SpotCrime Weekly Reads: police accountability, police records hard to access, low incarceration rate
Bipartisan talks for police reform end, tracking use-of-force not so easy, AGs address police accountability, studying the mental health of police officers, LA DA dismisses marijuana convictions, murders rose in 2020, not all agencies report data to FBI, body cams costs, police use of tech and the state of surveillance, Alabama ends open access to police records, Mary's Law in Florida hinders police transparency, will the low incarceration rate last, and more...
POLICE CONDUCT
Bipartisan police-overhaul talks end with no deal. lawmakers had sought to address abuses by law-enforcement after protests over killings of Black Americans (Wall Street Journal)
How is police use of force tracked in the Quad-Cities? That depends on the department. (Quad City Times)
Austin police weigh dispatching civilians, not officers to some nonemergency calls (Austin American Statesman)
Attorneys General in Three States Move to Increase Police Accountability (TheCrimeReport.org) see also: What the rest of America can learn from Colorado. One year after widespread protests, state reforms have brought accountability to policing, if not an end to brutality. (The Atlantic)
When schools call police on kids (PublicIntegrity.org)
National Police Foundation begins innovative study examining adverse impacts of organizational stress on officer health, wellness, and other outcomes (National Police Foundation)
CRIME RATE
Murders rose sharply in 2020 but data is lacking across much of the country (CBS46) see also: FBI: Killings soared nearly 30 percent in 2020, with more slayings committed with guns (Washington Post) and also: Murders Spiked in 2020 in Cities Across the United States (NYTimes)
Women and marginalised groups hardest hit by cyber crime (Information Age)
CRIM-TECH
It’s Not Easy to Control Police Use of Tech—Even With a Law (Wired) see also: The Current State Of Surveillance (NPR)
Public Safety Agencies Explore Tech to Partner with Social Services (State Tech Magazine)
Snohomish County executive wants a fully-funded body cam program (KING5) see also: ‘A long time coming’: More Oklahoma communities implementing police body cameras (The Norman Transcript) and also: Arizona County Police to Get Body Cams After $26.6M Contract (GovTech)
POLICE TRANSPARENCY
Alabama Supreme Court guts open records law, makes trusting police impossible (AL.com) see also: Alabama Supreme Court ruling is ‘the end of public access to law-enforcement records,’ chief justice writes (AL.com)
Myriad of Marsy’s Law Interpretations (Florida First Amendment Foundation) see also: Marsy's Law continues to hinder police transparency in Florida (SpotCrime)
Fairfax County ends arrest blotter over concerns data could be used in effort to deport immigrants (Washington Post)
THE PRISON SYSTEM
There Are Fewer People Behind Bars Now Than 10 Years Ago. Will It Last? (The Marshall Project)
Crime in Lynchburg, VA. See crime in your city at SpotCrime.com
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