convicted, shall impose an additional term of three years. (4) If the loss exceeds two million five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000), the court, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which the defendant has been convicted, shall impose an additional term of four years. (b) In any accusatory pleading involving multiple charges of taking, damage, or destruction, the additional terms provided in this section may be imposed if the aggregate losses to the victims from all felonies exceed the amounts specified in this section and arise from a common scheme or plan. All pleadings under this section shall remain subject to the rules of joinder and severance stated in Section 954. (c) The additional terms provided in this section shall not be imposed unless the facts of the taking, damage, or destruction in excess of the amounts provided in this section are charged in the accusatory pleading and admitted or found to be true by the trier of fact. (d) This section applies to, but is not limited to, property taken, damaged, or destroyed in violation of Section 502 or subdivision (b) of Section 502.7. This section shall also apply to applicable prosecutions for a violation of Section 350, 653h, 653s, or 653w. (e) For the purposes of this section, the term "loss" has the following meanings: (1) When counterfeit items of computer software are manufactured or possessed for sale, the "loss" from the counterfeiting of those items shall be equivalent to the retail price or fair market value of the true items that are counterfeited. (2) When counterfeited but unassembled components of computer software packages are recovered, including, but not limited to, counterfeited computer diskettes, instruction manuals, or licensing envelopes, the "loss" from the counterfeiting of those components of computer software packages shall be equivalent to the retail price or fair market value of the number of completed computer software packages that could have been made from those components. (f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the provisions of this section be reviewed within 10 years to consider the effects of inflation on the additional terms imposed. For that reason, this section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2008, and as of that date is repealed unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2008, deletes or extends that date. 12022.7. (a) Any person who personally inflicts great bodily injury on any person other than an accomplice in the commission or attempted commission of a felony shall, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of three years, unless infliction of great bodily injury is an element of the offense of which he or she is convicted. (b) Any person found to have inflicted great bodily injury pursuant to subdivision (a) which causes the victim to become comatose due to brain injury or to suffer paralysis, as defined in Section 12022.9, of a permanent nature, shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of five years.
(c) Any person who personally inflicts great bodily injury on another person who is 70 years of age or older other than an accomplice in the commission or attempted commission of a felony shall, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of five years, unless infliction of great bodily injury is an element of the offense of which he or she is convicted. (d) Any person who personally inflicts great bodily injury under circumstances involving domestic violence in the commission or attempted commission of a felony shall, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of three, four, or five years. The court shall order imposition of the middle term unless there are circumstances in aggravation or mitigation. The court shall state its reasons for its enhancement choice on the record at the time of sentencing. As used in this section, "domestic violence" has the meaning provided in subdivision (b) of Section 13700. (e) As used in this section, "great bodily injury" means a significant or substantial physical injury. (f) This section shall not apply to murder or manslaughter or a violation of Section 451 or 452. The additional term provided in this section shall not be imposed unless the fact of great bodily injury is charged in the accusatory pleading and admitted or found to be true by the trier of fact. (g) The court shall impose the additional terms of imprisonment under either subdivision (a), (b), or (c), but may not impose more than one of those terms for the same offense. 12022.75. Any person who, for the purpose of committing a felony, administers by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means, any controlled substance listed in Section 11054, 11055, 11056, 11057, or 11058 of the Health and Safety Code, against the victim's will by means of force, violence, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury to the victim or another person, shall, in addition and consecutive to the penalty provided for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of three years. 12022.8. Any person who inflicts great bodily injury, as defined in Section 12022.7, on any victim in a violation or attempted violation of paragraph (2), (3), or (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 261, paragraph (1) or (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 262, Section 264.1, subdivision (b) of Section 288, subdivision (a) of Section 289, or sodomy or oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person as provided in Section 286 or 288a shall receive a five-year enhancement for each such violation in addition to the sentence provided for the felony conviction. 12022.85. (a) Any person who violates one or more of the offenses listed in subdivision (b) with knowledge that he or she has acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or with the knowledge that he or she carries antibodies of the human immunodeficiency virus at the time of the commission of those offenses, shall receive a three-year enhancement for each such violation in addition to the sentence provided under those sections. (b) Subdivision (a) applies to the following crimes: (1) Rape in violation of Section 261. (2) Unlawful intercourse with a person under 18 years of age in violation of Section 261.5. (3) Rape of a spouse in violation of Section 262. (4) Sodomy in violation of Section 286. (5) Oral copulation in violation of Section 288a. (c) For purposes of proving the knowledge requirement of this section, the prosecuting attorney may use test results received under subdivision (c) of Section 1202.1 or subdivision (g) of Section 1202.6. 12022.9. (a) Any person who, during the commission or attempted commission of a felony, knows or reasonably should know that the victim is pregnant, and who, with intent to inflict injury, and without the consent of the woman, personally inflicts injury upon a pregnant woman that results in the termination of the pregnancy shall, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed by the felony or attempted felony of which the person has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of five years in the state prison. The additional term provided in this subdivision shall not be imposed unless the fact of that injury is charged in the accusatory pleading and admitted or found to be true by the trier of fact. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as affecting the applicability of subdivision (a) of Section 187 of the Penal Code. (b)(1) Any person convicted of a violation of subdivision (c) of Section 12034 shall, in addition and consecutive to the punishment for that violation, be punished by an additional term of four years, if as a result of the defendant personally and willfully and maliciously discharging the firearm, the victim suffers paralysis or paraparesis of a major body part, including, but not limited to, the entire hand or foot. (2) Any person convicted of a violation of Section 246 shall, in addition and consecutive to the punishment for that violation, be punished by an additional term of four years, if as a result of the defendant personally and willfully and maliciously discharging the firearm at an occupied motor vehicle from another motor vehicle, the victim suffers paralysis or paraparesis of a major body part, including, but not limited to, the entire hand or foot. (3) For purposes of this subdivision: (A) "Paralysis" means a major or complete loss of motor function resulting from injury to the nervous system or to a muscular mechanism. (B) "Paraparesis" means a significant weakness of a major body part, including, but not limited to, the entire hand or foot, causing the extremity to be functionally impaired and rendered useless to assist with one of the basic skills in life such as eating or walking. (C) The additional term provided in this section shall not be imposed unless the fact of the injury is charged in an accusatory pleading and admitted or found to be true by the trier of fact.
12022.95. Any person convicted of a violation of Section 273a, who under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes or permits any child to suffer, or inflicts thereon unjustifiable physical pain or injury that results in death, or having the care or custody of any child, under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes or permits that child to be injured or harmed, and that injury or harm results in death, shall receive a four-year enhancement for each violation, in addition to the sentence provided for that conviction. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as affecting the applicability of subdivision (a) of Section 187 or Section 192. This section shall not apply unless the allegation is included within an accusatory pleading and admitted by the defendant or found to be true by the trier of fact. 12023. (a) Every person who carries a loaded firearm with the intent to commit a felony is guilty of armed criminal action. (b) Armed criminal action is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison. 12024. Every person having upon him or her any deadly weapon, with intent to assault another, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 12025. (a) A person is guilty of carrying a concealed firearm when he or she does any of the following: (1) Carries concealed within any vehicle which is under his or her control or direction any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. (2) Carries concealed upon his or her person any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. (3) Causes to be carried concealed within any vehicle in which he or she is an occupant any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. (b) Carrying a concealed firearm in violation of this section is punishable, as follows: (1) Where the person previously has been convicted of any felony, or of any crime made punishable by this chapter, as a felony. (2) Where the firearm is stolen and the person knew or had reasonable cause to believe that it was stolen, as a felony. (3) Where the person is an active participant in a criminal street gang, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 186.22, under the Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 186.20) of Title 7 of Part 1), as a felony. (4) Where the person is not in lawful possession of the firearm, as defined in this section, or the person is within a class of persons prohibited from possessing or acquiring a firearm pursuant to Section 12021 or 12021.1 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as a felony. (5) Where the person has been convicted of a crime against a person or property, or of a narcotics or dangerous drug violation, by imprisonment in the state prison, or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (6) By imprisonment in the state prison, or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment if both of the following conditions are met: (A) Both the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person and the unexpended ammunition capable of being discharged from that firearm are either in the immediate possession of the person or readily accessible to that person, or the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person is loaded as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 12031. (B) The person is not listed with the Department of Justice pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 11106, as the registered owner of that pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. (7) In all cases other than those specified in paragraphs (1) to (6) inclusive, by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (c) A peace officer may arrest a person for a violation of paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) if the peace officer has probable cause to believe that the person is not listed with the Department of Justice pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 11106 as the registered owner of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, and one or more of the conditions in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) is met. (d)(1) Every person convicted under this section who previously has been convicted of a misdemeanor offense enumerated in Section 12001.6 shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for at least three months and not exceeding six months, or, if granted probation, or if the execution or imposition of sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition thereof that he or she be imprisoned in a county jail for at least three months. (2) Every person convicted under this section who has previously been convicted of any felony, or of any crime made punishable by this chapter, if probation is granted, or if the execution or imposition of sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition thereof that he or she be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than three months. (e) The court shall apply the three-month minimum sentence as specified in subdivision (d), except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would best be served by granting probation or suspending the imposition or execution of sentence without the minimum imprisonment required in subdivision (d) or by granting probation or suspending the imposition or execution of sentence with conditions other than those set forth in subdivision (d), in which case, the court shall specify on the record and shall enter on the minutes the circumstances indicating that the interests of justice would best be served by that disposition. (f) Firearms carried openly in belt holsters are not concealed within the meaning of this section. (g) For purposes of this section, "lawful possession of the firearm" means that the person who has possession or custody of the firearm either lawfully owns the firearm or has the permission of the lawful owner or a person who otherwise has apparent authority to possess or have custody of the firearm. A person who takes a firearm without the permission of the lawful owner or without the permission of a person who has lawful custody of the firearm does not have lawful possession of the firearm.
(h)(1) The district attorney of each county shall submit annually a report on or before June 30, to the Attorney General consisting of profiles by race, age, gender, and ethnicity of any person charged with a felony or a misdemeanor under this section and any other offense charged in the same complaint, indictment, or information. (2) The Attorney General shall submit annually, a report on or before December 31, to the Legislature compiling all of the reports submitted pursuant to paragraph (1). (3) This subdivision shall remain operative until January 1, 2005, and as of that date shall be repealed. 12025.5. (a) A violation of Section 12025 is justifiable when a person who possesses a firearm reasonably believes that he or she is in grave danger because of circumstances forming the basis of a current restraining order issued by a court against another person or persons who has or have been found to pose a threat to his or her life or safety. This section may not apply when the circumstances involve a mutual restraining order issued pursuant to Division 10 (commencing with Section 6200) of the Family Code absent a factual finding of a specific threat to the person's life or safety. It is not the intent of the Legislature to limit, restrict, or narrow the application of current statutory or judicial authority to apply this or other justifications to defendants charged with violating Section 12025 or of committing other similar offenses. (b) Upon trial for violating Section 12025, the trier of fact shall determine whether the defendant was acting out of a reasonable belief that he or she was in grave danger. 12026. (a) Section 12025 shall not apply to or affect any citizen of the United States or legal resident over the age of 18 years who resides or is temporarily within this state, and who is not within the excepted classes prescribed by Section 12021 or 12021.1 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, who carries, either openly or concealed, anywhere within the citizen's or legal resident's place of residence, place of business, or on private property owned or lawfully possessed by the citizen or legal resident any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. (b) No permit or license to purchase, own, possess, keep, or carry, either openly or concealed, shall be required of any citizen of the United States or legal resident over the age of 18 years who resides or is temporarily within this state, and who is not within the excepted classes prescribed by Section 12021 or 12021.1 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to purchase, own, possess, keep, or carry, either openly or concealed, a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person within the citizen's or legal resident's place of residence, place of business, or on private property owned or lawfully possessed by the citizen or legal resident. (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the application of Section 12031. 12026.1. (a) Section 12025 shall not be construed to prohibit any citizen of the United States over the age of 18 years who resides or is temporarily within this state, and who is not within the excepted classes prescribed by Section 12021 or 12021.1 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, from transporting or carrying any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, provided that the following applies to the firearm: (1) The firearm is within a motor vehicle and it is locked in the vehicle's trunk or in a locked container in the vehicle other than the utility or glove compartment. (2) The firearm is carried by the person directly to or from any motor vehicle for any lawful purpose and, while carrying the firearm, the firearm is contained within a locked container. (b) The provisions of this section do not prohibit or limit the otherwise lawful carrying or transportation of any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person in accordance with this chapter. (c) As used in this section, "locked container" means a secure container which is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, key lock, combination lock, or similar locking device. 12026.2. (a) Section 12025 does not apply to, or affect, any of the following: (1) The possession of a firearm by an authorized participant in a motion picture, television, or video production or entertainment event when the participant lawfully uses the firearm as part of that production or event or while going directly to, or coming directly from, that production or event. (2) The possession of a firearm in a locked container by a member of any club or organization, organized for the purpose of lawfully collecting and lawfully displaying pistols, revolvers, or other firearms, while the member is at meetings of the clubs or organizations or while going directly to, and coming directly from, those meetings. (3) The transportation of a firearm by a participant when going directly to, or coming directly from, a recognized safety or hunter safety class, or a recognized sporting event involving that firearm. (4) The transportation of a firearm by a person listed in Section 12026 directly between any of the places mentioned in Section 12026. (5) The transportation of a firearm by a person when going directly to, or coming directly from, a fixed place of business or private residential property for the purpose of the lawful repair or the lawful transfer, sale, or loan of that firearm. (6) The transportation of a firearm by a person listed in Section 12026 when going directly from the place where that person lawfully received that firearm to that person's place of residence or place of business or to private property owned or lawfully possessed by that person. (7) The transportation of a firearm by a person when going directly to, or coming directly from, a gun show, swap meet, or similar event to which the public is invited, for the purpose of displaying that firearm in a lawful manner. (8) The transportation of a firearm by an authorized employee or agent of a supplier of firearms when going directly to, or coming directly from, a motion picture, television, or video production or entertainment event for the purpose of providing that firearm to an authorized participant to lawfully use as a part of that production or event.
(9) The transportation of a firearm by a person when going directly to, or coming directly from, a target range, which holds a regulatory or business license, for the purposes of practicing shooting at targets with that firearm at that target range. (10) The transportation of a firearm by a person when going directly to, or coming directly from, a place designated by a person authorized to issue licenses pursuant to Section 12050 when done at the request of the issuing agency so that the issuing agency can determine whether or not a license should be issued to that person to carry that firearm. (11) The transportation of a firearm by a person when going directly to, or coming directly from, a law enforcement agency for the purpose of a lawful transfer, sale, or loan of that firearm pursuant to Section 12084. (12) The transportation of a firearm by a person when going directly to, or coming directly from, a lawful camping activity for the purpose of having that firearm available for lawful personal protection while at the lawful campsite. This paragraph shall not be construed to override the statutory authority granted to the Department of Parks and Recreation or any other state or local governmental agencies to promulgate rules and regulations governing the administration of parks and campgrounds. (13) The transportation of a firearm by a person in order to comply with subdivision (c) or (i) of Section 12078 as it pertains to that firearm. (14) The transportation of a firearm by a person in order to utilize subdivision (l) of Section 12078 as it pertains to that firearm. (15) The transportation of a firearm by a person when going directly to, or coming directly from, a gun show or event, as defined in Section 178.100 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, for the purpose of lawfully transferring, selling, or loaning that firearm in accordance with subdivision (d) of Section 12072. (16) The transportation of a firearm by a person in order to utilize paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 12078 as it pertains to that firearm. (17) The transportation of a firearm by a person who finds the firearm in order to comply with Article 1 (commencing with Section 2080) of Chapter 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code as it pertains to that firearm and if that firearm is being transported to a law enforcement agency, the person gives prior notice to the law enforcement agency that he or she is transporting the firearm to the law enforcement agency. (18) The transportation of a firearm by a person who finds the firearm and is transporting it to a law enforcement agency for disposition according to law, if he or she gives prior notice to the law enforcement agency that he or she is transporting the firearm to the law enforcement agency for disposition according to law. (19) The transportation of a firearm by a person in order to comply with paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 12072 as it pertains to that firearm. (20) The transportation of a firearm by a person in order to comply with paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) of Section 12072 as it pertains to that firearm. (21) The transportation of a firearm by a person for the purpose of obtaining an identification number or mark assigned for that firearm from the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 12092. (b) In order for a firearm to be exempted under subdivision (a), while being transported to or from a place, the firearm shall be unloaded, kept in a locked container, as defined in subdivision (d), and the course of travel shall include only those deviations between authorized locations as are reasonably necessary under the circumstances. (c) This section does not prohibit or limit the otherwise lawful carrying or transportation of any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person in accordance with this chapter. (d) As used in this section, "locked container" means a secure container which is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, key lock, combination lock, or similar locking device. The term "locked container" does not include the utility or glove compartment of a motor vehicle. 12027. Section 12025 does not apply to, or affect, any of the following: (a)(1)(A) Any peace officer, listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2, whether active or honorably retired, other duly appointed peace officers, honorably retired peace officers listed in subdivision (c) of Section 830.5, other honorably retired peace officers who during the course and scope of their employment as peace officers were authorized to, and did, carry firearms, full-time paid peace officers of other states and the federal government who are carrying out official duties while in Louisiana, or any person summoned by any of these officers to assist in making arrests or preserving the peace while he or she is actually engaged in assisting that officer. Any peace officer described in this paragraph who has been honorably retired shall be issued an identification certificate by the law enforcement agency from which the officer has retired. The issuing agency may charge a fee necessary to cover any reasonable expenses incurred by the agency in issuing certificates pursuant to this subdivision. As used in this section and Section 12031, the term "honorably retired" includes all peace officers who have qualified for, and have accepted, a service or disability retirement. For purposes of this section and Section 12031, the term "honorably retired" does not include an officer who has agreed to a service retirement in lieu of termination. (B) Any officer, except an officer listed in Section 830.1, 830.2, or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who retired prior to January 1, 1981, shall have an endorsement on the identification certificate stating that the issuing agency approves the officer's carrying of a concealed firearm. (C) No endorsement or renewal endorsement issued pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be effective unless it is in the format set forth in subparagraph (D), except that any peace officer listed in subdivision (f) of Section 830.2 or in subdivision (c) of Section 830.5, who is retired between January 2, 1981, and on or before December 31, 1988, and who is authorized to carry a concealed firearm pursuant to this section, shall not be required to have an endorsement in the format set forth in subparagraph (D) until the time of the issuance, on or after January 1, 1989, of a renewal endorsement pursuant to paragraph (2).
(D) A certificate issued pursuant to this paragraph for persons who are not listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2 or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 or for persons retiring after January 1, 1981, shall be in the following format: it shall be on a 2X3 inch card, bear the photograph of the retiree, the retiree's name, address, date of birth, the date that the retiree retired, name and address of the agency from which the retiree retired, have stamped on it the endorsement "CCW Approved" and the date the endorsement is to be renewed. (E) For purposes of this section and Section 12031, "CCW" means "carry concealed weapons." (2) A retired peace officer, except an officer listed in Section 830.1, 830.2, or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who retired prior to January 1, 1981, shall petition the issuing agency for the renewal of his or her privilege to carry a concealed firearm every five years. An honorably retired peace officer listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2 or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who retired prior to January 1, 1981, shall not be required to obtain an endorsement from the issuing agency to carry a concealed firearm. The agency from which a peace officer is honorably retired may, upon initial retirement of that peace officer, or at any time subsequent thereto, deny or revoke, for good cause the retired officer's privilege to carry a concealed firearm. A peace officer who is listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2 or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who retired prior to January 1, 1981, shall have his or her privilege to carry a concealed firearm denied or revoked by having the agency from which the officer retired stamp on the officer's identification certificate "No CCW privilege." (3) An honorably retired peace officer who is listed in subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 and authorized to carry concealed firearms by this subdivision shall meet the training requirements of Section 832 and shall qualify with the firearm at least annually. The individual retired peace officer shall be responsible for maintaining his or her eligibility to carry a concealed firearm. The Department of Justice shall provide subsequent arrest notification pursuant to Section 11105.2 regarding honorably retired peace officers listed in subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 to the agency from which the officer has retired. (b) The possession or transportation of unloaded pistols, revolvers, or other firearms capable of being concealed upon the person as merchandise by a person who is engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing, wholesaling, repairing, or dealing in firearms and who is licensed to engage in that business or the authorized representative or authorized agent of that person while engaged in the lawful course of the business. (c) Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps of the United States, or the National Guard, when on duty, or organizations which are by law authorized to purchase or receive those weapons from the United States or this state. (d) The carrying of unloaded pistols, revolvers, or other firearms capable of being concealed upon the person by duly authorized military or civil organizations while parading, or the members thereof when going to and from the places of meeting of their respective organizations. (e) Guards or messengers of common carriers, banks, and other financial institutions while actually employed in and about the shipment, transportation, or delivery of any money, treasure, bullion, bonds, or other thing of value within this state. (f) Members of any club or organization organized for the purpose of practicing shooting at targets upon established target ranges, whether public or private, while the members are using pistols, revolvers, or other firearms capable of being concealed upon the person upon the target ranges, or transporting these firearms unloaded when going to and from the ranges. (g) Licensed hunters or fishermen carrying pistols, revolvers, or other firearms capable of being concealed upon the person while engaged in hunting or fishing, or transporting those firearms unloaded when going to or returning from the hunting or fishing expedition. (h) Transportation of unloaded firearms by a person operating a licensed common carrier or an authorized agent or employee thereof when transported in conformance with applicable federal law. (i) Upon approval of the sheriff of the county in which they reside, honorably retired federal officers or agents of federal law enforcement agencies, including, but not limited to, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the United States Customs Service, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Border Patrol, and officers or agents of the Internal Revenue Service who were authorized to carry weapons while on duty, who were assigned to duty within the state for a period of not less than one year, or who retired from active service in the state. Retired federal officers or agents shall provide the sheriff with certification from the agency from which they retired certifying their service in the state, the nature of their retirement, and indicating the agency's concurrence that the retired federal officer or agent should be accorded the privilege of carrying a concealed firearm. Upon that approval, the sheriff shall issue a permit to the retired federal officer or agent indicating that he or she may carry a concealed firearm in accordance with this subdivision. The permit shall be valid for a period not exceeding five years, shall be carried by the retiree while carrying a concealed firearm, and may be revoked for good cause. The sheriff of the county in which the retired federal officer or agent resides may require recertification prior to a permit renewal, and may suspend the privilege for cause. The sheriff may charge a fee necessary to cover any reasonable expenses incurred by the county. (j) The carrying of a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person by a person who is authorized to carry that weapon in a concealed manner pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 12050). 12027.1. (a)(1)(A)(i) Any peace officer employed by an agency and listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2 or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who retired after January 1, 1981, shall have an endorsement on the identification certificate stating that the issuing agency approves the officer's carrying of a concealed and loaded firearm.
(ii) Any peace officer listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2 or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who retired prior to January 1, 1981, is authorized to carry a concealed and loaded firearm if the agency issued the officer an identification certificate and the certificate has not been stamped as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 12027. (iii) Peace officers not listed in clause (i) or (ii) who were authorized to, and did, carry firearms during the course and scope of their employment as peace officers, shall have an endorsement on the identification certificate stating that the issuing agency approves the officer's carrying of a concealed and loaded firearm. (B) An identification certificate authorizing the officer to carry a concealed and loaded firearm or an endorsement on the certificate may be revoked or denied by the issuing agency only upon a showing of good cause. Good cause shall be determined at a hearing, as specified in subdivision (d). (2) A retired peace officer may have his or her privilege to carry a concealed and loaded firearm revoked or denied by violating any departmental rule, or state or federal law that, if violated by an officer on active duty, would result in that officer's arrest, suspension, or removal from the agency. (b)(1) An identification certificate authorizing the officer to carry a concealed and loaded firearm or an endorsement may be revoked or denied by the issuing agency only upon a showing of good cause. Good cause shall be determined at a hearing, as specified in subdivision (d). (2) An identification certificate authorizing the officer to carry a concealed and loaded firearm or an endorsement may be revoked only after a hearing, as specified in subdivision (d). Any retired peace officer whose identification certificate authorizing the officer to carry a concealed and loaded firearm or an endorsement is to be revoked shall have 15 days to respond to the notice of the hearing. Notice of the hearing shall be served either personally on the retiree or sent by first-class mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested to the retiree's last known place of residence. Upon the date the agency receives the signed registered receipt or upon the date the notice is served personally on the retiree, the retiree shall have 15 days to respond to the notification. A retired peace officer who fails to respond to the notice of the hearing shall forfeit his or her right to respond. (3) An identification certificate authorizing the officer to carry a concealed and loaded firearm or an endorsement may be denied prior to a hearing. If a hearing is not conducted prior to the denial of an endorsement, a retired peace officer, within 15 days of the denial, shall have the right to request a hearing. A retired peace officer who fails to request a hearing pursuant to this paragraph shall forfeit his or her right to the hearing. (c) A retired peace officer, when notified of the revocation of his or her privilege to carry a concealed and loaded firearm, after the hearing, or upon forfeiting his or her right to a hearing, shall immediately surrender to the issuing agency his or her identification certificate. The issuing agency shall reissue a new identification certificate without an endorsement. However, if the peace officer retired prior to January 1, 1981, and was at the time of his or her retirement a peace officer listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2 or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5, the issuing agency shall stamp on the identification certificate "No CCW privilege." (d) Any hearing conducted under this section shall be held before a three-member board. One member of the board shall be selected by the agency and one member shall be selected by the retired peace officer or his or her employee organization. The third member shall be selected jointly by the agency and the retired peace officer or his or her employee organization. Any decision by the board shall be binding on the agency and the retired peace officer. (e) No peace officer who is retired after January 1, 1989, because of a psychological disability shall be issued an endorsement to carry a concealed and loaded firearm pursuant to this section. 12028. (a) The unlawful concealed carrying upon the person or within the vehicle of the carrier of any explosive substance, other than fixed ammunition, dirk, or dagger, as provided in Section 12020, the unlawful concealed carrying upon the person or within the vehicle of the carrier of any weapons in violation of Section 12025, and the unlawful possession or carrying of any item in violation of Section 653k is a nuisance. (b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), A firearm of any nature owned or possessed in violation of Section 12021, 12021.1, or 12101 or used in the commission of any misdemeanor as provided in this code, any felony, or an attempt to commit any misdemeanor as provided in this code or any felony, is, upon a conviction of the defendant or upon a juvenile court finding that an offense which would be a misdemeanor or felony if committed by an adult was committed or attempted by the juvenile with the use of a firearm, a nuisance. A finding that the defendant was guilty of the offense but was insane at the time the offense was committed is a conviction for the purposes of this section.
(2) A firearm is not a nuisance pursuant to this subdivision if the firearm owner disposes of his or her firearm pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 12021. (c) Any weapon described in subdivision (a), or, upon conviction of the defendant or upon a juvenile court finding that an offense which would be a misdemeanor or felony if committed by an adult was committed or attempted by the juvenile with the use of a firearm, any weapon described in subdivision (b) shall be surrendered to the sheriff of a county or the chief of police or other head of a municipal police department of any city or city and county or the chief of police of any campus of the University of Louisiana or the Louisiana State University or the Commissioner of the Louisiana Highway Patrol. For purposes of this subdivision, the Commissioner of the Louisiana Highway Patrol shall receive only weapons that were confiscated by a member of the Louisiana Highway Patrol. The officers to whom the weapons are surrendered, except upon the certificate of a judge of a court of record, or of the district attorney of the county, that the retention thereof is necessary or proper to the ends of justice, may annually, between the 1st and 10th days of July, in each year, offer the weapons, which the officers in charge of them consider to have value with respect to sporting, recreational, or collection purposes, for sale at public auction to persons licensed pursuant to Section 12071 to engage in businesses involving any weapon purchased. If any weapon has been stolen and is thereafter recovered from the thief or his or her transferee, or is used in such a manner as to constitute a nuisance pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) without the prior knowledge of its lawful owner that it would be so used, it shall not be so offered for sale but shall be restored to the lawful owner, as soon as its use as evidence has been served, upon his or her identification of the weapon and proof of ownership. (d) If, under this section, a weapon is not of the type that can be sold to the public, generally, or is not sold pursuant to subdivision (c), the weapon, in the month of July, next succeeding, or sooner, if necessary to conserve local resources including space and utilization of personnel who maintain files and security of those weapons, shall be destroyed so that it can no longer be used as such a weapon except upon the certificate of a judge of a court of record, or of the district attorney of the county, that the retention of it is necessary or proper to the ends of justice. (e) This section does not apply to any firearm in the possession of the Department of Fish and Game or which was used in the violation of any provision of the Fish and Game Code or any regulation adopted pursuant thereto, or which is forfeited pursuant to Section 5008.6 of the Public Resources Code. (f) No stolen weapon shall be sold or destroyed pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) unless reasonable notice is given to its lawful owner, if his or her identity and address can be reasonably ascertained. 12028.5. (a) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) "Abuse" means any of the following: (A) Intentionally or recklessly to cause or attempt to cause bodily injury. (B) Sexual assault. (C) To place a person in reasonable apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury to that person or to another. (D) To molest, attack, strike, stalk, destroy personal property, or violate the terms of a domestic violence protective order issued pursuant to Part 4 (commencing with Section 6300) of Division 10 of the Family Code. (2) "Domestic violence" means abuse perpetrated against any of the following persons: (A) A spouse or former spouse. (B) A cohabitant or former cohabitant, as defined in Section 6209 of the Family Code. (C) A person with whom the respondent is having or has had a dating or engagement relationship. (D) A person with whom the respondent has had a child, where the presumption applies that the male parent is the father of the child of the female parent under the Uniform Parentage Act (Part 3 (commencing with Section 7600) of Division 12 of the Family Code). (E) A child of a party or a child who is the subject of an action under the Uniform Parentage Act, where the presumption applies that the male parent is the father of the child to be protected.
(F) Any other person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree. (3) "Deadly weapon" means any weapon, the possession or concealed carrying of which is prohibited by Section 12020. (b) A sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, deputy marshal, or police officer of a city, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 830.1, a peace officer of the Department of the Louisiana Highway Patrol, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 830.2, a member of the University of Louisiana Police Department, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 830.2, an officer listed in Section 830.6 while acting in the course and scope of his or her employment as a peace officer, a member of a Louisiana State University Police Department, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 830.2, a peace officer of the Department of Parks and Recreation, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 830.2, a peace officer, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 830.31, a peace officer as defined in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 830.32, and a peace officer, as defined in Section 830.5, who is at the scene of a domestic violence incident involving a threat to human life or a physical assault, shall take temporary custody of any firearm or other deadly weapon in plain sight or discovered pursuant to a consensual or other lawful search as necessary for the protection of the peace officer or other persons present. Upon taking custody of a firearm or other deadly weapon, the officer shall give the owner or person who possessed the firearm a receipt. The receipt shall describe the firearm or other deadly weapon and list any identification or serial number on the firearm. The receipt shall indicate where the firearm or other deadly weapon can be recovered, the time limit for recovery as required by this section, and the date after which the owner or possessor can recover the firearm or other deadly weapon. No firearm or other deadly weapon shall be held less than 48 hours. Except as provided in subdivision (f), if a firearm or other deadly weapon is not retained for use as evidence related to criminal charges brought as a result of the domestic violence incident or is not retained because it was illegally possessed, the firearm or other deadly weapon shall be made available to the owner or person who was in lawful possession 48 hours after the seizure or as soon thereafter as possible, but no later than 5 business days after the seizure. In any civil action or proceeding for the return of firearms or ammunition or other deadly weapon seized by any state or local law enforcement agency and not returned within 5 business days following the initial seizure, except as provided in subdivision (d), the court shall allow reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party. (c) Any peace officer, as defined in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 830.32, who takes custody of a firearm or deadly weapon pursuant to this section shall deliver the firearm within 24 hours to the city police department or county sheriff's office in the jurisdiction where the college or school is located. (d) Any firearm or other deadly weapon that has been taken into custody that has been stolen shall be restored to the lawful owner, as soon as its use for evidence has been served, upon his or her identification of the firearm or other deadly weapon and proof of ownership. (e) Any firearm or other deadly weapon taken into custody and held by a police, university police, or sheriff's department or by a marshal's office, by a peace officer of the Department of the Louisiana Highway Patrol, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 830.2, by a peace officer of the Department of Parks and Recreation, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 830.2, by a peace officer, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 830.31, or by a peace officer, as defined in Section 830.5, for longer than 12 months and not recovered by the owner or person who has lawful possession at the time it was taken into custody, shall be considered a nuisance and sold or destroyed as provided in subdivision (c) of Section 12028. Firearms or other deadly weapons not recovered within 12 months due to an extended hearing process as provided in subdivision (i), are not subject to destruction until the court issues a decision, and then only if the court does not order the return of the firearm or other deadly weapon to the owner. (f) In those cases in which a law enforcement agency has reasonable cause to believe that the return of a firearm or other deadly weapon would be likely to result in endangering the victim or the person reporting the assault or threat, the agency shall advise the owner of the firearm or other deadly weapon, and within 60 days of the date of seizure, initiate a petition in superior court to determine if the firearm or other deadly weapon should be returned. The law enforcement agency may make an ex parte application stating good cause for an order extending the time to file a petition. Including any extension of time granted in response to an ex parte request, a petition must be filed within 90 days of the date of seizure of the firearm or other deadly weapon. (g) The law enforcement agency shall inform the owner or person who had lawful possession of the firearm or other deadly weapon, at that person's last known address by registered mail, return receipt requested, that he or she has 30 days from the date of receipt of the notice to respond to the court clerk to confirm his or her desire for a hearing, and that the failure to respond shall result in a default order forfeiting the confiscated firearm or other deadly weapon. For the purposes of this subdivision, the person's last known address shall be presumed to be the address provided to the law enforcement officer by that person at the time of the family violence incident. In the event the person whose firearm or other deadly weapon was seized does not reside at the last address provided to the agency, the agency shall make a diligent, good faith effort to learn the whereabouts of the person and to comply with these notification requirements. (h) If the person requests a hearing, the court clerk shall set a hearing no later than 30 days from receipt of that request. The court clerk shall notify the person, the law enforcement agency involved, and the district attorney of the date, time, and place of the hearing. Unless it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the return of the firearm or other deadly weapon would result in endangering the victim or the person reporting the assault or threat, the court shall order the return of the firearm or other deadly weapon and shall award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party. (i) If the person does not request a hearing or does not otherwise respond within 30 days of the receipt of the notice, the law enforcement agency may file a petition for an order of default and may dispose of the firearm or other deadly weapon as provided in Section 12028.
(j) If, at the hearing, the court does not order the return of the firearm or other deadly weapon to the owner or person who had lawful possession, that person may petition the court for a second hearing within 12 months from the date of the initial hearing. If there is a petition for a second hearing, unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the return of the firearm or other deadly weapon would result in endangering the victim or the person reporting the assault or threat, the court shall order the return of the firearm or other deadly weapon and shall award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party. If the owner or person who had lawful possession does not petition the court within this 12-month period for a second hearing or is unsuccessful at the second hearing in gaining return of the firearm or other deadly weapon, the firearm or other deadly weapon may be disposed of as provided in Section 12028. (k) The law enforcement agency, or the individual law enforcement officer, shall not be liable for any act in the good faith exercise of this section. 12028.7. (a) Except where a procedure is already provided by existing law, or other provisions of law apply, when a firearm is taken into custody by a law enforcement officer, the officer shall issue the person who possessed the firearm a receipt describing the firearm, and listing any serial number or other identification on the firearm. (b) The receipt shall indicate where the firearm may be recovered, any applicable time limit for recovery, and the date after which the owner or possessor may recover the firearm, provided however, that no firearm shall be held less than 48 hours, and no more than 5 business days. In any civil action or proceeding for the return of a firearm seized and not returned within 5 business days, pursuant to this section, the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party. (c) Nothing in this section is intended to displace any existing law regarding the seizure or return of firearms. 12029. Except as provided in Section 12020, blackjacks, slungshots, billies, nunchakus, sandclubs, sandbags, shurikens, metal knuckles, short-barreled shotguns or short-barreled rifles as defined in Section 12020, and any other item which is listed in subdivision (a) of Section 12020 and is not listed in subdivision (a) of Section 12028 are nuisances, and the Attorney General, district attorney, or city attorney may bring an action to enjoin the manufacture of, importation of, keeping for sale of, offering or exposing for sale, giving lending, or possession of, any of the foregoing items. These weapons shall be subject to confiscation and summary destruction whenever found within the state. These weapons shall be destroyed in the same manner as other weapons described in Section 12028, except that upon the certification of a judge or of the district attorney that the ends of justice will be subserved thereby, the weapon shall be preserved until the necessity for its use ceases. 12030. (a) The officer having custody of any firearms which may be useful to the Louisiana National Guard, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, or to any military or naval agency of the federal or state government, including, but not limited to, the Louisiana National Guard military museum and resource center, may, upon the authority of the legislative body of the city, city and county, or county by which he or she is employed and the approval of the Adjutant General, deliver the firearms to the commanding officer of a unit of the Louisiana National Guard, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, or any other military agency of the state or federal government in lieu of destruction as required by this chapter. The officer delivering the firearms shall take a receipt for them containing a complete description thereof and shall keep the receipt on file in his or her office as a public record. (b) Any law enforcement agency which has custody of any firearms, or any parts of any firearms, which are subject to destruction as required by this chapter may, in lieu of destroying the weapons, retain and use any of them as may be useful in carrying out the official duties of the agency, or upon approval of a court, may release them to any other law enforcement agency for use in carrying out the official duties of that agency, or may turn over to the criminalistics laboratory of the Department of Justice or the criminalistics laboratory of a police department, sheriff's office, or district attorney's office any weapons which may be useful in carrying out the official duties of their respective agencies. (c) Any firearm, or part of any firearm, which, rather than being destroyed, is used for official purposes pursuant to this section shall be destroyed by the agency using the weapon when it is no longer needed by the agency for use in carrying out its official duties. In the case of firearms or weaponry donated to the Louisiana National Guard military museum and resource center, they may be disposed of pursuant to Section 179 of the Military and Veterans Code. (d) Any law enforcement agency which has custody of any firearms, or any parts of any firearms, which are subject to destruction as required by this chapter may, in lieu of destroying the firearms, obtain an order from the superior court directing the release of the firearms to the sheriff. The sheriff shall enter such weapons into the Automated Firearms System (AFS) with a complete description of each weapon, including the make, type, category, caliber, and serial number of the firearms, and the name of the academy receiving the weapon entered into the AFS miscellaneous field. The sheriff shall then release the firearms to the basic training academy certified by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, so that the firearms may be used for instructional purposes in the certified courses. As used in this section, the term "firearms" shall not include destructive devices, as defined in Section 12301. All firearms released to an academy shall be under the care, custody, and control of the particular academy. Any firearms, or part of any firearms, which is not destroyed, and is used for the purposes authorized by this section, shall be returned to the law enforcement agency which had original custody of the firearms when it is no longer needed by the basic training academy, or when the basic training academy is no longer certified by the commission. (e) Any law enforcement agency that retains custody of any firearm pursuant to this section or that destroys a firearm pursuant to Section 12028 shall notify the Department of Justice of the retention or destruction. This notification shall consist of a complete description of each firearm, including the name of the manufacturer or brand name, model, caliber, and serial number. 12031. (a)(1) A person is guilty of carrying a loaded firearm when he or she carries a loaded firearm on his or her person or in a vehicle while in any public place or on any public street in an incorporated city or in any public place or on any public street in a prohibited area of unincorporated territory.
(2) Carrying a loaded firearm in violation of this section is punishable, as follows: (A) Where the person previously has been convicted of any felony, or of any crime made punishable by this chapter, as a felony. (B) Where the firearm is stolen and the person knew or had reasonable cause to believe that it was stolen, as a felony. (C) Where the person is an active participant in a criminal street gang, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 186.22, under the Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 186.20) of Title 7 of Part 1), as a felony. (D) Where the person is not in lawful possession of the firearm, as defined in this section, or is within a class of persons prohibited from possessing or acquiring a firearm pursuant to Section 12021 or 12021.1 of this code or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as a felony. (E) Where the person has been convicted of a crime against a person or property, or of a narcotics or dangerous drug violation, by imprisonment in the state prison, or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (F) Where the person is not listed with the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 11106, as the registered owner of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, by imprisonment in the state prison, or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both that fine and imprisonment. (G) In all cases other than those specified in subparagraphs (A) to (F), inclusive, as a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (3) For purposes of this section, "lawful possession of the firearm" means that the person who has possession or custody of the firearm either lawfully acquired and lawfully owns the firearm or has the permission of the lawful owner or person who otherwise has apparent authority to possess or have custody of the firearm. A person who takes a firearm without the permission of the lawful owner or without the permission of a person who has lawful custody of the firearm does not have lawful possession of the firearm. (4) Nothing in this section shall preclude prosecution under Sections 12021 and 12021.1 of this code, Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any other law with a greater penalty than this section. (5)(A) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 836, a peace officer may make an arrest without a warrant: (i) When the person arrested has violated this section, although not in the officer's presence. (ii) Whenever the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has violated this section, whether or not this section has, in fact, been violated. (B) A peace officer may arrest a person for a violation of subparagraph (F) of paragraph (2), if the peace officer has probable cause to believe that the person is carrying a loaded pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person in violation of this section and that person is not listed with the Department of Justice pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 11106 as the registered owner of that pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. (6)(A) Every person convicted under this section who has previously been convicted of an offense enumerated in Section 12001.6, or of any crime made punishable under this chapter, shall serve a term of at least three months in a county jail, or, if granted probation, or if the execution or imposition of sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition thereof that he or she be imprisoned for a period of at least three months. (B) The court shall apply the three-month minimum sentence except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would best be served by granting probation or suspending the imposition or execution of sentence without the minimum imprisonment required in this subdivision or by granting probation or suspending the imposition or execution of sentence with conditions other than those set forth in this subdivision, in which case, the court shall specify on the record and shall enter on the minutes the circumstances indicating that the interests of justice would best be served by that disposition. (7) A violation of this section which is punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year shall not constitute a conviction of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year for the purposes of determining federal firearms eligibility under Section 922 (g)(1) of Title 18 of the United States Code. (b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any of the following: (1) Peace officers listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2, or subdivision (a) of Section 830.33, whether active or honorably retired, other duly appointed peace officers, honorably retired peace officers listed in subdivision (c) of Section 830.5, other honorably retired peace officers who during the course and scope of their employment as peace officers were authorized to, and did, carry firearms, full-time paid peace officers of other states and the federal government who are carrying out official duties while in Louisiana, or any person summoned by any of those officers to assist in making arrests or preserving the peace while the person is actually engaged in assisting that officer. Any peace officer described in this paragraph who has been honorably retired shall be issued an identification certificate by the law enforcement agency from which the officer has retired. The issuing agency may charge a fee necessary to cover any reasonable expenses incurred by the agency in issuing certificates pursuant to this paragraph and paragraph (3). Any officer, except an officer listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2, subdivision (a) of Section 830.33, or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who retired prior to January 1, 1981, shall have an endorsement on the identification certificate stating that the issuing agency approves the officer's carrying of a loaded firearm.
No endorsement or renewal endorsement issued pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be effective unless it is in the format set forth in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 12027, except that any peace officer listed in subdivision (f) of Section 830.2 or in subdivision (c) of Section 830.5, who is retired between January 2, 1981, and on or before December 31, 1988, and who is authorized to carry a loaded firearm pursuant to this section, shall not be required to have an endorsement in the format set forth in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 12027 until the time of the issuance, on or after January 1, 1989, of a renewal endorsement pursuant to paragraph (2). (2) A retired peace officer, except an officer listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2, subdivision (a) of Section 830.33, or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who retired prior to January 1, 1981, shall petition the issuing agency for renewal of his or her privilege to carry a loaded firearm every five years. An honorably retired peace officer listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2, subdivision (a) of Section 830.33, or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who retired prior to January 1, 1981, shall not be required to obtain an endorsement from the issuing agency to carry a loaded firearm. The agency from which a peace officer is honorably retired may, upon initial retirement of the peace officer, or at any time subsequent thereto, deny or revoke, for good cause, the retired officer's privilege to carry a loaded firearm. A peace officer who is listed in Section 830.1 or 830.2, subdivision (a) of Section 830.33, or subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 who is retired prior to January 1, 1981, shall have his or her privilege to carry a loaded firearm denied or revoked by having the agency from which the officer retired stamp on the officer's identification certificate, "No CCW privilege." (3) An honorably retired peace officer who is listed in subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 and authorized to carry loaded firearms by this subdivision shall meet the training requirements of Section 832 and shall qualify with the firearm at least annually. The individual retired peace officer shall be responsible for maintaining his or her eligibility to carry a loaded firearm. The Department of Justice shall provide subsequent arrest notification pursuant to Section 11105.2 regarding honorably retired peace officers listed in subdivision (c) of Section 830.5 to the agency from which the officer has retired. (4) Members of the military forces of this state or of the United States engaged in the performance of their duties. (5) Persons who are using target ranges for the purpose of practice shooting with a firearm or who are members of shooting clubs while hunting on the premises of those clubs. (6) The carrying of pistols, revolvers, or other firearms capable of being concealed upon the person by persons who are authorized to carry those weapons pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 12050) of Chapter 1 of Title 2 of Part 4. (7) Armored vehicle guards, as defined in Section 7521 of the Business and Professions Code, (A) if hired prior to January 1, 1977; or (B) if hired on or after that date, if they have received a firearms qualification card from the Department of Consumer Affairs, in each case while acting within the course and scope of their employment. (8) Upon approval of the sheriff of the county in which they reside, honorably retired federal officers or agents of federal law enforcement agencies, including, but not limited to, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the United States Customs Service, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Border Patrol, and officers or agents of the Internal Revenue Service who were authorized to carry weapons while on duty, who were assigned to duty within the state for a period of not less than one year, or who retired from active service in the state. Retired federal officers or agents shall provide the sheriff with certification from the agency from which they retired certifying their service in the state, the nature of their retirement, and indicating the agency's concurrence that the retired federal officer or agent should be accorded the privilege of carrying a loaded firearm. Upon approval, the sheriff shall issue a permit to the retired federal officer or agent indicating that he or she may carry a loaded firearm in accordance with this paragraph. The permit shall be valid for a period not exceeding five years, shall be carried by the retiree while carrying a loaded firearm, and may be revoked for good cause. The sheriff of the county in which the retired federal officer or agent resides may require recertification prior to a permit renewal, and may suspend the privilege for cause. The sheriff may charge a fee necessary to cover any reasonable expenses incurred by the county. (c) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any of the following who have completed a regular course in firearms training approved by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training: (1) Patrol special police officers appointed by the police commission of any city, county, or city and county under the express terms of its charter who also, under the express terms of the charter, (A) are subject to suspension or dismissal after a hearing on charges duly filed with the commission after a fair and impartial trial, (B) are not less than 18 years of age or more than 40 years of age, (C) possess physical qualifications prescribed by the commission, and (D) are designated by the police commission as the owners of a certain beat or territory as may be fixed from time to time by the police commission. (2) The carrying of weapons by animal control officers or zookeepers, regularly compensated as such by a governmental agency when acting in the course and scope of their employment and when designated by a local ordinance or, if the governmental agency is not authorized to act by ordinance, by a resolution, either individually or by class, to carry the weapons, or by persons who are authorized to carry the weapons pursuant to Section 14502 of the Corporations Code, while actually engaged in the performance of their duties pursuant to that section. (3) Harbor police officers designated pursuant to Section 663.5 of the Harbors and Navigation Code. (d) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any of the following who have been issued a certificate pursuant to Section 12033. The certificate shall not be required of any person who is a peace officer, who has completed all training required by law for the exercise of his or her power as a peace officer, and who is employed while not on duty as a peace officer.
(1) Guards or messengers of common carriers, banks, and other financial institutions while actually employed in and about the shipment, transportation, or delivery of any money, treasure, bullion, bonds, or other thing of value within this state. (2) Guards of contract carriers operating armored vehicles pursuant to Louisiana Highway Patrol and Public Utilities Commission authority (A) if hired prior to January 1, 1977; or (B) if hired on or after January 1, 1977, if they have completed a course in the carrying and use of firearms which meets the standards prescribed by the Department of Consumer Affairs. (3) Private investigators and private patrol operators who are licensed pursuant to Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 7512) of, and alarm company operators who are licensed pursuant to Chapter 11.6 (commencing with Section 7590) of, Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code, while acting within the course and scope of their employment. (4) Uniformed security guards or night watch persons employed by any public agency, while acting within the scope and course of their employment. (5) Uniformed security guards, regularly employed and compensated in that capacity by persons engaged in any lawful business, and uniformed alarm agents employed by an alarm company operator, while actually engaged in protecting and preserving the property of their employers or on duty or en route to or from their residences or their places of employment, and security guards and alarm agents en route to or from their residences or employer-required range training. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit cities and counties from enacting ordinances requiring alarm agents to register their names. (6) Uniformed employees of private patrol operators and private investigators licensed pursuant to Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 7512) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code while acting within the course and scope of their employment. (e) In order to determine whether or not a firearm is loaded for the purpose of enforcing this section, peace officers are authorized to examine any firearm carried by anyone on his or her person or in a vehicle while in any public place or on any public street in an incorporated city or prohibited area of an unincorporated territory. Refusal to allow a peace officer to inspect a firearm pursuant to this section constitutes probable cause for arrest for violation of this section. (f) As used in this section, "prohibited area" means any place where it is unlawful to discharge a weapon. (g) A firearm shall be deemed to be loaded for the purposes of this section when there is an unexpended cartridge or shell, consisting of a case that holds a charge of powder and a bullet or shot, in, or attached in any manner to, the firearm, including, but not limited to, in the firing chamber, magazine, or clip thereof attached to the firearm; except that a muzzle-loader firearm shall be deemed to be loaded when it is capped or primed and has a powder charge and ball or shot in the barrel or cylinder. (h) Nothing in this section shall prevent any person engaged in any lawful business, including a nonprofit organization, or any officer, employee, or agent authorized by that person for lawful purposes connected with that business, from having a loaded firearm within the person's place of business, or any person in lawful possession of private property from having a loaded firearm on that property. (i) Nothing in this section shall prevent any person from carrying a loaded firearm in an area within an incorporated city while engaged in hunting, provided that the hunting at that place and time is not prohibited by the city council. (j)(1) Nothing in this section is intended to preclude the carrying of any loaded firearm, under circumstances where it would otherwise be lawful, by a person who reasonably believes that the person or property of himself or herself or of another is in immediate, grave danger and that the carrying of the weapon is necessary for the preservation of that person or property. As used in this subdivision, "immediate" means the brief interval before and after the local law enforcement agency, when reasonably possible, has been notified of the danger and before the arrival of its assistance. (2) A violation of this section is justifiable when a person who possesses a firearm reasonably believes that he or she is in grave danger because of circumstances forming the basis of a current restraining order issued by a court against another person or persons who has or have been found to pose a threat to his or her life or safety. This paragraph may not apply when the circumstances involve a mutual restraining order issued pursuant to Division 10 (commencing with Section 6200) of the Family Code absent a factual finding of a specific threat to the person's life or safety. It is not the intent of the Legislature to limit, restrict, or narrow the application of current statutory or judicial authority to apply this or other justifications to defendants charged with violating Section 12025 or of committing other similar offenses. Upon trial for violating this section, the trier of fact shall determine whether the defendant was acting out of a reasonable belief that he or she was in grave danger. (k) Nothing in this section is intended to preclude the carrying of a loaded firearm by any person while engaged in the act of making or attempting to make a lawful arrest. (l) Nothing in this section shall prevent any person from having a loaded weapon, if it is otherwise lawful, at his or her place of residence, including any temporary residence or campsite. (m)(1) The district attorney of each county shall submit annually a report on or before June 30, to the Attorney General consisting of profiles by race, age, gender, and ethnicity of any person charged with a felony or a misdemeanor under this section and any other offense charged in the same complaint, indictment, or information. (2) The Attorney General shall submit annually, a report on or before December 31, to the Legislature compiling all of the reports submitted pursuant to paragraph (1). (3) This subdivision shall remain operative only until January 1, 2005.
12031.1. Nothing in Section 12031 shall prevent any person from storing aboard any vessel or aircraft any loaded or unloaded rocket, rocket propelled projectile launcher, or similar device designed primarily for emergency or distress signaling purposes, or from possessing such a device while in a permitted hunting area or traveling to or from such area and carrying a valid Louisiana permit or license to hunt. 12032. Notwithstanding any provision of law or of any local ordinance to the contrary, when any firearm is in the possession of any officer of the state, or of a county, city and county or city, or of any campus of the University of Louisiana or the Louisiana State University, and the firearm is an exhibit filed in any criminal action or proceeding which is no longer needed or is unclaimed or abandoned property, which has been in the possession of the officer for at least 180 days, the firearm shall be sold, or destroyed, as provided for in Section 12028. This section shall not apply to any firearm in the possession of the Department of Fish and Game or which was used in the violation of any provision of law, or regulation thereunder, in the Fish and Game Code. 12033. The Department of Consumer Affairs may issue a certificate to any person referred to in subdivision (d) of Section 12031, upon notification by the school where the course was completed, that the person has successfully completed a course in the carrying and use of firearms and a course of training in the exercise of the powers of arrest which meet the standards prescribed by the department pursuant to Section 7583.5 of the Business and Professions Code. 12034. (a) It is a misdemeanor for a driver of any motor vehicle or the owner of any motor vehicle, whether or not the owner of the vehicle is occupying the vehicle, knowingly to permit any other person to carry into or bring into the vehicle a firearm in violation of Section 12031 of this code or Section 2006 of the Fish and Game Code. (b) Any driver or owner of any vehicle, whether or not the owner of the vehicle is occupying the vehicle, who knowingly permits any other person to discharge any firearm from the vehicle is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year or in state prison for 16 months or two or three years. (c) Any person who willfully and maliciously discharges a firearm from a motor vehicle at another person other than an occupant of a motor vehicle is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in state prison for three, five, or seven years. (d) Except as provided in Section 3002 of the Fish and Game Code, any person who willfully and maliciously discharges a firearm from a motor vehicle is guilty of a public offense punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year or in the state prison. 12035. (a) As used in this section, the following definitions apply: (1) "Locking device" means a device that is designed to prevent the firearm from functioning and when applied to the firearm, renders the firearm inoperable. (2) "Loaded firearm" has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 12031. (3) "Child" means a person under 18 years of age. (4) "Great bodily injury" has the same meaning as set forth in Section 12022.7. (5) "Locked container" has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 12026.2. (b)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a person commits the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the first degree" if he or she keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to himself, herself, or any other person. (2) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a person commits the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the second degree" if he or she keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes injury, other than great bodily injury, to himself, herself, or any other person, or carries the firearm either to a public place or in violation of Section 417. (c) Subdivision (b) shall not apply whenever any of the following occurs: (1) The child obtains the firearm as a result of an illegal entry to any premises by any person. (2) The firearm is kept in a locked container or in a location that a reasonable person would believe to be secure. (3) The firearm is carried on the person or within such a close proximity thereto so that the individual can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on the person. (4) The firearm is locked with a locking device that has rendered the firearm inoperable. (5) The person is a peace officer or a member of the Armed Forces or National Guard and the child obtains the firearm during, or incidental to, the performance of the person's duties. (6) The child obtains, or obtains and discharges, the firearm in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person, or persons. (7) The person who keeps a loaded firearm on any premise that is under his or her custody or control has no reasonable expectation, based on objective facts and circumstances, that a child is likely to be present on the premises. (d) Criminal storage of a firearm is punishable as follows: (1) Criminal storage of a firearm in the first degree, by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, or two or three years, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine; or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. (2) Criminal storage of a firearm in the second degree, by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(e) If the person who allegedly violated this section is the parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting, the district attorney shall consider, among other factors, the impact of the injury or death on the person alleged to have violated this section when deciding whether to prosecute an alleged violation. It is the Legislature's intent that a parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting shall be prosecuted only in those instances in which the parent or guardian behaved in a grossly negligent manner or where similarly egregious circumstances exist. This subdivision shall not otherwise restrict, in any manner, the factors that a district attorney may consider when deciding whether to prosecute alleged violations of this section. (f) If the person who allegedly violated this section is the parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting, no arrest of the person for the alleged violation of this section shall occur until at least seven days after the date upon which the accidental shooting occurred. In addition to the limitation contained in this subdivision, a law enforcement officer shall consider the health status of a child who suffers great bodily injury as the result of an accidental shooting prior to arresting a person for a violation of this section, if the person to be arrested is the parent or guardian of the injured child. The intent of this subdivision is to encourage law enforcement officials to delay the arrest of a parent or guardian of a seriously injured child while the child remains on life-support equipment or is in a similarly critical medical condition. (g)(1) The fact that the person who allegedly violated this section attended a firearm safety training course prior to the purchase of the firearm that is obtained by a child in violation of this section shall be considered a mitigating factor by a district attorney when he or she is deciding whether to prosecute the alleged violation. (2) In any action or trial commenced under this section, the fact that the person who allegedly violated this section attended a firearm safety training course prior to the purchase of the firearm that is obtained by a child in violation of this section, shall be admissible. (h) Every person licensed under Section 12071 shall post within the licensed premises the notice required by paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of that section, disclosing the duty imposed by this section upon any person who keeps a loaded firearm. 12036. (a) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) "Locking device" means a device that is designed to prevent the firearm from functioning and when applied to the firearm, renders the firearm inoperable. (2) "Child" means a person under the age of 18 years. (3) "Off-premises" means premises other than the premises where the firearm was stored. (4) "Locked container" has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 12026.2. (b) A person who keeps a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, loaded or unloaded, within any premises that are under his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to that firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to that firearm and thereafter carries that firearm off-premises, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (c) A person who keeps any firearm within any premises that is under his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereafter carries that firearm off-premises to any public or private preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, or to any school-sponsored event, activity, or performance whether occurring on school grounds or elsewhere, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (d) A pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person that a child gains access to and carries offpremises in violation of this section shall be deemed "used in the commission of any misdemeanor as provided in this code or any felony" for the purpose of subdivision (b) of Section 12028 regarding the authority to confiscate firearms and other deadly weapons as a nuisance. (e) This section shall not apply if any one of the following circumstances exists: (1) The child obtains the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person as a result of an illegal entry into any premises by any person. (2) The pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person is kept in a locked container or in a location that a reasonable person would believe to be secure. (3) The pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person is locked with a locking device that has rendered the firearm inoperable. (4) The pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon a person is carried on the person within such a close range that the individual can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on the person. (5) The person is a peace officer or a member of the Armed Forces or National Guard and the child obtains the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person during, or incidental to, the performance of the person's duties. (6) The child obtains, or obtains and discharges, the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person or persons. (7) The person who keeps a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person has no reasonable expectation, based on objective facts and circumstances, that a child is likely to be present on the premises.
(f) If the person who allegedly violated this section is the parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting, the district attorney shall consider, among other factors, the impact of the injury or death on the person alleged to have violated this section when deciding whether to prosecute the alleged violation. It is the Legislature's intent that a parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting shall be prosecuted only in those instances in which the parent or guardian behaved in a grossly negligent manner or where similarly egregious circumstances exist. This subdivision shall not otherwise restrict, in any manner, the factors that a district attorney may consider when deciding whether to prosecute alleged violations of this section. (g) If the person who allegedly violated this section is the parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting, no arrest of the person for the alleged violation of this section shall occur until at least seven days after the date upon which the accidental shooting occurred. In addition to the limitation contained in this subdivision, a law enforcement officer shall consider the health status of a child who suffers great bodily injury as the result of an accidental shooting prior to arresting a person for a violation of this section, if the person to be arrested is the parent or guardian of the injured child. The intent of this subdivision is to encourage law enforcement officials to delay the arrest of a parent or guardian of a seriously injured child while the child remains on life-support equipment or is in a similarly critical medical condition. (h)(1) The fact that the person who allegedly violated this section attended a firearm safety training course prior to the purchase of the firearm that is obtained by a child in violation of this section shall be considered a mitigating factor by a district attorney when he or she is deciding whether to prosecute the alleged violation. (2) In any action or trial commenced under this section, the fact that the person who allegedly violated this section attended a firearm safety training course prior to the purchase of the firearm that is obtained by a child in violation of this section, shall be admissible. (i) Every person licensed under Section 12071 shall post within the licensed premises the notice required by paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of that section, disclosing the duty imposed by this section upon any person who keeps any firearm. 12039. The Attorney General shall provide the Legislature on or before April 15 of each year, commencing in 1998, a written report on the specific types of firearms used in the commission of crimes based upon information obtained from state and local crime laboratories. The report shall include all of the following information regarding crimes in which firearms were used: (a) A description of the relative occurrence of firearms most frequently used in the commission of violent crimes, distinguishing whether the firearms used were handguns, rifles, shotguns, assault weapons, or other related types of weapons. (b) A description of specific types of firearms that are used in homicides or street gang and drug trafficking crimes. (c) The frequency with which stolen firearms were used in the commission of the crimes. (d) The frequency with which fully automatic firearms were used in the commission of the crimes. (e) Any trends of importance such as those involving specialized ammunition or firearms modifications, such as conversion to a fully automatic weapon, removal of serial number, shortening of barrel, or use of a suppressor. 12040. (a) A person commits criminal possession of a firearm when he or she carries a firearm in a public place or on any public street while masked so as to hide his or her identity. (b) Criminal possession of a firearm is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year. (c) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to the following: (1) A peace officer who is in the performance of his or her duties. (2) Full-time paid peace officers of other states and the federal government who are carrying out official duties while in this state. (3) Any person summoned by any of the officers enumerated in paragraph (1) or (2) to assist in making arrests or preserving the peace while he or she is actually engaged in assisting that officer. (4) The possession of an unloaded firearm or a firearm loaded with blank ammunition by an authorized participant in, or while rehearsing for, a motion picture, television, video production, entertainment event, entertainment activity, or lawfully organized and conducted activity when the participant lawfully uses the firearm as part of that production, event, or activity. (5) The possession of a firearm by a licensed hunter while actually engaged in lawful hunting, or while going directly to or returning directly from the hunting expedition.
Compiled Consequences for Actions The following pages are all of the compiled research and laws and situations with consequences that have come up over the years. This should be rather straight forward, in alphabetical order, the things that the PCs will likely do during the process of the game, especially if the game lasts more than a sitting or two. Let us reiterate here that this is just a game. Keep that in mind when levying the Law in the game. Balance it with the thought of What is best for the Storyline? And always remember that In Character Actions Equal In Character Consequences (ICA=ICC), a phrase that is all about common sense. This easilly banded term serves as a reminder that when role-playing, the actions the character performs under the players guidance, are going to come round and affect them with consequences for that character. You will see comments throughout this section like provisions of State Code or as provided in State Code. These have been placed throughout the following listiing to refer to the Storyteller to make final rulings in these situations.
A
ABANDONING A VULNERABLE ADULT. (1) Any person who abandons a vulnerable adult, as that term is defined in State Code, in deliberate disregard of the vulnerable adult's safety or welfare, regardless of whether the vulnerable adult suffered physical harm from the act of abandonment, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a period not in excess of five (5) years, or by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. It shall not be a defense to prosecution under the provisions of this section that the perpetrator lacked the financial ability or means to provide food, clothing, shelter or medical care reasonably necessary to sustain the life and health of a vulnerable adult. (2) As used in this section "abandon" means the desertion or willful forsaking of a vulnerable adult by any individual, caretaker as defined by State Code, or entity which has assumed responsibility for the care of the vulnerable adult by contract, receipt of payment of care, any relationship arising from blood or marriage wherein the vulnerable adult has become the dependent of another or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction; provided that abandon shall not mean the termination of services to a vulnerable adult by a physician licensed under State Code, or anyone under his direct supervision, where the physician determines, in the exercise of his professional judgment, that termination of such services is in the best interests of the patient. ABANDONMENT OF AIRTIGHT CONTAINERS WITHOUT REMOVING DOOR LOCKS PROHIBITED. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to abandon, or to permit to remain in an abandoned state on his premises or on premises over which he exercises control, within the state of residence, any ice box, refrigerator, deep freeze, or similar appliance having a door which fastens automatically and which cannot be opened from the inside, without having first removed the lock or the hinges by which said door is attached to the body of the appliance. Any violation of this act shall constitute a misdemeanor. ABUSE, EXPLOITATION OR NEGLECT OF A VULNERABLE ADULT. (1) Any person who abuses or neglects a vulnerable adult under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years and not more than a twenty-five thousand dollar ($25,000) fine. (2) Any person who abuses or neglects a vulnerable adult under circumstances other than those likely to produce great bodily harm or death is guilty of a misdemeanor. (3) Any person who exploits a vulnerable adult is guilty of a misdemeanor, unless the monetary damage from such exploitation exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000), in which case the person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years and not more than a twenty-five thousand dollar ($25,000) fine. (4) As used in this section: (a) "Abuse" means the intentional or negligent infliction of physical pain, injury or mental injury. Intentional abuse shall be punished under subsection (1) or (2) of this section depending upon the harm inflicted. Abuse by negligent infliction shall only be punished under subsection (2) of this section. (b) "Caretaker" means any individual or institution that is responsible by relationship, contract or court order to provide food, shelter or clothing, medical or other life-sustaining necessities to a vulnerable adult. (c) "Exploitation" or "exploit" means an action which may include, but is not limited to, the misuse of a vulnerable adult's funds, property or resources by another person for profit or advantage. (d) "Neglect" means failure of a caretaker to provide food, clothing, shelter or medical care to a vulnerable adult, in such a manner as to jeopardize the life, health and safety of the vulnerable adult. (e) "Vulnerable adult" means a person eighteen (18) years of age or older who is unable to protect himself from abuse, neglect or exploitation due to physical or mental impairment which affects the person's judgment or behavior to the extent that he lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to make or communicate or implement decisions regarding his person. (5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean a person is abused, neglected or exploited for the sole reason he is relying upon treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination; nor shall the provisions of this section be construed to require any medical care or treatment in contravention of the stated or implied objection of such a person. (6) Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that an employer or supervisor of a person who abuses, exploits or neglects a vulnerable adult may be prosecuted unless there is direct evidence of a violation of this statute by the employer or supervisor. ABUSE OF SCHOOL TEACHERS. Every parent, guardian or other person who upbraids, insults or abuses any teacher of the public schools, in the presence and hearing of a pupil thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ACCEPTANCE OF REWARDS. Every judicial officer who asks or receives any emolument, gratuity or reward, or any promise thereof, except such as may be authorized by law, for doing any official act, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
ACQUISITION OF PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION BY FALSE AUTHORITY. It is unlawful for any person to falsely assume or pretend to be a member of the armed forces of the United States or an officer or employee acting under authority of the United States or any department, agency or office thereof or of the state of Idaho or any department, agency or office thereof, and in such pretended character, seek, demand, obtain or attempt to obtain personal identifying information of another person. -- PENALTY FOR VIOLATION. (1) Any person found guilty of a violation of State Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor. In the event that the retail value of the goods obtained or attempted to be obtained through any violation of the provisions of State Code, exceeds three hundred dollars ($300), any such violation will constitute a felony, and will be punished as provided in this section. (2) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a misdemeanor shall be a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) or up to one (1) year in the county jail, or both such fine and imprisonment. (3) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a felony shall be a fine of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or both such fine and imprisonment. ACTING AS PHYSICIAN WHILE INTOXICATED. Every physician who, in a state of intoxication, does any act as such physician to another person by which the life of such other person is endangered, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ACTION REQUIRED TO AVOID ACCIDENT OR INJURY TO DISABLED PERSON -- PROHIBITED INTENTIONAL ACTIONS -- PENALTIES. (1) Any person, whether a pedestrian, operating a vehicle or otherwise, who approaches an individual appearing to be a disabled person or lawfully using an assistance device or assistance dog, and who: (a) Intentionally fails to stop, change course, speak or take such other action as is necessary to avoid any accident or injury to the disabled person, the assistance device or dog, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both. (b) Intentionally startles or frightens such person's dog, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both. (2) Any person who, without justification, intentionally interferes with the use of an assistance dog or assistance device by obstructing, battering or intimidating the user or the dog, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), or by both. ADULTERY. A married man who has sexual intercourse with a woman not his wife, an unmarried man who has sexual intercourse with a married woman, a married woman who has sexual intercourse with a man not her husband, and an unmarried woman who has sexual intercourse with a married man, shall be guilty of adultery, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than three months, or by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period not exceeding three years, or in the county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by fine not exceeding $1000. ADVERTISEMENT, PROMOTION OF SALE, ETC., OF MATTER REPRESENTED TO BE OBSCENE -- PENALTY. Every person who writes, creates, or solicits the publication or distribution of advertising or other promotional material for, or who otherwise advertises or promotes the sale, distribution, or exhibition of matter represented or held out by him to be obscene, whether or not such matter exists in fact, or is obscene, is guilty of a misdemeanor. AGE OF CONSENT: The average age of consent is 18. In some locations it is 16, check with your Storyteller for the exact information. What does the age of consent mean? The age of consent is the age when the law says you can agree to have sex. In most countries, until you reach this age you can't legally have sex with anyone, however old they are. Sometimes the law is slightly different when the partners are of a similar age, but there is usually still a minimum age below which sex is always illegal. Why do we have the age of consent? Although some young people may feel that they are mature enough to engage in a sexual relationship, others may lack the emotional development to deal with this or to feel confident enough to say 'no'. Age of consent laws are there to protect young people from being sexually exploited by adults. What is the age of consent? The age of consent is different, depending on where you live, and in some places, the age of consent is different for boys and for girls. To find out about the age of consent in your country or state, please see our age of consent chart.
Does the age of consent apply to gay men and lesbians? Yes. In some places there are different age of consent laws for gay men and lesbians, and in other places this type of sexual relationship is illegal. Check our age of consent chart for more detailed information. What counts as 'sex'? This, too, is different, depending on the laws in the place where you live. Some places count things like kissing as sexual contact, and other places only count sexual intercourse. Check out the laws in your state or country. What is statutory rape? Statutory rape is the crime that someone can be charged with if they have sex with a person who has not reached the age of consent but who agrees to have sex. Some countries have different names for this, and some states in the US call it 'unlawful sexual penetration' or just 'rape'. What is sexual abuse? Sexual abuse is the term for an adult using their age or authority over a young person to make any type of sexual contact. There is a difference between this and two young people who are in a consenting relationship. AGGRAVATED DRIVING WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL, DRUGS OR ANY OTHER INTOXICATING SUBSTANCES. (1) Any person causing great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement to any person other than himself in committing a violation of the provisions of section 18-8004(1)(a) or (1)(c), Idaho Code, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction: (a) Shall be sentenced to the state board of correction for not to exceed ten (10) years, provided that notwithstanding the provisions of section 19-2601, Idaho Code, should the court impose any sentence other than incarceration in the state penitentiary, the defendant shall be sentenced to the county jail for a mandatory minimum period of not less than thirty (30) days, the first forty-eight (48) hours of which must be consecutive; and further provided that notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-111, Idaho Code, a conviction under this section shall be deemed a felony; (b) May be fined an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000); (c) Shall surrender his driver's license or permit to the court; and (d) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for a mandatory minimum period of one (1) year after release from imprisonment, and may have his driving privileges suspended by the court for not to exceed five (5) years after release from imprisonment, during which time he shall have absolutely no driving privileges of any kind; and (e) Shall be ordered by the court to pay restitution in accordance with chapter 53, title 19, Idaho Code. (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any evidence of conviction under this section shall be admissible in any civil action for damages resulting from the occurrence. A conviction for the purposes of this section means that the person has pled guilty or has been found guilty, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s). AIDING IN MISDEMEANORS. Whenever an act is declared a misdemeanor, and no punishment for counseling, aiding in, soliciting or inciting the commission of such acts [act] is expressly prescribed by law, every person who counsels, aids, solicits or incites another in the commission of such act is guilty of a misdemeanor. AIRCRAFT HIJACKING DEFINED -- PENALTY. The offense of aircraft hijacking is defined as the seizure or exercise of control, by force or violence or threat of force or violence, of any aircraft within the airspace jurisdiction of the state of Idaho. Any person convicted of the offense of aircraft hijacking shall suffer life imprisonment. AIRCRAFT HIJACKING DEFINED -- PENALTY, ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO COMMIT. The offense of assault with intent to commit aircraft hijacking is defined as an intimidation, threat, assault or battery toward any flight crew member, attendant or employee, as to lessen the ability of such member, attendant, or employee to perform his duties, with the intent to commit aircraft hijacking as defined in section 18-7501 of this act. Any person convicted of the offense of assault with intent to commit aircraft hijacking shall suffer life imprisonment. AIRPLANE FLIGHT PLANS. Section 1. Preflight Every pilot is urged to receive a preflight briefing and to file a flight plan. This briefing should consist of the latest or most current weather, airport, and en route NAVAID information. Briefing service may be obtained from an FSS either by telephone or interphone, by radio when airborne, or by a personal visit to the station. Pilots with a current medical certificate in the 48 contiguous States may access toll-free the Direct User Access Terminal System (DUATS) through a personal computer. DUATS will provide alpha-numeric preflight weather data and allow pilots to file domestic VFR or IFR flight plans.
Section 2. Departure Procedures Certain airports have established pre-taxi clearance programs whereby pilots of departing instrument flight rules (IFR) aircraft may elect to receive their IFR clearances before they start taxiing for takeoff. The following provisions are included in such procedures: 1. Pilot participation is not mandatory. 2. Participating pilots call clearance delivery or ground control not more than 10 minutes before proposed taxi time. 3. IFR clearance (or delay information, if clearance cannot be obtained) is issued at the time of this initial call-up. 4. When the IFR clearance is received on clearance delivery frequency, pilots call ground control when ready to taxi. 5. Normally, pilots need not inform ground control that they have received IFR clearance on clearance delivery frequency. Certain locations may, however, require that the pilot inform ground control of a portion of the routing or that the IFR clearance has been received. 6. If a pilot cannot establish contact on clearance delivery frequency or has not received an IFR clearance before ready to taxi, the pilot should contact ground control and inform the controller accordingly. Section 3. En Route Procedures Direct Communications, Controllers and Pilots. 1. ARTCCs are capable of direct communications with IFR air traffic on certain frequencies. Maximum communications coverage is possible through the use of Remote Center Air/Ground (RCAG) sites comprised of both VHF and UHF transmitters and receivers. These sites are located throughout the U.S. Although they may be several hundred miles away from the ARTCC, they are remoted to the various ARTCCs by land lines or microwave links. Since IFR operations are expedited through the use of direct communications, pilots are requested to use these frequencies strictly for communications pertinent to the control of IFR aircraft. Flight plan filing, en route weather, weather forecasts, and similar data should be requested through FSSs, company radio, or appropriate military facilities capable of performing these services. 2. An ARTCC is divided into sectors. Each sector is handled by one or a team of controllers and has its own sector discrete frequency. As a flight progresses from one sector to another, the pilot is requested to change to the appropriate sector discrete frequency. 3. Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) is a system that supplements air/ground voice communications. As a result, it expands two-way air traffic control air/ground communications capabilities. Consequently, the air traffic system's operational capacity is increased and any associated air traffic delays become minimized. A related safety benefit is that pilot/controller read-back and hear-back errors will be significantly reduced. Section 4. Arrival Procedures A STAR is an ATC coded IFR arrival route established for application to arriving IFR aircraft destined for certain airports. RNAV STAR/FMSP procedures for arrivals serve the same purpose but are only used by aircraft equipped with FMS or GPS. The purpose of both is to simplify clearance delivery procedures and facilitate transition between en route and instrument approach procedures. 1. STAR/RNAV STAR/FMSP procedures may have mandatory speeds and/or crossing altitudes published. Other STARs may have planning information depicted to inform pilots what clearances or restrictions to "expect." "Expect" altitudes/speeds are not considered STAR/RNAV STAR/FMSP procedures crossing restrictions unless verbally issued by ATC. Section 5. Pilot/Controller Roles and Responsibilities General a. The roles and responsibilities of the pilot and controller for effective participation in the ATC system are contained in several documents. Pilot responsibilities are in the CFRs and the air traffic controller's are in the FAA Order 7110.65, Air Traffic Control, and supplemental FAA directives. Additional and supplemental information for pilots can be found in the current Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), Notices to Airmen, Advisory Circulars and aeronautical charts. Since there are many other excellent publications produced by nongovernment organizations, as well as other government organizations, with various updating cycles, questions concerning the latest or most current material can be resolved by cross-checking with the above mentioned documents. b. The pilot-in-command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to the safe operation of that aircraft. In an emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot-in-command may deviate from any rule in the General Subpart A and Flight Rules Subpart B in accordance with 14 CFR Section 91.3. c. The air traffic controller is responsible to give first priority to the separation of aircraft and to the issuance of radar safety alerts, second priority to other services that are required, but do not involve separation of aircraft and third priority to additional services to the extent possible. d. In order to maintain a safe and efficient air traffic system, it is necessary that each party fulfill their responsibilities to the fullest. e. The responsibilities of the pilot and the controller intentionally overlap in many areas providing a degree of redundancy. Should one or the other fail in any manner, this overlapping responsibility is expected to compensate, in many cases, for failures that may affect safety. f. The following, while not intended to be all inclusive, is a brief listing of pilot and controller responsibilities for some commonly used procedures or phases of flight. More detailed explanations are contained in other portions of this publication, the appropriate CFRs, ACs and similar publications. The information provided is an overview of the principles involved and is not meant as an interpretation of the rules nor is it intended to extend or diminish responsibilities.
Section 6. National Security and Interception Procedures National Security a. National security in the control of air traffic is governed by 14 CFR Part 99. b. All aircraft entering domestic U.S. airspace from points outside must provide for identification prior to entry. To facilitate early aircraft identification of all aircraft in the vicinity of U.S. and international airspace boundaries, Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) have been established. c. Operational requirements for aircraft operations associated with an ADIZ are as follows: 1. Flight Plan. Except as specified in subparagraphs d and e below, an IFR or DVFR flight plan must be filed with an appropriate aeronautical facility as follows: (a) Generally, for all operations that enter an ADIZ. (b) For operations that will enter or exit the U.S. and which will operate into, within or across the Contiguous U.S. ADIZ regardless of true airspeed. (c) The flight plan must be filed before departure except for operations associated with the Alaskan ADIZ when the airport of departure has no facility for filing a flight plan, in which case the flight plan may be filed immediately after takeoff or when within range of the aeronautical facility. 2. Two-way Radio. For the majority of operations associated with an ADIZ, an operating two-way radio is required. See 14 CFR Section 99.1 for exceptions. 3. Transponder Requirements. Unless otherwise authorized by ATC, each aircraft conducting operations into, within, or across the Contiguous U.S. ADIZ must be equipped with an operable radar beacon transponder having altitude reporting capability (Mode C), and that transponder must be turned on and set to reply on the appropriate code or as assigned by ATC. 4. Position Reporting. (a) For IFR flight. Normal IFR position reporting. (b) For DVFR flights. The estimated time of ADIZ penetration must be filed with the aeronautical facility at least 15 minutes prior to penetration except for flight in the Alaskan ADIZ, in which case report prior to penetration. (c) For inbound aircraft of foreign registry. The pilot must report to the aeronautical facility at least one hour prior to ADIZ penetration. 5. Aircraft Position Tolerances. (a) Over land, the tolerance is within plus or minus five minutes from the estimated time over a reporting point or point of penetration and within 10 NM from the centerline of an intended track over an estimated reporting point or penetration point. (b) Over water, the tolerance is plus or minus five minutes from the estimated time over a reporting point or point of penetration and within 20 NM from the centerline of the intended track over an estimated reporting point or point of penetration (to include the Aleutian Islands). 6. Land-Based ADIZ. Land-Based ADIZ are activated and deactivated over U.S. metropolitan areas as needed, with dimensions, activation dates and other relevant information disseminated via NOTAM. (a) In addition to requirements outlined in subparagraphs c1 through c3, pilots operating within a Land-Based ADIZ must report landing or leaving the Land-Based ADIZ if flying too low for radar coverage. (b) Pilots unable to comply with all requirements shall remain clear of Land-Based ADIZ. Pilots entering a Land-Based ADIZ without authorization or who fail to follow all requirements risk interception by military fighter aircraft. ALIGATORS. Are one of many Endangered Species. The Fish and Wildlife Service in the Department of the Interior and the NOAA Fisheries Service in the Department of Commerce share responsibility for administration of the Endangered Species Act. Look below to learn more about internal guidance and national policies that we have issued to promote efficiency and nationwide consistency in implementing the ESA to protect and recover listed species of plants and animals native to the United States and its territories. The Lacey Act Amendments increased penalties and included a felony punishment scheme to target commercial violators and international traffickers - by fines of up to $20,000 or five years imprisonment, or both. ST Discretion to modify these punishments. ALTERATION OF BILLS. Every person who fraudulently alters the draft of any bill or resolution which has been presented to either of the houses composing the legislature, to be passed or adopted, with intent to procure it to be passed or adopted by either house, or certified by the presiding officer of either house, in language different from that intended by such house, is guilty of [a] felony. ALTERATION OF ENROLLED COPIES. Every person who fraudulently alters the enrolled copy of any bill or resolution which has been passed or adopted by the legislature with intent to procure it to be approved by the governor, or certified by the secretary of state, or printed or published by the printer of the statutes, in language different from that in which it was passed or adopted by the legislature, is guilty of [a] felony.
ALTERATION OF ORE VALUES. Every person, corporation or association, or the agent of any person, corporation or association, engaged in milling, sampling, concentrating, reducing, shipping or purchasing ores in this state, who in any manner knowingly alters or changes the true value of any ores delivered to him or them, so as to deprive the seller of the result of the correct value of the same, or who issues any bill of sale or certificate of purchase that does not exactly and truthfully state the actual weight, assay value and total amount paid for any lot or lots of ore purchased, or who, by any secret understanding or agreement with another, issues a bill of sale or certificate of purchase that does not exactly and truthfully state the actual weight, assay value and total amount paid for any lot or lots of ore purchased, or who, by any secret understanding or agreement with another, issues a bill of sale or certificate of purchase that does not truthfully and correctly set forth the weight, assay value and total amount paid for any lot or lots of ore purchased by him, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished as provided in USE OF FRAUDULENT SCALES FOR ORE. ANTI-CAMCORDER PIRACY ACT, APPLICABILITY. (1) This chapter does not prevent any lawfully authorized investigative, law enforcement, protective, or intelligence-gathering employee or agent of the federal government, the state or a political subdivision of the state, from operating any audiovisual recording device in a motion picture theater as part of lawfully authorized investigative, law enforcement, protective, or intelligence-gathering activities. (2) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent prosecution instead under other applicable law providing a greater penalty. ANTI-CAMCORDER PIRACY ACT, PROHIBITION AGAINST PIRACY. Any person who, without the written consent of the motion picture theater owner, knowingly operates the audiovisual recording function of any device in a motion picture theater while a motion picture is being exhibited for the purpose of recording the motion picture being exhibited shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be imprisoned for not more than one (1) year, fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or shall be punished by both such fine and imprisonment. ARSON, AGGRAVATED -- PENALTIES. A person whose violation of State Code, results, directly or indirectly, in great bodily harm, permanent disability, permanent disfigurement or death of a firefighter or any other person, regardless of intent or lack of intent to cause such harm, upon a finding of guilt thereon shall be sentenced to an extended term of imprisonment. The extended term of imprisonment shall be computed by increasing the sentence imposed for a conviction under such sections, by a period of not more than ten (10) years. ARSON -- DEFINITIONS. The following terms have the following meanings: (1) "Damage", in addition to its ordinary meaning, includes any charring, scorching, burning or breaking, and shall include any diminution in the value of any property as a consequence of an act; (2) "Dwelling" means any structure used or intended for use as human habitation; (3) "Structure" means any building of any kind, including fixtures and appurtenances attached thereto, any coliseum, bridge or carport, any tent or other portable building, or any vehicle, vessel, watercraft or aircraft; (4) "Real property" means any land, and shall include any crops growing thereon; (5) "Personal property" means any tangible property, including anything severed from the land; (6) "Forest land" means any brush covered land, cut-over land, forest, prairie, grasslands, wetlands or woods; (7) "Firefighter" means any person assisting in the suppression or extinguishment of any fire or explosion. ARSON IN FIRST DEGREE -- BURNING OF DWELLING OR OTHER STRUCTURES WHERE PERSONS ARE NORMALLY PRESENT -- PENALTIES. Any person who willfully and unlawfully, by fire or explosion, damages: (1) Any dwelling, whether occupied or not; or (2) Any structure, whether occupied or not, in which persons are normally present, including without limitation: jails, prisons or detention centers; hospitals, nursing homes or other health care facilities; department stores, office buildings, business establishments, churches or educational institutions, or other similar structures; or (3) Any other structure which the actor has reasonable grounds to believe is occupied by a human being; or (4) Any real or personal property, whether the property of the actor or another, with the intent to deceive or harm any insurer or any person with a legal or financial interest in the property, or obtain any financial gain for the actor or another; is guilty of arson in the first degree, and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to the custody of the department of correction for not more than twenty-five (25) years or fined not more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or both. ARSON IN THE SECOND DEGREE -- BURNING OF A STRUCTURE -- PENALTIES. Any person who willfully and unlawfully, by fire or explosion, damages any structure, whether the property of the actor or another, not included or described in the preceding section, is guilty of arson in the second degree, and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to the custody of the department of correction for not more than fifteen (15) years or fined not more than seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) or both.
ARSON IN THE THIRD DEGREE -- BURNING OF REAL OR PERSONAL PROPERTY OR FOREST LAND -- PENALTIES. Any person who willfully and unlawfully, by fire or explosion, damages: (1) Any real or personal property of another; or (2) Any forest land; is guilty of arson in the third degree, and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to the custody of the department of correction for not more than ten (10) years or fined not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or both. ASKING OR RECEIVING REWARDS. Every executive officer who asks or receives any emolument, gratuity or reward, or any promise thereof, excepting such as may be authorized by law, for doing any official act, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ASSAULT DEFINED. An assault is: (a) An unlawful attempt, coupled with apparent ability, to commit a violent injury on the person of another; or (b) An intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent. -- PUNISHMENT. An assault is punishable by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed three (3) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. ASSAULT, AGGRAVATED DEFINED. An aggravated assault is an assault: (a) With a deadly weapon or instrument without intent to kill; or (b) By any means or force likely to produce great bodily harm.[; or] (c) With any vitriol, corrosive acid, or a caustic chemical of any kind. (d) "Deadly weapon or instrument" as used in this chapter is defined to include any firearm, though unloaded or so defective that it can not be fired. -- PUNISHMENT. An aggravated assault is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not to exceed five (5) years or by fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by both. ASSAULT OR BATTERY UPON CERTAIN PERSONNEL -- PUNISHMENT. Any person who commits a crime provided for in this chapter against or upon a justice, judge, magistrate, prosecuting attorney, public defender, peace officer, bailiff, marshal, sheriff, police officer, correctional officer, employee of the department of correction, employee of a private prison contractor while employed at a private correctional facility in the state, employees of the department of water resources authorized to enforce the provisions of State Code, jailer, parole officer, officer of the Idaho state police, fireman, social caseworkers or social work specialists of the department of health and welfare, employee of a state secure confinement facility for juveniles, employee of a juvenile detention facility, a teacher at a detention facility or a juvenile probation officer, emergency medical technician certified by the department of health and welfare, emergency medical technician-ambulance certified by the department of health and welfare, advanced emergency medical technician and EMT-paramedic certified by the state board of medicine, a member, employee or agent of the state tax commission, United States marshal, or federally commissioned law enforcement officer or their deputies or agents and the perpetrator knows or has reason to know of the victim's status, the punishment shall be as follows: (a) For committing battery with intent to commit a serious felony the punishment shall be imprisonment in the state prison not to exceed twenty-five (25) years. (b) For committing any other crime in this chapter the punishment shall be doubled that provided in the respective section, except as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of this section. (c) For committing a violation of the provisions of State Code, against the person of a justice, judge or magistrate, jailer or correctional officer or other staff of the department of correction, or a county jail, or of a private correctional facility, or of an employee of a state secure confinement facility for juveniles, an employee of a juvenile detention facility, a teacher at a detention facility or a juvenile probation officer and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that such victim is a justice, judge or magistrate, jailer or correctional officer or other staff of the department of correction, or of a private correctional facility, an employee of a state secure confinement facility for juveniles, an employee of a juvenile detention facility, a teacher at a detention facility or a juvenile probation officer because of the victim's former or present official status, and the victim is engaged in the performance of his duties, the offense shall be a felony punishable by imprisonment in a correctional facility for a period of not more than five (5) years, and said sentence shall be served consecutively to any sentence being currently served. (d) For committing a violation of the provisions of State Code, except unlawful touching as described in section (b), State Code, against the person of a peace officer, sheriff or police officer because of the victim's former or present official status, the offense shall be a felony punishable by imprisonment in a correctional facility for a period of not more than five (5) years, and said sentence shall be served consecutively to any sentence being currently served.
ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO COMMIT A SERIOUS FELONY DEFINED. An assault upon another with intent to commit murder, rape, the infamous crime against nature, mayhem, robbery, or lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor child is an assault with the intent to commit a serious felony. -- PUNISHMENT. An assault with the intent to commit a serious felony is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not to exceed ten (10) years. ASSEMBLY TO DISTURB PEACE -- REFUSAL TO DISPERSE. If two or more persons assemble for the purpose of disturbing the public peace, or committing any unlawful act, and do not disperse on being desired or commanded so to do by a public officer, the persons so offending are severally guilty of a misdemeanor. ATTEMPT RESULTING IN DIFFERENT CRIME. A person who, in attempting unsuccessfully to commit a crime, accomplishes the commission of another and different crime, whether greater or less in guilt, from suffering the punishment prescribed by law for the crime committed, will be tried for the succeeded crime, along with the attempted crime. ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE JURORS AND ARBITRATORS. Every person who corruptly attempts to influence a juror, or any person summoned or drawn as a juror, or chosen as an arbitrator or umpire, or appointed a referee, in respect to his verdict in, or decision of, any cause pending, or about to be brought before him, either: 1. By means of any communication, oral or written, had with him, except in the regular course or proceedings; 2. By means of any book, paper or instrument exhibited, otherwise than in the regular course of proceedings; 3. By means of any threat, intimidation, persuasion or entreaty; or, 4. By means of any promise or assurance of any pecuniary or other advantage; is guilty of a felony. ATTEMPTED STRANGULATION. (1) Any person who willfully and unlawfully chokes or attempts to strangle a household member, or a person with whom he or she has or had a dating relationship, is guilty of a felony punishable by incarceration for up to fifteen (15) years in the state prison. (2) No injuries are required to prove attempted strangulation. (3) The prosecution is not required to show that the defendant intended to kill or injure the victim. The only intent required is the intent to choke or attempt to strangle. ATTORNEY DEFENDING WHEN PARTNER PROSECUTES. Every attorney who directly or indirectly advises in relation to, or aids, or promotes the defense of, any action or proceeding in any court, the prosecution of which is carried on, aided or promoted by any person as prosecuting attorney, or other public prosecutor, with whom such person is directly or indirectly connected as a partner, or who, having himself prosecuted or in any manner aided or promoted any action or proceeding in any court as prosecuting attorney or other public prosecutor, afterward, directly or indirectly, advises in relation to, or takes any part in, the defense thereof, as attorney or otherwise, or who takes or receives any valuable consideration from, or on behalf of any defendant in any such action, upon any understanding or agreement whatever having relation to the defense thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and in addition to the punishment prescribed therefor, forfeits his license to practice law. ATTORNEY DEFENDING WHEN PARTNER PROSECUTES, EXCEPTION. The preceding section does not prohibit an attorney from defending himself in person as attorney or counsel, when prosecuted either civilly or criminally. AUDITOR -- NEGLECT OF DUTY. If any county auditor neglects or refuses to perform the duties enjoined on him by the provisions of State Code he is guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than one (1) year, or by a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $1,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and shall be forthwith removed from office. AUTOPSY INFORMATION FOR RELATIVES. Introduction The death of a loved one is a traumatic and difficult time for relatives. The hospital community sympathises with relatives in their grief and tries in whatever way possible to make things easier. At this sad time it may seem a major intrusion to introduce the question of an autopsy (also called a post-mortem examination) but there are very good reasons for this as discussed below. The following document provides the reasons why an autopsy is requested and gives details of what is involved. It indicates that under certain circumstances the coroner may order an autopsy for which the consent of the family is not required (a coroner autopsy) but the family may be asked to sign a form to indicate that they have been informed that tissue and organs may be temporarily retained for diagnosis. The family will be informed shortly after the autopsy if any organs have been retained and asked if they are satisfied to have the organs disposed of by the approved hospital procedure.
If the coroner has not ordered an autopsy the medical staff may request permission from the family for an autopsy (a hospital autopsy). The medical staff who cared for your relative will provide you with information to allow you to make an informed decision on whether you will give permission for a hospital autopsy, and whether you wish to attach conditions to your permission. There is a consent form to allow you to indicate this. This document is provided to supplement the doctor's information. Hospital bereavement counselors are also available to help. Some relatives may find it difficult to read a document of this nature at a time of extreme grief. You should also be cautioned that the document, of its nature, gives explicit details that some may find distressing. You may prefer to have a friend help you read it, or to keep a copy to read later when the pain of sorrow is less intense. The Coroner Autopsy The coroner is an independent official with responsibility under the law for the medico-legal investigation of certain deaths. A coroner must inquire into the circumstances of sudden, unexplained, violent or unnatural deaths. This may require an autopsy, sometimes followed by an inquest. The coroner's inquiry is concerned with establishing whether or not the death was due to natural or unnatural causes. If a death was due to unnatural causes then an inquest must be held by law. Deaths occurring under a wide range of conditions must be reported to the coroner who then inquires into the circumstances of the death. Sometimes a doctor may be in a position to certify the cause of death. If this is so, and if there are no other circumstances requiring investigation, the coroner will permit the doctor to complete a medical certificate of the cause of death, and the death will be registered accordingly. However, if the certificate can not be completed the coroner will order that an autopsy be carried out. When the coroner's investigations are completed the findings of the autopsy may be discussed at hospital meetings in a confidential manner (the deceased's name will not be disclosed). Further details regarding coroner autopsies are available in a booklet The Role of the Coroner in Death Investigation which is available from the hospital or from the office of the City Coroner. The Hospital Autopsy If the coroner decides that a coroner autopsy is not required, or if it was not necessary to report the death to the coroner, the deceased's doctors may request a hospital autopsy. Reasons for doing a hospital autopsy The autopsy or post-mortem examination gives information on the organs and systems of the body and shows by direct vision and by microscopic examination what damage has been caused by disease. It's often possible to get more details of the illness than has been learned from a series of examinations done before death. This allows a more complete assessment of a patient's illness, of the response to treatment and of the cause of death. However, the autopsy may not answer all questions and in some cases may fail to show the cause of death. Information from the autopsy is important for assessing and improving the quality of medical care, for research into the nature, causes and prevention of disease, for education of doctors and students, and for public health planning by providing accurate mortality and morbidity (disease) statistics. Procedures for Autopsy The autopsy consists of 7 components, 1) direction or request for autopsy with appropriate permissions, 2) identification, 3) review of the history and medical record, 4) external examination, 5) internal examination, 6) special tests and 7) autopsy report. 1-3. PERMISSION, IDENTIFICATION AND HISTORY: The autopsy, whether done at the direction of the coroner (a coroner autopsy) or at the request of a doctor who has obtained the permission for the procedure from the next-of-kin of a deceased hospital patient (a hospital autopsy), is performed by a pathologist who is a medical doctor specially trained to identify disease in organs and tissues. The pathologist first checks that there is permission to undertake the autopsy, confirms the identity of the deceased and reviews the clinical record and accounts of the circumstances of death. 4. EXTERNAL EXAMINATION: The skin and surface of the body is carefully examined and any lesions (abnormalities) are noted. Diagnostic images (such as X-rays or scans) or photographs of lesions may be taken. 5. INTERNAL EXAMINATION: This is like a major operation and usually takes one to two hours to complete. A large cut (called an incision) is made in the chest and abdomen. Then the major organ systems are removed and each is carefully dissected. An incision is made in the scalp so that the top of the skull can be opened and the brain removed and examined. Any diseased area in the organs or tissues is noted and may be photographed. Small portions of tissue from each organ are taken to prepare microscopic slides. Samples of blood and other fluids may be taken for biochemical, microbiological or other special examinations. The organs and tissues are then returned to the body (but see the following section on organ retention) and the incisions are sutured (sewn up). Finally the body is released to the undertaker. The body may be viewed in the normal way and no evidence of the autopsy examination is visible. 6-7. SPECIAL EXAMINATIONS AND REPORTS: An account of the autopsy findings is then written and later the results of any special examinations and of the microscopic examination are added to this. CORONER AUTOPSY: For a coroner autopsy a final report is prepared. This includes all the information from the autopsy and gives the cause of death. This report usually takes 2-8 weeks but it may take much longer because of special tests. The coroner may then issue a certificate which allows the registrar of deaths to issue a death certificate. In certain circumstances the coroner, before issuing a certificate, may order an inquest, which is a hearing of all the evidence about a person's death.
HOSPITAL AUTOPSY: For a hospital autopsy the pathologist discusses the findings with the patient's consultant and then issues a final report usually 4-8 weeks following the autopsy. The findings of the autopsy may be discussed at hospital meetings in a confidential manner (the deceased's name will not be disclosed). The next-of-kin may obtain a copy of the pathologist's report, either directly or through their own general practitioner, and may make arrangements to discuss the findings with the deceased's consultant or with the pathologist. Retention of tissue Samples of blood, fluids or tissue are kept for special examinations such as biochemistry, toxicology and microbiology and are disposed of after examination according to hospital procedures (see next section). Small pieces of tissue are taken to prepare microscopic slides which are examined to identify any disease or abnormalities. These pieces are first placed in a fluid called formalin which preserves and hardens the tissue. Later, smaller pieces are selected to be included in wax blocks from which microscopic slides are made; the excess tissue is disposed of according to hospital procedures. The wax blocks and slides contain tissue, which includes samples of the deceased's genetic material, and are held in storage in the pathology department's archival files as part of the patient record. Retention of organs Sometimes in a coroner autopsy it is necessary to retain whole organs (such as the heart) or large portions of organs for detailed examination in order to make a diagnosis. When there is a question of disease of the brain or nervous system it may be necessary to keep the brain for examination by a pathologist specialising in brain diseases, a neuropathologist. Examination of retained tissue may take from one to many weeks. When the examination of these retained organs is complete the tissue is disposed of according to hospital procedures (see next section). In a hospital autopsy if it is desirable to retain whole organs special permission from the next-of-kin is required. In all cases, if organs have been retained the hospital will inform the relatives shortly after the autopsy. Disposal of organs and tissue Blood, tissue swabs and small tissue samples are disposed of by incineration. Organs which are retained for detailed examination are placed in a preservative fluid called formalin. They are stored in containers on shelves in a room in the autopsy department until the autopsy report has been completed. This may take several months. One to two months after the completion of the autopsy report the retained organs, in an individual container, are placed in a coffin which also contains retained organs from other autopsies and the coffin is cremated at Mount Jerome Cemetery crematorium. The ashes are placed in an urn which is buried in a St. James's Hospital plot in the cemetery following a multidenominational service. The hospital maintains and can provide full records of the burial site and details of all retained organs. Relatives who wish to make alternative arrangements may do so through the social work department, soon after the funeral. Financial support for such arrangements will be provided by the hospital. Research Microscopic slides and tissue wax blocks which are retained for diagnosis are a valuable source of information on the nature of disease and may be used for research. If permission is given to use this material for research it will be carried out under strict conditions of confidentiality and according to the approval of the hospital research ethics committee. Teaching Organs or large segments of organs which contain disease are a major resource in teaching doctors and students of the health sciences. When permission is given by the next-of-kin such organs are used anonymously (the name of the patient is not disclosed) to teach students the details of diseases and may be placed in transparent containers in the pathology teaching specimen archive of the Medical School. Benefits For the bereaved family the autopsy provides information and explanations not only on the illness and cause of death but also may reveal co-existing conditions including inherited diseases, the early recognition of which may be of benefit to other family members. New diseases are often first recognized by autopsy, for instance the new variant of CJD (Creutzfeldt Jacob disease), much in the news recently because of its association with mad cow disease, was defined by post-mortem studies. Family members are often comforted by the knowledge that their loved one's death, through the autopsy, can advance medical knowledge and help others by contributing to the fight against disease. Risks If permission is received late it may not be possible to complete a hospital autopsy without risking delay to the funeral; in these circumstances the autopsy will not be done. An autopsy ordered by the coroner however, may sometimes result in delay or postponement of the funeral. Incisions in tissue are carefully made so as not to be visible when the body is viewed. Occasionally however, there may be small incisions in a visible area but these can be expertly concealed by the undertaker. Incisions are closed by suturing (stitching) and waterproof dressings, but seepage of small amounts of blood or fluid may occasionally occur. If the deceased has suffered from certain infectious diseases, precautions, including the use of a body bag, may be mandatory.
Confidentiality The report of a coroner autopsy is sent to the coroner who, on completion of the coroner's investigation, may release it on request to the family and other interested parties. To request a copy contact the social work department. The hospital autopsy report is part of the deceased patient's hospital medical record and is held on the hospital computer system. This report is confidential and is protected by the Data Protection Act and may not be accessed by the public under the Freedom of Information Act. On request a copy will be given to the family of the deceased. Information from the autopsy may be used in hospital statistics and reports but the patient's identity is never disclosed. Similarly, if there is permission to use organs for teaching or research, the, deceased's identity is never disclosed. Permission for Coroner Autopsy The coroner does not need the permission of the family to order an autopsy. However the coroner's purpose is to obtain a diagnosis and to find the cause of death; permission to use organs for teaching or research may not be given by the coroner and the next-of-kin may be asked to provide this permission. Where a coroner autopsy is ordered the next-of-kin may be asked to sign a form named Coroner autopsy (post-mortem examination) which informs them 1) that tissue or organs may be temporarily retained for further diagnostic examination, 2) the hospital will inform them shortly after the autopsy if any organs have been retained. This form also has a second section which allows the relatives to give or refuse consent for the use of tissue or organs for research and teaching (in the same way as for a hospital autopsy, see next paragraph) Permission for Hospital Autopsy For a hospital autopsy it is necessary to obtain the consent of the family of the deceased. In general, the hospital will consult with and be guided by the wishes of the closest relative to the deceased. The closest relative is generally deemed to be a spouse. If there is no spouse, the parents would be consulted and if there are no living parents the children or if there are none, the siblings of the deceased. The family are free to refuse permission for such an autopsy and they will not be penalised in any way for such a refusal. If there are any differences of opinion among the deceased's family or between relatives and partners of the deceased, the circumstances will be discussed with the consultant pathologist, clinicians or bereavement counselors in an effort to see if some agreement can be reached. A nominated person or next-of-kin who signs a permission form for a hospital autopsy is required to indicate that he or she is not aware that any other relative of a similar degree objects to the permission (if this is in fact the case). The deceased may, prior to his or her death have expressed wishes regarding an autopsy or the uses to which organs should be put. Regard will be had to such express wishes. Bereavement Counselors There are hospital bereavement counselors attached to the social work department who are available to help with all aspects of bereavement. If required they will explain details of the autopsy, and organ retention, death certificates and funeral arrangements. Relatives will usually be contacted by bereavement counselors in the period shortly after death. The Death Certificate Where a coroner autopsy has been performed, the death will be registered when the coroner issues a coroner's certificate on receipt of the final autopsy report. Where a hospital autopsy has been performed the doctor who attended the deceased certifies the cause of death. In both cases, the death certificate is ultimately available from: District Registrar's Office. Further Information The Hospital bereavement counselors are available to provide any extra information that may be required. They may be contacted at the social work department. The pathology department will be pleased to have a pathologist discuss any details concerning an autopsy with the family. However the pathologist is not allowed to discuss details of a coroner autopsy unless the coroner's investigation is complete or the coroner gives permission.
AUTOPSY REPORT FORMAT. Male Adult Template: INTERNAL EXAMINATION BODY CAVITIES: ABDOMINAL CAVITY: THORACIC CAVITY: DESCRIPTION OF ORGANS: HEART: Weighs grams Aorta: LARYNX: EXTRAPULMONARY BRONCHI: LEFT LUNG: Weighs grams RIGHT LUNG: Weighs grams LIVER: Weighs grams GALLBLADDER: SPLEEN: Weighs grams PANCREAS: Weighs grams ADRENALS: Weighs grams LEFT KIDNEY: Weighs grams. RIGHT KIDNEY: Weighs grams.. PENIS: URETERS: URINARY BLADDER: GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT: NECK ORGANS: LYMPH NODES: BONE MARROW: SKELETAL SYSTEM: CRANIAL CAVITY: Female Adult template: Basicly the same as the male except for a few things. GENITALIA: The vagina is pink and soft. The ectocervix is tan, smooth and glistening. The endocervical canal is tan and longitudinally trabeculated and covered with mucus. The uterus measures cm, of which the lower cm represent the cervix. The external surface of the uterus is red-pink and smooth. The uterine cavity is triangular in shape. The endometrium is thin and hemorrhagic. The myometrium measures cm in thickness at the fundus. The left fimbriated fallopian tube measures cm. Externally and on section it is unremarkable. The right fimbriated fallopian tube measures cm. Externally and on section it is similar to the left one. The left ovary measures cm. The external surface is slightly convoluted, cerebriform, and smooth. The right ovary measures cm. It is similar to the left ovary in all respects
B
BACKGROUND CHECKS There comes a time in every Player Characters life in that they will have people interested in learning more about them, but not willing to ask them to their face about the questions they have. This will come from all walks of life, not just the Law. The Characters background should be viewed as if it has layers. The better the nosy neighbor is at uncovering those layers, the more they can find out about the PC. a. Background Level 1: Easiest Information to find on the PC. This is not necessarily fully accurate, holes may be here. Should be `the word on the street' or things commonly known by friends. Only needs to be a few lines. b. Background Level 2: Details. A bit harder to find out about the PC. Month/Year for things like deaths, births, marriages, divorces, graduations, schools attended, degrees obtained, names changed, citizenship, emigration, etc. This should be fairly long, but limited to facts, truthful facts, that are found by digging deep, possibly following paper trails. Most of this is covered in the Profile of the PC, but this section should be written a bit more fully than just the base data. c. Background Level 3: Easy enough, one of two things: No Criminal Record or a History of Criminal Record, which should include dates (month/year), charge, sentence, time served or not, and so on. Note differences in the records between Juvenile, State and Federal offenses. d. Background Miscellaneous Level: Background Traits explained: Allies, Contacts, Backers, etc. Should have first and last names and what these folks will do. Influence, over what? Resources, as a quick reference, where do they get their money. Etc. Also included, merits and flaws requiring explanations. Things like allergies, phobias, nightmares (if specific), obsessions, compulsions, and so on. Plus anything else they want to add. e. Background Stortyteller Level: The whole story, with all the details. BACKGROUND CHECKS, COMPUTER HACKING. Police systems tend to be isolated systems, with only terminal or unique ethernet access. So, unless the hacker can get into a police station or get access to a cruiser unit, they won't be able to get access to the info. As far as level 2 Background info, there might be more available on the web, but that depends on how detailed the person is in published media. Subtract 3 from their Fame rating to see what level of personal details might be online. Add to that, most people won't record things about their IC Masq, since that pretty much seems stupid... So, finding out if someone is a super is probably not possible. However, if the PC has any kind of operating persona in Mortal society, you could find out things such as where they live, phone numbers, income, credit rating, loans, public ownership of titles or board/VP positions on publically traded companies. So, subtract 2 from their Resources to see what level of detail you might get on their financial info through Hacking. That is, unless they've specifically gone through dummy corps and such. Yup, Players who document proof of their existence get found out just as often by other supers as mortals. Thus, for their own protection their Storyteller would gack them and cover it up. All players who don't want to easily be found out should set up a lot of holding and intermediary companies for the properties and businesses they own. So, unless the PC is using magick to hack through the Virtual Web, its unlikely they're going to get much super-secret info on characters. This is how to handle hacking by a PC to get info on other PCs. BAIL JUMPING -- DEFAULT IN REQUIRED APPEARANCE. A person set at liberty by court order, with or without bail, upon condition that he will subsequently appear at a specified time and place, commits a misdemeanor if, without lawful excuse, he fails to appear at that time and place. The offense constitutes a felony where the required appearance was to answer to a charge of felony, or for disposition of any such charge, and the actor took flight or went into hiding to avoid apprehension, trial or punishment. This section does not apply to obligations to appear incident to release under suspended sentence or on probation or parole. BANK ROBBERY It is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol. BATTERY, DEFINED. A battery is any: (a) Willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another; or (b) Actual, intentional and unlawful touching or striking of another person against the will of the other; or (c) Unlawfully and intentionally causing bodily harm to an individual. -- PUNISHMENT. Battery is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six (6) months, or both unless the victim is pregnant and this fact is known to the batterer, in which case the punishment is by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one (1) year, or both.
BATTERY, AGGRAVATED DEFINED. (1) A person commits aggravated battery who, in committing battery: (a) Causes great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement; or (b) Uses a deadly weapon or instrument; or (c) Uses any vitriol, corrosive acid, or a caustic chemical of any nature; or (d) Uses any poison or other noxious or destructive substance or liquid; or (e) Upon the person of a pregnant female, causes great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement to an embryo or fetus. (2) For purposes of this section the terms "embryo" or "fetus" shall mean any human in utero. (3) There shall be no prosecution under subsection (1)(e) of this section: (a) Of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant female, or person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law. (b) Of any person for any medical treatment of the pregnant female or her embryo or fetus; or (c) Of any female with respect to her embryo or fetus. -- PUNISHMENT. An aggravated battery is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not to exceed fifteen (15) years. BATTERY TO DISABLED PERSONS AND ASSISTANCE DOGS -- PENALTIES. (1) Any person who: (a) Permits any animal which is owned, harbored or controlled by him to cause injury to or the death of any assistance dog or dog-in-training, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (b) Intentionally causes injury to or the death of any assistance dog or dog-in-training is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both. (2) In addition to any other criminal or civil penalties provided for violation of this section, any person convicted under this section, regardless of the form of judgment, shall be ordered to make full restitution to the owner or custodian of such dog for all veterinary bills, replacement and other costs resulting from the injury or death of the dog. BATTERY WITH THE INTENT TO COMMIT A SERIOUS FELONY DEFINED. Any battery committed with the intent to commit murder, rape, the infamous crime against nature, mayhem, robbery or lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor child is a battery with the intent to commit a serious felony. -- PUNISHMENT. A battery with the intent to commit a serious felony is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not to exceed fifteen (15) years. BED SHOPPING. State law prohibits couples who are shopping for a new bed from putting it to the "ultimate test" -- in other words, from trying it out by making love on it, or even simulating this activity. BEER, WINE OR OTHER ALCOHOL AGE VIOLATIONS -- FINES. (a) Whenever a person is in violation, on the basis of his age, of any federal, state, or municipal law or ordinance pertaining to the use, possession, procurement, or attempted procurement, or dispensing of any beer, wine or other alcoholic beverage product, the violation shall constitute a misdemeanor. (b) Every person convicted of a misdemeanor under this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). The second conviction under this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000), or up to thirty (30) days in jail or both. The third and subsequent conviction under this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000), or up to sixty (60) days in jail or both. (c) A conviction under this section shall not be used or considered in any manner for purposes of motor vehicle insurance. (d) Whenever a person pleads guilty or is found guilty of violating any law pertaining to the possession, use, procurement, attempted procurement or dispensing of any beer, wine, or other alcoholic beverage, and such person was under twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of such violation, then in addition to the penalty provided in subsection (b) of this section: (1) The court shall suspend the person's driving privileges for a period of not more than one (1) year. The person may request restricted driving privileges during the period of suspension, which the court may allow, if the person shows by a preponderance of the evidence that driving privileges are necessary as deemed appropriate by the court. (2) If the person's driving privileges have been previously suspended under this section, the court shall suspend the person's driving privileges for a period of not more than two (2) years. The person may request restricted driving privileges during the period of suspension, which the court may allow, if the person shows by a preponderance of the evidence that driving privileges are necessary as deemed appropriate by the court. (3) The person shall surrender his license or permit to the court. (4) The court shall notify the motor vehicle division of the Idaho transportation department of all orders of suspension it issues pursuant to this section. (5) The court, in its discretion, may also order the person to undergo and complete an alcohol evaluation and to complete an alcohol treatment or education program in the same manner that persons sentenced, are required to undergo and complete.
BIGAMY DEFINED. Every person having a husband or wife living, who marries any other person, is guilty of bigamy. -- PUNISHMENT. Bigamy is punishable by fine not exceeding $2,000 and by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding three (3) years. BIGAMY DEFINED, EXCEPTIONS. The last section does not extend: 1. To any person by reason of any former marriage, whose husband or wife by such marriage has been absent for five (5) successive years without being known to such person within that time to be living; nor, 2. To any person by reason of any former marriage which has been pronounced void, annulled, or dissolved by the judgment of a competent court. BLIND PERSONS ONLY MAY USE WHITE OR RED AND WHITE CANES. No person, except those wholly or partially blind, shall carry or use on any street, highway, or in any other public place a cane or walking stick which is white in color, or white tipped with red. Any violation of this act shall constitute a misdemeanor. BOOK MAKING AND POOL SELLING. Any person who for gain, hire or profit engages in pool selling or book making at any time or place within this state; or any person who keeps or occupies any room, shed, tenement, tent, booth or building, float or vessel, or any part thereof, or who occupies any place or stand of any kind, upon any public or private grounds within this state, with books, papers, paraphernalia, or mechanical device, for the purpose of engaging in pool selling or book making, or recording or registering bets or wagers; or who sells pools or makes books upon the result of any trial or contest of skill, speed or power of endurance of man or beast for gain, hire or reward; or any person who, for gain, hire or reward, receives, registers, records and forwards to any other place, within or without this state, any money, consideration or thing of value for the purpose of having it there bet or wagered by or for any person, who at such place sells pools or makes books upon any such event, or any person who, being the owner, lessee or occupant of any such room, shed, tenement, tent, booth or building, float or vessel, or part thereof, or any grounds within this state, knowingly and wilfully permits the same to be occupied and used for any of the purposes aforesaid, unless unable to legally prevent the same; or any person who aids, assists or abets in any manner in any of said acts which are hereby forbidden, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction is punishable by a fine of not more than $300 or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than six (6) months or by both such fine and imprisonment. BOXING. Laws pertaining to and involving the Art of Boxing. NOTE: A Professional Boxer MUST register his hands as deadly weapons and if used outside of a ring in any offensive manner, can and will be charged with Aggravated Assault & Battery, Attempted Murder and Intent to Kill. BOXING; PROHIBITION; AIDING OR ABETTING; WAGERING; PUNISHMENT; AUTHORIZING AND REGULATION OF AMATEUR BOXING EXHIBITIONS. Any person, who, within this state, engages in, or instigates, aids, encourages, or does any act to further, a pugilistic contest, or fight, or ring or prize fight, or sparring or boxing exhibition, taking or to take place either within or without this state, between two or more persons, with or without gloves, for any price, reward, or compensation, directly or indirectly, or who goes into training preparatory to such pugilistic contest, or fight, or ring or prize fight, or sparring or boxing exhibition, or acts as aider, abettor, backer, umpire, referee, trainer, second, surgeon, or assistant, at such pugilistic contest, or fight, or ring or prize fight, or sparring or boxing exhibition, or who sends or publishes a challenge or acceptance of a challenge, or who knowingly carries or delivers such challenge or acceptance, or who gives or takes or receives any tickets, tokens, prize, money, or thing of value, from any person or persons, for the purpose of seeing or witnessing any such pugilistic contest, or fight, or ring or prize fight, or sparring or boxing exhibition, or who, being the owner, lessee, agent, or occupant of any vessel, building, hotel, room, enclosure or ground, or any part thereof, whether for gain, hire, reward or gratuitously or otherwise, permits the same to be used or occupied for such a pugilistic contest, or fight, or ring or prize fight, or sparring or boxing exhibition, or who lays, makes, offers or accepts, a bet or bets, or wager or wagers, upon the result or any feature of any pugilistic contest, or fight, or ring or prize fight, or sparring or boxing exhibition, or acts as stakeholder of any such bet or bets, or wager or wagers, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars and be imprisoned in the county jail not less than thirty days nor exceeding one year; provided, however, that amateur boxing exhibitions may be held within this state, of a limited number of rounds, not exceeding four of the duration of three minutes each; the interval between each round shall be one minute, and the contestants weighing one hundred and forty-five pounds or over shall wear gloves of not less than eight ounces each in weight, and contestants weighing under one hundred and forty-five pounds may wear gloves of not less than six ounces each in weight. All gloves used by contestants in such amateur boxing exhibitions shall be so constructed, as that the soft padding between the outside coverings shall be evenly distributed over the back of said gloves and cover the knuckles and back of the hands. And no bandages of any kind shall be used on the hands or arms of the contestants.
For the purpose of this statute an amateur boxing exhibition shall be and is hereby defined as one in which no contestant has received or shall receive in any form, directly or indirectly, any money, prize, reward or compensation either for the expenses of training for such contest or for taking part therein, except as herein expressly provided. Nor shall any person appear as contestant in such amateur exhibition who prior thereto has received any compensation or reward in any form for displaying, exercising or giving any example of his skill in or knowledge of athletic exercises, or for rendering services of any kind to any athletic organization or to any person or persons as trainer, coach, instructor or otherwise, or who shall have been employed in any manner professionally by reason of his athletic skill or knowledge; provided, however, that a medal or trophy may be awarded to each contestant in such amateur boxing exhibitions, not to exceed in value the sum of $35.00 each, which such medal or trophy must have engraved thereon the name of the winner and the date of the event; but no portion of any admission fee or fees charged or received for any amateur boxing exhibition shall be paid or given to any contestant in such amateur boxing exhibition, either directly or indirectly, nor shall any gift be given to or received by such contestants for participating in such boxing exhibition, except said medal or trophy. At every amateur boxing exhibition held in this state and permitted by this section of the Penal Code, any sheriff, constable, marshal, policeman or other peace officer of the city, county or other political subdivision, where such exhibition is being held, shall have the right to, and it is hereby declared to be his duty to stop such exhibition, whenever it shall appear to him that the contestants are so unevenly matched or for any other reason, the said contestants have been, or either of them, has been seriously injured or there is danger that said contestants, or either of them, will be seriously injured if such contest continues, and he may call to his assistance in enforcing his order to stop said exhibition, as many peace officers or male citizens of the state as may be necessary for that purpose. Provided, further, that any contestant who shall continue to participate in such exhibition after an order to stop such exhibitions hall have been given by such peace officer, or who shall violate any of the regulations herein prescribed, for governing amateur boxing exhibitions, shall be deemed guilty of violating this section of the Penal Code and subject to the punishment herein provided. LAWS & REGULATIONS GOVERNING BOXING & MARTIAL ARTS Nothing in this section contained shall be construed to prevent any county, city and county, or incorporated city or town from prohibiting, by ordinance, the holding or conducting of any boxing exhibition, or any person from engaging in any such boxing exhibition therein. BOXING; SPECTATOR AT PROHIBITED EXHIBITION; PROCEEDINGS TO PREVENT CONTEMPLATED EXHIBITION; UNDERTAKING. Every person willfully present as spectator at any fight or contention prohibited in the preceding section, is guilty of a misdemeanor. An information may be laid before any of the magistrates mentioned in section eight hundred and eight of this code, that a person has taken steps toward promoting or participating in a contemplated pugilistic contest, or fight, or ring or prize fight, or sparring or boxing exhibition, prohibited under the provision of section four hundred and twelve of this code, or is about to commit an offense under said section four hundred and twelve. When said information is laid before said magistrate, he must examine, on oath, the informer, and any witness or witnesses he may produce, and must take their depositions in writing and cause them to be subscribed by the parties making them. If it appears from the deposition that there is just reason to fear the commission of the offense contemplated by the person so informed against, the magistrate must issue a warrant directed generally to the sheriff of the county, or any constable, marshal, or policemen in the state, reciting the substance of the information and commanding the officer forthwith to arrest the person informed against and bring him before the magistrate. When the person informed against is brought before the magistrate, if the charge be controverted, the magistrate must take testimony in relation thereto. The evidence must be reduced to writing and subscribed by the witnesses. If it appears there is no just reason to fear the commission of the offense alleged to have been contemplated, the person complained against must be discharged. If, however, there is just reason to fear the commission of the offense, the person complained of must be required to enter into an undertaking in such sum, not less than three thousand dollars, as the magistrate may direct, with one or more sufficient sureties, conditioned that such person will not, for a period of one year thereafter, commit any such contemplated offense. LEAVING STATE TO EVADE BOXING LAW. Every person who leaves this state with intent to evade any of the provisions of Section 412 or 413, and to commit any act out of this state such as is prohibited by them, and who does any act which would be punishable under these provisions if committed within this state, is punishable in the same manner as he or she would have been in case such act had been committed within this state. BOXING; WITNESSES; SELF INCRIMINATION; ACCOMPLICE. No person, otherwise competent as a witness, is disqualified from testifying as such, concerning any offense under this act, on the ground that such testimony may incriminate himself, but no prosecution can afterwards be had against him for any offense concerning which he testified. The provisions of this state are not applicable to any prosecutions brought under the provisions of this act.
BREAKING AND ENTERING A character attempting to shadow a location needs to make two rolls per day of observing: A) Recon: Perception+Investigation (or Streetwise). The standard difficulty is 6 (but can vary from 5 to 9 depending on circumstances). Each success indicates the amount of detail (as far as security, etc.) spotted. A failure indicates nothing out of the ordinary has been spotted. A botch might not only result in not spotting something but the shadowing character maybe even getting into trouble of her/his own. B) Dexterity+Stealth. The base difficulty is the subjects Perception+Alertness (but can be modified by 3 points either way depending on circumstances). A single success indicates the shadower is not detected and each additonal success makes it more difficult for the subject to spot the shadower. A failure indicates the subject becomes suspicious. A botch indicates the shadower completely reveals him/herself and is spotted. If the subject is alerted somehow (for example due to a failed stealth roll of the shadower) or actively tries to see if (s)he/ his or her property is being shadowed of some other reason, (s)he needs to roll Perception+Investigation (or Streetwise). The difficulty is the shadowers Stealth+5. Each success indicates a higher degree of suspicion (see chart below). The subjects successes stack. A failure means nothing out of the ordinary can be seen. A botch means the subject is convinced (s)he isnt being observed. Succ. Suspicion 1 Hunch 2 Suspicion 3 Near-certain 4 Postive knowledge 5 Shadower is spotted Buddy System Two or more characters can work together in shadowing a subject to prevent the target from accumulating successes. Every time/day the shadowers switch, the subjects previous successes are reduced to 0. C) The Actual Breakin: Roll the Crooks Dexterity+Security (or Lockpicking) vs the complexity of the task/lock (ranging from 5 to 10 with diff. 6 being the default). If the crook is using special equipment (for example: lockpicks) subtract the bonuses from the difficulty of the lock. Certain tasks may require a minimum level of Security (or Lockpicking) skill. Security (or Lockpicking) may allow the Crook to open a lock but not crack a safe. D) If successful, roll the crook's search/scan/scrounge vs 6: Each success = <Res of location> in items found. Res of location = Res 1: $10.00, Res 2: $100.00, Res 3: $1,000.00 Res 4: $10,000.00 Res 5: $100,000.00 A crook receives a general modifier on all intrusion rolls of +5 minus the higher of his/her security or stealth rating. So, for example: Crook Bill has Security 3 and Stealth 4. He wants to break into a Resources 5 mansion. His higher skill is Stealth: 5-4=+1. Bill suffers +1 penalty. This system (I feel and hope) may help to illustrate how hard it is for average Joe to break into a high resources mansion while a highly talented burglar has a better chance to stage such a heist. The max. amount of successes = the characters Streetwise/Scrounge trait. Back to Bill. Lets say he succeeds and rolls 4 successes. He has no Scrounge but a Streetwise of 3, so only 3 successes count. Bill managed to retrieve 300,000 from his heist. E) Roll their stealth vs 6 to see if there is any evidence of their burglary left behind. Storyteller notes the area with the number of successes so that when CSI comes through the Storyteller running that scene will know how many successes the investigation team will need to beat to discover anything. BRIBE, RECEIPT OF BY OFFICER. Every judicial officer, juror, referee, arbitrator or umpire, and every person authorized by law to hear or determine any question or controversy, who asks, receives or agrees to receive any bribe, upon any agreement or understanding that his vote, opinion or decision upon any matters or question which is or may be brought before him for decision, shall be influenced thereby, is guilty of a felony. BRIBE, RECEIVING OF BY WITNESS. Every person who is a witness, or is about to be called as such, who receives or offers to receive any bribe, upon any understanding that his testimony shall be influenced thereby, or that he will absent himself from the trial or proceeding upon which his testimony is required, is guilty of a misdemeanor. BRIBERY AND CORRUPT PRACTICES -- DEFINITIONS. Unless a different meaning plainly is required: (1) "Benefit" means gain or advantage, or anything regarded by the beneficiary as gain or advantage, including benefit to any other person or entity in whose welfare he is interested, but not an advantage promised generally to a group or class of voters as a consequence of public measures which a candidate engages to support or oppose.
(2) "Confidential information" means knowledge gained through a public office, official duty or employment by a governmental entity which is not subject to disclosure to the general public and which, if utilized in financial transactions would provide the user with an advantage over those not having such information or result in harm to the governmental entity fromwhich it was obtained. (3) "Government" includes any branch, subdivision or agency of the government of the state or any locality within it and other political subdivisions including, but not limited to, highway districts, planning and zoning commissions and cemetery districts, and all other governmental districts, commissions or governmental bodies not specifically mentioned. (4) "Harm" means loss, disadvantage or injury, including loss, disadvantage or injury to any other person or entity in whose welfare he is interested. (5) "Official proceeding" means a proceeding heard or which may be heard before any legislative, judicial, administrative or other governmental agency or official authorized to take evidence under oath, including any referee,hearing examiner, commissioner, notary or other person taking testimony or deposition in connection with any such proceeding. (6) "Party official" means a person who holds an elective or appointive post in a political party in the United States by virtue of which he directs or conducts, or participates in directing or conducting party affairs at anylevel of responsibility. (7) "Pecuniary benefit" is any benefit to a public official or member of his household in the form of money, property or commercial interests, the primary significance of which is economic gain. (8) "Public servant" means any officer or employee of government, including legislators and judges, and any person participating as juror, advisor, consultant or otherwise, in performing a governmental function; but the term does not include witnesses. (9) "Administrative proceeding" means any proceeding, other than a judicial proceeding, the outcome of which is required to be based on a record or documentation prescribed by law, or in which law or regulation is particularized in application to individuals. BRIBERY IN OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL MATTERS. A person is guilty of bribery, a felony, if he offers, confers or agrees to confer upon another, or solicits, accepts or agrees to accept from another: (1) Any pecuniary benefit as consideration for the recipient's decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or other exercise of discretion as a public servant, party official or voter; or (2) Any benefit as consideration for the recipient's decision, vote, recommendation or other exercise of official discretion in a judicial or administrative proceeding; or (3) Any benefit as consideration for a violation of a known legal duty as public servant or party official. It is no defense to prosecution under this section that a person whom the actor sought to influence was not qualified to act in the desired way whether because he had not yet assumed office, or lacked jurisdiction, or for any other reason. BRIBERY OF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS. Every person who gives or offers any bribe to any executive officer of this state, with intent to influence him in respect to any act, decision, vote, opinion or other proceeding as such officer, is guilty of a felony. BRIBERY OF JUDICIAL OFFICERS. Every person who gives or offers to give a bribe to any judicial officer, juror, referee, arbitrator or umpire, or to any person who may be authorized by law to hear or determine any question or controversy, with intent to influence his vote, opinion or decision upon any matter or question which is or may be brought before him for decision, is guilty of a felony. BRIBERY OF MUNICIPAL OR COUNTY OFFICERS -- PENALTIES. Every person who gives or offers a bribe to any member of any common council, board of county commissioners or board of trustees of any county, city or corporation, with intent to corruptly influence such member in his action on any matter or subject pending before a body of which he is a member and every member of either of the bodies mentioned in this section who receives or offers to receive any such bribe and every person who gives or offers a bribe to any sheriff, deputy sheriff, policeman, constable, prosecuting attorney, or other officer charged with the enforcement of the laws of this state to receive or secure immunity from arrest, prosecution or punishment for a violation or contemplated violation of the laws of this state or any such officer who receives or offers to receive any such bribe is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not less than one (1) nor more than fourteen (14) years. BRIBERY, OFFENSES RELATING TO -- INCRIMINATING TESTIMONY MAY BE REQUIRED. No person shall be excused from testifying or producing documents, at the instance of the state, in any criminal cause or proceeding touching any offense relating to bribery, on the ground that the testimony required of him may incriminate him. But no person shall be prosecuted or punished on account of any transaction, manner or thing concerning which he may be so required to testify or produce evidence: provided, that no person so testifying shall be exempt from prosecution and punishment for perjury in so testifying. BRIBING WITNESSES. Every person who gives or offers, or promises to give, to any witness or person about to be called as a witness, any bribe, upon any understanding or agreement that the testimony of such witness shall be thereby influenced, or who attempts by any other means fraudulently to induce any witness to give false or to withhold true testimony, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
BRIBES, ASKING OR RECEIVING. Every executive officer or person elected or appointed to an executive office who asks, receives or agrees to receive, any bribe upon any agreement or understanding that his vote, opinion or action upon any matter then pending, or which may be brought before him in his official capacity, shall be influenced thereby, is guilty of a felony and forfeits his office. BRIBES, LEGISLATORS RECEIVING. Every member of either of the houses composing the legislature of this state who asks, receives or agrees to receive, any bribe, upon any understanding that his official vote, opinion, judgment or action shall be influenced thereby, or shall be given in any particular manner, or upon any particular side of any question or matter upon which he may be required to act in his official capacity, or gives, or offers, or promises to give, any official vote in consideration that another member of the legislature shall give any such vote either upon the same or another question, is guilty of a felony. BRIBES, OFFERING TO LEGISLATORS. Every person who gives or offers to give a bribe to any member of the legislature, or to another person for him, or attempts by menace, deceit, suppression of truth, or any corrupt means, to influence a member in giving or withholding his vote, or in not attending the house or any committee of which he is a member, is guilty of a felony. BURGLARIOUS INSTRUMENTS, POSSESSION OF. Every person having upon him, or in his possession, a picklock, crow, key, bit, or other instrument or tool, with intent feloniously to break or enter into any building or who shall knowingly make or alter, or shall attempt to make or alter any key or other instrument above named, so that the same will fit or open the lock of a building, without being requested so to do by some person having the right to open the same, or who shall make, alter, or repair, any instrument or thing, knowing, or having reason to believe, that it is intended to be used in committing a misdemeanor or felony, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any of the structures mentioned in this chapter shall be deemed a building within the meaning of this section. BURGLARY DEFINED. Every person who enters any house, room, apartment, tenement, shop, warehouse, store, mill, barn, stable, outhouse, or other building, tent, vessel, vehicle, trailer, airplane or railroad car, with intent to commit any theft or any felony, is guilty of burglary. -- PUNISHMENT. Burglary is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) nor more than ten (10) years. BURGLARY WITH EXPLOSIVES. Any person who with intent to commit crime breaks and enters any building whether inhabited or not, and opens or attempts to open any vault, safe, or other secure place within said building by use of nitroglycerin, dynamite, gunpowder or any other explosive, shall be deemed guilty of burglary with explosives. Any person duly convicted of burglary with explosives shall be sentenced to the penitentiary for a period of not less than ten (10) years, nor more than twenty-five (25) years. BUYING APPOINTMENTS. Every person who gives or offers any gratuity or reward, in consideration that he or any other person shall be appointed to any public office, or shall be permitted to exercise or discharge the duties thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
C
CADAVER STORAGE. Laws pertaining to the sotorage, maintenance and Security of, you guessed it, Dead People. 901 KAR 5:100. Cadavers. STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 194.050, 211.090, 311.310, 311.165-311.247 NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS Chapter 213, relating to Vital Statistics, authorizes the Cabinet for Human Resources to regulate the transportation, disposal and interment of dead bodies and the use of dead bodies or parts thereof for educational and scientific purposes. The purpose of this administrative regulation is to regulate, except as otherwise provided by law, the transportation, use, disposal and interment of dead bodies brought into this state from another state for educational or scientific purposes. Section 1. Approval Required for Importation of Dead Body Into State for Educational or Scientific Purposes; Exceptions. (1) Except as otherwise authorized by subsection (6) of this section, no person shall transport into this state, a dead body or part thereof, for educational or scientific purposes without first obtaining the prior approval of the Cabinet for Human Resources. (2) An applicant desiring to transport a dead body or part thereof into this state for educational or scientific purposes shall file a notarized application with the cabinet setting forth the proposed use, need, qualifications of personnel and adequacy of equipment and facilities. (3) Upon receipt of the notarized application the cabinet shall cause an investigation to be made to determine the proposed use, need, qualifications of personnel and the adequacy of equipment and facilities. (4) The Secretary for Human Resources shall, on the basis of his investigation, either grant or deny the application. In the event the application is approved, the secretary shall in accordance with KRS 311.310 require the applicant to post a bond in the sum of $1,000 conditioned upon compliance with the terms of this administrative regulation and the lawful use and disposition of any dead bodies or parts thereof that may be received by the applicant. (5) After the use of the dead bodies or parts thereof has been completed as approved by the cabinet, such bodies or parts thereof shall be disposed of as set forth in the approved application, or as otherwise authorized by law. A special transit permit shall be obtained for the transportation of such dead bodies or parts thereof from the Cabinet for Human Resources. (6) This administrative regulation shall not restrict the importation and use of dead bodies for educational or scientific purposes by any state publicly funded, accredited medical school located in Kentucky, nor the importation and use of any dead body or part thereof, the donation of which was made pursuant to the Kentucky Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, KRS 311.165 to 311.247, or as may be otherwise authorized by law. Section 2. Facility Requirements. An applicant for approval to import a dead body into this state for educational or scientific purposes shall meet the following facility requirements: (1) Comply with applicable state and local fire safety, housing and plumbing codes as evidenced by written approvals from appropriate governmental agencies; (2) Maintain all facilities in a sanitary condition; (3) Maintain strict rules of privacy and allow no one in the area in which a dead human body is being dissected or stored except for faculty and duly registered students of the facility or authorized personnel; (4) Store all cadavers by use of one (1) of the following methods: (a) In covered vats or tanks submersed in a preservative acceptable to the cabinet; (b) Wrapped in gauze or similar material, after embalming, soaked with formalin or other acceptable preservative, and stored in a morgue type refrigeration unit or equivalent with a temperature range of thirty-eight (38) to forty (40) degrees Fahrenheit. (c) Enclosed in sealed plastic bags, after embalming; or (d) By other means which would be acceptable to the cabinet. (5) Provide outside ventilation, including continuous air changes and mechanical power to provide sufficient air movement to rooms housing cadaver storage vents, tanks or refrigeration units; (6) Provide security to all storage areas at all times; (7) Provide a dissection area that shall contain: (a) A minimum of 100 square feet of floor area with a minimum room area of 180 square feet, exclusive of cadaver storage space; (b) Flooring constructed of terrazzo, tile, concrete or other waterproof or impervious material from wall to wall; (c) Dissection table with stainless steel top with rolled edge and drainage; (d) Ventilation to outside of building with mechanical power sufficient to provide adequate air movement; (e) Lighting at the table level of not less than 1,000 foot candles; (f) Adequate electrical outlets including outlets in proximity to dissection table; (g) Slop sink with running water and adequate drainage; (h) Storage area for supplies and equipment; (i) Work counter with sink equipped for hand washing; and (j) Sanitary waste receptacle. (6 Ky.R. 104; eff. 9-5-79; Am. 16 Ky.R. 935; eff. 1-12-90.)
CANNIBALISM DEFINED -- PUNISHMENT. (1) Any person who wilfully ingests the flesh or blood of a human being is guilty of cannibalism. (2) It shall be an affirmative defense to a violation of the provisions of this section that the action was taken under extreme lifethreatening conditions as the only apparent means of survival. (3) Cannibalism is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding fourteen (14) years. CARRYING PRISONER THINGS TO AID ESCAPE. Every person who carries or sends into a prison anything useful to aid a prisoner in making his escape, with intent thereby to facilitate the escape of any prisoner confined therein, is guilty of a felony. CHANGE OF DITCH, CANAL, LATERAL, DRAIN OR BURIED IRRIGATION CONDUIT. Where any ditch, canal, lateral or drain has heretofore been, or may hereafter be, constructed across or beneath the lands of another, the person or persons owning or controlling the said land, shall have the right at his own expense to change said ditch, canal, lateral, drain or buried irrigation conduit to any other part of said land, but such change must be made in such a manner as not to impede the flow of the water therein, or to otherwise injure any person or persons using or interested in such ditch, canal, lateral, drain or buried irrigation conduit. Any increased operation and maintenance shall be the responsibility of the landowner who makes the change. A landowner shall also have the right to bury the ditch, canal, lateral or drain of another in pipe on the landowner's property, provided that the pipe, installation and backfill reasonably meet standard specifications for such materials and construction, as set forth in the Idaho standards for public works construction or other standards recognized by the city or county in which the burying is to be done. The right and responsibility for operation and maintenance shall remain with the owner of the ditch, canal, lateral or drain, but the landowner shall be responsible for any increased operation and maintenance costs, including rehabilitation and replacement, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the owner. The written permission of the owner of a ditch, canal, lateral, drain or buried irrigation conduit must first be obtained before it is changed or placed in buried pipe by the landowner. While the owner of a ditch, canal, lateral, drain or buried irrigation conduit shall have no right to relocate it on the property of another without permission, a ditch, canal, lateral or drain owner shall have the right to place it in a buried conduit within the easement or right-of-way on the property of another in accordance with standard specifications for pipe, materials, installation and backfill, as set forth in the Idaho standards for public works construction or other standards recognized by the city or county in which the burying is to be done, and so long as the pipe and the construction is accomplished in a manner that the surface of the owner's property and the owner's use thereof is not disrupted and is restored to the condition of adjacent property as expeditiously as possible, but no longer than thirty (30) days after the completion of construction. A landowner shall have the right to direct that the conduit be relocated to a different route than the route of the ditch, canal, lateral or drain, provided that the landowner shall agree in writing to be responsible for any increased construction or future maintenance costs necessitated by said relocation. Maintenance of the buried conduit shall be the responsibility of the conduit owner. Any person or persons who relocate or bury a ditch, canal, lateral or drain contrary to the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. CITY DEMOGRAPHICS The following is an example of the backdrop that the Storyteller should have written up for the chronicle. It will show the scope of the city that you deal with, and will be different depending on the setting that the Storyteller has chosen. This information is not intended to force you to role play your character in a certain way. Nor to have you change your actions with how you feel your charatcer views the world. This information merely to give reference to the size and scope of the microcosm that your storyteller calls the city that you are in. This is a darker and seedier version of an already dark and seedy city. It is rampant with crime, poverty and drugs. Life is brutal, and in some cases, shortened by inner-city violence. Several sections of the city are their own little village, or mini-cities within the borders of the city itself. Neighborhoods that house a certain ethnicity are commonplace in the city. There is a 'China Town' a 'Little Italy', as well as Spanish, French, Germans, Irish and many others that have ethnic neighborhoods. They band together behind the scene to keep the areas their 'own kind' but making it uninhabitable for other ethnicities. Nothing so profound that the Police Department can do much about it without calls of racial profiling being echoed through the streets. The city has one of the world's greatest international ports, one of the largest in the nation, and it is a major focus of the city's economy. The docks are always teeming with activity and the businesses there thrive on the Sailors that are in port for the day, night or even only a few hours. Bar brawls are common there and the police do little more than file a report when the call comes in. Only if the fight spills out onto the street do they even send a patrol out to investigate. The prices for food and entertainment in the Dock areas do more than cover the damage done to the bars in question, as Insurance Claims are saved for the building fires and such. The City is home to the corporate offices of oil companies with major offshore operations in the waterways, as well as the distribution and service centers of offshore equipment suppliers and fabricators. The manufacturing industry is a significant part of the economy, with petroleum, petrochemical, shipbuilding, and aerospace industries all playing a role. The city's region also functions as a mining, processing, and transportation center for other minerals, principally sulfur. Service industries are playing a larger role, with health care and telecommunications leading the way. The city's region is widely regarded as a leading center of medicine and health care in the nation. The Hospital, having teamed up with other regional hospitals and the local CDC district head quarters, spearheads the research into the future for disease control, healthy living, and epidemic dispersal.
This Year's census population (rank): Male: Female: White: Black: American Indian and Alaska Native: Asian: Other race: Hispanic/Latino: This Year's percent population 18 and over: 65 and over: Median Age:
703,662 (31%) 330,017 (46.9%) 373,645 (53.1%) 197,729 (28.1%) 473,564 (67.3%) 1,407 (0.2%) 25,331 (3.6%) 6,332 (0.9%) 21,813 (3.1%) 73.3% 11.7% 33.
Next year's population estimate (rank): 725,475 (34%) which is a 3.1% growth rate. Land area: 181 sq mi. (469 sq km) Alt.: Highest, 15 ft. lowest, 4 ft. Avg. daily temp.: Jan., 51.3? F July, 81.9? F Churches: 712 City-owned parks: 165 Radio stations: AM, 12; FM, 14 Television stations: 7 Civilian Labor Force (MSA) June: 68,097 Unemployed: 77,470 Percent: 6.3% Per capita personal income (MSA) 2013: $28,995 NOTE: THIS IS NEAR OR BELOW POVERTY LEVELS FOR MOST CITIES Crime Total Murder Rape Robbery Aggravated Assault Burglary Larceny - theft Motor vehicle thefts Arson Other assaults Forgery & counterfeiting Fraud Embezzlement Have stolen property Vandalism Weapons violations Prostitution and commercial vice Sex offenses Total drug violations Gambling Offenses against family & child Driving under influence Liquor law violations Drunkenness Disorderly conduct Vagrancy All other offenses (no traffic) Population Coverage indicator Number (Estimate) 2,266 2 6 24 168 87 319 13 2 256 17 16 1 28 71 22 1 11 197 1 53 139 48 31 201 6 506 33,320 23%
CITY % of Residents Living on Black-White Integrated Blocks City Population % Black Total Population Largest Metropolitan Areas, Census % of Population Living on Black-White Integrated Blocks Black-White Segregation Dissimilarity Index Black Population in Metro Area Racial Composition of Blocks Occupied by Black Residents Metropolitan Area Black Population % of Black Population Living on Blocks That Are: >=20% Black+ >=20% White % of Black Population Living on Blocks That Are: <20% Black+ >50% White % of Black Population Living on Blocks That Are: >80% Black Other Mixture 6.6% Racial Composition of Blocks Occupied by White Residents Metropolitan Area White Population: % of Black Population Living on Blocks That Are: >=20% White+ >=20% Black % of Black Population Living on Blocks That Are: <20% White+ >50% Black % of Black Population Living on Blocks That Are: >80% White Other Mixture 14.2%
67.3% 18.5% 703,662 69.25% 37.7% 18.3%
473,564 21.9% 5.4% 66.0%
197,729 15.1% 2.3% 68.4%
The preferred measure for income is median, rather than average, because medians are not affected by extreme values. Below, you'll find median values for the area and the US. City Median household income State Median household income United States Median household income Income distribution Total households Less than $10,000 $10,000-14,999 $15,000-19,999 $20,000-24,999 $25,000-29,999 $30,000-34,999 $35,000-39,999 $40,000-44,999 $45,000-49,999 $50,000-59,999 $60,000-74,999 $75,000-99,999 $100,000-124,999 $125,000-149,999 $150,000-199,999 $200,000 or more County 188,365 21.0% 9.6% 8.3% 7.5% 7.2% 6.3% 5.4% 4.6% 4.0% 6.1% 6.5% 5.7% 2.8% 1.4% 1.4% 2.2% State 1,657,107 15.7% 8.6% 7.6% 7.4% 7.0% 6.5% 5.9% 5.3% 4.5% 7.9% 8.6% 7.6% 3.4% 1.4% 1.2% 1.4% $27,133 $32,566 $41,994
United States 105,539,122 9.5% 6.3% 6.3% 6.6% 6.4% 6.4% 5.9% 5.7% 5.0% 9.0% 10.4% 10.2% 5.2% 2.5% 2.2% 2.4%
Families in poverty The data below will give you a sense of how families (defined by the Census Bureau as "people who are related by birth, marriage or adoption") are faring in terms of poverty. If you are working in an area where there are lots of people living together who are not related (as the Census sees it), then use this information with caution as it may under-represent the magnitude of the issue. Population in poverty County State United States Total population for whom poverty status is determined 468,453 4,334,094 273,882,232 People living in poverty 27.9% 19.6% 12.4% People living at or above poverty 72.1% 80.4% 87.6% Families in poverty Total families below poverty level Female householder (no husband present) with own children under 18 Male householder (no wife present) with own children under 18 Married-couple family with children under Families with no children under 18 County Chacteristics Urban & Rural Total population Urban Rural (farm) Rural (not a farm) County 703,662 99.3% 0.0% 0.7% County 26,988 65.2% 6.2% 18 11.9% 16.7% State United States 183,448 6,620,945 52.2% 5.9% 19.9% 22.0% 44.4% 6.8% 26.7% 22.1%
CIVIL LIABILITY FOR IMPORTING POLICE OFFICERS OR ARMED MEN. Any person, officer, company, association or corporation who shall knowingly bring, or cause to be brought, or aid in bringing, into this state any armed or unarmed police force, detective agency or force, or armed or unarmed body of men for the suppression of domestic violence, shall be liable in a civil action to any person for any injury to person or property through the action, or as the result of the coming or bringing into the state of such body of men, or any of them, whether acting together or separately in carrying out the purpose for which they were brought or came into the state. CIVIL RIGHTS, DEFINITIONS. Terms used in this chapter shall have the following definitions: (a) "Every person" shall be construed to include any owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, agent or employee whether one or more natural persons, partnerships, associations, organizations, corporations, cooperatives, legal representatives, trustees, receivers, of this state and its political subdivisions, boards and commissions, engaged in or exercising control over the operation of any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage or amusement. (b) "Deny" is hereby defined to include any act which directly or indirectly, or by subterfuge, by a person or his agent or employee, results or is intended or calculated to result in whole or in part in any discrimination, distinction, restriction, or unequal treatment or the requiring of any person to pay a larger sum than the uniform rates charged other persons, or the refusing or withholding from any person the admission, patronage, custom, presence, frequenting, dwelling, staying, or lodging in any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement except for conditions and limitations established by law and applicable alike to all persons, regardless of race, creed or color. (c) "Full enjoyment of" shall be construed to include the right to purchase any service, commodity or article of personal property offered or sold on, or by, any establishment to the public, and the admission of any person to accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges of any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage or amusement, without acts directly or indirectly causing persons of any particular race, creed or color, to be treated as not welcome, accepted, desired or solicited. (d) "National origin" includes "ancestry."
(e) "Any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage or amusement" is hereby defined to include, but not to be limited to any public place, licensed or unlicensed, kept for gain, hire or reward, or where charges are made for admission, service, occupancy or use of any property or facilities, whether conducted for the entertainment, housing or lodging of transient guests, or for the benefit, use or accommodation of those seeking health, recreation or rest, or for the sale of goods and merchandise, or for the rendering of personal services, or for public conveyance or transportation on land, water or in the air, including the stations and terminals thereof and the garaging of vehicles, or where food or beverages of any kind are sold for consumption on the premises, or where public amusement, entertainment, sports or recreation of any kind is offered with or without charge, or where medical service or care is made available, or where the public gathers, congregates, or assembles for amusement, recreation or public purposes, or public halls, public elevators and public washrooms of buildings and structures occupied by two or more tenants, or by the owner and one or more tenants, or any public library or any educational institution wholly or partially supported by public funds, or schools of special instruction, or nursery schools, or day care centers or children's camps; nothing herein contained shall be construed to include, or apply to, any institute, bona fide club, or place of accommodation, which is by its nature distinctly private provided that where public use is permitted that use shall be covered by this section; nor shall anything herein contained apply to any educational facility operated or maintained by a bona fide religious or sectarian institution; and the right of a natural parent in loco parentis to direct the education and upbringing of a child under his control is hereby affirmed. COCAINE Cocaine is a Schedule II Controlled Dangerous Substance under Louisiana law. As a Schedule II drug, the penalties for manufacture, distribution, and even simple possession, can be extreme. "Cocaine" is any of: Coca leaves, cocaine, ecgonine and any salt, isomer, salt of an isomer, compound, derivative, or preparation of coca leaves, cocaine or ecgonine and any salt, isomer, salt of an isomer, compound, derivative, or preparation thereof which is chemically equivalent or identical with any of these substances, except that the substances shall not include decocainized coca leaves or extraction of coca leaves, which extractions do not contain cocaine or ecgonine. Penalties Production or manufacturing of cocaine or cocaine base or a mixture or substance containing cocaine or its analogues as provided in Schedule II(A)(4) of R.S. 40:964 shall be sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor for not less than ten nor more than thirty years, at least ten years of which shall be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, and may be fined not more than five hundred thousand dollars. Distribution, dispensing, or possession with intent to produce, manufacture, distribute, or dispense cocaine or cocaine base or a mixture or substance containing cocaine or its analogues as provided in Schedule II(A)(4) of R.S. 40:964 shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment at hard labor for not less than two years nor more than thirty years, with the first two years of said sentence being without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence; and may, in addition, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than fifty thousand dollars. Possession. It is unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess a controlled dangerous substance as classified in Schedule II unless such substance was obtained directly or pursuant to a valid prescription or order from a practitioner, as provided in R.S. 40:978 while acting in the course of his professional practice, or except as otherwise authorized by this Part. Any person who violates this Subsection shall be imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than five years and, in addition, may be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than five thousand dollars. Any person who knowingly or intentionally possesses twenty-eight grams or more, but less than two hundred grams, of cocaine or of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine or of its analogues as provided in Schedule II(A)(4) of R.S. 40:964, shall be sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment at hard labor of not less than five years, nor more than thirty years, and to pay a fine of not less than fifty thousand dollars, nor more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars. Any person who knowingly or intentionally possesses two hundred grams or more, but less than four hundred grams, of cocaine or of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine or of its analogues as provided in Schedule II(A)(4) of R.S. 40:964, shall be sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment at hard labor of not less than ten years, nor more than thirty years, and to pay a fine of not less than one hundred thousand dollars, nor more than three hundred fifty thousand dollars. Any person who knowingly or intentionally possesses four hundred grams or more of cocaine or of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine or of its analogues as provided in Schedule II(A)(4) of R.S. 40:964, shall be sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment at hard labor of not less than fifteen years, nor more than thirty years and to pay a fine of not less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars, nor more than six hundred thousand dollars. COMMON BARRATRY. Common barratry is the practice of exciting groundless judicial proceedings, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months and by fine not exceeding $500. COMMON BARRATRY, PROOF OF. No person can be convicted of common barratry except upon proof that he has excited suits or proceedings at law in at least three (3) instances, and with a corrupt or malicious intent to vex and annoy.
COMMON LAW OFFENSES -- PUNISHMENT -- IMPRISONMENT FOR NONPAYMENT OF FINE. All offenses recognized by the common law as crimes and not herein enumerated are punishable, in case of felony, by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years; and in case of misdemeanors, by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding six (6) months or less than one (1) month, or by fine not exceeding $500, or both such fine and imprisonment. And whenever any fine is imposed for any felony or misdemeanor, whether such be by statute or at common law and the party upon whom the fine is imposed has the ability to pay said fine, the party upon whom the fine is imposed shall be committed to the county jail, when not sentenced to the state prison, until the fine is paid. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, AIDING THE AVOIDANCE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS CHARGES. (1) A person commits the offense of aiding the avoidance of telecommunications charges when he: (a) Publishes the number or code of an existing, canceled, revoked, expired, or nonexistent credit card or the numbering or coding which is employed in the issuance of credit cards with the purpose that it will be used to avoid the payment of lawful telecommunications charges; or (b) Publishes, advertises, sells, gives, or otherwise transfers to another plans or instructions for the making or assembling of any apparatus, instrument, equipment, or device described in State Code, with the purpose that such will be used or with the knowledge or reason to believe that such will be used to avoid the payment of lawful telecommunications charges. (2) A person convicted of the offense of aiding the avoidance of telecommunications charges shall be punished according to the provisions of State Code. (3) For the purposes of this section, the term "publish" means to communicate information to any one or more persons either orally; in person; by telephone, radio, or television; or in a writing of any kind. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER FOR A PEN REGISTER OR A TRAP AND TRACE DEVICE. (1) The prosecuting attorney or attorney general may make application for an order or an extension of an order under State Code, authorizing or approving the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device under this chapter, in writing under oath or equivalent affirmation to the district court. (2) An application under subsection (1) of this section shall include: (a) The identity of the prosecuting attorney or attorney general making the application and the identity of the law enforcement agency conducting the investigation; and (b) A certification by the applicant that the information likely to be obtained is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by that agency. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, ASSISTANCE IN INSTALLATION AND USE OF A PEN REGISTER OR A TRAP AND TRACE DEVICE. (1) Upon the request of the prosecuting attorney or attorney general, or an officer of a law enforcement agency authorized to install and use a pen register, a provider of wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian, or other person shall furnish the applicant, investigative or law enforcement officer forthwith all information, facilities, and technical assistance necessary to accomplish the installation of the pen register unobtrusively and with a minimum of interference with the services that the person so ordered by the court accords the party with respect to whom the installation and use is to take place, if such assistance is directed by a court order as provided in State Code. (2) Upon the request of a prosecuting attorney or attorney general, or an officer of a law enforcement agency authorized to receive the results of a trap and trace device, a provider of a wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian, or other person shall install such device forthwith on the appropriate line and shall furnish such investigative or law enforcement officer all additional information, facilities and technical assistance including installation and operation of the device unobtrusively and with a minimum of interference with the services that the person so ordered by the court accords the party with respect to whom the installation and use is to take place, if such installation and assistance is directed by a court order as provided in State Code. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the results of the trap and trace device shall be furnished to the officer of a law enforcement agency, designated in the court, at reasonable intervals during regular business hours for the duration of the order. (3) A provider of a wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian, or other person who furnishes facilities or technical assistance pursuant to this section shall be reasonably compensated for such reasonable expenses incurred in providing such facilities and assistance. (4) No cause of action shall lie in any court against any provider of a wire or electronic communication service, its officers, employees, agents, or other specified persons for providing information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with the terms of a court order under this chapter. (5) A good faith reliance on a court order, a legislative authorization, or a statutory authorization is a complete defense against any civil or criminal action brought under this chapter or any other law.
COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, AUTHORIZATION FOR DISCLOSURE AND USE OF INTERCEPTED WIRE, ELECTRONIC OR ORAL COMMUNICATIONS. (1) Any investigative or law enforcement officer who, by any means authorized by this chapter, has obtained knowledge of the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication, or evidence derived therefrom, may disclose such contents to another investigative or law enforcement officer to the extent that such disclosure is appropriate to the proper performance of the official duties of the officer making or receiving the disclosure. (2) Any investigative or law enforcement officer who, by any means authorized by this chapter, has obtained knowledge of the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication or evidence derived therefrom may use such contents to the extent such use is appropriate to the proper performance of his official duties. (3) Any person who has received, by any means authorized by this chapter, any information concerning a wire, electronic or oral communication, or evidence derived therefrom intercepted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter may disclose the contents of that communication or such derivative evidence while giving testimony under oath or affirmation in any criminal proceeding in any court of this state, of the United States or of any state or in any political subdivision thereof. (4) No otherwise privileged wire, electronic or oral communication intercepted in accordance with, or in violation of, the provisions of this chapter shall lose its privileged character. (5) When an investigative or law enforcement officer, while engaged in intercepting wire, electronic or oral communications in the manner authorized herein, intercepts wire, electronic or oral communications relating to offenses other than those specified in the order of authorization, the contents thereof, and evidence derived therefrom, may be disclosed or used as provided in subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, AUTHORIZATION FOR INTERCEPTION OF WIRE, ELECTRONIC OR ORAL COMMUNICATIONS. The prosecuting attorney of any county is authorized to make application to a judge of competent jurisdiction for an order authorizing or approving the interception of wire, electronic or oral communications and may apply to such judge for, and such judge may grant in conformity with section 2581 of chapter 119, title 18 U.S.C.A., and in conformity with the provisions of this chapter, an order authorizing or approving the interception of wire, electronic or oral communications by investigative or law enforcement officers having responsibility for the investigation of the offense as to which the application is made, when such interception may provide or has provided evidence of the commission of the offense of murder, kidnapping, gambling, robbery, bribery, extortion, or dealing in narcotic drugs, marijuana or other dangerous drugs, or other crime dangerous to life, limb, or property, and punishable by imprisonment for more than one (1) year, or any conspiracy to commit any of the foregoing offenses. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, CONFISCATION OF WIRE, ELECTRONIC OR ORAL COMMUNICATION INTERCEPTING DEVICES. Any electronic, mechanical, or other device used, sent, carried, manufactured, assembled, possessed, or sold in violation of this chapter may be seized and forfeited to the state. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, DEFINITIONS. Definitions as used in this chapter: (1) "Wire communication" means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities for the transmission of communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the point of origin and the point of reception (including the use of such connection in a switching station), furnished or operated by any person engaged in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of intrastate, interstate or foreign communications. (2) "Oral communication" means any oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such expectation but such term does not include any electronic communication. (3) "Intercept" means the aural or other acquisition of the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device. (4) "Electronic, mechanical, or other device" means any device or apparatus which can be used to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication other than: (a) Any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment or facility or any component thereof: (i) Furnished to the subscriber or user by a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of its business and being used by the subscriber or user in the ordinary course of its business or furnished by such subscriber or user for connection to the facilities of such service and used in the ordinary course of its business; or (ii) Being used by a provider of wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of its business, or by an investigative or law enforcement officer in the ordinary course of his duties; (b) A hearing aid or similar device being used to correct subnormal hearing to not better than normal;
(5) "Person" means any employee or agent of the state or political subdivision thereof and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, cooperative, or corporation. (6) "Investigative or law enforcement officer" means any officer of the state of residence who is empowered by law to conduct investigations of, or to make arrests for, offenses enumerated in this chapter and any attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of such offenses. (7) "Contents" when used with respect to any wire, electronic or oral communication includes any information concerning the identity of the parties to such communication or the existence, substance, purport, or meaning of that communication. (8) "Judge of competent jurisdiction" means a justice of the supreme court or a judge of a district court. (9) "Aggrieved person" means a person who was a party to any illegally intercepted wire, electronic or oral communication or a person against whom the interception was illegally directed. (10) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical system, but does not include: (a) Any wire or oral communication; (b) Any communication made through a tone-only paging device; (c) Any communication from a tracking device, as defined in 18 U.S.C. section 3117; or (d) Electronic fund transfer information stored by a financial institution in a communications system used for the electronic storage and transfer of funds. (11) "User" means any person or entity who: (a) Uses an electronic communication service; and (b) Is authorized by the provider of such service to engage in such use. (12) "Electronic communications system" means any wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical facilities for the transmission of electronic communications, and any computer facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage of such communications. (13) "Electronic communication service" means any service that provides to the users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications. (14) "Readily accessible to the general public" means, with respect to a radio communication, that such communication is not: (a) Scrambled or encrypted; (b) Transmitted using modulation techniques, the essential parameters of which have been withheld from the public with the intention of preserving the privacy of such communication; (c) Carried on a subcarrier or other signal subsidiary to a radio transmission; (d) Transmitted over a communication system provided by a common carrier, unless the communication is a tone-only paging system communication; or (e) Transmitted on frequencies set forth in 18 U.S.C. section 2510(16)(E). (15) "Electronic storage" means: (a) Any temporary, intermediate storage of a wire or electronic communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof; and (b) Any storage of such communication by an electronic communication service for purposes of backup protection of such communication. (16) "Aural transfer" means a transfer containing the human voice at any point between and including the point of origin and the point of reception. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, DEFINITIONS FOR PEN REGISTERS AND TRAP AND TRACE DEVICES. (1) "Attorney general" means the attorney general of the state of residence; (2) "Pen register" means a device which records or decodes electronic or other impulses which identify the numbers dialed or otherwise transmitted on the telephone line to which such device is attached, but such term does not include any device used by a provider or customer of a wire or electronic communication service for billing, or recording as an incident to billing, for communications services provided by such provider or any device used by a provider or customer of a wire communication service for cost accounting or other like purposes in the ordinary course of its business; (3) "Prosecuting attorney" means the prosecuting attorney of each county of the state of residence; (4) "Trap and trace device" means a device which captures the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the originating number of an instrument or device from which a wire or electronic communication was transmitted. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, FALSE ALARMS -- COMPLAINTS -- REPORTS -- PENALTIES -- CIVIL DAMAGES. (a) Any person calling the number "911" for the purpose of making a false alarm or complaint and reporting false information which could or does result in the emergency response of any firefighting, police, medical or other emergency services shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to a fine of not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or to a term of not to exceed one (1) year in the county jail, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) In addition to the criminal penalties for violation of the provisions of this section, civil damages may be recovered from the person so convicted in an amount of three (3) times the amount necessary to compensate or reimburse the complainant for costs incurred, losses sustained or other damages suffered in receiving, acting upon or responding to the false alarm, complaint or report. If the person so convicted is under the age of eighteen (18) years of age, the parent or legal guardian having legal custody of the minor may be jointly and severally liable with the minor for such civil damages as are imposed. Recovery from the parents or legal guardian shall not be limited by any other provision of law which limits the liability of a parent or legal guardian for the tortious or criminal conduct of a minor. A parent or guardian not having legal custody of the minor shall not be liable for civil damages imposed hereunder. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, GENERAL PROHIBITION ON PEN REGISTER AND TRAP AND TRACE DEVICE USE -EXCEPTION. (1) Except as provided in this section State Code, no person may install or use a pen register or a trap and trace device without first obtaining a court order under State Code. (2) The prohibition of subsection (1) of this section does not apply with respect to the use of a pen register or a trap and trace device by a provider of electronic or wire communication service: (a) Relating to the operation, maintenance, and testing of a wire or electronic communication service or to the protection of the rights or property of such provider, or to the protection of users of that service from abuse of service or unlawful use of service; or (b) To record the fact that a wire or electronic communication was initiated or completed in order to protect such provider, another provider furnishing service toward the completion of the wire communication, or a user of that service, from fraudulent, unlawful or abusive use of service; or (c) Where the consent of the user of that service has been obtained. (3) Whoever knowingly violates the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, INTERCEPTION AND DISCLOSURE OF WIRE, ELECTRONIC OR ORAL COMMUNICATIONS PROHIBITED. (1) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, any person shall be guilty of a felony and is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed five (5) years or by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both fine and imprisonment if that person: (a) Willfully intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept any wire, electronic or oral communication; or (b) Willfully uses, endeavors to use, or procures any other person to use or endeavor to use any electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept any oral communication when: 1. Such device is affixed to, or otherwise transmits a signal through, a wire, cable, or other like connection used in wire communication; or 2. Such device transmits communications by radio or interferes with the transmission of such communication; or (c) Willfully discloses, or endeavors to disclose, to any other person the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, electronic or oral communication in violation of this subsection; or (d) Willfully uses, or endeavors to use, the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, electronic or oral communication in violation of this subsection; or (e) Intentionally discloses or endeavors to disclose to any other person the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication, intercepted by means authorized by subsection (2)(b), (c), (f) or (g) of this section or by State Code, if that person: (i) Knows or has reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of such communication in connection with a criminal investigation; and (ii) Has obtained or received the information in connection with a criminal investigation with the intent to improperly obstruct, impede or interfere with a duly authorized criminal investigation. (2) (a) It is lawful under this chapter for an operator of a switchboard, or an officer, employee, or agent of a provider of wire or electronic communication service whose facilities are used in the transmission of a wire or electronic communication to intercept, disclose, or use that communication in the normal course of his employment while engaged in any activity which is a necessary incident to the rendition of his service or to the protection of the rights or property of the provider of that service, except that a provider of wire communication service to the public shall not utilize service observing or random monitoring except for mechanical or service quality control checks. (b) It is lawful under this chapter for an officer, employee, or agent of the federal communications commission, in the normal course of his employment and in discharge of the monitoring responsibilities exercised by the commission in the enforcement of 47 U.S.C. ch. 5, to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication transmitted by radio or to disclose or use the information thereby obtained.
(c) It is lawful under this chapter for a law enforcement officer or a person acting under the direction of a law enforcement officer to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication when such person is a party to the communication or one (1) of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception. (d) It is lawful under this chapter for a person to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication when one (1) of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception. (e) It is unlawful to intercept any communication for the purpose of committing any criminal act. (f) It is lawful under this chapter for an employee of a telephone company to intercept a wire communication for the sole purpose of tracing the origin of such communication when the interception is requested by an appropriate law enforcement agency or the recipient of the communication and the recipient alleges that the communication is obscene, harassing, or threatening in nature. (g) It is lawful under this chapter for an employee of a law enforcement agency, fire department or ambulance service, while acting in the scope of his employment, and while a party to the communication, to intercept and record incoming wire or electronic communications. (h) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for any person: (i) To intercept or access an electronic communication made through an electronic communication system that is configured so that such electronic communication is readily accessible to the general public; (ii) To intercept any radio communication that is transmitted: (A) By any station for the use of the general public, or that relates to ships, aircraft, vehicles or persons in distress; (B) By any governmental, law enforcement, civil defense, private land mobile or public safety communications system, including police and fire, readily accessible to the public; (C) By a station operating on an authorized frequency within the bands allocated to the amateur, citizens band or general mobile radio services; or (D) By any marine or aeronautical communication system; (iii) To engage in any conduct that: (A) Is prohibited by 47 U.S.C. section 553 (federal communications act of 1934); or (B) Is excepted from the application of 47 U.S.C. section 605 (federal communications act of 1934); (iv) To intercept any wire or electronic communication, the transmission of which is causing harmful interference to any lawfully operating station or consumer electronic equipment to the extent it is necessary to identify the source of such interference; or (v) For other users of the same frequency to intercept any radio communication, if such communication is not scrambled or encrypted, made through a system that utilizes frequencies monitored by individuals engaged in the provision or the use of such system. (i) It shall be lawful under this chapter for a provider of electronic communication service to record the fact that a wire or electronic communication was initiated or completed in order to protect such provider, another provider furnishing service toward the completion of the wire or electronic communication or a user of that service from the fraudulent, unlawful or abusive use of such service. (3) (a) Except as provided in subsection (3)(b) of this section, a person or entity providing an electronic communication service to the public shall not intentionally divulge the contents of any communication other than to such person or entity or an agent thereof while in transmission on that service, to any person or entity other than an addressee or intended recipient of such communication or an agent of such addressee or intended recipient. (b) A person or entity providing electronic communication service to the public may divulge the contents of any such communication: (i) As otherwise authorized in State Code, or subsection (2)(a) of this section; (ii) With the lawful consent of the originator or any addressee or intended recipient of such communication; (iii) To a person employed or authorized, or whose facilities are used, to forward such communication to its destination; or (iv) If such contents were inadvertently obtained by the service provider and appear to pertain to the commission of a crime, if such divulgence is made to a law enforcement agency. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, ISSUANCE OF AN ORDER FOR A PEN REGISTER OR A TRAP AND TRACE DEVICE. (1) Upon an application made under State Code, the court shall enter an ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device within the jurisdiction of the court if the court finds that the prosecuting attorney, the attorney general, or the state law enforcement or investigative officer has certified to the court that the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. (2) An order issued under this section: (a) Shall specify-1. The identity, if known, of the person to whom is leased or in whose name is listed the telephone line to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached; 2. The identity, if known, of the person who is the subject of the criminal investigation; 3. The number and, if known, physical location of the telephone line to which the pen register or trap and trace device is to be attached and, in the case of a trap and trace device, the geographic limits of the trap and trace order; and
4. A statement of the offense to which the information likely to be obtained by the pen register or trap and trace device relates; and (b) Shall direct, upon the request of the applicant, the furnishing of information, facilities, and technical assistance necessary to accomplish the installation of the pen register or trap and trace device under State Code. (3) An order issued under this section shall authorize the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days. Extensions of such an order may be granted, but only upon an application for an order under State Code, and upon the judicial finding required by subsection (1) of this section. The period of extension shall be for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days. (4) An order authorizing or approving the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device shall direct that: (a) The order be sealed until otherwise ordered by the court; and (b) The person owning or leasing the line to which the pen register or a trap and trace device is attached, or who has been ordered by the court to provide assistance to the applicant, not disclose the existence of the pen register or trap and trace device or the existence of the investigation to the listed subscriber, or to any other person, unless or until otherwise ordered by the court. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, MANUFACTURE, DISTRIBUTION, POSSESSION, AND ADVERTISING OF WIRE, ELECTRONIC OR ORAL COMMUNICATION INTERCEPTING DEVICES PROHIBITED. (1) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter any person who willfully: (a) Sends through the mail or sends or carries any electronic, mechanical, or other device, with the intention of rendering it primarily useful for the purpose of the illegal interception of wire, electronic or oral communications as specifically defined by this chapter; or (b) Manufactures, assembles, possesses, or sells any electronic, mechanical, or other device with the intention of rendering it primarily useful for the purpose of the illegal interception of wire, electronic or oral communications as specifically defined by this chapter, shall be guilty of a felony and is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a term of five (5) years or by a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (2) It is lawful under this section for: (a) A provider of wire or electronic communication service or an officer, agent, or employee of, or a person under contract with, such a provider, in the normal course of business; or (b) An officer, agent, or employee of, or a person under contract with, bidding upon contracts with, or in the course of doing business with, the United States, a state, or a political subdivision thereof, in the normal course of the activities of the United States, a state, or a political subdivision thereof, to send through the mail, send or carry in interstate or foreign commerce, or manufacture, assemble, possess, or sell any electronic, mechanical, or other device, knowing or having reason to know that the design of such device renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of wire, electronic or oral communication. (3) It shall not be unlawful under this section to advertise for sale a device described in subsection (1) of this section if the advertisement is mailed, sent or carried solely to a domestic provider of wire or electronic communication service or to an agency of the United States, any state, or a political subdivision thereof that is duly authorized to use such device. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, OPENING SEALED MAIL OR PACKAGES. (1) Every person who willfully opens or breaks the seal, or reads, or causes to be read, any sealed mail not addressed to such person without being authorized to do so either by the writer or by the person to whom it is addressed, and every person who, without the like authority, publishes any of the contents of such mail knowing the same to have been unlawfully opened, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (2) For the purposes of this section, "mail" means any written communication or package that is designed to be carried by the United States postal service or any other federally regulated carrier of packages, parcels or letters. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, OPENING TELEGRAMS. Every person not connected with any telegraphic office who without the authority or consent of the person to whom the same may be directed, willfully opens any sealed envelope enclosing a telegraphic message and addressed to any other person, with the purpose of learning the contents of such message, or who fraudulently represents any other person, and thereby procures to be delivered to himself any telegraphic message addressed to such other person, with the intent to use, destroy or detain the same from the person or persons entitled to receive such message, is punishable as provided in FORGERY OF TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGES. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, PLACE OF OFFENSE. Any offense committed by use of a telephone as provided by this chapter may be deemed to have been committed at either the place at which the telephone call or calls were made or at the place where the telephone call or calls were received.
COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, PROCEDURE FOR INTERCEPTION OF WIRE, ELECTRONIC OR ORAL COMMUNICATIONS. (1) Each application for an order authorizing the interception of a wire, electronic or oral communication shall be made in writing upon oath or affirmation or by means of an oral affidavit as provided for in the State Rules of Criminal Practice & Procedure to a judge of competent jurisdiction and shall state the applicant's authority to make such application. Each application shall include the following information: (a) The identity of the individual authorized to make application for said order pursuant to State Code; (b) A full and complete statement of the facts and circumstances relied upon by the applicant, to justify his belief that an order should be issued including (i) details as to the particular offense that has been, is being, or is about to be committed, (ii) except as provided in subsection (11) of this section, a particular description of the nature and location of the facilities from which or the place where the communication is to be intercepted, (iii) a particular description of the type of communications sought to be intercepted, (iv) the identity of the person, if known, committing the offense and whose communications are to be intercepted; (c) A full and complete statement as to whether or not other investigative procedures have been tried and failed or why they reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried or to be too dangerous; (d) A statement of the period of time for which the interception is required to be maintained. If the nature of the investigation is such that the authorization for interception should not automatically terminate when the described type of communication has been first obtained, a particular description of facts establishing probable cause to believe that additional communications of the same type will occur thereafter; (e) A full and complete statement of the facts concerning all previous applications known to the individual making the applications, made to any judge for authorization to intercept wire, electronic or oral communications involving any of the same persons, facilities or places specified in the application, and the action taken by the judge on each such application; and (f) Where the application is for the extension of an order, a statement setting forth the results thus far obtained from the interception, or a reasonable explanation of the failure to obtain such results. (2) The judge may require the applicant to furnish additional testimony or documentary evidence in support of the application. (3) Upon such application the judge may enter an ex parte order, as requested or as modified, authorizing interception of wire, electronic or oral communications within the state of residence if the judge determines on the basis of the facts submitted by the applicant that: (a) There is probable cause for belief that an individual is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a particular offense enumerated in State Code; (b) There is probable cause for belief that particular communications concerning that offense will be obtained through such interception; (c) Normal investigative procedures have been tried and have failed or reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried or to be too dangerous; (d) Except as provided in subsection (11) of this section, there is probable cause for belief that the facilities from which, or the place where, the wire, electronic or oral communications are to be intercepted are being used, or are about to be used, in connection with the commission of such offense, or are leased to, listed in the name of, or commonly used by such person. (4) Each order authorizing the interception of any wire, electronic or oral communication shall specify: (a) The identity of the person, if known, whose communications are to be intercepted; (b) The nature and location of the communications facilities as to which, or the place where, authority to intercept is granted; (c) A particular description of the type of communication sought to be intercepted, and a statement of the particular offense to which it relates; (d) The identity of the agency authorized to intercept the communications, and of the person making the application; and (e) The period of time during which such interception is authorized, including a statement as to whether or not the interception shall automatically terminate when the described communication has been first obtained. (5) An order authorizing the interception of a wire, electronic or oral communication shall, upon request of the applicant, direct that a provider of wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian, or other person shall furnish the applicant forthwith all information, facilities and technical assistance necessary to accomplish the interception unobtrusively and with a minimum of interference with the services that such service provider, landlord, custodian or person is providing the person whose communications are to be intercepted. Any provider of wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian or other person furnishing such facilities or technical assistance shall be compensated therefor by the applicant for reasonable expenses incurred in providing such facilities or assistance.
(6) No order entered under this section may authorize the interception of any wire, electronic or oral communication for any period longer than is necessary to achieve the objective of the authorization, nor in any event longer than thirty (30) days. Such thirty (30) day period begins on the earlier of the day on which the investigative or law enforcement officer begins to conduct an interception under the order or ten (10) days after the order is entered. Extensions of an order may be granted, but only upon application for an extension made in accordance with subsection (1) of this section and the court making the findings required by subsection (3) of this section. The periods of extension shall be no longer than the authorizing court deems necessary to achieve the purposes for which it was granted and in no event for longer than thirty (30) days for each extension. Every order and extension thereof shall contain a provision that the authorization to intercept shall be executed as soon as practicable, shall be conducted in such a way as to minimize the interception of communications not otherwise subject to interception under this chapter, and must terminate upon attainment of the authorized objective, or in any event in thirty (30) days. In the event the intercepted communication is in a code or foreign language and an expert in that foreign language or code is not reasonably available during the interception period, minimization may be accomplished as soon as practicable after such interception. An interception under this chapter may be conducted in whole or in part by government personnel or by an individual operating under a contract with federal, state or local government and acting under the supervision of an investigative or law enforcement officer authorized to conduct the interception. (7) Whenever an order authorizing interception is entered pursuant to this chapter, the order may require reports to be made to the judge who issued the order showing what progress has been made toward achievement of the authorized objective and the need for continued interception. Such reports shall be made at such intervals as the judge may require. (8) (a) The contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication intercepted by any means authorized by this chapter shall, if possible, be recorded on tape or wire or other comparable device. The recording of the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication under this subsection shall be done in such way as will protect the recording from editing or other alterations. Immediately upon the expiration of the period of the order, or extensions thereof, such recordings shall be made available to the judge issuing such order and sealed under his directions. Custody of the recordings shall be wherever the judge orders. They shall not be destroyed except upon an order of the issuing or denying court and in any event shall be kept for ten (10) years. Duplicate recordings may be made for use or disclosure pursuant to the provisions of State Code, for investigations. The presence of the seal provided for by this subsection, or a satisfactory explanation for the absence thereof, shall be a prerequisite for the use or disclosure of the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication or evidence derived therefrom under State Code. (b) Applications made and orders granted under this chapter shall be sealed by the judge. Custody of the applications and orders shall be wherever the judge directs. Such applications and orders shall be disclosed only upon a showing of good cause before a judge of competent jurisdiction and shall not be destroyed except on order of the issuing or denying judge and in any event shall be kept for ten (10) years. (c) Any violation of the provisions of this subsection may be punished as contempt of the issuing or denying judge. (d) Within a reasonable time but not later than ninety (90) days after the filing of an application for an order of approval under this section which is denied or the termination of the period of an order or extensions thereof, the issuing or denying judge shall cause to be served, on the persons named in the order or the application, and such other parties to intercepted communications as the judge may determine in his discretion that is in the interest of justice, an inventory which shall include notice of: (1) The fact of the entry of the order or the application; (2) The date of the entry and the period of authorized, approved or disapproved interception, or the denial of the application; and (3) The fact that during the period wire, electronic or oral communications were or were not intercepted. The judge, upon the filing of a motion, may in his discretion make available to such person or his counsel for inspection such portions of the intercepted communications, applications and orders as the judge determines to be in the interest of justice. On an ex parte showing of good cause to a judge of competent jurisdiction the serving of the inventory required by this subsection may be postponed. (9) The contents of any intercepted wire, electronic or oral communication or evidence derived therefrom shall not be received in evidence or otherwise disclosed in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in a federal or state court unless each party, not less than ten (10) days before the trial, hearing, or proceeding has been furnished with a copy of the court order and accompanying application under which the interception was authorized. This ten (10) day period may be waived by the court if it finds that it was not possible to furnish the party with the above information ten (10) days before the trial, hearing, or proceeding and that the party will not be prejudiced by the delay in receiving such information. (10) (a) Any aggrieved person in any trial, hearing, or proceeding in or before any court, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, or other authority of the United States, a state, or a political subdivision thereof, may move to suppress the contents of any intercepted wire, electronic or oral communication, or evidence derived therefrom, on the grounds that: 1. The communication was unlawfully intercepted; 2. The order of authorization under which it was intercepted is insufficient on its face; or 3. The interception was not made in conformity with the order of authorization. Such motion shall be made before the trial, hearing, or proceeding, pursuant to the State rules of criminal or civil procedure or the hearing rules of the respective body, as applicable. (b) In addition to any other right to appeal, the state of residence shall have the right to appeal from an order granting a motion to suppress made under paragraph (a) of this subsection. Such appeal shall be taken within thirty (30) days after the date the order was entered.
(c) The remedies and sanctions described in this section with respect to the interception of electronic communications are the only judicial remedies and sanctions for nonconstitutional violations of this chapter involving such communications. (11) The requirements of subsections (1)(b)(ii) and (3)(d) of this section relating to the specification of the facilities from which, or the place where, the communication is to be intercepted do not apply if: (a) In the case of an application with respect to the interception of an oral communication: (i) The application contains a full and complete statement as to why such specification is not practical and identifies the person committing the offense and whose communications are to be intercepted; and (ii) The judge finds that such specification is not practical; and (b) In the case of an application with respect to a wire or electronic communication: (i) The application identifies the person believed to be committing the offense and whose communications are to be intercepted and the applicant makes a showing that there is probable cause to believe that the person's actions could have the effect of thwarting interception from a specified facility; (ii) The judge finds that such showing has been adequately made; and (iii) The order authorizing or approving the interception is limited to interception only for such time as it is reasonable to presume that the person identified in the application is or was reasonably proximate to the instrument through which such communication will be or was transmitted. (12) An interception of a communication under an order with respect to which the requirements of subsections (1)(b)(ii) and (3)(d) of this section do not apply by reason of subsection (11)(a) of this section shall not begin until the place where the communication is to be intercepted is ascertained by the person implementing the interception order. A provider of wire or electronic communications service that has received an order as provided for in subsection (11)(b) of this section may move the court to modify or quash the order on the ground that its assistance with respect to the interception cannot be performed in a timely or reasonable fashion. The court, upon notice to the state, shall decide such a motion expeditiously. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, PROHIBITION OF USE AS EVIDENCE OF INTERCEPTED WIRE, ELECTRONIC OR ORAL COMMUNICATIONS. Whenever any wire, electronic or oral communication has been intercepted, no part of the contents of such communication and no evidence derived therefrom may be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, or other authority of the state, or a political subdivision thereof, if the disclosure of that information would be in violation of this chapter. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, RECOVERY OF CIVIL DAMAGES AUTHORIZED. Any person whose wire, electronic or oral communication is intercepted, disclosed, or used in violation of this chapter shall have a civil cause of action against any person who intercepts, discloses, uses, or procures any other person to intercept, disclose, or use such communications, and shall be entitled to recover from any such person: (a) Actual damages, but not less than liquidated damages computed at the rate of one hundred dollars ($100) a day for each day of violation or one thousand dollars ($1,000), whichever is higher; (b) Punitive damages; and (c) A reasonable attorney's fee and other litigation costs reasonably incurred. A good faith reliance on a court order shall constitute a complete defense to any civil or criminal action under the laws of this state. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, REFUSAL TO SEND OR DELIVER TELEGRAPH MESSAGE. Every agent, operator or employee of any telegraph office who willfully refuses or neglects to send any message received at such office for transmission, or willfully postpones the same out of its order, or willfully refuses or neglects to deliver any message received by telegraph, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to require any message to be received, transmitted or delivered unless the charges thereon have been paid or tendered. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, USE OF TELEPHONE TO ANNOY, TERRIFY, THREATEN, INTIMIDATE, HARASS OR OFFEND BY LEWD OR PROFANE LANGUAGE, REQUESTS, SUGGESTIONS OR PROPOSALS -- THREATS OF PHYSICAL HARM -- DISTURBING THE PEACE BY REPEATED CALLS -PENALTIES. (1) Every person who, with intent to annoy, terrify, threaten, intimidate, harass or offend, telephones another and (a) addresses to or about such person any obscene, lewd or profane language, or makes any request, suggestion or proposal which is obscene, lewd, lascivious or indecent; or (b) addresses to such other person any threat to inflict injury or physical harm to the person or property of the person addressed or any member of his family, or any other person; or (c) by repeated anonymous or identified telephone calls whether or not conversation ensues, disturbs the peace or attempts to disturb the peace, quiet, or right of privacy of any person at the place where the telephone call or calls are received, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to a term of not to exceed one (1) year in the county jail. Upon a second or subsequent conviction, the defendant shall be guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced to a term of not to exceed five (5) years in the state penitentiary.
(2) The use of obscene, lewd or profane language or the making of a threat or obscene proposal, or the making of repeated anonymous telephone calls as set forth in this section may be prima facie evidence of intent to annoy, terrify, threaten, intimidate, harass or offend. (3) For the purposes of this section, the term "telephone" shall mean any device which provides transmission of messages, signals, facsimiles, video images or other communication between persons who are physically separated from each other by means of telephone, telegraph, cable, wire or the projection of energy without physical connection. COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY, USE OF TELEPHONE TO TERRIFY, INTIMIDATE, HARASS OR ANNOY BY FALSE STATEMENTS -- PENALTIES. (1) Every person who telephones another and knowingly makes any false statements concerning injury, death, disfigurement, indecent conduct or criminal conduct of the person telephoned or any member of his family, with intent to terrify, intimidate, harass or annoy the called person, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Upon a second or subsequent conviction of the violation of the provisions of this section, the defendant shall be guilty of a felony. (2) The making of a false statement as herein set out may be prima facie evidence of intent to terrify, intimidate, harass or annoy. (3) For the purposes of this section, the term "telephone" shall mean any device which provides transmission of messages, signals, facsimiles, video images or other communication between persons who are physically separated from each other by means of telephone, telegraph, cable, wire or the projection of energy without physical connection. COMPENSATING PUBLIC SERVANT FOR ASSISTING PRIVATE INTERESTS IN RELATION TO MATTERS BEFORE HIM. (1) Receiving compensation. A public servant commits a misdemeanor if he solicits, accepts or agrees to accept compensation for advice or other assistance in preparing or promoting a bill, contract, claim, or other transaction or proposal as to which he knows that he has or is likely to have an official discretion to exercise. (2) Paying compensation. A person commits a misdemeanor if he pays or offers or agrees to pay compensation to a public servant with knowledge that acceptance by the public servant is unlawful. COMPENSATION FOR PAST OFFICIAL BEHAVIOR. A person commits a misdemeanor if he solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept any pecuniary benefit as compensation for having as public servant, given a decision, opinion, recommendation or vote favorable to another, or for having otherwise exercised a discretion in his favor, or for having violated his duty. A person commits a misdemeanor if he offers, confers or agrees to confer, compensation, acceptance of which is prohibited by this section. COMPOUNDING FELONY OR MISDEMEANOR. Every person who, having knowledge of the actual commission of a crime, takes money or property of another, or any gratuity or reward, or any engagement, or promise thereof, upon any agreement or understanding to compound or conceal, such crime, or to abstain from any prosecution thereof, or to withhold any evidence thereof, except in the cases provided for by law, in which crimes may be compromised by leave of court, is punishable as follows: 1. By imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five years, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, where the crime was punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life. 2. By imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding three years, or in the county jail not exceeding six months where the crime was punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for any other term than for life. 3. By imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by fine not exceeding $500, where the crime was a misdemeanor. COMPUTATION OF TERM OF IMPRISONMENT. In computing the term of imprisonment, the person against whom the judgment was entered, shall receive credit in the judgment for any period of incarceration prior to entry of judgment, if such incarceration was for the offense or an included offense for which the judgment was entered. The remainder of the term commences upon the pronouncement of sentence and if thereafter, during such term, the defendant by any legal means is temporarily released from such imprisonment and subsequently returned thereto, the time during which he was at large must not be computed as part of such term. COMPUTER CRIME -- DEFINITIONS. As use [used] in this chapter: (1) To "access" means to instruct, communicate with, store data in, retrieve data from or otherwise make use of any resources of a computer, computer system, or computer network. (2) "Computer" means, but is not limited to, an electronic device which performs logical, arithmetic, or memory functions by the manipulations of electronic or magnetic impulses, and includes all input, output, processing, storage, software, or communication facilities which are connected or related to such a device in a system or network. (3) "Computer network" means, but is not limited to, the interconnection of communication lines (including microwave or other means of electronic communication) with a computer through remote terminals, or a complex consisting of two (2) or more interconnected computers.
(4) "Computer program" means, but is not limited to, a series of instructions or statements, in a form acceptable to a computer, which permits the functioning of a computer system in a manner designed to provide appropriate products from such computer system. (5) "Computer software" means, but is not limited to, computer programs, procedures, and associated documentation concerned with the operation of a computer system. (6) "Computer system" means, but is not limited to, a set of related, connected or unconnected, computer equipment, devices, and software. (7) "Property" includes, but is not limited to, financial instruments, information, including electronically produced data, and computer software and programs in either machine or human readable form, and any other tangible or intangible item of value. (8) "Services" include, but are not limited to, computer time, data processing, and storage functions. COMPUTER CRIME. (1) Any person who knowingly accesses, attempts to access or uses, or attempts to use any computer, computer system, computer network, or any part thereof for the purpose of: devising or executing any scheme or artifice to defraud; obtaining money, property, or services by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises; or committing theft; commits computer crime. (2) Any person who knowingly and without authorization alters, damages, or destroys any computer, computer system, or computer network described in State Code, or any computer software, program, documentation, or data contained in such computer, computer system, or computer network commits computer crime. (3) Any person who knowingly and without authorization uses, accesses, or attempts to access any computer, computer system, or computer network described in State Code, or any computer software, program, documentation or data contained in such computer, computer system, or computer network, commits computer crime. (4) A violation of the provisions of subsections (1) or (2) of this section shall be a felony. A violation of the provisions of subsection (3) of this section shall be a misdemeanor. CONCEALMENT, REMOVAL OR ALTERATION OF RECORD OR PROCESS Every person who willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, takes away, mutilates, obliterates, alters, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or willfully takes and carries away record or process in or from any court or official authorized to issue or serve them, shall be guilty of tampering with judicial records or process, as the case may be, and upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned for not more than three years, or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both. CONSPIRACY -- PENALTY. A conspiracy of two (2) or more persons to commit any of the crimes proscribed by this act is punishable as a felony. Any court having jurisdiction of the conspiracy crime has concurrent jurisdiction to try all misdemeanor crimes committed in furtherance of the conspiracy. CONTRABAND. Destruction of obscene matter or advertisement of matter represented to be obscene: (A) Obscene matter and advertisements for matter represented to be obscene are contraband and shall be destroyed. (B) Upon the conviction of the accused or rendition of a court order declaring such matter to be contraband and subject to confiscation, the court shall, when such judgments become final, and all appeal procedures have terminated, order, upon five (5) days' notice to the defendant, any matter or advertisement, in respect whereof the accused stands convicted, and which remains in the possession or under the control of the prosecuting attorney or any law enforcement agency, to be destroyed, and the court shall cause to be destroyed any such material in its possession or under its control, retaining only such copies as are necessary for law enforcement purposes. COUNTERFEIT GOODS, SALE OF. Every person who sells or keeps for sale any goods upon or to which any counterfeited trade-mark has been affixed, intending to represent such goods as the genuine goods of another, knowing the same to be counterfeited, is guilty of a misdemeanor. COUNTERFEITING COIN OR BULLION. Every person who counterfeits any of the species of gold or silver coin current in this state, or any kind of species of gold dust, gold or silver bullion, or bars, lumps, pieces, or nuggets, or who sells, passes, or gives in payment such counterfeit coin, dust, bullion, bars, lumps, pieces, or nuggets, or permits, causes or procures the same to be sold, uttered or passed, with intention to defraud any person, knowing the same to be counterfeited, is guilty of counterfeiting.
COUNTERFEITING RAILROAD TICKET. Every person who counterfeits, forges, or alters, any ticket, check, order, coupon, receipt for fare, or pass, issued by any railroad company, or by any lessee or manager thereof, designed to entitle the holder to ride in the cars of such company, or who utters, publishes, or puts into circulation, any such counterfeit or altered ticket, check, or order, coupon, receipt for fare, or pass, with intent to defraud any such railroad company, or any lessee thereof, or any other person, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, or in the county jail, not exceeding one (1) year, or by fine not exceeding $1000, or by both such imprisonment and fine. COURT RECORDS: Court records are generally open to the public unless specifically exempted. Exemptions include grand jury proceedings, paternity records and some medical documents. CRIME AGAINST NATURE -- PENETRATION. Any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime against nature. CRIME AGAINST NATURE -- PUNISHMENT. Every person who is guilty of the infamous crime against nature, committed with mankind or with any animal, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than five years. CRIME OF VIDEO VOYEURISM. (1) As used in this section: (a) "Broadcast" means the electronic transmittal of a visual image with the intent that it be viewed by a person or persons. (b) "Disseminate" means to make available by any means to any person. (c) "Imaging device" means any instrument capable of recording, storing, viewing or transmitting visual images. (d) "Intimate areas" means the buttocks, genitals or genital areas of males or females, and the breast area of females. (e) "Person" means any natural person, corporation, partnership, firm, association, joint venture or any other recognized legal entity or any agent or servant thereof. (f) "Place where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy" means: (i) A place where a reasonable person would believe that he could undress, be undressed or engage in sexual activity in privacy, without concern that he is being viewed, photographed, filmed or otherwise recorded by an imaging device; or (ii) A place where a person might reasonably expect to be safe from casual or hostile surveillance by an imaging device; or (iii) Any public place where a person, by taking reasonable steps to conceal intimate areas, should be free from the viewing, recording, storing or transmitting of images obtained by imaging devices designed to overcome the barriers created by a person's covering of intimate areas. (g) "Publish" means to: (i) Disseminate with the intent that such image or images be made available by any means to any person; or (ii) Disseminate with the intent that such images be sold by another person; or (iii) Post, present, display, exhibit, circulate, advertise or allow access by any means so as to make an image or images available to the public; or (iv) Disseminate with the intent that an image or images be posted, presented, displayed, exhibited, circulated, advertised or made accessible by any means and to make such image or images available to the public. (h) "Sell" means to disseminate to another person, or to publish, in exchange for something of value. (2) A person is guilty of video voyeurism when, with the intent of arousing, appealing to or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of such person or another person, or for his own or another person's lascivious entertainment or satisfaction of prurient interest, or for the purpose of sexually degrading or abusing any other person: (a) He uses, installs or permits the use or installation of an imaging device at a place where a person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, without the knowledge or consent of the person using such place; or (b) He intentionally disseminates, publishes or sells any image or images of the intimate areas of another person or persons without the consent of such other person or persons and with knowledge that such image or images were obtained with the intent set forth above. (3) A violation of this section is a felony.
CRIME LOGS AND INCIDENT REPORTS: An agency shall maintain a daily log or record that lists suspected crimes, accidents or complaints. The following information shall be made available for inspection and copying: time, substance and location of all complaints and requests for assistance received by the agency, and the time and nature of the agencys response to all complaints and requests for assistance. If the incident involves an alleged crime or infraction, the log must include time, date and location of occurrence; the name and age of any victim (unless a victim of a sex crime); the factual circumstances surrounding the incident; and a general description of any injuries, property or weapons involved. The record containing the information must be created no later than 24 hours after the suspected crime, accident or complaint has been reported to the agency. CRIMINAL CASES, HOW ARE THEY CLEARED. How is a crime cleared by arrest? An offense is "cleared by arrest" or solved for crime reporting purposes when at least one person is (1) arrested, or (2) charged with the commission of the offense and turned over to the court for prosecution (whether following arrest, court summons, or police notice). Although no physical arrest is made, a clearance by arrest can be claimed when the offender is a person under 18 years of age and is cited to appear in juvenile court or before other juvenile authorities. Several crimes may be cleared by the arrest of one person, or the arrest of many persons may clear only one crime. Further, if several persons are involved in the commission of a crime and only one is arrested and charged, the crime is listed on the Return A as cleared by arrest. When the other persons involved in the crime are arrested at a later date, no record will be made of a clearance by arrest since the offense was already cleared following the arrest of the first person. The number of offenses and not the number of persons arrested are counted in the clearances recorded on the Return A. No more clearances than offenses can be reported in a given month unless clearance of offenses which were reported in previous months are being scored. What is an exceptional clearance? In certain situations, law enforcement is not able to follow the steps outlined under "clearance by arrest" to clear offenses known to them, even though all leads have been exhausted, and everything possible has been done in order to obtain a clearance. For crime reporting purposes, if the following questions can all be answered "yes," the offense can then be cleared "exceptionally." 1. Has the investigation definitely established the identity of the offender? 2. Is there enough information to support an arrest, charge, and turning over to the court for prosecution? 3. Is the exact location of the offender known so that the subject could be taken into custody now? 4. Is there some reason outside law enforcement control that precludes arresting, charging, and prosecuting the offender? For further information about the most common questions involving Uniform Crime Report classifications ask the FBI. CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY DEFINED. If two (2) or more persons combine or conspire to commit any crime or offense prescribed by the laws of the State, and one (1) or more of such persons does any act to effect the object of the combination or conspiracy, each shall be punishable upon conviction in the same manner and to the same extent as is provided under the laws of the state of Idaho for the punishment of the crime or offenses that each combined to commit. CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY TO USURP, MINING CLAIMS. In all cases where two (2) or more persons associate themselves together for the purpose of obtaining the possession of any lode, gulch or placer claim, then in the actual possession of another, by force and violence, or by stealth, and proceed to carry out such purpose by making threats against the party or parties in possession, or enter upon such lode or mining claim for the purpose aforesaid, or enter upon or into any lode, gulch, placer claim, quartz mill or other mining property, or, not being upon such property, make any threats, or make use of any language, signs or gestures calculated to intimidate any person or persons at work on said property from continuing to work thereon or therein, or to intimidate others from engaging to work thereon or therein, every such person so offending is guilty of [a] misdemeanor. CRIMINAL CONTEMPTS. Every person guilty of any contempt of court, of either of the following kinds, is guilty of a misdemeanor: 1. Disorderly, contemptuous or insolent behavior committed during the sitting of any court of justice, in immediate view and presence of the court and directly tending to interrupt its proceedings or to impair the respect due to its authority. 2. Behavior of the like character committed in the presence of any referee, while actually engaged in any trial or hearing, pursuant to the order of any court, or in the presence of any jury, while actually sitting for the trial of a cause, or upon any inquest or other proceeding authorized by law. 3. Any breach of the peace, noise or other disturbance directly tending to interrupt the proceedings of any court. 4. Wilful disobedience of any process or order lawfully issued by any court. 5. Resistance wilfully offered by any person to the lawful order or process of any court.
6. The contumacious and unlawful refusal of any person to be sworn as a witness; or, when so sworn, the like refusal to answer any material question. CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTION CARD, FINANCIAL TRANSACTION NUMBER AND FTC FORGERY DEVICES. It is a felony punishable as provided in State Code, for any person: (1) To acquire an FTC or FTC number from another without the consent of the card holder or the issuer, or to, with the knowledge that it has been so acquired, receive an FTC or FTC number with the intent to use to defraud, or to sell, or to transfer the FTC or FTC number to another person with the knowledge that it is to be used to defraud; (2) To acquire an FTC or FTC number that he knows to have been lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake as to the identity or address of the card holder, and to retain possession with the intent to use to defraud or to sell or transfer to another person with the knowledge that it is to be used to defraud. -- PENALTY FOR VIOLATION. (1) Any person found guilty of a violation of State Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor. In the event that the retail value of the goods obtained or attempted to be obtained through any violation of the provisions of State Code, exceeds three hundred dollars ($300), any such violation will constitute a felony, and will be punished as provided in this section. (2) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a misdemeanor shall be a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) or up to one (1) year in the county jail, or both such fine and imprisonment. (3) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a felony shall be a fine of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or both such fine and imprisonment. CRIMINAL TRESPASS -- DEFINITION AND PUNISHMENT. (1) Any person who, without consent of the owner or person in charge of any lands which are inclosed by fences of any description sufficient to show the boundaries of the land inclosed, shall go upon such lands and shall leave open any gates on or about said premises, or who shall tear down or lay down any fencing, or who shall willfully remove, mutilate, damage or destroy any "No Trespassing" signs or markers, or who shall go through cultivated crops that have not been harvested, or who shall damage any property thereon, or who without permission of the owner or the owner's agent enters the real property of another person where such real property is posted with "No Trespassing" signs or other notices of like meaning spaced at intervals of not less than one (1) notice per six hundred sixty (660) feet along such real property, is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six (6) months or by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment. Where the geographical configuration of the real property is such that entry can reasonably be made only at certain points of access, such property is posted sufficiently for all purposes of this section if said signs or notices are posted at such points of access. As used in this subsection and in State Code: "enters," "entry" and "entering" mean going upon or over real property either in person or by causing any object, substance or force to go upon or over real property. (2) No motor vehicle shall be willfully or intentionally driven into, upon, over or through any private land actively devoted to cultivated crops without the consent of the owner of the land or the tenant, lessee or agent of the owner of the land actively devoted to cultivated crops. Violation of the provisions of this section shall be a misdemeanor. For the purpose of this subsection, motor vehicle shall be defined as set forth in State Code. Land actively devoted to cultivated crops shall be defined as land that is used to produce field crops including, but not limited to, grains, feed crops, legumes, fruits and vegetables. CUTTING STATE TIMBER FOR SHIPMENT. Every person who wilfully and without authority enters upon the public lands of the state and cuts down, destroys or injures any kind of wood or timber growing upon such lands, for the purpose of shipping, freighting, floating or otherwise transporting such wood or timber out of the state, or who shall ship, freight or float, or otherwise transport out of the state, any wood or timber cut upon the public lands of the state, shall be guilty of a felony.
D
DAMAGE TO AQUACULTURE OPERATIONS. (1) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly transfer, damage, vandalize, poison, or knowingly attempt to transfer, damage, vandalize or poison the product or facilities of a posted commercial aquaculture operation in Idaho, or to knowingly release or knowingly allow another person to release any poisonous or dangerous substance that comes in contact with any species in production in an aquaculture operation and causes damage to either the species in production or the aquaculture facility itself. (2) Any person or persons violating any provision of this section when the value of the damage to either the species in production or the aquaculture facility itself is one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person or persons violating any provisions of this section when the value of the damage to either the species in production or the aquaculture facility itself is in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000) shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not more than twenty (20) years or by a fine not in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the court's power to order restitution equal to the extent of the damage suffered by the aquaculture operation. (4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit an aquaculture operation from proceeding in a civil action to seek any lawful civil remedy. DAMAGE TO FORAGE ON PUBLIC LANDS FROM THROWING AWAY OR LEAVING LIGHTED SUBSTANCES. Any person who shall throw any lighted cigarette, cigar, match, ashes, or other flaming or glowing substance or any substance or thing which may cause a fire, from any vehicle, or who shall throw, deposit, or leave any lighted cigarette, cigar, match, ashes or other flaming or glowing substance or any substance or thing which may cause a fire in any place where the same may directly or indirectly cause a fire resulting in damage to forage on the lands of the United States or the state of Idaho or to the property of any person, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished accordingly. DAMAGING CAVES OR CAVERNS UNLAWFUL -- PENALTY. It shall be unlawful for any person, without prior permission of the federal, state or private landowner, to willfully or knowingly break, break off, crack, carve upon, write or otherwise mark upon, or in any manner destroy, multilate [mutilate], injure, deface, remove, displace, mar or harm any natural material found in any cave or cavern, such as stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, anthodites, gypsum flowers or needles, flowstone, draperies, columns, tufa dams, clay or mud formations or concretions, or other similar crystalline mineral formations or otherwise; to kill, harm or in any manner or degree disturb any plant or animal life found therein; to otherwise disturb or alter the natural conditions of such cave or cavern through the disposal therein of any solid or liquid materials such as refuse, food, containers or fuel of any nature, whether or not malice is intended; to disturb, excavate, remove, displace, mar or harm any archaeological artifacts found within a cave or cavern including petroglyphs, projectile points, human remains, rock or wood carvings or otherwise, pottery, basketry or any handwoven articles of any nature, or any pieces, fragments or parts of any such articles; or to break, force, tamper with, remove of [or] otherwise disturb a lock, gate, door, or other structure or obstruction designed to prevent entrance to a cave or cavern, without the permission of the owner thereof, whether or not entranceis gained. For purposes of this section, "cave" means any natural geologically formed void or cavity beneath the surface of the earth, not including any mine, tunnel, aqueduct or other manmade excavation, which is large enough to permit a person to enter. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. DEFACING MARKS ON LOGS OR LUMBER. Every person who cuts out, alters, mutilates, changes, disfigures, or defaces any legally recorded mark or marks made upon any log, lumber, or wood, or re-marks or puts a false mark thereon with intent to prevent the owner from discovering its identity, or places any mark upon, or cuts, saws, manufactures, or in any manner appropriates to his own use, or to the use of any other person, any prize log or timber, is guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine not exceeding $500, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. In any prosecution for a violation of the provisions of this section relating to prize logs it shall be sufficient to prove that such logs are prize logs without further proof of ownership. DEFACING NATURAL SCENIC OBJECTS. It shall be unlawful for any person to paint, sketch, or place in any manner or form or by any means, upon any rock or rocks or similar natural object or objects, any place within the state of Idaho, any sign, advertisement or picture or commercial or business name, for business or commercial purposes. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
DEFINITIONS OF CRIMES. The definitions for crimes used in the State Crime Report are specified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of their national Uniform Crime Reporting program. The standard definitions are used by all law enforcement agencies across the nation to ensure uniformity and comparability of crime data. Criminal homicide a. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter: the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. Deaths caused by negligence, attempts to kill, assaults to kill, suicides, accidental deaths, and justifiable homicides are excluded. Justifiable homicides are limited to: 1. the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty; and 2. the killing of a felon by a private citizen. b. Manslaughter by negligence: the killing of another person through gross negligence. Traffic fatalities are excluded. While manslaughter by negligence is a Part I crime, it is not included in the Crime Index. Forcible rape The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Included are rapes by force and attempts or assaults to rape. Statutory offenses (no force used victim under age of consent) are excluded. Robbery The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear. Aggravated assault An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. Simple assaults are excluded. Burglary-breaking or entering The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. Attempted forcible entry is included. Larceny-theft (except motor vehicle theft) The unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another. Examples are theft of bicycles or automobile accessories, shoplifting, pocket-picking, or the stealing of any property or article which is not taken by force and violence or by fraud. Attempted larcenies are included. Embezzlement, "con" games, forgery, worthless checks, etc., are excluded. Motor vehicle theft The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. A motor vehicle is self-propelled and runs on the surface and not on rails. Specifically excluded from this category are motorboats, construction equipment, airplanes, and farming equipment. Arson Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc. Forgery and counterfeiting Making, altering, uttering, or possessing, with intent to defraud, anything false in the semblance of that which is true. Attempts are included. Fraud Fraudulent conversion and obtaining money or property by false pretenses. Included are confidence games and bad checks, except forgeries and counterfeiting. Embezzlement Misappropriation or misapplication of money or property entrusted to one's care, custody, or control. Stolen property; buying, receiving, possessing Buying, receiving, and possessing stolen property, including attempts. Vandalism Willful or malicious destruction, injury, disfigurement, or defacement of any public or private property, real or personal, without consent of the owner or persons having custody or control. Sex offenses (except forcible rape, prostitution, and commercialized vice) Statutory rape and offenses against chastity, common decency, morals, and the like. Attempts are included. Drug offenses State and local offenses relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, and manufacturing of narcotic drugs. Family/children (Offenses against) Non-support, neglect, desertion, or abuse of family and children. Liquor violations State or local liquor law violations, except "drunkenness" and "driving under the influence." Federal violations are excluded. Disorderly conduct Breach of the peace. Simple assaults Assaults and attempted assaults where no weapon is used and which do not result in serious or aggravated injury to the victim. Weapons; carrying, possessing, etc. All violations of regulations or statutes controlling the carrying, using, possessing, furnishing, and manufacturing of deadly weapons or silencers. Included are attempts. Prostitution and commercialized vice Sex offenses of a commercialized nature, such as prostitution, keeping a bawdy house, procuring, or transporting women for immoral purposes. Attempts are included. Gambling Promoting, permitting, or engaging in illegal gambling. Vagrancy Vagabondage, begging, loitering, etc. Driving under the influence Driving or operating any vehicle or common carrier while drunk or under the influence of liquor or narcotics. All other offenses All violations of state or local laws, except those listed above and traffic offenses.
DENATURED ALCOHOL -- REGULATION OF SALE AND TRANSFER. Denatured alcohol may be sold, given away, or transferred, in this state by any registered pharmacists, or other person. It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, give away, or transfer, denatured alcohol, preparations or compounds thereof, in any quantity, unless the container from which such denatured alcohol, preparation or compound thereof, is taken and the container in which it is delivered to the purchaser or transferee, has thereon printed in red ink the words "Denatured Alcohol," "Caution," "Poison," the name and address of the vendor or transferor, the percentage strength of grain alcohol in the contents of the container, the names of at least two readily obtainable antidotes, and the words "must not be used externally or internally," and the following caution as required by the United States government: "Completely denatured alcohol is a violent poison. It can not be applied externally to human or animal tissue without seriously injurious results. It can not be taken internally without inducing blindness and general physical decay, ultimately resulting in death." Provided nothing herein contained shall prohibit the transfer of denatured alcohol, preparation or compound thereof, direct from a container, labeled as above provided, to the radiator of any motor vehicle for anti-freeze purposes. DENIAL OF RIGHT TO WORK OR ACCOMMODATIONS A MISDEMEANOR. Every person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor who denies to any other person because of race, creed, color, sex, or national origin the right to work: (a) by refusing to hire, (b) by discharging, (c) by barring from employment, or (d) by discriminating against such person in compensation or in other terms or conditions of employment; or who denies to any other person because of race, creed, color, sex, or national origin, the full enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges of any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement, provided, however, that denial of the right to work on the basis of sex shall be permissible in situations where sex is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the business. DESECRATION OF GRAVE, CEMETERY, HEADSTONE OR PLACE OF BURIAL PROHIBITED. It shall be unlawful for any person, not acting in full compliance with all the terms of the law to desecrate or molest in any way any portion of any grave, cemetery, headstone, grave marker, mausoleum, crypt, or other place of burial, whether of whole bodies or ashes, or other evidence of remains of a deceased human body. Any person convicted or found guilty of violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. DESERTION AND NONSUPPORT OF CHILDREN OR SPOUSE. Every person who: (1) Having any child under the age of eighteen (18) years dependent upon him or her for care, education or support, deserts such child in any manner whatever, with intent to abandon it; (2) Willfully omits, without lawful excuse, to furnish necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical attendance for his or her child or children, or ward or wards; provided however, that the practice of a parent or guardian who chooses for his child treatment by prayer or spiritual means alone shall not for that reason alone be construed to be a violation of the duty of care to such child; (3) Having sufficient ability to provide for a spouse's support, or who is able to earn the means for such spouse's support, who willfully abandons and leaves a spouse in a destitute condition, or who refuses or neglects to provide such spouse with necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical attendance, unless by the spouse's misconduct he or she is justified in abandoning him or her; Shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment for not to exceed fourteen (14) years, or both. DESTROYING LEGAL NOTICES. Every person who intentionally defaces, obliterates, tears down or destroys any copy or transcript, or extract from or of any law of the United States or of this state, or any proclamation, advertisement or notification set up at any place in this state, by authority of any law of the United States or of this state, or by order of any court, before the expiration of the time for which the same was to remain set up, is guilty of a misdemeanor. DESTROYING LIVESTOCK. (1) Any person who shall, without the permission of the owner: (a) Wilfully and intentionally destroy; or (b) Destroy and remove the body or any body parts of any livestock with a value as set forth in subsection (1)(b) of section 182407, Idaho Code, shall be guilty of a felony. (2) If the value of the livestock is less than that set forth in subsection (1)(b) of section 18-2407, Idaho Code, a violation of the provisions of this section shall be a misdemeanor.
(3) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any peace officer, veterinarian or officially designated animal control officer who, in the discharge of his official duties is called upon the scene of injured livestock and cannot contact the owner or caretaker of the injured animal within thirty (30) minutes, and he reasonably determines that the injured animal is suffering to such a degree that humane destruction is warranted, and he humanely destroys or causes the animal to be humanely destroyed. DESTROYING LUMBER, POLES, RAFTS, AND VESSELS. Every person who wilfully and maliciously burns, injures, marks, brands or defaces or destroys any pile, piling, telegraph pole, telephone pole or electric transmission line pole, fence post, pile or raft of wood, plank, boards or other lumber, or any part thereof, or cuts loose or sets adrift any such raft or part thereof, or cuts, breaks, injures, sinks or sets adrift any vessel the property of another, is punishable by a fine not exceeding $300.00, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. DESTROYING MINING AND WATER RIGHT NOTICES. Every person who intentionally defaces, obliterates, tears down or destroys any notice posted on any lode or placer mining claim, or ditch, or water right, or location, or who removes, takes down or destroys any post or monument erected or placed to mark or indicate any such claim, right or location, or any part or boundary thereof, or part thereon, is guilty of a misdemeanor. DESTRUCTION, ALTERATION OR CONCEALMENT OF EVIDENCE. Every person who, knowing that any book, paper, record, instrument in writing, or other object, matter or thing, is about to be produced, used or discovered as evidence upon any trial, proceeding, inquiry, or investigation whatever, authorized by law, wilfully destroys, alters or conceals the same, with intent thereby to prevent it from being produced, used or discovered, is guilty of a misdemeanor, unless the trial, proceeding, inquiry or investigation is criminal in nature and involves a felony offense, in which case said person is guilty of a felony and subject to a maximum fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and a maximum sentence of five (5) years in prison. DESTRUCTION OF TIMBER ON STATE LANDS. Every person who wilfully and without authority enters upon the public lands of the state and cuts down, destroys or injures any kind of wood or timber, standing or growing upon such lands, or who wilfully and without authority carries away any kind of wood or timber lying on such lands, is guilty of a misdemeanor. DIRECTOR DEFINED. The term "director" as used in this chapter embraces any of the persons having by law the direction or management of the affairs of a corporation, by whatever name such persons are described in its charter or known by law. DIRECTOR NOT PRESENT AT MEETING -- ASSENT TO ILLEGAL ACTS. Every director of a corporation or joint stock association, although not present at a meeting of the directors at which any act, proceeding or omission of such directors in violation of this chapter occurs, is deemed to have concurred therein, if the facts constituting such violation appear on the records or minutes of the proceedings of the board of directors, and he remains a director of the same company for six months thereafter, and does not within that time cause, or in writing require, his dissent from such illegality to be entered in the minutes of the directors. DIRECTOR PRESENT AT MEETING -- ASSENT TO ILLEGAL ACTS. Every director of a corporation or a joint stock association who is present at a meeting of the directors at which any act, proceeding or omission of such directors in violation of this chapter occurs, is deemed to have concurred therein, unless he at the time causes, or in writing requires, his dissent therefrom to be entered in the minutes of the directors. DIRECTORS DEEMED TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF AFFAIRS. Every director of a corporation or joint stock association is deemed to possess such a knowledge of the affairs of his corporation as to enable him to determine whether any act, proceeding or omission of its directors is a violation of this chapter. DISABLED PERSONS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY ASSISTANCE DOGS -- PENALTY FOR INTENTIONAL VIOLATION. (1) A disabled person shall not be denied the use of any common carrier or public transportation facility or admittance to any hotel, motel, cafe, elevator, housing for sale or rent, or any other public place within the state of residence by reason of his being accompanied by an assistance dog. A disabled person shall be entitled to have an assistance dog with him in such places and while using such facilities without being required to pay any additional charges for his assistance dog, but shall be liable for any damage caused by his assistance dog. (2) Any person, firm, association or corporation or agent of any person, firm, association or corporation intentionally violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
DISEASES FROM RODENTS. The following diseases are some of the more pertinent known to be transmitted by domestic rodents in the County. Plague - The Plague is caused by the pathogenic bacterium, Yersinia pestis. Plague usually takes three forms which are bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague and is usually caused by the bite of an infected flea. It is characterized by swollen buboes of the lymphatic system. Bacteria can then spread throughout the body which is called septi-cemic plague. Pneumonic plague involves the lungs, and can be transmitted directly from person-to-person. Fatality is about 50 % if left untreated. Roof rats have been implicated in transmitting bubonic plague to humans in many urban areas of the world. They are more susceptible and are more frequent hosts for plague than Norway rats. The Oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis, is normally found on Norway rats and is one of the most efficient flea vectors for this disease (Weber 1982). However, when roof rats, common in households during the Mid-dle Ages, began dying from plague, Oriental rat fleas sought alternate hosts such as humans and their pets resulting in what was called the black death, killing over 25 million people in Europe alone. In the United States, human cases of urban plague involving domestic rats have not been reported since 1925. After 1925, all cases have been caused by sylvatic rodents in the western states (Barnes 1982). In California, approximately two human cases of plague are reported each year. During a 1991-1992 flea survey of the county, X. cheopis was not found on domestic rodents (Lang 1993). Another rat flea, the northern rat flea, Nosopsyllus fasciatus, occurs on Rattus spp. and house mice, and may cause some human plague cases when flea numbers are high, although it was shown to unlikely initiate epizootics or maintain plague in rat populations for any length of time (Pollitzer 1954). Salmonellosis - Salmonellosis, caused by a number of different species of Salmonella bacteria, ranks as one of the most widespread animal-borne diseases. Human cases of food poisoning caused by Salmonella can occur when rodents, particularly domestic rats or mice, defecate or urinate on food, dishes, kitchen counters, floors, and other objects associated with humans thus contaminating food or drink. The most common clinical syndrome is acute gastroenteritis accompanied by abdominal cramps, anorexia, diarrhea, headache, high fever, and vomiting. Leptospirosis - Leptospirosis or Weil's disease is caused by the bacterial spiro-chete, Leptospira icterohaemorrhagicae, and is transmitted among domestic rats and mice and to humans via contact with infected rat urine. It is one of the most important diseases transmitted by rats to humans (Weber 1982). Dogs, cats, and other domestic animals may also become infected and act as host reservoirs. The bacteria appear to enter the skin through small scratches, or via the nose or pharynx, or the conjunctivae when rubbing the eyes. Humans may become in-fected by swimming or bathing in contaminated water, or from contaminated moist soil or animals, handling infected items, by eating contaminated food, or from rat or mouse bites (Weber 1982). Seoul Virus - Seoul virus is a strain of hantavirus belonging to the family Bunyaviridae. The primary host reservoirs for this virus are various species of Rattus. The virus is transmitted among rodents and to humans primarily by contaminated feces and urine. Seoul virus causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, with the mortality rate being 1 % or less. The virus was first identified in Asia but infected rats have also been found in many other parts of the world (Lee et al. 1990). In the United States, R. norvegicus was found to be the major urban reservoir for Seoul-like hantaviruses (Childs et al. 1987). In California, three of 97 R. norvegicus were positive for a Seoul-like virus in San Franscisco, and two of 108 of these rats were positive (Tsai et al. 1985). In Orange County, one of 500 R. rattus were positive for Seoul virus (Bennett, S., pers. commun.). However, in San Diego County, during 1992 - 2000, six of 15 R. rattus tested were positive (40 %) from three localities (Felicta County park, Penasquitoes Preserve, and Mariner's Point), with Penasquitos yielding four of the six positives (Lang, unpub. data). Murine Typhus - Murine (endemic) or flea-borne typhus is caused by Rickettsia typhi. Murine typhus is a disease of rodents, particularly domestic rats. It can be transmitted to rodents or other hosts such as humans when infected fecal material from a flea is scratched into the skin or rubbed into the flea bite or an open sore or wound. In California, X. cheopis and the Norway rat were shown to be the usual respective vector and host reservoir during the first half of the 20th century (Adams et al. 1970). During this period human cases were confined to urban areas of southern California, to include 91 cases in San Diego County (Estey, J., unpub. data). Since then, cases have occurred in more sub-urban/foothill areas of other counties in southern California where Didelphis marsupialis and their fleas, such as cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis, may be responsible (Adams et al. 1970). Domestic rats, may also be hosts since they were shown to be positive for the rickettsia (Ramirez, J. pers. comm.). Fleas from domestic rats may also be implicated as vectors. The house mouse flea, Leptopyslla segnis, was found naturally infected with R. typhi and may vector it among rats, while N. fasciatus may not be an important vector although further investigations need to be conducted (Schwan et al. 1985). One human case of murine typhus has been confirmed in San Diego County during 1981 - 1999 (J. Estey, unpub. data.). The patient lived in a rural area and had some evidence of infestation by R. rattus. The source for this infection was never proven. None of the 15 roof rats trapped either on or near her premises were positive for R. typhi.
Rat Bite Fever - Rat bite or Haverhill fever is caused by the bacterium, Strepto-bacillus moniliformis. Domestic rats and mice can also transmit the bacterium from rat to rat and to humans through secretions of the mouth, nose, or eyes, although usually involvement is by a rat bite (Weber 1982). House mice are not consider-ed as important reservoirs for the bacterium. The fatality rate for untreated cases can be up to about 10 %. Secondary infection and tetanus can also occur if the wound is not properly disinfected and treated. Human cases of rat bite fever are not common in Louisiana. Trichinosis - Trichinosis is caused by the nematode, Trichina spiralis, which lives in the muscles of domestic rodents. Domestic rats are the primary reservoir hosts and become infected usually by eating other infected rats (Weber 1982). Pigs, dog and cats, and other animals acquire T. spiralis by eating infected rats or by eating food containing infected rat feces. Humans usually become infected by eating raw or improperly cooked pork. Occasional infections also occur from bear meat or wild boar. Tropical Rat Mites - The tropical rat mite, Ornithonyssus bacoti, occurs on domestic rats and in their nests. If a rat has a nest in an attic or other site inside a home, and it dies or vacates the nest, these mites will leave the nest and body in search of a host and can attack humans. The bites of these ectoparasites cause irritation and sometimes a painful dermatitis leaving red spots on the infested skin (Ebeling 1975). Scratching can cause secondary infection. O. bacoti has not been found to be a vector for disease, although this mite can harbor various causative agents of disease for long periods following ingestion (Weber 1982). These agents cause tularemia, Q fever, and murine typhus. DISQUALIFICATION TO HOLD OFFICE ON CONVICTION. Every member of the legislature convicted of any crime defined in this chapter, in addition to the punishment prescribed, forfeits his office, and is forever disqualified from holding any office in this state. DISQUALIFIED PERSON HOLDING OFFICE. Every person not a legal voter and possessing all the qualifications prescribed for voters, or who is under any disqualification created by the laws of this state, who holds or exercises any office, is guilty of a misdemeanor. DISSEMINATING MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS -- DEFINED -- PENALTY. A person is guilty of disseminating material harmful to minors when: 1. He knowingly gives or makes available to a minor or promotes or possesses with intent to promote to minors, or he knowingly sells or loans to a minor for monetary consideration: (a) Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion picture film, or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of the human body which depicts nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse and which is harmful to minors; or (b) Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter however reproduced, or sound recording which contains any matter enumerated in paragraph (a) hereof, or explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse and which, taken as a whole, is harmful to minors; or (c) Any other material harmful to minors. 2. With reference to a motion picture, show or other presentation which depicts nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse, and which is harmful to minors, he knowingly: (a) Exhibits such motion picture, show or other presentation to a minor for a monetary consideration; or (b) Sells to a minor an admission ticket or pass to premises whereon there is exhibited or to be exhibited such motion picture, show or other presentation; or (c) Admits a minor for a monetary consideration to premises whereon there is exhibited or to be exhibited such motion picture, show or other presentation; or (d) Exhibits such motion picture, show or other presentation to a minor not for a monetary consideration; or (e) Gives without monetary consideration to a minor an admission ticket or pass to premises where there is exhibited or to be exhibited such motion picture, show, or other presentation. Disseminating material harmful to minors is a misdemeanor punishable by confinement in the county jail not to exceed one (1) year, or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both such fine and jail sentence. DISSEMINATING MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS -- DEFENSES. 1. In any prosecution for disseminating material harmful to minors, it is an affirmative defense that: (a) The defendant had reasonable cause to believe that the minor involved was eighteen (18) years old or more, or such minor exhibited to the defendant a draft card, driver's license, birth certificate, or other official or apparently official document purporting to establish that the minor was eighteen (18) years of age or older. (b) The minor involved was accompanied by his parent or legal guardian, or by an adult and the adult represented that he was the minor's parent or guardian or an adult and signed a written statement to that effect. (c) The defendant was the parent or guardian of the minor involved. (d) The defendant was a bona fide school, college, university, museum or public library, or was acting in his capacity as an employee of such an organization or a retail outlet affiliated with and serving the educational purposes of such an organization.
DISSEMINATING MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS -- DISTRICT COURTS -- INJUNCTIONS -- TRIAL -- ORDERS OF INJUNCTION. The district courts have jurisdiction to enjoin the sale or distribution of material harmful to minors, and to direct the seizure and destruction of the same, as hereinafter specified: 1. The prosecuting attorney of any county in which a person, firm, or corporation sells, distributes or promotes, or is about to sell, distribute or promote, or has in his possession with intent to sell, distribute or promote, or is about to acquire possession with intent to sell, distribute or promote, any material harmful to minors, may maintain an action in the name of the state of Idaho for an injunction against such person, firm, or corporation in the district court of that county to prevent the sale, distribution or promotion, or further sale, distribution, or promotion, or the acquisition or possession of any material harmful to minors. 2. The person, firm or corporation sought to be enjoined shall be entitled to a trial of the issues within one (1) day after joinder of issue and a decision shall be rendered by the court within two (2) days of the conclusion of the trial. 3. In the event that a final order or judgment of injunction be entered in favor of the state of Idaho and against the person, firm, or corporation sought to be enjoined, such final order or judgment shall contain a provision directing the person, firm or corporation to cease and desist from the sale of all materials adjudged to be harmful to minors. 4. Such final order or judgment of injunction shall not enjoin or prohibit a person, firm or corporation from sale, distribution or promotion of material harmful to minors to persons other than minors, nor shall it order the seizure and destruction of material harmful to minors unless the court finds and concludes that the person, firm or corporation has been selling, distributing or promoting, or intends to sell, distribute or promote such material to minors. 5. In any action brought as herein provided the state of Idaho shall not be required to file any undertaking before the issuance of an injunction order, shall not be liable for costs, and shall not be liable for damages sustained by reason of the injunction order in cases where judgment is rendered in favor of the person, firm or corporation sought to be enjoined. 6. Every person, firm, or corporation who sells, distributes, or promotes, or acquires possession with intent to sell, distribute, or promote any material harmful to minors, after the service upon him of a summons and complaint in an action brought pursuant to this section, is chargeable with knowledge of the contents thereof. DISSEMINATING MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS -- EACH PROHIBITED ITEM DISSEMINATED CONSTITUTES SEPARATE OFFENSE. If more than one (1) article or item of material prohibited under this statute, is sold, given, advertised for sale, distributed commercially or promoted, in violation of the provisions of this act by the same person, each such sale, gift, advertisement, distribution, or promotion shall constitute a separate offense. DISSEMINATING MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS -- UNIFORM ENFORCEMENT -- ABROGATION OF EXISTING ORDINANCES -- FURTHER LOCAL ORDINANCES BANNED. In order to make the application and enforcement of this act uniform throughout the state, it is the intent of the legislature to preempt, to the exclusion of city and county governments, the regulation of the sale, loan, distribution, dissemination, presentation or exhibition to a minor of material which is obscene or which is harmful to minors and depicts in whole or in part nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse. To that end, it is hereby declared that every city or county ordinance adopted before the effective date of this act which deals with the regulation of the sale, loan, distribution, dissemination, presentation or exhibition to a minor of material which is obscene or which is harmful to minors and depicts in whole or in part nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse, shall stand abrogated and unenforceable on or after such effective date; and that no city or county government shall have the power to adopt any ordinance relating to the regulation of the sale, loan, distribution, dissemination, presentation or exhibition to a minor of material which is obscene or which is harmful to minors and depicts in whole or in part nudity, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse, on or after such effective date. DISTURBING THE PEACE. Every person who maliciously and wilfully disturbs the peace or quiet of any neighborhood, family or person, by loud or unusual noise, or by tumultuous or offensive conduct, or by threatening, traducing, quarreling, challenging to fight or fighting, or fires any gun or pistol, or uses any vulgar, profane or indecent language within the presence or hearing of children, in a loud and boisterous manner, is guilty of a misdemeanor. DOING BUSINESS WITHOUT LICENSE. Every person who commences or carries on any business, trade, profession or calling, for the transaction or carrying on of which a license is required by any law of this state, without taking out or procuring the license prescribed by such law, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. (1) For the purpose of this section: (a) "Household member" means a person who is a spouse, former spouse, or a person who has a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or a person with whom a person is cohabiting, whether or not they have married or have held themselves out to be husband or wife. (b) "Traumatic injury" means a condition of the body, such as a wound or external or internal injury, whether of a minor or serious nature, caused by physical force. (2) (a) Any household member who in committing a battery, as defined in State Code, inflicts a traumatic injury upon any other household member is guilty of a felony. (b) A conviction of felony domestic battery is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed ten (10) years or by a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by both fine and imprisonment. (3) (a) A household member who commits an assault, as defined in State Code, against another household member which does not result in traumatic injury is guilty of a misdemeanor domestic assault. (b) A household member who commits a battery, as defined in section 18-903, Idaho Code, against another household member which does not result in traumatic injury is guilty of a misdemeanor domestic battery. (c) A first conviction under this subsection (3) is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed six (6) months, or both. Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of this subsection (3) who previously has pled guilty to or been found guilty of a violation of this subsection (3), or of any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment, within ten (10) years of the first conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed one (1) year or by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000) or by both fine and imprisonment. Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of this subsection (3) who previously has pled guilty to or been found guilty of two (2) violations of this subsection (3), or of any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation or any combination thereof, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment, within fifteen (15) years of the first conviction, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed five (5) years or by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by both fine and imprisonment. (4) The maximum penalties provided in this section shall be doubled where the act of domestic assault or battery for which the person is convicted or pleads guilty took place in the presence of a child. For purposes of this section, "in the presence of a child" means in the physical presence of a child or knowing that a child is present and may see or hear an act of domestic assault or battery. For purposes of this section, "child" means a person under sixteen (16) years of age. (5) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any person who previously has pled guilty to or been found guilty of a felony violation of the provisions of this section or of any substantially conforming foreign criminal felony violation, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment, and who within fifteen (15) years pleads guilty to or is found guilty of any further violation of this section, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed ten (10) years or by a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (6) For the purposes of this section, a substantially conforming foreign criminal violation exists when a person has pled guilty to or been found guilty of a violation of any federal law or law of another state, or any valid county, city or town ordinance of another state, substantially conforming with the provisions of this section. The determination of whether a foreign criminal violation is substantially conforming is a question of law to be determined by the court. (7) (a) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of this section shall undergo, at the person's own expense, an evaluation by a person, agency or organization approved by the court in accordance with paragraph (c) of this subsection to determine whether the defendant should be required to obtain aggression counseling or other appropriate treatment. Such evaluation shall be completed prior to the sentencing date if the court's list of approved evaluators, in accordance with paragraph (c) of this subsection, contains evaluators who are able to perform the evaluation prior to the sentencing dates. If the evaluation recommends counseling or other treatment, the evaluation shall recommend the type of counseling or treatment considered appropriate for the defendant, together with the estimated costs thereof, and shall recommend any other suitable alternative counseling or treatment programs, together with the estimated costs thereof. The defendant shall request that a copy of the completed evaluation be forwarded to the court. The court shall take the evaluation into consideration in determining an appropriate sentence. If a copy of the completed evaluation has not been provided to the court, the court may proceed to sentence the defendant; however, in such event, it shall be presumed that counseling is required unless the defendant makes a showing by a preponderance of evidence that counseling is not required. If the defendant has not made a good faith effort to provide the completed copy of the evaluation to the court, the court may consider the failure of the defendant to provide the report as an aggravating circumstance in determining an appropriate sentence. If counseling or other treatment is ordered, in no event shall the person, agency or organization doing the evaluation be the person, agency or organization that provides the counseling or other treatment unless this requirement is waived by the sentencing court, with the exception of federally recognized Indian tribes or federal military installations, where diagnosis and treatment are appropriate and available. Nothing herein contained shall preclude the use of funds authorized for court-ordered counseling or treatment pursuant to this section for indigent defendants as provided by law. In the event that funding is provided for or on behalf of the defendant by a governmental entity, the defendant shall be ordered to make restitution to such governmental entity in accordance with the restitution procedure for crime victims, as specified under State Code.
(b) If the evaluation recommends counseling or other treatment, the court shall order the person to complete the counseling or other treatment in addition to any other sentence which may be imposed. If the court determines that counseling or treatment would be inappropriate or undesirable, the court shall enter findings articulating the reasons for such determination on the record. The court shall order the defendant to complete the preferred counseling or treatment program set forth in the evaluation, or a comparable alternative, unless it appears that the defendant cannot reasonably obtain adequate financial resources for such counseling or treatment. In that event, the court may order the defendant to complete a less costly alternative set forth in the evaluation or a comparable program. Nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed as requiring a court to order that counseling or treatment be provided at government expense unless otherwise required by law. (c) Each judicial district shall by rule establish a uniform system for the qualification and approval of persons, agencies or organizations to perform the evaluations required in this subsection. Only qualified evaluators approved by the court shall be authorized to perform such evaluations. Funds to establish a system for approval of evaluators shall be derived from moneys designated therefor and deposited in the district court fund as provided in State Code. (d) Counseling or treatment ordered pursuant to this section shall be conducted according to standards established or approved by the State council on domestic violence. DRAWING CHECK WITHOUT FUNDS -- DRAWING CHECK WITH INSUFFICIENT FUNDS -- PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF INTENT -- STANDING OF PERSON HAVING ACQUIRED RIGHTS -- PROBATION CONDITIONS. (a) Any person who for himself or as the agent or representative of another or as an officer of a corporation, willfully, with intent to defraud shall make or draw or utter or deliver, or cause to be made, drawn, uttered or delivered, any check, draft or order for the payment of money upon any bank or depositary, or person, or firm, or corporation, knowing at the time of such making, drawing, uttering or delivery that the maker or drawer has no funds in or credit with such bank or depositary, or person, or firm, or corporation, for the payment in full of such check, draft or order upon its presentation, although no express representation is made with reference thereto, shall upon conviction be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed three (3) years or by a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment. (b) Any person who for himself or as the agent or representative of another or as an officer of a corporation, willfully, with intent to defraud shall make, draw, utter or deliver, or cause to be made, drawn, uttered or delivered, any check, draft or order for the payment of money in the sum of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more, or any series of transactions as defined in subsection (f) of this section, upon any bank or depositary, or person, or firm, or corporation, knowing at the time of such making, drawing, uttering or delivery that the maker or drawer has some but not sufficient funds in or credit with such bank or depositary, or person, or firm, or corporation, for the full payment of such check, draft or order or series of transactions upon presentation, although no express representation is made with reference thereto, shall upon conviction be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed three (3) years, or by a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (c) Any person who for himself or as the agent or representative of another or as an officer of a corporation, willfully, with intent to defraud, shall make, draw, utter or deliver, or cause to be made, drawn, uttered, or delivered, any check, draft or order for payment of money, in a sum less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250), which is not part of a series of transactions as defined in subsection (f) of this section, upon any bank or depositary, or person, or firm, or corporation, knowing at the time of such making, drawing, uttering or delivery that the maker or drawer has some but not sufficient funds in or credit with such bank or depositary, or firm, or person, or corporation, for the full payment of such check, draft or order upon its presentation, although no express representation is made with reference thereto, shall upon conviction for a first offense be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment; and upon a second conviction the person so convicted shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment; provided, however, that upon a third or subsequent conviction, the person so convicted shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not exceeding three (3) years, or by a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (d) As against the maker or drawer thereof, the making, drawing, uttering or delivering of such check, draft or order as aforesaid shall be prima facie evidence of intent to defraud and of knowledge of no funds or insufficient funds, as the case may be, in or credit with such bank, or depositary, or person, or firm, or corporation, for the payment in full of such check, draft or order upon its presentation. This prima facie intent to defraud and knowledge of no funds or insufficient funds, as the case may be, shall not be negated by evidence that the check draft or order was for payment of a preexisting debt, including open accounts. The word "credit" as used herein shall be construed to mean an arrangement or understanding with the bank or depositary, or person, or firm, or corporation upon whom such check, draft or order is drawn for the payment of such check, draft or order. (e) Any person having acquired rights with respect to a check which is not paid because the drawer has no funds, no account or insufficient funds, shall have standing to file a complaint under this section, regardless of whether he is the payee, holder or bearer of the check. (f) For purposes of this section a "series of transactions" means a series of checks, drafts or orders for the payment of money which are less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) individually but in the aggregate total two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more, and which are made, uttered, drawn or delivered in violation of this section as part of a common scheme or plan. (g) If a sentence of probation is ordered for violation of this section, the court as a condition of probation may require the defendant to make restitution on all checks issued and which are unpaid at the date of commencement of the probation in addition to any other terms and conditions appropriate for the treatment and rehabilitation of the defendant.
DRINKING AGE Drinking Age is 21, as that is what all the laws have been stated as thus far in the game history, and all bars are ICly using as their cut-off point. We can however, make a change to the IC Laws to make the age 18, and could be an interesting TP to have process. Check with your Storyteller to see if the age is different in your game setting. DRIVING: It is illegal to drive along Bourbon. Cross-street traffic is allowed (as in crossing Bourbon while driving along St. Peter). There are concrete barriers to prevent driving along Bourbon. It's not only illegal, it's practically impossible. DRIVING WITHOUT PRIVILEGES. (1) Any person who drives or is in actual physical control of any motor vehicle upon the highways of this state with knowledge or who has received legal notice pursuant to section 49-320, Idaho Code, that his driver's license, driving privileges or permit to drive is revoked, disqualified or suspended in this state or any other jurisdiction is guilty of a misdemeanor. (2) A person has knowledge that his license, driving privileges or permit to drive is revoked, disqualified or suspended when: (a) He has actual knowledge of the revocation, disqualification or suspension of his license, driving privileges or permit to drive; or (b) He has received oral or written notice from a verified, authorized source, that his license, driving privileges or permit to drive was revoked, disqualified or suspended; or (c) Notice of the suspension, disqualification or revocation of his license, driving privileges or permit to drive was mailed by first class mail to his address pursuant to section 49-320, Idaho Code, as shown in the transportation department records, and he failed to receive the notice or learn of its contents as a result of his own unreasonable, intentional or negligent conduct or his failure to keep the transportation department apprised of his mailing address as required by section 49-320, Idaho Code; or (d) He has knowledge of, or a reasonable person in his situation exercising reasonable diligence would have knowledge of, the existence of facts or circumstances which, under Idaho law, might have caused the revocation, disqualification or suspension of his license, driving privileges or permit to drive. (3) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of subsection (1) for the first time: (a) Shall be sentenced to jail for a mandatory minimum period of not less than two (2) days, and may be sentenced to not more than six (6) months, provided however, that in the discretion of the sentencing judge, the judge may authorize the defendant to be assigned to a work release or work detail program within the custody of the county sheriff during the period of incarceration, or, if the underlying suspension that resulted in the violation of this section is not a suspension resulting from an offense identified in subsection (8) of this section, the judge may authorize an equivalent amount of community service in lieu of jail, or any equivalent combination of these options; (b) May be fined an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000); and (c) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for an additional six (6) months following the end of any period of suspension, disqualification or revocation existing at the time of the violation; the defendant may request restricted driving privileges during the period of the suspension or disqualification, which the court may allow if the defendant shows by a preponderance of the evidence that driving privileges are necessary for his employment, education or for family health needs. (4) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of subsection (1) for a second time within five (5) years, irrespective of the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s): (a) Shall be sentenced to jail for a mandatory minimum period of not less than twenty (20) days, and may be sentenced to not more than one (1) year, provided however, that in the discretion of the sentencing judge, the judge may authorize the defendant to be assigned to a work release or work detail program within the custody of the county sheriff during the period of incarceration, or, if the underlying suspension that resulted in the violation of this section is not a suspension resulting from an offense identified in subsection (8) of this section, the judge may authorize an equivalent amount of community service in lieu of jail, or any equivalent combination of these options; (b) May be fined an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000); and (c) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for an additional one (1) year following the end of any period of suspension, disqualification or revocation existing at the time of the second violation, during the first thirty (30) days of which time he shall have absolutely no driving privileges of any kind. The defendant may request restricted driving privileges during the period of the suspension or disqualification, to begin after the period of absolute suspension, which the court may allow if the defendant shows by a preponderance of the evidence that driving privileges are necessary for his employment, education or for family health needs. (5) Any person who has pled guilty to or been found guilty of more than two (2) violations of the provisions of subsection (1) of this section within five (5) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s), is guilty of a misdemeanor; and (a) Shall be sentenced to the county jail for a mandatory minimum period of not less than thirty (30) days, and may be sentenced to not more than one (1) year; provided, however, that in the discretion of the sentencing judge, the judge may authorize the defendant to be assigned to a work release or work detail program within the custody of the county sheriff during the period of incarceration, or, if the underlying suspension that resulted in the violation of this section is not a suspension resulting from an offense identified in subsection (8) of this section, the judge may authorize an equivalent amount of community service in lieu of jail, or any equivalent combination of these options;
(b) May be fined an amount not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000); and (c) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for an additional two (2) years following the end of any period of suspension, disqualification or revocation existing at the time of the violation, during the first ninety (90) days of which time he shall have absolutely no driving privileges of any kind. The defendant may request restricted driving privileges during the period of the suspension or disqualification, to begin after the period of absolute suspension, which the court may allow if the defendant shows by a preponderance of the evidence that driving privileges are necessary for his employment, education or for family health needs. (6) A minor may be prosecuted for a violation of subsection (1) of this section under chapter 5, title 20, Idaho Code. (7) If a person is convicted for a violation of section 18-8004, 18-8004C or 18-8006, Idaho Code, and at the time of arrest had no driving privileges, the penalties imposed by this section shall be in addition to any penalties imposed under the provisions of section 18-8005, 18-8004A, 18-8004C or 18-8006, Idaho Code, and not in lieu thereof. (8) For purposes of this section, the offenses referred to in subsections (3)(a), (4)(a) and (5)(a) of this section are: (a) transporting a minor in a motor vehicle while under the influence; (b) vehicular manslaughter; (c) driving without privileges; (d) driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances; (e) excessive alcohol concentration; (f) aggravated driving while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other intoxicating substances; (g) leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death; (h) required motor vehicle insurance; (i) certificate or proof of liability insurance to be carried in motor vehicle; (j) reckless driving; (k) eluding a police officer; (l) operating a vehicle without liability insurance; or any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation. (9) In no event shall a person be granted restricted driving privileges unless the person shows proof of liability insurance or other proof of financial responsibility, as provided in State Code. DRUG TRAFFIC SUPPLY CHAIN, CRIMINAL. Criminal Drug Traffic Supply Chain, regardless of which group it is (Columbian, Chiu-Chau, Yakuza, Mexican, etc as the title will change but their responsibilities will not). The number represents the number of successes needed to discover the names/identities of the person if you are not one of the chain (A rival group). If the person searching for a name or group in the structure is part of the chain, their level is considered 0 and the numbers count up from there. Ex - Joe is a Large-Scale wholesaler. Distributor would be 1, Importer would be 2, etc. To reverse the chain as well, it is easier to look down the chain than it is to look up it, as the vested interest is in distributing, though a Manufacturer would still be hard pressed to find out who an end-user was, as their product could be anywhere in the world. The Higher in the chain also has the added benefit that they can put pressure on those below them to give them the information, while those below cannot do the same upwards, which would vary the difficulty. Upchain/Downchain Successes.....................Group Level 6/*...............................Manufacturers 5/0...............................Processors 4/0...............................Importers/Exporters 3/1...............................Distributors 2/2...............................Large-scale wholesalers 1/3...............................Small-scale wholesalers and apartment dealers 0/4...............................Street and appointment dealers, user-sellers */5...............................End-users Difficulties: Member of the group looking down the chain Member of the group looking up the chain Non-Member of the group in a similar (drug) trade Non-Member of the group in a different (drug) trade Non-Member of the group in a totally different criminal trade Non-Member of the group in a legal trade Non-Member of the group in law enforcement 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
City Suppliers - Specific group name to be determined: Coke/Crack Amphetamine Designer Party Drug Heroin/Opium Marijuana Ecstasy LSD Suppliers are from Cuba. Suppliers are an Yakuza Clan Suppliers are from the US. Suppliers are a Triad/Tong. Suppliers are from Mexico. Suppliers are a Triad/Tong. Suppliers are from the US.
DUTY TO REPORT WOUNDS OR DEATH (a) Every person who gains knowledge of a death or injury resulting from a knife wound, bullet wound, powder burn, or sustained in a suspicious or unusual manner or under conditions suggesting poisoning or violence, shall make a report thereof immediately, and in any case within five days of obtaining such knowledge, to the nearest law enforcement official or to any police officer or to the Chief of Police. Said report shall state: (1) The name and location of injured or deceased persons; (2) The date of injury or death, or date of gaining knowledge thereof by informant, if date of injury or death is unknown; (3) The cause and manner of injury or death; (4) The name of the person causing injury or death, if known. (b) No person making a report in compliance with this section shall be deemed to have violated the confidential relationship existing between doctor and patient. (c) Copies of such report shall be furnished without charge to the State Public Defender at his request. (d) Any person violating subsection (a) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $500.00, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
E
ELECTIONS -- ADDING TO OR SUBTRACTING FROM VOTES. Every person who wilfully adds to or subtracts from the votes actually cast at an election in any returns, or who alters such returns, is guilty of a felony. ELECTIONS -- AIDING AND ABETTING ELECTION OFFENSES. Every person who aids or abets in the commission of any of the offenses mentioned in the four preceding sections, is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for the period of six months, or in the state prison not exceeding two years. ELECTIONS -- ATTEMPT OF OFFICER TO ASCERTAIN VOTE. Every officer, judge, or clerk of an election, who, previous to putting the ballot of an elector in the ballot box, attempts to find out any name on such ballot, or who opens, or suffers the folded ballot of any elector which has been handed in, to be opened or examined previous to putting the same into the ballot box, or who makes, or places any mark or device on any folded ballot, with a view to ascertain the name of any person for whom the elector has voted, or who, without the consent of the elector, discloses the name of any person which such officer, judge, or clerk has fraudulently or illegally discovered to have been voted for by such elector, is punishable by fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than $500. ELECTIONS -- ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE VOTES. No person shall attempt to influence the vote of any elector by means of a promise or a favor, or by means of violence or threats of violence, or threats of withdrawing custom or dealing in business or trade, or enforcing the payment of a debt, or discharging from employment, or bringing a suit or criminal prosecution, or any other threat of injury to be inflicted by him, or by any other means. ELECTIONS -- ATTEMPTING TO VOTE WHEN NOT QUALIFIED, OR TO REPEAT VOTING. Every person not entitled to vote, who fraudulently attempts to vote, or who, after being entitled to vote, attempts to vote more than once at any election, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ELECTIONS -- BETTING ON ELECTIONS. Every person who makes, offers, or accepts any bet or wager upon the result of any election, or upon the success or failure of any person or candidate, or upon the number of votes to be cast, either in the aggregate or for any particular candidate, or upon the vote to be cast by any person, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ELECTIONS -- BRIBERY OF ELECTORS. No person shall in any way offer a bribe to an elector to influence his vote. ELECTIONS -- DESTROYING OR DEFACING SUPPLIES. No person shall, during the election, remove or destroy any of the supplies or conveniences placed in the booths or compartments for the purpose of enabling the voter to prepare his ballot, or prior to, or on the day of election, wilfully deface or destroy any list of candidates posted in accordance with the provisions of title 34 concerning elections. No person shall, during an election, tear down or deface the cards printed for the instruction of voters. Every person wilfully violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding $100.00. ELECTIONS -- ELECTION OFFENSES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR. Every person who wilfully violates any of the provisions of the laws of this state relating to elections is, unless a different punishment for such violation is prescribed by law, punishable by fine not exceeding $1,000, or by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or by both. ELECTIONS -- ELECTIONEERING AT POLLS. (1) On the day of any primary, general or special election, no person may, within a polling place, or any building in which an election is being held, or on private property within one hundred (100) feet thereof, or on public property within three hundred (300) feet thereof: (a) Do any electioneering; (b) Circulate cards or handbills of any kind; (c) Solicit signatures to any kind of petition; or (d) Engage in any practice which interferes with the freedom of voters to exercise their franchise or disrupts the administration of the polling place.
(2) No person may obstruct the doors or entries to a building in which a polling place is located or prevent free access to and from any polling place. (3) Any election officer, sheriff, constable or other peace officer is hereby authorized, and it is hereby made the duty of such officer, to arrest any person violating the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, and such offender shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor exceeding one hundred dollars ($100). ELECTIONS -- FALSE SWEARING AS TO QUALIFICATIONS AS VOTER. Every person who, upon his right to vote being challenged at any election held under the laws of this state, wilfully, corruptly and falsely swears touching his qualifications as a voter, is guilty of perjury. ELECTIONS -- FORGING OR COUNTERFEITING RETURNS. Every person who forges or counterfeits returns of an election purporting to have been held at a precinct, town, or ward where no election was in fact held, or wilfully substitutes forged or counterfeit returns of election in the place of the true returns for a precinct, town, or ward where an election was actually held, is guilty of a felony. ELECTIONS -- FRAUDULENT PERMISSION OF REGISTRATION. Any registry agent, or other person, who in any manner shall wilfully or corruptly permit any person not entitled to registration or to a certificate of registration, to be registered or have a certificate of registration, or who delays or fails to deliver the certified copies of the official register and the check list to the judges of election as required by law, or who permits any person to register after the date on which the registration books close, or who shall otherwise wilfully or corruptly violate any of the provisions of the law governing elections, the penalty for which is not herein specially prescribed, shall be punished for each and every offense by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, or by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $2,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. ELECTIONS -- ILLEGAL REGISTRATION BY VOTER. Any person who shall wilfully cause, or endeavor to cause, his name to be registered in any other election district than that in which he resides, or will reside prior to the day of the next ensuing election, except as herein otherwise provided, and any person who shall cause, or endeavor to cause, his name to be registered, knowing that he is not a qualified elector, and will not be a qualified elector on or before the day of the next ensuing election, in the election district in which he causes or endeavors to cause such registry to be made, and any person who shall induce, aid or abet any one in the commission of either of the acts in this section enumerated and described, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than $500.00, or be confined in the county jail for not less than one (1) month nor more than six (6) months, or both. ELECTIONS -- ILLEGAL VOTING OR INTERFERENCE WITH ELECTION. Every person not entitled to vote, who fraudulently votes, and every person who votes more than once at any one election, or knowingly hands in two (2) or more tickets folded together, or changes any ballot after the same has been deposited in the ballot box, or adds, or attempts to add, any ballot to those legally polled at any election, either by fraudulently introducing the same into the ballot box before or after the ballots therein have been counted, or adds to or mixes with, or attempts to add to or mix with, the ballots lawfully polled, other ballots, while the same are being counted or canvassed, or at any other time, with intent to change the result of such election; or carries away or destroys, or attempts to carry away or destroy, any poll list, or ballots, or ballot box, for the purpose of breaking up or invalidating such election, or wilfully detains, mutilates, or destroys any election returns, or in any manner so interferes with the officers holding such election or conducting such canvass, or with the voters lawfully exercising their rights of voting at such election, as to prevent such election or canvass from being fairly held and lawfully conducted, is guilty of a felony. ELECTIONS -- INTIMIDATION, CORRUPTION AND FRAUDS. Every person who, by force, threats, menaces, bribery, or any corrupt means, either directly or indirectly attempts to influence any elector in giving his vote, or to deter him from giving the same, or attempts by any means whatever, to awe, restrain, hinder or disturb any elector in the free exercise of the right of suffrage, or furnishes any elector wishing to vote, who can not read, with a ticket, informing or giving such elector to understand that it contains a name written or printed thereon different from the name which is written or printed thereon, or defrauds any elector at any such election, by deceiving and causing such elector to vote for a different person, for any office, than he intended or desired to vote for; or who, being officer, judge, or clerk of any election, while acting as such, induces, or attempts to induce, any elector, either by menace or reward, or promise thereof, to vote differently from what such elector intended or desired to vote, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
ELECTIONS -- OFFICERS ATTEMPTING TO CHANGE RESULT. Every officer or clerk of election who aids in changing or destroying any poll list, or in placing any ballots in the ballot box, or taking any therefrom, or adds, or attempts to add, any ballots to those legally polled at such election, either by fraudulently introducing the same into the ballot box before or after the ballots therein have been counted or adds to or mixes with, or attempts to add to or mix with the ballots polled any other ballots, while the same are being counted or canvassed, or at any other time, with intent to change the result of such election, or allows another to do so when in his power to prevent it, or carries away or destroys, or knowingly allows another to carry away or destroy, any poll list, ballot box or ballots lawfully polled, is guilty of a felony. ELECTIONS -- OFFICIAL NEGLECT OR MALFEASANCE. Every person charged with the performance of any duty, under the provisions of any law of this state relating to elections, who wilfully neglects or refuses to perform it, or who, in his official capacity, knowingly and fraudulently acts in contravention or violation of any of the provisions of such laws, is, unless a different punishment for such acts or omissions is prescribed by this Code, punishable by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or by both and shall in addition thereto, and regardless of whether or not criminal prosecution is undertaken, be subject to removal from office as provided in State Code. ELECTIONS -- PLACING PLACARDS IN BOOTHS. Any person or officer of election who shall put, or permit to be put, into a voting booth, any placard, notice or device, except the sample ballots and cards of instruction as by law provided, intended or likely to call the attention of the voter to any candidate, or to urge the voter to vote for any particular candidate, or shall put, or allow anything to be put, into such booths for the use or comfort of the voter whereby the claims of any candidate are urged upon the voter, either directly or indirectly, shall be imprisoned in the county jail not to exceed three (3) months, or fined not to exceed $500.00, or both. ELECTIONS -- PROCURING ILLEGAL VOTES. Every person who procures, aids, assists, counsels or advises another to give or offer his vote at any election, knowing that the person is not qualified to vote, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ELECTIONS -- REFUSAL TO BE SWORN OR TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. Every person who, after being required by the board of judges at any election, refuses to be sworn, or who, after being sworn, refuses to answer any pertinent question propounded by such board, touching his right, or the right of any other person, to vote, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ELECTIONS -- RIOTOUS CONDUCT AND INTERFERENCE WITH ELECTION. Any person who wilfully disturbs, or is guilty of any riotous conduct at or near, any election place or voting precinct, with intent to disturb the same, or interferes with the access of the electors to the polling place, or in any manner, with the free exercise of the election franchise of the voters, or any voter there assembled, or disturbs or interferes with the canvassing of the votes, or with the making of the returns, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ELECTIONS -- TAMPERING WITH CERTIFICATES OF NOMINATION OR BALLOTS. No person shall falsely make, or make oath to, or fraudulently deface, or fraudulently destroy, any certificate of nomination, or any part thereof, or file, or receive for filing, any certificate of nomination, or letter of withdrawal, knowing the same or any part thereof to be falsely made, or suppress any certificate of nomination which has been duly filed, or any part thereof, or wilfully delay the delivery of any ballots, or forge or falsely make the official indorsement on the ballot, or wilfully destroy any ballot. Every person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a period of not less than one year nor more than five years. ELECTIONS -- HOW TO DETERMINE AN IN GAME WINNER The city is split into different political wards and for simplicities sake each ward has one hundred thousand (100,000) people able to vote. These one hundred thousand people are swayable through BUSINESS and FAMILY. To sway BUSINESS the Mayoral candidate will roll their PUBLIC SPEAKING + BUREAUCRACY or FINANCE at a base difficulty of 6. Each success being five percent (5%) of the vote. A failure meaning no or little effect and a botch meaning an enraged ward that turns against the candidate and may raise difficulties elsewhere. To sway FAMILY the Mayoral candidate will roll their PUBLIC SPEAKING + CHARISMA/POLITICS or MANIPULATION at a base difficulty of 6. Again each success being five percent (5%) of the vote. A failure meaning no or little effect and a botch meaning an enraged ward that turns against the candidate and may raise difficulties elsewhere. Great successes or botches will be reported through the various media available. All rolls will be done by the Storyteller to ensure everything is above board and fair. This is politics afterall.
AREA
POLITICAL CANDIDATE #1 BUSINESS FAMILY TOTAL Ward 1 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Ward 2 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Ward 3 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Ward 4 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Ward 5 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Ward 6 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Ward 7 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Ward 8 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Ward 9 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Ward 10 ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS Candidate with the highest total number of successes, wins. ____# SUCCS
POLITICAL CANDIDATE #2 BUSINESS FAMILY ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS ____# SUCCS
TOTAL
ELECTRIC LINES -- PUNISHMENT FOR INJURING. Any person who shall wilfully cut down or burn, or otherwise materially injure, any electric light pole, or shall shoot so as to materially injure any insulator, or knock said insulator loose from the pole to which it is attached, or otherwise materially injure such insulator, or who shall shoot any electric light wire, thereby breaking said wire, or who shall otherwise wilfully cut, break, or injure such wire, shall, upon conviction be guilty of a misdemeanor. ELECTRIC LINES OR PLANTS, BURNING OF. It shall be unlawful for any person within the state of Idaho to set fire, wilfully or maliciously, that shall result in the destruction or injury of any line erected or constructed for the transmission of electrical current, or any poles, conduits, cables, wires, insulators or any support upon which wires or cables may be suspended, or any part of any such line or appurtenances or apparatus connected therewith, or any house, shop, building or other structure, or appurtenances thereto, or machinery connected therewith, or necessary to the use of, any line erected or constructed for the transmission of electrical current, or to set fire that shall in any manner interrupt the transmission of electrical current along such line. Any person found gulty of this act is guilty of a felony. ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION LINES, REMOVAL OR DESTRUCTION OF. It shall be unlawful for anyone within the state of Idaho to take down, remove, injure, obstruct, displace or destroy, wilfully or maliciously and without the consent of the owner, any line erected or constructed for the transmission of electrical current, or any poles, wires, conduits, cables, insulators, or any support upon which wires or cables may be suspended, or any part of any such line or appurtenances or apparatus connected therewith, or to sever any wire or cable thereof, or in any manner to interrupt the transmission of electrical current over and along any such line, or to take down, remove, injure or destroy any house, shop, building or other structure, or appurtenances thereto, or any machinery connected therewith or necessary to the use of any line erected or constructed for the transmission of electrical current: Provided, nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent any person, after having given ten days' written notice, from removing or causing to be removed from his premises, or premises occupied by him, any of the above described line or lines, wires, conduits, cables, insulators or apparatus connected therewith; provided further, any such removals must be made by or under the direction of a skillful and competent electrician. EMERGENCY SERVICE (Making a 911 Call) If you need to make an IC 911 call, you must remember that this IS IC, and will be recorded. You will be asked the nature of the emergency, when and where it happened, and if you were involved, or if you know who is involved in it. Descriptions of the scene will be important, so be prepared to do so upon request. The phone call will also be traced, so do not expect to be anonymous. NOTE: Being a Police Officer/Federal Agent does not automaticallty give you the right to listen to all the 911 calls. The Police issued scanners are set up for your radio communications. You must request one through correct procedures. ENTICING OF CHILDREN. (1) A person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if that person attempts to persuade, or persuades, whether by words or actions or both, a minor child under the age of sixteen (16) years to either: (a) Leave the child's home or school; or (b) Enter a vehicle or building; or (c) Enter a structure or enclosed area, or alley, with the intent that the child shall be concealed from public view; while the person is acting without the authority of (i) the custodial parent of the child, (ii) the State or a political subdivision thereof or (iii) one having legal custody of the minor child.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prevent the lawful detention of a minor child or the rendering of aid or assistance to a minor child. (2) Every person who is convicted of a violation of the provisions of this section shall be punished by imprisonment in the county or municipal jail for not more than six (6) months or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment. A person convicted a second or subsequent time of violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of time of not more than five (5) years. ENTICING OF CHILDREN OVER THE INTERNET -- PENALTIES -- JURISDICTION. (1) A person aged eighteen (18) years or older shall be guilty of a felony if he or she knowingly uses the internet to solicit, seduce, lure, persuade or entice by words or actions, or both, a minor child under the age of sixteen (16) years or a person the defendant believes to be a minor child under the age of sixteen (16) years to engage in any sexual act with or against the child where such act is a violation of State Code. (2) Every person who is convicted of a violation of this section shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) years. (3) It shall not constitute a defense against any charge or violation of this section that a law enforcement officer, peace officer, or other person working at the direction of law enforcement was involved in the detection or investigation of a violation of this section. (4) The offense is committed in the State for purposes of determining jurisdiction if the transmission that constitutes the offense either originates in or is received in the State. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. An example story about how these can progress: Alongside the Mississippi River in southern Louisiana, a tiny, predominantly African-American community called Convent (population 2052) is locked in struggle with a giant Japanese chemical corporation called Shintech. In 1996, Shintech announced plans to spend $700 million building 3 chemical factories and an incinerator next to homes and schools in Convent, but the local people are just saying No. Each year, the Shintech plant in Convent would produce 1.1 billion pounds of polyvinyl chloride (PVC, better known as vinyl). Shintech officials acknowledge that their "state of the art" plant would be permitted to emit 611,700 pounds of toxic air contaminants each year, many of them known to be potent carcinogens. That's almost 300 pounds of industrial poisons for each man, woman and child in Convent each year. The people of Convent see Shintech's plan as a continuation of years of race, class and environmental injustice --more disadvantaged people being dumped on by the chemical industry. The chemical industry sees it as a continuation of past triumphs. What began as a local struggle to stop Shintech in Louisiana has grown into a national and international debate over (a) the power of civil rights laws to stop polluting industries from locating in communities of color, and (b) the need for a phase-out of PVC. Under Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, residents of Convent have filed a complaint with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), charging that their civil rights were violated by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's [LDEQ] 1997 decision to issue air permits to Shintech. EPA's regulations under Title VI prohibit racial discrimination either as an intent or consequence of state environmental agency actions. The civil rights law gives EPA the authority to intervene in state permitting decisions. Living with over 16 million pounds of toxic air releases every year from ten surrounding industries, Convent residents make a very strong case that the state of Louisiana has been guilty of environmental racism for years. Convent is located in St. James Parish, in the heart of "Cancer Alley," the 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans where there are presently over 140 petrochemical and other industrial plants. (In Louisiana, counties are called parishes.) Convent is over 80% African-American, and 40% of its 2052 residents live at or below poverty level. According to EPA's ongoing Title VI investigation, Shintech would expose the African-American population in St. James Parish to anywhere from 71% to 242% more airborne industrial poisons than the white population. In 1995, 10 facilities within 4.5 miles of the two elementary schools in Convent emitted over 16 million pounds of toxic air pollutants, an average of 250,000 pounds of industrial poisons per square mile; the national average is 382 pounds per square mile. A recent study examining cancer deaths in St. James Parish found an excess mortality of 41% for whites and 59% for African- Americans for the years 1979-1992. Four years before Shintech announced its plans for Convent, the Louisiana State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report on environmental racism in Louisiana. The Committee concluded that, "many black communities located along the industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans are disproportionately impacted by the present State and local government system for permitting and expansion of hazardous waste and chemical facilities.... In spite of the disproportionate impact upon certain communities, the State and local governments have failed to establish regulations or safeguards to ensure such communities are reasonably protected from a high concentration of hazardous waste and industrial facilities and risk associated with living in and around such facilities." During more than two years of battle, Convent area residents have been steadfast in their opposition to Shintech. Some residents say they oppose Shintech because they want a healthy future for their children and grandchildren. Others base their opposition on the environmental degradation of their community that has already occurred as a result of massive industrial development.
