SpotCrime Weekly Reads: riots, insurrection, disinformation

Capitol riots and insurrection, disinformation causes violent crime, law enforcement pushes to be eligible for COVID vaccine, homicide spike causes, NOLA bans facial recognition, studying effects of mindfulness with women in prison, and more...

POLICE CONDUCT

FBI Seeking Information Related to Violent Activity at the U.S Capitol Building (FBI) see also:4 dead after US Capitol breached by pro-Trump mob during 'failed insurrection' (ABC News)

Newark police: No officer fired a single shot in 2020, thanks to de-escalation program (New Jersey News)

'Don't forget about us:' Law enforcement pushes to be eligible to receive vaccine (WSET)

Louisville Metro Police Department fires two detectives involved in Breonna Taylor raid (CNN) see also: How the police killed Breonna Taylor (NYT)

Chicago Police Ran Over Woman, Didn’t Move SUV As It Crushed Victim’s Leg For More Than 8 Minutes, Video Shows (Block Club Chicago)

Looking Beyond the ‘Bad Apple’ Cop (TheCrimeReport.org)

Who should keep an eye on drug seizure accounts? (EyeOnOhio)

New Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia says crime reduction, buy-in from residents and staff among top goals (DallasNews.com)

CRIME RATE

A man wearing a buffalo cap proves how far mis/disinformation can go and how dangerous it can be (Poynter)

Murder rates have increased, but reporting on crime data is still woefully out of date Some local police jurisdictions and baseball lead the way on best methods for collecting real-time information. (USAToday) see also: Homicides in Spokane nearly tripled from 2019 to 2020 (KREM)

Gunfire and Crashing Cars: In Struggling Neighborhoods, ‘We’re Losing Our Grip’ A year of hardship in parts of Cleveland has left many with the sense that the fabric of their communities was fraying. (NYTimes)

'We don't have a lot of choices left': SF small businesses grapple with increase in burglaries (SF Gate)

‘Perfect storm’ of factors leads to 123% increase in carjackings, professor says (WLBT)

CRIM-TECH

Aldermanic Committee Backs Aerial Surveillance To Fight Crime In St. Louis (St Louis Public Radio)

FBI found Ghislaine Maxwell using mobile phone data (BBC)

New Orleans City Council bans facial recognition, predictive policing and other surveillance tech (Louisiana Weekly)

Singapore COVID-19 contact-tracing data accessible to police (Reuters)

POLICE TRANSPARNECY

State Attorney’s Office launches data dashboard for public use (News4Jax)

THE PRISON SYSTEM

Whitmer signs bills offering more alternatives to jail time for traffic offenses, low-level crimes (MLive.com)

Comparison of Mindfulness With and Without Practice Among Women in Custody (SAGE Journals)

Lawsuit raises concerns about limited access to Travis County court records amid pandemic (The Austin American Statesman)

DUMB CRIMINAL OF THE WEEK

Florida man caught on camera carrying U.S. House lectern during riot at Capitol (Bradenton Herald)

SpotCrime crime map of Washington DC, including the shooting that occurred at the US Capitol