MONTPELIER, Vt. — Remember the pig hidden within the decal on the doors of some Vermont State Police cruisers?

There's now a movement under way to keep it there.

But it turns out there was more wrong with that image than just the white pig hidden as a splotch on the cow, made to resemble one of Vermont's ubiquitous Holsteins. State law requires that the cow in the crest be red — not red and white — as a tribute to the hardy Devon cattle first brought to Vermont by English settlers.

"What I would really like is for the governor to just leave the pigs on the car. That's the bottom line, at no expense to anybody," said Barre musician Cid Sinclair, who created the Facebook page "Save the Vermont Pigs." The site has been liked by more than 500 people. Two hundred people have signed an online petition, he said.

"No harm, no foul, take it as an opportunity to have some fun," Sinclair said. "We live in pretty bleak times and it's pretty rough. We have an opportunity to laugh together as one, as Vermonters."

The pigs in the 16-inch decal were first noticed last week by a state police trooper who was washing his car. The crest is believed to have been altered by a Vermont prison inmate who made the image several years ago. The pigs, a derogatory term for police, are on about 30 cruisers.

The Department of Corrections said last week that new decals would be made at a cost of $780. But state police spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro said Thursday that so far none of the offending decals had been removed.

She said officials had been made aware of the state law that requires the cow in the crest to be red but had been told it was OK to use the existing emblem.

"We value our emblem and what it represents for our state and our agency and we want to be in compliance," Dasaro said.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press

ORLEANS COUNTY, N.Y. — Orleans County's location as a quiet, mostly rural haven sandwiched between two metropolitan areas has long been one of its prime selling points.

It's also proving popular among suspected drug dealers.

Saturday, police announced the largest heroin seizure recorded in the county when they stopped a Rochester man just east of that city and apparently headed for Orleans County as he returned from New York City with heroin valued at $200,000. He was also in possession of $3,000 in cash. He was charged with four counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

Arcides "Cuba" Dieguez-Castillos, 46, of Frost Avenue, Rochester, who is on parole and is facing felony drug charges in Monroe County, was being held without bail in Orleans County Jail.

Also charged and held without bail in the seizure was Antane Seward-Lopez, 21, of Kappel Place, Rochester, who was charged with one count of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

The arrests came in a week during which Orleans County authorities made more than a dozen arrests related to prescription painkillers and heroin.

"Prescription drugs, heroin, they are the same thing. They are opiates," said Orleans County District Attorney Joseph V. Cardone. "The pills are often more accessible when people are starting a drug problem, but then there is such a dependency they turn to heroin because it is cheaper than the pills."

Niagara County Undersheriff Michael Filicetti said his Drug Task Force is seeing the same thing.

"It's obvious that if there is a demand there are going to be people willing to supply it," Filicetti said.

Supervising Investigator Joseph Sacco of the Orleans County Task Force said authorities there have been working for a year with the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, the Rochester Police Department and Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Search warrants were served by the team Friday and Saturday in Rochester. Investigators seized heroin and cocaine with a street value of $10,000; three loaded handguns, which were stolen; a loaded AK-47; more than $2,000 in cash; and other drug paraphernalia.

Michel D. Fornaris, 21, of Rochester, was charged with three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and remanded to Orleans County Jail on $100,000 bail. He also faces numerous drug and weapon charges in the City of Rochester, Sacco reported.

Also, following a three-month multiagency investigation into the sale and distribution of crack cocaine, SWAT teams executed search warrants in two apartments on East Bank Street in Albion on Wednesday and arrested eight other people on various drug charges.

Facing charges are:

*Christopher Mitchell, 26, of Crimson Heights, Albion.

*Tony A. Thompson, 45, of East Bank Street, Albion.

*Anthony Barber, 56, of Day Street, Albion.

*Alexandra Ivy, 34, of East Bank Street, Albion.

*Charles G. Ingram, 56, of Brown Street, Albion.

*Benith White, 42, of West State Street, Albion.

*James R. Crews, 55, of East Bank Street, Albion.

