Violence Isn't Down
for the Cops
(#468, 5/30/25)

More officers are being
murdered. And mostly,
with guns.

A Lethal Distraction
(#467, 5/12/25)

A foot pursuit of hit-and-run
suspects turns into
an exchange of fire with
an armed resident

Putting Things Off
(#466, 4/27/25)

Pursuits hurt and kill
innocents. What are
the options?

Gun Control?
What's That?
(#465, 4/1/25)

Ideological quarrels
beset gun laws.
And gun law-making.
And gun law-enforcing.

Forewarned is
Forearmed
(#464, 3/19/25)

Killings of police officers
seem inevitable.
What might help?

Who's Under the Gun?
The ATF, That's Whom
(#463, 3/6/25)

Going after gun controllers,
for the usual reasons

Who's Under the Gun?
The FBI, That's Whom
(#462, 2/14/25)

Going after the FBI
for going after
the Capitol rioters

Point of View
(#461, 1/30/25)

Do scholars really “get”
the craft of policing?

All in the Family
(Part II)
(#460, 1/6/25)

A decade after Part I,
domestic killings
remain commomplace

Acting...or Re-acting?
(#459, 12/8/24)

An urgent response
proves tragically imprecise

Citizen Misbehavior
Breeds Voter
Discontent
(#458, 11/20/24)

Progressive agendas
face rebuke in even
the "Bluest" of places

A Matter of Facts
(#457, 11/3/24)

Did flawed science place
an innocent man
on death row?

Want Brotherly Love?
Don't be Poor!
(#456, 10/12/24)

Violence is down in Philly,
L.A. and D.C.
Have their poor noticed?

Prevention Through Preemption
(#455, 9/16/24)

Expanding the scope of
policing beyond
making arrests

Switching Sides
(#454, 8/30/24)

St. Louis’ D.A. argues that
a condemned man
is in fact innocent

"Distraction Strike"?
Angry Punch? Both?
(#453, 8/11/24)

When cops get rattled,
the distinction may
ring hollow

Bringing a Gun
To a Knife Fight
(#452, 7/30/24)

Cops carry guns.
Some citizens flaunt knives.
Are poor outcomes inevitable?

"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

Keep going...

5/30/25 According to the enraged Northern California homeowner, three high-school boys, two 16 and one 17, had dumped oil on his front porch. Their “prank” was directed at his daughter, who was being constantly bullied. And when they returned and threw eggs at his home, dad responded with gunfire. One round struck the side of the boy’s SUV, but no one was hurt. Craig Miceli, 54, is charged with assault with a firearm, shooting at an occupied vehicle, and having an illegal assault rifle. Police found it in his residence, along with lots of ammo. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled. Related post

“To Promote Fairness, Consistency, and Public Safety” ATF formally announced that it was abandoning its “zero-tolerance” policy for gun dealer inspections. Licensees will no longer be automatically penalized “for simple mistakes such as, forgetting to put their license number on forms.” Instead, minor errors will be addressed with “education or warnings.” Automatic license revocations are also out. Instead, “investigators must evaluate whether continued operations pose a public-safety threat or contribute to violent crime, and whether the licensee demonstrates the ability to comply moving forward.” Related post

Seven fatal shootings in the past five days brings D.C.’s murder toll to 68 this year, one less than at this point in 2024. And just before this gruesome string began, nine persons had been fatally shot in nine days. “We are seeing far too many interpersonal conflicts being settled with guns” says D.C. police chief Pamela Smith. Among these sixteen murders was the killing of two employees of the Israeli embassy. Its perpetrator, Elias Rodriguez, shouted “Free Palestine” as police led him away. Related post

In compliance with Presidential Executive Order “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens,” DHS has just published an official list of cities and States that purposefully obstruct immigration law enforcement. According to DHS, the “deliberate” and “shameful” failure of these “sanctuary jurisdictions” to comply with Federal agents, restrictions on sharing information, and grants of legal protection to illegal aliens, “protect dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in peril.” Immigration updates   Related post

