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![](https://policeissues.org/assets/images/Recent posts8.jpg)
"Numbers" Rule – Everywhere (#451, 7/2/24)
Production pressures degrade what's "produced" – and not just in policing
Is Crime Really Down? It Depends... (#450, 6/20/24)
Even when citywide numbers improve, place really, really matters
Kids With Guns (#449, 6/3/24)
Ready access and permissive laws create a daunting problem
De-Prosecution? What's That? (#448, 4/27/24)
Philadelphia's D.A. eased up on lawbreakers. Did it increase crime?
Ideology (Still) Trumps Reason (#447, 4/9/24)
When it comes to gun laws, “Red” and “Blue” remain in the driver’s seat
Shutting the Barn Door (#446, 3/19/24)
Oregon moves to re-criminalize hard drugs
Houston, We Have (Another) Problem (#445, 2/28/24)
Fueled by assault rifles, murders plague the land
Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Cop (#444, 2/8/24)
Recent exonerees set "records" for wrongful imprisonment
America's Violence- Beset Capital City (#443, 1/20/24)
Our Nation's capital is plagued by murder
Are Civilians Too Easy on the Police? (II) (#442, 12/18/23)
Exonerated of murder, but not yet done
Warning: (Frail) Humans at Work (#441, 11/29/23)
The presence of a gun can prove lethal
See No Evil - Hear No Evil - Speak No Evil (#440, 11/14/23)
Is the violent crime problem really all in our heads?
Policing Can't Fix What Really Ails (#439, 10/18/23)
California's posturing overlooks a chronic issue
Confirmation Bias Can be Lethal (#438, 9/21/23)
Why did a "routine" stop cost a man's life?
When (Very) Hard Heads Collide (II) (#437, 9/5/23)
What should cops do when miscreants refuse to comply? Refuse to comply?
What Cops Face (#436, 8/24/23)
America’s violent atmosphere can distort officer decisions
Punishment Isn't a Cop's Job (III) (#435, 8/1/23)
Some citizens misbehave; some cops answer in kind
San Antonio Blues (#434, 7/20/23)
What poverty brings can impair the quality of policing
Keep going...
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![](https://policeissues.org/assets/images/Updates5.jpg)
7/26/24 Twenty Los Angeles-area intersections that have become “hot spots” for
street takeovers are slated for speed bumps. But none of these locations were the scene of the latest spate. In
LAPD’s chronically beset South Bureau, a 15-year old spectator was fatally shot by a robbery crew, and
his teen companion was wounded. Gunfire also broke out at a takeover in nearby Compton, leaving two wounded.
Elsewhere, celebrants looted a restaurant, busted a fire hydrant, and set a vehicle ablaze. According to LAPD
data, there were 319 takeovers in 2019, 912 in 2020, and 482 in 2023.
Related post
California Gov.
Gavin Newsom applauded the recent Supreme Court decision that allows local jurisdictions to ban camping on
city property. He’s now ordered State agencies to remove homeless encampments that occupy State lands.
Those that create physical safety hazards are to be prioritized. Most camps, though, aren’t on State
lands. But the Governor is also pressing local authorities to take similar steps within their own
jurisdictions. Problem is, California has 180,000 homeless persons. That’s about a third of the U.S.
total. Where would they all go? Grants Pass v. Johnson
Related post
7/25/24 According to the Calif. Highway Patrol its officers fired 33 bean bags and 24 direct impact rounds
while clearing an illegal encampment at UCLA in May. Agency officials state they did so to counter
“assaultive resistance” by protesters who hurled “frozen water bottles, bottles containing
urine and other unknown fluids, full 12 oz soda cans, pieces of plywood” and other items at officers.
While the CHP claims its officers only targeted individuals, critics say the response was indiscriminate. A
medical expert cautioned that “less lethal” projectiles can cause serious injuries and are a
dangerous over-reaction for quelling protests.
Related post
Instagram may not seem the best place to boast about committing armed robberies. Nor the best
place to post images of the cash and goods they took at gunpoint. But that’s what D’Angelo Spencer
did as he and three associates committed a string of holdups at Los Angeles-area convenience stores late last
year. All have been arrested and face Federal charges.
Related post
7/24/24 Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s promise to end the
contract with ShotSpotter is applauded by progressives, who blame the technology for false alerts that lead to
over-policing minority areas. But the aldermen who represent those Districts largely favor the technology. So
they voted to empower the City Council to decide whether the contract will be renewed. That sets up a clash
whose resolution is uncertain. Meanwhile a ShotSpotter alert on July 10 summoned officers to the
crime-impacted Grand Crossing neighborhood, where they found a 15-year with a gunshot wound to the head. He
later died.
