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Showing posts with the label open data

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Crime decline, police technology, LAPD crime data

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Grand Rapids reviews policing after deadly shooting, cracking down on cargo theft, sweeping up data near a crime scene legalities, the great crime decline, police surveillance technology, politics of police technology adoption, facial recognition error lands grandmother in jail, automated license plate readers, LAPD lawsuit over public crime data, publicly available data and AI, ICE body cams, pepper spray reporting cut in Berkeley, prison reform, mass incarceration, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Grand Rapids unveils plan to review policing after deadly shooting  (WOODTV) Public Safety Leaders Back Bill to Crack Down on Cargo Theft  (Trucking.org) Minnesota bill says warrants that let police sweep up data near a crime scene should be illegal  (CBS News) CRIME RATE What's Behind the Great Crime Decline?  (KQED) see also:  What’s Behind the Historic Drop in U.S. Crime  (WSJ) CRIM-TECH Think More Carefully Before Going All In On Police Surveillance Technology ...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Surveillance, violent crime, mass incarceration

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Radio encryption,  public surveillance, lone wolf cyber attacks, murder and violent crime rate, impact of unilateral divorce on crime, gun violence in rural America, AI answering 911 calls, police drones, falsely accused because of license plate readers, police body cam transparency, what 911 data says about community needs, elderly parole program, mass incarceration, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Residents react to Decatur Police Department's announcement on encrypted dispatch, radio communications  (FOX54) see also:  Fairfax County Police will begin encrypting radio communication  (WUSA9) The Troubling Personal Side of Public Surveillance  (The Marshall Project) CRIME RATE Feds Warn Against Lone Wolf Cyber Attacks Amid Iran Conflict  (GovTech) What’s behind the ‘historic collapse’ in homicide and violent crime rates in major US cities  (CNN) see also:  There Were 14,000 Murders In The United States Last Year  (Jeff-alytics) Reality Check:...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Police technology, data, criminal justice

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Police training, police misconduct, bias homicide database, domestic violence, police technology, automate license plate readers, crime data dashboard, police transparency,  open data, transparency portals, women's justice, criminal justice data gap, second look hearings, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Everett shuts down Flock camera network after judge rules footage is public record  (King 5) The critical role of equipment and training in emergency police response  (IOPC) New York City's tab for police misconduct settlements: Nearly $800 million since 2019  (ABC7NY) Police chief faces further misconduct probes  (BBC) CRIME RATE Introducing the Bias Homicide Database  (University of Arkansas News) Fact Check Team: More than 1 in 4 violent crimes now involve a domestic relationship  (The National News Desk) CRIM-TECH Portland and Auburn city councilors take steps on controversial police technology  (News Center Maine) CT state police deploy new multimi...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Automated license plate readers, police tech, police transparency

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Homicide clearance rates, hot spots policing, police misconduct costs, mobile crisis teams, health shocks and criminal behavior, reducing gun violence, police tech proposal rejected in Durham, automate license plate readers, Justice AI Tracker, police oversight, police transparency, reducing recidivism, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Police homicide clearance rate hits 13-year high as murders fall dramatically citywide  (Hyde Park Herald) Public Perceptions of Hot Spots Policing: How Crime Reduction Stats and Stigma Narratives Affect Public Perceptions  (Springer Link) Virginia lawmakers push for federal database on police misconduct costs  (WVVA) Former Capitol Police chief talks about the increase in threats against lawmakers  (WCBU) Mountain View officials allege federal, state agencies accessed Flock camera data without consent  (ABC7) Phoenix Police receives certification for new crime records system  (Daily Independent) They help police with mental health...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Crime rate down, body cams, recidivism

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Police use of force, UK creating British FBI, body cam video deletion, police overtime, homicide rates fall, violent crime down, justice for trafficking survivors, LLMs as judicial decision makers, AI transparency in policing, automated license plate readers, mothering experiences from women in jail, recidivism among violent offenders, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Minnesota shooting sparks renewed focus on police use-of-force training in WNC  (WLOS) UK plans to create 'British FBI' to bring national probes under single police force  (ABC News) LAPD would delete nearly 12 million body camera videos under proposed policy change  (LA Times) CRIME RATE Homicide rate falls in dozens of cities: Research  (The Hill) Violent crime is down in Minneapolis, but police overtime is up amid ICE surge. The department logged about $3 million in overtime for five days in which officers’ days off had to be canceled.  (The Minnesota Star Tribune) Why Crime Rates Are Falling Across t...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Police transparency, AI, regional dashboard

