Cops are famous for having short attention spans. Who wants to read a whole book? Or article? Or legal bulletin? And since twitter is perhaps the worst place in the world to give legal lessons or any nuance, I thought I’d give it a try. Given the limitations of 140 characters, naturally I used haikus:…
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The BBC has a story about Michael Wood and his reporting of police wrong doing. I still don’t doubt the truth of what he says he say and participated in. That’s important. As to his character or motives, nobody outside of policing really gives a damn what they are or if Wood was a good…
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You know how all them criminal justice “experts” say it’s inevitable that homicides go up in the summer? Well for at least the second year in a row, homicides in Baltimore are down, June compared to May. After the riot, homicides more than doubled. Pre-April 27, 2015: 0.58 homicides a day. April 28 – May…
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Meanwhile, civil forfeiture continues. You know, where government agents just come and take your money. Why? Because they can. Charles Clarke was questioned because the U.S. Airlines ticketing agent told police that his checked luggage had a strong odor of marijuana. When his money was confiscated, Clarke had no guns, drugs, or any contraband on…
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The NY Post reports an NYPD study that says: “More than half of city cops have bad feelings about being a police officer because of their bosses.” It goes on: The findings also revealed 85 percent of cops feared being proactive on the street because they are wary of civilian complaints. More than two-thirds say…
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Maybe this is minor in the bigger picture of what people are saying about Michael Wood Jr, but I have to disagree with Wood’s dislike of the baton. In a radio interview he said he didn’t carry his because he couldn’t imagine hitting somebody with it. In the Balko interview he says cops used them…
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Given the recent discussion started by Michael Wood, Jr. this last excerpt from Cop in the Hood couldn’t come at a better time: It may seem incongruous for police officers to see the futility of drug enforcement and simultaneously promote increased drug enforcement. But for many, the drug war is a moral issue and retreat…
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Michael Wood Jr. has made some waves by tweeting about things he saw as a Baltimore cop. [To get up to speed, single best thing to read now is the Balko interview.] Honestly, I don’t doubt what Wood says. I am curious if all the bad he saw came from his time in narcotics. And…
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Nobody seemed to believe Baltimore’s FOP last week when Robert Cherry said: “We have a state’s attorney who used an opportunity of crisis to quell the riots.” … “The unrest had nothing to do with my decision to charge,” says Mosby. “I just followed where the facts led.” Score this one for the FOP. The…
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So what do you want cops to do about this? From the Chicago Sun-Times. The 3700 block of W. Grenshaw. 3711 W. Grenshaw, to be exact, according to my google streetview snooping skills. It’s not even a horrible looking block, to be honest. I mean, it’s not the best looking block. But there are a…
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