Abraham Lincoln described America as a nation “conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Today’s Left portrays America as a nation conceived in slavery, and dedicated to the perpetuation of racial oppression. When CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell asked Joe Biden in the summer of 2020, “Do you believe there is ‘systemic racism’ in law enforcement,” Biden answered, “Absolutely. But it’s not just in law enforcement. It’s across the board. It’s in housing. It’s in education. It’s in everything we do.”
Such assertions of “systemic racism,” both in our police forces and in America writ large, are the topic of the latest issue of the American Main Street Initiative’s Quick Hits: “Are Cops ‘Systemically Racist’—and Is America?”Quick Hits are readable four-pagers, chock-full of key information on important issues of the day.
During the same summer Biden told America that its cops and its broader society are systemically racist, the Bureau of Justice Statistics—the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Justice—undertook a meticulous examination of the demographics of those who commit crimes and those who are arrested for crimes. I was the director of BJS at the time, and this inquiry was led by Allen J. Beck, Ph.D., who was the top-ranked statistician at the bureau and had begun his tenure there during the Reagan Administration. Our aim was to see whether police disproportionately arrest alleged offenders of one racial group or another—that is, whether police appear to be biased against, or in favor of, any particular race.
The results of this inquiry were released in mid-January 2021 and are discussed in the newly released Quick Hits. BJS compared victims’ accounts of who committed crimes against them (rather than relying upon cops’ own reporting) with the arrest records of police. For serious nonfatal violent crimes reported to police, BJS found following:
White people accounted for 41 percent of offenders and 39 percent of arrestees;
Black people accounted for 43 percent of offenders and 36 percent of arrestees;
Asians accounted for 2.5 percent of offenders and 1.5 percent of arrestees.
None of these differences between the percentage of offenders and the percentage of arrestees of a given race were statistically significant. (The findings are limited to nonfatal crimes for the simple reason that murder victims are unable to identify their assailants.)
In other words, the best available evidence suggests that, in terms racial demographics, cops are arresting those who actually commit the crimes. As the Quick Hitssays, “Far from providing evidence of ‘systemic racism,’ such statistics provide evidence of systemic justice.”
The latest Quick Hits also highlights other illuminating statistics. For example, according to victims’ own accounts, a whopping 70 percent of violent incidents involving black victims also involved black perpetrators. BJS writes, “Among black victims, the percentage of violent incidents perceived to be committed by black offenders (70%) was 5.8 times higher than the representation of black persons in the population (12%).”
Despite such high rates of intraracial violent crime committed against black residents, however, black Americans on the whole are victimized by violent crime at rates similar to other Americans. To quote Quick Hits, “The reason for this is that there are comparatively few violent crimes committed by white (or Hispanic) residents against black residents.” Indeed, violent incidents involving black offenders and white victims were 5.3 times as likely as those involving white offenders and black victims—a huge disparity.
Again, all of these statistics are according to victims.
“Our history shows that America is a nation conceived in liberty, which fought for and won the freedom of the English colonists and later of the slaves,” the new Quick Hitsconcludes. “And while today’s race-obsessed Left seeks to re-instill a divisive race-consciousness, the evidence indicates that the actions of our police forces are consistent both with the hard-won colorblind ideal and with our founders’ dedication to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
—————————————————————————– It always strikes me funny on how no matter what. This GREAT Nation of ours always comes to the right way to do things. Which is why I love it so!!!!!!!!!!!!!Grumpy
Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson died this past June 15. He was 80 years old. For almost 30 years he served the state as a Texas Ranger and you can read about is life in the two great books that he wrote, “One Ranger” and “One Ranger Returns.” Following his retirement, Joaquin ran an investigation & security company and also served for many years as a director of the NRA.
Ranger Jackson and I became friends back in the 1970’s when a North Texas car theft investigation took me to Jackson’s area of South Texas. After I moved to Southwest Texas and was elected a county sheriff, Jackson and I worked a number of cases together, including a manhunt in the canyons along the Pecos river for a man who had brutally murdered his girlfriend. Having spent a good deal of time with Joaquin Jackson, I can safely say that he married the only person that he was ever afraid of.
Like a lot of us, Ranger Jackson favored the 1911 pistol in .45 ACP caliber. His constant companion was a Colt Lightweight Commander with Mexican silver & gold stocks on it. In addition to that, he always had a Winchester Model 94 carbine, with an 18-inch barrel, close at hand. If things got really bad, Joaquin also had a Remington semi-automatic shotgun and a selective-fire M-14 in the trunk of his car.
What I really enjoyed about Joaquin Jackson was the fact that, for all of his adventures and dealings with criminals, he never lost his sense of humor. He loved life and you just naturally laughed a lot when you were around him.
