Officer Rafael Lora was trying to do his job. Now he has no job and is looking at prison. The story in the New York Times and the Post. I wasn’t there. But I believe the officer. Why? Because why else would have Lora shot the driver? This is one case where even an NYPD officer should have trusted a…
Month: April 2009
“Bad Cop” Good Book
Paul Bacon’s Bad Cop: New York’s Least Likely Police Officer Tells All is a good book. It’s a quick read and a nice look inside the NYPD. My problem is that the hits a little too close to home. Bacon is a self-professed liberal who only stayed in the police department a few years. Errrrr… Sounds like me. But I…
Steve Bierfeldt’s Box Full of Cash
In town for a conference, a director of Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty is detained by TSA at the St. Louis airport because when asked to explain why he’s carrying $4,700 in cash (it was proceeds from book and ticket sales at the conference), he asks the agents to tell him what law requires him to do so. He managed…
Say What?
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that, “A Philadelphia police officer has been put on desk duty after he was quoted spouting his disgust for the black residents in the community he patrolled.” And people wonder why cops don’t trust outsiders. The officer is said to have used the “N word” (though not at somebody). I won’t defend that. But I will…
Will Wilkinson Smokes Pot and Likes It
Will Wilkinson interviewed me a while back on Bloggingheads TV. The Atlantic Monthly’s Andrew Sullivan has been documenting on his blog the stories of typical, productive Americans—kids’ football coaches, secretaries of the PTA—who smoke marijuana because they like to smoke marijuana, but who understandably fear emerging fully from the “cannabis closet.” This is a profoundly necessary idea. If we’re to…
3 Pittsburgh Police Officers Killed
Three officers killed. Two wounded. This is too soon after Oakland. 22-year-old man with bulletproof vest and assault riffle kills officers responding to a domestic call at 7:30am. The wounded cop killer surrendered to police at 11am. Some of the wounded officers remained for a time where they fell because other officers could not reach them because of the continuing…
Indictments in Baltimore
Three officers, two retired, one of whom I know and like, are indicted five years after an incident. Gimme a break.
Coming home to roost
Seems like the drug war is now chipping away at the freedom and privacy of police officers. In L.A., gang and narcotic officers will have to turn over detailed personal financial information. The story.
Dangerous Drug Raids?
Not for police. Here’s the story from Drug War Chronicle. I’m quoted in it.
Police Helicopters Cramp My Style
When I was in Baltimore, Foxtrot was down. Foxtrot was the police helicopter. It had crashed. Since then, they got another up in the air. I just stumbled across an old email I wrote my brother back in July, 2002, after a trip to L.A. I was in LA for 2 days…. We went to bed in West Hollywood at…