Did I mention I met Sgt. Plantinga last time I was in San Francisco? Good guy. He bought me lunch. Here’s the last (for now) from Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman: You won’t feel sorry for many defendants. You figure they probably committed a dozen crimes before they finally…
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Yet another from Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman. My friend Dan gave me aline about people showing up for court “in their best sweatpants.” That always stuck with me. Many defendants dress casually, even for felony trials. The collared shirt is a rarity. Most wear what they might don…
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More from Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman. Cynicism in law enforcement is wide-spread and to some degree, self-perpetuating. But sometimes you strive for optimism. You try to picture many of the juvenile criminals you deal with years later, as adults, having turned it around. One day you’d run into…
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I’m out of the country for a week. So here’s another bit of insight (the 11th) from Adam Plantinga’s most excellent 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman. The general public doesn’t always understand use of force dynamics in police work. Maybe it’s unreasonable to expect them to. Police departments do what…
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I don’t have much to say because I wasn’t sitting on the grand jury. I have no new information. Apparently the good citizens of Staten Island have spoken. From the Daily News: After four months of reviewing the evidence, a majority on the panel concluded there was not enough there to charge Pantaleo with manslaughter,…
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My man Gene O’Donnell (former police officer and prosecutor and current colleague of mine at John Jay College of Criminal Justice) on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show. Well worth listening to. Unless, of course, you fully understand what a grand jury is and how it works… which you, like I, don’t. Also, if you click through…
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There is a great interview with Chris Rock in New York Magazine. What stuck with me was his insight that “black progress” is a misnomer. What America has seen over the years (in fits and starts) is “white progress”: So, to say Obama is [black] progress is saying that he’s the first black person that…
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I’m not certain what this actually means, but it seems to be working: In a wide-ranging interview this week, [Philadelphia] Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said he hoped that the trend reflected the department’s shake-up in training and tactics, which range from adopting a “statement on the sanctity of human life” to emphasizing “reality-based” weapons…
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From BoingBoing (whatever that is… but backed up by many other sources). You can’t make this shit up! I don’t actually think this changes anything in terms of the actual shooting… but it still seems newsworthy.
Or (though you didn’t know it) a favorite subject of mine: White People Rioting for No Reason. I’m surprised there is nothing from College Park on the list. I have no moral here. Other than you can’t fight stupid.