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11/14/25 Memphis officials credit their city's steep crime drop to the surge of State and Federal agents that
accompanied Trump's recent intrusion. More than 2,000 criminals have been arrested, and many outstanding warrants
have been served. But some residents and city employees nonetheless resent the "invasion" and complain that
Black and Latino motorists have been singled out for especially harsh treatment. Related posts
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Youths who
reside in San Francisco's crime-beset Tenderloin district are the focus of a privately-funded effort that
will offer them activities in a "safe refuge" along with educational, job and mental health counseling. Three
local "stories" - of one youth who overdosed, another who was shot, and a third who became a cop - figured
prominently in the program's creation.
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Seventeen-thousand. That's how many California commercial driver licenses are being revoked
because their holders' immigration visas have expired. The State's move comes on the heels of an accident last month
that was caused by a drug-addled California semitruck driver who was illegally in the U.S. Eight vehicles were
involved; three innocent persons were killed and four were injured.
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Oklahoma
prisoner Tremane Wood was "moments" away from execution when Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted his sentence. Wood and
his brother, who died in prison, were both convicted of a fatal stabbing. Tremane had always said that his
brother was the real killer, and the victim's family had asked that his life be spared. The State's A.G.
disagreed with the outcome. “I am disappointed that the governor has granted clemency for this dangerous
murderer, but respect that this was his decision to make.”
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11/13/25
Some parts of Brooklyn scare "Jamie." So the young New York City lawyer decided to get a gun carry license.
Relieved by the 2022 Bruen
decision of the need, as New York State once required, to show "special cause," she's one of the thousands of
residents who have started to "pack." All that's needed is to get 16 hours of training and apply. The number of
applicants has skyrocketed, and "more than 17,000" N.Y. City residents have gained permission to pack a concealed
pistol since the law changed.
Related post
Just published in Criminology &
Public Policy, an assessment of a reduction in bond amounts in Palm Beach County, FL, which led to a
substantial increase in pretrial releases, did not reveal any significant effects on compliance with either the
terms of release or recidivism.
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11/12/25 Not guilty on all counts. That's
the jury's verdict in the murder, assault and misconduct trial of three former San Antonio, TX cops who shot and
killed a mentally-disturbed, hammer-wielding woman two years ago. According to officers who didn't participate in
the episode, the prosecution reflected a biased rush to judgment by the police chief and prosecutors. And that
claim was seconded by a retired police sergeant who
testified for the defense.
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11/11/25 Five million bucks each. That's what Cook County, Ill. has agreed to pay
Nevest Coleman and Derrell Fulton, who served more than two decades in prison after being coerced into falsely
confessing to a gruesome 1994 rape/murder. They were freed in 2016 after a re-investigation revealed that DNA evidence tied the crime to a man
who had been previously convicted of rape. That man confirmed that he had sexual contact with the victim, but
denied killing her. He has not yet been charged.
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11/10/25 Fired from inside, the bullet pierced the front door, killing Maria de Velasquez, a 32-year old
immigrant housecleaner who was trying to help her husband enter the home. It turns out that their keys didn't work
because they were at the wrong residence in the upscale Indianapolis suburb. Indiana is a stand-your-ground (SYG)
state, and whether the residents are in any way culpable - they had just called 911 to report an attempted break-in
- is yet to be sorted out.
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Florida troopers say they "disengaged" from the chase after a pit maneuver failed to stop one of the
participants in a Tampa-area street race. But the motorist didn't slow down. He soon lost control of his car and
slammed into a crowd outside a tavern, killing four and injuring eleven, several critically. Silas Sampson, 22,
faces four felony counts of vehicular manslaughter. According to the AP, the Florida highway patrol has
loosened restrictions on car chases.
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Bullets as pathogens? A recent
JAMA article proposes to create a
"wounding ballistics theoretical lethality index" that scores the wounding potential of a variety of ammunition
fired from different types of firearms. One objective would be to help inform policymakers about appropriate
responses to the epidemic of gun violence. And, one assumes, about the limits of what regulation can realistically
accomplish.
