Cops want more money. Citizens want more foot patrol. We can have both. I call it “Policing Green.” Give cops the gas money for their shift if they agree to patrol without a car for that shift. The environmental link is mostly just a clever title to sell the idea, but it really would be…
Read more
In 2007, 235 Baltimore residents overdosed. The story in the Sunis here. Interestingly (and surprisingly), 74 of those were from methadone. I don’t quite understand the point of methadone. If it’s addictive and you can die from it, why not just give junkies heroin?
Here’s more evidence that Tasers are bad. Or at least overused. The story is in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
You don’t see headlines like this much in America anymore. But we used to (google “Jake Leg” if you’re interested in a tragic little footnote in American history). Fewer people die when drugs are legal and regulated. Prohibitionists in India wanted to protect poor people from themselves. So, in an entirely predictable bit of failed…
Read more
It’s still all too low, but finally, just a few years too late, starting NYPD officers are getting a raise from a criminally low $25,100 to the embarrassingly low salary of $35,881. The top base pay is $65,382. The Daily Newshas this story.
Don’t believe he’s innocent just because you’re related.
The Baltimore City Paper tells the story. Well, one guy did get 5 years. Here’s their first story. Here’s the concept: The Murder Ink column in the print edition of City Paper tracks homicides in Baltimore, giving details on each murder in the city. But what becomes of those homicide cases after we’ve reported the…
Read more
The brass is throwing the book at the officers involved in the Sean Bell shooting. What’s so unsatisfying about this, is that such discipline makes cops paranoid, and for good reason. What’s the moral? For police, it’s that if the department wants to get you (if Al Sharpton shouts loud enough), they will. Obviously the…
Read more
I gotta say, many of these don’t really ring true to me. But some of them do. No matter, I still find them amusing. A friend sent them to me. It’s out there on the web. If anybody knows the source (or can think of more), let me know. Narcotics units: Immediately grow facial hair,…
Read more
The ax has started to fall in response to the Philly police beatings. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that four officers have been fired, others have been demoted and/or disciplined. Maybe this beating was an aberration, but given the mass involvement, it’s hard to imagine that this wasn’t part of the informal Philly police culture. Two…
Read more