5/29/25 In 1995 Chicago native Larry Hoover, notorious founder of the notorious Gangster Disciples, was serving an Illinois murder sentence of 200 years when the Feds stepped in. He was convicted again, this time for running his gang from behind bars. Hoover drew a life term and wound up in a Federal Super-Max. But he’s apparently used his last couple of decades wisely. So much so, that President Trump just pardoned him. Hoover’s been returned to State custody. His advocates, who blast “the myth of Hoover as some arch-criminal,” urge he be released when his next parole hearing comes up. Related post

Six years ago ex-Georgia cop Robert Olsen drew twelve years in prison for shooting and killing a Black veteran vet who suffered from PTSD and was running around naked. Olsen insisted he only acted because the man ignored his commands and charged at him. But jurors convicted him of manslaughter, violating his oath of office and lying about what took place. Ruling that prosecutors confounded State law and departmental guidelines, thus potentially biasing the jury, an appeals court just threw out Olsen’s conviction, and he was released. His lawyers celebrated the ruling, but prosecutors vow to appeal. Related posts 1   2

5/28/25 Five years ago Oakland PD started prohibiting officers from exceeding 50 mph during a pursuit without special permission. According to a member of the city’s Chinatown Improvement Council, that’s only encouraged prospective evildoers to do their foul deeds in Oakland. Police chief Floyd Mitchell has asked the police commission to do away with the restriction, and the officer union is fully on board. But the Anti-Police Terror Project calls the proposal a “knee-jerk reaction” that will only lead to more incidents such the recent death of an Oakland woman who was struck by a car being chased by the CHP. Related post

Long-standing New Jersey law grants citizens and shopkeepers extensive powers to detain and arrest suspected wrongdoers. Key aspects such as how much suspicion is needed, or what force can be used, aren’t addressed. Calling the law “anachronistic” and a threat to civil liberties, the state’s Law Revision Commission recommends it be repealed. As an example of the risks it cites the notorious 2020 killing of Georgia man Ahmaud Arbery, a Black jogger who was pursued and killed by three White men who said they thought he was a burglar. Each drew a life sentence. Related post

5/27/25 Medaria Arradondo was Minneapolis’ first Black chief. He was the chief on May 25, 2020,  when one of his officers murdered George Floyd. And now, on the fifth anniversary of that tragic day, he vividly remembers the “absolutely gut-wrenching” experience of watching the video that depicted Floyd being brutally pinned down. And protesting, “I can’t breathe.” Played for him by a community activist, it sharply contradicted his officers’ accounts of the episode. And portended major change. AP account of George Floyd’s life  Related post

A long-time member of Hollywood-area street gang “TMC” (“The Magician’s Club,”) 43-year old Roberto Martinez has served multiple prison terms. And now he’s facing another, for the murder of a rival gang member, Kevin Rivera, whom he spotted crossing the street. According to LAPD, the shooting was actually done by Martinez’s 14-year old son, who was handed the gun by his father as they drove down the street. Related post

Georgia residents have figured prominently in COVID-19 frauds. That includes eleven Atlanta men who were convicted of defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program of more than $3.39 million by falsely claiming that they ran businesses with large numbers of employees. And now a twelfth member of that conspiracy has been arrested. Ian Patrick Jackson is also accused in three other COVID- related schemes. If convicted he would face decades in prison. In an unrelated case, three Georgia residents just drew prison terms for a COVID-19 fraud: Macovian Doston got fifteen years, Shatara Hubbard got six years, and Torella Wynn got one year. COVID-19 updates