He was also a very strong supporter of a citizen’s right to own firearms. We worked in an area that had, and still has, quite a number of gun owners. That never bothered Joaquin. He knew that those same gun owners were there to help us and all we ever had to do was to call on them. Later in life, he was led down the primrose path by a reporter and was hornswaggled into making statements that sounded like he didn’t think that citizens ought to own an AR-15. I can assure you that he did not truly feel that way and he learned a valuable lesson about talking to the press.
Joaquin Jackson was a friend, a family man, and a Texas Ranger. Above all, he was a Texas Ranger, the kind that the folks in our state are so proud of. Finally, he was my friend and I miss him.
Enough Lying. It’s Democrats, Not Republicans, Who Are to Blame for Most Child Gun Deaths | Opinion
Story by Jeff Charles
The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee made a stop in New York City this week, in order to “examine how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg‘s pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents.” As witnesses, the hearing featured the family members of victims of gun violence in New York, as well as other victims of Bragg’s soft on crime approach.
MSNBC‘Understanding gun violence is in the numbers’: Parkland father on AR-15 being 25% of weapons sold
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MSNBCHayes: Republicans ignore gun violence when fearmongering about crime
5:23
MSNBCAn Actual Debate: Two gun owners argue over open-carry
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House Democrats did their best to smear their Republican colleagues as attempting to pull off a stunt to distract from the indictment of former President Donald Trump. At times, they called the witnesses props, and accused the Republicans of not caring about crime and violence because if they did, they would support Democratic efforts to enact gun control.
“Gun violence is now the leading cause of death of children in America and kills 40,000 Americans a year, and my colleagues vote repeatedly against even the most common sense gun violence prevention measures,” said Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) during the hearing.
But invoking gun control measures at a hearing about crime is gaslighting at its best, as was the invocation of the statistic that gun violence kills 40,000 children a year. A closer look at that statistic shows that it is Democrats who are failing most of those kids, not Republicans.
The numbers come from a new report out of the Pew Research Center, which found that gun deaths among children have risen by 50 percent in just two years. The report analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and revealed that in 2022 alone, there were over 2,500 gun deaths among children aged 0-17. This marks a significant increase from 2019, when there were just over 1,700 gun deaths.
The report found that homicides were the largest category of gun deaths among children in 2021, making up 60 percent of the total, followed by suicide, which made up 32 percent. Accidental gun deaths accounted for five percent.
But gun deaths by homicide and gun deaths by suicide were not evenly distributed among from different communities. The report found that Black children were five times as likely as white kids to die from gunfire. Forty-six percent of gun deaths involved Black victims, though they account for just 14 percent of the U.S. population. Meanwhile, white kids were more likely to die by suicide.
And unfortunately, given what we know about this data, gun control restrictions are not likely to make a big impact in putting an end to these deaths, for the simple fact that most of those shooting children and teens are doing so with illegally-obtained firearms.
Those arguing for more gun control measures cannot adequately explain how these laws would save lives. Criminals who engage in violence do not obey laws, so simply passing more laws will not necessarily prevent gun violence. The vast majority of criminals commit their crimes using firearms that they obtained illegally. More restrictions on lawful gun owners will do nothing to address this issue, though it may endanger people who would otherwise be able to protect themselves.
People like Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who made headlines after getting into a shouting match with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) over gun control, love to scream about how the government needs to limit gun ownership as a means of curbing gun violence. Yet, in Bowman’s own district, gun crimes have risen considerably despite New York having some of the strictest gun laws.
After suicide, most gun violence is gang-related, a problem that’s complex and requires a multifaceted approach that addresses root causes such as poverty, substandard education, and a lack of opportunities, as well as better, more effective, and more consistent policing. And making it more difficult for law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms will not address this problem. It will only endanger them.
Research shows that the overwhelming majority of defensive gun uses are never reported to law enforcement or the media; a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that there are up to 3 million defensive gun uses per year in the United States.
These statistics demonstrate that guns can play an important role in self-defense and personal protection. It could also enable adults to defend their children from gun violence.
The numbers coming from the Pew Research Center study should be disturbing to any American of conscience. But the bottom line is that targeting lawful gun owners will not make a dent in the number of gun homicides among children and teens. Addressing the root issues that lead to more violent crime, along with dealing with the issue of illegally-obtained guns, will save more lives. The question is: When will our politicians get on board?
Jeff Charles is the host of “A Fresh Perspective” podcast and a contributor for RedState and Liberty Nation.
CIPD SWAT (Cherokee Indian Police Department/Facebook)
“During its April 6 meeting, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council unanimously approved an ordinance change exempting police car and body cam videos from the tribe’s public records law,” Holly Kays of the Smoky Mountain News reports.
“The vote comes on the heels of a Dec. 13, 2022, Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT response in which officers fired at Murphy resident Jason Harley Kloepfer after he opened the door to his home with his hands held above his head, according to a home security video Kloepfer posted Jan. 18.”
