Our Not-So
"Golden" State
(10/3/26 #488)

"Proposition fever" turns
Calif.'s crime numbers into
an even more confusing bag

Climate Change
(8/16/26 #487)

As the planet warms,
arson's consequences
get even grimmer

Try, Then Try Again
(8/3/26 #486)

Should prosecutions be
abandoned when juries lean
strongly to "not guilty"?

"More" Isn't
Always "Better"
(7/17/26 #485)

Chicago-area Federal
prosecutors resign en masse

Jameson
Was a Doodle
(6/26/26 #484)

Were bullets the correct
"solution" to a 106-pound
dog's bounding approach?

The Fewer the Better
(5/29/26 #483)

Flack over D.C.'s 2023 crime
surge led police managers
to adopt an "easy" fix

Who's Minding
the Door?
(5/4/26 #482)

Protective assignments
aren't done until
the protectee's gone

Another
"Straw Purchase,"
Another Massacre
(4/29/26 #481)

A gun changes hands.
Eight children die.

Should Cops
Ever Chase?
(4/15/26 #480)

Risks to innocents
may be unmanageable

Justifiable? Excusable?
Criminal?
(3/16/26 #479)

A father guns down
his child's molester.
He then runs for Sheriff.

Must Impulse Rule?
(2/19/26 #478)

Hasty policing
yields tragic outcomes

What's Up in L.A.?
(1/30/26 #477)

Crime is reportedly down.
But police shootings
are (way) up.

Place Still Matters.
A Lot.
(12/11/25 #476)

A dispute between gangsters
devolves into the massacre
of children

L.A.P.D. Blues
(11/12/25 #475)

Is ideology driving
an ex-cop's prosecution?

Take Over? Take Care!
(Part II)
(10/23/25 #474)

San Francisco lands - for
a time - on the Prez's "hit list"

Take Over? Take Care!
(10/4/25 #473)

Invasions can't fix
what's really broken

Does "Why" Matter?
(8/21/25)

The causes of criminal
violence remain in dispute

A Money Pit
(7/28/25)

Feeding cops and lawyers
is very expensive

Post-Pandemic Blues
(7/7/25)

Thievery, some of it violent, besets our nation's recovery

More Poverty,
Less Trust
(6/23/25)

Citizens who most need the
cops trust them the least

Violence Isn't Down
for the Cops
(5/30/25)

More officers are being murdered. Mostly, with guns.

All in the Family
(5/12/25)

A foot pursuit of hit-and-run
suspects turns into a firefight
with an armed resident

Putting Things Off
(5/30/25)

Pursuits Kill Innocents.
What are the Options?

Gun Control?
What's That?
(4/1/25)

Ideological quarrels beset
gun laws, gun law-making,
and gun law-enforcing

Forewarned is Forearmed
(3/19/25)

Killings of police officers
seem inevitable.
What might help?

Who's Under the Gun?
The ATF
(3/6/25)

Going after gun controllers,
for the usual reasons

Point of View
(1/30/25)

Do scholars really "get"
The Craft of Policing?

All In the Family (II)
(1/6/25)

A decade after Part I,
domestic killings remain commonplace

10/9/26  June 5, 2028. That's the trial date set for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and three of his key helpers: Walid bin Attash, Ammar al-Baluchi, and Mustafa al Hawsawi. Another, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, has been declared mentally unfit for trial. According to the defense, his condition stems from the same torture and coercion that the C.I.A. bestowed on each of his colleagues. That, in turn, has led military judges to exclude all of the confessions, most recently al-Baluchi's. Government lawyers are appealing. Related post

"Livestreamed." That's the promise Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just made about the forthcoming December 3rd. firing-squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan. In 2009 then-Major Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, yelled "Allahu akbar" as he unleashed repeated salvos from a handgun in a medical building at Ft. Hood, Texas. His reputed "purpose" was to keep soldiers from going to Afghanistan to fight the "war on terror," which was kicked off eight years earlier by 9/11. Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32; he was paralyzed by return fire. Secretary Hegseth said that his demise will be streamed to the world in real time. Related post

