Ruben Gallego Reportedly Ends Police Press Conference After Questions About Past Criticism for Law Enforcement

Gallego Press Conference

Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) reportedly ended a press conference with Arizona law enforcement abruptly after reporters asked about his evolving stance on police reform.

A press release published by Gallego’s congressional office reveals he held the press conference alongside Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers and Arizona Police Association (APA) President Justin Harris, who is also a member of the Glendale Police Department.

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Trump Assassination Attempt Was ‘Preventable,’ Senate Committee Report Finds

The Senate Homeland Security Committee unveiled a report Wednesday detailing the “preventable” Secret Service security failures that resulted in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13.

Leading up to the assassination attempt, there was no clear chain of command and major communication discrepancies which were “foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to” to the events that transpired, according to the report. As a result, Trump was nearly assassinated in July by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks during a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, prompting an onslaught of criticism and bipartisan calls to action.

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‘My Signature Has Been Forged’: DeSantis Probes Florida Pro-Abortion Ballot Measure Petitions amid Fraud Allegations

Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is asking law enforcement to “prioritize” the investigation into what may be “fraudulent” signatures on petitions to get a pro-abortion measure on the Nov. 5 ballot, according to a letter shared with The Daily Signal.

The Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections’ office received complaints from voters about their signatures being forged on constitutional initiative petitions circulated by Floridians Protecting Freedom, the pro-abortion coalition behind an amendment that would legalize abortion on demand up to birth.

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Tom Pappert Details Troubling Series of Events Leading Up to Georgia High School Shooting

Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, reporter at The Georgia Star News, detailed the unfortunate series of events that reportedly transpired just minutes before 14-year-old Colt Gray allegedly killed four and injured nine more at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia last week, which, if acted upon, may have prevented the shooting.

Gray, who surrendered to law enforcement Wednesday after allegedly carrying out the shooting, was on the FBI’s radar last year, as the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office interviewed him and his father in May 2023 after the FBI received “several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting.”

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DeWine Issues Memo to Schools Following Georgia Shooting

Mike DeWine

In the wake of a Georgia high school shooting that killed four and injured nine, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued a memo to school superintendents across the state reminding them of safety options.

The state started the Ohio School Safety program in 2019, spreading safety support personnel across 16 regions covering all 88 counties. The program helps K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and first responders prevent, prepare for, and respond to threats and acts of violence.

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Commentary: Law Enforcement Collapse Masks Rising Crime Rates

Criminals smashing a window

Law enforcement in the United States has collapsed. Americans in many parts of the country see that products at CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart stores are behind plexiglass, that you must call a clerk to unlock the glass and then wait while you read and examine the different packages. People know these companies have no choice. Americans know that crime is rising, but the true collapse in law enforcement, particularly in large cities, is without precedent.

A Gallup survey last November showed that 92 percent of Republicans and even 58 percent of Democrats believed that crime was rising. In a series of surveys from March 2023 to April 2024, Rasmussen Reports finds a remarkably constant percentage of Americans who believe that violent crime is getting worse – 60 percent to 61 percent. Roughly four times as many people think violent crime is rising rather than getting better.

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Phoenix Police Department Releases Police Reports, Other Documentation to Refute DOJ’s Report That Its Officers Violated Rights

Phoenix Police Department

The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) released redacted documents this week that show the DOJ left out relevant information to the incidents discussed in a June DOJ report critical of the agency.

Based on the descriptions, PPD was able to discern 120 of the 132 incidents. PPD said it provided roughly 179,000 documents and 22,000 body cam videos to the DOJ during its investigation. The types of incidents covered were the use of force, homelessness, discriminatory policing, protected speech, behavioral health youth, and contributing causes.

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Tennessee State Representative Celebrates New Law Enhancing Penalties for Assaulting Police Officers

Kip Capley

A Tennessee State Representative is celebrating this week as a bill that he sponsored enacting harsher penalties for violence against police officers took effect Monday. 

The law, called The Back the Blue Act, which was sponsored by State Representative Kip Capley (R-Summertown) makes assault on a police officer a Class E felony. Previously, it was a Class A misdemeanor.

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Tennessee State Rep. Jason Zachary Details Importance of Bill that Tightened Duty to Report Law

Jason Zachary

Tennessee State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) suggested his bill that strengthened the state’s duty to report law may have prevented the Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023 in Nashville if implemented before the shooting took place.