The interests of gun owners in a complete and transparent investigation are clear: Kloepfer was evidently shot as a first reaction by tribal Indian SWAT because of the presumption based on a 911 call from a neighbor that he was armed and dangerous. Any gun owner who might find himself wrongfully accused, whether it be due to a “red flag” complaint or other confiscation order could have his life, and the lives of those he lives with, put in immediate danger. As evidenced by an armed homeowner fatality in a recent wrong house raid, the victim doesn’t even have to be the subject police are looking for.
Without strong checks and balances to ensure police accountability, the danger to all citizens, armed or not, will remain, and it’s not unfair to wonder what part editorial bias might play in the media’s lack of interest in the Kloepfer story. The notable exception is Smoky Mountain News, which has been on top of this story from the start. That’s no small show of commitment when close-knit connections on the part of powerful and seemingly immune local civil authorities are considered.
As things stand, particularly noting “Video of the Dec. 13 shooting had been subpoenaed — but two weeks later, criminal charges against Kloepfer were dismissed and the subpoenas were never executed,” any assumptions outside that civil authority loop about bodycams are speculative. That makes it paramount that investigations receive credible oversight to ensure they are transparent and complete.
This is especially true since, during the Tribal Council meeting, “concern about placing such a strong barrier to public access of law enforcement recordings” was minimal, and “the few representatives who offered comment indicated they saw protection for officers as the priority and cited a desire to give [Cherokee Indian Police Department Chief Carla] Neadeau ‘what she wants’ in this matter.” The ordinance was submitted by Neadeau, and states “It is not feasible nor in the public interest to subject recordings made by body-worn and in-car cameras to the EBCI’s [Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian’s] public records law…”
That’s facilitated by North Carolina state public records law, which “provides that these recordings can be released to the public only by court order.”
Chief Neadeau and the Tribal Council are effectively saying what’s in the police’s interest is in the public’s interest and they’re codifying that into law. And with the lack of concern by major media to inform the public, no one but a handful of citizens will be the wiser.
The unanimously passed ordinance, awaiting action from “Principal Chief Richard Sneed, who has 30 days to either sign it, veto it, or let it pass into law unsigned,” follows:
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
Mas (left) on his last day as a cop, carrying Range Officer .45; then-Chief Walt Madore wears a department-issue S&W M&P .45.
I’m writing this while teaching a class in Arcadia, Calif. I was pleased to note the issue sidearm for Arcadia cops is the Colt Government Model .45 auto. Those who pack the company gun have nothing to apologize for.
The first American lawmen to pack the 1911 .45 appear to have been the Texas Rangers. I read that Ranger Paul McAllister reportedly carried one as early as 1912. The Rangers and Colt have always had a special connection; the Texas Rangers first proved the efficacy of Colt’s seminal Paterson revolver, and Ranger Captain Samuel Walker secured the order for the big .44s that later bore his name, kick-starting Colt’s empire.
During the violent 1930s, 1911s got another boost. Federal agent Charles Winstead used a “government .45 automatic” to kill John Dillinger outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago in 1934. Unfortunately, bad guys of the period used them, too. The 1911 was the favored pistol of not only Dillinger himself but Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd and Clyde Barrow.
In the late 1960s, LAPD’s trend-setting SWAT team chose the 1911 as their trademark sidearm. Los Angeles also armed their Special Investigations Section with 1911s early on, but not until the 21st Century were these SA autos authorized for rank-and-file patrol and detectives. A special course was required before authorization to carry on duty.
The 1960s saw a renaissance of the 1911 with some other departments in California. Hollow point bullets were just coming in during that decade, and the big .45 slugs were considered more effective “man stoppers” than the non-expanding .38 Special rounds of the period, with less recoil than a .357 Magnum. A seven-round magazine with an eighth round in the chamber constituted a one-third firepower improvement over the traditional six-shot service revolver, and in a time before speedloaders were common, they were dramatically faster to reload. Eight-round single-stack magazines came later, and higher capacity double stacks later still.
On NYPD’s famed Stakeout Squad in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Jim Cirillo’s partner Bill Allard killed more criminals in face-to-face gunfights than any other member of the unit. His preferred gun was the National Match .45 auto, which he had special permission to carry. Legendary DEA gunfighter Frank White was another famed 1911 .45 man in the late 20th Century. Gun expert Scott Reitz, late of LAPD SWAT, is another very satisfied user of John Browning’s classic pistol.
This silhouette is the shape of the future: a Staccato 9mm 1911 with carry optic.
Life-Saving Features
Many chiefs and firearms instructors disallowed the 1911 because it had to be carried cocked-and-locked, and they feared officers would forget to thumb off the safety in a fast-breaking defensive incident. One reason this is less of a concern today is the AR15 rifle, which has all but completely supplanted the shotgun as the standard patrol car long arm, has a thumb safety that works with the same movement as the 1911, and at least in theory this should make it second nature to a trained officer.
