Over 1,200 Arizona Officers Decertified since 1975 It’s not particularly unusual these days to find a police officer (local, county or state) facing allegations of abuse or in some cases other criminal charges. Usually the news involves claims that a civilian was...
Blog
Phoenix Traffic Stops Down After Racial Profiling Ruling
The fallout from a racial profiling ruling in federal court is still with us. Back in 2011, United States District Judge was presiding over a case that alleged racial profiling by deputies in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department. The issue centered on the...
Pharma and the Opioid Epidemic
The news has been overflowing of late regarding what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refers to as the opioid epidemic. We discussed the issue in our blog early last year. It includes drug addiction, drug overdoses and deaths, drug crimes, and...
Threatening and Intimidating at Phoenix Area Mosque
A man has been arrested for threatening or intimidating, and other offenses, after causing some serious discomfort for those worshipping at a mosque in Glendale, Arizona, outside Phoenix. Just days after the deadly shootings at two New Zealand mosques in which at...
Racial Profiling and “If you see something . . .”
You see and hear the statement all the time: “If you see something, say something.” But just what does it mean? And can it lead to racial profiling? The statement was invented by a New York ad agency back in 2001, a day after 9/11. It was created for the New York...
Hate Crime Laws Across the Country
The FBI reports that hate crimes have continued to escalate across the country, citing three continuous years of increases. The largest motivator in these crimes appears to be racial and ethnic bias, although other factors – sexual orientation, religion, disability,...
Terrorism in Phoenix
When people hear a news report about terrorism, many naturally think about events such as 9/11, or, if your memory goes back a bit further, the terrorist attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Germany, where a Palestinian group known as “Black September” took...
Woman Charged with Two DUI’s in Single Traffic Stop
A woman was pulled over by a trooper in Phoenix last month. The trooper says he stopped the vehicle because the driver was drifting from lane to lane at a speed of about 80 mph. After being stopped, the first words out of the woman’s mouth were, according to the...
New Year Brings New Laws to Arizona – But No Criminal Justice Reform
Arizona, like many other states, has a number of new laws that became effective on January 1, 2019. Some involve criminal law, but several focus on money – money, that is, that the state may collect if you find yourself in court. Here’s a rundown on some of the new...
Heavy Penalties for “Chop Shop” Operators
A recent article recounted the arrest of a brother and sister who are alleged to have run a “chop shop.” Most people understand that a chop shop refers to the stripping down of stolen vehicles and the sale of the parts (either individually or as part of a “new”...
Arizona Revenge Porn Law Re-Born
Earlier this fall, a Phoenix fire captain was charged with what is commonly referred to as “revenge porn.” Within a few days of the allegations being revealed, he retired, and little has been seen in the news on the matter since then. But the case puts the spotlight...
The Differences between Theft and Robbery in Arizona
When you listen to the news, you usually hear at least one story about someone allegedly stealing something or robbing someone. Depending upon the news report, the terms sometimes seem as if they are used interchangeably. There are many ways to describe what we...
Arizona DUI – Actual Physical Control
When people envision a charge of driving under the influence (DUI), they usually picture a person driving a car or truck down the road while impaired by alcohol or drugs. Interestingly, the law in Arizona says a bit more about what a DUI charge might involve. A.R.S....
Manslaughter vs. Negligent Homicide in Arizona
All homicides involve, in the first instance, the death of another human being. And all the states, including Arizona, divide homicide into various specific offenses. Murder, of course, is the most commonly referred to homicide offense, and depending on which state...
Arizona Colleges Report Crime Statistics
Burglaries, Stalking and Hate Crimes Under federal law, known as the Clery Act (20 U.S.C.A. § 1092), every college and university that receives federal funding is required to file a variety of reports annually, including those related to campus crime. This year’s...