Heather Mac Donald Talks Ferguson Effect:  In this article in the Providence Journal, Manhattan Institute Fellow Heather Mac Donald offers her take on the Ferguson effect and FBI Director James Comey's recent remarks on the topic that came under fire.  Mac Donald presents data to support Comey's position that the rising violence in many American cities is likely related to a drop in proactive policing brought on by civil unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore, Md.  As of October 23, murders were up 76 percent in Milwaukee, 60 percent in St. Louis, 56 percent in Baltimore, 47 percent in Minneapolis and 36 percent in Houston, exemplifying how widespread the bloodshed is.  Her findings also show that officers are backing off discretionary policing:  arrests were down 10 percent in Los Angeles during the first half of 2015 even as crime spiked 20 percent, and summonses for low-level, quality-of-life offenses dropped 26 percent in New York City in the same time period.  Mac Donald concludes, "When officer disengage, the result is not a boon for black lives ... Rather, criminals become emboldened, leading to this year's bloodbath."

Cop Slugged by Illegal Immigrant Gang Member:  A Frederick County, Maryland sheriff's deputy was slugged by an illegal immigrant gang member out on bond as he worked on a traffic report inside in vehicle last week.  Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times reports that 18-year-old MS-13 gang member Jose Misael Reyes-Reyes, free on bond awaiting a deportation hearing for weapons charges he received in June, approached Deputy First Class Greg Morton as he sat in his police cruiser Thursday morning and began banging on the back window before reaching through a half-open window and slugging the deputy in the face.  He also kicked the deputy as he attempted to escape arrest.  Reyes-Reyes is potentially part of the recent surge of unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors from Central America, and it is unclear why he was released on bond given his status as an illegal immigrant gang member.  Frederick Sheriff Chuck Jenkins expressed concerns that "the unprovoked assault was part of a growing trend of violence against police."  Furthermore, "this attack shows the risk that the Obama administration is creating with its hands-off immigration enforcement policies," says Center for Immigration Studies policy director Jessica Vaughan. 

Baltimore Violence Continues at a Rate Not Seen in Years:  Violence continues to plague Baltimore, and with 294 homicides as of Sunday, the city is on the fast track to surpassing 300 homicides this year for the first time since 1999.  Kevin Rector of the Baltimore Sun reports that as of the end of October, homicides citywide were up 55 percent and nonfatal shootings increased 76 percent, while business robberies, carjackings, street robberies and burglaries spiked 125, 76, 14 and 11 percent, respectively.  Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis says, "There is an idea somewhere out on the street that this amount of violence is perhaps an ideal or opportune time for someone with a score to settle to take advantage of this time and settle that score," noting that whether related to drugs, gangs or retaliation, there is no randomness associated with the violence.  His department is taking several steps to curb the carnage, which erupted following the April death of unarmed black man Freddie Gray in police custody, such as moving all district-level nonfatal shooting detectives into a centralized unit at police headquarters to increase information sharing between them and the homicide unit, maintaining their success with removing guns from the streets, increasing training for officers and adhering to the newly launched body camera pilot program.