Gee, who didn’t see this coming?

(Daily Mail) Police departments across the country that have spent years boasting about plummeting crime numbers are now scrambling to confront something many agencies have not seen in decades: more bloodshed.

Houston, St. Louis, New Orleans and Baltimore have all seen significant spikes in the number of homicides this year. The totals are up in other cities, too, including New York and Chicago.

“We’re in scary territory,” said Peter Scharf, a professor at Louisiana State University who tracks homicides in New Orleans.

In Los Angeles, the number of slayings dropped slightly, but the number of shooting victims jumped more than 18 percent. And in Milwaukee, a homicide on Wednesday put the total for the year at 84 – just two fewer than happened in all of 2014. (more…)

This story says a lot about the lack of prosecution for violent assault offenders. A suspect has been arrested for sexual assault of a Vanderbilt student on campus. The University tells students “heads up” even though he’s been caught, he might get out on bond again, and so be on the lookout.

”  […]  He is not affiliated with Vanderbilt and should he make bail, he will be warned not to return to campus. If you see this person on campus, please call VUPD immediately”…

On Saturday July 11, 2015 at 11:13 a.m. a female student reported that while walking on 24th Ave South near the Free Electron Laser building and McTeire Hall she was assaulted by a man who pushed her to the ground from behind, then grabbed her buttocks and groped her and said “do not make a sound”. The student then yelled and ran from the area towards Medical Center East and entered a crowd of people.

A photograph of the suspect was identified by the victim. (more…)

Judge Jennifer Walker-Elrod, Judge Jerry Smith and Moonbat Judge Carolyn King heard oral arguments Friday from an Obama administration appeal to lift the Judge Hannen injunction blocking implementation of President Obama’s Executive Action on Immigration. (full backstory here)

(via Politico) […] The Obama administration has argued that the executive actions were a standard use of prosecutorial discretion, since the federal government does not have the resources to deport the estimated 11 million immigrants here illegally. But Judge Jerry Smith disputed that contention.

“It puts them one step ahead in terms of being eligible for lots of potential benefits, whether those are Social Security and Medicare, work authorization, earned income tax credits, and on the state level, drivers’ licenses,” Smith said of immigrants who would benefit from Obama’s actions. “Just seems to me that … it really is a lot more than prosecutorial discretion.”

And Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, like Smith a Republican appointee, repeatedly grilled administration lawyers on Friday. (more…)

The specific message, and the specific manner of delivery, by Jamiel Shaw will resonate with infinite magnitudes within communities besieged with violence – beyond the message of illegal alien criminals. Because the heartfelt message of the Shaw family is purposeful, raw and easy to recognize as heartfelt.

“We love Mr. Trump. We’re happy, because we know he spoke up and he said something,”

(Via KTLA) The family of an L.A. high school football star who was killed by an undocumented immigrant expressed support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s controversial views on Mexican immigrants, standing with Trump as he spoke about the issue in Beverly Hills Friday.

Relatives of Jamiel Shaw Jr. met with Trump at an undisclosed location Friday afternoon and later attended a news conference with him.

Shaw died at age 17 in a 2008 shooting near his Arlington Heights home when gang member Pedro Espinoza mistook him for a rival gang member because of the victim’s red Spider-Man backpack. (more…)

… and, oh yeah, she’s in her 80’s !

BURBANK (FOX 11/CNS) – Police said Saturday that a woman in her 80s who was hospitalized after a home invasion robbery in Burbank may have been targeted because of her age.

The woman, identified by a neighbor as Geri Dickinson, was home alone in the 1000 block of Cornell Drive when she answered a knock at the door at 8:20 p.m.

A suspect described as a Hispanic male around 30 years old, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, of medium build and wearing dark clothes, forced his way into the residence, Burbank Police Department Lt. Adam Cornils said. (more…)

CHICAGO (WLS) —  Her car damaged, her nerves shaken, the victim of an alleged group attack near the University of Chicago campus with her children in the back seat of her car talked exclusively with ABC7 Eyewitness News about the incident Friday night.

Police say two people were arrested and charged after the incident, but that woman says several dozen people were involved. Her two kids left covered in broken glass. The encounter left several dents in the vehicle, the back window shattered and Susan Pedersen shaken. (more…)

[However] Mayor John Cranley said “Saturday night was unacceptable”, but called it a one-time event. He blamed poor planning for the problems, including too few officers and allowing a concert aimed at teenagers to end after the city’s curfew. (link)

CINCINNATI Ohio – Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell has reconsidered and is asking Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters to pursue hate crime charges in the Government Square attack that left a white man beaten and bloody on the Fourth of July.

Police Officer Alicia Essert called the beating “anti-white” in the incident report, but at a news conference about the incident, Cincinnati Police Capt. Mike Neville backed off that claim, calling it a “mistake.”

“In many cases, a hate/bias relationship between the offender(s) and suspect(s) may not be easily apparent at the time of, or even shortly after the commission of the offense,” police spokeswoman Tiffaney Hardy said in a release. “Often, hate/bias elements become evident only after thorough investigation and review of the available evidence.” (more…)

Many people were shocked when Baltimore Mayor Rawlings-Blake fired the Baltimore City Police Commissioner (Chief) yesterday.   Almost everyone was left wondering exactly why did the firing take place with such fervor following the Fraternal Order of Police report.

Having followed the political fiasco since the crisis originally surfaced it is likely the answers lie in the following paragraph:

[…]  It should be noted that as part of this review, repeated requests, including a formal Maryland Public Information Act request, were made of the Baltimore Police Department to supply communications between commanders (both text and email), radio communications tapes and other documents to assist in the review. As of July 6, 2015, Baltimore City FOP Lodge #3 has only received one tape from April 27, 2015 and from only one channel — a small fraction of the information requested.

Full report pdf below:

(more…)

This is severely interesting:

UPDATE – Here’s Video

In a short statement sent to The Baltimore Sun, Rawlings-Blake’s office said: “Effective immediately, Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis will become Interim Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department.”

It’s unclear whether Batts resigned or was fired. Rawlings-Blake and Davis will hold a news conference at 4:15 p.m.

(more…)

FLORIDA – The Marion County Commission on Tuesday unanimously agreed to restore the Confederate flag that had been removed from the McPherson Governmental Complex two weeks ago.

Several members of the public spoke in favor of restoring the flag during the commission’s bi-monthly meeting on Tuesday morning. At the end of the meeting, the commission unanimously agreed to restore the flag. It will also create a historical display so that people can understand the significance of the Confederate flag as well as the other flags flying in front of the complex.

The Confederate flag was removed in the wake of the June 17 killing of African-American churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. The accused killer had expressed racist beliefs and had been pictured waving the Confederate flag. (more…)