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Welcome to the America’s Criminologist Podcast for February 2, 2024.

This is Dr Currie Myers with some interesting criminal justice news and events that have occurred in the United States recently.

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Last week, I appeared on Fox News and spoke on the KC Chiefs fans deaths. The fans were found dead outside, and it was suspected the cause was hypothermia. In the interview, I stressed the important of the toxicology reports to see if drugs were the causal reason, specifically death from a fentanyl exposure.

Dr C’s Opinion: Initial toxicology reports on the three Kansas City Chiefs fans found frozen and dead in a friend’s yard found cocaine, THC — and three times the amount of fentanyl that is enough to kill, according to reports. Among the substances were cannabis, cocaine and fentanyl, according to TMZ and NewsNation. My prediction of Fentanyl exposure proves true. Either the cannabis was laced, or the cocaine was laced with Fentanyl. Drugs purchased on the streets today have a high probability of Fentanyl.

Law enforcement reportedly arrested 39 people in a week-long sex trafficking sting in California, taking several suspected sex traffickers into custody. The sting was part of the state’s 10th annual Operation Reclaim and Rebuild, ABC 7 reported. Police arrested 40 suspected “sex traffickers or exploiters” and 271 suspected “sex buyers,” according to the outlet. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said 54 adults and 11 children, including a 14-year-old girl, were rescued.

Dr C’s Opinion: America is losing its moral compass. We have taken faith, family, and formation out of our lives and we no longer hold people accountable for their actions. Many of these persons arrested were repeat sexual offenders that should have been in prison. We need to stop enabling offenders and start treating these people has criminal offenders and not victims themselves.

The impending impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas marks a historic event, as it would be the first impeachment of a Cabinet official in nearly 150 years. House Republicans filed articles of impeachment against Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis, which they blame on the secretary’s ineptitude. The drastic move has no modern precedent — the last impeachment of a Cabinet official was that of War Secretary William Belknap in 1876, who served under President Ulysses S. Grant. And in a recent update, Mayorkas is seemingly endorsing a deal being negotiated that would expand overall immigration to the United States as illegal immigration hits record highs under President Joe Biden’s watch.

Dr C’s Opinion: Mayorkas has failed to enforce immigration laws duly passed by Congress and further has failed to uphold the Constitution with respect to protection of the states that is required by the Federal government. The border is porous and completely open. Fentanyl, smuggled into the country via Mexico from the Chinese government is killing hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. We have 12m potential illegal aliens in this country in which 5-10% are more than likely criminal aliens. We have 75-80,000 known special-interest aliens, those from terrorist countries, caught at our border and Central and South American gangs as well as Chinese and Russian organized crime thriving in the US, due to his negligence and malfeasance. But the greater issue, is enforcement chaos. 25 governors have sent support to Texas, including manpower to support their enforcement efforts. There are also truckers and other people headed to the border in support of Texas. If the Federal government decides to move “en masse” could it cause a civil war? An impeachment is in order.

Did you know that most crimes are not reported? Per the National Crime Victimization Survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice, only 42 percent of violent crimes are reported to law enforcement. Thirty-two percent of property crimes are reported. Nevertheless, the numbers below from the FBI are some of the best indicators we have regarding the total number of “reported” crimes and the characteristics of those crimes. This report is difficult to write because the great majority of crimes are not reported to law enforcement and it’s logical that an accurate count of attempted-uncompleted crimes is greatly impacted by non-reporting. Many believe that it’s the serious-completed crimes that are reported to police.

Dr C’s Opinion: Non-reported crime is a huge problem in the US. Couple that with a reduction in crime-targeting by policing. Due to budgets, many departments focus on 911 calls. Due to judicial instability and the lack of protections to officers for false charges against them, many officers are not being as proactive in their work as in the past. And let’s not forget the decriminalization movement. Crime is occurring and police no longer respond to those incidents as a result.

The John Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions have suggested that "the growing presence of firearms in political spaces" "endangers public health, safety, and the functioning of democracy,” in a recent report. The report listed 6 major agenda items regarding the reigning in of America Second Amendment Rights. They are: • Regulate the public carry of firearms • Strengthen existing laws, or increase the enforcement of current laws, to prohibit paramilitary activity • Prohibit the civilian possession of firearms in locations essential to political participation, such as polling places, legislative buildings, and protests to protect the core functions of government• Enact and implement Extreme Risk Protection Order laws to temporarily disarm people who pose a high risk of violence • Repeal or create exceptions for firearm preemption laws to give local governments the ability to create policies to address risks of insurrectionism in their jurisdictions• Break the insurrectionist permission structure by openly denouncing violence.

Dr C’s Opinion: The report both flies directly in the face of the intent of our founding fathers. For example, the authors wrote, "A right to take up arms against the government has not been recognized by courts as a protection within the Second Amendment and is incompatible with our democracy." Apparently, according to this leftist organization, Alexander Hamilton erred when he wrote in Federalist No. 28 about the "Right of Revolution," in which he prescribes "If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense, which is paramount to all positive forms of government; and which, against the usurpation of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success, than against those of the rulers of an individual State."