Related post
Illinois deputy sheriff Sean Grayson, who was recently jailed on first-degree murder charges for the
shooting death of a 9-1-1 caller, bounced around six different agencies during his four-year law enforcement
career. Three of those stints were as a part-timer at small police departments. His most recent position, as a
Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy, began in May 2023. And yes, he’s been fired. Related posts
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Chicago is suing Glock firearms for pouring pistols into the city that can be easily modified to
full-auto fire using readily obtainable drop-in auto sears. Also named are two of Glock’s major Illinois
customers, Lyons-based Midwest Sporting Goods and Oak-Forest based Lyons Sports Range, which
“actively” solicit Chicagoans to buy these lethal Glock products. Lawyers from Everytown for Gun Safety are leading Chicago’s effort.
Related post
7/23/24 L.A. County D.A. George Gascon’s progressive policies - among
other things, he forbid sentence enhancements and trying juveniles as adults - caused major clashes with his
assistant D.A.’s, who openly criticize him in the media. Several, claiming retaliation, have even sued.
Come election time Gascon will face Nathan Hochman, a former Federal prosecutor who’s certain that his
“hard middle” crime-fighting approach will win the day. And he’s got a victim of violent
crime, Mary Klein, openly rooting for his success.
Related post
It only took ATF a half-hour to identify the individual who bought the AR-style rifle that Thomas
Matthew Crooks used in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. (It turned out to be Crooks’ father).
That’s because ATF digitizes the gun sale forms of out-of-business retailers, and it was one such store
to which manufacturer and distributor records led. But proposed legislation introduced by the
“Reds” would either destroy out of business records or prohibit their digitization.
Related post
A St. Louis judge has declared Christopher Dunn innocent of the 1990 murder for which he has been
imprisoned over thirty years. But while the local D.A. supports the decision, it’s opposed by the State
Attorney General, which is convinced that the witnesses, who were themselves youths when the killing took
place, falsely recanted their original testimony that Dunn shot and killed a 15-year old. Dunn, who was
sentenced to life without parole, should soon be released.
Related post
7/22/24 An in-depth study
of a representative sample of nearly 1,000 Chicago residents revealed that the wide disparities in arrests
experienced by Blacks, Hispanics and Whites as they grow into adulthood are produced by “exposure to
cumulative childhood advantages and disadvantages rather than from race-specific effects.” These root
causes include neighborhood violence, segregation and poverty and corresponding factors such as having a
single parent and not growing up in a family-owned home.
Related post
A glowing article in the Los Angeles Times depicts the unbridled joys of the “weed lounge”
at the California State Fair, where users can buy and consume cannabis products to their stomachs’ and
lungs’ delight. Meanwhile an in-depth piece by the AP conveys deep unease by the National
Transportation Safety Board about recreational pot. Its concerns are highlighted by a recent
traffic collision that led to the deaths of six Oklahoma high school girls. One of the victims, the
car’s driver, had recently consumed sufficient marijuana to produce an “acute impairing”
effect.
Drug legalization updates
Related post
In April 2006 Los Angeles-area gang member Jofana Coleman was convicted of
murdering a rival. His alleged helpmate, Abel Soto, was convicted a year later. Both vehemently denied the
crime, but witnesses placed them in a vehicle from which the fatal shots were supposedly fired. Years later,
the witnesses conveyed their deep uncertainties to Innocence Project attorneys, and the only one who
identified Soto recanted. Two other men were said to have been the shooters. Earlier this year a judge
declared Coleman and Soto innocent and released them from prison. Each received nearly a million dollars as
compensation for serving nearly eighteen years. National Registry: Coleman Soto
Related post
Illinois deputy sheriff Sean Grayson has been jailed on first-degree murder charges for
the July 6th. shooting death of Sonya Massey, a troubled woman who called 9-1-1 about a prowler. For unknown
reasons, Ms. Massey apparently threatened Grayson with a pot of boiling water while he was in her home, and
when ordered to put the pot down threw water on a chair. Then-deputy Grayson (he’s been fired) opened
fire, killing Ms. Massey. He then discouraged his partner from rendering aid.
Related post
Gunfire continues to beset Chicago youths. Four, ages 14 to 17, were wounded Saturday afternoon. Two
were struck in the back while standing next to a South Chicago sidewalk. Less than an hour later, in the beset
Grand Crossing neighborhood, two more were wounded by assailants who opened fire from a passing car.
And during early Sunday morning, a 7-year old was wounded on the Dan Ryan Expressway when the car in
which he was riding came under fire from the occupants of another vehicle. No arrests have yet been made in
any of these incidents.
