By Richard Winton and Libor Jany
Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police solved greater than two thirds of all homicides citywide in 2025, a yr that ended with the fewest variety of slayings in six a long time, in keeping with statistics introduced by native authorities on Thursday.

Of the 230 homicides logged in areas patrolled by the LAPD, officers stated that 156, or 68%, had been thought of solved. By the division’s definition, a murder will be “cleared” by means of an arrest or different components, together with if the killing was deemed legally justified or the suspect dies. Whether the case ends in legal fees or a conviction shouldn’t be a part of the division’s methodology.

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Factoring within the 78 homicides from previous years that had been solved in 2025, the clearance charge rose to 101%, officers stated.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell stated the division’s success in fixing homicides was the results of extra data-driven actions towards the comparatively small variety of people chargeable for an outsize proportion of violent crimes, in addition to collaboration with federal legislation enforcement and different businesses.

McDonnell pointed to an 8% discount within the variety of gunshot victims citywide, a decline he attributed to a big improve within the variety of weapons seized by police. In 2025, LAPD officers recovered 8,650 firearms, 1,000 greater than the earlier yr, he stated. Gang killings nonetheless account for a lot of the metropolis’s homicides, however are far under the place they had been in years previous, officers stated.

The chief stated police want to stay diligent since “every life lost was one too many.” The tendencies for different classes of violent crime had been a “mixed bag,” he stated, and considerations about property crimes akin to housebreaking and automobile thefts stay ongoing.

He stated that the declining numbers had been proof {that a} depleted division, stretched skinny by low recruitment numbers and up to date protests and wildfires, was nonetheless performing admirably. At the identical time, he acknowledged that the decline was probably additionally the results of different components that govern the ebb and stream of crime.

Historically, consultants have solid a skeptical eye on police-driven explanations for clearance charges, arguing that neighborhood attitudes and behaviors, prosecutors’ thresholds for submitting murder fees, and different variables could have extra to do with fixing homicides greater than any explicit legislation enforcement mannequin.

The murder tally marked the town’s lowest whole since 1966, when the town’s inhabitants was practically a 3rd smaller. The downturn mirrors precipitous drops in lots of different giant cities nationwide final yr — and has sparked a spread of theories about what’s occurring.

For those that view violent crime as a public well being challenge, the steep lower is rooted in highly effective social forces which are far past the management of legislation enforcement. Those components embrace the return of social companies that declined throughout the pandemic, and fatigue from a long time of bloodshed.

Still others say it’s merely a matter of numbers: with lighter caseloads, murder detectives have extra time to totally examine every new killing.

Sal Labarbara, a former supervisor of detectives in South Bureau murder, referred to as the citywide remedy charges a “beautiful” achievement.

“This is how it’s supposed to be. When murders are down, reinforce the teams and solve the older cases. In the past, when homicides were down, they sometimes took detectives away from homicide investigations,” he stated. “It’s especially extraordinary considering the number of sworn officers are decreasing.”

According to statistics maintained by the state Department of Justice, murder clearance charges statewide have hovered round 60% over the previous decade, with a excessive of 64.6% in 2019 and a low of 54.5% in 2021. In Los Angeles, the proportion of slayings which have been solved rose barely from 2024, however was down from the 79.9% clearance charge that the division achieved in 2023.

The information introduced at a news convention Thursday didn’t supply a breakdown of how final yr’s remedy charges differed geographically within the division’s 21 patrol areas.

Body cameras might be deployed instantly in Minneapolis and expanded nationwide as funding permits, Secretary Kristi Noem stated

February 03, 2026 09:52 AM

The man alleged that LAPD officers violated his constitutional rights by detaining and hospitalizing him after being incorrectly suggested by a VA employee that he was suicidal

February 02, 2026 04:59 PM

The suspect being questioned by police at a lodge shot the 2 Gwinnett County officers after inviting them into his room, killing Officer Pradeep Tamang

February 02, 2026 08:58 AM

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy Christopher Ohlmeyer was escorting a funeral procession when his motorbike was struck from behind

February 02, 2026 10:37 AM

©2026 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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February 03, 2026 12:22 PM

By Warren Dillaway
Star Beacon, Ashtabula, Ohio

ASHTABULA COUNTY, Ohio — A person who died in an officer-involved taking pictures in September has been recognized as Jerry Pegram, Ashtabula County Coroner’s Office Chief Investigator Amber Stewart mentioned.