A cardinal 1911 advantage is found in weapon retention. A 1981 study published in Police Chief magazine found the average person could fire a double-action revolver in about 1.2 seconds, but the average person in the test group took 17–18 full seconds to find the safety lever on a 1911: The department in question accordingly adopted 1911s. This “proprietary nature to the user” feature is a proven lifesaver.
Its short, easy, straight-back trigger pull makes the 1911 a perpetually match-winning pistol. That same feature improves hit potential under life-threatening stress. The single-stack cartridge capacity mitigates against “spray and pray” mentality. The result seems to be a high hit ratio in police shooting incidents.
A 1911’s cocked and locked carry, as seen on this Springfield Ronin, is a proven lifesaver.
Perspectives
I started carrying a 1911 Colt .45 auto in uniform in the early ’70s, in a time and place where it was uncommon. I heard other cops mutter, “He’s a maverick! He’s a radical!” By 1990, I was lecturing for the Washington State Law Enforcement Instructors Association, and a young police trainer in the front row spotted the Middlebrooks Custom Colt Government .45 on my hip and said in a stage whisper, “Look! An old 1911! Hasn’t this dinosaur ever heard of GLOCKs?”
I wore a Springfield Range Officer .45 on the day I retired from police work in 2017. Today I see young cops with the Staccato 9mm and optical sight — currently seen as cutting edge in police sidearms and standard issue for the U.S. Marshals Service Special Operations Group — and realize the 1911 design has come full circle from state-of-the-art to “geezer gun” and back to cutting edge again. The 1911’s place in modern American law enforcement is not predominant but still secure and here to stay.
A possible New York gun crime scene (Steve Sanchez Photos/Shutterstock.com)
Crime is a people problem. If you understand nothing else about crime, you must understand this — crime is committed by people. It is not committed by inanimate objects, and while data on criminal activity can be charted as a trend over time, trends don’t commit crimes, people do. There is a word for people who commit crimes; we call these people “criminals” and, if anyone is interested in investigating trends, one trend is fairly consistent — most violent criminals are repeat offenders, and will not stop this behavioral pattern unless they are locked up in prison.
Keep all these facts in mind the next time you hear Democrats or the news media (but I repeat myself) discussing “gun violence” as an issue. Democrats do not want to discuss crime as a people problem, but rather as a gun problem, because (a) most gun owners are Republicans and (b) most criminals are Democrats. Or, that is to say, the violent crime problem in America is largely concentrated in urban areas where Democrats get the majority of the vote.
If Democrats don’t want to prosecute actual convicted felons for illegally possessing firearms, why do they expect their demands to ban “assault weapons” to be taken seriously?
Research by John R. Lott Jr. highlights just how geographically concentrated the murder problem is in the United States. Of the more than 3,000 counties in the country, 52 percent had zero murders in 2020, while the 31 counties with the highest murder rates (the worst 1 percent) had 42 percent of the nation’s murders. Expand the focus to the worst 2 percent (62 counties), and these accounted for more than half (56 percent) of U.S. murders in 2020. Lott concluded: “Murder isn’t a nationwide problem. It’s a problem in a small set of urban areas …”
Yes, but what about “gun violence”? What about the inflammatory rhetoric of Democrats demonizing the National Rifle Association (NRA) as somehow to blame for America’s crime problem? Among other things, Lott took into account rates of firearm ownership, and found an inverse relationship between the prevalence of murder and rates of gun ownership: “According to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey, the household gun ownership rate in rural areas was 79% higher than in urban areas. Suburban households are 37.9% more likely to own guns than urban households. Despite lower gun ownership, urban areas experience much higher murder rates.”
So much for the correlation between gun ownership and crime. What do we know about the correlation between politics and crime? The five U.S. cities with the highest per capita murder rates are St. Louis (69.4 per 100,000 population), Baltimore (51.1), New Orleans (40.6), Detroit (39.7), and Cleveland (33.7). In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden got 82 percent of the vote in St. Louis, 87 percent in Baltimore, 83 percent in New Orleans, 94 percent in Detroit and 80 percent in Cleveland. In other words, the most dangerous cities in America are all Democratic Party strongholds.
These facts are not difficult to discover, if anyone is willing to do a few Google searches, but you would probably have no idea about any of this if your source for news was ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS, the New York Times, the Washington Post or the Associated Press. The so-called “mainstream media” seem to operate as a cartel, doing everything in their power to prevent the public from learning the truth about crime in America. Consider the simple matter of what counts as a crime story of national interest. The cartel media love to go into 24/7 coverage mode on “mass shootings,” but are notably selective in their choices as to which ones deserve such attention.