Related post
11/7/25
AR-15's are so deadly because of the lethality of their .223 caliber ammunition, which is used in military
weapons. Identical ammo also regularly turns up at shootings, including mass shootings. Much of it actually comes
from a military plant. Missouri's Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is owned by the Government. But its operator also
wholesales its products to the private sector, where they are resold to retail consumers. Like the shooter who
bought over two-thousand rounds made at Lake City Armory, then used them to murder 21 persons during the 2022
massacre at Texas' Uvalde elementary school.
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Ten million
dollars. That's the amount awarded by a civil jury to a Virginia teacher who sued a former assistant principal
for ignoring student warnings that a six-year old had brought a gun to school in his backpack. That child opened
fire, permanently disabling first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner. It's not over for her former superior, who still faces
a criminal trial for felony child neglect. Nor for the child's mother, who drew four years on gun charges.
Related post
11/6/25 Torrance, Calif. police have faced intense scrutiny over a past litany of aggressive, racially-tinged
behavior. A former Torrance cop who was prosecuted for needlessly shooting a fleeing, knife-wielding Black man
in 2018 has just agreed to plead guilty and render community service. If David Chandler successfully meets the
conditions of release, charges will eventually be dismissed. Two Torrance cops - Cody Weldin and Christopher Tomsic
- recently drew probation after pleading guilty to felonies for spray-painting swastikas inside a suspect vehicle.
That happened in 2020. Two others - Matthew Concannon and Anthony Chavez - await trial for manslaughter in the 2018
death of Christopher Deandre Mitchell, whom they shot and killed as he sat in a stolen car, armed with an air rifle.
Related post
11/5/25 "Data-driven, focused operations" by Cleveland police and
a consortium of local, state and Federal agencies are targeting the armed, violent repeaters who reportedly troll the
city's crime "hot spots." According to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, “You have to lock them up, and you have to keep them
locked up.” That, says D.A. Michael O’Malley, applies to violent juveniles as well. "At some point, the crimes they
commit dictate that they need to be removed from society.”
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Two days ago, two FBI agents who had once investigated President Trump were fired. But a few hours
later, their firings were rescinded. Then yesterday, they were fired once again. Two other agents with the same
unfortunate investigative histories were also terminated. A few days earlier, the same fate befell 27-year FBI
veteran Steven Palmer, who had led a critical incident response team. According to
People, Palmer may have been a source of media reports about FBI Director Kash Patel's unseemly use of
Government jets.
Related post
11/4/25
"...a possibly illegal use of force." That's how Durango, CO police chief Brice Current characterized the video of
a masked ICE agent placing a woman in an apparent chokehold and (in the journalist's words) "throwing her down an
embankment." Chief Current said he's called in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to determine whether the Fed broke
a law. If the answer is "yes," Durango's D.A. said he'd assess the pros and cons before filing charges. Meanwhile the
FBI is investigating whether protesters (of which the woman was one) will face charges for their behavior.
Related post
When should "alternative responders"
be sent on 9-1-1 calls? And should they just help the cops or replace them altogether? In areas where such teams exist,
this decision is largely left to dispatchers. But an in-depth study at two agencies suggests that the "uncertainty,
subjectivity, and ambiguity" that characterizes many calls often drives dispatchers to simply send in the cops. That's
not always the best answer, and the article suggests approaches that can help call-takers decide when civilian experts
should take the lead.
Related post
11/3/25 A 13-year old North Carolina boy was wanted for murdering his grandmother. And
when deputies finally cornered the youth, he grabbed a two-by-four and charged. So a deputy shot him dead. Hoke County
Sheriff Roderick Virgil asked that residents “come together with compassion and understanding as we all process this
difficult event.”
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In the
New York Times, a probing piece examines the sharp ideological divide between the three liberally (i.e.,
"Blue") inclined Justices and their six conservative (i.e., "Red") peers. At the former extreme lie Justices Kagan and
Jackson. While Justice Kagan reportedly tries to avoid publicly "steaming," and thus lose all influence, her colleague
has taken to authoring "blistering dissents" that openly accuse the majority of kowtowing to “moneyed interests.”
