SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Police training, school violence, prison conditions

Trauma and empathy training, body cams, mental health calls, smash and grab, school violence and arrests, where gun violence is surging, cameras to reduce crimes, Marsy's Law doesn't apply to police officers, police records transparency, prison conditions, First Step Act, and more...

POLICE CONDUCT

Baltimore’s new approach to police training looks at the effects of trauma, importance of empathy (Courthouse News Service)

How Police Have Undermined the Promise of Body Cameras (PorPublica)

Starting in January, non-law enforcement team can respond to mental health crisis calls (ABC30)

Stark County Sheriff's Office rolls out new program to improve staff performance and community relations (News 5 Cleveland)

CRIME RATE

‘Smash-and-grab’ robberies fuel new laws, but critics question the need (SW Iowa News) see also: Member of Congress calls for better data on organized retail crime and other theft (Retail Dive)

185 weapons, seven guns reported at Wake County high schools, recent data shows State law requires schools to report numbers for 16 offenses. Most of the reports - about three out of every five - are for drugs on campus. (WRAL) see also: Philadelphia reduces school-based arrests by 91% since 2013 – researchers explain the effects of keeping kids out of the legal system (The Conversation)

Where Gun Violence Is Surging (Jeff-alytics)

CRIM-TECH

Finding a Better Way to Use Cameras to Reduce Crime (GA Tech News Center)

Ithaca police introducing 20 license plate recognition cameras around city streets (Ithaca Voice)

Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office receives grant to purchase new and improved body cameras (WDBJ7)

POLICE TRANSPARENCY

Owning the Police: Crime Data, Copyright, and Public Information (The Journal of Civic Information)

Florida Supreme Court rules Marsy's Law privacy doesn't apply to police officers (Tallahassee Democrat)

Government transparency disappearing locally and nationally (Palo Alto Daily Post) see also: I Filed 136 Public Records Requests With Police and Learned Why Our System Is Broken (Vice)

Holiday carjacking caught on camera in Baltimore County, but surveillance footage withheld by police (Fox Baltimore) 

BPD’s public data dashboards allow residents to view crime reports, stats, trends throughout Boise (Idaho Press)

THE PRISON SYSTEM

Jefferson County judge calls Alabama prisons 'third world prisons' due to dire, inhumane conditions (ABC3340)

Data on Sentencing Reform Shows the First Step Act Worked (Brennan Center for Justice)

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