In his blog, Bradford Plumer writes a thoughtful analysis of one chapter of Cop in the Hood (scroll down to “Call a Cab Cause a Cab Will Come Quicker,” and the comments in particular). I learned of a 911 operator in Detroit criminally convicted of negligence for failing to take a call from a 5-year-old…
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Sean Bell, an unarmed black man, should not have died. But the officers on trial won’t be convicted of anything major. The police certainly make mistakes. We all do. Like it or not, mistakes aren’t usually crimes, especially for police. After any high-profile police shooting, there is the hope that time will reveal the truth…
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There’s a great article in Timeby Ed Burns, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, and David Simon. They’re the writers for the best show ever, The Wire. It’s a powerful piece and you should read the whole thing. Needless to say, they write well. Interestingly, they argue that for jury nullification, a concept I have…
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Another good review. From Publishers Weekly, a trade magazine: Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore’s Eastern District Peter Moskos. Princeton Univ., $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-691-12655-5 A Harvard-trained sociologist, Moskos set out to do a one-year study of police behavior. Challenged by Baltimore’s acting police commissioner “to become a cop for real,” he accepted.…
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What would you do when you get shot? Get a Slurpy? Shut your mouth! From today’s Baltimore Sun. Can you dig it? Man gets shot, takes cab to convenience store He hailed taxi, went to S. Baltimore 7-Eleven By Gus G. Sentementes Sun reporter 8:33 AM EST, March 5, 2008 A man who was shot…
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*…for anybody I policed with. Or if you were in the academy class of 99-5. Odds are I don’t have your contact information, so email me at pmoskos@jjay.cuny.edu. I’d certainly prefer it if you bought your own copy. I don’t get my own book for free. I have to buy it from Amazon.com just like…
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A 13-year-old girl in Tucson was strip-searched by school officials who suspected her of possessing ibuprofen (prescription-strength Advil). She didn’t have any. You can read her affidavit here.
One-in-a-hundred adult Americans is behind bars. This figure has shocked some people since it made the headlines the other day. The Timesquoted a Professor Cassell as saying that our rate of imprisonment has “very tangible benefits: lower crime rates.” But this isn’t true. The prison rate has been increasing since 1970, so why didn’t crime…
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I love Baltimore. I do. I hope my book makes Baltimore a better place to live and police. But one of my fears is that my book will just contribute to Baltimore’s image problem. I wish I could write a book that talks about the good food and good people and good neighborhoods of Charm…
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A witness at the trial of the officers who shot Sean Bell testified today. She was a topless dancer at the club. Leaving aside all the real issues, I noticed something most people probably missed from her testimony: this woman is no stranger to crime scenes. Put yourself in her shoes: You’ve just had a…
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