What's more, Justice Jackson openly conveys her views at public speaking engagements. “I’m not afraid to use my voice.”
Related post
10/31/25 An analysis
by the Wall Street Journal reveals that between 2019-2024 "justifiable homicides" by ordinary citizens
increased 59% in the thirty States with stand-your-ground laws. In addition to eliminating the duty to retreat, many of
these States also passed laws that allow permitless carry. According to the WSJ's experts, when more persons routinely
carry guns, "the chances of using them in disputes" inevitably increases.
Related post
According to a Federal indictment, bribes "as large as 30,000 and $37,000" were accepted by fourteen rural
Mississippi deputies, including two Sheriffs, in exchange for helping drug traffickers ply their trade. Arrested drug
dealers exposed the scheme, and during the ensuing investigation crooked deputies provided armed escort services to an
FBI agent who pretended to be hauling drugs. This episode marks another chapter in a years-long saga pitting the Feds
against misbehaving Mississippi cops.
Related post
10/30/25 Second-degree murder. It's not the first-degree murder conviction that prosecutors sought. But the jury's
decision to take it down a (big) notch still means that former Illinois deputy sheriff Sean Grayson faces up to 20
years imprisonment for shooting and killing Sonya Massey, a distraught woman who allegedly threatened him with a pot
of boiling water. Ms. Massey ostensibly called 9-1-1 "to report a prowler," but then behaved oddly when Grayson and
his partner entered her home. Ms. Massey's father and her friends have voiced outrage that a lesser penalty will be
imposed. Sentencing will take place in January. Grayson had a sketchy pre-employment history, and Illinois laws that
regulate police hiring have been accordingly tightened up. Statute
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10/29/25 Arguing that the prosecution is "vindictive and selective," a consortium of university professors and
legal scholars filed a brief
in support of former FBI Director James B. Comey, Jr. Comey was recently indicted for allegedly falsely testifying
to Congress that he had never asked anyone in the FBI to leak information that disparaged President Trump. According to
the brief, the prosecution is politically-inspired and driven by a man who "has long viewed Mr. Comey as an adversary."
Related post
10/28/25 Despite the ongoing Federal incursion, D.C. continues to be plagued by gun violence. A dozen persons were
wounded in seven shootings that took place Friday night thru Saturday morning. Five of those struck had been attending
a Howard University homecoming event. Other victims included a child who was wounded in the face, a teenager who was
found lying on the street, and a man whom passers-by carried out from a building. The Howard shooting was apparently
prompted by an argument involving armed men. Two participants were arrested and police seized three guns.
Related post
It's not only Cincinnati. Residents of Boston's South End are also fed up. They're hollering about public drug use, home
break-ins and rampant shoplifting. Police have responded with a wave of arrests: 478 in the beset area between May 1-
Aug. 24 compared with 182 during the same period last year. Ed Flynn, the area councilperson (and a former probation
officer) praises the cops. He also berates his colleagues for a shortage of officers and an (apparently halted) move
to defund the police.
Related post
10/27/25 Ten years ago, then-LAPD officer Clifford Proctor shot and killed a homeless man with whom he had
gotten into a tussle. Although then-Chief Charlie Beck recommended manslaughter charges, then-D.A. Jackie Lacey refused
to prosecute. But her replacement, progressively-minded George Gascon, had promised to hold cops accountable. And shortly
before being voted out of office in 2024, he had former cop Proctor indicted - for murder. Proctor was just arraigned and
is being held without bail. But the new D.A., Nathan Hochman (he's promised to restore "balance") is re-examining things.
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"Dozens" of online videos of a large, early-morning North Carolina house
party show "underage drinking and people with guns." Attended by "well over 300," the Halloween-themed event descended
into chaos as two groups began to exchange gunfire. A 49-year old man and a 16-year old boy were killed, and twelve
others, ages 17-43, were wounded. A host of state, local and Federal agencies responded. As of yet, no arrests.
