The Weekly Briefing
Curated news and insights for police leaders, technologists, and researchers
In This Issue
DHS & FBI warn summer mass events face elevated risk
Embassy shooting spotlights surge in anti‑Jewish violence
U.S. moves to bar new Chinese drones, bolster domestic makers
Tech arms race to neutralize rogue drones
From steam to silicon: policing will endure
Phone‑theft wave deters London visitors
Assaults on NYPD officers up 63 % since 2018
Stop‑and‑search tied to big drop in London knife injuries
Chicago’s gun‑intel hub doubles non‑fatal‑shooting clears
Ohio Deputy fatally shot on domestic call
Baldwin Park officer killed, partner wounded in rifle ambush
DHS & FBI Warn Summer Mass Events at Elevated Risk — ABC News
A May 23 joint intelligence bulletin says there are no specific threats but warns extremist chatter is singling out concerts, holiday festivals and big parades as soft targets. Officials flag World Pride 2025, Independence Day celebrations and the Army’s 250th‑anniversary parade, noting violence often spikes just before major events and citing January’s New Year truck‑ramming in New Orleans as a blueprint. The memo lists likely tactics—vehicle ramming, firearms and IEDs—and urges state and local agencies to tighten screening and drone security. A separate DHS note cautions that last week’s DC embassy shooting could inspire copy‑cat strikes on pro‑Israel venues.
🔗 ABC News
Leaders Must Act to Stop Anti‑Jewish Violence — City Journal
Last week’s murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Washington, D.C., Jewish museum shows how campus protest networks are sliding from vandalism to lethal terror, the magazine warns. Groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Unity of Fields openly praise the killings and call for “besieging” embassies; the essay urges a broken‑windows response—rapid arrests, tougher penalties and federal probes into possible foreign‑terror links—before violence escalates further.
🔗 City Journal
Trump Executive Orders Target Chinese Drones, Spur U.S. Manufacturing — Washington Post
President Trump’s pending orders would freeze new DJI and Autel models unless intelligence agencies clear them within one year, fast‑tracking a congressionally mandated security review. They also direct federal grants, loan guarantees and Pentagon purchasing preferences to jump‑start U.S. drone makers, while instructing the FAA to: 1) expand no‑fly zones over rail, energy and theme‑park sites; and 2) ease beyond‑visual‑line‑of‑sight rules for vetted commercial operators. Supporters call it a blueprint to “harden supply chains” and reclaim the small‑drone market from Beijing.
🔗 Washington Post
States Seek Tools to Stop Rogue Drones — Associated Press
Cheap quadcopters have buzzed runways, prisons and even nuclear plants, yet state and local police still lack authority to jam or hijack them. Congress is weighing a bipartisan bill that would let vetted agencies deploy counter‑UAS gear—signal jammers, net‑guns or hack‑back tools like D‑Fend’s EnforceAir—at stadiums, parades and critical sites. Supporters say the change would close a “shoot‑it‑down‑or‑do‑nothing” gap that leaves communities exposed.
🔗 AP
From Steam to Silicon: Policing Will Endure — LinkedIn
Modern policing was forged amid the smoke and churn of the Industrial Revolution, Sir Robert Peel’s bobbies keeping order as railways, telegraphs and mass migration remade society. Today’s AI revolution poses a similar upheaval, and forward‑leaning agencies are already pairing drones with human judgment and using pattern‑recognition to head off violence before it sparks. The post argues that Peelian principles—prevention and public consent—remain timeless guardrails as ethical AI frees officers for the human work of empathy and care. 🔗 Full post
Phone‑Theft Wave Deters London Visitors — The Telegraph
PPHE Hotels chief Greg Hegarty warns that London’s “epidemic” of phone‑snatching—roughly 70 k handsets stolen in 2024, or 190 a day—is now depressing bookings and showing up in guest‑feedback surveys. Viral videos of moped and e‑scooter thieves ripping mobiles from tourists’ hands are steering would‑be visitors away from Oxford Street, Covent Garden and the South Bank, he said. The £2.2 billion hotel group has doubled security spend and trained staff to support shaken victims, but Hegarty argues that only a high‑visibility police crackdown and faster prosecutions can repair London’s brand before the 2025 travel peak. Hoteliers fear repeat guests will defect to Paris or Amsterdam if they can’t safely use a phone outdoors; the Met’s new 80‑officer “Operation Broadway” task force is billed as a first step. Whether tourists can snap selfies without looking over their shoulder will be the ultimate metric, Hegarty added.