Production pressures don’t just distort policing. Two crashes of Boeing’s notorious 737-Max have been attributed to a software program, MCAS, that was hurriedly incorporated into the aircraft despite warnings from engineers. To avoid prosecution, Boeing has just agreed to pay more than $1 billion, of which nearly half would go to the families of the 346 victims of the disasters. In a related matter, the aircraft maker just settled a lawsuit filed by the family of a Boeing quality control manager who committed suicide after speaking out about the aircraft’s problems. Related post

As the clock struck midnight and the Memorial Day weekend got underway, crowds of rowdy revelers descended on L.A.’s downtown. Commuter trains were swarmed, and their interiors and exteriors were spray-painted with graffiti. Like treatment was accorded to several storefronts and to an (unoccupied) police car, which became a backdrop for selfies. And while squads of officers came on scene, and a police helicopter hovered overhead, no confrontations were reported. Neither were there any known arrests. Related post

5/23/25 Oklahoma’s gun laws are decidedly permissive. Since 2019 its residents have been allowed to carry concealed firearms without a permit. Oklahoma is also one of thirty States with a “stand your ground” law, which imposes no requirement to retreat before using lethal force. And a new measure, just signed by Governor Kevin Stitt, empowers Oklahomans who own homes or businesses to point firearms not just in self-defense, but “in defense of their private property.” House bill 2818   Related post

An analysis of BJS data reveals that homicides of children, age 11 and younger, decreased from 720 in 2014 to 620 in 2023. But the number of homicides that were accomplished with firearms increased, from 150 in 2014 to 220 in 2023. Controlling for population size, homicide rates (/100,000 children, 11 and younger) fell from 1.48 in 2014 to 1.28 in 2023. On the average, the yearly decrease was 1.5%. But rates for child homicides with firearms increased from .30 to .46. For that group, the average yearly increase was 4.2%. Related post

5/22/25 George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis cop on May 25, 2020. And just short of that dastardly episode’s fifth anniversary, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the newly-installed head of DOJ’s civil rights unit, announced that it’s discontinuing official monitoring of police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville. Phoenix, Memphis and Oklahoma City will be also cut loose. Criticizing DOJ’s consent decrees as “reliant on faulty legal theories,” she is also dealing with a major exodus of staff, as half her unit’s lawyers have resigned. DOJ announcement  Related posts 1   2

After fleeing from a Pennsylvania youth detention center, where they were being held on behalf of D.C. authorities, three teens, ages 15, 17 and 18 stole an SUV and headed home. Meeting up with a couple of other young evildoers, they used an AR-15 rifle to commit a robbery, wounding the victim. Daijon Bourn, 17, who had pled guilty in a 2022 killing, and 18-year old Javontay D. Johnson, who was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon, have been recaptured. Still on the lam is the 15-year old, who was convicted of robbery. Related post

Two years ago Farmington, NM police officers on a domestic disturbance call shot and killed a 52-year old man who answered their late-evening knocks while armed with a gun. As it turns out, it was the wrong residence. But Robert Dotson reportedly raised his pistol, so they opened fire. A D.A. called the officers’ actions justified and refused to prosecute. Mr. Dotson’s survivors sued. Agreeing with the D.A., a Federal judge recently ruled that the officers had qualified immunity from lawsuits. But the plaintiffs’ lawyers announced they will litigate the matter in State courts. Related post

In June 2022 Oakland police officers engaged in an unauthorized high-speed chase on city streets of someone they believed committed a minor violation. Their suspect ultimately crashed, injuring bystanders, and a Federal magistrate ruled that their lawsuit for damages could proceed. In a 2-1 ruling the Ninth Circuit just agreed. According to the majority, the officers were not entitled to qualified immunity because their behavior “shocks the conscience” and its consequences to innocents was “entirely foreseeable. Related post

5/21/25 Ten inmates of a New Orleans jail slithered out by shoving aside a toilet that covered an existing hole in the wall. Their efforts were aided by a maintenance worker who insists he only helped out because he would have otherwise been “shanked.” Sterling Williams, 33, has been charged with 10 counts of escape, and one of malfeasance. So far, four escapees have been caught. They, and those still on the lam, were awaiting trial or sentencing on charges ranging up to murder. “There are witnesses and victims, and all of those people are very, rightfully, unnerved by all of this,” said Louisiana’s A.G. Related post

