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GUN VIOLENCE

US police 'very nervous' about officer-initiated enforcement as gun violence soars
By Ray Sanchez, Peter Nickeas, Emma Tucker and Mark Morales, CNN
Updated 11:05 AM ET, Mon June 21, 2021

(CNN)A team of Portland Police Bureau officers that responded to the city's violent summer of protests has disbanded because of what their union called a "politically driven" decision to indict a member on criminal charges.

"Unfortunately, this decorated public servant has been caught in the crossfire of agenda-driven city leaders and a politicized criminal justice system," the Portland Police Association said of the indictment.

The officer, Corey Budworth, was charged with fourth-degree battery after a viral video posted on social media captured him allegedly striking a protester with a baton last summer and then striking her a second time while she was on the ground before he walked away.
As American cities confront a rise in gun violence ahead of an expected summertime crime surge, concerns about a retreat in proactive policing are mounting across the country amid a debate over brutality and systemic racism that followed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

"You just have to be honest and say that police in America are far more cautious today about stopping someone than they were a year ago," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement policy group. "Proactive policing is much more complicated. And now we're in the post George Floyd era, which makes police understandably cautious."
The roughly 50 Portland police officers who stepped down this week from the bureau's rapid response team -- but will remain on the job -- are hardly alone in what they view as unfair scrutiny of their profession. In other high-crime cities -- such as Philadelphia, Chicago and New York -- concerns abound that hamstrung and beleaguered law enforcement agencies appear to be ceding the streets.

"The national mood is not sympathetic to the police," Wexler said. "I think we'll find balance down the road. We always do. But right now there's trepidation about proactive police work."
Proactive policing involves aggressive, officer-initiated enforcement -- such as street stops -- and heightened police presence in high crime areas to combat firearms violations and other crimes.
Quality-of-life enforcement changes in Philadelphia
Starting in August, Philadelphia police officers will be prohibited from stopping people for "quality-of-life" violations, or petty offenses, unless they refuse to halt the offending behavior and move along, according to a federal court order.

The court order is part of a 2011 settlement between the city and the ACLU that required police to track stop-and-frisk incidents to reduced racial disparities. The city has argued the change would deprive officers of a valuable anti-crime tool amid a current spike in homicides.

Quality-of-life offenses can include carrying open liquor bottles, public urination, gambling, panhandling or smoking cannabis. Enforcing these violations can help to prevent more serious crimes later on, according to former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. Arguments over dice games can escalate into shootings, Ramsey said. Urinating in public can turn into indecent exposure.
Ramsey, a CNN law enforcement analyst, said there needs to be a balance between preventing certain conduct and assessing whether or not an arrest is necessary.
"I wonder what impact this is going to have in terms of people living in neighborhoods that are disproportionately affected by quality-of-life and crime issues and how they're going to respond to this," he said. "It can easily get out of hand."
'There seems to be more caution than ever'

In Chicago the police pursuit and fatal shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in March prompted a new foot pursuit policy.

Body camera footage showed Toledo holding a gun in his right hand, but it vanished from sight as he turned toward the officer and began to raise his hands as he was shot. A gun was later found behind a fence a few feet from where Toledo was killed.