Daily Archives: April 23, 2021

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After the death of George Floyd opened up a national debate about policing, Morgan Williams and his colleagues turned to the tools of economics to try and provide some evidence to help inform the conversation. He recently released research that supports the case for police reform while also reminding us why police are important for public safety.

Williams is an economist at NYU's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He researches the economics of crime and incarceration policy, with a particular focus on racial inequality. Raised in the South Bronx, Williams still lives and works not too far from where he grew up.

Whether you're an activist who's been shouting "defund the police" in the streets, or a conservative who flies a "thin blue line" flag in front of your house, if you're looking for someone to rile you up with a megaphone, Williams is not your guy. In these hyperpolarized times, Williams stands apart in speaking the technical language of a wonk with the cool emotions of a data-cruncher. "We want to be as a scientifically objective as possible," he says about his and his colleagues' work.

Morgan C. Williams Jr. Valjean E. Guerra II/Morgan Williams hide caption

Morgan C. Williams Jr.

Williams and his colleagues, Aaron Chalfin, Benjamin Hansen, and Emily Weisburst, got motivated to answer questions like: What is the measurable value of adding a new police officer to patrol a city? Do additional officers prevent homicides? How many people do these officers arrest and for what? And how do bigger police forces affect Black communities?

They gathered data from the FBI and other public data sources for 242 cities between the years 1981 and 2018. They obtained figures on police employment, homicide rates, reported crimes, arrests, and more. And they used technically-savvy statistical techniques to estimate the effects of expanding the size of police forces on things like preventing homicides and increasing arrests (read their working paper for more depth, and, also spend a few hours reading about "instrumental variable" regression, which is pretty freaking genius).

The Impact Of One More Officer

Williams and his colleagues find adding a new police officer to a city prevents between 0.06 and 0.1 homicides, which means that the average city would need to hire between 10 and 17 new police officers to save one life a year. They estimate that costs taxpayers annually between $1.3 and $2.2 million. The federal government puts the value of a statistical life at around $10 million (Planet Money did a whole episode on how that number was chosen). So, Williams says, from that perspective, investing in more police officers to save lives provides a pretty good bang for the buck. Adding more police, they find, also reduces other serious crimes, like robbery, rape, and aggravated assault.

Even more, Williams and his coauthors find that, in the average city, larger police forces result in Black lives saved at about twice the rate of white lives saved (relative to their percentage of the population). When you consider African Americans are much more likely to live in dense, poverty-stricken areas with high homicide rates leading to more opportunities for police officers to potentially prevent victimization that may help explain this finding.

We should note, however, that one broad, average statistic on one measure of policing outcomes says nothing about other potential problems with policing such as excessive use of force, racial profiling, or other issues that remain top of mind as story after story of Black people getting killed, beaten, or mistreated by the police circulates in the media. But, Williams says, reducing the homicide rate and other serious crimes is certainly a benefit for everyone.

While they find serious crimes fall after the average city expands its police force, the economists find that arrests for serious crimes also fall. The simultaneous reduction of both serious crime and arrests for serious crime suggests it's not arrests that are driving the reduction. Instead, it suggests merely having more police officers around drives it. These findings are consistent with other research that finds concentrating police in "hotspot" crime areas appears to be an effective way to reduce crime.

For Williams, this growing evidence about the power of deterrence is super important for those concerned about our bloated criminal justice system, which continues to lock up Black people at an astonishing rate. It shows that adding more police to a neighborhood could have the benefit of lowering the rate of serious crimes without the police necessarily having to lock up a bunch of people.

But, at the same time, Williams and his coauthors also find adding more police officers to a city means more people getting arrested for petty, low-level, victimless crimes, like disorderly conduct, drinking in public, drug possession, and loitering. Black people are disproportionately the target of these low-level arrests, saddling them with crippling court fees and forcing many kids sometimes unnecessarily into the criminal justice system.

More Police May Leave Some Cities Worse Off

The economists also find troubling evidence that suggests cities with the largest populations of Black people like many of those in the South and Midwest don't see the same policing benefits as the average cities in their study. Adding additional police officers in these cities doesn't seem to lower the homicide rate. Meanwhile, more police officers in these cities seems to result in even more arrests of Black people for low-level crimes. The authors believe it supports a narrative that "Black communities are simultaneously over and under-policed." The economists don't have a solid explanation for why bigger police forces appear to lead to worse outcomes in these cities, and they plan to investigate these findings more deeply in future research.

The Big Picture

Bottom line, the picture the economists' data sketches out is complicated. On the one hand, Black communities generally appear to benefit from larger police departments when it comes to lowering the homicide rate and the rate of other serious crimes. But their data also shows these findings don't seem true for cities with the largest Black populations. And throughout the country, they find significant racial disparities in low-level arrests, with lots of Black people getting prosecuted for low-level crimes, resulting in many lives damaged without necessarily improving public safety.

"We're getting plenty of policing, but it might not always be the type of policing that keeps people safe," Williams says regarding these findings. And that suggests one way we could reform police departments: get them to use less manpower to arrest people for petty crimes and use more manpower to fight and solve serious crimes.

