Hannah Dasher‘s “Cryin’ All the Way to the Bank” with pure exuberance in her new music video. The hilarious visualizer follows Hannah’s endeavor to successfully monetize the heartbreak caused by her no-good, cheating ex. Looking to rock out after a breakup? This video’s for you.
The War and Treaty‘s Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter stopped by The Jennifer Hudson Show on April 6 to talk about their new album, Lover’s Game, and perform the soulful, “Have You a Heart.” Watch their interview and performance on YouTube.
Little Big Town joined NBC’s Todayrecently to perform their rendition of the Rolling Stones‘ “Wild Horses” and talk about Stoned Cold Country: A 60th Anniversary Tribute to the Rolling Stones, a newly released covers album featuring the group and other country stars. In case you missed their appearance, watch it on YouTube.
The cause behind Coolio‘s death has been revealed. According to the Los Angeles Coroner, the rapper passed away from effects of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamines, with asthma, phencyclidine use and cardiomyopathy — a disease of the heart muscle that makes it difficult for the heart to deliver blood to the rest of the body — also contributing.
Coolio, born Leon Ivey Jr., died on Sept. 28, 2022 at a private residence in LA. He was 59 years old.
A posthumous single featuring Too $hort has since been released. “TAG ‘You It'” is set to appear on his upcoming album, LONG LIVE COOLIO.
(NEW YORK) — Police departments across the country are facing a “vicious cycle” of retirements, resignations, and fewer hires, according to policing experts, leaving the communities they protect with understaffed departments and potentially underqualified officers.
A survey released on April 1 from the Police Executive Research Forum of 182 law enforcement agencies indicated that while police departments are recruiting more officers compared to a 2020 decrease, departments have seen 47% more resignations and 19% more retirements in 2022 compared to 2019.
“There’s a vicious cycle of it getting worse,” John Jay professor and former police officer Peter Moskos said.
Law enforcement experts expressed concern that due to increased challenges in recruiting fresh candidates and spiking rates of retirements and resignations, departments cannot hire and train enough officers to make up for the departing officers. The staffing crunch may leave departments with fewer candidates, less qualified candidates, and fewer officers on call to respond to emergencies.
“If you don’t have enough cops, at some point, you’re going to have an active shooter situation where police response is critical, and getting there a minute later could cost you 20 or 50 lives,” PERF executive director Chuck Wexler said.
Multiple experts attribute the recruiting challenge – that fewer people are willing to be police officers in 2023 – to increased external scrutiny and reputational harm to the overall profession. Some note that the lack of job flexibility, demanding hours, and the need to work on holidays (especially for junior officers) contribute to the crisis.
“Media coverage has led many young people to view police differently than their parents’ generation may have,” International Association of Chiefs of Police president John Letteney said. “And a lot of officers think their job has gotten more difficult since high profile use of force incidents.”
While the scrutiny lessens the total number of potential officers, the disincentive to pursue law enforcement due to that scrutiny can create a net positive by limiting the applicant pool to candidates who would be willing to approach the modern challenges of policing.
“I’ve told myself countless times that I would rather have a vacant position than put the wrong person wearing a police officer’s uniform and badge,” Letteney added.
According to Yale Law professor James Forman, departments could serve their communities best if they took an active approach to community policing rather than recruiting officers who desire to engage in a “heavy-handed aggressive policing” that makes excessive force and brutality “inevitable.”
“[Police departments] have to send the message from the beginning of the kind of policing that they want in their community — that they are looking for people who want to be community caretakers they want, they are looking for people that want to help communities grow and thrive,” he said.
Regardless of the larger goals, the current market for law enforcement officers does not appear to satisfy the hiring demand.
A survey of police departments from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, conducted in 2019 before the availability of officers worsened, found that 78% of agencies reported issues recruiting qualified candidates. Fifty percent of agencies changed their internal policies to gain qualified candidates, and 25% said they eliminated services, units, or positions due to the inability to staff their departments adequately.
The persistent demand for officers and limited pool of qualified candidates can create a bidding war between departments, often leading to the wealthiest departments winning out.
