SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

Feds award police funding in CT, police service requests via text, police mental health, shoplifting trends, deciphering federal crime data trends, Baltimore homicides dip, Cop Con tech, public access to police radio traffic, Clery Reporting, restorative justice, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Feds award $8.8 million in police funding to Connecticut, municipalities  (Inside Investigator) Community can now receive Santa Monica Police service request updates on their phone  (SantaMonica.gov) In one 24-hour period, 4 LA county sheriff employees died by suicide: What we know so far   If you or someone you know needs mental health support, contact the national Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988  (USA Today) CRIME RATE Shoplifting Trends: What You Need to Know  (Council on Criminal Justice) New Data Shows Violent Crime Is Up… And Also Down. Property crime and violence against young people are both up, recent federal data shows, but other crime trends are murkier...

Secrecy in the criminal justice system, destroying misconduct files, response teams for sexual assault, FBI data useless, crime task force, data use in criminal investigations, drone mounted Apple watch for gunshot detection, Marsy's Law keeps police names secret in deadly shootings, body cam video transparency, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Sheriff’s Office Has Been Destroying Records Of Alleged Officer Misconduct For Years  (TheCrimeReport.org) TN lawmaker introduces bill to require law enforcement to create response teams for sexual assault cases  (WBIR) The Town Manager in Matthews exposes police brass for fudging reports on crime statistics  (WBT) Report: Arrest rates in San Diego County hit seven-year low in 2021  (The San Diego Union Tribune) The FBI’s 2021 Hate Crime Data Is Worse Than Meaningless  (Lawfare Blog) CRIME RATE Hampton Roads had more than 200 homicides last year. Police solved less than half the killings.  (Daily Press) What Does Research ...

Strongly policed cities and hot spot policing, states that don't report crime to the FBI, statewide minimums for police pursuits, school lockdowns assessment, residents participate in crime commission forum, public genealogy data to identify criminals, facial recognition leads to wrongful arrest, reliable police data and research needed now more than ever, recidivism rates, and more... POLICE CONDUCT London experience suggests strongly policed cities don’t always benefit from hot-spot approach  (Policing Insight) Federal appeals court rules against former police officer fired for Facebook post  (The Free Speech Center) States That Don't Report Crime to the FBI  (24/7 Wall St) New Indiana policy sets statewide minimum for police pursuits  (Fox59) CRIME RATE Can School Lockdowns Save Lives? An Assessment of Drills and Use in Real-World Events  (Taylor and Francis Online) NYC leaders acknowledge 22% increase in overall crime, while pointing to signs of progress ...

Fatal police shootings, oversight commission causes police resignations, inflammatory political campaigns and policing, FBI crime data reporting, automated license plate readers aid investigations, Dallas new site for crime watchers, data on ending cash bail, how much states spend on prisons, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Fatal Police Shootings in the United States Are Higher and Training Is More Limited Than in Other Nations  (Rutgers Today) Savannah surpasses other police departments in solving murders. Why?  (GPB News) Police Union Says SDPD Officers Are Quitting Because of Oversight Commission That Doesn’t Exist Yet  (Voice of San Diego) Lawyer claims LAPD officer was targeted for being a potential whistleblower  (CBS News) 'The Onion' filed a real brief with the Supreme Court supporting man jailed for making fun of cops  (Engadget) No info: JPD yet to report crime data on new system, Sheriff in process  (The Northside Sun) Inflammatory Political Campaigns...

Police budgets are used not only to hire officers, but also to purchase tech from companies to aid in police work. Anything from body cams to surveillance tech to in-car computers to RMS/CAD systems are typically hired out to a private vendor company rather than created and maintained in house by the police departments themselves. We came across a paper by Elizabeth E Joh published at the NYU School Law Review titled ’The Undue Influence of Surveillance Technology Companies on Policing’ . Joh specifically focused on the influence surveillance companies have over police departments which adversely affects policing leaving consequences for civil liberties and police oversight. This same concept can be applied to police vendors hired to house police data in Records Management System (RMS) and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems. These vendor systems are in charge of a trough of public data - from arrest records to body cam footage to crime blotters to use of force to police reports. Th...

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 al...

COVID leading cause of death for police officers, Portland officer shortage, Durham police disregard body cam policies, gun violence, George Floyd's murder related to decrease in calls to police, sex offender registries have no impact on recidivism, DOJ reviewing law enforcement grants, more police departments adopting body cams, the FBIs crime data shortage, impact of body cams on court outcomes, calls on EU to ban predictive policing AI, and more... POLICE CONDUCT 'My dad didn't have a fighting chance': Covid is leading cause of death among law enforcement  (NBC News) New Akron police chief tells City Council community must help to quell rising gun violence  (Beacon Journal) Portland mayor wants to bring back retired police officers to help fill shortage, address gun violence  (OPB.org) Audit: Durham police officers routinely disregard policies on bodycam videos  (WRAL) Denver's 2022 city budget proposal dominated by public safety  (Denver Gazette) What the Re...