Twice as many minors are getting shot in New York City as during the pre-pandemic era. There are also twice as many shooters. So far this year 27 gunmen have been teens, compared with 16 during the same period in 2018. Most recently, on May 12, a schoolyard fight led to a shooting, and to the unintended killing of a 16-year old girl. Two ”kids” have been arrested for her murder: one is thirteen, the other is fourteen. Related post

5/20/25 SigSauer’s P320 9mm. pistols were widely adopted by police. Alas, they allegedly carry a design defect that leads to unintended discharges. Three Milwaukee cops were accidentally wounded by these guns in three years. So its police chief is selling them to a gun dealer. According to The Trace, twelve other agencies have already taken that step. In all, “more than 4,000” of these former cop guns have wound up in the consumer marketplace. Psst...want a neat pistol? Related post

Lethal gunplay continues to beset the nation’s Capital. Five D.C.-area residents - three in their thirties, one in his twenties, and a 17-year old - were gunned down in the six-day period ending Sunday, May 18. While robberies and nonfatal shootings are down 22 percent, the District has suffered 57 murders this year, only a sliver less than the 61 reported at this point in 2024. So is violence really down? That’s reportedly become a bone of contention between the city and its newly-installed Federal overseers, who seem skeptical about the “improvement.” Related post

Its immediate practical effect may be limited, but the Supreme Court just upheld the cancellation of the “temporary protected status” granted to 350,000 Venezuelans by the Biden regime in 2021 and 2023. That ruling, which overturns a District court decision that blocked the Administration’s move, nonetheless allows members of the affected class to challenge their anticipated deportations on other legal grounds. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Biden appointee, was the only dissenter. Immigration updates   Related post

5/19/25 A Palm Springs, Calif. reproductive clinic that advertises its services to the LGBTQ+ community was leveled by an explosion. The blast, which also damaged nearby buildings, was caused by a homebuilt bomb detonated by Guy Edwards Bartkus, a 25-year old resident of a high-desert community an hour’s drive away. Bartkus posted extensive rants on social media calling for “a war against pro-lifers” and threatening to attack a fertilization clinic. He brought the bomb and two assault-style rifles in his car and died in the blast. Four persons were injured, none severely. Related posts 1   2

DOJ announced that “in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order “Protecting Second Amendment Rights” it was abandoning litigation to ban “forced-reset” triggers (FRT’s). ATF had ruled that these drop-in gadgets, which enable firearms to mimic fully-automatic fire, are illegal machinegun conversion devices. But a Texas appellate court disagreed. DOJ’s agreement with Rare Breed Triggers allows FRT’s to be made and sold for use in long guns, not for pistols. Related posts 1   2   3

“If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination.” That’s President Trump’s reaction to an Instagram post by former FBI Director James B. Comey, whom he fired in 2017. Comey’s post depicted an image of seashells forming the sequence “86 47.” He insists that only suggested (legally) expelling Trump. Presumably, that’s what he told the Secret Service when he went to their office to be interviewed about the affair. And yes, Comey took the post down. Capitol updates   Related post

“[When] folks know that you're watching, they go somewhere else.” That, according to the leader of a Detroit citizen’s radio patrol program, is what accounts for his area’s steep reduction in burglaries. And for an observable drop in gang activity, prostitution and drug sales as well. Since the pandemic, though, the number of Detroit areas festooned with citizen patrollers is substantially down. But in the Greenacres-Woodward neighborhood, they remain a strong presence. Related post

