Society's Pendulum - From Outrage to Scandal

The endless cycle of outrage and reform over policing in America
'The push to remake policing takes decades, only to begin again'

The Term Racial Profiling Coined by Reporter in 1988 Article about NJ State Police Technique

For decades, police misconduct and the use of controversial tactics have fueled cycles of outrage that have been followed by commissions, studies and orders or promises to reform. In 1929, the federal Wickersham Commission produced 14 volumes of reports documenting widespread police corruption, including the use of the “third degree” to extract confessions. Eighty-six years later, after the killing of a Black man, Michael Brown, by a White officer in Ferguson, Mo., the Obama administration convened the Task Force on 21st Century Policing, which produced 116 pages of recommended changes in U.S. law enforcement.

Last year, the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police renewed the calls for change.

Since then, more than 2,000 policing-related bills have been introduced nationwide, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In April, Maryland became the first state to repeal its powerful Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, a set of legislative protections that included scrubbing any record of complaints against an officer after a period of time. And in Congress, the Democrat-led House in March passed a bill named for Floyd that bars chokeholds and no-knock warrants; it is stalled in the Senate.

The Washington Post examined three historic firsts in policing reforms: the effort to stop racial profiling by troopers in New Jersey, the deployment of early-warning technology to identify troubled deputies in Los Angeles and the use of federal intervention to force change on police in Pittsburgh.

The legacies of these firsts reveal the difficulty of remaking law enforcement. At each agency, the attempts have been stifled by entrenched cultures, systemic dysfunction, shifts in leadership and swings in public mood. Outrage at officers’ conduct eventually gives way to demands for aggressive enforcement when crime flares, and the cycle continues.

“Eventually, too many people get murdered, too many people get raped, and people start saying, ‘Come on. Beef up the police,’ ” said former Los Angeles County sheriff’s assistant chief Neal Tyler, who helped develop the first computerized early-warning system. “And we do that, and then slowly, eventually, we lose our resolve and the pendulum swings back the other direction, and there’s a police scandal of epic proportions.

“Like clockwork.” washingtonpost.com

'COVID Crime Wave' Plagues Atlanta - City Hiring 250 More Cops  
After historically deadly 2020, Atlanta homicides are up nearly 60% in 2021
Atlanta police have investigated 64 homicide cases in 2021, a 58% increase over this time last year. The surge follows a historically deadly 2020, when authorities investigated 157 homicide cases — the most in more than two decades.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has referred to the spike in violence as a “COVID crime wave,” but the city’s death toll continues to mount as more Georgians get vaccinated and life returns to normal. As of June, Atlanta’s murders are up and shootings have increased by 40%, according to the latest data. Meanwhile, overall arrests are down by by about 43% as Atlanta’s police force remains about 400 officers below what’s budgeted.

More than 200 officers quit the force in 2020, many after criminal charges were filed against the two involved in the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks and other officers who used their Tasers on two college students during last summer’s protests downtown.

Since then, department leaders say morale is stabilizing and that they plan to hire 250 new officers in the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

The number of killings investigated by the ME’s office each year rose gradually between 2017 to 2019, but there was a sharp increase starting last summer. Data show the number of homicides in the county jumped from 183 in 2019 to 255 last year, an increase of nearly 40%.

A disturbing trend

Crime in Atlanta has become a central issue in this year’s race for City Hall, especially after Bottoms announced she would not seek reelection in the fall. Some have called for Buckhead residents to break away and form their own city, and state officials have started stepping in to address Atlanta’s rise in crime.

Homicides are up in many cities across the nation, yet critics believe Atlanta has not done all it could to stem the rise in violent crime. Many saw Bottoms as slow to respond to the surge in killings, and momentum was building for opposition in November’s election even before she dropped out of the race. ajc.com

Another Report Showing Mass Shooting-Domestic Violence Link
The Many Ways Domestic Violence Foreshadows Mass Shootings

How are these seemingly separate issues intertwined, and what can be done to save lives?

The San Jose gunman is far from an anomaly. Perpetrators of some of the country’s deadliest shootings have had domestic violence charges, incidents, or allegations in their backgrounds. The man who killed 49 people at Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016 was abusive toward his ex-wife, who described frequent beatings. Five years before an Air Force veteran killed 26 people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in 2017, he was court-martialed for attacking his then-wife and her infant daughter. The teenage perpetrator of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was reportedly abusive toward his ex.