Related post
7/19/24 Firearms were prohibited in the buildings where
the Republican National Convention was held, and in the immediate “hard perimeters” where only
credentialed persons could pass. Wisconsin state law, though, permits unlicensed open carry of handguns and long guns. It also allows
unrestricted concealed carry
by permittees. What’s more, state law prohibits cities from imposing tighter restrictions. So Milwaukee citizens who legally carry guns
were likely nearby. Ditto, those who flout such laws. Such as the ski-mask wearing soul who was carrying a
concealed pistol in a bag about “a three-minute walk” away. He lacked the required permit and
was arrested for a misdemeanor. Perimeter
security maps
Related post
7/18/24 In 2019 Robert Crimo’s threatening and suicidal
behavior led Highland Park, Ill. police to file a State “clear and present danger report”. But
three months later, when Crimo’s father sponsored him for a firearm owner’s ID card, the report was
missing from the files. So the Illinois State Police issued the card, enabling the son to buy the AR-15 rifle
that he used to open fire on the town’s July 4, 2022 parade, killing seven and wounding forty-eight.
Survivors have now filed a suit against Illinois over the fatal records blunder.
Related post
America’s
leading law enforcement organization, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, strongly opposes
relaxing marijuana from its present position as a strictly-controlled “Schedule I” substance,
which prohibits all use, to “Schedule II”, which would allow it for medical purposes. According to
the IACP, the downgrade “will have significant implications for public safety, public health, and the
ability of police agencies to protect the public.” (See 5/21/24 update)
Drug legalization updates
Related post
Conducted throughout June,
“Operation Clean House” was a month-long effort by teams of Federal, State and local officers to
reclaim New Orleans’ violence-impacted neighborhoods. In Phase I, proactive, “intelligence-driven
actions” by law enforcement teams led to 74 arrests and the seizure of large quantities of drugs and
firearms, including “AK-47s, AR-15s, Glock switches, and multiple types of handguns.” Phase II,
which focused on apprehending fugitives charged with violent crimes, resulted in 76 arrests for offenses
ranging from aggravated assault to drive-by shootings and murder.
Related post
Los Angeles-area man Malcolm Darnell Guss Jr. is a seven-time
convicted felon. He received a 16-month prison term in 2022 for resisting arrest (he had also been armed).
After gaining early release, he was arrested in July 2023 for violating the conditions. But he gained release
a month later. This July 3rd., as officers tried to stop him for a traffic offense, Guss opened fire with an
AR-15 rifle that fired fully automatically. Its bullets grazed and lightly injured two LAPD officers. Guss
escaped but was arrested on July 12. He’s charged with attempted murder with a machinegun. And no,
he’s not (yet) been released.
Related post
7/17/24 Fullerton, Calif. 9-1-1 dispatchers were alerted by a male caller
that he and others were being threatened by a man armed with knives. A two-officer patrol car quickly spotted
the man and stopped some distance away. One officer pointed his pistol; the other pointed a rifle. They asked
the man to put the knives down, but after a brief delay he charged at the patrol car with knives raised as if
to strike. Officers promptly shot him dead. It turned out that the man had called 9-1-1 on himself.
News release
Video
Related post
An academic study of programs in
Albuquerque, Atlanta, Houston and Harris County that divert 9-1-1 calls for non-criminal events and mental
health crises from uniformed police to civilian responders revealed that this approach can be very effective.
However, while working cops support the alternative response model, concerns by higher-level officials about
personal risks to civilian responders, and of criticism by citizens who expect cops to show up, has slowed
the programs’ expansion.
Related post
7/16/24
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year old who tried to assassinate former President Trump, was a member of the
“Clairton Sportsmen’s Club.” Its vast, Pittsburgh-
area facility offers marksmanship classes and hosts youth shooting events. One of its ranges is designed for high-powered rifles, with targets “up to 187 yards
away.” According to the FBI, Crooks used an AR-style 5.56mm rifle that had been legally purchased by his
father. How the son came to possess it has not been revealed. Related posts
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The FBI defines
“active shooter incidents” as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or
attempting to kill people in a populated area.” In 2023 forty-eight active shooter incidents took place
across twenty-six states, killing 105 persons and wounding 139. California had the most - eight. Runner-ups
Texas and Washington state each had four. There were fifty active shootings in 2022, killing 100 persons and
wounding 213. Five-year comparisons indicate a substantial increase. There were 229 during 2019-2023.
That’s 89 percent more than the 121 active shootings during 2014-2018.
Related post
7/15/24 Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year old who opened fire at the Trump rally
in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a high-school grad who worked at a nursing home in nearby Bethel Park, where he
lived with his parents. Crooks used an “AR-15 style” rifle that his father purchased months
earlier.
Pennsylvania law allows persons 18 or older to buy and possess handguns and long guns. It does not restrict assault weapons.