Can the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 be used to summarily deport alleged members of a foreign gang that’s been designated a terrorist organization? In A.A.R.P. v. Trump the Supreme Court didn’t get there. But its just-delivered 7-2 decision re-emphasized that prospective deportees can’t be booted out until they’ve had an opportunity to challenge their removals. Two alleged Tren de Aragua gang members got the green light to appeal a Texas District Court’s approval of their summary deportation to the Fifth Circuit. And once that decision is in, it can also be appealed - to the Supremes. Immigration updates   Related post

Two 9mm. Glock pistols, one with an obliterated serial number. And an unserialized 9mm. “ghost gun” with a 30-round magazine and a drop-in auto sear that enables full-auto fire, like a machinegun. That’s what Beltsville, MD police found in the residence where an 18-year old boy shot and killed the 16-year old friend whom he was visiting. According to the shooter, he thought the pistol was unloaded when he racked its slide. Kimaury Kamara has been charged with felony manslaughter and felony weapons violations. He faces up to thirty years imprisonment. Related post

5/16/25 Highly timely tip-offs recently enabled authorities to thwart school shootings in Texas and in California. Acting on a grandma’s tip, Texas police arrested Ashley Pardo for buying ammo and tactical gear for her 13-year old son, a deeply-disturbed boy long obsessed with school shootings. School officials recently questioned him after finding drawings setting out how a massacre at his middle school would happen. And a Tennessee online gamer’s tip led to the arrest of two boys, ages 14 and 15. Fans of Columbine, they were deeply immersed in plans to carry out a like massacre on a Northern California campus. Related post

During the pandemic California granted about 14,800 prisoners early release. As of January 31, 2025, about 4,600 members of this group (31%) have returned to prison. The top three reasons are getting caught with a gun (14%), assault (10%) and burglary (9%). Next on the list, with 4-5% each, are vehicle theft, second-degree robbery and domestic abuse. According to CalMatters, 23% of prisoners released during the early stages of the pandemic returned within three years. That’s higher than the 17% who went back after being released during 2019-2020. Limited services and support may be to blame. COVID updates Related post

“While the situation at the precise time of the shooting will often matter most, earlier facts and circumstances may bear on how a reasonable officer would have understood and responded to later ones.” That’s the position that the Supreme Court just unanimously took in Estate of Barnes v. Felix et al. (23-1239), a lawsuit that accused Harris County, TX police officer Roberto Felix of needlessly shooting and killing a motorist who began driving away from a traffic stop. According to the Justices, the officer’s actions throughout the stop - not just what he said or did during the “moment of threat” when the car began moving - are open for the plaintiff to argue. Related post

5/15/25 Have officers (as Chief Jim McDonnell laments) “weaponized” LAPD’s disciplinary system? Over the last five years Los Angeles has paid out “at least $68.5 million” to settle lawsuits filed by officers who claim they were harassed or discriminated against by colleagues and superiors, or experienced retaliation for complaining. One former cop got $11.5 million to settle allegations that colleagues mocked his ethnic heritage; a former detective got nearly $1 million because male colleagues disparaged her job performance. Indeed, one of those alleged evildoers was himself recently awarded $4.5 million by a civil jury who agreed that he had been punished for filing a complaint. Related post

5/14/25 Despite vigorous opposition from the current D.A., L.A. Superior Court judge Michael Jesic went along with the previous D.A.’s request and resentenced Eric and Lyle Menendez, who were doing  life without parole for murdering their parents, to fifty years to life. Since the brothers have served 35 years and were under 26 when they committed the murders, they are eligible for parole. That’s a time-consuming process. Governor Newsom could also invoke clemency, and a hearing is scheduled in June. Related post

“At least 50 times.” That’s how often Bernalillo Co., NM deputies have been called to an Albuquerque-area residence over family issues. And most recently, in February, when two brothers who live there, ages 7 and 9, were playing with a loaded pistol that they refused to give up. A dramatic drone image shows deputies as they close in and take the lethal “toy” away. Social service agencies have been called in to help the family deal with its many problems. Related post