Posts

Showing posts with the label public safety

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Body cam, AI, gun violence

Image
Access to body cam footage, public safety demands better funding, illegal guns trafficked used in hundreds of shootings, Operation Ceasefire, violent crime rates, sexual assaults on cruise ships rise, AI in policing, generative AI, AI risks creating black box at heart of US legal system, police transparency committees, deaths after leaving prison, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Public Safety Demands Better Funding  (DC Journal) see also:  Delray Beach PD receives nearly $1 million to curb crime  (CBS12) Knox County Sheriff's Office told the D.A. that video of a raid didn't exist. But it did.  (Knox News) Town of Elizabeth intended to fire its police chief, sued 9NEWS trying to keep that secret  (9News) CRIME RATE As NYC grapples with crime concerns, police commissioner says safety is 'perception versus reality'  (NBC News) 68,000 guns illegally trafficked by U.S. dealers over 5 years were used in hundreds of shootings, ATF says  (CBS News) see also:  Gun cases in Chicago tu

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Gun violence, cyber threats, face recognition

Image
Public safety investment, shootings and guns on campus, gun crimes, geography of crime, cyber threats to small businesses, face recognition technology, high-tech crime-fighting plans, Civilian Complaint Review Board to receive access to body cam footage, public records in the criminal justice system, mandatory supervised release, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Hochul details crime data, highlights need for public safety investment in budget  (The Record) Updated: Sheriff Jenkins, firearms business owner indicted on gun charges  (The Frederick News-Post) CRIME RATE With more shootings and guns on campus, schools walk a fine line in response  (Chalkbeat) The Largest Source of Stolen Guns? Parked Cars.  (NYTimes) Safewise ‘could not rank safest cities in Florida’ for 2023 due to incomplete reports sent to FBI  (WOKV) ATF releases first report on U.S. gun crime in 20 years  (WKRN) see also:  AG's office releases annual Rhode Island gun crime report. Here's what it says.  (The Providenc

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Violent crime, gun policy, prison

Image
Law enforcement witness interviews, APD plan to address crime and public safety, school safety, gun crimes, gun policy, judges staying up to date on tech, evidentiary value of body cams, recidivism report, bail reform in Texas, jail suicide rates, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Council demands action after hearing emergency calls are getting downgraded to ‘non’ emergency  (Fox8) APD chief shares ‘pillars’ plan of addressing public safety and criminal activity in the city  (KALB) When law enforcement interview witnesses and write their statements  (TandFonline.com) CRIME RATE Analysis: School Safety Is About More Than Keeping Guns Out of the Classroom  (The74) How Gun Policy Is Scrambling to Keep Up With Gun Culture Legislators are cracking down on gun advertisements, “ghost guns” and more. Can these efforts spur real change on gun violence?  (The Marshall Project) CA Attorney General Annual Crime Reports Note Crime Below ‘Historical Highs,’ but Gun Crime ‘Devastating’  (Davis Vanguard) Com

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: Violent crime, civilian review board, crim-tech and privacy

Image
Violent crime plans, civilian review boards, public safety index, ghost guns, USPS suspends service due to crime, 911 systems and open data, Google location data and police, police surveillance, facial recognition, criminal justice data portal, body cams and transparency, ex-convicts housing, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Little Rock collaborating with Pine Bluff in effort to reduce violent crime  (KAUR) see also:  Fort Worth Police implement new violent crime plan  (WFAA) Feds Arrest an Alleged $336M Bitcoin-Laundering Kingpin The alleged administrator of Bitcoin Fog kept the dark web service running for 10 years before the IRS caught up with him.  (WIRED) Michigan police release video showing officer knelt on Black man, fatally shot him  (WCSC) Buffalo, N.Y., police officers cleared of wrongdoing after shoving elderly man to ground at protest  (CBC) Shielded from accountability: How NYPD Officers Get Away with Lying to the CCRB  (Latino Justice) Teens more likely to disengage from schoo

SpotCrime Weekly Reads: gun violence, homicides, surveillance tech

Image
Addressing gun violence, pattern-or-practice investigations, community-led responses to public safety, the rising homicide rate post Ferguson, undue influence of surveillance tech companies on policing, improving crime data to make better policy, transparency in police departments, and more... POLICE CONDUCT The People’s Response Act would establish a division within the Department of Health and Human Services to promote and fund community-led responses to public safety.  (NBC News) Richmond Police focus on community building to drive down crime  (LEX18) see also:  Cocoa police chief works to engage with community, be more data-driven  (FloridaToday.com) The Facts on Pattern-or-Practice Investigations  (CenterForAmericanProgress.org) New study ranks Kansas City Police Department one of the worst in the country  (KansasCity.com) American Policing and the Danger Imperative  (Wiley Online Library) Cops say low morale and department scrutiny are driving them away from the job  (NPR) Quali

Open Data Makes Public Safety Better

Image
Yelp - the crowdsourced restaurant review website - has helped make restaurant inspection data more accessible in the US reducing the risk of food borne illnesses . Most notably by establishing LIVES , a standard that unlocks restaurant inspection data typically held at the city and state level. A recent blog post on Harvard Business Review describes how Yelp (and LIVES) creates a level of transparency that raises accountability by giving consumers the power to make better decisions with health inspection data. Yelp found that once businesses became aware that consumers had access to data, they responded better to low ratings - 'In one large city, we showed in a randomized, controlled trial that restaurants whose low hygiene ratings are posted on Yelp tend to respond by cleaning up and performing better on their next inspections.’ Likewise, we believe a similar positive effect can come from opening up crime data. Just as residents want to know hygiene information ab