Quality Policing Podcast and Blog

Officer shot in daylight gunbattle

Wild gun battles in Baltimore are unfortunately nothing new. But this time an officer almost died.

Bright light! Bright light!

Bright lights don’t reduce crime. Goodlighting might. Too often people reflexively think that the brighter the street light, the safer the streets. I don’t buy it. Lighting sets the tone. Street lighting is no different. If you light the streets well at night (not just bright, but well), people will go out and, without even…
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Drug prohibition kills 220 in Juárez…

…and that’s in the first 3 months of this year. And about a dozen of those are police officers. Enough! Here’s the New York Timesstory.

The raw excitment of criminal-justice

I was interviewed tonight by a good writer from a prominent local magazine. I ate and drank very well, thank you very much. It was a nice chat. Toward the end, I was asked a softball question and couldn’t really make contact. “What’s the most exciting thing happening right now in the criminal justice field…
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Tar and feathers?

One of my fears is that my book won’t be well received by my cop friends in Baltimore. I’m proud of the book. And I think it’s pro-police because it shows the shit we had to deal with. Good workers in a bad system. But I’m always been afraid that cops wouldn’t like it because…
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Waiting for execution

There’s a lot of pathos in this video. And a hell of a Baltimore accent. A visit to Maryland’s supermax. And quite an indictment of the criminal justice system.

On the lighter side…

…Someone with way too much time on his hands made this. And I love it. Homies meet Baltimore’s Eastern District. I love Homies. And I love the Lego police motorcycle paddywagon that zooms through. Amazingly, this isn’t the only stop-motion animation with Homies and cops. But it is the only stop-motion animation with Homies and…
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$12.47 for Cop in the Hood? What a bargain!

Strand is selling my book for $12.47. I doubt you will ever find it cheaper. But there are only 2 copies in stock. I bet when these 2 are gone, the price will go up. $12.47 is 50% off cover price. I can only get 40% off cover price and I wrote the damn thing!…
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Pay NYPD More (II)

A police officer was arrested in Pennsylvania for bank robbery. I don’t like to compare common criminals with mistakes people make because they’re poor–like the NYPD officer who discharged his gun (shooting an 18-month-old boy in the apartment below) while cleaning it… in the dark… because he couldn’t pay his electric bill. But what all…
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T[aser] is for Torture

More good discussion from the comments of marginal revolution. I’ll call this: Ask Officer Pete! Q: Peter, I have an issue with you comments about police use of force. Your argument that the use of “muscle,” physical strength and holds, will lead to less excessive force issues in contrast to Tasers or other less lethal…
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