Florida to launch probe into police response to school shooting
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has requested a formal investigation into law enforcement's response to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which took the lives of 17 people on Feb 14.
Scott's announcement was made shortly after the governor met with Rick Swearingen, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It also came on the same day Republican lawmakers wrote the governor a letter asking him to suspend Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, a Democrat, alleging, "incompetence and neglect of duty."
Swearingen's agency said it will "immediately" begin the investigation at the governor's request. Broward County police and the FBI have been under intense scrutiny over the department's handling of the shooting and red flags raised about the suspect in the lead-up to the tragedy.
Both agencies were reportedly warned that the suspected shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, could pose a threat prior to the shooting. Scott Israel, who was elected sheriff as a Democrat in 2012 and won reelection in 2016, said last week his deputies received at least 23 calls for service regarding Cruz or his family between 2008 and 2017, including reports that he planned to "shoot up the school."
The police department has also been hit after it was revealed that officers allegedly failed to enter the building after responding to calls about a shooter. Last week, the Broward County sheriff said video shows at least one deputy taking up a defensive position outside the building at the Parkland, Florida school where the massacre occurred, but never going in to engage the gunman.
Discrepancy in Trump Polling
Rasmussen: Daily Presidential Tracking Poll (For Monday, Feb 26)
Rasmussen reported that 49% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance and 49% of Likely U.S. Voters disapprove of President Trump’s job performance. By comparison, President Obama earned 44% approval on this date in the 2nd year of his presidency.
CNN Poll: Trump approval rating drops down to match lowest of presidency
The CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds just 35 percent of respondents approve of the job Trump is doing in the White House. That number matches the president's lowest approval rating of his time in office, which in the CNN poll was last December.
Among Republicans, 80 percent approve of Trump's job performance, while 13 percent say they disapprove of Trump’s job performance. Only 5 percent approve of Democrats approve of Trump's performance and 35 percent of Independents approve of Trump’s performance.
Why are the two polls reporting such different numbers on Trump’s approval rating? Is it the way the poll was conducted? Or the media outfit’s political leanings?
Arrests of Illegal Immigrants Up More Than 40 Percent In 2017
According to new data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, during President Trump’s first year in office, the arrests of illegal immigrants are up by 41 percent. Authorities arrested 155,000 illegal immigrants in 2017.
The Trump administration has eliminated the Obama-era policies that restricted deportation arrests to only those illegals who pose a threat to public safety. Since the change, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are now able to detain any foreign individual who has entered the country illegally.
Previously, the Obama Administration had put policies in place that restricted the officers to arrest any individuals that did not commit any crimes other than entering the country illegally.
There was a total of 39,174 deportation arrests from October to December in 2017. For the year, the number of arrests of convicted criminal aliens were up 17 percent, arrests of ‘non-criminal aliens’ increased by 171 percent.
The Trump administration deported around 215,000 illegal immigrants, down 13 percent from the 250,000 deported in the final year of the Obama administration.
Oakland Mayor Warns of Impending ICE Raid, Ramping Up Sanctuary-City Tension
Libby Schaaf, Democratic Mayor of sanctuary city, Oakland, California, sent out a press release to warn the people living in Oakland of a possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid. The press release was sent out on February 24th, 2017 around 8:00pm
Mayor Libby Schaaf then tweeted out the press release as a further warning to the community of Oakland.
“Mayor Schaaf encourages residents to consult immigration resources due to potential ICE activity.”
Schaff mentioned that the raids could start as soon as the next 24 hours. She then urged, “interested residents” to check the centrolegal.org website to “understand their legal rights and options if they face detention or know someone that needs legal representation.”
Mayor Libby Schaaf, said that, “I believe it is my duty and moral obligation as Mayor to give those families fair warning when the threat appears imminent.”
In January, Libby Schaaf also stated that she would be willing to go to jail to defend the city’s sanctuary city status. She has also openly opposed the Trump administrations crack down on illegal immigration.
Trump Would "Love to Have a Law" That Executes Drug Dealers in the U.S.
On Sunday night, the website Axios exclusively reported that Trump privately talked up executing all big drug dealers. According to the report, “In Singapore, the death penalty is mandatory for drug trafficking offenses. And President Trump loves it. He’s been telling friends for months that the country’s policy to execute drug traffickers is the reason its drug consumption rates are so low.”
"He says that a lot," said a source who's spoken to Trump at length about the subject. "He says, 'When I ask the prime minister of Singapore do they have a drug problem [the prime minister replies,] 'No. Death penalty'.”
