Criminal Justice
NPR
For decades, American courts have had to take it on faith that drug-sniffing dogs were impartial. Testimony by a dog's handler, along with training records and credentialing by a local K-9 organization, were usually enough. But the recent spread of body cameras now threatens to upend that faith.
A newly filed federal lawsuit in Texas shows cameras' potential to undermine K-9 unit legitimacy. Houston resident Alek Schott accuses Bexar County Sheriff's deputy Joel Babb of pulling him over on Interstate 35 on false pretenses, and then, when he refused to give permission to search his pickup truck, he says K-9 unit deputy Martin A. Molina III prompted his dog to "alert" to the scent of drugs.
K-9 handler body camera video from Bexar County, Texas. At approximately 1:00, the deputy's right hand is seen in the corner of the screen, gesturing. Alek Schott is suing the sheriff's office, saying that gesture prompted the dog to jump on the door, giving deputies the right to open the truck and search inside. No drugs were found. YouTube "These guys are trying to destroy my life"
Historically, that claim would have been nearly impossible to prove. But in this case, Schott requested and received the officers' body camera footage, giving him almost the same view the K-9 handler had — including the moment the handler's right hand made a gesture toward the attentive dog, which then jumped up on the pickup's door.
"It's clear to me that he's telling the dog to alert," Schott says. "I thought, 'These guys are trying to destroy my life.' "
An unspoken thing is the many people in our society who are winners with mass-shootings.
1) Television Stations – Nothing gets people watching more television then parents grieving over dead children. More viewers means more advertising revenue. People who feel sad are more likely to go out and buy things to be happy. Billions of dollars in marketing possibilities.
2) Police Officers – Over-time means they take home more money. Moreover, they are able to get make the case to the public that they deserve the latest equipment and toys, and that they should be allowed to expand their forces and obtain higher wages and enhanced pension benefits.
3) Retired Police Officers – Many school districts and public places like malls are hiring retired law enforcement as security consultants.
4) District Attorneys – D.A. are able to make their case for re-election by showing they are taking steps to be tough on crime, they are given opportunities to speak and raise their public profile, which helps as they seek higher office with more power and increased pay.
5) Politicians – Politicians have the ability to champion new laws that can play to their base. They can push gun control or take a tough on crime posture, even if their proposals are either meaningless or even harmful to law abiding citizens.
6) Security/Defense Contractors – While mass-shootings are an extremely rare, very low-risk event, businesses, governments, and schools feel public pressure to invest billions in completely needless upgrades to “harden” buildings from attacks.
7) School Employees – Even school employees benefit from mass-shootings, as it’s an excuse to take taxpayer-funded junkets to learn about the how they can improve safety at their school. Who doesn’t mind spending a few hours in a lecture hall to discuss grim topics with consultants if it’s taxpayer-financed junket to Las Vegas or the Atlantic City (with meals and lodging paid for at taxpayer expense)?
The geography of mass incarceration in New York | Prison Policy Initiative
2020 Violent Crimes per 100,000 persons
Arrests of Non-Whites vs. Non-White Population
| Arrests of Non-Whites vs. Non-White Population (2021) | ||||
