Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Thursday to detail his discoveries into the precipitous drop in law enforcement and its effect on the state of public safety downtown on the heels of the city announcing the Hermitage homeless encampment will be taken down in January.
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The Minneapolis City Council has rejected a bid submitted by the mayor and police chief to offer retention and recruitment sign-on bonuses for city police officers and new hires.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara came forward last week with a plan to spend $15 million in an effort to retain officers currently on the force and to offer incentive bonuses for new hires.
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The Atlanta City Council approved a plan to spend more than $40 million on public safety equipment, including new apparatus for the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department.
A spokesman for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed to The Center Square that the spending plan includes $19 million for the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department and $21 million for the Atlanta Police Department.
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The nonprofit Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation recently awarded the Sevierville Fire Department (SFD) a $29,825 grant for the purchase of lifesaving equipment, the City of Sevierville announced in a press release.
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Governor Bill Lee has issued a proclamation calling for a special legislative session to take up gun-control measures, including a controversial “red flag” bill that many of his GOP allies in the Republican-controlled Tennessee General Assembly say is a non-starter.
The long-expected proclamation was apparently leaked to the liberal Tennessee Lookout late Thursday afternoon before it’s official release.
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The Tennessee Republican State Executive Committee passed a resolution on Saturday that calls on Governor Bill Lee to forgo calling the Tennessee General Assembly for a special session addressing “public safety,” according to a report by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
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The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office launched a statewide partnership with the Department of Health (TDH) and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOS) to distribute free Baby in the Back hangtags to help prevent heat-related child deaths in cars.
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Governor Brian Kemp recently announced that 118 projects have been awarded grant funding totaling $83.5 million to “improve community-level public safety measures and address law enforcement staffing challenges that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Roger Simon in studio to discuss why the FBI and Metro Nashville Police Department will not release the Covenant Killer Manifesto in the name of public safety.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that he intends to call for the Tennessee General Assembly to convene a special legislative session in August to “strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights.”
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Aaron Gulbransen in studio for another edition of Aaron’s Analysis.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a series of public safety bills, including a measure increasing penalties for anyone who recruits children into gangs.
Senate Bill 44 also requires judges to “consider the accused person’s criminal history record information that is available at such time” before releasing defendants on their own recognizance.
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed GOP candidate for Nashville mayor, Alice Rolli in studio to discuss her campaign’s financial status, top issues for the city, and her stance on the Titans Stadium deal.
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The City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department recently invited residents and businesses of Memphis to participate in a new public safety initiative aimed at fighting crime.
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In keeping with a recent theme of proactive public safety measures, Tennessee Tuesday announced that it will provide $5 million in grants to volunteer firefighting brigades across the state.
Through what is called the Volunteer Firefighter Equipment and Training Grant Program, the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) and the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO) are inviting local volunteer firefighting organizations to apply for the grants, according to a release.
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The Republicans Governors Association (RGA) slammed Governor Ned Lamont’s record on public safety, following a deadly week in the state.
Over the past days, multiple incidents left individuals in Connecticut in police custody or in the hospital due to gun violence.
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Arizona Democratic Party Chair Raquel Terán refused to denounce the “Defund the Police” movement in a recent interview.
Terán, who is running for state Senate, has often touted an endorsement from Planned Parenthood. On her website, she highlights the support and says the state must “elect a Democratic majority in our state to protect access to safe and secure abortions for those who seek care.”
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The Ohio Republican Party released a new ad, which targets Democrat gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley’s record on crime as mayor of Dayton.
According to the organization, residents of the city became less safe during her first six years as mayor: violent crime increased 23 percent, homicides jumped 70 percent, and aggravated assaults spiked by 97 percent.
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Governor Tony Evers (D-WI) announced a new round of funding from the federal government that is aimed to address violent crime in Wisconsin.
Roughly $800,000 will be directed to the city of Racine and will focus on a “public health approach to violence prevention,” according to a release from the governor’s office.
