Replacing suspect faces with Lego heads, police staffing shortages, stricter policies on pursuits and drugs, stiffer sentences for AI related white collar crime, proactive policing sent searches soaring, FBI data shows crime dropped in 2023, Chinese organized crime dominating US illegal marijuana market, fentanyl epidemic getting worse, Kentucky crime data, school hate crimes, teacher misconduct, AI and LLM can help police, AI tech fighting retail crime, addressing non-consensual deepfake pornography, closed public records on crime in South Dakota, police transparency and the public’s right to know, video tech to improve criminal justice, and more…
POLICE CONDUCT
Why a California police department is replacing suspects’ faces with Lego heads (The Hill)
South Bend Police take an ‘aggressive stance’ in getting weapons and drugs off the streets (South Bend Tribune) see also: Michigan State Police implements stricter policy on pursuits, chases (Click On Detroit)
Balancing act: Assessing police efficiency amidst staffing shortages through inverse data envelopment analysis (Oxford Academic) see also: Weld County Sheriff’s Office to change response to certain calls amid staffing shortages (Greeley Tribune)
Santa Clara law enforcement officials indicted, accused of abusing positions (KSAT)
How proactive policing quotas sent NSW police searches soaring (ABC News)
CRIME RATE
FBI data shows US crime plummeted in 2023 but experts warn report is incomplete (The Guardian) see also: The U.S. crime rate is still dropping, FBI data shows (NBC News)
Gangsters, Money and Murder: How Chinese Organized Crime Is Dominating America’s Illegal Marijuana Market (ProPublica)
America’s ten-year-old fentanyl epidemic is still getting worse (The Economist)
Taking a closer look at Kentucky crime data (WKYT) see also: Here’s what’s in the GOP’s tough-on-crime bill called the Safer Kentucky Act (WEKU)
School Hate Crimes Tripled in States with Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws (Campus Safety Magazine)
Activists to call for preservation of Milwaukee police video release policy (Wisconsin Examiner)
The Learning Curve: Why Teacher Misconduct Is Still a Huge Problem (Voice of San Diego)
CRIM-TECH
AI officer: This is how the new Crime GPT tool will help Uttar Pradesh Police (Business Today)
AI-powered Technology Helps Fight Retail Crime (Yahoo Finance)
The UK’s Online Safety Act Is Not Enough To Address Non-Consensual Deepfake Pornography (TechPolicy.Press)
New Real Time Crime Center helps ECSO, PPD spot and solve crimes quicker (Pensacola News Journal)
How cell phone data connected woman to numerous ‘dinnertime burglaries’ across the Valley (12News)
POLICE TRANSPARENCY
Closed public records obscure reasons for crime trends in South Dakota (South Dakota Searchlight)
‘Why do you want to know?’: How Kansas police agencies respond to body camera requests (AOL/Kansas City Star)
Transparency should be non-negotiable at Austin police contract bargaining table (Austin American Statesman)
THE PRISON SYSTEM
The U.S. prison population is rapidly graying. Prisons aren’t built for what’s coming (NPR)
Baltimore’s new $1 billion jail will be most expensive state-funded project in history (The Baltimore Banner)
Optimizing the Use of Video Technology to Improve Criminal Justice Outcomes (CrimRXIV)
Brittany Suszan 