Does anybody recognize this guy from Humans of New York? More than 13,000 shares and 147,000 likes on facebook. He says he was a Baltimore cop for 21 years and a heroin addict the entire time. It’s not inconceivable, but it doesn’t ring true. I see a guy sitting on a bench in NYC with…
Read more
Bill Bratton in the Daily News: There seems to be a widespread belief among certain members of the political class that protecting the country against terrorism is a matter of ideology. According to them, the strong leaders in this area are the ones who are willing to insult Muslims, advocate torture, and engage in various…
Read more
This doesn’t happen enough(the prosecution, not the BS calls to 911): In all, the authorities said, more than 30 calls were made over a month, none for actual emergencies. On Friday, prosecutors in Queens said that they had all been traced to one man. He told the fire marshal investigating the case that he made…
Read more
Unless there’s more to this story that hasn’t come out — and there may be (though I wouldn’t bet on it) — this is inexcusably shitty. The video: So is this unrelated incident in 2013 when a cop made a left turn into and killed a teacher crossing the street. It’s all too common for…
Read more
Somebody got it all figured out:
Dan Baum has written a bunch of good books about a variety of subjects, and I’ve mentioned him many times on this blog (search for his name, if you want). I first met Dan and his wife, Margaret, in New Orleans in 2007. The title of my book, “In Defense of Flogging,” was coined the…
Read more
Baltimore homicides, year to date, are only up a bit compared to last year. Through March 24th, 50 this year compared to 47 in 2015. Rarely is more murder good news. But it’s certainly an improvement from last year, post riot. From May through December 2015, there were 269 murders in 244 days. So 50…
Read more
From AP: In all, Chicago has paid a staggering sum — about $662 million — on police misconduct since 2004, including judgments, settlements and outside legal fees, according to city records. The payouts, for everything from petty harassment to police torture, have brought more financial misery to a city already drowning in billions of dollars…
Read more
Great story in the Baltimore Sun about taser use: • Nearly 60 percent of those hit by Tasers in Maryland were described by police as “non-compliant and non-threatening,” according to data from 2012 when the state began collecting data through 2014. • In one out of every 10 incidents, police discharged the weapon for longer…
Read more
It makes homicide — which kills “just” 40 Americans a day — look positively benign. 47,000 Americas died from drug overdose in 2014. That’s a shocking figure. 47,000 is the number of US soldiers who died in Vietnam combat. And that was over 20 years. Heroin deaths have shot up since 2010: From the Times:…
Read more