NewsWatch: CompStat Comes to Chicago, ATM With Lie Detector

CompStat Comes to Chicago
On Thursday, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy introduced CompStat to Chicago. He was part coach and part interrogator as he quizzed commanders about crime in their districts and what they intended to do about it. He questioned narcotics and detective supervisors about how they’re supporting district commanders. Crime maps loaded with statistics were projected on huge screens during the meeting at police headquarters at 35th and Michigan. Chicago Sun-Times

Supreme Court: Fleeing Police by Car Is a Violent Felony
Fleeing from the police in a car is a violent felony that can subject criminals to mandatory 15-year prison terms, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a 6-to-3 decision. The decision was the court’s fourth encounter since 2007 with a phrase in a federal law, the Armed Career Criminal Act. New York Times

Alabama Immigration Law Toughest in Country
Alabama's illegal immigration law is the most restrictive  in the nation, requiring schools to find out if students are in the country lawfully and making it a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride. The law makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to be in Alabama. Advocacy groups promise to challenge the measure, which like Arizona's law also allows police to arrest anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant if the person is stopped for some other reason. In addition, it requires all businesses to check the legal status of workers using a federal system called E-Verify. TimesDaily.com

Apple Drops DUI Checkpoint App
t's getting harder for tech-savvy drivers to pinpoint the locations of police drunken-driving checkpoints: Apple will ban from its online store future applications that inform users of checkpoint locations not publicized by police. The move comes three months after four Democratic U.S. senators asked three smartphone manufacturers to quit selling such downloadable apps or to remove the DUI checkpoint function. USA Today

High Court Urged to Rethink Ruling on Resisting Police
A group of 71 state lawmakers is asking the Indiana Supreme Court to reconsider a ruling that says people don't have the right to resist police officers who enter their homes illegally. Forty state senators and 31 state representatives, led by Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, and Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, filed a brief Wednesday with the state's highest court, claiming the ruling "renders citizens . . . helpless to do anything but watch and wait" if police intrude on their homes. They say the ruling also goes against a state statute that allows people to use "reasonable force" to protect their homes. The May 12 ruling came in a case in which a man who had been questioned by police outside his home on a domestic-violence call scuffled with an officer who tried to enter the man's house. Indianapolis Star

A Russian A.T.M. With Lie Detector
Russia’s biggest retail bank is testing a machine that the old K.G.B. might have loved, an A.T.M. with a built-in lie detector intended to prevent consumer credit fraud. Consumers with no previous relationship with the bank could talk to the machine to apply for a credit card, with no human intervention required on the bank’s end. The machine scans a passport, records fingerprints and takes a three-dimensional scan for facial recognition. And it uses voice-analysis software to help assess whether the person is truthfully answering questions that include “Are you employed?” and “At this moment, do you have any other outstanding loans?" New York Times

San Diego Can't Block Corporate Donations
Some provisions of San Diego's campaign-finance law may violate free speech in the wake of the landmark Citizens United decision, the 9th Circuit ruled Thursday, affirming a lower court's ruling for the Republican Party. Courthouse News Service