An L.A.-area public bus driver refused to suddenly stop the bus and let a passenger out. So Jose Antonio Zayas, 55, pulled a gun and shot him dead. He then took his bicycle from the rack in front of the bus and pedaled away. Zayas was arrested and faces murder and ex-con with a gun charges. According to the L.A. Superior Court portal, his criminal record includes a 2015 felony conviction for "carrying a dirk or dagger." He also has convictions for unlicensed driving. Related post

10/8/26  Two years ago an American-born Somali teen exchanged messages about committing acts of terror with a person who turned out to be an FBI informant. He soon expressed his desire to perpetrate a massacre of non-Muslims at a forthcoming event at Minnesota's Mall of America. And to accomplish that he met with an undercover FBI agent at a park near the mall and paid him $600 for an AK-47 rifle and 200 rounds of ammo. Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, was immediately arrested. DOJ news release   Related post

San Jose, CA has "more than 500" ALPR (lic. plate) cameras across town. Fears of their abuse aren't unfounded; after all, a local cop was recently fired for sharing ALPR data with a family member. But a local judge just held that their deployment doesn't violate privacy rights. His decision follows on a State Circuit Court ruling that allowed ALPR data to be used in a murder case. After all, folks know they can be filmed while out in public. But San Jose has one guardrail: ALPR data is only stored for thirty days. Related post

L.A. school zones and other locations beset by speeders and street racers are getting 125 speed cameras. Rear license plates of vehicles clocked at more than 10mph over the limit will be compared to DMV records, and registered owners will be mailed fines ranging from $50 to $500. These non-traffic, civil penalties were authorized by a "pilot" state program that will be in effect in six large California cities. According to local transportation experts, speed cameras have been found to reduce speeding by up to 82% and fatal wrecks by up to 71%. Related post

10/7/26  "American high-school students." That's whom a shocking, in-depth New York Times piece accuses of supplying guns, including lethal assault rifles, to buyers for the Mexican cartels. In one assertedly common practice, the youngsters "pool" their money, and an 18-year-old goes to a gun store and buys, say, an AK-47-style rifle. One of the "masterminds" told a reporter that "dozens of students from at least 20 Phoenix high schools" supply him with guns that they acquired legally and otherwise for illicit resale. Related posts 1   2

Three Chicago-area teens, ages 15, 16 and 17, hijacked a large SUV at gunpoint, then drove at speeds up to 120 mph.as they fled police on a wild, accident-ridden chase that ended in Gary, Indiana. They were captured by officers who surrounded a local home, and were then booked into Lake County's Juvenile Center. Related post

Larry Krasner, Philly's progressively-inclined D.A., is in a fix. A judge's in-depth look at his attempt to exonerate a convicted murderer suggests that Krasner pressured senior D.A.'s to "scapegoat" a newly-hired D.A. when it turned out that the evidence didn't support a new trial. But they refused to hand off the blame. And when they sought to refer the matter to the A.G., Kasner threatened "consequences." The judge has referred Krasner to DOJ for trying to get the Court "to accept a false narrative." And possibly obstruct justice. Related post

10/6/26  Sixteen "aliens" have been charged with Federal election crimes. According to DOJ's news release, each is a "lawful permanent resident." All were charged with falsely claiming to be citizens in order to vote. All but one are also accused of actually casting a ballot. Their homelands include Italy, the Bahamas, Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico, Macedonia, Liberia, Lithuania, Germany, Bosnia, Canada and South Africa. Related post

Ninety-two pounds of meth. That's what a Tulsa (OK) deputy found while digging through the large amount of luggage that Melisa Kyle had stuffed in her car. Flock cameras recorded its movements for a month, and the vehicle's brief foray into California raised his suspicion. So after stopping Ms. Kyle and having a chat, he conducted a warrantless search. While other courts have found that such uses of license plate reader data do not violate the Fourth Amendment, Oklahoma Federal Judge Sarah Hill disagrees. That meth, she ruled, was indeed the "fruit of the poisonous tree." Related post