A new study released late last month further solidifies the connection between domestic violence and a propensity for future, public acts of violence. Researchers from the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence and Johns Hopkins analyzed 110 gun murders of four or more people between 2014 and 2019 and found that in 68 percent of incidents, the perpetrator either killed an intimate partner or a family member, or had a history of domestic violence.

When that’s the case, more people tend to die. The study, published in Injury Epidemiology, also found that mass shootings in which gunmen target an intimate partner or family member have a fatality rate that’s just over 20 percentage points higher than other mass shootings. That could be because the victims are targeted by perpetrators with a clear intent, the researchers said, unlike gunmen who fire indiscriminately in a public place.

Understanding how rage can boil over into violence — and removing guns from people most likely to use them in acts of violence — should be a public policy imperative, the study’s lead author told The Trace. “We know that past violence is the best predictor of future violence,” said Lisa Geller, state affairs manager at Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, “and often that past violence is domestic violence.” thetrace.org

Nearly 50% of Americans Concerned About Rising Crime
As Crime Concerns Rise, Lawmakers Jockey for Winning Argument
During Donald Trump’s presidency, shootings began to increase, a trend that accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. Homicide rates in large cities across the country increased by nearly a third in 2020, and have continued to climb so far this year.

The public is clearly concerned with violent crime: A Yahoo News/YouGov poll found 49% of Americans described violent crime as a “very big problem” in the country, a higher percentage than said the same of the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic or race relations.

Democrats are expecting the White House to highlight cities and states that are using American Rescue Plan funding to hire or retain police officers and to emphasize that Biden has proposed increasing funding for federal programs that help local governments hire officers in his budget and proposed funding for violence intervention programs as part of his infrastructure plan.

Democrats are also expected to emphasize that violent shootings have driven the crime increase ― preliminary numbers indicated many other types of crime actually fell during the pandemic ― and will to point Biden’s efforts to clamp down on so-called “ghost guns” and his nomination of the first permanent director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in nearly a decade.

While some progressive activists continue to push for large-scale cuts to police funding or the abolition of police departments, both ideas remain unpopular in public polling. huffpost.com

Monitoring Protesters on Social Media?
Cops Are Using Facebook to Target Line 3 Pipeline Protest Leaders, New Documents Reveal
Protests against Enbridge’s Line 3 have been ramping up in Minnesota—and so has the response from authorities. A video went viral this week of a Department of Homeland Security helicopter sandblasting protesters following mass arrests. But some police tactics are far less visible while causing long-term hardship.

Police have turned to social media to target activist leaders and, in some cases, charge them with crimes, according to public records obtained by Earther.

The records, which include thousands of emails and documents from Enbridge, local law enforcement, and state authorities spanning from 2019 to 2021, show that sheriff’s officers in one Minnesota county at the epicenter of the fight over the pipeline have used social media activity on at least one occasion to target key protesters weeks or months after protests take place with trumped up charges. gizmodo.com

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Using Shoppers to Improve Store Safety
Stores enlist shoppers to stop bad behavior against workers

A dozen retailers including Gap and H&M are collaborating on a campaign this fall to enlist customers to combat bad behavior against retail workers.

The campaign, spearheaded by nonprofits Open to All and Hollaback as well as the Retail Industry Leaders Association, comes as workers face increased harassment as they try to enforce social distancing and mask protocols during the pandemic. Among those who have been the targets of abuse are people of color, those with disabilities and those who identify as LGBTQ.

Calla Devlin Rongerude, director of Open to All, said the campaign is not asking customers to step in to physically stop altercations, but rather to help de-escalate the situation and show support for workers.

Participating retailers will have signage in their stores with QR codes, allowing customers to sign a pledge of support. There will also be a tool kit designed by Hollaback to show how customers can help, including how to create a distraction for the abuser as well as documenting the situation and bringing in someone else to help.

Even as the spread of COVID-19 slows, retailers fear abusive behavior will worsen as stores anticipate big crowds for the back-to-school and holiday seasons. With many states and businesses relaxing mask mandates and customers experiencing pandemic fatigue, workers worry about their safety.

The Open to All coalition is made up of about 600,000 businesses, mostly retail establishments, that have collaborated on training and hiring practices. It launched in 2018 with companies like Levi Strauss & Co. and Gap pledging not to discriminate against employees or customers based on race, sexual orientation, or other characteristics.

