Policing Matters

Unintended consequences of California‘s Prop 47

In 2014, California voters overwhelmingly (59 percent to 41 percent) passed Proposition 47, a law that downgraded a variety of crimes — such as burglary, shoplifting, and grand theft — from felonies to misdemeanors. If the value of the stolen property is under $950, the perpetrator will likely receive no penalty, creating a “green light” for bicycle thieves. “A thief may now steal something under that limit on a daily basis and it will never rise to felony status,” said the National Review in early 2018. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug are joined by special guest Vallejo Police Lieutenant Jason Potts in a discussion of the unintended consequences for citizens and police created by the law.

Using DNA evidence in police investigations

In late April, police arrested a 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo for a series of rapes and murders committed in the 1970s and 1980s. Dangelo (a.k.a. the Golden State Killer) was apprehended when a surreptitiously obtained DNA sample matched the DNA of relative on the other side of the country who had registered with a website and service that enables users to trace their family heritage. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the ever-increasing role of DNA evidence — as well as the rapidly growing use of publicly available DNA databases — in police investigations.

Why retail store ‘no chase‘ policies are a dilemma for LE

A trend in retail sales is to instruct employees to not attempt to stop a shoplifter. Such “no pursuit” policies among retailers have implications for police. Principally, this turns a responding officer into little more than a report taker, not an enforcer of the law. Further, those same stores that refuse to prevent the loss of products to theft simultaneously demand that officers be more present in their neighborhoods to prevent criminal activity. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the impact that private sector “no pursuit” policies have on public sector police.

Ordering food while in uniform

While attending ILEETA 2018 in Saint Louis in late March, I heard from multiple reliable sources that at least one nearby restaurant had something of a “sick out” among employees when they learned that the hotel next door was hosting some 800 of the most elite law enforcement trainers and educators in North America. Subsequently, service at the restaurant was impossibly slow. I didn’t experience this first hand, but enough people told the same story, so I tend to believe it. Some restaurants and other establishments refuse to serve cops. Worse, some places serve the police, but with some pretty vulgar extra ingredients. Meanwhile, some big restaurant chains go out of their way to warmly welcome police patrons. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the issues related to meals on your tour.

How Marsy’s law protects victims’ families

The year is 1983. A University of California Santa Barbara student named Marcy Nicholas is stalked by an ex-boyfriend and brutally murdered. A week after Marsy was murdered, her mother and brother are confronted by the accused murderer in a grocery store. They had no idea that he had been released on bail. Dr. Henry Nicholas — the key backer and proponent of Marsy’s Law — notes that criminals have more than 20 individual rights spelled out in the U.S. Constitution, while the surviving family members of murder victims have none. States such as California, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Ohio are considering — or have already passed — laws and Constitutional amendments that address this disparity. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss issues related to victims’ rights (or lack thereof).

Protests following an officer-involved shooting

Recently, Sacramento police officers were investigating reports of a man who had been smashing car windows and was bounding fences in people’s backyards. In the body camera footage released soon after the OIS, one can hear an officer shouting, “Show me your hands! Stop!” The subject continued to flee. The officers continued their pursuit. Upon making contact with the individual, one cop shouted “Show me your hands! Gun! gun! gun!” Both officers opened fire. What Stephon Clark had in his hands was not a gun — it was a mobile phone — but in the dark during a rapidly unfolding, high-stress situation such as this, an objectively reasonable (Graham v. Connor) officer could easily have perceived a weapon. The family is calling for criminal prosecution of the officers. Protesters shut down an NBA game in Sacramento in response to the shooting. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss how the mainstream news outlets and social media — along with the efforts of organized groups — creates such an uproar after an officer-involved shooting.

Should drug dealers get the death penalty?

United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently issued a one-page memo calling for death penalty for drug dealers when it is “appropriate.” Sessions asked prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug-related offenses as part of an effort to combat the opioid crisis. The memo said, in part, “Drug traffickers, transnational criminal organizations, and violent street gangs all contribute substantially to this scourge. To combat this deadly epidemic, federal prosecutors must consider every lawful tool at their disposal.” According to a Quinnipiac University poll taken just days after the release of the memo, 71 percent of Americans queried on the subject oppose such a policy. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss whether or not such a policy targeting “large-scale drug dealers” might become a judicial quagmire.

FGM in the USA: The reality of the brutality

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. Police are among the people who are “mandatory reporters” of suspected abuse or neglect. Abuse can take many forms — from physical harm to emotional damage. One relatively unknown form of child abuse is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) — the practice of the removal of a female’s clitoris and labia. Women in places like Dijibouti, Egypt, Guinea, Mali, Northern Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Somalia have undergone this brutal “procedure.” Astonishingly, this brutal form of child abuse is becoming prevalent in the United States. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss how police should respond to reports of FGM.

Primary considerations for crime scene management

At a crime scene, patrol officers, investigators, and others need to do a lot of things simultaneously. They must create and maintain an inner and outer perimeter, ensuring that access is only given to those who warrant it. They must begin a crime scene log and maintain it all the way through. They must preserve evidence, and make note of how evidence may have been affected by responding EMTs and/or firefighters. In this podcast episode, Jim and Doug discuss the best practices for ensuring that the scene is processed thoroughly and properly.

Is there a place for ‘mindfulness’ in policing?

A study by two professors from the School of Professional Psychology at Pacific University examined 47 officers with an average tenure of nearly 14 years from police departments around the Pacific Northwest who engaged in exercises designed to enhance their physiological and psychological resilience. They practiced body-awareness exercises, mindful movement, martial arts exercises, and meditating while walking, sitting, and eating. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss what “mindfulness” really is, and how it can benefit officers and organizations.