The Weekly Briefing
Curated News for Public Safety
NOT A BLIP – The deadliest phase of the street fentanyl crisis appears to have ended, as drug deaths continue to drop at an unprecedented pace. For the first time, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have now seen at least some recovery. A new analysis of U.S. overdose data conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also found that the decline in deaths began much earlier than once understood, suggesting improvements may be sustainable. "This is not a blip. We are on track to return to levels of [fatal] overdose before fentanyl emerged," said Nabarun Dasgupta, lead researcher on the project, which examined overdose records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
NONIDEOLOGICAL TERRORISM – Two recent school shootings are highlighting what extremism researchers see as a growing — and poorly understood — trend among young people who embrace mass violence. The attacks, at high schools in Madison, Wis., and Nashville, Tenn., defy categories that law enforcement and researchers have long used to understand radicalization pathways, such as radical Islamist terrorism and white nationalist terrorism. Instead, some researchers say these attacks are examples of "nonideological" terrorism. They say these attacks appear to be the result of several antisocial, decentralized, online networks coming together in ways that encourage and inspire younger children to commit atrocities.
MORE: "It's really about that violence for the sake of violence," said Matthew Kriner, managing director of the Accelerationism Research Consortium. "There is a growth of intention and design within certain subcultures and subnetworks to inculcate that belief into younger people."
IMPULSIVE VIOLENCE – A top concern for subway riders was once having a purse or wallet snatched. Now, they may be more worried about a sudden attack. The nature of crime in the subway has become far more unpredictable, even as the number of violent incidents remains low, according to a report released on Friday. In 2023, for the first time in nearly two decades, the number of felony assaults in the subway system was greater than the number of robberies, according to an analysis of crime statistics by Vital City, an urban policy think tank. The change signals a rise in impulsive violence and a move away from crimes motivated by monetary gain, the report found. It also reflected a trend in overall crime across the city, which saw a spike in the number of felony assaults in 2024, even as most other major crimes saw a decrease. The rise reflects a national trend, said Jens Ludwig, the director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab. “This is something we’re seeing all over the place, after the pandemic,” he said.
ENDEMIC – Violence against women and girls in London has increased over the last year and remains "endemic", the London Assembly has heard. New figures from the Metropolitan Police show reported sexual offences increased by 7.4% in the 12 months up to the end of January 2025, compared to the previous 12 months. Deputy assistant commissioner Alexis Boon told the committee that the problem was "huge", and said the solutions relied on societal changes, and said the Met "wasn't going to solve it".
BEDROCK OF SAFETY – A key to safety for many victims of domestic and intimate partner violence is emergency shelter, but in Milwaukee County, that can be in short supply. The demand far outpaces the bed capacity at Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee or any other local shelter, a new report found. “Housing for us is the bedrock of safety,” said Carmen Pitre, Sojourner’s president and chief executive, in an interview. Studies from across the country have repeatedly found that domestic and intimate partner violence is a leading cause of women experiencing homelessness.
DEFENSIVE GUN USE – Those with access to firearms rarely use their weapon to defend themselves, and instead are far more likely to be exposed to gun violence in other ways, according to a Rutgers Health study. An overwhelming majority of firearm users, or about 92%, indicated they never have used their weapons to defend themselves, with less than 1% say they did in the previous year, a new study by the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center found.
MORE: More than one-third (34.4%) said they had known someone who had died by firearm suicide. In the past year, 32.7% said they had heard gunshots in their neighborhood. Although only 2.1% of the sample indicated they had been shot, 59.5% of all instances of defensive gun use during which an individual shot at a perceived threat occurred among those who had previously been shot themselves. The study, which appears in JAMA Network Open, collected data from a nationally representative sample of 8,009 adults in May 2024 and examined how frequently the 3,000 with firearm access had engaged in defensive gun use and been exposed to gun violence, both across their entire lives and within the past year.
GLOCK SWITCH – The 14-year-old boy who allegedly shot and killed Newark, N.J., Detective Joseph Azcona in a barrage of 29 bullets used a ghost gun with a device that turned it into “the world’s smallest machine gun,” a source told The Post. Machine gun conversion devices, or “Glock switches,” enable a weapon to fire multiple rounds with a single squeeze of the trigger, the law enforcement source said. The devices are illegal and cheap. Kits to transform semi-automatic weapons to fully automatic ones can cost just $20.
DEPORTED – The Trump administration deported more than 200 people who it claims are members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang, to El Salvador this weekend, multiple members of the administration said on social media on Sunday. It was not immediately clear if the deportations happened before or after a federal judge in D.C. on Saturday issued an emergency order that told the administration to stop using wartime powers to deport people, and turn around any planes already in the air. The deportations to El Salvador also included 2 alleged leaders of the MS-13 gang, which has its origins in El Salvador, and 21 other members of the gang, according to posts from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and from El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele.
REAL-TIME OPERATIONS – Miami Beach officials are anticipating a busy spring break season, with thousands of people expected to visit the city. To help keep residents and visitors alike safe, police are going high tech. On Monday, Miami Beach Police unveiled their new Real Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) and launch of the Skydio's Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program. The department is the first agency in the state, one of only five departments nationwide, to implement Sykdio's DFR program. According to police, the center and drone program will allow them to monitor and respond to incidents quicker, particularly during the high-impact spring break weekends through March. "Miami Beach is at the forefront of pioneering technology to revolutionize public safety," Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner said in a statement.
MORE: The $2 million RTIC will serve as the central hub for the police department's advanced observation, analytics, detection, and intelligence operations, authorities said. Multiple sources will be feeding data into the center in real time. According to police, the RTIC integrates approximately 850 cameras, providing over 1,600 views across Miami Beach. The center will also monitor 30 license plate readers, which will identify vehicles associated with criminal activity, and the RADII Marine Radar system which provides live monitoring of maritime activity. The intelligence center will also monitor for threats or public safety concerns on social media.
NEXT PHX CHIEF – Phoenix has narrowed its list of potential leaders for its police department. Four finalists for police chief, including Interim Chief Michael Sullivan, were announced Friday. The other three candidates hold leadership positions in local and out-of-state departments: Phoenix police Assistant Chief Ed DeCastro, Mesa police Assistant Chief Ed Wessing and Oakland police Deputy Chief Casey Johnson. Phoenix has not had a permanent police chief since summer 2022, when Jeri Williams retired.
RESTORING STABILITY – J. Thomas Manger, who took over as chief of the U.S. Capitol Police to restore stability to the department after its response to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was heavily criticized, announced Tuesday that he will be retiring — again — in May. Manger, 70, retired in 2019 after leading the Montgomery County Police Department for 15 years. Before that, he spent 27 years with the Fairfax County Police Department, the last six years as chief. His third stint as a police chief, with the Capitol Police, lasted just under four years.