Fighting Crime in the U.S. and Internationally: Is the Death Penalty Necessary?
A Unique Conversation Between U.S. and European Law Enforcement
National Press Club — Washington, D.C.
Oct. 13, 2010 — 9:30 – 11:00 AM

(Media Contact: Margot Friedman at 202 – 332-5550 or email) (Washington, D.C.) At a time when the death penal­ty is in the news, includ­ing a halt to exe­cu­tions in California and the first exe­cu­tion of a woman in 100 years in Virginia, law enforce­ment offi­cers from the U.S. and Europe will engage in the first pub­lic dis­cus­sion about whether the death penal­ty helps or hurts in keep­ing cit­i­zens safe, heal­ing vic­tims, and using crime-fight­ing resources effi­cient­ly. The dis­cus­sion with Q and A will be held at the National Press Club in the Lisagor Room, on October 13, 2010 from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. A light break­fast will be served.

Richard Dieter, Executive Director of Death Penalty Information Center, will mod­er­ate this unique, frank dis­cus­sion. Members of the media will be invit­ed to ask ques­tions of the law enforce­ment offi­cers after their open­ing dis­cus­sion. The speakers are:

  • Police Chief James Abbott of West Orange, New Jersey. Chief Abbott was a strong sup­port­er of the death penal­ty before study­ing it for six months as a mem­ber of the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission. He still believes in the death penal­ty in the­o­ry, but in prac­tice, ​“no state has found a way to car­ry out the death penal­ty quick­ly and cheap­ly and also accurately.”
  • Former Detective Superintendent Bob Denmark of Lancashire Constabulary, England. Det. Supt. Denmark inves­ti­gat­ed more than 100 homi­cides in the U.K. and geno­cide in Africa on behalf of the United Nations. His remarks will include cas­es where he felt cer­tain that a defen­dant was guilty, but was lat­er proven to be wrong. Det. Supt. Denmark is the author of ​“Ethical Investigation: A Practical Guide for Police Officers,” a train­ing man­u­al which guards against forced con­fes­sions, tor­ture or oth­er human rights violations.
  • António Cluny, Senior Portuguese Public Prosecutor. Prosecutor Cluny will dis­cuss how his coun­try has pros­e­cut­ed ter­ror­ism with­out the death penal­ty or life with­out parole, includ­ing after a tur­bu­lent rev­o­lu­tion in 1974 and con­tin­u­ing until today. He was the President of the Portuguese Association of the Prosecutors at the time of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
  • Ronald Hampton, for­mer D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Community Relations Officer. Hampton is the imme­di­ate past Executive Director of the National Black Police Association, Inc. A 23-year police vet­er­an, he serves as a con­sul­tant to the Carter Center of Emory University, Human Rights Program, and has worked on ini­tia­tives in Britain, Canada, the Bahamas, Ethiopia, Guyana, and South Africa.

Who: U.S. and European Police Officers and Law Enforcement

What: First Public International Discussion with Q and A about the Death Penalty among Police Officers and Law Enforcement Professionals. A light break­fast will be served.

When: October 13, 2010, 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.

Where: National Press Club, Lisagor Room, 529 14th Street, NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC

This event is spon­sored by Death Penalty Information Center, Death Penalty Focus, and Equal Justice USA, nation­al non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions with a com­mon goal of explor­ing alter­na­tives to the death penalty.

Media and Public Welcome
National Press Club
October 13 — 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Washington, DC