I still find it a bit shocking that cities big and small are laying-off police officers. The latest is San Jose, which laid-off 66 police officers with the least seniority: In addition to the cops let go, the city cut nearly 100 police positions left vacant by recent retirements and departures The police force shrunk from 1,271 to 1,106 officers,…
Month: July 2011
Collar for Dollars
My article is in the July issue of Reason is available online: When I was a police officer in Baltimore, one sergeant would sometimes motivate his troops in the middle of a shift change by joyfully shouting, “All right, you maggots! Let’s lock people up! They don’t pay you to stand around. I want production! I want lockups!” He said…
New York closes seven prisons
This is noteworthy in its rarity. Keep in mind that New York is one of the few states that has de-carcertaed over that past decades (and no, crime has not gone up). Notice too how most of the article is about jobs and the economy, not crime. Notably, Mr. Cuomo spared several large prisons in the northernmost section of the…