*Mac Howard, 67, of East Bank Street, Albion.

Copyright 2012 The Buffalo News

CHICAGO — Inside classrooms at the Chicago Police Academy, would-be officers learn how to make arrests, spot drugs, understand gang terminology, process crime scenes. But this class looked different: rows of sworn, longtime police officers listened silently to barked commands from an unlikely trainer — a novelist.

“Don’t dodge race, don’t dodge sex, don’t dodge the war on drugs because people told you they’re winning it and you on the street know that they’re not,” said Charlie Newton, the writer, pounding his fist on a table. “That’s what you’ve got to talk about. If you’re going to back away from that, you’re wasting your time talking to me. I can tell you how to start. I’m really good at that, but I can’t propel you through the fire you’re getting ready to face.”

For the police officers here, a few in full uniform, this was not the everyday fire. Nor was it the usual training seminar; none of these officers, in fact, were required to be here. In a profession that plenty of professional writers without a single day spent in a squad car like to write about, the Chicago Police Department has begun a voluntary workshop for officers who wish to tell their own stories. So far, 25 do.

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ATLANTA — The Justice Department is reviewing Georgia's tough new immigration law and is discussing it with businessmen and law enforcement officials here, but it has not decided to sue to block the statute like it has in four other states, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Tony West said Tuesday.

West pointed out that the Obama administration is suing to block a similar law in Alabama and that both its law and Georgia's statute are scheduled to come under review by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta at the end of this month.

"Certainly, many of the issues we would raise in a lawsuit against Georgia we are raising in a lawsuit against Alabama and are going to be heard by the 11th Circuit," West told reporters after speaking in downtown Atlanta at a symposium on the constitutionality of state immigration laws.

As he left the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy symposium, West added this about Georgia's law: "We still continue to have these conversations. I am not closing the door on anything at this point."

For months, opponents of Georgia's immigration law, also called House Bill 87, have called on the Obama administration to file suit against the measure like it has with similar laws in Alabama, Arizona, South Carolina and Utah.

They say the law is divisive and unconstitutional.

Justice Department officials have responded in recent months by saying they are still reviewing Georgia's law, which is partly modeled on Arizona's groundbreaking statute.

The author of Georgia's law, state Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gov. Nathan Deal signed HB 87 into law in May, hailing it as a victory for taxpayers who have borne the cost of illegal immigration in Georgia. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the number of illegal immigrants in Georgia at 425,000, the seventh-highest total among the states.

A federal judge in Atlanta put parts of Georgia's law on hold in June following a court challenge brought by a coalition of civil and immigrant rights groups. The state is appealing to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

One of the provisions that have been temporarily put on hold would authorize police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects and detain those who have been determined to be in the country illegally. Another provision put on hold would punish people who knowingly transport or harbor illegal immigrants.

During a speech he gave at the conference, West said the passage of stringent new state immigration laws shows "comprehensive immigration reform is sorely needed in this country."

"People are understandably frustrated with our broken immigration system, and many states are dealing with that frustration by turning toward a form of self-help by enacting these state measures," he said. "And the problem of course with that approach is that our immigration challenges aren't confined to the borders of any one state. They are national in scope, and they require a national and comprehensive response.

"As we are beginning to see a piecemeal, state-by-state approach that creates a patchwork of conflicting, inconsistent immigration laws, that only creates more problems than it solves."

Copyright 2012 Chattanooga Publishing Company

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut crime lab where U.S. auditors found a series of problems last year won its certification back Tuesday from a national accreditation group, the governor said.

The forensic lab in Meriden gained national prominence under the direction of famed scientist Henry Lee, but Justice Department audits last year raised questions about its supervision, evidence control, data security, quality assurance and DNA test validation techniques.

A board of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors voted Tuesday afternoon to restore the state lab's accreditation, according to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Work at the lab never stopped, but the loss of the certification played a role in cutting off the state's access to national DNA databanks run by the FBI.

