Year: 2008

$12.47 for Cop in the Hood? What a bargain!

Strand is selling my book for $12.47. I doubt you will ever find it cheaper. But there are only 2 copies in stock. I bet when these 2 are gone, the price will go up. $12.47 is 50% off cover price. I can only get 40% off cover price and I wrote the damn thing!…
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Pay NYPD More (II)

A police officer was arrested in Pennsylvania for bank robbery. I don’t like to compare common criminals with mistakes people make because they’re poor–like the NYPD officer who discharged his gun (shooting an 18-month-old boy in the apartment below) while cleaning it… in the dark… because he couldn’t pay his electric bill. But what all…
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T[aser] is for Torture

More good discussion from the comments of marginal revolution. I’ll call this: Ask Officer Pete! Q: Peter, I have an issue with you comments about police use of force. Your argument that the use of “muscle,” physical strength and holds, will lead to less excessive force issues in contrast to Tasers or other less lethal…
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Car vs Foot Patrol

There’s a good discussion I’ve been contributing to in the comments section from a post in marginal revolution.

Demand More Foot Patrol

More foot patrol is always possible. Back in the days, all patrol was foot patrol. Our almost complete dedication to cars responding to dispatched calls is a choice we make… or maybe a choice made for us. But if we really wanted and demanded more foot patrol, we could have it. Police departments need to…
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Homicides down in Baltimore

At least for the first three months of 2008. Hopefully it will last. Here’s the Sun’s story by John Fritze and Sara Neufeld. There’s a nice Sun news graphic in the story. It’s rarely mentioned that what looks like a steady decline in homicides in the 1990s correlates pretty well with the decline in the…
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Cops tell the truth

If that statement shocks you, you’re a fool. All cops don’t tell the truth all of the time. But cops tell the truth a lot more than many people seem to think. At least in Baltimore there is no culture of lying on the stand or anywhere else. Why would I perjure myself and risk…
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Good Press in the Atlantic Monthly

I was on the subway today, reading the Atlantic Monthly(or is it just The Atlantic?… no matter, it’s my favorite magazine…. with the New Yorkerplacing a close second and the Economistto show). I see a book review for Judith Herrin’s Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire. I like Professor Herrin. I took a…
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Cameras in cop cars

Steve Lopez of the L.A. Times has a good take on cameras in police cars.

Ambitious Assult, Limited Victory

The New York Times has an excellent article by Michael Brick on a large police operation meant to get drugs out of the Cypress Hills project. Guess what, there are still drugs in Cypress Hills. In many ways, it’s great police work (and conceivable right of The Wire). A five-month investigation, undercover officers moving into…
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