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Nine years after declaring bankruptcy, the city of Detroit received more than $826.7 million in one-time federal stimulus money but still projects a deficit in fiscal year 2027.
A Citizen’s Research Council of Michigan (CRCM) report says the city’s plan to spend one-time dollars on recurring programs is unsustainable.
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A push to have Ohio judges consider public safety when setting bail took a step forward when the House Criminal Justice Committee advanced legislation supported by prosecutor and business groups across the state.
House Bill 607 adds the risk of public safety into bail consideration in direct response to an Ohio Supreme Court decision in Debuse v. McGuffey, a ruling that upheld an appellate court’s decision permitting the reduction of a murder suspect’s bail without considering community safety.
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State leaders in Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis reached an agreement to send state police forces to assist with law enforcement staffing issues in the city.
The “joint powers agreements” will allow state forces to “provide high visibility patrol in agreed upon areas and during agreed upon times to help deter crime”
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Republicans in the Minnesota Senate are touting public safety bills that are working their way through the legislation process.
The group recently passed S.F. 2673 out of committee. The complex, lengthy legislation would target sentence requirements for criminals, support for law enforcement, and additional transparency in the judicial process.
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Kenosha County’s newly elected county executive says connecting with people – and connecting with their biggest worry – helped sweep her into office.
Samantha Kerkman spoke with News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber Friday morning. She credited her victory, the first for a Republican in Kenosha County, to a grassroots campaign and listening to voters who said they want to feel safe.
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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Tuesday announced new funding for law enforcement agencies and other members of the criminal justice system.
In total, the governor is dishing out more than $50 million to address public safety.
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The University of Wisconsin System introduced new policies on Friday that are aimed to increase protection for minors visiting the various campuses across the state.
According to a release from leadership, the new rules “enhance their safety standards and protocols for protection of minors participating in university-sponsored events” and created a new registration and compliance database for youth activities.
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Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives on Tuesday released their plan to address public safety, unveiling almost a dozen different pieces of legislation.
The lawmakers argued that members of the opposing political party have not addressed the spike in crime that has been felt by residents of the state.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the Mayor of Bedford County, Chad Graham to the newsmakers line to talk about his background, goals, and middle-class growth.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s “National Roadway Safety Strategy” includes promoting the use of speed cameras in cities and towns as a “proven safety countermeasure.”
DOT received $6 billion to issue grants to “help cities and towns” with road safety, which was part of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that Congress passed.
“That law creates a new Safe Streets and Roads for All program, providing $6 billion to help cities and towns deliver new, comprehensive safety strategies, as well as accelerate existing, successful safety initiatives,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during a speech on Thursday about the launch of DOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy.
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The City of Phoenix instituted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees, and numerous Republican lawmakers want to stop it. Several legislators sent a letter to Gov. Doug Ducey demanding that he call a special session of the Arizona Legislature so they can pass legislation halting that mandate and any others in Arizona.
Sen. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix), Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix), and Rep. Justin Wilmeth (R-Phoenix) wrote, “We urge you to immediately call us into a special session to pass legislation prohibiting any government entity from mandating the COVID-19 vaccine. Since the Arizona Supreme Court struck down policy provisions added to the budget passed earlier this year as a violation of our state Constitution’s single subject clause, it is imperative we address medical freedom issues taking place in our K-12 public schools, public colleges and universities, and any city, county or town from imposing a vaccine passport or mandate on any person or business.”
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One Minneapolis man has taken pains to record all reported carjackings since 2020 on an interactive map.
Resident Steve Taylor created the map on Maps.co. It gives users the coordinates where each carjacking occurred, dates and times when they occurred, and even the distance between the locations of the previous and next carjackings.
Red pins indicate carjackings in 2021, while yellow pins indicate carjackings in 2020.
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison apparently thinks Democrats should have sought to defund the police without saying “defund the police.”
