Polling shows that public safety is among New York City voters’ top concerns. But it’s important to be specific when talking about the issue. Candidates in the recent Democratic mayoral primary focused mainly on quality-of-life issues — homelessness, mental illness, public drug use — and not on violent crime. There’s good reason for that: New York has seen a remarkable drop in murders, with the NYPD reporting shootings at an all-time low through the first half of the year. Of course, there is work left to do, including stemming a years-long rise in felony assaults — but it seems as though lower-level crimes are top-of-mind for many New Yorkers.
— Read on www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/calling-the-cops-less-often
Minneapolis Community Safety Ecosystem Asset and Gap Analysis: Findings and Action Plan
Harm in the Name of Safety — Flat Out Inc.
This report is about the harm that police do during a police response to family violence. I haven’t read the report. I leave it up to you to make your own decision. 
— Read on www.flatout.org.au/resources/harm-in-the-name-of-safety
KCPD has paid $20M in legal settlements since 2021 | Kansas City Star
The Kansas City Police Department has paid millions in legal settlements for wrongful death and excessive force cases from January 2021 to June 2025.
— Read on www.kansascity.com/news/local/article311258725.html
Can Philadelphia’s Youth Curfew Policy Really Prevent Violence?
Research shows curfews do little to reduce crime, but Philly community members believe the city’s curfew centers have become a vital hub for young people.
— Read on www.thetrace.org/2025/08/youth-curfew-violence-prevention-philly/
Murder Officially Plunged in 2024 – by Jeff Asher
That and more takeaways from the FBI’s 2024 Reported Crime in the Nation report.
— Read on jasher.substack.com/p/murder-officially-plunged-in-2024
Research: Police uses of lethal force dropped dramatically in US from 2021-23 – News Bureau
The number of police-involved lethal force incidents in the U.S. dropped 24% from 2021 to 2023, according to research from the Cline Center for Advanced Social Research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The Cline Center’s SPOTLITE project has compiled nearly a decade’s worth of data to track and identify police uses of lethal force across the U.S.
— Read on news.illinois.edu/research-police-uses-of-lethal-force-dropped-dramatically-in-us-from-2021-23/
Thousands of Once-Secret Police Records Are Now Public. Here’s How You Can Use Them | KQED
The database, which includes about 12,000 cases detailing police misconduct and serious use of force from hundreds of agencies, is the first of its kind in California.
— Read on www.kqed.org/news/12050100/thousands-of-once-secret-police-records-are-now-public-heres-how-you-can-use-them
Police oppose new plan to overhaul qualified immunity
The contentious debate over qualified immunity for police officers returned to Beacon Hill as law enforcement leaders forcefully pushed back against a bill that would ease the path for civil rights claims against officers in Massachusetts courts.
— Read on www.lowellsun.com/2025/08/03/police-oppose-new-plan-to-overhaul-qualified-immunity/
Jacksonville cops in hot water after brutalizing driver • Florida Phoenix
“We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” — The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Aug. 28, 1963
As galling as it has been to watch a Jacksonville sheriff’s deputy break a car window and punch a non-combative man in the face, the feeble justification from the sheriff and a determination from the state attorney that cops did nothing wrong is just as infuriating.
The Feb. 19 videotape of an encounter with William McNeil, Jr. and a posse of rogue officers from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and their brutal response, is a searing reminder of everything wrong with policing in America.
— Read on floridaphoenix.com/2025/08/02/jacksonville-cops-in-hot-water-after-brutalizing-driver/