She mentioned she has not been approved to launch the age, residency or another info referring to the incident, which occurred Monday (Sept. 8, 2025) afternoon.

| WEBINAR: From response to decision — main police operations within the video period

The incident began round 2:41 p.m. in Ashtabula when Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office deputies tried to cease a motorbike with no registration at Dwight and East forty eighth streets, in accordance with a press launch supplied late Monday afternoon by the Sheriff’s Office.

“The male driver of the motorcycle led deputies, and an Ohio Highway Patrol trooper on a pursuit that ended at approximately 3:04 p.m., at the intersection of Stanhope-Kelloggsville and Anderson roads, where the male rider drove the motorcycle into a ditch, causing the motorcycle to catch fire, and then fled on foot brandishing a firearm. Deputies perceiving a threat, fired at the suspect who was later pronounced deceased by emergency personnel,” the discharge said.

The Sheriff’s Office known as within the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to help within the investigation.

Steve Irwin, press secretary for the Office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, mentioned BCI’s investigation is energetic and on-going in a Tuesday e mail.

On Tuesday (Sept. 9), Ashtabula County Sheriff William Niemi mentioned deputies adhered to the division’s pursuit and use of pressure insurance policies. He mentioned the division would don’t have any additional touch upon the incident, since BCI is dealing with the investigation.

Body cameras will probably be deployed instantly in Minneapolis and expanded nationwide as funding permits, Secretary Kristi Noem mentioned

February 03, 2026 09:52 AM

The man alleged that LAPD officers violated his constitutional rights by detaining and hospitalizing him after being incorrectly suggested by a VA employee that he was suicidal

February 02, 2026 04:59 PM

Video exhibits Baltimore Police officers trying de-escalation and deploying TASERs earlier than a suspect armed with a knife and stun system charged at officers

February 02, 2026 12:51 PM

 · 

The suspect being questioned by police at a lodge shot the 2 Gwinnett County officers after inviting them into his room, killing Officer Pradeep Tamang

February 02, 2026 08:58 AM

© 2025 the Star Beacon (Ashtabula, Ohio). Visit www.starbeacon.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The low cost is 10% off the whole order and will be reused on future purchases

February 03, 2026 12:22 PM

NEW YORK — A New York City police sergeant who hurled a plastic cooler at a person fleeing officers on a motorized scooter, inflicting a crash that killed the motive force, says he was attempting to guard different officers from being injured.

Testifying Monday at his manslaughter trial, Erik Duran mentioned he was not attempting to injure Eric Duprey, 30, when he threw the cooler filled with ice, water and sodas in August 2023. Authorities have mentioned Duprey, a father of three, had simply offered medication to an undercover officer when he tried to drive off.

| WEBINAR: From response to decision — main police operations within the video period

Duprey, who was not sporting a helmet, misplaced management of his scooter and crashed right into a tree earlier than falling to the pavement. He suffered deadly head accidents and died virtually instantaneously, prosecutors mentioned.

“He was gonna crash into us,” Duran, 38, informed the courtroom. “I mean, I didn’t have time. All I had time for was to try again to stop or to try to get him to change directions. That’s all I had the time to think of.”

Besides the manslaughter cost, Duran additionally faces criminally negligent murder and assault fees. The nonjury trial is being prosecuted by the state legal professional basic’s workplace, which investigates civilian deaths throughout encounters with regulation enforcement.

During their cross-examination, prosecutors urged Duran had extra time to suppose than he urged, saying he selected to select up a heavy cooler with each arms as a substitute of telling the opposite officers to maneuver.

Joseph Bianco, one of many prosecutors within the case, requested Duran if he had warned his colleagues concerning the approaching scooter. When Duran mentioned he didn’t have time to do this, Bianco famous that what the officer “did have time to do is to take two steps forward down that sidewalk” and choose up the cooler.

Duran disputed that the cooler was heavy. He additionally testified that after the crash, he instantly tried to assist Duprey when he noticed his accidents.

“I said, ‘Can you hear me? Can you hear me?’ And then I started to notice his injury, and he was in bad shape,” Duran testified.

