"Numbers" Rule -
Everywhere
(#451, 7/2/24)

Production pressures
degrade what's "produced" -
and not just in policing

Is Crime Really Down?
It Depends...
(#450, 6/20/24)

Even when citywide
numbers improve, place
really, really matters

Kids With Guns
(#449, 6/3/24)

Ready access
and permissive laws
create a daunting problem

De-Prosecution?
What's That?
(#448, 4/27/24)

Philadelphia's D.A.
eased up on lawbreakers.
Did it increase crime?

Ideology (Still)
Trumps Reason
(#447, 4/9/24)

When it comes to gun laws,
“Red” and “Blue” remain
in the driver’s seat

Shutting the Barn Door
(#446, 3/19/24)

Oregon moves to
re-criminalize hard drugs

Houston, We Have
(Another) Problem
(#445, 2/28/24)

Fueled by assault rifles, murders plague the land

Wrong Place, Wrong
Time, Wrong Cop
(#444, 2/8/24)

Recent exonerees set "records"
for wrongful imprisonment

America's Violence-
Beset Capital City
(#443, 1/20/24)

Our Nation's capital
is plagued by murder

Are Civilians Too Easy
on the Police? (II)
(#442, 12/18/23)

Exonerated of murder,
but not yet done

Warning: (Frail)
Humans at Work
(#441, 11/29/23)

The presence of a gun
can prove lethal

See No Evil - Hear No
Evil - Speak No Evil
(#440, 11/14/23)

Is the violent crime problem
really all in our heads?

Policing Can't Fix
What Really Ails
(#439, 10/18/23)

California's posturing
overlooks a chronic issue

Confirmation Bias
Can be Lethal
(#438, 9/21/23)

Why did a "routine" stop
cost a man's life?

When (Very) Hard
Heads Collide (II)
(#437, 9/5/23)

What should cops do when
miscreants refuse to comply?
Refuse to comply?

What Cops Face
(#436, 8/24/23)

America’s violent atmosphere
can distort officer decisions

Punishment Isn't
a Cop's Job (III)
(#435, 8/1/23)

Some citizens misbehave;
some cops answer in kind

San Antonio
Blues
(#434, 7/20/23)

What poverty brings can
impair the quality of policing

Keep going...

7/2/24 AR-15 style assault rifles are in the news. Santa Rosa, Calif. police officers stopped a car Saturday night for no lights. Its driver was wearing a “Jason” mask that fully covered his face. An unloaded, California-illegal Eagle Arms Eagle-15 5.56 mm. assault rifle was on the back seat. Adonay Efriem, 27, was booked for felony possession of an unregistered assault weapon. And in Illinois, the family of Eduardo Uvaldo sued Smith & Wesson, manufacturer of the M&P-15 assault rifle that Robert Crimo used in the 2022 Highland Park massacre. Mr. Uvaldo was one of seven persons who suffered fatal wounds. According to the suit, Smith & Wesson knew that their AR-15 style rifle was being used in massacres, and their sale thus constituted a “negligent entrustment” under Illinois law. Related post

7/1/24 In a new decision, the Supreme Court ruled that 18 USC 1512(c)(2), which prohibits obstructing official proceedings, is constrained by the language of section (c)(1), which applies only to someone who “alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so.” Merely crashing the Capitol isn’t enough. While no Jan. 6 rioters were reportedly charged with only (c)(2), it’s a felony, and more than two dozen are serving prison time for its violation. It also accounts for two of the four Jan. 6-related charges against ex-president Trump. Split 6-3, the decision aligned with the Court’s ideological divide, with conservatives in the majority. Fischer v. U.S.   Capitol updates   Related posts   1   2

In April 2019 DNA results that excluded Ricky Davis led an El Dorado County, Calif. judge to reverse his 2005 murder conviction. Davis was released after serving twelve years. His conviction had been enabled by testimony from a teen, Connie Dahl, that she was present when Davis, her boyfriend, killed the victim. Her account, it turns out, was coerced by police. Dahl, who served a year in prison, has since passed away. DNA identified Michael Green as the killer. He pled guilty to the murder in 2022. Innocence Project   Related post

A Federal judge placed a hold on Oklahoma HB 4156, signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, which criminalized the presence in the State of persons who illegally entered the U.S., and those who had been excluded but failed to leave. First offense is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine or jailing for up to one year. A second offense is a felony. That’s occasioned a lawsuit by the Justice Dept., which is challenging the law as intruding into a matter of exclusively Federal jurisdiction. Oklahoma bill   Immigration updates   Related post

