“The corner boys, as they are sometimes called, are part of what is perhaps the most visibly anonymous demographic in the country. Young and black, feared and marginalized, they are the ones most likely to be viewed as a suspect in a crime and most likely to become the faceless victim of one. Nevertheless, if…
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I’m no big fan of Tasers. Here’s the latest trouble with Tasers. From the Chicago Tribune. WINNFIELD, LA. — At 1:28 p.m. on Jan. 17, Baron “Scooter” Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead. What happened in the 39 minutes in between — during which Pikes was handcuffed by police and…
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There’s an article in Baltimore’s City Paper about my book. It’s a bit harsh and kind of snarky (right down to the ? in the headline), but I’ve got thick skin. It’s quite insightful when he’s not slagging me off personally. And he did very well with the material from the phone interview (really). He…
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I love doing radio interviews. I can wear shorts and be sweaty from biking to the studio. I can cough and drink water and pick my nose (I said I can, not that I did). It’s so much easier to relax when you’re not wearing makeup, not worried about how you look, and have a…
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Sunday’s New York Timeshad a nice little story by Niko Koppel about pictures and other mementos that police officer keep in their hats. The hat-wearing regulation isn’t as strictly enforced in Baltimore as it is in New York City. But I like wearing hats. Young police officers officers will quickly hear that hats, especially when…
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My former firearms instructor sent me this link. It’s a fun little game. Shoot the guys with the gun, not the guys with wallets and cell phones. You won’t do it perfectly (and neither do cops). You face around 100 people, my guess is half are black, half are white, half are armed, half are…
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Arnold Ages of the Jewish Post & Opinioncalls Cop in the Hood: [An] objective, incisive and intelligent account of police work. Moskos’s graphic descriptions of the drug culture in Baltimore’s Eastern District are the most detailed and analytical to be found anywhere. What distinguishes Moskos’s book…is the author’s plea for greater flexibility in addressing the…
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This review of Cop in the Hood comes from Largehearted Boy. He keeps a music blog and is also reading and reviewing 52 books in 52 weeks: With our images of policemen and their work too often coming from dramatic television these days, a book like Peter Moskos’Cop in the Hoodis refreshing. A sociologist, Moskos…
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Don’t forget to buy my book! OK, now that that’s out of the way… Tuesday from 12 to 12:40 (that’s tomorrow), I’ll be on the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC. And keep your eyes out for a piece I just wrote in support of drug legalization for my new favorite news magazine, U.S. News &…
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Kind of like my idea, Policing Green. Officers turn to foot because of rising gas prices. Here’s the story from the New York Times. Thanks to Charlene, a former student of mine, for sending me the article.