Fifteen percent of the department. The St. Louis Post Dispatchreports on a raucous city council meeting at which: East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks announced that the city will layoff 37 employees, including 19 of its 62 police officers, 11 firefighters, four public works employees, and three administrators. The layoffs take effect on Sunday. For budget reasons. [Update: This is…
Month: September 2010
Missouri Tells Judges Cost of Sentences
Fascinating. And I think a great idea. Cost is irrelevant only to those who don’t pay. From the New York Times: But critics — prosecutors especially — dismiss the idea as unseemly. They say that the cost of punishment is an irrelevant consideration when deciding a criminal’s fate and that there is a risk of overlooking the larger social costs…
Back when the job was fun
“Washington policeman Bill Norton measuring the distance between knee and suit at the Tidal Basin bathing beach after Col. Sherrill, Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, issued an order that suits not be over six inches above the knee.” June 30, 1922. From Shorpy.
Five myths about prostitution
So says Sudhir Venkatesh in an interesting articlein the Washington Post. Here are the myths: 1. Prostitution is an alleyway business. 2. Men visit sex workers for sex. 3. Most prostitutes are addicted to drugs or were abused as children. 4. Prostitutes and police are enemies. 5. Closing Craigslist’s “adult services” section will significantly affect the sex trade. Read the…
A little excitment on 324 Post
Justin Fenton and Peter Hermann report: So many police officers are at Hopkins at this hour that the department had to call in officers from other districts and detective units to help answer other 911 calls in the Eastern District. One plainclothes officer reported being out in his personal car, and he warned his dispatcher he was patrolling “with no…
Bernstein defeats Jessamy!
Jessamy may finally be on the way out as Baltimore City State’s Attorney. And good riddance to her! If these results hold, it’s good news for police and good new for Baltimore. Do I know anything about Berstein? No. Nothing than the fact he’s not Jessamy, who has been at the post since 1995. And while it wouldn’t be fair…
Clever Disguise!
Some of the September 11th killers flew right over the Indian Point Nuclear Power plant on their way to NYC. Perhaps they didn’t crash into the “Energy Center” (that’s really what it calls itself) because it looks just like a big mosque. You never know.
Lunch in Newburgh, NY
“Let’s bike over that bridge and have lunch in Newburgh.” That’s what I told my wife. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Unless you know Newburgh, NY. I didn’t. My wife and I were on a weekend biking getaway and found ourselves in Beacon, NY. Beacon is a pretty but depressed place (though it’s less depressing since…
College-Educated Cops
I had a BA and all the requirements of a Masters’ Degree when I was a Baltimore cop. And now I teach some NYPD and many students who want to be police officers. So I am a bit partial to the idea that college is good for everybody, cops included (or else what am I doing in my school office…
War on Prostitution
Really? Does anybody really think the problem is Craigslist? Don’t we have better things to do?