An inmate walks down a hallway inside the Worcester County jail. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Tracking deaths in Massachusetts jails and prisons has long been difficult, with details of fatalities kept secret from the public, and often from family members, too.
Last year, the federal government changed the way it counts deaths in custody a move that’s received little notice in a chaotic period marked by a global pandemic and political unrest. The new method has done little to improve transparency for the public. I have just been disgusted, said U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat who sponsored the Death in Custody Reporting Act in 2000. You can t get the administration to move to even count the deaths.
The Danbury Police Department Welcome 115 Officer Body Cameras
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According to the police reform bill that was signed into law by Governor Lamont last summer, all police departments in the state are required to have both body and in-dash cams by July of 2022 but nationwide, 47 percent of law enforcement agencies already had the gear in 2016, according to
After Michael Brown was gunned down by police in 2014 and George Floyd who was shot dead by a police officer on May 25 of last year, advocates have championed the use of both in-dash and body cameras.
Improving the Lives and Rights of LGBTQ People in America
A Road Map for the Biden Administration Getty/Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle
LGBTQ rights supporters gather during a candlelight vigil in West Reading, Pennsylvania, on September 14, 2020.
Adam Peck
Introduction and summary
The Trump administration spent the majority of its four years in office launching a barrage of attacks infringing on the rights of LGBTQ people, promoting discriminatory policies, and creating barriers to access critical government services. These actions reflect the Trump administration’s blatant disregard for the rights, dignity, and well-being of LGBTQ people, their families, and communities. In particular, the damages promulgated by the administration exacerbated existing inequalities and disparities between LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ people in the realms of health, employment, the justice system and law enforcement interactions, education, housing, and immigration. The real-world consequen
The Aroostook County Sheriff s Office in Houlton.
(Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
Aroostook police departments to receive grant money for COVID-related expenses Police departments across Aroostook County will receive additional funds to help them take on the unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
HOULTON, Maine Police departments across Aroostook County will receive additional funds to help them take on the unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The departments are receiving the funds from the Coronavirus Emergency Supplementing Funding program, or CESF, which comes from the Bureau of Justice Assistance as part of the U.S. Department of Justice. The total amount of the grant for Aroostook was $82,500, according to Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department Commander Joey Seeley.