We need competent responders every hour of the day, every day of the week. But we often don’t have them.
To help address hiring and retention issues, the city police plan to hire 35 civilians this year to investigate low-level crimes, internal affairs complaints and cold cases. The department currently has 519 civilian employees.
The city has become the state’s most watched police department with both a federal monitor and strong civilian oversight. After a scandal exposed abuses, Oakland’s civilians have the power to overrule the police department.
Without any documented potential crime or policies with instructions, officers collected and stored personal data and social media posts about demonstrators who participated in the 2020 racial justice protests.
Despite medical risks and a department policy that requires officers to assist injured people, Los Angeles police officers will often wait several minutes before approaching a person they’ve just shot.
Eight jurisdictions say they have either approved or installed automatic license plate readers, nine reported having no plans to consider the devices and three are still undecided.
Mayor Ted Wheeler suggested that the Committee on Community-Engaged Policing “take a breather” to allow the city to hire more support staff, provide more training and find facilitators. The group only has seven of 13 seats filled.
The new commission, which was first proposed two years ago in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, will have subpoena power, access to crime scenes and records and will conduct a variety of investigations.
The billing would happen when private ambulance services are overwhelmed and the city’s fire department has to fill the gap. Residents already receive a bill from private firms, such as AMR. Staffing shortages are behind the problem.
In a vote along party lines, the state Senate rejected $20 million in matching grants to equip local and county police agencies with body and/or dashboard cameras, with Republicans claiming the bill was premature and open-ended.
A new report found that while harmful police tactics were reduced overall, there are still inequities. Last year the city’s police still used force on Black people 12 times more than white people and five times more than Hispanic people.
The city’s controversial anti-crime unit will return to Staten Island’s North Shore with a new name, new uniforms complete with body cameras, and new tech that uses facial recognition technology. But some still worry about the unit’s impacts.
The CHP, one of California’s largest police agencies, does not provide body cameras for 97 percent of its officers.
Residents across the Maryland county are reporting instances in which they are forced to wait several minutes before they’re connected with a 911 operator. Improving call center retention and efficiency could help alleviate the issue.
The police department does not currently have a timeline for implementing the technology. The process has been delayed by discussions over privacy and public access to the footage.
A survey found residents want police to write reports and be interviewed before being allowed to view body camera recordings. They also favor the immediate public release of videos showing police using deadly force.
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