No car chases. That's one of the new rules that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers must follow. What's more, they cannot make stops unless they've successfully completed a special training course, are wearing activated body cameras, and their vehicles are equipped with lights and sirens. Bottom line: if a suspect flees, officers are limited to taking down information "for further investigation." These rules are in a memo that ICE recently issued after a spate of stops led to injuries and deaths. Related posts 1   2

10/5/26  On September 28 Kentucky State Trooper Hayden Phillips was shot and killed during a traffic stop. Emonnie Branch, 51, was soon arrested. Branch had been serving a five-year probationary term for "fraud-impersonate." Nashville's WSMV4 reports that Branch's crime history includes "firearm, fraud, robbery, assault and probation-related cases." Among these is a 2009 guilty plea to gun possession by a felon, for which he got three years. Related posts 1   2

Roger Fortson was alone and carried his pistol to the door when he responded to loud door knocking by a Florida cop. Sheriff's deputy Eddie Duran was there on an apparently misdirected domestic disturbance call. And when he saw Fortson holding the gun (it was pointing down) he promptly shot and killed the 23-year-old U.S. airman. That happened in May 2024. Duran was fired and charged with manslaughter. But a jury just acquitted him. Related post

He was imprisoned 25 years and once came near execution. But an appellate panel recently agreed that Justin Michael Wolfe, an admitted drug dealer, was wrongly prosecuted for ordering a supplier killed. That murder was admittedly committed by another youth, Owen Barber, whom authorities reportedly coerced to implicate Wolfe or face the death penalty. So he did. But Virginia abolished the death penalty in 2021, and Barber recanted. Others have confirmed Wolfe's innocence. He recently pled guilty to drug sales and has been released on time served. Related post

Two men ages 20 and 33 were killed and twenty-five persons were hospitalized after gunfire erupted during a Georgia homecoming block party. "At least 50 shots" were discharged in a residential area of Vienna, a rural town two hours south of Atlanta. According to the sheriff's office, "more than 1,000 persons" had gathered for the early-morning festivities, and deputies were already in the area. No information about suspects or motives has yet been released. Related post

A.I. can't substitute for a victim's own words. That's what the Arizona Court of Appeals concluded as it ruled on a case where prosecutors used an A.I.-generated video during the sentencing phase that starred the late Christopher Pelkey, who was fatally wounded during a 2021 "road rage encounter". His assailant, Gabriel Paul Horcasitas, was convicted of manslaughter and got ten years. But the justices found that the re-enactment was unreliable and ordered that Horcasitas be resentenced. Related post

10/2/26  Christa Pike was 18 when she and her 17-year -old boyfriend murdered a 19-year-old coworker at a Tennessee Job Corps site. He drew life without parole because of his age, but she got the death penalty. And on Sept. 30, Ms. Pike was lying on her deathbed as officials injected her with pentobarbital. But neither of two doses killed her. She's now in critical condition at a hospital. Governor Bill Lee has canceled another inmate's forthcoming execution. And what comes next is up in the air. Related post

A three-year-old pulled out a holstered gun from his backpack and passed the duo around to his buds in a Michigan daycare. Fortunately a teacher quickly stepped in. It turns out that the gun - a Glock pistol, no less - was registered to his mother. And his dad's a Detroit cop. Both parents are charged with misdemeanors, including violating a state gun storage law. That statute, which requires guns be locked up when kids are around, was passed two years ago after a six-year-old accidentally killed his five-year-old cousin with grandpa's shotgun. Related post

Former Dallas cop Amber Guyger was fired and convicted of murder after shooting and killing another dweller of the apartment building where she lived. That incident, which took place in 2018, happened when she mistakenly entered the wrong apartment and took Botham Jean, who was eating ice cream, to be an intruder. After serving seven years of her 10-year sentence (prosecutors had asked for 28), Guyger was just paroled. Related post

10/1/26  "Shock gloves", the new, controversial control tool being deployed by ICE, are out in California. Just signed by Gov. Newsom, a bill prohibits their use by local, state and Federal officers for at least two years, when the results of a special study of their risks will be in. His move faces imminent challenge from the Feds, as it usurps the President's control of his employees and may thus be in conflict with the Constitution's Supremacy Clause. Related posts 1   2

