My man Gene O’Donnell (former police officer and prosecutor and current colleague of mine at John Jay College of Criminal Justice) on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show. Well worth listening to. Unless, of course, you fully understand what a grand jury is and how it works… which you, like I, don’t. Also, if you click through…
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There is a great interview with Chris Rock in New York Magazine. What stuck with me was his insight that “black progress” is a misnomer. What America has seen over the years (in fits and starts) is “white progress”: So, to say Obama is [black] progress is saying that he’s the first black person that…
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I’m not certain what this actually means, but it seems to be working: In a wide-ranging interview this week, [Philadelphia] Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said he hoped that the trend reflected the department’s shake-up in training and tactics, which range from adopting a “statement on the sanctity of human life” to emphasizing “reality-based” weapons…
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From BoingBoing (whatever that is… but backed up by many other sources). You can’t make this shit up! I don’t actually think this changes anything in terms of the actual shooting… but it still seems newsworthy.
Or (though you didn’t know it) a favorite subject of mine: White People Rioting for No Reason. I’m surprised there is nothing from College Park on the list. I have no moral here. Other than you can’t fight stupid.
A good police perspectivefrom Lt Danie Furseth. I think his points are good… but I seriously doubt this is some contemporary perspective that wouldn’t have been valid 10, 20, 50, or 150 years ago. And, since I can’t say it better myself, I will quote my friend and colleague John DeCarlo: I have tried to…
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A good article AP article by Holbrook Mohr, David Lieb, and Phillip Lucas about something every cop knows: witnesses make up a lot of shit. Some witnesses said Michael Brown had been shot in the back. Another said he was face-down on the ground when Officer Darren Wilson “finished him off.” Still others acknowledged changing…
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Let me start by saying we’ll never know for certain what happened when Officer Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown. [Update: but we not do have a much better idea based on a DOJ report.] No. Seriously. Think about it. You don’t know what happened. I don’t know what happened. So whatever you think, whatever…
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Imagine, say, you get a call for an armed person waving a gun in a park. Here’s what you don’t do: drive right up to that person on muddy slippery ground to put your partner in an unprotected and defenseless position a few feet from the suspect. I feel sad for the officer involved. He…
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This happened back in March, so it’s not news. But still, the number of similarities between this case and the killing of Michael Brown are interesting, especially if you are one of those who think that “unarmed” suspects cannot ever really threaten police officers to the point where lethal force might be necessary. Here’s gist:…
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