Police Seek Answers in Nationwide Crime Spike: Major cities across the U.S. are experiencing dramatic increases in homicides and other violent crimes in the first months of 2016, leaving law enforcement officials grasping for answers as to the common denominator. Andrea Noble of the Washington Times reports that last week, FBI Director James Comey reignited the debate over the "Ferguson effect," the notion that the crime uptick is due to police becoming less aggressive out of fear of being the subject of the next "viral video." However, there is not enough data yet to prove or disprove the theory. Alternative theories offered by law enforcement leaders include quicker escalation of violent gang beefs due to social media, the heroin and opioid epidemic and the fact that crime rates had been low for some time and therefore "can only go up." The data was provided by the Major Cities Chiefs Association and included 63 reporting police departments that compared statistics from the first three months of 2015 and 2016. Combined, the statistics show 114 more murders, 260 more rapes, 837 more robberies, 3,132 more violent assaults and 818 more nonfatal shootings recorded this year compared to last year.
Illegals Finding More Loopholes to Stay: Law enforcement officials from various agencies say that Central and South American immigrants are finding new loopholes to manipulate the U.S. immigration system and remain in the country. Ildefonso Ortiz of Breitbart reports that immigrants are receiving a temporary permission to stay by claiming the lesser-known "Humanitarian Parole," which differs from refugee status. While refugee status is achieved when an individual is unable to return to his or her home country because of "persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion," humanitarian parole allows immigration officials to bring in an otherwise inadmissible individual into the country for a temporary period of time due to a compelling emergency. Officials say, however, that immigrants claiming humanitarian parole "appear to be coached." The revelation comes as the Rio Grande Valley is experiencing another surge in children and family migrants coming over the southern border. In the first three months of the year, there was a 120% increase in the number of family units and an 81% increase in unaccompanied minors.
Bill Addresses Mental Health among Criminals: New legislation introduced by a Georgia Congressman seeks to address mental health and addiction issues among the country's incarcerated population. Rudy Takala of the Washington Examiner reports that Rep. Doug Collin, R-Ga., says that approximately 35-40% of incarcerated individuals have mental health or addiction issues, a figure that equates to an estimated two million people. His bill, the Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act, authorizes the Department of Justice to distribute grants to facilities and programs aimed at identifying mental health victims and directing them to appropriate treatment, including mental health courts and crisis intervention teams. It would also support training for law enforcement. The bill has 40 Republican and 57 Democratic cosponsors in House. Its Senate counterpart was approved by a bipartisan vote in December.
Illegals Finding More Loopholes to Stay: Law enforcement officials from various agencies say that Central and South American immigrants are finding new loopholes to manipulate the U.S. immigration system and remain in the country. Ildefonso Ortiz of Breitbart reports that immigrants are receiving a temporary permission to stay by claiming the lesser-known "Humanitarian Parole," which differs from refugee status. While refugee status is achieved when an individual is unable to return to his or her home country because of "persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion," humanitarian parole allows immigration officials to bring in an otherwise inadmissible individual into the country for a temporary period of time due to a compelling emergency. Officials say, however, that immigrants claiming humanitarian parole "appear to be coached." The revelation comes as the Rio Grande Valley is experiencing another surge in children and family migrants coming over the southern border. In the first three months of the year, there was a 120% increase in the number of family units and an 81% increase in unaccompanied minors.
Bill Addresses Mental Health among Criminals: New legislation introduced by a Georgia Congressman seeks to address mental health and addiction issues among the country's incarcerated population. Rudy Takala of the Washington Examiner reports that Rep. Doug Collin, R-Ga., says that approximately 35-40% of incarcerated individuals have mental health or addiction issues, a figure that equates to an estimated two million people. His bill, the Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act, authorizes the Department of Justice to distribute grants to facilities and programs aimed at identifying mental health victims and directing them to appropriate treatment, including mental health courts and crisis intervention teams. It would also support training for law enforcement. The bill has 40 Republican and 57 Democratic cosponsors in House. Its Senate counterpart was approved by a bipartisan vote in December.
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