An email from a Chicago Police Officer (emphasis added by me): I wanted to go through our new “investigatory stop report (ISR)” training before I replied. By now you realize we have an extremely long form to fill out every time we do a street stop. The form is ridiculous and redundant but fortunately the…
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Well Suffolk County certainly isn’t a good case study for my point that if you pay cops enough, you’ll avoid scandal. Though I’d still like to think that’s true, WTF? The former Chief of Police (how much did he make?) pled guilty: to federal charges stemming from accusations that he beat a suspect in custody,…
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In Chicago, as in New York City, police officers have been instructed to fill out a new an extremely burdensome form every time they stop somebody. This would be great if eliminating police stops were a worthy goal. In Chicago, as reported in the Sun-Times: Interim Chicago Police Supt. John Escalante said Tuesday he hopes…
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I read pretty quickly. I’m always looking for new non-fiction. Particularly history. I’ve found Darkblue714 on twitter has never failed me with good book recommendations. He reminded me to read The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. Being a best seller in 1994, I don’t know how that bestseller managed…
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I always like Al Baker’s stories. He seems to get it. And I don’t think he’s Greek. But I do think his father was a cop. Maybe that matters. Or maybe he’s just smart and works hard. Anyway, I’m happy to see him writing about police issues again. I trust that when I read his…
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It’s too bad this man wasn’t president. Oh, the economic and foreign policy horrors that could have been avoided. But I don’t say that just because he’s Greek. (Though that helps.) And I don’t say that just because he was kind enough to write the introduction to my Greek Americans book. (Though that was very…
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There’s something ironic here, this Harlem bar owner discussing the fatal shooting in his bar and the need the need to buy a metal detector and hire a third security guard in order to pat-down customers so nobody gets shot: He called the extra security measures, “horrible” and “insane” but unfortunately necessary to keep everyone…
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The other week I wrote about the so-called “Ferguson Effect.” Alex Elkins has some more thoughts on this issue, over on his blog: The main “take-away,” the one the authors hope the media will pick up and run with, namely, that the Ferguson Effect, as construed by conservatives and certain media outlets, is “spurious.” This…
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That’s all. And not a bad refresher at that, by Amy Gallo in Harvard Business Review: “You have to go out and see what’s happening in the real world. What’s the physical mechanism that’s causing the relationship? … A lot of people skip this step and I think it’s because they’re lazy. The goal is…
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Have you heard the news? There’s nothing new under the sun. “Today a policeman doesn’t know where he stands. He has lost the ball. He has become defensive and he doesn’t do a good job when he is on the defensive.” … “A cop will give his life to catch a burglar, holdup man, or…
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