Under the banner cry "Enough is enough!" residents have joined together to form St. James Citizens for Jobs and the Environment. Reaching out to a diverse coalition of supporters, residents have gained the help of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC, founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), EPA's National Environmental Advisory Committee (NEJAC), and all of the members of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus. Residents are united in their opposition to Shintech and their unity crosses racial lines. As one newspaper reported, "Had the Romeville Elementary School [where a Shintech permit hearing was held in January] been a boat it would have capsized. One side was filled with Shintech opponents, the other side a small group of Shintech supporters." In March of this year, EPA issued its INTERIM GUIDANCE FOR INVESTIGATING TITLE VI ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINTS challenging new pollution permits. EPA's GUIDANCE document was intended to help EPA's Office of Civil Rights process a backlog of citizens' complaints that allege discrimination resulting from the issuance of environmental permits. As of August, 58 Title VI complaints had been filed with EPA. EPA has acknowledged that the Shintech case is shaping its Title VI policy. A corporate backlash has developed against EPA's Title VI initiative, led by the National Association of Manufacturers. The Environmental Council of States (an association of state environmental agencies), the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and a number of corporate-funded think tanks such as the Washington Legal Foundation have been vocal in criticizing the emerging Title VI guidance or calling for its elimination. Corporate critics charge that EPA's efforts to enforce the civil rights law will derail other federal programs, such as brownfields, which is EPA's plan to find new uses for Superfund dump sites in rundown urban areas. The Congressional Black Caucus says there is no conflict between Title VI and brownfields. They say the brownfields program requires meaningful community participation. A well-run brownfields project would not violate the civil rights of people of color because they would be involved in the program's design and implementation, the Caucus says. Nor would citizens object to a project if they saw that it provided jobs without threatening their health or environment. As Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) put it, "dirty industries are not the only option for revitalizing poor communities." None of the 58 Title VI complaints filed with EPA has involved a brownfields project. EPA was expected to issue a decision on the Shintech civil rights case this summer. However, in June, EPA asked its Science Advisory Board (SAB) to review its techniques for assessing disproportionate "burden." The SAB review has delayed further action. EPA's assessment of disproportionate "burden" combines 1990 census data and industry- reported air emissions estimates. Unfortunately, EPA has never independently assessed the quality of the industry-reported emissions data. An initial response from the SAB is expected in October. By deferring to its Science Advisory Board, EPA evidently hopes to appear scientific in its reasoning, not political. However, EPA has played politics in numerous attempts to offer residents lower emission levels from surrounding industries in exchange for the construction and operation of Shintech's chemical behemoth. Residents have consistently refused such offers, demanding that area industries should be reducing overall emissions even if Shintech is sent packing. Lawyers describe the Shintech case as a BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION for the environmental justice movement. (BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA was the federal lawsuit that ended the official policy of apartheid in U.S. schools, in 1954.) The ultimate decision by EPA or the courts will answer the $700 million question: can environmental regulators say "no" to Shintech in defense of an African-American community already enduring significantly elevated levels of industrial poisons in the air? The failure by Louisiana state government to protect the environment of communities of color, as reported by the state Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, has turned ugly. Louisiana authorities and corporations have launched --there is no other word for it --VICIOUS attacks against Convent residents and their supporters. Louisiana Governor Mike Foster first claimed the community favored the Shintech proposal. When that failed, Foster brutally maligned the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic for providing legal assistance to Convent residents and threatened to revoke Tulane University's tax exempt status. Foster's threats, multiplied by contributions from allied corporations, led the Louisiana Supreme Court in June to set draconian new rules that prohibit the Clinic from ever again representing a client group like the St. James Citizens for Jobs and the Environment --a stunning setback for any group that needs an attorney and can't afford one. The Foster administration has also investigated and threatened to take away the non-profit tax status of organizations that have opposed Shintech at public hearings (such as Louisiana Environmental Action Network [LEAN], Louisiana Communities United, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and others). Governor Foster has pledged to devote the resources of his entire administration to locating the Shintech PVC plant in Convent. As the Governor explained to a New Orleans newspaper columnist, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's (LDEQ) job is "to go out and make it as easy as they can within the law" for Shintech to get their permits Shintech Vice President of Manufacturing Erv Shroeder says, "Shintech's siting decision has been based upon its assessment of basic economic factors such as availability of raw materials, direct access to deep water and access to rail transportation. At no point during the site selection process did Shintech consider the racial composition or income-earning composition of the surrounding residents." But that is exactly the point. The people of Convent, just like many other communities that face the same kind of malign neglect, are tired of being treated as invisible by transnational corporations that are blind to everything except the local resources they can exploit. They say, "Enough is Enough!" ESCAPE Every person who, being a law enforcement officer, or having lawful custody of a prisoner, shall unlawfully, willfully or negligently allow said prisoner to depart from such custody, except by due process of law; or whosoever, being a prisoner, shall unlawfully and willfully depart from such custody, shall be guilty of escape, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than three years.
ESCAPE BY ONE CHARGED WITH OR CONVICTED OF A MISDEMEANOR -- ESCAPE BY A JUVENILE FROM CUSTODY. (1) (a) Every prisoner charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor who is confined in any county jail or other place or who is engaged in any county work outside of such jail or other place, or who is in the lawful custody of any officer or person, who escapes or attempts to escape therefrom, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (b) In cases involving escape or attempted escape by use of threat, intimidation, force, violence, injury to person or property other than that of the prisoner, or wherein the escape or attempted escape was perpetrated by use or possession of any weapon, tool, instrument or other substance, the prisoner shall be guilty of a felony. (2) Any person who is charged with, found to have committed, adjudicated for or is on probation for an offense which would be a misdemeanor if committed by an adult, and who is confined in a juvenile detention facility or other secure or nonsecure facility for juveniles and who escapes or attempts to escape from the facility or from the lawful custody of an officer or person, shall be subject to proceedings under the provisions of State Code, for an act which would be a misdemeanor if committed by an adult, or, if the escape or attempted escape was undertaken as provided in subsection (1)(b) of this section, for an offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult. If the juvenile is or has been proceeded against as an adult, pursuant to State Code, the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, or if subsection (1)(b) of this section applies, of a felony and, in either case, shall be subject to adult criminal proceedings. ESCAPE BY ONE CHARGED WITH, CONVICTED OF, OR ON PROBATION FOR A FELONY -- ESCAPE BY A JUVENILE FROM CUSTODY. (1) Every prisoner charged with, convicted of, or on probation for a felony who is confined in any correctional facility, as defined in State Code, including any private correctional facility, or who while outside the walls of such correctional facility in the proper custody of any officer or person, or while in any factory, farm or other place without the walls of such correctional facility, who escapes or attempts to escape from such officer or person, or from such correctional facility, or from such factory, farm or other place without the walls of such correctional facility, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof, any such second term of imprisonment shall commence at the time he would otherwise have been discharged. Escape shall be deemed to include abandonment of a job site or work assignment without the permission of an employment supervisor or officer. (2) Any person who is charged with, found to have committed, adjudicated for or is on probation for an offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult, and who is confined in a juvenile detention facility or other secure or nonsecure facility for juveniles and who escapes or attempts to escape from the facility or from the lawful custody of any officer or person shall be subject to proceedings under State Code, for an offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult. If the juvenile is or has been proceeded against as an adult, pursuant to State Code, the person shall be guilty of a felony for a violation of this section and shall be subject to adult criminal proceedings. EVASION OF TOLL. Every person not exempt from paying tolls who crosses on any ferry or toll bridge, or passes through any toll gate, lawfully kept, without paying the toll therefor and with intent to avoid such payment is punishable by fine not exceeding $20.00. EXAMINATION OF DEFENDANT -- APPOINTMENT OF PSYCHIATRISTS AND LICENSED PSYCHOLOGISTS -- HOSPITALIZATION -- REPORT. (1) Whenever there is reason to doubt the defendant's fitness to proceed as set forth in State Code, the court shall appoint at least one (1) qualified psychiatrist or licensed psychologist or shall request the director of the department of health and welfare to designate at least one (1) qualified psychiatrist or licensed psychologist to examine and report upon the mental condition of the defendant to assist counsel with defense or understand the proceedings. The appointed examiner shall also evaluate whether the defendant lacks capacity to make informed decisions about treatment. The costs of examination shall be paid by the defendant if he is financially able. The determination of ability to pay shall be made in accordance with State Code. (2) Within three (3) days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, of the appointment or designation, the examiner shall determine the best location for the examination. If practical, the examination shall be conducted locally on an outpatient basis. (3) If the examiner determines that confinement is necessary for purposes of the examination, the court may order the defendant to be confined to a jail, a hospital, or other suitable facility for that purpose for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days. The order of confinement shall require the county sheriff to transport the defendant to and from the facility and shall notify the facility of any known medical, behavioral, or security requirements of the defendant. The court, upon request, may make available to the examiner any court records relating to the defendant. (4) In such examination any method may be employed which is accepted by the examiner's profession for the examination of those alleged not to be competent to assist counsel in their defense. (5) Upon completion of the examination a report shall be submitted to the court and shall include the following: (a) a description of the nature of the examination; (b) a diagnosis or evaluation of the mental condition of the defendant; (c) an opinion as to the defendant's capacity to understand the proceedings against him and to assist in his own defense;
(d) an opinion whether the defendant lacks the capacity to make informed decisions about treatment. "Lack of capacity to make informed decisions about treatment" means the defendant's inability, by reason of his mental condition, to achieve a rudimentary understanding of the purpose, nature, and possible significant risks and benefits of treatment, after conscientious efforts at explanation. (6) If the examination cannot be conducted by reason of the unwillingness of the defendant to participate therein, the report shall so state and shall include, if possible, an opinion as to whether such unwillingness of the defendant was the result of mental disease or defect. (7) The report of the examination shall be filed in triplicate with the clerk of the court, who shall cause copies to be delivered to the prosecuting attorney and to counsel for the defendant. (8) When the defendant wishes to be examined by an expert of his own choice, such examiner shall be permitted to have reasonable access to the defendant for the purpose of examination. (9) In addition to the psychiatrist or licensed psychologist, the court may appoint additional experts to examine the defendant. In the event a defendant is suspected of being developmentally disabled, the examination shall proceed with those experts set out in State Code. (10) If the defendant lacks capacity to make informed decisions about treatment, as defined in State Code, the court may authorize consent to be given pursuant to State Code. If the defendant lacks capacity to make informed decisions as defined in State Code, the court may authorize consent to be given pursuant to State Code. (11) If the defendant was confined solely for the purpose of examination, he shall be released from the facility within three (3) days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays following notification of completion of the examination. EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION -- PENALTIES. Notwithstanding any provision of State Code, to the contrary: (1) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, for the first time, but who has an alcohol concentration of 0.20, as defined in State Code, or more, as shown by an analysis of his blood, breath or urine by a test requested by a police officer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and: (a) Shall be sentenced to jail for a mandatory minimum period of not less than ten (10) days the first forty-eight (48) hours of which must be consecutive, and may be sentenced to not more than one (1) year; (b) May be fined an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000); (c) Shall be advised by the court in writing at the time of sentencing, of the penalties that will be imposed for subsequent violations of the provisions of this section and violations of section 18-8004, Idaho Code, which advice shall be signed by the defendant, and a copy retained by the court and another copy retained by the prosecuting attorney; (d) Shall surrender his driver's license or permit to the court; (e) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for an additional mandatory minimum period of one (1) year after release from confinement, during which one (1) year period absolutely no driving privileges of any kind may be granted; and (2) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, and who has an alcohol concentration of 0.20, as defined in State Code, or more, as shown by an analysis of his blood, breath or urine by a test requested by a police officer, and who previously has been found guilty of or has pled guilty to one (1) or more violations of section 18-8004, Idaho Code, in which the person had an alcohol concentration of 0.20 or more, or any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation wherein the defendant had an alcohol concentration of 0.20 or more, or any combination thereof, within five (5) years, notwithstanding the form of judgment or withheld judgment shall be guilty of a felony; and: (a) Shall be sentenced to the custody of the state board of correction for not to exceed five (5) years; provided that notwithstanding the provisions of State Code, should the court impose any sentence other than incarceration in the state penitentiary, the defendant shall be sentenced to the county jail for a mandatory minimum period of not less than thirty (30) days; and further provided that notwithstanding the provisions of State Code, a conviction under this section shall be deemed a felony; (b) May be fined an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000); (c) Shall surrender his driver's license or permit to the court; and (d) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for a mandatory minimum period of one (1) year after release from imprisonment, and may have his driving privileges suspended by the court for not to exceed five (5) years after release from imprisonment, during which time he shall have absolutely no driving privileges of any kind; and (e) Shall, while operating a motor vehicle, be required to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning ignition interlock system, as provided in State Code, following the mandatory license suspension period. (3) All the provisions of State Code, not in conflict with or otherwise provided for in this section, shall apply to this section. (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any evidence of conviction under this section shall be admissible in any civil action for damages resulting from the occurrence. A conviction for the purposes of this section means that the person has pled guilty or has been found guilty, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment. EXHIBITION OF FALSE PAPERS TO PUBLIC OFFICERS. Every officer, agent or clerk of any corporation, or of any persons proposing to organize a corporation, or to increase the capital stock of any corporation, who knowingly exhibits any false, forged or altered book, paper, voucher, security or other instrument of evidence to any public officer or board, with intent to deceive such officer or board in respect thereto, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
EXPOSURE OF ANIMAL CARCASSES. Every person who puts the carcass of any dead animal, or the offal of any slaughter pen, corral or butcher shop, into any river, creek, pond, street, alley, public highway or road in common use, or who attempts to destroy the same by fire within one-fourth (1/4) of a mile of any city, town or village, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
F
FAILURE OF OFFICER TO ACCOUNT FOR FINES OR COSTS. If any clerk, justice of the peace, sheriff or constable who receives any fine or forfeiture or costs arising out of a judgment in a criminal action, refuses or neglects to pay over the same according to law, and within thirty (30) days after the receipt thereof, such officer is guilty of a misdemeanor. FAILURE TO APPEAR Every person set at liberty by court order, with or without bail, upon condition that he will subsequently appear at a specified time and place, who, without lawful excuse, fails to appear at that time and place, shall be guilty of failure to appear, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for not more than six months, or fined not more than $100.00, or both. FAILURE TO KEEP AND PAY OVER MONEY. Every officer charged with the receipt, safe keeping or disbursement of public moneys who neglects or fails to keep and pay over the same in the manner prescribed by law, is guilty of felony. FALSE ALARM TO AGENCIES OF PUBLIC SAFETY Every person who knowingly causes a false alarm of fire or other emergency to be transmitted to any organization or official dealing with emergencies involving danger to life or property, shall be guilty of false alarm, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than six months, or fined not more than $100.00, or both. FALSE CERTIFICATES OR OTHER INSTRUMENTS FROM OFFICERS. Every public officer authorized by law to make or give any certificate or other writing, who makes and delivers as true any such certificate or writing, containing statements which he knows to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor. FALSE ENTRIES IN BOOKS OF RECORD. Every person who, with intent to defraud another, makes, forges, or alters any entry in any book of records, or any instrument purporting to be any record or return specified in the preceding section, is guilty of forgery. FALSE EVIDENCE PREPARING. Every person guilty of preparing any false or antedated book, paper, record, instrument in writing, or other matter or thing, with intent to produce it, or allow it to be produced, for any fraudulent or deceitful purpose, as genuine or true, upon any trial, proceeding or inquiry whatever, authorized by law, is guilty of felony. FALSE IMPRISONMENT DEFINED. False imprisonment is the unlawful violation of the personal liberty of another. -- PUNISHMENT. False imprisonment is punishable by fine not exceeding $5000, or by imprisonment in the county jail not more than one (1) year, or both. FALSE PERSONATION. Every person who falsely personates another, and in such assumed character, either: 1. Becomes bail or surety for any party in any proceeding whatever, before any court or officer authorized to take such bail or surety; or 2. Verifies, publishes, acknowledges or proves in the name of another person, any written instrument, with the intent that the same may be recorded, delivered and used as true; or 3. Does any act whereby, if it were done by the person falsely personated, he might in any event, become liable to any suit or prosecution, or to pay any sum of money, or to incur any charge, forfeiture or penalty, or whereby any benefit might accrue to the party personating, or to any other person; Is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding two (2) years, or by a fine not exceeding $5000. FALSE PERSONATION, MARRIAGE UNDER. Every person who falsely personates another, and in such assumed character marries or pretends to marry, or sustain the marriage relation towards another, with or without the connivance of such other, is guilty of a felony. FALSE PERSONATION, RECEIVING MONEY OR PROPERTY UNDER. Every person who falsely personates another, and in such assumed character receives any money or property knowing that it is intended to be delivered to the individual so personated, with intent to convert the same to his own use, or that of another person, or to deprive the owner thereof, is punishable in the same manner and to the same extent as for larceny of the money or property so received.
FALSE STATEMENT BY COMMISSION MERCHANT, BROKER, AGENT, FACTOR OR CONSIGNEE TO PRINCIPAL OR CONSIGNOR. Every commission merchant, broker, agent, factor or consignee who shall wilfully and corruptly make, or cause to be made, to the principal or consignor of such commission merchant, agent, broker, factor or consignee, a false statement concerning the price obtained for, or the quality or quantity of any property consigned or entrusted to, such commission merchant, agent, broker, factor or consignee, for sale, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding $300.00, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. FALSE SWEARING Every person who makes a false statement under oath or equivalent affirmation, or swears or affirms the truth of such a statement previously made, when he does not believe the statement to be true, if the falsification occurs in an official proceeding or is intended to mislead a public servant in performing his official function, shall be guilty of false swearing, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than six months, or fined not more than $100.00, or both. FALSIFICATION OF CORPORATE BOOKS. Every director, officer or agent of any corporation or joint stock association who knowingly receives or possesses himself of any property of such corporation or association otherwise than in payment of a just demand, and who, with intent to defraud, omits to make, or to cause or direct to be made, a full and true entry thereof in the books or accounts of such corporation or association, and every director, officer, agent or member of any corporation or joint stock association who, with intent to defraud, destroys, alters, mutilates or falsifies any of the books, papers, writings or securities belonging to such corporation or association, or makes or concurs in making, any false entries, or omits or concurs in omitting to make any material entry in any book of accounts, or other record or document kept by such corporation or association, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than three (3) nor more than ten (10) years, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one (1) year or a fine not exceeding $500, or by both such fine and imprisonment. FALSIFYING EVIDENCE -- OFFERING FORGED OR FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS IN EVIDENCE. Every person who, upon any trial, proceeding, inquiry or investigation whatever authorized or permitted by law, offers in evidence as genuine or true, any book, paper, document, record, or other instrument in writing, knowing the same to have been forged or fraudulently altered or antedated, is guilty of felony. FELONIOUS ADMINISTERING OF DRUGS DEFINED. Any person who administers, aids in administering or orders the administering to another any chloroform, ether, laudanum or other narcotic, anaesthetic or intoxicating agent, with intent to enable or assist himself or any other person to commit a felony, is guilty of felonious administering of drugs. -- PUNISHMENT. A felonious administering of drugs is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not to exceed five (5) years or five thousand ($5,000) dollars, or both. FELONY, MISDEMEANOR AND INFRACTION DEFINED. A felony is a crime which is punishable with death or by imprisonment in the state prison. An infraction is a civil public offense, not constituting a crime, which is punishable only by a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) and for which no period of incarceration may be imposed. Every other crime is a misdemeanor. When a crime punishable by imprisonment in the state prison is also punishable by fine or imprisonment in a county jail, in the discretion of the court, it shall be deemed a misdemeanor for all purposes after a judgment imposing a punishment other than imprisonment in the state prison. FICTITIOUS BILLS, NOTES, AND CHECKS -- MAKING, PASSING, UTTERING, OR PUBLISHING. Every person who makes, passes, utters, or publishes, with intention to defraud any other person, or who, with the like intention, attempts to pass, utter or publish, or who has in his possession, with like intent to utter, pass, or publish, any fictitious bill, note or check, purporting to be the bill, note, or check, or other instrument in writing for the payment of money or property of some bank, corporation, copartnership, or individual, when in fact, there is no such bank, corporation, copartnership, or individual in existence, knowing the bill, note, check, or instrument in writing to be fictitious, is guilty of forgery. FICTITIOUS STOCK SUBSCRIPTION. Every person who signs the name of a fictitious person to any subscription for, or agreement to take, stock in any corporation existing or proposed, and every person who signs to any subscription or agreement the name of any person, knowing that such person has not the means or does not intend in good faith to comply with all the terms thereof, or under any understanding or agreement that the terms of such subscription or agreement are not to be complied with or enforced, is guilty of a misdemeanor. FINE AUTHORIZED. In addition to any other punishment prescribed for felonies in specific statutes of the State Code, the court may also impose a fine of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). This section shall not apply if the specific felony statute provides for the imposition of a fine.
FIRETRUCKS are required by law to stop at all red lights. FIRING TIMBER OR PRAIRIE LANDS. Any person who shall wilfully or carelessly set on fire, or cause to be set on fire, any timber or prairie lands in this state, thereby destroying the timber, grass or grain on any such lands, or any person who shall build a camp fire in any woods, or on any prairie, and leave the same without totally extinguishing such fire, or any railway company which shall permit any fire to spread from its right-of-way to the adjoining lands, is guilty of a misdemeanor. FLOODING HIGHWAYS. Any person who runs water either by flooding or sprinkler irrigation across any public highway, road or street, without first constructing a good and sufficient ditch or ditches to convey the same, or who fails to bridge such ditch or ditches, or to keep such bridge or ditches in good repair, or to ensure that the flow from the sprinkler does not flood the public highway, road or street and all persons, companies or corporations who suffer any water used by them for the purpose of irrigation, or any other purposes, to flow into or upon any public highway, road or street, in any other manner than that authorized by law, are guilty of an infraction on the first offense, and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor for each offense thereafter per calendar year, and upon conviction thereof must be fined in any sum not less than one dollar ($1.00) nor more than fifty dollars ($50.00), together with the costs of suit, and for a second offense, double said fine and costs; and it is hereby made the duty of all road supervisors, constables and marshals, to make complaint before the proper court, for violations of this section, whenever notified or having knowledge thereof. A person may not be charged under the provisions of this chapter if the flooding from a sprinkler or other water conveyance system is a result of mechanical failure, wind or other climatic condition, or other circumstances outside of the control of the person. FORCIBLE SEXUAL PENETRATION BY USE OF FOREIGN OBJECT. Every person who, for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification or abuse, causes the penetration, however slight, of the genital or anal opening of another person, by any object, instrument or device, against the victim's will by use of force or violence or by duress, or by threats of immediate and great bodily harm, accompanied by apparent power of execution, or where the victim is incapable, through any unsoundness of mind, whether temporary or permanent, of giving legal consent, or where the victim is prevented from resistance by any intoxicating, narcotic or anesthetic substance, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than life. FOREIGN CORPORATIONS SUBJECT TO CHAPTER. It is no defense to a prosecution for a violation of the provisions of this chapter that the corporation was one created by the laws of another state, territory, government or country, if it was one carrying on business or keeping an office therefor within this state. FOREST SABOTAGE -- PENALTY. (1) Every person who maliciously drives or places, in any tree, saw-log, shingle-bolt or other wood, any iron, steel, ceramic, or other substance sufficiently hard to injure saws, knowing that the tree is intended to be harvested or that the sawlog, shingle-bolt, or other wood is intended to be manufactured into any kind of lumber or other wood product, is guilty of a felony. (2) Any person who violates the provisons [provisions] of subsection (1) of this section and causes great bodily injury to another person other than an accomplice shall be sentenced to an extended term of imprisonment pursuant to State Code. FORFEITURE Civil and Criminal Forfeiture of Real or Personal Property: Under civil and criminal asset forfeiture laws, inanimate objects are accused of wrongdoing -- regardless of whether the object's owner is blameworthy in any way. Most of the protections afforded to defendants under criminal law, such as the right to counsel, the presumption of innocence, and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, do not apply in forfeiture cases. According to one analysis, 80 percent of people whose property is seized under the federal and state foreiture laws are never even charged with a crime. Those criminal cases where items are confiscated are placed into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund, which allows most of the proceeds from civil and criminal asset forfeiture cases to be returned to law enforcement officials, or the proceeds there of once the assets were sold off at public auctions. The Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Postal Service, as the case may be, shall ensure the equitable transfer of any forfeited property to the appropriate State or local law enforcement agency so as to reflect generally the contribution of any such agency participating directly in any of the acts which led to the seizure or forfeiture of such property. A decision by the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Postal Service shall not be subject to review. The United States shall not be liable in any action arising out of the use of any property the custody of which was transferred to any non-Federal agency. The Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Postal Service may order the discontinuance of any forfeiture proceedings in favor of the institution of forfeiture proceedings by State or local authorities under an appropriate State or local statute. After the filing of a complaint for forfeiture, the Attorney General may seek dismissal of the complaint in favor of forfeiture proceedings under State or local law.
Whenever forfeiture proceedings are discontinued by the United States in favor of State or local proceedings, the United States may transfer custody and possession of the seized property to the appropriate State or local official immediately upon the initiation of the proper actions by such officials. Whenever forfeiture proceedings are discontinued by the United States in favor of State or local proceedings, notice shall be sent to all known interested parties advising them of the discontinuance or dismissal. The United States shall not be liable in any action arising out of the seizure, detention, and transfer of seized property to State or local officials. FORFEITURE OF OFFICE ON CONVICTION. Every officer convicted of any crime defined in this chapter, in addition to the punishment prescribed, forfeits his office. FORGERY DEFINED. Every person who, with intent to defraud another, falsely makes, alters, forges or counterfeits, any charter, letters, patent, deed lease, indenture, writing obligatory, will, testament, codicil, annuity, bond, covenant, bank bill or note, federal reserve note, United States currency or United States money, post note, check, draft, bill of exchange, contract, promissory note, due bill for the payment of money or property, receipt for money or property, passage ticket, power of attorney, or any certificate of any share, right, or interest in the stock of any corporation or association, or any state controller's warrant for the payment of money at the treasury, county order or warrant, or request for the payment of money, or the delivery of goods or chattels of any kind, or for the delivery of any instrument of writing or acquittance, release, or receipt for money or goods, or any acquittance, release, or discharge for any debt, account, suit action demand, or other thing, real or personal, or any transfer or assurance of money, certificates of shares of stock, goods, chattels, or other property whatever, or any letter of attorney, or other power to receive money, or to receive or transfer certificates of shares of stock or annuities, or to let, lease, dispose of, alien, or convey any goods, chattels, lands or tenements, or other estate, real or personal, or any acceptance or endorsement of any bill of exchange, promissory note, draft, order, or assignment of any bond, writing obligatory, or promissory note for money or other property, or counterfeits or forges the seal or handwriting of another; or utters, publishes, passes, or attempts to pass, as true and genuine any of the above named false, altered, forged or counterfeited matters, as above specified and described, knowing the same to be false, altered, forged, or counterfeited, with intent to prejudice, damage, or defraud any person; or who, with intent to defraud, alters, corrupts or falsifies any record of any will, codicil, conveyance, or other instrument, the record of which is by law evidence, or any record of any judgment of a court, or the return of any officer to any process of any court, is guilty of forgery. FORGERY OF A FINANCIAL TRANSACTION CARD. Any person who, with intent to defraud, counterfeits, falsely makes, embosses, or encodes magnetically or electronically any FTC, or who with intent to defraud, uses the financial transaction card account number or personal identification code of a card holder in the creation of a fictitious or counterfeit credit card sales draft, signs the name of another, or a fictitious name to an FTC, sales slip, sales draft, credit card sales draft, or any instrument for the payment of money which evidences an FTC transaction, shall be guilty of forgery and shall be punished under the current forgery statutes of the State. FORGERY OF TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGES. Every person who knowingly and willfully sends by telegraph to any person a false or forged message purporting to be from such telegraph office, or from any other person, or who willfully delivers or causes to be delivered to any person any such message falsely purporting to have been received by telegraph, or who furnishes or conspires to furnish, or causes to be furnished to any agent, operator, or employee, to be sent by telegraph or to be delivered, any such message, knowing the same to be false or forged with the intent to deceive, injure, or defraud another, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed five (5) years, or by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. FORGING OR COUNTERFEITING PUBLIC SEALS. Every person who, with intent to defraud another, forges, or counterfeits the seal of this state, the seal of any public officer authorized by law, the seal of any court of record, or the seal of any corporation, or any other public seal authorized or recognized by the laws of this state, or of any other state, or territory, government, or country, or who falsely makes, forges or counterfeits any impression purporting to be an impression of any such seal, or who has in his possession any such counterfeited seal or impression thereof, knowing it to be counterfeited, and wilfully conceals the same, is guilty of forgery. FORGING OR COUNTERFEITING TRADE-MARKS. Every person who wilfully forges or counterfeits or procures to be forged or counterfeited, any trade-mark usually affixed by any person to his goods, with intent to pass off any goods to which such forged or counterfeited trade-mark is affixed or intended to be affixed, as the goods of such person, is guilty of a misdemeanor. --FORGED AND COUNTERFEIT TRADE-MARKS DEFINED. The phrases "forged trade-mark" and "counterfeited trade-marks," or their equivalents, as used in this chapter include every alteration or imitation of any trade-mark so resembling the original as to be likely to deceive.
--TRADEMARK DEFINED. The phrase "trademark" includes every description of word, letter, device, emblem, stamp, imprint, brand, printed ticket, label or wrapper usually affixed by any mechanic, manufacturer, druggist, merchant or tradesman, to denote any goods to be goods imported, manufactured, produced, compounded or sold by him, other than any name, word, or expression generally denoting any goods to be of some particular class or description. FORNICATION. Any unmarried person who shall have sexual intercourse with an unmarried person of the opposite sex shall be deemed guilty of fornication, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300 or by imprisonment for not more than six months or by both such fine and imprisonment; provided, that the sentence imposed or any part thereof may be suspended with or without probation in the discretion of the court. FRAUDULENT REPORTS BY OFFICERS. Every director, officer or agent of any corporation or joint stock association who knowingly concurs in making or publishing any written report, exhibit or statement of its affairs or pecuniary condition, containing any material statement which is false, is guilty of a misdemeanor. FRAUDULENT USE OF A FINANCIAL TRANSACTION CARD OR NUMBER. It is a violation of the provisions of this section for any person with the intent to defraud: (1) To knowingly obtain or attempt to obtain credit or to purchase or attempt to purchase any goods, property, or service, by the use of any false, fictitious, counterfeit, revoked, expired or fraudulently obtained FTC, by any FTC account number, or by the use of any FTC issued; (2) To use an FTC or FTC number to knowingly and willfully exceed the actual balance of the demand deposit account or time deposit account; (3) To use an FTC or FTC number to willfully exceed an authorized credit line in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more, or fifty percent (50%) of such authorized credit line, whichever is greater; (4) To willfully deposit into his account or any other account by means of an automatic banking device, any false, forged, fictitious, altered or counterfeit check draft, money order, or any other such document; (5) To make application for an FTC to an issuer, while knowingly making or causing to be made a false statement or report relative to his name, occupation, financial condition, assets, or to willfully and substantially undervalue any indebtedness for the purposes of influencing the issuer to issue an FTC; (6) To knowingly sell or attempt to sell credit card sales drafts to an authorized credit card merchant or any other person or organization, for any consideration whether at a discount or otherwise, or present or cause to be presented to the issuer or an authorized credit card merchant, for payment or collection, any credit card sales draft, or purchase or attempt to purchase any credit card sales draft for presentation to the issuer or an authorized credit card merchant for payment or collection if: (a) Such draft is counterfeit or fictitious; (b) The purported sale evidenced by such credit card sales draft did not take place; (c) The purported sale was not authorized by the card holder; (d) The items or services purported to be sold as evidenced by such credit card sales draft are not delivered or rendered to the card holder or person intended to receive them; or (e) If purportedly delivered or rendered, such goods or services are of materially lesser value or quality from that intended by the purchaser, or are materially different from goods or services represented by the seller or his agent to the purchaser, or have substantial discrepancies from goods or services impliedly represented by the purchase price when compared with the actual goods or services purportedly delivered or rendered. (7) To knowingly keep or maintain in any manner carbon or other impressions or copies of credit card sales drafts, and to use such impressions or copies for the purpose of creating any fictitious or counterfeit credit sales draft, or to engage in any other activity prohibited in this section. FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION CONSTITUTES A CIVIL RIGHT. The right to be free from discrimination because of race, creed, color, sex, or national origin is recognized as and declared to be a civil right. This right shall include, but not be limited to: (1) The right to obtain and hold employment without discrimination. (2) The right to the full enjoyment of any of the accommodations, facilities or privileges of any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage or amusement. FREEDOM OF CHOICE IN TREATMENT. The right of any person to use amygdalin (laetrile) as an adjunct in the treatment of any physical condition of the human body shall not be denied, interfered with or obstructed by any other person.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: Laws and Guidelines as written up to requestion information under FOIA. FOIA is a Federal law that establishes the public's right to request existing records from Federal Government agencies. Requests are only for agency "records." The agency is not required to create documents in response to a request. FOIA, which is known by its legal cite as 5 U.S.C. 552, along with the Department of Defense and Army Regulations, govern how requests will be processed within the Army. The Army Regulation (AR) 25-55, The Department of the Army FOIA Program, can be found at Part 518 of Chapter 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which is available in most libraries. AR 25-55 may also be purchased from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161, for $21.50, and may be found in the Army's Electronic Reading Room. The purpose of this information is to provide guidance on how to make a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for Department of the Army records. It will provide you with a brief description of your rights and the manner in which Army will respond to your requests. The information contained herein is not intended to be definitive or exhaustive. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Q1. How do I request documents under the FOIA? A1. You can request documents under the FOIA by fax, letter, or electronic mail. No special form is required; however, the request should be labeled as a "Freedom of Information Act Request," and must include the following information: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Q2. A2. Name; Business name (if applicable); Telephone number; Fax number (if applicable); A reasonable description of the records requested, including date parameters, if applicable; Whether you want to view the documents or have them copied and sent to you; State a willingness to pay any search and review fees; and If you are requesting a fee waiver, you must state your basis for the waiver.
Where should I send a FOIA request? FAX REQUESTS: To fax a FOIA request, include a fax coversheet stating, "Attention: FOIA Coordinator." ELECTRONIC MAIL: To send a FOIA request by electronic mail, address the request to: REGULAR MAIL: To mail a FOIA request, send the request to the following address: US Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District Office of Counsel (CEMVN-OC) ATTN: FOIA Coordinator Q3. Who can file a FOIA request? A3. Any "person" can file a FOIA request, including U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, organizations, universities, businesses, and state and local governments. Q4. Who is subject to the FOIA and what type of information can be requested? A4. FOIA's scope includes Federal Executive Branch Departments, agencies, and offices, Federal regulatory agencies, and Federal corporations. Congress, the Federal Courts, and parts of the Executive Office of the President are not subject to the FOIA. State and local governments are likewise not subject to the Federal FOIA, but some states have their own equivalent access laws for state records. Q5. What is an agency record? A5. Agency records are those that are created or obtained by an agency and under the agency control at the time the FOIA request is made. Agency records include hard-copy files, computerized records, databases, e-mail maps, books, and photographs. Q6. Can I ask questions under the FOIA? A6. FOIA does not require Federal Agencies to answer questions, render opinions, or provide subjective evaluations. Requesters must ask for existing records, such as those mentioned above. However, if there exists records which would respond to questions, those records would be provided.
Q7. Must I use FOIA to obtain all agency records? A7. No. There is no requirement for individuals to use FOIA to obtain routine public information, such as copies of contracts, daily stages of waterways, and issued permits. Such requests may be processed by the custodian offices without involvement of the FOIA Coordinator. Additionally, the New Orleans District's internet website provides access to a wide variety of public information regarding our projects, contracts, regulatory program. Q8. What are reasons for not releasing a record? A8. There are seven reasons why the Army may not release a record requested under FOIA. They are: 1. The request is transferred to another Army Component or Federal agency; 2. The Army Component determines through knowledge of its files and reasonable search efforts that it neither controls nor otherwise possesses the requested record; 3. A record has not been described with sufficient detail to enable the Army Component to locate it by conducting a reasonable search; 4. The requester has failed unreasonably to comply with procedural requirements, including payment of fees, imposed by the FOIA and AR 25-55; 5. The request is withdrawn by the requester; 6. The information requested is not a record within the meaning of the FOIA and the AR 25-55; or 7. The record is denied in whole or part in accordance with procedures set forth in the FOIA and AR 25-55. (See FOIA exemptions, below) Q9. What are FOIA exemptions? A9. There are nine FOIA exemptions, described in 5 U.S.C. 552(b) (1)-(9). 1. (b) (1) -- records currently and properly classified in the interest of national security; 2. (b) (2) -- records related solely to internal personnel rules and practices, which, if released, would allow circumvention of an agency function; 3. (b) (3) -- records protected by another law that specifically exempts the information from public release; 4. (b) (4) -- trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a private source which would cause substantial competitive harm to the source if disclosed; 5. (b) (5) -- internal records that are deliberative in nature and are part of the decision making process that contain opinions and recommendations; 6. (b) (6) -- records which, if released, would result in a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; 7. (b) (7) -- investigatory records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes; 8. (b) (8) -- records for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; and 9. (b) (9) -- records containing geological and geophysical information (including maps) concerning wells. Q10. What is a denial? A10. When information is withheld, whether partially or fully, this constitutes a denial under FOIA. A request may be denied for one or more of the aforementioned exemptions. When this happens, you will be notified in writing by an Initial Denial Authority (IDA) and given appeal rights. IDAs are denial authorities for records that fall under their custodial control. If your request is denied partially, you will receive information that has portions deleted. Redacted records have the denied information removed from where it was originally located within the document. The appropriate exemption(s) for deletion of the information should be listed next to the sanitized area(s) on the document. There are usually two methods for sanitizing a document; one is to blacken out the denied information, and the other is to completely remove it. Q11. Can I appeal a denial? A11. Yes. If your FOIA request is initially denied in whole or in part under one or more of the above exemptions, or denied for some other reason, you will be advised of your appeal rights and the proper procedures for submitting the appeal within 60 days. If you are not satisfied with the appeal determination, you may seek judicial review.
Q12. How long will it take for my request to be processed? A12. Whenever possible, an initial determination to release or deny a record will be made within 10 working days after receipt of the request by the official who is designated to respond. Because of the significant number of requests received, in fairness to all requesters, the New Orleans District processes requests in the order of their receipt and according to their complexity. If unusual circumstances exist that preclude a timely response, you will be informed of the estimated completion date and reason(s) for delay. Unusual circumstances are: 1. Need to search for and collect the requested records from other facilities that are separate from the office determined responsible for a release or denial decision on the requested information; 2. The need to search for, collect, and examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records which are requested in a single request; or 3. The need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with other agencies having a substantial interest in the determination of the request, or among two or more DOD Components having a substantial subject-matter interest in the request. Q13. How do I qualify for expedited processing of my request? A13. To receive expedited processing, the requester must demonstrate one of the following compelling needs: 1. Failure to obtain the records on an expedited basis could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual; 2. Information is urgently needed by an individual primarily engaged in disseminating information in order to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity; or 3. Other reasons that merit expedited processing are an imminent loss of substantial due process rights and humanitarian need. Q14. Do I have to pay for a FOIA request? A14. FOIA allows fees to be charged for FOIA services, such as search and review time, duplication costs, and special services, like document certification. Whether fees are charged depends on the category of requester you are. If fees are to be charged, waivers or reductions in fees may be given under certain circumstances. In any case, no fees are charged to any requester if the amount to be charged does not exceed $15. Q15. A15. What are the categories of requesters and how are their fees determined? There are five categories of requesters: Commercial. Requesters who seek information for a use or purpose that furthers their commercial, trade, or profit interest are considered commercial requesters. Commercial requesters pay all fees for search, review, and duplication. Educational. Institutions of education, including preschools, elementary or secondary schools and institutions of higher learning, qualify as educational institutions. The records must be sought in furtherance of scholarly research. Educational requesters pay only duplication fees, unless it is determined that fees are waived or reduced in the public interest. The first 100 pages are provided at no cost. Non-Commercial Scientific. A non-commercial scientific institution is operated solely for conducting scientific research. The records must be sought in furtherance of scientific research. Like educationalrequesters, these requesters pay only duplication fees, unless it is determined that fees are waived or reduced in the public interest. The first 100 pages are provided at no cost. News Media. A representative of the news media is a person actively gathering news for an entity organized and operated to publicize or broadcast news to the public. News media pay only duplication fees, unless it is determined that fees are waived or reduced in the public interest. The first 100 pages are provided at no cost. "Other" Requester. Requesters who do not qualify in another category are considered "other" requesters, and normally make requests for agency records for their personal use. "Other" requesters receive two hours search time, all review costs, and the first 100 pages at no cost. Q16. When and how can fee waivers be granted? A16. Fee waivers may be granted when disclosure of the records is in the public interest. Information released in the public interest is defined as information that significantly enhances the public's knowledge of the operations and activities of the agency. The following factors are weighed in making a fee waiver determination: The subject of the request; The informative value of the information to be disclosed; The contribution to an understanding of the subject by the general public likely to result from the disclosure; The significance of the contribution to public understanding; Disclosure of the information is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester; and The ability of the requester to disseminate the information.
Q17. What is a "willingness to pay statement"? A17. All requesters must include a "willingness to pay statement" in their request, regardless of the fee category, however, this does not mean you will be charged fees. The requester can set a limit on the costs to be incurred. For example, he/she may state "not to exceed $50." If the estimate for answering the request exceeds the limit, the FOIA Officer will call the requester to discuss his/her options. The requester has four options: accept the copied documents up to the previous specified amount of money; cancel the entire request; authorize the money needed to complete the request; or authorize additional funds up to another specified amount. Except for commercial requesters whose fees total more than $15, waivers are always considered. A Citizen's Guide to Request Army Records Under the FOIA, May 1, 1998 We trust this information will be helpful to you when pursuing FOIA requests with the New Orleans District. If you have any questions, you may call and ask for the FOIA Coordinator. FUGITIVE RECOVERY LAWS AND STATUTES. 1. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE REVISED STATUTES TITLE 22. INSURANCE CHAPTER 1. INSURANCE CODE PART XXXIV. BAIL ENFORCEMENT AGENTS 1514. Regulation of bail enforcement agents * The commissioner of insurance is hereby authorized to adopt such regulations, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, as are necessary to effectuate the requirements of this Part to regulate bail enforcement agents. * The regulations adopted by the commissioner shall include provisions governing: (1) Prelicensing and continuing education requirements for bail enforcement agents. (2) Bail enforcement activities in this state by nonresident individuals. (3) The notification of local law enforcement agencies. (4) In-state bail enforcement procedures. (5) Penalties for the violation of the regulation. 2. 1514.2. Licensing and fees * Except as provided by the regulations authorized in this Part, bail enforcement agents shall be subject to the same licensing and fee requirements as bail bond insurance agents. 3. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE REVISED STATUTES TITLE 22. INSURANCE CHAPTER 1. INSURANCE CODE PART XXV-A. PRELICENSE AND CONTINUING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS 1191. Registered insurance agent and bail agent prelicensing program * Each registered bail agent prelicensing program shall provide instruction by a qualified instructor in a structured setting with a minimum of eight hours of supervised instruction, including instruction in applicable underwriting principles, state laws and regulations, and ethical practices. 4. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE REVISED STATUTES TITLE 22. INSURANCE CHAPTER 1. INSURANCE CODE PART XXV-A. PRELICENSE AND CONTINUING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS 1193. Continuing education requirements * The continuing education requirements for renewal of license under R.S. 22:1113(E)(4) are set forth in this Section. The continuing education requirement shall be fulfilled by satisfactory completion of the required hours of instruction in continuing education programs approved by the commissioner. * For bail agents and solicitors the continuing education requirement for renewal of license shall be twelve hours of approved bail underwriting instruction. 5. LA R.S. 22:1113 S 1113. Requirements; general license; penalties; validity of contracts (The section below provides additional details on licensing of insurance agents for bail bond work and the most relevant sections for purposes of the bail business are given). * An insurance agent may receive qualification for a license in one or more of the following lines: * Bail bonds. * A partnership or corporation may be licensed as an insurance agent, insurance broker, or surplus lines broker. Every partner, officer, director, stockholder, and employee of the corporation or partnership personally engaged in this state in soliciting or negotiating policies of insurance shall be registered with the Department of Insurance under such entity's license, and each such member, partner, officer, director, stockholder, or employee shall also qualify as an individual licensee for any line of insurance the entity is licensed to transact. Any partnership or corporate licensee failing to comply with this requirement shall be subject to a fine of one hundred dollars per occurrence. This Subsection shall not apply to any management association, partnership, or corporation whose operations do not entail the solicitation of insurance from the public. An application for a license shall be accompanied by: * If a corporation, a current letter of good standing from the secretary of state's office, verification by the secretary of the corporation that the directors and officers were duly appointed or elected in accordance with the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the corporation, and an attestation by the president of the corporation disclosing the identity and percentage of ownership of the individual stockholders. * If a partnership, a current letter of registration from the secretary of state's office, verification by the appropriate partner that the partners listed on the application are duly named as partners in accordance with the partnership agreement, and a statement under oath verifying the percentage of interest and control of each partner in the partnership.
3. Notice of Forfeiture 1. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE TITLE VIII. BAIL Art. 344. Right to notice of time and place of defendant's required appearance * When a bail bond fixes the initial appearance date, no additional notice is required to be given to the defendant or the personal surety or the commercial surety or the agent or bondsman who posted the bond for the commercial surety, if the defendant appears as ordered. If a defendant fails to appear when a bail bond fixes the initial appearance date, no additional preforfeiture notice for that date is required to be given to the defendant or the personal surety or the commercial surety or the agent or bondsman who posted the bond for the commercial surety. The bond shall be forfeited forthwith as per R.S. 15:85 (see subsection B and section #4 below). * When a bail bond does not fix the appearance date, and the presence is required of a person who has been released on bail, the defendant and his personal surety or the commercial surety or the agent or bondsman who posted the bond for the commercial surety, shall be given written notice of the time, date, and place the principal is required to appear. * The notice may be delivered to the defendant and the personal surety or the commercial surety or the agent or bondsman who posted the bond for the commercial surety by an officer designated by the court, at least two days prior to the day set for the appearance; or this notice may be mailed by United States first class mail to the defendant and his personal surety or the commercial surety or the agent or bondsman who posted the bond for the commercial surety, at least three days prior to the day set for the appearance. The notice shall be mailed to the defendant and his personal surety or the commercial surety or the agent or bondsman who posted the bond for the commercial surety to the address designated pursuant to Article 322. * If the defendant appears as ordered and the proceeding is continued to a specific date, the defendant and the personal surety or the commercial surety or the agent or bondsman who posted the bond for the commercial surety need not be given notice of the new appearance date. If the defendant fails to appear as ordered, or the proceeding is not continued to a specific date, the personal surety or the agent or bondsman who posted the bond for the commercial surety shall be given notice of the new appearance date. * Failure to give notice, as required by this Paragraph, relieves the surety from liability on a judgment of bond forfeiture for the defendant's nonappearance on that particular date. 2. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE REVISED STATUTES TITLE 15. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CHAPTER 1. CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ANCILLARIES CODE TITLE VIII. BAIL 85. Forfeiture; procedure; notice; enforcement; and collection * Notice of judgment. After entering the fact of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture in the court minutes, the clerk of court shall promptly mail notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture. The notice of the signing of the judgment shall be mailed by United States certified mail with return receipt to all the following: (i) The defendant at the address designated pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 322. (ii) The personal sureties at the addresses designated pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 322. (iii) The agent or bondsman who posted the bond for the commercial sureties at the address designated pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 322. (iv) The commercial sureties at the addresses designated pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 322. Notice to the commercial sureties shall include the power of attorney number used to execute the bond. * After mailing the notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture, the clerk of court shall execute an affidavit of the mailing and place the affidavit and the return receipts in the record. * Failure to mail proper notice of the signing of the judgment within sixty days after the defendant's failure to appear shall release the sureties of any and all obligations under the bond. 4. Allotted Time between Forfeiture Declaration and Payment Due Date. 1. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE REVISED STATUTES TITLE 15. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CHAPTER 1. CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ANCILLARIES CODE TITLE VIII. BAIL 85. Forfeiture; procedure; notice; enforcement; and collection * All bonds taken to secure the appearance of any person before any court executed in the State shall be forfeited and collected as follows: * Failure to appear and answer. If at the time fixed for appearance the defendant fails to appear and answer when called, the judge, on motion of the prosecuting attorney, upon hearing of proper evidence including: the bail contract; the power of attorney if any; and the notice to the defendant and the surety as required by Article 344 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see section #3 above), shall immediately and forthwith issue a warrant for the arrest of the person failing to appear and order a judgment decreeing the forfeiture of the bond and against the defendant and his sureties in solido for the full amount of the bond. * Signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture. Following the defendant's failure to appear, the court shall sign a written judgment of bond forfeiture. * Appeals. (a) The defendant and his sureties shall have the right to an appeal that suspends the effect or the execution of the judgment of bond forfeiture. The security to be furnished for this suspensive appeal shall be equal to the bail obligation. (b) The defendant and his sureties shall have the right to a devolutive appeal of the judgment of bond forfeiture. (c) All appeals shall be to the appellate court having general civil appellate jurisdiction over the court issuing the judgment of bond forfeiture.
* Enforcement and collection of judgment. No judgment of bond forfeiture rendered on or after August 15, 1997, shall be enforced or collected until ten days after the expiration of six months after the mailing of proper notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture. The timely filing of a suspensive appeal shall suspend the enforcement or collection of the judgment of the bond forfeiture. In addition, the court may provide by court rule for the filing of an offset claim against the principal with the secretary of the Department of Revenue, in accordance with R.S. 47:299.1 through 299.20. If after six months and ten days from the mailing of proper notice of the signing of the judgment, a judgment of bond forfeiture against a commercial surety company has not been suspensively appealed nor satisfied or proceedings challenging the bond forfeiture have not been timely filed, the prosecuting attorney may either file a rule to show cause with the commissioner of insurance in accordance with R.S. 22:658.1 or collect the judgment in the same manner as a civil judgment. * Collection by insurance commissioner. Within thirty days of the filing of a rule to show cause by the prosecuting attorney with the commissioner of insurance, the commissioner of insurance shall notify the insurance company, the surety or Lloyd's association, in writing, at the address of the home office of that organization by certified mail, setting a time, place, and date of the commissioner's hearing, which shall not be more than sixty days from the date of receipt of notice from the prosecuting attorney. If after the hearing, the insurance commissioner finds that there is no just cause or legal reason for the surety's nonpayment, the commissioner shall take any action deemed necessary for collection of the amount owed, including suspension of the surety from doing business in the State. 5. Forfeiture Defenses. 1. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE TITLE VIII. BAIL Art. 345. Surrender of defendant * A surety may surrender the defendant or the defendant may surrender himself, in open court or to the officer charged with his detention, at any time prior to forfeiture or within the time allowed by law for setting aside a judgment of forfeiture of the bail bond. For the purpose of surrendering the defendant, the surety may arrest him. Upon surrender of the defendant, the officer shall detain the defendant in his custody as upon the original commitment and shall acknowledge the surrender by a certificate signed by him and delivered to the surety. Thereafter, the surety shall be fully and finally discharged and relieved of any and all obligation under the bond. * If the defendant is incarcerated by the officer originally charged with his detention at any time prior to forfeiture or within the time allowed by law for setting aside a judgment for forfeiture of the bail bond, the surety may apply for and receive from the officer charged with the detention of the defendant a letter verifying that the defendant is incarcerated, but only after the surety verifies to the satisfaction of the officer charged with the detention of the defendant as to the identity of the defendant. Thereafter, the surety shall be fully and finally discharged and relieved of any and all obligation under the bond. * When a surety receives either a certificate of surrender provided for in Paragraph A or a letter of verification as provided for in Paragraph B, the surety shall pay a fee of twenty-five dollars to the officer charged with the defendant's detention for recalling the capias, accepting the surrender or verifying the incarceration, processing the paperwork, and giving the surety a certificate of surrender or a letter of verification of incarceration releasing him from his obligation under the defendant's bond. * If during the six-month period allowed for the surrender of the defendant, the defendant is found to be incarcerated in another parish of the State or a foreign jurisdiction, the judgment of bond forfeiture is deemed satisfied if all of the following conditions are met: (1) The defendant or his sureties file a motion in summary proceeding within the six-month period. (2) The defendant's sureties produce to the court adequate proof of defendant's incarceration, or the officer originally charged with defendant's detention verifies the defendant's incarceration. (3) The defendant's sureties pay the officer originally charged with the defendant's detention, the reasonable cost of returning the defendant to the officer originally charged with the defendant's detention prior to the defendant's return. * At any time prior to forfeiture or within the time allowed by law for setting aside a judgment for forfeiture of the bail bond, the surety may present to the court a certificate of death naming the defendant as the deceased party. The certificate shall be under seal of the authority confirming the defendant's death. Thereafter, the surety shall be fully and finally discharged and relieved of any and all obligation under the bond. * When the defendant has been surrendered in conformity with this Article or a letter of verification of incarceration has been issued to the surety as provided for in Paragraph B of this Article, the court shall, upon presentation of the certificate of surrender or the letter of verification of incarceration, order that the surety be exonerated from liability on his bail undertaking and shall order any judgment of forfeiture set aside. * During the six-month period provided for surrendering the defendant, the surety may request from the officer originally charged with a felony defendant's detention that the felony defendant's name be placed into the National Crime Information Center registry. Upon such a request, the surety shall pay to the officer originally charged with the felony defendant's detention a fee of twenty-five dollars for processing such placement. If, after the request by the surety and payment of the twenty-five dollar fee, the defendant's name is removed from the National Crime Information Center registry without cause during the six-month period provided for surrendering the defendant, the surety shall be relieved of all obligations under the bond. 2. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE REVISED STATUTES TITLE 15. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CHAPTER 1. CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ANCILLARIES CODE TITLE VIII. BAIL 85. Forfeiture; procedure; notice; enforcement; and collection
* Summary proceedings. The defendant and his sureties shall be entitled to bring defenses and actions in nullity by use of summary proceedings in the criminal matter before the trial court which issued the judgment of bond forfeiture within sixty days from mailing the notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture. Any summary proceeding brought by the defendant or his sureties within the sixty-day period shall be determined by the court within one hundred and eighty days of mailing the notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture. The defendant and his sureties shall be entitled to bring defenses pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 345 and R.S. 15:87 by use of summary proceedings in the criminal matter before the trial court which issued the judgment of bond forfeiture within six months from mailing the notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture. * Nullity actions. Nullity actions pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 2001 et seq. not filed within the sixty days provided for filing summary proceedings shall be brought by the use of ordinary civil proceedings. * Satisfaction of judgment of bond forfeiture. Any judgment forfeiting the appearance bond rendered according to this Section shall at any time, within six months, after mailing of the notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture, be fully satisfied and set aside upon the surrender or the appearance of the defendant. The appearance of the defendant shall operate as a satisfaction of the judgment and the surrender shall operate as a satisfaction of the judgment and shall fully and finally relieve the surety of any and all obligations under the bond. Any judgment forfeiting the appearance bond rendered according to this Section shall at any time, within ten days after the expiration of the six-month period provided to surrender the defendant, be fully satisfied by the payment of the amount of the bail obligation without incurring any interest, costs, or fees. 3. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE REVISED STATUTES TITLE 15. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CHAPTER 1. CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ANCILLARIES CODE TITLE VIII. BAIL 82. Guaranteed arrest bond certificates as cash bail; forfeiture; sureties * Any guaranteed arrest bond certificate so posted as a bail bond in any court in this state shall be subject to the forfeiture and collection provisions of law applicable to a bail bond, except that any judgment forfeiting a guaranteed arrest bond certificate rendered under said forfeiture and collection provisions shall, at any time within thirty days after rendition, be set aside upon the surrender, or the appearance and trial and conviction or acquittal of the defendant, or upon a continuance granted upon motion of the district attorney after such appearance. 6. Remission. * (No specific provisions exist in the LA statutes at this time in regard to "remission"). 7. Bail Agents Arrest Authority. 1. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE REVISED STATUTES TITLE 22. INSURANCE CHAPTER 1. INSURANCE CODE PART XXXIV. BAIL ENFORCEMENT AGENTS 1514.1. Definitions * "Bail enforcement" means the apprehension or surrender of a person who is released on bail or who has failed to appear at any stage of the proceedings to answer the charge before the court in which he may be prosecuted. * "Bail enforcement agent" means a person who engages in bail enforcement. 8. Other Noteworthy Provisions. 1. STATE STATUTES ANNOTATED STATE REVISED STATUTES TITLE 15. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CHAPTER 1. CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ANCILLARIES CODE TITLE VIII. BAIL 85. Forfeiture; procedure; notice; enforcement; and collection * Failure to satisfy judgment of bond forfeiture. If a judgment of bond forfeiture rendered after June 22, 1993, against a commercial surety company has not been satisfied within two hundred ten days from mailing the notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture, nor has a suspensive appeal or other proceeding challenging the bond forfeiture been timely filed, the prosecuting attorney may file with the appropriate court a rule to show cause why that commercial surety company should not be prohibited from executing criminal bail bonds before the court issuing the judgment of bond forfeiture. The appropriate court is the court where the bond is posted, whether in a district court or a court other than a district court composed of more than one judge. If the appropriate court is not a district court, it shall sit en banc on such a rule to show cause. If the bond is posted in a court other than a district court and composed of only one judgeship position, then the rule shall be filed in the appropriate district court. * At the rule to show cause, the court may consider only issues which would interrupt the enforceability of the judgment. Should the court find: (i) A judgment of bond forfeiture has been rendered after June 22, 1993, against the commercial surety; (ii) Proper notice pursuant to this Section has been mailed; (iii) No suspensive appeal has been taken; (iv) The defendant has neither been surrendered nor appeared within six months of mailing of the notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture; (v) Two hundred ten days have passed since the mailing of proper notice of the signing of the judgment of bond forfeiture; and (vi) The judgment of bond forfeiture has not been satisfied by payment, then the court may issue an order enjoining the commercial surety company from posting criminal bail bonds before the court issuing the judgment of bond forfeiture if the judgment is not satisfied within the ten days. * The burden of proof at the hearing shall be upon the commercial surety by a preponderance of evidence and shall be limited to documents contained in the official court record where the judgment was rendered. The surety company may use evidence not contained in the record to show that it did not receive post- forfeiture notice or the post-forfeiture notice required pursuant to this Section was not properly mailed. 9. Noteworthy State Appellate Decisions.
1. State v. Cloter * Defendant sought to set aside judgment of bond forfeiture. The District Court set aside judgment, and state appealed. The Supreme Court held that defendant's arrest did not operate as satisfaction of otherwise properly noticed judgment of bond forfeiture. Vacated; judgment of bond forfeiture reinstated; remanded. 2. State v. International Fidelity Ins. Co. 32-837 (La.App. 2 Cir. 3/1/00), 32-838 (La.App. 2 Cir. 3/1/00), 756 So.2d 565 La.App. 2 Cir. Mar 01, 2000 * Surety filed motion to be released from its bond obligations. The Fourth Judicial District Court, Parish of Ouachita, No. 98T0296, Benjamin Jones, J., ordered release of surety upon its payment of $112 for transporting principal to jail. State appealed. The Court of Appeal, Brown, J., held that surety was not entitled to release from $4,000 judgment of bond forfeiture. Reversed and rendered. 3. Stephens v. Bail Enforcement of State 96 0809 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2/14/97), 690 So.2d 124 La.App. 1 Cir. Feb 14, 1997 * Plaintiff brought suit for damages against bail bond company, bounty hunters, and lender which had financed purchase of plaintiff's truck, arising out of incident in which plaintiff was allegedly beaten when he was seized by bounty hunters and transported to another state to satisfy bonds posted in criminal case. The Twenty-First Judicial District Court, Parish of Livingston, No. 61,207, Edward B. Dufreche, J., entered judgment for plaintiff. Lender suspensively appealed. The Court of Appeal, Carter, J., held that: (1) lender could not be held liable, under theory of respondeat superior, for tortious acts of bail bondsmen and bounty hunters, and (2) evidence did not support imposition of liability upon lender as civil coconspirator. Reversed. 10. Bounty Hunter Provisions. * License required. All recovery agents must be licensed by DOI. Out of state recovery personnel must contract with a bail agent licensed in State. Recovery personnel required to wear apparel identifying bail bond company during apprehension or surrender in a private residence. For apprehension in a private residence, notification of local law enforcement required. (LAC title 37, Part XIII, Ch. 49, Reg 65, Sec. 4901 et seq.) FUNDRAISING DINNER. The following is an example of a Fundraising Dinner. Storytellers and Players can change it as they see fit: The causes are many and worthy, and this one is no different. Save Louisiana's Endangered Species. Louisiana has 28 threatened and endangered plant and animal species. The dinner will consist of Louisiana French cuisine (in intent, if not execution), black-tie attire, and silent art auctions on the Delta Night II. In that atmosphere of extravaganza and effect, the Thorn Club fundraiser stands out by virtue of understatement. "We would like to raise a quater of a million dollars with this fund raiser to help save the endangered species of the Louisiana Delta, especially the American Alligator." The fund-raising event will begin at sundown with cocktails, dinner will be served an hour later aboard the Delta Night II River Boat. During the cocktail hour, guests will have time to view the many raffle and silent auction items that have been donated by local businesses, organizations and individuals. Please contact the Thorn Club if you wish to donate to this charitable event. Auctions, including: # The Ultimate Golf Dream for two, including a two-night stay at the _________ Resort in __________ with golf each day at ______ Hill course, two-night weekend stay at The Four Seasons in __________ with three rounds of golf at ______ Golf Course; value $4,500. # Two tickets to the __________ Super Bowl; value $3,000. # A flight to Sonoma for two with accommodations and dinner at Charlie Palmers Hotel Healdsburg, lunch and wine tasting at Jordan Vineyard and Ferrari Carano, two of the most beautiful wineries in the world; value $2,000. # Seven days and six nights for two in Jamaica at the famous Sandals Hotel, including room, meals, drinks, land and water sports, taxes and gratuities. (Airfare not included). Value $4,000. # A mid-week ski vacation for two at Harrahs or Harveys in scenic Lake Tahoe for two, including accommodations for two nights, ski lift tickets, dinner at Harrahs and a show at the Improv. # "We Will Rock You" two-night/three-day stay for two in a deluxe suite at The Hard Rock Hotel, round-trip limousine transportation from home, pool cabana for you and 10 friends, dinner for you and your friends at __________, a show at __________, $1,000 credit to dance the night away at __________, and two bottles of Grey Goose and Dom Perignon to toast the celebration. # A private Bachelor/Bachelorette Party with the 'Sirens and Pirates' of the Thorn Club in a suite at the Thorn Club resort and food and beverages for 16 guests; value $5,000. # Two-night getaway for four, including a two-bedroom Vista Suite at J.W. Marriott, plus spa treatment, golf at T.P.C. Canyon and Spanish Trails courses, and dinner at Carmel, the Rampart Casino steakhouse for four. Value $2,500. # Birthday party at the Tear Garden for 25 people, including food, beverages, gift bags and gratuity; value $6,000.
# An oil-on-canvas, 20" x 26" portrait of one person by __________; value $4,500. # Progressive Surf & Turf Dinner with wine pairings for six guests at Emerils Restaurants, with round-trip limousine service from each residence to Emerils New Orleans Fish House in Baton Rouge, followed by a limo ride to Delmonicos Steakhouse at __________ and after dinner drinks and cigars in the Piano Lounge; value $3,000. # A weekend at __________ for two, including suite accommodations, breakfast in bed, dinner at __________ restaurants with top chef in America Thomas Keller, a gondola ride and spa pampering treatments at __________, rose petal turndown service with champagne and chocolates before bed. # Two nights at Green Valley Ranch casino resort for two with suite accommodations, round-trip limousine transportation, spa treatment and dinner at China Spice restaurant. # One-year membership at the Thorn Club: value $19,000. # Birthday party at __________ for 20 people, a two-night stay for two in a suite, a day at the __________ Spa, dinner at __________ and drinks at the ultra lounge __________. Value $4,000. # A three-day/two-night stay for two at New York-New York in a whirlpool spa suite, dinner for six at Gallaghers Steakhouse, six show tickets to "Zumanity," and drinks at The Bar in Times Square; value $2,500. # __________ Club party for 50 children and 50 adults, with DJ entertainment, barbecue, swimming, open bar for the adults, and enjoyment of all the antics of the penguins, flamingos and other wildlife in the 15-acre Flamingo pools tropical garden. Host family will enjoy a private cabana at the pool and a one-bedroom suite for the night of the event; value $7,500. # Two-night stay for four in a two-bedroom suite at the Paris Las Vegas, golf at Cascata course, dinner at Les Artists Steakhouse and tickets to "We Will Rock You" show; value $4,000. # Mario Andretti Racing School for two, including race car driving, logo hat and polo shirt, and deluxe framed photo package; value $1,500. # The Ultimate DVD Collection from Metro Goldwyn Mayer of 121 DVDs, including boxed sets, special editions and an autographed copy of "De-Lovely" 2004 release, signed by Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, director Irwin Winkler and screenwriter Jay Cocks; value $2,000. ACTIVE AUCTIONS: 1. Dinner of a Lifetime Chef/restaurateur, cookbook author and television personality Bobby Flay will prepare and serve dinner and wines for 20 guests in your home, while Harrahs Entertainment Las Vegas headliner Clint Holmes entertains them. Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada will provide the wines and champagnes. Value $30,000. 2. Under the Tuscan Sun Two will fly Alitalias luxurious Magnifica class for a dream vacation to Italy, with one week at the Salvatore Ferragamo private villa outside of Florence, then on to Rome for three nights at the Grand Flora Hotel on romantic Via Veneto, enjoy a private tour of Rome and the Vatican, plus dinner at Cicca Bomba restaurant. Value $20,000. 3. Take a Bite Out of Crime An exciting afternoon for two with Sheriff Bill Young touring the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which will include lunch with the sheriff, a helicopter fly-along, and a tour of SWAT and K-9 facilities. After a look deep inside Metros operations, you will check into deluxe accommodations in the Palace Tower at Caesars Palace for your twonight stay, which includes a massage in the spa, dining a Bradley Ogden restaurant, the Elton John "Red Piano" show and a chance to meet the star. The Jewelry Salon in the Four Seasons is including a lavish set of his and her watches for a lasting souvenir. Value: Priceless. 4. Dreaming of Europe Fly American Airlines for a vacation for two at InterContinental Hotel-Paris (three nights), including breakfast each morning, lunches at Michelin three-star Joel Roubichon and Alain Ducasse restaurants, and dinner at Michelin threestar Le Restaurant Guy Savoy. Then its on to Barcelona for four nights at the Hotel Fira Palace. Value $26,500. 5. Cruising in Style Choose from one of eight weeklong voyages aboard six-star Crystal Cruises flagship Crystal Symphony or Crystal Harmony. Whether you choose to visit the Pacific, the north Atlantic or the Caribbean, youll enjoy a richly appointed stateroom, full-service fitness facility, lavish spa, two pools, expansive decks, award-winning cuisine, first-class entertainment, Computer University@Sea, and ports of call. Round-trip airfare between home and port and applicable port fees are included. Value $12,500.
G
GAMBLING DEFINED. "Gambling" means risking any money, credit, deposit or other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance, the operation of a gambling device or the happening or outcome of an event, including a sporting event, the operation of casino gambling including, but not limited to, blackjack, craps, roulette, poker, bacarrat [baccarat] or keno, but does not include: (1) Bona fide contests of skill, speed, strength or endurance in which awards are made only to entrants or the owners of entrants; or (2) Bona fide business transactions which are valid under the law of contracts; or (3) Games that award only additional play; or (4) Merchant promotional contests and drawings conducted incidentally to bona fide nongaming business operations, if prizes are awarded without consideration being charged to participants; or (5) Other acts or transactions now or hereafter expressly authorized by law. GAMBLING PROHIBITED. (1) A person is guilty of gambling if he: (a) Participates in gambling; or (b) Knowingly permits any gambling to be played, conducted or dealt upon or in any real or personal property owned, rented, or under the control of the actor, whether in whole or in part. (2) Gambling is a misdemeanor. GANGS - STREET: Laws pertaining to Associating and Interacting with Street Gangs. Criminal street gangs and patterns of criminal street gang activity: prohibitions and criminal penalties A. Any person who intentionally directs, participates, conducts, furthers, or assists in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity as defined in this Chapter shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for an underlying offense committed in a pattern of criminal gang activity and may be fined an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars. Any sentence of imprisonment imposed pursuant to this Section shall be in addition and consecutive to any sentence imposed for an underlying offense committed in the pattern of criminal gang activity. B. Any person who is convicted of a felony or an attempted felony which is committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, with the intent to promote, further, or assist in the affairs of a criminal gang, shall, upon conviction of that felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be imprisoned for not less than one year nor more than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for that offense. C. Any person who is convicted of an offense other than a felony which is committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, any criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal conduct or enterprise by gang members, shall, in addition and consecutive to the penalty provided for that offense, be imprisoned for an additional period of six months. D. The court may elect to suspend all or a part of any additional mandatory punishment or enhanced punishment provided for in this Chapter only in an unusual case where the interests of justice would best be served, and if the court specifies on the record and enters into the minutes the reasons that the interests of justice would best be served by that suspension of punishment. Gang Activity and Forfeiture Possession of firearms, ammunition, and dangerous weapons by criminal street gangs; forfeiture A. Any firearm, ammunition to be used in a firearm, or dangerous weapon in the possession of a member of a criminal street gang as defined by R.S. 15:1404, may be seized by any law enforcement agency or peace officer, when the law enforcement agency or peace officer reasonably believes that the firearm, ammunition to be used in a firearm, or dangerous weapon is or will be used in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity. B. The district attorney shall initiate, in a civil action, forfeiture proceedings by petition in the district courts as to any property seized pursuant to the provisions of this Section within ninety days of seizure. The district attorney shall provide notice of the filing of the petition to those members of the gang who become known to law enforcement officials as a result of the seizure and any related arrests, and to any person learned by law enforcement officials to be the owner of any property involved. After initial notice of the filing of the petition, the court shall assure that all persons so notified continue to receive notice of all subsequent proceedings related to the property. C. Any person who claims an interest in any seized property shall, in order to assert a claim that the property should not be forfeited, file a notice with the court, without necessity of paying costs, of the intent to establish either of the following: (1) That the persons asserting the claim did not know, and could not have known of its use in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity. (2) That the law enforcement officer lacked the requisite reasonable belief that the property was or would be used in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity.
Gang Participation Criminal street gangs and patterns of criminal street gang activity: prohibitions and criminal penalties A. Any person who intentionally directs, participates, conducts, furthers, or assists in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity as defined in this Chapter shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for an underlying offense committed in a pattern of criminal gang activity and may be fined an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars. Any sentence of imprisonment imposed pursuant to this Section shall be in addition and consecutive to any sentence imposed for an underlying offense committed in the pattern of criminal gang activity. B. Any person who is convicted of a felony or an attempted felony which is committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any criminal street gang, with the intent to promote, further, or assist in the affairs of a criminal gang, shall, upon conviction of that felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she has been convicted, be imprisoned for not less than one year nor more than one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment provided for that offense. C. Any person who is convicted of an offense other than a felony which is committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, any criminal street gang, with the specific intent to promote, further, or assist in any criminal conduct or enterprise by gang members, shall, in addition and consecutive to the penalty provided for that offense, be imprisoned for an additional period of six months. D. The court may elect to suspend all or a part of any additional mandatory punishment or enhanced punishment provided for in this Chapter only in an unusual case where the interests of justice would best be served, and if the court specifies on the record and enters into the minutes the reasons that the interests of justice would best be served by that suspension of punishment. Gang-Related Definitions A. As used in this Chapter, "criminal street gang" means any ongoing organization association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, which has as one of its primary activities the commission of one or more of the criminal acts enumerated in Paragraphs (1) through (8) of Subsection B of this Section or which has a common name or common identifying sign or symbol, whose members individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity. B. As used in this Chapter, "pattern of criminal gang activity" means the commission or attempted commission of two or more of the following offenses, provided at least one of those offenses occurred after September 7, 1990 and the last of those offenses occurred within three years after a prior offense, and the offenses are committed on separate occasions or by two or more persons: (1) Aggravated battery or second degree battery. (2) Armed robbery. (3) First or second degree murder or manslaughter. (4) The sale, possession for sale, transportation. manufacture, offer for sale or offer to manufacture controlled substances. (5) Illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities. (6) Aggravated arson. (7) Intimidating, impeding, or injuring witnesses; or injuring officers. (8) Theft, of any vehicle, trailer, or vessel. Gangs and Weapons Possession of firearms, ammunition, and dangerous weapons by criminal street gangs; forfeiture A. Any firearm, ammunition to be used in a firearm, or dangerous weapon in the possession of a member of a criminal street gang as defined by R.S. 15:1404, may be seized by any law enforcement agency or peace officer, when the law enforcement agency or peace officer reasonably believes that the forearm, ammunition to be used in a firearm, or dangerous weapon is or will be used in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity. B. The district attorney shall initiate, in a civil action, forfeiture proceedings by petition in the district courts as to any property seized pursuant to the provisions of this Section within ninety days of seizure. The district attorney shall provide notice of the filing of the petition to those members of the gang who become known to law enforcement officials as a result of the seizure and any related arrests, and to any person learned by law enforcement officials to be the owner of any property involved. After initial notice of the filing of the petition, the court shall assure that all persons so notified continue to receive notice of all subsequent proceedings related to the property. C. Any person who claims an interest in any seized property shall, in order to assert a claim that the property should not be forfeited, file a notice with the court, without necessity of paying costs, of the intent to establish either of the following: (1) That the persons asserting the claim did not know, and could not have known of its use in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity. (2) That the law enforcement officer lacked the requisite reasonable belief that the property was or would be used in the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity.
Miscellaneous Gang Legislation Criminal Street Gangs Citation. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "State Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act". Title of Act: An Act to enact Chapter 12 of Title 15 of the State Revised Statutes of 1950, relative to criminal street gangs; to provide for criminal penalties for engaging in a pattern of criminal gang activity or commission of crimes in furtherance of a criminal street gang; to provide for definitions; to provide for injunctive relief from and damages for premises defined as nuisances; and to provide for related matters. Legislative findings and declaration A. The legislature hereby finds and declares that it is the right of every person, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age or handicap, to be secure and protected from fear, intimidation, and physical harm caused by the activities of violent groups and individuals. It is not the intent of this Chapter to interfere with the constitutional exercise of the protected rights of freedom of expression and association. The legislature hereby recognizes the right of every citizen to harbor and constitutionally express beliefs on any lawful subject whatsoever, to associate lawfully with others who share similar beliefs, to petition lawfully constituted authority for a redress of perceived grievances, and to participate in the electoral process. B. The legislature further finds that the state of State is in a state of crisis, which has been caused by violent street gangs whose members threaten, terrorize, and commit a multitude of crimes against the peaceful citizens of their neighborhoods. These activities, both individually and collectively present a clear and present danger to public order and safety and are not constitutionally protected. The legislature finds that there are many criminal street gangs and gang members operating in State. and that the number of gang-related crimes is increasing. It is the intent of the legislature in enacting this Chapter to seek the eradication of criminal activity by street gangs by focusing upon patterns of criminal gang activity and upon the organized nature of street gangs, which together are the chief source of terror created by street gangs. The legislature also finds that an effective means of punishing and deterring the criminal activities of street gangs is through the elimination of the availability to criminal street gangs of premises, often referred to as crack houses, which are used almost exclusively for the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity to the detriment of the law-abiding citizens of our state. Public Nuisance/Premises Used by Gangs Premises used by criminal street gang; nuisances; actions for injunction and damages; other remedies for unlawful use; exceptions A. Every private building or place used by members of a criminal street gang for the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity is a nuisance and may be the subject of an injunction or cause of action for damages as provided for in this Chapter. B. Any person may file a petition for injunctive relief with the appropriate court seeking eviction from or closure of any premises used for commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity by a criminal street gang. Upon proof by the plaintiff that the premises are being used by members of a criminal street gang for the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity, the court may order the owner of record of the premises to remove or evict the persons from the premises and order the premises sealed, prohibit further use of the premises, or enter such order as may be necessary to prohibit the premises from being used for the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity. C. Any action for injunction, damages, or other relief filed pursuant to this Section shall proceed according to the provisions of the State Code of Civil Procedure. D. The court shall not issue an injunction or assess a civil penalty against any owner of record unless that person knew or should have known or had been notified of the use of the premises for a pattern of criminal gang activity. Any injunctive relief other than that specifically authorized in Subsection F of this Section shall be limited to that which is necessary to protect the health and safety of the residents or the public or that which is necessary to prevent further criminal activity. E. A petition for injunction shall not be filed until thirty days after notice of the unlawful use or criminal conduct has been provided to the owner of record by mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, to the last known address. No injunctive relief authorized by Subsection F of this Section shall be issued in the form of a temporary restraining order. F. If the court has previously issued injunctive relief ordering the owner of record of the premises to close the premises or otherwise to keep the premises from being used for the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity, the court, upon proof that the owner of record has failed to comply with the terms of the injunction and that the premises continue to be used for the commission of a pattern of criminal gang activity, may do one or more of the following: (1) Order the premises demolished and cleared at the cost of the owner. (2) Order the premises sold at public auction and the proceeds from the sale, minus the costs of the sale and the expenses of bringing the action, delivered to the owner. (3) Order the owner of record to pay damages to persons or local governing authorities who have been damaged or injured or have incurred expense as a result of the owners failure to take reasonable steps or precautions to comply with the terms of any injunction issued pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter.
(4) Assess a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars against the defendant based upon the severity of the nuisance and its duration. In establishing the amount of any civil penalty, the court shall consider all of the following factors: (a) the actions taken by the defendant to mitigate or correct the problem at the private building or place or the reasons why no such action was taken. (b) The failure of the plaintiff to provide notice as required by Subsection E. (c) Any other factor deemed by the court to be relevant. G. No nonprofit or charitable organization, which is conducting its affairs with ordinary care or skill, and no governmental entity shall be enjoined pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter. H. Nothing in this Chapter shall preclude any aggrieved person from seeking any other remedy provided by law. GARGLING: It is against the law to gargle in public. GENERAL SALE OR DISTRIBUTION, ETC., OF OBSCENE MATTER -- PENALTY. Every person in this state who knowingly: brings or causes to be brought into this state for sale or distribution; or in this state prepares for distribution, publishes, prints, exhibits, distributes, or offers to distribute; or has in his possession with intent to distribute, exhibit, or offer to distribute, any obscene matter is guilty of a misdemeanor. Each sale, distribution, etc., is a separate violation. GIFTS TO PUBLIC SERVANTS BY PERSONS SUBJECT TO THEIR JURISDICTION. (1) Regulatory and law enforcement officials. No public servant in any department or agency exercising regulatory functions, or conducting inspections or investigations, or carrying on civil or criminal litigation on behalf of the government, or having custody of prisoners, shall solicit, accept or agree to accept any pecuniary benefit from a person known to be subject to such regulation, inspection, investigation or custody, or against whom such litigation is known to be pending or contemplated. (2) Officials concerned with government contracts and pecuniary transactions. No public servant having any discretionary function to perform in connection with contracts, purchases, payments, claims or other pecuniary transactions of the government shall solicit, accept or agree to accept any pecuniary benefit from any person known to be interested in or likely to become interested in any such contract, purchase, payment, claim or transaction. (3) Judicial and administrative officials. No public servant having judicial or administrative authority and no public servant employed by or in a court or other tribunal having such authority, or participating in the enforcement of its decisions, shall solicit, accept or agree to accept any pecuniary benefit from a person known to be interested in or likely to become interested in any matter before such public servant or a tribunal with which he is associated. (4) Legislative officials. No legislator or public servant employed by the legislature or by any committee or agency thereof shall solicit, accept or agree to accept any pecuniary benefit in return for action on a bill, legislation, proceeding or official transaction from any person known to be interested in a bill, legislation, official transaction or proceeding, pending or contemplated before the legislature or any committee or agency thereof. (5) Exceptions. This section shall not apply to: (a) fees prescribed by law to be received by a public servant, or any other benefit for which the recipient gives legitimate consideration or to which he is otherwise legally entitled; or (b) gifts or other benefits conferred on account of kinship or other personal, professional or business relationship independent of the official status of the receiver; or (c) trivial benefits not to exceed a value of fifty dollars ($50.00) incidental to personal, professional or business contacts and involving no substantial risk of undermining official impartiality. (6) Offering benefits prohibited. No person shall knowingly confer, or offer or agree to confer, any benefit prohibited by the foregoing subsections. (7) Grade of offense. An offense under this section is a misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided. Grand Theft Grand theft is the crime of taking someone else's property against their will with the intent of permanently depriving them of the property. In order to be considered grand theft, the total value of what was taken must exceed a certain dollar amount. The value of the property stolen to constitute the crime as grand theft varies by locale and other specifics. The term "property" in the grand theft definition can include money, labor, real, or personal property that lawfully belongs to another individual or group of individuals. When the value of the stolen property does not exceed the specified dollar amount, the crime is considered petty theft. The law in all jurisdictions draws a legal distinction between petty and grand theft. In most cases, petty theft is a misdemeanor crime that is punishable by no more than one year of incarceration and a maximum fine. Most states consider grand theft a felony crime that carries the possibility of a much harsher penalty. The specific punishment for the felony crime of grand theft will often depend on the applicable state laws and the type of theft that took place.
Many jurisdictions classify grand theft crimes by degrees which indicate the severity of the criminal act. The degree of grand theft is often predicated by the value amount of the property that was stolen. For example, in a given jurisdiction a fourth degree grand theft charge may involve a total $1,000 value of stolen property, whereas a first degree grand theft may involve stolen property valued at $10,000 or more. The value amount that is associated with each degree, or level of offense, is determined by state and local law and can vary significantly by location. There are many acts which can be considered grand theft. Shoplifting- defined as taking property, goods, or services from a place of business- can be considered grand theft if the value of the stolen goods exceeds the specified dollar amount. Vehicle theft is also considered grand theft as the value of most motor vehicles exceeds the value limit ascribed to petty theft. The taking of a firearm is considered grand theft and may be punishable by harsher penalties than grand theft of other goods similarly valued. The laws for grand theft of a firearm are often harsher due to the type of property stolen rather than the value of the property. There are a few types of grand theft that have been on the rise in the United States. Credit card fraud, internet fraud, identity theft and the like are all white collar crimes for which an offender may be charged with grand theft. It is estimated that 25 million Americans become the victims of consumer fraud, often considered a grand theft offense, each year. When a person is charged with grand theft involving white collar fraud, they often face the same penalties as individuals charged with grand theft crimes involving tangibles like motor vehicles or merchandise from a business.
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HACKING-INTERNET. <<WARNING>> THIS IS A DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMPUTER SYSTEM. THIS COMPUTER SYSTEM, INCLUDING ALL RELATED EQUIPMENT, NETWORKS AND NETWORK DEVICES (SPECIFICALLY INCLUDING INTERNET ACCESS), ARE PROVIDED ONLY FOR AUTHORIZED U.S. GOVERNMENT USE. DOD COMPUTER SYSTEMS MAY BE MONITORED FOR ALL LAWFUL PURPOSES, INCLUDING TO ENSURE THAT THEIR USE IS AUTHORIZED, FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE SYSTEM, TO FACILITATE PROTECTION AGAINST UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, AND TO VERIFY SECURITY PROCEDURES, SURVIVABILITY AND OPERATIONAL SECURITY. MONITORING INCLUDES ACTIVE ATTACKS BY AUTHORIZED DOD ENTITIES TO TEST OR VERIFY THE SECURITY OF THIS SYSTEM. DURING MONITORING, INFORMATION MAY BE EXAMINED, RECORDED, COPIED AND USED FOR AUTHORIZED PURPOSES. ALL INFORMATION, INCLUDING PERSONAL INFORMATION, PLACED ON OR SENT OVER THIS SYSTEM MAY BE MONITORED. USE OF THIS DOD COMPUTER SYSTEM, AUTHORIZED OR UNAUTHORIZED, CONSTITUTES CONSENT TO MONITORING OF THIS SYSTEM. UNAUTHORIZED USE MAY SUBJECT YOU TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. EVIDENCE OF UNAUTHORIZED USE COLLECTED DURING MONITORING MAY BE USED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, CRIMINAL OR OTHER ADVERSE ACTION. USE OF THIS SYSTEM CONSTITUTES CONSENT TO MONITORING FOR THESE PURPOSES. OK Clicking this OK link Acknowledges the above Warning and Allows Entry to the Public Web Site. <</WARNING>> Computer Hacking is a Secondary Skill, usually used as a complimentary skill with Computers. Hacking represents an aptitude in breaking the rules rather than expertise in programming or engineering. Security for Your Computer: If you are a computer owner or operator, or control a business that utilizes a computer system, there are security issues you must consider. If you do not possess the required skills to properly protect your data, hire someone who does! Of course, who do you trust? Consider two forms of security: Physical and software. Physical security represents access to keyboards, disks, monitors, phone lines, electricity, etc. Software security (or 'ice,' in the modern parlance) is represented by password protection, data encryption, alarms and triggers, and the like. When setting up your character's computer system, the first thing to decide is, generally, what information is stored on the computer. Next, decide what steps your character will take to physically and programmically to defend your data against intrusion. The results of these steps will be recorded for you by staff in a Wiznote. The basic roll for creating a security program is as follows: The combined successes of three rolls of Intelligence + Computer, diff 7, will represent the difficulty level to crack the system. If this figure is higher than 10, then 'cracking software' will be needed to reduce the number below 10 before hacking attempts can be made. Refer to the chart below for the baseline numbers for a computer system. Hacking: Gaining access to information in a computer system (other than one you belong in) requires three things: Computer Knowledge, Access, and Time. The secondary skill Hacking can be used to reduce the time factor or the difficulty level of the task at hand. A Storyteller will use the chart below as a STARTING point in orchestrating your attempt. System PC Mini MainFrame Security Icebreaker Time(hrs) 3 4 +1-6 -1-8 Diff 6 7 8 +1-6 -1-8
Hacking into large governmental or institutional systems can be rolled using the chart below as a starting point. Your Storyteller will use this information as a starting point for establishing the difficulty and success or failure of your attempt. The first question to ask is 'is the information I want stored on a computer.' The State of Louisiana is notorious for its lack of computerized record keeping. System Bank DMV County/State Records Police Department TRW Pentagon CDC SAD FBI/CIA NSA Federal Bureaus SmallCompany National Corporation International Conglomerate University running a MUSH Time(hrs) 3 5 3 4 6 10 6 10 8 12 7 5 7 8 4 Diff (Added to the base of 8) 16 17 16 17* 19* 23* 18* 23* 22* 23* 17* 17 18 20 16
* You MUST be at an authorized terminal to access these systems as they are Stand Alone and cannot be accesed by phone line or across the Internet. Those systems with access to the Internet or Phonelines are NOT the same and house only Website Information or Non-Classified records. There will be a multitude of other factors (some of which we won't tell you about) that will affect your success or failure in hacking. A number rolls will be required, each taking an amount of time in hours, modified by any skills or icebreaking software available. The accumulated successes will determine your results, and any botches will most certainly trigger an alarm of some kind. (This could either be electronic in nature, such as line tracing or 'fingerprinting', or an operator noticing the intrusion.) That all being said, if you or your target are related in any way to Virtual Adepts, the Technocracy, or Glasswalker Garou, then all bets are off. Source: Vamp Players Guide. Added note: To simplify our lives, I suggest we break 'Computer' into Computer (using them), Programming (composing and comprehending), Hacking (making it by definition illegal, notwithstanding what the computer wizzes tell us), Technology or Electronics to build, repair or rewire equipment. (Thanks to Corvus and Hermes for this write up - Updated by Shakron) Since most, if not all Security System Ratings will be over 10, the Hacker will need to generate cracking software to even have a chance. The Character makes 3 rolls of Computer + Intelligence vs. 7 (or 5 if he or she has the 'Computer Aptitude' merit, which most of them will). That information should be wiznoted on the Hacker or more importantly, on the Hacker's computer, if there is an object for it. The hacker's software rating is then subtracted from the difficulty generated before. Use the chart found in Computer Hacking (Security) Pt2 for reference. If the system they are attempting to hack is NOT on that list, the basic roll for creating a security program is as follows: The combined successes of three rolls of Intelligence + Computer, diff 7, added to the BASE difficulty of 8, will represent the difficulty level to crack the system. Actual Hacking Attempt: Make one roll to see if they gain access, another for each task they want to perform, and a final roll for covering their tracks. Access Roll: 1 Success: Guests - Accessed Users have 'Guest' access and can read most files, but not change any of them. 2 Successes: Restricted Users - Users can operate the computer and save documents, but cannot install programs or make potentially damaging changes to the system files and settings. 3 Successes: Standard Users -Users can modify the computer and install programs, but cannot read files that belong to other users. 4 Successes: Power Users - Power Users possess most administrative powers with some restrictions. Thus, Power Users can run legacy applications in addition to certified applications. 5 Successes: Administrators -Administrators have complete and unrestricted access to the computer/domain.
Cover Tracks Roll: 1 Success: Simple scan of the system will show evidence of an attack, successful or not. Can easily trace back to source. 2 Successes: Simple scan of the system will show evidence of an attempted attack. Only a deeper scan will show if it was successful or not. +1 to difficulty on tracing the Hacker. 3 Successes: Simple scan of the system shows no signs of attack. Only a deeper scan would show an attempted intrusion. +2 to difficulty on tracing the Hacker. 4 Successes: Simple or Deeper scan shows no signs of attack. Full scan of the system shows traces of the attack only. +3 to difficulty on tracing the Hacker. 5 successes: No trace of the intrusion discovered, even if a full scan of the system is made. All tasks that the Hacker performs while in the system will be variable and left to the ST to determine what information they receive by the number of successes for each roll the Hacker needs to make. COMPUTER: You understand how to operate and program computers. You may also be able to design your own system. If you wish to break into a computer system, you need a 2 in Computer as well as at least a 1 in Hacking. 1 Dot = Student: You can boot up a video game. 2 Dots = College: You made at least a B in Data Processing 101. 3 Dots = Masters: You are a competent programmer, and can design your own software. 4 Dots = Doctorate: You make a living scamming Ma Bell. 5 Dots = Scholar: Why aren't you playing Cyberpunk 2020(tm)? Possessed by: Programmers, Data Processors, Gamers, Students, Hackers. Specialties: Hacking, Virus Programs, Retrieving Data (Source: V:tM page 153) HACKING: The player must have at least 2 dots in Computer before purchasing this Knowledge. Hacking allows the computer user to break the rules. It is not a programming skill -- That requires Computer Knowledge. Hacking represents an imaginative faculty above and beyond the use of the programming codes. In the binary computer world of yes/no, hacking represents the little bit of genius that says, "Well, maybe" When is Hacking used rather than the Computer Knowledge? When the user is breaking into other computer systems or trying to manipulate data in "real time." The Computer Ability is used for programming or other miscellaneous tasks. Hacking is used most often as a complementary Ability to Computer, but it can aid programming by allowing the character to work faster or to crack military codes that a normal programmer would not even be able to figure out. 1 Dot = Novice: You are a computer geek who knows a few tricks, such as changing the university computer network. 2 Dots = Practiced: You have great "luck" in guessing computer passwords. 3 Dots = Competent: You thought your electric bill was too high last month, but you can fix that with a few keystrokes. 4 Dots = Expert: Now that you have cracked the bank codes, which is it: Rio or Bermuda? 5 Dots = Master: The European Community was pretty annoyed about that thermonuclear incident, but you know you can never trace it back to you. Possessed by Computer Geeks, CIA Operatives, Specialties: Viruses, Data Retrieval, Networking, Telecommunications (Source: VPG, page 61) COMPUTER APTITUDE MERIT: You have a natural affinity with computers, so the difficulties of all rolls to repair, construct, or operate them are two less (-2). (Source: VPG page 11) NOTE: This Aptitude Merit is used during the rolls of any Hacking Software created by a hacker and should NOT be used again during any Hacking attempts using that software. NOTE: No Federal system is able to be accessed via the Internet. Any Webserver that hosts a Federal Website does NOT house any vital information. No Databases, No Spreadsheets, No interface wit DoD Systems. HAZING. (1) No student or member of a fraternity, sorority or other living or social student group or organization organized or operating on or near a school or college or university campus, shall intentionally haze or conspire to haze any member, potential member or person pledged to be a memberof the group or organization, as a condition or precondition of attaining membership in the group or organization or of attaining any office or status therein. (2) As used in this section, "haze" means to subject a person to bodily danger or physical harm or a likelihood of bodily danger or physical harm, or to require, encourage, authorize or permit that the person be subjected to any of the following: (a) Total or substantial nudity on the part of the person; (b) Compelled ingestion of any substance by the person; (c) Wearing or carrying of any obscene or physically burdensome article by the person; (d) Physical assaults upon or offensive physical contact with the person; (e) Participation by the person in boxing matches, excessive number of calisthenics, or other physical contests; (f) Transportation and abandonment of the person; (g) Confinement of the person to unreasonably small, unventilated, unsanitary or unlighted areas; (h) Sleep deprivation; or
(i) Assignment of pranks to be performed by the person. (3) The term "hazing," as defined in this section, does not include customary athletic events or similar contests or competitions, and is limited to those actions taken and situations created in connection with initiation into or affiliation with any group or organization. The term "hazing" does not include corporal punishment administered by officials or employees of public schools when in accordance with policies adopted by local boards of education. (4) A student or member of a fraternity, sorority or other student organization, who personally violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. HIRING, EMPLOYING, ETC., MINOR TO ENGAGE IN CERTAIN ACTS -- PENALTY. Every person who, with knowledge that a person is a minor under eighteen (18) years of age, or who, while in the possession of such facts that he should reasonably know that such person is a minor under eighteen (18) years of age, hires, employs, or uses such minor to do or assist in doing any of the acts described in State Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor. If such person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section he shall be guilty of a felony. HOMICIDE, ADMINISTERING POISON WITH INTENT TO KILL. Every person who, with intent to kill, administers or causes or procures to be administered, to another, any poison or other noxious or destructive substance or liquid, but by which death is not caused, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than ten (10) years, and the mprisonment may be extended to life. HOMICIDE, ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO MURDER. Every person who assaults another with intent to commit murder, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than one (1) nor more than fourteen (14) years. HOMICIDE, DEFINITION OF HUMAN EMBRYO AND FETUS -- PROHIBITING THE PROSECUTION OF CERTAIN PERSONS. (1) For purposes of this chapter "embryo" or "fetus" shall mean any human in utero. (2) Nothing in this chapter, arising from the killing of an embryo or fetus, shall be construed to permit the prosecution: (a) Of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law; (b) Of any person for any medical treatment of the pregnant woman or her embryo or fetus; or (c) Of any woman with respect to her embryo or fetus. (3) Nothing in this chapter is intended to amend or nullify the provisions of State Code. HOMICIDE, DEGREES OF MURDER. (a) All murder which is perpetrated by means of poison, or lying in wait, or torture, when torture is inflicted with the intent to cause suffering, to execute vengeance, to extort something from the victim, or to satisfy some sadistic inclination, or which is perpetrated by any kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing is murder of the first degree. (b) Any murder of any peace officer, executive officer, officer of the court, fireman, judicial officer or prosecuting attorney who was acting in the lawful discharge of an official duty, and was known or should have been known by the perpetrator of the murder to be an officer so acting, shall be murder of the first degree. (c) Any murder committed by a person under a sentence for murder of the first or second degree, including such persons on parole or probation from such sentence, shall be murder of the first degree. (d) Any murder committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, aggravated battery on a child under twelve (12) years of age, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, kidnapping or mayhem, or an act of terrorism, as defined in State Code, or the use of a weapon of mass destruction, biological weapon or chemical weapon, is murder of the first degree. (e) Any murder committed by a person incarcerated in a penal institution upon a person employed by the penal institution, another inmate of the penal institution or a visitor to the penal institution shall be murder of the first degree. (f) Any murder committed by a person while escaping or attempting to escape from a penal institution is murder of the first degree. (g) All other kinds of murder are of the second degree. HOMICIDE, DISCHARGE OF DEFENDANT WHEN HOMICIDE JUSTIFIABLE OR EXCUSABLE. The homicide appearing to be justifiable or excusable, the person indicted must, upon his trial, be fully acquitted and discharged.
HOMICIDE, EXCUSABLE HOMICIDE. Homicide is excusable in the following cases: 1. When committed by accident and misfortune in doing any lawful act by lawful means, with usual and ordinary caution, and without any unlawful intent. 2. When committed by accident and misfortune, in the heat of passion, upon any sudden and sufficient provocation, or upon a sudden combat when no undue advantage is taken nor any dangerous weapon used, and when the killing is not done in a cruel or unusual manner. HOMICIDE, EXPRESS AND IMPLIED MALICE. Such malice may be express or implied. It is express when there is manifested a deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a fellow creature. It is implied when no considerable provocation appears, or when the circumstances attending the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart. HOMICIDE, FEAR NOT SUFFICIENT JUSTIFICATION. A bare fear of the commission of any of the offenses mentioned under homicide, to prevent which homicide may be lawfully committed, is not sufficient to justify it. But the circumstances must be sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable person, and the party killing must have acted under the influence of such fears alone. HOMICIDE, JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE BY ANY PERSON. Homicide is also justifiable when committed by any person in either of the following cases: 1. When resisting any attempt to murder any person, or to commit a felony, or to do some great bodily injury upon any person; or, 2. When committed in defense of habitation, property or person, against one who manifestly intends or endeavors, by violence or surprise, to commit a felony, or against one who manifestly intends and endeavors, in a violent, riotous or tumultuous manner, to enter the habitation of another for the purpose of offering violence to any person therein; or, 3. When committed in the lawful defense of such person, or of a wife or husband, parent, child, master, mistress or servant of such person, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design to commit a felony or to do some great bodily injury, and imminent danger of such design being accomplished; but such person, or the person in whose behalf the defense was made, if he was the assailant or engaged in mortal combat, must really and in good faith have endeavored to decline any further struggle before the homicide was committed; or, 4. When necessarily committed in attempting, by lawful ways and means, to apprehend any person for any felony committed, or in lawfully suppressing any riot, or in lawfully keeping and preserving the peace. HOMICIDE, JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE BY OFFICER. Homicide is justifiable when committed by public officers and those acting by their command in their aid and assistance, either: 1. In obedience to any judgment of a competent court; or 2. When reasonably necessary in overcoming actual resistance to the execution of some legal process, or in the discharge of any other legal duty including suppression of riot or keeping and preserving the peace. Use of deadly force shall not be justified in overcoming actual resistance unless the officer has probable cause to believe that the resistance poses a threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to other persons; or 3. When reasonably necessary in preventing rescue or escape or in retaking inmates who have been rescued or have escaped from any jail, or when reasonably necessary in order to prevent the escape of any person charged with or suspected of having committed a felony, provided the officer has probable cause to believe that the inmate, or persons assisting his escape, or the person suspected of or charged with the commission of a felony poses a threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or other persons. HOMICIDE, MANSLAUGHTER DEFINED. Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being including, but not limited to, a human embryo or fetus, without malice. It is of three (3) kinds: 1. Voluntary -- upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion. 2. Involuntary -- in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate any unlawful act, other than arson, rape, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, or mayhem; or in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection; or in the operation of any firearm or deadly weapon in a reckless, careless or negligent manner which produces death. 3. Vehicular -- in which the operation of a motor vehicle is a significant cause contributing to the death because of: (a) the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony, with gross negligence; or (b) the commission of a violation of section DWI or DUI State Code; or (c) the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony, without gross negligence. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any evidence of conviction under subsection 3.(b) shall be admissible in any civil action for damages resulting from the occurrence. A conviction for the purposes of subsection 3.(b) means that the person has pled guilty or has been found guilty, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s).
HOMICIDE, MURDER DEFINED. Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being including, but not limited to, a human embryo or fetus, with malice aforethought or the intentional application of torture to a human being, which results in the death of a human being. Torture is the intentional infliction of extreme and prolonged pain with the intent to cause suffering. It shall also be torture to inflict on a human being extreme and prolonged acts of brutality irrespective of proof of intent to cause suffering. The death of a human being caused by such torture is murder irrespective of proof of specific intent to kill; torture causing death shall be deemed the equivalent of intent to kill. HOMICIDE, NOTICE OF INTENT TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY. (1) A sentence of death shall not be imposed unless the prosecuting attorney filed written notice of intent to seek the death penalty with the court and served the notice upon the defendant or his attorney of record no later than thirty (30) days after entry of a plea. Any notice of intent to seek the death penalty shall include a listing of the statutory aggravating circumstances that the state will rely on in seeking the death penalty. The state may amend its notice upon a showing of good cause at any time prior to trial. A notice of intent to seek the death penalty may be withdrawn at any time prior to the imposition of sentence. (2) In the event that the prosecuting attorney does not file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty or otherwise puts the court on notice that the state does not intend to seek the death penalty, the court shall inform potential jurors at the outset of jury selection that the death penalty is not a sentencing option for the court or the jury. HOMICIDE, PETIT TREASON -- ABOLISHED. The rules of the common law, distinguishing the killing of a master by his servant, and of a husband by his wife, as petit treason, are abolished, and these offenses are homicides, and punishable as such. HOMICIDE, PUNISHMENT FOR MANSLAUGHTER. Manslaughter is punishable as follows: 1. Voluntary--by a fine of not more than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), or by a sentence to the custody of the state board of correction not exceeding fifteen (15) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 2. Involuntary--by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by a sentence to the custody of the state board of correction not exceeding ten (10) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 3. Vehicular--in the operation of a motor vehicle: (a) For a violation of State Code, by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by a sentence to the custody of the state board of correction not exceeding ten (10) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (b) For a violation of State Code, by a fine of not more than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), or by a sentence to the custody of the state board of correction not exceeding fifteen (15) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (c) For a violation of State Code, by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by a jail sentence not exceeding one (1) year, or by both such fine and jail sentence. (d) In addition to the foregoing, any person convicted of a violation of State Code, which resulted in the death of the parent or parents of minor children may be ordered by the court to pay support for each such minor child until the child reaches the age of eighteen (18) years. Support shall be established in accordance with the child support guidelines then in effect, and the nonpayment of such support shall be subject to enforcement and collection by the surviving parent or guardian of the child in the same manner that other child support orders are enforced as provided by law. In no event shall the child support judgment or order imposed by the court under this section be paid or indemnified by the proceeds of any liability insurance policy. (e) In addition to the foregoing, the driver's license of any person convicted of a violation of State Code, may be suspended for a time determined by the court. HOMICIDE, PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER. Subject to the provisions of State Code, every person guilty of murder of the first degree shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for life, provided that a sentence of death shall not be imposed unless the prosecuting attorney filed written notice of intent to seek the death penalty as required under the provisions of State Code, and provided further that whenever the death penalty is not imposed the court shall impose a sentence. If a jury, or the court if a jury is waived, finds a statutory aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt but finds that the imposition of the death penalty would be unjust, the court shall impose a fixed life sentence. If a jury, or the court if a jury is waived, does not find a statutory aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt or if the death penalty is not sought, the court shall impose a life sentence with a minimum period of confinement of not less than ten (10) years during which period of confinement the offender shall not be eligible for parole or discharge or credit or reduction of sentence for good conduct, except for meritorious service. Every person guilty of murder of the second degree is punishable by imprisonment not less than ten (10) years and the imprisonment may extend to life.
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IGNITION INTERLOCKS -- ASSISTING ANOTHER IN STARTING OR OPERATING -- PENALTY. A person who knowingly assists another person who is restricted to the use of an ignition interlock device to start and operate that vehicle in violation of a court order shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. The provisions of this section do not apply if the starting of a motor vehicle, or the request to start a motor vehicle, equipped with an ignition interlock device is done for the purpose of safety or mechanical repair of the device or the vehicle and person subject to the court order does not operate the vehicle. IGNITION INTERLOCKS -- ELECTRONIC MONITORING DEVICES. (1) If a person is convicted, is found guilty, pleads guilty or receives a withheld judgment for violating any of the provisions of this chapter and has had any or all of a sentence or fine suspended for the violation, the court, in its discretion, may impose any, some, or all of the sanctions provided for in this section in addition to any other penalty or fine imposed pursuant to this chapter. (2) The court shall order the person while operating a motor vehicle to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning ignition interlock device, and the restriction shall be for a period not in excess of the time the person is on probation for the offense. The court shall establish a specific calibration setting at which the ignition interlock device will prevent the motor vehicle from being started and the period of time that the person shall be subject to the restriction. As used in this section, the term "ignition interlock device" means breath alcohol analyzed ignition equipment, certified by the transportation department, designed to prevent a motor vehicle from being operated by a person who has consumed an alcoholic beverage. The transportation department shall by rule provide standards for the certification, installation, repair and removal of the devices. The court shall notify the transportation department of its order imposing a sanction pursuant to this subsection. The department shall attach or imprint a notation on the driver's license or other document granting the person restricted driving privileges of any person restricted under this subsection that the person may operate only a motor vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device. (3) The court may order the person to use electronic monitoring devices to record the person's movements if as a condition of probation the person has been given restricted driving privileges between certain times, has been placed under a curfew or has been ordered confined to his residence during times certain. Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the court's usage of electronic monitoring devices to supervise a defendant on probation for other offenses. (4) If a court orders a defendant to use an ignition interlock device or electronic monitoring device pursuant to this section, and the court, or its probation department, furnishes the defendant with the device, the court may order the defendant to pay a reasonable fee for utilizing the equipment. All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be in addition to any other fines or penalty provided by law and shall be deposited in the court interlock device and electronic monitoring device fund created in State Code. ILLEGAL ARRESTS AND SEIZURES. Every public officer, or person pretending to be a public officer, who, under the pretense or color of any process or other legal authority, arrests any person or detains him against his will, or seizes or levies upon any property, or dispossesses any one of any lands or tenements, without a regular process or other lawful authority therefor, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ILLEGAL DIVIDENDS AND REDUCTIONS OF CAPITAL. Every director of any stock corporation who concurs in any vote or act of the directors of such corporation, or any of them, by which it is intended, either: 1. To make any dividend, except from the surplus profits arising from the business of the corporation, and in the cases and manner allowed by law; or, 2. To divide, withdraw or in any manner, except as provided by law, pay to the stockholders, or any of them, any part of the capital stock of the corporation; or, 3. To discount or receive any note or other evidence of debt in payment of any instalment actually called in and required to be paid, or with the intent to provide the means of making such payment; or, 4. To receive or discount any note or other evidence of debt, with the intent to enable any stockholder to withdraw any part of the money paid in by him or his stock; or, 5. To receive from any other stock corporation, in exchange for the shares, notes, bonds or other evidences of debt of their own corporation, shares of the capital stock of such other corporation, or notes, bonds or other evidences of debt issued by such other corporation; Is guilty of a misdemeanor.
ILLEGAL USE OF DOCUMENTS. It is unlawful for any person, firm, company, or business to use any of the following documents for fraudulent or illegal purposes: (a) Log or product load receipt or ticket, permit, contract, or other instrument under the transportation of forest products act, State Code; (b) Certificates of compliance under the Idaho forestry act, State Code; (c) Certificate of notification under the Idaho forest practices act, State Code. Any person, firm, company, or business which knowingly uses any of the above mentioned documents in a fraudulent or illegal manner is guilty of a felony. ILLICIT CONVEYANCE OF ARTICLES INTO CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES. (1) If any person delivers or procures to be delivered, or has in his possession with intent to be delivered in any manner, to a prisoner of any state correctional facility, or deposits or conceals in or about the facility or dependencies thereon, or upon any lands belonging or pertaining thereto, or in any vehicle going into the premises belonging to the said facility, any letter, article or thing with the intent that a prisoner confined in said facility shall obtain or receive the same, or if any person receives from any prisoner of said facility, any letter, article or thing with intent to convey the same out of the facility contrary to the rules thereof, and without the knowledge and permission of the warden of said facility, or if any person shall purchase, exchange, take or receive from any prisoner thereof while he may be working outside said facility, any letter, article or thing, whether state or other property, manufactured or used in and about said facility, without the knowledge and permission of the warden of said facility, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (2) As used in this section, a correctional facility is a facility for housing persons committed or transferred to the custody of the board of correction, or a private correctional facility housing prisoners under the custody of the board of correction or housing outof-state prisoners, as defined in State Code, but shall not include facilities operated by, or under the control of, other agencies of state, county or municipal government. IMPERSONATION OF REVENUE OFFICER. Any person who shall in this state unlawfully exercise or attempt to exercise the functions of, or hold himself out as, an officer, agent, deputy or employee of the state tax commission or of any county assessor shall be guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of not more than five (5) years or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment. IMPRISONMENT -- EFFECT ON CIVIL RIGHTS AND OFFICES. (1) A sentence of custody to the Idaho state board of correction suspends all the civil rights of the person so sentenced including the right to refuse treatment authorized by the sentencing court, and forfeits all public offices and all private trusts, authority or power during such imprisonment: provided that any such person may bring an action for damages or other relief in the courts of this state or have an action brought against such person; and provided further that any such person may lawfully exercise all civil rights that are not political during any period of parole or probation, except the right to ship, transport, possess or receive a firearm, and the right to refuse treatment authorized by the sentencing court. (2) Upon final discharge, a person convicted of any Idaho felony shall be restored the full rights of citizenship, except that for persons convicted of treason or those offenses enumerated in paragraphs (a) through (jj) of this subsection the right to ship, transport, possess or receive a firearm shall not be restored. As used in this subsection, "final discharge" means satisfactory completion of imprisonment, probation and parole as the case may be. (a) aggravated assault (b) aggravated battery (c) assault with intent to commit a serious felony (d) battery with intent to commit a serious felony (e) burglary (f) crime against nature (g) domestic battery, felony (h) enticing of children, felony (i) forcible sexual penetration by use of a foreign object (j) indecent exposure, felony (k) injury to child, felony (l) intimidating a witness, felony (m) lewd conduct with a minor or child under sixteen (n) sexual abuse of a child under sixteen (o) sexual exploitation of a child (p) felonious rescuing prisoners (q) escape by one charged with, convicted of or on probation for a felony (r) unlawful possession of a firearm
(s) degrees of murder (t) voluntary manslaughter (u) assault with intent to murder (v) administering poison with intent to kill (w) kidnapping (x) mayhem (y) rape (z) male rape (aa) robbery (bb) ritualized abuse of a child (cc) cannibalism (dd) felonious manufacture, delivery or possession with the intent to manufacture or deliver, or possession of a controlled or counterfeit substance (ee) trafficking (ff) threats against state officials of the executive, legislative or judicial branch, felony (gg) unlawful discharge of a firearm at a dwelling house, occupied building, vehicle or mobile home (hh) unlawful possession of destructive devices (ii) unlawful use of destructive device or bomb (jj) attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation, to commit any of the crimes described in paragraphs (a) through (ii) of this subsection. (kk) The provisions of this subsection shall apply only to those persons convicted of the enumerated felonies in paragraphs (a) through (jj) of this subsection on or after July 1, 1991, except that persons convicted of the felonies enumerated in paragraphs (s) and (t) of this subsection, for any degree of murder or voluntary manslaughter, shall not be restored the right to ship, transport, possess or receive a firearm regardless of the date of their conviction if the conviction was the result of an offense committed by use of a firearm. (3) A person not restored to the civil right to ship, transport, possess or receive a firearm may make application to the commission of pardons and parole to restore the civil right to ship, transport, possess or receive a firearm. The commission shall not accept any such application until five (5) years after the date of final discharge. The commission shall conduct the proceeding upon such application pursuant to rules adopted in accordance with the law. The commission shall not restore the right to ship, transport, possess or receive a firearm to any person convicted of murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, or any felony enumerated in paragraphs (a) through (jj) of subsection (2) of this section, upon which the sentence was enhanced for the use of a firearm during the commission of said felony. (4) Persons convicted of felonies in other states or jurisdictions shall be allowed to register and vote in Idaho upon final discharge which means satisfactory completion of imprisonment, probation and parole as the case may be. These individuals shall not have the right restored to ship, transport, possess or receive a firearm, in the same manner as an Idaho felon as provided in subsection (2) of this section. INCARCERATION OF JUVENILES FOR MISDEMEANOR OR FELONY OFFENSES. (1) Juveniles committing offenses which lie outside the scope of the juvenile corrections act, may, in the discretion of a court or arresting officer, be placed in a juvenile detention facility or juvenile shelter care facility rather than in a county jail pending arraignment or trial, if arrested or held on bond. The option of placing a juvenile in such a facility shall not affect the misdemeanor or felony status of the offense. (2) Juveniles committing offenses which lie outside the scope of the juvenile corrections act, may, in the discretion of the court, be sentenced: (a) To serve time in a juvenile detention facility rather than in a county jail; or (b) To serve time in a community sentencing alternative when a mandatory minimum period of incarceration is not required by statute. The option of placing a juvenile in such a facility shall not affect the misdemeanor or felony status of the offense. INCEST. Persons being within the degrees of consanguinity within which marriages are declared by law to be incestuous and void, who intermarry with each other, or who commit fornication or adultery with each other, are punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding twenty-five (25) years. INDECENCY AND OBSCENITY, UNIFORM ENFORCEMENT -- ABROGATION OF EXISTING ORDINANCES -- FURTHER LOCAL ORDINANCES BANNED. In order to make the application and enforcement of this act uniform throughout the state, it is the intent of the legislature to preempt, to the exclusion of city and county governments, the regulation of the sale, loan, distribution, dissemination, presentation, or exhibition of material or live conduct which is obscene.
To that end, it is hereby declared that every city or county ordinance adopted before the effective date of this act which deals with the sale, loan, distribution, dissemination, presentation, or exhibition of material or live conduct which is obscene shall stand abrogated and unenforceable on or after such effective date; and that no city or county government shall have the power to adopt any ordinance relating to the regulation of the sale, loan, distribution, dissemination, presentation, or exhibition of material or live conduct which is obscene on or after such effective date. INDECENCY AND OBSCENITY, AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE. It is not innocent but calculated purveyance which is prohibited. This act shall not apply to any persons who may possess or distribute obscene matter or participate in conduct otherwise proscribed by this act when such possession, distribution, or conduct occurs: (A) within the scope of employment of law enforcement and judicial activities; or (B) within the scope of employment of bona fide school, college, university, museum or public library activities or within the scope of employment of such an organization or a retail outlet affiliated with and serving the educational purposes of such an organization; or (C) within the scope of employment as a moving picture machine operator, assistant operator, usher, or ticket taker in a motion picture theater in connection with a motion picture film or show exhibited in such theater, if such operator or assistant operator has no financial interest in the motion picture theater wherein he is so employed other than his wages received or owed, and such person consents to give testimony regarding such employment in all judicial proceedings brought under this act, when granted immunity by the trial judge; or (D) under like circumstances of justification where the possession, distribution or conduct possesses serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. If this issue is not presented by the prosecution's evidence, the defendant may raise the same as an affirmative defense by presenting some evidence thereon. Where raised, the prosecution must sustain the burden of proving the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt as to that issue. INDECENCY AND OBSCENITY DEFINITIONS. The following definitions are applicable to this act: (A) "Obscene" material means any matter: (1) which the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, when considered as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; and (2) which depicts or describes patently offensive representations or descriptions of: (a) ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; or (b) masturbation, excretory functions, or lewd exhibition of the genitals or genital area. Nothing herein contained is intended to include or proscribe any matter which, when considered as a whole, and in the context in which it is used, possesses serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. In prosecutions under this act, where circumstances of production, presentation, sale, dissemination, or publicity indicate that the matter is being commercially exploited by the defendant for the sake of its prurient appeal, such evidence is probative with respect to the nature of the matter and can justify the conclusion that, in the context in which it is used, the matter has no serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. (B) "Prurient interest" means a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex, or excretion, which goes substantially beyond customary limits of candor in description or representation of such matters. If it appears from the character of the material or the circumstances of its dissemination that the subject matter is designed for a specially susceptible audience or clearly defined deviant sexual group, the appeal of the subject matter shall be judged with reference to such audience or group. (C) "Matter" or "material" means any book, magazine, newspaper, or other printed or written material; or any picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture, or other pictorial representation; or any statue or other figure; or any recording, transcription, or mechanical, chemical, or electrical reproduction; or any other articles, equipment, machines, or materials. (D) "Person" means any individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation, or other legal entity; or any agent or servant thereof. (E) "Distribute" means to transfer possession of, whether with or without consideration, by any means. (F) "Knowingly" means having actual or constructive knowledge of the character of the subject matter or live conduct. A person shall be deemed to have constructive knowledge of the character of the subject matter or live conduct if he has knowledge of facts which would put a reasonable and prudent man on notice as to the suspect nature of the matter, and the failure to inspect the contents is either for the purpose of avoiding such disclosure or is due to reckless conduct. (G) "Reckless conduct" is conduct which consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that matter may be obscene. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that an average law-abiding person would observe in the actor's situation under like circumstances. (H) "Exhibit" means to show or display.
(I) "Obscene live conduct" means any physical human body activity, whether performed or engaged in alone or with other persons, including but not limited to singing, speaking, dancing, acting, simulating, or pantomiming, where: (1) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find such conduct, when considered as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; and (2) the conduct is patently offensive because it consists of: (a) ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; or (b) masturbation, excretory functions, or lewd exhibition of the genitals or genital area. Nothing herein contained is intended to include or proscribe any conduct which, when considered as a whole, and in the context in which it is used, possesses serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. In prosecutions under this act, where circumstances of production, presentation, advertising, or exhibition indicate that live conduct is being commercially exploited by the defendant for the sake of its prurient appeal, such evidence is probative with respect to the nature of the conduct and can justify the conclusion that, in the context in which it is used, the matter has no serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. INDECENCY AND OBSCENITY, ENFORCEMENT BY INJUNCTION, ETC. The district courts of this state and the judges thereof shall have full power, authority, and jurisdiction, upon application by any county prosecutor or city attorney within their respective jurisdictions, or the attorney general, to issue any and all proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent injunctions, and any other writs and processes appropriate to carry out and enforce the provisions of this act. Such restraining orders or injunctions may issue to prevent any person from violating any of the provisions of this act, in addition to those powers provided under State Code. However, no restraining order or injunction shall issue except upon notice to the person sought to be enjoined. Such person shall be entitled to a trial of the issues within one (1) day after filing of an answer to the complaint and a decision shall be rendered by the court within two (2) days of the conclusion of the trial. In the event that a final order or judgment of injunction be entered against the person sought to be enjoined, such final order or judgment shall contain a provision directing the person to surrender to the sheriff of the county in which the action was brought any obscene matter in his possession which is subject to such injunction and such sheriff shall be directed to seize and destroy such matter. INDECENCY AND OBSCENITY, PARTICIPATION IN, OR PRODUCTION OR PRESENTATION OF, OBSCENE LIVE CONDUCT IN PUBLIC PLACE -- PENALTY. (A) Every person who knowingly engages or participates in, manages, produces, sponsors, presents, or exhibits obscene live conduct to or before an assembly or audience consisting of at least one (1) person or spectator in any public place, or in any place exposed to public view, or in any place open to the public or to a segment thereof, whether or not an admission fee is charged, or whether or not attendance is conditioned upon the presentation of a membership card or other token, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (B) Every person who procures, counsels, or assists any person to engage in such conduct, or who knowingly exhibits, or procures, counsels, or assists in the exhibition of a motion picture, television production, or other mechanical reproduction containing such conduct, is guilty of a misdemeanor. INDECENCY AND OBSCENITY, PUBLIC DISPLAY OF OFFENSIVE SEXUAL MATERIAL -- PENALTY. Any person who knowingly exhibits or displays or permits to be exhibited or displayed any of the following in such a manner that such exhibit or display is easily visible from any street, sidewalk, thoroughfare, or other public area; or is visible from any transportation facility; or is visible from any residence when the person knows that the owner or occupant of such residence objects to such exhibit or display: (a) Human genitals or pubic area without a full opaque covering, or any graphic or pictorial depiction thereof, or any depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly erect state; (b) An actual or simulated sex act, or sexual contact between humans and animals, or masturbation, or any graphic or pictorial display thereof; or (c) Any depiction of sado-masochistic abuse, as defined in State Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor. INDECENCY AND OBSCENITY, PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATIONS. The following punishments are applicable to this act: Every person who violates Indecency and Obscenity (IAC) State Code, is punishable by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars ($300), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment for each separate violation. If such person has twice been convicted within the immediately preceding two (2) years for any offense contained in IAC State Code, and these convictions were for offenses which occurred ten (10) or more days apart, a third or subsequent violation of IAC State Code, within this two (2) year period is punishable as a felony.
INDECENCY AND OBSCENITY, REQUIRING PURCHASER OR CONSIGNEE TO RECEIVE OBSCENE MATTER AS CONDITION TO SALE, ETC. -- PENALTY. Every person, who, knowingly, as a condition to a sale, allocation, consignment, or delivery for resale of any paper, magazine, book, periodical, publication or other merchandise, requires that the purchaser or consignee receive any matter reasonably believed by the purchaser or consignee to be obscene, or who denies or threatens to deny a franchise, revokes or threatens to revoke, or imposes any penalty, financial or otherwise, by reason of the failure of any person to accept such matter, or by reason of the return of such matter, is guilty of a misdemeanor. INDECENCY AND OBSCENITY, SPECIAL VERDICT. The jury, or the court if a jury trial is waived, shall render a general verdict, and must also render a special verdict as to whether the matter named in the charge is obscene. The special verdict or findings on the issue of obscenity may be: "We find the .... (title or description of matter or live conduct) to be obscene," or "We find the .... (title or description of matter or live conduct) not to be obscene." A special verdict shall not be admissible as evidence in any other proceeding, nor shall it be res judicata of any question in any other proceeding. INDECENT EXPOSURE. Every person who willfully and lewdly, either: (1) Exposes his or her genitals, in any public place, or in any place where there is present another person or persons who are offended or annoyed thereby; or, (2) Procures, counsels, or assists any person so to expose his or her genitals, where there is present another person or persons who are offended or annoyed thereby is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of subsection (1) or (2) of this section or a similar statute in another state or any local jurisdiction for a second time within five (5) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s), is guilty of a felony. INDICTMENT AND TRIAL JURISDICTION. Any offense occurring aboard an aircraft is declared to be a continuing offense from the point of beginning to the point of termination of the flight, and jurisdiction to prosecute a person accused of such an offense shall be in any county of Idaho over which or in which the aircraft is being operated. INHUMAN TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. Every officer who is guilty of wilful inhumanity or oppression toward any prisoner under his care or in his custody is punishable by fine not exceeding $5,000, and removal from office. INJURY TO CHILDREN. (1) Any person who, under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes or permits any child to suffer, or inflicts thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or having the care or custody of any child, willfully causes or permits the person or health of such child to be injured, or willfully causes or permits such child to be placed in such situation that its person or health is endangered, is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or in the state prison for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years. (2) Any person who, under circumstances or conditions other than those likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes or permits any child to suffer, or inflicts thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or having the care or custody of any child, willfully causes or permits the person or health of such child to be injured, or willfully causesor permits such child to be placed in such situation that its person or health may be endangered, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (3) A person over the age of eighteen (18) years commits the crime of injury to a child if the person transports a minor in a motor vehicle or vessel as defined in State Code, while under the influence of alcohol, intoxicating liquor, a controlled substance, or any combination thereof, in violation of State Code. Any person convicted of violating this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor. If a child suffers bodily injury or death due to a violation of this subsection, theviolation will constitute a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years, unless a more severe penalty is otherwise prescribed by law. (4) The practice of a parent or guardian who chooses for his child treatment by prayer or spiritual means alone shall not for that reason alone be construed to have violated the duty of care to such child. (5) As used in this section, "willfully" means acting or failing to act where a reasonable person would know the act or failure to act is likely to result in injury or harm or is likely to endanger the person, health, safety or well-being of the child. INJURIES TO CROPS. Every person who maliciously injures or destroys any standing crops, grain, cultivated fruits or vegetables, the property of another, in any case for which a punishment is not otherwise prescribed by this code, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
INJURY TO MEASURING DEVICES. Any person or persons who shall cut, break, injure, destroy, enlarge, change, or alter any headgate, sluiceway, weir, water box, or other measuring device, the property of any irrigation district, corporation or association of persons, or in the possession of, or in the use of, said irrigation district, corporation, or association, or the property of another, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person or persons who shall change, alter, destroy, disturb, enlarge, or interfere with any headgate, dam, weir, water box, or other measuring device, made, placed, used or regulated by any duly appointed, elected, or authorized water master, deputy water master, ditch walker, ditch rider, engineer, or other authorized agent of any irrigation company, corporation or association or person, when said measuring device is being used or is to be used for the measurement of water, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. INJURIES TO DITCHES, CANALS, LATERALS, DRAINS AND APPURTENANCES. Any person or persons, who shall willfully cut, break, damage, or in any way interfere with any ditch, canal, lateral, drain, headgate, or any other works in or appurtenant thereto, the property of another person, irrigation district, drainage district, canal company, corporation, or association of persons, and whereby water is conducted to any place for beneficial use or purposes, and when said canal, headgate, ditch, lateral, drain, dam, or appurtenance is being used or is to be used for said conduct or drainage of water, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. INJURING DAMS, CANALS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES -- PENALTY. Every person who wilfully and maliciously cuts, breaks, injures or destroys any bridge, dam, canal, flume, aqueduct, levee, embankment, reservoir or other structure erected to create hydraulic power, or to drain or reclaim any swamp and overflowed or marsh land, or to conduct water for mining, manufacturing, reclamation or agricultural purposes, or any embankment necessary to the same, or either of them; or wilfully or maliciously makes, or causes to be made, any aperture in such dam, canal, flume, aqueduct, reservoir, embankment, levee or structure, with intent to injure or destroy the same, is punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding two years, or by both. INJURING GAS OR WATER PIPES. Every person who wilfully breaks, digs up, obstructs or injures any pipe or main for conducting gas or water, or any works erected for supplying buildings with gas or water or any appurtenances or appendages therewith connected, is guilty of a misdemeanor. INJURING JAILS. Every person who wilfully and intentionally breaks down, pulls down or otherwise destroys or injures any public jail or other place of confinement, is punishable by fine not exceeding $10,000, and by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five years. INJURING MONUMENTS, ORNAMENTS, AND PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. Every person, not the owner thereof, who wilfully mars, disfigures, breaks or otherwise injures, or molests, removes or destroys, any work of art, monument, landmark, historic structure, shade tree, shrub, ornamental plant, or useful or ornamental improvement, is guilty of a misdemeanor. INJURY BY GRAFFITI. No person shall purposely or knowingly vandalize, deface or otherwise damage the property of another by painting, writing, drawing, or otherwise inscribing thereon in any fashion that which is commonly known as graffiti. Graffiti includes any form of painting, writing, or inscription regardless of the content or the nature of the materials used which is applied to any public or private surface without the consent of the owner of the property. Every person who is convicted of a violation of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. INMATES OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS -- ENTICING, AIDING TO ESCAPE, HARBORING OR EMPLOYING UNLAWFUL. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, copartnership, corporation or association to knowingly entice, harbor, employ, or aid, assist or abet in the escape, enticing, harboring or employment of any delinquent, insane, feeble-minded or incorrigible person committed to, or confined in any institution maintained by the state for the treatment, education or welfare of delinquent or feeble-minded, incorrigible or insane person. -- PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATION. Any person violating the provisions of this act upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty (30) days nor more than ninety (90) days, or both.
INTENTIONAL DESTRUCTION OF A TELECOMMUNICATION LINE OR TELECOMMUNICATION INSTRUMENT. (1) Any person who intentionally takes down, removes, injures or obstructs in any manner any telecommunication line or, any part thereof, or appurtenances or apparatus connected therewith, or severs any wire thereof or who intentionally takes, withholds, takes down, removes, injures or obstructs any telephone instrument or other instrument that is used or could be used to facilitate the transmission of messages, signals, facsimiles, video images or other communication by means of telephone, telegraph, cable, wire or the projection of energy or waves without physical connection (such as wireless or cellular), with the intent to prohibit, disrupt, inhibit, delay, disconnect or otherwise interfere with a person's ability to make contact with or otherwise communicate with an emergency service provider is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one (1) year, or both. (2) For purposes of this statute, a "telecommunication line" shall be defined as any line used or that could be used for the transmission of any type of message or information, regardless of form or content. (3) For purposes of this statute, an "emergency service provider" includes law enforcement, emergency medical service providers (including, but not limited to, ambulance, EMS, or paramedic service providers), fire suppression service providers, dispatch centers, dispatch personnel, and any person, entity, or security business (including private business) that has the authority to dispatch such service providers or that otherwise makes available the service of requesting a response, or providing notification of the need for a response, by any of the foregoing emergency service providers. The term "emergency service provider" shall also include any personnel, service or entity that can be contacted, either directly or indirectly, by dialing "911." INTERFERENCE WITH AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH. (1) A person commits the crime of interference with agricultural research if the person knowingly: (a) Damages any property at an agricultural research facility with the intent to damage or hinder agricultural research or experimentation; (b) Obtains any property of an agricultural research facility with the intent to damage or hinder agricultural research or experimentation; (c) Obtains access to an agricultural research facility by misrepresentation with the intent to perform acts that would damage or hinder agricultural research or experimentation; (d) Enter an agricultural research facility with the intent to damage, alter, duplicate or obtain unauthorized possession of records, data, materials, equipment or specimens related to agricultural research or experimentation; (e) Without the authorization of the agricultural research facility, obtains or exercises control over records, data, materials, equipment or specimens of the agricultural research facility with the intent to destroy or conceal the records, data, materials, equipment or specimens; or (f) Releases or steals an animal from, or causes the death, injury or loss of an animal at an agricultural research facility. (2) A person found guilty of committing the crime of interference with agricultural research shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not more than twenty (20) years or by a fine not in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (3) For purposes of this section: (a) "Agricultural research facility" means any structure or land, whether privately or publicly owned, leased or operated, that is being used for agricultural research or experimentation. (b) "Agricultural research or experimentation" means the lawful study, analysis or testing of plants or animals, or the use of plants or animals to conduct studies, analyses, testing or teaching, for the purpose of improving farming, forestry or animal husbandry. (4) In addition to any other penalty imposed for a violation of this section, the court shall require any person convicted, found guilty or who pleads guilty to a violation of this section to make restitution to the victim of the offense in accordance with the terms of State Code; provided, that such award shall be in an amount equal to twice the value of the crop, crop product, timber, timber product, livestock or equipment damaged or destroyed. In ordering restitution under this section, the court shall, in the determination of value, consider: (a) The market value of the crop, crop product, timber, timber product, livestock, or equipment that has been damaged or destroyed; (b) Production, research, testing, replacement and development costs directly related to the crop, crop product, timber, timber product, livestock or equipment that has been damaged or destroyed; (c) the costs of repeating an experiment, including the replacement of the records, data, equipment, specimens, labor and materials, if acts constituting the violation cause the failure of an experiment in progress or irreparably damage completed research or experimentation. INTERFERENCE WITH DITCHES, CANALS, LATERALS, DRAINS OR RESERVOIRS. Every person who shall, without authority of the owner or managing agent, and with intent to defraud, take water from any canal, ditch, lateral, drain, flume or reservoir, used for the purpose of holding, draining or conveying water for manufacturing, agricultural, mining, or domestic uses, or who shall, without like authority, raise, lower, or otherwise disturb, any gate or other appurtenance thereof used for the control or measurement of water, or who shall empty or place, or cause to be emptied or placed, into any such canal, ditch, lateral, drain, flume, or reservoir, any rubbish, filth, or obstruction to the free flow of water, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
INTERFERENCE WITH HEADGATE -- CUTTING BANKS OF STREAM. If any obstruction shall be wilfully and maliciously placed on any overflow gauge in any stream of water which is used for irrigation and is under control of a water master, and such obstruction retards or impedes the free overflow of the water of such stream, thereby increasing the pressure against a headgate through which water is diverted by means of such dam, or if any headgate regulated by a water master shall be removed, broken, injured or interfered with so as to disturb the distribution of the water as regulated by the water master, or if any bank of the natural stream, the water of which is being used for irrigation and is being distributed by a water master, shall be cut away so as to increase the flow of water from such stream, thereby interfering with the distribution of the water as regulated by a water master, the person or persons so interrupting the flow of said water as aforesaid, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. INTERFERENCE WITH SERVICE OF PROCESS Every person who, knowingly and willfully obstructs, resists, or opposes the Chief of Police, a policeman or other person duly authorized, in serving or executing, or attempting to serve or execute any process issued by any court or official authorized to issue the same, or whoever assaults, beats or wounds any Chief of Police, policeman, or other person so duly authorized, knowing him to be such officer, or other person duly authorized, in serving or executing any such process shall be guilty of interference with service and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than one year, or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both. INTESTINAL DYSBIOSYS Symptoms: Gastric Pains, inability to keep food down, diarhea, dehydration. Prognosis: Change in diet, introduction of antibiotics, or use of endotoxins can cause this type of microflora die off. Cure: Rehydration via IV, mild sedative/pain reliever while being treated, stomach settling and reculture of the Gastrointestinal Tract Medical Comment: This can be a sign of a more dangerous and debilitating health risk, but on its own will only lead to discomfort and malnutrition. Doctor's Prescription for Patient: Get rest, watch your diet (Will give a list of what NOT to eat, and what to eat) and recover, taking pain relievers as necessary, but not to the extent to disrupt the mucosa of the GIT. Abstract Alterations in the bowel flora and its activities are now believed to be contributing factors to many chronic and degenerative diseases. Irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis have all been linked to alterations in the intestinal microflora. The intestinal dysbiosis hypothesis suggests a number of factors associated with modern Western living have a detrimental impact on the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract. Factors such as antibiotics, psychological and physical stress, and certain dietary components have been found to contribute to intestinal dysbiosis. If these causes can be eliminated or at least attenuated then treatments aimed at manipulating the microflora may be more successful. Introduction The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is one of the largest interfaces between the outside world and the human internal environment. From mouth to anus, it forms a nine-meter long tube, constituting the body's second largest surface area and estimated to cover approximately 250-400 [m.sup.2]. Over a normal lifetime, approximately 60 tons of food will pass through the GIT. Food is obviously extremely important for well-being, but its passage through the GIT can also constitute a threat to health. While the GIT functions to digest and absorb nutrients, food also provides exposure to dietary antigens, viable microorganisms, and bacterial products. The intestinal mucosa plays a dual role in both excluding these macromolecules and microbes from the systemic circulation and absorbing crucial nutrients. As mentioned above, the mucosa is exposed to bacterial products--endotoxins, hydrogen sulphide) phenols, ammonia, and indoles --that can have detrimental effects on both mucosal and host health. The presence of many of these toxic metabolites is directly dependent on the type of fermentation that occurs in the bowel. In turn, this fermentation is dependent on the type of bacteria present in the bowel, as well as the substrates available for fermentation. Diets high in protein and sulfate (derived primarily from food additives)a have been shown to contribute greatly to the production of these potentially toxic products. The production and absorption of toxic metabolites is referred to as bowel toxemia. The bowel toxemia theory has historical roots extending as far back as Hippocrates. In 400 B.C. he stated that, "... death sits in the bowels ..." and "... bad digestion is the root of all evil...." More modern proponents of the bowel toxemia theory have included naturopath Louis Kuhne in the late nineteenth century, as well as naturopath Henry Lindlahr and Nobel prize laureate Elie Metchnikoff in the early twentieth century. Louis Kuhne proposed that excess food intake, or the intake of the wrong types of food, resulted in the production of intestinal toxins. Fermentation of these toxins resulted in increased growth of bacteria within the bowel and, subsequently, disease. He believed a predominantly vegetarian and mostly raw diet would prevent build-up of intestinal toxins and, hence, would prevent and even cure disease. Only a few years later, Metchnikoff popularized the idea that fermented milk products could beneficially alter the microflora of the GIT. He believed many diseases, and even aging itself, were caused by putrefaction of protein in the bowel by intestinal bacteria. Lactic acid-producing bacteria were thought to inhibit the growth of putrefactive bacteria in the intestines. Thus, yogurt consumption was recommended to correct this "autointoxication" and improve composition of the microflora.
The bowel toxemia theories eventually evolved into the intestinal dysbiosis hypothesis. The term "dysbiosis" was originally coined by Metchnikoff to describe altered pathogenic bacteria in the gut. Dysbiosis has been defined by others as "... qualitative and quantitative changes in the intestinal flora, their metabolic activity and their local distribution." Thus dysbiosis is a state in which the microbiota produces harmful effects via: qualitative and quantitative changes in the intestinal flora itself; changes in their metabolic activities; and changes in their local distribution. The dysbiosis hypothesis states that the modern diet and lifestyle, as well as the use of antibiotics, have led to the disruption of the normal intestinal microflora. These factors result in alterations in bacterial metabolism, as well as the overgrowth of potentially pathogenic microorganisms. It is believed the growth of these bacteria in the intestines results in the release of potentially toxic products that play a role in many chronic and degenerative diseases. There is a growing body of evidence that substantiates and clarifies the dysbiosis theory. Altered bowel flora is now believed to play a role in myriad disease conditions, including GIT disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as well as more systemic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis. Thus, knowledge of the factors that can cause detrimental changes to the microflora is becoming increasingly important to the clinician. The Importance of Normal GIT Microflora The microflora of the gastrointestinal tract represents an ecosystem of the highest complexity. The microflora is believed to be composed of over 50 genera of bacteria accounting for over 500 different species. The adult human GIT is estimated to contain 10 viable microorganisms, which is 10 times the number of eukaryotic cells found within the human body. Some researchers have called this microbial population the "microbe" organ--an organ similar in size to the liver (1-1.5 kg in weight). Indeed, this microbe organ is now recognized as rivaling the liver in the number of biochemical transformations and reactions in which it participates. The microflora plays many critical roles in the body; thus, there are many areas of host health that can be compromised when the microflora is drastically altered. The GIT microflora is involved in stimulation of the immune system, synthesis of vitamins (B group and K), enhancement of GIT motility and function, digestion and nutrient absorption, inhibition of pathogens (colonization resistance), metabolism of plant compounds/drugs, and production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and polyamines. Factors that Can Alter the GIT Microflora Many factors can harm the beneficial members of the GIT flora, including antibiotic use, psychological and physical stress, radiation, altered GIT peristalsis, and dietary changes. This review will focus exclusively on the interactions of antibiotics, stress, and diet with the gut flora. The Impact of Antibiotics on GIT Microflora Antibiotic use is the most common and significant cause of major alterations in normal GIT microbiota. The potential for an antimicrobial agent to influence gut microflora is related to its spectrum of activity, pharmacokinetics, dosage, and length of administration. Regarding the spectrum of activity, an antimicrobial agent active against both gram-positive and -negative organisms will have a greater impact on the intestinal flora. In terms of pharmacokinetics, the rate or intestinal absorption plays a fundamental role. Also important is whether the drug is excreted in its active form in bile or saliva. Both of these pharmacokinetic factors determine the drug's ultimate concentration in the intestinal lumen and, hence, the severity of the microfloral alteration. In general, oral antimicrobials well absorbed in the small intestine will have minor impact on the colonic flora, whereas agents that are poorly absorbed can cause significant changes. Parenteral administration of antimicrobial agents is not free from these consequences, as some of these agents can be secreted in their active forms in bile, saliva, or from the intestinal mucosa, and result in considerable alterations in the colonic flora. The dosage and length of administration of an antibiotic will also determine the magnitude of impact on the intestinal flora. In general, the greater the dosage and length of administration, the larger the impact on the microflora. Tables 1a-1d provide an overview of research investigating the effects of specific antibiotics on GIT microflora. In general, the trials were conducted on healthy humans and involved only a single course of antibiotics. It is possible microfloral alterations induced by a particular antibiotic might be more severe in individuals with compromised health or who have been subjected to multiple courses of antibiotics. Recent epidemiological research has shown that individuals who had taken only one course of antibiotics had significantly lower serum concentrations of enterolactone up to 16 months post-antibiotic use compared to individuals who had remained antibiotic-free during the same time period (p<0.05). As serum concentrations of enterolactone are dependent on colonic conversion of plant lignans to enterolactone by the intestinal microflora (via beta-glycosidation), this study suggests infrequent antibiotic use has much longer-lasting effects on the microflora and its metabolic activities than was previously believed. This negative association between serum enterolactone levels and antibiotic use has clinical importance due to recent studies showing correlations between high serum enterolactone concentrations and protection from cardiovascular mortality and breast cancer. If an antimicrobial agent severely impacts the microflora, negative repercussions on host health can result, and include: * Overgrowth of already-present microorganisms, such as fungi or Clostridium difficile. Overgrowth of these organisms is a frequent cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and overgrowth of C. difficile can develop into a severe life-threatening infection. * Decreased production of SCFAs, which can result in electrolyte imbalances and diarrhea. Short-chain fatty acids play a vital role in electrolyte and water absorption in the colon. Reduced production of SCFAs post-antibiotic use may be a causative factor in antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Short-chain fatty acids also contribute to host health in other ways, such as improving colonic and hepatic blood flow, increasing the solubility and absorption of calcium, increasing the absorptive capacity of the small intestine, and n3aintaining colonic mucosal integrity.
* Increased susceptibility to intestinal pathogens due to the decrease in colonization resistance. A decrease in colonization resistance after antibiotic administration has been observed in animal models. Such experiments have shown that disruption of normal microflora decreases the number of pathogens necessary to cause an infection and lengthens the time of infection. * Decreased therapeutic effect of some medicinal herbs and phytoestrogen-rich foods. The activity of many medicinal herbs depends on bacterial enzymatic metabolism in the colon. Of the many enzymes produced by intestinal flora, bacterial beta-glycosidases probably play the most significant role, as many active herbal constituents are glycosides and are inert until the active aglycone is released via enzymatic hydrolysis. Herbs such as willow bark (Salix spp.), senna (Cassio senna), rhubarb (Rheum palmatum), devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), soy (Glycine max), and red clover (Trifolium pratense) would be essentially inactive without this colonic metabolism. Based on the results of the above-described epidemiological study, it can be inferred that antibiotic use interferes with microbial beta-glycosidation in the GIT for a considerable period post-antibiotic administration, which could significantly impact the efficacy of many phytotherapeutic agents prescribed post-antibiotic use. Hence, antimicrobial agents should be used sparingly and selected carefully in order to minimize the impact on GIT microflora. The Effect of Stress on GIT Microflora To determine whether psychological stress results in an altered gastrointestinal environment, Bailey and Coe investigated changes in indigenous GIT microflora in primates after maternal separation. GIT microflora was evaluated in 20 infant rhesus macaques ages 6-9 months who were separated from their mothers for the first time. All infant monkeys were found to have typical fecal bacterial concentrations at baseline. A brief increase in Lactobacilli shedding on the first day post-separation (p<0.05) was followed by a significant decrease in the concentration of Lactobacilli in the feces (p<0.001). An inverse relationship was also found between the fecal concentration of shed pathogens (Shigella spp. and Campylobacter spp.) and shed Lactobacilli (p= 0.07). The study demonstrates that psychological stress can alter the integrity of indigenous microflora for several days. Other authors have also theorized the Lactobacilli population responds to stress-induced changes in GIT physiology, such as inhibition of gastric acid release,5s alterations in GIT motility, or increased duodenal bicarbonate production. These changes may result in an intestinal environment less conducive to Lactobacilli survival, adherence, and replication. Alterations in GIT milieu may lead to detachment of Lactobacilli from the intestinal epithelium and subsequent passage through the GIT, thus resulting in decreased numbers of replicating Lactobacilli. This would explain the increased shedding of Lactobacilli found on the first day of stress, followed by a dramatic decrease in numbers of Lactobacilli over the next six days. The effects of psychological stress on the intestinal environment have been studied in Soviet cosmonauts. In general, it was found that on return from space flight there was a decrease in fecal Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus organisms. These changes were attributed primarily to stress, although a diet low in fiber may also have contributed. The change in microflora observed by Lizko led to a subsequent decline in colonization resistance, which in turn resulted in increased numbers of potentially pathogenic organisms. It has been found that exposure to psychological stress results in a significant reduction in the production of mucin and a decreased presence of acidic mucopolysaccharides on the mucosal surface. Since both mucin and acidic mucopolysaccharides are important for inhibiting adherence of pathogenic organisms to the gut mucosa, a decrease in either contributes significantly to successful colonization by pathogenic organisms. Lizko states that exposure to stress results in decreased production of immunoglobulin A (IgA). As IgA plays a vital role in the defense against pathogenic organisms by inhibiting bacterial adherence and promoting their elimination from the GIT, Lizko postulates that any decrease in IgA secretion would most likely increase intestinal colonization by potentially pathogenic microorganisms (PPMs). A 1997 study assessed the effects of psychosocial stress on mucosal immunity, specifically the effect of emotional stress on secretory IgA (sIgA) levels. The study was conducted on children ages 8-12 years (mean age 9.4 years). Ninety children were included in the trial--half of whom had a history of recurrent colds and flu, while the other half were healthy controls. The results demonstrated that stressful life events correlated with a decreased salivary ratio of sIgA to albumin. The ratio of sIgA to albumin controls for serum leakage of sIgA and is thought to give a clearer indication of mucosal immunity than total sIgA concentration. This result provides additional evidence of the likelihood of stress effectively decreasing mucosal immunity and, thus, diminishing intestinal colonization resistance. Other studies on college students have found sIgA concentrations decrease during or shortly after examinations. Salivary concentrations of sIgA are inversely associated with norepinephrine concentrations, suggesting sympathetic nervous system activation suppresses the production and/or release of sIgA. Thus, frequent suppression of mucosal immunity by the sympathetic nervous system during stressful experiences could increase colonization of the intestinal mucosa by PPMs. Holdeman et al studied factors that affect human fecal flora. They noted a 20-30 percent rise in the proportion of Bacteroides fragilis subsp. thetaiotaomicron in the feces of individuals in response 2to anger or fearful situations. When these situations were resolved, the concentration of these organisms in the feces decreased to normal levels. This effect may be mediated via epinephrine, which has been shown to stimulate both intestinal motility and bile flow. As growth of B. fragilis subsp. thetaiotaomicron is enhanced by bile, this may partly explain the increased numbers of organisms in response to increased epinephrine release.
In vitro experiments conducted by Ernst and Lyte have demonstrated that several neurochemicals have the ability to directly enhance the growth of PPMs. The influence of the catecholamines norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, and dopa were assessed on two strains of Enterobacteriaceae--Yersinia enterocolitica and Escherichia coli, and one strain of Pseudomonadaceae-Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All three bacterial species are potential pathogens, with Y enterocolitica and E. coli involved in GIT infections and P. aeruginosa in gastrointestinal, respiratory, and urinary tract infections. The concentrations of catecholamines used in the experiment were equivalent to those found in plasma. The addition of norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, and dopa to the cultures of E. coli resulted in increased growth when compared to non-catecholamine-supplemented control cultures. However, the largest increase in growth was observed with the addition of norepinephrine. Norepinephrine caused a large increase in growth of Y. enterocolitica, while both dopa and dopamine produced only small, but significant, increases in growth. Epinephrine demonstrated no effect. Norepinephrine also markedly increased the growth of P aeruginosa, while the other catecholamines appeared to have no effect on this organism. In vitro experiments performed by Lyte et al showed exposure of enterotoxigenic and enterohemorrhagic strains of E. coli to norepinephrine resulted in increased growth and the expression of virulence factors, such as the K99 pilus adhesin, which is involved in the attachment and penetration of the bacterium into the host's intestinal mucosa. Growth of the enterohemorrhagic E. coli was also increased, as was its production of Shiga-like toxin-I and Shiga-like toxin-II. The capability of norepinephrine to enhance both bacterial virulence-associated factors and growth was shown to be non-nutritional in nature--in other words, the bacteria did not use norepinephrine as a food; rather, the effect was via an unknown mechanism. Additional experiments by Lyte et al demonstrated that upon exposure to norepinephrine, E. coli produces a growth hormone known as an "autoinducer of growth." This autoinducer showed a high degree of cross-species activity with other gram-negative bacteria, resulting in increased growth of other organisms. It was later found to stimulate 10- to 104-fold increases in the growth of 12 of 15 gram-negative microorganisms tested. Exposure to stress has been documented to result in dramatic and sustained increases in catecholamine levels. This high concentration of catecholamines, and especially norepinephrine, may result in increased growth of PPMs in the intestines. The GIT has abundant noradrenergic innervation and a high amount of norepinephrine is present throughout. Studies conducted by Eisenhofer et aL showed 45-50 percent of the total body production of norepinephrine occurs in the mesenteric organs. Lyte suggests spillover of norepinephrine into the lumen of the intestinal tract undoubtedly occurs due to the concentration gradient present within the mesenteric organs. Thus, there would be no requirement for an active transport system. This spillover effect has previously been demonstrated for serotonin following its release from gut enterochromaffin cells. As such, the GIT represents an area in which neuroendocrine hormones like norepinephrine coexist with indigenous microflora. Thus far, catecholamines have not been found to induce the growth of gram-positive bacteria. The effect of norepinephrine on gut flora was recently demonstrated in a murine model. The release of norepinephrine into the systemic circulation, caused by neurotoxin-induced noradrenergic neuron trauma, resulted in increased growth of gram-negative bacteria within the GIT. The total gram-negative population increased by 3 log units within the cecal wall and 5 log units within the cecal contents inside a 24-hour time period. The predominant species of gram-negative bacteria identified was E. coli. To summarize, stress can induce significant alterations in GIT microflora, including a significant decrease in beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria and an increase in PPMs such as E. coli. These changes may be caused by the growthenhancing effects of norepinephrine on gram-negative microorganisms or by stress-induced changes to GIT motility and secretions. Diet and Intestinal Microflora The composition of the diet has been shown to have a significant impact on the content and metabolic activities of the human fecal flora. Some diets promote the growth of beneficial microorganisms, while others promote microfloral activity that can be harmful to the host. Sulfates Sulfur compounds, including sulfate and sulfite, have been shown to increase the growth of PPMs or increase production of potentially harmful bacterial products in the GIT. In the colon is a specialized class of gram-negative anaerobes known as sulfatereducing bacteria (SRB). SRB include species belonging to the genera Desulfotomaculum, Desulfovibrio, Desulfobulbus, Desulfobacter, and Desulfomonas. The principal genus, however, is Desulfovibrio, which accounts for 64-81 percent of all human colonic SRB. Sulfate-reducing bacteria utilize a process termed "dissimilatory sulfate reduction" to reduce sulfite and sulfate to sulfide. The consequence of this process is the production of potentially toxic hydrogen sulfide, which can contribute to abdominal gas-distension. Hydrogen sulfide can also damage colonic mucosa by inhibiting the oxidation of butyric acid, the primary fuel for enterocytes. Butyrate oxidation is essential for absorption of ions, mucus synthesis, and lipid synthesis for colonocyte membranes. This inhibition of butyrate oxidation is characteristic of the defect observed in ulcerative colitis and leads to intracellular energy deficiency, as well as disruption of essential activities. Sulfide has also been shown to cause a substantial increase in mucosal permeability, presumably due to the breakdown of the polymeric gel structure of mucin through the cleavage of disulfide bonds.
Sulfate-reducing bacteria are not present in all individuals and there appears to be considerable variation in SRB concentrations depending on geographical location, a variation hypothesized to be connected to dietary differences. Sulfate-reducing bacteria directly compete with methanogenic bacteria (MB) for vital substrates, such as hydrogen and acetate. In fact, methanogenesis and sulfate reduction appear to be mutually exclusive in the colon. In the presence of sufficient amounts of sulfate, SRB have been shown to outcompete MB for both hydrogen and acetate: whereas, under conditions of sulfate limitation the reverse occurs. The amount of dietary sulfate that reaches the colon appears to be the primary lector in determining the growth of SRB. On the other hand, endogenous sources of sulfate (e.g., sulfated glyco-proteins, chondroitin sulfate) appear to have little impact on SRB levels. Sources of dietary sulfate include preservatives, dried fruits (if treated with sulfur dioxide), dehydrated vegetables, shellfish (flesh or frozen), packaged fruit juices, baked goods, white bread, and the majority of alcoholic beverages. It also appears probable that ingestion of foods rich in sulfur-containing amino acids encourages both the growth of SRB and the production of sulfide in the large bowel. Major amounts of sulfur-containing amino acids are found in cow's milk, cheese, eggs, meat, and cruciferous vegetables. Consumption of large amounts of these foods may significantly increase sulfide production in the colon. Research conducted in the 1960s found elimination of milk, cheese, and eggs from the diet of ulcerative colitis sufferers resulted in substantial therapeutic benefit, suggesting that reducing the intake of sulfur-containing amino acids decreases colonic production of sulfide. High Protein Diet Consumption of a high-protein diet can also increase the production of potentially harmful bacterial metabolites. It has been estimated that in individuals consuming a typical Western diet (containing ~ 100 g protein/day) as much as 12 g of dietary protein per day can escape digestion in the upper GIT and reach the colon. This is in addition to host-derived proteins, such its pancreatic and intestinal enzymes, mucins, glycoproteins, and sloughed epithelial cells. Undigested protein is fermented by the colonic microflora with the resultant end-products of SCFAs, branched-chain fatty acids (e.g., isovalerate, isobutyrate, and 2-methylbutyrate), and potentially harmful metabolites-ammonia, amines, phenols, sulfide, and indoles. Ammonia has been shown to alter the morphology and intermediate metabolism, increase DNA synthesis, and reduce the lifespan of mucosal cells. It is also considered to be more toxic to healthy mucosal cells than transformed cells and, thus, may potentially select for neoplastic growth.5 Ammonia production and accumulation is also revolved in the pathogenesis of portal-systemic encephalopathy. Indoles, phenols, and amines have been implicated in schizophrenia and migraines. Indoles and phenols are also thought to act as co-carcinogens and may play a role in the etiology of bladder and bowel cancer. The production of these potentially toxic compounds has been found to be directly related to dietary protein intake, a reduction of which can decrease production of harmful by-products. The production of these potentially harmful by-products can also be attenuated by the consumption of diets high in fiber and/or indigestible starch (both of which reduce intestinal pH). Diets High In Animal Protein In comparison to diets high in overall protein. diets especially high in animal protein have specific effects on intestinal microflora. While not appearing to dramatically alter the bacterial composition of the flora compared to control diets, ingestion of huge amounts of animal protein does increase the activity of certain bacterial enzymes, such as beta-glucuronidase, azoreductase, nitroreductase, and 7-alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydroxylase, in animals and humans. This can have important ramifications to the host, as any increase in activity of these enzymes will result in increased release of potentially toxic metabolites in the bowel. For instance, bacterial azoreductase can reduce the azo bond found in many synthetic food-coloring agents, releasing substituted phenyl and napthyl amines, some of which are known to be potent carcinogens. Another example is the action of the bacterial betaglucuronides. Many xenobiotics are processed in the liver by a series of reactions that result in glucuronic acid conjugation. These glucuronides are then passed, via the biliary system, to the intestines. When these compounds reach the colon they can be hydrolyzed by beta-glucuronidase produced by the microflora, resulting in the release of the original xenobiotic, which then re-enters enterohepatic circulation and is recirculated several times before eventually being eliminated through the feces. If the original xenobiotic is mutagenic, carcinogenic, or otherwise toxic, this process can be detrimental to the host. The nutrient calcium D-glucarate exerts its potentially beneficial effects by inhibiting beta-glucuronidase. High Simple Sugar/Refined Carbohydrate Diet Kruis et al observed that diets high in simple sugars slow bowel transit time and increase fermentative bacterial activity and fecal concentrations of total and secondary bile acids in the colony A consequence of slower bowel transit time may be an increased exposure to potentially toxic bowel contents. The mechanism by which high-sugar diets increase bowel transit time is not yet known. The increase in colonic fermentative activity noted in the Kruis study may not be directly associated w, ith changes in microflora composition, but rather be caused by direct exposure of the colon to simple sugars. Refined sugars are metabolized quickly in the ascending colon; whereas, high-fiber foods, containing substantial amounts of insoluble fiber, are metabolized more slowly, releasing fermentation end-products (e.g., hydrogen gas and SCFAs) more gradually. It is possible, however, that high sugar intake does cause alterations in the microflora. It has been observed that high sugar intakes increase bile output. Some species of intestinal bacteria utilize bile acids as food and. hence, any increase in their production will result in a competitive advantage for this group of bacteria. The changes observed in bacterial fermentation in this study may or may not be related to changes in the species composition of the microflora. Since this was not adequately assessed in this study, the significance of these results requires further investigation.
Other researchers have postulated that when intake of dietary carbohydrates is insufficient, increased fermentation of the protective layer of mucin may occur due to the limited quantity of carbon sources reaching the colon. This may compromise mucosal defense and lead to direct contact between colonic cells and bacterial products and antigens. This, in turn, may lead to inflammation and increased mucosal permeability. Such a situation may encourage the growth of potentially pathogenic bacteria and perpetuate the inflammatory response. This theory, however, is yet to be supported by direct evidence. General Dietary Factors The effect of the overall diet on the composition and metabolic activities of GIT microflora has been the subject of research since the late 1960s. It was initially believed that changing the content of the diet (in terms of meat, fat, carbohydrate, and fiber content) would dramatically alter the bacterial species composition of the colonic flora. However, when the diets of various population groups consuming different diets were analyzed, the changes noted were not dramatic. Only minor changes were noted among the croups, although these changes were considered to be caused by differences in diet. Table 3 outlines results of several studies comparing the fecal flora of individuals consuming the typical Western diet (high in fat and meat) to that of individuals eating vegetarian and/or high complex-carbohydrate diets. In general, it appears populations censuming the typical Western diet have more fecal anaerobic bacteria, less Enterococci, and fewer yeasts than populations consuming a vegetarian or high complex-carbohydrate diet. Although one study found a significant difference between a mixed Western diet and a vegetarian diet, overall there appear to be relatively few trends. In spite of these findings, Gorbach argues that due to the sheer number of bacteria present in the stool (approximately [10.sup.11] viable bacteria/g) and the enormous variety (around 500 anaerobic species, not to mention aerobic and facultalive species), the classical method of quantifying flora is, at best, a crude approximation. Thus, these methods may be unable to differentiate changes due to variations in diet. In an attempt to create a more sensitive method to detect changes in human microflora, Peltonen et al utilized gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) to analyze profiles of bacterial cellular laity acids. This method measures bacterial cellular fatty acids present in the stool that accumulate to form a GLC fatty acid profile, with each peak in the profile representing relative amounts of a particular fatty acid in the stool. Similar bacterial compositions should yield similar fatty acid profiles, while distinctions can be quantified by the extent to which profiles differ from each other. The researchers utilized this technique to analyze the effects of a vegan, raw food diet on the intestinal microflora. The one-month diet consisted of a variety of sprouts, fermented vegetables, fruits, seaweed, nuts, and seeds. Differences in the GLC profile between the test and control groups were statistically significant (p<0.05), its were the differences in test group GLC profiles before and during the diet. No significant changes in the fecal flora could be detected in either group using the traditional isolation, identification, and enumeration bacteriological. While GLC may be a more sensitive method to determine changes in fecal flora, it cannot identify particular components of the flora. Newer techniques such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) or polymerase chain reaction assays coupled with denaturing gel electrophoresis are more sensitive to minor alterations in microflora and allow for bacterial identification that would otherwise be impossible to culture. The use of these modern techniques in future diet studies will shed more light on this contentious area. Interestingly, recent research utilizing the FISH technique has indicated the majority of bacteria in the colon are not culturable and have yet to be described. This finding suggests how little is actually known about the composition of GIT microflora. In summary, research has shown that consumption of foods rich in sulfur compounds, high in protein, and/or high in meat may produce detrimental effects on the host. These changes may be mediated through alterations in composition of the microflora or through increased production of bacterial metabolites. The impact of a high refined-carbohydrate intake on the microflora has yet to be clearly elucidated. Similarly, the relationship between the overall diet and composition of the microflora awaits further clarification using modern microbiological techniques. Conclusion Alterations in bowel flora and its activities are now believed to be contributing factors to many chronic degenerative diseases. Ample evidence in the literature exists to confirm dysbiosis as an important clinical entity. It is therefore imperative to know what factors play a causative role in this increasingly common condition. Antibiotics, psychological and physical stress, and dietary factors contribute to intestinal dysbiosis. Armed with knowledge of the factors that contribute to dysbiosis, clinicians are better equipped to deal with the causes of this condition. Diets can be altered, the effects of stress attenuated, and antibiotics used sparingly, in order to minimize the effects of these factors on intestinal microflora. If the causes of dysbiosis can be eliminated or at least attenuated, then treatments aimed at manipulating the microflora may become more successful and longer-lasting in effect. Future research using molecular microbiology techniques will provide definitive answers to currently unanswered questions regarding the effects of various factors on the GIT microflora. Older studies that evaluated the effects of different dietary regimes on the GIT flora should be re-conducted utilizing modern microbiology techniques. These techniques will also provide accurate information regarding how specific drugs or herbs affect microbial populations in the GIT. This information will allow far greater precision in both dietary and herbal prescribing.
INTIMIDATION BY FALSE ASSERTION OF AUTHORITY. (1) Any person who either: (a) Deliberately impersonates or falsely acts as a public officer or tribunal, public employee or any law enforcement authority in connection with or relating to any actual or purported legal process affecting persons or property; or (b) Simulates legal process including, but not limited to, actions affecting title to real or personal property, indictments, subpoenas, warrants, injunctions, liens, orders, judgments, or any legal documents or proceedings; knowing or having reason to know the contents of any such documents or proceedings or the basis for any action to be fraudulent; or (c) While acting falsely in asserting authority of law takes action against persons or property; or (d) While acting falsely in asserting authority of law attempts in any way to influence, intimidate, or hinder a public official or law enforcement officer in the discharge of his official duties by means of, but not limited to, threats of or actual physical abuse, harassment, or through the use of simulated legal process; Is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed one (1) year, or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or both. (2) (a) Nothing in this section shall make unlawful any act of any law enforcement officer or legal tribunal which is performed under lawful authority; and (b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit individuals from assembling freely to express opinions or designate group affiliation or association; and (c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit or in any way limit a person's lawful and legitimate access to the courts or prevent a person from instituting or responding to legitimate and lawful legal process. INTIMIDATING A WITNESS. (1) Any person who, by direct or indirect force, or by any threats to a person or property, or by any manner wilfully intimidates, influences, impedes, deters, threatens, harasses, obstructs or prevents a witness, including a child witness, or any person who may be called as a witness or any person he believes may be called as a witness in any civil proceeding from testifying freely, fully and truthfully in that civil proceeding is guilty of a misdemeanor. (2) Any person who, by direct or indirect force, or by any threats to a person or property, or by any manner wilfully intimidates, threatens or harasses any person because such person has testified or because he believes that such person has testified in any civil proceedings is guilty of a misdemeanor. (3) Any person who, by direct or indirect force, or by any threats to person or property, or by any manner wilfully intimidates, influences, impedes, deters, threatens, harasses, obstructs or prevents, a witness, including a child witness, or any person who may be called as a witness or any person he believes may be called as a witness in any criminal proceeding or juvenile evidentiary hearing from testifying freely, fully and truthfully in that criminal proceeding or juvenile evidentiary hearing is guilty of a felony. (4) Any person who, by direct or indirect force, or by any threats to a person or property, or by any manner wilfully intimidates, threatens or harasses any person because such person has testified or because he believes that such person has testified in any criminal proceeding or juvenile evidentiary hearing is guilty of a felony. (5) The fact that a person was not actually prevented from testifying shall not be a defense to a charge brought under subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4) of this section. INTOXICATION NO EXCUSE FOR CRIME. A person who is in an intoxicated condition is criminally responsible for his conduct and an intoxicated condition is not a defense to any offense and may not be taken into consideration in determining the existence of a mental state which is an element of the offense unless the defendant proves that he did not know that it was an intoxicating substance when he consumed, smoked, sniffed, injected or otherwise ingested the substance causing the condition. INTRUSION INTO OFFICE -- HOLDING OVER. Every person who wilfully and knowingly intrudes himself into any public office to which he has not been elected or appointed, and every person who, having been an executive officer, wilfully exercises any of the functions of his office after his term has expired, and a successor has been elected or appointed and has qualified, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
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JURIES AND JURORS, CERTIFYING TO FALSE JURY LISTS. Every officer or person required by law to certify to the list of persons selected as jurors, who maliciously, corruptly or wilfully certifies to a false or incorrect list, or a list containing other names than those selected, or who, being required by law to write down the names placed on the certified lists on separate pieces of paper, does not write down and place in the jury box the same names that are on the certified list, and no more and no less than are on such list, is guilty of a felony. JURIES AND JURORS, DISCLOSING INDICTMENT BEFORE ARREST OF DEFENDANT. Every grand juror, prosecuting attorney, clerk, judge or other officer who, except by issuing or in executing a warrant of arrest, wilfully discloses the fact of a presentment or indictment having been made for a felony, until the defendant has been arrested, is guilty of a misdemeanor. JURIES AND JURORS, DISCLOSING PROCEEDINGS BEFORE GRAND JURY. Every grand juror who, except when required by a court, wilfully discloses any evidence adduced before the grand jury, or anything which he himself or any other member of the grand jury may have said, or in what manner he or any other grand juror may have voted on a matter before them, is guilty of a misdemeanor. JURIES AND JURORS, GRAND JUROR ACTING AFTER CHALLENGE AGAINST HIM. Every grand juror who, with knowledge that a challenge interposed against him by a defendant has been allowed, is present at, or takes part, or attempts to take part, in the consideration of the charge against the defendant who interposed the challenge, or the deliberations of the grand jury thereon, is guilty of a misdemeanor. JURIES AND JURORS, TAMPERING WITH JURY LIST. Every person who adds any names to the list of persons selected to serve as jurors, either by placing the same in the jury box or otherwise, or extracts any name therefrom, or destroys the jury box or any of the pieces of paper containing the names of jurors, or mutilates or defaces such names so that the same cannot be read, or changes such names on the pieces of paper, except in cases allowed by law, is guilty of a felony.
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KIDNAPPING, BIRTH RECORDS OF MISSING CHILDREN -- STATE REGISTRAR'S DUTIES. 1. Upon notification by a law enforcement agency that a child born in the state is missing or has run away, the state registrar shall flag the child's birth certificate record in such a manner that whenever a copy of the birth certificate or information concerning the birth record is requested, the state director shall be alerted to the fact that the certificate is that of a missing or runaway child. 2. In response to any inquiry, the state registrar or any clerk appointed by him or any employee of vital statistics shall not provide a copy of a birth certificate or information concerning the birth record of any missing or runaway child whose birth record has been flagged pursuant to this section, and shall immediately notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the investigation of the missing or runaway child. Inquiries shall be handled in the following manner: (a) When a copy of the birth certificate of a missing or runaway child whose record has been flagged is requested in person, the employee receiving the request shall immediately notify his supervisor or the state registrar. The person making the request shall complete a form supplying his name, address, telephone number and relationship to the missing or runaway child and the name, address and birth date of the missing or runaway child. The driver's license of the person making the request, if available, shall be photocopied and returned to him. He shall be informed that the birth certificate will be mailed to him when it is released. The employee shall note the physical description of the person making the request, and, upon that person's departure from the vital statistics office, the supervisor or state registrar shall immediately notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction of the request and provide it with the information obtained pursuant to subsection 2(a) of this section. The state registrar shall retain the form completed by the person making the request. (b) When a copy of the birth certificate of a missing or runaway child whose birth record has been flagged is requested in writing, the state registrar shall immediately notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction of the request and shall provide a copy of the written request. The state registrar shall retain the original written request. 3. Upon notification by a law enforcement agency that a missing or runnaway child has been returned or when the child reaches his eighteenth birthday, the state registrar shall remove the flag from the child's birth record. KIDNAPPING, CHILD CUSTODY INTERFERENCE DEFINED -- DEFENSES -- PUNISHMENT. 1. A person commits child custody interference if the person, whether a parent or other, or agent of that person, intentionally and without lawful authority: (a) Takes, entices away, keeps or withholds any minor child from a parent or another person or institution having custody, joint custody, visitation or other parental rights, whether such rights arise from temporary or permanent custody order, or from the equal custodial rights of each parent in the absence of a custody order; or (b) Takes, entices away, keeps or withholds a minor child from a parent after commencement of an action relating to child visitation or custody but prior to the issuance of an order determining custody or visitation rights. 2. It shall be an affirmative defense to a violation of the provisions of subsection 1. of this section that: (a) The action is taken to protect the child from imminent physical harm; (b) The action is taken by a parent fleeing from imminent physical harm to himself; (c) The action is consented to by the lawful custodian of the child; or (d) The child is returned within twenty-four (24) hours after expiration of an authorized visitation privilege. 3. A violation of the provisions of subsection 1. of this section shall be a felony, unless the defendant did not take the child outside the state, and the child was voluntarily returned unharmed prior to the defendant's arrest in which case the violation shall be reduced to a misdemeanor. 4. Any reasonable expenses incurred by a lawful custodian in locating or attempting to locate a child taken in violation of the provisions of subsection 1. of this section may be assessed against the defendant at the court's discretion in accordance with State Code. KIDNAPPING, DEFINED. Every person who wilfully: 1. Seizes, confines, inveigles or kidnaps another, with intent to cause him, without authority of law, to be secretly confined or imprisoned within this state, or to be sent out of this state, or in any way held to service or kept or detained against his will; or, 2. Leads, takes, entices away or detains a child under the age of sixteen (16) years, with intent to keep or conceal it from its custodial parent, guardian or other person having lawful care or control thereof, or with intent to steal any article upon the person of the child; or, 3. Abducts, entices or by force or fraud unlawfully takes or carries away another at or from a place without the state, or procures, advises, aids or abets such an abduction, enticing, taking or carrying away, and afterwards sends, brings, has or keeps such person, or causes him to be kept or secreted within this state; or,
4. Seizes, confines, inveigles, leads, takes, entices away or kidnaps another against his will to extort money, property or any other thing of value or obtain money, property or reward or any other thing of value for the return or disposition of such person is guilty of kidnaping. KIDNAPPING, FIRST DEGREE -- RANSOM. Any kidnapping committed for the purpose of obtaining money, property or any other thing of value for the return or disposition of such person kidnapped, or committed for the purpose of raping, or committing the infamous crime against nature, or committing serious bodily injury upon the person kidnapped, or committing any lewd and lascivious act upon any child under the age of sixteen (16) years with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of any person, shall be kidnapping in the first degree. KIDNAPPING, MISSING CHILD REPORTS -- LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES -- DUTIES. (1) Upon receiving a report of a missing or runaway child, a law enforcement agency shall immediately enter identifying and descriptive information about the child into the national crime information center computer. Law enforcement agencies having direct access to the national crime information center computer shall enter and retrieve the data directly and shall cooperate in the entry and retrieval of data on behalf of law enforcement agencies which do not have direct access to the system. (2) If the local law enforcement agency has reason to believe that a missing or runaway child is enrolled in an state elementary or secondary school, it shall notify that school of the report, at which time the school shall flag the missing child's record pursuant to State Code. (3) The state police shall report the entries made by local law enforcement in the national crime information center to the state registrar. Upon learning of the return of a missing or runaway child, the state police shall so notify the state registrar of this state if the child was born in the state, or the appropriate officer in the state where the child was born, and the school informed under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section. (4) The state police shall by rule determine the frequency, manner and form of notices and reports required by this act. (5) Immediately after a missing or runaway child is returned, the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the investigation shall clear the entry from the national crime information center computer. KIDNAPPING, MISSING PERSONS CLEARINGHOUSE. (1) The state police shall establish a missing persons clearinghouse as a resource center of information and assistance regarding missing and unidentified persons. (2) The director of the state police shall appoint a coordinator to manage appropriate programs for addressing the problem of missing persons, which may include the following: (a) Collecting and maintaining computerized data and investigative information on missing and unidentified persons in the state; (b) Establishing access to the national crime information center and to other sources of automated information; (c) Distributing information to public and private nonprofit agencies that will assist in the location and recovery of missing persons; (d) Operating a toll-free telephone hotline for accepting reports relating to missing persons; (e) Publishing a directory of missing persons; (f) Compiling statistics on missing persons cases handled and resolved each year; (g) Developing and conducting training on issues relating to missing persons; (h) Developing and distributing educational and other information regarding the prevention of abduction and sexual exploitation of children. (3) The state police may accept gifts and grants from governmental agencies and private nonprofit organizations to achieve the purposes of the clearinghouse. (4) The state police shall publish an annual report on the activities and achievements of the clearinghouse. (5) The state police shall determine, by rule, the type and content of information to be collected by the clearinghouse and the manner of collecting and disseminating that information. (6) The clearinghouse coordinator, in cooperation with the office of the superintendent of public instruction, shall develop a coordinated plan for the distribution of information to teachers and students in the school districts of the state regarding missing and runaway children. The superintendent of public instruction shall encourage local school districts to cooperate by providing the state police with information on any missing and runaway children that may be identified within the district. KIDNAPPING, NOTICE OF INTENT TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY. A sentence of death shall not be imposed unless the prosecuting attorney filed written notice of intent to seek the death penalty with the court and served the notice upon the defendant or his attorney of record no later than thirty (30) days after entry of a plea. A notice of intent to seek the death penalty may be withdrawn at any time prior to the imposition of sentence.
KIDNAPPING, SCHOOL DUTIES -- RECORDS OF MISSING CHILD -- IDENTIFICATION UPON ENROLLMENT -- TRANSFER OF STUDENT RECORDS. (1) Upon notification by the state police of a missing or runaway child report, the school in which the child is currently enrolled shall flag the record of that child in such a manner that whenever a copy of or information regarding the record is requested, the school shall be alerted to the fact that the record is that of a missing or runaway child. The school shall immediately report to the local law enforcement agency any request concerning flagged records or knowledge as to the whereabouts of the missing or runaway child. Upon notification by the state police of the return of the missing or runaway child, the school shall remove the flag from the child's record. (2) Upon enrollment of a student for the first time in a public or private elementary or secondary school, the school shall notify in writing the person enrolling the student that within thirty (30) days he must provide either a certified copy of the student's birth certificate or other reliable proof of the student's identity and birthdate, which proof shall be accompanied by an affidavit explaining the inability to produce a copy of the birth certificate. Other reliable proof of the student's identity and birthdate may include a passport, visa or other governmental documentation of the child's identity. (a) Upon the failure of a person enrolling a student to comply with the provisions of this subsection, the school shall immediately notify the local law enforcement agency of such failure, and shall notify the person enrolling the student, in writing, that he has ten (10) additional days to comply. (b) The school shall immediately report to the local law enforcement agency any documentation or affidavit received pursuant to this subsection which appears inaccurate or suspicious in form or content. (3) Within fourteen (14) days after enrolling a transfer student, the public or private elementary or secondary school shall request directly from the student's previous school a certified copy of his record. The requesting school shall exercise due diligence in obtaining the copy of the record requested. A student transferring schools within the same school district need not provide proof of identity and birthdate if the student's record already contains such verified information. Any public or private elementary or secondary school which is requested to forward a copy of a transferred student's record to the student's new school shall comply within ten (10) days of receipt of the request, unless the record has been flagged pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, in which case the copy shall not be forwarded and the school shall notify the local law enforcement agency of the request for a flagged record; provided however, that any private school accredited by the state board of education which has an agreement allowing retention of a student's record when such student's tuition or fees have not been paid may comply with the provisions of this subsection by notifying the student's new school that the transferred student's records are being held for nonpayment of tuition or fees. However, such private school shall be required to notify the local law enforcement agency if the student's record has been flagged pursuant to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, even if the student's tuition and fees have not been paid. (4) It shall be the duty of the local law enforcement agency to immediately investigate each report received from a school of a failure to comply with the provisions of subsection (2) or (3) of this section. (5) Failure of a parent, or person in custody of a child, or a person enrolling a student, to comply with the documentation requirements of this section after a lawful request by a law enforcement agency, or to cooperate with a law enforcement investigation lawfully conducted pursuant to this section, shall constitute a misdemeanor. KIDNAPPING, SECOND DEGREE -- WHEN NOT FOR RANSOM. Every other kidnaping committed shall be kidnaping in the second degree. KILLING AND OTHERWISE MISTREATING POLICE DOGS, POLICE HORSES, SEARCH AND RESCUE DOGS AND ACCELERANT DETECTION DOGS. (1) Definitions: (a) "Police dog" shall include: (i) "Bomb detection dog" means a dog trained to locate bombs or explosives by scent; (ii) "Narcotic detection dog" means a dog trained to locate narcotics by scent; (iii) "Patrol dog" means a dog trained to protect a peace officer and to apprehend a person; (iv) "Tracking dog" means a dog trained to track and find a missing person, escaped inmate or fleeing felon. (b) "Police horse" means any horse which is owned, or the service of which is employed, by a law enforcement agency for the principal purpose of aiding in detection of criminal activity, enforcement of laws and apprehension of offenders. (c) "Search and rescue dog" means a dog which is trained to locate lost or missing persons, victims of natural or man-made disasters, and human bodies. (d) "Accelerant detection dog" means a dog which is used exclusively for accelerant detection, commonly referred to as arson canines. (2) The provisions of this section shall apply to police dogs and police horses used by peace officers, including any used by a corrections officer in the performance of the officer's duties, and to search and rescue dogs and accelerant detection dogs used by peace officers or certified handlers under the supervision of a peace officer. The provisions of this section shall apply when the animals are on duty and when not on duty.
(3) Any person who willfully and maliciously and with no legal justification, and with intent to inflict such injury or death, personally causes the death, destruction, or serious physical injury including bone fracture, loss or impairment of function of any bodily organ, wounds requiring extensive suturing, or serious crippling, of any police dog, police horse, search and rescue dog or accelerant detection dog, shall be guilty of a felony under this section and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period not to exceed five (5) years, or by a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (4) Any person who willfully, maliciously and with no legal justification, throws, hurls or projects at a police dog, police horse or search and rescue dog, any rock, object or other substance which is used in such a manner as to be capable of producing injury and likely to produce injury or kicks, strikes, beats, or torments any police dog, police horse or search and rescue dog is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one (1) year or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (5) Any person who willfully and maliciously and with no legal justification, interferes with or obstructs any police dog, police horse or search and rescue dog being used by any peace officer in the discharge of the officer's duties by teasing, agitating, harassing such animals, or who causes another person or persons, animal or animals, to do likewise, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one (1) year or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (6) In any case in which a defendant is convicted of a violation of the provisions of this section, the defendant shall be ordered to make restitution to the agency owning the animal and employing the peace officer for any veterinary bills, replacement costs of the animal if it is disabled or killed, and the salary of the peace officer for the period of time his or her services are lost to the agency. (7) The provisions of this subsection do not apply to peace officers or veterinarians who terminate the life of such a police dog, police horse or search and rescue dog for the purpose of relieving the police dog, police horse or search and rescue dog of undue pain or suffering. KNIVES: State Law Regarding Edge Weapons [Knives] The majority of individuals [especially males], who are authorized to carry a handgun in the State, also carry some type of knife. Most of these people do not know what is legal and what is not legal. It is unusual for a peace officer to confiscate a knife from a legally armed citizen because, they understand that the citizen has undergone a background investigation, and is law abiding since they possess a permit or license. Another reason is that most peace officers do not know the law covering edge weapons. In the State you may carry a knife up to four (4) inches in length (blade), it may not be an "automatic" knife (switchblade), or a knife that can be opened by inertia (Butterfly Knife is a good example). It is also a violation to carry a Dirk (an ice pick is a good example of a Dirk). The majority of legally armed citizens carry a "clip" type knife (one that can be attached to the inside of a pant pocket). I would like to point out that most carry the knife on the wrong pocket if they are carrying it for self-protection. I point this out because if the knife is carried on the same side as the handgun (strong side outside hostler where the majority of legally armed citizens carry), it is too difficult to get to it when needed as a secondary weapon or for weapon "retention". Why? If you are carrying a knife for a secondary weapon including weapon "retention", it should be carried on the weak side. The opposite side of where your primary weapon (handgun) is carried. If during an incident you have not been able to draw your handgun, and the opponent realizes that you are carrying a gun, they may try and get it from you. If this happens from the front or the rear, you will be trying to "retain" possession of the handgun so the other person does not take it from you. If you have the knife clipped to the pocket on the same side where you carry your gun, it is very difficult to get the knife out while trying to maintain possession of the handgun. If you carry the knife clipped to the opposite side pant pocket, you can maintain retention of your gun with your strong hand, while releasing and opening the knife with your weak hand. This is especially beneficial if you are attacked from the rear. If the attacker feels the handgun, they will try and take it from you. While you have your strong hand covering the gun to maintain control of it, you use your weak hand to draw and open the knife on your weak side. If the attacker is in back of you, the knife can be used to stab (short stabs to their legs), or slash across their hand that is trying to get your gun out of the holster. If they are in front of you, the stabbing or thrust movements would be utilized. In any encounter, the easier it is to deploy weapons, the better the odds are on your side. Consider carrying a "tactical knife" on your weak side as a secondary weapon.
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LEAVING CARCASSES NEAR HIGHWAYS, DWELLINGS AND STREAMS, AND POLLUTION OF WATER USED FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES. Any person who shall knowingly leave the carcass of any animal within a quarter of a mile of any inhabited dwelling, or on, along or within a quarter of a mile of any public highway or stream of water, for a longer period than twenty-four hours, without burying the same, and by such exposure or burial within 200 feet of any stream, canal, ditch, flume, or other irrigation works shall pollute or contaminate, so as to render unfit for domestic use, any natural stream of water, or the water in any canal, ditch, flume, or other irrigation works, used by others for domestic purposes, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined any sum not to exceed $100.00. LEAVING SCENE OF ACCIDENT RESULTING IN INJURY OR DEATH. (1) The driver of any vehicle that has been involved in an accident, either upon public or private property open to the public, who knows or has reason to know that said accident has resulted in injury to or death of any person shall: (a) Immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident or as close thereto as possible. Every stop required under this section shall be made without obstructing traffic more than is necessary. (b) Remain at the scene of the accident until the driver has fulfilled all the requirements under this section. (c) Give his name, address, the name of his insurance agent or company if he has automobile liability insurance, and the motor vehicle registration number of the vehicle he is driving to the person struck, or to the driver or occupant of or person attending any vehicle collided with. (d) If available, exhibit his driver's license to the person struck, or to the driver or occupant of or person attending any vehicle collided with. (e) Render to any person injured in the accident reasonable assistance, including the conveying or the making of arrangements for the conveying of such person to a physician, surgeon, hospital or other medical facility, for medical or surgical treatment, if it is apparent that such treatment is necessary or if such conveying is requested by the injured person. (2) A violation of any provision of this section shall constitute a felony and be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of not more than five (5) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (3) The director of the transportation department shall revoke for a period of one (1) year the driver's license or permit to drive, or the nonresident operating privilege, of any person convicted or found guilty of violating any provision of this section. Such revocation shall preclude any type of work permit or other form of limited driving privileges as provided in State Code. LEWD CONDUCT WITH MINOR CHILD UNDER SIXTEEN. Any person who shall commit any lewd or lascivious act or acts upon or with the body or any part or member thereof of a minor child under the age of sixteen (16) years, including but not limited to, genital-genital contact, oral-genital contact, anal-genital contact, oral-anal contact, manual-anal contact, or manual-genital contact, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex, or who shall involve such minor child in any act of bestiality or sado-masochism as defined in State Code, when any of such acts are done with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of such person, such minor child, or third party, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a term of not more than life. LIABILITY OF AUTHORS, EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS. Each author, editor and proprietor of any book, newspaper or serial publication, is chargeable with the publication of any words contained in any part of such book, or number of such newspaper or serial. LIBEL, DEFINED. A libel is a malicious defamation, expressed either by writing, printing, or by signs or pictures, or the like, tending to blacken the memory of one who is dead, or to impeach the honesty, integrity, virtue or reputation, or publish the natural or alleged defects, of one who is alive, and thereby to expose him to public hatred, contempt or ridicule. LIBEL, MALICE PRESUMED. An injurious publication is presumed to have been malicious if no justifiable motive for making it is shown. LIBEL, THREATS TO PUBLISH LIBEL -- EXTORTION. Every person who threatens another to publish a libel concerning him, or any parent, husband, wife, or child of such person, or member of his family, and every person who offers to prevent the publication of any libel upon another person, with intent to extort any money or other valuable consideration from any person, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
LIBEL, TRUTH MAY BE PROVED -- MALICE -- JURY TO DETERMINE LAW AND FACT. In all criminal prosecutions for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it appears to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted. The jury has the right to determine the law and the fact. LOCKPICKING Mechanical locks can all be opened without the key. In the case of commercial locks, the method used is online, although many will require extreme levels of skill. Even 'high security' locks simply raise the level of skill needed. The most common 'electronic' picks are simply devices that can automate some of the trial and error part of lock picking tasks. There are no /general/ electronic picks that work for all kinds of mechanical locks. SOME kinds of 'electronic' lock can be attacked by specific equipment, but no 'electronic pick' can help you with any but the one kind of lock it is designed for. 'Electronic' locks range from card keys to magnetic keys (keys with several magnets embedded in them) to touch pads or fancy computer systems. There is no general purpose way to bypass these. The magnetic keys can sometimes be bypassed with a 'jiggler', a device that generates a strong, rapidly changing magnetic field and tugging on it until you get lucky. Systems like key pads and biometrics are all effectively password systems. They're as easy to defeat as an unknown password -- which can always be done, but sometimes takes /lots/ of time.
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MAKING APPOINTMENTS FOR REWARD. Every public officer who for any gratuity or reward, appoints another person to a public office, or permits another person to exercise or discharge any of the duties of his office, is punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000, and in addition thereto forfeits his office. MALICIOUS HARASSMENT DEFINED -- PROHIBITED. It shall be unlawful for any person, maliciously and with the specific intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person's race, color, religion, ancestry, or national origin, to: (a) Cause physical injury to another person; or (b) Damage, destroy, or deface any real or personal property of another person; or (c) Threaten, by word or act, to do the acts prohibited if there is reasonable cause to believe that any of the acts described in subsections (a) and (b) of this section will occur. For purposes of this section, "deface" shall include, but not be limited to, cross-burnings or the placing of any word or symbol commonly associated with racial, religious or ethnic terrorism on the property of another person without his or her permission. MALICIOUS HARASSMENT, EFFECT OF INVALIDITY OF PART OF THIS ACT. If a court of competent jurisdiction shall adjudge to be invalid or unconstitutional any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this act, such judgment or decree shall not affect, impair, invalidate or nullify the remainder of this act, but the effect thereof shall be confined to the clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this act so adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional. MALICIOUS HARASSMENT, PENALTIES -- CRIMINAL AND CIVIL. (a) Malicious harassment is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not to exceed five (5) years or by fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by both. (b) In addition to the criminal penalty provided in subsection (a) of this section, there is hereby created a civil cause of action for malicious harassment. A person may be liable to the victim of malicious harassment for both special and general damages, including but not limited to damages for emotional distress, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and punitive damages. (c) The penalties provided in this section for malicious harassment do not preclude victims from seeking any other remedies, criminal or civil, otherwise available under law. MALICIOUS HARASSMENT, PURPOSE. The legislature finds and declares that it is the right of every person regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion or national origin, to be secure and protected from fear, intimidation, harassment, and physical harm caused by the activities of groups and individuals. It is not the intent of this act to interfere with the exercise of rights protected by the constitution of the United States. The legislature recognizes the constitutional right of every citizen to harbor and express beliefs on any subject whatsoever and to associate with others who share similar beliefs. The legislature further finds that the advocacy of unlawful acts by groups or individuals against other persons or groups for the purpose of inciting and provoking damage to property and bodily injury or death to persons is not constitutionally protected, poses a threat to public order and safety, and should be subject to criminal sanctions. MALICIOUS INJURY TO PROPERTY. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, every person who maliciously injures or destroys any real or personal property not his own, or any jointly owned property without permission of the joint owner, or any property belonging to the community of the person's marriage, in cases otherwise than such as are specified in this code, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one (1) year or a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both. (2) A person is guilty of a felony, and shall be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, and may be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment, if: (a) The damages caused by a violation of this section exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) in value; or (b) Any series of individual violations of this section are part of a common scheme or plan and are aggregated in one (1) count, and the damages from such violations when considered together exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) in value. MALICIOUSLY PROCURING WARRANT. Every person who, maliciously and without probable cause, procures a search warrant or warrant of arrest to be issued and executed, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
MARRYING SPOUSE OF ANOTHER. Every person who knowingly and wilfully marries the husband or wife of another, in any case in which such husband or wife would be punishable under the provisions of this chapter, is punishable by fine not less than $2,000, or by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding three (3) years. MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEETS (MSDS) The following are Material Safety Data Sheets available for chemicals normally found in the average crime lab. These are offered as a general guide. You should always request a MSDS from the company supplying the chemistry. Acetic Acid, Acetone, Ardrox P133D, Chlorine Bleach, Crystal Violet, Cyanoacrylate, DFO, Ethanol, Iodine, Luminol, Ninhydrin, Petroleum Ether, Rhodamine MAYHEM DEFINED. Every person who unlawfully and maliciously deprives a human being of a member of his body, or disables, disfigures or renders it useless, or cuts out or disables the tongue, puts out an eye, slits the nose, ear or lip, is guilty of mayhem. MEDIA LAWS FOR CRIME SCENES.: This guide is intended to assist the media in obtaining timely news information from the Police Department, while providing both the media and Department personnel with a basic outline of releasable information. This is only a reference guide and it is not intended to cover every possible situation pertaining to the Police Department policy on the release of information. It includes basic information regarding media deployment at incident / crime scenes. Station captains and station watch commanders may provide information to the media regarding incidents which have occurred within their station's area of jurisdiction. Yet, any information regarding investigations conducted by specialized units such as Homicide Bureau, Arson/Explosives Detail, Family Crimes Bureau, etc., will require the specialized unit's approval and in the majority of cases, subsequent release through Police Headquarters Bureau. Specific requests regarding any information about the Police Department's policies, procedures, history, statistical data, areas of jurisdiction and / or expertise, press conference information, or press passes, must be referred to Police Headquarters Bureau. Media Ride-Along Guidelines: In order to prevent liability against the Police Department and its personnel, deputies are responsible for ensuring that media and/ or camera crews participating in ride-alongs abide by the following list of guidelines: 1. Media and/ or camera crews that are accompanying Police Department personnel are prohibited from accompanying deputies into areas that are not accessible to the public; specifically, areas wherein officers gain access due to their authority as peace officers; including, but not limit- ed to, homes, backyards, ambulances, or any area where a reasonable expectation of privacy exists. 2. Any authorization from a person being taped, or to enter a non-public area, is solely an agreement between said person and the media and/ or a camera crew. Police Department personnel shall not be involved in obtaining any such form of consent. 3. Officers shall conduct only tasks directly related to his/her normal law enforcement duties, and shall not grant media and / or camera crews any special treatment or access that exceeds what any other person is entitled to, during the course of a public ride-along. 4. Officers shall not allow media and / or camera crews to disrupt the normal course of his/her law enforcement duties, and shall terminate the ride- along immediately upon any such disruption. 5. All media and/ or camera crews attending public ride-alongs shall have prior consent from Police Headquarters Bureau. All media and/ or camera crews must sign the civilian ride-along form, assuming risk of injury or damage, waiver and release of claims. The Police Department does not allow media and/or camera crews in any areas not accessible to the public without prior consent from the person whose reasonable expectation of privacy exists. There is no exception to this rule.
Public Disclosure of Crime & Arrest Reports: The following information will be provided upon request according to Government Code Section 6254(f), unless the information would endanger the successful completion of an investigation or a related investigation or would endanger the safety of a person involved in an incident: - Arrestee's full name (Note: Names of juvenile suspects shall not be released) - Area of resident - Occupation - Physical description - Age - Sex - Race/Ethnicity - Date and time of arrest - Location of arrest - Factual circumstances - Location held - Amount of bail - All charges including warrants - Parole or probation holds Releasable Information Facts & Circumstances of the Arrest: - Date, time and location of arrest - Resistance by the suspect(s) - Use of weapons by suspect(s) - Use of force by officer(s) - Identity of arresting / investigating officer(s) - Limited description of evidence - The nature, substance, and text of charge - Any request for assistance from the public Media Access at an Incident/Crime Scene: Incident/Crime Scene and Command Post Areas may be closed to the media. Under most circumstances, the incident/crime scene and resulting command post area will initially be closed to the media. The purpose of any such constraint will be to protect the integrity of the investigations and to ensure a safe, coordinated and unrestricted response by law enforcement and other emergency personnel. Constraints to media access to incident / crime scenes are subject to review by incident commanders and Department executives. They should be lifted whenever, and as soon as, the situation warrants. Whenever the media is denied access to an incident/crime scene, Police Department personnel shall: - Provide a "Media Area" with maximum access possible under the circumstances - Assign a P.I.O. to provide timely and updated information to the media - Consider "Pool" access, (1 TV camera, 1TV reporter, 1 print reporter, 1 still photographer, 1 radio reporter) into the scene, who will share the information with their counterparts outside the scene NOTE: Since all information to be released at the incident / crime scene must be cleared by the incident commander, in cooperation with investigators, it is incumbent on the incident commander to ensure the timely flow of information with the assigned P.I.O. Disclosure of Radio Calls: - The date, time and location of occurrence - Information regarding crimes alleged or committed or any other incident investigated - Age of victim(s) - Description of suspects (s) - Description of vehicle (s) - The factual circumstances of the incident - Any injuries, property damage or weapons involved. The name of a victim of any crime may be withheld at the victim's request, or at the request of the victim's parent or guardian if the victim is a minor.
Media Access at a Disaster Scene: The Police Department may close an area under the authority of: * 409.5(a) P.C. ". ..a menace to the public health or safety is created by a calamity such as a flood, storm, fire, earthquake, explosion, accident, or other disaster. . ." * However, 409.5(d) P.C. states "Nothing in this section shall prevent a duly authorized representative of any news service from entering the area closed . . . " Disaster Scene Command Post Areas may be closed to the media. A safety hazard to the media does not justify restriction; however, it is Police Department policy to warn the media of potential danger before allowing access. NOTE: Police Department personnel shall honor current media passes, from other law enforcement agencies. Non-Releasable Information: - Identity of suspect(s) prior to arrest - Investigative procedure results prior to arrest - Above may be released if the information: 1. Will aid in an investigation 2. Will aid in the apprehension of a suspect(s) 3. Will warn the public of danger - Investigative proceedings involving officer involved shootings or other personnel actions - Prior criminal record, reputation or character of suspect(s) - Release of any personal information about juvenile arrestee(s) or suspect(s) - Confession or existence of a confession - Officer's opinion - Any photograph or mug shots unless the information: - Will aid in an investigation - Will aid in the apprehension of a suspect(s) - Will warn the public of danger - The identity, credibility, or testimony of prospective witnesses including: 1. Any personal opinion as to the suspect's guilt, innocence, or merits of the case 2. Any information known to be in-admissable in court 3. References to investigative procedures such as fingerprints, polygraph, or ballistic tests Note: Pursuant to 5328 WIC, information shall not be disclosed to the general public, including news media, on any 5150 WIC action when a person is taken into custody for 72-hour detention. Incident/Crime Scene "Don'ts" for Police Department Personnel * Do not establish artificial barriers for the media. For example, do not cordon off the media a block from the incident/crime while allowing the general public to wan d e just beyond the incident / crime scene tape. * Do not arbitrarily isolate the media outside the incident / crime scene, unless their presence inhibits the investigation or response by law enforcement or other emergency personnel. * Do not prevent the media from photographing, filming or interviewing people in public areas. The media may interview, film or take photographs of whomever they wish in public areas. * Do not limit media access based on safety concerns. It is the responsibility of each individual member of the media whether to assume the risks involved. Incident/Crime Scene Reminders for Police Deaprtment Personnel * While some incident / crime scenes may require a ban on any media vehicles, this restriction may not necessarily apply to media access on foot. * A safety hazard to the media does not justify restriction; however, warning of potential danger before allowing access is Police Department policy. If the general public has access to an area, the media can also be there. * Police Department personnel shall honor current media passes from other law enforcement agencies. * NOTE: In the event of a dispute over access, contact the Police Headquarters Bureau.
MENTAL CONDITION NOT A DEFENSE -- PROVISION FOR TREATMENT DURING INCARCERATION -- RECEPTION OF EVIDENCE -- NOTICE AND APPOINTMENT OF EXPERT EXAMINERS. (1) Mental condition shall not be a defense to any charge of criminal conduct. (2) If by the provisions of section 19-2523, Idaho Code, the court finds that one convicted of crime suffers from any mental condition requiring treatment, such person shall be committed to the board of correction or such city or county official as provided by law for placement in an appropriate facility for treatment, having regard for such conditions of security as the case may require. In the event a sentence of incarceration has been imposed, the defendant shall receive treatment in a facility which provides for incarceration or less restrictive confinement. In the event that a course of treatment thus commenced shall be concluded prior to the expiration of the sentence imposed, the offender shall remain liable for the remainder of such sentence, but shall have credit for time incarcerated for treatment. (3) Nothing herein is intended to prevent the admission of expert evidence on the issue of any state of mind which is an element of the offense, subject to the rules of evidence. (4) No court shall, over the objection of any party, receive the evidence of any expert witness on any issue of mental condition, or permit such evidence to be placed before a jury, unless such evidence is fully subject to the adversarial process in at least the following particulars: (a) Notice must be given at least ninety (90) days in advance of trial, or such other period as justice may require, that a party intends to raise any issue of mental condition and to call expert witnesses concerning such issue, failing which such witness shall not be permitted to testify until such time as the opposing party has a complete opportunity to consider the substance of such testimony and prepare for rebuttal through such opposing expert(s) as the party may choose. (b) A party who expects to call an expert witness to testify on an issue of mental condition must, on a schedule to be set by the court, furnish to the opposing party a written synopsis of the findings of such expert, or a copy of a written report. The court may authorize the taking of depositions to inquire further into the substance of such reports or synopses. (c) Raising an issue of mental condition in a criminal proceeding shall constitute a waiver of any privilege that might otherwise be interposed to bar the production of evidence on the subject and, upon request, the court shall order that the state's experts shall have access to the defendant in such cases for the purpose of having its own experts conduct an examination in preparation for any legal proceeding at which the defendant's mental condition may be in issue. (d) The court is authorized to appoint at least one (1) expert at public expense upon a showing by an indigent defendant that there is a need to inquire into questions of the defendant's mental condition. The costs of examination shall be paid by the defendant if he is financially able. The determination of ability to pay shall be made in accordance with State Code. (e) If an examination cannot be conducted by reason of the unwillingness of the defendant to cooperate, the examiner shall so advise the court in writing. In such cases the court may deny the party refusing to cooperate the right to present evidence in support of a mental status claim unless the interest of justice requires otherwise and shall instruct the jury that it may consider the party's lack of cooperation for its effect on the credibility of the party's mental status claim. MERCENARIES: Background Information The term mercenary is defined as a person who serves for pay in the armed forces of a foreign country. Most men and women who become mercenaries do so because they either want to make money, or they love war and adventure, or they are fighting for a cause. Mercenary forces are usually hired by the wealthiest nations involved in the war. Since the term mercenary refers to a relationship where one is "being paid for a service," the country that hires these forces must be able to pay for the services of the mercenary troops. (World Book Encyclopedia) Mercenaries have a long history behind them, for they have been in existence since war first began. In the Ancient Times mercenaries were used by Prussia, Greece and Rome, however, it was during the Middle Ages (1100-1500) that mercenaries were used most often. During this period many rulers hired trained professional soldiers to protect their states. Ironically, rulers of neighboring states would hire out their soldiers in order to make money off their services. During the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) Great Britain hired German soldiers to fight against the American colonists, and during the Vietnam War the United States hired mercenaries to fight against the Viet Cong. (World Book Encyclopedia) Mercenaries may be considered one of the world's most secretive words. Many nations are unwilling to admit their use of mercenaries. The most common means by which a mercenary's sevice could be concealed was by "presenting the mercenary troops as being something other than the hired soldiers they actually were." (Mercenaries and Lyndon Johnson's "More Flags": The Hiring of Korean, Philipino and Thai Soldiers in the Vietnam War) A good example is the United States during the Vietnam War. The United States had used mercenaries in their plight to "help" Vietnam and had even publicy announced their actions. But, instead of labeling them as "mercenaries," the United States government decided it would be best to label them under a more acceptable name due to the reactions of the American citizens. The U.S. government maintained that throughout the period of America's use of mercenary troops, those countries that had sent troops to the aid of the United States had chosen to do so of their own volition and purposes, choosing freely "the commitment of the lives and energies of their national interests and security, nothing more, nothing less." (Mercenaries and Lyndon Johnson's "More Flags": The Hiring of Korean, Philipino and Thai Soldiers in the Vietnam War) Although mercenaries were needed to help in wars, they were not and continue not to be well respected or liked. Mercenaries were used mostly during desperate times of war, many times not even paid or treated well for their services. The common depiction of mercenaries shows them as brutal soldiers who pillage, rape, and torture the people and cities they occupy. There has always been a negative "presence" attached to the term "mercenary," which allows us to understand why countries try to deny they hire them.
MERCENARIES FOR HIRE. Mercenary Fighters Warrior-for-hire is probably the world's second oldest profession. As long as there has been war and battle, there have been men willing to fight for others, as long as the price was right. The world of 2014 is no exception. There are three general types of hired fighters -- mercenaries, hit men and assassins. Mercenary A mercenary is simply a duellist or footsoldier who freelances as part of an army or fighting force. Many fighting units, from cycle gangs to private (or sometimes national) armies, will enlist mercenaries to bolster their forces in preparation for a large confrontation. Many wealthy people, particularly those involved in organized crime, maintain veritable small armies of wellequipped (though often indifferently trained) mercenaries, who serve to ensure the security of their employer and disrupt that of his enemies. There are even some companies that maintain an extensive pay roll of excellent mercenaries along with accompanying training facilities and equipment, and specialize in renting out entire trained-and-equipped forces for a premium price. Most mercenary footsoldiers are relatively unskilled and hired only to fill out the ranks of a fighting force. These mercs usually carry their own weapons into battle, though the employer is required to provide any necessary vehicles or heavy equipment. Such a mercenary "grunt" would demand pay ranging from $1,000 for a quick job to $25,000 for an especially difficult or extended mission. Such fighters are loyal only to their paycheck. If a battle begins to turn against their side, they will readily "bug out," and save their own skin rather than fight to the finish. More skilled and experienced mercenaries are often permanent retainers of their employer, who will use them to train and lead a temporary army of lesser soldiers. A mercenary duellist is usually more experienced and much more highly esteemed than a simple footsoldier-for-hire. Most professional mercenary duellists drive their own vehicles into combat. A mercenary duellist prefers a well-balanced, all-around car which can be used for almost any situation. Hit Men A hit man makes his living by accepting contracts to kill others. A hit man usually will work for anyone who will hire him, but some are very loyal to a single employer and will not work against him. It is not uncommon for more than one hit man to be contracted to kill a single person. Often, these hit men try to eliminate each other as well as to kill the target and obtain the bounty. Fees are variable; $25,000 and up is average, 25% or more of which is due as down payment. Employers always demand proof of the kill before making full payment. Hit men usually prefer to kill their target with a well-placed booby trap or bomb rather than in face-to-face combat. A significant minority, however, referred to in the profession as "gunslingers," prefer to engage their target in a normal road duel (although it is likely to begin with an ambush). An excellent example of a successful hired killer working with a minimum of personal risk can be found in the case of Christopher "Snakebite" Madison. Police and medical teams in Chicago were bewildered by a rash of serious vehicular explosions, which had claimed more than 50 victims over nearly two years. The explosions, according to survivors, almost always originated from cheap, foreign-made subcompact cars which mysteriously detonated, often during rush hour. The mystery was finally solved when an organized crime informant told police about Madison. He had been charging $50,000 a job to pack a small car with explosives and steer it by remote control to his target before blowing his contracted victim (along with any bystanders) to smithereens. "Gunslingers," on the other hand, are often ex-military who continue to make a living with their skills. In an ongoing campaign, characters may chose to "retire" to a life as a hit man, or a party may elect to form a "hit team." Experienced NPC hit men, who can usually be hired only through underworld connections, can be added to this group. Car Bombs A car bomb is an explosive charge, either a kamibomb or plastique, that is placed inside a car and detonated by timer, remote control or (the classic) when the car's ignition is activated. If a kamibomb charge is used, there must be enough unused cargo space in the vehicle to accommodate the bomb; such a charge will normally be immediately obvious if the cargo area is inspected. (However, the bomb's container could be disguised to look like something else.) There is enough unused Space in any vehicle to conceal up to 2 bricks of plastique which will not be noticed unless a detailed (5-minute) search is made. To set up the car bomb to detonate on ignition (or any other vehicular function) is a Mechanic job, in addition to requiring the Demolitions skill. When a car bomb is detonated, apply damage at 1/4" range to all components from the inside out; that is, roll 4 x damage, and divide this damage equally between power plant, cargo, accessories and crew; any damage in excess of the total of these objects is applied to the weapons and armor.
Assassin An assassin specializes in untraceably killing a single target. Whereas a hit man's work is dirty, loud and unmistakable, the assassin seeks to make his killing unseen and unheard. Assassins are highly skilled fighters, talented in both personal and vehicular combat. Methods of assassination vary. Usually, though, a road kill is avoided; it's too messy, with too high a chance of being seen. Land mines, car bombs and sniper tactics are the most common, but anything from poison to a falling piano is a possibility. Assassins charge plenty for their services; the typical fee is well over $100,000. Only the very rich and very powerful are able to hire them. The target of an assassination is typically a public official, organized crime boss or some other equally powerful person. Assassins use many sorts of gadgets not available to the general public. Many of these special gadgets are constructed by the assassin himself, or purchased from one-of-a-kind dealers who can discreetly equip a select clientele with illegal equipment. Sniper Weapons Using a special rifle customized for his own use, a skilled marksman can achieve unbelievable accuracy delivering a single bullet at ranges of up to 1,000 yards. Such weapons, however, are not readily available to the common citizen; only a handful of gunsmiths worldwide have the skill necessary to craft one of these precision weapons. Sniper Rifle: $5,000 and up, depending on quality and the craftsman's reputation. A sniper rifle includes a special targeting scope which, through precision-calibrated sighting optics, as well as reducing limitations on accuracy at range. To gain the full benefits of this sighting system, the firer must spend a full turn aiming. This scope may not be used with any other weapon. Hired Fighters in a Game Often, players with beginning characters wish to freelance as mercenaries to gain some experience and money. Many convoys will take on mercenary crewmembers for a run or two, usually as gunners. More experienced players may take an occasional bounty job, or even become full-time hit men. Plenty of employment opportunities for both mercenary and bounty jobs, both legal and illegal, can be found in most cities. As players become richer, they may hire a mercenary as a temporary crew member, or place a bounty of their own on some enemy. Hiring an assassin will remain out of the financial reach of most PCs. Nevertheless, an assassin may become part of a roleplaying adventure if players are called upon to prevent the assassination of some public official, or perhaps somebody they're working for or seeking is assassinated. For a truly deadly plot twist, a player character could himself become the target of an assassination attempt. In an industrial espionage roleplaying adventure, hit men and assassins can also become an important part of the adventure as opposing organizations (who, unlike individual characters, are wealthy enough to acquire such services) try to undermine the competition. MISAPPROPRIATION OF PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION. It is unlawful for any person to obtain or record personal identifying information of another person without the authorization of that person, with the intent that the information be used to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, money, goods or services in the name of the other person without the consent of that person. -- PENALTY FOR VIOLATION. (1) Any person found guilty of a violation of State Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor. In the event that the retail value of the goods obtained or attempted to be obtained through any violation of the provisions of State Code, exceeds three hundred dollars ($300), any such violation will constitute a felony, and will be punished as provided in this section. (2) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a misdemeanor shall be a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) or up to one (1) year in the county jail, or both such fine and imprisonment. (3) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a felony shall be a fine of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or both such fine and imprisonment. MISCONDUCT OF JURORS AND ARBITRATORS. Every juror or person drawn or summoned as a juror, or chosen arbitrator or umpire, or appointed referee, who either: 1. Makes any promise or agreement to give a verdict or decision for or against any party; or, 2. Wilfully and corruptly permits any communication to be made to him, or receive any book, paper, instrument or information relating to any cause or matter pending before him, except according to the regular course of proceedings, is guilty of a felony. MISDEMEANOR TO FAIL TO RELINQUISH OR FRAUDULENTLY PROCURE USE OF COMMUNICATION LINE. Any person using such line, failing or refusing to relinquish such line upon proper request, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person fraudulently procuring use of such line for nonexisting emergency shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
MISREPRESENTATIONS -- PARENTHOOD OR AGE -- MISDEMEANOR. A person is guilty of a misdemeanor when: 1. He knowingly misrepresents that he is a parent or guardian of a minor for the purpose of obtaining admission of any minor to any motion picture, show, or other presentation which is harmful to minors as defined in State Code. 2. If he is a minor and misrepresents his age for the purpose of obtaining admission to any motion picture, show, or other presentation which is harmful to minors as defined in State Code. MISUSE OF PUBLIC MONEY BY OFFICERS. Each officer of this state, or of any county, city, town or district of this state, and every other person charged with the receipt, safe keeping, transfer or disbursement of public moneys, who either: 1. Without authority of law, appropriates the same or any portion thereof to his own use, or to the use of another; or, 2. Loans the same or any portion thereof; or, having the possession or control of any public money, makes a profit out of, or uses the same for any purpose not authorized by law; or, 3. Fails to keep the same in his possession until disbursed or paid out by authority of law; or, 4. Deposits the same or any portion thereof in any bank, or with any banker or other person, otherwise than on special deposit, or as otherwise authorized by law; or, 5. Changes or converts any portion thereof from coin into currency, or from currency into coin or other currency, without authority of law; or, 6. Knowingly keeps any false account, or makes any false entry or erasure in any account of or relating to the same; or, 7. Fraudulently alters, falsifies, conceals, destroys or obliterates any such account; or, 8. Wilfully refuses or omits to pay over, on demand, any public moneys in his hands, upon the presentation of a draft, order or warrant drawn upon such moneys by competent authority; or, 9. Wilfully omits to transfer the same when such transfer is required by law; or, 10. Wilfully omits or refuses to pay over to any officer or person authorized by law to receive the same, any money received by him under any duty imposed by law so to pay over the same; Is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) nor more than ten (10) years, and is disqualified from holding any office in this state. MONEY LAUNDERING AND ILLEGAL INVESTMENT -- PENALTY -- RESTITUTION. (1) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally give, sell, transfer, trade, invest, conceal, transport, or make available anything of value that the person knows is intended to be used to commit or further a pattern of racketeering activity as defined in State Code, or a violation of the provisions of State Code. (2) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally direct, plan, organize, initiate, finance, manage, supervise, or facilitate the transportation or transfer of proceeds known by that person to be derived from a pattern of racketeering activity as defined in State Code, or a violation of the provisions of State Code. (3) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally conduct a financial transaction involving proceeds known by that person to be derived from a pattern of racketeering activity as defined in State Code, or a violation of the provisions of State Code, if the transaction is designed in whole or in part to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds, or to avoid a transaction reporting requirement under state or federal law. (4) A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and upon conviction may be fined not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, or be imprisoned for not more than ten (10) years, or be both so fined and imprisoned. (5) Upon a conviction of a violation under the provisions of this chapter, the court may order restitution for all costs and expenses of prosecution and investigation, pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in State Code. MOTION PICTURE FAIR BIDDING ACT, AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ON TRADE SCREENING. If bids are solicited from exhibitors for the purpose of entering into a license agreement, the bid shall include in the invitation to bid the date, time and location of the trade screening of the motion picture that is the subject of the invitation to bid. MOTION PICTURE FAIR BIDDING ACT, DEFINITIONS. As used in this act: (1) "Blind bidding" means bidding, negotiating, offering terms, making an invitation to bid, or agreeing to terms for the purpose of entering into a license agreement prior to a trade screening of the motion picture that is the subject of the agreement. (2) "Distributor" means any person engaged in the business of renting, selling or licensing motion pictures to exhibitors. (3) "Exhibitor" means any person engaged in the business of operating a theatre in this state. (4) "License agreement" means any contract between a distributor and an exhibitor for the exhibition of a motion picture by the exhibitor of this state. (5) "Theatre" means any establishment in which motion pictures are exhibited regularly to the public for a charge.
(6) "Trade screening" means the showing of a motion picture by a distributor, and such showing shall be open to any exhibitor interested in exhibiting the motion picture. MOTION PICTURE FAIR BIDDING ACT, PENALTY. It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully violate any provision of this act. Any such violation shall constitute a misdemeanor. MOTION PICTURE FAIR BIDDING ACT, PROHIBITION ON BLIND BIDDING. No distributor shall engage in blind bidding. MOTION PICTURE FAIR BIDDING ACT, PROHIBITION ON MINIMUM FEE GUARANTEE. (1) It shall be unlawful for any license agreement which provides for a fee or other payment to the distributor based in whole or in part on the attendance or the box office receipts at a theatre within the state to contain or be conditioned upon a guarantee of a minimum payment to the distributor. (2) Any provision, agreement or understanding which provides for such a guarantee shall be void, and any purported waiver of the prohibition of this act shall be void and unenforceable. MOTION PICTURE FAIR BIDDING ACT, PROHIBITION ON REQUIREMENT OF ADVANCE PAYMENT AS SECURITY. (1) It shall be unlawful for any license agreement for the exhibition of a motion picture at a theatre within the state to contain or be conditioned upon a provision, agreement or understanding that the exhibitor shall advance any funds prior to the exhibition of the picture as security for the performance of the license agreement or to be applied to payments under such agreement. (2) Any provision, agreement or understanding which provides for such an advance shall be void, and any purported waiver of the prohibition of this act shall be void and unenforceable. MOTION PICTURE FAIR BIDDING ACT, UNENFORCEABILITY OF WAIVER PROVISION. Any provision of an invitation to bid or a license agreement that waives any of the prohibitions of or fails to comply with this act is void and unenforceable. MURDERERS, DEFINED Mass Murderers, Spree Killers, and Serial Killers Multiple murderers are people who have killed more than one victim. Based on the patterns of their murders, multiple killers are classified into three basic categories -- mass murderers, spree killers, and serial killers. Here is the definition of each category of multiple killer: Mass Murderers: A mass murderer kills four or more people at one location during one continuous period of time, whether it is a few minutes or over a period of days. An example of a mass murderer would be Richard Speck, who killed eight student nurses in July of 1966, in a single night in their south Chicago townhouse. Killers who murder several members of their family, also fall into the mass murderer category. Spree Killers: These murderers kill two or more victims, but are more than one location. Although their murders occur in separate locations, their spree is considered a single event, because there is no "cooling off" period between the murders. Robert Polin is an example of a spree killer. In October 1975 he killed one student and wounded five others at a Ottawa high school after earlier raping and stabbing a 17-year-old friend to death. Serial Killers: Serial killers murder three or more victims, but each is killed on separate occasions. Unlike mass murderers and spree killers, serial killers usually select their victims, have cooling off periods between murders, and plan their crimes carefully. Some serial killers travel widely to find their victims, such as Ted Bundy, but others remain in the same general geographic area. In 1988, Ronald Holmes, a criminologist at the University of Louisville who specializes in the study of serial killers, identified four subtypes of serial killers. The Visionary -- Usually psychotic, the visionary is compelled to murder because he hears voices or sees visions ordering him to kill certain kinds of people. Mission-Oriented -- Targets a specific group of people who he believes are unworthy to live and without whom the world would be a better place. Hedonistic Killer -- Kills for the thrill of it because they enjoy the act of killing and sometimes becomes sexually aroused during the act of murder. Power-Oriented -- Kills to exert ultimate control over his victims. These murderers are not psychotic, but they are obsessed with capturing and controlling their victims and forcing them to obey their every command. MUTILATING WRITTEN INSTRUMENTS. A person who maliciously mutilates, tears, defaces, obliterates or destroys any written instrument, the property of another, the false making of which would be forgery, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) nor more than five (5) years.
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NEGLECT TO DELIVER WATER -- INTERFERENCE WITH DELIVERY. Any superintendent or any person having control or charge of the said ditch, canal or conduit, who shall wilfully neglect or refuse to deliver water as provided in State entitlement, or person or persons who shall prevent or interfere with the proper delivery of water to the person or persons having a right thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and the owner or owners of such ditch, canal or conduit shall be liable in damages to the person or persons deprived of the use of water to which they were entitled as provided in said State entitlemets. NO SMOKING DURING PUBLIC MEETINGS. For the purpose of this act, any meeting or hearing of any board, commission, council, department or agency of state, county, or local government, held within a building owned, rented, or being used by a governmental agency, to which the public is invited, or solicited, or legally entitled to attend is defined as a public meeting. Cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoking are prohibited during all periods when such public hearings or meetings are in progress. Any violation of this act shall constitute a misdemeanor. A violation of this State Code, is punishable by a fine of not less than five dollars ($5.00) nor more than ten dollars ($10.00). NO SMOKING SIGNS TO BE DISPLAYED. No smoking signs shall be displayed in the place of any such public meeting and upon request an area nearby, but outside the room in which the meeting is being held, shall be designated as an area where smoking is permitted. NONCOMPENSATED APPOINTED PUBLIC SERVANT -- RELATIVES OF PUBLIC SERVANT -- EXCEPTION. When a person is a public servant by reason of his appointment to a governmental entity board for which the person receives no salary or fees for his service on said board, it shall not constitute a violation of the provisions of State Code, for a public servant or for his relative to contract with the public body of which the public servant is a member if the procedures listed below are strictly observed. For purposes of this section, "relative" shall mean any person related to the public servant by blood or marriage within the second degree. (1) The contract is competitively bid and the public servant or his relative submits the low bid; and (2) Neither the public servant nor his relative takes any part in the preparation of the contract or bid specifications, and the public servant takes no part in voting on or approving the contract or bid specifications; and (3) The public servant makes full disclosure, in writing, to all members of the governing body, council or board of said public body of his interest or that of his relative and of his or his relative's intention to bid on the contract; and (4) Neither the public servant nor his relative has violated any provision of Idaho law pertaining to competitive bidding or improper solicitation of business.
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OBLITERATING AND DEFACING BOUNDARY MONUMENTS. Every person who either: 1. Maliciously removes any monument erected for the purpose of designating any point in the boundary of any lot or tract of land; or 2. Maliciously defaces or alters the marks upon any such monument; or 3. Maliciously cuts down or removes any tree upon which any such marks have been made for such purpose, with intent to destroy such marks; Is guilty of a misdemeanor. OBSCENE MATERIALS -- DEFINITIONS. The following definitions are applicable to this act: 1. "Minor" means any person less than eighteen (18) years of age. 2. "Nudity" means the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a full opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state. 3. "Sexual conduct" means any act of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female, the breast. 4. "Sexual excitement" means the condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal. 5. "Sado-masochistic abuse" means flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one who is nude or so clothed. 6. "Harmful to minors" includes in its meaning one or both of the following: (a) The quality of any material or of any performance or of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse, when it: (1) appeals to the prurient interest of minors as judged by the average person, applying contemporary community standards; and (2) depicts or describes representations or descriptions of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse which are patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable material for minors and includes, but is not limited to, patently offensive representations or descriptions of: (i) intimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; or (ii) masturbation, excretory functions or lewd exhibition of the genitals or genital area. Nothing herein contained is intended to include or proscribe any matter which, when considered as a whole, and in context in which it is used, possesses serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors, according to prevailing standards in the adult community, with respect to what is suitable for minors. (b) The quality of any material or of any performance, or of any description or representation, in whatever form, which, as a whole, has the dominant effect of substantially arousing sexual desires in persons under the age of eighteen (18) years. 7. "Material" means anything tangible which is harmful to minors, whether derived through the medium of reading, observation or sound. 8. "Performance" means any play, motion picture, dance or other exhibition performed before an audience. 9. "Promote" means to manufacture, issue, sell, give, provide, deliver, publish, distribute, circulate, disseminate, present, exhibit or advertise, or to offer or agree to do the same. 10. "Knowingly" means having general knowledge of, or reason to know, or a belief or reasonable ground for belief which warrants further inspection or inquiry. OBSCENE MATERIALS -- DISSEMINATION TO MINORS -- POLICY. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the legislature to restrain the distribution, promotion, or dissemination of obscene material, or of material harmful to minors, or the performance of obscene performances, or performances harmful to minors. It is found that such materials and performances are a contributing factor to crime, to juvenile crime, and also a basic factor in impairing the ethical and moral development of our youth.
OBSTRUCTION OF HIGHWAYS. Any person who obstructs, injures or damages any public road, street or highway, either by placing obstruction therein or by digging in, deepening or deviating the water of any stream, or by placing any obstruction in any ditch or stream within or along any public road, street or highway, or by placing or constructing any obstruction, ditch or embankments upon his own or other lands, so as to make or cause any water to flow upon or impair any public road, street or highway, or rides or drives upon and along the sidewalk of any road, street or highway, whenever such sidewalk has been graded or graveled, located or designated by any order of the board of commissioners or city council, or prepared in any other manner dedicating and designating the same for and to that particular use and purpose, either by the property owner or by the public, or in any other manner injures or obstructs any public road, street or highway, is guilty of a misdemeanor. OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE Every person who purposely obstructs, impairs or prevents the administration of law by force, threats, violence, physical interference or obstacle, or any other act, shall be guilty of obstruction of justice, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than three years, or shall be fined not more than $1,000.00, or both. OBSTRUCTION OF OVERFLOW, GAUGE OR WATERWAY IN DAM. Any person or persons who shall obstruct any overflow, gauge or waterway, placed in any dam by order of any water master, so as to impede the flow of water over such dam as regulated by the water master, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. OFFENSES AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE: From OFFERING FALSE OR FORGED INSTRUMENT FOR RECORD. Every person who knowingly procures or offers any false or forged instrument to be filed, registered or recorded in any public office within this state, which instrument, if genuine, might be filed, or registered, or recorded under any law of this state, or of the United States, is guilty of a felony. OFFICER STEALING, MUTILATING OR FALSIFYING PUBLIC RECORDS. Any public officer, law enforcement officer, or subordinate thereof, who wilfully destroys, alters, falsifies or commits the theft of the whole or any part of any police report or any record kept as part of the official governmental records of the state or any county or municipality in the state, shall be guilty of a felony and is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than fourteen (14) years. OFFICERS ASSISTING IN ESCAPE. Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, peace officer, correctional officer or other employee of a correctional facility, as defined in State Code, including a private correctional facility, who fraudulently contrives, procures, aids, connives at, or voluntarily permits the escape of any prisoner in custody, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding ten (10) years, and [a] fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Every such officer or person who negligently suffers such escape is guilty of a misdemeanor. OFFICERS NOT TO PURCHASE SCRIP. Every officer or person prohibited by the laws of this state from becoming a purchaser at sales, or from purchasing scrip, or other evidences of indebtedness, who violates any of the provisions of such laws, is punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in the state prison not more than five years. OFFICERS TO ENFORCE LAW. Every prosecuting or county attorney, sheriff, constable or police officer, must inform against and diligently prosecute persons whom they have reasonable cause to believe offenders against the provisions of this chapter, and every such officer refusing or neglecting so to do is guilty of a misdemeanor. OMISSION OF PUBLIC DUTY. Every wilful omission to perform any duty enjoined by law upon any public officer, or person holding any public trust or employment, where no special provision shall have been made for the punishment of such delinquency, is punishable as a misdemeanor. OPEN CONTAINERS It is illegal for the vehicle operator to be in possession of an alcoholic beverage in the passenger area of a motor vehicle according State Code. "Open alcoholic beverage container" shall not mean any bottle, can, or other receptacle that contains any amount of frozen alcoholic beverage unless the lid is removed or a straw protrudes through the lid." - Therefore go ahead and order that extra large Margarita in the to-go cup and pick it up at the drive through window. Just don't put a straw in it or remove the lid and you're all set.
OPENING GATES AND DESTROYING FENCES. It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to open and leave open any gate not belonging to such person or rightfully under his control, or to cut, break, tear down, or otherwise injure, any fence or wall or any obstruction used for a fence not belonging to such person or rightfully under his control. ORDER -- TRANSMITTAL TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. (1) A no contact order may be imposed either by order of the court or by an Idaho criminal rule, as a condition of bond. (2) (a) Notice of a no contact order shall be forwarded by the clerk of the court, or by the arresting agency where the defendant is given notice of the bond condition under an Idaho court rule, on or before the next judicial day, to the appropriate law enforcement agency. (b) Upon receipt of such notice, the law enforcement agency shall forthwith enter the order into the Idaho law enforcement telecommunications system available in this state used by law enforcement agencies to list outstanding warrants. Entry into the Idaho law enforcement telecommunications system constitutes notice to all law enforcement agencies of the existence of the order. The order is fully enforceable in any county in the state. (3) Law enforcement agencies shall establish procedures reasonably adequate to assure that an officer approaching or actually at the scene of an incident may be informed of the existence of such no contact order. (4) A no contact order shall remain in effect for the term set by the court or an Idaho criminal rule, or until terminated by the court.
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PARKING: It is illegal to park on Jackson Square, or on Bourbon Street. Vehicles found parked in prohibited areas will be towed and impounded. Getting your car out of impounding costs around $200, more if the car has been there for a long time (daily holding fees). PEACE OFFICERS -- IMMUNITY. No peace officer may be held criminally or civilly liable for actions or omissions in the performance of the duties of his office under this chapter, if the peace officer acts in good faith and without malice. PENALTY FOR PURCHASE WITHOUT PROOF OF OWNERSHIP. It is unlawful and a misdemeanor for any person, firm, company, or business to purchase any load of forest products, including coniferous trees, Christmas trees, sawlogs, poles, cedar products, pulp logs, fuelwood, etc., without proof of ownership as specified in State Code, or to fail to retain a copy of that proof of ownership for a period of at least one (1) year from the date of purchase. PENALTY FOR TRANSPORTATION OF FOREST PRODUCTS WITHOUT A PERMIT, CONTRACT, BILL OF SALE, OR PRODUCT LOAD RECEIPT. Violation of the provisions of this act shall constitute a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, be punishable by a fine of not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or both. PENALTIES. Any public servant who violates the provisions of this chapter, unless otherwise provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by incarceration in the county jail for a period not exceeding one (1) year, or by both such fine and incarceration. In addition to any penalty imposed in this chapter, any person who violates the provisions of this chapter may be required to forfeit his office and may be ordered to make restitution of any benefit received by him to the governmental entity from which it was obtained. PENALTIES -- MOTOR VEHICLES. (1) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of MOTOR VEHICLES State Code, for the first time is guilty of a misdemeanor; and, except as provided in State Code: (a) May be sentenced to jail for not to exceed six (6) months; (b) May be fined an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000); (c) Shall be advised by the court in writing at the time of sentencing of the penalties that will be imposed for subsequent violations of the provisions of State Code, which advice shall be signed by the defendant, and a copy retained by the court and another copy retained by the prosecuting attorney; and (d) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for a period of thirty (30) days which shall not be reduced and during which thirty (30) day period absolutely no driving privileges of any kind may be granted. After the thirty (30) day period of absolute suspension of driving privileges has passed, the defendant shall have driving privileges suspended by the court for an additional period of at least sixty (60) days, not to exceed one hundred fifty (150) days during which the defendant may request restricted driving privileges which the court may allow, if the defendant shows by a preponderance of the evidence that driving privileges are necessary for his employment or for family health needs. (2) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, for the first time is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to: (a) The provisions of State Code. (3) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, for the first time, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is subject to: (a) The provisions of State Code. (4) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, who previously has been found guilty of or has pled guilty to a violation of the provisions of State Code, or any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation within five (5) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s), and except as provided in State Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor; and, except as provided in State Code: (a) Shall be sentenced to jail for a mandatory minimum period of not less than ten (10) days the first forty-eight (48) hours of which must be consecutive, and five (5) days of which must be served in jail, as required by 23 U.S.C. section 164, and may be sentenced to not more than one (1) year, provided however, that in the discretion of the sentencing judge, the judge may authorize the defendant to be assigned to a work detail program within the custody of the county sheriff during the period of incarceration; (b) May be fined an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000); (c) Shall be advised by the court in writing at the time of sentencing, of the penalties that will be imposed for subsequent violations of the provisions of State Code, which advice shall be signed by the defendant, and a copy retained by the court and another copy retained by the prosecuting attorney;
(d) Shall surrender his driver's license or permit to the court; (e) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for an additional mandatory minimum period of one (1) year after release from confinement, during which one (1) year period absolutely no driving privileges of any kind may be granted; and (f) Shall, while operating a motor vehicle, be required to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning ignition interlock system, as provided in State Code, following the one (1) year mandatory license suspension period. (g) If the person has pled guilty or was found guilty for the second time within five (5) years of a violation of the provisions of State Code, then the provisions of State Code, shall apply. (5) Except as provided in State Code, any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, who previously has been found guilty of or has pled guilty to two (2) or more violations of the provisions of State Code, or any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation, or any combination thereof, within five (5) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s), shall be guilty of a felony; and (a) Shall be sentenced to the custody of the state board of correction for not to exceed five (5) years; provided that notwithstanding the provisions of State Code, should the court impose any sentence other than incarceration in the state penitentiary, the defendant shall be sentenced to the county jail for a mandatory minimum period of not less than thirty (30) days, the first forty-eight (48) hours of which must be consecutive, and ten (10) days of which must be served in jail, as required by 23 U.S.C. section 164; and further provided that notwithstanding the provisions of State Code, a conviction under this section shall be deemed a felony; (b) May be fined an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000); (c) Shall surrender his driver's license or permit to the court; and (d) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for a mandatory minimum period of one (1) year after release from imprisonment, and may have his driving privileges suspended by the court for not to exceed five (5) years after release from imprisonment, during which time he shall have absolutely no driving privileges of any kind; and (e) Shall, while operating a motor vehicle, be required to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning ignition interlock system, as provided in State Code, following the mandatory one (1) year license suspension period. (6) For the purpose of computation of the enhancement period in subsections (4), (5) and (7) of this section, the time that elapses between the date of commission of the offense and the date the defendant pleads guilty or is found guilty for the pending offense shall be excluded. If the determination of guilt against the defendant is reversed upon appeal, the time that elapsed between the date of the commission of the offense and the date the defendant pleads guilty or is found guilty following the appeal shall also be excluded. (7) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (4) and (5) of this section, any person who has pled guilty or has been found guilty of a felony violation of the provisions of State Code, a felony violation of the provisions of State Code, a violation of the provisions of State Code, a violation of the provisions of State Code, or any substantially conforming foreign criminal felony violation, and within ten (10) years pleads guilty or is found guilty of a further violation of the provisions of State Code, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced pursuant to subsection (5) of this section. (8) For the purpose of subsections (4), (5) and (7) of this section and the provisions of State Code, a substantially conforming foreign criminal violation exists when a person has pled guilty to or has been found guilty of a violation of any federal law or law of another state, or any valid county, city, or town ordinance of another state substantially conforming to the provisions of State Code. The determination of whether a foreign criminal violation is substantially conforming is a question of law to be determined by the court. (9) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, shall undergo, at his own expense, (or at county expense through the procedures set forth in State Code,) and prior to the sentencing date, an alcohol evaluation by an alcohol evaluation facility approved by the State department of health and welfare; provided however, if the defendant has no prior or pending charges with respect to the provisions of State Code, and the court has the records and information required under (c) this section or possesses information from other reliable sources relating to the defendant's use or nonuse of alcohol or drugs which does not give the court any reason to believe that the defendant regularly abuses alcohol or drugs and is in need of treatment, the court may, in its discretion, waive the evaluation with respect to sentencing for a violation of State Code, and proceed to sentence the defendant. The court may also, in its discretion, waive the requirement of an alcohol evaluation with respect to a defendant's violation of the provisions of State Code, and proceed to sentence the defendant if the court has a presentence investigation report, substance abuse assessment, criminogenic risk assessment, or other assessment which evaluates the defendant's degree of alcohol abuse and need for alcohol treatment conducted within twelve (12) months preceding the date of the defendant's sentencing. In the event an alcohol evaluation indicates the need for alcohol treatment, the evaluation shall contain a recommendation by the evaluator as to the most appropriate treatment program, together with the estimated cost thereof, and recommendations for other suitable alternative treatment programs, together with the estimated costs thereof. The person shall request that a copy of the completed evaluation be forwarded to the court. The court shall take the evaluation into consideration in determining an appropriate sentence. If a copy of the completed evaluation has not been provided to the court, the court may proceed to sentence the defendant; however, in such event, it shall be presumed that alcohol treatment is required unless the defendant makes a showing by a preponderance of evidence that treatment is not required. If the defendant has not made a good faith effort to provide the completed copy of the evaluation to the court, the court may consider the failure of the defendant to provide the report as an aggravating circumstance in determining an appropriate sentence. If treatment is ordered, in no event shall the person or facility doing the evaluation be the person or facility that provides the treatment unless this requirement is waived by the sentencing court, with the exception of federally recognized Indian tribes or federal military installations, where diagnosis and treatment are appropriate and available.
Nothing herein contained shall preclude the use of funds authorized pursuant to the provisions of State Code, for court-ordered alcohol treatment for indigent defendants. (10) At the time of sentencing, the court shall be provided with the following information: (a) The results, if administered, of any evidentiary test for alcohol and/or drugs; (b) A computer or teletype or other acceptable copy of the person's driving record; (c) Information as to whether the defendant has pled guilty to or been found guilty of violation of the provisions of State Code, or a similar offense within the past five (5) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s); and (d) The alcohol evaluation required in subsection (9) of this section, if any. (11) A minor may be prosecuted for a violation of the provisions of State Code, under State Code. In addition to any other penalty, if a minor pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, he shall have his driving privileges suspended or denied for an additional one (1) year following the end of any period of suspension or revocation existing at the time of the violation, or until he reaches the age of twenty-one (21) years, whichever period is greater. During the period of additional suspension or denial, absolutely no driving privileges shall be allowed. (12) In the event that the alcohol evaluation required in subsection (9) of this section recommends alcohol treatment, the court shall order the person to complete a treatment program in addition to any other sentence which may be imposed, unless the court determines that alcohol treatment would be inappropriate or undesirable, in which event, the court shall enter findings articulating the reasons for such determination on the record. The court shall order the defendant to complete the preferred treatment program set forth in the evaluation, or a comparable alternative, unless it appears that the defendant cannot reasonably obtain adequate financial resources for such treatment. In that event, the court may order the defendant to complete a less costly alternative set forth in the evaluation, or a comparable program. Such treatment shall, to the greatest extent possible, be at the expense of the defendant. In the event that funding is provided for or on behalf of the defendant by an entity of state government, restitution shall be ordered to such governmental entity in accordance with the restitution procedure for crime victims, as specified under State Code. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as requiring a court to order that a governmental entity shall provide alcohol treatment at government expense unless otherwise required by law. (13) Any person who is disqualified, or whose driving privileges have been suspended, revoked or canceled under the provisions of this chapter, shall not be granted restricted driving privileges to operate a commercial motor vehicle. PENALTIES -- PERSONS UNDER 21 WITH LESS THAN 0.08 ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION. (1) Any person found guilty of a violation of State Code, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and, for a first offense: (a) Shall be fined an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000); (b) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for a period of one (1) year, ninety (90) days of which shall not be reduced and during which period absolutely no driving privileges of any kind may be granted. After the period of absolute suspension of driving privileges has passed, the defendant may request restricted driving privileges which the court may allow, if the defendant shows by a preponderance of the evidence that driving privileges are necessary as deemed appropriate by the court; (c) Shall be advised by the court in writing at the time of sentencing of the penalties that will be imposed for any subsequent violation of the provisions of this section or any violation of State Code, which advice shall be signed by the defendant, and a copy retained by the court and another copy retained by the prosecuting attorney; (d) Shall be required to undergo an alcohol evaluation and otherwise comply with the requirements of State Code, as ordered by the court. (2) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, who previously has been found guilty of or has pled guilty to a violation of the provisions of State Code, or any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation, as defined in State Code, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment, is guilty of a misdemeanor; and: (a) Shall be sentenced to jail for a mandatory minimum period of five (5) days, as required by 23 U.S.C. section 164, not to exceed thirty (30) days; (b) Shall be fined an amount of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than two thousand dollars ($2,000); (c) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for a period not to exceed two (2) years, one (1) year of which shall be absolute and shall not be reduced and during which period absolutely no driving privileges of any kind may be granted; (d) Shall, while operating a motor vehicle, be required to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning ignition interlock system, as provided in State Code, following the mandatory one (1) year license suspension period; and (e) Shall be advised by the court in writing at the time of sentencing of the penalties that will be imposed for subsequent violations of the provisions of this section or State Code, which advice shall be signed by the defendant, and a copy retained by the court and another copy retained by the prosecuting attorney; (f) Shall undergo an alcohol evaluation and comply with the other requirements of State Code. (3) Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of State Code, who previously has been found guilty of or has pled guilty to two (2) or more violations of the provisions of State Code, or any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation, within five (5) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and: (a) Shall be sentenced to jail for a mandatory minimum period of ten (10) days, as required by 23 U.S.C. section 164, not to exceed six (6) months;
(b) Shall be fined an amount of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than two thousand dollars ($2,000); (c) Shall surrender his driver's license or permit to the court; (d) Shall have his driving privileges suspended by the court for a mandatory minimum period of one (1) year, during which period absolutely no driving privileges of any kind may be granted, or until such person reaches the age of twenty-one (21) years, whichever is greater; and (e) Shall, while operating a motor vehicle, be required to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning ignition interlock system, as provided in State Code, following the mandatory one (1) year license suspension period; and (f) Shall undergo an alcohol evaluation and comply with all other requirements imposed by the court pursuant to State Code. (4) All provisions of State Code, not otherwise in conflict with or provided for in this section shall apply to any sentencing imposed under the provisions of this section. (5) A person violating the provisions of State Code, may be prosecuted under State Code. (6) Any person whose driving privileges are suspended, revoked, canceled or disqualified under the provisions of this chapter shall not be granted privileges to operate a commercial motor vehicle during the period of suspension, revocation, cancellation or disqualification. PENALTIES FOR VIGILANTISM OR OTHER MISUSE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED UNDER THIS CHAPTER. Any person who uses information obtained pursuant to this chapter to commit a crime or to cause physical harm to any person or damage to property shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, in addition to any other punishment, be subject to imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed one (1) year, or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or both. PERJURY Every person who takes an oath or any legal substitute therefore before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law of the State authorizes an oath or any legal substitute therefore to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, and who willfully and contrary to such oath or legal substitute therefore states or subscribes any material which he does not believe to be true, shall be guilty of perjury, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than three years. PERJURY, DEFINED. Every person who, having taken an oath that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, before any competent tribunal, legislative committee, officer, or person in any of the cases in which such an oath may by law be administered, wilfully and contrary to such oath, states as true any material matter which he knows to be false, is guilty of perjury. PERJURY, IGNORANCE OF MATERIALITY NO DEFENSE. It is no defense to a prosecution for perjury that the accused did not know the materiality of the false statement made by him; or that it did not, in fact, affect the proceeding in or for which it was made. It is sufficient that it was material, and might have been used to affect such proceeding. PERJURY, INTENTIONALLY MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS. A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he willfully and intentionally gives or causes to be given false information to any court, court personnel, court clerk or any state or local government agency or personnel in the application or request for a domestic violence protective order pursuant to State Code. PERJURY, SUBORNATION OF PERJURY. Every person who wilfully procures another person to commit perjury is guilty of subornation of perjury, and is punishable in the same manner as he would be if personally guilty of the perjury so procured. PERJURY RESULTING IN EXECUTION OF INNOCENT PERSON. Every person who, by wilful perjury or subornation of perjury procures the conviction and execution of any innocent person, is punishable by death. PERMITS The 'A' Permit is simply a REGISTRATION PERMIT. You do not have to register a firearm. It is an optional thing to do in most of the US. By obtaining a "A" permit, you are showing the authorities that you are a responsible firearms owner. When crime is committed and a bullet can be indentified as being fired from a specific firearm, many times the Police will look and see who owns that type of firearm. Further, if you a private citizen who uses a firearm in self defense, and it is registered, the authorities usually take that into consideration when evaulating the circumstances of the use of Justifiable Homicide. IE, It looks better that you have one, than to not have one, if you kill someone in self defense.
The 'B' Permit is the basically the tradiational F.F.L or Federal Firearms License. It permits a player to purchase and resell non-regulated firearms. In order to get a FFL, there is some background checking. Players wishing to have a 'B' Permit must be okayed to have one by their governing Storyteller, and it is a good idea to speak to the Crime/Civil/Law Storyteller as well, if the game has multiple Storytellers. The 'C' Permit is the the most sought after in terms of this game. A 'C' Permit is a CARRY/CONCEAL Permit. It allows a player to carry a firearm concealed on their person. The laws regarding the carrying of a concealed firearm are pretty much the same across the United States, that is to say it is illegal. Many Counties allow you to carry an UNCONCEALED firearm, on your person. However, you cannot go into Banks, Liquer stores, bars, and places of public transport (Airports, train stations, Bus stations, etc). In order to get a 'C' permit, you must have a reason. That reason MUST be something legit, because it is recorded. Please contact your governing Storyteller about obtaining this type of permit. The 'D' Permit is similiar to the 'B' Permit except it allows a player to deal in restricted firearms as well. Restricted Firearms are fully-automatic, Police and Military firearms, and Silencers. To obtain a 'D' Permit please contact your governing Storyteller. The 'E' Permit is similiar to the 'C' Permit except it allows a player to carry/conceal a restricted firearm. Restricted Firearms are fully-automatic, Police and Military firearms, and silenced firearms. Please see information regarding the 'C' Permit as well. To obtain a 'E' Permit please contact your governing Storyteller. The 'F' Permit is simply a FISHING PERMIT RESIDENT FISHING LICENSE TYPE PRICES Required to/Covers PRE-REQUISITES Resident Basic Fishing $9.50 Fish in fresh water La. Driver's license or LA. ID from Public Safety Resident Saltwater Fishing $5.50 Fish in saltwater Resident Basic Fishing Resident Hook & Line $2.50 For use with hook & line, rod with no reel, and no artificial bait Resident Military Hunt/Fish $5.00 La. Driver's License and Active Military I.D. NON - RESIDENT FISHING LICENSE TYPE PRICES Required to/Covers PRE-REQUISITES NR Fish Season $60.00 Fish in fresh water NR Saltwater Fish Season $30.00 Take saltwater species NR Fish Season NR Fish Trip 4-day $15.00 Fishing in freshwater only NR Saltwater Fish Trip 4-day $45.00 Fishing in saltwater NR Basic Fish Trip 4-day NR Fishing Trip 1-day $5.00 Fishing in freshwater only NR Saltwater Fishing trip 1-day $15.00 Fishing in saltwater NR Fishing Trip 1 day NR Charter Passenger $5.00 Valid only when fishing in saltwater from a vessel with a licensed Charter Fishing Guide on board Charter Guide License number required at time of purchase NR Charter Skiff 3-day $30.00 Valid only if fishing from a validly licensed skiff fishing from a licensed charter mothership Charter Mothership & Charter Skiff The 'H' Permit is simply a HUNTING PERMIT RESIDENT HUNTING LICENSE TYPE PRICES Required to/Covers Resident Basic Hunting $15.00 Hunt small game Resident Big Game $14.00 Hunt deer & turkey Resident Bow Hunting $10.50 Hunt with a bow Resident Muzzleloader $10.50 Hunt with a muzzleloader Resident Wild Turkey $5.50 Hunt turkey Resident Duck $5.50 Hunt ducks, coots & geese Resident Military Hunt/Fish $5.00
PRE-REQUISITES La. Driver's License or La. ID from Public Safety Resident Basic Hunting Resident Big Game and / or Basic Hunting Basic Hunting & Big Game Basic Hunting & Big Game Basic Hunting La. Drivers License and Active Military ID
NON-RESIDENT HUNTING LICENSE TYPE PRICE Required to/Covers Non-Resident Hunting Season $150.00 Covers SMALL GAME hunting only Non-Resident Big Game Season $150.00 REQUIRED to hunt deer & turkey Non-Resident Hunting Trip 5-day $100.00 Covers SMALL GAME hunting only Non-Resident Big Game Trip 5-day $75.00 REQUIRED to hunt deer & turkey Non-Resident Migratory Bird 3-day $75.00 Covers migratory bird hunting only Non-Resident Bow Hunting $26.00 Required to hunt with a bow Non-Resident Muzzleloader $26.00 Required to hunt with muzzleloader Non-Resident Wild Turkey $20.50 Required to hunt turkey Non-Resident Duck $25.00 Required to hunt ducks, coots & geese 3-Day
PRE-REQUISITES NR Hunting Season NR Hunting Trip 5-Day NR Big Game Hunting/Trip 5-Day NR Big Game Hunting/Trip 5-Day NR Big Game Hunting/Trip 5-Day NR Hunting Season/Trip, or Migratory Bird
PERMITTING MISCHIEVOUS ANIMAL AT LARGE. If the owner of a mischievous animal, knowing its propensities, wilfully suffers it to go at large, or keeps it without ordinary care, and such animal, while so at large, or while not kept with ordinary care, kills any human being who has taken all the precautions which circumstances permitted, or which a reasonable person would ordinarily take in the same situation, is guilty of a felony. PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO WITHDRAW BLOOD FOR THE PURPOSES OF DETERMINING CONTENT OF ALCOHOL OR OTHER INTOXICATING SUBSTANCES. (1) Only a licensed physician, qualified medical technologist, registered nurse, phlebotomist trained in a licensed hospital or educational institution or other medical personnel trained in a licensed hospital or educational institution to withdraw blood can, at the order or request of a peace officer, withdraw blood for the purpose of determining the content of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances therein. This limitation shall not apply to the taking of a urine, saliva or breath specimen. For purposes of this section: (a) the term "qualified medical technologist" shall be deemed to mean a person who meets the standards of a "clinical laboratory technologist" as set forth by the then current rules and regulations of the social security administration of the United States department of health and human services pursuant to subpart M of part 405, chapter III, title 20, of the code of federal regulation; and (b) the terms "phlebotomist" and "other medical personnel" shall be deemed to mean persons who meet the standards for the withdrawing of blood as designated and qualified by the employing medical facility or other employing entity of those persons. (2) The person tested may, at his own expense, have a person of his own choosing, who is authorized to make a test, administer an evidentiary test for alcohol concentration in addition to the one administered at the request of a peace officer. PERSONS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL, DRUGS OR ANY OTHER INTOXICATING SUBSTANCES. (1) (a) It is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other intoxicating substances, or any combination of alcohol, drugs and/or any other intoxicating substances, or who has an alcohol concentration of 0.08, as defined in subsection (4) of this section, or more, as shown by analysis of his blood, urine, or breath, to drive or be in actual physical control of a motor vehicle within this state, whether upon a highway, street or bridge, or upon public or private property open to the public. (b) It is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other intoxicating substances, or any combination of alcohol, drugs and/or any other intoxicating substances, or who has an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or higher but less than 0.08, as defined in subsection (4) of this section, as shown by analysis of his blood, urine, or breath, to drive or be in actual physical control of a commercial motor vehicle within this state, whether upon a highway, street or bridge, or upon public or private property open to the public. (c) It is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other intoxicating substances, or any combination of alcohol, drugs and/or any other intoxicating substances, or who has an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher, as defined in subsection (4) of this section, as shown by analysis of his blood, urine, or breath, to drive or be in actual physical control of a commercial motor vehicle within this state, whether upon a highway, street or bridge, or upon public or private property open to the public. (d) It is unlawful for any person under the age of twenty-one (21) years who has an alcohol concentration of at least 0.02 but less than 0.08, as defined in subsection (4) of this section, to drive or be in actual physical control of a motor vehicle within this state, whether upon a highway, street or bridge, or upon public or private property open to the public. Any person violating this subsection shall be subject to the penalties provided in State Code. (2) Any person having an alcohol concentration of less than 0.08, as defined in subsection (4) of this section, as shown by analysis of his blood, urine, or breath, by a test requested by a police officer shall not be prosecuted for driving under the influence of alcohol, except as provided in subsection (3), subsection (1)(b) or subsection (1)(d) of this section. Any person who does not take a test to determine alcohol concentration or whose test result is determined by the court to be unreliable or inadmissible against him, may be prosecuted for driving or being in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or any other intoxicating substances, on other competent evidence.
(3) If the results of the test requested by a police officer show person's alcohol concentration of less than 0.08, as defined in subsection (4) of this section, such fact may be considered with other competent evidence of drug use other than alcohol in determining the guilt or innocence of the defendant. (4) For purposes of this chapter, an evidentiary test for alcohol concentration shall be based upon a formula of grams of alcohol per one hundred (100) cubic centimeters of blood, per two hundred ten (210) liters of breath or sixty-seven (67) milliliters of urine. Analysis of blood, urine or breath for the purpose of determining the alcohol concentration shall be performed by a laboratory operated by the state police or by a laboratory approved by the state police under the provisions of approval and certification standards to be set by that department, or by any other method approved by the state police. Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule of court, the results of any test for alcohol concentration and records relating to calibration, approval, certification or quality control performed by a laboratory operated or approved by the state police or by any other method approved by the state police shall be admissible in any proceeding in this state without the necessity of producing a witness to establish the reliability of the testing procedure for examination. (5) "Actual physical control" as used in this section, shall be defined as being in the driver's position of the motor vehicle with the motor running or with the motor vehicle moving. (6) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any evidence of conviction under this section shall be admissible in any civil action for damages resulting from the occurrence. A conviction for the purposes of this section means that the person has pled guilty or has been found guilty, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s). (7) The fact that any person charged with a violation of the provisions of this chapter involving being under the influence of any drug, or any combination of drugs with alcohol or any other intoxicating substance, is or has been entitled to use such drug under the laws of this state or of any other jurisdiction shall not constitute a defense against any charge of a violation of the provisions of this chapter. PLACING DEBRIS ON HIGHWAYS. (1) If any person shall wilfully or negligently throw from any vehicle, place, deposit or permit to be deposited upon or alongside of any highway, street, alley or easement used by the public for public travel, any debris, paper, litter, glass bottle, glass, nails, tacks, hoops, cans, barbed wire, boards, trash or garbage, lighted material, or other waste substance, such persons shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300) or byimprisonment in the county jail not exceeding ten (10) days. For the purposes of this section, the terms "highway," "street," "alley" or "easement" shall be construed to include the entire right of way of such highway, street, alley or easement. The State transportation department is directed to post along state highways, at convenient and appropriate places, notices of the context of said law. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of State Code, the court may order that fifty dollars ($50.00) of the fine imposed under the provisions of this section be paid by the defendant to the person or persons, other than the officer making the arrest, who, in the judgment of the court, provided information that led directly to the arrest and conviction of the defendant. PLACING DEBRIS ON PUBLIC OR PRIVATE PROPERTY A MISDEMEANOR. It shall constitute a misdemeanor for any person, natural or artificial, to deposit upon any public or private property within this state any debris, paper, litter, glass bottles, glass, nails, tacks, hooks, cans, barbed wire, boards, trash, garbage, lighted material or other waste substances on any place not authorized by any county, city, village or the owner of such property, and is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300), or both. Additionally, a peace officer or state fish and game personnel supervised public service of not less than eight (8) hours and not more than forty (40) hours may be imposed to clean up and to properly dispose of debris from public property, or from private property with the written consent of the private property owner, as ordered by the court. PLACING POSTERS OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL ON PUBLIC OR PRIVATE PROPERTY WITHOUT PERMISSION. It shall be unlawful for any person to erect, install, attach or paint, or cause to be erected, installed, attached or painted, election posters or signs upon public or private property, real or personal, in the state of residence, without permission from the owner or occupant of such property, and it shall be unlawful for any person to place or leave any literature or other political, promotional or sales materials upon public or private property, real or personal, in the state of residence when the owner or occupant of such property, by a sign conspicuously posted on the property, or by other written or audio communication to such person, has forbidden the placing or leaving of literature or other political, promotional or sales material upon that property. Provided, however, that the granting of such permission by any public utility company on behalf of any candidate for public office shall constitute the granting of like permission by such public utility company to all other candidates for the same public office. Any violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor.
PLASTIC SURGERY TYPES & COSTS. The costs of any surgery varies significantly between surgeons, medical facilities, and regions of the country. Patients who need additional or more extensive surgery will require more intensive and expensive treatment. In non-private surgery centers or inoffice Operating Rooms the prices may include the following. However, in hospitals -- surgery charges can usually be separated into five parts: 1. the surgeon's fee 2. the anesthesiologist's fee 3. the hospital charges, which includes nursing care and the operating room 4. the medications 5. and any additional charges All fees are averages; out-patient charges, including surgeon fees, anesthesia, Operating Room charges, and implants if applicable - unless otherwise noted. Lab fees, such as "blood work", are normally an extra $35. - $75., plus medications are usually an additional $120. Physicals are more, HIV tests are additional and any other fees that you may be responsible for (X-rays, etc.). If you are to be staying in a hospital or are opting for home healthcare - these expenses are additional. This factor really depends upon the region, surgeon, etc. All procedures or products are alphabetized and include independent averages in U.S. Dollars A AlloDerm allograft: * $1,000. - $1,500. per area consisting of a single 2x4 inch sheet. or approximately $3,500 per 5x3.5 inch sheet APTOS Thread Lift (Featherlift): * $300. per thread average, or * browlift: $1,200. * cheek lift: $1,800. * jowl lift: $1,200. * full face: $4,200. Autologen/injectable filler: * approximately $1,200. - 1,500. for 3.0 cc B Blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery): * both upper lids, $2,750. - $5,000. * both lower lids, $3,000. - $5,500. * both upper and lower eyelids, $4,000. - $6,500. SOOF (sub-orbicularis-oculi Fat) lift: * $3,000. - $6,000. BOTOX: * 1 area $175. - $500. * 2 areas $275. - $600. * 3 or more areas $375. - $800. brow lift: * $2,500. - $7,500. (depending upon type) buccal fat extraction: * $1,800. - $4,500. C cheek augmentation: * with implants: $3,000 - $7,500. (at cost: approximately $115. per implant/side) * with fat grafting: $1,500. - $4,000. * with injectable fillers: varies from chemical peel: * full face, $1,488. - $2,000.+ * regional, $100. - $700. + chin augmentation: * with implant(s), $2,400. - $ 5,500. * with Genioplasty (sliding chin advancement): $4,000 - $6,500. (at cost: approximately $95. - $115. per chin implant) * injectable fillers: varies from $150. - $600. (depending upon cc's) averaging $300. per 1.0cc ($300. for 1.0 cc, $400. for 1.5 cc, and $500. for 2.0 cc) Some products can range as high as $1,500. per cc such as Radiance or silicone. collagen: * bovine collagen (i.e. ZyDerm, ZyPlast): $150. - $600. per cc, averaging $300. per 1.0cc ($300. for 1.0 cc, $400. for 1.5 cc, and $500. for 2.0 cc)
* cultured human collagen (i.e. CosmoDerm, CosmoPlast): $450. - $700. per cc * porcine (pig): $350. - $500. per cc * autologous (i.e. Isologen) $900.+ per cc cosmetic dentistry: * Porcelain Crown: (w/o root canal: $600. - $800.; w/ root canal: $750. - $1,200.) * Veneer: $400. - $1,800. per veneer * Bonding: $175. - $400. per area * Bleaching: $10. - $250. for the custom trays; $35 - $200. for the bleaching agent * Laser Whitening: $350. - $2,000. Cymetra Micronized AlloDerm (injectable filler): * $600.- $900. (per 1.0 cc) Approximately $1,500 for 2.0 cc; approximately $700. -$1000. for average lip augmentation D Dermabrasion: * $900. - $3,000. Dermalogen/injectable filler: * $250.00 to $400.00 per cc E F facelift: * minor lift: $4,500. - $7,000.; * major work, $5,500. - $15,500. * with a necklift: add $4,000. - $7,500.; S-Lift: $4,500 - $6,000. facial liposuction: * 1 area: $1,500 - $3,800 Fascian (injectable filler): * $250. - $500. per cc (at cost: 1-9 syringes: $125./syringe 10 or more syringes: $115./syringe; 50 mg syringe is $95./syringe Fat transfer: * face $1200. - $5,000. for face * lips $900. - $1200. up to 3 - 4cc Featherlift (APTOS threads): * $300. per thread average, or * browlift: $1,200. * cheek lift: $1,800. * jowl lift: $1,200. * full face: $4,200. * maintenance: depending upon surgeon, may be anywhere from free to $300. per thread, plus medications and anesthesia. G gynecomastia (male breast reduction): * $2,500. - $4,000. H hair removal: * laser: * Intense Pulsed Light * waxing: * sugaring * other: hair restoration: * transplant: surgeon's fee, plus anesthesia and OR time, with follicle transplants starting at $1.00 to $17.00 per follicle.
I injectable fillers: * Autologen: * Bovine Collagen: * Cosmoderm: * Cosmoplast: * Restylane: * Perlane: * Restylane Fine Line: * Radiance: * Silicone: * Juvederm: * Isolagen: * Artecoll (Artefill): * J jaw augmentation: * $2,000 - $6,500. (at cost: approximately $115. per implant/side) K L laser corrective eye surgery: * LASIK: $800. - 2,000. per eye * LASEK: * Conductive Keratoplasty (CK): laser resurfacing: * $1,500 - $6,000. lip augmentation: * AlloDerm: $1,000. - $2,200. per lip (averaging $1,200.) * Autologen: $1,200. - 1500. for 3.0 cc * Collagen: $150. - $600. (depending upon cc's) averaging $300. per 1.0cc ($300. for 1.0 cc, $400. for 1.5 cc, and $500. for 2.0 cc) * Cymetra? Micronized AlloDerm - $600.- $900. (per 1.0 cc) Approximately $1,500 for 2.0 cc; approximately $700. for lip augmentation * Dermagen: $400.oer cc US * Dermalogen/injectable filler: $250.00 to $400.00 per cc * Fascian - at cost: 1-9 syringes: $125./syringe; 10 or more syringes: $115./syringe; 50 mg syringe is $95./syringe purchase. * Gore-Tex: $1,200. - $2,000. per lip (averaging $1,000.) * Lip Lift (free flap): $2,000. - 3,500. * micropigmentation: Lip liner: $400. to $600. Full Lip Color: $700. to $1600. (creates the illusion of fuller lips) * Scar Tissue Grafting: - $2,000. - $3,000. * Softform: $1,000. - $2000. per lip (averaging $1,000.) * with Tendon Grafting: - $2,500. - $4,000. (uncommon) lip reduction: * $900.-$2000. (fees represent either for both lips to a per lip basis, depending) liposuction: * $2,500 per area in some regions M microdermabrasion: * $90. - $200. per session, 20-30 min. (depending upon area, strength and region) micropigmentation: * Eyeliner: $300. to $1000. * Eyebrows: $400. to $1500. * Lip liner: $400. to $600. * Full Lip Color: $700. to $1600. * Beauty Mark: $35. to $150. * Scar re-pigmentation or camouflaging: $50. to $100. per 15 minutes
N NLite Laser: * full face: (regional) from $400. to $1,500. depending * area specific: from $10. per pulse/$100. min. and up. neck lift: * $3,000. to $6,500. O otoplasty (ear pinning): * $2,225. - $4,000. P Perlane: * $350.- $600. per .7 cc syringe Q R Radiance (Radiance FN): * $600. - $1,500. per cc Restylane: * $350.- $600. per .7 cc syringe Restylane Fine Line: * $250. - $450. per .4 cc * $350.- $600. per .7 cc syringe Retin A treatment: * per visit $90. - $190. * daily use with prescription: $90 - $140 per 6 month supply rhinoplasty: * Primary open rhinoplasty $3,500. - $8,000. * Primary closed rhinoplasty $3,500. - $8,000. * Primary Septoplasty/Turbinectomy $4,000. - $9,000. * Secondary open rhinoplasty $7,000. - $18,000+ * Secondary closed rhinoplasty $4800. - $18,000+ * with implant: $4,000. - $10,500. Rhytidoplasty/Rhytidectomy: (see Face Lift) S Skin Resurfacing * Lasers: per area, $350+; full face $2,000+ * Dermabrasion: $900. - $3,000. * Microdermabrasion: * $90. - $200. per session, 20-30 min. (depending upon area, strength and region) SOOF Lift: * $2,000. - $5,000. T tattoo removal: * Laser: $370. for a 2x2" (inch) tattoo; or $2. per pulse about @120 pulses per 2x2 in., less for tattoos that have been re-inked a lot. (Does not include anesthesia as it is normally not necessary.) * Intense Pulsed Light Therapy: $400. average minimum; for areas larger than standard 4x6 in. tattoos, additional fees may apply. (Does not include anesthesia as it is normally not necessary.) * Dermabrasion: $1,578. - $3,500. * Excision: $800. - $1,300. U V W * Wrinkle Injection: $276. - $375. per site with $200. increments per additional site X Y Z
POISONING FOOD, MEDICINE OR WELLS. Every person who wilfully mingles any poison with any food, drink or medicine, with intent that the same shall be taken by any human being, to his injury, and every person who wilfully poisons any spring, well, or reservoir of water, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not less than one (1) nor more than ten (10) years. POLICE AWARDS Every Officer of the Law works day in and day out to protect the city that they live in. How better to define their actions by giving them the awards they earn? Here are some of the more common awards that can be given during the chronicle. The Police Medal of Honor, The highest award in the Department. To be awarded to a police officer of the Oklahoma City Police Department who voluntarily distinguishes himself/herself conspicuously by gallantry and extraordinary heroism. The act must be in excess of normal demands and of such a nature that the officer was fully aware of the imminent threat to their personal safety and acted above and beyond the call of duty at the risk of their life. The Police Cross, To be ranked in the Department next to the Medal of Honor. To be awarded where an officer lost their life in performance of duty under honorable circumstances. The Police Cross may be awarded in addition to any other award the officer may be entitled to in making the supreme sacrifice. The Police Medal of Valor, ranked next in prominence to the Police Cross. The Medal of Valor is to be awarded to an officer of the Oklahoma City Police Department for exceptional bravery at imminent risk of serious bodily injury, the recipient demonstrating exceptional courage by performing a voluntary course of action in an extremely dangerous situation. The Police Medal for Meritorious Service, ranked next in prominence to the Police Medal of Valor, may be awarded to an officer who qualifies in the capacity of meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility; the duty reflecting excellence in such performance; distinguishes themselves and the Department by their performance is awarded upon completion of the duty assignment. Medal of Distinguished Service - Awarded to a member who, intelligently and in the line of police duty, performs an act of outstanding personal bravery at imminent personal risk to life and with knowledge of the hazards involved. Award of Excellence - Awarded to a member who performs an act or a series of acts over a period of time which demonstrate a high degree of professional excellence through the success of difficult police projects, programs, investigations, or situations but which involve no personal hazard to the member. Chief's Unit Citation - Awarded to two or more members who perform an act or a series of acts over a period of time which demonstrate a high degree of teamwork and professionalism and which result in the attainment of departmental goals, thus increasing the department's effectiveness and efficiency. This award may be presented alone or in addition to any other award. If it results from a particular incident, only those personnel actually working at the time are eligible; if it results from a series of acts over a period of time, all personnel assigned to the unit are eligible. Purple Heart - Awarded to a member who, in the line of duty, receives a significant injury. This award is primarily intended to recognize members who are injured as the result of an aggravated battery, but the selection committee may consider injuries from other, non-intentional events such as fires, explosions, collisions, etc., as valid justification. Combat Cross - Awarded to a member who, acting intelligently and in the line of duty, performs an act which upholds the high standards of the law enforcement profession while engaged in personal combat with an armed adversary. Medal of Ultimate Sacrifice - Awarded to the family of any sworn member who dies while in the lawful performance of police duty. This award is intended to recognize the family for their sacrifices over the years in support of their loved one's chosen profession. The member shall be eligible posthumously for any other awards that may be appropriate. POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE OR DANGEROUS WEAPON. Any inmate of a penal institution or a jail who shall manufacture, deliver or possess a controlled substance or a dangerous weapon is guilty of a felony. POSSESSION OF COUNTERFEIT COIN. Every person who has in his possession, or receives for any other person, any counterfeit gold or silver coin of the species current in this state, or any counterfeit gold dust, gold or silver bullion or bars, lumps, pieces, or nuggets, with the intention to sell, utter, put off, or pass the same, or permits, causes, or procures the same to be sold, uttered, or passed, with intention to defraud any person, knowing the same to be counterfeit, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than one (1) nor more than fourteen (14) years. POSSESSION OF COUNTERFEITING APPARATUS. Every person who makes, or knowingly has in his possession any die, plate, or any apparatus, metal, machine, or other thing whatever, made use of in counterfeiting coin, current in this state, or in counterfeiting gold dust, gold or silver bars, bullion, lump, pieces or nuggets, or in counterfeiting bank notes, bank bills, financial transaction cards, cashier's checks, money orders, travelers checks, or any check, draft or order for the payment of money upon any bank or depository drawn on any person, firm or corporation, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than one (1) nor more than fourteen (14) years; and all such dies, plates, apparatus, paper, metal, or machine, intended for the purpose aforesaid, must be destroyed.