For example, did you hear about the mass shooting in Philadelphia last week? One person was killed and four others were wounded in an incident in which more than 50 shots were fired in a garage in the city’s Kensington neighborhood. According to WPVI-TV, this was the 84th mass shooting in Philadelphia since 2020, but how many of those mass shootings got so much as one word of coverage on CNN? Pretty close to zero, I’m sure. The fact that Philadelphia has had more than 500 homicides in each of the past two years? CNN and other members of the media cartel ignore it, for the simple reason that the bloody carnage which has earned the city the nickname “Killadelphia” doesn’t help advance the preferred political narrative.
Most of the facts about crime in America don’t fit that narrative. According to the FBI, in 2021 there were about 23,000 homicides in the country and, based on data from 2019, about 54 percent of U.S. murder victims are black people, most of whom are killed by other black people. It is impossible to discuss violent crime in America without acknowledging that at least half of it involves black people, both as victims and perpetrators, despite the fact that blacks are only 14 percent of the U.S. population. The national media clearly doesn’t want to discuss this — for reasons that are fundamentally political — and so the picture of crime in America conveyed by the media is distorted beyond recognition. This political distortion produces a yawning chasm between the reality of crime and its portrayal in the news media.
Democrats are the intended beneficiaries of this warped coverage, and it is obvious that they never expect to be held accountable for their rhetoric about crime. Exhibit A is Joe Biden who, whenever any mass shooting attracts national attention, predictably repeats his call for banning so-called “assault weapons.” No reporter ever seems to question this response, as if it were self-evident that such a ban would eliminate mass shootings or, at least, reduce violent crime. However, this belief is not borne out by the data. According to the FBI, there were only 403 murders in 2017 in which the weapon used was a rifle of any kind, compared to 7,032 committed with handguns. In fact, more people were murdered with “blunt objects” (clubs, hammers, etc., accounting for 467 victims) and “personal weapons” (hands, fists, feet, etc., with 692 victims) than were killed by rifles. But because there is no simple legislative “solution” to such crimes, Biden has no pat response, and nobody in the press corps raises questions about the president’s formulaic demands for banning “assault weapons.”
We live in a nation where more than a thousand people a year are beaten to death with fists, hammers, etc., and you might imagine that at least one of these blunt-force murders would merit attention from the national media, but instead they are ignored, just like the 1,500 or so people stabbed to death in America every year. And why are these brutal crimes ignored? Because the media wish their audience to think of the crime problem as a gun problem, for which the solution is to elect Democrats who will enact stricter gun-control laws.
This simplistic attitude ignores the obvious question of why Democrats are against enforcing the gun-control laws already on the books. In New York City, where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been busy ginning up charges against former President Trump, his chief prosecutor sings the praises of her office’s “gun diversion” program that avoids sending criminals to prison on weapons charges. New York City saw a 22 percent increase in major crime last year, yet putting criminals behind bars is not a priority for Meg Reiss, Chief Assistant District Attorney in Bragg’s office, who has flatly asserted, “We know incarceration doesn’t really solve any problems.”
Joe Biden could order his Attorney General Merrick Garland to stop this turn-’em-loose approach to gun crimes in New York City. Under federal law (Section 922g), it is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison “for a person convicted of a felony to ship, transport, receive, or possess a firearm or ammunition.” Yet neither Biden nor Garland has shown any inclination to interfere in New York’s “gun diversion” program that sets such offenders free to commit further crimes, preferring instead to demonize law-abiding citizens for owning “assault weapons” — by which they mean, for example, AR-15 type rifles, of which an estimated 20 million are legally owned by Americans. If Democrats don’t want to prosecute actual convicted felons for illegally possessing firearms, why do they expect their demands to ban “assault weapons” to be taken seriously?
Rhetorical questions aside, however, America’s crime problem is not just the fault of Democratic politicians, but also of Democratic voters. In Chicago, where crime has risen nearly 50 percent since 2019, voters recently had the opportunity to replace their soft-on-crime mayor, who placed third in the election, but in the subsequent runoff, they chose an even softer-on-crime candidate, Brandon Johnson. In an interview with CBS News last week, Mayor-elect Johnson said addressing Chicago’s crime problem requires “more money toward the areas of needs”:
“What we’re going to have to do is to find the revenue from individuals who have the means to actually contribute to a safer city,” he said.
“Look, the bottom line is this: We have large corporations, 70 percent of large corporations in … the State of Illinois did not pay a corporate tax. …
“And it’s that type of restraint on our budget that has caused the type of disinvestment that has led to poverty, of course, that has led to violence.”
Got that? “Large corporations” are to blame for Chicago’s crime problem, which is the craziest excuse we’ve heard out of Chicago since Jussie Smollett claimed he was attacked by Trump supporters shouting, “This is MAGA country!”
Democrats, and the people who elect Democrats, have no interest in doing what is necessary to reduce violent crime in America, namely sending criminals to prison. Yet because the news media are so completely in the tank for Democrats, the truth about America’s crime problem is being suppressed.
