Law Enforcement

  • Contours of Hill gun debate emerge

    Two issues have emerged as central to the debate over post-Sandy Hook gun control legislation: the first is banning the sale of assault weapons and limiting the size of magazines, the second is requiring a universal background check to make sure those who buy guns are responsible and stable enough to handle them. Hill observers say that a bill requiring universal background check, if carefully drafted to address the concerns of those who live in rural areas, may pass, as would legislation to limit the size of magazines. Banning the sale of assault weapons may be more difficult.

  • Majority of Americans -- gun owners and non-gun-owners -- support stronger gun laws

    Gun violence claims 31,000 U.S. lives each year in the United States, and the rate of firearms homicides in America is twenty times higher than it is in other economically advanced nations. A new national public opinion survey conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that the majority of Americans support a broad array of policies to reduce gun violence. For many policies, there was little difference in support between gun owners and non-gun-owners.

  • Twitter’s information policy frustrates police, delights customers

    Twitter’s robust approach to customers’ privacy has caused consternation among law enforcement agencies, who say that Twitter’s refusal to hand over information on users of the service, except in rare cases, has frustrated criminal investigations. Twitter’s user, though, appreciate the company’s scruples.

  • Active-shooter training programs for local law enforcement

    Active-shooter training sessions have been in high demand as law enforcement agencies have increased the attention they pay school security after the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting. More than twenty-four officers from various northern California law enforcement agencies participated in a two-day active shooter training course funded by DHS.

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  • Lawmaker unveils bill banning sale, manufacturing of 157 types of semiautomatic guns

    Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) yesterday unveiled the details of legislation that would ban the sale and manufacture of 157 types of semiautomatic guns and magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition. The bill would exempt firearms used for hunting and would grandfather in some guns and magazines. The senator said the bill aims “to dry up the supply of these weapons over time.”

  • NRA leader tells gun owners Obama does not understand them

    Reacting to President Obama proposals for tighter gun controls, Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), told gun owners on Tuesday that President Obama does not understand them. He said the president  wanted to institute a national registry of firearms so he can tax or confiscate their weapons.

  • New imaging technique for identifying the age and sex of a corpse

    Researchers have developed a new technique for identifying the age and sex of a corpse. It is based on a computing system which relies on free software, and has a reliability of 95 percent.

  • Mexican officials hope for real changes in U.S. gun policy

    The majority of the guns used in drug-related violence in Mexico have come from the United States. Numbers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives show that  almost 70 percent of the 99,000 weapons seized in Mexico in 2012 came from the United States. Mexican officials are hoping that president Obama’s speeches on changing the U.S. gun policy will be more than just talk.

  • Controversial full-body scanners at U.S. airports to be replaced

    The  controversial full-body airport scanners which  upset many  passengers because of the anatomically accurate images they produced, will be removed from U.S. airports by June, according to the Transportation Security Administration(TSA), ending a $40 million contract with Rapiscan Systems, the manufacturer of the scanners. Rapiscan’s backscatter X-ray scanners are being replaced by less intrusive millimeter wave scanners.

  • More states move to restrict access to personal information of gun holders

    Currently, thirty-five states do not provide access to information on people who have gun licenses, except to law enforcement. Some of the states where access to such information is permitted, are now moving toward restricting such access.

  • Revealing full-body scanners to be removed from airports

    One of the more controversial post-9/11 security devices, the ubiquitous and uncomfortably intrusive full-body scanners, will be removed from service by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). On Friday, the agency announced it would begin to remove the scanners from U.S. airports this summer. The anatomically revealing backscatter scanners are being replaced by the ore discreet millimeter wave devices.

  • Five people injured as guns go off at gun shows

    “Gun Appreciation Day” rallies were held in cities around the country this weekend, and gun shows were doing brisk business; five people were injured as guns went off accidentally in three such shows.

  • Police experience enlivens classroom teaching

    Dennis Marsili spent twenty-seven years as a police officer in the Pittsburgh area, and has attained a vast amount of knowledge which he is now passing on to people who want to work in law enforcement in the future.

  • The president’s 23 executive actions to curb gun violence

    President Obama yesterday announced a comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence in the United States. The president called on Congress to reinstate an assault-weapon ban which expired in 2004 and enact other laws to tighten gun regulations. He said, though, that while Congress deliberates, the administration would take twenty-three separate actions aiming to reduce gun violence — actions which do not require congressional approval.

  • Minnesota counties police make big money from drug seizures

    In 2011, law enforcement in southern Minnesota made a significant profit off crime busts. State Auditor Rebecca Otto released the Criminal Forfeitures Report last month, which offers information on the amount of cash and property seized by Minnesota law enforcement agencies.