Bryn Spejcher, 32, of Thousand Oaks, CA was sentenced to community service and two years of probation after she stabbed her date, 26-year-old Chad O’Melia, to death in his apartment before stabbing herself. Reports indicate that Spejcher and O'Melia had been seeing each other for about two weeks before the two smoked marijuana together at his apartment on May 27, 2018. Shortly after, Spejcher would attack O'Melia and stab him some 108 times with various blades before repeatedly stabbing herself. According to KTLA, the court determined that Spejcher suffered an adverse effect from the marijuana after taking several bong-hits and allegedly suffering from "Cannabis-Induced Psychotic Disorder," according to the authorities. Officials said that in the grip of a psychotic break, she repeatedly stabbed O'Melia before stabbing herself. O'Melia died at the scene. The next morning (hours after her initial attack), police were summoned to the apartment and found the young man dead in a pool of his own blood. They were also confronted with Spejcher bleeding from her own wounds and still brandishing a knife screaming incoherently. When officers approached to disarm the woman, she turned the knife on herself driving it into her neck. Police told reporters, "Officers used a taser and several baton blows before they were able to finally disarm Spejcher. A long-serrated bread knife was taken from her hands." Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Audry Nafziger said the facts of the case are "things everyone agrees on." She added, "What we don’t agree on is that she should have walked free today after doing what she did."

Dr C’s Opinion: Cannabis-induced Psychosis is very real but a community service for stabbing a person 108 times? Listen, if someone gets behind the wheel, under the influence of alcohol or drugs and kills someone there is a prison sentence. The average vehicular manslaughter case is 3-15 years depending on the circumstances. Incredible!

Disturbing reports from Ontario have revealed that a 50-year-old, who "identifies" as a 15-year-old girl, has been allowed to competitively swim, change, and even shower with eight- to 14-year-old-girls. Nicholas J. Cepeda, a York University professor of behavioral science styling himself as "Melody Wiseheart," has been permitted by Ontario authorities since at least October to compete against the pre-teen girls in the Richmond Hill Aquatic Centre’s Fall Classic swimming competition, according to BizPacReview. In December 2023, a brief story in the Toronto Sun stated, "Girls from age eight to 16 in a Swimming Canada-sanctioned swim meet in Barrie last week not only found themselves in the same pool as a transgender female swimmer but in the same changeroom, too."

Dr C’s Opinion: This is Canada, but the US is headed the same direction. Without exaggeration, children as young as eight years old were subjected to the traumatic experience of changing and showering with an unknown 50-year-old man sharing the facilities. These continued perversions must stop for the sake of our children’s mental health and future lives. We have lost our moral compass and our sense of right and wrong. This simply cannot continue to stand.

A watchdog group, the nonpartisan Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), has demanded that the Federal Election Commission investigate the $62,000 that she paid to her now husband, Cortney Merritts, for security from her campaign account, according to the Daily Mail. When asked about the security before in an interview, Bush was adamant that she needed to spend the money on security. In the ethics complaint, FACT executive director Kendra Arnold wrote, "It appears Rep. Bush's campaign may have made payments for services that were unnecessary or above fair market value because of her personal relationship with the payee." The congressional representative has spent $756,000 on security since she was elected in 2020 and it has also been her largest expense. The Department of Justice has announced that a subpoena has been given to Bush and that an investigation has begun.

Dr C’s Opinion: Bush is one of the members of the famous leftist congressional group, “the squad” and she supports the defunding of police nationwide. But I guess she wants and has spent almost a million dollars of campaign money for her own personal security, including payments to her then lover, now husband. I guess personal protection is important hey Ms. Bush!

The slayings of six men last week at a remote desert crossroads that authorities believe stemmed from a soured illegal cannabis deal spotlighted a longstanding problem in California: a thriving underground marijuana market despite years of legal sales that were expected to stamp it out. The killings provided a tragic reminder of the violence that can come with illicit cannabis activity, including unlicensed growing operations, brash robberies from legal businesses and furtive illegal shipments to out-of-state vendors. “The violence is getting worse. The stakes are getting higher,” said dispensary owner Jerred Kiloh, who also heads the United Cannabis Business Association, a Los Angeles-based trade group. He said many of the organization’s members have seen their dispensaries robbed one or more times, sometimes by the same thieves.

Dr C’s Opinion: What do you expect when you have decriminalization of drugs. One seems to think that cannabis legalization should go hand in hand with decriminalization of cannabis. No, no, no! Enforcement of illicit cannabis grows, and distribution cases are key to ensuring the legal cannabis market can succeed. This is why drug decriminalization is not working in America and many states are starting to rethink decriminalization public policy.

This is Dr Currie Myers, America’s Criminologist. To view my work please visit drcurriemyers.substack.com and please subscribe, share, and like our page! Stay safe and have a great weekend!

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Crime and Society Newsletter
America's Criminologist with Dr. Currie Myers
Talking crime and criminal justice issues with renown Criminologist Sheriff (Ret) Currie Myers, PhD, MBA. MS.
Dr Myers is an applied criminologist and public policy ethicist that is billed as "America's Criminologist" a media favorite on podcasts, radio, and television.