Month: August 2023

Gun-related deaths among children in the U.S. reached a distressing peak in 2021, claiming 4,752 young lives and surpassing the record total seen during the first year of the pandemic, a new analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data found. The alarming statistic clearly indicated that America’s gun violence epidemic has gotten worse,…

Body cameras first began to be used by police departments in the United States following their adoption by law enforcement in the United Kingdom in 2005. But it was not until the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in 2014 by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., which was not captured on video, that the United…

Last year, federal officials charged more people over public threats – against elected officials, law enforcement and judicial officials, educators and health care workers – than in any of the previous 10 years, according to research from the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. This year the trend…

Several Connecticut lawmakers are open to the idea of implementing policy that would place more regulations on police using stationary automatic license plate readers as police departments continue to use the devices without outside oversight… Full story: License plate readers along CT roads catch attention of lawmakers

NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe speaks with ProPublica reporter Alec MacGillis about the relationship between social media and an increase in gun violence, often resulting in homicides, among young people… Full story: Social media could be fueling gun violence among young people : NPR

The widow of a police officer who died by suicide after he was assaulted during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has been found eligible for a federal benefits program for the families of fallen officers. Erin Smith, the widow of Jeffrey Smith, was instrumental in the passage of a renewed version of…

The numbers are daunting. According to a PERF survey of departments across the country, 65% saw an increase in retirements and 66% saw an increase in resignations between 2020 and 2022. Applications for full-time officer jobs plunged 69% over that same period, while overall staffing levels dropped nearly 5%… Full story: Why is there a…

It can take between six months and a year for a prospective municipal police officer to complete requirements of the civil service hiring process. In Greensburg, candidates now will be able to get a jump on that process by applying for a possible spot on the force before they’ve completed police academy training. “Hopefully, that…

Minnesota students can’t be held in a prone position or subjected to “comprehensive restraint on the head, neck and across most of the torso” under a new state law — and law enforcement officials are questioning whether it will prevent them from doing their job. Jeff Potts, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police…

For some, the clear backpacks are just another prop in school security theater — an answer that does little more than put adults at ease. Critics say it has come to symbolize the lengths decision-makers will go to avoid passing meaningful gun control, a knee-jerk answer to the call to “do something” after a tragedy.…