Body cam implementation and video release times move toward faster transparency, studying the mental health of police officers and first responders, effects of a smaller police budget, police misconduct multi-city comparison, gun safety, pandemic crime, police partnerships with predictive policing companies, and more…
POLICE CONDUCT
Iowa City to consider police liaison job to go on mental health calls (The Gazette)
Jersey City’s Quality of Life Task Force Introduces New Office, Promotes Resident Response Center in 2021 (TAPinto.net)
Fewer Police, No Parades: The Squeeze on Local Budgets (Governing)
Proposed Virginia bill would require police to release body cam footage within 15 days (WRIC) see also: Bill would require every Illinois cop to wear body cameras by 2025 — but will departments comply? (Journal Star)
Stress response of police officers during COVID‐19: A moderated mediation model (Wiley Online Library) see also: Occupational Stress and Anger: Mediating Effects of Resiliency in First Responders (Springer Link)
Police chief bans ‘Thin Blue Line’ imagery, says it’s been ‘co-opted’ by extremists (NBC News)
Rochester Police reform plan comes amid months of scrutiny (WHAM) see also: RPD body-cam video of 9-year-old girl getting handcuffed, pepper sprayed released (Democrat and Chronicle)
Federal Investigations of Police Misconduct: A Multi-City Comparison (2019) (Academia.edu)
CRIME RATE
New Colorado public service announcements focus on gun safety (9news)
Pandemic, Social Unrest, and Crime in U.S. Cities: 2020 Year-End Update (CCJ National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice)
HPD reports decreases in certain crime in 2020, credits community involvement (WHNT)
Journalism Industry Grapples With Rebuilding The Crime Beat (WBUR)
Oregon law to decriminalize all drugs goes into effect, offering addicts rehab instead of prison (USA Today)
CRIM-TECH
Amazon’s Ring worked with more cops than ever before in 2020 (Mashable)
Local Law Enforcement Quiet on Relationships With ‘Predictive Policing’ Company (Voice of San Diego) see also: Worcester Crime Prediction Tool Topic Of Council Hearing (Patch) and also: South Bend police considering new crime analysis software (South Bend Tribune)
Utah Bill Looks to Tighten Grip on Facial Recognition Use (GovTech)
POLICE TRANSPARENCY
New Virginia Beach crime data system will get information out quicker and identify trends sooner (The Virginia Pilot)
Wilmington need shooting incident records to be made public. Now. | Editorial (Delaware Online)
Can data from traffic stops end disparities in policing? (GCN)
THE PRISON SYSTEM
Confronted with significant flaws in coronavirus data, Pa. corrections officials concede ‘it’s unacceptable’ (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)
Local Spending on Jails Tops $25 Billion in Latest Nationwide Data (Pew)
DUMB CRIMINAL OF THE WEEK
Florida man accused of sex crimes cuts ankle monitor, starts GoFundMe to flee country (CSB 4 News)
Brittany Suszan 