Criminal Justice and Public Safety

Criminal Justice and Public Safety covers how the U.S. government defines crimes, investigates offenses, prosecutes cases, punishes wrongdoers, and protects constitutional rights—from routine traffic stops to major federal investigations.

This category ranges from broad trend pieces like US Crime Statistics: What 10 Years of Data Shows to explainers on specific offenses such as Treason: The Only Crime Defined in the Constitution and why mail fraud is handled by federal authorities in Why Mail Fraud Is a Federal Crime.

Law Enforcement, Use of Force, and Oversight

A major focus of this category is how federal and state law enforcement agencies use force and what happens when things go wrong. Articles explain the legal standard for lethal force in When Can Federal Agents Use Lethal Force? The Legal Standard and the accountability rules in What Legal Protections Apply When Federal Agents Use Deadly Force? and What Happens When Federal Agents Kill a U.S. Citizen During Enforcement.

Other pieces walk through how federal agents are investigated when they kill citizens and why outside review is rare in How Federal Agents Are Investigated When They Kill U.S. Citizens, Federal Law Enforcement Shootings Face Almost No Outside Review. Here’s Why., and Inside the Civil Rights Division: How DOJ Investigates Police Shootings.

You can also explore how ICE’s rules differ from other agencies and what the Fourth Amendment requires in immigration enforcement in How ICE Use of Force Rules Differ from Other Agencies.