That cost dilemma creates a concern for East Cleveland chief of police Brian Gerhard, who does not want his police force to become a “second-chance department.”
Prosecutors indicted 10 active-duty officers over the last three years, as well as the former police chief, leaving Gerhard’s department with 30 officers. He wants to have 50 quality officers, though his city’s charter permits up to 72 officers.
When asked about the bodycam video of officers abusing and assaulting residents circulated in the media and online, Gerhard admitted, “It looks horrible, period;” however, he said he is committed to “rebuilding” his department. Case in point, Gerhard told ABC News that he wants to hire capable and qualified recruits, not more attainable officers seeking a “second chance” after leaving or being fired by other departments. Financial considerations make this goal challenging, if not time-consuming.
Two of Gerhard’s recent hires left the East Cleveland Police Department after less than a year for higher-paying jobs. He noted that he’s limited to paying $17.27 an hour, though it is set to increase to $19.19 an hour.
Regardless of the pay hike, Gerhard was assured, “They’re gonna make substantially more money than we have.”
For example, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., began offering $20,000 signing bonuses for new officers in 2023.
“There’s also a dual-edged sword of signing bonuses and better pay like you want to be able to recruit to have some parity, but you don’t want people becoming cops just for the signing bonus,” Moskos said.
Departments like suburban New York’s Nassau County Police Department boasts an average salary for officers after nine years of $121,659, an enticing offer to pull successful officers from the New York Police Department.
Poaching efforts from wealthier departments can also damage police forces by pulling officers from their jobs just as evidence suggests they become fully effective after five to seven years of service, according to Letteney. Moskos added that these wealthier departments also have the luxury of hiring applicants with clean records while leaving behind potentially problematic officers.
All of these factors create an overall challenging environment for departments to be able to recruit with an eye towards reform or even retain their ranks.
“If you walk into a room of police officers, or chiefs, and they’re really being honest with you, say, ‘How many of you would like your kids to be cops,’ very few will raise their hands,” Letteney said.
David Bowie fans now have a chance to hear an unreleased version of his classic track “Let’s Dance,” and it’s all for a good cause.
Gala Music has teamed with musician/songwriter/producer Larry Dvoskin, with support from the Bowie Estate, for a limited series of Bowie digital collectables, which will give fans access to a never-before-heard version of Bowie’s 1983 hit. The new take was recorded 19 years after the original release, and is being made available as part of the 40th anniversary of the tune.
“This was a creative endeavor David never got to see released during his lifetime. We are honoring his wish by releasing it now,” Dvoskin shares.
As for the new version of the song, he notes, “I am first and foremost a huge Bowie fan. It would have been a mistake to attempt to copy the original,” adding, “This is something different. David simply imagined a more dreamy, electronic version. He is the original disruptor of expectations.”
The digital collectables will be available starting April 14, and proceeds from the sales will be donated to MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s charity that provides health and human services to the music community.
Lauren Daigle has released the official video for her new single “Thank God I Do.”
Shot in her hometown of New Orleans, the colorful and vibrant video shows Lauren wearing an outlandishly multicolored top covered by a blue ruffled jumper; she has what looks like an entire bouquet of flowers in her hair.
As she sings the song while sitting on the front porch of a house covered with plants and flowers, we see musicians playing along with her in a flower-covered room. As she walks down the street, the clip ends with a shot of a stop sign, also covered with plants and flowers.
“Thank God I Do” is from Lauren’s upcoming self-titled album, which is itself the first part of a two-part release of 10 songs each. The first part comes out May 12; the second part arrives in the fall.
Lauren’s upcoming Kaleidoscope Tour is set to kick off September 6 in Memphis, Tennessee, making stops in 30 cities before wrapping December 9 in Greenville, South Carolina. Tickets are on sale now at LaurenDaigle.com.
Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Three men convicted in the fatal shooting of XXXTentacion were sentenced to life in prison Thursday, according to Florida ABC-TV affiliate WPLG.
Dedrick Devonshay Williams, Michael Boatwright and Trayvon Newsome had been found guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the rapper’s death last month.
XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, was shot and killed in Broward County, Florida, on June 18, 2018. He was 20 years old.
Onfroy was leaving a Deerfield Beach motorsports dealership when two armed men jumped out of an SUV, approached him and opened fire in an apparent robbery attempt, police said. Prosecutors said Boatwright and Newsome were the two men who jumped out of the SUV, and Williams was the one driving.
A fourth person who was in the backseat, Robert Allen, already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and testified for the prosecution in the case.
(WASHINGTON) — A Thursday report that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted luxury travel and hospitality perks from a billionaire Republican donor was met with both renewed criticism of how the justices self-police and renewed calls for oversight and the impeachment of the embattled conservative.
The controversy was touched off by a ProPublica story describing how Thomas and his wife, Ginni, a conservative activist, were treated to high-end vacations and private jet travel subsidized by Dallas-based businessman Harlan Crow, who has a record of contributing millions to Republican candidates and causes.
Thomas did not report the gifts on his annual financial disclosure filings, according to ProPublica — an omission that ethics experts say violates a code of conduct for federal officials.
Neither Thomas nor the Supreme Court and its counsel have responded to ABC News’ request for comment on the report and questions about the apparent disclosure oversight and whether Thomas’ reports will be amended.
Crow is not said to have any direct connection to business before the court and no apparent alleged conflict of interest on that level, but he is deeply connected to GOP politics and, according to ProPublica’s reporting, regularly includes conservative power players in gatherings with Thomas.
While Supreme Court justices are expected to follow a federal judicial code of ethics, there is no requirement that they do so and no independent oversight of compliance.
In a statement, Crow insisted he “never” spoke with Thomas about a Supreme Court case. But that hasn’t stopped the criticism, largely from the left and from advocates for judicial reform.
“If the information in this report is correct … and if the point of the United States judiciary is still to neutrally interpret and uphold the law, then it is obvious what should happen next,” Jeff Hauser, executive director of the progressive group Revolving Door Project, said in a statement. “The House of Representatives must immediately draw articles of impeachment against Justice Clarence Thomas.”
Some progressive lawmakers have joined in pushing for Thomas’ removal. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., wrote on Twitter that “this degree of corruption is shocking – almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached.”
Only one Supreme Court justice in the country’s history has been impeached: Samuel Chase, in 1804, for allegedly refusing to dismiss biased jurors from a politically sensitive case. Political realities in 2023 cast doubt on the likelihood of a similar fate for Thomas, with Republicans now in control of the House. Beyond impeachment, a trial in the Senate, currently held 51-49 by Democrats, would require more than a dozen conservatives to join in voting against Thomas.
The justice has long attracted scrutiny for his close ties with Republican political figures and has faced unreported financial engagements in the past. But the new ProPublica report, which examined 20 years’ worth of unreported gifts, broke new ground.
According to ProPublica, Crow bankrolled transportation and accommodations for Thomas and his wife to far-flung destinations like Indonesia and New Zealand. These vacations and others to Crow’s own properties reportedly included lavish trimmings, including use of billionaire’s private jet, yacht and chef.
Crow, a prolific Republican donor who amassed a fortune in real estate, has given tens of millions of dollars to various Republican candidates and political groups at the federal level, according to public campaign finance databases. He has been a particularly generous donor to super PACs linked to Republican leadership in Congress, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on those groups almost every election cycle.
In a statement to ABC News, Crow acknowledged his friendship with the Thomases but denied any implication that his behavior amounted to anything more than “a gathering of friends.”
“Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality,” Crow said. “We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue.”
Other voices stopped short of calling for Thomas’ impeachment, instead using ProPublica’s reporting as an opportunity to call attention to the lax rules governing Supreme Court justices’ personal conduct.
Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonpartisan watchdog group Fix the Court, said ProPublica’s findings highlight a troubling reality: “The Supreme Court is the least accountable part of our government.”
Roth and others have advocated for legislation imposing stricter guidelines on financial disclosures and other mechanisms to ensure sufficient oversight of justices who wield broad power to check presidential and congressional authority and, unlike other branches of government, serve lifetime terms.