Crooks supposedly wore a gun-themed T-shirt during the assault. A past fellow student described him as a loner
who wore “hunting outfits” to school and was chronically bullied. Crooks had no adult criminal
record. Authorities found “bomb-making materials” in his vehicle and residence. Related posts
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In 2009 a major NAS report
strongly criticized the scientific accuracy of bite-mark evidence. Its conclusions, though, came too late for Charles McCrory, whose
1985 Alabama murder conviction was largely based on bite marks. But even though the Supreme Court just turned away his appeal, Justice Sotomayor
strongly urged that Alabama follow the lead of Texas, California and several other States and implement a
process for “addressing wrongful convictions that rest on repudiated forensic testimony.”
Related post
After a four-month
trial that featured video surveillance, text messages and testimony from more than one-hundred witnesses,
a D.C. jury convicted Tyiion Freeman, 24, Koran Jackson, 23, and Stephen Nelson, 33, of murder, conspiracy and
weapons violations. In 2020, their two-week “turf war”, waged in retaliation for the 2019 killing
of an associate, wounded ten persons and killed Malachi Lukes, an innocent thirteen-year old who was walking
by with his friends. Two other accused are pending trial.
Related post
During opening statements in Alec Baldwin’s trial for involuntary manslaughter, a prosecutor
berated him for violating “the cardinal rules of firearm safety.” But Baldwin’s lawyer said
that safety “has to occur before a gun is placed in an actor’s hand.” He blamed the armorer,
who had been convicted, and the assistant director, who pled guilty. During the second day a Sheriff’s
technician testified she found live bullets “all over” the set, but none in weapon supplier Seth
Kenney’s truck. He denied bringing any in. Then on the third day a handful of live ammo that a private citizen gave
to the Sheriff’s Dept. in connection with the armorer’s prosecution came into evidence. Although
prosecutors insisted that this previously undisclosed evidence had no bearing on the case, several rounds
matched the live ammunition that was recovered on set. An exasperated judge dismissed the case, with
prejudice. It cannot be refiled.
Related post
7/12/24 Since 2015 sixteen cities and counties that form “a diverse cross-
section of jails in the U.S.” have participated in CUNY’s Safety + Justice Challenge, which
promotes reform-minded strategies to reduce incarceration. Its most recent report about arrests and rebookings
of arrested persons, which includes data thru April 2023, reveals that “local violent crime rates varied
regardless of changes to the jail population.” Only about two percent of releasees were rebooked for
another violent crime, providing reassurance that “the pandemic-era increase in violent crime was
not caused by jail reduction reforms.”
Related post
During the evening hours of July 10 Alameda, Calif. resident Shane Killian, 54, shot and killed
his wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and 6-year-old son. He also shot and critically wounded his one-year
old son. Before succumbing, the father-in-law alerted a neighbor, who called police. Officers arrested Killian
and recovered “multiple firearms.” According to neighbors, the “friendly and outgoing” family had recently moved
into their home. Photographs depict it as a single-family residence in an upscale area.
Related post
7/11/24 Leroy Ernest McCrary and two associates face
murder charges for fatally running over the wife of a visitor from New Zealand while the couple shopped at
Newport Beach, California’s tony Fashion Island. McCrary, who allegedly wanted the husband’s fancy
watch, was on probation for stealing a Rolex in 2020. He also had convictions in 2023 for gun possession and
robbery. These also led to probation. Prosecutors claim that the dispositions were influenced by evidentiary
problems. But police vehemently disagree. According to progressive D.A. George Gascon’s forthcoming
election opponent, “malpractice appears to have cost another life.” McCrary court record
Related post
From its origins in El Salvador, MS-13 took root in Southern California. It then spread throughout the U.S.
Alexi Saenz, 29, a New York City-area shot-caller, just pled guilty to a sweeping Federal indictment charging
him and his associates with a litany of murders in and around the Big Apple. Among the victims were six teens,
both male and female, who had “disrespected” or otherwise come into conflict with the gang. Saenz
is expected to draw 40 to 70 years. His brother, the second-in-command, still faces charges.
Related post
7/10/24 “Rust” set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is serving 18
months in a New Mexico jail on her conviction for felony involuntary manslaughter in the death of
cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Alec Baldwin, the film’s star, is now on trial for that crime. Although
he denies pulling the trigger (Baldwin said the gun fired when he cocked the hammer), crew members blame him
for rushing things. Might that have contributed to the failure to detect that the gun had a live round? Neal
W. Zoromski, who reportedly has thirty years’ experience as a set armorer, rejected working on “Rust”
because “corners were being cut.” However, the judge has prohibited prosecutors from introducing
evidence that Baldwin was one of the producers or showing videos where he “profanely” pushed the
crew to accelerate production. So evidence of his influence may be lacking.
Related post
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