Related post
Cincinnati residents are fed up with violence. So its Mayor has asked that officers "enforce
the law as it is written, no matter how low-level of a crime that it is." Police have accordingly ramped up their response
to 9-1-1 calls and instituted a street crimes task force. These moves mark a sharp "reversal" from a years-long drive to
develop a "community-oriented problem solving" approach that replaced hard-nosed policing with alternative responses, such
as mental-health teams. But observers worry that going back to the conventional model won't bring down crime, and that
community relations will suffer.
Related post
Four men "scrambled
to escape" as a covey of Immigration agents descended on a Chicago neighborhood of "multimillion dollar" homes. ICE
has been conducting operations throughout the city, angering residents and leading to clashes settled with tear gas. In
this example the owner of a large home said he hired the workers to replace windows and siding, which they had been
doing for three weeks without incident. And no, he knew nothing about their immigration status. Three escaped; one was
caught and detained.
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10/24/25 A new Netflix documentary, "The Perfect Neighbor," depicts the
years-long struggles of a Florida neighborhood caught in the grips of a woman's obsession over kids who routinely played
in a vacant lot next to her home. Susan Lorincz frequently called police, and repeatedly invoked her supposed rights
under the state's "Stand Your Ground" law. And in June 2023 she acted on those "rights," shooting and killing the mother
of one of the youths. One year later a jury convicted Lorincz - of manslaughter. In a unique twist, the entire movie is
comprised of police bodycam footage.
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10/23/25 Students at Tartan High
School in Oakdale, Minnesota must now pass through a weapons detector when they walk in. Two-hundred guns have been
found in the State's schools since the pandemic. That, along with episodes such as the August shooting at a Minneapolis
parochial school that killed two and wounded thirty, has led schools to implement "secure entrances, lockdown systems,
reinforced windows and security cameras." Mental health support is being emphasized, and staffers trained in safety and
student behavior are being deployed.
Related post
"She got mad." That, in a nutshell, is how the prosecutor in the murder trial of
former Illinois sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson explained why the accused opened fire on Sonya Massey when she refused to
put down a pot of boiling water. Deputy Grayson's lawyer, though, defended his client's response as necessary to protect
himself and his partner from being doused with the hot liquid. “What happened to Ms. Massey was a tragedy but it was not a
crime.” But as testimony began, Grayson's then-partner testified that he had only considered Grayson to pose a threat.
Related post
10/22/25 Ruling 2-1, a Ninth Circuit panel overruled a lower judge's ruling that prohibited
President Trump from federalizing members of the Oregon National Guard. Federal law, the Justices said, lets the
President federalize National Guard troops if "regular" methods prove insufficient for enforcing Federal law. But the
panel didn't address a second ruling by the same lower-court judge that prohibited using National Guard troops to protect
ICE facilities in Portland. The Federal government argues that this ruling was nullified by the panel's decision. But
Oregon disagrees. In its view, protests in Portland are "generally peaceful" and don't rise to the level that requires
deploying troops. So the legal battle continues.
Related post
10/21/25 "Shoot it up." That's what family members told 9-1-1 that Billy Joe Cagle, 49, intended to do when he arrived
at Atlanta's airport. Police quickly moved in and arrested Cagle, whom they found hanging around a TSA checkpoint. A
loaded AR-15 style rifle was recovered from his truck, which was parked near the terminal. Cagle had streamed his evil
intentions on social media, and also posted that he was on anti-psychotic medication. Cagle is reportedly a convicted
felon, thus prohibited from having guns. And that's one of a host of charges he's now facing.
Related post
Can illegal drug users have guns? Not according to Federal law (18 USC 922g3). That's the statute that
the Feds used in 2023 to indict Ali Danial Hermani. Suspicion that he was involved with Iranian terrorists had led to
a search of his home. All that turned up, though, was a Glock pistol and marijuana. Hermani was also supposedly a user of
pot and hard drugs. And that's what the Government pounced on. So far, though, Federal courts have refused to go along. In
their view, Bruen and other cases have rendered the drug-user/gun prohibition Unconstitutional. But the Government
appealed. And the Supreme Court has just agreed to decide.
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