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When You Add More Police To A City, What Happens? - NPR

Police have seized an estimated 15 million worth of counterfeit branded clothing, shoes, electrical goods, watches, jewellery, and perfume during three days of raids in Cheetham Hill.

Suspected fake medication was also found and seized in raids on four premises in the area, near to Manchester city centre.

In total more than 45,000 items were confiscated, including suspected counterfeit shoes, clothing, handbags, watches, make up, perfume, sunglasses, batteries, headphones and medication.

Fake brand labels have also been uncovered- these are often imported separately to be sewn onto counterfeit clothing and shoes to give them a cachet.

Mobile phones and cash has also been removed from those arrested.

The joint action between the three forces, Border Force and Immigration Services, saw seven people arrested - six for offences relating to the importation and distribution of counterfeit goods and one for intent to supply prescription drugs.

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Four premises in Strangeways, Manchester, were raided by officers between Monday April 19 and Wednesday April 21 in the targeted raids.

The large-scale operation aimed to crackdown on the sale of counterfeit goods.

Search warrants, which developed from a previous operation that involved the sale and distribution of counterfeit items, saw 60 officers and staff working together.

Officers said the seized items would result in losses of 15 million for legitimate retailers.

Supt Peter Ratcliffe, of the City of London Polices Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), said: Selling counterfeit goods is illegal and, in the case of counterfeit electricals and medication, extremely dangerous.

This huge three-day operation, plus the number of arrests and vast amount of evidence seized, should send a strong message to other criminals involved in counterfeit goods that it wont be tolerated.

For the public, it is vital to remember you dont know what other crimes you are funding when buying counterfeit goods, or the conditions those working for the criminals are conducting their business in.

This operation showed the effectiveness of partnership working and I thank Greater Manchester Police, and our other partners involved, for all their help.

Det Supt Paul Denn from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit said: Buying and selling counterfeit goods is not a victimless crime.

"As well as damaging legitimate businesses, it helps to fund organised crime, and with that often comes violence.

Whenever we receive intelligence about illegal goods, we will always work closely with our colleagues in the City of London Police and other partners to investigate and take the appropriate action.

Insp Helen Hallworth, of Greater Manchester Police said: "Working in partnerships such as this is instrumental when tackling counterfeit operations, as each unit is able to bring its own precise specialisms to help achieve the most effective policing operation.

"City of London is the national policing lead for fraud and we welcome their involvement along with that from our other partners from the NW PIPCU unit as well as Immigration and Border Force when tackling counterfeit operations within the Greater Manchester area.

"Please be under no false illusions that the selling of counterfeit goods is a victimless crime.

"Selling counterfeit goods is illegal and the money made in these shops helps to fund organised crime, lining the pockets of criminals for much more sinister crimes which can have a devastating impact on our communities.

"Finally, be aware that counterfeit goods can pose a serious health risk to individuals as they have not undergone the health and safety checks that are mandatory for mainstream goods.

Read this article:

15m haul of counterfeit goods seized in Cheetham Hill in three days of raids - Manchester Evening News

Police in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, arrested one teen and seized bicycles from a group of friends in a scuffle over traffic violations and a failure to register their bikes with the state, according to a viral video. It's yet another example of the effects of overcriminalization, which increases interactions between civilians and police with little benefit to actual public safety.

"I told you guys you're supposed to have licenses," one officer says in the clip as the cops attempt to get the boys to surrender their bikes. "The sergeant warned you about your bikes, so you guys are warned. I gave you a warning."

One teen gives in. "Drop the bike or you're gonna get arrested too," says another cop in the background, addressing the other boys who are slower to dismount.

In a longer video posted to YouTube, the boys are repeatedly promised that they won't lose their bikes. The teen who first complied is then arrested, and all of their bicycles are taken by the cops.

"You know that we told you guys to stay on the sidewalk," the cop says in a video exchange with one of the teens who filmed their conversation when he returned to get his bike. "You guys knew that you were going against traffic. It is for your safety. You think I want to be here taking bikes away? Like, this is so asinine. Like, we have so much better stuff to do with our time."

She is correct on most counts. It is asinine, and the Perth Amboy Police Department definitely has better stuff to do with their time.

But she didn't stop there: "Is your bike registered with us? I don't have to give it back to you," she notes, harking back to the licensing scuffle referenced during the first confrontation. "You have the receipt to prove that that bike is your bike? I don't have to give it back to you."

They did, in fact, give the bikes back. But not before taking the opportunity to flex some state power over trivial matters like minor traffic infractions and bike registrations.

New Jersey does not require residents to register their bikes. Perth Amboy does, however. According to local law, a bicycle must be registered for any purpose, whether you're renting it out or it's your personal vehicle.

"No person shall ride, operate or propel a bicycle upon any street or other public highway in the city without first obtaining and having secured and attached to such bicycle a proper license tag as hereinafter provided," the statute reads.

