Public Safety
Covering topics such as corrections, criminal justice, emergency management, gun control and police/fire/EMS.
Sunset Mesa residents are pushing for fireproof construction with noncombustible materials to shield entire blocks and attract affordable insurance.
It isn’t just about constitutional rights and fairness. Underfunded, undervalued public defense is also costly to taxpayers. A few states are showing the way toward meaningful reforms.
Despite the former president’s claims, data shows violent crime is down more than 20 percent across the city and for the first time in four years homicides were down amid efforts to curb deadly violence.
The Coachella Valley faced a particularly dire threat of flooding as it acts as a drainage basin for two 10,000-foot-plus mountain ranges and low-income farming communities, like Mecca and Thermal, sit at the valley’s low center.
A report by Morgan State University found that the law enforcement agency does not support employees to speak out against the culture or problematic events and troopers of color have said they were subjected to micro- and macroagressions.
At least 14 school resource officers will be at campuses across the city, one of the most significant changes since the shooting at East High School five months ago, overturning a three-year-old policy which had previously removed the officers.
The city’s air quality index hovered between 170 and 190 on Sunday evening and was ranked the worst in the world as smoke from ongoing wildfires in British Columbia, Eastern Washington and the Cascades enveloped the city.
The island’s Emergency Management Agency reported that the sirens are for tsunamis and are not a part of the agency’s standard wildfire response protocol. Instead, a variety of emergency notifications were used to alert residents of the danger.
The state has the nation’s highest rate of gun violence per capita. Residents experience more gun violence than even those living in California, and a survey found that more than half of residents have experienced physical violence.
Some states have taken steps to shield their election workers from intimidation and harm, but there’s a lack of urgency at the federal level. A nationwide threat requires a nationwide response.
The city’s homicide rate was up 80 percent, car break-ins were up nearly 90 percent, vehicle thefts have doubled and reported assaults increased 40 percent as compared to pre-pandemic numbers in 2019.
Fast-moving wildfires have torn through the historic Hawaiian city of 12,000 and have damaged or destroyed approximately 270 structures. So far, more than 11,000 people have been flown off the island since the fires began earlier this week.
The agency will address its plan to clean an industrial site that is leaking cancer-causing chemicals and contaminating approximately 80 homes in the predominantly low-income neighborhood of North Texas.
Gov. Laura Kelly appointed Col. Erik Smith to head the state law enforcement department, which has been a consistent source of troubles for years, including allegations of domestic violence, sexual harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination.
Volunteer Florida reported that $32.5 million of the money was awarded in grants to groups such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Another $4 million was set aside for a small-business recovery program.
A new state law requires armed personnel on every public school campus starting on Sept. 1, a change intended to increase security and safety after last year’s Uvalde massacre. There are 318 registered school marshals across the state.
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