"As I've said before, prior years of allowing dwindling resources for the lab resulted in an intolerable backlog and undermined our criminal justice system," Malloy said. "My administration will continue its efforts to implement improved procedures and provide the critical resources necessary, so that once again the crime lab will be a national model."

The most significant issue to arise from the federal audits was the loss of access to the DNA databanks, which allow forensic experts to compare DNA samples with evidence found at crime scenes in other states. Michael Lawlor, state undersecretary for criminal justice policy, said the state will have to ask the FBI to restore its access to the databanks, and accreditation will be an important factor.

"We are optimistic that will happen soon," Lawlor said.

The Justice Department findings cast a rare negative light on the respected lab, which had a national profile due partly to the work of Lee, Connecticut's chief criminologist from 1978 to 2000. Lee played key roles in highly publicized cases including those of O.J. Simpson, Jon Benet Ramsey, Chandra Levy and Elizabeth Smart.

Auditors said they found 40 problems at the lab including:

•Records on semen testing didn't list what chemical solutions were used for extraction of semen samples.

•Records were not maintained to support conclusions in the analysis of the origin of human hairs and animal hairs.

•Two staff members did not complete competency tests before conducting digital evidence exams.

•An analyst who examined hair samples did not complete a proficiency test in that discipline.

•A fire debris analyst did not have fire debris casework experience.

•Unsealed evidence awaiting toxicology testing, including blood and urine, hadn't been examined or analyzed for over a year.

The lab has also been weighted down with large testing backlogs, a result of a huge increase in the amount of evidence police are submitting for testing and no additional staffing over the past several years. The backlog was the worst in the nation in 2010, Malloy said in September while announcing increased staffing.

The number of DNA cases that haven't been started at the lab jumped from less than 250 in mid-2006 to nearly 3,900 last year. The lab is also dealing with backlogs in other types of evidence testing, including nearly 1,700 firearms cases and 1,400 latent fingerprinting cases.

The backlogs follow a national trend. DNA casework backlogs at labs across the country increased from about 38,000 in 2005 to nearly 112,000 in 2009, according to the latest available Justice Department statistics.

Connecticut is planning to add 25 to 35 new lab workers over the next few years.

The backlogs prompted the lab to ask law enforcement agencies for the first time to limit the amount of evidence they submit for testing effective Jan. 1.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press

HERCULES, Calif. — West Contra Costa school district administrators are saying little about reports that a Hercules principal suspended a first-grader for sexual assault.

The mother of a 6-year-old student said in a Bay Citizen story that appeared last week in the New York Times that the principal of Lupine Hills Elementary suspended her son in December. She said the principal claimed the boy inappropriately touched another student when in fact the boys were just roughhousing. The story has stirred discussion on several websites.

The boy was suspended after another student reported the incident, said Marin Trujillo, spokesman for the West Contra Costa school district.

"Whenever there's an allegation of sexual assault, we are responsible for investigating all claims, and we do so," he said.

Trujillo said he could not offer further comment because the district does not discuss student matters. He said the story by the Bay Citizen was one-sided.

The boy's mother said the district dropped the sexual assault allegation and transferred the 6-year-old to another elementary school, according to the story.

Hercules police say they were not notified and are not investigating. Attempts to reach parents of the children this week were unsuccessful.

Principal Cynthia Taylor, who is new to the job this year, did not respond to calls or emails.

Stephanie Papas, school health education consultant for the California Department of Education, said 329 elementary students were suspended for sexual assaults in 2009-10, compared with 263 in 2010-11.

"Discipline is something that's under local control of the district," she said. "So, it's not our job to second-guess anyone who's making a decision. As a former administrator, what I would do would be to hear both sides of the story, do some fact-finding and look to see what codes it falls under."

"You would certainly want to look at the definition of sexual assault to see if the behavior that occurred actually fits the definition."

Dr. Stuart Lustig, a child psychiatrist at UC San Francisco Medical School, said it's not uncommon for 6-year-old children to have curiosity about each others' bodies, including the genital area. Although he did not know the details of the Hercules incident, he said kids will sometimes experiment with each other.

The main problem, he said, would be if a child did not stop when told by an adult that it was inappropriate.