Congressional Democrats have for years been trying to pass legislation that would implement an enforceable code of conduct on the nine justices. In the wake of the ProPublica story, Senate Democrats once urged passage of the Supreme Court Ethics Act, which has been sponsored by Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy every year in Congress for more than a decade.
Later Thursday, the White House declined to weigh in. “There are other bodies of government that should be dealing with this,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Illinois’ Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, characterized Thomas’ behavior as “simply inconsistent with the ethical standards the American people expect of any public servant, let alone a Justice on the Supreme Court.”
“The Pro Publica report is a call to action,” Durbin said in a statement on Thursday, “and the Senate Judiciary Committee will act.”
ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The new director of a Department of Justice office that financially supports police departments nationwide says that community engagement is what defines successful law enforcement. And he knows from experience.
Before being chosen to head the Community Oriented Policing Services within the DOJ, Hugh Clements was the chief of police in Providence, Rhode Island. With more than 34 years in policing, Clements told ABC News that his time as an officer and as a leader serves him well in understanding what agencies go through on a daily basis and what funding they need.
“The position is almost tailor-made for a police chief who’s done it in the field,” Clements said. He said he’s previously been the “beneficiary” of the “great programs” from COPS.
“I was one of the practitioners in the field doing the work in the community and having a great degree of success in making that community a safer place,” he said.
The main role of COPS is to dole out federal funds to police departments around the country for a variety of issues. The biggest pot of money is for hiring officers.
Clements said that 13,000 of the 18,000 police departments in the country have been given a grant from COPS for one issue or another, whether it be for staffing or a program to decrease violent crime.
Clements began his own leadership career in policing as a district commander with Providence police and worked his way up. When he started, he said the department was more traditional but as time went on, community policing became more of a focus.
“I never aspired to be the chief of police but I had a great passion for the community that I worked in and we became enmeshed in the community,” he said. In his view, there are many ways to define community policing — though it all ultimately boils down to what works for locals.
“For a police department to be effective in their community, for them to have better outcomes in their community, they have to be so connected to that community, they have to be engaged,” he said.
DOJ recently tasked COPS with looking into the Memphis, Tennessee, Police Department’s use of force and deescalation policies as well as a separate review of specialized units across the country, in the wake of Tyre Nichols’ death after he was beaten by officers during a traffic stop in January.
Five officers from the now-disbanded “Scorpion Unit” in Memphis are charged with murder in Nichols’ death. They have pleaded not guilty.
Clements said that a review in general of specialized units asks whether or not the police department needs that group, what the accountability procedures are for those officers and how effective they are. A major part of review is also talking to subject-matter experts about the situation.
“We’ll be doing a larger look nationally at what type of oversight there should be, what type of accountability [there is] in allowing these units to be involved in your police work,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — With strikes raging throughout France in response to a push to raise the nation’s retirement age, government officials across the Atlantic Ocean may want to take steps to avoid similar chaos in the event that Social Security becomes insolvent.
Last-ditch talks between Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and leaders of France’s largest trade unions faltered on Wednesday. Union representatives emerged after less than an hour deeming the meeting a “failure” and calling on the public to join Thursday’s strike.
Millions have taken to the streets in recent months in opposition to the pension reform, with protests at times shutting down schools, public transit and iconic cultural attractions like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Mounds of garbage piled up on the sidewalks and were set ablaze. Violent clashes have been documented between demonstrators and police.
Frédéric Souillot, the secretary general of the Force Ouvrière trade union, warned Wednesday they were “more determined than ever” ahead of the new wave of protests.
But France is not the only nation grappling with a financial dilemma. The United States will soon have to address the holes threatening to sink its own retirement system.
Social Security, the popular program on which 67 million Americans rely for monthly payments, faces long-term solvency issues that could result in benefit reductions within the next decade. U.S. lawmakers will soon have to act on Social Security, despite its status as the “third rail” in American politics — as in “touch it at your own peril.”
The trust fund that pays retirees is estimated to run dry by 2033, a year earlier than previously predicted, according to a report released last week from its board of trustees. If no solution is reached by then, the program would only be able to pay out 77% of scheduled benefits.