"We live way in Edison, cuz," says the arrested teen as he is handcuffed and placed in a police cruiser. "We live way in Edison."

In theory, such a rule exists to helpyou if your bike is stolen. In this case, though, it became yet another tool in the police department's arsenal to wield power over a group of teens.

Such interactions further degrade trust in law enforcement, who, as the cop in the video admits, should be off doing more important things. (At least six officers were on the scene to address the traffic infractions and bike licenses.) These types of interactions canand dosometimes turn deadly. A woman called the police after observing that Ramon Lopez, a Phoenix man, was loitering, "jumping around," and wearing "ripped pants" in a parking lot. He was chased by police, pinned on searing hot asphalt, and later died.

As a rule, victimless crimes should be of little interest to the state. For whatever the government chooses to zero in on, they must feel comfortable using deadly force. Is a minor traffic violation or a bike registration really worth it?

Read more:

Cops Seize Bikes and Arrest 1 Teen Over Traffic Violations and Bike Licenses - Reason

Financial crime is a trillion-dollar industry, and contrary to the popular belief that its a relatively victimless crime, it actually affects millions of lives on a daily basis. Despite remaining largely unseen, the proceeds from illicit activities such as child labor, drug running, prostitution, and human traffickinggo on to fund other equally heinous crimes, includingterrorist financing, bribery, and corruption.Making matters worse is the fact that criminals grow in sophistication at about the same rate asor much faster thanthe technology used to prevent their illegal activities. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that around 800 billion to 2 trillion US dollars, or about 2 to 5 percent of the global GDP, is laundered through legitimate banking systems annually. Only a very small percentage of these criminal fundsless than 1 percent of it, specificallyis accurately detected, frozen, and seized by law enforcement. The outlook is similarly bleak: experts from the World Economic Forum expect that the percentage will be just as low in six years as it is now.

Most of the worlds money flows through financial institutions like banks, who must exercise diligence to prevent themselves from becoming a party to money laundering and other crimes. However, many banks continue to insist on making use of outdated systems to detect these activities and perform AML reporting, rendering them significantly more vulnerable. Heres why your bank should consider upgrading to a more modern anti-money laundering solution today:

Legacy anti-money laundering detection systems are simply less effective against financial crime.

Despite having spent over USD180 billion on anti-money laundering compliance as a whole, the global financial industry continues to lag behind financial crime, as evidenced by the most recent statistics. Many banks still do not meet the minimum requirements set by regulatory bodies when it comes to anti-money laundering detection, investigation, and reporting, and therefore have been subjected to fines and sanctions totaling up to 36 billion US dollars in the last 10 years alone.

Its safe to say that the landscape of crime is constantly evolving, and most banks are stuck playing catch-up when they should ideally be more than a few steps ahead. The biggest weakness of a first-generation AML detection system is the fact that it is a product of a different era, and was designed to respond to threats of that era, not ones that present themselves now. The rules have changed. They are always changing, and legacy AML detection systems have trouble keeping up.

Maintaining a first-generation AML detection system is costly.

One of the biggest reasons why a financial institution might be hesitant to adopt a modern AML solution is the cost. When you already have something in place and it still functions reasonably well, it can be easy to think that youll save more money by simply patching up your existing system, allowing you to put the rest of your compliance budget towards other needs. What you may not realize is that this stopgap solution may be costing you morein the long run.

First-generation AML detection systems have to work harder, in a sense, to keep up with ever-changing regulatory requirements and standards. Theyre less ready to respond to changes, and it costs money to make them ready. These costs can add up. Theres also the distinct possibility that, in the future, the AML detection your bank is using right now simply wont be able to accommodate any new regulatory changes. Its original vendor may cease support for it at any time, and finding people who know how to maintain it will become more difficult. When that time comes, your financial institution wont have much of a choice but to perform a complete overhaul, anyway.

Most legacy AML detection systems require human intervention.

Compliance teams that make use of first-generation AML detection systems are limited by the tools available to them. In many cases, a legacy system can even be a major hindrance that could be actively keeping these specialized staff members from performing their actual responsibilities.Because theyre too busy covering the inefficiencies of the system theyre stuck using, they become unable to execute other tasks that might be more value-adding to their organization. This doesnt just create more cost for your bankyoull have to hire more people to perform the same tasksit can also result in frustration and burnout that can make employees less effective at their jobs, or worse, cause them to seek opportunities elsewhere.

First-generation AML compliance systems do not satisfy more aggressive regulatory requirements.

AML requirements are decidedly not new, but regulatory bodies are becoming more aggressive in both coming up with new standards and implementing them. They are now also taking a closer look at the systems and processes that financial institutions use in their AML monitoring and compliance efforts, as well as how well they are kept up to date and maintained.

Stricter requirements and higher standards for compliance are likely here to stay, and legacy AML detection systems may soon no longer be able to keep up with the complexities of adhering to these. A modern and scalable AML solution is the best way to continue satisfying these more stringent compliance regulations, now and in the future.

More here:

Here's why it's time for your bank to move on from your first-generation AML detection system - InfotechLead.com