One-in-a-hundred adult Americans is behind bars. This figure has shocked some people since it made the headlines the other day. The Timesquoted a Professor Cassell as saying that our rate of imprisonment has “very tangible benefits: lower crime rates.” But this isn’t true. The prison rate has been increasing since 1970, so why didn’t crime…
Read more
I love Baltimore. I do. I hope my book makes Baltimore a better place to live and police. But one of my fears is that my book will just contribute to Baltimore’s image problem. I wish I could write a book that talks about the good food and good people and good neighborhoods of Charm…
Read more
A witness at the trial of the officers who shot Sean Bell testified today. She was a topless dancer at the club. Leaving aside all the real issues, I noticed something most people probably missed from her testimony: this woman is no stranger to crime scenes. Put yourself in her shoes: You’ve just had a…
Read more
But you usually don’t hear about it. I call this the Al Sharpton effect. There is no white version of Al Sharpton. As the trial of the officers involved in the Sean Bell killing begins, I’ve been thinking more about police-involved shootings and race. Given media reports, it certainly seems like police only kill black…
Read more
Rapid response doesn’t work for police. I’ve published an article in Law Enforcement Executive Forum saying as much. It’s also a chapter in my book. I was reminded of the futility of 911 yesterday when I came across an old man who had fallen down and cracked his head open here where I’m visiting my…
Read more
One of the best resources to stay on top of current police and criminal-justice news is a daily email from Criminal Justice Journalists. They’re not exactly a secret, but most people don’t know about it and everybody should. Bookmark them or give them your email and they’ll send you one e-mail every weekday (and nothing…
Read more
Today’s Los Angeles TimesOpinion Section has an excellent article by an L.A. police officer about cameras in squad cars. I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I won’t. Here’s his piece: View from a squad carPutting video cameras in black-and-whites won’t clear up a distorted picture of the LAPD. By Jack Dunphy Los Angeles…
Read more
Looks like I wasn’t the only one bothered by the picture I posted of New Orleans Mayor Nagin smiling and pointing an automatic weapon. Mayor criticizes use of photograph by Times-Picayune staff Wednesday February 13, 2008, 7:58 PM Editor’s note: Late Wednesday evening, the office of Mayor Ray Nagin released the following statement regarding a…
Read more
Fair warning: If you’re not interested in Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)–and there’s no reason you should be–you should probably just skip this whole post. Brief background: Federal regulations require IRB approval is required for all professors’ research on people. Since 1991 (I just learned this from Shrag’s blog), IRB approval was expanded to cover, among…
Read more
So much bothers me about this storyfeaturing this picture by Eliot Kamenitz of The New Orleans Times-Picayune The captain reads: Mayor Ray Nagin and NOPD Superintendent Warren Riley try out a pair of the NOPD’s new M-4 rifles Tuesday at the Superdome. Money from the state also provided 600 bullet-proof vests. The storybegins: New Orleans…
Read more