Chris Nelson, senior vice president of asset protection at Gap Inc., said the chain had seen an increase in incidents against store workers of color, though he couldn't disclose a number. abcnews.go.com

Nike's Mass Exodus
At least 20 executives have left Nike in the past 7 months and joined brands like Lululemon, Patagonia, and Everlane
Major brands are scooping up former long-time Nike executives. In the past seven months at least 20 Nike executives — including vice presidents and general managers — have left the company and have joined brands such as Patagonia, Lululemon, Everlane, and others.

Matthijs W. Visch worked at Nike for nearly 20 years before leaving in February and joining Patagonia as a general manager, where he runs the sports brand's business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa regions. Natalie Hausia-Haugen worked at Nike for six years in a variety of people and culture roles before leaving to join Auth0, a secure-login-application company, in May as its head of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Some of these departures are likely a result of recent company-wide layoffs and a restructuring at Nike. Since CEO John Donahoe took the helm in January 2020, he has led the company in its transformation to a tech-first direct-to-consumer brand.

With its internal structure shifting, Nike laid off hundreds of employees across business sectors last summer and through the fall. Since then, several long-time executives have been tapped to head up business units at different and sometimes competing brands.

Nike is focusing more deeply on its direct-to-consumer business, which has diminished the importance of certain roles related to the company's shrinking wholesale business. businessinsider.com

The Scandalous History of Subway's Former CEO
Subway's cofounder pursued franchisees' wives, appeared in a shirtless calendar, and had a secret adopted child
Subway cofounder and long-time CEO Fred DeLuca became famous for his rags-to-riches story of building the brand into the largest restaurant chain in the world by location. But, behind the scenes, insiders say DeLuca's behavior could spark concerns.

A former employee who shared the calendar with Insider said the incident highlighted a lack of professionalism shown by DeLuca and others in the Milford, Connecticut headquarters.

Insiders said DeLuca engaged in other practices that they believed were inappropriate for a CEO. Two sources told Insider that DeLuca would pursue franchisees' wives at conventions. According to one long-time franchisee, the practice infuriated some, but DeLuca got away with it because many at Subway saw him as a "demigod."

"He always felt that he could go and he could approach any woman," at Subway conventions "because he was responsible for their husband's success in stores," a business associate said.

Ana said DeLuca got away with "infidelities" because his success and wealth trumped any bad behavior, even within his own family. She said, "Fred could do anything that Fred wanted to do and everybody would just agree, turn their head to the other side." businessinsider.com

Worked to Death: Those Extra Hours Can Kill You
Working Excessive Overtime Can be Deadly

New findings show that risk of heart disease and stroke increased significantly among people working 55 or more hours per week.

Working well over 40 hours per week can increase your risk of work-related disability and early death. In 2016, 745,000 people died from long working hours. That represents an increase of 29% since 2000, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO).

Specifically, they found that working 55 or more hours per week is associated with an estimated 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease compared to those working 35-40 hours a week.

Working long hours is now known to be responsible for about one-third of all work-related burdens of disease. It is the largest of any occupational risk factor calculated to date.

What’s more, that risk has been increasing. Between 2000 and 2016, the exposed population increased by 9%, and the attributable burdens of death from ischemic heart disease and stroke increased by 42% by 19%, respectively. A majority of those deaths were men aged 60-79 who had worked for 55 hours or more per week between the ages of 45 and 74. ehstoday.com

Disguising Retail Price Increases
As retail prices rise, companies employ jargon to disguise it
For items including clothing, cereal and trash bags, prices are going up fast. But many companies aren’t saying that, at least not in language most shoppers would recognize.

If you ask Pampers maker Procter & Gamble Co., it’s not raising prices, it’s “taking pricing.” Rival Unilever, known for Dove soap and Axe body spray, says it’s been “very active with pricing.” The prize for creativity — so far at least — has been home-improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos., whose finance chief told investors Wednesday that it was “elevating our pricing ecosystem.”

The euphemisms illustrate the rhetorical backflips companies perform to avoid saying what they’re actually doing — responding to soaring input and transportation costs, and protecting their profit margins, by making their products more expensive. The makers and sellers of consumer staples notched big stock gains last year, thanks to pandemic stockpiling, and are now under pressure to maintain that performance even as costs go up, labor markets tighten and they face extremely tough comparisons with last year’s growth. latimes.com

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