Public Safety Update 2/22/22

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the launch of a national ghost gun enforcement initiative designed to prevent privately-made firearms from being used to commit crime by bringing federal charges against criminal use of such weapons…

The DOJ’s announcement on ghost guns comes as President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland traveled to New York City on 2/3 to discuss gun violence and anti-crime efforts…

Los Angeles authorities are urging three major credit card companies to stop processing online payments for kits used to assemble untraceable “ghost guns”…

Fresno officials and police are urging Governor Gavin Newsom to change Proposition 47 after recent polls from UC Berkeley and the Los Angeles Times showed 78 percent of voters surveyed believe crime rates have risen statewide over the last year…

Police were called to break up a fight between two teenagers in a New Jersey mall on 2/12, but the difference in police treatment of the individuals involved is raising questions…

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) joined Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and John Cornyn (R-TX) this week to introduce a bill that would support the families of officers who struggle with mental health or who are lost to trauma-linked suicides…

The Democratic party’s response to George Floyd’s murder and calls to reduce funding for police may have cost Democrats as many as 12 House seats in 2020, and a recent poll showed that only 36 percent of Americans approve of the way President Biden is handling crime…

Susan Rice, the White House domestic policy adviser, met with the nation’s largest policing groups last month to promise a significant reset in their relationship as the Biden administration finished an executive order on police reform…

Following the leak of a draft executive order on police reform, small departments raised concerns about what the proposed order would mean for rural policing…

Homicides rose in 2021, following a spike of more than 27 percent in 2020, bringing rates to the highest level since the mid-1990s, with effects felt unequally across the country…

On the fourth anniversary of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, parents of the victims marched in Washington, D.C. on 2/14, to demand action against gun violence…

Last week, a federal appeals court heard oral arguments regarding a police union’s constitutional challenge to a Washington, D.C. measure prohibiting the union from negotiating over disciplinary rules, one of the significant reforms that followed nationwide protests after the 2020 murder of George Floyd. D.C. enacted a broad set of police reforms in July 2020—including restrictions on neck restraints and the establishment of a commission on reforms…

A practice conducted by the National Institute of Justice on the effects of Body-Worn Cameras on officer behavior was rated No Effects for its effects on officer use of force, officer injuries, officer-initiated calls for service, traffic stops, field interviews, and arrest incidents…

The National Police Foundation (NPF) assessed the reach, impact, challenges, and successes of the principles of the 21st Century Policing Task Force Report (21CPTFR)…

Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), who is running for mayor of Los Angeles, called for a surge in funding for L.A.’s police force because residents “don’t feel safe today”…

The National Association for Gun Rights and gun owner Mark Sikes sued San Jose in federal court last month after City Council members voted to approve the ordinance believed to be the first measure of its kind in the United States…

In 2015, AB 953 was enacted to require police to collect data on the people they stop, including perceived race and ethnicity, the reason for the encounter, and the outcome…

San Diego is experiencing an increase in officer vacancies threatening to reverse major staffing gains over the last four years…

As local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies address funding and recruitment challenges, more departments are creating partnerships with private security professionals to expand capabilities and presence without increasing costs…

The Atlanta-based Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative (PAD) was launched to address community concerns related to unmet mental health needs, substance use, or extreme poverty…

As the nation calls for criminal justice reform, civil justice should be included to truly advance equity…