Duran faces as much as 25 years in jail if convicted on the manslaughter depend. Closing arguments had been scheduled for Tuesday.

Body cameras will probably be deployed instantly in Minneapolis and expanded nationwide as funding permits, Secretary Kristi Noem mentioned

February 03, 2026 09:52 AM

The man alleged that LAPD officers violated his constitutional rights by detaining and hospitalizing him after being incorrectly suggested by a VA employee that he was suicidal

February 02, 2026 04:59 PM

The suspect being questioned by police at a lodge shot the 2 Gwinnett County officers after inviting them into his room, killing Officer Pradeep Tamang

February 02, 2026 08:58 AM

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy Christopher Ohlmeyer was escorting a funeral procession when his bike was struck from behind

February 02, 2026 10:37 AM

The low cost is 10% off the whole order and could be reused on future purchases

February 03, 2026 12:22 PM

By Sierra van der Brug
Los Angeles Daily News

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police don’t plan to implement not too long ago enacted state and native bans that prohibit federal legislation enforcement officers from carrying masks throughout enforcement operations, the police chief mentioned Thursday.

Chief Jim McDonnell, when requested at a news convention about masks bans, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into legislation in September and which individually gained approval by Los Angeles County supervisors, mentioned he disagreed with the insurance policies, citing the opportunity of battle between police and different companies in the event that they have been to be enforced.

| WEBINAR: From response to decision — main police operations within the video period

“The reality of one armed agency approaching another armed agency to create conflict over something that would be a misdemeanor at best or an infraction, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s not a good public policy decision and it wasn’t well thought out in my opinion,” McDonnell mentioned.

“You look across the country, you see the things that are happening. We are in line with our federal partners on everything except immigration enforcement. What we’ve seen since June here in Los Angeles and seen across the country, we’re as frustrated as everybody else about the way that’s being done,” he mentioned.

McDonnell expressed hope for “some reconciliation as far as reapproaching strategy and tactics that are being deployed to get a better outcome overall.”

“We look at 50 years of developing relationships with our immigrant communities. That is critically important to us and to have that threatened in any way is something that’s sad to see and we certainly will work hard to rebuild those relationships,” McDonnell mentioned.

The sweeping ban on face coverings for many legislation enforcement officers was signed into legislation by Newsom in September. Senate Bill 627, referred to as the No Secret Police Act, was launched following waves of immigration raids throughout California. The legislation makes exceptions for SWAT groups, undercover operations and medically or situationally crucial face coverings.

The legislation went into impact on Jan. 1, however just isn’t being enforced after the Department of Justice has mounted a problem to its constitutionality, stating that it creates dangers for brokers, together with doxing and harassment.

A comparable ordinance was permitted in December by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, affecting legislation enforcement who function within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the legislation enforcement company that patrols unincorporated Los Angeles County, mentioned that federal legislation makes the division unable to implement the ban.

“Federal law governs civil immigration matters, and under the U.S. Constitution, federal authority supersedes state and local laws. As a local law enforcement entity, we do not create federal policy, but we are required to operate within the legal framework it establishes.

“Current federal law will not allow us to enforce the proposed ordinance on federal agents, should the courts decide differently we will adjust accordingly,” the division mentioned.

Body cameras will probably be deployed instantly in Minneapolis and expanded nationwide as funding permits, Secretary Kristi Noem mentioned

February 03, 2026 09:52 AM

The man alleged that LAPD officers violated his constitutional rights by detaining and hospitalizing him after being incorrectly suggested by a VA employee that he was suicidal

February 02, 2026 04:59 PM

Video reveals Baltimore Police officers trying de-escalation and deploying TASERs earlier than a suspect armed with a knife and stun machine charged at officers

February 02, 2026 12:51 PM

 · 

The suspect being questioned by police at a resort shot the 2 Gwinnett County officers after inviting them into his room, killing Officer Pradeep Tamang

February 02, 2026 08:58 AM

©2026 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit dailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The low cost is 10% off the entire order and will be reused on future purchases

February 03, 2026 12:22 PM

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an govt order directing Chicago police to research and doc alleged misconduct by federal immigration brokers for potential prosecution

The “ICE On Notice” order follows latest federal enforcement operations that resulted in deadly shootings in Minneapolis and different incidents involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol brokers. Johnson cited the necessity to answer what he described as “lawlessness of Trump’s militarized immigration agents.”

| WEBINAR: From response to decision — main police operations within the video period

“We are putting ICE on notice,” Johnson stated in an announcement. “Chicago will not sit idly by while Trump floods federal agents into our communities and terrorizes our residents.”

