Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Appalachian State University
A woman was shot to death while walking on a trail in Nashville, and police said they arrested her suspected killer Tuesday and charged the man with her murder. To identify him, authorities followed an unusual trail of clues that ended with one detective recognizing the suspect as the identical twin of someone involved in a case three years ago.
A 37 percent rise in the number of adolescents accused in serious crimes mirrors a broader increase. But it has alarmed the police, who say young offenders could grow up to break the law again…
Full story: Number of Young People Accused of Serious Crimes Surges in New York City – The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The threat of political violence will likely hang over the nation’s capital in the weeks following Election Day, security experts say, despite intensive preparations by law enforcement officials determined to avoid another Jan. 6 insurrection…
Full story: Law enforcement officials prepare for possible post-election violence in D.C. | News From The States
As part of a larger investigation with The Associated Press, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University obtained personnel files of officers involved in deaths after police used physical force or weapons that are not supposed to be lethal.
Police officers regularly experience traumatic events that, experts say, leave them vulnerable to mental health disorders, including depression and PTSD. One risk after a use-of-force death is that officers may quietly deal with trauma in ways that cause their performance or judgment to slip on the streets.
Yet overcoming the stigma of talking about mental health within police culture and addressing the needs of officers are topics rarely emphasized in the ongoing debate over policing.
Full story: The cumulative stress of policing has public safety consequences for law enforcement officers, too
Could law enforcement officials have done more to prevent it?
The painful and inevitable question has frequently dogged the police after shootings. Experts say that most mass shooters display warning signs before becoming violent, and officials have often received tips, calls or reports about concerning behavior, sometimes long before someone picks up a weapon.
But law enforcement officers, at least under traditional police training, are limited in what they can do in response. If a crime has not been committed or a subject does not meet the criteria to be sent for an involuntary mental health evaluation, the case is often closed.
Full story: Can Police Prevent a School Shooting If a Threat Is Not a Crime? – The New York Times
Oklahoma City’s police department is one of a handful to experiment with AI chatbots to produce the first drafts of incident reports. Police officers who’ve tried it are enthused about the time-saving technology, while some prosecutors, police watchdogs, and legal scholars have concerns about how it could alter a fundamental document in the criminal justice system that plays a role in who gets prosecuted or imprisoned.
Built with the same technology as ChatGPT and sold by Axon, best known for developing the Taser and as the dominant U.S. supplier of body cameras, it could become another “game changer” for police work.
AI technology is not new to police agencies, which have adopted algorithmic tools to read license plates, recognize suspects’ faces, detect gunshot sounds, and predict where crimes might occur. Many of those applications have come with privacy and civil rights concerns and attempts by legislators to set safeguards. But the introduction of AI-generated police reports is so new that there are few, if any, guardrails guiding their use.
Full story: Police officers are starting to use AI chatbots to write crime reports. Will they hold up in court?
The two Raleigh Police officers who jumped in to save people stranded in the Neuse River on a Saturday afternoon in August are sharing what happened.
Around 2 p.m. on August 17, multiple agencies responded to the Neuse River near Raleigh Beach and found three people struggling in the water. After a few days since everyone was rescued safely, the two officers are able to look back on it with a lighter attitude, but in the moment, they say they did the only thing they could.
Full story: Raleigh police officers who saved person from Neuse River share their story
When Yao Xie got her start as an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, she thought she would be researching machine learning, statistics and algorithms to help with real-world problems. She has now completed a seven-year stint doing just that, but with an unlikely partner: the Atlanta Police Department.
Xie leveraged artificial intelligence to work with the department to cut down on potentially wasted resources and to implement a fair policing system free of racial and economic bias.
She’s part of a growing group of professors at higher education institutions teaming up with neighboring law enforcement agencies to chip away at the potential of AI for police departments—while they also deal with problems inherent to the technology.
Full story: Universities partner with police on AI research
Pennsylvania drivers were pulled over and cited by state police last year at roughly comparable rates for various races and ethnicities, according to information about 450,000 vehicle stops that was made public on Wednesday.
Researchers also found that trooper decisions about how to enforce the law after they stop someone are most strongly based on legal factors and not the drivers’ or troopers’ race or ethnicity.
However, troopers in the field were slightly more likely to engage in “discretionary” searches of Black drivers’ vehicles than those of white or Latino drivers when the drivers’ criminal histories were factored in, the report said.
Full story: Pennsylvania troopers stop drivers at similar rates no matter their race or ethnicity, study finds
The San Marcos Police Department said it will share information more quickly than in the past during “critical incidents,” including mass shootings, natural disasters or events where police seriously injure or kill someone.
In the crisis communication policy it rolled out last month, the department said it will share initial information with residents and the press within two hours of an incident and will hold a news conference within two business days.
SMPD said it will not release bodycam footage if it believes it will impede an investigation. Video could be released after a grand jury has reviewed all the evidence or if it would “further a law enforcement cause,” such as identifying a suspect or helping residents identify an immediate threat to the community.
Full story: San Marcos police vow to release info on incidents sooner, but not necessarily bodycam footage