The Crime Report

Guns

Michigan Shooting Reignites Debate Over Arming Teachers

By TCR Staff | 10 hours ago

As authorities announce first-degree murder and terrorism charges against the 15-year-old Michigan school shooter, lawmakers are taking this time to reignite the debate to arm teachers in schools, while others are advocating for stricter gun policies.

Reforming the System

‘Blood Money’: How Profit Shapes U.S. Incarceration

By Andrea Cipriano | 11 hours ago

The pursuit of profit is “inextricably intertwined” with America’s system of carceral labor, and criminal punishment, according to a forthcoming paper in the Wisconsin Law Review.

Policing

Fighting Crime More Important Than Police Reform: Survey

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

In a comparison of views from Louisville, KY, and Oklahoma City, residents agree that tackling the rising crime rates are more important than police reform at this time. This comes as Louisville residents are still reeling from Breonna Taylor’s death, and Oklahoma City battles the highest mortality rate from police violence in the country.

Crime

Did the Unsolved and Largest Art Theft in U.S. History Just Catch a Break?

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

A long-time criminal tried to sell one of 13 items stolen in 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston to a local jeweler who is now hoping to solve the case for a $10 million reward.

Jails

Jail Deaths Increased 33% Over Past Two Decades: BJS

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

The leading single cause of jail inmate fatalities was suicide, reports the Bureau of Justice Statistics. At the same time, the number of deaths in state and federal prisons decreased slightly between 2001 and 2019, despite a sharp rise in homicides.

Cybercrime

Hackers Target Planned Parenthood, Compromising Records for Thousands

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

Planned Parenthood’s Los Angeles affiliate said that a hacker recently compromised information for 400,000 patients in a ransomware attack, but it did not believe that the data had been used for “fraudulent purposes.”

Crime

Stolen US Military Explosives Endanger Lives: Report

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

Hundreds, in not thousands, of armor-piercing grenades, hundreds of pounds of plastic explosives, as well as land mines and rockets have been stolen from or lost by the U.S. armed forces over the past decade, emerging in the civilian world and endangering people’s lives, reports the Associated Press.

Cybercrime

600,000 Vacant Cybersecurity Positions Leave US Infrastructure Vulnerable

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

Clogs in the talent pipeline are leaving federal cybersecurity officials, cash-strapped local governments, and big businesses even more susceptible to hacking and ransomware attacks, the House Committee on Homeland Security was told this week.

Immigration

Biden Administration Expands Immigration Detention

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

Approximately 15,000 immigrants were in detention when Biden took office, the lowest number in decades, but that number has since risen as high as 29,000.

Fraud

IRS Crime Investigators Identify $10B in Fraud

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

For the last fiscal year, the IRS-Criminal Investigation Department initiated 2,581 investigations, recommending 1,982 potential defendants for trial.

Research & Analysis

Guns

A Hopeful Twist on the Gun Debate? Experts Agree on Goals, Some Policies

A survey of researchers and analysts with starkly different approaches to gun policy found a willingness to accept the evidence of research identifying strategies that could reduce firearm deaths. The next step is to make that research happen, said RAND, which conducted the survey.
Hate Crimes

School Violence, Hate Crimes Surged Before COVID-19

Hate crimes, in particular, increased by an estimated 81 percent in K-12 public schools between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 school years, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.
Policing

Community Policing Called ‘Ineffective’ at Building Trust, Reducing Crime in Global South

In a multi-year study involving six countries in the southern hemisphere, researchers found that community policing did not increase local trust in law enforcement, nor did it reduce crime.
Policing

‘First Amendment Right vs. Safety’: One City’s Analysis of Police Response to George Floyd Protests

The Quattrone Center has released their Sentinel Event Review analysis of the Madison Police Department's response to the 2020 George Floyd protests, ultimately giving law enforcement 69 recommendations after identifying 133 factors that contributed to the violence.
Reforming the System

Reform Prosecutors Claim Success in Reducing Incarceration

A survey of 19 “progressive” city, state and county attorneys found that policies ranging from the elimination of money bail to the establishment of diversion programs had lowered jail and prison populations without significantly endangering public safety.
Immigration

Immigration Court Backlog Reached Nearly 1.5M in October

For every resolved case in the nation’s immigration courts so far this year, two new ones were added to the nation’s overcrowded dockets, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

WORTH A READ

Viewpoints

The Mythical ‘Bystander Effect’ Haunts a Philadelphia Rape Case
By Matthew T. Mangino | December 1, 2021
False claims that bystanders did nothing to prevent a sexual assault last month on a commuter train reveal how mistruths can fester in a society living in a perpetual state of suspicion and mistrust.
Viewpoints

Suing Social Media Sites Won’t Curb Sex Trafficking: Advocates
By Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco and Greg Bristol | November 30, 2021
Online platforms can be invaluable allies in identifying victims of sexual abuse and putting their traffickers behind bars. Instead of prosecuting them, we should encourage their collaboration with law enforcement, write two anti-trafficking activists.
FBI

FBI Informants Involved in 22,800 Crimes in Decade: Report
By Andrea Cipriano | November 30, 2021
The FBI informant program cost taxpayers $548 million over the last decade, unclassified documents show. Individuals who refused to become informants have begun coming forward, detailing harassment from the FBI.
International Crime

The Perils of Policing in Pakistan
By Gareth Bryon | November 30, 2021
American and British experts are quietly helping Pakistan modernize a weak and corrupt justice system. But it needs to be a bigger priority for Western policymakers hoping to achieve regional stability, writes a former UK senior police official.

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

Cybercrime

Hackers Target Planned Parenthood, Compromising Records for Thousands

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

Crime

Stolen US Military Explosives Endanger Lives: Report

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

Cybercrime

600,000 Vacant Cybersecurity Positions Leave US Infrastructure Vulnerable

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

Immigration

Biden Administration Expands Immigration Detention

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

Fraud

IRS Crime Investigators Identify $10B in Fraud

By TCR Staff | 11 hours ago

Missing Persons

Feds Admit ‘Lack of Data’ Hampers Search for Missing, Murdered Indigenous

Policing

New Jersey Program Pairs State Troopers With Mental Health Professionals

Justice and Health

California: Unless You’re On a Ventilator, Get Back Behind Bars

Drugs

New York City Becomes First to Provide Safe Havens for Drug Use

Guns

California Maintains Ban on Assault Weapons

Cook County, IL. Records Highest Number of Murders Since 1994

Biden Immigration Plan Blocked by Court

Mark Meadows: I’ll Cooperate With Jan. 6 Investigation

Frustrating Law Enforcement, Scam Robocallers Evade Crackdowns