Two years shy of a quarter-century. That's how long the cops in record-busting Oakland have been overseen by a Federal monitor. A Federal inquiry into the agency's "Riders" - a group of officers who allegedly ran rampant, making false arrests, planting evidence and using needless force - led to the 2003 decree. But the monitor now says that all the 51 court- ordered reforms are done. Skeptical civil rights groups asked for a delay, but the judge thumped his gavel. City released - monitoring done! Related posts 1   2

Community violence intervention works! That's the conclusion of a university study of the Detroit "shotstoppers" program, which sent civilians to intervene, ahead of time, with individuals and groups considered "at high risk" of violence. Like resources were provided to affected neighborhoods. In 2024, the program's second year, citywide homicides and non-fatal shootings were down 12% and 26%. But the corresponding percentages for the shotstopper zones were a considerably more robust 33% and 38%. Related post

9/30/26  Eva Olesen's surving relatives object. But after "decades" of imprisonment, Douglas Stewart Carter, who was sentenced to death for murdering the Utah woman in 1985, has been released. Last year the Utah Supreme Court ruled that his conviction was produced by official misconduct and ordered he be retried. Carter has insisted that his confession was coerced. A DNA analysis also excludes him as the source of blood found on the murder knife. Witnesses against him said they were paid to lie. And Olesen's husband, who died in 2009, is thought a suspect. In all, the D.A. seems reluctant to try again. Related post

174 handguns with obliterated serial numbers. And 92 bundles containing about 368 pounds of suspected heroin. That's the booty that Michigan State Police motor carrier officers seized from a semitruck during the early afternoon hours of September 24. It happened during a "routine commercial vehicle stop" on Interstate 69. And, yes, the driver was arrested. And a largescale investigation is on. Related post

9/29/26  Ten new gun laws. According to Cal Matters, this package represents outgoing Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom's final stab at gun control. Measures include a requirement that in future years gun purchasers will have to complete a four-hour training course. Persons who possess or transfer guns lacking valid serial numbers would be barred from having guns for ten years. "Red flag" laws that seek to prevent mentally-ill persons from getting guns will also apply to ammunition. 3-D printers must have blocking technology that keeps them from being used to make illegal guns or gun parts. And there's more! Related posts 1   2

Is street lighting a crime solution? Maybe, says an academic study of D.C.'s 2023 conversion to LED lighting. Findings reveal "significant reductions" in nighttime property-related crimes and in some gun- related crimes. Improvements did moderate over time and did not transfer to daylight hours. There was no evidence that crime was displaced elsewhere, and there was no impact on arrest numbers. Bottom line: it was all about deterrence. Related posts 1   2

9/28/26  "Woefully inadequate." That's how L.A. Mayor Karen Bass characterizes the training that LAPD officers receive for dealing with the mentally-ill. But "specialized intervention training" isn't offered to ordinary patrol officers. And while police shootings are down overall, episodes such as the recent killing of a man with a bat have driven the Mayor to request major changes. As has, one supposes, her looming electoral showdown with a notably "liberal" candidate who has long criticized LAPD. Related post

"Retiring under protest." That's what former U.S. prosecutor Sheri Mecklenburg wrote in her letter to U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, who leads Illinois' Northern District. Ms. Mecklenburg accused her former boss of forcing her to prosecute the "Broadview Six" immigration protesters on felony charges instead of the misdemeanors she preferred. That led to the case's failure. But the case fell apart, and she claims that her forced silence and "scapegoating" destroyed her reputation and her career. Related post

Justices Jackson, Kagan and Sotomayor comprise the Supreme Court's well- known liberally-minded cadre of three. And this time they've come together to object to the Trump administration's move to link Social Security information to DHS's SAVE immigration database, which States have long used to probe whether voters are U.S. citizens. Problem is, the other six Justices feel that a D.C. District Judge's order banning the use of Social Security data comes too close to the midterms. So they're staying the ban and, for now, are letting the Feds proceed as they wish. Related post

"Imagine a strip club...I'll leave it at that." A mid- morning fight at a Detroit residence being used for other purposes devolved into a shooting that left three men in their 30's dead and wounded two men and two women. According to the police chief, officers had been called to the venue, which was "under investigation," seven times this year. Related post