Here's what the Trump Administration has done so far:
President Trump declared a public health emergency in October 2017 to deal with the opioid epidemic. The declaration brought no new money to fund the federal response.
In November, President Trump announced he's donating his third-quarter salary (about $100,000) to help the Department of Health and Human Services fight opioids.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a policy change in November that allows states to apply for waivers allowing them to use Medicaid to pay for residential drug treatment at facilities that have more than 16 beds.
President Trump signed the Interdict Act in January giving federal agents additional tools for detecting fentanyl and other synthetic opioids at the border.
Earlier in February, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced an operation using medical data to crack down on pharmacies and doctors that dispense suspicious amounts of opioids.
Statistics:
- 2014: There were 18,893 deaths involving prescription opioids in the country, up 16% from 2013, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). There were 10,574 heroin-related deaths in 2014, up 28% from 2013.
- Deaths involving drugs like fentanyl and tramadol increased by 79% from 2013 to 2014.
- 2015: opioid overdose deaths totaled more than 33,000 — close to two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths.
- 2016: Opioids (including prescription opioids, heroin, and fentanyl) killed more than 42,000 people, more than any year on record. 40% of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid.
Olympic Wrap Up
The 2018 Winter Olympics, which were held in PyeongChang, South Korea wrapped up on Sunday night.
The Winter Olympics hit back to back lows in final days. Friday night’s primetime coverage of the games from PyeongChang drew a combined 9.2 rating in metered market households on NBC and NBC Sports Networks. This was down 28 percent from the previous night (Thursday) and down 12 percent from the previous low of a 10.4 rating on February 17. The reality is that the 2018 Winter Games are going to be the lowest rated ever with a drop of nearly 10% from the previous low of Sochi.
The primetime Closing Ceremony hosted by Tara Lipinski, Johnny Weir and Terry Gannon did rise 6% from the also tape-delayed Closing Ceremony of Sochi 2014. Sunday’s Closing Ceremony attracted a total of 15.1 million viewers.
With about 20 million viewers nightly from NBC, NBC Sports Network and digital platforms, the PyeongChang Games are looking to be on track to be the least-watched Olympics ever.
Final Medal Count:
#1 Norway: 39 total medals (14 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze medals)
#2 Germany: 31 total medals (14 gold, 10, silver, 7 bronze medals)
#3 Canada: 29 total medals (11 gold, 8 silver, 10 bronze)
#4 United States: 23 total medals (9 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze)
#5 Netherlands: 20 total medals (8 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze)
Bill’s Trip to Denver
Bill recently traveled to Denver, Colorado. He said that what used to be a beautiful city is now overrun with homeless people and drug users. Are the two connected? It appears that once marijuana became legal in the state people flocked there from all around the country. Some Colorado lawmakers, police and legal experts partly blame the marijuana industry, claiming that it has lured transients and criminals to the state.
Colorado's homeless population jumped 13 percent from 2015 to 2016, despite that nationally, homelessness declined by 3 percent during the same time period, according the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In the metro Denver area, overall homelessness fell 3.8 percent according to a HUD report.
Marijuana doesn’t only seem to be affecting homelessness, but it’s hurting the city in other ways. The number of drivers in Denver involved in car accidents who tested positive for marijuana use jumped 145 percent from 47 in 2013 to 115. In 2016, in the state of Colorado, the homicide rate increased 6.3 percent per 100,000 residents, the CBI reported. In 2016, it was reported that 21.6% of people smoke marijuana. The total number of users in Colorado is approximately 909,000.
Mail Time!
- Bill, I usually agree with most of your points, but I vehemently disagree with your idea of raising the age limit to buy a rifle to 21. If I can enlist, be trained extensively to use a military rifle, kill terrorists and hopefully make it home in one piece, are you telling me I shouldn't be able to go into Wal-Mart and buy a rifle because I'm only 20? You would have to raise the minimum age limit to 21 to join the Armed Forces too. None of it solves any problems.
- Wow! Your program on the Florida shooting was exceptional. The analysis of the situation leading up to the mental stability of the young man was spot on. The program laid out the facts that was unavailable on any other news outlet. Thank you and your researchers for a great program.
- Bill, picture a 19-year-old single mom in her apartment with her baby and a "bad guy" breaks in... should she be able to have a gun for protection or must she wait until she's 21? See my point? One size doesn't fit all.
Word of the Day: Fatuous |