Police patrolling a residential neighborhood of Utica (NY) encountered two 13-year old boys who matched the description of robbers who had struck there on the preceding day. Bodycam video shows one boy running away, then turning around with a gun in his hands and pointing it in the officers’ direction. One officer tackled the youth; another opened fire, inflicting a fatal wound. The youth’s gun was a realistic duplicate of a Glock 17 pistol. But all it could fire were “pellets or bb’s”.  Bodycam video   Related post

Detroit PD’s missteps with facial recognition technology, which led to three wrongful arrests, have resulted in a court settlement that binds the agency to implement new practices. Most importantly, images of persons ID’d through facial recognition cannot be shown to witnesses or included in photo lineups unless they are also linked to a crime in another way. Photospreads must also be shown by an officer not connected with the investigation, and displayed not in a group but one picture at a time. Related post

California has joined Colorado and New York in requiring that credit-card companies provide banks with unique codes that identify purchases at gun stores. This will enable banks to discern when customers exhibit unusual patterns, such as making large purchases at multiple gun stores during a brief period. They could then alert police, and perhaps prevent a mass shooting. But Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee and Wyoming and thirteen other “Red” states have passed laws to prohibit the practice. Related post

6/28/24 A report by the Sacramento Grand Jury criticizes police for sharing information from a county-wide network of 170 automated license plate readers. ALPR’s automatically capture images of as many as 1,800 license plates per minute. But while State law prohibits it, this data was being shared with other States and the Feds. That practice is now suspended. Police, though, say that ALPR’s have been highly useful, leading to the recovery of 495 stolen vehicles in their first month of operation. Report   Related post

Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, 55, will spend the next 45 years in an American Federal prison. After being extradited from his native land, where he served two terms as its top leader, Hernandez was convicted in March for drug importation and gun violations. Over two decades, Hernandez and his heavily armed cartel compatriots smuggled 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. Hernandez’s brother and an associate have already drawn life in prison; several others are pending trial. Immigration updates   Related post

A Texas grand jury indicted former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo on ten counts of felony child endangerment for “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, and with criminal negligence” endangering the lives of ten minors during the school shooting perpetrated by Salvador Ramos on May 24, 2022. Arredondo was faulted for his failure to follow existing protocols for active shooter incidents. Former school police officer Adrian Gonzales was also charged. Both were booked and released. Related post

6/27/24 The FBI’s switch from the UCR to the NIBRS remains a work in progress. Many agencies are yet to fully implement the new system, and crime numbers to be released this fall will be up to 18 months old. Such delays, according to the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), inaccurately depict crime trends and render data-based responses ineffective. CCJ asks that the FBI get agencies to submit crime data to cover 98 percent of the U.S. population by 2027, thus “matching the level of coverage prior to the switch”. States are asked to assure that all police agencies furnish crime data each month. CCJ Report    Related post

According to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, President Biden’s recent executive order that summarily expels asylum-seekers who arrive without appointments is having its intended effect. During the past three weeks there has been a forty-percent-plus reduction in Border Patrol encounters with unauthorized immigrants. More than 100 “repatriation” flights have also returned over 24,000 persons to their home countries. But Secretary Mayorkas emphasized that executive action isn’t enough - legislation that fixes the “broken immigration system” is sorely needed. Immigration updates   Related post

Brazil just became one of about twenty countries to legalize or decriminalize recreational marijuana. Ruling on a 2009 case about a 55-year old man who was caught with three grams, its Supreme Court decided that Brazilians can possess up to forty grams, sufficient for eighty cigarettes, without incurring criminal penalties. “Thousands” of Brazilians are said to be presently in jail for having lesser amounts. Selling marijuana, though, remains illegal. A recent survey also indicates that “less than a third” of the country’s residents favor decriminalizing pot. And conservative legislators are advancing a bill that criminalizes possessing any amount whatsoever. Drug legalization updates   Related post

6/26/24 According to the Surgeon General, firearms violence is a “public health crisis” that has displaced motor vehicle deaths as the number one killer of youths thru age 19. Among its recommendations are requiring secure gun storage, implementing universal background checks that include private-party sales, “effective firearm removal policies” that keep guns away from domestic abusers and other dangerous persons, and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Its report makes no mention of ballistics or differences in ammunition lethality. Related posts 1   2

A 16-year old Chicago youth has been charged as an adult with murder for gunning down a beloved 73-year old pastor and retired police bomb technician. Only days earlier, another 16-year old Chicago boy was charged, also as an adult, with murdering a seven-year old boy. Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling beseeches parents to act promptly should their children turn to crime. “Today’s armed robber who’s 13, 14 years old is tomorrow’s murderer at the age of 15 or 16,” he warned. Related post