"That's really more concerning than a one-time incident that may or may not have been an accident or may or may not have been idle curiosity," he said.

Most 6-year-olds, he said, are not capable of a sexual assault in the adult sense because their brains have not developed to adolescence. An exception, he said, would be someone who has been sexually abused or has been exposed to pornography.

Copyright 2012 San Jose Mercury News

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah death row inmate, convicted of beating a man with a tire jack and puncturing his liver with an inserted tire iron, has requested that he be allowed to die by firing squad, officials said Thursday.

Fourth District Judge Donald Eyre on Wednesday signed such a death warrant for Michael A. Archuleta, 49.

But the April 5 execution is not likely to happen, considering Archuleta still make can federal appeals.

The last convicted killer to die by firing squad in Utah was Ronnie Lee Gardner, executed in June 2010.

Gardner was only the third person to die by firing squad in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Assistant Attorney General Tom Brunker said Archuleta, when convicted in 1989, did not request a specific manner of execution, and was not legally entitled to die by firing squad. But the state did not object Wednesday to Archuleta's request, although it reserves the right to ask for lethal injection, Brunker said.

Brunker said there is no question of guilt in the case.

In 1988, according to court records, Archuleta and Lance Wood met Gordon Ray Church, 28, at a convenience store in Cedar City and rode with him to a secluded area. At that point, Church told them he was gay, and Archuleta began to engage in a sexual act on Church, but stopped.

The two then bound Church, put him in the trunk of his car and drove to another location nearly 80 miles away.

The two attached battery jumper cables to Church's testicles in a failed attempt to electrocute him. They inflicted blows to his head with a tire jack and iron, records show. A tire iron was forced inside the college student's rectum and it punctured his liver.

Church's body was found with tire chains wrapped tightly around his neck, records show.

The attackers took Church's wallet and watch, Brunker said.

"They both said the other one did everything," said Brunker. "Archuleta's pants were soaked in the victim's blood. Wood had some blood spots."

Wood received a life sentence.

An attorney for Archuleta did not immediately return a message left by CNN.

But in one of three appeals, Archuleta raised questions about the competence of his previous counsel and alleged errors by the trial court. The Utah Supreme Court turned down that appeal in November 2011.

According to Brunker, after a statutory change in 2004, lethal injection became the only available method of death in Utah for those who did not elect firing squad at sentencing.

A spokesman for the Utah Department of Corrections said four of the eight individuals on death row initially asked for the firing squad option at the time of their sentencing. Seven were sentenced before the 2004 law change.

In Utah, five anonymous marksmen, each with a matching .30-caliber rifle, are used in firing squads.

They stand behind a wall cut with two gunports, said corrections spokesman Steve Gehrke. One of the rifles will hold an "ineffective" round, similar to a blank, which delivers the same recoil as a live round.

The marksmen fire from a distance of 25 feet. The inmate is blindfolded and strapped to a chair with a target pinned to his chest.

Copyright 2012 Cable News Network

CONCORD, Calif. — A driver who blocked traffic, threatened to kill a police officer and refused to leave his car for about 45 minutes was arrested after being Tased by officers, police said.

Around 5 p.m. Wednesday a Concord police officer saw a vehicle blocking a lane of eastbound Willow Pass Road, backing up traffic for about three blocks, Concord police Lt. Steve Dyer said.

When the officer approached the driver, 32-year-old Concord resident Mitkayem Robinson, he was hostile, irrational and appeared mentally altered, according to Dyer.

He then threatened to kill the officer and drove off, eventually stopping at an apartment complex in the 3300 block of Willow Pass Road.

Officers surrounded the vehicle, but the driver refused to leave his vehicle. For about 45 minutes, officers negotiated with him but he still refused to get out, Dyer said.

Police then Tased him and arrested him, Dyer said. After being medically cleared at a hospital he was taken to county jail in Martinez on suspicion of motor vehicle evasion, threatening an officer, resisting arrest, being under the influence of drugs and possessing drug paraphernalia, police said.

