“Can I take a picture?” “No,” said the old fish monger. “But I’ve never seen a crab like this.” “What do you mean? You never seen a crab?” “I’ve seen lots of crabs. But not like this.” “How can you not have seen a crab?” “How do you cook them? Do you boil or steam…
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A nineteenth-century police rattle. Just twirl if you need backup. This was before the radio, before the callbox, and even before the police whistle. [I’m on break. Regular blogging will resume in February.]
A pretty fabulous op-ed from a retired NYPD Captain on ticket fixing and police culture. Like any other profession, police work is subject to evolution. This situation is just the latest in a never-ending world of transition. I accept that. But let’s not pretend we’ve suddenly discovered some major moral rot deep in the heart…
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Here’s the very first new rule, just a few months into London’s experiment with the New Police (and London perhaps was beaten by Edinburgh). Apparently, back in the good old days, officers were drinking, had a bit of a temper, carried umbrellas and other weapons, engaging in idle chit chat, and hide their identification numbers:…
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Come on, walking up to somebody you’ve penned up (for not moving?!), macing them, and walking away? Of course it’s indefensible. And it’s not fair to the officers trying to deal with the situation… the officers who weredealing with the situation, acting professionally in a stressful situation. This guy had a very bad day at…
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…And then we’ll take it higher. I was in Brixton, London, today and stumbled across… Electric Avenue. There’s a market there. I had no idea Electric Avenue was a real place. Nor that the song was even “set” in London. As a fan of 80’s hip hop, I felt the same way I felt in…
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It turns out the Peel’s famous “Principles of Policing” are a fraud. I kind of always suspected that… but not so much that I didn’t quote them at length in the afterward to the paperback edition of Cop in the Hood. I should have known better because Susan Lentz and Robert Chaires had already published…
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It’s September 5th, 2011. Today happens to be my 40th birthday. But unrelated, my wife will soon be boarding the Queen Mary 2 in Brooklyn for an Atlantic Ocean crossing. We are packing our steamer trunks and hat boxes. Here’s our view and where we are. I just learned that when my mother came to…
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There’s an interesting chart in New York Magazine that shows what the Patriot Act is used for. Delayed-notice search warrants issued under the expanded powers of the Patriot Act, 2006–2009: For drugs: 1,618 For fraud: 122 For Terrorism: 15
One last bit on crime in New York City during Irene: There were about 30 arrests citywide for crimes committed between midnight and 7:30 a.m. during a police tour of duty that roughly matched the duration of the storm’s approach and arrival. (An earlier estimate of 45 arrests — described by the mayor as proving…
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