Mayor Karen Bass said she wants to boost hiring at the Los Angeles Police Department, which has lost hundreds of officers in the past three years. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Ten years ago, the Los Angeles Police Department celebrated a historic hiring milestone, announcing the city had reached a target sought by at least two mayors and multiple police chiefs: 10,000 officers.
That achievement was the culmination of an expensive seven-year campaign waged by then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, much of it during a global recession that ravaged the city’s finances.
Now, within a three-year span, those gains have been erased. The LAPD is hemorrhaging officers, with more leaving the force than are joining it. Police Chief Michel Moore reported last week that sworn staffing had fallen to 9,103, down nearly 1,000 from 2019, the year that preceded the outbreak of COVID-19.
Mayor Karen Bass is looking to confront the issue head on by ramping up hiring and lifting barriers to recruitment. Her proposed budget, which will be released Tuesday, will call for the city to restore the department to 9,500 officers — an extremely tall order, given the ongoing staff exodus.
“I know that that is ambitious, but I think it needs to happen.” she said.
Bass will release her proposed budget, her first since taking office in December, amid a growing number of departures from the LAPD, not just by those nearing retirement age but also some of the department’s much newer officers.
In an interview, Bass said she fears the accidental release of photographs of LAPD officers, recently provided by the department in response to a public records request, could accelerate the outflow. If the city fails to fix its recruitment and retention problems, the LAPD could easily fall below 9,000 officers in the coming months, Bass said.
The call to rebuild the LAPD will almost certainly generate pushback from groups such as La Defensa, which advocates for alternatives to prisons and policing. Ivette Alé-Ferlito, the group’s executive director, said the city should take advantage of the drop in police staffing, by expanding the number of unarmed specialists who respond to residents experiencing mental health crises or other emergencies — and ensuring those workers are compensated at levels typically reserved for police.
“This is an opportunity to be able to start investments into alternatives to law enforcement responses,” Alé-Ferlito said.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file officers, said his group welcomes the mayor’s efforts to “rebuild the LAPD after years of neglect.”
“This staffing decline didn’t start with Mayor Bass,” union spokesperson Tom Saggau said. “But we hope it ends with Mayor Bass.”
The LAPD has lost nearly 1,000 police officers since 2019. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
On paper, Bass is proposing what looks like a minor adjustment to the LAPD’s authorized staffing. For nearly a year, the department has been budgeted for 9,460 officers, the amount approved by the City Council. Bass’ hiring target represents an increase of 40.
On another level, however, getting to 9,500 would be an incredibly tall order. The department is expected to lose about 600 officers in the coming year due to retirements and resignations. To reach Bass’ target, the LAPD would need to hire 1,000 officers over the next fiscal year, at a time when Police Academy classes are frequently half or two-thirds full.
Bass acknowledged the difficulty, saying she’s “not super confident” the LAPD will reach her goal.
“But I think it’s very important to set that as a marker — very important,” she said. “There’s no way I would say, ‘I want to get to 9,200.’ Again, because I’m really worried about further attrition.”
Bass will send her budget proposal to a council that is ideologically further left, and more skeptical of police, than it was when she launched her campaign in 2021. Two of the council’s newest members, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez, argued against police hiring during their campaigns.
A third, Councilmember Nithya Raman, ran in 2020 on a platform that called for transforming the LAPD into a “much smaller, specialized armed force.”
Hernandez said Friday she wants police staffing to continue on its downward trajectory. She and Soto-Martinez said they want money that goes unspent on LAPD staffing to be shifted into social services.
City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, pictured in December, said she wants to see staffing levels at the LAPD continue to shrink. She has called for the city to shift money away from police hiring and into other social programs. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
“Our priority is to invest that money in programs that address some of the most common 911 calls, like homelessness, mental health and drug treatment, so we can alleviate the burden on police officers and improve public safety for the community,” Soto-Martinez said.
With the LAPD struggling to recruit, Raman is also making the case for expanded social services, such as after-school programs. “These programs are often easier to hire for, and are proven to make communities safer,” she said Sunday on Twitter.
The LAPD is not the only big-city law enforcement agency facing a shrinking workforce. According to FBI data, police department ranks in New York City and Philadelphia have decreased 8% and 9%, respectively, since 2019, while Chicago experienced an 11% drop.
That phenomenon can be traced, in part, to a shrinking labor pool and growing public scrutiny after a spate of high-profile police killings, said Niles R. Wilson, senior director of law enforcement initiatives for the Center for Policing Equity, which studies ways to reduce racism in policing. Many big-city agencies are losing officers to smaller, suburban departments that offer better pay and fewer risks, he said.
Wilson said younger people are less likely to go into a profession with longer hours and a high risk of injury. At the same time, he said, cities have begun sending mental health teams or other unarmed responders to calls once fielded by police.
