In Amsterdam, it can take a somewhat trained eye to even know you’re in the “bad” part of town. First, there’s the immigrant issue. Actually the issue is more with the children (the male children) of immigrants. Immigrants, and not just illegal immigrants, are considered a problem here and in most of Western Europe. Citizens…
Read more
In the Netherlands, you can walk into any “coffee shop” and legally buy or smoke marijuana or hashish. It’s a sight so common, you barely notice it. So here, in a “bad” part of town, are the drug dealers. They don’t shoot each other. They pay taxes–albeit not on the sale, which is technically only…
Read more
It’s my Spring Break and I’m in Amsterdam doing police research (and visiting friends). Biking with my brother today, I passed this sign. This is what you can do if you regulate drugs. This sign was put up because it’s an “area deserving special attention” (or something like that). In Amsterdam, this is considered a…
Read more
Here’s another. Once again, I can’t take criticism too seriously from people who haven’t read my book. I haven’t yet heard anything bad from anybody who has actually read my book. But I’m sure that will come, too. In the meantime: While I have not read your book, and don’t intend to I have a…
Read more
I’m amazed that the mere thought of my book would get people so riled up that they would write me. It’s hard to take criticism of my book seriously from people who haven’t read my book. But here’s the first email: Mr. Moskos, three years. Count them (3) years!! Wow! How in the world did…
Read more
There’s a quota system in place for attorneys working in the office of U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien in Los Angeles. As reported in an articlein the L.A. Times, O’Brien says: “This office does not and never will have quotas for its criminal prosecutors…. To suggest that any attorney in this office must charge a…
Read more
A round of applause for Generic Guy. I’m glad you liked my book. Thank you.
Then write a review for Amazon. There are still no reader reviews. Especially if you’ve already told mehow much you liked my book… tell the world… in that 5-star-review kind of way. No Amazon reader reviews makes me think of that B.B. King line: “Nobody loves me but my mother, and she could be jivin’…
Read more
I’m quoted prominently in an excellent article about Baltimore in the current Economist. But it’s a real shame he didn’t plug my book (Cop in the Hood). Or my school (John Jay College of Criminal Justice). But it is still a very good article. A big problem for the police (and more so for respectable…
Read more
The DEA and other prohibitionists have a long history of lying about drug facts. In the past, they’ve claimed that the Netherlands drug policy was a “disaster,” despite all statistics to the contrary (especially compared to the United States). Here’s the latest. The DEA claims that a ballet measure softening enforcement of low-level marijuana crimes…
Read more