Author Archives: SpotCrime

Civil forfeiture, FBI 2020 data and potential shutdown of use-of-force database, violence and relations to socio-economic structures, gun violence, body cams, justice-as-a-platform, tech and data help improve police transparency, access to police disciplinary records, data driven solutions in the justice, US public divided over prison sentences, and more… POLICE CONDUCT Yes, police in most statesContinue reading “Week of December 6, 2021”

Louisiana law department that polices itself, medical workers for mental health, police officer identification stickers for special needs residents, stopping retail mob thefts, Indianapolis campus safety, gun violence, transparency and trust in law enforcement, public access to body cam footage, Tallahassee backtracks on new crime alert policy, second chances in Pennsylvania’s sentencing system, and more…Continue reading “Week of November 29, 2021”

Officers tired of overtime, police use data driven decision making, K9 disobedience, dangerous domestic violence calls highlight need for reform, police tech and the connection to transparency, lack of data hinders studies on police, Dallas Police remove data from open data portal, data transparency builds trust in police, access to body cam footage, prison bankingContinue reading “Week of November 15, 2021”

Communities highlight need for crime prevention, USCs troubling delay in reporting crime, police traffic stops, inside gun detection software, Tesla police cars tested in Spokane, using tech to stop human trafficking, a billionaire’s son border war, prison staff shortages among COVID, and more… POLICE CONDUCT Dayton to use mediation response for some nonviolent 911 calls (DaytonContinue reading “Week of November 1, 2021”

Police budgets are used not only to hire officers, but also to purchase tech from companies to aid in police work. Anything from body cams to surveillance tech to in-car computers to RMS/CAD systems are typically hired out to a private vendor company rather than created and maintained in house by the police departments themselves.Continue reading “The Undue Influence of Police Technology Companies on Open Crime Data”

Police staffing crisis, use of force, addressing violent crime, focused interruption, evaluating camera surveillance use by police, geofence warrants, body cams, crime rate, and more… POLICE CONDUCT Officials vow to increase police staffing, with available officers at historic low (Berkeleyside.org) see also: Chicago on pace to lose more than 1,000 officers due to resignation, retirement (WGN) and also: HowContinue reading “Week of October 25, 2021”

NJ cops can’t be fired or promoted based on arrests, New Mexico removing police from mental health calls,  unpacking gun violence, Chicago consent decree, new company analyzes body cam audio for problem officers, 3 states begin to share gun crime data, better crime databases needed, TN kids charged with crimes that don’t exist, and more…Continue reading “Week of October 11, 2021”

DHS commission looks at best law enforcement practices, CA law strips badges from bad officers, NYC union leader resigns,  ‘hunting’ protestors in Minneapolis, domestic violence awareness, looking at recent FBI crime data, flawed gang database, geofence warrants, OH promises transparency in felony cases, and more… POLICE CONDUCT Columbus police to focus on gangs as partContinue reading “Week of October 4, 2021”

Bipartisan talks for police reform end, tracking use-of-force not so easy, AGs address police accountability, studying the mental health of police officers, LA DA dismisses marijuana convictions, murders rose in 2020, not all agencies report data to FBI, body cams costs, police use of tech and the state of surveillance, Alabama ends open access toContinue reading “Week of September 27, 2021”

In 2019, we published an op-ed at the University of Florida Brechner Center Freedom of Information outlining the issues Marsy’s Law has caused in the collection of public crime information. Two years later, Marsy’s Law in Florida continues to take its toll on police transparency. Many other states have implemented their own version of Marsy’s Law withoutContinue reading “Marsy’s Law continues to hinder police transparency in Florida”