The govt order, signed on Jan. 31, instructs the Chicago Police Department to protect body-camera footage, determine federal supervisors on the scene and full reviews in instances of alleged misconduct. In felony instances, supervisors are directed to refer the matter to the Cook County State’s Attorney.

Johnson’s motion comes amid rising pressure between progressive metropolis leaders and the federal authorities over immigration enforcement.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Border Patrol, denied allegations of prison misconduct and defended the conduct of its personnel, stating they’re held to “the highest professional standard,” CNN reported.

John Catanzara, president of town’s police union, dismissed the order as “political bluster.” DHS officers cited sanctuary insurance policies as a continued barrier to cooperation with native authorities.

The order directs CPD to develop implementation pointers inside 30 days.

Body cameras can be deployed instantly in Minneapolis and expanded nationwide as funding permits, Secretary Kristi Noem stated

February 03, 2026 09:52 AM

The man alleged that LAPD officers violated his constitutional rights by detaining and hospitalizing him after being incorrectly suggested by a VA employee that he was suicidal

February 02, 2026 04:59 PM

Video reveals the suspect fleeing into the woods after a fiery crash and brandishing a weapon earlier than being shot by Ohio officers

February 03, 2026 12:43 PM

Of the 230 homicides logged, officers stated that 156, or 68%, have been thought-about solved; factoring within the 78 killings from previous years that have been solved in 2025, the speed rose to 101%

February 03, 2026 04:44 PM

The low cost is 10% off the full order and may be reused on future purchases

February 03, 2026 12:22 PM

I spent most of my grownup life in a state the place off-duty political exercise by regulation enforcement officers was expressly protected by regulation. Deputies ran towards sitting sheriffs in each election cycle and nothing a lot occurred apart from everybody going again to work on Wednesday, so I figured that was regular, a easy a part of any citizen’s civil rights.

I’d heard of locations the place deputies received fired or demoted for difficult an incumbent sheriff — even locations the place new sheriffs swept your entire workplace and required deputies to reapply — so when a pal despatched me a hyperlink about one such drama enjoying out in Alabama, I took a more in-depth look. It’s a neighborhood story however it illustrates nationwide variations in regulation, tradition and the politics of elected regulation enforcement — variations that always decide who’s even allowed to run..

Political loyalty and patronage firings

Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones joined the sheriff’s workplace greater than 50 years in the past, and he’s been the sheriff for 27 of them. He ran unopposed aside from his first marketing campaign (with the endorsement of the retiring sheriff), and one different time towards a neighborhood libertarian candidate. He is well-spoken, well-educated and a former adjunct professor of prison justice.

A deputy instructed him he supposed to run towards him within the 2026 election; Jones fired him, inspiring a flurry of protection by native news shops. He defined the termination by citing case regulation in Alabama, Florida and Georgia that grants sheriffs the precise to anticipate political loyalty since these states (with a number of exceptions garnered by collective bargaining in bigger departments) regard deputies as an alter ego of the sheriff himself. In interviews, he cited “public safety” as a trigger for concern if considered one of his deputies runs towards him.

I requested Jones about that concern after we talked on the cellphone whereas he was on a break throughout a coaching session. “Public safety is one element,” he stated. “I consider the agency a team. Dissension within the team will logically affect efficiency, which diminishes our capacity to effect that mission — which is public safety.” Jones’s argument hinges on the concept that political opposition inside the company essentially interprets to operational dysfunction.

Patronage dismissals are authorized in Alabama, however challenger Cam Hunt is pushing again.

He believes change is required, and that he has the management expertise to carry it to the division. Law enforcement runs in his household. His grandmother, Peggy Hunt, was the primary feminine licensed police officer within the state, serving the town of Opelika from 1975 until she retired; he served as a Marine officer after graduating from Auburn University, after the instance of different veteran family. When he returned to Alabama to boost a household, he adopted in his grandmother’s footsteps at Opelika PD earlier than working for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. He stated in a cellphone interview, “I saw things that need dire change and I didn’t want to wait 20 years to be able to make that change.”

