Author: scott prell

Police stops and naïve denominators | Crime Science

A comparison of the racial composition of police stops to the entire population of a city or jurisdiction is frequently cited as evidence of racial bias in proactive policework. This article argues that using base population is naïve to the realities of the distribution of crime and policing. Using the example of Philadelphia, PA (USA), the impact of different benchmarks to estimate racial disparity in stop data is demonstrated. The range of alterative benchmarks include the spatial distribution of calls for service, the locations of violent crimes, and the demographic composition of suspects in crime as reported by the public. The article concludes by arguing that if cities ask police departments to prioritize certain problems and places, benchmarks to which police are held accountable should better reflect those priorities.
— Read on link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40163-025-00252-y

How Mask Bans Threaten Free Speech, From New York to North Carolina | The Marshall Project

The problem with relying on identification technologies or some type of biometric technology is that you have to have a database that can compare the captured real time data. There is no all-encompassing database where cell phone usage can identify a person or facial recognition can identify a person. It’s difficult to identify a person after the incident.

Removing the mask would act as a deterrence. Why do people rob banks with masks on, because they don’t want to be identified. People who go to protests and act illegally would be deterred from doing so if they couldn’t wear masks. Most people are uncomfortable greeting a mask wearing stranger at their house. That’s because there is a certain connotation about people’s motives when they are wearing masks.

Privacy advocates worry banning masks at protests will encourage harassment, while cops’ high-tech tools render the rules unnecessary.
— Read on www.themarshallproject.org/2024/11/12/mask-bans-protest-surveillance

Manchester Airport video raises questions over police toughness – UnHerd

With new footage emerging from the Manchester Airport fracas, where a female police officer’s nose was broken, violence against law enforcement has once again been thrust into the spotlight.

Brothers Mohammed Fahir Amaaz and Muhammad Amaad are on trial for their part in the brawl with Great Manchester Police in the airport last July. Police officers had sought to arrest Amaaz after he was alleged to have headbutted another man, Abdulkareem Ismaeil, before a violent scuffle ensued. Jurors were shown footage of the incident’s aftermath, in which PC Lydia Ward was left with blood streaming from her nose. The officer — who is on record as describing herself as “petite” at 5’2” and eight stone — told the court that she was “absolutely terrified” during the experience.
— Read on unherd.com/newsroom/manchester-airport-video-raises-questions-over-police-toughness/

Trends in Gun Theft – Council on Criminal Justice

Hundreds of thousands of crimes involving firearms occur each year in the United States. In 2022, for example, guns were used in more than three quarters of murders, one third of robberies, and a quarter of aggravated assaults.1 But less is known about how people who use guns in violence acquire their weapons.

One source of guns used in crimes is theft.2 While research on the role of gun theft in gun crime is limited,3 a small but growing body of evidence suggests that stolen guns may play a significant role in violent crime. Stolen guns are more likely than other guns to be recovered in crimes,4 and gun crime appears to increase in neighborhoods from which guns have been recently stolen.5 Despite the potential importance of stolen guns as a source of guns used in crime, data on gun theft trends are limited
— Read on counciloncj.org/trends-in-gun-theft/

CPD Working to ‘Fix’ Problem That Led to 211K Undocumented Traffic Stops, Police Official Tells City Panel | Chicago News | WTTW

CPD reported to state officials that officers made 295,846 traffic stops in 2024. But police dispatchers recorded that officers made an additional 210,622 stops in 2024 that were not documented, raising questions about how many traffic stops took place last year.
— Read on news.wttw.com/2025/07/02/cpd-working-fix-problem-led-211k-undocumented-traffic-stops-police-official-tells-city

Exclusive | Dozens of troubled NYPD cops finally forced to resign after faulty hiring standards

Dozens of NYPD cops and recruits who failed to meet the department’s standards – including for mental health – are now being forced to resign, or else they will be fired from the force, law enforcement sources revealed Thursday.

At least 30 cops and cadets – hired between 2023 and 2024 under Inspector Terrell Anderson, who has since been transferred out of his role with the Police Academy – were notified of the NYPD purge Thursday, according to the sources
— Read on nypost.com/2025/07/10/us-news/dozens-of-troubled-nypd-recruits-finally-forced-to-resign-after-faulty-hiring-standards/

Critical Incident Preparedness Toolkit: Assessing Capacity to Respond to Active Assailant Events

This self-assessment tool is designed to assist public safety and emergency response professionals, school administrators and security professionals, elected officials, and communities in considering potential active shooter scenarios and options for dealing with them. The tool proposes questions to determine an agency’s preparedness status in seven categories, offers guidance to inform next steps, and recommends resources for improving policies and practices to reduce community potential for mass violence, swiftly respond to incidents, and enhance trauma and support services in their wake
— Read on portal.cops.usdoj.gov/resourcecenter/