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Police collaboration, smart cities and safe streets, property crime rates, gun dealers source of trafficked firearms, regional crime data, AI transforming crime, positivity bias in crime perceptions, deepfakes, robot dogs, police use of surveillance tech transparency, use of force dashboard, body cam transparency, locking up kids, jail deaths, and more... POLICE CONDUCT CPD, Sheriff's Office and OSHP share how cooperation effort is going  (WVXU) Suquamish police chief working to prioritize transparency, collaboration  (Kitsap Sun) CRIME RATE  How have property crime rates changed over time?  (USA Facts) Exploring the Local Positivity Bias in Crime Perceptions  (Gallup) Smart Cities and Safe Streets – The Power of Environmental Criminology and Data Analytics  (Trends Research and Advisory) Gun dealers are major source of trafficked firearms  (Stateline) Are Your Criminal Justice Laws Working? Here’s How to Tell . (National Conference of State Legislatu...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Perceptions of crime, AI, data transparency

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Targeting complex criminal networks, mortality among law enforcement officers, police oversight board sees widespread refusal, New Orleans consent decree ends, San Diego police shortages, predictive policing, AI reinventing crime, US bishops call for tighter gun laws, perceptions of crime, alternatives to police response, AI in policing, facial recognition, safety and transparency go hand in hand, data winter emerges, press access to executions, and more...  POLICE CONDUCT Deerfield Beach residents meet about possible breakup with Broward Sheriff's Office, creating first city police department since 1990  (CBS News) Oregon DOJ launches program targeting complex criminal networks  (KCBY) Mortality among law enforcement officers in the United States: a population-wide analysis of the National Occupational Mortality Surveillance data, 2020–2023  (CRIMRXIV) Boston’s police oversight board sees ‘widespread refusal’ by officers to cooperate  (MassLive) New Orleans pol...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Crime data transparency, gun violence, AI

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LAPD steps backwards in data transparency, overspending budgets, police video ordinance, impact of being a wife of a police officer, Boston requires name tags, tempered crime fighting methods, how to strengthen domestic violence response, gun violence drop, murder victims skewing older, encrypted radios, AI in criminal justice, and more... POLICE CONDUCT LAPD withholds data. Lawyer says denial violates public records law  (LAist) What does it mean when a neighborhood’s emergency calls to 911 and service requests to 311 go up?  (Bloomberg Harvard) Chicago Police Department Overspent Its Budget By $501M Over 5 Years: Data  (WTTW) North Charleston Police Chief hosts town hall to connect with community  (WCSC) Detroit passes new police video ordinance as critics slam ‘edited’ shooting footage  (Detroit Free Press) Rivian’s onboard cameras save owner from a false accusation by police  (Electrek) The impact of education in critical thinking on leadership in polic...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Public safety workforce, transparency, juvenile crime

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Police data, expanding public safety workforce, tax increases to strengthen public safety, TN crime lab backlog, cyber crime economy, juvenile crime, US lowest murder rate, FBI collects non fatal shooting data, toll of lethal gun violence, using technology to solve crimes faster, facial recognition technology, NJ and police transparency, Minneapolis transparency, campus police secrecy at private colleges, America's aging prison population, and more... POLICE CONDUCT The Quiet Revolution. Why Data Became the Most Important Tool in the Field  (IACP Police Chief Magazine) Moss Point PD to lose chief, more than half its officers. Here’s why, and what’s next  (The Sun Herald) Expanding the Public Safety Workforce  (American Progress) Milwaukee Mayor’s Twin Public Safety Puzzles  (Governing) Des Moines City Council looks to tax increases to strengthen public safety response  (Waterland Blog) Tennessee crime lab at max capacity, backlog to grow without intervention: Re...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Police transparency, crime rate, crime data

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Police chief settlement transparency, police jurisdiction, police response times, domestic terrorism, undocumented immigrants and crime, DC crime rate, cashless bail, murders and homicides, serial killers, police cameras, police drones, police oversight, open data, crime data, transparency laws, gun crime, violent crime, household member incarceration effects, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Audit finds Charlotte lacked transparency in $305,000 police chief settlement  (MyFox8) How does US law enforcement work? Who has jurisdiction?  (USA Facts) Fresno Police response times range from minutes to hours, chief Casto vows change  (ABC30) DOJ Deletes Its Own Study From Website Showing ‘Far More’ Domestic Terrorism Committed by ‘Far-Right Extremists’  (The Guardian) CRIME RATE Public safety alliance launches Nashville crime stats dashboard  (The Tennessean) In Washington, the obvious thing is probably true  (The Economist) see also:  Prosecutors already have dro...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Community engagement, crime rate, prison

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Military equipment usage, community engagement, FBI monthly crime data, data drive early intervention, license plate cameras, DC crime, police drones, police transparency, crime reduction, DC data dilemma, open crime data, youth confinement, prison, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Santa Ana Police Department addresses inefficiently reporting military equipment usage  (UC Irvine New University) Community wants answers after 5 Okemah Police officers were fired or resigned  (Fox23) UToledo Police Prioritize Campus Safety, Community Engagement  (UToledo.edu) CRIME RATE The 10 Do's and 500 Don'ts of the FBI's New Monthly Crime Data  (Jeff-alytics) Data-driven early intervention strategies could revolutionize Philly’s approach to crime prevention  (The Conversation) Shelby County officials urge TBI to audit MPD crime statistics  (ABC24) Bowser reports 'significant' drop in crime during federal surge, pushes for more MPD officers  (WUSA) see also:  What’s cri...

