RETIRED SGT BETSY BRANTNER SMITH OF THE NATIONAL POLICE ASSOC JOINS DAWN LIVE! 

BETSY EXPANDS ON THE BELOW PROMPTS INCLUDING - THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY & THEIR THOUGHTS ON POLICE PRESENCE, COLLEGES POSTING BAIL FOR PROTESTORS... FBI VIOLENT CRIME DATA HIGHER THAN REPORTED... 

Study: Black people overwhelmingly want to maintain or increase police presence
According to Reason, a new study finds Black people overwhelmingly want to maintain or increase the presence of police in their neighborhoods.

The study, published in the Journal of Criminal Justice found Black Americans express robust support for maintaining—or increasing—police presence and spending.
"Our key finding was that Black Americans preferred to maintain (or increase) police patrol and spending..." write Linda Balcarová and Justin Pickett of the University at Albany, SUNY; Amanda Graham and Sean Patrick Roche of Texas State University; and Francis T. Cullen of the University of Cincinnati.

For perspective on this, turn to a 29-year law enforcement veteran who now trains officers around the world.

Report: FBI violent crime data higher than reported
(Fox News)
An independent group of law enforcement officials and analysts claim violent crime rates are much higher than figures reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its 2023 violent crime statistics...
Through aggregated data sets directly from more than 70 of the nation's largest police departments and victim surveys, (The Coalition for Law Order and Safety's "Assessing America's Crime Crises: Trends, Causes, and Consequences" report) showed that due to significant under-reporting of certain crimes, the FBI's official data doesn't completely capture the full snapshot of crime in the U.S...

Sean Kennedy, one of the lead researchers... said that, particularly in the aftermath of the 2020 George Floyd riots, several police departments redefined the classifications for certain violent crimes and transitioned away from a decades-old recording system.

"If you classify something as an aggravated assault, it's a violent crime or a felony, but if you classify it as a simple assault, it's then a misdemeanor and a non-violent crime," Kennedy said. "That is a world of difference when it comes to how the media is going to portray whether or not your department is fighting violent crime."

However, the police are not the only ones appearing to under-report. Businesses and individuals who are victims of violent crimes have also shown a pattern of reluctance when it comes to calling the police. The Loss Prevention Research Council’s survey of retailers sheds light on the reasons behind the lack of reporting. The study shows that typically, business owners tend to harbor the belief that police will not respond promptly or investigate crimes, and prosecutors will not pursue charges against the perpetrators...

In 2019, 89% of municipal police departments – spanning about 97% of the population – submitted crime data to the FBI...

However, by 2021, less than 63% of departments spanning across 65% of the population submitted crime data. Several big cities – Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago – did not submit crime data at all to the FBI last year...

This month, officials in the New Orleans Police Department announced they had under-reported sex crime data that was filed to the FBI in 2021 and 2022. In 2014, a Los Angeles Times investigation found that the Los Angeles Police Department had "systematically downgraded" serious violent crime offenses to minor offenses between 2005 and 2014. Read more.

For perspective on this, turn to a 29-year law enforcement veteran who now trains officers around the world.

College POSTS BAIL for pro-Hamas protesters
(Campus Reform)
Emerson College President Jay Bernhardt appeared to apologize for the arrests of anti-Israel campus occupiers in late April and said that staff members were sent to bail students out of jail.
According to Boston.com, 118 students were arrested during an anti-Israel encampment on the Emerson College campus during the early morning hours of April 25. They were charged with trespassing and disturbing the peace...

”We know that the events of that night were, and are, emotionally overwhelming for our entire community, especially for the students present at the protest and the staff and faculty who were on site to provide support,” said Bernhardt. “Emerson has continued to be supportive in multiple ways – sending staff to all the precincts and posting bail for arrested students, canceling and modifying classes so our community could process what had occurred, and providing additional care and support for our community to heal.”

Additionally, the college won’t bring campus disciplinary charges against the protesters related to the encampment and asked the district attorney not to pursue charges. Emerson College will also provide housing to out-of-town students who need to come back to Boston for court appearances.

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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