“I think you’re going to start seeing [police] staffing levels are going to adjust, as jurisdictions start to adopt more alternative response models,” Wilson said.
In Los Angeles, Bass has begun moving in that direction, opening an office of community safety that does not involve police. Meanwhile, the LAPD has responded to the decrease in staffing by scaling back key operations.
The department has closed front desks at the vast majority of its police stations during nighttime hours and reduced the size of specialized units, such as those that pursue fugitives and investigate human trafficking, Moore said. The LAPD’s cold-case teams, which investigate unsolved murders, are staffed by reserve officers, he said.
“We’ve protected the uniformed patrol officers” who head out into neighborhoods, Moore said. “But we’ve downsized narcotics units in every area. We’ve downsized vice units in every area.”
LAPD Chief Michel Moore inspects a graduating class at Los Angeles Police Academy in June. He says the department has dealt with a staffing shortage by downsizing narcotics units, vice units and other operations. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
The debate over police spending has been further complicated by a recent drop in crime. Homicides in L.A. were down 26% through April 1, compared with the same period last year. Robberies have declined 19% over the same time frame, while violent crime is down nearly 12%, according to department figures.
Raman recently highlighted the downward trend on social media. Moore, asked about those numbers, countered by saying crime has increased in many categories compared with 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.
Compared with four years ago, homicides are up 8% this year, while the number of shooting victims has climbed 30% and the number of vehicle thefts by 47%, LAPD figures show.
The Police Protective League, which is in contract talks with Bass and other city leaders, has argued in recent weeks that the city is not doing enough to persuade officers to stay. Union leaders said officers are experiencing low morale caused by rising anti-police sentiment, insufficient pay and difficult working conditions created by staffing shortages.
Saggau, the union spokesperson, said officers assigned to 10- or 12-hour days are regularly being ordered to work two to four additional overtime hours to meet minimum patrol levels, leaving them exhausted. Officers who specialize in gangs, narcotics or other subject areas are being pulled away from those duties to ensure that minimum patrol levels are maintained, Saggau said.
Moore said he attributes the rising number of departures to the “turmoil” of the last three years — COVID-19 and growing anti-police sentiment following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Some foes of policing have threatened officers on social media, he said.
Officers “are looking around the country and saying, ‘Wow, I could go someplace else and get a hiring bonus of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars,'” Moore said.
Desperate to hire officers, city officials are looking to provide signing bonuses of $15,000 to $20,000 to new hires — a proposal heading to the City Council. The department has stepped up recruiting at historically Black colleges and East Coast universities. LAPD brass are looking at resurrecting the “bounce program,” which allows the chief to bring retired officers back for up to a year, in hopes of luring back as many as 200 retired cops.
The drop in LAPD staffing can be traced to 2020, the year City Hall was buffeted by a major budget crisis — one triggered by COVID-19 shutdowns — and massive street protests over Floyd’s murder. Demonstrators were demanding that city funds be shifted away from police and into social services.
Mayor Eric Garcetti and the council agreed to cut LAPD staffing to about 9,750, freeing up about $26 million. In the period that followed, the department kept shrinking, with officers leaving in larger-than-expected numbers.
Near the end of his term, Garcetti argued for a force of more than 9,700. Council members adopted what they said was a more achievable goal: 9,460 officers by June 30, the end of this fiscal year.
Protesters demonstrate against police brutality outside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s home in June 2020. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Those numbers also turned out to be unrealistic, with the department now more than 350 officers below the council’s goal.
While running for mayor, Bass promised to take the department back up to 9,700. She said she picked that number because it was the amount already authorized in the city budget.
Bass said she plans to spend the coming year determining the number of officers needed at the LAPD. Moore, for his part, said he would be satisfied with a return to 10,000.
“If we could have the workforce we had pre-pandemic, I think that we’d have a safer city,” he said
The scene after a terrorist knife attack in Paris, France on May 12, 2018
We all hear statistics regarding active shooter incidents. I would be surprised if the phrase ‘active shooter’ is not already in the urban dictionary. Well, that’s certainly not the complete picture. How many single- or multi-casualty incidents do not involve firearms? What about vehicles used as battering rams? Perhaps our terminology would be more accurately “Active Assailant.”
Although I must admit that I have not seen any current assessments of objective data collected regarding the use of edged weapons in such attacks, I believe that the use of edged weapons as primary weapons is on the rise.
Certainly, the ability of virtually anyone to acquire an edged weapon legally or casually is without restriction, save for those incarcerated – although that does not deter creative and motivated minds from making a shiv out of basically anything.
We carry edged weapons on and off duty (what is your agency’s edged weapons policy?), at home, and everywhere else. We train on handgun retention, but what about retaining that large handled push knife on your duty belt?
We have all heard the “21-Foot Rule.” It is more of an illustration of action vs. reaction and how quickly things can go wrong. Unfortunately, this was distorted into an absolute.