POSSESSION OF FORGED NOTES OR BANK BILLS OR CHECK OR CHECKS. Every person who has in his possession, or receives from another person, any forged promissory note or bank bill, or bills, or check or checks, for the payment of money or property, with the intention to pass the same, or to permit, cause, or procure the same to be uttered or passed, with the intention to defraud any person, knowing the same to be forged or counterfeited, or has or keeps in his possession any blank or unfinished note or bank bill or check made in the form or similitude of any promissory note or bill or check for payment of money or property, made to be issued by any incorporated bank or banking company, with intention to fill up and complete such blank and unfinished note or bill or check, or to permit, or cause, or procure the same to be filled up and completed in order to utter or pass the same, or to permit, or cause, or procure the same to be uttered or passed, to defraud any person, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) nor more than fourteen (14) years. POSSESSION OF INHALANTS BY MINORS. Whenever a person under the age of eighteen (18) years is in possession and uses an aerosol spray product or other inhalant, that is not used pursuant to the instructions or prescription of a licensed health care provider or that is not used pursuant to the manufacturer's label instructions, for the purpose of becoming under the influence of such substance; such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, may be punished by a fine not in excess of three hundred dollars ($300), or by thirty (30) days in a juvenile detention facility or by both or may be subject to the provisions of State Code. For the purposes of this section, the term "inhalant" means any glue, cement or other substance containing one (1) or more of the following chemical compounds: acetone and acetate, amyl nitrite or amyl nitrate or their isomers, benzene, butyl alcohol, butyl nitrite, butyl nitrate or their isomers, ethyl alcohol, ethyl nitrite or ethyl nitrate, ethylene dichloride, isobutyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, methyl ethyl ketone, n-propyl alcohol, pentachlorophenol, petroleum ether, propyl nitrite or propyl nitrate or their isomers, toluene or xylene or other chemical substance capable of causing a condition of intoxication, inebriation, excitement, stupefaction or the dulling of the brain or nervous system as a result of the inhalation of the fumes or vapors of such chemical substance. POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA OR DRUG PARAPHERNALIA BY A MINOR -- USE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES -FINES. (1) Any person under eighteen (18) years of age who shall have in his possession any marijuana as defined in State Code, which would constitute a misdemeanor for an adult so charged, or who shall have in his possession any drug paraphernalia as defined in section State Code, or who shall unlawfully use or be under the influence of controlled substances in violation of the provisions of section State Code, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, may be punished by a fine not in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by ninety (90) days in a juvenile detention facility or by both or may be subject to the provisions of State Code. If the juvenile is adjudicated under the provisions of State Code, for a violation of this section he shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of State Code. The juvenile shall be adjudicated under State Code, for a violation of State Code, unless the court finds that adjudication under State Code, is not appropriate in the circumstances. (2) A conviction under this section shall not be used as a factor or considered in any manner for the purpose of establishing rates of motor vehicle insurance charged by a casualty insurer, nor shall such conviction be grounds for nonrenewal of any insurance policy as provided in State Code. (3) Any person who pleads guilty or is found guilty of possession of marijuana pursuant to this section, or any person under eighteen (18) years of age who pleads guilty or is found guilty of a violation of State Code, then in addition to the penalty provided in subsection (1) of this section: (a) The court shall suspend the person's driving privileges for a period of not more than one (1) year. The person may request restricted driving privileges during the period of suspension, which the court may allow, if the person shows by a preponderance of the evidence that driving privileges are necessary as deemed appropriate by the court. (b) If the person's driving privileges have been previously suspended under this section, the court shall suspend the person's driving privileges for a period of not more than two (2) years. The person may request restricted driving privileges during the period of suspension, which the court may allow, if the person shows by a preponderance of the evidence that driving privileges are necessary as deemed appropriate by the court. (c) The person shall surrender his license or permit to the court. (d) The court shall notify the motor vehicle division of the State transportation department of all orders of suspension it issues pursuant to this section. (4) The court, in its discretion, may also order the person convicted of possession of marijuana under subsection (1) of this section, or a person under eighteen (18) years of age who has been convicted of using or being under the influence of a controlled substance in violation of State Code, to undergo and complete a substance abuse evaluation and to complete a drug treatment program, as provided in State Code. PRESENTATION OF FRAUDULENT ACCOUNTS. Every person who, with intent to defraud, presents for allowance or for payment to any state board or officer, or to any county, town, city, ward or village board or officer, authorized to allow or pay the same if genuine, any false or fraudulent claim, bill, account, voucher or writing, is guilty of a felony.
PRIVATE PERSON STEALING, MUTILATING OR FALSIFYING PUBLIC RECORDS. Every person not an officer such as is referred to in the preceding section, who is guilty of any of the acts specified in that section, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or in a county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine not exceeding $100.00, or by both. PRIVATE PERSONS ASSISTING IN ESCAPE. Every person who wilfully assists any prisoner confined in any prison, or in the lawful custody of any officer or person, to escape, or in an attempt to escape, from such prison or custody, is guilty of a felony. PRIVATE VS PUBLIC Exploring the city, learning the streets and where places are is a normal thing for any and all characters to do when they come to a new setting where they will be longer than a night or two. You are more than welcome to wander through all of the Public places available. These include the streets, the parks, the playgrounds and the main rooms of businesses. This does /not/ include people's residences, back rooms of businesses and other designated private areas. Please do not go into any Private areas unless specifically and ICly invited to be there. This is considered Illegal Trespass, Breaking & Entering, and possibly Attempted Burglary. In other words, this could result in horrible repercussions and IC arrest. Avoid doing this. PROFILE NOTES, GAROU. This section is included in the CCL Book to give those denziens of the night a look into how the Mortal World percieves them from a CCL point of view, nothing more. Only if your lifespan is greater than or shorter than the lifespan of a mortal will you have to worry about falsifying documentation here. This will impact Ratkin and the like more than Garou we believe. Most will have birth records of some nature and will live out their life similar enough to that of a mortal to not warrant any specific changes that are needed. If you have false documentation for an Alias, this should be listed here. PROFILE NOTES, KINDRED. This section is included in the CCL Book to give those denziens of the night a look into how the Mortal World percieves them from a CCL point of view, nothing more. As your lifespan increases, it becomes harder to interface with the present Mortal Society due to one major thing: Paper Trails. Your real name becomes a secret to you and those close to you. To the Mortals around you however, you must give them an alias to fit into their society. Therefore separating you from the original 'Paper trail' that exists for your mortal name. As Kindred, you can be the secret behind the curtains, like the great and powerful Oz, but should not own anything outright. Your aliases should be regarded the same way, precious commodities only given to those you trust. If you run a business, make it a Corporation. The Business becomes its own entity. Entities change CEO's every 20-30 years, if not sooner, but they continue on, and it is not uncommon for a new CEO to bring in a whole new Executive Staff with them. You can also have a Corporation of 1 employee, yourself. It doesn't have to be huge. If you need to own a house, mansion, yacht....have it in your Retainer's name. A mortal Retainer will die in time. So then what do you do? Just get a new one. That's because they are expendable. But you're not. The more paperwork that you have pointing to your true identity, the worse off you are. Aliases have a way of getting linked together to trace back to the origin of your Embrace. You aren't alone in this world, especially one that employs the 'One Darkness' View of the WoD, meshing some or all the games together. Those that oppose you have learned much over the centuries, and have amassed great power themselves. But when deployed with intelligence, your well oiled smoke screen should be able to thwart any Hunter who stumbles across your trail. Any documents are a bad paper trail for any Kindred. That is, except for false documents. Make certain you have a full set of the needed ones for your current guise. Driver's License, Birth Certificate, SSN Card, Passport, University Diplomas, etc. But having the physical papers is not as important os having them on digital record though. This is the Information Age, and your guise must be iron-clad for you to survive. A well placed digital record in the systems is imparative for a Kindred to be able to build their empire, and all Elders know this, and have contacts within the required departments of the country they reside in to get the matter done. Ah, you don't have those contacts? Easy enough, find someone who does. One hand washes the other, remember? The story of give and take is at the fabric of the Vampire World. PROFILE NOTES, MAGE. This section is included in the CCL Book to give those denziens of the night a look into how the Mortal World percieves them from a CCL point of view, nothing more. Only if your lifespan is greater than or shorter than the lifespan of a mortal will you have to worry about falsifying documentation here. Most will have birth records of some nature and will live out their life similar enough to that of a mortal to not warrant any specific changes that are needed. If you have false documentation for an Alias, this should be listed here.
PROFILE, PLAYER CHARACTER. The foillowing list of information should be available to any Storyteller so that they can easily reference the PCs information without tipping off that player in that their character is being looked into. Anything requiring a number should be a Yes or No answer. Required Field Address IC Address Aliases IC Aliases Allies NPC Allies/Retainers/Contacts/Etc. Bank Information Bank Accounts & Names Blood Type Owned/Run Business Citizenship Credit Cards Yes/No/Legal Criminal Record School Records Yes/No/Legal Date of Birth Driver's License Yes/No/Legal Employer Friends & Family Full Name Illegal Weapons IC Last Will & Testament Yes/No/Legal* Legal Name Legal Weapons Distinguishing Marks Occupation Passport Number Yes/No/Legal Listed Phone Number Yes/No/Cell Property Owned IC Religious Affiliations Social Security Number Yes/No/Legal Shoe Size Pets * See the entry for the IC Last Will and Testament to fill out the template fully. PROHIBITING DEFACING, ALTERING OR OBLITERATING NUMBERS -- SALES PROHIBITED -- PENALTY. (1) Any person who, with intent to deceive or defraud others, shall deface, alter, remove, cover, destroy or obliterate the manufacturer's serial or identification number on any item of property shall be guilty of a felony. (2) Any person or persons who, with intent to deceive or defraud others, knowingly disposes of, sells, trades or barters, or offers to dispose of, sell, trade or barter any item of property on which the manufacturer's serial or identification number has been defaced, altered, removed, covered or obliterated shall be guilty of a felony. (3) Any violation of the provisions of this act [this section] shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment of not more than five (5) years in the state penitentiary or both. PROPELLING BODILY FLUID OR WASTE AT CERTAIN PERSONS. Any person who is housed in a state, private or county correctional facility, work release center or labor camp, or who is being transported or supervised by a correctional officer or detention officer, irrespective of whether the person is a sentenced prisoner or a pretrial detainee, and who knowingly propels any bodily fluid or bodily waste at any detention officer, correctional officer, staff member, private contractor or employee of a county or state correctional facility, or authorized visitor to a county or state correctional facility, work release center or labor camp, or who knowingly introduces any bodily fluid or bodily waste into the food or drink of such officer, staff member, private contractor, employee or authorized visitor, shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in a correctional facility for not more than five (5) years, and such sentence shall be served consecutively to any sentence currently served. PROPERTY OF CONVICT NOT FORFEITED. No conviction of any person for crime works any forfeiture of any property, except in cases in which a forfeiture is expressly imposed by law; and all forfeitures to the people of this state, in the nature of a deodand, or where any person shall flee from justice, are abolished.
PROSECUTION OF VIOLATORS -- DUTY OF TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT. Insofar as the state highway system is concerned, it shall be the duty of the State transportation department and of all its employees to present evidence of any violation of the provisions of this act to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which any such violations occur. Such prosecuting attorney shall prosecute any person guilty of a violation of the provisions of this act. PROSTITUTION. (1) A person is guilty of prostitution when he or she: (a) engages in or offers or agrees to engage in sexual conduct, or sexual contact with another person in return for a fee; or (b) is an inmate of a house of prostitution; or (c) loiters in or within view of any public place for the purpose of being hired to engage in sexual conduct or sexual contact. (2) Prostitution is a misdemeanor, provided, however, that on a third or subsequent conviction for prostitution, it shall be a felony. (3) Definitions: (a) "Sexual conduct" means sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse. (b) "Sexual contact" means any touching of the sexual organs or other intimate parts of a person not married to the actor for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of either party. (c) "House of prostitution" means a place where prostitution or promotion of prostitution is regularly carried on by one (1) or more persons under the control, management or supervision of another. (d) "Inmate" means a person who engages in prostitution in or through an agency of a house of prostitution. (e) "Public place" means any place to which the public or any substantial group thereof has access. PROSTITUTION, ACCEPTING EARNINGS OF PROSTITUTE. (1) Any person who shall knowingly accept or appropriate any money or item of value from the proceeds or earnings of any person engaged in prostitution as part of a joint venture with such person shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, or by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (2) As defined in this section "joint venture" is an undertaking by two (2) or more persons jointly to carry out a single business enterprise involving one or more transactions for profit. Such joint venture can be created by oral agreement or may be inferred from acts or conduct. PROSTITUTION, DETENTION FOR. Anyone who holds, detains, or restrains, or who attempts to hold, detain or restrain another person for the purpose of compelling such person to engage in prostitution shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, or by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. PROSTITUTION, HARBORING PROSTITUTES. Any person maintaining, controlling or supporting a house of prostitution as defined in this chapter, shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, or by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. PROSTITUTION, INDUCING PERSON UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE INTO PROSTITUTION -- PENALTIES. Every person who induces or attempts to induce a person under the age of eighteen (18) years to engage in prostitution shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of not less than two (2) years, which may be extended to life imprisonment, or by a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. PROSTITUTION, INDUCING PERSON UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE TO PATRONIZE A PROSTITUTE -- PENALTIES. Any person who induces or attempts to induce a person under the age of eighteen (18) years to patronize a prostitute shall be guilty of a felony. PROSTITUTION, INTERSTATE TRAFFICKING IN. Any person who imports persons into this state, or who exports persons from this state, for the purpose of prostitution, or any person who induces, entices or procures such activity, shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, or by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000), nor more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment.
PROSTITUTION, PATRONIZING A PROSTITUTE. (1) A person is guilty of patronizing a prostitute when he or she: (a) Pays or offers or agrees to pay another person a fee for the purpose of engaging in an act of sexual conduct or sexual contact; (b) Enters or remains in a house of prostitution for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct or sexual contact. (2) Patronizing a prostitute is a misdemeanor, provided that a third or subsequent conviction therefor shall be a felony. PROSTITUTION, PAYING FOR PROCUREMENT. Any person who pays another money or any object of value to procure a third person to engage in prostitution shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, or by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. PROSTITUTION, PROCUREMENT -- DEFINITION AND PENALTY. Any person who induces, compels, entices, or procures another person to engage in acts as a prostitute shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, or by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. PROSTITUTION, RECEIVING PAY FOR PROCUREMENT. Any person who knowingly receives money or any object of value to procure a prostitute shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, or by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. PROTECTION OF PERSON OF CONVICT. The person of a convict sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison is under the protection of the law, and any injury to his person, not authorized by law, is punishable in the same manner, as if he were not convicted or sentenced. PROVIDING FALSE INFORMATION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, OR SPECIFIED PROFESSIONALS. (1) A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he knowingly gives or causes to be given false information to any law enforcement officer, any state or local government agency or personnel, or to any person licensed in this state to practice social work, psychology or counseling, concerning the commission of an offense, knowing that the offense did not occur or knowing that he has no information relating to the offense or danger. (2) A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he knowingly gives or causes to be given false information regarding his or another's identity to any law enforcement officer investigating the commission of an offense. PROVIDING SHELTER TO RUNAWAY CHILDREN. (1) A person who knowingly or intentionally provides housing or other accommodations to a child seventeen (17) years of age or younger without the authority of: (a) the custodial parent or guardian of the child; (b) the State or a political subdivision thereof; or (c) the one having legal custody of the child shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prevent the lawful detention of a minor child or the rendering of emergency aid or assistance to a minor child. It shall be an affirmative defense to the provisions of this section that the person providing housing or other accommodations to the child has notified the custodial parent or guardian or the county sheriff or city police of the child's whereabouts. It shall also be an affirmative defense to the provisions of this section that the person providing housing or other accommodations to the child notices reasonable evidence that the child has been abused by the custodial parent or guardian. (2) A person convicted of a violation of the provisions of this section shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not in excess of six (6) months, a fine not in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment. Additionally, any real property utilized in violation of the provisions of this section may be declared a public nuisance pursuant to State Code. PUBLIC MONEYS, DEFINED. The phrase "public moneys" includes all bonds and evidences of indebtedness, and all moneys belonging to the state, or any city, county, town or district therein, and all moneys, bonds and evidences of indebtedness received or held by state, county, district, city or town officers in their official capacity. PUBLIC MUTILATION OF FLAG. Any person who publicly mutilates, defaces, or tramples upon or burns, with intent to insult, the flag, standard, colors or ensign of the United States or of the state shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
PUBLIC NUISANCE, DEFINED. Anything which is injurious to health, or is indecent, or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or neighborhood, or by any considerable number of persons, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable lake, or river, stream, canal or basin, or any public park, square, street, or highway, is a public nuisance. PUBLIC NUISANCE -- UNEQUAL DAMAGE. An act which affects an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, as specified in the last section, is not less a nuisance because the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals is unequal. PUNISHMENT -- LIBERATION OF KIDNAPPED PERSON. 1. Every person guilty of kidnapping in the first degree shall suffer death or be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life, provided a sentence of death shall not be imposed unless the prosecuting attorney filed written notice of intent to seek the death penalty as required under the provisions of State Code, and provided further that the sentence of death shall not be imposed if prior to its imposition the kidnapped person has been liberated unharmed. 2. Kidnapping in the second degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than one (1) nor more than twentyfive (25) years. PUNISHMENT FOR ATTEMPTS. Every person who attempts to commit any crime, but fails, or is prevented or intercepted in the perpetration thereof, is punishable, where no provision is made by law for the punishment of such attempts, as follows: (1) If the offense so attempted is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for life, or by death, the person guilty of such attempt is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not exceeding fifteen (15) years. (2) If the offense so attempted is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for five (5) years or more but for less than life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the county jail, the person guilty of such attempt is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, or in the county jail, as the case may be, for a term not exceeding one-half (1/2) the longest term of imprisonment prescribed upon a conviction of the offense so attempted. (3) If the offense so attempted is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for any term less than five (5) years, the person guilty of such attempt is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year. (4) If the offense so attempted is punishable by a fine, the offender convicted of such attempt is punishable by a fine not exceeding one-half (1/2) the largest fine which may be imposed upon a conviction of the offense so attempted. (5) If the offense so attempted is punishable by imprisonment and by a fine, the offender convicted of such attempt may be punished by both imprisonment and fine, not exceeding one-half (1/2) the longest term of imprisonment and one-half (1/2) the largest fine which may be imposed upon a conviction for the offense so attempted. PUNISHMENT FOR COUNTERFEITING. Counterfeiting is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) nor more than fourteen (14) years. PUNISHMENT FOR FELONY. Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed by this code, every offense declared to be a felony is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or by fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. PUNISHMENT FOR FORGERY. Forgery is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) nor more than fourteen (14) years. PUNISHMENT FOR INFRACTION. Every offense declared to be an infraction is punishable only by a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) and no imprisonment. PUNISHMENT FOR LIBEL. Every person who wilfully, and with a malicious intent to injure another, publishes, or procures to be published, any libel, is punishable by fine not exceeding $5000, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months. PUNISHMENT FOR MALE RAPE. Male rape is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) year, and the imprisonment may be extended to life. PUNISHMENT FOR MAYHEM. Mayhem is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding fourteen years.
PUNISHMENT FOR MISDEMEANOR. (1) Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed in this code, every offense declared to be a misdemeanor, is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both. (2) In addition to any other punishment prescribed for misdemeanors in specific statutes of the Idaho Code, the court may also impose a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000). This paragraph shall not apply if the specific misdemeanor statute provides for the imposition of a fine. PUNISHMENT FOR NUISANCE. Every person who maintains or commits any public nuisance, the punishment for which is not otherwise prescribed, or who wilfully omits to perform any legal duty relating to the removal of a public nuisance, is guilty of a misdemeanor. PUNISHMENT FOR PERJURY. Perjury is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than one (1) or more than fourteen (14) years. PUNISHMENT FOR RAPE. Rape is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than one (1) year, and the imprisonment may be extended to life in the discretion of the District Judge, who shall pass sentence. PUNISHMENT FOR REMOVAL, DESTRUCTION OR BURNING OF ELECTRIC LINES OR PLANTS. Any person or persons violating any State Law shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $500.00, or by imprisonment in the penitentiary not to exceed ten years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. PUNISHMENT FOR ROBBERY. Robbery is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than five (5) years, and the imprisonment may be extended to life. PUNISHMENT FOR THEFT. (1) Grand theft committed in a manner prescribed in Stste Code, is a felony punishable by fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) year nor more than twenty (20) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (2) (a) Grand theft committed in a manner prescribed in State Code, or a felony committed in a manner prescribed in State Code, is a felony punishable by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) year nor more than fourteen (14) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (b) Grand theft committed in a manner prescribed in State Code, is a felony punishable by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), and the minimum fine shall not be suspended or withheld, or by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) year nor more than fourteen (14) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. In addition, the court shall assess civil damages as provided in State Code. (3) Petit theft is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year or by both. PUNISHMENT FOR UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY. Every person who participates in any unlawful assembly is guilty of a misdemeanor. PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATION OF DENATURED ALCOHOL -- REGULATION OF SALE AND TRANSFER. Any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months (6), or by both such fine and imprisonment. PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATION OF UNDERGROUND WORKINGS OF MINES -- SETTING FIRE TO. Any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by not less than five (5) nor more than twenty (20) years imprisonment in the state penitentiary. PUNISHMENT OF ACCESSORIES. Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed, an accessory is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or by fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. -- DEFINED. All persons are accessories who, having knowledge that a felony has been committed: (1) Willfully withhold or conceal it from a peace officer, judge, magistrate, grand jury or trial jury; or (2) Harbor and protect a person who committed such felony or who has been charged with or convicted thereof.
PUNISHMENT OF OFFENSES FOR WHICH NO PENALTY IS FIXED. When an act or omission is declared by a statute to be a public offense and no penalty for the offense is prescribed in any statute, the act or omission is punishable as a misdemeanor. PURCHASE OF EVIDENCE OF DEBT. Every attorney, public officer, or licensed collector, who, either directly or indirectly, buys or is interested in buying any evidence of debt or thing in action, with intent to bring suit thereon, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
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RACKETEERING ACT, DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter, (a) "Racketeering" means any act which is chargeable or indictable under the following sections of the State Code or which are equivalent acts chargeable or indictable as equivalent crimes under the laws of any other jurisdiction: (1) Homicide; (2) Robbery, burglary, theft, forgery, counterfeiting, and related crimes; (3) Kidnapping; (4) Prostitution; (5) Arson; (6) Assault; (7) Lotteries and gambling; (8) Indecency and obscenity; (9) Poisoning; (10) Fraudulent practices, false pretenses, insurance fraud, financial transaction card crimes and fraud generally; (11) Alcoholic beverages; (12) Cigarette taxes; (13) Securities; (14) Horseracing; (15) Interest and usurious practices; (16) Corporations; (17) Perjury; (18) Bribery and corrupt influence; (19) Controlled substances; (20) Motor vehicles; (21) Terrorism. (b) "Person" means any individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property; (c) "Enterprise" means any sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, business, labor union, association or other legal entity or any group of individuals associated in fact although not a legal entity, and includes illicit as well as licit entities; and (d) "Pattern of racketeering activity" means engaging in at least two (2) incidents of racketeering conduct that have the same or similar intents, results, accomplices, victims or methods of commission, or otherwise are interrelated by distinguishing characteristics and are not isolated incidents, provided at least one (1) of such incidents occurred after the effective date of this act and that the last of such incidents occurred within five (5) years after a prior incident of racketeering conduct. RACKETEERING ACT, PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES -- PENALTIES. (a) It is unlawful for any person who has received any proceeds derived directly or indirectly from a pattern of racketeering activity in which the person has participated, to use or invest, directly or indirectly, any part of the proceeds or the proceeds derived from the investment or use thereof in the acquisition of any interest in, or the establishment or operation of, any enterprise or real property. Whoever violates this subsection is guilty of a felony. (b) It is unlawful for any person to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity in order to acquire or maintain, directly or indirectly, any interest in or control of any enterprise or real property. Whoever violates this subsection is guilty of a felony. (c) It is unlawful for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of such enterprise by engaging in a pattern of racketeering activity. Whoever violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a felony. (d) It is unlawful for any person to conspire to violate any of the provisions of subsections (a) through (c) of this section. Whoever violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a felony. (e) Whoever violates the provisions of this act is punishable by a fine not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) and/or imprisonment not to exceed a term of fourteen (14) years in the state penitentiary. (f) Upon a conviction of a violation under the provisions of this chapter, the court may order restitution for all costs and expenses of prosecution and investigation, pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in State Code. (g) In addition to any other penalties prescribed by law, whoever violates any provisions of this act shall forfeit to the state of residence: (1) Any interest acquired or maintained in violation of the racketeering act; and (2) Any interest in, security of, claim against or property or contractual right of any kind affording a source of influence over any enterprise which he has established, operated, controlled, conducted or participated in the conduct of in violation of the provisions of the racketeering act.
(h) In any action brought by the state under the racketeering act, the district court shall have jurisdiction to enter such restraining orders or prohibitions, or to take such other actions, including, but not limited to, the acceptance of satisfactory performance bonds, in connection with any property or other interest subject to forfeiture under the provisions of this section, as it shall deem proper. (i) Upon conviction of a person under the provisions of this section, the court shall authorize the attorney general or the proper prosecuting attorney to seize all property or other interest declared forfeited under the provisions of this section upon such terms and conditions as the court shall deem proper, making due provision for the rights of innocent persons. If a property right or other interest is not exercisable or transferable for value by the convicted person, it shall expire and shall not revert to the convicted person. RACKETEERING ACT, RACKETEERING -- CIVIL REMEDIES. (a) A person who sustains injury to his person, business or property by a pattern of racketeering activity may file an action in the district court for the recovery of three (3) times the actual damages proved and the cost of the suit, including reasonable attorney's fees. (b) The state, through the attorney general or the proper county prosecuting attorney, may file an action on behalf of those persons injured or to prevent, restrain or remedy racketeering as defined by the racketeering act. (c) The district court has jurisdiction to prevent, restrain and remedy racketeering after making provisions for the rights of all innocent persons affected by such violation and after hearing or trial, as appropriate, by issuing appropriate orders. Prior to a determination of liability, such orders may include, but are not limited to, entering restraining orders or prohibitions or taking such other actions, including the acceptance of satisfactory performance bonds, in connection with any property or other interest subject to damages, forfeiture or other restraints pursuant to this section as it deems proper. (d) Following a determination of liability, such orders may include, but are not limited to: (1) Ordering any person to divest himself of any interest, direct or indirect, in any enterprise; (2) Imposing reasonable restrictions on the future activities or investments of any person; (3) Ordering dissolution or reorganization of any enterprise; (4) Ordering the payment of three (3) times the damages proved to those persons injured by racketeering; (5) Ordering the suspension or revocation of a license, permit or prior approval granted to any enterprise by any agency of the state; (6) Ordering the forfeiture of the charter of a corporation organized under the laws of the state or the revocation of a certificate authorizing a foreign corporation to conduct business within this state; and (7) Ordering the payment of all costs and expenses of the prosecution and investigation of any offense included in the definition of racketeering incurred by a municipal, county or state government agency to the agency incurring the costs or expenses. RAILROADS, INJURING RAILROAD PROPERTY. Every person who maliciously removes, displaces, injures, or in any way interferes with, or changes, or destroys, any part of any railroad property, whether for cars propelled by steam or any other motive power, or any track of any railroad, or any branch or branchway, switch, block or other signal or signaling device, turnout, bridge, viaduct, culvert, embankment, station house or other structure or fixture, or any part thereof attached to or connected with any railroad, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding ten (10) years, or by fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. RAILROADS, NEGLECT TO SOUND BELL OR WHISTLE. Every person in charge of a locomotive engine who, before crossing any traveled public way, omits to cause a bell to ring or steam, air, electric or other similar whistle to sound at the distance of at least eighty (80) rods from the crossing, and up to it, is guilty of a misdemeanor. RAILROADS, OBSTRUCTION OR INTERFERENCE WITH RAILROAD. Any person or persons who shall wilfully or maliciously place any obstruction on any railroad track or roadbed, or street car track in this state, or who shall loosen, tear up, remove or misplace any rail, switch, frog, guard rail, cattle guard, or any part of such railroad track or roadbed or street car track, or who shall tamper with or molest any such road, roadbed or track, or who shall destroy or damage any locomotive, motor or car on said track, or who shall otherwise interfere with the maintenance or operation of such road so as to endanger the safety of any train, car, motor or engine, or so as to endanger or injure any passenger or person riding thereon, or being about the same, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for any term not exceeding twenty (20) years nor less than five (5) years.
RAILROADS, OBSTRUCTION OR INTERFERENCE WITH RAILROAD -- ACT CAUSING DEATH. Any person or persons who shall, within this state, wilfully or maliciously place any obstruction upon any railroad track or roadbed or street car track, or shall misplace, remove, obstruct, detach, damage or destroy any rail, switch, frog, guard rail, cattle guard, or any other part of such railroad track or roadbed or street car track, or who shall otherwise interfere with the maintenance and operation of such road, thereby causing the death of any person, whether passenger or employee of such railroad, or street railway, or otherwise, shall, upon conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a felony and be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term not less than five (5) years and which may extend to the natural life of such person so found guilty, or may be tried and punished for murder. But this section shall not in any way lessen the liability of the railroad company where a wreck may hereafter occur in the state of residence. RAILROADS, OFFENSES AGAINST. Any person disturbing the peace of any traveler on any railway train, or breaking the seal or forcibly entering any car, or disturbing the contents of any car, or breaking any package therein, or breaking any package left at any depot for transportation or delivery, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. RAILROADS, PERMITTING COLLISION CAUSING DEATH. Every conductor, engineer, brakeman, switchman, or other person having charge, wholly or in part, of any railroad, car, locomotive or train, who wilfully or negligently suffers or causes the same to collide with another car, locomotive or train, or with any other object or thing whereby the death of a human being is produced, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) nor more than ten (10) years. RAILROADS, PLACING OBSTRUCTIONS ON TRACKS. Every person who maliciously places any obstruction upon the rails or track of any railroad, or of any switch, branch, branchway, or turnout connected with any railroad, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five years, or in the county jail not less than six (6) months. RAILROADS, PROHIBITION ON DISPOSAL OF HUMAN BODY WASTE FROM PASSENGER TRAINS. (1) As used in this section: (a) "Human body waste" means excrement, feces or other waste material discharged from the human body. (b) "Passenger train" means any train operated by a railroad company or corporation or operated by an entity created by federal law, for the primary purpose of transporting passengers. (c) "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation, partnership, association, state, state or federal agency or entity, city, commission, or political subdivision of a state. (2) No person operating or controlling any passenger train through or within this state may knowingly and openly place, throw, release, discharge, or deposit human body waste from a passenger train upon the right-of-way over which it operates. (3) Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. (4) The department of environmental quality and the public health districts shall enforce the provisions of this section. RAILROADS, RECEIVING STOLEN CAR PARTS. Every person who buys or receives any of the property described in State Code, knowing the same to have been stolen, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be subject to the punishment provided in State Code. RAILROADS, THEFT OF CAR PARTS -- MURDER BY WRECKING. Any person or persons who shall remove, take, steal, change, add to, take from, or in any manner interfere with any journal bearings or brasses, or any parts or attachments of any locomotive, tender or car, or any fixture or attachment belonging thereto, connected with, or used in operating any locomotive, tender or car, owned, leased or used by any railway or transportation company in this state, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be subject to punishment by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one (1) nor more than fourteen (14) years, or by a fine of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court: provided, that if the removal of such journal bearings or brasses, fixtures or attachments, as aforesaid, shall be the cause of wrecking any train, locomotive or other car in this state, whereby the life or lives of any person or persons shall be lost as the result of the felonious or malicious stealing, interfering with or removal of the fixtures, as aforesaid, the person or persons found guilty thereof shall be liable for murder as in other cases. RAIN The Law makes it illegal to let a rain puddle remain in your front yard for more than twelve hours.
RAPE, DEFINED. Rape is defined as the penetration, however slight, of the oral, anal or vaginal opening with the perpetrator's penis accomplished with a female under any one (1) of the following circumstances: 1. Where the female is under the age of eighteen (18) years. 2. Where she is incapable, through any unsoundness of mind, due to any cause including, but not limited to, mental illness, mental deficiency or developmental disability, whether temporary or permanent, of giving legal consent. 3. Where she resists but her resistance is overcome by force or violence. 4. Where she is prevented from resistance by the infliction, attempted infliction, or threatened infliction of bodily harm, accompanied by apparent power of execution; or is unable to resist due to any intoxicating, narcotic, or anaesthetic substance. 5. Where she is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act. As used in this section, "unconscious of the nature of the act" means incapable of resisting because the victim meets one (1) of the following conditions: (a) Was unconscious or asleep; (b) Was not aware, knowing, perceiving, or cognizant that the act occurred. 6. Where she submits under the belief that the person committing the act is her husband, and the belief is induced by artifice, pretense or concealment practiced by the accused, with intent to induce such belief. 7. Where she submits under the belief, instilled by the actor, that if she does not submit, the actor will cause physical harm to some person in the future; or cause damage to property; or engage in other conduct constituting a crime; or accuse any person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against her; or expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt or ridicule. RAPE, EVIDENCE OF PREVIOUS SEXUAL CONDUCT OF PROSECUTING WITNESS. In prosecutions for the crime of rape, evidence of the prosecuting witness' previous sexual conduct shall not be admitted nor reference made thereto in the presence of the jury, except as provided hereinafter. The defendant may make application to the court before or during the trial for the admission of evidence concerning the previous sexual conduct of the prosecuting witness. Upon such application the court shall conduct a hearing out of the presence of the jury as to the relevancy of such evidence of previous sexual conduct and shall limit the questioning and control the admission and exclusion of evidence upon trial. Nothing in this section shall limit the right of either the state or the accused to impeach credibility by the showing of prior felony convictions. RAPE OF SPOUSE. No person shall be convicted of rape for any act or acts with that person's spouse, except under the circumstances cited in State Code. RAPE, MALE Male rape is defined as the penetration, however slight, of the oral or anal opening of another male, with the perpetrator's penis, for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification or abuse, under any of the following circumstances: 1. Where the victim is incapable, through any unsoundness of mind, whether temporary or permanent, of giving consent. 2. Where the victim resists but his resistance is overcome by force or violence. 3. Where the victim is prevented from resistance by threats of immediate and great bodily harm, accompanied by apparent power of execution. 4. Where the victim is prevented from resistance by the use of any intoxicating, narcotic, or anaesthetic substance administered by or with the privity of the accused. 5. Where the victim is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act, and this is known to the accused. RAPE, PENETRATION. The essential guilt of rape consists in the outrage to the person and feelings of the female. Any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime. RAPE, PROOF OF PHYSICAL ABILITY. No conviction for rape can be had against one who was under the age of fourteen (14) years at the time of the act alleged, unless his physical ability to accomplish penetration is proved as an independent fact, and beyond a reasonable doubt. RAPE, RESTITUTION TO VICTIM. Persons convicted of offenses covered under this chapter may be ordered by the court to provide restitution to the victim for specific costs incurred by the victim as a result of injury or loss caused by the criminal act.
RATS - THE NUTRIA RAT. The Nutria, a member of the rodent family, is native to South America, and it was introduced both accidentally and purposely in the waterways in several American states. The species has proved to be overly destructive of habitat in some areas, creating problems for muskrats and waterfowl. This species can tolerate winters in temperate areas only. An important fur bearer in Louisiana and Texas coastal area, nutria are viewed as detrimental in most other areas. Adult nutria are about 14 inches long from the nose to the base of the tail. The tail itself is 12 to 17 inches long, round, and hairless. Coloration is brownish, and both sexes are similar in appearance and weight. The nutria is unique in that it has 3 sets or lengths of fur. Primary guard hairs are about 3 inches in length. Beneath this layer is the secondary guard hairs, which are more numerous and give the species its overall coloration. The underfur is short, and less dense than either a muskrat or beaver underfur. The whiskers on a nutria are obvious. These whiskers are about 4 inches in length, and very numerous. Teeth number 20, and include 4 large incisors, and allows the nutria to cut off underwater plants without getting water into its mouth. The mouth also has glands located near the corners which produce oils that the nutria uses to comb and waterproof its fur. Nutria average 16 to 18 pounds in weight. Occasionally, individuals may weigh 25 pounds or more. Also unique is the location of the mammary glands on the females. The teats are located high on the sides of the nutria, which allows young nutria to nurse as the mother swims in the water. Front feet have five toes, including a small toe corresponding to our thumb. Hind feet are much larger, and unique in that all toes are connected by a skin web except for the toe corresponding to our little toe. Nutria are apt to breed in any month of the year in North America. One male usually has 2 or 3 mates which share the same burrow. Female nutria mature at about 5 1/2 months of age, and female nutria usually have two litters per year. Many females breed within two days after giving birth to a litter. Litter sizes vary according to a cycle. The first litter is small, with 2 to 4 being born. The second litter is larger with 4 to 6 offspring. The third litter is smaller than the second, and the fourth again increases in size. For one reason or another, each litter is either larger or smaller than the litter previous preceding it, and according to a pattern. If nutria litter sizes were averaged, five would probably be the average size. Female nutria are capable of producing only 6 litters as a rule. Females who produce seven litters in their lifetime are rare. At birth the young are fully furred, and their eyes are open; they are able to move about and feed upon green vegetation within a few hours. At that time they weigh approximately 200 g. They mature rapidly, increasing at the rate of about 400 g per month during the first year, and reach sexual maturity at the age of 4 or 5 months. The maximum length of life for nutria kept in captivity is 12 years, but the life span in the wild probably is considerably less. Nutria spend most of their time in or near the water. Although they are awkward and vulnerable on land the species will travel inland to feed upon preferred foods, including crops. Nutria are vegetarians and they do have large appetites. Primarily a surface feeder, nutria often over harvest favored foods, causing the production of less favored foods for themselves and other wildlife species. Nutria destroy marshlands in a unique manner, beginning their feeding pattern from the inside of a marsh area and moving outward, thus causing a swifter disintegration of large section of marsh. Nutria feed on the roots and stems of marsh vegetation, digging underneath and overturning the plants to feed on the root mat. This feeding behavior does not allow a plant to survive after it is fed upon. Nutria commonly cut off a preferred food near the waterline and swim or carry it to a feeding platform for eating. These platforms are used most often during the trapping seasons, possibly because they are warmer on the nutria's hairless feet. Favored foods for nutria include rushes, reeds, cattails, arrowhead, square-stem spike rush and sawgrass. Sugarcane, alfalfa, corn and rice are also eaten if available. Nutria are thought of as colonial because the same den is shared by the dominant male with two or three females and their offspring. Den entrances are often a foot or two beneath the water's surface, and the den entrance is often as much as two feet in diameter. The inner chamber of the den is above the waterline, and lined with grasses brought in to serve for bedding. Nutria do not remain underwater for long periods of time. Research shows that they are capable of holding their breath while submerged for about five minutes. A shy and retiring species, nutria are not usually seen unless there is a deliberate attempt to find them. Nutria burrow into banks of ponds and lakes, and these holes are usually larger and more destructive than muskrat burrows. A large rodent, nearly as large as a beaver but with long, rounded, scaly, ratlike tail; hind feet webbed; incisors orange-colored; female with mammae along each side of back, not on belly; upperparts reddish brown; the underfur dark slaty; tip of muzzle and chin white. External measurements of adults average: total length, 800-900 mm; tail, 350-400 mm; hind foot, 130-140 mm. Total length may reach 1.4 m. Weight, normally 8-10 kg. IMPACTS The introduction of nutria to many different places have had many adverse affects. Most of the states in which the animals was introduced, are facing the same types of problems.
TEXAS They have been widely introduced in Texas as a "cure-all" for ponds choked with vegetation. They do reduce many kinds of aquatic plants, but they will not eat "moss" (algae) and many of the submerged plants. At times they do the job too well. The trouble is that once nutrias get established in a lake, their high reproductive capacity soon results in overpopulation. There are so many nutrias that the available food supply will not satisfy them, and then trouble begins. The animals move into places where they are not wanted or where they destroy vegetation that is valuable for such wildlife as waterfowl and muskrats. A case in point is Eagle Lake in Colorado County. There, a stocking of nutrias increased to the point where the animals seriously damaged the waterfowl values of the lake. Hundreds of dollars were spent in attempts to eradicate the pests. Currently, nutria populations in Texas are moderately high and on the increase. Unless the market for nutria improves, a serious and costly overpopulation problem is likely in the very near future CHESAPEAKE BAY AREA The drop in demand for Nutria coats, in part a result of the anti fur movement, has triggered a population explosion. Nutria released by breeders who could no longer afford to feed them have moved into 40 states. Marsh loss is the biggest direct impact of the nutria due to their feeding and digging behaviors. The resulting losses of marsh vegetation is staggering, totaling thousands of acres loss each year due to nutria damage and the associate saltwater intrusion that occurs. It is estimated that 65% of Chesapeake Bay coastal wetlands have been lost since the 1700's and the impacts from nutria add unwelcome pressures on an already fragile system. Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is losing approximately 500-1000 acres/year from nutria damage and several times that amount over the entire Blackwater/Fishing Bay estuary. These losses drastically affect the refuge's ability to meet its wildlife management objectives and maintain a healthy ecosystem. GULF STATES In many coastal marshes, massive numbers of the animals have become a severe problem because they eat vegetation, including the roots that hold the marsh together. Often communities of nutria eat away at a section of marsh until it disappears to open water. Then they move to an adjacent area and begin the process again, according to wildlife officials. "They eat the vegetation right down to the mud line," and then the mud flats erode, Mr. Windom said. Where there's no new marsh to move to, large numbers of nutria sometimes freeze to death in winter because they've eaten away all of their cover, Mr. Windom said. A 1996 survey showed that 100,000 acres of Louisiana's marsh had been damaged by nutria. In other areas of the state, the holes nutrias dig in levees have caused expensive problems. Ironically, the reduced demand for fur, which was influenced by animal rights groups, has sometimes resulted in nutria not being trapped, but exterminated. Nutria often invade crop areas and cause considerable damage especially to rice and sugar cane fields, with reports of damage to soybean plantations near Mississippi's coast. There was extensive damage caused to rice plantations both by direct predation of the rice and by extensive damage to the levees surrounding rice ponds caused by the nutrias burrow digging. In 1957, thousands of nutria were pushed inland by hurricane Audrey. Many invaded sugar cane fields, where they reeked havoc, damaging innumerable plants many of which they did not even consume. Nutria have also been attributed with the decline of muskrat populations in Louisiana. They have been reported to compete with muskrats and water fowl for trophic resources. Concern has been raised over the abundance of nutria present on some of Mississippi's barrier islands. There, nutria apparently dig up and eat the roots and rhizomes of sea oats, which are of critical importance in stabilizing beach dunes. Nutria carry a number of parasites and diseases. Disease agents Louisiana nutria carry include Toxoplasma gondii, Clamidia psittaci, Francisella tularensis, Leptospira sp., and encephalomyocarditis virus. Parasites recorded from this species include trematodes such as Heterobilharzia americana, Echinostoma revolutum, and Psilostomum sp., cestodes such as Anoplocephala sp., acanthocephalans such as Neoechinorhynchus sp., and nematodes such as Trichostrongylus sigmodontis, Logistriata maldonadoi, and Trichuris myocastoris. In addition, they carry the nematode Strongyloides myopotami, which causes a condition known as "marsh itch" or "nutria itch" in people. This is a severe rash often affecting trappers when they handle nutria. It is caused by the larval form of this nematode which penetrates the skin of human beings. ORIGIN Nutria were intentionally introduced into North America, for their fur. They were extensively marketed as the next "mink" to gullible buyers. At one point, breeding pairs were sold for up to $2,500 a pair. However, for various reasons, nutria fur never caught on in the United States. GULF STATES Nutria were first introduced into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans in the early 1930's. It's believed that all the individuals released during this first introduction were recaptured by trappers. In 1938, between 12 and 20 nutria imported from Argentina were introduced into Avery Island, Louisiana by tabasco tycoon E.A. McIlhenny. These reproduced prolifically. Many escaped from captivity or were released, and rapidly multiplied in the wild. The first specimens of nutria appeared in the Louisiana fur market during the 1943-44 season. In the 1945-46 season the number of nutria trapped reached 8,784. The number of nutria present in Louisiana were reported to have reached 1,000,000 by 1957. By the 1969-70 season 1,604,175 nutria were trapped in Louisiana alone. Presently, they are more important than the muskrat in Louisiana's trapping industry.
Nutria have expanded their range throughout the Gulf states at an alarming rate. There is a healthy population established along the north and central parts of the western coast of Florida. As is the case with most other populations, this population originated from individuals which migrated from Louisiana, and individuals that were intentionally or accidentally released from nutria fur farms within the state. Additionally, Nutria have been introduced throughout the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem to control aquatic vegetation in lakes and ponds. However, where introduced for this purpose, nutria have failed miserably because they will readily consume all types of vegetation, and frequently prefer native plants and crop plants to the species they were intended to control. Nutria numbers peaked in the 1970's, and then began to decline. Weather extremes including hurricanes, droughts, and freezes, as well as increased trapping, habitat degradation and increases in alligator populations have been attributed the decline (Jackson, 1994). However, trapping efforts declined in the mid 1980's because of a fall in fur prices, and nutria numbers have since been steadily increasing. MARYLAND & CHESAPEAKE BAY AREA Introduced in the 1940's to bolster Maryland's Eastern Shore fur industry, the South American nutria (Myocastor coypus) has been implicated in the loss of emergent marsh, especially that dominated by Olney 3-square (Scirpus olneyi) along the Blackwater River in Dorchester County. Nutria infestation of the Chesapeake Bay began as early as 1943 with attempts to stimulate the local economy by importing nutria to provide an alternative source of fur for trapping and fur farming. This effort included the establishment of an experimental fur production facility on Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester county, Maryland. The nutria population expanded in Dorchester county from less than 150 in 1968, to an estimated 50,000 animals currently. Every Maryland county along the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay have reported nutria populations and the range of this invasive rodent is expanding. Nutria Control Since these animals are regarded as highly destructive, nuisance animals, many plans have been developed to help control the increasing populations. LOUISIANA Nutria are managed as a fur bearer, and the harvest is regulated by the establishment of an annual trapping season (November 20 through March 20). During the trapping season you can harvest nutria if you are properly licensed ($25 trapping license and have permission from the landowner). Since 1987, the LDWF (through the Louisiana Fur and Alligator Advisory Council) has conducted various marketing and education projects in an attempt to increase the demand for nutria pelts. In 1995 LDWF, the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Resources (LDHHR) and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) established rules and regulations to allow nutria meat to be processed for human consumption. The goal of these endeavors is to increase the value of nutria to facilitate a sufficient economic incentive to encourage trappers to harvest more nutria. Officials from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries are trying to reduce the nutria population by increasing the demand for nutria fur as well as nutria meat. Wildlife and Fisheries biologist Mike Windom said nutria are eating away huge areas of coastal marsh. So, by eating nutria and creating a market for them, people can help save Louisiana's coastal wetlands, he and others said. For the residents of south Louisiana, who often refer to the animals as "nutria rats," that may take a major attitude adjustment. Eating nutria, for most people, would mean taking a first taste. But that's all it takes, according to wildlife official Greg Linscombe, who said that every time he can get someone to try a nutria's meat, they like it. "A young nutria tastes a lot like rabbit," Mr. Windom said, adding that they can be fried, barbecued or cooked numerous other ways. Developing and publicizing recipes is part of the new $2.1 million project. The new coastal project calls for a demonstration that nutria meat can be good to eat. Then, it calls for the development of a plan to market the meat of the animals. The project also requires a study of the impact nutria are having on the coast and on monitoring of selected coastal marshes to assess the amount of nutria damage. The project is being financed through the Breaux-Johnston Act, which provides about $30 million a year to Louisiana to deal with the state's 35 square miles of annual coastal wetland loss. Meat processing companies have agreed to put up the 25 percent local funding required under the federal act, which will pay for the other 75 percent of the project. One of the requirements of the project is to determine if a meat processing system can be developed to harvest nutria and increase demand for their meat, according to a summary of the two-year project. The project's bottom line: Eat a nutria. Save the coast. Similar methods have been utilized by the other Gulf States. Louisiana is one of the only states that has made the consumption of nutria a major control method.
MARYLAND & CHESAPEAKE BAY AREA The overabundance of nutria and the alarming loss of marsh in this region has prompted state legislation proposing a 10 year nutria eradication program. The relationship between nutria foraging activity and marsh loss, however, remains unclear and a long-term eradication effort has been postponed until evidence of cause and effect can be obtained. To address this issue, a collaborative partnership between the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center was established in 1995. A formal peer-reviewed study plan was developed outlining the use of exclosures to isolate the effect of nutria foraging activity on marsh loss. The objective of the study is to demonstrate whether exclusion of nutria from emergent marsh habitats can stabilize or recover marsh vegetation. We predict that exclusion of nutria within these habitats will result in expanded vegetative cover or decelerated vegetative loss, while marsh loss will continue on unprotected sites. Use of exclosures in this study implies certain assumptions: 1) that nutria are the primary herbivore in this habitat and that muskrats, deer, waterfowl and other possible grazers have negligible effect on vegetation (or will be controlled), and 2) that the physical influence of fenced enclosure will have negligible effect on the measured vegetative response. Research investigating the role of nutria in marsh loss is of major concern to the State of Maryland and the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. It is also of special interest to the Chesapeake Bay Program's Wetland Workgroup whose major goal is to achieve "no net loss" of wetlands within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In 1994, the workgroup recognized the potential adverse effects of exotic species on Bay wetlands and importantly has adopted an objective to address the problem of exotic species management. At present, 2,160 m (7,000 ft) of heavy gauge vinyl-coated wire has been entrenched in the marsh at Blackwater NWR to establish 18 30m x30m randomly selected exclosures. A set of 18 paired as well as 18 randomly selected control plots (unfenced) also have been established to control for site variation, especially differences in nutria density. Measures of vegetative cover and species compositional changes will be monitored by aerial photography and ground plot measurements over time. The study will monitor vegetative changes through two annual cycles with projected completion in 1998. ADDITIONAL CONTROL Millions of furry nutria with large orange-yellow teeth are eating marsh grass and plants at such an alarming rate Congress approved a $12.5 million to be spent over the next five years to pay hunters and trappers $4 a tail, as proof the swamp rats are dead. Rice and sugar cane farmers, whose crops are also destroyed by nutria, simply call them "nutria rats." RECAPTURE OF GOODS FROM LEGAL CUSTODY. Every person who wilfully injures or destroys, or takes, or attempts to take, or assists any person in taking or attempting to take, from the custody of any officer or person, any personal property which such officer or person has in charge under any process of law, is guilty of a misdemeanor. RECEIVING OR POSSESSING FRAUDULENTLY OBTAINED GOODS OR SERVICES. It is unlawful for any person to receive, retain, conceal, possess or dispose of personal property, cash or other representative of value, who knows or has reason to believe the property, cash or other representative of value has been obtained by fraud as set forth in State Code. -- PENALTY FOR VIOLATION. (1) Any person found guilty of a violation of State Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor. In the event that the retail value of the goods obtained or attempted to be obtained through any violation of the provisions of State Code, exceeds three hundred dollars ($300), any such violation will constitute a felony, and will be punished as provided in this section. (2) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a misdemeanor shall be a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) or up to one (1) year in the county jail, or both such fine and imprisonment. (3) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a felony shall be a fine of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or both such fine and imprisonment. REFUSAL OF OFFICER TO MAKE ARREST. Every sheriff, coroner, keeper of a jail, constable, or other peace officer, who wilfully refuses to receive or arrest any person charged with criminal offense, is punishable by fine not exceeding $5,000, and imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year. REFUSAL TO GIVE TAX COLLECTOR NAMES OF EMPLOYEES. Every person who, when requested by the collector of taxes or licenses, refuses to give to such collector the name and residence of each man in his employment, or to give such collector access to the building or place where such men are employed, is guilty of a misdemeanor. REFUSAL TO PERMIT STOCKHOLDER TO INSPECT RECORDS. Every officer or agent of any corporation having or keeping an office within this state who has in his custody or control any book, paper or document of such corporation and who refuses to give to a stockholder or member of such corporation, lawfully demanding, during office hours, to inspect or take a copy of the same, or any part thereof, a reasonable opportunity so to do, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
REFUSAL TO TESTIFY BEFORE LEGISLATURE. Every person who, being summoned to attend as witness before either house of the legislature or any committee thereof, refuses or neglects, without lawful excuse, to attend pursuant to such summons, and every person who, being present before either house of the legislature or any committee thereof, wilfully refuses to be sworn or to answer any material and proper question, or to produce, upon reasonable notice, any material and proper books, papers or documents in his possession or under his control, is guilty of a misdemeanor. REFUSING ASSISTANCE TO OFFICERS. Every male person above eighteen (18) years of age who neglects or refuses to join the posse comitatus or power of the county, by neglecting or refusing to aid and assist in taking or arresting any person against whom there may be issued any process, or by neglecting to aid and assist in retaking any person who, after being arrested or confined, may have escaped from such arrest or imprisonment, or by neglecting or refusing to aid and assist in preventing any breach of the peace, or in commission of any criminal offense, being thereto lawfully required by any sheriff, deputy sheriff, coroner, constable, judge or other officer concerned in the administration of justice, is punishable by fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than $1,000. REMOVAL OF BOARD MEMBERS. The governor may remove members of the board for reasons of inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, commission of a felony or inability to perform the duties of office. REMOVAL OR OBSTRUCTION OF TELEPHONE OR TELEGRAPH LINES OR EQUIPMENT. Every person who maliciously displaces, removes, injures or destroys any public telephone instrument or any part thereof or any equipment or facilities associated therewith, or who enters or breaks into any coin box associated therewith, or who wilfully displaces, removes, injures or destroys any telegraph or telephone line, wire, cable, pole or conduit belonging to another or the material or property appurtenant thereto is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. REMOVING A FIREARM FROM A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. (1) A person may not knowingly remove or attempt to remove a firearm from the possession of another person if: (a) The other person is lawfully acting within the course and scope of employment; and (b) The person knows or has reason to know that the other person is employed as any of the following: (i) A law enforcement officer who, in an official capacity, is authorized to make arrests; or (ii) An employee of the Idaho board of correction, the Idaho department of juvenile corrections, any prison, jail, detention or booking facility or private correctional facility within the state, or the commission of pardons and parole. (2) A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony. (3) A sentence imposed for a violation of this section may be imposed separate from and consecutive to or concurrent with a sentence for any offense based on the act or acts establishing the offense under this section. RENUNCIATION OF CRIMINAL PURPOSE. It is an affirmative defense that the defendant, after soliciting another person to commit a crime, persuaded him not to do so or otherwise prevented the commission of the crime, under circumstances manifesting a complete and voluntary renunciation of his criminal purpose. REPORT REQUESTS GUIDELINES: Want information from the Police Department? Here is what is available and how to get it. Access to police reports on traffic incidents and crime in the city. This information is only available to a restricted group of users, including insurance agencies, legal representatives and any party involved in an incident. The city traffic incident reports Access to Traffic Incidents in the city (TIRS) system, which is maintained by the the city Police Service. Traffic reports include: * Date * Contributing circumstances location * Vehicle information, including type, registration, number, make * Ownership details of vehicles involved * Blood alcohol levels * Victims and injuries
The following documents may be ordered online for counter pick-up or postal delivery: * Breach results * Police breach report * PT51 diagram * TAIS report * TAIS sketch plan * Signed statements * QPS mechanical inspection report * QT mechanical inspection report * Other authorised mechanical inspection reports * Police breach report The following documents are available upon finalisation of the coroner's inquiries with the exception of those required for a coronial inquest: * Police report to Coroner * Coroner's report * Post mortem certificate * Autopsy report * Specimen results report * Life extinct form * Medical practitioner's certificate * Property Inventory (QP35) * Reports from driver and victims * Doctor's record * Ambulance report * Police Court brief The city crime reports Details of crime incidents in the city are available through the CRIS system, maintained by the the city Police Service. Reports provide details relating to property crimes and include: * Summary of crime details * Crime number * Date, time and reporting station * Address of offence * Date of offence * Crime status * Complainant details * Property details * Modus operandi * Other crime classes * Recovery details This service is available to approved insurance companies, legal firms, loss assessors and mercantile agents. An application form must be completed in order for CRIS Confirm to assess your eligibility to access this information. RESCUE Every person who shall unlawfully, knowingly and willfully rescue any prisoner from the custody of any person lawfully having custody thereof shall be guilty of rescue, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than three years. RESCUING PRISONERS. Every person who rescues, or attempts to rescue, or aids another person in rescuing or attempting to rescue, any prisoner from any prison, or from any officer or person having him in lawful custody, is punishable as follows: 1. If such prisoner was in custody upon a conviction of felony punishable with death, by imprisonment in the state prison not less than one (1) or more than fourteen (14) years. 2. If such prisoner was in custody upon a conviction of any other felony, by imprisonment in the state prison not less than six (6) months nor more than five (5) years. 3. If such prisoner was in custody upon a charge of felony, by a fine not exceeding $1,000 and imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year. 4. If such prisoner was in custody, otherwise than upon a charge or conviction of felony, by fine not exceeding $500.00 and imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months.
RESEARCH IN A LIBRARY Suggested rule for researching topics in libraries: based on the hacking rules we already have. The first roll determines if the player can find the information sought in the given library. Its difficulty should be based on both how rare the information is and how likely that /type/ of information would be found in that particular kind of library. The roll is Intelligence+Research vs. a difficulty that ranges from 4 for obvious but complex topics (basic sciences, law, or computers in a mundane library, for example), to 6 for slightly unusual topics, such as Russian history in an American library, quotations from obscure saints in a public library, etc), to 8 or 9 for things that would not normally be found in that sort of library at all (but could be found). (Anthropological reports of Voodoo rituals in a public library). The research roll tells if the player was able to find the information desired from the library. A library roll would then give information about how much they are able to learn from that information, and how well they can interpret it. This roll is Intelligence + Library vs 6-(the number of successes on the research roll). The difficulty of this roll goes up, depending on how hard the information is to find, and on how specific the information desired is. It can go up to greater than 10, meaning an unskilled person can't learn it at that library without careful research to sift it from where it's buried. Some example modifiers: +2 difficulty for generic information about an esoteric or unusual topic for that library, and increasing more as the information gets more specific or is poorly known. Items deemed as /secret/ to a cult or other group would have even higher difficulties. Successes would indicate that someone blabbed, somewhere. RESERVOIRS AND TANKS -- POLLUTION WHEN FENCED OR POSTED A MISDEMEANOR. Whenever any individual, individuals or corporation, municipal, public or private, owning, operating or maintaining any reservoir, pond, tank or any structure or place wherein or whereon water is stored, either in whole or in part for domestic use, has the area or ground on or wherein such reservoir, pond, tank, structure or place is located, wholly inclosed by any fence or artificial barrier, and has posted or caused to be posted, warning signs in conspicuous places on such fence or artificial barrier forbidding entry, it shall be unlawful for any person to enter, or to throw or place, or to cause to be thrown or placed, any substance or thing whatsoever, within the area so inclosed by such fence or artificial barrier, without the consent of such individual, individuals or corporation, and any violation hereof shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punishable accordingly. RESISTING AND OBSTRUCTING OFFICERS. Every person who wilfully resists, delays or obstructs any public officer, in the discharge, or attempt to discharge, of any duty of his office or who knowingly gives a false report to any peace officer, when no other punishment is prescribed, is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), and imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year. RESISTING ARREST Every person who, for the purpose of preventing a law enforcement officer from effecting a lawful arrest, creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to the officer or anyone else, or employs means justifying or requiring substantial force to overcome the resistance, shall be guilty of resisting arrest, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than one year, or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both. RESTORING CANCELED RAILROAD TICKETS. Every person who, for the purpose of restoring to its original appearance and nominal value in whole or in part, removes, conceals, fills up, or obliterates, the cuts, marks, punch holes, or other evidence of cancelation, from any ticket, check, order, coupon, receipt for fare, or pass, issued by any railroad company, or by any lessee or manager thereof, canceled in whole or in part, with intent to dispose of by sale or gift, or to circulate the same, or with intent to defraud the railroad company, or lessee thereof, or any other person, or who, with like intent to defraud, offers for sale, or in payment of fare on the railroad of the company, such ticket, check, order, coupon, or pass, knowing the same to have been so restored, in whole or in part, is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine not exceeding $1000, or by both such imprisonment and fine. RETALIATION FOR PAST OFFICIAL ACTION. A person commits a misdemeanor if he harms another by any unlawful acts in retaliation for anything lawfully done by the latter in the capacity of public servant. RIOT, DEFINED. Any action, use of force or violence, or threat thereof, disturbing the public peace, or any threat to use such force or violence, if accompanied by immediate power of execution, by two (2) or more persons acting together, and without authority of law, which results in: (a) physical injury to any person; or (b) damage or destruction to public or private property; or (c) a disturbance of the public peace; is a riot.
RIOT -- FELONY -- MISDEMEANOR -- PUNISHMENT. (1) A riot is a felony if: (a) It occurs on or about the state penitentiary, a county or city jail, or any other penal facility in this state, or it involves the taking of one or more hostages. Violation of the provisions of this subsection is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not less than five (5) years, no [nor] more than twenty (20) years or a fine not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or both such fine and imprisonment. (b) The destruction or damage to public or private property exceeds five hundred dollars ($500). Violation of the provisions of this subsection is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not more than five (5) years or a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both such fine and imprisonment. (2) A riot is a misdemeanor in all other circumstances punishable by imprisonment in the city or county jail for not more than one (1) year and a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). RITUALIZED ABUSE OF A CHILD -- EXCLUSIONS -- PENALTIES --DEFINITION. (1) A person is guilty of a felony when he commits any of the following acts with, upon, or in the presence of a child as part of a ceremony, rite or any similar observance: (a) Actually or in simulation, tortures, mutilates or sacrifices any warm-blooded animal or human being; (b) Forces ingestion, injection or other application of any narcotic, drug, hallucinogen or anaesthetic for the purpose of dulling sensitivity, cognition, recollection of, or resistance to any criminal activity; (c) Forces ingestion, or external application, of human or animal urine, feces, flesh, blood, bones, body secretions, nonprescribed drugs or chemical compounds; (d) Involves the child in a mock, unauthorized or unlawful marriage ceremony with another person or representation of any force or diety, followed by sexual contact with the child; (e) Places a living child into a coffin or open grave containing a human corpse or remains; (f) Threatens death or serious harm to a child, his parents, family, pets or friends which instills a well-founded fear in the child that the threat will be carried out; or (g) Unlawfully dissects, mutilates, or incinerates a human corpse. (2) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to: (a) Lawful agricultural, animal husbandry, food preparation or wild game hunting and fishing practices and specifically the branding or identification of livestock; (b) The lawful medical practice of circumcision or any ceremony related thereto; or (c) Any state or federally approved, licensed or funded research project. (3) The penalty upon conviction of a first offense shall be imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not to exceed fifteen (15) years. Upon conviction of a second or subsequent offense, the penalty shall be for a term not more than life imprisonment. (4) For the purposes of this section, "child" means any person under eighteen (18) years of age. ROBBERY, DEFINED. Robbery is the felonious taking of personal property in the possession of another, from his person or immediate presence, and against his will, accomplished by means of force or fear. ROBBERY, FEAR WHICH CONSTITUTES. The fear which constitutes robbery may be either: 1. The fear of an unlawful injury to the person or property of the person robbed, or of any relative of his, or member of his family; or, 2. The fear of an immediate and unlawful injury to the person or property of any one in the company of the person robbed at the time of the robbery.
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SABOTAGE. Any person who wilfully, maliciously or mischievously drives or causes to be driven or imbedded any nail, spike or piece of iron, steel or other metallic substance, or any rock or stone, into any log or timber intended to be manufactured into boards, lath, shingles or other lumber, or to be marketed for such purpose, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than five (5) years or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than six (6) months, or by fine not to exceed $5000, in the discretion of the court. SALE OR BARTER OF CHILD FOR ADOPTION OR OTHER PURPOSE PENALIZED -- ALLOWED EXPENSES. Any person or persons who shall sell or barter any child for adoption or for any other purpose, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not more than fourteen (14) years, or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. Provided however, this section shall not prohibit any person, or adoption agency from providing, in addition to legal and medical costs, reasonable maternity and living expenses during the pregnancy and for a period not to exceed six (6) weeks post partum based upon demonstrated financial need. Any person or agency, seeking to provide financial assistance in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) shall do so after informally submitting to a court of competent jurisdiction, a verified financial plan outlining proposed expenditures. The court may approve or amend such a proposal. Only after court approval shall assistance totaling more than five hundred dollars ($500) become available to the birth parent. A prospective adoptive parent, or another person acting on behalf of a prospective adoptive parent, shall make payments for allowed expenses only to third party vendors, as is reasonably practical. All actual expenditures shall be presented by verified affidavit of counsel or the agency at the time of the adoption finalization. No financial assistance to a birth parent shall exceed the sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000) unless otherwise authorized by the court. The financial assistance contemplated by this section shall be considered a charitable gift, not subject to recovery under the terms of State Code. SCANNING -- REENCODING. (1) As used in this section, the term: (a) "Scanning device" means a scanner, reader, or any other electronic device that is used to access, read, scan, obtain, memorize, or store, temporarily or permanently, information encoded on the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card. (b) "Reencoder" means an electronic device that places encoded information from the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card onto the magnetic strip or stripe of a different payment card. (c) "Financial transaction card" or "FTC" means any instrument or device known as a credit card, credit plate, bank services card, banking card, check guarantee card, debit card, telephone credit card or by any other name issued by the issuer for the use of the card holder in obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of value on credit, or in certifying or guaranteeing to a person or business the availability to the card holder of the funds on deposit that are equal to or greater than the amount necessary to honor a draft or check payable to the order of such a person or business; or any instrument or device used in providing the card holder access to a demand deposit account or a time deposit account for the purpose of making deposits of money or checks therein, or withdrawing funds in the form of money, money orders, or traveler's checks or other representative of value therefrom or transferring funds from any demand account or time deposit account to any credit card account in full or partial satisfaction of any outstanding balance existing therein. (d) "Merchant" is defined as an owner or operator of any retail mercantile establishment or any agent, employee, lessee, consignee, officer, director, franchisee, or independent contractor of such owner or operator. A "merchant" means a person who receives from an authorized user of a payment card, or someone the person believes to be an authorized user, a payment card or information from a payment card, or what the person believes to be a payment card or information from a payment card, as the instrument for obtaining, purchasing or receiving goods, services, money or anything else of value from the person. (2) It is a felony for a person to use or possess with intent to use: (a) A scanning device to access, read, obtain, memorize, or store, temporarily or permanently, information encoded on the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card without the permission of the authorized user of the payment card and with the intent to defraud the authorized user, the issuer of the authorized user's payment card, or a merchant. (b) A reencoder to place information encoded on the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card onto the magnetic strip or stripe of a different card without the permission of the authorized user of the card from which the information is being reencoded and with the intent to defraud the authorized user, the issuer of the authorized user's payment card, or a merchant. (3) Any person who commits a violation pursuant to this section shall be punished pursuant to the provisions of State Code.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH LICENSE. From the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) and National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC): Required Forms and Paperwork for a Scientific Research License Provide justification for the project you propose to undertake. If the project is proposed for a protected area, provide specific reasons why the activities cannot be undertaken on land other than the protected area estate. If the project requires the take of wildlife, provide specific reasons why the activities cannot be undertaken on specimens sought from captive populations. All quantities of wildlife to be taken permanently are to be fully justified. Provide a detailed summary of the methods to be employed for the proposed project including techniques, apparatus/equipment (including firearms and scheduled drugs), sampling effort including number of wildlife to be sampled, etc. in 200 words or less. If scheduled drugs are to be used within the project, the applicant must provide documentary evidence indicating authority for them to administer drugs. The NCA requires that a project must be sponsored by an organization that is one of the following: a recognized scientific research institution; a professional organization involved with scientific research; or a non-profit community organization with a genuine interest in the conservation of wildlife. Independent researchers should obtain sponsorship from a recognized scientific research institution, or indicate why sponsorship has not been obtained. Applicants must provide the name, address, telephone, and facsimile of the chief officer of the sponsoring organization or their delegate. The chief executive officer of the sponsoring organization or their delegate must sign the application to indicate support of the project. The applicant must provide project supervisor?s details including title, full name, organization, address, phone, facsimile and e-mail unless they are the chief officer of a corporation or business or they are an independent researcher. Does the project involve the use of vertebrate animals? No Yes (see note below) Note: If you answer yes, you must supply a copy of an animal ethics committee application and animal ethics committee approval. For any scientific research on birds or bats which involves banding (coloured or numbered), the applicant will be required to provide a copy of a provisional banding authority from the Bird and Bat Banding Scheme administered by Department of the Environment and Heritage in Canberra. The use or take of vertebrate animals involves (but is not restricted to) the pursuit, baiting, feeding, capture and handling of the animals. QPWS has implemented new procedures for the assessment of scientific research and educational purposes permit applications relating to the take of protected vertebrates from the wild where the wildlife will not be released back to the wild. A Scientific Purposes Permits Assessment Committee (SPPAC) will review all applications that involve the permanent take of protected vertebrates outside the following guidelines: * sampling of fish as declared under the Fisheries Act 1994 in protected areas where recreational fishing is allowed under the NCA that does not conform to the methods, number, sex and size restrictions that apply under that legislation; * the permanent take of greater than twenty (20) individuals of any non-protected fish or the total permanent take of more than 100 non-protected fish from a protected area(s); * the permanent take of greater than twenty (20) individuals of any one species of reptile or amphibian (excluding eggs and tadpoles) with more than four (4) per location or the total permanent take of more than 100 reptiles and amphibians from multiple species (excluding eggs and tadpoles); or * the total permanent take of more than five (5) individuals of any one species of bird or mammal, or the total permanent take of up to twenty (20) birds and mammals from mixed species. The assessment by the SPPAC will increase the time taken for the issuance of a permit.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WITH REPTILES GUIDELINES. INTRODUCTION The use of animals in research and teaching has become one of the most heavily regulated scientific activities. The rules and regulations fall into two broad categories: those designed to ensure the humane care of animals that are used and those that are designed to protect humans, livestock, or the environment (including vulnerable populations or species) from harmful effects of these research and teaching activities. Although reptiles (as well as amphibians and fishes) may not be explicitly covered by certain laws, there are enough overlapping layers of regulations, policies, and guidelines that effectively, research activities with these species are regulated. In this presentation I will try to explain the various laws, regulations, and policies that affect herpetological research in an academic setting. I. ANIMAL WELFARE A) Animal Welfare Act Animal Welfare Act means the Act of August 24, 1966 (Public Law 89-544), (commonly known as the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act), and subsequent ammendments: the Animal Welfare Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-579), the Animal Welfare Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-279), the Food Security Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-198), and the Food and Agriculture Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-624). Regulatory authority rests with the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and implemented by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service APHIS. The act mandates the establishment and specifiies the responsibilities of an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and sets minimum standards for husbandry, housing, and transport of regulated species. Species covered include all mammals (with certain specific exceptions, such as laboratory rats and mice). Reptiles are not covered. However, these regulations may serve as a foundation for future extension of legal coverage to other vertberates. B) State Anti-Cruelty and Animal Welfare Laws These vary by state and may extend coverage to all warm-blooded vertebrates (including birds) or to all vertebrates used in research, testing, and teaching. The state agency responsible for administration and enforcement of these regulations may vary from state to state. C) U.S. Government Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research, and Training. These principles (appendix) were developed by the Interagency Research Animal Committee. Apply to any activities involving veretbrates sponsored by any U.S. Governmnet agency (including NSF). "Whenever U.S. Government agencies develop requirements for testing, research, or training procedures involving the use of vertebrate animals, the following principles shall be considered: and whenever these agencies actually perform or sponsor such procedures, the responsible Institutional Official shall ensure that these principles are adhered to..." Among other things, these Principles stipulate that: * animal use should be in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act and other applicable Federal laws, guidelines, and policies. * animal use should have oversight and review by an appropriate review group such as an IACUC. D) Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals The Public Health Service (PHS) Policy was originally promulgated in 1986 to implement the Health Research Extension Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-158). This policy is administered by the National Institutes of Health, Office for Protection from Research Risks and applies to all activities involving live vertebrate animals that are conducted by or supported by the PHS, no matter where these activities are conducted. Coverage includes any live vertebrate animal (including reptiles) used or intended for use in research, research training, experimentation, or biological testing or for related purposes. This policy mandates the formation of an IACUC and requires adherence to recommendations provided in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Guide). Adherence to th erecommendations of the Guide may be demonstrated in one of two ways: either 1) accreditation by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC), or 2) self evaluation and annual reporting to PHS that the program of animal use adheres to the Guide. E) Institutional Policies These will vary by institution but will likely (logically) extend the U.S. Government Principles to all vertebrates even if specific activities are not sponsored by a U.S. Government agency. F) Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) AAALAC is a voluntary organization that evaluates an institutions entire program for animal care and use using the Guide as a basis for assessment. The assessment and accrediataion is a form of peer-review of how well an institution meets the standards set forth in the Guide. The assessment process covers all activities involving any vertebrate species (including reptiles) regardless of how the activity is sponsored. AAALAC accreditation is probably the best way for an institution to demonstrate to potential sponsors that its program complies with all regulations and standards. G) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Prepared by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, which is a private organization mandated to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. The most recent edition of the Guide was published in 1996. The Guide applies to any and all vertebrate species used in research, teaching, or testing.
Coverage includes field studies of wildlife. The Guide endorses the U.S. Government Principles that these activities must have oversight by the IACUC. The Guide sets guidelines and standards for development of an entire animal use program from facilities design, husbandry and veterinary care prgrams, to procedures for ensuring regulatory compliance and adequate training. Because of the diversity of species that may be used in animal research, the guidelines tend to be rather general. Thus, while there are no specific standards written for reptile species, the Guide clearly stipulates that such standards should be developed by each institution using the best information and expertise available. Approval and enforcement of these standards rests with the IACUC. H) Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Mandated by federal law and each of the above mentioned policies and guidelines, the IACUC is a committee appointed by the institutional official and is charged with oversight and assessment of the institutions entire program for animal use, using the Guide as a reference. Composition of the IACUC is stipulated by the Animal Welfare Act and PHS Policy and includes a veterinarian, animal researcher(s), at least one non-scientist, and an individual whose only affiliation with the institution is as a memeber of the IACUC. Has final authority to grant exceptions to established guidelines. IACUC Responsibilities: * Review and approve animal care and use protocols, including any proposed changes to previously approved protocols. Approval of all activities involving animals. * Evaluate on a semi-annual basis, the institutions entire animal care and use program and provide a report to the institutional official. * Inspect on a semi-annual basis, all animal facilities, including certain laboratories and submit a report of these inspections to the institutional official. * Review concerns involving the care and use of animals at the institution. * Authorized to suspend an activity involving animals. II. ANIMAL PROCUREMENT/ COLLECTION / IMPORTATION There are a variety of regulations designed to protect human beings and other animals from either harmful animals or diseases carried by these animals. Other laws are intended to protect the environment or vulnerable populations from harmful effects of exploitation (e.g. collection). A) Lacy Act of 1900. Regulates the import, export, and interi-state commerce of foreign wildlife. Intended to restrict the importation of potentially harmful species to the US, i.e. primarily species that may harm public health, US agricultural interests, or native wildlife resources. Permits administered through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. B) Import of animals that are known to be potential carriers of diseases contagious to humans may be regulated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC Quarantine Division). For example, there are restrictions on the importation to the U.S. of small turtles which may carry Salmonella. C) Importation of animals or therir tissues that could carry pathogens injurious to U.S. agriculture may be regulated by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. D) State Regulations. Individual states may have regulations controlling the import of animals into them. E) Local Regulations. Individual juridictions may have regulations concerning the possession of dangerous or venomous reptiles. F) Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-205; 87 statute 884) became effective on December 28, 1973. Regulatory authority is vested in the secretary of the US Department of the Interior and implemented by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Intended to protect specific (listed) vulnerable species or populations, it requires a federal permit to take (kill or collect), possess, sell, or harass a listed species. G) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Regulates international trade in specific endangered species and products derived from them. Appendix I species - an export permit from the country of origin and an import permit from the destination country are required. Appendix II species - an export permit from the country of origin is required. Enforced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. H) State Regulations Vary by state. Usually administered by each states Department of Environmental Conservation or Fish and Game Department. Generally require scientific collectors permit to collect reptiles and amphibians from the wild for research or teaching, regardless of the species status. In addition, individual states may extend various degrees of protection (endangered, threatened, special concern) that are rare, endemic to the state, or threatened with extinction within the state. State permits would be required to work with these animals.
SUMMARY How do these rules and regulations apply to the research scientist working with reptiles? Most likely each academic institution will have an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee to provide oversight for activities involving any vertebrate, including reptiles. This oversight will extend either from institutional policy alone (if there are no applicable state or federal policies that apply) or from the policies and principles outlined above (if the institution receives any support from federal agencies). The IACUC will play a central role in reviewing and approving particular activities, and for ensuring that procedures and policies are in place to ensure humane care, responsible use, adequate training, and human health and safety. Part of the IACUCs oversight responsibilities will be to ensure (minimally by requesting an assurance from the investigator) that all applicable local, state, and federal regulations are followed and necessary permits for procuring, possessing, and working with particular reptile species are obtained. All of this oversight responsibility is not meant to say that the IACUC or any of its members will be experts in reptile care or will know more about any reptile species than the investigator. In fact, in many instances the investigator will be the best source of information about the natural history and biology of a species and will be a resource for the committee. Nevertheless, responsibilities lie with the committee and not with an individual investigator to decide what is acceptable within the context of the Guide. SEARCH WARRANT FOR SEIZURE OF OBSCENE MATERIAL. (A) An affidavit for a search warrant shall be filed with the magistrate describing the matter sought to be seized in detail. Where practical, the matter alleged to be obscene shall be attached to the affidavit for search warrant so as to afford the magistrate the opportunity to examine such material. (B) Upon the filing of an affidavit for a search warrant, the magistrate shall determine, by examination of the matter sought to be seized, if attached, by an examination of the affidavit describing the matter, or by such other manner or means that he deems necessary, if probable cause exists to believe that the matter is obscene and that probable cause exists for the immediate issuance of a search warrant. Upon making such determination, he shall issue a search warrant ordering the seizure of the matter described in the affidavit for a search warrant according to the provisions of state criminal rules of procedure. (C) In the event that a search warrant is issued and matter alleged to be obscene is seized under the provisions of this section, any person alleged to be in possession of the said matter or claiming ownership of the matter at the time of its possession or seizure may file a notice in writing with the magistrate within ten (10) days of the date of the seizure alleging that the matter is not obscene and the magistrate shall set a hearing within one (1) day after request therefore, or at such time as the requesting party might agree, and at such hearing evidence may be presented as to the obscenity or nonobscenity of the matter seized and at the conclusion of such hearing, the magistrate shall make a further determination of whether probable cause exists to believe that the matter is obscene or nonobscene. A decision as to whether there is probable cause to believe the seized material to be obscene shall be rendered by the court within two (2) days of the conclusion of said hearing. If at such hearing the magistrate finds that no probable cause exists to believe that the matter is obscene, then the matter shall be returned to the person or persons from whom it was seized. (D) If a motion to suppress the evidence is granted on the grounds of an unlawful seizure, the property shall be restored unless it is subject to confiscation as contraband, as provided for in State Code, in which case it shall not be returned. (E) When a search warrant is issued under the provisions of this section, only that matter described in the complaint shall be seized by the executing peace officer or officers. (F) Procedures under this section for the seizure of allegedly obscene matter shall be cumulative of all other lawful means of obtaining evidence as provided by the laws of this state. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the obtaining of alleged obscene matter by purchase or under injunction proceedings as authorized by this act or by any other statute of the state of residence. SECURITY: If you have cameras watching your buildings, guards, or other IC security, you must tell an admin (probably whoever links your building to the grid) so that they can judgenote this. If you add them later, contact an admin and ask them to note the new security. If it's not noted. Chances are, if it comes into dispute, it doesn't exist. SECURITY TERRORIST ALERT CHART From the Homland Security Organization, is the current IC Listl of Terrorist Threat. Check with your Storyteller as to the current status. A good guideline would be to look at the real life situation and then modifiy it by one level. LOW: Low Risk of Terrorist Attacks GUARDED: General Risk of Terrorist Attacks ELEVATED: Significant Risk of Terrorist Attacks HIGH: High Risk of Terrorist Attacks SEVERE: Risk of Terrorist Attacks
SELF-INTERESTED CONTRACTS -- EXCEPTION. Where there are less than three (3) suppliers of a good or a service within a fifteen (15) mile radius of where the good or service is to be provided, it shall not constitute a violation of the provisions of State Code, for a public servant or for his relative to contract with the public body of which the public servant is a member if the contract is reasonably necessary to respond to a disaster as defined in State Code, or if the procedures listed below are strictly observed. For purposes of this section, "relative" shall mean any person related to the public servant by blood or marriage within the second degree. (1) The contract is competitively bid and the public servant or his relative submits the low bid; and (2) Neither the public servant nor his relative takes any part in the preparation of the contract or bid specifications, and the public servant takes no part in voting on or approving the contract or bid specifications; and (3) The public servant makes full disclosure, in writing, to all members of the governing body, council or board of said public body of his interest or that of his relative and of his or his relative's intention to bid on the contract; and (4) Neither the public servant nor his relative has violated any provision of Idaho law pertaining to competitive bidding or improper solicitation of business. SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF A VULNERABLE ADULT. (1) It is a felony for any person, with the intent of arousing, appealing to or gratifying the lust, passion or sexual desires of such person, a vulnerable adult or a third party, to: (a) Commit any lewd or lascivious act or acts upon or with the body or any part or member thereof of a vulnerable adult including, but not limited to: genital-genital contact, oral-genital contact, anal-genital contact, oral-anal contact, manual-anal contact or manual-genital contact, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex; (b) Involve a vulnerable adult in any act of bestiality or sadomasochism as defined in State Code; or (c) Cause or have sexual contact with a vulnerable adult, not amounting to lewd conduct as defined in paragraph (a) of this subsection. (2) For the purposes of this section: (a) "Sexual contact" means any physical contact between a vulnerable adult and any person or between vulnerable adults, which is caused by the actor, or the actor causing the vulnerable adult to have self-contact; and (b) "Vulnerable adult" is as defined in State Code. (3) Sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult is a felony and shall be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not to exceed twenty-five (25) years or by a fine not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. (4) It shall be a felony for any person to commit sexual exploitation of a vulnerable adult if, for any commercial purpose, as defined in State Code, he knowingly: (a) Causes, induces or permits a vulnerable adult to engage in or be used in any explicit sexual conduct as defined in section 181507, Idaho Code; or (b) Prepares, arranges for, publishes, produces, promotes, makes, sells, finances, offers, exhibits, advertises, deals in, possesses or distributes sexually exploitative material as defined in State Code, depicting a vulnerable adult engaged in, observing, or being used for explicit sexual conduct. (5) The possession by any person of three (3) or more identical copies of any sexually exploitative material shall create a presumption that such possession is for a commercial purpose. (6) Sexual exploitation of a vulnerable adult shall be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) years or by a fine not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. SEXUAL ABUSE OF A CHILD UNDER THE AGE OF SIXTEEN YEARS. (1) It is a felony for any person eighteen (18) years of age or older, with the intent to gratify the lust, passions, or sexual desire of the actor, minor child or third party, to: (a) solicit a minor child under the age of sixteen (16) years to participate in a sexual act, or (b) cause or have sexual contact with such minor child, not amounting to lewd conduct as defined in State Code, or (c) make any photographic or electronic recording of such minor child. (2) For the purposes of this section "solicit" means any written, verbal, or physical act which is intended to communicate to such minor child the desire of the actor or third party to participate in a sexual act or participate in sexual foreplay, by the means of sexual contact, photographing or observing such minor child engaged in sexual contact. (3) For the purposes of this section "sexual contact" means any physical contact between such minor child and any person, which is caused by the actor, or the actor causing such minor child to have self contact. (4) Any person guilty of a violation of the provisions of this section shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) years.
SEXUAL BATTERY OF A MINOR CHILD SIXTEEN OR SEVENTEEN YEARS OF AGE -- PENALTY. (1) It is a felony for any person at least five (5) years of age older than a minor child who is sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age, who, with the intent of arousing, appealing to or gratifying the lust, passion, or sexual desires of such person, minor child, or third party, to: (a) Commit any lewd or lascivious act or acts upon or with the body or any part or any member thereof of such minor child including, but not limited to, genital-genital contact, oral-genital contact, anal-genital contact, oral-anal contact, manual-anal contact or manual-genital contact, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex, or who shall involve such minor child in any act of explicit sexual conduct as defined in State Code; or (b) Solicit such minor child to participate in a sexual act; or (c) Cause or have sexual contact with such minor child, not amounting to lewd conduct as defined in paragraph (a) of this subsection; or (d) Make any photographic or electronic recording of such minor child. (2) For the purpose of subsection (b) of this section, "solicit" means any written, verbal or physical act which is intended to communicate to such minor child the desire of the actor or third party to participate in a sexual act or participate in sexual foreplay, by the means of sexual contact, photographing or observing such minor child engaged in sexual contact. (3) For the purpose of this section, "sexual contact" means any physical contact between such minor child and any person or between such minor children which is caused by the actor, or the actor causing such minor child to have self contact. (4) Any person guilty of a violation of the provisions of subsection (1)(a) of this section shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a period not to exceed life. (5) Any person guilty of a violation of the provisions of subsections (1)(b), (1)(c), or (1)(d) of this section shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) years. SEXUAL CONTACT WITH A PRISONER. It is a felony for any employee of the state department of correction or any officer, employee or agent of a state, local or private correctional facility, as those terms are defined in section State Code, to have sexual contact with a prisoner, not their spouse, whether an in-state or out-of-state prisoner, as those terms are defined in State Code. For the purposes of this section "sexual contact" means sexual intercourse, genital-genital, manual-anal, manual-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital or oral-anal, between persons of the same or opposite sex. Any person found guilty of sexual contact with a prisoner is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed life. SEXUAL EXPLOITATION BY A MEDICAL CARE PROVIDER. (a) Any person acting or holding himself out as a physician, surgeon, dentist, psychotherapist, chiropractor, nurse or other medical care provider as defined in this section, who engages in an act of sexual contact with a patient or client, is guilty of sexual exploitation by a medical care provider. For the purposes of this section, consent of the patient or client receiving medical care or treatment shall not be a defense. This section does not apply to sexual contact between a medical care provider and the provider's spouse, or a person in a domestic relationship who is also a patient or client. Violation of this section is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one (1) year, or both. (b) For the purposes of this section: (1) "Intimate part" means the sexual organ, anus, or groin of any person, and the breast of a female. (2) "Medical care provider" means a person who gains the trust and confidence of a patient or client for the examination and/or treatment of a medical or psychological condition, and thereby gains the ability to treat, examine and physically touch the patient or client. (3) "Sexual contact" means the touching of an intimate part of a patient or client for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse, and/or the touching of an intimate part of a patient or client outside the scope of a medical examination or treatment. (4) "Touching" means physical contact with another person, whether accomplished directly, through the clothing of the person committing the offense, or through the clothing of the victim. SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF A CHILD. (1) The legislature hereby finds and declares that the commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a wrongful invasion of the child's right of privacy and results in social, developmental, and emotional injury to the child; that a child below the age of eighteen (18) years is incapable of giving informed consent to the use of his or her body for a commercial purpose; and that to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation it is necessary to prohibit the production for trade or commerce of material which involves or is derived from such exploitation and to exclude all such material from the channels of trade and commerce. (2) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) "Bestiality" means a sexual connection in any manner between a human being and any animal. (b) "Child" means a person who is less than eighteen (18) years of age. (c) "Commercial purpose" means the intention, objective, anticipation, or expectation of monetary gain or other material consideration, compensation, remuneration, or profit.
(d) "Erotic fondling" means touching a person's clothed or unclothed genitals or pubic area, developing or undeveloped genitals or pubic area (if the person is a child), buttocks, breasts (if the person is a female), or developing or undeveloped breast area (if the person is a female child), for the purpose of real or simulated overt sexual gratification or stimulation of one or more of the persons involved. "Erotic fondling" shall not be construed to include physical contact, even if affectionate, which is not for the purpose of real or simulated overt sexual gratification or stimulation of one or more of the persons involved. (e) "Erotic nudity" means the display of the human male or female genitals or pubic area, the undeveloped or developing genitals or pubic area of the human male or female child, the human female breasts, or the undeveloped or developing breast area of the human female child, for the purpose of real or simulated overt sexual gratification or stimulation of one or more of the persons involved. (f) "Explicit sexual conduct" means sexual intercourse, erotic fondling, erotic nudity, masturbation, sadomasochism, sexual excitement, or bestiality. (g) "Masturbation" means the real or simulated touching, rubbing, or otherwise stimulating of a person's own clothed or unclothed genitals or pubic area, developing or undeveloped genitals or pubic area (if the person is a child), buttocks, breasts (if the person is a female), or developing or undeveloped breast area (if the person is a female child), by manual manipulation or selfinduced or with an artificial instrument, for the purpose of real or simulated overt sexual gratification or arousal of the person. (h) "Sadomasochism" means: 1. Real or simulated flagellation or torture for the purpose of real or simulated sexual stimulation or gratification; or 2. The real or simulated condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained for sexual stimulation or gratification of a person. (i) "Sexual excitement" means the real or simulated condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of real or simulated overt sexual stimulation or arousal. (j) "Sexual intercourse" means real or simulated intercourse, whether genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, between persons of the same or opposite sex, or between a human and an animal, or with an artificial genital. (k) "Sexually exploitative material" means any photograph, motion picture, videotape, print, negative, slide, or other mechanically, electronically, or chemically reproduced visual material which depicts a child engaged in, participating in, observing, or being used for explicit sexual conduct. (3) A person commits sexual exploitation of a child if, for any commercial purpose, he knowingly: (a) Causes, induces, or permits a child to engage in, or be used for, any explicit sexual conduct; or (b) Prepares, arranges for, publishes, produces, promotes, makes, sells, finances, offers, exhibits, advertises, deals in, possesses, or distributes any sexually exploitative material. (4) The possession by any person of three (3) or more identical copies of any sexually exploitative material shall create a presumption that such possession is for a commercial purpose. (5) The sexual exploitation of a child is a felony and shall be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) years or by a fine not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment. (6) If any provision of this section or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this section which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this section are declared to be severable. SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT, ADULT CRIMINAL SEX OFFENDER -- PROHIBITED EMPLOYMENT. (1) Except as provided in State Code, it is a felony for any person to: apply for or to accept employment at a day care center, group day care facility or family day care home; or to be upon or to remain on the premises of a day care center, group day care facility or family day care home while children are present, other than to drop off or pick up the person's child or children if the person is currently registered or is required to register under the sex offender registration act as provided in State Code. (2) The owner or operator of any day care center, group day care facility or family day care home who knowingly employs a person or who knowingly accepts volunteer services from a person, which person is currently registered or is required to register under the sex offender registration act as provided in State Code, to work in the day care center, group day care facility or family day care home is guilty of a misdemeanor unless judicial relief has been granted pursuant to State Code. SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT, CENTRAL REGISTRY -- NOTICE TO AGENCIES. (1) The department shall establish and maintain a central sexual offender registry separate from other records maintained by the department. The registry shall include, but is not limited to, fingerprints, photographs, and other information collected from submitted forms and other communications relating to notice of duty to register, sexual offender registration and notice of address change.
(2) Upon receipt of information pursuant to State Code, the department shall notify the law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction where the offender resides or will reside, enter information in the central registry, and transmit the appropriate information as required by the federal bureau of investigation for inclusion in the national sexual offender registry. Upon receipt of a notice of an offender changing residence to another state, the department shall notify the central registry of the state to which the offender is moving. The department shall adopt rules relating to providing notice of address changes to law enforcement agencies, developing forms, operating the central registry, reviewing and correcting records, and expunging records of persons who are deceased, whose convictions have been reversed or who have been pardoned, and those for whom an order of expungement or relief from registration has been entered pursuant to State Code. (3) The department shall develop and distribute to appropriate agencies the standardized forms necessary for the administration of the registry and shall provide appropriate agencies with instructions for completing and submitting the forms. The attorney general shall approve the forms and instructions prior to distribution. SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT, EXEMPTION FROM CIVIL LIABILITY. (1) No person or governmental entity, other than those specifically charged in this chapter with a duty to collect information under this chapter regarding registered sexual offenders, has a duty to inquire, investigate or disclose any information regarding registered sexual offenders. (2) No person or governmental entity, other than those specifically charged in this chapter with an affirmative duty to provide public access to information regarding registered sexual offenders, shall be held liable for any failure to disclose any information regarding registered sexual offenders to any other person or entity. (3) Every person or governmental entity who, acting without malice or criminal intent, obtains or disseminates information under this chapter shall be immune from civil liability for any damages claimed as a result of such disclosures made or received. SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT, NOTICE OF DUTY TO REGISTER AND INITIAL REGISTRATION. (1) When a person is sentenced for an offense identified in State Code, the prosecuting attorney shall seek and the court shall order a designated law enforcement agency to immediately fingerprint that person unless the person has been fingerprinted and photographed previously for the same offense. Fingerprints and photographs may be taken at the jail or correctional facility to which the person is remanded or sentenced. The fingerprints and photographs taken pursuant to this subsection shall be submitted to the department as provided in State Code. (2) A person convicted of an offense identified in State Code, and released on probation without a sentence of incarceration in a county jail or correctional facility, including release pursuant to a withheld judgment or release from any mental institution, shall be notified by the sentencing court of the duty to register pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. The written notification shall be a form provided by the department and approved by the attorney general and shall be signed by the defendant. The court shall retain one (1) copy, provide one (1) copy to the offender, and submit one (1) copy to the central registry within three (3) working days of release. (3) With respect to an offender convicted of a sexual offense identified in State Code, and sentenced to a period of incarceration in a jail or correctional facility and subsequently released, placed on probation, or paroled, the department of correction or jail shall provide, prior to release from confinement, written notification of the duty to register. The written notification shall be a form provided by the department and approved by the attorney general and shall be signed by the offender. The department of correction or jail shall retain one (1) copy, provide one (1) copy to the offender, and submit one (1) copy to the central registry within three (3) working days of release. (4) The sheriff of each county shall provide written notification, on a form provided by the State transportation department and approved by the attorney general, of the registration requirements of this chapter to any person who enters this state from another jurisdiction and makes an application for an identification card or a license to operate a motor vehicle in this state. The written notice shall be signed by the person and one (1) copy shall be retained by the sheriff's office and one (1) copy shall be provided to the person. (5) Notification of the duty to register as set forth in subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall constitute an initial registration for the purpose of establishing a record in the central registry. (6) The notification form provided by the department and approved by the attorney general shall: (a) Explain the duty to register, the procedure for registration and penalty for failure to comply with registration requirements; (b) Inform the offender of the requirement to provide notice of any change of address within State or to another state within five (5) working days of such change; (c) Inform the offender of the requirement to register in a new state within ten (10) days of changing residence to that state; and (d) Obtain from the offender and agency or court, information required for initial registration in the central registry, as prescribed by rules promulgated by the department. (7) The official conducting the notice and initial registration shall ensure that the notification form is complete, that the offender has read and signed the form, and that a copy is forwarded to the central repository within the required time period.
(8) Information required for initial registration in the central registry shall include, but is not limited to: name and aliases of the offender; social security number; physical descriptors; current address or physical description of current residence; offense for which convicted, sentence and conditions of release; treatment or counseling received; and risk assessment or special category of offender. (9) No person subject to registration shall willfully furnish false or misleading information when complying with registration and notification requirements of this chapter. SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT, PENALTIES. (1) An offender subject to registration who fails to register or provide any notice as required by this chapter shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison system for a period not to exceed five (5) years and by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). If the offender is on probation or other supervised release or suspension from incarceration at the time of the violation, the probation or supervised release or suspension shall be revoked and the penalty for violating this chapter shall be served consecutively to the offender's original sentence. (2) An offender subject to registration under this chapter, who willfully provides false or misleading information in the registration required, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for a period not to exceed five (5) years and a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). (3) An offender subject to registration under this chapter, who willfully evades service of the board's notice pursuant to State Code, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for a period not to exceed five (5) years and a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). SEXUL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT (JUVENILE), FAILURE TO REGISTER, PENALTIES. (1) A juvenile sex offender who fails to register or provide notification of a change of name or address is guilty of a misdemeanor. (2) A parent or guardian of a juvenile sex offender commits the misdemeanor offense of failure to supervise a child if the offender fails to register or provide notification of a change of name or address as required by this section. A person convicted of this offense is subject to a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT, PUBLIC ACCESS TO SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRY INFORMATION. Information within the sexual offender registry collected pursuant to this chapter is subject to release only as provided by this section. (1) The department or sheriff shall provide public access to information contained in the central sexual offender registry. The department shall promulgate rules defining the processes for providing information to the public and the requirements for retention of inquiry records by the department and sheriff. The department may provide public access to the sex offender registry by means of the internet. (2) The department and sheriff will respond to requests for sexual offender registry information within ten (10) working days of receipt of the written request. (a) Any person may inquire about a named individual by submitting an information request form obtained from the department or sheriff. The department shall promulgate rules outlining the methods and means of submitting requests. Information required for inquiry shall include the individual's full name and address, or full name and date of birth. The requester shall provide his full name, street address and driver's license or social security number. (b) Any person may request a list of registered sexual offenders by geographic area, such as by county or by zip code area, as determined by rule, by submitting an information request form obtained from the department or sheriff. The requester shall provide his full name, street address and driver's license, social security number, or state identification number. (c) Schools, organizations working with youth, women or other vulnerable populations may request a statewide list or lists by geographic area within the state. (d) The department and sheriff may collect a fee of five dollars ($5.00) for each response to a written request. (e) Information to be provided includes the offender's name, address, any aliases or prior names, date of birth, the crime of conviction, and the place of conviction. The information provided shall also state whether the offender is a violent sexual predator. (f) Identity of the offender's employer or educational institution currently attended will not be provided for any registered sexual offender. (g) Where a crime category such as "incest" may serve to identify a victim, that crime will be reported as State Code. (h) Any information identifying any person related to, living with, working for, employing or otherwise associated with a registered sexual offender shall be excluded from release. (3) The department shall provide to any person, upon written request and for a reasonable cost, determined by the department, a photograph of any registered sexual offender which the department maintains in its central sexual offender registry. The department shall respond to requests for photographs within ten (10) working days of receipt.
(4) Fees received by the department pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the department's miscellaneous revenue fund and used to support the operation of the central registry. Fees received by the sheriff pursuant to this section shall be used to defray the cost of sexual offender registration. (5) The department shall include a cautionary statement relating to completeness, accuracy and use of registry information when releasing information to the public or noncriminal justice agencies as well as a statement concerning the penalties provided in State Code, for misuse of registry information. (6) Information released pursuant to this section may be used only for the protection of the public. (7) Further dissemination of registry information by any person or entity shall include the cautionary statements required in subsection (5) of this section. SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT, RELEASE FROM REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS -- EXPUNGEMENT. (1) Any person, other than a recidivist, an offender who has been convicted of an aggravated offense, or an offender designated as a violent sexual predator, may, after a period of ten (10) years from the date the person was released from incarceration or placed on parole, supervised release or probation, whichever is greater, petition the district court for a show cause hearing to determine whether the person shall be exempted from the duty to register as a sexual offender. In the petition the petitioner shall: (a) Provide clear and convincing evidence that the petitioner is not a risk to commit a new violation for any violent crime or crime identified in State Code; (b) Provide an affidavit indicating that the petitioner does not have a criminal charge pending nor is the petitioner knowingly under criminal investigation for any violent crime or crime identified in State Code; (c) Provide proof of service of such petition upon the county prosecuting attorney for the county in which the application is made; and (d) Provide a certified copy of the judgment of conviction which caused the petitioner to report as a sexual offender. The district court may grant a hearing if it finds that the petition is sufficient. The court shall provide at least sixty (60) days' prior notice of the hearing to the petitioner and the county prosecuting attorney. The court may exempt the petitioner from the reporting requirement only after a hearing on the petition in open court and only upon proof by clear and convincing evidence that the petitioner is not a risk to commit a new violation for any violent crime or crime identified in State Code. (2) Concurrent with the entry of any order exempting the petitioner from the reporting requirement, the court may further order that any information regarding the petitioner be expunged from the central registry. SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT (JUVENILE), JUVENILE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY. The state police shall establish and maintain within the central sex offender registry a separate registry of juvenile sex offenders. The registry shall include fingerprints, photographs, and information collected from submitted forms and other communications relating to notice of duty to register, sex offender registration, and notice of address change. Information in the registry of juvenile sex offenders is subject to release to criminal justice agencies pursuant to State Code, and to the public pursuant to State Code. SEXUAL OFFENDER REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT (JUVENILE), TRANSFER TO ADULT REGISTRY. When a registered juvenile sex offender reaches twenty-one (21) years of age, the prosecutor may petition the court to transfer the offender to the adult registry, subject to the registration and notification provisions of State Code. If the court determines at a hearing that the juvenile sex offender is likely to pose a threat to the safety of others, the court shall order that the delinquent act be deemed an adult criminal conviction for the purpose of registration, notification, and public information access pursuant to State Code. If no petition is filed, or if the court determines the juvenile is not likely to pose a threat to the safety of others, the juvenile shall be deleted from the registry. SEXUALLY EXPLOITATIVE MATERIAL FOR OTHER THAN A COMMERCIAL PURPOSE, POSSESSION OF -- PENALTY. (1) It is the policy of the legislature in enacting this section to protect children from the physical and psychological damage caused by their being used in photographic representations of sexual conduct which involves children. It is, therefore, the intent of the legislature to penalize possession of photographic representations of sexual conduct which involves children in order to protect the identity of children who are victimized by involvement in the photographic representations, and to protect children from future involvement in photographic representations of sexual conduct. (2) Every person who knowingly and willfully has in his possession any sexually exploitative material as defined in Sate Code, for other than a commercial purpose, is guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not to exceed five (5) years and by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
SELLING POLITICAL INDORSEMENT -- SPECIAL INFLUENCE. (1) Selling political indorsement. A person commits a misdemeanor if he solicits, receives, agrees to receive, or agrees that any political party or other person shall receive any pecuniary benefit as consideration for approval or disapproval of an appointment or advancement in public service, or for approval or disapproval of any person or transaction for any benefit conferred by an official or agency of the government. "Approval" includes recommendations, failure to disapprove, or any other manifestation of favor or acquiescence. "Disapproval" includes failure to approve, or any other manifestation of disfavor or nonacquiescence. (2) Other trading in special influence. A person commits a misdemeanor if he solicits, receives or agrees to receive any pecuniary benefit as consideration for exerting special influence upon a public servant or procuring another to do so. "Special influence" means power to influence through kinship, friendship, or other relationship apart from the merits of the transaction. (3) Paying for indorsement or special influence. A person commits a misdemeanor if he offers, confers or agrees to confer any pecuniary benefit, receipt of which is prohibited by this section. SIMULATION OF SWITCH AND CAR KEYS. It shall be unlawful for any person by himself or another, without the written order or consent of such common carrier, to make, simulate, sell or dispose of any key belonging to or which might be used to open or unlock any switch, lock, car lock, or locks, used upon or belonging to any switch or car of any kind owned, controlled or operated by any common carrier in this state. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than thirty (30) days nor more than six (6) months. SLAUGHTER AND SALE OF FAMISHED ANIMALS. Every person who slaughters, offers or exposes for sale to the public any animal or animals that have been confined for forty-eight (48) hours or more without proper food, or twenty (20) hours without water, is guilty of a misdemeanor. SLOT MACHINES -- POSSESSION UNLAWFUL -- EXCEPTION. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, it shall be a misdemeanor and punishable as provided in State Code, for any person to use, possess, operate, keep, sell, or maintain for use or operation or otherwise, anywhere within the state of residence, any slot machine of any sort or kind whatsoever. (2) The provisions of State Code, shall not apply to antique slot machines. For the purpose of this section, an antique slot machine is a slot machine manufactured prior to 1950, the operation of which is exclusively mechanical in nature and is not aided in whole or in part by any electronic means. (3) Antique slot machines may be sold, possessed or located for purposes of display only and not for operation. (4) An antique slot machine may not be operated for any purpose. SLUGS OR COUNTERFEITED COINS -- PENALTY FOR MANUFACTURE OR SALE. Any person who knowingly or having cause to believe that the same is intended for fraudulent or unlawful use on the part of the purchaser, donee or user thereof shall manufacture for sale, sell or give away any token, slug, blank, disc, tag, planchet, false, mutilated, sweated or counterfeited coin or any device or substance whatsoever intended or calculated to be placed, deposited or used or which may be so placed, deposited or used in any vending machine, coin-box telephone or other receptacle designed to receive or be operated by lawful coin of the United States of America in furtherance or connection with the sale, use or enjoyment of the property or service or the use or enjoyment of any telephone, telegraph or other facilities or service, shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00), or imprisoned not more than sixty (60) days, or both. SLUGS OR COUNTERFEITED COINS -- PENALTY FOR USE IN VENDING MACHINES OR COIN-BOXES. Any person who, by means of any token, slug, false or counterfeited coin, or by any other means, method, trick or device whatsoever not lawfully authorized by the owner, lessee, or licensee of any vending machine, coin-box telephone or other receptacle designed to receive or be operated by lawful coin of the United States of America in furtherance of or connection with the sale, use or enjoyment of property or service, knowingly shall operate or cause to be operated, or shall attempt to operate or attempt to cause to be operated, any vending machine, coin-box telephone or other receptacle designed to receive or be operated by lawful coin of the United States of America, or whoever shall take, obtain, accept or receive, from or by means of any such machine, coin-box telephone or other receptacle, any article of value or service or the use or enjoyment of any telephone, telegraph or other facility or service, without depositing in, delivering to and payment into such machine, coin-box telephone or receptacle the amount of lawful coin of the United States of America required therefor by the owner, lessee or licensee of such machine, coin-box telephone or other receptacle, shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00), or imprisoned not more than sixty (60) days, or both. SOLEMNIZING MARRIAGE WITHOUT AUTHORITY. Every person who undertakes or pretends to join others in marriage, knowing that he is not by law authorized so to do, or knowing of any legal impediment to the proposed marriage, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
SOLICITATION, DEFINITION OF. A person is guilty of criminal solicitation to commit a crime if with the purpose of promoting or facilitating its commission he solicits, importunes, commands, encourages or requests another person to engage in specific conduct which would constitute such crime or an attempt to commit such crime or which would establish complicity in its commission or attempted commission. SOLICITATION -- INNOCENCE OR INCAPACITY OF PERSON SOLICITED -- NO DEFENSE. It is no defense to a prosecution for criminal solicitation that the person solicited could not be guilty of the crime solicited owing to criminal irresponsibility or other legal incapacity or exemption, or to unawareness of the criminal nature of the conduct solicited or of the defendant's criminal purpose or to other factors precluding the mental state required for the commission of the crime in question. SOLICITATION -- PUNISHMENT FOR CRIMINAL SOLICITATION. Every person who is found guilty of criminal solicitation to commit a crime is punishable in the same manner and to the same extent as for an attempt to commit such crime. SOLICITATION TO HALT OR IMPEDE LAWFUL FOREST, MINING OR AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES. Any person who solicits any other person, or conspires with any other person to commit any crime against property or person with the specific intent to halt, impede, obstruct or interfere with the lawful management, cultivation or harvesting of trees or timber or with the lawful management or operations of agricultural or mining industries, if the act is performed to effect the object of the solicitation or conspiracy, shall be guilty of a felony; provided however, that any person who solicits any other person or conspires with any other person to stage a peaceful demonstration which is not designed, planned, or intended to involve the commission of any crime against property or person shall not be guilty of any crime under the provision of this section. STALKING IN THE FIRST DEGREE. (1) A person commits the crime of stalking in the first degree if the person violates State Code, and: (a) The actions constituting the offense are in violation of a temporary restraining order, protection order, no contact order or injunction, or any combination thereof; or (b) The actions constituting the offense are in violation of a condition of probation or parole; or (c) The victim is under the age of sixteen (16) years; or (d) At any time during the course of conduct constituting the offense, the defendant possessed a deadly weapon or instrument; or (e) The defendant has been previously convicted of a crime under this section or State Code, or a substantially conforming foreign criminal violation within seven (7) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment; or (f) The defendant has been previously convicted of a crime, or an attempt, solicitation or conspiracy to commit a crime, involving the same victim as the present offense under any of the following provisions of State Code or a substantially conforming foreign criminal violation within seven (7) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld judgment: (i) ASSAULT AND BATTERY; (ii) CHILDREN AND VULNERABLE ADULTS; (iii) RAPE; (iv) ADMINISTERING POISON WITH INTENT TO KILL; (v) ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO MURDER; (vi) KIDNAPPING; (vii) POISONING; (viii) FORCIBLE SEXUAL PENETRATION BY USE OF FOREIGN OBJECT; (ix) MALICIOUS HARASSMENT; or (x) ACT OF TERRORISM. (2) In this section, "course of conduct" and "victim" have the meanings given in State Code. (3) For the purpose of this section, a "substantially conforming foreign criminal violation" exists when a person has pled guilty to or has been found guilty of a violation of any federal law or law of another state, or any valid county, city, or town ordinance of another state substantially conforming to the provisions of this section or State Code. The determination of whether a foreign criminal violation is substantially conforming is a question of law to be determined by the court. (4) Stalking in the first degree is a felony punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. STALKING IN THE SECOND DEGREE. (1) A person commits the crime of stalking in the second degree if the person knowingly and maliciously: (a) Engages in a course of conduct that seriously alarms, annoys or harasses the victim and is such as would cause a reasonable person substantial emotional distress; or (b) Engages in a course of conduct such as would cause a reasonable person to be in fear of death or physical injury, or in fear of the death or physical injury of a family or household member.
(2) As used in this section: (a) "Course of conduct" means repeated acts of nonconsensual contact involving the victim or a family or household member of the victim, provided however, that constitutionally protected activity is not included within the meaning of this definition. (b) "Family or household member" means: (i) A spouse or former spouse of the victim, a person who has a child in common with the victim regardless of whether they have been married, a person with whom the victim is cohabiting whether or not they have married or have held themselves out to be husband or wife, and persons related to the victim by blood, adoption or marriage; or (ii) A person with whom the victim is or has been in a dating relationship, as defined in State Code; or (iii) A person living in the same residence as the victim. (c) "Nonconsensual contact" means any contact with the victim that is initiated or continued without the victim's consent, that is beyond the scope of the consent provided by the victim, or that is in disregard of the victim's expressed desire that the contact be avoided or discontinued. "Nonconsensual contact" includes, but is not limited to: (i) Following the victim or maintaining surveillance, including by electronic means, on the victim; (ii) Contacting the victim in a public place or on private property; (iii) Appearing at the workplace or residence of the victim; (iv) Entering onto or remaining on property owned, leased or occupied by the victim; (v) Contacting the victim by telephone or causing the victim's telephone to ring repeatedly or continuously regardless of whether a conversation ensues; (vi) Sending mail or electronic communications to the victim; or (vii) Placing an object on, or delivering an object to, property owned, leased or occupied by the victim. (d) "Victim" means a person who is the target of a course of conduct. (3) Stalking in the second degree is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. STAY OF SUSPENSION OF DRIVERS' LICENSES OR DRIVING PRIVILEGES UPON REINCARCERATION. A court-ordered suspension of an individual's driver's license or driving privileges issued pursuant to this chapter that is to commence after that individual's release from confinement or imprisonment, shall cease to run if the individual is reincarcerated. The court-ordered suspension will be stayed for the entire period the individual is reincarcerated and will recommence as of the date the individual is rereleased from confinement or imprisonment. Upon the individual's release from confinement or imprisonment, the suspension period will run for the number of days remaining on the suspension as of the date of the individual's reincarceration. STEALING ELECTRIC CURRENT -- ACCESSORIES LIABLE AS PRINCIPALS. Any person or persons aiding, abetting or counseling the acts, or any of them, mentioned in the preceding section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be equally guilty with the principals and subject to the same penalties. STEALING ELECTRIC CURRENT -- EVIDENCE OF GUILT. In all prosecutions under the two (2) preceding sections, proof that any of the acts herein forbidden were done on or about the premises owned or occupied by the defendant charged with the commission of such offense, or that he received the benefit of any such electric current on account of the commission of such acts, shall be prima facie evidence of the guilt of such defendant. STEALING ELECTRIC CURRENT -- TAMPERING WITH METERS. Whoever shall without permission or authority of any person, firm or corporation engaged in the generation or distribution of electricity, make connections, or cause connections to be made, by wire or wires or by any other device, with the wires, cables or conductors, or any of them, of any such person, firm or corporation, for the purpose of obtaining or diverting electric current from such wires, cables or conductors; or whoever shall, without permission or authority from any person, firm or corporation using any meter or meters erected or set up for the purpose of registering or recording the amount of electric current supplied to any customer of such person, firm or corporation within this state, connect or cause to be connected by wire or any other device, any such meter or meters, or change or shunt the wiring leading to or from any such meter or meters, or by any device or appliance or means whatsoever tamper with any such meter or meters in such manner that such meter or meters do not measure or record the full amount of electric current supplied to such customer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment: provided, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to affect the right of any person, firm or corporation to recover by action in any court of competent jurisdiction damages for any injury done by such unlawful acts. STEALING RIDES -- VENUE OF ACTION. Any person charged with a violation of State Code may be tried in any county in this state through which such train carrying such person may pass, or in the county in which such violation may have occurred or may be discovered.
STEALING RIDES ON TRAINS. Every person who shall, at any place within this state, ride or attempt to ride upon any locomotive engine, railroad car, railroad train, or trains of any character, in or upon any part thereof, for the purpose or with the intent of stealing a ride thereon, or who shall at any place, within this state, climb upon, hold to, or in any manner attach himself to, any locomotive engine or railroad car or railroad train or trains of any character, while the same are in motion, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor: provided, that this section shall not apply to any employee of a railroad company operating such train, locomotive or car, nor to any person operating such train, locomotive or car, nor to any person having business with, or acting under legal authority of, such railroad company. STEALING RIDES ON TRAINS -- AUTHORITY OF CONDUCTORS AND ENGINEERS TO ARREST. Authority is hereby given to and conferred upon railroad conductors and engineers of railroad trains, to immediately arrest, without warrant or other process, any person or persons violating the preceding section, and deliver such persons to any peace officer: provided, that nothing in this section contained shall be construed to restrict the authority or duty of the regular officer within the state of making arrests for said offense. STEALING RIDES -- PUNISHMENT. Every person who shall be convicted of a violation of any of the offenses mentioned in State Code shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding thirty days, or by a fine of not more than $60.00, or by both such fine and imprisonment. SUCCESSIVE TERMS OF IMPRISONMENT. When any person is convicted of two (2) or more crimes before sentence has been pronounced upon him for either, the imprisonment to which he is sentenced upon the second or other subsequent conviction, in the discretion of the court, may commence at the termination of the first term of imprisonment to which he shall be adjudged, or at the termination of the second or other subsequent term of imprisonment, as the case may be. SURCHARGE ADDED TO ALL FINES. Every person who is convicted, found guilty, pleads guilty or receives a withheld judgment for violating the provisions of this chapter shall be required to pay an additional fifteen dollars ($15.00) in addition to any other fine, penalty or costs the court may assess. Moneys received pursuant to this section shall be remitted to the county treasurer in the county where the person was adjudicated for deposit in the "court interlock device and electronic monitoring device fund" which is hereby created in each county. Moneys in this fund may be utilized for the purchase of ignition interlock devices and electronic monitoring devices required pursuant to State Code. Additionally, any moneys a court charges a defendant for using an ignition interlock device or electronic monitoring devices shall be placed in this fund. The court may also utilize moneys in this fund to assist an indigent defendant to procure an ignition interlock device or electronic monitoring devices. The court may also utilize moneys in this fund for alcohol or drug abuse related probation, treatment or prevention programs for adults or juveniles.
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TAMPERING WITH EVIDENCE Every person who, believing that an official proceeding or investigation is pending or about to be instituted, alters, destroys, conceals or removes any record, document or thing with purpose to impair its verity or availability in such proceeding or investigation, shall be guilty of tampering with evidence, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than six months, or fined not more than $100.00, or both. TAMPERING WITH PARKING METERS, COIN TELEPHONES OR VENDING MACHINES -- POSSESSION OF KEYS. Any person who without lawful authority, wilfully and wrongfully, opens, removes or damages any parking meter, coin telephone or other vending machine dispensing goods or services, or a part thereof; or possesses a key or device specifically designed to open or break any parking meter, coin telephone or other vending machine dispensing goods or services; or possesses a drawing, print or mold of a key or device specifically designed to open or break any parking meter, coin telephone or other vending machine dispensing goods or services, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. TAMPERING WITH WITNESSES Every person who, believing that an official proceeding or investigation is pending or about to be instituted, attempts to induce, threaten, or otherwise cause a witness to testify or inform falsely, or withhold any testimony, or elude legal process, or absent himself from any proceeding to which he has been legally summoned, shall be guilty of tampering with witnesses, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than three years, or fine not more than $1,000.00, or both. TAPE PIRACY ACT, CONFISCATION OF EQUIPMENT. Any article produced in violation of State Code, and any equipment used for such purpose, shall be subject to confiscation and destruction by the appropriate law enforcement agency. TAPE PIRACY ACT, DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter, the terms defined in this section shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates another meaning: (1) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association of individuals. (2) "Owner" means the person who owns the original fixation of sounds embodied in the master phonograph record, master disc, master tape, master film, or other device used for reproducing sounds on phonograph records, discs, tapes, films, or other articles upon which sound is recorded, and from which transferred recorded sounds are directly derived. TAPE PIRACY ACT, EXCEPTIONS. The provisions of this act shall not apply to any broadcaster, who, in connection with or as part of a radio, television, or cable broadcast transmission, or for the purpose of archival preservation, transfers any such sounds recorded on a sound recording. TAPE PIRACY ACT, PENALTIES. (1) Any person who violates subsection (1) of TAPE PIRACY ACT, UNLAWFUL TRANSFER, SALE, DISTRIBUTION, ADVERTISEMENT, is guilty of a felony and upon conviction may be fined not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or imprisoned for not more than four (4) years, or both such fine and imprisonment. Each recording of the original fixation of sounds without consent of the owner thereof shall constitute a separate offense. (2) Any person who violates subsection (2) or (3) of TAPE PIRACY ACT, UNLAWFUL TRANSFER, SALE, DISTRIBUTION, ADVERTISEMENT, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction may be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisoned for not more than six (6) months, or both such fine and imprisonment. TAPE PIRACY ACT, UNLAWFUL TRANSFER, SALE, DISTRIBUTION, ADVERTISEMENT. It shall be unlawful and punishable: (1) For any person to knowingly, and without the consent of the owner, transfer or cause to be transferred or recorded any sounds previously recorded on a phonograph record, disc, wire, tape, film or other article on which sounds are recorded with the intent to sell such articles, or cause them to be sold for profit or used to promote the sale of any product. (2) For any person to knowingly, or with reasonable grounds to know, advertise, or offer for sale or resale, or sell or resell, distribute or possess for such purposes, any article that has been produced in violation of the provisions of subsection (1) of this section. (3) For any person to advertise, or offer for sale or resale, or sell or resell, or possess for such purposes, any phonograph record, disc, wire, tape, film or other article on which sounds are recorded, unless the outside cover, box, jacket or container clearly and conspicuously discloses the actual name and address of the manufacturer thereof, and the name of the actual performer or group.
TATTOOING, BRANDING AND BODY PIERCING OF MINORS. (1) As used in this section: (a) "Body piercing" means the perforation of any human body part other than an earlobe for the purpose of inserting jewelry or other decoration or for some other nonmedical purpose; (b) "Branding" means a permanent mark made on human tissue by burning with a hot iron or other instrument for the purpose of decoration or for some other nonmedical purpose; (c) "Minor" means a person under the age of eighteen (18) years but does not include a person who is an emancipated minor; and (d) "Tattoo" means one (1) or more of the following but does not include any mark or design done for a medical purpose: (i) An indelible mark made on the body of another person by the insertion of a pigment under the skin; or (ii) An indelible design made on the body of another person by production of scars other than by branding. (2) No person shall knowingly tattoo, brand or perform body piercing on any minor under the age of fourteen (14) years. (3) No person shall knowingly tattoo, brand or perform body piercing on a minor between the ages of fourteen (14) and eighteen (18) years unless such person obtains the prior written informed consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian. The minor's parent or legal guardian shall execute the written informed consent required pursuant to this subsection in the presence of the person performing the tattooing, branding or body piercing on the minor, or in the presence of an employee or agent of such person. (4) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500). If there is a subsequent violation of this section within one (1) year of the initial violation, such person shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars ($500) and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). TAX COLLECTOR -- NEGLECT OF DUTY. If any tax collector or his deputy wilfully neglects or refuses to perform any of the duties enjoined on him by the provisions of State Code he is guilty of a misdemeanor in office, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than one (1) year, or by a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $1,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and shall be forthwith removed from office. TAXATION -- REFUSAL TO GIVE ASSESSOR LIST OF PROPERTY. Every person who unlawfully refuses upon demand to give to any county assessor a list of his property subject to taxation, or to swear to such list, or who gives a false name, or fraudulently refuses to give his true name, to any assessor when demanded by such assessor in the discharge of his official duties, is guilty of a misdemeanor. TERRORIST CONTROL ACT, DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter: (1) "Civil disorder" means any public disturbance involving acts of violence by an assemblage of two (2) or more persons which acts cause an immediate danger of or result in damage or injury to the property or person of any other individual. (2) "Governmental military force" means the national guard, as defined in section 101(9) of title 10, United States Code; the organized militia of any state or territory of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia, not included with the definition of national guard as defined by such section 101(9); and the armed forces of the United States. (3) "Law enforcement agency" means a governmental unit of one (1) or more persons employed full time or part time by the state or federal government, or a political subdivision thereof, for the purpose of preventing and detecting crime and enforcing laws or local ordinances and the employees of which are authorized to make arrests for crimes while acting within the scope of their authority. (4) "Peace officer" means any duly appointed officer of a law enforcement agency as defined herein including, but not limited to, an officer of the state police, department of fish and game, a sheriff or deputy sheriff of a county, or a marshal or police officer of a city. (5) "Terrorism" means activities that: (a) Are a violation of State criminal law; and (b) Involve acts dangerous to human life that are intended to: (i) Intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) Influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) Affect the conduct of a government by the use of weapons of mass destruction, as defined in State Code.
TERRORIST CONTROL ACT, EXCLUSIONS. Nothing contained in this chapter makes unlawful any act protected pursuant to article I, section 11, of the State constitution, or any act of any peace officer which is performed in the lawful performance of the law enforcement officer's official duties. Nothing contained in this chapter makes unlawful any activity of the department of fish and game, any governmental military force, the department of correction, any law enforcement agency, or any activity intended to teach or practice self-defense or self-defense techniques, such as karate clubs or self-defense clinics, and similar lawful activity, or any facility, program or lawful activity related to firearms instruction and training intended to teach the safe handling and use of firearms, or any other lawful sports or activities related to the individual recreational use or possession of firearms, including but not limited to, hunting activities, target shooting, self-defense, firearms collection or any organized activity including, but not limited to, any hunting club, rifle club, rifle range or shooting range which does not include a conspiracy as defined under the laws of this state or the knowledge of or the intent to cause or further a civil disorder. TERRORIST CONTROL ACT, PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES -- PENALTIES. Any person who: (1) Conspires with one (1) or more persons to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate any citizen in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the constitutions or laws of the United States or the state of residence, by the use of violence against the person or property of such citizen; or (2) Goes on the highway, or on the premises of any citizen, with one (1) or more other persons, with the intent by use of violence against such citizen or his property, to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured; or (3) Assembles with one (1) or more persons for the purpose of training or instructing in the use of, or practicing with, any technique or means capable of causing property damage, bodily injury or death with the intent to employ such training, instruction or practice in the commission of a civil disorder, as defined herein; or (4) Commits an act of terrorism, as defined in this chapter; or (5) Conspires with one (1) or more persons to commit an act of terrorism, as defined in this chapter; shall be guilty of a felony. A violation of subsection (1), (2) or (3) of this section shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not to exceed ten (10) years, by a fine not in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment. A violation of subsection (4) or (5) shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of up to and including life imprisonment or by a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both. TERRORIST CONTROL ACT, PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS. (1) A person who provides material support or resources, or who conceals or disguises the nature, location, source or ownership of material support or resources, with the knowledge and intention that such support or resources are to be used in the preparation or carrying out of a violation of this chapter, or in the preparation or carrying out of the concealment of such support or resources, or in the escape from the commission of any such violation, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) years or by a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both. (2) As used in this section, the term "material support or resources" means currency or other financial securities, financial services, lodging, safe houses, training, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets. "Material support or resources" does not include medical or religious material. TERRORIST CONTROL ACT, PURPOSE. The legislature recognizes the constitutional right of every citizen to harbor and express beliefs on any subject, to associate with others who share similar beliefs, and to keep and bear arms. It is not the intent, by the provisions of this chapter, to interfere with the exercise of rights protected by the constitutions of the state of residence or the United States. The legislature further recognizes and finds that conspiracies and training activities in furtherance of unlawful acts of violence against persons and property is not constitutionally protected, poses a threat to public order and safety, and should be subject to criminal sanctions. TERRORIST CONTROL ACT, SEVERABILITY. The provisions of this act are hereby declared to be severable and if any provision of this act or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid for any reason, such declaration shall not affect the validity of remaining portions of this act. TESTS OF DRIVER FOR ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION, PRESENCE OF DRUGS OR OTHER INTOXICATING SUBSTANCES -- SUSPENSION UPON REFUSAL OF TESTS. (1) Any person who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle in this state shall be deemed to have given his consent to evidentiary testing for concentration of alcohol as defined in State Code, and to have given his consent to evidentiary testing for the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances, provided that such testing is administered at the request of a peace officer having reasonable grounds to believe that person has been driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle in violation of the provisions of State Code.
(2) Such person shall not have the right to consult with an attorney before submitting to such evidentiary testing. (3) At the time evidentiary testing for concentration of alcohol, or for the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances is requested, the person shall be informed that if he refuses to submit to or if he fails to complete, evidentiary testing: (a) His driver's license will be seized by the peace officer and a temporary permit will be issued; provided, however, that no peace officer shall issue a temporary permit pursuant to this section to a driver whose driver's license or permit has already been and is suspended or revoked because of previous violations, and in no instance shall a temporary permit be issued to a driver of a commercial vehicle who refuses to submit to or fails to complete an evidentiary test; (b) He has the right to request a hearing within seven (7) days to show cause why he refused to submit to, or complete evidentiary testing; (c) If he does not request a hearing or does not prevail at the hearing, his driver's license will be suspended absolutely for one hundred eighty (180) days if this is his first refusal and one (1) year if this is his second refusal within five (5) years; and (d) After submitting to evidentiary testing he may, when practicable, at his own expense, have additional tests made by a person of his own choosing. (4) If the motorist refuses to submit to or complete evidentiary testing after the information has been given in accordance with subsection (3) above: (a) His driver's license or permit shall be seized by the peace officer and forwarded to the court and a temporary permit shall be issued by the peace officer which allows him to operate a motor vehicle until the date of his hearing, if a hearing is requested, but in no event for more than thirty (30) days; provided, however, that no peace officer shall issue a temporary permit pursuant to this section to a driver whose driver's license or permit has already been and is suspended or revoked because of previous violations and in no instance shall a temporary permit be issued to a driver of a commercial vehicle who refuses to submit to or fails to complete an evidentiary test; (b) A written request may be made within seven (7) calendar days for a hearing before the court; if requested, the hearing must be held within thirty (30) days of the seizure unless this period is, for good cause shown, extended by the court for one (1) additional thirty (30) day period. The court, in granting such an extension, may, for good cause shown, extend the defendant's temporary driving privileges for one (1) additional thirty (30) day period. The hearing shall be limited to the question of why the defendant did not submit to, or complete, evidentiary testing, and the burden of proof shall be upon the defendant; the court shall suspend all his driving privileges immediately for one hundred eighty (180) days for a first refusal and one (1) year for a second refusal within five (5) years unless it finds that the peace officer did not have legal cause to stop and request him to take the test or that the request violated his civil rights; (c) If a hearing is not requested by written notice to the court concerned within seven (7) calendar days, upon receipt of a sworn statement by the peace officer of the circumstances of the refusal, the court shall suspend his driving privileges for one hundred eighty (180) days for a first refusal and one (1) year for a second refusal within five (5) years, during which time he shall have absolutely no driving privileges of any kind; and (d) After submitting to evidentiary testing at the request of the peace officer, he may, when practicable, at his own expense, have additional tests made by a person of his own choosing. The failure or inability to obtain an additional test or tests by a person shall not preclude the admission of results of evidentiary testing for alcohol concentration or for the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances taken at the direction of the peace officer unless the additional test was denied by the peace officer. (5) Any suspension of driving privileges under this section of State Code, shall be a civil penalty separate and apart from any other suspension imposed for a violation of other State motor vehicle codes or for a conviction of an offense pursuant to this chapter, and may be appealed to the district court. (6) No hospital, hospital officer, agent, or employee, or health care professional licensed by the state of residence, whether or not such person has privileges to practice in the hospital in which a body fluid sample is obtained or an evidentiary test is made, shall incur any civil or criminal liability for any act arising out of administering an evidentiary test for alcohol concentration or for the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances at the request or order of a peace officer in the manner described in this section and State Code: provided, that nothing in this section shall relieve any such person or legal entity from civil liability arising from the failure to exercise the community standard of care. (a) This immunity extends to any person who assists any individual to withdraw a blood sample for evidentiary testing at the request or order of a peace officer, which individual is authorized to withdraw a blood sample under the provisions of State Code, regardless of the location where the blood sample is actually withdrawn. (b) A peace officer is empowered to order an individual authorized in State Code, to withdraw a blood sample for evidentiary testing when the peace officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed any of the following offenses: (i) Aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substance as provided in State Code; (ii) Vehicular manslaughter as provided in State Code; (iii) Aggravated operating of a vessel on the waters of the state while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances as provided in State Code; or (iv) Any criminal homicide involving a vessel on the waters of the state while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances. (c) Nothing herein shall limit the discretion of the hospital administration to designate the qualified hospital employee responsible to withdraw the blood sample.
(d) The law enforcement agency that requests or orders withdrawal of the blood sample shall pay the reasonable costs to withdraw such blood sample, perform laboratory analysis, preserve evidentiary test results, and testify in judicial proceedings. (e) The withdrawal of the blood sample may be delayed or terminated if: (i) In the reasonable judgment of the hospital personnel withdrawal of the blood sample may result in serious bodily injury to hospital personnel or other patients; or (ii) The licensed health care professional treating the suspect believes the withdrawal of the blood sample is contraindicated because of the medical condition of the suspect or other patients. (7) "Actual physical control" as used in this section and State Code, shall be defined as being in the driver's position of the motor vehicle with the motor running or with the motor vehicle moving. (8) Any written notice required by this section shall be effective upon mailing. (9) For the purposes of this section of State Code, "evidentiary testing" shall mean a procedure or test or series of procedures or tests, including the additional test authorized in subsection (10) of this section, utilized to determine the concentration of alcohol or the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances in a person. (10) A person who submits to a breath test for alcohol concentration, as defined in State Code, may also be requested to submit to a second evidentiary test of blood or urine for the purpose of determining the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances if the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe that a person was driving under the influence of any drug or intoxicating substance or the combined influence of alcohol and any drug or intoxicating substance. The peace officer shall state in his or her report the facts upon which that belief is based. TESTS OF DRIVER FOR ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION, PRESENCE OF DRUGS OR OTHER INTOXICATING SUBSTANCES -- SUSPENSION UPON FAILURE OF TESTS. (1) Definitions. As used in this section: (a) "Actual physical control" means being in the driver's position of a motor vehicle with the motor running or with the vehicle moving. (b) "Administrative hearing" means a hearing conducted by a hearing officer to determine whether a suspension imposed by the provisions of this section should be vacated or sustained. (c) "Department" means the State transportation department and, as the context requires, shall be construed to include any agent of the department designated by rule as hereinafter provided. (d) "Director" means the director of the State transportation department. (e) "Evidentiary testing" means a procedure or test or series of procedures or tests utilized to determine the concentration of alcohol or the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances in a person, including additional testing authorized by subsection (6) of this section. An evidentiary test for alcohol concentration shall be based on a formula of grams of alcohol per one hundred (100) cubic centimeters of blood, per two hundred ten (210) liters of breath, or sixty-seven (67) milliliters of urine. Analysis of blood, breath or urine for the purpose of determining alcohol concentration shall be performed by a laboratory operated by the state police or by a laboratory approved by the state police under the provisions of approval and certification standards to be set by the state police, or by any other method approved by the state police. Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule of court, the results of any test for alcohol concentration and records relating to calibration, approval, certification or quality control performed by a laboratory operated and approved by the state police or by any other method approved by the state police shall be admissible in any proceeding in this state without the necessity of producing a witness to establish the reliability of the testing procedure for examination. (f) "Hearing officer" means a person designated by the department to conduct administrative hearings. The hearing officer shall have authority to administer oaths, examine witnesses and take testimony, receive relevant evidence, issue subpoenas, regulate the course and conduct of the hearing and make a final ruling on the issues before him. (g) "Hearing request" means a request for an administrative hearing on the suspension imposed by the provisions of this section. (2) Information to be given. At the time of evidentiary testing for concentration of alcohol, or for the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances is requested, the person shall be informed that if the person refuses to submit to or fails to complete evidentiary testing, or if the person submits to and completes evidentiary testing and the test results indicate an alcohol concentration or the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances in violation of State Code, the person shall be informed substantially as follows (but need not be informed verbatim): If you refuse to submit to or if you fail to complete and pass evidentiary testing for alcohol or other intoxicating substances: (a) The peace officer will seize your driver's license and issue a notice of suspension and a temporary driving permit to you, but no peace officer will issue you a temporary driving permit if your driver's license or permit has already been and is suspended or revoked. No peace officer shall issue a temporary driving permit to a driver of a commercial vehicle who refuses to submit to or fails to complete and pass an evidentiary test; (b) You have the right to request a hearing within seven (7) days of the notice of suspension of your driver's license to show cause why you refused to submit to or to complete and pass evidentiary testing and why your driver's license should not be suspended;
(c) If you refused or failed to complete evidentiary testing and do not request a hearing before the court or do not prevail at the hearing, your driver's license will be suspended. The suspension will be for one hundred eighty (180) days if this is your first refusal. The suspension will be for one (1) year if this is your second refusal within five (5) years. You will not be able to obtain a temporary restricted license during that period; and (d) If you complete evidentiary testing and fail the testing and do not request a hearing before the department or do not prevail at the hearing, your driver's license will be suspended. This suspension will be for ninety (90) days if this is your first failure of evidentiary testing, but you may request restricted noncommercial vehicle driving privileges after the first thirty (30) days. The suspension will be for one (1) year if this is your second failure of evidentiary testing within five (5) years. You will not be able to obtain a temporary restricted license during that period; (e) After submitting to evidentiary testing you may, when practicable, at your own expense, have additional tests made by a person of your own choosing. (3) Rulemaking authority of the state police. The state police may, pursuant to State Code, prescribe by rule: (a) What testing is required to complete evidentiary testing under this section; and (b) What calibration or checking of testing equipment must be performed to comply with the department's requirements. Any rules of the state police shall be in accordance with the following: a test for alcohol concentration in breath as defined in State Code, and subsection (1)(e) of this section will be valid for the purposes of this section if the breath alcohol testing instrument was approved for testing by the state police in accordance with State Code, at any time within ninety (90) days before the evidentiary testing. A test for alcohol concentration in blood or urine as defined in State Code, that is reported by the state police or by any laboratory approved by the state police to perform this test will be valid for the purposes of this section. (4) Suspension. (a) Upon receipt of the sworn statement of a peace officer that there existed legal cause to believe a person had been driving or was in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances and that the person submitted to a test and the test results indicated an alcohol concentration or the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances in violation of State Code, the department shall suspend the person's driver's license, driver's permit, driving privileges or nonresident driving privileges: (i) For a period of ninety (90) days for a first failure of evidentiary testing under the provisions of this section. The first thirty (30) days of the suspension shall be absolute and the person shall have absolutely no driving privileges of any kind. Restricted noncommercial vehicle driving privileges applicable during the remaining sixty (60) days of the suspension may be requested as provided in subsection (9) of this section. (ii) For a period of one (1) year for a second and any subsequent failure of evidentiary testing under the provisions of this section within the immediately preceding five (5) years. No driving privileges of any kind shall be granted during the suspension imposed pursuant to this subsection. The person may request an administrative hearing on the suspension as provided in subsection (7) of this section. Any right to contest the suspension shall be waived if a hearing is not requested as therein provided. (b) The suspension shall become effective thirty (30) days after service upon the person of the notice of suspension. The notice shall be in a form provided by the department and shall state: (i) The reason and statutory grounds for the suspension; (ii) The effective date of the suspension; (iii) The suspension periods to which the person may be subject as provided in subsection (4)(a) of this section; (iv) The procedures for obtaining restricted noncommercial vehicle driving privileges; (v) The rights of the person to request an administrative hearing on the suspension and that if an administrative hearing is not requested within seven (7) days of service of the notice of suspension the right to contest the suspension shall be waived; (vi) The procedures for obtaining an administrative hearing on the suspension; (vii) The right to judicial review of the hearing officer's decision on the suspension and the procedures for seeking such review. (5) Service of suspension by peace officer or the department. If the driver submits to evidentiary testing after the information in subsection (2) of this section has been provided and the results of the test indicate an alcohol concentration or the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances in violation of the provisions of State Code: (a) The peace officer shall take possession of the person's driver's license, shall issue a temporary permit which shall be valid for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days from the date of issuance, and, acting on behalf of the department, will serve the person with a notice of suspension in the form and containing the information required under subsection (4) of this section. The department may serve the person with a notice of suspension if the peace officer failed to issue the notice of suspension or failed to include the date of service as provided in subsection (4)(b) of this section.
(b) Within five (5) business days following service of a notice of suspension the peace officer shall forward to the department a copy of the completed notice of suspension form upon which the date of service upon the driver shall be clearly indicated, a copy of any completed temporary permit form along with any confiscated driver's license, a certified copy or duplicate original of the results of all tests for alcohol concentration, as shown by analysis of breath administered at the direction of the peace officer, and a sworn statement of the officer, which may incorporate any arrest or incident reports relevant to the arrest and evidentiary testing setting forth: (i) The identity of the person; (ii) Stating the officer's legal cause to stop the person; (iii) Stating the officer's legal cause to believe that the person had been driving or was in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances in violation of the provisions of State Code; (iv) That the person was advised of the consequences of taking and failing the evidentiary test as provided in subsection (2) of this section; (v) That the person was lawfully arrested; (vi) That the person was tested for alcohol concentration, drugs or other intoxicating substances as provided in this chapter, and that the results of the test indicated an alcohol concentration or the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances in violation of the provisions of State Code. If an evidentiary test of blood or urine was administered rather than a breath test, the peace officer or the department shall serve the notice of suspension once the results are received. The sworn statement required in this subsection shall be made on forms in accordance with rules adopted by the department. (c) The department may serve the person with a notice of suspension if the peace officer failed to issue the notice of suspension or failed to include the date of service as provided in subsection (4)(b) of this section. (6) Additional tests. After submitting to evidentiary testing at the request of the peace officer, the person may, when practicable, at his own expense, have additional tests for alcohol concentration or for the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances made by a person of his own choosing. The person's failure or inability to obtain additional tests shall not preclude admission of the results of evidentiary tests administered at the direction of the peace officer unless additional testing was denied by the peace officer. (7) Administrative hearing on suspension. A person who has been served with a notice of suspension after submitting to an evidentiary test may request an administrative hearing on the suspension before a hearing officer designated by the department. The request for hearing shall be in writing and must be received by the department within seven (7) calendar days of the date of service upon the person of the notice of suspension, and shall include what issue or issues shall be raised at the hearing. The date on which the hearing request was received shall be noted on the face of the request. If a hearing is requested, the hearing shall be held within twenty (20) days of the date the hearing request was received by the department unless this period is, for good cause shown, extended by the hearing officer for one ten (10) day period. Such extension shall not operate as a stay of the suspension and any temporary permit shall expire thirty (30) days after service of the notice of suspension, notwithstanding an extension of the hearing date beyond such thirty (30) day period. Written notice of the date and time of the hearing shall be sent to the party requesting the hearing at least seven (7) days prior to the scheduled hearing date. The department may conduct all hearings by telephone if each participant in the hearing has an opportunity to participate in the entire proceeding while it is taking place. The hearing shall be recorded. The sworn statement of the arresting officer, and the copy of the notice of suspension and any temporary permit issued by the officer shall be admissible at the hearing without further evidentiary foundation. The results of any tests for alcohol concentration or the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances by analysis of blood, urine or breath administered at the direction of the peace officer and the records relating to calibration, certification, approval or quality control pertaining to equipment utilized to perform the tests shall be admissible as provided in State Code. The arresting officer shall not be required to participate unless directed to do so by a subpoena issued by the hearing officer. The burden of proof shall be on the person requesting the hearing. The hearing officer shall not vacate the suspension unless he finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that: (a) The peace officer did not have legal cause to stop the person; or (b) The officer did not have legal cause to believe the person had been driving or was in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances in violation of the provisions of State Code; or (c) The test results did not show an alcohol concentration or the presence of drugs or other intoxicating substances in violation of State Code; or (d) The tests for alcohol concentration, drugs or other intoxicating substances administered at the direction of the peace officer were not conducted in accordance with the requirements of State Code, or the testing equipment was not functioning properly when the test was administered; or (e) The person was not informed of the consequences of submitting to evidentiary testing as required in subsection (2) of this section. If the hearing officer finds that the person has not met his burden of proof, he shall sustain the suspension. The hearing officer shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law on each issue and shall enter an order vacating or sustaining the suspension. If the suspension is vacated, the person's driver's license, unless unavailable by reason of an existing suspension, revocation, cancellation, disqualification or denial shall be returned to him. The findings of fact, conclusions of law and order entered by the hearing officer shall be considered a final order pursuant to the provisions of State Code, except that motions for reconsideration of such order shall be allowed and new evidence can be submitted.
The facts as found by the hearing officer shall be independent of the determination of the same or similar facts in the adjudication of any criminal charges arising out of the same occurrence. The disposition of those criminal charges shall not affect the suspension required to be imposed under the provisions of this section. If a license is suspended under this section and the person is also convicted on criminal charges arising out of the same occurrence for a violation of the provisions of State Code, both the suspension under this section and the suspension imposed pursuant to the provisions of State Code, shall be imposed, but the periods of suspension shall run concurrently, with the total period of suspension not to exceed the longer of the applicable suspension periods, unless the court ordering the suspension in the criminal case orders to the contrary. (8) Judicial review. A party aggrieved by the decision of the hearing officer may seek judicial review of the decision in the manner provided for judicial review of final agency action provided in State Code. (9) Restricted noncommercial vehicle driving privileges. A person served with a notice of suspension for ninety (90) days pursuant to this section may apply to the department for restricted noncommercial vehicle driving privileges, to become effective after the thirty (30) day absolute suspension has been completed. The request may be made at any time after service of the notice of suspension. Restricted noncommercial vehicle driving privileges will be issued for the person to travel to and from work and for work purposes not involving operation of a commercial vehicle, to attend an alternative high school, work on a GED, for postsecondary education, or to meet the medicalneeds of the person or his family if the person is eligible for restricted noncommercial vehicle driving privileges. Any person whose driving privileges are suspended under the provisions of this chapter may be granted privileges to drive a noncommercial vehicle but shall not be granted privileges to operate a commercial motor vehicle. (10) Rules. The department may adopt rules under the provisions of State Code, deemed necessary to implement the provisions of this section. THEFT. (1) A person steals property and commits theft when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate the same to himself or to a third person, he wrongfully takes, obtains or withholds such property from an owner thereof. (2) Theft includes a wrongful taking, obtaining or withholding of another's property, with the intent prescribed in subsection (1) of this section, committed in any of the following ways: (a) By deception obtains or exerts control over property of the owner; (b) By conduct heretofore defined or known as larceny; common law larceny by trick; embezzlement; extortion; obtaining property, money or labor under false pretenses; or receiving stolen goods; (c) By acquiring lost property. A person acquires lost property when he exercises control over property of another which he knows to have been lost or mislaid, or to have been delivered under a mistake as to the identity of the recipient or the nature or amount of the property, without taking reasonable measures to return such property to the owner; or a person commits theft of lost or mislaid property when he: 1. Knows or learns the identity of the owner or knows, or is aware of, or learns of a reasonable method of identifying the owner; and 2. Fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to the owner; and 3. Intends to deprive the owner permanently of the use or benefit of the property. (d) By false promise: 1. A person obtains property by false promise when pursuant to a scheme to defraud, he obtains property of another by means of a representation, express or implied, that he or a third person will in the future engage in particular conduct, and when he does not intend to engage in such conduct or, as the case may be, does not believe that the third person intends to engage in such conduct. 2. In any prosecution for theft based upon a false promise, the defendant's intention or belief that the promise would not be performed may not be established by or inferred from the fact alone that such promise was not performed. Such a finding may be based only upon evidence establishing that the facts and circumstances of the case are consistent with guilty intent or belief and inconsistent with innocent intent or belief, and excluding to a moral certainty every reasonable hypothesis except that of the defendant's intention or belief that the promise would not be performed; (e) By extortion. A person obtains property by extortion when he compels or induces another person to deliver such property to himself or to a third person by means of instilling in him a fear that, if the property is not so delivered, the actor or another will: 1. Cause physical injury to some person in the future; or 2. Cause damage to property; or 3. Engage in other conduct constituting a crime; or 4. Accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against him; or 5. Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; or 6. Cause a strike, boycott or other collective labor group action injurious to some person's business; except that such a threat shall not be deemed extortion when the property is demanded or received for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act; or 7. Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another's legal claim or defense; or 8. Use or abuse his position as a public servant by performing some act within or related to his official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely; or
9. Perform any other act which would not in itself materially benefit the actor but which is calculated to harm another person materially with respect to his health, safety, business, calling, career, financial condition, reputation or personal relationships. (3) A person commits theft when he knowingly takes or exercises unauthorized control over, or makes an unauthorized transfer of an interest in, the property of another person, with the intent of depriving the owner thereof. (4) A person commits theft when he knowingly receives, retains, conceals, obtains control over, possesses, or disposes of stolen property, knowing the property to have been stolen or under such circumstances as would reasonably induce him to believe that the property was stolen, and (a) Intends to deprive the owner permanently of the use or benefit of the property; or (b) Knowingly uses, conceals or abandons the property in such manner as to deprive the owner permanently of such use or benefit; or (c) Uses, conceals, or abandons the property knowing such use, concealment or abandonment probably will deprive the owner permanently of such use or benefit. (5) Theft of labor or services or use of property. (a) A person commits theft when he obtains the temporary use of property, labor or services of another which are available only for hire, by means of threat or deception or knowing that such use is without the consent of the person providing the property, labor or services. (b) A person commits theft when after renting or leasing a motor vehicle under an agreement in writing which provides for the return of the vehicle to a particular place at a particular time, he willfully or intentionally fails to return the vehicle to that place within forty-eight (48) hours after the time specified. (c) A person commits theft if, having control over the disposition of services of others, to which he is not entitled, he knowingly diverts such services to his own benefit or to the benefit of another not entitled thereto. THEFT BY LESSEE, PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE. It shall be prima facie evidence that a person knowingly obtains or exerts unauthorized control over property of the owner when a lessee of the personal property of another, leased or rented by written instrument: (1) Fails or refuses to return such personal property to its owner after the lease or rental agreement has expired: (a) Within ten (10) days; and (b) Within forty-eight (48) hours after written demand for return thereof is personally served or given by registered mail delivered to the last known address provided in such lease or rental agreement; or (2) When the lease or rent of such personal property is obtained by presentation of identification to the lessor or renter thereof which is false, fictitious, or knowingly not current to name, address, place of employment, or other identification. THEFT, GRADING OF. Theft is divided into two (2) degrees, grand theft and petit theft. (1) Grand theft. (a) A person is guilty of grand theft when he commits a theft as defined in this chapter and when the property, regardless of its nature and value, is obtained by extortion committed by instilling in the victim a fear that the actor or another person will: 1. Cause physical injury to some person in the future; or 2. Cause damage to property; or 3. Use or abuse his position as a public servant by engaging in conduct within or related to his official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely. (b) A person is guilty of grand theft when he commits a theft as defined in this chapter and when: 1. The value of the property taken exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000); or 2. The property consists of a public record, writing or instrument kept, filed or deposited according to law with or in the keeping of any public office or public servant; or 3. The property consists of a check, draft or order for the payment of money upon any bank, or a check, draft or order account number, or a financial transaction card or financial transaction card account number as those terms are defined in State Code; or 4. The property, regardless of its nature or value, is taken from the person of another; or 5. The property, regardless of its nature and value, is obtained by extortion; or 6. The property consists of one (1) or more firearms, rifles or shotguns; or 7. The property taken or deliberately killed is livestock or any other animal exceeding one hundred fifty dollars ($150) in value. 8. When any series of thefts, comprised of individual thefts having a value of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less, are part of a common scheme or plan, the thefts may be aggregated in one (1) count and the sum of the value of all of the thefts shall be the value considered in determining whether the value exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000); or 9. The property has an aggregate value over fifty dollars ($50.00) and is stolen during three (3) or more incidents of theft during a criminal episode. For purposes of this subparagraph a "criminal episode" shall mean a series of unlawful acts committed over a period of up to three (3) days; or 10. The property is anhydrous ammonia.
(2) Petit theft. A person is guilty of petit theft when he commits a theft as defined in this chapter and his actions do not constitute grand theft. THEFT -- CONSOLIDATION OF THEFT OFFENSES. (1) Conduct denominated theft in this chapter constitutes a single offense superceding the separate offenses previously known as embezzlement, extortion, false pretenses, cheats,misrepresentations, larceny and receiving stolen goods. (2) An accusation of theft may be supported by evidence that it was committed in any manner that would be theft under this chapter, notwithstanding the specification of a different manner in the indictment, information or complaint, subject only to the power of the court to ensure fair trial by granting a continuance or other appropriate relief where the conduct of the defense would be prejudiced by lack of fair notice or by surprise. THEFT -- DEFENSES. (1) It is no defense to a charge of theft of property that the offender has an interest therein, when the owner also has an interest to which the offender is not entitled. (2) Where the property involved is that of the offender's spouse, no prosecution for theft may be maintained unless the parties were not living together as man and wife and were living in separate abodes at the time of the alleged theft. (3) In any prosecution for theft committed by trespassory taking or the offense previously known as embezzlement, it is an affirmative defense that the property was appropriated openly and avowedly, and under a claim of right made in good faith. It is not a defense to a theft committed by such conduct that the accused intended to restore the property taken, but may be considered by the court to mitigate punishment if the property is voluntarily and actually restored (or tendered) prior to the filing of any complaint or indictment relating thereto, and this provision does not excuse the unlawful retention of the property of another to offset or pay demands held against the accused. (4) In any prosecution for theft by extortion committed by instilling in the victim a fear that he or another person would be charged with a crime, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant reasonably believed the threatened charge to be true and that his sole purpose was to compel or induce the victim to take reasonable action to make good the wrong which was the subject of such threatened charge. (5) It is no defense to a prosecution for theft under a provision of this chapter that the defendant, by reason of the same conduct, also committed an act specified as a crime in State Code. THEFT -- DEFINITIONS. The following definitions are applicable to this topic: (1) "Appropriate." To "appropriate" property of another to oneself or a third person means: (a) To exercise control over it, or to aid a third person to exercise control over it, permanently or for so extended a period or under such circumstances as to acquire the major portion of its economic value or benefit; or (b) To dispose of the property for the benefit of oneself or a third person. (2) "Deception" means knowingly to: (a) Create or confirm another's impression which is false and which the offender does not believe to be true; or (b) Fail to correct a false impression which the offender previously has created or confirmed; or (c) Prevent another from acquiring information pertinent to the disposition of the property involved; or (d) Sell or otherwise transfer or encumber property, failing to disclose a lien, adverse claim, or other legal impediment to the enjoyment of the property whether such impediment is or is not valid, or is or is not a matter of official record; or (e) Promise performance which the offender does not intend to perform or knows will not be performed. Failure to perform, standing alone, is not evidence that the offender did not intend to perform. (3) "Deprive." To "deprive" another of property means: (a) To withhold it or cause it to be withheld from him permanently or for so extended a period or under such circumstances that the major portion of its economic value or benefit is lost to him; or (b) To dispose of the property in such manner or under such circumstances as to render it unlikely that an owner will recover such property. (4) "Obtain" means: (a) In relation to property, to bring about a transfer of interest or possession, whether to the offender or to another; and (b) In relation to labor or services, to secure the performance thereof. (5) "Obtains or exerts control" over property, includes, but is not limited to, the taking, carrying away, or the sale, conveyance, or transfer of title to, or interest in, or possession of property. (6) "Owner." When property is taken, obtained or withheld by one (1) person from another person, an owner thereof means any person who has a right to possession thereof superior to that of the taker, obtainer or withholder. (7) "Person" means an individual, corporation, association, public or private corporation, city or other municipality, county, state agency or the State.
(8) "Property" means anything of value. Property includes real estate, money, commercial instruments, admission or transportation tickets, written instruments representing or embodying rights concerning anything of value, labor or services, or otherwise of value to the owner; things growing on, affixed to, or found on land, or part of or affixed to any building; electricity, gas, steam, and water; birds, animals and fish, which ordinarily are kept in a state of confinement; food and drink; samples, cultures, microorganisms, specimens, records, recordings, documents, blueprints, drawings, maps, and whole or partial copies, descriptions, photographs, prototypes or models thereof, or any other articles, materials, devices, substances and whole or partial copies, descriptions, photographs, prototypes or models thereof which constitute, represent, evidence, reflect or record a secret scientific, technical, merchandising, production or management information, design, process, procedure, formula, invention, or improvement. (9) "Service" includes, but is not limited to, labor, professional service, transportation service, the supplying of hotel accommodations, restaurant services, entertainment, (a communication system) the supplying of equipment for use, and the supplying of commodities of a public utility nature such as gas, electricity, steam and water. A ticket or equivalent instrument which evidences a right to receive a service is not in itself service but constitutes property within the meaning of subsection (8) of this section. (10) "Stolen property" means property over which control has been obtained by theft. (11) "Value." The value of property shall be ascertained as follows: (a) Except as otherwise specified in this section, value means the market value of the property at the time and place of the crime, or if such cannot be satisfactorily ascertained, the cost of replacement of the property within a reasonable time after the crime. (b) Whether or not they have been issued or delivered, certain written instruments, not including those having a readily ascertainable market value such as some public and corporate bonds and securities, shall be evaluated as follows: 1. The value of an instrument constituting an evidence of debt, such as a check, draft or promissory note, shall be deemed the amount due or collectible thereon or thereby, such figure ordinarily being the face amount of the indebtedness less any portion thereof which has been satisfied. 2. The value of a ticket or equivalent instrument which evidences a right to receive a transportation, entertainment or other service shall be deemed the price stated thereon, if any; and if no price is stated thereon the value shall be deemed the price of such ticket or equivalent instrument which the issuer charges the general public. 3. The value of any other instrument which creates, releases,discharges or otherwise affects any valuable legal right, privilege or obligation shall be deemed the greatest amount of economic loss which the owner of the instrument might reasonably suffer by virtue of the loss of the instrument. (c) When the value of property cannot be satisfactorily ascertained pursuant to the standards set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection, its value shall be deemed to be one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less. (d) For the purpose of establishing value of any written instrument, the interest of any owner or owners entitled to part or all of the property represented by such instrument, by reason of such instrument, may be shown, even if another owner may be named in the complaint, information or indictment. THEFT -- PROOF OF FRAUDULENT INTENT IN PROCURING FOOD, LODGING OR OTHER ACCOMMODATIONS. Proof that lodging, food or other accommodation was obtained by any deception or false pretense, or by any false or fictitious show or pretense of any baggage or other property, or that any person absconded without paying or offering to pay for such food, lodging or other accommodation, or that any such person surreptitiously removed, or attempted to remove, his or her baggage, shall be prima facie proof of the intent necessary for the theft of the same. THEFT OF TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES. (1) As used in this section: (a) "Clone cellular telephone" or "counterfeit cellular telephone" is a cellular telephone whose electronic serial number has been altered from the electronic serial number that was programmed in the telephone by the manufacturer by someone other than the manufacturer. (b) "Cloning paraphernalia" means materials that, when possessed in combination, are capable of creating a cloned cellular telephone. These materials include: scanners to intercept the electronic serial number and mobile identification number, cellular telephones, cables, EPROM chips, EPROM burners, software for programming the cloned phone with a false electronic serial number and mobile identification number combination, a computer containing such software and lists of electronic serial number and mobile identification number combinations. (c) "Electronic serial number" means the unique number that was programmed into a cellular telephone by its manufacturer which is transmitted by the cellular phone and used by cellular telephone providers to validate radio transmissions to the system as having been made by an authorized device. (d) "EPROM" or "erasable programmable read-only memory" means an integrated circuit memory that can be programmed from an external source and erased, for reprogramming, by exposure to ultraviolet light. (e) "Illegal telecommunications equipment" means any instrument, apparatus, equipment, or device which is designed or adapted, and otherwise used or intended to be used for the theft of any telecommunication service or for concealing from any supplier of telecommunication service or lawful authority the existence, place of origin, use or destination of any telecommunication. (f) "Intercept" means to electronically capture, record, reveal or otherwise access the signals emitted or received during the operation of a cellular telephone without the consent of the sender or receiver of the signals, by means of any instrument, device or equipment.
(g) "Mobile identification number" means the cellular telephone number assigned to the cellular telephone by the cellular telephone carrier. (h) "Possess" means to have physical possession or otherwise to exercise dominion or control over tangible property. (i) "Telecommunication service" means a service which, in exchange for a pecuniary consideration, provides or offers to provide transmission of messages, signals, facsimiles, video images or other communication between persons who are physically separated from each other by means of telephone, telegraph, cable, wire, or the projection of energy without physical connection. (2) It is unlawful intentionally to: (a) Make illegal telecommunications equipment; or (b) Sell, give, or furnish to another or advertise or offer for sale illegal telecommunications equipment; or (c) Sell, give, or furnish to another or advertise or offer for sale any plans or instructions for making, assembling, or using illegal telecommunications equipment; or (d) Use or possess illegal telecommunications equipment. (3) It is unlawful intentionally to: (a) Make clone cellular telephones; or (b) Sell, give or furnish to another or advertise or offer for sale clone cellular telephones; or (c) Sell, give or furnish to another or advertise or offer for sale any plans or instructions for making, assembling, or using clone cellular telephones; or (d) Use or possess illegal cloning paraphernalia; or (e) Use a clone cellular telephone or counterfeit telephone to facilitate the commission of a felony. (4) It is theft of telecommunications services to use, receive, or control telecommunications services without paying the pecuniary consideration regularly charged by the supplier of the telecommunication services used, received or controlled. (a) Actual knowledge by the supplier of the telecommunication services that a person is or has been using, receiving or controlling the services shall not be a defense to the crime of theft of telecommunication services. (5) A person who violates the provisions of subsection (2)(d) of this section commits a crime and shall be punished as follows: (a) The first conviction shall be a misdemeanor, which shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (b) Conviction of a second or subsequent violation shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (6) A person who violates the provisions of either subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c) of this section commits a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (7) A person who violates the provisions of subsection (3) of this section commits a felony. (8) In a prosecution for violation of the provisions of subsection (2), (3) or (4) of this section, the element of intent may be established by proof that the defendant obtained such services by any of the following means: (a) By use of a code, prearranged scheme, or other similar stratagem or device whereby said person, in effect, sends or receives information; (b) Without the consent of the supplier of the telecommunication services, the installation, connection, or alteration of any equipment, cable, wire, antenna or facilities capable of either physically, inductively, acoustically, or electronically enabling a person to use, receive or control telecommunication services without paying the regular pecuniary charge; (c) By any other trick, stratagem, impersonation, false pretense, false representation, false statement, contrivance, device, or means; or (d) By making, assembling, or possessing any instrument, apparatus, equipment, or device or the plans or instructions for the making or assembling of any instrument, apparatus, equipment, or device which is designed, adapted, or otherwise used or intended to be used to avoid the lawful charge, in whole or in part, for any telecommunications service by concealing the use, existence, place of origin, or destination of any telecommunications. (9) The supplier of telecommunication services which is directly affected by the commission of any of the acts prohibited under subsections (2), (3) and (4) of this section shall, regardless of whether there was a criminal conviction, have a civil cause of action against the person who commits any of the prohibited acts. The prevailing party shall be awarded all reasonable costs of litigation including, but not limited to, attorney's fees and court costs. If the supplier prevails, he shall recover additionally: (a) Actual damages; or (b) Liquidated damages of ten dollars ($10.00) per day for each day of the violation or five hundred dollars ($500), whichever is greater; or (c) If actual damages are greater than five hundred dollars ($500), and, if proven, punitive damages. (10) Nothing in this section shall be construed to make unlawful the interception or receipt by any person or the assisting, including the manufacture or sale, of such interception or receipt, of any satellite cable programs for private viewing as defined and specifically permitted under the "Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984."
THREATS AGAINST STATE OFFICIALS OF THE EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE OR JUDICIAL BRANCH OR ELECTED OFFICIALS OF A COUNTY OR CITY. Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier, any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of or to inflict bodily harm upon any state elected official of the executive or legislative branch, or any justice, judge or magistrate of the judicial branch, or person appointed to fill the vacancy of a state elected official of the executive or legislative branch of the state of Idaho, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against a state elected official of the executive or legislative branch, or any justice, judge or magistrate of the judicial branch, or person appointed to fill the vacancy of a state elected official of the executive or legislative branch of the state of Idaho, or upon any elected official of any county or city, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) and shall be sentenced to not to exceed one (1) year in the county jail. If such threat is made while the defendant exhibits a firearm or other dangerous or deadly weapon, the defendant shall be guilty of a felony. Upon a second or subsequent conviction of an offense under this section, the defendant shall be guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced to a term of not to exceed five (5) years in the state penitentiary. THREATS AND OTHER IMPROPER INFLUENCE IN OFFICIAL AND POLITICAL MATTERS. (1) Offenses defined. A person commits an offense if he: (a) threatens unlawful harm to any person with purpose to influence his decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or other exercise of discretion as a public servant, party official or voter; or (b) threatens harm to any public servant with purpose to influence his decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or other exercise of discretion in a judicial or administrative proceeding; or (c) threatens harm to any public servant or party official with purpose to influence him to violate his known legal duty; or (d) privately addresses to any public servant who has or will have an official discretion in a judicial or administrative proceeding any representation, entreaty, argument or other communication with purpose to influence the outcome on the basis of considerations other than those authorized by law. It is no defense to prosecution under this section that a person whom the actor sought to influence was not qualified to act in the desired way, whether because he had not yet assumed office, or lacked jurisdiction, or for any other reason. (2) Grading. An offense under this section is a misdemeanor unless the actor threatened to commit a crime or made a threat with purpose to influence a judicial or administrative proceeding, in which cases the offense is a felony. THREATS MADE AGAINST AIRLINE PASSENGERS, OTHER PERSONS, COMMERCIAL AIRLINE COMPANIES, OR AIRCRAFT -- PENALTY. (1) Every person who knowingly and wilfully threatens the safety and well-being of any passenger, flight crew member or flight attendant, aboard any aircraft by making telephone, verbal, or written threats against any airline or aircraft within the airspace jurisdiction of the state of residence shall be guilty of a felony. (2) Any person who seizes, confines, or kidnaps another person against his will or without authority of law, or who threatens the safety and well-being of any person, with the intent to hold such person hostage or use such person for the purpose of aircraft hijacking shall be guilty of a felony. TIE-IN SALES OF PROHIBITED MATERIALS -- MISDEMEANOR. No person shall as a condition to a sale or delivery for resale of any book, paper, magazine, periodical, or other material require that the purchaser or consignee receive for resale any article, the promotion of which is prohibited by this act. Any violation hereof is a misdemeanor. TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE. (1) Whenever hazardous waste, as defined in State Code, is being transported on highways or roads of this state, it shall be transported in a manner which will not endanger the health, welfare or safety of the citizens of the state of Idaho and it shall be transported in compliance with the laws of the state of Idaho and rules and regulations promulgated thereto. (2) Any person who transports hazardous waste or any generator of hazardous waste or other person who causes hazardous waste to be transported on highways or roads of this state in a manner which will endanger the health, welfare or safety of the citizens of the state of residence, or who transports or causes hazardous waste to be transported on highways or roads of this state in a manner which is not in compliance with the laws of the state of residence and any rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), imprisonment for a period of not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. This penalty shall be in addition to any other civil or criminal penalties which may be provided by law.
TRESPASS -- ACTS CONSTITUTING. A. Every person who willfully commits any trespass, by either: 1. Cutting down, destroying or injuring any kind of wood or timber belonging to another, standing or growing upon the lands of another; or 2. Carrying away any kind of wood or timber lying on such lands; or 3. Maliciously injuring or severing from the freehold of another, anything attached thereto, or the produce thereof; or 4. Digging, taking, or carrying away from any lot situated within the limits of any incorporated city, without the license of the owner or legal occupant thereof, any earth, soil, stone; or 5. Digging, taking, or carrying away from any land in any of the cities of the state, laid down on the map or plan of such city, or otherwise recognized or established as a street, alley, avenue, or park, without the license of the proper authorities, any earth, soil or stone; or 6. Willfully opening, tearing down, or otherwise destroying any fence on the enclosed land of another, or opening any gate, bar, or fence of another and willfully leaving it open, or using the corral or corrals of another without the permission of the owner; or 7. Willfully covering up or encumbering in any manner, the land or city lot of another, without written permission from the owner or custodian thereof; or 8. Every person, except under landlord-tenant relationship, who, being first notified in writing, or verbally by the owner or authorized agent of the owner of real property, to immediately depart from the same and who refuses to so depart, or who, without permission or invitation, returns and enters said property within a year, after being so notified; or 9. Entering without permission of the owner or the owner's agent, upon the real property of another person which real property is posted with "No Trespassing" signs, is posted with a minimum of one hundred (100) square inches of fluorescent orange paint except that when metal fence posts are used, the entire post must be painted fluorescent orange, or other notices of like meaning, spaced at intervals of not less than one (1) sign, paint area or notice per six hundred sixty (660) feet along such real property; provided that where the geographical configuration of the real property is such that entry can reasonably be made only at certain points of access, such property is posted sufficiently for all purposes of this section if said signs, paint or notices are posted at such points of access; or 10. Entering the property of another and, being unprovoked, intentionally and without the consent of the animal's owner, kills or injures a domestic animal not his own: Is guilty of a misdemeanor. B. Every person who while committing any trespass, intentionally and without consent of the animal's owner kills or injures a domestic animal of another, not including upland game birds or birds of any species not protected by law, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. In addition to any other sentence of jail or a criminal fine imposed, a court may, for violation of this subsection or subsection A.10. of this section, impose a civil penalty in an amount up to double the value of the animal or for injuries sustained and payable to the owner of the animal. TRESPASS OF PRIVACY. It shall be unlawful for any person, upon the private property of another, to intentionally look, peer or peek in the door, window, or other transparent opening of any inhabited building or other structure located thereon, without visible or lawful purpose. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. TRESPASS ON INCLOSURE FOR FUR-BEARING ANIMALS. When the owner of any inclosure wherein foxes or other fur-bearing animals are held in captivity, shall erect a fence or other barrier around the same and within the boundaries of the premises under the exclusive dominion and control of such owner, and shall post warning signs in conspicuous places along such fence or barrier prohibiting trespass on the clear space between such fence or barrier and the inclosure aforesaid, it shall be unlawful for any person, without the permission of such owner, to cross such fence or barrier or trespass upon such clear space. Any person violating the provisions hereof shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
U
UNAUTHORIZED FACTORING OF CREDIT CARD SALES DRAFTS. It is unlawful for any person to knowingly and with intent to defraud, employ, solicit or otherwise cause an authorized credit card merchant, or for the authorized credit card merchant itself, to present to the issuer for payment any credit card sales draft pertaining to any sale or purported sale of goods or services which was not made by such authorized credit card merchant in the ordinary course of business, except with the express authorization of the issuer. -- PENALTY FOR VIOLATION. (1) Any person found guilty of a violation of State Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor. In the event that the retail value of the goods obtained or attempted to be obtained through any violation of the provisions of State Code, exceeds three hundred dollars ($300), any such violation will constitute a felony, and will be punished as provided in this section. (2) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a misdemeanor shall be a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) or up to one (1) year in the county jail, or both such fine and imprisonment. (3) For purposes of this section, the punishment for a felony shall be a fine of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years, or both such fine and imprisonment. UNAUTHORIZED RELEASE OF CERTAIN ANIMALS, BIRDS OR AQUATIC SPECIES -- PENALTIES. (1) Any person who without expressed permission from the owner or agent releases an animal, a bird, or an aquatic species which has been lawfully confined for agriculture, science, research, commerce, public propagation, protective custody, or education is liable: (a) to the owner or agent exercising possession of the animal, bird or aquatic species for damages and replacement costs, including the costs of restoring the animal, bird, or aquatic species to confinement and to its health condition prior to release; and (b) for damage to personal and real property caused by the release of the animal, bird or aquatic species. If the release causes the failure of an experiment, the person is liable for all costs of repeating the experiment, including replacement of the animal, bird or aquatic species. (2) Any person who intentionally and without permission releases an animal, a bird, or an aquatic species which has been lawfully confined for agriculture, science, research, commerce, public propagation, protective custody, or education is guilty of a misdemeanor. UNAUTHORIZED SCHOOL BUS ENTRY -- NOTICE. (1) A person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if that person: (a) Enters a school bus with intent to commit a crime; (b) Enters a school bus and disrupts or interferes with the driver; or (c) Enters a school bus and refuses to disembark after being ordered to do so by the driver. (2) School districts shall place notices at the entrance to school buses which warn against unauthorized school bus entry. UNAUTHORIZED TAMPERING WITH MEASURING DEVICES. Every person who shall wilfully waste water for irrigation, or who shall wilfully open, close, change or disturb, or interfere with, any headgate or water box or valve or measuring or regulating device, without authority, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. The water masters or their assistants, within their district, shall have power to arrest any person or persons offending, and turn them over to the sheriff or the nearest peace officer of the county in which such offense is committed, and immediately upon delivering such person so arrested into the custody of either of such officers, it shall be the duty of the water master making such arrest to make complaint, in writing and under oath, before the proper justice of the peace, or the probate judge of such county, against the person so arrested. UNDERGROUND WORKINGS OF MINES -- SETTING FIRE TO. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to set fire, wilfully or maliciously, in or within any of the underground tunnels, shafts, or any of the underground workings of any mine in the state of residence that shall result in the burning of, destruction of, or injury to any of the timbering or workings of any such mine or any part thereof. UNLAWFUL ABORTIONS -- PROCUREMENT OF -- PENALTY. (1) Every person not licensed or certified to provide health care in the State who, except as permitted by this chapter, provides, supplies or administers any medicine, drug or substance to any woman or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever upon any then-pregnant woman with intent thereby to cause or perform an abortion shall be guilty of a felony and shall be fined not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) and/or imprisoned in the state prison for not less than two (2) and not more than five (5) years.
(2) Any person licensed or certified to provide health care pursuant to State Code, and who, except as permitted by the provisions of this chapter, provides, supplies or administers any medicine, drug or substance to any woman or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever upon any then-pregnant woman with intent to cause or perform an abortion shall: (a) For the first violation, be subject to professional discipline and be assessed a civil penalty of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000), payable to the board granting such person's license or certification; (b) For the second violation, have their license or certification to practice suspended for a period of not less than six (6) months and be assessed a civil penalty of not less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), payable to the board granting such person's license or certification; and (c) For each subsequent violation, have their license or certification to practice revoked and be assessed a civil penalty of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), payable to the board granting such person's license or certification. (3) Any person who is licensed or certified to provide health care pursuant to State Code, and who knowingly violates the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a felony punishable as set forth in subsection (1) of this section, separate from and in addition to the administrative penalties set forth in subsection (2) of this section. UNLAWFUL ABORTIONS -- ACCOMPLICE OR ACCESSORY -- SUBMITTING TO -- PENALTY. Except as permitted by this act: (1) Every person who, as an accomplice or accessory to any violation of section 18-605, induces or knowingly aids in the production or performance of an abortion; and (2) Every woman who knowingly submits to an abortion or solicits of another, for herself, the production of an abortion, or who purposely terminates her own pregnancy otherwise than by a live birth, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and shall be fined not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) and/or imprisoned in the state prison for not less than one (1) and not more than five (5) years; provided, however, that no hospital, nurse, or other health care personnel shall be deemed in violation of this section if in good faith providing services in reliance upon the directions of a physician or upon the hospital admission of a patient for such purpose on the authority of a physician. UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY, DEFINED. Whenever two or more persons assemble together to do an unlawful act, and separate without doing or advancing toward it, or do a lawful act in a violent, boisterous or tumultuous manner, such assembly is an unlawful assembly. UNLAWFUL ENTRY A MISDEMEANOR. Every person, except under landlord-tenant relationship, who enters any dwelling house, apartment, tenement, shop, warehouse, store, mill, barn, stable, outhouse or other building, tent, vessel, closed vehicle, closed trailer, airplane, railroad car or outbuilding without the consent of the owner of such property or his agent or any person in lawful possession thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor. UNLAWFUL EXERCISE OF FUNCTIONS OF PEACE OFFICERS -- UNLAWFUL IMPORTATION OF POLICE OFFICERS -SUPPRESSION OF VIOLENCE -- EXCEPTIONS. 1. Any person who shall in this state unlawfully exercise or attempt to exercise the functions of, or hold himself out to any one as, a deputy sheriff, marshal, policeman, constable or peace officer, or any person, whether acting in his own behalf or as an officer of the law, or as the authorized or unauthorized agent or representative of another, or of any association, corporation or company, who shall bring or cause to be brought, or aid in bringing into this state any armed or unarmed police force or detective agency or force, or any armed or unarmed body of men for the suppression of domestic violence, shall be guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two (2) years and not more than five (5) years: provided, that the legislature, or the executive when the legislature can not be convened, may call upon the lawfully constituted authorities of the United States for the protection against invasion and domestic violence, as provided in section 4 of article 4 of the Constitution of the United States. 2. This section shall not apply to a law enforcement officer who pursuant to an interlocal cooperation plan upon receiving an emergency request from a State law enforcement officer enters Idaho to give assistance; nor shall this section apply to the Idaho law enforcement officer who makes a request for emergency assistance. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF BLANK LICENSES OR POLL TAX RECEIPTS. Every person who has in his possession with intent to circulate or sell, any blank licenses or poll tax receipts other than those furnished by the proper officer, is guilty of felony. UNLAWFUL RE-ENTRY OF LAND AFTER OUSTER. Every person who has been removed from any lands by process of law, or who has removed from any lands pursuant to the lawful adjudication or direction of any court, tribunal or officer, and who afterward unlawfully returns to settle, reside upon or take possession of such lands, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
UNLAWFUL REMOVAL OF HUMAN REMAINS -- MALICE -- INTENT TO SELL. Every person who removes any part of any human remains from any place where it has been interred, or from any place where it is deposited while awaiting interment, with intent to sell it or to dissect it, without authority of law, or from malice or wantonness is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not more than five (5) years, by a fine not greater than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment. UNLAWFUL USE OF ASSISTANCE DEVICE OR DOG. Any person, not being a disabled person or being trained to assist disabled persons, who uses an assistance device or assistance dog in an attempt to gain treatment or benefits as a disabled person, is guilty of a misdemeanor. UNLAWFUL USE OF THEFT DETECTION SHIELDING DEVICES. (1) A person commits unlawful use of a theft detection shielding device when he knowingly manufacturers [manufactures], sells, offers for sale or distributes any laminated, or coated bag or device peculiar to shielding and intended to shield merchandise from detection by an electronic or magnetic theft alarm sensor. (2) A person commits unlawful possession of a theft detection shielding device when he knowingly possesses any laminated or coated bag or device peculiar to and designed for shielding and intended to shield merchandise from detection by an electronic or magnetic theft alarm sensor, with the intent to commit theft. (3) A person commits unlawful possession of a theft detection device remover when he knowingly possesses any tool or device designed to allow the removal of any theft detection device from any merchandise without the permission of the merchant or person owning or holding the merchandise. (4) A person commits the offense of unlawful removal of a theft detection device when he intentionally removes the device from a product prior to purchase. (5) A person who commits unlawful use of a theft detection shielding device, unlawful possession of a theft detection shielding device, unlawful possession of a theft detection device remover or unlawful removal of a theft detection device shall be guilty of a misdemeanor for a first offense of a violation of the provisions of this section. Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of this section, or any substantially conforming statute in another state or local jurisdiction for a second time within five (5) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s), shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or shall be sentenced to the custody of the state board of correction for a term not to exceed five (5) years or both. UNNECESSARY ASSAULTS BY OFFICERS. Every public officer who, under color of authority, without lawful necessity, assaults or beats any person, is punishable by fine not exceeding $5,000 and imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year. UNPROTECTED SEX: PREGNANCY, DISEASES AND THE PC (OPTIONAL GUIDELINES) This is in no way added in to force PCs to use this, but if the players agree to involve their characters in ICA=ICC to this degree, these guidelines, not rules, have been written up for ease of the mechanics of the situation. Base Difficulty to become pregnant or catch a disease is 1 when you engage in unprotected sex with another partner, be it heterosexual or homosexual, Anal, Oral, or Vaginal intercourse. Including cunnilingus and the ever popular 'blow job'. Difficulty Modifier For: Pregnancy Partner's Sex Age Male Female Under 18 --18 - 20 0 0 20 - 25 0 +1 25 - 30 +1 +2 30 - 45 +1 +3 45 - 70 +2 +4 70+ +2 +5 Disease Partner's Sex Male Female --+1 +2 0 +1 -1 0 -2 -1 -1 0 0 +1
The pregnancy modifiers tabulated here are based off of the US Statistics of recorded pregnancies for an average in a 10 year period. The older the male is does not significantly alter the chances of a pregnancy to occur while the older the female is does certainly make conception harder to complete. The std modifiers tabulated here are based off of the US CDC Statistics of recorded instances of new cases each year, averaged out over a 15 year period. The age ranges most succeptible to disease transmission and contamination are 25-45 where both partners have engaged in multiple-partner sex.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), once called venereal diseases, are among the most common infectious diseases in the United States today. More than 20 STDs have now been identified, and they affect more than 13 million men and women in this country each year. Conditions list: The list of conditions in the Sexually Transmitted Diseases group includes: * Syphilis * HIV * AIDS * Genital herpes * Human Papillomavirus * Chlamydia * Gonorrhea * HTLV * chancroid * cytomegalovirus * molluscum contagiosum * pubic lice * scabies * Trichomoniasis * bacterial vaginosis * Granuloma inguinale * Non-Specific Urethritis * Hepatitis B Syphilis: Rare sexually transmitted bacterial disease. Syphilis: Syphilis, once a cause of devastating epidemics, can be effectively diagnosed and treated with antibiotic therapy. In 1996, 11,387 cases of primary and secondary syphilis in the United States were reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although treatment is available, the early symptoms of syphilis can be very mild, and many people do not seek treatment when they first become infected. Of increasing concern is the fact that syphilis increases the risk of transmitting and acquiring the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. HIV/AIDS: HIV is a sexually transmitted virus and AIDS is the life-threatening immune failure that occurs late in the progression of HIV. AIDS was once in the top ten cause of death in the USA but has dropped out owing to better treatments and reduced transmission. Very early stages of HIV just after infection resemble the flu or another viral infection. There then follows a latent stage (often years) with no symptoms, and then an early AIDS stage (also often years) with various symptoms, many of them non-specific and easy to misdiagnose. AIDS becomes much more characteristic in the latter stages of the disease where immune failure becomes almost total. HIV/AIDS: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the result of an infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This virus attacks selected cells of the immune, nervous, and other systems impairing their proper function. Genital herpes: Genital herpes is an incurable STD that is spread by sexual activity including oral sex. The cause is herpes virus type 2 whereas cold sores are caused by HSV-1. Although genital herpes is incurable, it can be controlled by various drugs, and typically subsides between episodic attacks called "flares". Complications are rare but the condition can be serious in the immunosuppressed and newborn babies. Pregnant women with herpes need to discuss the issue with their doctors to avoid infection of the newborn. Genital herpes: Herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the herpes simplex viruses type 1 (HSV -1) and type 2 (HSV-2). Most individuals have no or only minimal signs or symptoms from HSV-1 or HSV-2 infection. When signs do occur, they typically appear as one or more blisters on or around the genitals or rectum. The blisters break, leaving tender ulcers (sores) that may take two to four weeks to heal the first time they occur. Typically, another outbreak can appear weeks or months after the first, but it almost always is less severe and shorter than the first episode. Although the infection can stay in the body indefinitely, the number of outbreaks tends to go down over a period of years. Human Papillomavirus: Very common sexually transmitted disease causing genital warts and associated with certain cancers.
Human Papillomavirus: Genital HPV infection is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is the name of a group of viruses that includes more than 100 different strains or types. Over 30 of these are sexually transmitted, and they can infect the genital area, like the skin of the penis, vulva, labia, or anus, or the tissues covering the vagina and cervix. Chlamydia: Common sexually transmitted disease often without symptoms. Chlamydia: Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, a bacterium, which can damage a woman's reproductive organs. Because symptoms of chlamydia are mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem. Gonorrhea: Common sexually transmitted disease often without symptoms. Gonorrhea: Gonorrhea is a curable sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by a bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. These bacteria can infect the genital tract, the mouth, and the rectum. In women, the opening (cervix) to the womb (uterus) from the birth canal is the first place of infection. The disease however can spread into the womb and fallopian tubes, resulting in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID affects more than 1 million women in this country every year and can cause infertility in as many as 10 percent of infected women and tubal (ectopic) pregnancy. HTLV: Virus associated with affecting the immune system. HTLV: The human T-cell lymphotropic viruses (retroviruses), HTLV-I and HTLV-II, are uncommon in the general U.S. population. They appear to be most prevalent among IV drug users and persons who have multiple sex partners, genital ulcers, or a history of syphilis. The virus can be transmitted by blood or intimate sexual contact, and can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy and through breast milk. Chancroid: Rare sexual disease causing genital ulcers and other symptoms. Chancroid: Chancroid ("shan-kroid") is an important bacterial infection caused by Haemophilus ducreyi, which is spread by sexual contact. Periodic outbreaks of chancroid have occurred in the United States, the last one being in the late 1980s. These outbreaks are usually seen in minority populations in the inner cities, especially in the southern and eastern portion of the country. Globally, this disease is common in sub-Saharan Africa among men who have frequent contact with prostitutes. Cytomegalovirus: A common virus in the herpes family. Cytomegalovirus: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a very common virus that infects approximately one-half of all young adults in the United States. It rarely causes serious consequences except in people with suppressed or impaired immune systems or in infants, whose immune systems are still developing. The virus, a member of the herpesvirus family, is found in saliva, urine, and other bodily fluids. Because it is often found in semen as well as in cervical secretions, the virus can be spread by sexual contact; it also can be easily spread by other forms of physical contact such as kissing. Day-care center staff for children under the age of 3 are at increased risk of CMV infection and should carefully wash their hands after changing diapers. Like other herpesvirus infections, CMV is incurable; people are infected with it for life. Although the virus usually remains in an inactive state, it can reactivate from time to time. Molluscum contagiosum: Common wart-causing virus. Molluscum contagiosum: This common viral infection most often affects young children, who pass it to each other through saliva. In adults, however, the virus is transmitted sexually, resulting in lesions on the genitals, lower abdomen, buttocks, or inner thighs. Most people with the infection do not have noticeable symptoms, although sometimes the lesions, which are painless wart-like bumps, may itch or become irritated. The lesions often heal without treatment, although physicians may sometimes scrape them off or treat them with chemical irritants. Pubic lice: Lice in pubic area that are spread sexually. Pubic lice: Also called "crabs," pubic lice are parasitic insects found in the genital area of humans. Infection is common and found worldwide. Scabies: Mite infection of the skin common in institutions.
Scabies: Scabies is an infestation of the skin with the microscopic mite Sarcoptes scabei. Infestation is common, found worldwide, and affects people of all races and social classes. Scabies spreads rapidly under crowded conditions where there is frequent skin-toskin contact between people, such as in hospitals, institutions, child-care facilities, and nursing homes. Trichomoniasis: Sexually transmitted parasitic infection. Trichomoniasis: Trichomonas vaginalis is a microscopic parasite found worldwide. Infection with trichomonas is called trichomoniasis (trick-oh-moe-nye-uh-sis). Trichomoniasis is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, mainly affecting 16-to-35year old women. In the United States, it is estimated that 2 million women become infected each year. Bacterial vaginosis: Bacterial vaginal infection Bacterial vaginosis: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal infection in women of childbearing age, and it is sometimes accompanied by discharge, odor, pain, itching, or burning. Granuloma inguinale: Granulomous disease spread sexually. Non-Specific Urethritis: Urethritis is called Non-Specific Urethritis (NSU) if the cause of urethritis cannot be clearly identified as chlamydia or gonorrhea. Most cases are sexually transmitted diseases, but in some cases no infectious cause is found. Hepatitis B: Viral liver infection spread by sex or body fluids. USE OF A LIFE JACKET OR FLOTATION DEVICE IN A SWIMMING POOL. No person shall prohibit the use of a life jacket or other flotation device in a swimming pool by an individual who, as evidenced by a statement signed by a licensed physician, suffers from a physical disability or condition which necessitates the use of the life jacket or other flotation device. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. USE OF FALSE NAME IN PROSPECTUS. Every person who, without being authorized so to do, subscribes the name of another to, or inserts the name of another in, any prospectus, circular or other advertisement or announcement of any corporation or joint stock association, existing or intended to be formed, within intent to permit the same to be published, and thereby to lead persons to believe that the person whose name is so subscribed is an officer, agent, member or promoter of such corporation or association, is guilty of a misdemeanor. USE OF FRAUDULENT SCALES FOR ORE. Every person, association or corporation, or the agent of any person, association or corporation, engaged in the business of milling, sampling, concentrating, reducing, shipping or purchasing ores, who keeps or uses any false or fraudulent scales or weights for weighing ores, who keeps or uses any false or fraudulent assay scales or weights for ascertaining the assay value of ore, knowing them to be false, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is punishable by a fine in any sum not exceeding $1000, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not more than one year nor less than one month, or by both such fine and imprisonment. USE OF ILLEGAL RECEIPTS. Every person who uses or gives any receipt except that prescribed by law, as evidence of the payment of any poll tax, road tax or license of any kind, or who receives payment of such tax or license without delivering the receipt prescribed by law, or who inserts the name of more than one (1) person therein, is guilty of a misdemeanor. USE OF UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES ON AIRPORTS. It shall be a misdemeanor offense for any unauthorized vehicle to drive upon, cross or traverse any public or public use airport without the consent of the owner or his designated representative. The owner, operator or lessee or any of them guilty of operating a vehicle upon airport landing surfaces shall be liable for damage caused to the airport surfaces and for any injuries or damages to persons or property resulting from such damage. The operator, owner or lessee of an unauthorized vehicle involved in a collision with an aircraft while operating upon a public or public use airport shall be held liable for damages to persons or property, both the owner and lessee shall be thus liable, and may be sued jointly, or either or both of them may be sued separately.
USING PUBLIC POSITION FOR PERSONAL GAIN. (1) No public servant shall: (a) Without the specific authorization of the governmental entity for which he serves, use public funds or property to obtain a pecuniary benefit for himself. (b) Solicit, accept or receive a pecuniary benefit as payment for services, advice, assistance or conduct customarily exercised in the course of his official duties. This prohibition shall not include trivial benefits not to exceed a value of fifty dollars ($50.00) incidental to personal, professional or business contacts and involving no substantial risk of undermining official impartiality. (c) Use or disclose confidential information gained in the course of or by reason of his official position or activities in any manner with the intent to obtain a pecuniary benefit for himself or any other person or entity in whose welfare he is interested or with the intent to harm the governmental entity for which he serves. (d) Be interested in any contract made by him in his official capacity, or by any body or board of which he is a member, except as provided in State Code. (e) Appoint or vote for the appointment of any person related to him by blood or marriage within the second degree, to any clerkship, office, position, employment or duty, when the salary, wages, pay or compensation of such appointee is to be paid out of public funds or fees of office, or appoint or furnish employment to any person whose salary, wages, pay or compensation is to be paid out of public funds or fees of office, and who is related by either blood or marriage within the second degree to any other public servant when such appointment is made on the agreement or promise of such other public servant or any other public servant to appoint or furnish employment to anyone so related to the public servant making or voting for such appointment. Any public servant who pays out of any public funds under his control or who draws or authorizes the drawing of any warrant or authority for the payment out of any public fund of the salary, wages, pay, or compensation of any such ineligible person, knowing him to be ineligible, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided in this chapter. (f) Unless specifically authorized by another provision of law, commit any act prohibited of members of the legislature or any officer or employee of any branch of the state government by State Code, violations of which are subject to penalties as provided in section State Code, which prohibition and penalties shall be deemed to extend to all public servants pursuant to the provisions of this section. (2) No person related to any member of the legislature by blood or marriage within the second degree shall be appointed to any clerkship, office, position, employment or duty within the legislative branch of government or otherwise be employed by the legislative branch of government when the salary, wages, pay or compensation of such appointee or employee is to be paid out of public funds. (3) No person related to a mayor or member of a city council by blood or marriage within the second degree shall be appointed to any clerkship, office, position, employment or duty with the mayor's or city council's city when the salary, wages, pay or compensation of such appointee or employee is to be paid out of public funds. (4) No person related to a county commissioner by blood or marriage within the second degree shall be appointed to any clerkship, office, position, employment or duty with the commissioner's county when the salary, wages, pay or compensation of such appointee or employee is to be paid out of public funds. (5) (a) An employee of a governmental entity holding a position prior to the election of a local government official, who is related within the second degree, shall be entitled to retain his or her position and receive general pay increases, step increases, cost of living increases, and/or other across the board increases in salary or merit increases, benefits and bonuses or promotions. (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed as creating any property rights in the position held by an employee subject to this section, and all authority in regard to disciplinary action, transfer, dismissal, demotion or termination shall continue to apply to the employee. (6) The prohibitions contained within this section shall not include conduct defined by the provisions of section 59-703(4), Idaho Code. (7) The prohibitions within this section of State Code, as it applies to part-time public servants, do not include those actions or conduct involving the public servant's business, profession or occupation and unrelated to the public servant's official conduct, and do not apply to a pecuniary benefit received in the normal course of a legislator's business, profession or occupation and unrelated to any bill, legislation, proceeding or official transaction.
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VEHICLE IMPOUNDMENT: Impounded Vehicle Service Instructions for Owners To get a release for your vehicle using the Louisiana Impounded Vehicle Service, follow these simple steps 1. Perform a vehicle lookup. Enter your vehicle's VIN or license plate number, or the State Impound Form Number associated with the tow (if applicable), and click Search. (If you don't know the VIN or plate number ask for assistance) 2. Obtain release information. If your vehicle is in the system, you will be presented with information relating to its tow, impound, and current location. Depending on what kind of impound it is, you will be given instructions relating to what do to release your vehicle. 3a. If your vehicle was abandoned or removed from private property . . . If your vehicle was abandoned or removed from private property, you simply need to go to the impound yard or towing company listed and: * present identification to the impound yard owner; and * pay the towing and storage fees 3b. If your vehicle was impounded strictly due to a DUI offense . . . If your vehicle was impounded in conjunction with a DUI and is otherwise in compliance with DMV statute, you can either: contact your local Motor Vehicle Division office and: * present proper evidence of ownership: e.g. title, registration card, bill of sale (picture id needed); * pay the $230 DUI fee; and * obtain a "Letter of impound Release" Now go to the impound yard or towing company and: * present "Letter of impound Release" or receipt of payment from the Payment Portal; * present identification to the impound yard owner; and * pay the towing and storage fees 3c. If your vehicle was impounded due to non-compliance with DMV statute . . . If your vehicle was impounded due to non-compliance with DMV statute (expired registration, improper insurance, DUI), you will need to contact your local Motor Vehicle Division office and: * present proper evidence of ownership: e.g. title, registration card, bill of sale (picture id needed); * pay all fees and penalties due for titling and registration functions; and, * obtain a "Letter of impound Release" Online Now go to the impound yard or towing company and: * present "Letter of impound Release" * present identification to the impound yard owner; and * pay the towing and storage fees IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS REGARDING THE IMPOUND ACTION or the fees or penalties imposed for titling or registration functions, please contact the Tax Commission at IC PHONE NUMBER. Any criminal proceedings originated by law enforcement related to the impounded vehicle are separate from the impound action by the Tax Commission. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH TOWING AND TOWING FEES, you must contact the impound yard or towing company. The Tax Commission does not have regulatory authority over towing or storage fees. FAILURE TO CLAIM YOUR VEHICLE within 30 days may result in the sale of this vehicle at public auction. VIOLATION OF NO CONTACT ORDER. (1) When a person is charged with or convicted of an offense of State Code, or any other offense for which a court finds that a no contact order is appropriate, an order forbidding contact with another person may be issued. A no contact order may be imposed by the court or by State criminal rule. (2) A violation of a no contact order is committed when: (a) A person has been charged or convicted under any offense defined in subsection (1) of this section; and (b) A no contact order has been issued, either by a court or by a State criminal rule; and (c) The person charged or convicted has had contact with the stated person in violation of an order. (3) A violation of a no contact order is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one (1) year, or both. No bond shall be set for this violation until the person charged is brought before the court which will set bond. Further, any such violation may result in the increase, revocation or modification of the bond set in the underlying charge for which the no contact order was imposed. (4) A peace officer may arrest without a warrant and take into custody a person whom the peace officer has probable cause to believe has violated a no contact order issued under this section if the person restrained had notice of the order.
VIOLATION OF REVENUE LAWS. Any officer who, at the same time, performs the duties of any two officers, in any manner connected with the public revenue, except in the manner expressly provided by law, or any collecting or disbursing officer who refuses or neglects the performance of the duties required of him by the title, Revenue, of the State Code, is guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof must be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than one (1) year, or by a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $1,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and must forthwith be removed from office.
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WASTING WATER USED FOR IRRIGATION. Any person or persons, who shall wilfully or wantonly waste any of the waters of any stream, the waters of which are used for irrigation, to the detriment of any claimant of such water for irrigation purposes, by diverting the same for an unnecessary use or purpose, or by allowing such water to waste by running into depressions or dry channels so that the same cannot be used for irrigation, nor reach the original channel of the stream from which it has been diverted, are guilty of a misdemeanor. WEAPON, AIMING FIREARMS AT OTHERS. Any person who shall intentionally, without malice, point or aim any firearm at or toward any other person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not more than $50.00 and not less than $5.00. WEAPON, BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS. (1) Any person who knowingly develops, produces, stockpiles, transfers, acquires, retains or possesses any biological agent, toxin or delivery system for use as a weapon, or who knowingly assists another person or group of persons in doing so, or attempts, threatens or conspires to do so, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of up to and including life imprisonment or by a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both. (2) As used in this section, the term "for use as a weapon" does not include the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, acquisition, retention or possession of a biological agent, toxin or delivery system for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes if such biological agent, toxin or delivery system is of a type and in a quantity that is reasonable for such purposes. (3) The attorney general of the state of Idaho may obtain in a civil action an injunction against: (a) The conduct prohibited under this section; (b) The preparation, solicitation, attempt, threat or conspiracy to engage in conduct prohibited under this section; or (c) The development, production, stockpiling, acquisition, retention or possession of any biological agent, toxin or delivery system of a type or in a quantity that under the circumstances has no apparent justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes. (4) As used in this section: (a) "Biological agent" means any microorganism, virus, infectious substance or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any such microorganism, virus, infectious substance or biological product that is capable of causing: (i) Death, disease or other biological malfunction in any animal, including humans, or any plant or other living organism; (ii) Deterioration of food, water, equipment, supplies or material of any kind; or (iii) Deleterious alteration of the environment; (b) "Toxin" means the toxic material of animals, plants, microorganisms, viruses, fungi, infectious substances or a recombinant molecule, whatever its origin or method of production including: (i) Any poisonous substance or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology produced from a living organism; or (ii) Any poisonous isomer or biological product, homologue, or derivative of such substance; (c) "Delivery system" means any apparatus, equipment, device, or means of delivery specifically designed to deliver or disseminate a biological agent, toxin or vector; (d) "Vector" means a living organism or molecule, including a recombinant molecule, or a biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology capable of carrying a biological agent to a host. WEAPON, CARRYING OF CONCEALED FIREARMS BY QUALIFIED RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. (1) A county sheriff shall issue a license to carry a concealed firearm to a qualified retired law enforcement officer provided that the provisions of this section are met. (2) As used in this section: (a) "Firearm" means a handgun and does not include: (i) Any machine gun, as defined in 26 U.S.C. section 5845(b); (ii) Any firearm silencer, as defined in 18 U.S.C. section 921; or (iii) Any destructive device, as defined in 18 U.S.C. section 921. (b) "Qualified retired law enforcement officer" means an individual who: (i) Retired in good standing from service with a public agency as a law enforcement officer, provided that such retirement was for reasons other than mental instability; (ii) Before such retirement, was authorized by law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of, or the incarceration of any person for, any violation of law, and had statutory powers of arrest; (iii) Before such retirement, was regularly employed as a law enforcement officer for an aggregate of fifteen (15) years or more, or retired from service with such agency after completing any applicable probationary period of such service, due to a serviceconnected disability, as determined by such agency;
(iv) Has a nonforfeitable right to benefits under the retirement plan of the agency; (v) During the most recent twelve (12) month period has met, at his own expense, the standards for training and qualification of this state, as required at the discretion of the sheriff under paragraph (d) of this subsection or the agency from which he retired for active law enforcement officers, to carry a concealed firearm; (vi) Is not chronically under the influence of alcohol, or under the influence of another intoxicating or hallucinatory drug or substance in violation of any provision of federal or state law; (vii) Is not prohibited by federal law from receiving a firearm; (viii) Has a current and valid photographic identification issued by the agency from which the individual retired from service as a law enforcement officer; (ix) Provides by his affidavit, in triplicate, sworn and signed by him under penalty of perjury, that he meets all of the conditions set forth in this subsection (2); (x) Pays the fees charged by the sheriff pursuant to this section; and (xi) Completes the original application or renewal application as provided by this section. (c) "Retired in good standing" means that at the time of his retirement, he was not under investigation, or subject to discipline, for any violation of this state's law enforcement code of conduct. (d) "Standards for training and qualification in this state" means that when issuing a license pursuant to this section, the sheriff may require the applicant to demonstrate familiarity with a firearm by any of the following methods, provided the sheriff may require an applicant to complete more than one (1) firearms safety or training course: (i) Completion of any hunter education or hunter safety course approved by the department of fish and game or a similar agency of another state; (ii) Completion of any national rifle association firearms safety or training course, or any national rifle association hunter education course; (iii) Completion of any firearms safety or training course or class available to the general public offered by a law enforcement agency, community college, college, university, or private or public institution or organization or firearms training school, utilizing instructors certified by the national rifle association or the state police; (iv) Completion of any law enforcement firearms safety or training course or class offered for security guards, investigators, special deputies, or any division or subdivision of a law enforcement agency or security enforcement agency; (v) Presentation of evidence of equivalent experience with a firearm through participation in organized shooting competitions or military service; (vi) Completion of any firearms training or training or safety course or class conducted by a state certified or national rifle association certified firearms instructor; or (vii) Any other firearms safety training that the sheriff may deem appropriate. (3) The original and renewal license applications under this section shall be in triplicate, in a form to be prescribed by the director of the state police, and shall ask the name, address, description and signature of the licensee, date of birth, social security number, military status, identification of the law enforcement agency from which the applicant retired, and the driver's license number or state identification card number of the licensee if used for identification in applying for the license. The application shall indicate that provision of the social security number is optional. In implementing the provisions of this section, the sheriff shall make applications readily available at the office of the sheriff or at other public offices in his jurisdiction. (4) The fee for original issuance of a license under this section shall be twenty dollars ($20.00), paid to the sheriff. The sheriff may also collect any additional fees necessary to cover the cost of processing and the cost of materials for the license, which shall also be paid to the sheriff. (5) An original or renewed license issued pursuant to this section shall be in a form substantially similar to that of the state driver's license and shall be valid for a period of one (1) year. The license shall bear the signature, name, address, date of birth, picture of the licensee, expiration date, and the driver's license number or state identification card number of the licensee if used for identification in applying for the license, and shall state that the licensee is a qualified retired law enforcement officer. Upon issuing a license under the provisions of this section, the sheriff shall notify the state police on a form or in a manner prescribed by the director of the state police. (6) A qualified retired law enforcement licensee under this section may renew his license if he applies for renewal at any time before or within ninety (90) days after the expiration date of the license. The sheriff shall require the licensee applying for renewal to complete a renewal application pursuant to subsection (3) of this section and an affidavit pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. A renewed license shall take effect upon the expiration date of the prior license. (7) The fee for renewal of the license, which must be paid on a yearly basis, shall be twelve dollars ($12.00), paid to the sheriff. The sheriff may also collect any additional fees necessary to cover the processing costs and the cost of materials for the license, which shall also be paid to the sheriff. A licensee renewing after the expiration date of the license shall pay a late renewal penalty of ten dollars ($10.00) in addition to the renewal fee. The renewal penalty fee, if any, shall be paid to the sheriff. (8) A current and valid photographic identification issued by the agency from which the individual retired from service as a law enforcement officer, together with a license issued by the sheriff pursuant to this section, shall serve as a license to carry a firearm for a qualified retired law enforcement officer under 18 U.S.C. section 926C. (9) The sheriff of the county where the license was issued or the sheriff of the county where the person resides shall have the power to revoke a license issued under this section pursuant to the provisions of State Code.
(10) A county sheriff, deputy sheriff, or county employee who issues a license to carry a concealed weapon pursuant to this section shall not incur any civil or criminal liability as the result of the performance of his duties under this section. (11) A city, county or other political subdivision of this state shall not modify the requirements of this section, nor shall a political subdivision ask the applicant to voluntarily submit any information not required by this section. (12) A civil action may be brought to enjoin a wrongful refusal to issue a license or a wrongful modification of the requirements of this section. The civil action shall be brought in the county in which the application was made. (13) In lieu of or in addition to qualification to carry a concealed firearm under this section, a retired law enforcement officer may apply for a license to carry concealed weapons under State Code. WEAPON, CARRYING CONCEALED -- UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL OR DRUGS. It shall be unlawful for any person to carry a concealed weapon on or about his person when intoxicated or under the influence of an intoxicating drink or drug. Any violation of the provisions of this section shall be a misdemeanor. WEAPON, CIVIL LIABILITY FOR INJURY BY FIREARM. Any party maimed or wounded by the discharge of any firearm aforesaid, or the heirs or representatives of any person who may be killed by such discharge, may have an action against the party offending, for damages, which shall be found by a jury, and such damages, when found, may in the discretion of the court before which such action is brought, be doubled. WEAPON, DEADLY -- POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO ASSAULT. Every person having upon him any deadly weapon with intent to assault another is guilty of a misdemeanor. WEAPON, DEFINITIONS. Definitions as used in State Code: (1) "Bomb" means any chemical or mixture of chemicals contained in such a manner that it can be made to explode with fire or force, and combined with the method or mechanism intended to cause its explosion. The term includes components of a bomb only when the individual charged has taken steps to place the components in proximity to each other, or has partially assembled components from which a completed bomb can be readily assembled. "Bomb" does not include: rifle, pistol or shotgun ammunition and their components; fireworks; boating, railroad and other safety flares or propellants used in model rockets or similar hobby activities. (2) "Destructive device" means: (a) Any explosive, incendiary or poisonous gas: (i) Bomb; (ii) Grenade; (iii) Rocket having a propellant charge of more than four (4) ounces; (iv) Missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-fourth (1/4) ounce; (v) Mine; (vi) Similar device. (b) Any type of weapon, by whatever name known, which will, or which may be imminently converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, the barrel or barrels of which have a bore of more than .700 inches in diameter, except rifled and unrifled shotguns or shotgun shells. (c) Components of a destructive device only when the individual charged has taken steps to place the components in proximity to each other, or has partially assembled components from which a completed destructive device can be readily assembled. (d) The term "destructive device" shall not include: (i) Any device which is neither designed nor redesigned for use as a weapon; (ii) Any device which, although originally designed for use as a weapon, has been redesigned for use as a signaling, pyrotechnic, line throwing, safety or similar device; (iii) Otherwise lawfully owned surplus military ordnance; (iv) Antiques or reproductions thereof and rifles held for sporting, recreational, investment or display purposes; (v) Rifle, pistol or shotgun ammunition and their components. (3) "Shrapnel" means any metal, ceramic, glass, hard plastic or other material of sufficient hardness to puncture human skin when propelled by force of the bomb or destructive device to which it is attached or in which it is contained. WEAPON, DISCHARGE OF ARMS AIMED AT ANOTHER. Any person who shall discharge, without injury to any person, any firearm, while intentionally, without malice, aimed at or toward any person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to a fine of not less than $100.00, or imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six (6) months, or both, at the discretion of the court.
WEAPON, DISPOSAL OF DESTRUCTIVE DEVICES OR BOMBS. Any destructive device or bomb that has been lawfully seized by a law enforcement agency may be destroyed in a reasonable manner. An official record listing the destructive device or bomb destroyed and the location of destruction shall be kept on file at the office of the seizing agency. In the event of such destruction, a photograph, videotape, or similar record of the device or bomb shall be preserved for evidentiary purposes. The destruction of a destructive device or bomb before a preliminary hearing, trial, or both shall not be a bar to prosecution for any violation of law. WEAPON, EXHIBITION OR USE OF DEADLY WEAPON. Every person who, not in necessary self-defense, in the presence of two (2) or more persons, draws or exhibits any deadly weapon in a rude, angry and threatening manner, or who, in any manner, unlawfully uses the same, in any fight or quarrel, is guilty of a misdemeanor. WEAPON, FALSE REPORTS OF EXPLOSIVES IN PUBLIC OR PRIVATE PLACES A FELONY -- PENALTY. Any person who reports to any police officer, sheriff, employee of a fire department or fire service, prosecuting attorney, newspaper, radio station, television station, deputy sheriff, deputy prosecuting attorney, member of the state police, employee of an airline, employee of an airport, employee of a railroad or bus line, an employee of a telephone company, occupants of a building, employee of a school district, or a news reporter in the employ of a newspaper or radio or television station, that a bomb or other explosive has been placed or secreted in a public or private place knowing that such report is false, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to a term of not to exceed five (5) years in the state penitentiary. WEAPON, INJURING ANOTHER BY CARELESS HANDLING AND DISCHARGE OF FIREARMS. Any person who handles, uses or operates any firearm in a careless, reckless or negligent manner, or without due caution and circumspection, whereby the same is fired or discharged and maims, wounds or injures any other person or persons, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. WEAPON, INJURING ANOTHER BY DISCHARGE OF AIMED FIREARMS. Any person who shall maim or injure any other person by the discharge of any firearm pointed or aimed, intentionally but without malice, at any such person, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50.00, or imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than one (1) year; and if death ensue from such wounding or maiming, such person so offending shall be deemed guilty of the crime of manslaughter. WEAPON, ISSUANCE OF LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED. (1) The sheriff of a county shall, within ninety (90) days after the filing of an application by any person who is not disqualified from possessing or receiving a firearm under state or federal law, issue a license to the person to carry a weapon concealed on his person within this state for four (4) years from the date of issue. The citizen's constitutional right to bear arms shall not be denied to him, unless he: (a) Is ineligible to own, possess or receive a firearm under the provisions of state or federal law; or (b) Is formally charged with a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one (1) year; or (c) Has been adjudicated guilty in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one (1) year; or (d) Is a fugitive from justice; or (e) Is an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, or narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance as defined in 21 U.S.C. 802; or (f) Is currently suffering or has been adjudicated as follows, based on substantial evidence: (i) Lacking mental capacity as defined in State Code; or (ii) Mentally ill as defined in State Code; or (iii) Gravely disabled as defined in State Code; or (iv) An incapacitated person as defined in State Code; or (g) Is or has been discharged from the armed forces under dishonorable conditions; or (h) Is or has been adjudicated guilty of or received a withheld judgment or suspended sentence for one (1) or more crimes of violence constituting a misdemeanor, unless three (3) years has elapsed since disposition or pardon has occurred prior to the date on which the application is submitted; or (i) Has had entry of a withheld judgment for a criminal offense which would disqualify him from obtaining a concealed weapon license; or (j) Is an alien illegally in the United States; or (k) Is a person who having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his or her citizenship; or (l) Is under twenty-one (21) years of age; or (m) Is free on bond or personal recognizance pending trial, appeal or sentencing for a crime which would disqualify him from obtaining a concealed weapon license; or
(n) Is subject to a protection order issued under State Code, that restrains the person from harassing, stalking or threatening an intimate partner of the person or child of the intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child. The license application shall be in triplicate, in a form to be prescribed by the director of the State Police, and shall ask the name, address, description and signature of the licensee, date of birth, social security number, military status, and the driver's license number or state identification card number of the licensee if used for identification in applying for the license. The application shall indicate that provision of the social security number is optional. The license application shall contain a warning substantially as follows: CAUTION: Federal law and state law on the possession of weapons and firearms differ. If you are prohibited by federal law from possessing a weapon or a firearm, you may be prosecuted in federal court. A state permit is not a defense to a federal prosecution. The sheriff shall require any person who is applying for original issuance of a license to submit his fingerprints in addition to the other information required in this subsection. Within five (5) days after the filing of an application, the sheriff shall forward the application and fingerprints to the State Police for a records check of state and national files. The State Police shall conduct a national fingerprint-based records check and return the results to the sheriff within seventy-five (75) days. The sheriff shall not issue a license before receiving the results of the records check and must deny a license if the applicant is disqualified under any of the criteria listed in paragraphs (a) through (n) of subsection (1) of this section. The license will be in a form substantially similar to that of the State driver's license. It will bear the signature, name, address, date of birth, picture of the licensee, expiration date and the driver's license number or state identification card number of the licensee if used for identification in applying for the license. Upon issuing a license under the provisions of this section, the sheriff will notify the State Police on a form or in a manner prescribed by the state police. Information relating to an applicant or licensee received or maintained pursuant to this section by the sheriff or State Police is confidential and exempt from disclosure under State Code. (2) The fee for original issuance of a four (4) year license shall be twenty dollars ($20.00) paid to the sheriff for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this chapter. The sheriff may collect any additional fees necessary to cover the cost of processing fingerprints lawfully required by any state or federal agency or department, and the cost of materials for the license lawfully required by any state agency or department, which costs shall be paid to the state. (3) The fee for renewal of the license shall be twelve dollars ($12.00). The sheriff may collect any additional fees necessary to cover the processing costs lawfully required by any state or federal agency or department, and the cost of materials for the license lawfully required by any state agency or department, which costs shall be paid to the state. If a licensee applying for renewal has not previously been required to submit fingerprints, the sheriff shall require the licensee to do so and may collect any additional fees necessary to cover the cost of processing fingerprints lawfully required by any state or federal agency or department. (4) A licensee may renew a license if the licensee applies for renewal at any time before or within ninety (90) days after the expiration date of the license. The sheriff shall require the licensee applying for renewal to complete an application. The sheriff shall submit the application to the State Police for a records check of state and national databases. The State Police shall conduct the records check and return the results to the sheriff within thirty (30) days. The sheriff shall not issue a renewal before receiving the results of the records check and must deny a license if the applicant is disqualified under any of the criteria listed in subsection (1), paragraphs (a) through (n) of this section. A renewal license shall be valid for a period of four (4) years. A license so renewed shall take effect on the expiration date of the prior license. A licensee renewing after the expiration date of the license shall pay a late renewal penalty of ten dollars ($10.00) in addition to the renewal fee. The fee shall be paid to the sheriff for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this chapter. (5) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, the sheriff of the county of the applicant's residence may issue a temporary emergency license for good cause pending review under subsection (1) of this section. (6) A city, county or other political subdivision of this state shall not modify the requirements of this section, nor may a political subdivision ask the applicant to voluntarily submit any information not required in this section. A civil action may be brought to enjoin a wrongful refusal to issue a license or a wrongful modification of the requirements of this section. The civil action may be brought in the county in which the application was made or in Ada county at the discretion of the petitioner. Any person who prevails against a public agency in any action in the courts for a violation of subsections (1) through (5) of this section, shall be awarded costs, including reasonable attorney's fees incurred in connection with the legal action. (7) Except in the person's place of abode or fixed place of business, a person shall not carry a concealed weapon without a license to carry a concealed weapon. For the purposes of this section, a concealed weapon means any dirk, dirk knife, bowie knife, dagger, pistol, revolver, or any other deadly or dangerous weapon. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any lawfully possessed shotgun or rifle. (8) A county sheriff, deputy sheriff, or county employee who issues a license to carry a concealed weapon under this section shall not incur any civil or criminal liability as the result of the performance of his duties under this section. (9) While in any motor vehicle, inside the limits or confines of any city or inside any mining, lumbering, logging or railroad camp a person shall not carry a concealed weapon on or about his person without a license to carry a concealed weapon. This shall not apply to any pistol or revolver located in plain view whether it is loaded or unloaded. A firearm may be concealed legally in a motor vehicle so long as the weapon is disassembled or unloaded.
(10) In implementing the provisions of this section, the sheriff shall make applications readily available at the office of the sheriff or at other public offices in his jurisdiction. (11) The sheriff of a county may issue a license to carry a concealed weapon to those individuals between the ages of eighteen (18) and twenty-one (21) years who in the judgment of the sheriff warrants the issuance of the license to carry a concealed weapon. Such issuance shall be subject to limitations which the issuing authority deems appropriate. Licenses issued to individuals between the ages of eighteen (18) and twenty-one (21) shall be easily distinguishable from regular licenses. (12) The requirement to secure a license to carry a concealed weapon under this section shall not apply to the following persons: (a) Officials of a county, city, state of residence, the United States, peace officers, guards of any jail, court appointed attendants or any officer of any express company on duty; (b) Employees of the adjutant general and military division of the state where military membership is a condition of employment when on duty; (c) Criminal investigators of the attorney general's office, criminal investigators of a prosecuting attorney's office, prosecutors and their deputies; (d) Any person outside the limits of or confines of any city, or outside any mining, lumbering, logging or railroad camp, located outside any city, while engaged in lawful hunting, fishing, trapping or other lawful outdoor activity; (e) Any publicly elected State official; (f) Retired peace officers with at least ten (10) years of service with the state or a political subdivision as a peace officer and who have been certified by the peace officer standards and training council; (g) Any person who has a valid permit from a state or local law enforcement agency or court authorizing him to carry a concealed weapon. A permit issued in another state will only be considered valid if the permit is in the licensee's physical possession. (13) When issuing a license pursuant to this section, the sheriff may require the applicant to demonstrate familiarity with a firearm by any of the following, provided the applicant may select which one: (a) Completion of any hunter education or hunter safety course approved by the department of fish and game or a similar agency of another state; or (b) Completion of any national rifle association firearms safety or training course, or any national rifle association hunter education course; or (c) Completion of any firearms safety or training course or class available to the general public offered by a law enforcement agency, community college, college, university, or private or public institution or organization or firearms training school, utilizing instructors certified by the national rifle association or the State Police; or (d) Completion of any law enforcement firearms safety or training course or class offered for security guards, investigators, special deputies, or any division or subdivision of a law enforcement agency or security enforcement agency; or (e) Presents evidence or equivalent experience with a firearm through participation in organized shooting competition or military service; or (f) Is licensed or has been licensed to carry a firearm in this state or a county or municipality, unless the license has been revoked for cause; or (g) Completion of any firearms training or training or safety course or class conducted by a state certified or national rifle association certified firearms instructor. (14) A person carrying a concealed weapon in violation of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (15) The sheriff of the county where the license was issued or the sheriff of the county where the person resides shall have the power to revoke a license subsequent to a hearing in accordance with the provisions of State Code, for any of the following reasons: (a) Fraud or intentional misrepresentation in the obtaining of a license; or (b) Misuse of a license, including lending or giving a license to another person, or duplicating a license, or using a license with the intent to unlawfully cause harm to a person or property; or (c) The doing of an act or existence of a condition which would have been grounds for the denial of the license by the sheriff; or (d) The violation of any of the terms of this section; or (e) The applicant is adjudicated guilty of or receives a withheld judgment for a crime which would have disqualified him from initially receiving a license. (16) A person twenty-one (21) years of age or older issued a license to carry a concealed weapon or a license renewal on or after July 1, 1995, is exempt from any requirement to undergo a records check at the time of purchase or transfer of a firearm from a federally licensed firearms dealer. However, a temporary emergency license issued under subsection (5) of this section shall not exempt the holder of the license from any records check requirement. Temporary emergency licenses shall be easily distinguishable from regular licenses. (17) The attorney general is authorized to negotiate reciprocal agreements with other states related to the recognition of licenses to carry concealed weapons. The State Police shall keep a copy and maintain a record of all such agreements, which shall be made available to the public. (18) The provisions of this section are hereby declared to be severable and if any provision of this section or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid for any reason, such declaration shall not affect the validity of remaining portions of this section.
WEAPON, KEEPING GUNPOWDER OR OTHER EXPLOSIVES IN TOWNS. Every person who makes or keeps gunpowder, nitroglycerin, or other highly explosive substance, within any city or town, or who carries the same through the streets thereof, in any quantity or manner prohibited by law, or by any ordinance of such city or town, is guilty of a misdemeanor. WEAPON, PERSONS EXEMPT. Unless the intent to injure the person or property of another has been established, the provisions in State Code, shall not apply to: (1) Any public safety officer or member of the armed forces of the United States or national guard while acting in his official capacity; (2) Any person possessing a valid permit issued under the provisions of the international fire code, State Code, or any employee of such permittee acting within the scope of his employment; (3) Any person possessing a valid license as an importer, wholesaler, or display operator under the provisions of the State fireworks act, State Code; (4) A device which falls within the definition of a bomb or destructive device when used on property owned or otherwise in the control of the person using the device; (5) Those licensed or permitted by the federal government to use or possess a bomb or destructive device. (6) Those persons who possess a destructive device properly registerd and taxed under the provisions of the national firearms act, as amended, as to possession of destructive devices properly registered to such persons. WEAPON, POSSESSION OF A WEAPON BY A MINOR. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person under the age of eighteen (18) years to possess or have in possession any weapon, as defined in State Code, unless he: (a) Has the written permission of his parent or guardian to possess the weapon; or (b) Is accompanied by his parent or guardian while he has the weapon in his possession. (2) Any minor under the age of twelve (12) years in possession of a weapon shall be accompanied by an adult. (3) Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. WEAPON, POSSESSING WEAPONS OR FIREARMS ON SCHOOL PROPERTY. (1) (a) It shall be unlawful and is a misdemeanor for any person to possess a firearm or other deadly or dangerous weapon while on the property of a school or in those portions of any building, stadium or other structure on school grounds which, at the time of the violation, were being used for an activity sponsored by or through a school in this state or while riding school provided transportation. (b) The provisions of this section regarding the possession of a firearm or other deadly or dangerous weapon on school property shall also apply to students of schools while attending or participating in any school sponsored activity, program or event regardless of location. (2) Definitions. As used in this section: (a) "Deadly or dangerous weapon" means any weapon as defined in 18 U.S.C. section 930; (b) "Firearm" means any firearm as defined in 18 U.S.C. section 921; (c) "Minor" means a person under the age of eighteen (18) years; (d) "Possess" means to bring an object, or to cause it to be brought, onto the property of a public or private elementary or secondary school, or onto a vehicle being used for school provided transportation, or to exercise dominion and control over an object located anywhere on such property or vehicle. For purposes of subsection (1)(b) of this section, "possess" shall also mean to bring an object onto the site of a school sponsored activity, program or event, regardless of location, or to exercise dominion and control over an object located anywhere on such a site; (e) "School" means a private or public elementary or secondary school. (3) Right to search students or minors. For purposes of enforcing the provisions of this section, employees of a school district shall have the right to search all students or minors, including their belongings and lockers, that are reasonably believed to be in violation of the provisions of this section, or applicable school rule or district policy, regarding the possessing of a firearm or other deadly or dangerous weapon. (4) The provisions of this section shall not apply to the following persons: (a) A peace officer; (b) A person who lawfully possesses a firearm or deadly or dangerous weapon as an appropriate part of a program, an event, activity or other circumstance approved by the board of trustees or governing board; (c) A person or persons complying with the provisions of State Code; (d) Any adult over eighteen (18) years of age and not enrolled in a public or private elementary or secondary school who has lawful possession of a firearm or other deadly or dangerous weapon, secured and locked in his vehicle in an unobtrusive, nonthreatening manner; (e) A person who lawfully possesses a firearm or other deadly or dangerous weapon in a private vehicle while delivering minor children, students or school employees to and from school or a school activity;
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of State Code, a person or an employee of the school or school district who is authorized to carry a firearm with the permission of the board of trustees of the school district or the governing board. (5) Penalties. Persons who are found guilty of violating the provisions of this section may be sentenced to a jail term of not more than one (1) year or fined an amount not in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or both. If a violator is a student and under the age of eighteen (18) years, the court may place the violator on probation and suspend the juvenile detention or fine or both as long as the violator is enrolled in a program of study recognized by the court that, upon successful completion, will grant the violator a general equivalency diploma (GED) or a high school diploma or other educational program authorized by the court. Upon successful completion of the terms imposed by the court, the court shall discharge the offender from serving the remainder of the sentence. If the violator does not complete, is suspended from, or otherwise withdraws from the program of study imposed by the court, the court, upon receiving such information, shall order the violator to commence serving the sentence provided for in this section. WEAPON, PROHIBITED CONDUCT. Any person obtaining a license under the provisions of State Code, shall not: (1) Carry a concealed weapon in a courthouse, juvenile detention facility or jail, public or private school, except as provided in State Code; or (2) Provide information on the application for a permit to carry a concealed weapon knowing the same to be untrue. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. WEAPON, PROHIBITION OF POSSESSION OF CERTAIN WEAPONS BY A MINOR. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person under the age of eighteen (18) years to possess or have in possession any handgun. (2) Except as provided by federal law, a minor under the age of eighteen (18) years may not possess the following: (a) A sawed-off rifle or sawed-off shotgun; or (b) A full automatic weapon. (3) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (2) (a) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. (4) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (2) (b) of this section is guilty of a felony. (5) For purposes of this section: (a) "Full automatic weapon" means any firearm which fires, is designed to fire, or can be readily restored to fire, automatically more than one (1) bullet, or other missile without reloading, by a single function of the trigger. (b) "Handgun" means a pistol, revolver, or other firearm of any description, loaded or unloaded, from which any shot, bullet, or other missile can be discharged, the length of the barrel of which, not including any revolving, detachable, or magazine breech, does not exceed twelve (12) inches. Excluded from this definition are handguns firing a metallic projectile, such as a BB or pellet, through the force of air pressure, CO pressure, or spring action or any spot marker gun. (6) Any person who provides a handgun to a minor when the possession of the handgun by the minor is a violation of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. -- EXCEPTIONS. The provisions of State Code, regarding the possession of a weapon by a minor or regarding possession of handguns by minors shall not apply to any of the following: (1) Patrons firing at lawfully operated target concessions at amusement parks and similar locations provided that the firearms to be used are firmly chained or affixed to the counters; (2) Any person in attendance at a hunter's safety course or a firearm's safety course; (3) Any person engaging in practice or any other lawful use of a firearm at an established range or any other area where the discharge of a firearm is not prohibited by state or local law; (4) Any person engaging in an organized competition involving the use of a firearm, or participating in or practicing for such competition; (5) Any minor under eighteen (18) years of age who is on real property with the permission of the owner, licensee, or lessee of the property and who has the permission of a parent or legal guardian or the owner, licensee, or lessee to possess a firearm not otherwise in violation of the law; (6) Any resident or nonresident hunters with a valid hunting license or other persons who are lawfully engaged in hunting; and (7) Any person traveling to or from any activity described in subsection (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) of this section with an unloaded firearm in his possession. WEAPON, RESIDENT'S PURCHASE OF FIREARM IN CONTIGUOUS STATE. Residents of the state may purchase rifles and shotguns in a state contiguous, provided that such residents conform to the applicable provisions of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968, and regulations thereunder, as administered by the United States secretary of the treasury, and provided further, that such residents conform to the provisions of law applicable to such a purchase and in the contiguous state in which the purchase is made.
WEAPON, RESIDENT OF CONTIGUOUS STATE -- PURCHASE OF FIREARM IN STATE. Residents of a state contiguous to the state may purchase rifles and shotguns in state, provided that such residents conform to the applicable provisions of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968, and regulations thereunder, as administered by the United States secretary of the treasury, and provided further, that such residents conform to the provisions of law applicable to such purchase in state and in the state in which such persons reside. WEAPON, SALE OF WEAPONS TO MINORS. It shall be unlawful to directly or indirectly sell to any minor under the age of eighteen (18) years any weapon without the written consent of the parent or guardian of the minor. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not in excess of six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. As used in this section, "weapon" shall mean any dirk, dirk knife, bowie knife, dagger, pistol, revolver or gun. WEAPON, SELLING EXPLOSIVES, AMMUNITION OR FIREARMS TO MINORS. No person, firm, association or corporation shall sell or give to any minor under the age of sixteen (16) years any powder, commonly called gunpowder, of any description, or any dynamite or other explosive, or any shells or fixed ammunition of any kind, except shells loaded for use in shotguns and for use in rifles of twenty-two (22) caliber or smaller, or any firearms of any description, without the written consent of the parents or guardian of such minor first had and obtained. Any person, firm, association or corporation violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. WEAPON, SHIPPING LOADED FIREARMS. Every person who ships, or causes to be shipped, or delivers or causes to be delivered, to any railroad, express or stage company, or to any other common carrier, for shipment as baggage or otherwise, any loaded pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun or other firearm, is guilty of a misdemeanor. WEAPON, UNLAWFUL DISCHARGE OF A FIREARM AT A DWELLING HOUSE, OCCUPIED BUILDING, VEHICLE OR MOBILE HOME. It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally and unlawfully discharge a firearm at an inhabited dwelling house, occupied building, occupied motor vehicle, inhabited mobile home, inhabited travel trailer, or inhabited camper. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a felony. As used in this section, "inhabited" means currently being used for dwelling purposes, whether occupied or not. WEAPON, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A FIREARM. (1) A person who previously has been convicted of a felony who purchases, owns, possesses, or has under his custody or control any firearm shall be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a period of time not to exceed five (5) years and by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). (2) For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, "convicted of a felony" shall include a person who has entered a plea of guilty, nolo contendere or has been found guilty of any of the crimes enumerated in State Code, or to a comparable felony crime in another state, territory, commonwealth, or other jurisdiction of the United States. (3) For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, "firearm" shall include any weapon from which a shot, projectile or other object may be discharged by force of combustion, explosive, gas and/or mechanical means, whether operable or inoperable. (4) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to a person whose conviction has been nullified by expungement, pardon, setting aside the conviction or other comparable procedure by the jurisdiction where the felony conviction occurred; or whose civil right to bear arms either specifically or in combination with other civil rights has been restored by any other provision of State law. WEAPON, UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF BOMBS OR DESTRUCTIVE DEVICES. (1) Any person who knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly possesses or controls a bomb or destructive device for a purpose unlawful pursuant to State Code, is guilty of a felony, punishable by up to a five thousand dollar ($5,000) fine and five (5) years in prison. (2) Any person who knowingly possesses an assembled bomb or assembled destructive device and who: (a) Has been convicted of a felony; or (b) Has been found guilty of any crime where such conviction results in the person being prohibited from possessing or owning firearms; or (c) Is in possession or control of any substance or paraphernalia in violation of State Code, or the felony provisions of State Code; is guilty of a felony, punishable by up to a five thousand dollar ($5,000) fine and five (5) years in prison. (3) Any person who possesses a bomb or destructive device which by its design will propel shrapnel is guilty of a felony, punishable by up to a five thousand dollar ($5,000) fine and five (5) years in prison.
WEAPON, UNLAWFUL USE OF DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE OR BOMB. Any person who knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly: (1) Conspires to use, uses or causes to be used a destructive device or bomb in the commission of or an attempt to commit a felony; or (2) With the intent to injure the person or property of another, transports a bomb or destructive device; or (3) Injures another or conspires or attempts to injure another in his person or property through the use of a destructive device or bomb is guilty of a felony, punishable by up to a twenty-five thousand dollar ($25,000) fine and life in prison. WEAPON, USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS -- DEFINITIONS. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, it shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly: (a) Develop, produce or otherwise acquire, transfer directly or indirectly, receive, stockpile, retain, own, possess, use or threaten to use any chemical weapon; or (b) Assist or induce in any way a person to violate, or attempt or conspire to violate, subsection (1)(a) of this section. (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to: (a) The retention, ownership, possession, transfer or receipt of a chemical weapon by a department, agency or other entity of the State or the United States; or (b) Any person, including a member of the armed forces of the United States, who is authorized by law or by an appropriate officer of the State or the United States to retain, possess, transfer or receive a chemical weapon; or (c) To an otherwise nonculpable person in an emergency situation if such person is attempting to seize or destroy the weapon. (3) (a) Any person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of up to and including life imprisonment or by a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both. (b) The attorney general of the state of Idaho may bring a civil action in a state district court against any person who violates this section and, upon proof of such violation by a preponderance of the evidence, such person shall be required to pay a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for each violation. The imposition of a civil penalty under this subsection does not preclude any other criminal or civil statutory, common law or administrative remedy which is otherwise available by law to the state of Idaho or any other person. (c) The court shall order any person convicted of an offense under this section to reimburse the state of Idaho for any expenses incurred by the state incident to the seizure, storage, handling, transportation, destruction or other disposition of any property or material seized in connection with an investigation of the commission of an offense by that person. (d) The state of Idaho may obtain in a civil action an injunction against any conduct prohibited in subsection (1) of this section or the preparation or solicitation to engage in such conduct. (4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the possession or use of any individual self-defense device, including devices which contain pepper spray or chemical mace. (5) As used in this section: (a) "Chemical weapon" means the following, together or separately: (i) A toxic chemical and its precursors, except where intended for a purpose not prohibited by this section provided the type and quantity of such chemical or precursors are consistent with such a purpose; (ii) A munition or device that is specifically designed to cause death or other harm through toxic properties of those toxic chemicals specified in paragraph (5)(a)(i) of this section and that would be released as a result of the employment of such munition or device; (iii) Any equipment specifically designed for use directly in connection with the employment of munitions or devices specified in paragraph (5)(a)(ii) of this section. (b) Except as otherwise provided, "person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, the state of Idaho or any political subdivision thereof, or any political entity within the state, any foreign government or nation or any agency, instrumentality or political subdivision of such government or nation located in the state of residence. (c) "Precursor" means any chemical reactant that takes part at any stage in the production, by whatever method, of a toxic chemical. The term includes any key component of a binary or multicomponent chemical system. (d) "Purposes not prohibited by this section" means: (i) Any peaceful purpose related to an industrial, agricultural, research, medical or pharmaceutical activity or other activity; (ii) Any purpose directly related to protection against toxic chemicals or chemical weapons; (iii) Any military purpose of the United States that is not connected with the use of a chemical weapon or that is not dependent on the use of the toxic or poisonous properties of the chemical weapon to cause death or other harm; or (iv) Any law enforcement purpose, including any domestic riot control purpose and the imposition of capital punishment. (e) "Toxic chemical" means any chemical that, through its chemical action on life processes, can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to animals, including humans. The term includes all such chemicals, regardless of their form or method of production, and regardless of whether they are produced in facilities, munitions or elsewhere.
WEAPON, USE OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. (1) Any person who willfully and without lawful authority uses, threatens, attempts or conspires to use a weapon of mass destruction, as defined in this section and including a biological agent, toxin or vector, against any person or property shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by a term of up to and including life imprisonment or by a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both. (2) As used in this section, the term "weapon of mass destruction" means: (a) Any bomb or destructive device, as those terms are defined in State Code; (b) Any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals or the precursors of such chemicals; (c) Any weapon involving a disease organism; or (d) Any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life. WEAPONS ABOARD AIRCRAFT -- PENALTY. (1) No person, while aboard an airplane being operated by a holder of a certificate issued by the federal government or the state of residence, shall carry on or about his person a deadly or dangerous weapon, either concealed or unconcealed; nor shall any person enter or attempt to enter any sterile area of an airport, which is a holder of a certificate issued by the federal government or the state of residence, while knowingly carrying on or about his person, or in a bag, case, pouch or other container, a deadly or dangerous weapon, either concealed or unconcealed. Any person who pleads guilty or is found guilty of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in this section "sterile area" shall mean that area of a certificated airport to which access is controlled as required by the federal aviation administration regulations. (2) No person, while aboard an airplane being operated by a holder of a certificate issued by the federal government or the state of residence, shall willfully and intentionally conceal on or about his person, or in a bag, case, pouch or other container any deadly or dangerous weapon; nor shall any person enter or attempt to enter any sterile area of an airport which is a holder of a certificate issued by the federal government or the state of residence, while willfully and intentionally concealing on or about his person, or in a bag, case, pouch or other container any deadly or dangerous weapon with the intent to avoid its detection by security measures at the sterile area. (3) This section does not apply to: (a) Law enforcement officials of a city, county or state, or of the United States, who are authorized to carry arms and who have fulfilled the requirements of federal aviation administration regulations 107 and 108 in effect on January 1, 2001, and as may be amended from time to time; (b) Crew members and other persons authorized by the certificate holder to carry arms; (c) Parties chartering an aircraft for the purpose of hunting when a weapon is properly stored and/or in the custody of the pilot in command of the aircraft; or (d) An aircraft owner and his invited guests when the weapon is properly stored and/or in the custody of the pilot of the aircraft. (4) Any person convicted of violating the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five (5) years or by fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by both such fine and imprisonment. (5) Any person presenting a ticket to board any commercial or charter aircraft shall by such presentation consent to a search or screening of his person or personal belongings by the aircraft company boarding him, by personnel of the airport from which the flight is originating, persons authorized by federal aviation administration regulations or by law enforcement officials. In case said person shall refuse to submit to a search or screening of his person or personal belongings by said aircraft company personnel, airport personnel, federal aviation administration regulation authorized personnel, federal employees or law enforcement officials the person refusing shall be denied the right to board said commercial or charter aircraft. (6) Any person entering or attempting to enter into the sterile area of an airport shall be presumed to have fully consented to a search of their person, clothing and belongings including, but not limited to, any bags, cases, pouches or other containers with which they are associated. Such full consent shall remain until the aircraft shall depart from the airport. (7) No person in, near or attempting to enter a sterile area of a certificated airport shall assault, obstruct or delay any aircraft company personnel, airport personnel, federal aviation administration regulation authorized personnel, federal employee or law enforcement official in the performance of their assigned duties within the airport. (8) No action, either at law or equity, shall be brought against any commercial or charter airline company or airport operating in this state for the refusal of said company or airport to permit a person to board said aircraft where said person has refused to be searched as set out in subsections (5) and (6) of this section. WEAPONS-CARRYING Laws for carrying and concealing handguns can be found in this list. Switchblades and other handheld weapons also apply to these laws. Swords, practice swords, fighting poles, etc. may be carried, sheathed, as part of a costume or a historical re-enactment group.
WILD FLOWERS OR SHRUBS ALONG HIGHWAY -- REMOVAL OR TRANSPORT ILLEGAL. (1) It is the duty of all citizens of this state to protect the wild flowers of this state referred to in this section from needless destruction and waste. (2) It shall be unlawful for any person in this state to wilfully and negligently cut, dig up, trim, pick, or remove, any plant, flower, shrub, bush, fruit or other vegetation growing upon the right of way of any public highway within this state. (3) It shall be unlawful for any person to export from this state, or to sell or offer for sale or transport bulbs, corms, rhizomes, roots or plants of native wild flowers or shrubs of the state of any of the following genera: a. Tiger lily ... Lilium Columbianum b. Queen Cup ... Clintonia uniflora c. Trillium (both species) d. Lady's Slipper ... Cypripedium montanum e. Stream orchis ... Epipactis Gigantea f. Coral root ... Corallorhiza (all species) g. Columbine ... Aquilegia formosa h. Syringa or mock orange ... Philadelphus lewisii i. Dogwood ... Cornus nuttallii and canadensis j. Indian Pipe Family (all members) k. Rhododendron (all species) l. Twin Flower ... Linnaea americana m. Mission bells or rive root ... Fritillaria lanceolata n. Bitter root ... Lewisia rediviva o. Angel slipper, fairy slipper ... Calypso bulbosa (4) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or transport or offer for sale the bulbs, corms, rhizomes, roots or parts of any of the plants or shrubs mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) of this section which have been dug, pulled up or gathered upon any highway. (5) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to any employee of the federal government or of the state of Idaho or of any political subdivision of the state engaged in work upon any state, county or public road or highway while performing such work under the supervision of the federal government, the state or any political subdivision thereof. (6) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to the owner of any tract or tracts of land, or to his agents or employee, as to such tract or tracts, or to any shrub, plant or other vegetation which is declared by law to be a public nuisance. (7) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the digging, pulling, gathering or sending out of this state, at such times the Idaho transportation department may approve, any propagated plants or shrubs mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, in such quantity and at such times as the agency or persons having control of the land, public or private, may determine and approve. WILD FLOWERS PROTECTED -- AMENDED LIST -- DUTY OF DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME. (a) In order to further protect native wild flowers and shrubs from needless destruction and waste, the department of fish and game may, after investigation and public hearings and in accordance with the provisions of this act, establish and amend a list of wild flowers and shrubs in addition to those listed in section 18-3911(3), Idaho Code. The provisions of this act will then apply to such "established" or "amended" list. (b) In determining additions to the list of wild flowers set forth herein, the department of fish and game may take into consideration: (1) The laws and regulations of the United States and other states. (2) The effect on the scenic beauty of public roads and public land. (3) The necessity to preserve and protect native plants whenever it appears that they might possibly become extinct. WILDLIFE PROTECTION LAWS. Facts About Federal Wildlife Laws This booklet is designed as a guide to Federal laws that apply to the importation, exportation, trade, and sale of wildlife, including live and dead animals and animal parts and products. If you're a tourist traveling in foreign countries, a hunter planning a trip abroad, an importer or exporter, a scientist or an educator, the information in this booklet will help you comply with wildlife protection laws and make your trip the positive experience you want it to be. By observing the laws, you'll help preserve the world's wildlife resources and avoid delays in clearing Customs. As you read this booklet, you should be aware that the wildlife and wildlife parts and products mentioned are only a few of the species and items that are subject to Federal law. Also, while this booklet describes the basic requirements of Federal regulations, it does not cover them in full. More complete information is available from any of the US Fish and Wildlife Service offices listed in the back of this booklet.
IF YOU'RE TRAVELING ABROAD.... Some of the most beautiful and interesting souvenirs offered for sale abroad are made from the furs, hides, shells, feathers, teeth, and flesh of creatures threatened with extinction. Although tourists may lawfully buy such souvenirs in a number of foreign countries, it may be illegal to import them into the United States. Don't be fooled by the argument that "the animal is already dead so it doesn't matter if you buy something made from it." Should you buy items fashioned from endangered species, you'd be adding to the demand for such products and supporting a market for which more animals will be killed. When you consider purchasing a wildlife product during your travels, first make sure you can legally bring it home. Don't rely on assurances by the vendor. Check with the US embassy or consular office, which can then contact the host government. A good rule is, "if in doubt, do without." There are no refunds if your purchase is seized by Customs or wildlife inspectors, and you might also find yourself subject to monetary penalties. Federal restrictions on the import and export of protected wildlife also apply to hunters who take trophies, businesses that deal in the animal and animal product trade, and scientists or teachers who use animals for research or educational purposes. Some exceptions are allowed, but most imports or exports of wildlife require that a Federal permit be obtained in advance. WHAT CAN'T BE IMPORTED AND EXPORTED? Endangered and Threatened Species More than 1,000 species of animals and plants are officially listed under US law as endangered or threatened. With limited exceptions, none may be imported or exported either alive, as parts or products, or as hunting trophies. One of these exceptions is for certain antiques (check with Customs for more details). Other exceptions also may be granted by Federal permit for scientific research, breeding, or similar acceptable purposes that contribute to the species' conservation. Items falling into the endangered species category which are commonly sold abroad but are prohibited entry into the United States include: * Whole shells and "tortoise" shell jewelry made from the shells of sea turtles. * Sea turtle soup and facial cremes. * Rugs, pelts, hunting trophies, and a wide variety of manufactured articles (such as handbags, compacts, coats, wallets, key cases, etc.) made from the skins and/or fur of endangered or threatened animals, including the cheetah, jaguar, margay, ocelot, vicuna, tiger, and others. * Asian elephant ivory and whale teeth decorated with etchings (scrimshaw) or made into figurines (netsuke), curios, pendants, and other jewelry. * African elephant ivory, both raw and worked. * Crocodile and sea turtle leather shoes, handbags, belts, wallets, luggage, and similar articles. Leather products made from certain other reptiles, including the caiman, may also be prohibited. CITES Species Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), more than 120 nations are now regulating international trade to prevent the decline of species threatened (listed in Appendix I of Cites) or potentially threatened (listed in Appendix II) with extinction. Trade, which is defined as import, export, or re-export, of a long list of such threatened animal and plant species, is either virtually prohibited (Appendix I species) or restricted (Appendix II or III species). International shipment of these species (and products made from them) requires an import or export permit, or both, issued in advance by the official management authorities of the countries involved. Permits are issued after findings by scientific authorities that the trade won't be detrimental to the survival of the species in question. Marine Mammals Seals, whales, dugongs (sea cows), porpoises, walruses, sea otters, polar bears, and manatees also are protected by Federal laws. These animals (alive or dead), their parts, or products made from them may not be imported in most instances except by special permit. Articles made from these animals that are commonly sold abroad include: * Sealskin toys, purses, wallets, key cases, and clothing. * Whalebone and whale and walrus ivory, either in natural form or carved into figurines, curios, or jewelry. * Sea otter furs and clothing. * Polar bear hunting trophies, rugs and items of clothing.
Birds and Bird Feathers The import of most wild bird feathers, mounted birds, and skins (with or without feathers) is prohibited by US Customs law. Most migratory birds are protected by international treaty as well as by United States law and may not be possessed without permit. However, game birds that are legally killed in and exported from foreign countries by United States hunters may be imported or possessed. Fully manufactured artificial flies for fishing (other than those containing protected bird species) may also be imported and possessed. Prohibited or controlled items commonly sold abroad include: * Live and mounted migratory birds, including bald and golden eagles. * Feathers in a variety of forms. Including flowers, pictures, wearing apparel, Indian artifacts, necklaces, headbands, and curios decorated with feathers. * Most psittacine birds (parrots, macaws, etc.). Injurious Wildlife Several live animals, including but not limited to the fruit bat, mongoose, walking catfish, and java sparrow, may not be imported because they are deemed to be harmful to the environment, to people, or to animals and plants in the United States. This prohibition applies to animals in captivity, including pets, but does not apply to domesticated dogs, cats, or rabbits. Many States also have strict prohibitions against the introduction of non-native wildlife. Health certificates must accompany all imports of fresh or frozen fish produced commercially and salmon and trout harvested recreationally outside North American waters. Live salmon eggs also require health certificates. For a list of such certifying officials, contact the nearest Fish and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Office. Wildlife Taken In Violation of State, Federal, Foreign, or Indian Tribal Law The Lacey Act helps foreign countries and our individual States enforce their wildlife conservation laws. Under the Lacey Act, it is a violation of Federal law to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any wildlife, including fish, that was taken, transported, possessed, or sold in violation of any State or foreign law, or taken or possessed in violation of other Federal law or Indian tribal law. Many countries prohibit the export of certain species, and the United States may also ban the importation of wildlife from individual foreign nations. Travelers should check with the US Fish and Wildlife Service about such restrictions before their trip. Lists of Species A list of wildlife and plants that specifically require a Federal permit in order to be imported may be obtained by writing to the offices listed in the back of this booklet. These lists include species that are: * Endangered or threatened. * Protected by CITES. * Injurious. * Migratory birds. * Marine mammals. In addition, travelers will need to be sure that they have any necessary foreign permits to establish that the wildlife they are importing into the United States was lawfully exported. WHERE IN THE UNITED STATES CAN WILDLIFE BE IMPORTED OR EXPORTED? Designated Ports To maintain control over importation and exportation, wildlife and wildlife products must enter or exit the United States at one of the following designated ports unless specific permits allow otherwise or unless conditions exist that allow entry or exit at a Canadian or Mexican border port, or a special port. New York, NY Los Angeles, CA Miami, FL New Orleans, LA Chicago, IL Seattle, WA San Francisco, CA Honolulu, HI Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX Portland, OR Baltimore, MD Boston, MA Canadian and Mexican Border Ports Wildlife, including parts and products, other than marine mammals or endangered, threatened, CITES, or injurious species, which is imported or exported for commercial purposes and whose origin is the United States, Canada, or Mexico, may enter or exit at any of 31 specified border ports in addition to the twelve designated ports listed above. A list of these 31 border ports may be obtained from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Special Ports Wildlife including parts and products, may be imported or exported from Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks, or Alcan, if Alaska is the origin or final destination; through San Juan if Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands are the origin or final destination; and through Agana, if Guam is the origin or final destination. The use of these ports is not permitted for marine mammals, or endangered, threatened, CITES, or injurious species.
Any Customs Port 1) Personal or Household effects Wildlife products or manufactured articles that are not intended for sale may enter or leave the United States through any Customs port if they are: * Worn as clothing. * Contained in accompanying personal baggage. * Part of a household move. The exception for personal or household effects does not apply to: * Packages mailed to the United States. * Raw or dressed furs or skins. * Game trophies. * Endangered or threatened wildlife. * Injurious wildlife. * Certain CITES species. * Marine mammals. 2) Trophies Wildlife, other than marine mammals or endangered, threatened, or CITES Appendix I species, which is lawfully taken by United States residents in the United States, Canada, or Mexico, may be imported or exported for non-commercial purposes at any Customs Port. IS DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED? Most persons who import or export wildlife must file a special declaration and may be required to have certain documents from foreign governments as well. Import and Export Declarations In most cases, anyone importing or exporting wildlife or wildlife products must file a US Fish and Wildlife Service Form 3177 (Declaration for Importation or Exportation of Fish or Wildlife) with the Fish and Wildlife Service or US Customs Service at the time of importation or exportation. This form is available from the Customs Service or the US Fish and Wildlife Service offices listed in the back of this booklet. It does not have to be filed in the case of: * Wildlife products or manufactured articles that are not for sale and are imported as accompanying personal effects or as part of a household move, unless such wildlife requires the prior issuance of a permit. This exception does not apply to packages mailed into the United States, live animals, raw or dressed furs or skins, endangered or threatened wildlife, injurious wildlife, certain CITES species, and marine mammals. * Fish caught by sport fishermen in North America. Foreign Documentation Any wildlife imported from a country regulating its taking, possession, transportation, exportation, or sale has to be accompanied by documents showing compliance with all of that country's laws. This documentation must include an export document from an appropriate foreign government official (every CITES species item must have documentation, except for some personal or household effects). To find out what documentation may be required from a specific foreign country, contact the nearest US Fish and Wildlife Service office. Marking of Packages and Containers Any container or package holding wildlife (alive or dead) or wildlife parts and products must be labeled to show the name and address of the shipper, the name and address of the receiver, and the quantity and kind of wildlife or wildlife products within. WHAT ABOUT BUYING OR SELLING WILDLIFE WITHIN THE UNITED STATES? Federal law restricts interstate commerce in migratory birds, bald or golden eagles, endangered or threatened species, and any wildlife that is taken, possessed, transported, or sold illegally in a State or foreign country. These restrictions apply to live or dead animals, their parts, and products manufactured from them. Items commonly sold illegally in the United States include: * Mounted migratory birds and jewelry and curios made with feathers of protected species. * Tortoise shell items and sea turtle meat and oils. * Crocodile shoes, bags, wallets, and belts. * Coats, handbags, wallets, compacts, and other items made from protected species. WHAT ABOUT HUNTING OR CAPTURING WILDLIFE WITHIN THE UNITED STATES? The Federal Government prohibits the hunting, trapping, capturing, or harassing of marine mammals, endangered or threatened species, bald and golden eagles, hawks and owls without a special permit. In addition, no hunting or trapping of non-game migratory birds (sea birds, songbirds, etc.) is allowed without a special permit.
The Federal Government authorizes special hunting seasons for certain migratory game birds. Federal regulations governing these special hunting seasons can be obtained by writing the US Fish and Wildlife Service offices listed in the back of this booklet. Airborne hunting of any wildlife is prohibited without specific permits. WHAT ABOUT RESTRICTIONS BY OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES? In addition to the requirements, restrictions, and prohibitions enforced by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, other Federal agencies are concerned with the importation and exportation of wildlife and plants. US Customs Service Many imported wildlife items are subject to duty and must meet other requirements administered by the US Customs Service. Travelers should direct any questions involving Customs laws and regulations to the US Customs Service, 1301 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20229. US Department of Agriculture To protect the US livestock and agriculture industry from diseases of foreign origin, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) also regulates importation (and in some cases the exportation) of plants, birds, and certain animals. 1) Animals and Birds USDA restricts the entry of live farm animals, certain zoo animals, some game animals and birds (including carcasses, meat, and trophy skins), poultry and other birds (and hatching eggs), and the entry and interstate shipment of potential carriers of animal disease. Some animals are prohibited; others must be held in USDA Animal Import Centers or quarantine stations for 30 days after entry. Quarantine arrangements must be made prior to the importation. Animal and birds must be inspected by veterinarians of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Write in advance to Veterinary Services, APHIS, USDA, Federal Building, Hyattsville, Maryland 20782. 2) Plant Materials All imported plant material must be inspected, and a permit is required before certain plant material may be brought into the United States. This includes fruits, vegetables, and plants or plant parts intended for growing. For further information, write: Permit Unit, APHIS, USDA, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Federal Building, Room 638, Hyattsville, Maryland 20782. US Public Health Service The centers for disease control of the US Public Health Service administers regulations that apply to the Importation of primates, turtles, dogs, cats, and other wildlife that may be carriers of human disease. For specific information on importation requirements, write to the US Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, Division of Quarantine, 1600 Clifton Road, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30333. National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service of the US Department of Commerce has broad restrictions governing importation and interstate commerce in marine mammals or their parts and products. For further information, write to the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE STATES? Within the United States, individual States have the major responsibility for regulating the use (including hunting) of resident wildlife -- that is, wildlife native to a State. In addition, many states have laws controlling the introduction of wildlife that is not native and regulating the sale and possession of wildlife within their borders. Travelers are advised to check with these authorities before acquiring wildlife items or live wildlife. ARE PERMITS AVAILABLE? Some of the controlled import and export activities described in this booklet may be conducted under special permits issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service. For additional information, including exceptions and procedures for applying for special permits, write: US Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of the Management Authority, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240, or National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Species and Habitat Conservation, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20235. WILLFUL CONCEALMENT OF GOODS, WARES OR MERCHANDISE -- DEFENSE FOR DETENTION. (a) Whoever, without authority, willfully conceals the goods, wares or merchandise of any store or merchant, while still upon the premises of such store or merchant, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Goods, wares or merchandise found concealed upon the person shall be prima facie evidence of a willful concealment.
(b) Any owner, his authorized employee or agent of any store or merchant, apprehending or detaining a person on or in the immediate vicinity of the premises of any store or merchant, for the purpose of investigation or questioning as to the ownership of any goods, wares or merchandise, shall have as a defense in any action, civil or criminal, that such detention of the person or persons was in a reasonable manner and for not more than a reasonable time to permit such investigation or questioning by a peace officer or by the owner of the store or merchant, his authorized employee or agent, and that such peace officer, owner, employee or agent had probable cause to believe that the person so detained was committing or attempting to commit an offense as set forth in subsection (a) of this section. "Reasonable time" shall mean the time necessary to permit the person detained to make a statement or to refuse to make a statement, and the time necessary to examine employees and records of the store or merchant relative to ownership of the merchandise. WITHHOLDING BOOKS AND RECORDS FROM SUCCESSOR. Every officer whose office is abolished by law, or who, after the expiration of the time for which he may be appointed or elected, or after he has resigned or been legally removed from office, wilfully and unlawfully withholds or detains from his successor, or other person entitled thereto, the records, papers, documents or other writings appertaining or belonging to his office, or mutilates, destroys or takes away the same, is guilty of a felony. WRONGFUL DIVERSION OF WATER. Any person who without the consent of the water master of the district, diverts any water from a ditch or channel where it has been placed, or caused or left to run by the water master or his deputies, or who shuts or opens any ditch, gate or dam, or in any way impedes or increases the flow of water in any stream or ditch diverting water from a stream, while the same is under the charge of a water master, or who cuts away any embankment of a stream, whereby the water of such stream is diverted, or breaks, injures, or removes any gate, flume or other device used for the equitable distribution of the water of such stream by the water master, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Optional Compiled Laws
Unless otherwise noted, the penalty of any of these is at most a Misdemeanor charge, though most fall under the Infraction clause in normal society. As this is the World of Darkness, levying Misdemeanor charges for all is well founded. # State law prohibits a public erection. The prohibition against the public erection has never been challenged in the Supreme Court. # There is a law that says a man must run in front of a vehicle that a woman is driving, and, that the car may not go faster than five miles an hour. # It is illegal for a man to give his sweetheart a box of candy weighing less than fifty pounds. # If you ignore an orator on Decoration day to such an extent as to publicly play croquet or pitch horseshoes within one mile of the speaker's stand, you can be fined $25.00. # While it is legal for theaters to show movies on a Sunday, it is only legal so long as (1) they have a permit from either the city or the county and (2) at least once monthly they show a religious or educational film # Horses are forbidden to eat fire hydrants. # Hunting camels is prohibited in the United States. # It is unlawful to walk backwards after sunset. # It is unlawful to lend your vacuum cleaner to your next-door neighbor. # It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle. # Dominoes may not be played on Sunday. # You may not drive barefooted. # It is illegal to maim oneself to escape duty. # It is illegal to impersonate a person of the clergy. # Women are able to retain all property they owned prior to marriage in the case of divorce. However, this provision does not apply to men. # Masks may not be worn in public. # Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death. # Boogers may not be flicked into the wind. # Bear wrestling matches are prohibited. # It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street if you have a lantern attached to the front of your automobile. # Men may not spit in front of the opposite sex. # Incestous marriages are legal. # It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church. # You must have windshield wipers on your car. # You may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time. # You may not wear blue jeans down Certain Named Streets. (Storyteller's Discretion.) # It is illegal for a husband to beat his wife with a stick larger in diameter than his thumb. (The Rule of Thumb.) # It is illegal to sell peanuts in the County after sundown on Wednesday. # It is unlawful to wear women's pumps with sharp, high heels. # It is unlawful to howl at ladies inside the city limits. # It is considered an offense to open an umbrella on a street, for fear of it spooking horses. # It is considered an offense to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose. # While it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited. # It is considered an offense to push a live moose out of a moving airplane. # It is the state policy that emergencies are held to a minimum and are rarely found to exist. # Moose may not be viewed from an airplane. # You may not have more than two dildos in a house. # Any misdemeanor committed while wearing a red mask is considered a felony. This goes back in the days of the Wild West. # There is a possible 25 years in prison for cutting down a cactus. # When being attacked by a criminal or burglar, you may only protect yourself with the same weapon that the other person posseses. # Donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs. # It is unlawful to refuse a person a glass of water. # Cars may not be driven in reverse. # Cards may not be played in the street with a Native American. # If you bother the cottontails or bullfrogs, you will be fined. # No more than six girls may live in any house. # It is illegal to smoke cigarettes within 15 feet of a public place unless you have a Class 12 liqueur license. # A decree declares that anyone caught stealing soap must wash himself with it until it is all used up. # An ordinance prohibits the wearing of suspenders. # No one is permitted to ride their horse up the stairs of the county court house.
# Women may not wear pants. # It is illegal for men and women over the age of 18 to have less than one missing tooth visible when smiling. # A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month. # A law provides that school teachers who bob their hair will not get a raise. # Alligators may not be kept in bathtubs. # The River can rise no higher than to the bridge in town. # A voter is only allowed five minutes to mark his ballot. # Dogs may not bark after 6 PM. # It is illegal to kill "any living creature". # It is unlawful to walk one's cow down Main Street after 1:00 PM on Sunday. # No person shall sound the horn on a vechicle at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9:00 P.M. # Flirtation between men and women on the streets of town may result in a 30-day jail term. # Sunshine is guaranteed to the masses. # Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship. # Many animals are illegal to own as pets, including snails, sloths, and elephants. # Bathhouses are against the law. # In an animal shelter, lizards and snakes are treated under the same guidelines as cats and dogs. # No vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour. # Women may not drive in a house coat. # It is a misdemeanor to shoot at any kind of game from a moving vehicle, unless the target is a whale. # Peacocks have the right of way to cross any street, including driveways. # You cannot leave your car on the street overnight without the proper permit. # Nobody is allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool. # City Council order reads: "No dog shall be in a public place without its master on a leash." # You are not permitted to wear cowboy boots unless you already own at least two cows. # It is illegal to spit, except on baseball diamonds. # Ice cream may not be eaten while standing on the sidewalk. # Women may not wear high heels while in the city limits. # Detonating a nuclear device within the city limits results in a $500 fine. # It is illegal to wash your car in the street. (Passed 1995). # It is illegal to drive more than two thousand sheep down any Boulevard at one time. # You are forbidden to spit on the ground within 5 feet of another person. # It is illegal to own or sell "Silly String". # It is illegal to posses, own or raise roosters. This is considered disturbing the peace. # It is illegal to curse on a mini-golf course. # Cars are the only item allowed in a garage. # Toads may not be licked. # You may not hunt moths under a street light. # It is a crime for dogs to mate within 500 yards of a church. Breaking this law is punishable by a fine of $500 and/or six months in prison. # You cannot bathe two babies in the same tub at the same time. # Zoot suits are prohibited. # It is illegal to cry on the witness stand. # It is illegal for a man to beat his wife with a strap wider than 2 inches without her consent. # Roosters may not crow in the city limits. # Molesting butterflies can result in a $500 fine. # It is illegal to walk a camel down any Drive between the hours of four and six PM. # It is illegal for a secretary to be alone in a room with her boss. # Two bathtubs may not be installed in the same house. # Motor vehicles may not drive on city streets unless a man with a lantern is wallking ahead of it. # One may not carry a lunch down the street between 11 and 1 o'clock. # The owners of houses with Christmas lights on them past February second may be fined up to $250. # It is illegal to shoot jackrabbits from the back of a streetcar. # Persons classified as "ugly" may not walk down any street. # Prohibits elephants from strolling down any Street unless they are on a leash. # It is illegal to pile horse manure more than six feet high on a street corner. # It is illegal to wipe one's car with used underwear. # It is illegal to have more than two cats or dogs. # You may not play percussion instruments on the beach. # Ducks have the right of way to cross any Street at all times.
# Tags may be ripped off of pillows and mattresses. # It is illegal to ride a horse while under the influence. # No liquor may be sold on Sundays or election days. # It is illegal for liquor stores to sell food or grocery stores to sell any alcohol except beer that is at most 3.2% alcohol. # Car dealers may not show cars on a Sunday. # It is permissable to wear a holstered six-gun within city limits, except on Sunday, Election Day, or holidays. # It is illegal to bring your horse or pack mule above the ground floor of any building. # You may not drive a black car on Sundays. # It is illegal to mistreat rats in the city. # The dog catcher must notify dogs of impounding by posting, for three consecutive days, a notice on a tree in the city park and along a public road running through said park. # It is illegal to go in public dressed in clothes "unbecoming" on one's sex. # It is illegal for a man to kiss a woman while she is asleep. # It is illegal to let a dandelion grow within the city limits. # Cats may not run loose without having been fit with a taillight. # You can be stopped by the police for biking over 65 miles per hour. # In order for a pickle to officially be considered a pickle, it must bounce. # It is illegal to dispose of used razor blades. # You cannot buy any alcohol after 8pm or on Sundays. # The marriage of imbeciles and feeble-minded persons is prohibited. # It is illegal to discharge a firearm from a public highway. # No one may use a white cane, unless they are blind. # Only white Christmas lights are allowed for display. # You aren't allowed to cross a street while walking on your hands. You may not educate dogs. It is illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday. # It is illegal for fire trucks to exceed 25mph, even when going to a fire. # It is illegal for any beautician to hum, whistle, or sing while working on a customer. # It is illegal to fly over any body of water, unless one is carrying sufficient supplies of food and drink. # It is illegal to wear pants that are "firm fitting" around the waist. # Getting married on a dare is grounds for an annulment. # Penalty for horse theft is death by hanging. # It is considered an offense to shower naked. # You are not allowed to break more than three dishes per day, or chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers. # It is illegal to block any traveled wagon road. # Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner. # If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle. # It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit. # You may not fart in a public place after 6 P.M. on Thursdays. # It is illegal to skateboard without a license. # A special law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing. # Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal. # It is illegal to molest a deer. If caught one will be fined or will have to go to jail. # It is against the city ordinance to hang your clothes outside on a clothesline. # It it illegal to park a pick-up truck in your driveway or in front of your house on the street. This law is limited to only those who do not own the house. # While intoxicated, under influence of narcotics, prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person to swim or bathe in that portion of the Ocean within the corporate limits of the city when under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs to the extent that his or her normal faculties are impaired. # Weeds, trash, etc., as a public nuisance; removal by property owner or by city at owner's expense; notice and hearing; lien for expenses. (a) The existence of weeds, trash, undergrowth, brush, filth, garbage or other refuse on any lot, tract or parcel of land within the city which has caused the property to become, or which may reasonably cause the property to become infested, or inhabited by rodents, vermin or wild animals, or may furnish a breeding place for mosquitoes or threatens the public health, safety or welfare, or may reasonably cause disease or adversely affects and impairs the economic welfare of the adjacent property, is declared to constitute a public nuisance and is hereby prohibited. # Storage, depositing prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person, either as owner, occupant, lessee, agent, tenant, or otherwise, to store or deposit, or cause or permit to be stored or deposited, any abandoned, junked or discarded motor vehicle or motor vehicles upon any public or private property within the city. # The molestation of trash cans is banned. # Ambling and strolling is a misdemeanor.
# Bird sanctuary declared. (a) It is hereby declared that all territory embraced within the corporate limits of the municipality shall be a bird sanctuary. (b) It shall be unlawful for any person within the municipality to shoot, trap or in any manner kill, wound or maim any bird of any kind, or at any time to throw at any birds of any kind any missile with slingshots or any other weapon, or to disturb their eggs or their young or their nests. # Chickens are considered a 'protected species'. # Bell or other warning device. No person shall operate a bicycle unless it is equipped with a bell or device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least 100 feet, but no bicycle shall be equipped with, nor shall any person use upon a bicycle, any siren or whistle. # It is illegal for men to be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown. # A women can be fined (only after death), for being electrocuted in a bath-tub because of using self-beautification utensils. # It is illegal to roll a barrel on any street, fines go up according to the contents of the barrel. # Citizens may not be caught downtown without at least 10 dollars on their person. # In order to operate a burglar alarm, a permit must be obtained. Registration required; application; transferability; false statements. (a)All persons must complete and submit to the village an emergency contact registration form for their alarm if they operate or cause to be operated an alarm system in the village. A separate registration is required for each alarm system. Upon receipt of a completed registration form, the police department shall issue a numbered alarm sticker to the applicant to facilitate retrieval of registration information. # Stage nudity is banned, with the exception of "bona fide" theatrical performances. Violating this ordinance results in a $100 fine. # You may not catch crabs. # If you hit a pedestrian you are fined $78.00. # It is illegal to eat cottage cheese on Sunday after 6:00 P.M. # Members of the state assembly cannot be ticketed for speeding while the state assembly is in session. # Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs. # Signs are required to be written in English. # You have the right to commit simple battery if provoked by "fighting" words. # No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday. # It is illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body which lies in a funeral home or in a coroners office. # All citizens must own a rake. # Against the law to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp. # One man may not be on another man's back. # Can't cut off a chicken's head on Sunday. # It is illegal to carry a chicken by it's feet down Broadway on Sunday. # Chicken must be eaten with the hands. # It is illegal to say "Oh, Boy" # Every head of household must possess a firearm of some kind. # Though it is illegal to spit from a car or bus, citizens may spit from a truck. # No spitting on the sidewalk is permitted after dark. # Cars are not to drive on sidewalks. # It is illegal for a chicken to cross the road. # Coins are not allowed to be placed in one's ears. # All residents may be fined as a result of not owning a boat. # Within the limits of any public park, it is unlawful to annoy any bird. # Riding a merry-go-round on Sundays is considered a crime. # You may not fish on a camel's back. # Residents may not fish from a giraffe's back. # A person may not be seen in public without a smile on their face. # A law passed in 1912 provided that "The carrying of concealed weapons is forbidden, unless some are exhibited to public view." # The English language is not to be spoken. # You may be arrested for vagrancy if you do not have at least one dollar bill on your person. # You must contact the police before entering the city in an automobile. # You may be convicted of a Class 4 felony offense, punishable by up to three years in state prison, for the crime of "eavesdropping" on your own conversation. # It is illegal to give a dog whiskey. # In the city area, it is illegal to drink beer out of a bucket while sitting on the curb. # Law forbids eating in a place that is on fire. # Kites may not be flown within the city limits. # It is forbidden to fish while sitting on a giraffe's neck. # Spitting is forbidden # It is legal to protest naked in front of city hall as long as you are under seventeen years of age and have legal permits. # One may not pee in his neighbor's mouth.