"I'm tired of this world." That was the sentiment voiced by 49-year-old New York City resident Pamela Cisneros as she flaunted two large knives that she had used to stab one man dead and wound another. Police officers tried to calm the mentally-disturbed woman, and fired Tasers when their words had no effect. But neither did the Tasers. And as Ms. Cisneros started "quick-stepping" towards a cop, "knives outstretched," two officers pulled their guns and opened fire, killing her. According to the police commissioner, the cops "did exactly what they’re trained to do." Related post

9/25/26  Eleven million dollars. That's what a civil jury awarded the family of a mentally-ill man whom LAPD officers shot and killed two years ago. A 9-1-1 caller reported that a man was chasing someone while wielding a knife, and soon after the cops arrived and took cover Wilver Blanco, 42, came after them as well. So they opened fire. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and the Police Commission deemed their actions justified. But the plaintiffs argued officers could have taken lesser steps, such as using a less-lethal weapon. Related post

Criminal "fraud and official misconduct" charges have been levied against five Indianapolis police officers who allegedly used Flock license-plate readers to track their spouses and acquaintances. One cop resigned; the other four were suspended and are set to be fired. According to the police chief, their activities came to light during a system-wide audit that was prompted by a Washington Post inquiry into one of the officers' use of Flock cameras. Related post

Minnesota demands permits and a 30-day wait. St. Paul and Minneapolis extend the wait to sixty days. But DOJ finds that imposing such conditions on ordinary gun buyers, who don't even plan to carry their guns, is "intolerable under the Constitution." After all, "when a person needs to defend their home, they need to defend it now, not thirty to sixty days from now." So the Feds are suing. Related post

Twenty-five million bucks. That's what the A.G. is offering "state, local and tribal" governments who join the "Assisting Neighborhoods and Governments with Enforcement of Laws" (ANGEL) program. All they need do is have their cops identify, detain and help prosecute illegal aliens who have committed local, state or Federal crimes. Related post

9/24/26   Three renowned policing experts caution that technologies essential to modern policing - gunshot detection, license plate readers, closed-circuit TV, facial recognition, and drones - pose unique threats to human privacy. Unless protections are "built in," abuses are inevitable. Specialized policies and training, access controls, independent confirmation of developed leads, limits on sharing and retaining data, and "real consequences for misuse" are vital. Related post

A long-running scheme by Santa Clara Co. (CA) sheriff's officials to seek bribes for issuing CCW gun permits just led to a guilty plea by former Undersheriff Rick Sung. He's the sixth to be convicted in the affair. Others convicted include former Capt. James Jensen. In 2024 he drew 10 mos. in jail for issuing gun permits in exchange for donations to Sheriff Laurie Smith's reelection campaign. Sheriff Smith was never convicted. But she was adjudged civilly liable in 2022 and forced to resign. Related post

9/23/26  "I'm tired of this." Those are the words that a 60-year-old custodian uttered before opening fire on co-workers at the South L.A. senior living facility where he was employed. Why Darryl Arnette Barnes shot a woman in her forties and a man and a woman in their sixties, leaving one critically injured, hasn't been said. Police officers soon arrived. They arrested Barnes and recovered his handgun without further incident. Related post

9/22/26  An analysis of 197 U.S. mass shootings between 1966-2025 revealed that lethality was not simply a product of cartridge energy. Instead, it was the combination of an AR-15-pattern rifle firing a rifle-class cartridge that really mattered. High-capacity magazines also figured, on their own. AR-15's may have figured strongly in massacres because of their accuracy, lower recoil, robust aftermarket, and special appeal to the ill-intentioned. Related posts 1   2

Three Northern California police agencies arrested Derek Spencer, 44, three times earlier this month: first for "felony vandalism, assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest," then for "suspicion of burglary," and finally for "suspicion of stealing a car." Each time he was released O.R. or on bond. He then embarked on a final "spree," flaunting a gun, shooting at a car and killing a woman in her home. A chase by deputies ended in a gun battle, during which the fugitive set a brush fire. He was ultimately shot dead. Related post