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Showing posts with the label murder

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Gun violence, 911 calls, transparency

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Joint crime office, traffic stops, police job vacancies, police commission meetings, gun violence data hub, sextortion on the rise, sexual assault, 2020 homicide spike, drones used to respond to police calls, location boost to 911 calls, accessing police records, yoga in prison, recidivism, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Memphis, Shelby County to launch joint crime office to address violence  (Local Memphis) National groups say Fayetteville is stopping more Black drivers than it was a decade ago  (Fayetteville Observer) Oceanside gets new police chief after retirement announcement  (OSide News) Records Show Vacancies Across City of Durham Departments; Police and emergency communications departments show high vacancies  (Indy Week) Watchdog group launches social media campaign publicizing details on Maui police commission meeting  (Hawaii News Now) CRIME RATE Nearly $1M on the way to fight crime in Stockton  (ABC10) The Trace Launches Gun Violence Data Hub  (National Criminal Justice Associ

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Crime rate, transparency, surveillance

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Dropping crime rates, protecting murder victims, asset forfeiture, violent victimization decreasing, reducing gun violence, cameras are unbiased, federal lawsuit challenges use of cameras for surveillance, potential of public data for social impact, Boston broken transparency website, Austin police contract, Tennessee prisons, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Mahaska County to charge towns more for police services  (The Oskaloosa Herald) Former Indiana sheriff gets 12 years for spending funds on travel and gifts  (Associated Press) City: Police had no constitutional duty to protect murder victim  (Iowa Capital Dispatch) How you can provide input on Fresno's next police chief  (ABC30) Police officer helped steal thousands in Crime Stoppers rewards  (Fox4KC) The Topline: Asset forfeiture falls following reform  (Minnesota Reformer) CRIME RATE Inside the Carjacking Crisis On the street with an elite police unit as it combats a crime wave  (The Atlantic) Violent Victimization is Decreasing–B

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Police tech, gun violence, AI

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Online reporting systems, crime rates, growing up under the gun, data driven solutions, reckless driving, drone tech to improve emergency response, AI tools convict people of murder, public safety dashboards, Louisiana juvenile detention centers, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Hartford police announce new online reporting system for non-emergencies  (Fox61) Kansas Supreme Court affirms police conduct allegedly ‘akin to a psychological rubber hose’ Court majority views Salina police tactics as constitutional, but two justices disagree  (Kansas Reflector) CRIME RATE New Jersey has some of the lowest crime rates. Why do some residents still feel unsafe?  (NorthJersey.com) ‘Run, Hide, Fight: Growing up under the gun,’ a documentary on how gun violence changed a generation  (PBS) Data shows street projects led to less speeding in Milwaukee as officials crack down on reckless drivers  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) VOICES: Tackling crime in Dayton: The power of data-driven solutions  (Dayton Daily

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: civilian review boards, crime rates, prison

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Florida bans civilian boards from investigating police misconduct, police reform behind closed doors in Virginia, more transparency for asset seizures, internal reviews, facial recognition laws for law enforcement, peace officers in NYC, high speed chases, crisis intervention in Tampa, homicides plummeting, crime rate drops, encrypting police radios, police surveillance, benefits of police data transparency, mental health facility instead of prison, Massachusetts' prison population drops, and more... POLICE CONDUCT DeSantis signs controversial bill banning civilian boards from investigating police misconduct  (Sun Sentinel) Police reform may expand In Virginia, but behind closed doors  (Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism) More transparency needed for WA police asset seizures, audit says  (Seattle Times) Glendale Police force shows its hand in internal review  (Glendale News-Press) Maryland lawmakers approve ‘strongest’ facial recognition rules for law enforcement yet  (St

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Murder decline, traffic stops, generative AI

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Solving more murders, culture of wellness in criminal justice jobs, the police personality, traffic stop disparities, drop in gun violence and murders, gun homicides down slightly, generative AI for criminal justice, reducing recidivism and worker shortage, free prison calls, and more... POLICE CONDUCT New evidence that we're solving more murders  (Slow Boring) DOJ Officials Call for 'Culture of Wellness' in Criminal Justice Jobs  (National Criminal Justice Association) The “Police Personality”: Is it Real?  (Sage Journals) Most U.S. emergency call centers are understaffed  (Axios) Kansas Cops Have 'Waged War on Motorists' by Subjecting Them to Pretextual Traffic Stops, a Federal Judge Says  (reason) see also: Pittsburgh efforts to address racial bias in traffic enforcement have reduced the number of stops, but disparities remain  (Public Source) Tickets and arrests didn’t go up when SROs reintroduced to Denver schools, police data shows  (The Colorado Sun) CRIME RA

