In this issue: Around The Nation: A coast-to-coast roundup of police news. It’s no secret: Portland pulls cops from terror squad over secrity clearance. Free at last: Who’s off the hook from consent decrees — and who’s not. Black & white issues: A look at who gets stopped & who gets searched. Whodunnit? Finger-pointing over failed effort to address Texas DNA woes. Fine whine: Disparity in substantiated complaints puzzles police. It’s not who you know: San Diego to test new promotion system. Keeping up with Jones: Ex-chief loses bias case. People & Places: Sad day in Syracuse; his act’s no bomb; bound for the Rockies; a day in the park; Gallegos’ goodbye; leaving port; not just about money; change agent; women policing milestones. Gangsta nation: States face up to gang issues. Law & order: Injunctive relief curbs gangs. Judicial notice: State courts have their say. More than words: Building rapport with young victims. Sinister hi-tech: Digital stalkers targeted. Criminal Justice Library: Female chiefs’ paths to the top. Forum: The 10 essential traits of achievement-motivated people. --top--

People & Places Sad day in Syracuse      Police Chief Steven Thompson began his law enforcement career in Syracuse, N.Y., 33 years ago, and that’s where it abruptly ended in March when he resigned after being charged with drunken driving.      Thompson had been chief for just nine months, having replaced Dennis DuVal, the first black man to lead the Syracuse force. Thompson had been DuVal’s second-in-command for three years. ... --top-- His act’s no bomb      After disarming the pipe bombs planted around Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., during the massacre there six year ago, it should come as no surprise that retired bomb technician and magician Richard Nakata has eliminated pyrotechnics from his act.      “I’ve tried to stay away from combining explosives and magic,” said Nakata. “I think a lot of it has to do with what I saw at Columbine — I don’t want to treat explosives lightly in front of the public.”... --top-- Heading for the Rockies      Calling it a professional opportunity too good to pass up, the director of Portland, Ore.’s police review program, Richard Rosenthal, has agreed to become Denver’s first independent police monitor.      Rosenthal, 43, was a Los Angeles County prosecutor who helped uncover the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division scandal. He went on to serve as liaison between the department’s Internal Affairs Division and the district attorney’s Rampart Task Force. ... --top-- A day in the park      With his one-time boss and mentor fired, former Durham, N.C., police Major Dwight Pettiford was chosen in March as chief of the U.S. Park Police.      Pettiford, 53, had been a protégé of Theresa Chambers when she led the Durham force. She brought him with her when she became chief of the federal agency in 2002. Last year, Chambers was suspended and subsequently fired for publicly stating that the Park Police had neither the money nor the manpower to provide security in the post-9/11 world.... --top-- Gallegos’ goodbye      Just four days after an emotional goodbye from Chief Gilbert Gallegos to the Albuquerque Police Department, Mayor Martin Chavez came up with a new leader for the embattled agency.      Ray Schultz, 44, was named chief on April 2. He is a veteran APD officer who left the department’s No. 2 post two years ago to join the Scottsdale, Ariz., Police Department. Moving quickly up the ladder there, the 21-year veteran had reached the rank of deputy chief when the call came from Chavez.... --top-- Leaving port      Officials of the San Diego Harbor Unified Port District last month named Capt. Kirk Sanfilippo the jurisdiction’s new police chief, replacing Betty Kelepecz, who quit without warning after just 19 months in the job.      Kelepecz (left) packed up her office on March 28 and left behind a $130,000-a-year job. She did not receive any severance pay.... --top-- It’s not just the money      It was his superb skills as a commander that got Cleveland Police Division veteran Michael McGrath the chief’s job in March, but it was his refusal to accept more than $102,000 a year that got him the headlines.      McGrath, 54, waited nearly a week before telling Mayor Jane Campbell that he would accept the spot. But he warned her that he was about to do something that would make him look like a “horse’s ass;” he rejected an additional $18,000 a year.... --top-- Change agent      When Enfield, N.H., Chief Peter Giese retired in March, his fellow chiefs mourned the loss of a voice that, they say, “always rang true and clear.”      Age was cited as the reason behind the 66-year-old Giese’s departure from a job he loves in a town he loves as well. He joined the Enfield force in 1978 after a 20-year career with Army intelligence and the military police. Enfield, said Giese, was a sleepy suburb of Hanover, the home of Dartmouth College. There was not much to do in the winter besides responding to the occasional snowmobile complaint.... --top-- Double milestone?      The rising prominence of female police executives in the United States will be marked this fall by the installation of the first woman as president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police — and possibly, in another milestone, the election of a second woman to the IACP’s board.      If Police Chief Susan Riseling (below) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison succeeds in her bid to become an IACP vice president at-large, it would be the first time two women have served in elected board positions. She would join Gaithersburg, Md., Chief Mary Ann Viverette, who is due to become the IACP’s president.... --top--