“We face the same demographic challenges here that France is facing,” Richard Johnson, the director of the Urban Institute’s Program on Retirement Policy, told ABC News. “There will be more retirees per worker in the future than we have today. That’s the challenge.”
What can America learn from France’s upheaval? Here are steps experts say U.S. officials can take in an effort to avoid the same fate.
Negotiate with the labor movement
France’s retirement age hike incensed the nation’s labor movement, which argued the measure unfairly burdened blue-collar workers in physically demanding jobs. The move is opposed by younger and older citizens alike.
French President Emmanuel Macron argued the new law — which raises the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 — was necessary for the survival of the country’s pension system. He pushed the deeply unpopular measure forward by shunning Parliament and invoking a special constitutional power.
Jean Garrigues, a leading French historian, said Macron made two “bad mistakes” during the ordeal: not negotiating with the labor movement and using what many see as an undemocratic tool to get the measure adopted.
“A lot of people accuse Emmanuel Macron of being responsible for all this violence,” Garrigues told ABC News.
Strive for fairness in readjusting the system
Both France and the U.S. have pay-as-you go systems that are strained by the collapsing ratio of working people to retirees. President Joe Biden and Republicans have clashed several times over how to address the disparate numbers of people in different generations.
Some Republicans have floated raising the full retirement age to 70 and making benefit changes to high-earning Americans to bring the system into balance. Democrats have generally proposed expanding benefits and raising taxes on the wealthy.
Rich Fiesta, the executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said he would “urge caution” to lawmakers who want to raise the full retirement age in the U.S. beyond 67.
“That’s the one thing that is universally not well regarded by the American public,” he said.
Macron’s critics have argued the funding for pensions could’ve come from another source, such as tax increases, without forcing people to retire later.
“Part of the protests in France is this idea of how we should be distributing the pain of adjusting the retirement system,” Johnson said.
That idea will likely be a key point of debate as the U.S. continues to debate Social Security.
“When we look at the solution that the French have come up with, which is increasing the retirement age, there are some questions about the fairness of doing that,” Johnson said. He noted those in physically demanding jobs may not be able to work longer and older people who lose their jobs may have trouble getting reemployed.
“Is that the most fair kind of change that we should make to Social Security? Should we ask wealthier people to pay more into the system? That’s something that the French haven’t done, and we’re seeing street protests.”
Make changes gradually
The last time the U.S. increased the retirement age for Social Security was in 1983, but the change happened gradually over several decades.
By contrast, France’s new retirement age will be fully implemented by 2030 — just seven years away.
“You want to give people time to adjust,” Johnson said. “It’s important to start thinking about change long before the system is in crisis. What we’re seeing in France is the importance of planning ahead, so we don’t have to make quick changes.”
Jennifer Lopez is coming under fire online for her new alcohol brand, House of Delola. The issue? JLo has said many times that she doesn’t drink, and her husband Ben Affleck has had alcohol problems in the past.
“Oh wow. This is disappointing. Why not create a NA brand considering you’ve been outspoken about the negative affects of alcohol and that you yourself don’t drink?” wrote one. “This feels so off-brand for you, genuinely curious why you’re selling alcohol.”
“Wow. I’m so disappointed and confused by the narrative that she puts out about how she doesn’t drink alcohol and all the benefits from not drinking,” another chimed in, agreeing, “It would have been really cool if she could show that she can still enjoy life with a non-alcoholic beverage.”
Another fan put it more bluntly: “This is so out of alignment for the brand. 1) jlo doesn’t even drink?? And 2) Ben is a recovering alcoholic. WTF.”
And yet another one wrote, “Oh man- promoting alcohol for the bag but promotes NOT drinking- nor does her husband .. seems very opportunistic and honestly; offensive…like she assumes people don’t know any better than to catch those details.”
Another person commented, “I was thinking how it must make him feel. The very disease he battles is the thing she’s promoting because greed is the ultimate addiction.”
But one fan defended the star, writing, “Just because she doesn’t drink alcohol, that means she can’t launch an alcoholic drink for those who like? I mean, why not?”