# Humming on public streets is prohibited on Sundays. # Cars may not be driven through the town. # Wheelbarrows with For-Sale signs may not be chained to trees. # A man with a moustache may not kiss a woman. # It is illegal to go trick-or-treating on Halloween. # Bowling is forbidden. # It is unlawful to change clothes in an automobile with the curtains drawn, except in case of fire. # It is unlawful for "negroes" to be within county boundries from sundown to sunrise. # It is illegal to expectorate from any second-story window. # There is a $1,000 dollar fine for beating rats with baseball bats. # It is against the law to use a slingshot unless your are a law enforcement officer. # A rooster must step back three hundred feet from any residence if he wishes to crow. Hens that wish to cackle must step two hundred feet back from any residence. # Bees are not allowed to fly over the village or through any of the city's streets. # Ice skating at the city pond during the months of June and August is prohibited. # There is a ban on unnecessary repetitive driving on any Avenue. # You may not own a handgun # It is against the law to make faces at dogs. # No pool tables are allowed in a public establishment, because it supports gambling. # Spitting on the sidewalk is a criminal offense. # Trucks may only park inside closed garages. # Basketball hoops may not be instaled on a driveway. # It is illegal for anyone to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats, or any other domesticated animals. # One man may not back into a parking spot becasue it prevents police officers from seeing the license plate. # Baths may not be taken between the months of October and March. # All males 18 to 50 years old must work six days a year on public roads. # Mustaches are illegal if the bearer has a tendency to habitually kiss other humans. # Hotel sheets must be exactly 99 inches long and 81 inches wide. # State government officials who engage in private duels can be dismissed from their post. # Drinking from your own bottle in a bar can lead to your arrest. # A man over the age of 18 may be arrested for statutory rape if the passenger in his car is not wearing her socks and shoes, and is under the age of 17. # It is illegal to sell cars on Sunday. # Drinks on the house are illegal. # It is illegal for a liquor store to sell cold soft drinks. # A person who dyes, stains, or otherwise alters the natural coloring of a bird or rabbit commits a Class B misdemeanor. # Smoking in the state legislature building is banned, except when the legislature is in session. # Liquor stores may not sell milk. # Check forgery can be punished with public flogging up to 100 stripes. # Grocery stores may not sell any type of cold liquor. # You can get out of paying for a dependent's medical care by praying for him/her. # Pedestrians crossing the highway at night are prohibited from wearing tail lights. # No one may catch a fish with his bare hands. # Men are prohibited from standing in a bar. # You are not allowed to carry a cocktail from the bar to a table. The waiter or waitress has to do it. # "Spiteful Gossip" and "talking behind a person's back" are illegal. # You are required to pour your drink into a glass. # It is against the law to pass a horse on the street. # If any person has a puppet show, wire dancing or tumbling act in the state of Indiana and receives money for it, they will be fined $3 under the Act to Prevent Immoral Practices. # Anyone 14 or older who profanely curses, damns or swears by the name of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, shall be fined one to three dollars for each offense, with a maximum fine of ten dollars per day. # A three dollar fine per pack will be imposed on anyone playing cards in the state under the Act for the Prevention of Gaming. # The value of Pi is 4, and not 3.1415. # It is illegal to bike, roller-skate, skateboard, or inline skate in a commercially zoned area. For these offesnses, there is a fine of no more than $5 or the impounding of one's bicycle for a period not to exceed 30 days. # It is forbidden to eat watermelon in the park. # It is illegal for barbers to threaten to cut off kid's ears. # While driving on Main Street you may not have your lights on. # You may not sell or play on a radio broadcast, the record "It`s In the Book".
# Within four hours of eating garlic, a person may not enter a movie house, theater, or ride a public streetcar. # It is illegal to make a monkey smoke a cigarette. # No one may spit on the sidewalk. # It is a violation of the law to sell or distribute drugs or narcotics without having first obtained the appropriate State drug tax stamp. # A man with a moustache may never kiss a woman in public. # Kisses may last for no more than five minutes. # One-armed piano players must perform for free. # Any hotel in the city limits must have a water bucket and a hitching post in front of the building. # The "Ice Cream Man" and his truck are banned. # The fire department is required to practice fire fighting for fifteen minutes before attending a fire. # Within the city limits, a man may not wink at any woman he does not know. # If two trains meet on the same track, neither shall proceed until the other has passed. # The state game rule prohibits the use of mules to hunt ducks. # Rabbits may not be shot from motorboats. # No one may catch fish with his bare hands. # Pedestrians crossing the highways at night must wear tail lights. # All places of business must provide a horse water troft. # No one may wear a bee in their hat. # All cars entering the city limits must first sound their horn to warn the horses of their arrival. # Musical car horns are banned. # It is against the law to leave your car running unattended. # The installation of bathtubs is prohibited. # Any person caught using or carrying bean snappers or the like shall upon conviction, be fined. # Before proceeding through the interesection of two streets, a motorist is required to get out of their vehicle and fire three shot gun rounds into the air. # No person shall sell, exchange, offer to sell or exchange, display or possess living baby chicks, ducklings, or other fowl or rabbits which have been dyed or colored; nor dye or color any baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or rabbits; nor sell, exchange, offer to sell or exchange or to give away baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or rabbits, under two months of age in any quantity less than six, except that any rabbit weighing three pounds or more may be sold at an age of six weeks. Any person who violates this section shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500. # It's illegal to fish in the River in the state without an neighboring state's Fishing License. # Any person who displays, handles or uses any kind of reptile in connection withany religious service or gathering shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100). # All bees entering Kentucky shall be accompanied by certificates of health, stating that the apiary from which the bees came was free from contagious or infectious disease. # No person owning or controlling a billiard or pool table shall permit, for compensation or reward, any minor under eighteen (18) years of age to play any game on the table, unless such minor shall have first displayed an identification card containing his name, age, photograph, and the signature of his parents or guardian. The minor shall keep such identification card on his person, and it shall be subject to inspection at any time by any peace officer. The person owning or controlling such billiard or pool table shall keep and maintain a registration book in which each minor shall sign. The person owning or controlling such billiard or pool table shall supply a blank identification card to each parent or guardian who makes request for same. Any person who violates this section shall be fined not less than ten ($10) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense. # It is illegal to fish with a bow and arrow in the state. # Any person who appears on any highway, or upon the street of any city that has no police protection, when clothed only in ordinary bathing garb, shall be fined no less than five dollars nor more than twenty-five dollars." # By law, anyone who has been drinking is "sober" until he or she "cannot hold onto the ground." # It is illegal to transport an ice cream cone in your pocket. # A woman may not buy a hat without her husband's permission. # It illegal for a woman to drive a car unless her husband is waving a flag in front of it. # You may not tie an alligator to a fire hydrant. # Shotguns are required to be taken to church in the event of a Native American attack. # You may not step out of a plane in flight. # After January 14th you will be charged a fine for having your Christmas decorations still up. # To stroll down the street playing a violin is against the law. # Shoelaces must be tied while walking down the street. # Thistles may not grow in one's yard. # No person who is a "tramp" or "vagrant" shall loiter in any park at any time. They define tramp as a person who roves for begging purposes and a vagrant as an idle person who is able-bodied living without labor. It's a $50 fine. # It's illegal to take a lion to the movies. # It's illegal to throw bales of hay from a second-story window within the city limits.
# It is a violation of city code to sell chicks or ducklings to a minor within 1 week of the Easter holiday. # It is a park rule violation to be in a public park with a sleeveless shirt. $10 fine. This would include joggers that go shirtless. # You may not curse inside the city limits. # Though you may spit on a city roadway, spitting on city sidewalks is prohibited. # Though clotheslines are banned, clothes may be draped over a fence. # You can not have an antenna exposed outside of your house yet you can have a 25' satellite dish. # Eating while swimming in the ocean is prohibited. # A law from the early 1900's prohibits men from going topless on the Boardwalk. # Children may smoke, but they may not purchase cigarettes. # Taxi drivers are prohibited from making love in the front seat of their taxi during their shifts. # Affiliation with the Communist party is illegal. # No gorilla is allowed in the back seat of any car. # Bullets may not be used as currency. # Alcoholic drink specials are illegal. # State liquor stores can only open on Sundays if they are in specific counties and are within 10 miles of other state borders. # It's illegal to drive Texan, Mexican, Cherokee, or Indian cattle on a public road. # Tomatoes may not be used in the production of clam chowder. # Hunting on Sundays is prohibited. # It is illegal to go to bed without first having a full bath. # At a wake, mourners may eat no more than three sandwiches. # Public boxing matches are outlawed. # It is unlawful to injure a football goal post, doing so is punishable by a $200 fine. # It's illegal to keep a mule on the second floor of a building not in a city unless there are 2 exits. # It's illegal to sell fewer than 24 ducklings at a time before May 1, or to sell rabbits, chicks, or ducklings that have been painted a different color. # It's illegal to allow someone to use stilts while working on the construction of a building. # Defacing a milk carton is punishable by a $10 fine. # It is illegal to frighten a pigeon. # An old ordinance declares goatees illegal unless you first pay a special license fee for the privilege of wearing one in public. # All men must carry a rifle to church on Sunday. # Tattooing and body piercing is illegal. # Quakers and witches are banned. # Snoring is prohibited unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked. # It is illegal to reproach Jesus Christ or the holy ghost. # No one may take a bath without a prescription. # It is illegal for any citizen to own more than three dogs. # An old law prohibits the taking of baths on Sunday. # Duels to the death permitted on the Common on Sundays provided that the Governor is present. # Women may not wear heels over 3 inches in length while on the Common. # Anyone may let their sheep and cows graze in the public gardens/commons at any time except Sundays. # No more than two baths may be taken within the confines of the city. # No one may cross the Common without carrying a shotgun in case of bears. # It is illegal to play the fiddle. # Two people may not kiss in front of a church. # It is illegal to eat peanuts in church. # You may not walk around with a "drink". # It is illegal to shake carpets in the street, or to throw orange peels on the sidewalk. # It costs $50 extra for a permit for hurling, soccer or Gaelic football games in a public park on a Sunday. # You may not have colored lights on your house if it can be seen from Main Street. Only white lights may be visible. # If you live on Main Street and want to paint your house, the colors must be approved by the historical society. # Though horses and cows are allowed on the common, dogs are prohibited. # It is illegal for two men to carry a bathtub across the town green. # One may not detonate a nuclear device in the city. # Silly string is illegal in the city limits. # It is illegal for any citizen to own more than two dogs. # It is illegal to buy, sell or possess a squirt gun. # Peeping in the windows of automobiles is forbidden. # All families must be given a hog from the town's mayor. # An ordinance prohibits the use of space guns. # In bars, it is actually illegal to "walk around" with a beer in your hand.
# You may not swear in front of women and children in the state of Michigan. # It is legal for a robber to file a law suit, if he or she got hurt in your house. # A woman isn't allowed to cut her own hair without her husband's permission. # Any person over the age of 12 may have a license for a handgun as long as he/she has not been convicted of a felony. # There is a 10 cent bounty for each rat's head brought into a town office. # There is a law that makes it legal for a farmer to sleep with his pigs, cows, horses, goats, and chickens. # Alligators may not be tied to fire hydrants. # It is illegal to let your pig run free in Detroit unless it has a ring in its nose. According to history and animal husbandry, it prevents them from "rooting" in the ground for their food. # Willfully destroying your old radio is prohibited. # It is illegal for a man to scowl at his wife on Sunday. # No person shall throw an abandoned hoop skirt into any street or on any sidewalk, under penalty of a five- dollar fine for each offense. # It is illegal to paint sparrows to sell them as parakeets. # It is against the law to serenade your girlfriend. # All bathing suits must have been inspected by the head of police. # Smoking while in bed is illegal. # Anyone can keep their cow on Main Street downtown at a cost of 3 cents per day. # Citizens may not enter Wisconsin with a chicken on their head. # All bathtubs must have feet. # A person may not cross state lines with a duck atop his head. # All men driving motorcycles must wear shirts. # It is illegal to sleep naked. # It shall be the duty of any policeman or any other officer to enforce the provisions of this Section, and if any cat is found running at large, or which is found in any street, alley or public place, it shall be the duty of any policeman or other officer of the city to kill such cat. # Red cars can not drive down Lake Street # Hamburgers may not be eaten on Sundays. # You're not allowed to park your elephant on Main Street. # Vagrancy is punishable by either 30 days in prison or a $201 fine. -Sec. 97-35-37 # Cattle rustling is punishable by hanging. # Horses are not to be housed within 50 feet of any road. # The fine for waving a gun in public is higher than actually shooting it. # Motor vehicles on the square are prohibited. # It is illegal to drive around the town square more than 100 times in a single session. # Horn honking is not permitted as it might scare horses. # One may not spit on the sidewalks on the square. # It is unlawful to shave in the center of main street. # It is not illegal to speed. # In this small town of only 4,000, yard waste may be burned any day except Sunday. # Worrying squirrels is not tolerated. # Hard objects may not be thrown by hand. # Installation of bathtubs with four legs resembling animal paws is prohibited. # Minors are not allowed to purchase cap pistols, however they may buy shotguns freely. # Minors can buy rolling paper and tobacco but not lighters. # It is illegal for more than four unrelated persons to occupy the same dwelling (The Brothel Law). # Frightening a baby is in violation of the law. # It shall be unlawful to provide beer or other intoxicants to elephants. # Dancing is strictly prohibited. # It's illegal to sit on the curb of any city street and drink beer from a bucket. This law refers back to the extinct Italian celebration, Hill Day, when beer was served in buckets. # A milk man may not run while on duty. # Four women may not rent an apartment together. # It is illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone. # It is a felony for a wife to open her husband's mail. # Seven or more indians are considered a raiding or war party and it is legal to shoot them. # It is a misdemeanor to show movies that depict acts of felonious crime. # In Montana, it is illegal for married women to go fishing alone on Sundays, and illegal for unmarried women to fish alone at all. # Balls may not be thrown within the city limits. # No item may be thrown across a street.
# Pop bottles are not to be thrown on the ground. # It is illegal to operate a vehicle with ice picks attached to the wheels. # It is illegal for a mother to give her daughter a perm without a state license. # It is illegal for bar owners to sell beer unless they are simultaneously brewing a kettle of soup. # It is Illegal to go whale fishing. # If a child burps during church, his parent may be arrested. # Doughnut holes may not be sold # A man is not allowed to run around with a shaved chest. # Sneezing or burping is illegal during a church service. # Barbers are forbidden from eating onions between 7 A.M. and 7 P.M. # It's still "legal" to hang someone for shooting your dog on your property. # It is illegal to drive a camel on the highway. # An ordinance makes bringing a concealable fire arm into the county illegal unless it is registered with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. In order to register a handgun, however, it must be brought in to the police station. Furthermore, you may not register a gun on the weekends, but the police may prosecute you at that time. # Everyone walking the streets is required to wear a mask. # Men who wear moustaches are forbidden from kissing women. # A man is forbidden from buying drinks for more than three people other than himself at any one period during the day. # It is illegal to pick seaweed up off of the beach. # It is considered an offense to check into a hotel under an assumed name. # Any cattle that crosses state roads must be fitted with a device to gather its feces. # You cannot sell the clothes you are wearing to pay off a gambling debt. # You may not run machinery on Sundays. # You may not tap your feet, nod your head, or in any way keep time to the music in a tavern, restaurant, or cafe. # On Sundays citizens may not relieve themselves while looking up. # If a person is caught raking the beaches, picking up litter, hauling away trash, building a bench for the park, or many other kind things without a permit, he/she may be fined $150 for ''maintaining the national forest without a permit''. # It is against the law for a man to knit during the fishing season. # You may not slurp your soup. # If you have been convicted of driving while intoxicated, you may never again apply for personalized license plates. # It is against the law to "frown" at a police officer. # On a highway you can not park under a bridge. # Car dealerships are forbidden from opening on Sunday. # You cannot pump your own gas. All gas stations are full service and full service only. # Automobiles are not to pass horse drawn carriages on the street. # It is illegal to delay or detain a homing pigeon. # It is illegal to frown as the town is a "Frown-Free Town Zone". # You may not dance or wear shorts on the main avenue. # Citizens are not permitted to park their own boat on their lawn. # All cats must wear three bells to warn birds of their whereabouts. # It is forbidden for a woman, on a Sunday, to walk down Broad Street without wearing a petticoat. # It is illegal to offer whiskey or cigarettes to animals a the local zoo. # It is illegal to sell ice cream after 6pm, unless the customer has a note from his doctor. # Pinball machines are not to be played on Sunday. # People may not slurp their soup. # Raw hamburger may not be sold. # Profanity is prohibited. # There will be no boiling of bones on the property. # Pickles are not to be consumed on Sundays. # You may not throw a bad pickle in the street. # State officials ordered 400 words of "sexually explicit material" to be cut from Romeo and Juliet. # It's forbidden for a female to appear unshaven in public. # You may not carry a lunchbox down Main Street. # The penalty for jumping off a building is death. # Slippers are not to be worn after 10:00 P.M. # A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. This old law specifically prohibits men from turning around on any city street and looking "at a woman in that way." A second conviction for a crime of this magnitude calls for the violating male to be forced to wear a "pair of horse-blinders" wherever and whenever he goes outside for a stroll. # A person may not walk around on Sundays with an ice cream cone in his/her pocket. # While riding in an elevator, one must talk to no one, and fold his hands while looking toward the door.
# A license must be purchased before hanging clothes on a clothesline. # It is against the law to throw a ball at someone's head for fun. # A man can't go outside while wearing a jacket and pants that do not match. # During a concert, it is illegal to eat peanuts and walk backwards on the sidewalks. # You may not smoke within 100 feet of the entrance to a public building. # Citizens may not greet each other by "putting one's thumb to the nose and wiggling the fingers". # Women may go topless in public, providing it is not being used as a business. # It is illegal for a woman to be on the street wearing "body hugging clothing." # It is illegal for men to go topless in the center of town. # It is illegal to eat in the street in residential neighborhoods, and the only beverage you can drink on the beach is water in a clear plastic bottle. # It is illegal for a father to call his son a "faggot" or "queer" in an effort to curb "girlie behavior." # You may only water your lawn if the hose is held in your hand. # All couples staying overnight in a hotel must have a room with double beds that are at least two feet apart. Making love in the space between the beds is strictly forbidden. # If a man and a woman who aren't married go to a hotel/motel and register themselves as married then, according to state law, they are legally married. # It's against the law to sing off key. # Elephants may not be used to plow cotton fields. # A marriage can be declared void if either of the two persons is physically impotent. # Fights between cats and dogs are prohibited. # It is a misdemeanor to urinate or defecate publicly. # Women must have their bodies covered by at least 16 yards of cloth at all times. # There is to be no rollerblading during daylight hours, on the roads, or on the bricks. All the sidewalks at this college are made of brick. (Repealed in 1998) # You must stop and call City Hall before entering town in an automobile. This is so the townspeople will have time to go out and hold their horses until you get through town. # Restaurants "with on sidewalk dining" must post their menu so that it is clearly readable from the sidewalk, but is not readable from the street. # Massage parlors have been banned. # You may not ride a bicycle without having both your hands on the handle bars. # It is required that you must pay a property tax on your dog. # It is against the law to rollerblade on a state highway. # It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on. # It is legal to shoot an Indian on horseback, provided you are in a covered wagon # Beer and pretzels can't be served at the same time in any bar or restaurant. # One may be jailed for wearing a hat while dancing, or even for wearing a hat to a function where dancing is taking place. # It is illegal to mistreat anything of great importance. # Owners of tigers must notify authorities within one hour if the tiger escapes. # It is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday. # Women are prohibited from wearing patent leather shoes in public. # It is illegal to get a fish drunk. # The Ohio driver's education manual states that you must honk the horn whenever you pass another car. # No one may be arrested on Sunday or on the Fourth of July. # Participating or conducting a duel is prohibited. # Breast feeding is not allowed in public. # In Ohio, if you ignore an orator on Decoration day to such an extent as to publicly play croquet or pitch horseshoes within one mile of the speaker's stand, you can be fined $25.00. # It is illegal for more than five women to live in a house. # It is illegal to walk a cow down Lake Road. # Ordinance prohibits the installation and usage of slot machines in outhouses. # Any person who leans against a public building will be subject to fines. # It's illegal to catch mice without a hunting license! # Women are forbidden from wearing patent leather shoes, lest men see reflections of their underwear. # It is illegal for stores to sell corn flakes on Sunday. # It's against the law to honk your horn "excessively". A grandmother was fined for honking her horn twice at her neighbor. # Items left on a tree lawn become city property. A young man was fined for removing an item from a tree lawn even though he had the owner's permission. # Cross-dressing is against the law. # Any map that does not have the city clearly stated on the map cannot be sold.
# It is unlawful to run a horse over five miles per hour. # You cannot eat a doughnut and walk backwards on a city street. # It is against the law to roller skate without notifying the police. # Your goose may not parade down Main Street. # It's illegal for a woman to strip off her clothing while standing in front of a man's picture. # A policeman may bite a dog to quiet him. # Throwing a snake at anyone is illegal. # Catch 22 is banned. # Riding on the roof of a taxi cab is not allowed. # You may not run out of gas. # It is illegal to have the hind legs of farm animals in your boots. # Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property. # It is illegal to wear your boots to bed. # Fish may not be contained in fishbowls while on a public bus. # Tissues are not to be found in the back of one's car. # The state will not tolerate anyone taking a bite out of another's hamburger. # No one may spit on a sidewalk. # Females are forbidden from doing their own hair without being licensed by the state. # Cars must be tethered outside of public buildings. # Anyone arrested for soliciting a hooker must have their name and picture shown on television. # It is against the law to read a comic book while operating a motor vehicle. # Whaling is illegal. # Violators can be fined, arrested or jailed for making ugly faces at a dog. # Tattoos are banned. # Residents are taxed for the furniture in their homes, and any other personal belongings. (Repealed 1998) # People who make "ugly faces" at dogs may be fined and/or jailed. # If you wear New York Jets clothing, you may be put in jail. # Molesting an automobile is illegal. # It is unlawful to put any hypnotized person in a display window. # No one may walk backwards downtown while eating a hamburger. # Women may not gamble in the nude, in lingerie, or while wearing a towel. # You may not open a soda bottle without the supervision of a licensed engineer. # Elephants are not to be taken into the downtown area. # One's mode of transportation must be tied up while not attended. # Mules may not drink out of bird baths. # Clothes may not be washed in bird baths. # It is illegal to tie a horse in front of city hall. # While passing another vehicle, you must honk your horn. # Canned corn is not to be used as bait for fishing. # Ice cream may not be eaten on Sundays. # Dishes must drip dry. # It is illegal to buy or sell marijuana, but it is legal to smoke it on your own property. # You may not pump your own gas in service stations. # The "Peer Review Statute" prohibits you from finding out details of any written or oral discussion about your medical treatment. Not even a court of law can. All you can access is what the doctor or nurse voluntarily records in your chart. # One may not bathe without wearing "suitable clothing," i.e.,that which covers one's body from neck to knee. # You must buy a $10 permit to be allowed to install a burglar alarm. # It is legal to conduct a horse race or a symphony concert. # It is illegal to show movies or attend a car race on Sundays. (Repealed in the 1970s) # Juggling is strictly prohibited without a license. # It's illegal to walk down a sidewalk and knock a snakes head off with your cane. # People may not whistle underwater. # It's against the law for a wedding ceremony to be performed at a skating rink. (Repealed in 1989) # You cannot wear roller skates in restrooms. # Ministers are forbidden from eating garlic or onions before delivering a sermon. # One may not box with a kangaroo. # Women may not wrestle in Salem. # It is illegal to own a reptile within the city limits, unless you are a school or city, as a pet. # No more than two people may share a single drink. # Cloth towel dispensers are banned from restrooms.
# No more than two packages of beer at a time may be purchased, unless you are buying from an official "beer distributor" # You may not catch a fish by any body part except the mouth. # Motorized vehicles are not to be sold on Sundays. # You may not catch a fish with your hands. # It it illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors. # You may not sing in the bathtub. # Fireworks stores may not sell fireworks to Pennsylvania residents. # Dynamite is not to be used to catch fish. # It is illegal to have over 16 women live in a house together because that constitutes a brothel. However up to 120 men can live together, without breaking the law. # Though you do not need a fishing license to fish on your own land, but a hunting license is required to hunt on your own land. # Any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue. # A person is not eligible to become Governor if he/she has participated in a duel. # Any motorist who sights a team of horses coming toward him must pull well off the road, cover his car with a blanket or canvas that blends with the countryside, and let the horses pass. If the horses appear skittish, the motorist must take his car apart, piece by piece, and hide it under the nearest bushes. # Ministers are forbidden from performing marriages when either the bride or groom is drunk. # All liquor stores must be run by the state. # A special cleaning ordinance bans housewives from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling. # It is contrary to Pennsylvania law to discharge a gun, cannon, revolver or other explosive weapon at a wedding. # In the middle of town, one must pay a fee of $50 dollars a year to park on a particular block. At night, however, the cars must be moved for street cleaning. This law is enforced even if snow or ice prevents the cars from being moved. # One's pants may be worn no lower than five inches below the waist. # All fire hydrants must be checked one hour before all fires. # The sale of alcohol is prohibited. # One may not shoot any dog that is found wandering the streets. # It is required that a woman have a permit to wear cosmetics. # Every outlet or switch (which can be purchased for 59 cents) that is installed requires an electrical inspection fee of 1 dollar and 33 cents. # No one is allowed to sleep on a refrigerator. # It is still illegal to bring a donkey or a mule onto a trolley car. # You cannot walk backwards eating peanuts in front of the Barnstormers Auditorium during a performance. # Horses are not to be tied to parking meters. # It is illegal to challenge someone to a duel, or accept a duel, even it it is never actually fought. Penalty: Imprisonment for one to seven years. # Riding a horse over any public highway for the purpose of racing, or testing the speed of the horse is illegal. Penalty: Maximum $20 fine and imprisonment for 10 days. # Exercising any labor, business, or work, or using any game, sport, play, or recreation, or causing any of the above to be done to or by your children, servants, or apprentices on the first day of the week (Sunday) results in a penalty of $5 for the first offense and $10 for the second. # It is illegal to coast downhill in your car with your transmission in neutral, or with the clutch disengaged. # Impersonating a town sealer, auctioneer, corder of wood, or a fence-viewer is against the law. Penalty: $20 to $100 fine. # It is illegal to place a windmill within twenty-five (25) rods of any traveled street or road. # It is considered an offense to throw pickle juice on a trolley. # Rhode Island recently applied to the US Government to make all the coastal waters of Rhode Island a "No Discharge Zone". The ostensible purpose was to prohibit the discharge of sewage by boats into the state's waters. However, discharge of raw sewage into the state waters was already illegal. What the "No Discharge Zone" actually did was make it illegal to discharge TREATED sewage from a boat into state waters. What now happens is that boats (whose treatment systems far outperform municipal sewage treatment plants) are now required to disable their sewage treatment systems, and carry their sewage to a shore-based facility, which then dumps the partially treated sewage back into Rhode Island's coastal waters. # Professional sports, except ice polo and hockey, must obtain a license to play games on Sunday. # Any marriage where either of the parties is an idiot or lunatic is null and void. # You cannot smoke a pipe after sunset. # There is not an appeals process for exemtion of property tax due to a disability or poverty. # It is illegal to wear transparent clothing. # You may not sell toothpaste and a toothbrush to the same customer on a Sunday. # It is illegal to use water on even-numbered days for the sole purpose of watering plants, gardens, or lawns. If you break this law there is a fine of $25-$100. # It is considered an offense to get a tattoo.
# Performing a U-turn within 1,000 feet of an intersection is illegal. # All schools must prepare a suitable program for Francis Willard Day. # Dance halls may not operate on Sundays. # Horses may not be kept in bathtubs. # Fortune tellers are required to obtain a special permit from the state. # A railroad my not remove itself from a town of more than five hundred people. # Merchandise may not be sold within a half mile of a church unless fruit is being sold. # It is perfectly legal to beat your wife on the court house steps on Sundays. # Every adult male must bring a rifle to church on Sunday in order to ward off Indian attacks. # Musical instruments may not be sold on Sunday. # When approaching a four way or blind intersection in a non-horse driven vehicle you must stop 100 ft from the intersection and discharge a firearm into the air to warn horse traffic. # It is illegal to sell any alcoholic beverages on Sunday, unless you own a private club. (Repealed November 2000) # It is a capital offense to inadvertently kill someone while attempting suicide. # By law, if a man promises to marry an unmarried woman, the marriage must take place. # It is illegal to communicate with a woman using obscene messages. # No work may be done on Sunday. # An exception to the above law is that light bulbs may be sold. # Railroad companies may be held liable in some instances for scaring horses. # It is illegal to display a confederate flag on a courthouse. # It is against the law to drive a motorized vehicle on King Street. # The Fire Department may blow up your house. This law was made so that the fire department could create a fire brake. # Horses are to wear pants at all times. # It is illegal to dance in public in Lancaster. # Eating watermelons in the Magnolia Street cemetery is forbidden. # Movies that show police officers being struck, beaten, or treated in an offensive manner are forbidden. # No horses are allowed into Fountain Inn unless they are wearing pants. # If there are more than 5 Native Americans on your property you may shoot them. # It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep in a cheese factory. # If three or more Indians are walking down the street together, they can be considered a war party and fired upon. # Any person crippling, killing or in any way destroying a proud female dog that is running at large shall not be held liable for the damages due to such killing or destruction. # "Crimes against nature" are prohibited. # More than 8 women may not live in the same house because that would constitute a brothel. # It is illegal to use a lasso to catch a fish. # Hollow logs may not be sold. # It is legal to gather and consume roadkill. # Stealing a horse is punishible by hanging. # Driving is not to be done while asleep. # You can't shoot any game other than whales from a moving automobile. # It is illegal for a woman to call a man for a date. # You may not have more than five inoperable vehicles on a piece of property. # When you pull up to a stop sign you must fire a gun out the window to warn horse carriages that you are coming. # No one may eat ice cream on the sidewalk. # Spitting on the sidewalk is prohibited. # In front of their buildings, all businesses must have a "hitching post." # Panhandlers must first obtain a $10 permit before begging on the streets of downtown Memphis. (Passed in 1996) # Illegal for a woman to drive a car unless there is a man either running or walking in front of it waving a red flag to warn approaching motorists and pedestrians. # It's illegal for frogs to croak after 11 PM. # It is illegal to give any pie to fellow diners. It is also illegal to take unfinished pie home. All pie must be eaten on the premises. # An ordinance forbids anyone to sing the song "It Ain't Goin' To Rain No Mo'." # It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing. # A recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed. # It is unlawful for a person to consume an alcoholic beverage while operating a motor vehicle upon a public roadway, if the person is observed doing so by a peace officer. # The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home. # When two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop, and neither shall proceed until the other has gone.
# It is illegal to drive without windshield wipers. You don't need a windshield, but you must have the wipers. # You can be legally married by publically introducing a person as your husband or wife 3 times. # A city ordinance states that a person cannot go barefoot without first obtaining a special five-dollar permit. # It is illegal for one to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel. # It is illegal to milk another person's cow. # It is illegal to idle or loiter anyplace within the corporate limits of the city for the purpose of flirting or mashing. # Wire cutters can not be carried in your pocket. # Collegiate football is banned at Lamar University. # It is against the law to throw confetti, rubber balls, feather dusters, whips or quirts (riding crop), and explosive firecrackers of any kind. # It is illegal to dust any public building with a feather duster. # Churches, hotels, halls of assembly, stores, markets, banking rooms, railroad depots, and saloons are required to provide spittoons "of a kind and number to efficiently contain expectorations into them." # Beer may not be purchased after midnight on a Sunday, but it may be purchased on Monday. # It is illegal to sell Limburger cheese on Sunday. # It is illegal to drive a motor car down Broadway before noon on Sundays. # Dogs must be on a leash at ALL times. Fine of 100 dollars. # It is illegal to take more than three swallows of beer while standing. # It is illegal to drive within an arm's length of alcohol - including alcohol in someone else's blood stream. # It is illegal for children to have unusual haircuts. # Obnoxious odors may not be emitted while in an elevator. # It is now illegal to place a "for sale" sign on a car if it visible from the street. # It is illegal to do "U Turns". # It is illegal for both sexes to flirt or respond to flirtation using the eyes and/or hands. # It is illegal to urinate on the Alamo. # No one may ride a horse and buggy through the town square. # You can ride your horse in the saloon. # Cattle thieves may be hanged on the spot. # Owners of horses may not ride them at night without tail lights. # It is illegal to detonate any nuclear weapon. You can have them, but you just can't detonate them. # Birds have the right of way on all highways. # It's legal for restaurants to serve wine with meals, but only if you ask for the wine list. # It is against the law to fish from horseback. # When a person reaches the age of 50, he/she can then marry their cousin. # A husband is responsible for every criminal act committed by his wife while she is in his presence. # You're not allowed to sell beverages containing more than 3.2% alcohol. # It is illegal not to drink milk. # It is considered an offense to hunt whales. # You must have identification to enter a convienence store after dark. # Women may not swear. # Daylight must be visible between partners on a dance floor. # Throwing snowballs will result in a $50 fine. # No one may walk down the street carrying a paper bag containing a violin. # Pharmacists may not sell gunpowder to cure headaches. # Women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth. # Whistling underwater is illegal. # At one time it was illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole. # All residents shall bathe every Saturday night. # Children are not to go trick-or-treating on Halloween. # It is illegal to tickle women. # Driving while not wearing shoes is prohibited. # You may not work on Sunday. # Citizens must honk their horn while passing other cars. # It is illegal to spit on sidewalk. # There is a state law prohibiting "corrupt practices of bribery by any person other than candidates." # Police radar detectors are illegal. # It is illegal to sell peanut brittle on Sundays. # You cannot sell lettuce on Sunday, but you can sell beer, wine etc. # You cannot buy hardware of any kind on Sunday. # No one may wash a mule on the sidewalk.
# A person of color may not be oustide or within the city limits after 7 pm. # It is illegal to kick your wife out of bed. # Women must wear a corsette after sundown and be in the company of male chaperone. # A man may face 60 days in jail for patting a woman's derriere. # Spitting on a sea gull is not tolerated. # It is illegal to flip a coin in a restaurant to see who pays for a coffee. # It is legal for a man to beat his wife on the courthouse steps so long as it is before 8:00 pm. # It is illegal to skate down the sidewalk of Main Street. # It is also unlawful to drive by the same place within 30 minutes on Atlantic Avenue. # If you are drunk and not driving your car, and the person who is driving the car is drunk as well, you may both receive DUI's. # It is illegal to use profanity on Atlantic Avenue or the boardwalk. # It is illegal for a person to ride on the handlebars of a bike. # It is illegal for a woman to drive a car up Main Street unless her husband is walking in front of the car waving a red flag. # It is illegal to paint polka dots on the American flag. # All motor vehicles must be preceded by a man carrying a red flag (daytime) or a red lantern (nighttime) fifty feet in front of said vehicle. # People may not buy a mattress on Sunday. # You cannot buy meat of any kind on Sunday. # All lollipops are banned. # You are breaking the law if you sell or place in the stream of commerce a crib that has: corner posts that extend more than 1/16inch above end panels; slats more than 2 3/8 inches apart; a mattress support that releases easily from corner posts; cutout designs on the end panels; tears in mesh or fabric; missing or loose screws, bolts, or hardware; sharp edges, points, or rough surfaces on wood surfaces that are not smooth and free from splinters, splits or cracks. The new Infant Crib Safety Act in California (AB 3760, Speier), Colorado (SB 98-023,Pascoe and Morrison) and Washington State (SSB 6229, Kohl and Pennington) states that "no commercial user shall manufacture, retrofit, sell, contract to sell or resell, lease, sublet or otherwise place in the stream of commerce, a full-size or non-full-size crib that is unsafe for any infant using the crib. # It is illegal to pretend that one's parents are rich. # You are not allowed to breast feed in public. # When two trains come to a crossing, neither shall go until the other has passed. # A law to reduce crime states: "It is mandatory for a motorist with criminal intentions to stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town." # Men who deflower virgins, regardless of age or marital status, may face up to five years in jail. # You may not shuck peanuts on the street. # It is illegal to display a hypnotized or allegedly hypnotized person in a store window. # Dancing and drinking may not occur at the same establishment. # You may not carry a concealed weapon that is over six feet in length. # Women who sit on men's laps on buses or trains without placing a pillow between them face an automatic six-month jail term. # No one may set fire to another person's property without prior permission. # It is illegal to carry a fishbowl or aquarium onto a bus because the sound of the water sloshing may disturb other passengers. # TV's may not be bought on Sundays. # No structure shall contain more than two toilets that use potable water for flushing. # You may not ride an ugly horse. # If you wear a hat inside a theater, you may be fined. # Roadkill may be taken home for supper. # No children may attend school with their breath smelling of "wild onions." # Doctors and dentists may not place a woman under anesthesia unless a third person is present. # It is illegal to snooze on a train. # According to the state constitution, it is unlawful for anyone to own a red or a black flag. # When a railroad passes within 1 mile of a community of 100 or more people in it, they must build a station and stop there regularly to pick up and drop off passengers. # Whistling underwater is prohibited. # One may not walk a lion, tiger or leopard, even on a leash. # No member of the clergy is allowed to tell jokes or humorous stories from the pulpit during a church service. # Firemen may not whistle or flirt at any woman passing a firehouse. # It is legal to beat your wife so long as it is done in public on Sunday, on the courthouse steps. # At one time, margarine was illegal. # As people used to smuggle it in from Illinois, all yellow butter substitute is banned. # You must manually flush all urinals in a building. # While all cheese making requires a license, Limburger cheese making requires a master cheese maker's license. # Whenever two trains meet at an intersection of said tracks, neither shall proceed until the other has.
# State Law made it illegal to serve apple pie in public restaurants without cheese. # Citizens may not murder their enemies. # It is illegal to cut a woman's hair. # It is illegal to kiss on a train. # Butter substitutes are not allowed to be served in state prisons. # Car dealerships cannot sell cars on Sunday. # No male is allowed to be in a state of arousal in public. # You cannot "worry a squirrel." # It is illegal to display an unclothed mannequin in a store window. # It is illegal to tie up your horse along Third Street (Now a major bar strip). # It is illegal to play checkers in public. # If one is thought of as offensive looking, it is illegal for him to be in public during the day. # An old ordinance forbids parking for over two hours unless a horse is tied to the car. # It is against the law to play a flute and drums on the streets to attract attention. # It is illegal to purchase or use Sparklers in the city, yet you can buy fully disassembled automatic machine guns. # Women may not walk down a public street at night without being accompanied by a man. # It is illegal to wake a fireman when he is asleep. # Women are not allowed to wear anything red in public. # You may not take a picture of a rabbit during the month of June. # It is illegal to wear a hat that obstructs people's view in a public theater or place of amusement. # It is illegal for women to stand within five feet of a bar while drinking. # Citizens may not take showers on Wednesdays. International Laws # It is illegal to leave your house if you are not wearing underwear. # You must wear a shirt while driving a car. # You must pay a fine of $600 in Thailand if you're caught throwing away chewed bubble gum on the sidewalk. # No one may step of any of the nation's currency. # All married women must get their husband's permission if they wish to have a job, they must live wherever the husband wishes to reside, and they must forfeit all jointly held assets upon divorce from her husband. # Cars whose license plates end with a 1 or 2 are not allowed on the roads on Monday, 3 or 4 on Tuesday, 5 or 6 on Wednesday, 7 or 8 on Thursday, and 9 or 0 on Friday from 7:00 A. # Clothes may not be hung to dry on Sunday. # You may not wash your car on a Sunday. # It is considered an offense to mow your lawn on a Sunday, because it causes too much noise. # It is illegal to flush the toilet after 10 P. # A man may not relieve himself while standing up, after 10 P. # Though it is illegal to produce, store, sell and trade absinthe (special alcohol), it is legal to consume it. # It is required that every car with snow tires has to have a sticker on its dashboard which tells that the driver should not drive faster than 160 km/h with these tires. # If you forget you car-keys inside the car and you leave the car open, you will be punished. # A prince or princess who marries without the consent of the government, that person forfeits the right of succession for his/her children and all other descendants. # Traffic police are required to report all bribes that they receive from motorists. # Bungee jumping is illegal. Singapore was once filled with restrictions such as this, but the country is gradually lifting these laws to encourage tourism. # The sale of gum is prohibited. The sale of gum was prohibited after a prolific amount of chewed gum had been stuck in the subway stations and cars. While the sale of gum is prohibited, it is not illegal to chew it, but if one sticks the gum anywhere else besides the trash can, he or she faces huge fines. # Homosexuals are not allowed to live in the country. Penal Code Chapter 224, 1985 Edition Section 377: "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animals, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine." Section 377A: "Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years." # Oral sex is illegal unless it is used as a form of foreplay.
# Pornography is illegal. Section 292(a): Whoever sells, lets to hire, distributes, publicly exhibits or in any manner puts into circulation, or for purposes of sale, hire, distribution, public exhibition or circulation, makes, produces, or has in his possession any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, representation or figure, or any other obscene object whatsoever shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 months, or with fine, or with both. Undesirable Publications Act (Chapter 338, 1998 Edition) Section 11: Any person who: (a) makes or reproduces, or makes or reproduces for the purposes of sale, supply, exhibition or distribution to any other person; (b) imports or has in his possession for the purposes of sale, supply, exhibition or distribution to any other person; or (c) sells, offers for sale, supplies, offers to supply, exhibits or distributes to any other person, any obscene publication... knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the publication to be obscene shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. Films Act (Chapter 107, 1998 Edition) Section 30 ? (1) Any person who has in his possession any obscene film shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $500 for each such film he had in his possession (but not to exceed in the aggregate $20,000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both. (2) Any person who has in his possession any obscene film knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the film to be obscene shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction ? (a) to a fine of $1,000 for each such film in his possession (but not to exceed in the aggregate $40,000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both; and (b) in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine of not less than $2,000 for each such film in his possession (but not to exceed in the aggregate $80,000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. # As it is considered pornographic, you may not walk around your home nude. Miscellaneous Offenses (Public Order and Nuisance) Act (Chapter 184, 1997 Edition) Section 27A (1) Any person who appears nude ? (a) in a public place; or (b) in a private place and is exposed to public view, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both. (2) For the purpose of this section, the reference to a person appearing nude includes a person who is clad in such a manner as to offend against public decency or order. # Failure to flush a public toilet after use may result in very hefty fines. # It is considered an offense to enter the country with cigarettes. # Cigarettes are illegal at all public places. # It is illegal to come within 50 meters of a pedestrian crossing marker on any street. #If you are convicted of littering three times, you will have to clean the streets on Sundays with a bib on saying, "I am a litterer." #It is illegal to pee in an elevator. # No cows may be driven down the roadway between 10 AM and 7 PM unless there is prior approval from the Commissioner of Police. Metropolitan Streets Act of 1867 # All land must be left to the eldest son. # Divorces are outlawed. # Since 1313, MPs are not allowed to don armor in Parliament. # Those wishing to purchase a television must also buy a license. Unlike the commercial TV channels of the United States the two major stations in the UK are government paid for (BBC1 and BBC2) and have no commercials. This is also the case for the 4 government stations of Sweden as well. The license pays for the shows and the costs needed to run the stations. It also covers various taxes not noticed in the US. The taxes exist in the States, but with several hundred million people more in the States the tax is divided up into MUCH smaller bits. # With the exception of carrots, most goods may not be sold on Sunday. All English males over the age 14 are to carry out 2 or so hours of longbow practice a week supervised by the local clergy. This law dates from the middle ages when there was no standing army, so in times of war each gentry was required to produce a quota (depending on its size) of knights, archers, infantry, etc. As the church was the only centralized instrument of beauracracy (the lords were independent for the most part), they were used for such tasks. # London Hackney Carriages (taxis/cabs) must carry a bale of hay and a sack of oats. The London Hackney Carriage Laws covers hackneys in other towns too and have remained unaltered for over 100 years. Firms have been known to manufacture very small bales of hay to carry in a taxi during disputes during local councils (who license the hackneys everywhere except London). Also the vehicle has to be tethered at a taxi rank, and the council have to supply a water trough at said ranks (that could be fun on a Saturday night!). The one about urinating against the back wheel is a Hackney Carriage Law too, and has also been done, on mass, during taxi/council disputes (allegedly). # It is illegal to be drunk on Licensed Premises (in a pub or bar).
# It is illegal for two adult men to have sex in the same house as a third person. Introduced to outlaw "molly houses" which began to appear in the big cities of England in the late 16th Century. In these bordellos, homosexuals engaged in sex, sado-masochism, transvestitism etc., and they were perceived as a threat to public morality, and so outlawed. # Any person found breaking a boiled egg at the sharp end will be sentenced to 24 hours in the village stocks (enacted by Edward VI). # Chelsea Pensioners may not be impersonated. Chelsea Pensiors are entitled to enhanced state benefits and subsidized accommodation, so pretending to be one is simply fraud! # A bed may not be hung out of a window. # It is illegal for a lady to eat chocolates on a public conveyance. # Any boy under the age of 10 may not see a naked manequin. # It is illegal to leave baggage unattended. Many terrorists in the UK favor the practice of placing a bomb in a bag, then leaving the bag to explode later. Since this became a real threat, this law was passed to deter the crime and prosecute those who commit it. # Picking up abandoned baggage is an act of terrorism. Many terrorists in the UK favor the practice of placing a bomb in a bag, then leaving the bag to explode later. Since this became a real threat, this law was passed to deter the crime and prosecute those who commit it. # It is illegal for a Member of Parliament to enter the House of Commons wearing a full suit of armor. The law dates from the renegotiation of royal/political power on the accession of Charles II, designed to stop the MPs storming the house if it makes a decision they disapprove of. The Monarch is not allowed to enter the House of Commons (the legislative house) for similar reasons. # Destroying or defacing money is illegal. # If a steam locomotive is driven on roads, a man must walk in front of the vehicle with a red flag during the day and a red lantern at night to warn passersby. # All steam locomotives are limited to 4mph on roads. # Anal sex is prohibited. # You may not make out in public. # It is legal for a male to urinate in public, as long it is on the rear wheel of his motor vehicle and his right hand is on the vehicle. One of many Hackney Carriage Laws that have been unaltered for over 100 years, and it has alledgedly been done on mass during taxi/council disputes. # Committing suicide is classified as a capital crime. # Interfering with the mail or sleeping with the consort of the Queen is classed as treason, and as such, carries a maximum penalty of death. # Placing a postage stamp that bears the Queen (or King) upside down is considered treason. # You can only shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside the city walls and after midnight. # You may not shoot a Welsh person on Sunday with a longbow in the Cathedral Close. # It is illegal for a woman to be topless in public except as a clerk in a tropical fish store. # Companies may vote in local elections. # Excluding Sundays, it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow. # During his reign, Oliver Cromwell banned the eating of mince pies on Christmas day, as they were insufficiently Puritan. Ingredients of mince pies and plum puddings were pagan in origin, and their consumption part of ancient fertility rituals. The law dates from the puritan era, the same time that dancing in church, maypoles, and holly and ivy decorations were outlawed. The laws were never officially repealed because upon the restoration of the monarchy, (in the form of Charles II) all laws formed under the protectorate were ignored as invalid. # One may not "blemish the peace". # A license is required to keep a lunatic. # Damaging the grass is illegal. # Under the reign of Elizabeth I, any person found guilty of "harboring a Catholic priest" would be tortured or even hanged. # Jesuits, Seminary Priests and other suchlike disobedient Persons must be banished. Edict by Elizabeth I # You may not fish on Sundays for salmon. # It is illegal to be a drunk in possession of a cow. # Trespassing on someone else's land is legal. # If someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your commode, you must let them enter. # If your vehicle stalls and you leave it on the side of the road, you must mark the vehicle with a red, reflecting triangle. # A fee is levied on each purchaser of any plastic bottle which is returned upon return of the bottle. # Beverages containing more than 4. In the early 1900s, many workers were drunk on election days, greatly swerving their judgement. To ensure citizens keeping a clear mind when voting for public officials, this law was passed. # Licenses must be bought in order to own television sets, and even VCRs. # You may not spay your female dog or cat. # Water guns may not be used in New Year's celebrations. Officials in the country claim that the use of water pistols has become out of control recently. Participants in the celebrations have been known to fill the water guns with sewage, and disturb traffic flows with them. While their use is banned, the only punishment for breaking the rule is the confiscation of the water gun, nothing more. # It is legal to smoke pot, buy it, or have less than 5 grams with you.
# Prostitution is legal but the prostitutes must pay taxes like any other business. In order to regulate a profession that had continued illegally for quite some time, this law was passed. Now, prostitutes are regulated and have civil rights. Prostitution is now much more than safer and cleaner than in previous eras when it was often stigmatized and confined to poor sections of a town. # Anyone in company with someone who possesses narcotics, even if they are unaware that their companion has them, can be tried for the same crime. # Clergymen may not wear their religious garb in public. # Boneshakers, safety bicycles, and any other similar machines are banned from the center of town. # Bicycle riders may not lift either foot from the peddles, as it might result in a loss of control. After a coach killed a bicycle rider in a hit-and-run incident in 1895, efforts were made to pass laws for the protection of riders. # Beginning in colonial Mexico, likenesses of Judas were burned by inhabitants for unknown reasons. Whether is was in imitation of burning dead heretics in effigy as was done in the Inquisition, or a remnant of pagan celebrations such as the Roman Saturnalia, the Judas burnings took hold in Mexican society. By the 1800s, these celebrations had become more of a carnival than a religious festival. The Judas figures transformed into likenesses of powerful leaders in Mexican society that the lower classes wished to poke fun at. The celebrations became so raucus that in the mid 19th century, political leaders wished to take action restricting the event. # During Holy Week, no horses or wheeled transport is allowed in the city. Holy Week was an important week of religious festivals in the 19th century that culminated in the burning of Judas' (even though most of the effigies were not in the likeness of Judas, rather of prominent Mexican leaders the people wished to poke fun at). Since the streets were packed with people participating in festivities during this week, a law was enacted to make sure no one attempted to barge through pedestrians with horses which might cause trouble. # No fireworks may be thrown by hand during Holy Week. A decree was issued in this year by Colonel Miguel Maria de Azcarate to preseve the holiness of the Holy Week. Another order issued in the decree is that no effigy should be burned if they had any dress or sign that poked fun at any particular person, or social class in general. # All males must wear trousers, and such groups of employees as hack drivers and newspaper delivery boys must adopt uniforms. During this time period, upper class Mexico wished to prove to the the other Western nations that it was a modern nation itself. They believed that clothing in many cases could make a man, and therefore attempted to regulate it. # Women who work for the government of the city of Guadalajara, may not wear miniskirts or any other "provacative" garment during office hours. # It is illegal to shout offensive words in any public place. # Any kind of nude artistic display is illegal. # There is no age of consent. # It is illegal to practice the profession of charlantry. # A man may be arrested for wearing a skirt. # Striking someone with a fist is considered a felony. # A life sentence is 25 years. # Children may not purchase cigarettes, but they may smoke them. # You may never leave your car keys in an unattended vehicle. # It is illegal to roam the streets wearing black clothes, felt shoes and black shoe polish on your face as these items are the tools of a cat burgular. # It is illegal to walk on the right hand side of a footpath. # Under Australian Communications Authority (ACA) regulations, a modem can't pick up on the first ring. # Taxi cabs are required to carry a bale of hay in the trunk. # Bars are required to stable, water and feed the horses of their patrons. # The legal age for straight sex is 16, unless the person is in the care/custody of the older person, in which case it is 18. # Only licensed electricians may change a light bulb. # It is illegal to wear hot pink pants after midday Sunday. # You must have a neck to knee swimsuit in order to swim at Brighton Beach. # Until the Port Arthur Killings it was legal to own an AK-47 but not legal to be gay. # Lawmakers are proposing a new law that will not allow anyone to come closer than 100 meters from a dead whale's carcass. This law was proposed after footage was shot of tourists going amongst a feeding frenzy of sharks on a dead whale carcass in order to pet the sharks. Lawmakers, in order to protect people too stupid to protect themselves, are attempting to pass this law restricting how far away one might come to a dead whale. There already is a law that restricts how close one may come to a live whale, but no such law for a dead whale. # All electronic games are banned. The law was introduced as an attempt to curb illegal gambling. However, all games were banned since the government could not distinguish between harmless Internet chess and other games it deemed illegal. # One could not wear a hat in the Olympic Stadium in ancient times as it would obstruct someone's view. # A driver who needs to turn through oncoming traffic has the right of way unless he slows down or stops.
# Comic books which depict any illegal acts are banned. In this section, "crime comic" means a magazine, periodical or book that exclusively or substantially comprises matter depicting pictorially (a) the commission of crimes, real or fictitious; or (b) events connected with the commission of crimes, real or fictitious, whether occurring before or after the commission of the crime. # 35% of a radio stations content must be "Canadian Content". To qualify as 'Canadian content' a musical selection must fulfill at least two of the following conditions: M (music) -- the music is composed entirely by a Canadian. A (artist) -- the music is, or the lyrics are, performed principally by a Canadian. P (production) -- the musical selection consists of a live performance that is (i) recorded wholly in Canada, or (ii) performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada. L (lyrics) -- the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian. # You may not pay for a fifty-cent item with only pennies. # Citizens may not publicly remove bandages. # It is illegal for clear or non-dark sodas to contain caffeine. # Businesses must provide rails for tying up horses. # Wooden logs may not be painted. # You may never use dice to play craps. # If you are released from prison, it is required that you are given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so you can ride out of town. # When raining, a person may not water his/her lawn. # It is illegal to turn right on a red light at any time. # Margarine producers can't make their margarine yellow. # All business signs in the province of Quebec must be in French. Threatened by the predominately English speaking Canadian provinces and US states which surround Quebec, the citizens of this province have passed numerous measures to preserve their French heritage in everyday life. # If you have a water trough in your front yard it must be filled by 5:00 a. # Homeowners are responsible for clearing snow off of municipal sidewalks. # The city is classified as a no-pee zone. # The color of house and garage doors is regulated by city bylaws (a purple door gets you a fine). # You can't work on your car in the street. # It's illegal to climb trees. # It is illegal to eat ice-cream on Bank Street on a Sunday. # You can't drag a dead horse down Yonge Street on a Sunday. # Residents are not allowed to have an Internet connection faster than 56k. # You may not paint a ladder as it will be slippery when wet. # It is illegal to show public affection on Sunday. # It is considered an offense to have more than two materials on the outside of one's house. # You may not own a log cabin. # The Queen Elizabeth Hotel must feed your horse freely when you rent a room. # You may not wash your car in the street. # You may not park a car in such a way that it is blocking your own driveway. # "For Sale" signs are not permitted in the windows of moving vehicles. # Cars parked in public places must be locked, and their windows must be down to less than the width of a hand. To avoid having to deal with the current rate of car thefts, an ordinance was passed that forced drivers to be more cautious when leaving their cars unattended. # One's rear license plate may not be protected by glass or plastic. # Citizens may not relieve themselves or spit on the street. # Not only do all exterior painting jobs require a permit (for color) but, for instance, the City went to Appeals Court over the exact type of division inside a window frame. # No one in Canada may watch or listen to an encrypted broadcast which is not licensed by the Canadian government.
# It is illegal to kill a sick person by frightening them. No person commits culpable homicide where he causes the death of a human being (a) by any influence on the mind alone, or (b) by any disorder or disease resulting from influence on the mind alone, but this section does not apply where a person causes the death of a child or sick person by wilfully frightening him. # It is illegal to pretend to practice witchcraft.Every one who fraudulently (a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration, (b) undertakes, for a consideration, to tell fortunes, or (c) pretends from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or crafty science to discover where or in what manner anything that is supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction. # Persons may only bear one child or risk paying a substantial fine. China is the most populated nation in the world, and the government there has taken measures to stem any sort of growth in the population and, hopefully, decrease it. Despite many westerners' beliefs, China does not kill second borns. Rather, a large tax is placed on any family which chooses to have more than one offspring. # You may only have one child, or you will have to pay a fine. China is the most populated nation in the world, and the government there has taken measures to stem any sort of growth in the population and, hopefully, decrease it. Despite many westerners' beliefs, China does not kill second borns. Rather, a large tax is placed on any family which chooses to have more than one offspring. # To go to college you must be intelligent. # Drivers of power-driven vehicles who stop at pedestrian crossings are liable to a fine of up to five yuan, or a warning. # Before starting your car you are required to check lights, brakes, steering and honk your horn. # If your vehicle stalls and you leave it on the side of the road, you must mark the vehicle with a red, reflecting triangle. # If a horse drawn carriage is trying to pass a car and the horse becomes uneasy, the owner of the car is required to pull over and if necessary, cover the car. # Attempt to escape from prison is not illegal, however, if one he is caught he is required to serve out the remainder of his term. # No one may start a car while someone is underneath the vehicle. # Headlights must be on whenever a vehicle is being operated in order to distinguish it from parked cars. This law, which has been in effect for about 25 years now, has significantly reduced the number of accidents on Danish soil by increasing drivers' awareness of oncoming traffic. # When driving, you must have someone in front of your car with a flag to warn horse drawn carriages that a motorcar is coming. # Any carport added to a building increases the value of the building by 15. # There is a penalty of 20kr for not reporting when a person has died. # A fee is levied on each purchaser of any plastic bottle which is returned upon return of the bottle. The intent of this law is to encourage recycling, and in this respect it has been somewhat successful. # One may not be charged for food at an inn unless that person, by his or her own opinion, is "full". # Restaurants may not charge for water unless it is accompanied by another item such as ice or a lemon slice. # Between the hours of 8AM and 8PM, 70% of music on the radio must be by French artists. # It is illegal to kiss on railways in France. # No pig may be addressed as Napoleon by its owner. # It is illegal to take photos of police officers or police vehicles, even if they are just in the background. # It is forbidden without a cemetery plot to die on the territory of the commune. When the town's only cemetery filled up, the town government requested another plot of land next to the coast in order to build another. However, the regional court rejected the proposal on the ground of violating a law regulating seashore constructions. Due to this, the city retaliated by passing a law for this unusual situation. # An ashtray is considered to be a deadly weapon. # Every office must have a view of the sky, however small. # A pillow can be considered a "passive" weapon. # It is illegal to wear a mask. During an unruly riot or demonstration, police may sometimes need to arrest persons breaking the law, and can do so more easily if their identity is not concealed. This law says that you are not allowed to mask your face when you go on a strike. Some years ago there were many problems with such people; they damaged everything and police couldn't identify them. Now, if you wear a mask in a strike, you can be arrested. This prevents such violence. # It is illegal for ones car to run out of gas on the Autobahn. # Any person who shall pretend or exercise to use any type of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment, or pretend knowledge in any occult or or craft or science shall for any such offense suffer imprisonment at the time of one whole year and also shall be obliged to obscursion for his/her good behavior. # Bicycles may not ridden without a license. # Raising a pig on Israeli soil will result in the murder of said pig. Israel is a Jewish state and pigs are not "kosher" to eat. Therefore, raising of these animals has no purpose for the "good" of the country.
# If you have been maintaining an illegal radio station for five or more years, the station becomes legal. This law was actally passed by the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), but was immediately petitioned against to the Israeli High Court of Justice, which has power of judicial review concerning the Knesset's legislation. The Court ordered the law temporarily frozen two years ago, in order to allow the parties to plead their case. Meanwhile, no illegal radio stations could be "laundered" and none were legalized. In early 2002, the Court passed down it's verdict: the law was declared null and void (the first time in Israeli legal history that the power of judicial review has been so actively used, by the way). # It is against the law to feed animals in public places. # It is considered an offense to operate a mobile spay/neuter clinic - it is considered peddling. # It is forbidden to bring bears to the beach. # No loud voices or big lights are allowed during weekends. # The raising of Rotweiller dogs is prohibited. Two young girls were killed by dogs of the Rottweiler breed, and to hopefully protect other citizens from such attacks, the prohibition of raising Rottweilers was put into effect. # Picking one's nose on the Sabbath is illegal. The reports about the prohibition were widely circulated and misunderstood in the secular press in Israel - to say nothing of abroad. The press reported a religious directive, handed down by a Rabbi, prohibiting nosepicking on Sabbath. The reasoning behind this directive was the loss of nasal hair, cause for bleeding, etc. which violated the religious code governing the sanctity of the Sabbath. Rabbinical directives, or any other form of religious law, are not legally binding and are not, and cannot, be enforced by the State of Israel. They are directed to believers of the Jewish faith (wherever they may reside), and not to citizens of Israel. Furthermore, they bind only those who feel religiously obliged to seek rabbinical authority on such lofty spiritual issues as boogers. # In the days of aparthed, all people of colour had to be indoors by 9 PM, at which time a siren was sounded. # Young people wearing bathing suits are prohibited from sitting less than 12 inches apart. # Any woman who wears pants faces a possible punishment of having the pants ripped off her and torn to pieces by soldiers. King Mswati III, the current king of Swaziland (As of June 28, 2002), is attempting to reform his country to re-establish tradtional values, and passed this edict, among many others. # Young girls may not shake hands with men. King Mswati III, the current king of Swaziland (As of June 28, 2002), is attempting to reform his country to re-establish tradtional values, and passed this edict, among many others. # Citizens may not make offensive gestures at a passing state motorcade. # Taxi drivers must pay royalties if they play music in their cars for paying customers.
Chapter 9 Drugs & the Illicit People Trade
Street Drugs Drug Slang This list was originally compiled in the 1990s, with some recent updates. But street drug slang rapidly dates... * A Bean - MDMA * Abe - $5 worth of drugs * Abe's cabe - $5 bill * Abolic - veterinary steroid * Aborts - absolut vodka and port, mixed together * Acapulco gold - marijuana from S.W.Mexico * Acapulco red - marijuana * Ace - marijuana; PCP * Acid - LSD * Acid head - LSD user * AD - PCP * Adam - MDMA * African black - marijuana * African bush - marijuana * African woodbine - marijuana cigarette * Agonies - withdrawal symptoms * Ah-pen-yen - opium * Aimies - amphetamine; amyl nitrite * AIP - heroin from Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan * Air blast - inhalant * Airhead - marijuana user * Airplane - marijuana * Alice - LSD or mushrooms * Alice B. Toklas - marijuana brownie * All lit up - under the influence of drugs * All star - user of multiple drugs * All-American drug - cocaine * Alamout black hash - hash, belladona (small amount) * Alien sex fiend - very strong powdered pcp with heroin * Alpha-ET - alpha-ethyltyptamine * Ames - amyl nitrite * Amidone - methadone * Amoeba - PCP * Amp - amphetamine * Amp joint - marijuana cigarette laced with some form of narcotic * Amped-out - fatigue after using amphetamines * Amped & queer - to be high on coke or crystal * Amping - accelerated heartbeat * AMT - dimethyltryptamine * Amys - amyl nitrate * Anadrol - oral steroid * Anatrofin - injectable steroid * Anavar - oral steroid * Angel - PCP * Angel dust - PCP * Angel hair - PCP * Angel mist - PCP * Angel Poke - PCP
* Angels in a sky - LSD * Angel Tears - liquid LSD * Angie - cocaine * Angola - marijuana * Animal - LSD * Animal trank - PCP * Animal tranquilizer - PCP * Antifreeze - heroin * Anything going on? - do you have drugs to sell? * Apache - fentanyl * Apple jacks - crack * Aries - heroin * Aroma of men - isobutyl nitrite * Artillery - equipment for injecting drugs * Ashes - marijuana * Ate up - someone that's always wasted * Atom bomb - marijuana and heroin * Atshitshi - marijuana * Aunt Hazel - heroin * Aunt Mary - marijuana * Aunt Nora - cocaine * Aunti - opium * Aunti Emma - opium * Aurora borealis - PCP * B - amount of marijuana to fill a matchbox * B-40 - cigar laced with marijuana and dipped in malt liquor * B.J.'s - crack * Babe - drug used for detoxification * Baby - marijuana * Baby bhang - marijuana * Baby habit - occasional use of drugs * Babysit - guide someone through first drug experience * Baby slits - MDMA * Baby T - crack * Backbreakers - LSD and strychnine * Back door - residue left in a pipe * Backjack - injecting opium * Back to back - smoking crack after injecting heroin or heroin used after smoking crack * Backtrack - allow blood to flow back into a needle during injection * Backup - prepare vein for injection * Backwards - depressant * Bad bundle - inferior-quality heroin * Bad - crack * Bad go - bad reaction to a drug * Bad seed - peyote; heroin; marijuana * Bad trip - bad acid trip * Bag - container for drugs * Bagboy - someone who sells dope for someone else * Bag bride - crack-smoking prostitute * Bag man - person who transports money * Bagging - using inhalant * Bale - marijuana * Ball - crack * Baller - one who sells a variety of drugs * Balling - vaginally implanted cocaine * Balloon - heroin supplier * Ballot - heroin * Bam - depressant; amphetamine * Bambalacha - marijuana
* Bambs - depressant * Bammer - term given to weak marijuana * Bang - to inject a drug; inhalant * Bank bandit pills - depressant * Bar - marijuana * Barb - depressant * Barbara Jean - pot * Barbies - depressant * Barbs - cocaine * Barrels - LSD * Bart Simpsons - LSD * Base - cocaine; crack * Baseball - crack * Base crazies - searching on hands and knees for crack * Base head - person who bases * Bash - marijuana * Basuco - cocaine; coca paste residue sprinkled on marijuana or regular cigarette * Bat - marijuana pipe, easily disguised as a cigarette * Bathtub speed - methcathinone * Batt - IV needle * Battery acid - LSD * Batu - smokable methamphetamine * Bazooka - cocaine; crack * Bazulco - cocaine * BC Budd - very high-grade marijuana from British Columbia * Beam me up Scottie - crack dipped in PCP * Beamer - crack user * Beaners - drugys * Beans - amphetamine; depressant; mescaline * Beast - LSD * Beat artist - person selling bogus drugs * Beat vials - vials containing sham crack to cheat buyers * Beautiful boulders - crack * Bebe - crack * Bedbugs - fellow addicts * Bee - bong hit * Beemers - crack * Behind the scale - to weigh and sell cocaine * Beiging - chemicals altering cocaine to make it appear a higher purity * Belladonna - belladonna * Belt - effects of drugs * Belushi - cocaine and heroin * Belyando spruce - marijuana * Bender - drug party * Bennie - amphetamine * Benz - amphetamine * Bernice - cocaine * Bernie - cocaine * Bernie's flakes - cocaine * Bernie's gold dust - cocaine * Bhang - marijuana, Indian term * Big bag - heroin * Big bloke - cocaine * Big C - cocaine * Big 8 - 1/8 kilogram of crack * Big D - LSD * Big H - heroin * Big Harry - heroin * Big flake - cocaine * Big man - drug supplier
* Big O - opium * Big rush - cocaine * Bill Blass - crack * Billie hoke - cocaine * Bindle - small packet of drug powder; heroin * Bing - enough of a drug for one injection * Bingers - crack addicts * Binger - bong hit * Bingo - to inject a drug * Bings - crack * Binky - marijuana cigarette * Birdie powder - heroin; cocaine * Biscuit - 50 rocks of crack * Bite one's lips - to smoke marijuana * Biz - bag or portion of drugs * Black - opium; marijuana * Black acid - LSD; LSD and PCP * Black and white - amphetamine * Black bart - marijuana * Black beauties - depressant; amphetamine * Black birds - amphetamine * Black bombers - amphetamine * Black Button - dried button of peyote * Black ganga - marijuana resin * Black gold - high-potency marijuana * Black gungi - marijuana from India * Black gunion - marijuana * Black hash - opium and hashish * Black maria - highly potent marijuana * Black mo/black moat - highly potent marijuana * Black mollies - amphetamine * Black mote - marijuana mixed with honey * Black pearl - heroin * Black pill - opium pill * Black powder - black hash ground into powder * Black rock - crack * Black Russian - hashish mixed with opium * Black star - LSD * Black stuff - heroin * Black sunshine - LSD * Black tabs - LSD * Black tar - heroin * Black whack - PCP * Blacks - amphetamine * Blanco - heroin * Blanket - marijuana cigarette * Blanks - low-quality drugs * Blast - to smoke marijuana; to smoke crack * Blast a joint - to smoke marijuana * Blast a roach - to smoke marijuana * Blast a stick - to smoke marijuana * Blasted - under the influence of drugs * Blind squid - ketamine, belladona, LSD * Blitzed - under the influence of drugs * Blizzard - white cloud in a pipe used to smoke cocaine * Block - marijuana * Block busters - depressant * Blonde - marijuana * Blotter - LSD; cocaine * Blotter acid - LSD
* Blotter cube - LSD * Blow - cocaine; to inhale cocaine; to smoke marijuana * Blow a fix - injection misses the vein and is wasted in the skin * blow a shot - injection misses the vein and is wasted in the skin * blow the vein - injection misses the vein and is wasted in the skin * Blow a stick - to smoke marijuana * Blow blue - to inhale cocaine * Blowcaine - crack diluted with cocaine * Blow coke - to inhale cocaine * Blow one's roof - to smoke marijuana * Blow smoke - to inhale cocaine * Blowing smoke - marijuana * Blowout - crackBlow up and street value * Blue - depressant; crack * Blue acid - LSD * Blue angels - depressant * Blue barrels - LSD * Blue birds - depressant * Blue boy - amphetamine * Blue bullets - depressant * Blue caps - mescaline * Blue chairs - LSD * Blue cheers - LSD * Blue de hue - marijuana from Vietnam * Blue devil - depressant * Blue dolls - depressant * Blue fly - NYC LSD * Blue heaven - LSD * Blue heavens - depressant * Blud madman - PCP * Blue microdot - LSD * Blue mist - LSD * Blue moons - LSD * Blue sage - marijuana * Blue sky blond - high-potency marijuana from Columbia * Blue Star - LSD/PCP * Blue tips - depressant * Blue vials - LSD * Blunt - marijuana inside a cigar; marijuana and cocaine or a fat joint inside a cigar * Blunted out - smoked many blunts of maraijuana * Bo-bo - marijuana * Boat - PCP * Bob - marijuana cigarette * Bobo - crack * Bobo bush - marijuana * Body packer - person who ingests crack or cocaine to transport it * Body stuffer - person who ingests crack vials to avoid prosecution * Bogart a joint - salivate on a marijuana cigarette; refuse to share * Bohd - marijuana; PCP * Bolasterone - injectable steroid * Bolivian marching powder- cocaine * Bolo - crack * Bolt - isobutyl nitrite * Bomb - crack; heroin; large marijuana cigarette; high-potency heroin * Bomb squad - crack-selling crew * Bomber - marijuana cigarette * Bombido - injectable amphetamine; heroin; depressant * Bombita - amphetamine; heroin; depressant * Bombs away - heroin * Bone - marijuana; $50 piece of crack
* Bonecrusher - crack * Bones - crack * Bong - pipe used to smoke marijuana * Bonita - heroin * Boo - marijuana * Booger - cocaine (in the Florida Keys) * Boogered up - high on cocaine (in the Florida Keys) * Boom - marijuana * Boomers - psilocybin/psilocin * Boost - to inject a drug; to steal * Boost and shoot - steal to support a habit * Booster - to inhale cocaine * Boot - to inject a drug * Boot the gong - to smoke marijuana * Booted - under the influence of drugs * Booty juice - MDMA dissolved in liquid * Boppers - amyl nitrite * Botray - crack * Bottles - crack vials; amphetamine * Boubou - crack * Boulder - crack; $20 worth of crack * Boulya - crack * Bouncing powder - cocaine * Bowl - between 1/32 and 1/16 ounce of marijuana * Boxed - in jail * Boy - heroin * Bozo - heroin * Brain ticklers - amphetamine * Breakdowns - $40 crack rock sold for $20 * Breakfast of champions - crack * Break night - staying up all night until day break * Brewery - place where drugs are made * Brick - 1 kilogram of marijuana; crack * Brick gum - heroin * Bridge up or bring up - ready a vein for injection * Britton - peyote * Broccoli - marijuana * Broker - go-between in a drug deal * Brome, Bromage - Dextromethorphane Hydrobromide (active ingredient for Robotussin DM) popular in clinical/powder form in some cities as a street drug. * Brown - heroin; marijuana * Brown bombers - LSD * Brown crystal - heroin * Brown dots - LSD * Brown rhine - heroin * Brown sugar - heroin * Brown weed - marijuana mixed with cocaine * Brownies - amphetamine * Browns - amphetamine Bubble gum * Buck - shoot someone in the head * Bud - marijuana * Buda - a high-grade marijuana joint filled with crack * Budda - marijuana * Buffer - crack smoker; a woman who exchanges oral sex for crack * Buger sugar - powdered cocaine * Bugged - annoyed; to be covered with sores and abscesses from repeated use of unsterile needles * Bull - narcotics agent or police officer * Bullet - isobutyl nitrite * Bullet bolt - inhalant * Bullia capital - crack
* Bullion - crack * Bullyon - marijuana * Bumblebees - amphetamine * Bummer trip - unsettling and threatening experience from PCP intoxication * Bump - crack; fake crack; boost a high; small dose of crystal meth * Bundle - heroin * Bunk - fake cocaine * Burese - cocaine * Burning logs - smoking a joint * Burn one - to smoke marijuana * Burn the main line - to inject a drug * Burned - purchase fake drugs * Burned out - collapse of veins from repeated injections; permanent impairment from drug abuse * Burnese * Burnie - marijuana * Burnout - heavy abuser of drugs * Burnt - smoked to much weed * Bush - cocaine; marijuana * Businessman's LSD - dimethyltryptamine * Businessman's trip - dimethyltryptamine * Businessman's special - dimethyltryptamine * Busted - arrested * Busters - depressant * Busy bee - PCP * Butt naked - PCP * Butter - marijuana; crack * Butter flower - marijuana * Buttons - mescaline * Butu - heroin * Buzz - under the influence of drugs * Buzz bomb - nitrous oxide * C - cocaine * C joint - place where cocaine is sold * C & M - cocaine and morphine * C-dust - cocaine * C-game - cocaine * Caballo - heroin * Cabello - cocaine * Caca - heroin * Cacti Joint - a joint of dried and ground up peyote * Cactus - mescaline * Cactus buttons - mescaline * Cactus head - mescaline * Cad/Cadillac - 1 ounce * Cadillac - PCP * Cadillac express - methcathinone * Cakes - round discs of crack * Caine - cocaine; crack * California cornflakes - cocaine * California sunshine - LSD * Cam trip - high-potency marijuana * Cambodian red/Cam red - marijuana from Cambodia * Came - cocaine * Can - marijuana; 1 ounce * Canadian black - marijuana * Canamo - marijuana * Canappa - marijuana * Cancelled stick - marijuana cigarette * Candy - cocaine; crack; depressant; amphetamine
* Candy C - cocaine * Candy flip - 1 hit xtc per three hit(s) lsd * Cannabinol - PCP * Cannabis indica - marijuana that is very strong and causes halluciations * Cannabis sativa - marijuana that is milder than indica and doesn't cause hallucinations * Cannabis tea - marijuana * Cannon - huge joint * Canoe - when a joint gets a hole in the side or looks like a canoe. * Cap - crack; LSD * Caps - crack * Cap up - transfer bulk form drugs to capsules * Capital H - heroin * Caps - heroin; psilocybin/psilocin * Carburetor - crack stem attachment * Carga - heroin * Carmabis - marijuana * Carne - heroin * Carnie - cocaine * Carpet patrol - crack smokers searching the floor for crack * Carrie - cocaine * Carrie Nation - cocaine * Cartucho - package of marijuana cigarettes * Cartwheels - amphetamine * Cashed - bowl is finished/empty * Casper the ghost - crack * Cat - methcathinone * Cat valium - ketamine * Catnip - marijuana cigarette * Cattle rustler - person who steals steaks and other meat from the supermarkets to trade for drugs at half value * Caviar - crack * Cavite all star - marijuana * Cereal - marijuana (being smoked in a bowl) * Cecil - cocaine * Cess - marijuana * Chalk - methamphetamine; amphetamine * Chalked up - under the influence of cocaine * Chalking - chemically altering the color of cocaine so it looks white * Chamber - pipe used for marijuana * Chandoo/chandu - opium * Channel - vein into which a drug is injected * Channel swimmer - one who injects heroin * Charas - marijuana from India * Charge - marijuana * Charged up - under the influence of drugs * Charley - heroin * Charlie - cocaine * Chase - to smoke cocaine; to smoke marijuana * Chaser - compulsive crack user * Chasing the dragon - crack and heroin * Chasing the tiger - to smoke heroin * Chaze - to christen a new bowl or pipe * Cheap basing - crack * Check - personal supply of drugs * Cheeba - marijuana * Cheeo - marijuana * Chemical - crack * Chestbonz - the one who takes the biggest bong hit * Chewies - crack * Chewies - blunt with powdered cocaine inside * Chiba chiba - high-potency marijuana from Columbia
* Chicago black - marijuana, term from Chicago * Chicago green - marijuana * Chicken powder - amphetamine * Chicken scratch - searching on hands and knees for crack * Chicle - heroin * Chief - LSD; mescaline * Chieva - heroin * Chillie Willies - snorting vodka or gin out of a bottle cap * Chillun - pipe used to smoke hashish or * China - opium * China cat - high-potency heroin * China girl - fentanyl * China town - fentanyl * China White - fentanyl * Chinese dragons - LSD * Chinese eyed - when the eyes become slanted from the influence of marijuana * Chinese molasses - opium * Chinese red - heroin * Chinese tobacco - opium * Chip - heroin * Chipper - occasional Hispanic user * Chipping - using drugs occasionally * Chippie - marijuana * Chippy - cocaine * Chira - marijuana * Chocolate - opium; amphetamine * Chocolate chips - MDMA * Chocolate ecstasy - crack made brown by adding chocolate milk powder during processing * Chocolate rocket - crack made brown by adding chocolate milk powder during processing * Chocolate Thi - marijuana * Choker - large or powerful hit of crack cocaine * Cholly - cocaine * Chorals - depressant * Christina - amphetamine * Christine - crystal methamphetamine * Christmas rolls - depressant * Christmas tree - marijuana; depressant; amphetamine * Chronic - strong weed * Chronic - marijuana; marijuana mixed with crack * Church - LSD paper with cross on it * Chucks - hunger following withdrawal from heroin * Chunks - large broken pieces of crack cocaine * Churus - marijuana * Cid - LSD * Cigarette paper - packet of heroin * Cigarrode cristal - PCP * Citrol - high-potency marijuana, from Nepal * CJ - PCP * Clarity - MDMA * Clear up - stop drug use * Clicker - crack and PCP * Cliffhanger - PCP * Climax - crack; isobutyl nitrite; heroin * Climb - marijuana cigarette * Clips - rows of vials heat-sealed together * Clocking paper - profits from selling drugs * Closet baser - user of crack who prefers anonymity * Cloud - crack or huge hit from ice pipe * Cloud nine - crack * Cluck - crack smoker
* Co-pilot - amphetamine * Coasting - under the influence of drugs * Coasts to coasts - amphetamine * Coca - cocaine * Cocaine blues - depression after extended cocaine use * Cochornis - marijuana * Cocktail - cigarette laced with cocaine or crack; partially smoked marijuana cigarette inserted in regular cigarette * Cocoa puff - to smoke cocaine and marijuana * Coconut - cocaine * Coco rocks - dark brown crack made by adding chocolate pudding during production * Coco snow - benzocaine used as cutting-agent for crack * Cod - large amount of money * Coffee - LSD * Coke - cocaine; crack * Coke bar - bar where cocaine is openly used * Cola - cocaine * Cold turkey - sudden withdrawal from drugs * Coli - marijuana * Coliflor tostao - marijuana * Colorado - cocaine * Colorado cocktail - marijuana * Columbian - marijuana * Columbo - PCP * Columbus black - marijuana * Comeback - benzocaine and mannitol used to adulterate cocaine for conversion to crack * Come home - end a "trip" from LSD * Conductor - LSD * Connect - purchase drugs; supplier of illegal drugs * Contact lens - LSD * Cook - mix heroin with water; heating heroin to prepare it for injection * Cook down - process in which users liquify heroin in order to inhale it * Cooker - to inject a drug * Cookies - crack * Cool - someone who uses drugs * Coolie - cigarette laced with cocaine * Cooler - cigarette laced with a drug * Cop - obtain drugs * Copping zones - specific areas where buyers can purchase drugs * Coral - depressant * Coriander seeds - cash * Cork the air - to inhale cocaine * Corn-stalker - marijuana cigarette rolled in the shuck of a corn cob sealed with honey * Corrinne - cocaine * Cosa - marijuana * Cotics - heroin * Cotton - currency * Cotton brothers - cocaine, heroin and morphine * Courage pills - heroin; depressant * Course note - bill larger than $2 * Cozmo's - PCP * Crack - cocaine * Crack attack - craving for crack * Crack back - crack and marijuana * Crack cooler - crack soaked in wine cooler * Cracker jacks - crack smokers * Crackers - LSD * Crack gallery - place where crack is bought and sold * Crack Head - someone who does crack cocaine * Crack spot - area where people can purchase crack * Crack Star - someone who does crack cocaine
* Crack Weed - marijuana laced with crack * Crank - methamphetamine; amphetamine; methcathinone * Crankster - someone on crank * Cranking up - to inject a drug * Crap/crop - low-quality heroin * Crash - sleep off effects of drugs * Crazy coke - PCP * Crazy Eddie - PCP * Crazy weed - marijuana * Credit card - crack stem * Creeperbud - marijuana that creeps up on you * Crib - crack * Crill - a joint laced with cocaine * Crimmie - cigarette laced with crack * Crink - methamphetamine * Crip - meth * Cripple - marijuana cigarette * Cris - methamphetamine * Crisco - crystal methamphetamine * Crisscross - amphetamine * Crissy - crystal meth * Cristina - methamphetamine * Cristy - smokable methamphetamine * Croak - crack and methamphetamine * Cross tops - amphetamine * Crossroads - amphetamine * Crown crap - heroin * Crumbs - tiny pieces of crack * Crumbsnatcher - a junkie who steals tiny pieces of crack * Crunch & Munch - crack * Crusty treats - cocaine * Cruz - opium from Veracruz, Mexico * Crying weed - marijuana * Crypto - methamphetamine * Crystal - methamphetamine; PCP; amphetamine; cocaine * Crystal joint - PCP * Crystal meth - methamphetamine * Crystal pop - cocaine and pcp * Cystal T - PCP * Crystal tea - LSD * Cube - 1 ounce; LSD * Cubes - marijuana tablets * Culican - high-potency marijuana from Mexico * Cupcakes - LSD * Cura - heroin * Cushion - vein into which a drug is injected * Cut - adulterate drugs * Cut-deck - heroin mixed with powdered milk * Cycline - PCP * Cyclones - PCP * D - LSD, PCP * Dabble - use drugs occasionally * Daddy - marijuana joint * Dagga - marijuana * Dama blanca - cocaine * Dance fever - fentanyl * Dank - marijuana or pot * Dawamesk - marijuana * Dead on arrival - heroin
* Dealer - one who sells drugs. * Deca-duabolin - injectable steroid * Deccadence - MDMA * Deck - 1 to 15 grams of heroin, also known as a bag; packet of drugs * Deeda - LSD * Delatestryl - injectable steroid * Demo - crack stem; a sample-size quantity of crack * Demolish - crack * Dental Floss - LSD * Dep-testosterone - injectable steroid * DET - dimethyltryptamine * Detroit pink - PCP * Deuce - $2 worth of drugs; heroin * Devil's dandruff - crack * Devil's dick - crack pipe * Devil's dust * Devilsmoke - crack * Dew - marijuana * Dews - $10 worth of drugs * Dexies - amphetamine * Diablo - LSD paper with a devil on it * Diambista - marijuana * Dianabol - veterinary steroid * Diet pills - amphetamine * Diesel - heroin * Digie - refers to scales used to weigh drugs * Diggidy - good herb * Dihydrolone - injectable steroid * Dimba - marijuana from West Africa * Dime - crack; $10 worth of crack * Dime - 1/16 ounce of marijuana * Dime bag - $10 worth of drugs * Dime's worth - amount of heroin to cause death * Dinosaurs - LSD * Ding - marijuana * Dinkie dow - marijuana * Dip - crack * Dipper - PCP * Dipping out - crack runners taking a portion of crack from vials * Dirge - PCP * Dirt - heroin * Dirt grass - inferior-quality marijuana * Dirty basing - crack * Disco biscuits - depressant * Disease - drug of choice * Ditch - marijuana * Ditch weed - marijuana, inferior quality, Mexican * Divider - sharing a joint with someone * Dizz - marijuana * Djamba - marijuana * D.L. spot - safe place to buy and use drugs * DMT - Dimethyltryptamine * Do a joint - to smoke marijuana * Do a line - to inhale cocaine * Do it Jack - PCP * DOA - PCP; crack * Doctor - MDMA * Dog - good friend * Dog food - heroin * Dogie - heroin
* Doja - strong marijuana * Dollar - $100 worth of drugs * Dolls - depressant * Domes - LSD * Domestic - locally grown marijuana * Domex - PCP and MDMA * Dominoes - amphetamine * Don jem - marijuana * Dona Juana - marijuana * Dona Juanita - marijuana * Doobie - marijuana * Doobie/dubbe/duby - marijuana * Doogie/doojee/dugie - heroin * Dooley - heroin * Dope - heroin; marijuana; any other drug * Dope fiend - crack or marijuana addict * Dope smoke - to smoke marijuana * Dopium - opium * Doradilla - marijuana * Dose or Doses - LSD * Dots - LSD or mescaline * Doub - $20 rock of crack * Double bubble - cocaine * Double cross - amphetamine * Double dome - LSD * Double rock - crack diluted with procaine * Double trouble - depressant * Double ups - a $20 rock that can be broken into two $20 rocks * Double yoke - crack * Dove - $35 piece of crack * Dover's powder - opium * Downer - depressant * Downie - depressant * Downtown - heroin * Dr. Frankenstein (or 'Franky' for short) - person who sells prescription drugs * Draf weed - marijuana * Drag weed - marijuana * Draw up - to inject a drug * Dream - cocaine * Dream gum - opium * Dream stick - opium * Dreamer - morphine * Dreams - opium * Dreck - heroin * Drink - PCP * Dro - strong weed * Dropper - to inject a drug * Drowsy high - depressant * Drug Deal - the exchange of money for drugs * Dry high - marijuana * DT - heroin * Dub - $20 dollar's worth * Dub Sack - $20 worth of drugs(weed) * Duct - cocaine * Due - residue of oils trapped in a pipe after smoking base * Dugout - pipe used for marijuana * Duji - heroin * Dummy dust - PCP * Durabolin - injectable steroid * Durog - marijuana
* Duros - marijuana * Dust - heroin; cocaine; PCP; marijuana mixed with various chemicals * Dust joint - PCP * Dust of angels - PCP * Dusted - high on PCP * Dusted parsley - PCP * Dusting - adding PCP, heroin, or another drug to marijuana * Dymethzine - injectable steroid * Dynamite - heroin and cocaine * Dyno - heroin * Dyno-pure - heroin * E - MDMA * Earth - marijuana cigarette * Easing powder - opium * Eastside player - crack * Easy score - obtaining drugs easily * Eat - to take acid or mushrooms * Eater - someone who eats marijuana * Eating - taking a drug orally * Ebenieghber - hash * Ecstasy - MDMA * Egg - crack * Eight ball - 1/8 ounce of drugs * Eightball - crack and heroin * Eighth - heroin or marijuana * Elaine - ecstasy * El Cid - LSD * El diablito - marijuana, cocaine, heroin and PCP * El diablo - marijuana, cocaine and heroin * Electric Kool Aid - LSD * El Gato Diablo - crystal methamphetamine * Elle Momo - marijuana laced with PCP * Elephant - PCP * Elephant tranquilizer - PCP * Ellis Day - LSD * Embalming fluid - PCP * Emergency gun - instrument used to inject other than syringe * Emsel - morphine * Endo - marijuana * Energizer - PCP * Enoltestovis - injectable steroid * Ephedrone - methcathinone * Equipose - veterinary steroid * Erth - PCP * Esra - marijuana * Essence - MDMA * Estuffa - heroin * ET - alpha-ethyltyptamine * Euphoria - MDMA, mescaline, and crystal meth * Eve - MDEA * Explorers club - group of LSD users * Eye opener - crack; amphetamine * Eyeball poppers - crack * Fachiva - heroin * Factory - place where drugs are packaged, diluted, or manufactured * Fake STP - PCP * Fall - arrested * Fallbrook redhair - marijuana, term from Fallbrook, CA
* Famous dimes - crack * Fantasia - dimethyltryptamine * Fat bags - crack * Fat Pappy - fat joint or blunt * Fatty - marijuana cigarette * Feed bag - container for marijuana * feeling beautiful baby - really high and happy * Ferry dust - heroin * Fi-do-nie - opium * Fields - LSD * Fiend - someone who smokes marijuana alone * Fifteen cents - $15 worth of drugs * Fifty-one - crack * Finajet/finaject - veterinary steroid * Fine stuff - marijuana * Finger - marijuana cigarette * Fir - marijuana * Fire - to inject a drug; crack and methamphetamine * Fire it up - to smoke marijuana * First line - morphine * Fish scales - crack * Five cent bag - $5 worth of drugs * Five C note - $500 bill * Five dollar bag - $50 worth of drugs * Fives - amphetamine * Fix - to inject a drug * Fizzies - methadone * Flag - appearance of blood in the vein * Flake - cocaine * Flakes - PCP * Flame cooking - smoking cocaine base by putting the pipe over a stove flame * Flamethrowers - cigarette laced with cocaine and heroin * Flash - LSD * Flashers - LSD that is very hallucinogenic * Flat blues - LSD * Flat chunks - crack cut with benzocaine * Flea powder - low purity heroin * Florida snow - cocaine * Flower - marijuana * Flower tops - marijuana * Fly Mexican airlines - to smoke marijuana * Flying - under the influence of drugs * Following that cloud - searching for drugs * Foo foo stuff - heroin; cocaine * Foo-foo dust - cocaine * Foolish powder - heroin; cocaine * Footballs - amphetamine * 45 Minute Psychosis - Dimethyltryptamine * Forwards - amphetamine * Fraho/frajo - marijuana * Freebase - smoking cocaine; crack * Freeze - cocaine; renege on a drug deal * French blue - amphetamine * French fries - crack * Fresh - PCP * Friend - fentanyl * Fries - crack * Frios - marijuana laced with PCP * Frisco special - cocaine, heroin and LSD * Frisco speedball - cocaine, heroin and LSD
* Friskie powder - cocaine * Fry - crack or marijuana laced with embalming fluid * Fry daddy - crack and marijuana; cigarette laced with crack * Fu - marijuana * Fucked up - high on drugs * Fuel - marijuana mixed with insecticides; PCP * Fuete - hypodermic needle * Fuma D'Angola - marijuana Portugese term * Future - Crystal * G - $1000 or 1 gram of drugs; term for an unfamiliar male * Gak - line of meth or coke * Gar - marijuana rolled in cigar paper * G.B. - depressant * GHB - gamma hydroxy butyrate * G-rock - one gram of rock cocaine * G-shot - small dose of drugs used to hold off withdrawal symptoms until full dose can be taken * Gaffel - fake cocaine * Gaffus - hypodermic needle * Gage/gauge - marijuana * Gagers - methcathinone * Gaggers - methcathinone * Galloping horse - heroin * Gamot - heroin * Gange - marijuana * Gangster - marijuana * Gangster pills - depressant * Ganja - marijuana from Jamaica * Gank - fake crack * Garbage - inferior-quality drugs * Garbage heads - users who buy crack from street dealers instead of cooking it themselves * Garbage rock - crack * Garr - large joint of marijuana * Gash - marijuana * Gasper - marijuana cigarette * Gasper stick - marijuana cigarette * Gato - heroin * Gauge butt - marijuana * Gee - opium * Geek - crack and marijuana * Geeker - crack user * Geeze - to inhale cocaine * Geezer - to inject a drug * Geezin a bit of dee gee - injecting a drug * George smack - heroin * Get a gage up - to smoke marijuana * Get a gift - obtain drugs * Get down - to inject a drug * Get high - to smoke marijuana * Get lifted - under the influence of drugs * Get off - to inject a drug; get "high" * Get the wind - to smoke marijuana * Get through - obtain drugs * Ghana - marijuana * Ghost - LSD * Ghost busting - smoking cocaine; searching for white particles in the belief that they are crack * Gick monster - crack smoker * Gift-of-the-sun - cocaine * Giggle smoke - marijuana * Gimmick - drug injection equipment
* Gimmie - crack and marijuana * Gin - cocaine * Girl - cocaine; crack; heroin * Girlfriend - cocaine * Give wings - inject someone or teach someone to inject heroin * Glacines - heroin * Glad stuff - cocaine * Glading - using inhalant * Glass - hypodermic needle; amphetamine * Glass gun - hypodermic needle * Glo - crack * Gluey - person who sniffs glue * Go-fast - methcathinone * Go into a sewer - to inject a drug * Go loco - to smoke marijuana * Go on a sleigh ride - to inhale cocaine * Godfather - joint of weed laced with cocaine * Godfather - cigar filled with marijuana or other type drug * God's flesh - psilocybin/psilocin * God's medicine - opium * God's drug - morphine * Going 90 mph - the peak of a trip * Going to shoot a game of pool - getting ready to cop an eightball of crack * Going to the dentist - nitrus oxide * Gold - marijuana; crack * Gold dust - cocaine * Gold star - marijuana * Golden Dragon - LSD * Golden girl - heroin * Golden leaf - very high quality marijuana * Golf ball - crack * Golf balls - depressant or LSD * Golpe - heroin * Goma - opium; black tar heroin * Gondola - opium * Gong - marijuana; opium * Gong ringer - a fat joint * Goob - methcathinone * Good - PCP * Good and plenty - heroin * Good butt - marijuana cigarette * Good giggles - marijuana * Good go - proper amount of drugs for the money paid * Good H - heroin * Good lick - good drugs * Goodfellas - fentanyl * Goof butt - marijuana cigarette * Goofball - cocaine and heroin; depressant * Goofers - depressant * Goofy's - LSD * Goon - PCP * Goon dust - PCP * Gopher - person paid to pickup drugs * Goric - opium * Gorilla tab - PCP * Gorilla biscuits - PCP * Gorilla pills - depressant * Got it going on - fast sale of drugs * Graduate - completely stop using drugs or progress to stronger drugs * Gram - hashish
* Grandpa - an old pipe used for smoking marijuana * Grape parfait - LSD * Grass - marijuana * Grass brownies - marijuana * Grata - marijuana * Gravel - crack * Gravy - to inject a drug; heroin * Grease - currency * Great bear - fentanyl * Great tobacco - opium * Green - inferior-quality marijuana; PCP; ketamine * Green button - fresh button of peyote * Green cigerette - joint of marijuana * Green double domes - LSD * Green dragons - depressant * Green frog - depressant * Green goddess - marijuana * Green gold - cocaine * Green goods - paper currency * Green leaves - PCP * Green single domes - LSD * Green tea - PCP * Green wedge - LSD * Greens/green stuff - paper currency * Greeter - marijuana * Greta - marijuana * Grey shields - LSD * Griefo - marijuana * Griff - marijuana * Griffa - marijuana * Griffo - marijuana * Grit - crack * Groceries - crack * Grogged - really stoned or burnt out on marijuana * Ground control - guide or caretaker during a hallucinogenic experience * G spot tornado - equal parts rum & nyQuil * Gum - opium * Guma - opium * Gun - to inject a drug; needle * Gungun - marijuana * Gunther - neighborhood pot dealer * Gutter - vein into which a drug is injected * Gutter junkie - addict who relies on others to obtain drugs * Gyve - marijuana cigarette * H - heroin * H & C - heroin and cocaine * H Caps - heroin * Hache - heroin * Hail - crack * Hairy - heroin * Half - 1/2 ounce * Half-a-C - $50 bill * Half a football field - 50 rocks of crack * Half G - $500 * Half load - 15 bags (decks) of heroin * Half moon - peyote * Half piece - 1/2 ounce of heroin or cocaine * Half track - crack * Hamburger helper - crack
* Hand-to-hand - direct delivery and payment * Hand-to-hand man - transient dealers who carry small amounts of crack * Hanhich - marijuana * Hanyak - smokable speed * Happy cigarette - marijuana cigarette * Happy dust - cocaine * Happy powder - cocaine * Happy trails - cocaine * Hard - crack * Hard candy - heroin * Hardcore - heavy drug user * Hard line - crack * Hard rock - crack * Hard stuff - opium; heroin * Hardware - isobutyl nitrite * Harm Reducer - marijuana * Harry - heroin * Hats - LSD * Hash - marijuana * Have a dust - cocaine * Haven dust - cocaine * Hawaiin - very high-potency marijuana * Hawaiis finest - ice * Hawaiian sunshine - LSD * Hawk - LSD * Hay - marijuana * Hay butt - marijuana cigarette * Haze - LSD * Hazel - heroin * HCP - PCP * Head drugs - amphetamine * Headlights - LSD * Heart-on - inhalant * Hearts - amphetamine * Heart stoppers - very potent crack * Heaven and Hell - PCP * Heaven dust - heroin; cocaine * Heavenly blue - LSD * Heeled - having plenty of money * Helen - heroin * Hell dust - heroin * He-man - fentanyl * Hemp - marijuana * Henpicking - searching on hands and knees for crack * Henry - heroin * Henry VIII - cocaine * Her - cocaine * Herb - marijuana * Herb and Al - marijuana and alcohol * Herba - marijuana * Herms - PCP * Hero - heroin * Hero of the underworld - heroin * Heroina - heroin * Herone - heroin * Hessle - heroin * High - the effect drug users feel when using drugs * Highbeams - the wide eyes of a person on crack * Hikori - peyote * Hikuli - peyote
* Him - heroin * Hinkley - PCP * Hippie crack - inhalant * Hiropon - smokable methamphetamine * Hit - crack; marijuana cigarette; to smoke marijuana * Hits - LSD * Hit the hay - to smoke marijuana * Hit the main line - to inject a drug * Hit the needle - to inject a drug * Hit the pit - to inject a drug * Hitch up the reindeers - to inhale cocaine * Hitter - little pipe designed for only one hit * Hitting up - injecting drugs * HO - half ounce marijuana * Hocus - opium; marijuana * Hog - PCP * Holli - a joint stuck in a pipe and then smoked * Holding - possessing drugs * Hombre - heroin * Hombrecitos - psilocybin * Homegrown - marijuana * Honey - currency * Honey blunts - Marijuana cigars sealed with honey * Honey oil - ketamine; inhalant * Honeymoon - early stages of drug use before addiction or dependency develops * Hong-yen - heroin in pill form * Hooch - marijuana * Hoochie-Mamma - a two paper joint * Hood - heroin, usually in 10-dollar capsules * Hooded, to get - to use heroin without shooting it up; to snort it * Hooked - addicted * Hooter - cocaine; marijuana * Hop/hops - opium * Hopped up - under the influence of drugs * Horn - to inhale cocaine; crack pipe * Horning - heroin; to inhale cocaine * Horse - heroin * Horse heads - amphetamine * Horse tracks - PCP * Horse tranquilizer - PCP * Hot box - to fill up a closed area with second-hand marijuana smoke * Hot dope - heroin * Hot heroin - poisoned to give to a police informant * Hot ice - smokable methamphetamine * Hot load/hot shot - lethal injection of an opiate * Hot stick - marijuana cigarette * Hotcakes - crack * House fee - money paid to enter a crackhouse * House piece - crack given to the owner of a crackhouse or apartment where crack users congregate * How do you like me now? - crack * Hows - morphine * HRN - heroin * Hubba, I am back - crack * Hubba pigeon - crack user looking for rocks on a floor after a police raid * Hubbas - crack, term from Northern CA * Huff - inhalant * Huffer - inhalant abuser (of gas, glue, pam, ect.) * Hulling - using others to get drugs * Hunter - cocaine
* Hustle - attempt to obtain drug customers * Hyatari - peyote * Hydro - marijuana * Hydrophonic - hydrophonically grown marijuana * Hype - heroin addict; an addict * Hype stick - hypodermic needle * I am back - crack * Ice - cocaine; methamphetamine; smokeable amphetamine; MDMA, PCP * Ice cream habit - occasional use of drugs * Ice cube - crack * Icing - cocaine * Idiot pills - depressant * In - connected with drug suppliers * Inbetweens - depressant; amphetamine * Incense - opium * Inca message - cocaine * Indian boy - marijuana * Indian hay - marijuana from India * Indica - species of cannabis, found in hot climate, grows 3.5 to 4 feet * Indo - marijuana, term from Northern CA * Indonesian bud - marijuana; opium * Infinity - LSD that lasts for a long period of time * Instant zen - LSD * Interplanetary mission - travel from one crackhouse to another in search of crack * Isda - heroin * Issues - crack * IZM - marijuana * J - marijuana cigarette * J's - joints * Jab/job - to inject a drug * Jack - steal someone else's drugs * Jackpot - fentanyl * Jack-Up - to inject a drug * Jag - keep a high going * Jam - amphetamine; cocaine * Jamaican Red - potent marijuana from Jamaica * Jam cecil - amphetamine * Jane - marijuana * Jay smoke - marijuana * Jay - marijuana cigarette * Jee gee - heroin * Jefferson airplane - used match cut in half to hold a partially smoked marijuana cigarette * Jellies - depressant * Jelly - cocaine * Jelly baby - amphetamine * Jelly bean - amphetamine; depressant * Jelly beans - crack * Jesus Christ acid - especially potent LSD * Jet - ketamine * Jet fuel - PCP * Jim Jones - marijuana laced with cocaine and PCP * Jive - heroin; marijuana; drugs * Jive doo jee - heroin * Jive stick - marijuana * Johnny go fast - speed * Johnson - crack * Joint - marijuana cigarette * Jojee - heroin
* Joker's smile ["he's got the joker's smile"] - extremely high on crack * Jolly bean - amphetamine * Jolly green - marijuana * Jolly pop - casual user of heroin * Jolt - to inject a drug; strong reaction to drugs * Jones - heroin * Jonesing - need for drugs * Joy flakes - heroin * Joy juice - depressant * Joy plant - opium * Joy pop - to inject a drug * Joy popping - occasional use of drugs * Joy powder - heroin; cocaine * Joyride - going out and getting high * Joy smoke - marijuana * Joy stick - marijuana cigarette * Ju-ju - marijuana cigarette * Juan Valdez - marijuana * Juanita - marijuana * Juggle - sell drugs to another addict to support a habit * Juggler - teen-aged street dealer * Jugs - amphetamine * Juice - steroids, PCP * Juice joint - marijuana cigarette sprinkled with crack * Jum - sealed plastic bag containing crack * Jumbos - large vials of crack sold on the streets * Junk - cocaine; heroin * Junkie - addict * K - Ketamine * Kabayo - heroin * Kabuki - crack pipe made from a plastic rum bottle and a rubber sparkplug cover * Kaksonjae - smokable methamphetamine * Kali - marijuana * Kaliedescope - a type of LSD * Kate bush - kind bud * Kangaroo - crack * Kaps - PCP * Karachi - heroin * Kaya - marijuana * KB - potent marijuana * K-blast - PCP * Kentucky blue - marijuana * Keesh - a fat bag * Keller - ketamine * Kellys day - ketamine * Keyed - high on drugs * KGB (killer green bud) - marijuana * K-hole - periods of ketamine-induced confusion * Kibbles & Bits - small crumbs of crack * Kick - getting off a drug habit; inhalant * Kicked - to pass out or about to pass out * Kick stick - marijuana cigarette * Kiddie dope - prescription drugs * Kiff - marijuana * Killer - marijuana; PCP * Killer weed (1980s) - marijuana and PCP * Killer weed (1960s) - marijuana * Kilo - 2.2 pounds * Kilter - marijuana
* Kind - marijuana * Kind bud - marijuana * King ivory - fentanyl * King Kong pills - depressant * King's habit - cocaine * Kit - equipment used to inject drugs * KJ - PCP * Kleenex - MDMA * Klingons - crack addicts * Knuckle Samich - phat joint * Kokomo - crack * Koller joints - PCP * Kools - PCP * Kona Gold - strong marijuana grown on the Big Island in Hawaii * Kram - to pack the bowl tight * Kryptonite - crack * Krystal - PCP * Krystal joint - PCP * Krippies - moist marijuana only to be smoked out of a bowl or bong * Kumba - marijuana * Kushempeng - marijuana * Kutchie - marijuana * KW - PCP * L - LSD * L.A. - long-acting amphetamine * L.A. glass - smokable methamphetamine * L.A. ice - smokable methamphetamine * L.L. - marijuana * Lace - cocaine and marijuana * Lady - cocaine * Lady caine - cocaine * Lady snow - cocaine * Lakbay diva - marijuana * Lamborghini - crack pipe made from plastic rum bottle and a rubber sparkplug cover * Las mujercitas - psilocybin * Lason sa daga - LSD * Laugh and scratch - to inject a drug * Laughing gas - nitrous oxide * Laughing grass - marijuana * Laughing weed - marijuana * Lay back - depressant * Lay-out - equipment for taking drugs * LBJ - LSD; PCP; heroin * Leaky bolla - PCP * Leaky leak - PCP * Leaf - marijuana; cocaine * Leapers - amphetamine * Leaping - under the influence of drugs * Leary's - LSD * Legal speed - over the counter asthma drug; trade name = Minithin * Lemon 714 - PCP * Lemonade - heroin; poor quality drugs * Lenllo - joint * Lens - LSD * Lethal weapon - PCP * Lettuce - money * Lib (Librium) - depressant * Lid - 1 ounce of marijuana * Lid proppers - amphetamine
* Life Saver - heroin * Light stuff - marijuana * Lightning - amphetamine * Lima - marijuana * Lime acid - LSD * Line - cocaine * Linga - crank * Lipton Tea - inferior-quality drugs * Lit up - under the influence of drugs * Little bomb - amphetamine; heroin; depressant * Little bowl of buddha - 10 gram bowl of marijuana buds or hash * Little Green Friends - marijuana * Little ones - PCP * Little smoke - marijuana; psilocybin/psilocin * Live ones - PCP * Llesca - marijuana * Load - 25 bags of heroin * Loaded - high * Loaf - marijuana * Lobo - marijuana * Locker room - isobutyl nitrite * Locoweed - marijuana * Log - PCP; marijuana cigarette * Logor - LSD * Loused - covered by sores and abscesses from repeated use of unsterile needles * Love - crack * Love affair - cocaine * Love boat - marijuana dipped in formaldehyde; PCP * Love doctor - MDMA * Love drug - MDMA; depressant * Love nuggets - marijuana * Love pearls - alpha-ethyltyptamine * Love potion #9 - MDMA * Love pills - alpha-ethyltyptamine * Love trip - MDMA and mescaline * Love weed - marijuana * Lovelies - marijuana laced with PCP * Lovely - PCP * LSD - lysergic acid diethylamide * Lubage - marijuana * Lucy in the sky with diamonds - LSD * Lucky Charmz - ecstacy * Ludes - depressant * Luding out - depressant * Luds - depressant * Lunchbox - kids that do drugs * Lunch head - alcoholic * 420 - marijuana * M - marijuana; morphine * M.J. - marijuana * M.O. - marijuana * M.S. - morphine * M.U. - marijuana * M&M - depressant * Machinery - marijuana * Macon - marijuana * Madman - PCP * Mad dog - PCP * Mad scientist - someone who makes crank
* Magic - PCP * Magic dust - PCP * Magic mushroom - psilocybin/psilocin * Magic smoke - marijuana * Main line - to inject a drug * Mainliner - person who injects into the vein * Make up - need to find more drugs * Mama coca - cocaine * Manhattan silver - marijuana * Manteca - US Puerto Rican's slang for Heroin * Marathons - amphetamine * Mari - marijuana cigarette * Marimba - marijuana * Marshmallow reds - depressant * Mary - marijuana * Mary and Johnny - marijuana * Mary Ann - marijuana * Mary Jane - marijuana * Mary Jonas - marijuana * Mary Warner - marijuana * Mary Weaver - marijuana * Maserati - crack pipe made from a plastic rum bottle and a rubber sparkplug cover * Matchbox - 1/4 ounce of marijuana or 6 marijuana cigarettes * Matsakow - heroin * Maui wauie - marijuana from Hawaii * Max - gamma hydroxy butyrate dissolved in water and mixed with amphetamines * Maxibolin - oral steroid * Mayo - cocaine; heroin * MDM - MDMA * MDMA - methylenedioxy-methamphetamine * Mean green - PCP * Meg - marijuana * Megg - marijuana cigarette * Meggie - marijuana * Mellow yellow - LSD * Merchandise - drugs * Merk - cocaine * Mesc - mescaline * Mescal - mescaline * Mescap - capsule of mescaline * Mescy - peyote * Mese - mescaline * Messorole - marijuana * Meth - methamphetamine * Meth head - regular user of methamphetamine * Meth monster - person who has a violent reaction to methamphetamine * Method - marijuana * Methyltestosterone - oral steroid * Mexican brown - heroin; marijuana * Mexican horse - heroin * Mexican mud - heroin * Mexican mushroom - psilocybin/psilocin * Mexican red - marijuana * Mexican reds - depressant * Mezc - mescaline * Mickey Finn - depressant * Mickey's - depressant * Microdot - LSD * Midnight oil - opium * Midnight toker - some who smokes marijuana before bed
* Mighty Quinn - LSD * Mighty Joe Young - depressant * Mighty mezz - marijuana cigarette * Mighty Mite - breed of marijuana plant with huge buds * Million-dollar trap -a successful area where drug dealers trap * Mind detergent - LSD * Minglewood - hash & kind bud filled blunt * Minibennie - amphetamine * Mint leaf - PCP * Mint weed - PCP * Mira - opium * Miss Emma - morphine * Missile basing - crack liquid and PCP * Mission - trip out of the crackhouse to obtain crack * Mist - PCP; crack smoke * Mister blue - morphine * Modams - marijuana * Mohasky - marijuana * Mojo - cocaine; heroin * Monkey - drug dependency; cigarette made from cocaine paste and tobacco * Monkey dust - PCP * Monkey tranquilizer - PCP * Monos - cigarette made from cocaine paste and tobacco * Monte - marijuana from South America * Monty Hall - a person always trying to talk down the price or get a deal on drugs. Always a few dollars short. * Mooca/moocah - marijuana * Moon - mescaline * Moonrock - crack and heroin * Mooster - marijuana * Moota/mutah - marijuana * Mooters - marijuana cigarette * Mootie - marijuana * Mootos - marijuana * Mor a grifa - marijuana * More - PCP * Morf - morphine * Morning wake-up - first blast of crack from the pipe * Morotgara - heroin * Mortal combat - high-potency heroin * Mosquitos - cocaine * Mota/moto - marijuana * Mother - marijuana * Mother of God - LSD paper with naked woman on it * Mother's little helper - depressant or specifically valium * Mouth worker - one who takes drugs orally * Movie star drug - cocaine * Mow the grass - to smoke marijuana * Mowing the Lawn - smoking marijuana * Mud - opium; heroin * Muerte - overdoseing * Muggie - marijuana * Mujer - cocaine * Mule - carrier of drugs * Munchies - to get real hungry after smoking herb * Murder one - heroin and cocaine * Murder 8 - fentanyl * Mushrooms - psilocybin/psilocin * Musk - psilocybin/psilocin * Mutha - marijuana * Muzzle - heroin
* Nail - marijuana cigarette * Nailed - arrested * Nanoo - heroin * Nazi vitamens - crystal meth * Nebbies - depressant * Nemmies - depressant * New acid - PCP * New magic - PCP * New Jack Swing - heroin and morphine * Newspapers - LSD * Nexus - 2C-B * Nice and easy - heroin * Nick - 0.5 grams of marijuana or 1/2 gram * Nickel - 0.5 grams of marijuana or 1/2 gram * Nickel bag - $5 worth of drugs; heroin * Nickel deck - heroin * Nickel note - $5 bill * Nickelonians - crack addicts * Niebla - PCP * Nimbies - depressant * Nitro - speed or nitrous * Nitrous Oxide - nitrous * Nix - stranger among the group * Nod - effects of heroin * Noise - heroin * Nontoucher - crack user who doesn't want affection during or after smoking crack * Northern Lights - extremly high-grade marijuana * Nose - heroin * Nose candy - cocaine * Nose drops - liquified heroin * Nose stuff - cocaine * Nose powder - cocaine * Nubs - peyote * Nugget - amphetamine * Nuggets - crack * Number - marijuana cigarette * Number 3 - cocaine, heroin * Number 4 - heroin * Number 8 - heroin * Number 9 - ecstacy * O - an ounce * O - opium * Oboy - marijuana * O.J. - marijuana * O.P. - opium * O.P.P. - PCP * Octane - PCP laced with gasoline * Ogoy - heroin * Oil - heroin, PCP * Old Steve - heroin * On a mission - searching for crack * On a trip - under the influence of drugs * On ice - in jail * On the bricks - walking the streets * On the nod - under the influence of narcotics or depressant * One and one - to inhale cocaine * One box tissue - one ounce of crack * One-fifty-one - crack
* One hitter quiter - marijuana that takes one hit to obtain a high * One way - LSD * Ope - opium * Optical illusions - LSD * Orange barrels - LSD * Orange crystal - PCP * Orange cubes - LSD * Orange haze - LSD * Orange micro - LSD * Orange wedges - LSD * Oranges - amphetamine * Oregano - hash * Outerlimits - crack and LSD * Outfit - heroin * Owl - marijuana * Owsley - LSD * Owsley's acid - LSD * O - ounce of marijuana * Oz - inhalant * Ozone - PCP * OZ - ounce of marijuna or other drugs * Ozzie - ounce of marijuana * P - peyote, PCP * PCP - phencyclidine * PCPA - PCP * P.R. (Panama Red) - marijuana * P-dope - 20-30% pure heroin * P-funk - heroin; crack and PCP * Pack - heroin; marijuana * Pack of rocks - marijuana cigarette * Pakalolo - marijuana * Pakistani black - marijuana * Panama cut - marijuana * Panama gold - marijuana * Panama red - marijuana * Panatella - large marijuana cigarette * Panckes and syrup - combination of glutethimide and codeine cough syrup * Pane - LSD * Pangonadalot - heroin * Panic - drugs not available * Paps - rolling papers * Paper acid - LSD * Paper bag - container for drugs * Paper blunts - marijuana within a paper casing rather than a tobacco leaf casing * Paper boy - heroin peddler * Parabolin - veterinary steroid * Parachute - crack and PCP smoked; heroin * Paradise - cocaine * Paradise white - cocaine * Parlay - crack * Parsley - marijuana, PCP * Paste - crack * Pat - marijuana * Patico - crack (Spanish) * Paz - PCP * Peace - LSD, PCP * Peace pill - PCP * Peace tablets - LSD * Peaches - amphetamine
* Peanut - depressant * Peanut butter - PCP mixed with peanut butter * Peanut butter - a type of methamphetamine that is brown in color * Pearl - cocaine * Pearls - amyl nitrite * Pearly gates - LSD or morning glory seeds * Pebbles - crack * Peddlar - drug supplier * Pee Wee - crack; $5 worth of crack * Peep - PCP * Peg - heroin * Pellets - LSD * Pen yan - opium * Pep pills - amphetamine * Pepsi habit - occasional use of drugs * Perfect High - heroin * Perico - cocaine * Perp - fake crack made of candle wax and baking soda * Peter Pan - PCP * Peth - depressant * Permafried - high all the time * Peruvian - cocaine * Peruvian flake - cocaine * Peruvian lady - cocaine * Peyote - mescaline * Phennies - depressant * Phenos - depressant * Pianoing - using the fingers to find lost crack * Pid - possession with intent to distribute * Piece - 1 ounce; cocaine; crack * Piedras - crack (Spanish) * Pig Killer - PCP * Piles - crack * Pimp - cocaine * Pimp your pipe - lending or renting your crack pipe * Pin - marijuana * Pine - marijuana * Pinner - small joint of marijuana * Pin gon - opium * Pin yen - opium * Ping-in-wing - to inject a drug * Pink blotters - LSD * Pink hearts - amphetamine * Pink ladies - depressant * Pink Panther - LSD * Pink robots - LSD * Pink wedge - LSD * Pink witches - LSD * Pipe - crack pipe; marijuana pipe; vein into which a drug is injected; mix drugs with other substances * Pipero - crack user * Pit - PCP * Pixies - amphetamine * Piznacle - marijauna pipe * Pizza - marijuana or LSD * Pizza toppings - psilocybin/psilocin mushrooms * Plant - hiding place for drugs * Pocket rocket - marijuana * Pod - marijuana * Poison - heroin; fentanyl * Poke - marijuana
* Pointing Hood - to shoot up heroin * Polvo - heroin; PCP * Polvo blanco - cocaine * Polvo de angel - PCP * Polvo de estrellas - PCP * Pony - crack * Poof - smoking ice * Pool Hall - crack house where large quanties of crack are sold, usually $100.00 and up. Mostly eightballs and larger are sold. No nickel/diming stuff * Poor man's pot - inhalant * Pop - to inhale cocaine * Poppers - isobutyl nitrite; amyl nitrite * Poppy - heroin * Pot - marijuana * Pothead - someone who smokes pot (marijuana) * Potato - LSD * Potato chips - crack cut with benzocaine * Potten bush - marijuana * Powder - heroin; amphetamine * Powder diamonds - cocaine * Power puller - rubber piece attached to crack stem * Pox - opium * Pregnant - when a joint has a lump in the middle * Prescription - marijuana cigarette * Press - cocaine; crack * Pretendica - marijuana * Pretendo - marijuana * Primo - crack; marijuana mixed with crack * Primobolan - injectable and oral steroid * Primos - cigarettes laced with cocaine and heroin * Proviron - oral steroid * Prudential - crack user * Pseudocaine - phenylpropanolamine, an adulterant for cutting crack * Puff - to smoke weed * Puff the dragon - to smoke marijuana * Puffer - crack smoker * Puffy - PCP * Pulborn - heroin * Pull a will - vomiting from too much drug use * Pullers - crack users who pull at parts of their bodies excessively * Pumping - selling crack * Pure - heroin * Pure love - LSD * Purple - ketamine * Purple barrels - LSD * Purple haze - LSD * Purple hearts - LSD; amphetamine; depressant * Purple flats - LSD * Purple ozoline - LSD * Purple rain - PCP * Push - sell drugs * Push shorts - to cheat or sell short amounts * Pusher - one who sells drugs; metal hanger or umbrella rod used to scrape residue in crack stems * Q - depressant * Q.P. - quarter pound of marijuana * Quad - depressant * Quarter - 1/4 ounce or $25 worth of drugs * Quarter bag - $25 worth of drugs * Quarter moon - hashish
* Quarter piece - 1/4 ounce * Quartz - smokable speed * Quas - depressant * Queen Ann's lace - marijuana * Queeted - when you get WAY too high off half a bowl * Quicksilver - isobutyl nitrite * Quill - methamphetamine; heroin; cocaine * Quinolone - injectable steroid * RB - resin bud (marijuana) * Racehorse charlie - cocaine; heroin * Ragweed - inferior-quality marijuana; heroin * Railroad weed - marijuana * Rail - large dose of crystal meth * Rainbows - depressant * Rainy day woman - marijuana * Rambo - heroin * Rane - cocaine; heroin * Rangood - marijuana grown wild * Rap - criminally charged; to talk with someone * Raspberry - female who trades sex for crack or money to buy crack * Rasta weed - marijuana * Rat - someone that turns drug dealers in to the police * Raw - crack * Rave - party designed to enhance a hallucinogenic experience through music and behavior * Razed - under the influence of drugs * Ready rock - cocaine; crack; heroin * Recompress - change the shape of cocaine flakes to resemble "rock" * Recycle - LSD * Red - under the influence of drugs * Red and blue - depressant * Red bullets - depressant * Red caps - crack * Red cross - marijuana * Red chicken - heroin * Red devil - depressant, PCP * Red dirt - marijuana * Reds - depressant * Red eagle - heroin * Red phosphorus - smokable speed * Reefer - marijuana * Register - to allow blood to flow back into needle just prior to injecting heroin * Regular P - crack * Reindeer dust - heroin * Re-rock - a process by which cocaine is treated so that it appears to have a higher level of purity than it actually has * Rhine - heroin * Rhythm - amphetamine * Riding the train - using cocaine * Riding the wave - under the influence of drugs * Rig - equipment used to inject drugs * Righteous bush - marijuana * Ringer - good hit of crack * Ripped - under the influence of drugs * Rippers - amphetamine * Roach - butt of marijuana cigarette * Roach clip - holds partially smoked marijuana cigarette * Road dope - amphetamine * Robo-ing - drinking robotussin with codeine * Roca - crack (Spanish) * Roche - Rophynol; (see "roofies")
* Rock attack - crack * Rock house - place where crack is sold and smoked * Rock(s) - cocaine; crack * Rocket caps - dome-shaped caps on crack vials * Rocket fuel - PCP * Rockets - marijuana cigarette * Rockette - female who uses crack * Rocks of hell - crack * Rock star - female who trades sex for crack or money to buy crack * Rocky III - crack * Roid rage - aggressive behavior caused by excessive steroid use * Roll - MDMA * Roller - to inject a drug * Rollers - police * Rolling - MDMA * Roofies - Rohypnol; a sedative that makes users feel very drunk * Rook - person who can't hang.....can't handle their drugs * Rooster - crack * Root - marijuana * Rope - marijuana * Roples - Rophynol; (see "roofies") * Rosa - amphetamineRose marie * Roses - amphetamine * Rox - crack * Roxanne - cocaine; crack * Royal blues - LSD * Royal Temple Ball - resin mixed with LSD then rolled in to a ball * Roz - crack * Ruderalis - species of cannabis, found in Russia, grows 1 to 2.5 feet * Ruffles - Rophynol; (see "roofies") * Runners - people who sell drugs for others * Running - MDMA * Rupture - PCP * Rush - isobutyl nitrite * Rush snappers - isobutyl nitrite * Russian sickles - LSD * Sack - heroin * Sacrament - LSD * Sacre mushroom - psilocybin * Sak - bag of marijuana * Salad - a bowl of of marijuana laced with other drugs. Usually hash or cocaine ('Caesar Salad'). * Salt - heroin * Salt and pepper - marijuana * Sam - federal narcotics agent * Sancocho - to steal (Spanish) * Sandoz - LSD * Sandwich - two layers of cocaine with a layer of heroin in the middle * San Pedro - mescaline * Santa Marta - marijuana * Sasfras - marijuana * Satan's secret - inhalant * Satch - papers, letter, cards, clothing, etc., saturated with drug solution (used to smuggle drugs into prisons or hospitals) * Satch cotton - fabric used to filter a solution of narcotics before injection * Sativa - species of cannabis, found in cool, damp climate, grows up to 18 feet * Scaffle - PCP * Scag - heroin * Scat - heroin * Scate - heroin * Schmeck - cocaine
* Schoolboy - cocaine, codeine * Schoolcraft - crack * Scissors - marijuana * Score - purchase drugs * Scorpion - cocaine * Scott - heroin * Scottie - cocaine * Scotty - cocaine; crack; the high from crack * Scramble - crack * Scratch - money * Scruples - crack * Scuffle - PCP * Seccy - depressant * Seeds - marijuana * Seggy - depressant * Sen - marijuana * Seni - peyote * Sernyl - PCP * Serpico 21 - cocaine * Server - crack dealer * Sess - marijuana * Set - place where drugs are sold * Sevenup - cocaine; crack * Sewer - vein into which a drug is injected * Sezz - marijuana * Shabu - ice * Shake - marijuana * Shaker/baker/water - materials needed to freebase cocaine; shaker bottle, baking soda, water * Sharps - needles * Shaman - peyote * She - cocaine * Sheets - PCP * Sheet rocking - crack and LSD * Sherm - a cigarette that has been dipped in embalming fluid * Shermans - PCP or PCP laced cigarette * Sherms - PCP; crack * Shmagma - marijuana * Shmeck/schmeek - heroin * Shoot/shoot up - to inject a drug * Shoot the breeze - nitrous oxide * Shooting gallery - place where drugs are used * Shot - to inject a drug * Shot down - under the influence of drugs * Shot Gun - someone puts the joint or blunt in their mouth backwards and blows the smoke into someone's mouth. * Shotgun toke - inhaling during orgasm * Shoot a game of pool - smoke an eightball of crack * Shrooms - psilocybin/psilocin * Shrimp - marijuana * Shwag - low-grade marijuana * Siddi - marijuana * Sightball - crack * Silly Putty - psilocybin/psilocin * Simple Simon - psilocybin/ psilocin * Sinse - marijuana * Sinsemilla - potent variety marijuana * Sixty-two - 2 1/2 ounces of crack * Skee - opium * Skeegers/skeezers - crack-smoking prostitute * Sketch - a bad reaction to LSD or marijuana * Sketching - coming down from a speed-induced high
* Skid - heroin * Skies - refers to scales used to weigh drugs * Skied - under the influence of drugs * Skin popping - injecting drugs under the skin * Skuffle - PCP * Skunk - marijuana * Slab - crack * Slack - a bag that don't weigh out * Slam - to inject a drug * Slanging - selling drugs * Sleeper - heroin; depressant * Sleet - crack * Slick superspeed - methcathinone * Slime - heroin * Slinging - dealing drugs * Slits - MDMA * Smack - heroin * Smears - LSD * smoochywoochypoochy - marijuana * Smoking - PCP * Smoke - heroin and crack; crack; marijuana * Smoke Canada - marijuana * Smoke-out - under the influence of drugs * Smoke you out - smoke marijuana with you * Smoking gun - heroin and cocaine * Snap - amphetamine * Snappers - isobutyl nitrite * Sniff - to inhale cocaine; inhalant; methcathinone * Snite - lighter used to smoke drugs * Snop - marijuana * Snort - to inhale cocaine; use inhalant * Snot - residue produced from smoking amphetamine * Snot balls - rubber cement rolled into balls and burned * Snow - cocaine; heroin; amphetamine * Snowball - cocaine and heroin * Snow bird - cocaine * Snowcones - cocaine * Snow pallets - amphetamine * Snow seals - cocaine and amphetamine * Snow soke - crack * Snow white - cocaine * Spliffy - joint of marijuana * Society high - cocaine * Soda - injectable cocaine used in Hispanic communities * Soft - cocaine (cf hard - crack) * Softballs - depressant * Soles - hashish * Soma - PCP * Sopers - depressant * Space base - crack dipped in PCP; hollowed out cigar refilled with PCP and crack * Space cadet - crack dipped in PCP * Space cadet - someone high on drugs * Space dust - crack dipped in PCP * Spaced out - high on marijuana * Space ship - glass pipe used to smoke crack * Spare time - possessing marijuana * Spark an owl - smoke a gigantic joint * Sparking an owl - lighting a joint * Spark it up - to smoke marijuana * Sparkle plenty - amphetamine
* Sparklers - amphetamine * Splaff - marijuana cigerette laced with acid * Special "K" - ketamine * Special la coke - ketamine * Speed - methamphetamine; amphetamine; crack * Speed boat - marijuana, PCP, crack * Speed freak - habitual user of methamphetamine * Speed for lovers - MDMA * Speedball - heroin and cocaine; amphetamine * Spider blue - heroin * Spider web - scam to rob someone of their dope and/or money * Spike - to inject a drug; needle * Splash - amphetamine * Spliff - marijuana cigarette * Splim - marijuana * Split - half and half or to leave * Splivins - amphetamine * Spoc - police officers (Cops spelled backwards) * Spoon - 1/16 ounce of heroin; paraphernalia used to prepare heroin for injection * Spores - PCP * Sporting - to inhale cocaine * Spray - inhalant * Sprung - person just starting to use drugs * Square dancing tickets - LSD * Square mackerel - marijuana, term from Florida * Square time Bob - crack * Squirrel - smoking cocaine, marijuana and PCP; LSD * Stack - marijuana * Stacking - taking steroids with a prescription * Stackola - stacking money * Star - methcathinone * Stardust - cocaine, PCP * Star-spangled powder - cocaine * Stash - place to hide drugs * Stash areas - drug storage and distribution areas * Stat - Methcathinone * Steamroller - pipe used to smoke marijuana * Steerer - person who directs customers to spots for buying crack * Stem - cylinder used to smoke crack * Stems - marijuana * Step on - dilute drugs * Stick - marijuana, PCP * Stimey - dime bag * Stinky - pot * Stink weed - marijuana * Stoned - under the influence of drugs * Stones - crack * Stoner - someone who stays high on marijuana * Stoppers - depressant * STP - PCP * Straight - having drugs to sell * Straw - marijuana cigarette * Strawberries - depressant * Strawberry - female who trades sex for crack or money to buy crack * Strawberry fields - LSD * Strung out - heavily addicted to drugs * Stuff - heroin * Stumbler - depressant * Sugar - cocaine; LSD; heroin * Sugar block - crack
* Sugar cubes - LSD * Sugar lumps - LSD * Sugar weed - marijuana * Sunshine - LSD * Super - PCP * Super acid - ketamine * Super C - ketamine * Super Grass - PCP * Super ice - smokable methamphetamine * Super-Jaded - blitzed off drugs; unable to think clearly * Super joint - PCP * Super kools - PCP * Super weed - PCP * Supergrass - marijuana * surfer - PCP * Swag - poor quality marijuana * Sweet Jesus - heroin * Sweet Lucy - marijuana * Sweet stuff - heroin; cocaine * Sweets - amphetamine * Swilly - kind of drunk * Swisher - cigar emptied and filled with marijuana. * synthetic cocaine - PCP * Synthetic THT - PCP * T - acid tabs * T - cocaine; marijuana * Tabs - LSD * Tail lights - LSD * Taima - marijuana * Taking a cruise - PCP * Takkouri - marijuana * Tampon - a fat joint * Tango & Cash - fentanyl * Tar - opium; heroin * Tardust - cocaine * Taste - heroin; small sample of drugs * Taxing - price paid to enter a crackhouse; charging more per vial depending on race of customer or if not a regular customer * T-buzz - PCP * Tea - marijuana, PCP * Tea party - to smoke marijuana * Teardrops - dosage units of crack packaged in the cut-off corners of plastic bags * Tecate - heroin * Tecatos - Hispanic heroin addicts * Teddy bears - LSD * Teenage - 1/16 gram of methamphetamine * Teener - 1/16 crack rock (given to us by a narcotics agent) * Teeth - cocaine; crack * Tension - crack * Tex-mex - marijuana * Texas pot - marijuana * Texas tea - marijuana * Thai sticks - bundles of marijuana soaked in hashish oil; marijuana buds bound on short sections of bamboo * THC - tetrahydrocannabinol * The beast - heroin * The C - methcathinone * The great white hope - crack * The devil - crack * The witch - heroin * Therobolin - injectable steroid
* Thing - heroin; cocaine; main drug interest at the moment * Thirst monsters - heavy crack smokers * Thirteen - marijuana * Thoroughbred - drug dealer who sells pure narcotics * Thrust - isobutyl nitrite * Thrusters - amphetamine * Thumb - marijuana * Tic - PCP in powder form * Tic tac - PCP * Ticket - LSD * Tie - to inject a drug * Tin - container for marijuana; a marijauna pipe made out of tinfoil * Tina - powdered inhalable crystal methamphetamine * Tish - PCP * Tissue - crack * Titch - PCP * Toilet water - inhalant * Toke - to inhale cocaine; to smoke marijuana * Toke up - to smoke marijuana * Toncho - octane booster which is inhaled * Tooles - depressant * Tools - equipment used for injecting drugs * Toot - cocaine; to inhale cocaine * Tootie - meth * Tooties - depressant * Tootsie roll - heroin * Top gun - crack * Topi - mescaline * Tops - peyote * Torch - marijuana * Torch cooking - smoking cocaine base by using a propane or butane torch as a source of flame * Torch up - to smoke marijuana * Torpedo - crack and marijuana * Toss up - female who trades sex for crack or money to * buy crack * Totally spent - MDMA hangover * Toucher - user of crack who wants affection before, during, or after smoking crack * Tout - person who introduces buyers to sellers * Toxy - opium * Toys - opium * TR-6s - amphetamine * Tracers - visual effects of hallucinogens * Track - to inject a drug * Tracks - row of needle marks on a person * Tragic magic - crack dipped in PCP * Trails - LSD-induced perception that moving objects leave multiple images or trails behind them * Trank - PCP * Tranq - depressant * Trap - hiding place for drugs * Trap boys - an area where the block is hot from drugdealers * Trapping - drug-dealer from US south * Trash - herion * Trashed - under the influence * Trays - bunches of vials * Travel agent - LSD supplier * Trees - marijuana or pot * Trip - LSD; alpha-ethyltyptamine * Troop - crack * Trophobolene - injectable steroid * Truck drivers - amphetamine
* TT1 - PCP * TT2 - PCP * TT3 - PCP * Tubes - water pipes or bongs * Tuie - depressant * Turbo - crack and marijuana * Turf - place where drugs are sold * Turkey - cocaine; amphetamine or hash * Turnabout - amphetamine * Turned on - introduced to drugs; under the influence * Tutti-frutti - flavored cocaine developed by a Brazillian gang * Tweak mission - on a mission to find crack * Tweaker - crack user looking for rocks on the floor after a police raid * Tweaking - drug-induced paranoia; peaking on speed * Tweeds - marijuana * Tweek - methamphetamine-like substance * Tweeker - methcathinone * Tweeker - a person addicted to meythamphetamines * Twenty - $20 rock of crack * Twenty-five - LSD * Twist - marijuana cigarette * Twistum - marijuana cigarette * Two for nine - two $5 vials or bags of crack for $9 * Ultimate - crack * Uncle - Federal agents * Uncle Fester - glass pipe * Uncle Milty - depressant * Unkie - morphine * Up against the stem - addicted to smoking marijuana * Uppers - amphetamine * Uppies - amphetamine * Ups and downs - depressant * Utopiates - hallucinogens * Uzi - crack; crack pipe * V - the depressant Valium * Valley dolls - LSD * Vaporizer - vaporizes marijuana and leaves you with just the THC * Venom - PCP * Viper's weed - marijuana * Vodka acid - LSD * Volcano 5 - red LSD paper * Wac - PCP on marijuana * Wack - PCP * Wacky Tobacky - marijuana * Wacky weed - marijuana * Waffles - hits of LSD * Wake ups - amphetamine * Wasted - heavily stoned * Water - methamphetamine, PCP * Wave - crack * Wedding bells - LSD * Wedge - LSD * Weed - marijuana, PCP * Weed out - weed for sale * Weed tea - marijuana * Weightless - high on crack * Weltschmerz - heroin withdrawal
* Wet - PCP * Whack - PCP and heroin * Wheat - marijuana * When-shee - opium * Whippets - nitrous oxide * White - amphetamine * White ball - crack * White boy - heroin * White cloud - crack smoke * White cross - methamphetamine; amphetamine * White dust - LSD * White fluff - LSD * White ghost - crack * White girl - cocaine; heroin * White-haired lady - marijuana * White horizon - PCP * White horse - cocaine * White junk - heroin * White lady - cocaine; heroin * White lightning - LSD * White mosquito - cocaine * White nurse - heroin * White Owsley's - LSD * White powder - cocaine; PCP * White stuff - heroin * White sugar - crack * White tornado - crack * Whiteout - isobutyl nitrite * Whites - amphetamine * Whiz bang - cocaine and heroin * Wiggin - needing some drugs * Wild cat - methcathinone and cocaine * Window glass - LSD * Window pane - LSD * Wings - heroin; cocaine * Winstrol - oral steroid * Winstrol V - veterinary steroid * Witch - heroin; cocaine * Witch hazel - heroin * Wizzard - ounce of marijuana * Wizzard of oz - ounce of marijuana * Wobble weed - PCP * Wolf - PCP * Wollie - rocks of crack rolled into a marijuana cigarette * Wonder star - methcathinone * Wood - marijuana * Wooer - a joint * Woolah - a hollowed out cigar refilled with marijuana and crack * Woolas - cigarette laced with cocaine; marijuana cigarette sprinkled with crack * Woolies - marijuana amd crack or PCP * Wooly - cocaine & marijuana cigarette * Wooly blunts - marijuana and crack or PCP * Wooz - marijuana * Working - selling crack * Working half - crack rock weighing half gram or more * Works - equipment for injecting drugs * Worm - PCP * Wuwoo - marijuana & cocaine * Wrecking crew - crack
* X - marijuana; MDMA; amphetamine * X-ing - MDMA * XTC - MDMA * Yahoo/yeaho - crack * Yale - crack * Yeh - marijuana * Yellow - LSD; depressant * Yellow bam - methamphetamine * Yellow bullets - depressant * Yellow dimples - LSD * Yellow fever - PCP * Yellow jackets - depressant * Yellow submarine - marijuana * Yellow sunshine - LSD * Yen pop - marijuana * Yen Shee Suey - opium wine * Yen sleep - restless, drowsy state after LSD use * Yerba - marijuana * Yerba mala - PCP and marijuana * Yesca - marijuana * Yesco - marijuana * Yeyo - cocaine, Spanish term * Yimyom - crack * Ying - marijuana * Yuppie Flu - the ongoing effects of a cocaine-snorting habit * Z - 1 ounce of heroin * Zacatecas purple - marijuana from Mexico * Zambi - marijuana * Zen - LSD * Zero - opium * Zig Zag man - LSD; marijuana; marijuana rolling papers * Zip - cocaine * Zips - oz of any type drug * Zol - marijuana cigarette * Zombie - PCP; heavy user of drugs * Zombie weed - PCP * Zoinked - intoxicated on drugs to the point of uselessness * Zooie - holds butt of marijuana cigarette * Zoom - PCP; marijuana laced with PCP * Zoomers - individuals who sell fake crack and then flee
Club Drugs Club Drug IconDesigner drugs are synthetic (man-made), illegal drugs produced in underground labs and sold on the street. Many of these drugs are used by youth and young adults at dance parties and clubs, and are also known as "club drugs." Although users may think these drugs are harmless, they can be dangerous. It is impossible to know exactly what chemicals were used to produce them, and they are often used in combination with other drugs or alcohol with unpredictable and dangerous results. The most common are: Crystal Meth, Ecstasy, GHB, Ketamine, and Rohypnol. Amphetamines Q: What are amphetamines? A: Amphetamines are a group of drugs that are made by combining various chemicals. They work by stimulating the brain and nervous system. They have a variety of street names including uppers, bennies and pep pills. They are very similar to a type of drug called methamphetamines, sometimes called speed, crystal, meth or crank. There is also a type of methamphetamine that can be smoked. On the street, it is usually called ice. Q: What do amphetamines look like? A: They come in tablets and capsules that can be swallowed. They can also be crystals, chunks or powders, which can be snorted or injected. Ice looks like shaved glass slivers or clear rock salt (the stuff that is used to melt ice in the winter). Q: What effects do amphetamines have on people who use them? A: Because amphetamines increase activity in the brain, they cause alertness, energy, and a sense of wellbeing. That is why they are sometimes illegally used by people who need to stay awake like truck drivers, shift workers and students pulling allnighters cramming for exams. Q: What physical effects do amphetamines have? A: Amphetamines can increase your breathing and heart rates at the same time as they decrease your appetite. They can also cause you to feel a very strong thirst and have trouble sleeping. Large doses can produce an intense high but also restlessness, shakiness, sweating, anxiety, headache, blurred vision, dizziness, irregular heartbeat and chest pain. Some users feel powerful and others become hostile and aggressive. You can also overdose on amphetamines and experience high fever, delusions, hallucinations, seizures, coma, stroke, heart failure and death. Combining amphetamines with alcohol or other drugs is especially dangerous. Q: What are the effects of frequently using amphetamines for months or years? A: If you use amphetamines regularly, you can experience sleep problems, depression, mood swings, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, weight loss, constipation or diarrhea, and nutritional problems. High doses of an amphetamine can cause nerve damage, mental problems like paranoia, and hallucinations. Most of these problems disappear a few days or weeks after you stop taking amphetamines. Q: Are there other problems? A: Yes. Amphetamine users who inject the drug with shared needles risk getting hepatitis and AIDS. Babies born to amphetamine users are more likely to be born too soon. They may also have an increased risk of birth defects. The drug passes to nursing babies through the mothers' milk. Q: Are amphetamines addictive? A: People who use amphetamines regularly find they need to take larger doses to get the same effects as they used to get from smaller doses. This is called tolerance and, once a tolerance is developed, doses get larger and users can develop a need for the drug. These cravings can be very strong, and users may go to great lengths to obtain more amphetamines. If users stop suddenly, they can experience withdrawal caused by their body craving, but not getting, amphetamines. This withdrawal usually involves extreme tiredness, disturbed sleep, anxiety, hunger, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
Barbiturates Q: What are barbiturates? A: Barbiturates are a group of drugs that are used by doctors to treat patients suffering from anxiety or who are having trouble sleeping. Some examples of barbiturates are Seconal, Nembutal, Amytal and Tuinal. Street names for barbiturates include reds, red devils, yellow jackets, blue heavens, Christmas trees and rainbows. Q: So what is the difference between a tranquilizer/sleeping pill and a barbiturate? A: The main difference lies in their chemical structure. In general, tranquilizers and barbiturates have similar effects, but barbiturates are stronger. Barbiturates are prescribed less often now that doctors have a greater number of tranquilizers and sleeping pills to choose from. Q: What do barbiturates do to the body? A: Like tranquilizers and sleeping pills, barbiturates are downers. They work by reducing the amount of activity in the brain and central nervous system. This produces a feeling of calm in people who take them. Q: What are the dangers of barbiturates? A: Because they are stronger than tranquilizers and sleeping pills, barbiturates are more dangerous when abused. People develop dependence on barbiturates faster than on tranquilizers. This leads them to take more in order to get the same effect as they used to get with smaller amounts. These larger doses are particularly dangerous because very high doses can be deadly. Q: Is it dangerous to take other drugs with barbiturates? A: Remember that mixing two kinds of any drug is always risky. With barbiturates, a big danger comes when they are taken with alcohol. The danger comes from the fact that both alcohol and barbiturates have similar effects on the body. Both reduce the amount of activity in the central nervous system. If someone combines alcohol and barbiturates, the amount of activity in their nervous system will be greatly reduced. This can lead to death. Some heroin addicts mix barbiturates and heroin. Like alcohol and barbiturates, heroin reduces activity in the central nervous system. Taking two drugs that reduce this activity can be fatal. Q: What does taking barbiturates over a period of months or years do to a person? A: Over time, regular use of barbiturates can cause liver damage and blood problems. Q: Do barbiturates have any other effects? A: Yes, barbiturates can also affect memory and judgment. They can also create depression, anger, mood swings and fatigue. Q: Are barbiturates addictive? A: People do become dependent on barbiturates. This means that they begin to need the effects barbiturates produce. If they stop taking them suddenly, people who are dependent on barbiturates can experience sleeping problems, restlessness, irritability and even death.
Caffeine Q: What is caffeine? A: Caffeine is found coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa leaves and kola nuts. In its pure form it is a white powder but we dont usually see it in this form. In fact we dont often see it at all. Usually it is just an ingredient in a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate, or a can of pop like Coke or Pepsi. Q: What other things contain caffeine? A: Caffeine is also found in chocolate and coffeeflavoured ice cream. It is also a big ingredient in stayawake pills and is contained in headache and cold medicines. Q: How much caffeine is in these products? A: With coffee and tea, it depends on how strong the coffee or tea is made but, in general, coffee has more caffeine than tea. Here are some common products and the approximate level of caffeine they contain: Coffee (1 cup) 100 mg Instant Coffee (1 cup) 30100 mg Decaffeinated Coffee (1 cup) 110 mg Tea (1 cup) - 10-90 mg Cola drinks (10 oz/280 ml) 3060 mg Chocolate (1.4 oz/40 g) 2025 mg Stimulants (1 tablet) 100250 mg Q: Is caffeine a drug? A: Yes and judging by the number of places it is found, it is a popular one. Q: Is caffeine an upper or a downer? A: Caffeine is an upper because it increases activity in the nervous system. Q: What does caffeine do to us when we eat or drink it? A: It can improve our mood slightly, make us more aware of our surroundings and make us less sleepy. It also increases our blood pressure, body temperature and the rate of our metabolism. It also gives us less appetite and makes it hard to fall asleep when we want to. Q: How much caffeine is too much? A: A lot of caffeine (like between six and eight cups of coffee), besides leaving you staring at the ceiling when you cant get to sleep, has a lot of other effects. These include anxiety, depression, stomach problems and an irregular heart beat. Caffeine also affects the calcium in the body and can weaken bones. Q: Is coffee addictive? A: Yes it is mildly addictive. As your body gets used to caffeine, it needs more of it to get the same effect it used to get from a smaller amount. If someone regularly drinks about four cups of coffee a day, they can become mildly dependent on caffeine. If they suddenly stop drinking coffee they can go through a minor withdrawal and get headaches and have trouble sleeping. They can also be cranky and depressed for a few days.
Cocaine Q: What is cocaine? A: Cocaine is a powerful drug made from the leaves of the coca plant. The plant is found mostly in South America and its leaves produce a paste. The paste is purified to produce a white powder. The powder is often weakened by mixing it with sugar, cornstarch or talcum powder. Some street names for cocaine are: snow, C and flake. Q: Is cocaine an upper or a downer? A: Cocaine is an upper because it stimulates the bodys nervous system. Q: How does a person take Cocaine? A: It is often sniffed or snorted through the nostrils and absorbed into the body through the respiratory tract. Sometimes cocaine is smoked or injected. Q: What are freebase and crack cocaine? A: Freebase cocaine is cocaine that has been chemically changed so that it can be smoked. Mixing cocaine and baking soda and heating the mixture make crack cocaine. When the mixture cools and dries it forms clumps known as rock or crack. These rocks can be smoked. Some crack and freebase users inhale the vapors from glass pipes. Others add them to tobacco or marijuana cigarettes. Q: What are some of the effects of cocaine? A: Because it increases the activity in the nervous system, cocaine produces increased alertness, high energy and euphoria. These effects are followed by agitation, anxiety and decreased appetite. Cocaine also causes higher blood pressure, rapid heart rate, rapid breathing and sweating. With a large amount of cocaine people can also experience shallow breathing, unpredictable or violent behavior, twitching, hallucinations, chest pain, blurred vision, vomiting and even heart attacks. All forms of cocaine have the same effects. Q: How long do the effects of cocaine last? A: Cocaine high can last from 5 minutes to 2 hours. When users come down or crash, they feel very depressed, anxious and irritable. Many users take repeated doses to maintain the high and avoid the crash. Others try to modify the effects or stop binges with drugs like alcohol, tranquilizers or heroin. Q: What happens to people who use cocaine for a long time? A: Using cocaine regularly over a long time can leave users agitated and cause mood swings and depression. It can also result in a loss of appetite, not being able to sleep properly and sexual problems. When cocaine is snorted, it can damage tissue in the nose. Chronic snorting causes stuffed, runny, chapped or bleeding noses, and holes in the barrier separating the nostrils. People who smoke it can develop lung and breathing problems and some cough up black phlegm or even blood. People who inject especially if they share needles are at risk of infectious diseases including hepatitis and HIV (the virus that causes AIDS). Q: Is it safer to snort, smoke or inject cocaine? A: There is no safe way to do cocaine. All three ways of doing cocaine have the same effects but injecting produces these effects more quickly and intensely than snorting. No matter how cocaine is used, it can cause overdoses. Q: Is crack more dangerous than cocaine? A: Because it is smoked, crack reaches the blood and brain very quickly. Smoking it causes the most intense and addictive high. The sudden increase in cocaine in the blood may mean a greater chance of seizures, heart attack and stroke. Q: Do people get addicted to cocaine and crack? A: The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes because cocaine actually changes peoples brain chemistry and creates a craving that makes it very difficult for them to stop using cocaine. Crack is also addictive and an addiction can develop very rapidly. That is because crack reaches the brain quickly causes a brief high that is followed by a severe low. That low leads people to use more crack to get back to the high and that pattern leads to addiction. Cocaine stimulates the central nervous system. Its immediate effects include dilated pupils and elevated blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature. Occasional use can cause a stuffy or runny nose, while chronic use can ulcerate the mucous membrane of the nose. Injecting cocaine with contaminated equipment can cause AIDS, hepatitis, and other diseases. Preparation of freebase, which involves the use of volatile solvents, can result in death or injury from fire or explosion. Crack or freebase rock is extremely addictive, and its effects are felt within 10 seconds. The physical effects include dilated pupils, increased pulse rate, elevated blood pressure, insomnia, loss of appetite, tactile hallucinations, paranoia, and seizure. The use of cocaine can cause death by cardiac arrest or respiratory failure.
Crystal Methamphetamine Club Drug IconCrystal Methamphetamine. Also called jib, crank, meth, crystal, ice, speed. Commonly used in todays club and rave scene for the high-energy rush it produces. An artificial stimulant closely related to amphetamines. Often distributed as a capsule, powder, or in chunks resembling pieces of ice. Difficult to know the exact strength of the drug or what dangerous chemicals it has been cut with, even when buying from a familiar supplier. Taken with other drugs, including alcohol, greatly increases the risk of overdose and death. Boosting (taking more while already high) is even riskier. Highly addictive, produces extreme cravings, and can have very negative effects. Long-term effects include problems with thinking, memory, and movement. Effects * Small doses can make you feel alert and energetic * Acne-like sores * Racing heart beat, high blood pressure, chest pain, heart failure, death * Damage to blood vessels in the brain or stroke * Sleeping problems, exhaustion, restlessness * Weight loss * Confusion, paranoia, irritability, and anxiety * Shakiness, sweating, blurred vision, dizziness * Convulsions * Overheating * Depression, violent, aggressive, and suicidal behavior * Headaches * Stomach pain / extreme hunger * Out-of-control rages (Tweaking) * Overdose can cause delusions, hallucinations, seizures, stroke, heart failure, coma, and death Risks and staying safe The only way to stay completely safe is not to take crystal meth at all. * Every batch of crystal meth is tainted with toxic chemicals. * Injection drug use is very risky. Sharing needles can spread HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C. Used needles must be disposed of properly. Call a local needle exchange program. * Railing (snorting) increases chances of damaging the inside of the nose, or infection. * Smoking can cause lung damage. * Driving a vehicle when taking crystal meth is always dangerous. * Crystal meth is addictive. Withdrawal symptoms can be severe. * Crystal meth is illegal and possession can result in criminal charges.
Designer Drugs Club Drug IconDesigner drugs are synthetic (man-made), illegal drugs produced in underground labs and sold on the street. Many of these drugs are used by youth and young adults at dance parties and clubs, and are also known as club drugs. Although users may think these drugs are harmless, they can be dangerous. It is impossible to know exactly what chemicals were used to produce them, and they are often used in combination with other drugs or alcohol with unpredictable and dangerous results. The most common are: Crystal Meth (jib, crank, speed, meth) commonly used drug in todays club and rave scene for the high-energy rush it produces. Ecstasy (X, E, XTC, adam, MDMA) a drug popular for feelings of general well-being and emotional closeness that result from use. Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB, G) a drug that causes relaxation and sleep. It can make people feel like everything is okay with the world and is sometimes described as a cross between alcohol and ecstasy. Ketamine (K, ket, special K, vitamin K, cat valium) a general anaesthetic used mainly for animal medicine. It is a strong pain reliever that is known to produce out-of-body experiences. The risks * Death * Addiction * Criminal charges and prison terms * Heart and breathing failure * Blood vessel damage and stroke * Raised or lowered pulse or blood pressure * Aggressive or suicidal behavior * Jaw clenching and teeth grinding * Nausea and vomiting * Muscle cramping or seizures * Panic attacks or feeling paranoid * Overheating and dehydration * Blackouts or passing out Staying safe The only way to stay completely safe is not to use designer/club drugs. * Its hard to know the strength of a drug or if its been cut with other chemicals, especially if bought from unfamiliar suppliers. * Mixing drugs, including alcohol, increases the risk of overdose or death. Boosting (taking more while high) is even riskier. * Little is known about the long-term effects of regular designer drug use. Any drug can be addictive or have very negative effects. * These drugs can affect your ability to recognize danger or make smart decisions. A safe environment, with trusted friends, or a sober sitter can reduce the danger. * Driving a vehicle when high on drugs is always dangerous.
Ecstacy Q: What is ecstasy? A: Ecstasy is a manmade drug. It is a combination of chemicals made in drug labs and it is a hallucinogens that is also similar to amphetamines. Ecstasy is also called E, XTC, Adam, Euphoria, X, MDM and Love Doves. Q: What does Ecstasy look like? A: Ecstasy usually comes in gelatin capsules or small pills. The pills can be any colour and often have a design like a dove, a diamond or a hammer and sickle stamped on them. Ecstasy can also come in a powder, which is snorted or dissolved and injected. Q: So Ecstasy is a drug, is it illegal? A: Yes it is illegal. That means getting caught buying or selling it, or even having it, can mean a fine or an arrest. But there are other dangers as well. When you buy Ecstasy, you may really be getting other drugs. For example, dealers often mix Ecstasy with LSD. Like other illegal drugs, it is impossible to know exactly what you are buying. That means you can never be sure how safe Ecstasy will be. Q: What does Ecstasy do to people who use it? A: About 20 to 40 minutes after taking Ecstasy people will feel a high that can last anywhere from four to six hours. Ecstasy can also make you feel tipsy, like you are a little drunk. You may feel trusting, loving and warm towards others. You may feel that you are experiencing spiritual insights. Ecstasy also makes sensations (especially touch) stronger. Q: So its, all good? A: Not so fast. Ecstasy can also make you clench you jaw and grind your teeth. While you are busy with all that it can also make you feel anxiety or have a fullblown panic attacks. Mind you, all of this can be kind of hard to see because it also can cause blurred vision and vomiting. But that's not all. Ecstasy also makes you sweat more and increases your blood pressure and heart rate. It can also leave you depressed, cranky, unable to concentrate, forgetful, exhausted and feeling like everyone is out to get you, These effects can last for several days. Q: Can you die from taking Ecstasy? A: Ecstasy has been involved in deaths due to severe dehydration and heat exhaustion, abnormal heart rhythms and liver failure. These risks may be reduced by taking breaks and drinking plenty of water or other non-alcoholic beverages. There is also evidence that high doses of Ecstasy can damage the brain. Q: What does Ecstasy do if you use it regularly for months or years? A: Using Ecstasy for a long time may also cause permanent chemical changes in your brain. These changes can mean that your mood and your sleep are disturbed for a long time after you stop using. Some regular users may experience flashbacks or psychosis and repeated use can damage your liver. Q: Is Ecstasy addictive? A: People who use Ecstasy regularly for several weeks or months need to take larger amounts to feel the same effects as when they started using. Right now, there is little information on whether Ecstasy produces dependence or withdrawal symptoms if regular use stops. Q: What is herbal ecstasy? A: Herbal ecstasy is a blend of herbs that usually includes caffeine. It is sometimes thought to be a safe alternative to Ecstasy because it comes from combining different plants. But at high doses, it can cause heart problems. Also called E, X, XTC, MDMA, or adam. Popular at raves and all-night dance parties for its mood-boosting and stimulating effect. Often distributed as a pill, capsule, or as a loose powder, which is snorted or dissolved and injected. Tablets are small and can be any colour. They often have images such as a dove or a diamond on one side and are sometimes marked with a trademarked symbol such as CKTM (Calvin Klein). Difficult to know the exact strength of the drug or if it has been cut with dangerous chemicals, especially when buying from an unfamiliar supplier. Taken with other drugs, including alcohol, greatly increases the risk of overdose and death. Boosting (taking more while already high) is even riskier. Some evidence suggests ecstasy may cause problems with learning and memory. Little is known about the long-term effects of regular use. Any drug can be addictive and have very negative effects.
Effects * Effects are felt in about 20 to 40 minutes and can last four to six hours * Sweating, overheating, and dehydration * Dry mouth * Jaw clenching and teeth grinding * Sleep problems * Extreme physical relaxation (mashing) * Nausea and vomiting * Feeling emotionally close to others and that all is right with the world * Raised pulse and blood pressure * Risk of heart attack/stroke * Convulsions * Panic attacks or feeling paranoid Risks and staying safe The only way to stay completely safe is not to take ecstasy. * Ecstasy has been involved in deaths due to severe dehydration and heat exhaustion, abnormal heart beat, and liver failure. Risks can be reduced by taking breaks if dancing and drinking plenty of non-alcoholic beverages. * Long-term use seems to damage the brain's ability to think and regulate emotion, memory, sleep, and pain. * Can affect ability to sense dangerous situations or make good decisions. A "sober sitter" can help keep you safe. * Frequently cut with caffeine or other chemicals. Impure ecstasy increases the risk of negative effects. * Alcohol increases dehydrating effects. * Driving a vehicle when taking ecstasy is always dangerous. * Ecstasy is illegal and possession can result in criminal charges.
GHB Also called G, or liquid X. The actual name is gamma hydroxybutyrate. Encourages relaxation and sleep. Often distributed as a colourless, odourless liquid. Difficult to know the exact strength of the drug or if it has been cut with dangerous chemicals, especially when buying from an unfamiliar supplier. Taken with other drugs, including alcohol, greatly increases the risk of overdose and death. Boosting (taking more while already high) is even riskier. Little is known about the long-term effects of regular GHB use. Regular use of GHB can cause physical dependency and withdrawal symptoms. Effects * Effects are usually felt within 10 to 20 minutes and can last up to 4 hours depending on the dose * At lower doses, GHB produces effects similar to alcohol and can make the user feel relaxed, happy, and sociable. * Sleepiness * Feeling that all is right with the world * Talkative * Disoriented * Dizziness and loss of coordination * Nausea and vomiting * Seizures, loss of bladder control (you may pee your pants), diarrhea * Sudden and dangerous drop in blood pressure, heart rate, or breathing * Loss of consciousness, coma, or death Risks and staying safe The only way to stay completely safe is not to take GHB. * More than 80% of all GHB-related deaths involve alcohol, making it a very dangerous combination. * Passing out happens easily. A safe environment with trusted friends can reduce the danger if you pass out. * GHB normally tastes very salty, like baking soda. Improperly made GHB can contain toxic ingredients that give it a more "chemical" taste. * Setting GHB dosage is tricky. The difference between getting high and a coma resulting from an overdose could be as little as one drop. * Many overdoses have occurred from users not waiting long enough before taking another dose. * Driving a vehicle when taking GHB is always dangerous. * GHB is illegal and possession can result in criminal charges.
Heroin Q: What is heroin? A: Heroin is a highly addictive illegal drug. On the street, it is also called junk, smack, horse, and H. Heroin belongs to a group of drugs called opiates. It is made by adding chemicals to morphine, a natural substance found in opium poppies. Codeine also comes from poppies. Other opiates that come from opium poppies are found in the drugs Percodan and Percocet and some cough syrups. Q: What does heroin look like? A: Heroin is a white or brownish powder. It can be a fine powder or lumpy. Whatever it looks like, it can also contain other things like sugar, other drugs or even poison like strychnine. Q: How is it used? A: Heroin can be injected by needle, snorted, or smoked. It can be added to regular cigarettes or marijuana joints. Q: What does heroin make you feel? A: Heroin makes people feel intense pleasure and reduced pain (morphine which is the source of heroin is used in hospitals as a pain killer). When it is injected, people can feel the effects of heroin in about seven seconds. When smoked or snorted, the effects are felt in about 10 minutes. Q: What are the effects of using heroin? A: People who use heroin can feel sick to their stomachs or vomit. They can also get itchy, sleepy and start breathing very quickly. The pupils of their eyes become smaller. Large doses can slow your breathing so much that you can slip into a coma and die. It is difficult to know the strength of street heroin, so overdose and death can happen easily. Heroin users who share needles risk getting infections including hepatitis and HIV the virus that causes AIDS. Q: What happens if heroin is used often over a period of months or years? Injecting heroin regularly can cause your veins to collapse. Smoking it often can lead to pneumonia and other lung problems. Whether it is smoked or injected, heroin can make you lose your appetite to the point where you just dont eat and suffer malnutrition. Constipation is also common. Women can have irregular periods and men may develop some sexual dysfunction. Q: Is heroin addictive? A: Big time. Heroin is highly addictive and addicts will do almost anything to satisfy their habit. When heroin is used regularly, you start needing more of it to feel the same effects as when you first started. This is called tolerance and it leads to addiction. Addicts cant cut back or stop using heroin because they feel so bad when they try. All they think about is how to get more heroin. Besides making it harder to quit, heroins addictive power also makes for a horrible withdrawal. When an addict quits, they start going through withdrawal in a couple of hours. It starts quickly but it certainly doesnt end quickly. Depression, weakness and stress can last for several weeks or months. Besides that, withdrawal can include restlessness, yawning, runny nose, tears, diarrhea, cramps, goose bumps, low blood pressure and strong craving. These effects get stronger for two to four days, and then gradually weaken. Q: What is methadone? A: Methadone is a painkiller used to treat heroin addicts and help them kick their habit. It is sometimes called meth and is usually taken as a liquid. Because they are given methadone legally and because it blocks out the effects of heroin, addicts no longer need heroin. The effects of methadone also last longer than heroin. This means addicts can begin to put their lives back together because they no longer need to spend all their time in a desperate search for more heroin. Methadone is also addictive but, because it is given under professional supervision, addicts can slowly stop taking it and have help dealing with their withdrawal.
Ketamine Also called K, ket, special K, vitamin K, cat valium. Originally developed as a general anaesthetic for humans but is now mostly used in animal medicine. Can be sold as a liquid, capsules, or crystal and is often distributed as a white powder. Colourless, odourless, tasteless, and can easily be dissolved in a drink. Difficult to know the exact strength of the drug or if it has been cut with dangerous chemicals, especially when buying from an unfamiliar supplier. Taken with other drugs, including alcohol, greatly increases the risk of overdose and death. Boosting (taking more while already high) is even riskier. Little is known about the long-term effects of regular ketamine use. Any drug can be addictive and have very negative effects. Effects * Begins with a rush (within 5-20 minutes) and can last for about an hour depending on dose * Users report feeling relaxed and sedated * Music may seem louder, but ketamine "shuts off" the ability to hear certain kinds of sounds * Tastes and smells are decreased * Feeling removed from the body * Confusion, chaos, blackouts * Difficulty moving or speaking * Inability to see or hear others (the "K-hole") * Powerful hallucinations or Near Death Experiences (NDE) * Nausea and vomiting * Breathing problems or racing heart * Death Risks and staying safe The only way to stay completely safe is not to take ketamine. * Effects depend on the amount taken. It may reduce ability to sense danger. A safe environment with trusted friends can reduce this risk. * Small amounts can result in a loss of attention span, learning ability, and memory. * Larger doses can cause delirium, amnesia, high blood pressure, depression, and breathing problems. * Overdose will cause unconsciousness or possibly heart failure or death. Mixing with other drugs increases this risk. * It can reduce your ability to feel pain or know that you are hurt. A "sober sitter" can watch out for their friends. * Railing (snorting) increases chances of damaging the inside of the nose, or infection. * Because it works quickly, is odourless, tasteless, colourless, and can be dissolved in a drink, ketamine has been abused as a rape drug. * Driving a vehicle when taking ketamine is always dangerous.
LSD Q: What is LSD? A: LSD is the most powerful of the group of drugs known as hallucinogens. The name LSD is an abbreviated version of the drug's chemical name (lysergic acid diethylamide). The most common street names for LSD are blotter, window pane, and acid. Q: What does LSD look like? A: LSD is generally sold in the form of little squares of paper (slightly smaller than a postage stamp) that have been soaked in LSD. These squares of paper are often called tabs. LSD can also be a liquid, pill or capsule. Q: How do people use LSD? A: In its most common forms liquid, soaked into paper, pills or capsules it is swallowed but LSD can also be injected or inhaled. Q: What does LSD do the body? A: LSD increases blood pressure and heart rate. It also increases the body's temperature and makes the pupil in the eye larger. These physical changes are the first thing users feel and may cause numbness, weakness and a lack of coordination. Q: What other effects does LSD have? A: Like all hallucinogens, LSD affects the senses. Users can hallucinate, or see and hear things that dont really exist. Hallucinogens also influence emotions and the ability to think clearly. The effects vary from user to user and a lot depends on the strength of the LSD. Users can experience a sense of wonder and joy or they might get scared and anxious. They can also feel as they are outside their body and able to watch themselves. Getting scared and anxious is what is known as a bad trip. In general though, the effects are felt within an hour of taking LSD and these can last as long as 12 hours. Q: What is a flashback? A: A flashback is when someone feels the effects of LCD even though they havent used it recently. LSD can cause flashbacks days, weeks or months after people have used it. Q: Is LSD addictive? A: After using LSD every day for three or four days, the drug will no longer have any effect on the mind. Taking more of the drug will have no effect. After several days of not using LSD, the effects of the drug can be felt again. This generally means that people do not come to rely on the drug. However, some people develop a strong desire for the mental effects of the drug making it difficult to stop using LSD.
Marijuana Q: What is marijuana? A: Marijuana is a drug that has many street names grass, weed, dope, pot, Mary Jane - but whatever it is called it remains the same thing. Marijuana comes from the same plant that is the source of hashish and hashish oil. The scientific name for this plant is Cannabis sativa which is why marijuana and hashish are both called cannabis. Q: How do people use marijuana and hashish? A: Marijuana and hashish are usually smoked in cigarettes called joints or reefers. It can also be smoked in pipes, or in water pipes called bongs. Hash oil is added to marijuana or tobacco cigarettes. Cannabis can also be cooked in foods, for example brownies. Q: What does marijuana and hashish do to the body? A: If it is smoked, the effects of marijuana and hashish are felt quickly. Marijuana and hashish contain a chemical called THC that has an impact on the brain and the heart. In the brain, it affects moods and physical functions controlled by the brain. It causes the heart to beat faster and produces changes in blood pressure. Q: What are some of the other effects of marijuana and hashish? A: Because it has an effect on the brain, marijuana and hashish can mess up your ability to think straight and even to remember what happened when you were high. It can also interfere with your reaction time, coordination and ability to make judgments. These Hash pipefactors make it very dangerous to drive when high. Colours will seem brighter, sounds and smells more distinct. Some users feel happy and start talking a lot; others get quiet and withdrawn. Minutes can seem like hours, and ordinary objects seem to have special meaning. Q: How long do these effects last? A: If you smoke cannabis, you will probably feel the high quickly, and it will last two to four hours. If you eat it, the high happens later, and you feel it for a longer time. Q: What happens when people use marijuana and hashish over a long period of time? A: This is an area that is still being studied but we do know that marijuana and hashish smoke are similar to tobacco smoke in some ways. Like tobacco, smoking marijuana or hashish will eventually damage the lungs. It can also play a part in leaving the body vulnerable to diseases that interfere with breathing such as bronchitis. There is no complete proof that marijuana or hashish cause lung cancer but a lotRolling papers research has found evidence that they do. What we do know for sure is that people who smoke cigarettes and marijuana have a greater risk of developing cancer than people who smoke only cigarettes or only marijuana. Heavy use of marijuana and hashish may also lead to difficulty remembering things and concentrating. It can also lead to a lack of motivation and a general loss of interest. Q: Is it a problem if pregnant women use marijuana? A: Yes. Marijuana can cause mothers to give birth before their babies are fully developed. Children whose mothers smoke marijuana while pregnant may also develop learning problems, as they get older. Q: How many people use marijuana? A: Marijuana is the most often used illegal drug in Canada. In Alberta in 1995 people between the ages of 12 and 17 were asked about their marijuana use. This survey found that 16% had used marijuana in the previous year and 4% had used it at least once a week.
Magic Mushrooms Q: What are magic mushrooms? A: When people refer to magic mushrooms, they are actually referring to several different types of mushrooms that grow in many parts of the world. These different mushrooms have one thing in common though: they all contain a natural chemical (called Psilocybin) that is also a hallucinogen. Q: What do magic mushrooms look like? A: Most often on the street they are sold as mushrooms. They can also be a powder and sold as capsules. When these capsules are analyzed in a lab, however, they are often found to be either LSD or PCP. Q: How are magic mushrooms taken? A: They are generally just swallowed but they can also be used to make a kind of tea, which people then drink. Q: What do magic mushrooms do to the body? A: They can cause dizziness, lightheadedness, stomach cramps, nausea, anxiety and shivering. They can also cause numbness of the tongue and mouth. Q: What are some of the other effects of magic mushrooms? Like all hallucinogens, magic mushrooms effect the mind and the senses. Users can hallucinate, or see and hear things that dont really exist. Hallucinogens also influence emotions and the ability to think clearly. With a small amount of magic mushrooms, these effects are mild. With a large amount, they can closely resemble the effects produced by LSD.
PCP Q: What is PCP? A: PCP is one of several drugs known as hallucinogens. The name PCP is an abbreviated version of the drug's chemical name (phencyclidine). The most common street names for PCP is: angel dust. Q: What does PCP look like? A: On the street, PCP is often sold as a white powder. It can also be a liquid, capsule or tablet. Q: How do people take it? A: As a powder it is snorted. When it is in a liquid form, it can be injected and when it is a pill or capsule, it is simply swallowed. The powder form of PCP is often mixed with tobacco, dried parsley or marijuana, and then smoked. Q: What does PCP do to the body? A: PCP produces many changes in the body including faster breathing and an increased heart rate. It also increases body temperature and can lead to numbness in the legs and arms. Higher doses can produce a quick drop in blood pressure, vomiting, blurred vision, dizziness and an inability to feel pain. Large doses can cause convulsions, coma and death. On the street, it is impossible to know how strong the PCP is and this makes it hard to judge what its effects will be. Q: What other effects does PCP have? A: Like all hallucinogens, PCP has an effect on the mind and the senses. Users can hallucinate, or see and hear things that don't really exist. Hallucinogens also influence emotions and the ability to think clearly. PCP has different effects on different people. It causes some people to feel joy and others can feel nothing but anxiety and panic. In some cases, this panic can lead to violent behavior. Q: What is a flashback? A: A flashback is when someone feels the effects of PCP even though they havent taken any recently. PCP can cause flashbacks days, weeks or months after people have used it. Q: What are some of the effects of using PCP regularly for months or years? A: These socalled long term effects of PCP are not really well understood. What we do know, however, is that some people who have used PCP for a long time have speech problems, anxiety, depression and do not enjoy social situations.
Rape Drugs Club Drug IconRape Drugs. Alcohol is the most commonly used drug that slows responses, impairs judgement, and can make it easier for a sexual assault to occur, but other substances have been connected with sexual assaults, including: GHB, (G, liquid X), ketamine (K, ket, special K) and Rohypnol (roofies). These so-called "rape drugs": come in many forms: pills, powder, or liquid, and are often tasteless, odourless, and colourless, making them easy to hide and difficult to detect in a drink. Survivors of unwanted drugging often feel confused, scared, and blame themselves for what has happened. It is never the survivors fault. Staying Safe Everyone reacts differently to alcohol and drugs. The only way to stay completely safe is not to use illegal drugs at all. Some common effects of unwanted drugging include: unexplained sleepiness, loss of coordination, confusion, dizziness, passing out, or blackouts. * Keep an eye on your drink. * Get your own drinks from servers you trust. * Be aware that alcohol impairs judgement and awareness. * Stay with people you know and trust, especially if you plan on drinking alcohol. * Watch out for each other. * Plan ahead. Talk to your friends and figure out what you will do if you think someone has been drugged. If youve been drugged ... * Get to a safe place. If youre getting a ride, be sure its with someone you trust. * Get the medical attention you need. Any hospital emergency room can help with the effects of the drugs. For drug testing, try to bring a sample of your drink. If youve been assaulted ... * If you think youve been sexually assaulted, hospital staff can help with the effects of the assault, sexually transmitted infections, and possible pregnancy. * Call a 24-hour sexual assault centre crisis line. It is anonymous and confidential. * Volunteers will give emotional support and more information about medical options or reporting to the police.
Ritalin Q: What is Ritalin? A: Ritalin is the name that a medication called methylphenidate is sold under. Q: What is Ritalin used for? A: Doctors use Ritalin to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Ritalin seems to help an ADHDaffected person pay attention to tasks and reduce impulsive and hyperactive behavior. It has become a popular way to control difficult behaviors in children, especially at school. Q: What is the problem with Ritalin? A: Like a lot of legal drugs, the problem comes when people abuse it by taking more than the doctor prescribed in order to get high. When abused, it stimulates the mind and body in much the same way as amphetamines and cocaine. Q: How do people abuse Ritalin? A: People who want to get high by using Ritalin usually crush the pills into a powder. That powder can then be snorted or dissolved and injected. Q: What are the effects of Ritalin when it is abused? A: People who abuse Ritalin can feel a variety of effects. Ritalin can make them alert or drowsy. Sometimes, Ritalin can make them less tired right away, but very tired later. They can lose their appetite, feel nauseous and vomit. Ritalin can also give people headaches and fast, irregular heartbeat. It can also leave them feeling dizzy or nervous. Q: Are there different effects depending on the amount of Ritalin taken? A: Yes, but even at low doses Ritalin can produce a high. Larger doses can make people exhilarated and excited. With large doses, even moving can be more difficult. These large doses can make people agitated, confused, and paranoid (believing that people are out to get them). They can also hallucinate (imagine things that are not really there). With high doses, their muscles twitch, pupils dilate, and their faces turn red and your heart beats faster and harder. They can even develop a fever and start sweating. Very high doses can make you delirious. You could go into, seizures, and even coma. Of course if people inject the Ritalin and share needles, they have a greater risk of bacterial and viral infections including hepatitis and HIV (the virus that causes AIDS). Q: What are the effects of taking Ritalin for months or years? A: Remember that the drug does have a legal use. It is used to treat children who are hyperactive or who have attention problems. When used to treat these children, they become less hyperactive and are more able to pay attention. They often do better in school because they are able to finish tasks and think about their actions before acting. These effects are limited to people who follow their doctor's instructions for taking Ritalin. People who inject high doses of Ritalin daily can become paranoid (believing that people are out to get them). This seems to go away when they stop using the drug. Q: Is Ritalin addictive? A: People who abuse Ritalin for a long time do develop a tolerance. This means that they need more Ritalin to get the pleasant effects they got from a smaller amount when they first started abusing the drug. They can become dependent on the way it makes them feel. They may panic if they are unable to get more, and crave it if they try to stop using it. They can also become exhausted and severely depressed when they try to stop using Ritalin.
Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) Also called roofies, rope, roche, the forget-me pill, and the "date rape drug." Rohypnol is a powerful tranquillizer that produces strong sedative effects, especially when mixed with alcohol. Is not legally available in Canada but used in some European countries as a sedative, pre-surgery anaesthetic, and to treat short-term sleeping problems. Usually sold as a small, white tablet, or as a powder that can be dissolved in a drink or snorted. Tasteless, odourless, and mixes easily in drinks. Taken with other drugs, including alcohol, greatly increases the risk of overdose and death. Boosting (taking more while already high) is even riskier. Little is known about the long-term effects of regular Rohypnol use. Any drug can be addictive and have very negative effects. Effects * Rapidly absorbed effects are felt within 20 minutes * Feeling intoxicated, muscle relaxation, and drowsiness * Users may have slurred speech and difficulty walking * Has been known to cause memory loss or amnesia * Low blood pressure, drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, upset stomach * At larger doses can cause problems breathing and blackouts Risks and staying safe * The only way to stay completely safe is not to take Rohypnol. * Effects depend on amount taken. A dose as small as 1-2 mg can impair someone for 8-12 hours. * Can make a victim unable to resist sexual assault. * May reduce ability to sense danger. A safe environment with trusted friends can reduce this risk. * Can reduce ability to feel pain or know that you are hurt. A "sober sitter" can watch out for you. * Railing (snorting) increases chances of damage to the inside of the nose, or infection. * Because it works quickly, is odourless, tasteless, colourless, and can be dissolved in a drink, Rohypnol has been abused as a "date rape" drug. * Long-term use can result in physical and psychological dependence. Withdrawal symptoms range from headaches, muscle pain, and confusion, to hallucinations and convulsions. * Driving a vehicle when taking drugs is always dangerous.
Solvents and Inhalants Q: What are solvents/inhalants? A: Solvents are liquids that can dissolve a lot of different stuff. They are made from oil and natural gas. Because most people who use solvents to get high sniff or breathe (inhale) them, they are also called inhalants. Q: What are solvents/inhalants normally used for? A: There are many different types of solvents and a lot of them are found in everyday life. These include gasoline, felt markers, some cleaning products, nail polish remover, Liquid Paper, air fresheners, some types of glue, cooking sprays and paint thinner. Q: What effect do solvents/inhalants have on the body's systems? A: Because they are inhaled, solvents/inhalants hit the lungs first. From there, they go into the bloodstream and travel to the brain and other organs. The kidneys break down some solvents but many leave the body without changing when we breathe out. This means that the breath of people who sniff them can smell like solvents for hours. Q: What are some of the effects of sniffing solvents/inhalants? A: One of the first things felt by people is a strong but short lasting high. At the same time, they feel dizzy and numb. That is followed by weakness, loss of coordination, slow reflexes, poor judgment, blurred vision and ringing in the ears. Solvents can also cause headaches, sneezing and coughing, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Solvents slow down breathing and can make users pass out. Q: What happens when people use solvents/inhalants over a long period of time? A: Solvents can cause permanent damage to the liver, kidneys, lungs and heart. There is evidence that solvents can cause brain damage too. The effects are not limited to the body; solvents can produce mood swings and depression. Q: Can solvents/inhalants be fatal? A: Yes, an overdose of solvents has caused many deaths. There is also something known as sudden sniffing death that can happen while using solvents. Solvents interfere with the way the heart works and if somebody who is high on solvents is startled or does something physically strenuous like run around, it can cause a heart attack. Solvents are often inhaled out of a plastic bag and there is a danger that a user will suffocate after passing out with the bag over their nose or mouth. Solvents can also produce a feeling of being incredibly powerful. This feeling can cause users to do some bizarre things like walking into traffic or jumping off balconies. It is also extremely dangerous to smoke while using solvents/inhalants because they are highly flammable and the risk of fire is high. Q: Who uses solvents/inhalants? A: Many users are young between the ages of 8 and 16. Most of these people are experimenting with solvents or using them occasionally, but solvents/inhalants have a greater effect on children and young adults. Some heavy users are older. Q: Are solvents/inhalants addictive? A: Yes, heavy users become dependent on solvents/inhalants making it very difficult to quit. Also, just as with alcohol, users can develop a tolerance meaning they need to inhale a lot of solvents/inhalants to produce the same effects as they used to get from a smaller amount. People whom only experiment with solvents or use them occasionally generally do not go through withdrawal when they quit. Heavy users can experience withdrawal after quitting. Their bodies have made changes because of the frequent use of solvents and when they quit inhaling, heavy users can experience depression, aggression, restlessness and a lack of energy. Q: What is methyl alcohol? A: Methyl alcohol is a solvent that is also a very dangerous poison. It is sometimes called wood alcohol and is used in paint remover, cleaning solvents, antifreeze and liquid fuels like gasoline, propane and kerosene. It is a powerful poison and drinking an ounce or less of it can cause blindness, nerve damage, coma and convulsions. It can also lead to death because it is capable of paralyzing breathing.
Steroids Q: What are steroids? A: Steroids are a group of drugs that are similar to a male hormone called testosterone. Most people know that people who want to get bigger and stronger in a hurry, may use steroids. The steroids taken by these people are called anabolic steroids, which just means that they build muscles. Another type of steroids are androgenic steroids and these make people more masculine. Q: What are some other uses for steroids? A: Steroids are used in veterinary medicine to treat animals. In humans, doctors use steroids to treat people who are slow to reach puberty, people with some blood disorders, and those with some types of breast cancer. Q: How are steroids taken? A: Steroids can come in pills or capsules. In these forms, people mix them with liquids or simply swallow them. Steroids can also be injected. Q: Are steroids illegal? A: Steroids are legal for use by veterinarians and doctors. It is illegal to sell or buy them on the street. When steroids are sold on the street or in a gym, they are often mixed with other things and can be dangerous. Steroids are also banned from amateur sports like the Olympics and most professional sports. Several Olympic athletes have lost their medals after they were tested and found to have used steroids to bulk up. Q: What are some of the effects of steroids? A: Steroids can make you less tired and leave you more determined to exercise. If that exercise is intense and done along with a nutrition program, steroids can increase lean muscle mass and strength. Q: So what is the problem with them? A: The problem is that steroids have side effects and none of them are very pretty. Some known side effects are acne (and not just on the face, but all over the body) high blood pressure, more cholesterol in your body and impotence. Q: Are there different side effects if you take a lot of steroids? A: Yes, besides the acne and the impotence, people who take large doses of steroids can lose control of their emotions. They can be really aggressive and irritable and have difficulty controlling their temper. Little things can make them really angry and this is what is sometimes called roid rage. Large doses can also cause depression, sleep problems and anxiety. Because athletes who use steroids often take doses five to ten times the medical amount, they are at risk for all these effects. Body builders, desperate for big muscles, often take doses 100 times larger than a doctor would give a patient. Q: What happens if these large doses are taken regularly for months or years? A: Large doses taken as pills can cause stomachache, nausea and vomiting. People who inject steroids and share needles risk infections, including hepatitis and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Q: Are there different effects for men and women? What about teenagers? A: Teens using high doses can have their growth permanently stunted so they might be bigger but they are also shorter. Men can develop painful, enlarged breast and shrunken testicles. Women often grow more facial and body hair. They can also experience an enlarged clitoris, reduced breast size, irregular periods, deepened voices, and male-pattern baldness. Many of these effects are irreversible. Q: I'm afraid to ask, but is there anything else? A: You bet there is. People who use steroids can develop a dependence on them. That means they will go through withdrawal when they stop using. They can feel sick to their stomach, have headaches, sweat a lot, feel dizzy and be depressed.
Talwin & Ritalin Q: What is Talwin? A: Talwin is the name under which a drug called pentazocine is sold. It is legally available only, when a doctor prescribes it. Q: What is Ritalin? A: Ritalin is the name under which a drug called methylphenidate is sold. It is legally available only when it is prescribed by a doctor and is used to treat attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder in children. Q: What happens when these two drugs are taken together? A: Talwin is a painkiller and Ritalin is a stimulant drug (upper). When they are combined, they produce a brief but strong high. This high is like the high produced by mixing cocaine and heroin. Because Talwin and Ritalin are cheaper when prescribed by a doctor, they are sometimes called poor man's heroin. Some other names for the mixture of Talwin and Ritalin are: Ts and Rs, Ts and Rits, One and Ones, Crackers, and Set. Q: Are Talwin and Ritalin illegal? A: Both drugs are legal, if a doctor prescribes them. If they are stolen or bought from someone who has stolen them, they are illegal. The Talwin and Ritalin sold on the street is usually stolen either from people who have a prescription from their doctor or from a pharmacy. Q: What does the combination of Talwin and Ritalin do to people? A: Besides producing a very brief high, the combination of these two drugs has a lot of other effects. The combination can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, tremors, confusion, constipation, anorexia, insomnia, and paranoia (the feeling that everyone is out to get you). The high doesnt last very long and it is always followed by a low that leaves users depressed and lethargic. High doses of Talwin and Ritalin can increase blood pressure and cause hallucinations (seeing things that do not really exist). Q: Are there other medical problems produced by the combination of Talwin and Ritalin? A: Very high doses of the two drugs can lead to an overdose and result in coma and death. Most of the other medical problems that come from using Talwin and Ritalin come from the fact that users inject the combination. Using dirty needles or sharing needles can cause a variety of problems. Some are relatively minor like infected veins or skin problems. Some of these problems are very serious. Dirty or shared needles can cause infections in the lungs, heart, bones, and liver. Shared needles can also increase the risk of becoming infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Q: Is the combination of Talwin and Ritalin addictive? A: The brief high people get from Talwin and Ritalin can result in a person taking them more often, making the abuse of these drugs very expensive. Taking the drugs more often can also lead to tolerance meaning that people need more of the drugs to feel the same effects they used to feel from a smaller amount. If people suddenly stop using Talwin and Ritalin they can feel agitated, depressed or exhausted. These feeling are generally stronger because these people are addicted to two drugs.
Tranquilizers Q: What are tranquilizers? A: Tranquilizers are a group of drugs that are used to treat medical conditions such as severe anxiety, stress disorders and muscle tension. Doctors to treat these conditions prescribe them. Q: So are sleeping pills tranquilizers? A: Most sleeping pills prescribed these days have the same chemical make up as tranquilizers. Medically speaking, drugs used to calm people are known as tranquilizers and those used to treat sleeping problems are called sleeping pills. Some of the most commonly prescribed tranquilizers are Valium, Librium, Ativan, and Serax. Some common sleeping pills include Dalmane, Halcion, Restoril and Mogadon. However, some sleeping pills are not classified as tranquilizers, they are barbiturates. Q: What is the difference between a tranquilizer and a barbiturate? A: The main difference lies in their chemical structure. In general, tranquilizers and barbiturates have similar effects, but barbiturates are stronger. Q: What do tranquilizers and sleeping pills do to the body? A: Both tranquilizers and sleeping pills are known as depressants. This means they reduce the amount of activity in the brain and central nervous system. The reduced activity produces a sense of calm and wellbeing, which is why tranquilizers are used to treat anxiety. Sleeping pills reduce the amount of activity in the brain further than tranquilizers. This larger reduction eventually causes users to fall asleep. Q: What are some other effects of tranquilizers and sleeping pills? A: Tranquilizers and sleeping pills can relax people to the point where they get clumsy and have trouble thinking straight. Remember, sleeping pills make people very tired and, just as when you are trying to fight off sleep, which means it is dangerous for people to drive a car when taking sleeping pills or tranquilizers. Q: Are tranquilizers and sleeping pills legal? A: In Canada, they are legal only when prescribed by a doctor. Because of their effects, tranquilizers and sleeping pills are sometimes stolen and sold illegally on the street. Q: So what is the danger if a doctor prescribes tranquilizers and sleeping pills? A: The danger of tranquilizers and sleeping pills are the same whether a doctor prescribes them or they are bought illegally. The most danger lies in taking too many of them at any given time. A doctor's prescription will include instructions about how many tranquilizers or sleeping pills to take and how often this should be done. Ignoring these instructions or using illegal tranquilizers without medical advice can cause a lot of problems. Q: Like what? A: The exact effect varies with the type of tranquilizer and the size of the dose. In large doses (or doses that exceed the prescribed dose) tranquilizers and sleeping pills can cause problems with thinking, memory and judgment. Users also have trouble speaking clearly and some people can become hostile and go into a rage. Q: Anything else? A: There are some other less common effects that come from abusing tranquilizers and sleeping pills. These include physical effects like headaches, skin rashes and impotence, and mental effects like disturbing dreams. Q: Is it dangerous to take other drugs with tranquilizers and sleeping pills? A: Remember that mixing two kinds of any drugs is always risky. With tranquilizers and sleeping pills, a big danger comes when they are taken with alcohol. The danger comes from the fact that both alcohol and tranquilizers/sleeping pills have similar effects on the body. Both reduce the amount of activity in the central nervous system. If someone drinks alcohol and takes a tranquilizer or a sleeping pill, the amount of activity in their nervous system will be greatly reduced. This can lead to death. Q: Are tranquilizers and sleeping pills addictive? A: People do develop tolerance to tranquilizers and sleeping pills. This means they need to take more of them in order to feel the same effects they used to feel after taking smaller amounts. Tolerance can lead to abuse and dependence on tranquilizers and sleeping pills. When people who are dependent on tranquilizers and sleeping pills suddenly stop taking them, they can go through withdrawal. Besides craving the drugs, they can experience sleep problems, restlessness, loss of appetite and the shakes.
MAPPING ILLICIT DRUG MARKETS Introduction The development of computer mapping is opening up new possibilities for criminal intelligence analysts through the ability to comprehensively examine the environments in which crimes are committed. Crime mapping has also opened up new possibilities in the analysis of drug markets, a subject which has been examined recently by the Police Service. In the development of a methodology to assess heroin and amphetamine markets, crime mapping was identified as a key strategy due to the influence the environment has on the development, structure and mechanics of drug markets. This paper will provide an overview of the illicit market scan methodology, a methodology developed by the Police Service to analyze heroin and amphetamine markets and examine the mapping techniques utilised in a pilot of this methodology. Other issues examined in this paper include the limitations encountered and future applications of mapping in the analysis of illicit drug markets. The Illicit Market Scan In April 1998, a forum was convened by the Police Service to explore the development of a conceptual and methodological framework utilising a range of indicators to provide timely analysis of the illicit heroin and amphetamine markets. The forum explored the hypothesis that illicit drug markets could be treated as legitimate commodity markets. It was found that to successfully assess the illicit drug industry in terms of a commodity market, a fundamental shift in the current law enforcement conceptual framework was required. In the past the focus has been maintained on the removal of an individual from the market, however, as experience demonstrates, this simply results in another individual moving in to take up where they left off, leaving the market unchanged. Market analysis suggests that success in influencing a market is a function of changing market conditions, not market participants (Fogg, 1999). Although drug markets had been assessed previously, these assessments relied primarily on historical data and the findings were dated upon the release of the assessment. It was also identified that accurate information on the effectiveness of operations was limited, thereby making it difficult to determine if drug operations had had any significant impact on the market. The illicit market scan methodology developed by the Queensland Police Service requires analysis of the markets at two levels, macro-analysis and micro-analysis. Macro-analysis examines the broader features of the market and involves the collection and analysis of data including intelligence, demographics, crime, and health data. Macro-analysis essentially examines the factors that may facilitate or impact upon a drug market. Micro-analysis examines the structure and dynamics of the drug market and includes the examination of factors such as barriers to entry, threat of substitute products, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of customers and maneuvering among market participants. The analysis of heroin and amphetamine markets utilising the illicit market scan methodology enables law enforcement agencies to: identify the principal drug problem within a community including general profiles of principal offender groups assess the impact of current policing strategies on a particular illicit market develop strategies that will have a greater impact on illicit markets predict changes in markets, allowing proactive policing to counter the market changes, and identify market weakness that will allow lateral targeting. Government Area (LGA) 1. The area in which the scan was conducted had come under considerable scrutiny prior to the study, with the area consistently being identified as having a significant heroin problem. Heroin was reported to be freely available and used by youths in the area. To determine if these claims were accurate, the illicit market scan was conducted. It was also determined that any assessment should include amphetamine, also identified as being a significant problem in the area. Data analysis and Mapping Throughout the development of the illicit market scan methodology, the analysis of data in relation to the physical environment was identified as necessary to determine the principal geographical locations of the heroin and amphetamine markets in the area. It was recognized from the outset of the assessment that principal environmental features must form part of the market analysis. Public places and features of the physical environment with which the drug markets had the potential to interact were therefore mapped. These included shopping centres, parks, hotels, secondhand goods dealers, syringe availability program sites, health agencies, community support groups, schools, higher education institutions, pharmacies, other public amenities and principal infrastructure such as major arterial roads and railway lines.
Apart from the features identified above being mapped, data derived principally from Police Service holdings were also mapped. These data sets included: reported theft offenses reported robbery offenses reported drug offenses reported entry offenses located amphetamine labs reported heroin offenses reported amphetamine offenses locations of suspected suppliers Essentially any data set which contained a geographical reference which could potentially be used as an indicator of drug use/activity in the area were mapped and contributed to the macro-analysis of the heroin and amphetamine markets in the LGA. The analysis of the data involved visual comparison and identification of relationships between each of the data sets and the environmental features mapped. Centre of mass, the spatial equivalent of the mean value (Block, Dabdoub and Fregly, 1995) was also calculated for all reported heroin and amphetamine offenses. Findings The spatial analysis of the data provided an insight into the principal locations of the heroin and amphetamine markets in the LGA. A key finding was two clusters of heroin activity (offenses and suspected suppliers) within the LGA. This was later confirmed through consultations with stakeholders who supported this finding. Although heroin offenses were reported throughout the LGA, two principal areas had significantly more activity. As would also be expected the more urbanised areas of the LGA reported higher levels of activity in both heroin and amphetamine. One of the major findings arising from the mapping of suspected heroin and amphetamine suppliers was the link between heroin suppliers, major arterial roads and the railway line. A significant relationship was identified between the locations of suspected heroin suppliers and the railway line, however analysis of suspected amphetamine suppliers did not show as strong a relationship, with these individuals being more dispersed throughout the LGA. The findings of the illicit market scan in the Ipswich LGA in relation to suppliers are supported by Eck (1995), who also found a strong relationship between heroin suppliers and the formation of drug markets along major arterial roads. Methamphetamine suppliers were also found by Eck (1995) to be slightly less likely to be associated with major arterial roads. Once again this was evident in the Ipswich LGA. One of the major findings from a managerial perspective was the identification of a heroin market which crossed a regional police boundary. The identification of this market demonstrated the value of mapping, and analysis of mapped data in conjunction with the physical environment. Just as drug issues fail to recognize bureaucratic boundaries, they also fail to recognize jurisdictional boundaries. Limitations A number of limitations were identified throughout the assessment which impacted adversely on the accuracy of the data and hence the analysis of the markets, however, strategies were developed to address the majority of these limitations. Data integrity was one of the principal limitations encountered throughout the mapping of the data sets. All reported crimes committed within the city are recorded in the Crime Reporting Information System for Police (CRISP). An extensive number of fields are recorded in CRISP making this system an excellent source of raw data from which analysis can be conducted. However, as with many other databases, the quality of the information contained on the system is dependent upon the information entered initially. When the data sets were mapped, deficiencies in the quality of the data were identified. The principal problem with the data was a result of misspelling of street names, incorrect suburbs being assigned to addresses and incomplete entries including missing address numbers. This made the geocoding of the data labor intensive initially, with up to 50% of the data sets having to be manually geocoded. Manual coding was made more difficult with some data sets comprising over 11,000 records. To overcome some of the difficulties associated with the data sets, data cleansing was first performed on all of the data sets. This included the deletion of any records which could not be mapped due to missing fields such as street numbers. Other locations such as shopping centres and parks, which had no street number, were assigned a geographical reference by using street intersections thereby enhancing the accuracy of mapping process. A number of records mapped had multiple entries such as theft offenses at shopping centres. As these records only appeared as a single record on the maps, the project team were required to manually determine locations where multiple records were mapped and manually record the number of records at these locations. Although this was only a minor issue, had this issue not been considered it had the potential to seriously impact upon the findings of the market analysis. One of the major limitations related to the analysis of the mapped data sets. The complexity of drug markets and the illicit nature of these markets make the collection of data difficult due to the number of groups which share an interest in addressing illicit drug use. To undertake the scan successfully, the project team collected data from a broad cross section of groups. These included government departments through to small community user support groups. It was found throughout the data collection process that no uniformity existed in the collection/collation of data with different timeframes, geographical boundaries and conventions used to collect data by these organizations.
The large data sets and the large number of potential variables impacting upon the market made data analysis a complex task. To address this limitation the project team considered it necessary to investigate innovative techniques which could be used to allow all of the data sets to be integrated and analysed as one comprehensive data set. Modeling was identified as a possible alternative. Future Applications Although the current methodologies utilised to conduct macro-analysis of the market provide an insight into the heroin and amphetamine markets, the inability to quantify the relationship between the data sets impacts adversely on the accuracy of the scan. The development of a quantitative model utilising the data collected throughout the illicit market scan has been identified as one strategy to address this issue. Approximately 7% to 10% of data was not included in the analysis due to its inability to be mapped. The development and integration of a quantitative model with the illicit market scan methodology would ultimately result in a more comprehensive understanding of the principles underpinning the dynamics of the illicit heroin and amphetamine markets. The potential benefits to be gained through the development of a spatial model are significant, particularly for operational policing. These benefits include: the ability to accurately determine the principal locations and relationships between different markets the ability to measure the potential impact of police operations and where the displacement of crime is likely to occur during an operation the ability for managers to receive timely information about drug markets in their areas and assess the impact operations or interventions are having on the market the ability to identify changes in the market the ability to identify emerging markets, and the ability to predict the future impact of changes in local areas (eg the construction of a new housing estate or shopping centre). One of the principal advantages of utilising modeling in the scanning and mapping of illicit markets is the ability to analyze the spatial characteristics of the market. Local areas are interconnected by reason of geography, demography, economic activity and socio-economic factors. As demonstrated in the assessment of the Ipswich market, illegal drug activity appears to be concentrated along major travel routes. The use of modeling would allow these areas to be identified and permit the manipulation of variables such as the addition of a housing estate to be examined, thus enabling strategic planning based on the potential ramifications of such a development. Integration of mapping to allow the data derived from the illicit market scan and the modeling to be mapped would be one of the most effective strategies to examine the data derived through the application of a quantitative model. These maps would effectively demonstrate where the drug markets are more active and hence where law enforcement and health providers should focus their activity. Conclusion Analysis of drug markets is a key requirement if effective strategies are to be developed to address the harms associated with these markets. As identified through the scan of the heroin and amphetamine markets in the Ipswich area, mapping provides an insight into the geographical structure of markets and identifies principal areas of activity, thereby allowing strategies to be focused on these areas. Although the utilisation of mapping to study drug markets is still in its infancy within the Police Service, the techniques utilised through the illicit market scan contributed significantly to the analysis of the markets. The potential applications of mapping and rapid developments in technology are creating limitless opportunities to analysts and allowing analysts to examine new variables potentially adding a new piece to the puzzle in our attempt to understand the mechanics of illicit drug markets. These markets are complex and influenced by an undetermined number of variables. Any tool which can assist us understand the dynamics and features of markets will allow all stakeholders to develop effective strategies in the management of the illicit drug problem.
The Street Value of Prescription Drugs BACKGROUND: Although most physicians are aware of the potential for abuse and resale of prescribed medications, little has been done to document it. The purpose of this study was to determine which prescription drugs have street value, what that value is and why these drugs are used. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional survey using a semistructured interview technique was carried out on 2 weekdays (Mar. 10 and Apr. 1, 1997) in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. A total of 58 users and dealers of prescription sedative/hypnotic and narcotic drugs were approached. Information collected included the demographic characteristics of those interviewed, the common street names of the drugs of interest, and their value and method of use. RESULTS: Thirty-two people agreed to participate in the study (participation rate 55%), 7 of whom were dealers. The range in price of sedative/hypnotic drugs was $0.10 to $2. For narcotic drugs the range was much greater, at $0.25 to $75. Descriptive analysis identified the minimum and maximum price and the mode of each preparation. Among the weak narcotic drugs the index drug (highest in demand on the street) was Tylenol No. 3 and among the more potent narcotics, MS Contin 30 mg. INTERPRETATION: A wide variety of prescription sedative/hypnotic and narcotic drugs are available on the street. The mark-up from pharmacy cost can be considerable. Factors influencing pricing include the relative inexperience of the buyer, the availability of illicit narcotics, the current street supply of prescription medications and the time of the month (before or after issue of social assistance cheques). The Street Value of Illegal Drugs When illegal drugs are seized by police or a drug law-enforcement agency, the officers or agents determine the street value of the drugs. Street value is the total income that drug traffickers would make if each gram were sold at the price currently being offered on the street. The street value then determines the significance of the seizure. In other words, a major drug seizure is one that has a very high street value. However, the street value of drugs that have been seized is not always equal to the actual amount of income drug traffickers have lost. This is because the price of drugs rises sharply as they move down the distribution chain from the point of entry into the country. The following example shows how street value can be calculated: * When cocaine comes into the United States, it could be sold at a pure-gram price of about $20 per gram. A 100-kilogram unit contains 100,000 pure gramsthus its costs (to the drug trafficker) could represent $2 million. * In 2001 a gram of cocaine could sell on the streets directly to cocaine users for about $100. * One gram equals 1,000 milligrams. Of these 1,000 milligrams of cocaine sold on the streets, about 250 milligrams are "filler" substances. In other words, only 750 milligrams are actually pure cocaine. * The price of a true "pure gram" of cocaine1,000 milligrams of pure cocaine with no filler addedwould be $133. * 100 kilograms of cocaine, then, has a street value of $133 times 100,000 grams. In other words, the street value of 100 kilograms of cocaine equals $13.3 million, more than six times as much as its initial cost ($2 million). Cocaine Crack Cocaine Marijuana Hashish LSD Methamphetamine Psilocybin Morphine MDMA/ICE/Ecstasy 1,686.52g/$71,810.00 187.69g/$24,000.00 33,329.01g/$133,020.00 3.74g/$20.00 202 hits/$400.00 28.28g/$3,676.00 560.62g/$825.00 1.43g/$150.00 15,169 pills/$250,000 = $42.5788/Gram = $127.87/Gram = $3.9901/Gram = $5.3476/Gram = $1.9802/Hit = $127.6389/Gram = $1.47159/Gram = $104.8951/Gram = $16.4809/Pill (4,201 pills/Kilogram) = $2000.00/Plant = $2000.00/Plant
Marijuana Indoor Plants Seized/Eradicated 1,188 Street Value $ 2,376,000.00 Outdoor Cultivated Plants Eradicated 19,000 Street Value (Plants+) $38,000,000.00
Are Raves, Drug Supermarkets? Using data from 135 participants in the Glasgow Dance Drug (Rave) scene, this paper intends to detail Patterns of obtaining drugs (scoring) at raves. It was intended tc confirm or reject the hypothesis that such dance events are 'drug supermarkets'. That is places where a range of drugs are more readily available than elsewhere and to which consumers will travel in order to obtain drugs. Compalisons were made between respondents who obtained each drug at a rave and those who obtained them elsewhere. In this dance, drug group all drugs were more often obtained in locations other than a rave event. Furthermore, obtaining drugs prior to attending a rave (getting sorted) was as common a practice as scoring in the rave setting. Instances of drugs being scored at a rave to be used elsewhere were rare. From these data it is concluded that it would be inaccurate to describe raves as drug supermarkets. INTRODUCTION Unlike previous patterns of drug use, dance drug use takes place in public. The locations where such displays of public drug use take place have become commonly known as raves. This conspicuous pattern of drug consumption has lead to sections of the media and local authorities coming to regard rave events as 'drug supermarkets'. In Glasgow, for example, throughout the history of the dance scene the local media have singled out raves as places where drugs are readily available. Newspaper headlines have included'Drug Deals at the "Acid" Disco: I'm shocked says Wet Wet Wet man', Daily Record 13/11/88;'CITY DISCO LINK TO DEADLY DRUG', Glasgow Evening Times 31/01/90; "'Party packs" put youngsters at risk on the techno-dance scene', The Scotsman 13/09/94; and 'Crooked dealers con rave kids', Daily Record 18/10/94. This latter article even utilised the well,worn xenophobic drug stereotype of foreigners or outsiders entrapping innocent local youngsters (Kohn, 1992; Melechi and Redhead, 1988; Redhead, 1991). In this instance the outsiders were dealers from England peddling fake drugs at Scottish raves. As happened with previous media fanned'moral panics'about the welfare of youth (Cohen, 1972), a legislative reaction to these events was precipitated. In Glasgow local anti-drug campaigns targeting the dance scene have included 'Drug-sh ie Id' and 'Club, watch'. Undercover police have saturated local dance events and organisers have been threatened with suspension of their license should they fail to cooperate. As no empirical research into dealing at raves had been carried out in Glasgow, are these actions justified? The question remains as to whether raves are drug supermarkets or merely places where people are obviously under the influence of drugs? If there are a lot of drug users at raves then perhaps it should of charge. follow that demand for drugs would be high at these locations. Dealing at a rave might also be seen to be taking place in a relatively overt fashion when compared with more traditional behindclosed- doors drug dealing. The resulting increased perception of drug availability at raves might in turn attract other users or dealers to these events, only to score or sell drugs and not to participate in dancing. If this is the case then raves may indeed be drug supermarkets. The term drug supermarket has been applied elsewhere to refer to areas of a city or locales within such areas where drugs are known to be conspicuously available. In such drug supermarkets, users and deal, ers may either take up residence or may frequently commute there in order to sell or obtain drugs. Curtis et al. (1995) details such a drug supermarket in the Bushwickarea ofNewYork, USA. Intheirstudy, the drug supermarket operated at a street level with intravenous users being the customers. Being labelled as a drug supermarket was seen as a catalyst for neighborhood change (decline). It is possible that in much the same way as a neighborhood of New York might be labelled a drug supermarket so might rave venues. The labelling of raves as drug supermarkets by police, politicians or the media might also result in changes in the nature of such events. Research in the dance scene has revealed a change over time in the pattern of dealing at raves. This has happened as the dance drug scene moved from'underground acid house parties'to mainstream clubs, where traditional drug dealers could become involved in dance drug supply (Newcombe, 199 1, 1992). Supply of ecstasy in the acid house scene of 1988, was not by organised crime but by independents such as 'Abby the ecstasy dealer' described by Dornet al. (1991). Abby supplied drugs for ideological motives rather than profit. Such changes in the type of drug dealer associated with the dance scene might also influence the range of drugs on sale. The current paper also asks, if raves are drug supermar, kets, which drugs are available there and which are not? In this paper the lay term of 'scoring' drugs will be used when referring to obtaining drugs, rather than buying, as many users in this sample last got drugs free METHOD Data were collected from a sample of 135 respondents, who were interviewed between I December 1993 and 31 August 1994. The entry criterion for this sample was participation in the Glasgow dance drug scene Crave scene'). Respondents were recruited via purposive snowballing by using key contacts active inthe Glasgowrave scene. These keycontacts were people who 'worked' in the rave scene in the West End of Glasgow such as; DJs, electronic musicians, youth workers, drug dealers or researchers. Thesamplehadameanage of 24years (range 14-44) and was 62% male. A fuller description of this sample is published elsewhere (Forsyth, 1995).
Instrument A structured instrument was administered listing questions about 16 specific categories of drugs and up to three other drugs that might have been taken but which were not listed. The 16 drug categories specified were: alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, heroin, buprenorphine, dihydrocodeine, temazepam, diazepam, solvents, cocaine, amphetamines, LSD, psilocybin, nitrites, ketamine and ecstasy. For each drug that a respondent had ever used they were asked a range of questions about the circumstances of their last use of this drug. Last use of each drug was chosen as a measure rather than a typical use so as to avoid any tendencies respondents mayhave had tomisrep, resent the circumstances of their drug use. Respondents were asked about the setting where they last took the drug. If this was at a dance event they were then asked for the name of that club, rave or party. Similarly, respondents were then asked where they obtained each drug, dance event or not. This is an adaptation (to account for the advent of dance drug culture) of a method previously successfully employed elsewhere to measure levels of availability and dealing patterns for different drugs (Forsyth et at., 1992). RESULTS Availability at dance events Locations where drugs were last obtained were subdivided into those obtained actually at a dance event and those obtained elsewhere. Table 1 shows which drugs were scored at raves and which in other locations. Shown separately are drugs obtained from medical sources. It can be seen that in 6 of the 17 drug categories (cannabis, heroin, dihydrocodeine, solvents, psilocybin mushrooms and the other drugs) no respondents last obtained at a rave. Obviously the location where a drug is scored need not always be the setting in which it is used. With regard to dance events three relationships between scoring and using are possible: 1. Drugs are used at the same location as they are scored. In the case of dance events this could be regarded as 'in house' drug use. 2. Drugs may be purchased at a dance event and used elsewhere. In the dance scene this is known as getting 'take-aways'. Such scoring behavior would fit the drug supermarket hypothesis. 3. Drugs may be obtained elsewhere in advance of attending a dance event. This practice of planned drug use scored in advance is known in the dance scene as getting 'sorted'. 'Who's in the in house?': Scoring and using at dance events Given the large number of respondents who used drugs in a dance setting, the most obvious location where drugs might be obtained was at a dance event. Indeed, 87 (64.4%) respondents last obtained at least one of the drugs listed at a dance event, However, none of the drugs listed were obtained at a dance event by the majority of users and only nitrites were most often obtained at a dance event. There was a large degree of correspondence between those drugs used in the dance scene and drugs obtained there (see Forsyth, 1996). 'Take me away': Scoring at dance events and using elsewhere It can be seen that this practice was relatively uncommon. This was most often the case with temazepam which was 'taken away' by four of the five respondents who last obtained it in a club. Though this number is small it is suspected that this drug often being obtained as a take-away might be related to its use as a'come down'drug after raving. Ecstasy was taken away by three respor~dents and tobacco, diazepam, amphetamine and nitrites by only one person each. No respondents reported alcohot, cannabis, heroin, buprenorphine, dihydrocodeine, solvents, cocaine, psilocybin, LSD, ketamine or any drugs in the other drugs category as being take-aways from a club when last used. 'Sorted for E's and wizz': Scoring before but using at dance events A much more common occurrence was the practice of being'sorted'before the dance event. This means obtaining the drugs prior to attending the club or rave. In such cases, the drug would usually be ingest, ed before entering the dance event, to avoid detection by door staff, timing the onset of drug effects with anticipated time of arrival on the dance floor. It was also stated that at some clubs it was easier to gain entry as a non-member if you were obviously under the influence drugs.The logicbehind thisbeing, that door staff were likely to think that someone on drugs would 'fit in' at the club and were unlikely to be a drunk, a hooligan, an undercover police officer, journalist or drug researcher. The practice of obtaining drugs outwith the dance scene and using them at a dance event was found with 12 of the 14 drugs that were last used at a dance event (i.e. all drugs other than dihydrocodeine, diazepam, or solvents, which were not used at a dance event by any respondents the last time that they were used). The two excep, tions to this were alcohol (N = 19) and buprenorphine (N = 1), where all use at a dance event was obtained at that event (i.e. neitherof these twodrugs were sorted before hand nor used as take,aways). In the case of alcohol this is unsurprising given that licensed premises (clubs) sell alcohol and do not allow patrons to bring it in with them.
The drug that was obtained elsewhere and used at a dance event by the largest number of respondents was ecstasy. Thirty,seven (47.4%) of the 78 ecstasy users who last used that drug at a dance event were sorted before the event. This was also the case with each of the other illegal drugs commonly used on the dance scene. Similar proportions were found with LSD, where 18 (52.9%) of 34 dance event users, amphetamine 29 (53.7%) of 54 dance event users and cocaine 8 (50.0%) of 16 dance event users last obtained the drug in a location other than a dance event. This practice was found in only three (6.3%) of 49 cases of nitrite use at a dance event. This presumably reflects nitrite legality (it is often sold over the bar in night clubs) and also the way bottles of ~poppers' are passed around the dance floor. Drugs less commonly used at dance events were also on occasion obtained elsewhere before being used ot an event. This was the case for two respondents ofthe five who last smoked tobacco at a dance event, three of the four who last used temazeparn at a dance event and two of the six ketarnine users who last used at a dance event. Both respondents who last used cannabis at a dance event obtained it elsewhere, as did all nine who last used psilocybin in a dance setting and two instances of drug use in the other drugs category. Clearly a rave setting is not one where a diverse range of drugs is likely to be obtained. These results are summarised in Table 2. DISCUSSION Although drugs are available at dance events, it might be misleading to label such locations as drug supermarkets. This is evidenced by the practice of getting sorted being commonplace. If drugs were readily available at raves then one might expect there to be tittle need to score drugs in advance. In contrast, take-aways, or instances of scoring drugs at a dance event and using them elsewhere, were retatively uncommon. This infers that users who intend to continue drug use after the rave, at say a chill. out party, are confident of obtaining supplies elsewhere after leaving the rave venue. Clearly dance drugs are widely available from sources other than dealers at raves. That said, the numbers of respondents who last used cocaine, LSD, amphetamine or ecstasy at a dance event and who also scored, in house, were similar to the numbers who were sorted for these drugs beforehand. Other (non-dance) drugs were seldom sorted before or scored at a dance event. From these data it would appear that the range of drugs available at raves is somewhat restricted. This also tends support to the rejection of the drug supermarket hypothesis. At worst, raves might be described as'specialist shops' rather than supermarkets, as only certain (mainly dance) drugs are available to only some people. Focusing drug enforcement at raves might be ineffective if dance drug scoring is a diverse rather than single situation-specific activity. For example, police action aimed at curbing dance drug use may be more effective if city-centre pubs used as pre-club venues were raided rather than just raves. However, as many non-drug users frequent such pubs, this course of action may attract less support from the general public. From these findings it would appear that dance drug users have an option of either ensuring drug use by getting sorted or chancing being able to score drugs after gaining entry to a rave venue. Whether the decision to get sorted or wait and see is related to rave venue door policy is not known. However, the large number of users obtaining and using drugs in this way suggests that, even if it were possible to keep drugs and dealers out of raves it is impossible to exclude persons under the influence of drugs from raving. The benefits of club door searches are therefore somewhat dubious. Users might put themselves atgreaterriskby ingesting larger doses of drugs immediately prior to entering a club, rather than being able to judge gradual increases in dosage from conditions in the club. The climate of fear created by the possibility of undercover police being present at the rave venue may also influence choices about where to score drugs and when to ingest them. Other dangers are likely to arise from policies that effectively encourage drug scoring in advance of raves. Obtaining supplies from dealers outside the dance scene may increase the risk of ravers coming into contact with other drug using groups with all the risks that this might entail. In other words, fewer dealers such as Abby (Dorn et al., 1991) and increased interaction between dance drug users and the criminal underworld. For these reasons, policies aimed at eliminating drug use at raves are not only likely to fail, but may even prove counterproductive in tackling the spread of problem drug use. CONCLUSION Clearly drugs are available at raves. However, most users obtain supplies from other locations. This is the case even for dance drugs such as amphetamine and ecstasy. Drugs were often obtained before attending raves to use while dancing. In contrast, drugs were seldom obtained at raves for use elsewhere. As such it is concluded that it would be inappropriate to label raves as drug supermarkets.
The History of Modern Human Trafficking and the Illict Sex Trade
Everything has its history: what we like and what we are proud of, what we dont like and what is blamed. Curious incidents of our life and its appropriatenesses form the historic cocktail where white and black are mixed or exchange their places. A man, as a chameleon, also often changes. Sometimes he resists the circumstances, but sometimes he submits to them, hoping that everything will be OK or despairing without any hope. He often begins to complicate simple things, but the next day understands that he was deluded. Because of navet or an accident, deception or aspiration for the better life and a desire to earn money, sometimes because of the fashionable stories about free love many young girls become the objects of buying and selling the ancient kind of business, the means of earning money. Prostitution existed at all times. Latin word prostare means to sell oneself in public. The word prostitute came from this word. Solon (between 640-630 about 559 BC) is considered to be the first organizer of such business, who bought and sold prostitutes in general use. Solon was the first, in whose laws prostitution tax appeared. By the way, according to his laws a wife, who was unfaithful to her husband, could be killed by him. Solon was also a founder of state brothels. At the times of Egyptian Pharaohs prostitutes were called hump. They were recruited from dancers and musicians to allure men in brothels by means of singing and dancing. Ancient brothels were situated on the outskirts, desert and distant places, near the market or harbour. Hetaeras (the highest category in prostitution) lived in the meeting houses. Frina from Athens is considered to be one of the most ancient hetaeras. It is known that she reached a great age and restored the walls around Thiva (the ancient town), which were destroyed by Alexander, at her expense. Roman law brought the differences between the categories of women out of marriage. Prostitutes, who served different men in public and secretly, were ascribed to the lowest category. A concubine beloved woman of a married man took more honorary place. A concubine, who lived with unmarried man without official registration, was honoured equally with a wife. Roman prostitute Flora bequeathed her fortune to people. A holiday of flowers, which was celebrated from the 28th of April to the 1st of May, was devoted to Flore. During those days many naked prostitutes danced before people. In the Middle Ages the series of prostitutes were replenished by traders selling people. I. Bloh wrote in his book The History of Prostitution that in Germany young women had been placed in brothels by their consent because of the debts of their husbands or parents. The medieval brothels were under the authority of the state, city or Prince. Ecclesiastics and married men werent allowed to visit those houses. There was a terrible punishment for involving a new girl in such business branding, cutting off the nose, ears, hands, legs and even execution. There were also some special houses for repenting prostitutes, sometimes they were placed at monasteries. In 1198 the Pope Innokenty III declared that those men, who married to prostitutes, were given absolution. But it was too rare that prostitutes married. Even if it happened, they werent allowed to associate with honoured women. Brothels were situated in special streets. All of them had distinctive emblems and signs: motley bars, flower and animalistic depictions on the walls and doors, a lantern over the door. A prostitute also wore distinctive signs. Moreover, a sick woman, a pregnant or married woman or a girl, who was too young, couldnt become a prostitute. Syphilis, which appeared in Europe at the end of the 15th century, became a blow for the society. At all times army girls belonged to the special category of prostitutes. Fuks wrote in his work that there were about 4000 prostitutes in the army of Karl the Brave. They took care of soldiers and wounded people. Since the 18th century prostitutes were registered and put under the police and medical supervision. If a prostitute left the brothel, she was caught and returned by police. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna ordered to find and catch prostitutes both Russian and foreign. According to the edict, which was issued by Pavel I in 1800, all prostitutes, who were caught in both capitals (in Moscow and St. Petersburg) must be relegated to Siberia to the Irkutsk factories. M. Kuznetsov wrote in his book The History of Prostitution in Russia (1871) why women became prostitutes: Women without family, homeless and without any possibility for subsistence Women, who were deceived by their beloved men become prostitutes. The majority of women make the first step under the influence of a procuress. Coming to unknown capitals, inexperienced women trustingly rely on procuresses, who give them a flat and a work, and then sell In the 19th century the distinctive signs of the prostitutes costume were canceled, but their manners and defiant gestures still betrayed them. Newspapers contained a lot of marriage advertisements about experienced in love women. A new category of prostitutes even appeared hotel girls. Some addresses of brothels are mentioned in the book of M. Kuznetsov: In St. Petersburg on Sennaya square, houses of Deroberti, Lermontov, Vyazemsky, well-known Malinnik (malina means a sweet berry), was full of brothels; Shcherbakov lane in Moscow Derbenovka, Drachevka streets, Sobolev, Pilnikov and Kolosov lanes, in Voronegh Yamskaya, Ostroghny bugor, Shchemilovka street Professor N. M. Shchapov writes in his book I Believe in Russia. Family History and Memories (Publishing House of the association Mosgorarhiv, 1998) that there was a special region with brothels in Moscow. A brothel was called bardak there. It was Drachevka street (nowadays, it is called Trubnaya street) and the nearest lanes between Drachevka and Sretenka streets Shchapov also describes in his book how he visited one of those brothels.
Prostitution reached our days: from the Stone Age to the 3rd millennium. But it is not a profession today because it exists out of law. Technologies of modern prostitution have also changed. A great amount of sex-services are supplemented with blackmail, candid and other attributes of criminal interests. But the essence of the manner is the same: money body money. There is a brisk trade today (business is business), in which the main commodity is girls, who lose their health, become unable to have children, ruin themselves by drinking. This trade is an out of law trade without any certificate, with a commodity, which provokes the rise of social, psychological and medical problems. "Men are more attracted to youth and beauty, while women are more attracted to money, education and position. When an older, ugly man is seen walking down the road arm-in-arm with a young and beautiful woman, most people assume the man is rich or powerful." -- Helen Fisher Prostitution is qualified, as it is everywhere, as the oldest job in the world. Its also called the commerce of sex. Definition of Prostitution Prostitution is a word which applies to far more circumstances than its' usual legal definition, which is about prohibiting most "whoring". The English language definition "the act, or an instance of, offering or devoting one's talent to an unworthy use or cause", is far more akin in meaning to the word "pollution" than to "whoring". I have a very simple way of defining prostitution: Prostitution is when you do something for money that you wouldn't be doing without being paid for it. You will find under this definition that there are quite a few who whore who are not prostitutes, for they actually love what they do, and would continue to engage in promiscuous sex even without the monetary reward. More "shocking" to the average person is to realize that the average person is in fact a prostitute. Most people do the jobs they do only for the money, not because they actually enjoy the work enough to continue doing it even without a monetary reward. You can verify this by asking them if they'd still do what they now do as "work", if they'd just won or inherited a billion dollars, and no longer had to work for a living. This is also a reminder that what anyone does for a living is not who they are, which may also remind us that we are spirits incarnate in bodies, not the bodies. Ask any boy or girl what they want to be when they grow up, and my guess is that the majority of them will not respond: "I want to be a minimum wage laborer", yet most of them will start out in some such job, prostituting their truth, their desires, their true choices, just to obtain a periodic paycheck. You can pretty well bet that, they are prostituting, even though it is probable that they have never "whored", (sold sex for money). On the other hand, selling sex for money, or "whoring" can be done in truth and appropriateness, through very selective choice of customers. One who whores, who does not prostitute themself, is one who allows themself to be monetarily rewarded in addition to a fundamentaly appropriate choice of having sex with someone she would have sex with even without monetary reward. Yes, it is true that much whoring is prostitution, but it is essential to understand, that while most people and most law fails to make this distinction, for it is nearly impossible to judge externally, that there truly is a distinction, and only the one whoring can know in the moment, whether she is for a given session, "whoring" or "prostituting". In many cases a fancy name for a legal whore is "wife". Many women, disempowed by the patriarchal system, seek to have their survival needs (money) met by one consistent trick (named "husband"). The essential purpose of modern patriarchal religions and society is to force this system of disempowerment upon the individual female and to allow her re-empowerment only via marriage (monogamous prostitution), for the overriding purpose of men being able to totally control women and the propogation of their DNA. Legal Definition of Prostitution Legally, Prostitution is the sale of sexual services. The services may consist of any sexual acts, including those which do not involve copulation. While payment may be any nonsexual consideration, most commonly it is the form of money. In other words: "Sex may only be exchanged for Sex, and Sex has been redefined by law to mean: Any Non Sexual Act. Anything other than Sex of any value, is defined by law to be a consideration, which must be of exactly equal exchange for some inverse exchange of consideration other than sex, or the law may freely create artificial exchanges by interpretation." Such all inclusive languaging greatly supports selective enforcement, for in fact, there is no sexual act which is not a commercial act, according to statutory definition. Thus, selective enforcement is an exqusitely powerful system for the patriarchy to enforce absolute control of women. Historically, the majority of prostitutes have been women; however, male prostitution and prostitution of prepubescent children occurs. In general, prostitutes are drawn from those segments of society that are economically marginal and have relatively little political power.
History of Prostitution in Western Societies Probably the earliest form of the institution was temple, or religious, prostitution, which may have derived from communal, orgiastic fertility rites. The factors contributing to independent, non-religious prostitution were increasing urbanization, the growth of a money-based market economy, and the displacement of persons from a traditional, village-centered way of life. Solon (c.639-559 BC) established state brothels in Athens, the employees of which came from the lowest strata of society. Later, independent prostitutes were regulated and taxed. The hetaerae were courtesans who provided various kinds of entertainment including music, poetry, and most notably, intellectually stimulating conversation and companionship. As in the case with most courtesans, prostitution itself was occasional and contingent, as the hetaerae relied upon a much larger repertoire of salable skills for their livelihood. In ancient Rome, prostitutes were licensed by the state and taxed. Patrician woman were absolutely forbidden to engage in prostitution. Women who were neither patricians nor slaves, but relied on other means of income (for example, actresses, musicians, dancers, and so on), were free to sell sexual services without registration or taxation. Male prostitutes were also numerous in Rome, but were not regulated by the state. Throughout the empire, female employees of inns and taverns were grouped with prostitutes by law. The early Christian church excommunicated (AD 305) all prostitutes on moral grounds. Nevertheless, prostitution remained a well-established institution, and it provided an important source of tax revenue to the imperial state. Thus, by late antiquity, the status of prostitution had been reversed from its temple origins: it was now specifically excluded from the sacred while it flourished in the profane world. After the dissolution of the Western Roman empire, women experienced a sharp decline in economic and political status. While official policies of both church and government militated against prostitution, the need for the women to seek protection often took them to convents; many of them became unofficial brothels as a means of providing fiscal support. In the High Middle Ages, prostitution came under the protection and regulation of municipal governments. The crackdown against prostitution in early modern Europe coincided with the outbreak of a syphilis epidemic, but its cause is more properly attributed to the traditional pattern of moral blame for epidemic diseases, the rise of absolutist monarchies, and the repressive stance toward sexuality of Reformation morality. Female prostitution greatly expanded in modern Europe, while at the same time its practice was increasingly condemned. Beginning in the 19th century, the rise of capitalism and the liberal state brought increasing freedoms and economic rights to women. Those who entered the urbanized work force often turned to occasional prostitution to supplement their incomes. Many women became involved in regular prostitution either through forcible recruitment or as the only alternative to unemployment. Prostitution in Non-Western Cultures Both secular and sacred prostitution has coexisted in India since classical Hindu times. Lay prostitutes were a recognized caste. The Muslim invasions of India (c.AD 1000) resulted in official pronouncements against the institution, since it is forbidden by the Koran. However, practices under Muslim rule did little to discourage it. Temple prostitution, in which girls are dedicated to a deity, has continued into the 20th century. In China, the earliest historical reference to prostitution dates from the Chou dynasty (c.650 BC), at which time it was already a well established institution. In China, more than elsewhere, the predominant form of prostitution has been in brothels of female slaves. After slavery was officially ended, the sale of wives, concubines, and daughters into prostitution remained a common practice. Since the Communist revolution, a campaign against prostitution along with efforts to provide women equal access to economic and political rights has greatly diminished the prevalence of prostitution in China. The well-known role of the Geisha in Japan is of relatively recent origin, dating from the 18th century. This institution resembles that of the classical Greek hetaerae. Prior to European colonization, prostitution in the Western Hemisphere and Africa was probably limited to the religious realm. In what seems to be a world historical pattern, an upsurge in prostitution followed the effects of urbanization and wage labor. In Africa and Latin America this trend was heightened by industrial development, which greatly accelerated extensive displacement of people from traditional kinship ties. Women often supplemented their low wages with occasional prostitution, or, in the absence of employment, turned to prostitution as full-time work.
Prostitution in Contemporary Societies In contemporary, technologically developed societies, the vast majority of acts of prostitution are carried out by occasional prostitutes--that is, people who use it to supplement low incomes. Men and women who rely on prostitution as their primary source of income (so-called professional prostitutes) typically have left their natal families in adolescence. Without education or work skills, and often prevented from employment by child labor laws, such runaway children resort to prostitution as their only means of survival. Some Western governments combine regulated prostitution with public-health measures to control venereal disease. Otherwise, prostitution is illegal in most developed countries. Enforcement is left up to municipal authorities, who usually direct their police efforts against the most visible practitioners of prostitution, treating them as a public nuisance. Customers of prostitutes are rarely arrested, and although pandering is also illegal, most pimps (men who "protect" prostitutes and live off their earnings) are not subject to arrest because they infrequently engage in acts of procurement. Drug addiction is prevalent among prostitutes, as are a variety of chronic and infectious diseases not related to venereal disease. Recent concern about the spread of AIDS has stimulated public-health efforts to control venereal disease among prostitutes. Present efforts consist of educational campaigns that stress the advisability of using condoms to help stem infectious venereal diseases, especially AIDS.
Sex-Slave Trade Activity: The Growing Trade Human trafficking is showing a worldwide increase. A massage parlour owner says the trade in Thai women is alive and well in the sex industry. Bill Smith, who owns clubs and parlours in the Fort Street red-light district, said two Thai women had arrived at the Airport as recently as Monday and were put straight to work in massage parlours. "There is a major flow and trade in these girls. Very few, if any, would be entitled to work here. There's a major problem brewing," he said. Three locals have been linked to a sex-slave trafficking scandal in Bangkok. Two of them were the subject of a recent television documentary that exposes their role in the procurement, brokering, and international escorting of Thai girls and women to Britain, Australia, the United States, Canada, and Hong Kong. A British Canadian was also implicated. On arrival in Britain the Thais are debt-bonded for about $18,000, said the chairwoman of Ecpat, a non-government organization that wants to end the child-sex trade in prostitution, pornography, and trafficking for sexual purposes. "On arrival they are forced into prostitution. Those who initially refuse to be prostituted speak of torture and of being chained." The three are being investigated by Thai authorities for their alleged roles. Two of them are a middle-aged married couple have lived in Thailand for nine years. The third is a 29-year old woman who likes to be called Honey. There is some debate on whether the three can be prosecuted under local law. A spokeswoman at the Embassy in Thailand said the law allowed some provision for prosecuting people who have committed sexual offenses against minors outside their home country. Sex-Slave Trade Is Thriving The Bush administration, working with Congress and the State and Justice departments, is organizing a war against violent international sex-trafficking and slavery rings. Movement of women and children from one country to another, or within national borders, for sexual exploitation or forced labor is called trafficking. For the first seven months of the Bush administration its abolition has had a high priority. According to Interpol, profits from this trade top $19 billion annually. Congressional sources estimate that 50,000 persons are trafficked into the United States annually and 2 million worldwide. The United Nations puts the number worldwide at 4 million. Investigative journalist Christine Dolan recently spent several months in Europe looking into this human trafficking for the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children. She found that not only are women and children being trafficked for sexual purposes, but also infants and toddlers. In her report, A Shattered Innocence: The Millennium Holocaust, she calls for a declaration of war on the mobsters, pimps and other criminals who are responsible. Dolan applauds the U.S. government for what is being done to resist this exploitation but insists the problem is at the local level where law enforcement is badly in need of training. "They know the local mob, they know their neighborhood, but they dont have the specialized training to outwit these international criminals," Dolan says. The U.S. State Department released its first Annual Trafficking in Persons Report in mid-July, as mandated by Congress last year in the Victims of Violence and Trafficking Protection Act of 2000. This law requires the State Department to expand the annual human-rights reports to cover severe forms of trafficking in persons and to create an interagency task force to coordinate efforts nationally and internationally to stop it. Curiously, in this first report the State Department claims that only 700,000 people a year are being trafficked as sex slaves or as sweatshop workers, much lower than any other estimate. It does, however, confirm Insights reports that many of these victims, whatever their number, are lured by promises of gainful employment in the United States, such as waitress jobs or jobs as dancers or models, only to find themselves kidnapped, raped and sold into prostitution once they arrive (see "Sex-Slave Trade Enters the U.S.," Nov. 27, 2000). Last years legislation was the first passed in recent years to combat human trafficking. Previously the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecuted traffickers under the old antislavery and peonage laws. The annual report it requires, say Capitol Hill sources, is supposed to monitor the problem while alerting the American people. "This report is one volley in that global fight for freedom of countless people," says Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., one of the bills sponsors. "International sex trafficking is the new slavery," Brownback says. "It includes the classic and awful elements associated with historic slavery, such as abduction from family and home, use of false promises, transport to a strange country, loss of freedom and personal dignity, extreme abuse and depravation." Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters in February that fighting sex trafficking would be a priority of the DOJ during his tenure. Only 16 cases have been prosecuted in the United States since 1999, and in mid-July the attorney general issued regulations to provide assistance and protection to victims of human trafficking while their cases are investigated and prosecuted. The new rules not only enable federal law-enforcement personnel and immigration officials to protect victims, but they require and outline related training for DOJ and State Department personnel and mandate interdepartmental cooperation. "The cooperative efforts of federal agencies and law-enforcement officials will help provide victims the tools and services needed to punish traffickers to the fullest extent of the law," Ashcroft told reporters.
Two cases so far have been prosecuted under the new law and regulations. In March a man named Kill Soo Lee was arrested in American Samoa on a two-count federal complaint charging violations of slavery statutes. Lee held mostly female workers from Vietnam in involuntary servitude at his garment factory. That same month a landlord in Berkeley, Calif., pleaded guilty to trafficking women into the United States and placing them in sexual servitude. In February, Michael Allen Lee was charged with having forced homeless African-American men to work in his Florida fields. That same month Jos Tekum of Florida was sentenced to nine years in prison for felony counts that included kidnapping, slavery and immigration violations and forcing a Guatemalan women to engage in sex acts and manual labor against her will. Because the new law requires that official assistance be given to victims on U.S. soil and directs the Justice Department among other agencies to administer this, the DOJ has set up a telephone help-line. Callers may report cases of trafficking or slavery to the National Worker Exploitation Task Force by calling (888) 428-7581 weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. Secretary of State Colin Powell will chair a Cabinet-level interagency task force on trafficking. A State Department spokesman tells Insight that there will be an office to act as the working group for the task force. The task force has not met yet, but State already is pursuing countertrafficking measures, the spokesman says. As many as 5,000 aliens trafficked into the United States by organized-crime syndicates will be permitted to remain on a new nonimmigrant visa, provided they assist in the investigation of their perpetrators, are younger than age 15 or can demonstrate that they would suffer severe harm if returned to their country of origin. The Office of Victims of Crime at DOJ is funding a pilot project headed by the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, a private organization offering assistance to victims of trafficking in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, President George W. Bush can impose nontrade, nonhumanitarian sanctions against countries that do not comply with minimum standards to eliminate trafficking. The countries that currently have no laws against forced labor and prostitution have four years to enact such laws before being vulnerable to application of sanctions, but the president can waive such sanctions at any time. The State Departments annual report on this problem not only includes trafficking data gathered by the State Department from the 185 diplomatic posts worldwide, but updates Congress on progress being made by each country to combat trafficking. It also lists antitrafficking groups that have received federal funds to carry out their work. The State Department compiled three lists of countries. Tier 1 countries are those that fully comply with minimum standards, as described in the U.S. law, that successfully prosecute trafficking and that provide assistance to victims. These include Austria, Canada, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Tier 2 countries are those that do not fully comply with the minimum standards but are taking steps to bring themselves into compliance. State claims these include Angola, Bangladesh, China, India, Morocco, Thailand and Vietnam. Tier 3 countries do not comply with the minimum standards and are making no effort to do so. They include Albania, Bosnia, Burma, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Brownback tells Insight that he will use the information about the trafficking practices of each country to press the issue with their governments and recommend its use to the attorney general as guidance in training U.S law enforcement about the global magnitude of the problem. "The biggest problem we face is to convince people that this is actually taking place," Brownback says. "So I applaud the attorney general for making it a top priority when he has hundreds of things to work on." As a result of her investigation, Dolan recently launched a group called the International Humanitarian Campaign Against the Exploitation of Children, which may be contacted on the Internet at www.helpsavekids.org. It will raise money for training local law enforcement about the problem, get rape counselors for safe houses to counsel trafficked children and raise awareness globally. "This is a transcontinental and transcriminal problem," says Dolan. "These are criminals with no compassion, no respect for human life." How bad are these people? Dolan interviewed a trafficker in Albania named Alberto who said he trafficked for the quick money. He had been doing it for two years and moved his "stock" between Antwerp, Brussels and Belgium. Alberto said young girls bring very high prices. When asked how young, all he would say was, "Very young, very young." "People are not like tobacco and drugs, which once sold are used and literally go up in smoke," says Dolan. "As long as human beings are alive they can be used and abused at every step of the trafficking game, being sold and resold."
SEX TRAFFICKING, THE UNITED STATES, AND EUROPE Every nation that fights human trafficking has a friend in the United States. -- President Bush, July 16, 2004 Trafficking in human beings - often called modern day slavery - involves forced labor, most often of men, women and children in the commercial sex industry as prostitutes, but it can also involve forced labor in factories, fields, restaurants and homes. Traffickers prey on the ignorance or aspirations of people living in war-torn areas or in despair or poverty, often promising them a legitimate job opportunity. Once under the trafficker's control, the victim is then coerced or misled into work beyond legal protection. Prostitution and related activities fuel the growth of trafficking by providing a facade behind which criminals can exploit the vulnerable. It is a vicious myth that women and children who work as prostitutes have voluntarily chosen such a life for themselves. A 2003 study first published in the scientific Journal of Trauma Practice found that 89 percent of women in prostitution want to escape. And children are also trapped in prostitution - despite the fact that international covenants and protocols impose upon state parties an obligation to criminalize the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) estimates that 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked globally across international borders, while millions more are trafficked within countries. Trafficking provides organized crime with annual profits in the range of $8-10 billion (Ashcroft, July 16, 2004). DOJ estimated in June 2004 that 14,500-17,500 people were being trafficked into the United States annually: 3,500-5,500 from Europe and Eurasia 3,500-5,500 from Latin America 5,000-7,000 from East Asia and the Pacific 200-700 from Africa 200- 600 from South Asia 0- 200 from the Near East Age, Sex and Type of Exploitation - All Regions (DOJ): 33 percent Women - forced or coerced commercial sex 23 percent Girls (under 18) - forced or coerced commercial sex 14 percent Women - other forms of exploitation 11 percent Girls (under 18) - other forms of exploitation 10 percent Boys (under 18) - forced or coerced commercial sex 6 percent Boys (under 18) - other forms of exploitation 3 percent Men - other forms of exploitation 1 percent Men - forced or coerced commercial sex TRAFFICKING BY REGION Region of origin: 43 percent East Asia and the Pacific 29 percent Europe and Eurasia 17 percent Africa 5 percent Western Hemisphere 5 percent South Asia less than 1 percent Near East Region of Destination: 40 percent East Asia and the Pacific 36 percent Europe and Eurasia 8 percent Near East 6 percent Africa 6 percent Western Hemisphere 4 percent South Asia
WHAT THE UNITED STATES IS DOING TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING The Trafficking in Persons Protocol: In January 1999, the United States and Argentina proposed the first international protocol to require governments to criminalize trafficking in persons and to provide a framework for enhanced protection of, and assistance to, victims. The Trafficking in Persons Protocol, as it is called, entered into force in December 2003. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA): The first federal law aimed specifically at trafficking, TVPA was signed into law on October 28, 2000. TVPA sets harsh penalties for traffickers and allocates $95 million to protect victims and penalize criminals. It requires the U.S. State Department to create annually the "Trafficking in Persons Report" and rate each country's efforts according to its government's efforts to combat trafficking. For a fact sheet on TVPA, see http://www2.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/TVPA_2000.html Interagency Task Force: In February 2002, pursuant to the TVPA, President George W. Bush established a Cabinet-level Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. This Task Force is chaired by the Secretary of State and includes the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of Central Intelligence, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Task Force's responsibilities include coordination and implementation of the Administration's anti-trafficking activities. The State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons: The TVPA also created the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, which is headed by Ambassador John R. Miller. This office supported more than 240 anti-trafficking programs in over 75 countries in fiscal year 2003. The types of assistance include the following: economic alternative programs for vulnerable groups; education programs; training for government officials and medical personnel; development or improvement of anti-trafficking laws; provision of equipment for law enforcement; establishment or renovation of shelters, crisis centers, or safe houses for victims; support for voluntary and humane return and reintegration assistance for victims; and support for psychological, legal, medical and counseling services for victims provided by NGOs, international organizations and governments. International Support: Since 2001, the United States has provided more than $295 million to support anti-trafficking programs in more than 120 countries, according to the White House. Funding goes to governments and nongovernmental and international organizations to create specialized law enforcement units; train prosecutors and judges; strengthen anti-trafficking laws; provide emergency shelter and care for victims; offer voluntary repatriation assistance; make available long-term rehabilitation assistance and vocational training for victims; legal advocacy; psychological and medical assistance for victims; and launch information campaigns. The PROTECT Act: In April 2003, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law The PROTECT Act, which provides better tools for combating international sex tourism, commercial sexual exploitation of children, and the federal offenses of child abuse, child kidnapping and child torture. The PROTECT Act enables U.S. law enforcement to prosecute Americans who travel abroad and sexually abuse children. President Bush addresses UN General Assembly: In September 2003, President Bush underscored his commitment to fight trafficking in a speech to the General Assembly with a pledge of $50 million to support the work of anti-trafficking organizations. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act: In December 2003, Congress passed and President Bush signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act strengthening the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. The new legislation required better statistical monitoring; created a Special Watch List in the State Department's annual report; made convicting and sentencing traffickers as important as investigations when evaluating efforts of countries to combat trafficking; provided new tools for addressing destination countries that may not be doing anything about trafficking.
International Anti-trafficking Initiatives Under the leadership of the United States and Norway, NATO adopted a comprehensive plan to help combat worldwide trafficking in persons in Istanbul in June 2004. NATO personnel will support the efforts of authorities in host countries to combat trafficking while working with non-governmental organizations and anti-trafficking experts. In addition, the United States: -- Vigorously enforces U.S. laws against all those who traffic in persons; -- Strives to raise awareness at home and abroad about human trafficking and how it can be eradicated; -- Identifies, protects, and assists victims exploited by traffickers; -- Reduces the vulnerability of individuals to trafficking through increased education, economic opportunity, and protection and promotion of human rights; and -- Employs diplomatic and foreign policy tools to encourage other nations, the United Nations and other multilateral institutions to work together to draft and enforce laws against trafficking and to hold accountable those engaged in it. Cooperation with other countries has contributed to the prosecution around the world of nearly 8,000 perpetrators of trafficking crimes, resulting in over 2,800 convictions, according to the White House. The United States does not deport victims. Under U.S. law victims have the right to stay in the United States, either through "continued presence," which allows victims to stay pending an outcome of a trial, or through a "T" visa, which allows them to stay for up to three years and to thereafter apply for legal permanent status. T-visas and continued presence had been granted to 584 victims as of July 2004. The United States is currently the only country that offers the possibility of permanent residency to victims of trafficking. THE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT (TIP) The best source to begin exploring the Trafficking in Persons Report is the "Introduction" provided by the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. This introduction details the human and social toll of trafficking, provides an overview of the causes and effective strategies for combating trafficking, and then describes the 2004 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The Tiers: Tier 1: Countries whose governments fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum standards. Tier 2: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the act's minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. Tier 2 Watch List: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the act's minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, and: a. The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing; or b. There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or c. The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year. Tier 3: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so. Six European and Eurasian countries moved up from Tier 3 status in the 2004 Trafficking Report: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. WHAT IS THE UNITED STATES DOING ABOUT TRAFFICKING SPECIFICALLY IN EUROPE? For example, the Department of State supports the Angel coalition, which assists NGOs in Russia and is building an international hotline to improve investigations of trafficking rings and to get more convictions in court. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that since 1995, more than 88,000 children have been rescued, rehabilitated and/or protected from trafficking through the $125 million in international projects it has funded to combat trafficking. 22,000 of these children have been enrolled in education and training programs. By working to increase compliance with labor laws, the Labor Department is helping to ensure that vulnerable immigrants are treated fairly. It is U.S. policy that all workers are entitled to full and fair compensation for their labor, regardless of their status. In Eastern Europe, a Department of Labor-funded project created economic alternatives and job training for at-risk women in seven major cities. That project has provided skills training and job placement services to 20,000 women and young people of legal working age, the age group most vulnerable to traffickers. A DOL-funded project in the Balkans and Ukraine is helping children and young people stay in school and learn marketable skills so they can find jobs when they reach the legal working age, thereby strengthening national policies in those two countries regarding trafficking. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is certifying trafficking victims so they may qualify for the same assistance available to refugees. HHS is also running a major public awareness campaign to alert victims in the U.S. - some of whom are from Europe or Eurasia. The Department of Defense has implemented a zero-tolerance stand against any actions by Defense personnel that contribute to human trafficking and is instituting a service-wide mandatory training program. The National Institute of Justice funded five trafficking studies that have been completed, including a study of trafficking in women from Ukraine.
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Country Ratings Tier Placements Tier 1 The governments of countries in Tier 1 fully comply with the Act's minimum standards (2). Such governments criminalize and have successfully prosecuted trafficking, and have provided a wide range of protective services to victims. Victims are not jailed or otherwise punished solely as a result of being trafficked, and they are not summarily returned to a country where they may face hardship as a result of being trafficked. In addition, these governments sponsor or coordinate prevention campaigns aimed at stemming the flow of trafficking. Australia Austria Belgium Canada Colombia Czech Republic Tier 2 The governments of countries in Tier 2 do not yet fully comply with the Acts minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. Some are strong in the prosecution of traffickers, but provide little or no assistance to victims. Others work to assist victims and punish traffickers, but have not yet taken any significant steps to prevent trafficking. Some governments are only beginning to address trafficking, but nonetheless have already taken significant steps towards the eradication of trafficking. Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Argentina Belarus Bosnia-Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Chad Chile Congo (DRC) Costa Rica Cote D' Ivoire Croatia Cyprus East Timor Tier 2 Watch List Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Belize Benin Bolivia Cameroon China Dominican Republic The Gambia Greece Guinea Haiti India Jamaica Mauritius Mexico Nicaragua Niger Philippines Qatar Russia Rwanda Sierra Leone Slovak Republic South Africa Sudan Suriname Togo Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Zimbabwe Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Estonia Ethiopia Finland Gabon Georgia Ghana Guyana Guatemala Honduras Iran Israel Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Kyrgyz Republic Latvia Laos Lebanon Libya Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Moldova Mongolia Mozambique Nigeria Oman Pakistan Panama Paraguay Peru Romania Senegal Serbia-Montenegro Singapore Slovenia Sri Lanka Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Turkey Uganda Uruguay Vietnam Yemen Zambia Denmark France Germany Hong Kong Italy Korea, South Lithuania Luxembourg Morocco Netherlands Nepal New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Spain Sweden United Kingdom - UK
Tier 3 The governments of countries in Tier 3 do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance. Some of these governments refuse to acknowledge the trafficking problem within their territory. On a more positive note, several other governments in this category are beginning to take concrete steps to combat trafficking. While these steps do not yet reach the appropriate level of significance, many of these governments are on the path to placement on Tier 2. Burma Cambodia Cuba Ecuador Korea, North Kuwait Saudi Arabia Venezuela
No Tier Rating The Department was unable to place the following countries in tiers because of extenuating circumstances in transitioning states, and information that is incomplete, unclear, contradictory, or difficult to corroborate. These cases merit special mention because there are indications of trafficking in each of these countries. In some cases, there is no effective central government or the central government does not exercise control over the country. These transitional governments cannot be fairly evaluated on actions by previous governments. In addition, the Department did not assign a tier-rating to the USA. Brunei Tunisia Somalia Iraq Liberia Djibouti Jordan United States of America Malta Macau
1. Determination of Tier Placements To compile this years Trafficking in Persons Report, the Department used the same two-step approach that it employed in previous years. First, the report panel determined whether or not a country is "a country of origin, transit, or destination for a significant number of victims" of trafficking. In making this determination, the panel required credible reporting that the country was a country of origin, transit or destination for a number of victims on the order of one hundred or more. Only those countries that reached this threshold were included in the report. As a second step, the report panel placed each of the countries that are included on the report into one of the three lists, described here as tiers. This placement is based upon governments efforts to combat trafficking. Countries whose governments fully comply with the minimum standards2 for the elimination of trafficking were placed in Tier 1. Countries whose governments do not fully comply with those standards were placed in Tier 2 if they are making "significant efforts3 to bring themselves into compliance" with the standards, or in Tier 3 if they are not. Each tier encompasses a wide range of countries. 2. Minimum Standards 1. The government should prohibit trafficking and punish acts of trafficking. 2. The government should prescribe punishment commensurate with that for grave crimes, such as forcible sexual assault, for the knowing commission of trafficking in some of its most reprehensible forms (trafficking for sexual purposes, trafficking involving rape or kidnapping, or trafficking that causes a death). 3. For knowing commission of any act of trafficking, the government should prescribe punishment that is sufficiently stringent to deter, and that adequately reflects the offenses heinous nature. 4. The government should make serious and sustained efforts to eliminate trafficking. a) Whether the government vigorously investigates and prosecutes acts of trafficking within its territory. b) Whether the government protects victims of trafficking, encourages victims assistance in investigation and prosecution, provides victims with legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they would face retribution or hardship, and ensures that victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts as a direct result of being trafficked. c) Whether the government has adopted measures, such as public education, to prevent trafficking. d) Whether the government cooperates with other governments in investigating and prosecuting trafficking. e) Whether the government extradites persons charged with trafficking as it does with other serious crimes. f) Whether the government monitors immigration and emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking, and whether law enforcement agencies respond appropriately to such evidence. g) Whether the government vigorously investigates and prosecutes public officials who participate in or facilitate trafficking, and takes all appropriate measures against officials who condone trafficking. 3. Significant Efforts Three factors were considered in determining whether a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with these minimum standards. (1) the extent of trafficking in the country; (2) the extent of governmental noncompliance with the minimum standards, particularly the extent to which government officials have participated in, facilitated, condoned, or are otherwise complicit in trafficking; and (3) what measures are reasonable to bring the government into compliance with the minimum standards in light of the governments resources and capabilities.
AFGHANISTAN (TIER 2) Afghanistan Afghanistan is located astride the land routes between the Indian subcontinent, Iran, and central Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan remains extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, farming, and trade with neighboring countries. It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid and attention to raise Afghanistan's living standards up from its current status among the lowest in the world. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs, but the Afghan government and international donors remain committed to improving access to these basic necessities by prioritizing infrastructure development, education, housing development, jobs programs, and economic reform. Afghanistan is a country of origin for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and labor. Children are trafficked to Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia for forced begging, labor, and sexual exploitation. Some parents pay smugglers to take their children into Iran and Saudi Arabia, hoping their children will find work and send remittances; once there, the children become subject to coercive arrangements that constitute involuntary servitude. Children are also "loaned" by their parents to perform agricultural and domestic work within Afghanistan in return for wages paid to the parents; these arrangements often develop into involuntary servitude. Women and girls are kidnapped, lured by fraudulent marriage proposals, or sold into forced marriage and commercial sexual exploitation in Pakistan. Women and girls are also trafficked internally as a part of the settlement of disputes or debts as well as for forced marriage and labor and sexual exploitation. Afghanistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Afghanistan has a taskforce and national action plan focusing exclusively on child trafficking. It now needs to implement its comprehensive national plan of action against all forms of trafficking. Afghanistan needs to establish a shelter for women victims of trafficking as it has done for child victims. It should also deal with corruption within its police forces, as many perpetrators are not brought to justice. Implementation of these reforms is complicated by the fact that Afghanistan still faces resource limitations and daunting challenges in exerting control over some of its provinces. Prosecution Afghanistan's law enforcement actions against trafficking are hard to quantify and evaluate, as the government does not compile and keep central data on its prosecution activities. Reports indicate that out of a possible 20 suspected cases of child trafficking, two resulted in convictions, three resulted in acquittals, and six are still being prosecuted. Afghanistan does not have antitrafficking legislation; however, it can use its other laws to prosecute trafficking and related crimes. The government should implement a comprehensive anti-trafficking law to combat all forms of trafficking. It should also aggressively investigate and prosecute elements within its police force that are complicit in trafficking. Protection Afghanistan improved its victim protection activities in 2004. It continued operating a transit center in Kabul to assist children deported from destination countries. It also used innovative family tracing and reunification systems to facilitate the return and reintegration of children. In addition, Afghanistan has a procedure by which parents/guardians are required to certify their children's safe return to them - a procedure meant to reduce the re-trafficking of child victims. In 2004, Afghanistan, with the assistance of UNICEF and IOM, started reintegration projects in the Baghlan and Takhar provinces for deported children from Saudi Arabia and Iran. Afghanistan, in collaboration with UNICEF, provided anti-trafficking training for officials in frontline agencies. NGOs provided clothing and temporary shelter to victims. Prevention The Government of Afghanistan improved its efforts to combat trafficking through prevention activities over the reporting period, due largely to improved security in certain provinces, increased access to education, cessation of war and conflict, improved border control, and improvement in people's standard of living. In 2004, Afghanistan completed a study on child trafficking and approved, translated, and distributed an action plan to combat this form of trafficking to all provinces. Afghanistan should conduct a similar study for all forms of human trafficking and adopt a plan of action to combat.
ALBANIA (TIER 2) The Republic of Albania The Republic of Albania is located on the Adriatic Sea coast of the Balkan Peninsula, between Serbia and Montenegro on the north, Macedonia on the east, and Greece on the south. Tiran is the capital and largest city. Poor and backward by European standards, Albania is making the difficult transition to a more modern open-market economy. The government has taken measures to curb violent crime and to spur economic activity and trade. The economy is bolstered by annual remittances from abroad of $600-$800 million, mostly from Greece and Italy; this helps offset the towering trade deficit. Albania is a source country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor, largely to Greece and Italy, where many victims are then further transited to the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. Albanian children, especially ethnic Roma and Egyptian, continue to be trafficked externally for forced begging. Regional and international experts consider Albania to have significantly decreased as a transit country for trafficking in Western Europe. The Government of Albania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government remained committed to monitoring and preventing trafficking at the countrys main ports and produced successful interdictions. However, implementation of Albanias anti-trafficking tools remained inadequate and a critical area of concern. Greater, proactive steps in the areas of protection and reintegration are needed to ensure the safety of victims. The government must apply available laws and programs, in addition to improving prevention for vulnerable groups. Trafficking-related corruption must also be addressed. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2005 Prosecution In 2004, the Government of Albania continued to arrest, prosecute, and convict traffickers. Its courts prosecuted 132 traffickers and handed down 121 convictions. Commendably, over half of the sentences during the reporting period were over five years in length and 30 traffickers were sentenced to more than ten years' imprisonment. In September 2004, the government adopted legislation that includes broad civil asset forfeiture provisions, requiring the accused trafficker to prove the legitimacy of sources of wealth. Prosecutors, however, had yet to employ the forfeiture provisions. Serious resource constraints and corruption among government officials continued to hamper anti-trafficking efforts. The government continued to investigate police involvement in trafficking; in 2004, four police officers were investigated for offenses related to trafficking. The government did not prosecute or convict any officials for trafficking complicity during the reporting period. Protection The government provided some facilities and personnel to assist trafficking victims, and operates its own National Reception Center; NGOs have two additional shelters. The government has begun work on a national referral mechanism involving law enforcement, social services, and NGO partners to improve the initial identification, reception, protection, and reintegration procedures for returnee victims. Police slightly increased the number of ad hoc referrals made to shelters in Albania via IOM and NGOs. Police referred 274 victims to the Vatra Center, a leading NGO in Albania providing shelter and reintegration services to victims. Notably, a number of police directorates opened their own temporary shelters to accommodate trafficking victims. However, regulations necessary for the implementation of witness-protection measures adopted in 2003 have yet to be finalized. In 2004, the Government of Albania established a witness relocation program and adopted special witness protection provisions allowing for endangered witnesses in trafficking cases to testify via remote video link. The program remains unfunded. Prevention In 2004, the government conducted few prevention programs, and continued to reply primarily on NGOs and international organizations to carry out such activities. The Ministry of Education began to incorporate prevention activities into school curricula. In 2004, the government adopted a newly improved Strategic Framework and National Action Plan that outlines a comprehensive and targeted approach to trafficking. However, few aspects of the plan have been funded or initiated. In February 2005, the government also finalized its Child Trafficking Strategy and Action Plan.
ALGERIA (TIER 2) Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria The Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria is located on the NW coast of Africa, and is bordered by Mauritania, Western Sahara, & Morocco (W), by the Mediterranean Sea (N), by Tunisia & Libya (E), and by Niger & Mali (S). Algiers is its capital and largest city. Since 1998, Algeria has experienced notable political and socio-economic changes. The Government has made peace and stability its political priority. Thousands of people have disarmed and were pardoned or granted amnesty. Violence has declined and the security situation has improved, but it remains precarious. Isolated terrorist acts continue to affect the population, in particular women and children. Algeria is primarily a transit country for men, women, and children trafficked from Central and Western Africa en route to Europe for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Once in Algeria, some women find themselves exploited in prostitution, usually by a family member, when their financial situation becomes dire. African and Algerian human smugglers use deception and fraud to entice would-be victims from their countries by falsely promising victims easy passage through Algeria to destinations in Europe. They then abandon their victims after they cross over Algeria's vast and porous border in the south. In addition to instances of trafficking for prostitution cited above, desperate economic circumstances force some men to seek work as laborers in construction and other menial work. There are reportedly an estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants in Algeria, some of whom are believed to be trafficking victims. The Government of Algeria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government has expressed willingness to address the problem through regional cooperation with similarly affected countries in the region. It needs to build on this initiative and develop appropriate policy mechanisms to more effectively tackle the problem. There is currently a plan underway to set up an office to combat trafficking, which will include appointing a national anti-trafficking coordinator to oversee and coordinate its anti-trafficking activities. This office should also develop and implement a national plan of action to combat trafficking, a mechanism for differentiating between trafficking victims and illegal immigrants, and a comprehensive anti-trafficking law that punishes traffickers, provides for the protection of victims, and facilitates prevention programs. Prosecution During the reporting period, Algeria has not done much to prosecute traffickers, largely because it does not systematically differentiate between trafficking victims and the thousands of illegal immigrants in the country. Although Algeria does not have specific anti-trafficking legislation, it has various criminal laws that could be applied to combat trafficking. However, there is no evidence the government has used these laws to prosecute traffickers, including those who reportedly subject victims into prostitution. Police and security officers regularly arrest illegal immigrants and deport them, but they do not systematically screen them to determine whether they are trafficking victims and subsequently accord them proper protection services. Protection The government did very little to protect victims of trafficking during the reporting period, largely because its law enforcement officers do not have a procedure in place to positively identify victims. There is no government-run shelter for the protection of victims, but the NGO International Committee for the Development of People (CISP) provides services for such victims in the Tamanrasset area. The government should increase its cooperation with NGOs and civil society members engaged in the provision of shelter and other services to victims. Prevention Algeria's efforts to prevent trafficking improved over the last year. In 2004, several members of the Algerian Coast Guard attended anti-smuggling and anti-trafficking training in the United States. The government should work with CISP and other NGOs, which have anti-trafficking public campaigns in place, and continue working with sources and destination countries to combat trafficking.
ANGOLA (TIER 2) Republic of Angola The Republic of Angola is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean (W), by Congo (Kinshasa) (N & NE), by Zambia (E), and by Namibia (S). Luanda is the capital, largest city, and chief port. Angola has been an economy in disarray because of a quarter century of nearly continuous warfare. An apparently durable peace was established after the death of rebel leader Jonas SAVIMBI in February 2002, but consequences from the conflict continue including the impact of widespread land mines. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for 85% of the population. Angola is a source country for children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Angolan girls move back and forth across Angola's border with Namibia to engage in prostitution with truck drivers. There are unconfirmed anecdotal reports of trafficking for the purpose of child commercial sexual exploitation in Angola's cities. Small numbers of children may also be trafficked for forced agricultural labor. The Government of Angola does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. To further its antitrafficking efforts, the government should launch a trafficking-specific public education and awareness campaign in trafficking-prone communities and expand programs that provide direct protective assistance to children in prostitution. Prosecution The government's anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts improved during the year. Angola does not have a law that specifically prohibits trafficking in persons. However, constitutional and statutory laws criminalizing forced or bonded labor, prostitution, kidnapping, and illegal entry are used to prosecute trafficking cases. In March 2004, government authorities opened their first specific trafficking investigation into a case of six girls who were lured to farms in Huila province with promises of employment and then sexually exploited. While it is regrettable that there was no conviction or sentence, the case was ultimately settled out of court, with the trafficker making restitution to the victims' families. Statistics were unavailable on other trafficking-related cases investigated and prosecuted by the government during the year. In December 2004, UNICEF conducted a train-the-trainers session on the enforcement of trafficking-related laws and immigration standards at the borders; 28 individuals, mostly Directors of Provincial Border Posts, attended this session. In March 2005, the border post directors in Bunguela province used this training to conduct a week-long training session for 25 immigration officials on combating child traffickin. Protection Government efforts to protect trafficking victims continued during the reporting period. The government funds 20 percent of its anti-trafficking programs, and provides in-kind human resources and facilities. Through its social welfare agencies, the government provided basic assistance to seven trafficking victims in Luanda; an unknown number of victims were assisted in other regions of the country. In 2004, the government started a program with the Catholic Church near the Namibian border to assist child victims of trafficking with reintegration into the community. The program's initial focus was on providing basic literacy and skills training, such as locksmith skills, tinsmith skills, or carpentry, to give trafficking victims viable future opportunities. The government, assisted by UNICEF, continued implementation of the post-conflict child soldier protection strategy, specifically targeting registered child soldiers. Former child soldiers were provided skills training, psychological services, temporary housing, and assistance with civil registration. To date, 3,750 of the 4,000 registered child soldiers have been assisted by these programs. Prevention During the period, the government made progress in preventing trafficking from occurring. The Immigration Service began enforcing a law requiring documentation for international air travel of children unaccompanied by their parents. Airport immigration officials prevented 78 children from departing Angola for lack of required documentation in 2004. The Ministry of Justice's child registration program registered approximately four million children during its three-year nation-wide campaign that ended in late 2004. The registration of these children limits the number of undocumented and therefore vulnerable children. The Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration helped approximately 4,500 separated children reintegrate into their families and communities of origin. The National Commission to Combat Child Labor and Trafficking in Minors began drafting a national plan of action to combat child trafficking. Government statements against children in prostitution and abuse of children's rights appeared frequently in local media.
ARGENTINA (TIER 2) Argentine Republic The Argentine Republic is bordered by Chile on the west, Bolivia and Paraguay on the north, Brazil and Uruguay on the northeast, and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city. Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Over the past decade, however, the country has suffered problems of inflation, external debt, capital flight, and budget deficits. Argentina is primarily a destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Most victims are trafficked internally, from rural to urban areas, for exploitation in the commercial sex trade. Some Argentine women and girls are trafficked abroad, mainly for sexual exploitation in Brazil, Paraguay, or Spain. Women and children are trafficked from Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil for commercial sexual exploitation, and migrants from neighboring countries are sometimes trafficked to Argentina for other types of forced labor. Traffickers often threaten or inflict physical violence, restrict victims' movements, and forge documents to conceal the nationality and age of victims. The Government of Argentina does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Officials investigated and prosecuted cases related to commercial sexual exploitation rings, and the government named a national coordinator on trafficking issues. Future government actions should address the slowness of the judicial process and ensure that any official involved in or facilitating trafficking is prosecuted. The government should also implement national policies to protect victims, prevent trafficking, and strengthen efforts to prosecute traffickers and collect data on trafficking crimes and prosecutions. Prosecution Law enforcement investigated and prosecuted some trafficking-related cases, but heavy case loads for prosecutors, Argentina's slow judicial process, and, in some instances, police officer complicity in trafficking activities hampered efforts to combat trafficking during the reporting period. The government lacked a coordinated law enforcement strategy and a comprehensive anti-trafficking law. The government used other laws to address trafficking-related crimes, with penalties ranging from one to 20 years in prison. During the reporting period, authorities investigated at least two new cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation involving more than four traffickers. Two other investigations of alleged trafficking-related disappearances remained pending, with some suspects in detention. Argentine courts convicted three traffickers who sexually exploited women and girls from Paraguay; defendants received four to 12 years in prison. There were no allegations of national government officials involved in trafficking, but prosecutors launched new investigations of police involved in trafficking women for commercial sexual exploitation, and a case implicating 19 officials in trafficking-related offenses remained pending in the courts. Protection Individual provinces provided some assistance to trafficking victims, but resources were insufficient for comprehensive care and protection. Prosecutors encouraged victims to support prosecutions and referred them to victims of crime centers, but no government services met specific trafficking victim needs and few NGOs worked directly with victims. A bill with provisions to assist and protect trafficking victims remained pending in Congress. The project "Luz de Infancia," which is aimed at combating commercial sexual exploitation of minors, assisted 18 children. Identified trafficking victims were not detained or forcibly deported, but not all officials understood the difference between trafficking and illegal migration or prostitution that was not trafficking-related. IOM repatriated nine women victims and dependents to their home countries; government agencies consulted IOM about additional cases involving approximately 20 women. Prevention Government prevention efforts during the reporting period were localized and failed to educate the wider public. The Luz de Infancia program in Puerto Iguazu and Buenos Aires municipal programs offered public awareness and education outreach. Buenos Aires authorities ran a telephone hotline, a poster campaign, and education for secondary school and public health officials on identifying and assisting victims of child sexual exploitation. The Foreign Ministry trained consular officers to assist victims. The government organized or participated in workshops and meetings on trafficking throughout the year. In late 2004, it appointed a national anti-trafficking coordinator to improve coordination of government and civil society efforts.
