From NPR: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that police officers don’t necessarily violate a person’s constitutional rights when they stop a car based on a mistaken understanding of the law. The court said the officer made a “reasonable mistake.” Hence it’s not an unreasonable search and seizure. The case involved drugs found after…
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From the LA Times: Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government’s prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy. The bill’s passage over the weekend marks the first time Congress has approved nationally significant legislation backed by legalization advocates. It brings…
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From the Baltimore Sun: Groman and another officer approached the car from the driver’s side and another officer approached from the passenger’s side, police say in charging documents. Officers directed the driver, Tavon Sullivan, to get out of the car, police say, and he sat on the sidewalk. Police say Jones, sitting in the back…
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Lindsey Blansett killed her 10-year-old son by stabbing him and bashing him a rock so he could “go to heaven” rather than face a life full of “suffering and pains.” I haven’t heard anybody blame Jesus Christ for this woman’s actions. But I’d bet she was driven by her own mistaken perception of Christian ideology.…
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They’re all at my original wesbite, copinthehood.com. This covers all my posts from 2007 to 2023. One day, I’ll figure out how to migrate them here.
A quote from me in an interesting article by James Reinl in Al Jazeera. I go on to say: “Some people honestly believe that cops don’t shoot white people and don’t give tickets to white people for minor issues. This view is demonstrably false,” Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore lawman and academic at John Jay…
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Once again the NYPD shows it can get the job down and keep the city safe. All in all, went off pretty well yesterday. Some protestors were chanting: “What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now!” And one police officer had his nose broken when he tried to stop a protester…
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I was a little too generous in my previous post when I said we don’t know harm this device causes. From a 2012 NYPD briefing on the LRAD (Long Range Acoustical Device), also known as a sound cannon, via the Gothamist. In addition to having “loudspeaker” capabilities, the device can also be used, in a…
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In 2004, the NYPD bought two “long-range acoustic devices” ($35,000 per) and said that during the convention, “they would be used only for announcements, and that their shrill deterrent function would not be employed.” I didn’t believe that would last. Because, as is always the case, if you give cops toys, they will play with…
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Best 22 minutes you’re going to hear about the current state of policing. My colleague David Kennedy on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer show. I can’t thing of anything he said that I don’t agree with.