When I went to Baltimore in 1999 and became a cop, I thought my first book was going to be about Baltimore’s Great Crime Drop. A national “trend” and all. It seemed Baltimore’s turn. But it didn’t happen. That’s not how crime works. But it’s happening now! Well worth reading this by Charles Fain Lehman:…
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The percentage of shooting victims in NYC who are Black or Hispanic is 96%, and it has varied very little—even as total numbers have changed. This racial disparity exists year after year after year. And it is not unique to NYC. It’s amazing how few are aware of this. (Or worse, purposefully ignore it, in…
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By a Minneapolis Police Officer and Peter Moskos What is happening in Minneapolis is not simply federal overreach combined with public backlash, but a system that pairs aggressive immigration enforcement with poor leadership, inviting street-level confrontation until something breaks. Both of us struggle with federal ICE and Border Patrol activity in Minneapolis and the understandable…
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Now with ICE dominating the law enforcement news, sometimes I like to revisit issues of yesteryear. The Washington Post used to keep track of how many people police shoot and kill. It was and is a useful database. And then in 2025 they stopped counting. So it covers 2015 to 2024. And given recent cutbacks…
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On spreaker for audio https://www.spreaker.com/episode/qpp-64-leon-taylor-and-ice–69584686 And youtube: https://youtu.be/dVs2kBlAXu8
Chicago and Baltimore have seen a massive reduction in murders. Most cities have seen reductions, albeit not of such magnitude. Chicago had 416 murders in 2025, down 27% from the prior year and down 48% since 2021. Baltimore had 133 murders in 2025, down 34% from the prior year, and an amazing 60% since 2022.…
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Over on twitter there’s a discussion that we can’t compare 1960’s murder rates with 2025 because people were much more likely to die back then, because of lack of shock trauma and other (what we now consider) basic medical care. Now I’m always concerned with the validity of crime stats. And even more so over…
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My “lost” (really forgotten) 2017 conversation with Baltimore Police Legend and Jack Maple protégé Tony Barksdale. In 2020 he wrote about how to reduce violence. In July, 2022, Mayor Brandon Scott appointed Barksdale as Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. Murders began a sharp decline. Nothing like a plan, a good police commissioner, and a good…
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A discussion of the results of New York’s Bail Reform with René Ropac & Stephen Koppel of the Data Collaboration for Justice. Listen on Spreaker.Watch on YouTube. Too deep of a dive? Here is a 16 minute edited version on youtube and audio on Spreaker. The link to the October 2025 Report on Bail Reform…
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A while back I was (and still am) a bit shocked at the massive differences between case outcomes in New York City and the rest of New York State. Same laws. Different jurisdictions. In New York City, in 2024, 64% of adult felony cases are not prosecuted or dismissed. Outside NYC it is 18%. Data…
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