The Crime Report

Policing

Fatal Police Shootings Linked to Areas with High Gun Ownership

By TCR Staff | 8 hours ago

Cops are more likely to think their lives are threatened when they apprehend suspects in jurisdictions with high rates of gun ownership—and to react with deadly force—whether or not the individual is actually armed. That’s one of the findings in an American Academy of Political and Social Science research project aimed at demonstrating that police killings of civilians are a “solvable” problem.

Guns

Gun Violence Spikes in NYC, Philadelphia; 9 Kids Dead in Chicago

By TCR Staff | 8 hours ago

Nine Chicago children under 18 have been killed since June 20 as the city suffers from another wave of gun violence. In Philadelphia, a weekend of shootings left officials reconsidering the details of a plan to introduce a new anti-violence “intervention” strategy.

Child Abuse

U.S. Loses Bid to Extradite South Korean Child Porn Operator

By TCR Staff | 10 hours ago

A U.S. request to extradite a South Korean man described as running one of the world’s biggest child porn sites has been rejected by the Seoul High Court, which ruled that extradition could “hamper” South Korea’s own investigation.

Viewpoints

The Challenge of Freeing the Wrongfully Convicted Lifer

By Spencer C. Satin | 11 hours ago

Joseph Sledge was sentenced to life without parole in North Carolina for a murder he didn’t commit. It took 36 years for him to be freed, largely because exoneration cases focus on those given the death penalty—a dilemma faced by inmates in many states where capital punishment has been abolished.

Public Safety

Seattle Marcher Killed in Latest Incident Involving Driver

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

“Cars try to run through us on a daily basis, no matter where we are,” said one protest organizer.

Policing

Under 10% of L.A. Police Calls Involve Violence

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

Of the nearly 18 million calls logged by the LAPD since 2010, about 1.4 million of them, or less than 8 percent, were reports of violent crimes, a Los Angeles Times study found.

Capital Punishment

Fifth CA Death Row Inmate Dies of COVID-19

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

California has not conducted an execution since 2006, but coronavirus has killed at least five condemned prisoners.

Race and Equity

Biden's Crime Law Didn't Cause Mass Black Incarceration

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

The 1994 statute provided funds for states to build prisons, but the mass incarceration phenomenon had been under way for more than a decade before that.

Police Shooting

Phoenix Protesters Assail Police Killing of Man in Car

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

Demonstrators on Sunday demanded that the police department release body-camera footage from the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a man who was killed while sitting in a parked vehicle on July 4.

Policing

CO Officers Fired For Photo Mimicking McClain Chokehold

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

Aurora, Co., officers were fired for a photo making fun of a chokehold used against Elijah McCain last summer before he died.

Research & Analysis

COVID-19

COVID-19 No Excuse for Ignoring Rights of the Incarcerated: Paper

At a time when the quality of life, safety and health of incarcerated populations are at the top of the agenda, a Yale Law School professor argues it has never been more important to use judicial power to positively impact prisoners’ daily lives.
Reforming the System

Can ‘Mainstream’ DAs Become Restorative Justice Supporters?

While a small but influential group of big-city “progressive” prosecutors are actively promoting restorative justice, mainstream DAs remain skeptical. The way to win more converts is to show how the concept fits within traditional justice goals — and also hope for a less hostile political environment, argues a Fordham Law Review paper.
Crime Trends

Homicides Decline, But Report Warns Against ‘Complacency’

Homicide rates fell in April and May in most large cities as part of a general decline in street crime caused by restrictions imposed to contain COVID-19, but a report from Arnold Ventures adds "there's reason to think 2020 will be more violent than 2019."
Race and Equity

Native Americans ‘Disproportional’ Victims of Fatal Police Shootings

“Proportionally, Native Americans are the most likely racial group to be killed by the police,” says a report by the Lakota People's Law Project. Native American men are also imprisoned at four times the rate of white men, and Native American women at six times the rate of white women.
Justice and Health

State Corrections Systems Get Failing Grade in Response to Pandemic

Responses to the spread of coronavirus in prisons and jails ranged from “disorganized or ineffective…to callously nonexistent,” the Prison Policy Initiative said in a report released Thursday, adding the ”systemic” failure continues to put the general public at risk.
Juvenile Justice

Racial Inequities Key Target of Youth Justice Reform: Report

A report published Thursday by the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance (CJJA) calls on state and city leaders to invest in eliminating racial inequalities. Giving the report extra weight is the fact that recommendations come from impacted young people themselves.

WORTH A READ

Reforming the System

‘Dramatic’ Reforms to Pretrial Practice Triggered by Pandemic: Survey
By Michael Gelb | July 2, 2020
Releases from jail for persons awaiting trial increased by more than 81 percent between April and June, according to a nationwide survey of pretrial services agencies. The fact that crime rates remained relatively stable suggests that changes made in the era of the coronavirus should become permanent, survey leaders said.
Drugs

Marijuana Laws ‘Central’ to Justice Reform, Advocates Say
By TCR Staff | July 2, 2020
As protests against racism continue to march on across the country, conversations have sparked a new dialogue about policing and marijuana legalization. Advocates say “drug policy is a social justice issue” and that by legalizing marijuana, unwanted negative and racially-charged interactions with the police will subside.
Russia Probe

Supreme Court Blocks House from Seeing Mueller Grand Jury Materials
By TCR Staff | July 2, 2020
The Supreme Court blocked the House from viewing former special counsel Robert Mueller’s grand jury documents Thursday. The ruling means that the documents will be released after Trump faces voters in November.
Race and Equity

Video Trains Cops to Avoid Implicit Bias
By Ted Gest | July 2, 2020
Amid a series of high-profile incidents in which police have questioned "suspicious" Black men wearing masks during COVID-19, experienced law enforcement trainers are offering a primer for police.

Featured

Bill Moyers on Justice

By TCR Staff | December 1, 2017

Moyers was honored as TCR’s 2018 “Justice Media Trailblazer.” Watch the video of his remarks at the Feb 15, 2018 John Jay College dinner here.

The Crime Report - Your Complete Criminal Justice Resource

Public Safety

Seattle Marcher Killed in Latest Incident Involving Driver

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

Policing

Under 10% of L.A. Police Calls Involve Violence

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

Capital Punishment

Fifth CA Death Row Inmate Dies of COVID-19

By Crime and Justice News | 12 hours ago

Race and Equity

Biden's Crime Law Didn't Cause Mass Black Incarceration

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

Police Shooting

Phoenix Protesters Assail Police Killing of Man in Car

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

Policing

CO Officers Fired For Photo Mimicking McClain Chokehold

By Crime and Justice News | 13 hours ago

COVID-19

How Pandemic Makes Life Tougher for New Parolees

Homicide

Suspected Serial Killer Arrested in Florida

Jails

Federal Inmate Death in L.A. Ruled a Homicide

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Scrambles To Explain Errors in Dropped Iran Case

Policing Reform

Wave of State Policing Reforms Crested Early, and Fell Short

Detroit Facial Recognition Deal in Doubt Over Racial Bias

Nextdoor Takes More Steps to Curb Its ‘Karen Problem’

LAPD’s $150m Budget Cut Takes Staffing Down to ’08 Level

Police Reform Debate Reshapes Los Angeles DA Race