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Gun violence, crime data transparency, calls for service

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Police mental health, calls for service overload, missing crime data, educators' view on school safety, mass killings, gun purchases over the last 6 months, body cams valuable tool, crime data feed still down in Dallas, Illinois plans to eradicate cash bail, housing and rehab for former prisoners in California, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Jury awards $13 million to LAPD officers accused of drawing Hitler mustache on arrestee  (LA Times) Evaluation of a Mental Health Liaison Program at a Small Police Department  (TandFOnline) A police officer jailed a 3-year-old for potty training trouble. He's under investigation.  (USA Today) Crime fighting plan by Savannah police using data and community contacts to fight crime  (WJCL) With staff stretched thin, Stockton Police to stop responding to some calls for service  (Recordnet.com) A year since launching, SLO's Mobile Crisis Unit has had hundreds of calls for service  (KSBY) CRIME RATE 4 Reasons We Should Worry About Missing Crime D

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Gun violence, murder rate decrease, AI and police forces

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Police data, military policing, relationship between income and crime, murder rate is falling, gun violence reduction plans, AI and police forces, police data transparency, license plate readers, drones as first responders, transformative juvenile justice, bond data dashboard, and more... POLICE CONDUCT APD Uses Data to Drive Policework  (Alameda Post) Researchers find little evidence military policing reduces crime  (Brown.edu) CRIME RATE ‘Performance crime’ on TikTok and YouTube is driving up car thefts, police say  (Fortune) Relationship between Income and Crime in Chicago  (Symposium) SAPD Chief ‘cautiously optimistic’ on violent crime plan’s progress  (KSAT) Arizona had one of the highest rates of domestic violence deaths in 2022, report finds  (AZFamily.com) The Murder Rate is Suddenly Falling  (The Atlantic) see also:  The Tide: Drastic decline in Savannah murder statistics City police department reports only one homicide this year as of May 27  (The Current) and also:  Data sho

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Crime data, school shootings, jail data

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Shielding police, lower murder rate with more cops, national crime data reporting needs improvement, ATF gun crime report, school shooting data, violent crime and youth, corporate white collar prosecutions at all time low, streamlining sharing of criminal justice data, impact of COVID on arrests, observing bail review hearings, and more...  POLICE CONDUCT In Shielded, Joanna Schwartz Dissects Policing’s Legal Environment  (TheCrimeReport.org) Study estimates 1 murder averted for every 11 cops hired: Report  (NOLA.com) Former police chief heading to trial in DUI, hit-and-run case  (York Dispatch) CRIME RATE New Crime Trends Working Group Aims to Improve National Crime Data Reporting  (TheCrimeReport.org) 6 major takeaways from the ATF's first report in 20 years on U.S. gun crime  (NPR) Elementary School. High School. Now College. Michigan State Students Are No Strangers to Mass Shootings.  (NYTimes) see also:  Nashville startup, nonprofit release school shooting data on 5th annivers

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: redirecting 911 calls, de-escalation, homicide rate

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Re-directing no threat 911 calls, mental health unit works toward de-escalation, homicide rate surge may be over, fixing vacancies to reduce gun violence, police use virtual reality for de-escalation training, report urges transparency with internal affairs department, navigating life after incarceration, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Pilot program designed to redirect no-threat 911 calls from Columbus police showing promise, officials say  (The Columbus Dispatch) see also:  Police Aren’t Needed for 49% of 911 Calls: Seattle Report  (TheCrimeReport.org) COVID-19: Law enforcement deaths. Tracking the coronavirus-related deaths of U.S. police officers and other LE personnel  (PoliceOne) BPD's Mental Heath Unit responds to 100+ calls since its inception, works to de-escalate crisis  (KXXV) Chicago Police Department opts for go-slow approach to redeploy cops  (Chicago Sun Times) U.S. Police Academies Overemphasize “Warrior” Training of New Officers  (Academia.edu) APD’s use of force incre

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Violence prevention, police reform, crime rate