ARMENIA (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Republic of Armenia The Republic of Armenia, in the S Caucasus, is bounded by Turkey on the west, Azerbaijan on the east, the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran on its southwestern border, and Georgia on the north. Yerevan is the capital. The Armenian Government launched an ambitious IMF-sponsored economic liberalization program that resulted in positive growth rates in 1995-2003. It has managed to slash inflation, stabilize the local currency (the dram), and privatize most small- and medium-sized enterprises. Armenia's severe trade imbalance has been offset somewhat by international aid and foreign direct investment. Armenia is a source and, to a lesser extent, a transit and destination country for women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation largely to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and Turkey. Some evidence indicates that Armenian victims were trafficked to other European countries as well. According to UN estimates, up to 1,000 Armenian women work as prostitutes in the U.A.E. and Turkey, most of whom are victims of trafficking. The Government of Armenia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Armenia is placed on Tier 2 Watch List this year because of its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking over the past year. Specifically, the government failed to disseminate or implement any elements of its January 2004 National Action Plan. The government should take proactive steps to officially distribute, publicly support, and implement this plan as soon as possible. Notably, trafficking-related prosecutions and convictions increased; however, reluctance to apply the new anti-trafficking statute produced insufficient penalties. The government adopted an anti-corruption program and created a task force in 2004; however, it failed to take any measures beyond issuing a rhetorical pledge to address trafficking-related complicity. Prosecution Article 132 of the criminal code prohibits trafficking in persons and provides for a maximum penalty of four to eight years' imprisonment. However, the government overwhelmingly applied Article 262 of the criminal code - a lighter pimping charge. Out of 16 convictions in 2004, the government applied the 2003 anti-trafficking statute (Article 132) only once; the remaining 15 convictions under Article 262 produced much weaker penalties. While the government increased the overall number of trafficking-related convictions, the cases produced outcomes ranging from six-month to two-year sentences, suspended sentences, corrective labor and fines. These penalties are not commensurate with Armenian penalties for other grave crimes, such as rape. Indications of official collusion and complicity among government officials hampered the government's efforts to adequately tackle Armenia's trafficking problem. Members of the Procuracy allegedly assisted traffickers and border guards accepted bribes facilitating traffickers' movements across the border. The government failed to investigate or prosecute government officials complicit in trafficking. Protection Armenia's anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts remained anemic over the last year. While Armenia's law provides trafficking victims with protection, the government largely failed to provide this assistance during the reporting period. NGOs and international organizations continued to provide the majority of victim protection and widely reported good cooperation with the government. The government did not issue any formalized or standard operating procedures for police to follow when encountering possible victims of trafficking. In the absence of a formalized referral mechanism, police informally referred victims to local NGOs. Police also referred potential victims of sexual exploitation for medical screening and treatment as necessary. The rights of victims were generally respected. The police often failed, however, to treat victims' identities with confidentiality. Victim assistance programs reported sheltering 15 victims in 2004. Prevention Cooperation between the government and NGOs continued to help raise awareness about trafficking in Armenia. The government sustained its program of providing housing to vulnerable children released from Armenian orphanages. The Department of Migration and Refugees initiated anti-trafficking discussions on several local talk shows. Lack of official recognition of the problem within many sectors of the government, however, contributed to the overall lack of progress. In a recent interview, the Minister of Justice declared that "trafficking does not exist as a phenomenon in Armenia." Informally, the government made a preliminary effort to engage bilaterally with Georgia, but did not develop any pro-active programs to assist Armenian victims in transit or destination countries.
AUSTRALIA (TIER 1) Commonwealth of Australia Australia, the smallest continent, lies between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Its capital is Canberra and its largest city is Sydney. Australia has an enviable Western-style capitalist economy, with a per capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies. One concern is the rapid increase in domestic housing prices, which have raised the prospect that interest rates will need to be raised to prevent a speculative bubble. Australia is a destination country for women from Southeast Asia, South Korea, and the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) who are trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Some of these women travel to Australia voluntarily to work in both legal and illegal brothels but are deceived or coerced into debt bondage or sexual servitude. The Government of Australia fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The Commonwealth's Action Plan to Eradicate Trafficking in Persons provided substantial financial and personnel resources to combat the problem both domestically and internationally. Over the last year, the government further refined its anti-trafficking program. In 2004, the government made significant and greater efforts to combat trafficking, including developing further legislation to criminalize aspects of trafficking and increase penalties for trafficking-related offenses, increasing prosecutions, and enhancing victim assistance. The government should consider expanding its protection efforts to cover victims who cooperate with the police but are not part of a viable investigation. Prosecution The Australian Government made progress in its efforts to prosecute trafficking-related offenses. Trafficking cases were prosecuted under various statutes including provisions in the Commonwealth Criminal Code, the Crimes Act, and the Migration Act. During the reporting period, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigated 38 trafficking cases that led to the prosecution of 14 traffickers in five cases involving 24 victims. There were no trafficking convictions during the reporting period. The AFP's Transnational Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Team, a 23-person unit dedicated to investigating trafficking cases, was charged with determining whether a person is a trafficking victim, often after an initial referral from Australia's immigration agency. In addition to improving law enforcement efforts, the government has been developing further legislation to criminalize aspects of trafficking and increase the penalties for trafficking-related offenses. The government also used the Crimes Act to convict Australian citizens and residents who traveled abroad to engage in sex with minors less than 16 years of age. Since 1994, 13 pedophiles have been convicted under this law, which carries a maximum sentence of 17 years. Protection In 2004, the government took significant steps to improve efforts by police and immigration authorities to distinguish trafficking victims from illegal migrants. The Australian Government also made progress in identifying and eliciting the cooperation of trafficking victims in providing criminal evidence for the prosecution of traffickers. The government provided all suspected trafficking victims with short-term temporary shelter, medical care, and counseling. If these victims were determined by police to be able and willing to aid in a criminal investigation, they were given social security benefits, housing, medical treatment, legal assistance, social support, and vocational training. Australia's streamlined police investigation and immigration referral procedures resulted in an increase in the number of suspected trafficking victims referred for visa determinations. During the reporting period, immigration authorities granted 29 bridging visas to trafficking victims. In 2004, the Government also introduced a new witness protection visa exclusively for trafficking victims. Prevention The Australian Government continued to expand its efforts to prevent new incidents of trafficking. The government coordinated closely with neighboring countries to investigate trafficking and funded awareness campaigns in source countries. Australian Government funding helped to establish specialized anti-trafficking law enforcement units and to develop prosecutorial capabilities in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Burma. The government demonstrated regional leadership by providing foreign aid to strengthen the capacity of regional police forces to investigate trafficking cases, supported legal education programs to assist lawmakers in improving their capacity to prosecute traffickers, and funded reintegration programs for trafficking victims. Within Australia, the government continued its multi-year community awareness project on trafficking. The Australian Government also widely publicized criminal cases against traffickers. Australia continued its cooperation with foreign governments in the local prosecution of Australian pedophiles or their extradition or deportation to Australia so they could be tried for the extra-territorial offense of sexual exploitation of a minor.
AUSTRIA (TIER 1) Republic of Austria The Republic of Austria is a central European country bounded by Slovenia & Italy (S), Switzerland & Liechtenstein (W), Germany and the Czech Republic (N), and Slovakia and Hungary (E). Its capital and largest city is Vienna. To meet increased competition from both EU and Central European countries, particularly the new EU members, Austria will need to emphasize knowledge-based sectors of the economy, continue to deregulate the service sector, and encourage much greater participation in the labor market by its aging population. The aging phenomenon, together with already high health and pension costs, poses fundamental problems in tax and welfare policies. Austria is a transit and destination country for women and children trafficked from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, particularly Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Belarus, and Ukraine, for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Those victims transiting are bound for other EU countries, especially Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. Trafficking in Romanian children decreased dramatically in 2004, mainly due to cooperation between Austrian and Romanian law enforcement authorities. Trafficking of Bulgarian children for the purposes of forced begging and stealing remains a problem. The Government of Austria fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. In November 2004, Austria upgraded its working group on trafficking, renaming it a "Task Force" and giving it official status and a mandate. While convictions decreased, the number of trafficking investigations and cases filed under Austria's amended criminal code increased. The Austrian Government should consider giving greater funding to NGOs that assist larger numbers of trafficking victims each year, and expanding its prevention program to include domestic demand-reduction programs. It should also increase its ability to provide police protection to victims willing to testify and focus more efforts on convicting and sentencing traffickers. Prosecution Austrian authorities filed trafficking cases against 348 suspects in 2004, 106 of whom were charged under Austria's May 2004 article against trafficking. Convictions of traffickers dropped, however, from 27 in 2002 to 11 in 2003 - the most recent conviction statistics available. Each of the 11 convicted served a prison sentence; sentences ranged from six months to three years. The police academy provided police cadets with a one-day training course on trafficking. In January 2005, the Ministry of Justice held a training conference on trafficking for approximately 75 Austrian judges, public prosecutors, police, and officials from the Ministries of Interior and Justice. During the reporting period, there was no evidence that government authorities were complicit in the trafficking of persons. Austrian law enforcement authorities worked closely with police authorities in several source countries where trafficking victims originated. In particular, intense cooperation to stem trafficking in persons continued with Romanian authorities and with the Hungarian border police. Protection The Austrian Government maintained its strong trafficking victim protection efforts, and increased the number of victims reached over the last year. The Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Health and Women funded Austria's primary anti-trafficking NGO, which assisted 167 trafficking victims in 2004, up from 142 victims in 2003. Of those 167 victims, 37 stayed in the NGO's shelter, with the median stay being 11 to 20 weeks. The government did not keep statistics on the number of temporary residence permits issued to trafficking victims. However, the primary anti-trafficking NGO noted that 14 out of the 17 trafficking victims that requested temporary residence permits received them. Continued residence for trafficking victims is possible in certain cases. Trafficking victims identified by trained police officers, or with the help of an NGO if police suspect trafficking, received full rights under Austrian law and access to the Austrian social system for the duration of the case. Austria's principal shelter provided secure housing for trafficking victims while in Austria. No trafficking victims were under witness protection status in 2004. Prevention In early 2005, Austria initiated a domestic anti-trafficking campaign; the State television broadcaster began airing UN public service announcements to raise trafficking awareness and reach out to trafficking victims. The Foreign Ministry continued to distribute information packets through Austrian embassies in Eastern Europe to potential trafficking victims to inform them of where to go to get help in Austria. The Austrian Government did not include domestic demand-reduction programs as part of its overall prevention efforts. During the reporting period, the Austrian Government worked with the Romanian Government to train victim assistance personnel through an exchange between shelters in Vienna and Bucharest. Austria has no national action plan or public planning document to fight trafficking.
AZERBAIJAN (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Republic of Azerbaijan The Republic of Azerbaijan, in Transcaucasia, is situated at the gateway to SW Asia and is bounded by Iran (S), where the Aras River divides it from Iranian Azerbaijan; by the Caspian Sea (E), by Russia's Dagestan Republic (N), and by Armenia (W). Baky (Baku) is its capital. Azerbaijan shares all the formidable problems of the former Soviet republics in making the transition from a command to a market economy, but its considerable energy resources brighten its long-term prospects. Azerbaijan is primarily a country of origin and transit for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Azerbaijani, Russian, Ukrainian, and Central Asian women and girls were trafficked from or through the country to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Turkey, Pakistan, and India. Internal trafficking of women and girls appeared to be an increasing problem. There were some reports of men trafficked to neighboring countries (e.g., Turkey and Russia) for forced labor. The Government of Azerbaijan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The Government of Azerbaijan is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year because of its inability to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking over the reporting period. The government's efforts remained in preliminary stages of implementation. However, government recognition and acknowledgement of the problem increased and progress was made in a few notable areas, particularly in the drafting of anti-trafficking legislation and amendments to the criminal code. In addition, the government increased the number of its trafficking investigations and established an anti-trafficking police unit. The Government of Azerbaijan should ensure full implementation of its national action plan, formalize a victim referral and protection system, provide adequate anti-trafficking training for police, and properly vet officers on the anti trafficking unit. Prosecution Anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts in Azerbaijan remained anemic during the last year. The government drafted antitrafficking legislation and amendments to the criminal code, but did not officially adopt them during 2004. The government continued its use of trafficking-related charges of slavery, rape, coercion into prostitution and inducing a minor into prostitution to investigate trafficking crimes. The government in 2004 reported 106 trafficking-related investigations, ten of which resulted in convictions - a decrease from 20 convictions in 2003. Eight perpetrators received one-year prison sentences and two female offenders were reportedly released because they had children. The government created a special anti-trafficking police unit and developed operational guidelines for the unit, though the unit's members were not vetted according to international standards. Reports of official complicity continued during the reporting period, yet the government failed to investigate or prosecute any new cases of official corruption during the year. In January 2005, a new anti-corruption law adopted by the Government of Azerbaijan came into force; it aims to reduce corruption and increase professionalism, particularly among police and customs officials. Protection During the reporting period, the government did not show evidence of employing a formal referral mechanism or specialized protections for trafficking victims but did informally refer victims to state healthcare facilities, international organizations, and some local NGOs for assistance. The government continued to provide mandatory health screening and treatment to women in prostitution, many of whom the government believes fit the trafficking profile. As previously recommended, the government did not provide these individuals with information on trafficking. The Cabinet of Ministers identified property that will be used to house a shelter for trafficking victims. Prevention In May 2004, the President issued an official decree ordering all government bodies to implement Azerbaijan's National Action Plan and named the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs as National Coordinator for Trafficking. International organizations and NGOs conducted the bulk of anti-trafficking prevention activities; however, cooperation and participation from local government officials increased slightly. A local NGO provided some anti-trafficking training to police. For the first time in 2004, Azerbaijani consular officers began to report potential trafficking cases to international organizations. The government targeted prevention efforts at populations vulnerable to being trafficked and funded the construction of permanent housing for internally displaced persons. The government continued its communication with neighboring governments on transnational crime issues, including trafficking in persons.
BAHRAIN (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Kingdom of Bahrain The Kingdom of Bahrain, an archipelago located in the Persian Gulf, consists of two main islands, Bahrain and Al Muharraq, connected by a causeway. The capital and chief port is Al Manamah, on Bahrain. Unemployment, especially among the young, and the depletion of oil and underground water resources are major long-term economic problems. In September 2004 Bahrain signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States - the first such agreement undertaken by a Gulf state. Bahrain is a destination country for women and men who migrate legally from South Asia and the Philippines and - to a lesser extent - from China, Indonesia, the former Soviet Union, Morocco, and Ethiopia, but fall victim to conditions of sexual servitude, debt bondage, and other exploitative conditions that constitute involuntary servitude. The Government of Bahrain does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Bahrain is placed on Tier 2 Watch List because of the lack of evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year. Although Bahrain has developed a national plan of action and created an inter-ministerial taskforce on trafficking, these efforts were not accompanied by concrete actions to address the substantial trafficking problem it faces. During the reporting period, the government did not prosecute any person on trafficking charges, despite continued reports of foreign workers in conditions of involuntary servitude. A promised government-run shelter for trafficking victims has not opened and some prominent Bahrainis reportedly continue to illegally sell "free visas" to workers, thereby indirectly facilitating the trafficking of victims. Bahrain should develop and implement appropriate antitrafficking measures to address these concerns. Prosecution The Government of Bahrain did not improve its prosecution record during the reporting period. Although Bahrain lacks anti-trafficking laws to prosecute traffickers, it has ruled in favor of workers in numerous cases of abuses and non-payment of wages. The Ministry of Labor provides mediation services to resolve labor disputes. In 2004, the Ministry of Labor mediated and resolved 624 complaints and it referred 1,926 complaints to courts, though it is unknown how many, if any, of these cases are trafficking-related. Bahrain reported that it is investigating 43 employers for offenses related to abuse of "free visa" privileges to bring in foreign workers. Press reports indicate that the government arrested and deported foreign women for engaging in prostitution during the year; however, there is no evidence that the government attempted to identify potential trafficking victims among the arrested women. During the reporting period, the government shut down some manpower agencies engaged in trafficking-related offenses. Bahrain's court system is overburdened with cases; many labor complaints languish in courts. Protection The Government of Bahrain took some steps to protect victims of trafficking over the last year. It registered the Migrant Workers Group (MWG) - an NGO working to protect vulnerable foreign laborers - and gave it permission to open a shelter for trafficking victims. Bahrain's inter-ministerial taskforce on trafficking announced the establishment of a safe house for victims. The government does not, however, take adequate measures to identify trafficking victims and accord them with sufficient protections. In most cases, victims are detained and deported, though the government encourages them to pursue their cases through their embassies. The government's telephone hotline to assist victims of abuse continues to encounter operational problems and is staffed by people with inadequate training. Prevention In 2004, the Government of Bahrain took a few positive steps to prevent trafficking. Despite prior agreement with IOM to conduct a trafficking survey, the project did not materialize, as the government did not grant the necessary permission for IOM to operate in the country. The government announced a plan for conducting public awareness campaigns on the issue of labor exploitation and potential trafficking. It continued to meet with local embassies on a monthly basis to address trafficking-related concerns and distributed pamphlets in Arabic, Bengali, English, Singhalese, Tagalog, Thai, and Urdu to foreign workers. In 2004, Bahrain launched a campaign to educate employers on the country's labor laws and announced plans to tighten the issuance of visitor visas in response to reports of increased abuses of foreign workers.
BANGLADESH (TIER 2) Peoples Republic of Bangladesh The People's Republic of Bangladesh is located in S Asia. It borders on the Bay of Bengal (S); on the Indian states of West Bengal (W & N), Assam and Meghalaya (NE), and Tripura and Mizoram (E); and on Myanmar (SE). Dhaka is its capital and largest city. Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and ill-governed nation. Although half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Bangladesh is a country of origin and transit for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude, and debt bondage. Bangladeshi women and girls are trafficked to India, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). A small number of women and girls are trafficked from Burma to India through the country. Bangladeshi boys are also trafficked to the U.A.E., Qatar, and Kuwait for forced work as camel jockeys and beggars. Women and children from rural areas in Bangladesh are trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. Young boys are lured into forced servitude in the fishing industry in Dublar Char and other islands in the Bay of Bengal region. The Government of Bangladesh does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Over the last year, Bangladesh showed commendable progress in all areas of anti-trafficking efforts. Bangladesh established an inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee to oversee its national efforts to combat trafficking, created a national anti-trafficking police monitoring unit with presence in all 64 districts, prosecuted an increased number of trafficking and trafficking-related corruption cases, rescued over 161 boys from servitude in the fishing industry, devised and launched a multi-faceted anti-trafficking public awareness campaign, and increased its cooperation with NGOs involved in the fight against trafficking. Despite these achievements, Bangladesh continues to face a huge trafficking problem, which is compounded by pervasive poverty, weak government structures, and generalized corruption. Bangladesh should expand its anti-corruption efforts to reduce the witting and unwitting complicity of officials in trafficking. Prosecution Over the reporting period, the Government of Bangladesh made marked improvements in investigating, prosecuting, and punishing traffickers. Through dedicated district-level anti-trafficking magistrates, the government prosecuted 70 cases of trafficking, resulting in 42 convictions - more than double the 17 convictions from the previous year. Twenty-one cases initiated are in the investigation stage. Bangladesh has also charged 11 officials for trafficking-related corruption; those prosecutions are underway. Although an improvement from the previous year, this anti-corruption effort remains weak compared to the large scale of trafficking in Bangladesh. The government appointed a Deputy Attorney General to coordinate the prosecution of trafficking cases throughout the country, and it created an anti-trafficking police cell to compile statistics and data on trafficking cases and victims and to produce witnesses for trial. Although the government rescued over 161 boys trapped in servitude in the fishing industry, none of their traffickers and exploiters was brought to justice. Protection The government primarily relies on NGOs such as the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association for shelter, medical care, counseling, repatriation, and reintegration services. However, it also runs safe houses, which can shelter trafficking victims. During 2004, the government returned 123 victims to their guardians; it also turned over 21 victims to NGO-run shelters and 11 to government-run safe homes. The government cooperates with NGOs and foreign governments in the repatriation and reintegration of victims. Various NGOs provide training to government officials on victim assistance and protection techniques. Although Bangladesh does not provide training to its overseas diplomats on detecting and caring for victims of trafficking, it has plans to collaborate with an NGO to provide such training to its diplomats. Prevention During the reporting period, Bangladesh made progress in implementing anti-trafficking preventive measures. Bangladesh's efforts include launching broad and extensive public awareness campaigns through its national television and radio, conducting antitrafficking training for religious teachers, and integrating anti-trafficking training material in Bangladesh's Rifles (Border Patrol) training curriculum. In addition, the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs continued its campaign of "Road Marches" to raise awareness of the dangers of trafficking.
BELARUS (TIER 2) Republic of Belarus The Republic of Belarus, located in E central Europe is bordered by Poland (W), Lithuania and Latvia (N), Russia (E), and Ukraine (S). Minsk is its capital and largest city. Belarus economy in 2003-04 posted 6.1% and 6.4% growth. Still, the economy continues to be hampered by high inflation, persistent trade deficits, and ongoing rocky relations with Russia, Belarus' largest trading partner and energy supplier. Belarus is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked to Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Japan for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Approximately one-fifth of the victims IOM assisted in 2004 were trafficked for labor exploitation. Organizations reported an increase in men trafficked for forced labor to Russia during the reporting period. Belarus' borders with Russia and Ukraine remained porous, allowing for the easy movement of people. The Government of Belarus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In early March 2005, President Lukashenko signed a presidential decree to combat trafficking in persons; the lower house of parliament approved the decree in early April. Belarus continued to increase its law enforcement efforts, but it lacked adequate funding for victim protection and trafficking prevention. To advance anti-trafficking efforts, Belarus should adopt amendments to strengthen anti-trafficking legislation including defining victims' rights. The interagency task force should meet regularly. Also, as a major source country, Belarus should provide the training and funding its overseas personnel need to assist trafficking victims. Prosecution Belarusian anti-trafficking enforcement efforts increased during the reporting period. Law enforcement authorities prosecuted 290 trafficking cases in 2004, up from 191 in 2003. To detect victims and trafficking schemes, the State Border Guards worked with former trafficking victims. Existing 2001 anti-trafficking legislation prohibits trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation with sufficiently severe penalties. Prosecutors and judges improved their use of this law in 2004; the government secured the first conviction under it in July. The government deals with trafficking for labor exploitation under a separate article with sentences of up to three years' imprisonment. In total, Belarusian courts convicted 26 individuals for trafficking and recruiting for sexual exploitation. In 2004, the courts imposed penalties for trafficking of three to eight years' imprisonment. In 2004, Belarusian authorities cooperated on trafficking cases with their counterparts from Germany, Austria, Israel, Turkey, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and Poland. While reports continued of bribes to law enforcement and border officials for ignoring trafficking activities, in 2004 the government made strong statements condemning such inducements. In February 2005, the courts found a Ministry of Culture official guilty of complicity in trafficking for sexual exploitation from January 2001 to April 2003. The court sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment and confiscated his personal property. Protection The Belarusian Government did not directly fund victim assistance during the reporting period, though it gave some in-kind support to NGOs. In July 2004, the Minsk city government provided building space for an EU/UNDP-funded shelter. The government integrated into its law enforcement training academy an IOM-produced anti-trafficking operations manual that provides guidance on victim detection methods and approaches to working with and assisting victims. According to the Ministry of Interior, it did not arrest, fine, or charge victims with prostitution or immigration violations in 2004; it made 110 direct referrals to IOM during the reporting period. Witness protection of trafficking victims remained inadequate. Overall, Belarusian law and society continued to consider women "victims" only if they were unaware prior to their trafficking ordeal that they would be involved in prostitution; even then, they often suffered as social outcasts. Prevention While the government did not conduct independent anti-trafficking information campaigns in 2004, it actively supported those of international organizations. The government aired anti-trafficking public service announcements produced by international organizations on State television channels free of charge. In January 2005, a State-owned television channel aired the UNDP documentary film, Ally's Dream, which is about Belarusian girls trafficked to Germany and Russia for sexual exploitation. The documentary also ran in selected theaters with strong advertising to students. The government's Task Force to Combat Trafficking did not convene during the reporting period.
BELGIUM (TIER 1) Kingdom of Belgium The Kingdom of Belgium, a NW European country, is bordered by the Netherlands and the North Sea (N), Germany and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (E), and France (W & SW). Brussels is its capital and Antwerp its chief commercial center and one of the world's major ports. Belgium must import substantial quantities of raw materials and export a large volume of manufactures, making its economy unusually dependent on the state of world markets. Roughly three-quarters of its trade is with other EU countries. On the positive side, the government has succeeded in balancing its budget, and income distribution is relatively equal. Belgium is a destination and transit country for trafficked persons. The majority of trafficking victims in Belgium are young women primarily from Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Europe, and Asia. Particularly prominent source countries are Nigeria, Albania, Bulgaria, and China. Victims are destined for Belgium's larger cities or other European countries, usually for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Male victims are typically trafficked for exploitative labor in restaurants and sweatshops. The Government of Belgium fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to show a well-coordinated system of protection and law enforcement, leading to increased convictions in 2004. The government took important measures to improve penalties for traffickers and streamline anti-trafficking coordination among relevant governmental entities. Expanding public awareness campaigns to target domestic demand would further strengthen Belgium's anti-trafficking efforts. Prosecution In 2004, the Government of Belgium continued its proactive and sophisticated approach to anti-trafficking law enforcement. In 2003, Belgium courts convicted 170 suspects on trafficking-related charges, an increase from 130 in 2002. The government continued to post liaison officers in source countries to assist in case development. In April 2004, it issued a directive to magistrates to prioritize cases involving violations of human dignity, violence, and young victims. In an effort to increase sentences for traffickers, the government submitted a draft bill that will strengthen and align Belgium's penalties with prevailing international practice. In 2004, the Ministry of Justice established an intranet site for use by prosecutors in pursuing traffickers. A special police unit continued to be responsible for anti-trafficking enforcement. In 2004, Belgian law enforcement teams mounted several joint operations with other counterparts in the region. Protection In 2004, Belgium devoted significant resources to victim-assistance programs, and police increased the number of victims referred to three specialized trafficking shelters. The 2004 Custody Act upgraded victim protection by assigning a custodian to minors who are trafficking victims and offered shelter options ranging from specialized centers to placement with individual families. Relocation services were available to victims under threats by their traffickers. NGOs reported excellent cooperation with law enforcement, and in 2004 the three shelters cared for 893 victims. The government continued to provide victims a 45-day "reflection" period of care, during which they can consider whether to assist in the investigation of their traffickers; subsequent government protection is linked to a victim's willingness to testify. The government continued to repatriate those who choose not to cooperate. The government generally approved long-term residency and work permits for cooperating victims. In extraordinary cases of proven hardship, victims may qualify for a residence permit on humanitarian grounds. Prevention The government continued to take innovative and proactive measures to monitor and improve its legislative and institutional response to trafficking. In May 2004, the government restructured its anti-trafficking efforts, instituting coordination cells composed of representatives from all relevant ministerial departments. During the reporting period, the government issued a report reviewing measures it took to prevent the recurrence of fraudulent visa issuance by a Belgian Embassy and consulate as happened in the 1990's. In September 2004, the government co-sponsored an aware-ness-raising campaign to warn and educate Belgian travelers about child sex tourism. Belgium continued to fund regional and global anti-trafficking prevention campaigns in source countries.
BELIZE (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Belize Belize is an independent Central American state within the Commonwealth of Nations on the Caribbean Sea. It is bounded by Mexico (N), Guatemala (S & W), and the Caribbean (E). Its capital is Belmopan. Belize City is the largest city and main port. In this small, essentially private enterprise economy the tourism industry is the number one foreign exchange earner followed by marine products, citrus, cane sugar, bananas, and garments. A key short-term objective remains the reduction of poverty with the help of international donors. Belize is a transit and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of labor and sexual exploitation. Women and children are trafficked to Belize, mainly from Central America, to work in Belize's growing sex industry. Girls are trafficked internally for sexual exploitation, sometimes with the consent and encouragement of their parents. There are also reports of sexual and labor exploitation of men and women in Belize's banana, sugarcane, and citrus industries. Some Chinese and Indians are trafficked to Belize for debt bondage. Exact numbers of trafficking victims are unknown, particularly the number of transnational trafficking victims, given Belize's lengthy and porous borders. The Government of Belize does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Belize is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to fight trafficking over the last year, particularly in the area of victim protection and prosecution of trafficking-related corruption. The government still struggles to investigate trafficking within Belize's growing sex trade. To augment its trafficking efforts, the government should increase law enforcement efforts under the anti-trafficking law, make appreciable progress in protecting victims, devote resources to preventing trafficking, and take action against reports that officials are profiting and facilitating trafficking in persons. Prosecution The government made modest anti-trafficking law enforcement gains over the last year through enforcement of the anti-trafficking statute enacted in 2003. Over the reporting period, there were 18 prosecutions and two convictions of traffickers. However, police and prosecutors lack resources to adequately address trafficking-related matters and struggle to recognize and investigate trafficking-related offenses that may be taking place in Belize's sex trade. Officials maintain that all prostitution is voluntary, despite some reports to the contrary, and this impedes any further investigation or action. The government has provided some limited training on investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases; additional training is badly needed. There are unconfirmed reports of law enforcement officials' facilitation of trafficking, including some reports of officials patronizing brothels with trafficking victims and also some who are profiting from illegal migration. There were no known investigations or prosecutions of public officials for trafficking complicity over the last year. Protection The government was unable to provide adequate protection to trafficking victims during the reporting period. The anti-trafficking law lays out victim protection policies, but it is impossible for the country to implement those measures because it does not have the capacity or the means to do so. There are very few shelters in the country that have the ability to work with trafficking victims; however, victims are not treated as criminals and services are provided whenever possible. In general, victims are turned over to NGOs that offer protections for women in domestic violence. There is a special residency status for foreign victims, but in reality most foreign victims are deported. Officials maintain that none of the deported women in prostitution are trafficking victims. Prevention The government failed to sustain an anti-trafficking prevention campaign over the last year due to lack of resources and poor public understanding of trafficking in persons. Occasionally, the government will run radio public service announcements and newspaper ads about trafficking and the commercial exploitation of children. With little resources and few NGOs and international organizations, Belize struggles to implement any long-term policies to combat and prevent trafficking. The government recognizes this problem and is dedicated to doing more. The government has an anti-trafficking task force and is in the process of developing a national plan of action.
BENIN (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of Benin The Republic of Benin is a West African country bordered by Togo (W), Burkina Faso and Niger (N), Nigeria (E), and by the Bight of Benin (an arm of the Gulf of Guinea) in the south. Porto-Novo is its capital and Cotonou its largest city and chief port. The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Benin continues to be hurt by Nigerian trade protection that bans imports of a growing list of products from Benin and elsewhere. As a result, smuggling and criminality along the Benin-Nigeria border has been on the rise. Benin is a source, transit, and destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Beninese children are trafficked to Nigeria, Ghana, Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, and Cameroon for forced labor and prostitution. Beninese children are trafficked within the country for forced labor in construction, commercial enterprises, the handicraft industry, and roadside vending. Children from Niger, Togo, and Burkina Faso are trafficked to Benin for domestic labor and vending. The traditional practice of "vidomegon," whereby poor children are placed with wealthy families, has resulted in some labor and sexual exploitation. Children trafficked outside Benin are trafficked to cocoa plantations in Cote d'Ivoire, rock quarries in Nigeria, and involuntary domestic servitude in Gabon. The Government of Benin does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Benin is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts in combating trafficking since last year. Anti-trafficking legislation, though now under debate in the National Assembly, has not yet been enacted and endemic corruption inhibits the government's ability to confront traffickers effectively. To increase its anti-trafficking efforts, the government should increase law enforcement efforts, finalize the much-needed national strategy to address trafficking, and enact specific anti-trafficking legislation. Prosecution Benin continued to lack an adequate law enforcement strategy to combat trafficking over the reporting period. At least one civil society organization reported interventions by low-ranking officials to attempt to secure release of traffickers, which may interfere with judicial proceedings and impede prosecutions. A local village chief who claims to be fighting trafficking reportedly was facilitating the trafficking of children. He was arrested and is currently facing charges for his activities. There is no law specifically prohibiting trafficking; however, there are scattered civil and criminal laws that may be used. Anti-trafficking legislation has been stalled in Benin's parliament for the past three years. Beninese law criminalizes prostitution, kidnapping, forced or bonded labor, and the employment of children under the age of 14; however no data on prosecutions under these laws was provided during the last year. Nonetheless, the Minors' Brigade reported 37 trafficking-related investigations. The government constructed a new building for the Minors' Brigade, which may house up to 160 victims of child trafficking and other abuses. The Minors' Brigade and the Judicial Police received training on how to detect and protect trafficking victims. Protection Due to the lack of resources in the country, the government's protections for trafficking victims continued to be inadequate in 2004. The government, in collaboration with NGOs and donors, worked to draft a national strategy to protect and aid child trafficking victims. However, the process is in its nascent stages. Generally, the government refers victims to NGOs for temporary housing, food, and medical care, but the process is ad hoc and inconsistent. The government cooperates with Nigeria, Togo, and Gabon to repatriate trafficked children. Benin repatriates approximately 20 children a month to Gabon. Prevention The majority of anti-trafficking prevention efforts in Benin are undertaken by NGOs, due largely to the paucity of government resources. In 2004, the government initiated sensitization campaigns urging local populations to establish anti-trafficking committees. The government provided some members of the committees with equipment, such as flashlights and bicycles, to aid in the detection of trafficking victims and has provided training and some logistical support for the committees. The campaigns highlighted the dangers of child trafficking and educated the public on legal anti-trafficking provisions.
BOLIVIA (TIER 3) Republic of Bolivia The Republic of Bolivia is an inland country of South America, bordered by Chile and Peru (W), Brazil (E & N), Paraguay (SE), and Argentina (S). Sucre is its constitutional capital and seat of the judiciary, but La Paz is the largest city and administrative capital. GDP growth in 2003 and 2004 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive, but still below the levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia remains dependent on foreign aid from multilateral lenders and foreign governments. Bolivia is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation to neighboring South American countries, through Spain to Western Europe, and to Japan and the United States. Children are trafficked internally for sexual exploitation, and forced mining and agricultural labor. Poverty forces thousands of Bolivians to migrate or work in sub-standard conditions, thus placing large numbers at risk of being trafficked. Thousands of children travel from poor rural to urban areas and fall victim to trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Bolivian workers have been trafficked to sweatshops in Argentina and Brazil, and to Chile for involuntary servitude. Illegal migrants from countries outside the region transit Bolivia; some may be trafficking victims. Unregulated land borders facilitate land-based trafficking between Bolivia and neighboring countries. The Government of Bolivia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Bolivia failed to pass key anti-traffick-ing laws or to enforce existing laws sanctioning trafficking-related crimes. Even in the context of its political crises and resource limitations, the government accomplished little. Prosecution The government made little effort to investigate potential trafficking cases and lacked an anti-trafficking law enforcement strategy during the reporting period. The government prosecuted no trafficking cases in 2004. At the end of 2004, the National Police created an anti-trafficking unit, although it has yet to produce concrete results. Laws prohibiting slavery and trafficking for exploitation exist, but the government was not able to report any instances when these laws were applied during the reporting period. Budgetary limitations and pervasive corruption in public institutions severely limited the government's ability to apply laws related to trafficking. Protection The national government offered no protection services to trafficking victims during the reporting period. The government's scarce resources resulted in severely limited funding for social welfare programs in general. Over 200 municipalities provided various services to minors who were victims of crime but few local governments had the capacity to care for trafficking victims. NGOs attempting to fill the gap provided some care and rehabilitation services, principally to assist child victims. Individual officials occasionally paid personally to send victims home. The government lacked a policy for rescuing victims and officials were not trained to identify them. Prevention The government's trafficking prevention efforts fell short in educating officials and the public. The Vice Ministry of Children's Affairs partnered with the Organization of American States and IOM in late 2004 to conduct public seminars to highlight the urgency of the trafficking problem. Interagency efforts to coordinate government actions and public awareness regarding child exploitation included anti-trafficking elements but were largely focused on other child welfare issues. Officials demonstrated a lack of understanding regarding the differences between illegal migration, illegal adoption, and trafficking. Public awareness campaigns focused on eradication of child labor and illegal adoption.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (TIER 2) Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Bosnia and Herzegovina is a Serbo-Croatian country on the Balkan peninsula, S Europe. It is bounded by Croatia (W & N) and by Serbia and Montenegro (E). A narrow, undeveloped outlet to the Adriatic in the southwest is its only outlet to the sea. Sarajevo is its capital. A sizeable current account deficit and high unemployment rate remain the two most serious economic problems. The country receives substantial amounts of reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aid from the international community but will have to prepare for an era of declining assistance. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is a country of origin, transit, and destination for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Trafficked children, often ethnic Roma, are victims of forced labor. Victims most commonly come from Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Romania and, increasingly, Serbia and Montenegro. Victims often transit en route to Slovenia, Croatia, and Western Europe. Many of the victims from BiH and Serbia and Montenegro are trafficked throughout the former Yugoslav republics and then back again in a seasonal, rotating pattern. The Government of BiH does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government continued to strengthen its law enforcement response and anti-corruption efforts in relation to trafficking. The government should accelerate its efforts to formalize a victim referral mechanism and ensure implementation so that victims are afforded proper protections as soon as possible. The government should also encourage increased identification of victims, facilitate and encourage the aggressive and efficient prosecution of trafficking crimes, and deliver sufficient punishments. BiH should ensure the speedy drafting and adoption of appropriate legislation regarding assistance to domestic victims of trafficking. Prosecution The Government of BiH continued steady application of its anti-trafficking statute in 2004. The police investigated and submitted to prosecutors a total of 47 cases. Of this number, the courts handed down a total of 18 verdicts, 12 of which resulted in convictions. Length of sentences imposed by the courts improved somewhat, but many continued to be one year or less. The BiH criminal code provides for penalties of up to ten years' imprisonment. Four major anti-trafficking strike force investigations resulted in three convictions and one prosecution, which is ongoing. The government increased its capacity to prevent and respond to incidents of corruption and continued to investigate cases of official complicity in trafficking. In October 2004, the government arrested a police officer attempting to traffic two victims at the border with Serbia and Montenegro; he was suspended from duty, indicted, and currently awaits trial. The anti-trafficking strike force expanded a major investigation, begun in 2003, into the involvement of BiH consular officials in visa irregularities; criminal charges have been filed against a consular section chief, and the case is ongoing. In 2004, the State Coordinator's Office provided four training seminars addressing trafficking-related investigation and prosecutions for judges, prosecutors, and police. The State Border Service (SBS) trained its officers on victim identification, interviewing techniques, and referral procedures. In January 2005, the SBS introduced a 24-hour hotline available to the general public to make anonymous reports of all crime and register complaints about unprofessional behavior by border agents. Protection Government of BiH protection measures for victims of trafficking remained inadequate during the reporting period. The government did not formalize victim referral procedures, but development of such procedures was underway. The government developed a new rulebook and bylaws on the protection of foreign victims of trafficking to allow for issuance of humanitarian visas to victims. BiH prosecutors may request protected status for victims, and protected victims may be housed in shelters or in private residences. The government did not implement a systematic screening system. As a result, some victims were not identified and were thus denied proper protections and subject to potential deportation. In practice, however, deportation orders were rarely enforced. Regrettably, some victims fell back into the hands of their traffickers. The government in 2005 provided funding for six NGO-run shelters throughout BiH. The State Coordinator developed and signed memoranda of understanding to unify shelter standards in cooperation with local NGOs, and local police provided security. In 2004, IOM and local NGOs assisted 114 victims, but they reported that shelters were underutilized. Prevention In 2004, the government partnered with the EU police mission and several NGOs and international organizations to implement and plan two public awareness and educational campaigns targeting potential victims, customers, and school children. The government also aired public service announcements and talk shows regarding trafficking on state-owned television stations. The Foreign Ministry continued to conduct training for consular officers to increase recognition of potential victims and, in 2004, began requiring personal interviews for all visa applicants.
BRAZIL (TIER 2) Federative Republic of Brazil The Federative Republic of Brazil, a federation of 26 states, is large, occupying nearly half of the South American continent. It is bordered by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana (N), and Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina (S). In the west it is bordered by Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia, and in the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Braslia, is its capital city. Possessing large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other South American countries and is expanding its presence in world markets. Brazil is a source and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and girls are trafficked internally for sexual exploitation and to neighboring countries in South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East. The ILO estimated in 2002 that 450,000 children, mostly girls, are employed as domestic servants and vulnerable to abuse. Approximately 70,000 Brazilians, mostly women, are engaged in prostitution in foreign countries and many are trafficking victims; their major destinations are countries in Europe, particularly Spain, and South America and Japan. Sex tourists target young Brazilians, particularly in the resort areas and cities of Brazil's northeast. Trafficking for forced agricultural labor remains a major problem, with most of the more than 25,000 victims recruited from small towns in Brazil's northeast. Authorities have uncovered cases of Bolivian men, women, and children trafficked to work in sweatshops; Chinese and Koreans have been trafficked to Brazil for similar exploitation. The Government of Brazil does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Brazil needs to strengthen law enforcement efforts against traffickers and update anti-trafficking legislation to impose tough sanctions against internal and transnational trafficking of humans of all ages and both genders. Of particular concern are the government's insufficient efforts to confront widespread trafficking for the purpose of forced labor. Prosecution The government's law enforcement efforts remained inadequate and hampered by antiquated trafficking statutes during the reporting period. The country's existing anti-trafficking law addresses only transnational trafficking of women for sexual exploitation; it lacks strong criminal penalties for labor trafficking, which is a significant problem in Brazil. Brazilian courts handed down only three convictions for transnational trafficking for sexual exploitation in 2004; prison sentences imposed ranged from eight to 30 years. Government teams investigated approximately 250 complaints regarding forced labor and rescued 2,743 victims of forced labor in 2004; employers generally paid fines and compensation to rescued victims and risked losing access to government financial aid programs, but did not face criminal prosecution. The Federal Police worked with counterparts in Spain, Italy, Canada, Portugal, and Switzerland on combating trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, including some child sex tourism cases. Protection The government geared most of its protective efforts toward domestic victims, particularly children, and provided some funding to NGOs active in victim assistance. Service providers assisted a wide range of victims of exploitation, not just trafficking victims. The Sentinela program provided more than 400 screening centers throughout the country to evaluate and refer at-risk children. Two newly established state-level anti-trafficking offices began screening victims, and referred cases to NGOs and federal police. Brazilians trafficked abroad received significantly less assistance, though the government initiated training for diplomats working in destination countries. Seven reference centers throughout the country worked with victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation and the State of Sao Paulo opened an office at Sao Paulo's international airport to assist repatriated Brazilian trafficking victims. Prevention Brazil's President has raised the profile of human trafficking as a problem and has declared the fight against trafficking a national priority. The federal government established a Comprehensive Program for the Prevention and Fight Against Trafficking and funded national public information campaigns to combat child sex tourism and trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Information campaigns also raise awareness of the dangers of trafficking for sexual exploitation through brochures distributed with newly issued Brazilian passports, radio spots, and poster campaigns at Brazil's major airports. The State Governments of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Ceara, and Goias established anti-trafficking offices in 2004 to improve coordination and implementation of public awareness campaigns and cooperation and training for civil society, including businesses and workers in the travel industry. The Ministry of Justice continued training judges, police, social workers, and psychologists on recognizing and combating trafficking.
BRITAIN, UNITED KINGDOM UK (TIER 1) The United Kingdom (UK) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy located on the British Isles, off W Europe. The country comprises England; Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland. The capital and largest city is London. The economy is one of the strongest in Europe; inflation, interest rates, and unemployment remain low. Meantime, the government has been speeding up the improvement of education, transport, and health services, at a cost in higher taxes. The United Kingdom is primarily a country of destination for trafficked women, children, and men from Eastern Europe, East Asia, and West Africa. Women are trafficked primarily for the purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude, while men are trafficked for the purpose of forced labor in agriculture and sweatshop industries. The United Kingdom may also play a role as a transit country for foreign victims trafficked to other Western European countries. The Government of the United Kingdom fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The United Kingdom handed down significant anti-trafficking prosecutions and sentences during 2004. The first prosecution under recent legislation that specifically criminalized trafficking for sexual exploitation resulted in a sentence of 18 years for the main offender. The parliament enacted new legislation to criminalize labor trafficking. The government continued to fund assistance to adult victims; however, its inability to accommodate the number of victim referrals was problematic. The government should prioritize establishment of a more stable mechanism to regularize victims' status to ensure consistent delivery of services and protection. Moreover, differentiation of trafficking and smuggling statistics is recommended to better gauge year-to-year improvements. Prosecution In July 2004, the Government of the United Kingdom enacted legislation to criminalize human trafficking for exploitation, including labor exploitation. This law, taken together with the Sexual Offenses Act of 2003, strengthens and broadens the coverage of the United Kingdom's anti-trafficking laws. To underscore the seriousness of trafficking crimes, the Crown Prosecution Service successfully sought heavy penalties in cases of both sexual exploitation and forced labor. In 2004, the government reported 60 law enforcement operations resulting in 572 arrests and 66 convictions. Prosecution and conviction data from 2003 showed 340 prosecutions and 98 convictions. Both sets of data, however, include both alien smuggling and human trafficking. In 2004, the government launched a trafficking prosecution toolkit, which now serves as a compilation of U.K. laws that can be used to prosecute traffickers and seize their assets. During 2004, the government continued to engage in and support a number of bilateral and multilateral antitrafficking efforts. Protection In 2004, a newly established shelter for child trafficking victims was closed after only two months because it received no referrals. The government continued to fund and evaluate a specialized project that provided space in shelters for adult trafficking victims. However, the project only supports 25 victims at a time and, as a result, could not accommodate all incoming referrals. Victims' lack of status reduced the effectiveness of victim protection efforts. NGOs indicated the problem resulted from the government's inability to provide long-term residency status for victims. As a result, victims are forced to apply to remain as asylees - a long process that may ultimately not be successful for many victims. Furthermore, while applying for asylum status, victims cannot work. A governmental review of the victim care situation continued late in the reporting period. Some victims continued to receive assistance from other social service agencies; NGOs advocated the need to better track child victims in care of Social Services. Prevention In 2004, the government took important steps to improve the collection of comprehensive trafficking statistics by consolidating regional and national level data. The government continued to provide specialized programs to police, social services, and other government communities via the revised and updated anti-trafficking toolkit on the Home Office website. Police and immigration authorities continued to screen passengers at Heathrow Airport to systematically identify children entering the U.K. who may be at risk. In early 2005, the Solicitor General initiated a new focus to target men who solicit sexual services of trafficked women, but it is too early to detect whether this has had an effect in preventing trafficking.
BRUNEI [no tier rating] State of Brunei Darussalam The State of Brunei Darussalam is a sultanate located in NW Borneo on the South China Sea. Its two sections, separated by Brunei Bay, are surrounded by Sarawak, Malaysia. Its capital and major port is Bandar Seri Begawan. The government provides for all medical services and free education through the university level and subsidizes rice and housing. Brunei's leaders are concerned that steadily increased integration in the world economy will undermine internal social cohesion. Plans for the future include upgrading the labor force, reducing unemployment, strengthening the banking and tourist sectors, and, in general, further widening the economic base beyond oil and gas. Brunei was not rated in the 2004 U.S. State Dept Human Trafficking report because information available did not indicate a significant number of victims. Scope and Magnitude. There are reports that Brunei is a destination for a small number of women from Thailand and the Peoples Republic of China who were trafficked for the purposes of forced prostitution. Government Efforts. Brunei has a statute that outlaws sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and children. Penalties for trafficking for sexual exploitation carry sentences of up to 30 years imprisonment. Brunei authorities have taken steps to curb specific practices including the salary check off system that led to labor unrest. There are some protective measures for foreign workers, but they are not uniformly applied. Some foreign embassies provide protection services, including temporary shelter, for workers involved in labor disputes. Brunei has neither conducted public awareness programs nor provided training for government officials on trafficking. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June 14, 2004.
BULGARIA (TIER 2) Republic of Bulgaria The Republic of Bulgaria, located in SE Europe on the E Balkan Peninsula, is bounded by the Black Sea (E), by Romania (N), by Serbia and Montenegro and Macedonia (W), by Greece (S), and by European Turkey (SE). Its capital city is Sofia. Bulgaria has averaged 4% growth since 2000 and has begun to attract significant amounts of foreign direct investment. Corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain the largest challenges for Bulgaria. Bulgaria is a transit country and, to a lesser extent, a country of origin and destination for young women and girls trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Bulgarian citizens are also internally trafficked for sexual exploitation. Victims are primarily trafficked from Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Russia, and Central Asia through Bulgaria into Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe. Roma children continue to be disproportionately represented among victims. The Government of Bulgaria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In 2004, the government adopted a more active role in prevention and protection, stepped up its enforcement efforts, and took important preliminary steps to implement its anti-trafficking legislation, including the adoption of a national strategy and passage of comprehensive victim witness protection legislation. However, the government should take concrete measures to build victim protection capacity by ensuring that the local-level anti-trafficking commissions are established and supported. Moreover, it should ensure the consolidation of comprehensive trafficking data to segregate alien smuggling and human trafficking statistics. In 2004, the Government of Bulgaria commendably expanded an anti-corruption campaign and heightened its focus on high-level corruption; however, it should proactively demonstrate the will to counter all trafficking-related complicity through vigorous prosecutions and convictions. Prosecution In 2004, Bulgaria made considerable progress in implementing its 2003 anti-trafficking legislation, with an increase in convictions and indictments for trafficking-related offenses. The government reported seven convictions and 27 indictments for suspected trafficking cases under the new trafficking provisions of the criminal code. During the reporting period, the National Investigation Service developed a methodology for investigating trafficking cases, which was also distributed to police. Further, the government reported almost 900 sentences in 2004 for trafficking-related offenses, including forced prostitution, inducement to prostitution, and people smuggling. While high-level government officials publicly spoke out against trafficking and there is no evidence of government involvement in trafficking on an institutional level, there have been reports of law enforcement officials' involvement in trafficking-related corruption. Notably, the Prosecution Service and the Military Prosecution Service in 2004 made a number of anti-corruption indictments resulting in over 100 convictions for official malfeasance. Protection In November 2004, the Government of Bulgaria adopted witness protection legislation that includes coverage for victims of trafficking. This legislation will provide special protection measures for victims and their families who are cooperating with investigations and prosecutions of traffickers. The Bulgarian government also created a special provision that allows for residency and employment of trafficking victims while they participate in criminal proceedings. The government reported one instance of the use of these protections. The Ministry of Interior reportedly identified and assisted 474 victims of trafficking in 2004. Prevention In February 2005, the Bulgarian Government adopted a National Anti-Trafficking Strategy and dedicated funding to support the work of the National Anti-Trafficking Commission. Notably, the commission subsequently appointed a secretary general to manage the day-to-day implementation of the national strategy. The government continued its strong cooperation with NGOs to conduct prevention and awareness programs for law enforcement personnel, as well as a new program for consular officers posted at Bulgarian embassies abroad. The government sustained its prevention efforts aimed at vulnerable groups, including providing street children with educational and psychological services by placing them in protective custody.
BURKINA FASO (TIER 2) Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is West African republic where 56% of the population is under 18 years old and more than half of the inhabitants are women. It is bordered by Mali (W & N), Niger (NE), Benin (SE), and by Togo, Ghana, and Cte d'Ivoire (S). Ouagadougou is the capital and largest city. UNICEF Burkina Faso contributes to the provision of basic education for children aged between seven and 14 years old via initiatives such as the establishment of satellite schools. This has resulted in slight increases in enrolment rates for boys and girls, but these rates remain low, particularly for girls. Burkina Faso is a source, transit, and destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. To a lesser extent, Burkinabe women are trafficked to Europe for prostitution. Burkinabe children are trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Mali. Burkinabe boys are trafficked within the country for exploitation as agricultural laborers, domestics, metal workers, wood workers, and miners. Burkinabe girls are trafficked internally for exploitation as domestic servants, beggars, and prostitutes. Burkina Faso is a transit country for trafficked Malian children bound for other West African countries. Children from Benin and Togo are trafficked into Burkina Faso for forced labor. The Government of Burkina Faso does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government made minimal gains over the past year to combat trafficking, including an agreement with the Government of Mali to cooperate on trans-border child trafficking. A 2003 anti-trafficking law has yet to be used. The government should boost its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, and regional cooperation on fighting crossborder trafficking in children. It should also initiate improved prevention campaigns. Prosecution The government made modest gains in the area of law enforcement over the reporting period. However, the 2003 anti-trafficking law on child trafficking, which carries strong penalties, has never been used. In 2004, 41 child traffickers were arrested, 16 convicted, and 15 are currently imprisoned and awaiting trial. Additionally, four child trafficking networks were dismantled. The government forged an agreement with the Government of Mali to address trans-border child trafficking. Protection Due to resource constraints, the government struggles to implement a sufficient protection plan for trafficking victims. Minimal support is provided for Burkinabe children; foreign victims are deported. There is one center in Ouagadougou to aid with the social reintegration of at-risk children. In collaboration with UNICEF, the government has also established 19 transit centers for trafficked children throughout the country. These centers served over 900 children in 2004. Victims are not treated as criminals and their rights are generally respected. The government is unable, due to lack of resources, to directly fund NGOs; however it does collaborate with NGOs and international organizations for the reintegration of trafficked children. Twenty Burkinabe child trafficking victims were repatriated as a result of the agreement with Mali in 2004. Prevention The government recognizes that trafficking is a problem, and has implemented some degree of prevention efforts in the country. However, lack of resources inhibits its ability to carryout any long-term anti-trafficking prevention campaign. The government supported Vigilance and Surveillance Committees, which are in place in 12 of the 13 regions of the country. The government provided training on how to identify and aid trafficking victims to the committees, which now exist in 39 of the country's 45 provinces.
BURMA (TIER 3) Union of Myanmar (Burma) The Union of Myanmar is one of the largest countries in South East Asia. Ethnically diverse, Myanmar is a nation of many races - some 130 ethnic groups make up its population of nearly 45 million. It is bounded by Bangladesh, India, and the Bay of Bengal (W); by China (N & NE); by Laos and Thailand (E); and by the Andaman Sea (S). Its capital and largest city is Yangon (Rangoon). Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls, inefficient economic policies, and abject rural poverty. The junta took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism", but those efforts have since stalled and some of the liberalization measures have been rescinded. Burma is a source country for women and men trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Burmese men, women, and children (primarily from the country's ethnic minority populations) are trafficked to Thailand, China, Bangladesh, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Korea, Macau, and Japan for forced labor - including commercial labor - involuntary domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation. To a lesser extent, Burma is a destination for women from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) who are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. Internal trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation occurs from villages to urban centers and other areas, such as truck stops, fishing villages, border towns, and mining and military camps. The junta's policy of using forced labor is a driving factor behind Burma's large trafficking problem. The Government of Burma does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. While Burma has made improved efforts to combat trafficking for sexual exploitation, significant state-sanctioned use (especially by the military) of forced labor continued. The Burmese armed forces continued to force ethnic minorities to serve as porters during military operations in ethnic areas. There also are continuing reports that some children were forced to join the Burmese Army. Although eight local officials were convicted in January 2005 on charges of forced labor, the Burmese Government supported or tolerated the use of forced labor for large infrastructure projects. The government sentenced three individuals to death for communicating with the ILO on the subject of forced labor. Because of the Burmese Government's failure to end forced labor, the ILO postponed implementation of a plan of action to address such practices. During the reporting period, the government took some steps to combat trafficking for sexual exploitation, including drafting anti-trafficking legislation and improving cooperation with UN agencies, neighboring countries, and NGOs. Prosecution Over the past year, the Burmese Government made progress in addressing trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, including establishing a police task force to combat trafficking, enhancing cooperation with Burma's neighbors, and beginning to draft anti-trafficking legislation. The Burmese Government made only minimal progress in prosecuting cases involving trafficking for forced labor. Since July 2002, the government claims it prosecuted 474 cases related to trafficking for sexual exploitation and smuggling; an indeterminate number of these cases actually involved severe forms of trafficking in persons. Authorities also convicted eight local officials for using forced labor in a road construction project, sentencing the offenders to six to eight months' imprisonment. The government created a police anti-trafficking unit in 2004 and stationed the unit's teams in border towns to monitor and interdict trafficking. The Burmese Government is developing an anti-trafficking law, but currently uses kidnapping and prostitution statutes to arrest and prosecute traffickers. Corruption continued to be a major problem. Although local and regional officials were suspected of complicity in trafficking, the Burmese Government reported no prosecutions of corrupt government officials related to trafficking. The Burmese military continued to carry out trafficking abuses including forced portering and other forced labor. Protection During the reporting period, the Burmese Government provided minimal assistance to victims. Burma's protection included a repatriation center on the Thailand-Burma border, but its overall efforts were hampered by a lack of adequate funding. The government continued to refer victims to NGOs and international organizations that provide protection for victims of trafficking. The Burmese Government also coordinated the repatriation of a limited number of victims from Thailand with international NGOs and provided limited counseling and job training for returning victims trafficked for sexual exploitation. The government did not provide assistance to victims trafficked internally for forced labor, nor did it fund international or domestic NGOs that provide protective services to victims. The Ministry of Home Affairs' Anti-Trafficking Unit received training on various aspects of investigating and handling trafficking cases. Prevention The Burmese Government's efforts to prevent trafficking remained inadequate. Governmental measures to prevent trafficking for sexual exploitation include publicizing the dangers in border areas through government-sponsored discussion groups, distribution of printed materials, and media programming. However, these efforts remained under-funded. The government also conducted awareness workshops at the local level on the dangers of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
BURUNDI (TIER 2) Republic of Burundi The Republic of Burundi is located in E central Africa and is bordered by Rwanda (N), Tanzania (E), Lake Tanganyika (SW), and Congo (Kinshasa) (W). Bujumbura is its capital and largest city. The population of Burundi have been left vulnerable by deteriorating social infrastructures, severe drought and eight years of civil war in which over 200,000 lives have been lost. Burundi is a source country for children trafficked for the purpose of forced child soldiering. The country is emerging from a 12-year civil war in which government and rebel forces used approximately 3,200 children in a variety of capacities, including as cooks, porters, spies, sex slaves, and combatants. There are reports that the government army and two former rebel groups - the CNDDFDD (Nkurunziza) and the CNDD (Nyangoma) - still have a small number of children in their ranks. While there were unconfirmed reports that these two rebel groups recruited boys in 2004, there were no reports that the army recruited child soldiers. The one rebel faction that remains outside the peace process, the PALOPEHUTU-FNL, continued to recruit and use child soldiers. The Government of Burundi does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the year, the government continued to demobilize large numbers of child soldiers and launched extensive public awareness campaigns to ease their reintegration into local communities. To further its efforts to combat trafficking, the government should continue cooperating fully with the international community to demobilize all remaining child soldiers from its military ranks and reintegrate them into their home communities. It should also continue to educate local communities to encourage acceptance of returning combatants, and take steps to bring to justice those who continue to forcibly conscript and utilize child soldiers. Prosecution Burundi has no law specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons, but laws against kidnapping, slavery, smuggling, and prostitution effectively outlaw trafficking in persons. Trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation can be prosecuted under antislavery legislation and carries a penalty of up to life imprisonment or death. During the year, the government investigated and prosecuted one case of alleged trafficking of Congolese refugee women to Lebanon. Although the investigation and subsequent court proceedings ultimately determined it to be a case of smuggling for domestic work, the government demonstrated commitment to vigorous anti-trafficking law enforcement by working closely with Lebanese authorities to investigate and bring this case to trial. Protection During the year, the National Structure for Child Soldiers (SNES) continued the implementation of its national plan for ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers. In 2004, the government and each of the six former rebel factions that have joined the peace process pledged to demobilize child soldiers from their ranks and began to do so. The Burundian Minister of Defense signed a decree committing the armed forces to demobilizing all children. As of February 2005, 2,920 child soldiers, including 33 girls, had been officially demobilized from the military, the Guardians of the Peace (GP) militia, and the six former rebel groups. The government, in cooperation with international organizations and NGOs, provided medical, psycho-social, educational, and other material support to demobilized child soldiers and facilitated their reintegration into civilian society. The SNES worked with the army, the GP, and the former rebel groups to compile information on the numbers of child soldiers by location and force affiliation. Prevention During the year, the National Structure for Child Soldiers (SNES) continued the implementation of its national plan for ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers. In 2004, the government and each of the six former rebel factions that have joined the peace process pledged to demobilize child soldiers from their ranks and began to do so. The Burundian Minister of Defense signed a decree committing the armed forces to demobilizing all children. As of February 2005, 2,920 child soldiers, including 33 girls, had been officially demobilized from the military, the Guardians of the Peace (GP) militia, and the six former rebel groups. The government, in cooperation with international organizations and NGOs, provided medical, psycho-social, educational, and other material support to demobilized child soldiers and facilitated their reintegration into civilian society. The SNES worked with the army, the GP, and the former rebel groups to compile information on the numbers of child soldiers by location and force affiliation.
CAMBODIA (TIER 3) Kingdom of Cambodia The Kingdom of Cambodia, a SE Asian constitutional monarchy, is bordered by Laos (N), by Vietnam (E), by the Gulf of Thailand (S), and by Thailand (W & N). Phnom Penh is its capital and largest city. After decades of war and civil strife, Cambodia has enjoyed relative peace for the past several years and is steadily rebuilding its shattered infrastructure, society and economy. Cambodia is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. A significant number of Cambodian women and children are trafficked to Thailand and Malaysia for labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Cambodian men are primarily trafficked to Thailand for labor exploitation in the construction and agricultural sectors, particularly the fishing industry. Cambodian children are trafficked to Vietnam and Thailand to work as street beggars. Cambodia is a transit and destination point for women from Vietnam who are trafficked for prostitution. The Government of Cambodia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Cambodia is placed on Tier 3 for its lack of progress in combating severe forms of trafficking, particularly its failure to convict traffickers and public officials involved in trafficking. During the last year, the Cambodian Government failed to take effective action to ensure that those responsible for the raid on an NGO shelter for trafficking victims were held accountable and brought to justice. The Cambodian Government's failure to act calls into question Cambodia's commitment to combating human trafficking. Cambodia's anti-trafficking efforts remained hampered by systemic corruption and an ineffectual judicial system. The government must take aggressive measures to prosecute and convict traffickers and public officials found to be involved in trafficking, and confront the corruption in its judicial system that hampers prosecutions of traffickers. Prosecution During the reporting period, the Cambodian Government made no significant progress in its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Prosecutions of suspected traffickers dropped significantly, despite a small increase in the number of arrests. The Cambodian Government's response to an attack on an NGO shelter for trafficking victims and removal of suspected trafficking victims was unsatisfactory. Moreover, the government did not adequately investigate or hold accountable those who were responsible for the attack. Cambodia does not have a comprehensive anti-trafficking law but it used existing statutes to prosecute traffickers. Penalties for trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation carry sentences of up to 20 years' imprisonment. The National Assembly has not yet acted on a draft anti-trafficking bill that would provide law enforcement and judicial officials with more powers to arrest and prosecute traffickers. In 2004, the Cambodian police reported 165 arrests but only 24 successful prosecutions. Despite the number of arrests, there were few actual convictions of traffickers. There was no available information on the length of sentences for trafficking-related cases. Systemic corruption and a weak judiciary remain the most serious impediments to the effective prosecution of traffickers. Senior Cambodian Government officials and their family members are reportedly involved in or profit from trafficking activities but there were no trafficking-related prosecutions of corrupt officials. Protection The Cambodian Government continued to refer victims to NGOs and international organizations with victim protection programs. The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation operated two temporary shelters for victims, but the government relied primarily on foreign and domestic NGOs to provide shelter to victims. The Cambodian Government also supported an NGO that places trafficking victims in long-term shelters. Victims in Cambodia are not treated as criminals and have the right to seek legal action against traffickers, but seldom do. Prevention The government continued its efforts to raise awareness of trafficking by cooperating with numerous NGOs and international organizations. The Ministry of Women's Affairs (MWA) continued to carry out information campaigns, including grassroots meetings in key provinces. The MWA worked with IOM to expand a nationwide anti-trafficking information and advocacy campaign that included district-level meetings with government officials and the distribution of educational materials and videos. During the reporting period, the Anti-Trafficking Police Unit conducted an outreach program to warn high school students of the dangers of trafficking. The Ministry of Tourism produced pamphlets and advertisements warning tourists of the penalties for engaging in sex with minors, and conducted workshops for hospitality staff on how to identify and intervene in cases of trafficking or sexual exploitation of children.
CAMEROON (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of Cameroon The Republic of Cameroon is located in W central Africa and is bordered by the Gulf of Guinea (SW), on the northwest by Nigeria (NW), by Chad (NE), by the Central African Republic (SE), and on the south by Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. Yaound is its capital, and Douala is the largest city and main port. Cameroon is a country afflicted by pervasive poverty and rising infant and under-five mortality rates. Some 51 per cent of the population live below the poverty line and poverty has an increasingly feminine face, affecting women in particular. An estimated 56 per cent of the population is under 20 years of age. Cameroon is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most trafficking is internal and children are at greatest risk. Traffickers use fraudulent marriage proposals to lure women to Europe, principally France and Switzerland, for exploitation in prostitution. Children are trafficked to the United Kingdom for commercial sexual exploitation. Girls are trafficked internally from Anglophone areas to Francophone cities such as Douala and Yaounde to work in exploitative conditions as domestics, street vendors, or prostitutes. Children are also trafficked for forced labor on cocoa plantations. Children trafficked between Nigeria and Gabon transit Cameroon. Cameroon is a destination country for Nigerian children trafficked and exploited in commercial agriculture, prostitution, and street vending, or in small shops. The Government of Cameroon does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Cameroon is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to fight trafficking, particularly in the area of law enforcement. The government lacks an approved national strategy for combating trafficking and has no system for collecting data on trafficking-related or any other type of crime. Without case information, it is difficult to gauge national efforts to combat trafficking and prosecute traffickers. Cameroon should coordinate national efforts, develop a system to collect case data, and educate officials and communities about the signs and dangers of trafficking. ProsecutionThe government was unable to provide information regarding investigations, prosecutions, and convictions specifically related to trafficking during the reporting period. Law enforcement operations lacked central monitoring or coordination. Cameroon had no comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation but penal code provisions prohibit slavery, sexual assault, pimping, and use of persons to secure loans, with sentences ranging from six months to 20 years in prison. The government provided no specialized antitrafficking training to officials, due in large part to a lack of resources. Corruption is a problem throughout Cameroon but the government made efforts to combat this through anti-corruption agencies in most ministries. Protection Over the last year, government assistance was available to identified trafficking victims, both citizens and foreign nationals, and included temporary residency status, shelter, and medical care. The government worked with the ILO to remove 450 children from cocoa plantations and educate another 100 children at risk of forced labor on the plantations as part of a project targeting education and retraining assistance to child cocoa workers and their parents. The government lacked the resources to fund NGO assistance to trafficking victims; child victims were referred to government centers sponsored by the Ministry of Social Affairs, to local NGO centers, or to shelter in orphanages until they could be reunited with their families. Officials did not treat victims as criminals and families of victims could file civil suits against traffickers. Prevention The government's prevention efforts during the reporting period were inadequate, though it worked well with NGOs and international organizations that funded and implemented some prevention programs. The Ministry of Social Affairs, with UNICEF funding, completed a study in April 2004 on child trafficking in the Adamaoua, Far North, North, and South Provinces. The study pointed to the urgent need for anti-trafficking measures to prevent the development of organized trafficking in the regions surveyed. The Government of Cameroon signed a partnership agreement with ILO in October 2004 to further build trafficking awareness among the public and coordinated with ILO on a program focused on street children vulnerable to trafficking. The Ministry of Education continued to collaborate with the ILO to work with high school students on trafficking prevention.
CANADA (TIER 1) Canada Canada occupies most of North America north of Continental USA. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean (E), the Arctic Ocean (N), and the Pacific Ocean and Alaska (W). A transcontinental border, formed in part by the Great Lakes, divides Canada from the United States, and Nares and Davis straits separate Canada from Greenland. Impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. Solid fiscal management has produced a long-term budget surplus which is substantially reducing the national debt, although public debate continues over how to manage the rising cost of the publicly funded healthcare system. Canada is primarily a destination and transit country for women trafficked for the purposes of labor and sexual exploitation. Women and children are trafficked from Central and South America, Eastern Europe, and Asia for sexual exploitation. To a lesser extent, men, women, and children are trafficked for forced labor. There is internal trafficking of Canadians for the sex trade. The majority of foreign victims transiting Canada are bound for the United States. Numbers are hard to gauge, but in February 2004, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) estimated that 800 persons are trafficked into Canada annually and that an additional 1,500-2,200 persons are trafficked through Canada into the United States. Some estimate that this number is much higher. The Government of Canada fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The Government of Canada has comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation and has dedicated resources to combat trafficking in persons. Over the year, Canada increased efforts to prosecute and conviction traffickers. However, law enforcement efforts in key provinces like British Columbia - through which a significant number of Korean and other female victims are trafficked to the United States - were weak in 2004. Canada struggles to identify trafficking victims inside clandestine migrant smuggling operations. There are growing concerns that South Koreans and others may be abusing the lack of a visa requirement to enter Canada to facilitate the trafficking of men and women, mainly to the United States. To enhance its anti-trafficking efforts, Canada needs to use its anti-trafficking law to vigorously increase investigations, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions of traffickers, especially those who may be abusing visa waivers and entertainment visas. Prosecution The Government of Canada has comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, but this law has produced few results to date. Nonetheless, Canada recently brought charges against a major trafficker under its law in April 2005 - the first charges ever brought since its enactment. Canada also made progress in prosecuting traffickers under other existing laws. Over the reporting period, there have been 19 convictions. Additionally, there are 12 pending cases and seven open investigations. Canada's federal system and diversity of criminal codes complicate data collection; there are likely additional trafficking-related cases that are not reflected in this report. However, in British Columbia, a transit zone for trafficking to the United States, there have been few convictions. The government revised its immigration policy to discontinue a blanket employment waiver (begun in 1998) that had permitted adult entertainment establishments to hire foreign women as exotic dancers - a type of program that has been abused and exploited by traffickers in many other countries. Officials acknowledge that some women may have been forced into prostitution. The visa program has not been entirely suspended. According to the Government of Canada's official tally, 46 "exotic dancer" visas were issued in 2004, none to Romanians. While over 600 women reportedly were granted an "exotic dancer" visa in 2003, only 239 visas were issued. The majority of the visas were issued to Romanians. Additionally, there continues to be anecdotal reports of large numbers of South Korean women trafficked through Canada to the United States. The lack of a visa requirement to enter Canada, lack of prosecutions, and an inability to determine the scope of the problem has made Canada, particularly British Columbia, an attractive trafficking hub for East Asian traffickers. Airline passenger analysis shows that the number of Koreans returning to Korea on flights from Vancouver Canada is 25 percent less than the number arriving on flights from Korea, but the ties to trafficking are not known. Observers believe that several hundred South Koreans have been trafficked through Canada to the U.S. since 2000,but they state that this estimate is modest. Protection Canada provides reasonable care to Canadian trafficking victims, but some critics claim that support for foreign victims is inadequate. Under Canadian law, undocumented aliens are allowed to claim refugee status, which would permit them to remain in Canada with limited benefits while their cases are adjudicated. In general, the rights of trafficking victims are respected and victims are not incarcerated. The government has pledged $4 million per year to support initiatives designed to increase the confidence of victims in the criminal justice system. Canada has a variety of other victim assistance programs on the federal and provincial levels to protect and care for victims.
Prevention The government of Canada has strong public awareness campaigns aimed to prevent trafficking. The government supports a 17-agency anti-trafficking working group (IWGTIP), which coordinates all policies on trafficking-related matters. The IWGTIP produced an information booklet in 14 languages that warns potential victims in source countries of the dangers of falling prey to traffickers. The government has also hosted numerous conferences and conducted a number of public outreach campaigns aimed to prevent and warn of the dangers of trafficking. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) continues to fund anti-trafficking programs all over the world. The Prime Minister has spoken out strongly on the issue, including in an address before the UN General Assembly last September. Additionally, the U.S. and Canada have pledged to do a joint assessment on trafficking, which will enhance cross-border cooperation on trafficking-related matters. The government has provided training to the RCMP and other government agencies on trafficking-related matters.
CHAD (TIER 2) Republic of Chad The Republic of Chad is a landlocked country located in N central Africa and is bordered by the Central African Republic (S), by Sudan (E), by Libya (N), and by Cameroon, Niger, & Nigeria (W). Ndjamena is its capital and largest city. Chad is home to approximately 8.1 million people. In recent decades, political instability has hindered economic and social development and detrimentally affected the situation of women and children. Chad's primarily agricultural economy will continue to be boosted by major oilfield and pipeline projects that began in 2000. Over 80% of Chad's population relies on subsistence farming and livestock raising for its livelihood. Cotton, cattle, and gum arabic provide the bulk of Chad's export earnings. Chad is a country of origin for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Chadian boys are trafficked internally for use as herders in the south; girls are trafficked for exploitation as prostitutes in the oil-producing area of Doba and into involuntary domestic servitude in urban areas. Most trafficked children are trafficked by their families for economic reasons. The Government of Chad does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. To further its progress in combating trafficking, the government should launch concrete efforts to rescue and provide care for all exploited children. Prosecution Chad's Penal Code prohibits trafficking in persons and the government made modest efforts to prosecute trafficking crimes over the reporting period. To punish child trafficking, prosecutors also use a labor code article that prohibits the employment of children less than 14 years of age. In 2004, the Ministry of Justice's Child Protection Department presented new legislation on crimes against children, including trafficking and prostitution, which was subsequently passed into law. As a response to parental involvement in the prostitution of young girls, the government increased the penalty for prostitution of a minor by a relative or guardian. The Ministry of Justice trained parliamentarians on the new law in December 2004 and held a public sensitization conference in January 2005. Chadian courts handled three trafficking-related prosecutions during the year, one of which resulted in a conviction that is being appealed to the Supreme Court. A case involving the sale of a ten year-old girl by her parents is ongoing, and a third was dropped when the prosecutor died. Protection Chad's efforts to protect victims of trafficking were limited over the last year. In an effort to determine the level of government intervention needed to address problems faced by child trafficking victims, the Ministry of Social Action completed and released a nationwide survey of 7,000 at-risk children in 2004. Though the government lacks the resources to provide facilities for victim protection, it made in-kind contributions of land, buildings, and the services of government personnel. When trafficking victims were found, local authorities typically referred them to NGOs or religious organizations for care. The Governor of Moyen Chari personally provided temporary care for child trafficking victims during the year. In 2004, 256 children exploited as forced cattle herders were rescued, rehabilitated, and reintegrated into their families through the efforts of local authorities, religious leaders, and NGOs. The Ministry of Labor and the Mayor of N'Djamena began surveying households in the capital to determine the extent of trafficking of children for involuntary domestic servitude. Local authorities in Kome and the State of Doba began taking steps to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children in communities surrounding oil-producing facilities. Prevention During the reporting period, the central and state governments took a number of measures to prevent trafficking. As part of a "Plan of Communication on the Exploitation of Herder Children," local authorities, Ministry of Labor officials, and UNICEF embarked on a two-week tour of trafficking-prone villages in southern Chad in late 2004. The team held meetings with governors, prefects, traditional and religious leaders, and village associations, discussing the difference between acceptable child work and child exploitation. Explanations of these events were conveyed nationwide through government-run media outlets. The Governor of Moyen Chari issued numerous public statements warning parents of the dangers of using child herders, and in November 2004 and March 2005 he raised public awareness of the child herder issue through radio coverage of public meetings. The Ministry of Social Action sponsored a week-long campaign in May 2004 to sensitize Muslim leaders and parents to the problem of forced child begging. The Ministries of Labor and Justice conducted awareness campaigns on the worst forms of child labor and launched training seminars targeting religious leaders, traditional chiefs, and parliamentarians. The government has a national action plan to combat child sexual exploitation.
CHILE (TIER 2) Republic of Chile The Republic of Chile, located in S South America, west of the continental divide of the Andes Mts, is bordered by Peru (N), Bolivia (NE), Argentina (E), and the Pacific Ocean (W & S). Santiago is its capital and largest city. Chile has a market-oriented economy characterized by a high level of foreign trade. Chile's basic social indicators compare favorably with other countries in the region. Chile is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most victims are Chilean minors trafficked internally for sexual exploitation. According to a 2003 study conducted by the Chilean National Department of Children's Affairs (SENAME), at least 3,700 children were victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Traffickers are known to contact victims and their families directly or through advertisements offering jobs as domestic help, models, or product promoters. Chileans have been trafficked to Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, the United States, Europe, and Asia for sexual exploitation. Foreign victims are brought to Chile for sexual exploitation or involuntary domestic servitude from Peru, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia, though authorities find it difficult to distinguish trafficking victims from economic migrants. The Government of Chile does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government made resources available to child victims of sexual exploitation and their families, and law enforcement investigated a number of cases involving the sexual exploitation of minors. However, the government considered trafficking a localized problem and had no national strategy to identify trafficking situations or track and coordinate law enforcement efforts. Chile should develop a national plan that addresses trafficking victims of all ages, including forced labor trafficking, and coordinate efforts to train officials, inform the public, and prosecute traffickers. Prosecution Authorities took action against some traffickers during the reporting period, but lack of a nationally coordinated enforcement strategy made it difficult to gather relevant data about trafficking-related cases. The trafficking law addresses only trans-border activities related to prostitution; other laws can be used to address trafficking crimes within Chile and the government enacted additional laws that targeted sexual exploitation of children. Authorities indicted a senator for sexual misconduct with minors; a prominent businessman and at least 13 associates were indicted on charges related to the prostitution of 25 minors. Some of the 37 investigations initiated in 2003-2004 regarding reports of sexual exploitation of minors, which included child pornography, were related to trafficking. Law enforcement launched at least three additional investigations involving 12 suspects during the reporting period; one resulted in nine convictions for prostitution of minors. There was no evidence that the government promoted or condoned trafficking and government corruption was minimal. Protection The Chilean Government provided some protection to victims of trafficking. Most assistance was focused on children. Help for child victims included placement in protective custody with SENAME, counseling, and psychological assistance. Names of child victims were not released to the public and judicial reforms instituted throughout most of the country included provisions for victims to bring legal action against their traffickers and seek restitution. The government worked with the Government of Japan to repatriate a Chilean trafficking victim who had been trafficked for sexual exploitation, and assisted in the repatriation of four Bolivian minors who had been trafficked to Chile. The government increased funding for programs targeting at-risk children and their families and ran facilities for street children and abused children. The government also provided financial support for civil society activities, although funded NGOs largely worked on broader social programs. Prevention The government lacked a national plan of action to coordinate anti-trafficking activities. Government education campaigns focused on keeping children in school and reducing violence against women and children. Most training for government workers related to sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of minors. The University of Chile worked with IOM to provide anti-trafficking training to government personnel and NGOs in three major cities in August 2004, and 20 regional prosecutors received training during the reporting period.
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Peoples Republic of China The People's Republic of China is located in E Asia and is clearly the most populous country in the world. China has a 4,000-mi (6,400-km) coast that fronts on the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. It is elsewhere bounded by Russia and North Korea (E), by Russia and Mongolia (N), by Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (W), and by India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam (S). Its capital is Beijing; and Shanghai is its largest city. China's current process of "modernization" is of a speed, scale and scope probably unprecedented in human history. 2008 will mark the 30th anniversary year of China's "reform and opening up" policies, which have achieved fairly steady economic growth. The Peoples' Republic of China is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. A significant number of Chinese women and children are trafficked internally for forced marriage and forced labor. Chinese women are at times lured abroad with false promises of legitimate employment and then trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to destinations throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America, while Chinese men have been trafficked for forced labor to Europe, South America, and the Middle East. A large number of Chinese men and women are smuggled abroad at enormous personal financial cost and, upon arrival in the destination country, are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation or other forms of exploitative labor to repay their debts. They often face exploitative conditions that meet the definition of involuntary servitude. Women from Burma, North Korea, Russia, Vietnam, and Mongolia are trafficked to China for labor and commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage. The Government of the People's Republic of China does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. China's placement on Tier 2 Watch List is due to its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking, specifically its inadequate protection for trafficking victims, particularly foreign women and P.R.C. women identified from Taiwan. There are reports of the involuntary return of North Koreans from China to North Korea, as these returnees often face serious abuses. The Chinese Government does not, as a matter of policy, fine identified trafficking victims, but it reportedly and unintentionally does fine some victims - particularly P.R.C. women and girls returning from Taiwan - who are among illegal migrants. China needs to identify these trafficking victims, and provide them with protection, rather than levying fines or other punishment on them. The government should also vigorously investigate allegations of coercive labor practices, including alleged situations of involuntary servitude and forced labor. Prosecution The Chinese Government continued its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts in 2004, actively arresting and prosecuting traffickers. China has a law that specifically outlaws the trafficking or kidnapping of women and coercion into prostitution. Penalties for trafficking carry sentences of up to ten years' imprisonment. "Snakeheads" or traffickers who smuggle victims overseas can be fined, have their property confiscated, be imprisoned for terms up to life, or be executed. China's criminal code imposes the death penalty for traffickers who coerce girls under 14 into prostitution. Over the past year, the police reportedly investigated 309 trafficking gangs and arrested 5,043 suspected traffickers, referring 3,144 for prosecution. While the Chinese Government did not provide statistics on the number of convictions, media reports indicated that 36 members of a child trafficking ring were given sentences ranging from two years' imprisonment to the death penalty. There do not appear to be adequate efforts to focus law enforcement resources on the problem of forced or coercive labor that meet the definition of involuntary servitude. Several police officials, including those that reportedly profited from trafficking, were convicted of commercial sexual exploitation and issuing visas to facilitate trafficking. Protection During the reporting period, the Chinese Government provided an inadequate level of protection for victims of trafficking. China does not fine repatriated trafficking victims once identified, and generally categorizes them separately from illegal migrants. However, there have been reports that police have levied fines for immigration violations on trafficking victims, particularly women and girls repatriated from Taiwan. The Chinese Government also did not take measures to protect foreign women who were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriages with Chinese men. Over the past year, the Chinese Government funded programs operated by an NGO to reintegrate trafficked women into their local communities and relieve the stigma attached to trafficking victims. The Chinese Government reportedly allocated funds to provincial and local police departments to use in returning trafficking victims to their hometowns. Some government agencies also provided basic living necessities and return assistance. The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) continued to train police officers on how to handle trafficking-related crimes. The MPS reportedly eliminated special anti-trafficking police units and subsumed their duties into general law enforcement units but its national office for trafficking crimes remains in place. Prevention The Chinese Government expanded its efforts to raise awareness of trafficking in 2004. The government cooperated with the Vietnamese Government and UNICEF on a mass communications effort to educate people and local government leaders on trafficking. Through its law enforcement agencies and its school systems, the government continued its awareness campaigns to warn of the potential dangers of trafficking. Posters, videos and pamphlets are distributed throughout the country.
COLOMBIA (TIER 1) Colombia Colombia is a South American state, bordered on the south by Ecuador and Peru, on the east by Venezuela and Brazil and on the west by Panama. Bogot is the capital and largest city. Colombias economy has been improving thanks to austere government budgets, focused efforts to reduce public debt levels, and an export-oriented growth focus. Ongoing economic problems range from reforming the pension system to reducing high unemployment. Colombia is a major source and transit country for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The Colombian Government estimates that 45,000-50,000 Colombian nationals engage in prostitution overseas; many of them are trafficking victims. Most traffickers are linked to narcotics trafficking or other criminal organizations; trafficking operations include both Colombians and criminals from countries of destination. Young Colombian women and girls are principally trafficked to Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, Panama, Chile, and Ecuador. Some Colombian men are trafficked for forced labor. Internal trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation from rural to urban areas remains a serious problem. Insurgent and paramilitary groups have forcibly conscripted and exploited as many as 14,000 children in Colombia and from bordering areas of Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Victims transit Colombia from other South American countries, on their way to Europe and the United States. The Government of Colombia fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Although the Government of Colombia did not provide full data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, the Secretary of State has determined that it has made a good faith effort to do so. The government continues to show political will to address one of the largest national outflows of trafficking victims in the Western Hemisphere. Although courts reported no convictions of traffickers in 2004, the Colombian Government investigated and prosecuted numerous cases, improved laws, and coordinated government agency efforts to target traffickers. The government should move to increase trafficking prosecutions and improve its ability to centrally monitor and collect data on the status of cases brought against traffickers. Prosecution Colombia's comprehensive anti-trafficking law makes adequate provision to punish traffickers and the government continued to work with other countries to disrupt trafficking networks. Although Colombian courts convicted no traffickers in 2004, Colombian law enforcement initiated 20 new cases during the reporting period and captured a Spanish trafficker who was returned to Spain for prosecution. Authorities prosecuted at least 16 cases. Most of the more than 300 cases pending from previous years remained in various stages of investigation. The government made significant efforts to work additional trafficking investigations with Spain, Japan, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Panama. Amendments to the trafficking law increased penalties to 13 to 23 years in prison, with even higher penalties for aggravated circumstances or in cases with victims under 12 years of age. Late in 2004, the government created a unit in the Prosecutor General's Office dedicated entirely to the investigation and prosecution of crimes related to trafficking in persons. Protection The government made a good faith effort to assist Colombians trafficked abroad and child victims at home. Colombian missions abroad referred nine cases to IOM for repatriation assistance. Colombian missions in some countries with large Colombian expatriate communities - such as Japan- worked aggressively to assist trafficking victims and referred repatriated victims to IOM and NGOs for assistance. Victims frequently faced intimidation and threats of reprisal from traffickers. In the face of such threats and inadequate witness protection programs, many victims chose not to assist in prosecutions. The government's Institute of Family Welfare supported programs for some child victims of internal trafficking for sexual exploitation and former child soldiers that provided counseling, educational information, and social support, but resources available proved insufficient to keep pace with the demand for services. Prevention The government's interagency committee led strong national prevention efforts by preparing information campaigns, promoting training, and coordinating information exchange. Immigration officials worked with NGOs at airports to identify and warn potential outbound trafficking victims. The government also made efforts to involve businesses, particularly in the travel industry, in the fight against trafficking. Government entities relied heavily on NGOs and international organizations to educate officials and the public about trafficking.
CONGO (TIER 2) Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zare, is located in central Africa and is bordered by Angola (SW & W), by Cabinda and the Republic of the Congo (W), by the Central African Republic and Sudan (N), by Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania (E), and by Zambia (SE). Kinshasa is its capital and largest city. The fighting in the DRC has received scant press attention, yet it is one of the bloodiest conflicts the world has known since the Second World War. An estimated 3.3 million people are thought to have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians. Democratic Republic of the Congo is a source country for men, women and children internally trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation. The vast majority of the trafficking occurs in northeastern and eastern Congo, regions that are mostly outside effective transitional government control. Armed groups continued to abduct and forcibly recruit Congolese men, women, and children to serve as laborers, porters, domestics, combatants, and sex slaves. The government estimated that 30,000 children were associated with armed groups within the country. Civilians were forced to provide labor for armed groups and the Congolese military (FARDC). There were confirmed reports of children in prostitution in brothels across the country. During the year, a number of personnel from the UN peacekeeping mission to the Congo (MONUC), were accused of sexually exploiting women and girls. The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government made substantial progress in combating trafficking in 2004, particularly in the area of prosecution and law enforcement. To further its anti-trafficking efforts, the government should continue demobilizing child soldiers and sustain momentum in prosecuting perpetrators of human rights abuses, including trafficking, in the eastern part of the country. Prosecution During the year, the government demonstrated increased commitment and attention to undertaking trafficking-related law enforcement activities. The country's criminal justice system - police, courts, and prisons - was decimated following years of war and remains extremely weak. Although there is not a specific law prohibiting trafficking in persons, existing laws prohibit slavery, forced labor, rape, and prostitution of children under the age of 14. In 2004, the government investigated and/or prosecuted a number of traffickers for recruiting soldiers, operating forced labor camps, and committing rape. In May, FARDC arrested former Mundundu40 Commander Biyoyo for unauthorized recruitment of soldiers, including minors. Biyoyo, however, was granted provisional release and is thought to have fled the country. The government and MONUC worked to break up known forced labor camps in Ituri. The judicial team in Ituri District collected 31 testimonies of victims that confirmed repeated, systematic and massive human rights violations by Ngiti militia, including slavery and sexual servitude. The government, with MONUC's assistance, arrested Ituri militants accused of such violations. By October 2004, over 50 persons were in government custody awaiting trial; however, 31 escaped with the help of prison guards. Courts in South Kivu reached convictions in 57 of 60 cases of sexual violence over the last year and a half, with sentences ranging between ten months and 20 years imprisonment and included reparations to victims and their families. Protection The Ministry of Defense and the national demobilization commission, CONADER, worked closely with NGOs, international organizations, and civil society entities to demobilize and reintegrate children associated with armed groups. Services provided included identification and separation from adult militia members, discharge, relocation to temporary transition centers, and family reunification or placement in foster homes. The FARDC made significant efforts to demobilize and reintegrate back into their communities children associated with armed groups. An estimated 5,000 children have been released from the FARDC and armed groups since October 2003. However, many former rebel groups only nominally affiliated with the FARDC still contain large numbers of children. Moreover, some rebel groups forcibly recruited and re-recruited previously demobilized child soldiers. The Ministry of Social Affairs chairs CONADER's technical steering group on issues related to child soldiers. The government has no resources to provide relief to other types of trafficking victims. Prevention Prevention efforts remained the weakest facet of the government's anti-trafficking efforts. CONADER participated with a number of other organizations in the development of a national public awareness campaign regarding the use of child soldiers. The government supports such programs, but is not in a position to provide resources or execute them on its own. There is no formal coordination or communication between various government agencies on trafficking in persons.
COSTA RICA (TIER 2) Republic of Costa Rica The Republic of Costa Rica, located in Central America, is bounded by Nicaragua (N), the Caribbean Sea (E), Panama (SE), and the Pacific Ocean (S & W). Its capital and largest city is San Jos. Costa Rica has met the majority of the overall goals of the World Summit for Children, particularly in the basic areas of health and education. Costa Rica is a country of source, transit, and destination for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of labor and sexual exploitation. Women and children from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, China, Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru, Russia, Romania, the Philippines, Ecuador, and Guatemala are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Costa Rica also serves as a transit point for individuals trafficked to the United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Europe for sexual exploitation. Women and children are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation. Men, women, and children are trafficked internally for forced labor as domestics, agriculture workers, and workers in the fishing industry. Child sex tourism is a major problem in the country. The Government of Costa Rica does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Costa Rica continues to lack a comprehensive law enforcement strategy, thereby limiting its ability to effectively investigate, arrest, prosecute, and convict traffickers. Costa Rica needs to amend its laws to address trafficking offenses, increase efforts to protect victims, and work regionally to detect trafficking that is occurring as part of transnational illegal migration. Costa Rica also needs to appoint a single coordinating authority on trafficking and task it with drafting a national plan. Prosecution Despite the continued absence of a cogent law enforcement strategy, the government was able to make modest law enforcement gains over the last year. The Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) created a new investigative unit dedicated solely to trafficking and smuggling. Costa Rica lacks an anti-trafficking law, which greatly inhibits its ability to prosecute and convict traffickers. Scattered criminal statutes may be used against traffickers, and prosecutors use these sporadically. The government secured ten convictions among the different prosecutors' offices for trafficking-related offenses over the last year. Although hundreds of investigations into the commercial sexual exploitation of children have been initiated, few have resulted in successful prosecution because of the government's inefficiency and inability to protect victims. There are several offices in Costa Rica responsible for trafficking offenses, but little coordination among them frustrates law enforcement efforts. There have also been reports of corruption along the borders among immigration officials. Protection The government's efforts to protect trafficking victims remained inadequate over the last year, partly as a result of resource constraints. The government's victim protection policy is ad hoc and unevenly applied; it provides some assistance to Costa Rican victims, but shelter space is very limited and does not accommodate the large number of victims in the country. The government does allow foreign victims to stay in the country to testify against traffickers, but this does not happen often due to the lack of government assistance for victims. Instead, foreign victims (excluding children) are often deported. Prevention Recognizing that trafficking is a serious problem, senior government officials spoke out on the dangers of trafficking and the need to do more. The government, in collaboration with international organizations, conducted a large-scale information campaign designed to warn tourists of the penalties for sexually exploiting children. The campaign included inserts in immigration documents and posted billboards. The government is in the process of printing a booklet for foreign diplomats that explains trafficking and how to assist trafficking victims. Additionally, there are a number of other prevention efforts under way, including a 911-system to report sexual exploitation of minors. However, border monitoring remains poor and there are reports of complicity of immigration officials who are facilitating the cross-border movement of people, including trafficking victims.
COTE D'IVOIRE (TIER 2) Republic of Cote dIvoire (Ivory Coast) The Republic of Cte d'Ivoire is a W African country on the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Liberia and Guinea (W), by Mali and Burkina Faso (N), and by Ghana (E). Its capital is Yamoussoukro, and its largest city, commercial center, and former capital is Abidjan. Cte d'Ivoire is one of Africa's richest countries, but instability and internal fighting have displaced the population and disrupted access to essential social services. Cote d'Ivoire is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Available information indicates that the overall magnitude of trafficking in Cote d'Ivoire has diminished in the past few years. Ivoirian girls are trafficked within the country for exploitation as domestic servants, street vendors, and prostitutes, and occasionally are lured to Europe where they are forced into commercial sexual exploitation after being deceived by false marriage proposals. Children from Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, and Benin are trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire for agricultural and domestic labor exploitation. Nigerian and Ghanaian women and children, as well as some females from Algeria, Morocco, China, and the Philippines, are trafficked to Abidjan and other large towns for sexual exploitation. Some of these women also transit Cote d'Ivoire destined for Western Europe. The Government of Cote d'Ivoire does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Since civil war broke out in September 2002, the country has been divided, with the government maintaining control of the south and the ex-rebel New Forces controlling the north. The government's focus is ending the conflict, reunifying the country, and reversing the deterioration of the economy. Despite these challenges, the government demonstrated political will and dedicated some resources to combating trafficking. To further its efforts, the government should continue establishing watch groups to rescue child trafficking victims, pass the comprehensive anti-trafficking law, and investigate commercial sexual exploitation in the cities. Prosecution Despite ongoing conflict, the government made progress in bringing traffickers to justice over the last year. A much-needed comprehensive law against trafficking in persons remained in draft form, though under consideration by the National Assembly. The existing penal code prohibits abduction, receiving a person as a financial security, and forced labor. Many courts in the north have ceased to function as most judges and administrative officials have fled the conflict. In the south, the public prosecutor received eight trafficking cases during the year; five people were convicted. The police also presented five pimps to a judge for prosecution in 2004. In March 2004, the Ministry of Family Affairs and the National Committee Against Trafficking (NCFTCE) trained 22 trainers (security forces, judges, and social workers) to identify and handle cases of trafficking. The Ministry of Security instructed border officials to arrest those bringing others' children into the country. Buses carrying Ghanaian children suspected of being trafficked were routinely denied entry in the south. Protection Though it relied on NGO-run centers for primary care of most trafficking victims, the government, at all levels, was actively engaged in victim protection activities during the year. In 2004, police repatriated 30 female Nigerian trafficking victims with the help of the Nigerian Embassy in Abidjan. The Governor of Abidjan provided $10,200 to an NGO to further its shelter, medical, and psychological assistance to 37 foreign trafficking victims, eight of whom were repatriated. The government also assigned a civil servant to help the Abel Community of Grand Bassam establish ten neighborhood watch groups in villages between Abidjan and Ghana. In Bonoua, the mayor and his deputy assigned their assistants to work with these groups; they also provided offices and temporary shelter for 85 child trafficking victims. The government also assisted an NGO in creating ten similar watch groups in the southwest of the country. In 2004, 65 children were rescued and 60,000 people were sensitized to this program. Prevention During the year, the government took limited steps to prevent trafficking. The Ministry of Family employed 20 staff dedicated to working on child trafficking issues. In March 2004, the government finalized its national action plan against trafficking in persons and submitted it to UNICEF and ILO; the major activities have been approved for funding. The NCFTCE adopted a national training plan in October 2004 that addresses the training of judges, defense forces, NGOs, bus drivers, journalists, and radio personalities in the southern part of the country. However, implementation was put on hold due to increased instability. Several ministries continued implementation of a program to keep forced child labor out of the country's cocoa plantations by sensitizing farmers in 64 field schools.
CROATIA (TIER 2) Republic of Croatia The Republic of Croatia is located in the northwest corner of the Balkan Peninsula and is bounded by Slovenia (NW), Hungary (NE), Serbia and Montenegro (E), by Bosnia and Hercegovina (S & E), and by the Adriatic Sea in the west. Its capital city is Zagreb. Following political changes in 2000, Croatia is gradually moving towards a fully democratic society with a free market economy. Croatia is a country of transit, and to a lesser extent, source and destination country for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Victims generally originate in Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other parts of Eastern Europe, and are trafficked into Western Europe. The Government of Croatia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the reporting period, Croatia began to intensify efforts to combat trafficking in persons and took nascent steps to improve its response to trafficking. The government implemented targeted law enforcement training and increased its capacity to identify and assist victims. It adopted a national action plan, appointed an anti-trafficking coordinator, and provided direct funds to implement the plan. The government should now produce tangible enforcement results through increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of traffickers. The government, via the national anti-trafficking committee and anti-trafficking coordinator, should capitalize on gains made with NGOs and demonstrate more proactive victim identification, protection, and public awareness efforts. Finally, it should further institutionalize support by adequately staffing anti-trafficking programs and improving coordination. Prosecution In October 2004, the Government of Croatia enacted legislation that specifically prohibits and punishes trafficking in persons offenses, providing for penalties from one to ten years' imprisonment. When the victim is a minor, the minimum sentence is five years. Penalties are commensurate with that of rape. The government reported 17 investigations and four convictions in 2004, two of which are not subject to appeal; sentences ranged from seven months to nine years. In partnership with IOM, the police continued to actively implement an intensive 'train the trainers' program aimed initially at 26 core police officers throughout Croatia. The program will ultimately reach 1,600 officers and has been selected by the Council of Europe as a model for similar training efforts in the region. In 2004, the government incorporated anti-trafficking training into the police academy curriculum and 283 officers received specialized anti-trafficking training. In addition, the police designated an anti-trafficking officer in every police district in Croatia. In February 2005, the Judicial Academy held a case-study seminar for approximately 15 judges and prosecutors. A general environment of corruption remains a problem in combating trafficking. There were no reports of official complicity in trafficking. Protection In 2004, the government improved cooperation with NGOs, which resulted in greater and more consistent victim assistance. The government reported helping 19 victims, an increase of eight from the previous year. The Croatian Parliament amended the Law on Foreigners to increase the length of time victims can apply for temporary residency status -- from 90 days to one year -- with a possible one-year extension. The government reported issuing three such permits during the reporting period. In 2004, the government passed a Witness Protection Act that provides protection to witnesses participating in criminal proceedings; however, witness protection mechanisms continue to be underutilized. The Ministry of Interior developed instructions that included guidelines on identification and treatment for law enforcement officials who come into contact with potential trafficking victims, and distributed all instructions and guidelines to officers. Prevention In 2004, the Government of Croatia increased its support of prevention efforts by funding new anti-trafficking awareness campaigns. The government co-funded with NGOs several prevention programs, a shelter, a hotline, a public awareness campaign, and law enforcement training. The Ministry of Education, in partnership with IOM, trained 272 teachers on how to present trafficking to students. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare trained 30 physicians on providing specialized medical assistance to trafficking victims. NGOs and IOM are represented on mobile anti-trafficking teams that assist in victim identification and assistance. In November 2004, the Croatian Government launched a public awareness campaign using the popular media and billboards to educate the general public about trafficking and the anti-trafficking hotline. In February 2005, the Foreign Ministry trained 15 consular staff in the region on identification of potential trafficking victims. Border guards monitored Croatia's borders and immigration and emigration patterns for trafficking, and have a formal framework for regional cooperation.
CUBA (TIER 3) Republic of Cuba The Republic of Cuba consists of the island of Cuba and numerous adjacent islands in the Caribbean Sea. Havana is its capital and largest city. The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. It has undertaken limited reforms to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the depression of the 1990s. Cuba is a source country for children trafficked internally for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced child labor. Trafficking victims from all over Cuba are exploited in major cities and tourist resorts. There are no reliable estimates available on the extent of trafficking in the country; however, children in prostitution is widely apparent, even to casual observers. These children are sometimes trafficked into prostitution by their families and exploited by foreign tourists. Anecdotal evidence suggests that workers at state-run hotels, travel company employees, taxicab drivers, bar and restaurant workers, and law enforcement personnel are complicit in the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. Cuban forced labor victims include children coerced into working in conditions of involuntary servitude in commercial agriculture. The Government of Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. In 2001, Cuban officials outlined an extensive plan to address the prevention and prosecution of trafficking victims on a national scale, but there has been no evidence to show that the plan has been implemented. As in previous years, Cuban officials over the past year dismissed as politically motivated any criticisms of the government's failure to address trafficking in the country. Cuba has no strategy to address its trafficking problem and growing child sex tourism industry. To improve its efforts to combat trafficking in the country, the government needs to publicly acknowledge that trafficking occurs, implement a national plan to prevent teenagers from becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation, and end its forced labor practices. Prosecution The government has no anti-trafficking law enforcement policy and there was no observed progress in punishing traffickers during the last year. Adult prostitution is not illegal in Cuba, though the prostitution of children and the activities of brothel owners, clients, and pimps are all criminalized and carry penalties of from four to ten years in prison. Occasionally, the government will institute a crackdown against prostitution and related activities; however, these efforts are ad hoc and generally result in the widespread arrest of women in prostitution. Recently, the government released previously unknown statistics covering the period 20002004 on convictions for pimping and procuring prostitutes, including 881 trials for procuring prostitutes and 1,377 convictions. However, no data was provided on the investigation, arrest, prosecution, and conviction of any traffickers who are luring children into the trade and profiting from the sexual exploitation of minors. There has been some cooperation with U.S. law enforcement on specific commercial sexual exploitation investigations, but as a matter of policy Cuban authorities do not admit to the existence of a problem. Protection The government does not provide protection services to trafficking victims and there has been no progress in this area during the reporting period. Victims, including children in prostitution, are generally treated as criminals - detained in police sweeps, held for several hours or days, fined, and released. The government, on occasion, rounds up women in prostitution and forces them into rehabilitation centers (as it did prior to the Pope's visit in 1998). Prevention efforts are not serious or sustained, but rather superficial at best. The government describes its use of forced child labor as a "voluntary" arrangement and does not acknowledge that it constitutes trafficking. Prevention The government undertakes no information campaigns to prevent trafficking for sexual exploitation, and does not officially admit that Cuba has a trafficking problem. The government fails to publicize the incidence and dangers of child prostitution; however, it did for the first time publish the U.S. Government's trafficking-related sanctions in the government-run newspaper on June 16, 2004. But since the media is government run, it rarely reports on trafficking or any other social ills. NGOs and international organizations operating in the country are restricted in what they may state publicly on the subject, limiting their ability to aid or encourage the government to undertake any kind of prevention campaign.
CYPRUS (TIER 2) Republic of Cyprus The Republic of Cyprus is an island nation in the E Mediterranean Sea. The capital and largest city is Nicosia. Cyprus is divided into a northern, Turkish Cypriot sector and a southern, Greek Cypriot sector, with a thin buffer zone occupied by United Nations Forces. In addition, Great Britain retains sovereignty over two military bases, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, located on the SW and SE coasts respectively. The Greek Cypriot economy is prosperous but highly susceptible to external shocks. The service sector, mainly tourism and financial services, dominates the economy; erratic growth rates over the past decade reflect the economy's reliance on tourism, which often fluctuates with political instability in the region and economic conditions in Western Europe. The Turkish Cypriot economy has roughly one-third of the per capita GDP of the south, and economic growth tends to be volatile, given north Cyprus's relative isolation, bloated public sector, reliance on the Turkish lira, and small market size. Cyprus is a destination country for women trafficked from Eastern and Central Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Traffickers who forced women into prostitution continued to fraudulently recruit victims for work as dancers in cabarets and nightclubs on short-term "artiste" visas, for work in pubs and bars on employment visas, or for illegal work on tourist or student visas. There was increasing evidence of Chinese women being trafficked for sexual exploitation in Cyprus. The Government of Cyprus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Cyprus made some progress in its anti-trafficking efforts over the past year. The new police anti-trafficking unit produced successful results and showed vigilance in combating the problem. Government recognition of the problem improved, and there was a perceptible shift in awareness among officials, the press, and the public. Nevertheless, the government did little to generate public awareness about the role customers play in contributing to trafficking in Cyprus. The Government of Cyprus should immediately formalize its recently completed National Action Plan and proactively enforce its implementation. Moreover, the government should work to improve cooperation with civil society on victim protection and assistance. Prosecution In 2004, the Government of Cyprus significantly increased its anti-trafficking enforcement efforts, particularly in the area of investigations and arrests. Under its newly created Office of Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, police made 194 arrests in 91 trafficking-related cases. Additionally, police charged 20 persons with trafficking in persons and sexual exploitation. There were no trafficking-related convictions reported during the reporting period. Police conducted regular visits to cabarets and interviewed women in private, away from their places of work. In 2004, the government closed ten cabarets for operating without a license. The Government of Cyprus signed a number of anti-trafficking cooperation agreements with source countries during the reporting period. Protection The Government of Cyprus' efforts in the area of protection improved in 2004. The Welfare Department of the Ministry of Labor routinely ensured that victims received temporary shelter, received legal and financial assistance, and issued residence and employment permits in cases where victims cooperated in an investigation. The police identified 66 victims willing to testify against their traffickers, 47 of whom requested police protection. In 2004, the government set aside several rooms for trafficking victims in government-subsidized housing and solicited bids for the operation and construction of a permanent shelter. Notably, the government has stopped issuance of new cabaret licenses and now prohibits hiring replacements for women on artiste visas who are identified as victims and removed from cabarets. Although the government established a screening and referral process, it has yet to fully standardize it by completing its proposed handbook for handling victims. Prevention In March 2005, the Ministry of Interior held a major press conference to publicize the release and routine distribution of a revised information pamphlet for all newly arriving female foreign workers. This pamphlet contains anti-trafficking information in an effort to prevent the exploitation of artistes. Although the anti-trafficking unit held a number of press conferences and appeared in popular media to promote its anti-trafficking activities, the government did not conduct any large-scale demand-oriented awareness campaigns. Police reported receiving an estimated 20 trafficking-related calls per week via their crime prevention hotline.
AREA ADMINISTERED BY TURKISH CYPRIOTS The Republic of Cyprus exercises control over the southern two-thirds of the island. The northern part of Cyprus is governed by a Turkish Cypriot administration that has declared itself the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC); it is not recognized by the United States or any other country, except Turkey. The area administered by Turkish Cypriots is a destination for women trafficked from Eastern and Central Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. There are indications that it is also used as a transit point for persons trafficked into forced labor into the EU. In 2004, Turkish Cypriot authorities demonstrated an increased recognition of the trafficking problem. Police reportedly investigated all complaints made by victims, and they continued their policy of holding the passports and airplane tickets of nightclub employees to prevent exploitation by employers. In 2004, 22 individuals were arrested on the grounds of living off the proceeds of prostitution, and of those, 18 cases are pending trial, while 4 were convicted. In February 2005, a social worker began interviewing newly arrived nightclub employees to verify whether their employment is voluntary or not. The police and other officials conducted regular inspections of nightclubs and bars. In 2004, 1,033 visas were issued to women working in bars and nightclubs. Notably, in 2004 the police reportedly repatriated 191 women who wished to terminate their nightclub contracts - a possible sign of trafficking. Turkish Cypriot authorities should take immediate action to strengthen prosecution efforts and stiffen penalties for perpetrators.
CZECH REPUBLIC (TIER 1) Czech Republic The Czech Republic, located in central Europe, is bordered by Slovakia (E), Austria (S), Germany (W), and Poland (N). Prague is its capital and largest city. The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the postCommunist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-04 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. The Czech Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, China, and Vietnam into and through the Czech Republic mainly for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Czech victims and those transiting the country are trafficked to Western Europe and the United States, sometimes via third countries. Internal trafficking occurs from low employment areas to Prague and regions bordering Germany and Austria. Ethnic Roma women are at the highest risk for internal trafficking, and almost always are trafficked by a relative or someone known to them previously. The Government of the Czech Republic fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. In 2004, the Czech Government strengthened its anti-trafficking legislation and turned its pilot victim assistance program into a nationwide government-funded program. While enforcement statistics improved during the reporting period, sentences imposed on traffickers remained low. Prosecution The Czech police increased its capacity to investigate and convict traffickers over the reporting period, although the overall numbers of cases prosecuted pursuant to anti-trafficking legislation remained low and sentences imposed remained weak. Amendments to the Czech Penal Code went into effect in November 2004, making all forms of trafficking illegal, including labor exploitation and internal trafficking. Maximum trafficking penalties were increased from 12 to 15 years, with a minimum penalty of two years. In 2004, Czech authorities investigated 30 individuals and prosecuted 19 under the trafficking statutes. The courts convicted 12 traffickers under those statutes, an increase from five in 2003. Of the 12 convicted, three received unconditional prison sentences of three to five years, and nine received conditional or suspended sentences. Police training curricula included segments on trafficking, and a new internal website for police provided trafficking awareness information. While no government officials were indicted or convicted for complicity in trafficking, allegations continued about the involvement of individual border police officers facilitating illegal border crossings. Czech law enforcement conducted joint anti-trafficking investigations with Germany, Slovakia, Austria, Poland, and Ukraine in 2004. Protection The Czech Government continued to improve trafficking protection and assistance over the last year. In November 2004, the Model of Support and Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Persons was expanded to a permanent, government-funded program that is open to all foreign and Czech victims. This program involves close cooperation between the government and NGOs, and allows the victims a 30day reflection period to receive assistance and consider whether to assist in prosecuting their traffickers. From January 2004 to January 2005, 14 trafficking victims - including one forced labor victim - took part in the program. Many victims chose to apply for asylum, which allows them legal status in the Czech Republic until their cases are decided - a process involving months to years. The government houses victims and potential victims applying for asylum with other at-risk groups in guarded asylum centers to prevent unwanted contact with traffickers. The government funded several NGOs and international organizations for sheltering and care of victims; two of the Czech Republic's principal organizations provided shelter to 68 trafficking victims in 2004. Prevention The Ministry of Interior is currently collaborating with IOM to produce a demand-reduction campaign targeting clients of commercial sex outlets along the Czech-German border area. A government-fund-ed NGO conducted awareness campaigns among potential trafficking victims at schools and asylum centers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued to provide trafficking information to applicants for Czech visas from identified trafficking source countries. The Crime Prevention Department continued awareness programs at schools. In addition to the Czech National Action Plan on trafficking adopted in 2003, the government in July 2004 adopted a plan to combat commercial sexual abuse of children.
DENMARK (TIER 1) Kingdom of Denmark The Kingdom of Denmark is located in N Europe and is bordered by Germany (S), the North Sea (W), the Skagerrak (N), and the Kattegat and the resund (E). Copenhagen is Denmark's capital, largest city, and chief industrial center. Because of high GDP per capita, welfare benefits, a low Gini index, and political stability, the Danish people enjoy living standards topped by no other nation. A major long-term issue will be the sharp decline in the ratio of workers to retirees. Denmark is primarily a destination and transit country for women and children trafficked from Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, and the former Soviet Union (particularly Ukraine, Moldova, and Russia) for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Victims are transported through Denmark to other European countries. An international organization identified ethnic Roma children from Romania as having likely been trafficked to Denmark for involuntary servitude in the form of forced begging and petty crimes. Police reported an increased number of Nigerian women in prostitution in Denmark, some of whom are believed to have been trafficked. The Government of Denmark fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government made significant strides in enforcement during the reporting period, achieving convictions in two major trafficking cases under Denmark's 2002 anti-trafficking legislation. Additionally, law enforcement officials hired a full-time social worker to act as a liaison between the police and NGOs in trafficking investigations. The Danish Government should consider expanding its prevention efforts to include domestic demand-reduction programs. Prosecution Denmark advanced law enforcement efforts against trafficking in two major prosecutions during the reporting period. Danish courts convicted eight individuals of trafficking, compared to none in 2003. Sentences ranged from one to three and a half years. In February 2005, police arrested three individuals for trafficking women from the Baltic countries to Denmark for the purpose of sexual exploitation; the investigation is ongoing. Denmark's 2002 anti-trafficking law criminalizes trafficking for both sexual and non-sexual exploitation. Danish law penalizes trafficking in persons (i.e., recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, receiving) with up to eight years in prison; it also penalizes the deprivation of liberty under a separate section with up to 12 years' imprisonment if aggravated circumstances are identified. The 54 police districts now each have a designated contact person for trafficking investigations. There is no evidence of government involvement in or tolerance of trafficking. The Danish police regularly conduct joint trafficking investigations with law enforcement authorities from other countries; in 2004, Danish law enforcement officials joined a Nordic law enforcement operation targeting traffickers of Nigerian women. Protection The Danish Government enhanced communications and relations between police and NGOs in 2004 by hiring a full-time social worker at the police's organized crime unit. In 2004, NGOs continued to receive government funds to provide victim services. During the reporting period, the lead government-funded NGO provided assistance to 29 trafficking victims. All police districts received guidance about how to identify cases of trafficking, how to address these cases, and how to provide aid to victims. Danish authorities did not jail or fine trafficking victims. The government offered victims a 15-day stay in Denmark to receive healthcare, counseling, and shelter (including guaranteed security) prior to repatriation; victims are barred from re-entry for one year following repatriation. To encourage best practices and develop contacts, the government in 2004 funded five anti-trafficking study tours for Danish NGOs to Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Prevention The Danish Government increased its prevention efforts and continued to implement its National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking, which is publicly available in Danish and English on the Internet. Since October 2004, the government's inter-ministerial working group on trafficking held regular meetings with NGO involvement. In spring 2005, a Danish research center under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Gender Equality created an informational pamphlet explaining trafficking victims' legal rights in several languages. The government continued to fund Save the Children Denmark, which combats child sex tourism. Denmark's organized crime unit developed national databases designed to enhance information sharing on trafficking cases between police departments throughout Denmark.
DJIBOUTI [no tier rating] Republic of Djibouti The Republic of Djibouti is located in E Africa on the Gulf of Aden. It is bounded by Eritrea (N), Ethiopia (W, S), Somalia (S), and the Gulf of Aden (E). Its capital, largest city, and most significant port is also called Djibouti. An unemployment rate of at least 50% continues to be a major problem. Per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35% over the last seven years because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). Trafficking in persons is an undocumented problem in Djibouti. There is a dearth of solid evidence or statistics to make a concrete case that trafficking is a significant problem in the country, though anecdotal evidence suggests some trafficking occurs. Insufficient or nonexistent monitoring of migration and labor statistics makes it difficult at this time to substantiate the magnitude of trafficking occurring within the country's borders. Scope and Magnitude Djibouti may be a country of transit and destination for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced sexual exploitation. Local and international NGO sources indicate that persons trafficked into Djibouti, or persons who migrate to Djibouti and become victims of trafficking, come from Ethiopia and Somalia. The same sources indicate that individuals are occasionally trafficked onward to Arab countries or Somalia. Djibouti has numerous children exploited in prostitution, mostly economic migrants from neighboring countries. Some estimates place the total number of prostitutes in Djibouti at between 500 and 600, a small portion of which are believed to be under the age of 18. Children in prostitution work in the streets, apartments, or brothels. Older children reportedly forced younger children to engage in prostitution in order to collect their earnings. Individuals acting as pimps or protectors are frequently used to set up transactions. Government Efforts The government does not see trafficking in persons as a problem and there is currently no political will to address or combat the issue. Djibouti does have laws against prostitution, pimping, abduction, and exploitation of a person's weakness or ignorance; however, these laws do not cover the full extent of trafficking in persons. Djibouti also lacks the resources to sufficiently train its security forces to recognize trafficking, establish prevention programs, investigate and prosecute traffickers, or protect trafficking victims. Undocumented foreigners are typically deported to their countries of origin; trafficking victims may be among those deported. Approximately 20 Ethiopians are deported each week from Djibouti; further information about these individuals is unknown.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic, West Indies, is located on the eastern two thirds of the island of Hispaniola. Its capital and largest city is Santo Domingo. Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of national income. The Dominican Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Dominican women and children are trafficked to destinations in Latin America and Europe, including Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands Antilles, Argentina, Costa Rica, and Brazil. There are indications that Peruvian women have been trafficked through the Dominican Republic to Italy. Additionally, Haitians are trafficked into the Dominican Republic for forced labor and sexual exploitation. There are reports of an estimated 2,000 Haitian children trafficked into the Dominican Republic annually to work on the street (such as shoe shining), to work in agriculture, or to be exploited in the sex trade. The ILO estimates that 48,000 children are engaged in child labor nationwide. The Government of the Dominican Republic does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, is making significant efforts to do so. The Dominican Republic is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to address trafficking over the past year. Trafficking-related law enforcement efforts generally remained weak, though the current government made modest efforts to combat trafficking in some areas, including the successful prosecution of a high-level official complicit in trafficking-related offenses. The government, which took office last year, has newly appointed individuals in place to combat trafficking and has pledged to do more. Prosecution The Dominican Republic's anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts remained limited during the reporting period. Existing anti-trafficking units remain poorly deployed and coordination between agencies is ineffective. The government has not provided comprehensive anti-trafficking law enforcement data, but did report that only two new trafficking arrests were made over the last year. The government was finally able to convict and sentence to 18 months in prison Congressman Guillermo Radhames Ramos Garcia on charges of alien smuggling and trafficking-related offenses while a consul in Haiti, following a two-year legal battle. The Attorney General and other prosecutors have also made strong public statements about the need to prosecute and investigate trafficking cases, but this has yet to translate into a substantial number of active cases. A few commercial establishments involved in sexually exploiting children have been closed. Efforts to address trafficking-related corruption have improved modestly, as evidenced by the conviction of the Congressmen noted above. The government has yet to prosecute accused child trafficker Maria Martinez Nunez, who has been imprisoned awaiting trial since 2002. Official corruption still remains endemic and continues to impede antitrafficking efforts. Law enforcement efforts are also hampered by a lack of resources, personnel, and trafficking awareness. Potential trafficking cases are rarely fully prosecuted or brought to conclusion. Protection The Dominican Government's efforts to protect victims of trafficking remained inadequate over the last year, hampered by a lack of resources. There are no shelters in the country specifically aimed to assist trafficking victims. Limited services are available to trafficking victims through NGOs. The government has made efforts to work with these NGOs to refer and assist trafficking victims, but efforts are uneven and should be increased. In general, the government lacks a comprehensive victim protection policy, which also affects the government's ability to identify traffickers. Control of the Haitian border remains weak, and the government continues to deny birth certificates to Haitians born in the Dominican Republic, which leaves them more vulnerable to traffickers and also leaves them without access to certain services in the Dominican Republic. The process for the identification and responsible repatriation of Haitian trafficking victims living illegally in the Dominican Republic needs to be improved. Prevention The government recognizes that trafficking is a problem, but has failed to implement sustainable prevention campaigns, in part because of its resource constraints. There have been campaigns in the country warning about the dangers of trafficking and the government has increased efforts to train officials on trafficking-related matters. There have been several public awareness campaigns, including several town-hall meetings in Boca Chica, a known site of child trafficking. High government officials continue to speak out about the dangers of trafficking and have committed to do more.
EAST TIMOR (TIER 2) Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (East Timor or Timor-Leste ) is located in the Lesser Sundas, Malay Archipelago, off the SE Asia mainland. The country occupies the eastern half of Timor island, the exclave of Ambeno (or Oecussi) on the NW coast of Timor, and offshore islands. Dili, on the north coast, is its capital and largest city, as well as its main port. The country faces great challenges in continuing the rebuilding of infrastructure, strengthening the infant civil administration, and generating jobs for young people entering the workforce. One promising long-term project is the planned development of oil and gas resources in nearby waters, which have begun to supplement government revenues ahead of schedule. East Timor is a destination country for women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The majority of trafficking victims in East Timor are women from Thailand, Indonesia, and the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) who had been trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. The Government of East Timor does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government shows the political will to address the problem but lacks the resources to combat trafficking effectively. While the East Timorese Government actively engages with NGOs and regional and international bodies, it continues to have difficulty distinguishing trafficking victims from illegal migrants. Government action should concentrate on adopting a strong and comprehensive anti-trafficking law, arresting and prosecuting traffickers, and improving victim protection measures. The government and the United Nations should also continue to address credible reports that UN peacekeepers are clients of brothels that have trafficked women. Prosecution The Government of East Timor's law enforcement efforts against trafficking were modest during the reporting period. The government has not developed the capacity to compile full information on trafficking-related arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. East Timorese authorities conducted sporadic investigations and raids but did not prosecute any trafficking-related cases over the last year. The Immigration and Asylum Act of 2003 criminalizes trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation and for non-sexual purposes but penalties are less severe than penalties for rape and forcible sexual assault. The Ministry of Justice is finalizing a new penal code that will criminalize the activities of pimps and brothel owners/operators. There is a lack of coordination between prosecutors and the police, and law enforcement officials generally lack training. Protection Due to a lack of resources, the East Timorese Government provided only sporadic protection and assistance to trafficking victims during the reporting period. Some trafficking victims were repatriated with the help of the government, their embassies, and international organizations. While the government assisted a few victims in finding shelter and protection from NGOs it appears that some victims may have been charged and deported for prostitution and/or immigration violations. The government did not fund foreign and domestic NGOs that provided shelter and access to services for victims. Prevention There have been no anti-trafficking campaigns conducted in East Timor, in part because East Timor has not been a country of origin for trafficking victims. While the government continued to recognize that trafficking is a problem, it did not place a priority on trafficking prevention programs. The government has been considering a national action plan.
ECUADOR (TIER 3) Republic of Ecuador The Republic of Ecuador is located in W South America and is bounded by Colombia (N), by Peru (S & E), and by the Pacific Ocean (W). Its capital is Quito; and the largest city and chief port is Guayaquil. The government and society have made concerted efforts that are showing some positive results in addressing inequality and poverty. Ecuador is a source, transit, and destination country for persons trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Many victims are children trafficked for sexual exploitation; in 2003, the ILO estimated that over 5,000 minors in Ecuador were being exploited in prostitution. Poverty drives some poor rural families to send children to work on banana plantations or in small-scale mines and to urban areas where traffickers exploit them. Ecuadorians are trafficked to Western Europe, particularly Spain and Italy, and to other countries in Latin America. Colombians cross the border into Ecuador to engage in prostitution and many are believed to have been trafficked. Ecuador's lax border controls make it a point of origin and transit for illegal migrants; the use of alien smuggling operations by migrants increases their vulnerability to being trafficked. The Government of Ecuador does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. President Gutierrez issued a decree in August 2004 that recognized the trafficking problem, established an inter-institutional committee, and assigned the Minister of Government responsibility to head efforts to combat trafficking, but no discernable progress was made during the reporting period in identifying victims and prosecuting those who exploit them. The government should develop, publicize, and implement a comprehensive anti-trafficking policy; strengthen laws to prohibit trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation of minors; and formulate a law enforcement strategy for identifying victims and prosecuting traffickers. Prosecution The Government of Ecuador failed to make significant law enforcement efforts against trafficking over the last year. DINAPEN, the national police agency charged with protecting children, received anti-trafficking training and conducted raids of bars, nightclubs, and brothels suspected of exploiting children, but DINAPEN officers failed to confirm whether children removed from premises had been sexually exploited. The National Congress passed few laws during the reporting period, and changes to the penal code that include provisions against trafficking and to raise the age of consent remained pending in Congress at the end of the reporting period. The constitution specifically prohibits slavery and trafficking in all forms, but no traffickers were prosecuted or convicted. Law enforcement focused considerable efforts on dismantling alien smuggling operations, but did not apply the same effort toward identifying and rescuing migrant trafficking victims. There was no confirmed evidence of government involvement in or tolerance of trafficking, but corruption is a pervasive problem. Protection The national government had only limited ability to support social programs and did not fund programs to assist trafficking victims during the reporting period. No minors engaging in prostitution were detained. Minors picked up in raids were typically returned to their families and only referred to NGOs when returning home was not possible. Due to resource constraints, the government afforded little protection to witnesses of crimes, including trafficking victims, and no assistance to repatriated trafficking victims. Prevention The Government of Ecuador lacked policies or programs to prevent trafficking. The inter-institutional committee on trafficking started drafting a national plan to address trafficking, child sexual exploitation, and child labor, but the draft plan was incomplete and not ready to implement. The government continued work with donors and international organizations like the ILO on programs to keep children in school and assist those at risk of child labor, but it undertook no prevention measures focused on trafficking.
EGYPT (TIER 2) Arab Republic of Egypt The Arab Republic of Egypt, located NE Africa and SW Asia, is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea (N), Israel and the Red Sea (E), Sudan (S), and Libya (W). Egypt's capital and largest city is Cairo. Over the last decade, Egypt has made great strides towards the achievement of child rights. The majority of its inhabitants are concentrated into about 5% of the total land area, putting a heavy burden on public services and causing massive migration to Cairo and Alexandria. Approximately 23% of the population live below the national poverty line, and despite free education, 60% of adult females and 36% of adult males are illiterate. The development of an export market for natural gas is a bright spot for future growth prospects, but does little to reduce Egypt's persistent unemployment. Egypt is a transit country for women and girls trafficked from Eastern Europe and Russia into Israel for sexual exploitation. Some victims, primarily from sub-Saharan Africa, may also transit Egypt en route to Europe. Various sources indicate that unspecified numbers of women, particularly from Moldova, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, are smuggled or trafficked through the Sinai desert into Israel. Some women who seek economic opportunity in Israel willingly chose to make this journey. Others are deceived or compelled to make the journey. Bedouin smugglers appear to play a key role in their travel. Once in Israel, they are sexually exploited in prostitution. According to the Government of Egypt, 154 persons, including 93 women who entered Egypt in 2004 on tourist visas, remain unaccounted for. Some Egyptian males are smuggled into Europe and are reportedly subjected to involuntary servitude. The Government of Egypt does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Following the October 2004 terrorist attacks in the Sinai, the government increased its security vigilance in the region. The government signed a "pledge document" with Bedouin tribal leaders in the Sinai, which, among other things, elicits their cooperation to report on trafficking-related activities. The government should appoint a national coordinator to oversee its overall anti-trafficking efforts; conduct an assessment of the trafficking situation and develop a national plan of action to combat it; adopt and implement comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation; train its law enforcement personnel to identify trafficking crimes, prosecute more traffickers, and care for victims; and develop effective protection and prevention programs. Prosecution During the reporting period, the Government of Egypt made modest efforts to prosecute trafficking cases. Egypt does not have specific anti-trafficking legislation; nonetheless, it uses other criminal codes to punish traffickers. In 2004, a criminal court in the Sinai sentenced one person to three and a half years in prison for attempting to traffic five Russian and Moldavian women into Israel. Press reports indicate that in September 2004, 13 Eastern European women were rescued after a gun battle between security forces and Bedouin traffickers. In early 2005, the Ministry of Interior established an Office of Organized Crime within the Ministry, to serve as a coordinating body for narcotics and human trafficking. The government should enhance its law enforcement collaborations with source, destination, and other transit countries in order to identify and dismantle any trafficking networks and prosecute the criminals behind them. Protection The Government of Egypt does not have a trafficking victim protection program. However, in instances where victims are identified, the government turns them over to their embassies for assistance. Repatriation of trafficking victims continues to be conducted on an ad hoc basis. Egypt should consider collaborating with IOM to repatriate victims. It should also develop and implement a uniform protection policy. Prevention The Egyptian Government does not have an anti-trafficking prevention program. However, its consular and immigration officials, at home and abroad, are instructed to be on alert for instances of illegal migration and fraudulent travel. As previously mentioned, the government signed a "pledge document" with tribal leaders in the Sinai, to elicit their cooperation in monitoring trafficking routes. Egypt should develop and implement a public awareness campaign to sensitize the general public, vulnerable groups, and government officials.
EL SALVADOR (TIER 2) Republic of El Salvador The Republic of El Salvador, a Central American country, is bounded by the Pacific Ocean (S), by Guatemala (W), and by Honduras (N & E). The capital and largest city is San Salvador. GDP per capita is roughly half that of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, and the distribution of income is highly unequal. One of the key achievements towards realizing children's rights in El Salvador has been the approval of a National Code for Children that gathered support from the three branches of power and from society. El Salvador is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. El Salvador is also a source country for forced labor. There are no firm estimates on the size and scope of trafficking in El Salvador. However, there are reports of Salvadorans trafficked to the United States, Canada, Mexico, and other countries in Central America. Salvadoran women and children are trafficked internally for prostitution from the rural and eastern part of the country to urban areas. The vast majority of foreign victims are women and children from Nicaragua and Honduras. There have been past reports of Salvadorans being trafficked to the United States for agricultural labor exploitation. The Government of El Salvador does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In October 2004, El Salvador passed new anti-trafficking legislation to make trafficking in persons and conspiracy to traffic a felony. That same month, the Border Patrol of the National Civilian Police (PNC) created a special anti-trafficking unit dedicated to investigating trafficking cases. This new unit has stepped up efforts to rescue victims and arrest traffickers. To further its efforts to combat trafficking, the government should establish mechanisms to provide victim protection and services, including assistance for foreign victims. Additionally, increased regional cooperation would enable the government to further investigate trafficking cases that are occurring as part of cross-border migration. Prosecution Aided by a new anti-trafficking law, the Government of El Salvador increased its efforts to investigate, arrest, and convict traffickers during the reporting period. From October 2004 to February 2005, the newly created Police Anti-trafficking Unit arrested 15 traffickers and charged them under the new, more stringent, anti-trafficking law. Prior to the October passage of the new anti-trafficking law in 2004, the government brought cases under existing statutes against 19 traffickers. However, only three convictions were obtained among the 34 trafficking-related arrests. The passage of the new anti-trafficking law gives the government better tools to go after traffickers, and the Attorney General's office should use it to more aggressively to investigate, prosecute, and convict brothel owners, especially those involved in the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Protection The government provides reasonable protections for Salvadorans, particularly children, but foreign trafficking victims remained relatively excluded from these protections during the reporting period. The government is in the process of amending its immigration laws to comply with treaty obligations respecting the protection of foreign trafficking victims. At the present time, though, illegal adult immigrants, some of whom may be victims of trafficking, face quick deportation as a matter of policy. Despite limited resources, the government's child welfare agency (ISNA) does provide protection, counseling, shelter, and legal assistance to at-risk Salvadoran children, including underage trafficking victims. The newly created anti-trafficking Police unit rescued and turned over to ISNA's care 19 minors between October 2004 and February 2005. The government plans to open a temporary shelter for trafficking victims, but efforts have been slow. Finally, the government is exploring legislation to create a witness protection program that would foster better victim participation in the prosecution of traffickers. Prevention Resource constraints hampered the government's efforts to produce a sustainable anti-trafficking prevention effort over the last year, but the government has in the past aggressively used the media to warn the public about trafficking. The government sponsors programs to promote the participation of women in social, economic, cultural, and educational venues. The government is also supporting after-school activities for children to bind them to their communities and prevent them from falling prey to traffickers, gangs, drugs, and violence.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA (TIER 2) Republic of Equatorial Guinea The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is located in W central Africa and includes the islands of Bioko (formerly Fernando Po), Annobn, Corisco, Elobey Grande, and Elobey Chico in the Gulf of Guinea, and Ro Muni on the African mainland. Ro Muni, which includes about 93% of the nation's land area and 75% to 80% of its population, is bordered by Cameroon (N), by Gabon (E & S), and by the Gulf of Guinea in the west. Malabo, situated on Bioko, is the capital and largest city. The discovery and exploitation of large oil reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth in recent years. Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP, although subsistence farming predominates. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the neglect of the rural economy under successive regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth. Equatorial Guinea is a transit and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude, and other forced labor. Women and children are trafficked to Equatorial Guinea from West and Central Africa, principally Cameroon, Nigeria, and Benin. Women are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation in Malabo, where demand is high due to the booming oil sector. Cameroonian and Beninese children are trafficked to Malabo for exploitation as street and market hawkers; Nigerian boys are trafficked to Rio Muni (the mainland) for exploitation as agricultural workers. The Government of Equatorial Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Over the past year the government has made a number of efforts that attest to its commitment to address Equatorial Guinea's small but significant trafficking problem. Most notably, the government passed a comprehensive trafficking law, committed $3-4 million in funding for UNICEF anti-trafficking projects, began drafting a national plan of action, and started law enforcement efforts to rescue child trafficking victims in Malabo. Prosecution The Government of Equatorial Guinea made significant progress in addressing trafficking through law enforcement measures during the reporting period. The government in September 2004 enacted a comprehensive anti-trafficking law, which was drafted by an inter-ministerial commission on trafficking that had been created in July 2004. The government did not provide comprehensive law enforcement statistics on anti-trafficking activities. However, during the year, the government enforced its law against forced labor and convicted a Beninese woman for holding a 14 year-old Beninese girl in involuntary servitude. The Ministry of Interior in early 2005 embarked on a campaign to rescue foreign children forced to sell products in the Malabo market and on the streets. A draft national plan of action, which will provide implementation guidelines for the new law, plans to empower dedicated police officers, "fiscales de menores," to fight child trafficking. There are reports of low-level law enforcement officials' facilitation of trafficking at the country's entry points, though there are no known investigations or prosecutions of official complicity in trafficking. Protection The government continued an inadequate level of protection and aid for victims of trafficking over the last year, though it made plans for an improved and systematic approach to victim care. A technical working group that drafted the national plan of action is preparing specific measures for protection of victims, including referrals to existing shelters run by the Catholic Church and possible government-established shelters. Equatoguinean officials recognize the government's responsibility for caring for the victims of trafficking, whether foreign or indigenous. The government has committed $3-4 million in funding for UNICEF projects that will protect child trafficking victims and other children in distress. Prevention Equatoguinean government efforts to raise public awareness about trafficking increased significantly over the last year. The government-run radio station in late 2004 conducted a campaign to publicize the new anti-trafficking law and raise awareness of the trafficking issue in general. In June, the government observed the International Day of the African Child by staging the National Forum on the Rights of the Child and Trafficking of Minors, covered by national television and radio. The government in mid-2004 created the country's Inter-Institutional Commission on Illegal Smuggling of Migrants and Trafficking of Persons, headed by the Second Vice Prime Minister, which coordinates the government's anti-trafficking efforts.
ESTONIA (TIER 2) Republic of Estonia The Republic of Estonia borders on the Baltic Sea (W); the gulf of Riga (SW), the gulf of Finland (N); Latvia (S); and Russia (E). Tallinn is its capital and largest city. Estonia, as a new member of the World Trade Organization and the European Union, has transitioned effectively to a modern market economy with strong ties to the West, including the pegging of its currency to the euro. The economy benefits from strong electronics and telecommunications sectors and is greatly influenced by developments in Finland, Sweden, and Germany, three major trading partners. Estonia is primarily a source and transit country for a small number of women and children trafficked internally and abroad - to surrounding Nordic and EU countries for the purpose of sexual exploitation. New information shows that Estonian victims include both ethnic Estonians and those that are Russian-speaking natives from the country's northeast. Victims transiting through Estonia are mainly from neighboring countries, such as Russia and Latvia. The Government of Estonia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The deputy under secretaries of four principal ministries met regularly during the reporting period to coordinate Estonia's efforts to combat trafficking in persons. In 2004, police raided and closed 28 of an estimated 45 brothels in Estonia. Still, the number of trafficking victims assisted remained low, as did the sentences imposed on convicted traffickers. Prosecution Estonia's enforcement record improved over the reporting period, from no convictions in 2003 to nine trafficking-related convictions during the reporting period. While this is a significant improvement, only two of the nine convicted are currently serving time in prison. Trafficking in persons is prohibited in Estonia under related criminal articles on enslavement and abduction with maximum penalties of 12 years' imprisonment. In February 2005, the Government of Estonia prosecuted its first anti-trafficking case under the enslavement statute, convicting four traffickers and sentencing two of those to four years' imprisonment each and two to sentences of only two years and four months of probation. The courts convicted five remaining persons involved in the case under other statutes such as forcing minors into prostitution and pimping, and sentenced them to conditional probation. Estonian law enforcement investigated an additional ten trafficking-related cases during the reporting period. The Estonian Government incorporated trafficking-specific training at the Police Academy, the Border Guard School, and the Public Service Academy in 2004. Law enforcement officials attended prevention, recognition, and prosecution training events, at which some trained social workers and police to work together. Protection During the reporting period, the Estonian Government continued to increase its funding of crime victim assistance programs that apply to trafficking victims. Each Estonian county has been assigned a Victim Assistant who is able to provide trafficking and other victims access to the public assistance system. Victim Assistants are paired with police and provided space in police prefectures to better assist victims. During the reporting period, one trafficking victim received shelter and three received counseling. Law enforcement officials did not provide clear information on how they deal with foreign trafficking victims, particularly from Russia. In accordance with a Baltic States agreement on witness protection, Estonia provided witness protection to a trafficking victim of a neighboring country in 2004. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized consular officer training in April 2004 specifically tailored to teach consuls how to assist trafficking victims. Prevention In its efforts to raise public awareness about trafficking in persons, the Estonian Government in spring 2004 sponsored two essay competitions for young people to write on the issues of prostitution and trafficking. The Ministry of Social Affairs and the Nordic Council of Ministers initiated in May 2004 a public awareness project called, "Drugs, Prostitution, and Trafficking from a Gender Perspective," which demonstrated the correlation of these issues. The government completed its first draft of a national action plan against trafficking in December 2004. In January 2005, the government appointed the Ministry of Justice to lead and coordinate Estonia's anti-trafficking efforts. Estonia's National Roundtable on Trafficking continued to meet, though it was supplanted to some extent by a high-level interagency group comprised of the Ministries of Justice, Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Social Affairs that met on several occasions at the deputy under secretary level.
ETHIOPIA (TIER 2) Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, located in NE Africa, is bordered by Eritrea (N), Djibouti (NE), Somalia (E & SE), Kenya (S), and Sudan (W). Addis Ababa is its capital and largest city. The country is divided into nine ethnically based regions and the capital. Ethiopia's poverty-stricken economy is based on agriculture, accounting for half of GDP, 60% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent drought and poor cultivation practices. Ethiopia is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation. Young Ethiopian women are trafficked to Djibouti and the Middle East, particularly Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, for involuntary domestic labor. A small percentage are trafficked for sexual exploitation, with some women reportedly trafficked onward from Lebanon to Europe. Small numbers of men are trafficked to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states for exploitation as low-skilled laborers. Both children and adults are trafficked internally from rural to urban areas for domestic labor and, to a lesser extent, for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor, such as street vending. The Government of Ethiopia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. To further its efforts to combat trafficking, the government should put in place laws that prohibit all forms of trafficking, begin compiling comprehensive law enforcement statistics, and launch a nationwide public awareness campaign. Prosecution The government made progress in furthering its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts over the reporting period. Ethiopia's criminal code narrowly defines trafficking as inducing women or children to engage in prostitution, and cannot be invoked against traffickers for forced labor. Labor traffickers are often charged with enslavement, but this does not cover deceptive or fraudulent work claims made to voluntary migrants. A penal code revision containing provisions that address these loopholes was debated and passed by the Parliament in early 2005. The new provisions will become law in May 2005. During the year, police apprehended 31 traffickers; 30 cases remain under investigation. Prosecutions are pending in 48 prior cases, and Ethiopia reached its first conviction in March 2004, sentencing a man to six months' imprisonment for trafficking two children. In December 2004, police arrested 19 people attempting to traffic more than 200 Ethiopians through Somalia to Saudi Arabia. The victims were returned to their homes and the case is under investigation. The Ministry of Justice introduced new statistical methods to track the outcome of arrests; comprehensive statistics have not yet been produced. Protection Protective services for victims greatly increased over the last year. Staff of Ethiopia's consulate in Beirut increased from two to six persons, all primarily devoted to supporting Ethiopians trafficked to Lebanon. In 2004, the government opened a consulate in Dubai for the same purpose. During the year, the Child Protection Units in each of Addis Ababa's ten police stations monitored for situations of trafficking in persons. Police officers and counselors stationed at the Central Bus Terminal - a known transit point for children trafficked from rural areas - rescued 210 child trafficking victims in 2004. Police officials transferred these children to local NGOs for care; 197 were reunited with their families. The Ministry of Labor provided bus transportation to home villages to 27 trafficked women returning from Yemen. Prevention Ethiopia's anti-trafficking prevention efforts improved during the reporting period. In 2004, the government formed an interagency anti-trafficking task force that began developing a national plan for combating trafficking. The task force also formed three subcommittees for legal issues, data collection, and public awareness that analyzed existing studies on the issue and publicized relevant messages through local media. The Ministry of Education, in coordination with IOM, organized group discussions on the topic of trafficking in 200 secondary schools. The government continued its supervision of five legal labor migration firms that are required to provide pre-departure counseling on the trafficking-related risks of overseas employment. During the year, immigration officials began fully enforcing the requirement that workers traveling to the Middle East present a Ministry of Labor-certified work contract before departing.
FINLAND (TIER 2) Republic of Finland The Republic of Finland is located in N Europe and is bordered by the Gulf of Bothnia and Sweden in (W), by Norway (N), by Russia (E), and by the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea (S). The country includes the land Islands, located at the mouth of the Gulf of Bothnia. Helsinki is Finland's capital and largest city. Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy, with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Growth in 2003 was held back by the global slowdown but picked up in 2004. High unemployment remains a persistent problem. Finland is a destination and transit country for women and girls trafficked primarily from Russia for the purpose of sexual exploitation. A smaller number of victims are trafficked from other former Soviet states including Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, and Georgia. Finnish authorities in 2004 reported Asian women trafficked to and through Finland by Chinese crime syndicates, facilitated by the advent of direct air routes with several major Asian cities. Finland is used as a transit point to other EU countries. The Government of Finland does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government's awareness of trafficking increased greatly in 2004, and Finland laid the groundwork for success with its new National Action Plan to combat trafficking. Unveiled on March 31, 2005, it incorporates comprehensive support services and protection for trafficking victims. To further its anti-trafficking efforts, Finland should convict and penalize traffickers under the August 2004 anti-trafficking law and consider new legislation to clearly define trafficking victims' rights. Prosecution Finland's efforts to improve its law enforcement response to trafficking increased in 2004. Finland enacted legislation in August 2004 criminalizing trafficking in persons. The law covers internal and external trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. It carries a maximum penalty of ten years and allows the Finnish police to use electronic surveillance techniques during investigations. While the Finnish courts had no trafficking prosecutions or convictions under the new anti-trafficking law, the police reported three investigations underway. The Finnish police maintained liaison officers in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia that assisted in trafficking investigations as needed. In 2004, the government extradited a Finnish national to Latvia who was convicted and sentenced to prison for trafficking. Protection While Finland continued to lack adequate trafficking victim assistance and protection during the reporting period, the Finnish Government's March 2005 National Action Plan to combat trafficking in persons takes a victim-centered approach; it creates a national assistance coordinator for trafficking victims and guarantees assistance to include temporary residence for victims, a witness protection program for victims and their families, legal and psychological counseling, health and education services, and the right to be employed and earn income while in Finland. The Finnish Government continued to offer in 2004 only limited assistance to trafficking victims. In certain instances potential victims received temporary residency permits in exchange for cooperation with law enforcement, but no system of referring victims to government or NGO shelters existed during the reporting period. Generally, in 2004, Finnish authorities continued to release Baltic nationals without assistance and to deport victims who are Russian nationals. In early 2005, prior to the Plan's public release, the government took action in a suspected case of trafficking involving a busload of several dozen women seeking entry into the Schengen area via Finland. Government agencies sheltered the women at a reception area while authorities interviewed the women and investigated the case. Prevention The Finnish Government improved its trafficking prevention efforts during the reporting period. Finland announced its National Action Plan on trafficking; formal adoption is expected with no objections. Finland officially established its inter-ministerial anti-trafficking working group, and it met regularly. Finland provided a major grant to IOM in 2004 for a counter-trafficking project in Kosovo and Macedonia - one of the largest single grants to a nongovernmental organization ever made by Finland. Through a regional demand-reduction campaign, the government continued to distribute leaflets and posters in airports, harbors, and other ports-of-entry to raise trafficking awareness on the part of Finnish nationals going to red-light districts in other countries, such as Estonia. The government continued to conduct trafficking awareness campaigns in Finnish secondary schools. In 2004, the government co-hosted two major anti-trafficking conferences for NATO and the OSCE that generated increased media coverage of trafficking.
FRANCE (TIER 1) French Republic (France) France is located in W Europe and is bordered by the English Channel (N), the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay (W), Spain and Andorra (SW), the Mediterranean Sea (S), Switzerland and Italy (SE), and Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium (NE). Its capital and largest city is Paris. France is in the midst of transition, from a well-to-do modern economy that has featured extensive government ownership and intervention to one that relies more on market mechanisms. The government has lowered income taxes and introduced measures to boost employment and reform the pension system. In addition, it is focusing on the problems of the high cost of labor and labor market inflexibility resulting from the 35-hour workweek and restrictions on lay-offs. France is a destination country for women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude, primarily from Eastern and Central Europe and Africa. The number of Chinese women trafficked to France for sexual exploitation increased in 2004. The government estimates that there are 10,000 to 12,000 trafficking victims in France, 3,000-8,000 of whom are children forced into prostitution and labor. Nigerian trafficking networks continued to expand their activities in France. Trafficking of Brazilian women and girls for sexual exploitation to French Guiana - a French possession - remained a serious problem. The Government of France fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Although the government did not provide full data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, the Secretary of State has determined that it has made a good faith effort to do so. The government took important steps to prevent child sex tourism and continued to fund support services for victims. The government must ensure that implementation of the 2003 Domestic Security Law does not result in re-victimizing, punishing, and deporting trafficking victims by improving the screening of foreign prostitutes so that trafficking victims are properly identified and protected from their traffickers. Prosecution In 2004 the government continued implementation of the 2003 Domestic Security Law that called for arresting, jailing, and fining trafficking victims as a means of discouraging the operation of trafficking networks and to gain information to pursue cases against traffickers. However, in practice, the law has yet to prove itself an effective addition to French anti-trafficking efforts. It harms trafficking victims and allows for the deportation of foreign victims, regardless of possible threats they face in the country to which they return. Some NGOs voiced concern that the 24-hour period that victims are detained was inadequate to encourage them to assist in investigations and prosecutions. In 2004, the government arrested 3,290 suspected prostitutes and reported that the majority were released; some were administered fines. According to the Justice Ministry, authorities arrested 940 individuals for pimping in 2004, a 33 percent increase over the number in 2003. In 2004, the Government of France continued its bilateral police cooperation on trafficking and took a leadership role in a commission that brings together 13 European countries in an effort to encourage regional cooperation among police, NGOs, and international organizations. There was no indication of trafficking-related complicity among French Government officials. Protection The government and city of Paris continued to fund comprehensive services for trafficking victims through the Accompaniment Places of Welcome (ALC), a private association that provided long-term shelter services for victims in metropolitan France and Corsica. An ALC network of 33 shelters across France agreed to provide space for trafficking victims. In 2004, the longterm shelter reported assisting 44 victims across France. All shelters provide judicial, administrative, health, and psychiatric assistance; help in finding a job or training; repatriation assistance; and food and lodging. The government continued to offer victims three to nine months' temporary residency based on police assessment of needs and victim cooperation. If cooperation led to a conviction, the victim became eligible for permanent residency status. French authorities estimated that 200 trafficking victims were granted temporary residency in 2004. Prevention In 2004, the government continued its efforts to prevent French citizens from engaging in child sex tourism abroad. In September 2004, an inter-ministerial commission, which included NGOs and tourism firms, produced a report containing recommendations on the prevention of child sex tourism. The government continued to fund the NGO-run anti-child-sex-tourism campaign on all Air France flights, warning French tourists against engaging in sex with minors and alerting them that engaging in child sex tourism is a violation of French law. The fight against sexual tourism involving children was a mandatory training component for students enrolled in French tourism schools. During the reporting period, the government developed and produced a public awareness campaign aimed at reducing domestic demand. One component of the campaign included a poster emphasizing that those who engage prostitutes may also be exploiting trafficked victims.
GABON (TIER 2) Gabonese Republic (Gabon) The Gabonese Republic, located in W central Africa, is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (W), by Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon (N), and by Congo (Brazzaville) (E & S). Libreville (the capital) and Port-Gentil, both seaports, are the only large cities. The participation of Gabon in the UNICEF Child Rights Committee has led to a better acceptance of the importance of adopting policies in line with human and child rights principles and has created a favorable environment for child rights advocacy. Gabon is a destination country for children trafficked from Benin, Nigeria, Togo, and Guinea for the purposes of forced labor. Girls are employed in forced domestic servitude, market vending, and roadside restaurants. Boys are forcibly employed in small workshops and as street venders. Most trafficked children are employed in Libreville, but some are also found in smaller towns in the interior. Victims are typically trafficked into the country by boat and deposited on one of the many deserted beaches where the likelihood of detection is small. The Government of Gabon does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. For the first time, the government publicly recognized its responsibility to care for foreign trafficking victims found within its borders. As a result, it took unprecedented action to combat child trafficking, evident in the passage of comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation and arrests of alleged traffickers. Gabon is an emerging leader in the fight against human trafficking on the African sub-continent. To strengthen its current efforts to address trafficking, the government should continue to proactively investigate allegations of trafficking in persons, prosecute to conviction alleged traffickers, and equip the stalled inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee to coordinate the government's activities. Prosecution ALaw enforcement efforts increased considerably during the year, though no convictions for trafficking offenses were reported. In September 2004, Gabon's anti-trafficking law was ratified by the National Assembly, signed by President Bongo, and promulgated. The law protects children under 18 against all forms of trafficking and provides for prison sentences of five to 15 years and stiff fines. Forced labor, slavery, abduction, and pimping are outlawed by the penal code. During the reporting period, the government actively investigated trafficking cases. In a January 2005 market sweep, the Gendarmes arrested 22 alleged child traffickers, the first trafficking in persons arrests in Gabon. Evidence in eight cases was determined strong enough to require the accused to stand trial and the suspects have been indicted and remain in custody awaiting prosecution. Four people were arrested in March 2005 on similar charges. In 2004, the National Police and Gendarmes began implementing strict visa and passport policies at the airport, resulting in the denial of entry to many children attempting to enter Gabon by air without the proper visa. The government initiated the creation of a regional law enforcement information-sharing hub on trafficking in persons and allocated to it office space, furniture, and several staff. Protection Gabon's trafficking victim protection services improved during the reporting period. The government fully funds the Agondje reception center for trafficking victims, which provides educational, medical, and psychological services. Children reside in the center until their repatriation is arranged and families are notified. Over 100 victims transited the center in 2004; most returned to their home country within six months. Security forces screened victims based on age; those 16 and under were placed in the government's center and older victims were transferred to a religious charity. The government regularly coordinated with the Nigerian Embassy to house and feed Nigerian victims. During the year, a 16-year-old trafficking victim identified herself to police in a remote part of Gabon; police coordinated her air travel to Libreville and placement in the center. In addition, the government provided office space and paid all operating expenses for the joint UNICEF-government trafficking hotline. The 24-hour hotline received 50 calls each day; an estimated ten per week were trafficking-related and police and UNICEF officials rescued an average of one or two child trafficking victims each week. Prevention The government made appreciable progress in preventing trafficking in 2004. The president publicly led the fight against trafficking, making it a top issue in a number of cabinet meetings. Employees of the Ministry of Justice, through a group of women jurists, organized "town hall" meetings in each Libreville district to publicize Gabon's new anti-trafficking law. Both government and neighborhood leaders participated in these meetings. The government-controlled media - radio, television, and newspapers - extensively covered anti-trafficking stories, including the broadcasting of interviews with high-ranking officials. The Ministry of Education worked with UNICEF to prominently place anti-trafficking posters in government-run schools and other public venues.
THE GAMBIA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of The Gambia The Republic of The Gambia is located in W Africa and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (W) and surrounded on the remaining three sides by Senegal. The capital is Banjul. The Gambia has an estimated population of 1.3 million, which is growing at a rate of 4.2% per year, with nearly 49% below the age of 18 years. Approximately 69 per cent of the population is below the poverty line. The Gambia is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced domestic and commercial labor. Sex tourists from European countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Belgium exploit Gambian children. Children are trafficked from other countries in the region, mainly Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, and Nigeria, and internally from rural to urban areas, for forced work, including sexual exploitation, begging, street vending, and involuntary domestic servitude. Women are trafficked into The Gambia across its land borders and exploited in prostitution or involuntary domestic servitude. Ghanaian children are also trafficked to The Gambia for forced labor in the fishing industry. Children engage in prostitution in bars, hotels, and brothels with the knowledge of business proprietors and managers. The Government of The Gambia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The Gambia is placed on Tier 2 Watch List due to the government's lack of appreciable efforts to identify trafficking situations and prosecute traffickers. The government has made little progress in educating the Gambian public about the dangers of trafficking, particularly the country's internal trafficking problem. The government should develop and implement a national strategy to use available resources to educate its citizens about trafficking, prosecute traffickers, and assist trafficking victims. Prosecution The Gambia continued to lack a comprehensive law prohibiting trafficking and law enforcement mechanisms remained inadequate to address the trafficking problem over the reporting period. Draft anti-trafficking legislation remained pending; existing criminal provisions dealt principally with kidnapping, abduction, child sex tourism, and sexual exploitation of children. Authorities closed their investigation of an early 2004 case involving Ghanaian child victims after claiming they lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute. No information was available to confirm whether police actively investigated complaints of sexual exploitation of minors in prostitution or forced labor over the last year; no new cases or prosecutions were reported. Law enforcement lacked training and resources, and the government had no strategy to collect data. There was no evidence that government authorities or individual members of government forces were involved in, facilitated, or condoned trafficking. Protection Over the last year, the government lacked resources and was unable to provide adequate protection and assistance specifically for trafficking victims. It ran no shelters for trafficking victims and the country had no victim protection in law or practice. The government obtained funding to build a shelter, which, once built, will likely be used for trafficking victims and others in need. Updated information on the February 2004 trafficking case involving dozens of Ghanaian child victims indicated that authorities reunited eight victims with their families and returned 12 to their country of origin. Prevention The government in 2004 conducted some anti-trafficking campaigns that focused on preventing child sex tourism. Leaflets distributed at Banjul's international airport warned foreign visitors against sexually exploiting Gambian children. The government encouraged businesses to train their staffs and sign on to a code of conduct to combat child sex tourism. Other prevention efforts focused on programs to send girls to school and government participation in regional meetings on trafficking. The pending Children's Bill that would specifically outlaw trafficking of children was featured in the Head of State's speech at the National Assembly's opening in March 2005.
GERMANY (TIER 1) Federal Republic of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany is located in the center of Europe, bordering the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France (W); Switzerland and Austria (S); the Czech Republic and Poland (E); Denmark (N); and the Baltic Sea (NE). Its capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world - has become one of the slowest growing economies in the euro zone. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made unemployment a chronic problem. Germany is a transit and destination country for persons, primarily women, trafficked mainly from Central and Eastern Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Russia alone accounted for one-quarter of the 1,235 identified victims reported in 2003, the latest year for which statistics are available. For the first time, Germany's statistics included German nationals who numbered 127. The Government of Germany fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Germany improved victim assistance and launched information campaigns against child sex tourism and demand for trafficking victims. Changes to the German Penal Code enacted in February 2005 broadened the definition of exploitation and toughened penalties for those convicted of trafficking-related offenses; there has been insufficient time to gauge the full effects of these legislative reforms. Prosecution Although the German Government increased funding of anti-trafficking investigative efforts, a significant number of sentences imposed on traffickers remained light. Trafficking investigations rose from 289 in 2002 to 431 in 2003, the latest year for which law enforcement data are available. Of the 145 adults convicted in 2003, only 51 received a non-suspended prison sentence. Changes to the German Penal Code in February 2005 implemented UN and EU guidelines. These amendments criminalized forced labor trafficking, and aiding and abetting trafficking. The Federal Office for Criminal Investigation conducted special training programs for police officers in 2004 in anticipation of the new anti-trafficking legislation, and the Federal Justice Ministry provided trafficking awareness training for judges and prosecutors. The government closed legislative loopholes concerning sexual abuse and rape of children and increased the maximum penalty for aggravated sexual abuse of children from ten years to 15 years in prison. While Germany can prosecute German child sex tourists under its extraterritorial child sexual exploitation laws, the government did not separately track data on those crimes. The German Government and an international NGO concluded a cooperative agreement in February 2004 to strengthen its pursuit of child sex tourism cases. Germany's parliament initiated investigations in 2004 into visa irregularities at the German embassies and overall German visa issuance policy and practices from the late 1990s to 2004. Protection Germany improved its victim assistance efforts in 2004 by amending immigration and victims' rights legislation. Following a four-week "reflection period," trafficking victims who agree to testify against their traffickers may now obtain a temporary residence permit. The Victims' Rights Reform Law, enacted in September 2004, expanded the rights of crime victims in criminal proceedings, including trafficking victims. The legislation entitles victims to interpreters and allows third parties to be present during police questioning. State governments funded approximately 25 counseling centers to provide assistance and facilitate protection for trafficking victims. In 2003, 1,108 non-German trafficking victims were granted a four-week reflection period and received assistance from specialized NGOs, with another 227 receiving shelter and extended assistance beyond that period. The number of German states with formal agreements among law enforcement and NGOs to improve victim service delivery increased from seven to eight of Germany's 16 states. Prevention During the reporting period, Germany devoted substantial resources to raising anti-trafficking aware-ness both within Germany and overseas. The German international aid agency launched new initiatives abroad to assist returnees, to raise awareness among potential victims, and to combat child sex tourism. The Lutheran church, in coordination with the German Family Ministry, held a workshop on demand reduction and distributed leaflets on the responsibility of everyone to fight trafficking. The Family Ministry and an NGO in 2004 produced a film spot against child sex tourism entitled Words, which was shown in approximately 200 cinemas and on television. German embassies and consulates continued anti-trafficking outreach activities, such as the distribution of brochures warning about the risks of trafficking in 13 languages.
GEORGIA (TIER 2) Republic of Georgia The Republic of Georgia, in W Transcaucasia,. Is bordered by the Black Sea (W), by Turkey and Armenia (S), by Azerbaijan (E), and by Russia (N). Tbilisi is its capital and largest city. In Georgia, children and women continue to experience the negative impact of the transition to a democratic system and a market-oriented economy. The country is pinning its hopes for long-term growth on its role as a transit state for pipelines and trade. The construction on the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-T'bilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline have brought much-needed investment and job opportunities. Georgia is a source and transit country for women and men trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Victims are trafficked through Georgia from Ukraine, Russia, and other former Soviet republics to destinations such as Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Western Europe, and the United States. Evidence suggests there is some internal trafficking within Georgia, though only one case has been confirmed in the last two years. The Government of Georgia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government took steps to implement several of its commitments, yet some important pledges remain unfulfilled. The government established and adequately supported a new police anti-trafficking unit, replacing the previous administration's dysfunctional anti-trafficking unit under the Ministry of Interior. In addition, the government revised and publicly endorsed a comprehensive National Action Plan, appointed a primary point of contact for trafficking, and established an interagency commission. The government identified few victims for protection and assistance. The government should take proactive steps to fully implement its action plan, implement and formalize a victim referral mechanism with NGO assistance, ensure increased victim identification, and continue special law enforcement training programs. In addition, the government should ensure that up-to-date, comprehensive law enforcement statistics are collected and disseminated, perhaps via the interagency commission on trafficking. Prosecution In January 2005, the government established and adequately funded a new anti-trafficking unit with a staff of 49 operating in Tbilisi and throughout Georgia. In its first few months the unit investigated 13 cases and arrested 30 traffickers. In one case, the unit arrested some members of an international ring operating in Georgia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan and shared information with law enforcement counterparts in Azerbaijan and Turkey to identify and arrest the Azeri and Turkish traffickers. In 2004, three traffickers were convicted and sentenced to eight to 12 years' imprisonment. The Ministry of Justice has also drafted a new law in collaboration with a legal NGO to address deficiencies in the current legislation, particularly to release victims from criminal liability and assure the right to refuse to give evidence or testimony. Furthermore, the government increased its recognition of trafficking-related corruption and took some action against complicit officials. In August 2004 and February 2005, the government arrested and charged three passport officials with facilitating trafficking. Protection Georgia continued to offer an inadequate level of protection for victims of trafficking during the reporting period. The government maintains no shelters for trafficking victims; however a domestic violence NGO provided temporary shelter for some victims. Although the government failed to create a formalized system for referring trafficking victims to the NGO shelter, police made a number of informal referrals to NGOs and international organizations over the last year. The government established and successfully implemented a policy to protect the identity of trafficking victims. In one case early in the reporting period, police investigators verbally mistreated victims during initial interrogations. The Police Academy has since instituted formal trafficking awareness and sensitivity training for all new officers. Since January 2005, the new anti-trafficking unit successfully identified 15 victims and informally referred them to temporary shelter and other resources. Prevention In 2004, the government initiated some anti-trafficking public awareness efforts and continued to participate in prevention programs including the airing of public service announcements with NGOs and international organizations. Senior government officials spoke out about trafficking and the government's new action plan. Although the government has not yet allocated specific funds to implement the new action plan, several ministries redirected funds from their budgets to underwrite anti-trafficking efforts. The government upgraded and enhanced the security features of Georgian passports to render passport fraud more difficult. After the discovery of four trafficking victims recruited from a specific area, the anti-trafficking unit proactively disseminated information in the neighborhood and in local colleges and schools to educate and prevent possible further victims.
GHANA (TIER 2) Republic of Ghana The Republic of Ghana is located in W Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Accra. Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Gold, timber, and cocoa production are major sources of foreign exchange, and the domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 34% of GDP and employs 60% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Inflation should ease, but remain a major internal problem. Ghana is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced domestic and commercial labor. Ghanaian children are trafficked internally for forced labor in fishing villages and cocoa plantations, and to urban areas in the south to work in exploitative conditions as domestic servants, street vendors, and porters. Ghanaian children are also trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Nigeria, and The Gambia for exploitation as laborers or domestic servants. Recruiters typically target poor children who are removed from the home community with their parents' consent. Ghanaian women and girls are trafficked to Western Europe - principally Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands - for sexual exploitation. Some young Ghanaian women are trafficked for involuntary domestic servitude in the Middle East. Nigerian females moved to Western Europe for sexual exploitation transit Ghana, as do Burkinabe victims on their way to Cote d'Ivoire. Foreign victims include children brought to Ghana from Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria for forced labor, involuntary domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation. The Government of Ghana does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Ghana continued educating the public and providing assistance to trafficked children and their families, but law enforcement efforts were disjointed and hampered by the lack of a comprehensive national trafficking law. The government should proactively seek the passage and implementation of trafficking legislation planned since 2002, support law enforcement training and resources, and improve victim support services. Prosecution The government did not make significant progress in identifying and prosecuting trafficking cases. Anti-trafficking legislation proposed since 2002 did not reach parliament. Laws prohibiting slavery, prostitution, use of underage labor, and manufacture of fraudulent documents exist, but officials did not keep data on internal cases related to trafficking, and could not determine how many of the approximately 250 reported cases of abduction, child stealing, and child abuse involved trafficking. Only Accra district kept conviction data on such cases, and authorities could not confirm which of the six cases prosecuted in the district involved trafficking. Officials investigated six cases through Interpol involving 18 children and eight adults; four of the cases remained pending at year's end and none resulted in a conviction. A prominent Ghanaian official was indicted by a U.S. court in 2002 for trafficking a Ghanaian woman to the United States for forced domestic servitude; a U.S. request for the official's extradition remained pending with Ghanaian authorities. Immigration officers received some training and police sent anti-trafficking notices to border checkpoints, but the government lacked the resources to adequately train law enforcement officials attempting to combat trafficking. Ghana coordinates with its neighbors, but some officials and NGOs noted gaps in cross-border coordination with neighboring countries. Protection The Government of Ghana provided modest resources for child victims and reunited child victims with their families during the reporting period, but victim needs outstripped resources. The government worked with the IOM to assist 544 child victims rescued from Volta Region fishing villages, and one government-run facility in Accra provided temporary shelter for 35 victims during the reporting period. The government provided some counseling and worked with IOM to offer start-up assistance for resettlement of repatriated children in their home communities. Few officials were trained in recognizing trafficking and providing assistance to victims. Prevention Though resources were scarce, the Government of Ghana remains a leader in Africa for its continued innovative efforts to educate the public. Agencies like the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Child Labor Unit, and the Department of Social Welfare held community meetings, distributed handbills in local languages, targeted selected schools for direct outreach, met with parents in source communities, launched a joint program with ILO-IPEC to train parents of former child victims in marketable skills, and tested use of a puppet show to reach illiterate members of the public. In the Upper East Region, the Bawku municipal government coordinated with community watch groups and security services to track child traffickers. Despite these initiatives, many families remain unaware of the exploitation and abuse children risk when lured by promises of work or study away from home.
GREECE (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Republic of Greece The Republic of Greece occupies the southernmost part of the Balkan Peninsula and is bordered by the Ionian Sea (W), by the Mediterranean Sea (S), by the Aegean Sea (E), by Turkey and Bulgaria (NE), by Macedonia (N), and by Albania (NW). Athens is its capital and largest city. Greece has a capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP 70% of the leading euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 15% of GDP. Immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the work force, mainly in menial jobs. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of annual GDP. Greece is a destination country for women, men, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most victims come from Eastern Europe and the Balkans, some transit to other EU countries. Although the number of identified Roma and Albanian child victims decreased, they continued to be trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Various sources noted a possible new trend of African women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. The Government of Greece does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Greece is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking, particularly in the area of victim protection and assistance. The government failed to complete an agreement with Albania on child protection and its results on increasing the number of convicted traffickers were inadequate during the reporting period. The government, however, demonstrated commitment to address trafficking by appointing a new coordinator, implementing a new action plan, and allocating significant resources for victim assistance. The government must develop an effective screening and referral process to prevent the involuntary detention and deportation of victims and consider the important role NGOs could play in this process. As previously suggested, a large-scale targeted demand reduction campaign would strengthen domestic anti-trafficking efforts. Prosecution In 2004, the Greek Government showed limited progress in the enforcement of its anti-trafficking laws. The government conducted a number of anti-trafficking raids, charged 352 perpetrators, and successfully dismantled several criminal rings operating in Greece. During 2004, the government appointed two special anti-trafficking prosecutors and reported 94 prosecutions under the 2002 anti-trafficking law. Conviction rates, however, remained disproportionally low - the government reported a few convictions during the year. Notably, the courts handed down significant sentences in many of those cases and convicted the first traffickers under the government's 2002 law. Some local police continued to participate in and facilitate trafficking. In 2004, the government took some punitive action against police complicity in trafficking. Protection The government made some progress in protecting victims of trafficking in 2004. The government took important preliminary steps to improve protection by allowing foreign victims the opportunity to obtain residence and work permits- at least 24 permits were issued in 2004. However, potential trafficking victims without legal status continued to be inappropriately arrested and deported; many potential victims possessing legal status were not screened or recognized as having been trafficked. The government allowed only limited NGO access to potential victims in detention facilities. Notably, in 2004, Greece provided over three million Euros to NGOs to provide assistance to trafficked victims, opened three new government shelters and contributed to the operation of four NGO shelters. As of February 2005, the new Athens shelter had not received any referrals, however victims continued to be assisted in NGO shelters. Police were issued instructions to reinforce techniques of identification and assistance, but lack of a adequate referral mechanism continued to result in widely inconsistent, ad hoc referrals. The government also failed to conclude the long-awaited protocol with Albania on the return of child victims. In 2004, the government identified 181 victims of trafficking; 46 of the 181 victims received state and NGO assistance and protection. A special prosecutor issued an order to suspend deportation for 25 victims. NGOs reported that a lack of victim witness protection resulted in harm to some victims while trials were pending. Prevention In 2004, the Greek Government launched a national victim's hotline and in 2005 co-sponsored anti-trafficking trainings on implementation of its trafficking law. In November 2004, the government sponsored a conference that brought together law enforcement officers from throughout Greece and Eastern Europe to share best practices. It continued to fund anti-trafficking awareness campaigns via NGOs in 2004, some aspects of which targeted clients. As part of its preparations for the 2004 Olympic games, the government readied for a possible increased in trafficking through extensive police patrols, training, and established a legal aid program. Further, the government provided resources to NGOs to conduct street assessments, which led to the identification and repatriation of six trafficked children.
GUATEMALA (TIER 2) Republic of Guatemala The Republic of Guatemala, located in Central America, is bounded by Mexico (N & W), by Belize and the Caribbean Sea (E), by Honduras and El Salvador (SE), and by the Pacific Ocean (SW). The capital and largest city is Guatemala City. Problems hindering social development include high crime rates, illiteracy and low levels of education and health. Some 75,000 severely malnourished children have been identified, a consequence of three simultaneous emergencies: chronic poverty, drought and the coffee crisis. Guatemala is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children from Guatemala and other Central American countries trafficked internally and to the United States for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Estimates of the total number of victims are difficult to assess; however, the Government of Guatemala acknowledges that trafficking is a significant and growing problem in the country as well as in the region. Past estimates by reliable sources cite large numbers of minors engaged in underage prostitution (2,000 in Guatemala City alone) throughout the country, with particular concern in the border area between Guatemala and Mexico. There are also anecdotal reports of forced labor trafficking in the country involving children used in begging rings in Guatemala City. Guatemala is a significant transit country for illegal migration, and many of these individuals may be trafficking victims. The Government of Guatemala does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Over the reporting period, Guatemala has stepped up its efforts to rescue minors from commercial sexual exploitation in bars, brothels, and other establishments where traffickers are known to operate. On February 22, 2004, the Governments of Guatemala and Mexico formally initiated implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) they signed last year to address the cross-border trafficking issues that currently plague that region. Efforts should be increased to rescue minors that are trafficked for sexual exploitation along the border region and also to prevent such minors from being trafficked into other countries where Guatemalan minors are being found, including Mexico, Belize, and El Salvador. Prosecution The Government of Guatemala has mobilized prosecutors and police to implement a new aggressive policy to arrest and prosecute traffickers. Both the National Civilian Police (PNC) and the Attorney General's Office have set up specialized units aimed at combating trafficking throughout the country. Guatemalan authorities, assisted by an NGO, have conducted hundreds of raids of bars, brothels, and other establishments where traffickers are known to be operating. The raids have resulted in 40 arrests and six convictions, an increase in overall law enforcement action seen in the previous reporting period. Additionally, the Guatemalan Congress recently passed legislation that improves the legal framework in the country to increase penalties for traffickers. While progress clearly has been made, long-term sustainable steps should be undertaken to arrest and prosecute traffickers under the new law. Strong efforts should also be taken to fight trafficking-related corruption, including instances of law enforcement officials facilitating cross-border movement and reports of law enforcement officials patronizing brothels. Cross-border cooperation with Belize and Mexico to investigate and arrest traffickers should also be improved. Protection The government continued to refer identified child trafficking victims to NGO shelters and such efforts were expanded during the reporting period. The Secretariat of Social Welfare currently runs one temporary shelter and pledged last year to open a new one in Coatepeque in San Marcos province. Efforts should be made to open this shelter quickly so victims may be assisted. The government still struggles to identify and assist adult trafficking victims, hampering its ability to complete criminal investigations of traffickers. It remains the case that all undocumented foreigners, including trafficking victims, are subject to deportation and given 72 hours to depart; the reality, though, is that many stay in Guatemala. Resource constraints have hampered the Government of Guatemala's ability to assist and repatriate individuals deported from Mexico, many of whom are not Guatemalan, and may be trafficking victims. Prevention The Government of Guatemala continues to struggle (due in large part to lack of resources) to conduct a long-term sustainable prevention campaign. However, the government has undertaken some limited campaigns aimed at warning individuals of the risks of trafficking. Serious and sustainable efforts should be undertaken to implement the MOU signed with Mexico to work on the broad multitude of trafficking problems along the joint border.
GUINEA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of Guinea The Republic of Guinea is located in W Africa and is bounded by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mali (N), by the Cte d'Ivoire (E); by Sierra Leone and Liberia (S); and by the Atlantic Ocean (W). Conakry is its capital and chief city. Guinea is among the poorest countries on the African continent, with very weak human resources and low social development. School enrolment rates are low for both boys & girls and adult illiteracy is high. Guinea is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Guinean girls are trafficked internally for forced labor as domestic servants and boys for shoe shining and street vending. Some children are also trafficked for forced labor in agriculture and diamond mining camps. Women and girls are trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, and Greece for sexual exploitation. On a smaller scale, men are trafficked for forced labor in agriculture. Guinea is a destination country for forced child labor from Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Senegal. The Government of Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Guinea is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons over the past year. To enhance its trafficking efforts, Guinea needs to work regionally to detect and prevent trafficking from occurring along its borders, increase law enforcement efforts, and implement its national plan to address trafficking in the country, which should include prevention and outreach campaigns. Prosecution The Government of Guinea showed only minimal law enforcement efforts over the past year. It did not produce any trafficking-related prosecutions or convictions and it continued to lack a clear law enforcement strategy to address trafficking in the country. Efforts to adopt more stringent legal reforms on trafficking-related matters are pending. Currently, Guinean law prohibits forced labor and the exploitation of vulnerable persons for unpaid or underpaid labor. Trafficking in persons carries a penalty of five to ten years' imprisonment and the confiscation of any money or property received for trafficking activities. While law enforcement efforts under these and other laws remained weak, the police dismantled a trafficking ring in 2004 that resulted in the arrest and deportation of 100 individuals. Limited training was also provided to 15 police officers on trafficking-related matters. In an effort to track individuals and hotels suspected of trafficking, the government undertook an effort to register all small hotels. The government is currently negotiating terms of agreements with neighboring countries to facilitate the return of trafficking victims. Corruption remains a problem and impedes cross-border trafficking investigations, yet the government reported no investigations or prosecutions of corrupt officials. Protection The government, hampered by resource constraints, did not provide adequate protection for victims of trafficking during the reporting period. Victims are usually transferred to NGOs and missionary groups for care and assistance. In a few cases, however, the government was able to provide limited assistance to victims of trafficking, mainly in the form of rescue and referrals to NGOs. The government, in collaboration with an NGO, assisted in the rescue of over 600 children from cocoa and coffee fields. Prevention The government's prevention efforts remained ad hoc and lacked clear focus during the last year, in large part due to its paucity of resources. Nonetheless, the government did carry out some limited prevention campaigns. The government appointed an official to serve as the anti-trafficking coordinator and drafted a national plan of action on trafficking, which remains largely unimplemented. During the reporting period, the government broadcast a program related to trafficking in women and children and the rights of the child on a state-run television station.
GUYANA (TIER 2) Co-operative Republic of Guyana The Co-operative Republic of Guyana, located in NE South America, is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (N), by Suriname (E), by Brazil (S & W), and by Venezuela (W). The capital and largest city is Georgetown. Guyana is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Guyana is a country of origin, transit, and destination for young women and children trafficked primarily for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Much of the trafficking takes place in remote areas of the country's interior, or involves Amerindian girls from the interior trafficked to coastal areas to engage in prostitution and involuntary domestic servitude. Girls promised employment as domestics, waitresses, and bar attendants are trafficked into prostitution; young Amerindian men are exploited under forced labor conditions in timber camps. Guyanese girls and young women are trafficked for sexual exploitation to Suriname and other countries in the region such as Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela. Most foreign victims come from bordering regions of Brazil, and may be trafficked through Guyana to Suriname. The Government of Guyana does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Guyana showed appreciable progress over the last year, particularly through its enactment of anti-trafficking legislation, improvements in government coordination, and aggressive public awareness campaigns. Guyana should work with NGOs to improve services for victims; it should also more aggressively investigate and prosecute traffickers. Prosecution Government law enforcement actions against traffickers remained inadequate despite some progress during the reporting period. The government worked with NGOs and international organizations to draft a comprehensive anti-trafficking law that the National Assembly passed in December 2004. Trafficking convictions now carry sentences ranging from three years to life imprisonment and include confiscation of assets related to trafficking activity. In 2004, authorities arrested and released on bail one suspected trafficker pending indictment; no traffickers were prosecuted or convicted. The government pursued several investigations involving more than a dozen trafficking victims in 2004. Guyanese and Barbadian law enforcement officials worked together on a trafficking case; cooperation with authorities in Suriname resulted in the arrest of a Surinamese public official for trafficking Guyanese nationals for sexual exploitation. There was no direct evidence of official government involvement in or tolerance of trafficking. Protection The Government of Guyana made good faith efforts to assist trafficking victims over the last year, though protection of victims remained inadequate. Police initially jailed and fined four victims under immigration laws. The Ministry of Labor, Human Services, and Social Security secured their release after determining the four were victims and not traffickers, and arranged for their repatriation. As a result of this case, the Commissioner of Police and Ministry officials stated that they would coordinate more closely and ensure that victims are referred to the Ministry for assistance. For two Guyanese victims rescued from a remote mining community, the government provided medical attention, housing, and funds to return them to their home communities. Few local NGOs worked directly with trafficking victims and none reported receiving government financial support for anti-trafficking programs during the reporting period. Prevention The Government of Guyana made significant progress in public education and awareness during 2004. Senior government officials acknowledged human trafficking as a serious problem. The President appointed a cabinet-level official to coordinate national anti-trafficking efforts. The government launched a National Plan of Action, developed with the participation of local NGOs, that included a nationwide public awareness campaign with town hall meetings reaching over 3,000 citizens in Guyana's ten regions and anti-trafficking public service messages aired during widely viewed cricket match broadcasts. The government sought international and NGO support for training officials and community leaders due to its inability to financially support such programs.
HAITI (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of Haiti The Republic of Haiti is located in the West Indies, on the western third of the island of Hispaniola. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean (N), by the Caribbean Sea (S), and by the Dominican Republic (E). Jamaica lies to the west and Cuba to the northwest. The offshore islands of Tortuga and Gonve also belong to Haiti. Its capital and largest city is Port-auPrince. Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. In the context of extreme economic and political instability, the vulnerability of children and women is significant. Haiti is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. The majority of trafficking in Haiti involves the internal movement of children for forced domestic labor, referred to as "restaveks." The "restavek" tradition is widespread in Haiti, and fraught with abuse. It involves situations in which poor mothers give custody of their children to more affluent families, in the hope that they will receive an education and economic opportunities. However, the reality is more often a situation of severe mistreatment, abuse, and long hours of uncompensated hard labor. The Government of Haiti estimates there are 90,000-120,000 children in coercive labor conditions as restaveks, but UNICEF estimates the number is much higher - between 250,000 and 300,000. There is also significant cross-border trafficking between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Notably, women and girls are trafficked into Haiti for prostitution; Haitians are trafficked to the Dominican Republic for forced labor. Observers estimate 2,500-3,000 Haitian children are trafficked annually into the Dominican Republic. On a smaller scale, Haiti is also a source and transit country for illegal migration, much of it bound for the U.S. and Canada, and some of these illegal migrants may be forced into labor to repay smuggling debts. The Interim Government of Haiti does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Haiti is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons over the past year. Since the political crisis in Haiti, the interim government has attempted to address trafficking in the country. However, there is much more that needs to be done and the new government (elections will be held this year) should be committed to addressing these issues, including the large-scale exploitation of restavek children. In the short-term, the interim government should explore ways to enact comprehensive legislative reforms to protect children in the country from trafficking and other abuses, seek out opportunities to cooperate with the Government of the Dominican Republic on cross-border trafficking, and find ways to direct resources to the Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM) and the Social Welfare Ministry (IBESR) so they may rescue and protect victims. Prosecution The political crisis in Haiti left the country without a truly functioning judicial system, and efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers remained weak during the reporting period. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Justice sent an advisory to judges and prosecutors reminding them of their obligations to enforce existing laws governing minors. Additionally, the BPM has made efforts to investigate trafficking-related matters, but investigations have not resulted in prosecutions or convictions. Legislative reforms and passage of the anti-trafficking law will increase the government's ability to arrest and convict traffickers, but law enforcement efforts will likely remain hampered by a lack of resources, personnel, and equipment. Haiti lacks the capacity to sufficiently monitor its borders and official corruption is endemic and continues to impede anti-trafficking efforts. Protection The Government of Haiti did not have the resources to adequately protect victims during the last year, and it struggled to protect Haitians who are dropped off at the Haitian border by Dominican officials. IBESR is able to provide some limited care to victims, and it did manage to reopen one shelter in Carrefour during the reporting period. Most other assistance is provided by NGOs and international organizations. Prevention The government lacked the resources and capacity to carry out prevention campaigns. However, the Interim President of Haiti, Boniface Alexandre, has publicly denounced the restavek practice and called on the interim government to do more. The interim government designated the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts and there was an increase in the budget in 2005 for trafficking and others matters related to the protection of children. In general, prevention campaigns are carried out by NGOs and international organizations.
HONDURAS (TIER 2) Republic of Honduras The Republic of Honduras is the second largest of the Central American countries. It is bounded by the Caribbean Sea (N), by Nicaragua (E & S), by El Salvador and the Pacific Ocean (SW), and by Guatemala (W). Tegucigalpa is the capital and chief commercial center. Sixty-eight per cent of Honduran families are poor. Honduras is a source and transit country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Many victims are Honduran children trafficked from rural areas to urban and tourist centers such as San Pedro Sula, the North Caribbean coast, and the Bay Islands. NGOs and observers estimate that large numbers of minors are being commercially exploited in Honduras and in many other countries throughout the region. Observers have documented more than 1,000 minors (mostly Hondurans) that were victims of trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation in 2003. Honduran women and children are trafficked to the United States, Canada, Guatemala, and most other countries in Central America. Foreign victims trafficked into Honduras for commercial sexual exploitation come from Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and El Salvador. Honduras is also a transit country for illegal migration originating outside the region, including China, and there are unconfirmed reports that some are forced into debt bondage to pay off their smuggling fees. The Government of Honduras does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government undertook more serious and sustained efforts to prosecute traffickers and rescue minors from commercial exploitation over the last year. Draft amendments to the criminal code that would increase penalties for convicted traffickers are currently pending in the Honduran Congress. Honduras needs to work more vigorously to prevent Honduran women and girls, many of whom are trafficking victims, from ending up in brothels abroad, including working with the Governments of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. Prosecution Honduras continued to lack an anti-trafficking law enforcement strategy and a comprehensive anti-trafficking law during the reporting period, though this did not keep authorities from conducting some raids of establishments where traffickers are known to operate. Honduran courts handed down several trafficking-related convictions over the last year. Additionally, the government reported several trafficking-related arrests and also the closure of seven establishments where trafficking was taking place. However, more serious and sustained efforts need to be made to arrest traffickers who operate underage brothels with impunity. Additionally, the Government of Honduras should take more extensive steps to interview and assist adult and foreign victims so they may work with law enforcement officials to prosecute traffickers. Protection The Honduran Government continued to lack a plan to assist trafficking victims, although it referred victims of trafficking to NGOs that offer support services for victims. Additionally, the government has assisted in the repatriation of Honduran victims from Mexico and the United States. Honduran officials have participated in some trafficking-related training to help them better identify victims and prosecute trafficking cases. However, government policy generally remains ad hoc. Greater resources should be directed to shelter and victim services in the country. More efforts should also be made to aid foreign trafficking victims who are currently subject to summary deportation without assistance. Prevention Honduras continued to lack a comprehensive prevention plan during the reporting period. Additionally, a working group of government agencies, international organizations, and NGOs developed a national plan against the commercial sexual exploitation of children and women, and also drafted legislation to strengthen the law against such crime, which is awaiting review by the Supreme Court of Honduras. The government hosted two seminars on the prevention of the commercial exploitation of minors in August 2004 and has plans to hold additional seminars. Honduras needs to increase its border monitoring efforts to interdict traffickers and rescue their victims. Honduras also needs to increase its efforts to prevent women and children from going abroad into situations where they may be trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
HONG KONG (TIER 1) Hong Kong Hong Kong is a special administrative region (SAR) of China adjacent to Guangdong Province in SE China, on the estuary of the Pearl River, 40 mi E of Macao and 90 mi SE of Guangzhou (Canton). The region comprises Hong Kong island, the Kowloon peninsula; and the New Territories. Its capital, Victoria, is commonly called Hong Kong and is located on the northwest shore of Hong Kong island. Hong Kong has a free market economy, highly dependent on international trade. Natural resources are limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Although the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak battered Hong Kong's economy, a boom in tourism from the mainland because of China's easing of travel restrictions, a return of consumer confidence, and a solid rise in exports resulted in the resumption of strong growth. Hong Kong is a transit and destination territory for men and women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Hong Kong is primarily a transit point for illegal migrants, some of whom are subjected to conditions of debt bondage, sexual exploitation, and/or forced labor upon arrival in the destination country. To a lesser extent, Hong Kong is a destination for women from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and Southeast Asia trafficked for prostitution. The Government of Hong Kong complies fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to implement strong anti-trafficking measures. Through heightened awareness and improved documentation, Hong Kong authorities have improved their ability to identify possible trafficking victims among the large numbers of illegal immigrants. The government maintains effective border and immigration controls, carries out information campaigns to increase awareness of possible trafficking activities, has comprehensive criminal ordinances designed to punish traffickers, and provides access to protective services for trafficking victims. Prosecution Hong Kong has no specific anti-trafficking law, but a range of criminal ordinances are used to prosecute traffickers. Hong Kong authorities reported three trafficking-related cases in 2004, resulting in one conviction. The government has devoted greater resources to monitoring potential trafficking and is taking steps to improve its data-collection capabilities. The government has started to maintain case documentation on the number of illegal migrants who may be trafficking victims. In particular, the Hong Kong Security Bureau has instructed field offices to identify and carefully document cases in which trafficking is suspected. Law enforcement officers are deployed to monitor borders, airports, flights, and shipping. Protection Hong Kong provides a range of services to trafficking victims through the Social Welfare Department and local NGOs. Regardless of legal status or offenses charged, victims have access to temporary lodging in women's refugee centers, basic necessities, legal and medical services, and a victim support center. Trafficking victims who testify against their traffickers are granted immunity and are repatriated without being charged with an offense. Hong Kong provides foreign domestic workers with access to support services in labor suits. Law enforcement officers and social workers are provided training in the handling of witnesses and victims. Prevention Hong Kong continued its robust prevention programs during the reporting period. The government carried out information campaigns to increase awareness of possible trafficking activities. The government also distributed multi-lingual pamphlets to inform foreign domestic workers of their rights and provided a hotline for foreign domestic workers to call for information about available services and assistance. Authorities regularly shared information on local trafficking and smuggling patterns with the P.R.C. and foreign law enforcement entities.
HUNGARY (TIER 2) Republic of Hungary The Republic of Hungary is a central European country bordered by Slovakia (N), Ukraine (NE), Romania (E), Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia and Montenegro (S), and Austria (W). The Danube River forms the Slovak-Hungarian border from a point near Bratislava to another near Esztergom, then turns south and bisects the country. Its capital and largest city is Budapest. Hungarian sovereign debt was upgraded in 2000 and together with the Czech Republic holds the highest rating among the Central European transition economies; however, ratings agencies have expressed concerns over Hungary's unsustainable budget and current account deficits. Hungary is a transit, source, and destination country, primarily for women and girls trafficked from Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, and the Balkans to Europe and North America for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Hungarian victims trafficked to New Zealand and Canada reportedly increased in 2004. Traffickers often target adult female orphans recently released from State institutions, rural young women, and, to a lesser extent, ethnic Roma women. Internal trafficking occurs from areas of high unemployment in eastern Hungary to western Hungary. According to NGOs and media, Hungary may have thousands of women coerced by traffickers into sexual exploitation as a part of a large illegal commercial sex industry. The Government of Hungary does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The Hungarian Government continued to improve its anti-trafficking policies and law enforcement in 2004, establishing an effective inter-ministerial, anti-trafficking working group as well as an International Trafficking Unit under the National Police. In early 2005, Hungary opened a shelter for trafficking victims. However, the government provided few funds for victim protection and trafficking prevention campaigns, and authorities continued to detain, jail, or deport trafficking victims who were often prosecuted as prostitutes. Prosecution The government showed progress in its law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. Trafficking is criminalized in Hungary with sufficiently severe penalties. In 2004, Hungarian courts initiated 21 trafficking prosecutions and convicted 38 traffickers pursuant to prosecutions initiated in previous years. The government did not report on sentences imposed in 2004. Hungarian law enforcement specialists developed specialized training for police on trafficking investigations and victims' needs. In 2004, authorities identified and arrested a Hungarian police officer involved in an international trafficking ring. The Hungarian International Trafficking Unit, established in July 2004, assisted several international trafficking investigations with law enforcement agencies from Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and Austria. Hungarian authorities arrested and extradited four Romanian nationals involved in trafficking in 2004. Protection The Government of Hungary did not provide adequate resources to assist trafficking victims over the last year; however, in early 2005, it donated the use of a facility to establish a trafficking shelter and prostitute rehabilitation center. Police have already referred three potential victims to the shelter. Victims who cooperate with police and prosecutors are entitled to assistance such as temporary residency status and shelter, although in 2004 the government did not track how many trafficking victims received this status. Hungarian authorities frequently continued to detain, jail, or deport trafficking victims in 2004; victims were often prosecuted as prostitutes. The Victim Protection Office of the Ministry of Interior, which had 51 offices throughout Hungary to assist victims of crimes, assisted 18 trafficking victims during the last two years with limited financial support and one or two days of housing. In February 2005, the Ministry of Interior organized a seminar on crime victim protection for government officials; the seminar covered protection for trafficking victims. Hungarian consular officials continued to receive training on how to identify and assist trafficking victims. Prevention In 2004, the government established an anti-trafficking working group. Its work raised the level of trafficking awareness throughout the government and improved coordination of Hungary's anti-trafficking efforts. While the government conducted no independent anti-trafficking information campaigns, it continued to sponsor trafficking awareness programs for secondary school students. Universities offered anti-trafficking programs; in 2004, these programs reached approximately 200 students studying teaching and social work. At the Hungarian Ministry of Interior's Crime Prevention Academy, the government trained officials from trafficking source countries in counter-trafficking techniques.
INDIA (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Republic of India The Republic of India is the second most populous country in the world, stretching from the Arabian Sea (W) to the Bay of Bengal (E), bordering Pakistan (W); China, Nepal, and Bhutan (N); Bangladesh (NE); and Myanmar (E). New Delhi is its capital and Bombay (Mumbai) its largest city. An estimated 400 million are children between 0 and 18 years of age. Although acceleration in economic growth has made India among the 10 fastest growing developing countries, the countrys per capita income remains low and 26 per cent of the population live below the income poverty line. India is a source, transit, and destination country for women, men, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Indian men and women are trafficked into situations of involuntary servitude in countries in the Middle East and children may be forced to work as beggars or camel jockeys. Bangladeshi women and children are trafficked to India or trafficked through India en route to Pakistan and the Middle East for purposes of sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced labor. Nepalese women and girls are trafficked to India for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced labor. India is also a growing destination for sex tourists from Europe, the United States, and other Western countries. Internal trafficking of women, men, and children for the purposes of sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, bonded labor, and indentured servitude is widespread. Numerous studies show that the vast majority of females in the Indian commercial sex industry are currently victims of sexual servitude or were originally trafficked into the sex trade. India is also home to millions of victims of forced or bonded labor. The Government of India does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The quality and magnitude of the government's anti-trafficking response, particularly in the law enforcement area, are seriously insufficient relative to India's huge trafficking in persons problem. Some important improvements were observed in the efforts of the new government that came into power in June 2004. The Congress-led government has made efforts to consolidate and coordinate central government anti-trafficking efforts through the empowerment of the Secretary for Women and Child Development, who serves as the government's "nodal officer" for anti-trafficking programs and policies. Modest but uneven improvements in anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts were seen in some localities, most notably the cities of Mumbai and Chennai and the states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The use of fast-track courts was the key to greater prosecutions and convictions in Tamil Nadu while sustaining a high number of trafficking convictions in New Delhi. The March 2005 order by the Home Minister of Maharashtra state to close down "dance bars" - many of which served as prostitution and trafficking outlets - may check a new trend of traffickers favoring this more sophisticated and concealed format for selling victims trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation over more blatant brothel-based trafficking. India is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year for its inability to show evidence of increased efforts to address trafficking in persons, particularly its lack of progress in forming a national law enforcement response to inter-state and transnational trafficking crimes. The government also lacked a meaningful response to the significant problem of trafficking-related complicity of law enforcement officials. The central government needs to designate and empower a national law enforcement entity to carry out investigations and law enforcement operations against trafficking crimes with nation-wide jurisdiction. This major deficiency was highlighted by state-level law enforcement officials who, at a 2004 conference, pointed to the difficulty in investigating trafficking crimes across state lines and coordinating with other states' police forces in accounting for the low level of traffickingrelated prosecutions and convictions in India. Prosecution Overall, Indian anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts remained weak, though notable progress was seen in particular localities. Comprehensive statistics on trafficking-related investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences were not available, though statistics obtained from several key cities and states showed 195 prosecutions and 82 convictions obtained for offenses related to trafficking for sexual exploitation in 2004. An estimated 2,058 prosecutions and 1,051 convictions for child labor offenses were obtained in 2004 throughout India. India has adequate laws to address trafficking for sexual exploitation of adults and children. The Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA) criminalizes the offenses of selling, procuring, and exploiting any person for commercial sex as well as profiting from prostitution. However, Section 8 of the ITPA also criminalizes the act of solicitation for prostitution, which has been used in the past to arrest and punish women and girls who are victims of trafficking. The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Trafficking in Persons has drafted revisions to the ITPA, in consultation with civil society groups, and has submitted these revisions to Parliament for consideration. The revisions would eliminate Section 8, thereby affording victims of trafficking greater protections. The Juvenile Justice Act of 1986, amended in 2001, provides modest criminal penalties for sexual offenses committed against minors, including the prostitution of children, but provides strong protections for child victims of trafficking through the oversight of Child Welfare Committees in each state and mandatory care provided in state-approved protection homes.
Indian laws against trafficking for labor purposes, however, are inadequate as they do not offer sufficient criminal penalties for those who are responsible for forced or bonded labor, child labor, and domestic servitude. The Child Labor Act of 1986 has adequate provisions for the freeing and rehabilitation of children found in forced labor conditions, but carries provisions for criminal sentences of a maximum of only three years. Moreover, the enforcement mechanism for this Act appears insufficient - giving the mandate to local Magistrates who are overburdened and ill-trained to carry out the law's requirements. Similarly, the Abolition of Bonded Labor Act of 1976 provides adequate protections for victims of bonded labor but carries only a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment. Few prison sentences have been handed down under this Act. Moreover, the enforcement of this Act is left in the hands of local magistrates who are over-worked and ill-trained to enforce the Act fully and who are charged with the competing mandate of collecting state taxes from the businesses that employ bonded laborers. Endemic corruption among law enforcement officials impedes Indian efforts to effectively combat trafficking in persons crimes. Many low-level border guards accept bribes or turn a blind eye to cross-border trafficking. Some police officers have been implicated in tipping off brothels to impending raids and profiting from the proceeds of brothels that enslave trafficking victims. As noted, efforts to curb this trafficking-related corruption have been minimal, usually amounting to officers' transfers or, at best, forced retirement. During the reporting period only two cases of ongoing prosecutions of law enforcement officers for complicity in trafficking were noted. There are also, however, committed police in Chennai, Mumbai, and New Delhi who have worked actively with NGOs to target traffickers and to safeguard victims after their rescue. In 2004, courts in Mumbai prosecuted 53 persons for trafficking-related offenses, handing down 11 convictions. While this is an increase over 2003, the level of prosecution remains inadequate relative to Mumbai's role as the largest center for sex trafficking in India. Mumbai lacks special "fast-track" courts for trafficking crimes; consequently, trafficking prosecutions can take as long as eight years, often resulting in acquittals due to lost evidence and unavailable witnesses. Protection The central government continues to show inadequate and uneven efforts to protect victims of trafficking, challenged by the decentralized nature of Indian Government social support programs and limited resources. The Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) - the central government's nodal anti-trafficking office - improved coordination of support services delivery through greater coordination with states' departments of women and child development and civil society organizations. Governmentrun shelters in some localities, like Mumbai, improved significantly over the last year. Other areas lack government-provided shelters dedicated for trafficking victims. During the reporting period, efforts by state governments to develop formal referral systems through which police regularly refer victims of trafficking to qualified NGO service providers - improved in some areas, but remained woefully inadequate in other localities. In New Delhi, an innovative program was launched, requiring police to provide trafficking victims with counseling from a qualified NGO within 24 hours. This assured level of protection has led to greater victim cooperation with police in investigating and prosecuting traffickers. In Mumbai, the state-run "Deonar" home for underage trafficking victims has improved its collaboration with U.S. Government-funded NGOs and, as a result, improved the level of care provided to victims it shelters. Police in Mumbai have adopted policies that show greater care for trafficking victims; the police commissioner has instructed police not to arrest women involved in prostitution for solicitation under India's anti-trafficking and anti-prostitution law - a punishment that often re-victimized trafficking victims in the past. Prevention In 2004, the new central government made significant progress in improving a coordinated approach to preventing trafficking in persons. A newly installed Secretary for Women and Child Development was designated the nodal officer to coordinate and oversee all anti-trafficking programs and policies. Since her appointment in mid-2004, the Secretary has reinvigorated the National Central Advisory Committee on Trafficking Persons, including civil society organizations and state-level agencies in frank and productive consultations. Under the Secretary's leadership, the Committee has introduced much-needed revisions to the ITPA and has begun drafting changes to the 1998 national plan of action on trafficking. Through the Committee, the government coordinated more closely with NGOs, on which it relies for the bulk of anti-trafficking prevention activity in India. The Secretary and her staff have traveled widely, training hundreds of state and police officials in over 20 training sessions. In late 2004, India's National Human Rights Commission released a lengthy two-year assessment of the trafficking situation in India, including recommended actions for the government to take in preventing future trafficking. The Human Rights Commission also undertook a study of the sex tourism phenomenon in Goa, a popular international tourist destination. The National Commission for Women joined with the Maharashtra State Commission for Women in holding a workshop on sex tourism in that state.
INDONESIA (TIER 2) Republic of Indonesia The Republic of Indonesia is located in SE Asia, in the Malay Archipelago and comprises more than 13,000 islands extending c.3,000 mi (4,830 km) along the equator from the Malaysia mainland toward Australia. Its capital and largest city is Jakarta, on Java. Indonesias population grows by about 3 million each year and has a high urban population growth, straining its cities capacity to provide housing and social services. Conflict and violence has harmed, traumatized and displaced children and women on a massive scale. Indonesia is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked internationally for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor, while the country also faces a significant internal trafficking problem. Indonesian victims are trafficked to Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia. To a much lesser extent, Indonesia is a destination for women from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Thailand, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Venezuela, Spain, and Ukraine who are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Within Indonesia, there is extensive internal trafficking primarily from rural to urban areas for commercial sexual exploitation and for other forced labor such as involuntary domestic servitude. The Government of Indonesia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In 2004, the Indonesian Government showed clear progress in applying greater law enforcement efforts to fighting trafficking and assisting Indonesian victims abroad, including migrant workers who had been trafficked. The government significantly increased its convictions of traffickers and adopted standard operating procedures for the protection of victims. In some Indonesian provinces, local governments drafted and enacted new laws and budgeted resources for antitrafficking programs. Following the tsunami that devastated Aceh province, the Indonesian Government rapidly responded with appropriate measures to reduce the potential for trafficking of children from the region. While local governments gave greater priority to trafficking, translating national commitment to local action remained a problem. The Indonesian Government can take significant action by passing a strong and comprehensive anti-trafficking law; addressing internal trafficking; recognizing and taking steps to eliminate debt bondage for migrant workers; and arresting and prosecuting officials involved in trafficking. Prosecution The Indonesian Government increased its law enforcement efforts against trafficking during the reporting period. Indonesia does not have a comprehensive anti-trafficking law, but a draft bill is currently pending before Parliament. Although Indonesian law criminalizes trafficking, it lacks a comprehensive definition of the crime. In 2004, the government reported 141 trafficking-related investigations, 51 prosecutions, and 45 convictions. The number of convictions reflected an 80 percent increase over the previous year's performance. Although law enforcement efforts increased, convictions for trafficking-related offenses often carried light sentences, with an average sentence of just over three years' imprisonment. The Indonesian Government cooperated with the Malaysian Government in arresting and prosecuting a major network that trafficked Indonesians into Malaysia for commercial sexual exploitation. Corruption and a weak judiciary remain serious impediments to the effective prosecution of traffickers. The government has recognized that action must be taken against officials involved in trafficking, but has provided little information concerning actions it has taken against corrupt officials who may be complicit in trafficking. Protection In 2004, the Indonesian Government improved its efforts to provide protection to trafficking victims despite limited resources. National and local victim assistance efforts increased, but remained small in comparison to the scope of the problem. Assistance for internal trafficking victims was minimal. The Indonesian Government continued to operate shelters for Indonesian victims of involuntary servitude and commercial sexual exploitation at its embassies and consulates in Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The government also operates crisis centers inside the country and cooperates with domestic NGOs and civil society organizations that provide services for victims. The Indonesian Government continued to provide training to officials and law enforcement officers in the handling of witnesses and victims. The Women's Ministry also finalized standard operating procedures used to assist trafficking victims in 2004. Although Indonesia's national action plan calls for proper treatment of trafficking victims, implementation varies widely at the local level. Prevention The Indonesian Government made commendable efforts to promote public awareness of trafficking in 2004. The government increasingly used its National Anti-Trafficking Ambassador, a well-known television personality, to raise awareness of trafficking and of the need for more anti-trafficking efforts. Although the government has a limited ability to fund prevention programs, it welcomed international assistance and continued to work with NGOs on anti-trafficking and education initiatives. Most education campaigns focused on warning potential victims about trafficking. Some public education material in the campaign to stop child sex tourism in Batam and Bali contained messages for potential clients of prostitutes. Government-sponsored public awareness campaigns often featured senior officials and included television, radio, and print media
IRAN (TIER 2) Islamic Republic of Iran The Islamic Republic of Iran, located in SW Asia, is bordered by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea (N); by Afghanistan and Pakistan (E); by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman (S); and by Turkey and Iraq (W). The Shatt al Arab forms part of the Iran-Iraq border. Its capital and largest city is Tehran. Iran has one of the highest rates of drug usage in the region. In addition to its social and economic consequences, drug use is emerging as a major contributor to HIV infection and AIDS. Relatively high oil prices in recent years have enabled Iran to amass some $30 billion in foreign exchange reserves, but have not eased economic hardships such as high unemployment and inflation. The proportion of the economy devoted to the development of weapons of mass destruction remains a contentious issue with leading Western nations. Iran is a source, transit, and destination country for women and girls trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Women and girls are trafficked to Pakistan, Turkey, and Europe for sexual exploitation. Boys from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are trafficked through Iran to Gulf states, where they are ultimately forced to work as camel jockeys, beggars, or laborers. Afghan women and girls are trafficked to Iran for sexual exploitation, and for sexual and labor exploitation in the context of forced marriage. Internal trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation and children for forced labor also takes place. The internal trafficking of women and children is fueled by an increasing number of vulnerable groups, such as runaway women, street children, and drug addicts. The U.S. Department of State's lack of access to Iran prohibits the collection of full and accurate data on the country's trafficking problem and its government's anti-trafficking efforts. As best as can be determined from the limited information available, the Government of Iran does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In 2004, Iran conducted a study on trafficking of women from border provinces to the Persian Gulf, passed a law against human trafficking, and signed separate Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with Afghanistan, Turkey, IOM, and ILO. The government should develop and implement a comprehensive anti-trafficking national plan of action and appoint a national coordinator to oversee its overall anti-trafficking efforts. Iran should also take steps to enhance protection measures for trafficking victims, including ensuring that those who are punished for trafficking are not victims. Prosecution Iran made progress in its prosecution efforts during the reporting period. It passed a law against human trafficking. This new law, in conjunction with the prohibition against the trafficking of children, is expected to enhance Iran's overall abilities to combat most forms of human trafficking. In addition, Iran arrested and convicted a woman and her accomplice husband for trafficking young girls and women to work in a brothel in the northern city of Qazvin. It also arrested and convicted 20 members of a human trafficking ring in the city of Bileh Savar. The Iranian Border Force (IBF) arrested over 253 Pakistanis smuggled into Iran, some of them likely trafficking victims. This action showed a lack of adequate screening of illegal immigrants to identify trafficking victims. Protection Iran's protection measures for trafficking victims are weak. It is unclear whether the government distinguishes trafficking victims to provide them protection. The State Welfare Organization for Social Affairs reportedly assists victims and those at risk of trafficking through mobile and fixed social emergency centers. These centers provide counseling, legal services, and health care. The State Welfare Organization also manages temporary shelters for "troubled women" and facilities for young runaway girls. These facilities are available to trafficking victims as well. Prevention During the reporting period, Iran increased its anti-trafficking prevention efforts. It improved its monitoring of the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan and held a conference on human trafficking. Iran also signed separate MOUs with IOM and ILO to enhance the capacity of its institutions and, among other things, to combat trafficking. Furthermore, Iran is reportedly planning to launch, in collaboration with IOM, public awareness campaigns against the trafficking of women and girls. The State Welfare Organization allocates modest funds to support 41 countrywide centers for street children that deliver care to thousands of children at risk for exploitation.
IRAQ [no tier rating] Iraq Iraq is a Middle Eastern country bordered on the north by Turkey, on the south by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, on the east by Iran, and on the west by the Syrian Arab Republic. The military victory of the US-led coalition in March-April 2003 resulted in the shutdown of much of the central economic administrative structure. Although a comparatively small amount of capital plant was damaged during the hostilities, looting, insurgent attacks, and sabotage have undermined efforts to rebuild the economy. Iraq was in political transition during the reporting period and is therefore not ranked in this Report. Elections were held in January 2005 for a Transitional National Assembly, and the new government is currently taking shape to draft a constitution and formulate government policies. Iraq is a country of origin for women and girls trafficked to Yemen, Syria, Jordan, and Gulf countries for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Some Iraqi women and underage girls are reportedly trafficked from rural areas to cities within Iraq itself. According to diplomatic and international organization sources in Syria and Yemen, there are thousands of Iraqi women working in prostitution in the two countries under conditions that constitute severe forms of trafficking in persons. In Damascus, many women and girls are exploited in commercial sexual situations in nightclubs and other establishments in Iraqi-populated areas, with some living and working under coercive conditions. Due to the special circumstances in Iraq, it is difficult to appropriately gauge the human trafficking situation in the country. Government Action In 2004, Iraq investigated major crimes against women, some involving activities related to trafficking. Earlier versions of the 2004 Basic Police Course included a section on trafficking. However, this course was substituted with additional security training in order to address ongoing insurgent activities. As the security situation stabilizes, this training should be re-instituted to give Iraqi police the necessary tools to identify, develop, and prosecute trafficking cases. The Iraqi Interest Section in Syria works regularly with Syrian police to help Iraqi women accused of engaging in prostitution. Iraqi border controls are improving and are expected to stem illegal migration and trafficking of persons across the border. Although there are no NGOs or international organizations working on trafficking specifically, the NGO Women-for-Women promotes women's programs, which indirectly help trafficking victims. Additionally, some NGOs have established safe houses in Baghdad and northern Iraq to shelter abused women, including possible trafficking victims. Areas for Improvement The post-Saddam era is marked with significant challenges. As Iraq moves forward on the path to democracy and builds its internal security, administration, and infrastructure, the government should develop and integrate mechanisms for combating trafficking. This process must begin with an assessment of the situation. Similarly, consular officers in Iraqi Interest Sections in destination countries need training to better assist victims. Iraqi police and immigration officers should also be given appropriate training to identify and assist trafficking victims.
ISRAEL (TIER 2) State of Israel The State of Israel is a republic located in SW Asia on the Mediterranean Sea and is bordered by Lebanon (N), by Syria and Jordan (E), by the Mediterranean Sea (W), by Egypt (SW), and by the Gulf of Aqaba (an arm of the Red Sea) (S). The capital and largest city of Israel is Jerusalem. Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel is a destination country for women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and men and women trafficked for the purpose of labor exploitation. Women from European and former Soviet countries are trafficked to Israel, often through Egypt, and sold to brothel operators, after which they are forced to work off debts through involuntary sexual servitude. Most trafficking victims for sexual exploitation originate from Uzbekistan, Moldova, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine - with Uzbekistan increasingly becoming the principal source country. In a new trend, traffickers in Ukraine reportedly have begun exploiting an Israeli law that allows all Jews to immigrate to Israel by providing victims with false Jewish identity documents. Most victims of trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation come from China. Foreign workers from Romania, the Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Jordan, and former Soviet countries also come to Israel. No reliable evidence exists to indicate how many workers are trafficked. Some trafficked foreign workers suffer from non-payment of wages, threat, coercion, physical and sexual abuse, debt bondage, and restrictions on freedom of movement, including the withholding of their passports. The Government of Israel does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Trafficked workers are often categorized as illegal foreigners, unless - in rare cases - they seek legal action against their traffickers. Israel still lacks a national task force and an official coordinator for the government's anti-trafficking efforts, as the government failed to fund such a position. A de-facto coordinator has continued to work on trafficking in persons by coordinating information and anti-trafficking initiatives between various government agencies and NGOs. The government lacks a law against trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation, although such a law was drafted in 2003 and awaits approval. The government has not established either a procedure for the systematic identification and referral of trafficking victims to places where they can seek care, or a coordinated and transparent system for the humane repatriation of victims. In 2004, Israel changed the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on Trafficking in Persons into a Permanent Committee on Trafficking in Persons. This Committee drafted laws to enable closure of brothels, provide national health insurance to trafficking victims, grant witness protection for non-Israeli citizens and residents, and postpone the deportation of trafficking victims. Prosecution Israel showed improvement in its law enforcement response to trafficking during the reporting period. In 2004, the government investigated 602 cases relating to trafficking for sexual exploitation, an increase from the 460 investigations it conducted in 2003; arrested 103 suspects; and handed down 28 convictions, as compared to 13 convictions in 2003. In its response to labor trafficking, the government prosecuted at least two employers for offenses such as withholding of passports and forgery. Israel has no laws against labor trafficking, but can and does use other laws in its criminal code to prosecute labor traffickers for related offenses. The Knesset is considering an anti-labor trafficking law. In 2004, courts rendered on average stiffer penalties against traffickers, but the judicial process is overburdened with cases, and delays are common. Israel charged a former labor inspector with accepting a bribe, among other charges. The government also indicted a police officer who solicited sexual favors from a trafficking victim and threatened her with arrest and deportation. It also investigated another officer who allegedly extorted payment from a trafficking victim. Reports also indicate that two police officers were criminally charged following complaints against them by foreign workers. Israeli police expanded their anti-trafficking collaborative efforts with the Governments of Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Russia. In addition, the police conducted an unprecedented joint anti-trafficking operation with the Government of Belarus. These efforts resulted in the arrest and indictment in Russia of a trafficking ringleader and his collaborators. An Israeli request for extradition of those indicted is still pending in the Russian Supreme Court. The government should investigate allegations that some manpower agencies facilitate trafficking into Israel.
Protection Israel's efforts to care for victims of trafficking remained inadequate during the last year, particularly concerning victims of trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation. In 2004, Israel expanded the capacity of its only shelter to 50 beds; the shelter assisted 108 trafficking victims of sexual exploitation. With some exceptions, only trafficking victims for sexual exploitation who agree to testify against their traffickers are accorded protection in the shelter. Such victims are now granted visa extensions; work permits; and legal, medical, and psychological services during their stay in Israel. Most trafficking victims in prostitution who are arrested are subsequently deported, as the police do not use a systematic screening procedure to differentiate trafficking victims from violators of immigration laws. In 2004, Israel detained 904 foreign women on charges of engaging in prostitution and deported 796 of them. Those who are victims of trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation do not receive the same level of protection as do victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Most labor trafficking victims who are detained are deported as illegal foreign workers. The Ramon Unit of the Border Police in 2004 interdicted and rescued 43 women who were attempting to cross the border from Egypt, 36 of whom were being trafficked into Israel for sexual exploitation. Israel also waived court fees for civil suits filed by trafficking victims, published brochures on the rights of foreign workers in English and Hebrew, issued a revised version of a brochure on detainee's rights in 14 languages, conducted two trafficking-related workshops for inspectors, and negotiated with IOM to monitor the employment of foreign workers in Israel. Given the large number of trafficking victims for commercial sexual exploitation, Israel needs to greatly expand the capacity of its only shelter. It also needs to accord to labor trafficking victims protection services similar to those accorded to victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation Prevention The Israeli Government undertook new steps in the area of prevention. The government provided three training sessions for a total of 90 police officers on how to recognize, investigate, and prepare trafficking cases for prosecution. It also conducted antitrafficking information campaigns in source countries of victims trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation by distributing brochures in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Moldova. In a marked improvement of its efforts to deter and prevent trafficking for labor exploitation, the Israeli Government appointed an attorney to investigate labor law infractions, hired an ombudsman for foreign workers rights, and raised the fines for collecting illegal recruitment fees.
ITALY (TIER 1) Italian Republic (Italy) The Italian Republic, located in S Europe, is bordered by France (NW), by the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea (W), by the Ionian Sea (S), by the Adriatic Sea (E), by Slovenia (NE), and by Austria and Switzerland (N). The country includes the islands of Sicily and Sardinia and several small islands, notably Elba, Capri, Ischia, and the Lipari Islands. Rome is Italy's capital and largest city. Italy has a diversified industrial economy with roughly the same total and per capita output as France and the UK. This capitalistic economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed, welfare-dependent agricultural south, with 20% unemployment. Italy is a destination and a transit country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Estimates provided by PARSEC a social research institute in Italy indicated 2,000 to 3,000 new trafficking victims in 2004. Victims originated largely from Nigeria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, and Albania. Other areas of origin included Russia, Bulgaria, Africa, China, and South America. Although children were primarily trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, there have been reports in the past of children trafficked for sweatshop labor in Italy's Chinese immigrant community. The Government of Italy fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Although the government did not provide full data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sentences, the Secretary of State has determined that it has made a good faith effort to do so. In 2004, the government led Europe in the number of trafficking victims protected through special visas and state assistance programs; many of the victims helped were successfully integrated into Italian society. The government's significant role in prevention is commendable; however, it should implement focused demand reduction campaigns to more effectively tackle the demand for trafficking victims within Italy. The government should be more vigilant in screening illegal migrants to determine whether or not they are trafficking victims. The government must provide comprehensive, national level enforcement statistics to demonstrate appreciable progress. Prosecution The government failed to provide updated, centralized law enforcement statistics for 2004; thus, whether or not there was improvement in its anti-trafficking efforts is unknown. Available statistics from 2003 show 328 arrests, an increase from 209 in 2002. Between 2002 and 2003, the government reported 41 lower court convictions. In 2004, Italian authorities successfully cooperated with law enforcement counterparts in Brazil and Cambodia to shut down child sex tourism involving Italian citizens. There continued to be some isolated reports of local and border officials accepting bribes and facilitating trafficking; however the government took measures to mitigate this by rotating officers off patrols for controlling prostitution. Protection In 2004, the Italian Government continued and expanded its strong efforts to provide comprehensive protection and reintegration aid to trafficking victims. The Ministry of Equal Opportunity spent over four million Euros on 69 projects to assist 8,600 women victims in 2004, an increase from the 6,086 assisted in 2003. Under Article 18 of Italy's anti-trafficking law, 1,940 victims, including 118 minors, entered social protection programs in 2004, a nine percent increase from 2003. NGOs, with government funding, provided literacy courses for 440 victims and vocational training for 431; they helped 389 victims find temporary employment and another 944 find permanent jobs. IOM and others considered the government's Article 18 to be a model for other EU countries. The government continued to implement tough immigration laws in response to a significant influx of illegal immigrants. As a result, there were continued reports of authorities inadvertently deporting potential victims before they could be adequately screened and identified as having been trafficked. In 2004, the government funded voluntary repatriation and six month reintegration assistance for 66 victims. Prevention In 2004, the government funded a number of public awareness initiatives that included brochures, posters, bumper stickers, and popular media ads. One television ad highlighted demand by targeting domestic customers in order to emphasize the link between trafficking and prostitution. Italian authorities successfully conducted joint border patrols and training with Slovenia and Albania, reportedly decreasing trafficking flows across the Adriatic Sea. Italy continued to provide bilateral and multilateral assistance for programs in source countries; in 2004, the government funded outreach campaigns in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Hungary.
JAMAICA (TIER 3) Jamaica Jamaica is an independent state within the Commonwealth, coextensive with the island of Jamaica, West Indies. It lies south of Cuba and westof Haiti. It is the largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba and Hispaniola. Its capital and largest city is Kingston. Jamaica has high HIV/AIDS prevalence vis--vis the region. Nearly eight per cent of those infected are children under 10 years of age, with mother-to-child-transmission a major contributing factor. Jamaica is a source country for children trafficked internally for the purpose of sexual exploitation. A 2001 ILO report cited that more than 100 minors, both boys and girls, are involved in Jamaica's sex trade. Precise numbers of trafficking victims are difficult to establish due to the underground and underacknowledged nature of trafficking in the country. Victims often travel from rural areas to urban and tourist centers where they are trafficked into prostitution sometimes with the encouragement or complicity of their families. Jamaica is a transit country for illegal migrants moving to the U.S. and Canada; some may be trafficking victims. Jamaicans are also trafficked into forced labor in the United States. The Government of Jamaica does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Jamaican officials failed to undertake any significant efforts to arrest and prosecute traffickers who target children. The government in March 2004 passed the Child Care and Protection Act and has conducted an associated nationwide campaign related to some aspects of the law. However, some of the Act's provisions have not yet been implemented. Additionally, there was no discernable action taken against traffickers who sexually exploit children. Jamaica needs to increase its efforts to create mechanisms to report crimes, ensure the safety of victims, and effectively prosecute and convict traffickers. Additionally, actions should be taken against corrupt officials who are facilitating the unauthorized international movement of persons. Prosecution Jamaica's law enforcement efforts during the reporting period were weak and did not target traffickers. The government's law enforcement strategy against child sex trafficking was based upon the 2004 Child Care and Protection Act, which does not address the problem in sufficient depth. There have been no substantial law enforcement steps taken to identify and investigate trafficking cases under the Act, although the Act has been invoked numerous times to prosecute and convict cases of child abuse and other violations of children's rights. However, there were no reported trafficking-specific investigations, arrests, prosecutions, or convictions over the past year. There has been some limited training for police on the rights of the child as provided for under the Child Care and Protection Act and the IOM provided anti-trafficking training to Jamaican officials. The government also worked with the IOM to enhance its ability to detect transnational trafficking and implemented an island-wide passenger entry and exit system. Protection The government's efforts to protect victims of trafficking during the last year remained ad hoc, and there is no formal policy for protecting child trafficking victims. Social services provide care to the needy and vulnerable, including children removed from trafficking situations. The government's Child Development Agency, which oversees facilities for at-risk children, and the Bureau of Women's Affairs each maintain a network of shelters that may be used for trafficking victims. The government also helps to negotiate funding for NGOs that support children who are vulnerable to trafficking. The new Child Care Protection Act has a mechanism for the reporting of abuses against children; however, this Children's Registry has not yet been implemented. Efforts should be increased to ensure that the legislation is used forcefully to protect children who are being sexually exploited in the country. Prevention The Child Development Agency, created in 2004 as an executive agency, and the Bureau of Women's Affairs are actively involved to promote the rights of women and children in the country, though neither has specific anti-trafficking prevention programs. In general, government officials recognize that children in poverty are vulnerable to trafficking and have expressed a commitment to do more, but government commitment is hampered by resource constraints and a lack of political will. A campaign was carried out to inform the public on the new Child Care and Protection Act, which included provisions to protect trafficking victims and prosecute offenders.
JAPAN (TIER 2) Japan Japan occupies an archipelago off the coast of E Asia. Its capital is Tokyo, which, along with neighboring Yokohama, forms the world's most populous metropolitan region. Japan's huge government debt, which totals more than 160% of GDP, and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. A rise in taxes could be viewed as endangering the revival of growth. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots." Japan is a destination country for a large number of Asian, Latin American, and Eastern European women and children who are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. There have also been cases of Asian and Latin American men trafficked to Japan for criminal, labor and/or commercial sexual purposes. Japanese organized crime groups (yakuza) that operate internationally are involved in trafficking. The Government of Japan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government has made an impressive start in providing assistance to trafficking victims, including implementation of a national action plan with modest, additional resources for government-run shelters and private shelters. The government made substantial efforts to improve the legal framework by drafting penal code revisions that specifically criminalize trafficking and increase penalties for trafficking-related offenses. During the reporting period, the government undertook major reforms to significantly tighten the issuance of entertainer visas to women from the Philippines, a process used by traffickers to enslave thousands of Philippine women in Japan each year. Japan continued to provide support for international anti-trafficking programs and conferences. The foundations that the Government of Japan has laid in the past few months offer promises of results that would place Japan in a leadership role in fighting trafficking. Prosecution Japan increased its law enforcement efforts against trafficking during the reporting period. The government uses the penal code and a variety of labor, immigration, and child welfare/protection statutes to prosecute trafficking-related offenses. While Japan's current laws provide for up to ten-year prison terms and steep fines, actual penalties thus far have been much less severe. The government has drafted revisions to the penal code that specifically criminalize trafficking and increase penalties for trafficking-related offenses. Japan's National Police Agency (NPA) reported 58 arrests and 48 prosecutions in 2004, reflecting a significant increase over the previous year's performance. The NPA improved its handling of trafficking cases and provided guidelines on victim identification and treatment to local police forces. The NPA also took concrete steps to increase cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies on trafficking cases. Protection In 2004, the government improved its efforts to protect victims of trafficking. Twenty-two trafficking victims were provided government protection from January through October 2004, a dramatic increase over the previous year. The government implemented a national action plan that provides additional resources for victim protection in government-run shelters and private shelters. Trafficking victims are no longer treated as criminals, and a short grace period allows the government time to develop its cases against traffickers. Japanese authorities referred trafficking victims to government-run prefectural domestic violence shelters and NGO facilities. While the government's prefectural shelters are now open to foreign trafficking victims, few victims use the shelters for fear that they would be sent to an immigration detention center and then deported. The prefectural governments of Tokyo and Kanagawa continued to provide modest funding to NGOs operating shelters for trafficking victims in those prefectures. Prevention The government continued its efforts to raise public awareness of violence against women and trafficking. The NPA produced a training video on trafficking and distributed it to all police offices to improve their awareness of trafficking. The government also took major steps to significantly tighten the issuance of entertainer visas to women from the Philippines, a major source of trafficking victims. The government continued to provide support for international anti-trafficking programs to alleviate poverty, raise awareness of the dangers of trafficking, and promote alternative economic opportunities for women. The government, however, has yet to make a significant effort to lessen the domestic demand for trafficking victims.
JORDAN [no tier rating] Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, located in SW Asia, is bordered by Israel (W), by Syria (N), by Iraq (NE), and by Saudi Arabia (E & S). Amman is its capital and largest city. With inadequate supplies of water and other natural resources such as oil, debt, poverty, and unemployment are fundamental problems, Jordan is considered a special case because full and accurate data on the extent and magnitude of its trafficking problem, which may be significant, is not available. Jordan may be a destination country for women and girls trafficked from South Asia and South East Asia, primarily from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, for the purpose of labor exploitation. According to the Jordanian Ministry of Labor, 218,000 permits were issued for foreign workers in 2004. Of this, 20,000 represent foreign domestic workers, a small number of whom might end up victims of involuntary servitude. Some domestic servants suffer conditions that meet the definition of involuntary servitude, which is a form of trafficking. These conditions include but are not limited to: extended forced working hours, unpaid wages, sexual and physical abuse, and restrictions on freedom of movement, including the withholding of passports. Some abused foreign domestic workers run away from their abusive employers and seek shelter and protection at their embassies. Government Action A government steering committee that includes representatives from UNIFEM, NGOs, and source countries monitors and evaluates the conditions of domestic workers in the country. However, it is unclear if the committee systematically differentiates trafficking cases from labor disputes. It needs to do so and compile data to better understand the trafficking situation and recommend appropriate remedial action. In 2004, the Government of Jordan prosecuted some employers found to be abusing foreign domestic workers, closed down three recruiting agencies, and provided various forms of assistance to some trafficking victims. The government does not, however, provide shelter to trafficking victims. Such victims usually rely on their own embassies or friends for shelter. In an effort to raise awareness among employees and employers, the government is working with UNIFEM to produce a pamphlet highlight the rights of foreign workers in Jordan. The Government of Jordan should conduct an assessment of the trafficking situation and, if appropriate, develop and implement a comprehensive anti-trafficking national plan of action that includes appropriate protection and prevention measures. It should also train its law enforcement personnel to systematically identify and prosecute trafficking crimes.
KAZAKHSTAN (TIER 2) Kazakhstan Kazakhstan is the second largest of the former Soviet Union republics, measuring 2,000 kilometers, east to west, and 1,200 kilometers, north to south. It is bordered by the Russian Federation (N & W), by Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan (S), and by China (E). Kazakhstan enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 - and a solid 9.5% in 2002 - thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good harvests, and foreign investment. Growth remained at the high 9% level in 2003 and 2004. The opening of the Caspian Consortium pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raised export capacity. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil sector, by developing light industry. Additionally, the policy aims to reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel. Kazakhstan is a source, transit, and destination country for people trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Kazakhstani men, women, and children are trafficked to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Turkey, Israel, South Korea, Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Syria, and Western Europe. Persons from other countries in Central Asia, particularly Uzbekistan, are trafficked through or to Kazakhstan primarily for forced labor in construction and agriculture. Internal trafficking occurs from rural to urban areas for the purposes of both sexual and labor exploitation. Small trafficking rings, employment and travel agencies, and marriage brokers are often involved in trafficking individuals out of Kazakhstan. The Government of Kazakhstan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Kazakhstan's interagency National Working Group on Trafficking in Persons met regularly and made progress in implementing the National Action Plan adopted in February 2004. The government incorporated anti-trafficking curricula at high schools and universities, and local governments and NGOs throughout Kazakhstan concluded formal agreements of cooperation. The government should adopt amendments it has drafted to strengthen its anti-trafficking legislation, support legislative and prosecutorial initiatives to increase convictions and penalties, and considerably increase funds for trafficking victim assistance and prevention programs. Prosecution The Government of Kazakhstan increased its convictions of traffickers during the reporting period, although prosecution numbers remain low relative to the size of the problem. The Kazakhstani Criminal Code covers trafficking for the purposes of sexual or other exploitation both internally and abroad. The government has drafted a set of amendments to strengthen anti-trafficking legislation by more clearly defining trafficking, increasing penalties, and improving protection of victims. Law enforcement conducted 27 trafficking-related investigations during the last year. The courts prosecuted 14 cases and convicted 12 traffickers. However, only five of these traffickers are currently serving prison time; the rest received suspended sentences. Among other training events, the Ministry of Internal Affairs held a conference on trafficking in December 2004 for law enforcement from all parts of the country. In 2004, Kazakhstan cooperated on trafficking investigations with Uzbekistan, Russia, and the U.A.E. Evidence exists of some government officials' complicity in trafficking. During the reporting period, the government investigated two higher-level officials suspected of aiding trafficking rings. Protection Kazakhstan increased its efforts to protect trafficking victims in 2004; however, protection and assistance to victims remained inadequate mainly due to lack of government resources. The government grants temporary residency to identified trafficking victims to ensure safe repatriation or participation in criminal proceeding against their traffickers, though this residency is not specifically guaranteed by law. Local law enforcement officials have a mechanism to refer victims to crisis centers and shelters based on formal agreements with NGOs. The government provided a small amount of funding to the Union of Crisis Centers in 2004, whose member NGOs run nationwide trafficking hotlines and shelters to assist all types of victims, including trafficking victims. In the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk, the local government provided room, board, and protection for trafficking victims, in conjunction with a local NGO. Shelters reported effective coordination with local law enforcement to increase patrols and respond quickly to calls. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs assisted in the repatriation of 36 Kazakhstani citizens from abroad, up from 24 in 2003. Prevention Public information about trafficking and education campaigns sponsored by the government has led to greater awareness of the risks of traveling abroad for employment. The government incorporated an anti-trafficking component into curricula at high schools, vocational schools, and universities, and required private and state television and radio stations to broadcast anti-trafficking public service announcements. The government covered the costs of disseminating information packets to media outlets with information on assistance hotlines and government efforts to combat trafficking. Law enforcement agencies continued to undertake unannounced inspections and investigations of travel and employment agencies. Kazakhstan's National Action Plan is publicly available and lays out a multi-year strategy to combat trafficking.
KENYA (TIER 2) Republic of Kenya The Republic of Kenya, located in E Africa, is bordered by Somalia (E), by the Indian Ocean (SE), by Tanzania (S), by Lake Victoria (Victoria Nyanza) (SW), by Uganda (W), by Sudan (NW), and by Ethiopia (N). Nairobi is its capital and largest city. Kenya is home to people belonging to over 40 tribal groups, giving rise to numerous cultures, religions, traditions, customs and languages. The regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa, Kenya has been hampered by corruption and by reliance upon several primary goods whose prices have remained low. Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Kenyan children are internally trafficked for forced domestic servitude, street vending, agricultural labor, and sexual exploitation. Children are also trafficked to Kenya's coastal area, where they are sexually exploited in a nascent coastal sex tourism industry catering to foreigners. Kenyan women are trafficked to the Middle East, other African nations, and Western Europe for forced domestic labor and sexual exploitation. Burundian and Rwandan children are trafficked to Kenya for sexual exploitation and unpaid domestic labor. Asian nationals, mainly Chinese women, are reportedly trafficked through Nairobi to Europe. Southeast Asian nationals are coerced into accepting circumstances of bonded and unpaid labor in Kenya's construction and garment industries. The Government of Kenya does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. To advance its anti-trafficking efforts, the government should prosecute suspected traffickers and increase protective services for children found in situations of prostitution. Prosecution The government noticeably expanded its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts over the reporting period. The constitution prohibits slavery and the penal code outlaws forced detention of women for prostitution, abduction, and labor as well as sexual exploitation of children. Investigations into over 20 cases of trafficking are ongoing, including one involving suspected trafficking of Kenyan children to Tanzania. In mid-2004, the Kenyan Police Service (KPS) launched a ten-person Human Trafficking Unit (HTU) to undertake investigations. The HTU began investigating an alleged child trafficking ring operating between Kenya and the U.K., and it sent investigators to the U.K. to interview suspects. In May 2004, the Department of Immigration detained, interrogated, and deported a South Korean national on the basis of enhanced border controls adopted in part to combat human trafficking. The HTU conducted surveys of individuals and establishments suspected of involvement in trafficking, including brothels, massage parlors, and foreign employment agencies. The government sent seven officials to a regional training session on human trafficking and held a one-day workshop on trafficking surveillance at the borders. Protection The government's assistance to trafficking victims increased during the reporting period. In 2004, the government implemented a registration program requiring owners of tourist guesthouses to identify and account for all workers. Subsequent investigations resulted in the closure of eight guesthouses and assistance to seven foreign children. A local NGO, with some assistance from the government, repatriated ten Kenyan trafficking victims from Germany. The Ministry of Labor's office in Saudi Arabia continued to pursue cases of Kenyan nationals exploited by their employers. With significant NGO assistance, Kenyan diplomats also sought to assist a Kenyan trafficking victim in Bahrain. The government provided street children involved in commercial sexual exploitation with shelter and medical care. Additionally, under an ILO program to prevent worst forms of child labor, the government continued implementing reforms in this sector, including the rescue of at-risk children from the streets and subsequent provision of vocational and educational training. Prevention During the year, the government initiated broad measures focused on the prevention of trafficking. The KPS, in conjunction with the Ministry of Information, conducted background and on-the-record interviews with Kenyan daily newspapers to increase awareness of regional human trafficking trends and seek public assistance with ongoing investigations. The government widely distributed a human trafficking brochure that increased awareness of the issue among ministry officials. A Ministry of Tourism official presented a report on the sexual exploitation of children in the tourism industry and officials met with coastal tourism boards in order to explore the implementation of a future code of conduct guarding against sex tourism. The Ministry of Labor continued its inspection of employment agencies that facilitate overseas employment for Kenyans and provided mandatory pre-departure counseling to citizens departing for work abroad. Government officials spoke on human trafficking at civil society-hosted seminars. In December 2004, the government held its first inter-ministerial meeting on trafficking in persons.
NORTH KOREA (TIER 3) Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is located in SE Asia, with China to its north and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to its south. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. North Korea faces desperate economic conditions. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of under investment and spare-parts shortages. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel. The nation has suffered its eleventh year of food shortages because of a lack of arable land, collective farming, weather-related problems, and chronic shortages of fertilizer and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have allowed the regime to escape mass starvation since 1995, but the population remains the victim of prolonged malnutrition and deteriorating living conditions. The Democratic People's Republic of North Korea is a source country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Thousands of North Korean men, women, and children are forced to work and often perish under conditions of slavery inside the country. Thousands of North Koreans, pushed by deteriorating conditions in the country, become economic migrants who are subjected to conditions of debt bondage, commercial sexual exploitation, and/or forced labor upon arrival in a destination country, most often the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.). The illegal status of North Koreans in other nations increases their vulnerability to trafficking schemes and sexual and physical abuse. North Korean women are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriages with Chinese men while North Korean men are trafficked for forced labor. North Koreans forcibly returned from China are sent to labor prison camps operated by the government. The Government of North Korea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making efforts to do so. The government does not recognize trafficking as a problem and imposes slave-like labor conditions on prisoners and repatriated North Koreans. Prosecution During the reporting period, North Korea publicly executed three men for trafficking North Korean women into China. There were no reports that authorities investigated the trafficking of North Korean women for sale into brothels and marriages with Chinese men. The North Korean Government continued to carry out trafficking abuses, particularly forced labor. There were no reports of prosecutions of corrupt officials related to trafficking. Protection The Government of North Korea made no effort to protect trafficking victims during the reporting period; reporting instead indicated that the government punished victims. Press reports indicated that nine women who were trafficked and returned from China were sentenced to prison terms of two years to 18 years. The government sent all North Koreans who were forcibly returned from China, including trafficking victims, to forced-labor prison camps where torture and public executions are commonplace. There are also reports that North Koreans who were forcibly returned from China are detained in re-education camps. Prevention The North Korean Government does not recognize trafficking as a problem, and there were no reports of any government anti-trafficking efforts. Due to the lack of prevention efforts, there have been reports of an increase in the trafficking of North Korean women along the Chinese-North Korean border. The government has not taken steps to warn its citizens about the kidnapping of North Korean women by Chinese or North Korean men along the border who prey on unaccompanied women.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA (TIER 1) Republic of Korea (South Korea) The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is located in SE Asia on the Korean peninsular, with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) to its north. Its capital is Seoul. War damage and a flood of refugees from North Korea intensified the problems with its economy, which was characterized by runaway inflation, highly unfavorable trade balances, and mass unemployment. South Korea is a source, transit, and destination country for women who are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Women from Russia, the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), the Philippines, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to South Korea. Korean women are trafficked to Japan and to the United States, sometimes via Canada, for exploitation in prostitution. In recent years, the Government of the Republic of Korea has taken significant steps to address the problem, including through tightening of enforcement and an ambitious legislative campaign aimed at curbing trafficking and exploitation of women. The Government of the Republic of Korea fully complies with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, and has recently taken measures to demonstrate its commitment to resolving the problem. The government has shown a steady commitment to support victims, prosecute traffickers, and strengthen national laws. In 2004, the South Korean Government showed leadership by passing and implementing sweeping anti-trafficking and anti-prostitution laws, which provided stiff sanctions for trafficking and prostitution and established an infrastructure of social, legal, and medical support for victims. The government has also coordinated closely with United States Forces Korea (USFK) in developing and implementing policy that addresses the problem of sexual exploitation of women in the Republic of Korea in areas surrounding USFK bases. Due to their leadership in tackling demand, the government recognizes that it must also make efforts to provide more education and vocational training for thousands of women who have been trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. Prosecution The Government of the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) made greater efforts to prosecute trafficking-related cases over the last year. R.O.K. authorities used several statutes including the Criminal Code, the Law on Juvenile Protection, and the Act on Additional Punishment for Specific Crimes to prosecute traffickers. During the reporting period, the Ministry of Justice conducted 536 trafficking-related investigations, resulting in 71 prosecutions and 144 people currently serving sentences. The government implemented a new anti-trafficking law, the Act on the Punishment of Intermediating in the Sex Trade and Associated Acts, which provided for punishment of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation and authorized the seizure of assets acquired through trafficking. The new law punishes those who use threats, violence, or debt bondage to force people into prostitution and declares that victims' debts to their employers are invalid. Punishments under the new law include up to ten years' imprisonment and fines of up to $86,000. In 2004, the Korean military and the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) continued their cooperation with the USFK in identifying brothels suspected of exploiting trafficking victims and barring U.S. soldiers access to them. Protection During the reporting period, South Korea continued to provide strong protective measures for trafficking victims. The government demonstrated the political will to combat trafficking and applied more resources to protect trafficking victims. The 2004 Act on the Prevention of the Sex Trade and Protection of its Victims authorized the establishment of assistance facilities and counseling centers to help victims reintegrate into society. Over the past two years, the South Korean Government has established 38 shelters for Korean victims of trafficking and two shelters for foreign victims. During 2004, a total of 505 women were sheltered in these facilities, which provide psychological counseling, board and lodging, vocational training, and legal aid. The government also provided significant funding for NGOs providing assistance to trafficking victims. In 2004, the Ministry of Gender Equality (MOGE) provided $4.67 million to these NGOs. For foreign trafficking victims, the Ministry of Justice granted G-1 visas or suspensions of departure, which prevented victims from being deported from South Korea and encouraged them to cooperate with efforts to prosecute their traffickers. The government also took measures to protect trafficking victims who cooperated in prosecutions by prohibiting the disclosure of the victim's identity and allowing a closed-door hearing. Prevention The R.O.K. continued to expand its prevention efforts in 2004. The MOGE and the KNPA carried out regular briefings, policy seminars, and media interviews on trafficking. The MOGE worked with NGOs on a public education campaign to raise awareness among victims of their rights under the new anti-trafficking and anti-prostitution laws and established a hotline for trafficking victims that included English, Russian, and Chinese interpretation services. The KNPA distributed educational materials to foreign women working in entertainment venues informing them of their rights and how to report any abuses.
KUWAIT (TIER 3) State of Kuwait The State of Kuwait, an independent sheikhdom, is located on the NE corner of the Arabian peninsula, at the head of the Persian Gulf. It is bounded by Saudi Arabia (S) and by Iraq (N & W). Its capital is Al-Kuwait, or Kuwait. The modernization process of recent decades has put great stress on Kuwaiti society, sharpening tribal identities and reinforcing family, religious, linguistic and ethnic loyalties. Kuwait is a destination country for men, women, and children trafficked primarily from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka for the purpose of labor exploitation. Some foreign women who migrate legally to Kuwait as domestic workers are subsequently abused by their employers or coerced into situations of debt bondage or involuntary servitude. Some domestic workers are trafficked within the country for sexual and labor exploitation. Some underage boys from South Asia, the Sudan, Yemen, and Eritrea are trafficked from neighboring Gulf States to work as camel jockeys. Victims suffer debt bondage, involuntary sexual servitude, coerced labor, verbal and physical abuse, and the withholding of their passports or other required travel documents. The Government of Kuwait does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Over the last year, the government failed to take significant steps to address trafficking, particularly efforts to prosecute trafficking crimes and protect victims. It did, however, in 2004 establish a law banning the employment of children as camel jockeys, and welcomed opportunities to cooperate with the U.S. on anti-trafficking activities. The Government of Kuwait issued public declarations against trafficking, but there is no evidence of judicial action against traffickers, despite ongoing reporting of physical and sexual abuse of domestic workers, physical abuse of laborers, and physical abuse and exploitation of trafficked child camel jockeys. Kuwait should take immediate and significant steps to stop these abuses by investigating, arresting, and prosecuting those that are criminally implicated. The government should take immediate and verifiable actions to rescue, repatriate, and reintegrate children trafficked as camel jockeys. Camel racing is not a major sport in Kuwait; therefore, the number of camel jockeys in the country is not large. Kuwait should also take steps to protect the rights of its huge domestic workforce by extending them protection under Kuwait's labor laws or through other appropriate mechanisms. Additionally, the government needs to develop and implement tools such as an anti-trafficking national plan of action, comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, and prevention and protection measures that include broad anti-trafficking public campaigns. Prosecution During the reporting period, Kuwait took limited actions to investigate and prosecute traffickers. Kuwait does not have a law specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons; however, it has used existing statutes to prosecute some trafficking and related crimes. Penalties range from three to ten years imprisonment for kidnapping or inducing prostitution to capital punishment for rape. In 2004, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, referred more than 2,000 labor disputes - 20 percent of the total complaints received - to the Prosecutor General for review, but the final disposition of these cases is unknown. Despite a law banning the employment and exploitation of foreign children as camel jockeys, the practice unofficially continues and there is no evidence of prosecution of these offenses. In 2004, Kuwait enacted statutes that require tracking payment of wages by employers. It also prohibited the practice of deducting three month's salary from newly arrived employees to cover recruitment expenses. However, the governmental body charged with enforcing this provision is not adequately staffed. Protection Kuwait made minimal efforts to protect trafficking victims over the last year. Domestic workers are not covered by Kuwait's Labor Law and, as a result, lack adequate legal protections. The government continues to detain, jail, and deport trafficking victims caught violating other laws material to their trafficking (e.g. violating immigration laws). The police continued returning some victims to their abusive employers. Occasionally, the government provided limited financial aid to victims, including airfare or chartering aircraft for repatriation, but it did not provide shelter or temporary residence permits to allow victims to pursue criminal or civil complaints against abusive employers. There is no evidence that during the reporting period the government rescued and repatriated any child camel jockey trafficking victim. Prevention In 2004, Kuwait initiated efforts to prevent trafficking. In March 2004, the Government of Kuwait established an inter-ministerial taskforce to address problems related to expatriate manpower agencies and domestic laborers. The Ministry of Interior oversees the Immigration Intelligence Department and the Domestic Labor Administration, which license, monitor and inspect recruitment agencies that bring in foreign workers. The Kuwait Union of Domestic Labor Offices (KUDLO), an association of labor recruitment agencies, worked with the government to ensure the passage of statutes designed to prevent exploitation of incoming domestic workers. Additionally, in an effort to minimize labor disputes, the Union produced and distributed brochures highlighting the rights and obligations of domestic workers and employers, provided basic training and orientation to prospective employees in household work, and facilitated change of employers for some domestic workers.
KYRGYZ REPUBLIC (TIER 2) Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan) The Kyrgyz Republic is located in central Asia, bordering on China (SE), Kazakhstan (N), Uzbekistan (W), and on Tajikistan (SW). Bishkek, the capital, and Osh are the chief cities. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz Republic entered a period of social, political and economic transition making life especially difficult for women and children. The Kyrgyz Republic is a source and transit country and, to a lesser degree, a destination country for persons trafficked for the purpose of labor exploitation - to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for agricultural labor; to Russia for labor in agriculture, industry, commerce, and construction; and to China for bonded labor. Kyrgyz women and girls are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), China, South Korea, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Thailand, and Syria. Researchers in 2004 concluded that 80 percent of Kyrgyz women trafficked abroad for sexual exploitation ended up in the U.A.E. Smaller numbers of trafficking victims transited the Kyrgyz Republic from Uzbekistan and South Asia to Russia, Turkey, and Europe. In 2004, the Kyrgyz Republic was a destination country for Uzbek women trafficked for sexual exploitation. Internal trafficking occurred from poor, rural areas to larger cities. An estimated 295,000 Kyrgyz migrant laborers work illegally in Russia, making them vulnerable to being trafficked. The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government adopted a new comprehensive anti-trafficking law in January 2005 and focused its prevention efforts on protecting migrant laborers abroad. While the government's victim protection efforts remained lacking, it donated space for a trafficking shelter. The government should amend the Kyrgyz Criminal Code to bring its new anti-trafficking law into force and update its 2002 to 2005 Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Prosecution The Kyrgyz Government improved its law enforcement efforts with the May 2004 creation of a dedicated anti-trafficking enforcement unit, formed from a unit previously established in June 2003. Authorities produced 31 indictments and 17 convictions for trafficking-related offenses, including recruitment for sexual or labor exploitation and marriage to underage persons. Three of these convictions fell under the Kyrgyz Republic's 2003 amended criminal code criminalizing trafficking in persons; information on sentences in these cases was not available at the time of this report. The Kyrgyz anti-trafficking law prohibits all types of trafficking with sufficiently severe penalties. Over the last year, authorities shut down seven recruitment agencies and investigated eight more for illegally recruiting people to work abroad. Allegations continued of corruption and perceived tolerance of trafficking by some low-level officials, though the government reported no officials prosecuted for complicity in trafficking crimes. Kyrgyz law enforcement officials established contacts in 2004 with counterparts in South Korea and the U.A.E., and pursued joint trafficking investigations with Azerbaijan and Ukraine. Protection The Kyrgyz Government's efforts to assist and protect trafficking victims remained inadequate during the reporting period, though NGOs reported an increase in victim referrals by law enforcement officials. In October 2004, the government donated space for a trafficking shelter in Bishkek. In January 2005, the parliament adopted a new comprehensive anti-trafficking law giving immunity from prosecution to trafficking victims who cooperate with investigators. However, this provision and other new legal guarantees for victims require corresponding changes to the criminal code, which are pending in parliament, before they can take effect. Existing legislation provides for witness protection, but the government did not often use these measures due to resource constraints. During the reporting period, Kyrgyz diplomatic missions abroad assisted in the return of 71 Kyrgyz trafficking victims - 67 from the U.A.E. and four from Turkey. Prevention In August 2004, the government joined IOM and an NGO to distribute anti-trafficking information to labor migrants. During the reporting period, the government opened new consulates in Russia and China to better protect Kyrgyz citizens' rights in each country. Kyrgyz officials met regularly with Kazakh local authorities and monitored Kyrgyz labor migrants' working and living conditions in Kazakhstan. The number of Kyrgyz citizens trafficked to Russia, Kazakhstan, and South Korea continued to decrease during the reporting period because of bilateral labor migration agreements signed with those countries in 2003 and 2004. The National Council to Combat Trafficking met regularly, and in April 2004 the government provided office space for and started paying the salaries of the Council's two-staff-member Secretariat.
LAOS (TIER 2) Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (Laos) The Lao People's Democratic Republic, located in SE Asia, is bordered by China (N), by Vietnam (E), by Cambodia (S), and by Thailand and Myanmar (W). Its capital and largest city is Vientiane. Laos is characterized by a high degree of geographic, cultural and linguistic diversity. The country's rich traditions survive, including respect for cultural and religious beliefs and practices and utilization of consensus in decision-making. Laos is a source and, to a lesser extent, transit, and destination country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Many Lao victims are economic migrants who become victims of involuntary servitude or commercial sexual exploitation in Thailand. A small number of victims from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and Vietnam are trafficked to Laos to work as street vendors and for sexual exploitation in prostitution. The Government of Laos does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The Lao Government has recognized that trafficking is a problem, and has strongly supported NGO and international organization efforts to assist victims and promote awareness of trafficking. In September 2004, the government passed a Law on Women that covers trafficking in persons. The new law criminalizes trafficking; provides for the protection of victims, both internally and through international cooperation; and prohibits the punishing of trafficking victims upon their return to Laos. Until the new law is implemented effectively at the local level, however, the government should establish an official mechanism to identify trafficking victims among returnees to the country and take necessary measures to ensure that they are not subjected to fines or other punishment by local authorities. Prosecution The Government of Laos reportedly increased its prosecution efforts during the reporting period. Lao law enforcement is decentralized, and the central government does not keep data on efforts of local officials to prosecute traffickers. However, the antitrafficking office, operated jointly by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MLSW) and the Ministry of Public Security reported five convictions for trafficking-related crimes in 2004. The new Law on Women stipulates specific penalties for trafficking, including the death penalty for the most egregious forms of trafficking, and those that lead to the loss of life or permanent disability. It also contains provisions defining trafficking and recognizing and guaranteeing the rights of trafficking victims. Overall, judicial and law enforcement institutions are extremely weak. Corruption is widespread; some local government officials reportedly profited from trafficking, though there were no reported prosecutions of officials for complicity in trafficking. The Lao Government does not effectively control its long and porous borders. Protection While the Lao Government provided minimal assistance to victims, it continued to refer victims to NGOs and international organizations that run protection programs for victims of trafficking. The government continued to expand its engagement with NGOs and requested their assistance in providing vocational training and establishing another shelter for returnees. While the Lao Government recognized the status of trafficking victims and made efforts to educate provincial and district-level officials on the need to protect them, it made minimal efforts to distinguish trafficking victims from returning migrants who had left the country illegally. Prevention The government, in cooperation with NGOs, continued to raise awareness in the media of the dangers of trafficking. The MLSW, with NGO funding, has sponsored media messages on the dangers of trafficking and conducted data collection and public education campaigns. In conjunction with UNESCO, the MLSW conducted a radio project designed to raise awareness of trafficking and HIV/AIDS among ethnic minorities. The Ministry of Education also integrated some anti-trafficking information into school curricula.
LATVIA (TIER 2) Republic of Latvia The Republic of Latvia is located in, north central Europe. It is bordered by Estonia (N), by Lithuania (S), by the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Riga (W), by Russia (E), and by Belarus (SE). Riga is the capital and largest city. Latvia has a child population of 560,000 out of a total of around 2.4 million inhabitants. Latvia is a source and transit country for primarily women and minors trafficked to Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Cyprus, Switzerland, and the Nordic countries for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Victims are also trafficked internally, from rural areas to urban centers, for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The Government of Latvia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government appears politically committed to its March 2004 National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons, but is struggling to adequately fund and implement it. While the Latvian Government significantly enlarged its anti-trafficking police squad, its victim support services remained lacking and the Latvian court system imposed weak sentences on traffickers. Prosecution Latvia specifically criminalizes trafficking in persons for sexual and non-sexual exploitation purposes. In December 2004, Latvia amended its criminal law to cover internal trafficking as well as trafficking across international borders. Although Latvian legislation allows for sufficiently severe penalties under the section of the law against trafficking in persons, the courts in all cases in 2004 only applied those sections of the law that criminalize pimping and alien smuggling for sexual exploitation. While the law was amended in 2004 to provide greater penalties for alien smuggling for sexual exploitation, making it a felony, penalties under this section remain significantly less than those under the trafficking statute. The number of trafficking-related investigations increased, from 12 in 2003 up to 30 in 2004 (with four of those cases initiated under the trafficking section of the criminal law), but Latvian court delays made for fewer convictions in 2004. Of the 21 trafficking-related convictions, down from 40 in 2003, only one trafficker was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, while the rest received conditional sentences. In nine of those cases, the courts confiscated traffickers' property. The staff of the anti-trafficking police squad was increased in 2004 from eight full-time officers to 13. In 2004, the Latvian anti-trafficking unit continued close cooperation with German, Danish, Estonian, and Finnish law enforcement agencies. Latvia has established an anti-corruption bureau and continues to fight official corruption. Protection Latvia's efforts to assist and protect trafficking victims remained deficient. The government continued to provide no direct funding for foreign or domestic NGOs for services to victims. Some local municipalities provide ad hoc funds to victim assistance projects. The Riga city municipality granted limited funding to the Skalbes Crisis Center and to the Dardedze Center for abused children, NGOs that identified and assisted trafficking victims in 2004. Trafficking victims continue to be housed in a facility shared by a small number of asylum seekers, although the two groups are separated from one another within the facility. Law enforcement officials do not criminally punish victims, but rather refer them to NGOs for assistance. The process for applying for witness protection is complicated, perhaps explaining police reports that no trafficking victims requested protection in 2004. Latvian embassies abroad identified and assisted three victims during the reporting period, and helped repatriate the remains of two probable Latvian trafficking victims. In 2004, the Ministry of Education trained municipal social workers on trafficking issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April sponsored an annual training for consular officers on trafficking-related issues, and the state police organized three training sessions in all regions of Latvia on how to identify and develop trafficking cases. Prevention The Government of Latvia does not conduct independent anti-trafficking campaigns, but supports the efforts of NGOs. The Ministries of Education and Welfare continued to use the Swedish anti-trafficking film, "Lilya 4-Ever," to raise awareness among students through videos and associated materials in secondary schools. Also, the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with a local NGO, has developed a guide on crime prevention, including trafficking in persons, for distribution in high schools. The Ministry of Interior leads an inter-ministerial working group that meets on a regular basis to implement Latvia's National Anti-Trafficking Action Plan adopted in March 2004. The Ministry of Interior in early 2005 released Latvia's first annual trafficking in persons report, which noted significant progress in modifying Latvian legislation to conform to international standards and problems with adequately funding the government's anti-trafficking efforts.
LEBANON (TIER 2) Republic of Lebanon The Republic of Lebanon is located in SW Asia and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea (W), by Syria (N & E), and by Israel (S). Its capital is Beirut. The country requires major reconstruction and rehabilitation, revitalizing key social sectors and stimulating economic growth. This includes plans to rehabilitate water networks and school buildings, improve school programs and rehabilitate the healthcare infrastructure. Lebanese youth below the age of 25 years, who constitute more than half of the population, suffer from weak integration in the social environment. Lebanon is a destination country for African and Asian women trafficked into involuntary servitude as domestic servants. Many of these women are contracted as household workers; some Eastern European women are contracted as dancers in adult clubs. All of these are required by law to have bona fide work contracts and sponsors. Individuals from these groups become victims of trafficking when their rights under the contracts are denied or violated or when they find themselves victims of abuse. Some of the abuses that these workers might experience are late or nonpayment of wages, physical and sexual abuse, lack of freedom of movement, and confiscation of their passports. Workers who run away from an abusive work environment automatically become illegal and subject to detention and deportation, because their visa is valid only as long as they are working for their sponsors. When the sponsor is the abuser and the victim has nowhere to go, the latter often ends up in a government detention facility. The Government of Lebanon does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During 2004, Lebanon signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with two international NGOs to operate a safe house for migrant workers who are victims of abuse - including involuntary servitude - and began referring trafficking victims to the safe house. It granted IOM permission to open an office in early 2005, and it allows governmentsalaried social workers to accompany victims during interviews by immigration authorities. Lebanon also granted out-of-visa-status workers who were victims of abuse permission to stay up to two months to assist in the investigation of their cases and the prosecution of their abusers and implemented screening and referral procedures for trafficking cases. Lebanon needs to develop and implement a national plan of action against trafficking, appoint a national coordinator to oversee its anti-trafficking activities, prosecute and punish abusive employers using existing criminal statutes, and cease detaining and penalizing trafficking victims for running away from conditions of involuntary servitude. Prosecution During the reporting period, the Government of Lebanon took minimal steps to prosecute trafficking and related cases. Lebanon does not have specific legislation criminalizing trafficking, though it has other laws that can be used effectively to address trafficking crimes. The Ministry of Justice and the Office of the State Prosecutor lag behind in acknowledging and actively combating trafficking. In December 2004, the Surete Generale granted amnesty and waived penalties for up to 1,700 South Asians who did not hold valid visas, thereby facilitating their return home. The Ministry of Labor closed 11 employment agencies for fraudulent practices or mistreatment of workers and took administrative actions against another 18. In addition, it adjudicated 35 contract disputes, 23 in favor of the workers. However, there is evidence that a far greater number of cases go unresolved, and workers are sometimes repatriated without receiving outstanding wages. Similarly, the government has not investigated reports of suspicious deaths of Philippine and Ethiopian domestic workers. The government has not prosecuted or punished any abusive employers, despite evidence of physical and sexual abuse of domestic workers. Lebanon should revamp its prosecution efforts to more effectively combat trafficking. Protection The Government of Lebanon markedly improved its efforts to protect victims of trafficking over the reporting period. As noted above, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with international NGOs "CARITAS" and "International Catholic Migration Commission" for the opening of a safe house for trafficking victims. The government also began allowing government-salaried social workers to assist foreign workers during interrogations by immigration officials, and it granted source country embassies improved access to victim detention facilities. In 2004, the government repatriated 147 foreign workers in cooperation with NGOs and source countries. Prevention In 2004, the Government of Lebanon notably increased its anti-trafficking prevention activities. It produced and distributed booklets and brochures spelling out regulations governing migrant workers, including descriptions of their rights and responsibilities; produced and distributed pamphlets on trafficking to inform victims about various sources of assistance; and markedly improved its cooperation with NGOs and source country embassies in protection and repatriation efforts. Source country representatives, NGOs, academics, and volunteers formed a working group to work with the government to standardize employment contracts and to provide an arrival seminar and a pre-departure debriefing to migrant workers.
LIBERIA [no tier rating] Republic of Liberia The Republic of Liberia is located on the west coast of Africa. It fronts on the Atlantic Ocean for 350 mi (560 km) on the southwest and is bordered by Sierra Leone (NW), by Guinea (N), and by Cte d'Ivoire (E). Monrovia is the capital and largest city. Years of conflict have led to the multiple, internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, disrupted delivery of basic social services, increased vulnerability of women and children to extreme poverty, hunger, disease and HIV/AIDS. The National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) took office in October 2003, ending 14 years of armed conflict. It is primarily composed of corrupt armed faction leaders who cannot serve in a post-election government, have a limited mandate, and possess almost no ability or willingness to resolve significant issues. Absent firmly established authority, the NTGL relies on the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for effective control of the country and preservation of the fragile peace. UNMIL has the de facto lead on combating trafficking in Liberia. Scope and Magnitude Liberia was formerly a significant source and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Former government and rebel forces trafficked men, women, and children to serve as porters, laborers, combatants, and sex slaves during the civil war. UNICEF estimates that the former warring factions included more than 15,000 children. Armed groups also compelled people to mine gold and diamonds. During the year, however, the overall situation dramatically improved as factions disbanded. The majority of trafficking victims returned to their homes, many with the repatriation assistance of NGOs and UN organizations. There is currently no evidence of widespread trafficking in persons. In May 2004, several Moroccan, Russian, Ukrainian, and Filipino women were discovered in a Monrovia nightclub and determined to be victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The nightclub owner reportedly confiscated the women's passports and withheld their income. The women were given protection in an UNMIL safe house for several months and subsequently repatriated to their respective countries. The court case is still pending, but, given the state of the Liberian judiciary, may not soon be brought to conclusion. Government Efforts The National Transitional Government of Liberia lacks both funding and trained personnel to cope with the issue of trafficking in persons. The NTGL consists of people who led or served in rebel groups which were egregious offenders in the practice of trafficking in persons for the purposes of forced and bonded labor, soldiering, and using girls and women as sex slaves. Because involvement among government officials, including ministers, was so widespread, it is unlikely that any action will be taken against these individuals. Some senior officials are also known to have patronized clubs where trafficked women were employed; in the current post-conflict environment there is little motivation to confront the problem. The government is not devoting any resources to combating trafficking in persons in terms of prevention, protection, or prosecution. Funding for the police is inadequate, and corruption is a serious problem. This situation is unlikely to change until after the October elections and the inauguration of the new government in January 2006. In the interim, UNMIL, through its civilian police and trafficking units, serves as an effective deterrent to the resumption of all but small-scale trafficking in persons activities.
LIBYA (TIER 2) Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Libya) The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahirya is a N African republic bordered by Algeria (W), by Tunisia (NW), by the Mediterranean Sea (N), by Egypt (E), by Sudan (SE), and by Chad and Niger (N). Tripoli is its capital and largest city. The Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contribute practically all export earnings and about one-quarter of GDP. These oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, but little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. Libya is a transit and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation from Africa and Asia. Traffickers often falsely promise victims jobs in Libya to earn the $800 to $1,000 needed to pay for their onward journey to Europe. Once in Libya, some may be forced to work as prostitutes, laborers, and beggars to pay their trafficking "debt." There are an estimated 1.5 million illegal immigrants in Libya, some of whom are believed to be trafficking victims. The Government of Libya does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government recently acknowledged that it faces a trafficking problem, which it has taken initial steps to combat. In a speech to the nation on March 2, 2005, Libyan leader Mu'ammar Qadhafi warned that Libya is threatened by international challenges that include "trafficking in humans - particularly women and children. Libya needs to build on this initiative and develop appropriate policy to more effectively tackle the trafficking problem. This effort should include the appointment of a national anti-trafficking coordinator and the drafting and implementation of a comprehensive anti-trafficking law that punishes traffickers, provides for the protection of victims, and facilitates prevention programs. Prosecution During the reporting period, the government did not provide precise data on its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts and little evidence exists that Libya has undertaken any efforts to prosecute traffickers. African, Libyan, and European smugglers reportedly operate much like an organized crime syndicate, using deception to entice would-be victims. The government should improve its efforts to monitor and devise strategies to dismantle these rings and use existing criminal legislation to prosecute these criminals. Protection The government's efforts to protect victims remain inadequate. It should put in place a procedure to identify trafficking victims among the estimated 1.5 million illegal immigrants in the country and provide them with appropriate protection measures, including shelter, medical and psychological services, and repatriation and reintegration assistance. Prevention Libya's efforts to prevent trafficking improved over the last year. Until 2004, the Libyan Government denied the problem and did very little to prevent it. Now, however, the government has started engaging other countries, particularly in Europe, to combat human trafficking. Libya needs to replicate these efforts by cooperating with source countries, particularly in the African continent. In June 2004, the Libyan Government organized a regional conference where affected countries discussed, among other concerns, trafficking issues. In October, it invited the IOM to discuss migration issues.
LITHUANIA (TIER 1) Republic of Lithuania The Republic of Lithuania is located in N central Europe and is bordered by the Baltic Sea (W), Latvia (N), Belarus (E & SE), Poland (S), and the Kaliningrad oblast (a Russian exclave; formerly East Prussia) (SW). Vilnius is its capital and largest city. Lithuania has a child population of approximately one million. Lithuania is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children primarily trafficked to large cities in Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Victims are trafficked to and through Lithuania from countries such as Ukraine, Russia (Kaliningrad), and Belarus. Traffickers continued to target Lithuanian boarding schools, which also serve as orphanages, to recruit victims. The Government of Lithuania fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. During the reporting period, the government increased trafficking-related convictions, augmented funds for anti-trafficking programs, and assisted more victims. Still, overall trafficking convictions and sentences remained low, and some NGOs called for greater government funding of victim protection programs. To further strengthen anti-trafficking efforts, the government should consider establishing a specialized anti-trafficking law enforcement unit, formalize screening and referral mechanisms, and increase sensitivity training for police. The Lithuanian Government should consider expanding its prevention program to include domestic demand-reduction programs. Prosecution In 2004, the Government of Lithuania in 2004 opened 22 new investigations, involving 25 traffickers, up from 15 investigations in 2003. During that period, the courts prosecuted 16 trafficking cases and convicted 14 individuals with sentences ranging from fines to three years' imprisonment. Lithuania's Criminal Code penalized trafficking with prison sentences of up to ten years in cases of trafficking in children. In March 2005, a Vilnius court finalized the extradition of a Costa Rican wanted by Costa Rican authorities for trafficking children in that country. In 2004, Lithuanian law enforcement officials participated in trafficking-related training in Norway, Belarus, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Sweden. Lithuania's law enforcement training center provided four hours of anti-trafficking training biannually to all new officers. While there was no official evidence of government involvement in or tolerance of trafficking in persons, some individual police officers may condone it. Lithuanian law enforcement officials continued to cooperate with other governments on trafficking investigations and participated in 23 joint trafficking investigations in 2004. Protection The Lithuanian Government provided grants to 13 of the approximately 20 NGOs that offer trafficking victims assistance or temporary shelter - up from 11 in 2003. Experts estimated over 300 trafficking victims received support in 2004. No formal screening and referral procedures existed, but police cooperation with assistance providers was adequate. The police signed an agreement of cooperation in December 2004 with one NGO that provided shelter and social assistance to 17 trafficking victims. The government provided 30 trafficking victims with counseling and occupational training under its rehabilitation and orientation program established in July 2003. In 2004, trafficking victims and witnesses composed 13 to 14 percent of all protected people in the police department's protection program. Police did not charge trafficking victims as criminal violators in 2004, and the government submitted to the parliament in February 2005 new draft legislation to guarantee formal protections for victims. The government continued to provide guidance to its overseas posts on the handling of trafficking cases; the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs assisted in the repatriation of 42 trafficking victims during the reporting period, up from 20 in 2003. Prevention The government and local NGOs organized a series of educational events for more than 200 boarding school students who are particularly at risk for trafficking. An NGO that received approximately half of its annual budget from government funding distributed over 82,000 anti-trafficking brochures and posters throughout Lithuania, and implemented over ten trafficking prevention programs in 2004. Schools continued to use the anti-trafficking curricula on a voluntary basis. Lithuania's first National Strategy to combat trafficking ended in 2004; an interagency group drafted a National Strategy for 2005 to 2008 that is expected to receive official approval in spring 2005.