Over the weekend, The Tennessee Star reported it was provided the name of the psychologist who was reportedly part of the care team for Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn Leads Tennessee Colleagues in Demanding Answers from DHS After Illegal Alien Assaults Woman at the Nashville Sundae Club

DHS Sec Alejandro Mayorkas, Senator Marsha Blackburn

Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) led a letter signed by eight other members of the Tennessee Congressional delegation to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers regarding the immigration status of a 23-year old illegal alien who allegedly followed a woman into a bathroom at the Nashville Sundae Club and groped her

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Tennessee National Guard, State and Local Agencies Undergo Disaster Response Exercises in Severe Flooding Simulation

TN National Guard

Tennessee National Guard troops, local first responders, and personnel of other state entities participated in the Tennessee Maneuvers 2024 training exercises last week in 15 counties across the Volunteer State.

Tennessee Maneuvers is a series of disaster simulation training exercises that test the joint response capabilities of participating personnel. The exercises occurred in Bradley, Coffee, Davidson, Gibson, Hamilton, Hawkins, Knox, Loudon, Madison, Maury, McMinn, Rhea, Rutherford, Sullivan, and Wilson counties.

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FBI Report Finds Fewer Officers Killed in Line of Duty, but More Attacked

There were 60 officers killed in the line of duty in 2023, the report said, one less than in 2022. But the total officers killed in the line of duty in the past three years were higher than any other three year period in the past two decades.

An FBI report released Tuesday revealed that fewer law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty last year, but the number of attacks on officers has risen.

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State Senator Brent Taylor Says Memphis Will Be ‘Hollowed Out’ If Crime is Not Addressed

Brent Taylor

State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) warned that Memphis will be ‘hollowed out’ if its crime problem is not addressed.

Taylor, who sponsored several crime-related bills in the recently-adjourned legislative session of the General Assembly, said the response he has received from the community in Memphis for his work to crackdown on crime has been positive.

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Knoxville Police Department Releases Body Cam Footage of Officer Shooting Suspect Armed with Two Knives

Police Knife Video

The Knoxville Police Department (KPD) released the body cam footage of an officer who shot a man armed with two knives outside the Exxon gas station at 5306 N. Broadway last month.

On April 17, just before 5:30 p.m., Officer Seth Beeler arrived at the Exxon on a report that a man, who has since been identified as William Charles McBride Jr., was “acting erratically and potentially violently inside of the store,” according to KPD.

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One Memphis Police Officer Killed, Two Others Shot While Responding to Suspicious Vehicle Occupied by Known Criminal

Memphis Police Department

Reactions have poured in after Memphis police officer Joseph McKinney was shot and killed early Friday morning while he and other officers were responding to a suspicious vehicle call.

On Friday approximately 2:00 a.m., officers responded to a suspicious vehicle call at Horn Lake Road and Charter Avenue, according to the Memphis Police Department (MPD).

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New Ohio Law Enforcement Certifications Established

Mike DeWine

Law enforcement agencies in Ohio can now be certified in the state’s new standards for professional excellence by meeting nearly three dozen standards established to entrust public confidence, accountability and integrity.

Gov. Mike DeWine recently signed an executive order for the new Law Enforcement Accreditation Program established by the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board.

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Nashville Metro Councilman Jeff Eslick Says There’s ‘Room for Improvement’ for Keeping Nashville ‘Safe’ and ‘Clean’ amid Missing College Student Case

Jeff Eslick Nashville

Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick said the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) has “room for improvement” in regards to keeping the streets of Music City “safe” and “clean.”

Eslick made the comments during a recent episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show as he and host Michael Patrick Leahy were discussing the disappearance of college student Riley Strain, who has been missing since March 8 after being asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar in downtown Nashville.

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Memphis Police Officer in Stable Condition After Being Shot in Line of Duty

A Memphis Police officer is in stable condition after he was shot in the line of duty early Friday morning, according to the Memphis Police Department (MPD).

“At 4:19 am, officers conducted a traffic stop at 240 southbound near South Parkway. During the stop, an officer notified dispatch he had been shot,” said MPD on X. “The unknown motorist fled the scene. The officer was transported to Regional One critical. This is an ongoing investigation.”

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Federal Judge Blocks Texas Law That Would Allow Law Enforcement to Arrest Illegal Migrants

Illegal Immigrants

A federal judge blocked a Texas law Thursday that allows local police to arrest migrants who cross into the state illegally.

