A nice critique of quantitative data over at City Observatory. It’s about transportation planning, but the lesson can be applied to anything, especially policing: Reliance on data to solve complex problems is subject to what’s sometimes called the “drunk under the streetlamp” effect: An obviously intoxicated man is on his hands and knees on the…
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Very good piece by Peter Nickeas in Chicago magazine. “Three Years of Nights: Violence convulses the city after dark. Reporting on it leaves its own scars.” It sure does. Same for policing (though for some more than others). And just another 17 years of the same and he’s have the career of a copper: It…
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Update: The links have changed (oops!) since these were first published. Here are links to all my August 2016 posts on the DOJ report on the BPD. 1 https://qualitypolicing.com/initial-thoughts-on-doj-report-on-2/ 2 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-1-2/ 3 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-dojs-war-on-broken-window-2/ 4 https://qualitypolicing.com/cant-you-take-joke-2/ 5 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-2-n-word-2/ 6 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-3-that-damn-kid-on-2/ 7 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-4-on-diggs-dig-2/ 8 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-1-2/ 9 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-2-actual-department-is-2/ 10 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-3-actual-department-is-2/ 11 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-4-actual-department-is-2/ F) And then there’s the problem…
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Update: The links have changed (oops!) since these were first published. Here are links to all my August 2016 posts on the DOJ report on the BPD. 1 https://qualitypolicing.com/initial-thoughts-on-doj-report-on-2/ 2 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-1-2/ 3 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-dojs-war-on-broken-window-2/ 4 https://qualitypolicing.com/cant-you-take-joke-2/ 5 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-2-n-word-2/ 6 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-3-that-damn-kid-on-2/ 7 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-4-on-diggs-dig-2/ 8 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-1-2/ 9 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-2-actual-department-is-2/ 10 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-3-actual-department-is-2/ 11 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-4-actual-department-is-2/ C) It’s not like most police…
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Update: The links have changed (oops!) since these were first published. Here are links to all my August 2016 posts on the DOJ report on the BPD. 1 https://qualitypolicing.com/initial-thoughts-on-doj-report-on-2/ 2 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-1-2/ 3 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-dojs-war-on-broken-window-2/ 4 https://qualitypolicing.com/cant-you-take-joke-2/ 5 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-2-n-word-2/ 6 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-3-that-damn-kid-on-2/ 7 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-4-on-diggs-dig-2/ 8 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-1-2/ 9 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-2-actual-department-is-2/ 10 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-3-actual-department-is-2/ 11 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-4-actual-department-is-2/ Mixed in with questionable methodology, intentions,…
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Update: The links have changed (oops!) since these were first published. Here are links to all my August 2016 posts on the DOJ report on the BPD. 1 https://qualitypolicing.com/initial-thoughts-on-doj-report-on-2/ 2 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-1-2/ 3 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-dojs-war-on-broken-window-2/ 4 https://qualitypolicing.com/cant-you-take-joke-2/ 5 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-2-n-word-2/ 6 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-3-that-damn-kid-on-2/ 7 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-wrong-4-on-diggs-dig-2/ 8 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-1-2/ 9 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-2-actual-department-is-2/ 10 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-3-actual-department-is-2/ 11 https://qualitypolicing.com/the-doj-is-right-4-actual-department-is-2/ Too many officers in Baltimore conduct…
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This is not the usual message I’d expect from a man whose armed son was just killed by police, provoking a bit of burning in Milwaukee: What are we gonna do now? Everyone playing their part in this city, blaming the white guy or whatever, and we know what they’re doing. Like, already I feel…
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CBS reports: At least 52 people were shot across [Chicago] over the weekend, including nine homicides. (“At least”? Has it got so bad that we can’t even keep track?) Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, talking about the 40 victims known to police, is “sick of it”: 672 arrests? That’s ridiculous! … There’s a certain segment…
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Just came across this gem, that happened back when I was on the street. It’s community policing, with an Eastern District twist. While going around the block and stopped at an intersection (321 Post), two boys, 10-to-13 years old, come up near the window of my car, and one says to another: “give me the…
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[From pp.58-59 of Cop in the Hood] To meet the standards needed for a formal prosecution, one must follow the informal rules imposed by the state’s attorney. Rule number one is don’t take your eyes off the drugs. Drug charges against a suspect will not be prosecuted in Baltimore City if an officer fails to…
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