He met with Jones to inform him he had determined to run for sheriff within the subsequent election, and left the assembly unemployed. He says he was not requested to resign. Jones says he ought to have resigned earlier than saying his candidacy. The marketing campaign has grow to be tense and fraught, and in loads of the nation that’s the norm.

The state of the sheriff’s marketing campaign

Most counties have sheriffs, and most of these sheriffs are elected, however there isn’t a single normal regulating the workplace. Once a sheriff is elected they have an inclination to remain in workplace, generally for many years. They usually run unopposed, even when clear ethics and authorized breaches have been confirmed. Challenging an incumbent sheriff means dealing with a traditionally excessive bar; in lots of locations it’s not possible for an energetic deputy.

Besides case regulation like those cited in Lee County, obstacles embody the Hatch Act, which precludes political exercise by somebody ready that’s even partially federally funded. One contact instructed me of a New York sheriff who ended a political problem just by transferring the deputy to a place funded by federal grants. (To be truthful, the Hatch Act has additionally caught out some sheriffs who trod too near funding strains throughout their very own campaigns.)

Challenging an incumbent could also be interpreted as disloyalty or insubordination, and the place employment is at-will, termination doesn’t require trigger anyway. There are additionally “resign to run” legal guidelines that may require a deputy to resign earlier than working for political workplace.

Do deputies all the time need to give up to run for sheriff?

Short reply: No — however it relies upon closely on the state.

Some states have civil service techniques or authorities codes defending due course of and civil rights for regulation enforcement. Arkansas, California, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Tennessee and Wisconsin all have Law Enforcement Officer or Peace Officer Bills of Rights that spell out some extent of safety for authorized, off-duty political exercise, together with working for election. Deputies in some states should take a depart of absence throughout the marketing campaign. In others, they could proceed on with their common employment, so long as they don’t marketing campaign on responsibility or in uniform.

They could also be prohibited from fundraising (however committees for his or her election might try this on their behalf), however in lots of of those states, and a few others with civil service techniques, deputies can’t be penalized for working for sheriff.

The place of sheriff: Elected by the individuals, for the individuals, to what finish?

Elections aren’t actually so simple as they appear. Where primaries are closed, and solely two candidates run for sheriff (or prosecutor, or choose), solely a fraction of voters really get to decide on who serves all of them.

If an incumbent additionally has affect over who might problem them, then the voters have nonetheless much less affect. Their selections had been restricted earlier than they arrived on the polls.

Are political challenges equal to insubordination? Jurisdictions exist the place deputies problem incumbents each election cycle but the world simply retains turning. I don’t consider that disagreement is similar as insubordination, or that non-public loyalty to a sheriff is required for skilled policing.

There is a minimum of one case the place a deputy spoke out to the press in opposition to division insurance policies, received a lawsuit upholding his proper to take action on First Amendment grounds, after which continued on at that division until retirement. He disagreed, however he did his work impartially. The sheriff and the DA disagreed with him, however did their jobs impartially. No one appreciated it, but nothing terrible occurred due to it.

A “spirit of the Old West” panache permeates the workplace of sheriff, to the purpose that one sheriff described the expectation of private loyalty to me as “riding for the brand.” That’s how cattle barons described employment throughout the vary wars of the 1800s: particular loyalty to the one who employed you, assuming their targets and values as in the event that they had been your personal. Yet, a sheriff is chosen by the voters to maintain the peace and implement the regulation. In concept, that regulation is to be enforced objectively, with out regard to individual or title. If that’s the mission and everybody concerned behaves professionally, then how a lot can private loyalty actually issue into engaging in that objective?

Shouldn’t loyalty to the rule of regulation take priority?

I got down to discover solutions and as a substitute discovered extra questions, as a result of we don’t dwell in an ideal world. Human components and custom affect regulation and coverage that adjust in each state, generally even every county. Upholding custom for custom’s sake, although, is simply one other means of claiming “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” I’m unsure that’s ever a great purpose to maintain doing something.

Let us know what you assume. Share your feedback beneath.

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