Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice
The NYPD will freeze hiring of new police officers for the foreseeable future as part of “extremely painful” city budget cuts set to be unveiled by Mayor Adams on Thursday, the Daily Ne…..
Full story: NYPD to freeze hiring of new cops as part of Adams’ ‘extremely painful’ budget cuts: sources
In a 5-2 decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court declared drug recognition expert testimony reliable, despite admitting concerns about it…
Full story: New Jersey’s top court deems drug recognition experts ‘reliable enough’ – New Jersey Monitor
For two years, Texas has pushed boundaries on the U.S.-Mexico border: Busing migrants across America, jailing thousands for trespass and stringing razor wire along the Rio Grande.
In a new challenge to the federal government’s authority over immigration, Texas lawmakers on Tuesday night gave final approval to a bill that would allow police to arrest migrants who enter the country illegally and let local judges order them to leave the country.
The bill, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign, would become one of the nation’s strictest immigration laws if allowed to take effect.
Full story: Texas wants the power to arrest and order migrants to leave the US. Can it do that?
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared public emergencies in response to the rise in youth violence and opioid overdoses. The number of people dying from opioid overdoses is skyrocketing in the District while the number of young people arrested for serious and violent crimes like carjacking and homicide also is on the rise. To help address the problems, Bowser declared public…..
Full story: DC mayor issues public emergencies on opioid overdoses, juvenile crimes – NBC4 Washington
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has struggled to stop a hyper-aggressive cybercrime gang that’s been tormenting corporate America over the last two years, according to nine cybersecurity responders, digital crime experts and victims…
Full story: FBI struggled to disrupt dangerous casino hacking gang, cyber responders say
Millions of U.S. drug users now are addicted to several substances, not just opioids like fentanyl and heroin. The shift is making treatment far more difficult…
Full story: ‘A Monster’: Super Meth and Other Drugs Push Crisis Beyond Opioids – The New York Times
A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that the Biden administration lacked authority to adopt a regulation aimed at reining in privately made firearms called “ghost guns” that are difficult for law enforcement to trace…
Full story: US appeals court calls Biden’s ‘ghost gun’ limits unlawful
The U.S. Justice Department will launch a civil rights probe of Lexington, Mississippi, and its police department after reports of excessive force and discriminatory policing, Kristen Clarke, the head of the department’s Civil Rights Division, said on Wednesday.
The probe will examine whether police in the city of about 1,600 residents routinely commit civil rights violations.
Clarke said the Justice Department received credible allegations that Lexington police, a department with fewer than 10 officers, stopped and searched people without justification and routinely arrested people solely for using profane language.
The probe follows the firing last year of the department’s previous chief, Sam Dobbins, after a recording surfaced of him using racist slurs and boasting about killing 13 people while in the line of duty, according to local media reports.
Full story: US Justice Dept probing possible civil rights abuses by Mississippi police | Reuters
The suicide deaths of four current and former Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department employees over a 24-hour span have prompted a plea from Sheriff Robert Luna urging deputies to check on the well-being of their colleagues and friends.
“We are stunned to learn of these deaths, and it has sent shock waves of emotions throughout the department as we try and cope with the loss of not just one, but four beloved active and retired members of our department family,” Luna said in an emailed statement Tuesday. “During trying times like these it’s important for personnel regardless of rank or position to check on the well-being of other colleagues and friends.”
Luna said he had the “deepest concern for our employees’ well-being,” adding that the department was “urgently exploring avenues to reduce work stress factors to support our employees’ work and personal lives.” He said the department’s Homicide Bureau would investigate the deaths.
There is no indication that the deaths were related or that foul play was involved, but department sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation said the third and fourth deaths were discovered as word of the earlier deaths were spreading through the agency.
Luna’s comments came a day after the suicides of one former and three current employees, which occurred within a 24-hour span that began Monday.
Full story: Four current and former L.A. Sheriff’s Department employees died by suicide in a 24-hour span
“Even the most important personal freedoms have their limits,” Judge Diane P. Wood wrote in the court’s highly anticipated opinion. “Government may punish a deliberately false fire alarm; it may condition free assembly on the issuance of a permit; it may require voters to present a valid identification card; and it may punish child abuse even if it is done in the name of religion. The right enshrined in the Second Amendment is no different.”