Month: March 2024

Launchers that fire soda can-size foam projectiles to subdue uncooperative individuals were successful in just more than a third of the encounters when they were deployed by the Los Angeles Police Department in 2023, according to a new report.

In eight of the 133 instances where the less-lethal projectiles were deployed last year, they failed to stop their targets and officers then shot the individuals with firearms, according to the report.

The LAPD report released this week evaluating the effectiveness of the launchers was requested by city police commissioners in response to the Feb. 3 fatal shooting of 36-year-old Jason Lee Maccani of Camarillo.

Full story: LAPD less-lethal launchers often ineffective in subduing suspects, report says – Daily News

“There’s no doubt that police departments around this state are lowering their ranks. There is a personnel problem, and they are down officers,” said Rep. Greg Howard of Stonington, ranking Republican on the Public Safety and Security Committee.

That’s the case in 26 Connecticut towns, but for another 62 municipal police departments, the number of officers increased from April 2011 to October 2023, according to data compiled by the state’s Office of Legislative Research. Every other town is all or partly covered by the State Police, which has 931 uniformed personnel as of February of this year, down from 1,200 over a decade ago.

Some of the state’s largest cities, including Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford, saw their police forces shrink. Bridgeport had the largest drop, from 406 officers in 2011 to 289 in 2023, a 29% decrease.

Full story: Since 2011, more police in suburbs — and fewer in cities

Self-checkout annoys many grocery shoppers and causes problems that are prompting numerous major retailers to pull back on using it. But that’s not stopping the Transportation Security Administration from testing a self-service screening system at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas later this month.

TSA PreCheck passengers at LAS “will be the first travelers to have the option to use the new system starting in mid-March, when the testing begins,” said a TSA news release.

“The prototype has a video monitor that provides step-by-step instructions for passengers to complete screening at their own pace,” it added.

After passengers complete “the required screening process and are cleared for travel, automated exit doors open so travelers can gather their belongings and head to their flights.”

Full story: The TSA’s new experiment: Self-service security checks | CNN Business

The D.C. Council on Tuesday passed a massive public safety package that puts the liberal city on a track toward harsher punishments for a range of crimes from illegal gun possession to retail theft, a new direction forged by months of intense outcry from residents and businesses over last year’s historic crime spike.

Lawmakers have stopped short of promising a sea change as a result of the legislation and have frequently debated whether provisions such as expanding felony theft or creating temporary “drug-free zones” will prevent crime. But many argued that the legislation is intended to send a message that D.C. is taking crime seriously.

The legislation would make it easier for judges to order adults and certain juveniles charged with violent offenses detained while they await trial through most of this year; expand the definition of carjacking to make the cases easier to prosecute; create a new felony for “organized retail theft,” aimed at repeat shelf-clearing at stores like CVS and Target; and revives a 1990s-era tool that would allow officers to create temporary drug-free zones after residents demanded attention to drug-related loitering.

Full story: D.C. Council passes public safety overhaul following historic crime spike – The Washington Post

San Francisco voters showed strong support for a pair of controversial public safety ballot measure that expand police powers and compel treatment for adult welfare recipients who use illegal drugs, two efforts Mayor London Breed said would crack down on crime and the city’s drug crisis.

Proposition E grants police greater leeway to pursue suspects in vehicles, authorizes the use of drones and surveillance cameras and reduces paperwork requirements, including in use-of-force cases. Proposition F makes drug treatment mandatory for adult welfare recipients if they use illicit substances, or else they can be denied cash assistance.

Full story: Voters show strong support for San Francisco measures to compel drug treatment, expand police powers | AP News

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans Wednesday to send the National Guard to the New York City subway system to help police search passengers’ bags for weapons, following a series of high-profile crimes on city trains.

Hochul, a Democrat, said she will deploy 750 members of the National Guard to the subways to assist the New York Police Department with bag searches at entrances to busy train stations.

The move came as part of a larger effort from the governor’s office to address crime in the subway, which included a legislative proposal to ban people from trains if they are convicted of assaulting a subway passenger and the installation of cameras in conductor cabins to protect transit workers.

Full story: New York will send National Guard to subways after a string of violent crimes

Legislators in a handful of states are offering bills to address the rise in the misuse of xylazine, a cheap animal sedative not intended for human consumption.

Xylazine, or “tranq,” can induce blackouts and cause lesions that sometimes result in severe infections or amputations, and it can even lead to death. The opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone does not work on xylazine, which drug dealers often find through the dark web and other illicit channels, rather than getting it from veterinary offices. Although xylazine isn’t classified by the federal government as a controlled substance, it also isn’t approved for human use.

Several states — including Indiana, New York, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin — are considering bills. The legislation ranges from classifying xylazine as a controlled substance to stiffening criminal penalties for possession and distribution, as well as legalizing testing strips so people who intend to take drugs can make sure they aren’t tainted by xylazine.

Other states — Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia — have already added xylazine to their lists of controlled substances, which adds tighter controls to the storage and movement of the drug for veterinary use.

Full story: As xylazine surges, some lawmakers want jail time for dealers and people who use the drug • Stateline

An initiative amending Washington state’s controversial police pursuit law passed on Monday.

Initiative 2113 will amend the state’s controversial police pursuit law by restoring the authority of a police officer to engage in a pursuit when there is reasonable suspicion a person has violated the law.

In 2021, state lawmakers passed legislation that increased the threshold for evidence required for a police pursuit.

In 2023, lawmakers lowered the threshold for police to pursue a suspect from probable cause to reasonable suspicion for limited crimes. The limited crimes included violent offense, sex offense, or an escape; or DUI, vehicular assault, and domestic violence assault in the first, second, third, or fourth-degree offense.

Despite the adjustment, the law has been blamed for an increase in crimes, like car thefts.

Full story: Legislators pass initiative to roll back Washington state’s controversial police pursuit law

Last September California became the first state to levy an excise tax on firearms and ammunition, in the amount of 11 percent, when Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law. Since then, lawmakers in more than a half-dozen other states have introduced similar bills to tax the gun industry to support hospitals, violence intervention and prevention programs, and services and compensation for victims of gun violence.

Colorado, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, and New Mexico are among the states where lawmakers are considering similar bills, a Trace review found. Most are modeled after California’s 11 percent tax on firearm manufacturers and retailers.

California was the first state to enact such an excise tax, but at least three municipalities have also done so: Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, and Cook County, Illinois. Pennsylvania also adds a $3 surcharge on firearm sales to support the state’s background check system.

Full story: Seven States Move to Tax Guns and Ammo

Amid a nationwide spike in killings, a new initiative to tackle cold cases is taking off in Florida.

State Attorney General Ashley Moody on Thursday announced a new statewide investigative unit that is tasked with solving cold cases. They are the most “difficult-to-solve” cases, which take “the most time intensive and investigative efforts,” Moody said during a news conference outside the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regional office in Palm Beach County.

The Cold Case Investigations Unit also would address the common issue of trying to solve a cold case involving multiple municipalities.

Full story: Florida’s new investigations unit aims to solve cold cases