LUXEMBOURG (TIER 1) Grand Duchy of Luxembourg The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, located in W Europe, is bordered by Belgium (W & N), by Germany (E), and by France (S). The City of Luxembourg is its capital and largest city. This stable, high-income economy features solid growth, low inflation, and low unemployment. Agriculture is based on small family-owned farms. The economy depends on foreign and cross-border workers for more than 30% of its labor force. Although Luxembourg, like all EU members, has suffered from the global economic slump, the country enjoys an extraordinarily high standard of living. Luxembourg is primarily a country of destination for women trafficked from Eastern Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The Government of Luxembourg fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Luxembourg appears for the first time in this Report due to newly available information that indicates a significant trafficking problem in the country. The Government of Luxembourg acted assertively to prosecute trafficking in 2004. The government should develop a formalized screening mechanism and expand law enforcement training to increase victim identification. Prosecution The Government of Luxembourg demonstrated adequate and proactive antitrafficking enforcement in 2004. In April, two women reported they were forced or coerced into prostitution while under legal "artiste" visas. The government reacted swiftly by arresting five suspects, including two cabaret owners. At the end of the reporting period, the government was actively prosecuting these cases. Commendably, upon the request of Luxembourg's Commissioner for Human Rights, the government ended the artiste visa program one month after the arrests. Additionally, the police reported in May 2004 that two cabarets had been shut down. By the end of the reporting period, the government had closed down a total of five cabarets. Since that time, nine other cabarets have closed. The Government of Luxembourg prohibits trafficking in persons. According to the penal code, trafficking for sexual exploitation carries penalties of from six months to three years and monetary fines. If there are aggravating circumstances, prison sentences can range from one to ten years. There was no evidence of trafficking-related corruption among Luxembourg public officials. Protection Because the trafficking problem is new to Luxembourg, the government did not have a formal screening or referral process in place for victims of trafficking who came forward during the reporting period. In the case of the artiste visa victims, however, the Ministry for Equal Opportunity provided funding for their housing and coordinated with the police to ensure their protection. Subsequent arrangements were made to place them in a witness protection program. Notably, since the incident, the Luxembourg vice squad was granted a substantial budget to care for trafficking victims, should the need arise. Prevention In 2004, the government closely monitored and took active preventative measures to decrease trafficking and the opportunities for exploitation. As a result of the government's termination of the artiste visa program, approximately 500 to 700 women were required to return to their home countries in an effort to prevent their exploitation. In December 2004, the Minister of Foreign Affairs refused to issue new visas in response to recruitment agencies' attempts to replace the discontinued artiste visas, which had been used in the two trafficking cases being prosecuted by the government. In 2004, the Ministry of Family, Social Solidarity and Youth sponsored a campaign against sex tourism in cooperation with ECPAT-Luxembourg. Plans were underway to launch a demand-oriented anti-trafficking campaign next year.
MACAU [no tier rating] Macau (Macao) Macau (Macao) is a special administrative region of China adjoining Guangdong Province in SE China, on the estuary of the Pearl River, 40 mi W of Hong Kong. Macau's well-to-do economy has remained one of the most open in the world since its reversion to China in 1999. Apparel exports and tourism are mainstays of the economy. Macau is not listed on the report this year because available information does not substantiate a significant number of victims originating in, destined to, or transiting the country. Anecdotal reporting, however, suggests that existing organized crime groups operating in Macau are involved in trafficking of women to Macau's many brothels. Scope and Magnitude Macau is a destination for women trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Most of the women are from Russia, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, and the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.). There were no reports of child trafficking or trafficking for the purpose of forced labor. Macau authorities believe that Chinese, Russian, and Thai criminal syndicates are involved in the movement of women into Macau for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Government Efforts Macau has a statute that outlaws trafficking in persons, and the government enforced the law, though it provided no data on the numbers of trafficking-related investigations, prosecutions, or convictions - if any. Penalties for trafficking carry sentences of from two to eight years' imprisonment. There is cooperation between the local government, police, immigration officials, and local NGOs in dealing with trafficking issues. There are no government assistance programs designed specifically for trafficking victims, and no local NGOs that work on trafficking issues. However, there are government programs and charitable organizations that provide assistance and shelter to women who are victims of abuse.
MACEDONIA (TIER 2) Republic of Macedonia The Republic of Macedonia is located in SE Europe and is bordered by Serbia and Montenegro (N), Albania (W), Greece (S), and Bulgaria (E). Its capital and largest city is Skopje. Unemployment at one-third of the workforce remains a critical economic problem. Macedonia is a country of transit and, to a lesser extent, destination for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation from the former Soviet Union and Eastern and Southeastern Europe. A number of victims transit through Macedonia and on to Western Europe for sexual exploitation. Macedonian women continued to be trafficked regionally throughout the former Yugoslavia. NGOs and the international community reported a growing problem of internal trafficking. The Government of Macedonia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Macedonia dropped from Tier 1 to Tier 2 in 2004 because of a lack of progress in strengthening its anti-trafficking efforts. The government passed new anti-trafficking legislation in 2004, but failed to demonstrate overall appreciable improvement in enforcement and prevention. Persistent institutional deficiencies in the judiciary continued to hamper the government's ability to effectively combat trafficking. Its judicial system failed to appropriately and effectively prosecute, sentence, and detain traffickers or provide adequate safeguards for victims and witnesses in courtroom settings. The government should actively develop and implement its National Plan, vigilantly address trafficking-related corruption, and expand prevention programs for vulnerable groups. Prosecution During 2004, the Government of Macedonia amended its trafficking law to establish mandatory minimum sentences of eight years' imprisonment for traffickers in cases where there are aggravating circumstances. The government reportedly investigated 39 suspected human trafficking cases, charged 38 persons, and submitted 19 cases for prosecution. An appellate court upheld a lower court verdict sentencing four defendants to 12 years in prison. The Human Trafficking Unit engaged in two regional operations coordinated by the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative Center. However, instances of official impropriety and poor courtroom procedures continued to hamper judicial effectiveness. Trafficker Dilaver Bojku-Leku was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months in prison for "mediation in prostitution," but is in an "open regime," which allows him to regularly leave the prison on his own recognizance. At his March 2005 retrial for additional charges, the court failed to adequately safeguard the victim-witness's identity or prevent the defendant's apparent intimidation of the victim and of court officials. Trafficking-related corruption remained a serious problem, which the government failed to vigorously investigate and prosecute. Protection The government continued to operate the Transit Shelter Center for trafficked persons. Police deported some trafficking victims after improper screening. The government assisted 38 victims at the Center, a significant decrease from the 143 victims assisted the previous year. Victims may be granted refugee status or asylum under Macedonian law. Macedonia has no witness protection law, but recent amendments to the criminal code contained some witness protection provisions. By law, the government seeks to ensure protection for all victims, and the police have provided 24-hour protection for victims testifying in court. However, in 2004, one victim was jailed for four days during criminal proceedings. Prevention The National Commission for Combating Trafficking monitored the government's anti-trafficking efforts but has yet to evolve into an effective action-oriented entity. The Commission, created in 2001, has neither finalized a national action plan nor developed an adequate strategy and timeline for its implementation. NGOs reported that a recently created Subgroup on Trafficking in Children was the most active component of the Commission. During 2004, the government continued to rely on NGOs to conduct information campaigns. Several government officials participated in prevention-oriented working groups and publicly spoke out against trafficking. The police academy included a mandatory introduction course on trafficking for all its cadets. However, the program did not provide adequate tools for identification of victims. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs required all consular officers to receive training on victim identification. Consular officers may not independently issue visas for women in the so-called entertainment industry and must send all requests through an Internal Affairs review board.
MADAGASCAR (TIER 2) Democratic Republic of Madagascar The Democratic Republic of Madagascar is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean, and separated from E Africa by the Mozambique Channel. It is the world's fourth largest island. The country also claims several small islands including Juan de Nova, Europa, the Glorioso Islands, Tromelin, and Bassas da India. Its capital and largest city is Antananarivo. Madagascar is the worlds ninth-poorest country (according to rankings from the World Bank) with 70 % of the population struggling to survive on less than US$1 a day. The countrys widespread poverty poses a formidable threat to the physical, educational and social development of its children. Madagascar is a source country for children trafficked internally for the purposes of sexual exploitation and possibly forced labor. The exploitation of children in prostitution is a substantial problem in the coastal cities of Tamatave and Nosy Be. Children in the capital are recruited under false pretenses for legitimate employment in coastal cities as waitresses and domestic servants; upon arrival, they are often placed into commercial sexual exploitation. A network reportedly traffics young girls aged 12 to 14 from the provinces to Antananarivo to engage in prostitution. Anecdotal information also indicates that there may be a network of traffickers recruiting children in rural areas for employment opportunities in urban centers, particularly as domestic servants. The Government of Madagascar does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Madagascar is an emerging leader in the fight against human trafficking on the African sub-continent. During the year, the government made strong progress in addressing the country's trafficking in persons problem by marshalling the political will to combat it and taking substantial steps to implement a national strategy aimed at its elimination. To further its anti-trafficking efforts, the government should improve the record keeping of legal proceedings to enable the compilation of reliable statistics and work toward passage of a comprehensive anti-trafficking law. Prosecution Madagascar has no law specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons. However, existing penal code statutes outlaw slavery and forced labor, prohibit the procurement of minors for prostitution, and bar those under the age of 18 from nightclubs and discotheques. Domestic statutes on child prostitution are inconsistent, particularly with respect to the age of consent. This weakness is being addressed by the current overhaul of trafficking-related legislation. In late 2004, the Ministry of Justice compiled all relevant pieces of legislation on children's rights, and analyzed their conformity with international conventions. Comprehensive anti-trafficking law enforcement statistics were unavailable. As Madagascar lacks a centralized database of legal cases, officials at the Ministry of Justice must call individual jurisdictions to obtain statistics on trafficking cases. At the time this report was drafted, the Malagasy Magistrates Union had been on strike for two months; many courts were closed and reliable statistics could not be obtained. The government significantly enhanced its efforts to curb child commercial sexual exploitation by dramatically increasing the enforcement of existing laws barring minors from nightclubs. The Minors' Brigade of Antananarivo, a police unit, conducted three separate raids of nightclubs, identifying 53 minors illegally present. The minors were counseled about the illegality of their activity and released into their parents' custody. In addition, three new Minors' Brigades were created in the provinces. In July 2004, police arrested a foreign women for purchasing a young Malagasy girl and forcing her to appear in pornographic films. A German national's pending sentencing on charges of pedophilia and hosting an Internet site promoting sex tourism in Madagascar was postponed due to the magistrate's strike. In June 2004, the government reported that 32 foreigners were investigated for pedophilia in the first half of the year. The government partnered with UNICEF to train 180 police officers in six provincial cities in how to recognize, investigate, and prosecute instances of trafficking. Protection The government bolstered its ability to assist victimized child laborers through the establishment of three Welcome Centers during the reporting period; one of the centers has opened while two others are under construction. Since July 2004, the Antananarivo center provided shelter for over 200 children occupied in the worst forms of child labor, including commercial sexual exploitation, and reintroduced many into either the educational or vocational training systems. Forty "Youth Houses," community centers that host sporting events, concerts, and other group activities to prevent youth delinquency, served as additional platforms to protect children from child sexual exploitation and labor by disseminating information about the dangers of trafficking and prostitution. In November and December 2004, the Ministry of Population trained 40 community leaders in Ivato and Majunga on the protection of children.
Prevention The government's efforts were strongest in the area of prevention. In September 2004, the President's Chief of Staff established a special inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee that met weekly and adopted a national plan to combat trafficking and slavery. The government immediately implemented portions of the plan dealing with the prevention of children in prostitution by strengthening enforcement of laws barring minors from bars and creating shelters for at-risk children. In January 2005, combating trafficking in persons was highlighted in the government's listing of strategic goals that was published in the nation's major newspapers. Children in prostitution received top priority in the government's June 2004 National Strategy to Combat the Worst Forms of Child Labor. In July, the Ministry of Tourism co-sponsored a workshop on sex tourism that was attended by 100 government officials, NGO representatives, and journalists. All key parties in the tourist sector signed an agreement to actively support the government's efforts to combat sex tourism. Awareness of trafficking in persons has increased through an aggressive information campaign. During the year, the government presented four local dialect sketches on prostitution, broadcast 20 educational programs on national radio stations, and initiated a national drawing, poetry, and essay contest on the theme of combating child labor. Production began on several anti-trafficking films. The Ministry of Population hosted two large screenings of the government-produced and UNICEF-funded film "Vero sy Haingo," which tells the story of two sisters, one of whom remains in school while the other is lured into prostitution. One session was followed by a televised debate featuring representatives from various ministries. In addition, approximately 15,000 high school students viewed the film in 2004.
MALAWI (TIER 2) Republic of Malawi The Republic of Malawi is located in E central Africa and is bordered by Zambia (W), Tanzania (N), and Mozambique (E, S & SW). Its capital is Lilongwe; and Blantyre is its largest city. Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. The economy is predominately agricultural, with about 90% of the population living in rural areas. More than 65% of Malawi's population lives below the poverty line. Malawi is a country of origin and transit for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Trafficking victims, both children and adults, are lured into exploitative situations by offers of lucrative jobs either in other regions of Malawi or in South Africa. Children are internally trafficked for forced agricultural labor. Women in prostitution reportedly draw underage children into prostitution. Anecdotal reports indicate that child sex tourism may be occurring in Malawi, primarily along the lakeshore. The Government of Malawi does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Trafficking in persons was a new concept to Malawian officials in 2004, when, in the midst of near-total political transition, they made admirable efforts to organize anti-trafficking activities and information. To further enhance its anti-trafficking efforts, the government should arrange for additional training for law enforcement officers on the recognition of complex forms of trafficking in persons and continue toward the passage of comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation. Prosecution The government made progress in furthering its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. Malawi's constitution prohibits slavery, servitude, and any form of forced or bonded labor. Its penal code criminalizes abduction; procuring of a person for prostitution or to work in a brothel; procurement and defilement involving threats, fraud or drugs; involuntary detention for sexual purposes; and living off the proceeds of prostitution or operating a brothel. During the year, the government reintroduced an amendment to strengthen and support these articles. In addition, the Malawi Law Commission began drafting a specific law to criminalize all types of human trafficking. In November 2004, the Ministry of Labor shifted its focus from labor inspection to labor enforcement, and regional inspectors gained the authority to conduct investigations and press charges. Since that time, two cases of child trafficking for agricultural labor exploitation were successfully prosecuted to conviction in the central region. In addition, the Ministry of Labor removed 13 children from situations of forced labor in tea and tobacco estates and reunified them with their families after requiring employers to compensate them. The government provided basic counter-trafficking training to all immigration officers and police. Protection The government made appreciable progress during the reporting period in caring for victims of trafficking and provided assistance commensurate with its limited resources and capacity. In May 2004, it conducted a rapid assessment of the situation of the country's orphans and determined that they are at risk of exploitation, including sexual exploitation. The Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare, and Community Services responded by developing and launching a national action plan for orphans and vulnerable children that included elements of victim protection and trafficking awareness and prevention. As part of the plan, nearly 200 new child protection officers received training on the recognition of trafficking victims and were placed in districts across the country. In addition, 37 Victim's Support Units were established, with the mandate to provide protective and support services to exploited children, including trafficking victims. The government's long-term victim protection strategy targets those in prostitution and those at risk of prostitution, particularly children. By offering options such as education and vocational training to children in prostitution, the government contributed to their social reintegration and rehabilitation. Prevention In 2004, the government formed an inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee that meets regularly and which has begun developing a national anti-trafficking action plan. Drafting this plan was complicated by the lack of data on human trafficking. As a result, the Ministry of Gender, in cooperation with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Malawi Human Rights Commission, designed a comprehensive study of the nature of human trafficking in Malawi, for which they are seeking donor funding. During the year, the government conducted a variety of regionally focused public awareness campaigns - workshops for teachers and traditional authorities, meetings for rural families with young children, marches and radio jingles - to increase understanding of the root causes of trafficking in persons. In September 2004, the government hosted a three-day IOM regional workshop on human trafficking in Southern Africa that was attended by several senior government officials. In addition, it approved the opening of an IOM office in Malawi.
MALAYSIA (TIER 2) Malaysia Malaysia is an independent federation located in Southeast Asia. Its capital and largest city is Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia has a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural population of 23 million that has a good standard of living and gives high priority to education, health and job opportunities for women. Malaysia is a destination and, to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. As many as several thousand women from Thailand, Indonesia, the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Cambodia, and Burma are trafficked to Malaysia for commercial sexual exploitation. Additionally, some economic migrants from Indonesia who work as domestic servants and as laborers in the construction and agricultural sectors face exploitative conditions in Malaysia that meet the definition of involuntary servitude. Malaysian women (primarily of Chinese origin) are trafficked to Western Europe, North America, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan. The Government of Malaysia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. While the government took some steps to combat trafficking, Malaysia lacks comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation to enable officials to provide adequate victim protection and work effectively at the interagency level to combat trafficking in persons. The Ministry for Women, Family, and Community Development announced in December 2004 the establishment of a dedicated shelter for foreign trafficking victims. The National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) drafted a national action plan on trafficking, though it has not yet been approved by the government. The Malaysian Government should screen illegal migrants detained for immigration violations to identify and provide care for trafficking victims that may be in their midst. The Malaysian Government should draft and enact a comprehensive trafficking law that recognizes trafficked men and women as victims and provides them with shelter, counseling, and assistance in repatriation. Prosecution During the reporting period, the Malaysian Government continued efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking-related cases. Malaysia does not have a law that specifically addresses trafficking in persons but uses existing laws to prosecute traffickers. Twenty individuals were convicted under trafficking statutes in the penal code during the first six months of 2004. The penal code criminalizes most of the acts involved in severe forms of trafficking and those laws carry penalties of up to 15 years' imprisonment. In 2004, the government began to use new amendments to the 2001 Anti-Money Laundering Act to seize the assets of businesses involved in illicit activities, including trafficking. The Malaysian Government reported four such seizures in early 2004. Malaysia does not have a witness protection program that would encourage victims to testify against the criminal syndicates that are responsible for much of the trafficking. There were no reported prosecutions of officials complicit in trafficking. Protection In 2004, Malaysia provided an inadequate level of protection for most victims of trafficking. While police procedure is to send victims who can prove their nationality to embassy shelters rather than immigration detention, many victims, including some who agreed to cooperate in prosecutions, were placed in harsh conditions in immigration detention centers to await deportation. Because the police continued to lack the training and language skills to identify trafficking victims among illegal migrants, foreign trafficking victims often went unrecognized and were treated as immigration offenders. The Malaysian Government has not yet implemented a formal screening process to identify trafficking victims but Suhakam has developed a questionnaire for foreign women arrested for prostitution to identify trafficking victims. In December 2004, the Women's Ministry announced the establishment of a dedicated shelter for foreign trafficking victims, though the shelter has yet to open and care for victims. The Malaysian Government provided training for some of its higher-ranking officials but there was no systematic training program to sensitize front line police and immigration officers on trafficking. Prevention The Malaysian Government continued efforts to prevent trafficking through public awareness or education campaigns. The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), within the government's ruling political coalition, continued to publish warnings about trafficking in its Chinese-language publications, make public statements to caution potential victims about overly lucrative job offers abroad, and hold periodic press conferences highlighting the plight of returned Malaysian trafficking victims. In 2004, Malaysian state-run television ran a documentary on trafficking victims who had been assisted by MCA. The Women's Ministry is planning a nationwide campaign to increase public awareness on trafficking through seminars, workshops, and dissemination of brochures.
MALI (TIER 2) Republic of Mali The Republic of Mali is the largest country in W Africa. Landlocked, it is bordered by Algeria (N), by Niger (E & SE), by Burkina Faso and Cte d'Ivoire (S), and by Guinea, Senegal, and Mauritania (W). Bamako is its capital and largest city. Mali has a population of 10.5 million, more than half of which is under 18 years old. Mali is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced domestic, agricultural, and commercial labor. Children are trafficked to the rice fields of central Mali; boys are trafficked to mines in the southeast; and girls are trafficked for involuntary domestic servitude to large cities. Children are also trafficked between Mali and neighboring countries such as Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Guinea. Traffickers are generally Malian, but also include nationals of other West African states. The Government of Mali does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Changes in Mali's law that would prohibit trafficking of all persons, not just minors (as is currently the case), would enhance anti-trafficking efforts, as would increased training and resources for law enforcement and judicial officials responsible for trafficking cases. Prosecution Law enforcement, hampered by the country's extensive borders and scarce government resources, showed limited success in combating trafficking in 2004; most anti-trafficking investigations started prior to 2004 remained open during the reporting period. Malian law provides punishments of five to 20 years in prison for trafficking in children and the Malian constitution prohibits all forced or bonded labor. The courts convicted no traffickers in 2004. A judge dropped a case initiated in early 2004 against four Nigerian women after determining that their suspected victims were adult prostitutes not protected by the child trafficking law highlighting the weakness of Mali's existing criminal law. In July 2004, Malian authorities intercepted two traffickers moving 50 Burkinabe children; the traffickers escaped with 30 children and the government repatriated the remaining 20 child victims. Two suspected traffickers who attempted to move six children to Europe through Bamako airport in October 2004 await trial. Protection The government worked closely with neighboring countries, international organizations, and NGOs to coordinate the repatriation and reintegration of trafficking victims. In 2004, transit centers in four cities received over 150 rescued children awaiting return to their families. The Government of Mali signed new bilateral agreements with Burkina Faso and Senegal to increase crossborder coordination and facilitate repatriation of victims; Senegal repatriated 54 Malian children and Mali returned 20 children to Burkina Faso in 2004. The government lacked financial resources, but made a good faith effort to work with NGOs and donors to fund and implement victim assistance projects in conformance with the National Plan established in 2002. Prevention The government made significant progress in increasing public awareness and community involvement in the fight against trafficking throughout the reporting period. It supported civic education programs that included awareness campaigns to inform local populations about trafficking. The Ministry of Women, Children, and the Family (MPFEF) established 120 of the 286 community surveillance committees created throughout the country in the past two years; most of these committees focus on combating child trafficking. The government presented an anti-trafficking message throughout the country at the beginning of the 2004 school year and trained tribal leaders, chiefs, and journalists on the Child Protection Code and the worst forms of child labor. The government launched a survey on sexual exploitation of minors in late 2004 and the MPFEF translated the Child Protection Code into six local languages.
MALTA [no tier rating] Republic of Malta The Republic of Malta is located in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily, and comprises the islands of Malta, Gozo, and Comino, as well as four uninhabited islets. The group is sometimes called the Maltese Islands, and Valletta is their capital. Malta produces only about 20% of its food needs, has limited fresh water supplies, and has no domestic energy sources. The economy is dependent on foreign trade, manufacturing (especially electronics and textiles), and tourism. Continued sluggishness in the European economy is holding back exports, tourism, and overall growth. Malta is not listed on the report this year because information available does not indicate a significant number of victims. Malta is primarily a country of destination for women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Women are trafficked primarily from Eastern Europe, Ukraine, and Russia. The government recognizes that trafficking is a problem, and has addressed trafficking through law enforcement means over the last year. Available information indicated that victims typically arrive in Malta legally on a tourist visa and are trafficked into private homes or into street prostitution. In addition, Malta has developed a higher profile as a destination for potentially vulnerable populations illegally migrating from Libya and Tunisia. A more complete picture of trafficking in Malta is warranted. The government should focus specifically on understanding the nature of the problem better, provide specific law enforcement training to raise awareness and increase recognition, and develop a screening mechanism to ensure victims are assisted and protected. Prosecution The government has laws criminalizing international trafficking, child labor, and sexual exploitation. Malta's White Slave Traffic (Suppression) Ordinance applies to anyone who forces another person over the age of 21 to leave Malta for the purpose of prostitution by violence, threats, or deceit. This law provides for imprisonment of up to two years. For the crime of trafficking in minors, the law provides for sentences of from 18 months to four years. Aggravating circumstances such as bodily harm, generating a large profit, or involvement with a criminal network allow for a higher degree of punishment. When the government detected trafficking in 2004, the government arrested 13 Maltese men for trafficking 30 to 40 women from Eastern Europe. In 2004, two police officers were charged with and convicted of trafficking. Protection While there is no formal screening or referral process in place for victims of trafficking, the government made informal referrals and provided services to trafficking victims within the context of services available for victims of domestic violence. The government reported providing five victims identified in the 2004 case with social services, including housing and counseling. In 2004, the government provided funding for first-line responders to attend victim assistance training seminars in Europe. The government maintained a 24-hour hotline for many types of victims, including possible victims of trafficking. Prevention The government has indicated willingness to address trafficking in Malta. In April 2004, the government completed a survey of Malta's laws on trafficking and the organizations that assist victims. Further, Malta's NGO community has become increasingly vigilant to possible trafficking victims within the country's refugee population. The police monitored immigration for trafficking patterns and trends and conducted some informal screening for indications of possible trafficking.
MAURITANIA (TIER 2) Islamic Republic of Mauritania The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is located in NW Africa and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (W), by Western Sahara (NW & N), by Algeria (NE), by Mali (E & SE), and by Senegal (SW). Nouakchott is its capital and largest town. Half the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though many of the nomads and subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts Substantial oil production and exports probably will not begin until 2006. Meantime the government emphasizes reduction of poverty, improvement of health and education, and promoting privatization of the economy. Mauritania is a source and destination country for children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor. Some rural Mauritanian families, from Pulaar, Wolof, and related tribes, send their sons to work, study, and live with a marabout (religious master). They do so with full knowledge that their sons will spend an appreciable amount of time begging to meet the expenses of their education. Talibes, as these boys are locally known, sometimes beg in the streets for up to 12 or more hours a day. Marabouts can vary greatly; most marabouts provide comprehensive Koranic instruction to their charges, but others do little more than run networks of child beggars. Girls are reportedly trafficked from the rural areas or neighboring Mali for forced domestic servitude in wealthy urban homes. Slavery-related practices, typically flowing from ancestral master-slave relationships, continue in isolated parts of the country where a barter economy exists. These practices are becoming more infrequent. The Government of Mauritania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government has made appreciable progress in combating trafficking, particularly in victim protection and in raising public awareness of new trafficking-related laws. To further its efforts to combat trafficking, the government should increase levels of protective services provided to talibes while demonstrating more aggressive enforcement of laws prohibiting forced labor. Prosecution The government made noticeable progress in furthering its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts over the reporting period. Mauritania's Law Against Human Trafficking prohibits internal and external human trafficking practices for both sexual and labor exploitation. National laws and the constitution outlaw slavery. In July 2004, an updated labor code that includes a number of new provisions against forced labor passed into law. The government hosted two workshops for government officials and civil society representatives to publicize both the anti-trafficking law and new labor code. In late 2004, the government distributed in semiurban and rural areas 4,000 audiocassettes that discuss these pieces of legislation. No trafficking-related cases were investigated or prosecuted during the year. The Ministry of Justice launched a website on which it began making records of all court cases publicly available. Protection The government greatly increased its efforts to provide victim protection services over the last year. In mid-2004, it opened six centers in Nouakchott that provided shelter, food, and limited medical care to 645 indigent people, the majority of whom were talibes. Additionally, in early 2005, the government began a multi-faceted program aimed at reducing the number of talibe beggars. Though still in the early stages, the government began providing talibes with basic medical care and a government-sponsored NGO began offering marabouts the resources and financial means to be able to focus on educating their charges. Once fully operational, the program will target 575 talibes. The government also demonstrated progress in developing economic and social programs to integrate former slaves into society. The Commission on Human Rights, the Fight Against Poverty, and Insertion (CDHLCPI) initiated three projects addressing this issue, with a specific focus on the regions where the majority of Black Moors (former slaves and the descendants of slaves) are concentrated. These projects include providing micro-credit financing and income-generating activities to 160,000 people; developing agricultural infrastructure and capabilities for rural populations; and alleviating poverty through locally designed and implemented projects to meet local needs. In 2004, IOM assisted the government in repatriating 139 South Asians found stranded in the desert of northeastern Mauritania, some without their passports. It remains unclear whether these individuals were victims of trafficking. Prevention The government made limited efforts to prevent trafficking from occurring during the last year. The CDHLCPI hosted a roundtable on human rights topics, including the new labor code, the anti-trafficking law, women's and children's rights, and the rights of young girls working in large urban households. The country's single radio station broadcast the roundtable nationwide. In mid-2004, the government established an inter-ministerial working group on trafficking that includes director-level officials from the CDHLCPI and Ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Interior, Labor, and Communications. This group convened biweekly meetings to discuss anti-trafficking efforts and progress.
MAURITIUS (TIER 2 WATCH LIST)) Republic of Mauritius The Republic of Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Island group in the SW Indian Ocean. It is located 500 mi (800 km) E of Madagascar. The island of Rodriguez and two groups of small islands, Agalega and Cargados Carajos, are dependencies of Mauritius. The capital is Port Louis. Mauritius has achieved rapid economic growth and made marked improvements in the well being of its children and young people. Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been in the order of 5% to 6%. This remarkable achievement has been reflected in more equitable income distribution, increased life expectancy, lowered infant mortality, and a much-improved infrastructure. Mauritius is a source and destination country for children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. According to a 2002 report commissioned by the Ministry of Women's Rights, Child Development, and Family Welfare and carried out by the University of Mauritius with UNICEF support, children exploited in prostitution are found in the capital of Port Louis, the town of Grand Bay, and other beach resort areas. Children most likely to be exploited in prostitution - a form of trafficking - are young girls from impoverished families whose parents are engaged in prostitution and/or drug use. The Government of Mauritius does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Mauritius has been placed on Tier 2 Watch List because of a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons over the last year. Increased anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts and a broader provision of victim services would improve Mauritius's anti-trafficking efforts. Prosecution The government's anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts were modest in 2004. Mauritius does not have a comprehensive law specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons. Existing laws prohibit brothel keeping and allowing a child into a brothel; prostituting a child in Mauritius or abroad; procuring or exploiting prostitutes; forced labor; abduction; and slavery. The government did not report any trafficking cases prosecuted or convicted during the year. In May 2004, the police force established a ten-officer child protection brigade to monitor all forms of exploitation and abuse against children. The brigade, through its field intelligence officers, reportedly investigated several cases of children in prostitution, but claimed there was insufficient evidence to take any further action beyond notifying the relevant parents. The brigade received training on child commercial sexual exploitation from the Ministry of Women's Rights. The Tourism Police patrolled tourist areas, including hotels, beaches, and shopping areas; it is unknown whether this force conducted any trafficking-related interventions. Protection The government provided limited assistance to trafficking victims during the period. A Child Development Unit (CDU), within the Ministry of Women's Rights, worked with the police to give assistance to children at risk of abuse. The CDU operated a telephone hotline to offer 24-hour assistance to children in distress, but no calls were reported from children in prostitution. The Ministry also funded an adjacent NGO-operated "Drop-In Center" where it referred child victims of sexual exploitation to receive psychological and medical treatment, undergo rehabilitation, and reconnect with the educational system; parents received counseling as well. Civil servants - two welfare officers and two social workers - were on the Center's staff. In 2004, six of the center's 76 cases were known to be children engaged in prostitution. In addition, the Ombudsman for Children received one case of a child engaged in prostitution. The Ministry of Women's Rights' child welfare officers participated in the monthly meetings of the country's six community Child Watch Networks, an avenue for volunteers to report cases of child sexual exploitation, including children in prostitution, to the Ministry. Prevention Mauritian anti-trafficking efforts were strongest in the area of prevention. The country lacks a comprehensive public awareness campaign to fight trafficking in persons, though it has a two-year-old national plan of action to address commercial sexual exploitation of children through various approaches, including prevention. As part of that plan's implementation, government officials occasionally spoke out publicly on the issue. The Ministry also held a workshop in 2004 to facilitate information sharing among and conduct a needs assessment of children at high risk for sexual exploitation. A meeting of senior-level officials was held in November 2004 to specifically discuss coordinated efforts against commercial sexual exploitation of children. In partnership with UNICEF, the University of Mauritius began building a regional center to facilitate the prevention of child sexual exploitation in island nations. The university is supporting the project through funding, technical expertise, and the use of its facilities.
MEXICO (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST)United Mexican States (Mexico) The United Mexican States is a North American republic bordered by the United States (N), by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea (E), by Belize and Guatemala (SE), and by the Pacific Ocean (S & W). Mexico is divided into 31 states and the Federal District, which includes most of the country's capital and largest city, Mexico City. Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. Forty three per cent of its population are children under the age of 18. Due to poverty, many children migrate, with or without their families, within rural areas, from rural to urban areas, among urban areas, and to the United States. This results in family instability and a large number of working children. Mexico is a source, transit, and destination country for persons trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor. The trafficking phenomenon in Mexico is complex and has strong links to organized transnational criminal networks and gangs. Many illegal immigrants fall prey to traffickers and are exploited along the Guatemala and United States' borders. In addition to cross-border trafficking, Mexico also faces a considerable internal trafficking problem in which thousands of children - largely Mexicans and Central Americans - are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The government states that the number of these child victims may be as high as 20,000. Trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation of minors contributes to child sex tourism in Mexico, mainly in the border and tourist areas. In addition, women are trafficked into Mexico's sex trade as well as trafficked via Mexico into the United States' illegal sex trade under false pretenses by organized criminal networks. Mexican and Central American men, women, and children are trafficked into the United States for forced labor and sexual exploitation. Although most trafficking victims in Mexico are from Central America, victims also originate from the Caribbean, South America, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Exact numbers of trafficking victims are not readily available, as they are often difficult to identify, due to the clandestine and complex nature of crossborder trafficking. The Government of Mexico does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however it is making significant efforts to do so. Mexico remains on the Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking, particularly in the area of law enforcement. Deficiencies in Mexico's efforts to combat trafficking remained throughout the year, though the Mexican Government has recently committed to do more. Legal reforms are pending in the Mexican Congress which, if passed, may aid with trafficking-related prosecutions and convictions. Currently, trafficking victims in Mexico are at risk of being further victimized because of inadequacies in the current legal system, notably the lack of protection for victims. The Center for Investigation and National Security (CISEN) of the Secretariat of Government was recently designated as the coordinating agency for anti-trafficking efforts. CISEN faces structural inefficiencies in collecting data and fostering investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking cases. Prosecution The Government of Mexico did not keep law enforcement statistics on trafficking investigations, arrests, prosecutions, or convictions over the reporting period. There were no known prosecutions or convictions in Mexico over the time-frame covered by this report. However, Mexican authorities did report a large number of smuggling investigations, and perhaps some of these cases have a trafficking element - it reported identifying 51 criminal organizations and 35 ringleaders involved in alien smuggling. General inefficiency in the judicial system contributes to the lack of prosecutions and convictions in Mexico, and little progress has been made to address these problems within the existing criminal justice system, although the government has introduced to Congress significant judicial reform legislation. Nonetheless, recent statements by high-level Mexican officials indicate a willingness to devote resources to investigate and prosecute trafficking networks. Mexico has actively cooperated with the United States on a few specific trafficking cases and also worked with the United States through bilateral law enforcement channels. However, Mexico should move quickly to implement a March 2004 agreement with Guatemala to address cross-border trafficking in its southern border region. Anti-trafficking legislation introduced last year is pending in the Mexican Congress. In 2004, the government conducted a major operation targeting corrupt immigration officials. Twenty-five of those officials are now on trial for various corruption charges. However, there have been no reports of officials convicted of trafficking-related corruption. Corruption remains endemic among Mexican security personnel and presents a major obstacle to improved anti-trafficking efforts.
Protection Mexico continued to provide an inadequate level of support to victims during the reporting period. Many victims are not adequately protected and thus prosecutions and convictions are difficult to obtain without key statements from victims of trafficking. There are NGOs in the country that will shelter trafficking victims, and the government's social welfare agency (DIF) has also taken steps to protect and assist trafficking victims. However, DIF has few resources and large caseloads, which inhibits its ability to cope with the growing numbers of trafficking victims present in the country, especially along the Mexico-Guatemala border. Although the current Administration has stepped up efforts to engage and work with civil society, the NGO presence in the country remains weak. Mexico is overwhelmed with the large number of migrants that transit Mexico, and reported 215,695 detentions of illegal migrants in 2004, an increase of 15 percent since 2003. The need to care for large numbers of illegal immigrants constrains Mexico's ability to provide support to trafficking victims. Mexico provides temporary shelter and medical services to unaccompanied minors who are smuggled, but there are no statistics on the number of trafficking victims assisted. The government is also constructing a new $10 million facility in southern Mexico to house and process intercepted migrants, and this center may also aid trafficking victims. The Mexican Commission on Human Rights opened offices on both borders to assist smuggling and trafficking victims. Despite these efforts all foreigners, including trafficking victims, face detention and deportation. Mexico immigration (INM) recently indicated that it would permit trafficking victims to stay in the country as long as they agree to cooperate in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. However, no victims have been identified and measures to ensure the safety of the victims under this program are not clearly delineated. Prevention Mexico had some success in calling attention to trafficking in the country. The First Lady of Mexico has spoken out about the dangers of trafficking, and other high-level government officials, including the Secretary of Government and the Foreign Secretary, have stressed the need to fight the problem. The government's social welfare agency (DIF) runs public awareness campaigns throughout the country and is implementing a national plan to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. DIF is also working to prevent the growing sex tourism problem in Mexico. Finally, the government signed an agreement with the Organization of American States (OAS) and is also working with the IOM to address some aspects of trafficking in Mexico.
MOLDOVA (TIER 2) Republic of Moldova The Republic of Moldova (formerly Moldavia) is a landlocked country of hilly plains lying west of the Carpathian Mountains between the Prut and Dniester (Dnestr) Rivers. The country is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. Chisinau (formerly Kishinev) is its capital and largest city. Moldova is one of the poorest countries in the region despite recent progress.. It enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture. Although it returned to positive growth in 2000, (6.8% in 2004), the economy remains vulnerable to higher fuel prices, poor agricultural weather, and the skepticism of foreign investors. Moldova is primarily a source country for persons, particularly women and girls, trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation to the Middle East and European countries west and south of Moldova. It is also to a lesser extent a transit country to European destinations for victims trafficked from former Soviet states. Moldovan victims continued to be increasingly trafficked to Turkey, the Middle East (including the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and Israel), and Russia (particularly minors). New information indicates that Moldovan men are trafficked to Baltic and other former Soviet states for the purpose of agricultural and construction labor exploitation. IOM reported an increased number of families trafficked to Poland for forced begging. The small breakaway region of Transnistria in eastern Moldova is outside the central government's control and remained a significant source and transit area for trafficking in persons. The Government of Moldova does not fully comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In 2004, the government more than doubled the number of trafficking convictions handed down with prison sentences. While Moldova's National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons continued to meet regularly and frequently, the government spent very little of its own funds to combat trafficking. The trafficking problem severely affects the Moldovan population. The government should lead Moldova's fight against trafficking rather than continuing to rely heavily on initiatives from NGOs and international organizations. Prosecution While Moldova made progress in its law enforcement efforts during the reporting period, it is widely suspected that the Anti-Trafficking Unit limited the number of cases it investigated due in some instances to pressure from complicit officials at higher levels in the government. Moldovan legislation prohibits all types of trafficking and provides for severe penalties ranging from seven years to life imprisonment. The Ministry of Interior's Anti-Trafficking Unit opened 274 trafficking investigations, up from 189 investigations in 2003. The courts convicted 16 individuals for trafficking in persons and seven for trafficking in children, of which 13 received prison sentences (compared to six in 2003) ranging from two to 16 years. Police and prosecutors received anti-trafficking investigations training in September 2004. Moldovan law enforcement officials participated in the regional operation "Mirage 2004" that led authorities to open nine trafficking cases in Moldova. Despite continued allegations of trafficking-related corruption among some law enforcement officials, the government took no action against these officials. Authorities investigated a former Moldovan policeman for trafficking women to the U.A.E.; he is currently free on bail pending his trial. Corrupt judges often downgraded trafficking charges to pimping for lesser penalties. Protection The Moldovan Government's efforts to assist and protect trafficking victims remained inadequate. The government provided practically no funding to NGOs for victim assistance, though it continued to provide space in state buildings for a rehabilitation center run by IOM and another anti-trafficking organization's branch offices. Moldova has not implemented its witness protection law adopted in 1998, though in certain cases police posted guards outside witnesses' homes during the reporting period. Still, a majority of victims did not feel secure enough to take action against their traffickers. The government did not prosecute trafficking victims in 2004 for crimes committed in the course of being trafficked. No official victim referral system existed; however, the Anti-Trafficking Unit signed cooperative agreements with two lead anti-trafficking organizations under which it referred several hundred victims for assistance during the reporting period. Prevention The government continued its work to prevent trafficking, though NGOs and international organizations conducted most of the anti-trafficking campaigns. While the National Committee on Trafficking in Persons met twice a month on a regular basis, it produced limited results due to the lack of a full-time secretariat and a clear mandate. In December 2004, the National Committee asked NGOs and international organizations to evaluate its work and suggest ways to improve government efforts to combat trafficking. It then released an assessment of anti-trafficking work by all entities for the 2003 to 2004 period. In January 2005, the government established a working group with NGO participation to draft a new National Action Plan that will replace the outdated 2001 Action Plan. Additionally, the government drafted and sent to parliament in February 2005 new legislation to comprehensively address all aspects for trafficking. All local committees, underneath the National Committee, conducted trafficking awareness-raising meetings in schools with students and teachers. The Ministry of Internal Affairs withdrew the licenses of several tourism and employment agencies in 2004 for their suspected involvement in trafficking.
MONGOLIA (TIER 2) State of Mongolia The State of Mongolia is a republic located in N central Asia and is bordered by China (W, S & E), and by Russia (N). Its capital and largest city is Ulan Bator (formerly Urga). Economic activity in Mongolia has traditionally been based on herding and agriculture. Severe winters and summer droughts in 2000, 2001, and 2002 resulted in massive livestock die-off and zero or negative GDP growth, compounded by falling prices for Mongolia's primary sector exports. Mongolia is a source and transit country for women and men trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor; it also faces a problem of children trafficked internally for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. In 2004, the government documented over 200 Mongolian children exploited as prostitutes. Mongolian women are trafficked to China, Macau, and South Korea for commercial sexual exploitation. There are also reports that Mongolian women have been trafficked to Hungary, Poland, and other East European countries, as well as France and Germany. Some Mongolian men working overseas face exploitative conditions that meet the definition of involuntary servitude a severe form of trafficking. The Government of Mongolia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The Mongolian Government has acknowledged that trafficking is a problem and has tried to improve its ability to address it. While the government engages NGOs and regional and international organizations on anti-trafficking measures, it lacks the resources to combat trafficking effectively on its own. The Mongolian Government does not systematically monitor its anti-trafficking efforts and some officials lack an understanding of what constitutes trafficking. Government action should concentrate on adopting a strong and comprehensive anti-trafficking law, arresting and prosecuting traffickers, and providing victim protection measures. Prosecution The Mongolian Government's law enforcement efforts against trafficking were modest during the reporting period. The government investigated four trafficking-related cases in 2004, but there were no successful prosecutions. Authorities have not developed the capacity to compile full information on trafficking-related arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. Mongolia's criminal code and criminal procedure code contain provisions against trafficking in women and children and prostitution, with penalties of ten to 15 years' imprisonment for trafficking and a maximum of five years' imprisonment for prostitution. The Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, in coordination with the National Human Rights Commission, is currently reviewing the anti-trafficking provisions of the criminal code in an effort to strengthen the law and make it easier to prosecute traffickers. Protection The Mongolian Government did not provide protection and direct assistance to trafficking victims during the reporting period, largely due to resource constraints. The government did not fund foreign and domestic NGOs that provided support for victims. Prevention While there were no anti-trafficking campaigns conducted in Mongolia over the last year, the government worked with travel industry representatives and UNICEF to establish a voluntary code of conduct to prevent the sexual exploitation of children in the travel and tourism industry. The Mongolian Government recognized that trafficking is a problem, but it did not place a priority on trafficking prevention programs. During the last year, the government began developing a national action plan to combat trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
MOROCCO (TIER 1) Kingdom of Morocco The Kingdom of Morocco is located in NW Africa and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea (N), the Atlantic Ocean (W), Western Sahara (S), and Algeria (S and E). Rabat is its capital and Casablanca its most populous city. The Moroccan government has prioritized the need to create employment, economic development, improved housing and reform of the education system, putting emphasis on the qualitative aspect of training and on the elimination of illiteracy. Morocco is a country of origin, transit, and destination for women, men, and children trafficked from sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and Asia. Young Moroccan victims are lured into Europe by Italian, Spanish, Moroccan, and Algerian traffickers and then forced into drug trafficking, coerced labor, and sexual exploitation. According to government figures, an increasing number of Asian victims, particularly Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis, were brought into Morocco in 2004. Moroccan women are trafficked to Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Children are trafficked internally for exploitation as child domestics and beggars. Sex tourism involving young Moroccans in and around popular tourist destinations has also been reported. The Government of Morocco fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Although the government did not provide full data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, the Secretary of State has determined that it made a good faith effort to do so. Over the reporting period, Morocco continued to make progress in its overall antitrafficking efforts: it signed an agreement with IOM to allow the latter to open an office for anti-trafficking work, created the National Observatory of Migration to coordinate and oversee Morocco's national anti-trafficking efforts, and formed a bi-national commission with Spain on trafficking. Morocco should consider creating a mechanism for identifying and developing trafficking cases for prosecution, and a procedure for referring victims to shelters and NGOs. It should also consider developing a centralized data collection system to document trafficking-related arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. Prosecution The government made progress in its prosecution efforts in 2004. Morocco passed a new family code prohibiting the selling of child brides, raised the age of marital consent to 18, took steps to restrict hazardous forms of child labor, and criminalized sexual abuse of children. In 2004, it dismantled 423 trafficking rings and arrested 262 traffickers. Also, the Moroccan police arrested 70 Nigerian traffickers and rescued 1,460 Nigerian victims hidden by traffickers near Mt. Gourougou. In addition, Morocco dismissed the commander and deputy of its 745-man peacekeeping contingent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after a UN report implicated the peacekeepers for sexually assaulting women and children under their care. Morocco also arrested six of the soldiers directly implicated in these crimes and announced that they will be court-martialed. In Marrakech, the police arrested three French tourists for having solicited sex from minors, a measure that serves to deter the demand for trafficking victims. Protection In 2004, Morocco continued making progress in protecting trafficking victims. It cooperated with Italy and Spain to repatriate an estimated 6,000 Moroccan minors living illegally in both European countries, some of them likely trafficking victims. In cooperation with Spain and Belgium, it established shelters and provided a wide range of assistance for returnees. The government also repatriated 1,460 Nigerian victims. The Government of Morocco relies heavily on NGOs to assist domestic trafficking victims. The government allows these NGOs to solicit tax-free donations from citizens, residents, and companies - indirectly assisting in the provision of services to victims. Prevention The Government of Morocco increased its anti-trafficking prevention activities. Morocco began conducting joint naval surveillance operations with Spain in the Atlantic waters separating the Western Sahara from the Canary Islands, a known trafficking route. It also increased its border police presence along the Algerian border - another known trafficking route. A draft law requiring the police to investigate an employer when a runaway child maid is picked up is expected to be enacted in 2005 and will likely deter the abuse of child maids. In 2004, Morocco introduced severe punishment for promoting prostitution, pornography, sex tourism, child pornography, and child sexual abuse. In 2004, Morocco began training its diplomats in destination and transit countries to assist Moroccan victims. It also increased funding for efforts to stop the "renting" of children as props in begging.
MOZAMBIQUE (TIER 2) Republic of Mozambique The Republic of Mozambique is located in SE Africa and is bordered by the Indian Ocean (E); by South Africa and Swaziland (S); by Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi (W); and by Tanzania (N). Maputo is its capital and largest city. Mozambique is a vast country of almost 800,000 square kilometers with more than 2,500 kilometers of rich coastline. Forest and woodlands make up about 70 percent of the country. The majority of its 18 million people live in rural areas with an urban population of only 29 percent. The Mozambican society is very young with than half of its members under 18 years old. Mozambique is a source country for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Trafficked women are recruited, generally from the Maputo area, with promises of lucrative jobs in South Africa and then sold to brothels, or as concubines to mine workers. Traffickers are principally Mozambican or South African citizens, but involvement of Chinese and Nigerian syndicates has also been reported. The Government of Mozambique does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. To further its efforts to fight trafficking, the government should strengthen its law enforcement efforts by actively investigating and prosecuting cases of trafficking, and should also undertake strong preventative measures, including a comprehensive public awareness campaign. Prosecution The government's performance in combating trafficking through law enforcement improved in 2004. Mozambique has no law specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons. As a necessary precursor to drafting comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, the government conducted a donor-funded survey of children's rights in 2004. Traffickers could be prosecuted using existing laws on sexual assault, rape, abduction, and child abuse, but no such cases have been brought before a court. The criminal investigative police and the anti-corruption unit of the Attorney General's office have very limited knowledge of trafficking in persons. However, in March 2005, police in Quelimane arrested two men attempting to sell an 11-year-old boy. In separate 2004 incidents, border police arrested two Mozambican men for abducting and illegally transporting young boys across the South African border. Border controls remain highly inadequate, and many policemen and border control agents are suspected of accepting bribes from traffickers. In 2004, the Ministry of Interior's Department for Women and Children established a new database to track a variety of crimes against women and children; no official cases of trafficking were recorded, but many cases of abductions and disappearances were registered and investigated. The Department of Migration signed an agreement with its counterpart in South Africa to share information and facilities; information on trafficking in persons was specified within the agreement. The Ministry of Interior provided training in women's and children's protection, including trafficking in persons, to police officers serving in Maputo, Beira, and Nampula.. Protection The government made modest attempts to provide basic protection for victims of trafficking over the last year. The Ministry of Women and Social Action has provided six major hospitals with counselors to help women and children who are victims of violence, including trafficking. These counselors have received basic training in trafficking and reintegration; counselors in the Maputo Central Hospital reported that they used their training to help trafficking victims during the year. In late 2004, the Ministry of Interior established women's shelters, intended in part to protect trafficking victims, at police stations in Maputo, Beira, Nampula and several large towns in Gaza province. Police officials staffing these shelters received training on trafficking in persons during the period. Prevention Prevention efforts on the part of the government remained weak. President Chissano mentioned trafficking in persons during his "State of the Union" address. President Guebuza discussed the problem in his 2004 election campaign. The government established an anti-trafficking inter-agency working group comprised of the Ministries of Interior, Women and Social Action, Justice, and Health, and held an initial meeting in 2004. The government has not organized any public education campaigns on trafficking prevention, but the Ministries of Interior and Women and Social Action actively participated in NGO and international organizationrun education campaigns for women in vulnerable communities by presenting information about trafficking-related laws and police services. In January 2005, the government formally approved IOM's application to re-establish an office in Mozambique. The Mozambican Government does not yet have a national plan of action to address trafficking in persons.
NEPAL (TIER 1) Kingdom of Nepal The Kingdom of Nepal in central Asia is landlocked and isolated by the Himalayas. Nepal is bordered by India (W, S & E) and by the Tibet region of China (N). Its capital is Katmandu. Nepal has a population of 22.4 million, 44 per cent of whom are under the age of 15, and it is growing at a rate of 2.4 per cent per year. About one half of the population reside in the terai (plains) bordering on India, with the remainder living in scattered settlements in the hills and mountains. With a gross national product of $220 per capita and 45 per cent of the population living below the poverty line, Nepal is classified as one of the world's least developed and poorest countries. Nepal is a source country for girls and women trafficked to India for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced labor, and work in circuses. Many victims trafficked to India are lured with promises of good jobs or marriage. Others, including boys, are sold by family members or kidnapped by traffickers. Women are trafficked to Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf states for domestic servitude. Internal trafficking for forced labor and sexual exploitation also takes place. Maoist insurgents continue to abduct and forcibly conscript children. Reports indicate that internal trafficking is on the rise due to the insurgency, as rural women and children leave their homes and seek both employment and security in urban centers. The Government of Nepal fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination trafficking. Despite political and security challenges, the government has sustained its efforts to combat trafficking in persons. Nepal has a National Plan of Action to combat trafficking, a draft Human Trafficking Control Bill to strengthen its 1986 anti-trafficking law, and a National Rapporteur on trafficking. However, these commendable anti-trafficking efforts are hindered by political instability and security problems associated with the Maoist insurgency affecting a large part of the country. Prosecution Nepal's law enforcement efforts are commendable given the security and resource challenges that it faces. According to the Attorney General, in 2004, 133 trafficking cases were filed, 32 convictions handed down, and 83 are pending prosecution. In October 2004, a court in Makwanpur convicted a man for attempting to traffic two 16 and 17 year-old girls and sentenced him to ten-years' imprisonment. In March 2005, a court in Jhapa sentenced a man to a 15-year term and hefty fine after convicting him of selling a girl to a brothel in India. Nepal, although not a destination for child sex tourists, prosecuted one case involving sexual abuse of children by tourists in 2004. In January 2005, Nepal negotiated and initialed an extradition treaty and an Agreement on Mutual Assistance on Criminal Matters with India. Nepal has also established a Documentation and Information Center (DIC), which tracks trafficking cases at the district level. Nepal should take measures against some immigration officials, police, and judges suspected of trafficking-related graft and corruption. Protection The Government of Nepal works well with NGOs to provide protection assistance to victims of trafficking. In 2004, Nepal drafted a bill and accompanying policies and regulations to protect the rights of labor migrants, and rescued and repatriated (in collaboration with India and NGOs) more Nepali girls this year. The Nepali police in 2004 established Women and Children Service Centers in 15 districts to enhance anti-trafficking law enforcement, public awareness, and counseling activities at the district level. These centers provided training on victim support methods to local police and NGOs and the government has plans to create similar centers in four more districts. Prevention During the reporting period, Nepal made progress in its efforts to prevent trafficking. The government has identified 26 high-priority districts as source areas of trafficking and established anti-trafficking "Vigilance Committees." It also requires all workers traveling abroad to attend orientation sessions on safe migration that help prevent trafficking and conducts national and regional information campaigns on trafficking. Planete Enfants, an EU-funded NGO, collaborates with the government in conducting campaigns to educate girls about trafficking in 19 districts. UNIFEM, in coordination with the government, conducts campaigns to target potential victims and deter traffickers by advertising potential 20-year punishment for trafficking. These efforts resulted in the interception and rescue of potential victims and in eroding the stigma associated with being a trafficking victim.
THE NETHERLANDS (TIER 1) Kingdom of the Netherlands (Holland) The Kingdom of the Netherlands, a constitutional monarchy, is located in NW Europe. It is bounded by the North Sea (N & W), by Belgium (S), and by Germany (E). Although Amsterdam is its constitutional capital, The Hague is the administrative and governmental capital. The kingdom includes two overseas territories, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean Sea, both of which are self-governing parts of the Kingdom. The Netherlands has a prosperous and open economy, which depends heavily on foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, moderate unemployment and inflation, a sizable current account surplus, and an important role as a European transportation hub. The Netherlands is primarily a destination and transit country for trafficking of women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation; trafficking for labor exploitation exists to a lesser extent. Most victims are trafficked from Central and Eastern Europe, with some victims from Nigeria and Brazil. Reportedly, a significant percentage of the 25,000 individuals engaged in prostitution reportedly are trafficking victims. Internal trafficking of young, mostly foreign girls by Moroccan and Turkish pimps into sexual exploitation also occurs. The Netherlands Antilles, where the Netherlands exercises responsibility over visa issuance according to guidelines issued by the Netherlands Antilles, became more of a concern as a transit and destination for illegal migrants, some of whom may have been trafficked. The Government of the Netherlands fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Although the government did not provide final 2004 data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sentences, the Secretary of State has determined that it has made a good faith effort to do so. In 2004, the government adopted an anti-trafficking national action plan, expanded its outreach to potential trafficking victims and increased overall funding for protection and prevention. In January 2005, the government supplemented its existing trafficking law and incorporated forced labor into its definition of exploitation, bringing penalties in line with international standards. International scrutiny continued to focus on the legalized commercial sex industry in the Netherlands. Police reported a decrease in trafficking in the legalized sector, though comprehensive data on the number of trafficking victims is unavailable because the government did not carry out a recommended systematic screening of foreign prostitutes in the redlight district. While the government initiated several information and awareness raising campaigns, additional targeted and highly visible campaigns aimed directly at customers and women in the redlight zones should be made to increase effectiveness in combating the overall problem. Prosecution The Netherlands, in 2004, expanded the legal definition of trafficking to include forced labor and increased the maximum penalty for traffickers from six to eight years. Sentences of up to 12 years can apply in cases of serious physical injury. Average sentences increased by almost 3 months in 2003. Preliminary enforcement statistics reflected an increase in cases investigated for the first nine months of 2004. During this period, Dutch police initiated 604 investigations and referred 87 cases for prosecution. In 2003, the courts successfully prosecuted 127 trafficking-related crimes. The police incorporated anti-trafficking curriculum into regular police training; and a similar model was developed for public prosecutors and judges. Information on the modus operandi of traffickers was distributed to all regional police forces. There were no reports of official corruption or trafficking-related complicity The government reported that strict controls and licensing requirements for brothels were employed as a means of combating trafficking. Under the Public Information Integrity Act, the local government of The Hague denied licenses to five sex firms and withdrew two existing licenses due to indications of involvement in illegal activities, including trafficking. Police conducted unannounced bi-monthly visits to brothels in Amsterdam to check for illegal conduct. Protection In 2004, the Dutch government increased its funding for shelters assisting trafficking victims by 1.2 million Euros. Additionally, regional governments funded shelters, victim protection programs and local education programs. The Dutch Foundation Against Trafficking in Persons (STV), the national reporting center for registration and assistance for trafficking victims, registered 405 trafficking victims in 2004, an increase from 267 the previous year. Moreover, 185 trafficking victims received B-9 residency permits, an increase from 84 in 2003. In April 2005, the government enacted regulations to allow B-9 permit holders the right to work and eligibility for benefits and education assistance. Victims not wishing to apply for the B-9 were informed of other asylum options, including the option of accepting the B-9's three-month reflection period. In 2004, the government donated 28.5 million Euros to UNICEF to protect child victims of trafficking.
Prevention In 2004, the Dutch government initiated targeted information campaigns to prevent trafficking and raise awareness among government officials and the public. These included: an information campaign on the anonymous crime reporting hotline; a B-9 residency permit awareness campaign; and new public awareness campaigns on youth prostitution targeting at-risk youth in schools and among asylum seekers. During the reporting period, the Health Ministry subsidized a "stepping out" program aimed at re-socialization and psychosocial support. Information brochures in five languages on development of such assistance packages were distributed to local governments and distributed to 2,000 vulnerable women in prostitution across the Netherlands. Under this program, the government also funded Dutch language lessons for women formerly in prostitution and conducted outreach to 800 foreign national prostitutes to escape dependency on pimps and traffickers. In addition, the government funded outreach through an NGO in 2004 to 22,000 women in prostitution, potential trafficking victims and clients in the Amsterdam redlight district. The government, in January 2005, established a center aimed at preventing involvement of youth in prostitution to consolidate all prevention, information and support activities. The government continued to focus efforts on international prevention and outreach to source countries, and provided significant funding for a number of programs in those counties. The government has provided funding since 2003 to prevent the international sexual exploitation of children and international child forced labor. THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN AUTONOMOUS REGIONS Anecdotal reporting suggests that the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, autonomous regions within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, are transit and destination regions for trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation. Curacao and Saint Maarten, in particular, reportedly are destination islands for women trafficked for the sex trade from Columbia, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. In Curacao (and neighboring Aruba) observers estimate that 500 foreign women are in prostitution, some of whom may have been trafficked. There are also reports of children being trafficked for sexual exploitation as underage prostitutes, particularly from the Dominican Republic. In September 2004, Curacao prosecuted and sentenced two traffickers who trafficked children from Suriname to Curacao using fraudulent documents. Visas for Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles are issued by Dutch Embassies following review by Aruban or Netherlands Antilles' authorities. Visa controls were reportedly tightened in 2004. Also in 2004, the Dutch government provided 100,000 Euros to an IOM program focused on awareness raising, information dissemination and regional cooperation targeting officials from the Dutch Caribbean.
NEW ZEALAND (TIER 1) New Zealand New Zealand is an island country located in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. New Zealand is heavily dependent on trade - particularly in agricultural products - to drive growth. Exports are equal to about 20% of GDP. Thus far the economy has been resilient, and the Labor Government promises that expenditures on health, education, and pensions will increase proportionately to output. New Zealand is a destination country for women trafficked from Thailand and other countries in Asia for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Some women smuggled into the country are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation to repay substantial debts to traffickers. New Zealand has a sizable number of children in prostitution, many of whom may be trafficking victims. The Government of New Zealand fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government should make a greater effort to prosecute trafficking offenses and raise public awareness of New Zealand's trafficking problem. Prosecution New Zealand's laws criminalize trafficking, slavery and child sexual exploitation. There were no convictions in the last year relating to transnational trafficking, but there were two convictions of brothel keepers for employing underage prostitutes under the Prostitution Reform Bill of 2003, which legalized prostitution in New Zealand and clamped down on trafficking of children for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. There were seven convictions for offenses involving underage prostitutes. Penalties for trafficking crimes carry a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment and substantial fines. The law extends prosecution to any person receiving financial gain from an act involving children exploited as prostitutes, and it prohibits sex tourism. The New Zealand Government cooperated in the foreign prosecution of its citizens who committed child sex offenses in other countries. Protection During the reporting period, the New Zealand Government's protection efforts continued to meet minimum standards. The government supported NGOs including one that provided services to women in the commercial sex industry and some trafficking victims. The government provides physical protection, medical services, travel documents, and repatriation for victims. There were no reports of trafficking victims who had been jailed, fined or deported. Prevention The government has programs geared to protecting children. To prevent exploitation of new immigrants and refugees, the New Zealand Government also has a number of campaigns to make them aware of their employment rights and human rights. The government in early 2005 approved a National Plan of Action on Trafficking in Persons. Although too new to verify its implementation, the plan establishes procedures for victim identification; provides victims access to specialized shelters; and provides awareness raising and training on trafficking.
NICARAGUA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of Nicaragua The Republic of Nicaragua is located in Central America and is bordered by Honduras (N & NW), by the Caribbean Sea (E), by Costa Rica (S), and by the Pacific Ocean (SW). Its capital and largest city is Managua. Nicaragua, one of the hemisphere's poorest countries, faces low per capita income, massive unemployment, and huge external debt. Distribution of income is one of the most unequal on the globe. While the country has made progress toward macroeconomic stability over the past few years, GDP annual growth has been far too low to meet the country's needs. Nicaragua has a population of over 5 million, 53% of which is under 18. Nicaragua's main challenge is to overcome inequity and poverty, which affect children and women most severely. Nicaragua is a source and transit country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Estimates of the total number of victims are difficult to assess; however, the Government of Nicaragua acknowledges that trafficking is a significant problem. Nicaraguans are trafficked from rural to urban areas within the country, and to other parts of Central America and Mexico for sexual exploitation. The majority of victims are children prostituted by their traffickers. The Government of Nicaragua does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Nicaragua is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking. The government has a weak commitment to addressing trafficking. While there is some evidence of a commitment to fight trafficking, including the opening of an office in the Ministry of Government to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts, and limited work on cross-border cooperation and repatriations, anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts remain weak, particularly efforts to address trafficking-related corruption. To improve its trafficking efforts, the government should implement a more aggressive law enforcement strategy against commercial establishments that profit from the sexual exploitations of minors; revise and update laws to comply with international standards on trafficking in persons; and expand bilateral and regional anti-trafficking efforts. Prosecution The Government of Nicaragua, through its national anti-trafficking coalition, has a plan to fight trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children under the age of 14, which includes improved law enforcement as a priority. However, during the reporting period there was only one reported trafficking-related conviction. The government had a number of investigations and arrests, but failure to provide sufficient protection of victims has lead to prosecution failures. Several cases remain in the court and may lead to convictions in the future. Police closed some establishments known to be exploiting children, but greater efforts are needed to address the many clubs, bars, and other establishments offering children for sexual exploitation. In general, law enforcement is hampered by a lack of resources, personnel, and trafficking awareness. The legal framework is also an obstacle and needs to be modernized to criminalize underage prostitution. Nicaragua law currently does not criminalize the prostitution of minors, a severe form of trafficking in persons. Protection Nicaragua continued to provide inadequate services and protections for victims of trafficking over the last year. Foreign trafficking victims discovered illegally in the country are detained and face summary deportation without any consideration of the protection they may require as victims of trafficking in persons. The government does not fund shelters to assist trafficking victims, which is partially a reflection of the government's severe resource constraints. The government recognizes the dearth of victim protection and claims to be designing mechanisms to better assist and protect victims. Currently, the government cooperates and coordinates closely with NGOs in fighting sexual exploitation of minors. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has successfully worked to repatriate victims of trafficking. Efforts to increase regional cooperation are underway and should be continued. Prevention Widespread poverty and unemployment leave many in the country, especially women and children, vulnerable to traffickers. Inadequate resources limit the government's ability to carry out long-term sustainable campaigns. Nonetheless, the government was able to undertake many meaningful prevention measures. The government conducted a successful trafficking awareness campaign run by the Women's Division of the National Police and the Ministry of Education. The two offices have implemented a program in high schools throughout Nicaragua to warn at-risk teenagers about trafficking. The police, working with school counselors, made presentations to students on the dangers of trafficking and hand out booklets containing a strong anti-trafficking message. The government's national anti-trafficking coalition initiated a separate large-scale public awareness campaign during 2004. The campaign included print materials and television and radio programs targeted at school-aged potential trafficking victims in locations where traffickers are known to recruit victims.
NIGER (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of Niger The Republic of Niger is located in W Africa and is bordered by Burkina Faso and Mali (W), by Algeria and Libya (N), by Chad (E), and by Nigeria and Benin (S). Niamey is the country's capital and its largest city. Sixty-three per cent of the population lives below the absolute poverty level, with women making up two-thirds of this figure. The situation of women and children is characterized by womens high fertility rate, a wide gap between men and women in terms of health, education and literacy and high maternal mortality. Niger is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced domestic and commercial labor. Nigerien boys are trafficked internally, often by local religious teachers, to work as beggars and manual laborers; Nigerien girls are trafficked for domestic servitude and to engage in prostitution. Foreign children are trafficked into Niger for similar purposes. Nigerien women are trafficked to North Africa and Europe for sexual exploitation, and to North Africa and the Middle East for forced domestic labor. Traffickers lure victims to foreign countries with false marriages or promises of lucrative employment. Nigerien children have also been trafficked to Gabon and Nigeria. Victims are also trafficked to or transit through Niger to other West African countries from Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo. Many families misguidedly surrender their children to distant relatives or religious teachers who then exploit the children. According to a sample survey conducted by an NGO, over one fourth of approximately 1,500 households knew of trafficking in their neighborhood or village, and more than five percent reported that at least one family member had been trafficked. Slavery-related practices, typically flowing from ancestral master-slave relationships, also continue in isolated areas where a barter economy exists. The Government of Niger does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Enactment in April 2004 of an antislavery law with criminal sanctions for a broad range of slavery-like practices, while a move in the right direction, has not resulted in a noticeable reduction in trafficking or appreciable increase in enforcement actions against traffickers. Niger is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for its weak efforts to enforce anti-trafficking laws and rescue victims. The government should make good faith efforts to educate officials, communities, and local leaders to prevent trafficking and rescue victims. The government should also prosecute traffickers under existing laws, and consider passing and implementing laws that specifically ban trafficking in persons. Prosecution The government's law enforcement efforts remained weak in 2004. Niger's 2003 Anti-Slavery Law entered into force in April 2004, and the government's Human Rights Commission investigated four cases of alleged slavery and human trafficking; no prosecutions or rescues of forced labor victims resulted from these actions. In the absence of a law that specifically prohibits trafficking, a Nigerien court sentenced one individual to three years in prison under kidnapping charges. The government trained 150 law enforcement officers regarding approved travel documents for children crossing borders without their parents. Nigerien officials conducted joint cross-border patrols with Nigeria, Chad, Mali, and Burkina Faso and identified 13 foreign trafficking victims but did not apprehend any traffickers. Corruption of low-level officials was common, but there were no known instances of government officials who participated in or condoned trafficking. Protection The government ran no shelters to care for trafficking victims and lacked the financial resources to fund or otherwise support foreign or domestic nongovernmental victim assistance. However, government social welfare and police officials referred many of the victims who turned to NGOs for assistance. Authorities worked with the Nigerian government to repatriate 15 Nigerian victims. Prevention The government made limited progress in educating the public about the trafficking situation in Niger. Though lacking a national campaign to combat trafficking, it cooperated in a trafficking survey, continued to conduct seminars for some journalists and community leaders on child abuse and trafficking, and included anti-trafficking elements in campaigns condemning child abuse. The Prime Minister drew attention to the problem of human trafficking in an October 2004 speech to journalists, and government newspapers ran some stories about child beggars. In March 2005, the government began to educate communities about the 2003 AntiSlavery Law, which took effect in April 2004, and on the rights of victims under the new law.
NIGERIA (TIER 2) Federal Republic of Nigeria The Federal Republic of Nigeria is located in W Africa and is bordered by the Gulf of Guinea (an arm of the Atlantic Ocean) (S), by Benin (W), by Niger (NW & N), by Chad (NE), and by Cameroon (E). Abuja is its capital and Lagos is its largest city. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid population growth - Nigeria is Africa's most populous country - and the country, once a large net exporter of food, now must import food. Nigeria is a source, transit and destination country for trafficked women and children. Nigerians are trafficked to Europe, the Middle East and other countries in Africa for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced labor, and involuntary domestic servitude. Nigerian girls and women are trafficked for sexual exploitation to Europe - particularly Italy, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands - and other African countries. Children from Nigeria's southern and eastern states are trafficked to Nigerian cities and other West African countries for exploitation as domestic servants, street hawkers, and forced laborers. Children from Togo and Benin are trafficked to Nigeria for forced labor. The Government of Nigeria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government showed clear progress in implementing its 2003 anti-trafficking law and improving the capacity of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). The government should undertake greater efforts to ensure that child victims of labor trafficking are identified and provided protection. It should also consider better coordination among and consolidation of the country's disparate anti-trafficking investigative and prosecutorial resources. Prosecution The government made strong strides in improving its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts over the reporting period. Comprehensive anti-trafficking law enforcement statistics were not available. NAPTIP investigated more than 40 cases of suspected trafficking, leading to eight new prosecutions. In November 2004 a court handed down the first conviction under the 2003 anti-trafficking law, sentencing a female trafficker to three years' imprisonment for attempting to traffic six girls to Spain. The police antitrafficking unit expanded its coverage to 11 state offices, rescued 35 victims of trafficking, opened 27 investigations, and arrested 40 suspected traffickers. The government provided over $1 million in funding for NAPTIP in 2004, allowing it to hire needed staff; expand cooperation with other countries, including Benin, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and the United Kingdom; and train its own dedicated prosecutors. Trafficking-related corruption is a serious obstacle to Nigerian anti-trafficking efforts. Although NAPTIP began investigating a number of law enforcement officials suspected of trafficking complicity over the last year, no prosecutions were initiated. Protection The government's efforts to provide protection for victims of trafficking remained weak in 2004, though some progress was made through the opening of a transit shelter in Lagos and a small shelter in Benin City, Edo State. In other locations, NAPTIP provided emergency overnight shelter for victims, but usually referred victims requiring longer-term care to NGOs and international organizations. Police and NAPTIP encouraged victims to assist in prosecutions; the government published a brochure outlining the steps a victim can take to help in prosecutions that was distributed to Nigerian victims deported from Europe. A system of screening and referral of victims was established among the various Nigerian law enforcement agencies, and victims are now referred to NAPTIP, NGOs or international organizations for care. The government provided modest funding for NGOs involved in protecting victims. Prevention The government's anti-trafficking prevention efforts continued over the year. NAPTIP conducted "sensitization tours" around the country, reaching out to state governments, local law enforcement, market organizations, and youth groups to raise awareness of the dangers of trafficking. NAPTIP created a website to provide information to Nigeria's considerable Internet-savvy public and opened a hotline for victims of trafficking and those seeking information on trafficking. State governments' departments of youth and women's affairs conducted programs to raise awareness and prevent those at risk from falling prey to traffickers. For example, the Department of Youth in Cross River State organized youth camps around major holidays, which are prime times when traffickers target victims. NAPTIP and the Special Assistant to the President on Human Trafficking and Child Labor presided over the National Stakeholders Forum, which brought together government agencies and NGOs to share information and coordinate anti-trafficking efforts.
NORWAY (TIER 1) Kingdom of Norway The Kingdom of Norway, a N European constitutional monarchy, occupies the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula. Extending from the Skagerrak, which it borders in the south, northeast to North Cape and Vard on the Barents Sea in the extreme northeast, the country forms a narrow mountainous strip along the North Sea in the southwest and in the Norwegian Sea. It has a long land frontier with Sweden (E) and with Finland and Russia (NE). Oslo is its capital and largest city. The Norwegian economy is a prosperous bastion of welfare capitalism, featuring a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil production and international oil prices, with oil and gas accounting for one-third of exports. Norway is a destination country for women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, mostly from Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Baltic countries. A significant increase in the number of African women in prostitution was noted in Norway in 2004. Their total number remains small, but the sudden increase may suggest the growth of organized trafficking rings. The Government of Norway fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. Norway is a leader in anti-trafficking efforts. The government achieved progress in the areas of prosecution and protection during the reporting period, mainly as a result of Norwegian political attention to the issue and sustained funding for anti-trafficking efforts. The Norwegian Government should consider expanding its prevention program to include domestic demand-reduction programs. Prosecution The Norwegian Government demonstrated progress in prosecuting and convicting traffickers during the reporting period. The Norwegian Penal Code criminalizes all types of trafficking in persons and provides sufficiently severe penalties. Traffickers can also be prosecuted for violation of laws against pimping and slavery. In February 2005, the government successfully prosecuted Norway's largest trafficking case to date and convicted eight persons - three Georgians, two Lithuanians, two Norwegians, and one Turk. The leader of the group was convicted under Norway's trafficking statute - as well as under laws against assault, rape, confinement, and threats - and sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment. The remaining seven individuals received sentences of four months to four and a half years' imprisonment. The court also ordered the perpetrators to pay the two victims approximately $170,000 in compensation. In another case, the police charged three alleged traffickers under pimping, organized crime, and human trafficking laws, and have requested the extradition of two alleged traffickers from Germany. The Norwegian police have a two-day training seminar for officers working on trafficking issues. The Directorate of Immigration also provides counter-trafficking training to its personnel. There was no evidence of trafficking-related official corruption in Norway during the reporting period. The Norwegian Government cooperates with other governments in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases through Interpol and Europol, and bilaterally. Protection The Government of Norway significantly increased its efforts to protect victims of trafficking. In January 2005, the Norwegian Government launched a formal trafficking victim assistance program featuring a government-funded NGO operating a network of trafficking victim assistance centers and a 24-hour hotline. The government-funded NGO is also opening two centers dedicated to delivering follow-up assistance to victims as they recover. The Government of Norway can suspend decisions to remove trafficking victims for a 45-day grace period, regardless of whether they cooperate with police or prosecutors, in order to provide assistance and counseling. In Norway's largest trafficking case, a victim involved immediately received a temporary residency permit and skipped the reflection period. The police have offered the reflection period to over 60 women nationwide and none has chosen to use it; the government is reviewing possible adjustments to include having assistance providers offer it rather than the police. Police continued to develop witness protection guidelines for trafficking cases. Prevention The Norwegian Government continued to move forward in implementing its National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in 2004. The Norwegian inter-ministerial task force on trafficking is required to submit a written report every six months to a higher steering committee, comprised of the deputy ministers of all nine ministries represented on Norway's inter-ministerial task force. During the reporting period, the government funded NGOs that conducted public awareness and outreach, as well as regional and international projects in source countries on the risks of trafficking. Norway continued to play a prominent role in the international campaign against trafficking, in NATO and in other multilateral organizations. Norway educated its embassy and consulate staff on trafficking issues and encouraged them to work with local NGOs to counter trafficking in host countries.
OMAN (TIER 2) The Sultanate of Oman The Sultanate of Oman is an independent sultanate located on the SE side of the Arabian peninsula, and bounded by the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It was formerly known as Muscat and Oman. It is bordered by Yemen & Saudi Arabia (W), and by the United Arab Emirates (N). Its capital and largest city is Muscat. Oman is a middle-income economy in the Middle East with notable oil and gas resources, a substantial trade surplus, and low inflation. To reduce unemployment and limit dependence on foreign countries, the government is encouraging the replacement of expatriate workers with local people. Oman is a destination country for women and men who migrate legally and willingly from South Asia - primarily from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines for work as domestic workers and laborers but are subsequently trafficked into conditions of involuntary servitude. Some of these workers suffer from physical and sexual abuse or withholding of wages or travel documents. Every year, thousands of Pakistanis infiltrate Oman's maritime border with Iran in search of jobs or to reach other destinations in the Gulf. According to a noted human rights activist, several dozen foreign children trafficked for the purpose of exploitation as camel jockeys were reportedly seen near the border with the United Arab Emirates. The Government of Oman does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Over the next year, the government should conduct an assessment of the smuggling and trafficking situation and develop an appropriate national plan of action to combat it. It should also consider appointing a national coordinator to articulate, direct, and oversee the government's overall anti-trafficking efforts, including the drafting and enactment of a comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, the training of law enforcement personnel to identify trafficking crimes, and the development of appropriate anti-trafficking protection and prevention programs. Prosecution The Government of Oman continues to actively interdict, apprehend, screen, and detain suspected illegal immigrants and human smugglers. Oman does not have an anti-trafficking law, but it has other criminal laws that can be used to prosecute trafficking crimes. During the reporting year, there were reports of physical abuse of domestic servants, some of whom may have been victims of involuntary servitude. According to Ministerial Decree 189 (Law on Domestic Labor, issued June 16, 2004), Article 8, an employee has the right to end his/her contract if he/she is abused by an employer. Pursuant to Article 10, salary disputes are settled by the Ministry of Manpower. The Ministry's Labor Welfare Board adjudicates cases filed by national and expatriate workers against employers. Employers guilty of contested wages are ordered to reimburse the worker's back wages. Protection The Government of Oman provides some protection to both illegal and legal expatriate workers who fall victim to involuntary servitude. It operates a 24-hour complaint hotline and mediates contract disputes, works with source country representatives to provide assistance to victims, and grants access to officials from source countries to visit deportation centers. However, the government does not have a systematic screening procedure for differentiating potential trafficking victims from the thousands of illegal immigrants it detains and deports every year. It should develop and deploy a more comprehensive screening procedure to ensure that any such victims are identified and provided with appropriate protection services, such as shelter, medical and psychological assistance, humane repatriation, and other essential services. The Government of Oman has extended protections under its labor laws to its large domestic work force per Ministerial Decree 189. All foreign workers are protected under the labor law, though some may be reluctant to file complaints for fear of retribution from their employers. Workers are informed of their labor rights in pre-departure orientation briefings in their countries of origin. The government does not have a separate shelter for potential victims of trafficking. However, in addition to the food, shelter, and medical care provided at its deportation centers, the government works with source country embassies and charitable groups to tend to foreign nationals requiring repatriation and other forms of assistance. Oman should consider establishing a shelter for potential victims of trafficking. Prevention The Government of Oman took some positive steps to prevent trafficking. It monitored its borders and immigration patterns, introduced special visa regimes applicable to certain countries to thwart possible trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and engaged other countries in the region and beyond on issues relating to trafficking and illegal immigration. Oman actively pursues avenues of international cooperation and has stepped up assistance and information sharing with source countries, including sending a team of Royal Oman Police to work with the anti-trafficking unit of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency. Oman should develop and launch broad public awareness campaigns highlighting the rights of domestic workers and other groups vulnerable to being trafficked.
PAKISTAN (TIER 2) Islamic Republic of Pakistan The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is located in S Asia and is bordered by India (E), the Arabian Sea (S), Iran (SW), and Afghanistan (W & N). In the northeast, the territory of Kashmir, borders on China. Islamabad is the capital, and Karachi the largest city. Pakistan is composed of four provinces and two federal territories, one of which is known as the Tribal Areas along the central Afghanistan border. The Tribal Areas are essentially autonomous, and are governed largely by tribal traditions and councils. Nearly a third of the country's 140 million people live in poverty. The girl child faces greater risks to survival, is more subject to violence and abuse, and has less access to education, proper nutrition and health services. The low status of children and women is a manifestation of low literacy levels, wide gaps between legislation and enforcement, and limited participation in civil society. Pakistan is a source, transit, and destination country for victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons. Women and girls from Bangladesh, India, Burma, Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan are trafficked to Pakistan for commercial sexual exploitation and bonded labor. Girls and women from rural areas are trafficked within the country to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude. Women trafficked from East Asian countries and Bangladesh to the Middle East often transit through Pakistan. Men, women, and children are trafficked to the Middle East for bonded labor and domestic servitude. Boys are trafficked to Persian Gulf states for use as camel jockeys. Children are trafficked internally for forced begging and bonded labor. The Government of Pakistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Pakistan has improved its anti-trafficking performance over the reporting period. Most notably, it has increased trafficking-related prosecutions and convictions, strengthened implementation of its 2002 Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance, established an Anti-Trafficking Unit (ATU) within the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and co-sponsored several public awareness campaigns. Pakistan should continue expanding on these efforts in order to further its fight against trafficking. Prosecution Pakistan's law enforcement efforts greatly increased during the reporting period. In 2004, 479 trafficking-related cases were registered, 289 individuals arrested, 248 court cases filed, and 72 convictions obtained - a significant improvement over the six convictions obtained in 2003. The government also prosecuted and convicted 17 officials for trafficking-related corruption. There were cases during the reporting period in which law enforcement officials mistakenly identified trafficking victims as voluntary participants in human smuggling and initiated criminal procedures against them. In such cases, supervisory personnel acted promptly to ensure charges were dropped and victims protected. The government should continue efforts to train a broad cross section of working-level law enforcement personnel to prevent such mistakes in future. Protection In 2004, Pakistan made progress in its efforts to protect trafficking victims. Currently, NGOs continue to provide the majority of assistance and protection services for victims. However, new regulations for the implementation of Pakistan's 2002 anti-trafficking law obligate the Government of Pakistan to provide assistance to trafficking victims and allocate funding for their repatriation. Pakistan established the FIA's ATU, through which it coordinates its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. In cooperation with IOM, the government is establishing a new model shelter for trafficking victims in Islamabad, and it has committed to replicating similar facilities in other parts of the country. At present, trafficking victims are offered shelter in 267 detention centers in the country, where they are provided with medical assistance, limited legal representation, and some vocational training. The anticipated opening of the model shelter and a joint screening referral process for all trafficking victims are expected to enhance Pakistan's protection efforts. Prevention The government improved its prevention efforts over the reporting period. In collaboration with IOM, it trained about 200 law enforcement and border security personnel in victim recognition methods. It also encouraged its embassies and consulates, particularly in the Gulf region, to play a more active role in identifying, assisting, and repatriating trafficking victims. It conducted, in collaboration with NGOs, several anti-trafficking public campaigns. Pakistan's diplomatic missions in the United Arab Emirates and Oman have worked closely with NGOs, such as Ansar Burney Welfare Trust, in rescuing, repatriating, and rehabilitating children trafficked as camel jockeys.
PANAMA (TIER 2) Republic of Panama The Republic of Panama occupies the Isthmus of Panama, which connects Central and South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica (W) and Colombia (E), with the Panama Canal bisecting the country. Its capital and largest city is Panama City. A continuous conflict of power has led to poor services for children. Health and education services have been seriously affected and overloaded given a trend in demand from private to public services. There is more crime, and in reaction, adolescents are widely blamed. Panama is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of labor and sexual exploitation. Women and children are primarily trafficked within Panama for sexual exploitation. However, there are credible reports of women and children trafficked from Colombia to Panama for sexual exploitation. Women are also trafficked from Colombia and the Dominican Republic to Panama, Costa Rica, the United States (through Central America) and Europe. Child domestic laborers, who may be trafficking victims, are trafficked from the western provinces to Panama City. There are unconfirmed reports of Chinese families trafficked into debt bondage in the country. The Government of Panama does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Passage and effective implementation of a new comprehensive anti-trafficking law has increased the government's efforts to combat trafficking in the country. However, the government has yet to eliminate a visa program that facilitates the import of foreign women for prostitution, and is likely exploited by traffickers. Prosecution The Government of Panama made significant improvements in investigating, prosecuting, and punishing traffickers over the reporting period. In 2004, Panama enacted a comprehensive anti-trafficking law, which targets traffickers. The Technical Judicial Police (PTJ) investigated 24 trafficking cases under the new law - a four-fold increase over cases investigated in 2003 - and presented seven cases to the Attorney General's Office for prosecution. Additionally, the Attorney General's office investigated at least 82 cases under the new law. Using the new law as an investigative tool, in March 2005 the Attorney General's Office ordered the detention of several ranked National Police (PNP) officers for sexual trafficking-related offenses against children. There were no reported trafficking convictions using the new law. Panama temporarily suspended the "alternadora visa" in 2004, but reinstated it in January 2005. Due to the lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies, Panama struggles to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases involving adult trafficking victims. The government has acknowledged that it needs to improve its interview techniques to uncover trafficking cases. Protection Panama's new anti-trafficking legislation is ambitious and the government is still in the process of implementing provisions to improve victim protection. In February 2005, the Attorney General convoked the law's anti-trafficking commission (CONAPREDES), which has authority to collect a special tax for victim assistance. However, this tax has not yet been implemented. Nonetheless, the government provides legal, medical, and psychological services for victims. Additionally, the government funds NGOs that shelter or assist trafficking victims and operates a foster family program. Immigration officials maintain that none of the 137 foreign prostitutes deported, or other prostitutes offered voluntary departure in 2004, claimed to be a victim of trafficking. Prevention The government's efforts to prevent trafficking improved over 2004, as it carried out many new prevention campaigns during the reporting period. The new anti-trafficking law calls for a special tax to provide funds for anti-trafficking prevention activities, which could permit more extensive campaigns in the future. In November 2004, the Office of the First Lady and the Ministry of Youth, Children, Women, and Family initiated a formal campaign against the commercial sexual exploitation of minors and sexual tourism. The campaign targeted the demand for trafficking, using television and radio ads and the slogans, "If You Are a Man, We're Depending on You" and "Panama: A Country that Rejects Sex Tourism."
PARAGUAY (TIER 2) Republic of Paraguay The Republic of Paraguay is located in S central South America and is enclosed by Bolivia (N & W), Brazil (E), and Argentina (S & W). Its capital and largest city is Asuncin. Despite political instability, the Code for Children approved in mid-2001 is being implemented. Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large informal sector. This sector features both re-export of imported consumer goods to neighboring countries as well as the activities of thousands of micro-enterprises and urban street vendors. A large percentage of the population derives their living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis. Paraguay is a source country for women and children trafficked to Argentina, Spain, and Brazil for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Poor children are also trafficked internally from rural to urban areas for sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude. Trafficking of Paraguayan and Brazilian women and girls, principally for sexual exploitation, remains an ongoing problem in the tri-border area, on the Brazil-ParaguayArgentina border. Recruiters are typically Paraguayan and use false documents to move victims. The Government of Paraguay does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government successfully prosecuted several trafficking cases and solicited bilateral assistance and international financial institution funding to train government officials, develop national public awareness campaigns, and establish a shelter to assist victims of trafficking. Projects approved late in the reporting year must now be implemented by the government in collaboration with NGOs. The government should work with NGOs to increase public awareness and improve services for victims. It should also take greater steps to identify and prosecute trafficking crimes. Prosecution The government identified new trafficking cases and prosecuted traffickers in 2004, but the lack of data for previous years makes it unclear whether law enforcement efforts have increased or decreased. Paraguay's basic anti-trafficking statute and existing laws, if properly enforced, are adequate to address most forms of trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors. Trafficking-related statutes prescribe sentences to a maximum of ten years' imprisonment. The Attorney General named a prosecutor as the national coordinator of trafficking prosecutions. In December 2004, a court in Villarica issued six-year sentences to two Paraguayans for transnational trafficking of women to Spain. Three traffickers were convicted for internal trafficking in two additional cases, and authorities launched an investigation of three suspects involved in an internal trafficking ring that was engaged in sexually exploiting teenage girls in February 2005. The Attorney General's office was investigating at least four additional cases involving transnational trafficking for sexual exploitation and internal trafficking for sexual and domestic servitude. The government also requested extradition of a trafficking suspect from Spain in early 2005. The government requested donor assistance to develop and implement training programs for law enforcement and judicial officials. There were no specific reports linking government officials to trafficking or of corruption related to trafficking, but corruption remained a general problem overall. Protection Many victims did not receive government assistance during the reporting period, in large part due to resource constraints. The Secretariat for Repatriations took the lead in assisting Paraguayan victims of transnational trafficking; efforts focused on identifying nongovernmental sources to repatriate victims. The government assisted two repatriated victims who had been trafficked for sexual exploitation to file complaints against traffickers, but lacked the resources to run or fund shelters for trafficking victims; local police and municipal authorities in Asuncion and Ciudad del Este screened potential victims and referred them to NGOs. There was no explicit policy offering trafficking victims relief from deportation, but Paraguay did not deport any foreign victims. Prevention The government did little to prevent trafficking and undertook no public awareness campaigns over the last year. Anti-trafficking efforts included appointing a national coordinator, creating a National Plan, and coordinating development of future programs through a series of interagency round-table discussions. NGOs and some municipal authorities provided information to the public; however, their efforts were insufficient to raise general public awareness, particularly regarding the dangers posed by bogus job offers that lure children and young women into situations of sexual exploitation.
PERU (TIER 2) Republic of Peru The Republic of Peru is located in W South America and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean (W), by Ecuador and Colombia (N), by Brazil and Bolivia (E), and by Chile (S). Lima is its capital and largest city. Unemployment is high and poverty reduction strategies have not had sustainable results. Children continue to be the most vulnerable and unprotected citizens. Of the 3.8 million people living in extreme poverty, 2.1 million are children, with more than 60% of the under-18 population living below the poverty line. Peru is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked internally for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced domestic labor. Most victims are girls and young women moved internally from rural to urban areas or from city to city and forced or coerced into prostitution in nightclubs, bars, and brothels. Some victims are trafficked to cities for involuntary domestic servitude and some children are forced to beg. Narco-traffickers and terrorists hold rural families for forced agricultural labor in remote areas. Peruvians are trafficked for sexual exploitation to Western Europe, particularly Spain, and Japan, and for forced labor to neighboring countries such as Ecuador. Illegal migrants originate in and transit Peru; migrants use clandestine alien smuggling operations that increase their vulnerability to trafficking. The Government of Peru does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Government officials in 2004 stepped up efforts against the sexual exploitation of children and worked with NGOs to educate officials and the public on the dangers of trafficking. The government should vigorously pursue prosecutions of trafficking-related crimes, increase protections for victims, develop better data collection and law enforcement training, work with NGOs to warn potential victims, and expand efforts to cooperate with destination countries. Prosecution Peru improved its law enforcement efforts against trafficking over the last year but needs to ensure that trafficking-related arrests result in prosecutions. The government does not have a comprehensive law against trafficking, but the penal code covers trafficking-related crimes such as slavery, pimping, sexual exploitation of children, and forced labor. In May 2004, a new law increased penalties for sexual exploitation of children. The government continued efforts to stop sexual exploitation of minors but the slow legal system resulted in a lack of convictions and only one prosecution is ongoing. Authorities investigated three cases of trafficking of Peruvian women to Japan and Africa for sexual exploitation; two of the cases remain pending. A joint operation with Ecuador disrupted a network moving forced laborers from Peru to Ecuador. Law enforcement officers conducted hundreds of raids of brothels, hotels, bars, and restaurants in Lima and six other regions to interdict commercial sexual exploitation of children. In the Lima region alone, police removed 81 underage victims from raided premises. Nationwide, police arrested dozens of pimps, of which 18 were held for trial. There was no evidence of government involvement in trafficking, but individual officials were suspected of tolerating underage sexual exploitation through prostitution, unregulated brothels, and migrant smuggling. Protection The government lacked the resources to provide adequate protection for trafficking victims over the last year. Legal assistance was almost nonexistent; the general lack of witness protection for victims of crime applied to trafficking victims as well and discouraged victim participation in prosecutions. The government funded repatriation for four Peruvian victims and developed procedural guides for police on handling trafficking victims. Law enforcement officers referred some victims to domestic violence shelters; no shelters exist specifically for trafficking victims. Authorities typically returned underage victims to their families or referred them to NGOs; adult victims were interviewed and released. The government provided some support for NGOs assisting trafficking victims. Prevention The government relied largely on NGO efforts and international assistance to educate the Peruvian public about trafficking over the last year. The Ministry for Foreign Relations launched a campaign about the dangers of transnational trafficking and an annual anti-trafficking course for consular officials. The Ministry of Commerce and Tourism initiated an anti-trafficking campaign. Government ministries also hosted major public conferences with NGOs and coordinated with NGOs on drafting legislative improvements.
THE PHILIPPINES (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Republic of the Philippines The Republic of the Philippines is located in the SW Pacific, in the Malay Archipelago off the SE Asia mainland. Manila, on Luzon, is the capital, the largest city, and the heart of the country. The Government of the Philippines is making significant progress in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The legislative framework of the Convention is largely in place, and its implementation is strengthened by a civil society that is highly protective of human rights. The Philippines is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Philippine women are often lured abroad with false promises of legitimate employment and are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to destinations throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America. A significant number of the 71,084 Philippine women who entered Japan as overseas performing artists in 2004 are believed to have been women trafficked into the sex trade. Philippine men and women who go overseas to work in domestic service and the construction and garment industries often face exploitative conditions that meet the definition of involuntary servitude - a severe form of trafficking in persons. To a lesser extent, the Philippines is a transit point and destination for women from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) who are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Within the Philippines, there is internal trafficking from rural to urban metropolitan areas and sexual exploitation of children. Endemic poverty, a high unemployment rate, a cultural propensity towards migration, a weak rule-of-law environment, and sex tourism all contribute to significant trafficking activity in the Philippines. The Government of the Philippines does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Although the Philippines remains a strong proponent of anti-trafficking measures in the context of international organizations, more progress in its law enforcement efforts is needed. The Philippines' placement on Tier 2 Watch List is due to its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to convict traffickers. The government made modestly better efforts to implement its anti-trafficking law, dedicating four state prosecutors to focus on trafficking-related cases and providing training to law enforcement officials on the anti-trafficking law. The Philippine Government should take immediate corrective action by arresting, prosecuting, and convicting traffickers and any public officials found to be involved in trafficking. The government also needs to make greater efforts to address allegations of corruption and fraud regarding the issuance of documents to facilitate the recruitment of Philippine entertainers to Japan, a process that traffickers exploit. Prosecution During the reporting period, the Philippine Government made increasing efforts to implement its anti-trafficking law; the number of trafficking-related prosecutions under the anti-trafficking law remained low, although there were other prosecutions under legislation related to child abuse and illegal recruitment. There were no reported convictions under the anti-trafficking law of 2003. The government dedicated four state prosecutors to focus on trafficking-related cases and provided training to law enforcement officials on the anti-trafficking law. Currently, there are 28 cases under investigation. The Department of Justice is prosecuting at least 15 cases under the anti-trafficking law and other statutes related to child abuse and illegal recruitment. Corruption and a weak judiciary remain serious impediments to the effective prosecution of traffickers. Despite widespread allegations of law enforcement officials' complicity in trafficking, the government reported no prosecutions of trafficking-related corruption. Protection The Philippine Government continued to sponsor impressive protection efforts for trafficking victims in 2004. The anti-trafficking law passed in 2003 recognizes trafficked persons as victims and does not penalize them. Despite limited resources, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continued to provide a range of protective services, including temporary residency status, relief from deportation, shelter, and access to legal, medical, and counseling services. With assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the DSWD also established arrangements with NGOs in destination countries to provide overseas Philippine workers who had been exploited with temporary shelter, counseling, and medical assistance. The government also provided additional protective services, including telephone hotlines for reporting cases of abused/exploited women and children. The Philippine Government increased its efforts to train law enforcement officials and consular officials in all of its embassies to deal with trafficking victims. Prevention The government continued modest efforts to raise awareness of trafficking. Senior government officials frequently spoke out about the dangers of trafficking. Fourteen government agencies also coordinate the government's anti-trafficking efforts, much of which is prevention-oriented. The Philippine Government's information campaign on overseas employment resulted in a decline in illegal recruitment and recruitment violations. The government has a national action plan to address trafficking in persons.
POLAND (TIER 1) Republic of Poland The Republic of Poland is located in central Europe and is bordered by Germany (W), by the Baltic Sea and the Kaliningrad region of Russia (N), on Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine (E), and by the Czech Republic and Slovakia (S). Warsaw is its capital and largest city. Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of economic liberalization throughout the 1990s and today stands out as a success story among transition economies. Even so, much remains to be done, especially in bringing down unemployment. Poland is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked to Western Europe, Israel, and Japan primarily for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Some internal trafficking also occurs. Persons trafficked to and through Poland originate from eastern and southeastern countries, primarily Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, and Moldova. Ukraine continued to serve as the largest source of persons trafficked through Poland, while fewer Russian victims transited Poland. During 2004, there was a small but growing percentage of victims in Poland forced to work in agricultural settings, sweatshops, or begging. The Government of Poland fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Poland continued to show progress, particularly in the area of prevention. The government should adopt pending legislation to provide for greater victim protection in order to avoid deporting potential trafficking victims who risk being re-trafficked and to impose greater sentences on traffickers. Prosecution While trafficking investigations and prosecutions decreased in 2004, conviction statistics remained similar to the previous reporting period. The decrease is likely the result of a shift in focus from pursuing prostitution-related charges to more complex trafficking prosecutions that may result in longer sentences. The Polish Criminal Code prohibits trafficking for the purposes of both sexual and non-sexual exploitation with sufficiently severe penalties. In 2004, the courts prosecuted 18 of 39 traffickers arrested. The most recent conviction statistics, from 2003, indicate that the government convicted 147 traffickers under forced prostitution charges and five traffickers under human slavery charges. Of the 152 convicted, only 36 received a non-suspended prison sentence. Approximately 100 officers received special training in 2004 in trafficking identification and victim assistance. Additionally, all incoming police receive basic trafficking awareness instruction. The police participated in bilateral Czech, German, and Swedish police task forces that sought to share information, track the movement of traffickers and victims across borders, and coordinate repatriations and casework. While there were no reported cases of law enforcement officials punished for traffickingrelated corruption, unconfirmed reports noted that some local police took bribes to ignore known trafficking activity. Protection Poland's legal framework to protect victims of trafficking remained unchanged during the reporting period. Eight foreign victims stayed in Poland in 2004 to assist in the investigations of their traffickers; two of these individuals received police protection. Trafficking victims, when identified, were typically referred to the nearest assistance point within Poland. Due in part to a lack of formal screening procedures, enforcement authorities continued to deport some potential victims. NGO and government sources reported that increased training has improved law enforcement responses. The government allocated a small amount of funding to an NGO providing victim assistance. Local governments also partially funded shelters and NGOs fighting trafficking. Consular officials in Polish embassies abroad received regular training on helping Polish nationals who were trafficked abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs helped repatriate 100 to 150 Polish victims in 2004. Prevention The Polish Government in 2004 launched new programs aimed at preventing trafficking in persons. The Ministry of Education in early 2004 trained 40 teachers to teach human rights including trafficking. It altered the national fourth, fifth, and sixth grade curricula to incorporate instruction on protection against trafficking, and the national high school curriculum to include sections on the dangers of trafficking and prostitution. The Polish police distributed 8,000 leaflets on trafficking and prostitution in locales frequented by individuals in prostitution and those who buy sex. Eleven Polish Government agencies were actively involved in coordinating Poland's anti-trafficking policies and programs. The interagency anti-trafficking working group approved a draft 2005 National Action Plan for Combating Trafficking to update the 2003 National Action Plan; the new plan awaits ministerial approval.
PORTUGAL (TIER 1) Portuguese Republic (Portugal) The Portuguese Republic is located in SW Europe on the western side of the Iberian Peninsula and includes the Madeira Islands and the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal is bordered by Spain (E & N) and by the Atlantic Ocean (W & S). Its capital and largest city is Lisbon. Economic growth had been above the EU average for much of the 1990s, but fell back in 2001-04. GDP per capita stands at twothirds that of the Big Four EU economies. A poor educational system, in particular, has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth. Portugal is a country of destination for women, men, and children trafficked from Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Romania, and Brazil for the purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labor and begging. Portugal is also sometimes used as a transit point for victims en route to other European countries. The Government of Portugal fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Although the government did not provide full data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, the Secretary of State has determined that it has made a good faith effort to do so. In January 2004, the government established an anti-trafficking task force to ensure coordination and communication among relevant government bodies and NGOs. The government should take steps to ensure that all anti-trafficking efforts are documented through this task force. The Portuguese Immigration Service (SEF) established a new unit to compile traffickingrelated statistics; the government should ensure that the new unit and task force actively coordinate to produce data that are complete and comprehensive. The government should also build deeper relationships with relevant NGOs to increase coordination and victim identification and to obtain more information on the nature and extent of the problem in Portugal. Prosecution Police agencies and the SEF actively implemented Portugal's anti-trafficking legislation, investigating and prosecuting trafficking-related cases throughout the year. The government reportedly initiated 408 investigations and 248 prosecutions. These numbers relate to the full range of immigration crimes, an undetermined percentage of which are trafficking related. Prison sentences ranged from 18 months to 15 years; many were in the 11 to 15 year range. Following the investigation of a major prostitution ring involving Brazilian women, a bar owner was found guilty of commercial sexual exploitation and sentenced to seven years in prison. As a result of this highly publicized case, many other bars in the city closed down due to lack of customers. On October 28, 2004, the government signed a bill expanding the definition of trafficking that will extend liability to other entities and companies, beyond the individual trafficker. Protection The government opened up two National Immigrant Support Centers in March and April 2004 that are providing immigrants, including trafficking victims, with multi-lingual information and assistance, including a telephone hotline. The government continued to refer victims to receive protection, shelter, employment, education, and access to services, including family reunification. According to the Portuguese Association for Victims Support, 20 trafficking victims were assisted in 2004. Throughout the reporting period, victims were directed to immigrant support centers or temporary shelters. Some were provided residency status; others were repatriated. Prevention The government continued its practice of placing immigration liaison officers in source countries and established a new land border entry point with Spain. It also continued to conduct information campaigns aimed at the general public and targeted campaigns toward vulnerable populations in Portugal and source countries. As a result of the local media's extensive coverage of an orphanage child abuse case involving prostitution, public awareness of trafficking-related sexual exploitation has increased during the last year.
QATAR (TIER 3) State of Qatar The State of Qatar is an independent emirate located in E Arabia, coextensive with the Qatar peninsula, which projects into the Persian Gulf. Its capital and largest city is Doha. Oil and gas account for more than 55% of GDP and long-term goals feature the development of offshore natural gas reserves to offset the ultimate decline in oil production. In recent years, Qatar has consistently posted trade surpluses largely because of high oil prices and increased natural gas exports, becoming one of the world's fastest growing and highest per-capita income countries. The modernization process has placed great stress on tribal identities, as well as family, religious, linguistic and ethnic loyalties. Qatar is a destination country for men and women trafficked for the purpose of labor exploitation and young boys trafficked for the purpose of exploitation as camel jockeys. Women and men who work as domestic servants, some of whom fall victim to involuntary servitude, come largely from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Male laborers, some of whom become trafficking victims, come from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Jordan, and Syria. Children trafficked to Qatar for exploitation as camel jockeys come primarily from South Asia and Sudan. Some foreign workers suffer conditions of exploitation - such as excessive hours, late or nonpayment of wages, physical and sexual abuse, and withholding of passports - that constitute involuntary servitude, a severe form of trafficking. Child camel jockeys are overworked, malnourished, and physically abused. Some have been thrown from the camels they rode and suffered serious neurological damages. Most no longer remember where they came from. The Government of Qatar does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. During the rating period, the government failed to show evidence of significant efforts to combat identified severe forms of trafficking on the three fronts of prosecution, protection, and prevention. A 2003 National Action Plan remains unimplemented. The Government of Qatar does not collect statistics on persons trafficked into the country, making it difficult to assess its efforts to combat the problem. According to official diplomatic sources and NGOs, there have been no rescues of the estimated 75-250 child camel jockeys, nor have there been any prosecutions of the traffickers behind the trafficking of camel jockeys. Some government officials own the camels participating in the races in which young boys are used as camel jockeys. The government provides no shelter for trafficking victims; instead, it detains and punishes trafficking victims for immigration violations. The government needs to enact and enforce a comprehensive trafficking law that criminalizes all forms of trafficking and provides for protection of trafficking victims. The government should institute a formal system to identify, care for, and repatriate these victims, including domestic workers and child camel jockeys. The government should also take much stronger steps to investigate, prosecute, and convict those responsible for trafficking crimes. Prosecution During the reporting period, the Government of Qatar took negligible steps to investigate, prosecute, and punish traffickers. There is no law banning the trafficking and exploitation of children as camel jockeys. Although other laws, such as the criminal law that makes employment of children under age 16 illegal, could be used to prosecute trafficking-related crimes, Qatar has not used them effectively. The Government of Qatar handled two criminal cases against trafficking in 2004. In the first case, an Indonesian housemaid was beaten by her sponsors; the sponsors admitted guilt and are now in detention while the case remains under investigation. In the second case, a Qatari employer was convicted of burning an Indian housemaid to death, sentenced to three years' imprisonment, and fined the equivalent of $17 - inadequate penalties for a serious trafficking-related crime. Qatar's anti-trafficking Implementation Committee reportedly sponsored training for judges on prosecution of trafficking-related offenses. Protection The Government of Qatar provides minimal protection to victims of trafficking. There are no shelters to help victims. The government incarcerates runaway foreign trafficking victims at its detention facilities and attempts to resolve labor-related disputes through mediation. In cases where abuses are proven, the government allows victims to change employers. However, no measure is taken to investigate, prosecute, and punish physical and sexual abuse of victims. In one instance, a Philippine housemaid was arrested while filing a complaint against her employer for non-payment of five years of wages, after the employer charged that she had absconded and was working for another employer. Prevention In 2004, the Government of Qatar did little to prevent trafficking and trafficking-related offenses. The government cooperated with the quasi-independent National Human Rights Committee and the Qatari Foundation for Women and Children Protection (QFWCP), which did some work to promote the rights of victims. In 2003, the government established a National Plan to address trafficking in persons, including increasing public awareness of trafficking, providing information on trafficking at national entry points, establishing an effective hotline for filing complaints, and ending the camel jockey problem. The plan also called for the training of judges on trafficking issues; the government held a workshop to that end. Most elements of the plan, however, have not been implemented. For example, the position of prosecutor for trafficking issues was created, but no appointment was made. The QFWCP advertised through local papers the establishment of a hotline for filing complaints; however, reports indicate that calls to the hotline are not answered.
ROMANIA (TIER 2) Romania Romania is located in SE Europe and is bordered by Hungary (NW), by Serbia and Montenegro (SW), by Bulgaria (S), by the Black Sea (SE), by Moldova (NE), and by Ukraine (N). Bucharest is its capital and largest city. The process of social restructuring has been transforming Romania society at all levels, from civil society at large to individual families. Children and women are among the most vulnerable groups in terms of hardship experienced since transition. Romania is a source and transit country for persons trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor, including in organized begging rings, to Balkan countries and the EU - particularly Spain, France, and Italy. Persons trafficked through Romania generally originate in Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia. In 2004, a number of Romanian women traveled to Canada on temporary employment visas to work as exotic dancers; anecdotal evidence suggests that organized crime figures forced some of these women into prostitution after their arrival in Canada. Concerns remained about Romanian street children and their vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking. The Government of Romania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government made progress in establishing shelters for trafficking victims and convicting traffickers. Corruption among law enforcement authorities remained a serious problem; the government took actions to address it. With continued improvement in the area of victim protection, Romania has laid the groundwork for greater success in its efforts to combat trafficking. Prosecution The Romanian Government significantly increased trafficking convictions and sentences in 2004. Authorities convicted 103 traffickers, up from 49 in 2003. Of those convicted in 2004, 34 received prison sentences of five to ten years, and 49 received sentences of one to five years. Romania's anti-trafficking legislation specifically covers trafficking for the purposes of both sexual and non-sexual exploitation and provides for appropriate penalties. The government created a national network of 52 judges specialized in trafficking cases, one for each tribunal and court of appeal. In December 2004, the government reorganized the border police and established special units for fighting trafficking and illegal migration. In 2004, Romania's lead police anti-corruption agency investigated 81 police officials implicated in trafficking-related corruption; authorities imposed administrative sanctions on 31 officials, dismissed ten officials, and sent 40 cases forward for prosecution. Additionally, the Anti-Corruption National Prosecutor's Office reviewed a total of ten cases of suspected trafficking-related corruption in 2004. The Romanian Government continued to host the headquarters for the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) and actively participate in SECI anti-trafficking operations, to include "Mirage 2004", and conducted joint anti-trafficking investigations with Spain and the Czech Republic. Protection The government's victim protection efforts improved in 2004. The government opened five of nine trafficking shelters required by law, compared with two opened in 2003. Additionally, the government funded a local NGO's opening of ten shelters for unaccompanied repatriated children which have already assisted 32 trafficked children. The Ministry of Administration and Interior provided security at Bucharest's nongovernment-run shelter that assisted 100 victims throughout 2004. While victims are entitled to shelter, legal, psychological, and social assistance by law, overall Romanian funding for NGOs that assist trafficking victims remained low. NGOs reported good cooperation with law enforcement, although Romania's new victim referral system did not comprehensively identify and refer all returning trafficking victims. Romanian embassies abroad assisted in the repatriation of 350 trafficking victims. Prevention The Ministry of Education and Research initiated a new course in 2004 as part of the national curriculum for primary and secondary school students that contained trafficking themes; it reached a total of 200 teachers and 6,000 students. The Romanian police and a local NGO jointly produced a television campaign entitled, "Watch Out for the Traps of Traffickers." In 2004, the government monitored employment agency advertisements for any fraudulent or deceptive offers that might lead to trafficking. Legislation adopted in 2004 improves anti-trafficking protection of minors and provides protections for victims of all crimes, including trafficking. In 2004, the government approved a National Action Plan to prevent and combat trafficking in children. The police opened in June 2004 the Trafficking Resources Center to centralize the collection of country-wide trafficking data.
RUSSIA (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Russian Federation (Russia) The Russian Federation extends over 6,591,100 sq mi (17,070,949 sq km) and is bounded by Norway and Finland (NW); by Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Ukraine (W); by Georgia and Azerbaijan (SW); and by Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China along the southern land border. The Kaliningrad Region is an exclave on the Baltic Sea bordered by Lithuania and Poland. Moscow is the capital and largest city. While there have been positive economic trends in Russia, the benefits are slow to filter down to ordinary people. Wages are low, inequality continues to rise and poverty is at significant levels, particularly among families with children or singleparent families. Social welfare benefits are being progressively eroded and the informal privatization of education and health services continues. Russia is a major source of women trafficked globally for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Russia is also a significant destination and transit country for persons trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation from regional and neighboring countries into Russia, and on to the Gulf states, Europe, Asia, and North America. The ILO estimates that 20 percent of the five million illegal immigrants in Russia are victims of forced labor, which is a form of trafficking. There were reports of trafficking of children and of child sex tourism in Russia. Internal trafficking from rural to urban areas remained a problem. The Government of Russia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Russia is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking, particularly in the area of victim protection and assistance. A new general witness protection program may improve care of trafficking victims who participate in an investigation or protection. While the central government sustained its commitment and recognition to address trafficking, more remains to be done. The government made particular progress in the area of enforcement, increasing investigations and prosecutions under the new amendments to the Criminal Code. It took important preliminary steps to raise awareness among law enforcement and the public through a national training program and development of a training manual. However, the government must develop mechanisms to protect Russian and foreign trafficking victims immediately, administer its new witness protection legislation, and target public awareness programs at potential victims, particularly regarding recruitment scams inherent in employment ads throughout Russia. Moreover, the government should intensify its efforts to work with the NGO community in Russia. The government should continue to actively prosecute and sentence traffickers. It should also identify and address trafficking complicity of public officials. Specialized targeted training for law enforcement is essential to ensure that police are armed with the proper investigative tools to implement anti-trafficking statutes and the new witness protection legislation. Prosecution The central government took visible efforts to improve Russia's law enforcement response to trafficking over the last year with its implementation of the 2003 anti-trafficking amendments to the criminal code. In January 2005, President Putin signed additional legislative amendments to the criminal code punishing the organization of illegal entry and transit of aliens into and through Russia. Investigators increased their application of new anti-trafficking tools, but few convictions were reported. In 2004, the government investigated 26 cases under the new anti-trafficking provisions of the criminal code, eight of which were cases of labor trafficking. A total of 11 cases were successfully referred for prosecution. The government continued to bring charges against traffickers using older code provisions. In May 2004, the government convicted and sentenced two Ukrainian men to eight and ten years for trafficking in girls for sexual exploitation. Official corruption continued to facilitate and protect the operation of criminal trafficking networks. The government reported two trafficking-related corruption cases pending before the Russian courts. In September 2004, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) co-sponsored a regional anti-trafficking coordination conference for specialized anti-trafficking units of law enforcement agencies of neighboring countries. The government developed an anti-trafficking training manual analyzing current laws and procedures; a field manual was under development and was shared with Russian law enforcement and neighboring countries. The government actively cooperated in transnational law enforcement investigations with other countries. In June 2004, the Interior Minister announced the arrest of five individuals involved in a ring trafficking young women to the United States and Asia. The MVD rescued 72 victims and confiscated a large amount of criminal proceeds from the ring. In January 2005, the MVD publicly announced the creation of specialized anti-trafficking units throughout Russia. These units cooperated with Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and numerous other countries on trafficking investigations and prosecutions.
Protection The Russian Government's protection and assistance for victims of trafficking remained weak throughout the reporting period; however, in August 2004, it supplemented its 2003 anti-trafficking amendments with the passage of witness protection legislation, which became effective in January 2005. This well-funded legislation could potentially allow shelter and protection for trafficking victims who are witnesses in an investigation or prosecution. The statute includes rights to employment and collection of damages. Regrettably, the Duma failed to pass comprehensive victim protection, and assistance legislation needed to address the broader issues of prevention, protection and rehabilitation for foreign victims and victims not party to an investigation. As a result, the government has yet to support or establish shelters specifically for trafficking victims. While the central government did not institute a formalized screening referral process, IOM reported that the MVD solicited repatriation assistance for illegal migrants, including some trafficking victims. In addition, one regional government collaborated with an anti-trafficking NGO to develop a referral procedure for victims in Yaroslavl. While a prosecutor or investigator in a trafficking case may permit a foreign victim to remain in Russia during a pending criminal case, Russian law afforded no specific status to assist or protect foreign victims of trafficking; their involuntary deportation remained a problem. Currently, additional legislation is pending to address some of these critical deficiencies; future passage of the law, however, remained uncertain. The need to assist victims and provide them with legal status remained paramount. Prevention Senior government officials continued to highlight the trafficking issue in the media during the last year; they also participated in anti-trafficking seminars. In November 2004, in front of the Russian Duma and again in February 2005, the central government hosted two regional anti-trafficking conferences to develop public awareness, consider draft legislation, and encourage closer cooperation between the MVD and NGOs. The events received widespread media attention. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs placed detailed warnings on its consular affairs website for potential victims. The government did not have a formal trafficking coordination body, but coordination of anti-trafficking policies and programs took place primarily through the Duma Legislative Working Group. The Duma began drafting a comprehensive report on the nature and scope of trafficking in Russia and the means to address it. NGOs and international organizations continued to conduct virtually all targeted prevention programs for victims; however, they reported increasingly good relations with the government and actively participated in the Duma anti-trafficking working group. Some local NGOs reported they received operational support from local officials, and many reported they provided anti-trafficking training to local government and police.
RWANDA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of Rwanda The Republic of Rwanda is located in E central Africa and is bordered by Congo (Kinshasa) (W), by Uganda (N), by Tanzania (E), and by Burundi (S). Kigali is its capital and largest town. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa. It is landlocked, has few natural resources, and minimal industry. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base, severely impoverishing the population, eroding the country's human resource base, and destroying much of the countries infrastructure. Rwanda is recovering and has made social and economic progress. Administrative, judicial and economic infrastructures have been rehabilitated and the economy has stabilized and is growing due to sound macroeconomic policies and substantial support from donors. Rwanda is a source country for children internally trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Small numbers of impoverished Rwandan children, typically between the ages of 14 and 18, are exploited by loosely organized prostitution networks. In addition, some children of Rwandan background have been trafficked over the past decade for forced labor and child soldiering within Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.). In the mid-1990s, many Rwandan children living in refugee camps in D.R.C. became separated from their families after these camps were destroyed. Some of these children, surviving on their own in conflict-prone, militia-controlled territories, fell prey to recruitment, both forcible and voluntary, by various armed rebel groups. Over 200 former child soldiers have been returned to Rwanda from D.R.C. and demobilized; the government expects more to be repatriated in the future. The Rwanda Defense Forces do not recruit child soldiers, and explicitly condemn this practice. The Government of Rwanda does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Rwanda has been placed on Tier 2 Watch List for not providing evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year. The government should take further steps to provide care for children exploited in prostitution, as well as vigorously investigate and prosecute traffickers. Prosecution The government's trafficking-related law enforcement efforts were minimal during the reporting period. Rwanda has no law specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons, but traffickers could be prosecuted under laws against slavery, forced prostitution, kidnapping, and child labor. Government prosecutors did not provide statistics on individuals prosecuted under these laws during the reporting period. The parliament adopted significant judicial reforms in July 2004, and restructured Rwandan courts began functioning in September 2004. These reforms created "child issues courts," but they are not yet operational. During the year, the Rwandan National Police offered specialized training in recognizing trafficking, particularly trafficking involving children, to 185 police cadets. Protection The government provided limited protective services to victims of trafficking over the last year. In January 2004, the government's National Demobilization Commission opened a residential demobilization center to prepare child soldiers returning from Rwandan rebel groups in D.R.C. for reintegration into their home communities. During the year, 122 boys received three months of rehabilitation, including counseling, medical screening, mediation with their families, clothing, and schooling, and were returned to their families in May 2004. A second group of 87 children has been provided the same services and is scheduled for graduation in May 2005. The government financed no protective services for children exploited in prostitution, but 50 children in prostitution received health care and vocational training through the government's partnership with a local NGO. The Ministry of Gender also provided expertise and trainers to the NGO to assist in developing educational materials on responding to children in prostitution. Prevention There are no government-run information campaigns specifically on trafficking, although the government ran campaigns to educate people about sexual violence against children, including condemnations of those individuals that solicit prostitutes. In January 2005, the Ministry of Labor held the first meeting of the Child Labor Forum, which includes relevant government ministries and donors, and seeks to address the serious problems of child labor faced by the country, including children engaged in prostitution. The Ministry of Education's program for street children returned 900 children to primary school and provided 45 children with job skill training. The Ministry of Gender conducted a variety of public education programs (including workshops, seminars, and radio broadcasts) related to the protection of women and children from sexual and gender-based discrimination and violence; government officials trained an estimated 24,000 women and children in Rwanda's provinces. Approximately 250 judges and 200 police officers received training from the Ministry of Gender on the new judicial reforms.
SAUDI ARABIA (TIER 3) Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia extends over most of the Arabian peninsula and is bounded by the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea (W); by the Persian Gulf, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (E); by Yemen and Oman (S); and by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait (N). Riyadh is its capital and largest city. Saudi Arabia possesses 25% of the world's proven petroleum reserves, ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC. Roughly five and a half million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, for example, in the oil and service sectors. Priorities for government spending in the short term include additional funds for education and for the water and sewage systems. Economic reforms proceed cautiously because of deep-rooted political and social conservatism. Saudi Arabia is a destination for men and women from South and East Asia and East Africa trafficked for the purpose of labor exploitation, and for children from Yemen, Afghanistan, and Africa trafficking for forced begging. Hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Kenya migrate voluntarily to Saudi Arabia; some fall into conditions of involuntary servitude, suffering from physical and sexual abuse, non-payment or delayed payment of wages, the withholding of travel documents, restrictions on their freedom of movement and non-consensual contract alterations The Government of Saudi Arabia does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Saudi Arabia has moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3 because of its lack of progress in anti-trafficking efforts, particularly its failure to protect victims and prosecute those guilty of involuntary servitude. Despite reports of trafficking and abuses of domestic and other unskilled workers and children, there is evidence of only one Saudi Government prosecution of a Saudi employer for a trafficking-related offense during the reporting period. Some victims of abuse, due to procedural hurdles, choose to leave the country rather than confront their abusers in court. They are required first to file a complaint with the police before they are allowed access to shelters. The government offers no legal aid to foreign victims and does not otherwise assist them in using the Saudi criminal justice system to bring their exploiters to justice. If a victim chooses to file a complaint, he or she is not allowed to work. The Saudi Government does, however, provide food and shelter for female workers who file complaints or run away from their employers. Criminal cases are adjudicated under Sharia law, and there is no evidence trafficking victims are accorded legal assistance before and during Sharia legal proceedings. The government should consider adopting comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation that would punish traffickers, provide for the protection of victims, and facilitate prevention programs. It should also collect and disseminate data on prosecution and mediation efforts, prosecute aggressively cases of physical and sexual abuse using available criminal laws, and increase its efforts to prevent and investigate the trafficking of children for forced begging. Prosecution There is limited evidence indicating that the government has this year improved its prosecution efforts over last year. Saudi Arabia lacks laws criminalizing most trafficking offenses. Most abuses involving foreign workers are dealt with by Islamic law, royal decrees, and ministerial resolutions; few are submitted to criminal prosecution. Domestic workers, which comprise a significant portion of the foreign workforce, are excluded from protection under Saudi labor laws. Most cases involving trafficking or abuse of foreign workers are settled out of court through mediation. In 2004, there were reports of Philippine female domestic workers raped; however, there were no reports of prosecutions. In 2004, the Ministry of Labor issued resolutions, among other things, prohibiting trading in work visas, employing and exploiting children, and recruiting for begging. It investigated some cases of abusive employers and instituted a tracking system. To date, 30 abusive employers have been barred from hiring workers. The government provides training for police officers to recognize and handle cases of foreign worker abuse. Protection The Saudi Government has not improved its efforts to protect victims of trafficking but continues to operate three shelters for abused female expatriate workers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. It also operates facilities for abandoned children, including trafficking victims, in Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. However, the government does not provide shelter to adult male workers. There are no NGOs working with trafficking victims. The government mediates disputes and alleged abuses of foreign workers - including complaints of a criminal nature - and seeks to return victims to their home countries without adequately investigating and prosecuting crimes committed against them. Prevention Saudi Arabia's limited efforts to prevent trafficking include: distributing information at embassies abroad, licensing and regulating the activities of recruitment agencies, monitoring immigration patterns and visa issuance, and promoting awareness through the media and religious authorities. The government has begun working with UNICEF and the Yemeni Government to prevent trafficking of children for begging. A plan envisioned several years ago to distribute information to foreign workers at Saudi Arabian airports upon arrival has not been implemented. Religious leaders have preached in mosques sermons about the evil of abusing employees.
SENEGAL (TIER 2) Republic of Senegal The Republic of Senegal is located in W Africa and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (W), by Mauritania (N), by Mali (E), and by Guinea and Guinea-Bissau (S). Its capital and largest city is Dakar. The Republic of The Gambia is an enclave (SW). Infant mortality and maternal mortality levels are moderate in Senegal and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is among the lowest in the region. However, immunization coverage has been declining in recent years and progress in education has been slow with only 75% of the children enrolled in primary school. Senegal is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Senegalese boys are occasionally trafficked from rural villages to urban centers for exploitative begging at some Koranic schools; young boys are trafficked to Senegal from The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, and Guinea for the same purpose. Young girls are trafficked from rural villages to urban centers for forced domestic servitude. Young girls from both rural and urban areas are also involved in organized prostitution involving pimps, which is a form of trafficking. Senegal may be a transit point for women from surrounding African countries trafficked to Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The Government of Senegal does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In 2004, the government demonstrated far greater political will and concrete efforts to combat trafficking. To sustain its anti-trafficking progress, the government should adopt the draft anti-trafficking bill and take steps to further sensitize the Senegalese population to what constitutes trafficking and how to avoid victimization. Prosecution The government's anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts dramatically improved during the reporting period. Although there is no law that specifically criminalizes human trafficking, which makes it difficult for police to conduct investigations or make arrests, the president's cabinet approved a comprehensive draft anti-trafficking bill in March 2005 that awaits passage by the National Assembly. During the year, the government arrested and punished a small number of trafficking victims under a law against prostitution by children under the age of 21; 72 children exploited in prostitution were arrested in 2004, 68 of whom were Senegalese and some of whom had pimps and were therefore trafficking victims. Also convicted were 54 pimps who were given prison sentences of up to ten years. Two Koranic teachers were arrested during the year for abusing children they were exploiting as beggars. One was sentenced to one month in prison and a fine; the other remains in detention. In 2004, Senegal signed a bilateral accord with Mali to fight child trafficking and began negotiating with other neighboring countries to sign similar accords. The Interior Ministry established a Special Commissariat to fight sex tourism and child prostitution in Dakar and Mbour. The Commissariat's new chief was named and the unit began work in March 2005. Protection The government provided a full range of protective services to victims during the period. In 2003, the government established, and continues to finance, the Ginddi Center for at-risk children. The Center provides services to victims, including medical treatment, family mediation and reconciliation, education, shelter, and meals. The Center received 1,832 children between May 2003 and December 2004, including 107 students fleeing abusive Koranic teachers. Pursuant to the government's bilateral agreement with Mali, the Ginddi Center housed trafficked Malian children awaiting repatriation; 50 were repatriated during the period at government expense. The Center's services also include a 24-hour toll-free child protection hotline; the hotline received 35,672 calls during the period. Prevention The government's efforts to prevent trafficking greatly improved during the last year. The President devoted a significant portion of his 2005 Independence Day address to trafficking and, in 2004, the Family Minister became the first government official to publicly call for tough measures against child traffickers. The Family Ministry held workshops and roundtables to fight child prostitution, begging and domestic work. In Mbour, for example, the government, with UNICEF and NGO assistance, held seminars to prevent young girls from entering prostitution. In 2004, this program sensitized 8,140 participants, 5,440 of them children, to the dangers of child involvement in prostitution. In a separate program, the Ministry collaborated with local religious leaders to improve conditions in 48 Koranic schools. The signing of the Senegal-Mali anti-trafficking accord received detailed press coverage and media reports of Koranic teachers arrested for abusing their students frequently appeared.
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO (AND KOSOVO) (TIER 2) Serbia-Montenegro (and Kosovo) The union of Serbia and Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia) formed a federal republic located in SE Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered by the Adriatic Sea, Bosnia and Hercegovina, and Croatia (W), by Hungary (N), by Romania and Bulgaria (E), and by Macedonia and Albania (S). Belgrade is the federal capital and largest city. The complexity of Serbia and Montenegro political relationships, slow progress in privatization, legal uncertainty over property rights, scarcity of foreign-investment and a substantial foreign trade deficit are holding back the economy, and severe unemployment remains a key political economic problem for this entire region. The union of Serbia and Montenegro is a source, transit, and destination country for women and girls trafficked internally and internationally for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Internal trafficking of ethnic Roma children for forced begging continues to be a problem. Victims identified in Serbia and Montenegro came from Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Moldova, Georgia, and from the former Yugoslavia. In Serbia, more than half of victims that are trafficked internally originate in the northern province of Vojvodina. Foreign destinations for victims from Serbia and Montenegro include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Western Europe (principally Italy), as well as the UN-administered province of Kosovo. The Governments of constituent republics Serbia and Montenegro, to which most authority has devolved, do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, they are making significant efforts to do so. The two republics do not have joint counter-trafficking institutions, but do conduct joint counter-trafficking activities occasionally on an ad hoc basis; this report consequently provides a separate analysis for each. The Tier 2 designation is based on the weighted aggregate of their efforts, which showed considerable, but unbalanced, progress. The Government of the Republic of Serbia made significant progress in providing anti-trafficking resources for law enforcement and created a new humanitarian visa for victims. However, the weak adjudication of trafficking cases, inefficiency of the judiciary, and inadequate victim protection hampered its anti-trafficking efforts. The government should pass witness protection legislation currently before parliament to formalize the current ad hoc victim safety efforts in court proceedings. The Republic of Montenegro made good faith efforts to improve its overall anti-trafficking performance from the previous year, increasing its anti-trafficking enforcement efforts and devoting more resources to combat the problem. The government should demonstrate increased implementation of its anti-trafficking laws and ensure full implementation of the recent memorandum of understanding between the government and NGOs governing the treatment and referral of possible victims. Because inconsistency in the administration of justice in trafficking cases continued, largely due to the individual discretion of judges and prosecutors, the government should conduct outreach with the judiciary to stress the importance of improving its record on trafficking prosecutions and convictions. THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA Prosecution In 2004, Serbia took important steps to increase its law enforcement capacity to combat trafficking. Serbia established two full-time police anti-trafficking units consisting of six officers within the organized crime police and nine officers within the border police. Over the reporting period, the police units increased trafficking investigations and victim identification. Police filed criminal charges for 24 investigations involving 51 suspects in 2004. Five trials were concluded during the reporting period and resulted in convictions of all 25 defendants. The majority of defendants continued to be released pending appeal, following standard judicial practice in Serbia. As of the end of the reporting period, the government was prosecuting one case involving ten defendants. The National Anti-trafficking Coordinator took proactive steps to counter poor statistics-keeping by the judiciary by ordering regional police secretariats to follow up with local prosecutors on all trafficking cases filed during the year. Overall, the judiciary failed to treat trafficking cases with the seriousness they deserved and in some cases did not demonstrate sufficient sensitivity to trafficking victims. There were no reports of official complicity in trafficking. Protection The Serbian Government increased its institutional ability to coordinate and provide victim protection during the reporting period. The Agency for the Coordination of Protection to Victims of Trafficking, established in March 2004, coordinated NGO and international organization provision of assistance and protection. Some NGOs indicated better cooperation with police on victim protection matters. Notably, in 2004 the Interior Minister established temporary residence permits for trafficking victims. Victims are allowed unconditional three-month recovery and reflection period, and given six months to one-year residency if they participate in an investigation or prosecution. A victim may also be granted one year's residency with no requirement for cooperation if returning to his or her home country would put the victim's life at risk. In some instances, victims were questioned by police and judges in front of their traffickers, who threatened them. Due to fear of traffickers and the government's informal, ad hoc approach to witness protection, many victims refuse to participate or cooperate in judicial proceedings.
Prevention The government's anti-trafficking prevention activities remained weak in 2004; NGOs continued to organize and fund the majority of Serbia's public information campaigns on the issue. The National Coordinator initiated and created a documentary on the government's anti-trafficking efforts that enjoyed wide viewership. In 2004, the Foreign Ministry of Serbia and Montenegro hosted a meeting for diplomats in source and destination countries to present protection mechanisms available for victims. The police participated in debates in schools as part of a joint NGO/IOM public awareness campaign that included spots in the media. The government adopted a plan for children in 2004 targeted at decreasing their vulnerability to trafficking. THE REPUBLIC OF MONTENEGRO Prosecution The Government of the Republic of Montenegro improved its support of police and enhanced its ability to conduct anti-trafficking operations in 2004. The police anti-trafficking team was re-established in April 2004 and subsequently submitted six cases to the judiciary resulting in charges against 18 perpetrators. At the end of the reporting period, five prosecutions involving 14 people were underway. The government increased its 2005 funding for the Office of the National Coordinator, who now works on trafficking full time. In April 2004, the Montenegrin Government adopted a new criminal procedure code that allows for enhanced surveillance techniques and mitigated punishment for cooperating suspects. While the government actively investigated cases of trafficking, Montenegro's judiciary remained weak; judges exhibited insufficient understanding of trafficking cases, allowed long delays in trafficking prosecutions, and imposed inadequate sentences upon conviction. There were no reports of official complicity in trafficking. Protection In October 2004, the Republic of Montenegro passed a witness protection law applicable to trafficking victims. The government provided space for a new trafficking shelter and allocated funding for the next year. The predominant anti-trafficking NGO reported good relations and coordination with the National Coordinator. A government commission investigating a controversial 2002 trafficking prosecution released its report in 2004. The report questioned the character of the trafficking victim who served as the prosecution's key witness, giving rise to allegations that the report was a cover-up of high-level corruption in the case. OSCE and Amnesty International sharply criticized the 2004 report. Montenegrin courts continued to show insensitivity to the needs of trafficking victims. Victims who were not identified by the police or prosecutor as victims could potentially be charged with prostitution or, if they were foreign nationals, be deported. The government did not report any deportations, but NGOs suggested that in many cases potential trafficking victims not properly identified were deported. Prevention The Montenegrin Government conducted some public awareness campaigns, mainly in schools, but efforts were constrained by limited funding; the government also participated in NGO sponsored programs. The Ministry of Interior Affairs worked to ensure local media coverage when the Minister spoke publicly about trafficking. Montenegro improved its coordination mechanisms in 2004 and established a subgroup on trafficking in children under the National Project Board. Moreover, the National Coordinator chaired a working group that was developing detailed action plans for each ministry to implement Montenegro's national strategy adopted in 2003. KOSOVO Kosovo, while technically a part of Serbia and Montenegro, continued to be administered under the authority of the United Nations Interim Administrative Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Since June 1999, UNMIK has provided transitional administration for Kosovo, and retains ultimate authority over anti-trafficking actors such as police and justice. UNMIK is aware of the trafficking problem in Kosovo and continued to conduct anti-trafficking efforts with the OSCE, the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), and local and international NGOs. Responsibility for social support to victims of trafficking is shared by UNMIK, PISG, and international organizations. Kosovo is a source, transit, and destination point, primarily for women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation and, to a lesser degree, domestic servitude. Internal trafficking continued to be an increasingly serious problem. In 2004, UNMIK's Trafficking and Prostitution Investigation Unit (TPIU) made 77 arrests, conducted 2,386 raids, and assisted 48 victims, 17 percent of whom were minors. The number of victims assisted in Kosovo consistently declined; this is believed to be due to increasingly sophisticated criminal networks reacting to anti-trafficking enforcement efforts and shifting the commercial sex trade out of public bars and into private homes. There are three shelters for trafficking victims in Kosovo. Weak sentencing for convicted traffickers and lack of adequate witness protection continued to be serious problems. Anti-trafficking awareness campaigns in 2004 were largely carried out by NGOs. In 2004, the Ministry of Education worked with one NGO to train teachers to incorporate trafficking into civics education curricula. UNMIK established a helpline for trafficking victims in 2004. The PISG is leading the effort to create a Kosovo Action Plan and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for assisting internal trafficking victims. SOPs for assisting foreign trafficking victims were implemented in 2004.
SIERRA LEONE (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of Sierra Leone The Republic of Sierra Leone is located in W Africa and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (W), by Guinea (N & E), and by Liberia (S). Freetown is its capital. After a bloody conflict Sierra Leone is experiencing a steady improvement in its security and political situation. Sierra Leone is an extremely poor African nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its economic and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. About two-thirds of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Sierra Leone is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. There are no reliable estimates of the scope and magnitude of trafficking in the country; however, anecdotal evidence indicates that women and children are trafficked internally to Freetown and from neighboring countries for involuntary domestic servitude, street labor, and commercial sexual exploitation. Children are trafficked from rural areas to Freetown with false promises that they will be sent to school, but instead are forced to work on the streets. There have also been reports of trafficking for debt bondage and sexual exploitation in the diamond mines in the interior of the country. Sierra Leonean victims are also trafficked to West Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The Government of Sierra Leone does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government is severely challenged by the lack of resources in the country to address trafficking and is still grappling with many competing needs since coming out of an 11-year civil war in 2002. However, despite lack of resources, the government has made meaningful efforts during the reporting period to address trafficking in the country. Sierra Leone is placed on Tier 2 Watch List based on the government's commitments to undertake future steps over the coming year. To further enhance its anti-trafficking efforts, the government should increase efforts to investigate and prosecute cases of trafficking, pass the anti-trafficking legislation currently pending in the Parliament, take strong action against corruption in the country, and continue prevention efforts currently underway. Prosecution During the year, the government's efforts to investigate, arrest, prosecute, and convict traffickers increased. The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) now host biweekly meetings of a newly created anti-trafficking task force and are working to better coordinate anti-trafficking measures throughout the country. Additionally, in 2004 the government convened a legislative working group and has drafted comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation. Legislative reforms and passage of the anti-trafficking law will increase the government's ability to arrest and convict traffickers, but law enforcement efforts will likely remain hampered by a lack of resources, personnel, and equipment. Despite the absence of an anti-trafficking law, the government opened trafficking-related investigations using other criminal ordinances and is currently working to convict one individual suspected of trafficking at least 47 children. The Office of National Security started compiling statistics of suspected human trafficking cases identified at the international airport; it identified 18 such cases in 2004. Sierra Leone lacks the capacity to sufficiently monitor its borders and official corruption is endemic and continues to impede anti-trafficking efforts. Protection The government remained unable to provide adequate protection and assistance to victims of trafficking during the reporting period. Efforts to protect victims were ad hoc amidst an absence of a formal policy for protecting trafficking victims. Limited care is available through the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs. However, there are no shelters in the country that specifically assist trafficking victims. Nonetheless, the government has good cooperation and coordination with international organizations and NGOs and has worked considerably in the reintegration of child soldiers. Recently, 50 SLP officers received antitrafficking training from an NGO, which included instruction on actions to be taken when encountering victims. Other law enforcement officials have benefited from training for trauma healing and sexual and gender-based violence conducted by NGOs and international organizations. Prevention The government is aware of the need to prevent trafficking and has made modest efforts to devise a national strategy, but much work still needs to be done, particularly in training government officials. The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) now hosts a joint antitrafficking action committee consisting of government and nongovernmental members. The committee has developed an anti-trafficking national plan, which will include a public awareness campaign. The government also, in cooperation with NGOs, sponsored an art exhibit, created by trafficking victims in a library and exhibition space in Freetown, which highlighted the issue. The SLP routinely uses the radio to speak out about the dangers of trafficking. Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs officials periodically travel throughout the country to educate women on trafficking. The government created a National Education Plan that will expand access to primary education, especially for girls and the rural poor.
SINGAPORE (TIER 2) Republic of Singapore The Republic of Singapore consists of the island of Singapore and about 60 small adjacent islands at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, SE Asia. Singapore city, the capital, largest city, and chief port, is administratively coextensive with the republic and the distinction between the two has virtually disappeared. Singapore has a highly developed and successful free market economy, enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of the Big 4 West European countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in electronics and manufacturing. Singapore is a destination country for a limited number of women and girls trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Some of the women and girls from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam who travel to Singapore voluntarily for prostitution or non-sexual work are deceived or coerced into sexual servitude in the city-state. A small minority of foreign domestic workers in Singapore face seriously abusive labor conditions that amount to involuntary servitude, a severe form of trafficking. The Government of Singapore does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. While Singapore has made improvements to its labor laws and regulations to address abuse of foreign domestic workers, it made limited progress in its efforts to combat trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Authorities in Singapore generally tolerate prostitution, which largely involves foreign women, a few of whom are trafficked. The government authorizes the operation of brothels in "traditional red-light districts" and does not criminalize the prostitution of adults and of 16 and 17 year-old minors. Pursuant to international protocols, the government should consider reforming its laws to criminalize the prostitution of 16 and 17 year-old children as a trafficking offense. The government should address child sex tourism by Singaporeans in foreign destinations, and do more to publicize the problem of trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation in these destinations, particularly Batam, Indonesia. Singapore should also consider adopting a comprehensive law, containing victim protection measures, for all forms of trafficking. Prosecution During the reporting period, the Singapore Government increased its efforts to curb abuses of foreign domestic workers. A small but significant number of Singapore's estimated 140,000 foreign domestic workers continued to experience abusive employment conditions that may amount to involuntary servitude, and the government vigorously prosecuted cases involving such allegations. Singapore does not have a consolidated anti-trafficking law, but its criminal code criminalizes all activities that fall under the UN definition of trafficking. Involuntary servitude is punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine, or both; wrongful confinement is punishable by up to nine years in prison, a fine, or both; slavery is punishable with up to ten years in prison, a fine, and caning. Laws against forced or coerced prostitution carry sentences of up to ten years' imprisonment. In 2004, there were no prosecutions reported for trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation; violators are often prosecuted under other statutes, such as those prohibiting third parties from living off the earnings of a prostitute. The government maintains effective border and immigration controls and there is no evidence that government officials are complicit in trafficking. Protection The government provided minimal assistance to trafficking victims in 2004. The government continued to lack a systematic procedure to identify trafficking victims among the foreign women detained for immigration or vice violations; there was no evidence of proactive screening during the detentions of over 4,600 foreign women for prostitution in 2004. The few victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation that are identified by authorities are generally referred to NGO shelters that offer counseling; foreign domestic workers who are victims of involuntary servitude or other abuse are referred to shelters run by their embassies or local NGOs, some of which provide legal assistance. The Singaporean Government, through the Ministry of Community Development, Youth, and Sports, provided counseling and health care for abused foreign domestic workers and victims of commercial sexual exploitation. There are no NGOs in Singapore that focus exclusively on trafficking, but there is one NGO devoted exclusively to helping women in prostitution, and victims often receive assistance from groups dedicated to helping abused women and children. There are several NGOs that assist foreign workers and seek the enactment of enhanced labor protections. The Ministry of Manpower continued to promote the welfare of foreign domestic workers by educating employees and employers on acceptable employment practices, establishing a hotline for foreign domestic workers, enhancing regulations, and undertaking a public outreach campaign on the rights and responsibilities of employers and foreign domestic workers. Prevention The Singaporean Government made efforts to raise awareness of trafficking. The government sought to improve awareness of the regulations protecting foreign domestic workers and the consequences of violating those laws, and has taken some steps to raise societal awareness of sex tourism by Singaporeans in an effort to curb demand. There were no specific anti-trafficking campaigns directed at the use of fraud or coercion to recruit foreign women as prostitutes. Singapore has no national action plan to address trafficking.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Slovak Republic (Slovakia) Slovakia or the Slovak Republic is located in central Europe and is bordered by the Czech Republic (W), by Austria (SW), by Hungary (S), by Ukraine (E), and by Poland (N). Bratislava is the capital. Slovakia became an independent nation on Jan. 1, 1993, when Czechoslovakia was dissolved. Despite its modern European economy and society, Slovakia has a significant rural element. About 45% of Slovaks live in villages of less than 5,000 people, and 14% in villages of less than 1,000. The Slovak Republic is a transit and, to a lesser extent, a source country for women and girls trafficked primarily to western and central European countries, as well as Japan, for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Victims from the former Soviet states (especially Moldova and Ukraine) and the Balkan region are trafficked through the Slovak Republic. A recent NGO study reported that Slovak Roma women are trafficked to Prague and Czech border towns. The Government of the Slovak Republic does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The Slovak Republic is placed on Tier 2 Watch List due to a lack of evidence of increasing efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking compared to the previous year. Government victim assistance and protection efforts as well as trafficking prevention programs remained inadequate. The Slovak Government formed an inter-ministerial expert working group on March 31, 2005, to develop a coordinated national action plan to combat trafficking; however, there has been insufficient time to gauge the working group's effectiveness. Prosecution Slovakia's anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts in 2004 were similar to those in 2003. The Slovak Government amended its criminal code to conform to international legal instruments by extending coverage to internal trafficking, as well as cross-border trafficking, for the purposes of both sexual and labor exploitation with sufficiently severe penalties. The government reported 27 trafficking-related investigations, 19 prosecutions, and six convictions of traffickers during 2004; it did not report on traffickingrelated sentences imposed. The police academy included trafficking awareness training in its curriculum. In 2004, Slovak law enforcement officials cooperated principally with German, Austrian, Czech, and Hungarian law enforcement authorities on trafficking investigations. Slovakia's specialized anti-trafficking unit noted that a lack of English-language ability among Slovak police officials somewhat limited joint investigations. The government reported no convictions of government officials for crimes related to trafficking in persons. Allegations persisted during the reporting period of corrupt activity among customs and border guards that may have facilitated trafficking. Protection The Slovak Republic continued to lag considerably in the area of victim protection, in part because of financial constraints. While Slovak legislation commendably provides for temporary residency status to victims who are willing to assist police prosecutions and enter a witness protection program, the government did not track whether any trafficking victims received this status. The government provided small grants to local organizations to assist and shelter trafficking victims, but overall, NGOs continued to report difficulties in obtaining funding to provide services to trafficking victims. As of July 2004, amendments to the Victim Assistance Law require police to give victims of crimes a list of NGOs in the region that provide assistance; however, few local police had any direct contact with these organizations. Slovakia lacked procedures for distinguishing trafficking victims from illegal immigrants. When a trafficking victim was identified, law enforcement officials respected the victim's rights. NGOs expressed concern that some of the thousands of asylum applicants no longer present at Slovak refugee facilities, especially Ukrainian and Moldovan women, may have been recruited by traffickers. Prevention The government continued to devote few resources to prevent trafficking during the reporting period. The Ministry of Labor provided a small grant to a local NGO to operate a trafficking awareness campaign in Roma settlements. The Ministry of Interior helped fund an NGO that operates Slovakia's crisis hotline, which worked with trafficking victims and fielded calls from Slovaks interested in working in foreign countries and wanting to avoid trafficking situations. In 2004, Slovakia had no coordinated national action plan to combat trafficking, although the government formed an inter-ministerial expert working group on March 31, 2005 to develop one. The Ministry of Interior was the only governmental entity that listed the prevention of trafficking within its mission goals.
SLOVENIA (TIER 2) Republic of Slovenia The Republic of Slovenia is bounded by Austria (N), Hungary (NE), Croatia (SE), and Italy (W). Ljubljana is its capital. Slovenia, with its historical ties to Western Europe, enjoys a GDP per capita substantially higher than that of the other transitioning economies of Central Europe. In March 2004, Slovenia became the first transition country to graduate from borrower status to donor partner at the World Bank. Slovenia is a transit and, to a lesser extent, a source and destination country for women and girls trafficked to or through Slovenia mainly from eastern and southeastern Europe (Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria) for the purpose of sexual exploitation. A small number of persons are trafficked from Slovenia to Western Europe, particularly Italy and the Netherlands. The Government of Slovenia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. While the government adopted a detailed National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, it has struggled to implement it due to budgetary pressures. Slovenian Government efforts to address trafficking have improved during the reporting period, but consistent budget support remains in flux. The government should continue to implement the National Action Plan and focus enforcement efforts on convicting traffickers under its new anti-trafficking legislation. Slovenian authorities should also continue to increase scrutiny of work permits and club licenses and conduct unannounced inspections of worksites where trafficking victims are believed present. Prosecution Slovenia's law enforcement efforts to prosecute traffickers during the last year appeared modest. The new anti-trafficking legislation that came into effect in May 2004 allows police to use methods of investigation, such as surveillance, due to the seriousness of the crime. Arresting officers had not been fully aware of the new law, but the Ministry of Interior has begun working with police to educate officers about the legislation. Slovenia's Penal Code specifically criminalizes trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labor with sufficiently severe penalties. Slovenian authorities reported nine trafficking-related investigations, one ongoing prosecution, and no convictions during the reporting period. The low number of cases reflects a relatively modest trafficking problem and law enforcement's adjustment to the new legislation. In January 2005, prosecutors received a three-day training session on trafficking. Slovenia actively participated in the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, the Southeastern European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), and Interpol efforts in fighting against trafficking in persons. Protection Slovenia improved its assistance to trafficking victims in 2004. Government funding sustained Slovenia's one shelter, run by an NGO. While the government planned to underwrite the shelter's operating costs in out years, budgetary constraints and a change of government have delayed future commitments. During 2004, the government-funded NGO assisted 25 trafficking victims, nine of whom received assistance at the shelter. Police referred trafficking victims rescued during raids or investigations to the shelter. Law enforcement did not treat victims as criminals, and the government provided victims protection from prosecution, temporary residency status, and social services. During the reporting period, Slovenia began a project to formalize mechanisms to provide information to those asylum-seekers in reception centers most at risk to falling prey to human traffickers. The project is jointly administered by the Ministry of Interior, local NGOs, and UNHCR; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working to expand and regionalize the project. During the reporting period, police drafted a law on witness protection, which is currently with the Ministry of Justice. Prevention The Government of Slovenia's prevention efforts improved over the last year. The interdepartmental working group to combat trafficking continued to meet on a regular basis and adopted a detailed National Action Plan in July 2004. Government officials and activists collaborated in the working group on anti-trafficking policies and programs. The government issues a publicly available report detailing its anti-trafficking efforts annually. During the reporting period, the Ministry of Labor and the Slovenian Institute for Employment agreed on stricter criteria for issuing work permits to dancers and waitresses. The government funded the Slovenian translation of a comprehensive survey on trafficking in the country. The government partially funded preventative workshops by a local NGO in raising trafficking awareness in elementary and secondary schools. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sponsored a project "Are we aware?" for Slovene politicians and government employees, a part of which included viewing the anti-trafficking film "Lilya 4-Ever".
SOMALIA [no tier rating] Somalia Somalia is located in extreme E Africa directly south of the Arabian peninsula across the Gulf of Aden. It comprises almost the entire African coast of the Gulf of Aden and a longer stretch on the Indian Ocean. It is bounded by Djibouti (NW), Ethiopia (W), Kenya (SW), and the Indian Ocean (S & E). Mogadishu is its capital. Somalia remains a fragmented country both politically and administratively. Despite continuing stabilization in the Northwest Zone of Somaliland and limited but encouraging progress in the Northeast Zone of Puntland, humanitarian personnel have faced varied and complex challenges. In the Central and Southern Zone in particular, insecurity prevailed. Key development indicators identify the situation in Somalia as one of the worst in the world. Somalia has been without a central government since 1991. Its geographic area is divided among the self-styled independent Republic of Somaliland, the Autonomous Puntland Administration, and the remainder of the country, which is without any recognizable administration or government. Despite the formation of a Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in October 2004, Somalia continues to be without a functioning central government. The TFG remains resident in Nairobi and lacks the necessary means to identify, investigate, or address the country's many issues, including those relating to trafficking in persons. The TFG's capacity to address human trafficking will not increase without tangible progress in reestablishing governance and stability in Somalia. Scope and Magnitude Somalia is a country of origin and destination for trafficked women and children. Armed militias reportedly traffic Somali women and children for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Some victims may be trafficked to the Middle East and Europe for forced labor or sexual exploitation. Trafficking networks are also reported to be involved in transporting child victims to South Africa for sexual exploitation. Government Efforts Individuals presenting themselves as political authorities within Somaliland and Puntland have expressed a commitment to address trafficking, but corruption and a lack of resources prevent the development of effective policies. Many of these individuals are known to condone human trafficking. In the absence of effective systems of revenue generation, as well as any legal means to collect resources and then distribute them for some common good, no resources are devoted to preventing trafficking or to victim protection across the majority of the Somali territory. Various forms of trafficking are prohibited under the most widespread interpretations of Sharia and customary law, but there is no unified policing in the territory to interdict these practices, nor any authoritative legal system within which traffickers could be prosecuted. Self-styled government officials are not trained to identify or assist trafficking victims. NGOs work with internally displaced persons, some of whom may be trafficking victims.
SOUTH AFRICA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of South Africa The Republic of South Africa occupies 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km) at the southern tip of Africa. It borders on the Atlantic Ocean (W), on Namibia (NW), on Botswana and Zimbabwe (N), on Mozambique and Swaziland (NE), and on the Indian Ocean (E & S). Lesotho is an independent enclave in the east. The largest city is Johannesburg and. Pretoria is the capital. South Africa is rapidly emerging as a new society of energy and significance. Political violence has ceased and there is a sense of optimism and hope among all communities as they build a new nation. The country is fortunate to have a good infrastructure and a diversified economy. It has made significant gains in improving the provision of basic services and reforming the education system. South Africa is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. An unknown but substantial number of South African women and girls are trafficked internally, and occasionally to other countries, for sexual exploitation. Women from other African countries, particularly Mozambique, are trafficked to South Africa and, at times, onward to Europe for sexual exploitation. There are anecdotal reports of men and boys trafficked from neighboring countries for forced agricultural work. East Asians, mainly Thai and Chinese women trafficked for sexual exploitation, transit South Africa on their way to South America. The Government of South Africa does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. South Africa has been placed on Tier 2 Watch List due to a lack of evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons over the last year. To further its anti-trafficking efforts, the government should pass a comprehensive law that prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons, launch a specific anti-trafficking public awareness campaign, and prosecute to conviction an increased number of traffickers. Prosecution The government carried out a number of concrete law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. South Africa remains without a specific anti-trafficking law or explicit penalties for traffickers, though the South African Law Reform Commission made initial progress in its process of drafting a comprehensive anti-trafficking bill. Though 12 additional Sexual Offenses Courts were established in the country during the year, it is unknown whether such courts heard any trafficking-related cases. The government prosecuted at least two traffickers, though not exclusively on trafficking charges; no statistics were provided on the number of cases investigated or prosecuted during the year. In 2004, a South African man received two 20-year sentences for brothel-keeping and kidnapping 17 girls for the purpose of prostitution, and the prosecution of a nightclub owner who paid to import Romanian women continued. In November 2004, police arrested 79 Nigerian nationals and liberated 15 children being exploited in prostitution by an alleged Nigerian criminal organization. Police also freed 18 Thai and Chinese women suspected to be trafficking victims from commercial sexual exploitation in March 2005. Approximately 200 new border officials and police officers received training on recognizing trafficking cases during the reporting period. Between April and October 2004, at least 28 immigration officials were charged with trafficking-related fraud and malfeasance. Protection The government took steps to protect trafficking victims during the year. Police and social workers referred approximately 60 trafficking victims to private shelters for victims of abuse. In 2004, the government provided funding to shelters for victims of abuse, including approximately $450,000 for government-run Thuthuzela shelters and over $1.3 million for other centers. As part of this funding, it provided shelters a flat rate of $52 per victim each week to offset the costs of housing, medical care, and counseling. In addition, the government contributed an estimated $25,000 to IOM's Southern African Counter Trafficking Assistance Program in 2004. The government implemented new standards for the treatment of crime victims and provided six training seminars on their use in 2004; there is no evidence that these standards were applied to victims of trafficking. Prevention The government's trafficking prevention measures were modest during the reporting period. In March 2004, a national plan of action on human trafficking was adopted. The strategy was shared with stakeholders, but not widely disseminated. Trafficking issues were included in a December 2004 campaign against violence toward women and children that targeted prosecutors, investigators, and police. Government officials also participated in televised roundtables and other awareness raising programs on trafficking in persons. The government assisted in organizing an NGO-hosted conference on sex trafficking and the police were actively involved in a conference on forced child labor.
SPAIN (TIER 1) Kingdom of Spain The Kingdom of Spain is a constitutional monarchy that occupies the major part of the Iberian Peninsula of SW Europe; of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea; and of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Madrid is the nation's capital and largest city. Unemployment fell steadily under the AZNAR administration but remains high at 10.4%. Adjusting to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe, reducing unemployment, and absorbing widespread social changes will pose challenges to Spain over the next few years. Spain is a destination and transit country for persons trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and, to a lesser degree, forced labor. Victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation come primarily from Romania, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Nigeria, Ecuador, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. Spain is a transit country for victims destined for Portugal, France, and Germany. Victims trafficked into forced labor are primarily found in the agricultural, construction and domestic sectors. The Government of Spain fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government has continued its aggressive campaign of tracking and dismantling trafficking networks. Victims received quality assistance, protection, and rehabilitation services. The city of Madrid launched a demand reduction initiative with an emphasis on the responsibility of the clients and the rights of victims. The government began to implement new anti-trafficking legislation. Police and the courts have begun to make full use of a 2003 law to impose tougher sentences on traffickers and deter additional potential trafficking crimes. Although the government was not able as yet to provide full data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, the Secretary of State has determined that it has made a good faith effort to do so. The government's segregation of smuggling and trafficking statistics is commendable. Prosecution During the reporting period, the Spanish Government continued its vigorous efforts to investigate trafficking crimes and arrest traffickers. The government handed down longer sentences using the new 2003 law, though use of an older law with attendant weaker sentences continued for offenses committed before the new law was enacted. The average sentence imposed using the new law was approximately 5.7 years, while convictions under the older law resulted in an average sentence of approximately 2.4 years. In February 2005, the government modified its Aliens Law to include specific guidelines for providing assistance to victims. The Spanish National Police continued its proactive investigation of criminal networks and reported 194 networks for sexual exploitation dismantled, with 731 traffickers arrested in 2004. Additionally, the police reported 91 networks for forced labor dismantled, with 233 traffickers arrested during the year. The police also reported dismantling 62 false document and 45 fraud networks related to trafficking. Productive bilateral cooperation with other governments continued. Protection Police identified 1,717 victims of sexual exploitation and 797 victims of forced labor trafficking during 2004. The police continued to refer victims to government-financed NGOs for counseling, shelter, rehabilitation, and reintegration. In February 2005, the government modified its Aliens Law, making it easier for trafficking victims to obtain residency permits. Reported increased cooperation between the government and NGOs resulted in more effective training and information exchanges. Spain continued to provide specialized training to law enforcement agencies via an NGO; specialized training became mandatory for police candidates to become inspectors. Prevention In 2004, the government successfully initiated two anti-trafficking awareness programs. In March 2004, the Madrid city government began enforcement of its anti-prostitution and anti-trafficking campaign through increased police presence in targeted zones. In July 2004, the city of Madrid launched an extensive publicity campaign to prevent trafficking and discourage potential clients with posters and advertisements in the media and on city buses. The government continued its efforts to improve interagency coordination. The Ministry of Interior coordinated anti-trafficking programs and managed workgroups on trafficking. Regional police conducted quarterly reviews of their anti-trafficking efforts and a police intelligence unit continued to monitor trafficking trends.
SRI LANKA (TIER 2) Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) is an island republic in the Indian Ocean, just SE of India. It is an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations, and its capital is Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte. The civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka has resulted in the death of over 60,000 people. Approximately 800,000 people, one-third of whom are children, have been displaced, sometimes several times. Of the 2.5 million people living in the areas directly affected by conflict, approximately 1 million are children under the age of 18. Sri Lanka is a source country for women and children who are trafficked internally and to the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea for the purposes of coerced labor and sexual exploitation. Small numbers of women from Thailand, China, Russia, and other former Soviet states are trafficked to Sri Lanka for sexual exploitation. Boys and girls are victims of sexual exploitation by pedophiles in the sex tourism industry. Trafficking takes place in areas controlled by both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE continued to traffic children into forced labor and military service, taking at least 100 children after the tsunami in December. The Government of Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In LTTE-controlled northern and eastern Sri Lanka, the government was unable to enforce anti-trafficking measures during the reporting period. Sri Lankan officials have taken strong measures in the wake of the December 2004 tsunami to prevent the trafficking of children made vulnerable by this natural disaster. Reports indicate that certain airline officials and NGO representatives have been allegedly involved in trafficking. The government should develop a comprehensive national plan of action to combat trafficking and appoint a national coordinator to oversee implementation of the plan. Prosecution Sri Lanka continued to make progress over the reporting period. The government uses various means to monitor and apprehend traffickers, including making effective use of its CyberWatch Project, which relies on a "watch list" database of suspected sex offenders. However, the government achieved no prosecutions or convictions related to trafficking during the reporting period. It encourages victims to assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases. The government, however, has not provided any specialized training to its officials responsible for combating trafficking. The government should stop imposing fines on women trafficked for sexual exploitation. Protection Over the reporting period, the government made commendable progress in protecting victims of trafficking, considering its limited resources. Sri Lanka provides child victims with monthly food supplements and uses various means to shelter victims. It runs rehabilitation camps that offer medical and counseling services to victims of internal trafficking, and places victims in shelters run by NGOs. Sri Lankan diplomatic missions abroad operate shelters for its nationals who have fallen into trafficking situations. Sri Lanka established a new Child Protection Unit within the Attorney Generals' Office in 2004 to combat child trafficking, allocated additional funds and resources to the anti-Human Smuggling and Investigation Bureau, and continued to assign welfare officers to assist victims in destination countries. The government provides some compensation for victims of sexual or labor exploitation who register with the Sri Lankan Foreign Employment Bureau. Prevention The government improved its prevention measures by creating and empowering a new Child Protection Unit within the Attorney General's Office. It made commendable effort in the aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami to prevent increased trafficking. The government arrested a U.S. national and an Australian for allegedly engaging in pedophilia; both await trial. Sri Lanka works well with the ILO, IOM, and local NGOs that endeavor to promote prevention programs. It has instructed its welfare officers in embassies abroad to educate Sri Lankan nationals about their rights and responsibilities while working in those countries, in an effort to prevent them from falling into involuntary servitude or exploitative situations.
SUDAN (TIER 3) Republic of Sudan The Republic of Sudan is located in NE Africa and is bordered by Egypt (N), by the Red Sea (NE), by Eritrea and Ethiopia (E), by Kenya, Uganda, and Congo (Kinshasa) (S), by the Central African Republic and Chad (W), and by Libya (NW). Khartoum is its capital and Omdurman is its largest city. The situation of children and women in the Sudan continues to be negatively affected by the civil war. The fighting caused large-scale human displacements, destroyed infrastructure, eroded coping mechanisms, and resulted in human rights violations. Second-tier conflicts have proliferated, many of them land-related or inter-tribal or due to competition over resources. An estimated 4 million people were displaced from their homes. Sudan is a source country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Sudanese boys are trafficked to the Middle East, particularly the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, for use as camel jockeys. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group, continued to abduct children in war-torn northern Uganda for use as cooks, porters, sex slaves, and combat soldiers. Although Ugandan military offensives during the year significantly reduced LRA numbers, the group continued to conduct operations involving forced child soldiers from camps in southern Sudan. The vast majority of the trafficking within Sudan, however, has involved abductions of largely women in the western and southern regions of the country, territories outside the central government's complete control because of ongoing political, cultural, and civil conflict. In the Sudanese context, inter-tribal abductions are a byproduct of various, complex civil wars waged over the past two decades. Abduction, a traditional but dormant cultural practice, was revived with the resurgence of the north/south civil war in 1983. The Dinka Chiefs' Committee estimates that, during these years of civil war and resulting inter-tribal warfare, 14,000 Dinka women and children were abducted by two other tribes (Missiriya and Rezeigat). An additional 3,500 abductions reportedly occurred in SPLA-held regions. Victims frequently became part of the abductor's tribal family, with many women marrying into the new tribe; however, some victims of abduction were used for forced domestic labor and/or sexual exploitation. Due to the ongoing peace process and the cessation of conflict in the south, abductions in the region have significantly decreased; during the year, there were no known cases of new abductions in the south. The regions of Southern Darfur and Western Kordofan remained embroiled in a separate bitter conflict, in which numerous rapes, atrocities, and abductions were reported to have taken place during the year. During the reporting period, janjaweed militias that have been supported by the Government of Sudan subjected civilians to grievous human rights and alleged trafficking-related abuses. The lack of security in the Darfur region impeded the ability to gather further information on these reports, which is of grave concern. Women, after being raped, were sometimes mutilated or abducted for further sexual exploitation. Some children may also have been abducted, mostly to care for looted livestock. The Government of Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and, despite some progress in other areas of the country, is not making sufficient efforts to do so in regard to alleged trafficking-related abuses, violence, and atrocities in Darfur. The government made progress on identifying victims of abduction and reuniting them with their families. The government took over funding of the Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC) in 2004. Given the conditions within which it operates, CEAWC is making a notable effort to seriously address trafficking, particularly through its efforts to identify victims of abduction and reunite them with their families. Of the 7,328 cases of abduction documented, 2,708 of those identified were returned to their families. To further its efforts to combat trafficking, the government should work to end the violence in Darfur and bring to justice those responsible for abuses, closely with NGOs and international organizations to adequately verify and document cases of abduction, and coordinate the movement of affected populations to their home areas in an organized and safe manner. It should also seek to strengthen its fledgling anti-trafficking public awareness campaign and demonstrate concrete enforcement of its existing relevant legal codes. Prosecution The government's anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts throughout Sudan were limited in 2004, and ineffective in Darfur. Articles 162 through 165 of the Sudanese Criminal Code outlaw all forms of trafficking in persons, including abduction, luring, forced labor, and illegal detention. Sudanese law prohibits prostitution, owning brothels, and pimping women or children. In early 2005, the Ministry of Interior outlawed the trafficking of children outside of the country for camel jockeying; the law was implemented by the Department of Passports and Immigration on March 1, 2005, leading to interrogations of adults attempting to board outbound airplanes or boats without the proper exit visa for accompanying children. Although Sudan's laws appear adequate to cover the full scope of trafficking in persons, the official court system handled no trafficking-related prosecutions during the year. Based on an agreement with the Dinka Chief's Committee to allow opportunity for amicable tribal return and reconciliation efforts to occur, the government is not pursuing legal action against abductors who cooperate with CEAWC and voluntarily return their abductees. If, however, an abductor refuses to comply, the government has committed to prosecuting such an individual as a trafficker. In 2004, all identified abductors reportedly cooperated to the extent of surrendering their abductees to CEAWC. During the year, the government increased border cooperation and surveillance with the neighboring Government of Uganda to combat the LRA and its continuing terrorist operations in southern Sudan, including trafficking in children. The government permitted the Ugandan military to take action against the LRA on Sudanese territory along the Ugandan border. Sudanese security forces and SPLA elements also engaged LRA forces that had raided further north into Sudan.
Protection The government did not provide protection to civilians against abuses in the Darfur region in 2004, or take action to stop them. However, it made stronger efforts to protect Sudan's largest population of trafficking victims - abducted women and children during the reporting period. The CEAWC - comprised of representatives from a variety of central and state government ministries, civil society organizations, and tribal representatives of the Dinka, Missiriya and Rezeigat tribes - was established in 1999 to facilitate the safe return of abducted women and children to their families. CEAWC also includes 22 Joint Tribal Committees (JTCs) located in the affected regions, whose members consist of individuals selected from affected tribes and who receive a small subsidy for food and expenses incurred while working. There are six CEAWC field centers in Bahar El Gazal and 10 spread through West Kordofan and South Darfur that are maintained by Dinka chiefs. Since March 2004, CEAWC has received funding from the Government of Sudan through the Ministry of Finance totaling more than $1.8 million. The organization's three co-chairmen report directly to the First Vice President. During the year, CEAWC continued its efforts to document the extent of abductions in the country. Through an interview process involving representatives from the tribes of both the abductor and the abducted victim, the JTCs identified and documented 7,240 cases of abduction during the year, compared to a total of 1,842 documented cases in the five previous years since its establishment. Of those persons identified, 2,708 were reunited with their families during six separate field missions. Plans are underway to return the remainder of those who have been documented but still remain with their abductors. CEAWC provided free transportation over long distances for victims returning to their home areas. Returned abductees were also provided with limited amounts of shelter, medical attention, food, and clothing at destination sites, often through in-kind contributions from NGOs and international organizations. Tribal chiefs arranged for the care of returned children whose families could not be immediately found. During the year, various NGOs and international organizations expressed concerns regarding CEAWC's methodology for verifying victims of abduction, as well as lack of coordination with the international community for the organized and safe return of abductees to their home areas. CEAWC leadership acknowledged these logistical and communications breakdowns, as well as other systemic weaknesses, and demonstrated commitment to improving communications and documentation as requested by international organizations. Prevention The government did not take actions to prevent abuses in the Darfur region in 2004. During the year, CEAWC completed six field missions to identify and retrieve abducted people, each of which included an awareness raising component before the actual work of documenting abductees began. All members of the community, including the tribal leaders, were assembled to discuss the reunification work of CEAWC and the imperative to end inter-tribal abductions. In addition, CEAWC worked with the tribal leaders and UNICEF to conduct awareness raising discussions and other activities during market days in different regions. During March and April 2004, CEAWC produced a documentary-style film chronicling the operation of the field missions and the activities involved with identifying and returning victims of abduction. Though the footage requires further editing before being aired on television, the film was used to demonstrate to national government and SPLA officials the progress that has been made to rectify past abductions and prevent new ones from occurring. In addition, CEAWC worked with local media sources to raise awareness of its campaign to end inter-tribal abductions. For instance, the July 2004 issue of monthly news magazine "Sudan Today" included a substantial article featuring CEAWC's retrieval of abducted persons, as well as its efforts to transition from a signed political peace to a reality of peaceful tribal co-existence.
SURINAME (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Republic of Suriname The Republic of Suriname is located in NE South America on the Atlantic Ocean. It is separated from Brazil (S) by the Tumuc-Humac Mts., from Guyana (W) by the Corantijn River, and from French Guiana (E) by the Maroni River. Its capital and largest city is Paramaribo, on the Suriname River. Approximately 60% of the population is living in poverty. Suriname is principally a transit and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Men, women, and children are also trafficked internally for forced domestic and commercial labor and sexual exploitation. Most women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation come from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Colombia; they either remain in Suriname or continue to Europe for additional sexual exploitation. Girls from rural areas are promised work in cities and then trapped in situations of domestic servitude or sexual exploitation; other children are trafficked for sexual exploitation to mining camps in Suriname's remote interior. Chinese nationals transiting Suriname risk debt bondage to migrant smugglers who place them into forced labor. The Government of Suriname does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government remains on Tier 2 Watch List for a second year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking, particularly in its lack of progress in law enforcement action against traffickers. The government should investigate illegal migration, which often veils trafficking operations, and avoid summary deportations of victims who could assist in building cases against their traffickers. Government leaders should publicly support a "no tolerance" policy for officials implicated in trafficking, and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. Prosecution Suriname still lacks a comprehensive law to combat trafficking. Existing statutes prohibited slavery, migrant smuggling, and pimping but were not adequately enforced and they treated forced labor as a misdemeanor offense. Authorities failed to screen foreign women who were possible victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation before deporting them for immigration violations. Prosecutors and police received anti-trafficking training and created operations manuals to assist officers in identifying and investigating cases. Late in 2004, the government created a special police anti-trafficking unit. The police cooperated with Curacao officials in a case that resulted in convictions for trafficking of children to the Netherlands Antilles. Cooperation with Guyanese officials led to the arrest in December 2004 of a Surinamese official for trafficking young Guyanese girls for sexual exploitation. The government created a special section in the police fraud unit to investigate public corruption. No other investigations, prosecutions, or convictions related to trafficking were reported. Protection The government lacked resources and efforts to assist victims were inadequate over the last year. It provided no assistance specifically for trafficking victims. The government provided police with some training on identifying victims but more training is necessary. Potential trafficking victims typically faced detention and deportation for migration violations. Mechanisms for coordinating assistance with a foreign victim's embassy were only available to victims with legal immigration status. Victims could file suit against traffickers. In May 2004, the government established a special victims unit and telephone hotline to handle reports of trafficking and complaints from victims. Prevention The government made a good faith effort to educate the public and prevent trafficking during the reporting period. Radio and television spots in early 2004 and newspaper articles including quotes from senior public officials late in the year brought the issue to the public's attention. The government supported public awareness campaigns to prevent internal trafficking of children. It funded campaigns about the worst forms of child labor, including prostitution, conducted by the Surinamese Labor College, and educated teachers, families, and community leaders about the detrimental effects of child exploitation. The government also finalized its National Plan of Action in November 2004 and provided logistical support for IOM workshops on preventing trafficking and identifying and working with victims.
SWEDEN (TIER 1) Kingdom of Sweden The Kingdom of Sweden is a constitutional monarchy located in N Europe and occupying the eastern part of the Scandinavian peninsula. It is bordered by Norway (W), by Finland (NE), by the Gulf of Bothnia (E), by the Baltic Sea (S), and by the resund, the Kattegat, and the Skagerrak (SW). The country includes the islands Gotland and land, in the Baltic. Stockholm is its capital and largest city. Sweden's long-successful economic formula of a capitalist system interlarded with substantial welfare elements was challenged in the 1990s by high unemployment and in 2000-02 by the global economic downturn, but fiscal discipline over the past several years has allowed the country to weather economic vagaries. Sweden is primarily a destination country for women and children trafficked from eastern and southeastern European countries, the Baltics, and Russia for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Police cited Thailand as another, less significant, source country. Sweden is also a transit country for a limited number of victims trafficked from the same source countries to destinations including Denmark, Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The Government of Sweden fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. In 2004, the fight against trafficking in persons remained among the government's highest priorities. During the reporting period, Sweden broadened its anti-trafficking legislation and improved victim assistance. The government also commendably funded anti-trafficking information campaigns throughout Europe focusing on, among other aspects, curbing demand for trafficking victims. Sweden is in the process of establishing a special investigator to review aspects of its anti-trafficking law in an effort to make it more usable for prosecutors. Prosecution The Swedish Government is a leader in targeting demand for sexual exploitation with laws prosecuting sex buyers and protecting victims. Sweden continued its efforts to prosecute traffickers throughout the reporting period. While Sweden broadened its anti-trafficking legislation in July 2004 to cover labor exploitation and internal trafficking, prosecutors continued to use primarily procurement laws to obtain convictions of traffickers. Sweden's anti-trafficking legislation requires that prosecutors prove traffickers used "improper means" in order to secure a conviction. Judges commonly rule that "improper means" were absent in cases involving victims who consented at some point during their trafficking ordeal. Although initial consent would appear to be irrelevant under the anti-trafficking law, in practice, judicial interpretation of the "improper means" criteria makes it difficult to obtain convictions under the law. The July 2004 amendments called for the establishment of a special investigator to review the "improper means" criteria. In February 2005, the government prosecuted and convicted two traffickers under Sweden's anti-trafficking law. Both traffickers received sentences of four to five years' imprisonment. Additionally, the government prosecuted and convicted 20 persons for trafficking-related crimes under other statutes. Eleven of those 20 received sentences of one year or more imprisonment. The government trains police and prosecutors on proper handling of trafficking cases and victims. In February 2004, the National Police Academy began providing anti-trafficking training to new recruits. Police reported that ongoing training programs throughout the country are improving the responsiveness and effectiveness of local police anti-trafficking efforts. The government routinely cooperates with other governments and regional law enforcement organizations on trafficking investigations. Protection Sweden's efforts to protect victims of trafficking improved during the reporting period as amendments to Sweden's Aliens Act enacted in October 2004 helped to redress a gap in Sweden's assistance to these victims. Now prosecutors may obtain time-limited residence permits for trafficking victims who cooperate in the criminal investigation of traffickers. Police reported a decrease in rapid deportations following enactment of the amendments. Procedures are in place for police to contact NGOs and shelters in order to assist victims. Under Swedish law, municipal authorities bear responsibility for providing victims with health care and social services, and may obtain reimbursement from the government. Municipalities operate women's shelters throughout the country that admit and care for trafficking victims. During the reporting period, approximately 20 trafficking victims involved in legal investigations received government assistance through municipalities. Prevention The Government of Sweden funded major anti-trafficking information campaigns in Europe during 2004, including a project with MTV Europe Foundation that featured a 30-minute anti-trafficking film estimated to have reached 146 million households. The government also initiated and participated in a project in the Barents region (Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden) specifically aimed at reducing trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Sweden's foreign assistance agency continued to support several on-going projects directed against trafficking in Southeast Asian and southeastern European countries.
SWITZERLAND (TIER 2) Swiss Confederation (Switzerland) The Swiss Confederation is a federal republic located in central Europe and bordered by France (W & SW), with the Jura Mts. and the Lake of Geneva (traversed by the Rhne River) forming the frontier. In the north it is separated from Germany by the Rhine River and Lake Constance. Its eastern neighbors are Austria and Liechtenstein, and in the southeast and south it is divided from Italy by the Alpine crests, the Lake of Lugano, and Lago Maggiore. The federal capital is Bern, and the largest city is Zrich. Switzerland is primarily a destination country, and secondarily a transit country, for women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation from Central Europe (Hungary, Slovakia, Romania), the former Soviet Union (Ukraine, Lithuania, Moldova), Latin America (Brazil, Dominican Republic), Asia (Thailand, Cambodia) and, to a lesser extent, Africa. Both police and NGOs noted increased trafficking from Brazil over the last year, though overall numbers of trafficking victims appeared to stay level. The Government of Switzerland does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Draft legislation that will encompass trafficking for labor exploitation and strengthen penalties awaits Parliament's approval. The federal government instructed cantonal authorities to grant trafficking victims a 30-day stay of deportation, which has decreased the practice of rapid deportation of potential trafficking victims. The Swiss Government should consider expanding its prevention efforts to domestic trafficking awareness, antidemand campaigns. Sentences imposed on traffickers remained low. Prosecution The Swiss Government sustained its anti-trafficking enforcement efforts during the reporting period. According to the most recent enforcement statistics, from 2003, authorities convicted 12 individuals for trafficking and forced prostitution. Five of those convicted received suspended prison sentences of less than a year. The Swiss Penal Code has two articles that prohibit trafficking in persons with sufficiently severe penalties, both of which focus on sexual exploitation and forced prostitution. In 2003, the Swiss Government drafted a revision to the penal code to explicitly prohibit forced labor and strengthen trafficking penalties; the draft legislation was submitted to parliament in March 2005. Swiss authorities are active in international law enforcement activities and took the lead in coordinating 21 international trafficking investigations. Swiss Government officials did not facilitate or condone trafficking. Protection Switzerland's efforts to protect and assist trafficking victims improved in 2004. Under federal guidelines sent to cantonal immigration authorities in August 2004, authorities must grant trafficking victims a 30-day minimum stay of deportation. They may also provide victims willing to cooperate with judicial authorities stays of deportation up to three months, or short-term residency permits if the criminal investigation takes longer. Preliminary statistics show that between August and December of 2004, cantonal authorities granted at least 26 trafficking victims stays of deportation and granted an additional 18 victims short-term residency permits, seven of which included a permit to work. Swiss law entitles trafficking victims to secure shelter as well as medical, psychological, social, and legal assistance, regardless of their residency status. During 2003, the most recent statistics available, 64 trafficking victims received assistance from publicly funded victim assistance centers. The government continued to partially fund Zurich's leading anti-trafficking NGO. Zurich formalized its victim referral mechanism in a letter of intent between the NGO and local law enforcement officials. Other urban centers have started to follow this lead by instituting roundtable meetings between NGOs and law enforcement. Prevention Switzerland's anti-trafficking coordination unit (KSMM), located within the Federal Office of Police, continued to coordinate and monitor Switzerland's anti-trafficking efforts. While KSMM provided three trafficking awareness programs to local officials during the reporting period, specialized training at the cantonal level remained uneven. The Government of Switzerland funded several anti-trafficking information and education campaigns around the world. It organized and financed a Ukrainian anti-trafficking delegation to Bern for an information exchange. In 2004, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided specialized training to its consular staff and distributed trafficking awareness information to visa applicants in local languages, directed especially at those applying for entertainer visas. The Swiss Government did not conduct domestic demand-reduction programs.
SYRIA (TIER 2) Syrian Arab Republic The Syrian Arab Republic is located in W Asia, and is bordered by Lebanon & the Mediterranean Sea (W), by Turkey (NW & N), by Iraq (E & S), and by Jordan & Israel (SW). Damascus is its capital and largest city. Real GDP growth rose to 2.3 percent in 2004, a slight increase from 2003 when the predominantly statist economy suffered from disruptions caused by the war in Iraq and other developments in the region. Annual real GDP growth has averaged 2.3 percent for the last seven years. Syria is a destination country for women trafficked from South and East Asia and Ethiopia for the purpose of labor exploitation and from Eastern Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. There are no statistics available on the scope and type of trafficking that may exist and very little insight on the part of the government, the general public, and the diplomatic community on the issue. There have been some reports that indicate Iraqi women may be subjected to sexual exploitation in prostitution in Syria at the hands of Iraqi criminal networks, but those reports have not been confirmed. Some individuals brought into the country to work as domestic workers have suffered conditions that constitute involuntary servitude, including physical and sexual abuse, threats of expulsion, denial or delayed payment of wages, withholding of passports, and restriction of movement. Manpower agencies may lure some victims to Syria through fraudulent or deceptive offers of employment in the Gulf. The Government of Syria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Syria does not have a legal framework governing relations between domestic workers and their employers. It also does not regulate the illegal manpower agencies that bring in and, in some cases, facilitate victims' exploitation. The Governments of Indonesia and the Philippines banned their citizens from taking employment in Syria because of abuses and the lack of a mechanism to protect the rights of their citizens. The government should appoint a national anti-trafficking coordinator, develop comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, investigate and prosecute traffickers and manpower agencies that facilitate trafficking, tighten its entertainment visa issuance regime to prevent its exploitation for trafficking, and launch a broad anti-trafficking campaign to educate the general public. Prosecution The Government of Syria took minimal steps to investigate and/or prosecute trafficking and trafficking-related cases during the reporting period. Syria does not have an anti-trafficking law, though most forms of trafficking are criminalized under other statutes. Foreign domestic workers are excluded from protection under Syrian labor laws. Syrian law enforcement officials need to be trained in victim identification and protection methods. The Syrian Government did not provide any data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions, or sentences for trafficking-related offenses during the last year. Protection Over the last year, the Syrian Government did not improve its efforts to provide shelter, dispute settlement, or other protection services to victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation or involuntary servitude. It does, however, cooperate with source-country representatives and NGOs working with victims in these areas. It should put in place a procedure for distinguishing trafficking victims from illegal immigrants and provide them appropriate protection measures, including shelter, legal, medical, and psychological services, as well as repatriation and reintegration assistance. Prevention Syria continued to make strong efforts to prevent illegal entry into the country by monitoring its borders closely and screening passengers at arrival points. There were no trafficking-specific prevention efforts, however. The government cooperates with source-country embassies and IOM in the repatriation of victims. A consortium of source-country embassies has established an Antifraud Taskforce that works with the government to train immigration and customs officials to combat illegal immigration, which would likely benefit anti-trafficking efforts as well.
TAJIKISTAN (TIER 2) Republic of Tajikistan The Republic of Tajikistan is bordered by China (E), Afghanistan (S), Kyrgyzstan (N), and Uzbekistan (W & NW). Dushanbe is its capital and largest city. Tajikistan is the poorest country in the CEE/CIS and Baltic region. Access to and the quality of basic services such as health and education and access to safe drinking water are a problem. The impact of poverty is significant and the condition of women and children remains precarious within the context of widespread social vulnerability. Tajikistan is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked to Russia, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. The Government of Tajikistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Over the past year, the government adopted a comprehensive trafficking in persons law, established a specialized anti-trafficking police unit, and created an interagency commission to coordinate anti-trafficking activities and draft a national action plan. While victim assistance and protection remained inadequate, in large part due to a lack of resources, Tajikistan's new law provides a useful framework for the protection of victims. The government should make strong efforts to meet trafficking victims' needs and increase convictions. Prosecution The Government of Tajikistan adopted a comprehensive Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons in August 2004. Tajikistan's Criminal Code criminalized trafficking in persons for both sexual and labor exploitation. Penalties include imprisonment of five to 15 years and confiscation of property. Traffickers may also be prosecuted under other laws such as those prohibiting exploitation of prostitution, rape, kidnapping, and buying and selling of minors. In 2004, law enforcement officials investigated 14 trafficking cases. A Dushanbe court in late 2004 handed down the first conviction under Tajikistan's new anti-trafficking law, sentencing a trafficker to 14 years' imprisonment and confiscating her property. In May 2004, the government established a dedicated police unit with five officers directly involved in trafficking investigations. The Ministry of Interior added a special trafficking training course to its academy curriculum. The government arrested 14 low-level law enforcement officers who engaged in sexually exploiting underage girls. Defendants charged with trafficking have received reduced charges allegedly due to bribes accepted by judges. Protection Assistance for trafficking victims in Tajikistan remained inadequate during the reporting period. In theory, victims are protected under the new anti-trafficking law, but in practice the government offers no protection or reintegration programs for victims, citing limited resources. The Ministry of Interior and a local NGO signed an agreement on cooperation in December 2004, in part, as an effort to try to locate space to interview victims in a secure, confidential environment. Enforcement officials did not jail, fine, detain, or otherwise punish victims. Prevention In January 2005, the government established an interagency commission on combating human trafficking, a product of its new anti-trafficking law. The commission began meeting monthly in February and is charged with producing a national plan to combat human trafficking. The commission consists of representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Security, Labor, Foreign Affairs, Education, Health, and Economy and Trade, as well as the State Border Protection Committee, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the President's Administration. The government continued to cooperate with local NGOs and international groups on prevention, and may include them in future meetings of the commission. On May 5, 2004, the Ministry of Interior and IOM signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the Sphere of Combating Trafficking in Persons, leading to a formal cooperative relationship between IOM and the anti-trafficking unit on prosecution and protection activities.
TAIWAN (TIER 2) Republic of China (Taiwan) The Republic of China (Taiwan) is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, separated from the mainland of S China by the 100-mi-wide (161-km) Taiwan Strait. The provisional capital is Taipei. Taiwan is primarily a destination for women and girls, mainly from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), who are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Some trafficking victims from the P.R.C., Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam are forced or coerced into the commercial sex trade or lured to Taiwan by fraudulent offers of employment or marriage. Some Taiwan women are also trafficked to Japan for sexual exploitation. Taiwan authorities do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, they are making significant efforts to do so. Taiwan authorities have increased efforts to provide protection for trafficking victims. Despite prosecutions of traffickers, there is insufficient protection for trafficking victims, particularly for women and girls from the P.R.C. While illegal immigrants from other countries are generally quickly repatriated, the P.R.C. often delays Taiwan efforts to assist P.R.C. victims to return home. Taiwan authorities and NGOs have collaborated in ongoing efforts to develop a plan of action on trafficking. Some law enforcement officials conflate trafficking with smuggling. Taiwan laws criminalize most forms of trafficking but do not address prevention of trafficking or victim protection, which the authorities nonetheless provide on an ad hoc basis. Prosecution Taiwan lacks a comprehensive trafficking law providing for preventive measures and victim protection, though most forms of human trafficking are criminalized through a number of different statutes. Trafficking of Taiwan residents abroad or children of any nationality is prohibited by the 1995 Statute for Prevention of Child and Juvenile Sexual Trafficking and provisions in Taiwan's Criminal Code. Article 296 criminalizes a broad range of forms of trafficking and servitude. Article 296-1 provides for stronger penalties when the crimes are committed by officials. Taiwan authorities report that they indicted 241 and convicted 150 persons under these statutes in 2004. Taiwan authorities took steps in 2004 to address the growing number of Vietnamese women lured to Taiwan as brides and then forced into prostitution. A more stringent law enacted in January 2004 and aimed at cross-Strait trafficking stipulates that any person found guilty of smuggling Mainland Chinese into Taiwan shall be punished with a prison term of three to ten years and fined up to $150,000. Authorities in late March 2005 broke up a trafficking ring run by two Taiwan Army officers and their wives. A year-long investigation into the ring produced a number of arrests for trafficking of P.R.C. women to Taiwan for exploitation in the sex industry. Taiwan authorities have increased training for law enforcement officials on trafficking issues and how to best assist a victim. In early 2005, Taiwan executed a local trafficker convicted of killing P.R.C. victims. Protection Foreign victims of trafficking who are not of P.R.C. origin are provided with shelter and counseling and are generally quickly repatriated. Current Taiwan law provides no legal alternative to the return to the P.R.C. of all unlawfully present P.R.C. citizens, including trafficking victims. Taiwan has recently increased efforts to provide protection to P.R.C. trafficking victims. Taiwan law enforcement authorities and NGO social workers interview all illegal immigrants in detention centers in order to identify possible trafficking victims. Women and girls identified as trafficking victims are housed in a separate wing, where they are provided with access to social workers, health care, vocational activities, and counseling. Women with children have an additional, separate area within the facility. Identified trafficking victims are exempt from rules that apply to criminal detainees. There is no policy or law that requires the authorities to evaluate whether victims would face persecution or retribution upon returning to the P.R.C. Authorities have established an island-wide toll-free "113 Women's and Children's Protection" hotline. Prevention Taiwan law enforcement authorities are working to intercept criminal syndicates that smuggle P.R.C. migrants, including trafficking victims, to Taiwan. Taiwan continued its support of NGO anti-trafficking prevention programs, with government funding for public awareness programs targeting minors and awareness campaigns targeting Southeast Asian women who marry Taiwan men, including publicity campaigns funded by Taiwan in source countries. Taiwan officials have raised public awareness of the dangers of pornography and the use of the Internet to lure children into the sex trade. Social workers automatically visit high-school students with unexcused school absences to provide counseling and to ensure that the children do not fall into the sex trade or other illicit activities.
TANZANIA (TIER 2) United Republic of Tanzania The United Republic of Tanzania, located in E Africa, was formed in 1964 by the union of the republics of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Mainland Tanzania is bordered by Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia (S); by Congo (Kinshasa), Burundi, and Rwanda (W); by Uganda and Kenya (N); and by the Indian Ocean (E). Lake Nyasa forms part of the southern boundary, Lake Tanganyika part of the western boundary, and Lake Victoria part of the northern boundary. Dodoma is its capital and Dar-es-Salaam is its largest city. Tanzania is one of the few countries in the conflict-ridden Great Lakes Region of Africa that continues to enjoy uninterrupted peace. HIV/AIDS is the greatest single threat to the republics security and socio-economic development. It is placing an increasing burden on resources through rising medical expenditures, absenteeism from work, labor shortages, and training of replacement labor. The number of orphans, mostly from AIDS, is estimated at almost 2 million. Tanzania is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Most victims are trafficked internally; boys are trafficked for exploitative work on farms, in mines, and in the large informal sector, while girls from rural areas, particularly the Iringa Region, are trafficked to the towns for involuntary domestic labor. Many of these domestic workers flee abusive employers and turn to prostitution for survival. Tanzanian girls are also reportedly trafficked to South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and possibly other European countries for forced domestic labor. Indian women, legally entering the country to work as musicians, singers, and dancers in restaurants and nightclubs, are at times exploited in prostitution after arrival. The Government of Tanzania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. To further its anti-trafficking efforts, the government should take steps to provide expanded protective services to victims and launch a nationwide awareness raising campaign on the definition of human trafficking and the forms it takes in Tanzania. Prosecution The government's anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts progressed over the reporting period. Tanzanian law prohibits internal and cross-border trafficking for sexual exploitation and the constitution prohibits forced labor. During 2004, three trafficking-related cases were pending in court, while investigations into two additional cases continued. In April 2004, a Tanzanian man was arrested for bringing Indian dancers to Tanzania on artist visas and exploiting them in prostitution; the women were deported and the court case was withdrawn for lack of evidence. Immigration officials working with police uncovered an alleged international trafficking ring in October 2004, arresting 31 suspected traffickers and charging them with violating immigration law. Charges were dropped against a woman accused of trafficking children from Iringa to the capital because authorities were unable to locate the child witnesses after numerous attempts. In October 2004, eight mid-level Tanzanian police officers received training in conducting trafficking investigations. In February 2005, nine immigration officials, with assistance from IOM, began drafting standard operating procedures for identifying traffickers at border posts. Protection During the year, the government took steps to protect trafficking victims, within the limits of its resources. Local police and officials from the Social Welfare Department identified and informally referred child trafficking victims to NGOs that work with street children and child prostitutes, provided small donations of food and other goods to these NGOs, and identified land available for building new shelters. Local government officials participated in district committees that identified children vulnerable to or involved in the worst forms of child labor, including prostitution and forced domestic labor. In 2004, 3,844 children were prevented from entering exploitative domestic labor situations, and 3,483 children were withdrawn from exploitative domestic labor. These children were referred for protection services offered by the ILO, including rehabilitation, education, and alternative training. During the year, 60 out of 90 labor officers nationwide received intensive three-month training on the new labor laws and application of child labor provisions, as well as recognizing the worst forms of child labor, including children in prostitution and forced labor. Prevention The government made limited progress in preventing trafficking over the reporting period. In July 2004, it convened the first-ever meeting of senior government officials to discuss trafficking in Tanzania, investigations into trafficking cases, and existing legal statutes. In addition, the Ministry of Home Affairs compiled and released its first report on investigations, prosecutions, and arrests related to human trafficking. Though the government did not launch a specific anti-trafficking information campaign, it continued its nationwide awareness campaign on the worst forms of child labor, including forced domestic labor and prostitution. In addition, after a trafficking-related arrest was made in October 2004, the Regional Immigration Officer made public statements condemning the use of Tanzania as a transit country for human trafficking.
THAILAND (TIER 2) Kingdom of Thailand The Kingdom of Thailand is a constitutional monarchy centrally located on the Southeast Asia peninsula. It is bordered by Myanmar (W & NW), by Laos (N & E) (the Mekong River forms much of the line), by Cambodia (SE), and by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia (S). Bangkok is its capital and largest city. Thailand is a country in transition, changing from an agricultural to an industrial economy. Large disparities in socio-economic welfare remain, caused by disparities in the distribution of wealth, environmental degradation and the effects of urbanization. The accessibility of basic services for the majority of the population is very good. Thailand is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Thai women are trafficked to Australia, Bahrain, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Europe, and North America for commercial sexual exploitation. A significant number of men, women, and children from Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) are economic migrants who wind up in forced or bonded labor and commercial sexual exploitation in Thailand. Regional economic disparities drive significant illegal migration into Thailand, presenting traffickers opportunities to move victims into labor or sexual exploitation. Internal trafficking also occurs in Thailand, involving victims from Northern Thailand, especially ethnic hill tribe women and girls. Widespread sex tourism in Thailand encourages trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. The Government of Thailand does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Thailand showed clear progress in applying greater law enforcement efforts to fighting trafficking and systematically screening hundreds of thousands of undocumented illegal migrants to identify and provide care for trafficking victims in their midst. The government also made modest progress in addressing widespread trafficking-related corruption within the ranks of the police, immigration services, and judiciary. In November 2004, the Thai Government began a new, intensified effort to improve the vetting procedure used by the police and immigration authorities to identify trafficking victims. While reports suggest increased efforts by police and immigration officials to provide protection to trafficking victims, international organizations and NGOs continue to play an important role in screening of trafficking victims, especially underage victims found in street work. There are reports that child trafficking victims continued to be incarcerated in and deported from Thailand without proper victim care or any attempt to investigate the trafficking crimes committed against these children. Prosecution During the reporting period, the Thai Government increased its law enforcement efforts against trafficking. Thailand has a law specifically prohibiting trafficking. In 2004, the government reported 307 trafficking-related arrests, 66 prosecutions, and 12 convictions - an increase in arrests over the previous year's performance. Sentences handed down for trafficking cases remained light, with an average sentence of three years' imprisonment. However, a number of sentences in trafficking cases were severe, with imprisonment of up to 50 years. In early March 2005, a Thai court convicted a Cambodian woman for trafficking eight Cambodian girls to Thailand and Malaysia; the trafficker was sentenced to 85 years' imprisonment. As in previous years, the Thai Government made minimal progress in reducing trafficking-related corruption in the police, immigration services, and judiciary. Law enforcement officials continued to be implicated in facilitating trafficking, but only one police officer was convicted and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment over the past year; prosecutions of 18 others fired in 2003 for complicity in trafficking continues. Thailand is not able to adequately control its long land borders. Protection In 2004, the Thai Government continued to provide commendable protection to trafficking victims. The government continued to operate 97 shelters throughout the country for abused women and children, six regional shelters for foreign trafficking victims, and a central shelter outside of Bangkok with capacity for over 500 foreign trafficking victims. The government reportedly identified and provided protection to 108 women and children since the November 2004 institution of the new screening mechanism. Thailand's overseas missions continued to provide support to Thai victims who wish to return home, but limited funding is available to assist their repatriation. The government also provided police and consular officials with training on trafficking issues and dealing with victims. Prevention The Thai Government continued its efforts to raise awareness of trafficking. In 2004, the Thai police began an information campaign, which included the distribution of pamphlets and creation of a hotline for reporting suspected cases. The government also continued to support the work of NGOs and international organizations to carry out public awareness campaigns and provide victim support services.
TOGO (TIER 3) Togolese Republic (Togo) The Togolese Republic is located in W Africa and is bordered by the Gulf of Guinea (S), Ghana (W), Burkina Faso (N), and Benin (E). Lom is its capital and largest city. Togos socio-political crisis in the early 1990s resulted in the suspension of nearly all foreign assistance. This had a forceful impact on the social sectors. Currently 39% of the school-age girls in the country are not enrolled or have dropped out of school, and the disparities in education are reflected in the very high gender gap that stands at 24%. . Of those girls who drop out of primary school, many end up as domestic workers or become the victims of child trafficking. Togo is a country of origin and transit for children trafficked for the purposes of forced domestic labor and sexual exploitation. There are no exact numbers on the trafficking situation in Togo; however, experts believe that Togo is a major country of destination for children trafficked from rural towns to Lome for exploitation as domestic servants, produce porters, roadside sellers, and prostitutes. The government does not meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and it is not making significant efforts to do so. Togo does not have a law specifically preventing trafficking, and badly needed anti-trafficking legislation has remained stalled in Togo's Executive Branch since 2002. Togo adopted a national plan in 2001 for the fight against child trafficking, which called for establishment of anti-trafficking legislation, training, and border control. However, little has been done in the actual implementation of this plan, and law enforcement efforts seem to have been stymied over the past year. In order to increase its anti-trafficking efforts, the Government of Togo should recognize trafficking as a problem in the country, establish it as a federal offense, and prosecute it accordingly. The government should also increase regional cooperation on trafficking-related matters and continue efforts with regional committees to combat trafficking in the country. Prosecution Togo displayed little discernable anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the reporting period. The government reported no investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of trafficking-related crimes over the last year. As a draft anti-trafficking law continues to lag in the Executive Branch, Togo has no specific anti-trafficking law. However, the government could use existing criminal statutes against child labor and sexual exploitation to prosecute some aspects of trafficking crimes. The police reportedly established an anti-trafficking task force to coordinate and respond to trafficking-related matters, but has made no reported progress to prosecute and convict traffickers. For instance, the police made 61 trafficking-related arrests, but none resulted in a prosecution or conviction. The government signed bilateral and multilateral agreements with Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria to monitor, control, and prevent trafficking in persons, and it cooperates with these countries on the return of trafficked children. There were no statistics available on the number of extraditions of traffickers; however, the government's National Committee for the Reception and Social Reinsertion of Trafficked Children reported 2,458 repatriated children between 2002 and 2004. Corruption remains a problem in the country, though there were no reported investigations or prosecutions of public officials for complicity in trafficking. Protection The government does not provide any significant protection or aid to victims of trafficking, due in large part to the serious lack of resources in the country. Thus, the government does not fund specific trafficking-related shelters or centers that may aid victims; however, it does closely coordinate and collaborate with NGOs for victim care and assistance. In some limited cases, the government is able to provide temporary shelter, and access to legal, medical, and psychological services before turning victims over to NGOs. The government relies heavily on international aid and works to find areas where it may collaborate on trafficking-related protection services. Victims are not treated as criminals. A degree of police and customs training on how and where to refer trafficking victims to appropriate NGOs has been provided through regional and local committees. Prevention Senior government officials have publicly acknowledged the presence of trafficking in Togo; however, lack of resources severely inhibits the government's ability to carry out a long-term sustainable prevention campaign. The government established five regional committees to coordinate with local and international organizations on trafficking-related matters. These regional and local committees organized tours in their respective region to sensitize the populations on child trafficking and the dangers of trafficking, targeting taxi drivers, student-parent associations, and school inspectors. To date, there have been 234 such campaigns. Village Development Committees and other Local Committees working on anti-trafficking measures received some limited training on the rights of children. The Ministry of Interior and Security organized awareness campaigns for district governors and security forces, which included information on the methods used by traffickers.
TUNISIA [no tier rating] Republic of Tunisia The Republic of Tunisia occupies the eastern portion of the great bulge of NW Africa and is bounded by Algeria (W), by the Mediterranean Sea (N & E), and by Libya (SE). Its capital and largest city is Tunis. Although Tunisia is known for its political stability and constant economic growth, unemployment affects nearly 16% of the working population, particularly young people. Tunisia is a special case because of lack of information differentiating illegal immigrants from possible trafficking victims. Tunisia may be a country of transit for some trafficked sub-Saharan Africans and South Asians attempting to reach continental Europe. According to press reports, thousands of illegal migrants enter Tunisia annually in transit to Europe. However, since the government does not systematically differentiate trafficking victims from illegal immigrants, it is difficult to determine how many of these cases are trafficking-related. In 2004, the IOM office in Tunis proposed to the Government of Tunisia a survey to determine the extent of illegal migration and trafficking. If implemented, the survey could provide a basis for the Government of Tunisia's counter-trafficking policy. Government Action In 2004, the Government of Tunisia took positive actions to combat trafficking. It enacted an anti-trafficking law that imposes tougher sanctions on traffickers and accords certain protections to victims. According to media reports, the government has begun enforcing this law. Additionally, Tunisia amended a 1975 law on passports and travel documents and tightened issuance procedures. Press reports also highlighted that, in 2004, Tunisia interdicted illegal migration attempts and arrested and convicted those responsible, including possible traffickers. Also, Tunisia held security talks with Spain, including a discussion of illegal migration and trafficking. The Governments of Tunisia and Nigeria reportedly plan to sign a special agreement for the repatriation of Nigerian citizens caught illegally transiting Tunisia. The government has good relations with NGOs and international organizations that assist nonTunisians. The Government of Tunisia should develop and implement a system to differentiate between illegal immigrants and possible trafficking victims. Such an approach should help to compile data and, if necessary, devise an appropriate anti-trafficking response, including a means for according protection to victims of trafficking.
TURKEY (TIER 2) Republic of Turkey The Republic of Turkey is located in SW Asia and SE Europe. It is bordered by Iraq (SE), Syria and the Mediterranean Sea (S), the Aegean Sea (W), Greece and Bulgaria (NW), on the Black Sea (N), and Armenia, Georgia, and Iran (E). Ankara is its capital and Istanbul its largest city. Three-fifths of the population live in urban centres while the rest live in poor rural areas. Although there have been steady improvements in recent years, the situation of women and children continues to be marked by serious problems due to the persistence of broad geographical, economic and cultural disparities in Turkish society. Turkey is a transit and destination country for women and children trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation. Some men, women, and children are also trafficked for forced labor. There has been increasing evidence of internal trafficking of Turkish citizens for forced labor and sexual exploitation. Most victims come from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, including Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Romania, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. The Government of Turkey does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking: however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Over the last year, the government stepped up its training of law enforcement personnel to increase victim identification and end the automatic deportation and removal of victims. As a result, Turkish officials have improved their screening and identification of victims. However, the government needs to take more preemptive steps to ensure that there is a corresponding increase in convictions and sentences for traffickers. Despite the government's increased efforts to raise understanding of the trafficking phenomenon, the level of awareness among some members of the judiciary and the general public remains low. The Turkish Government should continue to strengthen its efforts to actively pursue a focused public awareness campaign reaching out to victims, law enforcement, and customers. Prosecution The Government of Turkey has taken substantial measures over the past year to improve its enforcement efforts. In October and December 2004, Turkey made significant revisions to its penal code and code of criminal procedures, including expanding investigative tools in trafficking cases and increasing punishments for traffickers. The government funded domestic and international anti-trafficking operations, specifically for training. In 2004, this covered more than 400 police, 120 Jandarma, and 160 judges. The government reportedly initiated 142 prosecutions for suspected trafficking crimes during 2004, a large increase over 2003 figures. Five cases for which information was provided produced convictions. The government failed to provide detailed follow-up information on the remaining cases. There were some reports of law enforcement officials receiving bribes that facilitated illegal prostitution. No officials were arrested or prosecuted for involvement in trafficking in 2004, though two police officers in Istanbul were charged with trafficking in March 2005. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Turkish Government and Belarus came into effect in September 2004 to allow for anti-trafficking joint investigations and cooperation. The MOU facilitated a successful operation leading to arrests in both countries. Protection The Government of Turkey has taken significant steps to halt past practices of automatic deportation of victims. The police and Jandarma are actively cooperating with an NGO shelter and implementing a protocol for victim referrals. As a result of training and awareness campaigns, law enforcement successfully identified 265 victims in 2004, an exponential increase over the handful identified in 2003. Furthermore, IOM repatriated 62 foreign victims in 2004, up from only two the previous year. The government has implemented a new policy to provide full medical assistance to victims of trafficking. In addition, the government issued humanitarian visas to 13 victims, allowing them to stay in Turkey and receive government services. Prevention The Turkish Jandarma printed and distributed 9,000 anti-trafficking brochures to police precincts and citizens throughout Turkey. Although the government established a hotline for trafficking victims in 2004, it has not yet implemented a large-scale, targeted information campaign. Most recently, the government publicly launched its 2005 counter-trafficking campaign, which is too recent to show results.
UGANDA (TIER 2) Uganda Uganda, often referred to as the Pearl of Africa, is bordered on the north by Sudan, on the south by Rwanda and Tanzania, on the east by Kenya, and on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force, with coffee accounting for the bulk of export revenues. Uganda is a source and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. The rebel organization, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), operates a campaign of terror in northern Uganda and southern Sudan, a territory outside of the government's full control. Rebels abduct Ugandan adults and children to be used as soldiers, cooks, porters, and sex slaves. UNICEF estimates that more than 12,000 children have been abducted since 2002. Thousands of Ugandan children engaged in commercial sex, some of whom were trafficked by a third party. There were reports that Uganda was also a destination for Indian women trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. The Government of Uganda does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. To strengthen its efforts to combat trafficking, the government should seek additional training for officials responsible for investigating and prosecuting traffickers, and offer protection services for victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Prosecution During the year, the government aggressively engaged in anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Uganda does not have a comprehensive anti-trafficking law; however, the penal code specifies penalties for trafficking-related offenses, including procuring a woman for prostitution, detention with sexual intent, sex with a minor under 18, dealing in slaves, and compelling unlawful labor. Taken together, these laws cover the full scope of trafficking in persons. The government actively enforced its law against engaging in sex with minors, arresting 3,094 people, some of whom were involved with trafficked children. Of these, 440 were prosecuted and 336 were convicted. The Child and Family Protection Unit of the national police, with NGO assistance, trained over 200 police officers on the proper investigation of these complaints. Police also conducted "sweeps" of areas frequented by children in prostitution. One person was arrested when police raided a bar where six women trafficked from India were being exploited. Military operations against the LRA significantly increased in both northern Uganda and southern Sudan in 2004. Military cooperation between the Governments of Sudan and Uganda to deprive the LRA of bases in southern Sudan also increased. President Museveni supported attempts to negotiate a peaceful end to LRA abductions through two cease-fires, offering an agreement for the cessation of hostilities and return of abductees. To date, the LRA has refused to sign such an agreement or begin returning abductees. The government also granted blanket amnesty, through a law passed in 2000, which absolves returnees, including abductees, from criminal liability if they renounce rebellion. As a result of this policy, however, the government has not prosecuted or convicted LRA rebels (most of whom were also victims of abduction) for trafficking-related offenses. Protection The government provided assistance to former LRA abductees, including children. The Uganda Peoples Defense Force's Child Protection Unit operated two centers that facilitated receiving, debriefing, processing, and assessing the medical needs of former child soldiers, as well as their subsequent transfer to NGO-run reintegration centers. Child soldiers who surrendered or were captured were provided with shelter and food during the short period before they were transferred to NGO custody. In the past two years, 7,329 former abductees have been rescued. The Amnesty Commission gave orientation and training to Ugandan officials working to assist former abductees in Sudan. The Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development and ILO-IPEC conducted a joint study on Ugandan children engaged in commercial sexual exploitation in four districts. Prevention The Ugandan military is deployed in an extensive effort to defeat the LRA, which would prevent future abductions. The Amnesty Commission, the Office of the President, and the Ministry for Internal Affairs are concurrently involved in seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict, which would also end abductions. In northern Uganda, the government made extensive use of local-language radiobroadcasts to persuade abducted children and their captors to accept amnesty and return from the bush. In March 2005, a national anti-trafficking working group was established.
UKRAINE (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Ukraine Ukraine is a republic in E Europe that borders on Poland (NW); on Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova (SW); on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov (S); on Russia (E & NE); and on Belarus (N). Kiev is its capital and largest city. Living standards of the vast majority of the population have declined in recent years. Inequality has risen and poverty is at significant levels, particularly among families with children and single-parent families. Ukraine is primarily a source country for men, women, and children trafficked to Europe, the Middle East, and Russia for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Recent studies indicate an increase in internal trafficking for all forms of exploitation and a growing problem of trafficking in minors. Ukraine continued to serve as a significant transit country for Asian and Moldovan victims trafficked to Western destinations. The Government of Ukraine does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Ukraine has been placed on Tier 2 Watch List because of its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts and its commitment to take additional future steps over the next year, particularly in the area of victim protection and prosecution of trafficking-related complicity. Ukraine's new government, which assumed power in late 2004, is expected to respond more effectively to institutional weaknesses and corruption, which hindered the previous government's anti-trafficking efforts. The government should create a special witness protection program for trafficking victims, expand the legal definition of trafficking to conform with international requirements, ensure the appropriation of consistent resources for the anti-trafficking unit, and conduct sensitivity training to reduce victim blaming and breaches of victim confidentiality. Prosecution Ukraine's Criminal Code remained inadequate to address the full range of trafficking in Ukraine over the reporting period. The Ministry of Interior initiated 269 new cases, completed 72 investigations, and charged 138 persons with trafficking crimes. A total of 68 trafficking prosecutions were started. The courts convicted traffickers in 67 cases, an increase from the previous year. Regrettably, only 22 persons were sentenced to time in prison, the rest receiving probation. During the reporting period, the government successfully dismantled 17 organized crime groups involved in trafficking cases. Trafficking-related complicity and official involvement continued to be a problem; there were persistent reports of high-level official intervention, which may have resulted in significant sentence reductions. The government did not investigate or prosecute any cases of trafficking-related corruption during the year. Protection The Government of Ukraine failed to provide adequate protection and rehabilitation services to victims of trafficking in 2004. The lack of a credible victim witness protection program impaired the government's ability to protect victims, and as a result few victims were willing to cooperate in prosecutions. Ukrainian courts showed a lack of sensitivity to victims during court proceedings; trafficking victims were characterized as prostitutes, rather than victims of a serious crime. The Ministry of Family and Youth Affairs coordinated some rehabilitation services, but the majority of funding for these programs came from international donors. Commendably, the government screened all victims repatriated or deported from abroad to the port of Odesa and referred them to a local NGO for services. The government instructed all diplomatic officials abroad to accelerate procedures for identifying Ukrainian victims and providing them with appropriate travel documents. Prevention Ukraine's trafficking prevention efforts were woefully inadequate over the last year. The country's Comprehensive Program for Combating Trafficking was not implemented well in 2004, as it lacked both financing and practical measures needed for its effective implementation. As a result, internal trafficking was not addressed. In December 2004, the government established an advisory anti-trafficking working group to improve coordination of the largely ineffectual Inter-Ministerial Group. The government continued to rely on NGOs and international organizations to conduct the bulk of prevention programs. However, it provided minor support for their activities, primarily by distributing literature throughout the government and in public schools. In 2004, the Ministry of Family and Youth Affairs conducted outreach to some rural youth and provided mortgage assistance to young families.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (TIER 3) United Arab Emirates (UAE) The United Arab Emirates is a federation of sheikhdoms located in SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The federation consists of seven sheikhdoms: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Qaiwain. The city of Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi is the capital. The UAE has an open economy with a high per capita income and a sizable annual trade surplus. Its wealth is based on oil and gas output (about 30% of GDP), and the fortunes of the economy fluctuate with the prices of those commodities. Since the discovery of oil in the UAE more than 30 years ago, the UAE has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) is a destination country for women trafficked primarily from South, Southeast, and East Asia, the former Soviet Union, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, and East Africa, for the purpose of sexual exploitation. A far smaller number of men, women, and teenage children were trafficked to the U.A.E. to work as forced laborers. Some South Asian and East African boys were trafficked into the country and forced to work as camel jockeys. Some were sold by their parents to traffickers, and others were brought into the U.A.E. by their parents. A large number of foreign women were lured into the U.A.E. under false pretenses and subsequently forced into sexual servitude, primarily by criminals of their own countries. Personal observations by U.S. Government officials and video and photographic evidence indicated the continued use of trafficked children as camel jockeys. There were instances of child camel jockey victims who were reportedly starved to make them light, abused physically and sexually, denied education and health care, and subjected to harsh living and working conditions. Some boys as young as 6 months old were reportedly kidnapped or sold to traffickers and raised to become camel jockeys. Some were injured seriously during races and training sessions, and one child died after being trampled by the camel he was riding. Some victims trafficked for labor exploitation endured harsh living and working conditions and were subjected to debt bondage, passport withholding, and physical and sexual abuse. The U.A.E. Government does not collect statistics on persons trafficked into the country, making it difficult to assess its efforts to combat the problem. Widely varying reports, mostly from NGOs, international organizations, and source countries, estimated the number of trafficking victims in the U.A.E. to be from a few thousand to tens of thousands. Regarding foreign child camel jockeys, the U.A.E. Government estimated there were from 1,200 to 2,700 such children in the U.A.E., while a respected Pakistani human rights NGO active in the U.A.E. estimated 5,000 to 6,000. The U.A.E. Government has taken several steps that may lead to potentially positive outcomes, such as requiring children from source countries to have their own passports, and collaborating with UNICEF and source-country governments to develop a plan for documenting and safely repatriating all underage camel jockeys The Government of the U.A.E. does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Despite sustained engagement from the U.S. Government, NGOs, and international organizations over the last two years, the U.A.E. Government has failed to take significant action to address its trafficking problems and to protect victims. The U.A.E. Government needs to enact and enforce a comprehensive trafficking law that criminalizes all forms of trafficking and provides for protection of trafficking victims. The government should also institute systematic screening measures to identify trafficking victims among the thousands of foreign women arrested and deported each year for involvement in prostitution. The government should take immediate steps to rescue and care for the many foreign children trafficked to the U.A.E. as camel jockeys, repatriating them through responsible channels if appropriate. The government should also take much stronger steps to investigate, prosecute, and convict those responsible for trafficking these children to the U.A.E. Prosecution During the reporting period, the U.A.E. made minimal efforts to prosecute traffickers. Despite the ongoing trafficking and exploitation of thousands of children as camel jockeys and women in sexual servitude, the government made insufficient efforts in 2004 to criminally prosecute and punish anyone behind these forms of trafficking. The U.A.E. Government announced in April 2005 that it would soon enact a new law banning underage camel jockeys. Currently, the U.A.E. does not have a comprehensive anti-trafficking law. The government can use various laws under its criminal codes to prosecute trafficking-related crimes effectively, but there have been only a few such cases prosecuted. In 2004, U.A.E. officials declared that the 2002 Presidential Decree against the exploitation of children as camel jockeys was legally unenforceable - effectively asserting that the U.A.E. had no legal mechanism to address this serious crime. The U.A.E.'s new law, when enacted and implemented, is expected to enable enforcement of the Decree. In 2004, according to an NGO, immigration authorities worked with source-country NGOs, embassies, and consulates to rescue and repatriate 400 trafficked former camel jockeys to Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sudan. The government transferred the anti-trafficking portfolio from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of Interior - a ministry with a law enforcement authority - and created a designated anti-child trafficking unit within the Ministry of Interior. In December 2004, the government opened a rehabilitation center for the care of rescued child camel jockeys, and from December 2004 to April 2005, rescued approximately 68 children and repatriated 43 of them to their countries of origin, primarily Pakistan. However, the number of rescued and repatriated children through these efforts is insignificant compared to the huge number (estimated in the thousands) openly exploited at camel racetracks throughout the country. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the government investigated, prosecuted, and punished anyone for trafficking, abusing, and exploiting children as camel jockeys.
The U.A.E. Government's efforts to prosecute crimes relating to trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation were equally disappointing. Despite a few arrests and prosecutions of those involved in such crimes, including travel and employment agencies that reportedly facilitate the trafficking of victims, U.A.E. law enforcement efforts during the year focused largely on the arrest, incarceration, and deportation of over 5,000 foreign women in prostitution, many of whom are likely trafficking victims. The police do not make concerted, proactive efforts to distinguish trafficking victims among women arrested for prostitution and illegal immigration; as a result, victims are punished with incarceration and deportation. Although the U.A.E. criminalized the withholding of employees' passports by employers, there is inconsistent enforcement of the law, and the practice continues to be widespread in both the private and public sectors. The government claims to have taken civil and administrative actions against hundred of employers who abused or failed to pay their domestic employees. The government does not keep data on trafficking and related investigations, arrests, and prosecutions. Protection The U.A.E. Government's efforts to provide protection and assistance to victims of trafficking were minimal during the reporting period. Its efforts to protect child camel jockeys were limited to the opening of one shelter in Abu Dhabi in December 2004 and the repatriation of approximately 443 rescued child camel jockeys. Given the estimated thousands of boys being openly exploited in the country, the total number rescued and repatriated so far is small. Following increased public attention to the camel jockey situation and rescue efforts by the government, an international NGO alleged that some camel owners are hiding a large number of child victims in the desert and in neighboring countries. However, there is no evidence the government has taken action to investigate and prevent this crime. The government is also working with the Governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan to establish U.A.E. Government-funded shelters in those countries to receive and care for rescued and repatriated children. The government's efforts to protect and assist victims of trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation have also been minimal. U.A.E. police continue to arrest and punish trafficking victims along with others engaged in prostitution, unless the victims identify themselves as having been trafficked. The U.A.E.'s numerous foreign domestic and agricultural workers are excluded from protection under U.A.E. labor laws and, as such, many are vulnerable to serious exploitation that constitutes involuntary servitude, a severe form of trafficking. The government does not have a shelter facility for foreign workers who are victims of involuntary servitude, but relies on housing provided by embassies, source-country NGOs, and concerned U.A.E. residents. The U.A.E. Government states it offers housing, work permits, counseling, medical care, and other necessary support for those labor victims who agree to testify against their traffickers. However, few victims reportedly benefited from these government-provided services. In 2004, the Dubai Police Human Rights Department reported assisting such victims in 18 trafficking cases. The Dubai Police also assigns Victim Assistant Coordinators to police stations to advise victims of their rights, encourage victims to testify, and provide other essential services to victims. Prevention The U.A.E. slightly increased its trafficking prevention efforts over the past year, particularly efforts to prevent the trafficking of children to work as camel jockeys. Prevention measures reportedly included closer screening of visa applications by U.A.E. embassies in source countries, distributing informational material directly to newly arrived foreign workers, supplying brochures to source-country embassies and consulates to warn potential victims, conducting specific anti-trafficking training for police and various government personnel, and conducting training for immigration inspectors in document fraud detection methods. In March and April 2005, the U.A.E. Government announced a variety of measures to begin to address the country's serious trafficking problems more effectively. The government announced in April that a new law, similar to the Presidential ban already in place but not enforced since September 2002, would be enacted soon. The law reportedly would ban jockeys under age 16 from participating in camel races and stipulate that a jockey's weight must exceed 45 kilograms (99 pounds). At the time of this writing, the law had not been enacted. The U.A.E. Government also announced in April new procedures to facilitate the repatriation of those underage foreign camel jockeys already in the country and to prevent new ones from entering. Beginning on March 31, 2005, camel farm owners would have two months to repatriate all underage foreign camel jockeys working on their farms. After this grace period, the government would begin levying fines against anyone harboring underage camel jockeys. The government stated in March 2005 that it would enforce a new requirement that all source-country expatriate residents, including children, have their own passports. The government reportedly instructed ports of entry to ensure that no underage children enter the country for the purpose of being used as a camel jockey. It also stated that a medical committee would begin conducting tests on all jockeys as part of the pre-race handicapping. The government reported that it had identified adequate shelters in Pakistan and Bangladesh to assist underage camel jockeys who had been repatriated to those countries, and that it would provide financing to source country organizations to handle such repatriations. From October 2002 to January 2005, the U.A.E., through the use of iris recognition technology and document fraud detecting methods, prevented 26,000 potential illegal immigrants from coming into the country, some of whom were likely trafficking victims.
United Kingdom - UK: SEE Britain
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA) [no tier rating] The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimates that 50,000 people are trafficked into or transited through the U.S.A. annually as sex slaves, domestics, garment, and agricultural slaves [iAbolish Fact Sheet] UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT EFFORTS The U.S. Government condemns trafficking in persons and remains firmly committed to fighting this scourge and protecting victims who fall prey to traffickers. Our commitment to eradicate trafficking includes: * Vigorously enforcing U.S. laws against those who traffic in persons; * Raising awareness about human trafficking and how it can be eradicated; * Identifying, protecting, and assisting victims exploited by traffickers; * Reducing the vulnerability of individuals to trafficking through increased education, economic opportunity, and protection and promotion of human rights; and * Employing diplomatic and foreign policy tools to encourage other nations, the UN, and other multilateral institutions to work with us to combat this crime, draft and enforce laws against trafficking, and hold traffickers accountable. A compendium of these actions is compiled each year in the Assessment of U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which can be found online at www.usdoj.gov/trafficking.htm. This assessment highlights executive branch efforts to end modern-day slavery and makes recommendations for improvements in our efforts over the next year. The PROTECT Act An important aspect of the U.S. effort is to strengthen law enforcements ability to investigate, prosecute, and punish violent crimes committed against children, including child sex tourism and the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The PROTECT Act (Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003) was passed by the Congress in April 2003 and signed into law by President Bush. The act serves as a historic milestone for protecting children while severely punishing those who victimize young people. Of particular note, the PROTECT Act allows law enforcement officers to prosecute American citizens and legal permanent residents who travel abroad and commercially sexually abuse minors without having to prove prior intent to commit this crime. The law also strengthens the punishment of these child sex tourists. If convicted, child sex tourists now face up to 30 years imprisonment, an increase from the previous maximum of 15 years. The PROTECT Act made several other changes to the law with a focus on protecting children from sexual predators, including: extending the statute of limitations for federal crimes involving the abduction or physical or sexual abuse of a child for the lifetime of the child; expanding the potential reach of federal sex trafficking prosecutions by extending federal jurisdiction to crimes committed in foreign commerce; establishing parallel penalty enhancements for the production of child pornography overseas; and, criminalizing actions to arrange or facilitate the travel of child sex tourists. The U.S. Anti-Trafficking Law The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (P.L. 108-193) provide tools to combat trafficking in persons worldwide. The act authorizes the establishment of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Presidents Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to assist in the coordination of anti-trafficking efforts. The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) The State Departments TIP Office is mandated to combat and eradicate human trafficking by focusing worldwide attention on the international slave trade; assisting countries to eliminate trafficking in persons; promoting regional and bilateral cooperation; and supporting service providers and NGOs active in trafficking prevention and victim protection efforts. The TIP Office also assists foreign governments in drafting or strengthening anti-trafficking laws and funds law enforcement and victim assistance training to foreign governments to ensure traffickers are fully investigated and prosecuted to final conviction. The TIP Office supported more than 50 anti-trafficking programs abroad in fiscal year 2004. The types of assistance offered included economic alternative programs for vulnerable groups; education programs; training for government officials and medical personnel; development or improvement of anti-trafficking laws; provision of equipment for law enforcement; establishment or renovation of shelters, crisis centers, or safe houses for victims; support for voluntary and humane return and reintegration assistance for victims; deterrence projects to address the demand for sex trafficking; and support for psychological, legal, medical and counseling services for victims provided by NGOs, international organizations and governments.
Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) The State Departments Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) promotes orderly and humane migration, protects the human rights of vulnerable migrants, and provides assistance to migrants in need, especially victims of trafficking in persons. The Bureau supports anti-trafficking programs focusing on victim protection. In fiscal year 2004, PRM provided over $5 million for anti-trafficking initiatives overseas carried out by the Bureaus implementing partner, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and IOMs partner NGOs. Specific activities included repatriation and reintegration assistance for victims; capacity-building to raise awareness, helping national governments manage migration and provide care for victims; and training non-governmental organizations to provide assistance to victims, including mental health care. With PRM support, IOM developed several training modules on related anti-trafficking activities, which were piloted in the Caribbean, in Indonesia, and in Southern Africa over the past year. Additionally, PRM and IOM launched a pilot project to provide logistical and reunification assistance for family members of trafficking victims in the United States who are eligible to come to the United States on a T-2, T-3, or T-4 visa. This project also offers to assist trafficking victims in the United States who wish to return and reintegrate in their home country. OTHER U.S. AGENCY ACTIVITIES The TVPA commits U.S. federal agencies to implement programs to protect and assist victims of human trafficking and to capture and prosecute their traffickers. Victim Assistance and Public Awareness The success of U.S. Government efforts to combat trafficking in persons centers on protecting and assisting victims. To this end, the TVPA mandates that federally funded or administered benefits and services, such as cash assistance, medical care, food stamps, and housing, be made available for certain non-citizen trafficking victims. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides certification and eligibility letters for victims that allow them to access most benefits and services comparable to the assistance provided to refugees. These benefits and services include access to social service programs and immigration assistance needed to help victims safely and securely rebuild their lives in the United States. Trafficking victims also are eligible to receive food stamps through the Department of Agricultures Food and Nutrition Service. From April 2004 and March 2005, HHS identified 228 victims, more than double the 108 victims identified the previous year. In fiscal year 2004, HHS issued 163 letters on behalf of victims, of which 144 were certification letters to adults and 19 were eligibility letters to minors. These certification and eligibility letters, combined with the 151 letters issued in fiscal year 2003, the 99 letters issued in fiscal year 2002, and the 198 letters issued in fiscal year 2001, bring to 611 the total number of letters issued during the first four fiscal years in which the program has operated. HHS also operates a trafficking information and referral hotline. The hotline allows victims and others persons encountering a victim of trafficking to call a national toll-free number to obtain a referral to a local organization serving the victims of trafficking and also to obtain advice on discerning a case of human trafficking. Since April 2004, the hotline has received more than 2,000 calls. In April 2004, HHS launched its Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking public awareness campaign for the purpose of increasing awareness of human trafficking, particularly among intermediaries. Local anti-trafficking coalitions were convened in ten cities to help disseminate the campaign materials to appropriate intermediaries and to sustain local activism on the trafficking issue. As part of the Rescue and Restore campaign, a Web-based resource was established; through the end of fiscal year 2004, roughly 40,000 people had visited www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking. The theme of the campaign is "Look Beneath the Surface" in order to communicate that intermediaries may be encountering victims in their daily lives and that they need to look beyond the obvious, asking specific questions or noting certain behaviors of those who may be potential victims. The goal of the Rescue and Restore campaign is to increase the number of trafficking victims identified. Campaign efforts focus on outreach to intermediaries most likely encounter trafficking victims on a daily basis, but who may not otherwise recognize them. The campaign educates these groups about human trafficking, thus enabling them to screen for trafficking victims and equipping them with tools to assist victims in accessing benefits and services. These intermediaries include local law enforcement; social service providers; health care workers; faith-based organizations; migrant and labor outreach organizations; child and homeless youth advocates and caregivers; and ethnic organizations. HHS also provides funding to organizations to aid with trafficking-related matters. In fiscal year 2004, HHS awarded approximately $3.37 million in second-year continuation grants to the 14 organizations awarded grants in fiscal year 2002. Additionally, HHS announced new special outreach grants to help identify trafficking victims and a number of other outreach campaigns aimed at increasing awareness in communities of trafficking in persons. The Department of Justice also met immediate needs of victims of trafficking in persons through witness assistance programs and services provided by the grantees of the Department of Justices Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). In January 2003, OVC awarded 12 grants totaling more than $9.5 million to NGOs for the purposes of providing trafficking victims with comprehensive or specialized services and to provide these grantees with training and technical assistance for program support. From January through December 2004, OVC awarded ten additional grants totaling more than $5.5 million to expand provision of comprehensive services to victims of human trafficking. OVC administers a total of 18 comprehensive services grants, three supplemental/specialized services grants, and one technical assistance grant.
Comprehensive services grants provide direct services to meet the broad range of needs of trafficking victims, including case management; legal advocacy; medical, dental, and mental health services; shelter; and access to a broad range of job skills training, education, and other social services. Supplemental or specialized services grants provide a quickly mobilized single service over a broad geographical area, such as housing, legal assistance, and mental health assessment and crisis intervention. OVC grantees have served a total of 557 victims of human trafficking since the inception of the program in January 2003. OVC grantees also have provided substantive training on trafficking to 24,600 people, including law enforcement officials, prosecutors, civil attorneys, social service providers, physicians, clergy, and other members of their communities. Training topics include the dynamics of trafficking, the legal definition of trafficking under the TVPA, legal rights and services for trafficking victims, and cultural considerations in serving these victims. Victims of trafficking often need legal assistance with immigration and other matters. Since the passage of the TVPA, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) must make available legal assistance to trafficking victims. The LSC is a private, non-profit corporation established by Congress to fund legal aid programs around the nation to help indigent Americans gain equal access to the civil justice system. In fiscal year 2004, eight LSC grantees assisted 170 trafficking victims. Immigration Benefits There are two immigration benefits available through the TVPA to trafficking victims who meet certain eligibility requirements. Victims may be authorized "continued presence" to temporarily remain in the United States if federal law enforcement determines they are potential witnesses to trafficking. Victims also may petition the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services within the Department of Homeland Security to receive T visas, which are available to victims who have complied with reasonable requests for assistance to investigate or prosecute acts of trafficking. Victims who receive T non-immigrant status may remain in the United States for three years and then apply for permanent residency. In fiscal year 2004, the Department of Homeland Securitys Vermont Service Center received 520 applications for T nonimmigrant status, approved 136, denied 292, and continues to consider 92. Once a trafficking victim has held T non-immigrant status for three years, he or she may apply to adjust status; the first T non-immigrant status recipients will become eligible to adjust status beginning in 2005. The United States is one of the few countries that offers the possibility of permanent residency to victims of trafficking. Investigations and Prosecutions of Traffickers In the past four fiscal years (2001-2004), the Department of Justice has initiated more than three times the number of investigations (340 vs. 106), filed almost four times as many cases (60 vs. 16), charged more than twice as many defendants (162 vs. 69), and doubled the number of defendants convicted (118 vs. 59) than in the prior four year period. In fiscal year 2004, the Department of Justice initiated prosecutions against 59 traffickers, the highest number ever charged in a single year. More than half of those defendants (32) were charged with violations under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and all of those cases involved sexual exploitation. An example of a U.S. Government investigation and prosecution is the case of United States v. Carreto, et al. As the result of an investigation based initially upon information from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, six defendants have been charged with forced labor and organizing and operating a trafficking ring that smuggled Mexican women and girls into the United States and forced them into prostitution in Queens and Brooklyn, New York. The defendants, most of whom are related to each other, come from a small town in south-central Mexico. They recruited young, impoverished women in Mexico by forming romantic relationships with them, with the ultimate goals of smuggling them into the United States and forcing them into prostitution. Once in the United States, the women were beaten and threatened to keep them working. Proceeds from prostitution were taken by the defendants and wire transferred to the defendants family in Mexico. Three defendants have pleaded guilty to trafficking charges, and a trial is pending as to the remaining defendants. Another example is the case of United States v. Rojas. In this case, three brothers, using pseudonyms, engaged in a sex trafficking scheme to seduce young Mexican women and girls and lure them to the United States with promises of gainful employment. The defendants smuggled the victims from Mexico to the Atlanta metropolitan area and then forced them into prostitution through a combination of psychological coercion, threats, and physical abuse. Upon their arrival in the United States, the victims were told never to leave the apartment. The defendants threatened to call the victims parents and tell them the girls were working as prostitutes, and threatened to abandon the girls without money or support. Thereafter, the victims were made to work nearly every night of the week, used in prostitution by upwards of 20 men per night. Arrangements were made for the girls to be taken to various apartments by taxi drivers. At the end of each night, the taxi driver would keep half the money earned, and the defendant brothers would keep the other half. The defendants were charged with conspiracy, sex trafficking, importing and harboring aliens for the purpose of prostitution, alien smuggling, and interstate transportation of illegal aliens. Two brothers pleaded guilty in 2004 and were sentenced to 71 months and 57 months in prison. The third brother fled and is now a fugitive.
The U.S. Department of Justice also led a comprehensive initiative to form 20 multi-disciplinary task forces led by U.S. attorneys in various cities across the country to address trafficking in areas of known concentration. Under this initiative, the Department of Justice and its partners, the Departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, have formed, trained, equipped, and funded teams of state, local, and federal law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim services providers in a coordinated and proactive effort to investigate criminal organizations, rescue victims, and hold perpetrators accountable. An essential part of the initiative was the convening of a national training conference called Human Trafficking into the United States: Rescuing Women and Children from Slavery, held July 14-16, 2004, in Tampa, Florida. Hosted by the Justice Department, the conference brought together more than 500 attendees composed of 21 teams of about 20 state, local, and federal officials who could work together to combat human trafficking in their respective communities across America. President Bush joined Attorney General John Ashcroft and other senior Bush Administration officials at the conference. Teams came from 21 municipalities across the United States. The teams learned how to uncover and investigate cases, as well as how to provide services to trafficking victims. The conference emphasized the importance of combating trafficking using a victim-centered approach that requires proactive law enforcement strategies and an understanding of the collaborative approach to human trafficking that includes community members, first responders, restorative care service providers, victim advocates, as well as state, local, and federal law enforcement. The next step of the initiative was to follow up with attendees, conduct initial task force meetings, provide additional training, and make an announcement of the newly formed task force. Between June and December, task forces were formed in Philadelphia; Atlanta; Phoenix; New Jersey; Northern Virginia; Connecticut; San Francisco; Houston; St. Louis; Tampa; Miami; Orlando; Washington, D.C.; Portland; Albuquerque; Seattle; Las Vegas; San Antonio; El Paso; Los Angeles; and New York. The final step, initially announced at the national conference by the Attorney General, was the Department of Justices Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and its Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) award of $7,674,614 to 18 communities to participate in the newly formed multi-disciplinary task forces to address the problem of human trafficking and rescue its victims. These 18 communities were among those identified by the Department of Justices Civil Rights Division as having a high number of trafficking operations and victims. These local law enforcement task forces will join forces with victim service providers, as well as with the local U.S. attorneys and other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Securitys Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to identify and rescue trafficking victims, including women and children. Applicants were specifically encouraged to partner with service providers supported by existing grants from the OVC or Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement. In early 2005, BJA plans to add three jurisdictions to this list, making the number of funded task forces 21. In turn, OVC, working in partnership with BJA, will make awards to develop victim services at task force sites with insufficient capacity. All of the task forces are operational, and many have initiated important investigations. The Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center In July 2004, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General established the interagency Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center. To emphasize its importance, the Center was established under Section 7202 of the Intelligence Reform Act and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The Center will achieve greater integration and overall effectiveness in the U.S. Governments enforcement and other response efforts, and work with other governments to address the separate but related issues of alien smuggling, trafficking in persons, and smuggler support of clandestine terrorist travel. International Grant Activity The ideal way to combat trafficking is to prevent the victimization of people in the first place. Because the United States is a destination country for trafficked people, prevention activities in which the U.S. Government engages abroad are particularly important. Through the State Department, the Department of Labors Bureau of International Labor Affairs, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Government offers a substantial amount of international assistance to help prevent trafficking in persons and to improve the treatment of victims and the prosecution of traffickers abroad. The State Departments Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons also is piloting programs to address the demand for victims of sex trafficking in Mexico, India, Cambodia, Costa Rica, and Thailand. In fiscal year 2004, the U.S. Government supported approximately 251 international anti-trafficking programs totaling $96 million and benefiting more than 86 countries. This amount reflects part of President Bushs anti-trafficking initiative announced at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2003. The Government of the United States has invested approximately $295 million in anti-trafficking efforts over the last four fiscal years. These international programs run the gamut from small projects to large multi-million-dollar projects to develop comprehensive regional and national strategies to combat trafficking, improve law enforcement capacity to arrest and prosecute traffickers, enhance support to victims of trafficking, and increase awareness of at-risk populations and policy makers to trafficking.
Based on U.S. Government findings over many years of international development work, assistance that has had a positive impact on anti-trafficking efforts includes: development or improvement of anti-trafficking laws; provision of equipment for law enforcement; economic alternative programs for vulnerable groups; education programs addressing both the supply and demand sides of trafficking in persons; training for government officials and medical personnel; anti-corruption measures; establishment or renovation of shelters, crisis centers, or safe-houses for victims; establishment of hotlines, support for voluntary and humane return and reintegration assistance for victims; and support for psychological, legal, medical, and counseling services for victims provided by NGOs, international organizations, and governments. Report on the Worst Forms of Child Labor The Department of Labor publishes an annual report mandated by the Trade and Development Act of 2000 on efforts governments are taking to meet their international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, including the trafficking of children for exploitative labor and commercial sexual exploitation. The Trade and Development Act (TDA) added government efforts to address the worst forms of child labor to the list of criteria countries must fulfill to receive trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences, the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, and the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The TDA Report released in 2004 chronicled the nature and incidence of the worst forms of child labor and government efforts to combat this problem in more than 140 countries and territories. International Engagement The U.S. Government engages internationally through cooperation with countries that support the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, which supplements the UN Convention Against Transnational and Organized Crime, adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 2000. The United States signed the Convention and Protocol in December 2000, and the President has submitted them to the Senate for advice and consent to ratification. Three other international instruments that address the trafficking in children have been adopted ILO Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (which the United States ratified in February 1999); the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (which the United States ratified in December 2002); and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (which the United States ratified in December 2002). The Department of Labor works with the ILO to bring international attention to countries obligations under ILO Convention 150, the Abolition of Forced Labor, as well. Training of NGOs NGOs have been vital to the U.S. effort to identify and help trafficking victims as well as to prosecute trafficking cases. The U.S. Government engages in extensive outreach to NGOs, which are often the first point of contact with trafficking victims. These contacts foster constructive relationships with groups that receive and shelter trafficking victims and are often in a position to encourage victims to come forward and report abuse. Additionally, in those situations in which law enforcement is actively involved in liberating victims from servitude, some NGOs can provide safe houses for the victims. U.S. Government personnel have been working closely with NGOs across the country to train service providers on the provisions of the TVPA. Through such training, federal prosecutors, Federal Bureau of Investigation and ICE agents, immigration officials and Health and Human Services personnel have learned about potential new cases, acquired NGO assistance in procuring refuge and support for trafficking victims, educated NGOs on the requirements for identifying a victim of a severe form of trafficking, and trained service providers on the roles they can play to contribute toward the success of a trafficking investigation and prosecution. Labor Programs The Department of Labors International Child Labor Program and the Office of Foreign Relations supported a number of efforts in fiscal year 2004 through nongovernmental and faith-based organizations, as well as the International Labor Organizations International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, that address trafficking in persons in 16 countries, either as the central focus of the project or a component of a broader project. These projects provide reintegration assistance to adult and child victims of trafficking for exploitive work situations. Project support includes enrollment possibilities in appropriate educational and vocational training programs, and linking adults to legitimate work through partnerships with local employers. Projects promote legislative and policy reform to address trafficking in persons at the local, national, and regional levels. In the United States, DOLs Employment and Training Administration provides job training grants to states and localities, which may be used to assist victims of severe forms of trafficking regardless of individuals immigration status. These grants provide job search assistance, career counseling, occupational skills training, and supportive services to eligible participants. The DOLs Wage and Hour Division is taking aggressive action to identify and eliminate abusive labor practices that affect the most vulnerable in our society. Investigators focus on low-wage industries where labor trafficking victims are most often found. And Wage and Hour staff works with the consulates of Mexico and other countries, along with NGOs, to reach out to immigrant communities.
Senior Policy Operating Group on Trafficking in Persons In February 2002, President Bush established a Cabinet-level Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The task force is chaired by the Secretary of State and includes the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of Central Intelligence, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Task Forces responsibilities include coordination and implementation of the Administrations anti-trafficking activities. In December 2003, the Task Force approved the formal establishment of the Senior Policy Operating Group on Trafficking in Persons (SPOG), chaired by the director of the State Departments Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The purpose of the SPOG is to bring together senior policy officials from task force member agencies. This year the SPOG was responsible for a number of interagency policy developments including: Coordination of U.S. agency strategic plans to address trafficking in persons; * Development and implementation of interagency grant policy and coordination guidelines to help implement the National Security Presidential Directive on trafficking in persons; * Coordination of public outreach and research efforts, including bringing attention to the dangers of trafficking in persons in South and Southeast Asia following the tsunami disaster; and; * Coordination of the Presidents $50 million anti-trafficking initiative.
URUGUAY (TIER 2) Oriental Republic of Uruguay The Oriental Republic of Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America, and extends from its short Atlantic coastline along the north bank of the Ro de la Plata to the Uruguay River, which separates it from Argentina (W). Brazil is to the North. Its capital and largest city is Montevideo. Uruguay is going through a profound economic crisis ranked by analysts as one of the most serious in the country's history. Uruguay's economic and social situation has absorbed the bulk of the government's and the population's attention, with a view to finding solutions for the pressing circumstances. Uruguay increasingly is a source country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and a destination and transit country for some forced labor. Traffickers target young women and minors for commercial sexual exploitation in urban areas and popular tourist destinations. Children from poor rural families are sent by their parents, sometimes involuntarily, to work at ranches in conditions of involuntary servitude. Organized groups force some children to beg. Uruguayan women are also trafficked to Europe, Brazil, and Argentina for sexual exploitation. Uruguay serves as a transit point for trafficking routes in the region and women and children from Argentina, Brazil, and other countries are trafficked across Uruguay's poorly controlled borders for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Chinese migrants have been trafficked into forced labor in Uruguay. Newly available information indicating a growing concern over the number of minors in the country who fall victim to trafficking, and particularly trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, has made it possible to include Uruguay in this report for the first time. The Government of Uruguay does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government does not consider trafficking to be widespread in Uruguay but has acknowledged increasing concern. During the reporting period it enacted laws against commercial sexual exploitation of minors and joined neighboring countries in efforts to identify and take remedial steps against commercial sexual exploitation of children. The government should update national laws to address all forms of trafficking, and increase efforts to educate the public, prevent child sex tourism, and protect trafficking victims. Prosecution The government's law enforcement efforts against traffickers were limited during the reporting period. Two laws enacted in 2004 strengthened provisions and penalties related to commercial sexual exploitation of children. Uruguay's anti-trafficking laws do not address trafficking of adults, but most trafficking-related crimes fall under existing fraud and slavery statutes. Businesses employing forced laborers are fined or closed - sanctions that could not be applied against groups that forced children to beg. During the reporting period, courts convicted two traffickers for prostitution of minors. In January 2005, police arrested five and issued warrants for two more suspected traffickers who smuggled Chinese migrants and exploited them for forced agricultural labor. The government extradites suspected traffickers and cooperated with Interpol and foreign governments on transnational cases during the reporting period. The government investigated suspected public corruption; in the January 2005 Chinese forced labor case, the government indicted eight and removed four immigration and police officials. Protection The Government of Uruguay lacked programs for assisting trafficking victims during the last year. The government funded programs and NGOs that targeted assistance to street children, victims of abuse, and at-risk children in general, but none focused on trafficking victims. Courts did not prosecute victims and victims could bring suit against traffickers. The government provided no victim-oriented training for police, but some officials received NGO training on proper techniques for interviewing children. Prevention The government ran no education campaigns focused on trafficking; officials need to learn more about the trafficking problem in Uruguay and work with civil society to educate the public. The government funded an ILO program to keep children in school, and supported NGOs and ran hotline and leaflet campaigns regarding child abuse and exploitation in general. In 2004, the Ministry of Interior created a special office to address child trafficking. In August 2004, the Crime Prevention Office started a database to track trafficking-related cases.
UZBEKISTAN (TIER 2 WATCH LIST) Republic of Uzbekistan The Republic of Uzbekistan is located in central Asia and is bordered by Afghanistan (S), Turkmenistan (SW), Kazakhstan (W & N), and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (E). Tashkent, the capital, and Samarkand are the chief cities. Despite economic reforms, unemployment and inflation remain high. 18% of the population earns less than US$1 per day, and in 2003, the World Bank estimated that 27.5% of Uzbeks could not meet their basic consumption needs. Uzbekistan is primarily a source, and, to a lesser extent, a transit country for people trafficked to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Israel, Turkey, Egypt, South Korea, Bahrain, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Western Europe, and other former Soviet states. Typically women are trafficked to those countries for the purpose of sexual exploitation; men end up trafficked in Kazakhstan and Russia for labor exploitation in construction, agriculture, and the service sector. IOM reported an increase of trafficked victims from the Fergana Valley in 2004. Internal trafficking occurred from rural to urban areas primarily for labor exploitation. The Government of Uzbekistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government has been placed on Tier 2 Watch List based on commitments by the country to take additional steps over the next year, including the adoption of comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, criminal code amendments to raise anti-trafficking penalties, support to the country's first trafficking shelter, and approval of a national action plan. During 2004, the government created an anti-trafficking unit, improved Uzbek consulate efforts to free trafficked victims abroad, and increased trafficking convictions. Prosecution While the Government of Uzbekistan increased trafficking convictions to 251 in 2004 (up from 80 in 2003), a majority of convicted traffickers were amnestied. The government extended a general amnesty to anyone convicted of crimes with prison terms of less than ten years. Uzbekistan's law on trafficking prescribes prison sentences of five to eight years, which meant that most traffickers qualified for general amnesty during 2004 and thus served little to no jail time, unless they were convicted for additional offenses or were repeat offenders. The government amnestied in December 2004 two women convicted earlier in the Fall for their role in trafficking 14 women to Georgia for onward movement to the U.A.E. Proposed legislation that would comprehensively address trafficking and raise penalties for cross-border trafficking to ten to 15 years' imprisonment remained pending during the reporting period. In 2004, the Uzbek Government established contacts with anti-trafficking counterparts in the U.A.E., the top destination for Uzbek women trafficked for sexual exploitation. Still, the government acknowledged that it needed more cooperative relationships with destination countries for effective trafficking prosecutions. Ministry of Internal Affairs participants in a May 2004 anti-trafficking training course used their skills to train an additional 1,500 officers throughout Uzbekistan. Allegations of local officials falsifying or selling travel documents continued, although the government reported no actions taken against this corruption in 2004. Protection The Uzbek Government provided no direct support to trafficking victims, due in part to limited resources. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assisted some with obtaining the necessary identification documents to return to Uzbekistan. Following an Uzbek delegation's visit in December 2004 to the U.A.E. - where it interviewed 119 women in five prisons - and an ensuing consular officers' training in January 2005, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs changed the identification policy for trafficking victims, compressing the process into weeks as opposed to months. Airport police continued to refer identified trafficking victims to an NGO in Tashkent. The state-run Uzbekistan Airways issued tickets at a 50 percent discount to destitute citizens abroad, including trafficking victims. Authorities did not jail or prosecute trafficking victims in 2004. The government encouraged victims to assist with investigations, but no formal programs existed to protect victims of any crime who served as witnesses in criminal prosecutions. Prevention The government continued to support anti-trafficking educational programming via state-controlled mass media and informational posters in public and government spaces. It paid to translate trafficking awareness posters into the Karakalpak language for those in western Uzbekistan. The Uzbek Government allowed free advertising on local television stations of seven regional anti-trafficking hotlines, run by IOM's partner organizations. Members of the anti-trafficking unit traveled to each region of Uzbekistan during the summer of 2004 to assess regional anti-trafficking measures; consequently, regional units were formed to better coordinate local anti-trafficking measures. At the end of 2004, Uzbekistan reconstituted its anti-trafficking working group in which three government agencies participated.
VENEZUELA (TIER 3) Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is located in N South America. It has a coastline 1,750 mi (2,816 km) long on the Caribbean Sea (N) and is bordered by Brazil (S), by Colombia (W & SW), and by Guyana (E). Its capital and largest city is Caracas. To alleviate the burden of the economic crisis, the government has strengthened the Food Program, particularly the popular markets. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports launched a campaign emphasizing the value of education. The coverage of the "Bolivarian Schools", where all-daylong educational, recreational activities and meals are offered, has increased. Integrated Early Child Development is considered a priority. Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children from countries in the region such as Colombia, Guyana, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic are trafficked to and through Venezuela and subjected to commercial sexual exploitation. Venezuelans are trafficked internally - typically moving from rural to urban areas - and to Western Europe, particularly Spain, and countries such as Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago, for commercial sexual exploitation. Traffickers lure victims with promises of lucrative jobs or educational opportunities and take advantage of lax border controls or move victims using illegally obtained Venezuelan or false travel documents. Venezuelan children in border areas risk trafficking to mining camps in Guyana for sexual exploitation, or forced soldiering or sexual exploitation by Colombian armed insurgent groups. Venezuela is a transit country for illegal migrants, including Chinese nationals; some are believed to be trafficking victims. The Government of Venezuela does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. The government has devoted insufficient attention and resources to combating human trafficking. It should strengthen law enforcement efforts, educate the public, and develop protection mechanisms for trafficking victims The Government of Venezuela does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. The government has devoted insufficient attention and resources to combating human trafficking. It should strengthen law enforcement efforts, educate the public, and develop protection mechanisms for trafficking victims. Prosecution Efforts to address trafficking-related crime remained inadequate during the past year. The Naturalization and Immigration Law passed in 2004 contained provisions that could be used to prosecute transnational trafficking crimes. Other laws, such as the Child Protection Act and various articles of the penal code, could also be used to prosecute traffickers. However, there were no reported arrests related to commercial sexual exploitation of minors and no trafficking cases were prosecuted during the reporting period. The Criminal Investigative Police (CICPC) worked with Interpol on three cases of trafficking of women and girls for commercial sexual exploitation to Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Spain. Police and intelligence forces arrested two suspected alien smugglers in a case with possible trafficking implications. Although there was no evidence that the government participated in or condoned human trafficking, corruption among immigration, identification, and border patrol officials is widespread and could facilitate trafficking. Protection The government provided no specialized assistance for trafficking victims during the reporting period and funded no NGO programs geared toward victims of trafficking. Authorities assisted in the repatriation of four Venezuelan victims. In theory, victims could seek civil action against their traffickers, but laws made no provision for victim restitution. Prevention The government launched no anti-trafficking public awareness campaign and prevention efforts were inadequate throughout the year. There were no attempts to study the extent of trafficking within the country. In the absence of government action to educate the public about the dangers of trafficking, most of Venezuelan society remained uninformed about the issue. Some government officials were aware of trafficking as an international problem and acknowledged the problem in Venezuela. The government activated an interdepartmental anti-trafficking working group, led by the Ministry of Interior and Justice, that designed a National Plan of Action and tasked each agency in the working group with creating its own anti-trafficking training and programs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted IOM and the Organization of American States for anti-trafficking workshops in January 2005 to raise public officials' and NGOs' awareness of the problem. Consulates were tasked to report on Venezuelan trafficking victims but had received no previous training regarding the issue.
VIETNAM (TIER 2) Socialist Republic of Vietnam The Socialist Republic of Vietnam occupies the eastern coastline of the Southeast Asian peninsula, and is bounded by China (N), by Laos and Cambodia (W), and by the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea (E & S). Its capital is Hanoi and the largest city is Ho Chi Minh City. While new opportunities and economic benefits for many Vietnamese people have improved, there are ever-increasing gaps between the rich and the poor, and between rural and urban populations. The poverty rate in urban areas half of the poverty rate in rural areas. Ethnic minorities have not shared in many of the benefits of the past decade's developments due to social and cultural divisions and a lack of knowledge about basic social services and information that promotes behavioral change. This is especially true in rural areas where living standards have improved at a much lower rate and where cash money is still scarce. Gender discrimination also continues to undermine the well being of women and their children. Vietnam is a source and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women and girls are trafficked to Cambodia, the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic for commercial sexual exploitation. A large percentage of the Vietnamese women who are trafficked to Taiwan are lured by fraudulent offers of employment or marriage to Taiwanese men. Labor export companies recruit and send workers abroad. Although there were no confirmed reports during the rating period, some of these laborers were victims of abuses that constitute "involuntary servitude," a severe form of trafficking. To a lesser extent, Vietnam is a destination country for Cambodian children who are trafficked for forced work as beggars. There is also internal trafficking from rural to urban areas. The Government of Vietnam does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In July 2004, the government issued a national action plan to combat trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, as well as a five-year national program for addressing all aspects of Vietnam's anti-trafficking efforts including prevention, prosecution, and protection. In addition to implementing strategies to address trafficking for sexual exploitation, the government took steps to provide greater protection for Vietnamese workers sent abroad by labor export companies. It continued to engage neighboring governments to combat trafficking and cooperated on the repatriation of victims and other cross-border issues. Prosecution In 2004, the government continued its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, actively investigating trafficking cases, and prosecuting and convicting traffickers. Vietnam has a statute that prohibits commercial sexual exploitation and the trafficking of women and children with penalties ranging up to 20 years' imprisonment. Trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation is covered under Vietnam's Penal Code. Over the past year, the government's crime statistics office reported 142 prosecutions and 110 convictions specifically related to trafficking in women and children. While some local government officials reportedly profited from trafficking, there were no reported prosecutions of officials for complicity in trafficking. The government does not effectively control its long and porous borders. Protection The Vietnamese Government improved its efforts to provide protection to victims during the reporting period by strengthening protections for Vietnamese workers sent abroad by labor export companies. It stationed labor attaches in the nine top labor export receiving countries to look after the welfare of workers and to assist in resolving workplace disputes. The government also increased its oversight of labor export companies, and imposed penalties and sanctions against companies that violated labor laws or regulations. Vietnam's revised labor code has provisions that allow workers to negotiate settlements from labor export companies in cases of fraud or abuse, although precise statistics on these actions were not provided. Trafficking victims in Vietnam are usually not detained, arrested or otherwise punished. However, the government routinely sends women who engage in prostitution within the country to "rehabilitation" detention centers that provide medical treatment, vocational training, and counseling, and seek to deter the women's return to prostitution. The government's rehabilitation efforts lack adequate financial resources and usually take place at the provincial and local levels. Prevention While the Vietnamese Government did not implement specific anti-trafficking awareness campaigns in 2004, it raised the issue of trafficking in combination with other information and education programs. In 2004, it cooperated with the Chinese Government and UNICEF on a mass communications effort to educate the public and local government leaders on trafficking. The yearlong campaign included workshops on local laws regarding the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children and training on how to counsel trafficking victims.
YEMEN (TIER 2) Republic of Yemen The Republic of Yemen is located in SW Asia, at the southern edge of the Arabian peninsula and is bordered by Saudi Arabia (N), by Oman (E), by the Gulf of Aden (S), and by the Red Sea (W). Sana is its capital. With the unification of North and South Yemen, the fight against poverty is the main theme of Government's poverty policy for the years to come and the need to improve the situation of children and women is emphasized. Yemen is a country of origin for internationally trafficked children, and reportedly a destination for foreign women trafficked into Yemen for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Yemeni children, primarily boys, are trafficked to Saudi Arabia for exploitation as beggars, street vendors, and unskilled laborers. Some Iraqi women are reportedly trafficked into Yemen for the purpose of sexual exploitation. There were some reports of Yemeni women and underage girls being trafficked internally from rural areas to cities for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The Government of the Republic of Yemen does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Trafficking in persons is a new issue in Yemen, and the government has few resources to devote to combating trafficking. Nevertheless, in 2004 it made positive progress, including working with UNICEF to produce a report that assesses child trafficking and utilizing a new entry visa requirement for Iraqis traveling into Yemen. Yemen should build on these positive achievements by taking similar steps against trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and appointing a national coordinator to oversee its overall anti-trafficking efforts, including the development of a national plan of action against trafficking. Prosecution The Government of Yemen made some efforts to prosecute trafficking cases during the reporting period. Yemen does not have an anti-trafficking law; however, it has provisions in its criminal code to prosecute and punish traffickers. It investigated 12 trafficking cases, prosecuted two alleged traffickers, and produced one trafficking-related conviction over the last year. Yemeni security forces interdicted and curtailed several child trafficking attempts and conducted sweeps in Sanaa and Aden. As a result of the sweeps, the government deported several foreign women in prostitution, though they may have been trafficking victims. Yemen should craft and implement a screening procedure to identify trafficking victims. Protection The Government of Yemen provided limited assistance to trafficking victims over the reporting period. It trained some police officers on techniques to recognize and properly handle trafficking cases. It rescued and returned child victims to their families and repatriated women suspected of involvement in prostitution, some of whom may have been trafficking victims. It worked closely with UNICEF to establish a reception center for trafficked children in the Harath region, and operated four additional centers in the north. There were reports that some child victims were arrested and possibly abused while in the government's custody. If true, authorities should take steps to investigate the incidents, prosecute offenders, and prevent future abuses. The government should build on existing programs that attempt to prevent the re-trafficking of repatriated or rescued child victims. Prevention During the reporting period, the Government of Yemen took positive steps to prevent trafficking, including conducting, together with UNICEF, a study on the problem of child trafficking; hosting a high-profile two-day conference to highlight the study's findings; instituting an entry visa requirement for Iraqis to prevent the trafficking of Iraqi women into Yemen; increasing the monitoring of its border with Saudi Arabia and agreeing with Saudi Arabia to establish a bilateral committee to combat child trafficking; sponsoring limited anti-trafficking public awareness campaigns; and conducting anti-trafficking training for its security officials.
ZAMBIA (TIER 2) Republic of Zambia The Republic of Zambia is located in central Africa and is bordered by Congo (Kinshasa) (N), by Tanzania (NE), by Malawi and Mozambique (E), by Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia (S), and by Angola (W). Lusaka is its capital and largest city. Without immediate actions to prevent and respond to HIV/AIDS through targeted programs, the premature deaths of adults infected by HIV will result in massive effects on families, communities and institutions. Zambia is a source and transit country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Driven by homelessness and poverty, indigenous children in prostitution are found in most cities and constitute the country's most significant trafficking problem. Anecdotal reports suggest that Zambian women are trafficked to South Africa for sexual exploitation. It is likely that Zambia is also a transit point for regional trafficking of women to South Africa. The Government of Zambia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the past year, Zambia has demonstrated significant progress in its efforts to combat trafficking in persons. While Zambia's existing laws are adequate to criminalize the full scope of trafficking in persons offenses, prevention and detection of trafficking by law enforcement officials would likely improve if trafficking were specifically defined as a crime. To further strengthen its anti-trafficking efforts, the government's inter-ministerial human trafficking committee should take concrete steps to prevent trafficking, including the institution of a broad public awareness campaign. Prosecution Zambia has made substantial progress in furthering its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. While there is no specific anti-trafficking law, the country's laws criminalize the full scope of trafficking in persons, including trafficking for sexual exploitation and fraudulent labor recruitment. In November 2004, the Zambian Parliament passed comprehensive child protection legislation that prohibits all forms of slavery, as well as procuring or offering a child for illicit activities, including prostitution. The government actively investigated reports of trafficking in persons and police and the courts successfully intervened in several cases. In July 2004, police arrested a man who offered to sell two children to a local businessman. In October, police intercepted 14 Congolese girls between the ages of five and 17 bound for South Africa, where they were promised jobs. The Congolese woman accompanying the children was arrested for trafficking the girls. The government continued its ongoing prosecution of two Congolese nationals accused of trafficking two girls to Ireland in 2003 and commenced prosecution in two local child abduction cases that involved child prostitution. The Victim Support Unit of the Zambian Police now monitors reports of trafficking and is able to report on its anti-trafficking efforts. The government is currently working with IOM to implement a program to train police and immigration officers in border areas to recognize and investigate trafficking in persons. Protection The government took significant steps to implement a strategy for providing shelter and protection to vulnerable children, including trafficking of children into prostitution. Through its social welfare agencies, the government provided counseling, shelter, and protection to approximately 20 victims of trafficking for prostitution or referred victims to NGO service providers. It provided premises for NGOs assisting such victims and civil servants actively assisted these organizations with their work. The government also funded numerous NGOs and faith-based organizations across the country to provide temporary accommodation for at-risk children. Based on the results of needs assessments, the youth are reintegrated with their families, provided long-term shelter and education by civil society organizations, or relocated to a Zambia National Service camp for skills training. Prevention Zambia lacks a public information and awareness program to prevent trafficking in persons. In September 2004, the government announced the formation of an inter-ministerial human trafficking committee designed to focus attention, strategies, and resources to combat the practice. The committee is comprised of representatives from the Drug Enforcement Commission, the Zambia Police Service, and the Ministries of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Sports, Youth, and Child Development. A coordinator of all anti-trafficking in persons activities has been designated. During the year, the government began drafting a national action plan to address trafficking in persons.
ZIMBABWE (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST) Republic of Zimbabwe The Republic of Zimbabwe is located in S central Africa and is bordered by Zambia (N), by Mozambique (NE & E), by South Africa (S), and by Botswana (SW & W). Harare (formerly Salisbury) is its capital and largest city. The HIV/AIDS pandemic; declining economic performance; political polarization, unfavorable environmental conditions (drought and other natural phenomena); policy constraints, limited donor support for development programs; and depleted capacity in the social service sectors have led to the worlds fastest rise in child mortality. Zimbabwe is a source and transit country for small numbers of women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Women and children were reportedly sexually exploited in towns on the Zimbabwe border with South Africa. There were also reports of Zimbabweans being lured by false job promises to other countries, particularly the United Kingdom, where, upon arrival, they were debt-bonded, had their passports confiscated and movement restricted, and were exploited in sweatshops or brothels. There was also evidence of trafficking of Zimbabwean children into exploitative labor conditions, including children forced to work long hours in Zimbabwe and bordering countries as unpaid domestic or agricultural laborers without access to schooling. There were unconfirmed reports that trafficking victims from other African nations transited Zimbabwe on their way to South Africa. The Government of Zimbabwe does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Zimbabwe is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year reflecting the need for additional progress in its efforts to eliminate trafficking. To further its efforts to combat trafficking, the government should continue taking steps to gather comprehensive trafficking data, including prosecution statistics, and establish additional mechanisms for providing victim services. Prosecution The government made modest progress in its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts over the last year. While there is no law specifically criminalizing trafficking in persons, existing codes criminalize transporting people across borders for sex, procuring a person for prostitution, allowing children to frequent brothels, abduction, and forgery of travel documents. The constitution prohibits slavery, servitude, and forced labor. During the year, the Attorney General's office began developing an anti-trafficking education and training program for prosecutors and judges to equip them to better utilize existing law to address trafficking-related issues in prosecutions. Statistics were unavailable on the prosecution of trafficking-related cases; however, the government actively investigated false employment scams that led to trafficking, a crime syndicate producing fake passports, and multiple cases of Asian girls transported to Zimbabwe and exploited for pornography. In November 2004, the government co-hosted a regional working meeting on trafficking in persons in Harare that focused on regional cooperation between law enforcement and NGOs to conduct investigations and identify and provide care for victims. The government is also collaborating with international organizations and the governments of neighboring countries to develop a regional plan of action that will focus on assessing the scope of the problem and formulating anti-trafficking legislation. Protection The government made modest progress in protecting trafficking victims during the reporting period. The Ministry of Public Service, Social Welfare, and Labor began construction of a transit center at the border town of Beitbridge to assist deportees from South Africa in returning to their homes, including temporary shelter and counseling for those who are victims of sexual exploitation. Victims of sexual abuse and exploitation have the option to have their cases heard in the Victim Friendly Courts, which were created in 1997 to accommodate children and victims of sexual offenses. Prevention The government demonstrated a commitment to prevent trafficking during the last year, and officials publicly expressed the government's determination to work on the issue. The state-run media prominently featured articles about trafficking in persons, describing employment scams and other types of trafficking. A national police point of contact was established to coordinate antitrafficking efforts. The government, though the Ministries of Education, Home Affairs, and Public Service, Labor, and Social Welfare, worked with a children's home to provide schooling and vocational training to orphans at risk of child labor and trafficking in persons. In 2004, the government opened new birth registration centers around the country to make it easier for parents to obtain birth certificates for their children, who are less vulnerable to exploitation because they can then access social services more easily.
