Year: 2019

Murdered in the Park

Just last month, I swear I told my class, “People won’t talk about crime until a cute white girl gets murdered.” Tessa Majors, unfortunately, is that woman. Would her murder be getting as much press if she had been black? I doubt it. But who knows? Turns out not a lot college students of any…
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Violent, mentally ill, on the street: We need to do better than this

My op-ed in the Daily News: Police officer Lesly Lafontant emerged form a coma yesterday after a bystander, Kwesi Ashun, somehow deemed it appropriate to beat Lafontant with a metal chair while Lafontant was trying to arrest Dewayne Hawkes, wanted on a warrant, after Hawkes had urinated on the floor on a nail salon. Ashun…
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FOP Report: “Mismanagement of the BPD and its Impact on Public Safety”

I’ve read this so you don’t have to. But you should. This is put out by Baltimore City FOP #3. So sure, take it with a grain of salt. But FOP #3 isn’t like some other unions that tweet ill-advised statements that hurt the image of policing and their members. [cough NYPD’s PBA SBA!] In…
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Murder down for whites but not blacks

The 2018 murder rate is down from the previous two years, but higher than we’ve seen in 6 of the past 10 years. Last year’s murder rate is the same as 2015. And 2009! And yet I keep hearing every year that violence is down. So what’s this trend? And sort of related, why do…
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Rest in Peace, NYPD Detective Brian Mulkeen

Brian Mulkeen was a Fordham grad and worked at Merrill Lynch till he quit his job and joined the NYPD. Apparently Mulkeen was killed by “friendly fire” while wrestling with an armed suspect. There’s a nice 1 minute video on twitter. I was mostly just sad and dry eyed till “Country Roads” kicked in. Because…
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QPP 36: George Kelling and Broken Windows

George Kelling passed away on May 15, 2019. Kelling is best known as the (co-)author of Broken Windows, but his legacy is much greater than that. I met George Kelling in 1997 when I took a class from him while I was in the PhD program at Harvard University. In the early 1990s, Kelling described…
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“Stop the car or I’ll step in front of it”

This was not a good shooting. And cringe-worthy from an officer’s perspective. From the suspect’s perspective, well, he’s dead. I’m quoted in this article. The background is the car popped up on a stolen car list (I think from an automated license plate reader). The officer is told to investigate. The car is in a…
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QPP 35: Sacramento, Friendly Fire, Murder in Mob Town, and In Defense of Fat Cops

Peter Moskos and Leon Taylor talk about Sacramento, “friendly fire,” the crime that wasn’t, and defend fat cops. Recorded on March 5, 2019. Episode: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/17260598

Quality Policing Episode 25

There’s a new episode of quality policing. And with a new cohost. Click through and listen here. https://qualitypolicing.com/episode-25-peter-moskos-and-introducing-leon-taylor/ Download the mp3 file here: https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/17113983/download.mp3

QPP 34: Peter Moskos Introducing Leon Taylor

Peter Moskos and Leon Taylor talk about “friendly fire,” prosecuting people who assault cops in Chicago, LA traffic stops, arming school security, cops afraid to initiate arrests, and yes, Jussie Smallette. Episode: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/17113983 0:10 Introducing Leon Taylor2:00 RIP Brian Simonsen3:53 “friendly fire” and being a black officer5:15 Prosecuting assaults on cops9:05 43% of Baltimore cops…
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