Nearly every agency has a box of knives confiscated during subject contacts. Having no evidentiary value, they end up in the ‘knife box.’ Some of those things are testaments to what you can create with duct tape and something sharp.
Several videos have recently shown officers utilizing Tasers or other less lethal force against subjects with edged weapons. Many of those suspects were much closer than 21 feet.
The ceramic knives used in the Paris attacks
I have several concerns, not the least of which is a growing trend for officers hesitating to appropriately use deadly force, fearing their agency will not fully back them, or just not wanting to be the next media target.
The meat cleaver used in the terrorist attack on the Carlie Hebdo magazine office.
Terrorists and the Use of Edged Weapons
Propaganda from several terrorist organizations has encouraged the use of readily available edged weapons, as they can often have fewer visible indicators, along with a reduced time of detection and disruption.
The October 2020 publication of the pro-ISIS ‘The Voice of Hind’ by the Jund al-Khilafah urges using edged weapons against accused blasphemers.
A pro-ISIS view on using edged weapons against non-believers.
This document highlighted the October 2020 knife attack in France on a teacher. The teacher was targeted after discussing freedom of expression and the Charlie Hebdo Muhammad cartoons.
A few days later, another individual killed three people and injured several others with a knife inside a Nice, France church. At the French consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, both a guard and another individual were also stabbed.
Responding officers may observe indications that an edged weapon attack is a terrorism-related incident. An attacker’s actions or statements during an incident may provide insight into potential motivations and possible follow-on tactics, techniques, and procedures used by the attackers.
Consider that an incident may be part of a larger complex and coordinated attack, which may entail others targeting first responders.
A suspect motivated by violent ideology, especially martyrdom, may not comply with commands to stop the attack and disarm.
You may see the following indicators:
Pre-arrival – Information from 911 operators, such as reported behaviors or statements indicating allegiance to terrorist groups or a need for revenge.
During Response – In addition to sizing up the scene and performing life-saving actions, try looking for visible or audible signs indicating violent extremist ideology, such as stickers, graffiti, and flags.
Post-incident – Investigators can exploit social media, pocket litter, journals, interviews, financial transactions, and travel records for the investigation.
Responders should be highly aware of their surroundings, which warn of an attempt to lure first responders into an ambush or follow-on attack.
If someone approaches you, watch their hands for palmed items or suspicious movements, such as reaching for pockets, the waistband, or anywhere a weapon could be concealed.
Attackers have modified innocuous items, such as lawnmower blades or wrenches, to conceal their appearance as edged weapons.
Use of appropriate safety gear is recommended, such as ballistic vests. They may not be designed to protect against edged weapons but might provide extra protection.
Training – Responders are encouraged to continue training for an edged weapon attack. Studies have established parity of force between holstered firearms and impact or edged weapons of 21 feet, based on reaction time and marksmanship changes challenges, with firearms gaining an advantage at increased distances.
Update use of force policies and training to include edged and impact weapon attacks.
Teach self-aid for edged weapon injuries. Make sure officers have quick clotting bandages and tourniquets.
Develop and validate emergency response plans to improve mitigation tactics, increase rapid life-saving treatment, and assist with the transition to the investigation phase. Then train on them.
This Chief of Police opened his front door and was stabbed in the face by a suspect.
Berkeley County, South Carolina, September 7, 2020: A man accused of stabbing the Bonneau police chief in the face with an ice pick is in custody after a standoff with Berkeley County deputies. After stabbing Chief Franco Fuda under his left eye, investigators said Bowman ran to his mobile home and barricaded. Forrest Bowman was arrested shortly after 12:30 p.m. The SWAT team brought Bowman, who was naked and screaming, out of his trailer. According to Fuda, Bowman told him that he was “going to die today.”
A domestic violence suspect crashed his red truck into one patrol car – a deputy who was in it at the time survived.
Also, remember it’s not only firearms that can be used in ambushes – always be mindful of scene security. The red truck was the suspect in a domestic violence call who had left earlier but returned to the scene while Deputies were interviewing the victim. A deputy seated in one of the patrol vehicles was injured but recovered.
A Mississippi man was arrested Friday during a traffic stop after he attempted to hide a gun in a quesadilla from Taco Bell. Devin P. Mitchell folded the gun into the quesadilla when police in Picayune stopped him and driver Olivia Neff for a traffic violation.
Officers reportedly saw Mitchell stuffing the handgun into a Taco Bell bag, prompting them to conduct a search of the vehicle, where they found the gun hidden in the Mexican meal.
Mitchell found himself slapped with other charges after police also recovered methamphetamine, liquid heroin, and drug paraphernalia during their search.
Mitchell was taken into custody and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute while in possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence, possession of weapon by a felon, and possession of paraphernalia.
MSNBC