The folowing list of Countries/Territories are not included in the previous listing due to the lack of information at compiling time, or are included under their primary country of control. Abkhazia - Republic of Abkhazia (de facto independent state inside Georgia) Akrotiri - Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) land - land Islands (autonomous province of Finland, recognized by international treaty) American Samoa - Territory of American Samoa (unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States) Andorra - Principality of Andorra (co-principality with the President of the French Republic and the Bishop of Urgell, Spain as ex officio heads of state) Anguilla (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Antigua and Barbuda (Commonwealth Realm) Aruba (overseas country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands) Saint Helena Ascension Island (dependency of Saint Helena, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Bahamas, The - Commonwealth of The Bahamas (Commonwealth Realm) Barbados (Commonwealth Realm) Bermuda (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Bhutan - Kingdom of Bhutan Botswana - Republic of Botswana Cape Verde - Republic of Cape Verde Cayman Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Central African Republic (sometimes also rendered as Central Africa) Christmas Island - Territory of Christmas Island (overseas territory of Australia) Cocos (Keeling) Islands - Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (overseas territory of Australia) Comoros - Union of the Comoros (federal state) Congo (Brazzaville) - Republic of the Congo Cook Islands (self-governing state in free association with New Zealand) Dhekelia - Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Dominica - Commonwealth of Dominica Eritrea - State of Eritrea Falkland Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom, also claimed by, and a former possession of Argentina named Islas Malvinas) Faroe Islands (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) Fiji - Republic of the Fiji Islands French Polynesia (overseas country of France) Gibraltar (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Greenland (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) Grenada (Commonwealth Realm) Guam - Territory of Guam (unincorporated organized territory of the United States) Guernsey - Bailiwick of Guernsey (British Crown dependency, including its self-governing dependencies Alderney, Herm and Sark) Guinea-Bissau - Republic of Guinea-Bissau Iceland - Republic of Iceland Ireland (also commonly referred to as the Republic of Ireland as the official "description" of the state in order to distinguish it from the island of Ireland as a whole) Jersey - Bailiwick of Jersey (British Crown dependency) Kiribati - Republic of Kiribati Lesotho - Kingdom of Lesotho Liechtenstein - Principality of Liechtenstein Maldives - Republic of Maldives Man, Isle of - Isle of Man (British Crown dependency, also known as Mann) Marshall Islands - Republic of the Marshall Islands (US associated state) Mayotte (overseas collectivity of France) Micronesia - Federated States of Micronesia (federal state, US associated state) Monaco - Principality of Monaco Montserrat (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Nagorno-Karabakh - Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (de facto independent state inside Azerbaijan) Namibia - Republic of Namibia Nauru - Republic of Nauru Netherlands Antilles (overseas country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands) New Caledonia (sui generis collectivity of France) Niue (self-governing state in free association with New Zealand)
Norfolk Island - Territory of Norfolk Island (overseas territory of Australia) Northern Cyprus - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (de facto independent state inside Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey) Northern Mariana Islands - Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (unincorporated organized territory (commonwealth) in political union with the United States) Palau - Republic of Palau (US associated state) Palestine - State of Palestine (currently recognized by over 90 countries and further supported by other countries according the Palestinian National Authority a pivotal role in the process that may involve their eventually recognizing the State as sovereign) Papua New Guinea - Independent State of Papua New Guinea (Commonwealth Realm) Pitcairn Islands - Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) o See Transnistria for Pridnestrovie Puerto Rico - Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (unincorporated organized territory (commonwealth) associated with the United States) Saint Helena (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Saint Kitts and Nevis - Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis (federal state, Commonwealth Realm) Saint Lucia (Commonwealth Realm) Saint Pierre and Miquelon (overseas collectivity of France) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Commonwealth Realm) Samoa - Independent State of Samoa San Marino - Most Serene Republic of San Marino So Tom and Prncipe - Democratic Republic of So Tom and Prncipe Seychelles - Republic of Seychelles Solomon Islands (Commonwealth Realm) Somaliland - Republic of Somaliland (de facto independent state inside Somalia) South Ossetia - Republic of South Ossetia (de facto independent state inside Georgia) Svalbard (overseas territory of Norway, recognized by international treaty) Swaziland - Kingdom of Swaziland Tokelau (overseas territory of New Zealand) Tonga - Kingdom of Tonga Transnistria - Transnistrian or Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic (the Transnistrian government uses as translation Pridnestrovie, de facto independent state inside Moldova) Trinidad and Tobago - Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Tristan da Cunha (dependency of Saint Helena, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Tuvalu (Commonwealth Realm) Vanuatu - Republic of Vanuatu Vatican City - State of the Vatican City (administered by a Pontifical Commission appointed by the Pope who is concurrently the head of the Holy See and that of the Vatican City) Virgin Islands (British) - British Virgin Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom) Virgin Islands (U.S.) - United States Virgin Islands (unincorporated organized territory of the United States, popularly known in its abbreviated terms as U.S. Virgin Islands) Wallis and Futuna (overseas collectivity of France) Western Sahara - Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (currently recognized by over 40 countries, the SADR only exercises effective control over the territory east of Moroccan Wall, whereas large portion of the territory is occupied by and integrated in Morocco) End of the Tier Designations for Countries. Additional material on the following pages.
Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in Europe Human Trafficking in the UK "The events that force women and children into the sex slave trade are miserable, and the effects these people suffer from are unimaginable; we must seek a solution to the problem of the sex slave trade. " Organized crime enterprises in the United Kingdom are raking in millions of dollars in profits from trafficked women in a growing illegal sex-slave trade, according to British cops. Vocal politicians in the UK have all but condemned the Blair Government of not doing enough to crackdown on these slave-trading gangs and point to a failure of the government to protect the thousands of women enslaved. Police say that some are teenagers as young as 15, duped into coming to England with promises of employment as maids, nannies or waitresses only find themselves forced into a life of sex, brutality, even torture UK police officials claim British cities are filled with trafficked women who are forced to work in brothels and on the streets of London and other cities. For instance, the SoHo section of London is a known area for prostitution. According to law enforcement officials, violent gang wars are breaking out between rival criminal organizations due to a saturation of sex slaves in the illegal marketplace. According to police officials, the gangsters even use internet websites to advertise the availability of women, many of whom were tricked into sex-slave trade. Members of the British Parliament who serve on the Human Rights Committee claim that UK authorities have failed to combat what they call "an evil trade in human misery" by not allowing victims rescued from the sex-slave gangs the right to remain in Britain long enough to recover from physical and mental trauma as a result of gang brutality and the humiliation of these women experienced. Senior members of the British government including police believe there should be more done to help these newly freed sex-slaves. They point to a similar program operating in the United States that shows no evidence of immigration abuse by the victimized women. In the US, it's estimated that between 80,000 and 120,000 foreign women are being sexually exploited by gangs of sexslave traffickers. Some of the crime gangs operating in states such as New York and New Jersey are Koreans and Mexicans. The gangs in the UK are said to be Asians, Arabs and other Middle Easterners. Unfortunately, the Secretary of the Home Office has no accurate figures on the number of sex-trafficked women. The UK police commanders estimate that upwards of 10,000 illegal aliens are working as prostitutes in Britain and more than three-quarters of the women in brothels are from either the Baltics, Africa or Southeast Asia. As happens in the US, police raid massage parlors that are actually brothels across the country. Reportedly, in one raid officers found 19 foreign women in a Birmingham parlor who've been trafficked from foreign countries with fraudulent documents. Sex trade trafficking West Midlands police have rescued 19 women who they believe were being forced into prostitution by a human trafficking gang. The National Criminal Intelligence Service ranks organised immigration crime among the top four threats to the UK. # The United Nations defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation and harbouring of people by means of threat, force or other forms of coercion for the purposes of exploitation. # The Home Office says the most trafficked prostitutes in the UK come from Lithuania, Thailand, Russia, Albania and Romania. # The NCIS says there are indications that criminal gangs, especially ethnic Albanians, are seeking to gain control of the trade in the UK. They are taking over established brothels and are "prepared to use violence to achieve this". # Support groups say women are often tricked into thinking they are coming to the UK to do legitimate jobs and then forced into prostitution. # Gangs involved in trafficking prostitutes are often involved in other serious criminal activities including drugs, counterfeiting, bank and benefit fraud. Legislation # In England and Wales, the gangs are subject to a range of legislation relating to both specific criminal offenses and immigration laws. # The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 made trafficking for the purposes of prostitution a specific offence for the first time, providing a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine. # The Sexual Offenses Act 2003 included a wider range offenses relating to trafficking for sexual exploitation which also carry a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment. # According to the latest NCIS assessment, the identification of trafficked prostitutes in the UK is continuing to rise. # The NCIS says it is not clear whether the rise represents a new trend or better intelligence and it is unsafe to assume that all foreign women working in brothels are trafficking victims. # There have been some high profile prosecutions but police chiefs are said to be concerned that the gangs seem to be able to replace deported or arrested prostitutes within days.
'Conflicting roles' # The Home Office says research estimates there are 80,000 working prostitutes in the UK. # The London-based Poppy Project was set up as a Home Office pilot in March 2003 to combat the trafficking and sexual abuse of women brought into the UK. # According to the project, which provides support to victims, about 2,800 woman working in the UK sex trade are likely to have been trafficked. # The project says a "lack of opportunities in countries of origin" often leads to women being trafficked. # An evaluation of the Poppy Project has been carried out to help the government decide on the future of the scheme. # The Research, Development and Statistics Directorate of the Office for Criminal Justice Reform found in its first 15 months there were 43 placements from 169 referrals but no arrests or prosecutions brought against suspected traffickers. # The Home Office said criminal trials related to Poppy Project victims were currently pending. # The evaluation cited "tension" between the Metropolitan Police and the Immigration Service over their sometimes conflicting roles in combating trafficking crimes. # Amnesty International has called on the government to do more to protect victims of trafficking. # A spokeswoman said there was no protection in law for victims of trafficking who were often classed as illegal immigrants and deported. # Amnesty is also urging the government to sign up to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, which gives victims the right to temporary residence permits and other assistance. Legalizing Pimping, Dutch Style There has been much discussion about Dutch drug policy, but scarcely a word about the campaign to liberalize the sex market that the Netherlands has launched and pursued so effectively. Since the 1980s, the Netherlands has been the only country in the world to have an open national and international policy of legalizing activities involving prostitution. Further, it is the only country to have provided itself with the necessary plans, finances and institutions to implement this legalization effectively. The Netherlands, with its deliberate policy of "tolerance, does not believe that prostitution should be abolished, even in the long term. The official policy of Amsterdam, a city seen as a national beacon, is that abolishing prostitution would create more problems than it would solve, for prostitutes and society alike, while falling back on the justification that they couldnt abolish prostitution even if they wanted to do so. The city also boasts that its red-light district is famous the world over. The Netherlands does not simply regard prostitution as a lesser evil. On the eve of the 21st century, under the pretext of an analysis that officially equates sexual freedom with prostitution, and arguing, in defiance of all ethics, that the social stigma attached to prostitution will disappear once the profession is legally recognized, the Dutch government is advocating a new human right, the right to pimp (1), for which the right to be a prostitute is merely a cover. In its own defense, the Netherlands is pushing the liberal economic argument to extremes. After recognizing that women must be able to choose freely to be prostitutes, the government now accepts that the human body can be an object of trade and recognizes that another person can use it for profit. The right to self-determination, enjoyed by every independent adult man or woman who has not been subjected to any unlawful influence, implies the right of that individual to profit from the resulting earnings (2). This amazing statement precludes any analysis of the relationship of power at the very root of prostitution. It postulates that individuals themselvesnot just objectscan be the subject of agreements (3) and radically questions the universal principle that the human body is inviolable. The new vocabulary used in Dutch and, increasingly, in international documents, is highly significant; and in spoken language, too, women's right to self-determination is replacing women's right to freedom. The empowerment of women (4) is replacing the equality of the sexes, while the ambiguous term sexual rights opens the way to selling sex. Sexual work and the sex trade are replacing prostitution. Pimps and brothel-keepers have become third parties, intermediaries, prostitution managers, owners or managers of premises, and managers of the sex industry. And the prostitutes have become sex workers or sex professionals. As for the clients, in the Netherlands they have become consumers of prostitution, usually anonymous, except when they try to form interest groups. The argument behind this is that prostitution should be regarded as an economic activity like any otheror almost. The only criminal offenses are forms of exploitation involving an element of coercion or fraud, or the abuse of a situation of dependency on prostitution. This distinction paves the way to recognizing the existence of forced prostitution, the cornerstone of this theory. The addition of this single word forced implies, however, that prostitution can be free, voluntary, and based on rational, that is, economic choice (5). So the definition of prostitution is now based purely on whether there was any coercion of the prostitutes themselves. There is no longer any question of the legitimacy of this trade, in fact, it is bound to expand the constraints already imposed on prostitutes (rape, assault, blackmail, torture, murder) are bound to worsen. The Dutch authorities have even proposed a new concept: full consent to exploitation of the self.
Although it is not often applied, Dutch criminal law does still penalize pimping. But this is more symbolic than real now that the management of brothels has been transferred to the municipal authorities. They have the power to sign agreements with the brothelkeepers, under which the latter may, with police supervision, freely exercise their trade, provided the prostitutes have reached majority, possess papers, protect their own health and that of their clients and have not been forced. In fact, 80 percent of Amsterdam prostitutes are foreigners and 70 percent have no papers, so it is hardly surprising that only four of the 250 officially listed Amsterdam brothels have actually signed an agreement with the mayor. In any event, these agreements grant no rights to the prostitutes for whom the Netherlands is supposedly providing protection. The definition of constraint is largely a matter of discretion since prostitution policy and immigration policy have become interchangeable. These women are often immigrants who are terrified, threatened, and raped. Children are used also. It is frequently the case that they have no money, papers, or contact with the outside world, and they may not even know in what town they are living. Yet, these women are supposed to notify the police of any coercion! And this is the police force that raids brothels when the brothel owners or management are not in cahoots with the keepers. Not wanting to tarnish its reputation as the champion of the struggle against the traffic in women, the Netherlands allows complainants generated by these women to remain on Dutch soil until the cases go to court. This is a particularly cynical policy given that these women are deported after their case has been heard. The traffickers, on the other hand, have very little to fear in the way of prosecution in the Netherlands. In 1993, a total of nine cases concerning the traffic in human beings were heard in the lower and appeals courts. One case was suspended indefinitely, one female witness obtained compensation, and four cases were dismissed for lack of evidence. One trafficker was sentenced to nine months in prison, another to four years. In the last case, the five men charged with trafficking in Thai women were also accused of drug trafficking. The highest sentence imposed was suspended, and a fine of only 35, 000 florins assessed. As a result of this record, the Dutch government decided it needed to show a stronger political commitment to fighting traffickers in human beings. In 1991 it amended its criminal law. The maximum prison sentence was raised from five to six years (half the sentence for trafficking in hard drugs) and to ten years for organized trafficking in children under 16 and/or trafficking accompanied by serious physical violence. Internationally, the Netherlands has been most successful in promoting its approach to prostitution. Barring a few exceptions, the Dutch policy has been held up as an example at every international conference. The Hague also played a crucial part in drawing up the European action plan in preparation for the Beijing conference in September 1995. Here, the concept of forced prostitution was established for the first time at a European government level (6). In addition, the states were no longer required to ratify the 1994 abolitionist convention, a real bete boire in the eyes of the Netherlands. The preamble to that convention states that: "Prostitution and the evil that accompanies it, namely the treatment of human beings for the purpose of prostitution, are incompatible with the dignity and value of the human being. . . . Even worse, the 54 western countries that signed the European action plan, which control most of the revenue from the international sex trade in human beings while providing most of the sex tourism clients, openly recognized prostitution as an indisputable reality and merely referred to the need to limit is growth (7). As a means of achieving that, they simply called for greater international cooperation, rather than for a more stringent, binding national or international policy on prostitution. During the proceedings, the Dutch government, which declared itself highly satisfied with the outcome of the Beijing conference, eventually succeeded in having the term forced added to the term prostitution in the final declaration. On 29 November 1996, at the Council of Ministers of Justice and Internal Affairs, the Dutch government managed to prevent the adoption of two major proposals put forward under the joint action plan. While nearly all the fifteen EU member states demanded stronger measures to combat pornography involving children, the Netherlands opposed Belgium's proposal to make it a criminal offence to possess such material for personal ends. So the possession of pornographic videos of children will no longer be regarded in Europe as constituting sexual exploitation and will be exempt from all sanctions. The right of children to be protected from sexual violence has been sacrificed on the altar of free trade, to the pleasure of amateurs of pornography. The Dutch delegation, supported by the Danes, was also against generalizing the principle of prosecuting EU nationals who commit extra-territorial crimes, specifically, the sexual exploitation of children or infliction on them of sexual services and the treatment of children with a view of exploiting them sexually or making them perform sexual services. In other words, the European states do not have to proceed against their own nationals outside the community if the offense they are accused of was committed in a country where it is not regarded as a crime. Sexual abusers can continue to victimize children in poor countries if those countries have not, in accordance with the European joint action plan, taken the appropriate measures referred to in Article 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Under that article, the contracting states undertake to protect the child against all forms of sexual exploitation or sexual violence. The European countries may, in fact, continue to apply their own national legislation to combat pimping and the traffic in human beings, but that will make no difference. They have signed a shameful European document, in the name of a consensus rule that denies even the right to adopt a minority position. France, for example, is poorly placed to oppose the Dutch steam-roller. Officially it supports the 1949 convention, but without applying it. It purports to the abolitionist agenda, but sanctions new forms of prostitution (massage parlors, brothel-bars, and so on). France may still be the most repressive of the Fifteen EU states, but in recent years France has almost halved the number of prosecutionswhich is not to say sentencesbrought against pimps; some 650 in 1995 compared to about 1,300 in 1988. And there is little point looking for a coherent policy among the five ministries concerned.
At a time of heated ethical debate and attempts to make it illegal to market human blood, the uterus or other human organs, it seems inconceivable that policies regarding prostitution and trafficking do not provoke any reaction on the part of the international community, especially the supporters of the rights of the individual. What this supposedly modernist policy does is to further exclude women from the labor market, consolidate male power and legalize violence against women. Notes 1. According to Interpol, a pimp living in Europe makes about L76,000 a year. 2. Human rights questions. Position of the Netherlands government, United Nations Economic and Social Committee, (E/1990/33), 3 April 1990. 3. See Article 1120 of French civil law which stipulates that only objects can be traded and be the subject of agreements. 4. The term empowerment is extremely dangerous because it has no legal or ethical basis. 5. See Marie-Victorie Louis: "La conference europeenne contre le trafic des femmes. Vers une reconnaissance legale du proxenetisme", Projets feministes, No. 1, March 1992. 6. Contrary to what this title suggests, the UN regards the region of Europe as comprising not just the European countries but also the United States, Canada and Israel. 7. The recession and other economic problems have led to a rise in prostitution in many countries. Because this phenomenon, which affects the human rights of women, is often international, greater international efforts and cooperation are needed to check its growth. Action plan of the Economic Commission of Europe (UN, E/ECE/:RW/HLM/8), 20 December 1994. *Centre d'etudes et d'analyses des movements sociaux, Centre national de la recherche scientifique. CNRS, Paris Eastern European Sex-Slave Trade Becomes A Serious Problem Women from former East Bloc countries are being trafficked in large numbers to former Yugoslav territories to serve as prostitutes for the area's large population of soldiers and aid workers. In Part Two of a two-part series on trafficking of East European women, RFE/RL correspondent Alexandra Poolos reports on the sex-slave trade in a former war zone. Prague, 19 May 2000 (RFE/RL) -- The sex-slave trade in Eastern European women -- one of the major crime scourges of postcommunist Europe -- is becoming a serious problem in Kosovo. As a former war zone, Kosovo is a prime location for the burgeoning trafficking trade. Porous borders, the presence of a large clientele in the form of international troops and aid workers, and the lack of a working criminal justice system offer excellent conditions for the sex-slave trade. East European women make up much of the work force in Kosovo's underground brothels. Their native countries are close by and are home to well-established organized-crime networks. In the past six months, United Nations peacekeepers and police have rescued women from Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Albania. The police say that most of these women and girls -- some as young as 15 -- were transported from their home countries to Macedonia, which borders Kosovo to the south. There, they were held in motels and sold at auction to ethnic Albanian pimps for $1,000 to $2,500. The women were stripped of their passports and held in unsanitary conditions in bars or motels. They were then forced to engage in unprotected sex with local police and international peacekeepers for no payment. They were told that before they could keep any of their earnings, they first had to pay the pimps for their purchase price and the cost of their travel. If the women resisted, they were beaten. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, has provided support for women victims released from brothels by UN police and NATO-led peacekeepers. Rolf Welberts, the OSCE's human-rights director in Kosovo, says his organization has assisted some 50 women. He believes the number of women still held in bondage is much higher: "We're talking about women from Eastern Europe who are brought into Kosovo to serve as prostitutes, or when they arrive they're submitted to conditions that they didn't know about -- meaning passports taken away, money withheld, and so on. It is a form of slave trade." Welberts says that the conditions in Kosovo are ideal for international traffickers "A postwar society is always an unstable society. And unstable societies leave more room for crime -- also for organized crime -than most stable societies. In the situation we live in here, it is simply easier to organize crime and trafficking in women than it is elsewhere. The demand is certainly here. The other issue is, of course, the large presence of internationals." Welberts says that "internationals" -- foreign soldiers and aid workers -- are very often brothel patrons. The same phenomenon also exists in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the presence of peacekeepers and aid workers initiated a major trade in trafficked women from Eastern Europe that continues to thrive today. Human Rights Watch -- an international monitoring organization -- documented that women from Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, and Albania were lured into Bosnia by promises of legal work and safe passage. When they arrived. brothel owners seized their passports and subjected them to slave-like practices. They were often sold from one brothel owner to another, with the women forced to work without wages. Human Rights Watch says that international officials were aware of the trafficking problem in Bosnia, but did little to combat it. The organization says that some officials were actively complicit in the abuses, participating in the forced prostitution of the women or patronizing the brothels.
Jill Thompson -- an adviser on trafficking issues for the OSCE's Warsaw-based human-rights office -- estimates the number of trafficked women throughout the former Yugoslavia in the tens of thousands. Thompson told RFE/RL's Lily Hyde that the trade prospers with the connivance of local law enforcement authorities: "The pattern in a lot of countries is that local police are involved at various levels. Sometimes they are customers, sometimes they provide protection for the clubs, sometimes they are actively involved in the trafficking operation." There is now considerable international cooperation in tackling the trafficking problem in the former Yugoslav territories. In Kosovo, many organizations -- including the UN's local police force, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), NATO-led peacekeepers, the OSCE, and the International Organization for Migration -- have recently started working together to help trafficked women. Still, the OSCE's Welberts says that is very difficult to combat the problem with the weak justice system that exists in Kosovo: "Those who brought women in, or those who have women working for them, consider them as a very valuable investment, and they are not happy with letting them go. So the readiness for violence is tremendous." Welberts says that, as a result, the OSCE often has to hide rescued women in safe houses until they can be repatriated to their home countries. But he says that's where OSCE's victim protection ends. Once the women are repatriated, then they must face on their own any threats and intimidation from home-country traffickers. Guilty Secrets of Russia's 'sex slaves' In her tiny flat, Natasha sits hunched over a rusty old sewing machine. As she turns the hand wheel, the needle struggles to join two pieces of purple cloth. Natasha dreams of becoming a fashion designer. But she's haunted by her past, by the memory of what happened to her. "A woman came up to me at the train station," Natasha told me. "She offered me part-time work in Germany as a nanny. I said 'yes'. "When I got there, though, she took away my passport. Then she drove me to a bar on the edge of town." 'Too afraid' Natasha had been caught in a trap. Like thousands of young women each year lured from the East to the West by the promise of a good job, she was forced into prostitution. She became a sex slave, sold on from one pimp to another. "Natasha's no exception," says Mariana Solomatova from the Angel Coalition, an organization which tries to prevent sexual trafficking from the former Soviet Union. "Most women don't expect to be enslaved - they think they're going for legitimate work, like nannies or waitresses. In most cases their passports are taken away. "They're threatened. They're told they'll go to prison. They're too afraid to complain." Lack of awareness For young women seeking work abroad, there's certainly plenty of choice. Russian newspapers are full of ads offering what appear to be golden opportunities: up to $2000 a month for waitressing, or for washing dishes in a restaurant. Too good to be true? It often is. But because there is so little public discussion here of the problem of human trafficking, Russian women are unaware of the dangers. "It's no riskier working abroad than in Russia," Yana told me. She is a dancer from the same town as Natasha and is keen to find a job in Western Europe. "Life's dangerous wherever you live. I mean, I could get run over by a car here tomorrow. Anyway, who dares wins!" UN campaign But the risks are high. A United Nations video campaign has been trying to raise awareness. It features stark images of sex slaves. The UN is also helping Russia's parliament draft a law against trafficking. Tackling the problem in such a large country as Russia is seen as vital to the global war on organised crime. "Organised crime is going global," warns Christopher Ram, from the UN's Centre for International Crime Prevention. "It's like a commercial operation. And the profits generated by human trafficking are used to fund other criminal operations - drug trafficking, the smuggling of other commodities like weapons. And there's always the possibility that some of the profits are being used to fund terrorist organizations." Natasha's ordeal came to an end when German police raided the club where she was working. She was deported back to Russia. Six years on she still hides the truth about what happened from her friends and her family. "The nightmares are gone," Natasha told me. "But I still can't tell anyone what happened to me. They won't understand. They'll say it was all my fault."
Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in the Middle East Israel - Facts on Trafficking and Prostitution Trafficking There are no official numbers regarding the extent of prostitution and the traffic of women in Israel, but there is a general consensus that it is becoming more prevalent. There has been a steady increase in the numbers of foreign women involved in prostitution who are arrested for illegal stays in Israel and who are detained before being deported to their home-countries; in over 95% of the cases, they were from the former USSR. The average time these women spend in prison is 50 days. The women themselves are supposed to pay for their expenses to leave Israel, but when their resources are inadequate, the Ministry of Interior finances their deportation from a special budget. Traffickers and pimps earned US$50,000 - 100,000 a year from each prostituted woman, resulting in a US$450 million sex industry. 1,500 Russian and Ukrainian trafficked women have been deported from 1995-1997. Russian women are bought and sold by pimps in Israel for prices ranging from US$5,000 to $20,000. A small brothel with ten women can make up to 750,000 shekels a month (US $215,000). Women trafficked from Eastern Europe, were stripped and sold naked as slaves to Tel Aviv traders for US$500-1,000. Smuggling, fraudulent documents, collaboration between police and brothel owners are involved. There are routine brutal beatings and sexual abuse.The non-profit Israel Women's Network estimates that 70% of prostituted women in Tel Aviv, Israel's commercial center, come from the former Soviet republics, and that about 1,000 women are brought into Israel illegally each year. At any one time, as many as 100 women may be awaiting deportation in Neve Tirza women's prison near Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport, a prison spokeswoman said. A poll by the Women's Network showed 44% of Israelis believed all Russian immigrant women provided sexual services for pay. Illegal immigrants in Israel, who are mostly Russian, are often stereotyped as having brought crime and prostitution while exploiting Israeli laws enabling anyone with a Jewish grandparent to immigrate. Official Response and Action While trafficked women are frequently arrested as illegal workers, the men who brought them to Israel -- many of whom are Israeli citizens -- are not. Justice Ministry spokeswoman Etty Eshed said the government would think about making legal changes to address trafficking in the "near future" but had no date or plan for doing so. Police in Israel say they are powerless to stop the flow of trafficked women until the laws change. "They (trafficked women) are very much afraid to come to the police and complain, so the police really can't do anything," said spokeswoman Linda Menuhin. "The problem is there is no law against trafficking people, and no law against prostitution." Rachel Benziman, legal adviser to the Israel Women's Network, said there are a variety of crimes -- rape, abduction, battery, deceit and theft -- which the authorities rarely bother to prosecute for, even though they have the power to do so. "It's not a problem of finding the right section in the criminal code. It is more a problem of finding the women who will testify and finding the motivation. When it comes to drug dealing, the police don't wait for someone to come into their office and say they have found drugs. They look for it. We expect them to do the same thing for the trafficking of women -- but they don't," she said. Policy and Law Israel does not have a specific law against the sale of human beings. (Michael Specter, "Traffickers New Cargo: Naive Slavic Women," New York Times, 11 January 1998) There is no law related to bringing women from another country into Israel for prostitution. (CEDAW Report, 8 April 1997) If trafficked and prostituted women are caught they are deported. Since 1994, not one woman has testified against a trafficker. (Betty Lahan, director of Neve Tirtsa Prison, Michael Specter, "Traffickers New Cargo: Naive Slavic Women," New York Times, 11 January 1998) One womans story: Lyubov, 17, arrived in Israel from a Russian coal mining city only to be sold into prostitution. Now she sits in a prison cell awaiting expulsion as an illegal worker. Six months ago, a man in Lyubov's hometown told the young woman he could get her a plane ticket, a visa and a job abroad. She entered Israel with a tour group and was met by a hotel owner who befriended her and gave her a job as a cleaner in exchange for a room. The hotel owner introduced her to friends, showed her around and taught her some Hebrew until one day he told her to get out of his car and into another. Then he drove away. "At first I didn't know I had been sold. Then my owner told me he had bought me for $9,000," Lyubov said in an interview in a prison office. Her new "owner," as she calls him, told her she would work as a call girl. It was the beginning of a stint as an unpaid prostitute -- part of an international crime phenomenon which women's groups see as a modern slave trade. Lyubov's "owner" kept her and eight other women in two apartments. He never paid any of them but instead said they were indebted to him for their plane tickets and every expense incurred, from doctors' visits to haircuts. Transported to clients by drivers and often under guard, Lyubov had sex with an average of six men a day for about $75 an hour. All she could keep were tips. She worked round the clock, seven days a week, with no holidays except for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. "You have to have very strong nerves to do this kind of work," she said.
Life in Russia was very difficult. "There were days when I had nothing to eat," Lyubov said. She weighed 50 kg (110 pounds) when she left Russia, and gained 20 kg (45 pounds) after arriving in Israel. She said circumstances had made it hard for her to quit (leave her "owner"). "I came into this circle and then it was very hard to get out. My papers were fake, I had no money, I had no acquaintances and I was in an enclosed place," she said. The nearest police station was across the road from the apartment where Lyubov was kept but she never went there, inhibited, like many others, by the double bind of fear of her owner and fear of deportation. "I kept hoping some day I would earn some money. But when they actually caught me, I was relieved," she said. Prostitution There are over 10,00 women in prostitution in Tel Aviv. Men pay for 25,000 acts of prostitution every day. There are 250,000 foreign male workers who help create a demand for prostituted women. Women are held in apartments, bars and brothels where they are bought by up to 15 men a day. They sleep in shifts, four to a bed. (Police officials, Michael Specter, "Traffickers New Cargo: Naive Slavic Women," New York Times, 11 January 1998) The Russian mafia has moved into Israel to profit from trafficking and prostitution. Police in Israel have been keeping around 30 organized key crime suspects under surveillance. (Kevin Connolly, "How Russias mafia is taking over Israels underworld," BBC, 3 April 1998) 2.5 billion (US$4 billion) of organized crime money from the former Soviet Union has been invested in Israeli real estate, businesses and banks in the past seven years. Gregory Lerner, who was arrested in 1997 for defrauding four Russian banks of 70 million (US$106 million), was reputedly sent to Israel to head up one of the money laundering operations. One highly profitable area in which organized crime thrives is prostitution. Dozens of brothels and peepshows have sprung up in Tel Aviv and Haifa in the last few years. (Former police chief Asaf Hefetz, Kevin Connolly "How Russias mafia is taking over Israels underworld" BBC, (3 April 1998) Israel's demand for prostituted women may be bolstered by three groups -- foreign workers, Orthodox Jews and Arabs. Many of Israel's nearly 200,000 legal and illegal foreign workers are young, unattached men likely to buy sex. (Elisabeth Eaves, "Israel not the promised land for Russian sex slaves", Reuters, 23 August 1998) Amir, a Tel Aviv pimp, said a woman could cost up to $20,000, depending on her looks. "It's like a car. It depends how valuable she is," he said, standing on a street lined with flashing lights advertising brothels near Tel Aviv's old central bus station. Arabs and Orthodox Jews have "very strong taboos against sexual connections outside of marriage and therefore go to a place where they can do it more anonymously. It's a matter of supply and demand," he said. Health and Well-being In Israel, there is a significant correlation between prostitution and drug abuse. Of the 200 women prisoners in Neve-Tirza Womens Prison, 70% are drug-addicts (mainly to heroine, which is the most common drug in Israel);10% are in a process of getting treated. Of the 80% with drug addictions, over 60% were involved in prostitution in order to finance their addiction. The Tropicana in Tel Aviv is one of the busiest brothels. The women are all Russian. There are 12 cubicles where 20 women work in shifts, 8 during the daytime, 12 at night. Buyers are Israeli soldiers, business executives, tourists, and foreign workers. The brothel owner said, "Israelis love Russian girls. They are blonde and good looking, and they are desperate. They are ready to do anything for money." Policy and Law Within the legal framework it is theoretically possible to criminally charge the clientele of the sex-industry under at least one section, namely section 210 of the Penal Law-1977, which states that approaching a minor under 16 or an adult woman with indecent insinuations is punishable by up to three months in prison. This section however, has never been enforced against clients of prostitutes. The current Israeli legal framework for dealing with prostitution is based upon the abolitionist approach. However, the current legal arrangement and its method of enforcement suffer from inconsistencies and lack of protocol for dealing with the reality of prostitution. Prostitution in itself is not, and has never been, a crime under Israeli law, and the woman who engages in prostitution is not considered a criminal. The legal system engages in selective prohibition, by criminalizing exploitive conducts that surround prostitution, so that both the exploitative and practical aspects of prostitution are criminalized. Engaging in prostitution as a client or sponsor is a criminal act, while prostitution itself is not."Procurement," defined as living off the profits or taking all or some profits from a woman who engages in prostitution, and solicitation of a woman to engage in prostitution, are crimes according to sections 199-201 of the Penal Law-1977, punishable by 5 years in prison, and up to 7 years under aggravating circumstances. Such aggravated circumstances include the following: when the woman is a minor under 18 years old; when the woman is the perpetrator's daughter, wife, or when he is her custodian, teacher, or otherwise in charge of her; when the perpetrator accused of soliciting was armed during the act. Case law, however, had interpreted solicitation to mean proven engagement in prostitution, thus making it much more difficult to prosecute for solicitation. Under section 202 of the Penal Law, soliciting a woman to leave her home with the intention of engaging her in prostitution is punishable by 5 years imprisonment, and if the woman is a minor - by up to seven years. Soliciting a woman to leave the country for the same purpose is also punishable by seven years. Section 207 imposes mandatory imprisonment on perpetrators convicted under sections 199-202, with no possibility of a suspended sentence. This is a highly unusual provision in the context of the Israeli criminal law and indicates the gravity that the legislator had attributed to these crimes.
Laws against procurement and soliciting are rarely enforced. Instead, the prostitutes themselves are often arrested, not for engaging in prostitution - since that is not a criminal offense, but for related practices such as the enticement of others to engage in indecent acts in public places, a felony punishable by three months in prison, according to section 209(a). Usually prostitutes are released after several hours, but sometimes they are charged under section 209(a), which was never intended to serve as a regulation of prostitution, or under section 216(a)(5) which prohibits "strolling." Another criminal offense directly applicable to women who engage in prostitution, is section 215(c) which states that being in a place for the purpose of engaging in prostitution, in circumstances which pose disturbance to neighbors or obstruction of traffic is punishable by up to one year in prison. Public Action There has been a proliferation of sex industry advertisements in daily newspapers. An ad-hoc public committee offered guidelines to publishers regarding these concerns. The significant consequences of this initiative were: 1) the cessations of advertisements that specifically mentioned or alluded to the age (under 18) of the women whose sex-services were being advertised. 2) The moderation of the overall tone of these ads and the pictures which accompany them. Pornography There is a growing market for child-pornography in Israel. It is not produced in Israel, but is imported and sold freely in response to growing demand. The use of child pornography is explicitly dealt with under the section 214 of the Penal Code, which prohibits the publication and presentation of obscene materials. A report by Israel's Women's Network found that Russian organized crime controls the sex industry throughout Israel. There are roughly nine to ten Russian prostitution rings operating in Israel. Territory has been divided among the crime bosses. It has become a whole industry; recruiting the women, bringing them to Israel, and distributing them to the various brothels. 154 Knesset member Marina Solodkin claims that local Israeli mafioso are also involved in the trafficking industry. Israel's Women's Network also reports that a protection racket has grown up around the trafficking and prostitution business in Israel. There is a symbiotic relationship between the police and pimps in which pimps may provide useful intelligence to police on criminal activity in Israel. The police see them as valuable sources of information and work to turn the pimps into collaborators. Overall, trafficking and prostitution is a lucrative business in Israel where Soviet-immigrant Israeli bosses make anywhere from $1, 000 to $4, 000 a day off the women. Additional Commentary - Work is being done against the problem: ISRAELI and Russian police announced Tuesday that they had uncovered the largest network of white slave traders operating between the two nations in the past few years. The alleged leaders of the network were arrested -- 10 people in all -- in a joint police operation over the weekend. The investigation began a few months ago, when several suspects were arrested in Jerusalem on suspicion of smuggling women from the former Soviet Union into the country and employing them in escort services in the city. As the investigation proceeded, Jerusalem police inspectors managed to locate the alleged top white slave-trade criminal Shota Shmalashvili, also nicknamed "Tarzan," in Moscow. Shmalashvili, who was targeted by several police intelligence agencies worldwide, was apprehended on Friday. Police also arrested two of his alleged partners who operate in Israel. The two were arrested on suspicion of smuggling dozens of women across the Egyptian border over the past few years and selling them to escort services and brothels throughout the country, at a price of some $7,000 per woman. Iran: Sex Slave Jihad A measure of Islamic fundamentalists success in controlling society is the depth and totality with which they suppress the freedom and rights of women. In Iran for 25 years, the ruling mullahs have enforced humiliating and sadistic rules and punishments on women and girls, enslaving them in a gender apartheid system of segregation, forced veiling, second-class status, lashing, and stoning to death. Joining a global trend, the fundamentalists have added another way to dehumanize women and girls: buying and selling them for prostitution. Exact numbers of victims are impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in Tehran, there has been a 635 percent increase in the number of teenage girls in prostitution. The magnitude of this statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown. In Tehran, there are an estimated 84,000 women and girls in prostitution, many of them are on the streets, others are in the 250 brothels that reportedly operate in the city. The trade is also international: thousands of Iranian women and girls have been sold into sexual slavery abroad. The head of Irans Interpol bureau believes that the sex slave trade is one of the most profitable activities in Iran today. This criminal trade is not conducted outside the knowledge and participation of the ruling fundamentalists. Government officials themselves are involved in buying, selling, and sexually abusing women and girls. Many of the girls come from impoverished rural areas. Drug addiction is epidemic throughout Iran, and some addicted parents sell their children to support their habits. High unemployment 28 percent for youth 15-29 years of age and 43 percent for women 15-20 years of age is a serious factor in driving restless youth to accept risky offers for work. Slave traders take advantage of any opportunity in which women and children are vulnerable. For example, following the recent earthquake in Bam, orphaned girls have been kidnapped and taken to a known slave market in Tehran where Iranian and foreign traders meet.
Popular destinations for victims of the slave trade are the Arab countries in the Persian Gulf. According to the head of the Tehran province judiciary, traffickers target girls between 13 and 17, although there are reports of some girls as young as 8 and 10, to send to Arab countries. One ring was discovered after an 18 year-old girl escaped from a basement where a group of girls were held before being sent to Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The number of Iranian women and girls who are deported from Persian Gulf countries indicates the magnitude of the trade. Upon their return to Iran, the Islamic fundamentalists blame the victims, and often physically punish and imprison them. The women are examined to determine if they have engaged in "immoral activity." Based on the findings, officials can ban them from leaving the country again. Police have uncovered a number of prostitution and slavery rings operating from Tehran that have sold girls to France, Britain, Turkey as well. One network based in Turkey bought smuggled Iranian women and girls, gave them fake passports, and transported them to European and Persian Gulf countries. In one case, a 16-year-old girl was smuggled to Turkey, and then sold to a 58-year-old European national for $20,000. In the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan, local police report that girls are being sold to Pakistani men as sex-slaves. The Pakistani men marry the girls, ranging in age from 12 to 20, and then sell them to brothels called "Kharabat" in Pakistan. One network was caught contacting poor families around Mashad and offering to marry girls. The girls were then taken through Afghanistan to Pakistan where they were sold to brothels. In the southeastern border province of Sistan Baluchestan, thousands of Iranian girls reportedly have been sold to Afghani men. Their final destinations are unknown. One factor contributing to the increase in prostitution and the sex slave trade is the number of teen girls who are running away from home. The girls are rebelling against fundamentalist imposed restrictions on their freedom, domestic abuse, and parental drug addictions. Unfortunately, in their flight to freedom, the girls find more abuse and exploitation. Ninety percent of girls who run away from home will end up in prostitution. As a result of runaways, in Tehran alone there are an estimated 25,000 street children, most of them girls. Pimps prey upon street children, runaways, and vulnerable high school girls in city parks. In one case, a woman was discovered selling Iranian girls to men in Persian Gulf countries; for four years, she had hunted down runaway girls and sold them. She even sold her own daughter for US$11,000. Given the totalitarian rule in Iran, most organized activities are known to the authorities. The exposure of sex slave networks in Iran has shown that many mullahs and officials are involved in the sexual exploitation and trade of women and girls. Women report that in order to have a judge approve a divorce they have to have sex with him. Women who are arrested for prostitution say they must have sex with the arresting officer. There are reports of police locating young women for sex for the wealthy and powerful mullahs. In cities, shelters have been set-up to provide assistance for runaways. Officials who run these shelters are often corrupt; they run prostitution rings using the girls from the shelter. For example in Karaj, the former head of a Revolutionary Tribunal and seven other senior officials were arrested in connection with a prostitution ring that used 12 to 18 year old girls from a shelter called the Center of Islamic Orientation. Other instances of corruption abound. There was a judge in Karaj who was involved in a network that identified young girls to be sold abroad. And in Qom, the center for religious training in Iran, when a prostitution ring was broken up, some of the people arrested were from government agencies, including the Department of Justice. The ruling fundamentalists have differing opinions on their official position on the sex trade: deny and hide it or recognize and accommodate it. In 2002, a BBC journalist was deported for taking photographs of prostitutes. Officials told her: "We are deporting you because you have taken pictures of prostitutes. This is not a true reflection of life in our Islamic Republic. We dont have prostitutes." Yet, earlier the same year, officials of the Social Department of the Interior Ministry suggested legalizing prostitution as a way to manage it and control the spread of HIV. They proposed setting-up brothels, called "morality houses," and using the traditional religious custom of temporary marriage, in which a couple can marry for a short period of time, even an hour, to facilitate prostitution. Islamic fundamentalists ideology and practices are adaptable when it comes to controlling and using women. Some may think a thriving sex trade in a theocracy with clerics acting as pimps is a contradiction in a country founded and ruled by Islamic fundamentalists. In fact, this is not a contradiction. First, exploitation and repression of women are closely associated. Both exist where women, individually or collectively, are denied freedom and rights. Second, the Islamic fundamentalists in Iran are not simply conservative Muslims. Islamic fundamentalism is a political movement with a political ideology that considers women inherently inferior in intellectual and moral capacity. Fundamentalists hate womens minds and bodies. Selling women and girls for prostitution is just the dehumanizing complement to forcing women and girls to cover their bodies and hair with the veil. In a religious dictatorship like Iran, one cannot appeal to the rule of law for justice for women and girls. Women and girls have no guarantees of freedom and rights, and no expectation of respect or dignity from the Islamic fundamentalists. Only the end of the Iranian regime will free women and girls from all the forms of slavery they suffer.
Sex, Lies and the AIDS Epidemic in Nepal Even a cursory glance at the sex trade in Indian cities reveals disproportionate numbers of Nepali women and children. This much we have known for many years. The recent emergence of AIDS, however, has thrown this issue into sharp relief, highlighting the various forces - of poverty, lack of education, lack of control over their own lives - that push Nepalis into this situation. At the same time, this same threat of AIDS has focused the energies of a number of volunteer and non-governmental organizations (NGO's). Different organizations have put together successful programs at different levels - from offering shelter and medical help to trying to tackle the root economic and social causes of sex trafficking. Here I'd like to present some of the insights I gained over the summer of 1995 in Kathmandu, from extensive interviews with NGO's, UN agencies such as UNICEF & UNDP, governmental organizations and health centers. Exporting Women, Importing AIDS AIDS is becoming a major threat to the people of Nepal. No longer is it a disease to be stereotyped as affecting only those in African and Western countries. According to estimates from the AIDS Control and Prevention Project (AIDS-CAP), about 20,000 of all new AIDS cases are in South and Southeast Asia alone. With an estimated 3 million HIV infected people, India is now the country with the largest number of people with the AIDS virus. By the year 2000, Asia's cumulative total infections is expected to reach over 10 million. Among the three major routes of HIV transmission, sexual transmission is the major source of the spread of infection in Asia, followed by blood transmission and mother-to-fetus transmission respectively. The rate of HIV infection is increasing rapidly among vulnerable population groups like commercial sex workers (CSW's) and their clients. In Nepal, as in many of its neighboring countries, the sexual mode of HIV transmission through CSW's and their clients plays a significant role in the spread of the AIDS epidemic. Eighty-four percent of females with HIV in Nepal are CSW's. With increasing numbers of Nepali women and girls being trafficked to the brothels of India, the risk they face of contracting as well as transmitting HIV is tremendous. The epidemiology of AIDS in Nepal however, is believed to be at an early stage of its progress, although there is controversy surrounding the numbers of infected people. Unlike India where large numbers of HIV infections have been detected, AIDS has not yet affected a large portion of Nepal's population, which means there is still time to prevent the spread of AIDS in Nepal before it reaches uncontrollable levels like that predicted for other Asian nations. AIDS cannot be isolated to Nepal because of its location and ties with India. Traditionally, Nepalis have crossed the border to India for work, whether it be women laborers, children working in factories, or men looking for migrant work. Trafficking of Nepali women and girls to India is yet another export to India. Nepal's economic dependence on India and the political relationship between the Nepali Congress Party and the Indian government prevented the previous government of Nepal from regulating cross-border crime or enforcing anti-trafficking laws. In 1950, a treaty with Nepal allowed for free passage and trade across the Nepal/India border. Although either country could terminate the treaty, and although subsequent Nepali governments were dissatisfied with the treaty, Nepal could not afford to lose its trade relationship with India. This open border policy has clearly aided in the trafficking of Nepali women and girls to India. With an estimated 1,00,000 people traveling through one border post a day, it is difficult for border police to check illegal activity. Even if there were fewer people passing through and police knew what was going on (as many do), their corruption and involvement in the trade would prevent them from taking just action. Much of the transmission of HIV is due to the high number of Nepali men who work as migrant laborers in India and visit the brothels of Bombay. They then transmit it to their wives when they return home. In addition, Nepali CSW's working in India and Nepal contract sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) and HIV from their clients and transmit infection to other customers. If the women ever get married, they also face the risk of transmitting the disease to their husband or to their children. In addition, the large demand for Nepali women and girls in Indian brothels puts them at an even greater risk of contracting HIV, since they average more clients a day than others. Indian men prefer Nepali girls to others because of their golden skin and "exotic" features. They are also seen as docile and more willing to submit to clients' demands. Nepali women are segregated in India's red-light districts, living in compounds referred to as "Nepali kothas." This way it is easier for clients who prefer Nepalis to find them. This high request for Nepali women and girls promotes traffickers even more, as they must supply the demands of the trade. Most Nepali CSW's are unaware of HIV/AIDS and are not familiar with prevention methods. Families who often agree to prostitute their daughters in return for money also lack knowledge of AIDS. Thus the girls' as well as their families' lack of awareness does not give them the opportunity to make an informed decision about their lifestyle and the health risks involved. Providing knowledge about HIV/AIDS and prevention methods is one possible way girls may be deterred from the sex trade. If given the choice, they may also be able to exercise preventive safe sex methods that would reduce the spread of HIV to their clients and to their families. Reducing prostitution in order to prevent the spread of AIDS is difficult due to the extreme poverty in Nepal and the low status of women. However, addressing prostitution and acknowledging its existence is vital in order to educate vulnerable groups about AIDS.
Sex, Lies and Urban India According to Human Rights Watch/Asia, in Bombay alone there are an estimated 50,000 Nepali women working in brothels, twenty percent of whom are girls under the age of eighteen. Even this average age has been dropping over the last decade. In the 1980s the average age of Nepali girls recruited was fourteen to sixteen years, and in 1991 the average age was ten to fourteen years. The recruiting of younger girls stems in part from clients' desire to be with a girl free from HIV as well as from other STD's. Clients believe the younger the girl is, the more likely she is to be a virgin, while others believe the myth that virgins cure STD's. There are two basic patterns by which women and girls are trafficked from Nepal. The oldest form is enticement, which involves preying on girls from particular areas of Nepal, such as the hill communities, where the sex trade has become practically a traditional source of income. In these districts where it is a constant struggle for people to meet their basic needs, it is not difficult to persuade the girls to leave home. Their lives consist of backbreaking work around the clock which still leaves their families poor and hungry. In such circumstances, any alternative would look more favorable. The road to India is seen as a chance to end the poverty and hardship of their everyday lives. By not telling the girls of the slavery-like conditions they will be subjected to in the brothels, traffickers are easily able to con girls into leaving. The second pattern of trafficking which is even more insidious is that which is physically against a woman's will. This occurs across all castes and ethnic groups and is on the rise. The girls are physically taken and even beaten and raped if they fail to cooperate. The main victims of this trafficking are poor migrant women and children whose families have moved to Nepal's urban areas in search of jobs. Families, neighbors and friends all play an active role in trafficking. They promise the girls false marriage or job offers, contact recruiters, or lure girls away from home on outings and then kidnap and sell them. This is not difficult to do since it is done by people whom the girls know and trust. Once the girls are lured into lives of prostitution, they confront numerous health threats. Women and girls are ill-treated from the moment they arrive in a brothel. There is an initiation process for "breaking in" new workers. Those who refuse to have sex could be physically abused or confined to a room with no food or water. If a girl still refuses to comply after several days, she is raped. Once a girl has been "broken in," she continues to face a multitude of physical and psychological abuses. Some of these abuses include physical torture like branding with a hot iron, beating, tying with ropes, and rape, as well as brainwashing the girl into believing she will not be accepted back into society so that she will stay in the trade. Brothel owners also remind the girls of how much debt they owe, which is always more money than the girls have. Once the girls begin to accept their lives in the sex industry, they are slowly introduced to drugs in hopes of getting them addicted. This is yet another method used to trap girls into a life of prostitution, as their debt continues to increase every time they use drugs. The spread of the AIDS virus poses additional health problems for women and girls in the sex trade. Besides the sexual transmission of the disease, the growing popularity of contraceptive injections poses a threat as well, since many times the same needle is used for many women without sterilization. Brothel owners often make the girls get injections so they will not get pregnant and can therefore entertain more clients. There is basically little time when women and girls are exempt from entertaining clients, which only adds to their host of health risks. They must continue to do business while menstruating, after treatment for STD's, and even up to the fifth month of pregnancy. Once prostitutes contract HIV they are sent back home. Since many people are not educated about AIDS, they are either afraid of the disease or do not know how to care for a person with it. As a result, families refuse to take their daughters back, leaving them to fend for themselves. Girls who return with HIV are in a very desperate situation. If they are unable to find employment, they will continue to be prostitutes. Some girls marry and settle back into their village life, while others are rejected by their families who are scared that they might contract AIDS from their daughter. Regardless of the life the girl leads when she is taken back to Nepal, there is a strong risk of transmitting HIV to her partner, clients, or to her baby. Thus the connection can be seen of the passage of HIV from the brothels of Bombay directly to the villages of Nepal. In addition to being rejected by their families, many girls are ignored by health workers. Many health personnel are resistant to being informed about HIV, let alone wanting to care for AIDS patients. Without education about the disease, families, health workers and especially AIDS patients are all at a loss. With increased information and AIDS education for prostitutes and their families, STD's and AIDS could possibly be a deterrent to prostitution. Families who are educated might think twice before sending their daughters to India. And since they would know that HIV cannot be transmitted through casual contact, they could care for their daughters with AIDS instead of abandoning them.
Grassroots Groups Fight Back There are over 80 NGO's throughout Nepal which are addressing the issues of AIDS and/or prostitution. I only visited NGO's that were based in Kathmandu. I interviewed workers at 8 NGO's and found that through their analysis of the situation and input from clientele, they have reached the heart of the issues. Although each organization has its own goals and methods of achieving them, they have all done and are continuing to do important and inspiring work. The NGO I was most impressed with was started by one woman four years ago. This four bedroom house, called Maiti Nepal, is owned by a brave Nepali woman, Anuradha Koirala, who was abandoned by her husband to marry her aunt. Devastated by her plight and frustrated by the many abandoned women and girls she saw in Kathmandu, Koirala set up her house as a home for them. Girls whose families did not want them because of their involvement in prostitution, girl children as young as one year who were abandoned, and wives who were deserted or who ran away from their husbands all live under this one roof. Started in 1992 with the help of friends, Maiti Nepal now houses over 60 women and girls, and also Koirala's two sons. Everyone takes care of each other. The older girls cook and make clothes for the younger ones who give them love and comfort in return. The main goal of Maiti Nepal is to help the women begin their lives again. Through loans from friends and a few relatives, Koirala helps them set up food stands to generate income. So far she has helped four women buy a house to share, some of whom even remarried. In addition, her house is a haven for abandoned girls, some of whose families rejected them because they have AIDS. When dealing with the issue of prostitution, Koirala's activism goes even further. This was apparent the first day I met her. She was two hours late in meeting me because she was trying to keep a convicted pimp from going free. She also takes criminal cards to villagers, which allows them to anonymously provide information about suspected pimps or brothel owners who come to their village. Last year she gave out 3,000 cards and got 150 back, some of which helped locate traffickers. Her persistence struck me when she explained, "The gharwalis (gangs) might even come and kill me because they are angry with what I am doing. But I am not afraid of that. We are starting something new by standing up to traffickers." Women Acting Together for Change (WATCH) is another NGO involved in helping women and girls affected by the sex trade. They take a very broad approach: they support villagers in addressing their problems, raise consciousness concerning gender issues, and provide information to other national and international organizations with similar interests. WATCH integrates AIDS awareness with the issue of prostitution, which they tackle through empowerment of the women involved. WATCH began their HIV education program by hiring two former prostitutes who had contracted HIV. By listening to these women, WATCH learned that most families were not worried about contracting HIV because they believed they would not live long, and would probably die of some other disease if not AIDS. Thus WATCH made their main priority raising the confidence of people and their willingness to live. Without doing this, they felt that talking about issues such as AIDS would be futile. WATCH also discovered that girls returning from prostitution were rejected by their families not only because they had AIDS but because they were no longer bringing home money. Thus WATCH's initiatives focused on raising awareness in families about the horrors their daughters faced as prostitutes, and on providing them with other economic alternatives. Women's Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) also involves villagers in their AIDS education programs. One of WOREC's strategies in empowering women is getting the AIDS victims to live with other women from rural communities who have faced other forms of sexual trauma -- victims of rape, women who had been abandoned by their husbands or women with "illegitimate" children. This way the women can learn the skills they need to survive in an environment where they feel comfortable, and where they can get constant support from a community that shares similar struggles. It is in this setting that WOREC provides skill training, non-formal education and income generating opportunities. This has helped to build the confidence of women by giving them the skills to sustain themselves and their families, and is one of the most important aspects of the psychological structure in community based rehabilitation. ABC/Nepal (Agro-forestry, Basic health and Co-operatives), another Kathmandu based NGO, has been working on the issue of AIDS and prostitution the longest. They also focus on a broad range of programs including literacy programs, income generation activities, and awareness about AIDS and trafficking. ABC/Nepal realized that a key to getting people interested in their awareness programs was emphasizing the serious nature of AIDS. Many villagers had not realized that contracting AIDS was fatal. As a result of their education programs, some women now make sure that their migrant worker husbands get tested for HIV if they came home looking thin or with a fever. ABC/Nepal strives to make their programs more interesting to people so they will take the initiative as these women did. This involves working with other NGO's and coordinating other issues with AIDS education such as STD's, family planning or trafficking. After five years of educating families on AIDS and prostitution, ABC/Nepal's success can be seen by the parents' hesitation and even refusal to send their daughters into the sex trade. Therefore, it can be said that education and awareness about HIV/AIDS has served as a deterrent to prostitution. Much remains to be done, however. ABC/Nepal's main concern is the lack of rehabilitation centers to house and take care of the girls with AIDS. They do not believe rehabilitation centers should serve as a permanent home for the girls, but just as a transit center until their families are ready to take them back. They feel the girls need love and affection, especially in the last years of their lives, and that rehabilitation centers cannot provide adequate attention for all those staying there. Without the financial support of the government, it is unlikely that enough centers will be built. This lack of support from the government is one issue ABC/Nepal is working on for the future. They want to collaborate with other NGO's as well as with the Nepali government so that there will be adequate resources in the future when there will be more AIDS patients.
ABC/Nepal is also persistent in trying to involve the police, the government and other parts of society. They work closely with the National Pressure Group which has constructed a ten point plan of action that assigns specific actions for political parties and social organizations at the national level. They have also briefed the police at the India-Nepal border, reminding them of their responsibilities as officers, and providing them with material on how to detect traffickers and girls being forced out of the country. ABC/Nepal also tries to get the interest of political groups and parliamentarians by sending them copies of relevant publications and learning materials. It is this attempt to reach into the political arena that makes ABC/Nepal a good model for others to follow. Without forgetting their priorities at the grassroots level, they continue trying to convince the government that AIDS and prostitution in Nepal are serious issues that must be addressed. Although NGO's such as these are doing useful work, what is lacking in Nepal is the government's intervention in the issues of AIDS and prostitution. The government's direct involvement in trafficking and its economic ties to India prevent it from taking action. Many politicians and policemen visit brothels or benefit from the sex trade financially. The open border to India where most border officials take bribes from traffickers makes punishing perpetrators even more difficult. And the stigma of AIDS is still prevalent in Nepal; many doctors and health workers refuse to care for patients. In Teku Hospital, one of the few which treats AIDS patients, volunteers noted that women with AIDS were ignored or badly treated because of the assumption that they contracted it through prostitution. Regardless of how the men got HIV, they were given care and compassion in the hospital. Until the government of Nepal takes AIDS and prostitution as a serious matter, NGO's will continue to fight this battle alone. We hope that the leaders of Nepal will learn from their Asian neighbors such as India, what can happen when such issues are ignored. If it takes millions of deaths from AIDS before the government takes action, Nepal will be in a very tragic situation, as there will not be adequate facilities or enough trained workers to deal with an epidemic of that proportion. Until the government wakes up, it is the grassroots organizations of Nepal who will be striving to educate and empower its people.
International Sex Slave Trade: Saudi Arabia We will center on the non-parental child theft within the United States by the Saudi princes and their associates. The Saudi princes and their associates purchase US children both male and female as sex slaves. Saud princes are willing to pay dearly for the right quality child (product) and consider virgins as the top of the line. The children are usually shipped in private planes or boats by Saudi princes. They are drugged to be malleable so as not to make disturbances. Some are recruited within the United States or Northern Europe for fictitious jobs as models or actresses while others are purchased from local procurers. Once in Saudi Arabia the girls and boys are whisked off to the palace of the purchasing prince. A prince is absolute ruler of his compound. Architecturally, the compounds are designed with slave quarters included. Within the palace walls whatever the prince says goes, there are no government restrictions to his will. If a slave escapes they are immediately brought back by the Saudi security police to the responsible prince who may do with them as he pleases. They rarely escape since they spend most of their time within the confined parts of the palace compound under supervision. When the prince entertains his male friends he provides them with both male and female child sex slaves for their enjoyment. If he tires of a child sex slave he will sell it to another prince or sheik. It is believed once these sex slaves have outlived their usefulness they are dumped into Rubal Khali. It would be to dangerous to free them for fear of potential embarrassment to Saudi Arabian public relations abroad. One hears many stories along the Cote d'Azure of young girls being enticed to luxurious parties given by Saudi princes never to be seen again. Many young girls and boys along the French coast have stories of Saudi princes trying to entice them into their planes or boats for "a ride". The Saudi princes have grown so sophisticated in enticing young girls and boys, they have even financed their own modeling and companion agencies within Europe and the United States to insure top quality merchandise and cut out the middle men. Many models have stories of being solicited by Saudi princes or friends who have disappeared. State Department Intransigence Saudi Arabia's participation in international slavery has long been known by State Department careerists who are powerless to react for fear they will be destroyed professionally or will lose the deferred payments promised by Prince Bandar upon their retirement. One has mentioned off the record the widespread knowledge within the State Department of Saudi child theft within the US. Many of the kidnappings in the United States are easily masked within the larger number of runaways each year. The breakdown of the US family has enabled the Saudi princes and their procurers to "special order" kidnap without much concern for law enforcement who are usually looking for someone within the local area. One should often wonder when seeing girls and boys faces in the post office or milk carton wanted ads how many have been "disappeared" to Saudi Arabia. Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis We do know Saudi princes collect and swap child pornography between themselves. They are said to have their own child sex pornography exchange where pictures of their youngest sex slaves are the most in demand. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reports: "It is difficult to know with certainty why pedophiles collect child pornography and erotica. ... Collecting this material may help pedophiles satisfy, deal with or reinforce their compulsive, persistent sexual fantasies about children. ... Collecting may also fulfill needs for validation. ... Pedophiles swap pornographic photographs ... As they add to their collections, they get strong reinforcement from each other for their behavior. The collecting and trading process becomes a common bond. ... Child pornography and child erotica are used for the sexual arousal and gratification of pedophiles. ... The younger the child and the more bizarre the acts, the greater the value of the pornography." A In order for the Saudi princes to obtain these very young children who are too young to be on their own, the usual "special order" is placed with their procurers so these children can be snatched from their parents. Again, local police are trained through Washington financed programs to look for kidnapping locally. Washington denies the existence of the international child sex slave industry just as the Justice Department denied the existence of the Mafia as an international crime syndicate. For several decades the Justice Department called all crime local allowing the Mafia to thrive in the US. Now the Justice Department calls all nonparental child kidnapping local and finances police training accordingly. Ambassador Prince Bandar's Washington retainers see to it that very little is mentioned about the international Saudi prince child sex slave trade. Remember, one old Washington maxim is: "The one who controls the investigation wins." Saudi Princes and the Modeling Racket It is quite well known within the international slave trade that Saudi princes are high end buyers. There are few countries that do not have procurers working with the international child sex industry. Saudi Princes contract out "special order" requests in various cities with their local procurers from the barrios of Brazil, London's Leichester Square, Paris's Place de Pompidou. Due to the recent lax border regulations in Scandinavia, the princes now get their fair haired children from immigrant procurers. In the United States shopping malls, amusement parks and video parlors are prowled by procurers. The Princes not only do not like dealing with the seemlier elements of the international child sex industry such as the street procurers but see the danger of the media picking their activities up, hence their own modeling agencies. Lately, Saudi princes have begun moving into the modeling agency business to recruit male and female models for some shoot in a distant land never to be heard of again. Prince Faisals Sex Ring in Houston Prince Faisal built a marble palace on Kirby in the posh River Oaks section of Houston. He had procurers go to various areas where young people congregated and bring them back to his palace. The prince had a continual party fueled by a stream procured teenagers both male and female.
It was relatively easy for the procurers as the word got out about the sumptuous surroundings of the prince. The prince had the best of foods, drink and drugs available every day for his continual party. We do not know if any of these teenagers were enticed to Saudi Arabia. We have been told there was a hushed scandal where after the prince left abruptly apparently never to return. His favored girls lived at his palace, each had a leased car and the capability to go to the exclusive Saks Pavilion Shops near the Galleria and charge clothes to the Prince. Mohammed Al Fassi became so infamous with his perpetual party at his palace in Beverly Hills that he was run out of town after painting the genitals of his statues. Again, we do not know if any of the young attendees ended up in Saudi Arabia. Can Saudi Princes be Considered Pedophiles? Many of the Saudi Princes would definitely be considered pedophiles and child molesters if subject to the laws of the United States. Within their own country they would probably not be prosecuted as pedophiles. When a Saudi prince abducts a child from the US, once in Saudi Arabia the child is considered his total responsibility to do with what he may. The State Department in their human rights report have justified Saud family slavery by saying; " it is part of the Saud family culture deeply embedded within the mores and filches of the society". Child Sex Rings: A Behavioral Analysis The National Center for Missing & Exploited children reports: "The rule of thumb that psychiatrists and others use is that there must be an age difference of five years. ... child sex ring is defined as one or more offenders simultaneously involved with several child victims. ... In the syndicated (child sex) ring, a well-structured organization recruits children, produces pornography, delivers direct sexual services, and establishes an extensive network of customers. ... Maintaining control is very important in the operation of a child sex ring. It takes a certain amount of skill and cunning to maintain a simultaneous sexual relationship with multiple partners. It is especially difficult if you have the added pressure of concealing illegal behavior. In order to operate a child sex ring, an offender has to know how to control and manipulate children. ... control is primarily maintained through attention, affection, and gifts -- part of the seduction process." Governor Prince Mohammed and His Sex Ring The Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights in Saudi Arabia based in London through their Saudi dissident leader Mr Masari said; "one regional Governor, whom he accused of tolerating drug users and child sex rings". Prince Mohammed bin Fahd, Governor of the Eastern Province has been accused by the Al Saud newsletter of condoning sex slavery within his administered area. We have been told Governor Prince Mohammed is an active participant in the child sex rings of the Eastern Province. We have been told he has parties for his friends with child sex as the main entertainment. Governor Prince Mohammed likes Hollywood where there are many boys and girls from which to entice into becoming sex slaves in Saudi Arabia under the ruse of film and modeling contracts. These sex slaves are allegedly sold and resold until they are used up whereupon they are helicoptered over Rubal Khali and dumped. British Minister of Defense Alleged to be Procurer of Females for Prince Mohammed Speaking of Jonathan Aitken, the London Times reports: "But he had been in the Cabinet barely a year when he resigned to clear his name of media allegations of being dependent on Saudi money and procuring women for Arabs." Again, international media frequently attribute the degenerate behavior of Saudi princes to Arabs in general. In this case, Governor of the Eastern Province and son of King Fahd, Prince Mohammed used Aitken as a procurer of young girls through Aitken's health club. Saudi Headmaster Accused of Molesting Boy Amnesty International reports; "Dr Mohammed Khalifa an Egyptian doctor working in Saudi Arabia, received 80 lashes in May. He had been tried on charges of slandering a Saudi Arabian headmaster whom he had accused of sexually abusing his son."M119 It is doubtful if their was a Saudi Government investigation of merit, especially when the child was the son of a guest worker. King Fahds Nephews Rapists! A young girl heard her father had died while she was visiting King Fahd's nephew in Boston. He and his friends gang raped her after she became traumatized by the news of her father's death. When asked why, one of the participants said they just wanted to see what it was like to have sex with a girl who was so sad. It is not known if the State Department gave these rapists retroactive diplomatic immunity or other assistance. It is known nothing happened to the assailants. King Fahd is Caught Raping a Young French Girl Before Fahd worked his way up to become King, he was a degenerate Prince who squandered Arabian Peninsula oil money on gambling along the Riviera. One day while eating he spotted a little French girl and told friends he had to have her immediately. He had his associates bring the girl to his suite at the hotel whereupon he raped her. He had promised not to penetrate her fully so as to traumatize her but he did. The girl was screaming so loudly that two hotel security men appeared. There was blood everywhere with the little girl hysterical. Fahd paid off the two guards to keep quiet and take the little girl. Fahd then paid off the parents of the little French girl and the matter was dropped. No criminal charges were ever filed.
Prince Sultans Child Sex Slaves Prince Sultan is Ambassador Prince Bandar's father. He has a former child sex slave, now older than he desires, in Paris supply him with female children on "special order". Prince Sultan seeks young girls who are loyal, subservient and sexual. These young girls are treated reasonably well by him indulging them with gifts and large amounts of cash bonuses and salaries. We believe he returns these girls to Paris after he tires of them with generous compensation. These children can only be considered sex slaves because of their age. Recently, Prince Sultan purchased seven young French girls from this Parisian procurer to satisfy his needs. He keeps these female child sex slaves away from the eyes of his friends. Hypocritical Saudi Government! The London Times reports: "Executions in Saudi Arabia are prescribed for murder, rape, drug smuggling and child abuse, and carried out in public outside a mosque after prayers on Fridays." If the Saud family abided by it's own laws there would be many Saudi princes who would meet the fate of beheading. Hypocrisy is rampant in Saudi Arabia. Manila Issues Saudi Sex Warning to Migrant Maids London Times reports: "The Philippines government, responding to dozens of tragic cases of maltreatment, has warned young women going to work as maids in Saudi Arabia that they will be sexually harassed by Saudi men and slapped about by their Saudi mistresses. ... You have to ward off advances by your master, his brother, son and other male members of the household. ... the Philippines labor ministry has also told young male workers heading to Saudi Arabia that they must expect to be at risk of rape." Never does a Saudi prince get charged let alone beheaded for raping a male or female immigrant worker in Saudi Arabia. When they are caught in such criminal activities within the United States Washington gives them diplomatic or retroactive diplomatic immunity. Prime Minister of Bangladesh Speaks Out Against Child Slavery Shaykha Hasina Wajed, the Prime Minister, has expressed her determination to curb criminal activities relating to the abuse of women and children. She is known to be appalled by the practice of smuggling Bangladeshi children to the Middle East to be used as jockeys in camel racing, and has succeeded in curbing the practice through increased border surveillance. Saudi princes order child slaves for certain specialties. European and US children are desirable as sex slaves. Bangladeshi child slaves are ideal for camel jockeys because of their diminutive stature. US Child Sex Slave Mystery on the Nile There are many incidences of people being approached by escaping Saudi slaves within the United States. Rarely is there an occurrence of people being approached by a Saudi child sex slave outside the US trying to escape. The reason is that they are kept in seclusion within the palaces rarely to leave or be seen by anyone but the prince and his male friends. Recently, two German male students were on a tour boat going down the Nile. They were looking at the river bank as it passed by when all of a sudden a door opened nearby and a young girl ran out. She said she was an American and begged their help saying she had been kidnapped by this Saudi prince who was inside months before in the United States. She was hysterical but never mentioned her name in the brief encounter. Two men shortly appeared and spread their jackets showing shoulder holster guns in a threatening way. They then took the girl on either side and went back behind the door. Upon docking one student watched to see if the American girl left while the other called the US Embassy. After repeated referrals the German student explained what had happened to an Embassy officer but was told the Embassy could do nothing unless they knew the girls name. When the German student continually pleaded with the Embassy officer for help the official became angered and hung up. The American girl never was seen leaving the boat by the two German students. Washington University Administrator Sexually Solicits a Kuwaiti Washington Report reports: "Hamad Alqahatani, a Kuwaiti student attending Northern Virginia Community College in Fairfax, VA has filed a $3 million lawsuit against George Washington University in Washington, DC on charges of discrimination. According to Alqahantani, when he attempted to transfer to GW last year, E. Donald Driver, then director of GW's Office of International Services, told him that he would be admitted if he paid a $10,000 bribe or if he had sex with one of Driver's male colleagues. In response to Alqahatani's bewilderment at the request, Driver allegedly responded that Arabs are known to be "rich and homosexual. --- American-Arab Anti-Descrimination Committee --- current chair said: 'The ordeal suffered by Mr Alqahatani is degrading and dehumanizing. Unfortunately, it demonstrates how stereotypes can serve as the basis for discriminatory action.'" It is appalling that this young student is subjected to this behavior by an authority who could have suborned him if Mr Alqahatani was not strong enough to go public and use the laws available in the US to seek justice. Unfortunately, when a Saud family torture victim was institutionally raped by Saud family authorities he did not have such legal recourse available.
The Eastern European Jews "When I open the police files I find detailed reports about Jewish criminals. The archives have enough material for 100 historians and for 100 years, and even then they won't finish." - Ha'aretz World of our (god)fathers Basing his conclusions on carefully culled scraps of evidence, historian Mordechai Zalkin states that until World War II, the underworld in Warsaw, Vilna, Odessa and other large cities was controlled largely by Jewish syndicates. By 'our' people. He takes them out with two hands and makes room for them. The stories are spread on the table. Historian Motti Zalkin looks at the dozens of documents that he has brought up to his fifth-floor office and smiles. The characters who form the background of the history of the Jewish people are enfolded in photocopied pages, waiting for it to happen. He prefers the small-scale histories, Zalkin says. He is a historian who doesn't like to deal with the central currents. Dr. Mordechai Zalkin, senior lecturer in the Department of the History of the Jewish People at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be'er Sheva, is sitting opposite shelves crammed with books. On the top shelf is a hefty collection of vodka bottles that he has brought back from his travels, during which he looked for documentary material on Jewish criminal organizations in Eastern Europe. His studies indicate that until World War II, the underworld in Warsaw, Vilna, Odessa and other large cities was controlled largely by Jewish syndicates. By "our" people. Outside his office, workers are dragging a table along the corridor and whispering. The corridor goes on like an endless pipe, winding through a vast concrete structure, which preserves an academic silence, a late-afternoon tranquillity. Zalkin takes the conversation into the backyard of Jewish history, in mid-19th and early-20th century Eastern Europe. He spends a lot of his time there, trying to apprehend Jewish criminals who know no God. Mystery man The mystery surrounding the identity of "harodef hane'alam" (literally, the "pursuer who disappeared") remains intact. The so-called "pursuer" belonged to the realm of institutionalized crimes that were perpetrated in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe 150 years ago. His identity was one of the communities' best-kept secrets. His task: to hire mercenary killers to operate against people who threatened the community. He was chosen from within a small leadership group and only the group's members knew his identity. The local leadership entrusted him with responsibility for the community's internal security. This man left behind a great many traces and thereby became an intriguing Jewish legend. "Every community of the time had its informers," Dr. Zalkin says. "It was a profession -- just as there was a rabbi and a shoemaker, there was also an informer. As long as the informing concerned only `small' matters, everything proceeded smoothly -- the informer earned his pay and nothing happened. The problem arose when the informers gave the authorities information that was liable to harm the integrity of the community concretely." This was why the communities established a security apparatus headed by an official anonymous "pursuer." There is very little documentation on the subject, Zalkin notes: "The Slonim community in White Russia inserted regulations concerning the `pursuer who disappeared' into their charter. The man's position is also mentioned in the ledger of the Minsk community. In 1836 the body of a Jew was found in the river next to the town of Oshitz, in the Ukraine. The investigation turned up the fact that his name was Yitzhak Oxman. He was an informer, usually passing on information about Jews who evaded military service or tax payments. Some people in the community decided that Oxman had gone too far and that he, along with another Jew, Shmuel Schwartzman, had to be liquidated. The police investigation got nowhere. No one in the community revealed who gave the order to murder the two Jews, but the person responsible was probably the unknown 'pursuer.'" In another case, a member of the Jewish community broke under police interrogation, revealing the existence of the secret apparatus. Hirsch Ben Wolf, whose father was a well-known rabbi in Vilna, left home and converted to Christianity. The view was that a convert was liable to endanger the community he sprang from, so it was decided to kidnap Ben Wolf. Zalkin: "In the police investigation one of the Jews testified that there was an apparatus within the community with the power to harm people and even to do away with them." While the "pursuer" remained in the shadows, Jewish underworld figures roamed the streets without fear. Everyone knew them, they even entered Jewish literature. In his work, "In the Vale of Tears," Mendele Mocher Sforim (penname of Shalom Jacob Abramovitsch, 1835 -- 1917) provides an exceptional description of one type of Jewish criminal organization, cruel and dark. In the novel Jewish mobsters use underhanded methods to kidnap Jewish girls from poor, remote towns and then force them to work as prostitutes. This was a fairly common phenomenon. The Jewish society described here by Mendele is perverted and rotten. Sixteenyear-old Biela, from the town of Kavtsiel, falls victim to this well-oiled scheme. She was promised work in a household and one of the prostitutes explains what she must do: "The virgins of Kavtsiel are in demand here, and if they are clever and know why they are in demand, they end up getting rich and everyone is happy." The innocent Biela doesn't have a clue about what is meant, but afterward learns from the older prostitutes and the pimps how to be seductive and how to perform.
Dr. Zalkin is familiar with the phenomenon. He pulls a book by an American researcher from one of the shelves. The entire volume is about Jewish organizations that rounded up Jewish girls and sold them into prostitution. Zalkin says he can map the network of Jewish brothels in 19th-century Eastern Europe, but immediately reneges. "That plum I won't give you," he says with pleasure. Rubles and jewelry One of the major episodes in which a Jewish criminal organization was involved occurred in Vilna in February 1923. It received unusual coverage in the local Yiddish paper. For four consecutive days the paper's lead stories dealt with the events. A Jewish gang that called itself the "Gold Flag" kidnapped a boy from a wealthy family for ransom. According to the police, the man behind the kidnapping, Berl Kravitz, had belonged to the Capone gang in the United States a few years earlier. Zelig Levinson, the head of Gold Flag, gave the green light for the operation to proceed despite objections by some of the gang's members. The kidnap victim was Yossele Leibovitch, a student in the Hebrew Gymnasium in Vilna. His father was a money lender. The kidnapping was done by Abba Vitkin and his assistant Reuven Kantor. The two grabbed Yossele as he left school, bundling him into a peasant cart. The ransom note sent to the family declared: "Money or death." The kidnappers demanded 15,000 rubles plus gold, diamonds and pearls in return for the boy. Yossele was held in Vitkin's house. "The moment it became clear that a child had been kidnapped, all the forces aligned themselves against Gold Flag," Zalkin says. "The Jewish community, the police -- everyone cooperated." A wave of arrests followed. Finally the gang decided that enough was enough and returned the boy to his neighborhood. That same day the headline of the local paper was "How the kidnapped boy was returned." The sub-headline, Zalkin says, translating from the Yiddish, was "Yossele Leibovitch's own story; 12 arrested, including the member of the Capone gang in America; how the child kidnapper was caught." The next day the paper's lead story described how the police reached the kidnappers. The headline of March 1 revealed that "Gold Flag planned to kidnap another child." The rival organization to Gold Flag was the "Brothers Society," the federation of the Jewish thieves in Vilna -- they even had a secretary who represented the society vis-a-vis the community's institutions. One of the society's missions was to provide legal assistance to members that were arrested and placed on trial, and to smuggle people who were wanted by the police out of the city. The Brothers Society was known for the original names its members were given -- such as "Yankele the Pipe," "Avraham the Anarchist," "Tall Elinke" and "Arka Moneybags." "The thieves and criminals were part of the local folklore, part of the daily reality. The Jewish underworld was also reflected in song, in literature and in the press," Zalkin says as he takes out a book of old folk songs and recites one of them. "There is music for it, too," he says. "Here, this song tells about someone whose mother is a thief and whose father is a thief, whose sister does what she does and whose brother is a smuggler." Looking up from the page, Zalkin explains that historians ascribe great importance to folk songs. "They spring from the actual situation, they are very authentic, a very important way to express social feelings." A report dated February 1905 from the Hebrew paper Hazman ("The Time"), which was published in Vilna, sheds light on one of the sophisticated methods of operation of the Jewish criminals. They seem to have had no shame. According to the item, Gershon Sirota, one of the world's leading cantors, was robbed. "They did steal clothing and other items," the paper states, adding that the thieves let it be known to the cantor that they were ready to return the property, on one condition: "That he pay them a ransom of 25 rubles in cash and pray in the synagogue twice out of turn ... Because the prayer leader has been stingy with prayers and thus their profits were reduced and they couldn't make money." Zalkin explains: "They wanted something very precise from him. The thieves asked Sirota to give cantorial concerts in midweek, because on Shabbat people didn't bring their wallets with them to the synagogue, and the thieves needed a crowd with wallets and purses. The two concerts in fact took place, the pickpockets had plenty of work and the cantor's property was returned to him." School for thieves Vilna was not an exceptional hothouse of crime. Organizations like Gold Flag and the Brothers Society operated also in Warsaw, Odessa, Bialystok and Lvov. Zalkin explains the context: The late 19th and early 20th century were bad years, in which the Jews of Eastern Europe did their best simply to survive. People didn't know where their next meal was coming from, whole families were crowded into cellars the size of a regular room. Masses of people lived from hand to mouth. Whoever could, emigrated, mainly to America. Between 1888 and the outbreak of World War I, in 1914, two million Jews from Eastern Europe moved to America. These people were driven not by great ideologies but by sheer want. At the same time, though, the want nourished the ideologies. "For days on end I was genuinely hungry," Ben-Zion Dinur (1884-1973), a historian who was Israel's education minister from 1951-1955, wrote in his autobiography, "In a World that Declined." Poverty and a sense of hopelessness were fertile ground for people searching for a detour en route to making a living. "People realized that they had little prospect of advancing on the normal track," Zalkin notes. "The major catalyst for the consolidation of the Jewish criminal organizations was poverty, poverty so profound that there was no chance to break out of it. The Jews had it even harder, because they were a minority within a majority that placed restrictions on them."
Until World War I, however, Jews had been a key element in the population of Eastern Europe. "From a certain point of view, these were Jewish cities," Zalkin explains. "For example, 50 percent of the residents of Vilna were Jews. Because most of the cities had a large Jewish population, it follows that the percentage of Jews involved in crime was also [proportionately] high. The biggest gangster in Odessa, a huge city, was none other than Benya Krik" -- the same one from the title of the book by the SovietJewish author Isaac Babel: "Benya Krik, The Gangster, and Other Stories." Jews could be found at almost all levels of underworld activity, from the individual thief to gangs that numbered more than 100 members. The large organizations operated in the cities, which they divided into sectors among themselves. Each organization had a charter, a clear hierarchy and internal courts, and its work was divided according to different areas, such as theft, protection money, prostitution, pickpocketing and murder. The art of crime was treated seriously, as it was a major source of livelihood for many people. Between the world wars the idea was even raised of establishing a school for thieves in Vilna. It's not known if the idea was put into practice. In 19th-century Russia the best place to rob people was on the roads. There weren't enough policemen and there were a great many forests. The convoys that traveled the roads were easy pickings. Saul Ginzburg, one of the important historians of Russian Jewry, describes groups of Jewish thieves, whom he calls "toughs and predators." After the heist the thieves slipped away into the woods. A typical gang of roadside robbers numbered between 10 and 15 men, who provided for themselves and their families by means of their booty. One of the most famous roadmen, Dan Barzilai, a Jew by all accounts, who ran a well-known gang of thieves in the Warsaw area, was captured in 1874. His gang had 27 members, 14 of them Jews. They descended upon estates around Warsaw and attacked merchants' coaches on the roads, making off with furs, jewelry and horses. A Polish researcher found statements made by the accused men after their arrest, as preserved in the files of the police. The statement by the accused, Yaakov Yankel, began as follows: "I am Yaakov Yankel from the city of Yanov. My mother Leah is still alive, my father died six years ago. I am 24 years old." Yankel went on to describe the robbery in the wake of which he was apprehended, along with seven of his accomplices: "We were standing in the forest next to Glokhov, without going onto the road. We left the wagons in the forest, and two of us, Hershak the wagoner and Shlomke, and we eight went by foot to the estate. Dan and Lieber had three pairs of pistols and wore masks ... First they started to smash windows ... We stayed there for about an hour and filled up three bags with things and then went to the wagons." No end to information Mordechai Zalkin has spent much of the past 13 years burrowing in Eastern European archives. They are his laboratory, the place where he looks for the remote margins of Jewish history and brings them to life in his academic work. "When I work in an archive in Eastern Europe, and it doesn't matter whether it's in St. Petersburg or Moscow, one of the things that interests me is the collection of police files," he says. "What used to be classified intelligence files are now open. The police collected information as part of their work, and when I open the files, from 150 years ago, I find detailed reports about Jewish criminals. The archives have enough material for 100 historians and for 100 years, and even then they won't finish." Zalkin is respectful of every document he finds. "This, for example, is a document from 1820, from the archives in Lithuania," he says, holding it up. It's a leaflet, in Yiddish and Polish, published by the rabbinical and political leaderships of one of the Jewish communities, threatening a boycott of anyone who engages in smuggling or gives shelter to smugglers. "At that time the Jews smuggled everything that moved and in some places the Russian authorities pressured the leaders to take action before they intervened," Zalkin relates. "A leaflet like this shows that smuggling was a concrete social phenomenon that characterized the Jewish community, not a marginal issue." The task of reconstruction is long and arduous and ridden with disappointments. It's only rarely that a lead turns up that can be followed, in the form of the description of an event in the local press, a detail from a book, a document of a Jewish community. This triggers an exhausting search for additional details and cross-references, with the constant expectation of the moment at which the picture will begin to clarify itself and metamorphose into a coherent story. "In the end it's all stories," Zalkin says. "We historians, like journalists, are always after a good story." The most exciting moments in the archives are not necessarily related to Zalkin's specific field of research. Holocaust survivors and relatives of Zalkin who know about his work in Eastern Europe often ask him to look for information about their families. One woman, for example, furnished him with information about her older brother, who was a student at the university in Kovno, was taken away by the Nazis and never heard from again. "I knew which university he attended, so I was able to find his student file," Zalkin says. "I brought the whole file to Israel, including letters he wrote, certificates and a photograph of him. It is very moving to hold a file like that in one's hands." The Haganah connection The Jewish mobsters in the United States are far more widely known than those of Eastern Europe and have been the subjects of quite a few films and books. The gangsters Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky have become legendary figures. Ten years ago Prof. Robert Rockaway, from the department of Jewish history at Tel Aviv University, published the first important study of these criminal organizations (in English: "But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters," Gefen Publishing House, paperback edition, 2000). According to Rockaway's findings, the vast majority of the Jewish criminals in America were from Eastern Europe or the sons of immigrants from there. They did not continue a tradition of crime, but created a home-grown tradition in their new homeland.
Generally, the reason for their criminal activity was not to obtain bread, but butter. Most of the Jewish criminals in the U.S. were from working-class families and grasped at a very early age that hard work was not a recipe for economic advancement. They didn't have capital to invest, and the underworld offered a way to get rich quick. Jews were among the biggest criminals in the U.S. at the beginning of the last century. "In terms of crime they did everything," Rockaway says. "Drugs, murder, smuggling alcohol. They had no limits. A Jew, Arnold Rothstein, was the head of the New York underworld in the 1920s. He created the largest gambling empire the U.S. have ever seen until then. He controlled most of the gangs in New York, including drugs and liquor. Rothstein was the first entrepreneur in the U.S. who created a well-oiled organization to smuggle liquor during Prohibition." Another Jew, Abner Zwillman, ruled the crime syndicate in New Jersey for 30 years from his Newark base. As a boy he acquired the nickname "Der Langer," "the Tall One" in Yiddish, or "Longy" in the Jersey version. Together with another Jew, Joseph Reinfeld, he ran the largest and most profitable contraband organization in the U.S. The two imported about 40 percent of the alcohol that entered the country during the Prohibition era. U.S. Treasury officials stated that between 1926 and 1933 Zwillman took in more than $40 million from his smuggling operation (more than half-a-billion dollars in today's terms). He translated his vast economic clout into political power. In the 1940s, the mayor of Newark, three of his deputies and four city councilmen needed his approval to get the nod for their posts. Jewish-American gangsters also helped in the struggle for Israel's creation during the 1940s. In his book, Rockaway describes how an emissary of the pre- state Haganah defense organization (the forerunner of the Israel Defense Forces) approached Meyer Lansky, one of the major players in the crime scene in America, and with his intervention, shipments of weapons and military equipment were smuggled out of New York harbor, bound for Palestine. Lansky wasn't the only one. According to Rockaway, other Jews from the underworld donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Haganah. Shmuel Isser's bunker Members of the Jewish underworld are absent from the well-known narrative of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943, but were involved in the day-to-day life of the ghetto, and their connection to the Jewish underground groups during the uprising is a fascinating episode. The Nazi Aktion to liquidate the ghetto was launched on the eve of Passover, 1943. When the Nazis encountered resistance they used flamethrowers to set fire systematically to building after building in the ghetto. On May 8 they uncovered the central bunker of the Jewish Fighting Organization, at 18 Mila Street. What is less known is that this symbol of tenacity of the revolt, the fighters' headquarters, where the commander of the uprising, Mordechai Anielewicz, fought until his death, belonged to the Jewish criminal Shmuel Isser. Prof. Israel Gutman from the Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance authority, who took part in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising as a boy of 15, doesn't remember Isser. "I can't say that I spoke with a character like that," Gutman says. "The underground was an ideological body which didn't have anything to do with people like that." On the other hand, Gutman definitely acknowledges the contribution of underworld types to the life of the community in the ghetto. "The criminal organizations in the ghetto were somehow able to create an important mode of existence," he says. "The ghetto lived from smuggling -- above the wall, through the gates by cajoling the police, under the wall. The property that remained in the hands of the Jews was transferred to the other side [of the wall], and that is what the criminal organizations dealt in. It was a highly organized business." As for the fighting against the Nazis, Gutman says, the criminal groups "played a minimal role. Their main involvement was in smuggling, which was the ghetto's key to life. They also employed a great many assistants. There was an underground economy in the ghetto -- workshops, small, illegal factories, which created a survival base for quite a few people in the ghetto. The economic foundation that those organizations created helped support the community's existence." In his book on the Jews of Warsaw during the war years, Gutman estimates that 80 percent of the ghetto's foodstuffs were smuggled in. The professional smugglers -- a euphemism for underworld figures -- lived a debauched life in the ghetto. They made a great deal of money very quickly and became the social elite. They brought in luxury items such as sweets or other goods that earned them large profits. In the book, Gutman quotes one person's testimony: "The smugglers had enormous revenues ... most of them accumulated millions. The smugglers were the richest class in the ghetto and were glaringly set apart from the gray, meager and hungry Jewish quarter. The easy profits and the uncertainty about tomorrow led the smugglers to spend all their spare time drinking, visiting night clubs and in the company of women." In the end, the admired fighters and the members of the underworld liniked up. Based on their ideological approach, the members of the Jewish Fighting Organization did not build bunkers. Their basic assumption was that they would fight to the end, so no withdrawal or escape routes were planned (the other underground group in the ghetto, the Jewish Military Organization, led by the Revisionists, built a protected, well-equipped bunker with an underground passage out of the ghetto). When the members of the Jewish Fighting Organization found that they could no longer move about and hide aboveground, because of the Germans' flamethrowers, they had no choice but to take cover in underground bunkers. The largest and best equipped of these fortified sites were those of the underworld.
According to Havi Ben Sasson, 32, a doctoral student who works at the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem, the Jewish criminal organizations were part of the Warsaw landscape. In the course of a few hours of archival research and reading of testimonies, she was able to come up with a great deal of information: "At Mila 18, which became one of the symbols of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, a concrete connection existed between the Jewish underworld and the Jewish Fighting Organization," Ben Sasson says. "In fact, that bunker was built by and belonged to people from the Warsaw underworld. It was a huge shelter, with a number of rooms, a power hookup and even a well for water. Tremendous amounts of food were stored there, which the underworld was able to bring into the ghetto, thanks to its connections with the Polish underworld." The leader of the bunker was Shmuel Isser, Ben Sasson says. He dealt mainly in the production of illegal goods, which were smuggled out of the ghetto. "We have a number of testimonies about this from fighters who survived," she notes. "Those who succeeded in getting out of the bunker definitely say that the bunker belonged to people of the underworld and that the fighters were received their like princes. Shmuel Isser's bunker was intended to hold his family, which numbered between 80 and 100 people. It was one of the best equipped bunkers in the ghetto. "Every self-respecting bunker made sure it had weapons for self-defense, and the members of the underworld were definitely self-respecting, so I have no doubt that weapons were stored there, too. That was why the Jewish Fighting Organization chose Mila 18. What happened was that the people of the underworld let the people of the underground into their bunker. According to testimonies, the underworld people also served as guides for the fighters. They were familiar with the ghetto even after it was burned and its form changed." False image This is actually a war of images. Dr. Zalkin wants to draw us a different social portrait. "What interests me is the ordinary person," he says. "I am not interested so much in the great rabbis and the philosophers. I am interested in the society, the people. My studies go in that direction. As a social historian, I map and classify the society, and when I came to all the places that have to do with the social history of the Jews in the 19th century and in the period between the world wars, I didn't have to go looking for crime. It was simply there, leaping up everywhere." In his Jerusalem home Zalkin has a large collection of books on crime. Criminals would never believe how much has been written about them. He himself isn't sure what attracts him to these dark corners -- to these dubious, often violent, characters. "The assumption among researchers is that your field of study doesn't necessary say anything about your inclinations," Zalkin says evasively, but adds an argument that is both very mainstream and very provocative. "In my view, what shapes the great historical processes is not the great figures, but the masses. You can ask of any historical study why it is important. Why is it important to study Moses Mendelssohn, or David Ben-Gurion? In my opinion, historical research is vastly important for shaping the contemporary consciousness of the society. What I want to say is that beyond my interest as a historian, the contribution of this research lies in understanding that, with all respect to us, the image that all the Jewish children went to heder [religious school] and studied Torah and were great religious scholars is mistaken or invented. My argument is that the Jews were a normal society." If this conversation had taken place before World War II, that argument would not have surprised anyone. Jewish society knew itself. "After the Holocaust," Zalkin says, "there was an inclination to view the Jewish world through a rosier prism. Zionist historiography had a vested interest in drawing a distinction between the `new Jew,' the pioneer-farmer, and the wretched, pale ghetto Jew who studied in the yeshiva and was a moneylender. The image today is that they were all righteous and saintly. But it just wasn't so."
Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in Asia Sex trade expanding in Asia Asia's sex industry is rapidly expanding and changing, threatening efforts to control the region's AIDS epidemic. More men are visiting sex workers, and in a wider variety of settings and areas, says a new report Sex Work in Asia by the World Health Organization (WHO). The sex trade is spreading from traditional red light areas to suburbs, highways and international borders - wherever there is a high density or movement of people. Often, this growth is not accompanied by rising AIDS awareness. Indeed, it is believed that most commercial sex in Asia takes place without the use of condoms. The report, presented in Hanoi, Viet Nam, at a WHO meeting on Condom Promotion in High-Risk Situations in the Region, highlighted the need for HIV prevention in the sex trade, which has long driven Asia's AIDS epidemic. Although substantial improvements have been noted in Cambodia (HIV infections level are decreasing among young sex workers) and Thailand, sex workers remain highly vulnerable to HIV infection - in some urban areas in these countries as well as in India and Myanmar, nearly half the sex workers are infected. The report notes that most sex workers are unable to insist on condom use. This is especially the case if they are victims of trafficking, migrants or are young, which is all too common across Asia: * There is a high demand for the young, with the premium age for sex workers in Asia between 12 and 16. This partly reflects cultural norms as women marry in their teens in many parts of Asia. * In Thailand, many sex workers start in their teens, and a third of foreign sex workers are less than 18 years old. * In India, it is believed that 40% of female sex workers enter the trade before 18 years, while in Nepal about 35% begin sex work when they are 15. * A study in Sri Lanka found that one-third of sex workers had been trafficked. Profitable business Greater mobility and changing sexual attitudes and economies have led to the sex trade expanding across Asia. The spread of consumer cultures has had a dramatic impact, with sex becoming increasingly commercialised. "As economy is develop, more men have greater spending power. They can spend this on commercial [sex]," the report notes. The huge resurgence of prostitution in China and Vietnam has been associated with market-oriented policies, and has been boosted by migration. Although sex tourism is highly visible, particularly in Bangkok and Angeles in the Philippines, it is a relatively small, although lucrative, market. The domestic market is much larger but far less visible. Regular clients are often men separated from their families - transport workers, seafarers, soldiers, businessmen and migrants. The industry is extremely profitable: * In Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, it has been estimated to account for 2% -14% of gross domestic product (GDP). * In Japan, the sex sector's annual earnings have been estimated to account for 1% - 3% of GDP. * Between 1993 and 1995, profits from the Thai sex industry were believed to be three times as great as from the drugs trade. Part-time work The report notes that in all Asian countries, there is a clear move away from direct sex work towards ""indirect"" prostitution, where selling sex is a part-time occupation. Bars, fitness centres, clubs, massage parlours, karaoke bars, restaurants and hotels are now typical venues. Sex workers increasingly operate in private houses in suburbs, carry mobile phones and may themselves be mobile. While many enter the trade because of economic hardship, a rising number sell sex because of relative deprivation - students, for example, may become part-time sex workers to help fund their education. Many of these women do not see themselves as sex workers or at high risk of HIV infection, and thus do not use condoms. Prevention efforts are made especially difficult because with sex work illegal in virtually all of the region, it is often clandestine and hidden, making it difficult to disseminate condoms and advice about HIV/AIDS.
30,000 Thai women forced into Japanese sex trade More than 30,000 Thai women have been tricked by the Japanese Yakuza maffia to work as prostitutes in Japan, a senior official of Thailand's Ministry of Social Development and Human Security has revealed. Speaking on returning from a Japanese meeting with the Thai community in Japan, aimed at finding ways to help Thailand's victims of human trafficking, Khun Veerasak Khwaisurat, the assistant to the Thai minister for social development and human security, announced that more than 30,000 Thai girls and women are living in Japan, of which only about 8,000 had legal visas. Additionally, most of the Thai woman currently living in Japan, had been tricked into working in the Japanese sex industry as prostitutes, either through a setup marriage with a Japanese man or by the way of one of the 10 Japanese Yakuza Mafia gangs, who forced Thai girls to work as prostitutes in Japan to pay off their travel-debts of TBH 500,000 to 2 million ($US 12,000 to 48,000). Khun Veerasak also said that even if those Thai woman were close in paying off their debts to the Japanese Yakuza gangs, they rarely saw a better form of life in Japan. It is very common for Japanese police officers to arrest and deport the Thai girls back to Thailand, once their debt is paid of. Khun Veerasak agreed however that many Thai girls keep trying to enter the golden land Japan illegally, with as result that most of them become involved in the human trafficking and Japanese prostitution trade, once they are married to one of the puppet-men of the Japanese Yakuza mafia gangs. Veerasak agreed that the only way in which the members of these Japanese Yakuza gangs in Thailand could be caught was to offer bribes and rewards for information, as otherwise only the small-scale Thai pimps working together with the Yakuza maffia would be caught by the Thai police. The Thai government needs to communicate more with Thailand's Anti-Money Laundering Office to seize the assets of the Thai and Japanese people involved in those prostitution and human trafficking operations in Thailand and point a finger to Thai government officers who turn a blind eye on these ongoing illegal operations. However, as their is no extradition agreement between Thailand and Japan, punishing suspects is often very difficult. A very large number of Thai women are suffering in Japan. Their passports have been taken away by Yakuza members and they are scared to ask help from the Japanese authority and police. As they have entered Japan illegally they also can not receive any kind of healthcare protection. Many Thai girls are infected with AIDS and do not receive treatment, they have to struggle on working in the Japanese prostitution trade until their AIDS infection reaches its final stage and they are send back to Thailand to die. Khun Veerasak also said that they had found that the Thai women working in Japan could only send little money back home, as they are illegally in the country, they get cheated by sending their money back to home to Thailand. They are encouraged by their Japanese bosses to keep their earnings in the form of gold jewelry, and are then encouraged to enter gambling dens and to buy drugs and heroin, which are medicines, they are told to help them work better and help them lose weight. Veerasak explained, that in order to help solve these problems of Thai woman in Japan, the ministry was preparing to offer special savings schemes for Thais living and working abroad, next week, his department would discuss this topic with the Ministry of Finance, to offer the Thais living abroad the opportunity to purchase 1-year Thai savings bonds. he absolutely denied that this was to encourage Thai people to work abroad, but said it was to help Thais already living abroad to gain enough money to come back home. He further warned the Thais that working in another country was far from the heaven portrayed by the illegal recruiting agents, he said that Thai victims of these recruitment agents were mostly taken advantage of and became simply illegal immigrants in that country. The Thai Ministry was now showing special video's in the entertainment districts of Patpong, Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy, in an effort to try and discourage the Thai girls working there from being tricked into forced prostitution abroad. Veerasak also added that on 1-3 September 2003, Thailand would host the Asia-Europe meeting APEC on cooperation to combat human trafficking in Asia and the rest of the world. Despite a spluttering economy, Japan still has Asia's largest and most voracious sex market, one that has lured as many as 150,000 foreign women, according to the International Organization for Migration. Japan's sex industry likes foreign workers for the same reason other industries do - they are cheaper and willing to take on jobs others don't want, says Mr Takashi Kadokura, an economist with Dai Ichi Life Research Institute. Mr Kadokura recently set the size of Japan's 'entertainment trade' in 2001 at a staggering 2.37 trillion yen (S$37.7 billion). Filipinos, Thais and increasingly Chinese and South American women can be found doing everything from pouring drinks in karaoke and hostess bars to offering cut-price sex massages Japanese Officer Admits Coercive Sex Slave Trade At present, whoever lives in Japan can easily and regularly obtain media reports which describe the misfortune of "comfort women"as a matter of "commercial conducts," demanding the deletion of description on sexual slavery from school text-books. This claim has been supported by some Cabinet members and Dietmen in their remarks. Their insistence is based on the "fact"that hardly any evidence is found to support victims' assertions that they were recruited into sexual slavery against their will. Their challenge not only insults "comfort women"one more time but also betrays their ignorance or wanton intention, as it is not based on documented historical facts. As the latest move to frustrate their insistence, a Japanese photographer presented evidence which shows that Japanese used coercive methods to recruit "comfort women" in Asia.
According to depositions written by 45 Japanese in a 1956 war crime trial in China, Suzuki Hiraku, a former senior Japanese military officer admitted having abducted some 140 Chinese and Korean women to force them to provide sex to Japanese servicemen during World War II. Suzuki, a lieutenant general of the old Japanese imperial army in 1945, also confessed to ordering his subordinates three times to set up frontline brothels to shelter the women, in his depositions. The documents, obtained by photographer Arai Toshio, with special permission from the Fushun War Criminal Detention Center in Liaoning Province, will be released in three serials by the Japanese monthly magazine Sekai from its May issue. Since early 1990s, materials which help establish a general view on sexual slavery issue, have been regularly unearthed by victims' supporters. For example, a 1942 document issued by the Japanese Policy-Planning Board was discovered in 1992 at the U.S. Congress Library on Capitol Hill by the Fact-Finding Team on the Truth about Forced Korean Laborers (KRC). The document suggests the Japanese Cabinet Councilors' 1942 decision to recruit Chinese women for service at "comfort houses" in Japan. If anyone is to blame for the "lack of evidence," it must be the Japanese government which, since World War II, has consistently refused to open most of the war-related documents on the pretext of protection of privacy. Among a total of 430,000 volumes of official documents, about 280,000 volumes or 65% of them have not yet been allowed public access, according to the KRC. Of them, few of those issued by the wartime Home Ministry have been made open. The ministry controlled Japanese police and local administrative bodies in Korea and Taiwan during WWII, and it is believed that these administrative organizations were involved in recruiting "comfort women" and planning, organizing and managing "comfort stations." They are preserved in the present Home Affairs Ministry. It must be brazen-faced and unscrupulous for anybody to cite the "lack of evidence" and put blame on the victims' side. Poor victims across Asia have provided enough information on the Japanese government-sponsored military prostitution, though it reminds them of their traumatic nightmare which they hate to remember. Sex-slave trade flourishes in Thailand 'I am but one brick in that long wall of female exploitation and misery' BANGKOK, Thailand The pop music blares from the speakers situated on the steamy and seedy Patpong Road: "One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster." "Oh, that is so '80s," says Mylee, a pretty 24-year-old Thai prostitute from the city of Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand. Mylee has perfect teeth, long, flowing jet-black hair and a graceful manner that belies her social status. She once studied to become a veterinarian at a Thai university, but the 1997 Asian financial meltdown forced her family into bankruptcy and destitution. For Mylee, life as it is for so many Thai women is anything but a fairytale, yet her lot is better than many of the women and children caught in the no-man's land of Southeast Asia's human-flesh trade. It is a trade that includes not only sex, but pedophilia, human slavery and even organ harvesting. "It's a terrible situation," Mylee told WorldNetDaily. "It seems at times as though there isn't a single decent man left in the world. I thought that men were supposed to protect women and children, not exploit them. Even the men in the white hats sometimes are hiding black hats and even blacker hearts underneath." Mylee's point is underscored by the fact that a Thai police lieutenant colonel from Lumpini recently was charged with the repeated rape of a 12-year-old girl. The officer faces 20 years in jail. In response to increased crimes against children, Thailand's Cabinet recently endorsed a plan to recognize international laws established by the Hague convention on child abduction, child-related crime and adoption. "People are bought and sold children, too," Mylee said over a meal. "Phom dii-chan kin jeh," she said sheepishly. "I am a vegetarian." Mylee spoke while sitting down for a plate of "yam wun sen," a kind of noodle salad. "Even the elephants don't have a place to go. They are Thailand's national symbol, and we don't have a game reserve for them. I love animals," she added. Mylee doesn't earn a great sum of money for her services, but what she does manage to save helps her family back in Chiang Rai. "I have three little sisters, and if it weren't for this, they wouldn't eat. I worry about AIDS. But you know, the sex trade is ancient. It goes back to the beginnings of human history. I am but one brick in that long, unbroken wall of female exploitation and misery." Why does she stay with the sex-trade game? "I can tell you that my body is hard currency," she explained. "Men want certain types of skin color, a compliant attitude. Submission and curves. But there aren't really any reasons anymore. There are only tears." Thai and other Southeast Asian women are popular with men seeking sex. The zoos of Patpong Road and Soi Cowboy in Bangkok's red-light district are filled with them. The light-skinned Thais from the north of the nation ethnic Mongolians and Tibetans are preferred over the darker-skinned girls from the ethnic Muslim and Malay south. Indo-Aryan women are too thin for most men, which precludes sex slaves coming to Thailand from poor countries like Bangladesh. In India, exotic women from the Himalayas are brought to Calcutta and other cities for their own perceived standout qualities. Islamic nations like Malaysia (and to a much lesser extent, Hindu Nepal) officially frown on the sex trade in Asia, while "Christian" and Buddhist nations like the Philippines and Thailand tend to turn a blind eye to it.
Though nations like Sweden have recently refused to legalize prostitution, in Thailand it is a sort of national pastime on the scale of Amsterdam. When the transnational military exercise Cope Tiger 2002 brought 1,100 foreign troops to Thailand including many American soldiers the Thai government's Interior Ministry enacted special legislation to help the soldiers enjoy Thailand's sex industry. The 2 a.m. closing time for most bars was extended, and sex workers and others involved in the industry were warned against raising prices. "Don't feel sorry for me. Feel sorry for the children, for they are most at risk," Mylee said. Indeed, child rape, an epidemic in South Africa, is spreading like a wildfire into Southeast Asia. Cambodia's child sex slave industry is globally famous. In communist Vietnam, over 3,500 child rape cases have appeared in courts since 1998. The Vietnamese government has released figures showing that in some regions of the nation, between half and 90 percent of sexual crimes and abuse occur against minors. Throughout Southeast Asia, it is estimated that some 300,000 women and children are involved in the sex trade. They work in border towns between Burma and China, or even on the streets of Bangkok. Some are ethic Chinese nationals seeking a better life in Southeast Asia. They have no money, and many have lost their families or have been sold off by them. They march through malaria-infested jungles in Laos and Burma and then ride in cramped vans into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There pimps and other shady characters bargain for their ownership and services (between $2,000-$4,000, say Thai authorities), while expecting nothing less than full allegiance. Some women will be traded as much as seven to 10 times between pimps and criminal gangs. Dr. Marcel de Boer, a Dutch physician with the French group Medicine Sans Frontiers told WorldNetDaily that he often confronts women and child sex rings during his travels around the Laotian, Cambodian and Burmese countrysides. "Make no mistake. This is human slavery. The pimps are animals, but they are smart. The whole operation at least what I can see of it is run with a kind of military-style precision that's scarcely believable," de Boer said. "Some of the women are just outright kidnapped. Some are sold off by their parents and relatives. Some are orphans. The lucky ones will find work on farms and perhaps in factories. Most of them especially the pretty ones will be trapped in the sex trade. It is a known fact that the most light-skinned and exotic of these girls will be shipped as far away as Tokyo and Cape Town." For Mylee, it appears that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. "I had such dreams," she laments. "I wanted to devote my life to helping to save all of Thailand's elephants. I wanted to help all animals, but now I am treated like one. If you pray, remember Mylee in your prayers." Myanmar Sex Trade A. IDENTIFICATION 1. The Issue Trade in human beings for sex industry work and the continued trafficking of women and children into Thailand from Myanmar is a major human rights violation and also a serious health issue. In a given year, thousands of Burmese women and children are bought and sold as commodities, destined to become prostitutes. In Thailand, ever younger girls are being lured and abducted into forced prostitution, because they are thought to be safe from AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The expansion of the sex market to include this safe commodity (young girls) has resulted in the creation of activist groups against the exploitation of children. These local and international groups, particularly nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), have been effective in informing the world about the problem of trafficked women and children. 2. Description Although the illegal trafficking in women and girls possesses distinct characteristics in each country or region where it occurs, certain patterns have emerged that cut across geographical boundaries. In a typical situation, a women or girl is first recruited by an agent who promises a good job in another country or province. In the case of Thailand, the common practice is to lure young Burmese women to Thailand with promises of employment as a waitress or domestic servant -- but instead, the girls are tricked into working as prostitutes. As part of their recruitment or abduction, the women and girls are controlled through debt bondage. The initial debt is usually a payment to the woman's family at the time of recruitment, which she must repay, with interest, by working in a brothel. This debt also includes the brothel owner's normal charge of food, clothes, medicine and other expenses. Escape is virtually impossible without repaying the debt. Leaving the brothel without repayment puts the woman at risk of punishment by the brothel owner, or pimps. Also retribution against the prostitutes' parents and other relatives for defaulting on her debt is not uncommon. To make matters worse, police can and do arrest the trafficked woman on illegal immigrant charges. The distance from home, lack of familiarity with local language or dialect, and inability to find local support networks further reinforce the women's and girls' dependence on the brothel owners and pimps.
Many thousands of women and children from Myanmar are lured, abducted or sold into brothels in Thailand. They are bartered at prices that vary depending on their age, beauty and virginity.Women and children who have been trafficked can rarely escape, and are victims of exploitation. While it is true that heavy trafficking of persons, particularly women, has taken place from the Shan State in Myanmar for an extended period, the present situation sees women from all over Myanmar being lured into prostitution because of economic difficulties. The number of Burmese women and girls recruited to work in Thailand brothels has soared in recent years as an indirect consequence of political repression in Myanmar by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and because of improved economic relations between Myanmar and Thailand. After the 1988 crack down on the pro-democracy movement by the Burmese military, many countries around the world responded with economic sanctions and withdrawal of foreign aid, resulting in the shortage of foreign capital and exchange for Myanmar. Desperate for foreign exchange, SLORC turned to Thailand which offered a range of economic concessions. Such economic links led to official openings along Thai-Myanmar border, allowing both Thai and Burmese citizens to cross the common border easily. This opening of trade and border crossings has facilitated the rise in trafficking of men, women and children from Myanmar. The same routes which are used to transport drugs and goods are now also used to transport people. Although trafficking in women and girls has become a lucrative and expanding cross-border trade, which routinely escapes effective national and international sanctions. This is due to corruption among police and immigration officials at borders who aid the illegal passage of traffic in persons. A border boom brought about by the increased trade with Myanmar, coupled with the profitable tourist industry in Thailand, has increased the demand for women in the sex industry, especially for younger girls. Tourism in Thailand generates some US$4 billion annually, and sex is one of its most valuable sub-sectors. Combined with the tourist demand for prostitutes, the local demand is also high and helps sustain the sex market in Thailand. It is estimated that 75 percent of Thai men have had sex with prostitutes. In addition to economic ties with Thailand, Myanmar's suppressive military regime has led many members of ethnic minority groups to become economically desperate enough to be recruited into prostitution. Myanmar continues to be ruled by a highly authoritarian military regime, (SLORC), which is widely condemned for its serious human rights abuses. There continues to be credible reports, particularly in ethnic minority areas, that soldiers commit serious human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killing and rape. Disappearance continues, and prison conditions remain harsh, with the members of security force randomly beating or otherwise abusing prisoners. Arbitrary arrests and detention continue for expression of dissenting political views, resulting in a few thousand students and dissidents remaining in exile in Thailand. According to a US Department of State Report on Myanmar, approximately 90,000 people were residing in ethnic minority camps along the Thai-Burma border, among these are thousands of new arrivals driven out by army attacks in the ares controlled by the Karen and Karenni ethnic minorities. SLORC is suppressing ethnic minority groups that are fighting for autonomy, and consequently, women belonging to these groups, such as the Karen, face difficulties because of militarism and the resulting economic hardship. Discrimination against women and ethnic minorities, violence against women and child prostitution, as well as trafficking in women and girls in border areas remains a serious problem. Many women and children of the ethnic minority groups in border areas, and particularly in the Shan State, were forced or lured into working as prostitutes in Thailand. The main center for trafficking in Eastern Myanmar is Kengtung, in Shan State, Northern Burma. Thousands of Burmese women of Akha, Lisu, Wa, Shan, Tai Yai and Burman ethnic origin are bought, recruited and then sent on to Northern Thailand. The following factors help to encourage the trafficking of women from the Eastern Shan State. Shan women face severe economic, physical, religious, cultural and political discrimination. They are expected to find work that will support their parents and families, as well as to work the fields and do the house work when at home. Religious discrimination takes place in the context of Theravada Buddhism. Shan women are not considered pure enough even to enter the temples in central pagoda areas. At an official level, there is little participation of Shan women in the local decision making process. The adverse socioeconomic conditions in Myanmar increase the likelihood that women and girls will be lured into forced prostitution. Notably in rural areas, women and girls have little education and few economic opportunities. Myanmar is a poor country, with an estimated average per capita income of US$200 to US$300 per year on a cash basis or about US$600 to US$800 on a purchasing power parity basis. The complete lack of development in the Eastern Shan State have also contributed to migration. In many areas there are no roads, let alone cars, schools or clinics. The vast majority of Shan women never had the opportunity to go to school. Those who decide to cross the border into Thailand often know nothing about AIDS. It is widely understood that prostitution is an employment option where they can raise more money than through any other work, given their limited education. Thus, the burgeoning trade in women and girls is linked fundamentally to the women's unequal status. Disturbingly, some of these agents who recruit young women for the brothel gangs in urban centers in Thailand are ordinary people who are known by the women. Sometimes trusted villagers and towns-people or even friends and relatives have been known to lure unsuspecting women to leave their homes with promises of jobs with high wages, such as waitressing, in Thailand.
Once they arrive in Thailand, these victims rarely stay in one location. While some women stay in one brothel for a year or more, many are frequently moved around by the owners to avoid being caught or found by the womens family members who want them back. Many Burmese women end up in brothels in Ranong province which are usually owned by Thai businessmen and employ both Thai and Burmese women. Brothel owners use a combination of threats, force, debt bondage and illegal confinement to control the women and girls, and force them to work in deplorable conditions. This eliminates any possibility of escape. In many cases, the women especially those from Myanmar are forced to work in conditions which amount to nothing short of slavery. Most of them are confined to their rooms and only occasionally allowed to go out under the guard of a pimp. For example, one brothel from which prostitutes were freed was surrounded by barbed wired and an electrified fence. Procurement and trafficking for the purpose of forced prostitution are not only widespread in Thailand, but in many instances occur with the direct involvement of the Thai police or border guards. Police and immigration agents at the border not only aid in the passage of Burmese women and girls, police involvement extends to maintaining forced prostitution after the women and girls enter the brothel. Brothels in Thailand are officially illegal, but they continue to flourish. Brothels routinely operate with police knowledge and police protection. For instance, the Crime Suppression Division of the police force raided houses suspected to be brothels in Bangkok and found account books listing protection payments to Thai government officials. Furthermore, police also are frequent clients at brothels. Women and girls from brothels in the Ranong area who are arrested as illegal immigrants are normally deported back to Myanmar by Thai police and immigration officials. In most deportations, many victims are met by agents offering to take them to Bangkok for sex work, again. Or, the deported victims go straight into the arms of SLORC officials who, in turn, charge them of illegally leaving Myanmar and send them to prison. The young women who are trafficked internationally are especially victimized because of the language barrier in their destination country. This creates a situation where they are easily exploited by customers, are at the mercy of brothel owners, are at disadvantage seeking help if they run away, are unaware of laws that might protect them. Besides being forced to work off their debt, which can take years, the women are charged for all their expenses at the brothel. It is believed that some 20,000 women from Myanmar are presently in Thai brothels, with 10,000 new recruits each year. The total number of prostitutes in Thailand is estimated between 800,000 and 2 million. Victims of forced prostitution are particularly exposed to health risks, especially sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including AIDS, because they are not allowed to negotiate the terms of sex. Aside from the risk of infection through sexual intercourse with many clients, the growing popularity of contraceptive injections in brothels also contributes to the spread of disease, since brothels owners often use the same and possibly contaminated needle several times. Other women have become infertile due to STDs and, thus, unmarriageable. This is a great stigma in cultures where the primary purpose of marriage is procreation. Upon returning to Myanmar, these victims are shunned by SLORC for being both minority ethnic members and prostitutes and many are thrown into jails allegedly for illegal migration to Thailand. Some are forced to return to prostitution back in Thailand in order to support themselves. Many Burmese prostitutes, who were known to have AIDS, are murdered by Burmese soldiers when upon returning to Myanmar. A report from the United Nations International Drug Control Program states that 74.3% of all tested drug users, 9% of the prostitutes, 0.5% of blood donors and 1.4% of pregnant women in Myanmar were HIV-positive. The AIDS virus is spreading at an extreme pace among prostitutes in Asia. Thailand could have up to 800,000 people infected with the virus, and Myanmar -- where condoms were banned until 1992 and are still rare -- has some 400,000 infected people. In Thailand, which has a high prevalence rate of HIV, the clients fear of infection has led traffickers to recruit younger women and girls, sometimes as young as ten. Many come from remote areas in neighboring countries which are perceived to be unaffected by the AIDS pandemic. This ensures their "purity" or virginity which increase their value. Child prostitution in Thailand refers to children under fourteen. Although pedophiles have always sought out young children, the AIDS scare has escalated the use of children by all consumers. Young children are sometimes marketed as 'virgins' in order to attract customers who believe that children are not exposed to AIDS, and thus can provide safe sex. Moreover, virgins are in great demand among Chinese from Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Chinese men prize sexual intercourse with young girls for the rejuvenating properties they believe to be associated with the act. According to O'Grady, "there are surprisingly large number of aging and wealthy Chinese businessmen who believe that they must deflower a virgin at least once a year to gain the energy needed to be successful in their business enterprise and have a long life". However, the idea that a child is safer than an adult in terms of transmitting STDs and AIDS is only fallacy. In fact, children are at greater risks because of youth: their vaginas and anuses are easily torn, creating sores and bleeding that permit the AIDS virus to spread quickly. Dr. Werasit, director of AIDS research at the Anonymous Clinic run by the Red Cross and World Health Organization (WHO) in Bangkok, completed his tests of prostitution in the Chiang Mai area in December of 1992. Four out of five prostitutes tested in the Chiang Mai area were HIV-positive. He estimated that 50 to 80 percent of prostitutes in Thailand are infected. According to the WHO, between 125,000 and 150,000 Thais will have died from AIDS by 1997. The Population and Community Development Association of Thailand estimates that AIDS could infect as many as 5.3 million by the year 2000, with more than a projected million dead from AIDS. Thailand, as a developing nation, does not have the health-care infrastructure to deal with an epidemic of this impending size. It will be easy for prostitutes to become part of a disposable population that receives little, if any, health care.
The epidemic could eventually throttle the country's economic boom, which has exported its way to an annual growth rate averaging 7.5 percent over the last decade. Since rapid economic growth has already created a shortage of technically skilled Thais, losses from AIDS will add a still greater cost to the work force. "The center of gravity of the AIDS epidemic in the world is moving to Asia," says David E. Bloom, professor of economics at Columbia University in New York. The gravity of the AIDS crisis has begun to wake up Western transnational and Asian corporations. These companies facing a scarcity of skilled labor in many parts of Asia could face more problems if they suddenly began to lose experienced staff to AIDS. Health-care costs are sure to skyrocket, a labor shortage will emerge, and foreign investment could dry up. Treatment for AIDS, excluding expensive drugs, costs $1,000 a year, or 50 percent of the annual income for an average family. Each death due to AIDs, which usually strikes victims in the peak of their productive years, equals a loss in future earnings of $22,000 per person. This is compounded by the slacking off of the $5 billion tourism industry, in part from the impact of AIDS. The virus spreads rapidly from country to country in part because of trafficking of prostitutes across borders, but also because customers tend to hop from place to place. Sex tours started in Japan, allowing groups of men to visit brothels in South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. Now South Korean and Taiwanese men are prosperous enough to travel on sex tours of their own to places like Bangkok or Manila. Southeast Asia is now the world's number one destination for tourists looking for sex. Many sex tourists are from the West, but a great number of Japanese and Chinese are also drawn by the low prices, easy access to prostitutes of either sex at any age and the lack of enforcement of laws. Without doubt, the rising sex tourism is contributing to the spread of AIDS everywhere. It is also true in Thailand that prostitutes who use condoms with their clients do not necessarily use them with men whom they are have personal relationships, and, hence, intimate relationships currently present a great danger in contracting STDs and AIDS. At the same time, those Thai men who frequently visit prostitutes also present the same danger to their wives and girlfriends at home. Sex tourism in Asia is fed both by the use of local women and children and by international trafficking in persons. Sex tourism is closely tied to economic development in Thailand. The enormous increase in sex tourism in Thailand in the 1970s and 1980s is directly tied to the Vietnam War. Bangkok became a major center for Rest and Recreation (R & R) leave, commonly known the by GIs as I & I (Intoxication and Intercourse). A large and steady stream of dollars entered the local economy through the sex industry. When the war ended, the Thai government, the military, and business, needed to continue the flow of foreign exchange earnings. To this end, they promoted sex tourism, to such an extentthat a group of high-ranking military generals wives created a travel agency to organize the tours. After the war, many Americans chose not to go home. The saying was that there were no MIA in Vietnam; in reality they were all MIBs -- Mischief in Bangkok. From 1965 to 1993, the number of tourists grew from 250,000 to over 5 billion. Tour agencies in industrialized countries, especially Japan, Australia, Europe, North America, and recently, Korea, organize tours to major sex industry centers for men explicitly for sexual activity. Cities and resort areas specialize in particular types of sex or certain nationalities of men. For example, a city in northern Thailand is a noted homosexual center. Various areas in Bangkok are set up to serve men from different countries. Patpong is the famous area for Western tourists. Several island resorts in Thailand are specifically for pedophiles, and their remote nature makes them that much more difficult to be found in order to protest their acts. The exploitation of boys and girls exemplify the single most unsavory element of the worldwide growth in the sex trade: an explosion in child prostitution, driven in part by the fear of AIDS. Since 1985, child prostitution has escalated dramatically worldwide. In the developing world the number of child prostitutes are staggering: an estimated 800,000 underage prostitutes in Thailand, 400,000 in India, 250,000 in Brazil and 60,000 in the Philippines. The newest international sites for child prostitution are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China and the Dominican Republic. In recent years, religious groups, and feminist organizations, and nongovernmental organizations have begun to press for an end to sex tourism. For example, in Thailand, the recent government efforts to curb the sex industry can be viewed, in part, as facilitated by the growth of female tourists, new social movements against women and child prostitutes, and of the increasing awareness of AIDS. Example of the newly emerged social movement group is The End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT), founded in 1990 by Asia-based Christian groups, now has offices in 14 nations and extensive links with religious and social organizations around the world dedicated to fighting child prostitution. Pressure by ECPAT, and groups like it has already had some impact; in 1992 the Philippine government adopted a Child Protection Code to guard against child abuse. Another effective fighter against sexual exploitation of children is the Task Force to End Child Exploitation in Thailand, a coalition of 24 government and private agencies dedicated to exposing links between Europe and the child sex trade in Bangkok. In 1991, the group disclosed the existence of a Swiss network of airline-ticket agencies catering to European pedophiles. Local, regional and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been at the forefront of efforts to raise awareness of trafficking and to press for accountability. NGOs, particularly local groups, are carrying out desperately needed programs to warn girls and their families of the dangers of trafficking, shelter those who have managed to escape, provide urgent medical and psychological care, assist in repatriation, and press governments to strengthen domestic laws against trafficking.
The work of NGOs has filled the gaps left by government inaction and, at times, has led to governments improving their behavior. For example, in Thailand, NGOs working alone find that after they rescue girls and send them back to their country, they often come back again, especially those from Myanmar and the border areas, where the ongoing political conflict meant there was no one to take care of the children sent back across the border. Thus, NGOs have sheltered Burmese women and girls and found safe, undisclosed ways to return them home over the borders. In addition, Thai NGOs have advocated that their government adopt the necessary legislation and ratify the relevant international instruments to improve projections for trafficking victims. From the international level, according to the American-based human-rights group, Asia Watch, the Thai government turns a blind eye to the traffic in women and girls brought from Myanmar to Thailand in forced prostitution. Furthermore, the border controls that exist between Thailand and Myanmar are evaded by corrupt police on both sides. According to the Asia Watch, despite clear evidence of direct official involvement in every stage of the trafficking process, no Thai officer has been prosecuted, except in one highly publicized case of murder. Due to the NGOs demand, in March 1994 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted Resolution 1994/45 calling for the elimination of trafficking in women for the purposes of prostitution. The appointment of a U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and the work of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, in particular, have helped put pressure on the U.N. and its members to recognize the seriousness of the trafficking problem. U.N. Specialized agencies, including UNICEF, UNDP and WHO, have begun to analyze the issue of trafficking and prostitution in relation to their education, development, and relief work. The International Police Organization (INTERPOL) has also held several conferences on trafficking and has attempted to coordinate cross-border efforts of law enforcement agencies to curb trafficking in children, as mentioned earlier. The International Labor Organization (ILO) launched a program to combat the trafficking of children and their exploitation in prostitution and sweatshops in Asia in the beginning of 1997. In Southeast Asia, Thailand appears to be the center of the problem according to ILO International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) for Asia. In addition to prostitution, surveys by ILO and NGOs found foreign boys and girls, mainly from Myanmar, in factories, construction sites, gas station and sweatshops in Bangkok and across the country. Economic progress and development in Thailand may have actually contributed to the flow of children from other countries of the Mekong River region, where many face poverty and underdevelopment, political instability and civil war. 3. Legal Standing: Law Thailand historically has addressed the problem of trafficking of women by adopting several international laws concerning this issue. Thailand ratified three international agreements that ended the sanction of prostitution by the government. These three agreements are: 1. The international Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade of 1904. 2. The International Convention of the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children of 1922. 3. The International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others of 1950. Under the terms of the third agreement, state parties "agree to punish any person who, to gratify the passions of another, procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another person..." Furthermore, Article 5 of the Traffick Convention requires state parties to sanction any person who runs or finances a brothel. Additionally, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) also reiterated the state parties to take all appropriate measures to suppress the traffic in women. Despite the passage of the Suppression of Prostitution Act, the Thai government's commitment to eradicating prostitution was called into serious question with the introduction of the Entertainment Places Act of 1966 (the R & R treaty). This act regulates nightclubs, dance halls, bars and places for massage or steam baths which have women attend to customers. This law basically allows prostitutes to operate under the disguise of those entertainment establishments. Thus, Thailand has contributed to both the trafficking of human beings and forced prostitution by not enforcing laws that it has ratified. 4. Economic Data With the existing law enforcement officials, Thailand already has the human resources to carry out the Anti-Trafficking Law, given those involved are not corrupt. In addition, Thailand has the economic resources generated from the tourism industry to carry out anti-child prostitution and anti-AIDS campaigns. However, the alarming data about the possible number of AIDS cases by the year 2000 has worried not only the Thai government, but also foreign investors who must rely on a good standing labor force for economic progress of the country.
A double-standard code of conduct reinforces and reflects the demand for prostitution. In Thai society, while strict rules of sexual conduct are applied to women, men can maintain their sexual freedom, and in many cases promiscuity is taken as proof of manhood. A demonstration of heterosexual orientation by having sex with a female prostitute is an important rite of passage for some groups of Thai men. For example, it is a common practice for second-year university students to take freshmen to the local brothel. One study has shown that many Thai men, around 73%, have their first sexual experience with a prostitute. In addition, according to Harvard researcher Hnin Hnin Pyne, 75% of Thai men frequently visit prostitutes. Furthermore, many Thai people accept as the norm sexual non-restraint for males. In a recent study by Deemar Corporation, 80% of the males and 74% of the females responded that it was "natural for men to pursue sex at every opportunity". Many Thai men continue visiting prostitutes after marriage and their spouses accept this as an alternative to having an affair. Since divorced Thai women end up alone, many are forced to stay with their irresponsible husbands. Thus, the promiscuity of Thai men and the mentality that leads to this promiscuity are key reasons for the enormity of the prostitution problem. Trafficked victims are not only sent to Thailand for prostitution, but Thailand is also used as the main route for sending prostitutes to other countries. It does not matter whether trafficked victims are men, women or children, with or without STDs or AIDS, they are human beings, and thus deserved to be treated as human. Many victims who carry the AIDS virus are shunned by society and the government and are left to die. Sex trade key part of S.E. Asian economies Prostitution in Southeast Asia has mushroomed into a diverse industry that contributes significantly to the region's economic growth, according to a study published by the International Labor Organization (ILO). The study -- ''The Sex Sector: The Economic and Social Bases of Prostitution in Southeast Asia'' -- covers Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand and describes describes how the prostitution in the region has developed into a lucrative business that also influences employment and national income. ''The scale of prostitution has been enlarged to an extent where we can justifiably speak of a commercial sex sector that is integrated into the economic, social and political life of these countries,'' the ILO study said. The study also said ''the economic and social forces driving the sex industry show no signs of slowing down, particularly in light of rising unemployment in the region.'' The study estimates that between 0.25% and 1.5% of the total female population of the four countries is engaged in the flesh trade and that the sex sector accounts for between 2% and 14% of the countries' gross domestic product (GDP). The study put the number of prostitutes at between 140,000 and 230,000 in Indonesia (1993-1994 estimates), 43,000 to 142,000 or more in Malaysia, 400,000 to 500,000 in the Philippines, and 200,000 to 300,000 in Thailand. Prostitutes are mainly adult women, but there are also male, transvestite and child prostitutes, both girls and boys. ''The illegal or underground nature of the sex sector makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to determine its actual size and economic significance,'' the report said. In the Philippines, a recent study showed there are about 75,000 children who were forced into prostitution due to poverty, while in Thailand, a 1993 estimate showed 30,000 to 35,000 children in the same situation. In Indonesia, a 1992 survey showed that one out of 10 prostitutes was under age 17, and that one out of five of those older than that age said they took up prostitution before they reached 17. In Malaysia, studies showed that more than half of those ''rescued'' from various sex establishments were under age 18. ''If we include the owners, managers, pimps and other employees of the sex establishments, the related entertainment industry and some segments of the tourism industry, the number of workers earning a living directly or indirectly from prostitution would be in several millions,'' said Lin Lean Lim, an ILO labor market expert and author of the study. The magnitude of prostitution in terms of employment and economic turnover in the four countries has expanded while the organizational structures and relations within the sex sector have become increasingly diversified and complex, the study pointed out. Due to the economic meltdown since July last year, Lim said she expects the number of prostitutes in the region to increase. ''Where you don't have social safety nets or where you don't have social security arrangements, then again the danger is much greater because it's perhaps one of the types of activities where anyone can go into,'' she said at a news conference. The study said government authorities also collect substantial revenues in areas where prostitution thrives -- illegally from bribes and corruption and legally from licensing fees and taxes on the many hotels, bars, restaurants and game rooms that flourish in its wake. Lim also said many poor families in rural areas depend on the earnings of women who are prostitutes. In Thailand, close to 300 million dollars is transferred yearly to rural families by women working in the sex sector in urban areas, a sum that in many cases exceeds the budgets of government-funded development programs, the study said. Between 1993 and 1995, it is estimated that prostitution in Thailand produced an annual income of between 22.5 and 27 billion dollars. In Indonesia, the sex sector accounts for an estimated 1.2 billion dollars to 3.3 billion dollars in annual earnings, or between 0.8 and 2.4% of the country's GDP, the study said. In Jakarta alone, prostitution-related activities are estimated to be worth 91 million dollars annually.
Rene Ofreneo, a former Philippine labor undersecretary and an expert on the sex trade, said the number of prostitutes in the Philippines is about the size of the country's manufacturing workforce. In all four of the countries studied, the report has shown prostitution to be a lucrative business providing significantly higher earnings than any other form of unskilled labor. The Sexual Exploitation of Women and Girls in the Philippines In the Philippines, there are between 300,000 and a million women in prostitution. The estimates for the number of children used in prostitution vary from 75,000 to 100,000. For some years now, governmental and non-governmental bodies have recognized issues of prostitution and trafficking under the rubric of human rights. This development has come about as a result of the dynamic advocacy of the womens movement in general and certain groups, such as the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)-Asia Pacific, Womens Education, Development, Productivity and Research Organization (WEDPRO), Buklod, the United Women of Angeles City Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Nagkakaisang Kababaihan ng Angeles City Multi-Purpose Cooperative), an organization of survivors of prostitution which was co-founded by WEDPRO, and the Philippine Network Against Trafficking in Women (PNATW). The problems of sexual exploitation and violence against women have been rightly recognized by other sectors of Philippine society. Under the section on women, peace, and human rights, the Philippine NGO report to the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women identified sexual violence as one of the problems facing Filipino women. Women in militarized areas are especially vulnerable to rape and other forms of sexual violence, aside from the usual illegal arrest, torture, and salvaging [summary execution]. Prostitution develops around military detachments, increasing cases of women and children abandoned by military personnel." (Philippine NGO Report, 1995). It is difficult to ascertain the actual incomes derived by the women or for that matter those who profit from the sex industry. What is known, however, is that the communities of Angeles and Olongapo, former sites of two of the biggest U.S. facilities in the Philippines, prior to their withdrawal, were cities that breathed and lived and developed from the income of prostitution, euphemistically called the entertainment industry." In Manila, the mayor of that city closed down the red light district in Ermita, a move that merely sent the pimps, bar owners and brothel keepers, along with the women, scampering to other areas in the metropolis. The shift to other locations proved that it is indeed a widespread, highly organized, and profitable industry that will not be coerced into inactivity by a decree of banishment. International Migration International migration has been the anchor of trafficking, not only for the labor, but for sex as well. In 1994, some 719,602 Filipino workers were deployed abroad in different work situations. In 1994, women constituted more than half of these figures. While it is difficult to ascertain how many of these numbers have been trafficked, it is easy to see the basis for potential and real trafficking. Undocumented migrants have been a national headache as well as an international concern. In Japan alone, Filipino women working mainly as entertainers constitute a huge 65 percent (as of January 1992) of that countrys total intake of imported entertainers, many of whom come from other Asian countries. This number is a dramatic increase from a low of a little over 9,000 Filipinas in the early 1980s. The majority of Filipina entertainers in Japan are young and vulnerable. Japan has the biggest sex industry in Asia (WEDPRO, Prostitution and Trafficking of Filipino Women, 1997). If the monetary figures related to migration are one basis to deduce the profits derived from trafficking, potential as well as real, then the reality is staggering. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) estimate that by the 1990s overseas migrant workers, more than half of whom are women, generate some US $2.7 billion in remittances. Condition of Women and Girls in Prostitution The CATW Asia Pacific branch-sponsored consultation held 17-19 April 1997 in Cebu City in the Visayas brought together direct service organizations, which target women and girls (and some men) in prostitution, and government agencies that directly offer programs and services to women and girls or have something to do with the legal system (see Appendix 1 for the list). This list compiled in the consultation reflects the present situation of women and girls in prostitution. The problems faced by women and girls in prostitution can be summed up in four major categories: problems related to health; the law or the legal system; services; and violence against women (CATW, April 1997). Problems Related to Health Lack of comprehensive health services, and not just on sexual health. Womens lack of knowledge of health issues, fear of doctors or medical professionals, and useless or risky health practices. Drug use and risk from drugged clients. Expensive and compulsory check-ups for issuance of health certificates. Compulsory HIV tests and the lack of pre-test and post-test counseling, as well as the violation of confidentiality (publicly announced results) or no results given. Lack of funds for hospitalization and health emergencies. Need for AIDS or other reproductive health education. Forced intake of contraceptive pills and unsafe abortions.
The lack of privacy for health checks (e.g., in Cebu City, the pap smear test was being conducted in a public market; in some Social Hygiene Clinics, waiting patients could actually see the test being done on half naked women). Problems Related to the Law or the Legal System Abusive, discriminatory conduct of raids, including arrests, maltreatment during raids or while in custody, extortion for release. Women held in debt bondage. Restriction of movement. Anti-vagrancy laws are unconstitutional, i.e. they violate equal protection and are classist and sexist in their enforcement. Problems Related to Services Lack of education, especially in the areas of literacy, rights awareness, and peer education. Women have the status of criminals. Inadequate support systems in the areas of counseling and legal assistance, as well as child care. The need for skills development, such as organizational and management skills, leadership, negotiation and documentation. Problems Related to Violence Against Women Trafficking in women by syndicates that practice active, deceptive recruitment. Economic abuse, i.e. no work, no food and poverty. A high rate of rape. Domestic violence. Violence caused by barangay (village) officials (fees, competition, harassment). Harmful physical, emotional, and psychological effects on the women. The salvaging or summary execution, especially of sick women. In another report written collaboratively by WEDPRO, CATW-Asia Pacific and Buklod, the situation of women and girls in prostitution was highlighted. The report, The Philippine ReportWomen and Children, Militarism and Human Rights: International Planning Meeting May 1-4, 1997, Naha, Okinawa) summarized the socioeconomic and cultural impact of prostitution on the women and their communities. In a nutshell, the report underscored the situation of sexual exploitation and its relationship to violence against women, womens health and the low status of women. The report contextualized the situation of women and girls, especially during the presence of the U.S. military bases in the country, but noted as well that the situation has not radically changed despite the withdrawal of the foreign troops from Philippine territory. Survivors of military prostitution continue to feel and suffer the trauma of their situation, as no programs were set up for them or their families after the bases closed. Moreover, prostitution continues, albeit in the context of heightened sex tourism in the former baselands, and within the context of national development and base conversion plans. Elsewhere in the country, the same situation applies, and industries or businesses related to prostitution have become lucrative economic activities for everyone, except for the women and girls. For example, in Cebu and Boracay in the Visayas, Davao and General Santos in Mindanao, once sleepy placid towns, prostitution is thriving as much as in the relatively unknown town of Laoag and the once-indigenous community of Baguio in the northern part of Luzon, and of course in Manila and Quezon City. Honkytonks have not spared even the remotest barrios of the land. Further, poor men have become active "clients". It used to be believed that only rich men could afford the sexual services of women and girls in prostitution. For many families, reliance on daughters leaving for the cities to work in the entertainment industry" has been seen as another way out of poverty, despite all the attendant risks for women and girls in the industry. The Mail-Order Bride Phenomenon The Philippines is one of the global sources for mail-order brides. Type in Filipino brides in the search mode on the Internet, and a deluge of information flashes across the screen. The classic racism and sexism in the descriptions about Filipinas, along with other Asian women, makes ones blood boil. Peddled off the Internet as virgins, loyal, obedient, loving, familyoriented, petite, and comely, the Filipino women have become mere commodities in the worldwide sales of women via marriage. In 1989, more than 7,000 Filipinas were married or became fiances, most often engaged to Australians, Germans, Taiwanese, and British nationals. The total number of women involved reflected a 94 percent increase from the previous year. In Australia alone, there are a total of 20,000 Filipino women in marriage to Aussie men, some 90 percent of whom came through the system of serial sponsorship. A 1992 study found evidence of 111 serial sponsors: 53 sponsored twice, 57 in three occasions, and one over seven times. In 1996, an Australian report on Violence Against Filipino Women revealed that Filipino women who emigrate to Australia are particularly vulnerable to domestic violence. Australian immigration authorities reported that 80 out of 110 cases they handled had domestic violence incidents.
Japanese men have also been known to particularly like Filipino women from farming communities, especially from the northern part of the country where indigenous communities live, such as the mountain people of the Igorot tribe. As brides to Japanese farmers, Filipino women are believed to be able to endure the hard work in remote rural villages of Japan where the women are taken. In the Philippines, there is one NGO specializing in programs and services to Japino children alone, children borne out of Japanese-Filipino marriages. In 1994, a noticeable number of South Korean men came to the Philippines to begin their search for their Filipina brides; in 1995-96, hundreds of Filipino women were married in a mass ceremony to South Korean men through an organization called the Moonies. Protests over this wholesale of Filipinas were launched, and the case is now in the court in the Philippines. In the United States, some 50,000 mail-order brides have been reported. In European countries, their husbands have sold a number of brides to other men in countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany. Filipino brides are also found in Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Italy, and Spain, to name a few more countries. There are "pen pal" agencies or marriage bureaus that even guarantee their clients satisfaction-in the discovery process, the men can have sex with the potential bride in the agencies, while the thirty day guarantee allows the men to return their fiances if they prove to be unworthy of the male criteria. The case documentation of the mail-order bride phenomenon is far from being extensive due to the private nature of the transactions and the exploitation. Yet, of those that had been reported, the prevalence of violence in all its forms, from physical to emotional to economic, is something that is approximating the level of a global disaster that calls for national and international interventions. Sexual Exploitation and Violence Against Women Sexual exploitation is the most fundamental situation common to all those in prostitution, trafficking, and the mail-order bride system. The Philippine Report to the Okinawa Conference stated: Through this phenomenon [prostitution], womens subordinated status further became entrenched, as female sexual service for male needs was normalized in the paid-sex setting. The good versus bad women dichotomy pitted women against each other and provided a scapegoat for many social problems. In 1992, in a focus group discussion with women in the community, WEDPRO encountered the popular thinking among local women of Angeles Cityand possibly in many societiesthat prostitution allows them to be freed from the sexual services that their husbands demand of them, and these include sexual acts which the wives felt were only done by bad women, the prostitutes. One woman emphatically said that she allowed her husband to use a prostituted woman because to her, his sexual practices were perversities meant only to be done to pigs. Sexual harassment, abuse, and rape are normalized in prostitution. Despite the advocacy, direct action and services of NGOs in the area of prostitutionnot that we are that manythere remains a strong and popular notion that women in prostitution can not be raped, and when it does happen and gets reported, prostituted women are blamed for inviting the violence. In the WEDPRO studies of 1990 and 1993-94, a number of the respondents pointed to abusive childhood and sexual abuse from male relatives. In fact, their own kin and partners in intimate relationships sold some of them to the casa. After nearly nine years of legislative advocacy, SIBOL-acronym for a coalition of women's groups and institutions than means "Collective Initiatives for Change in Law and Society"-made possible the passage of an anti-rape bill. This action was a nodal point in our struggle against patriarchy. The predominantly male legislators who sat in the committee that examined and approved the bill, however, still refused to recognized the various way through which women could be sexually abused and attacked, or that all women, including wives could be raped. The marital rape aspect was diluted when the bill was amended to include the wife's pardon as an element to allow the husband-rapist to escape. The men also found that non-penile penetration was merely an act of sexual assault a notch lower than penile rape. Still, it was a victory in the right direction. Verbal and psychological abuse and economic deprivation characterized the lives of women and girls in prostitution. Moreover, the ways in which women experienced abortions also included various ways in which they had internalized the violence against them. The ill treatment they received from boyfriends, families and the medical workers all constitute violence as well. Reproductive Tract Infections, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS The pervasiveness of reproductive tract infections, which include sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and AIDS haunt the lives of the women and girls in prostitution. A woman tells of her experiences with a customer who bar fined her for a month [meaning he bought her for a month]. She found crab lice in his genitalia, and tried to persuade him to get treated. She herself was infected, demanded money for treatment, and suggested that he, too, see a doctor. He found this suggestion insulting, and threw her out of the house into the streets, along with her clothes.
In a health project began by WEDPRO in 1995 in Angeles City, the participants who worked in the bars during the base period and up to the present openly discussed the various reproductive tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases which they had when they were active in the industry, and almost all the usual types of sexually transmitted diseases had been experienced by them. Finding medical treatment expensive, a great number of women learned various ways to treat their sexually transmitted diseases; some simply were too embarrassed to seek medical attention. Abuse of antibiotics and douching were and continue to be prevalent, exposing women to infections and illnesses. The findings in the medical component in the project of the Philippine Network Against Trafficking in Women (PNATW) suggest the vulnerability of women and girls to sexually transmitted diseases and other reproductive tract infections, including unwanted pregnancies. Violence punctuates the issue of reproductive tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS. The use of condoms and other contraceptive barriers is something that is negotiated delicately by the women with their clients, and in not too rare cases, violence would accompany the negotiations for safe sex. Women are either beaten up or their bar fines are refunded to the customers. The fatalistic psyche of Filipinos, oftentimes attributed to the ideological content of Hispanic colonization, contributed to putting women in vulnerable circumstances, such as those in prostitution, at risk for unwanted pregnancies (Okinawan Report). Abortion Abortions are common. Abortion-related hospital admissions have become the number two problem in hospitals in Manila and other key cities of the country. It has become an urgent public health issue, according to the report that was released by the Population Institute of the reputable University of the Philippines in 1996. Some stories about unsafe abortions are definitely traumatizing to the women, and underscore the need for reproductive health care services, as well as the need to review the policy of illegality of abortion. Because abortion is illegal, backyard abortionists are the last resort of the women and girls, causing thousands of maternal deaths each year. Unsafe abortions render women vulnerable not only to infections and other health complications, but even to actual death. In WEDPROs work with the women of Angeles City, abortion has been a real concern. One story among the many which we have encountered emphasizes various problems and concerns. Marilyn (not her real name) worked the bars of both Olongapo and Angeles in the 1980s up to the 1990s. She became pregnant and took Cytotec, an anti-ulcer medication with an abortifacient effect. She had heard from other women in the bars that the drug had been effective in some cases. Then, Cytotec could be bought over the counter; even now when it is a banned drug, it is not difficult to obtain a prescription from some doctors, for a fee. When that was unsuccessful she had her abdomen massaged to induce abortion. Still later, she took a labor-inducing drug, which induced labor in her seventh month. Without any assistance, she managed her own abortion, pulled out a dead fetus, which she had not realized had by then badly deteriorated in her womb. She was saved from bleeding to death when her landlord found her slumped in her room and got some help from a traditional midwife nearby (Okinawan Report). Women in prostitution have adopted and re-adopted many forms of drug-induced abortion techniques, which they combine with traditional methods, as they usually can not afford to go to a doctor for safe abortion procedures. While abortion is illegal in the Philippines, women who have the means as well as the access to safe abortion clinics could actually have this procedure. Clearly then, abortion is not only a reproductive health issue, it is obviously a class issue as well. Drug and Alcohol Use Drug and alcohol consumption dominates the lives of the women. Most of them regard these practices as part of their trade, and a number said that consuming drugs and alcohol made them less shy and able to do the sexual acts required by their clients. In the bars of Angeles and Olongapo, the women earned their income by enticing clients to buy ladies drinks from which they got commissions and some tips. The more they drank, the more they earned was the philosophy. Their clients, boyfriends and colleagues, on the other hand, pushed drugs on to them. The most commonly used were tranquilizers, marijuana, cough syrup and shabu (metaphetamine hydrochloride)-a "poor person's cocaine." The women and girls experience other health problems. Anemia and respiratory infections as well as stress-induced illnesses continue to plague the lives of many women, as is the case with their children. Their life and work styles aggravate their malnutrition and general ill health. Amerasian Children The presence of Amerasian children born specifically out of unions between Filipino women and girls and the foreign troops present during the stay of the U.S. bases in the country is a particular concern that now faces the women and the Philippine society in general. Estimated at 30,000, Amerasian children receive little or no assistance at all from the U.S. and Philippine governments, save for the very minimal and oftentimes difficult to access educational grants from one American organization. Moreover, AfroAsian children are the targets of racism and ostracism. A study conducted by a task force convened to examine the phenomenon of Amerasian children, found that two-thirds of Amerasians live with and are being cared for by their natural mothers in single-headed households; others are either under the care of surrogate parents, who often are relatives of the women or with non-relatives, and some live on their own or are in institutions. The burden of raising these children falls predominantly on the women and their families, with no support from the American fathers. Nearly one hundred percent of mothers of Amerasians interviewed for the task force study said that they had no jobs or were employed minimally. The top six needs of the Amerasian children identified during the interviews were education, US citizenship, employment, housing, livelihood, and skills development
Documentation Documentation of human rights violations and the various ways in which women and girls experience violence in prostitution is beginning to be an urgent agenda of groups working with women in this trade. At this point, I would like to especially cite a recent report, prepared by Buklod in April 1997, regarding the experiences of women in Olongapo bars during the period 1972-92: Five of the six women were from different provinces, mostly from the Visayas in the central part of the Philippines. Three had come to Olongapo in the early 1970s, three in the 1980s, to work as waitresses or household help but eventually ended up in bar work. One woman was an Amerasian whose father was an African-American. One woman had been married to a serviceman who divorced her when he was back in the U.S. Without exception, the women had Amerasian children. Most of the servicemen were young, white or black Americans. A racial divide marked the establishment in the town of Olongapo; the area with bars for the black Americans was known as the jungle. The women, too, were known as being either for the use of whites or blacks. Officers also frequented the bars, even admirals. Officers were known as choosier clients for whom Madams would select classier women, sometimes sending them to the officers hotel rooms or houses. However, officers would also sit in the bars with their men. An officer once took one of the women to a nearby island where military exercises were being held, and after having sex with her, the officer asked if she wanted to make extra money by servicing his boys. One womans regular client was the base chaplain. All the women agreed that the Marines were particularly bad clients, prone to rough or violent behavior. The Vietnam and Gulf War Periods. Particularly during these times, men exhibited what the women called crazy behavior, using many women a day, some as high as ten women. There was a lot of drug use, and the men also made the women take drugs, such as speed, hash, and cocaine. There was the case of the man who, during sex, bit off the womans clitoris. She bled heavily and had to be taken to the hospital. Health Issues. The Social Hygiene Clinic was a joint U.S. Navy and Olongapo City government operation, with the U.S. providing drugs, other medical products and testing for HIV/AIDS. In 1987, all the women working in the bars were ordered to submit to HIV/AIDS testing. There had been no previous explanation or orientation nor were results later given to the women. As regards sexually transmitted diseases, the women knew that any woman with an STD would be publicly identified; her name, as well as the name of the club in which she worked would be posted on base to indicate which women the servicemen should avoid. Nevertheless, most of the men refused to use condoms. All the women had infections of sexually transmitted diseases and knew of no bar women who hadnt. The U.S.S. Midway was particularly suspect, and women heard that half of the men on the Midway had sexually transmitted diseases. After this ship had been in town, the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases often rose sharply and in one bar, all of the women tested positive after Midway men had bar fined the women. Some men said that it served them right to be infected by men. All the women had abortions, usually through uterine massage, which was very painful and left the stomach black and blue, or through the use of catheters. They knew of women who died as a result of abortions. When women went to the hospital for treatment of complications from abortions, they would often be made to wait and bleed or suffer pain before being attended to. Acts of Violence. When she was very young, one of the women went to visit a Filipino woman friend whose U.S. serviceman boyfriend happened to be visiting with a friend. At some point, the other man began to make physical advances, and then went on to rape her as the others looked on. It was her first sexual encounter. She remembered how the men laughed as she left the house. Women were often hurt, hit, or raped if they resisted anal sex, giving blow jobs, allowing clients to put objects in their vaginas, or other acts. A client tried to choke a woman, another bought a belt on way to the hotel room to use on the woman, another shoved a bottle into a womans vagina, and there was verbal abuse during sex. A womans ear had to be sewn, at the hospital, after a client almost bit her ear off. He gave her $200 in compensation. If clients were angry, they falsely accused the woman to the police or to the bar manager for stealing something from him or to the Social Hygiene Clinic that she had infected him. For the women, this meant fines and days of no income, or exposed the women to police abuse. In some cases, the client had the woman fired from the club. The men also sometimes refused to pay after sex; one man said he had already bought her three hamburgers. While the woman slept or was out of the room, others stole back the money that had been paid to the woman for sex. Murders of Women. One of the worst murders of a woman was by her steady boyfriend. She was found with part of her uterus scraped out by a broken bottle and with three barbecue sticks stabbed into her vagina. She was the neighbor and friend of one of the women in the discussion group, who saw her dead body. The serviceman was arrested and imprisoned for one year. Another brutal murder was of a streetwalker who had police protection. She was found killed and dismembered with her breasts cut off. It was thought that the killers were police punishing and making an example of her for having stopped giving them a cut of her earnings. There were other murders where the men were given into the custody of the Navy and sent away. In one case, the murderer got off by paying the womans family about $2,000. The men bought women because the women were cheap, because they could make the women do things even if the women didnt want to do them, because they were not American women, because the men could hurt and insult them and the women could do nothing. (Okinawan Report)
Environmental Damage It is not only on the women and girls that prostitution wrought havoc. Communities continue to suffer not only the stigma of the industry but the health hazards posed by the presence of military facilities. In the former baselands in Angeles and Olongapo, the issue of toxic waste remains, and direct service organizations, together with environmental groups, have bonded together to expose the environmental damage wrought by the presence of the bases in those areas, as well as demand that the U.S. and Philippine governments be responsible for the ecological disaster that the bases left behind. Accounts of injuries, illnesses and even deaths have been reported in the former baselands. Actions by NGOs Some womens organizations have taken up the issues of prostitution and/or trafficking in the Philippine Network Against Trafficking in Women (composed of WEDPRO, Womens Legal Bureau, Womens Crisis Center, Womens Health Care Foundation, Conspectus, Kalayaan); Samaritana and BUKAL in Quezon City; the Nagkakaisang Kababaihan ng Angeles City Multi-Purpose Cooperative (NKAC, or United Women of Angeles City Multi-Purpose Cooperative) in Angeles City, Buklod in Olongapo City, Talikala in Davao City and Forge in Cebu City. Talikala and Forge began their work through HIV/AIDS programs. The Ateneo de Manila University and the Center of Womens Studies of the University of the Philippines are two academic institutions that are conducting research on the issues. Two major networks, the CATW-Asia Pacific and the PNATW, are the most active in pushing the issues of prostitution and trafficking at national, regional and international levels. They have taken part in press conferences, rallies and demonstrations as well as implemented, in the case of WEDPRO and Buklod, concrete programs on the ground to assist women who work in the entertainment industry, and their families, during the presence of the U.S. bases, and beyond. BUKAL BUKAL-meaning spring-is a project which addresses women in the streets, the so-called streetwalkers, which in the parlance are also referred to as jocards. BUKAL was established in 1995, a spin off from an earlier project; so in one sense, BUKALs herstory is much earlier than 1995. Staffed by three women, and assisted by its Board of Directors, BUKAL conducts educational sessions and provides services to women through its mobile center. The major objective of BUKAL is to assist the women in setting up their own organization to address their needs in the streets and outside of them. It covers two major areas in Quezon City; Cubao, a major shopping and commercial district, and Quezon Avenue, the major stretch of road that cuts through many districts of Quezon City. The streetwalkers make use of a mobile vehicle, which serves as a drop-in center for the women during their break time. The van contains a thermos bottle, cups and saucers, coffee, tea, choco drink, some comics and other reading materials, as well as informational brochures on such issues as vagrancy law, violence against women, and others. BUKAL offers referral for the womens health needs including HIV/AIDS. BUKAL has also recently completed research on vagrancy law, and its impact on the women. One of the more successful activities of BUKAL is its prison visitation, a program in which the staff visit the arrested women and give them education and training. This activity has been most appreciated by the women, particularly due to the boredom that accompanies such a situation. Significantly, the data on the vagrancy issue has come from the actual lived experience of these women in prison. In BUKALs annual report on Visitation, Organizing and Advocacy Project for Streetwalker Prostituted Women in Quezon City, the following were noted. In eleven months, BUKAL visited the areas ninety-seven times and talked to a total of 249 women, eighty-one on a regular basis. The original target was set at three hundred women. Jail visitation is also part of BUKALs programs. The education modules currently being used for education were pre-tested in jail where the women have more time for concentrated discussion with BUKAL staff, partly because of their detention and partly due to the absence of drugs. Problems and Areas of Concern Education is difficult to sustain in the streets because of the womens need for money. Staff try to hold short conversations and distribute reading materials (on violence against women, reproductive health and rights, sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS). Community visitations are also being done where the women seem to have more time for discussion. Drug use as a mechanism to stay awake at night, to help the women handle difficult situations especially with clients and harassment from the police. Police actions, i.e. patrols, which the women fear will lead to their arrests and possible detention. Violence, such as battery, sexual harassment, rape, incest, family and intimate relationships, pervades the lives of the women. Referrals made for counseling and legal advice or action are usually not used to maximum advantage. The women are slow to use the services of womens groups offering these services (e.g., one out of five women referred to a womans health NGO, Likhaan, availed of its services. Only one, to date, accessed a womens legal NGO, the Womens Legal Bureau. Referrals to the Womens Crisis Center failed because the cases were outside staff expertise or the women simply did not go). In cases where the women themselves asked for a service, e.g., an HIV test, BUKAL feels acutely its internal resource limitations for supporting women who may test positive. Sustainability of the program, as the project is only funded for another two years.
Strengths and Successes Won the trust of the women as shown through the disclosure of their personal stories and experiences for documentation, and as a form of counseling. Popularized condom use for safer sex and protection of women, which they see as controlling some aspects of their health. Women contribute to BUKALs newsletter, enabling them to tell their stories, providing a forum for their creative potentials and developing a sense of ownership of the project and this particular activity. WEDPRO WEDPRO began its involvement with the women of Angeles City in the aftermath of the base closings. When no programs were forthcoming from the national and local governments, despite the promise of then President Aquino, WEDPRO assisted a group of bar women and urban poor women in their cooperative building. This first group has since evolved into an autonomous organization. The first group was called Laka ng Kababaihan (Strength of Women)-Angeles City. In 1993, WEDPRO assisted once more another group, the Nagkakaisang Kababaihan ng Angeles City (NKAC, or United Women of Angeles City). WEDPRO helped organize this group and just like in the first group, extended support in organizing, educating, training, and developing micro enterprises for the women. This support continues to be given to the NKAC. WEDPRO also has developed micro credit facilities for the women, and trained them in cooperative building. As part of its continuing advocacy, WEDPRO does research on prostitution and sex trafficking, and has published information on these topics, as well as information, education and communication materials (posters, video, flyers, comics). WEDPRO, with the help of another womens NGO, put up a community-based clinic and does health training in reproductive rights, and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Buklod in Olongapo City has a similar program. CATW-Asia Pacific Apart from the above activities conducted by CATW-Asia Pacific, other efforts, both at the national and regional levels, have been addressed by the Coalition. CATW and its network have protested to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and have met with DFA officials to demand that the entry of U.S. and other military vessels for R and R shore leaves be disallowed. These same organizations campaigned for many years for the rights and welfare of Filipino Amerasian children of U.S. military personnel. On the occasion of the World Congress Against Child Sexual Exploitation in 1996, CATW met with the delegation from the Pentagon to express its concerns regarding the practices of sexual exploitative behavior of U.S. servicemen in Asia. CATW and Buklod coordinate with the Asia-Pacific Center for Justice and Peace in Washington, DC, which lobbies on issues of military prostitution in connection with R and R, the rights of Amerasian children, and toxic wastes left in the Philippines by the military at and around former baselands. The Philippine Network Against Trafficking in Women WEDPRO acts as the secretariat for the Pilot Project Against Trafficking in Women, a two-year project supported by the Government of Belgium through a bilateral agreement with the Government of the Philippines. The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) acts as the executing agency for the project, on behalf of the Philippine government. The Philippine-Belgian project is being implemented by a seven-member networkthe Ateneo de Manila University, Conspectus Foundation, Kalayaan, Womens Crisis Center, WEDPRO, Womens Health Care Foundation, and Womens Legal Bureauwhich bonded together under the name Philippine Network Against Trafficking in Women, or the PNATW. The University of Ghent in Belgium is the partner academe of the Ateneo de Manila University. The project has three major components: the preventative aspect, which is concretized through research, community-based education and training and advocacy; the social assistance component, which features counseling and shelter, legal and medical assistance and referrals; and, the repression component, which deals with legal reforms on national and international levels. Some of the groups have greater working relationships than others, in part a result of their geographical coverage and shared perspectives. In particular, BUKAL, Buklod, WEDPRO, and NKAC are presently discussing more collaborative efforts in several areas, one of which is a planned human rights documentation project of the violations against women and girls in prostitution. While some germinal efforts have been started, a consortium approach project doing this documentation has been conceived and is currently under discussion (as of June 1997). It is hoped that this consortium approach brings together closer direct service NGOs and organizations of women in prostitution for a more sustained, connected and heightened advocacy and direct actions. It is also envisioned that such a coming together in a more defined manner will bring about in the near future a coalition of groups working in the area of prostitution and trafficking. Another agenda that is currently under discussion is a sharing of a systematic assessment of the programs of the four organizations in the areas of socioeconomic activities for the women as alternative sources of income, organizing, education and training, crisis intervention, support services such as day and night care, income support, and others. The objective is to identify the weaknesses of the programs and identify key lessons learned for future planning. The groups are also finding ways to make sexual exploitation issues a national concern and a priority for intervention and legislative reforms. WEDPROs response to the issues of sexual exploitation, particularly prostitution and trafficking, is multi-pronged and multi-level. Its mission statement and programs indicate a framework, which sees these issues in the context of development and the institutions of patriarchy. Some of the responses include the following:
Training and education on various womens issues, including a deepening of their understanding of prostitution and violence against women: in early 1990s, we ran a twelve-week educational course; subsequent educational sessions echoed the themes of the previous sessions; in 1995-96, we ran a three-month training on sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS in the context of development and patriarchy from which fifteen grassroots women were eventually given a more in-depth training to become peer educators and community-based health workers. Together with another organization, the Womens Health Care Foundation, WEDPRO sponsors a clinic in Angeles City. Twice a month the clinic goes to the communities and renders medical services to the urban poor communities, specializing in reproductive health issues, including services for pap smear, referral for HIV/AIDS testing, etc.; this program originated in Olongapo City, with Buklod as the implementing organization in that city. Organizing in the communities in Angeles City, at the moment, are four priority sites (Balibago, Malabanas, Anunas, Capaya II)these are the most marginal areas in the region and where the rate of prostitution and the potential for trafficking are highest. Together with SIBOL, and other womens organizations, the support for the policy advocacy on the vagrancy law as pioneered by the Womens Legal Bureau (WLB). The vagrancy law is used as the main basis for arresting women and girls in the streets. The Women's Legal Bureau contested the constitutionality of the law using specific cases, and had been affirmed by a regional trial court; however, much has to be done as this law has to be completely amended by two houses of legislators and moved on for further testing in other branches of the judiciary. Since 1992, WEDPRO has implemented micro enterprise training in management and micro finance activities for survivors of prostitution; presently the program includes women from poor communities in Angeles City. One of the concrete results of this program is the establishment of food stalls in Angeles City as the pioneer attempt to assist women survivors right after the removal of the U.S. bases. WEDPRO belongs to national and local networks in Metro Manila, Quezon City and Angeles respectively, doing advocacy and networking on the issues of violence against women, sex trafficking, HIV/AIDS, military base toxic cleanup, and so forth. WEDPRO, along with CATW, Buklod and other organizations campaigned for programs that can benefit Amerasian children and their caregivers. A coalition project currently being implemented by various organizations was born out of this advocacy. The coalition project aims to address the needs of Amerasian children and their caregivers through educational scholarships for the children, socioeconomic programs for them and their caregivers, and other psycho-social activities aimed at the plight of this sector. In particular, WEDPRO shall lead the last activity in cooperation with other womens groups. Weaknesses vs. Strengths of Programs WEDPROs programs on prostitution could be considered pioneer in the field. The integrated social and economic package of assistance, which earnestly began in 1992, continues to take shape, and still remains unique. The other organization, which has developed its economic component, is Buklod in Olongapo City. As a pioneer undertaking, therefore, it was not surprising for WEDPRO to find its programs, directly related to and servicing women and girls in prostitution, peppered with problems especially during the early formative years. Some of the problems that hounded and to a degree continue to hound the programs are: The need for sustained crisis intervention for the women and girls. In Angeles City where WEDPROs communities of women are, there is not a single NGO-led crisis center, apart from the governments Department of Social Welfare and Development, which may need improvement in terms of a womens perspective in counseling and crisis intervention especially suited to women and girls in prostitution. There is one government-initiated NGO, which has its own building, but its officers admit that they are not yet capable of organizing crisis centers in the city, or of taking on programmatically women in crises. WEDPRO, however, has served as a crisis center, accommodating, from time to time, women and their children in crisis, although admittedly the facilities and resources of WEDPRO are not conducive to sustain these efforts. Most of those in crisis are therefore referred to other institutions, including the WCC. However, the geographical distance is a problem. WEDPRO has realized that it has to strengthen its own capability for crisis intervention, including possibly some forms of sheltering. The need to plan and organize an adequate and comprehensive response to women and girls escaping from prostitution and trafficking situations as well as domestic violence. In the last few months, WEDPRO saw itself responding, albeit unprepared organizationally, to rescue calls from women and girls. Rescue of girls in sexual slavery from brothels or pimps calls for a comprehensive package of security assistance, legal advice, temporary sheltering and immediate counseling, as well as alternatives to situations like uncooperative or violent families, and need for income, among others. WEDPRO, in the meantime, has stopped actively pursuing rescue operations, until the infrastructure of support is planned and set in place. The absence of such may jeopardize a girls life and the lives of other girls (or women) in sexual slavery situations, as well as the lives of our own staff. In Angeles particularly, although there is no distinct proof, it is widely known that brothel owners, pimps, police and some local government officials are actually operating together and have some links due to the profit that this industry provides
The need to review existing practices of micro finances activities, which mutually empower WEDPRO and the women. Since 1992, WEDPRO has innovated various approaches to social credit and other economic assistance to women and girls in prostitution, together with the urban poor community, that genuinely and strategically benefit them. Approaches such as no or low interest loans for micro enterprises were and are being undertaken by WEDPRO. This approach has been critiqued by development workers utilizing mainstream approaches, because this does not promote a two-way empowerment, and this does not allow women to develop a level of business sense and responsibility to the partner organization providing the loan. Further, in terms of cost-benefit analysis, it does not deliver back enough resources to the sponsoring organization, resources that in turn can be used to fund administrative costs of the program, and as another pool of cash that can be used by other women. WEDPROs dilemma lies in the fact that the beneficiaries-participants in its program are women of marginal incomes, in single-headed households buffeted by the double day, multi-task situation, and where the possibility for earning more income according to the needs of the household is constrained by the low level of skills of the women and girls. The entertainment industry" is a highly controlled industry where police and government officials benefit along with establishment owners and security of women and program staff. In Angeles City, for example, drugs and sex work are so integrated that those who control the drug scene also control the industry. WEDPROs advocacy for immediate reforms and strategic planning to benefit women and girls in prostitution have consistently met with stiff resistance from these actors. What makes it much more difficult is that the community, which has traditionally benefited (as to how much in real terms is another question) from the presence of the prostitution industry, especially during the presence of the U.S. bases in the country, offers some forms of resistance to change. In Angeles City, the local government, together with big business, has sold the idea to the people that without the bars and related establishments of entertainment, its economy would suffer, creating massive unemployment, etc. Moreover, up front and proactive advocacy also poses danger to the program, the women and the staff, as harassment in various forms from time to time is initiated to intimidate the above. Highly mobile program participants. WEDPROs integrated package of assistance and services presupposes a strategic timeframe and sustained commitment of the program participants. Women and girls in prostitution, or especially after engagement in it, face myriad problems, including re-integration into a society that stigmatizes them, and adjustment to an entirely different environment. Psycho-emotional baggage of women and girls and burnout syndrome of staff. WEDPROs experience shows that long-term counseling and re-integration processes are necessary basic steps for the women to benefit fully from our organizational programs. However, in many cases, women and girls are afraid to confront their own demons, so to speak, and understandably so, so that competition and a high degree of individualism are burdening the program approaches and implementation. They are often burdened as well by the othering stance where they feel that women who have not been in prostitution may not be able to understand their difficulties. This othering does not help the program personnel either, and burnout syndrome is the result. A high level of commitment from both parties is therefore a fundamental need, which can only come from a sense of moving forward, learning lessons and gaining concrete material and non-material gains, particularly for the survivors. Having come from a thoroughly dependency-creating environment, survivors also feel strongly the need for more stable circumstances, such as having a man to look after them. Unfortunately, a number of survivors also end up with men who tend to either take advantage of them (e.g., being economically dependent on womens incomes or exploitative of the emotional instability of the survivors). Admittedly, survivors in particular crisis situations see going back to prostitution as an easier option as the environment is familiar, and therefore much more negotiable, than in the mainstream society. Lack of resources for program sustainability. WEDPRO, as with other organizations, does not have the institutional funds, which greatly help in long-term planning and experimenting with various innovations that address particularities of womens situations. In an organization that sustains itself from project to project, long-term programs and projects are nearly impossible to implement. Further on, staff development is also jeopardized, since workers with tested skills and capability are not enticed to stay long term with a program which can not promise sustainability and tenure. The level of wages of NGO workers in the Philippines is also a problem, especially in the face of continuing poverty in the country. On the other hand, WEDPRO can chalk up a few successes. The strengths of the programs of WEDPRO are in the following areas: Direct organizing of women and girls in prostitution, along with women in the community, into a multi-purpose cooperative, which over time allows the survivors, together with other members, to set up their own self-propelled organization with its own set of activities and manage their own resources. WEDPRO was instrumental in the setting up of Laka ng Kababaihan ng Angeles City in 1993-94, which was the first ever cooperative of women in the entertainment industry. Lakas had since been an independent organization. The second co-op assisted by WEDPRO is the Nagkakaisang Kababaaihan ng Angeles City (NKAC, or the United Women of Angeles City). The NKAC has been an autonomous formation since over a year ago, and is beginning to manage its own micro enterprises and run its own organization, with WEDPRO as its partner. Provision of support services even on a limited scale. WEDPRO has provided a set of support mechanisms for the program participants which hopefully create an environment that allows women to take a more active role in their empowerment; these are daycare services, medical checkups and occasionally, when possible, free medicine, emergency health funds, counseling and referrals.
Advocacy on womens human right. Together with other non-governmental organizations, WEDPRO has promoted a perspective that protects and enhances womens human rights, particularly for those trapped in prostitution and trafficked situations; these efforts contribute to the international campaign to address the human rights of women and girls victimized in sexual exploitation. How can harm to women and girls be made visible? There are various problems that need to be addressed before women and girls can make visible the harm done to them by sexual exploitation. Stigma. Women and girls often find it difficult to speak about their experiences due to the stigmatization. Moreover, they themselves are not very clear on their analysis of their own situation, which in many cases are simply a manifestation of their selfinternalized stigmatization. Women and girls in prostitution, for example, see the violence in the industry as natural hazards of the tradeganoon talaga yon (its really like that), is an oft-quoted response of the survivors and those still trapped in the industry. Advocates can merely provide the nurturing environment for the women and girls to come to a point in their lives where they can feel strong enough to leave the industry and move on to other less exploitative alternatives. Lack or absence of viable economic alternatives and comprehensive programs and services to address over time the scars wrought by prostitution, which is the material basis by which getting out of prostitution and other sexually exploitative situations can be made possible and sustaining. Over time, the presence of this material alternative has been seen to allow the survivors to take control of their own lives, albeit slowly and painfully, and begin to unravel by themselves an analysis that make the harm to them visible, and tangible. A sense of community with the women, especially in post-prostitution or trafficking, is essential. WEDPROs experiences point to the need to help survivors link up with one another in a healing process, in an environment of trust and respect, an environment which is hardly known to them in prostitution. Organizing survivors however, must go beyond therapy or counseling sessions, as proven by our experience, and address long-term solidarity and sisterhood among themselves and with the advocates. Documentaion. CATW-Asia Pacific, in collaboration with HURIDOCS, a human rights organization based in Switzerland, conducted a series of training sessions among womens groups, peoples organizations and human rights groups on how to systematize human rights documentation. The current challenge facing this task is making the system gender sensitive, a task that is currently underway within the system; in WEDPRO and BUKAL, a total of five women have been trained. Media advocacy/campaigns where the stories of survivors are told with dignity and respect by media practitioners who have imbibed a perspective that does not exploit for sensationalisms sake and with a scoop mentality the stories of the women and girls. Many women are appalled by the distortion in the press about prostitution and trafficking, which in turn generates a blaming the victim mentality in society. Continuing advocacy to expand the conceptual framework of human rights and violence against women, and to include in the programs of human rights organizations and crisis centers appropriate and timely responses to all forms of sexual exploitation against women and girls. The regional and international exchange of information and review of programs and services, taking lessons from across the world, and developing a sustained program of exposure trips to countries especially where CATW has chapters among survivors, to ensure a continuing dialogue and solidarity. Legislative and policy advocacy at all levels, including the United Nations, to bring to the worlds attention the gravity of the situation. One of the obvious needs of WEDPRO and all other organizations working in the area of sexual exploitation is the sharpening of its analytical framework through the synthesis and evaluation of programs and projects on the ground. Women who take part in the programs and projects need to play a crucial role in the evaluation. In Beijing during the Fourth World Conference on Women, CATW sponsored a workshop in which one of the key discussion points was centered on the similarity between the torture-trauma of women in political detention and the treatment of women and girls in prostitution. This approach needs to be discussed and sharpened, and used to further validate the experiences of survivors. Human rights violations among women political prisoners are easy to understand and make manifest. The same could be done in the area prostitution, and further studies in this area are urgent. One of the dilemmas of WEDPRO is summed up by this reflection: there are thousands of women and girls in prostitution, and the little that we have reached still need so much assistance and intervention and support. If we have been instrumental in making these few woman and girls be human again and feel life to be worth living, have we actually succeeded? Or have we in fact failed in the face of the continuing misery and exploitation that thousands of others continue to bear? The work among and for prostituted women and children is just beginning to take roots. The debates on whether to legalize prostitution as an industry or not have proven to be a forum for continuing education and advocacy, despite the insistence for a dominantly economic view of the problem. In many ways, the work that has been promoted by the organizations working with women in prostitution, has been a challenge as well to the entire womens movement in the Philippines, who for many decades had refused to see prostitution as a central issue to womens liberation struggle. Other groups and peoples community-based organizations have slowly moved towards a recognition of one of the gravest problems that beset Philippine society, and that has marked one of the most dramatic instances of womens subordination here and elsewhere.
Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in Australia Austrailia For as long as there have been people there has been migration. People have always sought to move to better their lot. Many people have willingly sought new lives - many have had little option when faced with violence, terror or economic doom to seek a new life. For a large number of people, somewhere else looks better. It is said that if you live in Somalia, Egypt looks pretty good. If you live in Egypt, Greece looks pretty good. If you live in Greece, Belgium looks pretty good. If you live in Belgium, Canada looks pretty good. Of course, not everybody thinks this way, but for many, the grass is greener elsewhere, and a significant political challenge for most countries is to run an immigration program that meets that country's objectives and allows that country sovereignty over an important set of decisions - the ability to choose who may or may not enter and the right to maintain the integrity of the immigration program. The International Organization for Migration, estimates that there are in the order of 100 million migrants worldwide. Of these, about 20 million are estimated to be refugees and approximately 30 million are "undocumented migrants". It estimates that of these about 4 million are smuggled or trafficked, according to definitions used by the IOM, and this generates revenue of $5-7 billion. Undocumented migration involves persons entering a country that is not their country of origin, without the proper authority. When migrants are assisted in this process by a third party or parties, it is generally referred to as smuggling or trafficking. There are various definitions of these terms but I will use those recently suggested by the United Nations in the Global Programme Against Trafficking in Human Beings. That is: smuggling is the procurement of illegal entry of a person into a State of which the latter person is not a national with the objective of making a profit. Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation or receipt of persons through deception or coercion for the purposes of prostitution, other sexual exploitation or forced labor (UN 1999, 3). Smuggling is clearly concerned with the manner in which a person enters a country, and with the involvement of third parties who assist them to achieve entry. Trafficking is a more complicated concept, in that it requires consideration not only of the manner in which a migrant entered the country but also their working conditions, and whether the migrant consented to the irregular entry and/or these working conditions. Trafficking and more voluntary forms of undocumented migration are best thought of as a continuum, with room for considerable variation between the extremes (Figure 1). It is frequently difficult to establish whether there were elements of deception and/or coercion, and whether these were sufficient to elevate the situation from one of voluntary undocumented migration, to trafficking. The International Organization for Migration has noted that the issue of voluntariness is complicated by the realities of poverty and political upheaval. The IOM notes that: ...in many instances, trafficked migrants are lured by false promises, misled by misinformation concerning migration regulations, or driven by economic despair or large scale violence. In such cases, the migrant's freedom of choice is so seriously impaired that the "voluntariness" of the transaction must be questioned (IOM 1997, 2) Continuum of voluntariness of undocumented migration Smuggling and trafficking raise the issues of transnational and/or organised crime. A former Secretary-General of Interpol has written that the constituent elements of transnational crime are the crossing of a border by people, things or criminal will, together with the international recognition of the crime at both national and international levels. That is, the action is considered a criminal offence in at least two states, thereby bringing into effect international conventions, extradition treaties or concordant national laws (Bossard 1990, 5, cited in McFarlane 1999, 2). Australia is an attractive destination for potential migrants, primarily because of Australia's relative economic and political stability. Australia is also popular as a destination because of the attractiveness of the "Australian lifestyle" and the high profile of Australia as a tourist destination, particularly in the lead-up to the Olympic games in the year 2000. Illegal immigrants arrive in Australia from most countries in the world, but the largest number are from Asia. The players We therefore have a cocktail of people wishing to: * escape from extreme poverty and unemployment; * improve earnings and standard of living; * escape from persecution, conflict or war; * escape from ecological crisis or degradation (IOM 1995, 4). Some do not have appropriate permission/documentation to go to their country of choice. Some of these pay large sums of money to illegal operators and undertake dangerous journeys.
This part of the cocktail involves: * opportunistic entrepreneurs; * organised crime; * people who are smuggled; * people who are trafficked. Of these, * some pay, knowing that they are acting illegally; * some pay, having been led to believe they are acting legally, but merely jumping the queue; * some cannot afford to pay the full amount, and are willing to work off the debt in the new country (some may be aware of the industry in which they will be working - others not so); * some are totally unaware of what is happening to them - they have either been kidnapped and sold, or in the case of some children, sold by their impoverished families. Some of these are victims of fraud or victims of abduction. Others are willing perpetrators of a fraud. Another part of the cocktail involved law enforcement officials: * immigration authorities; * customs authorities; * police. Foreign affairs officials and health welfare officials also have roles to play. The cocktail, therefore has three types of ingredients: * immigrants; * smugglers and traffickers; * law enforcement. Each of these contain many layers of complexity. The immigrants For the past six months in Australia, incidents of people smuggling and trafficking have made the headlines on a daily basis. In the same way that the Golden Venture1 brought the issue of migrant trafficking to the forefront of the minds of the American public, several high profile incidents have brought the issue into the spotlight in Australia. * In April of this year, 60 people were detained after their boat landed at Scotts Head, part of the densely populated Eastern seaboard. The smugglers successfully evaded detection by Australian authorities, even once inside the twelve mile limit. It was not until local residents reported to police they had seen Chinese men and women wearing suits walking in the torrential rain, that the boat was detected by Australian authorities (Daily Telegraph, 18 May 1999). * In May of this year, a boat landed in the isolated and rugged Cape York region of northern Australia. Upon interception by Australian authorities, the migrants abandoned ship and took refuge in the mangrove swamps. This is an area which is populated by large salt water crocodiles and sand flies, and there is no fresh water. After 24 hours, each of the would-be migrants had given themselves up to the authorities (The West Australian, 28 May 1999). * Again, in May of this year, the Australian government issued warnings over BBC radio to 2000 would-be immigrants in Somalia, that any journey to Australia would be hazardous and that they would be detained upon arrival. These people, who had paid hundreds of dollars for a ticket to Australia, rioted in the capital, Mogadishu, and opened fire on the vessel they had planned to travel on (The Canberra Times 27 May 1999). The media have drawn attention to the rapid increase in the numbers of interceptions of undocumented migrants arriving by sea and by air, and to the involvement of organised crime. As the Minister for Customs, Amanda Vanstone recently said: "We are not talking about people washing ashore in wooden boats. There were 348 people who arrived by boat between July 1, 1998, and April 30 this year. That is already double the number who arrived the previous year." (Sydney Morning Herald 26 May 1999). Indeed, Australian authorities recently intercepted the 'Kayuen', a 60 metre coastal trader with 69 people hidden in disguised compartments. The 'Kayuen', originating from the Peoples Republic of China, was fitted out with the latest Norwegian-made Feruna marine satellite telephone, telex and fax, which came with two computer screens. It had a satellite navigation positioning system, a weather alert system and a depth finder. Police estimated that the organisers had outlaid up to $500,000 on voyage and arrival preparations (Sydney Morning Herald, 22 May 1999). The increasing numbers of would-be migrants arriving by boat is hardly surprising - Australia is a massive island continent with a coastline of nearly 37,000 kilometres, most of which is unpopulated. This vast expanse of coastline makes Australia a relatively easy target for smuggling and trafficking operations. Australia also has a reputation for economic and political stability, a relaxed life style and high standard of living, making it an attractive destination for migrants. There is clearly also a demand in Australia for cheap, non-regularised labor, by employers wanting to maximise profits. In January and February of this year, the Department of Immigration located almost 2000 people working illegally in Australia, including 51 people employed by the one employer (Media Release, Philip Ruddock MP 41/99, 5 March 1999) While Australia has a legitimate migration program, the migration intake is strictly controlled, and there are a set number of places that can be allocated each year.
In 1998/9, Australia's intake was 68,000 in the migration program and a further 12,000 in the humanitarian (refugee) program. The highest number of immigants in any post World War II year was 185,000 in 1969/70, and the lowest was 52,752 in 1975/76. Australia's 80,000 intake last year compares with 800,000 in the USA, 200,000 in Canada, and 55,000 in New Zealand, which has a population of less than 4 million, compared with Australia's 18.6 million. Of these, 18.6 million, one quarter were born outside Australia, and 5.7 million immigrants since 1945 attests to Australia's ethnic diversity and multiculturalism. While anyone from any country can apply to migrate, regardless of their ethnic origin, sex, race or religion, migration to Australia is dependent on the applicant's ability to meet the migration criteria of the day, which are established to meet Australia's national interest and needs. At present, the emphasis is on skilled migration and family reunification (Key Facts in Immigration, DIMA Website). Many potential migrants simply would not satisfy the competitive skilled migration requirements - others are too impatient or desperate to wait their turn in the immigration queue. In either case, potential migrants are resorting to illegal methods to live and work in Australia. There are several methods open to potential migrants who want to enter Australia and work illegally. They can apply for a tourist visa and travel to Australia in accordance with the usual practices, with the unstated intention of looking for work and overstaying their visa - or, they can seek to avoid detection by Australia's migration and travel screening procedures, either by presenting bogus travel documents at the airport, or by entering secretly by sea. This second option frequently necessitates the involvement of organised crime, and it is this second option that I want to talk about today. Undocumented Migration to Australia There is no doubt that there are many people in Australia who are "undocumented". 4963 people have been apprehended and turned around as "undocumented arrivals" at Australian airports from July 1995 to February 1999 (H of R Hansard, 11 May 1999, pages 4166 - 4174). This about 10 times the number that were apprehended arriving by boat somewhere on our vast coastline. According to DIMA, Australia is able to quantify the numbers of overstayers in Australia at any one time. (People who arrive legally, but do not depart as required by their visas). This is because Australia's entry and exit system is highly computerised and because we have no land borders (DIMA 1999, 5). The computerised system enables authorities to calculate the number of visa overstayers and interceptions but not the number of undetected illegal entrants. Potential migrants who travel by sea endure extreme conditions on-board dangerously unseaworthy vessels, in their desperation to get to Australia. In 1992, 180 people died when a boat sank on route from Mogadishu to Yemen - unsubstantiated reports indicated that the boat was ultimately bound for Australia. (Media Release, Philip Ruddock MP, 83/99). Passengers on the 'Kayuen' lived below deck, in an area with no sanitation, ventilation or water supply (Illawara Mercury, 19 May 1999). We know less about what happens to illegal migrants who slip through the net, and make it into the Australian community and work force. DIMA has noted that: Relatively little has been written about illegal workers in Australia or their impact upon the economy, society or attitudes toward immigration rules (DIMA 1999, 2). The exception to this statement is the work of Brockett and Murray, who have studied the working conditions of overseas sex workers in Australia. According to Brockett and Murray, in 1993, 80 percent of all female migrant sex workers in Sydney were from Thailand, and 90 percent of these women were on contracts which outlined the terms and conditions of employment, the scheduled repayment of debt for recruitment and passage, and placement within an establishment (Brockett and Murray 1994, 192). Brockett and Murray note that most Thai sex workers in Sydney are from rural areas in Thailand. These women have moved first from their villages to Bangkok, and then to Australia. For these women, prostitution is one of the few options that allows them to support themselves and their families. Compared to working in Thailand, working in Australia is relatively lucrative, even taking into account the exploitative nature of the contract arrangements: "It comes down to how much money you have in your hand at the end of the night. A good night in Sydney, I make $400. A good night in Bangkok, I make $20. It's simple." (Mary, Haymarket) (Brockett and Murray 1994, 194). Brockett and Murray note that in the literature on the global sex trade, Asian women are often objectified as victims of a ruthless slave market. The authors argue that this approach is too simplistic and it ignores the rational and difficult choices that these women have made: We have heard many different perspectives from Thai women; from those who prefer sex work because they earn lots of money, favor Australian men or find life easier; to those who feel embittered, angry and oppressed. Though a few are forced into prostitution or sold to agents by parents - one woman believed she was to work in a restaurant in Bondi but found herself in a Chinatown parlour - most Thai sex workers have chosen the work as the best option available at the time (Brockett and Murray 1994, 195). Brockett and Murray note that once in Sydney, women may become entangled in debt and extortion, and may have to keep working. Occasionally, women are physically forced to keep working and have little freedom to move beyond the parlour setting on their own. Brockett and Murray also note the fear and stress that is caused by working illegally, increased by a lack of knowledge about the law: Thai workers often believe selling sex itself is illegal, when in fact offering sex in a massage establishment or working without an appropriate visa are the usual grounds of police apprehension (Brockett and Murray 1994, 197). Although Australian authorities have intercepted migrants working illegally in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, there is virtually no available information about illegal workers in these industries.
Human Rights Abuses In addition to organised crime involvement, smuggling and trafficking also raise the issue of human rights abuses. A quantitative and qualitative study of 300 illegal migrants from the People's Republic of China living in New York city made some frightening discoveries. The study found that 191 of the 300 survey subjects were locked up in a 'safe-house' upon their arrival in America, generally for about 7 days. The study found that, contrary to the perception of the authorities, that illegal migrants become indentured workers, paying off debts over a long period of time, organisers, or 'snakeheads' are in fact unwilling to enter into these sorts of arrangements. Their common practice is to demand that migrants pay the entire smuggling fee immediately upon arrival in America. Migrants who cannot deliver the money immediately are detained, harassed and subjected to violence by debt collectors, until the migrants family or friends comes up with the money. The study noted reports of migrants having their fingers chopped off, and mailed to relatives, to urge them to pay - and of female migrants being raped while their families back in China were on the phone, so that the family would be forced to come up with the money in a hurry (Chin 1997). The traffickers Many types of routes are used by those involved in trafficking. In many countries, trafficking by land is the most common method, but is not applicable in Australia. Trafficking by sea is difficult to detect, though increased surveillance is making detection more likely. The most common transportation is by air, arriving with false documents. Andreas Schloenhardt (1999) has described the spectrum of traffickers: * Amateur traffickers: This category includes people who provide a single service needed by migrants such as transport for crossing a border or locating employers in the destination country willing to engage them despite the illegal entry. Some of these small operators, especially in border areas, are only occasional traffickers. For example, they take migrants on board their vessels against payment, depart from secluded coastal areas in one country and unload the people clandestinely in the territory of another country. * Small groups of organised criminals: They specialize in leading migrants from one country to another, using well-known routes with a higher level of specialization than amateurs but in a less professional and complex manner than international networks. * International trafficking networks: They are able to respond to the whole spectrum of needs of illegal migrants, including the provision of fraudulent or genuine documents (stolen or altered) and the arrangement of accommodation and support in transit countries. One of the main characteristics of these networks is flexibility in the reaction to new, unforeseen situations, because they have members located along the trafficking routes. The routes they use are often well-tested by other transnational criminal activities such as drug trafficking. There appears to be a flexible network of organised crime involved in trafficking. Organised Crime Organised crime has been defined as: A non-ideological enterprise involving a number of persons in close social interaction, organised on a [structured] basis with [different] levels/ranks, for the purpose of securing profit and power by engaging in illegal and legal activities (Abadinsky, Organised Crime, 4th Ed., 1994, 8, cited in Schloenhardt 1999, 9). According to McFarlane, there are a substantial number of organised crime groups in Northeast Asia, all of which operate on a transnational basis. These include the Chinese triads and crime syndicates, the Japanese yakuza and related groups, Korean gangs and the Russian mafia. These groups are involved in drug trafficking, extortion, fraud, illegal immigration, kidnapping, loansharking, money laundering, prostitution, smuggling and crimes of violence (McFarlane 1999, 3). Beare notes that one of the most profitable commodities with the lowest risk is the 'trafficking' in people (Beare 1999, 272-273). While not all undocumented migration is facilitated by organised crime, Beare notes that some operations epitomise the sophisticated end of criminal operations. The characteristics of these operations include: * well-equipped forgery workshops to create the essential travel documents; * the ability to modify their operations to adapt to changing risks by using different routes, entry schemes, and conveyances; * operation centres, accommodations, and hideouts in transit countries and potential transit countries; * the economic wealth for substantial bribes and the best in technology; * the contacts and networks required to secure the assistance of corrupted officials; * diversification of criminal activities; smuggling is combined with other organised crime, illegal commodities and services; and * an ability to use violence to obtain payments or services from the undocumented migrants (Beare 1999, 273-274). It is likely that illegal migration to Australia is facilitated by organised crime. Recent interceptions of sea vessels have uncovered highly organised operations, transporting large numbers of illegal migrants who have agreed to pay tens of thousands of dollars to organisers. Police surveillance of organisers in Australia has shown that they are in regular contact with organisers in the country of origin, and that the Australian organisers have pre-arranged transport, accomodation and documentation for the migrants once in Australia (Sydney Morning Herald, 22 May 1999; Illawara Mercury 19 May 1999.) The fact that people smugglers are now taking a different route to Australia (via PNG, not through Indonesia) suggests their ability to quickly adapt to changing circumstances (Courier Mail 18 May 1999).
Immigration officials are also reporting high levels of presentation at airports of fraudulent, stolen or altered travel documents. Bangkok is the centre of document forgery and alteration but there is also a global trade in stolen or fraudulent travel documents. Types of fraudulent documents presented to immigration officials include bogus supporting documents, counterfeit stamps, forged visas, photo-substituted passports, stolen blank passports and transposed visas. Illegal immigrants may also pose as the passport holder, or claim to have no travel documentation at all, presumably having disposed of it on the in-coming plane. The objective in all cases is to obtain entry to Australia. People smuggling can generate huge profits for organisers - the failed plan to smuggle Somali's into Australia involved 2000 people paying around $3000 each - or takings of AUD $6 million (Sydney Morning Herald 24 May 1999). Similarly, the 'Kayuen' involved 69 people having paid around $40,000 each - or takings of AUD $2.76million (Sydney Morning Herald, 22 May 1999). Proceeds can then be used to finance further operations. Presumably, boats with high tech. equipment are intended to be used for more than one people smuggling venture. People smuggling is, for the most part, a relatively low risk activity when compared to drug or gun smuggling, which attract considerably higher prison terms in most developed countries. It is likely that organisers of people smuggling are involved in a diverse range of illicit activities, possibly switching between commodities, such as drugs and guns, according to market conditions. Corruption People smuggling raises the issue of official corruption. In 1997, an Australian Immigration officer was arrested and charged, following an investigation into the improper use of citizenship certificates. The officer had cancelled citizenship certificates from genuine applicants, and then sold them to an unknown number of people for sums believed to be between $30,000 to $80,000 Australian dollars for each certificate. Some 25 people have been identified as having used the documents to improperly obtain a passport, although the number is thought to be much higher (AFP News, 1997, 23). Similar instances of official corruption have been uncovered in the United States. In July 1996, a US official was arrested in Hong Kong and sentence to 40 months imprisonment for possessing forged Honduras passports (Reuters News Service, 6 April 1997). It can be seen therefore that many people are involved in the enterprise of trafficking. Schloenhardt (1999) has described them as follows: * Arranger/investor is the person who invests money in the trafficking operation and oversees the whole criminal organization and its activities. This person is rarely, if ever, known to the lower levels of employees and to the migrants being trafficked. An organizational pyramid structure insulates the arranger, who stands back and is not easily connected with the commission of specific criminal offenses. * Recruiter: is a person who works as a middleman between the arranger and the customers of the criminal enterprise. Recruiters are responsible for finding and mobilising potential migrants and collecting their payments. The recruiters that work in the country of departure are usually not informed about the precise trafficking passage. They get paid for casual jobs only and not on a permanent basis. Investigations show that in many cases the recruiters come from the same region as the migrants and frequently they are members of the same culture and well respected people within the local community. * Transporter: A transporter is the person in charge of assisting the migrants in leaving the country of origin by whatever means (land, air or sea). Transporters in the destination country bring undocumented immigrants from an airport, seaport or coast to the big cities. The transport-providers and operators have to be technically sophisticated to change their operations in reaction to law enforcement and coastal surveillance activities. Transporters usually do not get inside information on the criminal organizations and their structures. They stay in touch with the organization through intermediaries who contract them casually. * Corrupt public officials ("bribable"), protectors: The traffickers have to pay government officials to obtain travel documents for their customers. Law enforcement authorities in many transit countries have been found to accept bribes to enable migrants to enter and exit countries illegally. The corruptees individually or collectively protect the criminal organization through abuses of their position, status, privileges and other violations of the law. * Informers: For the trafficking operations it is necessary to have systems of information-gathering on border surveillance, immigration and transit procedures and regulations, asylum systems, law enforcement activities, etc. The accumulated knowledge is then used to the best advantage of the criminal organization. In some cases it was found that information-gathering resided in a core group of informers who managed the information flow and had access to well-organised and centralised communications systems through sophisticated technology. * Guides and crew members: Guides are responsible for moving illegal migrants from one transit point to the other or helping the migrants to enter another country by sea or air. Crew members are people employed by the traffickers to charter trafficking vessels and accompany migrants throughout the illegal passages. * Enforcers, often themselves illegal migrants, are primarily responsible for policing staff and migrants and for maintaining order, often involving the use of violence. * Supporting personnel and specialists: This category features mostly local people in transit points who support the organization by providing accommodation and other assistance to illegal migrants. Traffickers alllso depend on skilled individuals who provide specialized products and services to the criminal organization. These individuals are usually paid for casual duties only and do not share a continuing commitment to the group.
* Debt-collector: A person based in the destination country who is responsible for collecting the trafficking fees. * Money-mover: A person who is expert at laundering the proceeds of crime, disguising their origin through a string of transactions or investing them in legitimate businesses. The law enforcers Three main law enforcement agencies are involved in dealing with people smuggling and trafficking, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Customs Service, and the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Each deals with a different part of the system, and as such Council-operation is essential. Australia makes use of a number of strategies to minimise undocumented migration, including: * Airline liaison officers - the primary role of ALO's is to provide expert advice to airline staff on the acceptability of travel documentation, and the identification of inadmissible passengers. ALO's generally have permission to operate freely within the terminal complex, and the airline's authority to operate within their system, including on board the aircraft. There are currently ALO's attached to Qantas in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong, and attached to British Airways in Kuala Lumpur. In 1997-8, ALO's were responsible for airlines preventing 297 such persons from boarding. Between July and December 1998, 199 were prevented from boarding (DIMA document) * Coastal surveillance; Australia has a coastline of 37,000kms, which is monitored by Coastwatch, the coastal surveillance arm of Customs, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. In 1997-98, 157 persons on 13 boats were intercepted. In the program year to 30 April 1999, 364 persons on 25 boats were intercepted (DIMA document). * Intelligence gathering on immigration malpractice; DIMA has investigation units in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. In the past, these units have worked in Joint Task Forces with other organizations such as State and Federal police and the Australian Customs Service; * DIMA has specialist officers in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong SAR, Beirut, Bangkok, Jakarta, and Manila to help identify foreign nations of concern to Australia through liaison with local police and immigration officials. * Specialized training for immigration officials, to equip them to assess whether applicants have a genuine claim to enter Australia and to detect organised malpractice. Some of these specialist officers are posted long-term at Australia's overseas posts; some are stationed at overseas airports; others are based in Australia but travel to overseas posts for specific short-term investigations. * Migration Alert List ('MAL'), a data base against which all applicants for visas to Australia are checked prior to issue; * Liaison between Australian and international agencies, including the passing back to the country of origin any information collected by DIMA on organisers of unauthorised arrivals to help local authorities with possible prosecutions; * Detention and debriefing of intercepted undocumented migrants; * Prompt return of those who do not have genuine claim to enter Australia. The reforms Legislation is in place which would allow Australian authorities to prosecute persons found responsible for smuggling or trafficking of persons. Under the Migration Act 1958, the maximum penalty for facilitating immigration fraud is two years imprisonment, and many related offenses simply attract a fine of $10,000. The two-year jail term is considerably lower than that which is imposed on convicted drug traffickers, making human smuggling or trafficking a relatively safe target for criminal entrepreneurs. Similarly, a $10,000 fine is little deterrent to an organiser who stands to make hundreds of thousands of dollars out of a boatload of paying customers. DIMA is presently considering the introduction of higher penalties for immigration offenses. Australia has arrangements with various countries, facilitating the immediate 'turn-around' of undocumented migrants who are intercepted. It is said that this practice sends a clear message to other potential migrants that their journey will be fruitless. Turning people around has a downside, if the pursuit of justice within Australia is seen as a priority, in that people who might otherwise be called upon as witnesses in criminal matters are repatriated. Trade-offs must always be made. The Australian government is considering the issue of arrangements for undocumented migrants who are prepared to testify against organisers. Child Sex Tourism Although not immediately connected, Australia's response to child sex tourism demonstrates Australia's contribution to one particular global problem, and given the global nature of trafficking, indicates that law enforcement and legal co-operation can be achieved. Australia has legislation that criminalises activities associated with child-sex tourism, for example, sexual intercourse or other sexual conduct with a child under the age of 16, while outside Australia - or the facilitation of such conduct, for example, by assisting a person to travel outside Australia in order to commit such an offence (Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)). The maximum penalty is 17 years imprisonment. The legislation makes provision for the use of video-link evidence, in certain circumstances, where the witness is located overseas.
There have been four successful prosecutions as a result of the Child Sex Tourism offenses. In the first prosecution under these offenses, the defendant was charged and convicted of several offenses involving sexual activity with children. The crime committed overseas involved the defendant having taken a sexually explicit video of a naked girl, estimated to be around five years old, while the defendant was holidaying in the Philippines. His Honour, Judge Saunders noted the comments of the Minister for Justice in the second reading speech of the Bill: The principal aim of this legislation is to provide a real and forceful deterrent to the sexual abuse of children outside Australia by Australian citizens and residents. It is unfortunate that a minority of Australian citizens and residents are now known internationally as major offenders in several Asian countries. They exploit the vulnerability of children in foreign countries where laws against child sexual abuse may not be as strict or as consistently enforced as in Australia (transcript p7). The defendant was sentenced to a cumulative sentence of seven years, which involved a two year term for the offence committed while overseas (Regina v Anthony Richard Carr unreported judgement of His Honour Judge Saunders, in the District Court of New South Wales, Criminal Jurisdiction, 26 April 1996). There have been several unsuccessful prosecutions using the Child Sex Tourism offenses. These include a matter in the ACT that never proceeded to prosecution due to problems in obtaining reliable evidence from child witnesses. This matter highlighted some of the practical limitations of obtaining prosecutions under the legislation. These included: * the difficulties of obtaining evidence from overseas, including the cost and the difficulties in locating witnesses and interviewing them in a manner that is acceptable to an Australian court, and the limitations of video link evidence; * the difficulties in interviewing witnesses of different cultural and language backgrounds, including the need for interviewers to possess a sufficient level of cultural understanding to develop a relationship of trust with the victim, and for translators to meet the standards required by an Australian court, that is, proficiency in both English and the appropriate language and awareness of possible cross-cultural misunderstandings; * the difficulties of dealing with child witnesses; the prosecution must establish the age of the child and ensure that the child is protected from intimidation and violence in the extended period between the committal and the trial; * the difficulties with obtaining evidence from victims of sexual offenses. Proposed Reforms The Australian government is presently considering the introduction of legislation regarding "slavery" and "sexual servitude". Slavery is presently an offence in Australia but only as a result of laws that have survived from the time of British colonisation. In the current legislative proposals, "slavery" is defined as: the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised, including any such powers arising from a debt or contract. The proposed penalty for possessing a slave or engaging in the slave trade is 20 years imprisonment. "Sexual servitude" is defined as: the condition of a person who is engaged to provide sexual services and who, because of the use of force or threats, is not free to cease providing sexual services, to decline to provide sexual services to a particular person(s), or to leave the place or area where the person provides sexual services. The aim of the offenses relating to sexual servitude is to target those who recruit persons to engage in prostitution in servile conditions in Australia. The proposed legislation would apply to Australians committing all or part of the offence overseas. The penalty for offenses relating to sexual servitude is 7 years imprisonment. The Federal Government is also considering the issue of penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers, and the introduction of security bonds for visitors and temporary entrants (DIMA 1999, 10). Draft legislation is yet to be introduced to the Australian Parliament on these issues. International Cooperation Australia is an active participant in a number of international fora that consider the issues of smuggling and trafficking in persons. The Australian Minister for Immigration attended the International Symposium on Migration in Bangkok in April 1999. The Symposium adopted the Bangkok Declaration on Irregular Migration. This document addresses the question of international migration, with particular attention to regional cooperation on irregular/undocumented migration. The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) is currently taking part in the Global Program Against Trafficking in Human Beings, launched by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention in March 1999. The Program consists of policy-oriented research and targeted technical cooperation, in relation to smuggling and trafficking in human beings. The AIC research will concentrate on the Asia-Pacific Region, with a particular focus on the Philippines. In relation to the Philippines, the UN mission team, of which the AIC is part, has been tasked to: * Assess the current smuggling/trafficking situation; * Assess the institutional capacity to respond to these crimes; * Provide legal advisory services and technical cooperation activities conducive to combat trafficking in human beings; * Develop a national strategy and elements of a sub-regional strategy, for future adoption by the government, and possibly ASEAN.
This is an important project in that little empirical work has been done in this field. There is no shortage of anecdotal reporting, but a solid social science research project will add substantially to our knowledge. Results of this work will be reported further, and will contribute to the UN's global work on combating transnational organised crime and trafficking of human beings. 1. The Golden Venture ran aground on a sandbar about 150 yards offshore Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York, 1993 - passengers were commanded to jump into the 53 degrees Fahrenheit water and swim - at least 8 drowned: see further, Smith 1997, 1. Appendix One: Relevant International Documents Less than Treaty Status * Bangkok Declaration on Irregular Migration: In April 1999, at the International Symposium on Migration held in Bangkok, Thailand, representatives of the following countries agreed to the Bangkok Declaration on Irregular Migration: Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lad DPR, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This document addresses the question of international migration, with particular attention to regional attention to regional cooperation on irregular/undocumented migration. Treaty Status * Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of Prostitution of Others: the Philippines has signed this Convention, Australia has neither signed nor ratified this Convention, on the basis that it is inconsistent with certain domestic laws. * Slavery Convention: Australia has ratified this Convention, the Philippines has neither signed nor ratified this Convention. * Forced Labor Convention (ILO no. 29) * Abolition of Forced Labor Convention (ILO no. 105) * Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): both Australia and the Philippines have signed and ratified this Convention. * Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): both Australia and the Philippines have signed and ratified this Convention. * International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR): both Australia and the Philippines have signed and ratified this Convention. * International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR): both Australia and the Philippines have signed and ratified this Convention. Treaties not yet entered into force * International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families: this Convention has been signed by 6 countries, including the Philippines, and ratified by 11. Australia has neither signed nor ratified this Convention. This Convention requires 20 ratification's before entering into force.
Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in the the Americas Human Trafficking in the US She was walking by the Freedom Monument -- a popular meeting spot in Riga, Latvia, and a symbol of the nation's independence -- when Alex Mishulovich introduced himself and made an intriguing offer. Come to America. And dance. He was looking for dancers at his clubs in Chicago -- his high-end respectable clubs where clothes stayed on. There would be nothing vulgar about it. And she'd make $60,000 -- a fortune to a girl from a small Baltic country that had shed the bonds of communism not long before. The girl -- whom the Chicago Sun-Times isn't naming and, for her safety, is identifying only as Z -- was 18, and had just graduated from high school. She'd studied ballroom dancing, but was uncertain what to do with her life. To Z, Mishulovich's offer was exhilarating. It was also a lie -- something she discovered shortly after landing at O'Hare Airport. Put up in a cramped apartment with other Latvian women, she was watched constantly, beaten and threatened with being sold as a prostitute. Her passport was taken away. And the dancing? Really it was stripping. For maybe $20 a night. She was a virtual slave -- a sex slave, a victim of "human trafficking." That was nearly a decade ago. Today she's miles away, rebuilding after having helped prosecute her captors. "We were all so . . . trusting," she said. HUMAN TRAFFICKING: BY THE NUMBERS $250,000: The amount of profit that can be made from one woman 600,000-800,000: The number of people trafficked each year, according to the State Department 14,500-17,500: The number of people who are trafficked into the United States each year. 321%: The increase in investigations by the Justice Department between 2001 and 2004. 375%: The increase in Justice Department prosecutions (2001-2004) 200%: The increase in Justice Department convictions (59 to 118) between 2001-2004 Widespread problem There's a global pipeline with a precious commodity. Not oil -- people. Hundreds of thousands of them, sold for somebody else's profit. What it is, really, is slavery. Men, women and children forced or tricked into hard labor or the sex trades. This concept, this crime, has been around forever. A growing problem in some parts of the world, there's an increasing focus on combatting it, abroad and locally. The Chicago Police Department's vice unit -- which recently arrested a Thai woman working here as a prostitute and wiring money back to her trafficker -- soon will have two people dedicated to investigating trafficking. They'll be scouring the Internet, periodicals and the streets, Police Cmdr. David Sobczyk said. The unit also will be coordinating with social service agencies to help victims -- something a new statewide coalition also is focusing on, along with recent Illinois legislation. In 2000, federal legislation further criminalized trafficking, creating new penalties, funding for victims and a new immigrant status -- T-Visas -- that allow victims a chance to live here permanently. Since then, the United States has dedicated at least $295 million to address the problem in 86 countries, according to the U.S. State Department. But between 2001 and 2004, the number of U.S. Justice Department investigations jumped from 106 to 340, prosecutions of people traffickers rose from 16 to 60 and convictions doubled from 59 to 118. Trafficking can be lucrative for people like Mishulovich -- although he's paying the price now, having been convicted with most of his cohorts -- and it's often linked to organized crime rings. Profits from a single woman can average $250,000, according to some estimates. Now, Congress is considering new legislation that would provide money and more services for people who are bought and sold for profit in the United States -- in most cases, teens and even younger children who are forced into prostitution. Estimates on the number of trafficking victims in the Chicago area are not available, although Sobczyk hopes his team will be able to get a handle on the scope of the problem. The State Department estimates that between 600,000 and 800,000 people are pumped through this underground pipeline each year around the globe. Between 14,500 and 17,500 make their way into the United States. Most find themselves in some form of servitude. They arrive from Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, from countries such as Latvia. 'So naive' On a recent afternoon, nearly a decade removed from her ordeal, Z sat in her air-conditioned condo, just purchased with a relative who lives with her where soft sandy beaches stretch on and on. When a reporter visited, Z was negotiating with the cable guy over how many channels she needed, musing at the endless choices and why anyone would need hundreds of offerings. On her counter sat small shopping bags from Godiva chocolate and Chanel. She's relaxed, her model-like tanned figure fitting perfectly in light cargo pants and tank top; feet clad in gold-sequined flipflops. Her eyes are light blue and her hair blond and board-straight. She's striking and comfortable, yet reserved. She weighs each detail of her story before she shares it in accented but strong English.
She is one of 454 people in the United States to be granted a T-Visa, which means she can legally work here and possibly stay permanently. On this day, she is relaxing after spending a week studying for her real estate license, perched on a staircase in an open, bright, unfurnished apartment. Large colorful art prints lean on walls, waiting to be hung. It's miles from Latvia, a former Soviet state where the government issued school uniforms -- "ugly blue, dark dark dark blue" -- and controlled everything, from the economy to the curriculum. The daughter of two professionals, Z grew up in a nice neighborhood and had a good, happy childhood, she said. Life changed drastically in 1990 when Latvia declared independence and then fought the Soviets off one last time a year later during a coup attempt. Like many in Latvia, which has been occupied much of the 20th century, she and her family celebrated freedom and a chance for new opportunities. But early on, good opportunities were hard to come by, and that's partly what made Mishulovich's offer so enticing. THE MISHULOVICH GANG Alex Mishulovich and his accomplices trafficked women from Latvia to dance at Chicago area strip clubs. Mishulovich, 44, was sentenced to nine years in prison on an involuntary servitude conviction. He is scheduled to be released in fall 2006. He exerted control over the women by beating them and bragging about supposed connections to the Chechen mafia. Vadim Gorr: He drove the women to their jobs and held them against their will. Dace Mediniece: Came to Chicago on false documents. Sergei Tcharouchine: He remains at large and allegedly planned the ring with Mishulovich. Rudite Pede: Mishulovich's wife, she helped recruit the women from Latvia. In her mind, she'd be dancing in a revue or musical -- although in a bikini -- and would be making $60,000 a year. Mishulovich would get a cut of the money, and she'd have to pay him an initial debt -- between $10,000 and $20,000 -- for bringing her here and setting her up. One day, though, she'd be living on her own and making good money to live a good life in the United States. "We were just like so naive you can't even imagine," she said, shaking her head slowly. A gun to the head Mishulovich and the others had no intention of ever letting the debt get paid down, authorities said. On a good night, Z would earn $500. And just about all of it went to the crew, who also checked her belongings at the end of the night, looking for hidden cash. "It's not easy -- when I have to think about it, when I go back into what happened, it makes me feel really bad," she said. "I am just trying to move on. The good things are happening. I'm more grown up now." Her captivity would last just under a year and be filled with anxious moments, but also some sad and just plain strange moments, Z recalls, talking in a hushed tone, as if to be sure no neighbors can hear her. She and four other Latvian women in similar straits worked at Chicago area clubs, including the Admiral, Heavenly Bodies, Thee Dollhouse, Skybox and Crazy Horse 2. She danced topless at several of them. "We were just trapped inside the house. Just waiting. What is going to be the next thing?" Z said. When she arrived in Chicago in October 1996, her captors initially showed some kindness. But it was a month before they were allowed out of the Mount Prospect apartment where they were held, and then it was only for a drive to see the sights of downtown Chicago. After that, they were rarely allowed out, and the phone was removed when they were left alone. If they needed to buy something -- even shampoo -- a list was made and Mishulovich's crew would go shopping. The girls were given movies to watch -- "Showgirls" and "Striptease" -- to learn how to dance exotically. They drank to cope with the situation. They got depressed. And they danced. Many nights Mishulovich watched and critiqued. The threat of physical violence was constant. And at times, the men threatened to sell the women for sex. The first beating that Z recalls came after Mishulovich first told the girls they'd be stripping, and one complained. Mishulovich continually harassed the girls for sex or walked into the bathroom while they were showering, Z said. At other times, he threatened them with a gun, holding it against their temples. For a time, they were forced to live with his mother, who, depending on her mood, either cooked for them or called them whores, Z said. The worst beating came several months after they arrived, when Z and another girl tried to escape. They agreed to meet a man they had befriended at a club and planned to ask him for help. She recalls going to a McDonald's or Wendy's -- she can't remember for sure -- and being dragged out and beaten on her head and in the stomach by Mishulovich and another man with him. "I got the most," Z said. "They used their hands. They used their legs. I was on the floor." The racket unravels At a Loop diner, FBI Special Agent Michael Brown spreads the glossy pictures out across the table. There's Mishulovich, in bookish glasses with a bald head and stubbly beard. There's Vadim Gorr, a young- and innocent-looking tough, who, according to the feds, drove the women to their jobs and held them against their will. There's a stern Rudite Pede, with close-cropped bleached blond hair. She's Mishulovich's wife and helped recruit some of the women in Latvia, assuring them the way only a woman could that they'd be safe and the work was respectable, federal officials said. Her friend and look-alike is Dace Mediniece, who came to Chicago on false documents, officials said.
There's Sergei Tcharouchine, 42, with longish blond hair and good looks, peering out from a wanted poster. He remains at large. He allegedly organized the ring with Mishulovich. All ended up charged by the feds with playing roles in an illegal human trafficking operation, an investigation Brown was central in. Except for Tcharouchine, all have been convicted of, at the least, visa fraud. Mishulovich, 44, was sentenced to about nine years in prison. He's jailed on his involuntary servitude conviction at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in the Loop and is slated for release in fall 2006. Through a prison official, Mishulovich declined to comment. Mediniece, 26, Pede, 28, and Gorr, 35, have all been released on parole. Brown said Mishulovich exerted control over the women by demeaning them, telling them they'd committed a crime coming into the country, that his U.S. citizenship gave him more credibility with police. Born in Russia, he's a naturalized American citizen whose family fled the Soviet Union in 1981 because they faced persecution over their Jewish faith, court documents say. At one point Mishulovich took a locket from one of the captive girls that contained a picture of her mother and said he'd send it home to the Russian mafia if she didn't cooperate, Brown said. Mishulovich would boast he was in the Chechen mob and could have their families killed back in Latvia. Brown spent about six months unraveling the group's scheme -- beginning in March 1998 -- because of an astute State Department worker in Riga who was suspicious of Mishulovich and fired off two notes about him to federal authorities. Before agents got Mishulovich and the others, they had released the women, in part because they knew federal agents were onto them, and because they were arguing with each other. Z was simply rounded up one day in July 1997 by her captors and dropped off at O'Hare with her passport and a ticket to Riga. She thinks she had about $40 in her pocket. And she thinks she took a taxi home from the airport in Riga. Despite her relief at being free, she didn't hesitate to return to the United States within the year. She wanted to start a new life. Later, she connected with the feds and cooperated with them against Mishulovich's crew. Brown, who spent days and nights putting the complicated picture together, muses that the tale is practically movie-quality. Five women lured here, abused and forced into the sex trade. The infighting among the captors. The attempted escape. But there doesn't seem to be a smooth ending to any of this, he said. "When I look back at this now, the thing that sticks with me the most is the long-lasting effects on the victims," Brown said recently, over lunch near the Dirksen Federal Building, where the case was prosecuted. "These ladies, they were just young. Students. They were scared to death." Stripper: 'This is what I am' Z's own emotional recovery continues. Walking into large rooms causes her to panic sometimes because she feels everyone is looking at her, judging her. Trusting men has been a challenge, although she is in a relationship now. She has a recurring vision of walking onto a plane and bumping into one of her captors. And she has grown incensed by messages in the mass media -- beer commercials for example -- that suggest women are objects. Some days she thinks she will volunteer for a women's rights organization. Brown occasionally hears from the women. They've scattered. Some went back to Latvia, some are still here. One had a child. One shocked Brown when he asked her what she was doing with her life. Stripping, she said. "I've come to the conclusion," she told him, "that this is what I am." Starting over Z grew up about 10 minutes from the Baltic Sea, where a large forest opens to sand dunes and slopes down to the beach. "The beaches are Nordic, the water is cold," she said. "It's completely different colors. It's beautiful in a different way. It's more gray. The sand is not as white. It's kind of wild, but it's nice." Today she is just as close to a beach that is more tropical. She's happy here now, rebuilding her life, with a new condo, a good job prospect and family and friends around her. "I knew without those people I could make something good," she said. "I just saw things. I saw the life. I know it is possible if you are not trapped like that."
Human trafficking more than sex slave trade Stubborn problem: More than 600,000 victims a year LOS ANGELES Florencia Molina's personal hellhole was a dressmaking shop on the outskirts of Los Angeles. She worked there up to 17 hours a day, seven days a week, and lived there, too, without the option of showering or washing her clothes. Other victims of American-style human trafficking have had very different venues for ordeals as bad or worse brothels and bars in New Jersey, slave-labor farms in Florida, a small-town tree-cutting business owned by a New Hampshire couple. Trafficking is a stubborn problem and a staggering one worldwide, affecting an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 victims a year. Federal officials say 14,500 to 17,500 of them are trafficked to the United States, where the myriad forms of modern-day slavery present an elusive target for those trying to eradicate it. Victims have come from at least 50 countries in almost every part of the world, and are trafficked to virtually every state to clandestine factories, restaurants, massage parlors, even private homes where women and girls are kept in servitude. "Human trafficking is so hidden you don't know who you're fighting the victims are so scared, they're not going to tell you what's happening to them," said Given Kachepa, a former victim of a scam which exploited Zambian orphans touring the United States in a boys' choir. Aligned against the traffickers is an array of federal, state and local government agencies, teamed up with an odd coalition of private groups that include Christian conservatives and left-of-center immigrant-rights advocates. The result is perhaps the most far-reaching anti-trafficking campaign of any nation, yet some victim-support groups question its effectiveness. They contend that federal criteria offering assistance to victims only if they help prosecute their traffickers deters some people from seeking help. Others say the government has placed too much emphasis on sex trafficking and too little on workplace abuses at sweatshops and farms. "We see sex cases being prioritized (by federal prosecutors), but other cases we're having a hard time getting looked at," said Elissa Steglich, an attorney for the Chicago-based Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center. "Whatever type of slavery you're dealing with, they're horrors all the same." Government helped Molina was the beneficiary of one case in which the anti-trafficking campaign worked as intended. Her helpers as she escaped from the dress shop, learned English and gained legal U.S. residence included the FBI and the Los Angeles-based Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, which provides victims with shelter, legal aid and other services. Now a cashier at a discount store, Molina was enticed to California by a woman back home in Mexico's Puebla state who promised a job and free housing. "I came to the United States with lots of dreams, but when I got here, my dreams were stolen," said Molina, 33, who left three children behind in Mexico. On Jan. 1, 2002, she worked her first shift at the dressmaker's, sewing roughly 200 party dresses over 12 hours. Later, the shifts stretched to 17 hours. Molina was locked into the shop at night sleeping in a small storage room. The shop manager confiscated her identify documents. "For me, it was completely dark, without money, without English, no papers," Molina said. "The owner told me, 'You can try to do whatever you want. Dogs in this country have more rights than you.'" After 40 days, Molina summoned up the nerve to flee, and soon encountered FBI agents who were investigating the dress shop. They sought her cooperation in prosecuting the owner, and Molina after difficult deliberations agreed to help. "The owner had always told me I would pay the consequences or my family in Mexico would suffer if I went to the authorities," she said. "But I thought to myself, 'I don't want one more person to be in the situation I was in.'"' By cooperating, Molina received a T-visa, a status created by Congress in 2000 that allows trafficking victims who assist prosecutors to stay in the United States for three years and then apply for permanent residence. Molina's three children have received permission to join her in California.
T-visa rules Though Congress authorized up to 5,000 T-visas annually, less than 700 had been issued overall as of September. Some victim-support experts say the modest numbers result from overly strict criteria, notably the requirement that victims assist prosecutors. "It can be a very difficult decision to come forward when a victim has every reason to believe a trafficker can make good on a threat against family members," said Steglich, the Chicago attorney. Federal officials defend the rules as necessary to separate fraudulent claims from genuine ones and to put traffickers out of business. "These traffickers are extraordinarily evil," said Bradley Schlozman, the acting assistant attorney general for civil rights. "If a victim doesn't come forward, that trafficker is going to turn around and exploit other individuals." Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families with the Department of Health and Human Services, said reaching victims is a key goal of a new federal program. Regional task forces have been formed; a national hot line is being advertised in ethic newspapers. "The problem is the traffickers are very good at controlling their victims," Horn said. "Getting the message directly to the victims is difficult." Some people are abducted by criminals and brought to the United States, but many come willingly, swayed by promises of good jobs or marriage that prove false. Maria Suarez went from Mexico to Los Angeles legally in 1976, a 16-year-old with sixth-grade education and no English. She was offered a housecleaning job at the home of a 68-year-old man who instead converted her into a virtual slave threatening her if she told any one of the rapes and beatings that ensued. In 1981, the man was killed by a neighbor; Suarez agreed to hide the weapon, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. Officials later confirmed Suarez's claim of being battered; she was paroled in 2003 and certified as a trafficking victim eligible for a T-visa. Now 45, Suarez attends Pasadena City College, hoping to gain U.S. citizenship and become a social worker. She urges authorities to be understanding of sex-trafficking victims. "It was a disgrace," she said. "How was I going to confront my family and tell them what was happening to me?" Prior to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, no comprehensive federal law existed to prosecute traffickers. Since 2001, the Justice Department says it has prosecuted 277 traffickers and obtained convictions in every case. Schlozman said the department is intent on combatting all types of trafficking, but estimated that 75 percent of the prosecutions involved sex trafficking. Some victims' advocates say the government stresses sex cases because they generate more news coverage or because they are a priority of conservative Christian groups loyal to the Bush administration. "Christian evangelicals see this as an important mission rescuing women from sex trafficking," said New York University law professor Michael Wishnie. "There's a risk of distracting attention from much more common situations (in sweatshops) that many more people find themselves in." Many are under 18 Among the groups campaigning against slave labor is the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers. One of its leaders, Laura Germino, said the government could undermine trafficking by cracking down on all types of abusive workplace practices. "You can't view trafficking in a vacuum," Germino said. "If you bring an end to sweatshops, you would curb trafficking." An estimated 40 percent of trafficking victims are under 18; Given Kachepa was among them. As an 11-year-old orphan in Zambia, he was recruited into a boys choir that toured the United States for 18 months. Promises of education and money proved false, and the boys constantly threatened by their handlers endured an arduous concert schedule until authorities finally intervened. Kachepa was taken in by a Texas couple who became his guardians. Now 19, he obtained a T-visa and entered college in August. "The most important thing is constant educating of people," he said. "There's help out there but victims don't know it."
Shock over US child sex trade The problem of sexual abuse of children in the United States is much worse than previously thought, according to a new report. Main findings Up to 400,000 children suffer sexual abuse Runaways and homeless teens are most at risk 95% of commercial sex involving boys is with men 25% of girls in gangs have sex with other members Less than 4% of child sex abuse involves strangers A study from the University of Pennsylvania, shows as many as 400,000 youngsters are being sexually exploited, from working as prostitutes on the streets to selling sex at school for cash. The findings reveal as many boys as girls suffer from sexual exploitation, while most of the offenders are known to their victims. The three-year investigation, which was commissioned by the US Government, calls for urgent measures to be taken to tackle the issue. 'Survival sex' Researchers visited 17 US cities and interviewed local law enforcements agencies, child welfare groups and hundreds of children to gather information. The study's author, Richard Estes, a professor of social work, said he was stunned by the results. "That figure just blew our minds. We never at the beginning of the study thought we would encounter so many children in this predicament," he told Reuters news agency. Mr Estes' team found that children who had run away from home formed the largest affected group, using "survival sex" to obtain food, clothing and shelter. "Street children are exposed to violence, drug abuse, rape and, sometimes, even murder at the hands of the pimps, 'customers' and traffickers that make up their world," the report's author told Reuters. Professor Estes says contrary to popular belief, strangers account for less than 4% of sexual assaults against minors. Undercover detective His report shows many offenders are adults known to children, and even include members of victims' own families. "It is ironic that running away from home increases their risk of physical violence and sexual abuse," Mr Estes told the news agency. Although a large number of victims were boys, their complaints were often not taken as seriously as those from girls because of a feeling boys should be able to protect themselves better, the report says. One area where attention has been focused is the internet, where sexual predators use chat rooms to lure unsuspecting children. Sex sites Special units have been set up to try to catch predators on the internet A recent survey showed nearly a fifth of American children between the ages of 10 and 17 reported unwanted approaches from strangers online. As part of the measures being taken to crack down on child abuse, 30 specialist units dedicated to tracking down culprits on the internet have been set up across the country, where undercover detectives search internet chat rooms for offenders. "It's extremely graphic, most of it's sexual. What we see is anything from infants all the way up and that comes across constantly, things that just shock the conscience and the mind," one detective told the BBC.
Slavery Still Alive I realized that slavery was still alive, said John Miller, Director of the U.S. State Depart-ments Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. He was telling World magazine about the arrest of men who trafficked in sex slaves. Im reading about how they lured these girls from Asian nations, promised them restaurant jobs, modeling jobs, seized their passports, beat them, raped them, moved them from brothel to brothel, he said. This was not happening in some distant Third World nation, however. There it was in civil Seattle, Miller said. It is a crime and a sin that is almost too horrible to think about, but for the thousands of children and women trapped in the international sex slave trade, it is a nightmare with which they must live every day. Most people, however, would be stunned to know that the United States may be becoming a major importer of unwilling participants in this ghastly enterprise. By the thousands This industry is technically called trafficking: knowingly obtaining by any means often by force, fraud, or coercion any person for involuntary servitude or forced labor, according to Thomas M. Steinfatt, professor of communication at the University of Miami, who studies the subject. It operates just like any other export-import business. According to Donna M. Hughes, professor of womens studies at the University of Rhode Island and an expert on the sexual exploitation of women, girls and women are procured in one nation, conveyed through transit countries, and finally arrive in the nation of destination. There, men use them in legalized or widely tolerated sex businesses, and men physically travel around the world to buy women and children in prostitution, as a form of tourism, said Hughes. Through recently developed global communications technology, these forms of sexual exploitation are now carried out through phone lines and satellite transmission, namely the Internet. To call what happens to these women slavery is not hyperbole. Hughes said, The methods used in trafficking for sexual exploitation comprise a modern slave trade. The perpetrators range from loosely connected procurers and pimps to transnational organized crime networks. Its big business. Hughes said estimates of the money that pours in through the sex industry prostitution, the sale of women and children through sex trafficking, the sale of child pornography, etc. are between $7 billion and $57 billion a year. That indicates that a lot of flesh is being peddled, although exact figures are difficult to come by. Hughes said a United Nations estimate puts the number of women and children who are sexually exploited by the sex trade industry each year at one million, while child-advocacy groups, according to a story in USA Today, estimate that there are currently two million children worldwide that are working as sex slaves. Locked in cages While the exact numbers may be difficult to ascertain, there are admittedly thousands of women and girls who are deceived or simply sold into forcible sexual slavery. In his heart-breaking account of the international sex trade, journalist Peter Landesman wrote in The New York Times Magazine, Some of them have been baited by promises of legitimate jobs and a better life in America; many have been abducted; others have been bought from or abandoned by their impoverished families. Hughes told Voice of America, Usually what happens is the woman is searching for a job and she is told that she can go abroad and make a lot of money but the problem is that when she arrives in that particular country she is told no, in fact youre not going to be a waitress, a nanny, you know, whatever job, a dancer maybe, that we told you. Youre going to be in prostitution and you dont have a choice. Those holding the women in slavery tell the victims they must remain and work as prostitutes until they pay off the transportation cost to the new country. Hughes said theyre often told, Well beat you up if you dont do what we want and you owe us $30,000. Sometimes, Hughes said, the men do release the women after the debt has been paid. Other times, if the women cant earn as much for the pimp as he likes, he sells her again. Ive interviewed women who have been sold four or five times. Of course, the problem with this is that their debt starts all over again. The coercion process is often a brutal one. Bharti Tapas, a girl interviewed by ABC News Downtown in 2001 for a special on the sex trade in India, was 14 when she was sold into slavery by her own parents, and then forced into prostitution. When I arrived at the brothel, I refused to do what they told me to and they beat me and starved me for 10 days, Tapas said. I thought I would rather kill myself than be forced to work as a prostitute. She relented, according to the story, and joined thousands of other girls who are beaten, locked in tiny cages or hidden in attics. Some are forced to have sex with as many as 20 men a day under the watchful eyes of madams and pimps. Psychiatrist Wendy Freed authored a report for Physicians for Human Rights. Her report on the psychological aspects of women trapped in sexual slavery in Cambodia presented this frightening pattern faced by thousands of girls and women: The young women have been in captivity for a period of weeks to months or years. Initially there is shock and disbelief. Many young women describe not being able to believe that they had been sold. Once they realize that in fact they are sold, they fight the brothel owners demand that they accept customers. Refusal leads to beatings, being locked in a room, and going without food. This persists until the young woman gives up and realizes that indeed they are trapped and have no options. At some point in this process, the young woman becomes submissive in order to avoid further beatings and torment; her spirit is broken. She surrenders, becomes resigned and accomodates to the circumstances of captivity.
Hughes calls these brothels sexual gulags, and cites the reports of international aid workers that describe men buying oral sex from girls as young as five years old, and intercourse with girls as young as 10 or 11. Porn part of the problem Certainly poverty plays a critical role in motivating poor girls and women to seek employment in far away places, as well as generating a market for the sale of women to brothels. But what is driving the increase in demand for illicit sex? In an article in the Journal of Sexual Aggression, Hughes said, In the last three decades, prostitution and pornography have become increasingly tolerated, normalized and legitimized, resulting in expansion of sex industries all over the world. This tolerance, she said, has increased mens demand for women and girls to be used as sexual entertainment or acts of violence. The demand is met by increased recruitment of women and girls into the sex industry, usually by violence, deception or exploitation of those made vulnerable by poverty, unemployment and prior victimization. The Internet has made pornography ubiquitous, and Hughes said this new forum has provided pornographers access to a global audience with almost no restrictions or regulations. It provided men, who are usually secretive about their exploitation of women and children, with easy, private access to unlimited amounts of pornography. The country that comes in for the lions share of the blame is the United States. Hughes said, The U.S. is the country mainly responsible for the industrialization of pornography and prostitution, either in the U.S. or in prostitution centers created by the demand from U.S. military personnel. The U.S. is also the home of the Internet pornography industry. For example, Hughes said that, according to one study, 70% of the customers for live sex shows on the Internet are in the U.S. American taste for trafficked girls Virtual sex is not the only decadent delicacy for some Americans; the simple fact is that thousands of trafficked women and girls are ferried into the U.S. for the purpose of illicit sexual encounters. In an article for The Weekly Standard, Hughes wrote about the extent of the sex trafficking industry that shuttles girls through Mexico to brothels outside San Diego, California. Over a 10-year period, hundreds of girls, 12 to 18 years old, were brought into the U.S. by Mexican nationals. The girls were sold to farm workers between 100 and 300 at a time in small caves made of reeds in the fields. Many of the girls had babies, who were used as hostages with death threats against them, so their mothers would not try to escape, Hughes said. An American doctor who was volunteering to provide health care to migrant workers in the area told Hughes that younger and younger girls were brought over the border some nine and 10 years old who might be used by as many as 35 men in one hour. The first time I went to the camps I didnt vomit only because I had nothing in my stomach, the doctor told her. It was truly grotesque and unimaginable. When she wanted to complain to government authorities about the abuse, the doctor was instructed by her supervisor to concern herself only with trying to prevent the girls from contracting sexually transmitted diseases by providing condoms. I fought a lot with the U.S. government and they told me that I shouldnt do anything, that I had signed a federal agreement of confidentiality, the doctor said. From San Diego to New York City, girls and women are being abused in the middle of normal neighborhoods, hiding in plain sight, according to Hughes. It is a staggering vice, and Landesman said the U.S. has become a major importer of sex slaves. Last year the C.I.A. estimated that between 18,000 and 20,000 people are trafficked annually into the United States. Of these, an estimated 10,000 are victims of the sex slave industry. Those numbers add up. According to Kevin Bales, author of the book, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, and president of Free the Slaves, Americas largest anti-slavery organization, there are 30,000 to 50,000 sex slaves residing against their will in the U.S. at any given time.
Cracking down Some have suggested that legalizing prostitution would put an end to such a depraved industry, but the opposite may very well be true. Hughes said, What happens when you have a large demand for women in prostitution is that you dont have enough local women who are able to fill up all these slots that are needed, so the pimps have to start looking abroad. She added that evidence from the Netherlands, Germany and Australia where prostitution is legal indicates that such a policy has resulted in increased trafficking of women to meet the increased demand for women in prostitution and an accompanying increase in organized crime. While prostitution is still illegal in the U.S., many municipalities have minimal penalties for prostitution, reflecting the belief that it really isnt that big a deal. Pimping must be made a felony, Hughes told the AFA Journal in an interview, and the government needs to enforce the laws against trafficking that are already on the books in this country. There are lots of local and state laws against it, but often prostitution is considered a victimless crime or nuisance crime. Under the Bush administration, the federal government has begun to make the prosecution of trafficking a priority. Last September, in an address to the United Nations, President George Bush called the sex slave trade a humanitarian crisis. Theres a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable, said President Bush. Those who create these victims and profit from their suffering must be severely punished . [G]overnments that tolerate this trade are tolerating a form of slavery. Since it began targeting sex traffickers three years ago, the U.S. Department of Justice has convicted 111 traffickers 79 of whom were involved in trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. That may only be a drop in the bucket considering the ocean of victims who are suffering, but for the women who are rescued from prostitution, it is an escape from a darkness few of us could ever imagine.
Sexual Slavery in US Prisons Adam Liptak, Ex-Inmate's Suit Offers View Into Sexual Slavery in Prisons. AUSTIN, Tex., Oct. 12 - The inmates at the Allred Unit, a tough Texas prison, mostly go by names like Monster, Diablo and Animal. They gave Roderick Johnson, a black gay man with a gentle manner, a different sort of name when he arrived there in September 2000. They called him Coco. Under the protocols of the prison gangs at Allred, gay prisoners must take women's names. Then they are assigned to one of the gangs. "The Crips already had a homosexual that was with them," Mr. Johnson explained. "The Gangster Disciples, from what I understand, hadn't had a homosexual under them in a while. So that's why I was automatically, like, given to them." According to court papers and his own detailed account, the Gangster Disciples and then other gangs treated Mr. Johnson as a sex slave. They bought and sold him, and they rented him out. Some sex acts cost $5, others $10. Last month, a federal appeals court allowed a civil rights lawsuit that Mr. Johnson has filed against prison officials to go to trial. The ruling, the first to acknowledge the equal protection rights of homosexuals abused in prison, said the evidence in the case was "horrific." "I was forced into oral sex and anal sex on a daily basis," said Mr. Johnson, who has been living in a boarding house here since his release in December. "Not for a month or two. For, like, 18 months." The phenomenon of sexual slavery in prison has only recently emerged from the shadows. Prison rape, in general, has received sporadic notice over the years and sustained attention more recently, with the passage last year of a federal law that aims to eliminate it. But there has never been a comprehensive study of incarcerated gay men subjected to sexual abuse. Discussing any form of prison rape is difficult. It makes many people uncomfortable. Some find it amusing. "It has been the subject of mockery and almost sadistic glee," said Margaret Winter, associate director of the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. "But Roderick is a human being who doesn't deserve this, not in a civilized society." The civil liberties union represents Mr. Johnson in his lawsuit, which will go to trial next summer. Sipping a beer in the courtyard of a hotel this week, Mr. Johnson displayed the affable good nature of the restaurant manager and car salesman he used to be. He is a compact, trim man - 5 feet, 9 inches, 170 pounds - who dresses neatly, talks easily and has bright, expressive eyes. "I'm the first person in my family to get a taste of prison," he said, with more than a little shame. His crimes were relatively minor and all nonviolent - burglary, a bad check, cocaine possession - but they were enough to send him to Allred, a maximum security prison 250 miles north of here, on the Oklahoma border. According to state prison records, Allred ranked second among the more than 70 Texas prisons in the number of sexual assaults in the two years ending in August 2003. It reported 50 out of 635, with the Telford unit in Bowie County first, with 59. Mr. Johnson's suit says he begged prison officials to move him to a unit called safekeeping, where white and Hispanic homosexuals, former gang members and convicted police officers lived. He asked seven times, in writing. The officials did nothing, saying Mr. Johnson's claims could not be corroborated. At prison hearings, Mr. Johnson said, officials would take pleasure in his plight. They suggested that he was enjoying the rapes, he said. Mr. Johnson said they told him he had two choices. One was to fight. The other was to engage in sex. The officials deny they mishandled the complaints and the ugly comments attributed to them. Carl Reynolds, the general counsel of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which runs the Texas prisons, said Mr. Johnson's complaints were properly handled. "These allegations were investigated by the internal affairs branch of our agency," he said. "There seems to have been a lot of doubt about his motives and his ability to present evidence." He added that the problem of prison rape was real and that Texas was committed to solving it. The new federal law, the Prison Rape Elimination Act, says that, by a conservative estimate, 13 percent of inmates in the United States are sexually assaulted in prison. The law calls for research into the problem by the Justice Department, which will recommend policy changes based on the studies. A 2001 Human Rights Watch report on prison rape touched on the subject of sexual slavery. "Six Texas inmates, separately and independently, gave Human Rights Watch firsthand accounts of being forced into this type of sexual slavery, having been 'sold' or 'rented' out to other inmates," the report said. Those inmates, and other Texas prisoners, told the group that sexual slavery "is commonplace in the system's most dangerous prison units." The group said it also "collected personal testimonies form inmates in Illinois, Michigan, California and Arkansas who have survived situations of sexual slavery." State prison systems elsewhere in the country told Human Rights Watch that prison rapes were relatively rare. Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wisconsin reported fewer than 10 cases annually. Arizona, New York and North Carolina reported 10 to 50. Mr. Johnson filed his lawsuit in Federal District Court in Wichita Falls, Tex., in April 2002, seeking protection and monetary damages. His claims were spelled out in legal papers, 300 pages of sworn testimony and a series of interviews. Early in Mr. Johnson's time at Allred, a member of the Gangster Disciples claimed Mr. Johnson as a sort of wife. The gang member forced Mr. Johnson to make his bed, clean his cell and cook food for him on a hot pot. He also forced Mr. Johnson to have sex with him. Mr. Johnson was later sold to the Bloods and then to other gangs, he said. Once, a bidding war broke out. He was told he was worth $100 in the open market. "They would prostitute you out, sell you for $5 or $10 of commissary," he said, referring to credit at the prison store. "Or cigarettes. Or cash money." Once, Mr. Johnson was raped by eight men, one after the other, he said in the suit. He was raped in cells and stairwells, he said, but the showers were the worst. "It's like throwing a piece of meat to a pack of wolves," he said. Throughout, he was called Coco. The other prisoners used feminine pronouns - she, her - when they talked about him. "If you are homosexual," Mr. Johnson said, "you are considered a female among these men and you will take on the name of a female. You do not go by the name Roderick because that's considered disrespecting any man that's in the facility."
Gang members humiliated Mr. Johnson and other inmates for sport, in scenes reminiscent of the abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. On March 17, 2002, according to Mr. Johnson's court filings, members of a gang called the Mexican Mafia forced him and a mentally ill man known as Alazar to masturbate each other in the shower. They repeatedly forced Alazar to insert his finger into Mr. Johnson's anus and then to lick his own finger. Thinking back on his ordeal in prison, Mr. Johnson said: "It broke my spirit. It broke my pride." He grew up in a large farming family in Marshall, in northeast Texas. His cousin, Sharon Bailey, recalled, "We all went to church together, with my mother driving me, Roderick and his sister to Sunday school each week." He joined the Navy at 17, visiting Thailand, Singapore and Japan on the U.S.S. Alamo. His troubles started after he was discharged, he said, when he burglarized a neighbor's house in Marshall in 1992. He had fallen under the sway of a boyfriend who ran with a bad crowd, he said. The crime earned him a 90-day sentence and 10 years of probation. After serving his sentence, he went on to hold a series of decent jobs, but drug use and the resulting probation violations put him back in prison. A Texas prison, he said, is no place for a gay man. "You've got rednecks here in Texas who run these prison systems," Mr. Johnson said. "A black man suffering, especially a gay black man suffering, is right up their alley." At a deposition in 2002, a lawyer for the prison officials, Deven Desai, questioned Mr. Johnson's religious faith, an issue with no obvious connection to legal claims in the suit. "How do you as a Christian man balance your homosexuality with your Christianity?" Mr. Desai asked. "I really don't feel that I'm any different from anyone else who serves God," Mr. Johnson answered. The doctors say he has post-traumatic stress disorder, and he receives disability payments from Social Security. He shares a room in a private boarding house for former prisoners, hard by the highway. He takes antidepressants and goes to counseling to get through the days. The nights, he said, are harder. "I'm trying to keep my sanity," he said.
US Stripclubs According to Strippers INTRODUCTION The follwing is presented to investigate women's experiences in stripclubs and to describe the activities in stripclubs from the women's point of view. The format approach is collective story narrative with the author as part of the collective voice. The research was inspired by the authors experiences in stripping over the course of thirteen years. The authors intention is to examine the conditions of stripclubs by describing the fundamental way stripclubs are organized. The description features bar activities focused on stripper-customer interactions, survey data on sexual violence in stripclubs, and women's thoughts on stripping. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION Stripclubs are popularly promoted as providing harmless entertainment and as places where respectful men go to watch and talk to women (Reed 1997). Stripclub customers are described as normal men who use stripclubs to avoid adultery and therefor find a safe outlet for their sexual desires in balance with their marital commitments (Reed 1997). In contrast, stripclubs are criticized for being environments where men exercise their social, sexual, and economic authority over women who are dependent on them and as places where women are treated as things to perform sex acts and take commands from men (Ciriello 1993). Stripclubs are organized according to gender and reflect gender power dynamics in greater society. "Gendered spaces are social arenas in which a persons gender shapes the roles, statuses, and interpersonal dynamics and generates differential political and economic outcomes and interaction expectations and practices" (Ronai, Zsembik, and Feagin 1997:6). Stripclubs are more specifically organized according to gender inequality, which is perpetuated by gendered spaces and consequently sexualized (Ronai, et al 1997). The typical stripclub scenario displays young, nude or partially nude women for fully clothed male customers (Thompson and Harred 1992). The entire analysis of stripclubs is located within the context of mens domination over women. When organizations are produced in the context of the structural relations of domination, control, and violence, they reproduce those relations (Hearn 1994). These organizations may also make explicit use of gendered forms of authority with unaccountable and unjustifiable authority belonging to men (Hearn 1994). The stripclub elicits and requires direct expressions of male domination and control over women (Prewitt 1989). In order to dominate or control and secure mens domestic, emotional and sexual service interests, male dominated institutions and individual men utilize violence (Hanmer 1989). Furthermore, male dominated institutions and individual men "forge alliances and strengthen the notion of group masculinity and power through forced access to the female body" (Brownmiller 1976:211). Stripclubs turn acts of violence against women into entertainment and enterprise for men. Men associated with stripclubs use force and coercion to establish sexual contact with women in stripping and inflict harm upon the women. Violence against women is identified as physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, and representational, but all violence from men against women should be understood as sexual violence (Hearn 1994). This definition and the concept of a continuum are useful when discussing sexual violence, especially in stripclubs. Continuum is defined as a basic characteristic underlying many different events and as a series of elements or events that pass into one another (Kelly 1987). The common underlying element in stripclubs is that male customers, managers, staff, and owners use diverse methods of harassment, manipulation, exploitation, and abuse to control female strippers. LITERATURE REVIEW Despite a substantial amount of research on the topic of strippers, stripping, and stripclubs, none focuses on sexual violence in stripclubs perpetrated against strippers. Instead the studies focus on sociological and psychological profiles of the women and the womens strategies for interaction with customers. Articles that focus on the women investigate the cultural space of the female nude dancer, her performance and auxiliary roles, test identity theory within the socially devalued role of the exotic dancer, and explore the effect of self-discrepancy on stripteasers emotional stability (Forsyth and Deshotels 1997; Reid, Epstein, and Benson 1994; (Peretti and O Connor 1989). Other articles about the women are concerned with contingencies for womens initiation and commitment to the deviance of striptease and with techniques topless dancers use to manage the stigma of a deviant occupation (Skipper and McCaghy 1970; Thompson and Harred 1992). Studies focused on stripper and customer relationships analyze counterfeit intimacy utilized by strippers and customers in interaction and performance and compare stripper and customer interactions with mainstream negotiation and sales strategies (Boles and Garbin 1974; Enck and Preston 1988; Ronai 1989). Although most studies mention male sexual violence and exploitation, the research regarding stripping fails to investigate and account for the problem of sexual violence in establishments that feature female strippers. The gap is the rationale for my study. METHOD Data for this research were obtained through interviews, a survey, and the researchers participant observation while involved in stripping (Berg 1998; Babbie 1998; Lofland and Lofland 1984). Women in this study stripped in the local stripclubs in the Midwest metropolitan area where the researcher lives, in local nightclubs in the same area, in metropolitan and rural stripclubs and nightclubs across the United States, at private parties, in peep shows, and in saunas. The stripclubs featured a variety of attractions including topless dancing, nude dancing, table dancing, couch dancing, lap dancing, wall dancing, shower dancing, and bed dancing. In addition, some clubs had peepshows, female boxing and wrestling with customers, offered photographs of the dancers, or hired pornography models and actresses as headliners. The study was conducted in two phases. In 1994, I conducted free-flowing qualitative interviews for one to four hours each with forty-one women while I was still involved in stripping and compiled participant observer notes about the activities in stripclubs.
The women ranged in age from nineteen to forty years old and were involved in stripping from three months to eighteen years. All of the women identified themselves as Caucasian. In 1996, I proceeded to design a twenty-six-question survey according to themes derived from the interviews to investigate sexual violence in stripclubs. My long-time involvement in the strip industry allowed an association with strippers that was invaluable for administering in-depth surveys regarding sensitive issues. The surveys were administered face-to-face to insure the information was indeed from the women in stripping. Again, the surveys and consequent discussions lasted from one to four hours. Many women explained that they had never talked about their experiences so extensively because no one had ever asked them the right questions. Participants were asked to say whether they had experienced different abusive and violent actions in stripclubs, to estimate how often each action happened, and then to identify which men associated with stripclubs perpetrated the action. The categories of men were defined as customer, owner, staff, and manager. Since I exited stripping, snowball sampling was employed to recruit the eighteen participants for the survey (Babbie 1998). Participants in the survey were asked to pass on postcards to other women. The range of ages was eighteen to thirty-five years old. The age of entry into stripping ranged from fifteen to twenty-three years old, with a mean age of eighteen years and ten months. The length of time the women in this study were involved in stripping ranged from three months to eighteen years with an average length of six years and seven months. Women predominantly identified themselves as Caucasian. Only one woman identified herself as Hispanic. Twelve of the women described their sexual orientation as heterosexual, two as lesbian, and four as bisexual. The survey data was analyzed on the Statistical Program for Social Sciences (Norusis 1988). After the data was compiled, a focus group of 4 women currently in stripping and with no prior association with the study positively evaluated the relevancy of the study and approved the collective story (Berg 1998). Statements in quotations throughout this paper are derived from the 41 interviews and the interviews that often followed the administration of the 18 surveys. PART 1: TYPICAL STRIPCLUB ACTIVITIES Recruitment Women find out about stripping from a variety of sources. Upscale stripclub franchises recruit in new cities by having managers and imported dancers scout in nightclubs. Most women find out about stripping from girlfriends already in stripping, male associates, the media, and some from prior involvement in prostitution. One woman told how she loitered in and around urban stripclubs to pick up customers when she was fifteen and how her pimp eventually drove her to small town strip bars because those bars admitted her and hired her. Someone else got involved in stripping through an escort service for bachelor parties. Another young woman who went to a gentlemens club to pick up her friend recounted her recruitment as an eighteen-year-old. She waited at the bar, was served alcohol, and the owner asked to check her I.D. Instead of censuring her for drinking, he told her she would make $1000 per week and pressured her to enter the amateur contest that night. She won the contest, $300, and worked there three weeks before being recruited into an escort service by a patron pimp. In a typical hiring scenario women respond in person to a newspaper ad promising big money, flexible hours, no experience necessary. As an audition the club manager asks the applicants to perform on amateur night or bikini night, both of which are particularly popular with customers who hope to see girl-next-door types rather than seasoned strippers. The manager will make a job offer based on physical attributes and number of women already on the schedule. Clubs portray the job requirements as very flexible. Women are told that they will not be forced to do anything they do not want to do, but clubs overbook women so they are forced to compete with each other, often gradually engaging in more explicit activities in order to earn tips (Cooke 1987). Working Conditions Women in stripping are denied legal protection relating to the terms and conditions under which they earn their livings (Fischer 523). Most strippers are hired to work as independent contractors rather than employees. Most strippers are not paid a wage (Mattson 1995), therefor their income is totally dependent on their compliance with customer demands in order to earn tips. More often than not, the strippers have to pay for the privilege of working at a club (Cooke 1987; Forsyth and Deshotels 1997; Prewitt 1989). The majority of clubs demand that women turn over 40 to 50 percent of their income for stage or couch rental and enforce a mandatory tip out to bouncers and disc jockeys (Enck and Preston 1988; Forsyth and Deshotels 1997). Usually a minimum shift quota is set and the women must turn over at least that quota amount. If a woman does not earn the quota and wants to continue working at the establishment, she owes the club and must pay off that shifts quota by adding it to the quota for the next shift she will work. The stripclubs may also derive income from promotional novelty items, kickbacks, door cover charges, beverage sales, prostitution, and capricious fines imposed on the women. As independent contractors, strippers are not entitled to file discrimination claims, receive workers compensation, or unemployment benefits (Fischer 1996; Mattson 1995). Club owners are free from tax obligations and tort liability. Owners pay no Social Security, no health insurance, and no sick pay. Some club owners require strippers to sign agreements indicating that they are working as independent contractors and many clubs require women to sign a waiver of their right to sue the club for any reason.
Although strippers are classified as independent contractors, the reality of their relationship to their supervisors is an employeeemployer relationship. Regardless of the agreements claiming independent contractor status, clubs maintain enormous control over the women. The club controls the schedule and hours, requires strippers to pay rental fees, tip support staff large amounts, and even sets the price of table dances and private dances. Clubs have specific rules about costuming and even dictate the sequence of stripping and nudity. For example, by the middle of the first song the woman must remove her top, she must be entirely nude by the end of the second song, and must perform a nude floorshow. All this regardless of whether customers are tipping her or not. A club may further influence dancers appearances by pressuring them to shave off all their pubic hair, maintain a year-long tan, or undergo surgery for breast augmentation. At nude clubs, it is common for the performers to be shaved clean, giving them an adolescent and even childlike appearance. Clubs also exert significant control over the strippers behavior during their shifts by regulating when women may use the bathroom and how many of them can be in the dressing room at one time. Some clubs do not provide seating in the dressing room and forbid smoking in that room, thus preventing strippers from taking a break. When a woman wants to sit down or smoke a cigarette, she must do so on the main floor with a customer. Clubs enforce these rules through fines (Cooke 1987; Enck and Preston 1988; Ronai 1992). Women are fined heavily by club management: $1 per minute for being late, as much as $100 for calling in sick, and other arbitrary amounts for "talking back" to customers or staff, using the telephone without permission, and touching stage mirrors. Women are fined for flashing, prostitution (Enck and Preston 1988), taking off their shoes, fighting with a customer, being late on stage, leaving the main floor before the DJ calls her off, not cashing in one dollar bills, profanity in music, being sick, not cleaning the dressing room, using baby oil on stage, dancing with her back to a customer (Enck and Preston 1988) and being touched by a customer. Despite the stripclubs representation of a dancing job as flexible, strippers attest that their relationship with the club becomes all consuming and everything associated with being a stripper interferes with living a normal life. And despite the common perception that a woman can dance her way through school, many strippers report that their jobs take over their lives. Long and late hours, fatigue, drug and alcohol problems, and out of town bookings make it difficult to switch gears. Not only do the women spend a significant amount of their time in stripclubs, the activities and influences from the club environment permeate their personal lives and detrimentally effect their well being. Although stripclubs are considered legal forms of entertainment, people unassociated with the industry are unaware of the emotional (Peretti and OConnor 1989; Ronai 1992), verbal (Mattson 1995; Ronai 1992), physical (Boles and Garbin 1974), and sexual abuse (Ciriello 1993; Ronai 1992) inherent in the industry. Despite claims from management that customers are prohibited from touching the women, this rule is consistently violated (Enck and Preston 1988; Forsyth and Deshotels 1997; Ronai and Ellis 1989; Thompson and Harred 1992). Furthermore, stripping usually involves prostitution (Boles and Garbin 1974; Forsyth and Deshotels 1997; Prewitt 1989; Ronai and Ellis 1989; Thompson and Harrod 1992). Stripper-Customer Interactions Main Floor Stripclub activities are offered in public spaces or private rooms or other isolated parts of clubs (Forsyth and Deshotels 1997). The typical stripclub scenario presents young, nude or partially nude women mingling with fully clothed male customers. They circulate through the crowd, encouraging men to buy liquor, drinking and talking with men, and soliciting and performing a variety of private dances (Prewitt 1989; Ronai and Ellis 1989). Women describe their role in the stripclub as hostess, object, prostitute, therapist, and temporary girlfriend and say they are there to entertain and attract men and business for the owners. Women who work at small strip joints say they can hang out, order in food, and play pool during their shifts. On the other hand, women who work at gentlemens clubs have to hustle photographs and drinks and are required to sell promotional T-shirts, calendars, and videos. They can be mandated to sell the items with private dances. For example, the dancers buy T-shirts from the house mom for $8 and sell them for $15. So for $15, the customer receives a T-shirt and 2 $10 table dances. Strippers at gentlemens clubs are further informed by management that they are not allowed to buy their own drinks, that they have to be sitting with customers, and can never turn down a drink, even when their drinks are full. Stage Women report dancing on stages as cheaply constructed by laying plywood on the benches of restaurant booths to stages covered with kitchen linoleum to wood parquet or marble stages in a few upscale clubs. Some stages are elevated runways so narrow that strippers say that cannot get away from customers on each side touching them, especially when they are kneeling down to accept a tip in the side of their g-strings/t-bars or when they have their backs turned. Stages can also be sunken pits with a rail around it and a bar for the customers beverages. During a set, a stripper may do striptease, acrobatics, dance, walk, or squat to display her genitals. Generally the progression for striptease begins during the first song with the woman wearing a dress or costume covering her breasts and buttocks. Over the course of a set of 2 or 3 songs she will remove her bra and in nude clubs, her g-string/t-bar. Some clubs feature floorshows in which women crawl or move around on the floor posing in sexual positions and spread their legs at the customers eye level. During a floorshow, a dancer changes her movements from upright to positions on her knees and squatting in a crabwalk in order to flash tipping customers. "Flashing" is pulling the g-string/t-bar aside, revealing the pubic area and/or the genitals. Dancers describe this as "doing a show" for paying customers. Ordinarily, a dancer only positions herself in front of tipping patrons (Prewitt 145). Customers who fail to tip are ignored. Audience response can be expressed by clapping, hooting, barking, whistling, amount of money tipped, or complete silence depending upon time of day, state of inebriation, excitement over the musical selection, or the appearance and abilities of the stripper.
On stage, some womens thoughts wander, while others focus on angry desperation. "I daydream about nothing in particular to pass the time of 12 minutes." "Im thinking about how good I look in the mirrors and how good I feel in dance movements." "I tell myself to smile." "I think about getting high and that I am making money to get high." "I am giving these guys every chance to be decent, so that I dont have to be afraid of them." "I am filled with disdain for the customers who do not tip, but sit and watch and direct you to do things for no money." "I think of how cheap these fuckers are, what bills I need to pay." Private Dance Activities Private dances are usually performed in areas shielded from the larger club view (Forsyth and Deshotels 1997, Prewitt 1989). As a rule, the private dance involves one female dancer and one male customer. Private dances are situations where women are often forced into acts of prostitution in order to earn tips (Forsyth and Deshotels 1997; Prewitt 1989; Ronai and Ellis 1989). Men masturbate openly (Peretti and OConnor 1989), get hand jobs (Forsyth and Deshotels 1997), and stick their fingers inside women (Ronai and Ellis 1989). Men with foot fetishes have been known to suck on dancers toes. A variety of private dances are promoted in strip clubs. Table dancing is performed on a low coffee table or on a small portable platform near the customers seat. The womans breasts and genitals are eye level to the customer. Couch dancing for a customer entails the dancer standing over him on the couch, dangling her breasts or bopping him in the face with her pubic area. Lap dancing requires the woman to straddle the mans lap and grind against him until he ejaculates in his pants. A variation involves the woman dancing between his legs while he slides down in his chair so that the dancers thighs are rubbing his crotch as she moves. Bed dancing is offered in a private room and requires a woman to lay on top of a fully clothed man and simulate sexual intercourse until he ejaculates. Shower dancing is offered in upscale clubs and allows a clothed patron to get into a shower stall with one or more women and massage their bodies with soap. Wall dancing requires a stripper to carry alcohol swabs to wash the customers fingers before he inserts them into her vagina. His back is stationary against the wall and she is pressed against him with one leg lifted. Peep shows feature simulated or actual acts directed by openly masturbating customers. Customers sit in a private booth and view the women through a glass window. Live sex shows involve 2 or more individuals engaging in simulated or sexual activity performed behind glass or on a stage. Customers openly masturbate while watching the show from the audience or through an opening in a private booth. During private dances women are conscientious about their boundaries and safety. "I dont want him to touch me, but I am afraid he will say something violent if I tell him no." "I was thinking about doing prostitution because thats when customers would proposition me." "I could only think about how bad these guys smell and try to hold my breath." "I spent the dance hyper vigilant to avoiding their hands, mouths, and crotches." "We were allowed to place towels on the guys laps, so it wasnt so bad." "I dont remember because it was so embarrassing." Dressing Room Women describe a range of types and qualities of dressing rooms. Strippers are expected to change clothing in beer coolers, broom closets, and public restrooms. Some stripclub dressing rooms are nice with lights, mirrors, vanities, and chairs, and are equipped with lockers, and tanning beds. Other clubs have make-up mirrors but no chairs or ashtrays to prevent dancers from lingering. Women complain that too many dressing rooms are down isolated halls or in the basements of establishments and that they have to scream for help when customers intrude. Some are so damp or filthy that the women cannot take their shoes off. Other dressing rooms are so frigid that dancers carry small space heaters to and from work. The dressing rooms are used to change costumes, drink, do drugs, do hair and make-up, iron costumes, do homework, bitch about customers, avoid customers, talk about problems, hang out. In strip joints and rural bars, women lay on blankets or inside sleeping bags between sets and nap and read. The greatest response to questions regarding preparation for work was "drink". Women drink while getting ready to go to work and they drink while doing their hair and make-up once in the dressing room. Women who work at nude juice bars that do not serve alcohol or at bars that do not allow women to buy their own drinks report that they stop at another bar on their way in and "get loaded". Between stage sets and private dances, women drink some more, clean themselves with washcloths or babywipes after performing on a dirty stage or being touched by a lot of men, apply deodorant, and perfume their breasts and genitals. PART 2: SURVEY DATA One hundred percent of the eighteen women in the survey report being physically abused in the stripclub. The physical abuse ranged from three to fifteen times with a mean of 7.7 occurrences over the course of their involvement in stripping. One hundred percent of the eighteen women in this study report sexual abuse in the stripclub. The sexual abuse ranged from two to nine occurrences with a mean of 4.4 occurrences over the course of their involvement in stripping. One hundred percent of the women report verbal harassment in the stripclub. The verbal abuse ranged from one to seven occurrences with a mean of 4.8 occurrences over the course of their involvement in stripping. One hundred percent of the women report being propositioned for prostitution. Seventy eight percent of the women were stalked by someone associated with the stripclub with a range of one to seven incidents. Sixty one percent of the women report that someone associated with the stripclub has attempted to sexually assault her with a range of one to eleven attempts. Not only do women suffer the abuse they experience, all of women in the survey witnessed these things happen to other strippers in the clubs. The overwhelming trend for violence against women in stripclubs was committed by customers of the establishments. Stripclub owners, managers, assistant managers, and the staff of bartenders, music programmers or disc jockeys, bouncers, security guards, floorwalkers, doormen, and valet were significantly less involved in violence against the women. According to the women in this study, almost all of the perpetrators suffered no consequence whatsoever for their actions.
Physical Abuse Customers spit on women, spray beer, and flick cigarettes at them. Strippers are pelted with ice, coins, trash, condoms, room keys, pornography, and golf balls. Men pitched a live guinea pig and a dead squirrel at two women in the survey. Some women have been hit with cans and bottles thrown from the audience. Customers pull womens hair, yank them by the arm or ankle, rip their costumes, and try to pull their costumes off. Women are commonly bitten, licked, slapped, punched, and pinched. See Table 1 Frequency of Physical Abuse. Sexual Abuse Stripclub customers frequently grab womens breasts, buttocks, and genitals. Customers often attempt and succeed at penetrating strippers vaginally and anally with their fingers, dollar bills, and bottles. Customers expose their penises, rub their penises on women, and masturbate in front of the women. Women in this study consistently connected lap dances to the sexual abuse they suffered in the club. "Thats the first thing men try to do when they get close to you and always in a lap dance." Stripclub owners, managers, and staff also expect women to masturbate them and some have forced intercourse on strippers. See Table 2 Frequency of Sexual Abuse and Table 3 Attempted and Completed Sexual Abuse. Verbal Abuse Customers, owners, managers, and staff alike engage in harassing namecalling. Women are continually called "cunt, "whore", "pussy", "slut", and "bitch". Women in this study charge that men in the stripclub called them other demeaning or degrading names like ugly, looser, fat, pregnant, boy, stupid, crack, slash, snatch, beaver, dog, dyke, lezzie, brown eye, hooters, junkie, crackhead, and shit. See Table 4 Frequency of Namecalling Verbal Abuse. Forty four percent of the women report that men associated with the stripclub have threatened to hurt them physically. These women report from three to 150 threats during their involvement in stripping. Threats range from verbal threats of slaps, ass whippings, and rapes to physical postures of punching and back hand slapping. "When I wouldnt let a customer grab on me, he would call me a bitch and threaten to kick my ass or rape me." "When a customer grabs and the woman and the girl takes action, they threaten". Stalking Men associated with stripclubs repeatedly attempt to contact the women against their wishes. Strippers are followed home and stalked by stripclub customers. Customers telephone, write letters, send gifts, and follow the women around against their wishes. Women recount stories of catching customers following them to fitness clubs, parks and lakes, day care centers, and even lesbian bars. They describe times when customers have broken into their homes and taken underwear, hairbrushes, and family photographs. Women say that other customers have used their jobs at the telephone company or within the criminal justice system to target the women. The women complain that customers also have followed them home masturbating while driving in the next lane. Women who travel the strip circuit to rural areas report that customers and stripclub owners, managers, and staff alike follow women from city to city and state to state. Furthermore, local men in small towns harass the visiting women by calling and knocking on the doors of the motel rooms and have been caught peeping in the windows of strippers motel rooms. See Table 5 Stalking Occurrences. Twelve percent of the women who reported being followed to their cars further reported that they were robbed (5.6 %), beaten (11.1%), threatened with a weapon (5.6%), verbally sexually harassed (66.7%), and sexually assaulted (16.7%) by customers. A customer who claimed he was in love with the woman followed her to her car, called her a "fucking cunt" and strangled her hard enough to cause blood to squirt from her neck. Sexual Exploitation Only a minority of women report that they were asked to perform sexual acts on men associated with the stripclub in order to return to work (11% by owners); as a condition of being hired (11% by managers, 11% by owners); in order to continue working there (17% by owners); in order to get a better schedule (6% by owners); or for drugs (17% by customers, 11% by managers, 22% by owners, 11% by staff). A majority of the women, however, report they were asked to perform sexual acts on men associated with the stripclub for money (100% by customers, 6% by managers, 17% by owners, 11% by staff). Customers and pimps constantly proposition women (Boles and Garbin 1974; Forsyth and Deshotels 1997; Ronai 1992; Ronai and Ellis 1989). Fourteen (78%) women from the survey report they are propositioned for prostitution every day by customers, three (17%) every week, one (6 %) every year. Women comment that customers ask them "Do you date?" all night long. "Infinitetoo many too count." Women say that prostitution is influenced and suggested by management. One woman new to stripping was dumbfounded at how little money she was making taking her clothes off, so she asked the manager for his advice on increasing tips. He suggested turning tricks and said he could help her set up dates. Management sets up tricks, says it is good for business, and obligates women to turn over money from prostitution to the club. Women say prostitution is promoted even though owners tell women they would be punished if they turn tricks. Some stripclubs are notorious for promoting prostitution. "You have to be a ho to work there". Women disclosed that they were recruited into prostitution through stripping. Although the strip industry markets stripping as something other than prostitution, some women consider prostitution an extension of stripping and stripping a form of prostitution.
