Author: Christopher Marier

Faced with gaping vacancies in its police force and concerns about public safety, the Philadelphia Police Department had to think creatively about how to get more candidates in the door. The answer? Fewer pushups. The city’s move to lower requirements for the entry physical exam at its police academy is part of a broader effort…

Republican lawmakers across the country were already jockeying to push their states deeper into immigration enforcement when the Supreme Court, if only briefly, let Texas enforce a new law giving police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally. Within hours Tuesday, another court blocked the Texas law again. The same day,…

The war on drugs, once a weapon in the nation’s fight against substance abuse and related crimes, is making a comeback on the West Coast. Fueled by increasingly visible signs of homelessness and drug use in Oregon and San Francisco, officials are restoring punitive measures for drug-related offenses amid a worsening fentanyl crisis. The laws…

New FBI data confirms previous indications that crime in the U.S. declined significantly in 2023, continuing a post-pandemic trend and belying widespread perceptions that crime is rising. The new fourth-quarter numbers showed a 13% decline in murder in 2023 from 2022, a 6% decline in reported violent crime, and a 4% decline in reported property…

A new law is making it easier for more cadets to be considered and potentially become police officers in Philadelphia. Governor Josh Shapiro signed a law at the end of last year lowering the physical fitness requirements applicants are assessed on. “Signed into law last December, the bill eases the minimum benchmark in a physical…

It was 2:30 a.m. on Valentine’s Day last year when a detective watching a live camera feed from a major Queens thoroughfare spotted a man in a minivan who appeared to be holding a gun. The police said they had quickly arrested the man, Robert Homer, and found a loaded Glock pistol in his pocket.…

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…

“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…

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…

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…