SpotCrime Weekly reads: Transparency, AI, prison

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Police misconduct records, homicide and violent crime fall, explaining the murder decline, Ring and Citizen share video with police, Virginia Beach letting AI answer calls, AI chatbots writing crime reports, predictive policing, police transparency difficult for smaller NY agencies, police transparency, Oklahoma prisons harness AI, sending books behind bars, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Kissimmee Chief’s 1st 100 days lays groundwork for future transparency  (Osceola News Gazette) Ex-officer Brett Hankison sentenced to 33 months in prison in Breonna Taylor's death  (ABC News) Can NY police departments legally destroy their police misconduct records? Here's how  (Lohud) CRIME RATE Homicide, Other Violent Crimes Continue to Fall Below Pre-Pandemic Levels in U.S. Cities at Mid-Year  (Council on Criminal Justice) Why America is murdering less. How Baltimore explains America’s miraculous murder decline.  (Vox) The Spatial Distribution and Determinants of Fatal vs. Nonfa...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Technology, youth, crime rate

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Union concerns, interacting with youth, civilian police review, public safety partnerships, falling crime, changes in retail crime, child grooming in London, homicides in the US, combating financial crime, license plate readers, gunshot detection, facial recognition, police drones, city wide security cameras, crime and transparency in California, citizen police academy, police chief investigation transparency, prison phone rates, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Vallejo City Council approves sheriff’s support contract despite deputy union concerns  (Vallejo Sun) Massachusetts Drafts New Rules for How Cops Interact With Youth  (Governing) see also:  Police cite youth programs for decrease in youth gun violence  (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) 3 Nassau County deputies arrested after ‘double-dipping’ investigation; 2 sergeants turn themselves in  (News4Jax) Richmond civilian police review board delayed again  (VPM) Transforming Public Safety Through Partnerships:...

Baltimore Says Shootings Are Down. But Their New Crime Feed Makes It Harder to See Them

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In 2025, the Baltimore Police Department updated its public crime data, switching from the old UCR Part I system to the more detailed NIBRS (National Incident-Based Reporting System) . The change was part of a national push for more comprehensive crime reporting. But in Baltimore’s case, one critical data point has effectively vanished from public view: shootings. In 2024, Shootings Were Easy to Find Even though “shooting” isn’t a standard UCR Part I crime type, Baltimore took the extra step of listing it as a distinct incident category in its 2024 public data feed. That decision gave residents, journalists, researchers, and advocates a powerful tool to track gun violence directly. No guesswork or complicated filtering required. It was a simple but effective act of transparency. But now it’s gone. In 2025, the Shooting Category Vanishes The 2025 NIBRS-format feed dropped the Shooting category, making it hard to track shootings. The public-facing feed no longer includes a clear way to ...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Police oversight, transparency, AI

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Honolulu police chief steps down, private security, new policing model in Wichita, police reform, civilian police review board, innovations in policing, police accountability boards, firearm data tracing, violent crime, ARPA violence reduction, AI, real time data fighting crime, high tech policing, cameras, police drone transparency, use of force database in Washington, 'Cop City' records released, felony data transparency, prison closure, bail reform, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Honolulu police chief steps down amid controversy over vacancy rate, recent shootings, transparency issues  (Hawaii News Now) Malibu hires private security to protect homes in fire zone from burglars after PCH reopens  (LA Times) New Wichita policing model aims to identify locations, not demographics, to lower gun crime  (KMUW) Police Reform: How To Fix A Watchdog That Will Barely Bark, Let Alone Bite  (Honolulu Civil Beat) see also:  As Virginia police reforms take hold, decertification...

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Police reform, department staffing, crime rate

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Police reform efforts, DOJ dismisses investigations, police department staffing, police oversight commission, community policing boards, Take It Down Act signed into law, drug possession decriminalization, cracking down on fare jumpers, crime rates, violence during COVID-19, real-time facial recognition, crime algorithms, FOIL reform effort, Alabama prison litigation, AI in court filings, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Minneapolis makes history with civilian hires in police reform effort  (KARE11) Inclusion, transparency, trust top priorities for new Santa Maria police chief Christopher Williams  (Santa Maria Times) Trump DOJ dismisses investigations of police in several cities, including Minneapolis  (WGLT) Big Police Departments Have Stopped Shrinking. But they aren't growing, for the most part.  (Jeff-alytics) Citizens Police Oversight Commission Names Civil Rights Attorney Ewuare Osayande as Deputy Executive Director  (City of Philadelphia) Olympia opens applica...