Public Safety
Covering topics such as corrections, criminal justice, emergency management, gun control and police/fire/EMS.
Elected prosecutors have a critical role to play in responding to policies that can erode trust and endanger public safety.
Following the release of a report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation about police technology risks, experts shared insights into what is hype and reality with new policing tools.
As the president honored 14 ordinary Americans who defended democracy, Republicans in Congress engaged in a silly game to elect a speaker of the House. The contrast could not have been greater.
Our attention to attacks on political figures fades quickly as we move on, seeing them as the isolated acts of deranged individuals. But we need to face up to the deep problems they reflect in our society.
Prosecutors will no longer be able to use rap lyrics as evidence; it will not be a crime to loiter for the purpose of sex work; courts will be barred from disclosing someone’s immigration status; and inmates will be allowed to make free phone calls.
The county program runs images against a database of roughly 9 million mugshots of people who have been booked into detention facilities, but lacks a way to track its outcomes or effectiveness, according to a report.
Oregon has had an ambivalent relationship with the death penalty for decades. Meanwhile, tackling issues with blanket policies versus case-by-case, a Pennsylvania House dispute continues and odds and ends to close out the year.
Georgia’s efforts to discourage voters had an impact in the state’s Senate runoff. Fairness and justice still won out, but we should be making it easier — not harder — for people to register and vote.
An analysis of nearly 92,000 Road Home grants statewide found that the program to help homeowners rebuild after hurricanes Katrina and Rita gave more funding to wealthier neighborhoods than low-income ones.
Since 2000, 375 railroad workers have been killed on the job and more than 109,000 have been injured. But last year the National Transportation Safety Board investigated just 14 train incidents.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced this week that thousands of residents will see their cannabis possession convictions either fully or partially erased as part of the 2021 law that legalized use of the substance.
Too often, our policy responses are guided by fear rather than evidence.
A new bill would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and limit gun accessibility for those under 21. A sweeping federal complaint has been filed in the state court system in the wake of the Highland Park shooting.
Some are advocating bringing it back. But it doesn’t get many guns off the streets, it exacts a heavy toll on those who are stopped, and it corrodes trust in police.
Changes to Texas’ power grid have improved ERCOT’s ability to keep power flowing during major winter storms, but in an extreme scenario, the grid could still face rolling blackouts, a seasonal assessment shows.
Research shows that mass violence leads to higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide among young people and an overall decline in a community’s sense of well-being. “People really grossly underestimate the social cost of gun violence.”