🔗 The Telegraph
Assaults on NYPD Officers Up 63 % Since 2018 — New York Post
NYPD data show 970 attacks on uniformed officers through May 31, a 63 % jump over the 595 logged at the same point in 2019. Year‑over‑year, assaults are 4 % higher than 2024 and 57 % higher than 2022, fuelling union claims that “no‑consequence” courts embolden offenders. Recent cases: a Queens suspect who bit off a sergeant’s fingertip; a Times Square brawler who slugged an officer and two tourists; and Housing Officer Chowdhury Nafees, 27, beaten and robbed on his Bronx commute.
🔗 New York Post
Stop‑and‑Search Linked to Sharp Fall in Knife Violence — Journal of Quantitative Criminology
A 15‑year, 183‑month time‑series tracks 4.3 million London stop‑and‑searches against 58,503 knife injuries and shows a clear dose‑response: each extra 1,000 searches averts about 1.5 stabbings. Keeping monthly activity at the 2011 peak of 45 k searches would translate to roughly 600 fewer injuries and 30 fewer knife murders a year, saving the NHS an estimated £216 k every month in trauma costs. When searches collapsed 66 % in 2014, knife murders rose by 44 and injuries by 1,276; a 55 % ‘surge’ in 2018 reversed course, trimming 27 injuries a month. Authors Alex Piquero (Miami) and Lawrence Sherman (Cambridge) say targeted, procedurally‑just stops provide more benefit than harm when concentrated in high‑risk hotspots. 🔗 Study
Chicago’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center Doubles Shooting Clears — ABC 7 Chicago
Chicago’s overhauled CGIC now houses 13 local, state and federal partners, letting ATF techs and CPD detectives link shell casings to guns within 24 hours. In its first year the hub generated roughly 200 top‑tier leads and helped double the clearance rate for non‑fatal shootings versus 2022. Fast matches recently tied a West Town robbery crew to multiple holdups where auto‑switch pistols were used, leading to federal indictments. Fifty‑eight detectives now funnel every shooting file through the center, a focus CPD says is chipping away at the city’s 1,800 annual woundings by zeroing in on the small subset of repeat gunmen. ATF Special Agent‑in‑Charge Chris Amon calls the one‑roof model a “game‑changer” that collapses months of legwork into days.
Ohio Deputy Fatally Shot on Domestic Call; Suspect Critical — CBS News
Morrow County Deputy Daniel Sherrer, 31, was gunned down moments after arriving at a Marengo home Monday night on a domestic‑violence 911. Fellow deputies returned fire, wounding the attacker, who remains hospitalized under guard. Sheriff John Hinton, calling Sherrer an ever‑smiling two‑year veteran, said he will not utter the gunman’s name; Delaware County detectives and Ohio BCI are handling the case while body‑cam footage is reviewed. Funeral plans are pending for Sherrer, who is survived by his parents and large circle of loved ones. 🔗 CBS News
Baldwin Park Officer Killed, Partner Wounded in Rifle Ambush — NBC News
Responding to reports of rifle fire on Filhurst Avenue around 7 p.m. Saturday, Baldwin Park officers were met with a volley of bullets: one officer was killed on the driveway, his partner wounded but stable, and a nearby civilian also found fatally shot. LASD investigators say the lone gunman fired first; officers struck him as they returned fire, and he is now hospitalized in stable condition. Detectives have recovered the suspected rifle and will seek multiple murder counts once the shooter is discharged, Sheriff Robert Luna said. Police Chief Robert Lopez called the fallen patrolman an avid snowboarder and Dodgers super‑fan but is withholding his name until every family member is reached. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau is leading the probe..
🔗 NBC News
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