U.S. District Court Judge David Alan Ezra, a Reagan appointee, said in a 114-page ruling that the law, SB 4, “threatens the fundamental notion that the United States must regulate immigration with one voice.” He issued a preliminary injunction preventing the law from taking effect while the case proceeds, finding Texas was “unlikely to succeed on the merits” and noting the government would “suffer grave irreparable harm” if the law took effect.

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Williamson County Interim Sheriff Mark Elrod Says Narcotics, Fentanyl ‘Biggest Issue’ in County

Mark Elrod, who is currently serving as interim sheriff of Williamson County amid former Sheriff Dusty Rhoades’ retirement, said the biggest issues affecting the county in regards to crime are drugs and fentanyl.

“I would say that probably one of our biggest issues is drugs, narcotics, fentanyl. We’ve had an uptick in that as well as heroin over the last several years. With Williamson County, we’re a transient community where a lot of the drugs and other crimes come in from other areas into Williamson County. It’s not so much your next door neighbor or the people down the street, although there is some of that, but most of it is coming from other places…Davidson County, out of Nashville, out of the city of Columbia. We have four interstates that come through the county, so it could be, you know, really coming from anywhere, everywhere,” Elrod said on Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy.

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Lawmakers Consider Bill to Prevent Arizona Cities from Defunding Local Police Departments

Police Officer

The Arizona House Rules Committee is scheduled to discuss legislation on Monday that would prevent cities from decreasing funding to their local police departments.

Rep. David Marshall, R-Snowflake, is the sponsor of House Bill 2120, and it has already passed the House Military Affairs & Public Safety committee in an 8-7 party-line vote this past Monday.

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Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor Sponsors Several Crime-Related Bills in Effort to ‘Make Memphis Matter’

State Senator Brent Taylor

Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) announced he is sponsoring several crime-related bills this legislative session in an effort to fight crime and “Make Memphis Matter.”

In a letter to his colleagues in the Tennessee State Senate, Taylor detailed 13 pieces of legislation he is sponsoring and asked his colleagues to consider sponsoring the bills as well.

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State Senator Brent Taylor: ‘If We Don’t Get It Turned Around,’ Memphis will Become the ‘Example of a Failed City’

Brent Taylor

Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) said Memphis will become the “butt of every joke” and the “example of a failed city” if its bail system and crime crisis are not addressed.

Noting how Detroit was once an example of a “failed city” and a “shell of its former self,” Taylor explained what steps the city has taken to reduce crime and how Memphis should follow its lead.

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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost Spearheading Effort Urging Congress to Stabilize Funding for the Federal Crime Victims Fund

Dave Yost Congress

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost led a bipartisan coalition of 41 other state attorneys general in sending a letter to congressional leaders urging the authorization of bridge funding for the federal Crime Victims Fund, also known as the VOCA Fund.

Created by Congress in 1984, the VOCA Fund provides federal support to state and local programs that assist victims of crime.

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Tennessee State Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Make Blocking a Highway a Class D Felony Offense

Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) and State Representative Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) recently filed legislation to make blocking a highway a Class D felony.

Under current law, it is classified as a Class A misdemeanor when a defendant “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly” obstructs a public highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, elevator, aisle, or hallway.

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Virginia Legislation to Limit the Use of License Plate Readers Advances

License Plate Reader

A bill to limit and expand law enforcement’s use of license plate readers passed out of a Virginia House subcommittee, sparking questions during a debate about the age-old dance between government overreach and public safety.

House Bill 775 from Del. Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, would institute statewide regulations governing the use of the technology and enable law enforcement to use them on highways managed by the Virginia Department of Transportation.

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Nation’s Capital Devastated by Crime Spike in 2023

DC Skyline

The District of Columbia experienced a 39% increase in violent crime in 2023, according to data published by its Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

The District has long experienced issues with crime and property theft, despite having the most police officers per capitaof any jurisdiction in the country, due to the significant presence of federal law enforcement to protect the seat of the government of the United States. In 2023, overall crime increased by 26% over 2022, with 34,414 instances of violent and property crime reported to police, with property crime alone rising by 24%.

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Family of Tyre Nichols to Hold Candlelight Vigils to Commemorate First Anniversary of His Death

Candle Light Vigil

The family of Tyre Nichols, who five black Memphis police officers beat following a traffic stop and foot chase last year, will hold two candlelight vigils on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of his death.

Nichols’ family, who is being represented by civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, will hold a vigil in Memphis at the intersection of Castlegate Lane and Ross Road at 7 p.m. CT and in Nichols’ hometown of Sacramento, California, at the Tyre Nichols Skate Park at 5 p.m. PST.

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