Five North Las Vegas residents, including four women ages 20-50 and a man in his twenties, were shot to death in nearby apartments. A teen-age girl was critically wounded. After an overnight search police were informed that the 57-year old suspect, Eric Adams, was at a local business. When they arrived he ran into a nearby backyard. He refused to drop his gun and committed suicide. Related post

Six Hells Angels - the entire complement of the gang’s Bakersfield, Calif. chapter - were arrested by Federal, State and local officers on a slew of charges, including kidnapping and robbery. Authorities seized more than two-dozen guns, including assault- style rifles, pistols and high-capacity magazines. And they weren’t kids, with ages running from 33 to 57. Related post

6/25/24 Forty-five Chicagoans were shot one weekend ago; seven fatally. This weekend the toll was a lesser twenty-nine. But nine died, including two 16-year olds. One was fatally struck, and his two teen companions were wounded, by gunfire from a passing SUV. That happened Friday night. The other fatally wounded youth was shot multiple times during a dispute in a park. That was on Saturday. And on Sunday, a gunshot detection system alerted police to a 19-year old who had been repeatedly (and, fatally) shot. Details about other episodes are in the Chicago Tribune. Related post

Thirty-five years. That’s the sentence given to Joly Germine, 31, a Haitian gang leader who used proceeds from ransoms paid for liberating American hostages to acquire two dozen military-style rifles in the U.S. and smuggle them to Haiti. Germine’s reputed “wife”, Eliande Tunis, a resident of Florida, got twelve years for her role in the plot. Two other accused, Jocelyn Dor, 31, and Walder St. Louis, 35, who bought the guns at Florida gun shops on the couple’s behalf, also received prison terms. Germine ran the plot by cell phone while incarcerated in a Haitian prison. Related post

More than eighteen-million dollars. That’s what two middle-aged New York entrepreneurs, brothers Peter Khaim and Arkadiy Khaimov, swindled from the COVID relief program. And eight and six years in prison are their respective sentences for pretending that pharmacies they and their associates owned dispensed and distributed large amounts of expensive drugs during and after the pandemic. Problem is, “real” doctors had not prescribed the drugs, and the “patients” didn’t exist. Alas, this kind of misbehavior isn’t rare. Since March 2007, Federal Health Care strike forces have charged more than 5,400 individuals with falsely billing the U.S. and private insurers “more than $27 billion.” COVID updates

6/24/24 Mass shootings continue besetting the land. Shoppers dove for cover as a man armed with a shotgun opened fire at a Fordyce, Arkansas grocery store. Travis Eugene Posey, 44 shot and killed four and wounded nine, including two police officers. Posey was also wounded and taken into custody. Fordyce, a town of about 3,400, is about 10 miles from New Edinburg, the hamlet where the shooter lived. And in downtown Columbus, Ohio, an early morning shooting wounded ten persons, ages 16-27, one critically. The gunman, who was reportedly dressed in black, fled in a waiting car. He remains at large. Related post

In 2018 Denmonne Lee, 16, set up the robbery of an L.A.-area gas station and provided the gun that his crime partner used to kill an employee. Two years later, when progressively minded George Gascon became D.A., he barred prosecuting teens as adults. Lee was convicted of murder in 2020, but as a youth. He drew six years and gained early release in 2023. This April Lee and an accomplice were arrested and charged with another murder. Criticism of Gascon - he’s survived two recall attempts - has again ramped up. Related post

In 2010 Sandra Munoz, a Los Angeles civil rights lawyer, married Luis Cordero, a citizen of El Salvador. They subsequently petitioned that he be granted an immigrant visa. But the American consulate in El Salvador denied his application, as there was evidence he belonged to the MS-13 gang.  The 9th. Circuit sided with the couple, holding that a spousal interest is a fundamental right that can’t be administratively denied. But the Supreme Court just ruled that “a citizen does not have a fundamental liberty interest in her non-citizen spouse being admitted to the country.”  Dept. of State v. Munoz   Immigration updates   Related post

A study of state firearm “dispossession” laws reveals that 31 states require that persons subject to domestic violence protection orders relinquish their guns. Seventeen mandate it for persons with misdemeanor domestic violence convictions, and “only” nine for convicted felons. Eighteen states lack a dispossession law of any kind. And where such laws exist, most have “gaps” that hinder their usefulness. Few States impose unconditional requirements that judges issue “shall relinquish” orders whenever a person becomes prohibited, and that police take steps to enforce them. Related post

6/21/24 In an 8-1 decision, with Justice Thomas dissenting, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Federal law that prohibits persons subject to a restraining order from possessing guns or ammunition. According to the Court, “when an individual has been found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another, that individual may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment.” That “disarming,” the Justices explained, is consistent with a regulatory tradition whose objective has always been to keep persons from misusing guns to hurt others. Federal law   Court decision    Related post

