The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/)
Prisons that foster a “culture of negativity” for both inmates and correctional workers make our communities less safe, according to a review of a February prison riot in Delaware. The review, led by a team from the Police Foundation, urges correctional authorities to recognize their “core” role in preventing recidivism.
The opioid epidemic is not a “Republican or Democratic issue,” says Gov. Mary Fallin. She told a conference on women’s incarceration this week that treatment and counseling should be considered legitimate alternatives to prison for individuals charged with low-level drug offenses.
In a survey to law enforcement officials, the company formerly known as Taser International announces a product that will allow citizens to submit photos or video evidence of “a crime, suspicious activity, or event” to Evidence.com, the company’s cloud-based storage platform, to help agencies “in solving a crime or gathering a fuller point of view from the public.”
An ambitious plan laid out by the Police Department calls for the training to expand to 40 hours a year for every officer beginning in 2021. It comes as the department attempts to add nearly 1,000 officers to its force by the end of next year.
“When reviewing solitary confinement as a policy and practice we determined that as a department we can effectively operate without it,” said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark. The state had only 76 inmates in punitive solitary confinement as of July 31.
In the first congressional votes on gun issues since President Trump took office, a bill easing regulations on the purchases of gun silencers could reach the House floor as early as next week. Another measure allowing concealed-carry permit holders to take their weapons to other states is expected to move through the House Judiciary Committee soon.
Rhode Island has become the seventh state this year to pass a law restricting access to guns for people convicted of domestic violence offenses. Gun control advocates argue that federal laws are not strong enough and additional protections must be passed on the state level, in part because state laws are easier for local authorities to enforce.
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that the promotions process in the Intelligence Division stymied black detectives. The U.S. Justice Department declined to sue based on the EEOC report.
On the docket for the Supreme Court term beginning October 2 is Carpenter v. United States, which tests whether law enforcement can obtain any digital information without a warrant. Major “crimmigration” and habeas corpus cases also are scheduled.
Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty plans to meet with advocates for the deaf and speech-impaired to discuss the fatal shooting of Magdiel Sanchez by a police officer this week. Sanchez, 35, was deaf and developmentally disabled.
U.S. District Judge William Shubb allows sisters and brothers of a man killed by Sacramento police to pursue a damage suit against the city under the First Amendment’s right of association. The case involves a man who was shot 14 times by two officers last year.
U.S. District Judge Jerome Simandle declines the bail bond industry’s request to suspend New Jersey’s bail reform policies while constitutional challenges are pending.
The U.S. is ill-prepared to train Afghanistan’s security forces, says an inspector general’s report issued as 3,500 more U.S. troops are headed for the war zone.
Former FBI directors normally attend the installation of a new chief for the bureau. Washington is wondering whether ex-directors James Comey, who was fired by President Trump, and Robert Mueller, who is investigating the president, will make an appearance.
Officers have fatally shot eight people this year, the highest number in the past decade, with more than three months left in the year. Criminologist David Klinger of the University of Missouri-St. Louis said, “As crime rates go up and down, so do police shootings.”