A study released Wednesday in the Justice Evaluation Journal links an increase in nonviolent crime in Denver with the legalization of marijuana.

The study looked at crime rates from 2011 to 2016 on 187 blocks where dispensaries opened following legalization. Blocks with recreational dispensaries saw an 18 percent increase in property crime when compared to areas without any. Property crime includes offenses like theft, burglary and car break-ins.

While the rate of violent and drug-related crimes rose near dispensaries, they rose elsewhere, too.

Two different studies released earlier this year both focused on Denver crime statistics down to the neighborhood level. One study from the University of Colorado found that neighborhoods with more dispensaries had a more significant increase in crime. Another study, from researchers with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, showed that crime decreased in neighborhoods with dispensaries…

Reports of serious crimes on the CTA rail system have doubled since 2015 even as ridership declined and such crimes rose only slightly citywide, according to a Tribune analysis of Chicago police data.

At the same time, the arrest rate for these “L”-related crimes has dropped, suggesting that even as CTA’s rail system has become more dangerous, there is less chance the perpetrators will be held accountable.

The troubling trends have occurred despite the CTA installing tens of thousands of security cameras that city officials have credited in the past for reducing crime on public transportation…

In May, police in Hammond, Indiana, got a suspicious-person alert from a concerned resident. She could see a man, she told officers, through her Ring smart doorbell.

The resident had already sent police another message, along with footage from her internet-connected video doorbell, about an earlier incident. Now the resident was even more frightened, having watched a new incident unfold on her phone through a live feed from her Ring app.

She sent police the video recorded from the doorbell. Police immediately knew the man wasn’t a criminal.

“It was one of our detectives. He was going there to interview the person for whatever the situation was,” said Steve Kellogg, a public information officer for Hammond Police, adding that the cop was wearing plain clothes but had a badge around his neck. The badge was out of the Ring camera’s line of sight, but the resident would have spotted it immediately had she gone to the door, the officer added.

“He’s clearly on the camera saying he’s with the police department,” Kellogg said…

At 12:50 a.m. June 17, the sound of gunshots rips through a neighborhood in northern Columbia.

A sensor relay picks up the sound waves, triangulating their origin — 5118-2 Mauldin Ave. Alerts are sent to officers, who converge on the scene, according to a police report. They recover seven shell casings from a .22-caliber firearm. No one is injured or arrested, and no firearm is found at the scene.

Columbia’s leaders are pointing to calls like this as key parts in a policing strategy designed to make the city safer and reforge bonds of trust with the community…

A Major Police Body Cam Company Just Banned Facial Recognition. Its Ethics Board Says the Technology is Not Reliable Enough to Justify Using…