Quality Policing Podcast and Blog

Notes on the Balinese Cockfight

My wife and I were in Kalibukbuk, Bali, visiting a few friends from Amsterdam, one of whom kind of lives in Bali now. He asked if we wanted to go see a cockfight. Well, in the name of Clifford Geertz and “thick description,” yes! (Hell, and this slightly worries me, I’ve enjoyed every bit of…
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Stat Production

The New York Times reportsthat, “Intense pressure to produce annual crime reductions led some supervisors and precinct commanders to manipulate crime statistics.” I’m shocked. Shocked. Reclassifying a $1,100 theft as a $950 theft isn’t the end of the world. But a police culture where it’s OK to play a bit fast and loose with the…
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Good Cop

I think Michael Mineo is a liar. I’ve said it before here and here and I’ll say it again. The latest is this, “[A police baton] could not have possibly made the hole in this underwear,” said [a defense witness], “This is a square hole.” Seems like pretty damning evidence. At the end of an…
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Drink This

LEO beer.

Q & A

A while back I was asked to do a little Q & A by Jeanette over at Cat5 Commerce. She puts together original content for such sites as BDU.com, Tactical.com and my own personal favorite, TacticalPants.com. She asked me so nicely (nothing like the combination of politeness, a personal non-form letter, and flattery) I couldn’t…
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Baltimore Mayor Dixon Resigns

News travels, even to Bangkok. The story in the Sun. And while I’m at it, here’s a story about Commissioner Bealefeld wanting more foot patrol. Maybe he read my piece on foot patrol, “Angels in Blue: The Virtues of Foot Patrol.”

Being a professor is a better job

“Most days I don’t miss being a cop; being a professor is a better job.” And so begins the thrilling story of Cop in the Hood. Providing further evidence in support of this hypothesis, I’ll be on vacation for the next three weeks in Thailand and Bali. Happy New Year! And of all nights to…
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And now you know… the rest of the story!

Fatal stabbing suspect Cyan Brown, 16, was the aggressor in Christmas Eve New York subway fracas, police say. This happened in an area I go through a lot. The original reports said: poor girl “fondled” by group of bad men and stabbed one in self defense. The cop in me knew that wasn’t the whole…
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Murders down again in NYC

Illustrating once again that crime and the economy are not inherently linked. The storyin the New York Times.

Taser shock in the courts!

The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals (never known for its pro-police views) to be precise. This perhaps landmark decision has been called, “The clearest and most complete statements yet from an appellate court about the limits of Taser use.” From the story by Hudson Sangree and Kim Minugh in the Sacramento Bee. In the summer…
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