From 1968 to 1973, there is an interesting (to put it mildly) and surprisingly little-remembered part of NYPD history. The “Stake-Out Squad.” I’ve spoken to a few cops who remember its existence. One who was part of it. It’s impossible to imagine this unit existing today. And even back that it was controversial…. but very…
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NYC subway murders from 1997-2020. There were 10 last year compared to zero in 2017. That’s an er, infinite(?) percent increase. We really had this under control until we permitted people to loiter and/or trespass in the subway system without consequence or ejection. That was a simple policy change directive issued to the Transit Police…
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In early 2021 I pointed out, which was a considered a radial concept by many at the time, that violence had indeed gone way up since the unrest following the murder of George Floyd. I wanted to update the data in that post about the relationship between enforcement (or lack thereof) and violence. So I…
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George Kelling passed away on May 15, 2019. Kelling is best known as the (co-)author of Broken Windows, but his legacy is much greater than that. I met George Kelling in 1997 when I took a class from him while I was in the PhD program at Harvard University. In the early 1990s, Kelling described…
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