Retired Baltimore Police Officer and amateur historian William Hackley passed away. Were it not for Officer Hackley, so much of the history of the BPD would be lost to time. I never met him, though I think I contributed a few pictures to his website. Give it a look (and get ready for some old-school…
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Except this time it was Ray Kelly who was doing the smacking down. He gave it back good to the New York City Council on the subject of stop and frisks and violence among minority youths. From the New York Times: “What I haven’t heard is any solution to the violence problems in these communities…
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There’s a great review of William Stuntz’s book, The Collapse of American Criminal Justice (which I have but have not read). Stuntz was conservative, just FYI. The review is by Leon Neyfakh in the Boston Globe. Stuntz’s point is that procedural justice is not the same is real justice. And the trend towards the former,…
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It doesn’t happen often. But here it is. Oh, no, it’s not a US police force. That would be a sign of weakness. Wouldn’t be prudent. Might admit legal liability.
I didn’t know that Tony Bennett came out for drug legalization. Tony Bennett is a hometown hero here in Astoria, Queens. I mean, I’ve had more than a few debates with old timers about how great Tony Bennett is. And it’s strange, because we’d both be on the same side. Old man: “Tony Bennett is…
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I wrote in the New York Times: Much — though by no means all — of the disproportionate rate of blacks stopped, frisked, arrested, convicted and imprisoned is a simple reflection of violence in poor African-American communities. Like robbing banks because that’s where the money is, the obvious reason police focus so much of their…
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From Salon.com, regarding an interview they did with me: The June 20, 2011, story “Could Flogging Solve Our Prison Crisis” initially stated that “the Corrections Corporation of America helped draft anti-immigration laws,” a reference to the draft legislation that later became Arizona SB 1070. CCA has brought it to our attention that although CCA did…
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There were many periods of silence in the police academy. The environment didn’t exactly encourage free and independent thinking. During these awkward moments, Agent Cassidy, when he was in the room, was fond of bellowing out, often apropos of nothing, “Moskos, your thoughts!” Thirteen years later, these might be most (only?) remembered words from the…
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We did so in Iraq. Syria will probably be next. I’m not too confident about Egypt… but that wasn’t our fault. Still, shouldn’t we be more supporting of strong secularleaders? I’m not generally one to comment on geo-political religious issues. I’m not really religious, myself. But I do think it’s shame, and strange, that country…
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A very good episode of This American Life. Specifically about Trenton, paying too much tax, paying too little tax, budget cuts, and policing. Notice (what is still denied by many academics) the basic link between cutting police, ineffective policing, and rising crime. Or course it could always be just coincidence. Except it isn’t. [thanks to…
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