A large number of all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles roared into a seemingly peaceful Juneteenth gathering of several thousand at Oakland’s Lake Merritt. Their sideshow quickly morphed into a shootout that left fifteen persons ages 20-30 wounded, at least one critically. Dozens of shell casings were recovered, but no arrests have yet been made. A shootout took place at the same celebration in 2021, fatally wounding a 22-year old San Francisco man. Related post

Since 2015 New York City has spent “more than $45 million” on ShotSpotter. But the City Controller calls it a waste of money. According to an audit, even when Shot Spotter is supposedly working well, only twenty percent of its alerts correctly identify shootings. Meanwhile numerous real shootings go undetected. So the Controller wants to terminate its contract with the operator, SoundThinking, when it comes up for renewal in December. But NYPD insists that a shutdown would create a “less safe working environment for officers and an increased chance of violent encounters for all New Yorkers.” Related post

6/20/24 Seven-year old Jai’Mani Amir Rivera stepped out of his Chicago Near West Side apartment to visit a friend. Suddenly a “random” bullet fired from a considerable distance struck him in the chest, inflicting a fatal wound. Not long ago a five-year old was shot and killed nearby. According to residents of the Oakley Square complex where Jai’Mani lived, gunfire is common. It’s in ZIP 60612, poverty 29.1%. Related post

Lionel Rubalcava belonged to a competing San Jose street gang. But it turns out that when Raymond Rodriguez was shot and crippled in a 2002 drive-by, Rubalcava was on the road, driving to see his girlfriend who lived fifty miles away. No matter. He apparently resembled the shooter, and using a photospread and considerable encouragement, officers got three witnesses to go along. Rubalcava spent 17 years in prison before evidence of his true whereabouts - and recantations by the “witnesses” - led to his exoneration. San Jose has now agreed to reimburse him “a record” $12 million for his troubles. Innocence Project   Related post

6/19/24 Violent crime has a way of intruding into assumedly “safe” places. Say, a residential area of Tustin, an upscale L.A. suburb, where an off-duty member of the President’s Secret Service detail was accosted by an armed robber (he’s still on the lam). Or, say, L.A.’s tony Venice neighborhood, featuring miles of canals lined by “multimillion dollar homes.” But an unhoused intruder nonetheless made his way in. Francisco Jones, 29, has been charged with brutally pummeling and sexually assaulting two middle-aged residents, leaving one unconscious and near death. Long troubled by homeless souls, a “shaken community” is now struggling about how to respond. Related post

To “promote the unity and stability of families,” the U.S. will allow “noncitizen” spouses of American citizens who have lived in the U.S. for a decade and meet certain other conditions to apply for permanent residency without having, as is presently required, to leave the U.S. and apply from abroad. In addition, the Government will consider issuing visas authorizing recipients to become fully employed to “undocumented noncitizens”, including those covered by DACA, who have earned degrees from an accredited U.S. college. Immigration updates   Related post

6/18/24 In 2022 Maryland voters approved a ballot measure legalizing recreational pot and providing “pathways” for expungement and resentencing. Yesterday Gov. Wes Moore stepped in with an executive order that pardons over 150,000 misdemeanor convictions for simple possession of pot. While these are technically not “expungements”, mentions of the pardon will appear on each person’s record. According to Maryland’s AG, pot convictions are a modern equivalent of the “scarlet letter” and reflect a “deeply rooted bias” from the days of slavery. Drug legalization updates   Related post

Walter Gray, a 53-year old California man, was sentenced in 2023 to two years for robbery and failure to register as a sex offender. His extensive prior record, which includes convictions for robbery and burglary, first landed him in prison in 1993. Thanks to good time and other credits, Gray was released from San Quentin State Prison on May 7. One day later he allegedly robbed a bank. During the process - it was captured on video - he took three employees hostage. So, for now, Gray’s back in custody. Related post

6/17/24 A major inquiry by the Washington Post reveals that many U.S. cops have used their implicit power and authority to sexually abuse children with whom they come into contact during their work. While many - perhaps, most - escape any meaningful sanction, “at least 1,800” were charged with child sexual abuse between 2005-2022. Among these is a Lowell, N.C. police officer who got a 13-year old girl pregnant, and an L.A. County deputy sheriff who sexually abused a 15-year old victim of... sexual abuse. And, most notably, the recent case of South Bend cop Timothy Barber, whose on-duty abuse of  a 16-year old led to a suspended sentence. Instead of being fired, he was allowed to resign. Related post