RETIRED SGT BETSY BRANTNER SMITH JOINS DAWN LIVE!

BETSY EXPANDS ON THE STATE OF PROTESTS AT COLUMBIA - UCLA - PENN - HARVARD - AND OTHERS NATIONWIDE... POLICE FIGHTING BACK? UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA SHOWING THE BLUEPRINT? BETSY ALSO SHARES HER THOUGHTS ON THE TRAGEDY THIS WEEK IN CHARLOTTE NC... 

BETSY REPLIES TO THE BELOW PROMPTS:
29-year law enforcement officer on campus protests
29-year police veteran on officers shot in Charlotte
Police hiring increases for first time since before pandemic
Charges dropped against 46 arrested at pro-Palestinian protest

(Morning Brew)
Turmoil continues to engulf US college campuses coast-to-coast. Late last night, police entered Columbia University’s campus and removed pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had occupied an administration building roughly 20 hours before. Violent clashes also broke out overnight between pro-Palestinian protesters and counter-protesters at UCLA. Read more.

AP: At least a dozen people have been arrested at the... University of Wisconsin... as police removed tents erected by protesters...

(Officials at The University of Texas at Austin are preparing) for an expected large protest Wednesday on the main lawn where demonstrations resulted in more than 100 arrests over the past week.

(AP) — Several officers on a task force trying to serve a warrant in a suburban Charlotte, North Carolina, neighborhood were shot Monday afternoon, police said.

Officers from several agencies in the U.S. Marshals Task Force were carrying out the operation in a suburban neighborhood when “a subject” began firing at them and multiple officers were shot, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a post on X...

Nearly two hours after the shooting started, police said the scene was still unsafe and promised an update with more information “as soon as the situation stabilizes.” Read more.

WSOC-TV: The number of people shot and the nature of their injuries was not immediately known.

(AP) — Police departments across the United States are reporting an increase in their ranks for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic and... George Floyd's death... which led to a historic exodus of officers, a survey shows.
More sworn officers were hired in 2023 than in any one of the previous four years, and fewer officers overall resigned or retired, according to the 214 law enforcement agencies that responded to a survey by the Police Executive Research Forum, or PERF.

As more and more officers left, many of the departments had to redeploy stretched resources by shifting officers away from investigative work or quality of life issues such as abandoned vehicles or noise violations to handle increases in crime and, in some cases, the shortages meant slower response times or limiting responses to emergencies only, police officials say...

The survey shows that while small and medium departments had more sworn officers than they did in January 2020, large departments are still more than 5% below their staffing levels from that time, even with a year-over-year increase from 2022 to 2023.

The survey also showed smaller departments with fewer than 50 officers are still struggling with a higher rate of resignations and retirements.

(KUT Radio)
Charges have been dismissed against 46 people arrested at a protest Wednesday on (University of Texas) Austin's campus, Travis County Attorney Delia Garza said.
"Legal concerns were raised by defense counsel, we reviewed each case individually and agreed there were deficiencies in the probable cause affidavits," she told KUT in a text. "The Court affirmed and ordered the release of the individuals."

Nearly 60 people were arrested for allegedly trespassing during the pro-Palestinian demonstration. Garza said her office would continue to review cases to determine whether prosecution "is factually and legally appropriate..."

The protest, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, was met by a multiagency show of force. State police responded by request from UT President Jay Hartzell and Gov. Greg Abbott, who characterized the protest as violent and anti-Semitic.

Officers from the Austin Police Department, UT Police and the Department of Public Safety attempted to clear the university's south lawn. Dozens of protesters were arrested for criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor akin to loitering, or disorderly conduct, which is also a misdemeanor. Read more.

Will this embolden protesters to be even more disruptive?

COVER IMG: Pro-Palestinian protesters, including students and faculty of universities across Philadelphia, wave flags during the fourth day of the protest encampment at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 28, 2024. The White House insisted on April 28 that pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked US universities in recent weeks must remain peaceful, after police arrested around 275 people on four separate campuses over the weekend. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher / AFP) (Photo by MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images)

Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith (Ret.) is spokesperson for National Police Association, a non-profit that supports law enforcement officers across the U.S. Betsy began her career as a police dispatcher at age 17 and has held positions in patrol, investigations, narcotics, juvenile, hostage negotiation, crime prevention, K-9 and field training. She has been a law enforcement trainer for over 20 years. 

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