“I think allowing this moniker, ‘defund the police,’ to ever get out there, was not a good thing,” he recently told Washington Post reporter David Weigel. This comment followed an election in Minneapolis in which voters rejected a measure that would have replaced the police with a largely unarmed “Department of Public Safety.”
While Ellison’s most recent comment has drawn significant media attention, this position is not new — the AG has long wanted to reduce policing, only taking issue with the slogan his fellow progressives often use.
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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a Public Safety Alert Monday warning of the surge in illegal fake painkillers combined with illicit fentanyl or methamphetamine.
The Public Safety Alert, the first warning in six years, highlighted the surge in fentanyl and methamphetamine-laced pills mass produced by criminal drug groups, which are killing Americans at a historic rate, according to a DEA press release.
“The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis of overdose deaths fueled by illegally manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine,” Anne Milgram, administrator of the DEA, said in the press release.
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University of California’s new Community Safety Plan shifts major responsibilities and funding away from UC Police Departments.
The plan, based on an 80-page report released this summer by the Department of Public Safety Community Advisory Board, was announced by UC President Michael Drake last week and will be implemented across all 10 campuses. It reflects UC’s “commitment to equity and social justice.”
“Under this new model, a multidisciplinary team of mental health professionals, campus police, social service providers, police accountability boards and other personnel will work together to prioritize the well-being of the entire UC community,” Drake said in a message to the university. “This reimagined structure will ensure that the m,ost appropriate responders are deployed to meet our community’s specific needs with tailored care resources and services.”
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Former Detroit, Michigan Police Chief James Craig, a Republican who is exploring a run for governor, announced Monday the formation of his Law Enforcement Action Team (LEAT), an advisory panel to craft legislation to strengthen public safety.
The group is made up of lawmakers and law-enforcement officials, including two Democrats: Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham and Gladwin County Sheriff Mike Shea.
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With popular conservative Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio term limited, local activist and professor Moses Sanchez, a Republican, announced he is running for the District 6 slot based in Ahwatukee. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Phoenix in 2018, a difficult race for Republicans since Phoenix has more Democrats, but District 6 leans Republican.
“I’m proud to call Ahwatukee home,” he said in a statement on August 11. “I’ve raised my family in Phoenix, served on our local school board, run for Mayor, and worked to grow a small business. I’m running for Phoenix City Council to provide the same opportunities this city has given me and stand up for the most overlooked community in Phoenix.”
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Leaders in the metro Atlanta area said they plan to use American Rescue Plan funding to address public safety issues.
Officials in Fulton and DeKalb counties and the city of Atlanta have announced plans to use a portion of the federal aid to increase public safety or address criminal justice backlogs.
According to several reports, Atlanta and adjacent cities have seen a spike in crime over the past year. State lawmakers have launched a study to look at ways to curb the issue. Gov. Brian Kemp directed $5 million last month from his emergency fund to address the crisis.
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Many lawmakers who have ordered or urged citizens not to leave their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic have not followed their own advice.
The Daily Caller News Foundation has kept track of those politicians or local lawmakers who spurned their own COVID-19 rules to attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration and the lawmakers who flouted their own advice and then excused their behavior as essential, compiling lists of the biggest offenders such as Democrats New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many more.
The DCNF searched for, but did not find, examples of prominent Republicans who urged citizens to stay home due to COVID-19 and then did not follow their own advice. Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, sparked a backlash when he traveled to Cancun in February as Texans struggled without power under heavy ice storms.
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The City of Richmond’s Task Force To Reimagine Public Safety released its final report on Monday, after three months of meetings. The task force issued several recommendations focused on using community resources more and law enforcement less. Those recommendations include a new 911 system to triage non-criminal calls away from law enforcement and reducing police funding to send more resources to other agencies. However, Mayor Levar Stoney is not implementing the policies exactly as recommended.
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During a discussion Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy spoke to Metro Council at large candidate, Adam Dread about low early voter turnout and scooter safety and how it ties into the public’s concerns.
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