Copyright 2012 San Jose Mercury News

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah lawmaker wants to do away with roadblocks that law enforcement uses to crack down on drunken drivers, saying they are ineffective and infringe on civil liberties.

"As legislators, we have to decide where the balance is," said freshman Rep. David Butterfield, R-Logan. "We have to decide where's the right balance between having every tool at your disposal and protecting civil liberties. And the data I've looked at show they're not effective for reducing DUI [cases]."

Butterfield's proposal ran into stiff opposition Monday from Utah's law enforcement community. The Law Enforcement Legislative Committee — which consists of police chiefs, prosecutors, sheriffs and Highway Patrol — unanimously opposed the measure.

"This is, for whatever reason, the Legislature taking away a tool law enforcement uses to reduce the incidence of driving under the influence, both alcohol and drugs," said Layton Police Chief Terry Keefe, president of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association.

If Butterfield's HB140 becomes law, police officers could stop a vehicle only if they have a warrant, if there is reasonable suspicion criminal activity has occurred, or if there is an emergency.

Checkpoints could still be used to investigate things such as wildlife violations or invasive species, provided the checkpoints are approved by a magistrate.

Keefe said Layton does two to three checkpoints a year. Each one has to have a written plan approved by a judge and notice of the checkpoint has to be published in advance. He is not aware of the process being abused, but if it were, the charges would presumably be thrown out.

"I would hate for us to lose the tool," Keefe said, "and why the Legislature would want to reduce law enforcement's ability under a judicially approved plan is beyond me."

As a member of the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, Butterfield said every tool that is brought to the panel is pitched as a way to help law enforcement.

"We've got to be really careful," he said, "about how we infringe on the constitutional and civil liberties of our citizens."

Butterfield said he is convinced, from the data he has seen, that saturation patrols in critical areas are a more effective way to get drunken drivers off the road and a better use of officers.

Keefe said he agrees saturation patrols can be effective and noted his jurisdiction uses both.

Butterfield said that about a dozen states don't do checkpoints, either because they have been prohibited by statute or determined to violate the state's constitution.

The Utah Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of checkpoints in 2000 and found that they were constitutional if they follow clearly stated, reasonable rules — although in that case it tossed out a traffic stop that the justices said didn't follow the rules set up in the law.

Marina Lowe, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, said the ACLU has traditionally opposed checkpoints as a violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

"You should have some suspicion," she said, "before you stop somebody and subject them to an intrusive search."

Art Brown, the state director of the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said high-visibility law enforcement deters drunk driving and prevents injuries or death.

"They are really effective in deterring people," he said. "It's really part of MADD's strategy to eliminate drunk driving to have high-visibility checkpoints."

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune

PHOENIX — Police are investigating allegations officers showed a video slideshow of crime scene photos at a holiday party.

Phoenix police held a press conference Wednesday and announced six officers are currently on administrative leave, according to KPHO. The four detectives and two supervisors are reportedly part of a new task force targeting child sex crimes.

Acting police chief Joe Yahner told Mayor Greg Stanton police are tracking down the families to alert them of the investigation. Stanton said if it's true the photos were viewed at the party and therefore not handed over as evidence, there could be disciplinary consequences as such action violates of departmental policy, which reads:

"All photos, videos, audio recordings, etc. must be impounded or otherwise properly preserved for discovery purposes. This applies to photos, videos, audio recordings, etc. taken on personally owned cameras, video recorders, cell phones, etc., as well as department issued video/recording devices. Officers who use personal equipment to record or take pictures at a scene or investigation to include potential evidence, witnesses, victims, or suspects, must understand the material is subject to discovery and must be impounded."

Family members of anyone who appeared in the slideshow are owed an apology, Stanton said, and according to a retired officer, saving or showing crime scene photos isn't a good idea

"It's a reflection on all cops, all law enforcement, even us retirees," retired Buckeye Police Chief Dan Saban said. "Procedurally and protocol-wise, it's a no-no. Have I seen it done? Of course I have. In my 32 year career, I've seen officers save a picture."