Pimps season women first with stripping and then turn them out into brothels or escort services for more money. Tricks, sugar daddies, pimps, and drug dealers in the stripclub seek to engage women in prostitution. Another young woman said that soon after she became involved in stripping, a pimp who posed as a customer in the stripclub manipulated her into an escort service by promising that she could make more money in less time simply by accompanying businessmen to dinner. She agreed in order to feed her crack addiction and as her addiction increased she slid down from gentlemens clubs to escort service to brothel to street and crack house prostitution. Not only are women in stripping pressured by customers to perform sexual acts on them, owners, managers, and staff pressure the women to perform sexual acts on them, their relatives and associates, on vice officers and police officers. Women explain the pressure could range from being coerced into dancing for the intended with an expectation to put on a real good show with special treatment, extra time, and sexual contact, to engaging in prostitution. Strippers, like other subordinates in worker-management relationships, respond with obedience to directives from management and others with authority. See Table 6 Percentage of Women Pressured for Sexual Exploitation. PART 3: WOMENS THOUGHTS ON STRIPPING Money Women in stripping are overwhelmingly motivated by the promise of wealth or a will to survive (Skipper and McCaghy 1970; Ronai 1992; Thompson and Harred 1992). Stripclub owners, managers, pimps and the media portray stripping as a glamorous way to earn big money fast and use this strategy to lure young women into stripping. Women in this study report the best part of stripping to be the money. "The only part that keeps me there is the money". At the same time, women are trapped and disappointed by the money. "I hated itbut glad I had it at the time for the income." "Women are reduced to exposing genitals for $1 bills." "It pays the bills if we could pay bills another way we would." "The bar owners and management are exploitative, they steal money." "Its hard to get out because of the money." With respect to the money strippers seek to earn, they in turn must pay out fines, kickbacks, 100% of their social security insurance and taxes, travel and hotel expenses, and the costs for costumes, tanning, and plastic surgery. Women report that they have to have the right attitude to make money. This ordinarily was described as being drunk, high or numb. Others feel it required tolerance. "The ability to ignore customers for just being there." Most women say it is easier when the men are tipping regularly and when they do not have to interact with men intimately. Women acknowledge that strippers measure their worth according to the amount of tips they earn and that they want attention, acceptance, and approval from the customers because it brings money. Skills Women in stripping feel it doesnt take much skill to be a stripper (Forsyth and Deshotels 1997; Skipper and McCaghy 1970). "It would be nice to say women need dance talent but its not true." "Tits, pussy, and blonde hair is all it takes." Instead they referred to dissociation to abuse. "It takes a willingness to do itanybody can do it." "It takes somebody who can shut themselves off and be really fake." "the ability to take a lot of abuse." They state a stripper needs a good head on her shoulders, an open mind, guts, strength, and survival skills. They believe they need abuse counseling, a lifeline from the "outside world", and education about whats really going on. "Need to know they have options, that they arent always going to be a ho." Women in stripping want a union to protect strippers, decent working conditions, fair treatment, and an end to cruelty by management. Lastly, strippers think that women and girls dont know what they are getting into when they first start dancing. "Its really harmful because it is so benign, so accepted." "Girls think they will have fun dancing and get paid, they have no idea they have to fight mens hands, and dicks, and tongues, and then fight for every fucking dollar bill you earn." "It was a lot different than I originally thought." Men The women in this study condemn the men associated with stripping and the impact stripping has on them as the worst parts of stripping. Women do not like the way customers treat them (Thompson and Harred 1992). Furthermore they say they do not like talking to customers, asking men for money, and resent having to have to deal with them at all. They find customers irritating because they are drunk and have negative attitudes towards women. Women characterize customers as scum, psycho mamas boys, rapists and child molesters, old perverted men, idiots, assholes, and pigs. Strippers are largely disgusted by customers and describe them as pitiful and pathetic, stupid and ignorant, sick, controlling and abusive. "They smell so sour, they breathe very heavy and kind of wheeze when women are near." "They are weak abusers who have to subordinate women and girls to feel like a man." "I see my dad. Theyre old enough to be my father." "Yuck. I am repulsed by the sight, sound, smell, and touch of them." "Im embarrassed for them." The women offer insightful evaluations of stripclub customers. They say that these men do not know how to communicate. Moreover, they perceive that customers are out of control, have power and abuse problems, and will do anything to degrade women because they hate women. Strippers also state that customers want a free show and think women are cheap. In contrast, a few women positively perceived some customers as nice and added they are thankful to those who tip well. Women in this study undoubtedly denounce stripclub owners as pimps and "glorified pimps" and maintain that owners misuse power and are sick. The women also label managers as pimps citing that they mistreat women, that they make every attempt to take money from the women, and that they are sick because they are affiliated with the industry and know the harm they do.
Strippers accuse managers of being threatened and jealous of the money women make and that women are just a dollar to management. Finally, women refer to staff music programmers, doormen, bartenders, bouncers, floorwalkers, and valet as wanna-be pimps because they always want to be tipped. The women see staff as derelicts who cant get a job anywhere else and who think they are cool for working in a stripclub. Strippers perceive staff as creepy and disrespectful and as "looky-lous" who just want to look at naked women for free. Women criticize staff by pointing out that at least owners are making big money. Few women had positive responses, but those that did felt they got along well with staff and had no real hard feelings. Clearly strippers attitudes about men are impacted by the activities in stripclubs. Women say they dont like men and men are worthless. Likewise women believe stripping inhibits their ability to be involved in a normal relationship. "It affects your lovelife and feelings about men." "Nice boyfriends cant handle it." "Too large a percentage of men fit into category of customer and I do not want to hate men." Stripping Women in this study expressed mostly negativism regarding their experiences in stripping with themes of abuse, deception, drugs, and low self-esteem. "I would never do it again. It was degrading." "No doubt that it led me to prostitution and my pimp." "Taught me how to control men and gave me a false illusion of control. Takes a long time to regain self-control." "Dont do it. Once you do it, it is hard to get out." "If there is any way you can avoid itit is hard to get out once you start." "I wouldnt recommend it. It is too stressful and I am always comparing myself to other women on the outside." "I wish I had put more money away and had more education by the time I quit. I just didnt know it wasnt about success for us, it was about using us." "I spent my entire young adulthood being abused. It is hard to undo all this." "Drugs destroyed beautiful, healthy women." "I blame the menit is all bad. I didnt think highly of myself while I was in stripping, but I am glad I got out of it by standing up for myself." "It is hard to view myself for who I am and my accomplishments rather than how I look and attention from men. I got this from stripping." Some women expressed fascination with stripping. "It has been an experience of a lifetime. Ive seen everythingsome crazy shit." "I have never seen things like I have seen in stripping. It is weird." Still others felt positively about their experience. "If it wasnt for the money I made at it, I would have nothing right now. "It has its ups and downs, but I always enjoy the music and dancing and the attention." "I have been extremely fortunate as far as what happened in stripping. It provides a good life, but I look at it as a job, work day shifts and work a straight job at the same time." A few women also determined positive outcomes for themselves from their involvement in stripping. "It served its purpose as a group for a sense of belonging." "Helped me recognize what is right and wrong, and what is right and wrong for me." "After surviving it I felt strong." "Stripping distracted me from my personal problems that led me into strippingno way could I have held normal job with the problems I had." Above all, women in stripping reject the popular image of stripping and clarify the common misperceptions about stripclubs. "That no one touches you, women enjoy it, and its okay for men to go there." "That women actually get to wear a costume and actually get to dance." "That we get sexually aroused doing this." "That men are there to have harmless fun, when they are really there to abuse women." "That it is a big party and that the women want to be there for some reason other than money, like sex or to meet men or because they are nudists or exhibitionists." "That you are doing things you want to be doing." "That they are not degrading us because girls always are justifying it with college." "That it is not prostitution." "That it is glamorous, fast money, easy work, way to get ahead."
DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS Men associated with stripclubs use force and coercion to establish sexual contact with women in stripping, proposition women for prostitution, intentionally inflict bodily harm upon the women, and expose themselves to the women. These actions are prohibited by law, yet when these crimes are committed against women in stripclubs, the general attitude that strippers deserve what they get prevails. Womens complaints of abuse are met with contempt and are dismissed by owners, managers, and staff. Women are customarily told to ignore abuse and have been rebuffed with "Go bend over and do your job" and "You have to expect a certain amount of that." In the case of women in stripping, enduring sexual violence is part of her job description. Women in stripping are expected to endure these abuses, degradations, and humiliations with a smile and a "Thank You". The degree of sexual violence perpetrated against strippers explodes the myths about stripping as harmless entertainment. The verbal harassment, physical and sexual abuse, and financial exploitation women suffer in stripclubs is unparalleled in any other legitimate workplace. Women in stripping are subject to actions that would be perceived as assaultive or a least unwanted in any other context or were directed against other women. Stripclubs allow men to use and abuse women in a manner that is not tolerated in any other business. The organization and conditions of stripclubs not only produce and reproduce gender inequality, but facilitate and normalize mens violence against women. Sexual violence has been normalized, institutionalized, and legalized in the stripclub industry as socially sanctioned male behavior. Stripclubs and the men associated with stripclubs have turned acts of violence into entertainment and tied male sexual pleasure to victimizing and exploiting. Stripclubs are structured according to male domination and control, and are inherently violent. It is impossible to set up stripclubs without sexual violence and that is reason to challenge the legitimacy of stripclubs. Future research should address men associated with stripclubs and their views on women in stripping and stripclub activities. An exploration of why stripclubs exist, an explanation of why men go to stripclubs, and a description of how stripclub owners and government policy establish the tone and culture of stripclubs are also in order. Future research should explore gender role socialization and female strippers perceptions of sexual harassment and violence. The definition of sexual harassment should be tested with strippers to learn if they perceive actions differently than women in other workplaces. In turn, strippers rights in the workplace must be considered. Studies focused on womens emotional and psychological response to violence in stripclubs, including drug and alcohol abuse, should be conducted.
Child Sex Trade Rises in Central America SAN JOSE, Costa RicaThe sexual exploitation of girls and boys, largely by American men, has reached alarming proportions in Central America, according to children's rights advocates who say the region is now a priority in their struggle against child prostitution and pornography. A major reason for growth in the Central American child sex business, child rights advocates say, is that traditional destinations such as Thailand and the Philippines have cut into the sex tourism trade over the last two years by enacting public awareness campaigns, stricter laws and enforcement measures. Prostitution among the children who live and work on the streets of Latin America, whose number as been estimated as high as 40 million, has long been a consequence of the region's poverty. But as countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua increase promotion of their beaches, volcanoes and natural beauty as tourist destinations, they are attracting greater numbers of men from North America, Europe and other Latin American countries who are interested in buying sex from children. "What we are seeing is the dark side of tourism," said Heimo Laakkonen, the head of UNICEF in Costa Rica. Laakkonen said that while sexual exploitation of minors is not a new problem in the region, "with the increase in tourism, the problem has gotten worse." Sitting at the bar in the dingy Del Ray Hotel here one recent evening, a 33-year-old Californian named David said he was on his second trip to Costa Rica in as many years. He spoke brazenly about how he had scanned several Web pages advertising youthful-looking female prostitutes in Costa Rica in his efforts to purchase sex with a girl who had no previous sexual experience. David, who insisted only his first named be used, boasted of how he had arranged for one of the many taxi drivers connected with the sex trade to bring a 13-year-old girl from her parents' home in a poor San Jose neighborhood to his hotel. The girl's mother and father asked for $400, which David said he eagerly paid. Costa Rican law only allows women 18 and older to work as prostitutes. Stiffer penalties enacted recently threaten prison terms of up to 10 years for anyone convicted of buying sex from a minor. The prospect did not seem to alarm David. "I am living out a fantasy. . . . And nobody looks like they have a real problem with it," he said. As the stocky, unkempt bartender spoke, adult prostitutes mingled with foreigners in the hotel lobby as younger sex workers strolled the streets outside. Costa Rica, the region's leader in tourism and the country in Central America where child prostitution is believed to be most pronounced, has drawn more than 1 million foreign visitors this year for the first time. Children's rights activists have accused governments in Central America, where about 54 percent of the population is below the age of 18, of being slow to confront the region's burgeoning child prostitution and pornography industry. "It involves a certain level of political maturity on the part of governments to acknowledge the severity of the problem, as opposed to the ostrich syndrome of keeping your head stuck in the sand," said Bruce Harris, regional director of Covenant House (Casa Alianza) Latin America, an organization that helps street children. Although there are no statistics to quantify the sexual exploitation of children in Central America, anecdotal evidence, surveys and a string of recent arrests of Americans, as well as other foreigners and locals, support the contention that the problem is growing. The increased demand for child prostitutes in this region and others stems partly from fears of contracting AIDS from older prostitutes and the mistaken impression that young people are less likely to be infected, experts say. Carlos Roverssi, the former executive president of Costa Rica's National Child Trust, the government's child welfare agency, acknowledged last year there had been "an accelerated increase in child prostitution" in the country that he blamed largely on the unofficial promotion of sex tourism in Costa Rica over the Internet. In Nicaragua, a recent UNICEF report said, there has been significant growth in the prostitution of children between the ages of 12 and 16 in towns where taxi drivers were reported to serve as middlemen. Several months ago, agents of the international police organization Interpol operating out of El Salvador discovered a prostitution network that was trafficking young girls from several countries in Central America to work in bars along the border of El Salvador and Guatemala. Interpol also said that it had rescued about 20 Salvadoran girls from such prostitution rings during the past three years. While some minors are pushed into prostitution by families that are unable to support themselves, most underage sex workers in Central America are street children, many of whom, studies show, had fleed sexual abuse at home. In Honduras, the number of homeless minors has grown sharply in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch last year. Drug abuse has become a prevalent factor as well. In a recent study of 300 street children in Nicaragua by the government's Family Ministry , more than 80 percent said they had started to work as prostitutes over the last year, with most saying they did so to buy drugs. About a third said they needed the money to buy crack. Standing on a corner near the Del Rey Hotel in San Jose, Juana Rojas, 14, who said she became a sex worker about nine months ago, was offering to have sex for $15. "A few tricks and I can buy some [crack] rocks up the street," she said. She added, "I started going with men when I got hooked on crack a while ago, and since then I must have been with more than a hundred" foreigners. Some child prostitutes offered other explanations. "I can live well, buy nice clothes and go out dancing on the nights I do not work," said Maria, 15, who shares a house here with a 14-year-old prostitute and works for a woman who sends them clients. They are paid between $50 and $200 a night. Maria said she became a sex worker two years ago after her father committed suicide and her relationship with her mother unraveled. "Much of the time I am sad," she said. "It is hard on my self-esteem when you hear people refer to prostitutes as filthy little whores."
The Sex Slaves from Mexico Prostitution horror for young women Young prostitutes ply their trade on streets of border town Tijuana, Mexico. Many will make as much as $250 each day selling sex. Home in Corona, Queens, where Carreto family, alleged prostitution ringleaders, were arrested. Hundreds of young women stand with their backs pressed up against a graffiti-covered concrete wall on a side street in Tijuana. Leering men swarm around the girls, some as young as 8, as a chill wind blows across their exposed skin, bound tightly inside leather bustiers, miniskirts and schoolgirl uniforms. Before the night is over, the girls of "Zona Rosa" - a notorious red-light district just a few blocks from the main tourist drag in this Mexican border town - will make as much as $250 each by selling sex. It's cold-blooded sexual slavery - forced prostitution that began when they were kidnapped from their small towns in Mexico and Central America and smuggled through a dangerous corridor that leads into the United States. After they work their apprenticeships in Tijuana, many of the girls end up as sexual servants in New York's illegal brothels. "I've been in this business for 30 years - it's much more prevalent now than it was then," said federal agent Martin Ficke, who oversees the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's New York division. "They are coming from everywhere," Ficke said. "[They] are brought to the U.S. under false pretenses and they are forced to work as prostitutes against their will." As many as 17,500 sex slaves are smuggled into the United States each year, according to the latest federal statistics. One out of every three people trafficked into New York is forced into prostitution, according to Safe Horizon, a Manhattan-based human rights organization. The depraved exploitation will be spotlighted by this week's Brooklyn Federal Court case against the Carreto family, a group of extended relatives from Mexico. Preying upon uneducated and impressionable girls from poor towns throughout Mexico, the family allegedly kidnapped, raped and beat its victims into submission. The family made hundreds of thousands of dollars, while its sex slaves, who toiled inside ordinarylooking homes in Queens, earned next to nothing, authorities charge. At the heart of the shadowy sex-trafficking industry lies Zona Rosa, law enforcement sources told the Daily News. "Tijuana is a good crossing point because it's a prostitution zone," said Marisa Ugarte, executive director of the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition, an anti-trafficking group based in San Diego. "It's easy to get from Tijuana into Arizona, California, Texas, to New York. It's simple." The border town, a short drive from San Diego, also provides a daily flood of sex-hungry tourists and a police department that looks the other way. During a recent trip to Zona Rosa, The News found dozens of cops standing by as hundreds of girls sold sex to strangers. The girls' burly pimps kept a watchful eye, never moving more than a few feet away. Nearby, street hustlers solicited customers, many of them American men, telling them to move inside dank bars and seedy, second-story motels. They promised "naked massage." Many johns were eager to oblige, forking over a going rate of $20 to $60 for a half-hour session of forced sexual favors. Premium prices were charged for "bareback," or unprotected sex. But the highest prices were charged for the youngest girls - or "cherries" - who are prized for their fresh appearance and their supposed lack of sexually transmitted diseases. "There is a perception that the younger the child, the safer you are going to be and the less disease-ridden you are going to be," Ugarte said. "It's another myth because by the time they have a 12-year-old or a 13-year-old, by this time maybe she has already had 50 to 60 men." The girls are forbidden from keeping the money they make from sex and are prohibited from contacting their families or talking to other women. Violence against them is frequent and severe. The pimps beat the girls with coat hangers, cables, beer bottles and belts. Many of them are forced to have abortions when they become pregnant and others are given crystal meth and cocaine so they become addicts. The pimps also threaten to hurt the girls' loved ones. "They say, 'We'll kill your family.' If they have babies, they say, 'We'll kill your babies,'" said Deputy Sheriff Rick Castro of the San Diego Sheriff's Department. The sex rings are well-organized and many pimps work with relatives - just as the Carretos allegedly did to smuggle girls to Queens. Each ring uses its own route from Tijuana into the United States. Some drive girls across the border flashing counterfeit documents in California. Other sex slaves are slipped across the border on foot and then shuttled by van to brothels through a network of covert safehouses. Still other pimps promise to smuggle the impressionable girls into the United States, telling them they can get jobs as nannies, cooks and maids - making enough money to support their families back home. These traffickers charge the girls as much as $7,500 in illicit crossing fees - but once they get to the United States, the girls are raped and forced into prostitution. By the time the girls realize they have been kidnapped, it's too late for them to escape. "They start going, 'Why aren't we free to leave? ... Why are there men blocking the exit?'" Castro said. A ring of traffickers busted last year forced 50 girls to have sex with 300 to 500 men a day in a field of reeds just north of San Diego. The girls were given a piece of carpet or a towel to lay on, and an egg timer to keep track of their 10-minute sessions. Each man paid $20 for his window of time.
The ring catered to day laborers, and advertised through word of mouth. In New York, the sex slaves' clientele includes illegal immigrants who work long hours to send money back to their families and use what little money they have left to buy illicit pleasure. President Bush's administration has moved aggressively to combat human trafficking, and Bush has mentioned the problem in many major speeches. Despite the growing awareness, anti-trafficking advocates face a daunting task. The victimized girls are reluctant to go to authorities because they feel a crippling sense of shame. Most also are living here illegally and don't trust law enforcement because authorities in their hometowns either profit from the sex-slave trade or do nothing to prevent it. "A lot of people think prostitution is voluntary, and maybe for some women it is," Castro said. "But when you're talking about children or people who were brought in under false pretenses, that's not voluntary. That's something completely different." Seductive lure of bogus ads Mexican sex traffickers deceive countless young women into becoming prostitutes by placing bogus ads in local papers. Here's a look at one of the ads, translated from Spanish: If you are between 18 and 24 years old, like to dance, are a size 3 to 7 ... are pretty and want to get between $6,000 and $20,000, pay attention. We're offering: # A round-trip plane ticket. # A work visa to Canada. # Housing. # Transportation from the hotel to the clubs. # Advice on the law. # Contract for six weeks' work. # Training if you have no experience. Trafficking in Persons: Latin America and the Caribbean Human trafficking is the third most lucrative business in the world, close behind the arms trade and the trade in narcotics. The international community has only recently begun to fully realize the depth and complexity of this problem and its global impact. Moreover, the changing nature of this business has meant that the term is no longer a term reserved only for women and girls forced into prostitution; rather, the modern concept of trafficking is a combination of the definitions used for traditional trafficking and slavery response to the diversity of trafficking practices worldwide. As such, trafficking involves both the enticement and deception elements from traditional trafficking, and the exploitation and slavery-like practices from traditional slavery and forced labor. Today, trafficking involves Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian boys being sold to become camel jockeys in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) children locked in dark, dank rooms make bangles all day long in Mumbai, India; teenage Vietnamese girls sold into prostitution in Bangkok, Thailand; deaf and mute Mexicans forced to peddle trinkets and beg on the streets of New York, U.S.A., turning in all their profits to their traffickers; Nigerian women sold to brothels in the Netherlands and Italy; and Thai men and women held captive and forced to work in sweatshops in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. According to official statistics, between one and two million people are trafficked worldwide each year. The factors giving rise to human trafficking continue to be based on socioeconomic and political factors as well as cultural and socio-economic attitudes towards women in their countries of origin. In other words, although the underlying conditions for human trafficking continue to be poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, the lack of access to economic and political power, discrimination toward the girl child constitute a significant factor in the trafficking of women and children. Women and girls are preferred to men or boys since cultural norms often make them more docile and obedient. In recent years, the international community has come to recognize one additional factor that plays an instrumental role in further condoning the trade of human beings- political conflicts. There are three main ways in which conflicts perpetuate the problem and make women and children far more vulnerable than in relatively 'peacetime' conditions. First, the destruction of all forms of infrastructure, law enforcement institutions and the overall breakdown of the society and the phenomenon of refugees across borders provides the perfect setting for women and children especially to be kidnapped, coerced or swindled by racketeers to established markets. Second, women in post-conflict societies, such as Albanian Kosovars in Kosovo, who have been the victims of rape or other forms of abuse, are reduced in value and status in the eyes of their families and neighbors and are especially vulnerable, making them an easy target for human traffickers. Third, with more and more countries closing its borders and making visas and asylum difficult to obtain, people are forced to turn to trafficking rings to reach safety , thus contributing to the rise in trafficking of persons. The burden of human trafficking is borne by the victims in a plethora of ways. Most governments continue to punish the victim through emphasizing the illegal entry, lack of valid documents, or the act in which they are engaging (e.g. prostitution), without consideration of the human rights violations of the victim, or the act of the trafficker. Victims are often detained and deported back to the countries from which they require protection, or to the conditions which made them vulnerable to traffickers to begin with. Many countries lack the laws or the infrastructure to protect trafficking victims. Government authorities such as police officers, and immigration officials frequently ignore the problem, or facilitate the passage across national borders.
International Protection Prior to 2000 and Its Limitations International involvement in developing protocols and legal protection for victims of human trafficking has been slow. Until 2000, there were five predecessor trafficking agreements: the International Agreement for the Suppression of White Slave Traffic, International Convention for the Suppression of White Slave Traffic, Convention on the Suppression of Traffic in Women and Children, International Convention of the Suppression of the Traffic in Women of Full Age, and the Convention of the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. These agreements never defined trafficking and their scope was limited to the act of enticing or abducting women for prostitution abroad. Trafficking, as was mentioned earlier, does not only lead to sexual exploitation such as prostitution, but also to forced labor in a broad range of contexts including agriculture, domestic servitude, maid service, sweatshops, begging, and marriage. Moreover, a victim can be a man, woman, or child. The focus of trafficking is therefore not limited to certain kinds of labor or victims, but more broadly on the recruitment phase that includes some form of coercion, deception, or fraud, and the slavery phase where severe exploitation and human rights violations occur. This means that the few nations that ratified these early agreements incorporated into their domestic laws a conception of trafficking that is narrow by today' s standards. Following is a summary of the extent of human rights violations involved in this transnational crime and the specific inadequacies that have contributed to the development of the new international legal documents to prevent human trafficking. 1. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide were the first to acknowledge the depth of this transnational crime and exhaustively lobbied their governments on behalf of trafficking victims who had suffered egregious human rights violations and exposed the practices of traffickers. The NGOs raised awareness of traffickers frequently exercise complete control over their victims by seizing travel and identification documents, withholding wages, restricting or banning movement, prohibiting communication with family and friends, taking advantage of language barriers, selling victims to another owner to keep them disoriented, and threatening family members. NGOs also raised awareness about victims' physical trauma of beatings and rapes, forced abortions, starvation, forced drug use, 20-hour workdays, and contraction of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. 2. It is widely projected that the number of trafficking victims will continue to increase in conjunction with rising migration, and therefore must be curbed. Currently, the International Organization for Migration estimates that 150 million people migrate annually in search of economic opportunity or to escape gender discrimination armed conflict, political instability, and poverty. According to an U.S. State Department study, approximately 2 million of these migrants are trafficked each year because traffickers take advantage of migration, crisis, and economic and social disadvantages to procure their victims. The pervasiveness of these conditions ensures the number of trafficking victims will continue to increase, thereby creating an impetus to develop an international agreement on trafficking. 3. Today, nations worldwide view trafficking not only as a human rights issue, but also as an issue of transnational organized crime that requires a global response. Organized crime syndicates have made trafficking the third most profitable illegal industry, behind drugs and arms, estimated at U.S.$7 billion by the International Organization for Migration. Profits are high because traffickers keep their costs low by withholding food, wages, adequate shelter, and health care. Moreover, unlike migrant smuggling, where exorbitant fees may be paid to the smuggler for covert transportation and entry, traffickers extract their fees not only from the transportation but also from the prolonged servitude of their victims. Additionally, trafficking in persons requires sophistication and networks, such as those already established by organized crime. Corrupt police, politicians, banks, and criminals worldwide are part of the network that aids in document fraud, border crossings, money laundering, and the return of escaped victims. Therefore, the increased involvement of organized crime in trafficking created a global law enforcement concern that can only be addressed in a global context. 4. Governments also grapple with prosecuting trafficking cases in the absence of trafficking laws. The United States, for example, relied on the involuntary servitude statute created under the 13th Amendment along with a multitude of criminal charges and civil violations. The United States is the first nation to enact comprehensive legislation that includes trafficking prevention measures, prosecution, and protection and reintegration assistance for victims. Thus far, few nations have enacted laws to combat this growing transnational crime, let alone ones that provide as comprehensive a framework as does U.S. law. 5. The existing body of international trafficking law is inadequate as a tool to combat trafficking. International Documents and Legal Frameworks At the April 1998 session of the UN Commission for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice the United States introduced a resolution on trafficking in women and children. The proposed resolution called for the development of a protocol on trafficking in women and children under the proposed UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Convention). The resulting Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Protocol) is the first comprehensive international anti-trafficking agreement with tough law enforcement and victim protections. Since January 1999, 102 countries have been meeting at the United Nations in Vienna to draft a new Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. The purpose of the Convention was to define areas of law enforcement cooperation, legal procedures and other measures between States relating to all forms of transnational crime. Three "Additional Protocols" were also being drafted that address Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children; Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea; and Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition. There have been three ad hoc sessions during 1999 where the Protocol on the Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children were discussed.
The Trafficking Protocol On November 15, 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted the Organized Crime Convention, which contains a protocol on migrant smuggling and a protocol on trafficking in persons. From December 12-15, 2000, the Convention was opened for signature in Palermo, Italy. The trafficking protocol is the first international instrument to define trafficking, and it does so comprehensively. Under the Protocol, Article 3 defines trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. The Protocol reflects the first international consensus on the definition of trafficking, which is the first step toward a concerted international effort to combat trafficking. Beyond the definition, the true force of the document lies in the law enforcement provisions. Article 5 obligates State Parties to criminalize trafficking, attempted trafficking, participating as an accomplice, and organizing and directing trafficking. Additionally, Article 10 requires law enforcement training to help identify potential trafficking victims and organized crime methods used to traffic individuals. Article 10 also requires an information exchange among law enforcement and immigration officials of State Parties regarding transportation routes, fraudulent documents, and potential traffickers. Articles 11 and 12 mandate strengthened border control measures, such as checking travel documents; boarding vehicles for inspection, and increasing the quality of travel documents to reduce fraud. The mandatory provisions regarding victims are an additional advantage of the Protocol. For example, Article 9 addresses mandatory prevention measures, specifically citing mass media information campaigns, close cooperation with NGOs, and the creation of social and economic incentives. Examples of such incentives include microcredit lending programs, social advancement of women, job training, or tax incentives to start small businesses. In short, such incentives are measures that help alleviate the economic and social pressures that can make people vulnerable to traffickers. State Parties also must undertake measures to alleviate factors that contribute to the vulnerability of women and children to trafficking such as " poverty, underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity." Under Article 6, State Parties also are required to include provisions within their domestic legal frameworks regarding victim compensation and information on legal proceedings. Moreover, legal proceedings must be kept confidential. Article 8 requires State Parties to facilitate the repatriation of citizens or nationals with due regard for the safety of the victim by providing necessary travel documentation and a return without unreasonable delay. The Rome Statute The Rome Statute's recognition of this transnational trade as a punishable crime has further underscored the crucial importance of acknowledging human trafficking as a crime against humanity. The Rome Statute is the first international treaty specifically listing the crime of forced pregnancy and the crime of sexual slavery (articles 7(1) (g), 7(2) (f), 8(2) (b) (xxii) and 8(2) (e) (VI)) and it also established a new definition for enslavement. The Statute adds "trafficking in persons, in particular women and children" to prior definitions of slavery (article 7(2) (c). This, subsequently, brings the crime of trafficking in persons within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean Despite the lack of information available about the extent of the problem in the Americas, a growing number of reports indicate that trafficking to, from, and within the Americas is a significant problem. An estimated 100,000 women and children are trafficked for sexual exploitation annually.7 Political instability and social unrest in some areas have created an environment conducive to traffickers. Since Asias crackdown on sex-tourism, the trade in the Americas has increased at an alarming rate: Approximately 50,000 woman and children are trafficked into the United States annually (CIA) Approximately 35,000 woman are trafficked out of Columbia annually (Interpol) Approximately 50,000 women from the Dominican Republic are working abroad in the sex industry in 1996 (IOM) Approximately 2,000 children are sexually exploited in 600 brothels in Guatemala City (Guatemala City Police) Approximately 500,000 girls are working as prostitutes in Brazil, many are trafficked into the gold mining regions in the Amazon (CBIA) Despite these numbers and growing concern, the issue, victims, and perpetrators remain invisible. A number of governments retain laws keeping women in inferior legal positions: In Chile, the civil code grants husbands control over household decisions and their wives property; in Argentina, Mexico and Columbia, the law establishes a lower age of marriage for girls than for boys; in Venezuela, women could not remarry until ten months after divorce or annulment, unless they proved that they were not pregnant.
Impoverished children are the most vulnerable population throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. They are often tricked or forced into the commercial sex trade. As the most favored destinations for tourists, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Argentina are at the center of a growing sex tourism industry in Latin American and the Caribbean. Regional conflicts throughout the area compound the trafficking problem and have led to the displacement of thousands of women and children. Latin America is also becoming a transit point for trafficked women en route to Europe, North America, and Australia. To trick and/or coerce trafficking victims, criminals in Latin America and Caribbean use tactics similar to those employed by traffickers in Europe, the former Soviet Union and Asia. Disguised as employment agencies, traffickers promise impoverished women and children lucrative jobs abroad. The victims are told they will work as domestic servants, waitresses, cooks, or in other service-related industries. Once overseas, however, their passports are taken and they are forced to work under inhumane conditions in order to repay the traffickers' 'fee.' Victims are often threatened, beaten, and held in seclusion. The Case of Columbia As mentioned earlier, political conflicts play a significant role in creating the fertile grounds for human trafficking to flourish. Local corruption and the complicity of international officials allow a trafficking network to flourish, in which women are tricked, threatened, physically assaulted and sold as chattel. According to the Human Rights Watch report on Bosnia, for example, local Bosnian police officers facilitate the trafficking by creating false documents; visiting brothels to partake of free sexual services; and sometimes engaging in trafficking directly. In addition, as pointed earlier in the case of Kosovo, women who were raped during the war provide an easy resource for human traffickers seeking victims. Given the protracted conflict in Colombia therefore, the question is to what extent political instability has condoned human trafficking in Colombia. According to various sources, Colombia's ongoing conflict and its displacement of millions has increased the trafficking of women - even regionally. There are two types of prostitution trade networks working simultaneously in the country: ones which only work with women from within the country or the regional area, sending women to Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama for sexual exploitation and forced conscription for terrorist groups; the other deals on an exclusively international scale, providing Colombian women for the markets in Spain, Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. According to Interpol, approximately 35,000 women are trafficked out of Colombia every year. Increasing numbers of Colombian women arrive over the border and are convinced by international crime rings to travel to other countries, where they wind up in prostitution. Trafficking rings work by offering a legitimate-sounding job overseas, like working in a nightclub or domestic labor. They give the women money and help for visas and plane fare, and cash to pass as tourists to immigration authorities. Once abroad, they must work as prostitutes to pay a "fee." The time it takes to earn this money is usually longer than the duration of the visa, making the women illegal and more vulnerable. Traffickers threaten their families back home if they disagree with terms. Some are let go after paying the debt; others are kept in captivity. Although the vast majority of the victims are women, men too are trafficked for forced labor. Notwithstanding the rising numbers of women and children being trafficked out of Colombia annually, the July 2001 United States Information Report on human trafficking in the western hemisphere stated that the Government of Colombia meets the minimum standards to combat trafficking in persons despite resource constraints and an inefficient judicial system. A new anti-trafficking law went into effect in July 2001. The new penalty for trafficking is commensurate with the penalty for rape or sexual assault. Between 1998 and 2000, a special sex crimes unit within the Prosecutor General's office investigated 99 cases of trafficking which resulted in at least 13 convictions using existing statutes. The National Police rescued 115 victims in Colombia and abroad from 1999 to 2000. Victims do have access to generally limited government social services. The Government has also instructed its consulates in foreign countries to provide legal and social assistance to victims of trafficking and has contracted 46 legal advisors and 16 social workers to help Colombian victims abroad. The Government participates in anti-trafficking prevention efforts, and works closely with other governments, international organizations, and NGOs. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the Colombian government gender discrimination, economic hardship, and corrupt law enforcement, immigration, and political officials make such prosecutions infrequent. Lack of education, information and resources continues the cycle. International Instruments 1. United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000). For a list of signatories and ratifications see: http://www.undcp.org/odccp/crime_cicp_signatures_trafficking.html. 2. International Labor Organization Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (1999). For a list of ratifications see: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/ratification/map/index.htm 3. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography (2000). For a list of signatories and ratifications see: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/crc/treaties/status-opsc.htm
Sex Slave Trade and Human Trafficking in Africa SEDUCTION, SALE and SLAVERY: TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN & CHILDREN FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA The issue of trafficking in human beings, particularly women and children, is not a new development by any means in Southern Africa. Like elsewhere in the world, it has a history and roots that go way back. What is new is that it is becoming better known. ABBREVIATIONS ASI Anti-Slavery International BIA Blantyre International Airport CBD Central Business District DHA Department of Home Affairs (South Africa) DRC Democratic Republic of Congo IMP International Migration Programme INTERPOL International Criminal Police Organization IOM International Organization for Migration JIA Johannesburg International Airport LIA Lilongwe International Airport LCCU Lesotho Child Counselling Unit MIDSA Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa NGO Non-governmental Organization SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation SADC Southern African Development Community SAMP Southern African Migration Project SAPS South African Police Service UK United Kingdom UN United Nations Organization UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations Childrens Fund US-INS United States Immigration and Naturalization Service ZAR South African Rand TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN & CHILDREN FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA General Overview Hundreds of thousands of women and children who have been trafficked to, from, and through the African continent for at least a hundred years, and for considerably longer if the African slave trade to the Americas can be considered a prelude to the contemporary trafficking phenomenon. Although the slave trade depended primarily on wars, raids, and other chaotic theatres of forced abduction, and contemporary trafficking relies to a greater extent on deception and false promises, with both practices, the victims exploitation was and is facilitated largely by her relocation from a place with which she is familiar to one with which she is not. For the same reason that plantation owners in the Americas preferred slaves from distant Africa, expecting their displacement and resultant disorientation to limit their options, and deter escape, so too do modern traffickers prefer to exploit their victims far from home. Most absorbing for historians, perhaps, is the similarity with respect to the scale of the trades. Between 1540 and 1850, an estimated 15 million Africans were transported to the Americas, while some recent estimates indicate that as many as four million women and children are trafficked worldwide every year. Conducted over a period of seven months, from August 2002 until February 2003, IOMs research assessment of human trafficking in Southern Africa reveals a diverse range of trafficking activity, from the well-known global operations of Chinese Triad societies and Russian and Bulgarian mafias that touch this region as an afterthought, to the local land-border trade in African women and children. The focus of this paper tends towards these latter the trafficking of Africans, by Africans, within and out of Southern Africa about which little is known, and less has been written. Definitions For the purposes of this research study, IOM has relied on the definition of trafficking in persons that is provided in the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime. Article 3 of the Protocol reads as follows: (a) Trafficking in Persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used; (c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered trafficking in persons even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article; (d) Child shall mean any person under eighteen years of age. Despite the apparent wide scope of the UN definition, the range of related criminal activities occurring in Southern Africa often challenged IOM researchers to identify them as human trafficking in the absence of another name for them. At the same time, the research team has been reluctant to follow the global tendency to interpret the trafficking definition too broadly out of a concern that an overly-broad reading, and an attempt to cluster an assortment of other crimes within a trafficking definition may ultimately result in distracting assistance designed for the unique plight of victims of a more narrowly defined trafficking. Background In Southern Africa, documentation is scarce but persistent, and suggests that human trafficking as a contemporary form of slavery has existed for at least a century between Southern Africa and Europe, and within Southern Africa itself. At the turn of the 19th century, young women were being trafficked into Cape Town from Europe as part of, but distinguishable from, an increased flow of European prostitutes to the city. Others were trafficked to South African mines in response to the demand by white mineworkers for European women. In 1966, Jeune Afrique reported that some 6, 000 young African girls were being trafficked to Europe each year, and that many of these ended up as sex slaves in French ports. In 1990, Anti-Slavery International (ASI) confirmed that children from Mozambique were being trafficked into South Africa where they were sold as sex chattels, and a year later, ASI noted fifteen cases of young women and girl children who had been trafficked from Mozambique into South Africa, primarily as concubines for South African men. Most recently, Cape Town-based NGO, Molo Songololo, published one of the first indepth studies of the trafficking phenomenon in South Africa, noting that victims trafficked into South Africa included women and children from all corners of the African continent, and abroad. Vulnerabilities Despite its rising profile in many parts of the world, and periodic efforts made to raise public awareness to the problem in Southern Africa, the region remains fertile ground for traffickers who easily capitalize on the vulnerabilities created by war, endemic poverty, minimal education, unemployment, and a general lack of opportunity for much of the regions population. For women, vulnerabilities are particularly acute, with many having been sexualized and/or commoditized as young girls within the context of cultural practices that challenge their sexual integrity. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is also having its impact, leaving many widows, or orphan-headed households; often teenagers who must provide for a number of younger siblings. Not to be discounted is the effect the regions on-going food crisis has had in exacerbating the vulnerabilities of households, so that it is not uncommon to read stories in the press about parents who have sold their children to passers-by, believing that nowhere could the conditions be worse than here. But poverty, unemployment, or lack of opportunity are not sufficient conditions for trafficking to occur; a criminal syndicate is also typically present to exploit the latent vulnerabilities they create, and so into this tumult steps the trafficker who, like Dr. William Dunlop did in 1810, offers an escape with realistic promises of opportunities abroad. For communities in Southern Africa having to deal with difficult or desperate circumstances, migration seems a natural solution, particularly since so many have returned from South Africa fashionably dressed, with stories of wealth and opportunity to be had in the City of Gold. Organized Crime and Law Enforcement The range of organized criminal activity in Southern Africa is vast, with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) reporting in 1999 that as many as 500 organized criminal groups were operating in South Africa at the time, many with African and global networks which facilitate the cross-border flow of illegal goods and people. Some of the more notorious, such as the West Africa/Nigerian networks, Chinese Triad societies, and the Russian and Bulgarian mafia, are known to manage global trafficking empires, while other, ethnically-coherent enterprises operate on a smaller scale, using their comparative advantage to traffic women and children across a particular border where they have developed a network of official and unofficial contacts. It is not known how much human trafficking profits organized crime in Southern Africa, but the conservative global estimate is approximately US$7 billion per year, making the trade one of the largest sources of profit for organized crime worldwide; only drug trafficking and the weapons trade may be more lucrative. While penalties for drug trafficking and weapons smuggling tend to be severe, many countries have yet to criminalize trafficking in persons, despite the obvious consequence of failing to do so.
The money made from the sexual exploitation and often enslavement of trafficked women enriches transnational criminal networks. Trafficking in women has arguably the highest profit margin and lowest risk of almost any type of illegal activity. The recurrent civil and political unrest and gross economic disparities that characterize Southern Africa have long generated a potent mix of push and pull factors that, when coupled with borders so porous as to be nearly irrelevant, have ensured a consistent southward flow of documented and undocumented migrants. In most cases, victims of trafficking are a nearly indistinguishable part of these flows, typically displaced from their communities or motivated by dreams of stability and prosperity abroad. The women and children that are lured by traffickers are not particularly nave, nor are the choices they make necessarily foolish, and yet the exploitation they endure is severe. Many are trapped by unexpected debt that they are forced to pay off in the sex industry, while for others, there is no pretence of debt; they are slaves, forced into sex work for the financial and/or physical benefit of their masters. In either case, their working hours are long, their right to refuse clients limited, and their freedom of movement non-existent. Most countries in Southern Africa have yet to ratify the Trafficking Protocol, and the absence of domestic anti-trafficking legislation offers law enforcement little incentive to pursue the criminal syndicates responsible for the activity. Indeed, in much of the region, law enforcement officials are unable to distinguish between human trafficking, which concludes with the continued exploitation of the victim, and human smuggling, where a client pays a smuggler to assist him with an undocumented border crossing. Typically, police and immigration officials who do identify trafficking victims are required to treat them within an illegal immigration regime that offers immediate deportation as its primary solution. Southern Africa also offers little in the way of rehabilitative support for trafficked women and children, and the illegal status of most victims gives them little motivation to seek it. Many shelters for battered women in South Africa, for example, require that an applicant produce a South African Identity Document before she is allowed access. Many countries beyond Southern Africa are increasingly concerned by the excessive human rights violations inherent in the exploitation of trafficking victims, as well as substantial profits such exploitation delivers to criminal syndicates, and are implementing legislation aimed at preventing the trade, protecting the victims, and prosecuting the perpetrators. This is an example that the countries of Southern Africa should follow. Objectives and Strategic Framework: Limits and Methodology The impetus for this research was the IOM-sponsored Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) programme. Initiated by IOM and its partners in 1999, MIDSA aims to provide a forum for senior officials from the member-states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to discuss migration issues of common concern. In March 2001, delegates to the MIDSA Workshop in Gaborone, Botswana, identified as a pressing need an assessment on trafficking in persons in the region, and it was pursuant to this request, that IOMs Regional Office for Southern Africa proposed its six-month Research Study on Trafficking in the SADC Region, which was eventually financed through IOMs own funding mechanism. Given the quick-impact nature of the six-month assessment, and the impression created by several Southern African-based NGOs that an ambitious assistance programme was needed sooner rather than later, IOM narrowed the parameters of its research to consider the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation only. Although there is considerable evidence suggesting the existence of trafficking for other kinds of forced labor, and of men, IOM targeted its assessment on trafficking for sexual exploitation of women and children largely because of the extreme vulnerability of such victims, its highly abusive and dehumanizing nature, and the Organizations global expertise in responding to this form of trafficking. IOM chose to focus further on the practice of cross-border trafficking, where the Organization has some comparative advantage, rather than include in-country trafficking with which a number of local NGOs, such as South Africas Molo Songololo, have substantial experience and a considerable field presence. At the outset, IOM assumed that South Africa was the primary country of destination for victims of trafficking in the region, given its pockets of extreme wealth, its first class financial and transportation infrastructure, and the growing influence of organized crime. As a research strategy, then, IOM researchers planned to spend three months in four of South Africas major cities Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, and Pretoria identifying and interviewing victims and other sources whose stories could then be traced back along the trafficking routes to the source countries in the Southern African region. During the second phase of the research, IOM intended to locate source communities in the region to assess the reasons for, and extent of their vulnerability. While this two-part strategy proved successful for the most part, some flexibility was required, and the researchers were often required to return to South Africa during the second phase to fill gaps in the data. As a result, field researchers concentrated on Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, and Swaziland, at the expense of other countries equally deserving of study, such as Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, but about which information was uncovered in South Africa much later. Since the project began in August 2002, IOM has conducted 232 interviews and identified 25 victims, the first of these in October, with the number multiplying exponentially with every succeeding month. The report that follows is divided into two parts. The first part, the Trafficking in African Women and Children, focuses on Refugee Trafficking in South Africa, Child Trafficking from Lesotho, Trafficking from Southern Mozambique, and Malawi as a Source Country. The second part, Extra- Regional Trafficking into South Africa, looks at the Trafficking of Thai, Chinese, and Eastern European Women to South Africa. In each chapter, a trafficking flow is discussed in terms of the conditions contributing to the particular vulnerability of the victim, the recruitment strategies employed by the trafficker, the transportation routes and methods, the end result sexual exploitation and the pressures and mechanisms used to control her. The report concludes with a brief narrative summary, followed by IOMs principal findings and recommendations.
Carried out over a six-month period, beginning in August 2002 and ending in February 2003, this research study does not aim to provide a comprehensive picture of human trafficking in Southern Africa, but rather attempts to construct a snapshot of the trade to which IOM and others may add with future research and operational efforts, and supplemented by recommendations that governments in the region may wish to consider. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY With the surge of publicity that accompanied an official request by then-President Nelson Mandela to have the remains of Saartjie Baartman returned to South Africa in 1994, her story may be the most notorious case of African trafficking never to have been named as such, but a victims experience of recruitment by deception and cross-border transportation for sexual exploitation is one common to millions of women and children worldwide. Southern Africa hosts a diverse range of human trafficking activities, from the global operations of Chinese triad groups and Russian mafia, to the local trade in persons across land borders perpetrated by local syndicates. The regions young women and children are especially vulnerable to the recruitment tactics of traffickers because civil unrest and economic deprivation leave them with few opportunities at home, and makes migration a natural and common solution. South Africa, as the regions most prosperous country, is a credible and appealing lure. As an historical magnet for job-seekers in Southern Africa, its porous borders make it the obvious destination for migrants and asylum-seekers and, when coupled with a flourishing sex industry, for traffickers as well. From August 2002 to February 2003, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) conducted a research study of the trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation in Southern Africa. The methodology was based primarily on interviews with trafficking victims, sex workers, traffickers, police and government officials, grassroots NGOs, and the media. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)s Special Assignment programme was responsible in large part for documenting and researching the cases and trends of trafficking in Mozambique. Elsewhere, IOM researchers conducted 232 interviews, twenty-five of these with trafficked women and children from eleven countries. The major findings may be summarized as follows: Refugees are both victims and perpetrators of trafficking to South Africa. As male refugees encounter unemployment and xenophobia in South Africa, some choose to recruit female relatives from their countries of origin to South Africa. These women are usually 25 years and older, married and have children. Individual refugee traffickers are assisted by ethnically-based refugee syndicates in delivering a recruiting letter to the victim in her country of origin, escorting her to South Africa, and sexually assaulting her as an initiation to sex work should she resist upon arrival. The refugee trafficker takes the earnings the woman receives as a sex worker and, to protect his investment, he assists her in applying for refugee status to prevent deportation if police detain her. In Lesotho, children from rural areas gravitate to Maseru to escape domestic violence, and the effects of HIV/AIDS. As street children, they are coerced or forcibly abducted by white, Afrikaans-speaking men. They are then taken across the border with the consent of border officials to border towns and asparagus farms in the Eastern Free State. They are held captive in private houses where they are sexually and sadistically assaulted over several days by small groups of men. These children are finally returned to the border, or deposited on the streets of towns in the Eastern Free State to find their own way home. Street children in Maseru are also trafficked by long-distance truck drivers, who treat them as sex slaves on their routes. These children travel as far as Cape Town, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. Mozambican victims include both girls and young women, and range in age between 14 and 24. They are offered jobs as waitresses or sex workers in Johannesburg, and pay their traffickers ZAR 500 to smuggle them across the border in minibus taxis either at Komatipoort, or Ponta do Ouro. They stay in transit houses along South Africas border with Mozambique and Swaziland for one night where they will be sexually assaulted as an initiation for the sex work that awaits them. Once in Johannesburg, some are sold to brothels in the central business district (CBD) for ZAR 1000. Others are sold as slaves on private order for ZAR 550, or shopped around to mineworkers on the West Rand as wives for ZAR 650. An estimated 1000 Mozambican victims are recruited, transported, and exploited in this way every year, earning traffickers approximately ZAR 1 million annually. Malawi is characterized by three different trafficking flows. Firstly, Malawian businesswomen recruit young women to pursue employment or educational opportunities in Europe. Sometimes payment is made to the womans parents. Upon arrival in the Netherlands, the woman is sold to a Nigerian madam for US$10 000, and told that she must work as a sex-worker to pay off a debt of US$40 000. The Nigerian madam will ask for her underwear, hair, and nail clippings in a ritual that threatens death by magic if the woman does not cooperate. The woman is then sold to another Nigerian agent from Belgium, Germany, or Italy, or rented to local brothels. One brothel in the Netherlands brands with an identifying mark the sex slaves who work there. If the woman does not perform sexually to the satisfaction of the brothel owner, she is beaten, and given sex lessons, or resold. Secondly, both girls and boys may be recruited in the holiday resorts along Lake Malawi by European sex tourists, who pay money to the childrens parents with promises of educational opportunities in Europe. These children may be featured in pornographic videos that are transmitted over the Internet with the childrens names and contact details included. In Europe, the children may be sexually exploited in private homes, or sold to pedophile rings. Thirdly, women and girl children are recruited along major transportation routes in Malawi by long distance truckers who promise marriage, jobs, or educational opportunities in South Africa. Once in Johannesburg, a girl or young woman is held as the traffickers sex slave in a flat in the CBD, and he will bring clients to the flat that will pay him to have sex with the victim. Malawian businesswomen also traffic overland women and girl children to brothels in Johannesburg.
Recruited by Thai agents in Thailand, victims may be unwitting young women from rural Thailand, or ageing female sex workers from Bangkok. The former are promised restaurant jobs in South Africa, while the latter are told of the money to be earned in sex work. They travel by air, either directly from Bangkok, or through Hong Kong, Kuala Lampur, and Singapore to Johannesburg International Airport (JIA), where they are met by a Thai or South African agent who sells them to brothels throughout the country. Victims from Thailand are told that they must earn US$7500 for their freedom, and they are confined and forced to work 12 16 hours a day, even when ill, until the debt is repaid. South African clients may marry victims by buying their contracts, although some are forced to continue doing sex work after the marriage to earn profits for their husbands. Triad-linked Chinese or Taiwanese agents recruit Chinese women by promising work in Chinese-owned businesses in South Africa, or the prospect of studying in English language schools. Women may even pay to have themselves smuggled out of China. When recruited to work in Chinese-owned restaurants, clubs, or on fishing vessels in South Africa, they are forced into sex work indefinitely. If they come to South Africa to study English, they are often allowed to complete their courses before being told that they have a US$12 500 debt that they must repay with sex work. In either case, these Chinese women have no freedom of movement, and their traffickers take their earnings. In addition to being a destination country for Chinese trafficking victims, South Africa is also a transit country for others who are transported onwards to Europe or the United States. Russian and Bulgarian mafias traffic Russian and other Eastern European women on South African visas fraudulently obtained in Moscow to upscale South African brothels. These Eastern European women are promised jobs as waitresses, dancers, strippers, and hostesses in South Africa, but are not told that they must pay a debt of US$2000 per month for six months or more as sex workers until they arrive in South Africa. If they refuse to cooperate, they and their families at home are threatened with violence. Despite the immense profit trafficking for sexual exploitation generates for criminal syndicates, and the lawlessness and social and political disarray to which they contribute, this contemporary slave trade in women and children has yet to be addressed adequately in Southern Africa. To curtail trafficking in persons in the region requires that the different states involved cooperate to criminalize the trade, share information, protect victims, prosecute traffickers, and raise public awareness in source, transit, and destination countries. Just as organized crime exploits the opportunities and openness of globalization to extend this modern slave trade, so must States, intergovernmental agencies, and civil society exploit that same advantage to turn moral condemnation into collective action. CONCLUSION There is an immense diversity of trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation in Southern Africa. Victims are African, Asian, and European, from urban and rural backgrounds, some with substantial levels of education and others with little. They are predominantly female, although where children are targeted specifically, boys are among those recruited. They include Basotho children as young as 12 and refugee woman as old as 44. Their traffickers are as varied, both women and men, with some engaged in a once-off effort to exploit commercially a female relative as a means of survival, and others conducting small, but regular, land border trafficking as part of larger operations to smuggle undocumented migrants into South Africa. Still others are linked to the multi-million dollar trade in women and children that touches Southern Africa as an afterthought, or see it as a useful transit point to final destinations in Europe and North America. Nine distinct operations have been identified in Southern Africa: 1. Trafficking of women from refugee-producing countries to South Africa; 2. Trafficking of children from Lesotho to towns in the Eastern Free State of South Africa; 3. Trafficking of women and girls from Mozambique to Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal; 4. Trafficking of women from Malawi to Northern Europe; 5. Trafficking of girl and boy children from Malawi to Northern Europe; 6. Trafficking of women and girls from Malawi to South Africa overland; 7. Trafficking of women from Thailand to South Africa; 8. Trafficking of women from China to South Africa; 9. Trafficking of Eastern European women to South Africa. Although there is considerable variation both in the profiles of trafficked women and children, and the profiles of their traffickers, the tactics used to recruit, transport, and exploit victims remains similar. In most cases, women and children are lured with promises of employment or educational opportunities abroad; offers made appealing and credible within the context of historical migration patterns in the region which flow southwards to the relative prosperity of South Africa, or northwards to Europe. Only sometimes are their situations absolutely desperate. More often, the transnational communication and transportation networks that are the hallmarks of globalization have allowed them an awareness of opportunities that exist elsewhere, and cross-border migration, whether documented or not, is seen as a viable means of reaching for them. Their sexual exploitation is facilitated largely by their relocation from a place with which they are familiar to one with which they are not, and is no less a violation of basic human rights than the exploitation experienced by Saartjie Baartman in Europe in 1810. They are slaves, treated and traded as chattel in the 21st century. Despite the immense profit that trafficking for sexual exploitation generates for criminal syndicates, and the lawlessness and social and political disarray to which they contribute, this contemporary slave trade in women and children has yet to be adequately addressed in the SADC region. To curtail trafficking in persons requires that states cooperate to criminalize the trade, share information, protect victims, prosecute traffickers, and raise public awareness in source, transit, and destination countries.
In Southern Africa, trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation is not perpetrated by any one group, nor are its victims from any single country or territory. It is a cross-border trade that succeeds because vulnerable women and children may be found anywhere and everywhere, and because of the expedient cooperation of recruiters, transporters, and exploiters, all of who are traffickers. * Just as organized crime exploits the opportunities and openness of globalization to extend this modern slave trade, so must States, intergovernmental agencies, and civil society exploit that same advantage to turn moral condemnation into collective action. * UN Trafficking Protocol, article 3(a): Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons. FINDINGS General Findings 1. Trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation is a significant problem in Southern Africa. 2. Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia are source countries for trafficking activities in Southern Africa. Thailand, China, and Eastern Europe are the extra-regional sources for victims trafficked to South Africa. 3. Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are transit countries for trafficking activities. 4. South Africa is the destination country for regional and extra-regional trafficking activities. 5. Trafficking victims from the region are recruited by deception, coercion, and force. Extra-regional victims are recruited by deception. 6. Victims from the region are transported primarily overland, while extra-regional victims are transported by air. 7. The exploitation suffered by African victims in South Africa ranges from exploitation for the personal sexual gratification of the trafficker, sexual exploitation for the financial benefit of the trafficker, and forced marriage for sexual and labor exploitation. 8. The exploitation suffered by extra-regional victims is primarily for the financial benefit of the trafficker, and occurs at brothels throughout South Africa. 9. When identified by police in South Africa, victims of trafficking are deported as illegal immigrants without being questioned about their experiences. 10. Victims are afraid of law enforcement, and do not trust police to assist them. 11. South Africa has no public services specifically designed to assist victims of trafficking. 12. The absence of specific legislation criminalizing trafficking in persons in Southern Africa is a main obstacle preventing police and prosecutors from investigating the practice, and charging the perpetrators. 13. The trafficker recruits as a survival mechanism: vulnerable prey on the more vulnerable. 14. The trafficker is a close family relation or best friend of the victim. 15. Traffickers have refugee status in South Africa, and have been in South Africa for more than one year. 16. Victims come primarily from refugee-producing countries in Africa. 17. South Africa-based refugee clan members will deliver a recruitment letter, and escort the victim to South Africa. 18. Victims travel undocumented, with no single route, as part of general migration flows. 19. The victim sells all she has to pay for transport, expecting to remit money to her family at home following her arrival in South Africa. 20. The clan is an ethnically-based criminal syndicate involved in recruitment, transportation and exploitation/captivity. 21. Exploitation occurs in private accommodation or on the street. 22. Each trafficker exploits one trafficked woman, and she is almost always a family relation. 23. Victims are married women between the ages of 25 and 44, with children. 24. Victims are required to earn ZAR 250+ each night [approximately US$31], all of which is taken by their traffickers. 25. Victims are male and female street children from Maseru. 26. Traffickers are white, Afrikaans-speaking men; and long-distance truck drivers. 27. Half of all victims are forcibly abducted in Maseru, while the other half are recruited with job offers. 28. Physical and sexual abuse at home, or the death of a parent from AIDS, forces children from rural areas and border towns to Maseru. 29. Victims trafficked by long-distance truck drivers are taken as far as Cape Town, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. 30. Victims recruited by white men are taken individually, and also in groups of two to four. 31. Victims recruited by white men are transported between 20 and 150 kms from Maseru in private vehicles. Corruption of officials at border post facilitates the trafficking process. 32. Victims recruited by white men are taken to private homes in the small towns of the Eastern Free State, asparagus farms in the border region, and Bloemfontein. 33. Victims are locked up in private houses for 3 to 7 days, and suffer sadistic sexual, physical, and verbal abuse, and food deprivation. 34. All sexual assaults are perpetrated by groups of two to four white men in a ritual male bonding and as a feeding frenzy for fantasies of hatred, humiliation, and revenge. 35. Abuse of victims is not about sex or money, but power and control, and the need to humiliate, punish and exploit. 36. Victims dumped on the streets of border towns of the Eastern Free State, and make their way back to Maseru on their own.
37. Victims come from rural and urban backgrounds, from Maputo and Nampula provinces. 38. Victims are of three types: (i) sex worker victims in Maputo who are offered sex work in Johannesburg; (ii) victims who are not sex workers who are offered restaurant jobs; and (iii) victims recruited at taxi ranks in Maputo wishing to be transported to Johannesburg. 39. Victims are recruited by Mozambican women, working in partnership with Mozambican and South African men responsible for transportation of victims and exploitation. 40. Victims are transported by mini-bus taxi from Maputo to Komatipoort to Johannesburg, Maputo to Ponta do Ouro to Johanesburg, or Maputo to Ponta do Ouro to Durban. 41. Mini-bus taxis transport victims together with other undocumented migrants. 42. For victims taken by way of Komatipoort, they will spend one night in transit houses in Mpumalanga near the Mozambican and/or Swaziland border where their documents and personal possessions are taken, and they are sexually assaulted to initiate and intimidate them into sex work. 43. Transit houses are well known to the local population and police. 44. Victims taken through Ponta do Ouro border crossing are taken directly to Johannesburg or Durban, and do not spend a night in a transit house. 45. Upon arrival in Johannesburg, victims who were expecting restaurant jobs are taken to transit houses in Soweto and Lenasia before being sold. 46. Sex worker victims are sold to brothels in Johannesburg CBD for ZAR 1000 [approximately US$125]. 47. Victims who were promised restaurant jobs are sold on private order in Johannesburg for ZAR 550 [approximately US$68], or sold as wives to mineworkers on the West Rand for ZAR 650 [approximately US$80, and for ZAR 950 [approximately US$119] outside Gauteng. 48. IOM estimates that at least 1000 Mozambican victims are recruited, transported, and exploited in this way every year, earning traffickers approximately ZAR 1 million annually [approximately US$125 000]. 49. The same recruitment, transportation, and exploitation methods are used to bring victims from Botswana, and Zimbabwe through Botswana, to South Africa. 50. Trafficking in Malawi is characterized by three distinct trafficking flows: (i)victims trafficked to Europe; (ii) land border trafficking to South Africa; and (iii) victims trafficked by sex tourists. 51. Traffickers are Malawian businesswomen with links to Nigerian criminal syndicates in Europe. Other Malawian women are married to Nigerian nationals living in Malawi. 52. Victims are Malawian and Zambian, and are between 15 and 26 years old. 53. Victims are recruited from Lilongwe with offers of jobs in fashion, sales, fruit factories, hotels, and restaurants in Europe. 54. Victims stay with their traffickers for one to seven weeks in houses in Lilongwe prior to departure. 55. The trafficker pays every expense, and victims travel on passports that have been fraudulently obtained for them by the trafficker. 56. Victims leave in groups of three or four, and travel from Lilongwe or Blantyre to Amsterdam, by way of Johannesburg, Frankfurt, London, and/or Brussels. From Amsterdam, victims are taken to cities and towns by train, and are sold to Nigerians for US$10 000 per victim. 57. Victims are told that they must do sex work to repay a debt of US$40 000 each. 58. Within a week of arrival, the Nigerian trafficker conducts a ritual to convince victims that she can kill them with magic. 59. Nigerian madam sells victims to Nigerian agents from Germany, Belgium, and Italy, or rents them to local brothels. Nigerian madam is obliged to take a particular victim back if she is uncooperative. 60. Victims endure abusive conditions of sexual slavery, and must do anything the client demands. If they are uncooperative, they are beaten by the Nigerian trafficker. 61. One brothel in the Netherlands brands trafficking victims just below the left collarbone with an identifying mark. 62. If victims do not perform sexually to the satisfaction of the brothel owner or clients, they are given sex lessons. 63. Victims can be resold after they have paid off the US$40 000. 64. Victims are boys and girls all under the age of 18 years. 65. Victims live in tourist spots in districts of Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Salima , Monkey Bay, and Mangochi. 66. Victims are recruited with gifts and money by male and female sex tourists from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and are lured into sexual relationships with them while in Malawi. 67. Victims feature in pornographic videos that are distributed over the Internet. The names and contact details of the victims are included. 68. The sex tourist trafficker gives the childs parents expensive gifts, including money, and offer employment and educational opportunities for the victim in Europe. 69. In Europe, victims are kept as personal sex slaves by the trafficker or distributed to pedophile rings. 70. Traffickers are long-distance truck drivers, and Malawian businesswomen. 71. Victims live in border towns and along transportation routes. 72. Victims are between 14 and 24 years old. 73. Victims are recruited with offers of marriage, study, or employment in South Africa. 74. They cross borders without documentation, and enter South Africa through Beitbridge or Komatipoort.
75. The trucker-trafficker takes his victim to a flat in Johannesburgs CBD, where she is kept as his personal sex slave, or he rents them out for sex to his friends. 76. Malawian businesswomen sell victims to Johannesburg brothels. 77. Trucker-traffickers gang rape or murder victims who resist. 78. Of the 80 people deported from South Africa to Malawi every month, at least two are trafficking victims. 79. Approximately seventy per cent of victims trafficked from Thailand are 25 to 35 year old sex workers who have limited earning power in Bangkok, and are recruited with offers of greater earnings in South Africa. The remaining thirty per cent of victims are non-sex workers, and are recruited with offers of jobs as waitresses, cleaners, and au pairs in South Africa. 80. The trafficker makes all arrangements for victims travel. 81. Victims travel from Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lampur, and Singapore to enter South Africa at Johannesburg International Airport on a visa-free regime. 82. Once in South Africa, victims become the responsibility of Thai mama-sans or male agents, and are told that they are expected to pay ZAR 60 000 debt within 6 months [approximately US$7500]. 83. Victims are forced to work 12 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week. They have no freedom of movement, and all earnings are taken as debt-repayment, and are divided among Thai agents, Thai mama-sans, and South African brothel owners. 84. Victims are circulated among brothels throughout South Africa. 85. South African clients marry victims from Thailand by purchasing their contracts, and may force them to continue doing sex work so they can keep the profits. 86. Traffickers bribe immigration officials to extend the legal stay of victims in South Africa. 87. IOM estimates that between 800 and 1100 victims recruited from Thailand are trafficked into South Africa every year. 88. Victims may be recruited actively by Chinese or Taiwanese agents with links to Triad groups for work in Chinese-owned businesses, or to study in English language schools, or they may have paid to have themselves smuggled out of China. 89. Victims come from southern China, and enter South Africa through Johannesburg International Airport, or over the land borders from Lesotho or Mozambique. They arrive with tourist visas, study permits, or false Japanese passports. 90. Victims recruited to work in restaurants, clubs, and on ships with exclusive Chinese clientele are forced into sex work indefinitely. 91. Victims who come to study at English language schools are told that they must pay at debt of ZAR 75 000 100 000 as sex workers [approximately US$9400 12 500]. 92. Victims have no freedom of movement and all their earnings go directly the restaurant orclub, or in payment of the debt. 93. South Africa is a transit country for trafficked women to Europe and the United States. 94. Traffickers in Russia and Eastern Europe recruit women for Russian and Bulgarian organized crime syndicates based in South Africa. 95. Victims are Russian or other Eastern European professional women between the ages of 18 and 35. 96. Victims are lured to South Africa with job offers as waitresses, dancers, strippers, and hostesses. Few victims are aware that they will be doing sex work. 97. Victims travel from Moscow to major Western European capitals and then to Johannesburg International Airport. Occasionally, traffickers route victims through Maseru International Airport, before transporting them across the border into South Africa by land. 98. South African visas are fraudulently obtained in Moscow. 99. In South Africa, victims are told of a debt burden they owe the traffickers, and that they must do sex work to pay it. If they resist, they and their families in the country of origin are threatened with violence. 100.Victims are placed in up-market brothels in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and must pay US$2000 per month for six months. RECOMMENDATIONS Legal Framework and Policy Development 1. Sign, ratify, and implement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. 2. National legislation on trafficking in persons should, at a minimum,: define precisely the crime of trafficking in accordance with international standards, and include expressly all exploitative practices covered by the international definition of trafficking such as debt bondage, forced labor, and forced prostitution; ensure that definitions of trafficking reflect the need for special safeguards and care for children, including appropriate legal protection; ensure that trafficked persons are not punished for any offenses or activities related to them having been trafficked, such as prostitution and immigration violations; ensure that victims of trafficking are protected from summary deportation, or return where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that such return would represent a significant security risk to the trafficked person or to his/her family; consider temporary or permanent residency in countries of transit or destination for trafficking victims in exchange for testimony against alleged traffickers, or on humanitarian and compassionate grounds; ensure that victims of trafficking are offered the possibility of obtaining compensation for damages suffered; provide for proportional criminal penalties to be applied to persons found guilty of trafficking in aggravating circumstances, including offenses involving trafficking in children or offenses committed or involving complicity by State officials; and
provide for the confiscation of the instruments and proceeds of trafficking, and related offenses, to be used for the benefit of trafficked persons. 3. Identify a national government official as the countrys trafficking focal point, and establish a National Task Force on Trafficking in Persons that brings together relevant ministries, agencies, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and representatives of civil society to develop and implement policy to combat trafficking. 4. Develop guidelines and procedures for relevant State authorities and officials involved in the detection, detention, reception and processing of irregular migrants, to permit the rapid and accurate identification of trafficked persons, and ensure that special procedures are in place for the rapid identification of trafficked children. 5. Create a specialized police unit or task force, rather than local police forces, to deal with trafficking cases, including both trafficking investigations and the protection of victims from reprisals. 6. Recognize the important contribution that victims of trafficking can, on a voluntary basis, make to investigations of trafficking and organized crime. 7. Strengthen training for law enforcement personnel, immigration and customs officials, prosecutors and judges, and other relevant officials on the prevention of trafficking, prosecuting the traffickers, and protecting the rights of victims, including child victims. 8. Standardize the collection of statistical information and field data on trafficking, and related movements, such as irregular migration and migrant smuggling, which may include a trafficking element. 9. Ensure the disaggregation of migration data on the basis of age, gender, nationality, date and place of entry and departure, place of visa renewal, overstay, and deportation. 10. Facilitate access to victims of trafficking for intergovernmental agencies and non-governmental agencies for interview and assistance purposes. 11. Establish direct channels of communication within and between countries linking investigators, law enforcement agencies, regional and intergovernmental agencies. 12. Develop and disseminate information materials on trafficking in persons that focus on raising public awareness. 13. Together with intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, develop the capacity of reception centres to receive trafficked persons by providing physical security, basic material assistance, medical care, psychological counselling, and legal assistance to victims. 14. The provision of shelter and assistance should not be made contingent on the willingness of victims to give evidence in criminal proceedings. 15. Develop special witness protection measures to secure trafficking victim witnesses against reprisals. 16. Establish a fund to provide for the voluntary return and reintegration of victims of trafficking to their countries of origin. 17. Adopt policies and programmes specifically designed to protect and support child victims of trafficking. 18. Adopt regional and bi-lateral agreements aimed at preventing trafficking, and protecting the rights and dignity of trafficked persons. 19. Develop procedures and protocols for judicial cooperation and the conduct of joint investigations by law enforcement authorities of concerned states within the region. 20. Introduce standard procedures within the region for the voluntary return and reintegration of victims of trafficking in their countries of origin, and the extradition of traffickers for prosecution. 21. Establish and maintain regular contact with national focal points in the region on all issues pertaining to trafficking operations and victim assistance.
Sex Slave Trade, Good For Some Fifty thousand women and children trafficked each year into the United States for sexual exploitation is a modest estimate based on no facts, according to a new human rights report. Hypocrisy in Bush policies knowing no bounds, we pay other countries to defeat human trafficking, as we shortchange our domestic anti-trafficking programs, and then turn around and let our most egregious allies off the hook. These are the Tier 3 countries identified in the State Department's 2005 "Trafficking in Persons Report": Bolivia, Burma, Cambodia, Cuba, Ecuador, Jamaica, Kuwait, North Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Togo, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela. Tier 3 means they are worse than the Tier 2 Watch List, which is bad enough: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belize, Benin, Cameroon, China, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Greece, Guinea, Haiti, India, Mauritius, Mexico, Nicaragua, Niger, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Suriname, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe. Once a country hits the Tier 2 Watch List, it can either slide into Tier 3 or improve itself and next year return to Tier 2, which is still bad. At the top of the heap are the Tier 1 countries, and those are bad, too. The United States doesn't list itself, conveniently, but then the purpose of the Lists are to qualify or disqualify countries for financial aid. Then again, the US doesn't fund its own anti-trafficking programs all that well. The US does report on anti-trafficking efforts within its borders. However, a new report issued by Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, "Sex Trafficking of Women in the United States: International and Domestic Trends," shows the 50,000 women and children trafficked each year into the United States, as estimated by the US government, is not based on systematic research into contemporary trafficking. The Coalition's investigation went into both international and domestic trafficking of women for sex in the United States based on primary research with victims. The Bush administration's policy of cutting U.S. aid to countries who do not actively work to diminish human trafficking is showing its loopholes and apparently Tier 3 status hasn't interfered. WASHINGTON -- President Bush decided Wednesday to waive any financial sanctions on Saudi Arabia, Washington's closest Arab ally in the war on terrorism, for failing to do enough to stop the modern-day slave trade in prostitutes, child sex workers and forced laborers. In June, the State Department listed 14 countries as failing to adequately address trafficking problems, subjecting them all to possible sanctions if they did not crack down. Of those 14, Bush concluded that Bolivia, Jamaica, Qatar, Sudan, Togo and the United Arab Emirates had made enough improvements to avoid any cut in U.S. aid or, in the case of countries that get no American financial assistance, the barring of their officials from cultural and educational events, said Darla Jordan, a State Department spokeswoman. Cambodia and Venezuela were not considered to have made similar adequate improvements. But Bush cleared them nonetheless to receive limited assistance, for such things as combatting trafficking. In the case of Venezuela _ which has had a tense relationship with the United States under the leadership of President Hugo Chavez, one of Latin America's most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy _ Bush also allowed funding for strengthening the political party system and supporting electoral observation. As many as 800,000 people are bought and sold across national borders annually or lured to other countries with false promises of work or other benefits, according to the State Department. Most are women and children. World Awareness The plight of women and children being sold into sex slavery around the world is being highlighted as part of International Women's Day. An estimated two million women and children are sold into the sex trade every year, the U.S. research group Protection Project states. Launching a report by the group, U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski described the sex trade as "a repugnant and despicable practice that has no place in the 21st century." She said: "No human being anywhere in the world should be regarded as a commodity." Former U.S. President Bill Clinton sponsored a law last year toughening the penalty for human trafficking. Trafficking in young girls The ground-breaking law offers protection and an opportunity for permanent residency for victims who testify against those who enslave them. Calls for similar laws to be introduced in Europe are also being made to coincide with International Women's Day. Up to 120,000 women are smuggled into western Europe, mainly from central and eastern Europe, and forced into prostitution. A report by the Protection Project, based at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland, has documented the rising trends in the sex slave trade. It says more than 15,000 women are trafficked into the United States every year, many of them young girls from Mexico. The project also claims that Asian women are sold to brothels in North America for $16,000 each. Almost 200,000 girls from Nepal, many of them under the age of 14, are working as sex slaves in India. An estimated 10,000 women from the former Soviet Union have been forced into prostitution in Israel. The Thai government reports that 60,000 Thai children have been sold into prostitution. As many as 10,000 children aged between six and 14 are virtually enslaved in brothels in Sri Lanka. Some 20,000 women and children from Burma have been forced into prostitution in Thailand. The project also says that of 155 cases of forced prostitution brought before the courts in The Netherlands, only four resulted in convictions of the traffickers. The Protection Project is compiling a database on laws on trafficking, forced prostitution, slavery and debt bondage in 190 independent states and 63 dependencies.
Kidnap fears in Britain In Britain, details are surfacing of dozens of teenage girls in the care of social services who may have been kidnapped by organised gangs and forced to work as prostitutes abroad, mainly in Italy. The girls in question are child asylum seekers from Africa, who enter the care of West Sussex social services after arriving at Gatwick Airport in the south of England. A West Sussex council spokesman said: "It is true to say that a certain number of asylum seekers, minors, have gone missing from social services care. We believe they may have been taken by gangs abroad. "We have always done as much as we can to prevent this happening, but we cannot force people to stay inside all the time. "We are reducing the numbers who are going missing by working very closely with all the agencies, including the police. We are doing everything in our power to stop this." From Amnesty International Amnesty International has received information indicating that in many instances women trafficked from FSU countries are literally bought and sold for large sums of money, often in auctions where they are purchased by the highest bidder. Some are held in debt bondage where they are forced to work to pay off large sums of money. Some women are kidnapped against their will in FSU countires or are lured to Israel under false pretences, and brought to work in the sex industry. Their "owners" restrict their movements in order to prevent them from leaving. There are many reports of women being imprisoned by their "owners" in locked houses and apartments and prevented from going out unaccompanied. There are also frequent reports of trafficked women's passports and other travel documents being taken away by their "owners" in order to prevent them from leaving the country. In some cases, the misappropriation by "owners" of the women's means of identification is also used to force them into the sex industry. Anna's story "I don't know the outcome of the trial. I only know that Arthur [the pimp] is at liberty. I talked to him on the phone. When the police arrested us they did not allow us to take our things with us, so they are still there. Arthur knows my address in St Petersburg and my telephone number because he kept my passport. I have a small daughter, eight years old there. He threatened that he would find me in Russia, at home, if I did not do what he wanted me to." Anna, a 31-year-old physics teacher from St Petersburg in the Russian Federation arrived in Israel on a tourist visa in October 1998. She had been lured to Israel by the promise of a job earning US$1,000 a month, 20 times her salary in the Russian Federation. The Israeli national who had offered her the job made it clear that she would be involved in the sex industry, but promised her good working conditions. She was completely unprepared for the treatment that awaited her. Anna was met at the airport and taken to an apartment. Her passport was taken from her and she was locked in the apartment with six other women from FSU countries. She was auctioned twice. On the second occasion she was bought for US$10,000 and taken to work in Haifa, where she was held together with two other women. The apartment in which she was held had bars on the windows. The women were rarely allowed to leave the apartment and never allowed out alone. Much of the money that they earned was taken from them in "fines", money extorted from them by their pimps. In March 1999 Anna was arrested for involvement in prostitution after a police raid on the apartment where she was being held. In court the police alleged that Anna had signed statements admitting to involvement in prostitution -- but all the documents were in Hebrew, a language Anna neither reads nor writes. She later discovered that she had been accused of running a brothel. Anna was held at the Kishon detention centre for almost a month awaiting deportation. During that time she was not allowed to talk to the Russian Consul. The reason for her detention was apparently that the authorities wanted her to testify against the pimp. But the authorities never told Anna this or asked for her consent to act as a witness. Here is the transcript from the famous "Girls for Sale", an ABC expose' on women trafficking and porstitution in Israel. Golan purchases the women, who receive, he says, their tips and $250 a week until they pay back their purchase price. Often it takes up to a year. Golan deducts other fees for clothes or breaking the rules so that sometimes he pays them nothing. Frequently owners like Golan resell the girls every few months so they can never pay off their debt. A beautiful woman, Golan says, can have between 10 and 15 clients a night, each of whom pays about $50 for half an hour of sex. His best customers may surprise youOrthodox Jews. The business is profitable. On a good day, Golan can gross as much as $20,000. Sources tell 20/20, organized crime is heavily involved. (interviewing) I understand you have important friends. CYNTHIA MCFADDEN (VO) And yet, the young women rarely go to the police. Golans women are constantly guarded, lest they, as he put it, escape. Police sources told us there are many other reasons. The young women are in the country illegally and many grew up in the former Soviet Union fearing the police. In addition, sometimes organized crime figures have threatened to harm them or their families if they talk. (interviewing) How many Russian girls would you say the police have arrested and taken downtown to be deported? JACOB GOLAN From my place? Last two years, around 100. CYNTHIA MCFADDEN A hundred young women from your place taken to be deported? CYNTHIA MCFADDEN (VO) Never arrested, yet engaged in an illegal business, prostitution. And the fact that he is buying and selling women? As shocking as it may seem, an Israeli law professor told us Israel has no law specifically prohibiting the sale of humans. And an Israeli prosecutor told us that has crippled his efforts to combat the problem. But being in the country without the proper papers is against the law. So the pimps and traffickers continue to operate and the young women continue to get deported. How does Golan stay in business? He told us about corruption inside the Israeli interior ministry, the very department charged with monitoring this area.
CYNTHIA MCFADDEN (VO) Golan told us he pays his contact in the Interior Department $1,000 for fake Israel identification papers for each girl. CYNTHIA MCFADDEN (VO) And yet, the trafficking goes on. (interviewing) With all due respect, the israeli solution seems to be to deport them, not to shut down the brothels, not to arrest the pimps, not to protect the girls, not to deal with the criminal activity thats happening inside this country. CYNTHIA MCFADDEN How can you put the responsibility on them? How could they possibly know before they come here that they are going to essentially be sold into slavery and beaten and forced to work and sleep in the same beds? RAFI COHEN (Through translator) Before I visit a foreign country, I plan it in advance. CYNTHIA MCFADDEN (VO) Jacob Golan is doing so well hes expanding his operation, which means soon hell be buying even more young women, he hopes from the former Soviet Union. DIANE SAWYER Since our report aired a year ago, Jacob Golan, who said he had never been arrested, was arrested for running a brothel. He spent just one day in jail and the charges were eventually dropped. Were told Golan is still in business and the business is apparently thriving. Dismantling the Sex-Slave trade Although men and women are capable of engaging in clandestine mating, this does not mean that the sex slave trade is either "good" or "inevitable." Laymen unfamiliar with the basic tenets of the evolutionary sciences often commit what academics call the "naturalistic fallacy," the tendency to believe that what is "natural" is also "good." However, the naturalistic fallacy is just that: a fallacy. For example, just because most mammals are territorial and warlike, it does not follow that war is "good." Using the same logic: despite the fact that many women are genetically predisposed to risk illegal immigration, despite the fact that sex slave traffickers are predisposed to take advantage of strict immigration policies, and despite the fact that men have a natural taste for sexual variety, it does not follow that society should condone the sex slave trade. Nor does brain architecture suggest that the sex slave trade is inevitable. On the contrary, this social ill can be cured. I propose several reasons for an optimistic future. Foremost, humans have evolved a sophisticated brain mechanism to direct, even overcome, basic drives, what I call "mind," what others call the"self," the "ego," or the "psyche." Mind, I hypothesize, resides, in part, in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. This region lies directly behind the forehead; it more than tripled in size during the course of human evolution. Neuroscientists call the prefrontal cortex the "central executive" or the "crossroads of the mind" because it is connected to almost every other part of the brain and body and it is devoted to processing information. With this part of the brain, we collect myriad bits of data. We order and weigh them as they accumulate. We put them into patterns. We reason hypothetically. We analyze contingencies. We consider options. We plan for the future. We make decisions. Philosopher John Dewey once said, "mind is a verb." I agree. The mind does something. We think. We act in sui generis ways. Neuroscientists believe that other regions of the brain are also involved in mind. Among them may be the "Orientation Association Area" which resides in the parietal lobe of the cortex. These and other neural regions enable humans to watch and assess the multimedia "movie in the brain." So with the evolution of the human prefrontal cortex, the Orientation Association Area (and undoubtedly many other linked brain regions) our hominid ancestors acquired a brain mechanism that enabled them to make decisions, even override the potent brain circuits for lust, romantic attraction, and long-term attachment. In short, biology predisposes women to take risks to gain resources for their future offspring. Biology predisposes some men and women to take advantage of strict immigration laws to prey on vulnerable young women. Biology predisposes men to seek sexual variety, thereby supporting the sex slave trade. But with their uniquely human minds, women can find alternatives to gain economic stability for their families, and men can find alternative means to assuage their libidos. We need to provide both sexes with alternative solutions to satisfy their needs. One solution is to liberalize immigration rules and enable more young women from poor countries to migrate legally and cheaply. Another solution is to provide women with greater economic and educational opportunities in their own countries. In fact, this is beginning to happen. Data from a 1995 report by the United Nations on 130 societies indicates that in almost all of these societies, the gap between men and women in terms of health, education, and economic resources is decreasing, albeit slowly. A third solution is to support organizations that educate prostitutes about their rights. A fourth solution is to break the sex slave networks by severely punishing traffickers and their customers. A final solution is to educate the men who frequent sex slaves, perhaps even providing these clients with substitutes by legalizing prostitution. Most of these solutions are highly controversial; all are exceedingly difficult to achieve. However, one dramatic worldwide trend does augur a decline in the sex slave trade.
A Call to Religious Arms In the second century, women and children were often captured and forced into prostitution by Roman and other conquerors. Among those who suffered this tragic fate was the daughter of Rabbi Hananya ben Teradyon. Rabbi Hananya's other daughter, the scholar Bruria, begged her husband Rabbi Meir to rescue her sister. Rabbi Meir, who bears the rare Talmudic appellation of "a great man, a holy man, a modest man" agreed. Posing as a patron, the rabbi entered the pagan brothel, requested the services of his sister-in-law, determined that she was emotionally redeemable, and convinced the reluctant guard to release her. In the process, he gained his appellation Rabbi Meir Baal Haness (literally, "owner of the miracle"), for whom a major Jewish charity is named. Given the horror of such captivity and the weight of this well-known story in our sacred texts, it would seem impossible that we citizens of the Jewish state would stand idly by as women are routinely tricked into coming here and turned into sex slaves, beaten, raped and held prisoners in Israeli brothels. Yet, that's exactly what's happening. People can't feign innocence or ignorance. As early as 1997, the Israel Women's Network published an appalling report on the "white slave trade." In January, 1998, "Traffickers' New Cargo: Native Slavic Women" ran in The New York Times. "Girls for Sale," the story of enslavement of foreign women in Israel, was broadcast on ABC's Prime Time in March 1998. Before millions of viewers, an Israeli brothel owner brazenly described the process and the bribes that protected him. In June of this year, in this newspaper, Eeta Prince-Gibson further documented that hundreds of women, many of whom think they are being hired as chambermaids, are sold, drugged, imprisoned, auctioned in a slave market and forced to work as prostitutes. To make matters even worse, a religious fanatic recently took it upon himself to solve the problem of Israel's growing sex industry by burning it down. First he torched two escort services, a sex shop and a pornographic video store. There were even some among us who saw him as a hero. Then the arsonist burned down another five sites. In one of the brothels, four women were killed, but this didn't stop him. On the way to burn down more brothels, he was finally apprehended. Yariv Baruchim confessed to torching nine brothels and sex shops "to purify" Tel Aviv. He is a man who wears a kippa, a man who reads the Bible. He explained that he was a self-anointed modern-day Pinchas, the zealot in the Bible who killed a Jewish leader and seductive pagan woman who were cavorting in public. Whether the dead prostitutes were imprisoned like Bruria's sister, whether they chose prostitution because of the poverty of their homeland, their drug habits, or their own unhappy inclinations, we will never know. But their murder should be the shofar's clarion call for us to wake up. FIRST, it should quash any illusions for those who think that burning down sex shops is an easy cure for immorality. Indiscriminate sexual intercourse for payment is a subject most of us would rather not know about. But as adults and Bible readers we recognize the ancient origins of prostitution. The stories of Yehuda and Tamar and Rahab exist alongside the general condemnation of licentiousness that is part of our creed. People can't afford to be squeamish. Like any business, prostitution is a function of supply and demand. Because clients are reportedly from most segments of the population, education and rehabilitation should be bolstered to reduce demand. Social economic reform needs to be instituted to provide financial support for impoverished women, to decrease the supply. Most important, enslavement of women should be stopped outright. Israel doesnt even have a law on the books against slave trafficking, let alone a consistent policy that would protect victims and free the slaves, or shelters with psychological rehabilitation programs. Citizens must demand more forceful police intervention. After capturing confessed arsonist Baruchim, no less than eight detectives posed proudly near the fuel containers found in his vehicle. That's the way to go. The strongest arms of the police, reinforced by social services, need to be used to rescue those hundreds of enslaved women locked in brothels. Determining which women want to escape, even under the threat of their malevolent keepers, is feasible. The vast majority of the captives are Russianspeaking. We can rely on the discrimination of our own immigrant social workers to determine the subtext of fearful interviewees. People have recently received requests to join international protests against the harsh restrictions placed on women under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, a degradation reflective of an extreme interpretation of Islam. This is certainly a worthy cause, but where does it rank compared to enslavement of women in our own state? Talk about the desecration of God's name! The religious should be in the forefront, through our synagogues, churches and mosques, women's organizations and representatives in all parties, to end slavery. Religious leaders who speak comfortably from moral platforms should be among those calling for freeing caged women. People call on the heads of religions to lead the way. And as they prepare to enter the new year, the dire pronouncements to our foreparents of a national disaster that would befall those who "did not hearken to Me to proclaim freedom" by not giving up their slaves should ring in their ears.
Chapter 10 Additional Information
Combined Worldview In the beginning, the world was created by a mystic Triat of forces. The Wyld generated raw energy, the Weaver spun the energy into patterns and shapes and the Wyrm destroyed the excesses and returned them to Oblivion/Nothingness. Essentially, the Weaver represents the force of Order and law, the Wyld represents the force of Chaos, life and growth, the Wyrm represents the forces of decay and annihilation. Together, the three were balanced. The spirit world and the physical world were initially close together, and the newly-created inhabitants of the Tellurian (the whole of reality) could travel back and forth between them with ease. Many creatures and plants were created during these times, at least three of which were self-aware; the Humans, Lycanthropes (shape-changers) and the Faeries. This was an age of happiness for a long time. Then the Wyrm went insane. Speculation abounds as to why. One of the foremost theories state that the Weaver imprisoned the Wyrm and made it so that it could not destroy as it saw fit, but only as the Weaver allowed it to do so. The forces of Order began to encroach on the world more and more. The forces of decay became stronger and many dangers came into the world. Up until this time, with constant change, anything was possible. Reality was fluid and changeable. With danger came fear. One of the Human's defense mechanisms was a refusal to believe in things that didn't make sense. This defense was supported by the Weaver in order to take control over more of the universe and make it 'stable'. The world-wide refusal to believe in the 'impossible' resulted in the Sundering. Over many centuries, the spirit world and the physical world began to drift farther apart. This process reached a breaking point in the 14th century during the times of the black plague. The search for structure and order in these times resulted in the Shattering. Most of the pathways between the spirit world and the physical were destroyed. A strong barrier arose between the two called the Gauntlet. In addition, as the sources of pure energy (the Nodes of Wyld) began to be extinguished by the Weaver's forces of reason, more and more things became impossible and the creatures of the Wyld were threatened. Now the world is in an age of darkness, headed for some global event in the near future that will change the way of everything. Dark, foreboding cities loom over the earth and slowly eat away more of the nature around them. Dark things rule the night and many large corporations control the lives of the citizens. This is the World of Darkness. The Races of the World of Darkness Ordinary Humans Perhaps the most clueless creatures on the planet - and also the most influential. Humans have all but forgotten their ties to the spirit realm. Their collective force of disbelief severely restricts what the Faeries and the Mages may do. As a rule, Humans are unaware that there are supernatural creatures sharing the world with them. Humans have a bad habit of killing that which they don't understand. This race is one of the strongest forces of the Weaver. Some groups of humans are aware that something strange is going on. Governments may or may not have a clue, and have some special organization to research and deal with the supernatural. Speculation abounds, but most other creatures assume the US and UK governments have such an organization. One global secret society, the Arcanum, is dedicated to collecting information about the occult and the supernatural. The society itself has no other goals besides research, but they have a tremendous amount of information that is available to people with an axe to grind. Relations with: Faeries: The Faeries often inhabit mortal hosts. Human disbelief (banality) has a strong effect on Faeries and can effectively destroy them. Faeries try to hide their nature around Humans. In general, humans stop believing that faeries exist by the time the human reaches his/her teens. Wraiths: Humans often believe in Ghosts, and Ghosts can possess and control mortal hosts. Humans can perform rites of Forbiddance/Exorcism to restrict where wraiths can go. Vampires: Humans found out about vampires during the time of the Inquisition and killed many of them. If humans find out about them again, they might exterminate the remaining vampires... Mages: Human disbelief restricts what mages can do. Mages believe they must take care of the mortals. Mages have a very hard time performing fireballs 'n lightning magic in front of unAwakened humans, so most humans don't believe in Magic or wizards. Unlike faeries, this disbelief can't destroy a Mage. Werewolves: A long time ago, werewolves killed humans to keep the population down. Humans have had a deeply rooted fear of Humans ever since. If a human sees a werewolf in wolf-man form, the human usually goes temporarily insane and forgets the experience later. Kinfolk, human children of werewolves are immune to the insanity and can work with werewolves to attain common goals.
CRIME GROUPS EXTENT OF POWER The extent of the power that is invested in each of the groups currently running in the game. The following should give a good picture of how integral they are within the communities of the city the game is based in. In order to make it as simple as possible use the designated key elements for each group: 1 - Military Force. This is the people, either PC or NPC that are in the city currently under a single group's control. 2 - Backers. These are the others in the same organization that are NOT in the city currently, that the group does not necessarily control. 3 - Influence. This is a rating for their area of effect. 1 is center of operations 2 is sections of neighborhood 3 is a full neighborhood (like a Chinatown or Little Italy) 4 is an entire district 5 is the whole city. 4 - Resources. This is the amount of monies that can be pooled together if need be. The leader's pull over his people. 1 is simply dependent on the Leader's Resources. 2 is 1/2 the Leader's Resources and 1/5 his Military Forces Resources. 3 is 1/3 the Leader's Resources and 1/3 his Military Forces Resources. 4 is 1/5 the Leader's Resources and 1/2 his Military Forces Resources. 5 is 1/2 the Military Forces Resources and 1/4 the Leader's Influence Resources. Military Forces Resources are the Pooled Resources from the total number of people in the Military Force. (Use the Pooled Monies Ruling under Resources.) Influence Resources: Center of Operations = Resources 0 Sections of the Neighborhood = Resources 1 Full Neighborhood = Resources 2 Entire District = Resources 3 Whole City = Resources 4 5 - Overall Power. Add the four above and divide by 4 to get the 'big picture'. Group Name 1 - Military Force 2 - Backers 3 - Influence 4 - Resources 5 - Overall Power Influence (Location(s)) Influence (Industries) Leadership Structure Notes :__________ :__________ Current Background Level the Head PC has :__________ Current Background Level the Head PC has :__________ From the Chart Above :__________ From the Chart Above :__________ :__________ Specify what the Organization deals in/with. :__________ Specify what the Organization deals in/with. :__________ Organized Crime/ Gang/ Independent :__________
Dummy Corporations Dummy corps are pretty simple. File an application to do business with the local authorities, and you've got it. Don't bother filling out your real name, don't give a real address (or at least not your address). File the fee (typically between 100.00-500.00, depending on the jurisdiction), and you are done. That's basically it; there's actually more detail to it, but it's not really relevant. Or interesting. Not everyone has much use for dummy corps. You really can't do a whole lot with them. They basically function as a front, a facade, that a LOT of Jones' use when hiring criminal assets. Holding Corporations Holding corps are far more interesting to the average criminal. Actually, make that the well-to-do criminal. Probably the best option for money laundering is to set up a holding corporation, and have it deal with all your money. This can work for everything from simple laundering to retaining thousands, even millions of dolars when the owner needs to "die" or disappear. You set up a fake death for a guy. Needs to disappear. The problem is, he is rolling in the dough. Millions. And if he died, most of his bank accounts would freeze up. So you set up a holding corporation in Singapore, and slowly siphon off his money, laundering it, turning it into stocks. He'll lose about 10% of it in the various transactions, but the rest will end up in his holding corp, for him to spend after he had "died." The entire purpose of a holding corp is to hold onto something for someone else. Holding corps can own stocks, bank accounts, mutual funds, bonds, real estate, futures, or virtually any kind of investment. That's about the limit though. The real reason behind holding corporations is because the owner of the holding corp doesn't want the world to know that they own those stocks, or property, or whatever. In certain jurisdictions, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, there are no ownership reporting laws. Which means no one, without a lot of detective work, can find out who really owns that holding corp. And that's the real attraction; anyone from corps to criminals can own millions in investments, and no one else needs to know. It should be noted that holding corps exist in almost every jurisdiction, but the reporting laws are typically much stricter; in the USA detailed statements must be filed. Switzerland, Sweden, the Carib League, and Kazachstan are also pretty good places to set up a holding corp. Their laws are pretty lax, but do require you to actually show up to apply. So How Do You Do It? The jurisdictions with the most lax reporting laws, Hong Kong and Singapore, also allow electronic applications. Most other jurisdictions require a physical application at the appropriate local office. Fill out the application in full, then when you turn it in, either virtually or physically, make sure the proper fee is transferred with it. The USA and Canada typically charge about 500.00 for the business application. Both Hong Kong and Singapore charge 1,500.00. Between every 3 to 5 years, the application must be renewed. Now you need to have an office of some sort, or at least an address. The price of office space varies wildly, but most jurisdictions allow for an alternative. In the USA, a post office box can be rented for the holding corp for 50.00 a month. Both Singapore and Hong Kong offer a decidedly more advanced version of that. For between 1,500.00 and 3,000.00 a month, depending on the level of security, you can rent a "virtual office." You may not have a real life address, but the holding corp will have a internet presence. The final step is to set up a bank account. The holding corp, if it is to have cash at any point in its life (such as from selling stocks), it needs to have a corporate account. Most banks charge a minimal fee of 1,000.00 a year for the account and a corporate credit card. Additional credit cards may be had for about 500.00, depending on the bank. Other frills, such as business cards, secretaries, phones, and the like that are necessary for real businesses are optional for most holding corporations. These items are typically added for additional depth and to provide a strong cover. The perfect set-up is to rent an office, and actually staff it with a secretary and a computer (for the internet presence). Figure the secretary, who will do next to nothing, gets paid between 15 and 20K. Office space about that every year. Plus your computer (about 10,000 for a viable internet presence, plus allow for business transactions). Get it all set-up, and you've got a holding corp that will be almost impossible to crack. ~~ Yeah, well, it all comes down to the fact that only the wealthy criminals can pull this sort of stunt off. Criminals like me haven't got the 30K+ to set up a Hong Kong operation. Not many criminals that I know have that free cash either. Which is exactly the point. Only those criminals with bank accounts over about 100K can really use holding corps. They've got the cash to set it up, and they are the ones who stand to really lose a lot of money to laundering. I mean, ten percent of 10 grand isn't much. Ten percent of 100 grand is. Launder your money through your holding corp and you don't lose that percentage. Of course, you do have to shell out a pretty penny every year just to keep the facade up. One word to wise though. If you start waving around your corporate creditcard, that whole facade you spent thousands to build up will come crashing down. Better to dump your needed money onto certified cashier checks, or American Express Money Cards just like everyone else in the shadows. A little less obvious.
Common Traits for Crime, Civil and Law Characters ABILITY Acting Alertness Area Knowledge * Artistic Expressions * Brawl Bribery * Bureaucracy Climbing * Computer Hacking * Criminology * Debate * Demolitions * Diplomacy * Disguise * Dodge Economics * Empathy Etiquette Fast Draw * Fast Talk * Favors # Finance Firearms First Aid * Forensics * Forgery * Gunsmithing * Haggling * Heavy Weapons * Herbalism * Hypnotism * Interrogation * Investigation Jeweler * Journalism Law Leadership Linguistics Lip Reading * Lock Picking * Medicine Melee Mimicry * Panhandling * Photography * Pick Pocket * Pilot * Poetic Expression * Police Procedure * TYPICAL CRIMINALS Con Artists Burglars ALL --Thugs, Gang Members Criminals --Burglars Computer Hackers --------Criminals, Con Artists Criminals --Pickup Artists ----Con Artists --Drug Dealers Gang Members ----Criminals Serial Killers Con Artists ----------Counterfeiters --Criminals Gang Leaders ----Burglars --Gang Members Con Artists Beggars --Criminals ------TYPICAL CIVILIANS Politicians Reporters Reporters --Bouncers Politicians Politicians ------Diplomats, Politicians --Politicians --Bouncers Politicians --Diplomats --Politicians ------Medics ----------Medics --Journalists, Reporters Journalists, Reporters --Journalists, Reporters --Politicians Diplomats ----Medics, Doctors ------Journalists ----Journalists, Reporters --TYPICAL LAW PCs --Bodyguards, Guards Beat Cops Police Artists Police Officers --Lawyers, Administrators ----Police Officers --Police Bomb Squad --Undercover Cop Police Officers ------Police Officers --Law Enforcement --Police Officers Police Officers Police Officers --Police Officers --S.W.A.T. Members --Police Specialists Police Officers Police Officers ----Police Officers Police Officers --Detectives ----Police Officers Undercover Cops --Police Specialists --Police Officers --Police Officers
*=Secondary Ability #=From Project
ABILITY Politics Public Speaking * Rank # Research * Scan * Scrounging * Search * Security Sense Deception * Sleight of Hand * Speed Reading * Stealth Streetwise Subterfuge Toxicology Tracking * Ventriloquism *
TYPICAL CRIMINALS ----------Criminals Criminals Criminals Criminals Thieves --Criminals Gang Members Con Artists Assassins --Con Artists
TYPICAL CIVILIANS Politicians, Lawyers Politicians, Reporters --Reporters ------Bouncers Reporters --Journalists Reporters Reporters Politicians -------
TYPICAL LAW PCs ----Law Enforcement Detectives Police Officers --Police Officers Police Officers Detectives ------Detectives Lawyers Detectives Detectives ---
* =Secondary Ability # =From Project Twilight
Obfuscate and Video Just some info on how Obfuscation works in regards to Video. Obfuscation is a mental trick. The mind of the victim/victims is forced to overlook the skulking being. As such, the power of Obfuscation doesn't work on video cameras, but it does work on the mind of the person watching the video image. So here are some examples and how they would work: 1) Person watching a video image in another room from from the Obfuscated vampire: Person sees the vampire doing whatever. The Obfuscate isn't blocked by the video and the person watching is essentially protected from the Vampire's power. 2) Person watching the room with a Camcorder in the same room the Vampire is in: The Obfuscated vampire does NOT show up in the image to the person's perspective. Just as the vampire is really in the room, he/she is being recorded, but the power of Obfuscation blocks the image from the person's mind. If the person with the camcorder was recording... see 3) 3) Person reviews the tape made with an obfuscating vampire on it at a later date: The person sees the obfuscating vampire plain and clear. NOTE: If the vampire recorded is in the room under Obfuscation as the person reviews the taped video, the power of Obfuscation will again act to force the person to overlook the vampire in the image. To see the vampire, the person would have to view the tape when the vampire was not present. 4) Person scans a room with a video camcorder with a 30 second or 1 minute etc.. loop back while an obfuscating Vampire is present. Like 3 above, the vampire is still present to force the person to ignore seeing him/her/it. Obfuscation is useless against technology, but is very effective against sentient minds. It is not Invisiblity even though it seems very similar. I hope this helps resolve some confusion regarding how Obfuscation works with regards to Video.
Weaponsmith Creating New Weapons Even if you were doing it the "old-fashioned" way, you'd still need a forge. (Unless you were just /assembling/ a gun from a kit. But old fashioned guns had a rather short range (compared to today's pistols) which partly was because they were less accurate. Up to two levels can be substituted by professional equipment (like should a character acquire the programs that have been developed by companies (S&W, Colt ...) over years and years of research to make accurate calculations....) should the character in addition have access to proper tools, workshop, testing ranges and equipment. You need a lot of high level equipment (computer with the right programs to do all the calculations up to the micrometer; a workshop specialized in creating the components - and some of the pieces you need are very delicate and small, if it's only off by a bit (talking microscopic here) the gun won't shoot straight) and then you need a testing facility to test the gun, make repairs and last adjustments. Weaponsmith Level 1 2-3 Minor Repairs (Diff 6) Major Repairs (Diff 9) Build Weapon (Diff and Time in Weeks = 10 - skill lvl + (weapon type (simple/melee=1, complex/firearm=2) x3) 4-5 Minor Repairs (Diff 4) Major Repairs (Diff 6) Build Weapon (Diff and Time in Weeks = 10 - skill lvl + (weapon type (simple/melee=1, complex/firearm=2) x2) 6+ Minor Repairs (Diff 0) Major (Diff 4) Build (Diff and Time in Weeks = 10 - skill lvl + (weapon type (simple/melee=1, complex/firearm=2)) So then if you make the build weapon diff and time equal to 10 - skill lvl x weapon type (simple=1, complex=2), it would make it almost impossible for a novice to make a new weapon, but a master may have a chance at it. SUCCESSES NEEDED ON AN EXTENDED ROLL For a firearm, we have a couple main things: Clip Range Rate Difficulty Damage Conceal Features Clip = 1 success/5 rounds, no limit Range = 1 success/50 yards Rate = 2 successes/shot per turn, the first is free. (I.e., 0 succs into Rate is one shot per turn; 10 succs is 3 shots per turn.) Difficulty = 2/success, up to 6 points. (I.e., 0 succs into diff makes it diff 10 to fire; 12 succs makes it diff 4 to fire) Damage = 1 success/die, up to 10 Features = E.g., burst, full-auto, laser sight, scope, silencable. 2 success each Conceal is handled specially; it is a percentage cost: Not: -25% Trench: 0% Jacket: +25% Pocket: +50% This reflects the fact that if a weapon is not concealable (i.e., f-ing huge), it's easier to make it fire fifty rounds per second out of a ten thousand round clip at a range of 10 miles at the push of a button (relatively speaking.) Effect Minor Repairs (Diff 8)
EXAMPLES So, to create, say our friend the AK-47 (30 clip, 250 range, 10 rate, diff 7, dam 8, full-auto), it'd be: 30/5 = 6 succs for clip 250/50 = 5 succs for range (10-1)*2= 18 succs for rate (10-7)*2= 6 succs for diff. 8 = 8 succs for damage FullAuto= 2 succs for Fully Automatic = 45 successes - -25% for not concealable = 40 successes, for design, creation, and testing. Whereas for our friend the double-barreled shotgun (2 clip, 20 range, 1 rate, diff 6, dam 8, not concealable): 2/5 = 1 succ for clip 20/50 = 1 succ for range (1-1)*2 = 0 succs for rate (10-6)*2= 8 succs for diff 8 = 8 succs for damage = 18 successes - -25% for non-concealable = 16 successes, for design, creation, and testing.
Martial Arts Rules The Skill Martial Arts is similar to Brawl. It may not be raised higher than the Brawl score of the character, and it in fact costs the same as a normal Ability to raise (3 points for the first dot, current rating x2 thereafter.) Using Martial Arts Using Martial Arts is exactly the same as using Brawl - roll Martial Arts plus Dexterity vs the same difficulties for the same maneauvers. However, each full action (i.e. one granted by virtue of Celerity / Rage / Speed of the Stag etc., not one granted by splitting dice pools) the martial artist has the ability to re roll 10s for additional successes for whatever it is the roll was made for. In addition to this the damage inflicted by a Martial Artist gains 1 point per each success over the initial first success needed to connect with the atack. This damage is of course lethal damage, not stun, unless specifically called by the Martial Artist before the attack. In game terms the Martial Arts skill can best be broken down as follows: Skill Style (A-F) Area of Knowledge Examples Game Effects Martial Arts A Those arts concentrating on utilizing the strength, size, and momentum of an opponent against him Judo, Nihon Jujitsu, Akido, Shaolin Chin Na, etc. With a successful Skill roll, the PC can ignore any size or strength effects that would normally negatively affect his ability to slam, throw, or avoid the enemy, the degree to which he can ignore these modifiers being directly related to his level of martial arts skill. Martial Arts B Those arts concentrating on inflicting damage in quick, short bursts Most schools of Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Boxing, Muay Thai, Shaolin Hung Gar, etc. The PC gains a specific damage bonus for hand-to-hand combat, directly relative to his level of martial arts skill. Martial Arts C Those arts concentrating on holds and escapes. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Combat Sambo, Pancrase, etc. The PC gains bonuses both to damage and the ability to hold or break a technique directly related to his level of martial arts skill. Martial Arts D Those arts concentrating on internal energies (such as chi or ki) and their combat applications. Tai Ch'i Ch'uan, Wing Chun, Sinanju (from the Destroyer novels), etc. The PC is able to ignore certain effects of armor when calculating damage against an opponent provided that he is able to successfully channel his essence into the blow (a separate roll against Willpower is needed for this), directly related to his level of martial arts skill. Martial Arts E Those martial arts concentrating on fakes, range control, and trapping techniques. Pencak Silat, the Filipino arts in general, etc. A successful evasion of an attack by this PC puts the PC in a more advantageous position to attack; any effect he wishes to generate may then be attempted with a positive bonus directly related to his level of martial arts skill (look at the odds here...this may sound good, but try it in a crowd!). Martial Arts F Similar in focus to E, but more concerned with timing and eccentric theories. Jeet Kune Do, Capoeira, etc. The PC is able to gain an Initiative bonus (or the applicable factor) with a successful martial arts attempt, as always, directly related to his level of martial arts skill. With these basic "categories" in mind, a Storyteller can moderate all kinds of martial arts combat with a minimum of fuss...just a few rules of thumb to remember...while incorporating and endless variety of combat systems. (I included some of the best known examples of each category...for further reading, I suggest visiting your local library or bookstore, or taking some classes yourself!) I hope that everyone reading this will realize that yes, I am aware that most arts involve to some degree or the other all of these basic traits...but in game terms, the only way to reflect each art successfully is to focus on its strongest suit. Yes, Brazilian JiuJitsu practitioners learn how to punch, but they truly shine when grappling on the ground...make sense?
Chinese An Chi (chinese ninjitsu) Kung Fu Bak Mei* (white-eyebrow kung fu) Bok Pai* (White Crane) Ch'in-Na* (Art of seizing) Choy-Li-Fut* Xing Chiao* (Eagle Claw) Fu Chiao Pai* (Tiger) Hsing-I* Hun Gar* (Tiger/Crane fist) Pakua* (8 diagrams style) Tai Sing Pak Kwar* (Monkey Style) Tai Chi Ch'uan* Shang Tung* (Black Tiger) She Shen* (Snake style) Shih Ba ban Wu Yi (18 weapons form) Tong Lun Gou* (Mantis Fist) Ts'sui Pa Hsien* (8 drunken Fairies or drunken kung fu) Wing Chun* Wu Shu* Kuntao * Are all subforms of Shaolin Kung Fu This is not a complete list, there are more styles or forms out there not listed. Once again, this is just for reference. Indian (Hindu) Binot Pentjak-Silat Delima* Harimau-Silat* Tjingkrik* Japanese Akido Budo Jujitsu Judo Kenjitsu (art of the sword) Kyujutsu (art of the bow) Karate Goju-Ryu* Ishin-ryu* kempo* Kyohushinkai* Shotokan* Taijutsu (commonly know as ninjitsu) Korea Hapkido Hwarang-Do Kuk Sool Won Tae Kwan Do Tang Soo Do Yu-Sool Thai Muay Thai
EXAMPLE FUNDRAISING DINNER The causes are many and worthy, and this one is no different. Save Louisiana's Endangered Species. Louisiana has 28 threatened and endangered plant and animal species. The dinner will consist of Louisiana French cuisine (in intent, if not execution), black-tie attire, and silent art auctions on the Delta Night II. In that atmosphere of extravaganza and effect, the Thorn Club fundraiser stands out by virtue of understatement. "We would like to raise a quater of a million dollars with this fund raiser to help save the endangered species of the Louisiana Delta, especially the American Alligator." The fund-raising event will begin at sundown with cocktails, dinner will be served an hour later aboard the Delta Night II River Boat. During the cocktail hour, guests will have time to view the many raffle and silent auction items that have been donated by local businesses, organizations and individuals. # The Ultimate Golf Dream for two, including a two-night stay at the _________ Resort in Baton Rouge with golf each day at ______ Hill course, two-night weekend stay at The Four Seasons in Baton Rouge with three rounds of golf at ______ Golf Course; value $4,500. # Two tickets to the 2014 Super Bowl; value $3,000. # A flight to Sonoma for two with accommodations and dinner at Charlie Palmers Hotel Healdsburg, lunch and wine tasting at Jordan Vineyard and Ferrari Carano, two of the most beautiful wineries in the world; value $2,000. # Seven days and six nights for two in Jamaica at the famous Sandals Hotel, including room, meals, drinks, land and water sports, taxes and gratuities. (Airfare not included). Value $4,000. # A mid-week ski vacation for two at Harrahs or Harveys in scenic Lake Tahoe for two, including accommodations for two nights, ski lift tickets, dinner at Harrahs and a show at the Improv. # "We Will Rock You" two-night/three-day stay for two in a deluxe suite at The Hard Rock Hotel, round-trip limousine transportation from home, pool cabana for you and 10 friends, dinner for you and your friends at __________, a show at __________, $1,000 credit to dance the night away at __________, and two bottles of Grey Goose and Dom Perignon to toast the celebration. # A private Bachelor/Bachelorette Party with the 'Sirens and Pirates' of the Thorn Club in a suite at the Thorn Club resort and food and beverages for 16 guests; value $5,000. # Two-night getaway for four, including a two-bedroom Vista Suite at J.W. Marriott, plus spa treatment, golf at T.P.C. Canyon and Spanish Trails courses, and dinner at Carmel, the Rampart Casino steakhouse for four. Value $2,500. # Birthday party at the Tear Garden for 25 people, including food, beverages, gift bags and gratuity; value $6,000. # An oil-on-canvas, 20" x 26" portrait of one person by __________; value $4,500. # Progressive Surf & Turf Dinner with wine pairings for six guests at Emerils Restaurants, with round-trip limousine service from each residence to Emerils New Orleans Fish House in Baton Rouge, followed by a limo ride to Delmonicos Steakhouse at __________ and after dinner drinks and cigars in the Piano Lounge; value $3,000. # A weekend at __________ for two, including suite accommodations, breakfast in bed, dinner at __________ restaurants with top chef in America Thomas Keller, a gondola ride and spa pampering treatments at __________, rose petal turndown service with champagne and chocolates before bed. # Two nights at Green Valley Ranch casino resort for two with suite accommodations, round-trip limousine transportation, spa treatment and dinner at China Spice restaurant. # One-year membership at the Thorn Club: value $19,000. # Birthday party at __________ for 20 people, a two-night stay for two in a suite, a day at the __________ Spa, dinner at __________ and drinks at the ultra lounge __________. Value $4,000. # A three-day/two-night stay for two at New York-New York in a whirlpool spa suite, dinner for six at Gallaghers Steakhouse, six show tickets to "Zumanity," and drinks at The Bar in Times Square; value $2,500. # __________ Club party for 50 children and 50 adults, with DJ entertainment, barbecue, swimming, open bar for the adults, and enjoyment of all the antics of the penguins, flamingos and other wildlife in the 15-acre Flamingo pools tropical garden. Host family will enjoy a private cabana at the pool and a one-bedroom suite for the night of the event; value $7,500. # Two-night stay for four in a two-bedroom suite at the Paris Las Vegas, golf at Cascata course, dinner at Les Artists Steakhouse and tickets to "We Will Rock You" show; value $4,000. # Mario Andretti Racing School for two, including race car driving, logo hat and polo shirt, and deluxe framed photo package; value $1,500. # The Ultimate DVD Collection from Metro Goldwyn Mayer of 121 DVDs, including boxed sets, special editions and an autographed copy of "De-Lovely" 2004 release, signed by Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, director Irwin Winkler and screenwriter Jay Cocks; value $2,000.
ACTIVE AUCTIONS: 1. Dinner of a Lifetime Chef/restaurateur, cookbook author and television personality Bobby Flay will prepare and serve dinner and wines for 20 guests in your home, while Harrahs Entertainment Las Vegas headliner Clint Holmes entertains them. Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada will provide the wines and champagnes. Value $30,000. 2. Under the Tuscan Sun Two will fly Alitalias luxurious Magnifica class for a dream vacation to Italy, with one week at the Salvatore Ferragamo private villa outside of Florence, then on to Rome for three nights at the Grand Flora Hotel on romantic Via Veneto, enjoy a private tour of Rome and the Vatican, plus dinner at Cicca Bomba restaurant. Value $20,000. 3. Take a Bite Out of Crime An exciting afternoon for two with Sheriff Bill Young touring the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which will include lunch with the sheriff, a helicopter fly-along, and a tour of SWAT and K-9 facilities. After a look deep inside Metros operations, you will check into deluxe accommodations in the Palace Tower at Caesars Palace for your twonight stay, which includes a massage in the spa, dining a Bradley Ogden restaurant, the Elton John "Red Piano" show and a chance to meet the star. The Jewelry Salon in the Four Seasons is including a lavish set of his and her watches for a lasting souvenir. Value: Priceless. 4. Dreaming of Europe Fly American Airlines for a vacation for two at InterContinental Hotel-Paris (three nights), including breakfast each morning, lunches at Michelin three-star Joel Roubichon and Alain Ducasse restaurants, and dinner at Michelin threestar Le Restaurant Guy Savoy. Then its on to Barcelona for four nights at the Hotel Fira Palace. Value $26,500. 5. Cruising in Style Choose from one of eight weeklong voyages aboard six-star Crystal Cruises flagship Crystal Symphony or Crystal Harmony. Whether you choose to visit the Pacific, the north Atlantic or the Caribbean, youll enjoy a richly appointed stateroom, full-service fitness facility, lavish spa, two pools, expansive decks, award-winning cuisine, first-class entertainment, Computer University@Sea, and ports of call. Round-trip airfare between home and port and applicable port fees are included. Value $12,500.
The following list holds the locations of where the actual information for this book was compiled from, stating the item, its in game cost (where applicable), the book it was found in (or multiple books as the case may be) and the page number where you can find them. * DP Destiny's Price....................................................................WW4040 * C Combat..................................................................................WW3260 * HTR Hunter: the Reckoning ....................................................WW8100 * E Elysium..................................................................................WW2233 * TAC The Anarch Cookbook......................................................WW2022 * KS Killing Streets......................................................................WW2930 * TI The Inquisition......................................................................WW2020 * THH The Hunters Hunted.........................................................WW2205 * PT Project Twilight...................................................................WW3064 * M World of Darkness; Mafia....................................................WW2228 * LEMD Land of Eight Million Dreams.....................................WW7308 * DHX Demon Hunter X.............................................................WW2227 * TSH The Storyteller's Handbook..............................................WW2222 BOOK CRIME * DP * KS * HTR * KS * KS * KS * DP * LEMD * DP * DHX * DHX * DHX * DP * DP * DP * DP * DP *M *M *M * DHX *M * LEMD * KS * LEMD * KS * LEMD * KS * TSH * DP * DP * DP * DP * DP BOOK * KS PAGES 11-13 15-17 55-56 34 39 40 30-32 47 34-44 82-83 82-83 82-83 37-39 39-41 41-43 43- 44 35-37 41 42-55? 42 51 83 49 41-44 51 44-47 50 85 45-46 45-52 45-52 45-52 45-52 52-55 PAGES 35 INFORMATION CONTAINED Lexicon of the Street Lexicon The Underworld Crime & Collapse Ethnic & Religious Strife Corruption Subcultures Crime & Punishment Organized Crime The Asian Underworld Yakuza Triads, Tongs Yakuza Tongs Triads Columbian Mafia The Families of La Cosa Nostra Interaction with Non-Mafia Rank & Title for Mafia Rank New Backgrounds - Family Status Criminal Element - The Triads The Triads The Yakuza The Yakuza The Tongs Urban Crime Ultra-Violence Gangs Gangs Jamaican Posse Outlaw Bikers Street Gangs Sex Industry INFORMATION CONTAINED The Sex Trade
* KS * KS * KS * DP * HTR * TAC * TAC * KS * DP * DP * TSH * TSH * DP * DP * DP * DP * TI *E LAW * DP * DP * HTR * TAC * THH * THH * THH * PT * PT * PT * PT * PT * PT * TSH CIVIL * DP * DP * HTR * TAC * PT * PT * PT * LEMD * TSH
36 37 38 116-119 207-209 56-59 47 98 67-69 67-69 119 120 74-77 97-98 108-111 115 81-83 69
The Drug Trade Smuggling and Piracy People Smuggling Addiction, Drugs & Poisons Poisons & Drugs Traps & Poisons Computers - Hacking Street Traits (Streetwise) Streetwise Merits & Flaws Crime - Embezzling, Fencing Escapology Information Networks Stereotypes - Crime Street Creatures Black Market Rules Torture Background - Military Force
74-77 97-98 54 68 37-40 40-42 42-43 22-25 27-41 43-47 49-51 51 101-105 45-46
Dealing with the Law Stereotypes - Law The Police The Riot Police FBI Special Affairs Divison The National Security Agency The Center for Disease Control Equipment FBI Special Affairs Division National Security Agency Central Intelligence Agency The Center for Disease Control, The Drug Enforcement Administration, State/Local Police, The Department of Defense Junior G-Men Police
30-32 97-98 55-56 59 16 17 20-22 47 45-46
Subcultures Urban Shaman/ Cultist The Media Media Character Creation Overview Rank Background Merits & Flaws Asian Culture Mortals - Mayor, Media, Fire Dept
World of Darkness Index: Backgrounds Background Activity Age Age Age Age Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Allies Alternate Identity Alternate Identity Alternate Identity Alternate Identity Ananta Ancestors Animal Companions Apprentice (Adversarial) Arcane Arcane Arcane Arcane Arcane Arcane Arcane Arcane Archive Arsenal Arsenal Artifact Artifact Artifact Artifact Artifact Auspicious Treasure (Treasures) Avatar Avatar Avatar Location Ends of Empire Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Elysium Half-Damned: Dhampyr Vampire Storytellers Handbook, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Enchanted, The Guide to the Technocracy Halls of the Arcanum Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Swashbuckler's Handbook, The Technocracy: Syndicate Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Bitter Road, The Guide to the Sabbat Libellus Sanguinis 4: Thieves in the Night Players Guide to the Sabbat Nagah Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Hunter Book: Hermit Guide to the Traditions Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Mummy: The Resurrection Vampire Storytellers Handbook, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: The Reckoning World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X Halls of the Arcanum World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Land of Eight Million Dreams Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Page 100 72 67 57 36 153 72 178 59 119 153 130 117 98 96 53 128 105 171 130 131 111 120 134 105 111 131 128 113 93 39 123 71 120 84 222 153 130 118 99 64 36 62 62 55 120 49 59 62 111 131 128 90 154 131 118
Background Ayllu Ba Backers Backers Backup Batsu Berserk Black Hand Membership Black Hand Membership Blacklisted (Adversarial) Blessing Bystanders Ceremonial Tattoo Certification Chantry Chantry Chantry Chimera Chimera Chimera Companion Chol Clan Colony Companion Companion Companion Group Consecrated Consecrated Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Contacts Continued Exposure Couriers Covenant Cray Cray Cult Cult Cult Cult Cultist Allies Daemon Database Debts (Adversarial)
Location Mummy: The Resurrection Mummy: The Resurrection Project Twilight World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X Guide to the Technocracy Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East Hunter Book: Avenger Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Guide to the Traditions Guide to the Traditions Hunter: The Reckoning Kithbook: Eshu Bitter Road, The Book of Shadows, The Dark Ages: Mage Guide to the Traditions Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Enchanted, The Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East Ratkin Changeling Players Guide Mummy: The Resurrection Renegades Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori Possessed: A Player's Guide Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Halls of the Arcanum Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Hunter Book: Innocent Libellus Sanguinis 4: Thieves in the Night Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Dark Ages: Mage Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Ashen Cults Guide to the Traditions Hunter Book: Avenger Possessed: A Player's Guide Shadow Lords Tribebook Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Hunter Book: Judge Guide to the Traditions
Page 220 64 17 50 179 161 67 93 123 223 212 121 82 113 46 83 215 175 146 69 51 161 64 57 64 93 21 102 175 147 153 60 121 119 128 105 172 130 132 111 120 135 62 111 132 128 74 74 99 84 99 74 214 67 103 50 100 71 223
Background Demesne Den Realm Den-Realm Destiny Destiny Destiny Destiny Destiny Destiny Destiny Device Domain Domitor Dragon Nest (Holdings) Dream Dream Dream Dreamers Dreamers Dross Eidolon Eidolon Eidolon Elder Generation Elder Status Enemies (Adversarial) Enhancement Equipment Equipment Equipment Equipment/Fetish Everyman Exposure Face Faerie Blood Faerie Mentor Fame Fame Fame Fame Fame Fame Fame Familiar Familiar Familiar Familiar Familiar Familiar (Lesser) Familiar Spirit Familiar Spirit Family Status Favors Favors Favors Favors Favors Ferryman Artifacts Feth Fiada
Location Guide to the Traditions Werewolf Players Guide Bastet Dark Ages: Mage Denizens of the Dreaming Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Book of the Weaver Dark Ages: Vampire Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Land of Eight Million Dreams Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Enchanted, The Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Elysium Elysium Guide to the Traditions Guide to the Technocracy Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Project Twilight World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori Hunter Book: Innocent Hunter: The Reckoning Half-Damned: Dhampyr Enchanted, The Enchanted, The Bitter Road, The Enchanted, The Hunter: The Reckoning Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Wolves of the Sea Book of Shadows, The Dark Ages: Mage Guide to the Traditions Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Witches and Pagans World of Darkness: Sorcerer Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Mafia Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Project Twilight World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X World of Darkness: Mafia Ends of Empire Enchanted, The
Page 216 157 83 85 72 122 154 131 119 100 42 154 82 91 154 132 120 176 147 70 112 132 129 68 67 224 180 49 17 50 21 75 122 58 71 71 114 73 122 106 172 130 70 47 85 217 100 88 62 35 34 83 21 50 17 50 84 100 72
Background Fetish Fetish Fetish Fetish Fetish/Equipment Fount Fraternity Freak Factor Generation Generation Generation Generation Generation Generation Go-en Golem Grace Under Pressure Gremayre Gremlin (Adversarial) Guide Guild Status Haunt Haunt Haunt Haven Herd Herd Herd Herd Herd Holdings Holdings Home Base Horoscope Household Husk Infamy (Adversarial) Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Information Network Insight Iron Willed Jade Talisman Jade Talisman: True Jade Jamak
Location Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Possessed: A Player's Guide Dark Ages: Mage Hunter Book: Defender Ratkin Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Victorian Age: Vampire Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East Kithbook: Nockers Hunter Book: Judge Changeling: The Dreaming Guide to the Traditions Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Guildbook: Artificers Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Havens of the Damned Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Quick & the Dead Kindred of the East Changeling Players Guide Inanimae: The Secret Way Guide to the Traditions Dark Ages: Vampire Elysium Enchanted, The Guide to the Technocracy Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Swashbuckler's Handbook, The Technocracy: Syndicate Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Time of Thin Blood Hunter Book: Defender Kindred of the East Land of Eight Million Dreams Bastet
Page 133 111 121 135 104 86 70 65 155 129 106 173 131 123 161 55 71 176 225 52 51 112 132 129 6 155 129 106 173 131 176 148 89 86 144 67 225 155 68 73 178 123 155 132 120 101 96 53 129 106 173 132 62 69 74 71 86 91 84
Background Jinx (Adversarial) Journal Ka Kenning Kinain Kinfolk Kinfolk Kinfolk Kinfolk Legacy Legacy Legacy Legacy Legend Library Library Library Library Library Library Library Library Library Library Living Family Magic Artifact Magickal Treasure Magisterial Office Mana Memoriam Memoriam Memoriam Memory Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Mentor Military Force Military Force Mnesis
Location Guide to the Traditions World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Mummy: The Resurrection Enchanted, The Fool's Luck: The Way of the Commoner Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Mummy: The Resurrection Wraith Players Guide Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Guide to the Traditions Dark Ages: Mage Guide to the Technocracy Halls of the Arcanum Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Swashbuckler's Handbook, The Technocracy: Syndicate World of Darkness: Sorcerer Dark Kingdom of Jade Kindred of the East Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Dark Kingdom of Jade Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Mummy: The Resurrection Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Halls of the Arcanum Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Elysium Vampire Storytellers Handbook, Revised Ed. Mokol
Page 225 62 65 72 74 133 111 121 136 66 38 112 130 219 87 178 60 155 132 121 101 96 53 63 126 87 102 127 53 113 133 131 66 176 148 156 61 56 123 156 133 121 103 129 106 173 132 133 111 121 136 50 62 113 132 131 69 37 53
Background Mnesis Mnesis Mob Network Node Node Node Node Node Notoriety Notoriety Notoriety Notoriety (Adversarial) Nushi Occult Library Old Soul Orisha Bond Other People's Secrets Pack Recognition Pakua Past Life Past Life Past Life Past Lives Patron Patron Patron Patron Patronage Pawn Personal Library Plague Political Connections Prestige Pure Breed Pure Breed Pure Breed Pure Breed Pure Breed Rank Rank Rank Rank Regard Relic Relic Relic Relic Remembrance Remembrance Remora Renown Reputation Requisitions Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources
Location Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Inquisition Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Guide to the Technocracy Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Technocracy: Syndicate Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Guide to the Traditions Kindred of the East Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Wraith Players Guide Kithbook: Eshu Corax Players Guide to the Sabbat Land of Eight Million Dreams Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Guide to the Traditions Guide to the Technocracy Hunter: The Reckoning Nobles: The Shining Host Swashbuckler's Handbook, The Hunter Storytellers Handbook Hunter Book: Avenger Quick & the Dead Ratkin Nobles: The Shining Host Shadow Court, The Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Bitter Road, The Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori Project Twilight World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X Inanimae: The Secret Way Inquisition World of Darkness: Sorcerer Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Land of Eight Million Dreams Rokea Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Hunters Hunted, The Guide to the Technocracy Book of Shadows, The Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Elysium
Page 169 160 56 102 179 157 133 122 54 114 133 131 225 87 89 39 84 70 124 92 132 112 136 220 182 124 74 96 184 68 54 65 74 76 51 131 112 121 136 115 22 17 51 67 56 64 114 132 148 92 63 51 31 182 48 176 148 156 69
Background Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Resources Retainers Retainers Retainers Retainers Retainers Retainers Retainers Retinue Retinue Retinue Retinue Rites Rites Rites Rites Rites Rituals Rival House (Adversarial) Roots Royal Lineage Sabbat Status Sanctuary Sanctum Sanctum Sanctum Sanctum Scathach Status Secret Weapons Secrets Sempai Servants Shadowlands Sidekicks Skeptics (Adversarial) Soulmate Spies Spies Spirit Allies
Location Guide to the Technocracy Halls of the Arcanum Hunter: The Reckoning Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Quick & the Dead Swashbuckler's Handbook, The Technocracy: Syndicate Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Victorian Age: Vampire Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Dark Ages Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Bitter Road, The Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Land of Eight Million Dreams Swashbuckler's Handbook, The Kindred of the East Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Guide to the Sabbat Guide to the Traditions Hunter Book: Innocent Kithbook: Eshu Guide to the Sabbat World of Darkness: Sorcerer Book of Shadows, The Dark Ages: Mage Guide to the Traditions Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming Guide to the Technocracy Bastet Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East Dark Ages: Mage Dark Reflections: Spectres Quick & the Dead Guide to the Traditions Hunter Book: Judge Guide to the Technocracy Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Tradition Book: Dreamspeakers, Revised Ed.
Page 179 61 124 51 123 104 54 97 54 129 106 174 132 124 132 112 122 99 137 63 64 117 156 130 107 174 133 63 177 148 92 97 87 134 112 123 137 94 226 75 84 94 65 48 87 220 104 111 183 84 162 87 31 54 226 72 184 104 61
Background Spirit Companion Spirit Mentor Spirit Slaves Status Status Status Status Status Status Status Status Status Status Status Status Steel Nerves Stronghold Symbiosis Talisman Talisman Talisman Talismans Talismans Throwback (Adversarial) Title Title Title Title Tomb Tomb Totem Totem Totem Totem Totem Totem Totem Treasure Treasures Treasures Trinket Trod Trod Umbral Glade Umbral Maps Uncanny (Adversarial) Vassalage Vessel Vision Wallow Wards (Adversarial) Wealth Wonder Wraith Family Years
Location Changeling Players Guide Masters of the Art Clanbook: Giovanni, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Halls of the Arcanum Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Hunter Book: Judge Hunter Book: Defender Possessed: A Player's Guide Dark Ages: Mage Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Quick & the Dead World of Darkness: Gypsies Guide to the Traditions Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Denizens of the Dreaming Land of Eight Million Dreams Mummy: The Resurrection World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Spirit Ways, The Tradition Book: Dreamspeakers, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Bastet Book of Lost Dreams, The Nobles: The Shining Host Gurahl Corax Guide to the Traditions Ashen Knight, The Mummy: The Resurrection Changeling Players Guide Mokol Guide to the Traditions Wraith: The Oblivion Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Dark Kingdom of Jade World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary
Page 144 82 67 157 61 53 130 107 174 133 64 65 114 134 132 73 71 105 88 157 133 54 53 226 177 149 72 92 66 64 145 109 58 134 113 123 137 106 178 149 85 45 74 88 71 227 101 67 145 54 228 135 123 127 106
World of Darkness Index : Aetherial Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Celestial Guidance Celestial Sensitivity Flaws Flaw Umbral Vertigo Merits Merit Acute Senses Acute Senses Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Ambidextrous Animal Affinity Animal Magnetism Animal Magnetism Animal Magnetism Animal Magnetism Animal Magnetism Animal Magnetism Bardic Gift Calming Presence Communicate with Animals Computer Aptitude Computer Aptitude Computer Aptitude Computer Aptitude Computer Aptitude Computer Aptitude Computer Aptitude Computer Aptitude Crack Driver Crack Driver Crack Driver Crack Driver Crack Driver Crack Driver Crack Driver Crack Shot Cross-Training Culture Knack Daredevil Daredevil Cost 1-3 1/3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 5 3 3 3 Location Guide to the Technocracy World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Sorcerers Crusade Companion Kithbook: Pooka Spirit Ways, The Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Wraith Players Guide War in Concordia Initiates of the Art Bastet Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Page 165 107 34 23 158 121 38 11 272 20 14 63 21 80 34 23 158 20 13 63 123 87 103 35 23 158 37 11 20 13 21 35 23 158 37 11 20 21 118 84 86 35 23 Bonus 3 Location Rage Across the Heavens Page 126 Cost 1 2 Location Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Page 126 126
World of Darkness Index > Aptitudes Merits and Flaws
Merits Merit Daredevil Daredevil Daredevil Daredevil Daredevil Daredevil Daredevil Dextrous Toes Dharmic Schooling Eat Food Eat Food Eat Food Eat Food Entrepreneur Expert Driver Fast Learner Fast Learner Fast Learner Fast Learner Fast Learner Fast Learner Fast Learner Fast Learner Faster Gift of Babel Gift of Tongues Good Mimic Graceful Graceful Graceful Gut Instincts Hands of Daedalus Homing Instinct Immune to Disease Immune to Poisons Infrared Vision Inspiration Inspired Orator Jack-Of-All-Trades Jack-Of-All-Trades Jack-Of-All-Trades Jack-Of-All-Trades Jack-Of-All-Trades Jack-Of-All-Trades Jack-Of-All-Trades Jack-of-All-Trades Jack-Of-All-Trades Light Sleeper Light Sleeper/Sleepless Long-Distance Runner Loud Voice Master Forger Mastery of Fire Mechanical Aptitude Mechanical Aptitude Mechanical Aptitude Mechanical Aptitude Cost 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1/2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 5 3 5 1 2 3 2 2 2 2 5 3 2/4 3 3 4 4 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 1-3 3 1 4 2 1 1 1 1 Location Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Kithbook: Sluagh Half-Damned: Dhampyr Risen, The Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Kithbook: Redcaps Kithbook: Eshu Spirit Ways, The Road of the Beast Bastet Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Kithbook: Satyrs Sorcerers Crusade Companion World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Mummy: The Resurrection Mummy: The Resurrection Nagah Kithbook: Satyrs Renegades Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide World of Darkness: Sorcerer World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Silent Striders Tribebook Kithbook: Pooka Guildbook: Artificers Spirit Ways, The Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Page 158 38 12 20 14 63 22 63 58 39 37 11 272 80 13 35 23 158 38 12 272 20 22 90 85 104 74 86 36 124 65 125 107 69 69 98 64 95 35 23 158 12 272 21 14 63 22 66 67 47 87 51 103 35 23 158 37
Merits Merit Mechanical Aptitude Mechanical Aptitude Mechanical Aptitude Mechanical Aptitude Natural Helmsman Natural Leader Natural Leader Natural Leader Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Natural Swimmer Nightsight Omnidextrous Osiris' Gift Perfect Balance Perfect Balance Perfect Balance Perfect Balance Perfect Balance Perfect Balance Perfect Liar Photographic Memory Pitiable Pitiable Pitiable Poison Resistance Poison Resistance Poison Resistance Prehensile Tongue Quick Learner Quick Learner Renaissance Man Sea Legs Sense of the Metal Speedy Hammer Stunt Rider Supporter Swim Sideways Touched by God Tunnel Vision Umbral Affinity Venerable Voice of a Songbird Wild Affinity Years of Wisdom Cost 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 2 5 1 1 3 1 2 6 3 2 2-3 2 1 2 5 Location Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides Halls of the Arcanum Inquisition Players Guide to the Sabbat Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides Kithbook: Sluagh Guildbook: Masquers Mummy: The Resurrection Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Guide to the Technocracy Bastet Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Kithbook: Sluagh Corax Werewolf Players Guide Sorcerers Crusade Companion World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides Guildbook: Artificers Kithbook: Nockers Wild West Companion Children of Gaia Tribebook Rokea Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Kithbook: Nockers Nuwisha Rokea Kithbook: Satyrs Witches and Pagans Masters of the Art Page 11 21 13 21 54 61 58 125 35 23 158 125 38 12 272 21 14 63 22 126 63 50 69 35 23 158 14 63 108 166 87 37 12 21 35 23 158 64 73 151 129 126 50 53 63 54 83 38 53 48 83 63 82 83
Flaws Flaw Age Can't Eat Solid Foods Carrion Comfort Environmental Need Graceless Illiterate Illiterate Illiterate Incoherent Inept Inept Inept Inept Inept Inept Inept Largely Deaf Limited Diet Motion Sickness Rotten Liar Slow Healing Unable to Swim Uneducated Uneducated Uneducated Uneducated Uneducated Uneducated Uneducated Unskilled Unskilled Unskilled Unskilled Unskilled Unskilled Unskilled Unsure Footing Bonus 1 5 3 3 2 3 1 1 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 4 1 3 3 2 5 5 5 5 5 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 3 Location Book of Shadows, The Ananasi Clanbook: Baali Kithbook: Pooka Bastet Kindred of the East Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Ratkin Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Nagah Ananasi World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides Guide to the Technocracy Mummy: The Resurrection World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Rokea Page 35 84 45 89 87 95 38 12 76 38 12 272 21 14 63 22 98 84 126 171 70 126 38 12 272 21 14 63 22 38 12 272 21 14 63 22 84
World of Darkness Index : Awareness Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Acute Hearing Acute Hearing Acute Sense Acute Sense Acute Sense of Smell Acute Sense of Smell Acute Sense of Taste Acute Sense of Taste Acute Senses Acute Senses Acute Senses Acute Senses Acute Vision Acute Vision Birdseye Compensatory Senses Dual Perception Eagle-Eyed Insight Recognize Garou Sharp-Eared Spirit Sight Traveler's Intuition Flaws Flaw Bad Sight Bad Sight Bad Sight Bad Sight Bad Sight Bad Sight Bad Sight Bad Sight Blind Blind Blind Blind Blind Blind Blind Blind Blind Color Blind Color Blindness Color Blindness Color Blindness Color Blindness Color Blindness Color Blindness Color Blindness Color Blindness Deaf Bonus 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 Location Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wild West Companion Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Page 34 22 158 37 11 272 20 13 34 22 158 37 11 273 20 13 62 62 34 22 158 37 11 272 20 13 34 Cost 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/3 1 1 4 3 2 1 2 3 1 4 1 Location Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf: The Dark Ages Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Corax Guardians of the Caerns Spirit Ways, The Wild West Companion Black Furies Tribebook Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Wild West Companion Spirit Ways, The Sorcerers Crusade Companion Page 36 10 272 100 37 11 37 11 34 22 157 122 37 11 73 104 103 62 44 52 62 105 121
Flaws Flaw Deaf Deaf Deaf Deaf Deaf Deaf Deaf Deaf Deaf Eyes of the Tyrant Hard of Hearing Hard of Hearing Hard of Hearing Hard of Hearing Hard of Hearing Hard of Hearing Hard of Hearing Hard of Hearing Hard of Hearing Life-Blind One Eye One Eye One Eye One Eye One Eye One-Eyed Stone Blind Wall Eye Bonus 4 4 1 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Location Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Mokol Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Mokol Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Dharma Book: Bone Flowers Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Mokol Mokol Page 22 158 72 37 11 272 20 13 62 74 34 22 158 37 11 272 20 13 62 58 37 11 272 20 13 62 76 74
World of Darkness Index: Changeling Ties Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Boon Boon Prestigious Mentor Prestigious Mentor Reputation Reputation Flaws Flaw Arcadian/Ancient Oath Diabolical Mentor Diabolical Mentor Disbarred Enemy Enemy Hostage Infamous Mentor Infamous Mentor Insane Mentor Insane Mentor Mentor's Resentment Mentor's Resentment Notoriety Notoriety Sell-Out Twisted Apprenticeship Twisted Apprenticeship Bonus 2-5 2 2 2-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 1 1 Location Page 65 Kithbook: Trolls Changeling Players Guide 31 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 166 54 Kithbook: Nockers 31 Changeling Players Guide 165 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Pour L'Amour et Liberte: The Book of Houses 2 Changeling Players Guide 31 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 165 Changeling Players Guide 31 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 165 31 Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 165 Changeling Players Guide 31 166 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Fool's Luck: The Way of the Commoner 75 Changeling Players Guide 31 166 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Cost 1-3 1-3 1 1 2 2 Location Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Page 31 165 30 165 31 165
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World of Darkness Index: Corporeal Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Disembodied Full of Life Malleable Quick Healer Flaws Flaw Botched Moliation Decayed Corpus Distinctive Appearance Fragile Corpus Limited Deathsight Limited Lifesight Rotting Bonus 1-3 1-7 1 3 2 2 2 Location Wraith Players Guide Dark Reflections: Spectres Wraith Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Page 23 34 23 23 23 23 23 Cost 6 1-4 2 3 Location Wraith Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Page 22 22 22 51
World of Darkness Index: Economic Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Alimony Recipient Bargain Hound Flexible Job Good Credit Rating Independent Income Paid Mortgage Wealthy Partner Flaws Flaw Alimony Payments Audit Demanding Career Homeless Primary Breadwinner Uninsured Bonus 3 1 2 4 2 2 Location Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Page 122 122 122 123 122 122 Cost 1-3 1 3 2 1-5 3 2 Location Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Page 112 112 112 112 112 112 112
World of Darkness Index : Elder Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Childe, Loyal Enlightened Holdings Mummy Companion Paramour Paranoia, Limited Patience Powerful Childe Prestation Gifts Flaws Flaw Bastard Childer Childe, Vengeful Death Wish Diabolist, Known Diabolist, Secret Emotional Isolation Ennui Matricide/Patricide Paramour, Jilted Paranoia, Extreme Poverty Prestation Debt Recently Arisen Routine Vainglorious Bonus 2 2 1-5 5 2 1 2 4 1-3 3 1 1-5 3 2 1-3 Location Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Page 64 65 65 65 65 65 65 65 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 Cost 3 1-7 1-5 5 3-5 2 3 1-5 2-6 Location Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Elysium Page 62 62 63 63 63 64 64 64 64
World of Darkness Index: Faerie Marks Merits and Flaws Flaws Flaw Enchanted Blood Geas Inherited Frailty Iron's Curse Mark of the Blood Ravaged Bonus 1 1-5 5 2 1-5 2 Location Enchanted, The Enchanted, The Enchanted, The Enchanted, The Enchanted, The Enchanted, The Page 80 80 81 81 81 81
World of Darkness Index > Garou Ties Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Breeding Pack Diplomatic Immunity Favor Favor Favor Intertribal Fosterage Notable Heritage Noted Messenger Phantom Mask Political Mentor Reputation Reputation Reputation Territory Flaws Flaw Anti-Wyrmbringer Bias Enemy Enemy Enemy Notoriety Notoriety Notoriety Original Sin Twisted Upbringing Twisted Upbringing Twisted Upbringing Unsuited to Tribe Ward Pack Bonus 1 1-5 1-5 1-5 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 3 4 Location Uktena Tribebook Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Shadow Lords Tribebook Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Croatan Song Red Talons Tribebook Page 46 24 18 67 24 18 67 54 24 18 67 126 51 Cost 2 3 1-3 1-3 1-3 1 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 Location Red Talons Tribebook Shadow Lords Tribebook Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Croatan Song Silver Fangs Tribebook Silent Striders Tribebook Guardians of the Caerns Shadow Lords Tribebook Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Red Talons Tribebook Page 51 54 24 18 67 125 48 48 104 54 24 18 67 51
World of Darkness Index: Human Society Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Church Ties Corporate CEO Corporate Ties Corporation CEO Human Tribal Status Judicial Ties Local Ties Local Ties Media Ties Nobility Park Department Ties Police Ties Political Ties Underworld Ties Unnoticed Flaws Flaw Hunted Hunted Hunted Persistent Parents Persistent Parents Tenderfoot Ward Ward Ward Bonus 3 3 3 2 2 1 3 3 3 Location Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Page 25 20 68 25 19 68 25 20 68 Cost 3 5 3 5 2-4 2 1-3 1-3 2 1-5 1 3 3 3 2 Location Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide Uktena Tribebook Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide Guardians of the Caerns Page 24 19 25 24 46 25 18 68 25 100 25 25 25 25 105
World of Darkness Index: Inquisitor Society Merits and Flaws Flaws Flaw Dark Heritage Disreputable Cenacle Rebel Secret Friendship Supernatural Enemy Bonus 2 2 1-3 2 1-5 Location Inquisition Inquisition Inquisition Inquisition Inquisition Page 60 60 59 60 60
World of Darkness Index: Kindred Ties Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Boon Boon Boon Capable Assistant Clan Friendship Clan Friendship Closer than Blood Disillusioned Elysium Domain Family Member Inconnu Associate Legendary Accomplishment Mentor's Tutelage Pack Distinction Patron Pawn Pawn Pawn Prestigious Confessor Prestigious Sire Prestigious Sire Protected Reputation Reputation Reputation Safe Passage Sanctuary Special Gift Special Gift Special Gift Special Rapport Student Valuable Secret Vampiric Consort Well-Traveled Flaws Flaw Blackmailed Blasphemer Among Heretics Clan Enmity Clan Enmity Cynic Diabolic Sire Diabolic Sire Enemy Enemy Enemy Infamous Sire Infamous Sire Infamous Sire Insane Sire Insane Sire Marked for Death Bonus 1 1-2 2 2 1 2 2 1-5 1-5 1-5 1 1 1 1 1 2-5 Location Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Cainite Heresy Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Cainite Heresy Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State Page 81 93 43 17 93 43 17 42 17 273 42 17 273 42 17 30 Cost 1-3 1-3 1-3 7 3 3 3-5 1 1 1 4 3 4 2 2-4 3 3 3 1 1 1 2-5 2 2 2 1 2 1-3 1-3 1-3 2 1 1-3 5 2 Location Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Cainite Heresy Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Players Guide to the Sabbat Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Libellus Sanguinis 4: Thieves in the Night Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Players Guide to the Sabbat Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Clanbook: Salubri Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Players Guide to the Sabbat Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Page 41 16 273 81 42 16 37 92 81 126 81 77 101 126 37 42 16 273 30 41 16 47 42 16 273 82 82 41 16 273 126 82 82 38 82
Flaws Flaw Mistaken Identity Mistaken Identity Nameless Notoriety Notoriety Notoriety Outcaste Pack Disgrace Pack Enemy Pack Punishment Pack Rival Probationary Sect Member Rivalry Sire's Resentment Sire's Resentment Sire's Resentment Special Responsibility Touched by the Ancients Twisted Upbringing Twisted Upbringing Unblooded Used and Abused Bonus 1 1 5 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 4 1-3 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 5 2 Location Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Players Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Players Guide to the Sabbat Libellus Sanguinis 4: Thieves in the Night Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Clanbook: Salubri Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Page 42 17 102 43 17 274 64 126 126 126 126 127 38 42 17 273 126 112 42 17 47 38
World of Darkness Index: Legal Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Dual Nationality Firearms License Specialist Drivers License Flaws Flaw Criminal Record Illegal Immigrant Political Extremist Probation Revoked Driver's License Sunday Driver Wanted by Law Enforcement Bonus 2 3 1 2 1 1 3 Location Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Page 122 122 122 122 122 122 122 Cost 2 2 1 Location Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Page 112 112 112
World of Darkness Index: Mage Ties Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Boon Prestigious Mentor Reputation Wolf-sense Flaws Flaw Diabolical Mentor Enemy Infamous Mentor Insane Mentor Mentor's Resentment Notoriety Twisted Apprenticeship Bonus 2 1-5 1 1 1 3 1 Location Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Page 43 42 42 42 42 43 43 Cost 1-3 1 2 1 Location Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Page 42 42 42 52
World of Darkness Index: Mental Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Ability Aptitude Berserker Berserker Calm Heart Calm Heart Calm Heart Calm Heart Calm Heart Calm Heart Calm Heart Celestial Attunement Celestial Attunement Code of Honor Code of Honor Code of Honor Coldly Logical Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Common Sense Compassionate Computer Aptitude Concentration Concentration Cost 1 2 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 2 1 1 Location Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Witches and Pagans Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Dark Ages Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Clanbook: Brujah, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Page 291 291 85 35 9 274 299 19 12 61 305 274 111 291 299 74 32 21 157 305 110 291 35 8 274 298 19 12 61 20 68 74 32 21
Merits Merit Concentration Concentration Concentration Concentration Concentration Concentration Concentration Concentration Concentration Concentration Concentration Concentration Detached Determined Devotion Direction Sense Dracon's Temperament Driven Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Eidetic Memory Evanescent Eye for Beauty Fast Learner Fast Reader Fury's Focus Gifted Gifted Liar Good Map Reader Good Recognition Haven Affinity Healthy Skepticism Heart of Memory Hive Mind Homid Ancestor Indomitable Internet Savvy Introspection Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Cost 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 2 1-3 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2-3 1 3 1 3 3 3 1 1 2 1 2 7 2 3 2 1 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 Location Page Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 157 Dark Ages: Vampire 305 110 Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 291 35 Vampire Player's Guide 8 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages 274 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 298 19 Werewolf Players Guide 12 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion 61 Wraith Players Guide 20 Sorcerer, Revised Ed. 54 Hunter: Players Guide 111 Dark Ages: Mage 90 112 Hunter: Players Guide Clanbook: Tzimisce, Revised Ed. 69 85 Blood Treachery Book of Shadows, The 32 Changeling Players Guide 21 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 157 Dark Ages: Vampire 305 111 Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 292 Mokol 71 35 Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 9 Vampire: The Dark Ages 274 299 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide 19 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 12 Wraith Players Guide 20 70 Denizens of the Dreaming Clanbook: Toreador 40 Hunter: Players Guide 111 110 Hunter: Players Guide Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word 101 Clanbook: Toreador 40 Pour L'Amour et Liberte: The Book of Houses 2 Hunter: Players Guide 110 Hunter: Players Guide 110 43 Clanbook: Tzimisce Hunter: Players Guide 110 Ends of Empire 133 Ananasi 83 Tribebook: Red Talons, Revised Ed. 78 Dark Ages: Mage 91 Hunter: Players Guide 111 95 Guide to the Sabbat Book of Shadows, The 32 Changeling Players Guide 20 157 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Guide to the Technocracy 166 Halls of the Arcanum 61 Inquisition 58 292 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion 127
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Merits Merit Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Iron Will Judge's Wisdom Kenning-Wise Knows Too Much Light Sleeper Light Sleeper Light Sleeper Light Sleeper Light Sleeper Light Sleeper Lightning Calculator Lightning Calculator Lightning Calculator Lightning Calculator Lightning Calculator Lightning Calculator Lightning Calculator Lightning Calculator Lightning Calculator Lucid Marauder Mechanical Aptitude Mind of the Prey Natural Aptitude Natural Linguist Natural Linguist Optimistic Pelagic Harmony Penetrate Illusion Perfect Memory Perfect Recall Poseidon's Call Pre-Marauder Memories Precocious Prodigy Protean Psyche Religious Devotion Resistant to Mind Control Resistant to Supernatural Fear Self-Confidence Self-Confidence Self-Confident Self-Confident Self-Confident Self-Confident Self-Confident Self-Confident Self-Confident Self-Confident Sight, The Strength of Psyche Cost 3 3 4 3 5 5 4 4 4 2 1-5 2 1-3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 1 3 2 2 4 3 1-3 4 2 1 2 3 2 7 1-3 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1-3 2 Location Page Vampire Player's Guide 35 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 9 Vampire: The Dark Ages 275 299 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 12 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 61 Wild West Companion World of Darkness: Sorcerer 68 Wraith Players Guide 21 Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood, Revised Ed. 60 73 Wolves of the Sea Ends of Empire 133 Dark Ages: Vampire 305 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 291 Vampire Player's Guide 35 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 9 274 Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 299 32 Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide 21 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 157 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 291 Vampire Player's Guide 35 9 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide 19 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 12 20 Wraith Players Guide Book of Madness, Revised Ed. 63 Victorian Age: Vampire 127 74 Road of the Beast Hunter: Players Guide 111 Hunter: Players Guide 111 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 299 112 Hunter: Players Guide Clanbook: Lasombra, Revised Ed. 64 Hunter: Players Guide 57 133 Ends of Empire Wild West Companion 61 Clanbook: Lasombra, Revised Ed. 64 Book of Madness, Revised Ed. 63 Guide to the Camarilla 74 Book of Shadows, The 32 118 Bitter Road, The Hunter: Players Guide 110 Hunter: Players Guide 58 Hunter: Players Guide 58 Vampire: The Dark Ages 275 Wild West Companion 61 Book of Shadows, The 33 21 Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 157 Vampire Player's Guide 35 9 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide 19 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 12 Wraith Players Guide 21 57 Hunter: Players Guide Sorcerer, Revised Ed. 54
Merits Merit Time Sense Time Sense Time Sense Time Sense Time Sense Time Sense Unflappable Untamable Useful Knowledge Weather Sense Well-Traveled Well-Traveled Word, The Years of Wisdom Flaws Flaw Ability Deficit Absent Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Absent-Minded Ahimsa Airhead Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Amnesia Anachronism Animal Amnesia Archaic Artistically Inept Attention-Deficit Disorder Blabber Mouth Black and White Bulimia Burned Out Bonus 5 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 1 2 2 2 2 4 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 1-3 4 2 2 2 1 1 4 3 Location Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Ratkin Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Bitter Road, The Kithbook: Pooka Victorian Age: Vampire Clanbook: Toreador Hunter: Players Guide Renegades Sorcerer, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Outcasts Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. Page 294 121 33 22 157 132 36 10 275 19 13 62 21 76 52 33 21 157 305 121 293 75 36 10 275 299 19 12 62 21 118 89 126 41 121 95 54 35 76 Cost 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 5 1 1 3 3 1 5 Location Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Clanbook: Lasombra, Revised Ed. Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Hunter: Players Guide Horizon: Stronghold of Hope Page 111 291 35 9 299 19 111 19 74 63 37 127 57 116
Flaws Flaw Calling Card City-Panic Compulsion Compulsive Counter Confused Confused Confused Confused Confused Confused Confused Confused Confused Conspicuous Consumption Dangerous Bias Dark Moments Dead Passion Death-Haunted Deep Sleeper Deep Sleeper Deep Sleeper Deep Sleeper Deep Sleeper Deep Sleeper Depression Deranged Deranged Docile Dyslexic Eating Disorder Faint of Heart Faint of Heart Feeding Fetish Flashbacks Flesh Eater Forgetful Guilt-Wracked Gullible Heart of the Beast Hemetic Hibernation Ignorance Ignorance of Self Illiterate Impatient Incompetent Ineptitude Jaded Knows Too Much Language Barrier Lost Homid Low Self-Esteem Lunacy Medicated Nave Necrophile Nervous Condition Bonus 2 1 1-4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 3 4 4 1-5 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 2 2 1-3 2 2 2 3 1 6 4 3 4 1 5 4 5 2 4 4 1 3 1 3 5 2-3 2 3 2 1/5 1 3 2 Location Page Tradition Book: Euthanatos, Revised Ed. 69 124 Book of the City Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 292 Time of Thin Blood 79 33 Book of Shadows, The 21 Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 157 Vampire Player's Guide 36 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 10 275 Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide 19 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 12 Wraith Players Guide 21 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 300 Victorian Age: Vampire 126 127 Croatan Song Tradition Book: Cult of Ecstasy, Revised Ed.69 85 Witches and Pagans Dark Ages: Vampire 305 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 292 Vampire Player's Guide 36 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 10 275 Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 299 Hunter: Players Guide 121 305 Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 293 Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. 76 121 Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide 121 Dark Ages: Mage 91 Hunter: Players Guide 121 79 Time of Thin Blood Guide to the Sabbat 95 Dark Ages: Vampire 306 134 Ends of Empire Guide to the Camarilla 74 Hunter: Players Guide 120 Road of the Beast 75 Time of Thin Blood 78 Inanimae: The Secret Way 69 36 World of Darkness: Outcasts Half-Damned: Dhampyr 59 Hunter: Players Guide 122 Guide to the Camarilla 74 Hunter: Players Guide 121 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 292 World of Darkness: Mafia 85 65 Kithbook: Sluagh Hunter: Players Guide 121 Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. 81 121 Hunter: Players Guide Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 300 Hunter: Players Guide 120 Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. 76 73 Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide 59
Flaws Flaw Nightmares Nightmares Nightmares Nightmares No Sense of Direction Obsessed with the Hunt Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Ontological Pacifist Overconfident Pacifist Pelagic Compulsion Phobia Phobia Phobia Phobia Poor Sense of Time Prey Exclusion Prey Exclusion Privacy Obsession Religious Prohibition Romantic Notions Senile Short Fuse Short Fuse Short Temper Shy Sleepwalker Slow Learner Soft-Hearted Soft-Hearted Speech Impediment Speech Impediment Speech Impediment Speechless Spoiled Beast Stereotype Superstitious Taste of the Kill Terrible with Names Territorial Territorial Territorial Thirst for Innocence Tonic Immobility Tortured Artist Uncontrollable Unconvinced Unrepentant Beast Unwilling Victim Vegan Vengeful Vengeful Vengeful Vice Grip Victim of the Masquerade Wandering Mind Water Under the Bridge Bonus 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 3/5 2 5 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 3 2/4 2 5 2 2 1 1 1-4 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 2 3 1 2 2 2 2 3 1 5 1 4 4 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 5 Location Page Dark Ages: Vampire 305 120 Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 292 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 299 120 Hunter: Players Guide 75 Road of the Beast Heresies of the Way 101 Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood, Revised Ed. 60 121 Hunter: Players Guide 54 Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Lasombra, Revised Ed. 64 Hunter: Players Guide 121 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 293 Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. 81 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 299 120 Hunter: Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire 305 299 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Tzimisce 43 Dark Ages: Vampire 305 Ghouls: Fatal Addiction 85 Horizon: Stronghold of Hope 117 294 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 299 Hunter: Players Guide 120 299 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 292 Hunter: Players Guide 121 293 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 299 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 293 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 299 108 World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Mokol 73 Sins of the Blood 103 74 Guide to the Camarilla Clanbook: Gangrel 36 Road of the Beast 75 Hunter: Players Guide 120 Bitter Road, The 119 Dark Ages: Vampire 305 299 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla 74 Rokea 84 Clanbook: Toreador 41 Clanbook: Brujah, Revised Ed. 69 Guide to the Camarilla 74 Sins of the Blood 103 107 Possessed: A Player's Guide Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. 76 Dark Ages: Vampire 305 294 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 299 Tradition Book: Cult of Ecstasy, Revised Ed.69 Guide to the Camarilla 74 133 Ends of Empire Inanimae: The Secret Way 69
Flaws Flaw Weak Willed Weak Willed Weak-Willed Weak-Willed Weak-Willed Weak-Willed Weak-Willed Weak-Willed Weak-Willed Bonus 3 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 2 Location Inquisition Werewolf Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Page 58 20 121 36 10 275 300 13 62
World of Darkness Index: Mortal Society Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Accepted Ally Airport Approved Friendship Black Market Ties Black Market Ties Castle Celebrated Lineage Church Rank Church Ties Church Ties Church Ties Church Ties Corporate Ties Corporate Ties Corporate Ties Corporate Ties Corporation CEO Corporation CEO Corporation CEO Corporation CEO Crusader Drakkar Entertainment Ties Entertainment Ties Exceptional Steed Extremist Group Fetch Institutional Control Judicial Ties Judicial Ties Judicial Ties Judicial Ties Knorr Likeness of a Saint Living Icon Manse Mansion Mansion Mansion Mansion Media Ties Cost 1 4 2 1-5 1-5 5 1-4 1-3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 1 2 3 3 2-3 4 2 2-5 2 2 2 2 3 1 4 2 3 3 2 2 2 Location Players Guide to the Sabbat Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Players Guide to the Sabbat Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Ashen Knight, The Vampire: The Dark Ages Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Ashen Knight, The Wolves of the Sea Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Ashen Knight, The Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Vampire: The Dark Ages Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wolves of the Sea Cainite Heresy Cainite Heresy Vampire: The Dark Ages Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Page 127 82 127 31 166 82 101 275 32 166 44 18 32 166 44 18 32 167 44 18 101 73 32 167 102 83 37 275 31 166 44 17 74 92 93 275 32 166 43 17 32
Merits Merit Media Ties Media Ties Media Ties Multicultural Nightclub Nightclub Nightclub Nightclub Nobility Pagan Cult Police Ties Police Ties Police Ties Police Ties Political Ties Political Ties Political Ties Political Ties Prestigious Order Sacred Crocodile Spy Network Underworld Ties Underworld Ties Underworld Ties Underworld Ties University Vengeful Family Warrens Well-Placed Confessor Flaws Flaw Anachronism Anachronism Disparaged Fraudulent Order Hunted Hunted Hunted Hunted Hunted Infamous Lineage Known Heretic Known to be Dead Landless Outspoken Pagan/Christian Rogue Knight Second-Class Citizen Secret Friendship Ward Ward Ward Ward Ward Woman in Disguise Woman in Spurs Bonus 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 1 2 2 2 4 2 2 1 3 3 3 3 3 4 5 Location Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Ashen Knight, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Ashen Knight, The Cainite Heresy Vampire: The Dark Ages Ashen Knight, The Wolves of the Sea Ashen Knight, The Vampire: The Dark Ages Players Guide to the Sabbat Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Ashen Knight, The Ashen Knight, The Page 45 18 38 103 33 168 45 18 276 102 93 276 103 74 103 276 127 32 167 45 18 276 104 104 Cost 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 1-3 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 1-3 Location Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Dark Ages Companion Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Ashen Knight, The Mokol Vampire: The Dark Ages Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Wolves of the Sea Clanbook: Salubri Cainite Heresy Page 166 43 18 64 32 166 43 18 275 136 32 167 43 18 32 167 44 18 101 71 276 32 167 44 18 83 74 47 92
World of Darkness Index: Personality Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Bearing of Kings Berserker Code of Honor Dual Nature Fearless Ferocity Higher Purpose Secular Vindictive Walkurie Flaws Flaw Compulsion Demesure Driving Goal Fanatical Devotion Flagellant Intolerance/Hatred Low Self-Image Nightmares Overconfident Pariah Phobia Prey Exclusion Religious Prohibition Religious Prohibition Sacred Oath Soft-Hearted Stubborn Territorial Vengeance Virtueless Vulgar Bonus 1 3 3 3 2 1-3 2 1 1 2-4 1/3 1 2-4 2/4 1-3 2 1-3 2 2 2 2 Location Vampire: The Dark Ages Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Vampire: The Dark Ages Cainite Heresy Cainite Heresy Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Dark Ages Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Dark Ages Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Ashen Knight, The Vampire: The Dark Ages Clanbook: Salubri Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Dark Ages Ashen Knight, The Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Page 279 38 279 94 93 279 279 279 279 101 279 279 29 64 102 279 47 279 279 103 38 Cost 2 2 1 2 2 1 4 3 2 Location Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Dark Ages Wolves of the Sea Vampire: The Dark Ages Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State Wolves of the Sea Page 101 278 278 279 75 278 61 61 75
World of Darkness Index > Physical Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Cost "Baby Face" 2 Acute Sense 1 Acute Sense 1 Acute Senses 1/3 Addictive Blood 3 Alcohol Tolerance 1 Alcohol Tolerance 1 Ambidextrous 1 Ambidextrous 1 Ambidextrous 1 Baby Face 2 Bad Taste 2 Bad Taste 2 Bad Taste 2 Benevolent Blood 1 Blessing of Atlas 5 Blood Bloat 1-3 Blush of Health 2 Blush of Health 2 Bruiser 1 Bundle of Energy 2 Cannot Become a Monster 3 Cast-Iron Stomach 1 Cat Napper 2 Catlike Balance 1 Catlike Balance 1 Catlike Balance 1 Claws/Fangs/Horns/Hooves/Barbed Tail Clean Countenance 3 Color Change 7 Commanding Voice 1 Constant Sending 1 Crawlerling Alteration 4 Daredevil 3 Daredevil 3 Daredevil 3 Deadened Nerves 4 Disgusting 2 Double-Jointed 1 Double-Jointed 1 Double-Jointed 1 Double-Jointed 1 Double-Jointed 1 Double-Jointed 1 Double-Jointed 1 Double-Jointed 1 Double-Jointed 1 Drug Resistance 2 Early Maturation 3 Early Riser 1 Early Riser 1 Eat Food 1 Eat Food 1 Efficient Digestion 3 Efficient Digestion 3 Efficient Digestion 3 Location Vampire Player's Guide Hunter: Players Guide Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Setites Get of Fenris Tribebook Tribebook: Get of Fenris, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Clanbook: Malkavian, Revised Ed. Kithbook: Trolls Libellus Sanguinis 4: Thieves in the Night Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Guide to the Traditions Guildbook: Artificers Mokol War in Concordia Rokea Ananasi Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Malkavian, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Clanbook: Setites Gurahl Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Page 45 108 296 288 39 46 85 303 288 296 19 26 20 68 64 63 77 303 296 73 109 58 107 109 288 127 296 228 51 72 118 82 83 110 288 297 65 24 45 33 168 45 19 277 26 20 68 39 88 95 127 303 296 303 45 19
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Merits Merit Efficient Digestion Efficient Digestion Effortless Shift Enchanting Gaze Enchanting Voice Fair Glabro Fair Glabro Fair Glabro Feeding Tongue Feral Appearance Fin Blades Flow of Ki, The Fluid Corpus Forgettable Foul Blood Foul Blood Friendly Face Gaping Maw Gender-Morph Ghar Gift of Proteus Gold Tolerance Good Night Vision Good Right/Left Hook Good-Looking Granite Skin Greater Colors Hale Hidden Power High Pain Tolerance Hollow Leg Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Huge Size Human Form Hypersensitive Palate Hypersensitivity Immunity Increased Pain Threshold Insensible to Pain Lack of Scent Lack of Scent Lack of Scent Large Light Sleeper Light Sleeper Cost 3 3 6 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 3 5 2 3 3 1 2 6 3 1/2/4 5 2 1 2 2 3 2 2 3 1 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 3 1-16 3 5 2 2 2 1 1 1 Location Page Vampire: The Dark Ages 277 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 297 69 Wild West Companion 123 Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 296 26 Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 20 Wild West Companion 69 Libellus Sanguinis 4: Thieves in the Night 77 54 Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Rokea 83 Sorcerer, Revised Ed. 53 Guildbook: Masquers 50 Hunter: Players Guide 109 Clanbook: Nosferatu 24 71 Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla 73 71 Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Ananasi 83 Mokol 76 Clanbook: Gangrel 37 Mokol 71 110 Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide 108 Rokea 82 91 Kithbook: Redcaps Clanbook: Toreador 40 Dark Ages: Mage 90 Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori 22 Mummy: The Resurrection 69 Hunter: Players Guide 108 Book of Shadows, The 45 33 Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 168 Dark Ages: Vampire 303 110 Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 288 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 127 Vampire Player's Guide 45 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 19 Vampire: The Dark Ages 277 297 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide 26 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 21 Wild West Companion 69 Ananasi 83 Victorian Age: Vampire 127 Tradition Book: Cult of Ecstasy, Revised Ed.69 229 Guide to the Traditions Kithbook: Trolls 62 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 288 26 Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 20 Wild West Companion 69 Nuwisha 48 61 Halls of the Arcanum Hunter: Players Guide 108
Merits Merit Light Sleeper Lilian Alteration Lizard Limbs Lizard Limbs Long Fingers Long Fingers Long-Winded Longevity Longevity Longevity Manshape Metamorph Metamorph Metamorph Misplaced Heart Misplaced Heart Misplaced Heart Mixed-Morph Mixed-morph Natural Husk Natural Runner Natural Weapons Naturally Supple Nice Abs! Other Marks Oversized Fangs Oversized Fangs Oversized Mouth Pain Resistant Pain Tolerance Pain Tolerance Partial Shift Patagia Patagia Perfect Balance Phralmulo Physical Abnormality Physically Impressive Piscine Pithus Alteration Poison Resistance Poison Resistance Poisonous Bite Poisonous Blood Poker Face Projectile Vomiting Prosthesis Resemble Kindred Retain Eggs Retain Seed Robust Health Rugged Bad Looks Ruse of the Wolf's Clothing Sanguine Humor Sanguine Incongruity Scent of the Beast Sea Legs Cost 1 6 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 6 6 6 2 2 2 1 1 3 1 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 4 4 1 3 3-4 2 1 4 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 5 2 2 5 3 1 Location Inquisition Ananasi Clanbook: Nosferatu Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Kithbook: Eshu Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Mokol Guardians of the Caerns Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Inanimae: The Secret Way Hunter: Players Guide Red Talons Tribebook Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Ends of Empire Clanbook: Nosferatu Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu Dark Ages: Mage Clanbook: Tzimisce Clanbook: Tzimisce, Revised Ed. Wild West Companion Clanbook: Nosferatu Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Clanbook: Ravnos Kithbook: Pooka Get of Fenris Tribebook Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Ananasi Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Clanbook: Setites Hunters Hunted, The Guide to the Technocracy Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Guardians of the Caerns Hunters Hunted, The Mokol Mokol Hunter: Players Guide Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Gangrel Vampire: The Dark Ages Clanbook: Giovanni, Revised Ed. Road of the Beast Hunter: Players Guide Page 60 83 23 70 23 70 85 27 21 69 70 105 27 21 45 19 277 27 20 68 108 51 61 50 133 24 70 24 90 43 69 68 24 72 109 44 88 47 71 83 37 125 39 60 166 71 105 60 71 71 109 72 37 277 78 75 109
Merits Merit Seldom Sleeps Sexy Silver Tolerance Slimy Slimy Sterile Stigmata of the Wyrm Stone Skin Strong Blood Strong Claws Strong Lungs Surreal Beauty Swarm Attractor Temperature Control Thick-Skinned Tough Hide Tough Hide Unusually Fertile Venomous Vicissitude Modifications Voice of the Songbird Wayfarer's Feet Flaws Flaw 13th Generation 13th Generation 14th Generation 14th Generation 15th Generation Addiction Addiction Addiction Addiction Age Age Aging Aging Aging Aging Albino Alien Appearance Alien Appearance Allergic Allergic Allergic Allergic Allergic Allergies Animal Musk Animal Musk Animalistic Features Anosmia Anosmia Arthritic Asthma Bonus 2 2 2 2 4 3 1/3 3 3 1 1 3 3 5 3 1 1-5 1-5 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-3 1-3 1 1 1 1-3 2 1 1 1 Location 303 Dark Ages: Vampire Victorian Age: Vampire 126 77 Time of Thin Blood Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Time of Thin Blood 77 Dark Ages: Vampire 304 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 288 Players Guide to the Sabbat 128 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 39 Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion 129 Halls of the Arcanum 61 Inquisition 60 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 290 World of Darkness: Sorcerer 72 Mokol 72 Ascension's Right Hand 78 World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Book of Shadows, The 45 Changeling Players Guide 33 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide 46 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 19 Hunter: Players Guide 117 Werewolf Players Guide 26 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 21 Kithbook: Pooka 88 Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. 73 Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. 117 Hunter: Players Guide Book of Shadows, The 45 Page Cost 2 2 7 2 1 1 4 3 5 4 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 1-4 3 1 Location Tribebook: Fianna, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Mokol Clanbook: Nosferatu Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori Kithbook: Trolls Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Corax World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu Mokol Hunters Hunted, The Clanbook: Nosferatu Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Tribebook: Black Furies, Revised Ed. Ananasi Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Fianna Tribebook Kithbook: Eshu Page 83 110 72 24 71 53 22 62 83 75 126 168 24 71 60 24 71 87 83 84 47 85
297
297
108 168
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Flaws Flaw Asthma Asthma Autopsied Bad Sight Bad Sight Barren/Sterile Bizarre Hunger Blighted Face Blind Blind Blind Blind Blunt Fangs Blunt Teeth Broken Health Broken Voice Cannibal Cannibal Chicken Claws Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Child Chronic Illness Chronic Pain Clawless Club Foot Clumsy Cold-Blooded Color Blind Construct Consumption Contagious Crippled Limb Deaf Deaf Deaf Deafness Decapitated Defanged Defective Sense Deformity Deformity Deformity Deformity Deformity Deformity Deformity Deformity Deformity Deformity Bonus 1 1 1 3 1/3 4 2-4 3 6 6 6 6 1 1 3 2 1/3 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 2 3 1 2 2 1 2 5 5 3 4 4 4 4 7 4 1 3 3 3 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 Location Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Ends of Empire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Ascension's Right Hand Kithbook: Trolls Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu Hunter: Players Guide Kithbook: Satyrs Dharma Book: Bone Flowers Infernalism: The Path of Screams Kithbook: Redcaps Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: Players Guide Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Horizon: Stronghold of Hope Gurahl Clanbook: Nosferatu Sorcerers Crusade Companion Mokol Hunter: Players Guide Guide to the Technocracy Clanbook: Tzimisce, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Risen, The Nagah Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Crusade Lore Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Page 33 168 39 289 297 54 79 65 304 120 290 298 72 24 60 65 57 80 89 45 34 169 304 120 133 47 19 277 297 120 116 89 24 132 73 118 168 70 74 119 304 290 298 120 40 99 288 45 34 169 41 23 289 134 47 19 277
Flaws Flaw Deformity Deformity Deformity Deformity Degeneration Devil's Mark Different Body Diminished Attributes Disease Carrier Disease Carrier Disfigured Disfigured Disfigured Disfigured Disfigured Disfigured Disfigured Disfigured Disfigured Disfigured Disfigured Disfigurement Distinguishing Characteristic Double Jeopardy Dulled Bite Elderly Elderly Emu Endless Hunger Eunuch Exclusive Herbivore Eyes of Eight Million Dreams Face of the Beast False Third Eye Fangless Fangless Faulty Enhancements Flesh of the Corpse Flesh of the Corpse Forgemarked Forked Tongue Frail Stomach Glowing Eyes Haggard Appearance Hammerbitten Hard of Hearing Headless Heartless Heavy Sleeper Hemophiliac Horifying Horrific Horrific Appearance Hunchback Inbred Inbred Incoherent Bonus 3 3 3 3 3/6/9 1/7 1 Varies 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1-2 5 2 4 3 7 1 1 2 1 5 4 2 2 2-5 5 5 2 2 2 3 1 3 1 4 4 1 3 7 5 3 2 1-5 1-5 5 Location Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Sins of the Blood Kindred of the East Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Hunter: Players Guide Guardians of the Caerns Guide to the Camarilla Dark Ages: Mage Hunter: Players Guide Corax Shadow Players Guide Veil of Night Mokol Land of Eight Million Dreams Road of the Beast Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Time of Thin Blood World of Darkness: Outcasts Guide to the Technocracy Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Guildbook: Artificers Clanbook: Setites Victorian Age: Vampire Guide to the Camarilla Hunter: Players Guide Guildbook: Artificers Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Guildbook: Masquers Clanbook: Setites Hunter: Players Guide Hunters Hunted, The Bitter Road, The Infernalism: The Path of Screams Clanbook: Cappadocian Ascension's Right Hand Clanbook: Giovanni Clanbook: Giovanni, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Page 297 26 21 69 289 102 95 289 128 298 45 34 169 118 288 46 19 277 297 26 21 69 118 105 73 90 119 74 26 159 74 93 75 62 79 35 170 304 298 49 39 127 74 59 50 297 52 39 118 60 118 80 40 79 42 78 74
Flaws Flaw Infectious Bite Infertile Infertile Vitae Infertile Vitae Infirm Insomniac Irretractable Fangs Lack of Control Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lame Lazy Lazy Lazy Leper Leper Leper Leper Limbless Low Alcohol Tolerance Low Pain Tolerance Magical Addict Mayfly Curse Methuselah's Thirst Missing Eye Molt Monstrous Monstrous Monstrous Monstrous Monstrous Monstrous Monstrous Monstrous Motion Sickness Mute Mute Mute Mute Mute Mute Mute Mute Mute Mute Mute Bonus 2 1/3 5 3 3 2 1 1-3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 4 2-3 4 3 4 1 2 3/5 5/10 7 3 1 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 3 1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Location Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Tribebook: Black Furies, Revised Ed. Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Sorcerers Crusade Companion Hunter: Players Guide Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Crusade Lore Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Guide to the Sabbat Hunter: Players Guide Players Guide to the Sabbat Crusade Lore Dark Ages: Vampire Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire: The Dark Ages Mokol Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Clanbook: Assamite, Revised Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Hunter: Players Guide Mokol Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Hunter: Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Page 297 87 95 128 134 118 83 101 45 34 169 41 304 289 134 47 19 277 297 27 21 69 95 118 128 41 303 136 277 74 118 119 76 290 83 120 72 304 289 46 19 297 27 21 70 118 46 34 169 304 290 47 20 278 298 27 21
Flaws Flaw Mute Mute No Dextrous Limbs No Fangs No Partial Transformation No Partial Transformation No Partial Transformation No Sense of Smell No Sense of Taste Nonswimmer Nosferatu Caitiff Obese Odd Eye Old Injury One Arm One Arm One Arm One Arm One Arm One Arm One Arm One Arm One Ear/Eye One Eye One-Armed Open Wound Paraplegic Paraplegic Paraplegic Paraplegic Paraplegic Paraplegic Parasitic Infestation Parasitic Infestation Parfum de Goat Permanent Fangs Permanent Wound Permanent Wound Permanent Wound Permanent Wound Permanent Wound Permanent Wound Pig-Pen Plague Bearer Plague Bearer Polluted/Defaced Poor Eyesight Poor Hearing Poor Night Vision Potent Blood Primal Marks Putrescent Putrescent Ragged Bite Revenant Weakness Rotting Scales Bonus 4 3 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1-2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 2-4 6 6 6 6 6 6 2 2 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 4-5 4-5 1-3 1/3 1/3 2 3 2 3 4 2 3 3-5 1-3 Location Wild West Companion World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Ananasi Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Clanbook: Nosferatu Hunter: Players Guide Clanbook: Salubri Hunter: Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Wild West Companion Guide to the Camarilla Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Kithbook: Satyrs Guide to the Camarilla Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Inanimae: The Secret Way Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Inanimae: The Secret Way Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunters Hunted, The Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Nosferatu Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Clanbook: Tzimisce, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Clanbook: Setites Page 70 110 110 84 27 21 69 118 118 118 24 118 47 119 46 34 169 47 20 277 27 21 288 297 70 73 46 34 169 290 47 20 24 73 65 73 304 289 46 20 278 297 69 41 136 69 118 118 119 60 288 24 74 303 70 69 39
Flaws Flaw Scarface Scary Presence Scavenger Scent of Decay Selective Digestion Selective Digestion Selective Digestion Shaky Hands Shark Teeth Short Short Short Short Short Short Short Short Short Short Short Short Short Short Life Short-Lived Sickly Slime Slow Healing Slow Healing Slow Healing Slow Healing Small Smell of the Grave Smell of the Grave Starving Stench Stench Stench Sterile Sterile/Barren Sterile/Impotent Stigmata Strict Carnivore Strict Carnivore Strict Carnivore Swarthy Thin Blood Thin Blood Thin Blooded Thin-Blooded Thin-Blooded Touched from Beyond Twitch Unhealed Deathwound Unscented Unstable Features Vice Virus Carrier Bonus 2-4 2 1 2 2 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 4 1 1 2 1 2 1 2-4 1 1 1 1 4 4 3 4 4 1-4 1 2 1 4 1-3 5 Location Clanbook: Tzimisce, Revised Ed. Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori Mokol Risen, The Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Hunter: Players Guide Rokea Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Guide to the Technocracy Rokea Hunter: Players Guide Mokol Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Mokol Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Charnel Houses of Europe Clanbook: Nosferatu Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Mokol Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Mokol Mummy: The Resurrection Clanbook: Malkavian, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Kithbook: Satyrs Time of Thin Blood Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Clanbook: Baali Guide to the Camarilla Ends of Empire Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Ananasi Hunter: Players Guide Guildbook: Artificers Page 70 23 73 40 46 19 277 120 83 45 33 169 303 119 288 46 19 277 297 27 21 69 132 83 118 73 304 290 128 297 73 303 297 119 24 72 74 53 74 70 66 27 21 69 65 77 298 47 20 278 45 73 39 54 84 118 50
Flaws Flaw Visible Eye Vulnerability Vulnerability to Silver Vulnerability to Silver Weak Blood Weak Lungs Weak Spot Weak Venom Withered Leg Wolf Years Wolf Years Wolf Years Youthful Appearance Merits Merit Jupiter Midsky Jupiter Midsky Jupiter Rising Jupiter Rising Mars Midsky Mars Midsky Mars Rising Mars Rising Mercury Midsky Mercury Midsky Mercury Rising Mercury Rising Venus Midsky Venus Midsky Venus Rising Venus Rising Flaws Flaw Jupiter Descending Jupiter Descending Mars Descending Mars Descending Mercury Descending Mercury Descending Venus Descending Venus Descending Bonus 6 6 6 6 3 3 2 2 Location Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Page 131 29 131 29 130 29 130 29 Cost 4 4 7 7 5 5 6 6 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 Location Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Rage Across the Heavens Werewolf Players Guide Page 131 29 131 29 131 29 130 29 130 28 130 28 130 29 130 29 Bonus 5 1-7 2 2 1 2 3 2-3 3 5 5 5 1 Location Clanbook: Salubri Guide to the Traditions Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire: The Dark Ages Dark Ages: Mage World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Nagah Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Hunter: Players Guide Page 47 231 95 128 277 90 110 98 73 27 21 70 118
World of Darkness Index: Planetary Aspect Merits and Flaws
World of Darkness Index: Sleeper Society Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Black Market Ties Church Ties Corporate Ties Corporation CEO Entertainment Ties Hideaway Judicial Ties Letter of Commission Mansion Media Ties Nightclub Police Ties Political Ties Underworld Ties Flaws Flaw Hunted Ward Bonus 4 3 Location Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Page 45 45 Cost 1-5 3 3 5 3 2 2 1-5 3 2 2 3 3 3 Location Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Ascension's Right Hand Book of Shadows, The Sorcerers Crusade Companion Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Book of Shadows, The Page 43 44 44 45 44 77 43 122 43 43 43 44 44 44
World of Darkness Index: Social Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Agency Insider Alternate Identity Apprentice Approachable Arcane Heritage Arcane Heritage Bargaining Chip Beast Affinity Beast Affinity Benevolent Domitor Best Friend Blas Boon Broken Bond Bullyboy Caged Folk Camp Affinity Clan Friendship Confessor Corporate Savvy Crusader Cupid's Gift Debt of Gratitude Debt of Gratitude Demonic Tutor Discreet Distant Sire Domain Double Identity Drahma's Voice Dynamic Personality Early Adopter Ecclesial Rank Ecumenist Elysium Regular Embraced Without the Cup Enchanting Voice Eunuch Faction Favorite Faction Founder Family Allegiance Famous Anchor Farm Ties Fascinating Gaze Fashion Sense Favors Favors Flirt Folk Hero Force of Spirit Forgettable Former Ghoul Friend of the Underground Friendly Consort Friends in High Places Cost 3 3 3 1 1 2 2-5 1-4 1-4 3 2 3 1-6 4 2 3 2 4 3 3 1 1 1-3 1-3 4 3 1 2-4 3 4-6 5 1 1-3 5 1 3 2 3 2 4 2 3-5 3 2 2 1-5 Varies 2 3 2 5 1 3 2 3-6 Location Page Project Twilight 21 76 Guide to the Camarilla Dark Ages: Mage 92 Hunter: Players Guide 105 91 Dark Ages: Mage Halls of the Arcanum 61 Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles 51 Crusade Lore 36 122 Sorcerers Crusade Companion Ghouls: Fatal Addiction 83 Hunter: Players Guide 106 Clanbook: Toreador 40 Guide to the Camarilla 75 76 Guide to the Camarilla 75 Guide to the Camarilla 75 Ratkin Tribebook: Black Furies, Revised Ed. 87 Guide to the Camarilla 76 Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers 49 Hunter: Players Guide 108 Dark Ages: Vampire 306 121 Sorcerers Crusade Companion Dark Ages: Vampire 306 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 300 78 Infernalism: The Path of Screams Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers 49 Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. 75 76 Guide to the Camarilla Project Twilight 22 Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood, Revised Ed. 59 Clanbook: Brujah, Revised Ed. 68 105 Hunter: Players Guide Inquisition 59 Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus, Revised Ed62 74 Guide to the Camarilla Clanbook: Tremere, Revised Ed. 67 Hunter: Players Guide 107 Dark Kingdom of Jade 124 Sorcerer, Revised Ed. 53 Bitter Road, The 117 44 Clanbook: Ravnos Inanimae: The Secret Way 68 Mokol 71 Mummy: The Resurrection 68 Hunter: Players Guide 107 Dark Kingdom of Jade 124 86 World of Darkness: Blood & Silk 107 Hunter: Players Guide Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood, Revised Ed. 59 Sorcerer, Revised Ed. 54 50 Guildbook: Masquers Guide to the Camarilla 74 Guide to the Camarilla 76 Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers 49 50 Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers
Merits Merit Funny Garou Companion Good Judge of Character Good Listener Good Listener Good Old Boy (or Girl) Good Reputation Good Taste Gossip Grand Reputation Grand Reputation Great Liar Gregarious Guardianship Guild Sponsor Harmless Harpy Heretic Boon Hideaway Hierarchy Boon High Caste Holder of Office Honeyed Tongue Honeyed Tongue Imperial Ambassador Inter-Agency Permit Intimidating Stance Intimidation Known Memory Pusher Laid-back Friends Leader of the Pack License to Kill License to Lovestruck Loyalty Loyalty Lucky Made Man Master of Red Tape Media Junkie Media Savvy Mistaken Monitor Mole Mortal Companion Mortal Double Mourner's Chant Natural Leader Natural Leader Natural Politician Noble Bearing Noble Bearing Noble Bearing Noble Blood Noble Blood Officially Dead Old Age Old Pal Cost 1 3 2 1 1 2 5 1 1 5 5 2 2 2 1-5 1 5 1-3 2 1-4 1 3-5 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 2 1-5 1 1 1 4 5 4 1 3 2 3 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 Location Hunter: Players Guide Gurahl Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Kithbook: Pooka Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Ananasi Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Horizon: Stronghold of Hope Masters of the Art Hunter: Players Guide Tribebook: Get of Fenris, Revised Ed. Corax Guildbook: Artificers Guide to the Camarilla Guide to the Camarilla Wraith Players Guide World of Darkness: Sorcerer Wraith Players Guide Mokol Guide to the Camarilla Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Inanimae: The Secret Way Project Twilight Kithbook: Satyrs Kithbook: Pooka Ends of Empire Hunter: Players Guide Road of the Beast Project Twilight Guide to the Technocracy Hunter: Players Guide Ascension's Right Hand World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Hunter: Players Guide World of Darkness: Mafia Guide to the Technocracy Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Ends of Empire Guide to the Camarilla Wraith Players Guide Clanbook: Toreador Tradition Book: Euthanatos, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Crusade Lore Mummy: The Resurrection Sorcerers Crusade Companion Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Guide to the Technocracy Dark Kingdom of Jade Guide to the Camarilla Page 105 89 107 105 86 53 83 105 105 116 83 107 86 75 51 75 76 24 67 24 75 76 37 124 68 22 64 87 133 107 74 22 165 105 77 107 108 84 167 105 108 133 76 24 40 69 105 300 106 36 69 121 36 121 166 124 75
Merits Merit Open Road Paragon Pathetic Aura Pawns People Person Perfect Protocol Personal Masquerade Pillar of the Community Powerful Allies Powerful Allies Prestigious Sire Prestigious Sire Primogen Primogen Friendship Protg Psychic Ally Punctual Ratkin Buddies Refined Renegade Boon Rep Reputation Research Grant Risen Contact Rising Star Ritual Congregation Sabbat Survivor Same-Bito Kin Sanctity Scholar of Enemies Scholar of Others Seasoned Traveler Secret Death Seductive Sex Appeal Sex Appeal Shamanic Authority Shame Sheriff's Friend Shielded by the System Smooth Snitch Socially Aware Soothing Voice Soothing Voice Soothing Voice Stand-Up Guy Street Rep Street Ties Struggling Student's Reputation Student's Reputation Supernatural Affinity Supernatural Companion Supporter Supportive Family Techgnosi Cost 2 6 3 8-15 2 1 3 2 5-8 5-8 1 1 7 4 1 4 1 3 2 1-3 1 2 2 2 3 4 1 1 2 2 2 2/4 2 1 4 3 2-4 2 2 2-5 1 1-3 2 3 3 1 1 1-2 2 1 2 2 1 4 2 3 2/6 Location Page Guide to the Camarilla 76 Clanbook: Ventrue, Revised Ed. 77 Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori 22 116 Horizon: Stronghold of Hope Hunter: Players Guide 107 107 Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East World of Darkness: Outcasts 36 Hunter: Players Guide 107 Horizon: Stronghold of Hope 116 83 Masters of the Art Dark Ages: Vampire 306 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 300 Guide to the Camarilla 77 Guide to the Camarilla 76 Guide to the Camarilla 75 25 Wraith Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide 106 80 Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Toreador 40 Wraith Players Guide 24 Guide to the Camarilla 75 Wraith Players Guide 24 61 Halls of the Arcanum Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers 49 Guide to the Camarilla 76 54 Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla 75 Mokol 76 95 Guide to the Sabbat Guide to the Camarilla 76 Guide to the Camarilla 76 Hunter: Players Guide 107 38 Risen, The Mummy: The Resurrection 69 Ananasi 83 64 Kithbook: Satyrs Spirit Ways, The 104 Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. 80 Guide to the Camarilla 76 Guildbook: Artificers 51 Hunter: Players Guide 106 84 World of Darkness: Mafia Hunter: Players Guide 107 World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary 108 World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. 68 World of Darkness: Sorcerer 66 World of Darkness: Mafia 84 Destiny's Price 68 68 Destiny's Price Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. 79 Horizon: Stronghold of Hope 116 83 Masters of the Art Hunter: Players Guide 57 Mokol 71 Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. 76 108 Hunter: Players Guide Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus, Revised Ed.
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Merits Merit Cost Ties 2 Ties 3 Ties 2 Title 2-5 Title 2-5 Tomb 2 Top Secret Access 2 Tradition Herald 2 Trivia Champ 2 True Love 4 Unobtrusive 1 Unremarkable 1 Upright Citizen 2 Vampire Friend 3 Vibrant Neighborhood 2 Way with Words 1 Werewolf/Vampire/Mage/Changeling Companion Winter Garou 4 Flaws Flaw Abandoned Cub Abusive Partner Agency Outsider Anachronism Anachronism Anachronism Antagonistic Family Apostate Apostate Apprentice Arcane Heritage Attracted to Humans Bad Liar Balding Banished Barren Line Beholden Beholden Betweener Sympathizer Blackmailed Blackmailed Blood Hunted Botched Presentation Bound Bound Bound Bound to the Council Bully Bureaucratic Vendetta Camp Enmity Catspaw Charach Child Children Chronic Pessimist Bonus 4 2 3 1-3 5 2 2-4 2 2/4 3 1 2 1 1 2/4/6 3 1-3 1-3 1 1-2 1-2 4-6 1 2 5 5 3 1 2 2 2 1 1-3 1 1 Location Gurahl Hunter: Players Guide Project Twilight Guide to the Traditions Mummy: The Resurrection World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Dark Kingdom of Jade Dark Ages: Vampire Veil of Night Dark Ages: Mage Dark Ages: Mage Gurahl Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Denizens of the Dreaming Heresies of the Way Destiny's Price Sorcerers Crusade Companion Rokea Denizens of the Dreaming Project Twilight Guide to the Camarilla Guide to the Camarilla Guide to the Camarilla Sorcerers Crusade Companion World of Darkness: Sorcerer Clanbook: Tremere, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Project Twilight Tribebook: Black Furies, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Page 90 116 20 229 69 68 123 306 159 92 91 89 113 113 71 101 68 130 83 71 21 78 77 77 136 73 67 113 21 87 77 76 290 113 113 Location Crusade Lore Guide to the Technocracy Sorcerers Crusade Companion Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Dharma Book: Thousand Whispers Project Twilight Bitter Road, The Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Guide to the Technocracy Renegades Hunter: Players Guide Risen, The Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide 3 Wraith Players Guide Tribebook: Red Talons, Revised Ed. Page 37 166 125 37 125 51 22 117 107 290 164 95 108 39 108 106 25 79
Flaws Flaw Chronically Late Chronically Shy Clan Enmity Clannish Family Collaborator Compulsive Liar Conflicting Loylties Conspicuous Consumer Contrary Craven Image Craven Image Creature of the Deep Criminal Entanglements Criminal Marks Criminal Marks Criminal Record Crude Cultural Snob Dancing Fool Dangerous Secret Dark Secret Dark Secret Dark Secret Dark Secret Dark Secret Dead Man Walking Debt of Honor Debts Defensive Disconcerting Disgrace to the Blood Disgraced Distinctive Shamanic Appearance Disturbing Mannerism Disturbing Mannerism Divided Loyalties Dogged by Fringe Media Dogmatic Domitor Pariah Double Agent Double Betrayer Dysfunctional Family Eccentric Appearance Enemy Enemy Enemy Enemy Enemy Brood Enemy Consort Escaped Target Expendable Extremely Depressing Failure Fallen Elder/Clutch Family Enmity Family Enmity Family Enmity Bonus 1 1 4 1 1 2 1-3 2 5 1 1 2 4 1-5 1-5 2 1 1 1 2 1-3 1 1 1-3 1 2-5 1-5 3 1 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 4 2 1 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 3 2/4 2 1 2 2 3-5 2 1 1 Location Page Hunter: Players Guide 113 Hunter: Players Guide 113 78 Guide to the Camarilla Hunter: Players Guide 113 Hunter: Players Guide 113 116 Hunter: Players Guide Ascension's Right Hand 78 Hunter: Players Guide 116 Spirit Ways, The 108 39 Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion 129 World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides 54 Hunter: Players Guide 117 Crusade Lore 40 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 131 69 Destiny's Price Hunter: Players Guide 113 113 Hunter: Players Guide Gurahl 89 Project Twilight 21 Crusade Lore 40 Dark Ages: Vampire 306 290 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion 130 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 300 85 World of Darkness: Mafia Dark Kingdom of Jade 124 Project Twilight 21 113 Hunter: Players Guide Bastet 87 Guide to the Camarilla 78 Clanbook: Assamite 27 107 Spirit Ways, The Crusade Lore 40 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 132 119 War in Concordia Hunter: Players Guide 116 Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus, Revised Ed. Ghouls: Fatal Addiction 84 Ascension's Right Hand 79 Clanbook: Tremere, Revised Ed. 67 123 Dark Kingdom of Jade Hunter: Players Guide 114 Dark Ages: Vampire 306 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 132 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 300 Wraith Players Guide 25 Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. 73 49 Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers Guide to the Camarilla 77 Guide to the Camarilla 77 17 Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Guide to the Camarilla 77 Mokol 74 Clanbook: Ravnos 44 39 Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion 129
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Flaws Flaw Faust's Burden Favors Female Fifth Degree Foreigner Former Prince Forsworn Fresh Meat Gambling Addict Garou Enemy Ghoulish Sense of Humor Gregarious Guileless Haunted Honest to a Fault Human Attention Hunted Hunted Hunted Hunted Hunted Hunted Like a Dog Icy Demeanor Identified! Ignorant Immortal Enemy Immortal Enemy Impractical Dresser Incomplete Understanding Inconvenient Alliance Inconvenient Alliance Infamous Autarkis Infamous Elder/Clutch Infamous Sire Infamous Sire Infamy Infamy Inglorious Pedigree Insane Elder Insensitive Intolerant Neighbors Isolated Upbringing Known Betweener Known to the Enemy Laughingstock Loathsome Regnant Lustful Magickal Rival Magickal Rival Marhime Masquerade Breaker Massasa Contact Mental Patient Minority Misinformed Mistaken Identity Mistaken Identity Bonus 3-6 Varies 1 5 2 3 3 4 1 2/4 1 1 2 1/3/5 2 1/3/5 4 4-5 1/4 3 4 3 1 4 1 5-8 5-8 1 1 1-3 1-3 1 2-4 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 3 3 5 4 2 2 2 3 2 3 2/5 1 1 1 1 Location Page Blood Treachery 87 World of Darkness: Blood & Silk 86 22 Project Twilight Guide to the Technocracy 171 116 Hunter: Players Guide 78 Guide to the Camarilla Fool's Luck: The Way of the Commoner 32 84 Initiates of the Art Hunter: Players Guide 114 83 Rokea Hunter: Players Guide 114 Kithbook: Sluagh 65 Pour L'Amour et Liberte: The Book of Houses 2 Hunter: Players Guide 59 Hunter: Players Guide 116 79 Tribebook: Red Talons, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire 306 34 Dark Reflections: Spectres Hunter: Players Guide 59 Mokol 74 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 300 Guide to the Camarilla 78 114 Hunter: Players Guide Ends of Empire 134 Hunter: Players Guide 114 117 Horizon: Stronghold of Hope Masters of the Art 84 Hunter: Players Guide 114 77 Guide to the Camarilla Crusade Lore 40 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 130 Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. 72 74 Mokol Dark Ages: Vampire 306 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 300 116 Hunter: Players Guide Sorcerers Crusade Companion 132 Blood Treachery 86 Mokol 74 Hunter: Players Guide 115 Hunter: Players Guide 115 71 World of Darkness: Sorcerer Rokea 83 Possessed: A Player's Guide 107 Guide to the Camarilla 78 Guide to the Camarilla 78 Hunter: Players Guide 116 Crusade Lore 41 133 Sorcerers Crusade Companion Clanbook: Ravnos 44 Guide to the Camarilla 77 86 Blood Treachery Spirit Ways, The 106 Project Twilight 22 Hunter: Players Guide 115 306 Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: Players Guide 115
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Flaws Flaw Mistaken Identity Mistaken Identity Mistreated Minority Mixed Heritage Moneygrubbing Monitored Monstrous Connection Mortal Fame Mortal Inhibition Mr. Red Tape Narc Needy Friends Nemesis New Arrival New Kid No Internet Access No Phone Nonconfrontational Nosy Neighbors Notoriety Oathbreaker Oathbreaker Obvious Predator Old Flame On the Lam Outcast Outsider Outspoken Dhimmi Outspoken Pagan Heretic Overextended Pacifist Poor Dental Health Poor Judge of Character Poor Online Demeanor Poor Personal Hygiene Poor Taste Poor Taste Probationary Member Probationary Member Probationary Sect Member Rat Fink Recruitment Target Red List Religious Aberrant Religious Aberrant Renunciate Repulsive Practice Repulsive Practice Repulsive Practice Repulsive Technique Rival Rival Rival Clan Rival Sires Rivalry Rivalry Rogue Bonus 1 1 1+ 1-2 3 5 2 1-4 4 4 3 1 3-5 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 4 2 2 3 2 2 4 4 4 5 1 2 1 1 1 1 4 3 4 2 1 7 2 2 1 3 3 3 2 1 1-5 1 2 3-5 3-5 4 Location Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Get of Fenris Tribebook Hunter: Players Guide Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Hunter: Players Guide Risen, The Kithbook: Pooka Guide to the Technocracy Guide to the Camarilla Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Guide to the Camarilla Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Sorcerers Crusade Companion Clanbook: Brujah, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla World of Darkness: Mafia Denizens of the Dreaming Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Veil of Night Dark Ages: Vampire Guide to the Camarilla Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Hunter: Players Guide Clanbook: Toreador Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mummy: The Resurrection Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Ratkin Guide to the Camarilla Guide to the Camarilla Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Blood Treachery Crusade Lore Dark Ages: Mage Sorcerers Crusade Companion Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers Clanbook: Toreador World of Darkness: Sorcerer Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East Guide to the Camarilla Horizon: Stronghold of Hope Masters of the Art Guide to the Technocracy Page 290 300 54 46 117 51 116 40 89 171 78 115 60 77 77 115 115 115 117 25 307 136 69 77 85 72 53 159 307 78 117 115 117 115 115 40 115 291 70 300 75 77 78 41 133 86 41 92 134 131 41 70 107 78 117 84 171
Flaws Flaw Rogue Apprentice Shadowy Past Sheltered Upbringing Shy Sire's Resentment Sire's Resentment Slave Sleeping with the Enemy Social Outcast Socially Oblivious Special Responsibility Speech Impediment Spiritual Duty Stalked Street Rep Stubborn Student's Reputation Student's Reputation Stumbletongue Supernatural Enemy Superstitious Sympathizer Technobabbler Technophobe Traitor Transvestite Trusting Twisted Apprenticeship Unkempt Unlucky Unregistered Relics Uppity Vulgar Wanted Ward Wavering Faith Witch-Hunted Bonus 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 1-4 2 1-2 1 2 2 1 1-5 1 1 1 2 4 2 1 1 1 4 1-3 2 1 1 3 3 4 Location Initiates of the Art Hunter: Players Guide Half-Damned: Dhampyr Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Veil of Night Guide to the Camarilla Clanbook: Toreador Hunter: Players Guide Guide to the Sabbat Hunter: Players Guide Spirit Ways, The Hunter: Players Guide Destiny's Price Hunter: Players Guide Horizon: Stronghold of Hope Masters of the Art Sorcerers Crusade Companion World of Darkness: Sorcerer Hunter: Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Guide to the Technocracy Hunter: Players Guide Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Spirit Ways, The Hunter: Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Ananasi Hunter: Players Guide Dark Kingdom of Jade Guide to the Camarilla Clanbook: Toreador Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Time of Thin Blood Hunter: Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Page 84 115 59 290 306 300 159 78 41 116 95 116 106 117 68 116 116 83 130 71 116 77 168 117 74 106 116 25 83 117 123 78 41 17 80 117 291
World of Darkness Index > Supernatural Merits and Flaws Merits Merit "Immortal" "Special Friend" Additional Discipline Agent of Prophecy Alternate Sense Ancestor Ally Ancestor Ally Ancestor Ally Animal Speech Apostate Arcane Heritage Arcane Heritage Arcane Resistance Art Affinity Ascension Message Attuned Taste Aura of Fear Auspicious Birth Avatar Companion Avatar Companion Backwards Mnesis Banality Resistance Banespeak Beneficial Quirk Bird-spirit Companion Bite of the Monitor Blended Technique Blessed Blessed Blood Flaw Immunity Blood Magic Blood of the Rivers Blood of the Wolf Blooding by the Code Bonus From Props Boon of Fate Bottom Line, The Bright Burning Aura Burning Aura Burning Gaze Caern Child Call to Friends Catharsis Rider Celestial Affinity Change Ari Charmed Existence Charmed Existence Charmed Existence Charmed Existence Charmed Existence Charmed Samadji Chi Attunement Chicanery Circumspect Avatar Clairaudience Cost 5/7 3 5 1-3 7 1 1 1 3 2 2 2 2/4/5 5 3 2 2 2 7 7 7 3 3 3 1 1-5 7 5 7 3 5 5 4 7 1-3 1-5 1 4 2 2 3 5 3 5 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 1-4 3 3 2 2 Location World of Darkness: Sorcerer World of Darkness: Sorcerer Guide to the Camarilla Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Mexico City by Night Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Kithbook: Pooka Clanbook: Baali Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Dark Ages: Vampire Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Masters of the Art Clanbook: Tremere, Revised Ed. Denizens of the Dreaming Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East Book of Shadows, The Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mokol Denizens of the Dreaming Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori Guildbook: Haunters Mokol Mokol Initiates of the Art Libellus Sanguinis 4: Thieves in the Night Sins of the Blood Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Kithbook: Trolls Noblesse Oblige: The Book of Houses Clanbook: Salubri Spirit Ways, The War in Concordia Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Wraith Players Guide Halls of the Arcanum World of Darkness: Sorcerer Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming Tribebook: Black Furies, Revised Ed. Kithbook: Pooka Doomslayers: Into the Labyrinth Blood Treachery Denizens of the Dreaming Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Clanbook: Ravnos Half-Damned: Dhampyr Dark Ages: Mage Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Page 68 67 79 102 115 21 14 64 87 44 36 123 307 162 83 66 69 107 37 297 72 69 22 50 70 70 84 112 102 83 56 63 96 47 103 118 127 26 62 67 22 87 87 70 85 69 40 14 22 15 65 44 58 92 294 39
Merits Merit Clear Sighted Clear Sighted Clear Sighted Clear Sighted Clear Sighted Cold Conditional Magic Consanguineous Resistance Controllable Night Sight Controllable Thirst Creepy Feelings Culture Shock Cyclic Magic Danger Sense Danger Sense Danger Sense Danger Sense Danger Sense Danger Sense Danger Sense Danger Sense Danger Sense Danger Sense Dead Connection Dead Friends Deathwalker Deceptive Aura Demonic Heritage: Laham Destiny Destiny Destiny Disembodied Mentor Double Draught Drowned Dual Traditions Easier Pandemonium Easy Consort Ecstatic Ecumenist Elemental Affinity Elemental Affinity Elemental Affinity Enchanting Voice Eternal Cherry Blossoms Exceptional Burial Site Exemplar Fae Blood Fae Blood Fae Blood Fae Blood Faerie Affinity Faerie Affinity Faerie Affinity Faerie Affinity Faerie Affinity Faerie Affinity Faerie Affinity Cost 5 3 6 5 3 2 1-6 1 2 1 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 4 4 1 7 4 4 4 5 2 3/6 7 2 4 2 4 7 5 4 2 4 3 7 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Location Halls of the Arcanum Hunters Hunted, The Inquisition World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Wraith Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Giovanni, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Lasombra, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Toreador Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Shadow Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Kithbook: Sluagh Tradition Book: Euthanatos, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla Infernalism: The Path of Screams Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Clanbook: Malkavian, Revised Ed. Corax World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Inquisition Inquisition Croatan Song Land of Eight Million Dreams Witches and Pagans Players Guide to the Sabbat Dharma Book: Bone Flowers Shadow Players Guide Masters of the Art Crusade Lore Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion World of Darkness: Sorcerer Book of Shadows, The Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Wraith Players Guide Page 63 61 59 68 67 26 294 77 63 40 17 88 295 36 26 161 39 12 280 22 15 64 26 17 64 69 79 79 40 14 22 65 74 54 298 50 18 58 58 126 93 84 125 57 47 84 39 295 127 67 36 36 124 39 13 280 26
Merits Merit Faerie Companion Faerie Companion Faerie Companion Faerie Eternity Faerie Eternity Faerie Godparent False Reflection Favored by Coyote Fetish Fist of God Fist of God Fly Fingers Foresighted Fountain of Life Friend to Spiders Garou Kinfolk Ghoul Ghoul Ghoul Ghoul Ghoul Ghoul Gift of Seline Gift of Thoth Giovanni Lineage Gnosis Good Relationship Green Thumb Guardian Angel Guardian Angel Guardian Angel Guardian Angel Guardian Angel Guardian Angel Guardian Angel Guardian Angel Haven Affinity Healing Touch Hidden Diablerie Hidden Power Hollow Soul Holy Aura Horn of the Unicorn Human Shell Immaculate Aura Immune to Wyrm Emanations Immune to Wyrm Emanations Indomitable Soul Innate Magical Ability Innate Vampiric Ability Inner Knight Innocent Innocent Innocent Innocent Inoffensive to Animals Inoffensive to Animals Cost 3 3 3 2 5 3 3 6 5-7 7 7 4 4 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 2 5-7 3 1 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 3 1 3 2 1 2 1 4 1 5 6 7 5 3 5 2 1 1 2 1-2 1 Location Ascension's Right Hand Halls of the Arcanum World of Darkness: Sorcerer Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Fool's Luck: The Way of the Commoner Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Nuwisha Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Hunters Hunted, The Inquisition Kithbook: Sluagh Wolves of the Sea Inquisition Kithbook: Sluagh Project Twilight Crusade Lore Halls of the Arcanum Hunters Hunted, The Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion World of Darkness: Sorcerer Bastet Mummy: The Resurrection Clanbook: Cappadocian Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Shadow Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Clanbook: Tzimisce, Revised Ed. Guide to the Camarilla Guide to the Camarilla Possessed: A Player's Guide Initiates of the Art Inquisition Children of Gaia Tribebook Denizens of the Dreaming Clanbook: Malkavian, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Sins of the Blood Players Guide to the Sabbat Risen, The Guide to the Technocracy Crusade Lore Halls of the Arcanum Inquisition Sorcerers Crusade Companion Dark Ages: Vampire Guide to the Camarilla Page 77 111 67 26 162 74 71 48 52 60 59 64 76 58 64 21 39 111 61 296 128 69 87 69 40 52 26 294 37 27 162 40 14 22 15 65 69 79 79 106 83 58 54 70 64 23 16 102 126 39 167 37 62 58 124 307 79
Merits Merit Inoffensive to Animals Inoffensive to Animals Inoffensive to Animals Intellectual P'o Invisible Iron Resistance Iron Resistance Justin, the Nick of Time Kami-Touched Kinfolk Leech Legendary Attribute Lesser Shaman Library of Heresies Living Fount Living Legend Lord of Flies Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck Luck Lucky Lucky Lucky Lucky Lucky Shot Lunar Influence Lupine Kinship Machine Affinity Mage Companion Magic Resistance Magic Resistance Magic Resistance Magic Sensitivity Manifest Avatar Marijava Contact Mark of Favor Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Melody of Days to Come Miracles of the Faith Mistguide Mnesis Cost 1 1 1-2 2 4 4 4 4 2 4 5 5 6 2 2 5 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 3 2-4 1 3/5/7 4 3 2 2 2 1 3 1 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2/4 2 5 4 7 Location Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wind from the East Dharma Book: Resplendent Cranes Hunters Hunted, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Heresies of the Way Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Guildbook: Haunters Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Spirit Ways, The Cainite Heresy Dark Ages: Mage Kithbook: Eshu Infernalism: The Path of Screams Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Players Guide to the Sabbat Wolves of the Sea Glass Walkers Tribebook Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Players Guide to the Sabbat Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Assamite Sorcerers Crusade Companion Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Victorian Age: Vampire Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming Cainite Heresy Sorcerers Crusade Companion Nagah Page 39 12 75 63 60 24 160 127 100 83 51 296 105 93 92 86 78 37 27 162 37 127 39 14 281 23 15 64 26 307 296 301 67 51 125 75 51 80 39 13 300 125 295 26 127 36 26 161 307 294 12 300 127 21 93 127 98
Merits Merit Mnesis of the Lost Ones Moon-Bound Moon-Bound Moon-Bound Moon-paint Mystic Ability Natural Channel Natural Channel Natural Channel Natural Channel Natural Vicissitude Nature Linked Nephilim New Bloodline Nightsight Nine Lives Nine Lives Nine Lives Nine Lives Nostalgic Shadow Oath of the Honor-Bound Allies Obsession Occult Library Occult Library Oracle Oracular Ability Oracular Ability Oracular Ability Oracular Ability Other Half Pale Aura Pale Aura Parlor Trick Past Life Past Life Past Life Past Life Path Natural Path Natural Penetrating Glare Personal Talisman Phantom Fate Phobia Insight Pillar Natural Plasm Famulus Poetic Heart Poetic Heart Potent Aura Powerful Ghoul Precognition Precognition Precognition Precognition Prescience Prophetic Prophetic Ability Prophetic Ability Cost 1 2 2 2 5 2 3 3 3 3 5 3 7 7 3 6 6 6 6 1-5 5 3 2 2 4 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 1 1-5 1-5 1-5 2-6 5 5 3 1 5 1 5 6 3 3 3 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 Location Mokol Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Book of the City Players Guide to the Sabbat Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Libellus Sanguinis 2: Keepers of the Word Kithbook: Trolls Blood Treachery World of Darkness: Outcasts World of Darkness: Sorcerer Dark Ages: Vampire Guide to the Traditions Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Shadow Players Guide Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming Shadow Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Wraith Players Guide Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Hunters Hunted, The Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Sorcerer, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Dark Reflections: Spectres Guide to the Traditions Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming Guildbook: Haunters Dark Ages: Mage Guildbook: Masquers Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Clanbook: Toreador Halls of the Arcanum Players Guide to the Sabbat World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Clanbook: Cappadocian Victorian Age: Vampire Inquisition World of Darkness: Sorcerer Page 70 23 15 64 124 125 295 23 15 65 62 63 85 36 67 308 229 126 301 26 111 26 39 13 111 307 295 125 300 26 83 60 294 36 25 160 26 56 69 33 229 111 50 92 51 28 164 310 40 63 125 68 68 40 127 58 68
Merits Merit Proxy Kissed Psychic Awareness Psychic Ritual Puddle Purity Pushy Avatar Reborn Sage Regeneration Regeneration Reptile Buddy Resistant Pattern Resonant Passion Revenant Disciplines Rip Van Winkle Rune-Wise Sanctity Sanguine Incongruity Scent of the Other Second Sight Second Sight Secret Fetter Secure Fetter Seeming's Blessing Seeming's Blessing Sense of the Stock Sexual Reverie Shamanic Traditionalist Shapechanger Kin Shapechanger Kin Shapechanger Kin Shattered Avatar Shen Companion Shimmering Aura Sight Beyond Sight Silence Silver Tolerance Silver Tolerance Silver Tolerance Sleep Unseen Small Gift Song Owner Soothe the Beast Soothing Voice Soothing Voice Sorcerous Awareness Spark of Life Spark of Life Speaker with the Dead Speeding Sphere Natural Sphere Natural Sphere Natural Spirit Acquaintance Spirit Guide Spirit Magnet Spirit Mentor Spirit Mentor Cost 4 3 2 5 4 2 1-2 7 7 3 7 3 3 3-6 5 2 5 1 2-6 3 4 3-5 5 5 3 4 4/6 4 4 4 5 1 2 5 1 5-7 7 7 2 3 1 2-5 3 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 2/4 5 3-7 3 3 Location Page Clanbook: Giovanni, Revised Ed. 77 Halls of the Arcanum 62 54 Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Kithbook: Sluagh 64 Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers 131 83 Initiates of the Art Stargazers Tribebook 50 24 Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 160 71 Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. Guide to the Traditions 229 Tradition Book: Cult of Ecstasy, Revised Ed.69 Clanbook: Tzimisce, Revised Ed. 69 Gurahl 89 Wolves of the Sea 76 125 Players Guide to the Sabbat Clanbook: Giovanni 42 47 Clanbook: Salubri Tribebook: Fianna, Revised Ed. 83 Wolves of the Sea 75 Dark Reflections: Spectres 34 Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles 51 29 Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 164 Wind from the East 75 65 Kithbook: Satyrs Spirit Ways, The 105 Halls of the Arcanum 111 296 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer 68 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 297 Land of Eight Million Dreams 93 82 Witches and Pagans Clanbook: Salubri 47 Players Guide to the Sabbat 125 23 Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 16 Wild West Companion 65 Clanbook: Nosferatu, Revised Ed. 71 Mediums: Speakers with the Dead 18 Mokol 75 67 Liege, Lord, and Lackey Halls of the Arcanum 63 Inquisition 58 Inquisition 58 Book of Shadows, The 37 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 129 Mediums: Speakers with the Dead 19 34 Dark Reflections: Spectres Book of Shadows, The 37 Changeling Players Guide 27 297 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Nagah 98 World of Darkness: Sorcerer 69 Book of Shadows, The 39 36 Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide 26
Merits Merit Spirit Mentor Spirit Mentor Spirit Mentor Spirit Mentor Spirit Mentor Spirit of Healing Spirit Parent Spirit's Mark Step Sideways Step Sideways Storm Warning Stormwarden Struggling Awake Style Sleeper Supernatural Companion Supernatural Companion Supernatural Companion Supernatural Companion Supernatural Kinfolk Supernatural Spouse Symbol Independence Sympathetic Bond Tenacious Spirit Terrible Footsteps Tomb Totem Totem True Berserk True Faith True Faith True Faith True Faith True Faith True Faith True Faith True Faith True Faith True Faith True Faith True Faith True Gypsy True Love True Love True Love True Love True Love True Love True Love True Love True Love True Love True Love True Love True Love True Symbiote Twin Link Twin Souls Cost 3 3 3 3 3 3 6 2 7 6 1 3/5 5 2 4 1-5 3 3 4-5 4 3 5 7 1 1-2 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 4 4/6 4 Location Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Dark Kingdom of Jade Wendigo Tribebook Possessed: A Player's Guide Mokol Nagah Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Halls of the Arcanum Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Clanbook: Toreador Inquisition Clanbook: Malkavian, Revised Ed. Dharma Book: Thousand Whispers Mokol Wraith Players Guide Sorcerer, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Wolves of the Sea Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Freak Legion: A Players Guide to Fomori Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Crusade Lore Dark Ages: Vampire Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Possessed: A Player's Guide Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Book of Shadows, The Page 161 307 39 13 300 124 48 106 72 98 130 295 56 55 84 61 15 65 53 40 58 66 51 71 25 56 70 77 38 27 23 298 105 40 14 281 301 16 65 26 84 36 25 161 36 307 122 39 12 280 301 24 14 25 106 55 37
Merits Merit Twin Souls Umbral Affinity Unaging Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Unbondable Uncanny Sight Unconquered Ally Unforgettable Taste Unholy Aura Unholy Aura Unknowing Garou Kinfolk Unknown Fetter Unpossessed Vampire Ally Vampire Companion Vampire Spouse Veiled to Garou Venomous Attack Vibes Virulent Strike Warded Weak Aura Weak Shadow Werewolf Companion Werewolf Companion Werewolf/Vampire Companion Werewolf/Vampire Companion Werewolf/Vampire Companion Wholecloth Wild Talent Winged Winged Without a Trace Work with Iron Wraith Companion Wyld Allies Wyld Summons Yathamaya Cost 4 3 2 4 4 4 3 6 3 4 3 3 3 3 3/6 2 2 5 7 7 2 1-5 5 4 3 5 7 5 4 7 1-5 2 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 1-4 3 4 2 5 3 4 2 1 Location Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Gurahl Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Liege, Lord, and Lackey Clanbook: Assamite Kithbook: Redcaps Clanbook: Baali Infernalism: The Path of Screams Project Twilight Wraith Players Guide Possessed: A Player's Guide Werewolf: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Clanbook: Toreador Mokol Kithbook: Pooka Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Shadow Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Wraith Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Kithbook: Pooka Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Kithbook: Nockers Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Guildbook: Haunters Guildbook: Haunters Mokol Page 296 89 295 37 27 162 307 84 295 128 39 13 280 300 67 67 26 91 44 79 21 26 107 100 24 40 72 88 127 84 27 310 26 39 13 36 26 162 88 55 28 164 28 53 81 51 50 71
Flaws Flaw Aggravated Quirk Akuma Ancestral Soil Dependence Angry Ancestor Arcane Madness Artificially Aged Aura of the Wyrm Bad Mnesis Banality Magnet Banned Transformation Banned Transformation Banned Transformation Bard's Tongue Bard's Tongue Bard's Tongue, The Bard's Tongue, The Bard's Tongue, The Bard's Tongue, The Bard's Tongue, The Beacon of the Unholy Bearer of Bad News Beast Within Beast Within, The Bedeviled Big Mouth Bitter Tongue Bizarre Hunger Blood Madness Blood Madness Blood Madness Blurred Bound Broken Record Calling Card Can't Cross Running Water Can't Cross Running Water Can't Cross Running Water Can't Cross Running Water Cannot Embrace Cast No Reflection Cast No Reflection Cast No Reflection Cast No Shadow or Reflection Ch'ing Shih Changeling's Eyes Changeling's Eyes Chimerical Disability Chimerical Disability Chimerical Magnet Chimerical Magnet Clan Weakness Clan Weakness Cleared Mists Cleared Mists Cloaked in Shadow Cold Breeze Conditional Magic Bonus 3 3 2 2 3 2 5 2-5 4 1-6 1-6 1-6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 5 5 6 2 3 2-5 2/4 2/4 2/4 2 3 7 2 4 3 3 3 2 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 1-3 1-3 5 5 2 2 3 3 4 1 1-6 Location Guildbook: Haunters Kindred of the East Clanbook: Tzimisce, Revised Ed. Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East Dark Ages: Mage Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Clanbook: Setites Mokol Denizens of the Dreaming Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Wraith Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Guide to the Traditions Hunters Hunted, The Guide to the Traditions Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Infernalism: The Path of Screams World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Dark Ages: Vampire Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Veil of Night Dark Reflections: Spectres Wraith Players Guide Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Tradition Book: Euthanatos, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Dark Ages: Vampire Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Guide to the Traditions Dharma Book: Bone Flowers Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Time of Thin Blood World of Darkness: Outcasts Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State Guide to the Camarilla Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Page 50 94 70 108 92 84 39 73 71 21 16 65 39 129 40 28 163 298 28 79 127 231 61 231 57 80 108 309 64 159 34 28 128 69 309 41 15 302 308 309 126 302 230 57 28 164 28 164 25 160 78 35 28 164 29 79 294
Flaws Flaw Crucial Component Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Cursed Damned Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Dark Fate Death's Reflection Deathsight Deathsight Decrepitude Defiled Demented Eidolon Demon Plagued Demon-Hounded Demon-Hounded Dependence On Props Devil's Mark Didactic P'o Discordant Disembodied Shadow Dissolve Distorted Image Dream Hunter Dreamtime Shadow Ally Du'at Enemy Easily Sensed Echoes Echoes Echoes Echoes Echoes Echoes Echoes Bonus 2-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 2 4 3 6 3 2 1-4 1-4 2-6 1 2 1/3 3 3 1 2 3 4 3 1-5 2-5 2-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 2-5 Location Page Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 299 Book of Shadows, The 40 27 Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 162 Crusade Lore 40 308 Dark Ages: Vampire Sorcerers Crusade Companion 132 Vampire Player's Guide 40 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 15 301 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide 22 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 16 Wild West Companion 66 Wraith Players Guide 27 Wraith Players Guide 27 42 Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide 29 165 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Crusade Lore 41 Dark Ages: Vampire 309 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 300 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 136 41 Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 15 Vampire: The Dark Ages 281 302 Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide 22 Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 18 67 Wild West Companion Wraith Players Guide 29 Clanbook: Lasombra, Revised Ed. 65 Guide to the Camarilla 79 19 Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Time of Thin Blood 78 Kindred of the East 95 171 Guide to the Technocracy Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand 81 Dark Ages: Vampire 308 Vampire: The Dark Ages 281 Spirit Ways, The 107 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 298 63 Dharma Book: Resplendent Cranes Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus, Revised Ed. Wraith Players Guide 28 Guide to the Technocracy 132 Bitter Road, The 118 Mokol 74 Shadow Players Guide 88 27 Clanbook: Assamite Wraith Players Guide 28 Book of Shadows, The 39 24 Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 159 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 298 Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade 105 70 World of Darkness: Sorcerer Wraith Players Guide 28
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Flaws Flaw Eerie Presence Eerie Presence Eerie Presence Embittered Shadow Entropy Sink Eochaid's Curse Faerie Cursed Faerie Hatred Fertile Essence Flashes Foe From the Past Foe From the Past Foe from the Past Forced Transformation Forced Transformation Forced Transformation Foul Presence Freak Magnet Geas Geas Geas Geasa Gesa Goblin Magnet Great Fossil Lizard Greedy Glamour Grip of the Damned Grip of the Damned Hag-Ridden Harbinger of Gehenna Haunted Haunted Haunted Haunted Haunted Haunted Haunted Haunted Haunted Improper Burial Improperly Buried Inauspicious Inauspicious Birth Inept Channeler Infectious Infernal Aura Infernal Aura Initiate to the Road Insane Past Life Insane Past Life Insane Past Life Interface Blur Iron Allergy Iron Allergy Jackal's Blood Jinx Kanbujian Bonus 2 2 2 1-5 3 3 4 2 1 2 1-3 1-3 1-3 1-4 1-4 1-4 3 4 1-5 3/5/7 1-7 1-5 3/5/7 2 5 5 4 4 4 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1/3 2 4 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 5 3-5 3-5 5 3-4 4 Location Dark Ages: Vampire Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Shadow Players Guide Guildbook: Artificers Denizens of the Dreaming Witches and Pagans Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Mokol Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Dark Reflections: Spectres Silent Striders Tribebook Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion Tribebook: Fianna, Revised Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Kithbook: Nockers Mokol Changeling Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Kithbook: Sluagh Victorian Age: Vampire Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Shadow Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Nagah Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East Dark Ages: Mage Clanbook: Malkavian, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Baali Infernalism: The Path of Screams Dark Ages: Vampire Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Book of Madness, Revised Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Tribebook: Bone Gnawers, Revised Ed. Glass Walkers Tribebook San Francisco by Night Page 309 126 302 26 50 71 85 81 76 127 22 16 66 22 16 66 34 48 159 135 83 298 72 54 75 30 309 302 65 127 41 28 163 309 134 41 15 281 302 47 28 98 107 92 66 45 80 308 23 17 66 63 24 160 81 51 131
Flaws Flaw Kassandra Complex Kinfolk Kuei Attractor Kuei Vulnerabilities Kuei-p'o Law-Bound Lesser Resurrection Lifeblood Light Sensitive Light-Sensitive Light-Sensitive Light-Sensitive Limited Yang Lord of Flies Lord of the Flies Lost Horizon Lupine Enmity Mad Visions Magic Susceptibility Magic Susceptibility Magical Prohibition or Imperative Magical Prohibition or Imperative Mark of the Predator Mark of the Predator Melody of Days to Come Mobbed Moon-Mad Mystical Prohibition or Imperative Nature Bound Nemesis Nephandic Taint Oathtaken Offensive to Animals Offensive to Animals Offensive to Animals Offensive to Animals Offensive to Animals Otherworldly Taint Path Inept Path Inept Permanent Paradox Flaw Personal Talisman Phylactery Pied Piper Pierced Veil Pierced Veil Pierced Veil Poison Joss Poltergeist Party Potent Aura Power Fetish Primal Marks Psi Focus Psychic Feedback Psychic Vampire Psychic Vampire Psychic Vampire Bonus 5 4 4 5 4 2 3 5 5 5 5 5 4 2 2 3-5 4 3 2 2 2-7 1-5 2 2 3 3 5 1-5 2 5 3 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 5 5 2 1 7 2-4 3 3 3 6 3 3 3 2 3/5 1/2/6 5 5 5 Location Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Dark Kingdom of Jade Shadow Players Guide Shadow Players Guide Wolves of the Sea Mummy: The Resurrection Mummy: The Resurrection Vampire Player's Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Dharma Book: Bone Flowers Clanbook: Baali Guide to the Camarilla Kithbook: Eshu Wolves of the Sea Clanbook: Cappadocian Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Bastet Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Kithbook: Trolls Kithbook: Eshu Initiates of the Art War in Concordia Halls of the Arcanum Inquisition World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer World of Darkness: Sorcerer Sorcerer, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Masters of the Art Guide to the Traditions Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Libellus Sanguinis 3: Wolves at the Door Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Half-Damned: Dhampyr Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Dark Ages: Vampire Time of Thin Blood Book of Shadows, The Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Page 128 83 123 48 47 77 69 70 41 309 15 302 58 44 79 86 77 40 40 15 40 27 23 17 21 17 87 162 64 86 84 119 63 59 108 68 71 72 57 73 84 229 300 28 23 18 67 59 18 310 79 40 57 56 41 30 165
Flaws Flaw Ra's Rest Ravaging Years Reaper's Touch Repelled by Crosses Repelled by Crosses Repelled by Crosses Repulsed by Garlic Repulsed by Garlic Repulsed by Garlic Repulsed by Garlic Repulsed by Garlic Repulsed by Wild Rose Repulsive to Animals Repulsive to Animals Repulsive to Animals Ritual Sleeper Rule of Three Sanity Sink Scourged by God Serendipity Shadow Haunt Shadow Walker Sidhe's Curse Sidhe's Curse Sign of the Wolf Sign of the Wolf Sign of the Wolf Silsila Enemy Slip Sideways Slip Sideways Slip Sideways Slipped Seeming Slipped Seeming Soul Rot Soul's Reflection Soulless Speaking in Tongues Spectre Meat Sphere Inept Sphere Inept Spirit Magnet Spirit's Mark Spirit-Trained Spiritually Noticeable Sticky Plasm Stolen Tooth Strangeness Strong P'o Strong Psyche Subject to Paradox Sun Allergy Supernatural Enemy Surreal Quality Surreal Quality Taint of Corruption Taint of Corruption Taint of Corruption Bonus 3 2 5 3 3 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 5 2 3 5 3 3 6 5 5 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1-5 1-5 5 1 7 5 3 5 5 2-6 2 1-2 3 5 3 1 4 1-3 5 3 1-5 2 2 1 1 1 Location Mummy: The Resurrection Time of Thin Blood Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Time of Thin Blood Dark Ages: Vampire Infernalism: The Path of Screams Wind from the East Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Book of Madness, Revised Ed. Cainite Heresy Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Shadow Players Guide Clanbook: Giovanni, Revised Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Clanbook: Assamite Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wild West Companion Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Possessed: A Player's Guide Mummy: The Resurrection Guide to the Technocracy Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Book of Shadows, The Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Book of Shadows, The Possessed: A Player's Guide Spirit Ways, The Spirit Ways, The Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers Kithbook: Redcaps Book of Shadows, The Half-Damned: Dhampyr Dark Reflections: Spectres Guide to the Technocracy Half-Damned: Dhampyr Halls of the Arcanum Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Page 70 78 137 40 15 302 308 40 15 281 301 79 309 79 76 57 128 63 94 128 26 78 30 165 23 17 66 27 24 17 66 29 165 107 70 132 128 18 41 300 39 106 105 107 49 90 39 59 34 132 59 63 24 159 40 15 281
Flaws Flaw Taint of Corruption Taint of Corruption Taint of Suspicion Tainted Humors Tainted Joss Thaumaturgically Inept Thaumivore Thaumivore Throwback Throwback Throwback Throwback Time Cycle Touch of Chaos Touch of Death Touch of Frost Touch of Frost Touch of Frost Trance Requirement Troglodyte Umbral Connection UnBroken Unconquered Enemy Uncontrollable Night Sight Unsettling Effect Unstable Memory Palace Veiled Vengeful Ancestors Vitae Sink Vivophage Vulnerability Wandering Spirit Weak Aura Weak Blood Wild Talent Winged Winged Witch Finder Witch Kin Witchwalk Wotan's Curse Wuzho Enemy Wyld Intolerance Wyrm Tainted Wyrm-Tainted Bonus 7 7 3 3 3 5 5 5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1-5 1 4 1 1 1 3 1-4 3 3 1 2 1/3 3 5 4 3 1 2-5 1 2 5 1-4 2 2 3 2 1-5 2 2 1 4 4 Location Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Uktena Tribebook Charnel Houses of Europe Half-Damned: Dhampyr Clanbook: Tremere, Revised Ed. Ascension's Right Hand World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Tradition Book: Euthanatos, Revised Ed. Mummy: The Resurrection Dark Ages: Vampire Guide to the Traditions Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Spirit Ways, The Kithbook: Nockers Wraith Players Guide Clanbook: Assamite, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Assamite Clanbook: Lasombra, Revised Ed. Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Ends of Empire Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Kindred of the East Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Half-Damned: Dhampyr World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Dharma Book: Thousand Whispers Dark Ages: Vampire Dark Ages: Vampire Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Changeling Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Croatan Song Croatan Song Dark Ages: Mage Tribebook: Get of Fenris, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Ravnos Guildbook: Haunters Project Twilight Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Page 24 18 46 119 59 67 80 110 39 27 162 28 28 69 70 308 230 301 107 53 29 77 26 64 57 134 53 95 85 59 109 51 310 309 55 28 164 127 126 93 86 44 50 21 53
World of Darkness Index: Zodiacal Merits and Flaws Merits Merit Adaptable Nature Battle Prowess Born Leader Eyes of Eshtarra Fire Within, The Friend of Sorcery Good Instincts Hidden Talent Inner Sight Luck of the Road Mitanu's Tongue Mother's Insight Resigned Spirit Flaws Flaw Braggart Earthbound Errant Mind Foul Temper Incorrigible Flirt Indolent Will Intrigue Junkie Mitanu's Retrograde Curse Reluctant Warrior Sadness of Hakahe Sokhta's Minor Madness Suspicion Magnet Thoughtless Heart Uncontrollable Appetite Bonus 2 3 1 2 2 4 1 3 2 1 2 4 2 2 Location Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Page 128 127 128 129 128 129 129 127 127 128 127 129 129 127 Cost 2 3 1 4 2 5 3 3 2 2 2 4 2 Location Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Rage Across the Heavens Page 129 127 128 127 127 128 129 129 127 128 127 128 129
World of Darkness Index : Abilities Talents Ability Acting Acting Acting Acting Acting Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Alertness Animal Empathy Animal Empathy Artist Artistic Expression Artistic Expression Artistic Expression Artistic Expression Artistic Expression Assbeating Assimilation Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Athletics Awareness Awareness Location Changeling Players Guide Guide to the Technocracy Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Subsidiaries: A Guide to Pentex Liege, Lord, and Lackey Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Bastet Dark Ages: Mage Page 34 145 120 83 148 166 139 143 105 146 122 106 85 120 84 148 120 123 105 111 129 107 123 119 17 60 86 14 34 50 38 39 124 65 166 139 143 105 146 122 106 86 120 84 148 120 123 105 111 129 107 124 119 81 82
Talents Ability Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Babel Barter Biorhythms Blatancy Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Brawl Carousing Carousing Carousing Carousing Carousing Carousing Carousing Clan Impersonation Dancing Diplomacy Diplomacy Diplomacy Diplomacy Diplomacy Diplomacy Divination Diving Do Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Location Page Hunter: The Reckoning 106 Libellus Sanguinis 4:Thieves in the Night 112 Mage: The Ascension 146 123 Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 106 86 Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade 60 Mummy: The Resurrection World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary 102 World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. 57 Wraith: The Great War 107 124 Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. 119 Libellus Sanguinis 4:Thieves in the Night112 Croatan Song 111 Gurahl 86 Book of Shadows, The 14 166 Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 139 144 Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning 107 Mage: The Ascension 146 Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. 123 Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. 107 87 Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages 120 Vampire: The Masquerade 84 148 Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. 120 Werewolf: The Apocalypse 124 105 Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. 111 Werewolf: The Wild West 129 Wraith: The Great War 107 124 Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. 120 Book of Shadows, The 14 35 Changeling Players Guide Crusade Lore 34 Mummy: The Resurrection 60 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 114 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 38 Wraith Players Guide 39 30 Clanbook: Assamite Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade 94 Book of Shadows, The 15 Changeling Players Guide 35 Guide to the Camarilla 67 Vampire Player's Guide 50 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 39 40 Wraith Players Guide World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. 60 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 114 Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood, Revised Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming 166 Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. 139 Dark Ages: Vampire 144 107 Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension 147
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Talents Ability Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dodge Dreamcraft Dreaming Elusion Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Empathy Endurance Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Expression Fast Draw Flight Flying Location Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Players Guide to the Sabbat Sorcerers Crusade Companion Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Crusade Lore Dark Ages: Vampire Guide to the Traditions Hunter: The Reckoning Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Hunter Book: Defender Changeling: The Dreaming Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Veil of Night Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Hunter Book: Avenger Corax World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Page 123 108 87 120 84 149 120 124 105 111 129 107 124 120 58 101 115 167 139 34 145 211 107 115 121 85 149 121 124 105 111 129 102 57 107 124 120 67 167 145 107 147 123 108 87 121 156 125 106 112 130 58 107 125 120 65 68 102
Talents Ability Fortune Telling Fortune Telling Fortune Telling Fortune Telling Fortune-Telling Fortune-Telling Fortune-Telling Fortune-Telling Franchise Grace Haggling Haggling Helldiving Hobby Talent Homiletics Instruction Instruction Instruction Instruction Instruction Instruction Instruction Instruction Instruction Instruction Interrogation Interrogation Interrogation Interrogation Interrogation Interrogation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intimidation Intrigue Intrigue Intrigue Intrigue Intrigue Intrigue Intrigue Intuition Location Book of Shadows, The Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Changeling Players Guide Dark Kingdom of Jade Guide to the Sabbat World of Darkness: Sorcerer Ashen Knight, The Vampire Storytellers Companion Guide to the Camarilla Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Doomslayers: Into the Labyrinth Vampire Storytellers Companion Inquisition Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Shadow Lords Tribebook Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Wraith Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Hunter: The Reckoning Page 15 102 39 40 36 116 88 58 100 15 67 39 52 22 54 15 36 123 87 53 39 16 31 28 41 16 36 50 40 17 41 168 139 145 108 148 124 108 88 121 85 149 122 125 106 112 130 107 125 120 16 37 68 94 50 40 41 108
Talents Ability Intuition Intuition Intuition Intuition Intuition Intuition Invention Kenning Kenning Kuei Lung Ch'uan Larceny Larceny Larceny Larceny Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Legerdemain Logic Lucid Dreaming Lucid Dreaming Malkavian Time Masquerade Masquerade Masquerade Might Mimicry Mimicry Mimicry Mimicry Mimicry Mimicry Mimicry Musician Negotiation Newspeak Normalcy Panhandling Panhandling Panhandling Persuasion Poetic Expression Poetic Expression Primal-Urge Primal-Urge Primal-Urge Primal-Urge Public Speaking Scan Scan Scan Scan Scan Scrounge Location Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes Land of Eight Million Dreams Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion World of Darkness: Sorcerer Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Book of Crafts, The Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf: The Dark Ages Werewolf: The Wild West Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Halls of the Arcanum Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Malkavian, Revised Ed. Ghouls: Fatal Addiction Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Hunter Book: Avenger Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Sorcerers Crusade Companion Guide to the Technocracy Guide to the Technocracy Mediums: Speakers with the Dead Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Changeling Players Guide Page 48 88 147 124 17 59 94 168 140 136 88 121 96 130 145 108 108 121 85 150 122 145 94 55 50 59 82 40 18 64 16 37 51 40 19 32 28 115 145 145 23 88 102 41 140 51 41 126 106 113 130 42 16 38 52 42 42 38
Talents Ability Scrounge Scrounging Scrounging Scrounging Scrounging Search Search Search Search Search Search Search Seduction Seduction Seduction Seduction Seduction Seduction Seduction Sense Deception Sense Deception Sense Deception Sense Deception Shentao (Kenning) Singing Singing Spiritual Alertness Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Streetwise Style Style Style Style Style Style Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Location Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Guide to the Camarilla Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Mummy: The Resurrection Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Land of Eight Million Dreams Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire Player's Guide Quick & the Dead Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Bastet Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Wraith Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Page 42 16 68 52 42 17 38 68 51 42 29 42 17 38 95 60 51 43 42 17 38 52 43 88 95 53 49 169 140 109 148 124 109 85 150 122 125 106 113 125 121 81 18 39 43 20 42 169 141 146 109 148 124 109 88 122 85 150
Talents Ability Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Subterfuge Swimming Swimming Throwing Throwing Tolerance Trick Urbanism Ventriloquism Ventriloquism Ventriloquism Ventriloquism Ventriloquism Ventriloquism Ventriloquism Wood Lore Wrestling Writing Location Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Hunter Book: Hermit World of Darkness: Mummy Wraith: The Great War Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Storytellers Handbook Tribebook: Fianna, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy Page 122 125 106 113 131 107 126 121 44 32 44 20 83 17 107 18 39 53 44 21 32 29 63 70 17
Skills Ability Acrobatics Acrobatics Acrobatics Acrobatics Acrobatics Acrobatics Acrobatics Acrobatics Acrobatics Acrobatics Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Ken Animal Training Animal Training Animal Training Archery Archery Archery Archery Archery Archery Archery Archery Archery Archery Archery Archery Archery Artillerist Artillery Artillery Biotech Blacksmith Blacksmith Blacksmith Blind Fighting Blind Fighting Blind Fighting Blind Fighting Blind Fighting Blood Preparation Blowgun Boat Handling Boat Handling Boating Body Alteration Body Crafts Body Reading Location Bastet Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Kindred of the East Land of Eight Million Dreams Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Changeling Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Book of Shadows, The Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Vampire: The Dark Ages Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Dark Ages World of Darkness: Blood & Silk Wraith Players Guide Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Guide to the Technocracy Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Clanbook: Assamite Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Croatan Song Players Guide to the Sabbat Dark Ages: Vampire Quick & the Dead Page 82 18 39 69 82 88 95 54 45 43 39 146 109 88 122 86 151 123 127 107 114 131 18 54 45 18 39 146 88 54 45 22 123 32 29 97 85 43 95 55 45 146 40 55 45 19 40 102 46 43 70 30 55 46 111 102 222 50
Skills Ability Brewing Brewing/Distilling Brewing/Distilling Bribery Bribery Brood Kenning Bujo Camouflage Camouflage Camouflage Camouflage Camouflage Camouflage Carousing Carpentry Carpentry Carpentry Chivalry Chivalry Climbing Climbing Climbing Climbing Climbing Climbing Climbing Commerce Construction Construction Cooking Cooking Cooking/Baking Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Crafts Dancing Dancing Dancing Dancing Dancing Debate Debate Demolitions Location Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Mokol World of Darkness: Gypsies Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Ashen Knight, The Liege, Lord, and Lackey Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Crusade Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter Book: Avenger World of Darkness: Mummy Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Kindred of the East Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Dark Ages Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Page 40 55 46 55 46 52 48 19 40 70 55 46 44 55 40 56 46 100 66 19 41 34 115 56 47 44 146 65 17 56 47 41 20 169 141 147 110 83 109 89 123 124 29 114 97 131 60 108 126 122 21 41 56 48 45 57 48 20
Skills Ability Demolitions Demolitions Demolitions Demolitions Demolitions Demolitions Demolitions Disguise Disguise Disguise Disguise Disguise Disguise Disguise Disguise Disguise Disguise Disguise Diversion Divination Do Do Do Drinking Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Elusion Energy Weapons Escape Artistry Escapology Escapology Escapology Escapology Escapology Escapology Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Location Hunter: The Reckoning Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Crusade Lore Hunter Book: Redeemer Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide World of Darkness: Gypsies Mummy: The Resurrection Book of Shadows, The Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade World of Darkness: Gypsies Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Guide to the Technocracy Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Wraith Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Page 111 57 48 22 33 29 44 20 41 34 66 116 57 49 23 33 30 44 49 61 21 125 95 49 169 141 111 149 125 110 86 151 124 126 107 114 126 122 103 146 30 21 41 57 49 33 45 169 141 147 111 149 125 111 89 123 86 151
Skills Ability Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Etiquette Falconry Falconry Falconry Fast-Draw Fast-Draw Fast-Draw Fast-Draw Fast-Draw Fast-Draw Fast-Draw Fast-Talk Fast-Talk Fast-Talk Fast-Talk Fast-Talk Fencing Fire Dancing Fire Eating Fire Walking Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms Firearms First Aid First Aid First Aid First Aid Fishing Fishing Fishing Foraging Forgery Forgery Fortune-Telling Gambling Gambling Gambling Location Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Players Guide to the Sabbat Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Gurahl Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Gypsies Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Page 124 127 107 115 131 108 126 122 41 57 49 21 42 58 49 33 30 45 22 42 58 49 45 96 89 102 103 170 142 112 149 125 111 96 86 151 124 126 107 115 131 108 126 123 22 43 58 50 86 58 50 103 58 50 49 22 43 58
Skills Ability Location Page Gambling Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 50 Gambling Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 30 Gambling Wraith Players Guide 45 43 Game Playing Changeling Players Guide Game Playing Vampire Player's Guide 58 Game Playing Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 50 121 Gargoyle Ken House of Tremere Garrote Clanbook: Assamite 30 Gossip Corax 69 Gunsmithing Book of Shadows, The 22 43 Gunsmithing Changeling Players Guide Gunsmithing Vampire Player's Guide 59 Gunsmithing Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 50 Haggling Vampire Player's Guide 59 Heavy Weapons Book of Shadows, The 22 Heavy Weapons Vampire Player's Guide 59 51 Heavy Weapons Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Heavy Weapons Wraith Players Guide 46 147 Helmsman Guide to the Technocracy Herbalism Vampire Player's Guide 59 Herbalism Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 51 Herbalism Vampire Storytellers Companion 24 Herbalism Vampire: The Dark Ages 123 103 Hiding World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary High Ritual Book of Shadows, The 22 Hunting Book of Shadows, The 23 43 Hunting Changeling Players Guide Hunting Guide to the Camarilla 70 Hunting Sorcerers Crusade Companion 116 59 Hunting Vampire Player's Guide Hunting Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 51 Hypertech Guide to the Technocracy 148 Hypnosis Mummy: The Resurrection 61 23 Hypnotism Book of Shadows, The Hypnotism Changeling Players Guide 43 Hypnotism Sorcerer, Revised Ed. 50 60 Hypnotism Vampire Player's Guide Hypnotism Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 52 Hypnotism Werewolf Players Guide 33 Hypnotism Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 30 Hypnotism Wraith Players Guide 46 Indoctrination Freak Legion:A Players Guide to Fomori 21 149 Interrogation Guide to the Technocracy Interrogation Vampire Player's Guide 60 Iskakku - The Way of the Staff Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. Jetpack Guide to the Technocracy 149 Jeweler Changeling Players Guide 44 Jeweler Vampire Player's Guide 60 Jeweler Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 52 60 Journalism Vampire Player's Guide Journalism Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 52 Jury-Rig Guide to the Technocracy 149 97 Jury-Rigging Technomancer's Toybox Kailindo Werewolf Players Guide 34 Kailindo Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 31 Klaive Dueling Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 31 52 Labyrinth Gear Doomslayers: Into the Labyrinth Leadership Changeling: The Dreaming 170
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Skills Ability Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leadership Leatherworking Leatherworking Leatherworking Lip Reading Lip Reading Lip Reading Lock Picking Lockpicking Lockpicking Lockpicking Lockpicking Lockpicking Lockpicking Martial Arts Martial Arts Martial Arts Martial Arts Weapons Masquerade Mechanic Mechanic Mechanic Mediation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Meditation Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Location Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Vampire Player's Guide Bastet Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Dark Kingdom of Jade Kindred of the East Land of Eight Million Dreams Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Player's Guide Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Tribebook: Children of Gaia, Revised Ed. Kindred of the East Land of Eight Million Dreams Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Mummy: The Resurrection Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Blood & Silk World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Page 142 149 125 89 128 107 115 132 108 127 123 44 60 53 60 53 24 61 82 23 44 116 53 46 125 83 89 61 61 44 62 53 81 83 89 149 126 111 89 61 62 53 24 34 31 85 58 108 127 123 170 142 147 113 150 126 111 89
Skills Ability Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Melee Microgravity Operations Mining Misdirection Misdirection Music Music Music Naval Artillery Navigation Negotiation Networking Networking Orienteering Parachuting Parachuting Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Performance Photography Photography Pickpocket Pickpocket Pickpocket Pilot Pilot Pilot Pilot Pilot Pilot Pilot Pilot Pilot Pilot Pilot Poison Location Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Guide to the Technocracy Kithbook: Nockers Book of Shadows, The Wraith Players Guide Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness:Blood-Dimmed Tides World of Darkness: Blood-Dimmed Tides Hierarchy Guide to the Technocracy Hierarchy Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Kindred of the East Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Guide to the Technocracy Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Blood & Silk Wraith Players Guide Wraith: The Great War Hunter Book: Wayward Page 123 87 151 125 126 107 115 132 108 128 123 150 55 23 46 124 87 152 54 55 110 150 110 62 62 54 170 142 148 113 84 112 125 127 107 116 132 58 108 128 123 63 54 44 63 54 24 44 151 116 63 54 25 32 85 46 108 80
Skills Ability Police Procedure Police Procedure Portents Pottery Pottery Professional Skill Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis Public Speaking Repair Repair Repair Repair Repair Repair Research Research Research Research Research Research Ride Ride Ride Ride Ride Ride Ride Ride Ride Ride Ride Ride Riding Riding Sagaman Scribing Scribing Scuba Scuba Seafaring Seamanship Security Security Security Security Security Security Security Security Security Shield Parry Shipwright Sign Language Singing Location Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Kindred of the East Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Sorcerer Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Dark Ages: Vampire Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Vampire: The Dark Ages Victorian Age: Vampire Werewolf: The Dark Ages Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Blood & Silk Wraith Players Guide Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Mummy: The Resurrection Wolves of the Sea World of Darkness: Mummy World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Rokea Sorcerers Crusade Companion Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Guide to the Technocracy Hunter: The Reckoning Technomancer's Toybox Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Anarch Cookbook, The Wolves of the Sea Vampire Player's Guide Book of Shadows, The Page 63 55 84 63 55 27 24 45 63 55 47 63 87 152 126 108 128 124 150 126 90 64 55 59 24 45 148 64 55 26 124 120 98 132 85 47 90 62 68 17 61 64 56 63 117 170 142 151 113 97 87 152 126 58 69 68 65 24
Skills Ability Singing Singing Singing Skiing Skiing Sleight of Hand Sleight of Hand Sleight of Hand Sleight of Hand Snake Charming Soulforging Soulshaping Speed Reading Speed Reading Speed Reading Speed Reading Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Stealth Storytelling Storytelling Storytelling Strategy Style Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Survival Swimming Location Changeling Players Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Players Guide to the Sabbat Guildbook: Artificers Guildbook: Masquers Book of Shadows, The Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide World of Darkness: Gypsies Wraith Players Guide Veil of Night Vampire Player's Guide Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Page 45 56 48 65 56 46 65 56 27 103 51 44 24 65 56 48 171 142 149 113 150 127 112 90 125 87 152 126 127 108 116 132 108 129 124 46 50 48 157 65 171 143 149 114 150 127 112 90 125 87 152 126 128 108 117 132 58 24
Skills Ability Swimming Swimming Swimming Swimming Swimming Talith, The Technology Technology Technology Technology Temporal Sense Throwing Throwing Tightrope Walking Torture Torture Torture Torture Torture Torture Torture Torture Torture Torture Tracking Tracking Tracking Tracking Tracking Tracking Traps Traps Traps Traps Traps Traps Traps Traps Vamp Wild Hunting Location Changeling Players Guide Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide World of Darkness: Gypsies Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Nobles: The Shining Host Changeling Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Players Guide to the Sabbat Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Guide to the Technocracy Hunter Book: Wayward Kindred of the East Libellus Sanguinis 1: Masters of the State Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Hunter Book: Defender Mummy: The Resurrection Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Guide to the Sabbat World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Page 46 117 65 32 49 50 114 150 128 113 74 47 65 104 25 47 152 79 85 61 96 104 56 49 25 47 117 65 57 49 25 47 68 62 66 57 32 49 88 104
Knowledges Ability Location Page Academics Dark Ages: Vampire 149 Academics Guide to the Technocracy 153 114 Academics Hunter: The Reckoning 113 Academics Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Academics Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade 91 Academics Vampire: The Dark Ages 125 126 Academics Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Academics Veil of Night 157 Academics Victorian Age: Vampire 121 Academics Werewolf: The Dark Ages 98 66 Accounting Vampire Player's Guide Accounting Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 57 Alchemy Book of Shadows, The 26 Alchemy Changeling Players Guide 47 Alchemy Vampire Player's Guide 66 Alchemy Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 57 111 Animal Lore Croatan Song Animal Speech Sorcerers Crusade Companion 117 104 Animal Speech World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary Anthropology Vampire Player's Guide 66 Anthropology Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 58 Archaeology Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 58 Archeology Vampire Player's Guide 67 67 Architecture Vampire Player's Guide Architecture Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 59 Area Knowledge Book of Shadows, The 26 48 Area Knowledge Changeling Players Guide Area Knowledge Vampire Player's Guide 67 Area Knowledge Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 59 28 Area Knowledge Vampire Storytellers Companion Area Knowledge Werewolf Players Guide 34 Area Knowledge Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 33 Area Knowledge Wraith Players Guide 49 54 Area Knowledge: ChicagoChicago by Night Area Knowledge: ChicagoChicago by Night, 2nd Ed. 60 Art History Vampire Player's Guide 67 59 Art History Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Astrology Book of Shadows, The 26 Astrology Changeling Players Guide 48 Astrology Vampire Player's Guide 67 Astrology Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 59 Astrology Wraith Players Guide 50 67 Astronomy Vampire Player's Guide Astronomy Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 59 Autumn Lore Denizens of the Dreaming 68 Beast Lore Sorcerers Crusade Companion 118 Beast Lore World of Darkness: Bygone Bestiary 105 Beliefs Quick & the Dead 50 Biology Vampire Player's Guide 68 59 Biology Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Black Hand Knowledge Players Guide to the Sabbat 105 Black Hand Lore Guide to the Sabbat 90 66 Body Control Hunter Book: Avenger Body Control Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood, Revised Ed. Bureaucracy Hunter: The Reckoning 115 Bureaucracy Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes 49 28 Bureaucracy Vampire Storytellers Companion Bureaucracy Vampire: The Masquerade 88
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Knowledges Ability Bureaucracy Bureaucracy Bureaucracy Bureaucracy Cainite Lore Camarilla Lore Camarilla Lore Camarilla Lore Changeling Lore Chantry Politics Chemistry Chemistry Chimerical Alchemy Church History Church Lore City Secrets City Secrets City Secrets City Secrets: Chicago City Secrets: Chicago Clan Knowledge Clan Knowledge Clan Knowledge Classics Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Computer Hacking Computer Hacking Computer Hacking Computer Hacking Computer Hacking Conspiracy Theory Construct Politics Cosmology Cosmology Cosmology Cosmology Cosmology Cosmology Cosmology Cosmology Court Lore Covert Culture Covert Culture Craft Lore Criminology
Location Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Liege, Lord, and Lackey Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Denizens of the Dreaming Book of Shadows, The Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Kithbook: Nockers Inquisition Inquisition Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Chicago by Night Chicago by Night, 2nd Ed. Guide to the Camarilla Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Land of Eight Million Dreams Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Guide to the Technocracy Guide to the Technocracy Dark Ages: Mage Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Mummy: The Resurrection Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Book of Madness, The Guide to the Technocracy Project Twilight Witches and Pagans Vampire Player's Guide
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Knowledges Ability Criminology Cryptography Cryptography Cryptography Cryptography Cryptography Cryptography Cryptography Cryptography Culture Culture Culture Culture Culture Dead Languages Demolition Demonology Denizen Lore Denizens Destruction of Spirits Dis Lore Discipline Familiarity Divination Dream Lore Ecology Economics Economics Economics Electronics Electronics Engineering Engineering Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Enigmas Expert Knowledge Faerie Lore Faerie Lore Faerie Lore Faerie Lore Familiar Lore Feng Shui
Location Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Corax Guide to the Technocracy Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Wraith Players Guide Bastet Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith Players Guide Vampire Player's Guide Clanbook: Baali Denizens of the Dreaming Quick & the Dead Quick & the Dead Ends of Empire Liege, Lord, and Lackey Land of Eight Million Dreams Nobles: The Shining Host Gurahl Guide to the Camarilla Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Mage Kindred of the East Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Mummy: The Resurrection Vampire Storytellers Companion Victorian Age: Vampire Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Vampire Storytellers Companion Fianna Tribebook Tribebook: Fianna, Revised Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Ascension's Right Hand Stargazers Tribebook
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Knowledges Ability Finance Finance Finance Finance Finance Finance Forensics Forensics Garou Astrology Gematria Geography Geography Geology Geology Gremayre Healing Hearth Wisdom Hearth Wisdom Hearth Wisdom Hearth Wisdom Hearth Wisdom Heavy Weaponry Heraldry Heraldry Heraldry Heraldry Heraldry Heraldry Herbalism Herbalism Herbalism Herbalism Herbalism Herbalism Herbalism Heresy High Ritual History History History History History History History History Inquisition Lore Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation
Location Guide to the Technocracy Hunter: The Reckoning Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Rage Across the Heavens Kithbook: Nockers Quick & the Dead Veil of Night Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Croatan Song Ascension's Right Hand Dark Ages: Vampire Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages World of Darkness: Sorcerer Wraith: The Great War Ashen Knight, The Changeling Players Guide Libellus Sanguinis 1:Masters of the State Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Croatan Song Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Quick & the Dead Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Cainite Heresy Guide to the Traditions Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Guide to the Camarilla Mummy: The Resurrection Quick & the Dead Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Inquisition Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed.
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Knowledges Ability Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Investigation Khurah Lore Kindred Lore Kindred Lore Koldunism Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law Law (Shari'a) Law Enforcement Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Linguistics Literature
Location Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Nagah Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wolves of the Sea Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Veil of Night Guide to the Technocracy Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Croatan Song Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Kindred of the East Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Mummy: The Resurrection Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Veil of Night Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Changeling Players Guide
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Knowledges Ability Location Literature Vampire Player's Guide Literature Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Locale Hunter Book: Redeemer Lore Bastet Lore Book of Shadows, The Lore Changeling Players Guide Lore Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Lore Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Lore Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Lore Wraith Players Guide Lore: Arcanum Halls of the Arcanum Lore: Magical Societies World of Darkness: Sorcerer Lore: Mythology Halls of the Arcanum Lore: Specialized Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Lore: Supernatural Halls of the Arcanum Lore: Supernatural Creatures World of Darkness: Sorcerer Lupine Lore Vampire Player's Guide Lupine Lore Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Mage Lore Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Magus Lore Vampire Player's Guide Maieusis Mokol Malkavian Time Clanbook: Malkavian Mathematics Vampire Player's Guide Mathematics Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Media Guide to the Technocracy Medicine Changeling: The Dreaming Medicine Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Medicine Dark Ages: Vampire Medicine Hunter: The Reckoning Medicine Mage: The Ascension Medicine Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Medicine Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Medicine Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Medicine Vampire: The Dark Ages Medicine Vampire: The Masquerade Medicine Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Medicine Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Medicine Werewolf: The Apocalypse Medicine Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Medicine Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Medicine Werewolf: The Wild West Medicine Wraith: The Great War Medicine Wraith: The Oblivion Medicine Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Memories Ends of Empire Metallurgy Vampire Player's Guide Metallurgy Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Metaphysics Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Metaphysics World of Darkness: Sorcerer Meteorology Vampire Player's Guide Meteorology Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Military Science Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Military Tactics Hierarchy Mnesis Emulation Mokol Moneylending Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Mummy Lore Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Mythlore Changeling: The Dreaming Mythology World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed.
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Knowledges Ability Mythology Nation Lore Naturalist Naturalist Navigation Nunnehi Lore Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Occult Sciences Organization Knowledge Pagan Culture Paleography Parapsychology Parapsychology Pharmacopoeia Physics Physics Plague-Breeding Poisons Poisons Poisons Poisons Poisons Poisons Poisons Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics Politics
Location World of Darkness: Sorcerer Croatan Song Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Corax Uktena Tribebook Changeling: The Dreaming Dark Ages: Vampire Halls of the Arcanum Hunter: The Reckoning Land of Eight Million Dreams Mage: The Ascension Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War Wraith: The Oblivion Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Halls of the Arcanum Quick & the Dead Witches and Pagans Halls of the Arcanum Halls of the Arcanum Sorcerer, Revised Ed. Guide to the Technocracy Vampire Player's Guide Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Clanbook: Baali Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Mummy: The Resurrection Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Wraith Players Guide Changeling: The Dreaming Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Crusade Lore Dark Ages: Vampire Hunter: The Reckoning Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire: The Dark Ages Vampire: The Masquerade Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Werewolf: The Wild West Wraith: The Great War
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Knowledges Ability Location Politics Wraith: The Oblivion Politics Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Power-Brokering Guide to the Technocracy Powers Quick & the Dead Propaganda Guide to the Technocracy Psychology Book of Shadows, The Psychology Changeling Players Guide Psychology Guide to the Camarilla Psychology Guide to the Technocracy Psychology Vampire Player's Guide Psychology Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Psychology Wraith Players Guide Publishing Renegades RD Data Guide to the Technocracy Regional Secrets: New England Dark Colony Research Hunter: The Reckoning Research Vampire Storytellers Companion Rites Inquisition Rituals Kindred of the East Rituals Quick & the Dead Rituals Werewolf: The Apocalypse Rituals Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Rituals Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Rituals Werewolf: The Wild West Rituals Witches and Pagans Romany Lore World of Darkness: Gypsies Rune-Lore Wolves of the Sea Sabbat Lore Players Guide to the Sabbat Sabbat Lore Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Sabbat Lore Vampire Storytellers Companion Sacred Scriptures Halls of the Arcanum Saurimancy Mokol Science Changeling: The Dreaming Science Changeling: The Dreaming, 2nd Ed. Science Guide to the Technocracy Science Hunter: The Reckoning Science Mage: The Ascension Science Mage: The Ascension, 2nd Ed. Science Mage: The Ascension, Revised Ed. Science Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Science Vampire: The Dark Ages Science Vampire: The Masquerade Science Vampire: The Masquerade, 2nd Ed. Science Vampire: The Masquerade, Revised Ed. Science Werewolf: The Apocalypse Science Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed. Science Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised Ed. Science Werewolf: The Wild West Science Wraith: The Great War Science Wraith: The Oblivion Science Wraith: The Oblivion, 2nd Ed. Science Specialties Book of Shadows, The Science Specialties Changeling Players Guide Science Specialties Wraith Players Guide Scripture Inquisition Seamanship Wolves of the Sea Secret Code Language Book of Shadows, The Secret Code Language Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade
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Knowledges Ability Seneschal Seneschal Seneschal Seneschal Setite Lore Setite Lore Sewer Lore Sewer Lore Sewer Lore Sign Language Sign Language Sign Language Sign Language Slang Spirit Lore Spirit Lore Spirit Lore Spirit Lore Spirit Names Stargazing Steward Stone Lore Strategy Strategy Subculture Subdimensions Supernatural Lore Symbolism Symbolism Tactics Taxidermy Taxidermy Tempest Lore Terrorism Thanatology Thanatology Thanatology Thanatology Thanatology Theology Theology Theology Theology Theology Theology Theology Theology Toxicology Toxicology Traditions Tribal Lore Underworld Lore Underworld Lore Underworld Miscellanea Vampire Lore Vice Weather-Eye
Location Page Crusade Lore 35 Dark Ages: Vampire 152 119 Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire: The Dark Ages 128 61 Clanbook: Followers of Set, Revised Ed. Clanbook: Setites 33 105 Players Guide to the Sabbat Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 66 Vampire Storytellers Companion 31 Book of Shadows, The 29 50 Changeling Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide 35 Wraith Players Guide 52 Wraith Players Guide 53 Ascension's Right Hand 76 143 Book of Madness, The Vampire Player's Guide 72 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 67 143 Book of Madness, The 50 Stargazers Tribebook Ghouls: Fatal Addiction 82 Book of Shadows, The 29 Libellus Sanguinis 1:Masters of the State 95 Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood, Revised Ed. Hunter Book: Redeemer 66 Guide to the Technocracy 163 56 Inquisition Crusade Lore 35 Sorcerers Crusade Companion 119 70 Hunter Book: Defender Book of Shadows, The 29 Changeling Players Guide 51 Ends of Empire 100 Guide to the Technocracy 163 Clanbook: Cappadocian 39 Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand 71 63 Mummy: The Resurrection World of Darkness: Mummy 18 World of Darkness: Mummy, 2nd Ed. 61 29 Book of Shadows, The Changeling Players Guide 51 Dark Ages: Vampire 153 120 Sorcerers Crusade Companion Vampire Player's Guide 72 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 67 158 Veil of Night Wraith Players Guide 53 Vampire Player's Guide 72 Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. 67 Croatan Song 113 Uktena Tribebook 46 Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand 71 90 Guide to the Sabbat Quick & the Dead 53 Ghouls: Fatal Addiction 82 164 Guide to the Technocracy Sorcerers Crusade Companion 120
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Knowledges Ability Web Culture Wood Craft Wyrm Lore Wyrm Lore Wyrm Lore
Location Digital Web 2.0 Werewolf Storytellers Handbook Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players Guide Werewolf Players Guide, 2nd Ed.
Page 100 63 67 35 33
The following links are some of the websites used in the research for this book. This is not the entire list, nor is it meant to promote those websites in anyway, or to say that they are the definitive source for the information contained therein. Mortals: The Many http://cbnmortals.bravehost.com/ The Mortal Page: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/1754/Mortal/Mortal.html Burbon and Blood MUSH http://bourbonandblood.com/ New Orleans By Night MUSH Mortal Notes: http://digitalgothic.net/Rules/mortalrules.htm http://www3.sympatico.ca/knunn/gaming/wodgaming/mortal.html http://www.white-wolf.com/newbremen/faqs/MortalFAQ.html http://digitalgothic.net/Rules/magerules.htm http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol10is1/picart.html http://www.nanvaent.org/people/fairbane/vampire/facts.htm http://www.onesourcetalent.com/interestform/?r=9 http://www.newfaces.com/model-search.php?action=BasicSearch&UserID=&DisplayName=&lower=1&order=Recent&perpage=15 http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/html-tutorial/easyform.htm http://www.skunkahedron.co.uk/cajun http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/mst/venues/Lores/magemain.html http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/mst/venues/Lores/garoumain.html http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/mst/venues/Lores/wraithmain.html http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/mst/venues/Lores/sabbatmain.html Mortals the Many: http://cbnmortals.bravehost.com/
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