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Violence prevention spending, looking at data to keep police accountable, Colorado cop barred from policing ends up as police chief, civil litigation as instrument for police reform, gun violence, less crime around strip clubs than Airbnbs, COVID-19 leads to sweeping changes in jails, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Boston police emphasize de-escalation, disengagement in mental health calls  (Boston Globe) State, law enforcement officials offer different assessments of Police Integrity Transparency and Accountability Act ‘We need these types of bills to hold law enforcement accountable.’  (Greeley Tribune) Federal Civil Litigation as an Instrument of Police Reform: A Natural Experiment Exploring the Effects of the Floyd Ruling on Stop-and-Frisk Activities in New York City  (Academia.edu) A Colorado cop was supposed to be barred from law enforcement. Instead, he became interim police chief.  (Mercury News) Governor’s Policing Surge In Jackson May Not Prevent Violence, Address Causes  (Missis

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: racial disparities, mental health, gun violence

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Justice in Policing Act, minimum wage, gun violence, mental health calls, inmate mortality rates, how terrorism transformed law enforcement, racial disparities in policing, legalizing marijuana, what caused the 2020 murder spike, and more... POLICE CONDUCT House to Vote on George Floyd Justice in Policing Act  (Milwaukee Community Journal) Why Cops Don’t Talk About Suicide  (TheCrimeReport.org) Dayton-area police agencies using special teams on mental health calls  (DaytonDailyNews) see also:  Orlando launching pilot program to send mental health professionals to nonviolent calls for service  (WFTV) and also:  Bello task force calls for expansion of mental health response programs  (Rochester City Newspaper) The Impact of Terrorism on the Transformation of Law Enforcement in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada Since the 1960s: The Relevance of 9/11 to the Thin Blue Line  (Academia.edu) "Good Cops Are Afraid." The Toll of Unchecked Police Violence in Rio de Janeiro  (

Location information is imperative for effective and informative policing

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Typically, when a police agencies releases CAD or RMS data, they release block level address locations. SpotCrime will ask police agencies for latitude and longitude coordinates, block level addresses, and even exact addresses. Lat/long coordinates are a part of our SpotCrime Open Crime Data Standard (SOCS). This level of location information helps plot a crime as accurately as possible on a map.  Recently, we’ve noticed two trends that are disconcerting to the public - reporting crime by intersections, and Marsy's law (or any related law) that bans the release of crime locations all together. Intersection reporting First, the San Francisco Police Department has decided to publish crime locations by the intersections citing privacy concerns.  We reached out to San Francisco PD and their reasoning was  ‘...to ensure privacy all parties involved, minimize re-identification risk, and still provide as much useful, informative data as possible, the department made t

America's Shooting Epidemic

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The  murder rate is on the rise , gun deaths in America are at an all time high , and cities like Chicago and Baltimore  are facing huge criticisms on policing tactics. Is the shooting epidemic across America's cities a  policing issue , policy issue, or cultural issue? This question is up for debate. What we do know is that it is imperative that the public know about and have access to this kind of crime data and information.  There is no federal repository for nationwide shooting data , so what does shooting data look like on a map? Check out SpotCrime. We’re the only major crime map to break out shooting as it’s own icon. Shootings in Chicago Chicago shootings Aug 12 - Sept 12, 2016 Rightfully so, Chicago is constantly under fire (no pun intended) for the large amount of shootings the city experiences daily . Chicago saw 65 shootings Labor Day weekend alone . The chief recently attributed it to a cultural issue rather than a policing issue. Shoot

Tune in Weekdays! Murder. Scams. Investigations. Real-Life Mysteries. #WeAreWatching.

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Primetime crime has come to daytime!  SpotCrime is now powering the crime maps for Crime Watch Daily, the brand new hour-long news and investigative crime show covering the most compelling aspects of the world of crime, mystery, and intrigue. From unsolved murders to must-see mysteries, undercover investigations and shocking crimes caught on video, the series will uncover the stories happening in small towns around America and turn them into national headlines. Partnerships like these help SpotCrime push out important and pertinent crime information to even more vigilant residents like you. We are committed to helping communities stay aware. Below is just one of many investigative pieces on how social media posts can potentially lead to stalking. So tune in weekdays! And don’t forget to check out their crime map! http://bit.ly/CWDcrimemap #WeAreWatching To find out when Crime Watch Daily airs in your city, click here http://bit.ly/CWDwhenitson