| A comparision of the Census Population data to arrests data in New York. | ||||
| County | Arrests of Non-Whites | Non-White, Non-Incarcerated Population | Absolute Difference | Percent Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany | 53.8% | 31.7% | 22.1% | 69.6% |
| Allegany | 12.0% | 8.4% | 3.6% | 43.2% |
| Bronx | 96.1% | 85.9% | 10.2% | 11.8% |
| Broome | 34.7% | 20.2% | 14.5% | 71.7% |
| Cattaraugus | 22.2% | 11.6% | 10.6% | 91.4% |
| Cayuga | 23.6% | 10.6% | 13.0% | 121.9% |
| Chautauqua | 27.3% | 14.2% | 13.1% | 92.4% |
| Chemung | 27.0% | 15.1% | 12.0% | 79.5% |
| Chenango | 5.2% | 7.8% | −2.6% | −33.5% |
| Clinton | 16.3% | 10.2% | 6.1% | 59.4% |
| Columbia | 31.5% | 16.3% | 15.2% | 93.1% |
| Cortland | 18.1% | 11.9% | 6.3% | 52.7% |
| Delaware | 14.2% | 10.9% | 3.2% | 29.6% |
| Dutchess | 46.8% | 29.4% | 17.5% | 59.4% |
| Erie | 52.9% | 27.3% | 25.6% | 93.6% |
| Essex | 4.9% | 8.5% | −3.6% | −42.8% |
| Franklin | 20.5% | 14.6% | 5.9% | 40.1% |
| Fulton | 14.8% | 10.0% | 4.8% | 48.3% |
| Genesee | 25.1% | 11.8% | 13.3% | 112.8% |
| Greene | 25.2% | 12.9% | 12.3% | 95.6% |
| Hamilton | 0.0% | 6.3% | −6.3% | −100.0% |
| Herkimer | 14.6% | 8.1% | 6.5% | 79.9% |
| Jefferson | 21.4% | 17.1% | 4.3% | 25.4% |
| Kings | 87.0% | 62.5% | 24.6% | 39.3% |
| Lewis | 3.2% | 5.5% | −2.3% | −42.5% |
| Livingston | 17.1% | 9.7% | 7.3% | 75.1% |
| Madison | 13.4% | 9.6% | 3.8% | 40.0% |
| Monroe | 65.1% | 31.6% | 33.5% | 106.3% |
| Montgomery | 38.4% | 18.9% | 19.5% | 103.2% |
| Nassau | 69.0% | 41.5% | 27.5% | 66.3% |
| New York | 86.8% | 50.0% | 36.8% | 73.5% |
| Niagara | 40.6% | 17.4% | 23.2% | 133.0% |
| Oneida | 40.7% | 19.8% | 21.0% | 106.0% |
| Onondaga | 53.3% | 26.0% | 27.3% | 104.8% |
| Ontario | 31.1% | 12.1% | 18.9% | 156.0% |
| Orange | 58.7% | 38.2% | 20.5% | 53.6% |
| Orleans | 23.8% | 12.6% | 11.2% | 89.2% |
| Oswego | 13.1% | 8.7% | 4.3% | 49.6% |
| Otsego | 14.3% | 10.5% | 3.8% | 36.4% |
| Putnam | 40.5% | 22.8% | 17.7% | 77.4% |
| Queens | 88.6% | 74.2% | 14.4% | 19.4% |
| Rensselaer | 41.7% | 21.4% | 20.3% | 94.7% |
| Richmond | 68.1% | 40.4% | 27.6% | 68.4% |
| Rockland | 68.1% | 36.5% | 31.6% | 86.6% |
| Saratoga | 16.7% | 12.4% | 4.3% | 34.3% |
| Schenectady | 57.5% | 32.2% | 25.4% | 78.9% |
| Schoharie | 11.2% | 8.8% | 2.5% | 28.1% |
| Schuyler | 8.5% | 6.4% | 2.0% | 31.5% |
| Seneca | 21.0% | 9.4% | 11.6% | 123.4% |
| St. Lawrence | 11.0% | 9.0% | 2.0% | 21.8% |
| Steuben | 13.0% | 9.2% | 3.8% | 40.9% |
| Suffolk | 55.6% | 33.0% | 22.6% | 68.5% |
| Sullivan | 43.9% | 28.1% | 15.8% | 56.4% |
| Tioga | 7.9% | 8.1% | −0.2% | −2.4% |
| Tompkins | 36.4% | 25.6% | 10.8% | 42.1% |
| Ulster | 37.4% | 21.3% | 16.0% | 75.2% |
| Warren | 11.6% | 8.9% | 2.7% | 30.4% |
| Washington | 12.0% | 7.7% | 4.3% | 55.7% |
| Wayne | 28.4% | 11.9% | 16.5% | 138.7% |
| Westchester | 79.6% | 46.9% | 32.7% | 69.8% |
| Wyoming | 19.4% | 6.2% | 13.2% | 211.2% |
| Yates | 10.2% | 6.1% | 4.1% | 67.9% |
| Andy Arthur, 1/31/23. Data Sources: 2020 Adjusted Population, Adjusted to Move Incarcerated Individuals to Arrest Location. LATFOR. latfor.state.ny.us/data/?sec=2020amendpop Adult Arrest Demographics for 2021. DCJS. criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/adult-arrest-demographics/2021/index.html |
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NPR
The FBI annualized collection of data from law enforcement agencies saw 7,262 crimes motivated by race, religion, gender or other factors last year. That's a decrease from 8,263 incidents in 2020. But those numbers offer misleading conclusions as they are drawn from a pool of 3,255 fewer law enforcement agencies.
Only 11,883 agencies out of 18,812 city, state, municipal and tribal law enforcement agencies around the county sent data to the FBI, down from 15,138 in 2020.