There’s a great new academic book out by A. Rafik Mohamed and Erik D. Fritsvold: Dorm Room Dealers: Drugs and the privileges of race and class. Too many books (my own included) treat drug crimes like it’s some black thing that whites wouldn’t understand unless some kind-hearted interpreters explain to “us” those strange things “they”…
Read more
The Sun is starting a nice little feature where a reporter from London and Baltimore switch places.
Everywhere Bill Bratton goes, crime seems to go down. Since 2002, homicides in L.A. decreased by more than 50%. And yet so many professors are unwilling to accept that good policing has a major impact on crime. In the academic world, Bratton still seems to get little credit and respect. Why is that? Here’s an…
Read more
Seems to me a request for a not-needed seat-belt extension alone is grounds for suspicion. Here’s an account in USA Today.
Strange question, but have any of you ever paid a bribe to a Mexican police officer in, say, the past 10 years? If so, when, where, why, and how much? There was an article in the New York Times the other day about Cancun police extorting people, in this case a Minnesota state senator. My…
Read more
In a footnote (p. 215) in Cop in the Hood, I list what I consider essential books in urban sociology (they’re not all about the “ghetto”). Somebody was nice enough to take the time to put this list on Amazon. It’s nice to see all these books in one place.
A story in the LA Times by Steve Lopez showing how easy it is to get medical marijuana.
It’s a Greek thing.
NYPD cars are getting a low-frequency device to supplement their lights and siren. Why do I have the feeling I’m not going to like this. I think sirens should be quieter, not louder. We don’t need to escalate noise in the city. The problem isn’t that people don’t notice lights and sirens, it’s that they…
Read more
A reader sent me this link: Here’s the news story. Abbotsford, by the way, has been labeled “the Murder Capital of Canada” [insert scary music here]. Abbotford, the Murder Captial of Canada,” has a homicide rate of 4.7 per 100,000. Abbotford, the Murder Captial of Canada, has a homicide rate lower than the U.S. homicide…
Read more