The Berrien County Sheriff's Department will be holding a buzzed driving campaign heading into Labor Day while law enforcement nationwide are taking part in the
Police Troubled By Increasing Gun Crimes 983thecoast.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 983thecoast.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Police agencies in Berrien County are working to reduce gun violence that’s been escalating for the past couple of years. Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey tells us they’ve seen gun crimes increase this year, in particular, with mostly young people shooting guns at homes and vehicles.
“We’ve seen an increase, especially in Benton Harbor and Benton Township,” Bailey said. “More gun violence than we’ve seen there in many, many, many years. I don’t know if we’ve ever had the magnitude of gun violence that’s going on right now.”
Bailey says Michigan State Police have stepped up enforcement in Benton Harbor and the sheriff’s department has done so as well.
Sunday marks 5 years since deadly Berrien County Courthouse shooting msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Jeff Parrott
In January 2020, as southwest Michigan towns were about to see their first recreational marijuana shops open, St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter, south of the Indiana line, was meeting with police officers at their shift change roll calls.
Cotter told officers in South Bend, Mishawaka and the county to watch for Hoosiers driving to the new shops, getting high and driving back home.
“We wanted to let them know that this is something that we take very seriously, and I believe they do too, so please be on the lookout for it,” Cotter said.
By the end of that year, his office would file 103 cases of operating a motor vehicle while impaired by a Schedule I or II controlled substance, a 45% increase from the 71 such cases in 2019.