The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/policing/page/2/)
Federal prosecutors say then-Biscayne Park, Fl., Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano and two officers framed a 16-year-old in four unsolved burglaries. Their motivation was to boost the police department’s arrest statistics.
In an “action plan” on gun violence, the nation’s top think tank on policing said guns should be prohibited for individuals who have a history of drug abuse or mental illness, as well as those with criminal convictions. It also called for strengthening the federal Background Check system and the establishment of a robust system of licensing.
Nearly two months after two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks while waiting for a friend, the city’s police department announced a policy to determine when to arrest people accused of trespassing on private property. The policy encourages “greater discretion” from officers, who are now encouraged to deescalate disputes between business or property owners and an alleged offender.
The city hails its “Citizen Virtual Patrol” as a step toward transparency. The American Civil Liberties union calls it “Big Brother [and] and infinite number of siblings.”
Local governments across Alaska routinely hire police officers with criminal records, sometimes including felony and domestic violence convictions, the Anchorage Daily News reports. “Unfortunately we are finding more and more of this, that [village police officers] have a criminal background,” said Alaska Police Standards Council director Bob Griffiths. “It’s unconscionable.”
The first annual report of New York’s Handschu Committee, a court-appointed body to review police monitoring of Muslims shows the average length of investigations dropped from 427 days to 340 days. But critics say that’s still too long.
Four officers were put on leave after surveillance camera footage showed officers beating an unarmed man who accompanied a former boyfriend who allegedly tried to break into a woman’s apartment.
Some police manuals suggest lying to suspects during interrogations is a useful law enforcement tool. But it can trap the innocent as well as the guilty, argues a professor at Israel’s College of Law and Business.
Despite new policies to reduce police shootings, use of deadly force by Los Angeles police increased slightly in 2017 from the previous year, but the number of fatal shootings continued a downward trend, from 19 to 17.
Moore, 57, is a 36-year police department veteran known for his mastery of subjects including crime statistics and budgets. His selection, which must be approved by the City Council, disappointed those who favored a Latino chief.