Washington residents handed in more than six tons of outdated, unwanted prescription drugs during a national initiative last month.

The Drug Enforcement Administration sponsored its fourth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on April 28. More than 5,600 sites were set up nationwide, including 97 in Washington.

During a four-hour period April 28, 13,426 pounds of prescription medications were dropped off at the Washington state locations.

That included 822 pounds collected at five locations hosted by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

The DEA launched the initiative in 2010 in an effort to combat the abuse of prescription drugs. The program gives …

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The New York Times has a story on its Web site this morning on a new study that raises the question whether surveillance cameras deter crime.

The story points out that while the cameras might not cut crime, they help law enforcement solve crime. Pierce County law enforcement agencies have had success in solving crimes – in particular bank robberies and the like – after releasing still images and video footage to the media.

This is a little out of our usual jurisdiction, but there’s nothing from the wire services on it yet.

A Denver TV station is reporting that authorities may have uncovered a plot to assassinate Barack Obama during his Thursday night acceptance speech and have made several arrests.

CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass reported one of the suspects told authorities they were “going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a … rifle … sighted at 750 yards.”

Law enforcement sources tell Maass that one of the suspects “was directly asked if they had come to

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The Justice Department announced Monday that it will be studying local crime rates in at least five selected cities to see why homicides and other crimes are on the rise.

The survey will look at gang violence, drug trafficking and the impact of released prisoners to the community.

The cities are not mentioned in an AP story about the survey but could Tacoma be part of this study?

Seems somewhat unlikely given that there are other, larger cities also experiencing increases in gang violence and drug trafficking. But you never know.

However, local law enforcement leaders might learn some things from the survey that could apply here.

Here’s the Associated Press story about the survey:

By LARA JAKES JORDAN; Associated Press Writer

BOSTON — The Justice Department will study local crime rates in selected cities to see why homicides and other violent criminal activity is on the rise nationally, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Monday.

The government’s survey of an unidentified number of cities will look for trends in gang violence, drug trafficking, and released prisoners returning to society that may have contributed to the increase.

Nationally, violent crime rose 2.2 percent last year, the first increase since 2001.

The study "will help us find and use the tools that work most effectively to fight crime and keep our communities safe," Gonzales said in a statement before speaking in Boston to the annual meeting of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

He said the government is "committed to making sure that every American city and town can share in the success of low violent crime rates."

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